Sunset's Isekai

Chapters

A Tale of Two Sunsets (Featherfall -Fanfic)
All You Need Is Love (The Third Wheel Series - Post Fic)
Space-Time and Sensibility (Good Trooper Gilda - Post Fic)
Once Upon a Time (Game of Worlds - Ongoing)
Krogan Traditions (Sparkle's #1 Assistant)
Lonesome Heart (Bulletproof Heart - Complete)
Belle Hopping (League of Sweetie Belles - Ongoing)
What to Expect when Drinking (Celestia: The Changeling Queen Series - Fanfic)
Pan Galactic Sparkle Blaster (Past Sins - Post Fic)
Bar-hops, Chasers, Sunsets (DuckTales 2017)
Different Minds (The Teacher and the Hippogriff - Fanfic)
The times, they are a Changeling (The Three Sisters Series - Resurrected)
One Page More (Fifteen Pages - Post Fic)
The Grudgings of Gilda (The 8th Rank - Ongoing)
Back to the Acres (Heir A-pear-ent - Post Fic)
The Fault in Our Tree (Dragon Quest XI - Act 1)
Twilight's World (Rock the Carousel - Ongoing)
Gone Telson (She-Ra Season 4 - Ongoing)
A Movable Bar (Ambergris - Post Fic)
Runaway Cat (Fate - The Cat Returns AU - Post Fic)
A Door is a Door is a Door (Restaurant to Another World - Ongoing-ish)
Tales of the Isekai (Avatar: The Last Airbender - Complete)
Gwen Stacy: Into the Sunset Bar (Ghost Spider - Ongoing)
In the Beginning (Babylon 5 - Complete) Pt. 1
Convictions (Babylon 5 - Complete) Pt. 2
Forgive (Babylon 5 - Complete) Pt. 3
Friends in Other Places (The Mirror - Post Fic)
Inside of Every Sunset There's a Demon (Hazbin Hotel — Pre-Pilot)
To be Forgotten (Final Fantasy IX — Complete)
Forget-Me-Not (Best Left Forgotten — Ongoing)
Barring Destiny (A Pony Named Nope — Status: Depends on the Portals)
No Mare is an Island (Empty Horizons — Ongoing)
Side by Side (Hajime no Ippo — Ongoing Manga)
Lights - a Lena Side Story (The Owl House — Ongoing)
unending sun[S]et (NieR: Automata — Endings A & B)
Finding Time (The Time We Have Left — Fic - Complete)
Bar Days in the Multiverse (Various References)
Paws of Thermodynamics (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 1)
Snout my Favorite Dish (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 2)
Something's Buggin' Me (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 3)
Rising my Hackles (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 4)
Ewe Don't Wanna Know (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 5)
Let's Gopher a Drink (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 6)
It wasn't Bunny the First Time (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 7)
The Alicorn Project (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 1)
Teenage Angst (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 2)
Wednesday As Usual (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 3)
Making You Strong (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 4)
Xenophobe (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 5)
Homeland (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 6)
Protector of Women and Children (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 7)
Changing and Adapting (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 8)
An Isekai's Isekai Hangout Pt 1. (Isekai 1 - Ascendance of a Bookworm)
An Isekai's Isekai Hangout Pt 2. (Isekai 1 - Ascendance of a Bookworm)
Movable Do (Ambergris — Complete)
A Place to Belong (Star Wars — Ongoing)
Heroes (XCOM: Ranger — Fanfic)
Brand New Isekai (BNA — Complete)
Night of the Wolf (Wolfwalkers/Secret of Kells)
The Wolf of the Wastelands (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
Strangers in a Strange Land (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
Captives (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
Classic Greed (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
A Meeting of Mind and Spirit (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
Breaking In (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
Didn't Start the Fire (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
All Alone in the Digilight (Digimon Story: Hacker's Memory - Complete)
Like a Cup of Hot Chocolate (No Heroes - Fanfic)
The Secret Life Of Sunset Shimmer (Gunsmoke — Fanfic)
Variants in the Multiverse
Chocolatl (Maya and the Three)
The Janitor's Assistant (Control — Video Game)
Great Expectations (Macross Δ & Others)
Toughing it Out (Fallout Girls — Fanfic)
Lagniappe (Sunflower Gardens — Fanfic)
How Cherries Blossom (The Maretian — Fanfic)
An Unlikely Visitor (Fallout 4 - PT. 1)
Set the World on Fire (Fallout 4 - Pt. 2)
Open Season (Fallout 4 - Pt. 3)
Ghoul Problem in Old Boston (Fallout 4 - Pt. 4)
It Walks Among Us (Fallout 4 - Pt. 5)
Debt Collectors (Fallout 4 - Pt. 6)
A Legacy of Hope (Horizon: Zero Dawn/Forbidden West)
Isekai Cast: Random Shenanigans 1
Evil is… (Dragonlance Chronicles - The Black Wing)
Isekai Cast: Random Shenanigans 2
Isekai Cast: Random Shenanigans 3
Watching them Grow (The Owl House (spoilers!))
Reignition (Firebird Dahlia — Fanfic)
A Goddess' Wish [Mother's Day Special]
Unstoppable (The Sweetie Chronicles: Fragments)
Breather (Star Trek: Phoenix)
Just Gods Talking (Oversaturation)
Isekai Shenanigans: A Nomad Wolf in Night City (Cyberpunk 2077)
Isekai Shenanigans Part 1: What's This? (Nightmare Before Christmas)
Isekai Shenanigans Part 2: Judithe's Lament (Nightmare Before Christmas)
Isekai Shenanigans Part 3: This Is Halloween (Nightmare Before Christmas)
A Moment in Time (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End)
Masquerade (Genshin Impact— Video Game)
Isekai Shenanigans: The Mando and the Butterfly Pt. 1 (Secret of the 327th - Fanfic)
Isekai Shenanigans: The Mando and the Butterfly Pt. 2
Principal Celestia Hunts the Undead then goes Drinking (Hunts the Undead — Fanfic Series)
The Valkyrie's Tab (Sunset Shimmer VS the Multiverse)
Principal Celestia Hunts the Undead then Celebrates Sunset's Birthday
Close Encounters of the Random Kind
The Bar at the End of the Multiverse
The Ghost and the Shadow (Danny Phantom - Post Series)
Weyr Drinks (Harry Is A Dragon, And That's Okay — Fic - Ongoing)
Legends (Assassin's Creed: Odyssey — Post Fate of Atlantis)
The Road Goes Ever On (The Multiverse in a Nutshell — Ongoing)
An English Wolfwalker in Night City (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
A Night on the Drive (Electro Swing — Fanfic)
Curry Talk (Reincarnated as a Sword - Light Novels)

A Tale of Two Sunsets (Featherfall -Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
A Tale of Two Sunsets (Featherfall - Fanfic)
By Wanderer D & I-A-M

"Aw hell, I don't think I can keep it in, babe!"

Sunset Shimmer grimaced as her fiance pushed her wheelchair with increasing speed. "Keep calm, Gil, I'm sure there's somewhere here where we can stop."

"I'm so stupid, we still had two stops to go, but I had to take the scenic route!"

Despite the urgency of the situation, Sunset couldn't help but smile and reach out to touch Gilda's hand. "Hey, you wanted to show me this area of town."

"I still should've known I'd need to go soon. I'm not five!" Gilda retorted, although Sunset could hear the smile. "Hold that thought, there's a bar right there… let's go in. You can order a drink while I take care of business, a'right?"

Sunset didn't even have time to look at the sign next to the door before she was pushed through and they entered the bar. The small hall before the bar proper was dimly lit, but they could both see the establishment was well taken care of, and seemed a little more classy than it had a right to be for the area of Canterlot City they had been trudging through.

Still, Gilda had to go, so she pushed Sunset into the bar and, without looking up, hurried down the bar and followed the signs for the restroom, before leaving Sunset alone.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai!" a voice said, sending a chill down her spine. Sunset rolled her wheelchair around so she was facing the bar, where a familiar figure was looking away from her, apparently replacing an expensive-looking bottle on the top shelf, right next to a neon sign of a cocktail glass with her cutie mark on the side that read "Sunset's Isekai".

The Sunset Shimmer across the bar twirled in place, grinning until she saw her. A mix of feelings ran through that face. Excitement. Surprise. Dawning understanding.

"How is this possible?" Sunset asked her counterpart.

The Sunset behind the bar blinked and shrugged. "Interdimensional Bar. I don't know what the actual chances are to have you—and was that Gilda?—be my first guests."

"Right."

There was an awkward moment of silence. "Um, would you like anything to drink?"

"Gin and tonic," Sunset replied, relaxing back into her chair and taking a second glance around. Even though the bar looked a bit worn, it was now clear it had opened really recently. The empty picture frames on the wall were a clear indication that Sunset—the other Sunset—intended to eventually fill the walls with memories that had yet to come.

So far there were only two pictures on it, and neither brought good memories to Sunset. One was of Sunset and a slightly older-looking Rarity, both standing outside the bar. Different enough not to bother her, but the other one was a group picture of Sunset and the others, including human Twilight, outside the school. A picture of what could have been.

"So how did it happen?" her counterpart asked, setting the Gin and Tonic on the counter and pushing it within reach of Sunset's hands.

Sunset tore her eyes from the pictures, momentarily debating how to bring it up. She gave her mirror image a wry smile and shrugged.

"A few steel girders would break anyone's back, savvy?" Sunset replied, and the pair of them shared an eerily identical smirk. "Not everyone gets lucky in life, and when we do it's always in different ways, one man's misfortune, right?"

"Fair enough," she replied, going back to polishing a glass. "Didn't you try to heal it though? You do have magic, right?"

"I do," Sunset confirmed, and after a pensive moment admitted, "and I could have."

A pair of dark eyebrows shot up.

"And?"

Sunset shrugged again. "What do you think happened?"

The Sunset Shimmer who stood behind the bar set the tumbler glass down that she had been polishing and stared hard at the one who was seated on the other side. Her eyes traveled over the cold metal bars that made up the wheelchair's frame, the soft padding, the blankets that covered her double's legs, and the care-worn look in her bright, sky blue eyes.

She noted, most of all, how relaxed that version of her looked.

There was an ease to the young woman, a lightness, like she lacked some fundamental weight from around her shoulders.

From behind the bar, Sunset Shimmer let out a slow, even breath.

"What would it have cost us?"

Shifting slightly in her wheelchair, Sunset smiled wanly as she looked up at her double and nodded.

"Far too much," she replied.

"It was the only answer I could figure," the bartender replied, relaxing a little and picking up a new glass to begin polishing it. "The only thing that ever stopped us from doing anything was deciding not to do it."

"We're stubborn like that," Sunset agreed.

"Better question then," her double asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Shoot," Sunset said.

"What the hell is wrong with how you talk?"

Sunset blinked, then started laughing, and the bartender joined in a breath later. For a few moments, they just laughed, one redhead leaning hard on her bar while the other gripped her armrests and cackled.

"Guess you mean, 'savvy'?" Sunset asked, and her double nodded. "Gilda uses the stupid word like a comma or a period half the time, and I spent months with basically no one but her to talk to."

"Aha."

As if summoned by her comment, they both heard the restroom door open, and Gilda walked out into the bar proper. "That's some nice restrooms back there, babe, I have no… idea… how—" She stopped and gaped. "How?"

Bartender Sunset smirked. "Hey, babe, what are you having today?"

"Oh, stop it." Sunset shook her head. Even though it was technically her, it was still weird someone else calling Gilda that. "She usually drinks cheap whiskey and coke."

Her counterpart raised her hands in a placating motion, her smile widening. "Oh, so that's how it is?"

Sunset took Gilda's hand when the latter had joined her across from her mirror image. "This is how it is."

Bartender Sunset sighed, her smile growing warm as she proceeded to fish up a bottle of whiskey. "I'm very happy for both of you. It also gives me hope!"

Sunset blinked. "Oh, so you and Rarity aren't…" she motioned with her hand at the pictures, which Gilda noticed and scowled at.

Bartender Sunset's face grew a mock glare. "Oh no. Rarity has much to answer for… specifically legal questions regarding this place. But no. I'm single." She motioned for them to sit at the bar. "But judging from your reactions, it seems that she's not much loved where you come from."

Gilda held up her hands silently, her brow furrowed with concern and something like strain.

“Okay just… just back up, yeah?” Gilda said as she closed her eyes. “Can we just talk about how there’s two’a you? Like, just for a second?”

Bartender Sunset crossed her arms, smirking. "Sorry, this is relatively new to me so I don't have a good way to explain it other than 'multiverse shenanigans', or possibly 'magic.'"

Sunset reclaimed her grip on Gilda’s hand.

“Now you know how I felt when you were in the hospital,” she said with a wry grin, “you having fantasies too?”

Gilda flushed scarlet, even showing past her dark complexion, and peals of laughter sounded from behind the bar.

“Wait, wait, what?” Sunset leaned her elbows on her bar and fixed Gilda with a curious look. “What happened?”

Gilda looked sheepish for a few seconds before taking the glove from her hand and revealing the prosthetic, and for the second time that hour Sunset’s eyebrows shot upward.

“Whoa.” She reached out tentatively, only continuing when she got a nod from Gilda, and set her hand on the cold Equestrian cloudsteel of the arm. “That’s incredible…”

“Yeah, that’s a word for it,” Gilda said with a grimace, “losin’ my arm messed me up pretty bad actually, had to get a kick in the ass from another me, savvy?”

Bartender Sunset nodded. "I'm sorry you went through that," she said, "but it seems you came out a lot stronger." She leaned back. "Sorry, I know that sounds a bit pretentious coming from me. But you two look like you've conquered everything thrown your way, although I'm still surprised you don't seem to…" she trailed off. "Oh…" She blinked as realization slowly dawned on her. "Oh… don't tell me it was them?"

Sunset felt Gilda's hand tightening around her own, but smiled. "Gil, babe, help me sit up on one of the stools? I think a story is in order."

"So, redemption, huh?" Bartender Sunset took a deep breath, putting some distance between the couple and herself. "Some people think that that's really unattainable, you know? That no matter how hard you try, how many times people might say they forgive you for something, you know deep inside they haven't… and probably won't." She sighed.

“Mhm,” Sunset agreed with a nod and a quiet smile, “I know.”

The bartender frowned at that reply, and her hands went down to one of the stacks for glasses, picking one up and running a clean rag along the rim. Both Gilda and Sunset could see it was spotless but, then again, that wasn’t really the point.

“You know?” she asked finally, and there was a touch of anger in her voice.

Sunset nodded again, though.

“Yeah, I mean… that’s sort of the point isn’t it?” Sunset said, leaning forward on the bar and meeting her double’s gaze fearlessly.

“Bein’ redeemed ain’t somethin’ you can just lean into until ya put enough hours in, savvy?” Gilda added, having taken a place at the bar and taking a tentative sip of her drink before giving a low hum of approval. “I mean, c’mon, that ain’t how shit like forgiveness or redemption or any’a that emotional crap works, y’know?”

The Sunset behind the bar paused in her reflexive cleaning, staring pensively down at her reflection in the crystalline glass of the tumbler she was holding.

“It’s not about where you’re trying to get to,” Sunset said quietly, reaching into her coat and pulling out the gemstone clasp of her Element, the gleaming ruby-and-topaz divided sun emblem. “It’s just about trying… it’s about pushing forward knowing there might not be anything at the other end of the tunnel because being a good person isn’t about being rewarded.”

Bartender Sunset's shoulders sagged. "You're right, of course. And I'm sure I'll meet other Sunsets who will feel the same. I went through the whole Anon-A-Miss thing as well, and even though we remain friends, the Memory Stone drove home how much the gang hated me before being blasted by magic. I'll always wonder whether they're really forgiven me… but Redemption isn't an easy thing… especially for those that seek it."

She put the clean glasses away and slowly ran her fingertips on the surface of the bar. "You know, I thought that opening this bar was an impulse decision. Just before you girls came in, I was having second thoughts about this whole thing. It's scary. And it's a big commitment of time and effort. It's a risk… and I'm sure I'll have awful days as much as I'll have good ones. But meeting you both has made me realize that nothing really worth it comes easy."

She smirked at their looks. "Oh, I know it's a well known saying, but internalizing it is different. With all you went through, I guess it makes my own issues seem petty in comparison, at least to myself. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, is it? It means that I can take that and turn it into something positive. There are many lessons I've still to learn, and maybe this bar with its weird inter-dimensional powers is the first step to achieving that."

Sunset's smile softened. "I'm glad you're starting to see what I meant."

Her mirror image shrugged. "Celestia raised no fool. Besides, you and Gilda are so adorable together that I might try and hook up with the next one that comes in, if she's single, or her partner is willing to share."

“No guarantee,” Sunset replied with a wry grin. “We’ve never been very good at sharing, have we?”

“Mm… guess not,” her double said with an equivalent smirk.

After a moment, the Bartender frowned and looked around her, taking a deep breath before looking back at Gilda and Sunset.

“Do you think we have to suffer to be redeemed?” she asked in a voice that was almost painfully small.

Sunset looked thoughtful as she let Gilda help her down into her wheelchair, pulling the covers over her legs as she did, and after a few moments looked up at met her double’s eyes.

“I think you might have to suffer to be kind,” she said quietly. “If you haven’t really hurt, really felt the kind of pain that leaves people broken I think that… it’s hard to really feel it, but maybe that’s just me, or us.” The pair of them scoffed at the irony of that, then Sunset continued. “But there’s a difference between trying to do better, to be better, and just martyring yourself on your cause.”

A few moments passed and Sunset nodded, her grip tightening on the covers that were draped across her numb legs.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, “I think that’s the real trap… when you’re breaking yourself to try to find redemption, you’re just doing it to make yourself feel better, you know?” Sunset glanced up and met her mirror’s eyes behind the bar. “That’s just being selfish, I think, but I do think we have to be kind to be redeemed… make of that what you will.”

Her bar-tending double nodded pensively. "You've given me a lot to think about… but you know, I think in the end, it's worth it to be kind and forgive ourselves as well… and from there find redemption." Her eyes sparkled. "Anyway, consider this on the house. You are my very first customers ever, after all, and I think you gave me more than the drink is worth… only thing is, I'd like to take a picture of you two… for the wall. And the memories."

Sunset and Gilda glanced at each other and nodded.

"Perfect!" Sunset took a camera from under the bar and went around while they set themselves for the picture. "Say cheese!"

Gilda closed the door behind them and again they were standing on the streets of Canterlot City.

"Gil," Sunset said, calling her attention.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Look."

Gilda followed the direction Sunset's finger was pointing at, and discovered the entrance to Sunset's Isekai was gone. "Damn. Y'think we'll ever see her again?"

"Well, she did give us her card," Sunset said, showing Gilda the transparent business card with the cocktail and sun cutie-mark/logo.

"Heh, well, at least we know it's out there," Gilda said, leaning down to kiss Sunset on the cheek. "Anyway, we should hurry if we don't want to worry Adagio and the others."

She started pushing Sunset's wheelchair again in silence, until Sunset spoke up. "How does it feel to know that there's another me out there?"

Gilda shrugged. "Gives me a headache, but I don't care. There's one Sunshine in my life that I care about anyway, and she's with me right now, savvy?"

And Sunset's smile was answer enough for her to know that her Sunshine did know.

Author's Note

Featherfall by I-A-M
No direct link to M stories. Thanks I-A-M for the amazing story and allowing me to both play with your characters a bit, and writing with you!

All You Need Is Love (The Third Wheel Series - Post Fic)

Sunset's Isekai
Chapter 4: All You Need Is Love (Third Wheel Series - Post Fic)
By Wanderer D & GaPJaxie

Sunset Shimmer scrolled down the pad, considering whether she should add that box of Bendërbrau to her order. Sure, it wasn't anything special when it came to taste, but you didn't get more micro-brewery than that…and it seemed less trippy than her second choice, Spice beer.

She tapped her chin and hummed. Which one to order?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the silver bell at the door, announcing the arrival of a new patron. Well, the order could wait. It wasn't like she needed to restock that quickly anyway.

"Well. This is certainly not what I expected." The voice… was definitely not familiar. It sounded young, but refined, like some of the dignitaries that Celestia would meet occasionally in court.

Sunset watched with some interest as the creature walked in. It was pony-like, but with a black carapace and bright blue mane. The long horn on its forehead was sharp and pointy, with several holes in it, similar to the ones on its hooves.

Sunset had never seen a changeling, but she had heard Twilight talk about Chrysalis, and she had to wonder if this was the infamous Changeling Queen herself. Her hand stayed under the bar as the creature studied the place, her fingers hovering over the emergency button that would immediately displace any creature in the establishment other than her back to their world.

The changeling stopped once she was inside and turned to study Sunset, with only a slight widening of her eyes disguising her own surprise as she took in everything, from her hair to her attire, to their size comparison. "Pardon my curiosity, but I don't recall seeing this establishment before. Are you new?"

"What? No." Sunset straightened out. "I'm a human. Sunset Shimmer, who are you?"

The changeling tilted her head, still studying her. "That name sounds familiar… I think Twilight Sparkle mentioned it at some point. Are you named after one of her friends? Or maybe you're one of the new elements?"

"Uh… no." Sunset shook her head before remembering that this was a potential client. "I'm very sorry, I just didn't anticipate a changeling guest, which I admit is my own fault. I'm a friend of Twilight Sparkle, yes. How do you know her?"

The changeling's eyes narrowed a little. "I am Queen Cheval, daughter of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. I'm Twilight's niece. And forgive my bluntness, but how would you not anticipate a changeling guest when your bar is in the middle of the Ponyville Hive?"

Sunset cringed, and gave Cheval a small smile. "Sorry, your Highness, this bar is really not there. The door did appear for you, however, so you must need a break."

Cheval took a slow, considering look around the bar, seeing the pictures on the wall. They were familiar to her, and yet not. Were it not for the manes on the creatures, she would have never recognized Pinkie Pie, Rarity and the other original Elements of Harmony as they stood—being completely different species—next to Sunset Shimmer in the photos. Curiously, there was another picture of her host, but injured in some manner, sitting in a wheelchair, with another human she did not recognize behind her, the pair holding hands with familiar intimacy. "Were you wounded at some point?"

Sunset chuckled. "Well, that's not me. Or... it is, just not... me-me." She blinked. "Explaining this is going to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated."

"I see." Cheval walked over to the bar and took a seat. "If we entertain the idea that you are indeed an otherworldly bartender, then I can assume you have no direct reason to fear me?”

Sunset's eyes widened as she understood the underlying message. "Oh. I'm very sorry, I didn't intend to come across like that… I haven't met any changelings before, and all I have to go with is what Twilight—my Twilight, that is—had to say about Queen Chrysalis."

Cheval nodded. "If that is all you had to go with, it is no wonder that you would be wary." She shook her head. "For too long we were seen as monsters, and ponies had good reason to think so: we would steal their most precious thoughts, memories, and feelings and feed off of them like leeches. Indiscriminate and voracious… never giving anything back." She shook her head. "Times have changed, but many still see us that way. Including us."

"True, but it still is a bad habit that I need to break, especially now that I'm the owner of this bar."

Cheval waved her hoof. "All is forgiven. I can't get drunk, however, so I am unsure as to how much this can help me relax."

Sunset shrugged. "I can always listen. I've never met a Changeling Queen before. Why don't you tell me about yourself? What's going on in your life?"

The changeling snorted. "You really are not from around here. Very well." She levitated a cocktail list and scanned it quickly. "I'll have a Piña Colada," she said, laying the list down and depositing two golden bits on the counter.

"Coming right up!" Sunset said, fishing out the ingredients.

"So you are wondering what it's like to be a changeling queen," Cheval mused as she watched Sunset start mixing. "In a word: lonely."

Sunset pressed her lips together as she blended the cocktail. "I imagine there's a lot to being a queen that distances you from the subjects? Celestia was the same way—"

Cheval laughed. "Not at all, I mean lonely because it's hard to go out on a date!"

Sunset snorted and shook her head, pulling out the glass to pour out the Piña Colada, then decorating it with slices of pineapple and cherries on the rim. She set it down with a straw in front of Cheval, who took an appreciative look at it before taking a sip.

"So, pardon my forwardness," Sunset said, once Cheval gave a hum of approval, "but you look like you could have any stallion around just by giving them the right look."

"Well, yes, but being physically attractive doesn't compensate for being a single mom," Cheval said. "Plus, I am royalty. And rich. And I can change into anything they desire. They're all for it if you flick your tail, but when you mention the fifty thousand children… it tends to chill any relationship fairly quickly."

"They run away," Sunset said.

"The honest ones do," Cheval said, "But they're not the worst. The worse ones are the ones that stick for a while, and then they think they have a right to your kids."

"I… can't say I’ve experienced that."

"Trust me, it's a pain." Cheval levitated her drink. "To staying single!" she toasted, raising an eyebrow at Sunset, who shook her head with a smile, pulled out a bit from her pocket and put it on top of Cheval's payment before she poured herself a small shot of tequila, and toasted along.

"May it never happen to me," she coughed after they had drank. "The other Sunset seemed pretty happy with Gilda."

"Dating always goes better for others, especially if they are young and mostly careless," Cheval said disdainfully. "The grass is always greener and all that. When you have some sort of responsibility, however, it's either too much for them to deal with, or you being responsible turns into you ignoring them. Because it's always about them. That's when you know it's toxic."

"Right…" Sunset sighed. "It seems like relationships are really a coin-toss."

Cheval shrugged. "I'm immortal. I have time to find the right stallion over and over."

Sunset shook her head, putting away her shot glass and cleaning the surface of the bar. "But even if they're not perfect, it can't be that bad, right?"

Cheval took a sip of the drink, seeming to enjoy the fruity flavor. Despite her earlier claim of not being able to get drunk, at least she seemed able to enjoy the flavors. "I suppose not, for most. A changeling, however, can feel if your love for them increases or decreases over time, and it is… difficult, sometimes, if your feelings for them were genuine to know it's happening."

She sighed.

"Perhaps it is as simple as accepting that monsters will never find true happiness." Cheval gave a little shrug. "But I have been known to make mistakes."

Sunset pursed her lips. "You know, considering that this whole thing started with Rarity having romantic issues, I shouldn't be surprised that this seems to be a common trend across the multiverse."

Cheval smirked. "I might not indulge in frequent visits to bars, but isn't that part of the job description?"

Sunset crossed her arms. "I'm fairly certain that the actual job description limits itself to basic customer service."

Cheval chuckled, finishing off her Piña Colada. "This has been a nice short break, Sunset Shimmer, but I should probably head back to my duties."

"Yeah…" Sunset slid out a silver card and gave it to Cheval. "Hey… I'm sorry I was a bit nervous when I first saw you. But for the record, if you ever need some space and someone to talk to, my bar will always be open. You should be able to find a door here if you have that card on you."

Cheval carefully took the card, then smiled. "Well, a Queen can hardly accept a gift without giving something in return."

Before Sunset's amazed eyes, Cheval was enveloped in green flames, and out of them emerged...

"Gilda?"

"Come here, honey" the rough-looking, white-haired girl said—right voice, wrong attitude—leaning over the bar. Before Sunset knew what was happening, she was being kissed. The pair remained like that for a moment, before Gilda leaned back, sensually taking her seat.

"I—"

"Love can grow anywhere, Sunset Shimmer," Gilda said, and a second later she was staring at Rarity. "But it appears that the tanned girl wasn't what you were looking for. Is this more appealing?"

"I—"

Rarity laughed before more flames brought back Cheval, who smiled wryly at her. "I think you will have plenty of time to discover who you love, but…" A thought seemed to come to her. "Do you have a glass container?"

"I—uh-huh."

Cheval accepted the offered glass jar and leaned over and horked out a golden-brown slime—it looked almost like honey—that filled the jar to the top. It slowly seemed to lose its liquid properties and harden, becoming some sort of amber, glowing softly with an inner light.

"I uh…" The scene seemed to help Sunset get her senses back. "Wait. What is that? Did you just throw up in my bar?"

"Dealing with that is part of the job description, I'm sure," Cheval said, "but it is not that. This is a special changeling byproduct. Some spies used to use it to subtly reveal if their potential victims would provide sustenance with true love."

"Oh… wow…" Sunset didn't quite pick it up, but she was fascinated. "How does it work?"

"If there is love, it glows," Cheval said. "That simple. The stronger the love the stronger the glow."

"Right." Sunset looked at the jar glass suspiciously. "It's glowing right now."

Cheval's smile didn't fade as she winked and got off her seat, heading over to the door, swaying invitingly. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. "There's always the possibility for love between two creatures that have some things in common. Whether it becomes something else…" She bowed a little. "Well, I think we have all the time in the multiverse to find out. Until next time, Sunset Shimmer."

Author's Note

Third Wheel Series Thanks, GapJaxie for the story and allowing me to play around a bit with Cheval!

Like what you read? Remember that by joining my Patreon, you are helping the creation of more stories to enjoy!

Space-Time and Sensibility (Good Trooper Gilda - Post Fic)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D
Chapter 5

"And then I saw this," Gilda said, motioning with a claw at the door with a stone arch that suddenly was inside her ship.

Gleaming Shield studied the door for a moment, noticing the sign next to it, before Gilda simply stepped in.

"Welcome to Sunset's—"

"I don't believe I have ever been in this part of the ship before," Gilda said, trotting into the bar, and thoroughly ignoring the bartender's greeting. The griffon studied the room, then walked further in to take a look around the corner. Her eyes widened in awe at the gleaming, clean restroom visible from where she stood.

"Major, this bar is longer than the entire gondola. There should have been three cannons where the little mares' room is. There's a little mare's room. We've been using buckets for three weeks! Ever since that ramming attack stove in the old head!" She looked at the whole selection of alcohol on the shelves. "Major, you have to see this. The amount of grog here could keep me in this bar for the next three weeks!"

"Harmony forfend, Gilda." Gleaming Shield sighed, following the sergeant into the bar. "You're too young to be debauching in a place of ill repute."

Sunset started at the voice. It couldn't be…

A uniformed, unicorn version of Twilight Sparkle trotted into the bar, also smelling like she'd forgotten what the meaning of the word "soap" was. Unlike Gilda, however, she did notice Sunset. "By the grace of Her Immortal Majesty, what manner of creature are you?"

Upon hearing Twilight's question, Gilda trotted back to her and turned to face Sunset, studying her quietly for a moment, before giving a firm nod. "They look like someone plucked a schooner full of Parrots, Major."

Sunset's eyebrow twitched.

"Or ran amuck with a straight-razor in a Diamond Dog town, Gilda," Twilight replied, narrowing her eyes and studying Sunset's face.

"Could it be a stallion?"

Twilight hummed. "Hard to tell with all the clothes. Did we accidentally walk into a dressage stable?"

Sunset slammed her fist on the bar. "I'm a human, you idiots!"

To her credit, Twilight seemed unimpressed. "I say! The service here seems a tad rude."

"Unacceptable from a lowly bartender, that is, Major."

"Quite right." Twilight coughed into her hoof. "Tell me, my good monkey, how is it that you found your way into my bar?"

"Your bar?" Sunset asked, incredulous, completely forgetting her anger at the monkey remark. "This is my bar!"

"It's inside my gondola, which belongs to Her Majesty's very own Crystal Guards Flotilla. By military and naval Equestrian law, that makes it my bar."

Sunset growled, ignoring Gilda who presently seemed to be distracted by the pictures. "By multiverse law, which encompasses your universe, which encompasses your galaxy, which encompasses your solar system, which encompasses your world, which encompasses your country, which encompasses your thrice-damned military and naval laws, this bar belongs to me, Twilight."

Twilight stopped cold and glared at Sunset with such sheer anger that the latter silently questioned whether this was really Twilight Sparkle at all. "That's Major Gleaming Shield, soldier, and don't you forget it! And the laws you are quoting are questionable at best. You should feel honored to support Her Immortal Majesty's Equestrian Dominion's officers."

Sunset crossed her arms and glared right back. "That sounds as appealing as sticking my hand into the blender and having the resulting mess served to me as supper, only to discover it comes attached with a gas bill." She sniffed in disgust. "And I am neither a monkey nor a soldier. My name is Sunset Shimmer."

Twilight studied her for a moment. "Are you quite sure?" Before Sunset could answer, she approached the bar in an almost casual manner. "Sunset Shimmer? Really. Does the name Sol Invictus mean anything to you?"

Sunset blinked, taken aback by the slight threatening undertone in Twilight's voice despite her casual manner. "Not really? I think it means 'Invincible Sun'?"

"Have you ever been to Gould's Jetty? Or the Dragonstones?"

"I try to avoid Goa'ulds as a general rule, they're kind of pushy, and I have no need for three wishes right now."

"I have no idea what that means."

"Then, for once since this encounter started, we seem to have something in common," Sunset said, smiling brightly, "because I have no idea what you are talking about either."

"There's a bench warrant out on a unicorn named Sunset Shimmer for privateering without a letter of marque, waging private war, multiple counts of murder and mass kidnapping."

"WHAT?!"

"...or possibly slavery, we haven't found out where her victims dissapeared to, yet." Twilight hummed. "But I don't see any horn on you, and there aren't any accounts of Captain Shimmer being a shapeshifter."

Her horn glowed and Sunset felt a slight tingle around her. "Did you just scan me without consent?"

"Hrm. Negative result. Must be an odd coincidence," Twilight mused.

Twilight took that in stride. "In any case, Miss Shimmer, I am willing to grant that your bar seems to be a subspace bubble that found itself attached to my ship, in which case, I am in full rights to requisition as much as I need from your storage."

Sunset leaned forward. "You think I'm just going to let you pillage my bar?"

Twilight huffed in contempt. "Tell me, Miss Shimmer, if you were me, and every single race you knew of with a bipedal gait was an enemy of Her Immortal Majesty's Equestrian Dominion, would you take the sudden parasitization of your highly advanced aerial warship by an establishment run by bipedal apes with any sort of equanimity? Or would you occupy the carbuncle with every armed pony and griffon at your disposal? The only reason I am not doing that right now is for fear that my entire complement of Guards would promptly drink themselves under your admittedly sturdy-looking tables."

"You understand, Sparkle, that it is within my capabilities to displace you and Gilda from your gondola and drop the both of you within the halls of a Tartarus run by none other than Pinkie Pie?"

That seemed to give pause to Twilight for just a second, before she slowly smiled. "Why this is Tartarus, Miss Shimmer, nor am I ever out of it. And there is nopony of that name anywhere in this bar, unless you have a Twilight Sparkle hidden in your apron pocket?"

"Gilda, is there any chance you could knock some sense into Twilight?"

The griffon guffawed, "If it were that easy—" She stopped mid-sentence and cleared her throat. "I'm afraid there's no one of that name that I am aware of in this gondola."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Regardless, I refuse to let you pillage my bar."

"Well, I was about to pillage your fair bar, so I thought I ought to bring up the subject first," Twilight said, shrugging. "My dear monkey—"

"Human."

Twilight continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "...you know what port bars say about sailors?" She motioned towards the door. "I've got sixty ravening tars outside those doors looking to enact a perpetual Fleet Week on your lovely little establishment, which has been so unfortunate as to establish its metaphysical cotermination within our hull, for however long you remain. I suggest you allow us to exert our requisitions in exchange for my Guard barring entry to the crew. Who have been nursing a collective professional grudge ever since Celestia ended the rum ration about ten years back. They so rarely get the chance to enhance their limes with proper shipboard alcohol anymore."

Sunset tapped her fingers on the bar. "Fine."

Twilight and Gilda both seemed surprised. "Fine?"

"Fine. Fine." Sunset waved her arms. "Fine. Anything to get you both out of here. But if you're doing this, we're doing it by the rules or I won't get any of my stuff back from the providers. I'll need signed and stamped requisition orders."

After a brief moment, Twilight nodded, looking at her warily. "You seem oddly compliant now."

Sunset crossed her arms and shrugged. "I rather like my bar in one piece as it is. If all it takes is losing a few bottles, then that's what I'll do."

"Gilda, keep the monkey company," Twilight said turning—rather eagerly one might say—to head out the door. "Don't let any sailor in here until I have brought the paperwork."

Once the door closed Gilda and Sunset looked at each other with something akin to uncomfortable silence. Truth be told, Gilda could use the break from the constant bickering between her fellow soldiers and the ship's crew, who were not too happy about having their ship taken over, even if it was under Her Majesty's orders.

That, and the idea that they'd have a LOT of alcohol soon enough, was also appealing. Kinda sucked that the monkey would lose some of her stock, but all things considered, she was getting away easy.

"Gilda," Sunset said, clearing her throat. "I've met you in… other places, so I'm willing to ignore the crazy in favor of a more… amiable discussion. You said earlier you hadn't used a proper bathroom in a long time correct? I hate to say this but I can really tell. How about you take advantage that Major Sparkle is not here and use it first? I'll pour you a drink in the meantime."

Gilda narrowed her eyes. Pretty much since leaving port, she had been deprived of a good toilet, having to make due with buckets, and occasionally—as long as nogriff was around—the edge of the ship. Needless to say, the promise of a nice, clean toilet was a very, very good incentive. But it was clear this not-pirate, not-unicorn, so-called Sunset Shimmer was planning something.

Gilda was no fool. "Are you trying to bribe me with a shower and beer?"

"Yes."

"Fair enough," Gilda said, nodding in understanding. She glanced at the door, trotting over there to lock it before she came back in. At least this Sunset Shimmer knew better than to lie outright. "But I expect no less than a full pint of your best grog, Miss Shimmer."

"Far be it from me to deny a friend a good drink."

Gilda snorted and started walking towards the little fillies room. "You said you knew me from other places?" she asked, stopping on the way, glancing over to the bartender, wondering what her other self would have been doing. Had she stayed in Griffonstone? "Pray tell, what do I—this other me do?"

Sunset Shimmer shrugged. "Nothing much, as far as I know," she said, "I only know she's engaged…" She gave Gilda an odd look. "To a mutual acquaintance."

Gilda snorted. "Sure. Anyway, I'll be right back. Better have that ready for me."

Sunset Shimmer replied by lifting a rather large tankard and waving it at her.

Nodding, Gilda pushed the fillies room door open and stepped through… suddenly finding herself standing on the deck of the gondola. Behind her the door swung closed. Slowly, comprehension seeped into her and she opened the door, revealing only a ladder going further into the ship. "Bugger me."

"Sergeant!" Major Gleaming Shield called, stomping onto the deck, her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing out here? You were supposed to be on guard!"

Gilda gulped. "She tricked me, she did!" she said quickly, then, realizing this didn't put her in a good light, she cleared her throat. "She kept looking at the restrooms. I asked her if there was anygriff back there. She said no. I knew she was lying, so I went to check. Couldn't risk there being other monkeys in there, ma'am. In order to secure the premises, I had to check. Turns out she was lying about there actually being a toilet behind the door, damn her."

"Tsk." Gleaming Shield rolled her eyes. "And I had all the paperwork done. It's a good thing that I anticipated the honorless ape would do something like this, so I procured one of the bottles while using my shapeshifting-scan spell to mask it." She levitated a glass bottle decorated with three green apples and some sort of old ape depicted on the sticker.

Gilda narrowed her eyes as she read the label. "What in Hades is Scumble?"

"Don't know, don't care," Gleaming Shield said. "This will certainly be a worthy reward for our inconvenience. The bottle alone shows how much work went into it."

"Considering that it is reinforced with steel, I can't argue with that."

"Well then, let's go have a drink."

"In the middle of the day, ma'am?" Gilda asked rhetorically, following Gleaming Shield into the ship anyway.

"Shouldn't be too bad. We can always dilute it with some water."

Author's Note

Good Trooper Gilda

Thanks to MitchH for letting me mess around with these two! If you haven't read GTG, you definitely should!

(Mini-reminder as well that Gunsmoke Pre-orders are on! Don't miss your chance for the pre-order-only extras!)

Once Upon a Time (Game of Worlds - Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
Once Upon a Time (Game of Worlds - Fanfic)
By Wanderer D & Dual Thrones
Chapter 6

Chrysalis das Pupa, sole queen of the changeling race, descendant of the beloved Amaryss, creator of the Grand Scheme by which the Hive Throne and the Dual Thrones would be bound together by bonds of matrimony in accordance with the most ancient and respected tradition of two noble houses... was presently not having a very good day. It had started auspiciously enough: breakfast with Baroness du Luc, a great deal of very important (and frustratingly jargon-heavy) information on the state of the border from Thryssa’s chief logistician (things were in a very good state, it seemed), and a visit from Lady Maredusa’s invincibly cheerful daughter: Mara Belle.

Naturally, it only took a few minutes for everything to turn around and now, Chrysalis was shoving a door closed behind her so she could have a moment of peace to collect her thoughts in the corridors leading to Tettidora’s observatory. They tended to be empty unless Tetti was in the premises, and it just wouldn’t be dignified for her guards to see her seething, even if it was the Honor Guard, who were all on a first-name basis with the royal family.

She’d built up a good head of steam from remaining royal and composed during the pile-up of frustrations, so she’d already started to open the door before it registered that the door she was opening would lead to a drop of about a kilometer or so, and she stopped and stepped back.

A stone arch being above one of the palace doors was perfectly normal. But the palace, along with the city itself, used the black stone quarried from the Sailing Mountain and the arch was made of what Chrysalis swore was the Baltimarian soapstone that Maredusa never missed an opportunity to wax poetic about, and the door made of what appeared to be the unusually fragrant oak that grew around Stalliongrad. But what really drew her notice was that the door was emblazoned with a cutie mark she didn’t recognize—and there was a little bistro chalkboard beside it announcing that the special of the day was a lemon schnapps with chocolate mint garnish. Her favorite.

"...I can’t help but feel like I’ve been extended an invitation," she said to the door. Then she shrugged, put on her very best pleasant royal expression, and pushed the door open, stepping through.

'Who in their right mind would want lemon schnapps with chocolate mint garnish?' Sunset wondered silently as she stared at the recipe. Sure, she'd made some similar mixes, but the flavor profile… would it be palatable? Dried lemon with chocolate wasn't too bad but schnapps… Her thoughts were interrupted by the silver bell announcing the arrival of a new guest. 'Please. For the love of the multiverse, please let it not be another army-type Twilight.'

As if hearing her plea, the visitor turned out to be a changeling. She shared quite a bit of that royal aura that Cheval had when she had visited, but this changeling looked a lot more cagey, much more experienced and wary. In fact, there was something about this changeling that was oddly familiar, not that she had ever met her before, but Sunset felt like she should know who this changeling was.

She was taller than Sunset would have been in her pony form, so that set her roughly at the same height as her human form. Unlike Cheval's shorter mane, this changeling had a long, green mane that somehow managed to make her neck seem more slender. Her green eyes shone with a deep intelligence and a sharp mind, and overall she looked a lot more dangerous than Cheval had seemed at first glance.

Looks were always deceiving of course, but sometimes they deceived you only into seeing the immediate threat, rather than the whole package. Still. This was a guest and a customer, and Sunset Shimmer had met other changelings before, and so far, the worst experience hadn't been them.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai," she said, smiling confidently, "I'm Sunset Shimmer, co-owner of this bar, please take a seat. What would you like to drink today?"

Chrysalis stopped upon being greeted by… she wasn’t quite sure. The general structure was like a Diamond Dog or one of the variants of dragon that walked upright (like Princess Ember) but the creature had a mane and her teats were on her upper body instead of where a pony’s would be. But there was no time to gape; the creature was smiling, had given her name, and was inviting her to sit, and it would be extremely uncouth to continue standing in the doorway.

"Good afternoon, Sunset Shimmer," she replied, making a conscious attempt to still the slight vibrato that was natural to changeling voices, aware that some creatures found the auditory effect to be unsettling. "I am…" She paused, considering whether the title would be appropriate, "Chrysalis das Pupa, although Chrysalis would be fine. Your bistro sign advertised a lemon schnapps with a chocolate mint garnish, and I would very much like one, if you please."

She then stepped towards one of the stools, considered it for a moment, before maneuvering herself so she could rest her rump on it. The feeling was odd, but the stool was a well-crafted one and was actually comfortable despite forcing her to adopt a slightly convoluted posture to seat herself, and she could still flick her tail comfortably.

"I must admit, Sunset Shimmer, that this is the first time I’ve had an Isekai spontaneously added to my home, much less one that comes with its own staff and foreign decor," she commented, smiling as broadly as she could without exposing her incisors (another part of changelings she’d discovered was very unsettling to other races).

Sunset's smile had frozen in her face when she heard the name. 'Different world. Different world,' she told herself silently. 'Remember Cheval, not all changelings are bad.' "So, uh, Q-Queen Chrysalis, huh?" she stammered, bowing a little. "It's quite an honor, your Majesty."

She shook her head, taking advantage of her bow to collect herself. This wasn't the time to freak. Rarity and her own experience had warned her that different versions of her friends (and enemies) could and most likely would visit the bar. She took a deep breath and stood up fully. "And I will get to that right away."

As she started preparing the drink and calmed down, she looked up to the Queen, who was glancing around the bar curiously. "Well, my bar has a tendency to appear wherever it feels like. Usually where people… or should I say anycreature, feels like they need a break, and I'm happy to provide that for them."

She served the drink in a martini glass, decorating it with both the chocolate mint garnish and regular mint leaves on the edge for more visual effect, before placing it on the bar and sliding it forward with her fingertips at the base. "One Lemon Schnapps with Chocolate Mint Garnish."

She took a towel and busied herself by cleaning a glass while studying the queen. "It's only a temporary addition, by the way, hopefully I did not offend anycreature," she added, but it seemed like the Queen hadn't been listening at all.

The royal mask of a pleasant, kindly smile vanished immediately and she had furrowed her brow. "You know my name," she stated, not stifling the vibrato this time. "More than that, your first reaction to my name is fear. Not nervous fear, or a fear of the unknown, but a personal fear." Her horn glowed very softly with a viridian light. "You’re… afraid of my name."

’It makes no sense, this creature, this… Sunset Shimmer would have no reason to know me by name,’ she said to herself ’I’m certain that Celestia made an effort to conceal the events of the Exile, to prevent all manner of horror stories from springing up and growing in the telling, but any such tales would be of my race; no pony would know me by name.’

"I have no reason to wish you harm, Sunset Shimmer," she said after a moment. "I know neither you, nor your species, and you greeted me kindly before I told you my name, so you do not know my face. Who taught you to fear the name Chrysalis, but not the visage of the queen Chrysalis?"

"Oh." Sunset felt her face go red. "I'm sorry, it's not exactly you specifically, perhaps I should clarify the nature of this place, huh?" She took a deep breath and leaned back, looking around her bar fondly. "Funny enough this place is not actually in your world. 'Isekai' is a word from another language that a friend suggested… it means 'another world', or in this case 'other world'. And, if you're familiar with the multiverse theory, you might also know that there are an infinite number of versions of ourselves out there."

She walked over to the pictures and picked one up, going behind the bar again and standing in front of Chrysalis with the picture of Sunset and Gilda. "You see, this girl here is not actually me-me, she's just me from another world, and that's her girl, Gilda. They were my very first guests.

"Queen Chrysalis is also somepony important in other worlds, although not always benevolent." She grimaced, shrugging. "In my original world, Princess Twilight told me about an invasion attempt by the Queen Chrysalis of her world, although I never met her. You are not my first changeling guest, so I am somewhat used dealing with changeling royalty one-on-one… but to clarify… I'm not frightened by you specifically… it was just surprise, really."

Chysalis blinked slowly at Sunset as the girl explained the entire situation. ’So, this is a fragment of one of those worlds Nachtmiri spoke of, she thought. ’And if what the du Dune explorers reported to Queen Vespa is accurate, this bar of hers adheres to my palace like the Archive adheres to whatever structure it attaches to when it stabilizes.’

Her reaction to being told about her counterpart in another reality, however, was to blink several times, and then the corners of her muzzle began to twitch in an attempt to stop herself from laughing. ’Invasion? Of Equestria?’ The thought was making it harder for her to stop herself, but she found she didn’t care. ’And an attempt? Not even a successful invasion?’

After a few more moments of resistance, Chrysalis lost the battle and began to laugh. Her laugh was somewhat lispy, and the vibrato was quite prominent, but it was a deep belly laugh of pleasure and amusement, not even slightly scornful. "My counterpart invaded Equestria, did she?" It took her a few moments to bring herself under control, but she was smiling broadly now, too broadly not to also be displaying her incisors. "And how did that work out, hmm? How far did Celestia punt her, all the way back to the Barrens?"

She shook her head, clearly in a very good mood now. "Young lady, one does not enter the home of the strong mare and despoil her goods without first binding the strong mare. And with the number of strong people in Equestria—Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle, her friends, the various ambassadors constantly in attendance, innumerable classes from Celestia’s School—one does not invade Equestria. Study Celestia closely, until you learn her every tic and habit, and then imitate her long enough to achieve your goals? That, Sunset Shimmer, is the only path to victory in Equestria and any changeling who fails to consider that path and follow it is a fool.

"Not that I would do so unless forced," she added as she accepted the drink from Sunset. "I prefer peace with my people’s ancestral home. I prefer that I and Celestia and Luna should regularly sit at tea and tell each other stories, and be friends." She delicately grasped the sprig of chocolate mint in between her front teeth before taking a sip of lemon schnapps, causing the liquid to run over the mint as it entered her mouth, before she used a very gentle touch of magic to return the sprig to where it was placed as a garnish. "The way things used to be for the queens of my people. When we were her sword, and shield. When we were her little ponies, and her younger sister’s army, protecting our home and the other three races."

Sunset chuckled, relaxing a little. "Yeah. Very different world. And I hear you on the invading army, bad idea. Especially if you think a boost in power will be enough." She sighed. "I'm glad to know that in this world you are friends. So, you said that you're not there anymore but there's peace? What about Shining Armor and Cadance? Are you their friend as well?"

"It’s… not quite accurate to call us friends as yet," Chrysalis said. "That is my aspiration, certainly, but at this stage our belief is that Celestia is unaware that our race is still alive. We’re unsure of Luna; she escaped the bonds of her moon only a year ago at most and she hasn’t attempted to seek us out." She sipped again, this time without the leaf of chocolate mint.

"As to Shining Armor…" She smiled broadly again. "He’s a delightful young stallion. Intelligent, handsome, has distinguished himself in his career, and according to my youngest daughter, ten out of ten Guards agree that their captain is a hopeless doofus whenever he’s around his fiancee." She lightly swirled the remaining drink in her glass. "I’ve been excited by the prospect of having him as a son-in-law ever since they announced their intent to marry."

"Wait. Cadance is your daughter?!" Sunset asked, eyes wide. "Wow. Talk about different, I mean, when I was Celestia's student and met Cadance, she always told me she was an orphan… not that she was a changeling in that world. You know, it's really funny, one of my guests was pony-Cadance's adopted daughter, and she was a changeling."

She shook her head again. "It seems that no matter where we are you and her are involved somehow."

"Is it really surprising that the Princess of Love would have some relationship to the ponies who need a daily cup of hugs for good health and nutrition?" Chrysalis chuckled a little. "And in my reality, I suppose you’d put it, ‘Cadance’ is the name Celestia gave her when she adopted her as her niece—political considerations made it impossible for her to adopt her as a daughter—but her given name is Chidinida. The explanation is long but the summary is, we used magic called a ‘guise lock’ when Chidinida was born to keep her within the disguise of a lovely little pink alicorn. A couple of my guards were assigned to act as her real parents, ‘die’ tragically, and Celestia adopted the poor ‘orphan’ and raised her as her own."

Chrysalis beamed, very nearly glowing with pride. "It is my magnum opus, Sunset Shimmer. Tradition and law going back over a thousand years is that with the marriage of the child of one noble house to the other, the two houses become one. With the marriage of my blood daughter to the adopted son of Celestia, our families will be joined. The Exile will be over. Once again, as the pegasi manage the weather, and the earth ponies bring forth the bounty of the land, and the unicorns are given to the study and use of the arcane arts, the changelings will be the soldiers of Equestria, the Sword and Shield of the Dual Thrones to protect Celestia’s little ponies against any danger."

Sunset slowly closed her mouth. "I—that raises a LOT of questions, but if I asked you everything I don't think we would finish talking in a week." She chuckled. "One of the many things I need to learn if I am to manage this bar, is to not be too curious, I guess. So let's talk about the happy things then." She leaned forward. "When are you expecting grandkids?"

The overjoyed look on Chrysalis’ face when talking about her grand design faded immediately on Sunset asking about grandkids. "When fate stops contriving to interfere with their happiness," she said with a sigh. "At first it was the little things—the dressmaker Chidi preferred being caught up in a large project at the last moment, Shining having to supervise a deployment to ward off a raid by the yetis, a very thorny diplomatic matter where Celestia felt that Cadance’s unique insights into love were vital—but then, when they’d practically named a date... "

She shook her head. "We’re still not clear about the details. We can only gather information about the doings of Celestia by the observation of spies—no replacements, disguised changelings who’d been living in Canterlot and were hired on merit—so what I know is quite vague. But it transpires that in my reality at least, Twilight Sparkle is the firstborn foal of Celestia. You can well imagine the kind of chaos that caused."

"Wow. I mean… a few years back, finding that out would have made me really jealous." Sunset sighed. "It seems however that things are progressing okay? Even if Twilight is Celestia's daughter, did Cadance—I'm sorry, was it Chidinida? Anyway, did she also babysit her in this universe? Does Twilight love her brother? As long as there's trust between those three, I don't see why your daughter should have any trouble marrying him. Especially with your blessing…" Sunset paused and gave her a questioning glance. "She does know she's your daughter, right?"

"If it was merely the discovery, that would have been resolved in fairly short order. But it became part of some grand design that no one was aware of but the conspirators, to throw the world into disorder and then into the claws of some abomination that called itself ‘the Guardian’. Twilight was murdered by the conspirators, and Celestia’s mind came completely apart from rage and grief. She fell in the same way her sister had, becoming the nightmare Flare. Everything was eventually put to rights, and Twilight somehow restored to life but Equestria was shattered, many ponies killed in the struggle to pull the monster down. In those circumstances, you can imagine that any talk of a royal wedding was put on hold."

"But yes, on to happy things." Another sip. "Yes, Chidi foalsat Twilight and they remain the best of friends, practically sisters. Yes, Twilight loves her brother although his duties have made it so they have had to struggle to remain close; Twilight spending a great deal of time with her mother, where her brother is on duty, helps."

Chrysalis grinned. "Yes, Chidinida knows she’s my daughter. It came as quite a shock for her but if you’ve met Cadance, you know how she is: she practically radiates empathy. She wasn’t very pleased with me—a completely reasonable response, no question—but she understood. The best part was Shining Armor learning that she’s my daughter."

Sunset laughed. "Okay, this I've got to hear. I knew Shining from my time at Celestia's school, so I can get a very clear image of his expression. It's too bad you couldn't have gotten a picture of him… which reminds me, before you leave, can I take a picture with you?" She motioned to the wall, where a growing number of pictures was displayed. "I'm probably going to run out of wall eventually, but it would be nice to add this visit to the memories."

"It was after Chidinida learned of our relationship," Chrysalis said. "We lifted the guise lock so she could shift between the form of an alicorn and the form of changeling royal, but she was learning how to do as an adult what most changeling foals learned before they could read or write so she tended to slip out of form without noticing. So one morning, she gets up first and goes to make Shining breakfast. He wakes up and goes into the kitchen, and Chidinida had reverted and was beaming at him with a plate of waffles cut to look like a smiley face and according to Chidi…" She grined widely. "...Shining makes adorably mare-like sounds when surprised. It didn’t take him long to recognize his fiancee’s mannerisms—Chidi is the only mare I know who radiates sunshine and cheer in the morning without needing a cup of wake-up—but that’s how he found out that his fiancee was my daughter. He handled meeting me without any issues, but he’d had plenty of time to fit his head around the thought."

While Sunset doubled down laughing, Chrysalis turned to look at the wall, and her eyes went immediately to the picture of Cheval. "...Who… who is that?" She pointed at the picture with a hoof and this close, Sunset noticed that instead of holes going completely through her legs, Chrysalis merely had depressions in her chitin that someone skilled with a carving knife has integrated into attractive whorls and arcs, almost looking like tattooing but carved instead of inked.

"Oh, that's Cadance's daughter, Cheval," Sunset said. "I'm not sure about how that happened in her world, since I didn't get the impression that Cadance herself was a changeling, but she's Twilight's niece, Flurry Heart's sister, and Queen of the Ponyville Hive." Sunset blushed slightly. "We didn't talk much about her history besides some basic details, since she was a bit stressed about her dating situation and being a single mother. We talked dating." Sunset cleared her throat. "She's… very charming." She studiously ignored the slightly glowing container next to the cashier.

"She was my first customer, and I thought when I saw her it was you, to be honest. She thought I was just one of those creatures that were xenophobic about changelings but… well…" She motioned with her hands at the bar. "Multiverse."

Chrysalis frowned, looking at the picture. "Is her build and those… holes… ordinary for changelings where she comes from? Where I come from, a changeling whose chitin had been completely eaten through like that had to have suffered years of severe love starvation. Severe, nearly to the point of fatal. I hope that’s not what was ailing her, and that her appearance is merely one of those differences in our realities."

"I'm afraid that's the case, your Majesty," Sunset said, "as in it being the norm where she's from. From what I heard from my Princess Twilight, that was also the case of her own Queen Chrysalis. So far, you and her are the only two changelings I've met in person, so I can't really tell you if that's how it is for the rest of the multiverse. But, on a happier note, you'll notice she got Shining's mane."

This observation caused Chrysalis to look again, and she smiled. "Yes, yes she does. Perhaps I’m looking at a hint of my own daughter’s future; the decades-long guide lock had an unanticipated effect on her. Not a bad one just one very… interesting. Tettidora—my third daughter, and the family genius—theorizes that the lock caused the magic that lets her change guises to ‘forget’ what she originally looked like." Chrysalis finished off her glass, including the chocolate mint garnish, and stood. "I feel I should return to being a queen instead of reminiscing with a friendly barkeep with her own little pocket world. I feel much… relieved of my burdens now, and I am grateful to you."

"Well," Sunset said with a chuckle, "that's what I'm here for." She reached behind the bar and pulled out a silver card, which she offered to Chrysalis. "This is my bar's card. That means that if you ever need a drink…" She shrugged. "Just go somewhere private and tap it. At least that's how I'm told it works. And, I also want to thank you for being patient with me at the start. I knew you were not the Chrysalis from my world, but it helped a lot to talk to you and see you as a person and not some sort of mental boogeymare. I think if I ever meet another one of you, I'll be much better prepared to accept them. Oh! And before I forget, if you don't mind the picture? I had to catch up to Cheval on her way out to take that one, and I'd rather just have a nice one with you."

Chrysalis smiled broadly at her, in an almost maternal fashion. "I’d be delighted, Sunset Shimmer." She accepted the card into her telekinetic grip and, with a sound somewhat like a zzort it simply… vanished into thin air. "Personally, I doubt it’ll work. There are some moments, some places, where you go there and enjoy, but you can never return to them. So you move along, tucking them away into a corner of your mind to relive when you need them. But I hope this card works as you say. Now, if you’ll direct me how to stand, let’s get you your memento and after, I’ve one last question of you."

"Sure! Also, do you mind if I take the picture with both of us in it? I want to send it to my Princess Twilight too," Sunset said, coming around the bar with her cell phone. At her nod of consent, Sunset shimmied over and lifted her camera, grinning at it right next to the Queen, taking a couple of selfies for her wall and to freak out her friend. Once that was done, she stored the phone and stepped back, bowing. "Thank you, your Majesty."

Chrysalis had made sure to give the strange device her warmest, most genuine smile. "You are not my subject, Sunset, nor even part of my world; you needn’t use any kind of title when addressing me if you don’t wish to. Now before I go, I was curious about something. Did you have any manner of relationship with Celestia? I don’t mean romantic or intimate, but… perhaps a hoofmaiden, or a student?"

"Oh," Sunset sighed, a small smile playing on her lips. "I was her snarky disciple. Went evil, left home, learned a hard lesson, and now I'm a different species, Twilight's student in friendship, and quite honestly… a lot happier. I even made peace with Princess Celestia. Why do you ask?"

"Because as I’ve sat here, speaking with you, I realized that I knew your mark, and something about you was familiar as well." Chrysalis smiled to her again. "I don’t believe anyone knows what became of you in my world, Sunset Shimmer, but not because you fled in shame, or anger, or because of some petty dispute with a teacher. Celestia has an eye for exceptional ponies, whether to found a little town in the hinterlands, to sire her foal, to save her sister—or for other important things. No one knows where you have gone in my world, Sunset, but we know two things: a gifted young pony under the personal tutelage of the Princess of the Sun disappeared, and at the same time, an artifact of great power that no one could have gotten unless Celestia gave it to them, disappeared as well. I can’t say for certain if these things are connected, but Celestia doesn’t give her trust to evil ponies."

Chrysalis bowed her head in Sunset’s direction, somewhat deeper than is normal for a pony bidding another farewell. "Just something to think on, and maybe draw some small joy from. Perhaps there are some worlds where a beloved student didn’t flee, but was sent forth to accomplish something important. Thanks for the drink." And with that, the changeling queen turned and disappeared out the door, closing it behind her.

"Huh," Sunset said, walking around the bar and picking up the glass the queen had used. Slowly a smile formed on her lips as she proceeded to wash it. "Yeah. That is pretty cool."

Author's Note

Game of Worlds thanks to Dual Throne for writing this with me, it was fun!

Krogan Traditions (Sparkle's #1 Assistant)

Sunset's Isekai
Krogan Traditions ([Sparkle's No. 1 Assistant]Sparkle's #1 Assistant](https://www.fimfiction.net/story/184299/sparkles-no-1-assistant) - Fanfic)
By Wanderer D
Chapter 7

"Anything so far, EDI?" Twilight asked on her way down to the lower decks.

"My search for any information concerning the Pathfinder continues, Commander. Currently I am translating all alien transmission protocols I have encountered and using what information we have to obtain reliable information. I will inform you of anything I find."

"Good. Not knowing who we're dealing with is giving me a headache." Twilight hummed and emerged from the elevator, making her way to the infirmary. It didn't take long before she stood there, studying the surprising addition to the ship. Granted, it was her first time in this particular area (she had first checked the guns) and as such, this could be some sort of aesthetic decision made by someone who shouldn't be making aesthetic decisions. But it seemed unlikely.

"EDI?" she called out.

"Yes, Commander?"

"Why is there an oak door with a rock frame inside the infirmary?"

"I… do not believe there is one, Twilight."

"Yep. There definitely is. I'm looking at it right now. It seems to have some sort of cutie mark on it too. It appears to be the entrance to a bar, if we go by the blackboard sign."

"If anyone would have an entrance to a bar inside the Normandy, it would be Dr. Chakwas."

"I'm sorry, EDI, what was that?"

"Nothing, Twilight," EDI replied smoothly, "I recommend sealing the infirmary and setting a standard quarantine protocol until we can establish the exact nature of this phenomenon."

"...nah. I think I'll go in and check it out."

"Of course you will," EDI responded. "I can see now that the very human need to ignore the logical signs of potential danger in favor of ephemeral adrenaline-induced rewards is tragically shared with other sentient species... such as unicorns."

Twilight blinked. "EDI, are you developing sarcasm?"

"I have dedicated several processes to understand and communicate adequate disdain whenever it seems appropriate," the AI reported. "I am happy to inform that the process has been running for several years and that the results are conclusive."

Twilight nodded, knowing that EDI would be able to see her. "I am both impressed and concerned." She smirked. "But I guess a drink would help with that."

"Commander, as much as valuable a lesson could potentially be learned by meandering into the unknown, barely prepared and heavily armed, I feel it is my responsibility to inform you that going alone is a bad idea by any metric."

"Oh. I'm not planning to."

Sunset sighed, slipping in the new picture she had taken with Rarity into a frame, and putting it up with the others. True, Istar had been a fleeting beauty, as her friend/partner had said, but as always, Rarity had failed to mention small details, such as the fact that it was fleeting because the local gods decided to smash a meteor on it just as the whole city broke into a rebellion.

And just because it had happened in the past and it couldn't be changed didn't make her feel any better to see what amounted to bloody violence ending in fire. On the plus side, the food in the Kingrpriest's banquet hall had been great.

She frowned and shook her head. Not great enough to merit the panicked run through the streets until they had reached her bar. She'd have to get used to not trying to change the future. That old coot, Fizban had been very insistent on that one.

"Alright… two crates of Xak Tsaroth Red, one box of Black Peak, two crates of Mithas Brandy… note to self: contact Kaziganthi de-Orilg next time I visit that time period. What else… six bottles of Elvenblood Wine… and four kegs of Dwarven Deepbrew." She ticked off everything in the scroll, then turned around and updated her stock on the tablet.

She sighed and looked around the bar. "Just how many secrets do you have in here?" she wondered. "Seriously, though. An armory with a full plate armor set? Just... " She shook her head. "I can't even."

Just then the silver bell rang, announcing her new guests. Quickly, she threw the swords, bow, and arrows, magic staff and robes under the bar itself and into the "lost and found" box, then started wiping the surface. The last thing she needed was for new customers to think she had just participated in an Ogres and Oubliettes game in her bar and forgotten to clean up. It was thankfully quick to straighten out, as she had thankfully not needed to engage in combat at all, and there was no blood, and—if she had it her way—she never would.

For a moment, nothing happened, then, a familiar magical signature tingled the edge of her senses, and a gun floated into the room, followed by an armored unicorn Twilight Sparkle. The black armor with the white and red stripes hugged her shape, but seemed comfortable enough to wear, if a little unusual for unicorns.

Then again, this was clearly not her Twilight Sparkle.

She was about to greet her when she heard the thumps that preceded the arrival of a dinosaur-like creature in armor of similar make to Twilight's. It had a red crest on top of his head, and although it looked reptilian for the most part, she couldn't help but compare the face to some bats that Fluttershy had shown her once. The pair looked like they could fight an army and come out victorious.

It was surreal.

She cleared her throat. "Uh, welcome to Sunset's Isekai!" she said, smiling as the pair turned to face her. "My name is Sunset Shimmer, and I'll be your bartender tonight."

The Twilight with the gun held her gaze for a moment before sighing and putting away her gun, which collapsed into a small tube and attached to her armor before she turned and slapped ten bits on the claw/hand of the creature that had followed her in. "Alright, Wrex, how did you know?"

"Ehehehe," the creature named Wrex chuckled. "I'm not going to tell you every secret I know, Sparkle. That's a story for another time."

"So, uh…" Sunset cleared her throat. "What can I get for you?"

Twilight levitated a menu. "The Psychotic Biotic for me. Wrex?"

"Burukh," he said, his gravelly voice slightly amused. "It's the black bottle on the second level, closest to the cashier."

"Right."

Sunset proceeded to make the cocktails, all the while feeling Twilight's eyes on her. "So, you're a human, huh? Alliance?"

"Alliance? I don't think there's one where I come from… I take it you haven't met your Sunset Shimmer yet?" Sunset asked. "I'm surprised, that's usually…" She trailed off, noticing this Twilight had no wings. "Well, I guess it might not be time yet."

"My Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight asked, confused. She narrowed her eyes. "So it is a space-time bubble unrelated to my own timeline. Interesting. By your statement I'm to assume you are a repeating anomaly?"

"So are you," Sunset replied, setting down the red cocktail for Twilight before carefully pouring the Burukh in a glass for Wrex, then setting it on fire with a snap of her fingers. "I know a Pr—Twilight Sparkle in Equestria, she hatched a dragon… not a—" She gave Wrex a quizzical look.

"Krogan," Wrex supplied watching the liquor boil before blowing off the fire and downing it in one gulp. "Ha! That hits the spot. Now, how about a glass of Ryncol to chase it down, Sunny?"

"A krogan, yes. And she had a human counterpart in the dimension I've lived in for the last few years. Her 'dragon' in this other world is a dog," she explained as she went over to fetch his drink. "Then there was the one I last met…" She made a sour face and shook her head before pouring the glass. "Here's your drink, sir."

"Call me Wrex. It'll make things easier in the future."

"Will do," Sunset said, smiling as she studied the pair. "I'm guessing I'm missing a lot of history here, so, unless you want me to read your mind, why don't you guys tell me about your relationship?" She picked up the Elvenblood Wine bottles and started organizing them.

"I hatched him," Twilight started to explain, but sighed when Wrex snorted. "Okay, so not… hatched... exactly, since he was in stasis within an ezoo-powered capsule that landed in Equestria a long time ago. But—apparently—the ponies in Celestia's school thought it was some sort of mutated dragon egg."

"I took up her education from then on, whenever Sun-butt needed her concentrating on other things," Wrex explained. "And now she's—"

"Commander Twilight Sparkle," Twilight interrupted.

'Great.' Sunset thought. "So… you're not going to try to 'requisition my booze', right?"

Twilight gave her a glare. "We're soldiers, not pirates. Besides, the Normandy already has a bar. Granted, not as well stocked as this one, but decent enough."

"Thank Celestia," Sunset muttered, relaxing her shoulders. "I thought I was going to have another of those situations."

"So what is this place?" Twilight asked, motioning with her hoof.

"It's a bar, Sparkle," Wrex intoned, "I've taken you to bars before. In fact, you've destroyed half of them."

"Only for legitimate reasons! One was harboring criminals, and the other one was collateral damage not instigated by me!"

"What about the one in lower Canterlot that I took you to for your thirteenth birthday?"

"You took her to a bar for her thirteenth birthday?!" Sunset hissed.

"In all fairness," Twilight responded undaunted, "he did not let me drink anything too alcoholic."

"Too alcoholic."

"Right."

"And you destroyed this bar in Lower Canterlot... why?" Sunset asked.

"I asked for a Pina Colada and they gave me a virgin version."

"You were thirteen!"

"It was a Pina Colada!" Twilight countered. "That's as 'virgin' as it gets! You don't have to add a chastity belt to it!"

Sunset studied Twilight for a moment in silence before she decided it was not worth arguing. "Right. So… this is my bar. It appears where creatures need a different kind of drink."

"Interesting, do you have a system to appear in some specific places, or is it just random?"

Sunset shrugged. "I sort of let it happen. I can decide to leave or even go back to a place if I want to, or if I know a specific place I want to visit, that can be done. I'm completely new to the Multiverse, so my choices are limited by my current knowledge." She tilted her head. "You said you were on the Normandy?"

"It's my ship."

Wrex snorted.

"Okay, it's Commander Shepard's ship, but, since I'm the closest thing to Shepard left, it is mine by default."

Sunset looked at Wrex, who simply shrugged. "It's true. If Shepard had been born a little unicorn filly, with unnatural magical prowess and was trained by a Krogan Warlord and given her own command… yeah, she'd be the closest thing, I suppose."

"Right now I have some of Shepard's crew and Princess Luna, along with my very own strike-team, in the ship, and we're heading over to rescue a little filly that was kidnapped by space pirates," Twilight said.

Sunset's eyes went wide. "Oh. Damn. Is she—"

"She was rescued," Twilight said, raising a hoof and then sipping her drink. "But not by us, now we have to figure out who this so-called Pathfinder is, and get Dinky back." She grimaced. "Maybe then Derpy will finally join the team."

"Derpy?" Sunset asked, blinking. "Derpy Hooves?"

"Oh, you know her?"

"Probably not the same," Sunset said, frowning. "The one I know was a very awkward teenager."

"Well this one is a very awkward pony," Wrex said, "but good with explosives, and a dedicated parent." He shrugged. "Can't find a fault in that."

Sunset nodded slowly. "Yes. I can see how that would be a bonus."

"Right?" Twilight sighed. "I mean, how can she prefer working for the Post Office over this?"

"Maybe you should sit down and find out what her priorities are when you have a moment?" Sunset suggested. "You might not be getting the whole picture. If she's a mother, she might be concentrating her time on her kid and might want a job that involves less bodily harm so her daughter doesn't end up orphaned."

"Huh." Twilight leaned back. "That's probably true. I haven't really asked her what she wants, I just assumed… heh. You're alright, Shimmer."

"You know," Wrex spoke up, "we have a tradition in the Normandy."

Twilight blinked, then looked from him to Sunset. "I mean, she's cute enough, I don't know if she's into mares…"

Wrex turned to look at Twilight. "I meant besides you and Octavia banging (or trying to bang) every mare you meet."

"Oh."

"Anyway, before a big mission Shepard and the crew would have a good drinking competition," he said, digging into his armor and pulling out a hefty bag of gold bits, which he set on the counter. "And the bartender would join."

"I-I'm not sure…"

"Oh, come on, Sunny," Twilight said, "don't tell me you own a bar and can't handle a couple of drinks?"

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "What do you have in mind?"

Wrex leaned back, a smug grin on his face. "Well. I do see a few kegs of Dwarven Deepbrew right there. I think there's more than enough bits to cover the cost of at least one."

"I'm going to regret this…" Sunset muttered. "Come on, let's take a picture together so I can add it later, and I'll set the bar on automatic so I don't have to remember to drop you off."

As Sunset walked around the bar, Twilight leaned over to Wrex. "What is Dwarven Deepbrew?" she hissed.

Wrex shrugged. "I have no idea."

Princess Luna studied the star map on the Normandy's bridge with interest. Already, as they flew past thousands of stars, she felt their power grow and dim as distance was reduced then increased. Even if she wasn't as accurate as this visual representation, her sense of this Andromeda Galaxy was constantly growing. If they ever had to come back, she would probably be able to navigate them through it without the need for the map, if it became necessary.

"Commander Sparkle is back," EDI said, her metallic, bipedal form approaching her. "She seems to be feeling ill."

Luna frowned. "But she left the bridge ten minutes ago, how can she—"

The elevator opened and Wrex stepped out, Twilight slung under his arm. "Damn. That was some good stuff."

"Ugh… Wrex, tell EDI to stop swaying the ship."

"We're in space, Twilight, with artificially generated gravity. I don't sway," EDI said.

Twilight looked up and studied her for a moment. "No, you really do sway. Especially whe—"

"Alright," Wrex interrupted. "I'm taking Sparkle to her room and dropping her there before she says something that will get her in trouble later."

"Awww," Twilight muttered, but didn't struggle as the krogan turned around. "Yer no fun, Wreck."

Luna turned to look at EDI. "Anything I should know?"

EDI shook her head. "I will inform Miss Octavia that she is needed. I have also received a preliminary report on the Pathfinder," she said, bringing up a screen for Luna to study.

The Princess glanced at the picture on the screen, where a member of a species identified as human was smiling goofily at the camera. She had a red and gold mane, with teal irises. "Huh. Sarah Ryder. We shall meet you soon."

End Chapter

Author's Note

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Remember that my Patrons have first dibs on what worlds get visited!

Sparkle's No. 1 Assistant

A bit late this week. See you here next Wednesday!

Lonesome Heart (Bulletproof Heart - Complete)

Sunset's Isekai
Lonesome Heart (Bulletproof Heart - Complete)
By Wanderer D and PaulAsaran

The soldiers were gone at last. Rarity slipped out from behind the water barrels, flicking the nearby market pony a tip for not saying anything, then headed for the nearest alleyway. This day was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth; soldiers trying to kill her, Twilight keeping Applejack occupied, and she still hadn’t found her quarry. All that on top of the sun deciding Hoofington needed to be extra crispy today.

She flinched at the burning sensation on her upper arm, raising it to peer at the wound. A close shave. It would need stitches. Her attention turned to the fresh tear in Limestone’s jacket, to say nothing of the white shirt underneath. Formerly white. ’Confound those cretins. Do they have any idea what I have to do to deal with bloodstains?’ She’d have to purchase some more thread and fabric before leaving this wretched town, assuming she could find one that would accept her patronage.

A criminal. They were calling her a criminal! Which was better than what they were calling Pinkie Pie, but still! She’d have to finish her task soon and get out of Hoofington, find a place that wasn’t corrupt to the core. She hoped her friend was well away from this place, wherever she might be.

She paused at the end of the alley, stepping back upon seeing the familiar yellow coats of local soldiers. The place was crawling with them. Which made sense, considering they’d just lost her trail and she couldn’t have gone far. She imagined it was only a matter of time before they checked the alley. She took off her hat and rubbed the sweat from her forehead with the back of her arm. "Just peachy. Applejack, Twilight, where are you when I need you?"

She turned around to look for alternative escape routes. Her attention immediately settled upon a door that she was certain hadn’t been there two seconds ago. Ignoring that, its whole aesthetic was alien to the region: an arch made of grey stone and a solid-looking oak door. Above it was a stylized yellow and red sun. "Well. That’s… different." Her ears perked to the sound of whom she presumed to be soldiers barking orders. "I’ll just have to hope they have a back door." Rubbing the nub on Silver Lining, Rarity pushed her way inside, closing the door as carefully and quietly as possible despite the tinkling of the bell above her.

What she found within was not at all what she’d anticipated. The walls were brick, the small red brick that she’d only ever seen in Manehattan’s wealthier districts. There were a number of wooden tables, their apparent age but smooth finishes giving them a charming air. What really had her attention, however, was the long bar in the back and the rows upon rows of spirits. So she’d not only entered a place with an architectural design unlike anything she’d seen in Hoofington, but also stumbled upon some kind of bar. A nice one.

Which, now that she thought about it, could be exactly what she needed. This looked like the kind of place the Shrouding Midnight might frequent were she not a total homebody. Perhaps there was a connection somehow. A longshot, for certain, but Rarity was willing to risk it. Assuming the soldiers didn’t come barging in looking for her, that is.

There was nopony at the bar just now, but she could hear water running in the back. ‘Indoor plumbing? Definitely an upscale bar. What in Equestria is it doing in this out-of-the-way back alley?’ Her boots clopping loudly on the wood floor, Rarity stopped by the bar. "Hello? Anypony home?"

Sunset washed her face for what seemed to be the third time that day already, trying to wash the last of the grogginess away. Turning to glare at herself in the mirror, she held her own eyes and spoke out. "You will never again agree to a drinking competition with a krogan."

The familiar ring of the silver bell announcing the arrival of a new patron made her wince. She quickly studied herself, making sure she was dressed as prim and proper as Rarity had designed. She checked her hair. The position of her pin.

She could hear footsteps. Hard taps, sounded bipedal. Another soldier?

"Hello? Anypony home?" a familiar voice reached her.

Huh. Rarity.

"Sorry! I'll be right there. Please take a seat," she called out, quickly flashing a smile that hid the headache and stepped out of the restroom. She didn't run, but she did hurry, and slipped behind the bar, her eyes already studying the stunning figure across from her.

It was Rarity, but a Rarity like she had never seen before. Several thoughts flashed across her mind. 'She's gorgeous! She's half pony! She's a cowgirl! That's just as epic as Commander Twilight!' The thought, however, reminded her of how much that particular Twilight could drink and in turn, sobered her up. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai," she said, bowing slightly at the mare, then as she straightened, she frowned, noticing the blood. "I… would offer you a drink, but maybe you'd like to use my med kit?"

Rarity stared at the… woman? Yes, absolutely a woman. Almost a pony, but there were some distinct differences. The flat face, for example. Well, flat-er. But that hair, those eyes… It couldn’t be, and yet it sounded just like her. Sunset Shimmer, most certainly. But what was she doing here, in this fancy bar in hoofington, and dressed so wonderfully? More importantly, she didn’t seem to recognize Rarity at all.

"I… um… Sunset Shimmer?"

Sunset blinked, then grinned. "Oh, you know me in your world? Awesome, that makes things so much easier. But, uh, what would you like to do about that?" She pointed at Rarity’s wound. "That looks bad. Let me get you something for that."

That snapped Rarity out of her bewilderment. That Sunset was here—and apparently no longer a pony?—was a mystery that would have to wait until later. "No time, darling. The soldiers here have decided I’m not welcome and could come storming in at any minute. I just had a couple questions and then I’ll be on my way."

"Oh." Though clearly bewildered by this, Sunset waved her hand dismissively. "You don’t have to worry about that. I give you my word that no soldiers will be storming into my bar." Rarity only barely heard her grumble the word "Again." The mare... woman… thing hurried away. "Just a sec, let me get you that med kit!"

Rarity had to wonder just what kind of establishment she’d gotten into. Could this Sunset really prevent the soldiers from coming in? That didn’t seem likely. From where she was standing, Rarity didn’t even see a locking mechanism on the door, nor did this version of Sunset have a horn. Still, it was Sunset Shimmer… wasn’t it? She might be able to trust her.

She pulled Ruby Heart and Silver Lining out and set them on the bar, just in case, then eased herself into one of the leather stools. After a moment’s consideration, she took off her jacket and set it on the seat next to her own, then placed her hat on top.

Sunset came back with a large white box, freezing upon seeing the guns. "Whoa. Are those yours?"

Definitely not her Sunset. What in Equestria was going on here? "Yes. Sunset, I must admit to being thoroughly flummoxed. Why are you here? What are you? And can I please get that med kit, now? Oh." She reached into the pouch on her belt and produced a few sapphires, setting them on the table. "I appreciate you letting me use your supplies like this."

Sunset blinked at the sapphires, before rolling her eyes. "Geez, you never change, do you? I'm not going to charge you for this," she said, opening up the large plastic box containing her kit. "I'll only charge for a drink later. But not for helping you with a wound."

She turned the open box around, so that Rarity could look for what she needed. Cowboy Rarity seemed surprised by the amount of things in there, but her guest was nowhere near as surprised as she herself was when Rarity picked out thread and needle.

"Oh." She gulped. "So you're doing that, huh?"

"Yes, darling," Rarity responded, giving her a slightly amused look. "Even if your words are true and my pursuers cannot come in, I’d rather stitch this than gallivant around losing blood. Don't you agree?" Cowboy Rarity looked at her, her expression not even betraying any pain. "Are you sure you're okay? You're looking a little bit green."

Sunset laughed nervously. "You know, I've seen worse…" She cringed as Rarity moved her shirt out of the way. "...in a medieval world. So, you know. Swords. Spell-blasts. Meteorites… But I've never seen anyone stitch themselves up. Is uh, there something I could do to help?"

Rarity smiled after a few seconds. "Oh, I do appreciate it, Sunset. How about you prepare the gauze in there and the bandages? And do explain this place," she added, waving around them with the hand holding the needle.

"Ah," Sunset said, swallowing again and taking a deep breath. She turned the box around and started fishing out antiseptic cream, gauze and bandages. "Well, ahem. Alright, in order, yeah… This bar is in a pocket dimension, it moves around, but don't worry! I won't take you anywhere… I sort of…" She trailed off, smiling sheepishly. "When I set it up with my Rarity as a business partner, I made sure it would allow only those that really need a break from life in. I can make it so no time passes out there, but I can also make it so that it does. Generally I let my guests out basically at the same time they came in."

Once the essentials were on the table, she moved the medical kit out of the way, grimacing as she watched Rarity work. The gorgeous mare's arm was covered in blood. It flowed a bit more freely as Rarity patched herself up, so she quickly produced a clean towel from the bar and slid it across, gently setting it in front of Rarity, all the time well aware of how her guest had been watching her every move.

Sunset leaned back. "Uh. So you don't stain more of your clothes, the towel is clean so you can use it after you're done and we can put some antibiotic cream on top," she explained lamely, looking down. "I've… never seen a bullet wound. I bet if Twilight and Wrex were still here you'd be all patched up. I'm sorry."

A pocket dimension. That sounded like something Twilight would understand, but the concept flew over Rarity’s cowboy hat. Still, she had a general idea of the meaning. She threaded the needle through her skin, cringing at the pain the act caused. How many times had she done this now? Strange, how some things got easier with practice.

"My thanks for the towel." She hissed as the needle pierced her flesh once more. Talking. Talking made it easier. "So, there are other Rarities and Sunsets and Twilights out there? That’s… interesting. But I suppose I’ll trust you. I wouldn’t have put you in charge of Little Longhorn otherwise." At the woman’s cocked head she added, "Long story."

"Right." Sunset nodded, still a little pale as she watched Rarity work. When Rarity used her magic to cut the thread and tie it off, she offered the antiseptic cream. "A-anyway, uh, there are technically infinite yous and mes and Twilights out there. My bar caters to all of them, and any other friendly, provided they need a drink and someone to talk to."

Rarity said nothing as she rubbed the cream on her arm, mostly because she was clenching her teeth against the pain as the salve did its job. Once the sting died down, she grumbled a distracted, "I don’t drink. And I honestly don’t know what we’d talk about."

"A Rarity who doesn’t drink?" Sunset flinched at Rarity’s glare. "Sorry! I'm not criticizing you, I promise. We’ve got non-alcoholic stuff too." Sunset reached under the bar and pulled out a small, ornate menu. "For when you’re ready. I promise, nothing alcoholic on this one."

The gauze had already been applied and Rarity had begun wrapping her arm in the bandage. She considered her options, only to realize that no soldiers had tried to get into the bar. There hadn’t even been a knock so far. And if she really could step out at the same time she stepped in—something she’d have to see to believe—then there was no harm in sticking around for a rest, was there? Luna knew she could use a break.

"Very well, Sunset, I’ll play along." Arm bandaged, she lowered her shirt back into place and grabbed the menu. "How about we start with your attire? I must know who your tailor is. Wait, don’t tell me." She smirked. "It was me, right? The taste is impeccable, so I can’t imagine it being anypony else." A glance at the menu. "Virgin apple cider? From Sweet Apple Acres? Now I have no choice but to compare."

Sunset chuckled. "That's the Rarity I know," she said, grinning as she took the menu. She glanced at it and frowned before running a line across the "virgin Pina Colada", then she pulled out a cold bottle of cider and popped it open, serving it in a glass with ice for Rarity. "But yes. Rarities, Sunsets, Chrysalises, etc. Not all of them pleasant, but I don't think any so far have been, you know, evil."

She went around the bar to bring a couple of frames, one with her friend the inter-dimensional Rarity, and one with pony Twilight and Wrex. "So, this is how you look in my second world," Sunset explained, "and this is roughly how you and I look in my original world." When Rarity looked down to the unicorn in the picture, then up to her, she smiled. "I travel a lot."

Rarity sniffed the cider and took a careful sip, making sure there was no alcohol in there before smiling and drinking a bit more. Sunset for her part leaned back and took a deep breath. "So you know me here, huh? I'm glad I seemed trustworthy to you, although I guess I always meet myself after I've reformed." She licked her lips, glancing at the bottle of changeling amber-sap. Yep. There you go, slight glow. 'Figures.'

She watched Rarity relax a little. "Anyway, this is the first time I've seen you like this… There must be a lot behind how you can take care of yourself." She motioned with her head at the guns. "You speak like a well-educated mare, your mannerisms are practically courtly, but you have an air of danger around you that just seeps through… and yet you remain warm, yourself. Also, before I forget, I do have some extra shirts and a washing machine, if you'd like… although, if you just want to let some cold water run through the fabric that should take care of most of the blood…"

Rarity chuckled at Sunset’s blatant curiosity. "Darling, if you only knew. I’ve been shot, burned, nearly drowned, almost starved to death on three separate occasions, ran into poison joke, met a veritable goddess (even if she denies the title), nearly blown up… I imagine I’m forgetting something. Point is, this?" She raised her arm in display. "This is nothing. A scratch. But a flesh wound." She sipped her cider, which was every bit as delicious as she’d hoped, while Sunset gaped at her. "Yes, that’s about the reaction I would anticipate."

Sunset sighed and crossed her arms. "I guess I'm full of questions… but if you don't want to talk about it, I'm not going to force you." She smiled understandingly and shrugged. "Hay, it's Friendship Lesson number… uh… 10? Anyway, respect your friend's space."

Sunset shook her head. "Geez, and I thought I’d had it tough at times. Suddenly all that complaining I did as Celestia’s protégé makes me feel like a whiny, spoiled child."

"Ah, I remember that—hold on, Celestia?" Rarity almost dropped her glass. "Y-you know Celestia? No… No, wait…" She groaned and sat back in her seat. "Alternate universes, right. It almost certainly wouldn’t be our Celestia. If it were that easy she’d have come back by now."

To this Sunset said nothing, for which she was glad. While her gracious host started cleaning up the medical supplies, Rarity distracted herself with the pictures laid out before her. A Chrysalis that looked uncannily like the one from her world, only quadrupedal. How strange. Was there a quadrupedal Rarity out there, too? What other strange forms might she have? She examined the big photo with all of Sunset’s friends, taking in herself.

A young Rarity, with six equally young, just as happy friends. They were all… whatever they were, but still easily identifiable. Herself, Sunset, Twilight. That one with the exploding pink mane had to be Pinkie Pie. There was even… She smirked. "So, is your Applejack a pervert, too?

Sunset snapped the hitches of the medical kit closed even as she shot Rarity a wide-eyed look. "A pervert? No way, not AJ. She’s got to be the most respectable person there is. How could you possibly jump to that conclusion?"

Sighing, Rarity set the frame aside, face-down. "To be fair, ‘pervert’ is probably too strong a word, first impressions aside. But she… did something, and I haven’t let her forget it. She’s been trying to make it up for me for a while." A sip of the cider. A light smile. "She’s begun trying to serenade me with her guitar and singing. I tell her it won’t work, but she insists she’s ‘just practicing’, that she’ll ‘serenade me for real’ when she’s found the right song. It’s actually quite charming."

Using the same hand holding the glass, she thrust a finger at Sunset. "But in case you ever meet her, don’t you dare tell her I said so."

"My lips are sealed." Sunset mimed locking her mouth, a motion that she had to have picked up from her world’s Pinkie Pie. She leaned against the bar and eyed her guest with a warm smile. "You and AJ, huh? That’s kinda cute, to be honest."

"Oh, Goddess, don’t say that." Rarity covered her face behind a hand as her cheeks started to burn. "It’s confusing enough as it is."

Sunset grinned, picking up a glass and starting to clean it with a too obvious nonchalant attitude. "You don't say? Well, if you haven't met your Celestia yet, then count yourself lucky on the romantic advice department. Mine was always putting her nose where it didn't belong." She frowned. "Well. One of them anyway, but it was sort of her job to stop students from doing things that they might regret later. Speaking of which, I'm making some coffee."

She proceeded to set up her espresso machine while Rarity watched. "You know… I think Rarity… my friend in the picture—not my business partner—had a thing for Applejack back home. But they had been friends for a long time, so they knew how to hide it better? It's weird thinking they already sorted a little something of their lives out."

She pressed the coffee and slid it into place. "I was ahead in schoolwork, and I guessed a lot of things, but relationships? Celestia forbid. My 'ex' was more of an excuse to get popular in school, and he really deserved someone better than some transformed unicorn that saw him as an easy step up in popularity." She tapped her chin, glancing at Rarity. "Although he did try to serenade me once too, after I broke up with him, and now I can't get my head around how—technically—Applejack serenading you with country music is not going to end up in drama."

"What do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked, tilting her head.

"Let's say country music was not her jam. It's just that the only times my friend Rarity wore a cowboy hat, was when Applejack placed it on her head, which now that I look back on it, was kind of a big hint."

Once her coffee was ready, she quickly downed it. "And again, sorry for that—" she made a face "—it's just I'm still recuperating from a bad decision involving creatures that can drink a lot more than I. I'm just glad my bar is closed whenever I say it is, or I would have had a lot to explain to potential customers if they had arrived before you did."

She glanced at the guns again, oddly curious. "So… mind telling me how you got these? I've got to admit, I've seen some really impressive guns, futuristic mostly, but these look like works of art."

A curious dodge, but one Rarity could appreciate. "That’s because they are works of art. Really, would you expect me to fight with anything less?" Rarity smirked as she took Silver Lining in her hand, giving it a quick twirl. She might have an audience of one, but that was no reason not to show off. "Gifts, as it were. Silver Lining here is my first weapon, and it… took some getting used to. It was given to me by a—" She hesitated, then smirked. "A cranky donkey named Whyare Youhere. It originally belonged to… Well, I suppose she was my predecessor, in a sense, but she told me I could keep it."

She’d almost forgotten that the entire reason she was on her own right now was because she was seeking that same mare. Still, she was loath to stop the break she’d somehow managed to find herself. She set Silver Lining down and picked up the other, much heavier weapon. To think, she’d once had trouble aiming it with two hands. "Ruby Heart was a gift from an entirely different friend. Quite the charmer, that one. Also the size of a small building, but that’s a dragon for you."

She’d expected shock or something similar, but somehow Sunset’s smile only grew wider. "His name wouldn’t be Spike, by any chance?"

Rarity nearly dropped Ruby Heart. "H-how did you know?"

With a chuckle, Sunset tapped the picture. "The Rarity from my original world? Spike was enamored with her, too. Well, both my worlds, come to think of it. And the Rarity who is my business partner? She’s had relationship issues with her own Spike. It seems to be a common trend across the multiverses."

"I see." Putting the gun down, Rarity returned her attention to the picture of Sunset’s friends once more. She traced her finger along the image, first over herself, then over Applejack. "Does this mean me and Applejack are a trend? Are we ’destined’ to be together regardless of my feelings on the matter?"

Sunset began cleaning her glass once more as she studied Rarity’s face. "How do you feel about it?"

Rarity didn’t answer at first. She was too busy thinking. About a night in an entirely different bar. About the strange mare with a dog who started talking to her when she was smashed drunk. About waking up in an unknown bed with no memory of how or why she was there. About the mare who had been there, and all the times she’d been around since.

"She hurt me, Sunset. She hurt me in a way that still sickens me. For a long time, I genuinely wanted to kill her. I became a monster because of that mare. Briefly, and I pulled myself out of it, but a monster nonetheless. I killed a lot of ponies who didn’t need to die, all because I wanted them to be her."

"Whoa. That’s, uh…"

"And yet." Rarity stared into those green eyes, so happy and kind, and imagined they belonged to her own Applejack. "And yet. Every day since then, she has strived to correct the mistake. She bends over backwards to support me, to help me in whatever I need, despite knowing I may never forgive her. She’s been by my side, defended me with words and with bullets, respects my need for space, and only pushes when it is necessary. I’ve come to honestly believe that that night was all one big misunderstanding on both our parts. And while I haven’t forgiven her, I…"

She groaned and thrust the frame aside, reaching for her glass. It had been filled at some point during her monologue, but she didn’t care, taking a few big gulps. The cool liquid did wonders to ease the flame inside. The glass hit the bar with a loud thunk. "Tell me, Sunset, is it possible to love and hate someone at the same time? That seems to be where I’m at right now. It’s not a comfortable situation."

Sunset started cleaning her equipment, thinking about Rarity's words. "From what I know of my Applejack, I can believe it might have been a misunderstanding. Assuming a similar personality and not knowing what happened, of course… but yes, I think you can both love and hate at the same time." She put down the rag. "A couple of years back I became a monster too. A very literal monster. Claws and everything. I stole an Element of Harmony, used its power… not because I needed it, but because I wanted Celestia to admit to me she was wrong, and that I was right. I hated her. But I also wanted so much her admiration and love… It sounds silly to think you can both despise and desire at the same time, but isn't that part of what makes us all special? We have flaws and beliefs that contradict each other, but they're just part of what being sentient means."

She glanced at Rarity. "My stint as a demon was thankfully short, but I think that on some level I can understand that anger and resentment, even if I was lucky and I was rainbow-blasted into a more reasonable state before I did something I would never be able to forgive myself for." She chuckled. "So… I don't know what to tell you other than yeah, it happens. But—if she made an honest mistake—it seems she's dead-set on proving to you that whatever she did, it wasn't with the intent to hurt you."

She poured more cider for Rarity and poured herself a glass as well. "I don't know what I would do if I had been in your boots. How do you deal with having done that? I mentally enslaved a hundred teens for a few minutes and I still feel awful about it. Heh. Now that I think about it, it seems that outside my bar, my primary motivation these last few years to do anything has been guilt."

"Guilt." Rarity hummed, swirling the glass in lazy motions and watching the amber liquid spin around. "I suppose that might be Applejack’s motivation. Mother once told me she was ‘devoted’ to me. Sometimes I remember what she did and I just want to slap her, convinced that everything she does is little more than an excuse to get me to lift my tail. Then I remember all that she’s done since. Honestly, it’s a lot to go through just for a little play time."

She sighed and set the glass down, trading it for Ruby Heart. She ran her fingers along the rubies embedded in the weapon’s side. "As for me? My motivation was always my family. Everything I sacrificed was for their sake. But along the way, I lost sight of things. I let the anger start to fill me up. I didn’t become a demon in the literal sense, but I was probably as close to it as a pony could be. But then something happened."

"Oh?" Sunset leaned closer, clearly intent on hearing a story. "What happened, Rarity?"

"I met what I could have been. A pony who had let her rage and hatred and bitterness consume every inch of her until there was nothing left but white hot fury. I had to fight her, and I had to win, but I had to do it the right way. In a sense, fighting her was like fighting myself." She reached up to rub the necklace beneath her shirt. Then, noticing Sunset’s curious gaze, she pulled it out.

Sunset let out a quiet gasp. "Is that an Element of Harmony?"

Rarity smiled warmly at it. "Generosity. Or so I am told. When I rejected that future, it gave me the strength I needed to see things through. And now? Well, I won’t say I’m all together, but I can at least say I’ve overcome that particular demon. I was a bloody mess afterwards, literally, but I pulled it off."

Letting the Element rest outside her shirt for once, Rarity went back to sipping her cider. It bought her time to think on that glorious moment of perfection, when Rarity Belle was the master of her new art. And oh, how she longed to feel that again. But for now, she was happy with what she could do on her own. Somehow, she knew the Element would be there should she need it.

Sunset sighed and stood up once more. She went back to the routine of cleaning her mugs. "Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had an Element to get us over the hump?"

The sentiment brought a frown to Rarity’s face. "I beg your pardon? I think you misunderstand."

Sunset, face partially hidden by her luxurious mane, replied quietly. "You just said the Element helped you ‘see things through’."

"No." Now it was Rarity sitting up straight, her expression as hard as her voice. "I won that fight on my own merits. I beat the Flaming Vermillion by my actions, my decisions, my unwilling to become the monster. It was only after the fight was over and I’d chosen my path that Generosity came to my aid. It let me do what came after, but that had nothing to do with me overcoming those demons. You don’t need some mystical, magical artifact to do that much, Sunset. You just need to choose who you are going to be."

She lifted her glass, peering at the bartender from over the rim. "I have to wonder, what will you choose to be?"

"Well, I'm a bartender now, aren't I?" Sunset glanced over her shoulder, matching the smirk on Rarity's lips. "I've been through my own share of trouble. Not as bad as yours but… I've been trying to make up for it ever since. I don't get shot as often, but it does feel like two steps backward for each step forward, you know?"

Sunset bit her lip before she also slid out her own precious pendant. She held the geode in her hand so Rarity could see it. "It's funny. This is not an Element of Harmony, of course. Same magical principle, however. We had a life or death situation, severely downplayed by sheer luck that no one got killed, and with the power of friendship, we brought forth… our Geodes. We have super powers. You got the ability to cast shields shaped like your cutie mark, although it's not limited to that… you're very creative. Applejack got super-strength, Pinkie can make food explode… you get the gist. Me? I got the power to see into people's minds."

Rarity frowned, lowering her glass and looking hard at her. "I hope you don't intend to do that with me."

Sunset shook her head. "It's been helpful a couple of times, but when I started, I made myself promise that I wouldn't use it to read anycreature." She made sure their glasses were full before continuing, "I thought… that everyone deserves to have their pasts to themselves… or at least that it's none of my business to go look uninvited, especially in a situation like this, where people could have very personal reasons to not share something." She shrugged. "Maybe one day we'll be good enough friends that you'll tell me your whole story, but I won't get there by betraying your trust."

Rarity leaned back, relaxing a little at the statement and nodding in understanding.

Sunset sighed. "It's a pretty big responsibility, but now I'm wondering if there was an additional reason I decided not to use it anymore." She glanced up at the counter with all the bottles. "Most of these bottles I ordered directly from their origin point… wines from elves; beer made by a drunk robot; a cocktail recipe that once you drink it is like having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick… crazy stuff, but most importantly not tied to my past.

"I feel like in a way this bar freed me of that. I can still see my friends… and I do! My original ones, not only their gorgeous inter-dimensional counterparts. And odd as it sounds, I feel like I'm really moving forward now, even if I'm inside the same building at the end of every day."

"‘Gorgeous counterparts?’" Rarity chuckled and flicked her mane, then arched her back and batted her eyes. "Why, Sunset, you flatter me." When her host simply blushed but didn’t take the bait, she sighed and picked at her shirt. "I’m covered in dirt half the time, get a shower maybe once a season if I’m lucky, have no small number of scars, and yet still ponies say such things. Sometimes I don’t know whether to strut and boast or accuse them of ‘just being nice.’"

Sunset shrugged. "Just being honest. And I'm used to being the bad girl in town. My Rarity’s plenty attractive, but that extra edge on you is just—" Noticing Rarity’s deadpan look, she took a quick drink to mask her face. "Okay, okay. You have trouble taking compliments, huh? That’s certainly not a trait my Rarity takes."

"I appreciate compliments. And flattery." Rarity turned her gaze to the drink in her hand, once more swirling it in little circles. "I’ve learned to live with what I’ve become these past few years, but really? All I want is to find a small town to settle down in, open a new clothing shop, and live the rest of my life in peace. You seem to already have that, but I wonder.

"I used to want to be a fashionista, you know? Move to Manehattan, rub elbows with the agricultural elite, have my dresses known throughout the city states. It all seems so petty now." A sip. She was drinking a little too much of this stuff, but who cared? When one travels hundreds of miles and normally eats carefully rationed food, one need not fret too much over diets. "Reality has a way of slamming the door on your little fantasies, doesn’t it? You and your princess. Me and my career. Are we better for that?"

"Well, if you ask—"

"I kill ponies." Rarity wasn’t sure why she felt compelled to blurt that, but the words were slipping out and she felt a curious disinterest in stopping them. "Where I once feared guns, I now rely on them for my survival, in more ways than one. I tried to defend myself, and I became hunted. I went to rescue my sister and assistant from an army of bandits, and now the local government wants to put me on a show trial. I try to be a ‘good pony’, and it just leads to more bullets flying my way. It’s like this stupid world has a thing against ponies trying to live their lives in peace!"

She snorted and tapped her Element. "And now I’m expected to find these things. And for what? I have no idea. They aren’t forthcoming with that information, but it chose me and now I’m scouring Equestria. Is that supposed to make me a hero?" A scoff, another gulp of cider. "I don’t know where I’m going with this, but you said I could talk, so damn it all, I’m talking. I never wanted to be a hero!"

The glass slammed onto the counter, nearly spilling its contents. Rarity scowled at it, feeling strangely disappointed by the lack of a mess. "What are these stupid things supposed to do? Save the world? Discord is still in Tartarus, so what else am I supposed to fight, Trixie? Will they magically make all the city states stop fighting one another? Will they bring Princess Celestia back from wherever the hay she’s gone? And they talk about responsibility. Hah!"

She looked up to find Sunset watching her with a worried expression, and realized she’d been spouting off her concerns for no apparent reason. Why would she do that, and to this total stranger? ‘Because that’s what ponies do in bars, Rarity. Don’t you know that?

I don’t visit bars that often, so no.

You read books, right? It’s a common trope.

I don’t hardly read anything anymore, either. No time.

Bull. You could bring a book along on your travels easily.

Books cost bits.

Fair enough.’

Winning an internal argument for once did little to ease Rarity’s mood. She groaned and went back to staring at her glass. "I’m sorry, Sunset. It’s just… everypony says I’m the best thing to happen to Equestria since the Rainbow Gang, and they got slaughtered at the Battle of Ponyville a couple decades ago. I keep doing what I think is right, but sometimes it feels like it’s all pointless. This time next year I could end up dead in the desert, my heart finally proving it isn’t bulletproof, and for what?"

She waved a hand at the fine establishment surrounding her. "Then I see this. I see a friend living a pleasant dream of sorts. I see the kind of life I’d like to have. I can’t help but ask, ‘Why couldn’t it have been me?’" She sighed and rubbed her bandaged arm, letting the sting ease her thoughts. "I apologize, darling. I’m usually not so… melancholic. Overdramatic I’ll admit, but…" Another sigh, another sip of cider.

The bar settled into silence.

Sunset carefully approached Rarity, and when there was no more glass-slamming, raised an eyebrow before she filled her drink once more. She wasn't splurging either—the stones Rarity had dropped earlier would suffice for all she had drank and she'd still have change left. "This is… what you do at bars, Rarity. Well, at least my bar. I want ponies to be able to forget about life for a while, like the song goes. I don't think I told you, but I opened this place up because I let my business partner talk her heart out… I know it's presumptuous of me to offer that, having as little experience as I do, but…" She shrugged, taking a deep breath. "I needed an ear a lot of times too, so I don't mind listening."

Then, as if she herself couldn't stand the silence brought by brooding, she started speaking again. "It wouldn't be a lie to say that I'm sort of jealous of the romanticized version of what you and the others have said—over here you're doing so much! And one Twilight is a space commander! And another Sunset found her fiancée. And I met not one, but two Queens and I wonder what their lives are like." Her face soured for a moment. "I even had the misfortune of meeting a Gilda and Twilight that tried to commandeer my stock to get their whole ship drunk," she muttered. She straightened up, looking at Rarity again. "I guess, as a non-heroic type, having you here, where you can rest and tell anything to somepony that doesn't have an agenda is something that I can do. Maybe the only thing I can really do."

They descended into contemplative silence, Rarity taking small sips of her drink, while Sunset arranged things and turned bottles around, trying to think of what to say. It bothered her to have her friend be so gloomy and pessimistic about her future. This was a mare whom she could admire. There was no way she was sitting this one out quietly. "Who's to say you won't get what you want in the end though?" she finally asked. She looked over her shoulder. "I don't think you see—or maybe you do see, but don't really want to admit—just how exceptional you are in every world, and here especially so." She chuckled. "I can see why ponies would admire you. And it's not a bad thing."

Exceptional. Rarity couldn’t deny that, though she’d have loved to. The first time she ever emptied a gun, she’d hit bullseyes. She could miss, but it didn’t happen often. And somehow, despite everything, she was still alive.

She sighed. "Being exceptional didn’t save Papa’s life. Didn’t keep the Rainbow Gang from falling when they were at the peak of their fame. That’s why I have Silver Lining in the first place: somepony exceptional had to fail before me, and lose everything she loved." She picked the gun up, eyeing it from several angles. She thought of Moonlight Raven, wondered where she might be right now. That mare had given her blessing. Why would she do that?

Because Rarity, too, was exceptional.

"It’s easy to forget, sometimes," she said, spinning Silver Lining’s cylinder. "I used to hate guns. What do they do but cause death and destruction? But without this weapon, I’d have lost my marehood to a brute. An entire town of ponies would have been cheated out of their lives. My parents would be dead, and so would I. My sister, former assistant, and some good friends would be slaves."

She met Sunset’s gaze with a wane smile. "I understand where you’re coming from, Sunset. When I was but a teenager, I left home to prove that I could live that great life, filled with dreams of success and fame." She scoffed and set the gun down once more. "It ended with me alone in the barren wilds, my dress ripped up and wrapped around my head to protect me from the sun. I nearly died from dehydration, and then I ended up with a terrible fever once a kind soul rescued me. Needless to say, it was an eye-opening experience."

Taking up her refilled glass, she raised it as if in toast. "It’s okay to wish for a more adventurous life. It’s okay to be jealous of it. Just remember that when you wonder what those other ponies’ lives are like, there’s always a downside. And I?" She paused, staring at nothing for a moment as she wondered how to finish that line of thought. The lights of the bar made the amber liquid seem to glow. At last, she smiled and drained her glass in one long pull.

"I suppose I should remember the flip side, as well. It might not be all sunshine and roses, and I might not know if my story will have a happy ending." She pushed the glass aside, waving off Sunset’s attempt to refill it. "But I didn’t become famous because I’m a failure. I’m making ponies’ lives better, or at least trying to. I’ll just have to live with that for the time being."

Sunset licked her lips, an idea forming in her head. "You know. I think I have some of Rarity's stuff in the back room. I'm sure you could design a new getup for me based on your style and your world in a jiffy." The cowmare looked up, blinked and smiled slightly.

Setting her hat back on her head, Rarity stood and examined Sunset’s attire. "You say my counterpart did this? Exquisite work, as can be expected. Beating it would be quite the challenge, and I’ve not had a proper opportunity to flex my creative muscle in many seasons. Hmm…" She grinned as she envisioned several options. "Yes. I think I know just the thing. You, Sunset my dear, shall look divine. Which is good, because I thoroughly regret not getting to dress my own Sunset. A mare of your physical caliber demands at least one opportunity at perfection and I, of course, am the pony to provide it. If I should ever meet this ‘other me’, I fully expect to hear her opinion, and perhaps a challenge.

"Oh, and while I’m at it?" She raised her arm, putting her torn sleeve on display. "Perhaps I can fix this. A lady must always look her best, after all. Even when covered in dirt and sweat."

It had taken some cleaning up to make sure the surface of the bar was spotless, before Sunset headed over to Rarity's office. It wouldn't do to get the equipment wet or dirty, after all. Eventually, she came back from the back room, bearing a basic sewing kit, and several sheets of paper that Rarity used to design clothes. She might complain a bit later, but the fact was that it was still Rarity (sort of) making use of it.

Truth be told, she could barely hide her excitement. When she had mentioned it to Cowgirl Rarity, she hadn't been sure what the reaction would be. She hadn't done it out of pity, of course, but rather had seen an opportunity to let a friend indulge in their passion. But she had been secretly afraid it would be taken the wrong way. Now, she was getting a new outfit out of it!

"Alright, here's the sewing kit, and some paper. Pencils, design tools, etc. If you need a specific thing, I can go back and get it… I don't work with any of these, but I sometimes sit down with Rarity while she works, so I can probably find what you need if she has it."

She sat down, grabbing one of the stools to watch Rarity work. "You know, I think she'll like that…" she mused. When Rarity gave her a look, she shrugged, clarifying; "What you said, I mean. About her challenging you later. I've yet to meet a single Rarity that doesn't have that competitive spirit," she added, chuckling. "In fact, I think it's one of their, and your, most endearing traits."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "How many Rarities have you met?" When Sunset declined to respond with anything other than a smile, she shrugged and examined what she had to work with. "First things first: fabrics. Give me colors. Browns. Reds. Blacks. Whites. Don’t worry about the specific shades, just give me what you’ve got. I can’t make something for you if I don’t know what materials are available, and I need something to compare to your dazzlingly natural colors."

"Yes, ma’am!" Sunset saluted and disappeared in the back once more. While she was gone, Rarity turned her attention to the machine up against the wall. A… juke box? That was what Sunset had called it. She wondered if she could get it to play—music kicked on, making Rarity jump.

On the road of experience, I’m trying to find my own way
Sometimes I wish that I could fly away

"Interesting choice."

Rarity jumped, turning to find Sunset and a whole lot of fabric. "B-but I didn’t choose anything."

Sunset smiled knowingly as she listened to the music. "Trust me, Rarity. You did. You just didn’t know it."

After listening to a few more lyrics, Rarity smiled. "Well, it’s not a bad song by any means. Now, I’m going to begin sorting all of these." The many, many pieces of fabric began to float in the air all around her, encased in her light blue aura. "And you are going to get me some coffee. No sugar, but cream would be heavenly."

"You got it."

"You know," Rarity said as she examined her many options, passing them across Sunset’s lovely mane for comparison purposes, "I think that competitive, aggressive spirit may be the thing that’s kept me alive for so long. I never would have had the courage to stand and fight without it."

It’s a sweet, sweet, sweet dream
Sometimes I’m almost there

"So you might be right about it being my best trait. Thank you for reminding me of that, Sunset."

Sunset turned back to her, a steaming mug in each hand, her smile rivaling the coffee for warmth. "It was my honest pleasure."

"Now then, enough about how amazing I am. I’m already aware of that, after all." Rarity snatched a piece of dark silk out of the air, closed an eye and peered at it while holding it so it was visibly over Sunset’s cheek. "Let’s make you fabulous."

Sometimes I fly like an eagle,
Like an eagle
I go flying high

"Wow."

Sunset stepped out of Rarity's office, walking down towards the bar with her boots making a nice, solid sound with each step. She had tight, reddish-brown pants, of a color that Rarity had called "Oakbark", and matching boots. A light cream-colored, slightly frilled blouse with a slightly darker pattern was topped by a cloth black vest.

Unlike her previous one, this one had a collar and lapels, which folded stylishly the moment it was buttoned up… and the buttons! Cowboy Rarity had used her skills and some of Partner Rarity's equipment to fashion them out of some orange garnets. She almost hadn't, expressing a slightly disappointed disgust at using "currency" for clothes, but Sunset had insisted that gems in the multiverse weren't always currency—and besides, if Hotel Chic could exist, so could garnet buttons.

The whole thing was completed by the black leather hat and gloves that Rarity had insisted on making herself. Magic and fashion were things of beauty. "Rarity this… this is amazing." She walked into the bar's main area and posed for her friend. "What do you think?"

"I think that all you need now is a holster and a pair of guns, and we'd be ready to gallop into the sunset, darling," Rarity said with a smile.

"I don't even know how to thank you for this."

Rarity huffed and turned up her nose in an exaggerated display of pomp. "I didn't do it for gratitude, my dear. I did it for fabulosity. That is its own reward." She held the pose for just long enough for Sunset to start giggling, then joined in.

"But seriously." Rarity took her own hat, discarded once more in the work, and set it upon her head. "I should be the one thanking you. It was a delight to work my real craft again. I almost never get the opportunity to anymore. It’s nice to know I haven’t lost my touch." She raised her arm to show the freshly repaired sleeve of her shirt. "And this is greatly appreciated, as well."

Sunset grinned and nodded, allowing herself another moment to examine her new attire. "Pretty sure my Rarity will love this. She—the one from my world, mind—once made me a cowgirl outfit. I dare say you’ve outclassed her."

"She’ll get there, I’m sure. I wouldn’t accept anything less." With a sigh, Rarity grabbed Limestone’s jacket, also freshly repaired, and slipped it on before putting her weapons away. "I really mean it, Sunset. Thank you. I didn’t realize how badly I needed a break. I almost don’t want to go back out there, but you know how it is."

"Gotta stand up to the challenge, right?" Sunset nodded before reaching back and taking a bottle of cider. "Here, for the road."

Rarity’s eyebrows widened. "The whole bottle? Are you sure?"

"Positive. You’ve more than earned it. But I have a request."

Hand pausing not an inch from the proffered bottle, Rarity abruptly gained an expression of mock suspicion. "Tempting me with virgin cider. You really are a devil, aren’t you?"

Tittering, Sunset pulled out her phone. "Can I get a picture with you for my wall? This is one visit I absolutely don’t want to forget."

"A picture?" Rarity glanced at all the images on the wall. There was still a lot of space left for filling. "Why, I would be delighted! Just make sure to show me off to myself when you get the chance. After all…" She smirked. "We all need a standard to build up to."

She watched Sunset eagerly walk around the bar, her thoughts drifting to all they’d spoken of during this strange encounter. Just as her host and friend was standing at her side, she caught the woman’s arm. "And Sunset?"

Sunset looked at the hand on her arm, then at Rarity. Her smile diminished when she noted the gunslinger’s solemn gaze. "Yeah?"

"Don’t ever forget. You may not be going on grand adventures and fighting the villains, but for those of us who are, what you do here is no less important. Please remember."

They stared at one another for some time, Sunset seeming at a loss for what to say. At last, she managed to regain her smile, this time with a bit of pride to make it shine all the brighter.

"I will."

Sunset and Rarity stood at the door of Sunset's Isekai. Out there, Rarity's home waited for the return of the Bulletproof Heart. In here, a blooming friendship was reluctant to be split.

"I'm dropping you off a few minutes before you stepped into my bar, in another area of town, just so you have a bit of an advantage. You know," Sunset said, lowering her voice while she gave Rarity one of her cards, "this place will find you when you need a drink and to collect yourself. You'll always be welcome."

Rarity smiled. "Thank you, darling, if I see the door I'll be sure to visit."

Sunset returned the smile. "You can tell me more about your adventures when you do. And make sure you bring Applejack with you, alright?"

"I—" Rarity gave her a look before shaking her head. "I guess it's time to go. Good luck to you, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset watched Rarity leave, her eyes briefly catching a glimpse of the western world outside of her bar before the door closed and the bell rang. Sighing, she turned around and was about to make her way to the bar when the door opened behind her.

She heard a gasp. "Darling! Those clothes! They are fabulous!"

She felt a smile growing on her face as she turned to face her business partner. "Oh, and do I have a story for you." She tapped her chin. "And a challenge."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Co-written with PaulAsaran! If you haven't read it, check out Bulletproof Heart here in the site or get a copy at Bronycon!

Belle Hopping (League of Sweetie Belles - Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
Belle Hopping (League of Sweetie Belles - Ongoing)
By Wanderer D & GMBlackjack

Cinder “Sweetie” Belle lay back on the plush couch in Swip’s lounge. Currently, the various screens lining the room all displayed the ‘outside’ of the interdimensional pocket universe they were traveling through: a strange rippling pattern of dark orange that resembled nebulas even though the pocket dimension wasn't anywhere near large enough to hold a star—much less a cloud of interstellar gas.

She considered turning on one of the gaming consoles Swip had built into her, but she had just finished several hours of that with Blink. Truthfully, she should be tired and heading to bed right now, but instead she was just bored. Bored, bored, bored…

“You look bored,” Swip said, calling from the speakers all around the room.

“I am,” Cinder groaned, rubbing her horn with her hoof. “When are we going out again?”

“Burgerbelle’s team hasn’t returned yet, so… later.”

Cinder hopped off the couch and stretched her legs, clacking her hooves on the ground. “Later… right! Think you could maybe do some time shenanigans…?”

“No,” the AI deadpanned.

“Awww…” Cinder sluggishly trotted out of the lounge and onto the bridge. Suzie was at her console, tapping buttons furiously.

She was playing Tetris. Or something that looked a lot like Tetris. It seemed a little too flashy to be something that simple, however.

“Hey, Suzie!”

The captain jumped at Cinder’s chipper greeting, losing her focus and causing the entire block-shaped puzzle to explode. Game over.

“Bored too, huh?”

Suzie clutched her chest, eyes wide. “I… Not anymore…” She breathed heavily.

Cinder shrugged. “Want to do something?”

“Just let me… catch my breath, then of course…”

Swip let out a virtual cough. “Hey. You two.”

Suzie looked up. “What is it?”

“I don’t mean to alarm you, but there’s suddenly a door in my corridor that didn’t exist a second ago.”

Suzie blinked. “What?”

“Actually, scratch that, I do mean to alarm you. Do you have any idea how freaky it is to suddenly have a door appear inside your body? No? That’s right, you aren’t a ship. You sometimes don’t even notice when you get a papercut.”

“Hey, Swip, calm down,” Cinder encouraged.

“I’ll calm down when I figure out what’s behind that door. Because, hey hey, I can’t see through it! Shocker!”

“We’ll check it out,” Suzie said, adjusting her uniform. “Anything you can tell us about it?”

“It’s got a neon sign on it that looks like it belongs on a cheap bar.”

“Ah,” Suzie said as they passed through the lounge and entered the hall. Sure enough, embedded between two doors that led to the Sweeties’ quarters was a wooden door with a neon sign hanging over it.

Sunset’s Isekai.

There was what Cinder assumed was a martini or something over the words. “You weren't kidding.”

“I used to have a screen on that wall,” Swip lamented. “A beautiful screen…”

“You have one on every wall,” Suzie said, hand poised to grab her gun.

“...Let’s try going in peacefully first, maybe?” Cinder suggested.

Suzie nodded. “Just being cautious.” She reached her other hand to the door and opened it.

Two people walked into Sunset’s Isekai. A unicorn and a human.

Sunset blinked. That’s a first.

To boot, they were both obviously different versions of Sweetie Belle. The unicorn was a young mare, perhaps not quite an adult, with the standard crusader shield cutie mark and bright orange eyes. The woman was middle-aged with excessively puffy hair—shockingly uncurled. She wore a simple gray uniform with an orange-gold ‘u’ symbol on the chest, and had what Sunset was pretty sure was a weapon hooked to her hip.

The human’s tense hands relaxed when she saw Sunset. “Ah, a Sunset.”

“...In a bar? On Swip?” the unicorn asked, confused.

“Yep. Possibly an interdimensional jumper of some sort… Probably nothing to worry about as long as we keep the doors open and Swip has a lock on us.”

A digitized yet feminine voice came from the world outside. “Famous last words… just find out what she’s doing in my hall.”

Cinder walked up to the bar and sat on the stool. “Hi! I’m Cinder. Are you just Sunset, or do you have another name?”

"Uh," Sunset cleared her throat. "Yes. I'm just Sunset Shimmer at this time. Officially. As in, when not in wizard robes an—you know, I think this might be the first time I might not need to clarify the multiverse thing. Anyway, to answer… Swip's question, my bar just hops to where people or creatures need a drink. No additional agendas included."

“Need a drink…” Cinder scratched her chin. “I don’t think I’m in need o—”

“You were complaining about how bored you were!” Swip shouted from the hall.

“If you think drinks are guaranteed to cure boredom, I think you need to re-examine your processors,” Cinder retorted.

"Girls, girls," Sunset spoke up, motioning with her hands to settle down. "Swip is right in a way, I don't literally mean that you need a drink to get rid of boredom, it's a metaphor for people that need a break; just the right type of different setting to talk, possibly have fun, and maybe unload their worries with a willing ear. No alcohol required, even though I clearly have an excess of it."

Suzie placed a finger on the bar. “I’ll take whatever you got that’ll give me a buzz without making me hopelessly drunk.” She sagged into a seat, letting her arms flop to her side. “I think I’m the one who needs to be here…”

“Being the captain is stressful work,” Cinder supposed.

"Sure." Sunset shrugged, "I've been working on a few of those. I think you should be fine as long as you don't ask for a chaser that might make it worse..." She fished out a menu and passed it over to Cinder. "Those are our non-alcoholic drinks, if you want to take a look."

She turned around and headed over to her bottles, choosing a couple of golden-liquid containers before getting to work on Suzie's cocktail.

“Guess I am underage here… seems I’m pretty borderline,” Cinder commented. “...Do we even have a drinking age? Oh, and I’ll have this cherry thing. I like cherries.”

Suzie shrugged. “It’s up to individual member universes to decide their drinking age. Depends on the local culture, tendency for abuse, things like that.”

Sunset shrugged. "You just seemed a bit on the young side from my Equestrian perspective, but if you're legal here and your captain says it's cool…" She turned around, giving Suzie an old fashioned glass with a large, transparent ball of ice inside. The liquid was a deep amber color, and smelled slightly of oranges and tangerine, with light touches of bitters.

“She can if she wants,” Suzie said. “We adhere by the local rules. But something tells me she won’t.”

Cinder nodded. “I want this cherry stuff. Cherry. Stuff. It has cherries in it!”

“She probably has alcoholic cherry things!” Swip called.

“Yep. And I’m going to pass on it. Because… reasons, I guess.”

Suzie leaned in to Sunset. “Blink gave her something about a week ago. She threw it up an hour later and is currently pretending the smell of alcohol doesn’t make her want to puke.”

"Ah." Sunset nodded sagely. "I understand. No worries, though, the cherry drink is basically the same taste profile with—or without—the alcohol. It'll be good." She busied herself by gathering the ingredients, casting glances at her guests. "So. I'm curious, how is it that a pair of Sweetie Belles are so familiar with the multiverse, and apparently have a ship that can jump around it?"

“I’m a Sweetie Belle too!” Swip called.

Cinder smirked. “Yep! All of us on Swip are. Even Celia, though she’s also part Rarity…” Cinder paused, thinking for the moment. “We are one of the main expedition teams of the League of Sweetie Belles, a multiversal organization that does a lot of stuff. Suzie and the rest of the crew? We explore. Most of the Sweeties manage a lot of local multiversal shenanigans at Celestia City, and…” She rubbed the back of her head. “Uh, yeah. Basically, it’s our job! I’m the new kid.”

"Sorry!" Sunset called out to Swip, sliding Cinder her own drink. "That's pretty cool though!" She turned her attention to the pair in front of her. "Alright, I have to admit this is the first I've heard of you guys. Then again, the multiverse is.... the multiverse. I'm sort of surprised to find a crew of only you..." She trailed off. "Yous? Anyway, doesn't it get a bit confusing? I get the names are different but, I dunno. I can imagine having issues with more than a couple of Sunsets in the same place. It almost gave Gilda an aneurysm to see two of us in the same place." She tapped her chin. "Although she might have been thinking about other things."

Cinder picked up on the connotation and rolled her eyes, but didn’t comment on it. “It really does help to change the name. Seriously, you should consider it. But we also work on getting a defining feature.” Cinder pointed at her orange eyes. “See? These mark me different visually. Suzie styles her hair differently. And Swip… well is a spaceship.”

“It’s definitely not for everyone,” Suzie said. “There are enough universes and versions of everyone in the Equis Cluster to make all sorts of Self Societies. There are only four big ones I know of. The League of Sweetie Belles and the Pinkie Emporium are both part of our nation, Merodi Universalis. The Sparkle Census and Infinite Carousel are distinct entities.”

"Huh," Sunset said, "I have yet to find another Sunset bartender, but I'll definitely try to come up with a good name." She leaned across the counter. "And these societies, are they are at odds with each other? Anything I should be watching out for? Any Borg tendencies? I'm not fond of borgs."

“Borg?” Cinder cocked her head.

“I DO NOT WANT TO RELIVE THAT DAY!” Swip shouted. “We do not speak of the Borg.”

“Okay…” Cinder shivered. “Anyway, uh, I think most everyone’s at peace…?”

Suzie nodded. “Tentative, in a few cases. I won’t bore you with large-scale multiverse politics since your bar is clearly Equis Cluster local, given the pictures back there. Nothing too far out of the way. But dangers… you’ll want to watch for the Infinite Carousel and Eldritch Embodiment.”

"The Eldritch Embodiment sounds like something Nyarlathotep whispered that one time…" Sunset muttered. She smiled. "But! While it sounds squishy and mind-boggling, it also doesn't sound terribly appealing. The Carousel thing sounds like a Rarity conglomerate."

“She spoke to Nyar and lived…” Suzie muttered under her breath, clearly not sure what to make of that. “Must have been in an amused mood that day…” She shook her head. “But yeah, the Carousel is a Rarity conglomerate. They aren’t evil, but they are… how do I put this?”

“Celia called them Capitalism Incarnate,” Cinder offered.

“Ah. Yes. They will try to buy everything they can out. Despite inter-universal businesses being outlawed in Merodi space they just keep trying…” Suzie smirked. “Luckily they usually aren’t my problem. Just don’t let them convince you they’re giving you a good deal.”

Sunset's smile was frozen. "Right. Ah well, uh… I don't think I've met any yet. But it did sound oddly familiar…" she frowned. "Hm."

“Really, though, you should be fine as long as you don’t anger any dark gods, interfere with their magic, and look out for large quantities of Rarities talking about the ‘generosity of big business’.”

"So far I haven't been responsible or even really integral to any major disasters that might have befallen ancient civilization," Sunset stated. "And this bar is neutral ground as far as I'm concerned, so I have no intention of angering any gods, dark or otherwise."

Suzie nodded. “Hey Swip! Send these coordinates back to the Relations Division, declare it neutral territory. Maybe the Carousel will listen to the treaties for once.”

“Done!” Swip chirped.

"If not, I have methods of getting rid of unwanted guests," Sunset said, shrugging. "This place shouldn't open its doors to people with malicious intent either… although oblivious jackassery does seem to be able to bypass the locks through sheer stupidity."

“He who stands…” Suzie chuckled. “You probably don’t have anything to worry about. The people with the power to bash down these doors by force probably wouldn’t have a reason to.”

“It is just a bar,” Cinder admitted. “A nice one, yeah! But… I mean, what’s really here for someone to take?”

Sunset blinked, then motioned with her thumb over her shoulder at the room behind her. "You mean besides the contained essence of three elder gods that died during an apocalypse?"

Suzie stared at her in shock and fear.

“She’s joking,” Cinder said with a giggle.

"Always good to have a sense of humor." Sunset chuckled. "Relax, Captain, that's just Rarity's workshop."

“You work here with your Rarity?” Cinder asked. She gasped before Sunset could answer. “Do you have your Sweetie here too!?”

"Uh… not exactly, and no." Sunset served a bit more cocktail. "It's not my world's Rarity. Either of them. She's a Rarity from another universe that was visiting mine when we met. And she's here occasionally, when she's not promoting the place or something." Sunset hummed. "I'm not exactly sure how you would promote a place that literally doesn't show up unless it's the exact set of circumstances, but well… Rarity. She's also currently engaged in a multiversal contest for bartender clothes designs with a gunslinger." She raised her hand to stop them from speaking. "I know. And it is as cool as you think. Anyway, she has a workshop/office back there that she uses occasionally. No Sweeties here so far, though."

“Oh,” Cinder tried to hide her disappointment. “Well, we always like meeting new Sweeties. Direct them our way, maybe?”

Suzie chuckled. “Quite the little recruiter, huh?”

“Hey!” Swip called. “Guess what I found! Deep multiversal Internet search. There was a Celestia City tabloid that promoted this place! Gave no address, had a bunch of mysterious word puzzles associated with it… not sure what she was hoping to accomplish…?”

"Probably will have to ask her directly, I'm afraid," Sunset said. "Ah well. So you said you're on missions right now? Anything interesting happening in the multiverse that might give me pause?" She blinked. "I mean. Alright, so there's probably always something happening, but I mean something that directly invites your attention to it?"

“We just found the ancient universe-machine responsible for most of the universes in the Equis Cluster,” Cinder said nonchalantly. “Probably responsible for all of us, one way or another.”

“You’d be surprised how hard things like that are to find,” Suzie muttered. “And how much chaos happens when you do.”

"That sounds like a complicated thing to handle, Suzie," Sunset said, patting the older woman's hand with her own. "But if Cinder here is any sign, I think you're leading your friends well."

Suzie smiled. “It’s good to hear that from someone who’s not a biased friend.”

“Hey, Nausicaa doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Cinder huffed. “You’re great!”

Suzie nodded slowly, taking a small drink. “Yeah… by the way, this is excellent.”

“I can replicate it as many times as you want if you bring it out here!” Swip called. “Or I can give you any of a wide selection of exotic multiversal brews…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Well, I can't say I can do that. I have to get everything from the source. And believe me, Dwarves in non-pony universes are not as forthcoming with their products as you might want to believe. Even if I have a sealed scroll from three of their kings. And some dude named Illuvatar. But that was Rarity's and it only worked once." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I wish I could prepare something for you, Swip, you sound like you also need a drink."

Swip fell silent. “...I can get something for Rachel. For later. When she visits, at least. She likes coconuts.”

Sunset pondered. "Uh… is she legal to drink? Because I don't make virgin Pina Coladas… for insurance reasons."

Suzie smiled warmly. “Rachel’s a full-grown human woman. Swip’s adoptive sister, you could say.”

"Right then! In that case, that's an option, but it might not hold well until her visit unless you have a magical stasis field to keep it fresh? Other than that, I have some coconut-based alcohol, and a couple of different cocktails I can pre-mix and let you finish for her."

“Thanks,” Swip said. “...Ah, you might want to hurry, looks like Burgerbelle’s back.”

“Already?” Suzie asked.

“She was gone long enough for you to be bored, this wasn’t a short outing.”

“Hmm. Guess I was just beginning to really enjoy myself…”

"Right, Burgerbelle…" Sunset started gathering ingredients and pouring them into a mixer. "Does she sell burgers? Did she work at Burger Princess?"

“Bradburger,” Suzie answered. “Don’t ask. And if she comes in, still don’t ask, it’ll save you several brain cells.”

"Right." Sunset nodded slowly as she shook the container, then poured the contents into a glass jar and screwed it shut. "For Swip," she said, sliding it over to Suzie.

Cinder downed the last of her cherry drink. “Well, guess we need to get going then? Catch up on her mission, that sort of thing?”

Suzie nodded. “But first…” She pulled a brochure and a disc-shaped device out of her pocket. “Basic multiversal introduction pamphlet and a communication device, if you have any need. Should work anywhere in the Equis Cluster barring unusual circumstances.”

Sunset smirked, pulling out a silver card and giving it to Suzie. "Open invite, I'll know where to find you if you need it. Also, before you leave, I'll need a pic with you girls to put on the wall. And Swip if we can get her included."

“A picture?” Cinder grinned. “Ooh, that’s great, here, I can display Swip’s avatar on a tablet a—”

A human charged in through the doors—except she was completely two-dimensional and moved like she was on some sort of poorly-executed puppet animation. She was a Sweetie, yes, and had she not looked like something that belonged on the pages of a cheesy children's book she might have been twelve. She slammed her hands on the bar and spoke with a voice that belonged on a text-to-speech device. “Take me to your leader.” After a pause, she added. “Your leader is ice cream.”

Sunset's eyes went wide. "There is no spoon."

“I am being presented to spoonedly.”

"Unfortunately the eagle has left the underwater carrier."

“Listen, pretty lady, I need a stiff drink.”

"You could have just said that from the beginning," Sunset replied, "I thought you'd just been hanging around a drunk Krogan."

Burgerbelle had somehow managed to produce a glass of beer and slid it over to Sunset, grinning. “And here it is. Drink up, you earned it!” She saluted, put on a pair of pixelated sunglasses, and cartwheeled out the door. She made obnoxious cat sounds every time she touched something.

Sunset looked at the glass of beer in silence for a moment. "Okay. That happened."

“That’s a good way to describe her,” Suzie chuckled. “Now, about that picture…”

“Already on it, dears,” a tall pony with a crystal in her forehead instead of a horn said—she looked like a mixture of Sweetie and Rarity. She was currently dragging Burgerbelle back in with her magic, a digital tablet clutched tightly in the Flat’s arms. “Now let’s get this taken before the rest of the crew decides they want in on it, hmm?”

Suzie, Cinder, Burgerbelle, and Celia stood in Swip’s primary corridor.

The wall was back to normal. Even the screen was back, proudly displaying Swip’s avatar: a young human with darker skin that didn’t seem to match any nationality whatsoever. “And now I’ll be able to replicate amazing coconut POWER for Rachel every time.” She smirked. “I got her.”

“You could have done that before,” Celia pointed out.

“But I couldn't have said it was a recipe from an interdimensional bar!”

Cinder rolled her eyes and giggled. “I’m sure she’ll love it.”

“You bet she will!”

Suzie stretched. “Well, that was a nice break. But I do need to hear your report, Burgerbelle.”

“Nanomachines, son,” Burgerbelle said.

Suzie facepalmed.

“I’m serious. We were in that universe. I even heard the line! I spat it back at him. It was great.”

“...How much collateral damage are we talking?”

Burgerbelle shrugged with a ‘boing!’ sound effect.

Suzie glanced to Celia.

“I wasn't on the team.”

“You can translate.”

“Well, yes, I suppose I can…”

Suzie, Celia, and Burgerbelle walked off, leaving Cinder alone in the corridor. She put a hoof on the wall where the door used to be.

“I like her,” Cinder decided.

“...Are you talking to me?” Swip asked.

Cinder shrugged. “Just… thinking aloud. Hope she gets to have a lot of adventures in there. ...Who even is Nyar?”

“One of the highest ranking eldritch deities within the entire Eldritch Embodiment. Has a tendency rather unlike his kind to interact with mortals. Usually… destructively.”

“...Oh.” Cinder blinked. “I hope I never meet him.” She frowned. “Aaaaaand I’ve doomed myself.”

“Probably.”

Cinder rolled her eyes. “Oh well. Time to listen to what Burger got up to. I’m sure it’ll be great!” She scampered off.

Sunset hung the image on her wall. Five Sweeties—Suzie, Cinder, Burgerbelle, that gem-pony Celia she didn’t get to talk that much to, and Swip. Suzie was clearly in charge, taking the center of the image up, an almost motherly arm on Cinder. Celia and Burgerbelle stood to the side, like deputies of some kind, though Burgerbelle was holding a golden scepter with a Twilight head…? Swip was digitally represented on a tablet in Cinder’s hooves, smiling and waving.

She frowned. Swip was wearing a copy of her outfit. How hadn’t she noticed that earlier?

As she proceeded to clean the glasses and equipment, she pondered on what she had learned today. It hadn't been a deep and philosophical moment, but it did put a lot of things into perspective, possible dangers and equally exciting possibilities. She had known a bit about the multiverse, and learned more from Rarity, but the Sweeties had given her a new outlook on it, things that she just hadn't given herself time to think about.

Multiverse adventurers and explorers were now part of her reality. Multiversal Governmental Entities and Conglomerates existed out there. The fact that she had just met representatives of one showcased how big this whole thing really was.

She chuckled and shook her head. There was never a dull moment in her bar. She finally came to sit at the bar and grabbed hold of the beer Burgerbelle had left for her. It was still cold enough, so she gave it a sip.

She smirked. It was pretty good. She enjoyed the quiet, even as the many thoughts and revelations and theories she had formulated played about in her mind, slowly sipping her beer, and once more glad she had taken this job and silently promising herself to ask Rarity why exactly she had the essence of three elder gods trapped in her office.

End Chapter

Author's Note

Co-written with GMBlackjack! This story takes place in the ongoing series: League of Sweetie Belles!

What to Expect when Drinking (Celestia: The Changeling Queen Series - Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D & Vren55
What to Expect when Drinking (Celestia: The Changeling Queen Series - Fanfic)

Stripping off her hospital gown and throwing it over her shoulder, Alternia, changeling queen, and one of Equestria’s three ruling princesses, galloped through the hallways of Canterlot Castle. It definitely wasn’t a pell-mell gallop of a desperate changeling queen escaping a horde of concerned servants and attendants that would try to meet her every need. Muttering under her breath, Alternia spied the janitor’s closet she’d typically used in I need a break from company moments and threw it open.

Once she’d slammed the door behind her, Alternia slipped off her silver-and-emerald-studded hoof shoes and groaned.

“You are going to be fine, Alternia. You are Equestria’s Changeling Princess, you have ruled Equestria for a thousand years for Celestia and Luna. You have a loving, respectful and reliable husband, supportive family, and the best friends. You can definitely raise a second changeling queen.”

After several long, slow breaths, she straightened and pulled out a mirror from her peytral, similar to Celestia's and Luna’s, but matching her shoes.

Reflected back at her was a changeling queen, but altered. She had a triangular-shaped horn that seemed almost blade-like. Her limbs were bulky instead of slender like her sister, Chrysalis's. Extra chitin was layered over her carapace to make it look as if she wore armor. Blue eyes examined the blue mane that matched its color and she nodded.

“And… there.” She adjusted her silver crown. “But first, I need a drink. I have not touched one in months.” Blue magic glowed around the door handle, and she was about to pull it open, but stopped.

Janitor’s closets didn’t have doors of lovingly worked oak. And she was sure that the door had been plain brown, not this lovely shade of stained red. She took a step back.

Nope. Stone archway. Worn, but nicely fitted stones... Definitely not the door of a janitor’s closet. But a glance behind her showed that she was still in a janitor’s closet, and the only exit was in front of her.

On guard, and wishing that she hadn’t escaped her escort, Alternia opened the door.

The door swung open, making the silver bell jingle, and Sunset looked up from where she had been definitely not been trying to take a nap. The night had been annoyingly slow, leaving her with far too much to think about, and not enough to do.

Of course, the moment she just started to drift into sleep, the door would swing open. Sunset pulled herself up, put on her best smile, and blinked.

It was a changeling queen with blue eyes and mane that trotted in, but a few things set her apart from the other queens that she had previously seen. And then there was the fact that even with these differences, she looked so strangely… familiar.

“Oh, hello, I’m sorry for disturbing you. This happened to be the only door I could open from my end.”

Scratch that, Sunset felt the hair on the nape of her neck tingle. That voice. It was familiar. She just couldn’t place it.

The barkeep's silence was a bit odd, especially considering how she was carefully dressed and the bar itself had a sense of formality that would invite a guest to expect a polite welcome at the very least. The little silver bell should have been enough warning, and as Alternia walked in, sensing the confusion of the barkeep, she couldn't help but wonder what to she'd see.

And then she stepped into the bar proper, noticing the several picture frames on the wall—most empty—and the barkeep herself. She was dressed in a way that reminded her of the west, perhaps Appleoosa? Cream-colored blouse and a black vest, tastefully embroidered, and designed. She couldn't see behind the bar, but the attire was certainly stylish and despite its slightly different tone to the bar's design, only seemed to accentuate the uniqueness of both the bartender and the aura of the bar itself. The barkeep herself was a surprise.

First off, the barkeep seemed to be one of the bipedal humans Archmage Sunset Shimmer had described in her reports on Starswirl’s magical mirror. Actually, the barkeep was the human version of Archmage Sunset Shimmer—except that Alternia knew that the archmage wasn’t good at mixing drinks, and so would never try to run a bar.

Then there were the pictures, which seemed to be of the barkeep with a variety of creatures. Some of them were completely alien, others being human, and then… there were changeling queens. One was unfamiliar to her. The other was Chrysalis. Yet everything from the expression on her face to her poise told Alternia that this wasn’t her elder sister. This was another Chrysalis.

There was only one explanation… and thankfully Twilight had just been discussing multiverse theory with her over tea.

“Pardon me, Miss… Sunset? Am I in another universe?” Alternia asked, making an educated guess at the identity of the bartender.

The question seemed to shake the barkeep, and Sunset—for who else could it be with that voice?—nodded, managing an unsure smile. "Oh, yeah—I mean, yes! Sorry about that, you just really remind me of someone." She motioned with her hand at the bar around them. "This is Sunset's Isekai, and yes, you guessed it. It's its own pocket dimension, jumping from one place of the multiverse to another." She chuckled. "I have to say though, before I started this business I only knew of changelings by reputation, but I keep having changeling customers passing through that door, maybe the multiverse is trying to tell me something?"

“That we like a good drink I hope?” Alternia asked, smiling. She trotted over and pulled a chair, sinking herself into the cushion and onto the bartop. “I gave birth five days ago and have not had a drink in months. I am in dire need of a something stiff and somepony to talk to. What do you have?”

Sunset tapped her chin in thought. "Hm, well, there's a whole menu of cocktails right here, and anything that strikes your fancy back there." She motioned with her hand at the several shelves of liquor she had on display. "I have over a hundred types of whiskeys, cognacs, spirits… uh, just ignore the far right area on the second shelf. That stuff is apparently not compatible with most carbon-based life forms." She frowned, and Alternia could have sworn she heard Sunset swear under her breath something about fourth-dimensional bastards.

Alternia levitated the cocktail list, then looked up. "Why is the virgin pina colada crossed out?"

"Safety reasons."

She waited for a moment to see if Sunset was going to add anything to that remark, but when nothing else was said, she simply acknowledged it with a nod. "Ah."

As she read the rest of the list of cocktails, she noticed Sunset shifting in place until the bartender took a deep breath. "Alright, I'm sorry to ask, but this is really bugging me." She paused, eyes widening. "Uh... no offense."

Alternia felt her lips quirking slightly. "None taken. What's bothering you?"

"Well. You see… back in Equestria… I mean, my Equestria, I was… an apprentice to Princess Celestia… and… well you really sound and act like her."

Alternia chuckled. "Well, Sunset Shimmer, there is a very good reason for that."

"Oh?"

"It’s a long story, so first things first, I need that drink."

Sunset leaned on the counter, frowning. "Alright, so let me get this straight: You are Chrysalis' younger sister. And everything was fine, but she successfully pulled a coup and you were injured… and teleported to where Princess Celestia battled Nightmare Moon."

Alternia nodded.

"And then, Celestia was too wounded by the battle to carry on, so she found you and healed you, and then you had to take over Equestria for centuries, posing as her."

“And eventually I managed to mend my relationship with my sister, help changelings integrate with Equestria and formally became a princess.”

Sunset crossed her arms. "I suppose it makes it easier to solve things since you have an additional vote. I'm actually surprised they took you in as basically family, surprised, but also glad." She smirked. "Other than Luna, family wasn't a big thing for my Celestia. I know it's a multiverse so it's different in many places, but it's always nice to hear about it." She picked up the now-empty glass she had given to Alternia and refilled it. "It's kinda cool that you get the chance to be a mom, congratulations!"

The changeling queen didn’t respond, and the smile on her face twitched. An alarm bell rang in Sunset’s head as Alternia took the proferred drink and chugged it down her throat as if it was liquid love. She didn’t even smack her lips when she finally set the tankard down.

“To be honest, I am absolutely terrified.” She fixed Sunset in her gaze, noticing her start. “Being a mother… I have been one for five years, but I… I’m still so scared that I will make a mess of things. And… well, I don’t know how changeling queens are… built? Born? I don't know how they work in the other universes, but we queens… our power is based on how much love we are given. As such, queens have a lot of responsibility to their hives due to their power.”

“Sounds logical.”

“Yes, but there’s a complication. You see, Sunset, I am the changeling princess of Equestria and was essentially Celestia's and Luna’s regent for a thousand years. In the event of my death… which I hope will happen a good long while from now. However, at that time, either of my daughters will succeed me, and before that I know they will be notable figures in Equestria’s governance. I need to raise them right.”

Sunset couldn’t help but wince and frown at the same time. Of course, Alternia made sense, but to pin all that expectation on your children…

“That and raising them is proving to be a challenge. Imagine what happened when my first daughter was born and was presented to the crowd?”

“Oh. Oh Celestia.”

“Oh Celestia was right. It was not fun trying to get her to bed. And now… Kyria is also a queen-daughter.” Alternia’s shoulders sagged, her gaze firmly trying to see through the bar table. “I… I was surprised when Mirage was a queen. I’m horrified Kyria is. If I make a mistake in teaching either of them… raising them… Equestria will pay… or even worse, they’ll pay because I would have made a mistake.”

"Um. Wow." Sunset shifted uncomfortably. "I think I might need to give you something a bit stronger.”

Alternia gave her a half-lidded look and pointed at her empty tankard.

“All that being said…” Sunset set the bottle she was holding down. "Isn’t it a bit much to draw out a path for their lives? I mean, Mirage… isn’t even five yet. I dunno." Sunset sighed and turned around, studying the drinks on display. "I never had much of a mom so…" She shrugged. "My personal experience is limited." She frowned, concentrating on the drinks in front of her before grabbing one containing a bright green liquid. "Here, try this. Best from the Stanford Distillery."

Alternia studied Sunset as she slowly poured the drink into her glass. "So. Want to talk about it?"

"Hm?" Sunset looked up. "Oh… there's not much to say. They started about a hundred and ten years ago? But the Bliffe Sector was apparently rather harsh and they couldn't really sell their products that much until they actually produced Ambrosia an—"

"I don't mean the drink," Alternia clarified, giving her a knowing look, "I might have a lot of worries in my mind, but I didn't rule for a thousand years by ignoring signs, however subtle they might be."

Sunset crossed her arms. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Alternia rolled her eyes. "Please. It's clear you have some complicated feelings towards your Celestia.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sunset, in a definitely innocent tone of voice with the blankest expression she could muster. "I've made peace with Celestia. Just a year ago she helped me deal with someone who was abusing Equestrian magic on the other side of the mirror."

“You have mommy issues, Sunset." Alternia sipped the green liquid, eyes widening for a moment before she hummed in appreciation. "This is good."

"I-I don't have mommy issues!" Sunset gasped. "I don't have a mother to begin with!"

Alternia raised an eyebrow. “I think you aren’t aware of this, but changelings in my universe can feel all emotions to a degree. No thoughts, but with that and a thousand years' worth of reading ponies… I can tell.”

"Alright," Sunset groaned, lifting her hands up in a placating gesture. "I have a biomom, but not a mother. No one that was there for me, and I never met her. Once I was—once I became Celestia's student it wasn't important, anyway.”

“Wait. Sorry, Celestia took you on as a student.” Alternia blinked and shook her head. “Sorry, I just realized you did say that earlier, please continue. Perhaps your counterpart is different from you.”

“Oh? How did your Sunset Shimmer turn out like?”

Alternia shut her eyes briefly, swaying in place, and pushed her cup away. “I do not know her that well. I never took her on as a student.”

That took Sunset aback. Yes, the changeling queen came from an alternate universe but Alternia was the “Celestia” of that universe. She frowned. "Any particular reason?"

Alternia frowned. “I promise that I will tell you, once you elaborate on your relationship with Celestia. This is because from what you told me, some of what your counterpart has experienced… I don’t think you will receive well. You are… well something happened between you two.”

Sunset's eyes went wide. "Oh Celes—" Sunset cut herself off. "Don't tell me they're lovers."

Alternia blinked. "What? No! Why would you think that?"

"Because you made it sound like it was something I would dread!"

Alternia opened her mouth to counter the point, but closed it after a moment of thought. "Okay, granted. I did say that in a manner that might be interpreted in the wrong way." She sighed. “The Sunset Shimmer of my world is ambitious and authoritative but tempered with a strong sense of justice, patriotism and willingness to serve. She’s worked hard to become an Archmage of my Equestria. Perhaps a bit too hard as it has left her admired but with only a small circle of friends.” Alternia gave Sunset a sympathetic look. “As a result, after my universe’s Celestia finally returned, well… Sunset became a very close friend and advisor to her.”

Sunset studied the table. "That's a very different relationship than mine… or what I expected of my Celestia." She looked up. "Which in this instance would be you. You might be Alternia, but you act, sound and behave a lot like the Celestia I know and love."

“She is not you," Alternia replied. "But if you really wanted to know why I didn't take my Sunset as a student… I can sense emotions. I could tell she was lonely, ambitious and far, far too eager for recognition likely denied to her by her biological parents.”

Sunset chuckled. "Oh boy, I think I'll serve up a drink for myself." She made her way to the shelves and picked a bottle, then turned around, uncorked it and served herself a glass of very dark wine. "Do carry on."

Apparently slightly confused by her attitude—if the blinking and tilting of the head were any indication—Alternia continued, “I felt that taking her on as a student would have been… unwise," she said, "so I imparted some words of advice and reflection and recommended her for mandatory counseling. That, thankfully, guided her onto a good path.” Alternia pointed at Sunset’s chest. “Which I must add, does not mean your path was a bad one. You seem like a fine young mare.”

Sunset took a sip of her wine and pursed her lips. "It took some effort to change," she said. "And Princess Twilight's help. My Celestia and I—she couldn't read my feelings." Her voice lowered. "As much as I sometimes wished she could." She cleared her throat. "In any case, I got better… I eventually forgave her in my heart and when I saw her I—she said she had missed me, and I believed her. I was never what I wanted to be with her, but in the end, I like to think I was finally worthy of being her student at least. It just took longer than anypony anticipated."

"Princess Twilight, huh?" Alternia said, laughing lightly. "Some things don’t change between alternate universes, I guess.”

"I guess not," Sunset replied, chuckling.

"Did you let her know?" Alternia asked, her voice softer. "It seems that Celestia meant a lot more to you than she knew. Her not being a Changeling Queen makes it a lot more likely that she just wasn't aware."

Sunset's smirk faded into a sad smile. "Nah. At this point, there's no real reason. She and I will always be teacher and student, and that's all." She swirled her wine in the glass, admiring it. "Sometimes we don't get what we want, as your Sunset found out." She lifted her wine glass in a silent salute. "But sometimes it all ends well precisely for that reason. Perhaps it was for the best." She chuckled. "The last thing I needed when I left was a legitimate claim to the throne, and I think she doesn't need the additional burden of knowing she wasn't the mother I wanted." She finished the wine and licked her lips clean. "If she didn't know, and I didn't deserve it… what's the point of opening an old wound so much it cuts into somepony else's life?"

Alternia shrugged. "Being tactful will spare somepony’s pain, but secrets are not always the best way to handle things." She met Sunset's amused eyes with her own. "Yeah. I said it."

"But isn't part of growing up accepting that life isn't always going to go the way you want it?" Sunset countered, trying hard not to smile. She sighed. "Look, a part of me will always think that it would have been amazing to be adopted by Celestia, but another part of me looks at where I am now, where I've been and, well… it's also partly because Celestia chose not to do so. Getting hung up in might-have-beens will not lead to happiness. At least I don't think it will."

The Changeling Queen hummed. "So you don't think your Celestia made the wrong choice?"

Sunset shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe the acknowledgement would have led me down a different path, or maybe it would have fueled my ambition even more. Either way, I didn't have a mom. I had a guardian, and a teacher that loved me very much and I hurt badly before I learned to be a better person." She gave Alternia a look. "And as an adult that has dealt with those issues in the last few years, I think that out of respect for her and for myself I don't need to bring that topic up."

Alternia drank a bit more. "At least I know that if I mess up it's not the end of the world… It’s strange. I've carried the weight of Equestria on my shoulders all this time, and yet being responsible for foals is… terrifying. I question and second-guess myself all the time. I've seen what mistakes can cause and the thought of leading my daughters astray…" She shook her head. "...it's quite frankly paralyzing."

"Ah," Sunset said, "that explains why you want to know so much about my relationship with Celestia… I think you'll be fine. One of the changeling queens I met in another universe had like… a thousand young. If she can manage that many, you can manage two."

Alternia gave her a dirty look. "That is not as encouraging as you might think."

Sunset shrugged, "Neither is telling me to stay the hay out of the Restricted Section of the library, and yet, here we are."

The changeling queen took a long sip from her cup, and fixed Sunset with a contemplative look. Her voice was slurred when she spoke next. “You. You think I'm projecting my worries and issues onto you."

"I think you are," Sunset said, smiling. "And it's… I mean, not okay, exactly, but my job here is in part to lend an ear." She reached across and caressed Alternia's cheek. "I think you'll be a wonderful mom. I think my Celestia could have been a wonderful mother as well, and she still can. I think that you'll get to know your children well enough that you'll make decisions out of love and for their benefit. You'll be fine."

The changeling queen took a sip from her cup, and fixed Sunset with a contemplative look. “Thank you for your reassurance.” Giving the human an only slightly lopsided smile, Alternia asked. “Do you mind if I leave you with some last advice before I ask you to refill my cup?”

Sunset shrugged nonchalantly.

“I believe you need to talk to Celestia. I know what you said about opening wounds, but take it from someone who reads emotions… you need to talk about what you feel about them if the pony you care about is affecting you in a negative fashion.”

“I suppose so—”

“Sunset.”

Although soft, there was a note of grave seriousness in Alternia’s voice and it was all over her face, in her set jaw, in her… haunted, blue eyes. Sunset didn’t find herself scared, but she did find herself wondering… just what had happened to the changeling.

“In over a thousand years of living, I have found myself in far too many situations where poor communication has very literally cost the lives of the creatures I care for, or very nearly cost their lives. With family… or close friends… unspoken resentments tend to fester, even in the best of ponies.” She smiled wanly. “I mean, just as an example, perhaps this happened in your world as well, but Luna, ostensibly the shy, sweet, princess of the night, became Nightmare Moon because of a clear lack of communication between her sister and herself. Don’t force the issue of course, but do address it.”

“I see your point. I promise I'll least feel her out to see if it's appropriate to mention, but no promises on that specific topic unless she brings it up.” Sunset filled Alternia’s tankard, and blinked as the changeling raised it and drank deep. “Are you sure you want to drink all of that, that quickly?”

“I’m about to go care for a baby changeling queen, with all the wailing and extra magic thanks to Equestria’s love. I’m not going to be able to let loose for a while.” Digging into her peytral, Alternia pulled out a large pile of bits and dumped them on the table. “This should cover the costs. Keep them coming, Sunset.”

Weighing the money freely offered and the prospect of a very drunk changeling, Sunset sighed and filled Alternia’s cup. “If you say so… I mean, I guess you are an adult...”

“And hahaha, and when I spat the noodle out, it went into herr… teehee!” Alternia leaned back, a wild cackle bellowing from her lips, and nearly fell off, if not for Sunset’s hand. The changeling wasn’t blushing because apparently changelings of her universe couldn’t blush, but the former unicorn swore the changeling was breathing bubbles.

Either that or Sunset was herself getting a bit tipsy. The bar table was piled with bits, but she was beginning to regret indulging the changeling queen.

“Yeah, Alternia, perhaps we should stop?” Sunset asked, not quite noticing the sound of a jingling bell.

“Oh perhaps, but maybe one more. Pleaaaase?” begged the queen.

“Alternia? Sunset?”

The immediately recognizable voice made Sunset spin around and nearly fall, but for a glow of familiar yellow magic that lifted her onto her feet before her butt hit the floor. She looked up and froze.

Celestia and Luna were standing in front of her, looking understandably confused.

“Is this… a pocket alternate universe?” Luna asked.

“Uh yes. Hi! Welcome to Sunset’s Isekai. Um, Alternia really needed a break and well, she had too many drinks.”

Celestia sighed, but trotted over and used her magic to put Alternia over her back. “Oh I understand completely. Thank you for taking care of her, Sunset.”

“You’re welcome, Celestia!” she squeaked.

“How long has she been here, by the way?” Luna asked, glancing at the several shot glasses and empty mugs on the bar. “She’s been missing for but fifteen minutes.”

“Uhh… a good few hours. Time is not directly matched to her universe...”

“Ah.” Luna added a small stack of bits to the pile and dabbed at a little bit of drool from the changeling queen’s mouth. “Thank you, Sunset, perhaps we might see each other again.”

"I'm always around when needed." Sunset shrugged and managed a staggering bow as the two alicorns left with the changeling queen. Gingerly standing up, the former unicorn glanced at the pile of bits decorating the table, plus what Luna had added, then to the door, then back to the mess of shot glasses she'd have to clean.

“Well, at least they tipped generously.”

End Chapter

Author's Note

Co-written with Vren55, and taking place in the Celestia: The Changeling Queen universe!
If you like this so far, remember that my Patrons can vote for which series/fanfic will be visited by Sunny's Bar.

Pan Galactic Sparkle Blaster (Past Sins - Post Fic)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D & Pen Stroke
Pan Galactic Sparkle Blaster (Past Sins - Post Fic)

If one was ever curious to see how quickly a community could change, you wouldn’t need to look farther than Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle’s arrival in what had been a small rural community marked the beginning of so many big changes, and they only became more grand as the years went by.

Nightmare Moon’s second return had left Night Stone Castle standing on the town’s outskirts. Twilight’s battle with Tirek brought the gift of her Castle of Friendship. Soon after came the School of Friendship right next door. Yet those changes were but preludes to how much Ponyville would grow and evolve, especially after Princess Celestia and Princess Luna announced their “retirement” as Equestria’s rulers.

As Nyx looked out over Ponyville, sitting on a small cloud with the sunset to her back, it was hard to picture what the town used to look like. Ten years had left their mark on her and the community. She was no longer a school-age filly, but a mare that was growing back into the impressive height that had once been a defining characteristic of Nightmare Moon. She still had a little way to go, but it wouldn’t be long before she was on eye level with Princess Celestia once more.

Or rather just Celestia. Even after so many years, Nyx had to remind herself that it was just Celestia now. Just Celestia. Just Luna. They were not princesses anymore… a luxury Nyx wished she could share. But the daughter of Equestria’s current ruler, even a technically adopted one, still got bunched into the royal family.

Shaking her head, Nyx tried to get her thoughts off that as she continued to look down on Ponyville from her cloud. She could identify a few landmarks that had managed to resist the tides of change that had swept over the town. Sugarcube Corner still stood out as a delectable dream of a building. The town hall was still at the very center of the town, though it had been repurposed into a community space. But so much else of the community had changed.

New apartment buildings had replaced old single family homes. The market space, once a modestly sized street lined with carts from local farms, had grown to a full plaza with several more permanent businesses along its perimeter. Ponyville still had much the same charm, much the same theme, as it always had. But it had grown up and matured. Nyx couldn’t help but feel she shared some parallels with the community that was such an integral part of her life.

Though, unlike Ponyville, there were some ponies in Nyx’s life who refused to appreciate how much she had grown.

“There she is!”

And some of those ponies included the members of her mother’s royal guard.

Unable to sit and enjoy the view any longer, Nyx rolled off the cloud and went into a dive. Falling from the sky like a hawk, she plummeted toward the ground. She waited, gathering as much speed as she could, before spreading her wings at the last possible moment. Her feathers caught the air, and swiftly converted her downward momentum into forward velocity. She flew through the lamp-lit streets of Ponyville, her hooves less than a foot from the ground.

Glancing back, she saw the pair of pegasus guards that had spotted her. “Princess Nyx, stop!”

Maybe when she was younger such a command from the royal guard would have been enough to make her stop. But she had heard that word far too many times over the past few years, and it had begun to lose its potency. So Nyx did not stop. She would not be escorted back to her room by the guard again. Not tonight. This night was hers to seize… as soon as she lost the guards.

Nyx banked hard left at an intersection, letting her hooves land on and then push her off a building. It was a turn the pursuing pegasi were unable to mimic. They soared past, and for a moment, Nyx had broken the line of sight. Now she just had to find someplace to hide. The trouble was that she was in a residential area. Unless she wanted to barge in on some sleeping family, not a lot of places to hide.

Though a glimmer did catch Nyx’s eye. Landing and ducking into an alley, Nyx approached the thing that had caught her eye. A solid oak door, stained a deep golden-red, that had a crystal embedded in the wood in the shape of a familiar cutie mark. Though, at the moment, Nyx couldn’t quite place it.

The door was surrounded by a stone frame, and that stone frame was set into a stone wall. The wall itself, if Nyx wasn’t mistaken, was the back wall of an apartment building. Hiding in the lobby of an apartment building seemed a reasonable enough way to elude her pursuers. So she reached out to the door handle with her magic. She gave it a gentle turn, and felt the mechanisms within shift. It was unlocked.

Wasting not a moment more, Nyx slipped inside and shut the door behind her.

The ambience of the place Nyx found herself reminded her of Rarity’s favorite Shadow Spade novels. The last echoes of the door bell filled the tiny place. Really, it was cozy in just about every sense of the word. In front of Nyx was a narrow pathway that led to a pair of restrooms at the back of the bar and an old Jukebox. The jukebox seemed to sputter to life the moment Nyx noticed it, its internal mechanisms spinning as it searched for some record amongst its internal collection.

To the right of the central path were a set of two-creature tables, four in total. To the left was the bar. A single long wooden bar that stretched back to the end of the room, curving at the end. Nyx could tell it was a bar, not by the counter itself but by what stood behind it. She was not so ignorant that she couldn’t recognize a veritable cornucopia of alcoholic beverages.

And behind that bar, cleaning a glass for no patrons, was someone Nyx recognized… and yet didn’t. She thought she saw Sunset Shimmer, a friend of her mother who lived in the world beyond the mirror. Nyx herself had never been to the world of Canterlot High, but Sunset Shimmer had come back across the mirror once in a while to visit.

Yet Nyx had never seen the Sunset Shimmer she knew in human form, nor had she ever seen Sunset wearing… whatever that outfit was. A red button-down shirt, a color to complement the red in her hair, with black pants, black bowtie, and black apron. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, please, take a seat, I'll be right with you in a second."

Isekai? Nyx hadn’t heard that word before. Was it a word that described the bar? That would make sense, but would also be a bit on the nose. Then again, it wasn’t uncommon for Equestrian business to be very direct with their naming. Quills and Sofas was a prime example of such a business where there was no mystery of what you’d find inside.

It was the Jukebox that managed to shake Nyx from her thoughts and made her realize she had been standing at the door. It had begun playing, its speakers able to fill the space easily. It was some slow jazz number, a piano handling most of the melody as it was accompanied by what sounded like a double bass and a muted trumpet. Maybe there was a pair of bongos in there as well, but Nyx couldn’t tell for sure.

It was relaxing, adding to the bar’s natural ambience as a retreat, a place to get away from the world. At the moment, Nyx was happy to call it her sanctuary. She took a few steps forward, starting to approach the bar. There were stools to sit on, though those seemed intended for regular ponies or patrons that shared in the bartender's bipedal form. Thankfully, it did seem there were a few places at the bar meant for creatures of Nyx’s stature. She was able to find one such cushion, and take a seat there.

It put her directly in front of the bartender, this Sunset Shimmer that Nyx had never seen before, if her intuition was right. Still, maybe this was the Sunset Shimmer she knew… and her mother had just failed to mention she was back in Equestria, that she wasn’t a pony, and she had opened a bar behind some apartment building. Really, there was only one way to find out for sure.

“So… do I know you?” Nyx asked as she watched Sunset Shimmer continue to clean a glass.

As soon as the bell rang, Sunset took a deep breath. Alternia's mother issues had been somewhat draining, bringing back her own past hopes and opening a few wounds she wished had been left untouched. Still, Alternia had just given birth and with her being part of the ruling body, it was understandable that she'd be stressed.

It would have been nice to have the stress not involve Sunset too much, however, but she had designed this place with that in mind. It was her role, so to speak. And it seemed that stress was a real problem with both alicorns and changeling queens, if the young Luna that had walked into the bar was anything to go with.

She was definitely a bit different than Sunset would have imagined, her coat was darker than she expected, and her eyes had a vertical slit pupil that the regular Luna she knew didn't. In fact, there was a slight chance that this wasn't Luna… the shield cutie-mark reminded her more of the CMCs marks, and unlike the princess, who liked her mane to flow, this alicorn had her mane tied into a ponytail with a scrunchy of all things.

Sunset didn't know what to make of this new alicorn, but she was clearly stressed and confused, taking in the ambience of the bar with wide eyes that slowly crawled up to her and shone with something akin to recognition. Better let this one in slow. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, please, take a seat, I'll be right with you in a second," she said, motioning with her head to the seats.

It took not-Luna a few seconds to shake the surprise off and slowly make her way to one of the seats at the bar.

“So… do I know you?”

Sunset put down the glass under the bar and smiled. "Well. I'm not sure… you might know someone like me? I'm Sunset Shimmer, and if you've ever heard that name before, chances are you know Twilight Sparkle. But I wouldn't be your Sunset… this bar is a multidimensional pocket, intended to stop by where friends and friendly creatures might need a drink." She looked at the young mare.

Were this her Equestria, not-Luna would certainly be old enough to drink, but it was always tricky with Alicorns, so she pulled out both cocktail menus.

"This one's the non-alcoholic menu, and this one is the regular one. I have also an insane amount of beers from across the multiverse if that's what you like."

Sunset read not-Luna’s face a moment, trying to gauge her level of understanding. For some of her guests, the concept of the multiverse flew over their head. For those less intellectual customers, it was sometimes better just to say the place was “magic” and leave it at that. This not-Luna, however, seemed to understand the concept. There was even a curiosity in those eyes, as if the mention of the multiverse had sparked innumerable questions. Yet not-Luna remained quiet, eyes drifting to the menu.

“So, a Sunset Shimmer from an alternate dimension,” not-Luna said. “And this place is a bar… from an alternate dimension. A bartender my mother won’t have talked to.” A smile played on not-Luna’s lips for a moment. “I don’t suppose you could recommend something for someone of drinking age but who hasn’t had a chance to try alcohol yet? Ideally before someone can storm in and ruin this golden opportunity.”

Sunset blinked. "Huh. What is it about being chased by ponies?" she muttered. "Alright, I can recommend a couple of things, but first of all, you said your mom won't let you drink? But you are legally of age, correct? My bar will know."

Not-Luna’s expression soured. She bit her lip a moment, as if trying to decide how to approach the situation. “So the bar decides if I’m old enough, but I guess that’s only if I’m honest. Fine. Whether or not I’m of legal drinking age depends on how you count. Biologically, I am a few years past the drinking age. Mentally, I’d argue the same. But… technically speaking, I was only born about a decade ago.”

Sunset studied her again. "What." She shook her head. "Alright, run this by me again. So far I've been operating under the assumption that you're Luna, just… young. And possibly with different upbringing."

“You’re not far off from that.” Not-Luna chuckled as she brought a hoof to her mane. She ran the hoof through her ponytail, causing some… blob of blue magic to come out. They were star speckled, like a very dark night sky. The blob drifted to the bar, breaking apart into about seven smaller pieces. “Been a while since I’ve had to tell this story, but I guess it never does get old.”

The seven blobs of magic took shape, forming into tiny, toy-like versions of Sunset’s familiar friends as well as a larger, black-coated alicorn. Though Sunset had yet to see her face to face, she could tell the two-inch alicorn standing and posing on her bar was Nightmare Moon.

“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle and her five friends found the Elements of Harmony and used them to defeat Nightmare Moon.” As soon as not-Luna began narrating, the seven tiny actors began to move. Sunset watched as the familiar story played out, the tiny pointy ponies turning her bar into an impromptu stage.

“All the magic and rage that was Nightmare Moon was peeled away from Luna like layers of an onion. The Elements of Harmony saved Princess Luna from her darkness, but did not destroy the darkness. Take those shreds, add a cult, a dark ritual, a symbolic, small blood sacrifice, and an interrupting lightning bolt from Princess Celestia, and you get… me.

“I am Nyx,” Not-Luna said as she made tiny pointy ponies disappear. “I was supposed to be Nightmare Moon reborn, but I ended up a filly with no memories instead. So yes, I was born about a decade ago, but my body was more than a decade old when I was born. And I’d like to think my mind caught up quickly. So, in my opinion, I’m old enough to drink.”

With that explanation laid out, Sunset began to see the resemblance. After all, she had grown up in Equestria. She had celebrated Nightmare Night long before she had even heard of the human world’s Halloween. She knew of Nightmare Moon. She, as a filly, had left her fair share of candy as an offering to the bogeymare of Equestria. And now… it seemed a version of Nightmare Moon was sitting at her bar, asking for a drink.

"Well then," she said, taking back the non-alcoholic menu. "It seems we need a drink." She cleared her throat. "Usually a good way to start depends on what you want to do, if you want to drink like an adult, I can get you something to sip slowly, with a more sophisticated palette, like wine, or Scotch. If you want something refreshing, a mojito or a pina colada will do. Or even a Caipirinha."

Nyx’s gaze shifted to one side. Though Sunset couldn’t be sure, she believed Nyx was looking upon the rows of different bottled liquors. “How about… a wine? That was almost my first drink back when I turned old enough. Rarity had the glasses poured and everything. Then my mother stormed in and ruined it.”

"That's probably the safest bet. Some of the stuff in the direction you were looking takes some getting used to. Or it could end explosively." She gave Nyx a calculating look before digging under the bar and pulling out a pair of wine glasses. "Alright, I got this from another universe and it has become my wine of choice, it has body, amazing taste and a complex gamma of aftertaste that makes it so much worth dodging arrows and spells to get."

She pulled out a dark green bottle with a yellowish piece of paper glued into it written in some unknown, flowery language. "This is elven bloodwine," she explained, serving the incredibly dark-red wine into the glasses. "It's not blood. And has no blood. But it has a centuries-long process to make. Totally worth it."

Sunset gently nudged one of the two glasses towards Nyx. The other was for herself. It was a personal weakness, but she could rarely serve this wine without having a bit of it for herself. Still, she watched Nyx, her magic taking hold of the glass.

And then… something rather surprising. She watched Nyx, a mare that claimed to have never had a drink before, start inspecting the wine. She swirled it, and watched how it flowed off the interior of the glass. She then put her nose close to the rim, taking a deep smell of the aromas. It was the methodology of someone who had been taught, at least once, the techniques to drinking wine.

Then, finally, Nyx took that first sip. She sipped the wine, set it down, and a smile blossomed onto her face. “That is… very good. A little hard to ignore the taste of alcohol, but I’ve been told that’s something you get used to in time. Nice to finally be able to try a wine the way Rarity taught me.”

Sunset couldn't help herself and started laughing. "Of course, Rarity!" she exclaimed, leaning back and looking at the young mare. "She'd definitely be one to teach you about wines. I was about to ask." She shook her head. "So what, or rather who stopped her? She likes her wine a lot, and more so with good company."

Nyx took another sip, enjoying it slowly, before putting her glass back down. “Well, like I said, my mother—”

“When did this door get here?”

The new voice, one Sunset found familiar, came from outside the bar’s door. Nyx’s previously blissful smile was quickly replaced with a deep, aggravated frown as she turned her head to the door. “Of course. Even in an extra-dimensional bar she finds me.” Nyx looked back to Sunset. “Can you hide me, just until she goes away?”

"You're kidding," Sunset said, her eyes narrowing. "Your mom is Twilight Sparkle?" She shook her head. "If she's able to see that door she desperately needs a break herself. And you know she won't leave for a while if she sees me in here."

“But if she sees me in here with this—” Nyx held up the glass “—she’s going to throw a fit!”

"Hey, the bar never lies, you are technically old enough to drink some quality wine." Sunset shrugged. "She needs to relax, it's not like you're downing Bor'Kann and vodka."

“You are underestimating her. This is the mare that got me alcohol-banned from every place in Ponyville when I tried to sneak a hard cider. It was an impressive moment of Twilinanas.”

Sunset pointed up with her finger. "Not Equestria. Besides, I don't like the idea of lying to your mom. She's one of my best friends. Besides, Commander Sparkle can drink like an eldritch god and she loves it, so I'm sure I have something that will mellow down your mom a bit." She reached out and pressed a button. The familiar voice of Twilight Sparkle echoed in the bar. 'This is Commander -hic- Sparkle! And this! This. This! Is my favoorite bar in the multiverse!'

“Hello? Is someone in there?”

Nyx shrank in her seat, but it wasn’t like a pony as big as her could hide so easily. Hearing the doorbell jingle once more, Sunset turned her head and saw her second patron of the evening. It was a Twilight Sparkle, one that reminded her in so many ways of the one she knew from her home universe. Perhaps a bit taller, a bit more regal, but still a very familiar Twilight Sparkle. Though, at the moment, Sunset could see this Twilight was in full mom-mode.

“Nyx!? Sunset!? Why… why are you serving my daughter alcohol? And why do you have a bar in Ponyville!?”

"Oh, hey Twilight," Sunset said, "why don't you take a seat next to Nyx here, who only let me know a moment ago you were her mom, and we talk this out?" She leaned across the bar, locking eyes with her new guest. Her voice softened a little. "Ponies need to be in a very—very—desperate need for a break to get here, why don't you listen to what Nyx has to say?"

“I think I’d rather talk to her at home.” Twilight began moving towards Nyx.

“No, Mother, how about we talk about it right here?” Nyx said, turning her head to glare at Twilight. “Because this bar, this magic bar thinks I’m old enough to drink. And right now, I intend to sit right here and finish this wine I started.” At that, Nyx picked up the glass and took another long sip.

Twilight visibly bristled. “Nyx!”

"I understand she's your daughter," Sunset said gently, "and I know it's a different circumstance than mine but… communication was an issue a long time ago for me, Twilight, and you know how that ended."

Twilight flicked her gaze to Sunset. It was the well-practiced gaze of a disapproving mother. It almost made Sunset want to apologize for stealing cookies or some other simple childhood sin, but she caught herself before she could utter the words.

Still, after a few moments Twilight took a seat at the bar. She was small enough to fit on one of the barstools. So though Nyx was technically the taller of the pair, Twilight sat taller than Nyx, who was still comfortably planted on a floor cushion. “So… a magic bar? When did you get this?”

“She’s not our Sunset,” Nyx said as she just held her wine glass in her magic and swirled the contents, watching it refract the light in the room. “She’s another Sunset from a different dimension that has a multidimensional bar that can appear anyplace she wants it to.”

Twilight looked to Sunset, eyeing her up and down once before turning to face Nyx. “Doesn’t Spike have a comic book that describes a similar situation for the Power Ponies?”

“Eeyup. 'Power Ponies and the Back Page Cafe'.”

“That fills in some blanks.” Twilight turned her gaze back to Sunset. “And you said that this bar appears to ponies that really, really, need a break.”

“That’s what she said,” Nyx answered. “And what does that say about you, Mom?”

Once more, Twilight bristled, but didn’t say anything back. She instead drew a hoof to her chest, took in a deep breath, then let the breath out as she extended her forehoof slowly. With a calmer expression, Twilight refocused on Sunset. “Sorry that I snapped when I came in. This is a very lovely establishment, and I can’t say I wouldn’t be interested in hearing how it’s able to travel between dimensions… or how it’s able to decide if someone can drink.”

"Simple multidimensional law-interpretation system," Sunset said, pulling a third wine glass and putting it in front of Twilight, but not serving her yet. "Installed by Rarity from yet another dimension other than mine, and well…" She smirked. "You know Rarity wouldn't let herself be caught with a subpar product that wouldn't allow her to avoid any potential trouble with the law itself. I think Nyx here is one of those cases where the letter of the law is clear enough that the spirit of it has to yield. In other words, she's mentally and physically fit to have a drink."

She showed Twilight the bottle. "However, I'm not serving her some questionable product; This is wine fit for royalty, aged and produced over a matter of centuries by the elves of Silvanesti. The alcohol content is quite low for a world of their nature, and something that you'd sooner get full from than drunk with. Would you like some?"

Twilight glanced about, her horn began to gently glow, There was no spell being cast, at least none that Sunset could see, but the expression from Twilight’s face was shifting from annoyance to curiosity. “The magic in here does feel very complex, very advanced. It’s perhaps some of the most advanced magic I’ve ever encountered.”

There was a huff from Nyx, whose eyebrow twitched a moment as she took another small taste of her own wine. But she offered no interruption to the conversation, and in fact turned her head away to look at the jukebox at the far end of the room.

"It is far more complex than I'd like, but at the same time, who can really ignore a fun challenge?" Sunset replied. "When I got the place, my main directive was to take me to where I could help friends or creatures relax and maybe forget about their problems for a while." She waved the bottle in her hand a little. "Rarity thought I was a good mixologist and here I am, sharing wine with the daughter of a friend. How cool is that?"

Twilight nodded. “It’s very cool, and I can admit it’s nice to have a break, even a small one like this to catch up with an alternate-reality version of a friend. Makes me want to catch up with our own Sunset Shimmer. It’s been too long since we’ve talked face to face, though we still are pen-pals using the book. Her stories from the human world are always so fascinating, though I imagine you have some stories to tell yourself.”

"Yes, but you're leaving me hanging here, Twilight," Sunset said. "I could give you a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster if you want, or do you want something from the non-alcoholic menu? Just promise that you won't do like one of your alternates and destroy the bar because pina coladas are virgin enough as they are."

“I suppose I could glance at the non-alcoholic menu.”

"Cool," Sunset said, putting the bottle next to her. "Let me know what you'd like when you're ready." She turned to Nyx. "So how are you enjoying the wine so far? I have other types you can sample if you want."

Twilight picked up the non-alcoholic menu, holding it at an angle so she could comfortably read. “I’d prefer if she didn’t even finish that current glass.”

“It’s wonderful, Sunset.” Nyx said, still sitting at an angle so she was facing towards the back of the bar and away from Twilight. “I do want to finish this glass before I consider trying anything else. Don’t want to dive in too quickly only to find out I’m some lightweight. But this has been very relaxing. I really needed this.”

Sunset crossed her arms. "Alright, Twilight, spill. Why are you so opposed to this? She didn't walk in asking for tequila slammers."

Sunset’s gaze fell on Twilight, and Nyx soon joined. Her eyes flicked away from her menu, taking note of both of them, but then trying to focus back on the nonalcoholic menu in front of her. For a time, that was all that happened. The jukebox played the same music, something calming… soothing… classy, in a way. Ambience but never so loud or upbeat that it intruded. But when the patrons themselves were silent, the music flowed out to fill the gap, to prevent any truly awkward silences.

“Nyx is just… not old enough…”

“Horse Apples,” Nyx snapped. “I’ve got an extra-dimensional age checking spell that seems to say otherwise. This time, I’ve got a backup, so that old excuse isn’t going to fly.” Nyx straightened herself in her seat, looking to Sunset. “You know, in my few year quest to have my first drink, I’ve asked a lot of questions of the right ponies. When Rarity would host a wine and cheese soiree, Mother would never go. I always thought it was because of the cheese. But then I heard that during Sweet Apple Acre Cider Season, mother would only ever drink regular cider. Even if she worked all day to help the farm, and everypony else was having one of the much harder-to-come-by hard ciders, she would stick to the regular cider.

“At Pinkie’s raves, mother would always ask if the punch was spiked. If it was, she’d just stick to water. There is a pattern. It’s a pattern as clear as the one that led Pinkie to discovering the great Rainbow Dash Pie Conspiracy. My mother… doesn’t drink. And I don’t care. If she has her reasons, she has her reasons, but I’ve never been able to have that decision for myself. So yes, Mother, please do tell. Why are you so opposed to this?”

Once more, the bar was only filled with the sound of the jukebox. It played the melody for a bit longer, the recording of the piano tinkling out a few final notes before the song itself ended. Then… true silence. The jukebox’s internal mechanisms didn’t even seem to make nose as it shuffled away the record it had been playing. Just… silence.

“You know, you asked around Ponyville… and around Ponyville, yes, I’ve been very strict with myself. But right after I took over for Equestria, Pinkie threw a retirement party for Celestia and Luna. It was a whole-day event. You probably remember it, Nyx. The whole town of Ponyville got swept up in it, but once the sun had set and younger ponies had been shuffled off to sleep… Pinkie and Applejack rolled out Sweet Apple Acres Hard Cider.

Twilight still looked at the non-alcoholic menu, as if it might hold a secret escape for her from the conversation. “I’d never been much of a drinker before that, but… I wasn’t so abstinent either. I had a few drinks, but Celestia and Luna… they were drinking like I had never seen them. They just cut loose. They just… partied like the world was ending, like they had no work the next day… because for the first time, they didn’t.

“And they got drunk. They got so drunk, and then Celestia just started talking. She began telling stories about other times she had gotten drunk and just… made such horrible mistakes. How she teleported a griffon ambassador and he wasn’t seen for two weeks. Or how a few drunk comments got Queen Novo mad at Celestia, which lead to weakened ties with the Hippogriffs, which in turn lead to them not thinking to call Equestria for help when the Storm King attacked.

“And then Luna started telling stories and made it worse. She told stories of a thousand years ago, how she had started and ended wars when drunk. How she won negotiations with the Yaks by drinking some past prince under the table. Maybe some of the stories were exaggerated, but… I’m the ruler of Equestria now. Yes, I have my friends for support, and they’ve done so much. But I’m the alicorn that everyone is looking to, and… I just don’t feel like I can let myself be in a position where I can’t trust my own judgement.

“I don’t feel like I can trust myself not to make a mistake if I went too far.”

"Oh, Twilight," Sunset sighed, patting the alicorn's hoof with her hand. "I saw my Celestia drink on plenty of occasions… both the Princess and the Principal, and they restrained themselves… it all boils down to the pony. You're not them."

When Sunset glanced out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Nyx’s posture relaxed. No longer was she definitely trying to look away from Twilight, even if it meant she had to stare in the direction of the bathroom. Now she was sitting normally again, taking another sip from the wine glass. It was half empty at this point.

“You know, I’m not you either, Mom. You’ve at least tried drinking. I can respect that you don’t want to do it anymore, but… this should be my decision, shouldn’t it? And I can’t make an informed decision without trying it for myself, can I?”

Twilight finally looked away from the non-alcoholic menu and focused on Nyx. “I… I know it should be your choice. I just… you grew up too fast, Nyx. Sure, I joke about not having to change any diapers, but… still… you grew up too darn fast. And… I just got worried I’d hear about some story about something you had done while drunk like I did from Celestia and Luna.”

"You girls might not want to hear the bartender's opinion, but as someone who's a friend in other dimensions, I can tell you that you're not the first parent to face those fears, Twilight," Sunset said, turning to pick up ingredients to fix up something non-alcoholic. Her practiced hands fetched the appropriate glass, and began grabbing the other ingredients. She hardly had to even look where she was reaching. She knew the back of the bar like the back of her hand.

"I think Nyx here might be curious about it, but even before you arrived she was very careful about what she wanted to try. She might find herself in situations where it's appropriate and expected to have something to drink, and having some expectations of what she'll experience assuaged can help?" She shrugged. "I did much worse than she did my first time, and I'm not getting drunk constantly despite the myriad bottles behind me."

“It seems that you’re just as practically minded as the Sunset Shimmer I know,” Twilight sighed as her ears drooped and she slouched in her seat. “I’ll admit, I can think of at least one time where I might have offended an important diplomatic guest by turning down their offer. Thankfully Applejack was there to help smooth things over.”

"Maybe, but it's still not my place to tell you what to do about your daughter in the end…" Sunset glanced at Nyx. "But this is also why I didn't want to hide you… I know you feel she's pushing you into a corner, but I think she sometimes just needs a friendly ear or two to chill." She dropped a couple of berries into a glass, followed by lime, some mint leaves and syrup, crushing the contents with the back of a spoon against the ice inside, then filled the glass with a sparkling liquid. "And speaking of chill… try this. It's my Pan Galactic Sparkle Blaster." She slid it across the bar. "No alcohol. It'll make you feel like you were hit in the taste-buds with berries wrapped in a lemon twist."

“Thank you,” Twilight said, taking the drink in her magic and lifting it to her mouth for a quick sip. The smile on her face broadened, a sure sign of a well made drinking being enjoyed.

“You know… it feels like forever since we’ve had a talk like this, mom. You’ve been busy, and I can’t say my schedule hasn’t been jam packed either. You trust me with a lot of things. You let me help where I can… guess that’s why it was so frustrating you didn’t trust me in regards to this one particular subject.

“But… right now, this is nice. Good music, good decor, a good drink, and most importantly, good company. And maybe it’s the drink talking, but I do feel like a lot of worries have been lifted off my shoulders.”

Twilight nodded as she took a sip from her virgin mojito. “Yeah, this is almost as good as curling up in my favorite fiction-story chair in the library with a good book: almost.”

Sunset smirked, crossing her arms. "That's just because you didn't bring it. I have tables where people can have a nice little conversation, or a nice little read. Plus, it's only a matter of time before we end up with visitors from other worlds at the same time. Now, won't that be a good time to have a drink at my bar?"

Nyx giggled a little. “You could meet Commander Twilight Sparkle. She’s a real fan of this place. That and I know you have an interest in the concept of branching realities. Or do I need to remind you we still have that little chalkboard Starlight made, the one that interacts with the map table?”

“Yes, that is a fascinating thing that would be a shame to destroy, but that is a very passive means of viewing only theoretical realities. But imagine being able to meet actual parallel versions of myself and talk with them. We could compare personal experiences and book recommendations. Or even… exchange books across realities. Is that allowed? Oh, please tell me that is allowed.”

Sunset pursed her lips. "It's… complicated, but I think it is, since this bar is a neutral territory…" She glanced at the pair. "Long story. I'd have to check. I don't want my license revoked, you know? But at least talking with other versions of you is allowed." She cleared her throat. "In any case, I'll let you know when I find out. And with nothing stopping you from having a drink with somepony other than Commander Sparkle, I think it might be a fun little experiment for you." She smirked. "And I think many a Twilight Sparkle would like to meet Nyx."

“And even if we’re the only two in here, Mom… maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. A chance for us to literally escape the world and just relax. After all, you can sit and make sure I don’t go too far, if you’re still uncomfortable with the idea of me drinking.” Nyx brought the wine glass to her lips, sipping down the last gulp before turning the glass to the bar. “That was delicious, Sunset, thank you.”

"You're welcome." Sunset nodded. "And believe me you two, if you need a break… this place is always available. And time doesn't pass the same in here as it does out there. You can walk out at basically the same time you walked in."

“I think I feel a lot better about the drinking subject. I still don’t think I’m ready to get back ito it, but… this virgin mojito is pretty good. There is, however, just one more thing I want to ask.” Twilight locked her eyes on Sunset. “Are you telling me this place is multidimensional and is temporally desynchronous? Because those two kinds of magic are notably not compatible and…”

With that Twilight began an impromptu lecture into what she knew of appied multiverse magic, rattling on and on about how the bar’s magic didn’t sound theoretically possible. All the while Sunset and Nyx did their best to humor Twilight’s ramblings. Sunset refreshed Twilight’s mojito whenever it went dry, and poured Nyx and herself one more glass of the elven bloodwine.

Tonight, Sunset’s guests were ready to stay for a while.

Sunset hummed to herself as she placed the latest framed picture on the wall, depicting her sitting between Twilight and Nyx, the pair with slightly different expressions. Nyx had an almost self-satisfied smugness to her, although her smile was genuine, while Twilight's lips were a bit twisted in the smile—a result of Sunset whispering in her ear that her temporal-dynamics as they related to the multiverse were very interesting, but didn't account for pocket-dimension distortions into reality manipulation just as they were about to take the picture and head home.

She wondered how many of her friends, or even versions of herself already had kids. Certainly Nyx was a very unique circumstance, but would the others be so averse to having their younger family members have a drink? Was it even responsible to sort of butt in and throw her two cents?

She sighed, sitting down on one of the chairs and studying the pictures so far. Alternia, Sunset and Gilda, Cheval… so many different people, even though they had mostly started the same or lived similar lives. Maybe one day she'd learn enough to answer her own doubts and questions about her responsibility and place in the multiverse.

Cowboy Rarity had struck a chord within her. She wasn't going to other worlds and fixing things directly, like the League of Sweeties, but it certainly helped to clear the minds and hearts of her guests. She glanced at the bar, then at the smiling faces of her guests (except for that specific Gilda and Twilight pair) and sighed with a small smile.

It was worth it.

End Chapter

Author's Note

Co-written with the mostly unknown author Pen Stroke, and taking place in the mostly unknown world of a relatively unheard of story: Past Sins

Bar-hops, Chasers, Sunsets (DuckTales 2017)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D
Bar-hops, Chasers, Sunsets (DuckTales 2017)

"I'm telling you; he's acting weird."

"Oh, come on! It's probably something stupid. The investors giving him a hard time, or something equally pointless. We've seen him pacing in this hallway plenty of times."

"With a highly-advanced chest of some sort that is marked with several warning signs, as well as chains wrapped around it?"

"... okay. I will grant that—that specifically—is not normal."

"So what are we doing about it?"

"Gah! What are you doing here?!"

"We could hear you all the way down from the other side of the mansion."

"...I still can't get over seeing her here. Like. Wow. Suddenly you're resurrected."

"Thanks? Also, I have a name, you know?"

"Hey boys, what's going on? Oh no. Is that what I think it is?"

"Mom?!"

"Come on kids! I have a score to settle!"

"Wait!"

"Come on! Before the door closes!"

The silver bell chimed and Sunset looked up, seeing no-one for a moment, then she heard it: grumbling and the sound of something heavy being dragged in, followed by more grumbling, until she could see an old duck in a vest and a tophat dragging in a large chest into the middle of the bar's floor and letting it down with a thump. "Curse me kilts! That thing gets heavier every time!"

"If it isn't Scrooge McDuck," Sunset said with a grin serving up a couple of shot glasses and placing them on the table. "I've missed you, you old quack. It's been quite a few jumps since you were last here. Why don't you have a drink on the house?"

"Ah, Miss Sunset," Scrooge replied, smiling back. "Always a treat to see you, lass. You'll have to forgive me, things have been a wee out of whack lately." He stretched his back, making it crack, then gave Sunset a bemused look.

He was about to say something else when, quite suddenly, the door to the bar slammed open and a bunch of much younger ducks landed in a heap on the floor, one of them even rolling past the others to smack against the box with an "oof!" while the last young duck rolled under Scrooge himself, making him trip and fall with a surprised quack.

There was some grumbling and pushing until the children were separated from the adults, but then the young duck in blue saw Sunset and he scampered back to the wall, screeching out, "ALIEN!"

"Gah!" The others also backed against the wall, all except…

"I guess I was right."

Sunset's eyes narrowed. "Della Duck."

"Sunset Shimmer." Della made her way to the bar and slammed her fist on it. "You've got some nerve showing your featherless face here."

"This is my bar, Della," Sunset hissed, leaning over. "If anything, you're the one that shouldn't be here."

Without breaking eye-contact, each very slowly and deliberately picked their respective shot glass and downed the contents in one go.

"That'll be two bits," Sunset growled.

Della crossed her arms. "I heard you say to Uncle Scrooge it was on the house."

"Yes," Sunset said, "for him. You, on the other hand…"

"I don't have gold on me!"

"Big surprise!" Sunset snorted.

The younger ducks stared at the stare-off for a few seconds, and then looked at each other.

"I feel like I'm missing something here," Huey said.

Dewey shrugged. "Mom knows a lot of people."

Huey smacked his brother. "But she's not even a known species!"

"Does it matter?" Louie asked, glancing around excitedly. "Can you imagine how much money you can make with a bar that appears anywhere you want it to be at any point in time?!" He rubbed his hands together, a grin spreading on his face.

"Kids!" Scrooge hollered when he finally managed to get back on his feet. "What the blazes are you doing here?!"

"Ordering a drink!" Louie stated, smiling pleasantly at Sunset as he casually jumped onto one of the seats at the bar and grabbed a menu. "What's a Moloko Plus, and can I have two?"

"You are NOT drinking any alcohol," Della snapped, removing the menu from Louie's hands.

"Aww."

"So…" the younger of the two girls in the back ventured, approaching the bar, "What is this place? I'm Webby, by the way! Is this really an interdimensional bar?! How many universes have you visited? Are you an ex-high-level-adventurer that put down her sword for a quiet life after saving the universe?" She gasped. "Can I get a job here?!"

Sunset blinked. "I don't think—"

"Easy there, Webby," the slightly older girl said, placing a hand on her younger friend's shoulder. "You're a little too young to work at a bar."

"Aww."

The elder girl that had spoken shook her head, glancing around warily. "Plus I feel weird here, like Duckworth is about to jump out of the walls or something."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Duckworth?"

"Oh," Webby said, "Lena just means Mr. McDuck's ghost butler."

"Good instincts." Sunset laughed, smiling at Lena "but there is— currently—no ghost in here."

Lena narrowed her eyes. "Are you saying that at other times—"

"According to the Junior Woodchuck manual, page 415, there is no such thing as interdimensional bars." Huey interrupted, jumping onto one of the seats and showing the page to Sunset, who blinked and leaned in to look at it for a second before he turned it around then glanced at the bar, and back to his book. "Even though it has a deceptively specific example about a place that looks just like this one, and even a drawing that looks kind of like the bartender here, but in duck version," he admitted lamely.

"Sorry kid," Sunset said, tapping the top of the book with her finger. "But you can't trust everything a book tells you either. I've never been a duck."

"Aww."

"Wow!" Dewey said, "Look at all these pictures! So many horses! And more whatever you are! And bug horses!"

"They remind me of the Kelpies!" Webby said. "Oh! I bet they even sound the same!"

Louie leaned in with a frown. "Huh. Now that you mention it…"

"Ponies," Sunset hissed through gritted teeth. "Ponies and Changelings. And Humans."

"And there's another you!"

"Yeah." Sunset served herself another shot and downed it. "Yeah. That's another me."

"Can I meet other me's?"

"Not on this trip."

"Aww."

"Better get used to disappointment, kids," Scrooge grumbled, shaking his staff for emphasis before pointing it directly at the younger ducks. "The multiverse is NOT a place where you want to go adventuring unprepared!" He ignored the looks Sunset and Della gave him and leaned in, motioning with his hand at one of the tables in the corner. "Now, I want you five to go sit at that table over there. You can get non-alcoholic drinks if you want. But Sunset, Della and I need to talk about a few things before my business partner arrives."

"Yes, about that," Sunset said, "am I smuggling the essence of more dead elder gods into other dimensions? Because it turns out there's actually quite a few multi-dimensional governments that might have an issue w—"

The box Scrooge had dragged in shook in place until Scrooge kicked it.

"What is in there?" Huey asked. "It did not look friendly. Or healthy."

"You know, my Pa has managed to live for almost a hundred years," Scrooge said, glancing at Huey.

The young duck frowned. "Dragging shaking and growling, highly advanced boxes into interdimensional bars?"

"No. By minding his own business," Scrooge replied, turning back to Sunset. "And yes, I'm aware of that, but Rarity has given me her personal guarantee that this one shouldn't be a problem. In fact, it's community service."

Sunset didn't look convinced, but then glanced at Della and frowned. "So she's with you?"

"Yes," Scrooge said, narrowing his eyes. "And I do wonder how you two met."

"She tried to steal gold from my bar."

Scrooge rounded on Della. "You what?!"

"I was stranded on the moon!" she exclaimed. "How did you expect me to get back?!"

"You could have said that before you attempted to remove vital components from my Bar's management system! It was a pain to repair!" Sunset countered. "I gave you booze, food, and listened to you talk about some alien chick, and you escaped before paying the bill!"

"You're an alien—oww!"

Scrooge smacked Della on the back of the head, then sighed, rubbing his temples. "How much does she owe you?" he growled.

"Oh, I have a tab. I'll grab it for you."

"You kept it all this time?!" Della asked, rubbing the back of her head.

"You bet I did!" Sunset countered, passing Scrooge a piece of paper that unrolled into a long list of items.

"Oh, phooey."

"I see you didn't hesitate to splurge on having fun," Scrooge muttered, going over the item list.

"Uncle, I thought this was a Moon-based restaurant/bar and that I could pay with—"

"Chewing gum," Sunset interrupted. "Which is not a valid form of payment in any dimension."

A chime interrupted them. "Well, I wouldn't say that, darling," a voice said, "there's certainly at least one world I can think of where we could trade some bubblegum for other things."

The door opened fully to allow Sunset's business partner into the bar proper. Rarity was wearing a single piece white dress, a purple scarf and a wide-brimmed hat.

"My, my, Rarity Belle," Scrooge laughed, moving forward to take Rarity's hand in his and kissing it gently. "Can I say, lass, it's always a pleasure to do business with you."

"Oh, Scrooge McDuck, old charmer, you're always such a gentleman," Rarity replied, giggling. "and you know the pleasure is indisputably mine."

"Alright then," Scrooge said, his smile fading as he glanced at his family. "Listen up, by the time I come back, I expect you lot to be ready to head home. This is NOT a place for you to run around and get into trouble, am I clear?"

"But Uncle—"

"No buts!" Scrooge interrupted. "The last thing we need is you all ending up in different places of the multiverse." He turned and smiled at Rarity. "If you will?"

"Of course, darling," Rarity said, waving her hand. To the amazed eyes of the boys—and the narrowed, wary eyes of Lena—the strange chest levitated up into the air, enveloped in a blue-white aura and followed them into the room behind the bar.

"What was that?!" Webby asked.

"Magic," Sunset and Lena said at the same time.

"Huh," Sunset glanced at the tall girl, "I guess you can tell, but you don't sound very enthusiastic about it."

"Nothing good ever comes out of magic," Lena said in a low voice, making the bartender blink.

"I don't know," Sunset said, "I've found it very useful, even if I had to make do without it for a while."

Lena leaned onto the bar. "Don't you realize how dangerous magic is? Webby and Violet played with magic and they almost died!"

Sunset blinked. "I'm a unicorn. Magic has always been part of me. And you have a pretty solid amount of it yourself, you know?"

"Wow! You're a unicorn?!" Webby asked, jumping on the one seats of the bar. "Unicorns must be very different where you come from! Over here, they're just horses with a horn on their head!"

Sunset chuckled. "Well, I wasn't always human. In my original form, I look a lot like them," she said pointing at the picture of Twilight and Nyx. "Just without the wings."

"You have a lot more pictures in here now," Della said, standing in front of the wall. "Looks like you've been having fun."

Sunset glared at her before closing her eyes and sighing. "It's been—"

CRASH!

The girls looked over to the corner where a table had collapsed on top of Huey, Louie and Dewey, who were guiltily trying to get away from the jukebox.

"Right, that goes on your tab," Sunset hissed.

"Boys!"

"Sorry!" Huey said, "sorry! We're just… you know… bored."

"We already explored the bathrooms."

"And we might have tried accessing the storage room."

"Turns out, it has some sort of repulsion field..." Dewey muttered, showing his singed shirt.

Sunset silently turned to glare at Della, who shook her head in dismay and walked over to her kids, kneeling down in front of them. "Boys, you have to make sure you don't destroy things! If you're trying to sneak into the storage room and it has a repulsion field, then you must find the correct sequence to—"

"Ahem."

Della smiled nervously at Sunset. "Ah. Yeah. Uh… I'm uh… yeah, you shouldn't do that."

"Oh, stop it," Sunset growled. "If you tried any harder to give them advice, I'm afraid you'd have some sort of stroke."

Huey raised a finger. "But she barely—oof!"

"It's called 'sarcasm'," Louie said, elbowing his brother.

"Right," Sunset said, "I'm dropping you lot back in Scrooge's mansion—"

"Nooo!" Webby cried, grabbing Sunset by the waistcoat. "Please! This is my first time in an interdimensional bar!"

"It is kinda lame that we have to get kicked out because they acted up," Lena said. "And I… really don't have anyone to talk to about magic back home."

"Hey—"

Lena smirked, punching Webby on the shoulder. "Except you and Violet, dork," she said with a smile. "But it's a bit different."

"Oh, it's fine, I wasn't offended," Webby shrugged.

"So, the question is… what to do with you?" Sunset asked, turning to face the trio of boys.

"Please don't send us back!" Huey begged. "I just want to experience and learn about new technology!"

Sunset blinked. "New tech, huh? I might have an idea." She walked over to the side of the bar and summoned a screen. "Hey Swip, Sunset "Isekai" here. Think you could do me a favor?"

“Extending greetings protocol!”

"Are you sure this is safe?" Della asked, glancing dubiously from the filly robot-unicorn across from her, and into the expanding world beyond.

"It is," Sunset said, "Bot here promised she'd watch over them, and she's more than capable of protecting them."

The little filly robot saluted.

"Do we really want to hang out with a unicorn?" Louie asked.

"It's another dimension!" Huey whisper-shouted.

"This is the adventure of a lifetime, Louie!" Dewey said urgently. "Besides! She's a robot! That absolutely trumps the unicorn part!"

"Anticipation levels rising," Bot said, a small smile playing on her face. "Assessment: three troublemakers. Theory: Celestia City will have an eventful day. Conclusion: I can handle them for a few hours."

"See?" Sunset said as the three kids ran out. "Perfectly safe."

"Do you always talk like that?" Huey asked.

"Nope," Bot replied, motioning for them to follow her out of the bar, "but it's always good for first impressions to appear like a predictable machine."

"Be good, boys!" Della said, giving them a hug.

"See you soon, Bot, and thanks!" Sunset said, waving as the foursome walked away. She closed the door behind them.

"Aww, I wanted to go with them," Webby said.

Lena rubbed her arm. "Well… if you want to—"

"Nah." Webby patted her arm. "I'm sure I'll get another chance, besides, you need to talk, right? Let's do it now that the boys—and granny—aren’t around." She grinned, gasping. "You know what this is?! IT'S A GIRL'S NIGHT OUT! ONLY IT'S NOT NIGHT! AND WE'RE NOT OUT!"

"Right," Sunset said. "Come on, you three."

Lena smiled gratefully and followed the others in, taking a seat at the bar alongside Della and Webby, while Sunset walked around it.

"Are you sure they'll be fine?" Della asked Sunset again.

"Of course they will," Sunset replied. "Bot has enough armaments to take over a planet on her own, and they're in the multi-dimensional capital of a law-abiding conglomeration of Sweetie Belles and their allies. What could possibly go wrong?"

Della gave her a look, then sighed and nodded. "Fine."

Sunset dug around behind the bar and whipped up two strawberry daiquiris for the girls. "No alcohol in these," she said, sliding the drinks to the pair.

"So why didn't you go with them?" Sunset asked, looking straight at Della. "You looked like you had hit adventure jackpot."

Della cringed slightly. "Alright, alright. Look… I just wanted to bury the hatchet, alright? When I saw you last time, I was in a bad spot. I desperately wanted to fly back home and I didn't ask for help when I should have." She looked down. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to cause you problems… I just wanted to be home in time to see my kids hatch."

Sunset's frown lessened and she sighed. "I wish you had just said so!" She shook her head, grabbing a few bottles and dropping measurements into a shaker, followed by a large piece of ice. "I'm not heartless, Della, I would have helped you get back home if I had known you weren't really just a thief."

Della chuckled weakly. "Yeah. It did cost me my one chance… I was really angry with you for a while. You left me and I…" she shook her head. "Well, here I am now." She blinked when a short glass filled with some sort of golden liquid and with two crystal-clear ice cubes, and decorated with a lemon wedge and a maraschino cherry was placed in front of her.

"On the house," Sunset said, raising her own glass. "To burying the hatchet."

"Heh, to burying the hatchet," Della echoed, taking a sip and humming in appreciation of the quality bourbon in it. "This is very nice."

"So…" Lena spoke up hesitantly, glancing at Della and Webby out of the corner of her eyes before settling on Sunset. "Magic?"

"Oh, yeah!" Webby said excitedly. "It's too bad Violet is not here, she'd love this!"

"Maybe next time, Webby," Sunset said.

"Hey, Webby," Della spoke up suddenly, “how about I tell you about how I met Sunset the first time? It involves a giant acid-spitting bug, zero-g shenanigans, and the secret entrance to—" she trailed off when she saw Sunset's glare. "...the moon base!"

Webby blinked, then her smile grew. "Really?!"

"Really. Come on, let's sit over there, out of earshot, and let them talk for a bit."

"Sure!" Webby said, "I mean, if you're okay with it Lena?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me," Lena said.

Sunset gave Della a smile, watching the pair head over to the corner of the bar.

"It all started when I was setting up my base on what was left of the Spear of Selene…" Della started saying as she led Webby to the farthest table.

Sunset let them walk and sit down before turning back to Lena, who was holding her drink in both hands and looking down at it. "So. It seems your experience with magic hasn't been the best, huh?"

Lena looked at her warily. "Look, no offense, but even if Scrooge knows you, I don't, and it's kinda personal."

Sunset nodded. "I understand, but think about it this way… I'm a magical being too. And one that is trusted by your friends. You could just not tell me anything… I'm not going to force you, but it is a good chance for you to talk to someone that might understand what you're going through."

"I don't think you can," the teenage duck said, glancing up at Sunset. "unless you know what it's like to dream constantly about becoming a monster."

Sunset reached out and patted Lena's hand, her smile twisting a little. "You'd be surprised about how much I can relate on that front."

Lena studied her face for a moment before she sighed and glanced away. "What's your story?"

Sunset hummed, but shrugged. "In a nutshell? I was the apprentice of the ruler of my land, Princess Celestia. Eventually I got greedy and studied things I shouldn't have, did things I shouldn't have done, and when things didn't work out, I ran away into a different world… only to do even more things I shouldn't have. I ended up becoming a literal demon for a few minutes before my friends had to use very powerful magic to bring me back."

When Lena stared at her with her mouth slightly open, Sunset smiled. "You asked."

"Y-yeah," Lena replied, looking down and rubbing her arm. "I guess I did." She took a deep breath. "I… started the other way around."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Does that mean that yo—"

"But never mind that!" Lena interrupted. "Look, Magica De Spell is my... aunt, alright? She's—or was—a very powerful sorceress in my world. Scrooge's number one enemy and all that." She rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively. "And she's an awful person that used me and magic to hurt everyone I love. Even the whole city of Duckburg."

Sunset grimaced. "Yeah… that doesn't sound like positive magical exposure right there."

"That would be because it isn't," Lena said, her hand tightening into a fist. "Aunt Magica convinced me that I would have a family, that we would be all set if I used magic and trickery to help her—at the cost of Webby and the others."

Nodding, Sunset kept quiet, patting the young duck's hand encouragingly.

"I went along with it, you know…" Lena said, looking down at her drink with a frown. "And Aunt Magica… she used her magic to—" she clamped her beak shut and took a deep breath. "She abused me through her magic. She did things to others through me. Every time she and magic come up, there's something dangerous related to it, be it a shadow invasion or some crazy, deadly shenanigans."

"Have you thought that maybe you hate magic right now only because you were unprepared for it being used against you?" Sunset asked gently. "Bear in mind that magic does have variations in power and function across the Multiverse, but it seems to me like you have a lot of talent for it… and very little training."

"That's one way of putting it." Lena snorted and sipped her drink, still unwilling to look up. "Magica used me… possessed me and made me do things I would never do. Then, when she had gotten what she wanted, did she fulfil her part? Did she try to welcome me at all into her family? No. She simply threw me away. She dismissed me into the Shadow Realm and almost killed me and Webby!"

"But you managed to beat her, right?"

Lena smiled, looking up. "Yeah. Yeah we did. I was able to stick with Webby after that, and Violet later helped her get me back."

Sunset smiled. "Well, they do say friendship is magic."

Lena snorted. "In my world, friendship hates magic. It's the only thing that's kept it from getting us all killed."

Sunset chuckled. "Or maybe it's just a different type of magic?"

The young duck took a moment to consider her words, before shrugging. "I mean… I guess. I can't say that everything about it was bad."

"In the end, how did things work out?" Sunset asked.

Lena smiled a little. "Well. Scrooge promised I could be part of his family. But I still feel like I did them wrong, and even though they're very kind, I still feel like I'm imposing."

"I get it," Sunset said.

"How?" Lena asked, glancing up at her with a frown. "No offense, but being an animated shadow that gained sentience and rebelled against her creator is not something most people can get." She gave Sunset a doubtful look. "Even demons."

Sunset barked a laugh. "This is true, but hear me out. You see that bugpony over there? The changeling with the weird horn?"

Lena gave her a look. "They all look weird to me."

"Right, anyway, the one that's… more armored. Her. Yeah. Anyway, she sort of brought up something important… when I was Princess Celestia's pupil, I wanted more… from the beginning. I didn't just want to be her chosen apprentice—I wanted to be her daughter. I wanted to be the head of the school of magic. I wanted to be a princess. But most of all, I really, really wanted her to acknowledge that I was as great as I thought I was."

"You sound like you were a blast," Lena pointed out. "The type that blows the wall, I mean."

Sunset smiled, drinking a bit. "Pretty much… but like you, it ended up with me making a lot of bad decisions that only got worse, and it took other people blasting me so hard with magical rainbow lasers that I created a crater and being made to confront all of the things that I knowingly dismissed to get it into my thick head that I had a problem and that I needed to work very hard to make up for everything I'd done." She glanced up and patted Lena on the head. "You, on the other hand, learned that on your own. In my book, that puts you on the right track," she added. "Magic—in my experience—is a means to an end. Sometimes it's within us, sometimes it comes from an outside source, but magic itself doesn't make us what we are, magic in our lives is shaped around who we want to be, in one way or another."

Lena hummed, glancing at Sunset. "So you do magic?"

Sunset smiled. "A little. I stopped being able to cast spells like a unicorn when I left home, and until I got my bar I was a bit limited on sources, so now I'm re-learning different ways on my free time." She frowned. "And I need to do it a bit faster in case Rarity decides to visit one of those places again."

Lena raised an eyebrow.

"Not important," Sunset said, clearing her throat. "The bottom line is, I am who I am—and you are who you are regardless of the magic. Magic can sometimes change you for better or worse, but in the end it's directed by something or someone. Magic doesn't hate you." She shrugged. "I can tell it's an integral part of you, and I think it would be worse in the long run if you don't accept that and learn from—and of—it."

"Right. And who's going to teach me? Scrooge?" Lena rolled her eyes. "Webby and Violet almost got killed by experimenting on their own. I don't expect them to quit—I know them too well—but they can't rely on me for real advice. Magica is not someone I would ever trust to teach me, and most of the gods we've met are… of dubious nature."

"You'll find that seldom changes regardless of what dimension you're in," Sunset muttered, eyes narrowing.

"Riight."

"That might be true," Della said, "but that doesn't mean all hope is lost!"

Both Lena and Sunset scrambled back in surprise, just now noticing Della and Webby were both grinning at them.

Sunset slowly lowered the arm she had raised to ward off any sudden attack. "What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "I don't like that smile, Della."

"Oh, don't mind me…" Della said, her grin growing. "Webby's the one you should be worried about."

Sunset and Lena slowly turned to look at the younger duck, who's smile would have made Worf take a nervous step back. "I have an idea!"

"Oh boy," Sunset muttered. "I might not have known you for long, but you strike me as someone that doesn't think things through in terms of consequences."

"And you would be right!" Webby said, standing on her seat. "Here's how I look at things," she said, putting down both hands on the bar and grinning at Sunset. "You are a unicorn!"

"Well. Yes?"

"And you know magic! You said you were the apprentice of a princess and you're even retraining yourself!"

Sunset's eyes narrowed when Webby pointed at Lena. "And you! You're Lena!"

"Hey there."

"You're MADE of magic! And you can learn more!" Webby continued unaffected by Lena's raised eyebrow. "So you both should work together!"

Sunset blinked. "What."

"Work! Together!"

"Hey, don't give her that look, Sunset," Della said, smirking. "She's a bit excitable, but she's got a point. If there's anyone that could help Lena learn to use magic that we can trust, it's probably you."

"I'm a bartender."

"But with magic!" Webby said, making a fist.

"And experience," Della added, smirking.

Sunset and Lena looked at each other. The young duck shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do."

Sunset opened her mouth, but they were interrupted by the office door opening, and Rarity and Scrooge walking out of it, coughing. Sunset raised an eyebrow at Rarity's white-blue cutiemark-themed armor, and Scrooge's slightly-singed and irritated look.

"I told you we shouldn't have activated the magical defibrillator before the slime escaped," Scrooge said, glancing at Rarity with a disapproving frown.

"Darling, please," Rarity huffed, checking the back of her gauntlets. "The results speak for themselves."

Scrooge seemed to be about to say something, but held back, nodding reluctantly. "I guess they do."

Then the pair started laughing.

"I feel like I missed out on something pretty epic,' Lena said.

"You get used to it," Sunset and Della said in unison, then turned to look at each other.

"Aww. Friendship!" Webby clapped.

"Right," Scrooge said, turning around to face them. A frown slowly developed. "Where are the boys?"

"I dropped them off in Celestia City," Sunset said. "Sweetie Bot was taking care of them."

Rarity's smile froze. "Oh dear. Oh well." She turned around and shook Scrooge's hand. "Always a pleasure, Scrooge, but I should get going."

"Right, right," Scrooge said watching her go. He sighed. "That lass is going to one day get herself into a situation she can't handle." He glanced at Sunset. "Good thing she has you to keep tabs on her."

"Right."

"Anyway, let's pick up the boys, shall we? I don't like the idea of them being in a different universe without supervision."

"Eh, they'll be fine," Sunset said. "They're with Bot, she can destroy planets. I'm sure she can handle those three."

"Right. So let's go save her."

Sunset considered the newest picture she had framed. All of her latest batch of visitors were there, except for Rarity who had insisted she had something to do when they had picked up the boys. Huey, Louie and Dewey stood posing next to a slightly bedraggled-looking Sweetie Bot.

There was nothing necessarily indicative of Bot being stressed. In fact, she looked perfectly fine, for the most part, but there was an air about her when she had returned the trio, which just… seemed to indicate she was a bit stressed. To Sweetie's left, Lena and Webby were leaning against each other and smirking at the camera, while Dela and Sunset gave each other wary looks.

"What a group of crazy ducks," Sunset chuckled, her eyes going to Lena for a moment before she hung the picture. Was it her, or was Lena slightly translucent?

She headed over to the bar, glancing over her shoulder back at the frame and sighing as she dragged her fingers down her face. "Great. Now what am I supposed to do?" she moaned into her hands.

End Chapter

Author's Note

Special thanks to Mono, Jaxie and Petri for taking glances at this as it was being worked on!
Bot and League of Sweetie Belles appearing courtesy of GMBlackjack

Different Minds (The Teacher and the Hippogriff - Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D & Nyronus
Different Minds (The Teacher and the Hippogriff - Fanfic)

Cheerilee flinched as the cold wind hit her, only for the stack of papers curled under one hoof to suddenly explode into her face and then all over the street around her.

Great. Just, great!

Cheerilee gave a huff, and set about chasing down her paperwork, biting each errant sheet and tucking it back under her hoof…

Only for another gust of wind to scoop up a handful of the ones left and toss them around the corner and down an alleyway.

Cheerilee huffed again as she shook her head. “Rainbow Dash, would it kill you to ease up scheduling wind flurries?” she muttered to herself and hobbled after her lesson plans. Around the corner, page by page she went, until she finally got to the last one, and her face fell when she saw it.

Silverstream had seen her as she made her way down the street earlier and stopped to give her an admittedly improving portrait of herself using watercolor as a gift. A portrait now lying in the snow and soaking up moisture.

Because today had to get worse.

She shook her head, took the painting in her teeth, and slid it under her front leg. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, just a sour note to end on a string of already rotten luck. She let out a sigh and finally straightened herself up after a few minutes of hobbling around with her snout in the snow.

There was a door there she was pretty sure hadn’t been on this street before.

It was just inside an alcove in the stone wall, made of heavy, dark wood. Emblazoned on the front was some kind of cutie-mark in crystal: a red and yellow flaming sun.

It was also embedded into the back of Lyra and Bonbon’s house.

'That… can’t be right.'

She heard music on the other side of the door. She leaned in.

“Bonbon? Lyra? Are you two home?” She paused, and got no answer. So she then briefly considered the logistics of knocking with only three usable hooves before just turning around in place and giving a few light raps with a hind hoof.

“Come in!” a voice said, somewhat distantly. So Cheerilee did just that.

The first, and most immediately important impression she got of whatever was on the other side of the door was blessed warmth.

The next, and perhaps more alarming, was this was definitely not Lyra and Bonbon’s house.

Before her was a cozy little nook of a bar. Not that much bigger than her living room, it featured a handful of tables and a little bar made of the same wood as the door. Beyond it was a wall of drinks abutting a wall of photos and frames she couldn’t make out at this distance. At the end wall, across directly from the door, a jukebox played what sounded like an anthem about work that sounded at turns mournful and then triumphant.

Overall, it was a charming little place. Although, what it was doing lodged where Lyra’s "studio" was supposed to be was a somewhat distracting question.

“Sorry, sorry!” a voice said from somewhere behind the bar. “I'll be with you in just a second. Just sorting out some things.”

Just as the jukebox switched songs a creature Cheerilee had never seen before rose from behind the bar. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai! My name is Sunset Shimmer."

The closest approximation Cheerilee had was a minotaur, but aside from a wavy mane matching the cutie mark on the door, the creature lacked fur and was hornless. It still towered over her, however.

It was then that Cheerilee realized that whatever this thing was, it was smiling politely and she was staring at it, gobsmacked.

It’s not like you haven’t bumped into strange new creatures in this town before, Cheerilee!

Her face snapped into a somewhat awkward smile.

“Uh, hi! I’m Cheerilee.”

The creature gave a genuine, warm smile back.

“Nice to meet you, Cheerilee.” It gestured with one of it’s weirdly articulate paws. “Please, have a seat!”

Cheerilee relaxed a bit and let some of the wonderful warmth of the place settle into her aching hooves. She gave an easier smile in return.

“You know what? I think I will.”

Sunset had been staring at the stack of books sitting on top of her bar. 'It sure is tall!' she thought despondently as she gave it a half-hearted bap with her hand.

Anything she could find of basic magical theory was there, but the problem was—as Strange and Elminster had indicated in between glares—that more than half of the content of each book was irrelevant when applied to interdimensional, time-space anomalies like her bar or alternate reality situations where the basic nature of magic itself changed. That was one stack.

The next one were books of questionable morals and origins which she needed contained in their own separate pocket universes lest they fester together and create something that took the newly minted "Order of the Ten Wizards (Meeting every three years at Sunset's Isekai first two drinks free as a thank you for saving her ass.)" to take out again.

The last stack was books on how to teach. Not teach magic. Just… teach.

Sure, she had been a personal student of Celestia's (with all the additional emotional baggage), so she could emulate the whole thing to the best of her abilities, but she had a few concerns about that, namely: Celestia had a LOT of practice, and even she had screwed up. What was a bartender going to teach a young duck about magic, anyway?

This was insane! Not only was Lena effectively a magical battery of sorts, but also just a teen. Sunset could really mess up here. And then, if she tutored Lena, that might become a problem with Dani—

The knock on the door made her jump. "Uh… Come in!" she called out, quickly grabbing the larger of the stacks of books and putting it behind the counter just as the silver bell rang, announcing that her latest guest had accepted the invitation. She managed to get the other stacks out of the way and was making sure the books were not going to attack her just as she heard the clip-clop of hooves on the floor. “Sorry, sorry!” she called out, prying the Necronomicon from her hand and shoving it into its own pocket. “I'll be with you in just a second. Just sorting out some things.”

Once she was sure the stack (and her) would survive, she slowly stood up, glancing over the bar at a familiar-looking pony, although she couldn't place her yet. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai!" she said, falling into the familiar introduction. "My name is Sunset Shimmer."

When the pony simply stared at her, her smile wavered.

That seemed to snap her guest back into the real world, and the mare carefully ventured a smile of her own. “Uh, hi! I’m Cheerilee.”

'Ooh! The librarian at Canterlot High! Of course!' Sunset realized, the relative familiarity with the human, if not the pony putting her even more at ease. 'Probably out of school right now if the stack is anything to go by. “Nice to meet you, Cheerilee,” she said, motioning to the stools at the bar. “Please, have a seat!”

“You know what? I think I will,” Cheerilee said, smiling and visibly relaxing. She carefully piled all of her papers and some sort of canvas on one of the stools next to her, then climbed up, sinking into the comfortable cushion.

"Wow, you look like you've been having a tough day." Sunset chuckled. Her eyes studied her guest for a moment, before she nodded. "You look like you could use a nice, warm drink. How does a Hot Toddy sound to you?"

Cheerilee smiled as she settled in.

“That sounds lovely, thank you.”

Sunset smiled in reply

“Glad to hear it, I have a recipe I’ve been wanting to try.” She turned around and set about pulling up ingredients. “So,” she said, pulling a lemon out from the fridge. “What brings you here?”

“Uh,” Cheerilee glanced to the side, “well, your door was where a friend’s studio was supposed to be. So I knocked.”

Sunset let out a laugh, placing a jar of honey on the bar.

“Yeah, the door does tend to appear in odd spots sometimes."

“Do you mind explaining exactly what ‘this place’ is?” Cheerilee had a quirked eyebrow and frown.

“Sure.” Sunset set a knife on the counter, and a small jar of whole cloves. “It’s my bar.”

“Uh huh.” Cheerilee responded with a flat look. Sunset grinned in reply.

“More specifically - it’s a kind of interdimensional pocket. The door appears to anyone who needs a break. Anywhere. Anytime.”

“Oh.” Cheerilee sighed. “Well, fair enough, I guess.”

“You’re taking this in stride.”

Cheerilee shrugged.

“Having Twilight Sparkle live in your town leads you to be wary but unsurprised when something bizarre starts happening.” Cheerilee shook her head. “At least this place isn’t trying to eat me.”

“Everfree Forest?” Sunset asked, expertly dicing the lemon into thin slices. "Or conveniently resizable magical trunks?"

“Yeah, Everfree Forest.” She frowned. “How did you know?”

“I’ve met a few different ponies from Ponyville, and I visited as a pony myself a couple of times. There’s never a timeline where the place isn’t wild, so I have a rough idea of some of the stuff that goes down her.”

“Ah,” Cheerilee’s face relaxed and then she leaned forward and frowned again. “‘Timeline?’”

“Well, sort of," Sunset waved her hand dismissively. "More like parallel realities.”

“Ah.” Cheerilee blinked. “Like that world Twilight told me about on the other side of the mirror?”

“Yep!” Sunset smiled. “I was from that place, actually. Or, one like it. I’ve been to a few now. Although I was born in Equestria - an Equestria, anyway.”

“Wow.” Cheerilee's eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, are you the pony Twilight told me about? Celestia’s student?”

“One of them, anyway?” Sunset’s smile became a little awkward, and she rubbed the back of her neck. "Let's leave it as "former student" and leave it at that. Plus, for all I know, in this universe Starlight Glimmer might've been her student."

“Oh! This is…” Cheerilee rubbed the back of her neck as well. “This is certainly different.”

“Yeah… I'm surprised Twilight even mentioned me, or whoever the student was. She tends to keep the other world a secret for the most part.” Sunset looked away. “Anyway, drinks.” She bent under the table and pulled out a pan and a hot plate, and went about setting them up.

“Right…” Cheerilee watched as Sunset measured out some water and a fair amount of honey, and tossed them in the pan and set them to boil. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the strangest version of Equestria you’ve seen?”

Sunset shrugged and she stirred the pot. “Dunno. Most of the times I'm in the bar, not out there when it comes to Equestria. I've been to… different places, you know, doomed worlds, Blips and Chitz, Alternate Earths… pony wise I tend to mostly meet people here, although there's been a few interesting ones. My first client ever was me, actually.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Imagine my surprise when I found out I had a fiancee, had lost use of my legs, but was otherwise living a very happy life.”

“Yeah, that would be a bit strange.”

Sunset tossed in a handful of cloves and the sliced lemon. “I’ve met an interdimensional council of Sweetie Belles—" she smirked when Cheerilee shuddered. "—A changeling Queen who was Twilight’s niece, a changeling who took Celestia’s place for a thousand years.” Sunset shrugged and she stirred the simmering mixture. “One of the last customers I had were Twilight Sparkle and the reincarnation of Nightmare Moon she had adopted as a daughter.”

Cheerilee’s eyes went wide at that. Sunset chuckled.

“Those are just some of the Equestrian tangent visitors lately, besides you. I’ve been to worlds that had nothing to do with Equestria.” She suddenly gave Cheerilee a serious look. “If you ever meet a creature that’s the same species as me and he introduces himself as ‘Mordenkainen,” be careful. He’s a wiley bastard and more powerful than most alicorns I’ve met.”

“Does he travel between worlds as well?” Cheerilee frowned.

“Yes.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Often to everyone’s detriment. Although thankfully he seems to keep to a particular quadrant of the multiverse. One that my business partner is unfortunately fond of.” She cut the heat, opened the bottle and poured a fair portion in. Cheerilee smelled cinnamon and booze. “Takes all types when you have theoretically infinite realities to deal with, though.”

“I’d imagine.” Cheerilee shook her head.

Sunset took a sip of her concoction and smiled. “I think it's ready.” She then put a pair of mugs onto the bar, and ladled out some toddy and a single lemon slice in each, before pushing one to Cheerilee. The pony wrapped her hooves around it and relished as the warmth bled in and wiped out the last bits of chill in her hooves. She took a drink herself and smiled.

“Oh! That is good, thank you.”

“No problem.” Sunset took a drink.

“Although it’s rare to see a bartender drink themselves.” Cheerilee smirked.

Sunset’s grin got a little guilty. “Would you believe this was a recipe I’ve wanted to try myself? I got it from a necromancer I met out in a swamp recently and it sounded good and like something you needed. For some reason he insisted on dressing like dracula in the middle of the day, hot, humid weather too.” She shrugged. "Necromancers are weird. 'sides, I've gotten a bit stressed out lately."

“Ah,” Cheerilee blinked, her face caught somewhere between amused and confused. “Fair enough?”

“Like I said, it takes all types.” Sunset took another drink and put her mug down. “So, what brought you here?”

“Your door was attached to the back a friend’s house?”

Sunset shook her head. "Yes, but the bar appears to those that really need a break. I swear I even saw the door to my bar appear in the wall across from me last time." She cleared her throat. "Dresden advised against going in, and I think that was a good idea."

"Right." Cheerilee looked down at her mug. "This is really confusing."

"Yep. But what isn't confusing is that you're here, and you're clearly stressed out. Unless you have interdimensional ties with other sentient beings?"

"Um… n-no, I don't think so."

"Then why don't you tell me what's on your mind?" Sunset said gently. "That's basically the point of this place. Even the random wizards that come in are usually here to relax, not to have adventures or stress even more."

Cheerilee shrugged and gave a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I mean, where to start, right?” She gestured at the pile of papers that she’d carried in. “School starts again in a few weeks and I have all this paper work and lesson planning - new regulations are coming down from the EEA regarding certification and standards. I had one mess of a Hearthswarming, and Rainbow Dash keeps insisting on windy days in the schedule and that got half my forms soggy and-” her irritated frown softened somewhat as she looked down at the rolled up canvas covered in damp spots, “and it got my Hearthswarming gift wet.”

She looked off into the distance and took another long sip. “That necromancer had taste, I guess.” She smiled.

"That, he did." Sunset took it all in and then gestured towards the stack. “Mind if I take a look?”

“Go ahead.” Cheerilee replied.

Sunset reached down and picked the canvas up, and unrolled it. She started at it for a long while, eyes wide, one eyebrow quirked. One side of her lips quirked up, and she opened up her mouth to speak.

“It’s—”

“Terrible.” Cheerilee giggled. “She’s just learned how to paint. The gift is sentimental, honestly.”

“I mean it’s great for a painting of you…” Sunset turned it one way and then the other, “...hugging a giant pink pickle in a giant teacup.”

Cheerilee grabbed her muzzle and gave a fit of laughter into her hoof.

“The pickle looks very happy.”

Cheerilee graduated to pound the table as she convulsed, muzzle planted into the bar, in silent laughter.

Sunset just twisted her lips into a smile, eyes darting left and right.

Cheerilee finally recovered and wiped a tear away from her eye.

“Sorry.” She shook her head. “It really isn’t great.”

“No,” Sunset agreed with a sagely nod. “No, it isn’t.”

Cheerilee gestured with a hoof, and Sunset rolled the canvas up and passed it to her. She placed it back on the paper stack.

“The ‘pink pickle’ is Silverstream. She’s… a friend.” Cheerilee looked at the canvas, a warm but tired smile on her face. She glanced up at Sunset. “For reference, she’s a hippogriff, and that was my bathtub.”

Sunset pondered this revelation for a moment long enough to take a sip. “Why was she in your tub?”

“She was a fish at the time.”

“I…” Sunset tilted her head and quirked her head, raising her hands in a grasping gesture, “how?”

“Magic Pearl.” Cheerilee smirked. “Guess you didn’t have this world as pegged as you thought.”

Sunset looked up and then wiggled her finger as if she was counting something.

“Ah! Storm King timeline, got it.”

Cheerilee pouted and hid it with another sip of her toddy.

“So, yeah, wow.” Sunset blinked. “She a student of yours?”

“Of sorts.” Cheerilee gave a wistful smile into her glass. “Truth is, she just… flew into my life, and I’ve been helping her along as best I can.”

Sunset’s face softened.

“So, what happened on Hearthswarming?”

Cheerilee gestured at the stack.

“Well, that did.”

“Come on now, don’t be coy.” Sunset smirked, leaning into the bar. Cheerilee shook her head, still smiling.

“It’s a bit much to unpack…” She frowned and looked directly at Sunset now. “How much do you know about the Storm King?”

“Bits and pieces.” Sunset took a step back and leaned on the counter behind the bar, propping herself up on her hands. “When I was studying under Celestia he was something of a distant issue - waging war on random small kingdoms, looting them and then putting them to work in a mercantile empire of sorts. I know in more than a few timelines he finally makes his way over to Equestria, usually with the help of some kind of traitor, and then is almost always defeated there thanks to Twilight.”

Cheerilee nodded and looked down into her drink, her face blank.

“For me… the Storm King was a bad few days. I live in Ponyville, so bad days are something that just happens from time to time. Granted, this was worse - usually Twilight’s taken care of the danger before we’re even really entirely aware of the full extent of the problem. Not this time… but still, I only spent a few days in a cage.” She grimaced. “Silverstream spent nearly a decade in a cage.”

Sunset nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Not like I did. Her queen used this pearl to turn all the hippogriffs into seaponies, and hid them in the ocean, but it was still a cage.” She rocked the mostly empty glass back and forth in her hooves, brooding. “Silverstream had to sneak away to see the sun for the first time, and when the Hearthswarming fireworks went off, she had a flashback to safety drills she did as a child and… ran to my home to hide from, well, you know who.”

She finished the statement off by finishing off her glass. Sunset bounced forward and ladled it back to full. Cheerilee smiled.

“Thanks.”

“What are bartenders for?” Sunset winked back. Cheerilee giggled and took a sip of the fresh draught and smiled.

“Still, thank you.”

“No problem.” Sunset took a long drink herself and leaned forward on the bar again. “So, is Silverstream alright?”

Cheerilee’s smile got a bit of it’s spark back.

“Yes. I talked it through with her, and helped calm her down. She’s fine now. As far as I know, she’s off and happily giving her griffon friend his first real Hearthswarming.”

“That’s good to hear,” Sunset chuckled, sharing the smile. "Griffons don't usually have Hearthswarming, so I'm sure he'll have fun."

“So, that’s been on my mind.” Cheerilee looked off at the photos on the wall. “She’s so brave. To have spent her whole life in fear like that, and to come out as unafraid to love the world like she does.” She looked back at Sunset, her face a distant, wide grin. “It’s inspiring.”

“It does take a special type of person to do that.” Sunset smirked. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Cheerilee’s eyes widened a bit.

“I mean, it sounds like this was some kid who you just bumped into, but you took them under your-” Sunset blinked, and grinned, “-hoof, and helped her through some real darkness in her past. Not a lot of teachers would go that far for a stranger, let alone a lot of people. You’re pretty admirable yourself.” Sunset’s lean became more pronounced as her stance slacked and her eyes became distant. “I wish I’d had someone like you, when I was growing up.”

Cheerilee frowned. “I thought you said you were Celestia’s student.”

Sunset gave an embarrassed grin. “Would you believe that I wasn’t the best student?” He grin became more strained. "Or that sometimes I needed a different kind of teacher?”

Cheerilee’s frown softened, but didn’t go away. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t worry too much," Sunset said, "It’s in the past now, and there were more issues going on there than just a teacher/student relationship. Besides, all things considered, I'm a better pony for it.”

Cheerilee tactically raised an eyebrow.

"Human." Sunset shrugged. “Self-identity and obligate shapeshifting that comes with reality hoping is a complicated issue.”

“Fair enough.” Cheerilee grinned took a long drink.

Sunset watched her drink in companionable silence for a little bit, but then a thought crossed her mind. 'She sure looks much more relaxed now that she's had a chance to let all of that out. I'm sure she'll be in great shape for her next—' Her eyes widened slightly and she looked away, biting her lip and rolling her glass around in her hand as she considered the stray thought that had crossed her mind. Finally, she put the glass down and took a deep breath. “Uh, hey, Cheerilee? Can I ask you for some advice?”

“Hmmm?” The pony put down her own glass and looked at the bartender. “About what, Sunset?”

Sunset pushed off the bar, placing her glass down under it before scratching the back of her head. She walked over to the where the cashier was and dug up her own pile of books. "So… long story short, there's this kid. She's gotten a lot of magical power and she doesn't really know how to use it. It's… actually structurally very similar to our own pony magic, so two of her friends suggested I could… um, teach her."

Cheerilee glanced warily at the literature. "I don't think you're looking in the right direction."

"I know, I know," Sunset said, picking up the stack and throwing the books into a box that magically sealed itself. “I realized shortly after I had to get help to destroy the demonic interdimensional flaming zombies that I wasn't getting anywhere close. It was actually one of my guests that suggested that, if Lena's magic is so close to my own… maybe what I needed to learn was something different. So…" Sunset smiled uncertainly. Can you… teach me how to teach? Or at least give me some hints?”

Cheerilee leaned back. She looked down, and her brow twisted into a frown.

Sunset sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms. “Yeah, I figured.”

“Now hold on,” Cheerilee said, frowning at Sunset, “it’s not an easy question. Don’t get discouraged just because I’m taking a second to think, here.”

“Right.” Sunset grinned, sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Cheerilee went back to frowning at the bar.

“You need to be able to talk to her.” She finally said, not looking up. “You need to know your stuff, so maybe some of those books are useful, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t talk to her.” She looked at Sunset now. “You need to be able to be sure you’re both speaking the same language; that you’re understanding each other. This means explaining yourself clearly, but also making sure you’re understanding where she is coming from. If there’s a difference in understanding - you need to work with her to correct it. You can’t teach physics unless everyone understands what “motion” is.”

Sunset nodded, paying rapt attention now.

“I also mean it when I say you need to pay attention to her; pupils teaching masters is a cliche, but it exists for a reason. Sometimes the student’s way of looking at a subject can be useful in teaching them, or learning yourself.” She paused to take another sip of toddy. “Next, you’re going to need to keep her interested. This is something I hate about the EEA, but their curriculum emphasizes teaching facts without context - most fillies and colts hate math because it’s dry and abstract, but I bet a lot more of my students would care if we could do things like building trebuchets to learn about calculating curves.”

Sunset blinked and snorted.

“See?” Cheerilee grinned. “You’re already excited to learn math.”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty fun.”

“Right? So you need to make Lena want to learn magic. Figure out what makes her tick, what she’ll get excited about, and use that to keep her engaged.”

“Right.” Sunset nodded.

“The final skill you need ties back to your books - you need to be able to break what you’re saying down.” Cheerilee locked eyes with Sunset. “You need to explain the most complicated, abstract, magical concepts you take for granted in terms an Earth Pony farmer could follow along with.”

“I see…” Sunset’s eyes widened and lit up, and she quickly took out a tablet, taking quick notes..

“To you, all this stuff may seem second nature, but to her it’s all new, so you need to be able to talk to her as if she knew nothing.”

“Right.” Sunset nodded. “That’s really useful, actually. I wasn’t sure what to do with all these books, but now I have a direction to move in with my research.”

Cheerilee nodded, smiling in reply.

“I’m glad to hear it.” She leaned back in her seat a bit. “Aside from all of that, you need to just be good at speaking - keep your pace up, keep her attention, keep her engaged in her lessons. Use metaphors, help her visualize the material. Notice when she’s flagging, or when you’re losing her, and adjust.” Cheerilee smirked. “Be entertaining and informative, basically.”

“Right.” Sunset itemized Cheerilee's suggestions and scratched her head. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Cheerilee’s smile softened a bit, and she looked away to take another drink.

“So… why do you want to help this person, anyway?”

Sunset looked up, surprised.

“I mean, you live a life as an interdimensional bar-tender. Why tutor this kid you met? Wouldn’t someone from her world be a better fit?”

Sunset looked away and grimaced, rubbing her arm. It was definitely not an easy decision, and it meant splitting up her time a little but… “You wanna know the truth?”

“When it comes to helping children blossom?” Cheerilee’s face was hard. “Yes. I do. Always.” She looked down at her drink. “Silverstream helped me remember that.”

Sunset sighed and dragged a stool up to the bar and sat on it herself. She pulled her own cool glass of toddy infront of her and began tracing the rim with a finger, looking at it distantly. “You know when I said I was a bad student?”

“Yes.”

“That might have been a bit of an exaggeration.”

Cheerilee didn’t say anything, simply waiting.

After a moment, Sunset went on. “I was a genius. Any magic I got my hands on, I mastered. I was Celestia’s personal student, I had my place in the literal sun, and it went to my head.”

Cheerilee nodded.

“She tried to steer me away from what was happening, but-”

“-she wasn’t the best teacher.” Cheerilee smirked, although it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Yeah, you could say that. She came down on me like a ton of bricks when I didn’t listen to her, and I ran away. I tried to get the power I thought I was owed by destiny on my own terms, you know, 'screw the princess!' And all that. But something went… wrong.” Sunset’s face was a mask of misery. “I got caught up in some dark magic, and it woke something inside of me I didn’t think I was capable of. Maybe I never was, and it was just the magic talking, but—”

“You aren’t sure,” Cheerilee said, tilting her head, her eyes sad.

“Yeah.” Sunset closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t want that to happen to Lena.”

Cheerilee leaned back, nodding.

“Well,” she said, looking at the bar, “Self-hatred isn’t always the healthiest place to start in helping somepony, but you do want to help.” She looked at Sunset. “Keep an eye on that. Don’t project onto her and keep a clear head.”

When Cheerilee didn't say anything else, Sunset blinked, confused. "Um…"

“I’m giving you my blessing.” Cheerilee smirked. “Accept it, dear.”

Sunset blinked again, and then laughed. “Alright, I accept, then.” She smiled, a little more at ease than before. “I’m glad you showed up, Cheerilee.”

“I’m glad to have shown up.” She closed her eyes as she relaxed into the seat. “Helping ponies blossom is what I love to do!”

“I can tell!” Sunset grinned. “I… you know, I’ll be honest again; sometimes this place gets to me.” She looked down as she went on. “I used to be kind of a big deal, you know. Saving the world with my friends. Now I run a bar, and the world got a lot bigger and scarier.”

“Sunset.”

Sunset looked up to see Cheerilee staring into her eyes, and felt Cheerilee’s hoof wrap around her hand.

“The world is always big and scary. Even for the ponies saving it. Do you know Twilight Sparkle felt helpless, too, after seeing what the Storm King had done, even though she’d been the one to stop him? I felt helpless, watching a child struggle with a fear no child should have to bear. Nothing I could say or do could make what happened to her not have happened.” Her lips thinned, but her eyes shone. “But I held her, and I tried to teach her just how brave she was because she was still open and wonderful despite her fear. The world is always big and scary - but the world is also made of ponies, so never, ever underestimate what it means to be there for others.” Her lips twisted in a smirk. “What’s a bartender anyway, if not a professional “be-there-for-others” pony?”

Sunset blinked, and then gave out a small chuckle. “You really take that making ponies blossom thing seriously, huh?”

“I didn’t get my cutie mark in teaching algebra!”

Sunset giggled. “Thanks, Cheerilee.”

“It’s what I do.” She smirked.

“Just like Silverstream reminded you.”

“Right!”

Sunset let out a breath, and a weight seemed to lift from her shoulders. “Alright, I think we’ve had enough moping.” She topped off her and Cheerilee’s glasses. “Bars are great for moping, but what’s moping without a good time?”

“I’ll drink to that.” Cheerilee was then true to her word. Sunset followed suit. As she put her glass down, she looked over at the wall of photos. “So, those your other customers?”

“Yep.” Sunset nodded. “It’s a bit of a tradition, here. I take a photo with everyone who stops by. Each visit has been special in their own way, and I've learned a lot from every one of them.”

Cheerilee nodded, lost in thought. Sunset took another drink, looking over her wall of memories. “Hey, Sunset?”

“Yeah?”

“Think we could maybe do something a little different?”

Sunset looked over at Cheerilee “Like what?”

“Well.” Cheerilee grinned sheepishly. “It’s admittedly mostly an excuse to do something else, but there’s someone I think would really love to see this place. Plus, having her here would definitely help lighten the mood.”

“Oh?” Sunset quirked an eyebrow.

“I guess the important questions are… well, can you get Lena, because I’d love to meet her and does this place have a virgin menu?”

Somepony knocked on the door to the room Silverstream shared with Smolder, making the gang glance at each other.

"I thought everycreature else had gone home for the holidays?" Ocellus whispered.

“Silverstream?” a voice from the outside called.

Silverstream gasped and looked up. “Miss Cheerilee! Come in!”

“I’m glad you’re here—oh, so are all your friends!”

“Yep!” Silverstream flapped up from her seat to the door. “Do you need me for something?”

“I do, sort of, but I’m glad your friends are here too.” Cheerilee grinned as they all gathered around the door. “There’s something I’d like to show you all.”

“Like what?” Smolder asked, crossing her arms.

“A bar at the edge of the universe!”

Cheerilee's proclamation was met with dead silence.

Gallus leaned over to Sandbar. “Are all of you ponies crazy?” he stage-whispered while Smolder dug under her pillow for her ID.

“I don’t know, man,” Sandbar said, just as confused. "Maybe it's just the teachers?"

Silverstream wasn’t paying attention to either of them though. She had eyes only for Cheerilee, and they were as big as saucers.

“Magic is like a…” Sunset twisted her lip as she stared down at the paper in front of her. “Like a… river? Too vague? Hrm.” She continued muttering to herself as she jotted down notes and flipped the pages of a book in front of her. Abdul Alhazred had a way with words, but Sunset was finding his endless ways to make shoggoths sound like the worst thing ever not as useful for explaining the feeling of controlling magic to a teenager.

"How would Raistlin put it?" she forced her voice into a harsh, whispery croak. "Time is like a pond, you throw a stone in and the ripp—" she started coughing. "That's time, not magic," she muttered. "And he proved that theory was BS anyway, what is he doing spouting that nonsense still?"

Finally she closed the book and stood up to stretch and take a walk to clear her head. As she did her eyes caught a new addition to her wall. A piece of canvas with a charcoal sketch on it.

Cheerilee hadn’t been facing the end of the world, just a bad day, but coming here had reminded her of her convictions about being a teacher. Sunset may not having been saving her own tiny world for the umpteenth time, but she had been reminded that as big and scary as it was, the world was still made of ponies - or krogans, ponies, ducks, and humans, but still all fundamentally people - and that that was what really mattered.

The charcoal drawing depicted a human, two ponies, a griffon, a dragon, a duck—based on the picture of Scrooge and the gang—a changeling, a yak, and a hippogriff all in a sort of loose hug in what appeared to be her bar if you squinted.

It honestly wasn’t very good—although having seen some of Silverstream’s earlier work she really was improving rapidly.

Still. It was sentimental.

Sunset smiled and continued her circuit around the bar, remembering a good day and trying to think of a metaphor.

End Chapter

Author's Note

So if you haven't read the original, The Teacher and the Hippogriff is a lovely short story by Nyronus which you should really check out!

The times, they are a Changeling (The Three Sisters Series - Resurrected)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D
The times, they are a Changeling (The Three Sisters Series -Fanfic)

It had been about three hours since dinner.

Chrysalis was asleep and snoring up a storm. Really, that changeling could (and would) overindulge too often for Purity's liking. Even though if she was honest, she also tended to overeat, but how could she refuse the delicacies from hives far and wide? Unthinkable.

"But, I guess we did deserve a bit of indulgence, after all that hard work," she said with a smirk. Standing up, she stretched and headed out of the room, her horn aglow to tuck Chrysalis in. She closed the door behind her and glanced around the crystalline hallway.

All in all it was a dream hive, so why did she feel so… unsure about it? As a potential queen of the hive, it would be natural for her to simply step into the role, as destiny would demand. She started walking down the hallway, simply enjoying the sights, her mind busy trying to figure out her insecurities.

Oh, Chrysalis would be all about how dangerous it was to roam around a different hive unguarded but… quite honestly the other queens were unlikely to try anything right now, and Queen Apocrita's guard was on duty. Not to mention, it would put them at odds with Equestria and Chrysalis' hive if they did, and cultural faux-pas aside, the other queens were mostly pragmatic enough to realize that would be a bad idea.

She sighed, warily glancing around at the exquisite work the drones had done on the walls and windows. While she had nothing but respect for the drones of her own hive, it was very clear that the quality of work was vastly different. They had taken the time to not only produce the walls like in other hives, but to actually integrate it to the natural flow of the cavern.

Where other hives would dig straight through the rock, Apocrita's changelings had avoided that where they could, including the formations of stalactites and stalagmites into their overall crystaline-white design. The end result was a quite beautiful, fae-like hive that looked out of one of her many foalhood fantasy books.

That's why she found it odd to discover a red oak door framed in a much more pony-like arch made of stone, and with an unfamiliar cutie mark on it. She blinked and looked down at the blackboard sign outside.

"Changeling Martini," she read, her voice sounding perfectly intrigued, even to her. She smirked. "Okay, that's something I need to try."

"I can't believe Basara Nekki has been here all this time!"

Sunset Shimmer raised an unimpressed eyebrow and proceeded to pick up the now-empty glass from her guest. "He'd been here for about an hour before you dragged me and Rarity to your concert."

Sheryl Nome pointed wildly at the young man with the guitar—who was playing a soft, slow tune while Lena nodded to the music as she perused one of the magical tomes Sunset had lent her. "Sunset, that man has been missing from the known universe for a decade! His secret hideout is one of the century's greatest mysteries! Do you have any idea how hard it is to hide from my government?!"

"Considering the Vajra had to jump dimensions to avoid you lot, yeah, I have an idea."

"But still!" Sheryl gestured at Basara—who continued to ignore her—with her hands.

"Hey, lady," Lena called out, "can you keep it down? I'm trying to study here!"

Sheryl turned around, reached across the bar, grabbed Sunset by the lapels and brought her uncomfortably close to her face. "Are you dating him?" she whispered.

"No," Sunset growled.

"Tsk." Sheryl let go and sat down on her seat. She leaned back and sighed. "I keep telling you, just stay with us for a while at Frontier! You're a pretty decent singer, with some professional help, you could be great."

Sunset groaned. "Sheryl, I'm not going to join the army and become an idol singer just to date a pilot. I'm not interested in that. That was Minmei's thing and you know how that ended."

"But you've got such a beautiful singing voice!" Sheryl argued. "And you already care about people, so it'll be less of a learning curve."

That comment got her looks from Sunset, Lena, and even Basara.

"So I was a diva, sue me."

It was at that moment that the door to the bar opened and the silver bell chimed, announcing the arrival of another guest. "Hello?" a familiar voice called.

"Oh hey, a Rarity," Sunset said with a grin, then called out, "come on in! Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my name is R-Rarity?""

Her grin faltered when a changeling queen walked into the room, but more importantly, this queen had Rarity's manestyle, only with a slightly green tone to them in between the purple, as if it shimmered between the two colors when it caught the light just right. And not only that, this changeling queen also had Rarity's cutie mark on her flank.

"I'm pretty sure your name is actually Sunset Shimmer," Lena called out without looking up from her book.

The changeling Queen looked surprised as she studied the others in the room, clearly having never seen humans or anthropomorphic ducks. But at the sound of her name, she turned to study Sunset with some curiosity. "Oh, I'm sorry, darling, but I'm afraid I don't recognize you! However you seem to be aware of who I am, perhaps you're one of Queen Apocrita's subjects?"

Sheryl was staring at her incredulously. "Bu-but I just saw you and you were no—"

"We don't work for her, I'm afraid," Sunset said as the Rarity changeling continued walking down the bar only to stop and stare at all the pictures. "This might come as a shock, but this is actually an inter-dimensional bar… where I've met quite a few of you, myself, and others."

"That's… quite a few changelings, dear, including my sister!"

"Yeah, changeling queens seem to be popular visitors, you must all be pretty stressed."

"She's a queen?" Sheryl asked, as if finally seeing the small crown on top of Rarity's head.

"Yes, yes," Purity said quickly, turning over to walk and take a seat at the bar, eyeing them curiously but also warily. "Not necessarily by choice, mind, I just didn't seem to have much of an option when Chrysalis found out I was alive."

"Wait, so you were pretending to be Rarity all along?" Sunset asked.

"Good guess," Purity said, smiling consiprationaly at her. "But not exactly accurate, you see, I am Rarity, and I am also Princess, or rather Queen Pupa. Our elder sister, who is not with us anymore used a spell to turn us into one entity to save our lives."

"A soul meld," Lena called out, "Magika did the exact opposite when she created me, according to one of your books."

Purity smiled brightly at her. "You're a smart young lady, aren't you?"

Lena grinned. "I'm not a lady, but I am smart." She waved a bit before going back to her book.

"Ah, that's—I'm sorry," Sunset said.

"Oh, don't fret, Sunset Shimmer, it has been, well. Quite a long time," Purity said kindly. "I am terribly curious about all of this." She waved with her hoof at the establishment. "But I did walk in because I saw that the blackboard was offering a 'Changeling Martini?'"

"Yes!" Sunset said, "Of course, let me get that for you."

"And I would like one as well," Sheryl said.

Sunset shrugged. "Alright then."

Purity studied Sheryl's clothes. "I have to say, darling, your style is magnificent!"

As Sunset busied herself with the ingredients, Sheryl turned to look at Purity. "Thank you! I put a lot of work on dressing for my performances! My name is Sheryl Nome," she introduced herself putting out her hand for the changeling, who after a moment looking at it, simply raised her hoof and bumped it. "Right, anyway, I am trying to convince Sunset here that she should date Basara, who's over there."

Purity glanced over at the guitarist, who simply shrugged and kept on playing the guitar, seemingly lost in his own world. Then she looked at Sunset. Then over to him, then to Sheryl. "But he looks like he's not interested, darling, and Sunset here doesn't find him attractive that way."

Sheryl blinked. "How would you know that?"

"She's a changeling," Sunset said, starting her mix. She smirked. "They know if you're in love. For example, remember Alto?"

Sheryl gave her a look.

"Tasty," Purity said after a few seconds. "Is he your lover?"

"Gah!"

Sunset chuckled and placed two martini glasses on the bar, sliding them over to her guests. "Two changeling martinis."

Both Purity and Sheryl studied the offered cocktail.

"Oh my, this looks amazing, darling," Purity said, "Why, it almost reminds me of your name, soft, warm, orange sunlight at the bottom with the deep blue of the night at the top."

"And these little blue crushed ice pieces could be stars," Sheryl said with a grin.

"And if you mix it up, it changes colors," Sunset added. She turned her attention to the changeling queen. "So, what brings you here, Rarity? Usually my guests are stressed out for some reason or another." She tilted her head. "The last few changeling queens were about to have, or just had, kids. Is that it?"

Purity chuckled, mixing her drink and watching in delight as it mixed into a vibrant lavender. "Thankfully not! I have enough trouble as it is keeping track of Sweetie Belle; I can't imagine having foals of my own yet."

"Then problems with your subjects?" Sheryl guessed.

"Of a sort," Purity said, sighing. "You see… I had been hiding away from the hive for several years, and my sister Chrysalis recently discovered I was alive. Now she wants me to take over Queen Apocrita's Hive, since I need it to live a long, healthy life as a changeling." She took a sip and leaned back dramatically. "If only that didn't conflict with my passion!"

Sheryl's eyes got a glint, and even Basara's guitar-strumming suddenly sounded slightly interested. Sunset warily eyed them both.

"Your passion?" Sheryl asked eagerly.

"Yes! For you see..." Purity sat straight, pointing a hoof at her chest. "I! Am a designer! A creator!
A seamstress of incredible talent!"

"Basically, Rarity," Sunset chipped in.

"Right!" the changeling continued undeterred. "And no matter how much I would love the adoration of a whole hive, I feel like my passion and creativity might be… stifled... by Queenly duties, should I take that role."

She sighed and settled back down. "It doesn't help that I feel somewhat… obligated to do this more out of trying to appease my sister than any enthusiasm I could muster for this kind of thing on my own."

"So, why don't you just tell her no?" Lena asked, looking up from her book. "No one should force you to do something you don't want to."

"The duck is right, even though destiny sometimes finds a way to be fulfilled, if you are given the choice, you should choose what your passion desires!" Sheryl said, earning a look from Lena who clearly didn't like the way she had called her "duck" but didn't seem to know if she should take it as an insult. Sunset shook her head, and Lena simply shrugged.

"But aren't changeling queens basically bred to rule?" Sunset asked. "No offense."

Purity took a sip of her drink, not looking up to them. "None taken, Sunset." She sighed, her glance going over to the pictures once more. "When I look at those changeling queens, I see a self-assurance and dignity that I lack… except for the one that's biting your head."

"That is actually Changeling Celestia, if you can believe it."

Purity didn't blink. "Oh, I can tell." She chuckled, then deflated. "The bottom line, darling, is that I wasn't born to rule. I was the third sister, the youngest of us. By the time Cocoon and Chrysalis and I would have had to fight for dominance, I would have barely reached nine years old. I stood no chance." She swirled her martini in her magical grip, studying the purple that so much resembled her mane's color. "I had already given up on the idea, you see, long before that fateful quest where Cocoon saved my life at the cost of her own."

"It sounds strange that if you were supposed to kill each other she would do that," Sheryl said after a moment.

"It does, doesn't it?" Purity laughed. "I wish I knew why she did it. She was mysterious, that one, and although Chrysalis says she loved me deeply… I don't know. I wish I could ask her… there are some things I wish I could just clear up with her, and I can't with Chrysalis." After a moment of silent contemplation, she raised her glass in salute. "I am happy to report, however, that after Chrysalis attempted to invade Canterlot, she and I did away with that awful tradition. My nieces are all safe and healthy, doing community service in Ponyville as a matter of fact."

"That sounds like a story of its own," Sunset said with a grin, levitating a beer and floating it over to Basara, who caught it in his hand without even looking, while he scribbled some notes on a small notebook.

"It is, and I—"

"Wait," Lena interrupted. "Sorry, sorry, but… why do you want to talk to Cocoon?"

"Well, darling, I would like to know why she saved me. As I said, I had no prospects of being a queen. Not then. It made no sense."

Sheryl turned to look at Sunset straight in the eye.

Sunset frowned. "No way."

"Sunset."

She shook her head. "Do you know—do you have any idea how many laws I would be breaking if I did that?"

Lena snorted. "As if Rarity wasn't skirting the law constantly. You can't tell me whatever she's doing she's doing legally." she paused, then somewhat reluctantly granted, "Ninety eight percent of the time."

"I'm sorry," Purity spoke up, "I'm getting lost here. What am I not doing legally?"

"Not you, my business partner," Sunset said, "she's a Rarity too."

"Ah." The changeling queen nodded, "then please, call me Purity, it's the name Chrysalis gave me when she found out what happened with Pupa and Rarity."

The others looked at each other and shrugged.

"But that's not important," Sheryl insisted. "Sunset. You have to."

"Sheryl, I'm telling y—"

"How long ago did this thing with Cocoon happen?" Sheryl asked Purity.

"The soul merge," Lena clarified.

"Yes. That."

Purity tapped her chin. "About twenty or so years ago?"

Sunset blinked. "You're almost thirty?"

"Oh, did I say twenty? I meant: 'don't you dare tell anypony or I will cut you' years ago."

"Yep," Lena said, "she's Rarity alright."

Sheryl whirled to face Sunset. "Twenty years, Sunset Shimmer! She's been wondering two decades!"

"Are you really trying to blackmail me into breaking interdimensional law?" Sunset asked, crossing her arms. "Do you have any idea how much that could cost me? I could lose my bar!"

Sheryl smirked. "Then you can join me and we can become a duet act."

Purity looked from one human to the other. "I'm afraid I really don't follow."

It was then that there was a soft knock on the door and it was pushed open, making the silver bell ring once more. "Hello? Excuse me, I didn't think the cave was inhabited…"

The mare who entered the room stopped dead in her tracks, staring not at the humans, or even the duck, but rather at Purity who started back and blinked.

Sunset studied the pony. It was a young adult mare unicorn, with a lime-green mane, and a soft orange coat. Her cutie mark was a split orange, still with the stem on it. It wasn't anypony that Sunset had met before, but for some reason Purity stood up and stared openly at her, eyes wide.

"I, uh…" The mare cleared her throat. "Yeah, I should go."

"Wait!" Purity spoke up, and the mare immediately tensed, but did not move at all.

Purity gulped. "Cocoon?"

Among the gasps from Sheryl and Lena, the mare's face became expressionless, but her body was tense, ready to react.

"I-it's you, isn't it?" Purity asked gently. "I recognize that form… You used to take it when Mother sent you to the pony lands."

"I don't know you," the pony said tersely. "And I have no sister that is already a queen."

Sunset glared up at the ceiling of her bar. "And this is why we don't break time and space like that!" she sighed. "Anyway, come on, have a seat, I'll make you a changeling martini."

"I'm afraid I'm not doing this," Cocoon said, eyes narrowed. "For one, I don't know who you are, secondly I'm rather suspicious of a random changeling queen claiming to be my sister while I'm in the middle of a mission from my mother, and finally, I AM on a quest and I cannot dally."

"Oh, chill," Lena called from her side of the bar. "Time is not passing where you're from. You'll come out at the same time as you came in."

"Please," Purity said, "just for a little while."

The mare bit her lip, glancing behind her before finally settling her eyes on Purity. "You look really familiar."

Sunset wasn't sure what happened then, but suddenly Purity was covered in pink feathers, while still remaining a changeling. Cocoon's eyes were wide now, and her mouth hung open, even as green flames flashed around her revealing a changeling that looked somewhat similar to Purity, but she didn't have a cutie mark, and her mane was a more traditional algae-green.

"But… Pupa?"

Purity smiled and shrugged, eyes brimming with tears. "Surprise?"

"I think she'll have that drink," Sheryl stage-whispered.

"Alright," Sunset said, slightly exasperated. "But before we do anything, Purity, you're from the future. DO NOT talk about the past."

"R-right…"

"I'm not joking, if you do you might return to something horrific. Things could have changed drastically and not for the better, are we clear?"

"Y-yes."

"And you." Sunset turned to look at Cocoon in the eye. "Just because you figured out she's okay right now doesn't mean that it's guaranteed when you go back. We're in serious danger here of messing things up bad."

Cocoon nodded, eyes wide.

"Right." Sunset sighed.

Cocoon sat next to Purity, looking her up and down, taking in her mane, her cutie mark. "So… the future? Have you become better at shapeshifting?"

Purity laughed, "Yes, I have… even Chrysalis had a hard time figuring out I was a changeling."

Cocoon nodded, looking around the place curiously. "I take it from these creatures reactions that I wasn't supposed to be here?"

"Well darling, it seems that we did some unintentional time-travelling," Purity said, shrugging. "I for one… well." She smiled a bit sadly. "I'm glad to see you."

"I as well," Cocoon said after a moment. "So it seems that out of us you inherit the hive, correct?"

"Oh, heavens, no," Purity laughed. "That would be Chrysalis."

"Sure," Sunset interrupted, placing the glass right in front of Cocoon, who glanced at it curiously. "Ignore my warning, tell her everything, why don't you?"

Purity blinked, then her eyes widened. "Oh. Oh my. This is very difficult I—"

"It's okay," Cocoon said, putting a hoof on top of Purity's. "Just don't tell me how I died and I think it will be okay."

The others looked at her, and she shrugged. "It was plainly obvious." She chuckled and took a sip of her martini. "If Chrysalis is the Queen of the Hive, then I'm not around anymore, and Pupa's reaction was plainly obvious. She hasn't seen me in a long time. Plus she has a new name, and my other sister is alive, so she's either a queen of another hive or she escaped."

"I'm sorry," Purity said.

"Don't be," Cocoon countered. "I am happy you're well. Or that you'll turn out well. I was very afraid for you and your future, but I'm sure you're a great queen."

"But what if she doesn't want to be one?" Sheryl interrupted. "What if sh—ow!"

"You're coming with me and sitting with Basara," Sunset said, not letting go of her ear. "You two can write songs together."

"What?" Cocoon blinked, ignoring the struggling creatures, her attention on Purity. "But why not?"

Purity looked down at the table. "I… never expected to be one, not really. I thought you and Chrysalis would eventually just get rid of me… I never understood why you—" she bit her lip "—didn't just get rid of me."

Cocoon studied her face for a moment. "Of course we wouldn't," she said. "Both she and I care about you. The fact that you say her name like you do tells me she's at least made this obvious by now."

Purity nodded. "She… took me to another hive. The queen there is choosing a successor from among the living queens. Chrysalis wants me to inherit that… I'm not sure I should." She looked up at Cocoon. "I've lived my life raised b—as part of the ponies, away from the hive. I have good friends, I am a designer… I made the wedding dress for a princess!"

Cocoon smiled. "It seems like you have a good life."

"I do! But I so do not want to disappoint Chrysalis. And she said I wouldn't live as long without a hive."

Cocoon shrugged. "That is true… a Hive is as much a part of our lifespan as love and a healthy diet."

"I see."

"So what is stopping you, really?" Cocoon asked. "You seem capable, and smart. Certainly well-educated, at least. And if you already know princesses and are in good standing with them, the political contacts can only help you."

'It's not about… skills." Purity admitted. "It's about my life outside of the hive. About my friends, and my dreams, and my little sister."

"We have another sister?" Cocoon asked, blinking in surprise. "I never thought another drone would dare."

Purity laughed. "No, no, adopted would be the closest thing."

Sunset saw Cocoon glance at Purity's flank quickly. "Right."

"But I have plans, you see," Purity said, "I was going to grow my business. Open shop in Canterlot, then Manehattan. If I do this, my time and attention will be spent away from that."

Cocoon nodded in understanding. "So this new possible hive of yours is in a very sorry state of affairs?"

"Oh, goodness no," Purity said, eyes shining. "It's amazing! The changelings there have a healthy economy, a huge network, and are perfectly happy! They take good care of their hive, and worked it seamlessly into its surroundings, it's quite beautiful."

"And their market?"

"Sublime, with products from all over the world."

"What about the other potential queens?"

"Oh," Purity laughed, raising a hoof to cover her mouth. "You wouldn't believe them, they act so tough, but a bit of a nudge here and there and they're absolute darlings. Why, the red hive proposed an exchange program with ours in the future to see if Equestria would be willing to open trade."

"It seems to me you're already in love with this hive you say you don't want," Cocoon said, smiling. "It might just be that you're talking yourself out of doing this because you know you'll enjoy it."

Purity blinked. "I'm sorry?"

Cocoon nodded, sipping her drink. "You sound like you really like this hive. You didn't say a single negative thing about it, your eyes lit up when you talked about it, and you are very impressed with it. I think you love designing clothes and you're talking yourself down from really accepting this hive as well. But you don't have to give one up to do the other, you know?"

Purity's eyes went wide.

"You… are different," Cocoon said slowly, ponderously. "You aren't jaded; you're just the same hatchling as you were when I last saw you a few minutes ago at the entrance to the caves. You have an outlook on life that's very different than what Mother wanted us to do. Changelings are known to other species in your time. You, a changeling queen, designed a dress for an Equestrian princess. Why not break some more rules?" She leaned in, bumping her forehead gently against Purity's and smiling. "Why not change things more?"

Purity was silent for a moment. "I-I am surprised. I really did not expect this."

Cocoon raised an eyebrow. "Did not expect what?"

"You… to care this much for my happiness," Purity confessed quietly.

"Oh, little sister," Cocoon chuckled, gulping down before smiling a little more shyly. "I've loved you since you were born. I guess I didn't get to tell you before I died."

Purity shook her head, feeling a lump in her throat.

"You were adorable, and trusting. When I saw you after you hatched… I just knew I had to protect you. When the time to choose a new queen came, I was... " Cocoon chuckled. "I had considered spiriting you out and into the pony lands to make sure you were safe. I'd have to lie to Mother, but… well. Depending on how she meets her end, I'll have to figure things out."

Cocoon stood up, fishing a golden bit out of her saddlebags and placing it on the counter. "And that reminds me, I do have a little sister to keep track of."

Purity followed her to the door, then pulled her in for a hug. "I'm sorry I didn't know."

Cocoon chuckled, returning the hug herself. "Sometimes we are too good at hiding things, Sister."

"Cocoon, when you go back—"

The elder sister placed her hoof gently on Purity's mouth. "Don't. I don't know how it will happen… and I'd rather not. I don't want to live in fear of something that might or not come. I know now you end up safe, happy and with a bright future. That is all I need to keep doing what I'm doing."

Purity nodded and watched her sister walk out of the bar, into the familiar cave where she had seen her last.

Chrysalis woke up with a start, alert and ready to fight, her instincts pointing her to the intruder in the room. It was still late at night, but something was different.

She kept her eyes on the doorway as her horn lit up and illuminated the room proper. She blinked in surprise. "Purity?" She frowned. "Did you go out for a walk?"

She watched as her sister walked over to her, and then, surprisingly, pulled her in for a hug. "H-hey! What's going on? I refuse to be handled this way! Release me at once! The pride of The Hive cannot be ignored by this foolishness!" A beat. "Dammit, Purity! Lemme go!"

But her sister simply hugged her harder until Chrysalis rolled her eyes and returned the gesture. "There. Now I'm hugging you, and you're hugging me. We're all hugging. Warm embraces without words, just for the sake of hugs. And hugging. Like idiots."

She paused, sniffing Purity's mane. There was… a smell. Familiar, but she couldn't place it. Regardless, for some reason it made her gulp. "P-Purity? Is everything okay? Where were you?"

"I—" Purity sighed. "I'll be okay. I just need to be with my sister for a little bit."

"Right," Chrysalis said. "Sisters."

The scent was comforting. Loving. Familiar and brought such a sense of nostalgia in Chrysalis that she found herself sinking into her sister's embrace.

"Yes," Purity said, "sisters."

After a few moments of trying to figure out why that scent was familiar, Purity pulled back and smiled at Chrysalis. "You know, darling… I think I know what I really want to do now."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Story: The Three Sisters Series Relevant:Three Sisters Current Project
Sheryl Nome: Macross Frontier
Basara Nekki: Macross 7
Lena: Ducktales 2017

One Page More (Fifteen Pages - Post Fic)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D & NaiadSagaIotaOar
One Page More (Fifteen Pages - Post Fic)

Rarity pushed her door open, barely breaking stride.

Then she realized it was not her room she walked into, and she came to a dead stop. Nothing around her looked familiar. Where she expected walls and furniture of light, charming colors, spread about a modestly-sized bedroom, she found a hallway, dimly-lit, with walls of dark wood and high-gloss brick.

She couldn’t recall when the door closed, but by the time she looked back, it had. It was not her own door, and through the colored glass window of it she saw a glittering urban skyline far removed from any she recognized. She frowned, blinking—nothing changed, and she was left wondering why she expected anything might. It had all come with abruptness that left it feeling more surreal than alarming.

She turned, looking forwards into the… wherever she was. The hallway opened up into a larger room not too far in front of her, filled with tables and chairs and stools and…

A bar.

She had to pause for a moment and give that another look.

Yes, she decided. Definitely a bar.

It was not clear to her that going forwards was the best decision possible, but nothing else came to mind, so she took a few cautious steps. “Hello?” she called out. She wasn’t sure what she’d say if someone did answer. Could always ask for directions, she supposed.

When she got far enough to get a better look at the bar, that thought—and many others—took a hasty retreat, because she took one look at the woman standing behind it and her veins filled with ice.

A moment passed. Rarity stared. Stared at a face she knew, a name that haunted her, and a symbol branded into her memory.

And then she spun sharply and ran for the door.

Sunset polished the surface of her bar, it had been several hours since her last visitor, and she had no tutoring of teenage ducks today, nor arguing with ghostly body-guard wannabes. Nope, just her, and her bar, and hopefully a new customer or two.

She put away the rag and straightened her uniform, wondering briefly if she should go back to wearing the cowgirl set that Rarity had made for her. That was pretty classy too, and it might give her other-worldly bar an even more interesting image.

Just then, she heard the silver bell announcing a new arrival. She quickly made sure nothing was out of place. She could hear the hesitant steps… so it was a brand new guest. Usually they were rather surprised by finding her bar in unusual places. Like the broom closet.

She frowned and made a mental note to review the appropriate locations for her bar. It could make things really awkward for others if it appeared, say, as the door to their bathroom just as they had finished taking a shower.

It was then that her newest guest called out. "Hello?"

She immediately recognized the voice, and sure as sugar a young Rarity stepped into view soon after, looking around the bar with a mixture of curiosity and, when she looked at her, growing terror.

Sunset smiled a little uncertainly and opened her mouth to greet her guest. "Welco—"

But Rarity was not there. She had run back to the hall and, if the bell was any indication, had opened the door rather violently. When she heard a scream, Sunset quickly vaulted over the bar and ran after her guest, finding her holding on to dear life, with space floating just outside. "What the…"

She quickly made her way to the young Rarity and pulled her in, shutting the door behind her. "Okay, uh, sorry about that. It's never done that before," she said, glaring angrily at the roof. "One sec, let's try this again, it should drop you off where you were before you came in…" when she opened the door, there was nothing.

She closed the door.

"Okay, one more time." She opened the door again, and this time they could see several unidentifiable fish of some kind, of varying sizes and colors, simply floating and swimming in the ocean. "Alright. This is definitely not in the manual." She slowly turned around. "Um. I'm sorry, miss Rarity, I don't know what's happening to the bar. Would you mind taking a seat while I figure it out? I can get you a soda? On the house, of course, for the inconvenience."

The alarming side of Rarity’s sudden relocation, it turned out, had been delayed rather than wholly absent.

Because that was Sunset. That was Sunset Shimmer, standing right in front of her. The girl that, last time Rarity had seen her, was stepping through a shimmering doorway to another world.

A doorway that had been scattered in a million pieces over the ground.

Rarity’s first instinct had been to run. When that failed, it was like a dozen emotions sprang into being at once. Too many to count.

“Y—yes. Of course,” she stammered, finally processing Sunset’s request. She glanced from one side to the other with quick, jittery motions of her eyes and head, practically falling onto the closest chair.

She felt like she had to say something. But where would she even begin? That was Sunset she was looking at.

A tremble shook through her. A shiver.

“Sunset?” She heard her voice cracking. She spoke much faster than she thought, in that moment, so a long pause followed. “I’m…” She shook her head slowly, her mouth hanging open awkwardly. “I’m sorry,” she blurted.

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, she hated them, picked them apart and critiqued them—one part of her said she had nothing to be sorry about, another said that a few words wasn’t possibly enough. Both brought shame, and shame soon brought tears.

"Hey, hey." Sunset quickly made her way over to Rarity, careful not to touch her. For some reason, this version of her friend didn't seem very comfortable with Sunset herself. "This is not your fault, I'm not sure why the bar did that, it's not supposed to move around like that, although it's been doing it more lately," she said. "Here, let me get you something…" She went around the bar and rather than a soda, she made some chamomile tea, carefully setting it on the table where Rarity was sitting. "I'll get it working in a moment, alright? I'll get you back to where you were, not a second after you left, I promise."

Rarity found herself fumbling for words again. “W—what? What are you…” She shuddered again. It hurt looking at Sunset, but she also found she couldn’t look away. “What are you talking about?”

Sunset cleared her throat. "Y-you know. Uh. Alright, here's the spiel… this is an interdimensional bar, I'm from another world. Surprise?" She grinned, but it faltered when Rarity didn't react. "It, sort of appears for people that are going through stuff in life. So, if you need a drink, or an ear to talk to?" She motioned with her hands at the place. "Ta-dah."

“I—well, yes, I knew you were from another world, but…” Rarity fidgeted, rubbing at her eyes and glancing about in the vain hope of there being a handkerchief nearby. “I… suppose I didn’t expect our next meeting would go… like this.”

Sunset blinked. "Um. Here," she said, pulling the red handkerchief out of her pocket and handing it over to Rarity. "I guess I should clarify, I'm not the Sunset Shimmer you met." She stood up and pulled down a couple of pictures from the wall, bringing them over and handing them to Rarity. One was the graduation picture from Canterlot High, the other the picture of herself, with her other self in the wheelchair, and Gilda. "As you can see there's a few of us out there in the infinite multiverse."

She sat down across from Rarity. "I take it things didn't go well with your Sunset?"

Rarity went quiet for a little while, staring at the pictures set out in front of her. There was a lot to take in; the bar having come out of nowhere felt mundane by comparison. She dried her eyes, though she still sniffled a little. “You could say that,” she said. “We were…” She cut herself off, quirking her lips. “I’ve never really told anyone about it. But we were close, for a while.”

Another pause. She drew in a long breath, meeting the eyes of the Sunset sitting in front of her. “You’re really a different person, aren’t you? You don’t remember any of this?”

"Yeeah," Sunset said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "I am. I'm… sort of best friends with you in like… five worlds. But I never dated you, or would have… done something to hurt—what actually happened?" she asked, grimacing. "I'm sorry if I'm being invasive it's just… so unusual to find a world where we're not in good terms." She straightened up. "What did I do?"

“Not… not much to me, I suppose.” Rarity set the handkerchief down, reaching for the tea. “I should start at the beginning, shouldn’t I?” There was no telling how different any two Sunsets could be from each other, apparently. “I met her when she came to my world through a mirror. I know that probably sounds…” She cut off, looking again at the pictures of multiple Sunsets. “... Never mind. She looked confused and disoriented, so I wasn’t going to let her go off by herself.”

Sunset smiled. "Yeah, same happened to me, only I was alone that night. I think I crawled around the highschool on my knees at least once before I figured out what the soles of my shoes were for. And that was because I saw Vice Principal Luna come out of her office." She leaned back. "It would've been nice to come out and see one of my friends but…" She sort of nodded sheepishly. "I wasn't, you know. In a happy place."

A wry smile came to Rarity’s face, though it didn’t last long. “You don’t sound so different from her, then.” She sipped from the tea, then lost herself in staring into it. The Sunset in front of her felt… so different. And not in a bad way. “Perhaps you were better off that way. Coming through alone like that.”

She winced after she said that, like the words twisted around to cut at her. “But I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I?” She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “I got along well with her, at first. She seemed desperate for someone who… understood her. And I thought I did.” It was coming as a surprise how easy it was to talk about it. Memories bubbled up, of the times being with the other Sunset made her happier than she’d ever been.

“What happened with you?” Rarity asked. “You turned out so differently from her.”

"I—" Sunset sighed. Her finger tracing the face of her doppleganger from another dimension in the picture. "I guess the same old Sunset Shimmer story. I was the beloved student of the perfect teacher, I wasn't happy. I ran away and got to your world, or a similar one… I tortured, blackmailed, intimidated and bullied everyone… made false promises, told people I was their friend and destroyed their other friendships…" She cleared her throat. "It… took a real princess to show me the error of my ways. Well, her and you and a few others. It was painful… and humiliating and humbling. If it wasn't for you and the others, I'd probably just end up going back to Equestria with Twilight, but you all gave me another chance, despite everything."

She picked up the other picture, of the happy group on their last day of class. "It wasn't easy to make amends or ask forgiveness. I sometimes wonder if anything I've done actually compensates for the past, but…" She looked up at Rarity. "If I don't seek redemption, who will grant it to me?" She stood up and went around the bar, pouring herself some tea as well. "I don't know how different I am from your Sunset."

“I don’t know either,” Rarity said. She bit her lip. Tightness came to her chest. “I don’t know if she ever got that second chance. I never gave her one, anyway.” Unpleasant thoughts brewed in her head; was she weak, for not having reached out, just once? Had it been too cruel of her, cutting things off so abruptly? “If I’d known she could turn into someone like you, maybe…” She squeezed her eyes shut; tears started to well up again.

Sunset made her way to the table and sat down. "If she was anything like I was back then?" She shook her head. "I don't blame you for feeling that she was a lost cause. I nearly was, it took a miracle basically to get me to rethink my life." She sighed, watching Rarity carefully. "But, I never was in a relationship with anyone… I wonder how different things were? Was I… was she good to you?" She bit her lip. "Sorry, that's really not my business. How did… she end up leaving?"

“The same way she came,” Rarity said. “Through the mirror.”

Sunset nodded. "Was she, like… planning on taking over Equestria? How did you stop her? Did you get help from the other girls?"

“Well… I didn’t stop her. Not really.” Rarity fidgeted anxiously in her chair. “As soon after she went through as I could, I… broke the mirror. And then I never saw her again. I don’t know where she went after that.”

"Huh." Sunset nodded. "Simple. So, no demonic transformation or rainbow lasers? Were you the only student not under her control at the time?"

Rarity blinked. “What? No—no, nothing like that. Did you…? You did, didn’t you? No, I… wouldn’t say she had anyone ‘under her control’ at the time. I’m not sure anyone else thought she was anything more than what she looked like.”

Sunset studied Rarity for a moment. "So it was just you and her? I-I'm sorry, that just really sounds different from my-most Sunset's modus operandi." She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment, thinking. "Why were you two alone then? Were you supposed to guard the mirror?"

“No. No, she was expecting me to go through it, right behind her.” A lump grew in Rarity’s throat. “And I was so scared of what would happen if I did that… that I broke it instead. Smashed it to pieces.” She glanced away. “That was the last I saw of her. So when I saw you, I… thought you’d be furious. Because I betrayed you.”

Sunset's eyes went wide. "Wait what? But why would she… does that mean… she wanted you with her?" She stared at her cup. "I… never, I can't believe she…" She shook her head, licking her lips. "When you told me you were in a relationship with her… it really was mutual, wasn't it?"

“She was someone right out of a fairytale, and I… well, I got the impression I was giving her exactly the kind of validation she’d wanted at the time.” Rarity let out a wistful sigh. “I thought she was the most wonderful person in the world, once.”

"If she dropped the plans and asked you to go with her…" Sunset said softly, "I think she might've thought the same of you." She leaned back, crossing her arms and not meeting Rarity's eyes.

“She…” Rarity swallowed, wringing her hands. “She might have, yes.” She tried to make herself sound angry, but her tone felt half-hearted to her own ears. “I’m not sure I’m so convinced. She said a lot of things she didn’t mean.”

Sunset's eyes narrowed. "But she—" She stopped biting her lip and taking a long deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I'm sorry. I know you can't read minds." She looked down at her tea, letting the silence linger awkwardly. "I realize that I'm… being defensive, but when I look back at who I was, that kind of invitation…" She trailed off, shaking her head.

“Well. I think we’ve already established you weren’t her, haven’t we?” Rarity sat back, folding her arms. “Maybe you’re right,” she said. “But she’s gone. I’m never seeing her again. It—” She faltered, briefly, but shook her head and got herself back on track. “It’s easier for me to think she didn’t.”

"Of course she—" Sunset opened her mouth and closed it, swallowing the retort she felt she needed to throw back. It was all too-easy to put herself in the other Sunset's shoes. She remembered those first days alone at school, hiding in the library at night, studying to try and make sense of how best to figure out her life in this new world until she could return to Equestria.

What would it have meant for her to not have to hunt down a boyfriend to make things easier. What it would have meant for her to have someone that loved her. Would she have… acted differently than this other Sunset? If she put herself in that situation, the level of trust she'd need to have for Rarity in order to bring just her to Equestria to confront Celestia would be… staggering in hindsight.

She didn't want to be upset, but she was. It felt on some visceral level like Rarity had betrayed her, that she had ignored her friendship and her love and just dismissed it. She imagined what it would feel like, to go to Equestria to visit Twilight, with Applejack or Pinkie or Fluttershy in toe, only to arrive alone, and have the mirror portal collapse behind her with the sound of broken glass.

She looked at the table, where the picture of herself with her friends, all smiling at the camera lay flat, facing them both like some sort of inescapable proof that Rarity was wrong. She let her eyes stray up, narrowing… to a younger Rarity, folded into herself, arms crossed protectively in front of her. Miserable, watching her tea cool down without even tasting it.

Suddenly, her mouth felt dry. 'What would it be like to be in Rarity's shoes?' She wondered, remembering the hard times that she had helped her friend through. Past those, to the beginning, where she had callously destroyed her friendship with the girls because it was an inconvenience that would make her job of taking over more difficult were she to have to face a united front of some sort?

What if she had been on the other side? Would she have been strong enough to… what, stick to someone that was actively trying to hurt others?

She compared this Rarity to her partner. To the cowgirl. To her schoolmate. To the changeling. If she met them again, and they were as vulnerable as this young woman was, would she be angry with them? Because they had decided what they thought was the best for them?

She bit her lip. She felt a lump in her throat and coughed, downing the rest of her tea, pondering Rarity's words. "It… must have been very hard," she finally said. Softly, looking down at the table, rather than the person her other self had put in an impossible situation. "I'm sorry."

Rarity stayed quiet for a while. Her composure cracked. “It… it was very hard, yes.” She looked first down at the pictures on the table, then away, off into the distance. “I wish I could have done something else. I… I don’t know what that would be, but…” She slumped in her chair, lip trembling, eyes glassy. “If you’re right—if she did…” Her voice seemed to vanish for a few seconds. “... love me… then I can’t imagine how it must have hurt her.

“But she was hurting other people.” She shook her head slowly, sadly, blinking back tears. “What was I supposed to do?”

Despite her reservations, Sunset reached out, placing her fingertips just on top of Rarity's hand. "I think—" She swallowed, trying not to allow her voice to crack. "You did the right thing," she said, the idea of pushing her best friend to that extent making her feel slightly queasy.

“You—” Rarity squeezed her eyes shut, letting her head hang. Her hair tumbled down in front of her face. “You have no idea how much I want to believe that,” she murmured.

Rarity sniffled, then lifted her head slowly. Her smile was sad and small and didn’t touch her eyes. “Thank you for saying it.”

"Hey, I had a lot of issues… criminal even." Sunset shared the hesitant smile with Rarity. "But I had to face them one day. I know it's probably not ideal in many ways, but maybe, just as you did what you needed to do, it put her in a position to face what she had to—whether she wanted to or not."

“I… I guess. Maybe.” Rarity breathed deeply, pressing her fingers to her brow, then straightened her posture and put her hand on Sunset’s. “I’m sorry, I know you’re trying to help, I just… I don’t know what happened to her. I—I can hope. I can wonder.” She trembled. “But maybe she didn’t recover. Maybe she still hasn’t gotten better.” She sighed, pausing to fumble for the handkerchief and dry her eyes once again. “I know it’s no use dwelling on all those questions,” she murmured. “But I don’t know how to make them stop.”

After a moment’s pause, Rarity started to draw back. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly, her voice low and soft. “I—I shouldn’t be throwing all that at your feet.”

"Don't be sorry," Sunset said, a bit more firmly. "For whatever it's worth, you're my friend… or other yous are." She frowned. "In any case, time and again your counterparts have been there for me, in one way or another, and the least I can do is the same for you. It wasn't me specifically who put you in this situation, and I can only imagine how hard looking at me can be. Don't be sorry for trying to sort your feelings." She took a deep breath. "You know, I usually avoid this, because it can create trouble in certain circles, but… we could check on her."

Rarity paled. “We could?” Her voice came out as a barely-audible squeak. “O—oh. Right. The, um…” She cleared her throat, making a vague gesture towards the surrounding building. “I…” She turned her eyes downward, biting her lip. “... I broke the mirror because I was afraid I couldn’t say no to her. If she’s still… the way she was, then…” Clenching her eyes shut, she retreated in her chair. “I know it makes sense, I just… I can’t know whether that’s a good idea or not.”

Sunset leaned back. "You know… I wish sometimes I could go back and talk to myself and tell me all the good things I'm missing out, all the good friends I'm hurting; all the potential in front of me. It's very tempting, with this thing." She motioned at the bar around them. "But I was told by myself from another world, that sometimes we just need to deal with our choices and… rather than abuse this to fix them, embrace them and continue forward." She tapped her fingers on the table as she thought. "Maybe you could see her, if you wanted, but… when you made that choice it… well, at the risk of being dramatic, I can see it destroyed you emotionally."

She took a deep breath. "Maybe when you did the right thing by… ripping the bandaid off, it was also a sign that you were ready to heal?" She chuckled at the weak line. "Does that make sense?"

“I think so,” Rarity said. She looked exhausted. “I hope you’re right.” She turned to eye the bar’s entrance. “Is it… safe to leave? I… think I need some time to process all this.”

Sunset blinked and stood up, walking over to the door. She tried opening it and it led to a hallway. She had been to Rarity's enough times to recognize it. She carefully shot the door. "Yeah. It's fine now," she called over her shoulder.

“Ah. Good.” The sounds of Rarity’s footsteps grew closer. Rarity came to a stop beside Sunset, eying the door. She didn’t step through right away; she lingered, her lips pursed thoughtfully. “Before I go, could I ask a favor of you?”

"Sure," Sunset said, stepping back to give the young woman some space. "What would you like me to do?"

“Could you get a letter to her?” Rarity asked. “My Sunset, I mean. I don’t know if it’d help her to… to know why I did it. But I’d like her to know.”

Sunset's eyes widened at that. "That's… very generous of you." She cleared her throat. "But you do know that you don't need to do that, right? She also needs to live with her choices."

“She does. And perhaps it’s more than she deserves.” Rarity hesitantly met Sunset’s eyes. “But I have to live with mine too. If the worst part of my pain is not knowing what happened to her… what kind of person would I be if I’d inflicted just that on her and didn’t even try to make up for it?”

"A normal human, who's dealing with potentially breaking someone's heart after breaking your own?" Sunset ventured. "I mean, if you want, I'll do it, but… it's one way, Rarity."

“I thought as much. And I think it’s better that way.” Rarity glanced about uneasily. “Now, do you have a pen on you? I’d like to write it before I change my mind.”

"Sure, come on in," Sunset said, guiding her back to the bar and going into Rarity's office. She came out soon after with a few papers and an envelope, all sporting Rarity's cutie mark on them. She set them down in front of her, and produced a ballpoint pen for her. "I'd lend you the quill and ink, but my Rarity is very particular about those."

“Of course she is.” Rarity took the pen and laid out a sheet of paper, pausing to steady herself and stare at the paper, seemingly lost in thought. “I might be a while. I’ll… let you know when I’m done?”

Sunset smiled. "I'll make you some tea, and I think I can whip up some study guides for Lena in the meantime."

Rarity smiled back. “Thank you. For everything.”

"Don't mention it," Sunset said, picking up the tea set.

Sunset Shimmer hated magic suppressors. They were heavy, uncomfortable, and suppressed magic. She also hated prisons. And cells in prison. And most specifically her own cell.

She had had a room in the palace before going to that stupid other world and—she cut her thoughts short. Instead, she forced herself to concentrate on her book. It wasn't much on magical theory, but it had references to some interesting myths. Stories about what Starswirl the Bearded had been up to. Enemies that were supposed to be immortal that he had "defeated".

As far as she was concerned… possible pawns.

She heard the gates at the far end of the hall open, and the hoofsteps of a pair of ponies. She frowned. One was normal… the other… longer strides. Paused and composed. Only one pony walked that way.

She forced herself to keep her eyes on the pages. She didn't want to acknowledge her guest.

"Sunset Shimmer," Celestia said gently, but firmly. "How are you, my little pony?"

She forced a snarl down. Didn't look up. "How do you think? Hm. Let's think about it, shall we, dear teacher?" She looked up at the roof, tapping her chin as if in thought. "'Miserable' comes to mind. Angry. Annoyed. Wrongfully imprisoned."

Celestia sighed as she always did with her visits. What did the old hag want from her, anyway? She had denied her future, and not only that, Sunset herself had proved her wrong when the only person she had ever—well, loyalty and love were lies, anyway.

"If you're here to lecture me, you can spare yourself the trouble," Sunset said hating the bitterness and hurt in her voice. "There's nothing more you can do to me."

"I would like to think otherwise, my little pony," Celestia said gently. She always said things gently. Even the most awful things. "But this time, I'm here because somepony very special requested to see you."

This made Sunset look over. And stare.

Right next to Celestia stood another Sunset Shimmer. She was dressed in some sort of vest and shirt, with a pin.

"W-what is this?" she asked, slowly standing up and walking all the way up to the bars, staring at her cleaner, and slightly older-looking reflection. "Some sort of joke?"

"No joke," the other her said. "I'm you. Or, rather, a possible you." She levitated something out of a pocket, a white envelope, unimpressive by all standards except for two things.

The stamp on the top right corner was three stylized diamonds in a familiar design, and it had her name written on it with a handwriting she would recognize anywhere. She felt her breath stop, her eyes focused on the letter, her attention on it, ignoring the other two mares as it floated in the familiar magical aura and landed gently on her desk.

"There is always another way to be happy," her counterpart said, turning and following Celestia out of the cell block, leaving her behind.

"And this is Equestria! Didn't I tell you it was beautiful?"

She hadn't been able to sleep. She had tried to ignore the letter. Throw it away. Rip it in half.

"Rarity?"

But she couldn't.

Every time, her hoof stopped. Every time, her eyes wandered up to it. It was all-consuming in her mind. Finally, she had laid down in her bed and covered her head with a pillow.

"...Rarity?"

It didn't work.

"Ugh! Stupid letter! Stupid Rar—" She stood up, clamping her mouth shut and walking up to her desk, sitting down and staring the envelope in silence.

Finally, she opened the letter.

Hello, Sunset. I know it’s been a while since we last saw each other, and that we didn’t part on the best of terms. And if you hate me for that, I understand. I’m not asking for forgiveness.

I wanted to let you know that I loved you. For a while, I thought meeting you was the best part of my life. And I wished we’d never be apart. In some ways, maybe I still do—I still dream of Equestria once in a while.

But as time went by, I saw more of you. Of what your life was like. What direction you were going. I wonder if there was something I could’ve done to… I don’t know. Make you change your mind. Reconsider what you wanted. But by the end, I was so frightened that I’d end up getting carried off alongside you. And when it came down to it, I wasn’t willing to take that chance, so I did what I thought I had to do.

I met another Sunset. You might have seen her already, but if you haven’t, she looks just like you, and I think she grew up much the same way you did. She’s one of the kindest people I’ve met in a long time. I like to think that means there was some good in you too, that I wasn’t just so starstruck I only saw what I wanted to see.

And if I’m right, if that person’s somewhere inside you… I hope you meet someone who can see it, who you’re willing to show it too, even though that person won’t be me.

Since I never said it before… Goodbye, Sunset.

She placed it down on the table, facing up. She glanced from it to the bed, the gray stone walls. She could hear the guards walking the perimeter outside and through her window see the full moon, with the mocking face of the Mare in the Moon looking down on her.

I had been a long time since she had cried.

Sunset hung up the pictures she had taken down earlier. Gilda and Sunset. Her graduation picture. And the newest one, herself and a slightly younger Rarity, toasting with cups of tea. Rarity didn't look her best, but there was an air about her, of having finally shed a weigh that had been dragging her back somehow.

Maybe it was Sunset's imagination… mostly because she had seen that weight evaporate when Rarity had sealed the envelope.

They had hugged at the entrance to her bar. Rarity had been thankful, but eager to return home. Of course Sunset had promised her that if she ever needed it, the bar would drop by for her. But she had forgotten to thank her too.

She had seen what her own hubris could have caused. One of many possible variations, no doubt, but a very real one, where she had lost everything that really mattered and still refused to see her own fault in it.

Yes, she had much to be thankful to this young Rarity, and the memory on the wall would always remind her of it.

End Chapter

Author's Note

This is a crossover with Fifteen Pages, which is NaiadSagaIotaOar's submission to the Sunset Shipping Contest.

It's pretty short, but sweet, in a very different format than this one. You should read it!

Many, many thanks to Naiad for letting me write this with her. I hope you all enjoy the story!

The Grudgings of Gilda (The 8th Rank - Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D & Winter Quill
The Grudgings of Gilda (The 8th Rank - Fanfic)

It might have been the height of summer, but that did very little to warm the nights in Griffonstone. The icy air rolled down from the mountain glaciers to blanket the city, wrapping it in a deep chill that only the thickest of fur and feathers would shake. It got into every home, through the broken windows and roofs, making every griffon curl tight to stay warm as they tried to sleep.

Sleeping was exactly what Gilda should have been doing, yet she found that she couldn’t silence the thoughts churning in her mind. Instead she found herself wandering through the dark streets of the crumbling town, the only light coming from the full moon that hung low over the distant mountains. It gave the town a gloomy look, filling the gaps between the buildings with an inky blackness that seemed to seep out into the street.

“Great, now I’m getting poetic,” she grumbled to herself, shaking her head. She had spent the first half of the night tossing and turning in her bed, until she couldn’t take it anymore. She had hoped the walk would have cleared her head, but it wasn’t helping at all.

The four pony princesses would be arriving the next day, and she would have to host them. Her bakery was hardly the place for such a meeting to happen, but there was nowhere else to hold it. They would be in her home, and there they would be deciding the future of the Griffon Kingdom. A future as part of Equestria, a future with her as its leader.

Princess Gilda. It still sounded strange to her ears, yet it was her title. She was a princess, a griffon princesses. The whole thing just made her head spin. This was never what she wanted to do with her life, what she had planned to do with it, but now it was who she was. Even though she had left the crown back at her home, she could still feel the weight of it on her head.

If only she had only listened to Celestia and read the damnable treaty before signing it, she could have avoided all of this. There was no one to blame but herself; she had plucked her own feathers this time. Now she just had to do everything else that was expected of her, which was all too much.

She wanted someone to show up and tell her what to do. She wanted a way out of the mess she was in. She wanted a way to calm down so she could get some sleep.

But what she really wanted was a drink.

There was a moment went the wind rose up, whipping around Gilda’s face, causing her feathers to flutter around her, and then stilled. The wind falling quiet, the air becoming perfectly calm. It was eerie, the wind almost never stopped in Griffonstone. The world was nearly silent, the only sound coming from the distant flap of wings.

Light started to glow behind her, casting her shadow across the street. She twisted her head around to look over her shoulder, expecting to find another griff trying to sneak up on her.

She found a door. A door that had no right to exist in Griffonstone. It was wedged between two buildings where there should have been an entrance to a narrow alley, but instead there was a wall with an impossible door inside of it. A single light was glowing above the doorway, flicking softly and casting a warm yellow light over everything. The door was perfectly smooth wood that had been stained and cared for, a piece of stained glass sitting in the top of it. The glass was in the shape of a sun, split into two parts, yellow and red, that mingled in the center.

Next to the door was a sign, swinging in the non-existent wind. Even in the dim light she could recognize the image of a cocktail glass that was drawn on the sign.

Gilda stared at the impossible door for a few moments, beak hanging open. Somehow, out of all her wishes and desires, the one that was granted was for a drink.

Licking her beak, she reached forward and grabbed the door handle and put her weight against the door, pushing it open. Warm air washed over her, mixed with the smell of citrus and fried onions. She took in a long breath of it, savoring it for a moment.

Then Gilda, the princess of the Griffon Kingdom, stepped through the door.

Sunset Shimmer lined the last of the barrels and attached the tap to it, testing it briefly to make sure the brew flowed out adequately. She took a sip of the dark liquid, enjoying the hint of coffee and dark chocolate in her palate before humming to herself and starting to clean up the area.

She didn't rotate much of the stuff behind the bar often, but it was something she aimed to change. After all, taste across the multiverse was a fickle thing, and what may please a Duro would not necessarily be something a Narn would find enjoyable. And she so liked having G'kar visit.

Still, her usual sector seldom put her in circumstances where biology would be so desperately different, so there was always something to drink, even if she had to keep things available just in case. That was the fun of her bar, after all: it surprised her as much as it surprised her guests, sometimes.

At least when it behaved.

But still, she hadn't had an incident in a while, and Rarity had assured her that the bar wasn't going to go anywhere that Sunset didn't want it to. Which raised a whole bunch of other questions.

The bell rang.

Questions that she would have to delve into at another time, apparently. She brushed the front of her clothes, making sure everything was in order, then paused briefly as a familiar griffon stepped into the bar. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, Gilda, my name is Sunset Shimmer, and I'll be your bartender tonight."

Gilda stared at her for a full minute. "Alright, is this some sort of prank?"

Sunset leaned on the counter. "Nope. I'm real."

Gilda raised a claw and rubbed her eyes. "I've heard that leadership can drive somecreatures mad, but I didn't expect it to be this quickly." She glanced around then stepped closer to the bar itself, touching it gingerly. "Huh. It's real."

"Toldja," Sunset said.

"Right." Gilda cleared her throat and sat on one of the stools. "And you know my name, how?"

"Ah well, the long and short is that this bar can go anywhere, anytime, anyplace in any possibility," Sunset explained briefly, picking up a menu. "The only reason it appears for customers is when they need a drink and an ear to listen, be they ponies, griffons, humans, minotaurs, ghosts, or other."

"Other?"

Sunset nodded. "Many."

"Huh. Still not sold on you being real." Gilda looked down at the menu that was being handed over to her. She took it and opened it, blinking at the choices. "How come I can read this if you're not from my world?"

"Well, I technically am—"

"Trust me, if things like you were walking out there, we'd have heard of it."

"—but I'm not, because I traveled to another dimension," Sunset finished, pretending that Gilda hadn't said anything. "Besides, my menus are special, they get a sense of sorts about your preferences and provide options that you might be familiar with, as well as some you would like."

Gilda raised an eyebrow. "Really."

"Oh yes."

"And you have all the ingredients you could possibly use for any number of visitors from an infinite universe."

Sunset shrugged and turned around, motioning for Gilda to lean over the counter. When she had done so, Sunset opened her fridge and let her look inside.

"I—" Gilda leaned back. "I need to get one of those for my bakery."

Sunset snorted, closing the fridge. "I have to admit you are made of sterner stuff than I thought. The last creature I showed the fridge to started waxing poetic about how small they were compared to the grandiose nature of the universe."

"It's a fridge." Gilda paused, then rolled her eyes and nodded. "A very… large fridge. That looks tiny on the outside."

Sunset smirked. "As I said, sterner stuff."

Gilda silently glanced at the menu. "I guess I'll try this."

She placed the menu down and tapped the item with the tip of her claw. Sunset blinked, leaning closer. "A Bloody Bull," she said. "Right on it. I hope you like it spicy."

Gilda chuckled. "I'm half bird, spiciness doesn't do much for me."

"That's what they all say at first," Sunset countered, picking up a shaker and starting to sort out her ingredients. "Just for you, Gilda, I'll be using one of the very special hot peppers from Quetzalacatenango. Just remember that you're also half cat."

"Que-whatnow?"

Sunset grinned, already mixing some pickle juice, fresh black pepper, salt, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, sambal, an evil-looking glowing chili she levitated with magic, rather than touch, which she cracked in half and threw in, seeds and all, tomato juice and some fresh lemon juice. She started mixing. "Quetzalacatenango. The guy that sold them to me said that they were grown deep in the jungle primeval by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum."

"I think you're making that up."

Sunset shrugged. Once her mix was done, she took another shaker, picking out from the fridge some beef stock, a splash of one of her dark beers, and some vodka before straining a carefully measured amount of her other mix. "Am I?"

Gilda crossed her forelegs as Sunset broke a large piece of ice into a tall glass, filled it up with the mix and decorated it with some greens and another of those glowing chilies.

"Enjoy," Sunset said, sliding the drink up to Gilda. "So, what's eating you? I've seen other yous a couple of times, but none of them seemed half as ready to rip off somepony."

As she thought about how to best answer Sunset's question, Gilda studied the drink. It was served in a tall, thick glass with a single, large ice cube, almost-invisible in the murky, almost glowing, lava-red of the drink itself. It was garnished simply with a celery stalk, and a long toothpick running across a pickled okra, an olive and a green bean. The decorations were finished with a slice of lemon, contrasting the whole thing with its cheerful, fresh yellow color.

It screamed 'spicy'. She gingerly took a sample sip.

Wow. She could feel it! Not enough to actually burn her, but damn. It was delicious! And yet something inside her whispered that serving that to non-avians should be illegal. She glanced warily at Sunset Shimmer. Not that this bar seemed to be under anycreature's jurisdiction other than its owner's.

That line of thought, however, brought up another problem.

"I'm a prin—" She stopped. It sounded so ridiculous. "It's just—look, I didn't ask for it, but basically Celestia made me do it!"

Sunset crossed her arms. "Celestia made you do it." She tapped one of her fingers on her elbow. "What exactly are we talking about here? Because you sound like you committed a crime on behalf of the crown."

"No! I am the crown!" Gilda said defensively, before realizing what she had done. She cleared her throat. "Okay, scratch that."

"Sure thing, Dredd," Sunset said, leaning on the counter. "Take a deep breath; no one is going to judge you here, alright?"

Gilda tried to follow the advice. She took a deep breath and let it out, then took a deep gulp of her drink, the alcohol warming her up. She let herself soak it in for a few seconds before releasing her breath slowly. "Alright," she said, glancing up at the bartender. "Listen. I don't like this, but here's the deal."

She took another deep breath and rolled back her wings. She stretched her neck and rolled back her shoulders as well. She took a sip. She sighed.

"Yes?" Sunset asked eventually.

"Alright! Geez!" Gilda glared at the smirking bartender. "It's embarrassing to admit, alright?!"

Sunset smiled and held up her hands placatingly. "Okay, okay."

“I’m one of the few griffons that care about Griffonstone," Gilda said once she had calmed down. "Most are just happy to sit around and do nothing while it crumbles around their wings, but I tried to do something. Something stupid, something for myself, something to maybe make our lives a fraction better. It was just supposed to be a simple bakery, and I was going to be a baker. Instead I’m a princess.”

Sunset blinked. "Wait. you're a princess?" She stared at Gilda, who started to feel a bit self conscious. "Man I never thought about taking over another kingdom. Hm."

Gilda considered the bartender, unsure if she had heard right. "Uh. Isn't that a bit much for a bartender?"

Her host crossed her arms defensively and huffed. "I wasn't always a bartender. I almost took over the world once." She shook her head and chuckled. "But that's neither here nor there."

"No, no, if you're going to drop something like that and then expect me to just ignore it..."

"I mean, I can," Sunset said, "but we can definitely talk about that later. So, Princess, you were saying?"

Gilda narrowed her eyes, imagining all sorts of things she could do to this clawless creature. "Yeah. Well, turns out the state of the place bothered more than just a few of us, and it caught the attention of Princess Celestia, so she headed over here to see who could take charge."

"Aaand, that was you?" Sunset asked. "I mean, I know that the princess is aware you're friends with Rainbow Dash at least. It makes sense she'd try to start the conversation going with someone who's somewhat familiar with how ponies work and think."

Gilda reminded herself that this bartender probably knew everycreature well enough not to have to explain herself. It made things easier… and yet somewhat more embarrassing even. "Well, whatever her reasoning was, she ended up in my bakery and talking to me about the issues going on. She had this amazing treaty in her hooves, you see. It had all the things that Griffonstone needed and… well, I signed it."

Sunset stared at her, then slowly raised an eyebrow. "And you read it before signing it, right?"

Gilda drank more and leaned back. "It's getting warm in here, isn't it?"

"Nope. That's just the Quetzalacatenango pepper acting up," Sunset said. "So I take it you didn't read it, and that's why you say Celestia made you do it?"

Gilda didn't like the mild tone of disapproval she could hear in Sunset's voice. “It would be so easy to blame Celestia for doing this to me, but she tried to stop me. She didn’t come into my bakery planing to crown me princess, she just wanted my help to find the right griffon for the job.”

"Celestia seldom does things for no reason," Sunset said gently. "Whatever she saw in you—whatever you did or said, it would have affected her offer. I think if she had seen you weren't fit for the job, she'd outright not even offer you the treaty."

Shifting in her seat, Gilda avoided Sunset's gaze. "Maybe."

Sunset sighed, leaning over to pat Gilda's shoulder. It was done with such familiarity that oddly enough, even if she had just met Sunset, it didn't bother her that much.

"So I take it you've read the whole thing now?"

“Read it? I’ve nearly memorized the bucking thing." Despite not blaming Celestia for the ultimate decision of her being turned into a princess, she still could feel her fur bristle and her feathers puff in anger. "I’m not going to be blindsided like that again.”

Sunset nodded, humming. She paced a little behind the bar, giving her considering looks before stopping again in front of her. "I guess the main question is: do you want to help Griffonstone change for the better?"

“Of course I want to help! Have you ever seen Griffonstone? The place is a dump, and nearly every griffon living there is miserable. If my dumb bakery could make things better, that’s great. But I’m not cut out to be a leader.”

Sunset shrugged. "Celestia seems to think so, and from what I've seen of you in other worlds—well, most other worlds—I think you have it in you to not only lead, but be great at it."

“Running a bakery doesn't qualify anygriff to be a princess.”

The bartender seemed undeterred. "What makes you think you're not qualified? It's not like your bakery ran on its own, right?"

Gilda had to concede that, but it still didn't mean much.

"It's not like I do it on my own. I don’t know what I would do without Greta and Skychart. I would never have finished the bakery if wasn’t for their help. But even with their help, I have to do everything out of nothing. How do you make a government from scratch?”

Sunset smirked, tapping Gilda's beak with her soft finger. "And who says you have to do everything just because you're the princess. Delegation of duties is a must!"

Gilda briefly considered biting the finger just to prove some sort of point, but decided against it. She might need another drink after all, however annoying Sunset Shimmer could be.

"But more to the point," Sunset continued, "you won't be starting from scratch, exactly. I imagine that the treaty contains several agreements with Canterlot? I'm very sure something in there will be related to establishing a government with their aid, correct? Once you figure out who the right griff is for the job, you'll be all set."

"Yeah, well." Gilda huffed. "I just don't think I'm fit for this. Run a bakery? Sure. Do the occasional errand with ponies that have saved the world? Yeah. I can do that. But be a Princess?" She felt her beak twist into a grimace of distaste. "That's a different thing. I'll have to dress up. I'll have to attend parties with creatures that behave like pampered…" She didn't say ponies. "Fools."

"Well, I could argue that it's not like that," Sunset said, "but the bottom line is that you'll have to attend a few events and be… politically nice to some creatures. But you don't need to change to be the princess. Just look at Ember."

Gilda thought about that for a few moments before staring at Sunset straight in the eye. "Who?"

Her snark was worth it. Sunset's smug smirk slipped with the dawning realization that Gilda truly had no idea who she was talking about. For some odd reason, it felt kind of good to admit that ignorance, if only to prove to the bartender she really didn't know everything.

"Right. That's—well. You might want to meet her, she's someone you get along well with, in other universes."

Gilda raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah, there's this one where you have a business with the local Rarity making beer and—you know, I think I'd rather not go there." Sunset cleared her throat. "Anyway, Ember is the Princess of the Dragons in a large percent of universes."

"So why should I think about her situation then?"

"Well, it didn't stop her from being herself," Sunset said. "At all."

Gilda felt herself smile. Perhaps she should meet this Ember.

"In any case." Sunset sighed. "I'm sorry you ended up in that position, but do you really see anygriff else actually doing the job?"

As much as she wanted to say that yes, that old bastard Gruff should do it, she had to face the reality that no, she didn't. For all their bravado, most griffons were willing to just sit it out rather than put in the effort to change things.

"And I know different worlds have slight variations," Sunset continued, "but—now that you know the treaty inside and out—would you have made a different choice?"

"I—" Gilda stared hard at the half-empty glass in her claw. In the end, who else could do the job? Nogriff in Griffonstone was going to look past their personal interests in order to really put things in order. Even Gruff couldn't do it in a way that would encourage other griffons to do their best, regardless of his hidden intentions. The old bird couldn't even tell if he was being supportive or petty half the time. "I guess not."

She looked up, expecting that smug look on Sunset's face, but there was none. She was simply smiling at her, and despite herself, Gilda smiled back. "I'm not sure how I'm gonna do it, but I guess there's no other bird that can handle the heat. So they'll have to deal with me."

"I think they could do a lot worse," Sunset replied, grinning. "If you do this with that much conviction, I think you'll be fine."

"I'm not convinced I'm the right choice, I'm just convinced I'm the only option."

Sunset shrugged. "I'll take it. And—I think—so will they."

"I can always smack their tails around if they don't follow orders," Gilda said, slamming the rest of her drink down. "Put them in their place, my way or the highway!"

Sunset's smile diminished. "Right."

Gilda snorted. "I'm joking. Kinda. They need a reminder here and there that there's now a leader in town, but it is that kind of town. So they'll be fine."

The bartender shook her head. "You know, I can kind of see now what other Sunsets see in their Gildas."

They stared at each other in silence for a moment. "Did you just—"

"By the way," Sunset interrupted, "since you've been newly crowned and everything, this drink is on the house. I feel like you've earned it."

Gilda snorted, but couldn't stop grinning. "Sure thing. Thank you." She made sure none of her drink was left, then pushed herself away from the bar, landing lithely on her paws and claws. She stretched her wings and back. "You know, I never thought talking to a bartender would help calm my nerves so much."

"It's part of the job."

"Yeah, right," Gilda laughed. She glanced at Sunset. "I think I should head back… I have an early morning tomorrow."

"Before you go," Sunset said, walking around. "How about we take a picture and I give you my card?"

Sunset had taken some liberties with this picture, sitting upright and leaning back against Gilda, who was wearing a crown they had obtained from Rarity's office. Sunset was grinning at the camera, with the traditional victory sign, while Gilda was glancing away to the left with a slightly embarrassed expression on her face.

But they both looked like they were having fun, which was all that really mattered.

As she placed it on the wall among all the other pictures, she smiled gently. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of challenges coming up. And it might seem difficult to keep things together and succeed. But I really can't wait to see where you take things, Gilda."

She took a glance around and exhaled a deep breath. She needed to vacuum and clean the tables, but after that…

"Maybe I should start planning something with the girls. It's been a while."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Many thanks to Winter Quill for letting me work on their story The 8th Rank!

Back to the Acres (Heir A-pear-ent - Post Fic)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D & FOME
Back to the Acres

Thunk.

"C’mon, Buttercup, you can do better’n that!"

Buttercup held back most of her groan. One thing she’d never realized during the thrilling "forbidden romance" part of her courtship, one thing that stallion had never thought to tell her, was that when you married a farmer, you married his crop. She’d grown up learning all the intricate lore and specialized techniques for handling pears, and that didn’t matter one lick when dealing with fruit so tough they could literally buck it off the tree.

It also meant she’d never learned how to buck it off the tree. Years of harvests had let her pick up enough technique to not embarrass herself, but her dear, sweet, beloved nuisance of a husband had decided that now was the time to try to cram a good ten-plus years of foalhood lessons into her hind-legs.

All because she had to show off some of what that stallion had taught her. And Bright Mac, big lovable lunk that he was, had to return the favor.

"Buttercup?"

She took a deep breath. No point in snapping at him. He really was just trying to help. "Sorry, darlin’. Just thinkin’ is all."

Bright Mac frowned. "Well Ah ain’t doin’ my job right then."

"Huh?" That stallion. Just kept surprising her since the day he knocked over the old silo.

"Ah brought you out t’ the orchard t’ get yer mind off things for a while."

Mind you, they weren’t always good surprises. "Bright, you’ve been doin’ nothin’ but remindin’ me how Ah don’t know the first thing about applebuckin’."

"Don’t want you gettin’ hurt is all. Nice thing about needin’ more bucks to clean out a tree is you can work out tension real quick." He scuffed the ground with a hoof. "An’, well, you been awful quiet since we went back to the Pear side."

Buttercup sighed. Thoughts of just how bad the orchard was looking came back to mind. "Yeah. There’s a lotta memories in those trees, good an’ bad."

"Well, Ma always says if yer head’s stuck in a problem, yer hooves can solve it."

"That’s a nice thought, but Ah dunno how well it’s workin’ fer me."

"Hmm…" Bright beamed. "Ah know! Follow me!"

She did, though she wasn’t sure where to. Buttercup knew Sweet Apple Acres well enough, but she didn’t have the bone-deep familiarity that came from growing up here. By the time she realized where they were headed, they were already there. "Methuxylem?"

Methuxylem was almost as old as the Acres, a great titan of tree, three times as wide as a pony was long and tall enough to cast shade over enough space for a dozen smaller ones. Nopony dared even suggest cutting him down, not when his apples had saved the family from starvation when Granny Smith was still in pigtails.

Buttercup sighed and started walking around the behemoth, looking for some angle that wouldn’t break her legs against it. "Lemme guess. You want me t’ buck this big ol’ tree all by myself, an’ then I’ll be too tuckered out t’ think."

"Eeyup."

She paused. "Uh, Bright?"

Hoofsteps approached her. "Yes, darlin’?"

"Now, Ah ain’t much of an Apple, but I’m pretty sure y’all never grew trees with doors in ‘em on this side o’ th’ fence."

And yet there was a door very clearly embedded in the massive trunk. Equally clear was how it was made of a different, dark-stained wood, set on hinges that had no right being in any tree. And right in the middle was a two-tone sun of red and yellow, done up in crystal.

The gas lamp sprouting out above it like some kind of fungus was just silly.

Buttercup strained her ears to make sure, and yes, there definitely voices coming from the other side. She frowned and turned back to Bright. "This ain’t a zap apple omen Granny ‘forgot’ t’ mention, did she?"

"You ain’t still mad at her fer not tellin’ you why the timberwolves were howlin’ that first year, are ya?"

She looked away and grumbled, "Ah ain’t mad she didn’t tell me. I’m mad she laughed ‘til she was sick."

"Well this ain’t no zap apple omen Ah ever seen. An’ it ain’t any other kinda Everfree weirdness neither. Long as Methuxylem’s been around, somepony woulda noticed long before now."

Both stood and stared for a few moments. "Think it’s a prank from some magic school students?" said Buttercup.

Bright shook his head. "Ah think it’s an awful long way from Canterlot just fer a buncha bored unicorns t’ do this."

"Then I’m goin’ in."

His jaw dropped. "Yer what!?"

"Now don’t you start. The foals’re in town with Granny." Buttercup pointed to the chalkboard on the door sporting a cocktail glass with that same sun on the rim. "Besides, buckin’s thirsty work. You comin’?"

Bright smiled and nuzzled her. "Buttercup, Ah’ll follow you t’ Tartarus an’ back."

She smirked and made a show of checking the position of the sun. "Bit late fer that. C’mon, let’s see what all’s goin’ on."

"I never knew Twilight was such a lightweight," Rainbow Dash grunted, shifting her passed-out friend as she shimmied under her arm to better keep her upright.

"Really darling," Rarity threw in, holding Twilight from the other side, "you should know better than to give her something alcoholic. Don't you remember last year at Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Hey, hey!" Sunset raised her hands. "I swear I didn't put any alcohol in there. She had the non-alcoholic-only menu, and I didn't spice anything."

"Then, how—" Rainbow Dash hissed, adjusting the weight again "—did she end up like this?"

"Oh! I know!" Pinkie said, turning to show them a soda can. "She drank my beer!"

"That's… not beer, Pinkie," Sunset pointed out. She then frowned and took a closer look. "And I don't remember selling you any Sunrise Sarsaparilla."

"Oh, that's just a sticker to throw off the police!" Pinkie peeled off the fake brand to show that that was indeed a beer. And not just any beer.

"Pinkie," Sunset said, carefully adding the beer to the total bill that she was fronting, "that stuff is illegal in many universes for a reason."

Pinkie looked to the can, then to Sunset, then—before any of the others could stop her—she downed the thing. "Shotgun!"

Fluttershy, who was slightly tipsy, giggled, then took a hold of Pinkie's shoulders from behind and turned her to face the door. "Okay Pinkie, let's head home."

"Thanks for having us, Sunset!" Pinkie called, looking fairly normal for someone that should be passed out already. "And don't worry about Twilight, she can't face the alcohol if she doesn't try it!"

"I don't think that's the kind of therapy she'd need in her life at all, Pinkie," Rarity commented. She turned to look at Applejack, who had remained completely from the moment they had started wrapping up the party. "Are you coming with us, darling?"

The other girl shook her head, blinking at them. "Um. Uh, sorry there, Rares, Ah spaced out," she said. She glanced over at Sunset and then back to her girlfriend. "Ah hate to ask, but do y'all mind goin' on without me? There's a couple of things Ah'd like to talk to Sunset about."

"I'll suck you all into another dimension!" Twilight suddenly hollered, laughing maniacally before slumping down into unconsciousness a second later. She then mumbled something about cuddly bears with hearts in their stomachs blasting her with rainbows of love and tenderness.

"Right," Rainbow Dash said, "I don't mind doing that. What I really don't want to do is stand here holding Twilight. She's heavier than she looks."

"Aaaaalll the potatoes!"

"...and she's not making sense. It's like hanging out at Pinkie Pie's whenever Ms. Cake makes her special brownies, only I'm not also out of it."

"Well, if you're sure you want to stay…" Rarity hesitated, then planted a small peck on Applejack's cheek. "I'll see you later then, darling."

Applejack's face split into a smile. "You definitely will."

The first ones out with little more than another "thank you", were Pinkie and Fluttershy, followed by Rainbow and Rarity, dragging Twilight.

"Let's do this again!"

"Loved the bar, Sunny!"

"Bubblegum!"

When the door closed behind them, Applejack let out a long-suffering sigh, and sat at the bar again, watching only for a second as Sunset started picking up the glasses, before she also stood up again and helped picked up the plates and remaining food.

"Hey, AJ," Sunset called out. "Do you mind if I also do the bills before we get talking?"

"Sure thing, Sunset," she replied, "Ah'll just clean up the bar on this side."

The pair worked in silence, Sunset passing Applejack a mop and a bucket when requested, and soon enough, the bar was as pristine as when she had walked in. With all the energy from the others, Applejack hadn't really had much of a chance to take a look at the place, other than to remark that it reminded her of the fancy bars the Oranges had gone to in Manehattan. But now that she and Sunset were alone, she started taking in just how cozy it really was.

The wooden tables and pictures took away that edge from it, making it feel more comfortable for a casual visit than she had initially thought. She studied the pictures. Most of them had Sunset in them, and there was even a drawing. She quickly found the graduation picture, and soon studied the other ones.

There was Gilda, who was standing next to... an injured Sunset? 'When did that happen?' Wait. Half the people in the pictures were not even people at all!

"Uh, Sunset?"

Her friend looked up from the pad in her hand, where she was presumably managing her bills and blinked a couple of times. "Yeah?"

"How come there's—" she motioned with her hands at the pictures "—so many creatures here?"

Sunset put down the pad and walked over to stand next to her. "What do you mean? Oh… these guys? Well, I told you this place was an inter-dimensional bar, right?"

Applejack stared at her for a solid thirty seconds. "A what now?"

"Alright, let me… uh, let me put this away, and we can talk about this as well as whatever you wanted to talk about first." Sunset said, trotting around the bar to put away her papers. "But the long and short is, this place moves around all over. Those pictures are of aliens, creatures from Equestria, and even other versions of me or the others."

"You don't say," Applejack muttered, taking a closer look of a pony-human version of Rarity dressed like a cowboy and trying to figure out how to convince her Rarity to try that.

"I do say!" Sunset replied.

"Right." Applejack sighed and turned around, walking over to the bar and taking her seat from earlier again.

"So, tell me, what's buggin' you?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow, then said with exaggerated enunciation, "Are you mockin' mah acksent?"

The pair held each other's eyes with straight faces until Sunset grinned and acknowledged her defeat. "Seriously though, what is it?"

"Ah, y'see…" Applejack shifted in her seat, licking her lips and glancing away. "Um. Rarity and Ah… we're… goin' to take things to the next level, if you catch my drift."

Even if Sunset was one of the smartest girls Applejack knew, it still seemed to take her a moment to do the math. Her eyes went wide and she grinned widely. "Oh, wow! Congratulations!"

"Heh." Applejack leaned back and lowered her hat to hide her embarrassment. "Yeah. Thanks." Her smile slipped away. "But Ah'm worried. Ah don't know what—well, Ah ,know what Granny Smith and Apple Bloom will say. Ah'm not too sure about Big Mac, but Ah think he'll be fine with it too but…"

Sunset waited for her to continue, but when Applejack couldn't find the words, she spoke up. "But?"

"Ah'm… worried Ah won't be doin' what my ma and pa would like." Applejack looked up, meeting Sunset's stunned look head on.

"Wait, what?" Sunset asked. "Why?"

"We come from a traditional family, and Ah—well, Ah can't shake the feelin' that with how times were back when they were alive… they might've not liked the idea of their daughter bein', y'know. Into girls."

Sunset hadn't answered immediately. "Oh," she said softly after almost a minute had passed. "But—" Whatever she was about to say, she had stopped immediately, and Applejack got the sense that she probably wouldn't have liked hearing it. Eventually Sunset spoke again. "I think they would want you to be happy."

"Ah know, Ah do!" Applejack said miserably, "But Ah can't shake the feelin' that it might not be the type of happiness they envisioned. Ah'm not going to have little Apples of my own… at least direct from my line. And theirs."

"AJ, I just think that—"

Whatever Sunset was about to tell her was interrupted by the silver bell at the door chiming, and Applejack turned to look at the entrance, maybe Rainbow Dash and Rarity had decided to come back to check on her.

Buttercup had expected to see a bar, and she did. That was where expectation and reality parted ways, since anypony who’d expect to see creatures like the ones in that bar were getting into what shouldn’t be gotten into.

They weren’t so terrible to look at. She’d lived next to the Everfree her whole life; she’d seen worse. It was the terribly familiar hat one wore that threw her off.

The other, the one with the mane that matched the sun on the door, spoke up, rolling out the words like they were old hat to her. "Welcome to Sunset’s Isekai! My name is Sunset Shimmer and I’ll be with you in just a moment. We’re cleaning up from an earlier party."

Bright tipped his hat. "No rush, Miss Shimmer." Always the gentlecolt, that one. "Uh, it is Miss, right?" A doofus, but a gentlecolt.

Sunset seemed to take it in stride. Hopefully. What was a smile for some creatures could just be baring teeth for others. "It is."

The other creature seemed downright poleaxed. And then she returned the favor. "Pa?" She turned to Buttercup. "Ma?"

Bright boggled, but Buttercup’s gears started turning. The voice wasn’t quite right. Not yet. But if that hide were a coat...

Sunset slipped behind the bar. Bright, bless his heart, cleared his throat and said, "Uh, Ah ain’t quite sure what yer gettin’ at, miss, but—"

Buttercup nudged him as she walked past him. She kept her focus on the creature. There weren’t quite as many freckles and no sign of a tail, but she’d know those big green eyes anywhere. "Jackie?"

"Jackie?" Bright echoed.

Applejack fell to her knees in front of Buttercup, who couldn’t help but smile. "Goodness gracious, filly. Ah knew you’d shoot up like a weed, but this seems a bit much."

"Ah-Ah…"

A thump made all three look to the bar, where a rocks glass full of something vividly green sat. "Applejack, drink this," said Sunset.

"Why?"

"You’re about to pass out."

"Yeah, that’s a good reason." Applejack staggered to the bar, slung it back, and winced.

"Sorry, can’t do anything about the aftertaste without affecting the potion itself." Sunset took a deep breath. "So, you probably all have a lot of questions right now."

Bright nodded as he and Buttercup followed her. Two of the stools lowered for them. "You could say that."

Sunset sighed. "Okay, long story short, the multiverse is a big, strange, and often confusing place. We happen to come from two worlds—more or less—that have a lot of the same people. Only in one world they’re magical ponies, and in the other they’re virtually magicless and hairless bipeds called ‘humans.’ And my bar has the ability to drift through time and space in ways that would horrify my old Ethics of Magic lecturer." After a moment, she added, "Not that I ever really listened to Professor Trolley Dilemma, but still."

"So this was a prank from Celestia’s School?" The words slipped out before Buttercup could hold them back.

"If it is, it’s the bar pranking you three. And possibly me." Sunset rolled her eyes. "It seems to enjoy that kind of thing lately. But I’m just here to facilitate. And take your drink orders, whenever you’re ready. AJ, pardon the phrase, but this is your rodeo."

"Uh… yeah. Sorry, jus’ gettin’ my head around you two as horses."

"Ponies," said everyone else in the bar.

"We’ve been over this," added Sunset. "You’ve been a pony."

"The one time. It’s hard enough seein’ Ma an’ Pa again as it is—"

"Whoa there, Jackie," said Bright. "Whaddaya mean ‘again’?"

"Ah think Ah know." Buttercup looked to Sunset. "There’s more differences between us and her than jus’ what we look like, ain’t there?"

Sunset cleared her throat and turned around, rearranging a few bottles. "That’s… not really my place to say."

"It’s... " Applejack took a deep breath, pain etched on her face. Old pain, the kind Buttercup saw in the mirror on a birthday she hadn’t celebrated in a long time. "Ma. Pa. Ah gotta ask you somethin’."

"Hold up," Sunset spoke out. "Just a couple of things. Here are the menus, and Applejack, even if you're from different worlds, telling them the future as it relates directly to them is a bad idea. We really don't know how they are going to turn out, alright?" She patted her friend on the shoulder. "Now, why don't you all three go sit down at one of the tables? I think that'll make it more comfortable than talking across the bar."

She motioned for them, picking up three menus and walking with them to the tables at the end of the bar. She set them down, and smiled. "Don't worry too much about the height, the chairs will adjust so that you're all comfortable. One of the advantages of dimensional magic."

"That sound mighty convenient," Bright Mac piped in, taking a seat after both Buttercup and Applejack had sat down.

Sunset studied Applejack briefly, before squeezing her shoulder and drawing her attention. "Hey, I'll be around the whole time if you need anything okay?" she whispered, getting a nod in response, although not surprisingly, Applejack never took her eyes out of the two ponies across from her.

"Oh, these all look great!" Buttercup said. "And look! Ah think Ah know what Ah'll be drinkin'," she added with a glint in her eye and a solid smile. "Ah'd like a 'Ginger Pear Bourbon', please."

Sunset nodded, ignoring Applejack's surprised gasp, while Bright Mac quickly studied his own menu. "Ah'll have this thing… 'Washington Apple'."

Applejack merely stared silently at the pair. "Ah… think Ah'll choose somethin' later," she said softly.

"Sure thing," Sunset said. "You guys get all settled down. I'll bring your cocktails in a moment."

Applejack simply stared at the pony versions of her parents for a few seconds before she spoke up. "Ginger Pear, mom? What happened to the Apple pride?"

Buttercup blinked, confusion clear on her face for a moment before she smiled. "So you never tried any pears? Jus’ t’ see what all th’ fuss was about?"

Applejack stiffened. "N-no."

"Ah suppose the seed catalog Ah found in our Jackie’s closet don’t carry over to you then." Buttercup’s grin fell and she shook her head. "And Ah guess Ah never told you. The other me, Ah mean."

That response was not what she had been expecting. "Tell me what?" Applejack asked. "Ah'm just… well, you know we Apples never got along with the Pears right? Why, Ah still remember the lickin' Apple Bloom almost got for bringing pear jam that one time. If Big Mac and Ah hadn't hidden it from sight, who knows what Granny Smith would've done!"

Bright groaned and pulled his hat over his eyes. "Dang it, Ma…"

"Well, fer one," said Buttercup, "Ah never showed you any recipes that put apples an’ pears together t’ make somethin’ great. Fer another, Ah never told you how Ah met yer father. He was plowin’ a field, but, well…"

"Some pretty thing caught my eye, an’ the next thing Ah knew, Ah was on Pear property crashin’ into their water silo. Grand Pear chewed me out but good, but workin’ for him gave me time t’ get t’ know Pear Butter."

Applejack nodded. "Right. And what does this have to do with Ma?" Her eyes narrowed. "Ah know the Pears moved away from the area years ago. Was it because you destroyed their silo?"

Bright shook his head. "No, the Pears moved t’ greener pastures some time later. Vanhoover. An’ as for what it has t’ do with yer Ma…"

Buttercup put a hoof on Applejack’s hand, looked deep into her eyes, and said, "Sugarcube. Ah am Pear Butter."

It took a moment for the words to sink in. "Ah think Ah misheard," Applejack admitted, "Ah think meetin' you two again is a bit much to take in, or maybe it was that potion Sunset Shimmer gave me." She sighed, smiling at her mother. "Ah thought you said you were Pear Butter." She chuckled. "Imagine that."

Buttercup just kept looking. The same look that waited for a certain little girl to admit that Winona never got into the cookie jar. The same look that was willing to wait as long as it took for the truth to come out.

Applejack's smile slowly faded and she covered her face with her hands resting her elbows on the table. "Ponyfeathers."

"Language!" Sunset called from the bar, making Applejack glance at her in annoyance.

"You taught me that one!"

"But I didn't teach you to say that in front of your parents!"

She had a point, so Applejack didn't argue it. Instead she faced her not-quite-parents. There was so much she wanted to ask. So much she wanted to say… even if they weren't exactly the ones that had given birth to her and Apple Bloom. She swallowed. "Ah see." She cleared her throat, trying to find the words. "Ah never expected that, but… Ah guess it makes sense." It didn't. "But… well, Ah can't imagine either Granny Smith nor your parents being happy about it?"

Buttercup shut her eyes and started shaking. Bright Mac put a front leg over her shoulder. "He made me choose."

"Ma wasn’t happy with it, make no mistake," said Bright. "Stayed unhappy pretty much until yer brother was born." He scowled, even as he ran a hoof through Buttercup’s mane. "But she still let Buttercup stay. Didn’t abandon her when she stood up for herself."

"He made me choose," Buttercup said again, tears leaking through her eyelids. "Choose between family and love." She wiped her eyes. "But Ah don’t regret the choice Ah made. And if Ah ain’t no daughter o’ his, that stallion is no father o’ mine. The Apples are all the family Ah need. Not ‘cause o’ some plum foolish feud, but because that stallion took away the rest of the family we shoulda had. For a while, it was hard t’ even think o’ myself as a Pear. But Ah don’t hate th’ rest of ‘em, an’ Ah sure don’t hate the fruit." A shaky smile crept across her face. "Ah was raised on ‘em, after all."

Sunset chose that moment to come in with the drinks, placing a red drink in a martini glass decorated with a dried apple in front of Bright Mac, and a yellow drink in a half-glass filled with thin slices of pear and ice cubes in front of Buttercup. Or Pear Butter.

The surprising thing was the third drink she placed on the table, right in front of Applejack. It was a cloudy pear-colored drink with a cinnamon stick as garnish. Applejack stared at it for a moment before turning to look at her friend in confusion. "What in tarnation is this, Sunset?"

Sunset grinned, and in that instant, Applejack knew she'd have to get back at her at some point for whatever she was about to say.

"It's a Spiced Pear and Apple cocktail!" Sunset said, her eyes sparkling. "I overheard and thought you'd like to get in touch with your roots."

Eeeyup. There it was. Under other circumstances, Applejack might've tackled Sunset. But her parents were here, she'd have to tan her hide later. "You understand this means war."

Sunset didn't answer, merely turning around and waving as she left them to their drinks. Not wanting to meet her parent's eyes right now, she studied the walls and her eyes went to the pictures, and the reason she had even stayed after the others had left. But how to break to them?

"Um… how's your drinks?"

Bright Mac smacked his lips and nodded. "Good balance o’ apple an’ cranberry." He gave Buttercup a squeeze. "Ah do love it when apples mix with things fer th’ better."

"Stop, you." Buttercup’s smile had become a lot more certain. She contemplated her own glass. "Ain’t had nothin’ like it since… Since Ah got slipped a nip at Hearth’s Warmin’ one year. Was too young to appreciate it back then. He told me Ah’d find a taste for it." She took a deep breath. "Least he was right about that."

That got another squeeze and a nuzzle. "How’s yours, Jackie?" said Bright.

Applejack considered her drink. She wanted to give Sunset a piece of her mind but… at the same time, was it so bad if her mom was a Pear? She raised it and sipped it, eyes widening at the taste of the apples and cinnamon. It was stronger than she had anticipated, but she could feel the taste of apples mixing with what could only be pears. "It's… pretty good." She chuckled, then bit back a sob as she put it down and swallowed. "Ah... Ah never thought Ah'd get to have a drink with you two. Never in a million years."

There was a muffled sound, as if a human-shaped unicorn were screaming into a wadded-up bar towel. No one at the table paid it any mind.

"Yer still just a li’l thing back home," said Bright. "Ain’t got yer cutie mark yet, still believe in th’ Great Seedlin’... didn’t think we’d be drinkin’ with you fer a while yet myself." He gave that warm smile that almost no one else could. The one that made Applejack feel completely, unquestionably loved. "Ah’m awful glad we could."

"Heh." Applejack raised her glass and took another swig. "This is something Ah'll always remember…" She sighed. "Ah-Ah have a question for you two, if you don't mind. Ah've graduated from school and, well. Ah've found someone." She licked her lips. "Even if you're… from someplace else, Ah can tell you and my—y'all are basically them. Ah was wonderin' if Ah could get your blessin' to take things a bit… further."

Bright hummed and somehow stroked his chin with a hoof. "Well, Ah would at least like t’ know who yer special somepo… uh, special somehuman is."

Buttercup nodded. "Tell us about ‘em, Jackie. Who’d you find for yerself?"

"Yeah, uh." Applejack took a deep breath. "Her name's Rarity and we've come to really care for one another for the last few years." She didn't dare look up from her glass. "She's a designer, very artistic and completely different from me. Ah figure… Ah'm sure y'all wanted me to find some nice man to marry an' start a family with…"

"Oh, Jackie." That at least got her to glance up. None of the love had left Buttercup’s eyes. "You ain’t got nothin’ t’ worry about there. If ya love ‘er an’ she loves you back, that’s all that matters." She smiled. "An’ you may have noticed that yer father an Ah ain’t exactly all that concerned about tradition when it comes t’ who you love."

"Plus, y’ ain’t the only one who can carry on th’ family line. Big Mac an’ Apple Bloom..." Bright paused and shuddered. "You gettin’ hitched is strange enough. Imaginin’ li’l Bloomy as a mama..." He shook his head. "Point is, they’re there too. An’ even if both of ‘em don’t have any foals o’ their own, if you got even a quarter o’ th’ cousins our Jackie does, there’ll be more Apples in th’ next generation than nicks on an old plow."

Applejack chuckled. "Ah have to admit, Ah expected you both to be a bit more… resistant. Granny Smith isn't against it at all, but she never told us about you Ma, or Ah think Ah'd be a lot less worried about it." She smiled. "Rarity cares a lot for me. And even though she's a bit dainty, Ah can't help but love her back."

"Think Ah’m gonna have a few words with ‘er when we get back…"

Bright shook his head. "Don’t go tryin’ t’ outstubborn Ma, Buttercup. That don’t ever end well."

Buttercup gave a very equine snort. "Ah suppose." She brightened up. "But Ah’m so happy to hear you’ve found somehuman y’ care for that much. Ah know you were awful scared t’ tell us, an’ Ah’m proud o’ you for doin’ it."

"Same," said Bright. "Ain’t easy thinkin’ yer goin’ behind yer kin’s backs. Love makes it worth it, but…"

"But we ain’t gonna make you choose." Buttercup got out of her seat, going around the table and embracing Applejack. "An’ Ah know we wouldn’t if you could ask us where you come from."

"Now, don't be too hard on Granny Smith," Applejack jokingly scolded, fake-glaring at her parents. "She's done us right and raised us as best as she could. And she ain't against me and Rarity. Ah think-Ah think it hurts her, even after all this time what y'all had to go through. So if you talk to your Granny Smith, make sure she knows to tell us all the good and the bad."

She sighed and leaned back. "Ah always tried to make you two proud, you know. Takin' care of the farm, tryin' to set an example for Apple Bloom to look up to. Workin' as hard as Big Mac and takin’ care of Granny Smith when she's not watchin'." She smiled. "Ah'm glad Ah get this chance to tell you that we're all in good hands…" She trailed off and looked at them. "Uh. Hooves."

"Yer the one with hands, Jackie." Buttercup sighed. "An’ Ah… suppose Ah can understand Granny. It hurts when you lose ‘em, even if they hurt you. Ah’ll let her know what y’ said."

"An’ Ah don’t think you could ever not make us proud," said Bright. "Ah may not know humans from hippogriffs, but Ah can tell yer as good, strong, an’ beautiful as yer ma. An’ Ah know the other me thought th’ same. You wouldn’t have that hat otherwise."

Applejack's hand went up to touch the brim of her hat, and she found herself smiling despite her best attempts at being solemn. She pulled it down a little. "Ah guess that's right."

She was about to say something else, but a knock on the door made everyone in the bar pause.

"Huh," Sunset said walking around the bar. "That almost never happens. Creatures usually just barge in. You guys finish your drinks, I'll check what's going on."

Applejack turned to face her alternate parents. "Ah guess we could have ourselves a little toast then. To happy couples?"

The two shared a look, nodded, and held up their glasses. "To happy couples," they said together.

Applejack downed the rest of her drink, just as Sunset walked back in. "Hey AJ? Rarity's here."

"Well now." Bright Mac slid out of his own seat. "We should prob’ly get goin’."

"Can’t ya stay just a li’l longer?"

"Maybe long enough to meet this Rarity o’ yours, Jackie, but not much after that." Bright Mac slapped her on the back hard enough that she needed her geode to stay on her feet. "You got a life an’ a degree an’ a bride-to-be! You don’t need us breathin’ down yer neck. We got our own Applejack, an’ we’ll have to try our hardest to be half as good to her as your parents were to you."

"Hello?" The unmistakable voice of Rarity called from the entrance, and soon enough it was followed by the girl herself, who blinked in surprise at them. "Oh my, Applejack. I thought I'd check on you, but I didn't expect you to be having another round of drinks."

Applejack felt herself blush a little. "Well. Some unexpected things happened and, well. Here we are." She stood up and motioned to her parents. "Rarity, Ah'd like you to meet my Ma and Pa."

Rarity's eyes widened and she approached them. "Well. It's an honor, I thought… well." She cleared her throat and placed a warm hand on Applejack's shoulder. "It's an honor to meet you both."

Bright tipped his hat. "Honor’s all ours, Miss Rarity."

"You best be good to Applejack," said Buttercup. "If there’s one thing Ah know, it’s that Apples love deep an’ true. Ah’d never do anything t’ hurt mine. Ah trust you wouldn’t either."

Rarity almost took a step back. "Darling, I'd never hurt Applejack!" She turned to smile at her. "If anything, I want quite the opposite."

Bright nudged his wife. "Now, y’ wanna try that again without threatenin’ her?"

She smirked and gave Rarity a wink. "One other thing Ah know is that mothers-in-law are right bi—"

"Okay! Good seein’ y’all, but we really should be goin’. Great place you got here, Miss Sunset."

Sunset chuckled. "Glad you like it. How about a picture of all of you before you leave?"

Buttercup nodded. "Ah think that sounds mighty fine."

Buttercup looked up as they walked out of the Isekai. The sun seemed to be right where they’d left it, just as Sunset had promised. "You think we’ll do right by our Applejack?"

"Ah think every parent asks themselves that every day." After a moment, Bright Mac added, "Least the good ones do."

Buttercup nodded, still looking up at the sky. "How much time you think we have left?"

"Don’t matter."

That brought her gaze whipping back to Bright. "Don’t matter? Ah can think o’ four ponies who’d be awful interested in that answer."

"If we’re gonna do right by ‘em, it don’t matter how much time we have to do it. What matters is makin’ sure we do it well enough that they’ll get by when we’re not here to do it no more."

Buttercup considered that for a few moments and turned around.

"Where you goin’?" he said behind her.

"Gonna ask Sunset for that recipe." Buttercup made a show of feeling around Methuxylem’s door-less bark, disregarding the business card they’d left with. "If a Washington Apple can make a goofball like you into somepony that wise, Celestia only knows what it can do for most."

Bright Mac chuckled and kissed her on the top of her head like when they were still teenagers. Then they set out together to track down the rest of the Apples. It was a beautiful day in Ponyville, perfect for a family outing.

Applejack's phone buzzed, and she opened the file that Sunset had sent her. The first picture was the one that didn't have Sunset herself in it, it was just Applejack, Rarity and two amazing ponies who happened to be the counterparts of her parents. The next had Sunset in it, which was the one that would go on the wall of her bar, and the last was just Applejack and her pony parents.

For a moment, she didn't know what to think or feel. She had gone to bed that night, after dropping Rarity off, and closed her eyes thinking how surreal it all had been. When she'd woken up, she half expected it all to have been some sort of feverish dream… but it had happened… all of it. It still sort of felt like a dream, even knowing that Equestria existed and that there was another Applejack there living her own life.

She could hear Apple Bloom and Big Mac already moving around the house, and if the smell of pancakes was anything to go by, Granny Smith probably had several stacks of them already on the table. Just another morning at Sweet Apple Acres.

Or was it?

Applejack bit her lip as she considered what she wanted to do now. Then, with a deep breath, she reached under her bed, pulling up the loose piece of flooring and reaching in to extract the nondescript box inside. She opened it up, ignoring most of the contents, except for the one item she was looking for, which she picked out.

She put the box away, replaced the piece of flooring, and made her way downstairs, where Apple Bloom and Big Mac were already seated at the table.

Granny Smith gave her a half-disapproving look. "Finally feelin' like joinin' us?" She shook her head. "Ah know you've graduated and you're your own woman, Applejack, but Ah ain't going to have any slackers here at the farm."

"Sorry, Granny," Applejack said, "it was a long night. And very educational." She put the jar of pear jam on the table, right next to her pancakes.

Apple Bloom gasped, and Big Mac stood up. "Applejack!"

Her siblings glanced from her to Granny Smith whose face was tight. "What do you think you're doing with that?"

Slowly, Applejack twisted the cap off, and using a knife, spread some pear jam on her apple pancakes.

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh!" Apple Bloom started breathing hard. "She finally lost it. All that magic finally got to her head!"

"Appleja—"

"Granny." Applejack interrupted her grandmother for the first time… in as long as she could remember. She was quite honestly terrified, but in that sobering moment minutes earlier, she had figured out what she wanted to do, and she'd stick to it. "Why don't you tell us all about Pear Butter?" She looked up from the jar to her Granny's eyes, which were looking at her with dawning understanding. "Why don't you tell us all about mom?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Ah think y'all should start eatin'," Granny Smith said, motioning for Big Mac and Apple Bloom to sit down. "Ah've got quite the story for y'all." She glanced at Applejack. "Although it might be something some of you have already heard about."

Applejack smiled. "If it's all the same, Granny," she spoke up, reaching across to pat her grandmother's hand with her own. "I'd love to hear it again."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Co-written with the ever amazing FanOfMostEverything! This is a follow-up to his short story: Heir A-pear-ent

And of course:

The Fault in Our Tree (Dragon Quest XI - Act 1)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D
The Fault in Our Tree

"Oh, here you are, Veronica."

Veronica turned her head to look up at her twin sister, Serena. "Yep! Here I am," she replied, before turning to gaze back at the town below them.

She had always liked this area of the gardens; a little balcony held above the plaza, right next to the inn. The ancient white columns—a traditional design common through the whole town—almost glowed a slight blue in the moonlight, and the single tree that grew in that balcony made it look quaint… but most importantly, it was a quiet place, where she could think of things to come, usually when her sister was asleep.

But tonight was not an easy night to enjoy the quiet. Too many thoughts, too many things happening, too many people around. All good people. Her friends and family… and one looming, giant shadow that she could feel creeping behind them. She looked at her sister. Serena was sitting on the edge of the balcony with a smile on her face, blue eyes bright and hopeful. She was leaning back, resting her weight on her hands, as she contemplated the people below.

It was clear that no one in their party was ready to go to bed yet. Jade was standing over by the temple columns, watching Sylvando, who was performing for a small crowd of people and dazzling them with his juggling skills; she had seen Rab make his way to the empty playgrounds and start practicing his martial arts… Erik was brooding by the water fountain, lost in his thoughts and the Luminary… well, it appeared that their beloved hero was the only one able to sleep, after all.

It was for the best, he'd have the hardest job once they reached Yggdrasil anyway.

"Do you think everything will turn out alright?"

Veronica sighed, then forced a smile, turning to face her gentle sister. The shock in their parent's faces when they had seen her in that belly-dancer's getup had been worth memorizing. So much so in fact, that she had cast a spell to record that memory forever. The memory of it made her smile a lot more genuine. "Of course!" she answered her sister's question. "What could go wrong with me there to help you useless lot through it?"

Serena giggled. "You're right. We've come all this way together, right? With you and the others… there's no way we can fail. Not now." She looked up into the sky and Veronica followed her sister's gaze up towards the floating island where Yggdrasil had taken root. The tree glowed with internal energy, a ponderous, gentle green light that seemed to erase the shadows in her heart for the briefest of moments.

"You should go sleep, Serena," Veronica said softly, "we need to wake up early. And you know how the High Priest gets when people are late. He won't shut up about the value of punctuality. Even if it makes us late."

Her sister giggled again and nodded, standing up and helping Veronica up as well. It was weird still, how getting her magic stolen had affected her body. Now, she was half the size of her own identical twin sister.

But even with that size and apparent age difference, Serena was her twin, and immediately noticed her disposition. "You're not coming with me?"

"Nah," she said, "I want to take a walk first." She smirked confidently at the concerned look Serena gave her. "Don't worry, I'll stay in Arboria. Might even chat with mom and dad later, I just… need to clear my mind, and lying down turning and tossing in bed unable to sleep is not my idea of relaxation."

"If you say so…" Serena did not look too happy about it, but after a brief hesitation, finally nodded and walked away homeward.

Veronica sighed and glanced around. For all its charm, Arboria was arguably the only town she knew that didn't have a bar. "Not that they'd let me in anyway," she muttered, putting her hands behind her back and started to meander down the stairs that would take her to the inn, but rather than turn towards the plaza, she headed further into the town, where her friends would not be about.

It was there that she noticed the odd door. It clashed with everything else around it; Arboria's architecture was classic, built with white stone, and plenty of fluted columns. This entrance was more like something that would be at home in Heliodor (or even Dundrasil, before it was destroyed), with it's dark stone arch and the strange sun-like symbol on the oaken door, so different than the lighter blue and white doors common in her hometown.

But most important was the sign above the door, next to a quaint little lantern, declaring it a bar.

A bar.

In Arboria.

That meant that whoever owned it might be aware that she was not a child at all. That meant that she might finally get a drink! Finally! After going dry for months now! Granted, it was odd that it had appeared on a wall built against the mountainside, but who cared?

This might be her last chance, after all.

Sunset Shimmer frowned then turned the instruction manual upside down. Her eyes lit up with recognition. "Aha! So that's what it is!" she muttered to herself as she put it down and started writing runes on the open parchment she had stretched over the table. Several ingredients were piled to her side as she carefully traced her spell around the many magic circles that were part of her pet project. The fact that she had to also do a three-dimensional alteration on something two-dimensional in order and then incorporate continuous time was a bit of a drag, but it could be done. It just required the right level of attention.

The bell to the bar chimed as the door was opened, but she didn't look up. The bar was closed, and the only person that had access right now was Rarity. "Hey, sorry, I'm right in the middle of this fourth-dimensional credit-scanning-and-transferring spell."

Someone hopped onto the chair in front of her.

Sunset frowned. Rarity wasn't short, blonde, braided her hair or wore red. She slowly raised her eyes to the young girl who was looking down at her spellwork with interested, and mildly impressed eyes. "You wrote that wrong," the girl said. "I'm not sure what you were aiming for, but it doesn't match the other runes."

Sunset looked down and growled, she had been distracted and now the flow-of-time rune, spelled "river" in Gallifreyian. "Right."

The girl thankfully seemed content to watch as Sunset corrected her mistake, then finished the current set of runes before expanding the circle up into a three-dimensional sphere and incorporating the additional runes, then collapsed it back into a two-dimensional object.

Sunset leaned back and sighed, then checked the door for good measure. Yep. The sign was inverted, but she had a guest, and she had been polite enough to wait.

"Thanks for your patience," she said, smiling at the young girl. "My name is Sunset Shimmer, and this is my bar."

"Pleasure to meet you!" the girl said. Sunset noticed she had a slight Australian accent. Except she wasn't dressed like someone from modern Earth Australia. Her red hat and white dress gave her more of a Hansel and Gretel vibe. "My name is Veronica, I was born here in Arboria." She hesitated. "I hope I don't offend, but… are you human? You have a very unusual complexion."

Sunset stood up and motioned for Veronica to follow her to the bar. As the girl sat down, she explained, "I am! I just happen to come from a different world. My bar is not really part of yours… it exists outside time and space, appearing only to those that really need a drink."

"So, it doesn't bother you that I look like I'm ten?"

"From your choice of words I'm assuming you're not, but my bar also would detect your true age." Sunset smirked. "And even though you look ten, my senses are telling me that your body is actually that of an adult." She passed Veronica a menu. "Want to talk about it over a drink?"

"Oh, yes. Finally!" Veronica leaned onto the bar. "You have no idea how hard it's been. Every place I go, every city, town, dungeon, camp or ancient ruin. If there is a bar, I get kicked out! Why can't they see that I'm not a child?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, granted, I look like one. But they could at least check!" Veronica huffed, "It's not my fault my body was affected like this!"

"Well, here you can have your drink. Just keep in mind that even if you're an adult, I'm not going to indulge you until you're passing out. Last thing you need is to be in that body knocked out in a street."

"Nothing would happen to me," Veronica said waving her hand dismissively, "but even if I wanted, I can't… I have a mission tomorrow."

"Ah, one of the 'save the world' kind of missions?"

"Yes indeed," Veronica answered, perusing the menu. "I think I'll go for something simple. I'd like a beer." She studied the list up and down. "Schraderbrau or Dragon Milk?"

"Sure," Sunset said. "But before I give you either, I'll help you choose: do you think dragons should have mammary glands?"

Veronica stared at Sunset. "So what you're saying is that this is beer is not… just a fancy name?"

"Nope. Sectoid Sweat is a fancy name. Dragon Milk is literal."

Veronica nodded. "I see." She cleared her throat. "Schraderbrau it is then."

Sunset chuckled and served a couple of glasses from the tap, one for herself, and the Schraderbrau for Veronica.

"I thought you said Dragon Milk was literal?"

Shrugging, Sunset drank some of her beer. "I got used to it. I serve drinks from multiple universes, the squick goes away quick. Besides, it's delicious."

"Right, right," Veronica said, tasting a little bit of her beer before humming appreciatively and drinking more. "I'll take your word for it."

Sunset nodded. "So, want to talk about what's bugging you?"

Veronica sighed, and glanced up at Sunset. "It's complicated."

"You're saving the world," Sunset pointed out, "It's never easy."

"I guess that's true," the child-like woman admitted, looking slightly older when she was being serious. "Are you aware of what is happening in my world right now?"

"I'm afraid not," Sunset said. "The bar sort of chose to appear there for you, even though it was supposed to be closed… so I know it's very important, and so are you if that happened."

"Well, I can't tell you how happy I am your bar decided to grant me this one," Veronica chortled, raising her tankard in salute. She sipped it before she spoke again, "Long story short… a long time ago, in the age of heroes, The Luminary—Erdwin—and his friends defeated the Lord of Darkness, bringing peace to the world, but now darkness has returned, and the Luminary been reincarnated. My twin sister and I are also both incarnations of one of the legendary's heroe's friends: the sage Serenica."

Sunset frowned. "But how does that work?"

"Our soul is basically the same," Veronica said softly, looking down at her tankard. "We were born on the same day, and… I hope that we'll remain together until the end."

Sunset grimaced. "You don't sound convinced."

Veronica sighed. It was a heavy sigh, with a lot of weight behind it... the type that didn't belong in a child and truly showed that this young woman was not what she appeared at first glance. "Who can be certain of that kind of thing?" she asked softly. "I'm not a seer, but the shadow that grows across the world each passing day is crawling up to us, almost catching us in its grasp. My sister and I… we were raised from childhood, knowing we would help the Luminary achieve his goal. That we would protect him with our magic and our lives."

An almost overwhelming sense of inevitability seeped into Sunset. Something deep inside was telling her that this was probably the last time she would see this young girl in this world. As if fate itself was warning her of a great loss. She sighed. "I know all too well the weight of destiny and the… expectations that come with it. Good and bad."

"We are not alone, thankfully," Veronica said, shrugging. "We have good friends. Sylvando, Jade, Rab… together with the Luminary, there's nothing that can stop us." She looked to the side. "Even if there's a cost. I've had this… sense of unease grow within me. A knowledge that-that I might have to do something that will hurt, and I'm afraid of what that could be." She took another, long drink, before shuddering in place. "What if... what if one of my friends is supposed to die to stop Mordegon? What if it's my sister?" She wrapped her arms around herself. "I couldn't live on without gentle, sweet, Serena!"

Sunset gulped. "Well, you're not a seer. You said so yourself. This could be just anticipation."

Veronica giggled. "You're not very good at lying."

Sunset smiled sadly. "I used to be."

"Well, this is more charming, I promise," the girl replied, nodding in approval.

"Is there any way that you can prepare?" Sunset asked gently.

"I fear we are as ready as we're going to be," Veronica said. "The road here has been long and hard, and now all that remains is reaching Yggdrasil and giving the power within to the Luminary. After that… Mordegon."

When Sunset didn't reply, Veronica chuckled. "You know, don't you?"

"I'm not a seer either," Sunset said weakly.

"You don't have to be." Veronica finished her beer and placed it on the bar. "There's a sense of finality coming along with our quest's end. Perhaps it's the world ending, if we fail. Perhaps it's just… one of us. But there is more out there, as your bar proves. I can only hope that whatever happens, my friends and family are safe." She sighed. "Anyway, I should go. It was quite late back home when I left, and I only have so much time to sleep before we head out."

She reached into her purse and put a gold coin on the bar. She then looked thoughtful and glanced up at Sunset. "Are you an adventurer?"

"I usually stay in the bar, but I've been dragged out there by my business partner," Sunset said warily. "Why?"

Veronica smiled, pulling a gold chain out of her purse and putting it next to the gold coin. "Then keep this. We were about to sell it anyway, it looks classy and it also protects you from harm. Both things a girl needs, right?"

When Sunset opened her mouth to protest, Veronica jumped to stand on her chair, arms akimbo as she leaned forward with a serious look on her face. "And don't you dare think of saying it's not necessary! You've really helped me unwind tonight, you know?"

Sunset felt a knot in her throat. "Right. H-hey, before you go, I have a small tradition here," she said, passing Veronica her card. "Let's take a picture together."

"A picture?"

"Really darling," Rarity said, studying the magical construct that hovered like a holographic sphere next to Sunset. "We can simply stick to local currency."

"Ha! And deal with exchange rates? No thank you. I already have this patented by TSAB."

"Ugh, fine, fine," Rarity sighed. "And you are absolutely certain that it works just fine?"

"I had it stress-tested, it does."

"Good. Anyway, I should prepare, I have an upcoming trip to a most unpleasant world, and it's always so distressing to deal with murderous alternate versions of myself."

"I'm sure it is."

"And darling, I couldn't help but notice that marvelous little necklace of yours, whichever world did you get it from?"

"It was a gift," Sunset said, reaching up to hold it with her fingertips. "From a friend I made a couple of nights ago in Erdrea."

Rarity said something, but Sunset didn't hear. Her eyes were drawn to a small blonde figure with a bent pointy red hat and a red and white dress holding a large, slim staff, standing at entrance to the bar. Blue eyes sparkled as the young girl smiled and waved.

"...if you ever go there again," Rarity said, snapping Sunset's attention back to her for a second. She quickly looked at the entrance again, but there was no sign of Veronica.

"Are you okay, dear?" Rarity asked. "You've gone pale."

"I—" Sunset gulped, and glanced to the picture on the wall. "Do you mind locking up the bar when you leave?"

Rarity blinked, but nodded.

Sunset walked behind the bar, opening the door to her room. "Thanks," she said over her shoulder, closing the door gently behind her. She stood in the darkness, breathing slow. She'd never trade her bar for anything… but sometimes… it really sucked to know.

End Chapter

Twilight's World (Rock the Carousel - Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D & ChibiRenamon
Twilight's World (Rock the Carousel - Ongoing)

Twilight closed the door to the atelier behind her and let out a quiet sigh. It had been a long day. “The kind of long day where my attempt to bribe a police officer won’t even make the Top 5 of crazy moments,” she muttered. “The kind of long day where me voting myself out of the band isn’t even my dumbest moment. The kind of long day where...” She frowned. “The kind of long day where I don’t even realize I’m talking to myself.”

Climbing up the stairs, she had to admit that the Carousel Boutique was a perfect reflection of its owner: stylish, beautiful, but in a way that seemed perfectly natural. The kind of natural that was the result of hours of preparation and hard work. The kind of natural anypony would take for granted until they tried to duplicate the effect. The kind of natural where even an archway made of stone blended in perfectly with the colors of the walls around-Wait, wait, wait!

Twilight shook her head and took another look at the large and massive door she had just walked past. “...the hay?” she asked nopony in particular. There were two doors on this first floor that seemed like they belonged. Each of them fit neatly into the pastel color theme of the rest of the interior, and there was a handcrafted wooden sign on each one. “Sweetie’s room, bathroom,” Twilight said, pointing at each door in turn. Then she faced the giant oak door that had somehow taken up the space where she would have expected the door to Rarity’s room. Okay, I know nothing about fashion or interior design, but this doesn’t look right.

Even ignoring the material of the door and the STONE ARCHWAY, the sign at the entrance depicted a cutie mark while the door next to it spelled out the owner’s name. Not even to mention that I doubt that Rarity has a cutie mark that looks like this, she thought, raising an eyebrow at the red-and-yellow sun. Finally, she noticed the small blackboard that hung next to the door and frowned at the list of increasingly exotic drink names. “...is this a bar?” She blinked, then laughed at the silliness of that idea. “Ha! Right! Of course Rarity’s room is a bar! Ha ha—” She opened the door, froze, then immediately closed it again. “—haaaaaaa...”

Grin still frozen on her features, she went back downstairs and stopped in front of the door leading to the atelier. Hey, Rarity, just a quick question, is your room some sort of super retro bar that’s larger than the entire top floor has any right to be? She didn’t even care that she was going to sound like the biggest lunatic on the planet. My friends will understand. Or at least Applejack will. After all, her friend runs a cafe that told the principles of Euclidean geometry to come back with a warrant, so this shouldn’t even faze her. She nodded to herself.

Applejack would understand.

Applejack was experienced.

“Ah heard that!” she heard a voice coming from the other side of the door. “Winona ain’t just an animal!”

Applejack was about to go on a five-hour rant about her dog.

“Never mind,” she muttered and went back upstairs. It would take something momentous to interrupt her friend when she was going on about Winona, and a little bit of wibbly-wobbly space probably wouldn’t make the cut.

I’m probably overthinking things again, she told herself when she arrived back at the door. Freaking out over nothing. This is simply what happens when you fall in love with a slightly eccentric pony who knows how to work... mirrors... and lighting... and stuff... to make a room look bigger. Fashion, just for rooms. It makes sense that she’d be good at one if she’s good at the other... right? Besides, I’d turn my room into a bar if I could get away with it! She took a deep breath and placed a hand on the handle. Definitely overthinking it. “This is okay. This is Rarity’s room. So let’s just go in before she catches you standing out here like an idiot.”

"Okay, I take it all back; this is either some kick-ass 3D-effect wallpaper, or this room is bigger than it should be..."

Well, that was a voice that Sunset knew well. She smiled in anticipation as footfalls preceded the appearance of who could only be Twilight Sparkle. But what to serve her? In a lot of universes Twilight was what could only be called a "lightweight" which meant that the ideal menu would be the so-called virgin cocktails. However, Twilight tended to be offended by that and usually would end up trying to prove something—unnecessarily so—by drinking an alcoholic beverage that she could not possibly handle. Or, she'd be completely against drinking alcohol if she was on mom-mode, like when she had followed Nyx into the bar.

'Or, she could be Commander Sparkle.'

The sobering thought wiped the smile out of her face. Yeah. Better wait until this Twilight made her way in before pulling out the non-alcoholic menu. In any case, she'd never had her friend step in on her own, so this would be an interesting thing to see.

When Twilight finally stepped into the bar itself, Sunset smiled. "Welcome to Suns—the hay?!"

Standing in front of her was the biggest Twilight Sparkle she had ever seen. Bipedal and anthropomorphic, similar to Cowboy Rarity, but with a lot more muscle and dressed in a much more modern attire. A tribal tattoo of some sort decorated what she could see of her shoulder and left arm… and if that wasn't shocking enough, she had piercings on her ears and on an eyebrow… and she was glancing around the place in complete bafflement, up until the point when she spotted Sunset.

The pair looked at each other for a moment.

"Uh… hi?"

Same voice. It was totally Twilight Sparkle. "Uh, hello!" Sunset said, shaking her head to try and clear her thoughts. "This is Sunset's Isekai, my little multiverse bar…" she trailed off, this was usually not how things went, but this Twilight was so incoherent with the rest of the universe that it had thrown her out of the loop. "But... I must admit I never thought I'd meet a bodybuilder Twilight Sparkle."

"This is not Rarity's room."

"Nope, my bar appears everywhere where a creature needs a drink," Sunset provided. "And you look kind of stressed. Why don't I get you something?"

"No, no," Twilight insisted, resting her hands on the bar. "This is not Rarity's room, and you're not a pony. This is not okay."

"Hey, chill, Twily," Sunset said, "we're outside of time and space. If you're really that desperate to hang out with Rarity you can just march right out the door and sweep her off her feet with your admittedly impressive arms."

Twilight's eyes went wide, and Sunset knew she had hit the nail on the head.

"Relax," she repeated, motioning with her hands soothingly. "Seriously, no time will pass for them if we don't want it to. You're technically in a completely different dimension."

She could almost see the cogs turning in Twilight's head. Whatever she looked like, she was still the same intelligent mare she knew. "But that's impossible."

Sunset blinked. "Huh. Maybe magic in your universe is not as developed as in others…" she frowned, considering her bar. "Maybe I should invest or device a spell to detect that kind of thing. Would be less of a shock. Maybe a perception filter of some kind?"

Twilight warily studied her, eyes narrowed and slightly distrustful. She paced down the bar again, glancing around, noticing her acoustic and electric guitars on the wall. "Are those yours, or just for decoration?"

"Mine, believe it or not," Sunset said, snapping back to reality. "My casual wear is not usually a blouse, waistcoat and bow-tie."

Twilight gave her a considering look before walking further in to glance at the Jukebox, grunting at what she saw, then walking back, pausing to study the pictures on the wall. "Wait… is that Rarity?" she asked, glancing at the cowboy picture. "She looks a bit older, but damn." She whistled.

"I know, right?" Sunset chuckled. "But I'm afraid that one's taken, and unless you want a bullet in your head, you really don't want to go there."

"Huh." Twilight straightened up. Then threw her hands up in the air with an accompanying shrug. "You know what, what the hell, I need a drink. Or two. Or three. So why not? If I'm crazy enough to dream all of this, there's no point in not enjoying myself. If I'm having a mental breakdown, worst case Applejack will have to bail me out."

She paused when a ghostly figure of a similar species as the bartender floated out of the floor, yawning. "Hey Twilight."

The girl floated closer to Sunset and fist-bumped her. "Thanks for letting me crash at your place. Do you mind dropping me off at the Fenton place?"

Sunset smiled. "Hey yourself, Danni. Go ahead, should already be there."

She watched Twilight watch the short ghost float her way to the door, open it into a street and float out.

Her current guest walked back down bar, picking up Sunset's acoustic guitar and sat on one of the benches strumming it. "Was that a ghost?"

"Yup."

"I could use that drink now." Her eye started twitching, and Sunset started to get the feeling that she was having too much fun pushing this Twilight. She took a deep breath and centered herself.

"Alright, try to relax Twilight. I know this might be a bit much to take in, but you're safe, you're with a friend, and I guarantee you're going to be fine, okay?"

Twilight simply strummed the guitar in response, so Sunset considered her options. Shrugging, she procured a rocks glass, and started pulling out ingredients. She wasn't too sure about the local diet, so she decided to forego the egg whites. A dash of lemon juice, whiskey, ice, and simple syrup went into the shaker. After some vigorous shaking, she strained it out into the rocks glass—already with it's single, large circular ice in it. To finish, she used the back of a spoon to slowly pour a fruity red wine so it floated on top of the initial mix, and decorated it with a lemon wedge on the side.

When she was done, the bright red wine contrasted deliciously sharply with the golden-yellow of the whiskey mix.

"Here, try this one," she said, sliding it gently in front of the shaken Twilight. "Sorry if this was a bit much, I'm used to visitors taking things—a bit more in stride." She wondered if this was just a quirk of this Twilight, or whether the bar had simply not deigned to use the calming field it was supposed to use every time.

Twilight gently put down the guitar next to her, and studied the drink, before mixing it a little and taking a sip.

Sunset watched as a small smile appeared on her guests face. "You like?"

"I do." Twilight rolled back her shoulders, and stretched her neck, tilting it to one side, then to another before deflating a little and leaning into the bar. "So walk me through this again."

"Right," Sunset said, "I imagine that your world has less magic than others I've visited, or at least it's not been developed in this way, but in the simplest terms I can use, this place is basically a sort-of pocket dimension that can connect to other dimensions at any point in time, whenever it is desired."

Twilight nodded slowly, frowning as she took in what she had been told. "Yeah, that's definitely not something we have around. Would save on gas money though."

Sunset chuckled. "So, tell me a bit about you. No offense, but other than a certain other Twilight, you have to be the least nerdy out of the lot I've met in my travels."

A small smirk spread through Twilight's face. "You, filly, are looking at Princess Twilight Sparkle, the lead vocalist of 'Villian Court'!" She stood up and pumped her fist. "THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER!"

Sunset was taken aback. She felt her eyes go wide, and a grin spread across her face. She could feel herself getting hyped up. "You're a rock-star?!"

"YES!" Twilight declared, then hesitated. "Well, getting there."

"So, you're like what, Nightmare Moon worshipers?" Sunset asked. "That was a very Nightmare Moon thing to say."

"We're not—" Twilight shook her head and gave Sunset a slightly confused look. "'I mean, it is based on the Nightmare Moon myth, but I’m pretty sure there are no worshipers of what is essentially a glorified fairytale. No, it’s our battle cry! Well, kind of. It’s from the first song of our first album, and we usually open with that number during our concerts. It’s the line right as the tempo picks up, so our fans usually scream it along with us. It’s also going to be the last thing that Fluttershy will hear before we dethrone her in the upcoming band battle!"

"Fluttershy." Sunset repeated. "Pink hair, meek, Fluttershy."

"Pink hair, award-winning violinist superstar, Fluttershy," Twilight clarified, sitting down again. "I mean, we'll get our asses handed back to us, but we're committed to at least try. We've already sold out.

"That's so weird," Sunset muttered. "So, Rarity is part of your group?"

Twilight's confident grin faded almost immediately and a wide-eyed panicked look took over. "What? No. Rarity is… she's—" She stopped and took a deep breath. "No, my band-mates are Trixie, Big Mac, and Octavia."

Sunset decided to roll with the deflection. "Trixie I can see, but I can't imagine Big Mac outside of a quartet, or Octavia not playing the cello."

"As she would say," Twilight pointed out after sipping her drink, "cello's are not just about classical music."

"I guess I can see that."

"And Big Mac… guy's a gifted drummer, and strong enough that not even Applejack can arm-wrestle him."

"So Applejack…"

"Takes care of our finances and my training." Twilight flexed and Sunset reminded herself that she didn't really care too much about physical strength or muscles. Not at all.

Still. She had to check. For science!

"Wow." She kept poking Twilight's biceps. "And you say Applejack trained you?"

"She's still training me," Twilight said, "she's the one that helped me set up my band after… years of other endeavors."

"That's fair enough," Sunset said. "I'm glad that you guys are friends, and your band seems like an interesting mix."

Twilight chuckled and shook her head. "I can't believe you actually know all of them."

"Different versions," Sunset admitted. "So… Fluttershy?"

"Yeeeah," Twilight grumbled. "Not my best idea, but we're already agreed on it, you know? Even if she kicks our assess it's going to be a boost in fame." She took a longer drink, making the ice clink on the glass. "Either that or we're going to be embarrassed so bad that we're going to become the laughing stock of everypony out there."

"How do you battle a violinist with a rock band on equal terms?" Sunset asked.

"With passion."

Sunset leaned into the bar. "You don't… seem too sure about wanting to do this."

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, grimacing and looking away. "I mean. The challenge was accepted, how would it look if we just didn't do it?"

"Isn't there a way that you all come out winning?" Sunset asked. "Unless the Fluttershy in your world is very different from mine, I don't see her not wanting a peaceful resolution to the whole thing."

"It's as much about saving face as it is not antagonizing a famous star, alright?" Twilight said. "If she backs out, she loses. If I back out, we lose." She put her half-empty glass down and dragged her hands through her face. "I should be concentrating on that, but right now I have other things on my mind and it's driving me crazy!"

"Would this other thing in your mind have a perfectly-done mane, creamy white coat, lovely blue eyes and a passion for design?"

Twilight's hands were still covering her face, but the fingers parted to allow her to glare at Sunset.

"Hey, you're the one that was drooling on the picture of the Bulletproof Heart."

"Who?" came the muffled question.

"Cowboy Rarity."

"Well. Okay, but in my defense she looks—"

"I know."

"And honestly? I had no idea I would even see Rarity again after I kissed her, alright?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you kissed her? Out of no-where?"

"No! I mean, it was in concert!" Twilight said quickly. "And then, you know—look, I thought she'd played along on stage and then it was done, okay? I… really never expected her to make the time for somepony like me."

"Huh." Sunset tapped her chin. "I… really don't see why not. I mean—"

"Why not?!" Twilight reached across the bar, eyes wide and grabbed Sunset by the shoulders. "Why not?! Rarity's perfect! She's got her life together! She's self-employed! She owns her own business!"

"Technically… so do you."

Twilight shook her, and in the process reminded Sunset that—even if Sunset herself was stronger than she looked—this version of her friend was much, much stronger than herself.

"Yes! But I'm just an indie-rock singer! The only things I bring to the table are: rock, tight muscles, and an unsteady financial future!"

"Twilight…" Sunset grinned. "It's not that bad! I mean, in most other universes you've done pretty well for yourself, and having your own band is a big deal."

"Yeah, well, I'm not in another universe—most of the time!" She pulled the glass to her lips and took a slow drink. When she put it down, she grimaced. "What am I like in these other places?"

"Well, it depends…" Sunset said, blinking. "Usually you're an academic, or a Princess."

"When you say 'princess' I get the feeling it's not just a title."

"Nope, I mean as in royalty," Sunset said. "You've gained your wings, and rule alongside Celestia and Luna."

Sunset noticed Twilight's fists tighten. "Figures even in other universes she'd be getting in my way," the rockstar hissed.

"Wait, what?" Sunset asked. "I'm getting familiar vibes here, but that's usually with my own counterparts."

Twilight gritted her teeth and shook in place, speaking very carefully. "I'm already going to be talking about this with Rarity, but let's just say that Celestia very much wanted to control…” She gritted her teeth, displaying a somewhat intimidating pair of canines. “She… wanted… she wanted to control... me. My… my…” She took a deep breath. “She would love to control my band if I let her… and I am not okay with that."

Sunset nodded. "I know the feeling all too well," she said, "although in my case it wasn't as… straightforward an argument as that seems to be." She paused and licked her lips. Twilight looked like she was ready to flinch, fly into a rage and smash something or crawl under the bar. "We don't have to talk about it, if it causes you this much stress the last thing I'd want to do is get you to do it more than once. Just so you know, I do understand how she can be—"

"Difficult." Twilight grumbled.

"Overwhelming?"

"Controlling."

"Intense."

"A total bi—"

"Alright, alright," Sunset interrupted. "I get it. But remember that she's somepony I know many versions of and it feels like I'm dissing on all of them."

Twilight snorted, but she had relaxed a little, which was good. Even though Sunset did love Celestia—almost as a mother figure—even she had to admit sometimes she was a bit too much, for that exact reason. If Twilight was more comfortable with the subject, she might've tried to breach through and maybe help a little on that front. But the rock singer clearly wasn't ready for that yet.

Twilight sighed, "It's just a long and complicated story." She smirked. "Plus, if you heard it, Trixie would somehow find her way in here and make you sign a non-disclosure agreement."

"That bad huh?"

Twilight shrugged.

"So, tell me about your band," Sunset said, "I used to play in one with a version of several mutual acquaintances, but they were more about pop and well, my leather-jacket and spikes style was a bit of a hint that they never took."

Twilight snorted, smiling for real this time. "Yeah, pop definitely isn't for me. My band is—how do I put this? It's a statement. I'm proving to everypony out there that I can be me, find my own image, my own voice and kick ass!!" She drank the rest of her New York Sour. "No one can trap me in a convenient little category! I'll break the mold every time! I'll own it all and—"

"Take Rarity out on a date!"

"—and take Rarity out on a date!" Twilight blinked. "Wait—"

"Hold her in your arms and dance barefoot on the grass..."

"Okay, now you're starting to project—"

"Whisper love songs in her ear…"

Twilight's face went slack and she simply gave Sunset an unamused look. "You're really pushing it."

"Hey," Sunset said, shrugging, "it's all in good fun! Plus, you seem too stressed not to make fun of. You really need to relax as much as you can under the circumstances."

"Well, that's easier said than done when you have too much stuff going on in your life to even think about asking a goddess out."

"Having actually met goddesses, I assure you you'll never have enough free time for that."

Twilight closed her mouth, then attempted to say something, then closed it again. She grumbled under her breath. "Thanks. I needed to hear that."

Sunset laughed, "Doesn't mean it never worked. Remind me sometime to tell you about Belldandy."

Twilight chuckled. "Fine, fine." She picked the empty glass—save for what remained of the ice cube—and watched as it slid around when she moved it a little. "We really are friends in another life huh?"

"Why do you say that?" Sunset asked, leaning on the counter.

"Well… you've really pushed past the walls, you know?" Twilight said, still looking into the glass. "I'm not going to tell you my life story, but we seem to get along just fine fairly quickly."

"There's no reason we can't be friends in this life of yours too," Sunset said, pulling out a card and giving it to Twilight. "This will help you find the bar when you need it."

Twilight put down the glass and took the silver card, studying it carefully. "How does it work?"

"Just pull it out and think about what you'd like to drink." Sunset raised her hands to encompass the bar. "And voila! Also, if you ever want to bring friends it's fine too. I'd like to meet this Rarity of yours when you're steady. Or semi steady."

Twilight sighed, pocketing the card. "Speaking of which… I should probably head over to talk to her, huh?"

"Nothing's stopping you," Sunset said, patting her friend on the shoulder. "Just remember to keep your cool. If I know anything about Rarity is that she'll hear you out, at least."

Twilight gave her a look that reminded her of of a puppy finding out that they needed to go to the vet.

"You can do it," she insisted. "Also, none of those looks. We need to take a picture for the bar and I can't have you look like the Doctor finding out I ran out of Jelly Babies."

"Who?"

"Exactly."

"You're not making sense," Twilight said, standing up. She picked up the guitar and carefully placed it on the hooks on the wall. "It's a nice guitar."

"Thanks, that was my first one… I started using the V when I joined the Rainbooms."

"Ha. Even the name sounds like a pop band."

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in."

Twilight closed the door to the bar behind her and let out a quiet sigh. It had been a long day. “The kind of long day where I stumble into a bar in another dimension,” she whispered. “The kind of long day where I find myself wondering if I can, in fact, defuse the band battle without losing face. The kind of long day where—”

“The kind of long day where you don’t even realize you’re talking to yourself?” Twilight blinked and looked to her side. Rarity was just coming up the stairs and gave her a smile that was both mischievous and inviting.

“Yes, that kind of long day exactly,” Twilight said and smiled back. She wasn’t sure if it had been the drink, the talk, or maybe a mix of both, but she felt more at ease now. “But I suppose you could say the same.”

“Eh, messed up a job interview, had a coffee that glowed light purple, almost got hit by a car, invited my muse and goddess into my home.” Rarity feigned a yawn. “Pretty average day, really.” They both chuckled at that. “So... need a drink?”

Twilight slightly tilted her head. “I feel that I need to tell my story... and maybe reflect a bit on my life in general.” A pause. “But yeah, I’ll also have a drink while I’m at it.“

“Well, after you,” Rarity said and gestured at the door behind Twilight.

“In there?” Well, sure, okay, Sunset did say that I could bring friends, but isn’t Rarity a bit too accepting of the extra-dimensional—... She turned around. “...oh, you meant your room!”

“Well... yes,” Rarity said, pointing at the pleasantly pastel-colored door that had absolutely not been there a minute ago. “I’d point out there there’s even a sign with my name on it, but you’ve already proven your dislike for those, so...”

“You’re never going to let me live that one down, do you?” She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically before opening the door to Rarity’s room and office. There was no large hall, there was no jukebox, and there was no fully-stocked bar. This is Rarity’s room, she thought, a smile appearing on her face. This is okay.

Sunset hummed as she hung up the picture. She had hunted down her leather jacket for this, just so she could stand back-to-back with Twilight, each with a guitar (Twilight had refused to hold the V, since that was Sunset's "band" guitar) and grinning at the camera.

"I wonder how the concert will go," she mused. "Too bad they ran out of tickets—" she blinked and smiled "—but… good thing I can time-travel." She walked to the cashier and grabbed her pad. "Might need to look like a local… and some proper currency. After all, if I'm going to a concert, I might as well get some goodies."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Written with the one and only ChibiRenamon!

This is a crossover with the amazing story "Rock the Carousel" which I've enjoyed reading more than once, and always hope for updates ;) Hopefully your interest was piqued by the chapter if you haven't read it. I do recommend!

Gone Telson (She-Ra Season 4 - Ongoing)

Spoiler warning: She-Ra Season 4!

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D
Gone Telson

"Wow, this place looks like it was almost wiped out! I wonder who did this?"

"Bzzt! Beep! Beep! Boop!"

"Oh. Heh. Yeah. It was. But I wasn't involved in this one."

Two figures scurried through the remains of a once-prosperous town at the edge of the Whispering Woods. Hundreds of homes were little more than rubble, and the ones that were mostly in one piece, had been re-purposed with tents and building materials into group shelters for the dwindling population.

A couple of young children were trying to lift a large, half-buried crate with a Horde emblem on it. The markings on the side clearly identified it as rations, but it was too large, and too secure to open with the tools they had at hand (or hoof, not all were human). Around the box several adults sat, arms wrapped around their legs, or simply staring into the smoking ruins around them with a lost expression.

The children eventually gave up, and fell to their knees next to the adults. They looked up when a large figure approached, wrapped in a cape with a hood. Next to it, another larger (if shorter) figure with a curtain on top of it that barely covered the glowing purple panel on it stood menacingly.

The gathered survivors beheld the pair with growing horror—followed by growing confusion.

"Hey little guys! Let me help with that."

The remaining people watched in awe as the stranger put her arms around the front of the crate and picked it up with no effort, setting it straight on the more solid ground next to them.

"I have to wonder how this thing got here. Maybe it was from a destroyed transport?" the figure mused aloud, pressing a series of buttons on the side of the crate. With a hiss, the door released its lock, then pushed out slightly before sliding up, revealing rows and rows of rations neatly stacked within.

The figure motioned to the interior. "There you go!"

Hesitantly, the survivors approached, giving her and her companion doubtful, sidelong glances, then quickly made their way in, grabbing the rations. The little children, with their little knapsacks already full, ran towards the large figure and briefly embraced her.

"Aww. You're welcome."

The pair of hooded visitors watched the town come alive around the crate as word spread of the food. "Heh. I guess there's life here after all."

"Bzzt! Fizz! Beep! Boop!"

"You said it, Emily!"

The pair started walking away as more and more refugees emerged from the ruins, rushing to get to the food before it disappeared.

"You know, I'm not too hungry since leaving but I sure could use something to drink."

"Beep! Zizzle! Bzzt! Fizz! Beep! Bop!"

"Ha! Try pulling my tail. There's no such thing as—" her voice trailed off when she noticed the sign and the door. "Huh. Would you look at that. Do you think it's open? No one else is around."

"Bzzt!"

"I guess there's no harm in that."

"Would you look at that!"

The voice was new, as were the electronic noises that responded animatedly. One of Sunset's favorite things about her bar was just how unexpected things could be. Even if it was sometimes scary, most visitors brought with them unique views and experiences, as well information about amazing worlds that lay across the multiverse. Sometimes they were similar to things she already knew… a lot of times not. And that was usually the case with unknown voices.

The person that walked in was tall, and well built. She wore a heavy cloak around herself, hiding most of her features, and had Sunset not heard her voice earlier, she wouldn't have known whether she was male or female under it. Regardless, she was tall and imposing enough to be intimidating if she wanted to. Behind her, in a rather more comical take on the "going undercover" approach, was what could only be a spherical robot of some kind, almost as tall as Sunset, and walking on four metallic legs. Its "cloak" was little more than a large rag thrown over it and tied around to give the impression that it was hidden under it, but had the effect of making it look—at best—like a banged-up table of some sort covered by cloth.

The bipedal figure strolled across the bar, making surprised and excited comments about the guitars, the signed Villian Court poster, the pictures, the jukebox and even the tables before it turned around to face Sunset.

"Hello, and welcome to Sunset's Isekai," Sunset said, taking the chance to speak up. "This is an inter-dimensional bar which appears to those that really need a drink, and possibly an ear." She motioned to the bar stools. "What can I get for you today?"

The tall figure raised her... pincers? Sunset blinked. She hadn't seen that kind of thing until now. Paws and hands were more common for guests so far, and she almost expected an insectoid face under the hood, but it looked very human. Short white hair in a crew cut, and a somewhat naive-look to her face. She seemed to be wearing some sort of chitin armor decorations that protected her spine and went around her cheeks.

When she sat, Sunset noticed a bit nervously, that she had a scorpion's tail, which curled up just above her shoulder, which seemed to be spiky under the cloak. The tail was not ready to strike, but it was menacing nonetheless.

"Heeey!" the large woman said, leaning into the bar. When the cloak fell back a bit more, Sunset could see that the pincers only went up to her elbows and soft human-like skin went on from there. It was very different, but kinda cool too. "So," the woman continued awkwardly when Sunset didn't say anything, "I hope you don't mind serving former Horde soldiers?" she asked with a self-deprecating smile.

Oddly enough, it made Sunset want to give her a hug.

"Of course not," Sunset said, "ex-Horde soldiers are welcome, I guess." The bar wouldn't let anyone harmful in anyway, and part of its mission statement was to help those that needed it, after all. "I'm not really sure what the Horde is, so…"

"Hah, yeah, you did say it was an inter-dimensional bar, huh?" her guest said. "Anything good?"

"Yep! I have a menu, right here," Sunset said, passing it to her guest, who took it with her surprisingly pliable pincers. Sunset had to remind herself that, odd as it looked, it was technically less suspicious than being able to lift a tea-cup with a hoof.

"Oh, wow, that's a lot of options!" her guest said, and her robot made an appreciative noise as it looked over her shoulder.

"So what's your robot's name?" Sunset asked, glancing at it. "Does it need recharging of some sort? I have a multiversal adapter somewhere here."

"Emily? Nah," her guest said. "She has a First One core keeping her running, she'll be fine. She's also not technically my robot, but she's a good friend." She looked up, blushing a little. "And I'm Scorpia, by the way."

"Name's Sunset Shimmer," Sunset replied, fist-bumping Scorpia's pincer. "Like I said, I've never heard of The Horde, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but it doesn't too sound friendly."

"Oh! It's great!" Scorpia said, eyes wide and a grin on her face, which froze. She sighed, the smile fading altogether. "Or it was. Or I thought it was. I don't know anymore, it's all confusing."

"Right," Sunset said, "let me get you something to drink. Anything you like so far?"

"Well, do you take credits?" Scorpia said, raising an odd square coin up in her pincer. "That's basically all I have, I'm not sure what 'isekais' use for money otherwise."

"Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem," Sunset said taking the credit and having her spell scan it. It gave her a positive ping. "Yep, apparently a place called Eternia has a solid exchange rate for these."

"Huh. Never heard of it."

"Might be another universe with similar currency, you never know," Sunset said with a shrug. "Point is, you're good."

"Great!" Scorpia said, glancing down at the menu and tilting her head. "I still don't know what to order. Maybe something fruity but with a kick? I need a bit of a wake-up call that makes me feel better."

Sunset tapped her chin in thought. "How about a Tequila Sunrise?"

Scorpia frowned. "Never heard of it."

"Well then, let's fix that." Sunset set out to work, grabbing the tequila, grenadine and triple-sec as she walked up and down her bar, procuring the other ingredients. "So," she ventured, glancing over her shoulder at Scorpia, who was studying the bar again, "You left the Horde?"

"Sorta?" Scorpia said, her voice lowering. For all evident her physical strength, she seemed very vulnerable right then. "The Horde—it's been my home for most of my life. I don't even really remember my parents… I just had a picture of them, you know?"

Sunset nodded, smiling encouragingly at her.

"It's all I've known… all my friends and… well, family of sorts had known. But then, at some point Adora left to join the Rebellion and turn into a princess, and Catra went haywire over that… but then Entrapta joined us, and I thought things were working out for a while, but then Catra betrayed Entrapta, and I wanted to prove that it was just a big mistake but then Catra took it out on me when I didn't want to destroy Emily for some data and—I just left!"

"Right," Sunset said, sliding the little umbrella decoration into the drink and gently putting it in front of Scorpia. "Take a deep breath, try this… and we can slow down. Don't worry, I'm here to listen. There's no rush."

"Right, right," Scorpia said, sighing. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Sunset replied fighting the urge to give her a hug.

She watched her guest sip the drink and smile at the taste, which was rewarding in itself. Rather than stand there awkwardly, waiting for Scorpia to talk, she studied Emily, who seemed to be studying her right back. There was a bit more than simply technology in this "little" robot. "Huh, that's interesting. There seems to be actual magic involved in you… some sort of technomancy spell."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Scorpia said, smiling at Emily. "She was built by my good friend Entrapta, who's a princess."

"I'm getting a familiar vibe here," Sunset said. "So princesses have extra magical powers?"

Scorpia hesitated. But then slowly nodded. "Most of them do. Like, Adora? She can turn into an 8-foot tall powerhouse that is strong enough to lift tanks and throw them, or heal people, fix super-powerful magical barriers and stuff like that. Or Mermista, who can control water, or Glimmer who can sparkle and teleport…"

"Surprisingly accurate names."

"Yeah, ain't that a kicker?"

"So Entrapta has powers over machines?" Sunset prompted.

"Yeah! She's amazing! I mean, if she's still alive…"

"Bzzt! Beep! Beep! Boop! Beep!"

"Which of course she is!" Scorpia added quickly. "Haha! Why wouldn't she?!"

"Beep! Bzzt! Beep! Beep! Boop!"

"I-I'm sure Catra was just…"

If faceless machines could give "that look", that is exactly what Emily was doing to Scorpia, in Sunset's opinion.

"I… okay. She totally betrayed her," Scorpia admitted, shoulders drooping.

Sunset patted her pincer. "Why don't we start at the beginning? What's the Horde, and how did you come to be in it?"

Scorpia took a quick sip of her drink and waved her pincer in the air in a small circle. "Oh, wow. Where to start? Well, the Horde is like, awesome. They came to my planet and took over my kingdo—my people's territory back in the time of my grandfather, then started to make the world a better place in the image of Hordak's will."

Sunset blinked. "Right."

"And yeah, so I was born into the Horde, and I grew up there, and all my friends and family were there, you see?"

Sunset nodded.

"And all was going well until…" she trailed off and her smile slipped away. She glanced at the drink in her pincer with a morose expression on her face.

"Hey, it's alright, you can tell me," Sunset said gently. "I admit it's my first time trying to comfort someone that seems to come from a facist alien army intent on world domination, but if you're ex-Horde I think a lot of things have changed?"

Scorpia looked up in surprise and studied her carefully before nodding. She looked away. "Oh boy. That's stating it mildly. I thought Catra was my best friend—" She cut herself off and sighed, looking up at Sunset. "She's the Horde's Force Captain, second only to Hordak himself. She's… had a tough life, and grew up under Shadow Weaver's supervision, with Adora."

"With a name like Shadow Weaver I can't imagine much good coming out of it," Sunset said.

Scorpia laughed. "You have no idea!" She chuckled, then took a deep breath. "When Adora left, she… just didn't take it well. Especially when we discovered that she was actually a Princess too. Adora, I mean. But, we kept fighting against the rebellion until we captured Entrapta." She turned and smiled at Emily, patting the robot's round surface like a pet. "Or rather, she chose to stay with us. I thought… I thought we were friends. And I think that Entrapta thought so too."

Scorpia paused to sample a bit more of her tequila sunrise, then continued, "I thought we were having fun together, you know? Entrapta, Catra, and I… even Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie." She noticed Sunset's confusion because she immediately added: "Catra and Adora's fellow graduates, they also grew up in The Horde."

Sunset pressed her lips together, trying to find the right words. "It… seems like The Horde wasn't really the nicest place overall. I'm glad you found friends."

"Yeah!" Scorpia said, eyes brightening.

It was really hard to believe that this was someone that was on the side of invading other people's worlds and destroying all opposition. "I don't get it," Sunset blurted out, eyes widening.

Scorpia looked up. "What?"

"Sorry… it's just…" Sunset sighed. "How do I put this? You… seem like a really nice, caring person. And it doesn't fit with what The Horde does."

"It's not a bad place!" Scorpia said.

"Beep! Beep! Beep-boop!"

"Okay, okay, so we did destroy some towns…"

"Beep! Bop! Beep-beep!"

"...and yes, we did attack Salineas for years until Catra and Hordak finally conquered it—"

Beep! Beep-bop-fzzt!"

"And yeah, okay, so people call us The Evil Horde. Fine, I get it." Scorpia looked down. "It's not like I like hurting people."

The robot's sounds became somewhat less abrasive.

"Beep! Beep-bop!"

Scorpia smiled a little. "Yeah. I guess-I guess that's one of the reasons I left, you know?" she said, looking up at Sunset. "The Horde is everything I've known. I was told that my grandfather was a great man because he gave our territory, our kingdom and crystal to the Horde…" She looked down. "I've been telling myself for years that it's okay. That things will be better. That I'm happy. That if people just… follow our rules, the world will be fine."

"Bzzt…"

"Thanks Emily," Scorpia said. She glanced from the robot to the rest of the room, avoiding Sunset's eyes. "There are things that don't make me happy, but I thought it was worth it because I had Catra…. I always thought Adora had made a mistake when she joined the rebellion… I thought she was wrong to leave Catra behind. That it was her fault that Catra was… angry." She sighed. "But Catra just… she had no reason to do what she did to Entrapta. She was with us. A friend to us… even to Hordak! I think… I think I even saw him smile once!"

"But it wasn't this… Adora's fault then?" Sunset asked gently.

"No," Scorpia said, shaking her head sadly. "No. Catra took it very personal, but she just started to become worse and worse when Adora stuck to the rebellion. She started taking it out on us. On her friends." She took a deep breath. "When Entrapta and Hordak figured out how to make a portal, she betrayed Entrapta and blamed everything going on on her… and they sent her to Beast Island."

Sunset blinked. "I take it it's not a good thing."

"No, it isn't." Scorpia straightened up. "It's the worst place. No one that gets sent there ever comes back. That's where the Horde has always sent the worst criminals and traitors." She looked down, guilt filling her eyes. "And I-I let it happen. I didn't say anything. I-I thought Catra would turn around and say it was a joke. That Entrapta was coming back. But when I asked her, she just… got angry." She looked down.

"So that's what finally pushed you to leave?"

"I… she asked me to do something that I just couldn't do and when I said I couldn't she just… I'm starting to believe that the problem might have not been Adora after all." Scorpia trailed off and gulped and forced a smile to her face. "So now we're on a mission to rescue Entrapta. We'll head over to Brightmoon and ask the other princesses for help. Entrapta is their friend too… I'm sure they'll want to help her."

When the big woman sniffled, Sunset couldn't help but feel for her. "Sometimes people are stuck in one place, or just a specific philosophy, thinking that there's nothing better," she said. "And sometimes they find the strength to leave those places full of hate and fear, maybe for themselves, like Adora seems to have done, or for someone else, like you." She patted Scorpia's pincer gently. "That you're kind and self-sacrificing despite that environment speaks highly of you; and the fact that you're trying to save your friend from such a horrible place tells me that you're stronger than anybody ever thought. For what it's worth… I'm proud of you for doing all of this."

A bit of life returned to Scorpia's eyes when she heard that, and the smile became a bit more honest. "Heh. Thanks, Sunset. That's very kind of you to say."

"Hey, we've all had moments where we wish we had seen the light sooner right?"

"Yeah… I just still worry about Catra… even after all of this."

"Sometimes," Sunset said, "as hard as it is? It's for the best to leave. You can't force someone to change or care about other people. Sometimes you become so toxic to others that it takes a really hard look at yourself to realize just what you're doing."

"Hey," Scorpia said, patting Sunset's shoulder, "it's my job to be depressed, not yours."

Sunset laughed. "I've seen another version of me who didn't learn that lesson, and they left no choice to the one person that loved them but to let them go." She sighed. "I saw the damage they did when this young girl saw me and thought I was the other Sunset."

"Wow. That must be… confusing."

Sunset smiled. "It was more sad… I had a really hard time separating what that Sunset had done and how she had forced Rarity to do from my own experience." She licked her lips. "In any case, the way I look at it, is a bit similar, you know? This other me didn't leave her lover any choice but to let her go if she didn't want to be dragged down, I think some people may think it's selfish, but the truth is, Rarity—just like you—needed to take control of her life and not let someone else put them in a position where she was betraying her core values and morals." She shrugged. "You reached that point. It doesn't mean you don't care about what happens to Catra, but you need to care about you first. Maybe she'll change and be worthy of your friendship, but right now, it seems like she's hell-bent on burning bridges."

"Yeah, well, it's part of the whole conquering thing—"

"It's a figure of speech," Sunset clarified, "it means that she's antagonizing and losing friends, rather than making an effort to keep them."

Scorpia's eyes went wide. "Oooh, because if you burn the bridge you cannot cross it again! Ha! I get it!"

"Yeah, well, where I come from it's not looked at as a good thing," Sunset said chuckling.

"Well, speaking of crossing bridges, I have a long one to cross at Brightmoon," Scorpia said, drinking the last of her tequila sunrise. She set down the glass, her face turning serious. "So… you don't think I did the wrong thing by leaving?"

Sunset took a deep breath. "I think you left for the right reasons… and even if Catra now has to be alone because of this—from what I understand of the situation—maybe that's just what she needs to get a reality check. In the end, you can hope that she realizes what she's doing wrong and aims to change it, and just be there for her if she starts that healing process, and you feel comfortable with it."

"Heh, yeah. I guess I have a lot to think about," Scorpia said a bit sadly. "But first, I have a friend to help. Thank you for the drink, Sunset."

"Sure thing," Sunset said. "Before you go, let me get a picture with you."

"Y-you want to take a picture with me?" Scorpia asked, her voice lowering. "No one wants to… you know, they're intimidated and—"

"None of that," Sunset said, smiling as she walked around the bar. "In here you're just you, not your baggage… and who you are is someone I like. So what do you say?"

Scorpia smiled. "Sure."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Kudos to Scorpia for standing up to herself! Don't get me wrong, I loooove Catra, but she's such a toxic character right now, that the hurt just pours out of her pores. Here's hoping she starts getting it together next season.

A Movable Bar (Ambergris - Post Fic)

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D & Pascoite
A Movable Bar (Ambergris - Post Fic)

Aria Blaze brushed her fingers along a grimy brick wall as she lurched down the sidewalk, the dying sunlight halfway blinding her. Just another fifteen minutes, and she'd be home, for whatever good that'd do her.

If only she could work the same shift at Bullseye as Adagio. If only she could work for Adagio, but she'd already heard several times how that would complicate things. People would make assumptions about both of them, and… better if they kept as separated as possible, at least on the job. So Adagio headed up the housewares department during the evening shift, while Aria had afternoons in electronics. Who knew she'd turn out to be pretty good at troubleshooting that stuff?

She couldn't help smiling, for a half-second anyway. To hear the workplace gossip, Adagio was on the short list to be promoted to assistant manager of the whole store soon. The big boss really believed in her, and his husband seemed to like her a lot, too. People… liking Adagio. It still sounded strange to her, except… she liked Adagio, too, who for her part kept saying she loved Aria. It took a while, but Aria finally, maybe—maybe understood what that was? And maybe, in return, lov—

Aria shook her head. All that only made it harder. If she didn't give a damn, she could shrug it off, but now she had to deserve it.

Adagio always rode the bus to and from work, but Aria preferred to walk. It saved a bit of money and gave her time to think. Today, it gave her time to think about how to admit her failure to Adagio.

Some customer—she pounded a fist on the wall and bared her teeth—had gotten mad about them being sold out of something, and no matter what Aria said, the lady kept yelling and threatening to get her fired. Even thinking about that word got her heart racing. All that Adagio had done for her, and it could end, just like that? She'd wandered away from her post to see where the lady went, and sure enough, she made a beeline for the business office and asked for the manager.

Her skin had crawled, her body shook, and she spent the rest of the day feeling like she'd keel over if she didn't keep her knees rigid. Waiting, just waiting to be told she shouldn't bother coming back again, and every time the office door opened, her heart nearly stopped. Tomorrow. They'd tell her tomorrow. Everything was her fault. Her whole life had gone that way, so why would it change? Adagio would be so angry.

Would she kick Aria out? Make her quit art school? No longer be her sister, no longer love—?

A year ago, she would have had a simple solution: get drunk. Get drunk until she didn't care anymore, until she couldn't even remember what had gotten her upset, until she couldn't even remember that there was something to remember. Then do it again and again and again. She could practically taste it, the kind of vodka the cheap convenience stores always carried, back when she'd gotten so skinny that she could tuck two bottles in her jacket and still not look like she was stealing anything.

It made her problems go away, but she'd promised, she'd promised. She'd promised Adagio she'd try her hardest not to do that anymore. If Adagio was going to throw her out anyway, then what did it matter?

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through the contacts to Adagio's name. Adagio might help her, at least until she found out why. No, no, she was still in the middle of her shift—Aria shouldn't bother her. One drink, one little drink.

And then she noticed the sign. Some colorful chalk drawing about a daily special, a glass with fruit slices and ice cubes, and who cared what else, because it teemed with liquor, cool and inviting. She licked her lips. She coughed, her heart skipped a beat—Adagio would kill her if she did this. When had a bar even opened on this street? There was nothing else here. Just warehouses and vacant lots. No restaurants, no shopping. The only people who'd go to a bar around here would be desperate—

Her knees almost buckled, but she was dead anyway. What was one more thing to have Adagio hate her for? With a gulp, she pushed open the odd door and walked inside.

Sunset picked up the last of the books and notes and put them together in a neat pile before carrying them to her office. Her life since becoming a bartender had taken some interesting twists, with the bar itself turning into a sort of interdimensional meeting place for some groups, and her own wall of personal guests growing picture after picture. From Gilda and her wheelchair-bound counterpart, to an escapee from a fascist army hell-bent on conquering a magical world, and her robot. The decorations on the wall had also increased, with the signed Villian Court poster, the crossed guitars, and occasional well-meaning magical diagrams left behind by wizards of a large variety of worlds. And like her bar, she now had additional duties, such as roomie to a ghost, and magic teacher to a gifted teenage duck.

'And I wouldn't change it for anything,' she thought, smiling as she closed the door to her office behind her. She pulled out a fresh rag and dusting spray and proceeded to clean up the area she had been working at earlier with Lena. She never knew when she'd be getting a new guest, so it was best practice to keep the bar spotless as much as she could.

As if her thoughts had summoned one, the door to the bar opened, producing a clear, crystalline chime when the silver bell at the entrance shook. Whoever it was paused a moment before coming in, but soon enough Sunset could hear the hesitant, almost reluctant steps approaching.

'Biped,' Sunset thought, 'and alone, so a bar seat is best.' She picked up one of the menus and placed it in front of her, on top of the bar, right across from one of the stools. She took a quick glance down the bar to make sure everything was in place, and by the time she turned back to the entrance hallway, Aria Blaze stood there, looking suspiciously around, and then narrowing her eyes when she noticed her.

Unlike the last time she'd seen any of the sirens, she wasn't wearing her usual punk style clothes, but rather some sort of work uniform, with khaki slacks and a red polo shirt with a logo under it she couldn't really make out past Aria's jacket. She had clearly just finished a day on the job. And she appeared miserable. She also fidgeted like she wanted to bolt, so Sunset quickly motioned her in with a gentle wave of her hand.

"Hey, welcome to Sunset's Isekai! This is my little multiverse bar, so even if you know me in your world, I'm actually not the Sunset you know."

Aria shuffled in a bit more and licked her lips, her eyes going over the whole selection of alcohol behind Sunset, who had to wonder if the siren had even heard her at all.

"Come on, have a seat, let me get you something," Sunset said, putting her hand down on the menu and motioning with her head to the stool.

Aria blinked and focused on her, eyes narrowing once more. She hesitated, then slowly approached the stool, as if she was fighting herself. Just as her hands hovered above the bar, she stopped. "I," she rasped out, "I don't have any cash… I should—"

"Hey," Sunset said gently, "don't worry about it, the first one's on me. And you can nurse it as much as you want. Seems like you need to relax more than anything. It's safe in here."

"Heh," Aria chuckled under her breath as her shoulders slumped and she slid onto her seat. "That's what they always say." She took a deep, despondent breath, then peered up, but not at Sunset. Once again, her eyes were on the alcohol behind her. "So, what can I get for that first free drink? Bottom shelf?"

Sunset felt herself frown. "No, I meant it. Just… some of the stuff behind me might be toxic to carbon-based life forms, so why don't you choose something from the menu? Don't worry about the price, I said the first one was on me."

Looking slightly more intrigued, Aria picked up the proffered menu and opened it, her eyes scanning the listed items. "These are all virgin drinks."

Sunset blinked. "Wait, that's not right." She reached over, pulling the menu from Aria's unresisting grasp and flipped it around so she could see inside. "That's weird, that should have changed automatically."

"It's a piece of paper, Shimmer. That doesn't change by itself."

"Magic," Sunset countered, shaking the menu, even though that would achieve nothing. Shrugging, she put it down and, after checking it showed actual alcoholic drinks in it—her personal favorite beers and cocktails were there—she passed it onto Aria.

Aria snorted, then flipped the menu around. "Alright, Shimmer, what's your game? You can't tell a gal that she can have a free drink and offer her lemonade."

"I really don't know what's happening with these things," Sunset said, taking the menu and putting it back on its shelf. "I'll have to check into the spells later. Anyway, uh, most of the stuff on the left of the bar will not kill a human, from the second shelf up to the fourth."

"Can't I just choose something I'm familiar with?" Aria asked, leaning forth to examine the labels more carefully. But she'd bit her lip, balled her hands into fists, and practically dug her fingernails into her palms. Most people should look happy choosing from the high-end stuff. "How about a whiskey?" she wheezed out. "I see a bunch of them, but no specific labels I recognize. Something nice, that goes down smoothly."

"Well…" Sunset said, reaching up to grab a cut crystal bottle with a fancy golden logo containing many, many silver circles and no discernible name. "Don't laugh, but I'm partial to Gallifreyan Distilled Sunshine."

"I don't know what that is," Aria said, "but the bottle doesn't seem cheap."

"Oh, it isn't," Sunset laughed, trying to pull it down. "But I figured—" she pulled, frowning when it wouldn't budge from its place "—that we might as well nurse something worthwhile for a change." She pulled again. "Dammit."

She let go and picked up a small collapsible three-step stair, opening it and climbing so she had a better angle to pull. "What is going on?" she wondered, when the bottle could have been made from adamantium and fused to the shelf for all her effort.

"Geez, Sunset, if you didn't want to give me that free drink, I'll take some of the cheap stuff, you don't have to pretend." She averted her gaze. "'S what I'm used to anyway," she muttered.

"I'm not pretending!" Sunset hissed. It actually hurt a little to hear that. Her bar was not a place to exploit other people. It was a place to help! "I just…" She trailed off, grabbing another bottle, but the same thing happened. She tried once more, from another shelf. The bottle didn't budge. "It's as if the bar itself doesn't want—" 'Oh.'

She slowly got down from the staircase. "You know, why don't we talk over here, come on." She smiled and motioned for Aria to follow, who did with a roll of her eyes and a longing sigh when she caught sight of the drinks. Sunset took her guest to the rear of the bar, near the jukebox, which was thankfully not playing anything at the moment. She pulled out one of the chairs facing the wall, where a framed poster for the Klingon version of Romeo and Juliet hung in all its figurative goriness—most people couldn't decipher exactly what was happening, which was why she had kept it—and made sure that Aria was sitting comfortably before taking the seat across from her.

"I do have a lot of good non-alcoholic drinks, you know?" Sunset said gently, watching Aria suddenly stare into her lap and tense her shoulders as if a trickle of ice had run down her spine. "They're still on the house. Would you like one? How does a Club Soda sound? Or a lemonade? I have Virgin Piña Coladas."

Aria looked away.

Sunset tapped her fingers on the table, biting her lip. "Hey, how about a Duck Dodgers?" she asked. "It's named after a real duck."

Her guest's face turned back to her, eyes tired. "A duck."

"Yep." Sunset motioned with her hand to the wall beside Aria, where pictures of her previous guests lent their warmth, including the gang from Duckburg. "Magical bar, remember?"

"You're not joking?"

"Nope, it's basically cola, grenadine, and a maraschino cherry. Simple and sweet."

Aria sighed. "Fine."

"You'll like it, I think." Sunset nodded. "But, if you don't, don't worry about it, we'll try something else. I'll be right back."

She stood and walked to the bar, casting a glance at the table only to see Aria had leaned over her crossed arms and was gently banging her head on them, as if she was berating herself. Sunset shook her head and concentrated on making the simple drink, and another one for herself.

Once they were ready, she carried them both to the table, and this time sat next to Aria, putting both drinks closer to the center of the table, to give her a chance to recuperate without much risk of knocking them on the floor. Having her back to everything in the bar felt strange, but she could only imagine what it was like for Aria, if her guesses as to why she hadn't been allowed to serve her alcohol were right.

When Aria didn't react, Sunset gently put her hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Aria?" she whispered. "Are you doing alright?"

Aria immediately looked at the ceiling, her chin quivering and tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "Why do you want to know? Huh? What do you want from me?"

"I don't—" Sunset hadn't noticed exactly when, but Aria was staring directly at her now and… smiling a little?

"Nobody's nice to me unless they have a reason."

"Nobody?" Sunset asked. Aria only let out a ragged sigh. "Maybe I do have a reason. Maybe my reason is that I want to help."

"You want to help." Aria sniffled hard, so Sunset pointed out the napkin dispenser. Sure enough, Aria took two or three and blew her nose into the wad of paper.

It didn't exactly come as a surprise that a siren might not trust her. "Like I said, I'm not the Sunset you know. The whole point of this bar—" she waved a hand around "—is to give a moment of rest to someone who's desperate for it. I don't pick and choose who or what comes through the door. If you need to relax, the bar is there. It sort of chooses on its own." That earned her another eye roll from Aria.

"But it always finds a way to help," Sunset continued, "and I'm lucky I get to help, too, no matter who it is. As long as they behave themselves, but you don't come across as someone who'll cause trouble."

One more sniffle, then Aria's faint smile returned. "Adagio's told me a little about you, or… not you. Sunset. Her Sunset." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever. You sound a lot like her."

Adagio's Sunset? 'Now that's a story I'd like to hear,' she thought. "I'm glad there's another me helping out," she said, smiling. "But right now, I'm here for you." She leaned back and looked around at the bar. "I understand now why it wouldn't let me serve you some things, but it doesn't make sense that it would appear to you just for that… it seems that you have something else on your mind. Do you want to talk about it?"

Instead of answering, Aria reached over for her drink, sliding it closer and picking up the cherry to bite into it. She chewed on it silently and swallowed before sipping a bit of the drink itself through the straw. She didn't watch Sunset, simply content to study the glass in front of her. "Did you really open this place to help, or was it something that just happened?"

Sunset briefly considered trying to get back onto Aria's topic, but the girl really looked like pressure was not something that would help at all. "I opened it because a Rarity I met had recently come out of a rough relationship," she said, leaning on the table with her elbows. "She needed someone to talk to, and I offered her a drink at my place. She suggested that if I ever decided to have my own bar, she'd help me set it up and…" She shrugged.

"But you can't possibly make money this way," Aria argued. "One guest at a time?"

Sunset chuckled. "I was worried about that at the beginning, but I have two types of guests now," she said, lifting a pair of fingers, "casual and personal. Casuals… how to describe them? The multiverse is… vast, and my bar has become popular with some groups that are able to explore it as a neutral place to meet and relax. I have a group of captains from different ships who meet here every couple of months, and a bunch of grumpy wizards who like to meet every six months, for example. Personal guests are… my guests." She looked at the pictures on the wall, and Aria followed her gaze. "They come here to talk, maybe even leave feeling better, although a lot of the time it's me who ends up learning something."

"So, what, you're trying to teach people lessons about life?"

Sunset shook her head. "No, nothing so pretentious. I just like talking to people and hope that them talking to me helps. I've… picked up a student." She pointed at Lena, who had her own picture with Sunset. "I'm teaching her magic."

"Another duck."

"A very smart one, too!" Sunset said with a fond smile. "I also have a ghost friend who stays over occasionally, and I met both because they had problems of their own. All of the people you see there had a need to be here and talk about what was going on with their lives." She took a deep breath. "Sometimes all it takes to figure things out or make a plan, or even simply to feel a little better, is someone to listen and not judge. That's what I'm here for, and what the bar was opened for. The rest is icing on the cake."

Aria hesitated, then swirled her drink, clinking the ice cubes together with the straw before downing a large gulp. "I had a really bad day today at work."

Sunset nodded, trying not to congratulate herself on getting through. She watched as Aria retreated into herself slightly, crossing her arms and lowering her head. She appeared vulnerable right now, like she wanted to keep it all in, but couldn't anymore.

"I fucked up. Adagio went through all this trouble to get me clean and get me a job and I just… had to be an idiot."

"What happened?" Sunset asked, reaching over and putting her hand on Aria's shoulder again. She felt the siren flinch slightly, but she didn't pull away.

"This lady came into the store and she kept screaming and shouting at me because we didn't have what she wanted. I offered to get it for her from another store, or even find it so she could go and get it if it was urgent, but she just wanted it there and now, and she blamed it all on me!"

"But how is that your fault?" Sunset asked.

"I don't know!" Aria said miserably, eyes watering up. "I tried everything. It didn't matter. She blamed me in front of everyone in the store, then she went and complained to my manager."

Sunset frowned and was about to say something, but Aria continued.

"I can't fuck this up," she whispered. "Adagio got me the job. She got me into art school, she's tutoring me after work so I can get my GED. This job is my only contribution to our living situation… If I can't even do this, I'm just wasting her time. She'll throw me out!"

"Hey," Sunset said, "take it easy, alright? I don't know about the Sunset from your world, but in mine I worked at a sushi bar for a while, and I had one or two customers like that. They went to complain to the boss, and they heard them out, but they knew it wasn't my fault."

"But you didn't—" Aria gritted her teeth and tensed, before visibly forcing herself to calm down. "You didn't have to go through rehab. You didn't walk in with a history in your paperwork, or with behavioural problems. Even if it's not my fault, it's still my fault."

Sunset hummed. "I don't know about that. Were you called in to talk to your manager?"

Aria cleared her throat. "No."

"I would think if it was a big deal and they didn't want you there, they would do that quickly, right?"

"No, because Adagio is also a manager! She's getting promoted and me messing up is going to make her lose that chance if she stands up for me! I don't deserve her help and she's giving it and I'm going to screw it all up!"

"Aria," Sunset said, squeezing her shoulder a little, "I'm sure she's okay with that. I'm sure she trusts you for good reason, and if her word is strong enough to get you the interview and job there, then she's earned it."

Aria gave her a morose glare. "Oh? And why should she? I promised her I'd be clean, and yet here I am, walking into a bar in the hopes of drowning my grief in alcohol." She looked down at the drink on the table. "I was going to do it, you know? I didn't really want to… but I wanted it bad enough to betray everyone who trusts me."

"Ah." It was now Sunset's turn to clear her throat. "So… she knows that you have… drinking issues."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"But she knows that you went to rehab and that you've been trying your best, right?"

"Yeah."

"I can't… really speak for her about this kind of thing," Sunset said slowly. "I think it's best if you discuss that directly with her."

Aria's eyes went wide. "No. I can't! She'll be so disappointed, Sunset!"

"You know… I realize it's not the same, but… well, I can understand a little of what you're going through. In my world, after I was cleansed by the Elements of Harmony, I still had a lot of ground to cover and a lot of things to fix and people to convince I had changed. When you girls went to Canterlot High, everyone immediately thought I was back to being evil."

Aria nodded, frowning a bit and poking her straw at the bubbles fizzing up from her drink. "I remember."

"I've lost my cool more than once," Sunset continued, "and… it really doesn't look good for people like us, right? Others immediately jump to conclusions. And fighting for it is hard. So hard that it hurts. There was one time when someone erased all memory of me being reformed from everyone in Canterlot… but I stuck through it, and I believe you can, too." She canted her head toward Aria. "You three have been here for a long time, through thick and thin—she'll know how hard you're trying."

She stood up and walked over to the far wall, selecting a couple of pictures from there and bringing them back to the table. "Sometimes it's… really hard," she said, showing Aria the picture of herself and a younger Rarity. "She had to give up her love for someone very dear so she could move on with her life, but now she's healing and stronger than before." She pulled out the other picture, the one of her counterpart and Gilda. "They were my first guests. Imagine seeing myself roll in in a wheelchair?" She laughed. "They both went through a lot. Sunset got blamed for something she didn't do, and as a result of an attempt at revenge, she lost the use of her legs." She pointed at Gilda. "Gilda lost her arm and almost fell into despair. But they stuck through it, and when they came in? They were the happiest couple you could imagine."

Aria stared at the pictures in contemplative silence.

"What I'm saying is that it's worth it. It's harder than other people will understand, but it's still definitely worth it," Sunset insisted. "And talking to Adagio is the next step for you to move forward. Hiding it is not going to help anyone."

"I—" Aria gulped. "I don't know. She's at work, so it's going to have to wait right?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow, very deliberately staring at Aria, who fidgeted in place. "You know this place exists outside of time and space, right? Do you mind if I bring her in, then?"

"But—"

"Aria." Sunset took a paper towel and cleaned the siren's face gently. "It'll be okay. This isn't ripping off the bandage just to get the pain over with. This is having the confidence to know Adagio will understand. She obviously cares about you. I can feel it in my gut. And considering all the places that feeling has gotten me through safely, I'm comfortable enough saying it to you."

Aria didn't speak, but merely nodded a little, which was all Sunset's Isekai needed. The door to the bar rattled briefly, then the silver bell chimed, announcing the arrival of a second guest. Both women turned around to see an utterly bewildered Adagio standing at the entrance to the bar, still in her work clothes. "Um, Aria?" she called out. "Did you redecorate?"

Her eyes then focused, and she saw the both of them, with Sunset already standing up. Adagio grinned ear to ear and rushed through the place to give her a hug. "Sunset!" She nearly bowled Sunset over. "I didn't know you'd met Aria before! Or did you come to visit on your own?"

Quickly, Sunset waved a hand in front of her. "I didn't—"

"Did you help with this?" Adagio whispered, her eyes fixing on the shelves of bottles. "You might not know, but bar decor probably isn't the best choice for…"

Sunset nodded with a smile, and Adagio must have come to trust her somehow, because she immediately brightened. "We have it covered. You don't have to worry."

With a shrug, Adagio sat down next to Aria, but her gaze remained fixed on Sunset, and the longer she looked, the more she squinted. "Something's off," she said as she curled an arm around Aria's shoulders, but she'd clearly missed Aria starting to tremble.

"I'm… not your Sunset." Better to get through this for Aria's sake. "Let's just leave it that this bar is open to people who need to talk, whatever universe they might come from. I can give you the long version later, but—"

Adagio chuckled. "Magic, then. You don't have to say any more." She finally leaned into the back of her seat and took a deep breath. "That explains why you didn't call me Amber when you first saw me."

"Amber…?"

"I'll trade you long stories sometime," Adagio replied with a smirk.

"Wow, you sound like you have quite the friendship with your Sunset." Something about that always sent a warm feeling through her. Maybe she'd never connected with Adagio in her universe, but one somewhere else did, so it was at least possible. That kind of counted for her too, right? To borrow a word from Rainbow Dash, it just seemed awesome that all these versions of her made friends with the most unexpected people.

Adagio hugged her free arm across her chest and smiled, but she soon broke into a frown. "People who need to talk? I don't, so who'd you open for?"

With her lips pursed, Sunset rolled her eyes toward Aria, who still hadn't so much as glanced up at Adagio. She silently reached for another napkin and shivered faintly. "Aria?" Adagio said, grasping her by the shoulders and turning her, but Aria kept her face angled away. "What's wrong?"

Aria sniffled at first and couldn't get out what she wanted to say. If Adagio really liked her Sunset as much as it appeared, she wouldn't mind a little pre-emptive strike. "I told Aria that you'd understand. That you care about her no matter what."

A small laugh erupted from Aria's throat. "Seems like somebody's told me that before," she said weakly, finally meeting Adagio's gaze.

Adagio gave her a squeeze. "It's okay. She's right, you know. Whatever universe she comes from, she's a lot like the Sunset I know. Go on. You can tell me," Adagio said, leaning her forehead against Aria's.

"I had a nasty customer who yelled and screamed because we didn't have something in stock—" she paused to sniffle and wipe her napkin across her nose again "—and said she would get me fired, and of course everything's my fault, and if I lost the job you got me…"

"That was you?" Adagio replied, her eyes widening. When she got a nod in return, she continued: "Look, bad customers just happen. Don't let it get to you. I've had to deal with so many—"

"I already told her," Sunset said with a grimace. "You deal with customers, eventually you'll get one of the psychos."

Aria had finally stopped quaking. "I didn't want to disappoint you," she said.

"I heard a couple of the other employees talking about that in the break room. The manager, too. They've all had that happen to them, and—hey… hey," she said, taking Aria's drooping head and lifting it back up to meet her eyes. "Everyone was on your side. Nobody's mad. You didn't do anything wrong."

Adagio patted Aria's shoulder, and she probably expected her to sit up, feel better, smile… except the worst was still to come. Sunset took the seat opposite them and reached across to touch Aria's wrist.

"That's not all," Aria squeaked, burying her face in her hands. "I was so sure I'd get fired, that I'd lose everything good I had going on, that…" A sob jolted her shoulders. "I came in here."

Adagio's frown deepened. "But you're here to talk about your problems. There's nothing wrong with…"

Aria shook her head.

"…Oh." Briefly, a fire shone in Adagio's eyes as they flicked from the glass in front of Aria to Sunset.

"It's basically a cherry cola," Sunset said quietly in reply to the unasked question.

Then Adagio pulled Aria's limp form against her, wrapped her arms around Aria's waist and held her. "But you didn't."

"But I wanted to," Aria said, punctuating it by jutting her head forward. "I wanted to, so bad. So bad."

"But you didn't."

"I would have. I came in, ordered a whiskey—" she rubbed the back of her hand under her nose "—and I would have. But Sunset wouldn't… couldn't give it to me."

Adagio inhaled slowly and let it out as a long sigh. She mouthed a thank-you to Sunset.

"I have a magical construct that is constantly active," Sunset replied. She raised an eyebrow and cocked her head toward the countertop. "It's supposed to inform me of certain discrepancies with dimensional rules, such as minimum age to drink, and that kind of stuff. Apparently the bar can also tell if someone is trying to quit, which… took me a moment to realize."

With Aria slouching further into Adagio's embrace, Adagio unclasped one of her hands to run her fingers through Aria's pigtail. "You don't have to be perfect."

"I have to deserve what you did for me."

At Adagio's laugh, Aria peered behind her. "You sound like me," Adagio said, her laughter finally abating, "when Sunset first helped me."

Aria slid down further, Adagio's arm now across her chest and her free hand stroking the tightly gathered hair on top of Aria's head. "Do you think I'm perfect?" Adagio asked.

From her angle, Adagio wouldn't have seen it, but Aria's face formed into a pout. "Well… no."

"Good. And in my… imperfection—"

She barely got the word out before she broke out laughing again, so hard that Sunset couldn't help joining in. Just the ridiculousness of it all: two former demon queens and an alcoholic sitting together in a bar, having an incredibly serious conversation, with no booze in sight, and each one of them… genuinely good people now. Even Aria let out a snort and wiped her running nose with a fresh napkin.

Adagio brushed off a few tears of her own. "Shit, I was a mess back then." Aria glanced behind her once more, a questioning eyebrow raised. "But if in my imperfection—" one last giggle leaked out, then her voice softened, and she laid her hand on Aria's shoulder "—I deserved what Sunset did for me, then don't you deserve the same? Didn't I already decide you were worth it?"

Aria shrugged feebly. "Things change."

"Do you know how few people can recover from some kind of addiction on the first try? You've done remarkably well."

Slowly, Aria drew her legs up onto the seat and wrapped her arms around her knees. Then her brow furrowed the way Sunset expected her own must have when Princess Twilight told her those other girls, her sworn enemies only minutes ago, would show her what friendship meant.

"There will be temptation," Adagio continued. "There might even be relapses. I hope not, but if they happen, we'll deal with them. But through it all, I'll never stop caring about you."

Sunset craned her neck sideways to catch Aria's eye. She couldn't fight the slightly smug grin from sprouting on her lips. "Told ya."

Adagio momentarily chuckled, then she resumed stroking one of Aria's pigtails. "A really smart person—Sunset, in fact—once told me it's a hard thing to learn that people can care about you. I sure do, and… don't you like some of the other people you work with?"

"Yeah," Aria replied, the whimper gone from her voice. "We take breaks together, talk, sometimes hang out a bit."

"It probably hadn't occurred to you, but those people like you."

Aria's back went rigid, and her eyes widened, but just as quickly, she relaxed.

"Count me in, too," Sunset added. "I've only gotten a chance to talk to you briefly, but you are a good person, Aria, I can tell, and definitely someone I wouldn't mind talking to more."

"And most important of all, add yourself to that list," Adagio said. "I told you long ago you had to learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself. Don't do this because you think you owe it to me. Do it because it's good for you." She waited for Aria to nod. "And if you need me anytime, you call, okay? I don't care what hour it is. I can take a break, or we're allowed time off to deal with family situations—" she poked Aria's arm "—and you are family."

A hint of a smile burrowed across Aria's face, but it faded. "What if I want a drink again though?"

"I know."

"What if I want it… I want it so bad I can't stand it?"

"I know."

"What if I lose it and fail?"

"I know." Adagio hugged her.

Sunset beamed at that: don't remove the responsibility, but don't lose the empathy either. And with a loving support behind it. ‘I don't think I could have threaded that needle any better myself,' she thought. 'It's definitely a lesson to keep in mind.'

"I'll keep in mind that we need to talk more at home, too. You shouldn't have to rely on just the phone," Adagio said. Then she slid Aria's glass to her. "That smells pretty good, actually," she remarked as she turned to Sunset. "You mind brewing me up one of those?"

"Of course," Sunset said, "I'll be right back." She stood and walked over to mix another drink. "And for the record, Aria, I'm going to give you one of my cards. You can use it to get back to my bar, and I'll make sure to serve you something delicious and non-alcoholic, and also lend you an ear to help you work out whatever might be bothering you."

Once she had returned to deliver Adagio's drink, she sat across from them. "So, wasn't there a third siren? Sonata?"

"Yeah," Adagio answered, an odd twist to her mouth. "Like us, a work in progress. She's not depressed or anything, more—" she raised an eyebrow at Aria "—oblivious?"

Aria smiled and nodded.

"Oblivious to realizing she deserves good things, too. Plus you have to chip away at her a little at a time, since she basically has no attention span. But she'll get there."

Jiggling her glass, Aria nudged a chunk of ice into her mouth and crunched on it. "When Adagio makes a project out of you," she mumbled through her mouthful, "she doesn't soon give up."

"And I still have the scar to prove it," Adagio replied, rubbing a hand on her ribs.

At first, Aria narrowed her eyes, but then she let out an exasperated breath as Adagio hugged her closer. "Small price to pay," Adagio said into her ear, eliciting a giggle, then faced Sunset. "Aria's actually done the most for her, y'know? We don't see her that often, since she still goes to Canterlot High. Sunset and I started out trying to help her not long after I'd found Aria, but lately, Aria's the one Sonata really connects with. Isn't that cool?"

"It has a nice symmetry to it," Sunset said with a huge grin. Teach someone to fish, as they liked to say in the human world, but in Sunset's experience, friendship worked in an infinitely more satisfying way: teach someone to fish, and they'll teach someone else to fish.

Aria glanced at Sunset with a one-sided smile. "We might need to bring her here sometime."

"The more, the merrier, or—" Sunset shrugged "—knowing this place, the more the tearier, but it's all for the best."

Adagio drained her beverage. "Mm. That’s pretty good." She'd finished surreptitiously scanning the small menu card on the table, and she pulled a few bills out of her wallet.

Sunset held up her hands. "Hey, I said it was on the house."

"Hers," Adagio said, rolling her eyes toward Aria. "I figured, since she doesn't carry cash, but I do, so I can cover us."

"Still." Sunset had attended this particular dance often enough to know how it ended.

"It's going in the tip jar either way," Adagio answered, of course, and Sunset laughed.

"I never win those, you know?" Sunset said with a fake sigh of defeat. "Even if it's my pleasure to have them visit. At least I got to—" she made quotation signs with her fingers "—argue a little with you. When Celestia and Luna came in for their fellow princess last time, they just dropped a sack of gold bits on the counter and pretty much left." She inhaled deeply, and her eyes sparkled at both sirens. "I guess I should be dropping you off."

"We do have homework to do," Adagio acknowledged, smiling back. "And we'd better do that before it gets too late."

"You know, this exists outside time and space, but I get it. Just remember that for next time you visit, alright? Either of you." Sunset felt herself grinning as Aria stood up. She went forth and gave her a gentle hug. "I'm glad I got to meet you."

Aria looked slightly tense, but relaxed into the hug briefly before they parted. "Yeah. Same."

"Before you go," Sunset said, "we have a tradition here." She nodded towards the pictures on the wall. "So how about we get one together?"

"That sounds great," Adagio replied, stepping over to stand by Sunset and Aria. Sunset's phone levitated under her magic, and the three posed together in front of all the other pictures. When it had clicked and returned to them, Sunset showed it to the sirens. "See? It's all friends here."

Adagio laughed and hugged Sunset. "You really are as nice as my Sunset here."

"Remember to tell me that story when we next meet," Sunset said, "and bring her and Sonata along. I'd like to meet them too."

Adagio nodded. "Will do," she said, walking with Aria out of the bar.

'I really like this one,' Sunset thought as she hung the newest picture on the wall. It had been a moment of inspiration at the time, but it reflected a lot of her earlier thoughts about the value of her bar, and what it meant to her personal guests. Aria, Adagio and herself, with the pictures of others that had been here before in the background, was a sort of statement about her clientele. Creatures seeking a moment of peace and to unload their own stress, reinforcing that this place—her bar—was much more than a place to drink.

That someone struggling through things like Aria could come in here defeated and anxious, but leave calm, reassured and smiling… that was the real value she wanted to share. Sure, the parties, the interdimensional groups that drifted there and even the occasional adventure with Rarity added spice to the mix, but it was this—listening, encouraging, teaching Lena, or giving a ghost a sanctuary, that made the whole thing worth it for her.

She glanced around her bar fondly. There was a sense that it approved. It was weird, and comforting, as she knew it probably felt for her guests when they went back home.

With a chuckle, she cleaned up the glasses and wiped the table clean before heading behind the bar and pulling out all the stuff she still needed to do. It never got dull here, after all, so she'd have a new guest before she knew it. Sunset paused and peered at the racks of alcohol behind her, then gently picked up a bottle, smiling in relief when she did so without issue.

She scanned over the gallery on the wall and hoped she'd see all of her friends again at some point.

"But for now," she said, picking up a pen, "homework."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Thanks go to Pascoite for letting me revisit this world of his and play in it with him. If you haven't read Ambergris, it's really, really recommended.

Runaway Cat (Fate - The Cat Returns AU - Post Fic)

Sunset's Isekai
Runaway Cat (Fate - The Cat Returns AU)
By Wanderer D and YarningChick

Haru tilted her head over one hand as she stared at the latest offering. "I’m not sure about that design, either. It’s too puffy. I’m a bride, not a cream puff."

"Oh, of course Lady Haru," the royal dressmaker agreed nervously before closing up her sketchbook. "Now that I have your input, I will start on some designs that better suit your taste."

"Same time tomorrow," Haru sighed, gently dismissing the old feline with one hand. As she did so, she couldn’t help but notice again how strange her hands were. Long-fingered like her original form, but furry and hiding claws at her fingertips instead of nails. She turned the hand over before studying both a bit more carefully.

She was grateful to still have fingers. The brief time she’d had paws was more trouble than it was worth, making her wonder how ordinary cats managed to cope.

The half-feline looked around her quarters in the royal castle with a certain detachment. This was only going to be her home for a few more months. Then she’d move back to the Human World, but not as a human.

Her heart thumped excitedly at the thought of being married to Baron, yet it still felt somehow… heavy.

Haru took in a long cleansing breath and held it for a moment before releasing it. ‘Everything’s moving so fast, now that we know what’s coming. It was only yesterday Jonathan finished interfering in our time, and I’m making plans for a wedding I thought would never happen.’

Her fingers tapped on the mouse leather legging of one knee, knowing that the minute she stepped outside her quarters, she was going to get assaulted by well-meaning cats that wanted details or gossip about the wedding plans to liven up their day. Her nuptials were the closest to a royal wedding the Cat Kingdom was likely to see for at least twenty more years, and she was certain that even more bets were being placed about every little detail.

Almost to mock her thoughts, a familiar tapping knocked on her heavy door, making her heart freeze.

"Haru? Sweetie, are you in?" her mother asked worriedly.

The brown feline almost could have fainted from how little she wanted to talk to that cat right now. Yes, the fact that she was still in the Cat Kingdom said a lot about how much talking to her future grandson had changed her, but Haru’s stomach flip-flopped with the hope that she’d go away.

"It’s just been so long since we had a good talk, just you and me."

‘Even longer since you’ve had an honest one!’ Haru wanted to scream back, but didn’t dare. Jumping on a split-second decision, she took light, practiced steps to her bathroom door and slipped in without checking first.

As soon as the door was shut behind her, she realized that was a mistake.

Sunset Shimmer had ordered a great many things for her bar. Beer. More beer. A lot of rum. And an assortment of drinks that she could neither pronounce nor drink, but were apparently the choice of some sort of sulfuric life form she had yet to encounter.

One thing she hadn't ordered—but apparently the bar now had—was a good selection of teas of several kinds. This was not her usual fare to be sure, but well, you never knew. Maybe this was Raistlin's doing. That man was always drinking some sort of bitter concoction ever time he visited and it wouldn't surprise her if he could use something slightly different on occasion.

"Ah well, I can always use them later," she muttered, "I'm sure Celestia would love to sample a few of these."

Her musings were interrupted by the crystalline chime of the bell at the door. It sounded a bit more violent than usual, and the subsequent slam was also out of the norm. Generally, guests tended to enter somewhat cautiously. No one had been that desperate for a drink yet.

She quickly straightened herself up and smiled, waiting. When nothing happened after several seconds, she felt the smile slip a little. Was… no one there? Had they just opened the door and closed it? "Uh… hello?"

"This isn’t my bathroom!" a sweet voice exclaimed, making Sunset turn her head and lean over the counter enough to see her latest guest.

Alright. This was a new one. Instead of a human or a pony—or even a human/pony hybrid—this one was more like a cat/human hybrid. Her fur was brown, but surprisingly also had longer head fur cut in a human style at chin level. Despite the large, innocent eyes that stared at everything, she had a bit of a military bearing in how she stood, even though all she was wearing was a white linen shirt, snug leather leggings, and old-fashioned boots that seemed to be from the same kind of leather. There was a pair of daggers hanging from her sides, but if a Rarity could march in with a pair of guns, she really had no reason to raise a fuss over these.

Taking in how confused the young cat woman seemed, Sunset realized exactly what had happened. She was beginning to suspect her bar had a sense of humor and she was only now starting to get it. "Oh! Sorry about that!" she said, waving gently and smiling encouragingly at her guest. "This is my bar, 'Sunset's Isekai', and it sort of shows up wherever it feels like appearing. Usually there's a sign outside, but if you're in a hurry you might miss it. If you really need to go, there is a bathroom down the hall, to your left, just at the end of the bar, across from the jukebox! I do promise it's clean!"

The cat woman nodded a little dumbly while taking a few hesitant steps into the bar, still looking at everything as if she thought she was dreaming. "I… don’t know why I’m shocked," she said a little numbly. "This isn’t by far the weirdest thing that has happened in my life."

Sunset grinned. "Then you'll fit right in! But, if it helps, most people don't expect a bar to appear instead of the bathroom, so maybe it's less shock and just a little surprise?"

She managed a wry smile. "Good thing I didn’t really need to go." The cat woman took in a deep breath. "Do you have root beer?" she asked plaintively. "I haven’t had a root beer in six years."

"Sure!" Sunset said, "I have most drinks… that's a soda, right? Or Pop?"

"Yep. I can’t get it where I live now," the pretty feline explained while nervously helping herself to one of the bar stools and resting her elbows on the counter. "Catnip tea’s the only thing most of the people I deal with care about. Or fish."

Sunset nodded, picking out a large, frosted glass and walking over to her soda fountain, touching a couple of dials before putting some ice in it and filling it with what her bar assured her was the correct drink.

She drew a straw out from a container and slid it into the glass, making the ice click against the sides and placed it in front of the cat woman. "Here you go. It sounds like you weren't originally into cat delicacies?"

Her guest nodded while fishing a silver piece out of a pocket and exchanging it for the glass.

Sunset couldn’t help noticing that it had a regal cat’s portrait stamped on it, like the Queen of England in Earth coins, Celestia in gold bits, or Deane Aryman in a Tar Valon mark would be. It was carefully crafted and looked relatively new, with a young-looking cat in it, instead of the expected "old king" look.

"I was born a human, but became this when I was seventeen," her guest explained, a slightly bitter tone suggesting that she was covering a lot of story with that single sentence. Just before taking a sip, she froze in horror. "Oh, I’m sorry. I’m not used to introducing myself to anyone anymore. I’m Haru Yoshioka."

Sunset nodded, still smiling. "Welcome to my bar, Haru. As I said, I'm Sunset Shimmer, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Haru gave her a sweet smile while holding her glass between her furry hands. "Likewise." She opened her mouth as if to say more, but shook her head a little before claiming the first sip. "Ouch!" she suddenly yelped when the liquid hit her tongue.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You alright? You didn't stab your palate with the straw, did you?"

Haru held one hand to her mouth, only uncovering it to showcase a sheepish grin. "Five years without a soda. You never know what your tongue’s used to until it gets reintroduced. It’s root beer all right." She took a slower, smaller sip before sighing. "I’ve missed this."

"Well, I'm happy to bring it back to your life," Sunset replied, nodding sagely. "Nothing quite like bringing stuff from home back to your taste buds. At least you can still drink it, you should've seen me when I tried eating a hayburger as a human. Pro tip: It's not the same."

Haru cocked her head in surprise. "Hayburger? You don’t mean…"

"Hm," Sunset tapped her chin and walked over to where the pictures were. She debated whether she should show her the one with the Sweeties or the one with Twilight, but decided that picking out the one without several versions of a single person was probably the easiest one to digest as a first impression. She took the one with Commander Sparkle in it, walking back across to stand in front of Haru, and setting it down in front of her. "So, ignore the krogan—" she interrupted herself, realizing Haru would have no idea what a krogan was "—the dinosaur in high-tech armor. I used to look a lot like the unicorn in the picture, only my mane was in the same style as now, and my coat was... " she looked down at her arm. "Roughly the same."

Haru took the photo between her hands with a certain care, looking between the Commander and the bartender smiling at her. She did this for over a minute before thinking of something to say. "You were a unicorn," she said slowly. "But you gave it up to be a human? Or did someone decide for you?"

Sunset's smile became a bit strained. "Ah… well, I sort of was a teenager too when I left home, only I did it because I was a selfish brat that wanted something more than I cared about others… so, long story short, I crossed a magical mirror that turned me human, and got stuck there for a couple of years. It took another version of that unicorn in the picture to teach me the value of friendship. After that, I remained in the human world and just… you know. Friends?"

Haru took another drink from her glass, her brown eyes dark and thoughtful. "But you could go back anytime you want, right? If you wanted your original body back."

"Yeah," Sunset sighed. "At least after the mirror activated again. For the longest time I was afraid of going back even to visit because of the ponies I had hurt, especially my mentor/mother figure, Princess Celestia." She clicked her tongue. "The same anger that made me run away simply turned into fear of rejection… and I think she would have been justified in it." She glanced up at Haru. "I take it you weren't as lucky?"

Haru shook her head, now swirling the straw in the glass to make the ice move around. "I guess I shouldn’t complain," she admitted. "Everything turned out alright in the end. It was just that interim period when I didn’t know why this happened to me when I was just trying to do the right thing, and it blew up in my face because a jerk with more power than brains can’t understand a simple ‘no’."

Sunset hummed. "You know… in a way, you remind me a little bit of my very first guest here, only she was me."

Haru managed to raise her eyes from her glass enough to cock her head at the bartender again, not bothering to ask the question.

Sensing the hint to continue, Sunset glanced at the pictures on the wall. "Oh, she started the same as I, but at one point, because of… our past… some people thought that she was behind something terrible happening at school and they decided to seek revenge on her… they almost killed her." She grasped the bar, thinking about how things could have gone wrong for herself too. "Broke her back. She will never walk again."

Haru gasped while throwing both of her hands to her mouth.

"But she met someone after that," Sunset continued, "Someone who loved her and she loved back. She had the chance to go back and heal, but doing so would keep them apart, so she decided that she wouldn't, even if it cost her her legs. What she had found was something that was worth more to her than that. Than magic even." She looked up at Haru with a small smile. "It terrifies me that that could have happened to me but at the same time, just like you, she found a strength from that that I—well, I can only admire."

Haru gave her a grateful smile, though one hand had reached down to absently play with the hilt of one of her daggers while she fiddled with the straw with the other. "That doesn't stop me from wishing that the cost wasn’t so high. I had a good, if boring life before saving Lune. I had friends, I had a m—" she cut herself off, her melancholy turning into just a bit of anger as she began gripping one hilt like it was a security blanket.

Sunset's smile twisted a little. "Ah. Wanna talk about it? Since I am completely unrelated to what happened, maybe a friendly, unbiased ear might help?"

Haru bit her lip, thinking it over before nodding. "It’s not like you’re going to be able to tattle on me." She took another sip of root beer the way a sailor would take a swig for courage before leaning over the bar slightly.

"So. In my world, or whatever word you want to use, there’s kind of a pocket dimension attached to the Human World called the Cat Kingdom. I wouldn’t be shocked if there are other animal kingdoms connected as well, but it’s the Cat Kingdom that messed my family up. When I was only two, my dad accidentally followed the Cat King back to his kingdom to get back a stolen mackerel for his restaurant. Reasons, reasons, blah blah blah, turns out that if you stay in the Cat Kingdom past your world’s sunrise, at least where you entered, you’re stuck. You can still go back to the Human Kingdom if you want, but if you leave after sunrise, you’re stuck as a cat."

Sunset nodded, not daring to interrupt.

Haru gripped the dagger’s hilt a little more fiercely. "Mom rejected him. Completely. Drove him off, then never talked to me about him, pretended that I was delivered with the morning paper, and scolding me whenever I did something that Dad liked to do, like watch kung fu movies or cook fish. I didn’t even recognize him when I met him again as an adult. Still angry he didn't just tell me it was him from the get go," she muttered furiously before shaking her head.

"But he’s not the one I’m angry at, although I'm trying to get over it. When I got dragged to the kingdom, I only made it to the exit just at sunrise, hence my body," she added while gesturing at her still-mostly human figure. "After his lunatic father retired thanks to me, Lune gave me a place, a home, steady work, adopted me into his family, basically everything he could think of to make up what his father took from me, but I didn’t want to break contacts completely with my mother."

Sunset swallowed. "Did you… try to go to her?"

Haru shook her head. "Because I thought she wouldn’t believe that I got kidnapped by cats to get forcefully married into the royal family and couldn't let her see me because she’d freak, I did a lot of lying through letters. She’d constantly beg for me to come back since I wasn’t done with school, she missed me, wanted me to be back in her life, but sure enough; she freaked when she found out."

Haru took a long drink from the straw, almost leaving nothing but ice cubes in the glass. "The ‘getting kidnapped by a crazy cat possessing a cousin of Lune’s that desperately wanted to marry me and getting held at knifepoint’ thing probably didn’t help. But by then I knew who my father was. He could have pretended to be her pet cat so that he could do more than leave fish cookies for me when he knew Mom wouldn’t catch him. If she had just… been honest, I think I’d have handled the Cat Kingdom better if Dad had been allowed to warn me."

Then she smiled a little foolishly. "But if that had happened, I wouldn’t have met my soulmate. I literally can’t imagine building a family with anyone else. More things happened, blah blah blah, my firstborn son came from the future, admitted to engineering me staying in the Cat Kingdom to meet Baron because he’s gifted with time magic, heavily hinted that he’s anything but an only child, and finished up his meddling by beating some sense into Mom until she interfered with another attempt on my life and begged for Dad’s and my forgiveness and renounced her own human life to stay with us."

Haru pushed the glass aside to do a face plant on the shiny counter. "I told her I forgave her, but… it’s just hard. I was practically Daddy’s girl before I figured out he was my daddy. It kills me that I didn’t recognize him, and he loves me so much and..." She broke down sobbing.

Sunset gently took the glass and refilled it, placing it next to Haru, then rested a hand on her shoulder. "That sounds horrible. I can't even imagine how anyone would feel about that… I didn't know my parents, but I'd hope if I ever met them… well, knowing ponies they would freak." She chuckled weakly. "You went through a lot, Haru. It's not surprising that your mom's reaction would sting so hard. You had your life ahead of you and everything changed in an instant, and through no fault of your own."

"Other than saving a ‘random cat’ from becoming roadkill," came the mumbled response from a face half-squished against the counter.

"Well, I mean, a prince of cats," Sunset said, gently, "if saving a life isn't a cause that's praise-worthy I don't know what would be."

"... He’s a sweetheart, too," Haru confided, shakily raising herself back into a sitting position and pulling out a handkerchief to dry her face. "Under different circumstances, I might not have minded marrying him, but he was in love with—" she cut herself off with another sheepish grin. "Well… I saved Yuki’s life years ago, and they were made for each other." She reached into another pocket to pull out a large watch. She opened the back of it before showing Sunset a very regal pair of cats posing with an adorable kitten that was without a doubt the crown princess.

"That's the only Princess Haru the Cat Kingdom can handle, anyway."

"Oh. My. Celestia." Sunset gasped in delight, leaning in with a grin to look at the picture. "They are absolutely adorable!"

"I know!" Haru gushed, the new change of topic brightening her mood considerably. "My little Sweet Pea has me wrapped around her tiny little paw!"

"And they named her after you!" Sunset gushed. "That's amazing!"

"I tried to talk them out of that," Haru admitted, though still smiling like a fool. "But Sweet Pea told me she just might have changed it to my name anyway. She thinks I can walk on water." She actually bit her lip with excitement. "And… you didn’t necessarily hear it from me, but the way she and my future son interacted kind of points to her being my daughter-in-law in about twenty years or so."

Sunset smirked and crossed her arms. "Must be nice knowing you can influence that a bit to give him trouble."

"Oh no," Haru laughed while throwing up her hands in defense. "I’m just going to arrange play dates and warn her not to scare him too much. Jonathan’s going to be younger by about seven years, and it might intimidate him if she starts fitting royal robes on him too soon."

Sunset's smirk softened at that. "I still think it's a really nice thing to know. Your son sounds like a delight, and with that little kitten at his side, they must be something diabetes-inducing on sight."

Haru grinned before sipping at the straw again. "She didn’t want off his lap when he had to go back to his own time. It makes me wish the Cat Kingdom’s version of cameras aren’t so tricky. But we’ll figure it out," she assured with a dreamy smile. "Baron’s keeping himself busy by breaking down the walls between his house and the one next to it since no one lives there. He wants to make absolutely sure we’ll have enough room for when we start covering the Refuge with kittens."

"Oh?" an eyebrow rose, eyes shining with mischief. "Already planning to get busy, huh? Well good for you!" Sunset laughed. "You're making me wish I had already found someone too. And Baron seems like a fictional hero already; gentlemanly, daring, kind… he's a good fit for you."

"Oh, if only you knew," Haru crooned dreamily. "It was so funny; he told me that Dad tried to talk him out of courting me before it came out he was my dad. Baron says that should have been a large red flag, but he’s glad that they’re already friends. He’s kind of been my dad’s employer and landlord since Mom and the Cat Kingdom kicked him out. Turns out eating all the fish in the sea out of misery makes you a criminal. Good thing Lune fell in love with him enough to grant him a pardon when they found out it was him."

"See, you are really lucky with Lune and Baron," Sunset said, "they are true gentlemen. Cats. Gentlecats. I'm sure the Abysinnians have a term for that. But! I think your family growing as it has been, steadily and… well, adorably, is a real blessing. I'm really happy for you."

Haru took another sip with a smile. "Like I said. Everything turned out alright in the end." Then she sighed, looking down at the counter that was slightly wet because of her earlier crying fit. "It’s just hard to let go of what Mom did," she added a bit lamely, reaching for a napkin holder to start mopping up her own mess. "And yes, the term is ‘gentlecats’."

Sunset tapped her chin. "You know, your mom… most humans are generally terrified of things that they don't understand. Paranoid about going "crazy" and being sent to the asylum. I'm definitely not saying what she did was right at all… I would be devastated too if it happened to me, and for good reason! But… I mean, she did give up her life as a human willingly for your sake and your dad's. As someone that's done… less than perfect things, I can tell you that's not an easy pill to swallow."

Haru breathed in another long, cleansing sigh. "So I should probably stop being a baby, march myself back to my quarters, and have that talk with her? She’s probably not at my door by this point."

"Hm, I wouldn't put it that way," Sunset said after thinking for a moment about how to phrase things. "I think that you have more than enough reason to be angry and feel betrayed. Nopony should tell you what you should do in a situation where forgiveness has to come because you want it. She was selfish, and now's your choice to ask yourself if she's someone you want in your life. Then make your choice based on that."

Haru started swirling her straw around again. "... That’s probably going to have to be in the discussion," she admitted. "She was a baby, I’m being a baby, and there’s going to be enough actual babies around that we can’t afford that anymore." The brown feline sighed again. "I love her. I missed her. It would be nice to have someone at the Refuge that already knows a thing or two about taking care of babies. Other than Dad, she really has been an awesome mom to me. Plus Jonathan probably persuaded her to stay in my good graces so she can watch him grow up."

"Then I think you have something to begin with," Sunset said softly, reaching out to put a hand over Haru's and giving it a gentle squeeze. "You said you love her, right? That's why it hurts. And I bet she really loves you too. And will love all your kittens."

The chimes jingled as the door opened, making the two look over.

"Oh, Sunset, darling!" Rarity called while doing a dramatic swirl of her latest summer coat. "I just had a breakthrough, and—" She stopped short at seeing Haru. A loud dramatic gasp nearly bellowed out of her throat before running up to the brown cat.

Haru jumped up on the counter on pure instinct, hands and feet on the polished wood like she was a full cat. "Should I be worried?" she asked Sunset, who only rolled her eyes.

"Haru," Sunset said, "meet my business partner. She's… well, a lot of things, but most of the time a clothes designer." She glanced at her friend, but Rarity only had eyes for Haru.

"Oh, darling! Wherever did you come from?" Rarity gushed as her eyes sparkled, taking in every detail of Haru’s appearance.

"Um, the Cat Kingdom?" Haru answered a little nervously, her fur trying to rise in alarm from under her clothes.

Rarity nearly swooned. "A whole kingdom of cats? I simply must find a way there! Would you take me with you?"

Both Sunset and Haru flinched.

"If I do, keep in mind when your sunset is, because you’ll become a cat permanently by sunrise if you don’t leave," Haru was careful to warn her up front. Deciding that it might be safe, she slowly slunk off the counter and grabbed her drink for another long swig.

"Oh, darling," Rarity said, casually brushing her mane away from her face, "I know exactly where my Sunset always is."

"Okay!" Sunset said, giving her friend an unamused look, "Why don't you stop teasing Haru and introduce yourself properly?"

"Oh, of course!" Rarity acknowledged, straightening up and tugging slightly at an imaginary wrinkle in her long coat. "I am Rarity, co-owner of this establishment and a fashion designer in my own right."

"She designed my uniform and is currently trying to upstage another Rarity that did my cowboy outfit," Sunset added with a smug smile. "So far, she hasn't come up with anything new."

Rarity simply huffed. "All in time, Sunset."

Haru gave Rarity’s long coat and stylish dress a speculative look. "I wonder…"

"Yes? Do you have an idea, darling?" the newcomer asked eagerly.

Haru started playing with the hilts of both her daggers out of sheer nerves. "I’m probably going to regret this," she muttered to herself before looking Rarity in the eye. "So, before coming here to avoid talking to my mom, I was having… trouble with the royal dressmaker."

Rarity squealed before getting right into Haru’s face. "What’s the occasion?" she asked, holding her hands in front of her in the classic ‘begging’ position.

Haru took in a deep breath before admitting, "My wedding."

Sunset actually felt a little sorry for the poor cat woman. There was a loud squeal, a blur of paper, a tape measure that kept wrapping around Haru’s parts like a persistent snake in the privacy of a backroom, and only listening to certain preferences before Rarity ran for the back of the bar.

Haru watched her go nervously before going back to her root beer. "So, what? Does she have a sewing room back there?"

Sunset grinned. "This place has rooms that shouldn't exist. And both she and I have offices in here… and Haru?" She gave the cat woman a thumbs up. "You won't regret it."

Haru was in tears again. But this time, there was a shining smile peeking out from her hands as she wept.

The dress was perfect. It flowed like a snowy river around her legs when she twirled, the bodice and fitted sleeves highlighting the gold embroidery that looked like vines running over both, though the skirt was plain, pleated silk. It was elegant, it was classy, and best of all...

Haru turned to Rarity with a wide smile. "I finally feel like a lady."

"I think," Sunset said—sipping some of the tea she had discovered the bar had earlier—"that judging by that ear-to-ear smile, you just made Rarity's week."

"And it has pockets!" she laughed through her tears, slipping her hands in and out of nearly invisible seams at her sides. "Do you know the kinds of arguments I’ve had over pockets?!"

"I imagine that they weren’t that different from my own arguments," Rarity assured her, blowing on her knuckles and rubbing them against her chest with pride.

"Poor Jula is going to be so disappointed when I tell her not to bother with my dress! Do you have a card?" Haru begged while gently holding just enough of the sheer veil from her eyes to look at the designer.

Sunset slipped a silver card and passed it to Haru. "That's a card to the bar, but you can usually get in contact with Rarity here. I was going to give you one anyway, but it seems like a good time to do so as any." She smirked. "By the way, the dress is on me. But you'll have to take a picture before leaving the bar."

Haru grinned happily. "That’s fair." She wrapped one arm around Rarity, who was all too enthusiastic about getting to hug a large kitty. "If things go well when I get back, I might be bringing my mother with me next time. Maybe even the Cat Queen."

"I’d be delighted," Rarity swooned as Sunset rolled her eyes, wrapped an arm from Haru’s other side, and took the picture.

"Oh, and if you want to see Rarity melt, bring little Haru for a dress fitting too," Sunset said off-handedly while she checked the picture, trying not to grin.

"Wait, little Haru?" Rarity asked with delight. "There’s two of you?!"

The brown cat could only laugh as she bundled her regular clothes under one arm and made her way back to the exit. "Oh, yes. And you have no idea how nervous that makes the royal healer."

Haru laughed as she exited her bathroom, still dressed every inch the bride.

"Sweetie? You are in there, right?" her mother called.

That made the brown feline blink in surprise. "How long have you been out there, Mom?"

"Less than a minute." Naoko paused. "Should I come back later?"

There was a part of Haru that wanted her to say yes, then pull another disappearing act. But she looked down at the silver card in her hand, and squared her shoulders. "Come right in, Mom."

A lovely red cat struggled a bit with the door handle before managing it with a small scowl. "No wonder this world prefers curtains." Then she got a good look at her daughter. She stared.

And stared.

Before she began weeping into her delicate little paws.

"Mom? I love it," Haru informed her a little firmly, though these didn’t seem to be her ‘angry’ tears.

Her mother responded by pouncing on her only child, barely understandable through her tears. "I… almost… missed this! Seeing you… meeting Baron… Jonathan…"

Sunset was right, after all.

Taking another deep breath to steady herself this time, she forced herself to turn just enough to present her back to her mother. "Help me out of this so we don’t ruin it. Then we can talk."

End Chapter

Author's Note

This story takes place after Fate and Fate's Hand, an Alternate Universe set in the world of The Cat Returns. It's a story I read a long time ago and really loved, due to her characterization of Haru in particular. If you enjoy TCR, check out those two fics for sure—and really anything else that YarningChick has written!
Many, many thanks go to YarningChick as well for writing this with me and letting me play with her characters. Also, when you read Fate, make sure to comment and leave a "Sunset brought me here!" note ;) let's show YC that the love spreads out from fimfic to ff.net and back!

YC A/N; I had a lot of fun revisiting Fate, and with getting to work with Wanderer D on a cute project. Although I've been toying with at least rewriting some of my earlier pieces, I strangely don't think I'd do more to Fate than pick a different method of scene breaks, since the website decided to delete the earlier ones without my approval. Thanks again for reaching out to me, this was fun!

A Door is a Door is a Door (Restaurant to Another World - Ongoing-ish)

Sunset's Isekai
A Door is a Door is a Door
By Wanderer D

Kuro sometimes regretted her long life. Not because she feared how ephemeral the lives of mortals were, but because of how sporadic joy seemed when surrounded by them. Those she grew to like. Those she grew to befriend. Those she grew to love.

Red was the same, in a way. She knew how short time was for her to indulge in the beef stew she so loved. Something that, if she knew her friend well, Red would invest even past the lives of this mortal Master Chef, Mako-san. She'd make sure that his children, and his children's children, and his descendants were chefs and cooks and creators of dishes. She had the time and the will. Entire empires would crumble before she started losing interest… eons would pass before she decided she'd gotten tired of that little pot of glorious cuisine... periods of time that were so past the understanding of a mortal mind that even the concept alone was staggering to them, much less the weight of its full reality.

"As always, dear friend—" Red said as Kuro held the door open for her "—I entrust my hoard's safety to you."

"I will protect it," she promised once again, as she did every time Red tasked her with this mission. Not that she needed to. Kuro found this place… energizing, and would not allow any mortal creature or god to cause it harm.

The bell chimed as the door closed behind Red, who was holding the still-boiling-hot pot of beef stew out of the restaurant in her bare hands, just so she could enjoy it with her draconic taste buds in the peace and quiet of her lair, something that Kuro herself had yet to do with her beloved curry. Although given the location of her own lair… it was probably not a good idea to try.

Kuro gently closed the door, barely catching a glimpse of the mountains of gold Red had piled up in her lair. As soon as the door was closed, the smell of sulfur and the heat of the outside disappeared, and the temperature was perfectly comfortable again.

She turned, heading back into the restaurant, absently running her hand on the edge of the table until she noticed something different.

"Master."

Mako—chef and owner of the Western Restaurant Nekoya—looked up from the island in the middle of the kitchen, carefully putting down the paring knife he had been using to clean up a large amount of Strawberries, and dried his hands. "Yes, Kuro? Is this about dinner? I know we've just closed for the night but you and Aletta should really wait until we've cleaned up the restaurant."

Kuro tilted her head. "There's a door in the restaurant."

Mako blinked. "A door."

"Yes," she said motioning for him to follow her to the main room, where Aletta stood, anxiously looking at the carved wooden door that was definitely not there before. Mako approached it, running his fingers down the dark wood, and tracing the etched glass sun-like yin-yang symbol at eye level. A small, neon sign of a martini glass with the same symbol on its edge, read "Sunset's Isekai".

"Huh."

"M-master," Aletta said, "is that normal? Is it another client? Maybe from a different kingdom?"

Kuro shook her head. "I cannot see past this door. I do not know where it goes, or what manner of creatures await on the other side, but it does not go back to our world."

"It is strange," he mused, "Sunset's Other World?" Mako sighed, leaning back and scratching the back of his head. "Ah. This is… not great. I don't mind visitors, but it's unusual for an establishment to randomly open within another."

"Unlike a door suddenly appearing every seven days?" Alletta asked, earning herself an amused look from Mako.

He shrugged, glancing around. "Well, it's a bar and it's after work hours, I guess I could see—"

Before his hand reached the door handle, Kuro stopped him, gently holding him back. She shook her head at his quizzical look. "I promised Red that I would protect you."

"Um, Kuro, are you sure? Red is—"

"An old friend with whom I have an agreement," she interrupted Aletta. "I understand and appreciate your concern, but a door like this appearing inside this place is not done with casual magic."

Aletta and Mako shared a look, and Kuro could feel their worry, even if she didn't read their minds. She nodded formally as the pair finally stepped back. "Few beings pose a challenge to me. I shall return soon." She took a step to the door and held the handle. "And master…"

Mako straightened. "Yes?"

"Make sure there is some curry for me when I return."

Mako laughed. "Of course, Kuro."

Sunset debated between which picture she should put on the wall, and which one to keep for herself. Both were of Baron and Haru's wedding, and herself and Rarity in them. It had been quite the event, with plenty of celebration, pomp and food. Plus she herself didn't get to be a cat often, and she made quite the striking feline if she said so herself.

It was probably healthier for the male population of the cat kingdom that she didn't visit often, given that they didn't take hints well and they were notoriously dense when it came to clarifying that she was not interested in mice. She was leaning to keeping the picture where she was holding little Haru for herself—and putting the one where Rarity was holding the young princess on the wall—when she heard the bell chime at the entrance to the bar.

Setting the pictures aside, she checked herself, and smiled. Before she frowned. It was unusual to feel that level of power coming through her door after all. Still, a guest was a guest, and so, when the elf in the maid-like dress walked in, she smiled again. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai! I'm Sunset Shimmer, and I will be your bartender tonight."

The elven woman, who had striking golden irises and deep black hair, stared at her impassively for a moment, before carefully studying the rest of the bar. She then approached the counter. "Greetings, Sunset Shimmer. I am known as Kuro. I have come to investigate why your door appeared in our restaurant."

Sunset blinked, then slowly glared up at the roof. "Really? A restaurant? Ugh."

"I take it you were unaware of that?"

"Yeah," Sunset said, sighing. "It's kind of embarrassing actually, although I promise that it's not about interfering with your business. My bar opens for personal guests wherever they are, when they need to talk." She held the elf's eyes with her own. "And here you are." She motioned to the stools. "We're outside time and space so no time will have passed in your world when you return."

The elf hesitated.

"Come on," Sunset said, grinning. "I don't get goddesses visiting that often."

Kuro's face actually showed surprise, even if it was a simple widening of her eyes and small parting of the lips. "Some call me that," she said, "as a result of unfortunate events."

"Those entities that have a religion about them do get a bit of that god-like signature," Sunset admitted, studying her guest. "And your power is enough to easily put you in that category in many worlds."

"Your own power is sufficiently strong to magically outstrip most creatures of my world."

Sunset felt herself smirk. "Still not as strong as yours."

"And yet you do not seem intimidated by me," Kuro said, "that is most unusual."

Sunset shrugged. "My bar won't let anyone with ill intentions in here. So, if you don't mind my asking, if you're not a goddess, what are you exactly?"

Kuro seemed to consider her words briefly before sitting down. "I have no currency I can use to pay you for food," she clarified. "That is why I work at the restaurant." She tilted her head, making her long, straight black hair sway. "My friend Red has added the restaurant to her hoard, maybe I could do the same for your bar."

Sunset had to admit, the thought of someone like Kuro working as a waitress for a restaurant seemed… outlandish. "Tell you what, the first drink is on me, but no claiming my bar as your hoard." She wagged her finger at the elf, who noted the gesture with curiosity. "I know dragons tend to claim things for their hoards, but it is not generally acceptable behaviour for most cultures in the multiverse."

"Understood. You are not worried that I am a dragon?"

"Nah, I know a few," Sunset said, picking up a menu and giving it to Kuro. "Please, choose a drink."

"How curious, your menu has a spell that allows me to understand what you're offering."

"It's a handy little spell, isn't it?"

"Nekoya only has menus in Japanese and the Eastern Continent common language."

Sunset gave Kuro time to study the menu, and soon the dragon had ordered a Chateau Mont Valjean, which she readily produced for her and served up.

As Kuro let the wine breathe, she glanced up at Sunset. "I am one of six primordial dragons that fought for a thousand years and defeated the Chaos of Many Tentacles. Myself, Gold, Red, Blue, Green, and White, became what the locals of the world now call the Six Pillars."

"Huh, so a traditional chthonic entity of unquestionable chaotic power."

Kuro nodded. "For thousands of years, it had the world trapped in a cycle of death and rebirth… until Gold decided to stop it and gathered us to fight. We stopped it, but during the time it took us to destroy it, all the old world creatures had perished and the world gave birth to new, less powerful races."

She looked at the wine, her face not betraying any emotion, and yet, Sunset could feel that there was some regret there.

"While the others were able to return there and claim territories, my power was… dangerous to lesser creatures. My mere presence alone could cause them to die if I flew by in my natural form." She delicately sipped her wine, seeming to enjoy it, but her eyes were still distant, recalling the past. "And so, to protect them, I left. I flew out of the world, and claimed the remains of the moon as my territory, where I would pose no threat to any creature. I have been there for thirty thousand years now, alone."

Sunset sighed, crossing her arms. Since becoming the owner of her bar, she had met a few deities that had visited. Some, she'd had to face directly, defeat, and even while adventuring with Rarity. It was unusual to meet a goddess that worried not only about her own followers, but living creatures in general. "I'm sorry to hear that. It seems you care a lot about their lives."

"It is an odd thing, for their 'Goddess of Death', I'm sure." Kuro said, looking up as if expecting a negative reaction.

Sunset laughed. "That is true. Although I suppose that in a very real sense, no creature would have a greater understanding of the value of life, than a god of death."

The tiniest of smiles crossed Kuro's face, and her eyes warmed.

"It's a long time to be alone, though," Sunset said, barely even able to comprehend the concept of being stuck in a single place for what sounded like an eternity. "How come you ended up working in a restaurant?"

"Nakoya is special. Every seven days—on the day of Satur—its doors will appear all over the world. If a creature knows where to find one, they are able to go into the Master's world and eat in his restaurant."

"Master?"

"That is what people of my world call him, and other owners of their respective establishments when within their bounds, unless they—like you—indicate that you would rather be called something different."

"Huh. That sounds similar to my bar," Sunset said after a moment. "I guess there's a couple of differences: Sunset's Isekai will appear anywhere in the multiverse, and I only serve drinks." She grinned. "So what kind of food do you serve?"

"The Master cooks what he calls 'Western Food', a style of cooking from his world," Kuro said. "He has made it clear that it is different from the food of his country, which he calls 'Japan'."

"Hey, I used to work in a sushi restaurant while I was in highschool," Sunset said. When Kuro tilted her head, she clarified, "A type of Japanese cuisine. We might be from the same world."

Kuro nodded. "It wasn't until a door to his restaurant appeared in my territory that I had a chance to enjoy the company of mortals again, albeit in this form, out of necessity to fit in, and also for their protection."

"I have a friend who was exiled to the moon for a thousand years," Sunset said, "but she was barely conscious of time passing."

Kuro shook her head. "Because it was my own choice, I naturally remained aware… my followers ask for my blessing, and sometimes I will grant it. But I would always watch the world I protected from afar."

"Sounds very lonely."

Kuro didn't say anything for a few minutes, simply content to drink her wine in silence. Sunset couldn't guess what the dragon-turned-elf was thinking. "I'm sorry, I didn't intend—"

"It is fine, Kuro said, looking up. "It's nice to be alone sometimes, and I still get anxious about being around creatures with insufficient power to not die in my presence… but I did miss my friends." She lifted the wineglass and studied the light going through. "Facing eternity with only my thoughts for company, or the distant prayers of those that consider me their patron was a small prize for the safety of the new creatures living in the world. I just wish that I was able to fly and meet with Red or White." She took a deep breath. "When the door appeared… I got a chance to have company again… something I thought I would have to wait a long time for… and I discovered curry." Kuro nodded firmly. "And now my life is complete."

"Wait, curry?"

"Curry." Kuro smiled for real this time. "When I first entered the restaurant, one of the regulars, Admiral Alphonse Flügel bought me an order of curry. Mako—the Master, prepares the most amazing curry, and it is my favorite food ever."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "That must be some curry."

"It is delicious." Kuro looked up at Sunset. "You should come," she said, "the Master is saving some for me."

Sunset shook her head. "I couldn't…"

"Doesn't it get lonely sometimes?" Kuro asked, and Sunset paused, giving her a look.

"Even if you get customers occasionally or frequent visitors, one thing I have learned from working in Nekoya, is that spending time with others is very important. You are here to provide your guests with an ear and a drink and they can come in at any time, but even if time passes differently in this world, it still passes in between visitors. Why isolate yourself to one place when you have the opportunity to try more for no other special reason than to try new things?" She glanced around. "The magic here is different. Powerful. Ancient. But one thing is true… it will always be here. And so will you, whether you step out for a bit or not. That much, I understand."

Sunset felt her stomach grumble.

Kuro smirked. "I heard that."

"Was it that loud?" Sunset asked, cringing a little and feeling herself smile despite the embarrassment.

Rather than answering, Kuro used the tip of a finger to touch one of her own, very long ears.

"Ah."

As soon as the door closed, Aletta turned to look at Mako. "Master, are you sure Kuro will be okay?"

"I—she seemed pretty convinced that she could take care of herself," Mako said hesitantly. "And she is a friend of Red's, I can't imagine her being—"

"But, what if she gets in trouble! It's very strange to have a door appear out of nowhere!" Aletta said. "I know! It happened to me!"

"And you're okay, right?" Mako said. "Look, this seems to be a similar situation to the Nekoya. The door is well crafted and taken care of, and the drink menu looks fairly good, I'm su—" He was interrupted by the door opening again, and Kuro stepping out "—she'll be out in no time! See?"

"Master," Kuro nodded politely and stepped aside to allow someone else to walk out. "This is Sunset Shimmer, proprietor of 'Sunset's Isekai'."

Mako took a moment to study the smartly dressed young woman with flaming red and gold hair, wearing a black vest over a red shirt that followed Kuro out. Her skin was leaning on light orange, and for a moment he wondered if she was going for a ganguro look, but it seemed her natural tan, reminding him of her namesake. He extended his hand. "Mako Yamagata," he said when she shook it. "Owner of the Nekoya."

Sunset grinned. "Sunset Shimmer, owner of Sunset's Isekai. Sorry for dropping my door in your restaurant."

Mako smirked. "Now I know how everyone else feels."

"Master."

"Yes, Kuro?"

"We came for curry."

End Chapter

Author's Note

While I hadn't watched "Restaurant to Another World" I had heard of it, and it was one of those things that people thought I was referencing or imitating, even if I wasn't. As I've pointed out before, places like Sunset's Isekai, or Western Restaurant Nekoya, are nothing new to fantasy literature or tv.

However, I had wanted to watch the series, and the comments were a constant reminder that I hadn't. So I did. :twilightsheepish: And I read the manga. And started the Light Novels. :twilightblush:

Ongoing-ish because the Anime doesn't appear to have future seasons in store, the manga is finished, and the light novels are continuing. To keep things simple, I only referenced stuff that is known in the anime, save for Mako's actual name, which I don't believe is revealed in the series.

Tales of the Isekai (Avatar: The Last Airbender - Complete)

Sunset's Isekai
Tales of the Isekai
By Wanderer D

"Okay, then, I'll take these…" Sunset said, pointing to a large bag of leaves, and these. "Oh, and what type of wines does the Earth Nation have?"

The lady behind the counter motioned to a couple of servants, who started packing everything that Sunset had pointed at earlier, including the tea leaves. "Ah, an interesting question, my lady, there are several types of wine, but I just happened to receive recently several boxes of very high quality Mao Tai from Ba Sing Se." She bowed slightly and extended her hand towards the side of the store, where three large boxes lay.

"I have very… eclectic visitors," Sunset said, "and quite a few who are devoted to the tasting of wine, do you have an open bottle?"

The merchant seemed slightly startled, and spared a glance at what Sunset had already selected and was being loaded into her rented cart. A slight calculating look crossed her features.

"I understand your hesitance," Sunset said, "but if I like it, I won't take less than one of your boxes, and of course the rest of the bottle."

The merchant's eyes went wide and she hesitated. "Ba Sing Se is several months away from here, and the wine takes decades to make. I do not mean to offend, but that is a lot of money on top of everything else."

"I am not offended," Sunset said. "And I appreciate your concern, but this is an investment for me, so I am not afraid to spend on something that is worth it."

"Very well," the merchant said, bowing. She turned to another servant. "Fetch me a cup for our guest."

"I think you should slow down, Prince Zuko," Iroh said, watching his nephew stroll down the streets with several soldiers as they intimidated most people on the street to let them pass. "Running mindlessly will only get you in trouble."

"I had the Avatar, Uncle!" Zuko growled. "I had him, and he tricked me!"

"You and Zhao and a bunch of soldiers and questionable Fire Sages if I recall correctly," Iroh countered. "Perhaps taking a step back and considering where you are going will put things into perspective?"

"I don't need rest!" Zuko snarled, glancing over his shoulder.

He wasn't looking at where he was going, and thus completely missed the servant loading the cart in front of him. "Zuko! Watch out!"

Zuko's head turned to the front, but by then it was too late. He slammed into the servant carrying a large box, making them both stumble back. The servant fell, dropping the box to the floor, and Iroh winced when he heard several bottles break.

"Watch where you're going, you idiot!" Zuko shouted at the downed servant, cutting the air with his hand and leaving a trail of flames in front of the terrified local.

"Hey, dumbass!" someone shouted, making Zuko stop and glare at the young woman that had emerged from the store the servant had left earlier. She was dressed in a silken setup with a yin-yang sun of red and gold that matched her hair. Clearly a Fire Nation design… or was it?

"What. Did you call me?" Zuko hissed.

"A dumbass. A moron. A jackass. A dimwit. A nincompoop. A dunce." The young lady listed walking around to help the downed Earth Nation servant up. "The kind of idiot that thinks that it's okay to destroy someone else's property and can walk away with no consequence."

"Your servant should watch where he's going." Zuko said coldly, apparently holding back his ire on account of her seemingly being a subject of the Fire Nation.

"He's not my servant," the young lady snapped, "and just because someone has an honest job doesn't mean you get to treat them like trash."

Interesting. This lady was clearly a merchant of some sort. Iroh could recognize the marks on the box. That was definitely not cheap. It was little wonder that she should be upset. But many things intrigued him. Her dress and attitude did befit a Fire National, but also were of really high quality. Quality enough to warrant bodyguards, a sigil, and some notoriety. And yet, she had neither recognized Zuko (arguably one of the most easily identified faces of the Fire Nation) or presented herself by title or family as tradition would demand upon facing a royal with his guard.

"Prince Zuko, perhaps you should cov—"

"Don't interrupt me, uncle," Zuko growled. "I will teach this merchant not to interrupt my business."

"Pay me the fifteen gold pieces that cost and you can go."

"Fift—" Zuko stomped his foot on the floor. "I will not! You will beg forgiveness for interrupting your prince an—"

"You're no prince of mine." She snorted. "Pay up."

Uh-oh. Maybe this girl did know that Zuko had been exiled after all. That was one hell of a calculated insult if that was the case. Even if it wasn't intended as such, predictably his nephew did take offense and snapped into a fighting position. "Take that back!" he snarled, his form flowing until he threw two bolts of fire straight at the young woman.

The fire covered her shape before she had any chance of erecting a defense, making the locals scream in horror at her apparent sudden death. But Iroh knew better. She hadn't even seemed impressed at the flames. That spoke of supreme idiocy, or most likely confidence. Now it was her turn to prove the second was merited.

"What a waste," Zuko said. "She should have—"

"What, let you get away with wasting my hard-earned money because you're not man enough to pay up?" the woman asked from within the flames. Before their eyes the fire curled up around her, revealing no damage had been done to her or even her dress.

Iroh's eyes narrowed. That was impressive fire bending.

"So," the woman said casually as Zuko's flames snaked up her arm and condensed into a small fireball that she quenched when she closed her hand into a fist. "You're a pyromancer. Do you have any other tricks?"

"But… how?" Zuko asked, eyes wide.

"You think the personal student of the goddess of the sun would have trouble with a flame?" the woman asked. "I learned to handle pyromancy when I was just a little filly. If that's all you can do, then you'd better pay me and let me go my way, you're not going to impress me otherwise."

"Oh my," a voice said next to Iroh, making him turn to look at the other young lady that had just arrived. This one had the fairest skin he had ever seen, and was wearing a complicated kimono of white silk with flowing streams of diamonds embroidered into it with silken thread and sapphires, almost simulating waves that matched her own hair. "I see that Sunset has met young prince Zuko. I hear his temper is a match for his father's."

Iroh studied the woman. She looked young but carried herself with a quiet confidence and spirit that the other woman lacked still. She was definitely older. But how much… he couldn't tell. "I'm afraid Prince Zuko damaged some of the young lady's goods," he said. "And my nephew refuses to pay, which is the cause of this debacle."

The woman glanced at him with a smile. "Is it? Sunset Shimmer would not stoop down to this if it was just about the money. Are you sure nothing else happened?"

Ah. "Indeed, something else did," Iroh acknowledged. "I was hoping my nephew would get some rest. Perhaps that would have quenched his anger and he might have acted differently."

"Hm, perhaps he will get some rest," the lady said. "Especially if he keeps pushing Sunset Shimmer to act." She shook her head. "Maybe next time he will be more careful about stepping on others he considers below his station, if he understands why Sunset is doing this."

"Maybe he shall," Iroh said. His attention returned to Zuko, who now was obviously more than ready to start a real fight. The young lady was looking more annoyed than worried.

"Sunset, dear," the woman next to Iroh called. "I have already purchased another box. I need to head over to… a different place. Please don't change the flow of history. I have it on good authority the young prince is just overtaxing himself."

"Fine. As soon as this clown learns to calm the hay down, I'll head back over."

"I'm going to teach you to respect your betters!" Zuko snapped, his body flowing into a powerful fire blast that never finished. While he followed the steps, the young woman had simply raised her hand and the flames had snuffed out as if they had never existed.

"Wha—"

"I heard you hadn't slept much," Sunset Shimmer spoke, "maybe you should."

Zuko collapsed as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut. Iroh ran over to him and knelt down motioning for the guards to step back. He turned his nephew around and leaned in, hearing him breathing calmly.

He looked up, but Sunset Shimmer and her cart were gone. He narrowed his eyes and stood up. "Please carry Prince Zuko back to his room and make sure he sleeps. I will be back shortly."

The bodyguards nodded, lifting Zuko up and carrying him away. Iroh looked around. Now, where had that young lady gone?

Sunset set the new box of wines on her counter, and wiped her brow before she started organizing the rest of her purchases. "The nerve of that insufferable little…"

She stopped when she heard the bell at the door chime. "Hello?" a voice called in.

"Come on in," she called back. "I'm just finishing up in here." She lifted the crate from the counter and put it down behind the bar. She straightened up, looking down at her current clothing, something that Rarity had designed with their last world-visit in mind, and decided that would do for today. No time to change into her usual bartending clothes.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar outside of spa—" she stopped, frowning as she recognized the portly old man that walked in. He had been with the so-called prince earlier. "I'd like to say it's a pleasure, but I'm not sure why you followed me."

The man looked around the bar in complete bafflement for a few seconds, then turned to regard her. "This bar of yours, is it in the spirit world? I can sense I am no longer in my own."

Sunset's eyebrows rose. "I'm impressed. My bar is in its own dimension, outside of yours."

"Ah, most interesting!" the man said, smiling widely as he took a seat. "I saw you bought some White Dragon leaves earlier, Miss Shimmer, perhaps we could drink some tea?"

Sunset took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Fine. Fine. Let me heat up some water."

They remained quiet as she set up the teapot and poured in some hot water, letting the leaves seep. Her guest seemed content to wait and relax while the tea was ready, so she took advantage of that to put a couple of bottles of the Earth Nation wine she had bought on the bar, then pushed the box with the rest of them into her storage.

When she straightened up, she found that her guest had poured two cups of tea already. "Tea is best enjoyed with good company," he said when she raised her eyebrow.

Despite herself, she couldn't be angry at him. "Fair enough, resonates with what my old teacher used to say."

She picked up her cup and sipped the tea. It was very good. Almost velvety, with a creamy texture to it that warmed her body and relaxed her muscles. She felt the tension slowly drain as she sipped the cup.

"Excellent tea," the man said. "But do forgive me, my name is Iroh."

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Sunset said.

"Indeed! It is not often I meet such an interesting individual! You seemed to have unusual bending skills. I have never seen the like."

"Oh… that was magic."

"Ah," the man said as if that explained everything. And it did. Still…

"I'm surprised by the lack of reaction to this revelation."

Iroh nodded. "It is not that I am not surprised, but rather that I have come to understand that in different worlds, rules would naturally work differently."

"You did mention this 'Spirit World'," Sunset said.

"Yes, a most interesting place," Iroh responded. "I wouldn't mind visiting again."

"So, what brings you to my bar?"

"A great many things," Iroh said, leaning back on his seat. "Curiosity. My feet. Thirst."

Sunset grinned. "You're adorable."

"Ah, I will take that as a compliment."

"It was. You're not what I expected, given the company you keep."

Iroh's smile became a little less pronounced. "You must forgive young Zuko. He has much to learn about the world. About himself. About anger and frustration."

Sunset flinched. "I know that feeling all too well."

"Perhaps, but you seem to have a better handle on it than he does," Iroh pointed out, raising his cup in her direction. "Had the other young lady with you not pointed it out, I would have taken longer to notice your misdirection earlier. Very clever."

Sunset sighed. "I just didn't want this Zuko guy to be angry at the servant."

"Indeed!" Iroh said with a full belly laugh, "It was most amusing to see my nephew so flustered. I think he likes you."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Nice way of showing it."

"Ah, the boy will grow out of it, I hope," Iroh said, leaning in to pour more tea into his cup. "His father gave him that scar on his face for showing weakness before, and the Fire Nation is known for seeing things like humility and temperance as weaknesses."

Sunset frowned. That was an all-too familiar theme. "You seem different."

Iroh sighed. "I wasn't always." He gazed at his cup. "Once, long ago, I was one of the Fire Nations most ruthless and efficient generals. I wanted power. I was hungry for victory at any cost. Glory and recognition kept me ensnared with their promises...I won battle after battle during the one hundred year war and finally laid siege to Ba Sing Se for six hundred days! And on the cusp of victory…"

Sunset watched him deflate and sip his tea.

"...I learned my own dose of humility."

She sipped her own tea. Thoughts flashing back to her own stint as a power-hungry demon of fire. "What happened?"

Iroh's shoulders slumped. "My son, Lu Ten died in combat. Up until that day, I was blind to what my so-called victories brought with them. The suffering of others. The families lost. The despair others had felt and would feel as the war continued. It was a harsh, humbling lesson that I took to heart." He placed the cup on the counter and tipped it slightly, his eyes lost. "Up until then, there was no pain. And because there was no pain for me… there was no pain for others.

"It took the death of the one I loved for me to understand the love I had denied others. I did not know what it was, and I could not comprehend it until it was too late." Iroh took a deep breath. "I am trying to teach Zuko the lessons I didn't learn soon enough, that he might not make the same mistakes I did in my youth."

Sunset couldn't help but frown at the memory of the prince, slowly realizing why she had felt such anger. "I was a lot like him. It took… friends and being humiliated and defeated before I even understood there had always been another way."

"Ah, but it is a lesson that you learned fully," Iroh said kindly. "Your anger at Zuko was not just because he was throwing a tantrum, it was because he was bullying an innocent person." He served himself more tea. "If I were to guess, I would say that you did that at one point too. And that whatever happened to teach you a better way still left you feeling guilty."

Sunset snorted. "Me and every other Sunset Shimmer in the multiverse, it seems."

"Guilt is not useful, miss Shimmer," Iroh said. "Guilt is self-serving in the end; with guilt you do not do things for others, but because you want redemption. However redemption is not achieved by being selfish. Perspective, however comes from realization. And it is perspective that guides us to do better for others and ultimately for ourselves.

"It took perspective for me to realize what I had denied my son—and where my decisions had taken him. Perspective taught me where I could help, rather than destroy. Where I could guide, rather than force. This is what I want to teach young prince Zuko. Perspective. Perhaps in this search for the Avatar he will find it and grow far beyond his siblings and even his father."

Sunset smiled. "I hope so. Perspective is something we could all use."

"I have a feeling that this bar of yours brings with it plenty into your life." Iroh nodded, finishing his tea. He stood up and stretched. "Well! This has been a lovely conversation, but my old bones are tired. Perhaps I should go rest as well." He dug into his pocket.

"Oh no, don—"

"Nonsense, Miss Sunset," he interrupted, putting down a pile of gold coins on the counter. "We do owe fifteen gold coins for the crate."

Sunset chuckled. "Twelve. The three extra you can give to the servant Zuko attacked. It's what I was going to do."

Iroh smiled and nodded.

"Oh, and before you go… let me take a picture with you."

When Zuko snorted awake, he immediately hated the fact that he felt better. Whoever that merchant was, either she was too powerful, or he had been too tired. He groaned and rolled onto his feet.

Looking up, he saw his uncle studying a silver card of some sort. "Uncle Iroh. What happened?"

"Ah, Zuko," Iroh said, smiling as he stood up and dusted his pants. "Nice to see you awake! Had a good night's sleep?"

"A good—" he bit his lip and took a deep breath, choosing to glare at his uncle instead of shouting. "I slept all night?"

"Indeed! Yes, you did!" His uncle cheerfulness was something that was too grating to acknowledge.

"And what happened to the merchant woman that did this to me?"

Iroh shrugged. "She went away."

"If I ever see her—"

"You should thank her," Iroh interrupted.

Zuko gaped at his uncle, unable to process that train of thought. "Why?"

"She let you go easy," Iroh pointed out. "You cost her a lot of money when you bumped into that servant. Instead of repaying her for what you caused, you instead chose to fight. She was wearing Fire Nation clothes too. For all intents and purposes, she could have been one of your future subjects who you disparaged and dismissed in front of another nation."

Zuko cringed, closing his eyes and absorbing his uncle's words. True, he had not looked where he was going. And true, he could have simply apologized. And true, he had insulted a fellow fire bender and subject with his attitude. All of his words rang true. And he had to accept that.

"Uncle, we shall find this merchant and repay her for the loss of her wines."

"Ah, I have already ensured she got it back, Zuko," his uncle replied, his voice tinged with the slight hint of pride that made those moments secretly worth it. It was his uncle's pride in him that sometimes kept Zuko going, after all.

"Good. If I ever meet her, I will apologize in person, but for now we must hurry after the Avatar."

"Right you are!" his uncle said. "And good news too, while you slept we heard word that the Avatar had doubled back and was traveling North."

Zuko forgot about the merchant, feeling anger and eagerness boiling within him. "Good. Then we will bring him down."

End Chapter

Author's Note

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Gwen Stacy: Into the Sunset Bar (Ghost Spider - Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
Gwen Stacy: Into the Sunset Bar
By Wanderer D

Gwen Stacy stepped out of class and stretched, wondering once more at the mechanics of inter-dimensional cross-universal curriculums and the mysterious operations of school secretaries that could make something like that possible. That, and she still had issues with old-er Peter Parker subbing for the occasional professor. It was cringy enough to deal with his eternal wistfulness to saving his local Gwen Stacy from a death he couldn't have stopped, but given what had happened to her own Peter Parker… well. There was too much baggage there to just roll with it easily.

Thankfully, other than waving at her at the end of class, he hadn't really insisted on talking, which was fine by her. She wasn't really in the mood for spider business right now, and she also had a mission.

And speaking of which...

"Hey Mark, have you seen Benji around? I still have a book she lent me last week and I haven't seen her for a couple of days."

Mark stopped stuffing his notebooks into his backpack long enough to glance over at her. "Haven't seen much of her since a couple of days ago. With exams coming soon I wouldn't be surprised if she recused herself from known society until she's done with them."

Gwen bit her lip. "Alright, I guess I'll text her. Again."

"Good luck with that," Mark snorted. He then started packing again. "By the way, Eve and the rest of the gang were wondering if you'd like to hang out again, maybe tomorrow?"

"I'll have to check my schedule, but if I'm free, I'll be happy to."

Mark nodded. "Fair enough! In any case, I'm off. Catch you later, Gwen."

She watched him go, waving her hand with little enthusiasm. "Well, there goes that lead." She sighed and started walking down the halls of Empire State University, nodding to the occasional classmate or teacher that she crossed paths with. 'Good ol' Earth-616,' she thought, 'where I can still walk down a building and not be harassed to rescue a kitten, take pictures or perform amazing feats for the masses.'

After her third walk around campus, she owned up to it and decided that her friend, Benji Jones, was really not around and thus she'd have to bring the book back tomorrow, when they did have class together. It probably would have been smarter too. Still, three walks took time, and she was already pushing it for time before she needed to get back home and ready for band practice.

"There's never time to relax, is there?" she muttered under her breath.

Mary Jane might've been working on her temper, but that did not mean it was a good idea to test how much she had improved on that front. And so, Gwen ran out of the building, down the stairs, across the street, up the wall as her clothes shifted and turned into her costume, and invoked a portal back to sweet home Earth-65.

This time, she made sure to use a building she knew rather than attempt a new one at random. She didn't want a repeat of her last misadventure after all.(1)

"Oh, shiii—"

That's when she realized she had forgotten one tiny detail. The old, spray-painted sign where she was used to landing had been recently removed to allow for remodeling the rooftop. So, in essence, she had flung herself out of a portal in mid-air and ready to land on a flat surface… which was now air and a bunch of pieces of metal in the way.

Instincts and body reacting immediately, she tucked in her arms and legs as she pressed her weight and momentum into a roll that allowed her a better angle to shoot her web to a side building, changing her trajectory as her lifeline bent around one of the metal edges, and swung her into a tight left turn. She increased her velocity by stretching just at the right moment and providing less friction as she flew, straight as an arrow, through three beams of steel.

The moment she passed, she spread her arms and legs, bending slightly forward so that she would be facing the next challenge in a more upright position, which allowed her to shoot another web, this time to turn right and land skillfully on another tall building, roughly seven stories up, and sticking to the wall long enough to take a calming breath.

That's when she felt herself slipping down a bit. "Gah!" she shouted, grabbing wildly for anything at all, and holding on from the doorknob for dear life. She felt her powers kick back in just a few seconds later, but still took her time easing onto the wall.

She glanced at the streets far below. "Well. That would have left a dent. Good thing this handy door was right here on the seventh floor, facing empty air." Gwen let out a long breath. "I don't have much of a choice now, do I?" she muttered as an addendum. Communing with her symbiote, she sensed that it was hungry again. Still, she should be able to at least investigate this a little.

It was a bar. On the seventh floor, with the only obvious entrance facing empty air. The term Building Violation didn't even begin to describe how this was a problem. Once she was inside, she closed the door behind her, the silver bell chiming once more as the heavy door sealed securely.

Gwen studied what she could see so far. Like many New York bars she had seen, this one had a bit of a short, dark hallway that emerged into the bar proper. It was nice too. The type of expensive bar one would expect to find wealthy locals at. It wasn't sporty… it had brick walls, polished wooden oak tables, a long bar that stretched almost to the back, and shelves full of expensive looking liquor. Even the bottom shelf had stuff in bottles that seemed handcrafted and exotic. Had she mentioned expensive? It all looked expensive.

Since she was in Earth-65, there was little point in wearing her costume, so she shifted it into a more appropriate dress and coat as she walked in. There was no sign of the bartender yet, and in their absence, Gwen took the chance instead to study the mysterious bar a bit more.

Even though the initial look of the bar spoke of old-school New York, the walls were covered in random things, like guitars and a poster for some sort of furry band called Villian Court, which was odd enough in how photo-realistic it looked. If Axel Rose had been born female, a purple unicorn and still had her (his?) musical career going, that's probably what she'd look like. It was signed and everything by a "Princess Twilight Sparkle, to my favorite bartender."

She walked down the bar, her hand trailing the tables as she made her way to the end of the wall, where several pictures were organized. 'Probably the beginning of an intended all-wall picture collection,' she mused. It was then that something clicked.

In all pictures, she could see the same girl, red and gold hair, light cyan eyes, an almost orange tan to her skin, and mostly wearing a black vest with a white or cream-colored blouse, or in some instances something more appropriate to a high-class old-western bar. That was probably the owner/bartender, but the really weird part, was the other people in the pictures. Or creatures, rather.

There was a picture of the bartender with herself and another girl. A picture of a Krogan, the bartender, and an actual unicorn that looked disturbingly similar to the furry in the poster. There was another admittedly beautiful unicorn furry in a cowboy suit. The bartender with a… pony, a griffon… a dragon, some sort of horsebug, another griffon like thing, and… most odd of all, a yak? A couple of pictures with other, darker-colored bug ponies, the bartender standing in the middle of a bunch of incredibly similar creatures that ranged from a human girl to a unicorn, to a robot and a cardboard cut-off…

"Oh." Gwen said, eyes wide as she studied the other pictures. Medieval-looking people. Creatures of myth. Several versions of a same person (or creature)... "This is an honest to god interdimensional bar." Maybe she should cover her face after all.

Before she could act on that, a door behind her opened, and she turned around in place, watching as the bartender girl from the pictures walked into the room, carrying a crate of things, topped with several heavy-looking books.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Oh," the bartender said slowly, then her eyes widened as she seemed to finally take in the fact that Gwen was right there. "Oh! Sorry!" She quickly put the box behind the bar and out of view and dusted herself, making her clothes look presentable. "I somehow missed the bell ringing. My name is Sunset Shimmer. Welcome to Sunset's Isekai! I see you've already found the pictures. Are you familiar with the multiverse?"

"In more ways than one," Gwen said warily. "Name's Gwen Stacy."

"Well, that makes it more easy to explain the deal here," Sunset said, motioning for Gwen to sit at the bar. "So, pocket dimension, meaning it exists outside of your time and space."

Gwen felt herself relax a little. That meant that time here was not aligned with her own world. "Well that's good to know. At least I don't have to worry about being late for band practice."

Sunset Shimmer grinned at that. "Always nice to meet another musician," she said, nodding her head at the guitars.

"I play the drums, myself," Gwen said, finally deciding to take Sunset on the offer and sitting down at the bar.

"The cornerstone of any band," Sunset declared.

"So," Gwen glanced a the place once more. "How come your bar's door appeared on the seventh floor of a building, and facing the street?"

Sunset blinked. "Were you somehow on the outside of the building?"

Gwen nodded.

"Oh. Well, the thing about my bar is that whenever it appears like that, it's because you could use a drink," Sunset explained. "So, it'll open close to where you are at the time, in a convenient way to let you into it."

"I'm not one of the 'going to the bar to forget my woes' types," Gwen said, raising an eyebrow.

"You're one of my 'personal' guests as I like to call them," Sunset said, passing her a menu. "You don't have to drink anything at all if you don't want to, visits like these are because you need a friendly ear, not because I need cash. If you want a drink, that's a bonus."

Despite Sunset's words, Gwen still had her doubts. After all, the point of having a business was to make money. Still, glancing at the menu couldn't hurt, and she was kind of thirsty. She could always just order a pop if nothing else seemed good.

She looked again at the menu. "Wait, these are smoothies?"

Sunset leaned in and looked down at it. "Huh. Seems like it."

"You don't know what's in your menus?" Gwen asked.

"Gwen, there's so much alcohol and possible mixes here that if I put everything I have in the menu it would look as thick as a dictionary. My menus are designed to sense what you might want or what might benefit you most. Seems you're in desperate need of a smoothie."

"But why a—" Gwen interrupted herself, looking down at her clothes. Of course. "That makes sense."

"What does?"

Allowing the symbiote to change her into her costume, Gwen took some pride in the look on Sunset's face when she saw the clothes dissolve into millions of tiny spiders that reformed into her Ghost Spider suit. "My symbiote's diet has been an issue as of late. My friend Peter Parker told me that I basically just needed a higher intake of fiber, since Corn Dogs weren't nutritious enough for it."(2)

Sunset tapped her chin. "Hm. Do you like bananas and kiwis?"

"Meh. I don't dislike them," Gwen replied. She'd tried the smoothie diet before, but it had died early enough when it required an additional level of dedication that she just didn't have time for.

"Alright," the bartender continued, "then let me make you a smoothie that's high in fiber. That should help."

Gwen watched Sunset open a small fridge under the bar and pull out the ingredients. "You just happen to have them there?"

"Nope, this thing here is actually an interdimensional pocket of its own that allows me to store just about anything I want in a frozen moment in time. It gets a little loopy sometimes, but hey, we do with what we have."

"That's an odd way of describing something." Gwen shook her head as Sunset proceeded to make two good-sized smoothies and served them up. She studied hers carefully before giving it a sip. What she had said earlier was true, she hadn't really gotten into the smoothie thing, and she was mostly indifferent to bananas, but she had to admit, the acidity of the berries and kiwis made this a lot more tasty than she thought it would be. "Hmm. This is good!"

She slurped it up fairly quickly, a testament to the hunger the symbiote had been feeling, and didn't have to ask again for another serving to come right up. She had to admit, going to a bar and having this level of personalized attention was pretty nice.

"So, I'm assuming you're a superhero from the costume?" Sunset asked.

"Well," Gwen sighed, wondering how much she should actually share. She was starting to like this Sunset Shimmer, and didn't want to give her the wrong idea. "Trying to, at least. It's kind of hard when everyone knows your identity to do honest hero work."

Sunset's eyes widened a bit. "I thought it was common practice to not tell people your secret identity?"

Gwen grimaced. "Sometimes you can. Sometimes… it's inevitable. That's why I'm going to college in a different universe than mine. I'm not a celebrity of any sort in Earth-616. I barely even have a presence, and really the only ones that know me are other heroes that have gone across the multiverse at least once. Miles Morales or Peter Parker."

"Fair enough," Sunset said. "Must be tough though. In the world where I learned the most valuable life-lessons, I had to hide the fact that I was a unicorn from another dimension, and later on my magic or I would probably get into a lot of trouble with the government."

"Well, I'm not an illegal alien unicorn, at least," Gwen said, smiling at Sunset. "My university actually has an interdimensional exchange program, if you can believe it."

Sunset blinked twice. "I almost can't, but then again you looked at the pictures."

"You have met a few really weird creatures, and even one out of a videogame I recognized."

"So how come everyone knows who you are in your home dimension?" Sunset asked, making her curse internally.

"It's a long story," Gwen said, "and I don't really feel like sharing all of it, but… basically while I was doing 'hero' work, I broke a lot of laws and endangered a lot of people. When I finally brought down the big bad of the city, I asked the mayor to help me reveal my identity and… I did my time in jail."

Sunset winced. "That was probably really tough."

Gwen nodded, pressing her lips together and looking down. "It was. I was also in the same prison I sent many people to… they reminded me of that many times."

Surprisingly Sunset reached out and squeezed her hand. When Gwen looked up, she saw an understanding smile in Sunset's face. Nothing was said, but she knew—somehow—that Sunset herself had a history like her own, in some way or another.

Feeling a little better in sharing her story, she continued, "Although a lot of the people in New York like me and appreciate what I did to try and make things right, it also makes it very difficult to have some level of normalcy, even with the occasional crime-fighting going on." She sighed, slurping up a bit more of her smoothie. "My self-proclaimed 'nemesis', a harmless thief with a pet was recently seriously injured. I feel pressure from the band, my dad, the city... plus the added dangers of them being openly friends with a superhero."

She felt the frustration within her start to agitate the symbiote, but she reached out to it to calm it down, mentally humming a song to it until it settled into its content, usual self. Sunset waited patiently for her to continue. "The symbiote acting up like this and realizing that it's my fault for not taking good care of it and myself… not to mention interdimensional monsters hunting down spidermen and women all over the multiverse." She gave her host a bittersweet smile. "'Death loves Gwen Stacy,' is my motto now." She motioned at the pictures. "You've seen other versions of you, right? The good, the bad? In most universes I'm dead. In 616 I'm dead… and my friend Peter Parker is alive. And he's… over it? For him it's been decades since I passed away, but I can still see a little pain in his eyes when he looks my way.

"Just two days ago, I fell into an abandoned trap an old enemy of Spiderman's had left behind. Arcade made an elaborate trap involving robot versions of Spideys' enemies and a robotic copy of me… because my fame in that world came for Spiderman being blamed for my death." She chuckled. "It's a sobering thought when you realize you're the lucky one… that you're not just a pretty face to be captured constantly to give a hero something to do."

She licked her lips. "I don't… hate the other Gwen Stacys. But I resent in a way how compliant they were. I want to blame it on the times… many of them were alive in their respective universe's seventies but realistically they were just… compliant future housewives. It's weird… I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with wanting a home life, marrying, and such, but because it's me, it just bothers me so much." She finished up her second smoothie. "The fact that I could have potentially not joined the Mary Janes, or met so many amazing people from a multitude of worlds. Or saved lives. Or learn so much because I'm either dead or a housewife just nags at me."

Sunset nodded and took a deep breath. "The multiverse has a way of humbling you. It's bad enough when you discover that everyone you know has a counterpart, but when you start meeting your other yous, when you realize you are just one more in an infinite amount of versions of yourself? It's life-changing." She smiled in a way that still felt reassuring. "But I've learned that having so many versions of me just proves how unique I am.

"Sure, some got what I wanted early in life. Or have done so many different things that I never thought to, but I'm the one that's teaching a young du-girl how to use magic. I'm the one with the on and off ghost roomie; the one that punched Gilgamesh for trying to steal my sword. The one that gets to hear and meet amazing individuals and unique versions of people I've gotten to know. I've met myself at my best and… myself in a pretty bad place. And there's so much more!"

It was very optimistic, and deep within her, the cynical Gwen wanted to complain a little, but there was just something about Sunset's passion for what she did that was starting to not only make her feel better, but also more excited about her new interdimensional chances.

"I can't promise it will all be good," Sunset continued, looking her in the eye, "especially with you being a superhero, but come on! I got to go to an epic, once in a life-time concert!" she said, grinning widely and motioning with her hand at the poster Gwen had noticed when she walked in. "I got to be a cat and attend a royal wedding! I got drunk with Wrex! Can you imagine how much you'll get to do that no one else will?"

Gwen felt Sunset's hand squeeze her own, and she smiled in return at the bartender. "Thanks, that does make me feel a bit better." She turned her hand and squeezed Sunset's hand gently. "And I'd be happy to call you friend. Goodness knows I need more. But I think it's time for me to go."

"Well, you're always welcome here," Sunset replied, taking out a silver business card. "Whenever you need an ear or just to hang out."

Gwen nodded and put it in her pocket. Then glanced at the wall. "Do I get a picture taken?"

Sunset placed the picture on the wall, and smiled, nodding at herself. Gwen and her were posing with the Mary Janes, who had been slightly confused by her appearance with Gwen, but accepted the fact that she was one of Ghost Spider's interdimensional buddies.

She had stayed, she had listened, and she had taken that picture, and an invitation from Mary Jane to be a guest guitarist if she was ever around and available for some practice.

As she was about to turn, she noticed something. She leaned in, watching the tiny, pale white and purple spider crawl around the frame. Carefully, she let it get onto her palm. "Where have I seen you before?" she wondered, then blinked. "Oh… Gwen's symbiote."

She hummed. "Well… how about we get you some kale and other good sources of fiber?" she asked, walking over to the bar. "I'll have to get you a place to live."

As if it understood her, the little spider crawled up and down her hand excitedly, making her giggle. "I'll introduce you to Rarity, Lena and Danni later. Welcome to the family."(3)

End Chapter

Author's Note

Gwen Stacy (Ghost Spider) is—quite frankly—my favorite Comic Book hero right now. I like (almost) everything they've done with her, from her intro, to her appearance in Into the Spiderverse, to Gwenom and her entire character development. As you can probably tell from the story, I'm a total fanboy.

The only thing I'm not fond of is what they did with her in "Marvel Rising", which TBH is mediocre writing and pandering IMO. Therefore this is strictly sticking to the comics.

Outside of that? I can't get enough of her.

(1) Ghost-Spider Annual #1 'nuff said.
(2) Ghost-Spider # 3
(3) Ghost-Spider's symbiote is a bit of a mini-hive kind of thing, and it can leave extensions in the form of small spiders (no powers so far) that allow her to know if her friends or family are in danger. It's not something she controls, but rather something the symbiote senses from her subconscious. In other words, Don't expect Spidey-Shimmy

In the Beginning (Babylon 5 - Complete) Pt. 1

Sunset's Isekai
In the Beginning Part One
By Wanderer D

Lena De Spell had taken the table next to the jukebox at the far end of the bar to stack up her books and study. True, she could have stayed in her room in the back of the bar (it was cool, but disconcerting how big this whole place was behind a simple door marked "employees only"), but she had found that it was too easy to get distracted by other things there despite how interesting the literature was.

Case in point, she was currently studying a tome that Douglas Brightglade had obtained from his own master Flarman (with permission, of course) on the study of pyromancy. Sunset herself had studied it at length and vouched for its contents. She had even used its teachings during a visit to a world of elementalist martial artists.

Sure, it wasn't the same type of magic she used, but why should she limit herself to Magica's shadow magic and sorcery when she now had access to so much more? Lena sighed into the silence of the bar. It was slow and very quiet when everyone else was out, except for Sunset's new pet spider, which she had already fed. She had never heard of a spider that ate kale.

In any case, with the bar closed and Danni, Sunset and Rarity out at the moment, she had the place to herself, as she had wanted… and sort of regretted it. Not that it was uncomfortable—the bar was a second home of sorts to her, after all. Sunset and the others were basically a multispecies family. But she really hadn't felt like going out and now… well.

She looked up, startled when the silver bell chimed. It was too early for the others to return. So who—

"Miss Shimmer?" a voice called.

"She's out at the moment," Lena called back, closing her book and leaning back a little. She studied the creature that walked in with some interest. He was bipedal, tall, almost human-like in general appearance, except that he seemed somewhat reptilian and was completely hairless. His red eyes studied her with some amusement as he made his way into the bar, carrying a small box in his hands, which he placed on the counter.

"A pity," he said, "I recently obtained a box of bottles of exquisite Taree. It survived past all the major wars, and also comes from a very good harvest. I had hoped Miss Shimmer would take a few, and perhaps enjoy some with me."

"Eh, she'll be back, and I don't mind the company, if you want to take a seat at the bar. I can always get you a glass."

"That would be most generous of you," the creature said. "And although I've never met you or your species, allow me to make an educated guess and assume you are none other than Miss Shimmer's student, Lena?"

Lena grinned as she walked behind the bar and slid out a glass of wine out of storage for the guest. "The one and only!"

"This is fortunate then, I was hoping to meet you sometime, allow me to introduce myself, I am Citizen G'kar."

Lena blinked as she placed the glass on the counter. "Wait, 'we are one' G'kar?"

The narn—for that was his race if she recalled correctly—smiled warmly. "The one and only. I am touched that the Declaration of Principles made it all the way here."

Lena chuckled and went over to make herself some tea. "It is one of Sunset's favorite speeches of all time. She once recited the whole thing to Danni and I from memory."

"Well, then I am both touched and honored."

Lena's smile didn't recede. "The honor is mine. You left quite an impression on all three of us. Something about that speech resonated with our circumstances, I guess."

G'kar nodded. "It is indeed something that would. You see, from what I've heard we all have many things in common, and when we have reached a stage in our lives when we come to understand the mistakes of our past, and the promise of the future… then the possibility of redemption and forgiveness is not such alien a concept."

"You know," Lena said, pouring the hot water into her mug, then walking around the bar to sit next to G'kar, "She never really told me how you two met. I mean—" she motioned at the bar "—it was probably here but we haven't had a chance to really talk about how she met everyone she did, and surprisingly there's no picture of you there yet."

"Well," G'kar said, glancing at the corner of the room where the pictures were growing in quantity, "she and I did not meet in the bar." He hummed as he opened the bottle of Taree, sniffing it a little then tilting it so that Lena could too.

She was no stranger to wine, but was still surprised by how fresh—and fruity—the aroma was. There were hints of citrus and cinnamon, and other, unfamiliar smells. The color of the wine as it was poured into the glass was like liquid rubies and it was oh, so tempting, but Lena just didn't feel like she should be drinking wine so early in the day.

"So. Then how did you meet?"

G'kar gave her a side look, smirking in amusement. "Are you familiar with the human tale, 'A Christmas Carol'?"

Lena smirked right back. "I live at Uncle Scrooge's mansion, when I visit my world."

"Then you must be familiar with the concept of the Three Spirits?"

"Besties with my uncle if you can believe it."

G'kar chuckled. "The universe, or multiverse rather, is a strange place indeed. To go back to the story, I met Miss Shimmer three times before she even let me into her bar." He leaned back, eyes unfocusing as he remembered.

As you know, young Lena, this bar opens its doors to friendly, or at least non-violent guests when they are stressed and need an ear and a drink. Once you have been to the bar, you are always welcome if you possess a silver business card and a good disposition towards its guests, hence the various individuals from different worlds that have formed... 'Clubs', as the earthers would say. Take the League of Ten Wizards, who met thanks to Miss Shimmer's shenanigans, in order to defeat a certain monstrosity and now gather every month to tell tales of their exploits to each other. I myself come often to meet philosopher warriors from other worlds, and in fact received notification from Miss Shimmer about a possible new member to my growing group of acquaintances across the universes.

But I wasn't always a friend, or non-violent. I was once full of rage and resentment, the result of a century of slavery under the Centauri, the deaths of my parents at their hands, and decades of resentment, fighting and killing, all in the name of peace and freedom. While we achieved our purpose, it is a sad fact that forgiveness and tolerance, do not go hand in hand with bitter victory. In my early years serving as an Ambassador for my people in Babylon 5, I was not very worthy of any sort of friendship.

The first time I met Miss Shimmer, I was not at my best, I was still angry, and even though I had done some things to help, I had also done many to harm. When she appeared in Babylon 5, I didn't see a friend, or a person. I saw someone that I could use for my benefit. An asset.

G'kar watched the proceedings from within the cover of shadows and crates, eyes narrowed, breathing slow and controlled, ears straining to hear every word uttered. When he had witnessed a shaken acolyte from the Minbari Religious Caste basically run into Delen and Lennier whispering many words he couldn't hear, but made Delen almost stagger back before glancing warily around (thankfully missing him) and following the acolyte hastily, he had not even hesitated to follow them in secret.

Now he stood in a mostly empty area of the warehouse, watching them as they argued quietly in front of a door. Just. A. Door. It was made of wood, well crafted, and clearly having no business being inside Babylon 5. It also couldn't possibly be real, since the wall it was attached to only led into space, and there was no way a door such as that would be able to handle that amount of pressure.

It was thus much to his surprise when the door opened without effort and a tall minbari woman stepped out. She was strikingly beautiful, with deep blue eyes. Her dress flowed white and soft, decorated with sapphire inlays on the edges. She looked somewhat surprised and amused by the immediate bowing of Delenn, Lennier and the unnamed religious caste that had brought them there.

Enthralled, and despite his mind warning him, G'kar also creeped closer, kneeling behind more crates to get a clearer view. He was close enough now that when the woman spoke, he could hear her.

"Oh my," the mysterious minbari said, "I had not expected a welcoming committee."

"We are honored by your presence," Delenn said, straightening up. "My mentor often spoke of your Isekai fondly, and claimed that many revelations came to him within. I am Ambassador Delenn, and this is my assistant, Lennier. This is acolyte Yeyani, who happened to see your door. If our legends are correct, and his words true, you must be either Rarity Belle or Sunset Shimmer?"

The woman had grinned and chuckled behind her hand. "Well met, Delenn, I am indeed Rarity, traveler of legend." She turned around and called, "Sunset dear, please do hurry, we have friends here waiting for us!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" another voice said, and to everyone's surprise, the one that stepped out was not a Minbari. It was a human dressed in a long, leather cloak, with a staff on her back. She looked down at herself and blinked, but then saw the surprised faces of Delenn and company. "Oh! Minbari. We must be in Babylon 5 then." She bowed slightly. "Hello, I'm Sunset Shimmer."

"Um, a pleasure to meet you… Sunset Shimmer?" Delenn said warily, "Is that an inherited title?"

The young human woman shook her head. "No, that's always been my name."

"Sunset," Rarity spoke up, "Delenn here is the apprentice of our dear friend Dukhat."

Sunset's eyes shone and she smiled. "Oh! This is Delenn?" she asked turning to face the trio of minbari. "Dukhat spoke of you often, how is he? We haven't—"

"You dare speak his name, human?" The acolyte snarled, surprising Sunset.

"Well, yes," she replied, eyes studying the minbari with a less friendly smile on her face. "He often came to talk with me about politics, philosophy and religion in his universe… what right do you have to question me about it?"

To the alarm of G'kar, Delenn and Lennier, the acolyte stepped forth. "You would dare use the name of Dukhat, human, knowing what your race did! You are as guilty as the rest of your kind for murdering him! I will see you punished fo—"

Her words died when Sunset was enveloped in an unrecognizable aura of energy, the likes of which G'kar had never seen before.

"Delenn, dear," Rarity spoke up, drawing everyone's wide-eyed attention to herself. "I sense much has passed since Dukhat visited us, perhaps we can abscond to discuss this in a more private place?" she then turned to face Sunset. "And Sunset, why don't you conduct our business as planned in the meantime? And please keep yourself in check, this is a space station, if you let loose you'll blow us all into the void."

"Fine, fine," Sunset said. She glared at the minbari acolyte. "Dukhat was a personal friend. Someone who was there for me and had advice and teachings to spare. Someone who knew what I've gone through and someone who carried a lot of weight on his shoulders. I knew him well," she growled, "and I will mourn his passing. But if you dare insinuate anything like that again… I don't need to blow up a station to teach the likes of you a lesson you will never forget."

Sunset straightened up and with a wave of her hand dismissed the door behind her, leaving a completely solid wall and marched past them and into the station.

"Finding this way about Dukhat," Rarity said with a sigh. "That was in very poor taste, Yeyani. Sunset Shimmer might look human, but she is so much more, and don't consider her words an idle threat. She has faced far more powerful foes than a disgruntled acolyte."

"Perhaps Acolyte Yeyani should apologize?" Delenn offered, making the other minbari cringe in place.

Rarity shook her head. "Dukhat was… Sunset Shimmer never had much of a family, or a father. Her mother is… a being of unquestionable power, the likes of which you would not believe, and Sunset herself might achieve much more. But Dukhat was what Sunset always wanted in a father, at least in her mind. He was gentle, but firm in his beliefs. Understanding and open to new experiences. His passing will have affected her greatly. I would advise avoiding her for now. No doubt turning young Yeyani into a turnip would make her feel better in the short term, however I do believe she'd be disappointed in herself if she were to lose her temper in such a manner."

The sound of voices put them on alert as several workers approached the area.

"Perhaps we should do as Lady Rarity said and talk somewhere else?" Lennier offered.

The moment they turned around, G'kar started moving away from them, snaking his way around crates and following in the wake of Sunset Shimmer.

Early in my political career at Babylon 5, I had little interest for peace or tolerance. Hate and anger drove me to do things I am still ashamed of. Political backstabbing that kept my hands physically clean, while my mind justified my actions as necessary and just.

When I heard and saw that this mysterious human not only possessed unknown powers, but was the name bearer of an apparent legend of sorts amongst the minbari, as well as a personal friend of Dukhat… it was too good a chance to ignore.

"Okay then, so this Brivari needs to be at a constant temperature…" Sunset said, "And you only have three bottles? Well, keeping the temperature is not a problem, but can you write down for me which of these are actually consumable by what type of diet? Dextro is not going to go well with a lot of my guests."

"Then I suggest you mark those bottles of Kriul as lethal to humans, Miss Shimmer," G'kar said, leaning over from the seat he had taken next to her. "It is quite delicious for my species, but the alcohol level is decidedly deadly to yours. If a human does insist on drinking it regardless, I would suggest using it as a disinfectant."

Sunset chuckled and glanced at him. "Thanks for the advice, mister..."

"G'kar," he said immediately, "Ambassador G'kar of the Narn Regime."

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Sunset said. "So, ambassador, what brings you here?"

"You must forgive me," G'kar said, "but I heard you were a friend of Dukhat. I hoped to offer my condolences for your loss."

Sunset's eyes had narrowed, but she had taken a deep breath and her shoulders slumped. "Thank you. I wish I had known earlier… I don't even know how it happened."

"Well then, allow me to tell you," G'kar said. "If you want, we can talk about it in my quarters, which serve as my office here in Babylon 5."

"If you know enough of me to know my name," Sunset said, "then you know what I can do."

"I assure you I only wish to speak. I wouldn't want Commander Sinclair to have to suddenly explain why half his station was gone in an instant."

Sunset hummed to herself, pondering his words and G'kar took the chance to sweeten the deal. "I'll arrange for your purchases to be delivered to the area where you arrived, would that be acceptable?"

She rolled her eyes, but nodded at the man behind the counter, who nervously spoke briefly with G'kar to ensure the location in Brown Sector was clear for delivery. After the purchases were done, and the shipping arranged, Sunset followed G'kar to his quarters, where he offered her a seat.

She studied with interest the several Narn artifacts he had from home, and he poured two glasses of wine, setting one before her as he took a seat across. "Please enjoy, this is Taree, a wine from my homeland."

He watched curiously as she wiggled her fingers and the cup glowed a little, before she nodded and picked it up, swirling the wine a little in its glass before taking in the bouquet, humming in appreciation at the complex smells. She sipped it slightly, then looked up at him, noticing his fascinated look.

"What was that with the fingers?" G'kar asked curiously.

"Ah, a simple spell to detect if I could drink this," Sunset explained. "As I was telling the merchant, I know well enough the dangers of drinking things not intended for humans, or indeed carbon-based life forms."

"Are you a Technomage then?"

Sunset laughed. "Nothing so quaint, but we're here to talk about Dukhat, not me." She put her glass down. "Could you please tell me how he passed away?"

G'kar closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to play his cards carefully. "During the Earth-Minbari war, Lennon contacted me, as I had quite a reputation, even back then. He wanted to arrange a meeting with the humans to try and broker peace… the war had gone on for almost three years by then, and he had hoped that through a mutual arrangement it could come to an end," G'kar sighed, "alas, upon the eve of our meeting we were attacked from orbit. Both humans and minbari suspect it was a rogue ship of their fleets, but who attacked us remains unknown even today, eight years after the war." He paused, observing Sunset carefully. "Lennon understood that Dukhat had died as a result of a miscommunication—a misunderstanding of Minbari Warrior Caste traditions. The humans had panicked and attacked preemptively and now were paying the prize as their whole race was being eradicated."

Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes, grimacing. "Dukhat was always optimistic. He always tried to see things from both sides of the argument. Understanding gave him the ability to—" she stopped. "Oh, Dukhat."

"To our mutual acquaintances," G'kar said, lifting his glass.

"To those that we have lost," Sunset said softly, making G'kar hesitate, then nod.

"To those we have lost."

The pair sipped their wine. After a moment of silence, G'kar spoke up again, "Miss Shimmer, I must admit that I also wished to speak to you about possible future endeavors. I know… um, Rarity of Minbar is talking to her government right now, but surely what benefits the minbari should benefit us all, correct?"

Sunset drank a bit more of her wine and gave him a calculating look. "Rarity owes no allegiance to the Minbari. I think she's doing it as a courtesy, because Delenn was Dukhat's aide and apprentice."

"I see…" G'kar cleared his throat. "Still, perhaps—"

"And I'm not someone that really involves herself in the politics of other worlds."

G'kar felt anger welling within him. "The politics of other worlds don't bother with asking if you want to be involved, Miss Shimmer," he said slowly, reminding himself that this was an asset he wanted to use. "You have technology that far surpasses anything I've seen. Perhaps even that of Vorlons. When your powers can save thousands, even millions of lives, can you still say that you will not be involved?"

Sunset sighed. "Fine. Tell me, G'kar, what is it that you really want?"

G'kar clenched a fist. "I want the power to heal my people. To bring them back from the starvation that the Centauri put us through! We might have earned our freedom, but that barely matters! Right now when they are weak we can strike! Pay them back for what they did to us! We used to be free! And peaceful! I want that back!"

"So you want to use Sunset's Isekai to get revenge?" Sunset asked.

"Anything to pay them back! You cannot possibly understand what they put my people through. They deserve the justice that will come to them!"

Sunset shook her head. "I'm sorry for what your people have suffered. You are right, I have no inkling to what they have gone through. But my purpose is to help people heal, or ease their hearts… not to provide a convenient way to obtain revenge against a whole other race."

Seething at her denial, he stood up and started pacing. "But how can we heal when the tyrants that committed so many atrocities laugh and get fat in their complacency?!"

"Since we came here to talk a bit about my old friend Dukhat, let me share some of the wisdom he imparted on me. He said; 'when others do a foolish thing, you should tell them it is a foolish thing. They can still continue to do it, but at least the truth is where it needs to be,'" she said evenly, "so I'm telling you, G'kar, this road of revenge you seek is going to be your downfall. If you've already obtained your freedom, you should rebuild, not embark on a quest for revenge."

G'kar snarled, but held himself back. He remembered well that while she might not look it, she was more than capable of destroying a big chunk of Babylon 5 if Rarity was to be believed. And even if he wasn't about to attack her, if she felt threatened it could end badly for everyone in the station. "Bah, if you're going to refuse aid, then leave."

Sunset stood up and nodded. "I think I will. Thank you for the drink, Ambassador."

Lena stared at G'kar, her tea forgotten. "Wait, what? You wanted to use the bar to fight against another species?"

"Not fight," G'kar said gently. "Destroy. I had allowed my hatred to reach a point where I hung in the balance. You see, when I fought in the war alongside the rebellion to free Narn, I had a cause behind me. An ideal, and a zealousness to see it happen. The Centauri had taken my world, my people… and enslaved us. Turned us from peaceful farmers and families into servants. My mother grew ill attending their plantations, and my father… was left hanging until he died of starvation and exposure to the elements for spilling a drink on the master's wife's dress by accident."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It was not something I could forgive. Not something that should be forgiven. It was an atrocity. Inexcusable. And thus my revenge was for every injustice, every death of a narn under their tyranny. I grew up in rank and prestige and was appointed the representative of all my people to the known galaxy. I thought back then that it was simply an opportunity to find ways to destroy the Centauri. That it was my preordained fate to deliver righteous fury straight to their doorstep.

"It didn't occur to me that it was my chance to ensure it would never happen again, not through violence but through representation. Through bringing justice beyond revenge that would beget revenge." He chuckled. "When my father was left to die, I defied my mother's wishes and went to see him the day before he passed away. He asked me to honor his memory." G'kar lifted his glass and sipped a sample of his wine. "The memory of a man that chose to remain a slave so he could stay with his ailing wife and young child." He glanced at Lena, his red eyes calm. "I chose to honor him through violence despite him not being a violent man."

"Do you regret that?" Lena asked, tasting her tea. She grimaced. It had grown cold during G'kar's tale.

He shrugged. "I regret many things, but I did a lot of good for my people, and I had no choice but to fight or die. In the end, however, I made it through the war and rebellion and the following years, I still ended up in Babylon 5, where I still had a lot to learn." He elbowed her gently. "I have time, go make yourself another tea, or warm this one up."

"I'll warm it up, Uncle Scrooge will never let me hear the end of it if he hears I wasted another teabag." G'kar chuckled as she hurried around the bar. "Do you want to keep talking about this?"

G'kar smirked. "Don't you?"

"I am still pretty curious about how you went from that, to friend and inspiration," Lena said, placing her mug in the microwave.

"Inspiration," G'kar mused, "very well. But let's make sure your tea is ready before we begin and you remember to drink it as we talk."

Lena smiled and nodded, entering the time and pressing the button to start.

To be Continued…

Author's Note

Happy New Year!

I thought long and hard about what Isekai to write this time around. I've wanted to write a story about G'kar in a bar since... yikes, the late 90s. And it just seemed like a good way to start the New Year. With the tale of a man who changed for the better. I hope you guys will forgive the multiple parts. It is partly because of how late in finally deciding what to write this time about, but also to give time for my friends to catch up in being able to write with me some of the future entries.

Convictions (Babylon 5 - Complete) Pt. 2

Sunset's Isekai
Convictions (Babylon 5 - Complete) Pt. 2
By Wanderer D

After reheating her tea in the microwave (and making a quick run to her room to get a small pack of her favorite sugar cookies), Lena sat down next to G'kar, who had been patiently sipping his narn wine.

Lena herself wasn't a connoisseur--that was more Sunset's province--but Sunset's Isekai was very handy when it came to explaining drinks to its inhabitants. A quick glance at the menu had revealed that it was indeed something she could drink if she felt inclined to, although it would pack a punch for human (and duckburg-duck) biology.

She looked up to see G'kar glancing curiously at the metallic box of cookies she had brought with her. "Want some?"

"That's most gracious of you," G'kar said, "but I'm afraid I must pass. I was just looking at the writing on the box itself. I know there are many human languages, but it reminds me a little of narn writing."

"Oh, alright," Lena said, sliding the box closer to him so he could admire it. "It's japanese, and according to Sunset it says, 'Flying Puppy Bakery'."

"A most curious name, but they seem well-made."

"They're pretty good, Sunset got them from a restaurant that apparently does something similar to the Isekai. They don't make them there, but they have some sort of deal with the bakery."

"The multiverse is exceptional," G'kar said. "But so vast, that the chances of two such places meeting…" he motioned with his hands, "...is incredibly small."

"Well, Sunset has been doing this for a long time apparently," Lena said. "Which is weird, I guess because her guest wall only has so many pictures, but would explain how the chances increase?"

"Ah, but personal guests here are a rarity into themselves, according to Sunset. Groups come and go, and I hear the Isekai sometimes opens in certain places as if it were a normal bar… I imagine this whole endeavor must have been very confusing for Miss Shimmer in the beginning."

"That's true." Lena sipped her tea, and took a bite out of one cookie. "So… speaking of guests…"

"Right, right."

There are many choices in my life that I sometimes look back on with either amusement or horror. Oftentimes both, with a good infusion of embarrassment to round it up quite nicely. It took almost two years before I saw Sunset Shimmer again. Things had changed… and not for the better, for me or my people.

You see, hate, as Sunset had pointed out, only creates more hate. I was on the "highway to revenge" as humans would say. I had maneuvered myself into many a situation where death, threats and the promise of violence fueled my will to continue on that path until its inevitable conclusion. But, as I said before, when my people suffered another, crushing defeat… I was angry, but also lost. Truly lost. I was a leader without a vision, and a force to be reckoned with due to my influence, yes, yet achieving nothing but scattering my remaining resources into the uncaring void with fruitless attempts to do something—anything.

It should be no surprise then, that when I faced a choice… a rather difficult one, I chose personal gratification at much too high a cost rather than attempting to solve things in a way that would benefit all involved. I was lucky—even if at the time I didn't appreciate it—and I was saved.

"G'kar, you have a visitor."

Still strapped to his bed in Medbay, G'kar coughed into the inhalator before giving a wary look to Dr. Franklin. "And who might that be, doctor? Representatives from the Centauri here to tell me how my inaction counts as a murder attempt?"

"Not unless they started hiring young human women to do their bidding," Franklin replied, giving him an amused, knowing, look. "I tried to explain to her that you were recuperating, but she insisted I let you know she was here to see you. She's not very forthcoming on where she came from, but she said she knew you."

"Despite what you might have heard, doctor, I am not the type to chase after human females—"

"She's a redhead."

"—for the most part. I do know a couple of redheads." G'kar coughed again, this time a bit uncomfortably. "Did you check her for weapons? She isn't Psi-corp, is she?"

"We did check for weapons, and she is unarmed. And she also doesn't wear a Psi-corp pin." Franklin raised an eyebrow. "Why? What did you—"

"Hm. That does exclude about half of them. Does she come with a name?"

"A Sunset Shimmer. She mentioned something about Isekai," Franklin said. "It's funny, I could only find a reference to that as a japanese word meaning 'Other World', but she however doesn't seem to exist in the…" He noticed that G'kar's eyes had gone wide. "G'kar?"

"Please," he said, "let her in."

Franklin narrowed his eyes. "G'kar, if there's no record of her existence, she could be a dangerous—"

"I promise you, Doctor, nothing untoward will happen, she's… a powerful acquaintance," G'kar interrupted. "Quite frankly I'm surprised she's even wanting to see me."

Franklin shook his head. "Maybe you have more friends than you think." He sighed and nodded. "Alright, I'll let her through, but if her presence disturbs your rest, I will have to ask her to leave, am I understood?"

"Very clearly, doctor, thank you."

With a final, warning glance, Dr. Franklin stepped out of the room briefly, then returned with a familiar human in tow.

"Miss Shimmer," G'kar greeted, clearing his throat. "How very kind of you to visit me. You must forgive me for not standing up, but the good doctor has apparently instructed his staff to tie me down."

"For your own good, G'kar," Stephen Franklin retorted, a wry smile crossing his features. He faced Sunset. "Miss Shimmer, please remember that G'kar is in a delicate condition, try not to damage him much if it's revenge you seek. It makes more paperwork."

Sunset chuckled. "Don't worry doctor, I'm only here to talk."

Doctor Franklin nodded and then, after a final look at G'kar, left the pair alone. Sunset didn't say anything, simply pulling a chair and sitting on it, staring at him. G'kar for his part tried smiling, even though he knew the effect would be lessened by the breather mask.

After a few minutes of silence, he spoke first. "I'm surprised to see you here, Miss Shimmer. Our last meeting did not end well."

"I heard that you and Londo had almost died inside of an elevator when I arrived at the station, so I tried to figure out what had happened and saw the reports about the Centauri having invaded and occupied all of Narn space," she replied gently.

"For now," G'kar retorted. "But it is just a matter of time before we take back what's ours." He was about to say more, but quieted down when she gave him a slightly hurtful look.

"So what, you decided it was best to suffocate alongside Mollari rather than help him escape? What kind of mentality is that?"

"I have been ordered to stay in Babylon 5 while my family and my people struggle to survive on their own." G'kar settled back on his bed, refusing to look at her. "I had nothing to do with the explosion that trapped us both, but watching Mollari die would have been worth dying there too."

"Really?" Sunset growled. "You are the leader of your people, the one link they have to the rest of the galaxy and other governments and you decide that watching your nemesis die is worth that?"

"Oh, please, spare me the judgemental monologues," G'kar scoffed. "Unlike you we are trapped here, unable to move wherever we want. Unlike you, we can't run. We have to face what the universe throws our way and the universe decided that the war with the Centauri wasn't over."

"As far as I understand, Ambassador Mollari is but one individual in a long, long, list of officials and nobles. Someone that could be replaced with relative ease by the Centauri Republic."

"Perhaps, but he's been a thorn in my side, and in my government's side for decades," G'kar pointed out, "getting rid of him would have brought me no small pleasure, however frivolous it might have been."

"Frivolous is right!" Sunset countered. "You were ready to kill yourself for petty vengeance!"

"And what would you, the legendary Sunset Shimmer, friend to Dukhat, revered by the Minbari know about this?" G'kar asked, hints of venom in his voice. "You have power. You can change things."

Dr. Franklin stepped into the room to check some instruments, but G'kar could see that he had heard some of the exchange. Sunset, however, didn't even seem to register he was there.

She sighed. "I do. And I could, but it's not my place to provide weapons of war or facilitate genocide in the name of whoever claims justice is on their side." She sat back. "I'm not a warrior of legend, G'kar, I'm just a bartender."

G'kar rolled his eyes. "Nonsense, Rarity spoke of your power and your history. The first time I saw you, you were ready to destroy the station—" he tried to lift his arms to snap his fingers, but the restraints prevented that "—with a flicker of your wrist!"

Dr. Franklin's eyes went wide.

"When she mentioned my history, did she mention I wasn't always a good person?" Sunset asked, ignoring the taunt. "That I endangered two worlds because I wanted to be more important? That my own hubris almost cost me everything I never even knew I had?"

"Two worlds, and you are still here," G'kar said, "you can't possibly compa—"

"I can't!" Sunset snapped. "I can't. I know! But I do know what it's like to do something stupid out of petty revenge. Something that didn't help anyone, least of all me!"

"Now you listen—"

"No, you listen," Sunset barked, interrupting G'kar. "You were about to die for petty revenge. You. The last leader of your people, were going to get yourself killed through your own idiocy and refusal to work with someone else for the pointless pleasure of watching your personal enemy die." She leaned in and poked him in the chest. "And tell me, what would happen to your people then?"

"Miss Shimmer, please don't poke G'kar too roughly, he's still suffering from smoke inhalation."

Sunset glanced at Franklin, but stepped back, taking a deep breath. "Sorry."

"Why should you care, anyway?" G'kar said into the awkward silence. "I was quite content to finish my days that way. I admit that perhaps it wasn't thought thoroughly, but few real pleasures in life are. You didn't help me back when I requested your assistance to smuggle weapons. You disappeared for almost two years and never attempted any form of contact. Why come bother me now?"

Sunset sighed, sinking back into her seat. "Because we all deserve a second chance. If I hadn't been given one, I wouldn't be here, G'kar. We might not be friends, but I don't think you're a lost cause."

G'kar growled, narrowing his eyes and visibly forced himself to calm down. "So are you telling me I should give a second chance to those that destroyed my home?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Sunset stood up slowly, looking a bit tired. "I can't tell you what you should do, G'kar… only that until you understand your enemies and yourself you can't help anyone, much less yourself."

G'kar frowned, considering her words. "Perhaps you are right. Perhaps I should understand what the Centauri think before I attempt anything."

"I don't know, G'kar," Sunset said. "I just hope wherever you find the answer, and whatever that answer is, it helps to turn you into a better person, and a better leader. For what it's worth, I do care a little about what happens to you because I know you do care more about others than yourself. I hope that when I visit this universe again you're in a better place."

G'kar gulped, then nodded. "Good day, miss Shimmer. And thank you for visiting."

Sunset shrugged. "I had some time. Take care, G'kar. Thank you doctor."

The pair watched Sunset leave the room in silence. "Who is that, anyway?" Franklin asked after a few moments. "You made it sound like she was a danger to the station, with that whole blowing it up comment."

G'kar chuckled. "I assure you, good doctor, it's not something I intend to put to the test. While I myself doubt she has that ability, I do know she possesses technology far beyond what we do."

At that moment the door to the infirmary opened, and head of security Michael Garibaldi stepped into the room, looking confused. "Hey, you two know the red-head gal that walked out of medbay a moment ago?"

Franklin and G'kar looked at each other. "Yes," the doctor said slowly, "why?"

"It was the weirdest thing, I was walking here to check on G'kar, when I saw Ambassador Kosh also approaching Medbay. Then she came out, and—" he hesitated, eyes narrowing as he shook his head in confusion "—I swear Kosh almost stumbled, turned around and left really quickly. That's the closest I've ever seen a Vorlon run away."

"I don't think Vorlons can run exactly, I'm not sure they even have feet." Franklin said.

"Either that or he floated away very fast."

G'kar and Franklin shared a look. The narn cleared his throat. "I'm sure that's—"

"Crazy, right?" Garibaldi interrupted, rolling his shoulders back. "I think work is getting to me. Kosh probably forgot something in his room." He took a deep breath and blew it out. "Anyway, G'kar, buddy, we still need a formal declaration from you. Mollari didn't press any charges yet, but he's not happy. The earlier we have the paperwork out of the way, the easier things will be."

"I uh," Franklin nodded, "I need some coffee. I'll be back."

Garibaldi watched the doctor hurry out. "What's his deal?"

"I think redheads scare him," G'kar said neutrally.

"Huh."

"Wait, so you really were going to die? Is this Mollari guy really worth it?" Lena asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

"All good friends are," G'kar replied, giving her a conspiratory smile. "I was unfortunately too obsessed with my own misery to see where I was going. Even after Sunset pointed out to me the ridiculousness of my folly, I didn't stop there. I took her words to heart--but in the wrong way."

Lena gave him a look. "How can you turn 'understand others' into a bad thing?"

"Oh! It is possible, let me assure you. And I was quite creative. My mind saw what it wanted to see, and what it wanted to see was a way to pierce through any possible defense the Centauri could muster." G'kar shook his head. "And of course, I thought, knowing the mind of your enemy… well, what better way to know it, than to read it?"

Lena's eyes widened. "You didn't."

"Oh," G'kar gave her a short nod. "I did. There was a drug made by humans, simply called 'dust', and it was said to be able to give others… psychic abilities. When Sunset Shimmer said to understand my enemies I took that as a challenge. How better could I understand those who had hurt my people? My world? Me?" He opened his hands in bafflement. "I had fought the Centauri for decades. Up until then, I thought I knew them but it was clear I didn't."

"So instead of taking her words as an invitation to get to know individuals better--"

"I took it as a hint that I should force my way into their thoughts in order to achieve my objectives," G'kar finished the sentence. "Needless to say, things did not go as intended and I ended up… doing less than stellar things, but also coming to a startling realization."

Lena crossed her arms and gave him an unimpressed look. "Oh? And what was that?"

"Hm." G'kar looked down at his empty glass. He tilted it in the light, studying how it seemed to flow alongside it. "That we were in a cycle of destruction. When I eventually emerged victorious… if I did… it would only be a matter of time before someone else came to destroy me and mine again. And again." He looked at Lena straight in the eyes. "That if I wanted to change things… I had to sacrifice not for death. But for life."

Lena narrowed her eyes. "That sounds questionable at best."

G'kar humphed. "Teenagers."

"So was it when you were all high and looking into other minds that Sunset found you?"

"Oh, goodness no." G'kar actually look worried. "No, if she had seen me at that moment, I have no doubt Miss Shimmer would have made her disappointment in me sufficiently clear. No. I learned that lesson on my own."

"Right, Lena said, looking down at her empty cup. "You know, I think I'll have another tea."

"Good. I could use another cup of Taree. And I can tell you the third time that I met Sunset Shimmer, and finally counted her as a friend."

To be Continued…

Author's Note

One last part to go!

Forgive (Babylon 5 - Complete) Pt. 3

Sunset's Isekai
Forgive - Part Three
By Wanderer D

G'kar watched curiously as Lena made more tea. "It always amazes me how traditional this bar is," he said. "Sunset has visited hundreds of worlds, possibly thousands since she opened up, and yet, she has chosen to keep her bar as simple as this in its functionality."

Lena glanced at him, arching an eyebrow. "You think she should have changed it to a more advanced design?"

He shook his head. "I think this is as charming as it gets… and as personal as it can be and grow." He looked around the place, at the pictures, the posters, the guitars, the bar itself with its old-Earth style, something out of one of Mr. Garibaldi's collection of early 20th Century Earth. "I find that as marvelous as they can get, the more advanced worlds I've seen are so much more… sterile."

"Huh," Lena mused as she prepared the water for her tea. "I know she's talked to other bartenders about making everything automated, or obtaining something that can materialize the ingredients but… this—" she motioned with her hand at the inside of the bar "—is something most creatures across the universe will recognize."

G'kar nodded. "Curious isn't it? But oddly reassuring."

"You can say that again," Lena said, pouring the hot water into her mug. "If it had been some sort of crazy ultra-futuristic environment, I don't think I would have felt so comfortable here… at least not so quickly." Tea, cookies and wine at the ready, Lena and G'kar sat together at the bar. "So, you had said earlier that your revelation changed how you looked at other races?"

He nodded.

"When I say that we are one, I do not mean one entity in the physical sense, obviously," G'kar explained. "What I mean is that what harm we do to others, we ultimately do to ourselves. As if it were a real body. You could see the Narns as an arm, for example, and the Centauri as the other. If one of the arms is cut off… the rest of the body, the other arm included, will suffer potentially catastrophic damage."

"And you discovered this while high and forcing your mind into Londo's?"

"Yes!" G'kar said. "Do not misinterpret… it was an awful, wrong thing to do. But it drove home the point. While I tortured Londo with my mind, I damaged myself. When I brought the demons of his past into the light, I brought back mine. When I attacked his regret and innaction, I attacked my own violence and fear. When I questioned his morality… I discovered that mine was also lacking."

Lena was quiet, looking down at her tea. "Yeah. Justifying to yourself your actions or lack of them is a hard thing to face."

"Exactly." G'kar patted her on the shoulder. "A very insightful observation."

"Just the result of a life doing just that, until I couldn't anymore," Lena said, shaking her head. "Anyway, you and Sunset?"

G'kar drank a little wine and sighed. "The third time I met Sunset Shimmer, was when I was at the Imperial Palace for the second time in my life." His mouth twisted into a half-smirk. "The first time was much less pleasant, let me assure you, but this time… this time, I was there for a good, noble reason—and I admit—my own amusement. Such things are hard to maintain in an environment as, how do humans put it? Toxic? Yes… that's most appropriate. An environment so toxic most Centauri that stood in proximity would be affected."

"Most?"

"Vir was always the exception."

"Ah." Lena gave him an amused look. "So, what was this great and noble cause you were there for?"

It was Sheridan's idea, you see… in order to show to all the worlds in the Alliance that we were of one mind on matters of protecting our borders from remnants of the Shadows, he suggested I become Mollari's bodyguard. It wasn't easy, but I deeply enjoyed making the stuffy Centauri nobles nervous with my presence. Not only was I a Narn and a known criminal in the Centauri Court. I was protecting their most important member, future emperor. I was constantly amused by their efforts to ignore me, while they almost always physically struggled with the fact that as Mollari's bodyguard, they couldn't simply get rid of me. He was too powerful… too important. It was glorious! A slap in their face every morning, afternoon and night. They would run into rooms when they saw me walking in their direction, whether I intended to engage them or not. I wish I had recorded it, somehow.

The only thing that made the whole thing better was that I was able to save my former assistant, Na'toth, from her prison and deliver her safely to my homeworld. I had thought her lost to us at the beginning of the war… it was a great relief to find her alive, and Mollari's immediate efforts in helping me get her off-world safely slowly opened my eyes to the type of man he really was.

All through those adventures with Mollari I came to know him as I never expected to. Perhaps it was because of what had happened during his heart-attack, or perhaps it was that after all we went through, I appreciated that what he did was not for himself, but through an honest love for his people, however undeserving they were of the attention.

When he risked his life to save me… I realized that at some point I had started considering him a friend. He stepped out of the room to talk to the court while I recuperated, and that's when I saw Sunset Shimmer for the third time.

"Understand, that I can never forgive your people for what they did to my world. My people can never forgive your people. But I… can forgive you."

G'kar held Mollari's arm in a warrior's grip, almost overwhelmed by what he had said, and yet… in this moment... in this intersection of destiny, what could have he done but speak the truth? That he would find it in him to forgive Mollari… a year ago… a month ago, it would have seemed a poor joke. And yet here he was, in Centauri Prime, doing something he had thought beyond him… just as he had never thought he would hear Londo say he was sorry.

Londo was clearly overwhelmed as well. The impact… the weight of what he had just said was not lost on him. He understood, just as G'kar did, what those words meant for them as individuals, rivals, enemies, and friends. And for a moment a look of deep, deep regret darkened his eyes.

Before G'kar could ask anything about that, Londo gulped, nodded solemnly and stepped out of the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He winced as he sat down again in the remains of the sofa behind him and blinked when he noticed the familiar door.

It had taken him a moment to realize that no, he wasn't imagining things.The universe outside might be going crazy, and he might have lost blood in the earlier confrontation, but the wooden door was real, and it was right there where it hadn't been a second ago.

Despite his initial incredulity, he had immediately recognized it, and knew what was coming the moment the door opened and Sunset Shimmer herself stepped into the room, looking around with growing concern at the state of it before her eyes settled on him.

When he saw the worry growing in her face, he graced her with a thin smile, trying not to move too much, lest his wound open again. "Ah, Miss Shimmer, you must forgive me if I don't stand up, I'm not in the best of states."

"G'kar, what happened? Do you need medical assistance?"

G'kar chuckled, surprised by the worry in her eyes. They had talked only two times before, and yet she not only gave him another chance, but also genuinely felt concern for his health. Not too long ago, he would have appreciated it, but dismissed it as a quirk of personality. Now he knew just how rare that honest concern was.

"If you have something to dull the pain, that would be quite acceptable," he said gently. "Otherwise I will be okay."

The door closed and faded behind her as she got to his side and kneeled down. She placed her hand on top of his injury, making him wince, but surprisingly the pain faded soon after and he looked down to see her hand glowing with a wavy white aura.

"Healing spell," she said softly, "I might not be able to heal it completely… it's not something I have practiced much, but it will dull the pain and hold the wound closed unless you get hit again."

"Thank you," he said, holding back the awe in his voice. If Sunset was indeed some sort of technowizard, she was still ages ahead of anyone he knew. Finally she stopped and stepped back, studying the room around them again while gingerly touched his wound. It hurt. But a lot less than before. Still, he would remain put for now, there was no point in risking his health by rushing it.

"Wow, this place is trashed. I hope you don't make a habit of only seeing me whenever you're in pain or injured." Sunset went over to investigate one of the destroyed desks, while G'kar couldn't help but chuckle.

"Welcome to the Imperial Palace in Centauri Prime."

Sunset stopped and that and gave him an incredulous look. "You trashed the palace?"

He shook his head. "No, there was an attempt on Londo's life, so I interceded… and then he did for me."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "So you're not trying to get him killed anymore?"

G'kar chuckled, each laugh making him wince. "Oh no. Much has come to pass since we last met, Miss Shimmer. We tried enough times to do so to realize we might as well postpone it until a more mutually convenient time of our choosing."

Sunset shook her head, rolling her eyes with a hint of a smile. "You two… so how come you're here, risking your life for him?"

"Ah," G'kar sighed. "As I said, you have missed much, Miss Shimmer." He motioned with his hand at a destroyed table, with the chairs strewn about. "Please, take a seat."

She gave him a dubious look, but nevertheless straightened up one of the chairs, making sure it would hold her weight without collapsing—it was a little wobbly—and giving him her undivided attention.

"The war between the Narn and the Centauri is over," he started to say, measuring his words. While it was true, it was equally true that what had happened would not be forgotten. That the lives lost or destroyed would never be sufficiently healed by a resolution of conflict and even the next thousand years. "I will try to summarize the events for you, although you must understand that I will be understating the severity of it in exchange for simplicity. There is only so much that can be done in order to learn to coexist… there will be no love between the Centauri and Narn races… but we have each returned home, surviving a conflict that would have destroyed most of the younger races thanks to our combined efforts."

He wanted to say more, but even after time had passed, the memories were still strong. She wasn't a Narn, she wouldn't benefit from listening to him talk about his suffering… not right now at least. "Mollari and I formed an alliance to free our races from the tyrant on the throne. It wasn't friendship, but it was born of desperation and need… both strong incentives. I had to endure… a lot." He cleared his throat. "I had to let go of my pride… and surrender control. I had to trust my most hated enemy to not only honor his word, but to follow through with the necessary steps to ensure it wasn't just a pyrrhic victory.

"It was then that I realized that Londo, despite hating me too, felt something for me that I did not for him: he respected me. He hated seeing me captured and tortured. Not defeated—but destined to die at the hands of a cretinous fool for entertainment value… a monster that was about to guarantee the death of everyone in his home planet in a foolish illusion that he would become a god in the process." G'kar smirked and snorted. "It didn't work out for him in the end."

"So your alliance worked?" Sunset asked. "I guess it must have, since you're here."

G'kar nodded. "With the Vorlons and the Shadows on a full out war and Sheridan's alliance in full battle-mode, entire planets were being destroyed, millions killed, regardless of race or blame… if there was Shadow presence in any planet, the Vorlons made short work of it, and the Shadows… well, they needed no reason other than not being allied to them."

Sunset sighed. "That's awful. Sometimes I wish that I could do what the League does and intercede… but—" she shook her head "—I can't."

"In a way I understand… thanks to Sheridan that is," G'kar said gently. "Sometimes you need to let others go where they will, deal with their problems to let them grow. The First Ones did that for the most part, with the exception of the Vorlons and Shadows, letting us deal with our own problems, be the architects of our own fates." He chuckled. "I started learning that after our last talk, and now… now I think I understand, just a bit more."

She smiled, reaching out to grasp and squeeze his hand, and it seemed that a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. For someone he barely knew, her opinion was for some reason very important. Maybe it was because she had seen in him something he had not recognized at the time, and only now was beginning to glimpse. Maybe it was that she had not given up on him, and had come to him with an open mind every time.

Maybe, she was just likeable. Whatever it was, he was able to give her an honest smile in return.

"I have let go of my own anger, and I can only hope to learn what the universe is trying to teach me," G'kar said. "And… I have learned humility the hard way. As much as I can learn of that in any case."

"You know," Sunset said, "I think we have a lot to talk about from now on, but I have one offer for you, one time only because I… know a bit of what happened here today, and what might yet still happen in the future. I made a promise to not directly influence any universe… but no promise was made to not help a friend. Tell me, G'kar… if you could have a drink with anyone in the universe, right now, who would it be?"

Londo Mollari walked with clear intent towards the throne room. In his mind, he slowly stripped away regret and hope. He was to be nothing else but a tool… a tool that hid its fangs from its masters, but a tool nevertheless. If he had time… if he had… He shook his head. He had power. More so than he ever thought, ever hoped to obtain.

It would do him no good.

No, everything—everyone that could help him was being left behind, with each heavy step he took. He dared not share information of his fate with G'kar, Sheridan or the others, lest they end up in the same situation… as playthings of the Drakh.

He was halfway down the hall when a door opened on the side, and G'kar stepped out. For the second time that day, Londo was left without words as his friend nodded to him, clutching his wound lightly. "Mollari."

"G'kar?" Londo walked a bit closer, looking back and pointing down the corridor. "But… I just left you behind and—"

"You did, but I thought we had some unfinished business," the Narn interrupted. "I have on good authority that if you step in there with me, you will step outside of time and space here. I know your future awaits down that corridor, but once you become Emperor… well, we won't have the chance to settle this particular score as we should."

"And what score is that?"

"I owe you a drink." G'kar stepped to the side, and Londo peeked past the threshold into what looked like an old, human bar like the ones he had visited on Earth over ten years before. "Fate is a funny thing," G'kar continued. "And we are usually held to it… sometimes it's indistinguishable from our destiny, and sometimes we meet someone who can say as the humans put it: 'Screw it all. Let's create an alternate timeline.'"

Londo stared at G'kar. At the door. At the bar. At hope.

He looked down the corridor, where the Drakh awaited, and the end of a dream, the beginning of a nightmare.

He licked his suddenly dry lips. "You do owe me a drink."

"I found out over a glass of Brivari that Londo had traded his freedom in order to stop the hostilities against Centauri Prime… hostilities initiated and perpetuated by the Drakh, something that had Sunset not… allowed me to discuss with some calm and time, would have come to pass. It didn't take long for me to also invite Sheridan and Delenn to our little group event to discuss matters without the universe collapsing around us."

G'kar took a long breath and let it out slowly. "I cannot express how important a chance to recuperate, think and talk is, young Lena. I had to be imprisoned in Babylon 5, alone with my thoughts to understand myself. It was that chance, to forget about inevitability and troubles and hypocrisy that allowed me to really look at myself and realize where I was lacking. Londo… hadn't had one of those in a long, long time. When he finally did, he wasn't alone… he was surrounded by friends." He finished his drink. "And that.. is what allowed us to change fate."

Lena nodded. "So why is it your picture is not there?"

G'kar smiled and walked over to the pictures, picking up a frame and bringing it over. Lena leaned in, blinking in surprise when she realized that it was a picture of G'kar, Londo, Delenn, Sheridan and many others she hadn't heard about, along with Sunset Shimmer. "Wait, where did this come from?"

He chuckled. "Sometimes—as I had to learn—we simply don't see things clearly until it's time for us to realize they've always been there."

End Babylon 5 chapters

Author's Note

Friends in Other Places (The Mirror - Post Fic)

Sunset's Isekai
Friends in Other Places (The Mirror - Post Fic)
By Wanderer D and SoloBrony

Sunset stared at Rarity with her arms crossed, then slowly raised her right hand to massage her brow. "Why do you want to go to Hell again? Is this about Lucifer?"

"Of course not darling, as much as I enjoy his company— " she gave Sunset an amused glance, "—or should I say, as much as we enjoyed his company, there is more than one Hell in the multiverse. This one's different."

Sunset glared at Rarity while the designer-turned-adventurer simply grinned back at her, the very image of innocence. Except Sunset knew her well enough now to never fall for that one. "One time. It was one time."

Rarity giggled, fanning her face. "Yes. Yes it was. And what a time! In any case, I do have to prepare for our visit to this different hell, so please make sure you are… um, ready for it."

"You like visiting doomed worlds and hellish dimensions with surprising frequency."

"You exaggerate, Sunset." Rarity waved her hand dismissively. "And there's nothing wrong with heading out in search of a thrill."

"The type of thrill that involves ancient gods of evil? Abominations? Soul-sucking cities?"

"It's adventure, dear!" Rarity countered. "If you're only going to visit the most mundane of places for the most part, you might as well try and vary it a little with something… hm." She grinned, giving her a smoldering look and making Sunset blush. "Devilish. Different. Tantalizing. Se—"

"Um, is this a bad time?"

The pair stopped and turned to look at the filly that was standing at the end of the entrance hallway. She was wearing a carefully crafted armor that covered most of her body, midnight-blue in design and with Luna's cutie mark on the shoulders, but it was clearly not Luna, nor one of her usual thestral (or batpony, really, they should make up their multiversal minds on what they want to call themselves) guards. For one, her chanfron was clearly designed to fit a horn, and she had magically-conjured rainbow-patterned wings.

She could be the love-child of Luna and Shining Armor, Sunset thought. It could be one of those universes. She was about to say something but Rarity was already on her knees cooing at the filly.

"Oh my goodness! Aren't you precious! I love the design of your armor! The color matches perfectly! The mail is such high quality! Why, I remember paying good money to get something of that quality for someone who shall not be mentioned to never use her armor because she thinks adventures are not fun! The ingrate has it stored in a box, if you can believe it."

"Hey!" Sunset growled.

The filly just stood there, looking between the two of them for a moment as if trying to process the situation. Then it seemed like her brain rebooted and she stood up straight. Her voice came out in what was probably meant to be an imposing, heroic tone. It was adorable.

“Er, well, thank you… civilian?”

"Eeeeee!"

"So… uh, a superhero?" Sunset ventured. "Well, can't think of many other creatures that might need a drink as badly. I have a non-alcoholic menu for you, if you want to take a look." She blinked. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Since we didn't hear the bell I was completely thrown off. Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my name is Sunset Shimmer, and this is my business partner, Rarity Belle."

The filly’s eyes bulged, and she looked between the two women like she’d watched Cerberus grow a fourth head.

“Wait… seriously? Sunset Shimmer? What happened to you? Why are you both… well, what are you both?”

She gestured at them in a vague ‘what is wrong with literally all of you’ pattern.

Sunset looked down at herself. "Um, nothing?" Her eyes lit up in comprehension. "Oh wait, you mean what species. We're currently human," she explained, "I was born a pony unicorn, which is what you probably know me to be? Rarity was…" she glanced at Rarity. "...I don't think I ever asked."

Rarity huffed. "A lady never reveals her origins. But I did have horns."

The filly seemed fixated on Sunset, walking up to the bar as Rarity responded. She took a seat with a wingbeat, and slowly removed her helmet, revealing a white coat and wavy, blue-white mane. “Umm… I don’t suppose you… remember me, then?”

Sunset smiled. "I'm afraid we haven't met before today." She motioned at the bar. "This is an interdimensional bar… it visits many worlds, times, possibilities…"

"A tantalizing gateway to new experiences," Rarity added, standing up and dusting her legs. "Which reminds me, I do have business to attend to." She looked genuinely disappointed. "You do remind me of one of my assistants back home, but she wasn't a unicorn." She sighed, and looked up at Sunset. "I'm afraid I must head out. Do think about visiting Hell with me?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll think about it."

Rarity nodded. "I'm afraid I didn't catch your name, dear," she said, smiling at the filly.

“Oh. It’s, um…” the filly’s voice hitched for a moment as she seemed to consider what to say. “... it’s Cozy Glow.”

The filly silently grabbed a menu with her telekinesis and practically hid behind it, face downcast.

Rarity nodded. "Oh my, you look a bit different than the ones I know," she said, studying her a little more carefully. "Ah, I see. Well then, my dear, I will leave you in Sunset's capable hands since that's what she currently has. Next time we meet, you must let me design an armor for you!" She waved as she made her way towards the entrance. "Her drink is on me, Sunset."

"Right, right," Sunset said, glancing at the filly with some concern. "Hey, Cozy? You alright there?"

Cozy cleared her throat and clenched her jaw slightly, pushing down some kind of reaction before responding. When she spoke her voice was a little strained. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just, uh, a little confused? I was supposed to be taking the portal home, but I ended up here instead. Probably just Discord messing with me. Don’t worry about it.”

"Hm," Sunset tapped her chin. "I haven't met a Discord yet that can move my bar around. I started this place with the idea that it would come to anycreature that would need an ear and maybe something to drink, you know? It's unlikely he somehow managed that, and more likely that my bar arrived just in time, but either way I'm here to talk with you, if you'd like." She grinned. "From a universe jumper to another?"

Cozy Glow looked up at that, digesting what she’d heard for a moment. “Oh… so that’s what happened. Well, okay. Yeah, that could be… that could be nice. Umm, you said there was a non-alcoholic menu, right? Do you have a virgin pina colada? I didn’t see it anywhere.”

Sunset's face darkened. "I'm afraid virgin piña coladas have been banned from the bar. Maybe I can interest you in something else?"

Cozy stared at Sunset for just a moment like she wanted to ask something, and then turned back to the menu with a shrug. “Umm… ah, buck it. I’ll take a hot buttered rum.” She set the menu down and slouched back in her chair.

"Coming right up," Sunset said, turning around to start gathering ingredients. "So, what's bugging you? I admit I have never had the chance to talk a Cozy Glow before, but I was under the impression you would be a bit more direct, if that makes sense?"

Cozy snorted. “Right, or indirect, like manipulate all of your friends into stabbing you in the back, or get them all lost in the woods or something while I… I dunno, steal all of your drinks? Like that?” She huffed out something like a laugh. “Knowing me it would probably work right up until I realized I hadn’t actually figured out what I’d do with the drinks, and then a dozen things would go catastrophically wrong all at once.”

Sunset chuckled a little. "Oh yeah, I remember what that was like," she said, "back when I was in Canterlot, I did do a lot of manipulation… but if you're here, that's not something you do now, is it?"

“Only to villains. A lot easier to stick the landing; you just lock them up. Or blast them straight into the aether.” Cozy chuckled darkly at that.

"That it is," Sunset agreed. "Unfortunately not all can necessarily be redeemed, even when we give them as many chances as we can. How's the superhero life working out for you? The last few that have stopped by really did have some problems juggling life and daring-do."

Cozy contemplated that, looking her chanfron over with a distant smile. “It was good, actually. It makes ponies happy, it makes me happy, gives me something to do, something to think about, you know?”

Sunset nodded. "I feel a bit of the same way… I don't go out to save ponies all the time, but it makes me feel good when creatures come here and relax, you know? Everyone seems to carry some sort of weight with them and sometimes a familiar face that is still somehow a stranger seems to help?" She slid the drink over to Cozy. "I feel like I could be doing a lot more, sometimes. I've certainly learned a lot from regulars… new spells, new powers… but that's best left to creatures with that inclination. I guess… when we help, we each have our own calling?"

Cozy took a sip of the drink, and hummed her appreciation. That didn’t stop her from frowning, though. “What do you do when you’re forced to move on from that, though? When you can’t do it anymore?”

Sunset leaned back. "I hadn't thought about that…" She glanced around, sliding her hand on the bar. "In my case… I guess I know enough to move around? I think I'd continue giving magic classes to Lena, but I'd certainly miss this place. But is it just the place? I mean… yeah, it's convenient, but in the end it's me sitting down with someone that allows them to to have a friendly ear to talk to, right?"

Cozy nodded at that, tapping a hoof against her chin in thought. “I guess you could basically bartend and counsel ponies anywhere, yeah. My situation isn’t like that, though… I’m not going to be able to keep doing all of this—” she gestured at her armor “—once I go back. I’m pretty sure I won’t even have my magic any more.”

"Ah." Sunset smiled a bit sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that… but you seem to be doing well. You might not have magic, but that's not what makes you you, right?"

What does make me, me? The only thing I’ve ever been good at is this super hero thing.

Well, I guess you’re also good at stabbing ponies in the back, thievery, sabotage, manipulation—

Cozy shook her head, suppressing a gag. “No… but the things that make me me are horrible. At least with the superhero thing I felt like I could, I dunno, get away from that?” Cozy sipped her drink and blushed somewhat. “Sorry, I shouldn’t whine.”

Sunset reached over and gently patted her head. "You're not whining. You had a bad past and you're doing everything you can to be a better pony. No pony is one hundred percent perfect, we all have doubts about our past, even ponies that never had a bad one. Why don't you tell me what's eating you? Might help clear your mind at least, and I promise you I'm not going to judge you."

Despite herself, Cozy couldn’t help but lean into the touch and smile a bit. The smile faded as she considered her response.

Well, it looks like my time in fairy wonderland is over, my family and friends will forget me completely when I return to the real timeline, I can’t do the one good thing I’ve ever done any more, no more magic, and all of my heroic stuff will get forgotten too, for a start…

Right, and why not ask for another couple of drinks to round out this pity party you want Sunset to throw you? Ooo, make the scared weepy filly eyes at her while you tell her, the waterworks always get a good response!

“W-well, it’s a big change, all at once, y’know? I can’t help but be nervous, that’s all.”

Cozy sipped her drink and tried to look perfectly neutral.

"Yeah," Sunset said, "it is. But you're not really going to be helpless, right? After all, for better or worse, you've befriended the ponies that are best suited to help you move on from doing that, right? In my experience, that helps a lot more than you might think."

Sure, when Luna literally met me doing my superhero stuff and had no idea who I was until we were already friends, and Sunset met me after I had a reputation for superheroics instead of just being ‘history’s craziest filly’, but oh, I’m sure I can just win’em over with my natural charm!

Or more likely you’ll just get frustrated and start trying to manipulate ponies into being your friends again, starting with this Sunset, and then they’ll see how ugly you really are inside and throw you back in Tartarus where you belong. Or, hey, they might just kick you straight into the aether this time!

Cozy’s right eyelid twitched a bit and she put on a strained smile. “You’re probably right; I’m worrying a lot over nothing. I just need to clear my nerves and get back out there. Done it once, riiiight?” This last word was punctuated with a very wide, very uncomfortable smile, and was followed with a very long pull from her drink.

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "I find your lack of faith… disturbing." She cleared her throat. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but at the end of the day, the person—or pony—they chose to be friends with was Cozy, not…" she gave her a calculating look. "The Valiant Alicorn? The Moon's Knight?"

Cozy choked on her drink at the superhero names, giggling slightly despite herself. She cleared her throat violently and smirked up at Sunset. “Dashing Savior, actually. I, uh, I didn’t remember who Rainbow Dash was, but I think she miiiight have left an impression on me.”

"Eh, I've met my share of dashing and daring, courageous and caring heroes." Sunset smiled. "I was just going off of your armor, but I guess it makes sense that you'd have a different name if you got it later."

Cozy nodded, at ease with this line of conversation. “Yeah, I started off with just a repurposed bolt of cloth as a disguise, and some simple magic. My given name was ‘Quillon’, just because I had no idea what my real name was. Pretty random, but I was leaning into the whole ‘superhero’ thing.”

"Every good hero needs a secret identity, although one of my recent guests, Ghost Spider, actually had her secret identity exposed on purpose when she went to prison." Sunset sighed. "I don't think I have it in me to be that type of person… it takes a lot of guts, and real conviction to follow through." She grinned. "And here you are, doing just that."

Cozy smirked at Sunset with a quirked eyebrow. “Oh, right, you don’t have guts. Someone should tell Grogar oh wait they can’t because we smoked him together.” She followed that up with a… heroic cackle.

Sunset burst out laughing. "That's your Sunset. I don't mind facing occasional dimension-destroying entities or forgotten gods, but there's a difference between finding yourself in the middle of something where you have to fight or die, and going out of your way for the benefit of others, standing up for your values, and dealing with the consequences of your choices. That, my dear Cozy, is a hero. The former is someone good at surviving."

Cozy smiled at the sound of Sunset laughing, and barked out at a laugh of her own at Sunset calling her a hero. “Honestly, you think way too much of me. I kinda got into the hero thing by accident; I had no idea what I was really doing, I just thought it was what I had already been doing. And after that, it’s kinda habit-forming? So I stuck with it. I’m sure you’d have no trouble.”

And I only really do it because it keeps my mind off of how much I messed everything up before, and it makes ponies like me, and I get to feel like I’m doing something real and meaningful…

You’re less a real hero and more like a violent dog that was whipped into serving a new master, really. How long until you see a new opportunity to bite the hand that feeds you, anyway?

Cozy grimaced and scowled violently, and downed the rest of her drink, setting a few bits on the counter and standing up to leave.

"Cozy?" Sunset called out, "wait. I'm sorry, I know that you're going through very different things than I have and… well, I tend to project a bit. I'm sorry if I said something that offended you."

Cozy whirled around and waved her hooves in a panic. “Wha—nonono! No, you’re fine, I just, I thought I should probably, y’know, get back to it.”

I want to stay.

“... I want to stay.”

So you can play off of her sympathies. Stop looking for sympathy! Think of all the awful shit you did!

Cozy grimaced and rubbed her head, cursing under her breath.

Sunset shrugged and motioned at the seat. "You know. Time here doesn't pass outside. If you want to stay, I'd love to keep talking to you. I really would."

That’s what I’m afraid of…

Cozy fluttered back into her seat and smiled uncomfortably. “If you say so. I’m used to overstaying my welcome a bit, sorry.”

"The magic of bars is that when we want people gone we let them know a few minutes in advance with their last chance to place an order." Sunset stated, nodding firmly. "And don't worry, you're not overstaying your welcome… this is important to me too. Not only am I helping someone to talk about their problems, but I'm also helping a friend of one of my counterparts." She winked. "Who knows, maybe you'll be friends with more than a few Sunsets by the time this is all done."

Cozy smiled at that.

Oh yes, by all means, amass an army of magically-talented loner unicorns who are ripe for emotional manipulation due to their past and current difficulties.

The smile faltered a bit and Cozy covered it with a cough. “Erm, mom said I could have two buttered rums on Hearth’s Warming, but I really don’t think she meant back-to-back. Maybe a ginger ale?”

Already a little tipsy from the first one, actually. Wow, they really serve them watered-down for the kids, huh?

"You know, until a cat asked for it, I had never really tried it. I'll have one too." Sunset took the mug from the buttered rum and stored it behind the counter before pulling up two pints and filling them up with the fountain drink dispenser. "Straw or no straw?"

“No straw. Gotta enjoy the horn while I have it, aheh.”

"No straw it is." Sunset placed one pint in front of her and saluted with her own. "To horns?"

Cozy chewed her lip. “To magic. Including friendship.”

That’s what I’ll be losing when I leave, after all.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. At least you GOT magic and friendship, which was more than you deserved in the first place.

"To magic and friendship," Sunset said taking a swig of her own drink. "The gifts that never stop giving."

Cozy winced, and muttered, “ ‘cept for mine.”

Sunset sighed, "Look… I won't pretend to really be able to tell you how things work out there. All cases are different. But right now, you're with a friend—”

“Well I don’t deserve friends! All I do—” Cozy gasped and slapped a hoof over her mouth, and cursed slightly as she screwed her eyes closed and turn away.

Damnit, no, no, no! This is exactly what I’m not supposed to do anymore!

Sunset tilted her head and blinked. "Who said that was your choice this time around? I decided I like you, that I'd like to be your friend, and trust me, I chased a Narn through six years of his life before he owned up to a friendship. I have patience."

Cozy groaned, curling in on herself with her back to the bar. “This is exactly what I do, though! I make ponies feel sorry for me and then I hurt them! It’s not fair to you, or anypony.”

Sunset sighed. She's doing worse than I was when I had just been cleansed by the Elements of Harmony, and even during the whole Anon-a-Miss thing. She studied the filly, trying to figure out how to best express what she was feeling. If I try to be too nice about it she might think I'm really just being kind because she got me through her misery, and I don't think that will help. She let her breath out slowly. Only one way to go.

"I hate to break it to you, Cozy, but I don't feel sorry for you," Sunset said. "I didn't feel sorry for G'kar, or Scorpia, or any other former villain either. It's not about pity, it's about friendship, and friendships are not born out of pity, but from respect." She leaned over the counter, just so she could look at her from her side. "And I do respect you. That has nothing to do with emotional manipulation."

Cozy was trying to hide her crying at that point, with little success. The sniffling gave it away, if nothing else. “You wouldn’t respect me if you knew me. I know me better than anypony, and I hate me. The only good things I’ve ever done were by accident; meanwhile the things I did on purpose could have destroyed all of Equestria, or the next best thing. I had to think long and hard about my life, and what I realized was that my string of failures had amounted to just one thing: I’d found ponies who were happy and I had left them scared, miserable, or jaded. That was the only thing I was ever good at until I started this whole ‘hero’ thing, and now that’s over, too.”

Cozy frowned deeply. “The whole multiverse would be better off if there wasn’t a single Cozy Glow in it.”

Sunset hummed. "So… if Cozy Glow hadn't been there… who would have stopped Grogar?"

Cozy sniffed. “I don’t know. Probably Discord, though. He had to be aware of him, and he could manage it. I think he just let us take him on as a lesson, or whatever. You probably know how he is with that stuff.”

"I also know that he has been outsmarted many times," Sunset said. "Or that sometimes things get past him because he's distracted with Flutt—other things." She cleared her throat. "In any case, maybe he could, maybe not… but it was you who did it. The bottom line is, self-deprecation is as bad as manipulating others… except the victim here is not them, but you.”

Cozy opened her mouth to speak, but Sunset followed up quickly. “And before you say, 'I deserve it', think about this… if you don't deserve good things at all and you're so evil, how come you chose to be a hero instead of giving in to darker instincts and trying for villainy again? Why come in here and when you knew neither Rarity nor I would be able to immediately guess your identity come out with the truth? Maybe your failures weigh more on your conscience than your successes, but doing that—all of that—is a change for good. Before you go punishing yourself, ask yourself, would you want me to put myself through that? Or Luna?"

Cozy grimaced, shuddering in place. “N-no, no. I wouldn’t.” She sighed, rubbing her face with a forehoof and turning back around; Sunset spied blood coming from the forehoof she had brought to her mouth earlier. “I-I’m sorry for being such a mess. I knew I’d get like this, that’s why I tried to leave. I just don’t want to hurt you. A-and I guess it was kind of arrogant to think I would, I’m just… used to it.” Cozy took a sip of her drink and stared into it, avoiding eye contact.

Sunset walked around the bar to sit on a stool next to Cozy, wrapping her arm over her shoulders. "It happens. And apology accepted." She said, giving the filly a gentle one-armed hug. Probably best not to mention the blood right now.

Cozy leaned into the touch, burying her muzzle into Sunset’s waistcoat. Her horn lit up, and a bandage fished out of one of the hidden pockets in her armor, wrapping around her hoof. She mumbled some sort of apology about bleeding in the bar and snickered at herself.

"It's okay," Sunset said, "it gives the place more character."

Cozy snorted at that, wiping her nose with the bandaged hoof in the process. “Oh yeah, nothing says well-worn bar like that. Just make up a good story, like some kind of interdimensional bar fight between two Discords. ‘There can be only one!’ and then a huge slap fight. Pretty sure that’s how that would go.”

"There is a race of people that chop each other's heads off with that exact shout, you know?" Sunset said ponderously, her eyes looking away from Cozy to the bar wall, where the posters and pictures were. "It's kind of horrible, and yet they have this lightshow that goes with it." She shook her head. "It's hard to explain. Just… don't be holding a sword when you hear someone shout that."

Cozy looked perplexed for a moment, then looked up at Sunset, as faux villainous and menacing as possible. “Well that’s fine, because I don’t like swords anyway. Too quick.” The effect was ruined by her giggling and burying her face again.

"This is true," Sunset chuckled evilly. "Why do that when all you need is a couple of pictures, scissors and glue to frame a whole bunch of people?"

“That takes all of the fun out of it!” Cozy snickered to herself. “It’s not a real victory unless you beat up the other person in a fistfight. That’s the big lesson I took away from superheroing. Yep. That’s the only one. Oh, and you should always invest some time in learning reflection magic. For some reason nopony ever sees it coming!”

"That might not be a bad idea. I'll cast that in the restroom."

Cozy leaned back, her genuine interest piqued. “Hey, wait. Do you wanna see my combat magic? I can do it, y’know, safely in here, I promise I won’t wreck anything! I’ve got some signature moves. This is the last time I’ll get to use them, so…”

She scuffed a hoof against her seat. “It might be nice to have somepony remember them.”

She twitched like something negative had occurred to her, but otherwise she just stared at Sunset.

Sunset smiled, eyes glinting with interest. "You know, that would be cool, but if we do that, let's do it in the spell room; I set it up in the back to help Lena practice. That place should be able to survive a Megaspell."

Cozy hopped off of her chair and followed Sunset excitedly. As soon as they reached the spell room, Cozy’s horn lit up and she stuck her tongue out in concentration. “Okay, this one is pretty complicated, especially if I make it big.”

Rays of energy emitted from her horn, extending out about fifteen feet, and swirled like a laser-light show until they converged to form a wireframe cone. More rays then emerged to form a mesh-like layer at the outer edge of it, followed by several more meshes of different colors leading all the way back to her horn.

“Okay, it’s ready! Toss some kind of violent energy in. Fire, lightning, whatever!”

"Alright," Sunset said, taking a few steps back. "I'll do a simple lightning spell." Concentrating, she made a fist then opened three fingers, tracing a circle in the air in front of her, leaving a crackling rune. "Here it comes!"

“Ooo, neat method!”

"Since I'm not a unicorn, I had to learn different ways to cast spells… and this helps in teaching my student… she's uh, a duck."

“A wha—”

The bolt struck the cage at that point. The outermost mesh wrapped around it as it pushed in, slowing it down to the point it could be observed in flight. The second mesh phased through the first, and as it wrapped around the bolt, the electricity spread across the mesh and into the outer frame of the cage, diffusing and making the whole cage glow brighter. After a second, the bolt had diffused entirely, and the meshes snapped back into position. Cozy laughed.

“It can handle more than that. Or I could show you how the reflection aspect works, if you’d rather not toss something bigger in.”

Sunset studied the cage and brought a hand to her chin in thought.

That’s definitely different from the defense spells I’ve learned. Not sure how much it can take, but I don’t want to disappoint her—oh, right!

Sunset traced another glyph in the air, this one made of bright orange flames. “Alright, you just let me know if it’s too much.”

Cozy nodded, tongue clenched between her lips, and watched carefully. Sunset carefully placed four fingers against the rune, and a jet of flame shot out from it, pouring continuously into the cage.

The meshes depressed, as they had with the lightning; this time, the projectile reached several meshes in, diffusing into the cage across all of them. Slowly, the cage began to close at the far end, bulging outwards into a spherical shape as flame poured into it. Just before the end would snap closed, Cozy called out, “Alright! That’s all it can take!”

So about enough fire to evaporate a lake. Good grief, she really has been doing super hero work.

Cozy narrowed her eyes in concentration, and the sphere collapsed and densified, forming a stable, floating ball of electricity. Sunset’s eyes widened considerably when the glow went out of Cozy’s horn.

“Check it out! It’s completely stable! Look, you can even do this!”

Cozy ran up to the sphere and… licked it. It made her hair stand up, and she giggled. “It tastes sour for some reason.”

Sunset approached the construct carefully. Huh. "Huh." She carefully ran her finger down its surface. "You know. I could make amazing drinks with this."

Cozy’s eyes lit up. “Cool idea! I should show you the full formula. I call the move ‘dragon ball’, because… well, it’s a ball, and I used it to absorb a full-size dragon’s breath and beat him with it. Heh, not to brag…”

Cozy flinched slightly, but grinned.

Sunset bowed. "I await your tutelage, oh great Kaio-sennin."

“Kaio-what?”

A little while later, the two were back in the bar, chatting about whatever came to mind. They’d started to lapse into a companionable silence when Cozy leaned into Sunset’s side and piped up again.

“You know… I really, really needed this. Thank you, Sunset.”

Sunset leaned into her too, smiling at Cozy. "It's been fun hanging out with you, so thank you too. Plus," she lifted a tall glass with a tiny decorative sparkling circle of electricity. "I can't wait to see Wrex try and drink this one."

Cozy giggled. “I never thought I’d get to hang out with you again. If I have to move on from the life I had in that timeline, I couldn’t ask for a better way to do that.”

"Well," Sunset said, slipping a hand into her pocket and producing a small, silver business card. "I'm not sure about anyone else, but you can always visit me with this." She handed Cozy the card. "If you ever want to come back it sort-of books a private visit for you."

Cozy smiled broadly at that. “I can come back? I… thank you, Sunset.” Cozy nuzzled into the older girl. She stared off into space for a few moments, thinking, and then she sighed.

“I do wonder what I’ll do about mom, though…”

Sunset blinked, straightening out a little. Uh-oh, this is not something I really know how to handle. Leaving her family behind? "Your mom?"

Cozy leaned away, nodding. “Err, it’s a bit of a long story, but Luna adopted me. I mean, she didn’t know who I was – and neither did I – but it stuck afterwards. I, um. Well… I don’t really think I deserved it, but I don’t want to lose it.”

Cozy finished her sentence somewhat lamely, like she had no idea how to put it, and capped it off with a spectacularly unconvincing laugh.

"Oh boy," Sunset shook her head. "That's… well, wonderful on the one hand, but… I'm so sorry…" She bit her lip, thinking. "Isn't there some way to bring her with you?"

Cozy shook her head. “Discord explained it to me. That was a… uh, I think he called it a ‘failed’ timeline? Or aborted, or cancelled, or something? It was real, but it wasn’t. I don’t really know how to explain it, but what happened there was a possibility, not part of the main timeline. And I’m grateful for the memories, I really am! It was the best time of my life.” Cozy had a genuine, warm smile as she thought back on it, and visibly struggled not to let it drop.

But that can't be all there is to it… come on Sunset, there should be something! "Um, are you going to try to befriend them, or keep in contact with their counterparts when you go back to your original world?"

Cozy hesitated, chewing her lip a bit and thinking on her response. Her voice came out surprisingly raw, given that she seemed to be holding her emotions back. “I have to. I… I love her. I have to.”

Think, Sunset. She dragged a hand down her face. "I just wish you could at least share what you have with her… like pictures or video..." She paused. Eyes widening. Something like using a camera even when magic erases memories… "Have you thought about sharing your memories with Luna?"

“Huh…? You mean, like, through dreams?”

Sunset nodded. "Yes. Exactly like that. Look, long story short, one girl in my second world once erased all the memories of me from my friends… but I followed Clover the Clever's hints and recorded what happened… it wasn't perfect, but I knew. Luna's magic is more complicated, more… empathic and powerful than a video camera. If you want to share your memories with her… I think she'll be able to at least see what type of relationship you had." She licked her lips. "I-I'm not suggesting you need to do that, but at least the possibility is there if you wanted."

Cozy’s smile became much broader and more genuine, and her eyes shimmered with tears. “That’s a great idea! I’ll do that! If there’s even a chance, then I’ll do it. I can’t just let her go without even trying.”

"Luna is a good pony, and someone that will listen, I think," Sunset said. "I'm sure you'll be able to talk to her about this. I hope it works."

Cozy smiled, and nodded. She nuzzled into Sunset again, then broke away. “I think I’m ready to go give it a try. Even if it all turns out terrible… at least I can come back here, right? It’s not like I’ll be completely alone.”

"You won't," Sunset said giving her a gentle hug. "Anytime you need me, you can use the card."

Cozy sighed in relief, and smiled again. She fluttered down from the chair and hunted down a trash can; she tossed her bandage into it, her wound already healed. “Then I guess it’s time to go. Until next time, heh.”

"Oh, before you go then," Sunset said, lifting her phone. "How about a picture?"

Cozy seemed surprised, but she agreed happily. She held her chanfron under a hoof and smiled broadly for the picture, pushing into a sitting Sunset so both could be caught in focus.

Grinning at the camera on her phone, Sunset took the picture.

After the picture was snapped, Cozy started for the door, but then suddenly looked around the bar. She seemed to hesitate for a second.

“Say, Sunset? Do you think I could get, ah, another one of those rums to go? It was really good. I’ll bring the glass back next time.”

Sunset gave her a considering look, then nodded, walking behind the bar. "Sure, give me a minute to whip it up." She smiled as she was mixing it. "You know, when you're ready to bring it back, use the card and think about how much you'd like another one. It'll help you focus."

Cozy scuffed a hoof on the floor and nodded sheepishly. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

When the drink was done, she put a silicon cap on it to keep the liquid inside, went around and held it for Cozy to grasp in her telekinesis field. "I don't have many of those glasses, so make sure you bring it back, okay?"

Cozy nodded feverishly, taking the drink carefully and sipping it, humming audibly in exaggerated approval.

"I'll make sure to make another one to go when you bring it in," Sunset whispered, giving her a last hug. "Good luck."

Cozy emerged from the portal, making sure to carefully grasp the handle in her teeth after snapping the lid closed. As she predicted, her horn vanished and her wings shrank on stepping through. She barely had time to register the disappointment before she felt the glass slip from her mouth and set itself aside in a blue field of telekinesis.

Then her world was a tumbling blur of dark-blue. It took her a second to register that she’d just been tackled by somepony very familiar.

“Mom?!”

Luna clutched Cozy tightly. “Oh, sweetie, we thought something had happened to you!”

Cozy looked around in confusion, and spotted Sunset – now a much more familiar equine – standing some distance away in the grass, waving.

“What-but-how-you-timeline-wha—”

Then she saw Discord grinning at her from behind Sunset. He silently mouthed ‘You’re welcome’ and snapped, vanishing.

It took another second of Luna snuggling into her armor for Cozy to get the gist of what must have happened.

Then she just laughed and facehoofed.

Sunset hung Cozy's picture up in the wall with the others, smiling fondly at the little filly that she had on good authority been sent to Tartarus at least once.

"Oddly enough, after all of that, I think I'm okay with visiting Hell with Rarity again," she muttered, shaking her head in bewilderment. "Still—" she made sure the frame was straight "—I really hope she gets her family back in some way."

She smirked as she turned to the bar. "I guess I'll find out when she returns that mug."

End Chapter

Author's Note

This story takes place after the trio of stories consisting of: The Hero: Cozy Glow,
A Cozy Hearth's Warming, and The Mirror. Be sure to take a look at those and at their post-Isekai sequel: Never Alone

Inside of Every Sunset There's a Demon (Hazbin Hotel — Pre-Pilot)

Sunset's Isekai
Inside of Every Sunset There's a Demon (Hazbin Hotel — Pre-Pilot)
By Wanderer D

"I'm going out for a walk."

"Hon, do you want me to—"

"No… no. I'll be okay. I just… need some space. Dad wasn't too kind on the phone… he thinks I'm crazy. Keep an eye on Razzle and Dazzle?"

"Oh… well, I think we could—"

"Please Vaggie?"

"Sure. Okay. Just… call me if you need anything?"

"Promise."

Charlie tried not to think too hard about Vaggie's dissapointed look as she walked out of the newly minted 'Happy Hotel', but she had too much on her mind and needed a change of scenery. Especially with how much hope she had for the place. They had been at it for over a month now, and only gotten a single tenant willing to give things a try and well, if she was honest with herself, Angel Dust wasn't necessarily trying too hard. 'Still… everything starts with a first step, right? And he IS trying.' She sighed. With the Annual Extermination coming up in a couple of weeks, she couldn't help but feel… despondent. 'Is it really the fate of all demons to have no future? Nothing nice to look forward to? Do none of them even care? Why did mom let me do this if it was doomed to fail?'

She tried to ignore the violence and atrocities happening around her. She realized long ago this was how things were… 'but are they supposed to stay this way?' she thought bitterly. 'Isn't there some sort of way to change? To stop hurting each other?'

It was then that she heard a familiar voice and she groaned, glancing up and studying the street. Yep. There she was. Helsa—that bitch—was talking to her cronies as they walked in her direction, but it seemed she hadn't been spotted yet.

Looking around quickly, she dove into a nearby alley, hiding behind a large container as the group walked past her. Letting out a deep, long, exasperated sigh, she sagged in place. One would think she and Helsa would be friends… could be friends, having known each other since childhood, but Helsa refused to see the world in the light that Charlie herself wanted to believe it was possible.

'But really, who am I kidding? Dad was right… I should just give up on the idea of redemption, take my place where I belong… but…' she glanced around at the sorry state of the place. 'I can't believe this is it. There must be—'

"—another way!" a new, unknown voice said, making her flinch and look curiously towards the source of the voice, deeper in the alley. Slowly, she inched her way towards the end of it, where it opened into an almost circular cul de sac naturally made between the backs of several buildings, where two female demons stood in front of a wooden door with a flaming sun decoration in it.

The taller of the two demons—a serpentine, familiar-looking feathered creature fully two heads taller than Charlie herself, sporting three horns, deep blue eyes, scales and feathers that glittered almost like silver, with the feathers having light blue diamond decorations, and a long, long stylish tail—shook her head and crossed her arms across her breasts. "Sunset dear, you can't really have that much of a problem. You've done this before a hundred times over."

"Yes, well, those other hundred times were not here and looking like this, Rarity." The slightly shorter demon growled, looking down at her arms and claws. "You should know how I feel about being a demon." Charlie took a moment to study her. She was pretty. Not in the sophisticated-beautiful that the other demon—Rarity—was, but in a more… real way that reminded her more of Vaggie or (she-hoped) herself. Sunset had crimson skin and long claws that ended in razor-sharp tips without them being too out of proportion. Her wings were batlike and slightly taller than herself, with little talons on the tips. Her fiery hair waved gently, as if trapped between being made of fire and normal, red and gold hair. She had long, elven ears poking from under it. Her face was human like, but the sclera of her eyes was black, with the irises a striking larimar-blue. The oddest thing was the horse-like tail of golden-red hair, but it just gave her a more exotic air.

'But what does she hate about being a demon?' Charlie thought, frowning as she studied the pair. She had a nagging feeling that she should recognize the serpentine Rarity. She had seen her before, she was sure. But where?

"You know well enough this will not affect who you really are, darling," the taller of the two demons responded, lifting Sunset's chin up with a delicate finger so they could look each other in the eye. "You should know that better than anyone."

Sunset wrapped her bat-like wings around herself, clearly uncomfortable with the direction of the discussion. "I-I know, Rarity. But remember when I became a Saiyan?"

Somehow the already white scales on Rarity became whiter. "If I recall correctly, you managed to rein that in."

"Yes. I just had to die three times and be resurrected because, apparently, being a Saiyan, the words 'I'd rather avoid violence' suddenly disappear from your intrinsic understanding of how the universe works."

Rarity looked slightly sick. "Yes. I do recall that."

"For a whole year, I insisted Kale call me 'big sister'."

"In any case, darling, that was one time—"

"When I became a cat, I ate mice."

Rarity glared at her, but Sunset simply shrugged. "It's true."

Charlie's eyes went wide. 'Is she some sort of transforming demon?' she thought.

Sunset sighed. "Look, I'm just not comfortable with the implications of being a demon again alright? It brings back too many bad memories of my youth."

"Nonsense!" Rarity responded. "Why, your demonic new body is much less… barbaric than it was before. It's almost like you've been working out in all the right areas! A clear reflection of improvement as any I've ever seen! Just look at yourself; you look refined and powerful, completely in control. And look! You're no longer wearing those awful boots. If that's not clear improvement, then I don't know what is."

That earned her a chuckle from the other demon. "Sorry, it's—" Sunset looked down and Rarity sighed, reaching out to pat her friend's shoulder.

"Don't worry, darling. I have much to do in the city… why don't you wait for me at the bar? If you change your mind, you can always call me, and I'll be happy to come pick you up."

Sunset sagged in place, looking both guilty and relieved. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am, darling. You know how to find me if you need me!" Not wasting another second, Rarity coiled into herself and disappeared in a shower of blue sparkles, leaving Sunset alone next to the mysterious door.

The demon sighed and leaned her head on the door. "What am I doing here?" she whispered just loud enough for Charlie to hear her. "I should have just dropped her off and picked her up later." She sighed again and pushed herself away from the door, then turned to face the alley. "Anyway, are you going to come out now?"

Charlie's eyes went wide and she gulped, straightening up, trying to remain stoic and unimpressed, as her dad insisted she should present herself. Instead, her left hand immediately went to rub her right arm nervously as she stepped out from the shadows. "Um. Hi. I'm sorry… I didn't intend to listen in on your conversation."

Sunset shook her head. "Right. Look, I'm not in the mood to deal with stuff right now, so if you don't mind, I'm getting the hell out of here." She paused, blinked and smacked her face with her palm. "Of course I'd unintentionally say something like that."

Before Charlie could say anything, Sunset opened the door next to her and closed it behind her. Charlie was about to shrug it off and walk away, but hesitated. Something in Sunset's voice made her want to stay. It had a tinge of sadness to it… a hint of honesty that she had seldom encountered in Hell.

She glanced back to the alley, where she could just walk out of and head back to her hotel. But… wasn't the point of her hotel to help demons? There was no malice from Sunset, of that she was sure. She was hurting. Angry… but not at others, like everyone else here.

Charlie turned around again, just noticing the little blackboard next to the door. "This is a bar?" she whispered, glancing at the door. "And they sell frappuccinos?"

Sunset dragged herself across the hallway, her wings almost brushing the sides. Under different circumstances, this look would be cool. But right now, she couldn't really bring herself to see it in a positive light. "Maybe I can just take a nap, and when I wake up, I'll be back to normal," she mumbled as she went around the bar, vaguely noticing that she was much taller as a demon.

Just as she was about to open the door to the backrooms, the door to the bar opened, and the silvery chime announcing a new guest echoed in the room like the knell of inevitability. Sunset started to panic, looking down at herself, still in her demon form. 'Did the bar move somewhere else? Why am I still a demon?!'

Before she could do anything, her guest stepped into the room, and she blinked. It was the demon from earlier. A tall, rather inoffensive-looking female demon, wearing a pink tuxedo, with black trousers, and a black bow tie. She had long, peach-highlighted blonde hair that curled up at the ends, very similar to what Sunset's own hair looked like when she was human. Her lips were pitch black, and she had red cheeks similar to a harlequin. Her eyes were black, with the sclera seeming to glow with an inner light.

Sunset stood still for a moment while the demon girl looked around the bar in complete fascination, studying the posters, guitars, framed coins and even the pictures before she turned around to face Sunset with the widest, most excited eyes she had ever seen on a demon.

"Oh. My. Gosh. This place… is amazing!"

The words snapped her back to reality. "Oh. Uh, thanks?" she shook her head, glancing at the demon warily. "So, no offense, but what are you doing here?"

The demon girl smirked. "Well, I saw you sold frappuccinos!"

Sunset blinked. "You saw the sign?"

"Yes!" the demon shouted excitedly, sliding up to the bar and taking a seat. She rested her elbows on the bar's surface and curled her fingers under her chin, smiling at Sunset. "And I would love a frappuccino. I was having an awful day and I could really use one to chill, you know?"

Sunset dragged her palm down her face, careful to not cut herself with her claws. 'Well, if she's in here she can't be that bad…'

"Ah. Well, okay then." Sunset cleared her throat. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar outside of time, space, and the multiverse. I'm Sunset Shimmer."

"And I'm Charlie!" the demon said, taking Sunset's claw in her hand, shaking it. "I saw the pictures! How do you know so many humans? Do you have a special permit? And what's with the ducks? And the horses! And the other demons? I've never seen anything like them!"

"Well, you see…"

"Oh, and you must have many other drinks!"

"Here." Sunset passed the menu to Charlie, who eagerly grabbed it and looked through the options.

"Oooh! Ice cream! But no, I just… okay, maybe…"

Sunset couldn't help but chuckle. "I have to admit, you're not the kind of demon I thought I'd meet here."

That deflated the tall girl a little. "Oh. Yeah, I get that a lot." She sighed, rolling her eyes and waving her hand. "'You're not much of a demon, Charlie.' 'You should just do as demons do, Charlie.' 'Why do you care, Charlie.' 'You're a total failure, Charlie.'" She sank behind the menu. "No need to rub it in."

'Well, that's certainly unexpected.' Sunset thought, grimacing. "Hey, don't worry," she said reaching out to give Charlie's forearm a gentle squeeze. "I meant it in a good way."

Charlie looked up from the menu, studying Sunset's face as if expecting some sort of deception, which made sense, them being demons, after all. She snorted and looked away. "Figures a demon that hates demons would say that," she muttered, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Feeling slightly guilty, Sunset sighed. "Hey, chin up. Let me get you that frappuccino, alright?"

Leaving the despondent teen demon on the bar, Sunset headed over to her fridge to get out the cold-brew coffee and other ingredients she'd need. 'Ugh. I hate feeling guilty,' she thought while she mixed the ingredients. Granted, she still resented the fact that she was currently a demon, but she hadn't expected somedemon to hear her ranting about it and feel hurt by it. It was weird because it made sense and yet, it didn't make sense. Demons weren't supposed to care about things like that, but Charlie had clearly been hurt by her comments.

Once the drink was mixed together and topped with a healthy—or unhealthy—amount of whipped cream, Sunset went over to Charlie and set the chilled drink in front of her, slipping in a red and white straw.

She watched as her guest pushed herself up and took the drink, slurping it. Slowly, the smile returned to Charlie's face, even if it wasn't as exuberant as earlier. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Sunset said, leaning on the counter. "I'm sorry that what I said earlier hurt you."

Charlie chuckled. "I should know better, right? I just… I want all demons to be happy. To be more than what we are." She propped her elbow on the bar and rested her cheek on her hand, using the other to stir her frappuccino. "I just find it kinda sad that the only other demon besides Vaggie to show some empathy happens to hate demons."

Sunset bit her lip. "I… don't hate demons."

Charlie sighed. "You know I heard you."

"I know, but it's… different," Sunset said. "I I don't hate demons, I hate me being one. I stopped being a demon a while ago after becoming one and set on the path to redemption," she explained, getting Charlie's attention.

"Wait, redemption?" the teen demon asked, looking up at Sunset with wide eyes. "You were redeemed?"

Nodding, Sunset continued, "It's not an easy road and… well, who can tell how far I've really come?" She chuckled. "My crimes were relatively inofensive, but mostly because I got lucky. I could have caused a lot of damage. I—" she took a deep breath "—I could have made people hate themselves to the point of doing something… regrettable." She smiled morosely. "Instead, after I got turned back into a human, I did what I could to earn their forgiveness and more importantly made an effort to try and fix what damage I had done, sometimes inadvertently by being too nice and not noticing people needed attention besides a kind word or two." She shrugged. "In the end I got everyone to sign my graduation yearbook, and it felt like I had at least compensated for what I had done. Redemption… well. We'll see."

Charlie gave her a considering look. "My dad says that demons can't be redeemed."

Sunset arched an eyebrow. "I don't think your dad has met me."

"Yeah, well… it still seems impossible." Charlie sank back down. "Especially if the point is helping them be happy. You hate being a demon, right?"

Sunset grimaced. "Look, it's a bit tricky… it's not that I don't think it's cool being a demon… it's just… for me… it brings things out that I don't want."

Charlie slurped some coffee and looked up at Sunset. "Such as?"

Sunset crossed her arms, feeling uncomfortable. "I–when I change…" She trailed off, shaking her head. With a wave of her hand she brought the graduation picture from the wall and showed it to Charlie. "This is what I normally look like."

"Ooh. That's definitely a lot less..." Charlie motioned with her hands at all of Sunset.

"Right?" Sunset said, chuckling. "But it's not my demon form that bothers me… it's that when I transform through the Isekai while visiting other worlds, I don't just look like a demon. I am a demon."

Charlie crossed her arms. "I don't see the problem."

"Okay, so… I was telling Rarity earlier." Sunset levitated another picture and showed it to Charlie. "See, in this picture we're cats. But I don't just look like one, I am one. I am 100% feline from that world. So sure, I can stand on my hind legs and wobble about. I can meow like a pro. And I also ate mice because they looked delicious and I could play with them!"

Charlie pursed her lips. "So what's so bad about that?"

"Well, I went to this other world where I got turned into one of the local alien species, and I… well, I became pretty violent. And I had a very powerful body to boot. When I got back to normal, those urges left along with the powerup."

"Oh…" Charlie's eyes widened. "I see. So your issue is not with looking like a demon, but with being one."

"Exactly."

"So, how is that supposed to make me feel better about being a demon myself?"

Sunset smacked her forehead. 'Crap. I forgot about that.' "Look, it's just… when I become a demon I feel my nature shifting back to what I was back then. Angry. Selfish. Powerful in a bad way… it brings out a lot of things that I tell myself are okay, but in this light just makes me feel hypocritical."

"Like what?"

Sunset shrugged. "Like… I don't know. My non-interference agreement. When the Isekai became mine, I signed a contract that bound me to this place. One of the provisions was that I can't involve myself directly with any universe I visit on a large scale. I can talk to people, help them sort their problems but… if a whole world needs to be evacuated, I can't. I can help G'kar to become a better person with some advice and friendship, but I can't just drop him off in Narn when he's needed. I can take Purity back in time to meet her sister, but I can't stop her from dying. I can even have AJ talk to her parent's counterparts in a different universe, but I can't make sure they will live to see their own AJ grow up."

Charlie hummed. "So… if being a demon makes you wonder if all of that is just an excuse. What was the hardest part for you to get redeemed first?"

Glancing at the graduation picture, Sunset sagged. "I think… even knowing that I was not the same person and that I truly regretted what I had done… it was learning to forgive myself for the things I had wilfully done to others."

"But you care, right?" Charlie said. "Like, most demons I know don't care at all. They don't want to be nicer, or better, or have a chance to become something else." She grinned. "And you're in a world where you became a demon, just like me… in all senses of the word, and yet you still regret the bad things you did, or when you can't help people as much as you would like. And you were already redeemed as far as anyone knows."

The pair stared at each other for a moment.

Charlie was the first to speak. "Oh my gosh."

"Oh, wow."

"Do you realize what this means?" Charlie whispered, barely containing her energy. "Demons can be redeemed!"

Sunset shook her head. 'But isn't it against the very nature of a demon to care about others?' She looked at Charlie. "So… why exactly does this matter to you?"

"Don't you see?" the teen demon said, her smile growing as she took Sunset's hands in her own. "That means that caring doesn't make me a failure! That trying to help others is something a demon can actually do! Our nature is not infallible!"

She stood up, hands flat on the bar. "You said the bar turned you through and through into the kind of species of the world you visited right? Then that means that being selfish, and only caring about what benefits you alone is a choice! Then that means that my hotel can work!"

Sunset blinked. "Okay, now I'm confused, what hotel?"

"The Happy Hotel!" Charlie said. "When I told mom I wanted to help other demons be happy, she suggested I find a place where demons interested in becoming better could gather. So I got a hotel!"

"Huh, like some sort of rehab center."

"My dad hates the idea.. but Vaggie and Razzle and Dazzle have been a really big help and we even just got one guest already!" Charlie leaned in, almost invading Sunset's personal space. "And he's famous!"

Sunset smirked. "You know. Before talking to you I would have thought it wasn't a great idea… but I think you have a talent for it."

"Yes!" Charlie was practically jumping in place with excitement. "This. Is. Amazing!" She sighed and sat down again, her grin not wavering at all. "This is the confidence boost I needed. With mom's singing career keeping her busy, I was starting to feel like Vaggie and the others were just trying to humor me… but now…" She gasped. "Oh! Oh yeah! I'll go ahead and schedule that interview with Katie Killjoy."

"That's uh, an unfortunate name."

"Who cares?" Charlie laughed draining half her glass in one long pull. "You have no idea how difficult it is to keep believing when everyone around you says you're just wasting time on a pipe dream."

Sunset chuckled. "I… have an idea of what that's like." She nodded. "It is very hard. It's one of the reasons I got like I did about becoming a demon again. It reminded me how easily people forget the good you've done and chose to look at the bad. About how I felt when everyone gave up on me. How betrayed… and how deserving of their hatred it was."

This time it was Charlie who reached across to grasp Sunset's arm with a gentle squeeze. "Hey. Didn't we discover that redemption was real?"

Sunset laughed, shaking her head and swallowed the knot in her throat. "Yeah. We did. It's been a long time since that happened. At least for me, but when I see my friends they are just as young as I left them, you know? A few years might pass before I see them again, and to them it's only been a week."

Charlie winced. "That sounds rough."

"It is." Sunset sighed, scooping up Charlie's glass and refilling it. She didn't glance over her shoulder at the other demon. "I wouldn't trade anything for my bar, for what I have… but it's really hard sometimes—when time inevitably passes—to know that those weeks will be years eventually. And one day… I might not be able to see them again. I'll see people with their faces, their smiles and voices… but it will be others, not… not my own."

She gave Charlie the new frappuccino, but the other demon looked away. "I'm sorry. Me worrying about redeeming sinners must be something pretty unimportant."

"No."

"What?" Charlie looked up. "But you have other problems an—"

"It's all good," Sunset interrupted. "I'm not lonely, just… nostalgic I guess. Even though I have a family of my own now—with Lena, Rarity, Danni and even our pet symbiote spider—and even with every new friend I make in the multiverse... I miss my friends." She held Charlie's eyes with her own. "But I have friends because someone took the time to see past my sins and helped me become a better person." She smiled, taking Charlie's hands in her claws. "What you're doing is invaluable. It's important… much more than you imagine. I wouldn't be here if someone like you hadn't stepped into my life unexpectedly. Now, you can be that for many many others. You're a good demon, Charlie… and I'm sure there are a whole lot of other good ones out there. Like your friend Vaggie. Or your friends Razzle and Dazzle. Even that first guest of yours..."

"Angel Dust."

"Yes. Angel—wait, the porn star?"

"No. Nononono. A ver, cabron. I said, to move the minibar here, next to the plug, so we can plug it and make sure that whatever we put inside, actually stays cold."

Angel Dust shrugged and started walking away. "Eh. I did my good deed for the day."

"Pero—the only thing you did was move that from one side of the room to another!"

"Whatever you say, toots, but I ain't gonna move anything more today. I have to work on my legs."

Just as Vaggie was about to retort, the door to the hotel opened, and Charlie walked back in. Immediately forgetting about Angel Dust, she rushed over to hug her. "Hon, are you okay? Did the walk help?"

She vaguely noticed that Angel Dust had glanced back curiously. Even if he felt any concern for Charlie, she didn't expect him to go beyond listening in.

"Yes!" Charlie said, surprising her. When she had left earlier, she had been in a very foul mood indeed.

"Entonces… were you able to talk to your mom?"

Charlie shook her head. "No… but it's okay. I met a new friend and she talked to me about this whole thing."

Vaggie grimaced. "And this friend…"

"Sunset!"

"Yes… where is she?"

"She's gone for now…" Charlie said, then flashed a silver card in front of Vaggie's face. "But we can stop at her bar one day!"

"Well, I'm glad you had a drink an—"

"It's better than that!" Charlie took Vaggie's hands in her own, making her feel warm and tingly. "Vaggie… we can definitely do it."

'Mind out of the gutter!' "W-Do what?"

"This!" Charlie said letting go of her hands and spinning in place, blonde hair flying around her almost like a halo. "The hotel! It can work!"

Whatever this Sunset had given Charlie to drink, it seemed to have done the trick. "So… we're not quitting."

"We are not!" Charlie said with a definitive nod. "And I have a plan. I'm going to call Channel 666 every day until they give me an interview! And then we'll have every demon in hell know we're here for them!"

She turned and hugged Vaggie. "And it's super important that you help me plan it. Can you?"

Vaggie smiled, sinking into the hug. "Of course, hon. Anytime."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Crossover with the amazing:

Also! A little Experiment (Valid until 02/07/2020)

To be Forgotten (Final Fantasy IX — Complete)

Sunset's Isekai
To be Forgotten (Final Fantasy IX — Complete)
By Wanderer D

Freya tossed and turned. "N-no!" she mumbled, her mind half-awake, half-asleep.

Her consciousness struggled to pull itself out of the dream's grasp; trapped between a clash of images flashing through her mind, and the feeling of her body just struggling to get up.

One moment her sight took in a blurry bookshelf full of tomes and strange devices...

… the crystal harp-strings breaking in the claws of a horrified priestess…

She heard gentle words, a warm claw or hand on her shoulder.

...the sky opening—the clouds expanding like a red ring of doom...

She could feel soft pillows and...

...the heat washing over her as she and the others flew towards the Ruby Rose, fire, the eidolon galloping through the sky, its spear poised, ready to be thrown…

Under her, the mattress was firm and soft, comfortable…

...the spear rocketed down, wreathed in power... her people looked up as doom charged them, soldiers, civilians, the king, mothers, children…

Her claws grasped the silken bed sheets tightly, her breaths came harder and faster.

...the sky lit around Cleyra, and for a brief second the tree and the city stood still, frozen in a moment of almost ethereal beauty…

"RUN!" she shouted, violently flinging her arms and legs as she sat up in the bed, sweaty, breathing hard and feeling like her heart was about to explode. Someone next to her gasped and fell down to the floor with a loud thump.

Freya closed her eyes. She tried to collect herself, lifting her paw to wipe away the tears the memory had conjured.

"Hey," a strange voice said gently, and she tensed, "here, use this."

She felt a soft cloth pressed against the back of her paw. A handkerchief. She mumbled a thanks, using it to dry away the tears. "To think that anyone would see me of all people crying." She sighed, and opened her eyes, taking in the concerned look of the human in front of her. Teal eyes, red and gold hair, strange clothes… 'similar to a butler's? Not much older than me.' She gulped and looked around, taking in the room. It was spacious, not too big, but certainly not small. Several bookshelves decorated one end, where a large desk with plenty of scrolls and writing devices of various sorts rested.

A carpet, wooden floors, polished to shine. Strange portraits of people and beasts the likes of which she had never seen. Next to the bed was a small table with a half-empty bottle of some sort of wine, and a few piled books in a language she did not recognize. Two doors, one opening into what appeared to be an indoor bath. The other presumably leading to the rest of the… house? Building? Wherever this was, it was certainly upper class. The decorations and style, however did not fit Alexandrian architecture. She noticed a rack that had her coat and hat on it, as well as her lance resting against it. She looked down at herself and realized for the first time she was wearing a long, thin (and comfortable) nightgown.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"My room," her host replied, picking up her desk chair and sitting next to the bed. "You collapsed when you walked into my bar. Do you remember?"

"I—" She stopped talking as the memory slowly came back to her. Zidane had picked up Dagger and she had stayed behind to fight against the Queen's jesters alongside Steiner and Beatrix. The jesters were much more powerful than they had anticipated… then somehow the Tantalus troupe had gotten involved and managed to distract them enough to get them out…

Then it was a blur. Being carried out of the castle, the hustle and pulling as Blank jumped from building to building until they reached the ground. Being half-carried, half-dragged into an inn. She had woken up soon after to find herself in the same room as her unconscious enemy.

She had contained her anger, but looking at Beatrix would just bring back… she shuddered. 'What happened next?' sneaking out, tired, no-exhausted, but unwilling to stay there regardless of their last alliance. She had stumbled in the dirty, raining streets of Alexandria until she had found a bar and pushed the door open.

"I—" Freya shook her head. "I remember some of it but…"

"When you came into my bar, you collapsed," her host repeated gently. "You had several wounds and a high fever. So I brought you in and healed you as best as I could. I've been taking care of you for about a month here but—"

"A month!" Freya gasped, struggling to get up, but her host firmly pushed her back down. Perhaps she was stronger than she looked, but Freya feared that her own strength was lacking after such a long time bedridden. "But my friends! There's so much at stake!"

"First of all, you are not strong enough to go back out yet," her host said gently, but firmly. "Second of all, don't worry about how long you have been here. In this place, time passes differently. When you walk out of my bar, you'll be back in your world just a few seconds after you left. I'm not letting you run into the cold rain just after your fever broke, without your strength back to remain healthy."

Freya's eyes studied her host's for a few moments before relenting. "It appears I don't have much of a choice," she said, leaning back into the bed. It was then that a thought occurred to her. "If this is your room… where did you sleep?"

Sunset chuckled and pointed at the sofa nearby with her thumb, where a pillow lay on top of a folded blanket.

Freya felt heat raise to her cheeks. "I-I apologize! I took over your bed and I haven't even thanked you, or introduced myself. Not many people from Alexandria would have done something like this for someone like me." She took a breath and shifted in place guiltily, trying not to show how much she enjoyed the warm bed and soft blankets, then, wincing a little, she sat up and bowed slightly. "My name is Freya Crescent, of Burmecia."

Her host smiled. "No need to thank me, Freya. I get the feeling if the situation was inverted you'd made sure that I was safe and comfy as well. My name is Sunset Shimmer." She motioned to the room. "And this is my bar outside of space and time… well… my room in the back of my bar… outside of… space and, well, my room anyway." Sunset cleared her throat and stood up, rolling her shoulders. "Don't feel bad about taking over my bed either," she said, chuckling a little. "I do have other rooms," she admitted, "but when I saw the state you were in I panicked and brought you to mine first. And then… well, it just seemed pointless to move you around, and I'm more comfortable taking care of you here than leaving you on your own in another room." Her smile faded a little. "Plus I have a bathroom right here and levitating you there is a lot easier than others." She rubbed her arm with her hand uncertainly. "I… hope you don't mind that I changed and cleaned you up. You were doing pretty bad for a while there, and I had to redress your wounds and clean your clothes. My business partner, Rarity, fixed your uniform."

"Oh." Freya said, looking down at her calloused paws. She was unused to this much kindness from humans. It wasn't unheard of—Tantalus had plenty of humans in its group, and they would never bat an eye. But someone with the amount of money that Sunset would have, living in Alexandria? That was too much to believe. This was too much for a stranger in an enemy city.

It was then that something that Sunset said started dawning on her. "Outside of time and space? Are we currently not in Alexandria?"

"Not… exactly," Sunset said, then stopped when a gurgling sound made them both stare at Freya's stomach. "But how about I get you some food and we can talk about it then?" she asked.

Feeling very self-conscious, Freya nodded to her host, unable to meet her eyes after that disgraceful sound she had produced.

"Right, I'll be right back," Sunset said, heading towards one of the doors. "I think we should have something in the fridge… worst case I guess I can order something from Nekoya..."

Her voice faded away soon after the door was closed, and Freya took a moment to let her shoulders slump. She couldn't help but be on guard, despite the help offered so far. Sunset Shimmer seemed to be honest in her intentions, and if she had been here a month already… well, she'd had more than enough time to kill her and no reason whatsoever to treat her so well if she had bad intentions.

Sunset had said to stay in bed, but the thought that she had been lying down for so long bothered her, so she carefully slid off the alluring embrace of the bed-sheets and mattress and stood up, having to keep a paw on it to stop herself from losing her balance.

Thankfully, she wasn't so weak that she couldn't get it back quickly enough. Dragoons were trained and conditioned to be quick on their recovery, which meant that if she had been that sick… 'I might have been much closer to death than I thought.'

She didn't feel like she could really do much other than very carefully make her way around—shuffling and wobbling, more than walking—so she started exploring the room. As she had noticed earlier, Sunset's bedroom was large, but it didn't have too much clutter. The tall, five-leveled book shelves, were made of thick, dark wood, and contained more books in languages she had never seen. Some of them bound in leather or even wood, ancient-looking and obviously arcane, others had surprisingly white paper, with neat, tiny letters printed out better than anything she had seen so far, even in Lindblum.

There were plenty of devices, both familiar and not on them, small gems, some sort of green-glass device attached to a metal part that seemed to go over one eye and ear, a small globe representing a world she had never seen, a sextant...

Framed paintings and pictures rested on top of a chest of drawers, and she even had a couple of what could only be posters for some sort of show or event, some with horse-like creatures of all sorts—winged, horned, winged and horned—or even some she had never seen before. She didn't know why, but the room felt young despite the general feeling of it being inside something old. It made her oddly jealous and also oddly wanting to take part in it.

Just as her body was beginning to ache, Sunset Shimmer came back in, holding a large plate of food under a metal cloche. Her host blinked and shook her head. "I thought I told you to stay in bed?"

Freya chuckled. She had time to relax. For the first time in years… if Sunset had said the truth and nary a second would pass back home… she could… "Perhaps." She grinned. "But I got curious."

Sunset shared her smile and with a wave of her hand made a small table float over to the more open area of the room, followed by two chairs. She set the meal down on it, and motioned for Freya to sit down.

When she was, Sunset removed the cloche, presenting her with a familiar-looking dish. Vegetables, meat, a thick, milky broth all contained in a casserole under a flaky crust. Freya felt her eyes go wide and slightly watery. "I-is that roast pot?"

"I wasn't sure what to make for you," Sunset said, "so I consulted my menu and… well, this came up. I hope that's okay?"

Freya closed her eyes and allowed herself a smile. "This is a traditional dish from my city of Burmecia," she whispered. "It wasn't… it was never high-cuisine, but it was a dish loved and enjoyed equally by all, rich or poor." She gulped. "Thank you."

Sunset's smile could've lit the room. "My pleasure. After you're eaten though, it's back to bed for you."

Freya hiccuped as she laughed. "I'm sorry I'm usually not… I just didn't expect to see this after—" She took a shuddering breath, and forced herself to change the topic. "I don't know if I can sleep more after all that I have. I'm not that tired."

Sunset shrugged. "I'll read you a story."

Her stomach once again grumbled, and this time Freya didn't raise a fuss when Sunset served her a plate.

It tasted like home.

They had eaten in mostly silence, which Freya had appreciated. As much as the circumstances allowed for her to rest a little, her mind kept going back to unpleasant thoughts. In the end, however, she had actually been that tired.

Shortly after eating, exhaustion had settled in and Sunset had helped her back into bed, despite her insistence and yawn-interrupted complaints that—now that she could walk—if Sunset insisted she stay, it should be in one of the guest rooms.

Despite herself it felt nice to be fussed over, and she had drifted to sleep while her new friend settled down on the chair next to the bed and started reading her book.

A few hours later, Sunset looked up when the door opened and Rarity peeked in. "How is our guest holding?"

"Much better," Sunset said, resting her book on her lap. "She woke up earlier and was a bit confused, but that's expected."

"Huh-huh," Rarity said, stepping in and walking to the heavy coat she had repaired to inspect it, then, seemingly satisfied, she glanced at the bedridden dragoon. "I'm still amazed that someone with the body-build of a dancer is able to carry so much weight." She smirked, turning her eyes to Sunset. "And how does my favorite nurse feel?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Neck is a bit stiff, but fine."

"Such a varied clientele we have here, don't we? Cats, krogan, ponies, ducks, demons…"
Rarity chuckled and walked over to the bed, brushing one of Freya's silvery strands of hair from her face. The sleeping dragoon didn't stir, so gentle was her touch. "Giant anthropomorphic mice."

"She seemed very sad," Sunset said, "And she had nightmares all the time… at first I thought it was just the fever but…"

"Freya Crescent," Rarity whispered. She looked up at Sunset with a sad smile. "Sometimes a life is full of tragedy, Sunset, and all we can do is stand strong by our friends and allies to make sure that even if we fall… when we fall… we are remembered. Sometimes being forgotten can be a truly hellish fate, don't you think?"

"I think myself and quite a few of our visitors would agree on that."

"True." Rarity straightened up and headed out the door. "I'll be heading out. Since we're here I might as well take a look at a few things. It's been a while since I went to Lindblum. I wonder if Cid is still regent..."

"Alright, Rarity," Sunset said, "see you later!"

It wasn't long after her friend had left that Freya started stirring. Her long ears and tail twitched, her muzzle scrunched up cutely, and slowly her emerald-green eyes fluttered open, peeking under her long, silver hair.

"Welcome back," Sunset said, watching as her guest stretched and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Even though she could tell that Freya was more at ease, her guest was still formal in her posture, resting her hands on her lap as she nodded. "Hope you're feeling better?"

"Thank you," Freya said, dipping her head slightly. "I feel much better now."

Sunset stood and dragged her chair closer to the bed so she could sit across from Freya in a more companionable mood. "It's my pleasure." She paused. "So… do you want to tell me why you were so badly injured?" she finally asked. "When I cleaned your wounds I was surprised that you could even drag yourself away from the battlefield."

Her guest was silent for a moment. "It was a close call." Freya looked over at her lance and coat. "I had to fight side by side with my hated enemy to save a friend… after losing so much… it was hard, but I managed… and yet, we were severely overwhelmed. Queen Brahne's jesters… Zorn and Thorn, are not normal creatures. They are… something darker."

Freya visibly forced herself to relax her shoulders and looked down at her paws. "These monsters… the Queen and her minions, they committed atrocities that… I can never forgive. They attacked my kingdom, killing many of my people, civilians and soldiers alike, forcing them to evacuate… and when it seemed we had found a new home with our distant brethren in Cleyra…" She trailed off, grabbing the bed-sheets in her fists. Her body trembled with anger and grief. "...she destroyed it. The king… the high priest and the maidens… the prince and all the civilians… the last place where my people could be safe…"

Sunset scooted closer and placed her hand on top of Freya's balled fists and smiled encouragingly, making the dragoon look up with a start, only to give her a small, hesitant smile of gratitude.

Freya's ears flattened back. "I'm sorry, the loss is too recent."

"Hey, don't worry, I'm here to listen," Sunset said. "I'm very sorry for what happened… I can only imagine what you must be going through."

Freya choked back a laugh. "I'm—it's not funny, I know but… I'm glad to talk about it. Zidane and the others… so much is happening, we've been moving at an insane pace. Surviving the destruction of Cleyra, being captured, rescuing Princess Garnet, fighting those monsters… joining forces with the person that conquered my country… it's been non-stop. The only rest I got was a brief respite in a prison."

Sunset squeezed Freya's paw. "Well, you have time to rest here," she said.

Freya nodded, taking Sunset's hand in her paws and looking down at it ponderously. "I can't thank you enough. It's the first time I've slept—really slept—in over three years. Not to mention the imposition on your generosity."

Sunset nodded, knowing that arguing how it was not a problem wouldn't change her guest's mind. "You said over three years?"

Sighing, the dragoon looked to her coat and weapon. "Yes… I left my home of Burmecia to search for the love of my life, Sir Fratley. He had left with a promise to return, but… two years after he departed, I heard disquieting news." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Word reached me that he had disappeared. That… he had perished."

"I'm sorry."

Freya shook her head. "Do not be." She looked suddenly vulnerable, letting go of Sunset's hand and wrapping her arms around herself. "He is not dead." She looked away. "Though I wish I had been when I learned the truth."

"Why?" Sunset asked quietly.

"When all seemed doomed… when my city was destroyed, my people scattered, my last attempt to protect what was left of them nothing more than a failure… he came to our rescue." Freya licked her lips, her pink tongue a stark contrast with her light gray fur.

Sunset wasn't sure what to say. 'If he came to help them… that's a good thing right?' Freya looked at her with hurt eyes and seemed to sense her confusion.

"He fought them off, but when I spoke to him… he had no recollection of me." The dragoon's eyes watered, but she drew a shuddering breath, holding the tears back. Sunset reminded silent while she composed herself and spoke again. "I begged him to remember me, but there was no recognition in his eyes. Our life together before his travels was… gone." She closed her eyes and lowered her head, letting her hair cascade over her face. "A life together. Our hopes and dreams were dead. The man I knew was… he was somehow still himself and yet not… all the fights, the excursions, the search, it was all for naught. I was forgotten, with no chance of bringing his memories back… I had built my life and identity around him and his promise… and suddenly I was nothing to him." She leaned down, hugging herself tighter. "To be forgotten is worse than death."

Sunset moved to sit on the bed next to Freya, wrapping her arm around the Burmecian's shoulders.

"But I can't look back," Freya whispered, leaning ever so slightly into her. "Even though the past has always been a part of who I am… I have never let it rule me. Even if nostalgia tugs at my heart, and yearning threatens to break me… I persevere. I must. For Fratley, and Zidane, and Dagger… and for little Vivi. For the memory of my people as their last Dragon Knight… I move forward, my spear steady and my heart at the ready."

"That sounded a bit poetic," Sunset said gently.

Freya chuckled, still looking down. "I suppose it would. It is part of our oaths as Dragon Knights, or Dragoons as people call us." She sighed. "In a way, whoever Sir Fratley has become certainly follows that creed."

Sunset sighed. "Isn't there a way to recover his memories?"

Freya shrugged. "Time, perhaps. But he has no intention of doing so… he does not remember me. Does not remember his people. He is still a good man, and willing to protect others, just not the one I remember." She sighed, resting her head on Sunset's shoulder. "What are we, if not the sum of our experiences… of our memories? If those are gone forever, can we claim to be ourselves?" Her voice lowered. "Do others still hold the right to force us to be who we were before? To hold us to those same standards that, as far as we know we never agreed to? To commit to a relationship that once existed?"

She chuckled. "I admit—by the time I met again with Zidane, I had practically accepted his loss. I would keep an ear open, but my eyes were again to the horizon, not the road behind." She gulped. "It was a shock… and a stab to the heart. He was there when Cleyra was destroyed. And again, hope seems lost and yet I'll keep my eyes open, and my ears at attention."

She shifted. "I am sorry, Sunset. I did not mean to put all of this emotional burden on you."

Sunset gave her shoulders a squeeze, then gently slid off the bed. "Don't be. As I told you… that's what I'm here for. That's the whole point of my bar."

Freya snorted, then shook her head with a small smile playing on her lips. "I am… glad I met you, Sunset Shimmer. If anything, I feel like a small amount of relief… I don't often share my feelings." She chuckled. "Usually it's me listening to others."

"Sometimes I guess we all need someone to listen to us, and to be forgotten…" Sunset shook her head, sitting down. "I know a little bit about being forgotten… a… misguided enemy of mine erased me from my friends' memories once. They were all I had in that world… all I wanted at the time, all that kept me there and validated every effort I had made. I felt like my world was coming apart at the seams."

Freya said nothing, simply nodding gently.

"I was fortunate… the spell was broken, and my friends' memories returned to them, but the fear…" she shook her head. "I've been thinking lately of what will I do when my friends are gone… if I ever lose them? When I lose them. Even when time is endless, certain things run out of it. Small moments accumulate… people change."

This time, it was the dragoon that moved. She shifted, sitting on the edge of the bed as she held Sunset's shoulder in her paw. "Different, yes, but too real. In a way, I think it has opened my eyes to the simple truth that I was beginning to accept before this crazy journey of mine began. Receiving approval and love from others is indeed something that makes our efforts feel worthy of praise. Our own as much as theirs. But by your own words… if our place in this world—or others—is simply dependent on the appraisal and memories and thoughts of others, then we can never really be ourselves, can we?"

Freya looked at her spear and uniform again. "We are allowing ourselves to be a construct of expectations and interpretations… and maybe this is what I need to learn about myself and Sir Fratley. Who he is now, is not who he was. I love a memory… and an interpretation of him that is no more. Just as it is cruel to ourselves to measure up to such, it is cruel of me to force my expectations and memories on this person who is no more who I loved."

"One day, I'll have to let go," Sunset said, closing her eyes. "One day, someday in the far future." She looked up to meet Freya's eyes.

"Just like I have to learn to let go, and look to the future as well." Freya held her look with her own, then—in a move that surprised them both—leaned forward and Sunset found herself in a warm embrace. She didn't hesitate in returning it, feeling Freya shake and sniffle finally letting it all out.

She didn't let go for a while.

Rarity pushed away from the wall next to the door, shaking her head with mild amusement as she made her way towards the bar. A small smile played on her lips, and a giggle escaped them soon after.

Freya ran under the rain of Alexandria. She barely remembered the way back to the Tantalus' safe-house, but she was sure she would find it soon. The streets were familiar, and she remembered seeing that pub over there, and that bakery next to it.

Soon, she spotted Zidane's odd friend, Blank, with his patchwork skin looking at the streets, searching. The moment he spotted her, he started, clearly surprised.

'I can't blame him, I suppose,' she thought as she crossed the street towards him. 'The last time he saw me I was almost dead.'

To his credit, Blank took her immaculate looks in stride after that initial shock. "We thought we'd have to look you up. I guess you got better."

"Much," Freya said, following him inside and thankfully out of the rain. "Thank you for your concern. How are Beatrix and Steiner?"

Blank shrugged. "The same. You left a few minutes ago."

"Hm. Well, if you have a spare room, I have some things to take care of first… but then I can help take care of them as they heal."

Blank nodded. "Sure. I'll just have Ruby set you up." He walked her to the theater's seating area. "Just give me a minute."

Freya nodded, sitting down as he ran off to look for the others. She took a deep breath and glanced around, somewhat glad to be back, and a bit looking forward to when she could go back to the Isekai. Smiling at the thought, she slipped a paw into her pouch and pulled out the copy of the picture Sunset had taken, and the small golden key hanging from the Sun-and-cocktail-glass key-chain.

She slowly put them back in her pouch and gripped her lance tight. There wasn't time to think about that. Right now… she needed to look to the future here and not just the one in her pocket.

End Chapter

Author's Note

Freya has always been (and always will be) one of my favorite characters from the Final Fantasy series. Even though her story could have been explored more in the game, I fell in love with that character for a variety of reasons. So here it is. To Freya, who shall not be forgotten.

Also! I'll keep the Q&A for Sunset's Isekai open until this Friday! (02/07/2020) So check out the rules and the questions there, and if you have some of your own... well, throw them in!

Forget-Me-Not (Best Left Forgotten — Ongoing)

Author's Note

A crossover with the fantastic, if deeply intense story: Best Left Forgotten (M) by the one and only, Scampy!

***Content Warning***

Best Left Forgotten is a fantastic story, but it deals with very real things and very real traumas that our guest today will talk about with Sunset. This was handled as carefully as possible, and kept within the T rating, while still not taking away the real raw, emotional impact of what happened in BLF. If these kinds of topics are something you want to avoid, Sunset's Isekai will continue next week with a brand new chapter.

Warning tags: Rape/Suicide attempt

Thank you,
-WD

Forget-Me-Not (Best Left Forgotten — Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
Forget-Me-Not (Best Left Forgotten — Ongoing)
By Wanderer D & Scampy

Wallflower turned off the sink faucet and sighed, looking around the cramped space of Sunset’s bathroom. She was met with a broken mirror and the pain of her headache as her gaze drifted too close to the lights above it. Her ears were still filled with the sharp humming of tinnitus, a maddening effect of her injury that the doctor said would persist for a while. Even so, letting her mind wander at least helped her somewhat ignore the ever-present ringing. Unfortunately, letting herself think freely came with its own set of consequences.

In the not-quite-silence, Wallflower could still hear the echoes of Sunset’s desperate screams and pleas from the day before, begging her to open the door, to let Sunset help her, to not do the one thing both of them knew she had to do. Somehow, through sentimentality or guilt or some other dumb excuse, Wallflower had been stupid enough to listen.

She closed her eyes, wishing the ringing in her ears would deafen the sound of her memories, but they rang out through her mind all the same. She heard Sunset’s pounding on the door, the heavy impact of her own head crashing against the mirror, the shattering of broken shards falling to the floor…

The blackness behind her eyelids had no hope to cover her mind’s eye. Wallflower leaned against the wall, sinking to the floor as images of her bloodied reflection stared up at her from a razor-sharp fragment of the mirror. It would have been so easy. She was so close. At that moment, a dull calmness had left her resigned to do what she needed to do, but in the end she couldn’t.

No, that wasn’t right. She could have, if she really wanted to. She thought she did at the time, but for whatever reason she stopped just short of the end. She had it in her hand, but she let it go, and she would never be able to go through with it without the morbid willpower she’d had in that moment—the self-destructive resolve that had evaporated the moment she saw Sunset’s tear-stricken face.

Struggling to stand up again, Wallflower rested against the counter, blinking at the spot the test had been yesterday. Even now, there was still a bit of dried blood surrounding it, not to mention speckled all over the rest of the counter. Upon taking a second test—properly this time—Wallflower was certain she had escaped the worst possible outcome. That certainty did little to make her feel better, though.

Were Wallflower to make a list of the limited reasons she wished she hadn’t tried to end her life, it would seem stupid for “making a mess in Sunset’s apartment” to be so close to the top. Even still, in the face of possibly being forced to accept that she had even less agency over her body than before, her courtesy as a guest had been forgotten. Maybe if she’d succeeded, she wouldn’t have to feel guilty about it now. Sighing, Wallflower forced herself to glance at the shattered mirror, her dry eyes staring into a dozen copies of themselves.

What an idiot. She couldn’t even kill herself right.

The thought vanished as soon as it came. With a groan and a shake of her head, Wallflower turned her gaze away from the mirror once more. She didn’t really regret opening the door, did she? Sunset certainly didn’t regret it. Sunset was probably the only reason Wallflower had dropped the shard at all.

Another sigh, and Wallflower allowed herself to sink to the floor again. Everything was so… So upside-down now. Sunset Shimmer, of all people, was the only reason Wallflower was even alive. All the things Wallflower had been so certain of only weeks prior had been flipped over entirely, and the worst part was that she couldn’t even tell when the switch happened. Was it when the memory stone was destroyed? When Sunset accidentally returned Wallflower’s memory? Maybe it was even earlier, when she had been stupid enough to think she could erase the consequences of her actions at all.

At that, Wallflower forced herself to stop. No… No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t her fault. She knew that. She knew it because Sunset told her over and over and over until it had to be true.

But she agreed to the dance. She opened the door. She let him in.

She never said no.

Her face twisted, and she curled her legs to her chest even tighter. What happened wasn’t her fault. It was just like Sunset told her—it didn’t matter that she never said no, because she never said yes.

She was still stupid, though. Even if she hadn’t been terrified of him hurting her—killing her, even—she still probably wouldn’t have said anything. For whatever ridiculous reason, confrontation of any kind felt like too awful of a prospect to contemplate, even when… Even when bad things happened.

A single bitter cough escaped her lips, something akin to a laugh. She was so scared he would hurt her that she didn’t fight back, but in the end, he hurt her anyway. As soon as she let him into her apartment, there was no way she would escape unscathed. Even if she fought and bit and screamed, he probably would have just killed her.

At least then she wouldn’t have to eventually go through the trouble of doing it herself. Her eyes briefly flicked up to the mirror.

Idiot.

No amount of lying to herself could erase the truth. She let it happen. There were a million things she could have done to stop him, to prevent him from being there in the first place, but she kept making one wrong decision after another until it was too late. Hell, she practically handed herself to him on a silver platter. Even when he was about to take her and she was sobbing beneath him, he probably didn’t even know anything was wrong.

Again, she grimaced, her eyes shutting as tight as they could. Sunset told her to stop blaming herself, but how was she supposed to do anything else? Just because she told herself it wasn’t her fault didn’t mean it was true. She let it happen.

Let it happen… Wallflower rolled her eyes, scoffing at her own prudishness. She was doing what Sunset did, trying to hide behind whatever pronouns and euphemisms she could, but deep down she knew what it really was, just as well as she knew it was all her fault.

Wallflower stared at the floor in silence. What was she even doing in here, anyway? Brooding in a swamp of her own angst on the floor of someone else’s bathroom? Wallflower always knew she was pathetic, but this was extra pathetic, even for her.

It didn’t matter anyway. Sunset would be home from work soon, and all Wallflower had done today was haul herself out of bed and brush her teeth in the late afternoon. Sunset kept telling Wallflower to focus on rest and recovery after her brief hospital stay, but decaying in bed for hours on end probably wasn’t what she had in mind.

She still had maybe an hour before Sunset got home. Maybe she could make the bed or wash dishes or something in the meantime—anything to make her existence a little less useless. Wallflower gripped the shower rod, using it to pull herself off the ground. Even still, a wave of dizziness followed. Par for the course with a head injury, she guessed. Yet another thing that was her own damn fault.

After waiting a minute for her head to stop spinning, she lurched towards the door—only to find it locked. That couldn’t be right. Sunset had removed the lock entirely after they got back from the hospital, yet another consequence of Wallflower’s inability to keep herself together. So when and how did this get here?

Wallflower turned the latch, and as she pulled the door open, she was met with anything but the open room of Sunset’s apartment. Was this… Was this a bar? Did Sunset even drink alcohol? With a single, tentative step, she crossed through the door frame into the strange room.

“Uhm… Sunset? Are you home?” Wallflower called out, her voice as loud as her anxiety would allow. “And did you redecorate while I was in the bathroom…?”

"I should really give you a name," Sunset said to her spider.

She was currently leaning on the bar, chin resting on one hand, while the little symbiotic spider Gwen had left behind crawled up and down the other, weaving between her fingers. "For real, it's been months since you arrived, but I don't know what a good name would be." She hummed. "Aragog? Spinderella? Charlotte? I just don't want to give you a complex, or make you decide to hunt down hobbits if I call you 'Shelob'. And if I named you Anansi, it would just be begging for a prank war I'm not really ready to start."

So far, it had been a calm Tuesday. At least Sunset knew it had to be Tuesday somewhere in the multiverse. Days didn't really seem to matter much once you got started in a place like this. No lessons with Lena, no Freya, no Dani… even Rarity was out, leaving her all on her own in the bar. It wasn't a rare occurrence but it usually wasn't too long before she had someone—

The bell chimed, as if the bar had just been waiting for her thoughts to wander in that direction. Half-sighing, half-chuckling, Sunset moved her hand over to the little habitat she had gotten for it, and dropped in a kale leaf inside. It didn't take a second for the little critter to jump in and start munching on it. Putting the cover on, she placed the habitat out of the way, just as a surprisingly soft voice reached her. "Sunset? Are you home?”

Sunset frowned. That voice sounded awfully familiar.

“And did you redecorate while I was in the bathroom…?” the faint voice added.

Sunset glared up at the ceiling of her bar. "Really. Really? Again." She sighed and shook her head, leaning over the counter so she could glance all the way to the entrance, where a familiar young girl stood. 'Oh.' She waved, getting her attention. "Hey Wallflower, come on in!"

The girl's eyes widened to the point of looking like a deer caught in the spotlights. It had been too long since Sunset had seen her own Wallflower, and watching this younger version of her hesitantly step into the bar made her silently promise herself to do so soon. She looked unsure and frightened, much more so in the too-large sweater she was wearing. Her green hair was as long as Sunset remembered, with a gentle curl at the ends, and her bangs covered her forehead all the way down to her eyebrows.

She was looking around the place in utter confusion, which was understandable, given that the bar had literally appeared on her way out of another room in her home. If she knew her bar, it was probably the bathroom. It had done it to others, after all.

Wallflower walked all the way in to where the hall met the main room, and cringed slightly when the door closed behind her, looking over her shoulder nervously. "S-Sunset? When did you get a bar?"

'This girl needs a strong drink,' Sunset decided then and there, 'but she might be too young.' She tried smiling. "Well, that's… a bit of a long story, the short version is that I am Sunset Shimmer, just not the Sunset Shimmer of your world, and this is my bar, where I greet guests from all over the multiverse when they need something to drink, and someone to talk to."

She had to give it to the girl. She looked like the last thing she wanted to do was stay in a situation where it was painfully evident she had no control. Wallflower glanced over her shoulder, as if measuring the distance to the door. Sunset frowned. As guarded as Wallflower was back home, she wasn't this guarded. If she was hanging out with Sunset from her world, or even living with her, it was very likely that the memory stone was not an issue anymore, so why was she so… vulnerable?

"Hey, Wallflower," she said gently, making the girl look back at her, "tell you what, let me get you something to drink so you can relax a little here. This is a safe space, I promise. If you try it and don't like it, you can always head back. The door will leave you back home at the exact time you left."

Wallflower seemed to hang on to every word she said, then looked down, wrapping her arms around herself gently and glancing back at the door once again. "I-I'm not sure," she finally said, biting her lower lip. "I don't drink alcohol."

Sunset smiled. "No problem, it is a bar, but I have guests of all ages and from everywhere… that means I have a lot of different things." She looked up and hummed, tapping her chin in thought. "How about this?"

As she set to work, Wallflower stood hesitantly in place for a few more moments, before very slowly inching her way out of the hallway and standing on the corner next to it, with Sunset in plain view.

It was clear Wallflower was still making up her mind about her, but Sunset didn't let that deter her. She had a plan. She pulled out ingredients right in front of the slightly intrigued Wallflower, placing them on the bar. She combined the three different types of milks in a saucepan, warming it up before adding the cocoa powder, chopped chocolate, sugar cinnamon and a pinch of salt. She intentionally stepped to the side, allowing her guest to see a clear view of her mixing the ingredients and whisking them together, then as soon as it was warm enough, she produced a mug and filled it up, followed by a good amount of whipped cream, one wafer cookie, grating some chocolate on top, then putting a marshmallow on top of the wafer cookie before torching it gently with magic until it was brown and a bit caramelized.

The silence in the bar was broken by the clink of plates as she put a small one on the bar, with the mug on top and stepped back far enough that Wallflower would know she wasn't about to pounce on her and grab her.

Wallflower's eyes went from her to the chocolate, back to her, then back to the chocolate before she took a small step towards it. Seeing that Sunset made no move, she seemed to gather a bit more confidence and inched all the way to the bar, taking the mug in her hands before scampering quickly to the corner table. She slurped some of the chocolate. "Oh my gosh..."

Sunset grinned. 'Yes! Thank you, Ned!' "Glad you approve."

As if suddenly remembering that Sunset was there, Wallflower looked up, a spot of whipped cream adorning the very tip of her nose. "Um… thank you."

"No problem," Sunset replied, starting to put away all the ingredients. "Come on, take a seat. You can stay on that table if it makes you more comfortable."

Despite the delicious chocolate in her hands, Wallflower still hesitated a little before sighing and nodding. She put the mug on the table and took a seat, keeping her eyes on Sunset as she worked. They remained quiet for a bit before Wallflower spoke again. "You're a little older than me and Sunset."

"I am. Where I came from, we've all graduated from Canterlot High," Sunset said, "and I got my bar immediately after, so some time has passed."

Wallflower nodded and slurped a bit more chocolate, humming in appreciation before taking a tiny bite of the marshmallow. She grinned and drank some more.

Sunset smiled and waved her hand, sending a small pile of paper towels over to Wallflower, who watched that with wide eyes. "You have a spot on your nose," Sunset pointed out. "It's adorable, but I figured you'd want to wipe it off at some point. There's no hurry though."

Wallflower sank a little and nodded. "Oh. Thank you."

Sunset leaned on the bar, studying the girl. "So, this bar appears for those that need a drink… and by that I mean company willing to listen. You seem a bit on edge, Wallflower."

The young girl cringed, then looked down at the cup of hot chocolate, decidedly avoiding Sunset's eyes. 'Geez, this is bad.' "Well, listen, just enjoy your chocolate for now, okay? No pressure to talk, I'm here if you want to do so, however."

A faint, almost delicate bob of the head was all the acknowledgement she got, but that was better than Wallflower storming off, she supposed. She distracted herself by cleaning up the clutter from the chocolate, keeping an eye on her guest, who occasionally would gently sip her chocolate, and throw odd glances at her before focusing on her drink again.

Once the bar was clean, Sunset made sure to organize the ingredients to be close enough in case she needed to make more chocolate, then checked on the spider. "Geez, I can't believe you already ate your kale," she muttered, bringing the habitat over to rest at the bar, next to the cashier. She took the top off, then threw more leaves in there. "Try not to eat them all in one go, alright?"

That seemed to have at least caught Wallflowers interest, so she moved back and turned the habitat around so that her guest could see the small black and white spider inside. "My pet spider. I still have to find a name for it."

Wallflower's eyes went from the spider to Sunset, then back to the spider. Then back to Sunset with a slight curving of the right eyebrow that conveyed the perfect expression to represent the word: really? Question mark included. Sunset shrugged. "Hey, it's legit from another universe. I was surprised too when it refused the crickets. It is partial to corn dogs for some reason, but I don't think they provide enough nutritional value."

This got a small smile from Wallflower. "It's nice that you have a pet."

"Thank you! Although I wasn't entirely anticipating it."

When Wallflower nodded again, but didn't retreat into her own personal space, Sunset smiled back. "So, when you came in you called out for your Sunset. Do you guys live together? That's kind of neat."

The other girl bit her lower lip, eyes studying Sunset warily once more before stopping at the spider cage and relaxing a little. "Y-yeah, she um, she's letting me stay with her for now."

'Progress!' Sunset thought, leaning down on the counter again. "Oh? That's cool. You guys must be good friends."

Wallflower couldn't help but allow a small smile that turned into a small frown, which turned into a long drink of her chocolate until Sunset could hear the last slurping sounds. When Wallflower put the mug down, she was looking down at it as if betrayed. The younger girl blinked then glanced doubtfully at Sunset. "Um… that chocolate was very good."

Sunset closed her eyes and crossed her arms, nodding sagely. "Yes. Yes it was, wasn't it?" She opened one eye, smirking at her guest. "Why, would you like another?"

"I-I mean, if that's alright, I know I'm being a bit quiet and—"

"Hey," Sunset interrupted, her voice gentle. "Don't worry. You're my guest. I'll whip up another one for you. Do you want to sit here at the bar? My spider could use some company while I prepare the cocoa."

Wallflower looked to the spider, then, taking a slow, deep breath, nodded once, picking up her mug as she slid off the table and walked across the small space to sit on one of the bar stools, placing the mug in front of her.

"Thanks," Sunset said, "but you can still finish off the cookie and the whipped cream. I have plenty of mugs, so don't worry about it."

She set to work, taking out the ingredients again, while Wallflower started slowly eating the cookie, her eyes following the spider as it laboriously moved the kale leaves around, trying to apparently build itself a small fort of food.

Sunset was concentrating on the chocolate when Wallflower's voice reached her. "Does the spider have a name?"

"Hm?" Sunset blinked. "Oh, no… not yet. I really have to think up a name for it. It's been part of the family for months now, but I haven't thought of a good one."

She left Wallflower deep in thought as she put the final details of the new hot chocolate together.

Watching the little spider skitter and scurry about was almost entrancing. Were Wallflower in any other place at any other time, Wallflower probably could have watched it go for hours.

She wasn’t in another place or another time, though. Not like Sunset was—like this Sunset was. Maybe if Wallflower asked nicely, she would let her stay and take her far, far away from the life she’d return to the second she stepped out the door.

Did she really want that, though? Leaving wouldn’t make things better. Leaving wouldn’t take away the memories, the nightmares, the always-too-heavy thump of her heart in her chest whenever she had to speak. Wallflower knew, just as she’d always known, that her problems were not something she could leave behind, because she was the problem. The dull ache of her head and the many scratches tickled by her bangs were proof enough of that.

Wallflower’s eyes struggled to keep up with the spider’s rapid, twitchy movements. The distraction was nice, but of course, it wasn’t distracting enough. Doing her best to hold back a sigh, she leaned forward, resting herself on the bar.

She’d never actually been to a bar. Was that normal for people her age? It’s not like Wallflower would have a frame of reference, given her long-since-dead social life. Not that she was complaining, though. Bars always seemed like the last place she would want to be—loud, full of drunk people, the heavy smell of liquor… Another glance around the room confirmed to Wallflower that her expectations were as wrong as they possibly could be.

Everything about this place was relaxing. Not a soul was present, save for Sunset and herself, and Wallflower relished in the silence. Almost silence, at least. The clink of plates and a spoon in a cup rang delicately from behind the bar, a gentle percussion that somehow added even more tranquility to the place.

Silly as it was, something about sitting at a bar, propped up by a stool and comfy cushion, made Wallflower feel more… Mature? Maybe that wasn’t the right word. Whatever it was, it was much different from sitting hunched over in a chair in the corner. Maybe it was just because she was a little higher off the ground.

Something moved in the edges of her vision, and her head shot up in an instant. Had Sunset turned around just now? Was she watching her? If she had been, she was certainly quick to turn back around. Maybe she’d been watching this whole time, and Wallflower had just been too stupid to notice.

Why did she even care, anyway? It was still Sunset, wasn’t it? Sunset was taking care of her out there, and she was doing the same in here. Did this Sunset deserve the same trust as the one who’d talked Wallflower into opening the door?

Wallflower did her best to sit up straight, a task made surprisingly difficult by the stool not having a back. As Sunset turned around, cocoa in hand, Wallflower forced herself to meet her gaze.

“Thank you,” she said, immediately resentful of her barely audible voice. She swallowed, intent on speakingthis time with the volume to be heard. “Can I ask you something?”

Sunset was clearly putting on her warmest smile, one that Wallflower had seen several times before. “Of course, Wallflower. What’s on your mind?”

“When I leave here…” Wallflower had to fight to keep her voice from shaking. “Am I ever going to see you again?”

Sunset blinked at the question. "Oddly enough, you're the first to ask." She picked out one of her business cards from her pocket, and gently placed it in front of Wallflower. "But the answer is yes. Whenever you want, my bar is open. Might not be empty all the time, but you're welcome here any time."

She studied Wallflower as she said that, noticing the conflicting feelings cross her freckled face. She seemed oddly disappointed, then confused, then slightly put-off. "I mean. If you want."

The other girl nodded, her fingers slightly brushing the surface of the card, but not taking it yet. A myriad of thoughts kept going through those eyes and Sunset almost regretted not being able to just use her geode—but that was the whole point. She just couldn't take people's memories into herself, as much as that would simplify things. She had the feeling that, were she to do that with this particular Wallflower… it might not work out for the best.

Wallflower stared at her cocoa, perhaps waiting for it to cool off. “Sunset?” she said, her voice as meek as ever. “You said you knew another me, right?”

"Well, yes, I met her… uh, did the magic memory rock thing happen in your world?"

“Oh, yeah it, uhm…” Wallflower seemed to shrink with every word. “Y-yeah. There was the memory stone, and… Yeah. Things happened.”

"Well, I imagine it probably was about the same as my world," Sunset said, "so after that, we became friends. We hung out a few times, and she got along pretty well with my Fluttershy." She chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "I haven't visited home much since I got the bar, but I should probably invite all the girls over at some point. Her included."

“What’s she like?” Wallflower asked. “The other me, I mean.”

"Well, as you can imagine she had a tough time reintegrating with the school," Sunset said, leaning back. "Nothing too bad, we were there for her, and she opened up eventually. Last I checked on her, she was getting ready to apply for Agricultural Studies after a leap year."

“Oh.” Wallflower’s eyes turned down, and she took a small sip of her cocoa. Even as she took another sip of the drink Sunset knew was delicious, she seemed to deflate a little. “That’s good,” Wallflower said. “I’m happy for her.”

"How about you?" Sunset asked gently. "How are you holding up? It can't be that long since that happened. And it can't be easy dealing with it. I know it wasn't for my Wallflower."

Wallflower stiffened up. “I-I… I’m okay,” she spoke softly. “The Sunset I know is really nice to me.”

"Hey, no worries," Sunset said, "I'm just glad you're there for the other me. We Sunsets tend to get a bit too self-recriminatory if left to our own devices."

“Can… Can I ask a weird question?” Wallflower couldn’t quite make eye contact, but Sunset could tell she was trying her best. “It’s kinda personal, b-but not…” In an instant, her words hitched and she looked away. “S-sorry, I shouldn’t say anything...”

Sunset reached out to Wallflower, but stopped the moment her guest eyed her hand like it was a viper. Slowly she pulled back, still leaning on the bar and crossing her arms. "If you need to talk, that's what I'm here for, you know?" she said. "This place? The whole point is for people that need to do so to be comfortable and have someone that will not judge them or tell on them. What I want to do… is to be there for people. All someone might need, after all, is a friendly ear… and not only are you a friend of mine in many other worlds beside my own, but you also happen to be a friend living with me in your own universe. The least I can do is promise that, no matter what you tell me, it will be in confidence, that I will not judge you, and that I will be here for you."

The last response Sunset was expecting was the bitter laugh Wallflower gave. “You really do sound just like her,” she muttered. “If you hadn’t told me you were another Sunset, I wouldn’t have even known the difference.”

"I'm sure I look slightly more mature," Sunset said with a huff. "I've been at this for some time."

“O-oh, sorry…”

"Nope." Sunset shook her head. "No apologies, I was joking. People tell me I haven't aged a day." Sunset frowned. "Gandalf said the same thing to Bilbo though, and he did look older."

Wallflower blinked. “What’s a ‘Bilbo?’”

"...They live in holes in the ground. But not just any hole. A hobbit hole… you know, we're getting off topic." Sunset cleared her throat. "The point is, I was joking, I'm not offended, and you definitely don't need to apologize. With all that's happened since I started this bar some… time ago… I am actually glad that you think I resemble your Sunset." She chuckled. "Truth be told, I'm sure I'm not exactly the same girl that left Canterlot all those ce-years ago. But I think the girls are too polite to say anything. I'm still me, but… you know, experiences do change who you are."

“Yeah…” Wallflower closed her eyes, sighing. “Y-yeah, they do.”

"Is… this related to what you wanted to talk about a minute earlier?"

“I guess so,” Wallflower said. “I was gonna ask, uhm... “ She stared at the wall for a moment, chasing down her lost thought. “Oh yeah. You and my Sunset are both so, I dunno… Eager to help me, I guess. Maybe there’s a better word for it, sorry…”

"Hm. We'll work on the apologies later." Sunset said. "The truth is, Wallflower, in just about any universe I've been to, no one can get a Sunset Shimmer to do anything she doesn't want to, much less hang out. If I want to help you, and if your Sunset wants to help you? It's because we like you, and want you to be happy. It's really that simple."

Wallflower shifted around on her bar stool. “Maybe that’s how it is for you, but…” She paused, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “I think my Sunset just feels bad for me.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes when she noticed something that looked conspicuously like a wound on Wallflower's head. "I'm not sure that would be reason enough to live together," she said, reaching over to put some more whipped cream on the cocoa. "Why would she feel like that?"

At that, Wallflower’s whole body twitched, as if a shiver had run up her spine. “Oh, i-it’s nothing. Just, uhm, with me not having friends. Yeah...” She scooped up some of the whipped cream on the cookie and popped it into her mouth. “Mmm… This is really good,” she said.

Sunset nodded. "I see. Yeah, not having friends can get very tough. I mean, I lacked any significant friendship for decades, I would know. I also got used to being on my own, so it wasn't even worth trying, sometimes, you know?"

“Y-yeah, I know what you mean,” Wallflower said. “Loneliness gets comfortable.”

"You get into a habit, it becomes easier and easier to just not answer scrolls, or house calls, or texts or phone calls…" Sunset sighed. "Your schedule is always free, but you don't feel like you need to do anything, so you heat up some ramen."

“I’ve, uhm… I’ve never actually had ramen,” Wallflower said. “Sunset—my Sunset, I mean—has some at her apartment though.”

"I would tell you that it is the food of the gods," Sunset said, "but that would be a lie, and if some of the gods that have come over heard me they might have some issues with that." She grinned. "But let's call it a 'bachelorette' meal."

“I usually just didn’t eat,” Wallflower said, rubbing her forehead as she spoke. “Either I didn’t have anything or didn’t want to prepare what I did.”

"Oh." Sunset sighed. "It seemed you were in a bad place. How long ago did Sunset and you move together?"

Again, Wallflower refused to meet Sunset’s gaze. “O-oh… Not very long,” she said. “Just two days ago.”

"Is that when… that happened?" Sunset asked softly, touching her own forehead.

The way Wallflower tensed up almost made Sunset do the same. Immediately, she turned her head away, brushing her hand through her bangs. “No,” she said, barely above a whisper.

"Hey," Sunset said, firmly, but gently. "You don't need to hide anything. I do want to help and listen, if you let me. I know you asked about your Sunset… that's because you're worried right? Thinking that she, or I would only be offering help without really caring?"

“N-no, that’s not…” Wallflower took a sharp breath. “I do think—know that you care. Both of you. Even if I don’t get why.”

"Then let me help you a bit more," Sunset said, "this place here is the one place in the multiverse where you can share with me what's bothering you. Sunset—your Sunset—is trying to help you… so let me help you both. It might not fix everything… I know it won't, but talking and getting it out of your head can help."

Wallflower’s expression held so many emotions at once that Sunset couldn’t begin to decipher it. The girl was silent for a few seconds, looking through Sunset, clearly lost in thought. After nearly half a minute, Wallflower blinked, and finally replied. “I-it’s… It’s fine. My forehead, I mean. Just a bruise, nothing to worry about.”

"Wallflower." Sunset sighed. "You know I know that's not true. Even if it was just a bruise from an accident, you wouldn't be hiding it from me."

The girl’s breathing grew more shallow as she seemingly struggled to find what words to say. When she did finally speak, her voice was the softest sound in the world. “I don’t know how to talk about it,” she said.

Sunset nodded. "I understand it's hard… very hard… to talk about things that affect us deeply, I think the only thing to do sometimes is, as cliched as it sounds, to start a bit from the beginning. Even if you don't give me all the details, just take a deep breath and try your best to tell me what you feel. There's no wrong way of doing it."

Wallflower gave a shivering sigh, then delicately brushed her bangs aside, revealing the full extent of her wound. “This is my fault,” she said. “One more stupid thing to add to the list…”

"Please don't say that," Sunset said, "Why don't you tell me why it happened?"

“I… S-someone...” Wallflower whimpered, her brown eyes slowly filling with tears. “Someone really hurt me…”

Sunset grimaced, then frowned. "It… wasn't…?" she motioned at herself.

For a moment, Wallflower looked confused. “What…? O-oh. No. No! It wasn’t you—er, her. I-it wasn’t Sunset.”

"Who did it then?" Sunset asked.

“Uhm…” Wallflower looked like she wanted to disappear entirely. “...I-I did.”

Sunset blinked. "I'm sorry. I think I misheard. You said someone else did… but then it was you?"

“N-no, I didn’t mean…” Wallflower buried her face in her hands. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to confuse you. I just…” She inhaled sharply. “I was really stupid and let someone hurt me, and… I tried to forget.”

Sunset's mind was going through scenarios. All of them bad. "You erased your own memories...?"

“I h-had to,” Wallflower said. Tears were starting to run down her cheeks, and she shut her eyes as tight as she could. “I couldn’t live with it…”

Sunset remained quiet for a moment, looking down at her hands. "Did… when you erased the memory, was it something that came back when the stone was destroyed?"

“N-no, it…” Wallflower took a deep breath, and then another. “It was later. Sunset did something with her magic, a-and…” She hugged herself, a sob hitching in her throat. “...And i-it came back…”

"Do you… think you can talk about it?" Sunset asked.

Wallflower looked up at Sunset, her eyes brimming with the pain of words unspoken. “I-I don’t know,” she said softly. “I can try, but… But I don’t know how…”

"Just tell me the truth," Sunset said. "Even if it’s a painful one."

“I… O-okay,” Wallflower sighed. “You asked about what happened to my head, a-and… I did do it to myself. I was trying to, uhm… Trying to break a mirror.”

"And… why were you trying to break the mirror?"

Wallflower squirmed atop her bar stool. “I-I needed something sharp, a-and I tried to punch the glass, but it didn’t work so I… I tried something else.”

"Yeah…” Sunset grimaced. “Is it alright if I ask why you needed something sharp?"

Wallflower’s eyes briefly flicked up to meet Sunset’s own, then back down again. “I think you know,” she said softly.

Sunset looked down at the bar. Awful as it was, Wallflower's answer wasn't very surprising. "You're here though, Wallflower," she said. "You didn't give up, even when you felt like you had to. I'm proud of you for that."

Wallflower didn't respond, or even move.

Sunset took a deep breath. "Is... Is it alright if I ask what made you want to do it at all?"

“I had to take…” Wallflower hugged herself. “I-I had to take a pregnancy test,” she said. “And I was so, so sure w-what it was going to say, that I… I just couldn’t, Sunset…”

At that, Sunset blinked in surprise. Had she heard that right? A pregnancy test…? Why would Wallflower of all people need a—

Sunset's heart withered as the truth finally dawned on her.

...Oh.

Oh no...

Sunset covered her mouth, staring at the girl across from her. “When you said someone hurt you—" She cut herself off, swallowing a nervous lump in her throat. "Y-you mean…?" When Wallflower gave a silent nod, Sunset’s heart sank. "Wallflower… I'm so sorry," she whispered. "It… It wasn't consensual at all, was it?"

Wallflower let out the softest of whimpers. “No…”

"Oh, Wallflower," Sunset whispered again, as every bit of Wallflower's answers slowly clicked into place, painting a picture she loathed to accept, but had to. This girl at her bar had gone through something so horrific… and here Sunset was dragging it out of her. She shook her head, and slowly made her way around the bar. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?"

Wallflower answered with a brief glance and a shake of her head.

Slowly, Sunset sat next to her, and took a deep breath. "I can't even imagine how you must have felt this whole time, with me pressing you so much…”

Wallflower’s only response was a half-hearted shrug.

“I—for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here,” Sunset said. “And, uhm… I hate to ask but… What about the test? Did you take it?"

“Y-yeah,” Wallflower said, “I took it. And I-I’m not, uhm… Y’know.”

"That's… that's good," Sunset said. "Does anyone know? Have you gotten any help? I mean… I guess Sunset, but… What about your parents? Your family?"

Wallflower shook her head. “They don’t remember me anymore,” she said, the slightest wavering in her voice. “Y-yet another thing that’s my own stupid fault…”

Sunset cringed, closing her eyes. "Wallflower," she said eventually, opening them up again to look at the girl beside her. "I know it doesn't feel like it right now… but you’re going to be okay, alright? We… Sunset, you, me, your friends… we'll figure it out. You'll be okay."

Wallflower’s expression darkened. “No I won’t,” she said.

"You will," Sunset insisted. "You're not on your own. Sunset is with you, and no matter what happens, you'll get through it together. I have a wall-full of pictures of people that screwed up, or had the world, even the galaxy against them and in the end, no matter what, they too were okay." She forced herself to keep her hands on the bar, no matter how much she wanted to pull the younger girl into a hug. "I know… I know it sounds stupid to say all of this. But it's true. Even if it sounds like I'm just saying stuff to make you feel better. I know how easy it is to dismiss it as just another platitude. But Sunset… your Sunset, and I bet also her friends, if you let them, will be there for you. We Sunsets stay, and we're here to support you and help you be okay." She cleared her throat. "Even if it's just by providing you with a table and a hot chocolate."

For a moment, Wallflower didn’t say anything. She stared at the mug in front of her, the second of the evening, still almost full. “No,” she said, “I don’t think it sounds stupid.” With a swivel of the bar stool, Sunset and Wallflower were face to face. “You know what is stupid, though?”

Sunset didn't answer, simply shaking her head.

“It was stupid to go to a dance with some jerk I barely knew,” Wallflower said, her voice raising. “It was stupid to let him drive me home, to let him walk into my apartment to use the bathroom.” Tears streamed from her soft brown eyes once more. “I was an idiot for not realizing what was happening! It’s just like he told me, w-we were dates to a high school dance, so it was—” Her words were cut off by a sob lodged in her throat. A tremble and a heavy cough later, she continued, her voice higher than before. “It was normal. It was supposed to happen like that, right? I’m the stupid one for not realizing that sooner!”

"No," Sunset said firmly. "No. It's not normal. It's not okay to push you when you say no, or when you're clearly uncomfortable."

“I didn’t say no!” Wallflower was shouting now. “As soon as I got scared, I-I just froze up and let him do… I l-let him…” She wiped her eyes, only for them to fill with more tears. “This is all my fault…”

“Being too scared to say no isn’t the same as saying yes,” Sunset said. “You told me yourself that it wasn’t consensual, Wallflower. That alone is proof that you didn’t let him do it.”

Wallflower looked up at her, her eyes hardening. “Do what?”

Sunset blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Go ahead and say it, Sunset,” Wallflower said. “You’re doing the same thing my Sunset did, using whatever language tricks you can to avoid calling it what it really is!”

“W-Wallflower, I don’t—”

“I didn’t let him do 'it' to me,” Wallflower shouted. Her entire body trembled as her voice cracked. “I let him fuck me! I let him come into my home, tear off my clothes and fuck me!"

"Wallflower…" Sunset worked up the courage to place her hand gently on Wallflower's own. "He didn't fuck you. He raped you."

Wallflower instantly froze over. Her mouth opened as if to respond, but no sound came out. Slowly, she turned away from Sunset, hugging herself as tight as she could. Then, with the first ragged little gasp that escaped her lips, a torrent of sobs burst forth, and Wallflower fell forward into Sunset’s arms.

Sunset immediately embraced her, both keeping her steady and drawing her in. She wished she could say something to fix—to help Wallflower, but she didn't have the words. Instead, she leaned in, burying her face on Wallflower's shoulder and holding her tight, doing her best to keep her own tears to a minimum.

Wallflower’s cries grew louder and louder, until she was screaming. She clung to Sunset like her life depended on it, screaming and sobbing and crying in her arms. Sunset held her close, a bastion of safety in a world all their own for as long as it needed to be.

Sunset held her for a long time, keeping quiet and letting her cry. As horrible as it was to hear her despair, she knew Wallflower needed this. Eventually, the cries died down, the screams faded into whimpers and sniffles, and Wallflower seemed to calm down a bit, her ragged exhales replaced by steady breathing. If anything, it hit Sunset even harder just how much Wallflower had allowed herself to trust her.

Carefully, she slid from her seat, keeping hold of her guest, and used a bit of magic to help carry Wallflower to the back of the bar. She made her way past her room, and Lena's, Dani's and Rarity's, until she found a guest room she could use. Stepping in, she gently set Wallflower on the bed, then made sure she was comfortable before summoning her book and taking a seat next to the sleeping girl.

Wallflower needed to rest, and Sunset needed to think. Most importantly, she needed to make sure Wallflower was not alone.

Upon drifting back to the waking world, the first thing Wallflower realized was just how warm she was. The second was that for the first time in weeks, her sleep had been peaceful, dreamless and totally without nightmares.

The third was that she was no longer in Sunset’s apartment. In an instant, Wallflower sat up straight, her whole body rigid. Where was she? Who brought her here? Why was—

...Why was Sunset sleeping in a chair?

Oh.

The tension in her muscles relaxed, and she lay back down with a groan. Sleep amnesia was a wonderful thing, but now the events of the past several hours started coming back. She was in a bar—Sunset’s bar—and they were talking about…

Oh…

Wallflower pulled the comforter over her head, as if to hide from her embarrassment. Even without memory magic, Sunset had a way of figuring out what was going on in Wallflower’s head, didn’t she?

More memories of their conversation came flooding back. This Sunset used the same word as Wallflower’s Sunset used, the word Wallflower was unable to accept at the time—unable to accept even now.

No, she thought, frowning. She was doing the same thing she’d accused Sunset of doing, hiding behind whatever synonyms she could to avoid acknowledging the truth. Deep down, though, Wallflower knew Sunset was right. She closed her eyes, letting out a long exhale.

She had been raped. Not taken, not fucked. Raped.

Another deep breath, shakier this time, and Wallflower turned over in the bed. Could she accept that? Being a “victim?” What other choice did she have? It was the truth, even if it was a painful one. Tears stung her eyes as she twisted around beneath the sheets again.

“Sleep well?”

“H-huh?” Wallflower popped her head out from beneath the comforter, finding herself face to face with a yawning Sunset. “Yeah, uhm… Yeah, I did. Thanks.”

“Of course,” Sunset said. “You were pretty exhausted, and I…” She shifted in her seat. “I was hoping we could talk a little more before you leave.”

“Oh, uhm…” Wallflower sat up a little straighter. “Yeah, okay.”

“Wallflower,” Sunset started, “About what I said…”

“You were right.”

At that, Sunset paused.

“You were right,” Wallflower repeated. “About what he did to me. That it w-was…”

“Shhh.” Sunset sat on the edge of the bed, offering a hand which Wallflower gratefully took. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it.”

“O-okay,” Wallflower sighed. “Thank you…”

Sunset held her hand a little tighter. “You’re a really brave person, Wallflower,” she said. “I hope you know that.”

Wallflower sighed again. “So I’ve been told.”

“It’s true,” Sunset said. “I… I know this is hard—terribly hard—and it’s going to be hard for a long time.”

“My Sunset told me something similar,” Wallflower said.

“She was right,” Sunset said. “And, as hard as this is, as painful as it might be… Life is worth living, even if it’s difficult. Even if it hurts. Even if bad things happen.”

Wallflower nodded, even as her stomach tied itself into knots. “Y-yeah. I have a lot to think about when I get home.”

“Before you go, I wanted to ask you something,” Sunset said.

“What is it?”

Sunset took a deep breath and looked Wallflower in the eyes. “What happened was not your fault. Do you believe that?”

Wallflower sat in silence. Did she believe that? How could she possibly believe that? She let him into her apartment. She didn’t even try to stop him once he got aggressive. She just lay there and waited for it to be over instead of standing up for herself.

She never even said no. Of course it was her fault. How could it not be her fault?

Because it was his fault for doing it in the first place, not her fault for being unable to stop him.

“Yeah…” Wallflower held Sunset’s gaze. “Yeah, I do. It wasn’t my fault.”

Sunset’s smile was the most gentle thing in the world. “I know it’s not easy to say that,” she said. “I’m really proud of you, Wallflower. I hope you can be proud of yourself, too.”

“Th-thanks,” Wallflower said.

“You’re welcome to come back any time,” Sunset said. She handed Wallflower a business card. “I’d really like it if you did so frequently, like a regular check-in or something. And of course I’ll have some more hot cocoa waiting for you.”

Wallflower looked at the card, then back up at Sunset. “Okay,” she said. “I’d like that.”

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, until Wallflower rose from the bed. She sat down on the mattress beside Sunset, and after a second of silence, they embraced.

“Thank you,” Wallflower whispered. “Thank you for everything.”

Sunset gently rubbed Wallflower’s back. “Please come back soon, okay?”

Wallflower answered by hugging Sunset a little tighter.

When at last they seperated, Wallflower’s eyes were wet with tears. She wiped them away with her sleeve, sighing. “O-oh, before I go…”

“Mhm?”

“You said your spider needs a name, right?”

Sunset smiled. “Indeed it does,” she said. “Why, do you have an idea?”

“Well, uhm… It’s kinda silly, but I was thinking…” Wallflower forced herself to make eye contact. “There’s a perennial called spider ivy, and, uhm, it has another name too,” she said. “Saint Bernard’s lily.”

“You want me to name my spider ‘Bernard?’” Sunset smirked. “Yeah… Yeah, I like that name. It’s classy.” She made a show of flipping her hair. “Just like me.”

Wallflower giggled. “Well, I’m glad you like it,” she said. “Even if it’s just a dumb pun.”

“All puns are dumb puns,” Sunset said. “That’s what makes them great.”

They shared a laugh as Wallflower stood up. “I guess I should get going,” she said. “I’ll come back soon, though.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Sunset said, smiling. She gave Wallflower one last hug. “You’re gonna be okay, Wallflower. No matter what happens.”

“Y-yeah…” Wallflower sighed, her head resting on Sunset’s shoulder. “I’m gonna be okay.”

Sunset hummed as she tilted her head to consider the flowers' position, then moved them around a bit before stepping back and nodding. When she heard the bell chime, she glanced from the table down the hall, at Rarity, who waved gently before making her way in.

"I'm telling you, darling, I'm never going to visit another Hive City. These people are barbarians!" She paused. "Big, muscular, heavily armored barbarians, but brutes nonetheless!"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you swear off the Imperium three months ago?"

Rarity crossed her arms. "I needed some materials. A lady must do, what a lady must do." She smirked. "And they will never forget my last visit."

"Right." Sunset sighed. "I'm never going to be able to go to that universe again, am I?"

"Nonsense, dear. They love conflict. They might appreciate you more that way." Shrugging, Rarity stepped into the bar proper and blinked, taking in Sunset's new decoration. "Sunset, that is lovely! I honestly didn't think you had it in you."

"I don't," Sunset said, narrowing her eyes. "But Wallflower was kind enough to bring them the last time she visited. She said they were called myosotis."

Rarity grinned. "I have to give it to her, she does have a subtle sense of humor."

Sunset looked from her to the blue, five-petalled flowers. "She does?"

"Mhm." Rarity approached them and cast something that Sunset recognized as a simple temperature spell. "There, that should be the ideal weather. Make sure to remember to water them!"

"As if I would forget."

Rarity giggled. "Oh, darling, that's too precious. I need to drop my purchases in the office, talk to you soon."

Sunset watched Rarity leave, then sighed and sat on the stool, next to the habitat, where Bernard stood still. "What do you think, Bernard? I think they fit Wallflower's table."

Bernard simply started nibbling on a piece of kale, making Sunset chuckle. "Yeah. You're right, I think she'll like it too."

End Chapter

Barring Destiny (A Pony Named Nope — Status: Depends on the Portals)

Sunset's Isekai
Barring Destiny (A Pony Named Nope — Status: Depends on the Portals)
By Wanderer D & Nyerguds

"And stay out!" Nope's dad yelled. A swarm of tiny four-legged creatures with red hats galloped out the doorway, desperate to escape his relentless broom. With a noise of jingling hat bells and squeaky curses they hopped and clambered down the stairs of the apartment building's stairwell.

"Freaking hippognomes," the stallion grumbled. He turned to his daughter, who was dutifully helping him sweep the little pests outside. "I just hope they won't nest in the stairwell." He cricked his neck, gave the living room one last critical scan to ensure he'd gotten all stragglers, and finally closed the door to the stairwell with a satisfying click. "Ah well. That'd be the landlord's problem."

He smiled at his daughter and gave a small sigh. "It's always something, isn't it?"

The little alicorn looked up at her dad. She was six years old now, and she had started to realise that the stuff that happened to them wasn't how the world was supposed to work. Magic talking mirrors, singing woodland critters, time travellers and swirling portals to other worlds weren't supposed to pop up in a fourth floor apartment. And she had started to realise that all these things came to her.

"I didn't mean to go in," Nope said, staring at the floor. "It was just there, and then I was through, and then I ran back but they came after me!"

Her dad grabbed her into a tight but gentle hug. "Hey, now, don't look so glum. I didn't mean it like that. It's not your fault, Nope. You never asked for this." He gave her a soft smile. "You got back. That's the important part, all right?"

Nope nodded, leaning her head against him. He always managed to make her feel better.

"Now, come on, filly," her dad said. "We've had enough excitement for today. Let's get you into bed, all right?"

Nope nodded. The hippognome invasion had taken a while to get rid of, and it was way past her bedtime.

Nope clambered out of bed and grumbled softly. Her dad had warned her about drinking right before going to bed, and now she was feeling the inevitable effects. Still half-asleep, she crossed the hall and walked into the door at the other side. Something jingled as she pushed open the door; a hippognome had probably lost its hat in the bathroom. Those tiny menaces had rampaged through the whole apartment, after all. She closed the door behind her.

"Oh?" she heard a female voice say. "Well, what do we have here? Welc—"

Nope gritted her teeth. This again? "Daaaad!" she yelled. "There's someone in the bathroom!"

She looked up to see what the latest menace to invade her home was, and blinked. Her eyes widened. "This isn't—"

She was standing in a bar. The kind of place her dad went to sometimes, where he bought those neat-looking brightly-coloured drinks which he never allowed her to taste.

"Oh no. No, no, no... It happened again." She looked behind her, ready to sprint back, but stopped. There was no sign of any swirling portal. "Where is it?" she said, panicked. "Where's the portal?!" She frantically moved her horn around, trying to pick up any trace of the portal's magic, but felt nothing.

"I'm stuck..." she said, curling into a ball, her wide panicked eyes darting around in a vain attempt to find some trace of a portal to bring her home. "How do I get back!?"

Sunset studied the alicorn filly with some surprise, wondering at the reaction. Normally, guests were slightly confused, but given that they had walked in through the door, usually knew that it was the same way out. What had this filly gone through so far that she'd react this way? And an alicorn out of all possible guests. Her first thought had been that this was none other than filly Celestia, but the mane colors were different, even if it was pretty wavy.

"Hey, calm down, little filly," Sunset said gently. "Don't worry, I can get you back home, it's really not a problem." She smiled gently. "This is… well, my bar, but I also serve other things. How about I get you some hot cocoa, we clean up those tears and get you back home?"

The filly looked at Sunset, eyes wide, but seemingly not actually frightened by her appearance. “Um...” She looked around the room with an embarrassed look on her face. “Do you have a bathroom here?”

"Sure!" Sunset pointed down to the door at the end of the bar. "Through that entrance, second door on the right."

“Okay-thank-you-tall-lady!” the filly shouted as she fled towards the door.

"Huh," Sunset muttered, turning over to start preparing the hot chocolate. "Odd filly." She hummed one of Twilight's songs as she poured out the different milks and chocolate shavings, making sure the temperature was right as she slowly stirred the contents with a tiny whisk.

By the time she heard the filly come out of the restroom, the marshmallow was already browned, the waffle cracker was in, and the chocolate was waiting on the bar for her newest guest.

The filly emerged from the back door and walked over to the bar. This time, her looking around was more curious, and not panicked at all. She looked at Sunset. “So… you’re sure you can get me home?”

"Yep. One hundred percent," Sunset replied. "All you need to do is go back that hallway entrance, and open the door. It will take you back home, not a second past the time you left. So how about it?" she said, nodding at the hot chocolate. "It's my favorite recipe. I hope you like marshmallows."

The filly glanced back at the door. “Oh. It’s a door-portal.” She nodded, and turned to Sunset. “I had that before.” She finally focused on the treat put before her, and smiled. “Thank you, tall lady!” The marshmallow was swiftly picked out of the drink and chewed up; clearly she had no objection to it.

"Anyway, I'm Sunset Shimmer, very nice to meet you." Sunset said, leaning back so she could take in the little alicorn as she drank her chocolate. "And this is my bar, I call it "Sunset's Isekai", and that little spider in the habitat over there is my pet, Bernard. So, what’s your name?"

“Nice to meet you too,” the filly said meekly. “I’m Nope.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow. "Nope? That's… is that your actual name?"

Nope frowned. “Um. There’s a long name too, but my dad doesn’t like using it. It’s No-ble Pin-i-ons. But my dad said I should just say ‘Nope’ to people, because everyone’s always asking me things, and that’s the best answer.”

"Ah, I guess that makes some sort of sense," 'it totally doesn't' Sunset said. "And you seem familiar with being suddenly away from home, huh? I take it that's why he insists you do that?"

Nope nodded. “Today we had hippognomes. They’re like, tiny fat ponies with red floppy hats. I fell over my train toy and then there was a portal and then there were hippognomes saying I had to become their princess,” she said. “I said ‘nope’, and they got all angry, but the portal was still open, so I just ran back through.” She slumped down and leaned her chin on the bar. “And then we had hippognomes in the living room, and then the portal closed, of course.” She looked up at Sunset and gave a weak smile. “I’m just glad it wasn’t Pictsies.”

"I'm fortunate enough that my bar doesn't allow them entry," Sunset said. "Nothing against them, but there's a limit with how much I can put up with the excuse of: 'I'm already dead so I can do anything.'" She smirked. "Especially when I have a ghost living here half the time, and she has manners."

“A ghost?” Nope asked. “I’ve never seen a ghost before.” She peered over the photos hanging on the walls. “Did all those people come here? Hey, that’s Princess Celestia! You know her?”

Sunset grinned. "Oh, I know them well! That's one Princess Celestia, but I do know other alicorns too. There's 'Princess' Nyx. And that's her mom Princess Twilight. And that one over there is Cadance, and that other one is Cozy Glow, who's not an alicorn anymore…" She pointed out as she went. "Most places will have Cadance, Celestia, Luna and Twilight at least. Oh, and Flurry Heart."

“I dunno those others,” Nope said, “but I know Celestia and Luna, and Cadance, and Twilight. Dad says Celestia is a scheming... something. Um. He said I shouldn’t repeat that word. I don’t think he likes the princesses very much.”

Sunset nodded. "Hm, well, I'm not sure all of the Celestias I've met are scheming b—ad words." She cleared her throat. "But, he must have his reasons. Sounds like he worries about you, if Celestia keeps involving herself."

“I dunno. They were at our door a few times, but my dad sent them away again. He says he can take care of me but I think the princesses don’t believe him.” She gave Sunset a defiant look. “But he’s the best dad! He chased the time travellers away!”

Sunset felt the other eyebrow slowly lift on her face. "Time travellers." She pulled out another stool from behind the bar and sat down. "No wonder he's paranoid. So… Pictsies, Time Travelers, Princesses…" She shook her head. "One day, I will introduce you to Ranma Saotome." She stopped to consider that. "You know what, probably not. Especially if his dad is around. Anyway, it seems you're… going to lead an interesting life whether you want to or not."

“Myeah...” Nope said, nodding. She grabbed her cup in her forehooves and drank the last of her chocolate milk. “But dad says adventure is a lot of work, and not much fun, and anyone who puts a filly into that is… uh, more bad words.” She smiled. “This is the nicest portal I’ve been through. You didn’t say anything I had to say ‘nope’ to.”

"Well," Sunset smirked. "I did ask you your name."

Nope grinned at her. “But you gave me hot cocoa!” She suddenly looked worried. “Uh… but this is a bar, and I don’t have bits. Do you want me to get my dad?” She shook her head. “No, he won’t let me come back in. He hates portals. He’d probably try to set your door on fire or something.”

"Huh." Sunset hummed. "I… don't think he'd actually damage it. And the drink is on me, don't worry… but I don't think it would be responsible of me to tell you to not tell your dad." She tapped her chin. "Why doesn't he like portals?" She frowned. "And why are portals an issue in the first place?"

Nope gave her a level stare. “I told you, there’s hippognomes! And breezies, and pictsies, and singing bunnies!”

"Ah." Sunset fidgeted. "So it's not just portals. It's a bunch of them." She nodded gently, with a small smile. "So… they ask you to do things in every single one of them?"

Nope nodded. “Well, the other time I had a door portal like you have, I was in some shop selling flutes and guitars and stuff. The seller there just wanted me to take something. But my dad found the door and came in and told him he would burn the shop if he tried that again.”

Sunset crossed her arms. "Your dad is apparently genre savvy." She chuckled. "Still, it does sound like he's saved you a lot of trouble." She glanced around. "My bar is a bit different. People come here to relax and talk. Other than a few groups of multiversal adventurers who meet here occasionally, no one is sent on quests or missions. Your dad might still disapprove, but I think if he was ever going to give me a chance, he'd need to at least know. Plus, if we don't tell him, and he found out he will never trust me either."

“I’ll tell him tomorrow,” Nope said. She yawned. “I wanna go back to bed. Dad told me you can’t use time travel to cheat bed time, and I’m tired.”

"He is a wise pony," Sunset said with a short nod. "Here, let me give you this, in case you want to come back." She slid a silver business card to Nope. "That will help the bar come to you if you ever want a break."

Nope gave the card a critical look, then floated it off the bar in her magic. “Thank you. But I’m not sure if my dad will let me. Even if I tell him you’re super nice.” She slid off the bar stool and looked up at Sunset, and briefly leaned her head against Sunset’s leg. “You really are super nice. Thank you for the hot cocoa.”

Sunset chuckled. "Alright, it's your choice kiddo, and you're welcome anytime."

Smiling, and with the silver card in her magical aura, Nope walked out and closed the door behind her.

Sunset sighed, standing up and walking around the bar to start cleaning the mug. "Well, that's one unusual filly. What a dad, though," she muttered as she turned on the faucet to rinse it. She paused when she heard the bell chiming again, and put the mug down, turning to face her next customer. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai! My name is… Nope?!"

The filly stood in the doorway, her hind legs held together uncomfortably. "Um," she said, "I think I drank too much hot cocoa, and my bathroom door was gone again. Can your card also make your door not show up?"

Sunset laughed a little. "Um, yeah, just put it away when you're in your room, I'll make sure to get the bar out of the way. You can use mine for now, or go back, your choice."

“But I’m not holding your card!” Nope shouted, before once again disappearing in the door in the back.

While the filly was in the restroom, Sunset glared at the roof. For a moment, she could almost feel a sheepish shrug from her bar. "Now you listen to me," she said firmly, "I know you like playing games, but this filly is going home to sleep. Understand? You can't just keep opening up for her!"

There was a general sense of frustration, then resignation.

Sunset kept her eyes warily on the roof, as if expecting it to say something. Which of course it wouldn't.

Eventually the door to the restroom opened again, and Sunset motioned for Nope to follow her to the door, where she opened it into Nope’s home, right in front of her bedroom door. "I've told the bar to stop it. So… it should."

“It’s probably just me, you know,” Nope grumbled. “It keeps happening.”

"Well, this is my bar," Sunset whispered, kneeling to be at eye level. “I'll check in a moment if we're still here, and if we are, I'll take over, okay? Now, your dad did say it was bedtime, so let's not make him angry at either of us, okay?"

Nope nodded. “Okay.” She sat down on her haunches and gave Sunset a hug, and once again walked out the door.

"Good night," Sunset whispered again, waving gently before standing up and closing the door. She waited a few seconds, while all around her a small feeling of embarrassment started permeating the building. "Oh… come on." She risked opening the door a little and peeked out, seeing Nope's room again across the corridor, with the little filly presumably already in bed. She gently closed the door, with a small smile that turned into an angry frown when it was completely closed. She gave the floorboards a gentle kick. "Come on. It's time to go somewhere else. I'm sure someone out there is using their card."

She felt the shift and opened the door. She stared silently at the twisted and unnatural, yet oddly organic shapes that formed the sunken city of R'lyeh for a few moments before nodding in satisfaction. "Back to normal." She sighed and turned to walk deeper into the bar when she realized something.

"Dammit. I forgot to ask for a picture!"

On a perfectly normal spring afternoon, two teenage ponies walked home from school.

“Come on, Nope!” Sunshine said, looking back at her friend. “What’s keeping you?”

“Hold on,” Nope said, looking into a dark, narrow alley. A smile slowly crept onto her face. “A door just appeared here.”

Sunshine raised an eyebrow and walked back to her friend. “What, like, spontaneously?”

Nope nodded. “Mmhm.” She walked towards the door, closely followed by her friend.

Sunshine shook her head. ”I thought you specifically stayed away from places like that.”

Nope looked at the familiar cutie mark on the door and smiled at her friend. “Oh, I do.” She pushed open the door with an excited glitter in her eyes. “But this place is an exception.” The two ponies walked inside, and were greeted by a friendly voice.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai!"

End Chapter

Author's Note

Crossover with the ever-amusing story: A Pony Named Nope by Nyerguds!

No Mare is an Island (Empty Horizons — Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
No Mare is an Island (Empty Horizons — Ongoing)
By Wanderer D & Goldenwing

Rainbow Dash looked up from the wingblades cradled between her forelegs as the door to the little cabin cracked open.

Applejack poked her head in at an angle, one hoof held to her hat. "Rainbow? Y’all busy?"

Rainbow shrugged, brandishing the oil-soaked cloth she had pinned between one blade and her hoof. "Kinda. What’s up?"

"Flint and I were gonna go out and get some drinks," Applejack said. She pushed the door open wider, revealing the burly white-coated stallion standing out in the hall. "Figured I’d check and see if ya wanted to tag along."

Rainbow pursed her lips, turning her attention back to the cloth and rubbing it along the blade perhaps a bit harder than necessary. "Sure you two want me coming? I’d hate to get in the way of your fun."

She couldn’t see Applejack’s face, but it was easy to imagine her expression from her exasperated sigh. "Rainbow, c’mon. Celestia knows y’all need to relax as much as we do, and them darn blades ain’t goin’ anywhere. Do ya really need to fuss with ’em every mornin’ and night?"

"Sea Sabre says I should," Rainbow said curtly, keeping her eye on her work. "If I take care of my weapons, they’ll take care of me."

Flintlock snorted, his gravelly voice grating against her ears. "Th’ bit Sabre neglected t’ mention was takin’ care of yerself. That steel’ll last twelve hours without yer tender lovin’, but th’ Argo’s gonna be good ’n pretty by mornin’, and it could be weeks before we tie up anywhere with a decent bar." He paused, and when Rainbow looked she saw him watching her with a lopsided grin. "So ye gonna come explore th’ free deck with us, or do ye wanna hunch over yer gear mopin’ all night?"

Rainbow shot a skeptical look towards Applejack. The cowpony offered her an encouraging smile, and after a few more seconds of deliberation Rainbow felt her resistance wane. She set her wingblades aside with a begrudging sigh before standing up and stretching her legs. "Alright, fine. As long as you two don’t get too familiar."

"Do ye hear this mare?" Flint looked down to Applejack with mock insult in his voice. "Th’ way she puts it, ye’d think we ain’t got an ounce of self-control."

"Y’all ain’t got no self-control." Applejack smirked up at him as she pushed him gently back with a hoof. "And I ain’t plannin’ on gettin’ sloshed legless, so don’t ya go gettin’ any ideas."

Rainbow groaned as she stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind her with a leg. "Oh, I regret this already."

The Orichalcum was a big ship, and despite spending the past two days sharing a cabin with Applejack while they waited for the Argo to be repaired, Rainbow still sometimes found herself peering into doorways and through windows with open-mouthed awe, wondering at every new hall they turned into. The rumble of the engines and the deep, rhythmic ticking of the great gears hidden within the hull was a constant companion, always waiting beneath the chatter of passing crewponies or the chugging and hissing of whatever steam-driven machinery might be hidden behind any given door. Rainbow kept the wall close on her left as they trotted through the halls, protecting her blind side, and every now and then she’d take a glance over just to check nothing had suddenly appeared there.

It wasn’t too long a walk to their destination. Even on an airship the size of the Orichalcum, nothing was more than twenty minutes away if you moved with purpose. Soon they were climbing a lengthy stairwell running the height of the ship, the glittering empty horizon visible through the windows painted a warm orange by the setting sun, and with one last burst of effort they arrived.

The ‘free deck,’ as Flint called it, was far more open and spacious than most of the ship. Where elsewhere the designers seemed to be straining to squeeze every last inch of space out of the halls, here it was actually possible to take more than five steps from one wall before hitting something hard. Small shops and bars competed for the limited attention of any crew enjoying their time off, with colorful signs advertising cheap drinks or valuable trinkets.

The bars by far received the most business, many of them forgoing walls entirely in favor of displaying their bright interiors freely to passers-by. Rainbow pursed her lips as Flintlock and Applejack stepped into the thin crowd without hesitation, already discussing which establishment to visit first.

Rainbow quickened her pace, coming up on Applejack’s right and leaning into her ear. "I didn’t think it would be so busy."

"Neither did I, sugar cube, but I reckon there’s a lotta ponies on this ship." Applejack walked a little closer, and Rainbow relaxed a bit at the feel of her friend’s warmth brushing against her blind side. "See anythin’ ya like?"

Rainbow grimaced, scanning her options. Truthfully, none of them looked especially appealing to her. They were all too busy, too open, and she couldn’t imagine being able to relax in them no matter how many drinks she had in her. Her ears perked up as she picked out an outlier—a smooth wooden door stained red like sunset, framed in an arch of stone squeezed into the slim space between two competing bars. It felt almost alien aboard a ship filled with so much iron and silver, and something about the polished crystal shaped into a blazing sun on its surface seemed to call to her.

"How about that one?" Rainbow nudged Applejack’s hoof, pointing with a wing.

"Hay, where did that thing come from?" Applejack let out a thoughtful hum. "It certainly does look mighty invitin’."

"Ach, I wouldn’t get yer hopes up," Flint rumbled. "My bet’s th’ place spent all their budget on th’ fancy wood ‘n stone, with nothin’ left fer th’ actual bar. Just look at it! I probably couldn’t even turn sideways without brushin’ my tail on th’ wall in there."

"Couldn’t hurt to check it out," Applejack said. "Y’know it’s the little, overlooked places that have all the heart anyways."

"Bah, fine. But I get next pick if this one’s dry."

Rainbow led the way, ears forward as she pushed the wooden door open and stepped through, a small bell tinkling overhead. The entrance to the bar was narrow inside, but once past the hallway it seemed far wider than it should’ve been, and the corner of her mouth pulled up into a small smile as she took in the warm colors and the cozy space. It looked completely deserted—exactly what she was looking for.

Then her eyes fell on the creature behind the bar, and her eye shot wide open.

It was tall, with a long mane of brilliant red and gold, and dressed in well-laundered black and white. It was facing away from them, humming some tune as its body swayed along to the beat of the jukebox, its soft claws deftly at work organizing bottles on the shelves.

"Applejack," Rainbow whispered, her wings half-flared at her sides. "What is that?"

"Don’t ask me, gal," Applejack whispered back. "Flint, y’all got any idea?"

"Aye, I know exactly what it is," Flintlock hissed. "It’s some richling’s toy, put on display where it can awe us with its rarity and price, and I’ll be damned if I give anyone the satisfaction of thinkin’ I’m impressed."

Rainbow arched a brow as she turned to look back at the tall stallion. "What?"

"It’s like that griffon, eh?" Flint nodded sagely, narrowing his eyes. "They pay its weight in bits t’ have somethin’ unique at their beck ’n call."

"Do ya think it talks?" Applejack whispered, glancing back.

"I think it’s got a wall full of bottles, ’n if it can’t pour me a drink, I’ll find someone that can."

Flint brushed past them, taking a seat at the bar, and with a glance back towards Rainbow and a resigned shrug, Applejack followed suit.

Rainbow grimaced. She would’ve preferred just a regular pony behind the bar, but then nothing could ever be easy anymore, could it? Shuffling her wings against her side and wiping the curiosity from her face, Rainbow sat to Applejack’s right and joined her companions in watching the thing behind the bar dance to its own tune.

Cleaning up the bar after particularly hard week was always a good way for Sunset to let her mind drift and lose herself on the mundanity of performing simple tasks, like reorganizing the bottles, or checking the inventory. As the bar's clientele had grown, so had her social circle, and she had rediscovered the joys of writing snail mail (or scrolls) would always come easier to her with a less cluttered location to provide distractions.

True, most of the magical constructs she had devised would take care of basic things, but doing it manually had a certain charm in addition to allowing her to just enjoy the day and listen to the music of the places she had visited.

The silver chime announced the arrival of a new guest (or guests), but Sunset's mind was still on the latest CD she had obtained from a certain Twilight Sparkle who was totally not hot. She sensed more than saw the guests take a seat behind her and finished re-arranging the bottles before turning around. Their conversation was telling enough as it was.

She blinked at the ponies in front of her, taking in their appearance for a second before smiling widely. "Hello, welcome to Sunset's Isekai. I'm Sunset Shimmer." She stared at the stallion in the eye. "And I'm no richling's toy, thank you."

The stallion let out a disinterested grunt, eyes already focused on the bottles behind her. "Aye, that’s what I’d think ye’d say."

"Flint," AJ chided, nudging him with a hoof. She looked up at Sunset with a sincere, if a little confused, smile. "You’ll have to forgive him. He ain’t real good at first impressions."

"Nor second," Sunset piped in, "but if he was able to walk in here I guess I can deal with a bit of xenophobic attitude."

She studied the trio. Rainbow Dash—although she was sitting next to Applejack—was a bit guarded, and AJ was sitting comfortably close to the stallion next to her. They all looked worse for the wear, and even wore familiar-looking clothes. A quick check revealed no known badges, and they didn't even appear to be SG1… hay, not even a "Vigilo Confido" insignia.

If her guests were military it wasn't big on insignias, or maybe they were mechanics? But their looks didn't match what she'd expect. No grease stains, or tools. It seemed intended to just cover them more than anything else. At the same time—this Rainbow Dash wasn’t quite like the other one with the metal prosthetic wing; that Dashie had seemed almost inured to her injuries, while this one, with the claw-like scars across her face and an eyepatch that made Sunset wince internally, looked like she had a lot on her mind.

Whenever Equestria was at war Sunset's heart ached to see what it did to the ponies closest to her. It wasn't exactly her friends but… having lived through quite a few of those places, she could only shudder at the thought of what might happen to them.

The bar had definitely appeared at the right time. They really needed a drink. Well, better start with the easy ones.

"Here you go," she said, reaching under the counter to pull out two bottles of Sweet Apple Acres Cider, placing them in front of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "First one is on the house. You look like you need one."

While the two mares stared down from her to the drinks with curious eyes, she studied the stallion. Taller and burlier than most ponies she'd seen before, he was basically a tank. "You… I don't know. I sense a slight hostility from you. Not used to seeing other creatures around?" She tapped her chin. "Well, there's few ice walls a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster will not break through. How does that sound, big guy?"

"I ain’t never heard of any Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, but seein’ as we’re doin’ first rounds free—" he shrugged, raising a hoof to the bar and beckoning "—I’ll take a chance on ye."

"Y’know, funny thing," Applejack began slowly. "My family used to have an apple farm." She reached out with a hoof, picking up the bottle with a distant sadness. "Had the same name as what’s on this here bottle."

"This is not your usual bar," Sunset said gently, as she prepared the blaster for the stallion's benefit. This Applejack hadn't been back to the Acres in a while. Possibly years. Either due to this possible war, or being exiled or some other reason, this was still something from home… and something that brought back heavy emotions. "My bar is a place between worlds and possibilities. It's a place where any creature from anywhere, anytime, any world… can come to relax and drink."

"Ah, hell," the big stallion—Flint, AJ had called him—grumbled. "This is one of those bars."

Applejack held up a hoof, silencing him. With a shaky motion she twisted the cap off the bottle, letting it rattle against the bar. She lifted the bottle to her muzzle, pausing as the pale mist drifting from within drifted over her nose, and put it to her lips.

Her eyes widened, and Sunset couldn’t help but smile at the way the mare regarded the bottle as she held it out before her.

"This is—" Applejack blinked, the corners of her lips twitching up as she let out a breathy laugh. "This is my family’s cider."

"What? No way." Rainbow popped the cap off her bottle with undisguised skepticism. A shiver passed through her as she took a gulp, wings flaring wide open. "Whoa."

"None of that Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster for him, miss. He’ll be drinkin’ Apple Family brew tonight." Applejack slid her bottle over to Flint, ignoring his surprised expression. She was taking in the bar as if for the first time, her eyes passing over the many portraits hung on the walls. "Just who did y’all say ya were, again?"

"Sunset Shimmer, former apprentice to Celestia," Sunset said retrieving another bottle for Applejack. "Depending on your timeline, if Twilight Sparkle ever went through the mirror the Princess had hidden in Canterlot, she'd met me." She glanced at Flint. "And before you say anything, I'm actually a unicorn. I changed shape when I crossed into another universe, but if I stepped out there, I'd look like a unicorn again, cutie mark and everything."

"Timelines? Universes?" Applejack frowned, shaking her head. "I don’t get it."

Flint let out a sigh as he looked down at the bottle of cider before him. "Ye know, I was just startin’ t’ think my life was gettin’ back to some kinda normal."

"This is like that Daring Do book, isn’t it?" Rainbow said. Her brow grew harder as she scanned the pictures hung around her.

"Daring Do and the Metztli Mirrors." Sunset nodded. The pegasus turned to her with a sharp glare, and she offered up an uneasy smile.

"Y’all mean ya heard of this before?" Applejack asked.

"There’s hundreds of us, AJ. Thousands, I dunno." Rainbow spoke bitterly, her lip pulling up into a barely restrained snarl. "All those pictures up there? They come from Equestrias just like ours, with ponies just like us, except they get to be happy. And everything we’ve gone through? Everything Twilight’s going through?" Her last words came out in a low growl, her one-eyed glare fixed on Sunset. "It’s just bad luck."

Applejack stared at her friend with wide eyes. "Rainbow—"

"Guess it wasn’t enough just to suffer it all, huh?" Rainbow seethed. "Now the world wants to rub just how screwed up my life is into the one eye I have left. Whatever. Thanks for the cider, I guess."

Rainbow shoved herself away from the bar, sliding out of her seat and retreating to the table in the far corner. She scowled as she took a seat there, back to the wall, the bottle of Sweet Apple Acres cider nursed between both forelegs.

Applejack sighed. She looked back to Sunset with an apologetic grimace. "She’s, uh, dealin’ with some things. It ain’t personal."

"Mare acts like she invented loss," Flint grumbled, taking another sip from his bottle. "This ain’t too bad, by th’ way."

Sunset shrugged. "No worries. You'd be surprised how many people come here where things are a lot worse than the pictures show." She pulled out a bottle of cider for herself. "Anyway, you guys are what I call "personal guests." That means we've got the bar to ourselves. No interruptions. Hope you don't mind if I drink one myself, it's quality stuff." She grinned. "So, what type of place are you all at right now? From what she said there's quite a lot happening."

"Shoot, I dunno where to start." Applejack reached up to take her hat off, placing it gently on the countertop. "Guess all Equestria’s underwater. Is that normal?"

"Only where you're all seaponies," Sunset said. "It's not… a normal situation otherwise, no." She bit her lip. "How did it happen? Did Celestia and the others make it?" She grimaced, glancing in the direction of the door. "Believe it or not, I don't always know where I'll end up, and it's… sometimes really shocking how different things are."

Applejack shook her head, eyes still lingering on the pictures. "Just us, I’m afraid. Us and the other gals, y’know? Well—" she paused, lips quirking to one side "—I guess Princess Luna’s still alive? She’s under some kinda somethin’, but Twi’s workin’ on it. Princess Celestia, I don’t even know. Say, is that, uh—" she pointed, and Sunset looked back to see her picture of Pear Butter and Bright Mac. "That looks like my parents."

Sunset smiled, and waved her hand, levitating the picture from the wall so it floated over to her. She turned it around and put it flat on the bar for Applejack to look at. "Yep. Pear Butter and Bright Mac… that's you and Rarity from my world with them." She cleared her throat. "Back there you two are an item."

Applejack arched a brow. "Me and her, huh? Dunno if I could quite see that. Either way, uh, ‘my’ Rarity ended up gettin’ hitched to some duke’s son." She brushed a hoof over the image of her parents, a soft smile tugging at her lips. "Guess it’s good to know they’re happy, somewhere out there."

Flint let out a thoughtful grunt as he leaned over to look at the picture. "Yer ma’s got some good looks on ’er."

Applejack blinked. She looked up at him with an exasperated shake of her head. "If I thought y’all were the kind of stallion to try and compliment me for my own good, I’d smack ya for that shoddy delivery, but I know ya ain’t, so." There was a thump under the bar, and Flint let out a stiff grunt. "Quit sizin’ up my ma!"

Sunset grinned. "Anyway, if you look at that poster with the Twilight that's a mix between you and me, you're her manager and also her trainer. She got into lifting weights thanks to you." She shook her head. "There's always something new out there… I'm just very lucky to be able to meet so many people, and maybe chat with them for a while. Heh. If you can believe it, the first other me that I met was dating Gilda."

Applejack’s eyes widened, and she stole a quick glance back at Rainbow Dash, who seemed to have put a fresh scowl on her face. "That’s sweet and all, darlin’, but I’d be careful mentionin’ any griffons till RD cools down a bit. On account of, y’know." She did an exaggerated wink with her left eye.

"Ah," Sunset said, glancing apologetically at Rainbow Dash, who didn't seem to notice. "Sorry, I didn't know. As you can imagine with how different things are in each world, sometimes it's too easy to let slip something sensitive." She cleared her throat. "So what’s your deal, Flint?"

"Deal?" He echoed, lowering his bottle back to the bar. "I ain’t got any deal. I’m just here fer th’ cider."

Sunset blinked. "Well, I guess it is a bar after all." She shook her head. "In any case, 'deal' is a slang way of asking what is it that you do, or like to do. Are you an accountant? A warrior? A chef? How come you're hanging out with Applejack and Rainbow Dash?" She glanced at Applejack. "Hanging out is still a word you use, right? Otherwise I might have to talk like when I met Drax."

"I’m a salvage diver." Flint grunted, pushing his now-empty bottle away. "And I’m stuck with these two cause my team’re th’ ones that dug ’em up out of th’ ruins of Old Canterlot." He shot Applejack a sidelong look. "Ruins that apparently were hidin’ a portal t’ a whole ‘nother dimension, and who knows what other fancy finds, but I guess sometimes ye get rich and sometimes ye get trouble."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "This big brute never quits talkin’ bout salvage." Flint opened his mouth as if to add something, but she cut him off. "Or guns, yes. I know."

"Ha. You should see the guns Rarity was carrying in this one world," Sunset said, grinning. "Beautifully crafted things. One of them even had magic bullets she could use."

"I got magic bullets," Flint said, straightening up. "Real satisfyin’ crack ’n flash on impact. Just about brought a dragon down a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, and then he just about melted y’all into your armor," Applejack quipped. "We’d all’ve been toast if Twilight hadn’t showed up."

"Ach." Flint tapped at his empty bottle insistently as he spoke. "I’d rather face th’ dragon on my own than get ’Light involved again. This whole trip’s a suicide mission."

"I take it dragons are not on the 'friendly' list anymore?" Sunset grimaced and took a sip of her cider, mulling on the flavor for a moment. "No Spike? No Ember?"

"Well, the dragon was Spike, actually." Applejack sighed as she finished off her bottle. "It’s complicated. Can I get another bottle? I got bits." Flint let out a grunt. "Yeah, and one for him too."

Sunset cringed. "That… can't have been easy," she whispered, reaching down for another pair of bottles. She put them on the table. "He… didn't recognize you?"

"Would be damned impressive if he did," Flint grumbled. "After bein’ stuck in th’ dark fer however long it’s been."

"He ain’t himself anymore," Applejack said, pulling her bottle closer and twisting the top off. "So all Equestria’s underwater, right? And there’s this corruption or somethin’ down there, and it messes with your mind. We hardly recognized him back in Canterlot, he was big as a barn and snarlin’ somethin’ fierce."

"That's…" Sunset shuddered. "Not good."

"That ain’t even the worst of it," Applejack continued. "Twilight’s caught it too, somehow. Poor gal’s been hearin’ this voice in her head, tellin’ her to do things. Some bounty hunters got a hold of her and she just about went wild, nearly cracked a whole island in two. She ran off, and for a bit we thought she was dead.

"We found her in Canterlot a few days later, talkin’ to herself, fangs growin’ out of her muzzle and eyes like slits." She shook her head before raising the cider to her lips and taking a long draw. "She’d actually named the thing. Started callin’ it Midnight. And then she ran off again, up north, talkin’ about letters she found from her brother."

"So now we’re flyin’ north," Flint said, popping his bottle open. "T’ th’ ice. Where there’s no salvage, and at least one crazy wyrd that could kill us all if say one wrong word."

"We’ll have to make sure we remember and leave y’all behind, then," Applejack muttered.

"Do you… have a plan?" Sunset asked gently. "I mean… knowing Twilight, she probably started trying to find a cure or something. Did she give you any clues? Is this something that can be cured?"

"It better be."

Sunset blinked, looking over to where Rainbow had spoken up from the back of the room.

"Y-yeah." Applejack grimaced. "Didn’t turn out that way for Owloysius."

Sunset leaned back. "Yeah… that—I really don't envy your position." She looked from Applejack to Rainbow Dash, unsure of what to say if anything. "So… is the cider hitting the right spot at least?" she offered, a small, unsure smile on her face. "Or do you want one of the special brews?"

"Nah, this is exactly what I need right now." Applejack looked down at her bottle with a pensive frown, and for a long moment nobody said anything. Flint took another sip from his drink, staring stoically straight ahead. In the back of the room, Sunset saw Rainbow’s pursed lips quivering, her mane casting a dark shadow over her one good eye.

"Say, Flint," Applejack said. "Y’all remember that drinkin’ contest we had with that keg of your family’s stuff?"

Flint glanced in her direction, narrowing his eyes. "Aye."

"Well, seems only fair that we try again now we’ve got some of mine, don’t it?"

Flint arched a brow. "If ye wanted a rematch, ye didn’t have t’ wait fer us t’ find a magic bar fer it."

Applejack grinned tentatively. She turned back to Sunset, fishing a bag of bits out of a pocket on her uniform and dropping it on the bar. "Just keep ‘em comin’, Sunset. Maybe with my family’s help, I can steal my pride back from this stallion."

"Heh." Sunset shook her head. "Never change, AJ." She fished out a dozen more bottles and placed them on the counter. "If you need more, just let me know alright?"

Leaving Flint and Applejack passed out on their table (with the bottles each had drank neatly stacked next to them, just in case they woke up and wanted to continue their game), Sunset decided it was about time she checked on Rainbow Dash. So far the brooding mare had limited herself to ordering the occasional bottle of cider once she was done with the previous one, but she hadn't attempted to join the pair of earth ponies in their contest.

'Just as well,' Sunset thought, 'these two were drinking enough for six ponies.'

Deciding that the pegasus might feel more comfortable if they both had something in hand or hoof, Sunset wondered briefly what she wanted to drink. Not that she didn't love Sweet Apple Acres cider, but she needed something a bit firmer for herself.

After some thought, she made herself a Wisconsin Old Fashioned and headed over to the table where Rainbow Dash was still brooding. While it was always fun talking to happier customers, she still had the nagging feeling that her bar had brought Sunset here for Rainbow Dash. "Hey Dash, mind if I sit with you? Those two might need some time alone."

"If they wanted time alone, they wouldn’t’ve come here, or dragged me along." Rainbow shifted, putting Sunset squarely on her right side. "But whatever."

'That's as good as an invitation I'll get,' Sunset thought. "Do you want anything else to drink before I sit down?"

Rainbow glanced up to the bar, squinting at the bottles on display behind it. "Have you, uh—" she hesitated, her voice breaking "—got anything from Cloudsdale?"

Sunset had to think for a second. "I could whip you up an Everfree Cloud. They were serving those at a bar one time I went there. Ever had one of those?"

Rainbow looked up to meet Sunset’s eye for the first time, and for a moment it seemed she even forgot to scowl. "That’d be cool."

Sunset set down her drink on the table and headed over to the bar, fishing a hurricane glass and the simple ingredients and pouring them over the vanilla ice cream that served as a base for the drink. Once the ice cream had started melting a little, it would create the signature cloud effect that gave the Everfree Cloud its name. She gently slid a straw into it and took the cocktail over to the table, taking care to keep within sight of Rainbow Dash's right eye and set it on the table. "Here you go, Dash."

"I haven’t told you my name." Rainbow pushed her unfinished cider aside, grabbing the new drink and cradling it between her hooves. She looked down at it, mouth open as if to drink, hovering an inch away from the straw. "You talk to me like we’re friends."

"Well, we are, sort of," Sunset said, getting comfortable. This was the table she usually sat in with Lena to study magic, although she was usually sitting where Rainbow Dash was right now. "A long, long time ago, I left Equestria and went to another world, where there were… human versions of all of you. I wasn't exactly your friend, to be honest, until Twilight visited and… taught me about friendship."

She summoned the picture from the graduation, setting it so that Rainbow Dash wouldn't have to turn her head to look at it. "See? That's me, and that's you… that one there is Applejack, and Pinkie and another Twilight… and of course Fluttershy."

While Rainbow Dash studied the picture, Sunset sampled her Old Fashioned. "Those are your versions that I got to know first… After that, I've been to many worlds where you've done different things. Become Captain of the Wonderbolts… or a Special Ops soldier in a war. I've met you as a human and pony, and even Changeling, if you can believe it." She nodded at the several pictures. "You have many friends across the multiverse, and one constant is that in all worlds, in one way or another, you keep being awesome."

"Captain of the Wonderbolts?" Rainbow’s voice was soft. Her jaw worked side to side, and she didn’t look up from the little straw as she coughed out a single, dry laugh. "Guess even for a pony as awesome as me, there’s gotta be one world where I’m like this, huh? She gets to fly with my heroes, travel Equestria, hear ponies cheer." She shook her head. "I get to run from griffons, chase my best friend through the ruins wondering if she’s still herself, and sit around doing nothing all day."

Rainbow glanced up at the pictures, and with a start Sunset realized there was a tear dripping out from under her eyepatch. "Why me, huh? What’d I do wrong? Did I take some wrong step somewhere?" With a heavy sigh she leaned forwards and grabbed the straw in her lips, taking a long draw from the bottom of the glass. "Eugh. This is perfect."

Sunset smiled a bit sadly at Rainbow's words. She let the pony drink a bit while she considered the pictures around them. If there had been any question on who needed the heart-to-heart out of her guests, it was completely dispelled. She could empathize… Rainbow Dash's frustration and sense of inadequacy to her challenges was something she was intimately familiar with, even if not for the same reasons.

But she was not the only one though. "You didn't do anything wrong, Dash. Sometimes things just happen differently in other places, but that is outside of your control…" She licked her lips, wondering where to continue. "You see… a lot of these pictures are of ponies and creatures that had a chance to smile at the time we took them, but a lot of them… most of them… had to go through their own challenges." She gestured at one of the pictures, where she sat with a shy-smiling Wallflower. "One of them might feel like life is not worth living, but for her friends…" She pointed at Cozy Glow's picture. "Others lost everything they had before they could start becoming better ponies."

She sighed. "You got dealt a horrible hand, um, hoof… by destiny this time around, but if any of them could make it, so can Rainbow Dash."

"Have you met any Rainbows like me?" the pegasus asked, reaching up to brush at her eyepatch. "Do you know how it happened?"

Sunset shook her head. "I don't. I… can guess from a bit of conversation earlier. I figured rather than pursue that conversation with Applejack I'd rather wait and see if you wanted to share the story."

"There’s these bounty hunters." Rainbow began slowly, watching the cloudy ice cream spin in her drink as she stirred it. "One in particular—Gava."

Sunset leaned back, nodding with her head, indicating she was paying attention as she sipped her drink.

Rainbow Dash's lip curled back as she spoke the name, and she began to stir faster, spilling the drink onto the table. "We were diving in the ocean over what used to be the Everfree Forest. Or I guess Twilight was diving, really. I mostly just sat on the sub and got in the way." She shook her head. "Twilight found Princess Luna down there in some kind of… I dunno, dream coma. So we were coming back to the surface, to our ship.

"We’d left Applejack behind with a couple other crewmembers, and when we got off the sub, Gava was there. She’s a griffon, right? So she had Applejack all tied up in chains, and she had her talons at her neck, and she threatened to kill her if the rest of us didn’t turn ourselves in."

Rainbow’s wings shuffled against her back as her face twisted even further towards anger. "I thought I hated her then. I charged her, and she actually tried it—I ended up getting some of Applejack’s blood on me—but I stopped her." She snorted, lips curling up into a smirk. "It’s funny, Twilight actually could’ve saved Applejack all on her own. If I hadn’t done anything, then she probably would’ve teleported her to safety before Gava could even begin to react.

"But I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, you know?" Rainbow looked up, meeting Sunset’s eyes. "She threatened to kill one of my best friends. So we started fighting.

"It wasn’t like anything I’d ever done before. I’d fought for sport, or wrestled, or gotten into scuffles with bullies as a filly, but it was so brutal. I guess in some way it still felt like a game to me, and I never even thought about the idea that I might lose. Until—" she looked away, her one cerise eye losing focus. "I don’t even really remember any of it, besides the pain. The taunting.

"She ate it, Sunset. Next thing I knew, I was tied up on her back, on her ship, and I was the one that needed rescuing." Rainbow blinked, her eye regaining focus as she turned back to Sunset. "She beat me, and all I did was put my friends in more danger."

Sunset nodded. "You screwed up," she said, grimacing in sympathy. "And you paid a price you never thought you would. You expected things to be back like they were back home and they weren't. It's a really hard lesson to learn, and harder still to leave with… well, the possibility of what could have happened." She coughed. "The thing is… when you realize you've screwed up. That you made things worse… that you might've lost those that you care for because of your own actions… that's when the weight of your choices can be crippling. Especially for you, Rainbow Dash." Sunset sighed. "You're the Element of Loyalty. That has to make it sting even harder."

She hesitated as she set down her drink. "Have you… learned to fight? Trained with anyone since?"

"Yes! Of course!" Rainbow’s gaze hardened as she spat the words out. "Because I’m Rainbow Dash, the most awesome pony in Equestria, and I’ll never let anyone do something like that to me or my friends without hitting them back! That’s what I’m trying to say, Sunset." She pursed her lips, shaking her head. "Whenever some stunt beat me back in Ponyville, I’d get up and practice until I beat it. Flint’s boss, Sea Sabre—she said she’d teach me. So as soon as I could stand on my own four hooves again I was up practicing, and I haven’t stopped since!"

She shot up out of her seat, almost yelling now, knocking her drinks over and forcing Sunset to snatch her glass off the table. "I know I can do it! I was so close to beating her last time, and just today I fought another griffon and he didn’t stand a chance! Even Sea Sabre can barely beat me anymore! So don’t you sit there," she snarled, jabbing an accusing hoof towards Sunset, "and treat me like some little filly afraid to jump off a cloud for the first time! I’m gonna get her back, and I don’t care how long it takes me, but what would really make me even happier is if none of this had ever happened to me!"

She was perched on the table, muzzle just inches away from Sunset’s face, chest heaving with every breath and wings flared out to their fullest. There was a quiet snort from the bar as Applejack shifted, mumbling something under her breath.

Sunset's eyes narrowed. "Rarity watched her dad die in her arms when she failed to shoot the last member of the gang that was chasing her," she said slowly. "Freya lost the love of her life, chased him for almost five straight years in the hope that he was still alive, only to discover he had completely forgotten her. In the process her entire kingdom was destroyed, and then most of the survivors died when the other city for her species was obliterated right in front of her. A city she had sworn to protect."

Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but Sunset cut her off, lifting one finger after another as she listed things. "Another Rarity broke a magic mirror so she could tear herself apart from a toxic relationship, leaving her forever cut off from her beloved. Wallflower was raped and erased her own memory of that until it came back." She pointed at the wall. "Haru was trapped away from her mother and all she knew, transformed into a cat and unable to go back home. Iroh let his pride as a general be more important than his duties to his family and when his son died regretted every single time he wasn't there… and that's just a few of them." She took a deep breath. "And don't even get me started on G'kar or my own messes, my own decisions and my own regrets, which believe me, are bad enough in the original timeline without adding my fumbling about the multiverse. Tell me, Rainbow Dash… do really think none of them—us—ever wondered 'why me'? or 'it would be so much better if none of this had happened'?"

Rainbow blinked, leaning back with her jaw hanging open. Rather than back down, Sunset shook her head and kept going. "None of them—including you—deserved what happened to you. I'm not treating you like a filly that got hurt playing around… don't assume you're the only pony or creature out there that's suffered. I asked because when I look at you, I see the friends who have suffered, sometimes more, sometimes less… and I want to know that you're moving forward. That whoever did that to you will never do that again." She raised her hand and poked Rainbow Dash in the chest, causing the pegasus to flinch back. "Because I know you will not just hide away from things, but that doesn't mean every single time you've been ready for what is to come.

"You're my friend, Rainbow Dash, in this world and every other. So let someone worry a little about you, alright?" She smirked. "You're not alone, Dash. We all mess up and we all carry that with us. The problem is not that, it's what you'll do next, and whether it will give you your agency back or not."

She sat back, shoulders slumping. "It's fine to be frustrated, and angry, and scared, you know? You need to give yourself a break."

Rainbow’s lower lip was quivering. She collapsed against the table with a wretched sob, head drooping, eye squeezed tight with fresh tears dripping down her cheeks. "H-how can I give myself a break, huh?" she spat. "Even my own friends have it worse than me! AJ lost her whole family, and P-Pinkie can’t even walk anymore, Fluttershy barely speaks a word, and—and Rarity’s stuck married to the son of some d-duke she hates—and Twilight’s all alone, fighting j-just to keep her mind!" She buried her head in her hooves, muffling her voice. "I just feel so useless, and I h-hate it! I stopped for j-just one second to come try and h-have some fun with Applejack at a bar, and now look at me, crying on a table!" She shook her head, letting out a frustrated groan. "I’m n-not even drunk!"

Despite herself Sunset smiled at that. "Look, Dash… I know it sounds like everyone else has it worse, but my point isn't that all of these people and your friends deserve to be angry more than you. The point is, all of them, in one way or another have become better people despite what happened. What this Gava did to you was horrific by any standard. She took your eye and she ate it to get into your head. And it would have been unnatural if she didn't. She injured you, your friends, made you feel powerless… you have every right to feel frustrated and eager for retribution." She reached over, placing a hand gently on Rainbow Dash's hoof, encouraged when the mare didn’t draw it back. "I know it's really hard, but understand that none of that was a choice you made. That's what I mean by giving yourself a break. You're more than prepared now to face this griffon and kick her ass to Tartarus and back. It will never happen again." She squeezed slightly the hoof. "You won't suffer that again."

She let go and stood up. "Let me get you something else… and don't worry, your tab tonight is on me."

"Applejack was paying anyways." Rainbow didn’t look up, but Sunset could still hear the hoarseness in her voice past the last of her sobs. "I suck at dice."

"Applejack drank a bit more than what her bits covered," Sunset countered, glancing at the passed out pair with slight disbelief. "I mean, she's never been a lightweight, but this one could give Wrex a run for his money." She made her way behind the bar and rummaged around the bottles. "Aha, here we go."

She took two whiskey glasses and threw in two large clear ice cubes, bringing the three items over to the table. She set the bottle of Wild Pegasus Whiskey in the middle of the table, smirking when Rainbow looked up and noticed the silhouette on the label. "Looks familiar? This was distilled in Tullamare, but a certain pegasus was contacted for marketing. Makes a bit of sense she should have a taste, right?"

She poured whiskey on the glasses and raised one to Rainbow Dash. Without hesitation the pegasus reached out, grabbed the glass in her mouth, and threw her head back.

She emptied it in three big gulps, and when she finally brought her head down and dropped the glass back to the table there were an entirely different kind of tears brimming in her eye. "Oh, yeah." She squeezed her eye shut, shaking her head with a shiver that ran all the way down her body and made the table rattle dangerously. "Phew. I should’ve started on this."

"Figured you'd like this one. Just remember, whiskey is not supposed to be taken as a shot." Sunset nevertheless reached over and poured Rainbow Dash another drink. "What should we toast to first?"

Rainbow frowned, regarding her refreshed drink with an intense stare that dragged on for several long moments. Finally she sat up straight on the table, picked the glass up in a hoof, and held it out to Sunset. "To the Rainbow Dashes that get to live their dreams. I’ll get through this, so that they don’t have to."

"I'll drink to that!" Sunset said, clicking her glass to Rainbow Dash's and drinking down in tandem with the pegasus. She coughed, chuckling. "So much for nursing the drink." She served up another glass for herself and was about to do so for Rainbow Dash when she frowned. "You might want to take a seat though. In the proper place."

"Huh?" Rainbow looked down, her eye widening as she realized where she was. "O-oh, right! Hehe. Guess I got a bit carried away." She floated back with a soft flutter of her wings, sliding into her abandoned seat before pulling her glass closer. "So, your turn?"

Sunset served Rainbow Dash up and then hummed, her finger circling the edge of her glass. "May the idiot that set that bounty pay the price," she said, narrowing her eyes, "that he may never do so again."

"Hah, yeah!" Rainbow grinned as she practically lunged across the table to knock her glass against Sunset’s. "He’ll regret the day he thought to cross Rainbow Dash!" She threw the glass back without hesitation, and Sunset smirked as she took a somewhat more conservative drink.

"Okay, my turn, my turn." Rainbow scratched at her chin with a hoof as she watched Sunset pour yet more whiskey into each of their glasses. "To beating the things that beat you!"

"Here, here!" Sunset said, grinning as she sipped her glass. "You know, I technically shouldn't do this but I have an idea." She leaned in. She was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol, if only slightly. But more than that… this Dashie needed help. "There's only one pegasus that I know who can help us get you up to full awesomeness. And she isn't named Spitfire."

Rainbow narrowed her eye. "Sunset, the only pony that could possibly increase my awesomeness, even on my worst days, is named Rainbow Dash."

Sunset leaned back, smirking. "Dashie. This is an inter-dimensional bar." She leaned forward. "That means we don't have to settle for one."

Rainbow gasped. She lifted a hoof to her muzzle, eyebrows disappearing into her mane. "Oh my gosh. That is the most amazing thing anyone’s ever said to me!"

"So, here's what we do… we start in the Normandy, that Dashie has been training to be a one-pegasus krogan-drop down squad." She nodded sagely. "That is pretty badass. Then, we just jump around gathering Rainbow Dashes for a large party… we'll have to get my Rainbow Dash in on the fun too, so be prepared for another human. We get about… twenty of you?"

Rainbow tossed her mane, rearing up and striking a pose. "Can this bar handle twenty of me?"

"Nothing can handle twenty of you," Sunset said firmly. "But my bar can grow, and I always have enough space in my heart for an additional Dash of friendship."

"Eugh." Rainbow stuck her tongue out and jumped out of her seat. "Okay, never say that again. Let’s do this."

Sunset laughed. "Usually people tell me it was bad and I should feel bad." The door opened with a chime of the bell. "But I have too much fun being me."

A familiar voice reached them. "Heeey, this isn’t the Wonderbolts' locker room!"

Sunset glanced at Rainbow Dash and gave her a smug look.

Rainbow woke up with a snort. She groaned at a dull, throbbing pain in her head, rolled over, and then fell out of her bunk with a yelp.

"Aggh…" She rubbed at her temples with both hooves, wincing as the impact of the hard metal seemed to bounce around inside her skull, each echo bringing a new, fresh agony. "What the hay…"

She lay there for several minutes, existing. Perhaps she fell asleep for some of it, but she wasn’t sure.

Finally she mustered the strength to lift her head. "Applejack." She winced at the sound of her own voice, and tried again in a hoarse whisper. "Applejack… help."

Applejack didn’t help.

She pushed herself onto her side, squinting up at Applejack’s bunk. The sheets were neatly made, as they always were, and there was no sign of her friend anywhere to be seen.

A cabin with a window was a luxury aboard the Orichalcum, and at that particular moment she was glad she didn’t have it. Through great effort she got a grip on her bunk and pulled herself up off the ground. A tall glass of water was waiting on the little bedside table, and suddenly realizing just how thirsty she really was, Rainbow squeezed it between both hooves and gulped it all down.

"Oghh." She moaned, empty glass cradled in her hooves, and went to look for another.

She narrowed her eye. There was no second glass on the table, but there was something else on it, flat, and filled with vibrant color that she found appealing on a personal level.

Slowly Rainbow scooched back into her bunk, grabbed the photograph on the table and held it up close. She stared at it for several seconds.

The photo was of a bar. It was a large one, but the warm, red-stained wood and gentle lighting made it feel intimate nonetheless. She stood in the center, leaning against a strange creature with a fiery red-and-gold mane, both of them looking up at the camera with sloppy smiles and bottles held close to their chests. Rainbow couldn’t help but smile a little back at them. She almost didn’t recognize herself with an expression like that.

She also didn’t recognize herself about twenty other times, for other reasons.

The entire bar was packed to the brim with her. She saw a Rainbow Dash with her mane blown back from years of hard flying, the well-pressed uniform of a Wonderbolt Captain snug around her form. Off to the side a Rainbow Dash in black, chitinous armor decorated with red and white stripes smirked up at her, leaning against a more grizzled Rainbow Dash waving with a wing of gleaming metal. A changeling stood near the back, raising a bottle in salute, the six hues of its insectoid mane reflecting the light of the camera flash like a shimmering rainbow. A sky blue stallion leaned against the bar with a cocky smile, the jagged cut of his rainbow mane framing his face while he sipped sideways from a glass. And next to Sunset, opposite Rainbow herself, was a biped creature like herself, one arm wrapped around Sunset’s shoulders and the other sporting a dangerously cocked finger gun.

Rainbow blinked. There were so many, she could barely count them without getting a headache. And they were all holding little cardboard signs, the words Heading East scrawled on them in a rainbow of brightly colored, ragged scribbles.

Rainbow chuckled to herself. Was that Applejack and Flintlock passed out together in the corner, drooling into each other’s coats?

Looking back up to the table, she saw a silvery little card had been hidden under the photo. She picked it up, squinting down at the little text.

Sunset’s Isekai.

A picture of a stylized sun was emblazoned above the text in a darker silver, but Rainbow found it easy to imagine the reds and yellows she knew belonged there. She turned the card over, smirking at the neatly written script on the back.

See you soon.

Somehow Rainbow knew that no matter where she was, when she really needed it, she always had a drink and a friend just one door away.

With a relaxed sigh the likes of which Rainbow hadn’t let out in weeks, she settled back into her bunk and let the droning of the engines lull her to sleep.

End Chapter

Author's Note

Written with Goldenwing and taking place in the world of Sunken Horizons, which is a sequel to Empty Horizons. Make sure to check them out!

Side by Side (Hajime no Ippo — Ongoing Manga)

Sunset's Isekai
Side by Side (Hajime no Ippo — Ongoing Manga)
By Wanderer D

(Note: Not quite up to date, but still past the anime.)

Tokyo, Earth 1947

'Damn, this stings.' Genji Kamogawa muttered to himself as he drifted around the streets of the Nerima ward well past what BCOF would be comfortable with. He had, in fact, walked past two officers who regarded him with distrust until one of them had, wide-eyed, recognized him.

Apparently Anderson hadn't been much loved by just about anyone else, Japanese or otherwise, and Genji's—admittedly desperate—win against the American boxer had spread pretty quickly. The soldier had insisted on shaking his hand and buying him a beer. Not too comfortable with the idea of spending time with their invaders, Genji had shaken his hand, but declined the beer, citing his health.

And now his hand stung again. "I should have taken him up on that offer…" he muttered. He slowed down and glanced at his hands, gently folding them into fists. The mere motion set his nerves on fire, sending a jarring stab of pain through his whole system. They were not healed yet.

"A victory." He snorted. "At the cost of my career. My fists." He gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to smack his fist on the wall in frustration. 'I'll never box again.'

"Che." He spat. Closing his eyes and turning away from the wall he had been about to punch. He forced his shoulders to relax. "I really need a drink."

When he opened his eyes, he blinked. Had that been there the whole time? He was sure he would have noticed the stone archway and glinting symbol on it if it had when he walked in. But… "I must've been too distracted…" he muttered. Approaching the door carefully. It had a small blackboard on the side. "Sunset's Other World," he read aloud. "Huh. Strange name."

He looked down at his stinging hands, then, wincing slightly, slid one into his pocket to check for change. He looked up again. "I guess one drink couldn't hurt." He glanced at the sky and ran his hand through his thick, brown hair before shrugging. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

Tokyo, Earth 1998

"Hey, kid."

Ippo Makenouchi stopped in his tracks, the voice snapping him from his thoughts replacing them in an instant with respectful attention for his trainer, Mr. Kamogawa. "Yes, coach?"

"Let Takamura and the others go ahead, we need to talk."

Ippo blinked in confusion. "Um, yeah, sure."

"Hey, you sure you guys are staying behind?" Takamura called back over his shoulder. "If you miss the party I can't be blamed for it."

"Just get going, you big lug!" Coach Kamogawa snapped, making the champion grunt and shrug. "Whatever. I'll see you both at the gym tomorrow."

"Y-yeah!" Ippo said, quickly bowing. "I'll see you tomorrow, Takamura-san!"

He watched his friend and sometimes-mentor walk away and catch up with his friends before turning expectantly to the coach. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"You seemed very preoccupied earlier. What's on your mind?"

Ippo blinked. "Me? Oh! No, no, it's not important!"

"Makenouchi," the coach growled, "I know something is bothering you. Spit it out."

Ippo sighed. "It's just from discussions I've had with the others." He glanced back down the street towards the Korakuen Hall, which had all but faded in the distance. "About boxing, about what it takes to win the World Championship."

"You're not thinking of returning, are you?"

Ippo bit his lip, unwilling to acknowledge the coach's almost imperceptible hint of hope. "I don't know."

"Tch." The coach looked around, his face showing his irritation clearly and making Ippo feel much more guilty about the thoughts that had been crossing his mind as of late. "I wish you could just open up to some—"

The coach stopped and chuckled, pulling out his wallet and from within a… credit card? No. It was too small to be a credit card. A business card? "What's that, coach?"

"This?" Holding it between his fingers, Coach Kamogawa waved it gently in front of Ippo's face. "An old story."

"Oh?" Ippo leaned in, thoughts about how to dodge questions about stepping back on the ring firmly out of his mind. "What type of story? Is it a boxing story?"

"Heh." The coach started walking, and Ippo followed. "Yes. And no… it's more of a ghost story."

Ippo's eyes went wide, and he felt a chill go down his spine as they turned into one of the many alleys down the street. It was one they took often when they were headed back to the gym from the plaza. "G-ghost?"

Coach Kamogawa nodded, his bald head reflecting the few sources of light around them. "Yes. You see, after my fight with Anderson, I had little hope or even an idea of doing something… anything with my life. Nekota was… well, he had just left for the mountains, and I was on my own, trying to figure out what to do now that I couldn't pursue my dream of boxing… that's when I saw it."

"Th-the ghost?!" Ippo asked, eyes wide as he glanced around.

"The bar." Coach Kamogawa stopped and turned to face Ippo. "A bar I had never seen before. A bar that was where there was no bar before. I… thought I had been too depressed to notice it at first, so I figured I could use a drink and stepped in."

"And?" Ippo asked, expecting the coach to bring up some sort of crazy, scary image. Perhaps the bar was destroyed inside, with dead bodies rising to eat his soul and he had to fight his way out with broken fists.

The Coach snorted. "Got a drink, what else?"

Ippo almost fell down. "W-well, yes, but that sounds very mysterious."

"It was." The coach looked down at the card. "I talked to someone there. She… helped me sort out my ideas, figure out that even if my fists were broken, it was not the end for my dream of taking Japanese prize-fighting into its natural evolution and bringing us into the international boxing scene. If it hadn't been for that bar, in the right place, at the right time…" He trailed off, bouncing his staff on the floor a couple of times, humming as he was lost in thought. "... Kamogawa Gym might not exist."

"Oh!" Ippo nodded in understanding. "So, what happened to the bar? Where is it? Is that where you were thinking of going?"

"Heh." The Coach turned and gave Ippo the silver card. "When I came back a week later, after filing the paperwork for the gym and wanting to celebrate… the bar was gone. There was no door. Only a wall, and when I asked, all people would tell me is that there had never been anything there at all. In fact, the other side of the wall was nothing more than a garden."

Ippo looked down at the card.

"The only proof I had was that card," he said, "which was given to me by the owner. She said to come back when I needed a drink, but I guess I was too excited to try… and now I'm too old to believe in fairy tales." He reached over and patted Ippo's shoulder. "You need to think. That never worked for me… I never needed a drink that bad again, so I never tried. But maybe you can… maybe it can come to you, as it did to me."

Ippo looked at the card. "Sunset's Other World? Is this an American bar?"

"I thought the same thing when I saw the first part in English and the rest in Romanji, but… no, it's not exactly an American bar. Or anything from this world, I suppose." The coach shrugged. "Maybe it was an elaborate prank, or maybe I did step into another world. Maybe I was in the wrong street and wasn't paying attention." He poked Ippo on the chest with the tip of his walking staff. "Either way it helped me figure out what to do. Maybe you'll get lucky and learn a thing or two." He yawned. "Anyway, you should either try to find the bar or head home. I'm too tired to hope for a drink, and too old to argue about your future, so I'll leave you to it."

Ippo bowed as Coach Kamogawa waved and walked alone towards his house. He stood there for some time, holding the card in both hands. The last few weeks hit him then and there, and he felt heavy, as if the whole weight of his decisions was suddenly on his shoulders again.

For once he wished ghosts were real. He turned to face the nearest wall, then pressed the card to his forehead, eyes tightly shut. If there was a place where he could really relax and clear his mind, he would go there in an instant. No questions asked. The coach was right… he had too many thoughts in his mind, too many questions and insecurities.

'There's no way that would happen,' he thought ruefully and chuckled. Maybe this was one of the coach's weird, roundabout lessons. Maybe it was his way of saying not to get hung up on dreams. Yeah, he should go home.

He opened his eyes.

The door was right there.

"Relax, Sunset," Lena said, looking over her shoulders at the sunkissed stairs of a large library a small distance away from the bar. Several creatures of different shapes passed behind them, ignoring the bar for the moment. "It'll be fun. I'm just going to use the library. Nothing will happen to me there. Besides, you need the bar right now, right? Chill. I'll be fine."

Sunset crossed her arms, looking at her younger charge. "You know saying that is basically challenging the multiverse to prove you wrong."

Lena shrugged, making her groan. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Sunset sighed. "Well, I taught you enough to kick ass. Just… be careful, alright?"

"Sure thing!" Lena punched her on the shoulder before skipping out into the bright, sunkissed morning outside the bar.

And she was gone. Sunset sighed. "Being a teacher is tough," she muttered. Usually she'd be more worried, but they'd visited the Boiling Isle's Library enough times together to know it was relatively safe, and as stated previously, she hadn't been a slouch in training Lena, who was a magical powerhouse as it was.

She walked into her bar proper, letting her fingers trail on top of each table as she walked down, studying the pictures and decorations with a gentle smile on her face. Each of these people—these friends—had come into her bar with heavy hearts and sometimes inescapable problems, and it had been her honor and pleasure to be able to provide what little help she could; what little respite she could give from the world out there when heavy hearts needed to borrow hers for just a bit.

She had barely walked around the bar to stand behind it when the bell chimed, and a gentle male voice drifted in. "H-hello?"

Sunset leaned over the bar, smiling at the young man standing there at the entrance. He couldn't be much older than twenty. She waved her hand. "Come on in!"

The young man blinked at her in surprise, then slowly made his way into the bar, staring in awe at everything around him.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai," she said as she pulled out a drinks menu and set it on the bar for him. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, and this is my little bar in the multiverse."

That seemed to snap the young man out of his stupor, and he stared at Sunset with a pale face. "It was true! What the coach said!"

Sunset blinked. "I'm not sure I follow."

"My coach, Mr. Kamogawa," the young man said, "he gave me this card and said that this ghost bar—"

"Interdimensional bar," Sunset interrupted.

"Right, he said it would appear! And it did!"

"Let me see that card…" Sunset said, and the young man carefully did as he took a seat at the bar. She studied it for a few moments. "This is the one I gave to Genji," she said slowly. "I wondered when he'd come back. Seems he decided to send you."

"Genji?" the young man asked. "That's… but you gave it to him?!"

Sunset nodded.

"You are a ghost!"

Sunset rubbed her temples. "Not a ghost. Seriously. So how is he doing?" she asked. "Last I heard he was going to start a gym, and since you called him 'coach'..."

"Oh. Oh yeah," the young man said, "he's doing well! He told me he got the paperwork done within a week of meeting you, and he's been training boxers ever since."

Sunset smiled, leaning on the counter. "That's good to know. He was so depressed, you know, when he came over?"

"R-right." The young man blushed. "Um. I-I don't know what to order." He glanced around the place, his eyes going wide at every new thing before turning to face her again. "Um. What d-did Coach Kamogawa order?"

Sunset leaned back, tapping her chin in thought. "I… think, yeah, I'm pretty sure it was a Sidecar."

"I'll have one of those then!"

Sunset raised an eyebrow, but nodded, turning around to reach for the brandy. "So, what's your name?"

Realizing how rude he had been, Ippo immediately stood up. So sudden was his action, that the woman behind the bar seemed almost amused, but he pushed that aside as he bowed. "Makenouchi, Ippo, ma'am. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," she said, grinning and motioning for him to sit down. It was very odd, speaking perfect Japanese with her, and yet noticing how different she was culturally-speaking. Her tone was respectful, but much more casual than the formal approach he was used to from people in Japan.

'But I'm not really in Japan, am I?' he thought to himself with a small, accompanying wince. The truth was that he was stuck between being terrified, awestruck, and comfortable. There was an aura to this place, something that just calmed his nerves. Something that seemed to whisper his worries away and made him feel… safe.

'She's really pretty.' Ippo shook his head and looked around, rather than let his eyes stray over the bartender's body. He had no intention of being rude, besides, he had a girlfriend, and it wouldn't do well to antagonize either of them by being disrespectful. Instead, he focused on studying the bar.

It was different. On the one hand, he could see why his coach would have liked it. It had a sense of an old style bar, like the type you'd go to to drink whiskey or even smoke a cigar, although it didn't smell like people smoked in here. However, there were many things that just clashed in an oddly charming way. The underlying design seemed more somber, but the wall with pictures and the posters and guitars, the pet spider in the back, within its little plastic home, the flowers on the corner, slowly growing there… it just made the place more cheerful. It was almost like the new things were mellowing down the old. Even if some of those things were incredibly strange to look at.

The sound of something clinking regained his attention, and he turned to see Miss Shimmer pouring a golden liquid into a martini glass for him. It definitely looked like something the Coach would order.

"So what brings you to the bar?"

He looked at Miss Shimmer, blinking. "I'm sorry?"

She smiled warmly, resting her elbows on the bar and motioned at the room around them with her hand. "People here come when they have problems they need to talk about. Sometimes I can help… sometimes I can't, but I do my best to at least let my guests leave with a lighter heart. When Genji came in here, he told me about how much he loved boxing, and how he had lost his chance for a career as a boxer. If he gave you the card, and the bar appeared, then you needed that drink, and more importantly an ear."

Ippo sighed, relaxing his shoulders and reaching up to gently pick up the glass, taking a sip of the bitter drink. It went down smoother than he expected. "I… I've retired from boxing."

She raised an eyebrow, her light green eyes prompting him to continue, so he took a deep breath. "I've been working on improving my fighting ever since I lost to Alfredo Gonzalez." He clenched his fists in frustration, the match had been vicious, and he had been so close! "I've been training since, but… I promised Kamui to retire if I lost again."

The bartender tilted her head. "Kamui?"

Ippo felt his face go red. "I-uh, y-yes, my girlfriend." The last he said with almost a whisper, and hid his sudden self-awareness with a deep drink of the cocktail, grimacing when the strong alcohol hit.

"Well, that's nice..." Miss Sunset said, making him smile gently at the thought of his beloved Kamui.

"...but why would she ask you to quit something you love?"

The question made him blink. "Wait, what?"

"I'm just curious," the bartender continued.

"W-well, she said I was going to get injured, and for a while we thought I was Punch Drun—" he stopped, eyes widening and covered his mouth, but it was clear from Miss Sunset's widening eyes that she had caught on immediately.

"But you don't think that anymore."

There it was. He looked down. "I-I don't know." He sipped his glass, looking up at her warily. "There's no medical way of knowing, and for a while I was showing symptoms... "

"I could tell you."

The world seemed to stop for a moment. It was like he had just lowered his guard and received a punch straight to the gut from Sendo. He felt chills running down his back, a tingling at the base of his neck. "Y-you can?"

"Sure, I'll need to figure out the right spell but…" she waved her finger and a book floated over to her. "It wouldn't take long."

"Wait."

She set down the book, and Ippo glanced at it nervously. He looked down at the table, not wanting to look at her in the eye. "What if-what if I'm Punch Drunk?"

"I don't know if I'd risk curing it," she said gently. "I'm not a healer, nor a doctor. Magic can do a lot of things, but only if you know what you're doing with it… and reasonably sure is not the same as absolutely certain, so I wouldn't cast it."

"And if I'm not…"

"At least you'd know." She made no movement. "Do you want to know?"

Ippo took a deep breath. "I-I don't know."

Miss Shimmer pushed the book aside, and Ippo looked up. "You're not going to tell me I have to?"

"Not at all," she said. "Not when you don't want me to. Talk to me, why don't you want to know?"

Ippo snorted softly. "I have good things in my life, you know? I made it really far. I became the JBC Featherweight Champion, and I got a cute girlfriend. I've been thinking of training the next batch of boxers. Isn't being the Japanese Champion enough?"

"For some, sure," Miss Shimmer agreed. "What about you?"

He looked down.

"Were you aiming higher?"

"I-I was aiming for the World Championship." He shook his head violently. "It's-not something I can do. I'm not Takamura-san. I'm not Sendo-San, or Gonzalez-san. I can't cross the line."

"And what line is that?"

"The line." He looked up at her, his thoughts back on Takamura drawing the line on the dirt and giving him a challenging look. "The line between human and monster. If I can't commit to it, I stand no chance."

"But do you want to fight?" the bartender pressed. "Why aren't you even thinking about it?"

"I made a promise—"

"At the cost of your happiness."

Ippo closed his mouth, frowning. He was content, working at the boat, wasn't he? He was happy with Kamui, cheering for Sendo and the others to go beyond. To go where he couldn't… 'but can't I?' The treacherous thought shook him almost as much as Miss Shimmer's offer from earlier. 'I made up my mind!'

'Did you?'

'Yes!'

'Then why are you having this argument with yourself?' his own voice challenged in his mind. 'Take the offer. Find out once and for all if you really have Punch Drunk Syndrome. Give up on the excuses!'

His thoughts were interrupted by the cool, delicate touch of Miss Shimmer's hand on his arm. He looked up at her in surprise.

"Relax," she said. "You have time to think, and make a decision. There's nothing wrong with retiring and training others, if that's what you want," she said, "just make sure you are happy with that, and it's not because of someone else forcing you to do it in some way. That is not healthy and will only end in resentment."

Ippo swallowed, nodding.

"Toxic relationships are not always overt," Miss Shimmer said gently. "This might not be it, but you need to communicate with Kamui and let her know how you feel."

Ippo gulped. Kamui could glare just as intensely as—if not more intensely than—her brother. And he was called the Grim Reaper for a reason. He knew she didn't like boxing, but would Kamui really stop him just to satisfy her own needs?

'Yes. She would.'

"I guess I should," he said softly.

"Hey, Ippo."

He looked up to meet Miss Shimmer's warm smile. "What pushed you to become the JBC Featherweight Champion in the first place?"

Ippo leaned back, slightly confused by the question. "I was being bullied, and Takamura-san saved me… then I grew to love boxing. I fought many strong fighters and I carried their will with me into every fight."

Miss Shimmer nodded. "And where are they now?"

Ippo blinked. "Still fighting."

"So where does that leave you?"

Ippo shook his head slowly, without answering.

"Look, maybe you'll be a great trainer, and I'm sure you can be one of the best out there. But if you're constantly battling yourself about it, you won't ever be happy, and Kamui won't either." Sunset shrugged. "Talk to her… if she loves you, she might not agree, but she will listen at least. And maybe talking it out properly with her will either get rid of your own doubts, or hers."

Ippo smiled a little at that. "Do you really think she'll support me if I chose to go back?"

"I don't know her," Miss Shimmer said, squeezing his arm gently, "but I know that really loving or caring for someone and letting them do what they love comes hand in hand… but when you care, you support them, and you stand by them. I'm sure that if she cares, she'll find a way to support you, whatever your choice is in the end." She took a deep breath. "Just make sure you communicate, and that she understands what you want, and you really understand what she wants too."

Ippo nodded eagerly, standing up. "I will, Miss Shimmer! I'll go talk to her right now!"

She gave him a quizzical look. "Isn't it around midnight back home? You might want to wait until tomorrow. And Sunset's fine, really."

"Oh." Ippo rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling self-consciously and sat down again. "That's right." He couldn't help however, feeling a little bit better. He smiled a bit more calmly. "T-thank you. Kamui-chan's attitude has been eating slowly at me, and I want to please her as best as I can, but I keep wondering if I should bring it up. Takamura-san and the others—" he grimaced. "Well. They have not been helpful. I feel like Takamura is just disappointed, and Aoi and Kimura well… they're not much better."

The thoughts about his friends made him feel odd. Happy, and yet disappointed in himself. "They've been supportive. Even my opponents, but I keep feeling like I'm failing all of them. Particularly the Coach and Takamura." He shook his head. "I think Takamura is the most disappointed one of all."

There was still a little bit of the drink he had ordered. It was an odd one, considering that's what Coach Kamogawa had ordered. It had that bitterness from the brandy she had used, and an odd, familiar fruitiness from the other one, a hint of orange? The sugared rim was definitely a surprise that balanced it incredibly.

If he was honest with himself, it was unlikely he'd be going to bars that served it anytime soon, but if he ever came back to a bar that did… well, he might ask for one then.

"Takamura is the one that found me," he explained to his host, who had remained quiet while he contemplated the drink. "Saved me from some bullies. He's the one that saw promise in me first. He's the one that challenged me to cross the line."

He finished what little was left of his sidecar.

"So, will you?" his host asked.

Ippo chuckled. "I'm still not sure Mis—um, Sunset-san," he corrected awkwardly. "I'm not sure," he repeated, looking up at her, "but I will talk to Kamui-chan. Maybe I'll go back, and maybe not, but I won't quit. I'll become a coach too and learn."

Sunset nodded. "Don't let the chance slip from between your fingers, Ippo."

"I won't!"

Coach Kamogawa opened the door to his house, blinking when he saw the interior of Sunset's Isekai. Huffing in amusement, he stepped in, carefully closing the door behind him. He stepped into the busy bar, nodding at familiar faces before taking his favorite seat.

"Huh, I didn't expect to see you back so soon, you old roach."

He glanced to the table behind him, where Danpei Tenge was having a wrestling match with Wrex. Well. Calling Wrex watching Danpei struggle to move his arm an inch a 'match' was a very generous thing, but he was willing to give a little respect to his fellow trainer.

"You know how it goes, Tenge-san," he responded with a shrug.

He turned when he heard the glass being placed in front of him. "Thanks, Lena."

The duck girl gave him a nod and went back to sitting with a couple of human girls while Sunset rang out a couple of customers then walked over to him. "Nice kid you've been training," she said as way of greeting.

"He's a special one, yes," he agreed. "Did you manage to talk some sense into him?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "He's a lot like you. Stubborn."

"Don't I know it."

"But I think I got through to him a little," she continued, making him look up hopefully. Had she been able to… no she was shaking her head at him, but smiling nevertheless. "I can't guarantee he'll jump in the ring again, but his passion for boxing hasn't died. And it won't. It's a matter of him getting over his hang-up at expressing what he really wants. Encourage him to learn and you might see him fight again."

He snorted, taking a sip of his Sidecar. It was still the best damn Sidecar he had drank. "Well, I've been thinking about letting him train someone if he can bring more students in."

"Good." Sunset smiled and nodded with her head at the wall. Genji turned around and blinked. He couldn't help the smile. "Trust in him. He is a lot like you."

She had put the picture of Ippo and herself right next to the one of Genji himself, much younger, and her. "Yeah. I think I will."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Crossover with the amazing Manga/Anime Hajime no Ippo. (Also called "The Fighting" in the US). Before any of you mention it, I never could get into watching the American Dub for this specific anime for more than a few seconds, so I never did. I read the Manga, and I watched the Anime in Japanese, so I'm basing their speech off of that.

Also, if you like my writing, PLEASE look at this. Every little bit of help counts!

Lights - a Lena Side Story (The Owl House — Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
Lights - a Lena Side Story (The Owl House — Ongoing)
By Wanderer D

Luz watched with some curiosity as the door materialized on the wall.

This was not unusual. In fact, she had seen Eda's own portable door more than once. Or well, a couple of times only, really, when she had stepped through it and when it had been stored. However this one was slightly different.

For one, even though the door was clearly opening on private property, the owner—a short, very round eye with a mouth that was oddly part of the eye itself—completely ignored it. It wasn't that he didn't care… he didn't see it!

"King." She elbowed the small, dog-like demon. "King. Can you see that?"

"What? What?!" King pushed away and turned to face in the direction Luz was pointing, his yellow eyes narrowing visibly within his skull-mask. "It's a door, Luz. We've seen those before. We have one at home!" He rolled his eyes. "In fact, we have a whole bunch of doors at home!"

"Yes, but since when is it okay to open a door in private property like that?"

King shrugged. "Who knows? Who cares anyway?" He pulled out a small brochure. "I'm more concerned with my grooming appointment!" He showed it to Luz. "See? Fit for a king! And guess what? I AM A KING!"

"There's just something about it that…" she stopped as the door opened, and she could see inside. There was… another human! And she was talking with… an anthropomorphic duck?

She picked up King, who didn't say anything as he kept browsing through the brochure and approached the door trying to walk a little to the side so it wouldn't be obvious she was listening in.

"Look, I just want to make sure you'll stick to schedule," the human redhead with highlights was saying to the duck, who Luz could now tell was female, apparent given her human-like appearance despite the slightly-too big green and black striped sweater she was wearing. "I know I've taught you enough spells but I can't help but worry."

"Oh, come on," the duck said, her voice sounding warm despite her amusement. It was a young voice, sounding maybe just a bit older than Luz herself. She held her breath as the duck girl continued. "You know I can take care of myself. Relax, Sunset, it'll be fun. I'm just going to use the library. Nothing will happen to me there. Besides, you need the bar right now, right? Chill. I'll be fine."

Luz casually leaned against the wall next to the door, able to hear the woman 'Sunset' speak much clearly. She also sounded young. "You know saying that is basically challenging the multiverse to prove you wrong."

That didn't seem to deter the duck girl, who simply stated: "I'll see you later, okay?"

She heard Sunset sigh. "Well, I taught you enough to kick ass. Just… be careful, alright?"

"Sure thing!" the duck girl ran out of the door and it closed behind her, fading into nothing. She stretched and looked around a big smile on her face until she spotted Luz, who waved. "Um… were you listening to us?"

"Sorry!" Luz said, putting down King, who grunted in annoyance. "I just… um, well it s-sort of looked like your teacher was a human? There's not that many here."

The duck girl crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that there were any humans at all here," she said, "But yes, Sunset is human at the moment. Or most of the time, anyway." She smiled, and Luz was again reminded of how weird it was that creatures with beaks could do that everywhere else but Earth. "My name is Lena."

"Luz."

"Gah! Luz! Why are we still here?" King asked, smacking the brochure with the back of his paw. "We should be over at Continental Royal Grooming Services!"

Luz sighed, and Lena must have sensed her disappointment, because she shrugged. "Hey, I don't really have any plans, why don't I go with you to your cubone's grooming session?"

"Did you just call King a pokemon?" Luz asked, her grin widening. "Oh my gosh, he really does look like a mutated cubone!"

"I don't know what a Pokemon is, but if they look remotely like me then they are very lucky," King declared, scampering up to Luz's shoulder so he could ride on them. "Now. Onward, fair carriage!" he shouted, pointing in the direction of the grooming place.

Luz shared a laugh with Lena and the trio set out to walk through the town. "So," Luz ventured after a few minutes of silence. "How did she get that door? Where does it go?"

Lena shrugged. "I'm not sure exactly how she got the place, but that's a door to her interdimensional bar, 'Sunset's Isekai'," she explained, watching the various shops with mild interest. "We came here a while ago and I thought it looked like a fun place to revisit, so when Sunset said she had something planned for later, I asked her to drop me off here for a while."

"Oh." Luz stopped at the entrance to Continental Royal Grooming Services and opened the door, allowing King to jump down from her shoulders and hurry inside. "So you're like an apprentice bartender?"

Lena laughed. "Nah. She's helping me with magic. I thought I knew plenty… being what—who I am, but it turns out there's always more to learn." She walked past Luz, who had stopped to gape at her at the door to the groomer.

"Wait, magic?" Luz asked. "How does she do magic?"

Lena blinked. "Um. You know…" She wiggled her fingers and a lamp turned into a chicken for a few seconds before returning to normal. "Magic? Well you know… um… everyone's different."

"But isn't she human?"

"Eeeh…" Lena sort of winced. "Currently? She's been a lot of things. Really depends on the occasion."

'So… not really human. Great.' Luz shook her head, bringing herself back to reality when the shop owner, a big, single eye that floated behind the desk blinked expectantly. "Oh, sorry!" She hurried inside to where King was waiting, tapping his foot on the floor and looking at her with an unamused expression. "Um, King here would like one of your Royal Treatments," she said to the eye.

"Yes!" King declared, jumping up to stand on the counter. "I am royalty, after all! The King of Demons must not have subpar treatment!"

"Right," Luz said, pulling out a small pouch with gold inside. "Here's the payment."

The eye studied the gold, then tilted up and down in an approximation of a nod. Two disembodied hands emerged from the back of the building, one picking the money, the other one picking up King.

"I shall return! More beautiful and powerful than ever!"

"See you in a bit, King!" Luz called back waving as King was carried into the back. One of the hands returned briefly to point at a crooked clock, then raised two fingers.

"Two hours." She gave the eye a thumbs up. "Got it!"

She followed Lena out of the groomer and stretched. It was a brand new day and she was still the only human that could do magic.

"So what's got you down?" Lena asked.

"Eh." Luz started walking down the road towards the market, with Lena following behind. "I just wished there were other humans who could cast spells. Maybe they could give me some hints on how to do it. When I came here and decided to stay, I thought it'd be easier, you know?" She traced a circle in the air, much like Eda would, but it left no magical trail of light behind. "The human world has so many stories of people learning magic and here… witches here have extra organs that help them do that. Up until I figured out how to cast the light spell they thought it was impossible for humans to even use magic at all, much less be able to learn."

"Is that the only way to do it?" Lena asked. "Even back home there's more than one magical system. My um… mother, I guess… was a master of several of them."

Luz shook her head. "If there is, no one here knows about it. Eda said there was a different way of doing magic centuries ago, but it's a lost art. None of them remember the 'old' way of casting from several centuries ago, so I'm having to rediscover it on my own."

"Huh." Lena said. "I guess it really depends on where you are. Have you discovered anything yet?"

Luz smiled, feeling a sense of pride at her chance to show off. "Oh yeah! Check it out!"

She could feel Lena watching intently as she drew the circle and rune on her note book, then tapped it with her finger. The sense of satisfaction at seeing the page crumble and become a pure, white orb of light would never fade. 'I did this. I figured it out myself,' she thought as Lena grinned in that way ducks do, and admired the gently floating sphere.

"That's really cool!"

"Right?" Luz said, "but witches here can just draw it in the air, and cast different spells that way. Me? I have to somehow figure out how to see the runes they don't and just… do it."

Lena patted the girl's shoulder. "Hey. If it's true that none of them remember how to cast magic like this, this is not only cool, but huge!"

"Yep! I even was allowed to attend Witch School here!" Luz said excitedly, pointing towards the building, far into the city. "My two best friends are there studying magic."

"Don't you miss home?" Lena asked after a moment of contemplation.

"What do you mean?" Luz asked.

"Doing this? Living here?" Lena motioned with her hand. "You sound and dress like a typical Type I civilization human," she explained. "You know, like me back home, airplanes, racecars, lasers… cell phones, internet?"

"Oooh, that makes sense, yeah, that's pretty much me back home!" Luz said pointing at herself with her thumb. "But what does that have anything to do with it?"

"Well, I mean, this is pretty much medieval, right? Creatures that don't exist back in your world, etc. A lot of misplaced individuals kind of feel panic about this kind of thing."

'Am I supposed to feel out of my depth here?' Luz asked herself, humming. She shook her head. "Come on, let me show you something."

They had reached the end of the street, so she motioned for Lena to follow her towards the forest. "I guess a lot of kids back in the human world would be freaked out," she said. "I mean, most of my school was just happy to be… normal. If I played pranks and got too excited about something, they really had issues with me, you know?"

Lena chuckled. "You remind me a lot of Webby."

"Webby?" Luz repeated, arching her eyebrow.

"Yup, a bit younger than both of us, and about as tall as King, but she has a lot of energy, and sees things in a very peculiar way."

"Heh. Sounds like fun."

They walked in silence through the forest until they reached the cliffs near Eda's house. Waving at Lena, she guided her over to her favorite spot, where she could sort of see the sight that Eda had shown her not too long ago. The huge bones of whatever titanic, ancient creature had collapsed and created the place where the Boiling Isles would become what it was today. She sat on the edge of the cliff, and Lena followed suit.

They sat there, admiring the isles in all their splendor, with weird creatures and birds of all shapes and sizes soaring in the sky, while buildings of unusual proportions and designs jutted out the town like challenges to sanity.

"How can you not love this place?" Luz asked, grinning. She placed her hands on the floor and leaned back swaying her legs back and forth. "Back home… I was just… weird, you know? It's not that people were not nice to me, but they just didn't get me. I love reading fantasy, I love magic and adventure, and I was just… in school. Doing normal, everyday stuff because people wanted me to be just like everyone else. I couldn't do anything that was unique about me without getting weird looks or just scaring people. I didn't fit. They wanted me to just get good grades and smile and never do anything that calls you inside unless it's 'normal'."

She sighed. "And there's nothing wrong with that if you're… if that's what you want. But what if it isn't?" She glanced at Lena, who was focused on her, paying attention. "What if I want to do magic? What if I want to be magic? What if I want adventures that involve dragons and quests and magical items? What if I want to fly on my own palisman? What if I don't want to just fit in a box?"

She glanced back at the isles. "I know it's very different… but this is where I belong. You know?"

Lena chuckled. "Yeah. I get it. I was a loner for most of my life until I met my best friend, Webby. She… changed my view on a lot of things, and thanks to her, I became… well, me. If I hadn't stepped out of my own preconceptions, I would have never gone on as many adventures as I did, I'd never really become part of either of my families. I would have never known the fun side of being different."

"It's just… hard to show others the good side of what you do when people think you're inexcusably strange," Luz said, nodding. "But sometimes you meet someone that can get that, and that's where home really is, isn't it?"

Lena sat back and looked up, a pensive expression on her face. "Yeah, I think you're right. People always judge different as if it was a bad thing, without even looking at what different does, and then making up their mind. I guess that's what I like about Webby and Sunset. They saw how different I was, but they also saw who I was."

"And that is why I'm here," Luz said. "Eda, King, Willow and Gus… even Amity… they are very different from the people back home. They all think I'm strange or naive, but rather than use that to push me away, they look past that and well… friends."

Lena chuckled. "Well, you can count me as a new one if you want to," she said, surprising Luz. "My teacher, Sunset, says that friendship is one of the most important things in the multiverse… and given what I've seen her do for it, I can't argue the point."

"Oh, I'd love to!" Luz said excitedly, jumping to her feet. "I need to introduce you to Eda and my other friends!"

Lena tapped her beak in thought, making Luz blink. When she noticed her reaction she looked down at her finger. "Huh. It seems I picked a habit. Anyway," she shook her head. "I have an idea. You've shown me a bit of your world, why don't you let me show you and your friends a bit of mine?"

"Hey kids," Eda greeted as she walked up to where Gus, Willow and a slightly-offended looking Amity were gathered. "What brings y'all here?"

"Um, Luz sent us a message to meet right at this spot."

Eda looked from the students to the wall of her house, back to the students. "On the side of my house?"

"weee! There's nothing mooooooreee fuun than hanging around meee!" Hooty hollered, his extremely long neck whipping around to face them all, making the group wince.

"Yeah, no," Eda said. "No one wants that, Hooty. Go back to your place."

"Aww."

Once the door guard was gone, she shook her head. "She also sent me a message about going to a bar." She smirked. "I've got to hand it to her, I never thought she'd be so advanced in her rebellious lessons."

"A bar?!" Amity asked, incredulous. "She told me we were getting together for a milkshake!"

"Wait, you and Luz have milkshakes together?"

Before Gus could get his answer, they heard Luz's voice as she called out to them. They turned to see her, a strange, humanoid duck and…

"King?" Eda asked, looking at the flowing fur, shining like silk and the well-polished skull mask with just the right amount of makeup with added, delicate eyebrows. "What happened to you?"

"I have discovered the value of grooming!" King hollered. "And it only cost all of my personal savings!"

Eda's surprise faded. "Right. You mean the money I gave you for food for the week."

"PERSONAL SAVINGS!"

"Oh hey, you're all here!" Luz said. "Great! Let me introduce you guys, this is Lena de Spell."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Eda interrupted. "De Spell, as in Magica de Spell?"

Luz blinked. "Why?"

"Kids get behind me," Eda ordered. "Luz. Step away from that witch. Slowly. Now, I don't know what you planned to do by getting us here but I will NOT let you do anything to my precious student or anyone else, for that matter."

"Um, what's going on?" Luz asked, raising her hands placatingly, but still moving a bit away from Lena.

Lena sighed. "I'm not Magica, that's my…biological mother I guess you could call her. She's been dealt with, has no magical powers left and is currently probably trying to figure out a way to capture me." She smirked. "But she can't."

"Riight," Eda said. "And how can you prove you aren't her?"

"Well," Lena drawled, pulling out a silver key out of her pocket.

Eda narrowed her eyes, studying it carefully until her eyes settled on the engraving at bottom of it. "Is that…"

Lena grinned. "Look behind you."

Despite the possibility that this duck was indeed the infamous Magica de Spell, Eda couldn't help turning around, her eyes widening when she saw the stone arc and door on the side of her house. "I can't believe it," she muttered, lowering her palisman.

Lena walked past them and opened the door, allowing them to see into what looked like some sort of bar, but there were creatures there they had never seen before. The kids gasped. "Are those more humans?" Gus asked, eyes wide.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, where we also serve milkshakes," Lena said, motioning with her hand to the door. "I asked Sunset if we could have a meet and greet party for my new friends. And she said yes!"

Eda shook her head in disbelief. "I never thought I'd…"

She felt a hand on her arm, and she looked at Luz, who was smiling at her encouragingly. "Do you trust her now?"

"Kid this is…" Eda shook her head. This was a legend. This was something that didn't appear in the blighted Boiling Isles. This was something that someone like her had been told countless times would never get to see by her sister and teachers. The type of place that would never open up to those that broke the rules and were not complacent to follow the norm. "Yeah." She chuckled. "I guess I do."

"Well then, come on in," Lena said, heading inside. "Luz told me a lot about you, so I think you'll like my teacher."

Having heard her reassurance, the kids—even Amity—followed her in, all except for Luz and King who jumped onto Eda's arms. "So… what is this place?"

"You ever heard of places like Avalon, or Shangri-la?" Eda asked.

"Nope."

"Well then don't worry your little head over it, come on, let's go have a drink."

"Heh." King jumped down and strolled into the bar. "I hope they have something fit for a king!"

"Hey kid," Eda said softly. "Did you really tell her all about me?"

Luz shrugged. "I didn't tell her about the curse, but I told her a lot, yeah. Why?"

"And there was no… problem with this?"

"Nothing as far as I know."

"I see."

She approached the door slowly, extending her hand as if she expected it to bounce out of some sort of forcefield. When it didn't she smiled. "Well. Hell. Thanks kid."

"Aww, I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done for me."

Eda simply smiled. They both knew it was true. Even if she'd deny it in front of everyone.

But for now, it was time for a drink.

End Chapter

Author's Note

I didn't want to publish this on April Fools. :twilightsheepish: So Thursday it is.
Couple of things, if you don't know, you can buy a cleaned up copy of The Empty Room now! Take a look!
Also, Eda and Luz will probably return.
Peace!

unending sun[S]et (NieR: Automata — Endings A & B)

Sunset's Isekai
unending sun[ S ]et (NieR: Automata — Endings A & B)
By Wanderer D

"Go rest for now, 2B. You will join the drop teams in the upcoming battle."

"Yes, ma'am."

2B sighed as she walked. "I said that, but…" She shook her head, the memories of the last battle against Eve still fresh in her mind. The pain. The fear. The anguish. 9S' throat in her hands. Again.

"Please 2B…"

Again.

Squeezing.

Again.

Again. Every time.

She gasped and stopped, resting her hand against the letter and number next to her room's door. Her hand curled up into a fist of impotent rage as her mind kept reminding her he was fine. He was okay. He had a new body. His memory had been kept alive by—by chance, just mere hapstenance.

But she had killed him as he asked. Again.

This time he had gotten his memories back. But… what about next time? There was always a next time. And there was always a reset. And always—

She shook her head. "No. No next time. Not again. Not ever," she muttered under her breath. She glanced around warily, making sure her sudden loss of composure hadn't been noticed, but it seemed all androids were currently occupied, and she silently thanked her luck for that respite.

The battle had been stressful enough—beyond the physical damage, the mental and spiritual exhaustion she felt were beyond anything she ever thought she would ever experience.

There were too many questions pettering at her soul like an avalanche of doubt, ready to bury her and suffocate her and crush her until there was no will to live left… and even if there was for her, what about 9S?

There was a… change about him. Something worse than before… he was always willing—almost eager—to sacrifice himself. At first when they had blown up their black boxes she had thought it was the sacrifice of a soldier, but now… she wondered.

She glanced out of the window on the hallway, down at Earth, floating there like a beacon of life and hope, yet lost to soulless machines that—but were they soulless? Were Adam and Eve truly just emulating feelings? Wasn't Eve's pain real? Wasn't Adam's despair true? What about Pascal and his village?

Even though there was no window behind her, she could somehow feel the presence of the moon like a shroud enveloping the whole station. They were the last bastion of defense between Humanity—or what was left of it—and the machines.

It wasn't even the aliens they were fighting anymore; just remnants of their technology that had outlived the invaders and now just… imitated life for some unknown reason. Many of them had no purpose, or objective. They simply existed in an eternal war with humanity and the androids. Hadn't she witnessed many of them reach the point of self-delusion where their only recourse was to achieve 'godhood' by destroying themselves?

"Are we so different after all?"

The thought shook 2B back into reality. No. They were not the same. Robots had no emotions. No feelings, or soul. They were not Androids. They were not humans. They weren't even aliens. No memories, just emulation.

This was not the time for self-doubt, however. Soon things would start again. The commander was right: they couldn't let this chance go and lose the opportunity to take down the machine forces now that they were in disarray over the network damage caused by the destruction of Eve.

She needed to rest. 9S would depend on her when she was back on Earth, after all. And this time… this time things might change. She suppressed a sigh and opened her door the whishing sound of the servos providing a comforting reminder of normality, and an invitation to lay down and recuperate.

She stood there for a moment, looking quietly inside, then closed it gently. She stood doubtfully outside her room, running a quick system check to see if there had been any changes in her system. There were none.

Then she opened the door again, and the bar was still there.

Sunset found herself blinking at the woman that walked into her bar. She was dressed in a goth dress, her short white hair bobbing around her delicate, elfin face, held slightly back by a black hair band. Her eyes were obscured by some sort of cloth-like visor, dark enough to almost work like a sleeping mask.

She walked cautiously, as if not believing what she was seeing, which was entirely understandable, given the tendency of her bar to open up in random locations at inopportune moments that somehow ended up being exactly the moment her customers needed her the most.

"Welcome to 'Sunset's Isekai', I'm Sunset Shimmer, and this is my little interdimensional bar," she said, smiling reassuringly at the young woman. "Please, take a seat!" She motioned to the bar while she produced a small menu.

"2B." The woman hesitated. "Where am I? Is this some sort of hacking attempt?"

Sunset frowned. "Um, no. Why would anyone try to hack your brain?'

"Brain?" the woman asked, sounding amused.

Sunset shrugged, then studied her guest as she made her way to sit down at the bar. There was still a sense of wariness, but also an underlying feeling of relief. She watched as her guest started walking around, looking at the pictures and posters and guitars and decorations with something akin to wonder. "So what brings you to the Isekai?" she asked 2B.

The woman turned her face to her, then shook her head slightly. "I didn't seek out your bar. It appeared in my room."

"Yeah, it does that…" Sunset said, sighing. "Sorry about that. However I try to reach those that need to talk… and it seems you do."

2B stopped her pacing to consider her. "Are you an alien? An Android? What are you?"

"Human," Sunset said, looking down at herself to make sure she hadn't spontaneously changed species. It happened occasionally.

2B has stopped completely. Unnaturally so. It was then that Sunset realized that her guest was very similar to a human, but not one herself. All living beings moved a little, even when staying still, there was a sense of it. Almost like the bodies were just about to do so… but 2B had stood so still she could have been a mannequin.

"But that can't be." 2B walked towards the bar, stopping right across from Sunset and raising her hand towards her.

Sunset allowed her to touch her face.

"It's… not synthetic. Am I in the moon?"

Sunset frowned. "Um, no. As I said, this place is its own dimension."

"But you're human." 2B chuckled, leaning back. "I can't believe it."

"Not many humans where you're from?" Sunset asked.

2B shook her head, slowly sitting on one of the stools, stretching out her hand to take a menu from Sunset. She studied it in silence before something caught her eye. "Can I have a rose wine?"

"Of course."

As she worked, Sunset could feel 2B's eyes on her back.

"I wondered often," her guest spoke up as she uncorked the bottle of wine, "what it would be like to meet a human for the first time."

Sunset nodded, indicating that she was listening as she placed a delicate crystal glass in front of 2B, and poured the vintage into it.

"I wondered if I would be thanked for everything I have had to endure," 2B said. "I wondered… if I would understand why I had to endure all I have." She slid her hand forward, holding the base of the glass and sliding it back to herself gently. "I wondered, and I wondered about so many secrets, so many questions, so many hopes. And I knew I would never find out." She looked down at the glass. "I expected a demand for a report, or an order of some sort. I did not expect to be served a drink."

Sunset nodded. She could have quipped something, but 2B was clearly going somewhere and it felt wrong to interrupt her with some levity at that moment. There was pain in those words. And something else.

"I've asked myself if I would ever get a chance to kill God," 2B whispered. "And here you are, giving me a glass of wine. Because I asked." She didn't smash anything, or stand up violently. Simply glanced around the bar. "And I have to ask, because I don't know if my processors are infected or I have finally lost grasp of reality… and if I have—I will never be closer to the truth than right now… why?

"Why, if you were here all along, were we created? Why are we hiding behind lies? Why must I kill and kill? Why must it be me who—" She stopped, her fragile-looking hands scrunching into fists. "Why is it me who always takes his life?"

Sunset sighed, struggling to figure out what to say. 'What can I even say? I don't know who she's even talking about.' "I don't know why you were created, 2B," she said eventually. "I am not one of the humans that did so."

"But you are here!" 2B insisted, and Sunset could tell that it was taking her a monumental effort to not start shouting. Instead 2B forced her shoulders to relax and took a sip of the wine, contemplating it silently. "There are no humans left," she said aloud, and seemed to brace herself for something to happen. When it didn't, she slumped down a little. "No humans at least in my world.

"The world is a lie," she continued, a tone of bitterness creeping into her voice. "We are sent to fight and fight, to keep fighting the machines that were created to conquer a doomed world. The machines that never end. And even the machine's creators are gone. All that remains are the creations, aimless and purposeless save for our own will searching for a reason to exist."

"So you have been existing without a purpose?" Sunset asked, frowning. "How long—"

"Thousands of years," 2B said, her voice soft. "Since the war with the aliens, our only purpose has been to fight. YoHRa's purpose is to eradicate the machine life forms living on Earth. They are our enemies, who only exist to destroy. Our purpose is to stop them."

"You sound less than convinced," Sunset pointed out.

2B swayed her head up, glancing at her from behind her visor. "Lately the machines… changed. They imitate human culture as best as they can from what little they can put together of how human society worked. But they fail, and they are unable to change—until now.

"Until now, they repeated the failed governments they emulated. Monarchies, Democracies. Tribal living... ultimately failing, then doing so again when things would flow exactly the same way because they do not change.

"They speak of things they cannot possibly understand. Love. Attachment. Fear. They emulate what that feels like, without understanding." She bit her lip. "Most of them at least."

"Do they have no hope?" Sunset asked. "Don't you?"

2B chuckled. "Where do you go if there is nothing to guide you? How do you build moral standards? How do you build a government when there's no plan? What matters and what doesn't?" She glanced at her hands. "Hope. Down there, there is a village of robots who emulate families. They play together, and act scared if they get lost. Act worried if their 'child' runs away. But robots don't feel… so if they don't feel, what is it that they are experiencing? If there is no understanding, then why is Pascal able to empathize with me? With us?

"There is a resistance, still believing that humans live on the moon, waiting to return. There are members of YoHRa who are lied to in order to protect that secret. Killed by those they trust every time they find too much." The android looked almost as fragile as the glass she was holding. "There's 9S,who deserves happiness more than anyone I know."

She drank a bit more of her wine. "Where do you—even if you're not a human from our world… how did humans build something to hope for?"

Sunset leaned on the counter, pondering the question. "Through the multiverse, there are an uncountable number of races and creatures besides humans who have also created their own governments, systems of faith, paths to the truth… some believe in gods, others simply in power. Others believe that our purpose in life is what we make of it, however terrifying the prospect of not having a higher force watching over us."

She shook her head slightly. "There is no real, absolute answer. It is true that ultimately a system of belief will end up in conflict of some sort. There are worlds where belief in god has justified massacres across the globe, in the name of truth and faith. There are times where political beliefs have overridden the ability to empathize with others and conflict occurs. Yet there are times where these same forces that caused so much grief and pain act in the complete opposite way… like you… and maybe this Pascal of yours, humans are a complicated species.

"When you have both the power to love, and the power to hate within you; when you are taught or expected to act in a certain way; when choices are limited… each person's will is the ultimate factor that decides whether to act with good wishes towards others, or with ill intent."

"Then you don't have an answer."

"I don't," Sunset said, "not the type of answer you want, at least. But maybe the type of answer you need."

2B looked up, head tilted with confusion.

"Look around you," Sunset said. "This place exists. It's real."

The android said nothing, her attention solely on Sunset.

"Maybe all of the humans in your world are gone. Maybe there are no gods left, but when there are no gods, there is still freedom of choice. It's never easy to make a true choice at the cost of your preconceptions or expectations, but it is there." She raised one hand. "A person in an abusive relationship can believe that there is no way out because she feels she needs her abuser in some way. But she's also denying her ability to move on and grow and be happy by choosing to not give herself a chance. It might be painful and hard… but until she chooses to do something, nothing will change."

She raised her other hand. "A robot sees where all others have failed and chooses to build his own pacifist town. The choice to not fight was not easy, I guarantee you that. And it might be something that will fail… but until he chooses to do something about it, it will never happen."

2B sighed. "So what you're saying is that—"

"That you can choose your future?" Sunset asked. "Yes. I'm saying that you are not without options or the ability to think and feel and give yourself and others a chance and no god or creator can take this away from you now unless you let them." She softened her smile. "I don't know what you have gone through… I'm sorry. Humans have never been anything but a dichotomy of emotion and logic… and that goes for most other non-stagnant sentient species as well. But they all have something in common with you too… the search for purpose. And because you're searching for purpose, you have the chance to grasp it. What holds meaning to you is purpose."

"But without orders, without a system… how am I supposed to know whether things are good or bad?"

Sunset grimaced. "In the end, you will have to rely on your understanding of what is good and isn't. You mentioned a friend of yours… 9S."

2B sat straighter, but nodded.

"You said he deserved better. What does that entail?"

2B inclined her head. "It means… a chance to live and discover. A chance to keep his memories and find happiness."

"And what needs to change for that to happen?"

For a long moment, her guest remained silent and immobile. "I do."

"Then change." Sunset reached over and gave 2B's hand a squeeze. "If you need a sign that there's always something else, something new and different remember this place, where you met a human."

With a snort, 2B finished her glass of wine. "The one that had no answers."

"But damn good booze."

2B shook her head and stood up. She produced a small pile of coins that digitized into her hand and placed them on the counter. "Thank you for this."

Sunset nodded. "You're welcome, it was my pleasure." She hesitated. "So, what will you do?"

2B looked up and around before looking back at Sunset. "I believe I will tell 9S the truth. I'll tell him about this place, and that there are many things outside of what we understand… and that I will help him discover them."

Sunset grinned. "Before you go, do you mind if we take a picture?"

The door opened and she stepped into her room. Behind her, the bar's door closed and she was left alone, a silvery card in her hand the only proof that she had not imagined the whole thing.

The promise of the card carried a lot of weight with it, and as she held it, her heart felt heavy. The decisions she would have to make were not easy, and obtaining her ideal resolution seemed like and invitation to disaster and possibly a lifetime of persecution if they were not careful.

But however she needed to start the change, she would start now, by making herself a promise: As soon as she was able to have a moment of peace with 9S, she would tell him what she wished for him, and what she would do to help.

She could only hope he would understand, and that he would forgive her.

An email reached her at that moment. A reminder from the commander to rest and be ready. Apparently no time had passed between the moment she had gone to Sunset's Isekai and returned here.

She nodded and pulled out her heavy combat suit. She'd be ready for this fight.

Hopefully it would be the last.

End Chapter

Author's Note

NieR: Automata is a masterpiece of storytelling and video-gaming. It's one of those games that I took a long time to finally play, and did so mostly because Zef recommended it to me back when we were in Japan. I regret I didn't play earlier, but I'm glad I finally did.
If you are unfamiliar with the game, just know that it has multiple endings that build up on what happened in the previous ones, and further the overall story into an amazing narrative with a fantastic soundtrack.

I highly recommend it.

Finding Time (The Time We Have Left — Fic - Complete)

Author's Note

This chapter is a crossover with the truly depressing story: The Time We Have Left (T) by the one and only, Scampy!

***Content Warning***

As with Best Left Forgotten, The Time We Have Left is a fantastic story, but it deals with very real things and very real traumas that our guest today will talk about with Sunset. This was handled as carefully as possible, and kept within the T rating.

If these kinds of topics are something you want to avoid, Sunset's Isekai will continue next week with a brand new chapter and guest.

Warning tags: Suicide attempt

Thank you,
-WD

Finding Time (The Time We Have Left — Fic - Complete)

Sunset's Isekai
Finding Time (The Time We Have Left — Complete)
By Wanderer D & Scampy

Sunset frowned when she realized the door to Wallflower’s apartment was still unlocked, and again when she realized that it bothered her at all. Of course it was still unlocked. Who was going to come lock it besides her? She shut the door behind her, sighing. It was a good thing anyway—entering through the door was much easier than throwing a rock through the window and climbing through.

As she moved across the tiny room—stepping past a large stone and a pile of broken glass—Sunset saw a line of potted plants against the wall, all of them shrivelled and brown. Her hand gently brushed over the long-dead leaves, pulling away as they cracked apart at her touch. She frowned, and her vision flickered for the briefest of moments.

What kind of plants had these been? Flowering most likely, but if so, what kind? Wallflower must have decided to grow them for a reason.

Long, straight stems, shrivelled to the point of snapping at a touch. It was a challenge to grow orchids indoors, but somehow she’d made it work. The pots on either side were a tangle of thin vines and dried-out petals, curled into a fragile bell shape. Morning glories…?

A sharp breath, and Sunset recoiled. She didn’t know and she didn’t care. Maybe if she had cared enough to ask Wallflower about them earlier, she would still be around to give an answer.

The plants were dead. It didn’t matter.

One more thing she couldn’t save anymore.

She turned away, her regrets drawing her eyes to two articles of clothing that lay on the floor beside the door to the bathroom. Both had their sleeves tied into knots, and both were crusted with a dark red hue.

Sunset’s breath caught in her throat as she looked over the ruined remains of her jacket. No amount of washing would get these stains out—as if that mattered now, anyway. At least it had been lost to a good cause, even if it hadn’t been enough.

Good cause… Sunset shook her head. Yeah, sure. How could it be a good cause if it hadn’t even worked? It would be better to just leave her jacket with… With…

Wallflower’s sweater lay beside it, sleeves tied in a similar fashion. Was Sunset supposed to keep it? Throw it away? Leave it here too? She forced herself to look at it, shivering as she knelt down to pick it up.

As soon as Sunset touched the dried redness stained into the sleeves, her eyes sparked again, and her expression soured. Why did it matter what she did with this stupid thing? It was too late to save it. No one besides her would even care that it was ruined anyway. Sure, she could tell her friends about how long sleeves could never hide them from herself, how woolen sweaters and leather jackets didn’t make the best tourniquets, how it just kept coming more and more, always more no matter how tightly she tied it was never enough—

Sunset dropped the sweater to the floor. She couldn’t think about this right now. Or ever, for that matter. Wallflower would want her to forget anyway.

A trembling breath left her as she stepped over the pile of red-stained clothing. At last, she crossed into the bathroom, and with an inaudible sigh, Sunset lowered herself to the dusty floor. She leaned against the cabinet beneath the sink, numb to the pain of its handle pressing into her back. Unable to avert her gaze any longer, she turned to look at the bathtub she found Wallflower in just twenty hours earlier.

Sunset had never seen so much blood in all her life.

The sharp scarlet hue from yesterday had faded slightly to a dull maroon—or at least it seemed to have done so, anyway. The whole world held a little less color since she’d left the hospital, so maybe it was just that. All the same, the sight of Wallflower’s blood staining the cheap plastic tub tied Sunset’s heart in knots all over again.

She forced herself to inch closer, peering into the crimson abyss. The color had evenly spread through the water after so long. If Sunset didn’t know any better, she would have thought the whole bath was full of blood, without even a single drop of water.

At the bottom, glinting in the soft amber light of the incandescent above, a piece of metal rested beside the drain. For a moment, Sunset was motionless, staring at the tiny little blade that ended Wallflower’s life.

She took a deep breath, adrenaline seizing her heart, and plunged her hand into the bloodied bathtub.

The second her fingers made contact with the razor, the stone hanging from her neck flickered dimly. As Sunset’s arm retracted, dripping wet and barely tinted red, a dull calmness settled over her entire being—almost as if she could just close her eyes and drift away from everything.

She was still for a moment, a shiver working its way up her spine. When did her hand start shaking? The blade was so small, so cold, still wet, still dripping red rivulets, pulsing slowly, a horribly effective anesthetic to all the nothing, all the something, all the everything weighing her down, threatening to crush the air from her lungs—

“Hkkkt—!” A sharp breath, and Sunset tore her eyes away. She had to leave, and she had to leave now. She had to get up and walk out and away from all these memories and feelings that weren’t hers to share in.

If she didn’t remember them, though, no one ever would. It would be as if Wallflower never existed at all.

Again, Sunset’s gaze fell to the blade, still cradled in her hand. She would never—could never—do that… Why couldn’t she stop thinking about it? Why didn’t it seem like a big deal…?

She had to get away. It would be so easy to just drop the razor, so easy to walk out of the room, the apartment, all the way home and never look back. It would be so, so easy. So easy… So easy to…

No, she wouldn’t. She couldn't. She deserved better.

Sunset looked back to the bathtub. Wallflower deserved better too. Look what happened to her.

Still clutching the razor between her fingers, Sunset grabbed at the counter-top with her other hand, scrambling to raise herself off the floor. She couldn’t stay here, not tonight. Maybe another day, another night, another time when she could draw a line around her own feelings and everything else, but not now. She moved out of the bathroom, across the tiny room and pulled the front door open.

Sunset Shimmer looked up from the magazine she was reading when she heard her own voice shouting from the entrance.

"What the heck!?"

"Huh. One of me. It's been a while," she muttered. "Come on in!"

There was a pause, then careful footsteps approaching, and with them… dread, despair, hopelessness. Sunset winced. This version of herself was emanating very strong empathic energy… and not the good kind. It was stifling, and she was glad that everyone else was out. It was not the kind of thing she would want Lena or Danni exposed to. If it caught you unprepared… it could spell trouble.

Her other self had finally made it into the bar and was looking around in a mixture of awe and confusion that only grew when she saw herself.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai," Sunset said automatically, her defenses pushing away the emotional energy now that she was aware of it. "It's a multi-dimensional bar which explains why there's two of us. I'd explain more, but you're sending out some serious vibes, Sunset. Take a hold of your emotions: your geode is firing them all over the place."

The other Sunset was younger. Well, of course she was—she wasn't a few hundred years old—but still younger-looking than she was. This was probably a Sunset that was still in school, much too young to be sending that kind of psychic energy. Was it another Anon-a-miss situation? Those could get pretty intense. "Hey, come on, turn it off and take a seat. I'll whip you up a milkshake."

"Oh, um… yeah." The younger Sunset carefully made her way to sit down and took hold of her geode, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as the energy slowly receded away.

Sunset decided to keep her defenses up regardless. If anything this visit just showed that she needed to work on the spells a bit more to keep that kind of thing in check. Her younger self was lucky that she had come here when that happened than walking down the street, where any non-magical or ill-prepared person could be really affected by such strong emotional, magical bursts.

"So what flavor would you like?" she asked, smiling gently. "I was always partial to chocolate myself, but I have the oddest things now. I can even make it electric."

Her younger self blinked, still glancing around the room like she wasn’t sure it was real. “Uhm… Chocolate is fine.”

Sunset shrugged. "Alright, one chocolate milkshake coming up." She hesitated as she started pulling out the chocolate chips to melt into syrup. "Unless you want something else. It just seemed like a milkshake moment."

“I-I’m sorry,” the younger Sunset said, “but this is already confusing me. You’re me. How are you me? What do we even call each other?” She held her head in her hands, already seeming overwhelmed. “I must be going crazy…”

"I know this can be a bit confusing, trust me," Sunset said. She pulled out sugar and a little pan, scooping some in and pouring a bit of water before turning on the heat. "So, the long and short is that this is a bar that exists outside time and space. And just like the mirror, I can go into other worlds and universes. So I am a Sunset Shimmer from another universe, here to talk to you and help if I can."

“Going crazy, got it.”

"Right. So I won't show you the pictures." Sunset stirred the melting sugar and turned off the heat, adding pieces of chocolate. "Why don't you call me Isekai to make it easier? Also, this is not your imagination. I'm actually here, and I'm actually making syrup from scratch. Didn't Celestia ever teach you about the multiverse? Never watched a Marvel movie?"

“Nnngh… Look, Isekai,” Sunset groaned. “I really don’t have the energy to deal with my own sass, okay?” Her previously blank expression sank into a frown. “If you want to trade barbs, go hug a cactus or something.”

Isekai shrugged. "I'm not trying to get under your skin, but there's really no need for that kind of response. A lot of people who come in here are confused the first time, so I try to reference stuff they might be familiar with."

“Y-yeah, okay,” Sunset sighed. Her hands left the counter, falling to her sides. “I’m sorry, just… It’s been a really bad day.”

"And that is what this place is for," Sunset said, grabbing a tall glass and dribbling the chocolate syrup inside as she turned it, creating a spiral from the bottom to the top. When she was done, she put it inside the fridge and extracted the rest of the ingredients, preparing her blender. "I'm here to listen and talk. The bar will be empty for us, so there's no risk of anyone walking in. And well, you were projecting so much that I could tell you were in a bad spot. Do… you want to talk about it?"

“Projecting, huh?” Sunset said, plainly ignoring the question. Her hands fiddled with something beneath the bar—her geode, Isekai assumed. “That’s… new.”

"Yeah, our geodes are actually really versatile. If you're not careful, someone on the street might start picking up on your emotional state, or worse, a random memory or vision." Isekai had whipped the ice cream and milk by now, and poured it into the chilled glass, adding an additional scoop of chocolate ice cream, then following that with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and a straw.

She placed it in front of Sunset. "Here you go. One chocolate milkshake."

“O-oh.” Sunset’s eyes snapped up, and she frantically stuffed something in her pocket. As her focus settled on the drink in front of her, her eyes widened a little bit. “Wow, that looks really fancy,” she said. Delicately taking the glass in her hands, she brought the straw to her lips, and a moment later her eyes lit up. Rather than offer any spoken praise, Sunset practically inhaled the drink, as if she hadn’t had anything to eat in days.

"I'll uh, make another one. I don't usually have food, but I could order some curry for you if you want?"

“Mmmph…” Sunset finished slurping down half the milkshake. “No thank you,” she said. “I don’t want to impose any more than I already am.”

"Fair enough, but let me get you some cookies at least, I should have some around here. Those go well with milkshakes."

“No, thank you,” Sunset repeated. “I’m not hungry anyway.”

"Alright." Rather than make herself a cocktail—even if she was tempted given this Sunset's resistance—Isekai decided to make herself some tea. After some thought, she pulled out a metallic box from the Flying Puppy Bakery and stacked several cookies on them, putting it next to her cup. "How's the milkshake?"

“Oh, uhh, very good,” Sunset said, eyeing the stack of cookies. “Uhm… If it’s not too much trouble, could I have one of those…?”

Isekai resisted the urge to smirk, pushing the plate to the center of the bar right between them. "Of course, you're my guest."

Sunset wasted no time honing in on the cookies closest to her, hungrily devouring each one in a matter of seconds.

So much for not being hungry.

"You know, I really was going to order some food for myself before you walked in. It really wouldn't be any imposition to share some of it."

“Mhmmph…” Sunset nodded, speaking through a mouthful of strawberry-frosted cookie. “I’m fine with these, thanks.”

Isekai made the order anyway with her tablet. 'It's not like I won't eat it if she doesn't want any. That stuff is legendary in two worlds.' "Here," she said, handling Sunset a napkin. "You could use that."

“Oh, thanks,” Sunset said, taking the napkin and wiping her face clean. As she pulled the red-stained cloth away, her eyes fell to it and immediately shrank to the size of pinpricks. She dropped it to the counter, and her hand fell below the bar again.

Isekai raised an eyebrow at that, then gently reached over and folded the napkin, hiding the red smear on it, before replacing it with a new one. "Here." Clearly whatever had happened to her young counterpart had left her sensitive… An idea of what could have happened started forming in her head, but she pushed it away. Sunset hadn't said anything and guessing would only make things worse if she guessed wrong. "You look exhausted, Sunset, when was the last time you had to yourself?"

Sunset shifted on her bar stool, her hands fiddling with something beneath the bar again. “Uhm… I-I guess that kind of depends,” she said. “I was with a friend earlier, but she… She was sleeping...”

Isekai bit her lip, catching on to the subtext of Sunset's words. That, alongside the reaction to the red smear, the exhaustion, the snappy replies earlier and how guarded she was, painted a very sad picture. "I see," she said softly. "Were the girls also there?"

“N-no, just me,” Sunset said, her eyes falling to her lap. “It wouldn’t have been right to force them to get involved.”

'Oh boy. She's been alone ever since this happened...' Isekai nodded, hiding a frown. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Sunset didn’t reply, still staring at whatever she was holding. A moment later, she winced, closed her eyes, and shook her head. Without a word, she sighed and held out her hand to her older counterpart.

Isekai shook her head. "I don't use my geode. I put it away to keep myself from accidentally reading customers. Some of them would not take it lightly. Others… would drive even me insane. Would it be okay to talk about it?"

Sunset just stared at her expectantly. “You’re serious?” She barely held back a scoff. “You’re serious. You could just touch my wrist and know exactly what you want to know, but instead you’re gonna drag it out of me bit by—ugh…” She groaned, pulling her hand back below the bar. “Fine, whatever,” she said. “You want me to tell you what happened?”

"Sometimes talking helps more to deal with things," Isekai said. "Take your time and tell me. I'm in no rush, and I will listen."

Sunset glanced up at Isekai, then back to her lap. “It’s not like it’ll take long to explain,” she said bitterly. “You know Wallflower Blush?”

Isekai's eyes flickered to the corner table where Wallflower would sit whenever she visited before she could even think about it. She glanced back to Sunset before nodding and sighing. "Yeah. I know her."

“Yeah, well…” Sunset’s expression was somewhere between grief-stricken and livid. “She died a few hours ago,” she said.

"I'm so sorry," Isekai said, feeling a knot in her throat as her eyes strayed over to the forget-me-not growing on the wall. "It wasn't—was it…"

“She killed herself,” Sunset interrupted her, her whole body shivering a bit. “Exsanguination.”

Isekai shook her head. "Oh, Wallflower..." She took a deep breath, her thoughts going back to the other Wallflower she had met. The one that had her own table. Would she have ended up the same? From her own admission she had been in a very bad place before the local Sunset found her, and—she hoped—her own visit to the bar had helped her regain more of her inner strength and will to live. The thought of that sweet girl just taking her life away... "Did you find her?" she asked in a whisper.

Sunset nodded, sighing. “Not soon enough,” she said. “By the time the ambulance got her to a hospital… It was too late to do anything…” She grit her teeth, her gaze returning to her lap, and she winced again.

"That's horrible, Sunset, I'm sorry that happened…" She licked her lips. "So you stayed the whole time with her."

Sunset didn’t answer, instead reaching for her milkshake. As she took hold of the glass, Isekai noticed something—a couple of still-bleeding small cuts on Sunset’s fingers.

"Hey," Isekai spoke up. "Your hand is bleeding, did you cut yourself with something before coming in? Here, let me take a look?"

“What? No, I would never—!” Sunset recoiled, nearly spilling her drink. She looked over her hand then hid it beneath the bar once more. “It’s fine,” she said, her voice low. “Nothing serious.”

"It looked like it might sting though," Isekai said. "Don't worry, I won't cover you in band-aids."

“I said I’m fine.” Sunset frowned.

"Look," Isekai said, "you've hurt your fingers, and you're bleeding. Let me take care of that now, before it gets worse. I know you're not in the best place, but being physically hurt won't help you."

Sunset just glared at her for a moment, then let out a long sigh. “Fine, do what you want,” she said, holding her hand out.

Isekai gently held it up so she could see. She had feared Sunset had cut her hands by accident with glass, but the small cuts were all straight, even the ones that were barely a scratch. No jagged cuts, or areas where the cut went much deeper, indicating a pointy object. They looked more like paper cuts, or maybe a straight razor. Glancing up at Sunset she almost spoke up, but refrained. One thing at a time.

She put her other hand, hovering above Sunset's, and whispered a spell, watching as gentle light flowed from her hand into hers, and the cuts slowly faded away. "Healing has never been my specialty but small things like that… I can deal with those."

Sunset could only watch, eyes wide, as the wounds on her hand closed on their own. “Y-you… You healed me,” she spoke in an almost-whisper. “With magic…? How did—what…”

"Different universes, different rules," Isekai said. "I was taught by a few people from other worlds. What you saw there is most of what I can do with healing magic… it's not as general as Equestrian magic. A lot of places out there specialize in specific types a—"

“Gah!” Sunset shot up from her bar stool, suddenly shouting. “Damn it, damn it! None of this is—!” She stopped short and whirled on Isekai. “Of course you have magic! Of course you do! I-if I could h-h-have just waved my hand a-and fixed her…” Sunset’s voice fell into broken, shivering stammers. “I-I could have saved her…”

"Sunset, you can't blame yourself for not being able to use magic. I have no doubt in my mind you would have used every bit of it if that was the case, but it's not something you had control over."

“Goddess above, would you shut up?!” Sunset screamed. “You’re so calm about this, aren’t you? So above it! Don’t tell me what I can and can’t blame myself for—you weren’t there!” She pointed at Isekai, and something metal glinted in her hand. “Y-you didn’t see h-her…!”

Isekai narrowed her eyes. "What is that in your hand?"

At that, Sunset stiffened up, immediately shoving her hand in her pocket. “None of your damn business, that’s what it is.”

"Take it out of your pocket and sit down." She sighed and crossed her arms. "I'm not your enemy here, Sunset. I am telling you only that that was not something you had control over. And you know it."

Sunset glared at her for a moment, breathing heavily. “Fine,” she said, her voice dripping with venom. Her hand dipped into her pocket, and when it retreated, Isekai finally saw what Sunset had been hiding—a tiny, two-sided razor blade.

"That's what she used, isn't it." It wasn't even a question. Still, she heard her voice crack a little. This Sunset had witnessed the suicide attempt and then been right there when Wallflower had passed away. A guilty part of her felt slightly grateful that she didn't carry her geode with her anymore. That was a memory that would break anyone's heart.

Sunset twitched as if a shiver had run up her spine. “Y-yeah. It was,” she said. “It was still in the bathtub when I went back, s-so…”

"That is… Sunset, holding on to that is probably not good for you. Especially so soon."

“You don’t get to tell me what is and isn’t good for me,” Sunset snapped. She turned the blade over in her hand, her eyes locked on its edges, then flicking down. “I-I told you. I’m fine.”

"Then give it to me," Isekai said, extending her hand.

“W-wha… No!” Sunset shouted, taking a step back. “I-it was Wallflower’s! Having it j-just helps me, okay? I’m not going t-to… To…” She trailed off, her whole body shaking as her gaze moved from the razor to Isekai and back again.

"Give it to me, Sunset. Let it go."

“Nnnngh…!” Sunset shut her eyes, shaking her head. “Shut up, j-just shut up! Wallflower’s dead, and I couldn’t stop it!” Sunset was screaming as her whole body trembled. “This is the only thing I have to remember her by, and I’m not gonna let you take it away from me!”

Before Isekai could respond, something sparked in Sunset’s hand.

“W-what?” Sunset held the razor up, blinking in shock as more sparks rose up from its edges. “...Isekai?” Her voice was shallow, scared. “What is this…?”

Isekai's eyes were wide. It took barely a second for her to realize what it was. “The bar…” It was the bar's spell to protect her and her guests from harm… even from themselves... even if they hadn't been aware that they might do something. Desperation grew in her guest's eyes as the razor flaked away in her hands.

The blade in Sunset’s hand was disappearing now, hundreds of sparks flittering away to nothing from its edges. “N-no! I told you no!” Sunset shouted, clutching the remaining half-blade as it too dissolved between her fingers.

Then, with a final flurry of sparks, it was gone. Sunset’s hand was empty, as if nothing had ever been there at all.

"The bar has a spell," Isekai said gently. "It activates if a guest is going to hurt themselves with some sort of weapon or object. I'm sorry that it happened like that, but what were you thinking of doing?"

“I-I… You…” Sunset was barely audible, staring at the space where the razor had been. When she at last looked up, her gaze was hard as steel. “That was magic,” she said. “That was your magic.”

"It was my spell," Isekai said, resting her hands on the bar. "A spell that is constantly active and doesn't activate until certain requirements are met." She was not letting Sunset get away from what had actually caused that to activate that easily. "And one of those requirements is that my guests were about to hurt themselves. Sunset. What were you going to do?"

Sunset’s whole body tensed up. “Y-you mean… You think—No! No, I would never…” She shook her head, the faintest whimper creeping into her voice. “I’d n-never do that… I-I just get thoughts sometimes, b-but I would never do that to myself!”

Before Isekai could respond, Sunset kept shouting. “And don’t try to turn this around on me! I told you no, but you just magicked it away anyway! You think y-you know what’s best for me?” Sunset stomped up to the bar, her voice cracking. “What the hell do you know?! You weren’t even there!”

"Calm down," Isekai said, her voice steady. "I already told you. It's not what I thought you were going to do, but what the spell sensed you were about to do. Even if it was the spell that did it, I can't just sit here and let you hurt yourself!"

“Whatever I do to myself is not up to you!”

"Do you really want to hurt yourself?" Isekai demanded. "Is that really what you want? Is that what Wallflower would want?"

At that, Sunset froze over entirely. After a few more silent seconds, fury overcame her features, and she stumbled towards the bar. “You think you know what she wanted?” Her voice was trembling, cold, fragile. “You think you understand?” Tears filled her eyes as her legs wobbled, and she fell to the floor, her whole body shuddering with every breath. “D-do you…?”

Isekai quickly made her way around the bar, kneeling next to the collapsed Sunset. "Hey… come on, look at me. Of course I'm trying to understand, Sunset."

Sunset took slow, shaky breaths. She reached into her pocket, her hand closing around whatever object was inside. Coughing out a single sob, she turned to Isekai, locking eyes with her. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then, a brilliant golden glow lit up the room as Sunset’s geode flared to life. She lunged forward, grabbing Isekai by the wrist, and both their eyes shone white as—

Sunset checked her phone again as she walked up the crumbled stone path to the apartment building. She’d sent seven texts today already—not even counting the dozen more she’d sent earlier throughout the week—but there was still no response from Wallflower.

That was fine. She was fine, Sunset was sure of it.

And if she wasn’t, well, that’s why Sunset was here in the first place.

Which one was Wallflower’s apartment again? Sunset had walked her home only once, after they’d gone to get coffee on the last day of school. Some buried intuition had told Sunset that Wallflower couldn’t be left on her own that day, and that same sense had guided her here now.

It was on the top floor, wasn’t it? Yeah, 428, that was it.

Sunset checked her phone one more time before making her way up the stairs. Still nothing. That was okay. Soon she’d be talking with Wallflower face-to-face anyway.

425, 426, 427… There.

Sunset took a deep breath, and then another. Wallflower might not be happy to see her at first, but that little voice in Sunset’s head knew this was necessary. She could handle some vitriol if it meant ensuring Wallflower was okay.

She rang the doorbell, and waited.

Seconds passed. Then a half a minute. Sunset rang the bell a few more times, to no avail. She knocked on the door, and when there was still no answer, she knocked again even harder.

Another knock, practically punching the door so hard that her hand hurt. Wallflower had to be in there, right? Where the heck else would she be? Something tingled in Sunset’s chest, and she moved to peer through the window.

Far in the back corner of the unlit apartment, a door was cracked open. It had to be the bathroom. In there, the lights were on.

Oh. Well now she was just embarrassed. Wallflower was probably in the shower and couldn’t hear her.

Probably.

She was fine. Sunset would just wait for her.

After pacing back and forth a couple times, Sunset peered through the window again. The bathroom door was cracked open enough that she could make out what seemed like the mirror.

If the shower was on, wouldn’t the mirror be covered in steam?

No, she was being ridiculous. Maybe Wallflower took cold showers. Maybe she was taking a bath. Maybe the light just happened to be on and Wallflower was asleep in the bedroom.

Sunset knocked on the door again. When there was no reply, she checked her phone again.

Nothing. No answer of any kind.

In a split second, Sunset’s composure evaporated. She opened the phone app and, hand trembling, dialed three numbers and hit ‘call.’ She resumed her pacing, back and forth and back and forth in front of the window, peeking through as she did, desperate to see any kind of movement. She was probably overreacting and Wallflower was probably fine, and Sunset would have to give a lot of apologies for wasting everyone’s time.

Better safe than sorry. The phone rang once, then twice.

Someone picked up. Sunset spoke as clearly as she could, fighting the shakiness in her voice. She was a concerned friend, she needed a wellness check to 428 Saddlebridge, she just needed to know her friend was safe. It would be fine. Wallflower would be fine.

The voice on the other end told her someone would be there in five to ten minutes. That wasn’t very long, was it? That was good. In the meantime, Sunset should stay there in case Wallflower opened the door. It would be fine.

She hung up the phone and stopped pacing, looking through the window again. Still, she saw no movement—just the crack of light from behind the bathroom door.

That little voice in the back of her head whispered something in her ear—five to ten minutes could be the difference between life and death.

Sunset’s unease swelled into a full-blown panic.

What the hell was she doing, standing around out here? She came to make sure Wallflower was safe, and that’s exactly what she was going to do. She couldn’t afford to wait any longer than she already had.

One more check of her phone. Still nothing from Wallflower.

Down the stairs, all four flights, across the parking lot to the crumbled stone path. Sunset worked on autopilot, grabbing the largest rock she could carry and rushing back up the stairs again. Reasonably athletic as she was, her muscles still burned at the effort. It didn’t matter. She’d wasted too much time already. She should’ve done this after Wallflower didn’t answer the first ring of the doorbell.

She reached the top floor again, stumbling to a halt by the door to 428. With a deep breath, Sunset steadied herself in front of the window. This would probably be a bad idea in retrospect.

Sunset lurched herself around and flung the rock as hard as she could, shattering the window to pieces.

Without a second thought, she climbed through the broken mess, wincing as some remaining shards scratched through her jacket and jeans. It didn’t matter. She was inside, and whenever the police or ambulance or whoever got here, they wouldn’t have to worry about the locked door either.

She could worry about the window later. Sunset crossed the tiny, messy living space and opened the bathroom door.

Wallflower—

Sunset screamed.

Wallflower lay motionless in the bathtub, her lips just barely above the scarlet-stained water. The metallic smell of blood filled the air so much that Sunset almost gagged. As she entered the room, partially stunned, her eyes fell to Wallflower’s face.

She looked so peaceful. If not for the blood spilling from Wallflower’s slashed forearms, Sunset would have thought she was just sleeping.

A second passed, and Sunset’s daze evaporated. Red-clouded water splashed from the bath as she pulled Wallflower out, pleading, screaming. She laid Wallflower on the floor, adrenaline surging through her veins as blood continued to stream from the unconscious girl’s torn forearms. It puddled on the floor, left trails down Wallflower’s arms, stained Sunset’s hands and sleeves as she frantically tried to apply pressure to the wounds.

It wouldn’t be enough. The other arm was cut too, even deeper—she had to find a way to stop the bleeding.

Wallflower was so pale, so cold. Was it already too late?

No… No, she could do this. She was Sunset Shimmer. She didn’t let bad things happen to her friends.

She just had to keep Wallflower steady until the ambulance arrived. Sunset reached over Wallflower, grabbing a familiar thick woolen sweater discarded on the floor. Hands and limbs shaking, Sunset threaded the sleeves beneath one of Wallflower’s arms, tying them into as tight of a knot as she could manage, whispering unheard encouragements as she did.

A whimpering gasp left her lips as she took off her own jacket, cursing her trembling limbs as she fought to escape the sleeves. Just one more tourniquet. Stay focused. She could do this.

She repeated the process, pulling the knot as tight as possible. Her hands left the jacket, and she braved a look back at Wallflower’s arms.

The bleeding had slowed, but not nearly enough. The pool of blood beneath Wallflower continued to spread, staining the knee of Sunset’s jeans. Her panicked gaze spun around the room, stopping when she saw an open pill bottle on the bathroom counter. Sunset swiped it and read the label.

Aspirin. Blood thinners. No wonder the tourniquets weren’t enough.

This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be happening. She cried Wallflower’s name over and over, holding the girl as close as she could, as if doing so would impart some of her own liveliness to Wallflower’s motionless form. She started screaming again, screaming for Wallflower to wake up, to please wake up, please…!

Wallflower’s only reply was to limply sink further into Sunset’s arms.

Blood everywhere. No way to help. Useless tears and screams.

She heard voices behind her—

Sunset stumbled back, and it took her a moment to shake the vision and realize that Isekai had pushed her away with her foot. The bartender was on her side, eyes wide and breathing hard, still obviously disoriented.

Before she could react, Sunset had already scrambled to her side, gripping her geode tight in one hand as she reached for her counterpart and grasped her arm again, forcing the connection.

In… … … and out.

In… … …and out.

Sunset watched the slow, unsteady rise and fall of Wallflower’s chest, just as she had been for hours. How long had she been here? How long had Wallflower been—been sleeping?

Holding down a yawn, Sunset shifted in her tiny plastic hospital chair, pulling Wallflower a little closer. Her body yearned to stand, to move, to stretch her legs for just a few seconds… She couldn’t, though. She promised Wallflower she would stay with her. What if when she got up to stretch, that was when Wallflower…?

Stretching wasn’t important right now.

Adrenaline roused Sunset’s senses. She watched Wallflower carefully, intently, desperately.

In… … …and out.

In… … …and out.

Sunset’s eyes strained. She’d long since run out of tears. It was all she could do to just hold Wallflower close, to try not to think about how cold she was.

This… All of this didn’t feel real, like she was caught in a nightmare that refused to end. Eighteen hours of being too late, and all she could do now was wait for the last embers of life to fade from her friend’s body.

In… … …and out.

She felt a familiar wetness on her cheeks. Maybe she wasn’t out of tears after all. If only she had some tissues or something—but that would require leaving Wallflower’s side. Calling for help would take a doctor or nurse away from a patient, someone who mattered, someone worth helping. Wallflower was beyond help, and Sunset didn’t deserve it.

In… … …and out.

How had Wallflower put it? Every time something went wrong, that voice in the back of her head offered its “solution.”

For the first time in months—maybe years—Sunset thought she heard the voice again.

Stupid, selfish Sunset. If she’d been a better friend—or at least just checked on Wallflower a few days, or even a few hours earlier… But she hadn’t. She waited until her friend was in crisis, and even then she didn’t bother to show up until it was too late to save her.

Wallflower didn’t deserve this… but maybe Sunset did.

Her eyes drifted around the barren hospital room, finally settling on the girl resting against her. She watched her chest, unblinking.

Wallflower wasn’t moving.

Sunset's hand closed on empty air. She shook her head, clearing away the disorienting feeling of returning from a vision to reality and quickly stood up, studying the area to see where Isekai had gone. But the bar was empty.

She licked her suddenly dry lips and exhaled, her breath visible as if the temperature had dropped drastically. Was it her or were the previously warm colors of the bar somehow… dimmer? No… it was really happening. The bar, the pictures, the bottles on the shelf… everything was somehow losing color until it was a monotone of black and white.

Sunset heard a sound like rocks crumbling and she turned around, catching on the corner of her eye little pieces of brick and mortar crumbling down from the wall. Suddenly, with the thunderous crack of hardwood splintering, the bar shook, almost making her lose her balance, and under her the floor split, as if someone had ripped apart a piece of paper.

She gasped and tried to step out of the way, but the floor was already caving into the darkness, and before she could regain her footing, her boot slipped and she fell heavily onto her side as the gaping wound on the floor collapsed everything into the void, casting her screaming into darkness.

Isekai sat several feet away from where Sunset had grabbed her. She was curled into herself, her knees tight against her chest, her chin resting against her knees, and her hair falling around her like a curtain.

She could still hear Wallflower's breathing. The raspy, wheezing undertone to it as her body drew air and released it agonizingly slow. The surety that the last breath had come. That it was about to come.

The lack of strength in her hand. The small gasps that were more of a parting of the lips and air escaping than anything out of awareness. The feeling of being lonely, unable to do anything and knowing that there was nothing to be done.

Being afraid to turn away.

She hugged her legs closer to herself. It wasn't the first time she'd seen death. It wasn't even the first time she'd been close to someone about to pass away. It came with the long, long, life. But Sunset—that Sunset… she hadn't only been dreading this, but she had been mentally unprepared, impulsive… opening herself up to Wallflower while in that state with the Geode… that damned Geode.

Her chest felt tight, as if someone was squeezing it.

She was so angry with Sunset Shimmer. For forcing this on her… for doing that to herself. It was hard to separate things right now. What had she done back home when—had her own Wallflower ever considered this? But the hospital—

She closed her eyes tightly, forcing each painful thread of invasive memories to unwrap from her consciousness, even if the heartache would take much longer to cope with. But the guilt that wasn't her own. The pain she would accept… to see a friend, a loved one like that—no, she was not going to forget that. And she wasn't going to ignore it.

She looked up at the empty space where Sunset had once been. "I should let you be there longer," she whispered, furious. Despite her anger, she forced herself up.

A moment later, Sunset had materialized in the bar, on her hands and knees, pale and shaking. She was gasping, her fingers scratching the floor as if afraid that it would fade away. She looked up, eyes wide and gargled a strangled scream, jumping to her feet and backing against a table as Isekai stomped forward and slapped her so hard her hand stung. "How dare you!" The worse thing was she could feel tears form up, which made her even angrier. "I should crush your damn geode right now! How could you do that to me?! I was trying to help you, and you betrayed my trust and forced your mind into mine!"

“I-I…” Sunset’s breathing was sharp and shallow. She tightly shut her eyes, her trembling voice twisting into a cry. “I didn’t… Please d-don’t, again, n-not again…!”

"Get out." Isekai pointed at the door at the end of the bar, which opened by itself into a familiar living room. She looked away. She did not need a reminder of what happened. "You're not welcome here."

Sunset looked at the door, then back to Isekai. Without a word, she stumbled past her and towards the exit, a trail of broken whimpers in her wake. If any were an apology, Isekai chose to ignore them.

The door closed behind Sunset, and Isekai stood alone once more. "No. Not alone." In the corner, Bernard busily spun a web in his cage. The pictures on the walls displayed the plethora of friends she had made since she had opened the bar. Right now, she could open the bar for business and a crowd of multidimensional patrons would flow in, keeping her busy and distracted. She'd be able to talk to Belldandy about what had happened. She'd be able to call Freya home if she wanted and cuddle up and cry.

She was not alone.

She wasn't Sunset.

The stray thought made her ball her hands into fists, and she glanced at the door. 'She chose this. She did something unforgivable. She deserves to be kicked out.' She took a deep breath. But did she deserve to be alone?

She stubbornly walked around the counter and picked up the dirty glasses, taking them over to the sink. "She's a danger to anyone that comes close to her. She should be alone for a while," she muttered. She could almost feel the door looming behind her.

'But should she be alone? Really? In that state?'

She kept washing the glasses, rinsing away the remaining milkshake and lathering it up to clean it. Sunset hadn't even been able to drink the whole thing. She slowed down as she continued scrubbing the already clean glass. She could still feel Sunset's despair from the vision, and again the guilt that came with it. That girl would take the blame for it even if it wasn't her fault. There was nothing she could have done. She had called in a wellness check, had texted and called Wallflower… sometimes there was nothing you could do. Nothing you could reasonably force yourself to do.

This wasn't one of those times.

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before turning and walking around the bar. She made her way to the entrance and with a grimace stepped into a place she really would rather not see.

The bedroom was a mess. Not because Wallflower had been dirty, but she had clearly stopped caring. Things were left on the floor as if they had just been dropped there. The trash had built around the trash bin as initial attempts to contain it in the area had been replaced with half-attempts to simply throw things in that general direction.

Clothes and towels and socks lay around discarded and forgotten. A small pile next to a door was maybe an abandoned attempt to clean up at some point. Some pots with dead plants lined a wall, forgotten and uncared for. Wallflower probably thought she deserved the same fate.

How could Sunset… how could anyone without some sort of training even deal with this? This was beyond a friend simply being there for you. Wallflower had needed professional attention. She thought back to Wallflower struggling to breathe in bed while Sunset held onto her, and she once more felt her eyes water as she looked around the room, imagining a lonely girl idling time away on her mattress, staring at the mess around her. Alone and just wondering what was the point of it all.

It was a place without smiles or energy, where friends had never stepped in, or been welcomed. Wallflower had isolated herself and cut contact. She had reduced the chances of people reaching her… something she was very proficient at, regardless of the universe. But this time it had come at a price and had dragged Sunset along with her.

Wallflower wouldn't have wanted that. It was oddly selfish of Sunset, in a way, to assume this was about her. Isekai snorted. That was something she, and every other Sunset were very proficient at: shifting the blame, the onus and responsibility onto themselves.

And this time, it was going to destroy Sunset.

The thought of her counterpart was enough to chase away the specter of Wallflower's misery. Gulping down, Isekai studied the room and saw the door to the bathroom was ajar, and the light on. She slowly made her way there and pushed the door open.

The room seemed smaller than it had in the memory she’d witnessed. Sunset was curled up on the floor, her back to the wall beneath the shower rod. If she heard Isekai come in, she made no indication of it. Her gaze was locked on the other side of the tiny room, past the sink, past the counter, past the shower curtain…

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, the image fresh in her mind both from Sunset's memories and seeing it now. A pool of blood, for all intents and purposes. She turned her gaze over to her counterpart, focusing on her instead of the bath. "Sunset?"

“I-I thought…” Sunset couldn’t get through a word without her voice cracking. “...I thought I was gonna die…”

Isekai frowned and leaned her back against the door frame. A part of her wanted to reassure Sunset that things were okay, but she was still angry with the younger woman, even if the whole place was chipping away at that anger very effectively. "You didn't."

“Maybe I should have…” Sunset spoke barely above a whisper. “I-I deserve it…”

"You should stop that," Isekai said, trying to dull the edge to her voice. "You don't deserve to die. I imagine you wouldn't have done what you did if you were in a better place at the time. It was horrible. But no, you don't deserve to die for that or any other reason."

“Neither did Wallflower,” Sunset said softly, “but she died anyway… Because I wasn’t here…”

Isekai shook her head, crossing her arms. "You were trying to reach her. You came to check on her. You called the police, took her to the hospital, stayed with her. You did what you could, but no one can just be there all the time…" A thought from an old conversation came back to her. "When… when someone is in a situation like Wallflower was, they would just wait until you were gone. You were not ready for this, Sunset. You did the best you could, and no one can blame you for what happened, so don't take on that weight."

Sunset just shook her head. “When I was falling, I-I… I was s-so scared…” A sharp inhale cut her off. “Until I wasn’t… I was so sure I was about to die, and i-it just… It didn’t scare me anymore…” She looked up at Isekai, her face stained with tears. As Sunset uncurled herself, Isekai saw something in her hand—a little orange box, the same size as…

She took a deep breath and walked a bit closer, kneeling in front of Sunset. "Come on, give me those." She extended her hand.

Sunset stared at her, squinting through her own tears. She turned the box of razors over in her trembling hand as if studying it, making sure it was really there. Then, with a deep breath, she handed it to Isekai.

“Thank you,” Isekai said, doing her best to smile. "Let's go to the other room to talk."

She helped Sunset up, and walked her out of the bathroom, closing the door behind them. The younger woman was almost dragging herself, as exhaustion and the emotional roller-coaster she'd been in for the last twenty four hours were finally taking their toll. With nowhere to sit down, she helped her over to the mattress and sat her down, sitting right next to her and helping her keep steady.

Sunset sat hunched over, staring blankly at the floor. “I-I’m still scared,” she said softly. “Scared th-that I wasn’t scared… This little voice in the back of my head keeps telling me what I have to do, and I-I can’t make it stop…!”

Isekai was silent for a minute, simply holding Sunset as the younger woman trembled. "Sunset… I don't think you should be alone right now."

The only reply she got was a half-hearted nod from Sunset.

"Do you think you can stay safe once I'm gone?"

A withering sigh left Sunset’s lips. “...No,” she whispered.

“You need help, Sunset,” Isekai said. “Help I can’t give you—help from professionals, people who know how to treat these kinds of things.”

Silent seconds passed. Isekai realized she was holding her breath.

Finally, Sunset responded “...I know,” she said, curling into herself.

Isekai released the breath she had been holding and nodded, squeezing Sunset's shoulder reassuringly. "I'll make sure to get you help. I'm not going anywhere until I know you're safe."

Sunset just stared at her, eyes wide. A moment later, she nodded and whispered something Isekai couldn’t make out. Sighing, Sunset closed her eyes and leaned back, falling onto the mattress beneath them.

It didn't take long for Sunset's breathing to steady. Isekai took a long, deep breath, letting it out slowly as her face sank into her hands. It was hard when she had guests she couldn't help at all on her own. It was hard to admit. Hard to deal with. Hard to think about. But she had built the bar to be a place where people could find peace and help… even if it wasn't from her.

Isekai gently shifted the younger woman's body on the mattress to make sure she was in a more comfortable position, then pulled out Sunset's phone from her purse. She had a few phone calls to make.

Sunset sat against the wall in the left wing of the psychiatric ward, idly wobbling back and forth on a chair. Her eyes were locked on the minute-hand of the clock above the nurses station, impatiently counting the seconds until visitation began.

Two more ticks of the clock, and there it was. Four in the afternoon. Sunset turned to watch the large wooden double-doors that led into the ward. Not a minute later, the doors swung open and in walked the first friendly face Sunset had seen in two days.

Twilight Sparkle walked as quickly as she was allowed over to where Sunset was sitting. A pained smile was on her face. Sunset recognized it as the same smile she’d given Wallflower right before she closed her eyes, never to open them again.

She shook her head, pushing the thought away. Not the time for that.

“Sunset, it’s so good to see you!” Twilight sat beside Sunset and immediately pulled her into a hug. “Are you okay? I mean obviously you’re not okay okay, but you’re safe, right? You have people helping you?” Twilight blinked. “You’re eating what they give you, right? I’m sure it’s not the best food but you really need—”

“I’m fine, Twilight,” Sunset said, forcing herself to laugh.

“You’re in a hospital.”

“Y-yeah, I know,” Sunset said, shifting in her seat. “I just wanted to be sure I would stay safe, is all. I’m fine though, really.”

“Sunset…” Twilight spoke softly. “I-I’m sorry if I’m being overbearing. I just don’t want you to end up—”

“End up like Wallflower,” Sunset interrupted, her voice laced with bitterness.

Twilight lowered her head. “Y-yeah…”

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Sunset leaned back a bit in her chair, squinting at the overhead fluorescents.

“So, what have you been doing in here?” Twilight asked.

“Mostly I just stay in my room,” Sunset said. “There’s been a few group things, and they were… something. I guess I’m a relatively ‘low-risk’ patient, because I came here to stop myself from doing something, not because I’d already tried.”

“That’s… That’s good, right?” Twilight’s voice was measured, as if she were afraid her words could break Sunset apart at any moment. The tepidness Sunset had forced upon her friend only deepened the frown on her face.

She knew this would happen. They’d all be treating her like a fragile child.

“Sunset?” Twilight spoke again.

“O-oh, uhm, yeah,” Sunset replied. “Yeah, it’s a good thing. I might get discharged a few days sooner than I thought.”

“You’re getting the help you need though, right?” Again, Twilight’s tone was so… so overly concerned.

“Yeah,” Sunset said. “I saw a therapist for the first time earlier today.”

Twilight nodded. “And how’d that go?”

Sunset thought back to her time in that tiny room, to the dull interview that quickly turned into tears, screams, sobbing on the table and a comforting voice reassuring her for the first time in ages.

“...It went fine,” Sunset said. “Uneventful.”

“Well, uhm, good start, right?” Twilight obviously feigned a smile.

Sunset couldn’t stand it anymore. “Twilight, please stop that,” she said.

Twilight looked genuinely confused. “Stop what?”

“Just… The way you’re talking to me, looking at me,” Sunset said. “You’re treating me like I’m—”

“In a hospital?” Twilight interrupted her. The caution and steadiness of her voice wavered as she spoke. “A psychiatric hospital, because you were going to hurt yourself or worse otherwise?”

Sunset didn’t know how to reply, instead falling completely silent.

“Sunset, you know I love you. All the girls love you,” Twilight said. “And, this is scary for us too. We had no idea you were having these problems. I just… I’m worried, y’know? I don’t know what’s wrong, or how bad it is. My friend is in so much pain and I can’t help her, and I’m even more scared of doing or saying something that makes things even worse…”

Stupid, selfish Sunset.

“Sorry…”

“No, please don’t apologize,” Twilight said. “You just don’t want things to change between us, and that’s okay.”

“I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming,” Sunset said.

“And,” Twilight said, “it’s a two-way street. Just… It’s going to take some time for us—for me to adjust to this, you know?”

“Y-yeah,” Sunset sighed. “Okay.”

Both girls were quiet for a while.

Twilight broke the silence. “If you’d asked me to stay with you while you were with her, I would have,” she said.

“I didn’t want to force you to go through that,” Sunset said, turning away. “Seeing her… Being with her that whole time, until she died… You shouldn’t have to suffer through that kind of pain on my behalf.”

Twilight leaned over, catching Sunset’s gaze. “I’d rather we suffer together than you suffer alone,” she said.

“I-I don’t know…” Sunset sighed. “I just can’t stop thinking about it…”

“Thinking about what?”

“When Wallflower, uhm…” Sunset took a deep breath. “...When she passed. I was there for so long. I guess I thought I’d be ready, but…”

“Sunset, it’s okay,” Twilight said. “I don’t think there is a way to prepare for something like that.”

Sunset shook her head. “Yeah, and I mean, I think I know that. It’s just… It wasn’t what I expected, and that’s what’s been eating at me.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“I-I dunno, I guess I thought… I thought it’d be more,” Sunset said. “Strange as it sounds to say it out loud, I was expecting like… Like some big flash of light, or a surge of magic or something, something to let me know th-that she was…” She paused, a shiver tingling its way up her spine. “Some sign that her soul was leaving her body or something, that i-it was truly over… But that’s not what happened.”

“Sunset…”

“Time was passing, just as it’d been for hours, a-and then she j-just…” Sunset’s face sank into her hands. “She just s-stopped breathing. One moment she was there, and then…” A slow, withered breath passed her lips. “...And then she wasn’t.”

Twilight’s eyes were brimming with tears as she put an arm around Sunset. “I-I can’t even imagine…”

Sunset stared at the floor. “It looked so… so easy… J-just like falling asleep…”

Twilight held her a little tighter. “Please don’t talk like that,” she said, her voice shaky.

Sunset leaned into her friend’s embrace. “I keep trying to remind myself that it wasn’t my fault,” she said, “that I did everything I could have. A-and logically, yeah, I did do my best, but…” She trailed off with a whimper.

“You can’t think yourself out of it,” Twilight finished for her.

“Y-yeah,” Sunset said. “No matter how many times I go over it in my head, no matter how many times I’m told it’s not my fault, no matter how much I believe that…” Another sigh, longer this time. “It still feels like it’s my fault. It’s like part of my head wants me to blame myself, because if Wallflower died because of me, at least then I’d have a good reason to feel as awful as I do…”

“I think it’s good that you can be that mindful of yourself though,” Twilight said. “Not everyone is capable of that level of introspection.”

“That’s what the therapist said too.” Sunset looked around the sterile environment of the psychiatric ward. “I still can’t believe I’m in here…”

“You need to be, Sunset,” Twilight said. “It’s to keep you safe.”

Sunset couldn’t bring herself to meet her friend’s gaze. “I know,” she said softly.

“I-I know this isn’t easy,” Twilight said. “Honestly, it’s scary for me, even from the outside looking in, but…” She gave Sunset a gentle smile. “I’m really proud of you. For accepting that you need help.”

“Thanks.” Sunset did her best to smile back.

“You’re going to be okay,” Twilight said, “even if you’re not right now. And in the meantime, well…” She pulled Sunset into a full embrace. “It’s okay to not be okay, too.”

“Yeah…” Sunset’s fake smile felt a little more genuine. “It’s okay…”

As soon as she was back in her bar, she took the box of razors out of her pocket, contemplating it for a moment before tossing it into the air and watching it dissolve into little light particles that faded before they even touched the floor.

Taking a deep breath, she walked into the empty bar and glanced around. "That Sunset…" She shook her head. She had done all she could for her counterpart, now she needed to take care of herself.

She frowned. The betrayal she felt at Sunset forcing those memories on her still lingered, but she had to remind herself that, as unforgivable as that was, Sunset Shimmer… that Sunset Shimmer was not in a mental place where she could have understood the damage that she was doing. It didn't make it better… just… bearable.

She did not envy that Sunset one bit. She had taken into herself the whole blame for things she had no control over. Wallflower, as tragic as her decision was, had made that choice and it had been something that no one in her very small circle of friends could have been prepared for. Sunset had just failed to realize what Isekai herself had… that it wasn't a job for her. That this was the type of damage that Sunset was unprepared to handle on her own, and would take time, love, care and professional help to survive.

That was not something Isekai could do or provide for her. In the end, she had made the right choice, and she could only hope Sunset would pull through. Thankfully, Sunset was not Wallflower. She had not built such a hard distance with others. She had friends, mentors, and plenty of people that actively loved and cared for her. She would not be isolated. She would not be alone.

Which left her with this moment. There was a sense of anxiety in her that she needed to address, and it was easy to think of who she could talk to to deal with it. Although it was probably best not to just drop into her home unannounced.

She drew a runic symbol in the air in front of her. The outer circle rotated counterclockwise and a picture appeared on it, followed by the sound of a call being made. The phone rang a couple of times before someone answered. "Hello?" came the cautious question.

"Wallflower?" Isekai said. "It's Sunset from the bar… hey… um, sorry to call out of the blue, but do you think you'd like to stop by for a hot chocolate? I'd just like to, y'know, hang out for a bit."

"Um. Sure. I'll just use my card, is that okay?"

"Yeah, whenever you're ready. And… thanks."

The circle dissipated as soon as Wallflower cut the connection, and Sunset walked into her bar to prepare some hot chocolate.

She felt the warmth returning to the bar, the echoes of all her guests laughing and sharing stories. While bringing out ingredients, she paused briefly to fill a single shot of liquor, which she raised to Wallflower's memory.

The multiverse had as many losses and sad stories as it had adventures and laughter. But in the end, Sunset "Isekai" Shimmer knew she'd be okay too.

End Chapter

Bar Days in the Multiverse (Various References)

Sunset's Isekai
Bar Days in the Multiverse (Various References)
By Wanderer D

"And that's how we got here."

Sunset placed the regular sized Monte Cassino in front of Ukyo, and a much smaller version in front of Remy. "I have to admit, of all the things I expected when I saw you two walk into the bar together, it wasn't a story about love, food, and the animal underworld of Paris. That's pretty crazy."

"Story of my life," Ukyo replied, "difference is, now I'm dragging my own friends around the world opening restaurants and discovering myself."

"Well, I've met other Ukyo's around the multiverse, but never one that was dating a rat. No offense, little chef."

Remy simply shrugged and sipped his drink.

'LIKE YOU HAVE ANY RIGHT TO COMPLAIN', a voice echoed from the entrance. Kuro nodded politely at Remy and Ukyo, then placed the food order on the bar.

"Oh, shush, you. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just unexpected." Sunset gave the goddess of death a small pouch with coins. "Come back sometime soon after work, we need to hang out."

'I will. I'll bring curry,' Kuro replied, walking out of the bar and back to the restaurant.

Ukyo laughed. "I will say at least the fact that I turn into a mouse when splashed with cold water makes it slightly less weird than an inter-dimensional bar."

Sunset smirked. "Only slightly."

"And yet… on impulse!" Boromir's hand tightened around the tankard as he brought it up to his lips, drinking deep. "As if I didn't know what was happening—as if I didn't understand my Lady Galadriel's warning!" He held his breath, closing his eyes as if in physical pain. "I tried to take the ring."

Sunset schooled her expression, swallowing the lump in her throat carefully.

"What right do I have to claim honor to Gondor? What bright day that my brother, Faramir might shine in our father's eyes can I bring, where I betray a trusted friend? For what? Folly. Temptation. Fake glory."

"It was the ring…" Sunset whispered gently, grasping his arm.

Boromir laughed quietly, patting her hand with his. "Aye. The ring speaks deep into the darkness of man's heart. But darkness there must be for it to grasp in the first place. It whispered, true. But I listened."

From her table, Freya shook her head slightly when Sunset turned to face her. She knew.

"Alas, this brief respite might be all I will get for now." Boromir sighed, standing up. He slung the Horn of Gondor across his shoulder, fastened his shield and readied his sword in its sheath. "Perhaps for a long time… I must find Frodo. I must seek forgiveness… from him and from the Fellowship."

He reached into his purse.

"N-no," Sunset said, raising her hand. "It's fine. It's on me."

Boromir laughed. "My dear, fair barmaid. Already my honor is stained by my actions. Your timely arrival has given me the time to clear my mind, and that alone is something I sorely needed. Allow me to pay this small price as well." He fished out a coin, raising it so the gold could catch the light. "Never let it be said that Gondor would leave a debt—or drink—unpaid. Maybe I will come again." He took her hand and pressed the coin onto her palm. "Thank you."

Nodding briefly to Freya, he marched to the door and took a deep breath before trying to pull it open. It didn't budge. "My lady, there seems to be something wrong with the door."

Sunset swallowed, and felt as if her heart was tightening, but she forced it to let go. "Try again."

Finally pulling it open, Boromir gave them a last smile and jumped out, a challenge coming out of his mouth as he rushed the unsuspecting Uruk-hai.

Sunset stared at the coin in her hand, then slowly placed it in the small box where three other Gondor coins were.

"Are you okay?" Freya asked, walking over to the bar and placing a gentle claw on Sunset's shoulder.

"I always want to stop him." Sunset leaned onto her, sighing. "It never gets easier. I have to wonder why the bar has opened up to him in different dimensions, almost always at this exact moment."

Freya pulled her into a hug. "Maybe it's just the right time to help lift his spirit."

"I just wish one time things went differently."

"One day they will."

For a single moment she thought she could hear a horn summoning allies to help before it was cut short.

"I hope so."

"There's no way he can beat Wrex," Commander Sparkle said, horn aglow to levitate her beer up and taking a deep drink of it, next to her, Octavia nodded firmly, putting down her martini glass.

"Are you crazy? Have you seen his muscles?!" Sunset "Ryder" Shimmer responded, waving with her hand at the pair in question. "I'm betting on Crocodine."

"I don't know, Ryder," Drack grumbled, the ancient krogan shifting in his seat. "Urdnot Wrex is Urdnot Wrex."

"Two hundred credits says that Crocodine wins."

"You're on."

"I'll put bits on that bet."

"Same here."

"Crocodine will win," Hyunckel said, raising his mug to his lips. "He was the General of the Hundred Beasts Army. There's no way he'll lose if he expects me to respect him."

"Put money where your lips are, pretty boy!"

Hyunckel's eyebrow twitched and he pulled out a bag of gold, placing it on the counter.

A few tables away, Maam, Pop and Dai quietly watched the exchange.

"Hyunckel is really making friends fast now-a-days," Dai commented. He was still too young to drink beer, but these things called milkshakes? He loved them.

"Yeah but…" Pop lowered his voice. "Do they have to be so scary? Even the most normal of the ponies has weird armor and exudes haki."

Maam downed her beer. "Calm down, Pop, they're all getting along. Let's see what—"

CRACK! BAM!

"Hey! Wait! What does it mean if the table breaks?!"

"It means..." They all quieted down when they felt the angry energy from behind the bar, and turned to look at Sunset "Isekai" Shimmer, who was not looking very happy at the moment. "...that you guys owe me a new table."

Aria glared at Isekai. "You just had to remind her of that, didn't you?"

Sunset 'Isekai' Shimmer glanced at her sobbing counterpart, one of the leaders of a band of Hunters/Peace Keepers that called themselves the Hells Bells, in honor of AC/DC apparently. "Hey, I just asked why she was so nervous about having interdimensional counterparts."

"I-I only wanted them to give up!" Sunset Shimmer wailed, banging her fist on the bar. "I told them they weren't monsters and they-they…" she sobbed and grabbed the next beer, gulping it down without pausing for breath.

Isekai looked at her with some concern. "Are you sure she can take that many? That's twelve so far."

Aria shrugged, drinking a little of her whiskey. "She'll be fine. It's just a sour spot for her when she tries to save a bunch of cloned vampires and they all… you know..." She slid her finger from one side of her neck to the other. "...rather than face her."

Sniff. "Princess Twilight told me to make frieeeeeends!"

"There, there," Aria grumbled, patting her on the back. "Come on, Sunny. Walker and the gang are probably wondering where we are and we still might need to go to Hell again if we can't convince these factions to work together."

Isekai watched as Aria dragged Sunset out of the bar. "What an odd couple of monster hunters."

"Alright, so walk me through it again."

Matt sighed. Next to him, Black Peregrine, the female reploid smirked and took a long draw from the straw of her drink. Weregarurumon, for his part, was downing the whole milk carton he had ordered like it was a shot glass. "The whole story?"

"Alright so… you were in the Digital World with Gabumon here—"

"Weregarurumon."

"Right, and Dr. Wily hacked into it, thought you were software and modded you so he could use you as the 'soul' for Project Zero?"

"Pretty much, yes."

"Wow." Sunset shook her head. "What a jerk."

"In his defence he didn't know he was hacking a real child, but I do agree with that sentiment," Black Peregrine said. "However, it's thanks to Zero here that we were able to fight back the Mavericks and I was able to come to his universe."

Sunset nodded. "Um… so I know other Matts from the multiverse, and their parents aren't… good at handling these things… how did T.K. take it?"

Matt smiled a bit sadly. "T.K. was just happy to see me back. Dad… understood a little. Mom… not so much."

"Aww, don't be sad, Matt," Mimi said, grinning at him, with Palmon right at her side drinking water from a bottle. "You have all of us, your girlfriend, and even X!"

Matt smirked. "I never said I was sad. Or lonely."

"Speaking of which," Sunset said, pointing with her thumb at the table near the end of the bar where two men in black suits were pretending to not be interested in their conversation. "How come you came in here not only with Megaman X, but MIB Agents K and J as well?"

Mimi grinned. "Oh. That's a completely unrelated incident." She raised her glass and an eyebrow meaningfully.

Sunset couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile. "Another V. Raspberry Mojito coming up."

"Hey, Miss Shimmer?" Agent J called out. "Why do you just use the "v" instead of calling it a virgin mojito?"

Sunset shrugged. "I like my bar in one piece."

Lena cackled, and Danni snorted, while Freya tried to keep her composure. Sitting to their right, even Kale had the vaguest of smiles playing on her lips, simply holding her cup of tea between her hands as the table shook with her aneki's laughter.

"Oh, yeah, you should have seen her," Caulifla said, laughing loudly and smacking her knee with her hand, while Lena, Danni and Freya leaned eagerly to listen. "So, Brianne is fighting 18, right? And they have already devastated the whole area they're fighting at even more, and Brianne starts spouting something about truth and love, and how 18 was unworthy… and Sunset immediately went Super Saiyan 2 and started a shouting match with Brianne about how Love and Friendship look beyond physical appearance, and that the true value of a person is inside! I wish 18 had been able to come with us, she remembers the whole thing perfectly."

At the bar, Sunset focused on mixing the drinks she was preparing for the gang sitting on the bar, all the while pretending that she couldn't feel the grins directed at her from behind.

"Really, Sunset?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You went full Sailor Moon in a tournament to decide the fate of the universe?"

"I still don't see why that's a problem," Usagi Tsukino muttered, slurping her milkshake. Makoto put down her own milkshake long enough to pat her shoulder reassuringly while the rest of the scouts giggled quietly from their table.

"And how is it that you were able to turn into this Super Saiyan thing?" Applejack asked.

"I told you girls, I lived in that world for some time and the bar transformed me into one."

"Can you do it again?" Twilight asked. "For science, I mean."

"No." Sunset growled. "For one, it was temporary, I lost all that power when I returned to normal. Second, I had a really bad temper while I was a saiyan, and I don't want to break this place apart, and thirdly, if anyone goes Super Saiyan here, they're getting kicked out, ladies night or not." The last part was said with a raised voice so it could cut across the chatter and laughter from several tables.

"Aww, you're no fun, Sunny!" Caulifla shouted back, leaning back on her chair so she could grin at the bartender. "It used to be your favorite thing! Remember when we invited you over to Lord Champa's palace and you destroyed all of his pottery because, and I quote: 'He was a bad kitty!'?"

"I remember," Vados said, sipping her tea.

Sunset's eyebrow twitched.

"Oh my," Belldandy said, "It seems like Sunset really misbehaved while she was your guest, Vados-chan."

'Truly unruly, these former mortals are,' Kuro added knowingly.

The 'Goddess' table as a whole nodded sagely.

"Why, I remember having to calm Lord Champa by putting him to sleep long enough for Sunset-chan to learn pottery and fix the ones she had broken," Vados said.

"You… learned pottery?" Charlie asked, incredulous. She shifted a little, still getting used to all the humans—and inter-dimensional gods and angels that were not actually antagonistic—but she was the princess of hell, dammit! So she continued with her line of questioning, "and you learned how to do it well enough to fix the pots in the palace of a god?"

Sunset smirked.

"Oh, no." Vados spoke up. "Her 'pots' were half-molten abominations. As soon as she was gone, I ordered Kale to destroy them all and I just made new ones."

Sunset's smirk vanished.

"Don't feel discouraged. It's all about making up for your mistakes, Sunset-chan," Belldandy added with a gentle smile.

'Indeed.' Kuro smirked. 'Sunset-chan.'

Vados smiled. "It helps build character."

Rainbow Dash burst out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

Sunset looked down at the map on her bar, then up at the expectant faces of Scrooge and Della. Behind them, Duck!Rarity smiled. "So you want me to go with you to Muspelheim."

"Quite right, dear, although you'll have to make sure to transform to fit with the locals."

"You mean the fire giants?"

Duck!Rarity tilted her head. "I mean a duck."

Sunset sighed. "Look, it's not that I don't want to help, but you three should be able to tackle this one on your own. The clues are right there!"

"We know," Scrooge said with a confident smile. "But why search for a staff that will turn us into fire, when we know someone who is quite effective with it already?"

Sunset sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Did you know that fire bending and general pyromancy are a lot more difficult to manage adequately when you're in what basically amounts to an elemental plane of fire?"

Iroh raised an eyebrow, carefully avoiding looking up at the very short hair regrowing from Sunset's scalp. "You don't say."

"Alas! The beer and mead are beyond my grasp!"

Sunset glanced at Thor. "Shut up and drink your protein drink. You said you wanted to get back in shape."

"Heh. You're such a child."

"Here's your milkshake, Quill."

Rocket Raccoon turned to face Quill. "You came into a bar and ordered a milkshake?!"

"I am Groot."

"It's a very good milkshake!"

"So how are you feeling?" Freya asked as she helped clean up one of the tables.

"Exhausted," Sunset admitted. "But happy."

"Why wouldn't you be?" Lena asked, bringing several empty glasses over behind the counter and putting them in the sink. "You made a killing tonight, but I still don't understand what could possibly possess you to allow Tenchi's entire family, plus the Juraian nobility to celebrate a wedding here."

"They needed neutral territory, and my bar won't let enemies in," Sunset said. "Plus Ayeka asked me right in front of Belldandy."

"Yeah, well, I wish you would let some villains in occasionally," Danni offered from where she was wiping the tables she had managed that night. "I haven't had a good fight in a while."

"I'm sure you would, dear," Rarity said, going through the register. "But I'd rather not have to deduct from anyone's salary if equipment got destroyed."

Sunset merely chuckled and shook her head. "I'm just glad that now that it's all over and I can spend it with my family."

"Aww." Lena said, deadpan, but her smile betrayed her sarcasm as false. That still earned her a smack on the shoulder from Danni.

The doorbell chimed and they all stopped, surprised. They turned to the entrance where a tall alicorn stood, eyes wide as she took in the whole place. "Oh my. This isn't my bedroom." The mare still walked in, glancing curiously at everything until she stood in front of Sunset, blinking. "Sunset Shimmer?" her smile grew. "Twilight had told me about your bar, but I didn't think…"

"I—"

"You did say you wanted to spend time with family," Freya said. "It seems your bar took you at your word."

"I—" Sunset shook her head, licking her lips and taking a deep breath. "I… guess you're here! Would you like something to drink?"

Celestia smiled. "Tea, please."

"Coming right up!" Rarity said. When Sunset looked at her in surprise, she shrugged. "It's not often your mom comes visiting."

"But I—"

"Sunset?" Celestia spoke up, drawing the bartender's attention back to her. "Why don't you introduce me to your family?"

Sunset blinked a couple of times, then chuckled and looked up at the bar, shaking her head in amusement before smiling more honestly at her guest. "Come on, let's go sit down and talk."

As they walked to sit down, Celestia giggled. "I can't believe you told them I'm your mom."

"I didn't. Rarity is just the type of person to say that kind of thing."

Celestia's smile became a little less pronounced. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I know now it wasn't to be."

"Perhaps. I look back on those days with regret on a lot of things, but I am glad you turned out to be the mare that you are today. Or human." She stopped and pulled Sunset into a hug with her wings. "I'm proud of you, Sunset Shimmer. More so than you might believe. You might have not been my daughter but… I do love you like family."

Sunset leaned into the embrace. "Thank you, Celestia."

The Princess nodded and sat down, summoning a book as the others came and took their seats. Sunset frowned. The book looked familiar. With widening, panicking eyes she finally recognized it. "Oh no."

"Now," Princess Celestia said, "who wants to see baby pictures of Sunset?"

End Chapter

Author's Note

Series:

"The Secret of Ukyo" - Fanfic (Ratatouille, Ranma 1/2, Secret of NIMH, others)
"Lord of the Rings" - Books/Movie
"Dai no Daibouken" - Dragon Quest anime 90s & Sparkle's No. 1 Assistant - fanfic
"Hell's Bells Saga" - Ask Pen Stroke
"Digital Souls" - Fanfic (Digimon Adventure/Megaman X) & (MIB/Digimon Adventure follow-up story)
Various series/universes - Hazbin Hotel, Ah! Megamisama, EqG, Dragonball Super, Restaurant to Another World
Ducktales - 2018 ongoing series
Avatar: The Last Airbender
MCU post Endgame (Asguardians of the Galaxy)
Tenchi Muyo

Paws of Thermodynamics (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 1)

Sunset's Isekai
Paws of Thermodynamics (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 1)
By Wanderer D

Sunset looked down at her paws and wiggled them gently, noticing how they were slightly longer than they should have been, closer to hands. She admired her claws, feral and sharp. She touched her face. Her muzzle. Touched her fangs with her tongue. Panted. Licked her nose. She wagged her tail. She adjusted her jeans (which had a convenient gap for her tail to go through) and her jacket. She summoned a mirror, admiring her looks. At least her hair was still there, if shorter, framing her canine face. "A wolf?" she finally asked, dismissing the mirror.

"A red wolf, and I dare say a lovely one at that, with that shade of cantaloupe to your fur," Rarity replied, stretching a bit, her long neck almost inviting a bite. She noticed Sunset's look. "Really, darling, what would Freya say if she caught you staring at me with those eyes?"

Sunset cringed and cleared her throat, glancing away. "Sorry. Sorry. It's… weird. It's a very similar transformation to the cat kingdom, instincts, animal senses and everything."

"Well, if you handled being a cat for Haru's wedding, I'm sure you can handle being a wolf in a big city." Rarity said.

"I guess that's true," Sunset agreed, "but also, well… you're an antelope."

Rarity posed. "The best antelope."

Sunset snorted. "Anyway, it's not overwhelming, just different. Still, this is just..." she glanced at the city spread around them. "Reminds me of Anima City. Except it's less anthropomorphic."

"This city is called Zootopia, and this is basically the capital of this world. It's huge, far bigger than what we can see from here, with biomes adjusted for species that have different biological needs. Like, say Babylon 5, this place is intended to bring both prey and predator species together for a better future."

Sunset shrugged. She'd seen space stations before. This was the same principle. "So, what are we doing here?"

"You, my dear, are sight-seeing." Her business partner stated, crossing her arms, and glaring at her. "You've been cooped up in the bar without visiting any other worlds for far too long. If Scrooge and I didn't come by to drag you out on occasion, you'd have been stuck in there for fifty years straight since your last outing."

"I wasn't there that long," she replied, ears flattening back.

Rarity just gave her a look. "In any case, try not to get into too much trouble, alright dear? We're here for a week or two, so no inter-dimensional customers."

"But—"

"Ah, ah!" Rarity raised a finger. "No talking back, young lady. This world is not ready to know about other universes and you getting dear G'kar involved in the politics of this place would be…" she paused, then sighed. "Bad. Hilarious. But bad. Also, magic does not exist here, so keep it to yourself. Just be glad no one saw that mirror stunt."

Sunset sighed. "Fine, fine." She glanced at the door, missing it's usual sign.

"Sunset," Rarity lay a gentle hoof on her shoulder. "You need to relax. It really has been a long time since you've last gone anywhere for longer than a couple of hours. The bar will still be our home, just don't use it as a bar while we're here." She tapped her chin, a habit she had picked up from Sunset herself. "Just do like you did in Universe 7."

"Tch." Sunset crossed her arms, and looked away, channeling her inner Vegeta. "Fine."

"I knew I could count on you," Rarity said, rubbing Sunset's head. Both of them looked back at the latter's behind when the tail started wagging. "Oh my goodness, you're adorable."

"Yeah, yeah," Sunset muttered. "Go on. Scram."

Rarity giggled and waved as she started walking away. "See you in a few weeks, Sunset."

"Whatever you're planning, make sure it's not illegal!"

Rarity didn't turn, but Sunset could tell her partner had actually giggled. She sighed in defeat, then started walking towards the train station. Regardless of her earlier grumpiness, she quickly started enjoying the view.

The city was wide and open, with plenty of space for everyone. Animals of all sizes and species—even ones that would normally not even be in the same ecosystem—mingled, talked and laughed together. She dodged a group of kids… cubs? Tigers, sheep, pigs and what looked like a house cat, ran past her, giggling and playing with each other.

The weather was great.

"This place is unreal," she muttered, just as an elderly goat ran past her, shouting and waving at the children.

"Kids! Come back! It's time to head over to the museum of history!"

"Aww, can we stay longer, Miss Babbage?" a young cheetah asked, joining the group, along with a pair of zebras.

"Why the museum? Can't we go somewhere else? Besides, I thought we were banned when Harold broke that arrow head."

"We are not banned, and this is a planned field trip," Miss Babbage responded. "Now, make sure you have all your things and are ready to go."

The chorus of disappointed groans made Sunset smile. Children would be children, no matter the world. Still, this world was pretty unique, and what better way to learn more about it than at a museum? She approached the group. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear that you were going to the museum?" she asked, stopping a respectful distance from the teacher and her group. "I'm new in town, and it just seems like a perfect place to start learning more about Zootopia. If you could point me in the right direction to get there, I would really appreciate it."

Miss Babbage had been giving her a wary look, but as soon as she heard that, she relaxed a little. "It's okay, dear, why don't you walk with us? It's just a couple of blocks away."

Sunset smiled. "That would be great, thank you."

"Miss Babbage? Why does she have such long hair? Is she half-lion?" one of the tigers, a little girl, asked.

Looking around, Sunset did notice that most other animals only had their usual length of hair or fur. She looked down at the tiny tiger and knelt down to be on her same level. "Do you like it?"

The tiger nodded. "It's pretty! And it has two colors!"

"Thanks! What's your name?"

"I'm Molly," the tiny tigress replied.

"Kelly!" one of the zebras said.

The other children enthusiastically introduced themselves, making Sunset repeat all their names a couple of times to their satisfaction. "My name is Sunset, nice to meet you."

Miss Babbage cleared her throat, making Sunset stand up and the children gather 'round. "Okay kids, I see everyone's here. Miss Sunset will walk with us to the museum."

True to Miss Babbage's word, the museum was only two blocks away, still within reasonable distance from the train station, and the large plaza where most of the ecosystems had direct transportation to, which made sense. Sunset noticed that there was a sign for a train station next to the museum, but it had been cordoned off with police tape.

"Huh, Miss Babbage? Do you know what happened to the train station here?"

"Oh, it was severely damaged when officers Hopps and Wilde took down the Night-howlers operation."

"Yeah! Officer Hopps rules!" one of the zebras yelled.

"Kids, we're going in. Inside voices please."

Sunset chuckled and turned to face the teacher. "Thank you so much for bringing me here. I hope you guys have fun!"

"Bye miss Sunset!" the children echoed each other as they walked into the museum after their teacher.

Sunset waved at them before taking in the site. It was huge, with arches and marble columns. It extended far and beyond where she could see and even though there were giraffes and elephants among the patrons, they all seemed small in comparison to the structure itself. She took a deep breath and stepped in, taking some local money out of her pocket and dropping it in the donations box, which earned her a grateful nod from a nearby rhino guard. The main lobby was circular, curving around a model of Zootopia. The murals depicted scenes from the past, with a tribe of zebras and a tribe of lions in the savanna shaking hooves and paws.

For the next hour, Sunset made her way slowly through the first couple of exhibits. There was so much history here that was so similar, and yet different to both of her original worlds, that internalizing the similarities and seeing where it differed was an interesting mental experiment. This place would take more than a couple of visits to fully appreciate.

She smelled something burning almost as soon as she heard the alarm blaring. The security guards started shouting for everyone to walk outside, and the building shook with several explosions of some sort.

Sunset followed the other animals out of the building, stepping back as more and more rushed out and the smoke coming out of the windows got thicker. Another explosion followed, and someone shouted that the main gas line might be compromised.

It didn't take long for sirens to approach, and several firefighters and police arrived at the scene. Sunset grimaced. The museum was beautiful, it was a shame that something like this had happened. Hopefully the firefighters—

"Please, officer!"

She turned her head to the familiar voice, and she ran over to where Miss Babbage and several—but not all—of the children were crowding around an elephant police officer. "Oh no. That's not good…" Sunset muttered. It was too obvious… three of the kids were missing. "Miss Babbage! Where are Molly, Santino, and Josh?"

"Oh, Sunset!" Babbage gasped, taking her arm. "They're inside! They split from the group to go to the restrooms next to the Mammoth and Sabre-tooth exhibit! I couldn't get to them before we were chased out!" she looked up at the officer. "Please! They're only children!"

The elephant shook her head. "I'm sorry ma'am, but the firefighters will do what they can. I'm sure that—" she was interrupted when the flames erupted from the doors of the museum, despite the firefighters' attempts to put it out.

Sunset watched the fire then glanced at the Zootopia fire department. They would put the fire out, but they were not going to make it in time. Especially since, if she recalled the map of the museum correctly, that exhibit was towards the back, on the second floor.

She felt her fur rise and glared at the entrance. She could feel the flow and heat of the fire. It would consume most of the building before it was put out. She had no choice.

"I can save them."

The animals, children, teacher, and officer around her just paused and stared at her. It took barely a second before the elephant raised her arm in protest.

"Miss! Stop!"

Sunset didn't even hesitate. The moment she made up her mind, she had rushed past the elephant officer, dodged a tackle by a rabbit officer, and bolted right in between two firefighters. She had abandoned any attempt to move on her hind legs only, and the boost of speed from her new body was impressive. She was much faster than she would have been as human, for sure.

The building shook once more, and fire poured out of the doors and windows, licking the outside of the structure and sending a blast of heat that staggered the other animals… but not Sunset.

Despite the fact that Judy Hopps didn't have that many fond memories of the Zootopia Museum of Natural History, seeing it in flames was definitely not as cathartic as she might have expected. The place had given her nightmares... dreams where everything had gone wrong; where Nick had died in the train crash, or where he had been shot with a real Night-howler. It had always ended with him asking her why didn't she save him.

And now, once again she was here, but this time working the perimeter to let the firefighters do their job. She and the other officers were simply there to support and keep the gawkers from getting too close or endangering themselves and others.

"They're only children!"

Judy cringed at the desperate wail and glanced at where Pennington was trying to calm down a goat with a small group of children, and a wolf with fancy hair. She understood too well the frustration, especially with children being involved, but— she narrowed her eyes when the wolf turned to look at the building. That look was much more familiar to her. It was the look that said: 'I'm doing this, and you ain't gonna stop me.'

Lo and behold, the wolf darted past Pennington like she wasn't even there. Having anticipated this, Judy had already taken a running leap at the she-wolf, but she was faster than expected, dodging under Judy's jump, and making eye contact for the briefest of seconds before bouncing up the stairs just as yet another flare pushed everyone back… however, the wolf seemed unaffected, and dove right through the flames.

"Miss Sunset!"

Judy pushed herself up and trotted over to Pennington. "What happened!? Why did she do that?"

"I don't know!" Pennington's voice had a tinge of hysteria to it. "She said she could save them and ran in!"

"I can't believe she jumped through the fire like that!" one of the firefighters shouted to the other, who shook his head and grimly kept pouring water. "She's dead, for sure!"

Judy turned to look at the goat teacher as she tried to calm down the crying children. "Why did the other teacher do that?"

"She's not a teacher," the goat lady answered, giving the museum a mournful look. "We met her today, she's new in town."

"She must've gone crazy," Pennington said sadly. "There's no way anyone would just… do that."

"Look!" A nearby wildebeest shouted pointing at the museum.

Judy and the others turned around just in time to see a ball of fire jump out from the entrance, landing right next to the firefighters and rolling to a stop, as the flames dissipated, revealing the she-wolf from earlier, breathing heavy and steaming, apparently, but more importantly holding three young children, which she released, falling onto her back, panting.

The crowds that had gathered and gasped at her daring, started cheering and shouting in amazement. Cell phones and cameras flashed all around at the unexpected heroics of a single wolf saving a tiger, a zebra and a pig.

"Molly! Josh! Santino!" the goat teacher gasped, followed by the children around them. Judy and Pennington watched as the kids joined their teacher, before glancing down at the smug looking, sprawled she-wolf, who was grinning at Pennington.

"Told you I could do it."

Judy rolled her eyes. "It was still crazy."

The young tigress coughed, then looked up at her with blurry eyes. "Officer Hopps? Miss Sunset isn't in trouble, is she?"

"Don't worry, while reckless, we could argue it falls into the Good Neighbor law, right Pennington?" She looked all the way up at her elephant coworker, who nodded eagerly, if a bit distractedly.

"Oh yeah. Um. Hopps, I just saw the Mayor Lionheart's limo pull up."

At the elephant's words, Judy groaned. "Great, hopefully he'll stay focused right now."

"Officer Hopps!" one of the firefighters—a panda—trotted up to her. "I just got a call from officer Wilde, he said the gas lines have all been shut down. I don't know if that was really what was going on here, but it should help."

"Seems to be doing the job," the she-wolf said, still on the floor. Her eyes were on the museum and Judy also looked that way. It wasn't too obvious, but she thought she could see that the flames were slowly receding.

"Right." Judy shook her head, and nodded at the panda—who ran off to assist the other firefighters—and offered a paw to the wolf, who blinked in surprise, but took her offer. Soon, the she-wolf was standing up and wiping her jeans and jacket.

"Hopps!" the familiar voice of Mayor Lionheart reached them, as the lion himself made his way past the crowds and officers. "What's the situation?"

"Well, sir," Judy said, standing a bit straighter and bracing herself. "It seems the fire department has a handle on the situation now. We don't know what caused this yet, but we'll keep you informed."

Lionheart growled slightly at the sight of the museum. "This is a tragedy. The artifacts inside the museum, the possible loss of life… it'll be a dark day in the history of Zootopia."

He then turned to look at the wolf taking her paw in his. "I saw your stunt on social media, miss…"

"Um… Sunset. Sunset Shimmer," the wolf replied.

"Sunset Shimmer!" he repeated, smiling wildly. "What you have done by saving these three children can never be measured, but please expect an invitation after the fire is put out… officer Hopps here can take your number."

Judy blinked. "Uh… me, sir?"

"Of course! We need all the heroes we can get to reassure the people of Zootopia in these trying times. Make sure you bring officer Wilde along for the press conference."

"Press conference?" Sunset asked. "Look, sir, I appreciate it, but I just did what anyone who knows their way around fire would do. There's really no need—"

"Oh, don't be shy!" Mayor Lionheart insisted, his personality pushing full-strength as he wrapped his arm around the wolf and motioned to the crowd around them. "Everyone here knows you're a hero! And here in Zootopia, we make sure our heroes are recognized." He glanced over. "Isn't that right, Officer Hopps?"

"It's unavoidable." Judy muttered. Something was nagging her about the conversation, but what?

"So, you both make sure to come around at the right time. I heard you were from out of town, correct? Well, since Officer Hopps will be joining us later, I'm sure she'd be happy to show you around."

"Sir, there's really no need for this. Really."

"Hopps?"

"Yes sir?"

"Why don't you and miss Shimmer go fetch Wilde, and have something to eat. Put it on my tab."

"Sir, I'm working right now and—"

"I've already cleared it with Chief Bogo." Lionheart gave her a slightly strained smile.

Judy sighed. "Fine."

"Great! I'll see you two later!"

She watched the Mayor walk away and jump into his limo, and just like that he was gone.

"I'm sorry," Sunset Shimmer said. "I know you have better things to do than show a tourist around."

Judy shrugged and shook her head. "Nothing we can do right now. Besides, the other officers have this under control, and knowing Chief Bogo, he's already sent support. That and—" she glanced at the museum, "—for now there's nothing much we can do until the scene is investigated by professionals."

"Miss Shimmer!" The little tigress from earlier ran over to give Sunset a hug. "Thank you for saving us!"

"Of course! I couldn't just abandon my first friends in the city, right?" She ruffled the kid's hair and stood up. "Take good care of them, Miss Babbage."

"Of course, Sunset, and thank you," the goat said, taking Sunset's paws in her cloven hooves. The wolf waved at them all then stepped next to Judy, looking down to meet her eyes. "Well, officer, where to?"

"First we're finding Nick," Judy said, turning around and motioning for Sunset to follow. "And then, we're going somewhere expensive."

"Heh. I like you already."

End Part 1

Author's Note

Welcome to part 1 of the Zootopia crossover! Why part 1? Well, I wanted to do something slightly different this time around, and force Sunset out of her natural habitat in a way that wasn't a noodle incident. It'll still stick to the normal bar routine later on, but why not have some fun with one of my favorite rabbits?

Snout my Favorite Dish (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 2)

Sunset's Isekai
Snout my Favorite Dish (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 2)
By Wanderer D

"Right this way, Miss Hopps."

Sunset followed the odd pair of officers after the Maitre D', who sat them at a private table. Or as private as it could be, with several animals glancing their way and whispering among themselves.

"Emile will be here soon to serve you," the Maitre D' said before heading back to the entrance.

Sunset noticed that they were the only mixed table that she could see, although some tables were angled in ways that stopped her from doing so. "So, uh, I take it predators and herbivores don't eat together often?"

Nick and Judy glanced at each other. "Not really, no." Nick responded. "It's a diet thing, you understand. Many herbivores would rather just not be exposed to a carnivore diet, and well, predators might feel uncomfortable eating certain things while herbivores are sitting right across from them."

Sunset turned to look at Judy, who shrugged. "I got used to it. I won't eat it."

"Huh. I guess it makes sense."

Nick grinned and elbowed Judy. "Come on, carrots. You know you want a big, juicy BugBurger."

Judy rolled her eyes. "Nope. Unless you win that bet, it's not happening."

"What bet?" Sunset asked.

"It's a secret," Nick said, shrugging apologetically, but his grin never diminishing. "Unfortunately if it's revealed, then it doesn't count."

Curious, she was about to push further when the waiter, a rhino of all things, gently lowered a menu for her, then for the others. "The menus, madam," he said.

"Thank you," Sunset replied, smiling at the rhino, before opening it up.

"I'll be right back with some water," he said to them, then stepped away, leaving them to study the menu in silence.

"You can order anything you want, Miss Shimmer," Nick said, "Mayor Leonheart paying, after all."

Sunset chuckled. "You'll have to tell me what the story between you guys is, but I'm not very hungry... " her eyes scanned the menu one last time, just as the waiter arrived and placed their water on the table…. and a wine glass in front of Sunset.

"Courtesy of the gentleman on that table," the rhino said, motioning with his horn at an elderly tiger who nodded briefly at her, before returning to the conversation with his partner. "With his compliments on saving the children, madam."

Sunset raised the glass with practiced confidence, swirling the ruby-red liquid gently and analyzing it against the light before sniffing delicately at the rim. Her nose, already trained with wines across the multiverse, revealed a cornucopia of aromas, as her canine senses revealed even much more than she had ever experienced before. The slight cherry was there, the earthiness, but she could now tell scents from before the wine was aged. "Hm, honey, and pollen... slight hints of vanilla and… an aroma of leaves after the rain. Aged in mixed barrels of oak from different regions, and…" she sipped it, closing her eyes and letting the flavor flood her senses. She grinned, and opened her eyes. "Please thank the gentleman for me, he has excellent taste, and a generous heart to have gifted me such an old vintage."

The rhino smirked, and Sunset could have sworn some of the other customers nearby seemed to relax a little. "I will let the gentleman know, madam," he said, his tone more gentle and welcoming than earlier. Seeing her enjoying another taste of the wine, he turned to face Judy and Nick, his smirk disappearing, although he remained professional, if obviously more aloof. "May I take your order now, miss Hopps?"

"Oh," Judy shook her head, "um, yes. I will have the caramelized carrot risotto please." The rhino nodded, writing it down. "Mr. Wilde?"

Nick tapped his paws together, grinning. "I will have the salmon dinner please, and a glass of whatever she's drinking." He motioned to Sunset's glass.

The waiter raised an eyebrow. "I see," he replied. Although his tone was almost neutral, there were hints of amusement and slight disapproval. "I shall be back with your glass."

"I don't know, Nick," Judy whispered, "that sounded pretty expensive."

"It's on the mayor's tab tonight," Nick whispered back.

The waiter turned to face Sunset herself, who was now beginning to wonder just how much Nick was willing to push the Mayor before they got fired. "I will have the Caesar Salad, please."

Judy looked up, eyes wide. "That's it?"

"Yep, I'm not very hungry, and I'd like something light."

"Why not add a salmon to that?" Judy insisted, just as Nick started giggling.

Sunset glanced at the waiter and shook her head, to which he responded with a gentle nod before leaving.

Judy sank down on her seat and sighed, ears drooping.

"What's wrong, Judy?"

"I… don't want to talk about it," she responded, elbowing Nick again as the latter hadn't stopped giggling and giving her smug looks. "Anyway, I'm surprised by your wine knowledge."

"Yeah, and it wasn't just you, carrots," Nick added, looking over at Sunset. "Most of the tables around us reacted to your evaluation of the wine."

"Oh, I wouldn't be surprised," a familiar voice said. Sunset blinked in surprise when the gentleman tiger from earlier approached with a familiar gazelle holding his arm. "Sunset has tried exotic wines worlds apart from the norm, wouldn't you agree, dear?"

"Rarity?" Sunset almost stood up, but her partner motioned with her hoof for her to remain seated.

"I must say, however, your choice of dressing is… appalling for the venue. I'm sure you learned better."

"It was unexpected, Rarity," Sunset hissed. "It's not like I anticipated coming here for dinner."

"As unexpected as it was," the tiger gentleman said, "I am very glad you visited our city, your highness. I've heard a great many things about you through the years. I am very honored to meet you."

Sunset cringed. "What have you been telling people, Rarity?"

Rarity grinned. "Nothing your mother wouldn't say."

"Oh. It is on." Sunset growled. "You and I are having words after this trip is done," she hissed, before turning to face the tiger. "I'm very sorry sir, I did not intend to be rude. Thank you very much for the wine, it is delicious. And Rarity exaggerates my status."

The tiger laughed. "On the contrary, in circles like ours you are already a legend."

"Oh, I recognize you…" Judy said suddenly, staring at the tiger. "You're Mr. Clawbite, one of the partners of Clawhorn and Hoof."

The tiger grinned, showing his fangs to full effect. "That is indeed me, Miss Hopps." He bowed. "It is indeed an honor to meet three heroes of our fair city in one night! Thank you both for your service," he said to Nick and Judy, then inclined his head to Sunset, "And thank you, your highness, for saving my granddaughter today."

Sunset stared at him blankly for a moment, then it slowly dawned on her. "Molly! She's your granddaughter?"

"Quite right," Clawbite replied. "I saw in the news that you had saved three children from the burning museum, but I didn't realize Molly had been one of them until my son called me to inform me she was fine… thanks to you."

"She's adorable, smart, and brave," Sunset said, "I'm glad I was there to help out."

"Well, dear, it seems your food is coming, don't let us keep interrupting," Rarity giggled. She was about to turn away when Sunset grabbed her arm, gently but firmly.

"Rarity. Please stop that. You know how the princess and I feel about… that. And it's unfair to us both."

Rarity sighed and reached over with her other hoof to pet Sunset's hair. "Fine dear. I didn't mean to upset you. We can talk about this after your vacation if you want, but I won't bring it up again."

"Thank you." She let the antelope go, and watched them walk out of the restaurant together.

"So… highness?" Nick asked.

Sunset covered her face with her paws. "I'm gonna kill her."

Judy watched Sunset eat the salad, chowing it down between grumbling about her friend talking too much. She was a real conundrum. Adventurer, well educated, knowledgeable about wine, apparently royalty, and a rebel. It sort of reminded her of a videogame character.

Nick had asked a few questions without being too pushy. Yes, she had grown up with royalty. No, she was not really a royal herself. Yes, she had a job. Yes, she travelled a lot. Yes, that fancy antelope was her friend. Yes, they had come together.

So far, she was still a mystery. What was her connection—or her friend's connection—to one of the heads of the largest law firm in Zootopia? They almost never appeared in public with any animal that wasn't extremely wealthy, and Sunset herself (despite evidence to the contrary) didn't seem like the type that would mix in that world.

And whether Sunset was being honest and she wasn't really royalty or not, she was clearly someone of some importance. Clawbite had said that he had heard of her before, and that she was some sort of legend… but what kind?

"So," their guest spoke up, "what does Mr. Clawbite do?"

Nick and Judy looked at each other. "Basically? He is co-owner of one of the largest, if not the largest law firm in all of Zootopia. They are involved with many, many cases, mostly related to prominent citizens, like Mayor Lionheart's case, or representing other large corporations."

"Oh," Sunset sighed. "One of those." She rubbed her temple. "Rarity really gets with all sorts."

Judy immediately grabbed the chance. "So, your friend Rarity…"

"She's my business partner," Sunset clarified, sipping her wine and frowning when Nick grabbed his own and took a deep drink. "Nick, that's something to enjoy slowly."

Caught in the act, Nick's eyes went wide before he quickly lowered the glass. "Sorry."

"Anyway," Sunset said, "enough about me. Why don't you tell me the story behind Mayor Lionheart?"

Judy chuckled. "Well, this is going to take a while."

"I saw creme brulee on the menu, I'm not leaving quite yet."

"Well, then we have to start at the beginning of all of this," Judy said. "You see, I always wanted to be a cop since I was a little girl back in Bunnyburrow..."

Later on, the three were walking in the dimming light of Zootopia's downtown. The mayor had called earlier to inform them that the fire had been completely put out, and that he expected all three bright and early in the morning for a speech.

"Three hundred."

"Yes, Nick, we heard you the first thirteen times," Judy muttered.

"But Judy, I just charged the Mayor's account for a three hundred dollar glass of wine!"

"And I'm sure he'll wish to speak to you about that later," Judy said, sharing a smirk with Sunset. "But it will be after he publicly speaks about your character, your dedication to duty and heroism," she quipped. "You know how he is."

"Oh, you're enjoying this, aren't you Carrots?"

"Oh-hoho. Yes, I am."

"You and me, Carrots, we're having words later."

"So, you and officer Hopps?" Sunset asked. "Are you a couple?"

"What?"

"No!"

"It's against rules to fraternize!"

"Her parents wouldn't approve!"

"Wait, it's against the rules?"

"But... my parents love you!"

Sunset stopped and crossed her arms. "So that would be a yes."

"Just get in the car."

Judy tried not to get flustered by Sunset's evident amusement as they all got into the patrol car she and Nick had been assigned and started driving. It didn't take long before a call came in.

"Hopps." Chief Bogo's voice came through the radio. "If you and Wilde are done with the Mayor's guest, please meet with the fire chief at the Museum. I'm appointing you to this case."

Judy picked up the radio and clicked the transmitter. "Roger that sir. So it wasn't an accident?"

"That's up to you and Chief Sprout."

"Right sir. We're about to drop Sunset Shimmer at her place of residence. We will head over as soon as that's done."

"Roger that."

"Aaand there it is," Sunset said, pointing at a door with a weird yin-yang symbol on it. "Home, sweet home."

Judy stopped in front of it and the trio stepped out of the car. "It was very nice to meet you, Sunset," Judy said, shaking paws with her.

"The pleasure was mine," she said, doing the same with Nick. "Good luck with your investigation tonight."

"Thank you!"

Judy watched Sunset push the door open and step inside. It was odd, seeing something like a bar in such a high-end district, and… was that place bigger on the inside? She narrowed her eyes, but the door closed before she could confirm what she had seen.

"Earth to Judy? Carrots, you still with us?"

She shook her head. "Yeah. Yeah, sorry Nick. I thought I saw something strange, that's all."

Nick placed a reassuring paw on her shoulder. "Do you want to call it a night? I can meet with Chief Sprout and summarize things for you later."

Judy rolled back her shoulders and stood straighter. "No, I'm fine, let's go."

It took them about ten minutes to drive back to the Museum, where they were escorted to the Chief of the Zootopia fire department.

Chief Sprout was a Hippo, and he did not mess around. As soon as Judy and Nick had reported in, he had walked them through the still steaming remains of the museum, down the stairs, and into a mostly destroyed storage area.

Several artifacts had been destroyed, and those that had survived thanks to their containers, were either damaged beyond recognition or in dire need of fixing. It was a burnt-out mess, except for a small area where a perfectly clean spot remained, free of soot, marks of any kind. Instead, there was a clear circle of burnt marks around it, almost looking like…

"An explosion?" she asked.

Chief Sprout nodded.

"But what was inside? This place only has ancient artifacts right? Nothing that would explode."

"We don't know," the chief replied, walking over to a large piece of debris. "But it this is part of the box that contained it," he added turning it around.

Judy stared at the symbol on the box and groaned.

"Hey, that's the Clawhorn and Hoof logo," Nick said. He then frowned. "Oh… you don't think…"

"We'll need to look into it," Judy said. She turned to look at the chief and nodded. "Thank you chief, I'm sure CSI will let us know what they found."

The chief nodded back and let them walk away.

"Judy?"

"Hm?"

"I know that look."

"Yes. It's exactly the look you're thinking about," she replied, "We're heading over to talk to Sunset."

End Part 2

Author's Note

No, Celestia is not Sunset's official mom. Rarity just likes trolling her.

Something's Buggin' Me (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 3)

Sunset's Isekai
Something's Buggin' Me (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 3)
By Wanderer D

"Come on, Carrots, we must have the wrong street."

"We were here earlier, Nick, you know this was the right place!"

Nick yawned. "All I know is that it's three in the morning, and we've been driving around so often that the family of opossums at number 54 has been playing dead for half an hour."

"But we dropped her off here!"

"Carrots." Nick placed a paw on her shoulder. "It's late, and we need to be here early in the morning to pick her up. Let's just do that. I'm sure we've missed something with all the excitement and we'll be able to work with a clearer mind then."

"Nick, it was right on this spot!"

"I know, but it isn't now, and—" he yawned "—it's really late. Let's get some rest."

Judy sighed. "Fine."

"Your place or mine?"

"Yours," she muttered. "It's closer." She rolled her eyes and started driving. "I think I have some clean clothes left there still."

Nick grinned. "A whole wardrobe. I hate to break it to you, Carrots, but either you move in and help with rent, or I'll start charging you for storage."

"Aww, you wouldn't charge little poor me."

The pair chuckled as they drove, settling into comfortable silence. Around them, the city slowed down, with few mostly nocturnal species enjoying the late evening. "So what did you think of her?" Judy asked.

"Hm? Sunset?"

"Yeah."

"I dunno. Nice, I guess," Nick shrugged, leaning back on his seat and crossing his arms behind his head. "She's certainly had an interesting life."

Judy glanced at him. "What makes you say that? She wasn't very forthcoming with the questions. I think we talked more than she did, except when her partner showed up."

"I don't know, exactly," Nick said, frowning as he apparently tried to organize his thoughts. "It's just this… feeling I get from her, you know? There's instincts that tell you to run… instincts that tell you that you can probably win, instincts that warn you about an animal you meet… and this is something like that. I don't know how, but I can tell: she's seen a lot of things."

"And it's not just from vacationing," Judy added, nodding. "I also got the same feeling. Add to that how she was able to just run into the fire… I was there, Nick. The air was so hot it pushed the firefighters back, and she just shrugged it off."

"What, like a superhero?" Nick asked. "Her fur looked just as flammable as ours, Carrots."

"Well, she wasn't on fire when she ran out of the museum, Nick, that's for sure. And you saw the damage the fire did to the walls and the exhibits." She slowed down to a stop at a traffic light, and tapped her fingers on the wheel. "In fact, the kids were also okay… which is good! I heard that they had been hiding in the bathroom, which makes sense… but how did she cross that inferno, get to them, pick them up and run all the way out with none of them even getting singed?"

"Well, wolves are really fast…"

"Not that fast, and you know it."

Nick glanced at her. "Carrots. What are you planning?"

Judy smiled. He really knew her well. "Tomorrow's event is at noon, right? And we promised to pick up Sunset early… but that gives us time to talk to the children too."

Nick sighed. "So straight to sleep it is. So much for having a bit of fun before hitting the hay."

Judy felt her cheeks warm up. "Well… for tonight, yes."

The next morning

Judy smiled at the yawning face of Mrs. Truffles. "Good morning! I was hoping we could have a word with Josh before the Mayor's speech later today?"

Behind her, she could hear Nick yawn.

"Um… sure," Mrs. Truffles said. "He just finished having breakfast. Please come on in."

They followed her into the living room, where the young pig was happily playing videogames until he looked up and saw them. He quickly hit pause. "Officer Hopps! Wow!"

"Hello to you too, kid," Nick muttered.

Judy elbowed him gently, and he chuckled.

"Hi, Josh. How are you today?"

"I'm doing great! Can you sign my poster?"

Judy blinked as he ran up and returned with one of the posters that had her posing with the "Welcome to Zootopia!" slogan under it.

Nick turned to look at Mrs. Truffles. "Celebrity cops, huh?"

Was he jealous? He was! Oh, this was too good. But first…

"Sure, but how about you do me a favor too?" Judy said, "I know it must be scary to remember, but can you tell me about when Sunset saved you?"

"Oh!" his eyes brightened up, and his mom sighed, no doubt having heard the story a thousand times. Mrs. Truffles sighed and offered Nick a bagel, which he accepted enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, Josh continued, "she was amazing! We were all in the bathroom, because you know, Santino said it'd be safer there, and Molly opened all the water so that fire wouldn't come in… and yeah, they were scared, but you know, I wasn't."

Judy smiled, patting his head. "Of course not, I can see you're really brave. So what happened next?"

"Well… we waited for a while, and then the door was punched open! It flew right into the trashbin! And then there were flames all around us, but we didn't get burnt, and Miss Shimmer walked into the room and she saw as and she smiled and said…"

"...come on guys, I know a way out," Santino quoted, while his mother and father had a coffee with Nick. "It was amazing! You know how in Kung Fu Panda they do things with their fist and the elements react? That was exactly it! She picked us up and charged out into the fire. I thought we were going to die… it was all flames and falling pieces of walls and stuff…"

"...but she, I don't know how she did it," Molly said, motioning with her hand in a circle, as if she was imitating a martial artist. "Did something like this, and the fire just… bent around us. Then she held us close and took off… and the next thing I know, we're jumping through the air and rolling on the floor outside the museum."

"Kids, huh?" her father, a tiger almost as big as the elder Clawhorn himself, chuckled. "One coincidence and they think old legends come back to life."

Judy looked up at Mr. Clawhorn, who was watching his daughter with amusement. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's an old story my father in law used to tell Molly and I guess my husband too, when he was a kid. About this secret place where a heroic lady would appear only to those worthy."

Molly's dad nodded. "She could travel everywhere and had seen everything, according to dad. She was a warrior and a sage or something, with mystical powers from beyond this world." He chuckled, ruffling Molly's hair. "With her saviour being named Sunset and with my dad telling her those stories all the time, I'm not surprised she came to the conclusion that it was Sunset Shimmer herself that came to rescue her."

Judy blinked. "I'm sorry? What was the name?"

"Sunset Shimmer," Molly's dad replied. "I know, weird name, right? Even worse, she was supposed to be a unicorn." He shook his head. "Dad had a bunch of stories about her doing the craziest things."

"Oh?" Judy smiled. "Would you mind sharing a few of those? I'm sure Sunset would be amused to hear them."

"So, Carrots, what did we learn?"

Judy glanced at Nick. "A lot. A whole lot of things that don't make sense."

"Huh?"

"Nick! Weren't you paying attention?"

Nick cleared his throat. "Um. I was uh, talking to the parents."

"Right." Judy rolled her eyes.

"I mean, you know kids exaggerate all the time right?" Nick said after a moment. "Bending fire? Come on. They have big imaginations."

"But don't you find it odd how they all had the same important details? Sunset runs in, she waves her hand, fire bends around them and they run out?"

"You know what I did notice?" Nick deadpanned. "That Sunset is a wolf, and not a unicorn."

"But there must be something else to it… even Mr. Clawhorn Jr. knew about her, and I never said her last name."

Nick gave her a look, and she sighed. "I know. It's just… so much coincidence! I don't believe she's really a unicorn, alright? But you can't tell me it's not strange that Mr. Clawhorn told his own son when he was just a child about her, and then Molly later on."

"Carrots, people sometimes name their kids after themselves. Sunset is a nice name, right? Maybe that's why her mom named her after her great grandmother who liked to pretend she was a unicorn?"

"My point, Nick, is that there's too many coincidences for this to be random." Judy turned into the street where Sunset's home should have been last night. "And remember how we couldn't find her house, just like the story said about it moving to different places?"

"Did Sunset look to you like someone who could fly and shoot bolts of power from her hands?"

Judy sighed. "No."

"Then I think it's just all a happy coincidence. We still have the rest of the day to figure more out, right?"

"I guess."

A few minutes later, they pulled to a stop right in front of Sunset's weird door, where the wolf was already waiting for them. Their guest grinned and waved, looking around before crossing over to jump into the car.

"Hey guys, I'm starving. Do you know a good place to grab a bite?" Sunset asked, jumping into the car.

Judy felt a sense of dread creeping up her spine, and turned to face Nick, who was grinning ear to ear. "Well, it just so happens that Judy was going to try out a Bugburger today. Wanna come?"

Bugs were not exactly Sunset's favorite thing to eat. Not most bugs, at least. There were certain recipes that used crickets, for example, and they were delicious, but these bugs had been turned into… meat patties, and it was slightly disturbing. Still, it was the usual diet for the place and the Isekai had made sure she had the biology to stomach them.

So she had to wonder, why exactly was Judy sitting across from her with a double bugburger with cheese. She turned to look at Nick, who caught her eye and smiled.

"Well, do you remember that bet Judy mentioned about trying predator food?"

Sunset blinked. "Oh yeah, I do, but you never said what the bet was about."

"Well, that was part of the bet, you see," Nick said, "we had agreed that no predator should know about the bet so it couldn't be staged."

Judy mumbled something, unable to look up, so glued her eyes were to the burger in front of her.

"And the bet was?" Sunset prodded.

"To have a predator order an entirely herbivore dish with no meat whatsoever, unironically, and unprompted, and eat it." Nick grinned. "And enjoy it."

Sunset nodded. "That does seem a bit far fetched. So when did she lose the bet?"

"Last night."

Sunset blinked. Oh. "Oh. Oh… so that's why she was insisting I added salmon to the salad?"

"Yep." Nick leaned back and took a bite of his burger, humming in appreciation. "Deeeelecious!"

Sunset shrugged and picked up hers, sniffing it briefly before taking a bite. "Wow," she said before she remembered to chew and swallow. "Wow," she repeated, taking another bite and chewing it through. "This is great!"

"Right?" Nick asked, then elbowed Judy. "Come on, Carrots, time to do it."

"Nick, I don't know if I can do this on an empty stomach."

Nick sighed, placing a comforting paw on Judy's shoulder. She did not seem to like where that was going, if her frown was anything to judge. "Carrots, I understand. If it's too much for a bunny to eat a burger, that's nothing to be ashamed of. I don't expect anyone would have any less respect for a heroic rabbit that saved a whole city but couldn't own up to a bet. But don't worry, I'll make sure to let the rest of the station know not to—"

"FINE!" Judy hollered before taking a large bite out of the burger, surprising Nick and stopping him short.

Sunset watched Judy gurgle, then force herself to chew as the fur around her cheeks took a green hue. She chewed slowly, then gulped down a piece large enough for Sunset to see it slide down her throat. "Right, I'm never underestimating a rabbit again."

"People—hack—do that a lot with me—cough—," Judy managed to choke out.

Shaking her head, Sunset stood and got her a milkshake from the herbivore menu, setting it in front of the grateful police rabbit, before finishing her own burger off. "So, what can I expect from the mayor's speech today?"

"Nothing much," Nick said, "the mayor loves hearing his own voice, so he'll do most of the talking. I think the most you'll have to do is maybe say 'thank you', and maybe a few words before he pushes you to the side."

Sunset sighed. "Ah well, I guess I didn't need to spend all morning thinking up a speech."

"Welcome to Zootopia." Nick chuckled.

"Basically it's just going to be us and the children you rescued standing there awkwardly while he talks a lot about how great things are despite the Museum burning down," Judy said after downing half her drink. "After that… I guess you'll be free to go, while Nick and I investigate the case."

Sunset looked up at that. "Wait, are you saying it wasn't an accident?"

Judy pressed her lips and seemed to consider her options, exchanging glances with Nick. "We… don't think so," she said carefully after a moment of pondering and looking around the mostly empty place to make sure no one was listening in. "There's not enough evidence yet to say one way or another."

Sunset frowned, crossing her arms. "I hope it was an accident… putting so many lives in danger on purpose is despicable."

Judy groaned, then sighed. "Look, I wanted to ask you this last night… but how long have you been in business with Clawhorn and Hoof?"

Sunset shrugged. "Me? Never. Rarity is the one that knows them, why?"

"It seems that the fire spread from something that belonged to them," Judy said. "But we don't know what it could have been, or why it was stored in a museum."

Sunset had a sinking feeling that Rarity probably knew what it was. "Great. So that means that she, and by extension myself are suspects." She groaned dragging a hand down her face. "Figures."

"Is there anything you'd be willing to tell us?" Judy asked.

"Nothing I can say," Sunset replied, sighing, "I honestly don't know even if Rarity knows about it. Until I ask her, there's no saying either way."

"Well, it was worth asking," Nick muttered.

"Yeah," Judy said. "So, Sunset, how come you're not a unicorn this time?"

"Oh, it'd freak out p—" She clamped her muzzle shut and stared at Judy, who was giving her an unamused look. "I mean… uh, heh. Unicorns? Those aren't real!"

Nick looked from her to Judy, back to her. "Right. I'll get a box for my food. I don't think we should be staying here for this conversation."

End Part 3

Rising my Hackles (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 4)

Sunset's Isekai
Rising my Hackles (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 4)
By Wanderer D

"...and even though our beloved museum lies in ruins, let us not forget what it represented: centuries of evolution as a joined community of predator and prey animals, working together to build a better society…"

Judy tuned out Mayor Lionheart, tilting her head just enough to glare at Sunset, who did her best to smile at the crowds. "You know you're not off the hook," she whispered.

"I'm not off the hook for what?" Sunset counter-whispered. "Not being a magical, mystical horse with a horn on my forehead in a world where unicorns don't exist?"

"Giiirls…—" Nick sing-sang in a whisper "—not the best time."

Sunset had done her best to pretend innocence at her slip-up earlier. Even if the notion of her being one was ridiculous, it was very clear that the word meant something to the wolf. Perhaps some sort of code-word or nickname? It had certainly put her on the defensive, and if they weren't supposed to meet with the mayor so soon, she would have insisted on dragging Sunset over to the station.

Very few things irritated Judy more than a mystery that could be solved if the suspect just opened up! It wasn't even necessarily incriminating! But Sunset had avoided answering the question with misdirection and a "oh, look at the time!" comment. And the worst part was that it had been a legitimate excuse right then.

They had rushed out of the restaurant to get to the event in time, and then they had been separated, prepped up individually and made stand in front of a large crowd… which prevented her from digging deeper at the issue.

"I know you're not a unicorn!" Judy hissed. "But you're hiding something."

Mayor Lionheart continued talking to the crowds, unaware of the drama next to him. "...and as proof of that, despite the odds, despite the fire that burned the building, one of us proved once again that our community as members of different species being together bringing the best in all of us, risked her own life to run back into the museum…"

"Everyone hides something," Sunset whispered back, ignoring the speech. "Doesn't mean I'm a criminal!"

"There are too many questions that need answering!" Judy quietly retorted.

Sunset smirked and leaned down to whisper right next to Judy's ear, making it twitch.. "Sorry, you'll have to do with the fact that I have no idea why people invent stories about my exploits."

Nick stood frozen next to them, a wide smile plastered on his face. "Girls. It's almost—"

"...as such, it is my distinct honor to give Miss Shimmer the key to the city for her heroic acts!" Mayor Lionheart finished grandly, waving Sunset over to stand next to him, while Judy and Nick took the box from behind the stage and walked over to the other side of the podium, showing it off to the crowds. "And here to give it out, are our heroes Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde!"

The Mayor then took the box and ceremoniously passed it over to Sunset, who graciously took the key from him and flashed a smile at the crowds, leaning into the microphone when he waved her towards it. "I am glad I was able to save Josh, Santino and Molly. I happened to be in the right place, at the right time… I know that every citizen of Zootopia has it in their hearts to be the heroes of the day."

Short and simple.

Why couldn't things just be short and simple?

"Hopps!"

"And there he is," Nick muttered.

Judy turned to face Chief Bogo, who approached the three of them behind the stage. "Hello, Chief."

"Hopps, now that you and Wilde are done with this whole charade—no offense, Miss Shimmer—it's time to get back to work!"

Judy felt things beginning to slip out of her control. "But chief—"

"We have witnesses saying that someone saw something weird, and now wild stories are going around about how the place is haunted by the spirits of the dead animals in there. Probably some kids thinking it'd be funny, or even thieves trying to see if they can get anything valuable." He grumbled a little before turning to face her and Nick. "I want you both to investigate a bit more beyond the initial scope… figure out who has been sneaking in and bring them in for questioning. It might just be pranksters, or it could be related. Don't let the trail go stale. The Chief Sprout also has some more clues to discuss with you."

"But Chief, Sunset—"

"Can go now, you don't need to escort her anymore."

"Actually, Chief," Sunset spoke up, "since I was in the museum while it was on fire, Officer Hopps had asked me to go with her to the museum ruins to see if I might notice something missing or remember any specific details. I hope you don't mind?"

Bogo blinked. "Not at all, good idea, Hopps." He gave Judy a folder which she opened, noticing the glowing bunny-like figure in the blurry picture attached to all the paperwork. "Here's the report so far," he said while Sunset and Nick leaned in to take a glance, before Bogo firmly pushed Sunset back away.

"I understand that you're helping, but the information in that file is not for civilians, Miss Shimmer."

"Oh, no problem at all, Chief!" Sunset said, crossing her paws behind her back and smiling innocently at him. "I'm sorry."

"N-not at all."

He turned to look at Judy and Nick. "I'll leave you to it."

"Right, chief," Judy said, saluting and watching him go in silence before turning to look at Sunset with a bit of confusion. "So… I thought you didn't want to be involved?"

Sunset chuckled. "Nah, I was just pulling your tail, Hopps. I do want to help… I really don't know why that box might be related to Rarity's business partner, but we might as well figure out if it's coincidence or not."

Judy narrowed her eyes, studying the mysterious wolf up and down. "So what's that about going to the museum? I don't recall bringing that up."

Sunset grinned. "You did not! But the chief said it was okay, right? Besides, what better place to start our investigation?"

She started walking towards the building remains leaving Nick and Judy behind.

"Think you found another police cadet?" Nick asked, walking up to her.

Judy shook her head. "I don't know what her deal is, Nick. What is she hiding?"

Nick shrugged. "Well, we now have an excuse to keep her around and find out, right?"

Judy nodded. "I just know there's a lot more going on, Nick, and it's tingling my police instincts."

"And here I thought you only did that adorable nose-twitch when thinking about me."

Judy felt her face warm up and she growled—a very fox-like growl, since she had been practicing—before stomping after Sunset, who was patiently chatting with Pennington. "Come on, Nick."

As the pair approached, Judy's sensitive ears picked up what Pennington was almost whispering.

"... and it jumped back in the rubble… but I didn't really want to say anything, you know? The last thing I need is a forced vacation right now because Chief Bogo thinks I'm losing my mind."

"Everything okay, Francine?" Nick asked casually.

"Oh, hey Nick. Hi Judy." The elephant smiled at the pair. "I was just telling Sunset here about the, um… kids or whatever that have snuck in there last night. Snarlov said that they were running all over the place, but he couldn't catch them." She tapped her nails together nervously. "I saw him this morning… his fur was all fluffed up. He was spooked."

"So is that where the 'ghosts'—" Judy made air quotes at the idea "—came from?"

When Pennington simply shrugged, Judy sighed. "Well, we'll see if we can find any clues. Sunset here will go with us to the museum to retrace her steps… maybe she'll remember something we might be able to use."

"Suit yourselves," Pennington said, stepping aside and waving them in. "I'd rather stay out here if it's all the same to you."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of ghosts, Francine?" Nick teased.

"What? No! Of course not!"

"Right," Judy said, elbowing the fox in the ribs. "Come on, you two. Let's take a look around."

Judy led Sunset and Nick into the ruined building. It stank of burnt materials and ashes, even though the ground was still wet from all the water poured into it to quell the flames, making it almost look like a bog.

Sunset sniffed the air, wincing at the odors. "I can't smell anyone here other than you guys and the firemen, no smell of rabbits either besides you, Judy."

Judy raised an eyebrow, and looked at Nick who took a couple of whiffs too. "I can smell the uniforms and rubber, but not any sort of paint or anything. What would kids be doing here anyway?"

"I don't know," Judy said, glancing at Sunset. "Do you recall anything at all you might have missed?"

Sunset shook her head, glancing around. "I'm trying to remember if I missed anything, but even before the fire started, I don't think I noticed anything strange."

Judy bit her lower lip, then nodded to herself. "Okay, let's go down to where the fire started, maybe we can find something there."

The trio made their way down to the basement, passing under the warnings, and stepped into what remained of the room. Judy noticed with interest how Sunset's eyes zeroed in immediately on the epicenter of the blast, where the box used to be. But, instead of looking at the remains of the box, she stepped lightly to where the blast originated and knelt next to it, studying it carefully.

"Um… Sunset?" she asked. "What did you find?"

"It's strange…" Sunset said, her voice wondering. "The blast is concentrated from here then outwards, but it didn't start here." Her ears twitched and she stood back, studying the air around the box and raising her paw up to touch it as if there was something there. "It's like… whatever was in here defended itself…"

"What is she doing?" Nick whispered.

"I… don't know…" Judy said. "Just watch for now."

"The fire," Sunset spoke up, "...it was a reaction. It wasn't caused by whatever was inside the box." She looked around, eyes narrowing as she went to a pile of ashes and beams that had once been a crate of some sort. She brushed remains out of the way until she uncovered something.

"Wait… is that a blowtorch?" Judy asked, trotting up to Sunset. "What is that doing here? Even worse, how is it that no one found it?"

"It is very odd," Nick muttered. "I thought Chief Sprout's crew worked this place over."

"It's not too strange that they didn't see it," Sunset muttered, "it's slightly displaced… see?" she waved her paw through the blowtorch. "It's just reconstituting itself back now, if we had been here yesterday, I wouldn't have seen it either."

The wolf stepped over to the center of the box, once again, waving in the air, and Judy took a step back, bumping into Nick when she heard whispers… and she could almost see something trailing behind the mysterious female's paw… as if she was dragging some sort of cloud of light or something.

Judy and Nick jumped when something fell apart on the other side of the basement, but whatever it had been, it had the unintended effect of snapping them out of their fascination, as Sunset turned to look that way.

"What was all of that?!" Judy demanded, feeling very much out of her depth. What she had just seen… wasn't possible, was it? She hadn't just heard voices, right? She glanced at Nick, whose fur was also standing on end.

Sunset gave them an apologetic look. "Sorry… it seems there's more going on here than I thought… this world wasn't supposed to have things like this, so…"

"Things like what?!"

Sunset looked at her straight in the eye. "Spirits."

Judy patiently waited as Chief Sprout gave Sunset Shimmer a wondering look, but since the wolf seemed to be distracting herself with the books on the shelf, his attention went back to her.

"And it's okay to bring a civilian into this?" he asked cautiously.

Judy nodded. For now, she wanted to get all the facts on the table. She didn't believe in ghosts, there was no such thing as magic, so there had to be a rational explanation. "She's working with us in the case… she's a specialist."

Chief Sprout narrowed his eyes, but then shrugged. "Fine. After more thorough investigation of the scene, we established that the fire had not originated inside the box as we had initially thought." He spread out some pictures and papers with analysis on them. "We found traces and marks on the edges of the box that are more consistent with the combustible material being used on it."

Judy gave Sunset a glance, but the wolf had simply smiled without looking back her way, apparently concentrating on the contents of one of the books.

"We did find a blowtorch," Nick said.

"Yes," Sprout sighed. "I have no excuse… I have no idea how we didn't see that there."

"It was buried under a lot of stuff, chief," Judy said gently, "and there was a lot going on at the time."

The chief didn't look convinced, but nodded, putting together the paperwork into the file for Judy and Nick. "Here's all we found out. It seems that the door was forced open, and whoever went in there tried to use the blowtorch to open the box, not expecting the contents to be so volatile. As to what the contents were…" he shook his head. "That we have no idea yet."

Judy nodded. "Thank you, Chief Sprout, we'll take a look at the information we have so far." She glanced at the others. "Come on, you two. Time to get going."

The trio walked out of the station. It was getting late by then, with just an hour or two before sunset. Judy glanced at their guest. "So, Sunset, any idea yet what could have caused that?"

"So far no," Sunset replied, shrugging. "But we might as well check in with Mr. Clawhorn and see if he does. It was his firm's property, after all, right? He might have an idea of what it contains, and why someone would want to steal it."

"So I guess that's our next destination," Nick stated, looking over at the city. "The offices of Clawhorn and Hoof."

End Part 4

Ewe Don't Wanna Know (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 5)

Sunset's Isekai
Ewe Don't Wanna Know (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 5)
By Wanderer D

While Judy had never been to the central offices of Clawhorn and Hoof, it was hard to miss them. They were one of the biggest firms to exist, and their Corporate Headquarters reflected this, being one of the tallest buildings in all of Zootopia. The thing itself was at its base as big as a city block, and it went up so high it was one of the first things she had seen when travelling to Zootopia via train, and even though she had driven past it several occasions by now, it still seemed overwhelming.

"Huh." Sunset leaned back, looking up into the distance. "Seems like someone is compensating for something."

Nick barked out a laugh, ignoring the disgruntled look several of the lawyers walking by gave them.

Judy smirked and shook her head. She had a lot… a LOT… of questions for Sunset, but she couldn't deny the mysterious wolf had something about her that was disarming and engaging. It was a dangerous thing, as she and Nick both knew from experience that sometimes some individuals used that charisma for less than helpful purposes.

Still, Sunset's jab had served its purpose, and the building was nothing more than a large building now. It's threatening presence lessened by a simple joke.

The trio walked into the lobby, thick glass automatic doors parting for them with barely a whisper. It was huge inside, as expected, and it took Judy a moment to spot the front desk, which was no mean feat, considering it was long enough to allow at least six employees to help customers side by side. Looking around, she could see other, similar desks further around the lobby.

"I think that's the closest one," she said, pointing to the first one she saw. "Come on."

They made their way to the desk, and stepped up to speak to a smartly dressed gazelle, who was smiling placidly at the latest customer that had just left her desk. She extended that same smile at them, politely nodding as she greeted them.

"Welcome to the Clawhorn and Hoof Corporate Headquarters, my name is Jenny, how can I assist you? Do you have an appointment already, or would you like to set one up with one of our advisors?"

Judy cleared her throat. "I'm Officer Hopps, and this is Officer Wilde, we're here to speak to Mr. Clawhorn about a Clawhorn and Hoof crate that was found at the Museum."

The smile did not disappear for even a second. "I'm afraid Mr. Clawhorn is unavailable, but you can speak to any one of his lawyers about anything you'd like, Officer Hopps."

Judy bit her lip. She didn't have anything she could use to force the issue, and without a warrant, if Mr. Clawhorn didn't want to talk to her, she'd be bogged down by possibly hundreds of lawyers. It was unlikely that he'd even hear of them being there at all.

"Hm," Sunset spoke up. "I believe I can help with that, Miss, if you could search if I had an appointment, I would appreciate it. My business partner, Rarity Belle might have set one up already with him. If not, it might be under my name; Sunset Shimmer."

The look the young gazelle gave Sunset—studying her attire, head to paws—and the almost condescending twitch to her smile were particularly annoying, but seeing that Sunset took it in stride, Judy elected to not say anything.

"Let's see…" Jenny said, typing away at her computer, "Sunset… Shimmer…" She waited for a moment before smiling even more placidly, if that was possible. "I'm afraid not, Sunset. As I said, Mr. Clawhorn himself is an extremely busy individual, and I'm sure whatever it is you need can be perfectly handled by one of our junior associates."

The wolf shrugged. "No, need, thank you for checking, Jenny. I'm sure I have his number somewhere back at the office."

Sighing in disappointment, Judy guided them out of the building.

"Well," Nick said, "that went just about as I would have predicted."

"I can't believe they wouldn't let us speak to him," Judy muttered. "We're officers!"

"And that is more likely to make it even more difficult," Sunset pointed out. "Especially if there is any chance of an investigation happening in relation to him."

"I—" Judy stopped and her ears twitched. "Did you hear that?"

"We're not rabbits, Carrots."

"Wait!" Jenny's voice reached them.

They turned around to see the gazelle running towards them as fast as she could, her cloven hoof held out pleadingly, while several lawyers and guests moved out of the way to gape at her.

Judy and Nick exchanged glances, then looked up at Sunset, who shrugged. The trio waited for the gazelle to stagger up to them, gasping. "G-good, I caught up with you, Miss Shimmer."

"Oh, it's Miss Shimmer now," Nick drawled.

"Um, yes," Jenny said, making herself look a little smaller. "I do apologize for… um. Mister Clawhoof asked me to escort the three of you to his personal office."

"How many non-personal offices does he have?" Nick asked as they started following the gazelle back.

"Five. It really depends on who he is meeting with," Jenny replied, her tone subdued and nervously giving Sunset a side-glance.

"And… how many personal offices does he have?" Judy asked.

"One," the gazelle replied, clearing her throat. "Just one."

"Ah, Miss Shimmer!" Mr. Clawhorn eagerly walked over to where they all three stood at the exit of the private elevator, which had opened onto an entire floor of the building. "What an honor to have you visit my humble business!"

"My pleasure, Mr. Clawhorn, I'm glad you were available, I heard you were a very busy individual."

Judy tried not to smirk at the whimper that emanated from Jenny, who was hovering nervously behind them.

"It is quite an impressive office," Sunset said, looking around and apparently noticing several items of interest. "I like your collection." She walked to a nearby plaque with strange symbols on it. "Kzinti, if I'm not mistaken."

Mr. Clawhorn's smile was frozen in place for a moment. "Ah. Yes, um… I assure you I obtained that in um…" He trailed off, looking at them and Jenny. "...an uninvolved manner."

Sunset giggled. "No need to fear anything from me, Mr. Clawhorn, I'm just a humble bartender."

Judy crossed her arms, shooting Sunset an annoyed look. There was no way she was a bartender.

"Um… of course. In any case, that is indeed Kzinti, and it was a gift from Rarity to my grandfather, to celebrate one of our first deals together in the early days of the company."

Something about that made Judy narrow her eyes, but what it was exactly escaped her at the moment. It was strange enough that such a prominent figure would even begin to think to justify anything he owned at all to a bartender. The whole situation was surreal, and with what had happened in the museum, it was starting to make her wonder just what kind of underworld she and Nick had stumbled into.

"We do have some sensitive issues to discuss," Sunset said, "and we wouldn't want to keep you from your important business."

"Nonsense, I have all the time in the world for you and Miss Rarity," Mr. Clawhorn said, motioning for them to head inside and making Jenny whimper again. That was enough for him to focus his attention on the gazelle, who stood paralized in front of the large tiger, as if expecting to be executed. "That will be all, miss… um… Fletcher."

Jenny opened her mouth as if to correct him, but seemed to think better of it, and then simply nodded, hurrying into the elevator. A few seconds later they were all alone.

"You know her last name was Blumenthal," Nick pointed out.

"Was it?" Mr. Clawhorn asked. "No matter. Please, make yourselves comfortable," he added, motioning with his paw at a large sofa.

"Really, Mr. Clawhorn," Sunset said, "you don't have to feel so nervous around me. You're doing business with Rarity, after all."

Mr. Clawhorn sighed. "Perhaps, but you do understand that you have a reputation, Miss Shimmer."

"I wasn't aware that it was anything but good."

"It is!" he immediately replied. "It's just… you are best friends with Charlie Magne, and a close acquaintance of Lucifer Morningstar, and several other… individuals of considerable influence. I believe even Rarity is sometimes surprised at your ability to befriend others."

Sunset smiled. "Thank you for the compliments, but buttering me up, as flattering as it is, is only going to distract us from our real objective here... Well then, we do have some questions for you, I believe Officer Hopps wanted to talk to you about them?"

Judy blinked, suddenly finding herself the center of attention. So far the conversation had gone over her head. Who were these individuals that Sunset knew that so impressed Mr. Clawhorn? They weren't names she was familiar with, and a glance at Nick—who had shaken his head in bewilderment at the conversation earlier—had confirmed that they were unknowns to him too… which was a bit scary, considering how familiar he was with the criminal elements of the city.

"Ahem." Judy nodded. "Mr. Clawhorn… when we went to investigate the cause of the fire, we discovered that someone had attempted to break into the storage room, where they found a destroyed crate with the logo of Clawhorn and Hoof on it."

She put down a few of the pictures from the file on the table for him to look at. "While it doesn't appear now that the contents themselves created the fire, it seems like it did react to a blowtorch being used to attempt to open it."

"Hm." Mr. Clawhorn picked up one of the pictures, and his eyes widened slightly. "I see."

"Whoever started the fire that put in danger the life of your granddaughter and her schoolmates was trying to get this," she pointed out. "Whatever records we could find did not indicate the contents or even why the crate was there." She pulled out her notepad. "Is there anything you could tell us?"

"I haven't seen this crate in a long time…" Mr. Clawhorn said, carefully. Judy noticed how he glanced at Sunset as if to ask for permission to speak. "The… contents are not volatile exactly, but it was something that… was not best kept here." He swallowed. "The contents needed to remain pure…"

"I'm not liking this," Sunset said. "What would you need to contain away from here? Couldn't a normal seal work for it?"

Nick's ear twitched, and Judy nodded to herself. The way Sunset had said 'seal' had an extra meaning there.

"No…" Mr. Clawhoof sighed and went over to his desk, pouring himself a glass. "We're not Wolfram and Hart, Miss Shimmer… but our origins were not that different."

"I gathered, given that you brought up Morningstar and Charlie, but didn't mention Belldandy or—"

"Yes, exactly," Mr. Clawhorn interrupted. "But we are not them," he insisted. "When Miss Belle helped establish this office… things changed for a lot of the senior partners. We are invested in the welfare of the people of this world… of Zootopia. As you can imagine, since Rarity is one of our business partners, we still deal with a lot of… unconventional things. But we take care of them in different ways. The content of this crate… is old. It's… misplaced. And it has no business being in a place where its inherent… purity… could be corrupted however unintentionally."

Judy could feel a headache coming. "Corrupted how?"

Mr. Clawhorn gave Sunset a pleading look, then glanced back at Judy with a sigh of resignation. "Miss Hopps… Officer Hopps. There are things out there that really don't fall into the Zootopia Police Department's scope. If you delve more into it, you will not be able to see the world as you did before."

"If you're going to avoid answering the question—"

"It's true," Sunset said, interrupting Judy. "You guys need to be careful, once you fully open the can of worms, there's no putting them back in. We can still figure out whodunnit without the whole thing… being exposed... we just need to find the culprits."

"I think we could do that, right?" Nick said nervously. "It's basically what we're supposed to do."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of… whatever this is, Nick," Judy said. "We need the full picture if we want to solve this!"

Nick raised a claw to argue, then grimaced, closing his mouth. "I hope we don't come to regret it, Carrots."

"Then we're going to continue?" Mr. Clawhorn clarified.

"Yes," Judy said, sitting straighter and giving him a defiant look. "We need to know."

Mr. Clawhorn cleared his throat. "Well then. So be it. The reason it couldn't stay here is that the being trapped inside is too pure… too young to survive the slow corruption that we have to deal with here every day unscathed, especially since it is unable to fight it."

"You had someone trapped in there?!" Judy asked, aghast.

"What is it?" Sunset asked, leaning forth, her eyes narrowed. "There's not many things out there that would fall into that category, and I have to wonder, if you don't trade in such things, how did it come to be here?"

Mr. Clawhorn grimaced. "I don't know… and we don't. But it was brought to us by… others. We felt it was our responsibility to procure it from them, and a deal was struck. No doubt they thought we would put it to use for something, but we rather stored it and—I'm afraid—forgot about it until now."

He sighed and took a sip of his glass, giving Sunset an unsure look. "They said it came from a deprived world."

Sunset growled. It was a visceral growl that made Judy nervous and Nick's hackles rise. The type of growl she'd expect to hear from someone being affected by Nighthowlers.

"No one who would try and steal it knew it was there," Mr. Clawhorn said. "And those of us that hadn't forgotten about it… wouldn't need anything other than showing up to reclaim it. No one would be the wiser."

Sunset stood up. "I think… we should go."

Judy jumped to her feet, rushing after her as the wolf stomped over to the elevator and pressed the button to summon it up. "Wait, we can't! There's a lot of questions that need answering!"

"We won't find much else here," Sunset countered, her claws unclenching. She glanced over at Mr. Clawhorn. "Thank you… I'm glad you don't engage in that kind of thing."

"Sorry I couldn't be of more help, Miss Shimmer," the tiger replied. "I hope to see you again… perhaps in happier circumstances."

"I'm sure I can make time for my lawyer every other century," Sunset said, her body relaxing a little bit. "I really hope we have a chance to talk when things like these are not hanging over the city."

"Well, I can honestly say," Nick started as he drove the police car towards the street where Sunset's home was, "that I learned nothing today."

"We should have stayed," Judy insisted, giving Sunset an accusatory glance from the rearview mirror. "Maybe he said a lot of things that make sense to you, but not to us. And we are the ones that have to solve this case."

Sunset shrugged and smiled as they pulled to a stop in front of her place. "How about you two come in for a drink?"

End Part 5

Let's Gopher a Drink (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 6)

Sunset's Isekai
Let's Gopher a Drink (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 6)
By Wanderer D

"Sorry, Sunset," Judy said, turning to face her. "But I think it's too early for a drink. Nick and I need to finish our shift and investigate a few things before we have the time for that."

"Listen," Sunset said, "I know a lot of stuff was said that made no sense—"

"It didn't!" Judy interrupted. "It was mumbo-jumbo! Ludicrous! You were talking about spirits and you made one of the most powerful animals in the whole of Zootopia tremble! And you claim to be a bartender! And people say you're royalty! I don't want a drink! I want the truth!"

"I could use a drink."

Sunset tried not to laugh at the look Judy gave Nick.

"Don't worry, I have non-alcoholic drinks too," she assured the rabbit. "Good selection of teas among other things… I'll make sure everything is compatible with your diet."

She could see Judy's indecision slowly crumble, beat by her invitation and her curiosity.

"Is this… going to make sense?" Judy finally asked.

"In a weird sort of way, yes, I hope," Sunset answered honestly as they stepped out of the police car. "It might just get a bit stranger before we get to the making-sense part."

"Joy."

Judy watched as Sunset pulled open her door and motioned for them to step in. But there was already a problem.

"You really have a bar."

"Yep!" Sunset replied, grinning.

"This area is not zoned for bars."

Sunset blinked, slightly baffled. "Okay? I'm… not really using it for business in this world."

Judy pretended that she hadn't heard that last part. "We'll have a talk about that when we're done talking about the main issue."

Sunset laughed uncertainly. "Um. Sure."

Having established a certain, reassuring normalcy to the situation, Judy stepped forth into the bar, and as she did, she slowly realized that there was no way this place should fit as it did between the other two houses unless some really weird architecture had gone into the development of the adjacent buildings too.

"Um… Carrots?"

She knew that tone of voice. That was the tone of voice Nick used when she was going to hear something she was not going to like. "What is it Nick?" she asked while Sunset made her way around the bar to pull out a couple of menus.

"You might want to take a look at this."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning around and looking at the wall that Nick was pointing at.

"Is that a horse?" Judy asked. "But… what's wrong with its body? Is that a horn?"

"That," Sunset's voice came from behind them, "is an anthro unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, she's a rock singer."

Judy's eyes slowly widened as she took in the different posters and pictures. More than once she saw a creature that had the same hairdo as Sunset. One was another unicorn, another was a cat, another was some sort of… demon, like out of a fantasy novel…

Slowly what she had put together while talking with others came together. She gulped, turning to look at the wolf, who was smiling at her. Suddenly that smile was less friendly in her eyes. "Y-you're not really a wolf, are you?"

Next to her, Nick slumped and sat on one of the tables. "Unicorn?" he managed to squeak out.

"Yep," Sunset replied. "Originally. Depending on the world, sometimes I change to fit better with the locals, but my original species was really a unicorn, and then I became a human full time."

"This is too much," Judy muttered, sitting across from Nick slowly, still taking the place in. It was calming in a way, with its design, but at the same time she could feel, deep inside, that this was not natural, that this was completely outside of her experience, and that being a cop didn't matter here.

She was completely out of her depth. Much more so than she had anticipated. They were basically at Sunset's mercy. On some level, she now understood what made Mr. Clawhorn so nervous around the wolf—unicorn.

The thought of their earlier encounter with the lawyer, reminded her of why she was here and she slowly felt her conviction return, even though she wouldn't be surprised if Nick and Sunset could smell her fear.

If she did, though, Sunset showed no sign, giving her one of the menus, and the other to Nick, who was pressed against the wall, ears back.

Judy forced herself to take a deep breath and look down at the list of beverages. She blinked. "Wait, you have carrot juice from Bunnyburrow?"

Sunset grinned. "Locally sourced!"

"How?" Judy asked, exasperated. "How can you possibly have carrots from there?"

"I have a system to support local businesses," Sunset said, sitting at the table. "It works through proxies that obtain the produce or products from local sources through a time-space discrepancy that allows my bar to compensate for unusual diets or if needs be, comfort foods." She smirked. "Some call it cheating; I call it convenient."

Judy dragged her paw down her face, before glaring up at the unicorn-turned-wolf. "A carrot juice, please."

Sunset nodded. "Nick?"

Judy turned to face the fox, but found her voice fading when she saw the white-haired glowing head that had emerged from under and through the table.

"Hey, it's the fuzzy fuzz."

"Dani, please don't scare my guests, they're… overly stressed as it is," Sunset said, completely unperturbed as the creature emerged fully, floating above them.

"Hey, sorry, Sunny. I just forgot something in my room and came back to get it. I'll use one of the backdoors."

And just like that, it flew through the "Employee's Only" door.

"What…"

"That was Danielle Phantom," Sunset said. "Long story, perhaps better left for another occasion."

"Was that a g-gh—" Nick stammered. "A guh-guh.."

"Ghost."

"No." Judy said firmly. "No it was not! It was a hologram. A trick."

"It's the Cell games all over again," Sunset muttered under her breath, although Judy's sensitive ears caught it regardless. "Nick, what would you like to drink?" their host asked in a normal tone of voice.

The poor fox simply shook his head.

"Alright, I'll make you tea. You need to relax," Sunset decided, heading over to the bar.

"Carrots, we need to get out of here," Nick whispered the moment Sunset was on the other side of the bar. "No case is worth this!"

For once, Judy was inclined to agree… but as she gazed around the room, and looked at the pictures of smiling… creatures… she could feel herself calming down. "Nick… look around… I know this is really weird but, does this seem like the type of place where we'd really be in danger?"

She could see his eyes wander around. The pictures spoke of amazing stories behind them, and Judy felt her fear be replaced by honest curiosity. There was a picture nearby where Sunset, in one of her other forms, stood right next to another creature that resembled Rarity. A winged unicorn was with them, and some sort of giant rat creature with strange clothes. Dani was there too, and so was some sort of duck. Birds in her world—it felt so strange to even say that—were not evolved. They hadn't developed into society, much like fish and a few other beings. But in that picture that one was dressed and obviously sentient.

Creatures that looked like reptiles, creatures that looked metallic, or dressing like normal animals, but just a different species. Old. Young. Male, female. Some wore disguises that seemed like out of a comic book and she found herself wondering if they were superheroes from another world.

Nick was calmer too now, having stepped off from the table to look at even more pictures. The whole place had so much to tell. One table had flowers growing on it, another a sign that read "Captain's Table, reserved for Wednesday whenever I get to it". The bar itself was covered in bottles of all shapes, sizes, and colors. A neon sign close to the entrance to the restrooms read "Sunset's Isekai".

It wasn't in her language.

But she could understand it.

There was so much she didn't understand still… but she had never backed down from a challenge. Never given up the chance to learn and get to the bottom of things. And today was not going to be that day.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Sunset placing a large glass of carrot juice in front of her. Judy hesitated just a little before leaning in and sipping the straw. Soon her tongue was flooded by the familiar flavor of carrots. It felt like home. "It's real. This whole thing…" she whispered in awe.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai," Sunset said, setting down a cup of tea across from her and waving Nick over back to the table. "This is my little bar in the multiverse. I wasn't going to involve you guys in any of this, by the way, I'm supposed to be taking a vacation—but I guess I should have known better than to deny adventure."

"So you're telling me that these, all of these… are people that you have met?" Nick asked as he sat down and took a careful sniff of the tea before nodding in appreciation at the smell.

"Correct," Sunset said. "Most of them are my personal guests, but some are essentially my family," she said, nodding at the picture that Judy had seen before. "You met Dani and Rarity already. That's my apprentice, Lena, and that's Freya, and that's my mentor and mother-figure, Princess Celestia."

"So… you really are royalty?" Nick asked.

"Mother-figure, Nick," Sunset said. "Close, but not quite."

"Ah." He didn't sound convinced, and neither was Judy for that matter. There was a lot to take in, and a lot to ask, but more importantly, it seemed that Sunset was now willing to tell them everything they needed to know about the case.

"So Sunset," Judy spoke up. "How about we talk about the case?"

"Really, Carrots?" Nick asked. "The case? With—" he waved a paw around "—all of this?"

"Nick, if we don't concentrate on the topic, we're going to end up here for eternity."

"Right, right," Nick muttered, coughing. "Sorry."

"Okay," Sunset said, nodding. "Ask away."

"So let's start with the box," Judy said, pulling out her notebook. "Mr. Clawhorn said that it was obtained by his firm some time ago. He made it sound like they were saving it, rather than intending to use it."

"Right." Sunset sipped her own tea, before growling. "There are… interdimensional beings that sell things they obtain from other worlds. Sometimes it's inconsequential stuff. Like here… bottles of wine, common food items, etc. Other times it's… dangerous items, like cursed grimoires, or weapons. And sometimes it's actual beings they have trapped somehow. Sometimes really dangerous ones, and sometimes innocent ones. It seems from what Mr. Clawhorn said that this is one of the latter. And one pure enough that they feared it hanging around the law offices could eventually corrupt it."

"So," Nick spoke up, "when you asked why it needed to be taken away instead of just sealed…"

Sunset shrugged. "It's just unusual to find such a creature that would require that level of care. Mr. Clawhorn's ancestors were probably more versed in the multiverse if they felt that was necessary." Her brow darkened. "But that's not all. He said it was from a Deprived world."

Judy felt a chill creeping up her bones when Sunset said that. "I'm sorry, but what does that even mean?"

Sunset took a deep breath and leaned back, glancing at the pictures in thought. "Some worlds have integral beings in them. Creatures that define them. Or that have a unique role in them. It doesn't necessarily mean they're good, but they are definitely pivotal to that world's destiny and fate. A Deprived world is when that is taken away from them by someone from another universe, stripping them away from something so essential that the world… sometimes even the universe they're from originally just can't go on, and ceases to exist completely. Its past and future are just gone, and obviously everyone that lived in them."

"That's horrible!" Judy gasped.

"It's thankfully very rare," the wolf said softly. "Very few universes have something so important in them distilled into a single creature or object. Most of the multiverse simply keeps on going because we are essentially unimportant. It's just that the multiverse is such a wonderful thing, anything is possible—even a whole universe owing its existence to one single thing."

"And that's what was inside that box?" Nick asked.

Sunset nodded. "Which is why it was good that they got it and hid it away." She licked her lips. "I wonder if the poor creature inside of it is even aware of where it is now or what happened to its world."

Judy frowned and took a drink from her juice. The fate of the creature was horrible, but it didn't explain why the museum had been set on fire, or why anyone would have tried to steal it in the first place. "How would they have known that it was in there?"

Sunset shook her head. "That, I don't know. But the report said that nothing else was damaged prior to the fire, right? So it seems that whoever went in there was hoping to just get that one box."

"That means that whoever went there… definitely knew it was there, but if Mr. Clawhorn is right, if it was anyone from Clawhorn and Hoof, all they would have needed to do was step in and get them. It's their property, after all."

"So, how are we going to find them?" Judy asked.

Sunset thought for a moment. "I think… we need to first find our missing misplaced creature. It's probably still around the Museum, and that's why some things are phased out."

Judy had a sudden thought. "Was it… is it possible to store more than one creature like that?"

Sunset shrugged. "Sometimes, but it wouldn't have been the case with this one." She grimaced. "Too important."

Judy smiled. "Then I think I have an idea."

End Part 6

Author's Note

One more chapter, I think.

It wasn't Bunny the First Time (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 7)

Sunset's Isekai
It wasn't Bunny the First Time(Zootopia — Movie Pt. 7)
By Wanderer D

Snarlov was a big, tough bear of a cop. He was also really scared of ghosts, and for whatever reason had let that slip at the station recently and so Chief Bogo had decided he needed to confront his fears and keep watching the damn museum.

It didn't help that he had grown up hearing all sorts of weird stories about the museum statues and skeletons coming to life, or mystical evil artifacts on display summoning powers from far beyond the understanding of animal kind.

But it was worse when the place had gone up in flames and he would see off of the corner of his eyes movement. He had though they were kids… at least that's what he wanted to tell himself, but he knew… there was no reason for a bunch of children to be running around the place so soon after the fire had destroyed it.

Still he was a cop, dammit, and he hadn't joined the force to cower while strange things happened. He snorted and turned around, ready to step into the wreckage when something glowing nearby caught his eye.

He approached slowly, readying his taser... and saw it.

Jenner looked up, ears twitching. "You guys hear that?" Being the leader of a group of rat-thieves had been pretty much an easy gig for the most part. The Zootopia PD was mostly a bunch of gullible clowns, and as such, he had been able to slip by them at every turn without a problem. At least until he had taken the last job.

"Y-yeah, boss, do you think it was… it?" Sullivan, the other rat of the team muttered. "M-maybe we should leav—"

"None of that! Especially after you screwed up and caused this whole thing to happen!"

He wasn't sure why he had broken his own rule about not knowing who his client was, but the promise of cash had been too compelling, and the job had seemed simple: go into the museum and get a box.

Of course they hadn't told him it would be basically part of the floor, so he had decided to open it and get whatever was inside to his contractors. Afterall, it had been in the museum for close to a century, right? As long as they treated it carefully they shouldn't have any issues.

Which was why he was ready to kill Sullivan the moment this whole thing was finished. He glanced at Nita, the raccoon. An experienced thief he had managed to get into the contract, just in case. So far the addition hadn't been impressed, and it was all Sullivan's fault.

"My job is stealing," Nita replied, glancing at him. "We shouldn't be here, we…" he grimaced, "dropped the ball as it is. We should have gone our separate ways as soon as it went sideways."

"We can't!" Jenner replied, marching up to look at the taller animal straight in the eye. Sure, the racoon was bigger, but he was pretty hefty for a rat, and he knew enough tricks to make the fight a painful one. "If we don't bring the creature, we're done for!"

Nita's eyes narrowed. "So you say."

"You saw what they did to Erol," Jenner snapped. "Can't say he was my favorite weasel in the world, but he didn't deserve that!"

Whatever Nikol had wanted to say died in his throat quickly enough with that reminder. They were not dealing with normal things now. They had dug too deep, his pockets had been too thirsty… and now they were here, hunting down a strange creature, and working for clients that could do horrible, inexplicable things to them.

"Shh," Sullivan dared speak up. "I think I saw something."

Forgetting about murder, Jenner and Nita approached the other rat, who pointed silently at a nearby column, where a light glow of some sort emanated.

Jenner's eyes narrowed. The creature had been fast, and quick to hide before, but his contractor had assured him it would be tired and weak by now. He nodded at the others, and they spread around, trying to corner it—and off it went! Slower than before, however.

Grinning, Jenner gave chase after the glowing rabbit-like creature, trying to herd it into a corner for the others to tackle. In the last few nights he had gotten very acquainted with the layout of the destroyed museum, so he knew where he needed to go, and where he needed to push the creature towards.

The box glowed faintly from the inside, where a rabbit-like creature could barely be seen shifting around. Other than the few lamps that still worked in the warehouse, everything else was pitch black even beyond his nocturnal sight.

A slight chittering sound made Jenner growl, while Nikol crouched, whether ready to run or fight was anyone's guess.

"Hey, Jenner, Nikol! So glad to see you both here." The voice came from their right, but there was nothing… nothing more than a slight silhouette. "Where is Sullivan?"

"He didn't make it… he was too scared to come, so I got rid of him." Jenner forced himself to calm down, the image of what had happened to Erol was enough to sober him up. "And um... Yes, here we are."

"I have to insist, I am so sorry about what happened to your buddy Erol, I know you remember him, right? Trust me, it brought me as much pain as it brought you to see him reduced to… well. Mush. But he was misbehaving, and you do know what we must do to misbehaving children, right?"

"We brought the item."

"We punish them so that the others take heed of the example, of course!" the voice continued as if Jenner hadn't spoken. "So I just want to remind you that his example was for a reason and that reason was that he had not done the right job."

Nikol and Jenner exchanged glances, then looked towards the exit.

"Ah, ah, ah." the voice said. "No running away. You can't escape anyway. But it doesn't matter! It seems like my lesson did work and you two managed to do the job! How excitingly fantastic! I now know you mammals can be smart with the right encouragement."

"Listen, we brought the thing," Nikol spoke up. "Think we can just take the payment and go?"

"Hmm." Something approached, and the two thieves' eyes went wide, as they took a step back. The creature was biped, but it was like a giant fly of some sort, dressed in a formal suit, it's red, compound eyes studying them closely as they cowered, while one of its claws held up some sort of gun. Presumably the same that had done in Erol the previous night. "How about we check the merchandise first?"

Jenner and Nikol stepped back as the creature went over to the box and flipped it open, staring at the glowing rabbit inside. "Wait, that's not—"

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the rabbit jumping straight at his chest, and pushing him back. Both thieves turned around to leave, but stopped as they bumped into the large figures of Chief Bogo and Officer Pennington.

The creature recovered enough to point its gun at the rabbit, when it exploded in its claw, making him cry out and fall on its knees. It quickly grasped something in its other claw, a device of some sort, and pushed the button on it, giving them all a smug look that came across despite its alien visage.

A smug look that slowly faded as it pressed the button again and again and nothing happened. It turned around as Snarlov and Nick stepped in behind him.

"How?!" it screeched, "your civilization cannot even comprehend what's going on! How did you trick me?"

"It's called a hustle."

The creature turned to face the wolf that approached him. "Y-you! I know you! You're Isekai Shimmer!"

The wolf grinned, crossing her arms as the creature struggled while being handcuffed. "You'll pay for this, Shimmer! You're not supposed to involve yourself!"

Sunset shrugged. "And you're supposed to be dead."

The creature stopped struggling.

"I thought I recognized you, Cornvelius, wasn't it?" Sunset leaned in, picking up the device he had dropped. "Definitely not one of Rick's. Who gave you this?"

"None of your business!" Cornvelius Daniel growled.

"Ah, well, I've already alerted Shleemypants that you're here." Sunset said, looking up. "Speaking of which, I suggest the rest of you guys get out… probably for the best if you don't meet this particular guy."

"So walk me through this again," Chief Bogo said as they all sat in his office, later on in the day. "How did you figure out who the culprit was, and how to get to him?"

"It was simple," Sunset said.

It was now just a matter of—his eyes went wide when the creature stopped in its tracks and turned, smashing its paw into his face and sending him rolling onto the floor.

"Oh, no! It's going to kill me!" he screeched as he felt the creature land on top of him and… handcuff him?

"You," said a female voice, "are under arrest."

"Who?" he muttered as he was roughly turned around. He heard two thumps and turned to see Nikol and Sullivan similarly cuffed, next to him. Slowly the glow died away, revealing a very normal rabbit officer, who was grinning at them. "Zootopia PD."

Behind her, the cowardly Polar Bear they had scared away the night before and a fox officer stepped up, glaring at them.

"We are so dead."

Jenner wanted to shout at Sullivan to shut up, but unfortunately, that was true. They were all dead.

"Now, that's not necessarily what will happen," a wolf… he recognized her—she was the one that had saved the kids from the fire they had started by accident—said, crouching down to look at him in the eye. "I know that you're working for someone from… out of town."

"You have no idea who we are working for!" he snarled.

"Oh, you see, I'm from out of town too, Jenner." And he saw it in her eyes, a glow that had no explanation. "You see, I'm not happy with what you were about to do here, but I know how terrifying people from out of town can be. How about you help us stop them, and then all you have to worry about is being arrested?"

"We left Sullivan behind with Snarlov since he looked so terrified we were afraid he was going to get us all killed," Nick added.

"But that doesn't explain how you knew it was the thieves and not the creature that would be in the museum tonight."

Judy smiled. "When Sunset told me that there couldn't have been more than one creature in that box, I remembered Pennington had said that there had been some kids running around and spooking Snarlov. And that's when I realized that if the creature was so valuable, what he had heard was probably the culprits trying to catch it."

"So we sat down and thought of a plan," Nick continued. "We knew that the creature was supposed to look like a glowing rabbit, so Carrots was the perfect bait. Some help from Sunset in making her glow, and we were ready."

Chief Bogo gave them an unamused look and dragged his hoof down his face in frustration, as he turned to look at Sunset. "So you're some sort of… what, mystical detective?"

"Nope!" Sunset said, "I'm just a bartender. The multidimensional cop is the one that arrested the guy behind it all."

"Right." Bogo's eyebrow twitched.

"So we told you about it, chief," Nick said, "because we know how crazy this all looks. There's no way we can explain this whole inter-dimensional thing and not look like we went bonkers."

"So what do you suggest we do, then?" Bogo asked. "Cover it up?"

"Might be for the best," Sunset spoke up. "There are a lot of things out there that are pretty bad, just as there are a lot of fantastic and beautiful things. But this world is not ready to be part of that yet. You have your culprits… three thieves that were trying to get to a very old, very expensive item that was destroyed in the fire. Now that some time has passed, all the things that phased out are there again, so you have prints and dna samples, and also Jenner and the others are ready to confess."

Bogo sighed. "Fine. But I'd rather not have to deal with this kind of thing ever again, Miss Shimmer."

Sunset raised her paws. "Don't look at me, I'm on vacation!"

The trio walked through what was left of the museum, and Judy took a deep breath. "So, Sunset, I didn't want to bring this up… since you've helped so much, but I have to know. How did you know Jenner's name?"

Sunset chuckled. "I've met him before, when I was a mouse in another world."

"Right, right," she sighed, giving the wolf a glare. "That can't be your excuse for everything."

"Oh, it's not. I also have, 'I'm Sunset Shimmer'."

Nick snorted.

Judy shook her head, unable to hide her smile. "Fine. So, any sign of our misplaced visitor?"

"Let's sit here and wait," Sunset suggested, finding a cleaner area. "It'll come to us if it sees we're not aggressive. It should already sense me as it is, but it must be pretty cautious."

Judy shared a look with Nick, and shrugged. "Sounds good."

They all sat down, staring at the sky and the clouds.

"I used to think that the universe was huge," Nick said, "but now I'm just starting to realize how inadequate that statement is."

Judy nodded, cuddling up to him, and sighing when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"It can be really overwhelming," Sunset agreed, also glancing up. "When I started… I had no idea what my life was going to be like… and I've seen and done so many wondrous things… I'd never change it for anything, despite the ugly that I sometimes have to bear witness to."

"Was that a jab at Snarlov?" Nick chuckled.

Sunset laughed. "I guess it is now?"

Judy shook her head, about to say something when she noticed it, standing next to a column, cautiously looking at them. "Guys?"

Sunset and Nick followed her eyes to the creature, Sunset stifling a gentle gasp. "Oh my goodness… a Spirit Guardian."

The creature was indeed rabbit-like, and like Judy, it stood on its hind legs. But where she had paws, it had small hooves. Between its two rabbit-like ears there were two fluffy, almost moth-like antennae, and its arms ended up in sharp claws.

It slowly made its way to them, seemingly ready to bolt at the smallest provocation, until it reached Sunset, who extended a paw. Carefully, the creature touched it, muttering something in a melodic, too-innocent-sounding voice.

Sunset gulped, eyes watering a little. "No, I'm sorry… this is not your home."

The creature said something else, it's tone tugging at Judy's heart, and she could feel Nick's arm wrap a bit tighter around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry…" Sunset said again. "But… it's gone, Ori."

The creature looked down, shoulders slumping and ears drooping. Unable to help herself, Judy pulled it into a hug, surprised at the gentle warmth it irradiated. The creature seemed stunned for a moment, then gently hugged her and Nick back.

Sunset stepped closed and patted Ori's shoulder. "You can come with me for now, Ori, I'll help find a world where you can be."

Ori looked up and said something to Judy, which she couldn't understand exactly… but she was compelled somehow to respond. "Judy… and this," she motioned at Nick, "Is Nick."

"Judy. Nick." Ori nodded, repeating their names in its chime-like voice.

Sunset grinned. "Congratulations guys, you will always be remembered."

Judy let out a laugh-turned-sob. She didn't know why, but she knew it was not an exaggeration. "Hey, since we're not on duty…"

Sunset chuckled, and motioned at the door to the bar. "Sure. Why not?"

End Zootopia Chapters

Author's Note

Keep an eye out for the Anniversary Blog!

The Alicorn Project (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 1)

Sunset's Isekai
The Alicorn Project (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 1)
By Wanderer D

"What do you mean 'repairs'?" Sunset asked, narrowing her eyes at Rarity. "How does a self-contained universe even need 'repairs'?"

"You have taken quite a few emotional hits recently, have you not?" Rarity said, shrugging slightly as she walked around the bar, examining the walls for some obscure sign Sunset herself couldn't see, and taking notes on her fancy silver clipboard. "It is reflecting on the stability of the bar. Why, you can see that the walls are barely holding as it is. It's not really… repairs exactly," she added, using her fingers to quote the last word, "think more of it like maintenance. The bar needs to rebalance itself and you need a break from the mundane. While you're here, directly affecting the bar, it cannot find that balance."

"Mundane?" Sunset repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, right. I see what you mean. Not a day ago, I just had a spar with Dr. Strange, Dresden, Urza, and Raistlin Majere at the same time. That is definitely 'mundane'."She finger-quoted."Happens quite often. I don't see why I bother."

"Hm. Sarcasm does not become you," Rarity replied, bopping Sunset's nose with a finger. "Or as a rather large acquaintance of mine would say, not appreciated."

Sunset closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I get that my state of mind affects the bar, and I know I've had some tough visits, I just don't see the point. It's been a while since I last had a heart-break-moment of any sort, and even for those I had someone to talk to about. I'm fine."

"Well, you might think so, but the Isekai knows better," Rarity countered. "Poor Ori has been running around the core trying to do his best to help, but this kind of thing is not his specialty. We really should find him a nice, comfy, forest-world where he could make the most of it. But that is not relevant right now. At this time, he's informed me of the state of the bar, and after some investigation, I came to the same conclusion."

Sunset sighed. "So why do you get to stay in while I don't?"

"Because I'm Rarity," her business partner responded, "and you're Sunset Shimmer, and you should make the most out of the situation. The bar is safe and cozy, I know how you feel about it, but don't close yourself to the rest of the multiverse. You are essentially eternal now, Sunset, but it doesn't mean you're not losing out on time."

"How can I be eternal and lose out on time?"

"Chances pass us by, sometimes." Rarity rolled her eyes. "Why don't you visit your mother? I'm sure Celestia would love to have tea with you."

Sunset crossed her arms. "Seriously? We've had this conversation. She and I have a healthy relationship now as immortal peers. That's all."

"Yes, and no one believes you," Rarity countered. "Not even you."

"She's not. My. Mother."

Rarity sighed and massaged her brow with her fingertips. "Sunset. You know better than anyone that just because she's not your blood, it doesn't mean she isn't family. You have all but admitted it before. Whenever you visit her in the future of Equestria, how does she treat you?"

Sunset looked down.

"And when you visit her in the present?"

"She knows that—"

"...that you're great at being in denial?" Rarity interrupted, gently taking Sunset by the shoulders. "Sunset… I care for you. I really do. I love you like a sister, and as someone who cares, I have to insist: learn to accept that family that cares is a blessing, and something you shouldn't deny out of… a sense of inadequacy."

Sunset's head snapped up and she stared at Rarity, who held her eyes without flinching. "Where the hell did you get that bluntness from?"

"If you already know, why do you ask?" Rarity countered, her lips twisting into a smile. "She is your family, not by blood as you say, and I agree, she never formally adopted you. But you do care for each other in that way, and I think it's healthy for both of you to explore that side of your relationship."

"Alright, alright!" Sunset threw her hands up. "I accept your challenge. I'll visit Celestia, we'll talk it over, laugh over tea at your notions, and then I can come back and tell you how she agrees with me."

The bar chose that moment to shake a little.

"It will be okay," Rarity said.

"I'm not afraid of talking to Celestia about this," Sunset replied. "I'm just afraid of wasting time I could be doing something else."

The bar seemed to shrink a little.

"Okay, I can take a hint!" Sunset called out. She waved her hand and her work clothes were replaced with her skirt and leather jacket. She marched towards the door. "I don't appreciate it when you guys gang up on me."

Rarity smirked. "Heaven forbid."

"As if that would stop the likes of you," Sunset muttered, reaching for the door. She hesitated. "You'll be okay, right?"

"Don't worry, I have plenty of experience with things like these," Rarity said.

"Alright then," Sunset muttered, opening the door and stepping out. "Have fun."

She had been expecting a grassy field, or even the courtyard of Canterlot Castle. Instead, she found herself in a small room with a bunker bed. The moment she got her bearings she realized she had not been dropped off where she wanted to be and turned around. "Wait, Rarity, this isn't—"

The door was gone.

"Great," she said, turning to look around the room she was in. "Now what?"

The door opened and a familiar man stepped in, frowning when he noticed her. "Shimmer? I thought I heard someone. Nice tan."

Sunset blinked, immediately recognizing the leader of SG-1. "Jack, I—"

"Anyway, it's good that you're here, I thought you were coming back tomorrow," he interrupted. "SG-5 left earlier, but we need some extra hands for our next stop. Get in uniform and meet us at the Stargate, we leave in ten."

"But I'm not—" Before she could say anything else, he was gone, and she was alone in what seemed to be another Sunset's room. She groaned and tried to summon the Isekai, but it seemed Rarity was already working on 'maintenance', because the door did not appear as intended.

She glanced at the locker. "I really shouldn't." She took a deep breath. "I really, really shouldn't."

Jack O'Neill idly checked the straps on his uniform while the others talked. When the door opened, he looked up to just to confirm it wasn't General Hammond, and then looked down back at the loose strap he had found with just as much interest. "Thanks for joining us, Lieutenant Shimmer."

"Sir," she responded deferentially. There was something odd about her though.

"Still in vacation mode, Sunset?"

"Pretty much," the lieutenant replied, walking around the room as if she were trying to get used to her uniform again to greet Teal'c, Daniel, and Sam. "Any idea where are we going?"

"Well," Daniel spoke up, "Sam and I found references to a location that had fought off the Goa'uld millenia ago, and not only fought them off their world, they had such mastery of their star system that no alien invasions were ever possible after their first attempt."

"The Goa'uld were there long enough to set up a Stargate and create a connection, but through unknown means, it was sealed," Sam added, her lips pressing together in thought. "When Daniel and I went through some new possible planetary options based on the information we had, we discovered that the star system had shifted its orbit somehow, and that'd been the reason why the stargate was not functioning."

"Huh," Sunset said. "I don't think there's that many civilizations out there who could move their entire system."

"It is… beyond what the Goa'uld are capable of, Lieutenant Shimmer," Teal'c stated. "The methods are unknown, and since it is forbidden to speak of this location, I am afraid I have not been of much help in identifying any potential dangers."

"Just another Wednesday," Jack said.

"So, what did you find out anyway?" Sunset asked, surprising him. Usually once the basics of the missions had been stated, Shimmer had been content to follow orders. It was one of the reasons she remained mostly another name in Stargate Command, despite her rank in the Air Force.

"Oh, not much that makes sense right now," Daniel said. "Legends mostly, which we know might hide some truth… um, we have immortal god-rulers that control the skies, specifically the Sun and the Moon. The Moon-ruler sealed the gate, while the Sun-ruler destroyed their fleet and then made the star system disappear…"

"Y-you don't say."

"Apparently they also had another god figure with even more power who transformed their foot soldiers into random creatures."

"Shit."

"Something wrong, Shimmer?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sir, I don't think I should go wi—"

The doors opened and Jack snapped the order. "Ten-hut!"

"At ease," General Hammond said, nodding. "I see you found your backup member, Jack. Welcome back, Lieutenant Shimmer. How was Maui?"

"Strangely, more charming in person."

Hammon smiled, nodding. "I remember the first time Mary Anne and I went there back in 84. It's a lovely place."

"Oh, you mean the island..." Sunset muttered, earning a slightly confused glance from the others.

"General," the radio buzzed on before he could answer. "We are ready."

"SG-1," Hammond nodded at them. "Good luck."

With that he turned and left, heading presumably up to the Monitoring Station, and Jack relaxed. "Well guys, let's go!"

"Seriously sir, I might not be the best company for this one," Sunset said to him nervously as they stood side-by-side, watching the iris open.

"Nonsense, Shimmer," he replied, grinning when she squirmed in defeat. "You know your way around a fight, and you're familiar with everyone in SG-1, I think you'll be fine."

She sighed before taking a deep breath and nodding. "I guess we'll find out," she said as the Stargate activated with a hum that made everything shake for a moment.

Jack shrugged and strode forth into the wobbling, water-like surface of the Stargate.

The moment she reached the other side of the Stargate, Sunset knew where they were. The ruins of the Everfree Castle lay within sight, while the unmistakable vegetation of the forest itself loomed nearby, close enough to give her pause, but somehow still keeping clear of the gate's platform itself.

"Seed Stargate confirmed," Sam said, studying the device, then walked over to the smaller symbol-covered device close to it. "And it seems the dial is also in working order."

'I should've stayed back,' Sunset thought morosely, 'I'm a potential hazard here, depending on when this is.'

She was wrenched out of her thoughts when Daniel spoke up. "This is interesting, the area around the Stargate is completely free of dust, plants, animals… and yet everything around it is completely overgrown."

That nagged at her brain. She looked around the place. Daniel was right. The pedestal where it had been built was spotless, but that didn't make sense. The Everfree Forest was aggressively active when it came to growth. You only needed to look at the non-protected areas of the Everfree Castle to notice— "Oh crap. Stop!"

Jack, who had been taking a step forward from the edge of the platform almost followed her order on time, but his foot touched the edge and the whole platform was suddenly crackling with a buildup of energy.

Daniel and Sam worked feverishly on the dial, but it didn't seem to respond to their commands. "Jack! The dial is not working! We're trapped!"

Jack tried slamming the force field with the butt of his assault rifle, but nothing happened other than him getting blasted back a few feet by angry blue-white lightning. It was then that Teal'c took aim with his Ma'Tok staff and shot. The energy blast slammed into the shield, which rather than bounce it back, absorbed it.

It was then that the voice of none other than Luna spoke out in Ancient Equestrian, and Sunset felt her breath catch. This was definitely not good.

"Daniel?" Jack asked, almost hiding the urgency in his voice.

"I-I have no idea, I've never heard that language before!" Daniel said as the message repeated itself. There was no way they were getting out of this one without some help, and Sunset couldn't just stand idly by and do nothing.

"Dammit all," Sunset muttered, stepping forward and reaching out to the barrier.

"Lieutenant, don't!" Jack warned, but she didn't have time to follow orders. They had seconds before the others died. Luna's spell was powerful, but it was just a variation of a traditional forcefield spell. It was tied to the Stargate, which meant that it would power up automatically when it was used, then deplete over time. The more the gate was used, the longer the shield would last. If the Stargate wasn't in use long after, it would recede into wherever she had planted the core. Brilliant, in a way, and mostly harmless. The problem was the additional spell that Luna had added.

If a certain species was detected, it would not only stop them, but it would also eliminate them. It was probably Teal'c's weapon that had activated this second spell. Without additional time, she wouldn't be able to simply dispel the shield as it was. It occupied too large an area to quickly disarm it, but she could slow it down.

"Guys, look around and on the Dial, there should be a different symbol somewhere on it, when you find it, you have to destroy it, but don't use the Ma'Tok staff. It's probably engraved in regular rock, just break it apart!"

"Why?"

"Because if we don't the shield will fry us all!"

"Sounds like a good reason as any, get on it, Daniel," Jack said, walking up to stand near her as the other worked. "What are you doing? Has SG-5 encountered something like this before?"

"Yeah. Forcefields, all the time right?" Sunset joked as Teal'c also came closer. "Please don't touch the forcefield. I'm trying to stop the flow from completing and releasing a death ray in here."

"Lieutenant, there's something you're not telling me. I've read all of SG-5's reports and nothing mentioned any force fields like this one. I saw how you reacted when you heard that voice. You know what it said." As if to confirm Jack's words, Luna's message repeated itself.

"I took a class on it when I was younger, so my understanding isn't that great, but the gist of it was, 'Behold your doom, worms, that you might serve as a warning to your species to never step hoof into our world again'," Sunset said after a moment.

Jack crossed his arms, ignoring the energy buildup around him. "Forgotten Ancient Alien Languages 101, huh? That's an odd class to take."

"It was an elective?"

"It seems this civilization was well prepared to defend itself from Goa'uld incursions," Teal'c said, seemingly taking her response in stride. "I still find it odd that it did not react like this until I shot it."

"I think it would have reacted the same way if it had been you, and not Jack, who touched it," Sunset said. "You might've died on the spot too, Luna wasn't known to be particularly merciful back in the day."

"Who?" Jack asked, casually crossing his arms.

"Found it!" Sam called out before he could get his answer.

"Break it!" Sunset called over her shoulder, just as a tingling sensation went through her. She heard a dull thud, and the shield's integrity shook under her fingers. Another thud, and finally a third, followed by a crack. Immediately the shield disappeared, the lightning dispersing into the air.

Sunset stumbled forward and would have fallen if Jack and Teal'c hadn't caught her arms. She regained her footing and nodded at them. "Thanks, I'm okay."

Jack nodded to Teal'c and they let Lt. Shimmer go. She bent down, taking a deep breath of relief. The mystery was getting a bit annoying, but he wanted to either get back to Earth, or at least a secure location before he could question her.

"Um, guys?" Daniel spoke up in that tone of voice that guaranteed he was going to make Jack angry. "Are you seeing a bunch of pegasi and unicorns around us?"

Sunset's head snapped up as Jack and the others stared at the horse-like creatures arranged around them. The pegasi were carrying staffs of some sort, while the unicorns stood at the ready, all watching them warily and ready to act.

"Does anyone know how to tell them we come in peace?" Jack said, slowly raising his hands.

Someone spoke, and it took a moment for him to realize who it had been. He had not understood a word, but the tone had been commanding and firm.

The horse that had spoken was taller than the others making it look more and more like it was a horse among ponies, and sported not only the wings of the pegasi, but the horn of a unicorn. The voice was female, strong, and confident. She wore a crown and other decorations, including fancy horseshoes, which probably meant that she was probably in charge, and she was looking none too pleased at seeing them.

"Hi," he said, drawing her attention to himself. "I'm Jack O'Neill, from Stargate Command. We are not allies of the Goa'uld. This is Teal'c, he used to be one of them, but joined the rebellion and our team to fight the system lords. These are Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Captain Samantha Carter, and our loaner from SG-5—"

The creature interrupted him, saying something in her language while facing Lieutenant Shimmer, voice hard. And if he was any good at sensing the reactions of horse-like species, the other horses in golden armor seemed suddenly more aggressive.

When Lt. Shimmer responded in the same language, it was all he could do to keep himself from asking her what the hell was going on.

"Daniel?" Jack stage whispered instead, "what are they saying?"

"No idea… their language is not something I've encountered before… sounds a little like High Dutch, but the words don't make sense. It's also not the same language as earlier, although it bears some similarities." He adjusted his glasses. "I wonder what class she took."

"I always thought that Lt. Shimmer had gone straight into the Air Force as soon as she had graduated high school. It seems like an unusual elective to take while there," Carter said.

"Yeah, I don't know much of her other than the couple of times we worked together with SG-5," Jack added. "She was a lot less chatty than today."

"And she seemed distressed at the thought of coming here, when Daniel described what little we knew of this world," Teal'c pointed out.

"Let's keep the discussion for later," Jack muttered. "Something is about to happen."

Sunset had stepped between them and the bigger winged horse, saying something to them. The larger horse seemed unimpressed, however, and simply nodded in their direction.

The next thing Jack knew, he was standing in a small, damp prison cell that looked like it belonged in one of the medieval worlds. There was no sign of his weapons and gear. He walked to the door and slid his arms through the bars, resting them where the cross bar was.

Across from him, Daniel, Sam, and Teal'c approached the doors of their own cells. Of Lieutenant Shimmer—if that's who she really was—there was no sign.

"Well," he said, glancing at the others. "I did say it was a Wednesday."

End Chapter 1

Author's Note

Yes! A multi-parter!
Also, don't forget that if you want your Sunset Isekai's Pin, you can PM directly!
($4 USD + Shipping)

Teenage Angst (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 2)

Sunset's Isekai
Teenage Angst (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 2)
By Wanderer D

A few moments earlier...

"Uh, hi Princess Celestia," Sunset spoke, making Jack do a double-take. "I'm guessing you want to keep the conversation private?"

"Sharp as always, my dear student," Princess Celestia responded. "I suppose I could have cast a translation spell, but I'd rather your allies not know what I am saying for now. I am somewhat surprised, however, that you managed to disrupt the forcefield."

Sunset shrugged. "Well, Luna always liked her glyphs."

That had been apparently the wrong thing to say, as the Princess's muzzle turned into a frown. She nodded with her head at the others. "Captain, arrest these creatures. Careful with the one with the mark on his forehead. He is a member of the army of an ancient enemy of ours."

"What about Sunset Shimmer, Princess?" another unicorn asked.

"She and I will have a long talk about bringing armed forces to Equestria," the princess said. "Then I will decide what sort of punishment is appropriate for allying herself with ancient enemies."

"Wait!" Sunset shouted, jumping between them, hands held up just as Jack was raising his gun.

"Please… there's much you don't know, Princess. But Jack and the others are not your enemies, they really are fighting the Goa'uld. They didn't know anything about this world."

Celestia shook her head warily and the unicorns that made up the guard lit up their horns with magic. Almost instantly the others were gone, leaving her alone, surrounded by angry ponies, and facing an unamused Celestia.

"We have taken away their weapons and equipment, your highness," the guard said.

"Thank you, Captain," Celestia said, nodding at the unicorn. "A job well done. Don't underestimate them, however. If they came with Sunset, they might have some other way of disrupting the peace."

"Understood, your highness."

Sunset crossed her arms. "You really don't have to treat them like that."

Princess Celestia rolled her eyes. "You have a lot to answer for, Sunset Shimmer. Given your last words to me, I'm not going to trust you just because you say you changed your mind."

Sunset snorted. "This is why it was always so hard to talk to you."

"Was?" Celestia looked at her warily.

"Scan away," Sunset said, "It's usually easier than this at the bar, but this situation is different."

Celestia did not look convinced, but she walked around Sunset, slowly taking her in as her horn glowed. "My senses do not lie, you are Sunset Shimmer, but your magic is much more powerful than when I last saw you." She paused, a look of wary surprise on her face. "A lot more powerful than I thought possible."

"That's because I'm not the Sunset Shimmer that left you," Sunset replied. "I'm… similar, I would guess, but not the same. I'm centuries older than your Sunset."

"If you're not here as an enemy," Celestia said, rearing back her head as a clear indication of distrust, "why do you carry weapons?"

Sunset shrugged. "It's a long story… how about we talk over tea?"

"I am still wary of you, Sunset Shimmer. It's been a month since you—or rather your counterpart—left. I have little reason to trust you since I exiled you."

Sunset closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You really don't want to go there."

"Why not? Y-she left in anger, promising revenge."

"Really?" Sunset growled. "And whose fault was that?"

Celestia drew herself into her full height, her wings opening slightly as she glowered at her. "She did it to herself. Through selfishness. Through betraying my trust: through her greed."

Sunset snorted and shook her head. "You're worse than the other Celestias ever were," she muttered. "Did she look up to you? Did she call you 'mom' by accident on Hearths Warming? Did you tell her that she would always be your student?"

Celestia tilted her head. "What does that—"

That was all Sunset needed to know it had taken place, just like in her own past. "...did you exile her when she went on her own to learn spells to turn into an alicorn?"

"I did." Celestia sighed. "With a heavy heart. That area is forbidden for a reason an—"

"Please," Sunset interrupted raising her hand. "Skip the bs." She waved her other hand, summoning magic as a chair and a table appeared. She walked over to sit down and run her hands through her hair. "You were an incredible teacher, Celestia."

Looking unsure at the turn of events, the princess slowly made her way to sit across from Sunset, who looked up to meet her eyes. "Most of the time, you are the best example of what ponies can be," Sunset continued. "Calm. Friendly. Wise. Knowledgeable… but for all of that, in almost every world, you miss the clear signs that are right in front of you."

Shaking her head with a bit of disdain at the notion, Celestia summoned a tea set. Around them, seeing what was going on, the remaining guards spread around, guarding the area, but giving them as much privacy as they could. "And what would that be?"

"That your Sunset was a teenager," Sunset replied. "A misbehaving brat, that said too many things she didn't mean and regretted. One that had craved something you didn't make an effort to give her."

Celestia once again shook her head, this time not with disdain but rather a firm denial. "She was, and probably will never be ready to be an alicorn."

"Probably not," Sunset agreed. "But that's not the point… did you ever stop to wonder why I wanted to be an alicorn?" she noticed the slip, but didn't correct herself.

"Power, obviously," Celestia said, filling out their cups. "I am not sure what your experience was, but through the years, my Sunset's desire to be acknowledged to be the best turned her into a bully and a schemer."

"Okay," Sunset said, taking a deep breath. "Acknowledged by who? Because if you had looked at the cause rather than the result, you could have handled things differently."

Celestia's tea hovered just an inch from her mouth, and remained there as she glared at Sunset. "Are you saying that it is my fault?"

"Yes." Sunset took a sip of her own tea, "...and no. Of course it's not all your fault. Celestia, you and I are… well, old. Or at least very much older than your Sunset. If I went on a rampage like that… you would be very much right in exiling me, or even imprisoning me. But she... your Sunset? Celestia, she's just a kid."

Celestia looked away, her eyes studying the forest around her, and the painful reminder the crumbling castle at the edge of it brought with its history.

Celesta took a small drink from her cup. "She should have known better than to break rules like that." She raised her eyes to meet Sunset's. "The magic in that section is highly dangerous, Sunset."

"And yet you keep it there and not in the secret chamber under the library itself," Sunset pointed out, making Celestia blink. "You showed me that place during an emergency."

Celestia snorted. "So you do come back and make peace."

"And I apologized to you. But you never said sorry."

The princess frowned. "Why would I apologize?"

"Celestia, you know what Sunset sees you as, right?" Sunset asked, setting her cup down on the table.

The princess sighed and nodded. "I know what she saw me as, when she was a little filly. But I cannot be her mother. She understood that and grew out of it."

"I saw you… or my Celestia the same way," Sunset said, tapping the table with her fingers as she remembered. "I was terrified of saying the wrong thing, because it hurt so much that you would just… tell me I was a good student. A gifted pupil. That you would just… brush over that and leave me feeling alone."

"That was never my intention."

"I know, Celestia. For my part, I forgave the other you a long time ago. My business partner keeps calling her my mom. But even though our relationship is… so much better than it was now, in this period of time, I can't. Even if she said I could."

"I… said that?" Celestia blinked. "But that's—"

"You have to understand a little on what you're dealing with here, Celestia," Sunset interrupted. "I know why you selected me as a student when I was just a filly, instead of your traditional tutelage of older ponies," she added, giving a meaningful glance at the castle beyond them.

Celestia's eyes went wide. "Does that mean…"

"I can't tell you, but I know you want help… and I understand. I really do. I didn't then, but I do now," Sunset said gently. "But that is just the tip of the iceberg. It makes sense that you'd want to… have control—in a way—of the type of pony that would take on that job. It would be imperative for that pony to be the best kind of pony they can be. Someone that values love and friendship. Someone that can be reliable and wise when they're needed.

"I get that… but I—and I imagine your Sunset too—never experienced those things. My friendships in school were little more than ponies trying to suck up to me to get closer to you, either through their own initiative, or their parents'. The few ponies who would have been my friends without those interests, were intimidated by the others into going away. And, when it came to love and caring… I didn't have an example for that. Because the only pony I wanted to care for and love me, only needed a pupil."

Celestia closed her eyes. "That is a very hard thing to hear."

"But it is true," Sunset said. "And I would love to say that you couldn't have known, but… princess, you knew me better than anyone." She let out an exasperated sigh. "It's not—I know that when I left, I was old enough to make some choices, but I was still just a teenager, Celestia. I had no example of family; no examples of real friendship… and when Cadance became an alicorn, you immediately adopted her into your family." She studied Celestia's face as she said that. "How do you think I… your Sunset felt about that?"

Celestia bit her lip, but did not argue.

"I'm not saying that she and I are not responsible for how we act. We all are ultimately accountable for our actions in one way or another, and she broke the rules. She needed a punishment of sorts… but we adults are supposed to have a perspective and understanding that teenagers are just developing.

"Teens act on a lot of instinct… and lash out more easily. They are more than smart enough to know what to say for the greater effect, sometimes with cold, angry logic. Oftentimes they use that, twist it and end up hurting others and later on regretting it. And yet they are not emotionally prepared for the most part to deal with fixing those emotional moments.

"You judged her as an adult for lashing out and testing the limits when the only recourse she thought existed of being meaningful to you was to become an alicorn. And instead of reassurance, and… you know, a firm hoof… you exiled her."

"It was intended as a lesson," Celestia said slowly. "I was hoping it would make her reconsider."

"At that point… it just felt like the last nail in the coffin," Sunset replied, taking her cup in both hands and studying the honeyed tea within. "In my eyes, you had Cadance, and you had just told me I would never be worthy of you, and that I might as well just get out. It was too harsh a punishment… too raw a scare to work against my resentment for it to turn into teaching me humility." Sunset shrugged. "In short… it was a mistake—as we adults often make—but it came at the worst possible moment."

"I know." Celestia let out a slow breath. "I've known ever since it happened that I should have chosen a different punishment. But she's gone, and she left angry and she hated me, Sunset. I saw her eyes."

"She's a teenager," Sunset repeated. "I was so angry… when I came across the mirror, my anger kept me going even though I had changed into a completely new species. When I calmed down, I had to deal with essentially being in an alien body, running away from home, and no way of going back. Oddly enough, my first year in that other world wasn't too bad. I got back in school, I proved myself as a great student, I was popular without being your protege… but that recognition brought back those feelings of inadequacy, and the fear that I would be forgotten and ignored.

"When I was named queen of the Fall Formal, I saw that as a chance… to never let that power go, to always be recognized as the best of the best, so that I would never be ignored. As little as it objectively really matters… to me it was absolute proof that you were wrong, and I was right." She chuckled. "It wasn't the worst part, however."

Celestia raised her head to look at her. "Oh?"

Sunset felt herself smile a little. "Did you know I took my diary with me?"

The princess visibly winced. "Oh, Sunset."

"I waited, you know?" Sunset said. "I checked daily for a while. A month went by. Two. A year. You never said anything, and I just stopped checking. Back then, I couldn't write back to you… I felt that, when you exiled me, I had burned that bridge forever; that if I begged or apologized, I'd only prove to you that I did not deserve to be part of your family." She chuckled. "When I came back briefly… Twilight Sparkle was all grown up… which meant that years had passed for you."

Celestia looked up. "So you know Twilight?"

"Yeah. I looked into it when I visited Equestria, and found out that you had taken her as your apprentice the morning after I left. That felt… well—" She snorted. "—not good. It cemented my thoughts that there was no point in me expecting you to acknowledge me. Especially if I had been so easily replaced."

"Sunset, it wasn't something I planned—" Celestia hastily started, only to be stopped by Sunset's raised hand.

"I know, Celestia. I don't blame you for that. Twilight's test was… an event. I don't blame Twilight either, but learning to deal with that took some time. What I don't understand… the thing I never asked my Celestia is… why didn't you try to contact me? In all that time? Especially with how you really felt about me. My Celestia has expressed several times regret at not taking that step."

"I… don't know. Right now it's only been a month and a half since you left, Sunset." The princess used her magic to warm the tea, her watery eyes betraying her troubled thoughts. "I keep thinking I don't know where to even begin."

"Then you still have time to fix things between you," Sunset countered, "I know I turn out well in my own timeline, but you… you can change things so it turns out better for both of you. You, well my Celestia, never could bring herself to adopt me… but your Sunset really could use her mother right now," she insisted. "That's who you are. That's what you mean to me."

It took a moment between saying it and Celestia's wide eyes before she winced in realization. She groaned and sank down, resting her forehead on the table. "Crap. Rarity was right."

The princess, of course, looked amused. "You're not going to say that to my counterpart from your world?"

"It's too late for me for that to have any meaning, Celestia. Not after centuries of avoiding the issue, and when I'm a full grown adult," Sunset said, shaking her head, "it would just be a title, and she and I have a friendly dynamic now that works for us, but you can still fix that error here if that's what you want, and if she means to you as much as you mean to her."

Sunset took a deep drink, emptying the cup of tea—now that it was a little cooler—in one gulp before continuing. "I don't know if your Sunset will continue to be a brat for a while—she'll definitely need watching and a firm hoof—but knowing she is loved is the first step towards healing, and I can tell you it will mean a lot to her." She swallowed. "That's… something that took a while for me to even get started on."

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "And how would I do that? The portal is closed."

"I can open it," Sunset said. "There's a couple of ways of opening it back up, but you have to decide what you want to do." She smiled at the princess. "I know I projected a bit of myself into this whole conversation—" she ignored the look Celestia gave her "—but whatever it is you do, please… take the time to at least write to her. Don't let her be completely alone where she can fester in her hatred. Give her a chance to talk… I think the distance will help, and even if she doesn't come back to live here in Equestria, at least she will know she has a home."

Celestia took another deep breath and let it out with a half-laugh. "I've thought several times on how things would go when—or if—I eventually talked to Sunset Shimmer again. I never considered that I would be the one on the receiving end of the 'taking responsibility' lesson."

"I never thought I'd sit down with you, or any Celestia, and go down that rabbit hole." Sunset leaned back and took a deep breath herself, letting it out slowly before she faced the princess again. "I do feel better though… and I hope your Sunset also realizes where she is wrong… and comes around to accept her part in what happened."

Celestia chuckled. "I guess there's only one way to find out." She glanced over at the castle, her smile turning sad. "But Sunset… she did choose of her own free will to do this. If she's not willing to accept the consequences of her actions then, and in the future…"

Sunset nodded. "You can only do so much. But take it from me… no matter what anyone else says, at least you will have tried."

End Part 2

Wednesday As Usual (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 3)

Sunset's Isekai
Wednesday As Usual (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 3)
By Wanderer D

"So what have we learned so far?" Jack asked from where he was sitting in his small cell. Throwing pebbles at the wall had long lost its replay value, and now he was just idling time away the best way he knew how: complaining. His back was to the door, so he could hear everyone as clearly as possible.

Sam cleared her throat. "This species of horse-like creatures seems to have an impressive ability to harness energy and use it to—"

"They do magic, or are super advanced with tech, got it," he interrupted. "What else? Anything useful?"

"They keep us in separate holding cells, much like your own people on Earth, and unlike Goa'uld tradition," Teal'c observed.

"These locks have no panels, and no keyholes. Short of ripping them off the wall, I don't think they're the way out," Sam said.

"Can we do that?" Jack asked. "Y'know. Rip them? Off the wall?"

There was a moment of silence, then the slight grinding of metal on rock. "The gates are very sturdy, and I cannot bend them. I believe this means they are not underestimating us, Colonel O'Neill."

"Okay." Jack threw another pebble. "Thanks, Teal'c. Anything else we learned from our horse overlords?" He glanced around warily. "The cells seem clean, you don't think they just stand there and… poop, right?"

"I don't believe they would sir, being an advanced, sapient race," Sam said, "but cultural taboos are—"

"Okay, so watch where you step."

"I didn't understand what they said exactly, but I could understand from the context of the situation that Lieutenant Shimmer and the horse in charge had some sort of prior history," Daniel pointed out. "It wasn't too different a reaction than whenever one of the System Lords sees Teal'c for the first time."

"So, the usual, 'what the hell are you doing with them' spiel," Jack summarized. "Yeah, I got the same vibe."

"But sir," Sam said, "how is that possible?" He could picture her in his mind. Frowning, even shaking her head in bewilderment. "There's no reasonable explanation for how she'd be able to speak their language."

"What," Jack drolled, "you don't believe she took 'magical horse 101' in school? Color. Me. Surprised."

"What color would you like to be painted, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked. "I was not aware of this custom."

"You know what the worst thing is, Teal'c? The worst thing is, that—since I can't see your face—I don't know if you're joking or not." Jack shifted in place, getting more comfortable.

"Have you ever been able to tell?" Daniel asked.

"Daniel?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"Have I ever told you how endearing I find your wit?"

"No?"

"Good. Because I don't. At all." Jack sighed, dragging a hand down his face before leaning back. "Anyway, Teal'c, that is just a way of saying that I am actually not surprised that she lied."

"Is that so?" the Jaffa said, "I did not think she was lying."

"Yeah, well, some people are really good at it," Jack growled. "She took 101 on an ancient language our resident nerd has never heard of? Yeah, right. How long have we been in here anyway?"

"A little over three hours," a familiar voice replied, making him stand up immediately. He looked out of his cell and noticed Lt. Shimmer herself walking down the stairs into the cell block.

"Lieutenant. Have I ever told you that you're a sight for sore eyes?"

"Actually, yes, you have," she replied, smiling as she stopped in front of Sam's cell and did something to the door, which opened.

That… was not the answer he was expecting. "I have?"

"Well, not this version of you, yet," she clarified as she proceeded to release Daniel and Teal'c, before walking over to his door, "but, who knows? Once this is all over with, you might."

"I'm not too sure about that," he answered, stepping back a little. The door opened by itself and he stepped out. "What, no guards?"

"I convinced the princess that you guys were not enemies."

"So." He made a grand gesture of their surroundings. "Where's my stuff?"

"They have all of the equipment upstairs, although I don't think they'll give us any guns back quite yet."

Jack looked at her askance, studying her up and down. "Good. That is good. Right?"

She nodded, and gestured for them to follow her, taking the lead. "I'm sure you have a ton of questions, but I'll try and cover the basics. Yes, I am Sunset Shimmer, no, I am not your Lt. Sunset Shimmer. Yes, I do speak the language of Equestria, and did actually study Ancient Equestrian while I was in school as an elective."

Jack made a conscious effort to not acknowledge the smug smirk on Teal'c's face. "And I suppose this was in an alternate Earth?"

"Nope," Sunset said, "an alternate Equestria. I was once a unicorn."

"What?!"

"Guys?" Jack said, wincing. "Really? You're standing next to me."

"Sorry," Sam and Daniel chorused.

"Anyway, I cleared things up with Princess Celestia, who is the immortal ruler of this land, and she's eager to meet you all."

"Well, that's just… great. So how come you were in Lt. Shimmer's room?"

Sunset's smile faded into a frown. "My bar dropped me there. I'm not sure why. I ended up just rolling with it, since it wouldn't be the first time I've gone on missions with you… I just didn't expect to come here."

"And these missions," Jack clarified, "were not exactly with…" he motioned at himself and the others.

"Alternate versions of you. Not the robots though."

"Of course."

Once they emerged from the prison block, he had to blink a few times to clear his eyes and fight the glare of the sun. As he grew accustomed to sunlight, he took in the marble-like quality of the walls of the castle they were at.

All around them unicorns and horn-less ponies walked by, talked to each other, or stared at them. Above, the pegasus flew, some wearing armor like the guards around them, but most of them without anything on.

"Welcome to Equestria, SG-1," Sunset said. She started walking, so he and the others stepped in line behind her, while some guards loosely surrounded them as an escort. "This is the capital of the pony lands, Canterlot."

"Is that a griffon?" Daniel asked suddenly, pointing up at what looked to be a mixture of cat and bird flying in the distance.

"Yep! You'll discover that most of the legendary creatures of Earth inhabit this world. Unicorns, pegasi, hydras, cerberus, satyrs, hippogriffs…"

"But that can only mean that there's some sort of shared history."

"That's right, Sam. But no one is entirely sure how that works, since all the 'mythological' creatures are here, but none can be found on Earth. It could really just be cosmic coincidence, or Starswirl throwing things into other worlds more often than he would admit."

"So, Lieu—" Jack bit back the word. "What should I call you?"

"Sunset is fine."

"So, Sunset. What can you tell us about this princess we're meeting?"

"Princess Celestia is the ruler of Equestria and has been for… several thousand years in this timeline. In some universes she's been at it since the world was created." Sunset rolled her shoulders. "She's generally less pleasant in those."

"You seem to be very familiar with alternate realities," Teal'c pointed out. "Tell me, Sunset Shimmer. Is this something you do frequently?"

"Ha. No." Sunset shook her head and stopped, facing them. "Well, not exactly. I own an inter-dimensional bar. I stay there for the most part. I'd rather make sure my guests have a good time, or have an ear to talk to. My business partner is the one that insisted I get out, and it usually ends in adventures."

Jack glanced at her. "So, a bar, huh?"

"Yep, with the best selection of beer you could hope for."

"Any chance we can skip this and go there?"

"Jack, our mission here—"

"I know, Carter," Jack interrupted, "but no one said we couldn't have fun, right?"

By then they had reached the castle itself, and were walking through to a pair of large, heavy doors. There were less creatures around, and the few horses he could see remained quiet and walked around businesslike and with purpose.

"Unfortunately, the bar is currently under maintenance, so we're not going anywhere," Sunset grumbled, and Jack found himself silently agreeing at the implied injustice to it all.

The guards opened the doors as they reached them, revealing a large hall, with a throne at the end of a steep set of stairs, where the horse Sunset had called 'Princess Celestia' sat, her horn glowing and reading a parchment.

Next to her, sitting on a small red and gold cushion, was a small purple unicorn, who had her face stuffed in a book it was presumably reading.

He stood in the middle of the room with the others while Sunset stepped forward and to the side. "Princess, allow me to introduce Colonel O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c."

Jack glanced at Sunset. "Is she going to, y'know, understand us?"

"I do," Princess Celestia said, making him blink. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Colonel. I apologize for the way you were greeted, but I feared you were here to attack my people."

"But I thought you recognized Sunset," Daniel spoke up.

Celestia's smile became a bit strained. "Yes. As I said, Doctor Jackson, I was afraid you were here to attack my people."

Jack glanced at Sunset, who shrugged sheepishly. He grimaced, raising an eyebrow, and using his best non-verbal expression to carry on the unspoken message: Really? He then turned to look back at the Princess with a more neutral expression. "Well, we're all glad it was sorted out," he said.

"Princess?" the tiny purple unicorn asked, with an all-too-adorable voice. "Why did you think they were going to attack if you recognized her?"

Celestia blinked at the question, then gave Sunset a side-glance. "Well, you see my precious student, my daughter didn't leave home with the best of intentions. In fact, she promised revenge."

Jack immediately zeroed in on Sunset who had covered her face with a hand and was muttering things under her breath. 'Her daughter?' She looked so mortified he couldn't help it. He looked over to Celestia, then back to her studying her up and down. "I can see the resemblance."

Sunset dragged her hand slowly down her face to glare at him, then growled something he didn't quite catch before glancing at the princess. "I don't know who's worse, you, or Rarity."

"Don't be like that," Celestia countered. "After our discussion, it was easy to warm up to the idea." She levitated a book from behind her, and showed it to Sunset. "I already wrote to her. I'm hoping she'll answer soon."

While the others talked, Twilight had made her way unsteadily down the stairs—her book hovering next to her—and trotted over to look up at Daniel, who was looking at her with a mystified expression. "Are you really a doctor?"

"Um, yes. My name is Daniel, and this is Sam," he awkwardly knelt down so she wouldn't have to look up too much, and the filly quickly jumped onto one of the steps at the base of the throne to look at him in the eyes. "I have a doctorate in archaeology."

"Oh, wow!" she exclaimed. He didn't just look smart, he actually was! "That's amazing! I hope to learn a lot about the history of Equestria and ancient civilizations from the Princess! Since, y'know," she scratched the hard floor with her hoof, "she was there, and all."

"Um, excuse me," the other visitor, what was her name… Sam, spoke up. "Can I take a look at your book?"

"Hm? Oh! Sure, here…" the tiny unicorn levitated it up so the visitor could take it. She watched with interest as Daniel joined her in taking a look. "Do you understand it?"

"Well, I can't read the words," Sam replied, "but I can sort of follow the equations here. These are surprisingly advanced!"

"I'm ahead of the curve," Twilight said, feeling her cheeks grow warm. "The princess said I was very smart."

"Well, you definitely are if you're impressing Sam," Daniel replied. "She's also a Doctor, but a different kind."

"Oh, really? Are you a medical doctor?"

"My doctorate is in Astrophysics," Sam replied. "It's the branch of astronomy concerned with the physical nature of stars and other celestial bodies, and the application of the laws and theories of physics to the interpretation of astronomical observations."

"Wow!"

"Twilight?" Celestia spoke up, distracting her. "Don't forget to introduce yourself."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She gasped, turning to face their visitors again. "I'm not used to meeting other po—um, creatures. My name is Twilight Sparkle."

"Very nice to meet you, Twilight."

After the round of introductions had properly come to an end, and the little bundle of adorkableness that was filly Twilight Sparkle was once again sitting next to the Princess, Celestia spoke.

"Sunset mentioned that you were seeking allies in your war against the Goa'uld," she said. "I'm afraid the way of war is not something we embrace in Equestria, and it would be remiss of me to simply accept an alliance with little evidence but the word of Sunset here."

"But if you have the power to move planets and stars, why can't you assist us?" Sam asked. "You fought them before, so you know how dangerous they can be. The energy and knowledge required to do something like that is almost impossible to imagine, surely you can at least help us get closer to being able to fight them."

Celestia sighed. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. This system is unique, and the powers that allow me to set the sun or rise the moon are not feats I can easily do in other worlds. Our magic and artifacts can be dangerous if used incorrectly… our initial study of your weapons also suggests that your race is well experienced in war." She locked eyes with Jack. "My experience has been that cultures that embrace it so readily usually tend to look into ways of being stronger and more dangerous." She took on an apologetic air as she continued, "we will need a longer relationship before any sort of military support can be discussed."

"Princess, I promise you that Stargate Command is not the type of organization that seeks to start wars, or to arm their world," Sunset said, "In fact, most of their teams are for exploration or scientific study."

"I understand that, Sunset, but you have to remember this is an alternate reality, I am not cutting off any future engagements, but some time would—" the princess stopped suddenly when the magical diary buzzed. "Excuse me."

Jack leaned over to her. "What's that?"

"It's a magical diary that's connected to the one my alternate from this universe took with her when she crossed a magical mirror."

"Ah."

"You asked."

"Oh. Oh no," Celestia whispered, drawing their attention to her. She was now standing, wings slightly open and eyes wide with worry.

"What is it, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Sunset… my Sunset… she's safe, but the world she's in is controlled by the Goa'uld. Like you, she has shape-shifted to look like what they call a Tau'ri, and avoided capture so far, but she says her encampment has had some close calls the last few weeks."

"Well, this sounds familiar," Jack muttered.

"You're becoming too genre savvy, Jack," Sunset said, then turned to face Celestia. "But I am also surprised. In my universe, Sunset ended up on Earth. In this one, her counterpart is obviously older… and she didn't go there, if she's being threatened by Goa'uld."

Celestia winced. "I shouldn't have let her go. I fear my s-daughter is lost forever."

"Maybe." Daniel said, stepping forth. "Your highness, we can help. We've dealt with the Goa'uld many times, and I'm sure we could bring your daughter back home."

"We can?" Jack asked, glancing around at his team, who all gave him unamused looks. He turned again to face the Princess, with a fake, pleasant smile on his face. "Of course we can." He glared at Daniel.

The archaeologist shrugged apologetically.

Celestia closed her eyes. "And in return, I'd open an alliance with your government, is that right?"

Jack seemed to give it some thought. "Well. Yes. The Goa'uld are a threat to everyone, as you well know. Let us help you, and then you do what you can to help us."

Celestia sighed. "It seems I have little choice, if I want her back." She looked at her, then at Jack. "Bring back my Sunset. Then you will have your alliance."

End Part 3

Making You Strong (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 4)

Sunset's Isekai
Making You Strong (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 4)
By Wanderer D

My dear Sunset,

~~I'm sorry things went~~

I am taking a moment alone after an unexpected, stressful-yet-productive meeting with someone very special to find the right words to write to you, so I might be a little... rambly, if you would permit the expression.

There are a lot of things I wish to discuss with you, my Little Sun. Things that I should have brought up and addressed long ago, for better or worse, instead of letting them simmer within our hearts to the point where resentment and frustration reared their ugly heads and we parted ways.

Only now realize how much I could have done better, and how many chances to improve both of our lives I have missed, although I assure you I did my best as I knew how, and not once did I ever act in a way that I didn't think would bring out the best in you. I stand by what I have tried to teach you, but I also recognize that there are things I intentionally ignored and colored my decisions. They do say that hindsight is sometimes perfect. I don't necessarily agree with that, but I do believe that it gives us a more objective way of looking at things, once calmer minds prevail.

A month has passed since you left, and I miss you terribly. I admit I was not ready to forgive… and even though I have now that I've thought things over, I stand by my decision that you are not ready yet to use that section of the library, among many other things. But it didn't change who you are, and what you mean to me, and those can be talked about over tea once you return.

You were never truly exiled, Sunset… threatening that—saying that—was a terrible mistake; a spur of the moment reaction that caused so much pain… and I can only imagine how much it hurt you to hear me say something like that to you. ~~I was trying to~~

I thought the threat would be enough to scare you into listening to me, because you have always had value to me, and yet I ended up pushing you away. A feat—I was reminded—many a parent has experienced. I do not want to be that… I don't want to be the parent that lost their child forever because of my own fears.

Cadence might be my niece now, Sunset, but she should be to you a cousin, not an adversary. I wish you were back here where you belong. With me, Sunset. With us. With your family. I hope you give me the chance to fix this mistake so that we can together be part of something greater.

Please come back.

With all my love,
~Celestia

Sunset Shimmer stared at the words in silence. Outside, and above, past the leaves and furs that lined her walls, she could hear the beating of rain, and distant thunder. The dim light of the candle in her burrow blurred a little, and it took her a moment to realize that it was tears in her eyes that were causing that. She had hoped—she shook her head, reading it again. The unspoken promise was there… but was it real?

Celestia had denied her this for so long, what could have possibly changed her mind? Celestia never lied… exactly. But she also never told the whole truth.

She also never apologized or even recognized her own mistakes.

And yet.

If she dared hope, the first line had been crossed out because Celestia was sorry, but simply wanted to write her letter without delving into guilt. The rest of it clearly showed that she had not meant to push her away and…

"Family." She gulped, gently closing the book and holding it against her chest. "Family," she repeated. But why? She wasn't an alicorn yet. Or maybe she was ready now? She clamped her eyes shut and groaned as quietly as she could. "That's what brought you here in the first place, idiot."

But what did Celestia mean by family? Was it that she finally recognized that Sunset had been right all along? Or was this some sort of lesson, hidden as a promise once denied?

She didn't want to hope. She couldn't. And even if she wanted to…

A crack of thunder and the ground shaking around her made her jump. No, that wasn't thunder. She quickly quenched the candle, not wanting to risk the fire setting her shelter ablaze if it fell, then hoped with all she was worth that the gliders would not score a direct hit.

She waited in silence, whimpering as the ground shook and the distant sound of ground exploding outside slowly faded into nothing. The gliders were apparently satisfied.

"Shimmer."

The voice made her jump yet again, and she held her hand to her chest, gasping as she tried to calm down. "Dammit Aria," she said into the long hole that connected their hideouts together, "you scared the hay out of me."

"Oh, cool your flippers," the siren's voice answered. "I'm just checking if you're alive. Some of the other caves collapsed. You're welcome, by the way."

"Sorry, sorry. Thanks for checking… I just have a lot on my mind, that's all. Are Adagio and Sonata okay?"

"Well, don't overtax that head of yours, but yeah, they're good. They're packing already, we're probably wrapping up camp here soon, the locals looked almost ready to give us up, so you'll want to start packing now."

"Yeah…" Sunset trailed off, looking down at her book. "Hey, Aria?"

"What?"

"If you could go back to Equestria… would you do it?"

"They'd never let us back. We've been exiled."

"Humor me," Sunset countered, as she got up to start packing. "If you could go back… even if it depended on you behaving… would you do it?"

She heard shuffling, then a bitter laugh. "What, and give up the freedom Starswirl so graciously granted us?"

Sunset sighed and continued packing.

"In an instant," Aria's voice was low and longing.

She raised her head and looked at the hole on the wall, but Aria didn't say anything else. All Sunset could hear was things getting moved around and probably being stuffed into the large backpack like the one they had given her.

She thought hard about what she had sacrificed. What she had hoped. What was being offered. Even if it was a lie—and it probably was—would it be any worse than here? Probably not. And yet… she had done everything so far… and so much more. She'd aced all her tests, proven to be the best at everything, hadn't failed Celestia once… what had that mare wanted? What was different now?

What… what awaited her should she return? Maybe it was a trap… maybe it was prison. Maybe it was a return to the status quo. 'And yet.' She stopped folding the piece of leather that had been her 'wall' up until that moment and glanced at the book. "I miss her."

"You say something?" Aria asked. "I'm done here."

"N-no, I'm… I'm almost done too."

"Cool, as soon as you're outside, we're collapsing our caves. We leave nothing for them to follow us."

Sunset finished packing by sliding her book on the side of the backpack that would press against her back, glancing around. This time around there was a big difference than before… she had friends. Real friends.

Celestia might not approve of them… but if she was heading back, so were they.

Sunset watched with some amusement as Jack sniffed a cookie before giving it a try. He reluctantly nodded to himself and grabbed another, making sure that he hadn't been seen before catching sight of her.

She grinned.

"So, what do we know?" he asked, clearing his throat.

"Well, to begin with," Sunset spoke up, "we know that the mirror does not connect to Earth, like in my universe."

"But it does connect to a world in this galaxy, since the Goa'uld are there," Sam said, "so they probably have a Stargate there as well."

"So we could take the Mirror there and then the Stargate back, right?" Daniel asked.

"I believe that would be correct, Daniel Jackson."

Sunset bit her lip, tapping her finger on the table. "Something doesn't sound right…"

"I don't understand," Celestia said, "why would that be incorrect?"

Sunset glanced at the mirror. "I think…" she turned to look at Celestia. "If we take the mirror to the other side, chances are that we'll be transformed somehow. The mirror has done that to Sunset already… it's part of Starswirl's spell, I believe. Whoever goes across it, transforms into a human to better fit the world they're in."

"So what does that mean for us?" Jack asked.

"I think that if we cross, we don't run much risk of transforming on the way there… but I can't be sure about the way back either."

"Then we take the Stargate," Jack drolled out.

"Well yes, sir, but we don't know how close the portal is to the Stargate itself," Sam pointed out. "Or even if there is one in that world. The Goa'uld could have taken a ship there instead. It wouldn't be the first time."

"We need more information," Teal'c stated.

"Princess, you'll have to write to Sunset and ask her about the Stargate," Sunset said, "did she ever see the one here?"

Celestia nodded. "Yes, I once took her to visit the old castle so she would know in the future…" She sighed, looking away guiltily until she felt the hand on her hoof and looked up to see Sunset.

"Don't feel guilty," Sunset said gently. "There is still time for that, and your Sunset might yet surprise you. She might not be the one… but she'll be here for you either way. One step at a time."

Celestia smiled, nodding briefly, then raised her head. "She should still remember it, since we spoke about it bringing death and destruction with it. I will write to her and ask if she's seen it in that world, or heard about it. Perhaps the friends she's made there already will know something."

Sunset perked up. "Friends? That's interesting."

The Princess' smile grew proud. "I knew she could do it. She wrote about them, and asked permission to bring them back. Their names are Aria—"

"Sonata and Adagio…" Sunset completed, blinking. This was…

"The sirens."

Sunset turned slowly to face Teal'c. "Wait, you know them?"

"You know them?" Celestia repeated, looking at Sunset, then at SG-1.

Jack raised his hands and shook his head, while Sam and Daniel also indicated they had no idea what Teal'c was talking about.

The jaffa raised an eyebrow at Sunset, who motioned for him to speak first. Nodding, he stood up, pacing slowly.

"I have never met them, Princess Celestia, but I have heard of them. As Prime of Apophis, I was witness to many things, and heard many secrets. One of them was of three creatures, coveted by all Goa'uld as the ultimate hosts, for not only did they possess unexplained powers, they also never aged."

"Geeze, it's bad enough that Goa'uld get to live as long as they can find hosts," Daniel said, "but if they had immortal bodies…"

"They were considered legends, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "And Apophis was quick to dismiss them as false, but yet enough was known about them, including their names, that he would keep watch for them and send occasional troops to find them."

"Of course!" Sunset smacked her head. She turned to face the Princess, "Starswirl exiled them to my Earth too, a thousand years ago. If their gems are still active, then they still have powers and they should still be immortal."

Celestia's eyes darkened. "Do you think they are taking advantage of Sunset?"

Sunset licked her lips. "I… don't know their circumstances. But they can be good." She looked up and met the Princess' eyes. "I would give them the chance. If they've been hunted for so long as Teal'c implies, they took a great risk protecting Sunset."

Celestia sighed. "And if they have been there thousands of years, as the temporal displacement would imply, then they are our best chance at finding the Stargate."

"Correct," Sunset said. "We need both, the portal and the Stargate… the portal to get there, and also to send them back… the Stargate if we want to come back in our original forms."

"Great," Jack said. "This is just great."

As Celestia levitated the diary over, Daniel spoke up. "Also… see if you can find out the name of the world they're at. If they know the Goa'uld name, we might be able to get an address from the Tok'ra."

"Not a bad idea," Jack said, "and that reminds me. Princess," he faced Celestia with all the attitude that he could muster. "Any chance you could have us taken to the Stargate? We need to also contact our government and allies. We might need support."

"Of course. I'll have my Captain of the Guard, Stalwart Shield, escort you there."

"Good, good, and you," Jack said, pointing at Sunset, "are coming with us. You have to explain to General Hammond what happened."

Sunset winced, but smiled sheepishly at Celestia, who was shaking her head in amusement. "Centuries old and still getting into trouble."

"I learned from the best." Sunset stood and embraced the Princess. "I will be back soon… and we'll help your daughter come back home."

Celestia nodded. "I will hopefully have the information you need by then."

The new camp was several miles underground, through a system of caves that contained metals and minerals that Adagio insisted would disrupt Goa'uld scans, which fit her just fine. She had felt the book vibrate some hours earlier, but as they were on the move, she had been unable to see what had been written.

Now, she found herself crossing the camp of too few survivors over to where the sirens had set their tents. "Aria?" she called out. "Adagio? Sonata?"

"We're here," Adagio replied opening the flap of her tent. "What is it, Sunset?"

"Um… I think we might have a way out… have you ever heard of the Stargate?"

The look the siren gave her was the narrowed eyes of careful re-evaluation, but Aria spoke from within the room before the elder siren could speak. "I trust her, Adagio."

Adagio's eyebrow twitched. "I still don't know how you managed to get Aria of all sirens on your side," she whispered just loud enough to Sunset. "But she is. Don't. Break. Her. Heart. Whatever it is you two have between you, friendship or more… I will make you suffer if you hurt her."

Mutely, Sunset nodded quickly, then ducked into the tent, followed by the siren. Celestia might have not intended to exile her in order to teach her a lesson, but she had learned at least one from Aria and her sisters: family made you strong.

Maybe Celestia hadn't been so wrong, after all.

"Is this absolutely necessary?" Sunset groaned.

"You know the drill, Lieutenant," Jack said, then paused for effect. "Or you would, if you were part of Stargate Command."

"Come on, Jack, you know I got caught in the moment, besides, you needed someone to translate for you."

"Sunset was always trying to bend the rules," the unicorn Lieutenant accompanying them said, levitating their weapons over to them.

Jack took his, then glanced down as Sunset offered hers. "Shimmer?"

"Well, Jack, you know how it is. Probably best if you hold on to it when we go back."

Jack thought about it, then shrugged and took it. "Your sidearm please."

She handed it to him without comment, and Jack took the moment to lean in and glance at the unicorn, who was at that moment talking with Teal'c. "So what's with junior there? Can't be too experienced."

"It's a jab at me, from the Princess, all in good fun," Sunset said, clearing her throat. "But don't worry. He's going to be a great asset."

"Oh? How so?"

"Shining Armor is extremely proficient at generating shields," Sunset said. "At one point in the future he creates one big enough to encompass a whole city."

Jack had to admit, "that sounds useful. But what's with the awkwardness between you two?"

Sunset sighed. "If this world is as similar to my original one as I sense… I probably either dated him for a little bit, or tried to seduce him out of spite towards his current girlfriend."

He nodded. "Huh." He glanced at the unicorn, then back at her. "Did it work?"

"No. Can we go now?"

"We're just waiting for confirmation."

"Sir," Sam spoke up, "we have confirmation."

"Alright, let's go, people!" Jack ordered, marching through the Stargate. A few seconds later he was walking down the ramp with the others to a fully armed room, with Hammond standing there, an unhappy look in his face. Jack slowly raised his hands. "We're… back?"

"Sergeant," Hammond spoke up. "Arrest miss Shimmer."

End Part 4

Xenophobe (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 5)

Sunset's Isekai
Xenophobe (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 5)
By Wanderer D

Earlier at Stargate Command...

Alarms blared at Stargate Command as General Hammond made his way to the control room. A glance out the window confirmed that the Stargate was on, and the Iris locked. "Report."

"It's SG-1, sir," Sgt. Harriman said, turning on his chair just enough to look at him. "They're early."

"Good. Send two security teams in to join me."

"Yes, sir."

Hammond made his way to stand among the gathered soldiers, careful to not block any line of sight. "Open the Iris and send confirmation."

He watched the titanium alloy seal open up and retract, and soon Teal'c and Samantha Carter walked through, followed by a unicorn of all things, along with Daniel Jackson, and finally Jack and the Sunset Shimmer lookalike.

"We're—" Jack began, but was thrown off by the sudden sound of several guns being readied. "...back?"

"Sergeant," Hammond said, "arrest 'Miss Shimmer'."

"Lay down your weapons!" the soldier shouted at the arriving team.

"General?" Jack asked, blinking in confusion as he handed his gun to a G.I. "What's going on?"

"She's not armed sir," the soldier that had walked over to the lookalike said.

"Good, does that mean that you know she's not the real Sunset Shimmer, Colonel?" Hammond asked.

Jack shrugged. "Well… it's a little more complicated than that."

"Nice cell," Shining Armor said.

"It's a trend for these guys," Sunset said. "We'll be fine." She turned to face the unicorn, who was looking at her curiously. "Something on your mind, Shiny?"

He sighed and sat back. "It's really you. I just couldn't believe it. What's with the new body?"

"Well," she said, walking over to sit next to him, so they could both contemplate the excellent quality of the door. "Like I mentioned before, not exactly the same. But this body came with crossing the mirror. I imagine your Sunset probably looks the same at this time. Maybe a bit younger."

"Ah."

They sat in awkward silence for a few seconds. "So…" Sunset said, clearing her throat. "Did, um, your Sunset try to… you know, get between you and Cadance?"

Shining Armor blushed slightly under his fur, something only really noticeable if you knew what you were looking for. "It didn't work out exactly as she planned," he admitted.

Sunset snorted. "Cadance wanted in on it?"

"Yep."

"Lucky."

"Cadance, Sunset, or me?" Shining asked.

Sunset simply smiled. "In any case, when she gets back she'll need friends… I hope you and Cadance could give her a chance."

"Cadance always said she was game for doing it again."

"At friendship," Sunset clarified, this time feeling her own cheeks warming up.

"What did you think I meant?"

"I'm sure we both know."

Shining snorted, and the pair shared a laugh.

Lt. Shimmer stared baffled at the video being recorded by the camera in the brig, where she—or an exact replica of her—sat chatting with a unicorn.

"Imagine my surprise, Colonel," Hammond was saying, "when Lt. Shimmer reported for duty this morning."

"Well," Daniel said, leaning back. "That must have been quite the shock. Just like when we heard her talking in Equestrian while being surrounded by unicorns and pegasi."

"Indeed, or when she was revealed to be the adopted daughter of an ancient immortal being capable of moving the sun and the moon with her mind," Teal'c quipped.

Hammond directed one of his usual unamused glances at Daniel, making the archaeologist raise his hands in a placating manner. "It's not a contest to see whose experience was more shocking, Doctor Jackson," he said. "It's a matter of security. Now, I need to know how she got here, and whether this is going to be something that will keep happening."

"Well sir," Jack said, clearing his throat. "That Sunset," he pointed at the one on the screen, "is the owner and bartender of an inter-dimensional Speakeasy bar."

"She's actually met us all before," Sam added quickly, "or at least alternate versions of us. Apparently in her original universe, the teleportation device that her Equestrian counterpart used took her to Earth, transforming her into a human, but a lot of the ponies she met later had counterparts on Earth as well."

"I see," Hammond muttered. "And, Colonel, do you believe there would be any benefit in obtaining the Equestrian Government's support? I have to admit, I am not very comfortable with the idea of sending any of you to a Goa'uld dominated planet unless it is worth it."

"Well sir," Daniel said slowly, "we promised we would help."

"Whatever you promised, doctor, is still something I need to agree too," Hammond countered. "And as far as I am concerned, the fact that she simply pretended to be one of my personnel is grounds to really doubt her intentions."

"Lieutenant," Jack spoke up, making Lt. Shimmer jump.

"Yes sir?"

"Is the other Sunset Shimmer still in her prison cell?"

"Yes sir."

He turned to look at Hammond and shrugged. "She's cooperating."

Hammond narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean?"

"Well, sir," Daniel ventured, "from what Princess Celestia said, that Sunset Shimmer in the prison is extremely powerful… powerful enough to give her pause."

"This is the alien that can move the sun with her brain." Jack flipped his printed out report to the appropriate page. "We watched her do it."

"There are a lot of benefits of allying ourselves with the Equestrians," Teal'c said after a moment of letting that sink in.

"Oh?" Hammond said, "why don't we start with those, then? I'd very much like to hear why I need to send my best team to rescue an unruly teenager."

Teal'c nodded briefly. "The Equestrians had something similar to Thor's Hammer in their Stargate, in addition to a force field powerful enough to simply dissipate a blast from my staff with no problem. Lieutenant Shimmer—" he stopped when Lt. Shimmer cleared her throat and inclined his head in apology. "The Sunset Shimmer that went with us to Equestria commented that it is a system that can be adapted for us. I believe it would give us a distinct advantage over the Goa'uld."

"Sir," Lt. Shimmer spoke up, "I don't trust this… creature. She claims to be me from an alternate dimension, and now there's another one of me in a random planet. How do we know she's not lying?"

"To what end, Lt. Shimmer?" Teal'c asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I-I don't know."

"Jack?" Hammond asked.

"Right," Jack said, sighing. "I believe her."

The table grew quiet.

"I thought you had all gone through the psychiatric evaluation," Hammond said, glancing at Teal'c for confirmation.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jack asked, frowning.

"Sir, you've… never trusted anyone before," Sam said carefully. "Why is this time different?"

"She owns a bar with every single beer in the universe, Captain." Jack shrugged. "And I want in."

"Right. Dr. Jackson." Hammond sighed. "Do you believe the Equestrians will honor their deal?"

Daniel leaned forward, nodding as attention was centered on him. "Well, yes. They seem to value harmony and trust, among other things. They only detained us initially because of Sunset's previous history with their ruler, and let us return here with all of our weapons, no questions asked. What Teal'c said is also true… their defense system is effective. If they can do that for us, we'd have better protection against incursions than even the Iris can provide." He cleared his throat. "Add to that that our new Sunset Shimmer is apparently a being not only of great power, but also knowledge that goes even beyond anything we have ever encountered… and if we are to take her on her word, she's actually worked as an ally of our own counterparts in the multiverse."

Hammond shook his head. "Fine. I want SG-1 ready to go. I assume you will be taking our guests with you?"

Jack shrugged. "Sure. Why not."

"I would also like you to take Lt. Shimmer with you as well. I believe that this cultural exchange will help her career."

The group turned to look at Lt. Shimmer, who suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"I didn't think you were very interested in proactively going to another world with the intention of making friends with the locals, Lieutenant," Jack said.

"No sir," Lt. Shimmer replied. "I'd rather just be pointed at a target to shoot."

"Or, in fact, have any inclination to create bonds with other alien species," Teal'c added.

Lt. Shimmer stood straighter. "No, sir."

"Sounds like the perfect person to tag along." Jack didn't even bother hiding his amusement and consulted Hammond with a glance before waving his hand dismissively.

Hammond tapped his finger on the table. "Very well then, SG-1 will go back to Equestria and coordinate with Princess Celestia on rescuing her daughter. I have already contacted my superiors, and they are drafting a trade treaty to be discussed with the Equestrian Representatives once the proper channels have been established, pending the results of this mission. I do not need to emphasize that if they can provide us with the technology we have discussed, they could very well be one of our most important allies. Dismissed."

Lieutenant Shimmer saluted, and stepped stiffly out of the room before anyone else, followed by General Hammond, and Teal'c.

"Are you sure it's a good idea, Jack?" Daniel asked as the others walked out of the room. "Lt. Shimmer is not… the most open-minded member of Stargate. Her history aligns much more with the 'shoot first' approach."

Jack looked him straight in the eye. "Nope. But we have our orders. And Lt. Shimmer might not like aliens, but she does follow orders."

"You guys can just call me 'Isekai', it always makes things easier."

Lt. Shimmer looked down at the extended hand of her clone, but made no attempt to shake it. "And you know who I am."

'Isekai' shrugged and dropped her hand to her side. She was not wearing any weapons… not because she hadn't been offered one—as crazy as it sounded to her—but because she apparently didn't need them.

"Hey, I am sorry I pretended to be you earlier. I sort of got caught in the moment, and it's easier to explain to four people who you are than a whole base," Isekai said, "plus all levels of government involved. Come on, let's try and be friends."

"I don't care about your circumstances, copycat. I am following orders, and I was ordered to go with you."

"Careful there," Colonel O'Neill said, walking up to the pair. "Besides, Isekai here is what, five hundred? Six hundred years old?"

Lt. Shimmer watched Isekai raise her eyebrow. "A lady never tells."

Colonel O'Neill nodded, then smiled for a full second before turning serious. "Over six hundred then. In any case, that'd technically make her the original."

"Not helping, Jack."

Colonel O'Neill shrugged and pretended he hadn't heard the alien. Isekai, however, faced her again, smiling apologetically. "There's no 'original' in the sense he says… for this universe you and my counterparts are both original. I can tell you, you're really nothing like she is."

Lt. Shimmer took a deep breath and ignored the alien, who was joined soon enough by Teal'c, Dr. Jackson, Captain Carter, and the unicorn, greeting them all in turn by first name basis. She ground her teeth and focused on waiting for the Stargate to open.

The sooner this was done the better. Aliens might look like them, talk like them, even have similar cultures, but they were not them, and offered little to make up for the hell they usually put them through.

And the liberties this one was taking… the way she interacted with everyone around her. It just made her blood boil.

"Are you feeling unwell, Lieutenant Shimmer?"

She winced and glanced at Teal'c, who was staring at her curiously, before nodding curtly. The jaffa nodded politely in return and left her alone.

She'd never really interacted with the jaffa. The symbiote inside him made her very nervous after all, and although she didn't question his loyalty to Earth, there were rumors that it could shift as easily as it had before. She had worked with the Tok'ra on occasion, but only through being relayed information through communications. SG-5 was not intended for anything other than combat, which is why she suited them best.

She wasn't a diplomat. She didn't support alien-human relations. She stayed quiet. Head down. Follow orders. Her team did not mix with the locals. They took down aliens. She took a deep breath as the others got sorted, thinking back to the files hidden away in her room, including the NID invitation.

In fact, her vacation had been a front to be able to meet with some of them. She wasn't necessarily interested in the money, but the country should be much more reserved. Demand more before they even offered support to other worlds. Demand the Tok'ra share their weapons and secrets. She had thought that working with SGC would be enough. That she would make a difference… somehow. But her superiors had not really delivered on that front.

She didn't like how the NID did a few things but… maybe they had a point. Maybe Stargate Command was too complacent. Right now it was a clone of hers. But what about the future? This other Sunset was… almost a perfect copy, except for the personality, and who knew what alien powers. If they could do that, what was stopping them from replacing everyone in Stargate Command?

Just look at how easily she had befriended SG-1. She'd never been able to call any of them (except Teal'c) by the first name. Captain Carter's voice broke through her musings.

"...you're kidding."

"Nope," Isekai responded, "before he got depressed, he was tall, muscular…" she sighed, a little dreamily. "I don't necessarily think muscles are the greatest thing, but that god… I swear I could poke at his biceps for a day without getting tired."

"Huh." Colonel O'Neill grunted. "And here all we have is a tiny, grey alien out of a Spielberg movie."

"Did I mention the biceps?"

"You did," Dr. Jackson said. "You also mentioned that the muscles were not that important."

Sunset tuned them out, waiting for the siren to announce the gate opening instead. How could they all be… so casual?

The siren blaring was almost a reprieve, before she remembered it was going to mean more alien exposure. But, no one said she needed to befriend any creature out there. She just needed to shoot when ordered, and keep to herself.

Travelling through the Stargate—and on occasion with other, similar inventions—always reminded Isekai of how smooth her bar worked when it came to traversing space, time, and dimensions. No matter how used you got to it, the Stargate always left you feeling kind of chilly, and disoriented for a few seconds.

Experienced travellers, like SG-1, developed a sort of sixth sense when coming out, very similar to some sort of spatial awareness around the gate that compensated for the sudden transfer, meaning they were already reacting by the time the event horizon closed behind them. Thus it was that by the time she had blinked the flashes out of her sight, the group was already in formation around the Equestrian Stargate.

Several guards had been posted around the gate, and one of them waved for them to slow down before his horn glowed and the shields around the gaste shimmered away, allowing them to pass. Shining Armor saluted, while she simply nodded. "Captain, do you have any news?"

The unicorn nodded. "Princess Celestia received a message from um—" he glanced at Lt. Shimmer, then at her "—the other, other, Sunset Shimmer. Her allies have confirmed that there is a Stargate on their planet."

"Great," Jack said. "So we go through the Stargate?"

The unicorn shook his head. "No, they are located closer to the other portal at this time," he said. "The Princess and General Lance have agreed that the most effective way to handle this is to use Sunset Shimmer's expertise to open the mirror portal, then head over to the gate where you can dial your planet or Equestria."

"Who is this Lance guy?"

"That would be the General of the Royal Guard, Colonel," Shining Armor provided. "He's the highest authority in our military, and an accomplished mage in his own right."

"Mage."

Everyone turned to look at Lt. Shimmer, who was giving the unicorn an incredulous look. "As in magic," she continued. "Colonel, how can people that believe in superstitions like magic help our world?"

"Lieutenant, can you not… doubt our friends here right here, right now?" Jack groaned.

"Well, regardless, we are ready to teleport you—"

"Actually, Captain," Isekai spoke up. "Why don't we ride on some chariots? If your pegasi are willing to give us a ride, I think our visitors will enjoy looking at what Equestria is like."

"Chariots?" Daniel asked, looking around.

"Pulled by pegasi?" Carted added.

Isekai grinned as a signal was given and the unicorns transformed several large rocks into adequate carriages. Soon, the pegasi volunteers were strapped on to them, and ready for take off.

"Is this really safe, sir?" Lt. Shimmer asked.

Jack, who was already on his chariot and poking at it, shrugged. "Can't be worse than some of the things we've gone through."

"So, I never got to ask you, but do you know what happened to that castle?" Daniel asked as they took off.

"It's called the Castle of the Everfree, but its original name was the Castle of the Two Sisters," Isekai said. "It's a bit of a sad story."

"Well, it might help us knowing a bit more about their history…"

Isekai chuckled. "Alright, how did it go? Ah, right. Once, long ago, in the magical land of Equestria…"

End Part 5

Homeland (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 6)

Sunset's Isekai
Homeland (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 6)
By Wanderer D

Jack glanced up and down at the… contraption that Isekai had put together. He knew contraptions. After all, he travelled the galaxy with Daniel and Sam, and if there was something to be put together, they would both figure out a way to not only do it, but have tubes and cables all over the place.

This one just looked like the nightmare version of Snow White's magic mirror that had somehow met the innards of an Asgardian spaceship. Crystals, cables, fuses, lightbulbs… and a book on top of everything. He wasn't sure if it was supposed to look like that, or the fact that Sam and Daniel had helped had something to do with the less-than-confidence-inspiring appearance.

"That is very impressive work, Sunset," Princess Celestia said, slowly walking around the contraption, her eyes critical and searching for anything she could find that would make her pull the plug on this one.

"Oh, I'm just following someone else's work, with a bit of tweaking."

And oh, he so wanted that plug pulled. At least the Stargate was a single solid piece of technology. It didn't have cables and tubes all over it unless Sam got creative. He knew what to expect too. This? This thing—this mirror—just didn't make sense. It was asking him to work with magic. Not high tech. Magic.

"You know," Isekai was telling the Princess, "it's an interesting thing, how in this universe, the mirror opens up into simply another planet, instead of a different dimension like back in my original universe."

"Given the nature of the multiverse, I'm sure there are almost infinite variances out there," the princess responded.

It was time for some reassurance. "So, uh," Jack pointed dismissively at all of it. "How safe is this?"

"It's perfectly safe," Isekai said, while the princess leaned in to take a look at pieces of particular interest. "A friend of mine designed the method and she and I, as well as several friends, used it on multiple occasions."

"Oh." Jack gave her a short nod, then turned to face Lt. Shimmer, who looked unconvinced. "She says it's okay," he confided, pointing over his shoulder at the thing. "That's a good sign."

"I'd rather walk if it's all the same to you, sir," she replied.

"If you walked you would die before you arrived at your intended target," Teal'c pointed out, "even assuming you could survive the travel through space."

"I think that's the point, Teal'c," Jack responded. He studied the jaffa. "You know you have a tiny unicorn reading a book on your head, right?"

"Indeed."

Jack thought about saying something else, but Teal'c had that look he got when he wanted to bait him into doing something, so instead he turned to a more reliable source. "So, Carter, how does it look?"

Sam said something apologetic to the princess and Isekai before making her way up to him. "Well sir, I'm not one hundred percent sure of how everything works, but the basics are all there. The diaries are somehow connected through a process similar to Quantum Entanglement, providing us with a method to coordinate the transference of matter once we cross the Event Horizon, which in this case is the mirror itself."

"Right." He nodded. "I understood that."

Sam sighed. "It has all the elements to work. And I don't see why it wouldn't if it's done so before."

"Gotcha." Jack nodded. "So why do you look so worried?"

"It's just… technology and elements I'm not familiar with."

"So what you're saying is that you have no idea if it will actually work," Lt. Shimmer said, crossing her arms.

Jack knew he was usually the suspicious one, but the look the Lieutenant was giving Isekai and the princess was borderline asking for a fight. "Lieutenant, why don't we take a walk." He didn't even try to pretend it was a question. "Sam?" He nodded at the contraption. "Why don't you… try to learn how it works? You know. Just in case?"

"On it, sir."

As he walked to the door, he noticed the unicorn from earlier, Shining… Shield? Looking at him with his head tilted. "If you're just looking for a quiet spot to relax, I hear the gardens on the south wing are currently closed to the public."

Jack smiled briefly. "Got it."

"Want to tell me what's going on, Lieutenant?"

Sunset turned to face her commanding officer. The legendary Jack O'Neill, who had gone through the Stargate with Dr. Jackson and together had blown up Ra into oblivion. The Airforce Officer with the most trips off-world, most hours of space flight, and most just about everythings.

Literally the person she had admired the most for the first couple of years when she was assigned to Stargate and had found out the history behind it. But then he had started hanging around aliens. Sure, Teal'c was instrumental in freeing his team and others from the clutches of Apophis. He was a traitor to his people because he believed that Stargate could help them achieve freedom… but at what cost?

After that, more and more aliens had come in contact with Stargate, each always more powerful than Earth. And even though Stargate Command had proven victorious many times, it was also true that it had put them all at risk just as much, as her contact with the NID had pointed out.

And what did they have to show for it? 'Scientific Discoveries' so mundane that they barely improved the status quo of the United States, much less the world. Jack and SG-1 were legends, true, but they still catered to almost every alien whim. They had even been replaced by robots once and they were just fine with it.

But she wasn't, and having some alien copycat pretend to be her crossed too many lines, no matter how 'friendly' she was supposed to be. She might not like the NID that much, but at least they were thinking of Earth first, right?

"Nothing, sir."

"Look, Shimmer," Jack said, "I know you don't like aliens. I have spoken with Altman plenty of times. I know that you like making up creative nicknames for every species we've encountered. What I don't like is when others pick up on them and I have to reprimand soldiers for calling Asgardians—our most powerful allies at this time—bug eyes in front of them. I'm just glad that they are too intelligent to feel offended by something like that. I used to think that it was the usual thing of making those nicknames up for fun when dealing with Goa'uld or other enemies, but you're actively disgusted by all aliens and that shows."

Sunset grimaced, but held her tongue, instead choosing to snap to attention and lift her chin. "I just want to make sure that Earth comes out on top, sir."

Jack snorted. "Of course you do. We all want that. Even Teal'c. But your attitude is not helping. I distrust just about anything we encounter out there, Lieutenant. I know how hard it is to see past the slime, scales, black, beady eyes. But I can. And what I see in you is less concern for Earth and more concern with what our allies look like."

Sunset held her tongue, standing straighter and Jack shook his head. "Just… don't mess this up."

His gruff disappointment was a stab to her gut. Here she was, on a dream mission with SG-1 and Colonel O'Neill was already disappointed in her a few hours after they had started. "I just… how do you do it, sir?"

"Do what?"

"Permission to speak freely?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Go ahead."

"I just want to pay back for what I've been given," she said, looking down and away. "I don't know who my father was. All I know is that my mother said my name was Sunset Shimmer to the nuns who were with us when she died. I had no living relatives anyone could find, so I was put into the system as a baby, and I guess I got lucky. Going from foster home to foster home, the good US of A had my back. I did well in classes and I never really had any issues with my foster families… we just never got along.

"When I finished high school I didn't see the point in continuing jumping homes. I saw all the good things that were happening to me, and all the bad things that were happening out there that threatened my country… and I strolled straight into the Air Force Academy. I had the grades, and the drive. When Stargate Command contacted me, and I accepted the assignment, I figured it was my chance… I was told that my skills would help make my country safer and better… but it seems that there's very little reward for risking our necks for a bunch of aliens.

"You're notoriously suspicious of everything, but you still make allies with almost every species out there." She shook her head, taking a deep breath. "Any of these aliens—in fact, all of them—have agendas of their own. Their governments want things, just as ours does. And yet you get them on your side, and I have to wonder why do you stop there when we could be arming ourselves not to just be able to defend ourselves against the Goa'uld, but to be able to take the war to them. Why do we need to protect when we should be doing the taking over?"

Jack sighed and glanced warily around. "Maybe Daniel's attitude rubbed off on me, but the fact is, soldier, we need their friendship more than we need their tech." He then frowned and glared at her. "Not a word of that to the others, understood, Lieutenant?"

Sunset frowned, and nodded.

"But maybe," Jack allowed, "maybe… you should try, y'know, talking to them as people instead of assuming that they're out to get you? All aliens are different and most of the time crazy, but they might understand where you're coming from if you give them the chance." He turned to leave. "Seems to work for Carter and Daniel."

"I won't befriend this Isekai person."

Jack snorted. "That's fine, Lieutenant. There are people out there… like Isekai, Celestia or hell, even wrinkly old Thor, who just see things in ways we can't imagine. It takes some time getting used to it."

"This is why I like working with SG-5 better. We just take orders and shoot."

"Sometimes, Shimmer, there are things out there that you can't just make go away with guns."

The mirror hummed and rippled for just a second. Isekai checked her notes and senses, then nodded at Princess Celestia with a smile. "It's working and stable. Once we're back in Equestria, we can send Sunset and the Sirens there through here and have them come back immediately to regain their original forms if things get too complicated over there and we can't send them back through the mirror in the first place."

Celestia nodded. "Dr. Carter, were you able to figure out the Stargate combination for the planet Sunset is at?"

Sam nodded. "Yes, Teal'c had also heard of it, which made it easier."

Teal'c raised his chin. "The planet Ze'bala is well known among the Goa'uld."

Daniel blinked. "Wait, the planet's name is Ze'bala?"

"Indeed, Daniel Jackson."

"Why would they name a planet 'Trash'?" Daniel asked. "That's what it means in Egyptian."

"Well," Isekai said, "that explains why Starswirl sent everything there."

Celestia sighed, shaking her head. "I wish now I had known my old mentor was the type to put things under a rug rather than deal with them."

Isekai turned and coughed into her fist, right next to Daniel.

"Did you just say Turek?" Daniel asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Who's that?"

"I was just coughing!" She ignored Celestia's deepening frown and looked at her wrist. "Oh, hey. Look at the time. We should probably head over to the Stargate now, don't you think?"

Daniel gave her an amused look. "You don't have a watch."

"Hey guys," Jack spoke up from the door, with Lt. Shimmer hovering behind him, trying hard and failing to hide a scowl. "Did I hear right?" he asked, "are we all set?"

"Yep!" Isekai said quickly. "Everything is ready."

"Cool." He gave them a thumbs up, then motioned with his head towards the door. "Let's go."

It took very little time for everyone to get organized, and soon—after a quick teleport courtesy of Princess Celestia—they were all gathered around the Stargate, ready to go.

"According to Sunset, she and the Sirens are closer to the Stargate at this time than the portal," Isekai said as Teal'c and Sam went over to the Dial to enter the coordinates for planet Ze'bala.

"So we go through the Stargate, and take them to the mirror, right?" Jack asked, receiving in response a nod from Princess Celestia. "Cool. Let's go, Carter!"

"Take care of yourself, my little pony, and make sure you all come back."

Isekai smiled and hugged Princess Celestia. "I will, princess. Don't worry." She then followed the others through the Stargate, wondering what awaited her on the other side.

End Chapter

Protector of Women and Children (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 7)

Sunset's Isekai
Protector of Women and Children (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 7)
By Wanderer D

"You didn't know that you fell…"

Sunset reclined her back against Aria's, softly following the tune, "Oh, oh-oh, oh, oh-oh…"

"Now that you're under our spell..."

"Oh, oh-oh, oh, oh-oh…" she sang again, letting her head lean back as well, until it was resting comfortably on Aria's shoulder. "Blindsided by the beat, clapping your hands—"

"—stomping your feet…" Aria continued, a visible grin on her face.

Adagio sighed, then whispered, "Girls, as much as I would love to hear the rest of the song, we need to keep quiet. There have been too many patrols lately. We're dealing with a different Goa'uld leader this time."

Sunset chuckled self-consciously. "Sorry. I just really love that song you guys sang at the market. I wish I had your talent."

"Aww, don't feel bad! It was really good though! And we didn't even have to hypnotize you to sing in chorus that time!"

"Aww, thanks, Sonata… I guess?"

The youngest of the three sirens (if not by much), gave her a hug. "You need to come sing with us in front of a proper crowd, like back when Tiria Kingdom existed! This planet used to have huge markets where we would perform and get all sorts of goodies! Nothing like that little outpost from a few months ago."

"When we go back to Equestria and we regain our full powers…" Adagio trailed off and made a face. "Ugh. I guess we need to play nice with ponies now."

"It's not that bad, right?" Sunset said. "I'm a pony too."

"Could've fooled me," Aria snorted. She elbowed Sunset. "You'd make one hell of a Siren."

"Again, as amusing as the conversation is… be quiet!" Adagio growled. "We're just about close enough to the old Takha ruins where we're meeting these humans that this should be our last rest stop, but that doesn't mean there aren't any patrols in the area, or Goa'uld spies willing to spill our location if we stumble up to some natives."

"You know, I remember hearing how the Tau'ri had kicked out Ra out of their planet," Sonata said, ignoring Adagio's glare. "And now look at them, pissing off the System Lords. I heard that they had even managed to kill Ra for good."

"I doubt that," Adagio muttered. "It's just tall tales made to give people hope."

Aria shifted in place and allowed Sunset to lean back until her head was resting on the siren's lap. She started braiding Sunset's hair absently, not that Sunset minded. Her friend was odd, moody sometimes, forceful, stubborn and occasionally kind (to her sisters and Sunset, she didn't appear to think much of the locals) but most of the time they spent together was in a comfortable, thoughtful silence.

The sirens could be ruthless, and it had shocked Sunset how easily they dismissed the suffering of others, even if she didn't particularly feel any sort of kinship with the creatures of this world... but at the same time, she did felt a kinship with the sirens. It was a sense that they had been denied something… something huge and life-defining. Them by being tossed here—by their own account because Starswirl just hadn't bothered to think of a better way to stop them—and Sunset herself because…

She sighed and turned to the side, only earning a slight grumble from Aria when the locks she had been working on almost slipped out of her hands.

Sunset's thoughts were not on her friend at that moment. The casual, supportive attitude was something she was deeply grateful for, and as she relaxed, her thoughts went back to her denied destiny.

Or what was left of it.

What did she want, really? Standing on equal terms with Celestia was a major part of her objectives… and yet, when Celestia had reached out, she hadn't called out for her student, but for—dare she hope?—her daughter. Or niece. Or something. She had reached out and told her she wanted her in her life, as part of her family.

And being her equal just didn't carry the same weight after that. It's not that she wouldn't or didn't want to be a princess but… strangely, the combination of meeting and living with the sirens… her first friends… and Celestia's recent messages had taken away a lot of the anger that she felt.

It wasn't completely gone. A part of her wanted to still blame her mother for putting her in a position where she could only try and do crazy things to get what she wanted, but reality and constant brushes with death since she had accidentally stumbled into the Siren's camp, shivering and terrified.

Although no reason had been given as to why they had given her a chance to stay with them, it had all amounted to Adagio giving her a solid look and immediately, somehow, noticing she was Equestrian.

Opening up to them, her friendship with Aria, and her acceptance into their little family of sirens had just happened over the course of months.

"Anyway," Adagio spoke up after a few minutes. "I hope you got some rest, because it's about time we started moving again. We're still a few hours away from the Stargate."

"Hey Aria?" Sunset asked when Adagio stood up and went out to scout again. "Why did Adagio let me in? I've always wondered. I'm usually more trouble than I'm worth."

"You reminded her of someone," Aria said. "One of our sisters back in Equestria, who stayed behind that stupid day we went out to get revenge on the villagers. She's probably dead by now. The sunset was her favorite time of the day."

"Revenge?"

Aria sighed, brushing Sunset's hair from her face. "Another long story. We have a lot of them. Just… trust me, okay? They deserved it. They did something to Adagio's family, and well… we might not be sisters by blood, but we were close enough anyway. We couldn't leave her to do it on her own."

Sunset opened her arms, and Aria blinked at her before rolling her eyes and smiling slightly as she hugged her.

"Aww. Make sure you name one of the kids after me," Sonata said.

Sunset didn't even have time to blush before she was dropped on the floor.

Jack took stock of the situation the moment he was out. He kept his weapon trained ahead of him, his eyes studying the area around the Stargate for potential threats as he moved quickly out of the way and took cover behind one of the stone platforms around the ancient device.

It was too dark to see past the glare of the Stargate, so he simply stayed in place as Teal'c, then Lt. Shimmer, followed by Daniel, Sam and Isekai came through, all of them quickly taking cover. The moment the Stargate closed, the area went pitch-dark… but only for a moment, harsh lights focused on them as several troops of Jaffa surrounded their position.

It took Jack just a moment to blink. "Teal'c, are all these Jaffa… women?"

"They are indeed, O'Neill. By their attire I can only surmise they are agents of the Goa'uld System Lord, Bastet."

"The Shol'va is correct," a powerful female voice purred, the tell-tale echoes of the Goa'uld symbiote adding additional weight to the words.

"Is that—"

"It is, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c confirmed.

"Isekai, can you just blow her up?" Jack asked.

"Sorry, Jack. Bastet is one of my best friends out there, and we have a deal that I won't act directly against any other Bastet I meet. Since most of them are benevolent, I haven't had any issues keeping the promise so far."

Jack gave her an incredulous look. "Even a Goa'uld?"

Isekai shrugged. "She's Bastet."

The Goa'uld System Lord, a black-haired beauty in simple armor, with a cat motif on in her gold decorations frowned at that. "I do feel some kinship towards you, but I have no memory of this arrangement."

"It transcends time and space," Isekai said. "I made a promise to my friend, and she once told me that all the Goddesses Bastet out there and herself were in essence part of a greater whole."

"Even a Goa'uld?"

"Yes, Jack."

"State your business, friend of Bastet, if you truly are one," Bastet said eventually. "You say you are such, but you come in the company of the Shol'va Teal'c, and the Tau-ri."

Isekai stood up. "We do not come here seeking to attack you, we are here in order to bring a lost child back to her mother, that is all."

Bastet studied her for a moment.

"Is that true?"

Surprisingly, Bastet was asking Teal'c, who also stood up, careful not to point his lance at the Goa'uld. He nodded. "It is."

"Then perhaps all will be well," Bastet said, carefully, motioning for her Jaffa to lower their weapons. "I too, seek someone. Three creatures, very similar to you, Tau'ri. I would not deprive a mother from being reunited with her daughter, but if you wish to return to your world through the Stargate, you must provide any information you find about the Sirens to me."

Jack was about to speak up when Isekai did. "We agree to this arrangement."

Instead he shot Daniel a warning look, since he looked like he wanted to complain. Wincing visibly, the archaeologist pressed his lips together tight.

"Very well then." Bastet stepped to the side. "I wish you luck, finding this daughter you are looking for."

Isekai bowed slightly, then guided them out of the Stargate's area. There was a lot of things Jack wanted to say, but he held his tongue. Instead he studied the defenses around the Stargate. It was no wonder that Bastet had let them go so easily. It was heavily fortified, with hundreds of Jaffa and even several gliders.

"Are you really going to tell them anything about the sirens, Isekai?" Daniel asked, his voice tense.

"Hm." The mysterious bartender tapped her chin as she walked. "I don't think we could make it back to the Stargate if we somehow escaped her troops and returned." She turned around, now walking backwards, and grinned. "Good thing it's not the only way home."

"I see them."

Sunset walked over to where Adagio and Aria hid behind what remained of what had once been a stone wall.

"You didn't tell me you had two identical sisters," Aria said. "Way to limit my fantasies."

"What are you talking about?" Sunset asked as she finally spotted the group. She stared. There were two more Sunset Shimmers right there, walking with the Tau'ri that her mother had sent to pick her up.

It would be just like Celestia to not tell her about this. One of her two counterparts immediately looked in their direction. "I think they found us."

"Be ready," Adagio said. "If things go bad, stay behind us, Sunset."

A bit unnerved by that, she nodded, allowing the three sirens to take the lead. The Tau'ri that had come to pick her up were accompanied by a Jaffa, as well as a well-armed copy of herself. The other her was just… smiling.

"That's far enough," Adagio stated, her gem flashing for a moment. Sunset immediately realized she was using her power to bend their wills.

"Oh, none of that," the smiling Sunset Shimmer said, waving her hand dismissively. That little gesture was enough to put the three sirens on guard, but she continued talking, as if nothing had happened. "We're here to take you home, after all."

"So you say."

"Adagio," the other Sunset, who Sunset herself was starting to realize looked a bit older than her spoke up again, "please. We're really here to help."

"Fine. So should we head back to the Stargate with you?"

At that, the elder Sunset cringed. "Yeaaah, about that."

"You what?!" the so-called siren, Adagio, roared.

She was arguing back and forth with Isekai about that random agreement she had pulled with Bastet. There was a reason Sunset didn't trust her, after all. Sure, they had the magical mirror, if it worked. But what if it didn't? What if they had to fight their way back to the Stargate? Was she just going to hand them over?

It was no skin off her nose, of course, but it did make her question just what other lies the elder of the three Sunsets was spreading. How much could you trust someone that would sell their supposed allies that quickly?

That's why she didn't trust aliens. Not to mention the first thing the sirens had done when they met was to mind-control the others. Daniel, Sam, Jack and Teal'c had all been out of it until Isekai had spoken.

The jerks didn't know how lucky they'd been that Sunset herself hadn't just opened fire.

"So…"

Speaking of which. She turned to face the other Sunset. Sunny, as Isekai had decided to call her. This one… she looked just like her. She was probably even around the same age. And she looked vulnerable. Scared. Overwhelmed. The complete opposite of Isekai who for all appearances could have been just taking a stroll in the park.

That woman… creature… was so overpowered it would be hilarious if it wasn't making her nervous.

"I um, I see you don't get along with Isekai."

"No shit," she replied automatically. She turned to look at the other her. "You're not suspicious of her? Of me?"

Sunny grimaced. "I don't know what to think. It's kind of a kick to the stomach when you find out you're not the only you out there." She sighed, sitting next to her.

If Sunset was honest, it made her feel really uncomfortable. This was someone her age, a civilian, trying to be strong… and resembled her way too much. "Well, at least this will not last long. We'll take you back to your mother, and I'll go back to Earth, and hopefully Isekai's bar-TARDIS will be fixed by then and we don't have to see each other again."

The young woman cringed at her tone, and she felt bad. It was like she was scolding herself for no reason. "Look, don't take it personal, I'm just not fond of aliens."

"Right." Sunny cleared her throat. "Bar-TARDIS?"

"Isekai says she's a bartender.'

Sunny turned to gape at their older counterpart with an incredulous look. "With all that power?"

"Right?" Sunset chuckled. "Doesn't make sense to me. If you have power, you use it. You just don't hide away in a bar and work a service job."

"I don't know. I think Princess Celestia would enjoy working at a cake store."

That got a chuckle out of Sunset. "Why would your mother do that?"

Sunny looked down. "She's… not really my mother, you know?"

"Oh?"

"Up until now, I wasn't even allowed to call her anything but Princess. I'm an orphan she took in as an apprentice because I was just smart enough to go to her school." Sunny made a fist. "I did everything I could to impress her, you know? She's Princess Celestia! She moves the sun! She's over a thousand years old and she's still hot! She knows so much magic, has seen history play before her eyes, she's led armies, led peace talks. She's fought monsters and invaders, she's trapped villains in stone!"

Sunny's fist slowly opened up, and Sunset could see the nail marks in her palm. Sunny hugged her knees close, resting her chin on them. "She's perfect. She's untouchable. She's wise. She's never told me she loved me until now. She's never wanted me as part of her family." She snorted. "She's always just wanted an apprentice… until now. I don't know what to think. Or do."

"I'm also an orphan, you know?"

Sunny looked up at her.

"I know, right? I think Isekai was too." She chuckled. "What a coincidence. My mother passed away shortly after I was born. The only thing she said was my name to the people that tried to save her. It's not a normal name on my planet at all, but it was her dying wish. Plus, we have really weird people with names stranger than mine, so people just thought it was simply an eccentric choice. But other than that… I was just another kid growing up with little prospects. No one wanted to adopt me. I was too smart, too scary, too ambitious, too old eventually. I think at one point I realized my choices were to keep hoping for the impossible… or just give up on it.

"I was getting drunk in highschool and thinking about all this crap while hanging with some potheads when we walked past an Airforce Recruitment Center. I don't know why, but I went in. I told them my grades… it's funny. The Airman that interviewed me… I don't remember his name, but he just put his hand on my shoulder, looked me straight in the eye, and said: 'Shimmer. You're too good to waste out there. If you really want to do this, if you want to serve your country with those brains of yours… I know just the place you should apply to.'"

Sunny was looking at her with interest. "And?"

"On his recommendation I applied to the Airforce Academy… it's um. A military school/college for the airforce. It ironed out a lot my doubts, and a lot of my fears, and I found my heroes."

Sunny followed her eyes to where Carter and O'Neill were.

"I joined the Stargate program because I want to bring the best to my world. I want to help protect it from invaders and enemies. I want to take us to the stars."

"That is… amazing."

Sunset smirked. "Anyway… the one thing I never had was a family until I joined the military. I think you're lucky that the Princess finally came to her senses."

"Thanks…" Sunny smiled, looking at her hands. "I guess I am. Thank you."

For some reason, Sunset felt much better than earlier. "You're welcome."

"So, essentially, what you get out of all of this is for all of Equestria—including us by default—to assist you against the massive armies of the Goa'uld," Adagio summarized. "Unbelievable."

"It is possible, Adagio Dazzle," Teal'c spoke up. "Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson were directly responsible for the death of Ra and Apophis, and I have witnessed the deaths of other Goa'uld."

"Why would we even want to help these guys?" Sonata asked, swinging her legs. "So they killed a few, so what? They don't stand a chance against all of the System Lords. We've seen too many others fail, and they had better tech and bigger armies, and they were not hiding away from the rest of their world. What do we have to lose if they disappear?"

"Can I show you something?"

Sonata shrugged, and Isekai placed her hand on the siren's shoulder, making her stop her rant as her eyes glazed over. Everyone waited in silence for a few seconds before Sonata's eyes suddenly went wide and she rushed over to grab Aria and Adagio's hands. "Oh my leviathan! We NEED to help these people! We can't let them fail!"

Aria stared at her sister for a moment before turning to glare at Isekai. "What did you do to her?!"

"Isekai?" Jack growled. Not that he didn't appreciate the help, but his experience with brainwashing was not something that made him think of it in a positive light. At all.

She shrugged, turning to face Aria and Adagio. "You sirens love music, right?"

Aria's and Adagio's glowers didn't fade, but they nodded.

Isekai nodded as well, then faced Jack. "I shared my memory of Wembley Stadium, 1985. Queen's set."

Sunset, who had rushed over to them when she heard the commotion, noticed the reaction of SG-1, even her human counterpart. "What Queen?"

"That's—" Jack shook his head, trying to find the words. "You don't pull your punches, do you?" he muttered.

Aria's frown deepened. "What does that—"

"You were there?!" Sam gasped. She coughed. "Um. Can I see?"

Isekai grinned. "Alright, gather round. I'll show you the whole concert this time."

Lt. Sunset Shimmer carefully aimed her rifle over the edge of the wall. Next to her, Isekai simply rested her back against it, eyes closed.

She was supposedly extending her 'senses' like some sort of martial artist out of a Chinese movie or some random action cartoon.

She hated being left here with her interdimensional counterpart. It made her much more nervous than being with the other Sunset. The young princess-to-be was… well, somehow familiar. She was naive, but driven. There was a lot she could relate with her, even if their lives were different.

Isekai… she was… like some sort of twisted parody of her. Ancient, but young. Wise, but clearly fallible. Calm as hell in situations where self-preservation dictated a bit of fear would do wonders for your survival. She didn't need rest, like they did, apparently. She could stay up all night or something.

How powerful was she, really? The reaction of the Sirens and other-Sunset had not gone unnoticed. They were… wary, almost in awe. It really rubbed her the wrong way, just how carefree she was. How unaware of consequences she seemed to be.

For all Sunset knew, Isekai could blow up a planet just like the characters in those Japanese cartoons she'd caught some kids watching in Hawaii at the hotel's lobby.

And she wanted them to believe she was a goddamned bartender? Yeah. Right. Not with how everyone reacted to her.

Isekai took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "I don't sense anyone nearby, it seems we're good for now."

"Right. Don't blame me for not believing your spider-senses," Sunset muttered, "but I'll keep watch properly for the both of us, since you expect me to simply trust my life on your mumbo-jumbo."

"Suit yourself," Isekai responded, leaning back again and—infuriatingly enough—closing her eyes.

It didn't take long before Sunset groaned. "Why did you have to mess up things for me? What is it with you aliens and using my shape?"

"Hmm?" Isekai opened one eye and regarded her carefully. "You know by now that's not remotely what happened, so what is it with you treating us like we're the enemy?"

Sunset growled, then spared a glare at her older counterpart. "Aliens have done nothing but bring pain to humanity since we met them. Thousands of years ago they were killing us, and we drove them off. We discovered them again, and what were they doing? Killing humans. I've lost too many good friends to aliens who think they're entitled to the universe and to treat us like idiots or slaves just because they got lucky and got to space first.

"We haven't taken a single world for ourselves since this all started, and we've managed to give planets to alien 'allies' who keep secrets from us and judge us and tell us we're naive even when we're the ones saving their asses. They're barely grateful for our sacrifices or the lives that we've lost for their sake. They get their planets, they get their weapons, they get us to kill their enemies, and what do we get? Promises. But so far we haven't even had them fill any of them. Whatever technology we've developed has been things we've taken or adapted without their help.

"Even now, we're helping some horse princess rescue her brat-daughter instead of taking advantage of the fact that we have three VIPs that all the Goa'uld want, and what are we doing with them? Nothing. We're sending them back home. We're not learning the secret to immortality, we're not having them tell us their secrets. We risk our lives to give them their happy ending, and what do we get? Almost killed, that's what." She snorted. "I just don't get it. I don't get why we do this. I don't get why SG-1 just… rolls with it."

She trailed off, having said her piece. Isekai was looking at her with curiosity, but no anger. "Would you like to find out?"

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "How?"

"Ask."

End Part 7

Author's Note

Okay! So I lied!

Changing and Adapting (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 8)

Sunset's Isekai
Changing and Adapting (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 8)
By Wanderer D

It didn't take long before the first change of the guard happened. Soon, Sam was marching up to her, warily looking around before waving gently in her direction.

"So what is it like?" Sam asked, joining her and taking a seat next to her for the new turn of the watch. "You know, doing what you do?"

"Serving drinks? Meeting people?" Isekai asked. "It's nice… my bar has opened me to such amazing things…" She glanced up at the giant gas planet they were orbiting. "Every time you think you've seen it all, something new happens. A new friend appears, a new adventure begins…"

"Doesn't it worry you that statistically something really bad will happen to you?" Sam asked. "With being essentially eternal?"

"Not really." Isekai leaned over and rested her arms and chin on the large, flat rock they were taking cover behind. "I don't think your statistic takes into account an increment in power and abilities, or a steadily-growing network of powerful, loyal and creative friends."

Sam chuckled, and shook her head. "I have so many questions, my mind is all over the place with how much I can ask you…"

Isekai shrugged. "Maybe that's a sign that you shouldn't," she said. "You guys already have amazing adventures and win against the odds."

Sam laughed, shaking her head. "Sometimes I feel we're just lucky… but I guess you're right. It seems sometimes that our lives don't seem as exceptional to us as they really are, despite everything we've gone through, and despite being aware that we have achieved what others could only dream of."

Looking at the astrophysicist, Isekai bumped her in the shoulder. "Now you know what it's like. To me, it's my normal life… full of new experiences, sure, but not something I constantly remind myself of how amazing it is… even if by all logic I should. I'm just lucky to have met so many people from so many places… and learning to embrace what's different."

"I wonder how far we'll go?"

Isekai grinned. "Spoilers. But far."

Sam snorted and leaned back, studying the sky. "You know, for a time I thought I'd never be able to do this? I was part of the original team that worked on the Stargate. I designed the software we use to work the dial… and I was off-shore when Daniel and Jack went out to Abydos and confronted Ra.

"By the time I got back to base, it was all over, and we thought the gate would be useless, now that the other side had been buried." Sam shifted in place, sliding a bit closer to the edge of the wall so she could keep a lookout as she spoke. "I was even going to start working on other projects when Apophis attacked and changed everything."

"But this time around you were there to join the team."

Sam nodded. "It's hard though. Sometimes I forget that I'm a soldier, and sometimes I forget that I'm a scientist." She laughed. "I remember introducing myself forcefully to Jack as, 'that's Captain Carter, sir,' then we're on the other side of the Stargate and I'm shaking hands with Daniel, introducing myself as 'Dr. Samantha Carter, pleased to meet you.' Jack, of course immediately quipped in."

"Of course he did," Isekai said. "He never misses his chance, does he?"

"Part of the charm, I suppose. But still. Now I've hijacked so much alien technology that I'm Earth's foremost expert on it." She smiled. "A decade ago, I would have told myself to stop dreaming science fiction. And now… we've achieved so much and understood so much more of the universe… we can even slowly bring it back to Earth."

"I imagine that's a lot of tech that could help Earth."

Carter shifted in place. "Yes." She sighed. "Unfortunately because there's a lot we still don't understand, incorporating it into our defenses is tricky. Some systems could be really dangerous to just be around, or have unintended long-term effects. There's been more than one time when we've been offered a magic cure… only to find out that the price tag is too high."

"Greetings, Lt. Shimmer."

"Teal'c."

Sunset sat down next to him, watching the rest of the group sleep. Or pretend to. Adagio was awake, and if she knew herself, Sunset was too. She supposed that there was no point in waiting. Whatever her problem was, Isekai had a point. And it was the same point Jack had made.

You can't know people if you don't talk to them.

Even though she couldn't see him, she knew he was a bit surprised by her willingly sitting next to him. It was, after all, the type of contact she had avoided for years. They might be in the same base, and in the same team, and fight the same enemies… but to her, he was still an alien of the species that had captured and killed a friend, not to mention other soldiers she had known.

"I don't like Jaffa."

Teal'c turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, then turned to look back at the 'sleeping group' with a hint of amusement. "Most beings in the Universe do not, Lt. Shimmer."

"Doesn't it bother you?" she insisted, "I mean, you're part of Stargate… doesn't it bother you that there are people like me there that don't like you because of that?"

Teal'c turned to look at her again. "It does not. We Jaffa have a long history of being servants to the Goa'uld. Although it is not entirely our fault that they have bred us for this purpose, we have waged wars and claimed many planets in the name of the false gods."

He looked back towards the camp. "We have committed atrocities out of fear or zealousness, or both. And looking past that is not a simple thing. Even now, knowing that the Tok'ra exist, building a rebellion among the Jaffa, there is still too much being done by enslaved Jaffa for people to believe otherwise."

Sunset frowned. "But you have to feel something."

Teal'c nodded. "While it is true that finding members of Stargate who would doubt my honesty and integrity is disappointing, I do have friends and a cause for which I would gladly die for. If I were to take offense at the actions of those that mistrust me, instead of action against the injustices committed against and by my people, I would be destroying whatever chance we have to truly be free of the Goa'uld and joining the rest of the free races of the galaxy." He paused for a moment, his eyes lowering in contemplation. "We have a long history that is seen as intentionally evil by others.

"It does not help that a thousand years of indoctrination and being born under the idea that our gods are the ultimate truth push Jaffa across the Galaxy to ignore their conscience and simply bow their heads. The ideology of oppression is hard to leave behind, Lieutenant, because it is too convenient. Other races are inferior. Other races are not as close to the gods as we are. We are honored to serve our gods, to kill, conquer and ignore suffering for our gods. It's our god's will that it should happen, and our enemies folly that they choose to resist enslavement and salvation.

"Even those of us who know right from wrong still cling to the excuse that we have no choice, either because of fear, or because we think that thinking otherwise makes us wrong. We are taught that our lives are based on that superiority that comes from being closer to the gods than anyone else. That our role is to conquer and enslave other races so that they too might serve the Goa'uld, or that we speak for truth, when all we do is speak to oppress. And if we do share our concerns with others, we run the risk of being accused of being traitors to our race. We are surrounded by those that defend this ideology of fear and superiority over others, and dissension is punished either by our superiors, the Goa'uld, or even our comrades."

"It… does sound very hard to choose to stand against that." Sunset took a deep breath, noticing that Adagio had given up any attempt to pretend that she was asleep, and was simply staring at what was left of the roof of their shelter. Sunny was obviously awake too, and she couldn't really see if the other sirens or the SG-1 members down here were also not asleep.

"It seems like an impossible battle to win," Teal'c continued. "And yet, destroying Ra, or Apophis were also impossible dreams, Sunset Shimmer. Letting go of a simple flawed belief is much harder than it appears, but it is not impossible. Already Jaffa across the galaxy realize that their supposed 'gods' are little else than pretenders. They know that they can die. That they are fallible and cruel. Yet, they choose to stick to those beliefs. They build statues of their oppressors, hide the atrocities behind songs of great deeds and the so-called honor of serving a corrupt leader.

"To them, that one such as I—former Prime to Apophis—would not only betray my lord, but participate in bringing him down is a travesty. That I would tear the statues of their fake idols down one by one to once and for all leave that shameful past behind and open a way for us to co-exist… even if it will be hard work towards redemption to the rest of the galaxy is inconceivable.

"And yet, that is what I must do, Sunset Shimmer, for not only must I stand for what I believe in, I must also endure the mistrust and fear others have if I am to be an example to them of what Jaffa can become, even if my own beliefs are close to those of Stargate Command, or the Tok'ra." Teal'c took a breath and smiled slightly. "When I met Jack O'Neill and the others, it was the first time I thought I had a chance to make my stand. And I joined Stargate, knowing full well that trust was a privilege I would have to earn from those that I had directly or indirectly hurt before."
Sunset grimaced, thinking of how many times she had muttered under her breath about the alien in the cafeteria. Or how many times she had laughed at a crude joke about him when they were out of earshot.

"The price of freedom and respect is never easy, Sunset Shimmer," Teal'c said, moving to stand up. "And it's always accompanied by the hate and pettiness of those that see you as a traitor, and those that see you as an extension of those who did them wrong, or even those that find their power over others addictive. But I do not take it lightly. I choose to fight and let my actions speak for myself. In the end, what matters is that my people will be free of the shackles that have them bound to a lie."

With that said, he nodded at her politely and left, presumably to join Sam and Isekai on their watch. Sunset looked up at the others, but Adagio had already closed her eyes, and Sunny was facing away.

All she had left were her thoughts.

The next morning welcomed her with the humming and singing of several songs the sirens had shared with the others through Isekai's memories. Sunset herself had resisted the urge to join the little circle of memories, more out of distrust for her older counterpart than lack of curiosity. From Sunny's account of the experience, it was as if they had been standing right there.

But if she was honest, she'd rather Isekai share her memory of Russia 1991, if she had been present for that. A concert with over one and a half million people in attendance? Now, that was something that might override her reluctance.

"Sunny, you, Isekai and Aria are with me," Jack called out. "We need to head towards the mirror, and you're the only one who knows where it is." He pointed at them as he went. "Carter, Daniel, you're with Sonata. Teal'c, you take the back with Adagio and Sunset."

"Yessir," Sunset responded, glancing at the siren, who gave her a cold look back. "Can't wait."

"You seem eager for a fight," Adagio muttered as they were well into the jungle. "Kinda funny that you're anti-alien when you're the alien here."

"I'm pro-earth," Sunset growled. "That's the planet where I was born where the aliens decided to farm people from."

"Huh." Adagio rolled back her shoulders, seemingly conceding that point. "Doesn't explain why you have such an attitude against Sunset… um, Sunny that is, and us," she said. "We didn't do anything to you."

"Didn't you?" Sunset asked, glaring at the siren. "You hypnotized Colonel O'Neill and the others. If Isekai hadn't stopped you, who knows what you would have done. I found it a bit hypocritical afterwards that you took the high ground when she shared her memory with Sonata."

Adagio snorted. "I was just protecting the others. You don't get to live over a thousand years in Goa'uld territory by trusting any creature that claims they fight them. More often than not, they're already enslaved, and if not, doomed to fail."

"And yet, here we are."

Adagio shook her head, crossing her arms. "You are different."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Really? How? Because we're taking you back to your world?"

Adagio looked away. "In part. But also the company your group keeps."

"I fail to see how that is relevant to the way you received us."

"You come in with that powerhouse over there…" Adagio said, nodding with her head at the front of the group, where Isekai was chatting with Aria and Sunset. "You're originally what, a unicorn, like Sunny? Don't tell me you can't feel the underlying power she has."

"I'm not, nor have I ever been a unicorn. I'm a human," Sunset replied. "And I don't feel magic like you guys do. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really? That's odd, you do have a magical field and fought-off our mind control. But I suppose there could be Tau'ri with magical senses." She scooted closer. "Don't you feel… uncomfortable close to her? Like you shouldn't really have an issue, but something under your skin makes it crawl because you know there's something even if you can't name it?"

That gave Sunset pause. Adagio had described exactly what she hadn't been able to put into words. A sort of fight-or-flight instinct that put her on edge around Isekai. It wasn't something she felt around Sunny, who seemed much more relatable to her.

"That is your magical sensitivity," Adagio continued. "Applying it is different depending on your species, but with your magical aura, I don't doubt you felt like you were almost choking when you were with her." Adagio glanced at Isekai again. "And I'm sure she knew, because she compressed it."

Sunset frowned, deciding to change the uncomfortable topic. "So you only trusted us because of Isekai?"

"Well, like I said, you had Teal'c with you," Adagio responded, motioning with her hand.

Sunset glanced at the Jaffa who nodded slightly at them, just realizing then that he had been listening in.

"We had heard tales that some planets were rebelling, and that some Jaffa had been taking arms against their masters." She sighed. "I always thought it was lies to keep people on their toes and weed out would-be-dissenters. But it was true. A thousand years ago I would not dare to trust other species—especially after what the ponies did—but that wasn't a choice in this world. We saw an entire race disappear because they offended Apophis. He then repopulated the planet with what you call humans." Her hands curled into fists. "I didn't have friends among them but… they weren't bad. Naive. Easy to manipulate, yes. But not bad. Then the current batch came in and we had an easier time mixing in. I grew used to other creatures and Sonata and Aria chose to help from time to time… enough that when I sensed the Equestrian magic in Sunset, I was willing to give her a chance despite being a pony."

"So what happened with the ponies?" Sunset asked. "They don't look capable of intentionally harming an animal cracker, much less… other creatures their size."

Adagio smirked. "We were bigger than them." The smirk faded. "But we also have a very delicate balance as a species with the surface creatures. Sirens have to mate with other creatures and will usually give birth to another siren and a creature of the same kind as the other parent, but we are seen as evil because we can use our powers to hypnotize creatures or create strife. Our voices can reach deep within a person, and we can sometimes seduce with our songs… it created legends and stories about how we were predators…" Adagio trailed off, then shrugged. "Some of them were true, most not. As I said, we needed them to survive, and if we wanted our children, both land-born and siren to thrive, it didn't make sense to antagonize everyone."

Sunset felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Don't tell me that what they did to you…"

"They didn't do it to me," Adagio said, taking a deep breath. "It was one of my two blood sisters. She was hunted down and killed because she had planned to elope with one of the villagers. Knowing ponies… I know that they probably weren't trying to do that. Even that idiot Starswirl only had the guts to exile us… but that was the end result. It took centuries—even knowing those villagers were long gone—before I was able to come to terms with that. Even if it doesn't make me like them any more than I did before. Which wasn't much." She looked at Sunny, walking in front of them. "For the most part."

Sunset sighed. "It would have been much easier for you without the other species then, right?" She shook her head. "That is why it's so hard for me to deal with all of this… even when aliens like Teal'c are an example of what I should be striving for… I can also constantly see in my head the damage others have caused. And yet we give asylum to aliens, protect them, help them… it sometimes feels pointless to sacrifice so much for no rewards."

"And yet, if you didn't reach out to help, would we have met the Asgardeans?" Teal'c asked. "Would building the Prometheus be possible? Would learning how to protect Stargate Command, and therefore Earth, from so many enemies?"

Sunset grimaced. "Maybe not, but what's wrong with putting my world and my species first?"

Adagio shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. But what I've learned is that doing so doesn't mean leaving the rest of the universe to rot. I always will put my sisters and myself at the top of the survival list, but we've all chosen to help even if it puts us at risk sometimes. But just like your team SG-1 has proven, having a little bit of everything seems to work better than facing the universe on your own, doesn't it?"

"And how did that work for you?"

Adagio shrugged. "We're still here, where many others have failed over the course of a thousand years."

Teal'c didn't comment, but Sunset could still sense a little amusement coming from him.

"You can always generalize the aspects of a whole species to whichever view benefits you," Adagio said. "If you like them, ponies are creative, loyal, strong, and kind. If you don't, they're paranoid, xenophobic, cowards. Even Goa'uld. Take this world for example… before Bastet, Sobek was hunting us just last month. He was raining fire over the planet, just like Apophis and Ba'al had done before him, or many other System Lords. And yet, now that she's here, she's not using violence to find us… she's being kind and ordering her Jaffa to help rebuild the cities that Sobek destroyed not two months ago… and she's gotten closer than any other Goa'uld in history to catch us.

"If she was your first contact with the Goa'uld, I doubt your species would have taken down Ra, Apophis, and others. I think you would have a very different idea of who the Goa'uld could be."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "We're not that insular."

"And yet you'd rather all aliens remain out while you take what's best from their technology," Adagio countered. "We all want what's best for all of us. I will never trust all ponies as fully as Sunny would, but I can trust her. I can forgive her." She looked towards Sonata, who was chatting Sam's ear off, and Aria, who was walking with a small, relaxed smile next to Sunny. "And if she can take us home, I can at least give this new generation of ponies a chance to prove me wrong."

Sunset didn't answer, but tensed when Teal'c patted her shoulder. "Do not worry, Lt. Shimmer," the former Prime of Apophis said, his deep voice reassuring in all of its formality. "All of this takes time. We are fortunate to live in a place and time when we have a chance to change for the better."

She nodded, and the trio proceeded in silence.

It had taken them the rest of the day, but they had finally emerged from the jungle and stepped into an inhabited, if mostly destroyed city. It wasn't just that it had been attacked relatively recently, although it certainly didn't help, but also that the architecture was clearly ancient, and the further in they went, the less people they met… and also the more prominent the ruins became.

By the time they reached the statue, they had passed by architectural remains that were so different they probably belonged to two, or even three different species. The place where the alicorn statue stood was a small plaza, with collapsed buildings that had consisted of several, small rooms interconnected to each other.

No sign of the original people that had inhabited that world remained except for those mostly gone ruins, and the circular nature of the small plaza. It could have been anything, from a tiny garden, to a small assembly area for political discussion, or even religious purposes.

"This is where I came out," Sunny said. "It took me some time, but I eventually made my way to the inhabited area of the city and met Aria and the others." She touched the surface. "It's still closed. I'll write the princess."

"In the meantime," Jack spoke up, "Daniel, Sam. Take a look around. Teal'c, you're with me. Lieutenant, you can stay with Isekai and the others and stand guard."

"Yes, sir."

As Sunny pulled her diary out, the sirens all sat around her, while Isekai went over to study the statue itself. "Hey, girls? Do you think when we go back I'll have a chance to meet more of your sisters?"

Sonata grinned. "For sure! If they're still around, I think it would be fun!"

"If being the keyword," Aria said. "You said it yourself; that you hadn't heard of any siren sightings, right?"

Sunny immediately felt bad about asking, glancing worriedly at Adagio, who was looking down, gloomily opening and closing her fists.

"Doesn't mean that all is lost." Surprisingly it was Lt. Shimmer who had spoken up. She looked at Adagio. "You did say that you were willing to give things a chance, right? If you three were able to avoid capture by the Goa'uld for a thousand years, it stands to reason the same would be true of your fellow sirens, right?"

"Oooh! I want to introduce you all to Minuet Daze," Sonata said eagerly. "She's the most adorable Siren ever to live!"

Aria snorted. "Only you would think she's adorable."

"Bleh!" Sonata made a face, blowing a raspberry at Aria. "Meanie."

Aria grinned, then, her smile going a bit more gentle, she looked to Adagio. "How about you? Don't you want to see Fugue?"

Sunny frowned, finishing her note to the princess. "Fugue?"

"Fugue Mirage," Aria clarified. "Adagio's blood sister. Same mother, different father than..."

"Cantata Dazzle," Adagio said, not looking up. "The sister I lost to the ponies a thousand years ago."

"Huh." Sunny frowned, looking down at the diary. "That's curious."

Adagio glanced at her. "Why?"

"That's my mother's name, according to the orphanage papers," she replied. "I looked into it when I was old enough to know how to do it. They said she'd passed away in an accident."

A thud made them look over at Lt. Shimmer, who had sat down across from them, eyes wide. "No way. That's my mom's name. For the longest time I thought the nuns had made it up, but when I checked, that was the name listed. If I didn't know there were people that named their kids Zelda or Arwen I would have just thought it was a made-up name."

The sirens and both Sunsets looked at each other in silence for a moment. "Do you think?"

"Nah," Lt. Shimmer said quickly. "We're both Sunset Shimmer and we look basically the same, right? I bet it's just another of those crazy coincidences."

"Yeah," Sunny said after a moment, laughing at her own silliness. "Of course it is."

They descended into an uncomfortable silence that didn't last long. The book vibrated soon after and Sunny quickly read it. "Princess Celestia says the portal is ready."

Lt. Shimmer nodded, pressing her radio. "Colonel, we're green to go."

"Heading back," Jack's voice came over. "But there's some Goa'uld action coming our way, you guys go ahead. We'll follow."

"But sir—"

"That's an order, Lieutenant. You heard me too, Daniel. Sam."

"Yes, sir," Sam's voice came from the radio as the pair made their way to where the others were waiting.

"I can't leave them!" Lt. Shimmer growled, picking up her gun. "You guys—"

"Will all follow orders," Sam interrupted. "Trust me. It's better this way. Jack and Teal'c will be back soon."

"It'll be fine," Isekai spoke up, walking up to the group. "I'll wait for them in case something goes wrong."

Lt. Shimmer was clearly struggling until Isekai touched her shoulder. "Trust me."

Gritting her teeth, the soldier looked at them. "Let's go."

Unlike the Stargate, the so-called magical mirror's transportation was much worse. She landed on a heap, completely disoriented on top of the others, being the last one to cross before Isekai and the others. Knowing that Jack and Teal'c had a tradition of being followed by blasts of energy, she rolled to the side, her arms jumbled, but her body was generally still functional.

"Get out of the way! Make way for Colonel O'Neill and the others!" she shouted, hearing the rest of the group groaning and acknowledging her orders. Now that they were on the other side of the mirror, she forced herself up, shaking her head as she took in her surroundings.

There was Princess Celestia—slightly shorter than she remembered—, Shining Armor and several pony guards. Getting up and moving away from the mirror was an orange pony unicorn with a tell-tale mane that could only be the Sunset Shimmer of this world, and next to her three large sea-horse-like creatures that would be Sonata, Adagio, and Aria.

Oddly enough there were two more creatures. Another pony with dark brown coat and a slightly darker mane dressed in SG-1 overalls, and another pony-like creature in SG-1 overalls as well, except she had a blonde leonine mane, scales and an odd, thick red horn that split at the top. Definitely not a unicorn.

They were gaping at each other in obvious confusion. "D-Daniel?" the creature with the leonine mane asked.

"Sam?!"

Wait… if they had been transformed… why was everyone looking at her? She looked down at herself, noticing for the first time that she was sort of floating in the air. She had a lower fish-like body, while the upper part had hooves. It was a shape very similar to that of… "No way." She gazed at the siren looking back at her in the mirror. "No way," she repeated.

She had to drop down, however, when several blasts blew out of the mirror, smashing against a hastily-raised shield conjured by Princess Celestia. Immediately following those, a pegasus in SG-1 overalls rolled out of the mirror, followed by a quickly galloping bug-like creature, and finally by another version of herself… a tall winged unicorn in a bartender's getup.

Being the last Sunset to cross, Isekai simply levitated the diary off of the top of the mirror and turned around to grin at the group as the energy blasts stopped coming through. "Well, I think that was a success, wasn't it?"

"Isekai," Jack growled, slowly getting up to his hooves. "Why am I a horse?"

Isekai just shrugged. "Magic."

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but then noticed the others. Instead, he closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath before opening them again. "You can fix this, right?"

Isekai nodded. "Yeah, it's easy."

"Good. Now, since we're all here and we're all horses, I'd love to have a drink."

It had been a week since SG-1, sans Lt. Shimmer, had gone back to Earth once again being human. True to her word, Isekai had transformed the pegasus, changeling, earth pony and kirin back into their natural forms after a few hours of letting them enjoy their new forms, and had even fulfilled her promise to take Jack to her bar.

The other two Sunsets had decided that it was best to stay in Equestria for now and re-connect, with the blessing of Lt. Shimmer's superior officer. Some guy named Hammond. Now, she found herself walking around the castle with Princess Celestia, something that in her previous life here in Equestria would have been probably impossible.

"All I could find about your nieces, is that one Fugue Mirage, was their mother. She had been living for several years here in Canterlot before she married a unicorn named Distant Travel," Celestia said to her as they walked (and floated) through the Canterlot Castle Gardens. "He was an enthusiast of Starswirl's, and had spent a lot of time studying his work on dimensional magic. I recall his marks had been quite high during his years studying at my school."

"Sounds like a charmer." So her sister had come eventually to the pony lands, pretended to be a pony and hooked up with a unicorn. She couldn't really say whether she approved of her boldness or not, but it was typical of Fugue to do things that other sirens would think about twice.

Celestia didn't smile, sighing as she pulled out a scroll from some pocket space and stopped near one of the many fountains. She levitated it over to Adagio, who took it in her hooves. "Unfortunately we can only guess what happened. They were well-liked by their neighbors and friends. Fugue Mirage had been pregnant and been about to give birth before something happened.

"When Fugue went into labor, they had called a nursemaid to help them. All accounts are from their neighbors as reported to the guard. It was the middle of the night, when they heard screaming, magic explosions, a roar and then the house collapsed. The only pony they could find alive—"

"Was Sunset Shimmer… Sunny," Adagio finished for her, sighing. "Fugue always loved the sunset, so I'm not surprised she'd choose that name for one of them. We'll have to do something about the names."

Celestia smiled at that, nodding before turning her eyes to the playful twins, who were currently chatting happily with Shining Armor, Cadence, Sonata, and Aria near another of the open areas.

"Yes," she said, "Sunny had been fortunately placed in her cradle, along with a birth certificate that hadn't been signed yet, but had the name scribbled on it. Distant Travel being a unicorn, had already child-proofed it, and the magical spells cast onto the cradle to protect the babies kept her alive while everything around her went up in flames." Celestia sighed, looking up from the gardens to the city beyond them. "She became a ward of the state, then I adopted—well, I took her in, and eventually adopted her."

Adagio held the scroll in her hooves, not opening it, wishing she still had hands if only so she could properly crush the thing. "I can imagine what happened," she finally growled. "When Fugue gave birth, she turned back into her true form… and this pony, Distant Travel—because he was one of Starswirl's fans—decided immediately she was evil." She shook her head at the thought of her sister in that vulnerable state doing everything she could to protect her children. "They fought and he tried to cast the same spell that sent my sisters and I to Ze'bala, but since he's not Starswirl, he ended up botching that and sending her already injured to Earth. He probably died in the process. No normal unicorn could cast such a spell."

She gritted her teeth, eyes simmering with anger at the city past them, where ignorance and hatred had cost her not one, but two sisters. But then they heard a laugh. They looked over to where three sirens played tag with a unicorn while Cadance and Shining Armor watched, amused.

Adagio took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. "When we sirens mate, we usually will have at least two offspring. One being a siren, another being a member of our mate's species. Most of the time… they know we're sirens. When they don't—" She bit her lip. "When they don't… well, these things are unfortunately not unheard of."

"I know that the loss of your sister cannot be taken back," Celestia said gently, standing next to Adagio and watching the group play. "but although you did lose a sister… you gained two nieces." Her eyes sparkled. "Maybe even one daughter, if you wanted."

Adagio half-snorted, half-chuckled. "She's a grown adult."

"She's still in her twenties, and she's going to live a long, long time. She's just discovered she's not really a human and even though she's taking it like a trooper, you know she's not remotely comfortable with discovering she wasn't what she thought she was. She's changed. She's had to re-examine her view on everything that made sense to her just a few days ago. She'll need her family, and she was lucky enough to have found it. Not only an aunt, but also a sister."

"Yeah." Adagio shook her head, but smiled at the playing group. "We did find each other."

Hesitantly, Celestia wrapped a wing around the siren, but when there was no reaction, she leaned in, showing her support. "Times have changed… and will change more. I promise. We'll help ponies and other creatures understand sirens better. And, if you are open to it… as Sunset's biological aunt… I would love to welcome you to the family."

Adagio had to laugh. "Sunset Shimmers seem to be a lot more trouble than you would ever expect." Her laugh turned into a chuckle, and she shot Celestia a glance. "Half-sirens have really long lifespans, you know? Are you sure you're okay with seeing me around that often?"

Celestia shrugged, turning to look at pony Sunset with a smile. "With how close she's to Aria? I don't think I have a choice."

"Good point."

"Can I have another?"

"Knock yourself out, Daniel, Sunset is buying." Jack didn't even bother looking over his shoulder as he whipped his fishing rod. He watched the hook, bait and bobber fly until they reached a decent distance in the middle of the pond, with the line slowly following down to rest on the water.

Carefully, he tightened the line a little so that the bobber stayed in place, and leaned back. He took a swig of Sectoid Sweat. Apparently it was a brew made by human resistance against their otherworldly overlords in another universe, and he had to admit, it was just the type of hoppy he liked in his IPAs.

Next to him, already relaxing, Teal'c contemplated the Montana landscape, a bottle of actual viking mead in his hand.

Sam was at the grill, while Daniel was sampling the different beers at his own pace while reading some books Sunset had dug out for him out of somewhere. Speaking of which, their bartender… he still couldn't get over the fact that she was a bartender, was currently sitting at the table with her friend and business partner, Rarity, talking to some odd kids.

"So, you're okay with this?" one of them, a duck out of Ducktales of all things, asked.

"As long as you girls take care, I have no objections," Sunset replied, bumping her fist with the duck's. He tried to wrap his mind around that. Ducks had fists.

"Does that mean you're coming with us?" A white cat-like creature asked, it's white and purple tail swaying.

Next to the duckling, there were three human girls. A latino young girl, standing next to some sort of dog creature; a green-eyed, white-haired girl who was apparently a ghost… next to some sort of wizard-doll creature, and a young girl with purple and pink hair who was apparently her business partner's little sister, who had a cat-creature of her own, although hers was black.

"Of course it does," the black cat creature said. "Weren't you paying attention?"

"Black Tailmon, be nice," the young girl scolded.

"Right. Right. So-rry."

"Alright Sweetie Belle," Rarity said. "Off you girls go to the Digi-world. We'll pick you up later."

"Yay! Come on, Luz! Let's get Amity to go with us!"

"W-wait! She'll need her own Digimon though! Ugh. Come on Wizardmon."

"Don't take everyone with you! Seriously!" Sunset called as the girls ran into the bar and disappeared. She shook her head. "Kids."

Jack snorted, and leaned back, taking a deep breath as the calm returned to his sanctum-sanctorum, as Daniel had once called it. Rarity had assured them when the kids had first appeared that it was just a momentary distraction, and it seemed they were out of their hair for a while.

"I'm still surprised that you really are a bartender," Daniel said. "Aren't you tempted to mess around with time and such?"

"I can, to an extent," Sunset replied, taking a sip of her own beer, a much darker brew than Jack cared to try. "But my bar is a place for people to deal with issues, not for me to fix or correct them."

"I've tried telling this to Sunset, Daniel darling, but she's still too young and too new to the multiverse," Rarity spoke up. "One day she might have to change, but until then the bar is a safe-haven for those that need it."

"But what about this time around?" Daniel asked. "You were involved in our whole mission."

"Me?" Sunset scoffed. "Barely. I'm just glad that Sunset and Sunset met and reunited with their families."

Jack snorted. "You knew, didn't you? That Lt. Shimmer was also from Equestria."

Sunset simply took a drink.

He sighed and was about to speak up again when he felt a minor tug on his line, and he turned his attention to the bobber, which was twitching. Well. Maybe finding out that detail wasn't that important.

He took another swig of his Sectoid Sweat, and held his fishing rod ready, waiting for the right moment to strike.

End SG-1 Crossover

Author's Note

Finally! The last part has been published! Yay!

An Isekai's Isekai Hangout Pt 1. (Isekai 1 - Ascendance of a Bookworm)

Sunset's Isekai
An Isekai's Isekai Pt 1. (Ascendance of a Bookworm)
By Wanderer D

The clip-clop sound of the horses pulling the chariot down the cobbled streets had a certain cadence to it that put Sunset at ease. Maybe it brought back memories of a life, long, long ago where she was an equine herself, and that was just the sound that accompanied merry trots around Canterlot or other pony towns and cities.

Of course, learning that horses and ponies were generally not sapient for the vast majority of the multiverse (not to mention the first world she had ended up besides her own) had been a bit of a shock at first. Much, she imagined, like how a human might feel if they inadvertently were to visit one of those universes where humanity was little more than helpless ape-like creatures.

Now, she was used to all of that, but the familiar sounds had an effect on her still, and that was—in her opinion—a good thing. She was always afraid of learning that one day she'd forgotten where she came from. An immortal life such as hers had too many things going on, too many years, too many places, too many options, sounds, memories… the list went on. It was by no means a lonely existence. There were others out there, and well, Celestia was going to be around for a very long, long time.

Others might be a drop of water… but she liked to believe her unique circumstances would allow for the very valuable memories they brought with them to endure past eternity. She sighed and leaned her elbow on the window sill of the chariot, and rested her chin on her hand as she studied the city outside.

"So what is the point of buying these… "trombe" branches?" she asked Rarity, who sat across from her.

Currently they were slowly making their way through a busy market in what was by all appearances a traditional, Late-Middle Ages-style world. Rarity had donned a dress to blend in with royalty, with Sunset wearing a high quality suit worthy of a noble herself, sword included in a gold-and-red sheath that was decorated with her cutie mark.

Most people would gape, stammer, and even kneel when they walked by. It made Sunset feel kind of annoyed, but experience in other worlds had taught her that grabbing someone by the shoulders and telling them not to bow could end up in disaster. In some places it was simply considered uncouth to do so… in others, it could end up with someone dead.

Given the wide berth people gave them when they walked around, the bowing, and unwillingness to meet their eyes, Rarity had chosen what could only be the style of dressing that would get a commoner in a lot of trouble if they, Sunset, or Rarity weren't careful about their perceived status.

All it took, after all, was a guard standing around for trouble to brew.

"They're perfect for magic-draining potions, darling," Rarity said, bringing up the topic at hand, "and can fetch quite the prize in certain circles."

Magic draining. "Well, that's useful," Sunset said, tilting her head just slightly to look at her business partner. "I assume these circles are all legal."

"Of course." Rarity giggled just as the chariot slowed down, stopping at the door to a large building. The door opened and their driver, an extremely stern and solicitous man stepped to the side, having lowered the small golden ladder on the side so they could step down.

Sunset was the first to step out, and then to the side, allowing the people around them to see the sword comfortably resting against her hip.

Rarity daintily stepped down, helped both by Sunset and the driver. She then gestured with her hand at the storefront. "And here we are! The Gilberta Company."

"Rarity, this is not a shop I'd expect to have rare, magical ingredients."

"Isn't it, though?" Rarity wondered aloud. "Rudy, please be a dear and remain close by."

"Of course, miss Rarity."

Sunset watched their coach driver make his way with the chariot around the building, then followed Rarity into the store.

Immediately, the conversations inside ceased, as most of the wealthy patrons and staff stared at the two before bowing, or in the case of nobles, giving them calculating looks.

Rarity took it all in stride. "Oh my, how very nice of you, but please, continue with your shopping."

The shoppers hesitantly returned to browsing, but Sunset noticed their eyes drifted to them often enough. She sighed and glanced around while Rarity drew the attention of a young child who seemed to be part of staff. Huh. Medieval times allowed for children of very young ages to start working in different capacities. Something like that would have gotten the owners in trouble back in Canterlot City.

The kid ran off soon after, presumably to obtain whatever Rarity had requested, but Sunset's attention was already focused on some of their products. She picked up a bottle that had drawn her attention, and sniffed it. "It's shampoo." She glanced over in surprise at Rarity, who walked over to her. "Rarity, this is honest-to-goodness shampoo. How did it get here?"

"I have heard rumors," her partner said, "that there is a genius behind some of the Gilberta Company's new products."

Sunset shook her head. "It's a bit strange to find that here," she said, glancing around. While she would never imply the people here were not clean, it was clear that they didn't use products such as the shampoo often. Perhaps it was a trend that was just starting?

"Miss Rarity?" The pair turned around to face the young boy and another servant—this one in his mid-twenties—who were both bowing before them. "Master Benno will see you now."

"Isn't he precious, Sunset?" Rarity gushed. "Such manners! Now, if only you could learn—"

"Rarity?" Sunset interrupted, nodding with her head to the door.

"Oh, right, right."

A few minutes earlier...

"Four."

"Only if I retain the rights to produce it after a year." Main studied Benno's face as he considered her counter-offer. He was about to break. She just knew it.

Normally he would not agree to return the copyright after a year, but she was still going to be technically his employee, and a new renegotiation could be brought up at a later date with more beneficial arrangements for both of them, depending on the popularity of her latest innovation.

And he knew well enough she always had improvements. After all, this world didn't have the knowhow to even begin making half of the things she had learned in school back in Japan, much less had been exposed to so much information and learning as a book nerd such as herself had.

Just as he was about to say something else—no doubt in a useless attempt to bring the prize down further—Lutz walked into the room. "Master Benno!"

"Lutz," he responded, eyes turning to study the youth sternly. His face was serious, but Main groaned internally when she noticed the glimmer of relief in his eyes. The interruption would give him time to consider his strategy. "We're in the middle of negotiations."

"But… there's two nobles in the store, and they want to speak to you about a business investment." He leaned forward, gulping as he whispered. "It's about trombe branches."

Benno and Main traded guarded looks. Trombe was very dangerous, and incidentally—and also accidentally—their source for very expensive, super-high quality paper products. Benno straightened up and rolled his shoulders, all traces of the previous bartering gone. "Main. We'll postpone this transaction for now. But before I send for the two nobles waiting outside, I must know…" He loomed across the table, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "What. Did. You. Do?"

Main leaned back, smiling uncertainly. "Um, nothing! I swear! I haven't spoken to any nobles or clergy about that at all, I promise!" she said, waving her small hands appeasingly. "I've been too busy taking care of the orphanage and recuperating from the ceremony I performed for the Head Priest!"

"Hm." He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at Lutz. "Did you get a name or title?"

"Um… only that one is named Rarity…"

"No family name?" Benno frowned, rubbing his chin in thought before looking at Lutz straight in the eye. "She doesn't sound familiar. In the future, make sure to inquire for any noble's full title and name if possible. Remember: information is an essential skill for a merchant! Especially one I am training."

Lutz stood straighter, nodding vigorously. "Yes, sir!"

"Very well. Fetch Mark and bring them in."

Main watched her friend bow and leave, then turned to look at Benno, who was giving her a wary look.

It took a moment to click. "Seriously!" Main insisted, her small hands curling into frustrated fists, "I didn't do anything!"

"That remains to be seen."

"Announcing Lady Rarity Belle, and Lady Sunset Shimmer," Mark said as he and Lutz stepped to the side to let the pair of noble ladies in. The one with the indigo hair was dressed as Main would expect a high noble lady to dress, clearly made with high-quality materials and—to her trained eye as the daughter of a seamstress—excellent workmanship.

The other one… belonged more with the Knight's Order, although with how she acted around Lady Rarity, it was clear she was also a noble of at least the same rank. Her red hair, however, had highlights of gold—the first she had seen since she had arrived in this world—and either they were natural or dyed by a professional. Given the general lack of hair products, however, it was unlikely it was the latter. It was also shiny and well-kept, like she had been using one of her shampoos.

Lady Sunset turned to face her, and raised an eyebrow, while Lady Rarity blinked and looked down at her as well. "Oh, my! A tiny priestess. How precious!"

Benno cleared his throat, stepping up to them. "Ah, my apologies. Main here does some business with us on occasion. She was on her way to the church right now, in fact. Lutz, if you could please escort Main back to the entrance where Fran is waiting..."

"If you don't mind, I'll walk with them," Sunset said, surprising the group. "I'm sure that Rarity will have a lot to talk to you about, Master Benno, I like the charm of this city."

Rarity gave her a look. "Are you sure, Sunset? I'm sure we won't take too long."

"You know Kassandra's dear friend used to say," Sunset countered, "'The unexamined city is not worth visiting.'"

Main blinked. 'Did she just paraphrase...?!'

"He never said such a thing." Rarity pouted. "What if I'm attacked by dragons and miscreants?"

"I'd pity the lot of them." Sunset smirked and shrugged. "If I am to play the part of Oscar de Jarjayes to your Marie Antoinette, then I'll arrive back in the nick of time if you need me."

Main's brain went into overdrive. 'That's… The Rose of Versailles!'

Rarity sighed. "Fine, if miss Main doesn't mind," she conceded. "She is a priestess, after all, and her time is important."

"I don't!" Main said immediately.

"Main?" Lutz whispered just about loud enough for everyone to hear, although Benno himself had already stood up, a protest almost escaping his lips.

"I-I only know that I know nothing!" Main declared.

Benno groaned, smacking his forehead. "What does that even mean?"

"Well! It seems our good friend Socrates has a student all the way here in Ehrenfest," Rarity quipped, her lips sliding into a smile.

'I knew it!' Main immediately noticed Benno glancing at both nobles, his suspicions growing by the second. "Um…"

That turned his attention to her. "Is this Socrates an acquaintance of yours, Main?"

Main cringed. "In a way, yes. I'm very familiar with him, although he's passed away." She forced the most convincing smile she could muster. "It's unusual to find students of his at all outside the temple."

That seemed to relax him a bit, as he glanced back at the pair of nobles with a bit less hostility. The workings of the church were filled with mystery and outright secrecy for those not of noble birth or deeply involved with them, and Benno had a personal philosophy of not getting mixed in with them if at all possible, so the chances of him knowing that Socrates had never been a priest were very low.

"Don't worry," Sunset spoke up, "I can guarantee her safety." She smirked confidently, crossing her arms and nodding firmly. "I only want to have someone to talk to as I explore the city for a bit. Even if it's limited just to the temple, it's not too much of a problem either."

Benno glanced at Main, studying her begging eyes before he finally sighed. "Lutz, inform Fran, Gil, and Delia that Lady Sunset will go with you."

"Um… yes," Lutz said, bowing politely before running out.

"Main, if you're walking to the church, it might be best for you to get ready. We will finalize our discussions about the new product later."

"Um, yes," she said, echoing Lutz before heading to the back room.

"Mark, please bring some tea. Lady Belle and I will be discussing business," Benno ordered, his eyes steady on Rarity, who was simply waiting for them to finish.

"I'll wait outside," Sunset said, heading to the door. "It was nice to meet you, Master Benno."

It turned out that Gil and Delia were not around by the time Main came out of the Gilberta Company store. After a quick introduction of Lady Sunset to a very stiff and formal Fran, the group had started walking, with Fran initially insisting in carrying Main before politely, if a bit coldly asking Sunset to walk slowly for her benefit.

Sunset had merely shrugged with a public casualness that in this world was reserved only for the nobility and the trio had started making their way towards the church.

Main glanced at Sunset a bit warily, and from the way he walked, she could tell that Fran was tense as well. He didn't know why she was studying their walking companion as she was, but he knew enough to be afraid of whatever Main herself was probably planning.

'I guess it's survival instinct on some level…' she thought, wincing internally. She put the thought to the side as she glanced at the warrior noble. "So what brings you here, Lady Sunset?" she asked.

Sunset, who had been casually taking in the city blinked and turned to look at her. "Rarity. She needs those materials from your company to produce some sort of potion. I don't really know why she needs it other than sales and profit, but well, that's just what it's like for her." She shrugged.

Main grimaced. Trombe trees were very, very dangerous, and she couldn't imagine any potion made out of them to have a purpose that would benefit anyone. They were only good if they were dead, or turned into paper, as far as she was concerned. Still, that didn't give her much information to work with, so she'd need another approach. "So… Socrates, huh? I didn't think there would be that many people that would know of him."

"I supposed most people in this whole, wide world wouldn't, but that shouldn't be a surprise," Sunset said, then grinned. "He's one of the most annoying people you could ever talk to," she said, "but certainly entertaining. I imagine he would be ill-suited to be discussed by the church. I had heard of him before, but met him through a mutual acquaintance."

Main nodded. Then her forehead furrowed in thought and her eyes went wide. "Eeh?!" she exclaimed falling to a complete stop.

"Lady Main," Fran said, his voice low, but his tone firm. "Stop gawking. It's undignified."

Slowly Main turned to look at her eldest retainer, her mind still blown. "But she said she met Socrates!"

"I'm sure that is generally an amazing thing to do, but with Lady Sunset being a noble, it might—"

"No, you don't get it," Main insisted, "Socrates!"

"Ah, Main," Sunset spoke up. "You are drawing a bit of attention."

Main winced and forced herself to calm down, fighting the instict that told her just how impossible it really was for her current companion to have met an ancient, Greek Philosopher while being in another world where the Greeks had never existed. "Right. I'm sorry."

"No worries," Sunset said as they started walking again. "I think I can see the church at the end of the street."

Main looked up. It was the church indeed, and waiting at the gate were her missing retainers and...

"It's the Head Priest," Fran said, a tinge of relief seeping into his voice. Clearly he didn't trust the strange supposed-noble that had accompanied them all the way to the church, and honestly, Main couldn't blame him for being suspicious.

To Fran, it was probably something crazy that his charge had suddenly decided to bring into their lives, just like a great many things. Her own attitude at the… crazy revelations Sunset had implied in the conversation probably didn't help either. But still!

"Well, here we are," Main muttered sullenly. With the Head Priest here it would be almost impossible to talk with Sunset privately. Even if he knew about her previous life. Ferdinand was very suspicious of everyone.

"Main." He barely nodded her way before his eyes were firmly on Sunset, measuring her up. Given that he was the Knight Commander as well, Main supposed it was only natural he'd be wary of another noble walking around with a sword.

She curtsied. "Head Priest. May I present Lady Sunset Shimmer," she said.

Sunset simply nodded, which was a definite no-no in Main's book. The church was very picky about how others presented themselves, and any breach in protocol would result in harsh words at the very least.

"I see." Ferdinand bowed lightly. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said, surprising not only Main, but her retainers as well. Fran had almost gaped. Almost. Unperturbed by their reactions, the Head Priest continued. "May I ask what brings you to our doors with my apprentice Priestess?"

"The pleasure is mine, I am sure," Sunset replied with a smile. "And I apologize if I made you worry. I was just walking Main to the temple while my friend finished some business in town. I will take my leave."

"But!"

"Main."

She cursed under her breath at the look the Head Priest gave her. "I'm sorry."

"No offense taken," Sunset replied. "Anyway, I should get going. I have a lot of places to explore before Rarity is done."

"Are you staying in the city?" Main asked, ignoring Ferdinand's look and twitching eyebrow.

Sunset shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Main. We're leaving town as soon as Rarity is done. I think by tonight we'll be worlds apart," she smirked. "But maybe I will see you again another day."

And with that, she turned and left.

"Head Priest—" Fran started, but Gil beat him to it.

"Can you believe how she acted? I know she's a noble, but to be so callous towards the Head Priest—"

"Enough." Ferdinand shook his head. "Main, you will take steps to ensure your retainers do not act like this."

"Um… yes Head Priest."

"Now, come with me."

"Gil, Delia," Main turned to the other two children. "Please head back to my office. Fran?"

Nodding respectfully, her eldest retainer stepped behind them as they walked. Ferdinand was deep in thought, as they walked to his quarters. Once inside, he motioned for her to follow him into the secret chamber.

"Main, who was that woman?"

"She said her name was Sunset Shimmer, and she seemed like a noble…"

Ferdinand shook his head. "I did not recognize her insignia, but her clothes were top quality. That and…" he frowned. "She was dangerous. How did she end up walking with you to the church?"

Main gulped. "She… I think she is like me." When he didn't reply, she continued, "She mentioned a man… Socrates. He doesn't exist in this world."

She sighed when she saw him raise an eyebrow. This would take a while.

"I'm so tired," Main muttered, struggling to stay awake.

Fran smiled down as he carried her to her room. "You've been hard at work today, Lady Main, and then you had that meeting with the Head Priest. It's no surprise you're drained."

He paused and stepped to the side, allowing another priest to walk by. They both ignored the mutter of 'commoner scum' the blue-robed man delivered with practiced ease. At this stage, it was to be expected from the rest of the clergy, even if the knight order was turning to her side.

Once the priest was out of sight, they proceeded over to Main's room, where Delia waited for her to help her change. Usually Main would be able to head back downtown, but today she had needed to cover a lot of issues from the orphanage before (and after) going down to the Gilberta Company HQ, in addition to her long, long conversation about Greek Philosophy with the High Priest, so Lutz and her family knew she'd be spending the night at the temple.

As usual, utmost secrecy on everything discussed was demanded and agreed to, even if she had gone over so much that even the High Priest had felt light-headed (if the continuous massaging of his temples was any indication).

"Lady Main, let's get you changed…"

She nodded at Delia's words, lazily looking around her room before her eyes settled on the door across from her. "Um, Delia, thanks but I think I'll change my clothes on my own tonight."

The young red-head frowned, but sighed when she noticed the smile on Main's face. "You're going to be staying up, aren't you?"

Main shrugged apologetically.

"Fine. Stay like that then, but I'll check in on you in an hour and if you're not in bed, I'm getting everyone in the building to change you, tie you down and throw you in bed. We can't have you collapsing again."

"I promise I will be careful," Main said, touched by her retainer's disguised worry. She watched the slightly older girl mutter something under her breath before she bowed and walked out of her room, never turning to face the door that had caught Main's attention.

She knew it hadn't been there before. Or rather, that there had been a different door there. But there was no way that anyone here had suddenly decided to replace her closet door with a solid oak piece that had, of all things, Sunset Shimmer's crest on it.

And it was definitely the mysterious visitor's crest. There was absolutely no way Main would have ignored the clear yin-yang similarities, even if so many references to her own world hadn't been made in passing.

Carefully, she made her way to the door and considered the handle. It was just within reach. Would she be strong enough to open the heavy-looking door? Main bit her lip, thinking for a fraction of a second that it might not be a good idea… but before she could really think about it, her hand was on the handle itself and she was pulling the door open.

A silver bell rang a crystalline chime, and she found herself facing a tall, beautiful pale lady with long, straight white hair. She seemed to be slightly surprised by Main's appearance, even though her eyes were closed.

Silently, she leaned forward and picked up Main with no trouble at all, holding her like a teddy-bear before walking into the room beyond.

"W-wait!" Main whined, watching the door behind her close. She was too weak to fight, and even if she wasn't tired, as gentle as the woman was being, Main could tell she had incredible strength, so all she could do for the moment was wait and see what would happen.

"White?" a familiar voice asked. "I thought you were going home?"

"Guest."

The woman, White, then sat Main gently on a stool. It was then that her brain caught up with her and she stared around in awe at the place that had replaced her closet. It was a bar… something like out of an American-style kind of place, or what would be a fancy whiskey bar in Japan. What did they call those? Speakeasy?

"Main?"

She shook her head and turned to face the bartender... "Lady Shimmer?!" Main blinked, taking in how the other woman was dressed. "B-but I thought—"

Sunset simply grinned. "Well. Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little multiverse bar. I kinda suspected you'd end up here after our short talk the other day… so what can I offer you to drink? Tea? A soda?"

Before she could answer, a familiar pang of pain shot through her body. 'Oh no…'

"Main?" she heard Sunset call out, a worried tone to her voice.

The world around her turned black.

End Part 1

Author's Note

A sort of multi-parter! Yay! Well... Yay-ish! Let's find out how this one goes for our guests!

An Isekai's Isekai Hangout Pt 2. (Isekai 1 - Ascendance of a Bookworm)

Sunset's Isekai
An Isekai's Isekai Pt 2. (Ascendance of a Bookworm)
By Wanderer D

"No, you can't train her while she's unconscious. Seriously, White, that's a bit extreme no matter how you look at it."

The words made no sense to Myne, but she was somehow conscious enough for her mind to start processing what was going on. She was currently floating in a warm darkness, calm and embracing, much different than the raging fire of uncontrolled mana.

What had she been doing? She tried to focus, bringing back what little she could remember from the murky depths of her memory. She had gone to the temple, and talked to the High Priest for hours. It had been too late to go back home, so she had stayed in her room at the orphanage. She frowned, drifting in the comfortable darkness.

She had found a door where there shouldn't have been one… and then the Devouring…

Her eyes snapped open, and it took her a moment to take in what was happening around her. She was sitting on a very comfortable chair, and had been resting her head on a table. But this wasn't her home. This wasn't the orphanage, the temple, or even her old home back in Tokyo… It was a bar. But not the type of bar she would find in her current homeworld.

It wasn't a tavern… it wasn't an inn, or a smelly hole where criminals would gather—not that she had seen them, but her dad mentioned one such place once—no, it was a bar like the ones she'd seen in Shinbashi, even if she had never stepped in. Most of the bottle labels were printed, and the shapes and sizes were clearly not something a medieval society would produce frequently.

Across from her, two women seemed to be trying to stare down one another. She slowly started recognizing them. The one on the left was Sunset Shimmer… an otherworlder who had stopped by the Gilberta Company with another woman to buy some questionable materials.

The other, she hadn't talked to, but she was just too memorable to forget. Tall, slender, ivory skinned, and long, straight white hair. Furthermore, although Myne couldn't really tell exactly what the issue was, there was just something wrong with her red irises.

"Awake," White muttered, closing her eyes and turning to face Myne slightly, while Sunset blinked, also turning to look at Myne.

"Oh! Are you feeling better, Myne?"

Myne nodded as things slowly started to click into place, but… she felt a chill in the pit of her stomach. "Oh no… how long was I out?"

"Oh… about ten minutes or so, but time doesn't pass outside the bar, so don't worry people won't be missing you on the other side quite yet."

"Wait, only ten minutes?" Myne's eyes widened. That was not normal. Usually she'd be out for at least a day if she was lucky.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind, but we extracted the extra mana that was burning through you," Sunset said, shaking her head. "You need to be more careful, that uncontrolled buildup was pretty dangerous."

"Y-you extracted it?" she asked, not quite believing what she heard. "How?"

"She's Sunset Shimmer."

Myne and Sunset both looked at White for a moment, but then the bartender (or was she a knight?), shrugged. "I guess that's true."

"That doesn't explain anything!"

Sunset laughed, then walked over to the bar. "Let's get you something to drink. What would you like? Tea? Soda?"

"Soda!" Myne replied immediately. "I haven't had soda since… since… ever in this world!"

"Wasn't it close to bedtime for you though?" Sunset asked.

"I might be in a little girl's body but I was a grown up before!"

Sunset chuckled, but shrugged. "Anything in particular?"

"Melon Soda!"

"Alright, one melon soda coming up."

"Two."

They glanced at White, who had sat at the bar and was playing with a little, if dangerous-looking spider.

"Two melon sodas," Sunset said, going around the bar to retrieve the drinks. "So, Myne… do you go by any other name?"

Myne grimaced. "I used to…" she shook her head. "But that life's over. I'm Myne now." She smiled, looking down at her tiny hands. "I worked so hard to become a librarian, and just as I did…"

White tilted her head in a small sign of understanding.

"I see," Sunset said, placing a glass of soda in front of the mysterious woman, and walking over to sit across Myne at her table, sliding the glass with ice and the sweet, effervescent contents to her. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Myne sighed. "Me too… but…" she shuddered. "I think that I've started to appreciate a lot of things I didn't back then."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she said, taking a seat next to the child-like otherworlder. "And what is that?"

Myne shifted in place before sighing. "Back in Tokyo I was… very self-centered. I love books, you know? They're absolutely the best thing in the world! But…" she held the glass in both hands, watching the ice cubes shift when she tilted it slightly. "A-anyway, I used to focus completely on them even if… other things were happening in life."

She sighed, letting out the air in her lungs slowly. "I never got to say goodbye to my mom."

Sunset patted her shoulder. "What happened?"

"Earthquake." Myne glanced up from her drink, her cheeks tinged pink. "I had several bookshelves-worth of books land on me."

"Oh."

"And I came back to a world with no readily available books!" Myne whined. "My last wish was to be near books in my next life! And now I have to make them on my own because they're so expensive!"

Sunset blinked. "Wait, is that what you've—"

"Yes. That's why I was at the Gilberta Company. I'm making paper, writing stories, adapting the scriptures for kids… all of it, even becoming a priestess is because I want my books." Myne snorted, then smiled little by little. "But I got much more than I had before. I have friends, and I'm much closer to my family than I ever was in my previous life. Plus, I got to re-arrange the whole library in the temple!" She grinned, a glint of greed crossing her features. "All those books and scrolls!" She swooned. "I got to organize them by genre! By author and subgenre!"

"Huh. I should introduce you to Twilight, you'd be best friends pretty quick."

Myne looked up. "Who?"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," Sunset said, summoning a picture from the wall and showing her to Myne.

"She looks like she's holding a gun."

"Wrong Twilight Sparkle," Sunset said, switching the picture with another. "She's the Princess of Friendship in Equestria, and also was a librarian, a teacher and loves books and organizing them."

Myne stared at the picture for a moment. "She's a horse? No, a unicorn with wings?"

"A pony. When we have wings and a horn, we're called Alicorns."

"But wasn't the alicorn what they called the horn in a unicorn?"

"Cultural differences in nomenclature that got lost in translation."

"So it's not that people got lazy and mixed—"

"Cultural differences in nomenclature that got lost in translation."

Myne gave her an unamused glance. "Right." She considered the picture. "Wait, you said 'we', does that mean you're an alicorn too?"

Sunset smiled. "I used to be a unicorn, but I crossed over to another world, and well… ta-dah."

"What about White?" Myne asked, glancing over to the other woman. "Was she a pony too?"

White allowed the little spider in her hand to spin a web around her fingers. "Spider."

Myne blinked. "What."

"White's not from my world," Sunset said, "I met her some time ago, when she was… different, and needed a drink."

White nodded.

"Let's just say she really needed a change in scenery and food."

White nodded repeatedly.

"Oh."

"So Myne, what's the deal with the mana surge?" Sunset asked.

Myne grimaced. "It's called 'The Devouring', and it affects children of common people that have the ability to cast magic. We are not taught how to handle it, and magical items to drain it are very expensive, so most children that suffer from it die."

Sunset grimaced and glanced at White, who shook her head. Myne didn't know them that well, but the look was familiar. It was just the way things were, not only in her new life, but everywhere. Those that had money, status, or power—whether earned or not—would always have advantages over those that didn't.

"Buying a magical item was too expensive, worth hundreds of gold coins, and not something the daughter of a city guard could ever hope to obtain. So I started a business."

Sunset laughed and shook her head. "It must've driven them nuts."

"Oh, it did!" Myne's smile grew. "I have a lot to learn about this world, but I managed to create paper, find a patron, and even join the clergy as a blue-robed priestess, with the same rights as nobles. And now, whenever I am not doing some duty or another, I can at last read my precious books!"

Her smile soured a little. "Now, if I could only convince the high priest to let me into his private library..."

"Hm. Introducing you to Twilight might not be the best idea."

Myne blinked. "Did you say something?"

"Nope! How's the soda?"

Myne gave the bartender a half-lidded suspicious look, before shrugging and taking a deep pull of her drink, leaning back and exhaling in satisfaction. "Delicious! I have really missed this! Maybe it should be my next project?" She tapped her finger on the table. "But, what fruit should I use? We don't have melons…" Her musings were interrupted by a long yawn.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Sunset said, "but it seems it's time to sleep?"

"Ugh, I don't like being a little girl all over again," Myne sighed. "I get tired so easily, although at least now that I'm in the temple I don't have to worry about my mana getting out of control too often."

"We're not training her," Sunset said when White opened her mouth to say something. The… spider lady… pouted, but shrugged and went back to her drink.

Another yawn shook her small body, and despite feeling better with her mana being drained, Myne couldn't deny that she needed sleep. "I think I might need to go back… but..." she glanced around the room at all the things that brought back memories from her previous life. She paused. "Wait, you can move to other dimensions?" She bit her lip. "Can… can I ask a favor?"

本須麗乃

The gray, granite slab of the family grave had her name written on it. Well, not her name, not anymore. It was very early in Tokyo, and other than an occasional shape in the distance, there were no people in the Yanaka Cemetery. If there were, they would be surprised by the decidedly non-japanese girl that stood in front of the small grave, praying.

"Oh."

A familiar voice made her flinch, and she fought the urge to turn around too quickly.

"I'm sorry for scaring you… did you know Urano-chan?"

Mom. It's so early, you shouldn't be here at this hour. "Um… yes."

"I see."

The woman walked up to stand next to her and bowed her head, pressing her palms together. "You must have just met her before…" she trailed off. "But I'm glad she made an impression on such a young lady as yourself."

Myne forced a smile and nodded, forcing herself to look at the grave, and not at her mother. Her heart ached. "She told me she loved the food you made for her."

Her mother went really quiet.

"And that she always felt bad that she kept reading when it was dinner time."

"I—"

"She loved making things with you. She loved the craft classes even if she complained that she wanted to read books. She felt so proud every time you were able to make amazing soaps and candles!"

"She told you about that?"

"She never ate that dinner that you made a-and she never apologized to you and she was so sorry! She really, really loved you. And never got the chance to say goodbye..." Myne struggled with the need to throw herself into her mother's arms, but it seemed her training under the High Priest was at least yielding some results. She took a deep, shuddering breath, keeping her focus on the grave.

After a moment, she stopped and took a deep breath, sliding her hand into her small purse to procure her little offering.

It had taken some convincing, but with Sunset's help, she had managed to get her old library card back, and with White's assistance, and some amazing threading, she had encapsulated it in a weather-resistant, transparent material. She gently traced her fingers over the list of books she had taken out and returned. She had almost filled this one out too.

Gently, she arranged her dress so it wouldn't get dirty, then she kneeled down to leave the card leaning against the granite.

She forced a smile and spun in place, bowing deeply to her mother. Wanting to tell her all the things she couldn't… she knew it would only hurt her mother even more than it would hurt her. "Thank you. Thank you."

Her mother seemed to hesitate.

"Thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you." Myne could feel the tears welling up and spilling onto the ground below, but she dared not open her eyes. She clenched her hands into small fists. "I-I have to go."

Before she could finish turning around, she was pulled into a hug. Her mother held her close, allowing her to cry on her shoulder. She couldn't see her face, but she could smell her shampoo, and imagine her kind smile.

"Take care. Be strong. Be kind," her mother whispered in her ear. "And thank you for coming back… just for a little bit."

"Sister Myne," Delia called, waking her up. "Breakfast is ready. I'll be up there to help you dress in a moment."

Myne opened her eyes and stared at the canopy over her bed. Had it all been a dream? She turned to the bedside table, where a small, printed book waited for her, a gift from her former mother. She had been intending to leave it at the grave… it was the last book she had taken from the library. Her mother had bought it and was going to leave it at the grave as an offering.

Myne sat up and took it in her hands, opening the cover to find a silver business card inside.

Closure.

And people who would understand her.

She glanced at the door of the orphanage. People that trusted her, relied on her, and respected her.

She turned to the window, overlooking the city. A family. Friends. Peers.

It had all started with tragedy… but maybe… it also came with change for her. And change was good. Somehow she felt she could handle the future with a lighter heart.

End

Author's Note

Main/Myne :raritywink: and White will return in future chapters. If you're into Isekai literature/anime, keep an eye for the occasional "An Isekai's Isekai" chapters!

Movable Do (Ambergris — Complete)

Sunset's Isekai
Movable Do (Ambergris — Complete)
By Wanderer D & Pascoite

Canterlot High School’s last bell rang, but it took Sonata Dusk a few seconds to fully register it. She’d spent the last ten minutes staring out the window anyway, and she finally wrested her attention to the notebook and pen she needed to cram into her bag before she went…

Home?

Where was home anymore? She still had the apartment she used to share with Aria and Adagio, but they lived across town now. Had jobs, went to a different school. Left her behind.

Except Adagio started hanging around here again. And being… nice? Not mean, anyway. Adagio had tried to explain to her why, but it never quite made sense. But she thought that was what people called 'nice.' People called Sunset Shimmer and her group of friends nice, and Adagio had been acting a lot like them in the last year.

Still, an empty apartment. Or go to her boyfriend Gridiron’s house.

She stood up and strode out into the hallway, looking down the whole time, which meant accidentally bumping a few people on her way. It didn’t make any of them mad. So many people were 'nice' here. A few even asked her if she was okay. How could they tell?

Her boyfriend’s house. She’d lived there off and on for the past year and a half. Until someone, usually Sunset or Adagio, would tell her to leave him. Well, not tell her. “You need to,” as they’d phrase it. So she obeyed. Then he’d tell her to get back together with him. So she obeyed.

No, he wasn’t nice, but Adagio didn’t used to be either, and they got along fine. All of a sudden that wasn’t good enough? She followed Adagio’s orders, she followed Gridiron’s—what difference did it make?

So what kept nagging at her brain to listen to them? It didn’t make sense! Talking about what she deserved. Sonata wasn’t the leader. She didn’t deserve anything. Why couldn’t everyone just make up their minds?

The sound of motors told her to look up. The crosswalk signal ahead of her still shone green, but it had started to blink. She could make it if she rushed, then go on to her apartment. Or she could turn left, wait for that crosswalk, and go to Gridiron’s house.

Which way?

She walked up to the pole. Two buttons. She rested her forehead against the cold metal. Why couldn’t she decide? Why would that make her cry? There were lots of other people around. Couldn’t she just ask one of them to tell her what to do? That was all she needed: someone to give her an order.

Her ears started to ring.

The traffic signals cycled again and again, and a few times, people asked her something—she didn’t hear what—and put a hand on her shoulder, but moved on when their turn came. Eventually, her turn would have to come, too.

So she sniffled and straightened up. Then she noticed the sign, a colorful chalk drawing propped against the wall. Funny, she didn’t remember ever seeing a door there. But the sign had a nice-looking drink on it, and a line about special appetizers. It was Tuesday today, right? Maybe mini tacos then?

But below all that, taking up the bottom half of the sign, was exactly the thing she needed now. Orders: “Come on in!”

So she obeyed.

Sunset had always considered the image of a bartender incessantly wiping down the counter and cleaning glasses to be hopelessly cliched. Actually becoming a bartender had completely changed her estimation of how often that needed doing. And it seemed like any day she tried to grab a spare moment to retreat into the office and go over the finances, Rarity would conveniently show up and shoo her out of there. At least Sunset still had the stockroom well within her personal domain—far too much dust for Rarity’s taste.

Of course, the bar also had the impeccable timing to let in a new guest just as she finished putting the last mug—

The bell on the door tinkled. Oh, was it already time for one of her regular get-togethers? A captain from the group must have shown up early.

Sonata Dusk stood there, staring at her vacantly.

Sunset patted a hand on the counter and beckoned the other toward a barstool. “Have a seat!” she said with a smile. Sonata did exactly that, and rather robotically, which—well, Sunset had to do a bit of quick mental calculus. A Sonata used to following orders, but not looking very cheerful. That still didn’t narrow it down too much.

Though she did climb into the stool, Sonata’s gaze remained fixed on the countertop. So Sunset slipped one of her laminated menus where her guest would see it. “Just let me know if you see anything that grabs your interest, okay?”

After a good ten seconds, Sonata’s eyes did traverse the top of the menu. But then she looked up and squinted. “I just saw you at school. How’d you get over here so fast?”

Sunset let out a quick sigh. She’d gone through this enough to recite it like a prepared speech. These days, the point was to make it sound like it wasn’t a prepared speech. “I’m not the Sunset you know. I’m from another reality, which may be very similar to yours, judging by your appearance, but—”

“Oh, so that’s what Adagio meant by there being two of you,” Sonata said with a flick of her wrist. And, thank goodness, a hint of a smile.

Well, that made things simpler. “So you already got the lowdown. Nice,” Sunset replied with her friendliest grin. “What can I get you to drink, then?”

And Sonata’s eyes glazed over. “What do you want me to drink?”

Sunset shrugged. "I have a whole selection of drinks for you, anything that strikes your fancy would be a good start. I’d like you to drink whatever would make you happy.”

“It would make me happy to do what you want me to.” Sonata’s weak smile began to look rigid around the edges.

Okay, maybe they’d get back to a drink order a little later. “Did Adagio also tell you that people come in here to talk about their problems?”

“Mmhmm.”

“So… do you have something you wanted to talk about?” Sonata’s shoulders immediately hunched up, so Sunset didn’t let the inevitable silence hang. “Nothing to worry about in here. It helps to talk things over with a friend, but only when you’re ready.”

That did get Sonata’s eyes to clear again, but her tentative smile bent into a frown.

Maybe a little prodding wouldn’t hurt. There was only so much she knew about Sonata, after all, but experience had taught her that sometimes waiting for someone to open up led to very long waits which ended frustrating them. “Is there something bothering you?”

“I dunno,” she said, shrugging.

Getting anything out of this kind of Sonata was always an exercise in careful phrasing. “What were you thinking about just before you came in here?”

Sonata rested her chin on a hand. Not a dead end, then, or Sunset would have only gotten another shrug from her. And back to the matter of drink choice—she could whip up a few different things and see what Sonata liked. Adagio and Aria had enjoyed the Duck Dodgers she’d made them, so that was as good a starting place as any, especially considering that a quick glance at what the bar had chosen for a menu contained nothing alcoholic.

They were rather quick to mix as well, but another prompt might help get Sonata back. “Do you remember? What you were thinking about?” Sunset stirred a few ingredients together in a sample-sized glass.

Still no answer. But Sonata did take the glass and sniff it.

“I was going to ask if you’re old enough to drink, but there’s no alcohol in that, so it doesn’t matter.”

Sonata gave it a taste, then gulped down a bigger swallow. “Mmm. Kinda fruity.”

“How old are you anyway? I guess I never asked any of you before.”

With the hand curled around her glass, Sonata pointed at Sunset. “You know, I never thought about that much. Taking into account how old we were when we got banished and how long we’ve been here… well, I don’t know that time flows the same in both places. Plus I’ve always wondered if there’s some sort of event horizon to the portal Star Swirl used that might cause a time dilation effect, but—” she snorted a laugh and covered her mouth with her free wrist “—if it was a true singularity, then I guess from your point of view, we’d still be hanging suspended and motionless, and we obviously got here, so…”

Sunset gaped at her.

“Totally,” Sonata added before finishing her drink. “Oh, and the sign outside said something about appetizers. I was hoping there was a chance…”

Only one thing Sonatas ever asked for. “They’re just some frozen mini-tacos I can toss in the microwave.”

Of course, Sonata wore an immense grin and nodded rapidly. But as her eyes wandered over Sunset’s shoulder, her smile melted into a scowl. Sunset glanced behind her, and… no surprise.

“The bar knows,” she said, patting Sonata’s hand. “Didn’t you notice? None of the drinks on the menu I gave you had any liquor in them.” Sonata gave her a curious squint. “I assume this has something to do with Aria.”

Sonata almost locked up, but before that could happen, Sunset opened the freezer under the bar and pulled out a box of tacos, shaking it. It only got a halfhearted smile back. “Yeah,” she answered. “That stuff about ruined Aria’s life. I don’t want anything to do with it.”

At least that was a sign that there was a will, hidden in there.

In the microwave the mini tacos went, and Sunset punched in the time. “I understand. We’ll take care of you here.” Halfway turned back to her guest, Sunset paused. Right there by the microwave, appropriately enough. She took down the photo of her, Adagio, and Aria, then set it on the counter next to her drink. “Have you seen this one before?”

Sonata grinned a little more genuinely at it, but did she flinch as well?

“Yeah. Adagio has that on her phone.”

She kept watching the photo as if she expected it to move, and she pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, running her fingers through it. Maybe she’d calmed down enough to try again. But some food wouldn’t hurt either, Sunset noted as the microwave beeped at her.

Soon enough, the steaming plate sat in front of Sonata. “You got any hot sauce?” she said.

“Uh huh,” Sunset replied, reaching for the fridge handle, “I keep some around for Bloody Marys.” And a jolt of ice wrapped itself around Sunset’s skin. Way to mention an alcoholic drink. But Sonata hadn’t seemed to hear. Out on the counter it went, too, and Sonata dumped a generous splotch of it across one of the tacos.

They did smell good, so Sunset helped herself to one. But Sonata could have the rest. “Do you think,” Sunset said as she sucked the grease off her fingers, “you could tell me what’s bothering you?"

Another shrug, and Sonata resumed staring at the counter.

“I won’t make you.” Sunset leaned over the counter and spoke softly. “That’s why the bar is here, though. It knew you needed help with something.”

Sonata had finished chewing. So she stuffed another taco in her mouth, but she did roll her eyes back toward the photo.

“I promise. Whenever you’re ready you can tell me what has you upset.” Oh yeah, watch the phrasing. “Just… what you were thinking about when you saw my sign outside.”

A few times, Sonata’s eyes flicked between Sunset and the wooden surface between them. But knowing Sonata, maybe she was deciding whether to talk and maybe she actually didn’t remember. Finally, she folded her arms and took a breath. “I was going home.”

A start, at least. But Sonata didn’t look poised to continue. “And…? Is something bad happening at home?”

Sonata shook her head. Something else about home, then. Was she missing Equestria? Sweet Celestia, the logistics of getting permission for a siren to visit or, perish the thought, go back to live there? This could get difficult.

“I don’t know where home is.”

When Sunset glanced back, Sonata was staring at her with the most pleading look. How could she say no to that? But it just confirmed—

“Right out there on the corner,” Sonata said, pointing toward the door. “If I go straight, it leads to our apartment. Well—” she pursed her lips “—used to be ours, before Adagio and Aria moved out. Or I could go left, to Gridiron’s house.” She fiddled with a brown friendship bracelet on her left wrist. “Please, just tell me where to go. I’ll do whatever you say.”

Oh. Sunset’s jaw had already clenched, as well as one of her fists. But she managed to keep her voice under control. “You’re still… dating him?”

Sonata cocked her head sideways and shrugged, but she’d resumed watching the counter.

“You won’t look at me when you say that. Does that mean you realize something’s wrong with it?”

Another shrug greeted her, but accompanied by a faint sniffle. So Sunset willed her fist to loosen and gently took Sonata’s hand. “Look,” she said, “I know you’ve heard this lots of times before, but he doesn’t treat you well. You deserve better.”

Sonata tried to shrug again, but she only got one shoulder going. “You always say that.” Then she squinted. “I mean, the Sunset I know always says that. But it’s never made sense.”

Which thread to tackle first? Talking about her Sunset didn’t seem to freeze her up, so maybe save that for the backup plan. She shook her head, pacing behind the bar. "I mean, he doesn't have anything to offer right? He's just some guy that took advantage of you being in a vulnerable state… you're smart, pretty, and you have a long respectable history behind you. Why would you want to be with someone who hurts you?”

“He…” She peered up as if at a parent who’d caught her stealing cookies. “He told me to?”

Sunset balled her other fist and opened her mouth to—

“But then Sunset—other Sunset—tells me not to, and so do her friends, and—” She let out a growl. “Why can’t everyone make up their minds?”

Already, the pitfalls stood out. If Sunset could just step around them. “That’s different, though. Adagio has only ever told you to stay away from him, right? She’s not changing her mind.”

Another shrug. “Iunno. I still keep getting people telling me to do both.”

“What does Adagio say to you?” Sunset asked, leaning in and relaxing her hand.

“She says I don’t have to listen to everyone who gives me orders, and I ask who then, and she says teachers and principals…” She bobbed her head like a child’s recitation. “And then I ask her if she’s one, too. She doesn’t ever answer me. She just looks away. And sometimes cries a bit.” Sonata got that same imploring look again. “Why would she do that? I don’t understand.”

Sunset allowed herself a little smile. This was going well so far. “What does Adagio do after that?”

Sonata straightened up in her seat and shook her head. “She hugs me. And she says she loves me. She never used to do that, never, until maybe a year ago, and I don’t know why. Is she trying to manipulate me or something? But she never asks me to do anything. I wonder what she wants from me, and she says nothing, and why would she be nice to me for nothing? What does she mean by it?” For a moment, she sat there in silence, opening her mouth but not saying a word. Finally, she pushed out: “Something changed with her. Maybe that’s part of it.”

With a smile, Sunset nudged the plate of tacos. “Go on. Have as many as you like.”

Sonata did take one, but she paused while uncapping the hot sauce. “Gridiron tells me that too. He says he loves me.” She glanced down at the friendship bracelet again. “But then so do Adagio and… and Aria, too!” At the mention of that name, Sonata brightened right away. “They both say not to listen to him. But why should I listen to Adagio either?”

This was treading dangerously close to one of those pitfalls. “Does Gridiron still hit you?”

“No, he only did that once. It made a lot of people mad.” Then she slathered on some hot sauce and took a bite of taco. “I dunno. It’s not like it was a big deal,” she mumbled.

“Did Adagio ever do that, even… back then?”

Sonata frowned. “Well… no.”

To be honest, Sunset hadn’t known the answer to that one beforehand. Differentiating Adagio of today from Adagio of a couple years ago might be too subtle for Sonata to follow, but if even old Adagio hadn’t sunk to the level of Gridiron, that would mitigate Sunset’s biggest obstacle. Time to handle it head-on, then.

"But," Sonata continued, oblivious to Sunset's thoughts, "Gridiron also keeps telling me to stay away from them. He doesn't want me around Adagio and Aria, and he doesn't want me around Sunset and the others." She picked up a mini taco from one end and dragged the other end across the sauce on the plate, coating it before throwing it into her mouth. "He's told me that I'll be happier if I just stay with him and not see them."

Red flags turned into warning bells. “Does he still insult you?”

Sonata took her last bite and flicked her empty hand. “Yeah, but Adagio always used to do that, too. But…” She paused in her chewing. “Then she stopped.”

“When?”

“Um. About the time she left, I guess. Just before she—” Sonata gulped and looked up with a new light in her eyes. “Just before she started telling me she loved me.”

“Think about your sisters, and their friends, and people who don't like seeing you hurt, even if you're not too close to them. They all tell you that he's not good for you, and ask you to walk away to be surrounded by others who like you," Sunset said gently. "The only one who tries to isolate you and insult you is him. Maybe that should tell you which one is worth listening to. Loving someone means wanting the best for them, after all. Not mistreating them.”

And now she’d lost Sonata. Her frown returned, and her forehead creased. “But what’s best for me doesn’t matter. Or… the best for me is to make sure things are the best for Adagio.”

“Have you considered that might be the way she feels about you?” If anything, Sonata looked even more confused now. Not quite in full locked-up mode yet; Sunset was rather impressed she’d gotten this far. “Let’s try this: Would you switch places with her? Would you want Gridiron treating Adagio the way he treats you?”

“If she wanted him to, sure,” Sonata replied as if she had something caught in her throat.

“What if she didn’t want him to?”

“Then she’d leave.” Immediately, Sonata let out a short giggle, and Sunset raised an eyebrow at it. “Aria asks me that all the time!”

Yeah, Adagio had mentioned before that those two had formed a special bond. “Okay, make it Aria, then. What if she wanted to leave but couldn’t? What if she was scared to? What would you tell her?”

Now Sonata tensed up like she had forgotten to study for a test. “I… Adagio would tell her—”

“No, what would you tell her?”

“I don’t tell her to do things.”

“Even if she asked you what she should do?”

Sonata traced her finger around the rim of the plate, and she sounded so small. “She wouldn’t ask me that. I’d let Adagio tell her.”

“You don’t even have a wish you keep to yourself? If she stayed only because he told her to, but it hurt her to—” Time for a big gamble. Sunset had heard enough about what Gridiron did, but Sonata might assume Sunset agreed with him if she said it wrong. “If it hurt her to constantly be told how stupid she is?”

Right away, Sonata looked up, blinking back tears and clenching her jaw. “I’m not stupid,” she growled.

“Of course not.” She’d been holding Sonata’s hand for a while now. She gave it a squeeze and flashed a gentle smile. “Anyone can see that. It still hurts to be insulted. Especially by somebody who supposedly loves you.”

“Adagio insulted me all the time,” Sonata muttered.

“But not anymore.”

A sigh escaped her, and Sonata picked at the bracelet. “No.”

“I don’t suppose if Adagio were in your situation you’d ever tell her what to do either.”

“Nobody tells Adagio what to do. Well…” She twirled a finger through her ponytail.

The prospect of speaking about herself in third person always felt a bit strange, as used to it as she was by now. “Um… Sunset told her what to do, right?”

Sonata pressed her thumb to a stray bit of shredded cheese on the plate and raised it to her lips. “I guess. I dunno. I get the feeling it wouldn’t make her mad, at least. Not now.”

So Sunset gulped. Sonata had already answered this question, in essence. But she hadn’t made the connection. “Do you think Gridiron loves you, really?”

Sonata shifted her eyes to the side. “No,” she mumbled. “But does it matter?”

"Of course it does," Sunset whispered. "It matters because if you're loved, you're cared for. If you're loved, you're safe." She took a deep breath. "Do you think Adagio loves you?”

Her eyes began to tear up again, but she gave a timid, hurried nod.

“Do you love Adagio?” Minutes stretched on, but still no answer. Sonata would only stare, her eyes glazing over. Frozen up at last. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to invite Adagio in. Aria, too. I think it would help,” Sunset said gently. Even if they didn’t make any more headway, it might comfort her to have them there.

Of course Sonata didn’t reply, but she didn’t seem to react negatively, either. And only a few breaths later, the bell on the door jingled.

Adagio strode in, a couple envelopes clenched in her teeth, a backpack looped over her wrist, and a set of keys dangling from her fingers. She stopped dead in her tracks for a second and blinked once, looking very much like a burglar who realized he’d just broken into the police station. In the next second, she dropped what she was holding and began rushing to Sunset, wearing an enormous grin and with her arms outstretched for a hug, then noticed Sonata slumped over the counter. Her face fell.

She placed a hand on Sonata’s back. “What’s wrong?”

In her current state, Sonata of course didn’t answer. Adagio raised an eyebrow at Sunset.

“I took a crack at her,” Sunset said.

Adagio’s other eyebrow joined its raised companion. “Gridiron?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah. I actually got a lot farther with her than I would have expected before she zoned out. So… progress, maybe?”

With a nod of her own, Adagio leaned in close to Sonata’s ear. “This is the Sunset I told you about,” she murmured. “The one who helped us when Aria got so scared about work.”

Surprisingly, Sonata raised her head. “She already explained that to me,” she slurred.

“I’ve never been able to wrangle getting her or my Sunset here for a visit,” Adagio said, more to the air than anything. But then she did turn to Sunset. “So now you finally get to meet Sonata!” Adagio reached around Sonata to give her a hug, so Sunset let her hand go. “It’ll be okay. I love you. You know that, right?”

Sonata huffed out a sigh. “You’re going to tell me to stay away from Gridiron, aren’t you?”

At first, Adagio opened her mouth. But she lightly touched Sonata’s shoulder with her free hand and… Well, Sunset could describe it best as deflating. “No.”

Sonata whipped her gaze around, a thousand questions dangling from her lips.

“You already know that’s what I want,” Adagio said, “but I’m not going to tell you to. It doesn’t mean anything if I’m the one choosing.” She tapped a finger at Sonata’s forehead, and Sonata crossed her eyes up at it. “Unless you’re the one making the choice, it won’t help. And it’s time to let you make that choice. So no, I’m not going to order you.”

Sonata’s lip trembled, and she began to sniffle again. “But I don’t want to choose! That’s the whole problem! Just… somebody tell me what to do!”

Her eyes squeezing shut, Adagio shook her head. “I love you. I hope you believe that. No matter what you do, I’ll love you. But you need to learn to love yourself enough to make a good choice. You—” Her shoulders hunched for a moment, and she rubbed her eyes. “You also need to love Aria and me enough to avoid causing us the pain of seeing you get hurt.”

“Love… myself?”

Sunset’s ears perked at that. From what she had heard, that was the key realization that had brought Aria around. And it had been a fairly alien concept to Adagio, too. No surprise that Sonata might struggle with it. But…

Wow, it still nearly brought Sunset to tears just thinking about it: how she had sunk to the lowest point herself. So many Sunsets had done that, her included. But this Adagio’s Sunset had triumphed over it so supremely that she’d guided Adagio through her own transformation, then Adagio had passed the favor on to Aria. What a wonderful gift to know a version of herself had made such a difference.

“Yes,” Adagio continued. “That’s part of realizing you deserve good things, just like everyone else. Aria and I both know how hard a lesson that was to learn. We couldn’t understand how anyone would ever like us. And if nobody else did, then why would we either? But… ugh—” she screwed up her face “—as petty and mean as we both were, you’ve rarely been anything but sweet. It’s no wonder people would take to you quicker than us.”

“Speaking of Aria,” Sunset said, “why hasn’t she shown up yet?” Sunset glanced toward the door. As Adagio had told her the first time they’d met, Sonata had gravitated more to Aria in their efforts to help her. She really should be here for this.

Adagio pulled out her phone and checked for any missed texts. She shrugged and shook her head. “She’ll be along soon enough.” Then she turned back to Sonata. “If you make Aria and me out to be something special, and we both love you, doesn’t that mean something? Wouldn’t that say you’re worth it?”

But Sonata’s face went blank again. At least she nestled into Adagio’s hug a little.

Leaning forward, a bit in front of Sonata, Adagio smiled at her, then slid into the barstool next to her. “I see the tacos were a hit,” she said, gesturing toward the empty plate.

“How’d you know—?”

“It’s Tuesday,” Adagio began, keeping a tally on her fingers, “it’s Sonata, and it’s this bar.”

“Fair enough.”

Then Adagio bumped her fist against Sonata’s empty glass. “Looks like she needs a refill, though. I wouldn’t mind one myself.”

“What can I get you? The usual?” Sunset plucked a menu card off its stand and gave it a sidelong glance before sliding it over the counter. A pretty standard assortment of drinks, she noted.

As she traced her finger down the page, Adagio got a faraway look in her eyes. “Y’know, I don’t mind liquor, but it wouldn’t be fair to drink in front of Aria, assuming she’s on her way. And this one—” she jabbed a thumb at Sonata “—knows how it screwed up Aria’s life. She wouldn’t be too keen on it, either.” She slid the menu back and gave Sonata’s glass a sniff. “Duck Dodgers, huh? Go figure. Make it two.”

Sunset busied herself with mixing their drinks, and Adagio squeezed Sonata’s hand. “It may not be the answer you came in here looking for, but Aria and I are always in your corner.”

“Count me in, too,” Sunset added as she popped up from the fridge with a bottle of cola. She couldn’t quite tell if any of that had registered with Sonata, though. Maybe if she brought down the tension a bit. “Hey, Sonata, what clubs are you in at school this year?” A little small talk might lighten the mood.

Sonata did perk up. “Um… I’m helping out some with chorus.”

“Huh,” Sunset replied. “You had some pretty advanced ideas about that mirror portal, too. I’m surprised you aren’t in the physics club.”

“Eh, I dunno.”

“Are you kidding!?” Adagio burst out. “You ace every science test I’ve ever seen you take. If anything, other club members would hold you back.”

A flick of the wrist, and Sunset topped off both drinks with a maraschino garnish. “You know, once you’ve mastered a subject, like, oh, having a positive outlook and being a good friend, there’s value in passing on that knowledge to others.”

Adagio smirked back at her. “Good point.” Then she poked Sonata’s arm. “See, you should be president of that club.”

Sonata started to giggle, but Adagio’s phone rang. “Oh, hey, it’s Aria,” she said, before setting it down on the counter and tapping it into speaker mode. “Hey, girl! I’ve got a couple of people here who’d like to say hi to you.”

Nothing. Odd. Sunset caught Adagio’s eye, but she only shrugged in response.

“Aria?”

“Sorry. ’M sorry,” Aria’s voice droned. She sounded like she’d just awakened from not getting nearly enough sleep.

“You okay?” Adagio asked.

“…So sorry, Adagio. Didn’t want to. Didn’t want to, I promise.”

“What’s wrong?”

“…I can’t, I can’t, I’m sorry—”

“Aria.”

“—so sorry—”

“Aria, listen.”

“—I don’t ever want to disappoint you—”

“Aria, listen to me!” Adagio snapped.

Silence hung in the air. Sonata gaped at the phone like a kid whose older brother had pointed at the movie screen and said, “Here comes the scary part!” And Sunset about had to reach under the bar to find where her heart had sunk to.

“Aria, what happened?”

“I… was walking home from work.”

That had never sat right with Adagio, even if Sunset hadn’t heard her say so explicitly. Adagio had always made it clear the bus was safer, but it was one little way Aria could contribute to reducing their expenses. They’d argued about that at least twice in here.

“And?”

“And they found me. My old gang. They… they found me.”

Sunset’s back stiffened. This was bad. Then came the inevitable accusations.

“You said they wouldn’t!” Aria yelled with all the volume she could muster, which still wasn’t much. “You said that only happens in movies, but they found me, and I thought they were going to rob me or kill me. Clash had his knife, and I don’t carry mine anymore, and even then it’d be four on one. Why would they? You promised!”

“Tell me what’s wrong, Aria. We’ve got to fix this first.”

“I was so scared! They said they wanted to have a good time like we used to, and Clash put his arm around me and had his knife. So, so I-I went along. They already stole some booze, so… so they weren’t gonna make me rob nothin’ at least. But they said they had harder stuff back at their crib, so I figured, let ’em, they’d pass out, and I could run. ’Cept they made me use it first. I didn’t know what else to do! I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

She broke down into sobs, and Sunset held a hand over her mouth. This was really bad.

“Aria, where are you?” Adagio said, looming over the phone.

“It—it worked, though. They’re all out of it too much to care, so I got up and ran, but I can’t see straight, and I could barely get out the door, then everything was spinning, and I think… I think I fell down some stairs. I don’t know. It hurts.”

Adagio had squeezed her eyes closed, but the tears leaked out anyway. “Where are you?” she squeaked.

“I tried to stand up, but I got so dizzy I almost puked, so I flopped back down. It hurts.”

Her teeth gritted, Adagio snatched up her phone and turned the speaker off. “Where are you?”

Poor Sonata looked like someone who’d broken her new favorite toy, and Sunset grimaced. One thought stabbed into her mind: why hadn’t the bar picked Aria up just a little earlier? And what would Sunset tell Adagio when she asked that same question?

“Where are you? Aria, where are you? Look around and tell me what you see. No. Look out the window. Is there a window? Okay, look out of it and tell me what you see. …Do you remember anything about how you got there? Well, you started out going home from work. Where did you go from there? …Never mind, just please look out the window. The one with the, um… red letters? On a blue background?”

Adagio took a shuddering breath. “Okay. I have to hang up. I’m going to send help. Then I’ll call right back. You’re not alone, you got that? This isn’t your fault. And from now on, you’re riding the bus, even if I have to pay for it. I’m going to call you right back.”

A few seconds passed, then Adagio swiped across her phone’s screen and started tapping. “You need to send someone to the abandoned hotel at Eighth and Main. Yes, it’s an emergency. I think there are five. At least one is hurt bad. …No, I don’t know. My name’s not important. Just hurry, please! Fine, my name is Adagio Dazzle. Not just an ambulance—you’d better send police, too.”

Even Sunset had begun to shake. What would this do to Adagio? Or Sonata? The one person who’d connected with her like no other, and now…

When Sunset could focus her thoughts again, Adagio had already hung up and redialed her phone. “C’mon, Aria, pick up.”

After her third try, the phone clattered onto the bartop, and Adagio flopped back into her seat, whimpering. Her forehead thumped against the bar, and she felt around for Sonata’s hand. By the grimace on Sonata’s face, Adagio had it seized in a crushing grip. Sunset settled for patting her on the shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Sunset asked. “Is there anything I can do?”

She’d continue asking every few minutes, but she never got a response.

The routine had gone on five or six cycles when Sonata spoke up. “Will Aria be alright?” Her eyes would glaze over, but she’d shake her head and push through whatever mental block usually made her freeze up. “Adagio, will she be alright? I don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”

Adagio finally lifted her head and wiped her eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“Can I do anything?” Sunset asked again.

“Not unless you can get the hospital to tell me when Aria shows up there,” Adagio barked.

As if in class, Sonata timidly raised her hand. “I—I can.”

Adagio’s stare bored into her. And Sunset held her breath. Adagio’s lip kept twitching, and if she was gearing up for some verbal assault or flurry of orders, they might lose all their progress with Sonata. But Adagio only managed one word.

“How?”

Briefly, Sonata smiled, but the gravity of the situation must have popped back into her head, because she averted her eyes downward, pursed her lips, and covered her mouth with her hand. “I… kinda got to know Nurse Redheart. Y’know, the CHS school nurse? She has friends who work at the hospital. In the ER. I could… I could ask her.” Her eyes flicked up for only half a second before diverting away again. “If you want.”

Adagio released Sonata’s hand and grabbed onto the loose flap of her jacket. “Yes! Yes, please, please ask her, anything they can tell us!”

So Sonata got out her phone and typed out a message while Sunset came out from the end of the bar to wrap her arms around Adagio. The poor girl just put her head back down and resumed crying as Sonata stood there looking like someone who’d shown up at a party and didn’t recognize anyone.

“Please,” Sunset said, drumming her fingers on Adagio’s shoulder. “If there’s anything I can do, just let me know.”

Adagio began shaking her head, but then she snapped upright. “Wait, the bar can pick up and drop off people at any point in space and time, right?”

“Um… yeah, it can. Why?” And here came the inevitable question…

Like a shot, Adagio stood up and took both of Sunset’s arms. “Then you can let me out an hour ago! I-I’ll call Aria, and I’ll warn her—she’s been here before! She’ll believe me! I’ll just warn her, and we can avoid all this before it ever happens.”

Sunset shrunk away, her body suddenly feeling very leaden. “I… Adagio, I don’t think it works that way.”

“Of course it does!” Adagio shot back, her eyes alight with an inner flame. “It’ll work, the bar always knows what we need, and—” She rushed to the door and wrenched it open.

Her manic grin faded.

Through the door sat her apartment. The clock on the far wall read a little after five thirty, well past Aria’s quitting time. “No!” Adagio screeched. She slammed the door, opened it again and again and again.

The scene never changed.

With a huff, Adagio stalked over and grabbed Sunset’s jacket collar. “Make it let me out before Aria left work,” she growled.

Sunset only shook her head and coughed out a few unintelligible half-words.

“Make it,” Adagio repeated, twisting the collar.

“I can’t.”

“You can’t or won’t?”

“I can’t! I can’t make it do anything it doesn’t want—”

“And why doesn’t it want to help me?” Adagio squinted and clenched her other fist. “It’s supposed to know what’ll help, so why is it refusing now?”

“I don’t know! I’m trying to tell you, it has a mind of its own, and it must think that’s not the right way—”

“Then use some of your fancy rainbow magic to make it!” she shouted, raising her fist.

After the dramatic change Adagio had made in her life over a year ago, Sunset never would have believed she could turn violent. And Sonata sitting there, watching it all. Their whole strategy had involved holding Adagio and Aria up as some kind of example. Adagio would never mock Sonata or boss her around anymore, except here she was, practically threatening to beat an answer out of Sunset.

And yet Sunset didn’t understand either! Why not do something to help? Why jeopardize all the progress they’d made with Sonata?

Adagio paled and took in a shuddering breath. She looked at her fist, lowered it, cupped it in her other hand, and slumped into her seat.

“I’m sorry,” Sunset said. Something did prick at the edges of her mind about why the bar wouldn’t let them undo all this. There had to be a reason.

Adagio began to tremble. “Then what fucking good is this place?” she roared.

Sunset didn’t have an answer.

“What fucking good is it?” Adagio whimpered. Then she added a whispered “sorry.”

And everything clicked for Sunset. She leaned over, next to Adagio's ear. “The bar isn’t meant to be some magic token to solve everything that goes wrong for you. That would be way too easy to misuse. But I’ve learned something about it. That’s not the point.” She waited a moment for Adagio to roll her eyes over at her. She was listening.

“The bar doesn’t help you from your problems. It helps you through them.” Sunset took a long breath. “The best I can do is let you out a bit in the future. After you know something, or after all this is resolved. A few hours, a day. But—” she patted Adagio’s back “—in my opinion, that’s not actually helping.”

Her eyes brimming with tears, Adagio wailed, “I don’t know what to do.” And Sonata gaped at her.

Then Adagio turned to look Sonata directly in the eye. “I don’t know what to do. Tell me what to do.”

Sonata’s back twitched straight. “I… I-I don’t… I d-d-d-on’t…” She gulped, and she was breathing so hard Sunset thought she might keel over from a dizzy spell. “Nobody’s ever asked me that,” she said in a small voice. “Nobody’s ever cared what I thought.”

“That used to be true,” Adagio replied, gripping her head as if she had a throbbing migraine. “And then I woke up. Now I know better.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a second and gritted her teeth. “So what do I do? I don’t know what to do. Jump past all the bad stuff?”

She choked on a sob and pounded a fist on the counter. “Take a chance that she makes it through? Risk letting her die alone? Be selfish and take the shortcut past the pain?”

“No…” Sonata mumbled. “Y-you shouldn’t ask me.”

Adagio didn’t even look like she’d heard. “Ignore someone I love when they’re in pain?”

“I don’t…”

Adagio gave Sonata a pointed stare. “Let her boyfriend keep abusing her?”

Wide-eyed, Sonata jolted as if she’d tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. “No!” she immediately shouted, then gasped for a breath. “I love her,” she said softly, “and I don’t want… bad things… to happen…”

Sonata wiped her nose and sniffled. Then she slid the friendship bracelet off. Even she started crying, and she bent over to hug Adagio, but her phone dinged. She hurriedly reached into her pocket for it. “Nurse Redheart says they brought Aria in a few minutes ago. It’s serious, but she’s stable, they’ll let a couple family members wait with her. Two DOA, other two also serious but stable. Nonstandard OD, must’ve got their hands on really bad stuff. Hope this helps. Sorry to hear about her.”

“What do I do?” Adagio whispered.

Sonata turned Adagio’s stool toward her and raised Adagio’s chin. “We need to go. We need to be with her.”

With a sniffle, Adagio stood and nodded. “Okay.”

Sunset gave them each a hug. “You’ll get through this. And you know you can always come back here if you need help.”

Adagio flashed her a smile, and then she and Sonata walked together to the door. It opened into a curtained-off hospital bay.

Sunset could never tell when in time her bar would connect to another universe, unless she was actively seeking to go to a specific point in time, such as when she wanted to meet with her friends from her original human world, or whenever she returned to a universe she had been living in, like in the case of Goku and company.

Thus, even when things were out of her control, she'd concentrate on her daily routine, on her own, or with the help of her interdimensional family if they were around. She'd mop the floors and polish the tables. She'd dust the ever-growing collection of picture frames on the wall and water the forget-me-nots sprouting from the pot on the corner table. She'd feed Bernard some kale, update the jukebox selection, and restock the bar if any bottles were running too low. She'd work on Lena's new lesson, or work on new cocktail mixes.

Sometimes… sometimes, when she was alone, she'd open a box where she had not-so-happy memories. A rusty razor blade. Five almost identical gold coins from Gondor, and other small reminders that not everything was perfect or under her control, even here.

She had just put it away when her phone buzzed. Blinking, Sunset pulled it out of her pocket and checked the message. It was from an Adagio.

Aria is better now. They injected her with a couple of things and she stabilized quickly. We also explained what happened to the doctors, so she won't need any additional work on that front. However, she will have to wear a cast for a month or two, depending on how quickly her bones heal.

Accompanying the message was a picture of a very tired-looking yet smiling Aria, doing the love and peace sign with her fingers. She was in bed, with her leg up and several tubes connected to her arm, with a monitor right next to her bed.

Another text message, from two weeks later, suddenly loaded.

Sonata has been keeping track of her too!

The picture accompanying this message was of Sonata obviously berating an amused-looking Aria while holding a prescription slip up in her face, as the latter wobbled in place, keeping steady with one of the pair of crutches Sonata had corralled toward her.

She's come a long way. It was like a switch got turned on in the bar, and ever since, she's been more assertive and taking care of herself. There's still some things to sort out, but I hope I can tell you all about it when we three visit you.

Oh, and check this out!

The final picture was of a Sunset Shimmer and Sonata carrying a couple of boxes out of a dingy-looking apartment.

We helped her move the last of her stuff out of the ex's apartment!

Sunset smiled, walking over to store her little memento chest away and picking up her phone. She thought for a moment, then typed a reply.

Just got the messages. Let's celebrate Aria's recovery and Sonata's bachelorhood next time the bar is around. This time, we'll drag your Sunset in with us. She can't say no to that!

Smirking, she sent the message and leaned back, taking a deep breath. She looked around the bar. It was just a matter of time before it was packed once again, or some of her friends, old and new would cross that oak door, and she'd have another chance to help someone through their troubles.

That was what it was all about, after all.

The End

Author's Note

We return this time to the world of Ambergris by Pascoite! If you enjoyed this chapter and for some unknown reason haven't read Ambergris, you totally should!

A Place to Belong (Star Wars — Ongoing)

Author's Note

This includes spoilers from the novel "Ahsoka", as well as Clone Wars and Rebels. Be warned!

A Place to Belong (Star Wars — Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
A Place to Belong (Star Wars — Ongoing)
By Wanderer D

Everyone from Raada had been evacuated. Or at least, most of them. She figured that at least she could claim it had been done with minimum casualties. Kaeden and Miara Larte—the closest thing she'd had to friends in the former farming planet—were safe, at least, and new opportunities were there for her to take if she wanted. And, one of them, was a few klicks away from her position, inside the Tantive III.

She didn't have much time, however, as the senator would be heading back to Alderaan in a couple of hours, once he had finished the reports from the ground teams. She glanced around the blocky ship she had borrowed from the Fardis, considering the good she had been able to do on her own.

Was this the right way? Or was she overextending herself?

Shaking her head, she made up her mind and pressed a button, allowing the doors from the bridge to open into… a bar?

Not believing what she was seeing, she stepped in, extending her senses. Could someone have snuck into her ship and trick her like this? She heard a chime behind her, but it was drowned by a loud voice from inside.

"And that's when I felt the magic just burst through me! Just like you said!" an excited young voice said with evident glee. "Even though Phantom Blot kept trying to suck my magic out, we all managed to overwhelm him! I know that Friendship is Magic, but, even though we studied so much, I never thought it would work like that back home. I always thought… I'd have to use Magica's amulet back there."

"I'm glad it worked out," another voice said, as she took a couple of tentative steps in. "I knew you could do it… I've watched you learn and grow, Lena. It was just a matter of time before you broke through, and now you're a full-blown Duckworld sorceress."

"Are… you crying?"

"No. Yes. You grew up so fast!"

"I—okay, now I know you're faking it!"

She finally stepped into the bar proper, finding herself needing a moment to take it in. It wasn't like any place she had been to before, except for the wall of liquor on the back—which was a bar-prerequisite for the whole galaxy.

The place was made of stone and wood, not metal. It wasn't as basic a construction as she would find on Kashyyyk, either. The architecture was very efficient, and pleasing to the eyes. The tables were also wood, with other materials on the seats. A music box of some sort was on the opposite corner of the entrance, and many, many pictures of creatures she'd never seen before adorned the wall to her right. There was a sense of welcoming from all around her, and her senses told her it wasn't just because of the decor.

To her left, the bar—also made of wood and polished to a shine—had several stools, and on one of them, stood a bird-like humanoid, talking to the bartender, who appeared to be a human female.

The bird humanoid started glowing with bright blue light and levitating in place, with the strange energy echoing all around in familiar and unfamiliar ways. Ahsoka didn't know what to make of it, since it reminded her a little of the Night Sister's strange powers, but it didn't exude a threat, as theirs did. Still, the power was there and the bird-humanoid clearly had plenty of it.

"I'm not sure I dig the neon-blue look," the human said, crossing her arms and seemingly not too impressed by this display of power. "And the robes would probably give Rarity a heart attack."

"Look, that was the will of the magic back home, alright?" the bird humanoid said, slowly levitating herself down to the floor and dismissing the transformation, returning to her less-aggravating and informal-looking clothes. "Anyway, it seems you have a guest. I should head back home as well."

The human bartender glanced her way and smiled, waving her over the bar as the bird humanoid picked up some books, gave the bartender a hug, and then ran back the way Ahsoka herself had come through.

When the door opened, she couldn't see her ship, but rather green fields. The door closed once more.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the multiverse. My name is Sunset Shimmer," the bartender said, completely unperturbed by her unannounced guest. "Come, take a seat. I haven't seen a Togruta Jedi in here since Master Kiwiiks last visited."

The togruta gave her an odd look, but warily took her up on her offer. "Thanks, but I'm not a jedi," she said, sighing as she relaxed into her seat. "Not anymore, at least."

"Well, you don't seem to be a sith, so there's that,' Sunset said amiably, passing her a menu.

Her guest took a glance at it, blinking when she realized it was a variety of teas. She still looked up from it to arch an eyebrow at her. "You know you're parked in my spaceship, right?"

Sunset grinned. "I've turned up in many strange places. The bar has had a surprising amount of bathroom doors open into it."

The togruta snorted, shaking her head. "The name's Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Apprentice, and former Commander of the Republic. Currently…" She sighed. "Unemployed."

"Hm," Sunset said, leaning over the counter and studying the former jedi. "You seem pretty bothered about that."

"I think I'll have the Deychin tea please." Ahsoka said. She tilted her head, looking at Sunset quizzically. "You said you spoke to another Jedi, right? I'm not familiar with the name. Was it recently? Did she tell you about the war?"

Sunset paused, trying to remember the details. "It was some time ago. She had just finished a battle in planet… um… Rem? Ren? Ren Bar?"

"Rhen Var?" Ahsoka asked, leaning in, as curiosity crossed her face. "My master was there, alongside Obi Wan Kenobi. But you said Master Kiwiiks? Doesn't ring a bell, and I'm certain I knew most of the Jedi Masters by then, especially if they were also togruta."

"Might've been before your time then," Sunset said as she stepped back from the bar to prepare the tea.

"I don't know," Ahsoka said, shaking her head. "There haven't been any major battles involving jedi in Rhen Var for thousands of years. Do you recall any other jedi?"

"She came in alone, but she mentioned a man named Ngani Zho was her master?"

The human busied herself working behind the bar. Usually tea was just simply served in Coruscant without much fanfare, but here it seemed to be a bit of a process. Although some machinery was involved, it seemed that the main intention here was to take your time and enjoy it… something she hadn't done since that first night in Raada, when Kaeden had introduced her to her team.

Even then, this place felt much more comfortable and inviting. There was a calming aura here, as if the living Force was not only present, but rejoicing. Her thoughts turned to her host. The human had immediately identified her as a Jedi, and then not even blinked when she had said she was not. She seemed knowledgeable enough to know about the Sith, or maybe even the mysterious Inquisitors, and yet she hadn't acted threatened or suspicious.

That was either foolish or indicating that there was a lot going on here. That and the earlier conversation was nagging at her. She didn't recognize the togruta jedi the bartender had mentioned, but the other one… Master Zho rang a bell. Something had come up at the start of the Clone Wars, when she was just a youngling.

Master Plo had mentioned previous wars against the Sith, and one major event had indeed taken place in Rhen Var, and a Master Zho had been mentioned… almost four thousand years before.

Ahsoka's eyes widened just slightly. She leaned back, studying the place more carefully. Once more her eyes were drawn to the pictures on the wall, where hundreds of different species—some familiar-looking, most not—were depicted with the bartender. Just how many of those could someone feasibly take in a set period of time without aging a day?

"How… old are you?" Ahsoka whispered when her attention was dragged back to the bar by the sound of the cup and plate being placed in front of her. True, four thousand years would more than cover the entire wall, but if this human (if that's what she was) had met a Jedi from the war between the Sith Empire and the Great Republic, she had to be ancient.

Sunset smirked, holding the tea kettle in her hands and carefully pouring the contents into her cup. "I get asked that question a lot. But a lady never reveals her secrets."

Ahsoka nodded. "So old."

"Right." Sunset's smile slipped a bit as she gave Ahsoka an unamused look. "Your tea is ready, whippersnapper."

Ahsoka chuckled a bit self-consciously. "Sorry. It's been a while since I've been around someone that much o—" she interrupted herself when Sunset's eyebrow arched up. "—I mean, uh. You know, this tea smells delicious."

"Nice save," Sunset said, shaking her head and pouring herself a cup. "It's not that I don't know it, you know?" she added a bit defensively. "But I don't really age, so it's not accurate to really call me 'older'."

"Right, right." Ahsoka laughed, already feeling a bit less tense than earlier in her ship, although the thought immediately darkened her mood.

"Hey," Sunset spoke up again, "it seems you have something on your mind, why don't you tell me about it? I'm here to lend an ear if you need it."

Ahsoka nodded, taking a deep breath and inhaling in the process the soothing aroma of the tea. "I just… have a lot on my mind. Things have happened in the last years that upended how I viewed the universe. Things I left behind have come to haunt me, and I have the possibility to be once again part of something bigger…" She looked down at her hand, holding the tea cup.
"But I'm afraid of getting burned again."

Sunset walked around the bar to sit next to her, not saying anything, but providing silent encouragement with a small smile.

Ahsoka took a deep breath. "All my life, or most of it, was spent as part of the jedi. Master Plo took me from my world, and to the temple. There I made my first friends, I learned to read and write, the basics of education, to feel and use the Force." She smiled at the memories of master Yoda walking among the students, all of them just slightly taller than him, gently guiding their thoughts and senses into the Force. "I was apprenticed to the greatest Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker."

Sunset, who was at that moment drinking her tea, snorted in surprise and started choking, her eyes widening in surprise before she forced the drink down and started coughing, turning away from Ahsoka, who gave her an odd look.

"What's that about?"

Clearing her throat, Sunset looked at her a bit more warily. "Skywalker, you say?"

"Yes," Ahsoka narrowed her eyes, trying but being unable to really feel what her host was thinking about. "Him."

"He's a rather famous guy," Sunset said, cleaning her mouth with a handy paper towel. "I'm just surprised you knew him."

There was more to that, but Skyguy had been pretty popular with the ladies. Maybe Sunset Shimmer had a crush on him at some point? She shook her head. "Anyway, Anakin and I went everywhere together. He trained me, and he helped me grow. I became a much better person thanks to him… I would have graduated into a Jedi Knight myself but the Council…"

The memories of Barris and the damage done were hard on her still, several years later, even if she had grown to mostly accept them. "They were tricked into thinking I was traitor. I was almost executed… and even though Skyguy found the real culprit the damage was done."

Sunset nodded. "I'm guessing that's why you're not a Jedi."

"That would be right." Ahsoka sipped her tea, her thoughts decidedly not pleasant. She decided to deviate the conversation for the moment. "There's something about this place. I shouldn't feel comfortable enough to tell you all of this. We just met."

"It's a combination of things," Sunset replied, her hand gently sliding on the bar's surface. "The bar is open when you need to clear your head. There's someone here who is not going to judge you, merely hear you out and give you an opinion if it's wanted. But this place is also away from everything, and yet close enough for it to be real." She patted Ahsoka's hand. "It's like being with a life-long friend, because that's what I try to be."

Despite herself, Ahsoka smiled. "That does sound nice."

Sunset nodded. "Hmm. Right you are."

Ahsoka shook her head at the bad Yoda impression. Clearly Sunset knew more jedi than she had originally indicated. She was about to ask Sunset about it when the bartender threw her a gentle smile. It was a silent message, and it told her it was better not to ask, lest she hear answers she was not ready yet to hear.

"Anyway," Ahsoka continued, looking away from the bartender. "I sort of made my own way after the Temple. I worked as a mechanic in Coruscant, and helped the Mandalorians to recover their planet from Darth Maul."

"Didn't Maul die early on?" Sunset asked.

"No… we—the Jedi Order thought so for some years, but he was alive. And well… it was during that final mission I was attacked by my own troops." Ahsoka leaned on the bar, holding the cup in both her hands and looking into the wavy surface of the tea as memories flashed by in her mind. "I felt Master Plo's death. And Master Windu's. I felt the Dark Side rising. I heard the voice of my master, Anakin, one last time… Rex and I barely made it out alive, but Maul escaped again into the Galaxy and all of my friends, Rex's brothers in that ship died."

She paused to finish her tea in one shot, watching grimly as Sunset poured her more. She acknowledged her thanks with a nod of the head. "I left my lightsabers there, and we pretended we both had died. That was the last I saw of him."

Ahsoka leaned back, her eyes following the shelves of the alcohol selection behind the bar as the memories of her travels continued. "I kept pretending to be a mechanic. For a year or so I hid with the Fardies… a merchant family, working as their mechanic far away from the capital. But it didn't take long for the Empire to reach there. On 'Empire Day' I stole a ship and left."

At Sunset's startled look, Ahsoka snorted. "Don't worry, Mr. Fardi actually indicated that's what I should do. I couldn't stay there. They didn't know I was a jedi, but they could see the Empire was my enemy, that and… well, the Empire is pretty xenophobic, for all of it including thousands of populated planets with species other than human."

Sunset grimaced. "Unfortunately xenophobia is a trademark of large intergalactic empires all across the multiverse. I suppose it's because it's much easier to make enemies of those that look different, then start making things worse."

Ahsoka sighed, not surprised that it wasn't just in her galaxy that such a thing would happen. Although not all of her life in the temple was as ideal as she had thought at the beginning—now that she could look back at it with different eyes—the one thing that she was thankful for was that the Force reached all, and in its metaphorical eyes, they were truly all equal.

"The Empire rules by fear," she said, "and fear is fed by alienating others and making them your enemies. The more enemies you see, the less safe you feel. The more fear you have, the more angry you get. The more frustrated and likely to act against others, whether you truly realize it or not." Ahsoka shook her head. "The Emperor started that with the Clone Wars, and just made it worse after.

"Which brings me to today," Ahsoka said. "I was staying at this planet, Raada, after escaping yet again. I made new friends… even had one of them crushing on me." She chuckled. "They are good people. They took me in, made me part of their group of friends, had my back without knowing much about me… but when the Empire came again, I left them.

"I thought… I thought they were there for me. But I saw later on that I was fooling myself—I knew what they would do to their small world. How they would drain it of resources then leave them to die. But I left because I told myself that I would only make things worse. They didn't need a former jedi. I didn't use my powers until the very end and…" she sighed. "It took some time to get my act together, to give myself back to the force and find my crystals…" she turned around, facing toward the open area of the bar, and activated them. The white blades hummed as she gently waved them in a small, tight circle before recalling them.

"I think, like me, they were trapped. The man who had them, a force user calling himself the Sixth Brother had made them bleed…" She grimaced when she noticed Sunset's quizzical look. "That means essentially torturing them in a way. Forcing the dark side into them until they turn blood red. He had been sent to Raada to hunt me down, but when I returned to free the farmers and my friends, we fought. I could sense them calling me from within his lightsaber..." She smiled, her confidence returning as she remembered taking the bled crystals in her hands and communing with them. "And I restored them."

"Sounds like you had quite the adventure," Sunset said. "But now that you have your lightsabers and the Force back, what do you plan to do?"

Ahsoka sank into her seat. "That's the question." She placed her lightsabers gently on the bar, whether out of reverence for her new weapons or simply to avoid scraping the wood, she wasn't sure, although she'd not want to damage either. "I couldn't have saved Kaeden and the others on my own. Sen—an important person helped me, at great risk to themselves. They did it without any agreement to work for them after that… although I know they want my support.

"But I already came out of a war. I already worked and trusted others only for the ones that were supposed to guide me and protect me to betray me. They were fooled, but they didn't trust me… I lost my faith in the Jedi then, even if I still loved and respected Anakin, Obi Wan and others.

"Now, I'd have to step in again. Should I? Wouldn't a force user like myself attract the attention of the Empire to them even more than before?" She shook her head. "I don't know my place in the universe. I thought I was changing it, but I wasn't. I thought I'd be free of wars at least… but there is no escaping the Empire in this Galaxy."

Sunset nodded. "If you don't, what will you do?"

Ahsoka looked down, frowning. "There are children out there that are force sensitive. Before he went after me, the Sixth Brother was very close to discovering one of the Fardies was such a child. I could… I could search for them, and protect them."

"But would you be able to do it alone?" Sunset asked gently. "I don't doubt you'd be able to find many of them, but do you have a way to really hide them from the Empire?"

Ahsoka grumbled, seeing her point. Suddenly she really missed her friends. "I could really use Anakin and Obi Wan right now. Sure, Skyguy would be ready to jump in and fight the Empire, but Obi Wan would have the plan for after we rescued the children and took some fortresses down." She sighed. "But they're gone. They're all gone."

Sunset coughed in a very conspicuous way.

Looking at her, Ahsoka growled. "Oh no, I'm not letting you go that easy. You know something."

Sunset grimaced. "Alright, alright," she said, raising her hands. "I know that Obi Wan and Yoda are still alive, but I'm afraid I can't give you details. That would be too much interference."

Ahsoka glared at her for a moment, but there was no anger from her. Quite the contrary. They were alive. That alone was worth… she couldn't even compare it to anything. She relented, smiling a little. "Thank you. That gives me hope."

"You'll always have at least a new hope," Sunset said, fighting a smile. "Just make sure to be ready in case the Empire strikes back, and who knows, maybe you'll see the return of the Jedi."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. "Why does the Force make me feel like the sudden urge to smack you would not land me on the Dark Side?"

Sunset laughed, waving her hands to appease her. "I'm just trying to liven things up. It seems that you do know what path you must choose, but you haven't made up your mind on the how."

Ahsoka blinked. "Oh?"

"You have decided to act," Sunset said, "but you also recognized that you can't do it alone. You had help to rescue your friends, and you'll need friends to help you in the future. Maybe you'll come up with crazy plans, and you'll have someone level-headed to keep track of you. Or maybe… maybe you don't need to be up front and center," she added. "You stayed hidden for a long time, right? It's not that they caught you, but rather circumstances forced you to act in a way that revealed your identity."

'True.' Ahsoka hummed as she tipped the cup to her lips, letting the warm tea relax her once again. 'But now that she mentions that… maybe…' she looked up at Sunset. "I-I think you might have given me an idea."

Sunset smirked. "Really?"

Ahsoka, however, was thinking too furiously now for that smug look to matter. "Yeah… yeah, it makes sense. Back in the Clone Wars, we had many people help us, and not all of them were in the spotlight." She nodded, standing up and attaching her lightsabers to her belt. "I think I know what to do."

Sunset smiled. "Well then, go on." She pulled out a card and gave it to Ahsoka. "Only rule is we need a picture together, and this will let you come back when you need to."

Ahsoka took the small card in her hand, then watched as Sunset levitated a small flat object over. It wasn't the Force… but those questions would have to wait. After all, she needed to meet Senator Organa, and introduce him to Fulcrum.

Ahsoka headed out with… well, not a spring in her step, but certainly more assurance than earlier. Once the door closed behind the former Jedi, it opened again, almost immediately. There was no ship behind this older-looking Ahsoka, but rather bridges made of light, floating into the infinite.

She walked over, a strange owl-like creature on her shoulder, and sat at the one of the tables, watching Sunset as she prepared yet another batch of tea, then went over to sit with her. "So you watched this whole thing over again, huh?"

Ahsoka nodded, smiling a little as she put a few credits on the table. "I forgot to pay last time."

Sunset chuckled. "Nah, it was on me."

Ahsoka nodded. "You knew, didn't you?"

Sunset grimaced, but nodded. "I did."

Ahsoka sighed, closing her eyes. "Yeah. So did I, on some level."

Sunset reached over and took her hand. "Want to talk about it?"

Ahsoka looked up, smiling a little. "Yeah. I do." She looked around the place. "I didn't understand it then… but once I got into the World Between Worlds I understood the feeling from before." She chuckled. "It was such a long time since I had belonged anywhere… I just couldn't recognize what it felt like." She grinned, sitting up a bit straighter. "I'm back."

Sunset nodded, pulling out a small key from her pocket and presenting it to Ahsoka. "Welcome home."

End Chapter

Heroes (XCOM: Ranger — Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
Heroes (XCOM: Ranger — Temporary Hiatus)
By Wanderer D

"I'm tired." Adagio grumbled, stepping aside as much as space allowed in the hallway of the Avenger to let the group of angry humans pass. While there was a (very) surprising amount of tolerance in their gaze, it still hid under that the hurt and fear and wariness that was to be expected, after all, she looked almost exactly like one of their frequent enemy troop units.

Considering the nature of XCOM, that was as best as she was going to get from the crew in general, and it was admittedly a surprise. XCOM had been notorious through the last war on how xenophobic and ready to kill aliens they had been… granted, with good reason.

Despite that, her little Chrysalis and her troops had pushed back and almost defeated the first invasion force, before the mythical Elders had finally taken control of Earth. And yet they survived and here they were twenty years later.

Once they had walked past her, she continued walking, glancing over at the Dragon barracks, and wincing when she noticed Ember sitting on one of the beds next to the only survivor of her team, Breaker, as they sat morosely in the middle of packing their teammates things away.

Adagio bit her lip and made to walk inside when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Deadwood shook his head, patting her on the shoulder after a gentle squeeze. "I don't think that's a good idea. And you look exhausted… go take a rest, I'll talk to her," he said, and walked inside. The siren-turned-Codex sighed. It made sense. Just about everyone in Ember's team had died in the process of saving Adagio herself after all. She was probably the last Equestrian Ember would want to see and not be able to kill.

Shaking her head, she decided to go to the small room they had carved for her near the engineering bay, where they figured she'd feel most comfortable. Because machines or something. Maybe it was really because of Apple Bloom needing someone that would understand. Either way, the younger woman was not around and that was fine by her. Chrysalis didn't have time at the moment to talk, and Adagio probably needed a break from those glances as much as the crew needed a break from seeing her around. Some sort of shut-eye, as useless as they usually were, could help. She just hoped the floor was as comfy as she remembered it wasn't.

She opened the door to her room and blinked, then stepped back to look down both sides of the hallway to make sure she was on the right level of the ship and also facing in the right direction. Yep. This was apparently the right place.

So why was there a bar in here?

The bell rang its silvery chime, making Sunset look up from her books. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, stretching a bit before placing her bookmark on the book she was currently reading and putting it and the others away behind the bar. She quickly wiped the area clean—just in case there was any dust from the books—and waited for the hesitant steps to reveal her newest guest.

It was Adagio—but not an Adagio she had ever seen before. She was wearing an army overall, but the parts of her skin that were exposed, revealed a metallic sheen to it, with hints of circuitry barely visible under it. Her hair was made of pure energy, somehow still retaining its shape.

The siren had been about to ask something, but had immediately stopped, staring with her mouth open at Sunset herself, as if she had seen a ghost. "S-Sunset?"

"Um, hi?" Sunset said, after a moment, taking note of the badges and the patch on the upper arm of Adagio's uniform. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the multiverse. I'm sure I look like a Sunset Shimmer you might know, but I'm not her."

Adagio studied her for a moment before slumping down on one of the stools. "Did I finally break?"

"Nope, it's real," Sunset assured her gently. "You um… you're XCOM?"

"What?" Adagio looked up, then followed her gaze to her arm. "Oh. Nnnn-ot exactly. I'm borrowing this while I'm staying with them." She glanced around, narrowing her eyes as she stood up and took a picture of Sunset with the sirens from the wall. She studied it as she went over to sit again. "So another dimension, huh?" She snorted. "Why not, I guess. Wouldn't be the first time it happened."

Sunset smiled and went over to get a menu while Adagio studied the picture, a melancholic look crossing her features for a moment. "I guess it's good to know that in other universes we're not so messed up."

Adagio glanced at the menu the bartender Sunset gave her and her eyes immediately zeroed-in on a specific listed item. She smirked. "That brings back memories… really old memories. I'll have a glass of Medovukha."

She watched with interest as Sunset brought up a small oak barrel and opened it up. She blinked when she saw the deep, golden liquid in there, and also got a whiff of it. "That's… aged Medovukha," she said slowly, flashes of a long, long, long ago lost life crossing her mind for a second. "How did you get it?"

"I visited a world that was very similar to some Earth's time period closer to the 10th century of most earths. There were plenty of Vikings and such, and I got several barrels of aged Medovukha."

Adagio chuckled, putting the picture down and tracing her fingers fondly on the wooden surface. "We used to make this… my family and I, before I became a siren." She blinked. "I had forgotten that little detail."

Sunset left the barrel on the counter and scooped up some Medovukha for Adagio and herself, pouring them into two glasses. The fermented honey's smell made Adagio's mouth both water and also, somehow, remember. She hadn't liked Earth's Medovukha that much, since the accelerated process produced a lesser product in her opinion, but this…

She sipped the cup, allowing the sweet flavor to coat her tongue and spread through her senses. Even the modifications she had suffered hadn't taken away her ability to taste and enjoy food and drinks… and this, this was bliss and nostalgia and memories and… so much more.

"Why don't you tell me about it?" Sunset asked. "We have all the time you need here."

"Let me guess, time dilation?"

When Sunset nodded, Adagio had to chuckle. "Once again, I'm in one of those." She swirled her drink ponderously before giving Sunset a brief nod. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

She watched as Sunset walked around the bar and sat next to her before picking up the picture she had grabbed from the wall. In it, Sunset, Adagio, Aria and Sonata were all smiling complacently at the camera, silly grins on their faces. Oh, there were hints there, of the struggles she and her sisters were going through, but the honest smiles were really the important thing. They were together, happy, and a family.

"We weren't always sirens," she said, her thumb rubbing the frame gently. "At least not in this… part of the multiverse. We all started as different types of ponies, a long, long time before Sombra or Starswirl even set foot in what would become Equestria," she began, taking a deep breath. "I was the first of us three to become a siren, a solid two hundred or so years before Sonata. Aria was just… I think half a century after me. In any case, I was originally a Pegasus Pony witch, and my name was Sivil."

"A Pegasus witch? Kind of like a Zebra Shaman?" Sunset asked after sampling her Medovukha.

"Sort of," Adagio said, lifting the glass into her hand. The golden liquid inside could have been her own blood in this form of hers. She took a sip, humming in appreciation. "It was typical life back in those days. The kings and queens, the lords and great wizards of the world were creatures that existed, but had little to do with us. We understood magic a lot differently back then, even unicorns. It was entirely visceral. To pursue it was to surrender to forces you could barely grasp more than working with them as the modern magic system works now.

"Medovukha… I didn't taste it until the day I left home. It was reserved for very special occasions, and me leaving in search of an apprenticeship with a wizard was just that for our family. We cracked open the one my father had left fermenting when he had married twenty years before, and we prepared a new one… to be opened a few decades later by somepony else." She sighed. "That was during the time that a wizard name Murthod rose to power… he commanded magic that would stop time, but in a strange, destructive way that broke the earth and split the seas freezing them. I watched as whole parts of the continent itself were cracked like eggs and trapped—with all ponies and creatures and plants within—in a stasis-like state, stuck in time and space as the world moved around them.

"And those were the lucky ones. Others areas were nothing but dust, as his victims and everything else within that field of his were accelerated in time beyond anything possible to any other being. Their loved ones had to watch them die over a period of minutes. Babies becoming children, then teens, then adults, then elders, then dying, all the time staring at the unmoving world around them. Other times, I even found areas where time was running backwards."

Adagio sighed.

"That's… much worse than Sombra," Sunset said. "I don't think monsters like that existed in my original Equestria."

Adagio laughed. "Monsters. I suppose... " She licked her lips. "Despite everything, I did well for myself, married. I had two foals…" She frowned. "They were caught in the acceleration field along with my husband… I… don't remember their names." She closed her eyes, shaking her head when she felt Sunset's hand on hers. "It's been millennia. I've coped with the loss more than once and… it was another life.

"I swore revenge, and found my way to a forbidden magic…" Adagio looked down and away from the bartender. "I ripped my soul and very essence and stored them outside of time. I used the forbidden magic, giving myself to it, promising everything and enjoying the ecstasy of being one with it to obtain more power than I could have ever imagine. I laughed as others perished around me and my gem grew from the darkness of my heart. But I remained focused enough to make my way to Murthod and ripped him to shreds!"

Sunset remained silent, letting her regain her breath. "That was the last the world knew of Sivil. My duty done, my body finally succumbed to the magic and was destroyed alongside Murthod. My gem fell into the ocean… and years later Adagio the siren emerged." She snorted. "You know the rest of the story, I suppose, unless after that point your recorded history is drastically different than mine. I fed off of the fear and pain of ponies and other earthbound creatures as an immortal predator… but at least… at least my magic was gone. When Aria's gem arrived, and then later Sonata's, I cherished them, helped them emerge and had them join me in our depredations of the land-bound until Starswirl sent us all packing into this world as humans."

Sunset nodded. "That last part is very similar to the story of the sirens in most places. In some, they were wronged, in others they simply were monsters."

Adagio drank the rest of her Medovukha, tilting her glass to allow Sunset to pour her another one. "How nice must it to be to have an excuse to destroy others."

Sunset sighed. "I think most of them know that what they did was wrong, regardless of the reasons."

"Hurray for self-awareness then." She touched her glass against Sunset's. "I can't even say we did it to survive. We just did it because we wanted others to hurt." She glanced down at the picture. "The three of us against the world that forgot we were heroes that sacrificed our very souls to save it. Against a world that forgot us. A world that didn't spare a thought to our loss. A world we thought—at the time—we had wasted ourselves saving."

Sunset nodded, surprising Adagio, who leaned back to study the bartender. "Beyond the fact that I am surprised you're still giving me more to drink, I'm surprised you haven't called magical lightning to strike me where I sit."

Sunset laughed. "If you're here, a lot more has happened since then. Plus, you're wearing an XCOM uniform. How the hell did that happen?"

Adagio snorted. "Fair enough." She took a drink and set her glass down, glancing again at the picture. "The three of us arrived here during medieval times. We… did a lot. We didn't change our ways, just our victims… and we became creatures feared by the mystics of this world through several decades, until we met Sombra."

"As in King Sombra, only human version?"

"The one and only," Adagio said, nodding. "He was one of Aleister's crew. Hocus-pocus, hermetic summon of ancient evils. Stuff worthy of dear Howard's twisted imagination." She sipped her glass, and sighed. "But he… he was the real deal. I don't know where half the things he had came from but a lot of them had… they knew. And well, we were some of those eldritch horrors after all, so it was a natural partnership. Plus, he had contacted the Elders."

"So that's where XCOM comes in," Sunset said, nodding. "Ethereals are infamous across the multiverse for their insidious ways. I'm just glad they don't exist in the same universe as the Sith."

Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Since I have no idea what you're talking about, unless you actually mean Star Wars, I will nod and smile for now." She did. "But yeah, bad news. If you're familiar with XCOM's history, then you probably know the tale. We started Exalt, betrayed Earth's governments, fought XCOM, betrayed some more and… when the world was given to them, Sonata and Aria betrayed me."

Adagio closed her eyes, allowing the flare of anger welling within her to dissipate as best as she could. The last thing she needed was to blast the bar with a psychic wave. This Sunset had some good alcohol here.

"What happened?"

"Sombra and Tirek," Adagio whispered. "They stole my gem and… they gave me away to the Elders when I refused to be subservient to them. I was stuck into a machine… injected with things, transformed… and used as a living computer alongside XCOM's Commander to control humanity and run millions of simulations through her brain." She grinned. "But something happened then… something they didn't expect or know about." She looked up at Sunset. "I traveled. The Commander had a deep connection with her best soldier, Sunset Shimmer… Earth Sunset Shimmer, who was the worlds, maybe the galaxy's most powerful psychic. Certainly on par with the most powerful Elders.

"Through that link, and through my gem, and through the magic that had bound my soul outside of time, I was able to… sort of ghost into the past. One moment I was screaming as I was put into the machine, the next I was staring into the eyes of baby Sunset Shimmer." She grinned. "And I don't know how you looked as a baby pony, but let me tell you, the human one? Adorable."

Sunset huffed, shaking her head. "Don't start. Still, I can't believe you'd be happy with that."

"I wasn't," Adagio agreed. "But I was stuck… I didn't know Sunset could see me sometimes, but I was there. I watched her grow, and met her best friend, Chrysalis, in Kindergarten." She laughed, the fond memories chasing away the lingering pain of her sister's betrayal. "Those two were inseparable for the rest of their lives. At one point… Sunset started talking to me, she had visions of the future and even knew when she'd…" She sighed. "I grew fond of both of them, you know? Watching them play, grow, make mistakes, fight, make up… it was a life I had never lived. In all my centuries of life, I never had that… my one chance had been taken away thousands of years before and now, even though I couldn't participate directly, experiencing that changed me.

"I helped Sunset through her training up to when she joined XCOM. I guided her, I helped her figure out her visions and even used the information of what I knew was happening to make XCOM stronger… against myself and the others, ironically enough, although I wasn't able to change my past." She sighed. "The Earth lost. I was still betrayed, Chrysalis was captured and Sunset… she died." She felt her eyes growing watery, rubbing them with a paper towel. "She… she was dying. I was in the present and in the past, hacking the Avenger… I created a psychic channel when they were able to witness what was happening and started to shout to her to get up… she heard."

Sunset was looking at her with rapt attention, eyes wide.

"I… had to watch her die as she took with her the alien's mother ship," Adagio said in a low voice. "And just before she died… just as I told her my real name and what she meant to me… the family I never had… she accepted me when I called her sister."

Adagio took a deep, shuddering breath, gulping down and sniffling before swearing under her breath and downing her Medovukha. "After Sonata and Aria's betrayal I never thought I'd call someone that. I never thought I'd let anyone in." She snorted. "Guess she proved me wrong."

They remained quiet for a time before Adagio spoke up again. "After that, I was trapped with Chrysalis. I tried to reach her, but I couldn't send more than some empathic thoughts, and the music from Sunset's mp3 player. I knew she'd get rescued, XCOM wasn't destroyed completely when the Earth was taken over. It was a matter of time before she was released, and she was my only hope… it paid off. But at a great cost of lives."

Sunset reached over to squeeze her shoulder, and Adagio nodded thankfully. "So, what is going on now?" the bartender asked.

Adagio licked her lips, pondering how to phrase things. "We… need to save the Equestrian Sunset Shimmer and… destroy another siren." She shook her head. "Right now… I need to at least earn the trust of XCOM and well… I'm an alien."

Sunset rolled her eyes and raised her glass in understanding, drawing a chuckle from Adagio, who toasted along with her.

It had been a long time since she had talked about that stuff, and somehow getting it off her chest had lightened her mood. She took another drink of her Medovukha. "I haven't talked about all of that with anyone… even with Sonata and Aria… we only talked at most once about our lives before. It… feels good to remember."

Sunset leaned over and pulled her into a hug. "That's what I'm here for. To talk, to listen… and to help, if I can."

Surprised, Adagio hesitated for a moment before returning the hug. She'd wanted to do this with her Sunset Shimmer for so long. Her human sister who had sacrificed herself to give the world a chance. She sniffled. "You're ruining my tough girl reputation," she muttered into the bartender's hair.

"Blame it on the Medovukha. I won't tell."

"I think I will."

Her room was just as she had left it. Except there was a cot and a small bedside table with a drawer in it now, courtesy of some unknown Samaritan that had seen it fit to give her something to lay down on. "Well," she mused as she sat on her cot, "at least it's softer than the metal floor."

She chuckled, laying down on it. Despite the fact that her hair was pure energy, it still felt normal under her. When was the last time she had slept? Four decades or so?

Adagio snorted. If she was honest with herself, she hadn't really slept in much longer than that, but for some reason she felt that tonight… tonight she could. Just one night.

Just one night… to dream. Before the nightmare made of blood magic that was roaming out there in the world came to hunt her down.

And maybe, if they survived, she could bring Chrysalis over to the bar.

End Chapter

Author's Note

A crossover with the story XCOM: Ranger, which I hope to get back to soon enough. I was originally intending to write Adagio's story as a stand alone, but I figured it worked just as well here and it made the writing happen. :twilightsmile:

Have some art from Adagio's memories:

Brand New Isekai (BNA — Complete)

Sunset's Isekai
Brand New Isekai (BNA — Complete)
By Wanderer D

Michiru sighed and put her phone away, shoving both her hands into her pockets and kicking a can despondently as she made her way through the city. All around her people chatted, argued, played and generally seemed to be in a good mood, isolated as they were from the rest of the country.

A gap between the buildings allowed her to see the mainland beyond the bay and she sighed once more before she shook her head and slapped her cheeks with her hands to wake up. "This is getting ridiculous!" she half-growled, half-screeched, drawing the attention of a passerby who blinked owlishly at the racoon girl before shrugging and continuing on his way. She grimaced and turned into a nearby alleyway to get out of the crowds.

She pulled her hair in frustration as she walked, looking up into the sky, which was clear from what she could see from the gaps between the buildings. "Gah, this is so stup—ack!" she stumbled forward and rolled on the floor, thankfully not getting hurt worse than a scrape which soon faded away.

Shaking her head, she pushed herself up and glared at the thing she had tripped on. The glare faded into confusion. "A blackboard?" She looked from the blackboard, which had several interesting drinks listed on it to the door next to it. "A bar?" she looked down one way of the alleyway, then in the opposite direction. "Here? What? Why?"

She jumped to her feet and brushed off the dirt, looking curiously at the wooden door, then down to the blackboard. "And isn't this like… the side of the library? Why would there be a bar here?"

She hummed and approached the door, looking at the sign again. Before her transformation, she had visited Nara with her mother once, and had Matcha Parfait for the first time ever. For the next couple of years (besides baking her a cake) her mom would take her out in search of new places to have it.

Her hand slid into her pocket, where she took hold of her phone, her mom's most recent message coming to her mind. A whole day had passed and she hadn't mustered the nerve to write back. What could she write to her? She sighed, resting her hand on the wooden door, then glancing at the blackboard. She exhaled, chuckling as she pulled out her purse and glanced inside. "I guess I can do it for old times' sake."

She opened the door and stepped inside. "Hello! I'm coming in!" What did you even say when you walked into a bar? She blinked when she found herself in a small hallway that stretched just a few feet before it opened into the type of bar she'd expect to see in a mobster movie.

"Hello!" a cheerful voice answered from deeper within, "Come on in!"

Emboldened by the female voice, Michiru did just that, walking into the bar and taking it in. It was… comfy, although it had that speak-easy vibe that made her wonder if Giuliano Flip himself frequented the place. The bartender was smartly dressed, lean and sharp-eyed, with her red and gold hair falling around her shoulders. She was just placing a menu for her at the bar, and given that there was no one else around, Michiru figured that she might take her up on that seating arrangement, all the while wondering what type of beast hid behind the human look of the young woman.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the multiverse," the bartender said, smiling warmly at her. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, and I'll be taking care of you today."

Wow, she owned the place? "Um. M-Michiru Kagemori," she replied bowing slightly. She looked up. "I uh, I'd like a Matcha Parfait please?"

Sunset nodded. "Coming right up, anything to drink?"

"I'm uh, too young to order alcohol… I hope you don't mind."

Sunset giggled. "Not at all, take a look at the menu and see if anything strikes your fancy."

Feeling more at ease since that wasn't a problem—she knew some businesses didn't like it if people walked into a place that was clearly not cheap and essentially just ordered the cheapest thing—she glanced at the menu, blinking when she realized all the drinks listed were not alcoholic. She glanced up. How had Sunset known? Scent?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Sunset gently slid the most amazing looking Matcha Parfait she had ever seen in front of her.

"So, have you thought about what to drink?"

"M-melon soda."

Sunset nodded, allowing Michiru to gaze in awe at the tall glass in front of her. Creamy and smooth-looking vanilla ice cream was layered with matcha jelly and ice cream, creating a white and green look that made her mouth water, and on top, of it, dense whipped cream held in place a slice of matcha-swiss cake roll that almost defied gravity in its slight, tilted angle. She was just picking up the long, silver spoon Sunset had provided when the bartender came back with her drink.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Sunset replied, grinning as Michiru took the first bite out of the ice-cream and practically swooned. "Oh my gosh, this is fantastic! I'm so happy I decided to come in!"

The bartender chuckled. "Glad you like it, so… what brings you in today?"

Michiru stopped, tilting her head in confusion with the following bite still in her mouth. "Hm?"

Sunset shrugged. "Usually people come here when something is bothering them… most of the time it's an existential crisis."

Michiru giggled. "You're funny. So, what type of beast are you, if you don't mind my asking? I've been trying to guess since I walked in."

Sunset blinked. "Beast?"

"As in animal?" Michiru prodded. "Come on."

"Oh. Uh, human I guess?"

This made Michiru pause. "Wait, you're... human?" she studied Sunset, then tried to sniff her scent. It wasn't… it wasn't a beastman scent. "For real?! I thought there were no human establishments allowed in Anima-City!"

Sunset grinned. "Well, I'm human right now, but I've been other species." She started counting with her fingers. "Wolf. Unicorn. Cat. Demon. Dragon. Saiyan. Smurf..."

"Hold on, that makes no sense."

Sunset tilted her head. "It doesn't?"

Pointing at the bartender with the spoon, Michiru nodded firmly. "It does not! You can't be all of those!"

"Hm." Sunset waved her hand and Michiru turned to see where she was pointing, then nearly screamed when several pictures removed themselves from the wall and floated over to them to land gently on the bar. In the pictures, she saw a wolf who could only be Sunset hanging out with a fox and a rabbit. And a cat… who could only be Sunset, hanging out with a bunch of other cats. And a demon or gargoyle (who once again, could only be the bartender herself) hanging out with some sort of harlequin demon. And she was a unicorn in this other picture! And a dragon! And… a human with a monkey tail. And a tiny blue creature!

"W-buh-how?!"

Sunset grinned and shrugged. "I did say it was my little bar in the multiverse."

Michiru took a second, awe-infused look around the bar, this time noticing that the creatures in the pictures weren't animal people at all, but different creatures altogether. Aliens. Monsters. Demons. All of them… she turned her gaze back to Sunset, lifted her spoon and took another bite of her parfait. "Wow."

"Yes." Sunset grinned. "And since it's your first visit, the first drink and parfait are on me. All I require is a picture together before you head out."

"Deal!" Michiru said, her enthusiasm overpowering her awe. She took a sip of her melon soda—a drink that was woefully missing from Anima-City—and leaned back, sighing in content. "Wow, this is… I had no idea my life would change that much since turning into a beastman and coming to Anima-City." She chuckled, gently swirling the soda with her straw and watching the bubbles foam up at the top of the carbonated drink. "It seems that I left behind so much, but I've also learned things and, well…"

Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone buzzed. She picked it up and opened the message.

From: 🐬Nina🐬
Hiiii! 💜
I got checked out by the 👩‍⚕️ and everything is okay! 🥂 It was quite a scare though! They had to give me a 💉 and I'll be taking 💊. Glad you were there to save me! 🌻
Lisa texted me. OMG, she was soooo sorry! I had to tell her that it was okay. But it will be a blue🌛before I venture outside of Anima-City again.
I know she really didn't intend to harm me, but... well.
Anyway Let's get together for some 🍛and 🍣 next time, alright? My treat! My dad likes you so it should be fine!! 📱 me!

Michiru chuckled, shaking her head.

"Friend?"

She blinked and looked up at Sunset before nodding. "I think so?" She sighed. "Nina… she's always been a beastman. She's half dolphin, and she's been really into human society. When she found out I was human, and that she had a chance to go to the mainland, she sorta stuck with me… needless to say people didn't really understand what to do with her when she accidentally revealed it and she almost drowned."

"Oh my goodness, I hope she's okay."

"She is," Michiru replied and pressed her lips before releasing a reluctant sigh. "At least… I guess Lina wasn't really xenophobic or racist. She was just ignorant in the end." She shook her head. "We were lucky."

Sunset looked at her. "I mean, no offense, but how did they not know you two were beast people?"

Michiru blinked in surprise, her mouth going round in a silent 'Oh!', then she focused and changed into her human form. "This is what I looked like before I—um, became a beastman."

"Oh, wow," Sunset said, coming around the bar to sit with her. "So what happened?"

"I don't know. I suddenly became a beastman one day. It's some sort of beastman disease… we're trying to find a cure but… I don't know if it will ever happen. I couldn't go to school anymore, and just getting out of the mainland and into Anima-City was almost enough to get me killed," Michiru answered, returning to her racoon form. "It's funny… even though I can technically go back now that I can turn into a human, I still feel much more comfortable like this."

Sunset shrugged. "Having changed species for long periods of time… I can tell you that even though you remain the same inside, sometimes your body understands better than your head what is actually more natural to you. Wearing the wrong skin is sometimes like wearing high-heels all the time, you know? Sure it can look nice, but it just gets to be a bit much."

"Heh, I like that analogy. I think I'll use it." Michiru bit her lip, looking away from the bartender. "You don't think it's weird?"

"Not at all," Sunset said, drawing a smile from her. "You should be comfortable with your body and who you are… sometimes they match immediately, and sometimes they don't. But if you find your truth, and embrace it… well, you'll discover a lot more about yourself and others."

Michiru giggled. "I hope so." Her smile faded as she glanced down at her phone. "Humans fear and hunt beast people, you know? They chase them, and make them hide. Almost everyone out there in Anima-City looks human because they are so used to hiding who they are… even in a city where they should be safe, they are still afraid of offending humans somehow." She sighed. "Before they were discovered and made public I guess they just mingled. Now we have a city just for Beast People, and I don't even know if I belong with them."

Sunset reached out to pat her shoulder. "What happened to you is fairly recent, and you now have some control over it. With some work you could go back to being fully human all the time, or at least being able to pass as such without problem for extended periods, right? And that is provided the cure is not found."

Michiru frowned and ate some more parfait. "I guess."

"But that's not what you want, is it?" Sunset asked. "If you did, you'd be practicing constantly to stay human, even if some sort of medicine to change you fully into a human is to be discovered, I get the feeling you might not take it."

Michiru snorted and instead sipped her soda. "I don't know. I've made really good friends… the people here are kind and supportive. Even when they know I was human once. But everyone in the mainland—they just… they just hate everyone here." She looked down at her phone again. "I can't even visit my mom. I can't even tell her I'm okay. I don't even know what to do with her. And myself here. How do I tell her that I feel… like I belong here?" She groaned, running her fingers through her hair and feeling the slight scratch of her claws on her scalp. "It's too strange! Too unfair to feel better in a body that is not what I was born in!" She pulled out her ID. "Look! I'm a student! I'm human! I'm also a registered Beastman! I pay taxes and I have government-provided health insurance!"

"So, don't you think that being a Beastman is not so bad?" Sunset asked. "The way you talk about it being a disease… how do your beastman friends feel about that? You're treating their very existence as something that needs to be cured."

The comment hit her like a ton of bricks. Her thoughts went to the pained grimaces that crossed Melissa and Gem's faces when she spoke like that, or Shirou or Marie's reactions when she made those comments. A flash of pain, betrayal, and anger.

A disease.

Was being born different a disease? Was she just… as bad as Lisa had been? Ignorant?

She chugged down a whole bunch of parfait before the ice cream started freezing her brain and she had to slow down and moan pathetically until it went away. She clenched her teeth until the pain was gone, then morosely brought her phone over to log into Facelook. "Yesterday was my birthday," she said. "I got a bunch of messages from my classmates… people I thought were friends but now… I have heard them say horrible things about beastmen. What would they do if they found out I looked like this?" She gritted her teeth. "What would Nazuna say? What would my mom say…" She sighed, showing Sunset the picture of the cake. "...I couldn't even tell her I'm alive and well. And she made me a cake… I didn't even dare 'like' the picture on Facelook. What kind of daughter does that?"

Sunset gave her a gentle hug. "Does she know you're a Beastman now?"

Michiru shook her head. "I transformed at school, I was just lucky that none of my friends were around to see..." She felt a pang in her heart. "I couldn't face them. I locked myself in my room, only coming out at night to get food… I don't think my parents ever really found out what happened to me. I just left them a note telling them I was running to Anima-City. I never—they never saw me like this."

"Maybe…" Sunset hesitated. "Maybe you should tell her. This is who you are now… or at least until you decide who and what you want to be. And if you miss her, and she did that for you, I'm sure she misses you."

"I—" Michiru stopped herself from ranting. Could she do it? But even if she did, what would she do if her mother rejected her? What if her mom… was the type of person to hate Beastmen? What if she gave up on her? Even if she found the cure, would she ever be able to return to her mother if that happened? "I don't know."

Sunset hummed. "Let me ask you, do you really think this is a disease?"

Michiru grimaced. "I was human once, and I caught this and I am not anymore."

"But is it a disease… or is it just a change?" Sunset asked gently. "Do you really think you'd be so comfortable in your body if there wasn't something right with this change?"

"I—"

"Or do you think that your beastman friends are also diseased?"

"No!" Michiru snapped. "They are not! I'm just afraid that I'm—that I'm not me!"

Sunset hugged her fully. "You are you. I promise. I think you have been given a very rare chance. Something that the vast majority of people in the multiverse never get: an opportunity to embrace yourself as a new you, to be who you want to be, who you feel is right. You can choose, and you can be happy as long as you accept that while this was unexpected, you, and only you can decide what and who Michiru Kagemori is." She grinned and booped Michiru's nose. "And here's a tip: there is no wrong choice as long as it's you who makes it."

"Geez, you sound like you have practice doing this."

Sunset shrugged. "I've gone through my own identity crises before. And I'm sure I'll go through that again at some point." She elbowed Michiru. "So, your parents?"

"Maybe," Michiru sighed, clicking on the picture of the cake one more time. "My birthday was yesterday. They went out of their way to do this for me, and I wasn't around to thank them. I feel rotten inside. And scared."

"Being scared is only natural, but… what if—" Sunset spoke up, drawing her attention back to her "—you could come clean to them, and celebrate your birthday with them?" She grinned. "What if you were not alone when you came out to them, and there was a convenient place to celebrate together after?"

Michiru looked up at her.

Sunset had needed a slightly bigger frame for the picture, but Michiru's mom had insisted they print a bigger one, and to give her a copy. It wasn't a whole bunch of people, but it was full of heart.

Michiru held the cake her mom had made her in her paws, while her two parents watched proudly. She had only been able to give Michiru a brief period of time with her parents, but hopefully even at a distance they would be able to talk and understand each other more.

While Sunset didn't feel Michiru's father had really understood the changes in his daughter, Sunset could tell her mother had. She had seen who Michiru was becoming, and rather than fight it, had embraced it more fully perhaps, than her daughter up to this point.

But Michiru would get there… she was sure. And whenever she needed a parfait or some melon soda, well… that was what the Isekai was for.

End Chapter

Night of the Wolf (Wolfwalkers/Secret of Kells)

Sunset's Isekai
Night of the Wolf (Wolfwalkers/Secret of Kells)
By Wanderer D

Robyn Goodfellowe had not anticipated where life would take her in the end. Before, she had wanted to be a brave hunter, just like her father. But after moving to Kilkenny and exploring the forest in search of wolves to kill, life had taken certain twists that definitely led them off-path. Or at least off-path from what her father had wanted for both of them.

And now… well, life had been very different since. No longer were they bound by the choking demands of the Lord Protector; the almost desperate, fearful destruction of things misunderstood because of some questionable godly duty. She knew from her life in England that the Lord Protector was but one such man among many, that the 'pagan' and 'superstitious' things they hated, not only did they justify it with religion, but they had a certain sadistic twist to how they performed their supposed duties. Unlike the Saints of old, there was no conversing with these 'men of God', for they would declare war before seeking peace, and would see her dead rather than free.

She pondered those thoughts as she flipped the pages of one of her books… one of the few she had been able to get out of Kilkenny with the help of the old woodcutter, Sean Og after the terrified townsfolk had closed the gates and elevated the bridge lest the wolves attack, and certainly one book that the Lord Protector would have happily burned away along with the forest if he could have.

A chirp made her look up to her to her friend, the hawk Merlyn, who took flight as a large shadow fell across from her. Large, white fangs almost flashed in contrast with the deep black fur of the creature, while it's long red tongue licked its chops as if readying itself to pounce on its meal.

"Okay, seriously. Stop slobbering all over my book!" Robyn half-giggled, half-growled, pushing the snout of the wolf panting next to her with her hand. That the canine was almost three times her size and weight didn't bother her, nor did the fact that there were easily another twenty to thirty wolves around as well, or even the fact that her small hand and arm would be little more than a snack if the wolf took offense.

Not too long ago, the sight of that would have stopped her father's heart in fright. But now all he did was chuckle and shake his head as he continued building the entrance to their new home: a large cave that went deep into the mountains, and opened up on the other side to a stunning view of the sea, with cliffs far down below (but not so far that the daring man hadn't figured out a way to fish).

Outside the cave was a valley that had formed naturally into the base of the mountain, with plenty of flora and fauna, and trees and sheer rock. It was currently being painted on by Moll and Mebh with ink made out of local plants. Speaking of which…

She put down the book and ran over to the pair. "Hey! You started without me! How am I supposed to learn all of this?"

"Well," Mebh drawled, the shorter girl's long, red hair was brushed to the side as she strutted over to lean heavily on Robyn's shoulder. It never ceased to amaze her just how strong the younger girl was. "Ye looked sooo interested in your book there, that I figured ye didn't want to learn at all."

"Mebh," Moll sighed, the motherly wolfwalker smiling gently at both of them. "Don't tease Robyn. Isn't that why ye sent Fionn over to 'er?"

"Oh." Robyn crossed her arms and smirked at her pack-sister. "So that's why he was slobbering over my book?"

"Ha. It's not my fault that ye don't understand what he's sayin'." Mebh grinned, suddenly yanking Robyn towards her and throwing an arm over her shoulder in companionable merriment (incidentally forcing Robyn to lean down a little in order to not carry the weight of the younger girl). "But! He got the job done, right? Come 'ere, Robyn, let's work on these runes. I'll show ye everythin' ye need to know!"

"Well then, children," Moll said, amusement clear in her voice as she started walking over towards Robyn's dad, "I'll leave ye two to it. I still need dear Bill to help me explore the caves."

"Alright, Mammy!" Mebh sing-sang as she took Robyn's hand and dragged her (giggling) towards the sheer rock where she had started drawing the runes with her. "Okay, townie, let me explain the secret and mysterious art of wolf magic to ye…"

As she listened to Mebh's explanation and followed the instructions, Robyn allowed herself to feel the joy of what was happening around her. About having a new sister, mother, and a pack. About them being alive and well, about them not being surrounded by walls or conceived notions of propriety or her place in the world.

She allowed herself a smile as she spied her dad standing next to Moll, very clearly smitten by the ginger-haired wolfwalker. They made an odd pair, him a tall, broad-shouldered and usually stoic man, now awkwardly rubbing the back of his head and shyly smiling at Moll, stout and proud, wild and intense with an inner wisdom that was almost palpable. They looked like they couldn't make up their mind between taking a stroll holding hands, or amiably arguing about the need for a door.

Robyn giggled.

"They look happy," Mebh said.

"Yeah. They do."

"Glad yer paying attention to them instead of the lesson."

"Oh!" Robyn turned back to Mebh, who shook her head with fake disappointment, crossing her arms, closing her eyes, turning away from her and snorting with disdain.

"How am I ever to make a real wolfwalker out of ye?" the redhead asked. She made a big show of rolling her eyes in frustration at Robyn's clear lack of understanding.

Robyn giggled again and turned to the paintings. "Okay, I'm sorry Mebh, really. Teach me?"

Mebh peeked at her from over her shoulder before grinning again. "Aw, I could never stay mad at ye." She punched Robyn on the shoulder and hopped over to the drawings. "Here, let's try again."

They worked on the spirals, the leaves, the runes, the depictions of wolves, hands and pawprints, each leaving behind a trail of golden energy as they were completed and became part of their new home, the wolf-magic permeating the story Mebh was telling and drawing with Robyn.

They worked on their drawings for most of the day, sometimes alone, sometimes with the pack around them, and even one time with her dad and Moll who were whispering and talking to each other as she taught him the meaning of her art. Eventually, as light started to fade from the sky, Moll called them over.

"Girls, it's time to go into the cave. We've hidden the valley away from prying eyes with our magic, and your father has made comfortable beds for us all," Moll's eyes shone as her smile grew. "I think the pack really wants to explore the area, what do ye think?"

Robyn and Mebh glanced at each other and grinned, running into the cave. It was spacious and could house the pack easily, especially through winter, with other, smaller caves providing smaller dens for the wolves or even them, if they chose to have some space… unlikely as it wasn't in the pack's nature to do so. Except for Moll and her dad, occasionally.

The pack waited eagerly outside as they lay down to sleep… and to run with the wolves.

"I see," Sunset said, giving Ori a small clay bowl filled with water. "So no worlds with their own Ori. Got it. Not that that sort of request really limits your options, to be fair."

Ori giggled and sipped the water as Sunset gave the request some thought. "I usually try to not get involved with how worlds turn out, but… how about a world in danger of losing its magic? They could use someone like you, to stop that from happening."

Ori's ear twitched. He looked up at her, blinking curiously.

Sunset rubbed her arm. "Look, I just think… there's so many worlds where their future is still being molded, and magic disappearing from them is… well, a tragedy." She poured herself some water and drank it down. "What do you think? It'll be different from your own world, but you could do a lot of good, and besides, you can always come back here."

"I think that's a marvelous idea," Rarity said from the table she was sitting at, sipping her tea. "But we need to make sure it is not just a world with magic, but also plenty of spiritual energy." She hummed to herself. "I think I know just the area…"

Sunset and Ori glanced at each other, then back at Rarity. "Okay," the former said, "out with it, what's your angle?"

"Moi? I would nev—"

"Rarity, we've known each other for how many centuries?"

"Dear, that would be telling my age." Rarity paused. "In a way. Somewhat." She waved a dainty hand dismissively. "And a lady never tells!"

"Well, regardless, I know you don't suggest things like these for no reason," Sunset countered, crossing her arms.

"Fine," Rarity said with an accompanying sigh, "I just worry that while Ori might be good for a world, that world might not be good for him. He is a tremendously powerful being in his own right, especially after staying so long with us, but he is also in essence pure spirit. He needs a world not just with magic, but with an intrinsic, nurturing spirit. Too powerful, and he'd be overwhelmed, too weak and he'd essentially starve unless he came back."

Sunset raised her hands and nodded. "Alright, I can't argue that point."

Rarity smiled. "In that case, I believe we can step outside and see what we find," she said, drinking the rest of her tea and standing up. She led the other two to the door, opening it into a clearing with several rune-inscribed standing stones, softly humming with spiritual and magical energy.

Sunset glanced behind, noticing that she and the others had stepped outside one of the bigger standing stones, one of three that seemed to have the most mystical energies converging on them, in fact. Mist slowly converged around them, but she frowned, concentrating rather on one of the other large ones, which emanated a familiar vibe. She walked up to it, raising a hand to touch it…

"Stop!"

The childish voice accomplished its purpose. Sunset turned around quickly, peering into the mist and noticing the several shadows that ran around the stone circle, panting and growling, while out of the dark mass, a snow-white wolf with emerald green eyes, accompanied by another grey wolf with cyan-blue eyes stepped into the circle, warily keeping their sight on her and Rarity.

"Oh my," her partner said, as Ori jumped on her shoulder to look curiously at the wolves. "A fae."

The white wolf glanced at her just as mist passed between them, clearing a second later to reveal a young girl with long white hair, dressed in simple, gray clothes. "You two are not welcome here," she said. "This place is dangerous to visitors…" she trailed off, seeming to finally notice Ori, who jumped down and approached her. All things forgotten, the girl crouched down with a huge smile on her face. "Oooh! Look at you! Aren't you the cutest spirit!"

The gray wolf whined, making her look up. "Oh. Right." She took a deep breath before Ori made a crooning sound. She deflated a little. "I guess ye can't be too bad if yer traveling with a spirit. Who and what are ye then?"

Without waiting for an answer, she jumped fast as lightning into the mist, emerging a second later at the top of one of the standing rocks. "I am Aisling! And this is my—" she glanced at the wolf "—our forest! Now," she pointed at them. "I know yer not human, so identify yourselves!"

Rarity and Sunset exchanged glances.

"This is Ori," Sunset said, introducing their spirit friend first. "He's a forest spirit from a world far away. He's searching for a new home, so we brought him here."

Aisling rolled her eyes. "Well, of course he is! That's why I asked ye to identify yerselves."

"Ah." Sunset shook her head, figuring it was best to try and get along with Ori's future neighbor. "The name's Sunset Shimmer, originally a unicorn, but I've been a bunch of other things."

Aisling tilted her head. "Ye really don't look like one, so I'll just assume ye look like a bunch of other things." She turned to face Rarity and locked eyes with her. After a few seconds, she shuddered and looked away. "I think that'll do."

"Thank you dear," Rarity said, smiling and visibly ignoring Sunset's raised eyebrow. "And who is your little friend?"

"Oh, this one?" Aisling shrugged. "She's apparently a bird." When the wolf barked with what was clearly annoyance, the fae released a long-suffering sigh. "Fine, fine, ye mangy mutt. This 'ere is my new friend and neighbor, Robyn."

"Nice to meet you," Sunset said, nodding at the wolf, who simply gave her a dubious glance before whining at Aisling.

"Oh, yeah! Step away from the stone there, ye don't want to be touchin' it, or you'll be taken away."

"Taken away?" Sunset studied the stone. "Where?"

"Who knows?" Aisling answered. "Gates open only for a few nights every couple o' centuries, but whoever goes through, never comes back."

At that, the wolf whined again and moved towards one of the rocks, barking at it pitifully, but Aisling was next to her in an instant. "I've told ye, if ye go through, yer not comin' back, and your family will be stuck together away from each other."

The wolf backed away a little, turning away for just a moment… just long enough for Aisling to drop her guard before she dashed past her and jumped into and through the surface of the stone, followed by a hawk that didn't even hesitate in its flight.

"No! Ye silly wolf! Dumb hawk!" Aisling gasped, stopping just shy of touching the surface herself. "She's gonna get herself killed!"

Sunset glanced at Rarity, who sighed and walked over. "I know what you want to do, here Sunset, give me your hand."

Doing as she was instructed, Sunset yelped when Rarity bit her, ripping her hand away from her friend's grasp. "What was that for?!"

"Now now, if you're here you're playing by the rules," Rarity said. She turned Sunset around to face the stone. "And don't worry, I've already arranged the right wardrobe for you."

"What do yo—" she didn't finish her sentence before Rarity had pushed her through the portal, leaving her with Ori and Aisling in the now quiet circle of stones.

"Ah knew ye'd be the one." Aisling shook her head. "So what now?"

"We let Sunset help your friend Robyn," Rarity replied. "In the meantime, why don't you tell me what is going on exactly, young one?"

To Be Continued

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, look up my blog on the 31st/1st for a bit of background on the delays.

An additional note: Moll and Mebh's manner of speaking is taken straight from the pages of the graphic novel.

The Wolf of the Wastelands (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)

Sunset's Isekai
The Wolf of the Wastelands (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
By Wanderer D

Panam emerged from her tent with her backpack ready. What she wasn't ready for, was… well, everything else. The vehicles, tents, food, people… there was a sort of additional level awareness that she hadn't had before. Where people walked, they left behind a unique trail… a scent, but it wasn't just a smell, it had much more nuance to it. It was as if a whole bunch of characteristic and unique smells combined together to give her a mental image of who the person was.

"I know it's scary, at first," Robyn spoke up, and Panam resisted the urge to turn to look at her. "When I was bit," the English girl continued, "I didn't have anyone to explain to me what was happening. Why suddenly I could… sense so much more than before. Don't worry. I will do my best to explain and help you… and for what it's worth… I'm sorry."

Panam bit her lip from voicing her thoughts about the apology. If anything, that proved that this was very different compared to V's experience, since Robyn could seemingly only hear her when she spoke aloud. Instead, she marched over to the customized Sidewinder Mitch had prepped for her and threw her things in the trunk.

It didn't take long for Mitch and a few others to gather 'round. "Alright guys, I'll be out for a few days. I've heard Militech border prison has been seeing some Wraith activity, so I'll be keeping an eye on them."

"Alright, make sure you keep radio contact like we discussed," Mitch spoke up, his look making it clear to Panam that convincing everyone to let her go on her own had taken some doing. But Mitch was reliable that way, and Panam was known to go on her own occasionally.

"You know me," Panam responded in turn waving as she climbed into the car. She pretended not to hear the 'that's what I'm afraid of' that came from more than one person around her. They knew her too well.

"So what is this thing?"

She jumped and fought the flush in her cheeks. She had forgotten about the girl. "What, you've never seen a car?"

"No, we don't have them back home," Robyn answered. "We have carts, but those are drawn by horses. They were also wood. This is made of metal and looks really heavy."

"Horses?" Panam asked, shaking her head. "Where the hell did you come from? I don't think there's any place in the world that draws carts with horses anymore."

"I'm originally from England," Robyn replied, "but recently moved with my father and my best friend Mebh and her mother to Aisling's Forest."

Panam sighed. "Right." She started the Sidewinder and hit the accelerator, taking secret pleasure in the scream the girl released when the car started its bumpy travel, with the young ghost girl hanging on for dear life to her seat.

A few minutes later, she was out of Aldecaldo territory and driving through the wastelands, bouncing on the occasional rock and enjoying the relative silence once Robyn had calmed down. Sure, being a Solo hadn't done much for her, but the times she had been out here away from both the City and other duties were too far and in between for her liking.

The girl had since stuck her nose to the window and was watching the world pass by with utter fascination, and Panam took the time to glance at her as she drove, studying her a bit more. It was obvious that her clothing wasn't any of the synthetic crap they had in the city. It was a hand-made leather and cloth set with a green cape with a hood that really looked like it was out of one of those old cartoons she had watched occasionally when she was a kid and Saul would let them hook the tvs to the local network.

"So why are you here?" she asked after enough time had passed for her to start getting bored. "I don't believe you suddenly decided that you wanted to haunt me."

Robyn sat back and looked down at her hands, which she had folded on top of her lap. She looked so miserable Panam almost wanted to smack the back of her head and tell her to cheer up.

"My father, Mebh, and Moll were all captured and dragged out of my world by some unknown creature," Robyn said eventually. "I was barely saved by Aisling… and she told me not to try and rescue them but…"

Panam grimaced. "I understand." When Robyn looked up at her in surprise, she shrugged. "Family comes first. That's what we Aldecaldos are all about. Family. We might not be related by blood, but we grew up together, fight together, live together, travel together… we're a big, strong family, and we all would do everything for one of our own." She smirked. "Even take on a Mega Corporation for their sake."

"Mega Corporation?" Robyn asked.

"I'm kind of jealous," Panam said with a low chuckle. "It's… like a business that has become so big it controls land, people, economy, technology… everything they can get their hands on, which is why we Nomads stay away from them as much as possible. We enjoy the freedom of being ourselves instead of numbers in some Corpo scheme."

"I sort of get it," Robyn said. "Back home… my father and I had just moved to Ireland, and we were working for the Lord Protector. But he wanted to destroy the forest, kill all the wolves, and control everything. He wouldn't even let me go hunting with my father, and forced me to work as a maid in the castle."

"That sounds like being drafted into an office job in Arasaka."

"If it's as dull as moping all day after a bunch of soldiers with muddy boots marched through the castle, then yes."

Panam smirked. "Yeah. It's something like that."

"Anyway," Robyn continued, now sporting a small smile of her own, "while I was there I met Mebh, and she bit me by accident so… oh." She visibly shrunk in her seat, making Panam frown.

"You mentioned that you had bitten me," she said, lifting her injured hand from the wheel for a moment. "What was that all about? I don't remember you biting me. It was some sort of dog."

"A wolf, thank you very much!" Robyn said, glaring at her before once again looking away guiltily. "But. Um, yes. I did indeed bite your hand. When I came through to this world I was still a wolf, you see."

Panam's eyes narrowed. "Are you a werewolf? Because I'll have you know those things don't exist."

"Of course not."

"Then—"

"I'm a Wolfwalker. Big difference."

Panam sighed and took a deep breath. She could see the old abandoned cabin she had decided to camp out at. It was the same that she and V had not so long ago hidden at from the Wraiths with Saul. "So what does that mean?" she asked as she slowed down and pulled to a full stop in front of the cabin.

They both got out of the car—with Robyn simply hopping off as if there was no door—and she began taking her things inside.

"Well, I'm not sure if it will work exactly the same," Robyn began, "but Wolfwalkers turn into wolves when we sleep. Moll taught me that we leave our bodies behind, and our spirit forms take physical shape."

Panam didn't say anything as she took out the last of her equipment, she then proceeded to cover her Sidewinder with a camouflaged tent. "And you think this will happen to me?" she finally asked when she was done with that. She turned to face Robyn, who shifted in place with worry.

"I hope not!" Robyn admitted. "I truly think it is the most wonderful thing but… we have to be careful about not biting others and turning them into wolfwalkers. It doesn't happen every time… Moll said that we need to want it for it to happen for sure. But I can't be sure. I don't think Mebh wanted to change me, but… she did."

Panam took a deep breath. "Okay… and how will I know that I'm a wolfwalker?"

"Well… I'll keep watch over you tonight," Robyn said falling into place behind Panam as she walked into the cabin. "If you're turning, you might start seeing weird things, sensing things that you didn't before. Even seeing with your nose."

"Scent trails…" Panam muttered sitting down in the old sofa across from the door. "Smokey shapes and images of people I know…"

"Oh."

"Yeah," Panam agreed, cursing under her breath. "Is there a way to stop it?"

"Not as I am," Robyn replied. "Maybe Moll or Mebh might know a way."

"Right. Your mum and sister."

Robyn looked startled at that thought, but after a moment's hesitation, she nodded with an adorable little smile.

Panam snorted and leaned back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling in silence for a moment. "F—" she let the swear word die in her lips when she glanced at the girl. She cleared her throat. "Right. And they were captured and brought here?"

"Yes." Robyn nodded.

"Well then," Panam leaned forward. "Let's talk about how we can get them back."

To be Continued

Author's Note

The Sidewinder

Strangers in a Strange Land (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)

Sunset's Isekai
Strangers in a Strange Land (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
By Wanderer D

"Ugh, I've been to a lot of cities before, but not one that smells this bad," Sunset growled, grimacing as she looked down from the balcony of Ciri's apartment. "And you're pretty high up here, there shouldn't be that much smell, right?"

"I'm not sure that's how it works," Ciri said with a laugh, "although I think you're exaggerating. Night City smells bad, but not much worse than many other cities we've been to, right, Avallac'h?"

The elf shrugged. "Elven cities don't stink."

"Yes they do," both Sunset and Ciri said at the same time. The pair glanced at each other and giggled.

Avallac'h snorted in disdain. "Humans."

"Where?" Sunset asked pointedly, and smirked when the elf looked away uncomfortably. Her smirk didn't last as she started noticing certain things. "Ciri, is it normal to see the scent trails of people in this world?"

Ciri, who had been in the middle of setting up some tea, paused and looked at her. "No. That's not normal in most worlds."

Sunset sighed and glanced at the fading bitemark Rarity gave her earlier. "Great. I think I'm a werewolf."

"Nonsense," Avallac'h said, slumping down on a chair and grabbing a nearby box of variety tea bags. He started shuffling through them as he spoke. "This world barely has enough magic to stay alive, much less create a werewolf."

"Yes, but I'm not from this world, and I was bitten just before crossing the doorway that brought me here."

Ciri and Avallac'h looked at each other, then back at Sunset. A moment later, Ciri was rolling onto her feet at the other side of the room, silver sword in hand, while Avallac'h had backed away and had raised his hands, ready for battle.

"Hey, hey," Sunset said quickly, raising her hands. "Chill! I'm not feeling change-y… the only thing so far is those changes I noticed."

"So… is the one who bit you a werewolf?" Ciri asked, not lowering her sword.

"Not… as far as I know?" Sunset said. "It was Rarity."

"Who?" Avallac'h asked, although Ciri looked, if anything, more worried.

"Why would she, of all things in the multiverse, curse you?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, alright?" Sunset replied, sighing. "Anyway, I'm not feeling like I should eat either of yo—hey, no disappointed looks, Ciri! You know what I mean. This is serious!"

Avallac'h groaned and stalked over to the table sitting down again. "This is ridiculous."

"We should still make sure you're contained at least for tonight," Ciri said, sheathing her sword. "Do you think you could enchant the guestroom to keep you inside if you turned feral?"

Sunset sighed. "Sure. Dammit… I was hoping to go look for Robyn tonight." She sat down at the table, selecting a tea bag and allowing Ciri to pour hot water into her cup. "I hope she's doing okay," she muttered, glancing at the sky. They only had a couple of hours of daylight remaining.

"Alright, thanks Rogue." Panam sighed and sat down. "Alright, that's Rogue, El Capitan, Wakako, and Regina Jones," she said. "I'd be surprised if Rogue hasn't heard anything about your missing family by the end of the night, but one of the others surely will know about it."

Robyn's hand went through the stove and she sighed in annoyance at that before facing Panam. "Thank you, Panam. I really don't know what I would do if I wasn't here with you. I'd surely be lost by now."

Panam snorted. "Maybe. But you're a wolf, right? A hunter. A fighter. I'm sure you'd be okay."

"I don't know." Robyn's hand passed through a mug and she sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "This place… this world is so different from the one I know. The technology you have… if you hadn't told me otherwise I would have thought you were talking to the spirits when you called these… fixers."

Panam raised an eyebrow. "I am talking to at least a spirit." Robyn gave her a dirty look, which made Panam chuckle. "But I sort of understand a little of what you're going through with that."

Robyn looked surprised, moving over to sit on the available sofa. For a moment Panam wondered why Robyn could just sit on chairs, but go through other things, but decided it was probably better for her mental health to not question that. It was convenient, and that was that.

Instead, she took a deep breath leaning forward to rest her elbows on her legs, clasping her hands together. She stared at the empty bottle of moonshine on the table, remembering when she and V had finished the thing off, not that long ago.

"I guess I need to explain a little about my people," she said eventually, glancing at her ghostly companion. The young girl had been surprisingly patient, most of the kids back at the camp would have already been whining about having to wait. "Nomad packs were created after we were kicked out of our lands, or dispossessed, or fired by the corporations. Homeless families, carrying only what they could on their wheels eventually started getting together… we had mechanics, teachers, doctors, anything and everyone. A little of everything a city has to offer… and we became families."

She leaned back on the couch, crossing her leg over the other and resting her arms on the head rest. "People in cities like to see us as little more than gangs… because we wear our colors, or fight and die together… but we're not just a gang. We take care of our own. Being a nomad… being an Aldecaldo is having all the brothers, sisters, uncles you could ever want. When I was a kid, our leader Saul would just go out with all of us kids and do crazy sh—stuff just to entertain us.

"When he and Scorpion came back, Mitch taught us how to shoot better; he taught me strategy and tactics. I learned how to fix things, how to take apart and put back together a whole car, how to pilot a hovercraft. We sometimes have to do things that are not… legal, but we're not a group of criminals doing things for money or power… we just try to survive. We get work when we can and well, sometimes that work involves fights."

Robyn nodded. "I understand… I had to break the Lord Protector's law in order to save my… um, mom and sister and the rest of the pack."

Panam smiled. "Exactly. If there had been another way, you would have done it right?"

"I tried!" Robyn said emphatically, nodding her head almost as if she felt that Panam wouldn't believe her. "I tried first to explain that if we let Moll go free, she'd guide the wolves out of the forest… but they didn't listen."

Panam reached over to pat the young girl's shoulder in reassurance, only for her hand to go through her. Coughing uncomfortably, she sat straighter. "I believe you. But, anyway… I guess what I was getting at is that… I grew up with the Aldecaldos. My family was two hundred or so people. We lived on the road, and we never stayed too long in one area. I never got much of a chance as a child to go into any city either… and then I left the family for a while and tried to make a life in that mess over there." She pointed through the window at Night City.

Even for someone like her, who had grown up seeing things like that from a distance, there was so much going on there, so much information to absorb, so many lights, moving objects, giant buildings, insane highways. They were thankfully too far away from it to hear the noises from the city.

"I… it really wasn't for me. I'm glad V talked me out of staying there, to be honest. It's not my world. It's not where I want to be, or where I had any fulfilling connections. The few things that felt familiar were twisted, or used for questionable things. People there get to the point of being more machine than human… there's rogue AIs, violence everywhere, there's almost no trust, no love, no friendship…" She trailed off, snorting at her words. Panam shook her head. "I was glad to be back… to go back home." She looked up at the young girl and smiled. "So not exactly, but I have an idea."

Robyn smiled back. "Thank you. It does make me feel better."

"Anyway," Panam said after a few moments of silence. "We're here, away from everything… and I don't think we'll get news tonight." She cleared her throat. "So… what's going to happen to me?"

"Hm." Robyn hummed. "I think it's easier if you just go sleep. I'll be here for you when you wake up."

Panam sighed and stretched on the sofa. "I think you're keeping things from me."

Robyn smiled. "I am. But it'll be easier this way. And don't worry, you won't be alone."

The world was completely black. Then, slowly, color came into it. Waves of light—red, pink, blue, purple—twirled into it, converging into ghostly shapes that seemed familiar, and yet weren't. Things like a sofa, but with hints of others sitting there. She could see a ghostly version of herself, lying down. She could see a human shape next to her, a bit superimposed, where V had sat. But what was she… she looked into her eyes, and she looked back and suddenly she scrambled back, yelping a bark as her hindlegs slid on the old carpet and she fell flat on her butt.

She looked as the smells and ghostly shapes faded into an aura of sort around everything around her. She stared at her paws, and turned around to see a fluffy tail. And then there was another creature there… younger than her, a grey wolf with blue eyes.

"Hello, Panam."

"Y-you…" The voice was familiar and calming. She took a deep, panting breath, and stared at the other wolf as she circled her. "Wow, you're… well, you look really strong!"

Panam carefully stood on her paws. It was natural. There was no struggle to really communicate her brain's instructions to her body, as she had feared. She walked around the room, looking at things with her new perception.

"Now that you're a wolf, you're much more sensitive to smell," Robyn said, unnecessarily, since she could smell everything. Yuck. "But that's not all," the girl continued. "If you close your eyes… the smells will show you what and who is around you. Your ears can catch the smallest of sounds…"

Panam could hear them. Mice and other small creatures that had survived in the wastelands around the city.

"And your paws can detect vibrations much easier than your human body," Robyn said.

The reminder made Panam turn to face her body. "Wha-how do I get back?"

"When you're ready, just touch your body with your nose or paw and wish yourself back in," Robyn said, "but for now, why don't we go run outside? I've been trapped in this place and the tent and the car all day!"

Panam glanced at the windows, where one was open. "I-I don't know."

"Oh, come on," Robyn said, shaking her tail excitedly. "You haven't lived until you've been a wolf!"

Standing next to the younger wolf—and her own human body—gave Panam a rough idea of her own size. And she was big. Much bigger than Robyn, she could probably carry her own human body without much problem. She whined, glancing from her body to the open window, where the wind brought sounds of so many things she didn't even know were there!

"Fine."

She didn't know wolves could grin like that, or at all for that matter, and had she been told wolves could smile like children in a candy store, she'd laughed at whoever told her that and called BS. But Robyn had proven her wrong. And it was really, really hard not to feel just as excited as she took a leap through the window, following a ghost girl-turned wolf that had bitten her and turned her into some sort of werewolf into the cold night.

And it was really, really hard not to bark happily as they found a rabbit and chased the poor creature all around the camp. And it was also hard not to laugh. It was hard not to play tackle, or play hide and seek with with Robyn. And it was nigh-impossible to not howl at the moon and hear the occasional coyote or stray yelp in the distance.

So she didn't even try not to do it.

To be Continued…

Author's Note

Again apologies for the delay, as I said in my blog, I really didn't like what I had written before. This chapter originally started with a chase on the streets involving Sunny and Ciri, and then devolved into a mess of Cyberpunk 2077 references that didn't add much to the story and really took away from time with the characters.
I also really wanted to have that magical moment of Panam's transformation. Of course there's more to our wolve's adventures coming up, but this chapters does a better service to the story I think.
So I hope you liked it!
~WD

Captives (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)

Sunset's Isekai
Captives (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
By Wanderer D

New Cast References in Author Notes.

Bill Goodfellowe had not been a wolfwalker for long. In fact, he had become one unexpectedly and under very stressful circumstances. The thought of his daughter, Robyn, standing defiantly in front of his crossbow as she protected Moll's wolf form from him still gave him chills. He glanced at the large wolf, sleeping protectively next to her daughter with some pain over the memory as well. He hadn't known, and yet the ignorance wasn't enough to not feel guilt over almost killing someone he had grown to love.

His ears twitched as he heard the heavy, metallic thumps made by the boots of the human-like creatures that had caught them. They were approaching, perhaps with another bowl of that disgusting food. It tasted… fake, almost powdery, and neither Moll nor Mehb had liked it either. But it was better than growing weak due to lack of nourishment.

And as much as he hated to admit it, being in the cage felt safer, considering what he had seen outside.

The tendrils that had caught them had thrown them painfully into the middle of what he had thought at first was just a strange town square with a stone floor. But the scents, the noise and—when he had finally looked around—the gigantic city, presented a completely alien world to him. Perhaps as a human he would have been less affected, but his new animal-like nature was flooded with information that he was just not ready to process.

If it hadn't been for Moll…

"It seems they're coming."

Bill turned his head to look at her. He could smell small traces of fear, but she was so calm otherwise, so gentle and strong that he could only nod at her. To think he had almost killed such a magnificent creature…

"Oh, none of that, Bill," she said raising up gently as to not wake up the exhausted Mebh, and walked over to him, nuzzling his neck with her snout. "You've apologized plenty of times. Right now we need to be strong for Mebh and for Robyn."

Bill sighed, and looked at the closed gate. This building was all made of metal… it boggled the mind of how they had managed to do this. How many blacksmiths would it take to just make this one room? And that wasn't even considering the stonemasons and artisans needed for the monstrosity outside their cell. This place could have only been built with magic, and these creatures had to be trolls or elves or some sort of ancient legendary species.

"How are we going to get out of here?" he growled, leaning into her. "We can't even bite them, they'll turn into wolfwalkers themselves."

Moll laughed. "No they won't. We need to want in a way to turn someone into a wolf for it to work. Mehb wanted a companion… she felt all alone and was playing around with Robyn when she accidentally bit her… but that need—that want for companionship is what allowed her magic to help Robyn find her inner wolf." She grinned, showing rows of fangs that would have scared him to death not so long ago. "Remember when Robyn was fighting the soldiers? She bit some of them, but they didn't turn into wolfwalkers."

Bill tilted his head, looking at the rust colored wolf. "Then why did I transform?"

Moll chuckled. "Do you really think I would want Robyn to not have her father around?" she asked gently. "We were enemies at that moment, Bill, but in you I saw a lot of myself, and a loving father. It would have been a tragedy to tear your family apart."

Bill barked a laugh. "How very sly of you."

"I have my moments."

There was a commotion outside, and they heard growls and barks. Giving each other concerned looks, they prepared themselves as the sounds of struggles, really colorful swearing and unmistakable wolf noises came closer and closer to their room.

"Ma?" Mehb muttered, shaking her head as she stood up on all fours. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, I think I—"

A loud bang, followed by more swearing interrupted her. The entire floor shook, and someone shouted. "Put the muzzle on it!"

"It shoots fire from its mouth!"

"I said put the muzzle on!"

"I said IT SHOOTS FIRE FROM ITS MOUTH!"

Another loud bang, followed by a whine and a thump. "There. Just throw it in the cage with the others."

"I'm not going in there! What if they fry me!"

"We shoot them with tranquilizers too. Now do it!"

The metallic door across from their cage opened and one of the creatures… a thing with half its face replaced with metal and glass and glowing things peeked into the room, studying them for a moment. When it seemed satisfied, it grunted and started dragging something into the room.

"Oh, no!" Moll gasped.

The group was bringing in another wolf. It wasn't one of their pack, but it resembled Moll a little in size and color, except it had golden, wavy stripes on its coat. Whoever that wolf was, she was unconscious, but breathing.

"Okay guys," the creature (Bill still refused to consider it human) shouted, "give me a hand over here."

Two more of the creatures marched in, pointing their weapons at the three of them. Mebh growled, but Moll reached out with her paw, pushing her back as she and Bill backed against the end of the cell.

"Told you they were intelligent," one of the creatures—the same one that had fed them the night before, Bill noted—muttered, holding his weapon in place.

"Whatever! I don't care if they can sing the latest Eurodyne song in chorus!" the bigger, more muscular creature snapped. "If they understand what we're saying, even better." He turned to glare at them. "You are more valuable alive, but if you attack us, we'll kill at least one of you."

Bill growled, but lowered his head, glowering at the creature, who smirked and nodded at the others. One of them carefully opened the cage, then when none of them attacked, opened the door fully and allowed the others to throw in the other wolf before closing the door behind them.

A few seconds later, they were gone.

Mebh carefully approached the unconscious, muzzled wolf, sniffing her. "Who is she?"

"I don't know," Moll said, "but she's also a wolfwalker."

"You can tell?" Bill asked, eyes widening.

Moll nodded, motioning with her head at their comatose guest. "Look at her, and trust yourself. Remember when you told me you recognized Robyn when she had turned into a wolf and you didn't know you were a wolfwaker by then?"

Bill nodded, approaching carefully. He studied the new wolf, and as the scents formed an aura-like shape around her, he noticed the contours of a sleeping young woman. "What does this mean?"

"It means," Mebh said, "that Robyn's probably here too!"

Panam had followed her new spirit animal friend all over the wastelands. Even though the stink of gas and smog from the city still reached them (and she had to explain the smells to Robyn), the whole experience had been incredible.

She had never felt so free, so unshackled from the world that had tried to kill her and her family multiple times. There were completely new experiences here outside of the engines and guns and mercenary work. This was the freedom she had been seeking… the freedom that had taken her to Night City, and through so many deadly adventures.

"This is amazing!" she panted, side by side with the younger wolf. Both of them sitting at the top of a rock in the middle of nowhere. The city cast a glow on the sky that drowned out the stars right above it, but overhead she could see the moon glowing and more than a few celestial objects including satellites, a concept that had really confused Robyn.

The dawn found them running back to the farm, laughing and nipping at each other. If there was one thing Panam could say about Robyn, it was that the girl was really easy to think of as a protege or a younger sister. Even though it had been the younger wolf teaching her how to be a wolf, it hadn't taken long to grow to like the energetic youth.

Despite the fact that she was scared, anxious about her family, and in a strange land completely outside of her experience or anything she could have imagined, she had still found joy in running and hunting and playing. She was a trooper, this one, and one that Panam was already fond of.

They sneaked around the farm, making sure no one had seen them before pushing the window open with their nose and jumping in. Once in front of her body, Panam glanced at Robyn, who nodded at it. "Just touch it with your nose or paw and concentrate on going back in."

"That easy, huh?"

"Yep."

Panam placed a paw on her own knee, then took a deep breath and visualized herself becoming… something like smoke. She closed her eyes and the next moment, she opened them as a human.

"Wow, that a trip," she said, shaking her head and stretching.

"And isn't it the best thing?" Robyn asked, sitting on the floor with a shit-eating grin on her face. "Not only do you get to be a wolf, but your body is rested as well."

"I did notice that!" Panam said with a laugh. "I'll be honest, up until I was out there chasing that jackrabbit I really thought I was imagining all of this." She licked her lips. "Although I don't think I could eat it like that in this form."

"I would hope not!" Robyn said, sounding slightly scandalized. "Eating animals like that is fine for wolves, but we humans must cook the meat!"

"Hey, hey," Panam said, raising her hands up in a sign of peace, "I'm with you on this one!" She grinned at Robyn. "Now I should get some—" she stopped when a call came up in her HUD. "One sec. Rogue?"

The face of her fixer came up in her display, the older woman giving her a smug look. "I found something… but you're not going to like where this is going."

"That bad, huh?"

Rogue sniffed, "Yes. I got the information for you, I'll send it via link."

"Wait, what about my fee?" Panam said. "I don't trust you just giving me this for free."

"Who said anything about free?" Rogue asked. "V has a tab to cover you for emergencies. This barely puts a dent in it."

Panam sighed. "V did that?"

"Yep. So, if you want to complain to anyone, that'd be who."

"Oh, V will hear about it," Panam grumbled. She watched the file transfer and nodded. "Okay so… oh shit. Why did it have to be Maelstrom?"

To Be Continued

Author's Note

Probably concluded next chapter!

Rogue:

One of the original Cyberpunks from 2020, Rogue is still active in 2077. She's not doing the dirty work herself anymore, however. After Johnny Silverhand, herself and the Netrunner (hacker) Spider bombed Arasaka Tower, she stepped back from the frontlines and now is the most (in)famous fixer in Night City.

Maelstrom:

One of the gangs operating in Night City, the Maelstroms are heavily modded humans to the point that they are more machine than human. They are fond of replacing just about anything with Cybertech, but this seems to have also a deep effect on their psyche, with the vast majority (if not all) of them taking drugs so potent they would OD a normal human in an instant.

Classic Greed (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)

Sunset's Isekai
Classic Greed (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
By Wanderer D

A few hours earlier...

~~(Sunny)~~

"Alright, I'll cast a few spells on the room. They should last all night," Sunset said, taking out the last of the breakables out of Ciri's bedroom. "I'll make it soundproof as well, so that way if I do turn into a werewolf and start trying to trash the place or howling, no one will hear it."

"Well," Avallac'h drawled, "at least my sleep won't be interrupted by the snarls." He straightened up. "I will, of course, make sure your magic protection is appropriate."

Sunset shrugged. "Knock yourself out."

Ciri shook her head, glancing at their guest a bit worriedly. "Are you sure you don't want me to portal out of here to find you a cure?"

"Nah," Sunset said, patting her shoulder, "I'll be fine. I'll be back to normal in no time after this adventure. I'll just roll with it for now."

"If you say so."

Ciri and Avallac'h watched as Sunset closed the door with a "good night!". A few seconds later they could feel the magic being cast and then the field as Sunset's spells fell into place. Ciri glanced at her elf companion and smirked.

"You seem surprised."

Avallac'h closed his mouth with a snap, frowning as if he couldn't quite believe what he was sensing. "It's… appropriate." He coughed, glancing a bit nervously at Ciri. "And you're sure she's a friend, correct?"

Ciri grinned, one of her dangerous smiles. "We can only hope." She stretched and casually picked up her silver sword. "Might want to keep this around, though."

She watched Avallac'h gulp despite his attempts to look indifferent, and couldn't help but smile for a second before grimacing and glancing at the door. Sunset didn't show any signs of lycanthropy she was familiar with, but the other woman had a lot of experience of her own, and if anyone would be able to recognize symptoms like that, it would probably be—of all the multiverse she had met—Sunset Shimmer.

~~(Sunny)~~

"Okay," Sunset said, raising a finger for each item as she listed them. "Spell to protect objects and walls, check. Spell to cancel sound… check. Spell to keep me physically unable to get out… check. Spell to stop people from barging in… check." She sighed, walking over to the window and opening it up a bit, smirking. "Ventilation. Check. At least with all the other spells I won't be able to get out."

With that, she pulled a chair and leaned on the sill, looking outside at Night City. In many ways, she could see so many worlds, including her second world, ending up like this place. Controlled by corporations, who in turned controlled the government. Devoid of freedom, yet full of the illusion of it, where so-called power was wrestled by guns and violence at the cost of the people that lived there, and gang mentalities that pitted one against each other.

It wasn't the first world like this she had visited, and it wouldn't be the last, she supposed. It just took the right mix of factors to turn things into this. She let out a slow breath. "Well, there's always a light of hope even in places like these, designed to suck your soul into its entrails and never let you go."

She yawned. As she dozed off, she hoped her clothes wouldn't tear up.

~~(Sunny)~~

Sunset opened her eyes. "Something is not right," she muttered. All her senses were heightened, she was not in her room—in fact, she was standing on the other side of the open window, on the sill above the sheer drop of several hundred feet to the ground below… and she wasn't human.

Sunset looked down at her paws and wiggled them gently. She admired her claws, feral and sharp. She touched her face. Her muzzle. Felt her fangs with her tongue. Panted. Licked her nose. She wagged her tail. "I'm a red wolf again?"

Just to make sure she wasn't in Zootopia, she carefully turned around in the cramped space where she was. Nope. Night City. She glanced back at her empty room, pressing a paw against the shield she had cast. "How—"

That was all she managed to say before a loud hum interrupted her. She stared at the large, armed hovercraft that was floating in front of her, with several armed individuals pointing guns directly at her.

"Um." She growled. "No."

She took off, jumping from the sil to a balcony a few floors below, then from there to an air conditioning unit, then over to another balcony, barely dodging as the people in the hovercraft kept shooting her, with what appeared to be tranquilizers.

Her distraction cost her, as she landed in a balcony with no other surfaces she could immediately access. She turned around, barely hearing someone in the hovercraft speaking over the loud hum of the engines.

"...found one of the things you're looking for, going o take it down, better have my money ready..."

"Oh hell no," Sunset barked, gathering her magic and jumping over the railing. She heard a curse and the hovercraft sped down after her, but freefalling was way much faster than driving that thing, and it was soon enough that she knew she was about to meet the ground. She concentrated, trying not to do anything too flashy.

She could feel her magic was limited at this time, mostly due to her confusion but… she needed to land now, in one piece. She wouldn't be able to survive this fall under this world's rules if she just let it happen. But she didn't need to play completely by its rules, did she?

And what best way to do that than using her ki to stop her descent?

~~(Sunny)~~

The citizens never knew what hit them. One moment, they were walking along the streets of Night City, the next something landed with a blast of air so hard that it knocked them back and onto the floor.

By the time they tried to make sense of what happened, whatever had landed there was gone, and the only indication that there had been something was that they had been knocked down, and the militech hovercraft above them with the cursing mercs inside.

~~(Sunny)~~

"Okay," Sunset muttered under her breath as she made her way, panting, around the alleys behind the large buildings, "so pulling a Vegeta was the opposite of 'not flashy'. Note to self: Featherfall. Use featherfall next time. That and for some reason I'm… very tired from that."

She chuckled in a slightly self-deprecating way and took stock of where she was. Despite being in California, she had somehow ended in Tokyo. Which made no sense, but everyone here was talking in Japanese. She grimaced at the scents and noises of the city, but she couldn't detect that many animals other than rats and the odd feline.

Still hiding, she peeked around a corner, noticing a large truck was just turning the corner. If she wanted a good chance of sniffing around the city, she could probably hitch a ride in it, and see if she could catch a whiff of something.

The moment the opportunity presented itself, just as the truck finished its turn, she dashed through, her four limbs moving her faster than any of the people around could move without enhancements, and certainly quietly enough to not alert them.

Two seconds later, she was settled between two crates, her eyes exploring the sights, and her ears and nose alert. She heard and saw the hovercraft from earlier exploring the area, but they thought they were following a normal animal, and so never realized that she'd think of something like this.

Night City was by no means small, and it took a couple of hours before they had made it out of the city center area into the more industrial outskirts, far from any Japanese or Chinese speaking areas. Now there was a bit more space around her, but it was pretty much still urban territory. Factories, concrete office buildings, warehouses and even a few apartment complexes decorated the land, sometimes with huge empty lots around them, and sometimes filled to the brim with metal shipping containers in various states of disrepair.

One thing that remained consistent during her travels was the gunshots. No matter what area of the city she visited, there were always gunshots, and never as far as she would hope. Gangs would engage the police openly, and the officers would start shooting on the slightest provocation. It seldom ended well for the gangs, as police was quick to respond, and they never asked questions.

And although those noises and sights continued well into the industrial area and the coast, they were joined by something else. A new scent… it felt.. familiar.

Sunset waited until the truck slowed down. At this time at night—and in this area—the driver had given up on full stops, merely slowing down, then rolling through carefully rather than coming to a complete halt, so Sunset timed her move to the almost-pullback feeling of the air brakes hitting in before jumping and dashing into the darkness between lamp posts.

The truck was gone in seconds, but Sunset didn't pay any mind to it. She had… new scents. The twirling mists that made up the scents around her varied in color and strength to her inner sight, but there were three… that were not human. They were familiar, kin-like to her in this form… wolves. She was missing one, but she wasn't' about to complain.

Her sensitive nose isolated the scents she wanted to follow, and her spiritual eye told the tale as she followed in their pawsteps. The trio had arrived nearby, outside a factory in plain view of the city. They had been scared, confused. They had cuddled together as they tried to make sense of what had happened… and then… other scents.

Bipeds. Humans with as much metal as flesh. Reeking of oil, chemicals, burnt skin, smoke and gunpowder. They had surrounded them.

The wolves had tried to muster their courage, but they had been overwhelmed. There was no blood, thankfully. Their smell-trail took her around the warehouse into a crumbling set of offices around an old factory.

She could see the humans there now… grotesquely modified with cyber mods to the extent that even most of their faces had been replaced by camera lenses and cables. The factory reeked of death, but the wolves' scent was strong.

She needed a plan… she needed to contact them, and then Ciri, but she also needed to understand a little more of how she had transformed before she was willing to really use her magic or skills in this world… and the answers lay within.

"So, how to get in there?" she muttered, studying the humans (if they could be called that) hanging around the factory. After a moment, she grinned, her fangs almost glinting. "Why make it complicated? Let's just go for the classics."

To Be Continued

Author's Note

Okay! So I lied, I thought I'd be able to tell it all in this one, but... nope. Anyway, regardless, we're reaching the end of this arc!

Additionally: Cloudflare seems to be having issues with Imgbox, which is extremely annoying, and also worrying since most of my non-backed up separators are in there, as well as some additional cover arts and such. I've changed the separators for this chapter, and hope that they'll effing fix this soon.

~WD

A Meeting of Mind and Spirit (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)

Sunset's Isekai
A Meeting of Mind and Spirit (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
By Wanderer D

"I hate this place."

Panam gave Robyn an amused look, which faded when she saw just how utterly terrified the girl was. On further thought, it kind of made sense. Robyn came from some sort of medieval world. Buildings, people, vehicles… to her, they were not supposed to look like that. The thought of them even being so high was probably mind-boggling. And that didn't include holographic displays, cyberware, the mere idea of Netrunning or even rogue AIs.

Panam decided right there she wasn't mentioning those. At all. And then there was the smell, which she was now keenly aware of. 'Thank you very much, Robyn.' she thought, smirking at the same time. After being a wolfwalker… keener senses were a small prize to pay.

Robyn hunched over a little. "It just… reminds me of Kilkenny, with the crowds, the cramped spaces, the smells and…" she winced as they drove by a group of police officers fighting a bunch of huge humans, all of them looking more simian thanks to their cyberware than a normal body-builder would. "...the people. But worse. I never thought I would say this, but I am glad I am invisible and ghostly right now."

"I know, and I understand a little. We Aldecaldos—just like any other Nomads—don't like these kind of things to begin with, I can only imagine what it's like for someone like you, who comes from a place of open forests and clean air," Panam said, wishing she could pat her friend's hand encouragingly. "At least you're only here temporarily, and since neither of us likes it, we'll head out of the city as soon as we get the info we need or with your family, if we can."

"Thanks Panam," Robyn said. "I really don't know what I would do if I hadn't met you."

"No problem, little sister." Panam chuckled at the look Robyn gave her. "Hey, we're packmates, right? That goes both ways, so that means you're an Aldecaldo now too."

Robyn rolled her eyes, but she was smiling now, and that was enough for Panam. As they pulled into the parking lot outside the Afterlife, Panam bit her lips, frowning. "Okay Robyn, one thing I need you to do is to keep your eyes focused on me until we're sitting with Rogue."

The Afterlife wasn't too bad, but there were a lot of things that could really throw Robyn off if she wasn't ready for them. At least Rogue's operation didn't go borderline full-brothel, like Clouds, or too crazy like the Totentanz. Still, her protective big-sister side was fully active while they approached, keeping an eye out for things that were inappropriate for a young teen.

Granted, guessing what was appropriate in medieval times for a teen to witness was not something she actually could state with certainty, but hell-dammit, she'd at least treat her like a 2070 teen should be treated.

"What's a Johnny Silverhand?" Robyn asked.

"Tequila, Angostura bitters, agave nectar, orange twist, chilli and Mexican Beer," Panam recited.

"What is Black Lace?"

"Something very dangerous. Stay away from it."

"Why do they call that lady 'Two-Finger Wonder'?"

"She puts them to good use?"

"Why are people dancing semi-naked in tanks?"

"Didn't I tell you to keep your eyes on my back?" Panam sighed, glancing around. People had seen her muttering, but were keeping to themselves for the most part. This early on in the day there were very few people at the club, which was—as far as she was concerned—a blessing of sorts. "It's for entertainment. They let them out every few hours, and they don't only do that."

"What else do they do?"

"Claire!" Panam said loudly, perhaps a little too loud, given the looks the others gave her. "I need a coffee. Extra black."

"Rough night?" the red-headed bartender asked. She ducked under the bar and emerged with a bottle of liquor. "Just coffee or...?"

"Just coffee, thanks," Panam said, sitting down at the bar, and glancing at the clock. "I'm meeting with Rogue in a few minutes and if I need to go deeper into my reasons why, I'd better be sober."

Claire shrugged. "Alright! One coffee, coming up!"

Panam took a deep breath, glancing at Robyn. "Look," she grumbled under her breath. "I'm not 100% certain what they all do, but some work in other places as well. But for the most part, I know they work rounds as waiters and waitresses. It's just… too much to explain here, with people around who don't know you're there."

"Ah." Robyn nodded, cringing slightly, but not hiding her smile. "Sorry, I did not want to make you look crazy."

"It's alright," Panam muttered.

It wasn't long before a large man came over to Panam. "Rogue will see you now. Follow me."

Panam blinked and leaned back, noticing that Rogue was not in her usual seat anymore. "Why the change in location, Squama?" she asked, smiling in gratitude as Claire refilled her mug just before picking it up and following Rogue's bodyguard.

"Hell if I know," the large man responded, not even slowing down. "She said it was private and who am I to argue, eh?"

"I suppose…" Panam said, taking a deep breath. "It's bad enough those psychos are involved, now it comes to this?"

"Hey, chill, tifi. You know Rogue."

"That's what I'm worried about."

Squama snorted but didn't say anything, guiding them down a few empty corridors to a private section, deep within the Afterlife. Panam had heard of this place. It was where meetings with very dangerous information or heavy stakes were discussed. V's infamous first job at Arasaka was planned in one of these rooms.

Her host was already there, alongside others. Rogue and her netrunner, Nix, she recognized of course, even if she hadn't worked directly with him. But there was also a white-haired woman in leather and carrying two swords, who was staring at her suspiciously. She had her hand around an amulet that hung from a metal chain around her neck.

"Squama, seal the room," Rogue said, "and wait outside. If we need anything, I'll let you know."

The big haitan man shrugged and nodded, stepping out of the room and sealing the door behind him. Between him outside, the added security in there, and Nix, they had all bases covered.

"You must be the one looking for the wolves," the strange woman said, eyes narrowing at Panam, then surprisingly sliding down to study her ghostly friend. "And you must be Robyn."

So far this world had been full of surprises. Robyn was not easily intimidated—she had curiosity and an adventurer's soul, after all. Well. A wolf… adventurer's… soul. Or something. In any case, she had been in awe of the city and eager to explore it for the most part. Except it stank worse than Kilkenny, and was so crowded it made her old home in Ireland seem like a small town.

But she'd be okay with that, even the smell, if her family wasn't in danger, and people were… people. It was very strange. Panam was not nearly as bad as people here, but everyone had metal in their bodies, she could smell it even under their skin.

Panam had said that it made life easier in some ways, but she had to wonder what was the price for such a thing to be… embedded into you. Was the exchange worth it? She thought not. Still, more than anything, she felt guilty… because in a way she was safe, where her family wasn't. She had found an ally and friend and packmate, but what were their chances? From what Panam had said about the people that had apparently caught them, they were not in a good place, and here she was, taking her time.

But now that she was faced with someone who could see her… she didn't know if she was safe at all.

"Robyn?" Rogue asked, crossing her arms, a frown crossing her face. "What are you talking about?"

"Huh," the strange woman glanced from her, to Panam, to Rogue, then down to the medallion in her hand, which Robyn could just barely make out looked like some sort of animal. "So that's how it is."

"How can you see her?" Panam asked, stepping protectively in front of her. "Who the hell are you?"

"That's what I want to discuss," Rogue said. Her tone was cold and calculating, so much so that it made the other two women calm down. "Take a seat, Panam. This woman calls herself Ciri. She came asking about your dogs."

"Wolves." Ciri and Panam said automatically, then glanced at each other.

"Wolves," Rogue conceded, smirking with some amusement. "Anyway, one of my contractors found one last night and tried to capture it, but lost track of it in the city… Ciri here found Grégoire and… persuaded him to tell him who hired him." She glared at the woman. "We're still finding out how. Needless to say, he will not be working for me again."

Panam blinked. "Grégoire de Fronsac? How did you manage that?"

"Not many men can resist my charms," Ciri countered, her green eyes focused on Panam and Robyn herself. "And it was necessary. Until now I couldn't be sure if you were working for someone that might want to cause them harm."

Rogue shrugged. "I'm not, but that doesn't mean Maelstrom isn't. I already heard whispers of a black market auction for them. Wolves are extremely rare in the world today. They were thought extinct for several years now. Whoever cloned them—"

"They're not clones," Panam blurted out. "They're—" She stopped, closing her mouth and looking away.

"Yes?" Rogue asked.

"People."

The group turned to Ciri who had spoken. "Essentially werewolves. They're a danger to anyone around them that is unaware of this fact. They're not evil, or even violent, but they can do a lot of damage if left unchecked. They're smarter, faster, stronger than any wolf in this world's history."

Robyn jumped to her feet. "Were not werewolves!" she shouted. "I don't know if they're real, but we're different!" she watched as Ciri frowned, but was unsure as to whether she could hear her as well as see her.

"Werewolves?" Rogue repeated, a sigh of exasperation escaping her lips along with the word. "You expect me to believe these… wolves, are really shapeshifting people that go on rampages when there's a full moon?"

"Wolfwalkers!" Panam corrected. "We don't turn into—" Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth.

"Show them."

Panam turned to look at Robyn. "What? No! Besides I can't just fall asleep on a whim!"

Robyn sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't explain that very well, did I? You don't have to lay down to sleep to turn into a wolf. Your body falls asleep automatically. You just need to will yourself to turn."

"We're going to get shot," Panam hissed.

"This Ciri woman… she'll know the difference!" Robyn insisted. "I know it! She already knew my name, so she knows more. Please Panam!" It was like her father again, why couldn't adults just—

"Okay."

Robyn looked up at Panam, eyes wide. "Wait… you…"

"I trust you."

Ciri could see the girl talking, but couldn't hear her. This was an interesting magical conundrum, and something she'd have to discuss with Yennefer when they had a chance. Why had she tied herself to this Panam person, when the others had not? Why was she a spirit, and not a wolf?

And this wolfwalker thing… that was new. She wasn't familiar with it. What was the difference between that and a regular werewolf?

"Do you know what the hell she's on about?" Rogue asked her, as Panam talked with her ghostly friend. "There's no one there."

"No one you can see," Ciri said.

Rogue stared at her, then to the other two. "Oh. Great. Another one."

The response surprised Ciri, but her attention returned to Panam and Robyn when she felt her Cat Amulet start rattling as the former fell back into her seat—apparently unconscious—as two golden forms jumped out of her body. In a second, Ciri had her silver sword in her hand, while Rogue and Nix had pulled out guns and were pointing them at the two wolves that now stood in front of them.

"What the hell!" Nix was the first to pull the trigger, but Ciri had been expecting that. Calling the ancient magic within her blood, she raised a magical barrier that protected both wolves, silently thanking Yennefer and Triss for all their lessons. Nix immediately turned to look at her, his eyes flashing before gasping. "She has no cyberware! How did she do that?!"

"Stop!" Ciri shouted, as Rogue pointed her gun at her too. "Stop! They won't attack… I-I think I get it now."

With a calm that was almost unnatural in this world of science and technology, Rogue sighed and forced Nix to lower his gun. "This better be good."

Ciri nodded, turning to look at the wolves. The younger wolf looked smug, and the older one was simply rolling her eyes. "These are spiritual manifestations. They're not like werewolves at all. These are still your friend Panam, and one of the wolves Sunset was looking for, Robyn."

After a moment, the wolves faded into a golden glow and receded into Panam, who jolted up in her seat, glaring at Nix. "You shot me!"

"A giant wolf came out of you!"

"Easy guys," Ciri said, chuckling. "This actually explains why Sunset wasn't able to come back to her body. The silly unicorn thought she was a werewolf."

"Arlight." Rogue spoke up, her eyebrow twitching. "I think it's time you explain everything."

Ciri glanced at Panam. "Of course, although I can only tell you what I was told."

"By this Sunset person?"

Ciri nodded. "I'm sure if she's not back yet she's busy somewhere else… but here's what I know..."

To Be Continued

Breaking In (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)

Sunset's Isekai
Breaking In (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
By Wanderer D

Consciousness slowly returned, and with it the feeling of something wrapped around her muzzle. Sunset growled, shifting a little to get more comfortable, and batting at the thing with her paw. Unfortunately the thing did not actually fall off, and it was starting to feel a bit too constrictive.

Which was too bad, because she really wanted to yawn and, well, the thing was trying to stop that. Her memory felt a bit fuzzy. She was a wolf, and there were other wolves and humans around. Was she back in Zootopia? Anima City? Zou?

She sighed and yawned, unable to restrain her need to do so. Her muzzle strained whatever was holding it closed until, with the sound of twisting metal, something snapped and clanked on the floor below her. She ignored it for now, simply yawning, before licking her chops with her tongue and blinking away the sleep.

Across from her, two large adult wolves stood between her and a younger wolf, all staring wide-eyed at her. It was then that she noticed that they were in a cage and the rest of the night came back to her.

"Oh," she said, studying the cage around her with mild interest, before turning to look at the others. As previously, the scent came across at the same time as her other senses, but stronger and somehow drawing a picture of two human adults, male and female, and a young girl. "I guess I found you."

"How did you do that?!" the male wolf asked, just as the young wolf grinned excitedly.

Sunset sat down, tilting her head curiously. "Do what?"

"Break that muzzle!" the young wolf asked, eagerly running from between the legs of her parents to sniff at the piece of thick discarded metal. "Ye had this thing wrapped around yer head and ye just snapped it! It was wicked!"

"Mebh!" the female wolf growled, looking back at Sunset with some wariness. "We could have crushed it between our teeth. Our jaws and fangs are magically enhanced by our will… we can break through steel sometimes, if we have enough magic around us but here… the magic here is different."

Sunset chuckled, "It's okay. I'm sorry, I sort of forgot I was supposed to be a normal-ish wolf…" she pawed the metal muzzle on the floor, turning it this way and that. "Well, I'm glad I took it off anyway, this would have given me a shock, see?" She stood up and stretched, wiggling her paws as she righted up and approached the bars.

"Careful!" Mebh warned. "It has some sort of spell that shocks ye if you touch it! It hurts!"

"Electrified," Sunset muttered nodding to the young wolf. "Thanks for the warning."

"Ye still haven't answered our question," the older female wolf said. "How did ye break the muzzle? Can ye sense the magic of this world?"

Sunset sighed, slowly pacing around the cage, sniffing it and keeping an eye for any details that might help. "There's not much. This world has been stripped of most natural resources, and it abandoned the magical and spiritual side long ago. I'm just… I've been around for a while. I have a lot of magic within me."

"So, does this mean that ye didn't meet Robyn?" Mehb asked, her ears drooping. "I thought ye'd be bitten by her and that's why ye're a wolkwalker now."

Sunset stopped. "Bitten... " her eyes narrowed. "Rarity. So that's what she meant." She shook her head, muttering under her breath before slowing down and taking a deep breath. "Yes, I met Robyn, although she did not bite me. I met her and Aisling in your original world."

"Aisling?" the male wolf asked, stepping forth. "Someone else was there?"

"I guess you don't know her." Sunset sat down again. "She's a fae that lives in the forest you went to. She saved Robyn from getting caught by the magic there, but I'm sorry to say that as soon as she got the chance, she jumped through. I came here after her in order to get you back home."

"That's soooo like Robyn," Mebh said, giggling. She rolled on her back, stretching. "She's definitely one to get into trouble just to rescue us."

"And causing more trouble," the male wolf sighed, then smiled. "But that is our Robyn. I am Bill, and this is Moll. You already met Mebh."

"Sunset Shimmer," Sunset replied, nodding and wagging her tail. She glanced over at the bars. "My friends should have found out I was gone by now, so they'll probably be here soon. I didn't find any other scent around the city but yours, so Robyn is probably on the outside."

"Can't you break us out?" Mebh asked, rolling onto her stomach.

"Yeah, but for now I want to find out a little bit more before we escape," Sunset replied, turning to glance at the other three wolves. "In this world without magic… it is highly unusual that these guys would have known you'd be appearing where you did, or at least be close enough and ready to capture wolves."

"What do you mean?" Moll asked.

"Well..." Sunset started pacing in the cage, "This place has no magic whatsoever, right? Other than my friend Ciri and the elf Avallac'h I haven't found any other traces of it. So why would there be magical tentacles dragging you here? Could it be that Night City was built on top of an ancient burial site for lost, malevolent, primordial gods?"

She shrugged, her tail thumping on the floor as her smile grew.

"You're having fun?" Moll asked, incredulous.

"I mean, I haven't been captured in centuries!" Sunset said with a laugh. "Besides, the lost-god-cemetery scenario happens a lot more often than you might think, and Night City has some really shady blurs between reality and cyberspace. Maybe they didn't have any gods before but they surely do now…" She stood and shook her coat, trotting over to the edge of the cage and peering out, as if trying to see the supposed creatures. "Entities just at the edge of consciousness that have evolved past the understanding of their creators, operating behind the scenes, controlling this world unbeknownst to the poor humans that think they're the ones in charge."

"Wow." Mehb jumped up and down while the other two wolfwalkers stared in horror at Sunset. "That sounds fun! And I didn't understand a word ye said!"

Sunset laughed. "And that's alright too." She turned to the cage, running her paw up and down the bars gently while sparks flew around her for a few moments before she walked away and sat down facing them. "But, enough about me and creatures from beyond. Why don't you tell me about yourselves?"

"This is what I have," Rogue said, sliding the shard into the holoprojector she had sent Nix to get in order for her non-chipped guests to be able to see what was happening. The projector presented them with several files and video stills, which she selected. "Nix had to spend a few hours playing cat and mouse with our Maelstrom friends in order to secure this video, so make sure you show some appreciation."

Robyn watched in awe as what she had thought of extremely good drawings turned out to be actual images of events that had happened.

"Four nights ago—"

"Wait, four?" Panam asked, glancing at Robyn, "but Robyn here hasn't been in this world that long."

"Interdimensional travel doesn't always respect the time-space frequency of the origin world," Ciri explained. "The few minutes between when Robyn's pack was captured in her world, and her decision to jump in was enough for several hours here to have passed. It's the same properties that allow Sunset's Bar to manifest at any point in space-time regardless of the time allocation in either location."

"Yeah." Nix nodded. "Yeah, I definitely understood that."

"He's pretty smart," Robyn confided to Panam. "I honestly didn't follow any of it."

"He is smart," Panam responded, stage whispering to her. "But he's also being sarcastic."

Nix shot her a smile and touched his chest. "Panam, you wound me."

"In any case," Rogue spoke up, raising her voice just enough to get their attention back on her, "this happened four nights ago."

Everyone watched as the video showed a three-dimensional scene of a loading area outside of a factory of some sort, with Robyn—invisible to all but Panam and Ciri—leaned in eagerly trying to touch it before remembering she was essentially a ghost.

"This is in Northside, near the docks," Rouge said, bringing up a map of the city which hovered above the 3D map, zoomed in and focused on the area, with a small light blue square appearing on the location itself. "Most of this area is Maelstrom haunts, with the All Foods Plant that V took down South East by a few blocks. As you can see, everything seemed normal… until this happened."

The camera showed… something. A dark thick line that somehow managed to look three-dimensional and not. Out of it, long, snake-like tentacles unfolded dropping off three wolves like sacks of potatoes. They didn't stay long that way, however, quickly jumping to all fours and backing up against each other as they took in the sights and scents around them.

Robyn couldn't hear what they were saying, but Moll had barked instructions and Mebh and her father had quickly prepared themselves as several humans… the infamous Maelstrom group if she had to guess, emerged from hiding around them.

It didn't take long for the others to get ready to fight, but the severely deformed people shot several smoking things at them. By the time the air cleared, all three were on the floor, unconscious. Then a car had brought in a large cage, and the three wolves had been dragged into it, before it drove away.

"I don't like this," Ciri said, glancing at Rogue, who smirked and nodded, seemingly catching on to what Ciri had seen.

Robyn glanced at Panam, who also was shaking her head. The older wolfwaker looked at her and sighed. "Besides the point that interdimensional tentacles exist outside of anime Brain Dances—which is disturbing enough as it is—I'm guessing that Ciri here caught as well that Maelstrom seemed to be waiting for your family."

Ciri nodded.

"Indeed," Rogue said, "which is why we're doing this here in this isolated room, away from any prying ears or eyes." She cleared her throat, glaring at Panam briefly. "Not even taking into account unexpected, sudden transformations."

"Spiritual projections," Ciri corrected.

"Whatever they are," Rogue continued. "The fact that they were ready for Robyn's family means that, not only are they familiar with the magical event and likely to have done this kind of thing before, but they might have backup plans of some sort." She smirked. "However, as long as they behave like Maelstrom, we should be able to overwhelm them with a proper plan."

Robyn glanced from the underside of the highway overlooking the factory area down below. "Ooh… I don't like this."

She had never been so high up in her life, and yet, even knowing that the buildings further down into the city were even taller, did little to assuage her nerves. It didn't matter that she was essentially a ghost at the moment either, since she didn't know what would happen to her should Panam fall off the edge she had nested at with what she called a 'sniper' rifle.

"Don't worry," Panam said, "with these boots Rogue gave me, we should be able to just land safely even if we fell from up here."

"Yes. You did mention that," Robyn replied tersely, "but I'd rather just walk. Even if it takes a little longer."

Panam chuckled. "We don't have time, the operation is starting." She raised her rifle and motioned with her head for Robyn to get close enough to peek through the sights. She gasped at how clearly she could see the people down so far away, almost as if they were just a few feet away from her, before Panam took full possession of the sight and Robyn had to content herself with watching from the distance.

"Okay," Nix said, his eyes glowing blue as his consciousness stretched into the computer systems of the warehouse, "I'm in. I've got the cameras here… and oh, here are some of our friends…"

Ciri narrowed her eyes as a small patrol of Maelstrom gang members rounded a corner. As soon as they were out of sight from the rest of the building, one of them started short-circuiting. The others barely had a second to react before they too fried on the spot, with the entire group collapsing into a pile of smoking flesh and tech.

"They need better firewalls," Nix said in response to her raised eyebrow. "Now, go, it's only a matter of time before they catch on and the internal systems of the factory are on a completely different network entirely. I'll be able to help you get in, but after that, it's all you."

"Joy." Ciri could hear the unspoken challenge from the hacker, so she smirked and disappeared in a silver flash, reappearing hiding behind some crates. She could hear Nix swearing on the headpiece and chuckled to herself as she allowed herself to fall into the practiced-art of sneaking around. She walked under some crates, stopping immediately when she sensed, then saw the Maelstrom guard walking on top of the roof right next to her.

A small wet sound and a thunk were followed by Panam's voice. "Got him."

Ciri took a deep breath and silently thanked the fates that her own world didn't have weapons like these yet. It was probably a matter of time, but she had centuries, if not thousands of years before that came to happen.

She snuck closer to the factory.

"I see an open window on the second floor on the east side if you can make it," Panam offered from the radio.

"Main door only has two guards outside which I can take out for you if you want," Nix added, "but that way is guaranteed to get all their attention on you. I know you're good, but how good are you at dodging bullets?"

"Not something I wish to find out," Ciri said, opting to stick to the wall and moving alongside it. "There's the cargo elevator Rogue showed us in the map, and it's active... I can probably sneak in that way."

"I see it," Nix said, "but activating it will draw a lot of attention when you start it up."

"Can't be helped," Ciri looked up at the second floor, then down at the elevator platform. "I think we should go for plan C, I can see traces of the wolves being here, and judging by how this looks, it probably goes further down than we thought."

"Plan C it is," Rogue's voice came from the radio. "Panam you and Robyn join Nix. Nix, get the van ready, but stay put in case we need quick hacks. Ciri, as soon as you three are in position, give me the signal."

Ciri smirked. "Roger that. I think it's time we really made whoever is behind this... pay."

To be Concluded

Author's Note

Many apologies for the delay. Fortunately I know for sure the next chapter in Cyberpunk will be the last before we continue onto other worlds. :twilightblush:

Didn't Start the Fire (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)

Sunset's Isekai
Didn't Start the Fire (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
By Wanderer D

Sunset joined the others, jumping to all fours and looking up, ears fixed straight ahead as the building rumbled.

"What's happening?" Mehb asked, eyes wide.

"I think we're being rescued," Sunset replied. Her ears were already painting a distant flash of combat as she recognized the sounds of projectiles and explosions, as well as the rumbling under her feet of the elevator she had been dragged onto when she was brought here in the first place. "The question is, how are our jailers going to react?"

Moll gave her an unamused look. "And why do ye say that?"

"Think about it," Sunset said, "we're expensive commodities brought from another dimension with means far beyond what this world's technology is capable of doing so far. I doubt they'll simply let us be rescued. I suggest we get ready."

Bill walked over to her. "For what, exactly? We can't escape while the cage is electrified."

"Not to mention their weapons are more powerful than the ones from our world," Moll added.

"...and they barely are human to begin with," Mehb said. "Not that that will stop me from biting their arms off and chewing the marrow out!"

"Mebh!" Moll chided. "You don't know where they've been. Don't you dare chew on someone so smelly!"

"Aww."

Sunset shook her head. "No… you can't just bite your way out for now, but I can handle the cage if needs be." She turned around so she could face all three. "Okay, I am going to need you to trust me."

Bill and Moll looked at each other before the latter spoke up. "Usually when someone says such a thing, there's a snap-trap underfoot," Bill said cautiously.

Sunset grimaced and made a so-so motion with her head. "There is a possible catch. The thing is, if we escape the moment they come back, we'll be safe, but we'll miss an excellent opportunity to find out who is behind this."

"Then we have to!" Mehb spoke up, jumping in a tight circle around them. "We can't just run away! We're wolfwalkers! We have to teach them a lesson!"

"Mebh, we can't just risk—"

"But mammy!" the younger wolf interrupted, "they put ye in a cage again! They put me and Bill in a cage! And ye know they will throw Robyn in here if we let them!"

"It'll be relatively easy to cut this world off from yours once we're back there," Sunset said, "but whoever did that could open it again, or have openings into other universes as well. The sooner we put a stop to them, the better."

The other three wolves glanced at each other, with Mebh sitting to Sunset's right and lowering her ears and head submissively. "Please, mammy?"

Moll rolled her eyes and looked directly at Bill. "I think we will regret this." She sighed, turning to face Sunset. "But I can't allow this to happen again, to us or others."

Sunset grinned. "Thank you."

It didn't take long for 'Plan C(iri)' to start.

Panam and Robyn had emerged from the shadows of one of the buildings, their padded paws making it almost impossible to hear them over the regular sounds of a busy city, much less over the sudden explosion that shook the whole building, followed by shots from an alarming variety of weapons.

Panam, the larger of the two wolves—who had a dirty coat of red and black—simply took the shots in stride, even if her ears reacted as would be expected of a creature that had more sensitive ears than a human, but Robyn… the young wolf cringed and whimpered when it all started, and it took both the soft nudging from Panam, and an encouraging scratch behind the ears from Ciri to make her look up with a bit more confidence.

"Use that fear," Ciri whispered as they reached the elevator hatch. "Turn it into conviction."

The younger wolf visibly took the words in and nodded resolutely, making Ciri smile. It was clear that whatever surprises this world might throw their way, Robyn was no stranger to fighting and danger. Even scared, it had only taken a moment of encouragement to find her inner strength and be ready, and if she was honest with herself, Ciri was glad that was the case.

They were going into the belly of the beast, as it were, and as much as she could respect Robyn's efforts so far, she couldn't risk herself and Panam with a clear conscience if the young wolfwalker was terrified and unable to act.

She thought back on her family/mentors and realized that Yennefer would very much be against this whole effort. Sunset probably didn't need saving… but then again, Geralt would be pretty amused at the whole thing. Which was enough for her to know she was making the right move here.

The elevator hatch opened with a clang and, as soon as it had emerged completely, the trio had jumped in and pressed the button to descend. Ciri once more took stock of the situation and her equipment.

For this mission, Rogue had given her a sword she had borrowed from someone named "V". It was a katana called Tsumetogi, which—she had to admit—was pretty sweet, and also saved her own regular sword from suffering damage. She had still brought her silver sword along, however, since magic was involved and none of them knew what they would find in there.

She didn't have any idea what they would be facing magically or spiritually speaking, so she hadn't bothered with many potions. She slid her hand into her pouch, touching the surfaces of the ones she had… "Blizzard. Kiss. Swallow. White Honey," she recited silently to herself. She hoped she didn't have to use them, but she was ready with her potions. Even if they were… generic.

Too generic, but without any info to plan further… She shook her head. There was no point in speculating. She had potions, swords, two wolf companions, a couple of grenades courtesy of Panam, and the transponders for Nix, not counting her magic and swords. She was as prepared as she could be under the circumstances.

She heard Panam make some noises and turned to see her concentrating on Robyn, no doubt explaining to the younger wolf what was happening around them. A child she might be, but the wolfwalker was proving her mettle a hundred times over. Ciri remembered how excited and yet terrified she'd been when she and Avallac'h had first arrived in this world while escaping the Wild Hunt.

It was as far from magic as you could get, and therefore they felt it was the safest place to be for now. However, what had happened with Robyn's family changed things. It put this world at risk of being attacked by the Wild Hunt as well, if enough magic to draw their attention came into play.

And even though the fledgling magic hadn't spilled past certain areas, already the world seemed more vibrant and alive around her two wolf companions, a sign that the magic emanating from them was somehow re-energizing the world, just a little.

The sounds of gunshots above them slowly faded as they went deeper and deeper underground. As the elevator slowly passed yet another floor, she quickly stuck a transponder to an exposed nook before it was out of sight.

"Nix, can you hear me?" She asked, activating her communication device.

"I can. This would be so much easier if you had cyberware. We could just—"

"Not happening," Ciri said. "I can see how it can be useful at times, but I don't intend to stay in this world forever."

"Heh. I guess it says a lot that I'm more distressed at your lack of 'ware than the fact that you're not even from this dimension." Nix laughed. "Anyway, I sense a network close by. Once you reach the bottom floor, place the next transponder close to any device and I should be able to jump into their network and even closed-circuit systems if we're lucky."

A small whine made Ciri look at Robyn, who was looking around warily. She smiled and kneeled reaching out to scratch the young wolfwalker's ear. "This is crazy, huh?" she confided, shaking her head as she looked around them. "But don't worry, you're doing great. Right now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to explain this to my friends in my world."

Robyn rolled her eyes and yipped, clearly amused, and Ciri laughed in turn. She slowly stood up as the elevator started slowing down. "I think we're here… keep your senses trained on our surroundings. Can you two smell the other wolves?"

Both wolfwalkers nodded, their eyes shining resolutely. Ciri prepared herself, sliding Tsumetogi out of its sheath and getting into a ready position as the elevator shuddered into a stop. There was a slight pause before the pneumatic locks engaged and the doors slid open, revealing a long corridor that ended in closed double doors.

"Well," Ciri said, "here goes nothing…"

"Someone's coming."

Sunset looked up at Moll, who nodded. She shook herself as she stood up, trying to bring herself into the present and also not let the broken muzzle fall down. After they had decided to find out who was behind this whole scheme, she had managed to bend it back (mostly) into a semblance of its original look, and slid it over into place. She then had lost herself in going through the numerous entities she knew would take advantage of this world for their purposes as they waited.

Most of them seemed a bit too unlikely. Planeswalkers of some sort could be behind it, but as far as they reached, they were usually confined to a certain multiversal domain, rather than prevalent across the omniverse. Not to mention that it would be unlikely for them to limit themselves to using this world as a stepping stone to trap magical creatures when they were more than capable of simply taking them.

Digimon had been another consideration… but the Digital World would completely take over this one. If any Digimon villain capable of breaching dimensions came here, they would have little use for organic creatures. Even magical ones. Their power would be overwhelming in this place and they would propagate too fast for even the best netrunners to be able even attempt to stop.

It was a baffling conundrum. Why bring the wolfwalkers, and presumably other mythical creatures here first if they were going to just take them somewhere else? Why here? She also had the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something… this whole situation felt… familiar.

She took a deep breath—trying not to grimace at the scents that came along with it—and focused again on the here and now. She nodded to the others, and they all gathered in the center of the cage, waiting.

The doors opened and several Maelstrom members stepped in, dressed in their punk-rock-meets-the-automatic-grinder style, and next to them several masked individuals wearing red cloaks and masks, while behind them a larger person stood. She hesitated to call him human. Her wolf senses could detect an odd odor and she could barely hear some sort of squelching sound from him, but as far as she could sense, this creature was more of a cyborg. Maybe just a brain was left inside a machine.

"Ninja?" Sunset muttered, studying the obvious bodyguards. Another nagging feeling of familiarity travelled down her spine like a shudder, but she had very little to go on, cloaked as they were.

"So you see, we got four," the largest and ugliest of the Maelstrom said, which was quite the feat considering his face looked like someone had shoved a camera back-first into a meat pie. "And one of them breathes fire!"

Moll and the others turned to stare at Sunset, who shrugged. "One of them thought it would be a good idea to take my temperature." When they didn't give any indication of understanding, she sighed. "Just… forget about it."

"What's a ninja?" Mehb asked, tilting her head. "I heard ye say that."

"It sort of depends where you are at in the multiverse," Sunset said, keeping her eyes on the gangs outside their cage. "In some worlds they're just spies and assassins, in others they're mystical warriors, and in others they're a boisterous, over-the-top bunch. The only thing they all have in common really is assassination, sticking to the shadows and spying."

"They're not like any spy or assassin I have ever heard of," Bill growled.

"In your world, they would probably be from a faraway country, with a completely different culture," Sunset said, "but over here… there was a section of the city that could have been Tokyo. I don't know what to make of these guys yet."

"What's a Tokyo?" Mehb asked, wagging her tail. The youngest wolfwalker was absorbing all the new knowledge like a sponge.

"Enough," the apparent leader of the ninja said, sweeping his arm to cut off whatever the big Maelstrom guy was saying. "We don't care, and their constant yapping and whining is annoying. They are trapped, and you are being attacked. We must move now and remove them before they're found. Bring them."

The Maelstrom gang didn't look happy, but they acquiesced, moving about the room to input instructions into their computer and unlock some nearby levers.

When the cage had started moving on its own, it had surprised all of them. Sunset had been unconscious when she was put in, as had been the others. But it made sense that they would not want to open up a cage containing dangerous creatures from another dimension unless absolutely necessary.

Either way, it did not change Sunset's plans. As they were carted deeper into the surprisingly large subterranean complex, Sunset took stock of the situation. Outside of the room where the cage had been, they were transported through a room the size of a warehouse.

There were several containers there, but they were not the crates and boxes found at street level; these were filled with liquids of several colors and viscosity. It was a testament to how clean the environment was in there that even with her wolf nose she wasn't able to smell the chemicals contained there, even if the less than pleasant scent of their captors was painfully obvious.

That… and another smell. Sunset blinked, looking at the others. Mebh was sniffing the air, ears perked up with interest, while Moll and Bill were equally attentive.

"Can… you smell two wolves?" Sunset eventually ventured.

"It's… Robyn!" Mebh barked excitedly, earning a 'shut up!' from one of the Maelstrom members. "She's here, nearby! And there's another wolf with her, yes!"

"How did she find another?" Moll asked, exchanging confused glances with Sunset. "And I can smell something else… almost human but…"

"That's Ciri," Sunset said. "My friend. I would recognize that scent anywhere."

When Moll and Bill gave her a calculating look, she coughed. "She's basically a witcher… a huntress. She hunts down monsters, and wears leather. She always smells of leather, herbs and oils," she said a bit more defensively than she wanted. "It's hard to miss even before being a wolf!"

"Right, dear," Moll said, clearly not convinced and doing her best to ignore Mebh's questioning look.

"Whatever," Sunset muttered. "I can't tell if they've found us yet, but it's a safe bet to assume Robyn and the other wolf have already caught our scent at least. How do we let them know that they should let us reach wherever they're taking us?"

"I said shut up!" A snap made them all turn to stare at one of the gang members who had struck the side of the cage with a baton, unwittingly electrocuting himself. Sunset looked at the unconscious member as the whole procession ground to a halt. "I have an idea."

The building they were in was so huge that Robyn had a hard time believing they were underground, and in fact would have disputed it had she not been on the elevator contraption that had brought them there in the first place.

That all of this was under a city as huge as Night City was unbelievable, so much so even Panam looked impressed, while Ciri simply looked more worried.

They had moved slowly and stealthily through the passages, their instincts warning them of any nearby enemies, and Nix's voice telling Ciri to stop occasionally so he could disable devices that could track their movement, but despite the size of the place, it didn't take long for her to stop suddenly and begin wagging her tail uncontrollably.

Panam sniffed the air and her eyes went wide. "Wait… is that…"

"It's my father! And Mebh and Moll!" Robyn said excitedly. "I can also smell another wolf. It must be Sunset!"

Ciri, who had carried on a little ahead, noticed that they had stopped and made her way back to kneel next to them. "What is it?"

"I found them!" Robyn said. "We've found them! I can smell them, they're really close by!"

Ciri studied her with narrowed eyes. "You know I don't speak wolf, right?" she said jokingly. "But I gather from your reaction that you've found our friends?"

Robyn nodded enthusiastically. "They're nearby!"

"Alright, then I'll follow you two," Ciri said, "but don't rush! We need to be careful and study the situation before we make any move, alright?"

It took all of her self-control to listen to Ciri, and Robyn might've ignored her if it wasn't for Panam's supportive nudge. The other wolf nuzzled her before stepping back and smiling. "We got this. But we need to make sure they're safe."

"Right." Robyn closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. "Right. Got it."

Fighting that urge was hard. Her wolf instincts told her to rush to her pack. Her human instincts told her that she shouldn't hold back… before she had ignored her father when she knew she was needed, even though he had wanted her to stay put… but Ciri and Panam weren't telling her to stay away… they wanted to help her get back her family, and unlike the forest and the wolves, where she truly knew better than her father, this time around she was in a completely different situation.

And this time, her heart told her to listen.

She nodded to Panam and the pair led Ciri deeper into the complex. She heard Ciri whisper something to Nix, but she wasn't paying too much attention to that. Her focus was on the floor, the scent, the sounds around them.

She wasn't going to allow them to be caught or ambushed, not when they were so close! Soon enough, they had silently made it to an overhang of sorts that looked down into another huge room, and in the middle of it, she could see a cage with her family in it!

Just as she was about to turn to Panam, she heard her father barking furiously alongside the others, but their aggressiveness didn't match what they were saying. Exchanging a wide-eyed-look with Panam, she quickly placed a paw on the side of Ciri's thigh, making her look at her.

Robyn shook her head, wishing she could just talk to the sorceress-warrior-whatever she did for a job. Ciri frowned, but didn't speak up. She nodded carefully at her, as Panam stood up. The trio watched the cage start moving again, and Robyn watched Ciri carefully, noticing her contemplative frown as she looked down at the cage containing the mysterious Sunset Shimmer.

"For the last time, shut up or I will shoot you!"

Sunset growled menacingly at the Maelstrom gang member, but Mebh's words made her calm down.

"I think she heard us," the young wolfwaker said. "Otherwise she'd be right here attacking them."

"We did make quite the ruckus," Moll added with a gentle chuckle. The massive wolf shook her head in amusement as the apparently satisfied Maelstrom walked ahead and pressed something in his hand, jerking the cage into motion again. "But it seems we were right in trusting you, Sunset Shimmer."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves yet," Sunset said. "We still need to figure out what we're dealing with… and that guy at the front is…"

"Strange? Even more than the others?"

Sunset nodded at Mehb's question.

"More dangerous too?" Bill asked, stepping up next to her.

Sunset nodded, glancing at them before concentrating on the leader. It appeared that this last coordinated effort to warn off Robyn, Ciri, and the other mysterious wolf had paid off and the trio of wolfwalkers were now more willing to really trust her. Now she needed to make sure the trust was rewarded.

And as they reached the end of the room towards some sort of large computer that dominated the space just before a raised pedestal with a pink rhomboid floating in the middle, she realized they were as far as she was willing to risk it.

"Okay, this is it," she said. "Be ready to bark the orders to Robyn and the other wolf. Ciri will know what to do… take down the Maelstrom gang first, they're the weakest of the bunch. Leave the leader and the ninja to me and Ciri. Mehb, you join Robyn and help her choose the targets… be very careful of the ninja. It doesn't matter what dimension they're from, they're seldom the lesser danger."

"Right!"

The cage slowed down as the leader stepped forward to type into the computer.

"On my mark…" Sunset growled, crouching low and shaking the muzzle free. "Get ready…"

"Heeey…" one of the gang members muttered when he noticed the muzzle. "What the—"

"Now!" Sunset shouted. Moll and Bill barked the signal as loud as they could, but Sunset wasn't paying attention. She had thrown herself at the bars, channeling her magic into a sphere around her form that burned and disintegrated the bars.

The magical feedback from that made the electric generators on the cage explode violently, knocking out a Maelstrom that had been too slow to react.

That wasn't the case for the others, who had raised their weapons as soon as she had charged the cage, but even they were not as fast as Moll and Bill, who jumped behind Sunset without missing a beat and knocked them down on the floor, their powerful magical jaws biting through the metal of the guns and arms like it wasn't even there.

"Robyn!" Mehb shouted, "these guys!"

Sunset caught a glimpse of Robyn, the lithe young grey wolf charging valiantly at the armed enemies, with a rusty red and black wolf at her side. A ghostly apparition followed by a flash revealed Ciri mid-strike as she cut down one of the ninjas.

Sunset charged forth, ignoring as another tried to cut her down. Her ki alone was enough to rip the ninja's arms apart, revealing the robotic components under the skin. The lack of reaction was all she needed to know that these were little more than robots and she didn't hesitate to jump and, with a wild turn on the air, use her tail to decapitate her opponent.

She landed right in front of the leader, who turned to face her as the rhomboid behind him started spinning faster and faster. Without changing his expression, two small missile launchers emerged from his shoulders, and she had to jump out of the way to avoid the blast.

In an instant, Ciri sword was slashing the man, but as predicted it hit the metal with a loud clang. What wasn't expected was that her strike would rip the suit to shreds, revealing the creature stored in it's empty 'stomach'.

For once, Sunset was surprised as she landed and stared. "A KRANG?!"

Taking advantage of her hesitation, the creature made a move to jump into the open portal, but found himself incapacitated as Robyn and Mehb sank their magical fangs into his legs, ripping them appart and making him crash just shy of the portal itself.

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Sunset dashed forward, casting a light spell that sent a spear of pure magic straight through the computer and the rhomboid at the same time, blowing them apart.

"So… this Krang creature was kidnapping being from other worlds and bringing them here to render them untraceable through magic?" Rogue asked.

They had all gathered outside the Aldecaldos camp. It was gentler on the wolves to not be stuck in the city, not to mention less likely to draw attention. Panam, Robyn's friend and adopted packmate/sister (now that Robyn was officially adopted into the Aldecaldos) had procured an area just outside of camp for them to speak freely.

The rest of the tribe just kept to themselves outside of curious glances thrown their way, but after Rogue had glared at them, they had wisely chosen to stay away.

Sunset nodded, looking down at the container where the krang was being kept. "Yeah… with this world being essentially magically dead, there was little chance that it would draw attention on a multiversal level. The period between captures was long enough for the magic to dissipate, and the inherent magic in the victims was not enough to be sensed with how far deep they were, otherwise Ciri or Avallac'h would have noticed something."

Ciri nodded. "I've been here long enough that something major like that would have drawn my attention."

"What worries me is that the krang are mostly technological nightmares to deal with," Sunset said, "and the tentacles and portal that brought Robyn and her family here were all magical in nature."

"My instincts tell me there's more to it than that," Rogue said. "I don't know anything about magic, or the multiverse, but I do know schemes. This creature is part of something bigger. Especially if the parts don't match."

Sunset nodded. "I agree…" She sighed. "I'll take this creature to the authorities I know but… I think if Nope was here she'd be warning me that I'm about to get caught in some sort of metaplot."

Panam smirked. "At least there's a difference between being unknowingly manipulated and knowing you're being played."

Sunset grinned. "There is that." She took a deep breath. "All that is left for me is to take Robyn, Bill, Moll and Mehb back to their world. Have you two decided what you're going to do?"

Panam and Ciri looked at each other, and after a moment of silent deliberation, Panam nodded for the other woman to speak first.

"I'll stay here for a bit longer, keeping an eye out for anything unusual, but I fear my stay in this city is nearing its end," Ciri said. "With magic becoming more prevalent, my presence here will make it a target for the Wild Hunt."

"Well, if you need a break from your travels…" Sunset pulled out a small key, giving it to Ciri whose mouth went slightly open.

"A-are you sure?"

Sunset shrugged, grinning. "I've been meaning to give it to you, and Ahsoka and Freya both have indicated interest in sparring with you."

Ciri chuckled, grasping the key tight. "Thank you."

"As for myself…" Panam rubbed the back of her head. "I… talked it over with Mitch. I'll go with Robyn and the others for now, until I learn to control my wolfwalker powers. We agreed that knowing me, I'll end up unintentionally converting the whole Aldecaldo camp within a week and that will not do. Once I have a grasp of what I can do, should do, and shouldn't do… well, we'll see what happens."

Sunset nodded. "Keep a hold of that card I gave you. I'll be happy to give you a ride."

Ciri snorted. "What happened to not interfering?"

Sunset shrugged. "I didn't start this fire." She grinned, then walked over to the wooden door with the yin-yang symbol that somehow was part of the tent covering them. "But first, how about a drink?"

All Alone in the Digilight (Digimon Story: Hacker's Memory - Complete)

Sunset's Isekai
All Alone in the Digilight (Digimon Story: Hacker's Memory - Complete)
By Wanderer D

Note: Cast in Author's Notes.

Erika Mishima smiled sadly as her brother, Ryuji, tackled their mutual friend, Chitose Imai and started fighting over how best to hack the Eden Server. The pair wrestled on the floor, while their digimon cheered on, safely outside of the scuffle area.

Before things had escalated, the group was having a picnic in Ueno Park once again, as was their yearly tradition, except with some changes. Usually they would go there just in time for the Cherry Blossoms to bloom on some trees, but not all—they didn't really enjoy big crowds after all, and the park had the unfortunate fate of being the place to go in Tokyo for celebrating the blooming of the sakura trees.

This time though, they were in full bloom, there was no crowd, and they had their Digimon with them to have fun and relax. Them and Keisuke, along with his digimon, although their newest team member was less inclined than the others for a rough and tumble.

Instead, he focused on Erika. "Are you okay?" he finally asked.

Caught in her own musings, she blinked and turned to look at him like a deer caught in headlights. "Y-yeah! I'm fine," she replied, hugging her keyboard/plush toy Memetan closer, blushing slightly when he leaned over to touch her forehead.

The action itself made her cringe and feel conflicted. Yes, on the one hand it was a sweet gesture, given their history together. On the other… she wasn't sick anymore. She hadn't been for a long, long time now.

"You don't look fine," Keisuke said, blunt as ever. He never changed. Never would. "if something is bothering you, let me know what it is! I'll take care of it."

Despite herself, Erika snorted. "As if a n00b like you could do anything I can't."

"Try me."

Erika opened her mouth to argue, then closed it. The world went quiet around them, sakura petals frozen in mid air; Keisuke static in the middle of smirking. Her brother and Chitose were also unmoving, as was the air, the grass… everything except the Digimon, who slowly gathered around her.

The world slowly evaporated into specks of rainbow light, until they were floating over an infinite grid.

"I'm sorry," she said, curling up into a ball, holding Memetan tightly. "I'm sorry. I- it's hard to keep doing this."

Coredramon, her brother's digimon, glanced at the others. "Erika—Hudiemon, you don't have to."

"I want to be alone."

The Digimon once again shared a worried look, and this time it was Meteormon, one of Keisuke's evolved Digimon that spoke up. "I don't think Keisuke and the others would want us t—"

"Please!" Light emanated from Erika's body, blinding the others for a moment before receding to reveal a taller humanoid Digimon with metallic blue armor, helmet, and beautiful, ephemeral butterfly wings that glowed an almost neon-blue in contrast to their surroundings. "Please… I'll try again later."

"But—"

"Come on," Ankylomon interrupted. "Let's give her some space." Chitose's Digimon had more of his old Tamer's temperament than he cared to admit, but right now, he knew, as they all did, that she needed it, as much as it hurt them to leave her.

"You know where to find us."

Hudiemon barely heard Coredramon's words, but a few seconds later, she sensed as the others acquiesced to her demand, and drifted away into cyberspace, giving her the silence and isolation she had requested.

She floated in the space between dimensions, forcing herself not to think; to let time simply pass by and hope that it would take away the pain that came with the bitter truth that everything since the Eater was defeated was a lie.

Finally, she let out a soft sigh and straightened up, stretching her wings. She still didn't know where to go but… "Where did this come from?"

She flapped her wings, moving towards the stone arc that framed a sturdy-looking wooden door decorated with a sun-like yin-yang, coming to a stop just in front of it. She glanced around, confirming that there was nothing else. It was just her, in her little space between Digital Worlds, and the door.

Hesitantly, she raised her hand to touch it. It felt solid. It didn't resonate with her reality… it was something different. Something new.

Sunset Shimmer sighed and stretched before massaging her shoulder, trying to work out the kinks from hunching over all the paperwork for several hours. Her newest idea was slowly taking shape, and with the help of several Twilight Sparkles, as well as Principal and Princess Celestias, she had more than enough material to really get into the details.

Unfortunately, that also meant that she had much, much MORE than enough material to get into the details of. The danger of placing two or more Twilight Sparkles in the same room and having them go over the project was not only several hours of (technically) self-congratulatory reassurance between princesses, but also an array of corrections and suggestions that had eventually forced Sunset to pull out a Focus, connect it to a quantum server, and just have it record the whole conversation for later analysis.

She just hoped her server didn't somehow become self-aware through sheer content.

But, as things were, it seemed like she was off to a good start. Lena, Ahsoka, Freya and Dani all seemed to think so, while Rarity had simply muttered something about re-arranging space and time to better fit her new project.

Immortality was both a boon for time, and an invitation to stagnate after all, so action needed to be taken and decisions needed to be acted on with decisiveness.

Still, she had been working at this for hours on end and she really needed a break now, and so she had started piling the notes in as orderly a fashion as she could, when the door opened, making the silver bell at the entrance produce its crystalline-clear chime announcing a new arrival.

Sunset paused, looking up from the table at the humanoid form peeking into the bar. She appeared to be a teenager, with thin arms and legs, and body-fitting armor, topped with a furry collar around her neck and an insectoid-like helmet with large golden eyes that matched the details of her armor at the knees and elbows. A pair huge butterfly wings seemed to grow out of her helmet, and as she turned this way and that, Sunset noticed that it seemed as if a girls long, blue hair had simply taken the wing shape and the space between filled with shiny, gentle blue and purple light, a shimmering skirt of sorts resembled the wings, falling around the girl's waist gracefully down to her knees.

"Hello there," Sunset said, standing up slowly and picking up her notes. She smiled at the startled look the Digimon (for it couldn't be anything else) gave her. "Why don't you come in?"

The Digimon hesitated for a moment before seeming to gather her courage and stepping inside. A plush whale of some sort appeared in her arms as she did, and she held it tight as she walked down the short corridor into the bar proper.

By the time she had made it through, Sunset had already walked around the bar and put down her papers, motioning for her guest to come closer.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai!" she said, her hands making a gentle, sweeping gesture to encompass the whole place. "My little bar, drifting across the multiverse. My name is Sunset Shimmer, and I'm delighted to have you as my guest today."

The Digimon considered her for a moment before sitting down at the bar. "My name is… Hudiemon." She glanced down as Sunset provided her a menu. A moment later, Hudiemon started glowing gently, her entire shape becoming light that slowly pulled into itself, revealing not a digimon when it faded away, but a young teenage girl with long black hair and golden eyes. She was wearing a blue and yellow hoodie around her shoulders almost as if it were a cape and a yellow summer dress.

"Well." Sunset cleared her throat. "That's unusual."

"This place… it shouldn't… I can't believe it's real, not after…" the girl's voice trailed of as she jumped out of her seat and started looking at things. The flowers; Sunset's pet symbiotic spider, Bernard; the many, many pictures on the wall. "There's Digimon here!" she said, gasping. "And humans… and monsters and creatures I read about in books! Is this really… real? Am I dreaming again?"

"Not a dream," Sunset said with a smile. "My bar is as real as it gets. It transcends time, space, dimensions… it goes beyond the multiverse, to the realm of fantasy, and back to the realm of science. It exists… beyond a shadow of doubt, beyond the limits of imagination." She gently touched the bar's surface. "It's there in the collective subconscious of the metaverse, in the soul of the omniverse… at the heart of what should be impossible but cannot be defined by limits such as comprehension."

The young girl shook her head. "You've been practicing that one."

Sunset grinned. "It doesn't make it any less true… but yes."

"Hmph." Hudiemon… or whoever she was, crossed her arms, slightly amused. "You need to make that delivery a little less obvious."

Sunset laughed. "Well, it's a work in progress. Now, come over and take a seat. My bar usually appears when you need it in some way or another… and please don't feel offended, but when you walked in, I could tell you needed an ear."

The girl sat down again, placing her whale plush across her lap, and perusing the menu before stopping at a particular item. "I would like this… matcha latte."

"Coming right up!" Sunset said, pulling out a mug and ingredients. "So, I hope you don't mind my saying, but you're not a traditional Digimon, are you."

The girl shook her head. "No… you can call me Erika, if you want. It's… easier in this form. Erika Mishima."

"Nice to meet you, Erika."

"Same, I suppose," the girl responded, withdrawing a little. "You said this place was… a bar that moved between dimensions? How is that possible?"

Sunset grinned, wiggling her fingers as the ingredients mixed right in front of Erika. "Magic. It's at the heart of everything."

Erika snorted. "Of course." Still, the girl smiled a little when the cup gently hovered down to settle perfectly in front of her, the emerald green contents accentuated by a frothy white sun yin-yang on it. "This looks nice."

"Well, it should taste even better."

"I will be the judge of that," Erika stated, picking up the cup and giving the contents a gentle sip that left the top of her lip with some green foam. "Okay," she admitted, allowing the smile to grow, it does taste better than it looks."

Sunset grinned, crossing her arms proudly. "I practice a lot."

Erika sipped more of her tea as she took in again the bar and its pictures. "You've been to a lot of places."

"Well, sort of. Most of those people came here to me, rather than me visiting their worlds. Comparatively, I've been to very few places. Sometimes I spend a couple of decades in one dimension or another, taking a break from my routine."

Erika studied the bartender. Sunset Shimmer didn't look much older than her. Maybe in her early twenties, yet her comment implied that she was older than that, and she said it so casually it also implied on some level that a 'decade or two' were inconsequential periods of time for her.

It would be rude to ask her age, but if she went by that comment, assuming at least one picture out of ten, or even twenty, on the wall came from one of those decade-long vacations, they were talking hundreds of years at a conservative guesstimate.

And if it was as casual as she made it sound… "Are you immortal?" she asked.

Sunset gave her a considering look, before shrugging. "As far as we know, yeah."

"I see." Erika held her cup between her hands, considering her situation. "Don't you ever despair about what you've lost?"

Sunset sighed, walking around the bar to sit next to her. "Sometimes, I miss friends that have passed away. It's hard in the multiverse… a friend you lost in one dimension, is probably alive in another, but they don't know me… and I don't really know them."

Erika's breath caught in her chest. She understood. "How… how do you deal with that?" she whispered, staring intently at her cup. "How do you lose those you love and face them again, when they're just not... "

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Sunset asked gently.

Erika lowered her head. "A long time ago… my brother Ryuji and I got in a car accident… our parents died and I… I almost did too. The only thing that saved me was a corporation called Eden managed to figure out a way to keep me alive… by linking my brain to a super computer tied to their virtual world."

Sunset whistled. "Was it their version of the Digital World?"

Erika sniffed, smiling a little. "No… but when they developed it, they opened a gateway to it. It allowed certain things to come through, along with Digimon. A sort of fourth dimensional cyber entity called the Eaters. But, we didn't know that. The portal was closed shortly after and other than some whispers of things happening… time just passed." She licked her lips, her mind going over the facts. She didn't want to dwell too much on it… not after doing so for what felt like years now.

"My brother and his best friend Chitose, were hackers, they almost died once and later on managed to pull themselves together to build Hudie with me… our hacker team. Later on, a newbie named Keisuke came in with a unique problem… and that's when our lives turned upside down even more."

Erika drank a little of her tea, thinking back on the events of her previous life. "He was the first of us to discover that Digimon were not just programs. He introduced me to Wormmon… he… cared for me. We fought a great many battles, eventually coming head to head with the Eaters… I became Hudiemon after an Eater almost destroyed the world using my link between worlds, and at the same time a group of tamers managed to defeat the Mother Eater and the whole world started to be remade… but if I stayed, I would have died… so I chose to live… and I took the memory of the world that would have existed with me."

She bit her lip. "Time and space changed in my original world. There I was never born. My parents never got into an accident… the only person that remembered I had existed was Keisuke, but I couldn't stay with him…" she wrapped her arms around herself, resting her forehead in the soft material of Memetan. "All I have is memories."

Sunset got up and walked around the bar, picking up the now empty cup and pulling out a new one, where she poured more tea for her, setting it down within reach, although Erika didn't make any attempt to drink it.

"Sometimes memories is all we keep," Sunset said eventually. "We have to live on with them and honor them."

"I know!" Erika said, trying to figure out how to explain things to Sunset. Even after so long she was a loner, it was difficult to figure out what to say to explain what she felt. She glanced up, still holding on to Memetan. "I… I have the power to create the world again… a version of it, from my memories."

Sunset grimaced. "I see."

Erika snorted. "Yeah. I can be happy, I suppose, if I can learn to live in my memories… but memories can keep me from the truth only so far." She sighed. "It's not real. And the worst thing is… they're alive!" She looked up, feeling the tears welling up, and fighting back the urge to let them fall. "They are alive and well and happy and they don't know I'm here with the memories of all we lived together! All we ever did, all we suffered and experienced… all our successes and our tears… I remember, and they don't know I even exist."

"Do you regret it?"

Erika shook her head. "No. I've never regretted the sacrifice in order to save them… it's just sometimes I wonder if I'm punishing myself this way."

"Sometimes memories are there to remind us that we need to move forward," Sunset said after giving her a moment to calm down. "They're a chapter of our lives that shaped us in some way or another… living and reliving those memories, twisting them into a fantasy of reality is not honoring them. It twists your world into a parody that leaves you empty because in the end you know it's not real."

Erika snorted. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Maybe… that you've reached the natural conclusion to your experience with them."

Okay, that was different. "What do you mean?"

Sunset took a moment to gather her thoughts, which Erika appreciated. There was nothing worse than a torrent of ideas with no logical order and an uncertain conclusion, after all, you didn't program anything without some sort of structure.

"Despite all the time I have spent in the multiverse," Sunset said, "I still look back at where I began to understand better how to listen, learn and help others. It's too easy to assume I know everything… and when I have thought I have the right answer, that bubble bursts in very painful ways, reminding me of how fallible I am… I have learned a lot, but I am still Sunset Shimmer… and I have a lot more to learn.

"The memories I have… of my time as Celestia's student… of my time after I abandoned her… of my time as a villain, a demon, a saiyan… every experience shapes me, and the memories put it into perspective… but each memory is a step, and at the same time, the next memory is the hand offered to pull me up." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, relaxing as if the simple action took weights off her shoulders.

"You've lived an interesting life."

Sunset chuckled. "I still am… all of those pictures on the wall? They're not just for decoration. Each and every one of them is a memory. A lesson. A friendship… it's time I can't get back, but that started something new, be it understanding that redemption has to be a constant work in progress, to knowing when I am not ready to help someone through her problems." She took Erika's hands in her own, looking at her straight in the eyes. "Your memories are invaluable, they are the building blocks of your future, not the walls around you. There's pain, sometimes, and joy, but both are what make you... you. The multiverse… the omniverse is vast, and you have the ability to go beyond where you are, so do so. I have a project that might interest you."

Erika blinked. "What are you suggesting?"

Sunset grinned. "Bring your memories… and help me create new ones. Start a new story, and be part of the ones that will be created here."

It took her a moment to find the words. "That's an awful amount of trust on someone you barely know."

"I'm a good judge of character," Sunset countered. "And my bar would not let a bad person in." She shrugged. "And while it's true that we barely know each other, I have all the time in the multiverse… and so could you. I have a family across space and time… you could find one too."

Ah. "I already had a family."

"I know… and my offer stands, if that family would have wanted you to move on. I know full well the dangers of getting stuck in the past, Erika."

"And if I don't like it?"

Sunset's grin turned a gentle smile. "You'll still have a place here to come back."

Erika felt a slight tug at her heart. Was she really ready to move on? The memory of Keisuke's smile flashed across her mind. Gentle, and with a firm nod of encouragement. She might not end up fitting in with Sunset and her friends… but at least it was new… and she wouldn't run from her memories here.

She'd take them in. Carry them with her. Turn them into a future.

"So, what's your plan?"

Sunset grinned, reaching behind her bar to pull out a stack of papers. "Oh, I think you'll like it."

The End

Author's Note

This chapter was written in honor of Koji Wada. (January 29, 1974 – April 3, 2016) Hudiemon (from the Chinese word for Butterfly 蝴蝶 -Hudie-, which was also the title to his signature song) was created to honor his memory, and I've wanted to have her visit the Isekai for a couple of years now, precisely for this reason.

It wasn't until now that I got the story sorted out in my mind. That, combined with a surprise delivery I got during the weekend… I won a Bandai Sweepstakes for Digimon, is something that I took as a sign of sorts that this should be the next chapter.

I know 'Digimon Story: Hacker's Memory' is not mainstream in the way the anime series are, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you ever get the chance to play that game, I do recommend it! Worst case scenario, here's the 'movie'.

Erika:

Keisuke, Ryuji, Chitose

Like a Cup of Hot Chocolate (No Heroes - Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
Like a Cup of Hot Chocolate (No Heroes
- Fanfic)
By Wanderer D & PaulAsaran

The moment she heard the bell chime, Sunset sighed into the phone. Loudly. As in, trying to make sure her irritation came through on the other side of the line just so they would hurry up.

"Look, I told you," she practically groaned into the line, "the desks have to be able to survive a direct impact from a megaspell. Think something like White Nova." She paused, listening to the sales person before interrupting. "Yes, you've mentioned that they are made to survive a meteor strike, but you need to understand, some of the people I—" She sighed again, rubbing her temples gently with her free hand. "Fine. I'll take the warranty, but you'd better make sure you're ready to fulfill it, and if anyone even gets hurt because you couldn't pull this off..."

Again the sales person took her attention, but not enough to stop her from hearing the tell-tale sound of hooves on the floor. "Okay, okay. I get it. You can't insure it past their intended use. I was assured that you were the to-go company for this kind of thing, but I guess I'll have to upgrade them myself. I'll take them as they are. Just have them ready for pickup. Uh… an alicorn pony named Nope. She'll get them for me. Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you."

She took a deep breath and slowly set down the phone behind the counter before turning to face her guest. "Ahem. Sorry about that." She took in the newcomer, a middle-aged pony with a fading red mane showing the barest hints of grey in it. He held himself with confidence that was severely tempered by obvious tiredness. At first, she didn't see it, but when he moved fully into the room she barely caught sight of his cutie mark: a reared-back pony, hidden so well among the dapples in his coat she wouldn't have been able to spot it without staring for a while. At least, not without the convenient lights in the bar saving her from the embarrassment.

Some ponies were very sensitive about not having cutie marks, after all.

Other than that, he looked thin, but not weak. Definitely could use a drink though.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai," she said, smiling politely at him. "My name is Sunset Shimmer, and this is my little bar in the multiverse. Please, grab a seat and let me get you a menu."

The stallion stared at her blankly for a moment. His gaze shifted to the pictures on the wall. Then to the jukebox. Then to the bar. Then to the bottles. Then, at last, back to her. “This is both exactly and nothing like what I expected.” He stared at her for a few seconds, peering, scrutinizing with his rosewood red eyes.

“Ah.” Tilting his head back and tapping his chin, he said, “Sunset Shimmer. Age 38. Former student of Celestia. Current whereabouts: unknown.” He smiled at her. It was a friendly, weary look. “You know the princess would pay a ton of bits for information leading to a conversation between the two of you.” Stepping up to the bar, he asked, “Got anything like hot chocolate?”

Sunset laughed. "I'm not that young, but the other details are pretty spot on." She motioned with her hand at the seat. "And yes, I do. It's a fan favorite, so I hope it meets your approval," she added with a smile. "And I'm afraid I have never met you before, although you seem very well informed. What's your name?"

At her confirmation he looked immensely relieved. Settling on one of the stools, he placed his forehooves atop the counter. While his head remained aimed her way, his eyes were darting all over the place. Not in any sort of worry. Sunset had seen that behavior before. He was cataloguing. “Born Verity Fine. Became Fine Crime after my turn to… darker things.” He caught her wince and grinned. “Yeah, I know. ‘Just asking to be caught’, right? In my defense, I was very young and stupid and undergoing some terrible events, so I was also a bit emotional.” A beat. “Most ponies just call me ‘Fine’.”

"Pleasure to meet you, Fine," Sunset said, letting him study the bar as she turned to make his chocolate. "Believe it or not, I have a very good idea of what it is like to be young and particularly full of myself while being an idiot, so you're in excellent company." She summoned the chocolate as she rummaged through the fridge for the different milks she used in her mix. "Do you prefer your chocolate on the bitter or sweeter side?"

“I prefer it dark. Maybe a little sweeter. Dark chocolate is at its best in the 60%-80% range, if you ask me.” He hummed in thought. “Then I like to sweeten it. Usually with marshmallows. Or whatever Pinkie thinks will do the trick. Which is surprisingly more hit than miss.”

Sunset gave him a curious look. "Well then, I do think you'll like this one. I'll even make sure it has a bit of extra pick-me-up in it," she said. "So, you're friends with Pinkie Pie? I can't say I have her flair for sweets, so you're setting the bar a bit high, but I'll do my best." She proceeded to add a couple of different chocolates to her ingredient list on the counter, followed by several kinds of milk and creams.

Down went his smile. And his eyes. “Friends,” he muttered. “More than friends. Maybe more than more than friends. Maybe.”

"Oho." Sunset shook her head. "Want to talk about it?" She motioned with her hand at the bar. "This place is outside time and space, so you're not going to lose time in your world. You can take as long or as little as you like. This hot chocolate is a process, so my ears are fully yours."

He looked at her, his expression thoughtful. Then back to his hooves. He didn’t look so much sad anymore as he did… ponderous. “Going by my storytellers instincts, and considering that this place showed up in my office out of nowhere, I think this is the point where I’d reveal that the bar always just-so-happens to appear in exactly the right place and time for the inevitable patron to spill his guts about whatever is bugging him or her. I can’t think of any other reason for this to be happening. I mean, honestly. A bar. In my office. Using completely different building materials from Canterlot Castle.” Now he was smiling again, fiddling with his hooves. “Am I getting this right so far?”

"I'll say that your powers of deduction are pretty spot on," Sunset said, slightly impressed. "Most creatures will go for the more paranoid approach, especially if I had met them before in another world and I just happened to know their name, age, social security number, and place of residence." She tapped her chin thoughtfully as the milk mixture slowly warmed up. "They never really stop to consider the building materials though."

“I live in a book.” He threw up his hooves in a playful manner, chuckling as he did. “It’s official, I live in a book. This kind of thing doesn’t happen to ‘normal’ ponies. Er, people.” He heaved a sigh at her curious look and shook his head. “Yeah, I know, I’m being weird. Pinkie rubs off on me sometimes. Which is good, because I needed that a lot when we first met.”

Once again, he entered thoughtful mode, a hoof to his chin as his eyes darted about the room. Then he focused on her, taking her in from apron to hair. “I think I’d normally be asking a lot of questions, but meh, I’ve met Discord. And I know you’re a ‘human’ from the reports about that mirror in the Crystal Empire. So I’m going to assume that there’s very little chance you’ll meet someone I know and blab about my entire private life to anyone I actually care enough about for it to matter. And this is all a very long-winded way of expressing how I have no idea where to start.”

"Discord does tend to prepare the unwary for this kind of situation," Sunset agreed, starting to add the different types of chocolate into the mix, along with a little vanilla. "I like to think that my bar is a bit more stable than his usual flair, but it is kind of random." She chuckled. "But even if I knew anypony you cared about, I wouldn't say a word. You see, not only does this place appear when you need it, but when a single creature or a specific group comes through, I consider their trust kind of… sacred in a way. This is my chance to make an honest attempt at helping others and making friends. It keeps me going through eternity…" She trailed off then grinned at him. "You could say it's my own version of Pinkie-level weirdness that helps me be better."

“Huh.” Another glance around. Fine nodded, seemingly more to himself than her. “That explains why it’s so dead in here despite you clearly having a large clientele.” He gestured to the pictures lining the walls. “I guess it’s better than waiting for Fleur to lecture me or doing more paperwork.”

Despite the claim, he hesitated. Whatever was bothering him, he didn’t seem eager to voice it. He turned his attention to Sunset and her work. After a few seconds of quiet, in which she was more than willing to give him the time he needed, he finally managed to speak. “I’ve got a… big job. Work directly for Princess Luna. Spy organization, espionage, all that stuff. Ponies count on me, even if they don’t know I exist. And I’m fine with that.” A beat, a chuckle. Whatever the joke was, he didn’t bother to elaborate. “It’s just...these days I don’t want to do the work. Right before your bar showed up, I was specifically looking for some hot chocolate in an effort to procrastinate on work that could literally save lives.” Then, in a quiet murmur she almost missed, “Or end them.”

Sunset gently placed the cup of hot chocolate in front of him, topping it with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. "One of those jobs, huh?" She bit her lip as she placed the graham cracker into the whipped cream, then topped it off with a little more, followed by a marshmallow, which she toasted to perfection with some basic pyromancy. "I've met a couple of other spymasters for Celestia's court in my time. It's… never an easy job." She slid the finished drink across so it was within his hoof-grasp.

He blinked at her. “I didn’t think you’d heard me.” Then, hesitantly, he added, “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s not that it’s hard. I don’t like mentioning that part specifically because other ponies tend to get all offended and self-righteous. Fluttershy—” He sighed and shook his head. “She had some not-very-nice things to say about me. Especially for Fluttershy.” He turned his attention to the hot chocolate… and just stared at it. Not out of sadness, but out of wide-eyed uncertainty. “I almost don’t want to ruin its aesthetic by daring to drink it.”

Sunset smirked, crossing her arms. "As one of my friends would say: it's an insult to both me and the hot chocolate not to drink it." She nodded. "Don't hesitate, remember. I make these often enough to be on the menu."

She leaned on the bar. "Fluttershy is almost always a gentle soul, but very judgemental of others that don't necessarily match her world view. And she's not the only one… For my part… well, I've seen too much and even lived through too much to not understand a bit of it." She tapped the bar with her finger a couple of times. "But I didn't mean just the weight of the decisions you made, but the personal cost. I know this changeling, who's Celestia's Spy Master in a world far from this one… He had a family he wasn't really aware of, and it took him decades before he even mustered the will to meet one of them."

She shook her head, pausing to reach under the bar for her shaker, mixing some bourbon, simple syrup, bitters, ice and a shot of espresso. After mixing it, she poured the mix into a rocks glass and took a sip, sighing as she came back to the conversation. "I guess it's easy to isolate yourself when the weight of a country… sometimes the world, in many ways, rests on your shoulders. But as rewarding a job as it can be sometimes – or as horrible – where do you draw the line to decide whether it's worth more than your own happiness?"

He said nothing to this at first. Fine took the cup of hot chocolate in his hooves, which made her wonder why he was forgoing his horn. Very carefully, he took a sip of the beverage. His eyes lit up. “Oooh. If my friend Nye had this on the menu at his establishment I’d be a much more regular customer.” He proceeded to take another sip. Sunset half-expected him to take big gulps, but no, Fine only sipped. Once the cup was put down he used his magic to remove some of the whipped cream from his muzzle, slipping it back into the mug. “My compliments, Miss Shimmer.”

She nodded her acceptance, not about to let him change the subject any further than he already had. He smiled sheepishly, apparently aware he’d been caught. “It seems I’m not as good as I used to be.”

The smile faded once more. He seemed lost in thought for a time. When he finally spoke, his voice was subdued. “My job is easy. It looks hard, and it’s certainly time consuming, but when you’re as good at scheming as I am and have been doing it for decades, you learn to do things fast. I just… don’t want to anymore. But you’re right, lives depend upon my decisions. That’s important. I’m important. I can’t just quit. Can I? Stop and go be with Pinkie on her birthday. Kick Rarity to the curb – no offense to her, of course, she has every right to want to spend her precious free time with her friend – and go… I don’t know, somewhere.” He heaved a long, low sigh. “But my job is so important.” He took another sip.

Sunset hummed. "Well, first of all, and I'm going to be blunt about it because it's a universal fact… it's easier to simply walk into Mordor than miss Pinkie's birthday and have her forget that. And second… well, if you did… Isn't there anypony or creature able to take over after you?" She took a deep breath and eyed him with a little pity. "You're going to work yourself out of her life too if you don't give yourself some slack. If you don't want to do the job anymore, and Pinkie is really a priority… Don't you have options?"

He shrugged. “Oh, I’m not missing Pinkie’s birthday. I’ll skip work if I have to.” Then, again under his breath, “Not like I’m doing much of it, anyway.” Returning to a normal volume, he pressed on. “I’ve arranged dinner with her tonight. I do it every year. Mine’s more ‘normal’, to make up for the crazy she tends to do for my birthdays.” At that, he began to grin, his attention seeming to go back to fond memories.

It didn’t last. He took another sip, always a sip, and regained his thoughtful, uncertain expression. “I have a former apprentice. Fleur de Lis. Practically my little sister, albeit a surrogate one. She wants the job. She could do it, too. I just worry about her. I’d rather she not end up in a situation like this. She’s never been one for dating, but then neither was I for a long time. Fleur…” Yet again, he was staring into his hot chocolate. “She deserves to do what she wants, I suppose. I just find myself wishing I hadn’t put her in a position to want this job, y’know?”

Sunset nodded. "I… think I can see that. But at the same time, hasn't she had chances to do anything else at all? Marry Fancy Pants? Date Rarity? Depends on the world, but I can't imagine someone as capable as you say she is not having had more than one chance to do something else if she wished."

Fine snorted so hard he almost spilled his hot chocolate. “Fleur and Fancy. That’d be the day.” He paused to make sure he had not, indeed, made a mess before taking yet another of those careful sips. Sunset finally realized that he was just the type to savor his drink. She supposed when you had pyromancy to reheat things then cooling wasn’t such an issue. He seemed smart enough to have figured that out.

Once the mug was back on the counter, he said, “Fleur did modeling for a long time. That was her cover job in case people wondered where all her bits came from. She was really good at it.” His smile turned… nice. ‘Fatherly’ came to Sunset’s mind. “Really good at it. Famous all over Equestria.” In what was becoming a clear pattern for him, the mood faded quickly. “She doesn’t do much modelling anymore. She spends most of her time trying to make up for my lack of work ethic. Which she regularly reprimands me over. Not that I don’t have it coming.”

"So… essentially she's already doing the job, you just have the title." Sunset grinned. "If this is what she wants to do, and she can do it… Provided you also want this, what's really stopping you? It's definitely not the lack of an heir apparent."

“One layer after the other,” he muttered. “I feel like I’m being peeled. Like an onion.” At her raised eyebrow, he offered that sheepish grin again. “Not avoiding it. Just saying.” He tapped his hooves together, suddenly turning serious. Not in the same way as before. This was a more… heavy seriousness. Not a sadness, more like he felt this was a topic to be treated carefully. “You have apparently seen a lot of things. Have you ever heard of a disease, genetic in nature, that makes a pony… person, addicted to…” He pursed his lips, staring at her as if having second, third, maybe even forth doubts. “Murder?”

Sunset pressed her lips. "I am not a psychologist, so take this as you will, but it's my understanding that all addictions function the same way, on a basic level." She twirled the empty shot glass on the tip of her finger as she spoke. "Something brings you pleasure, you naturally want more. Whatever the initial reason behind the first drink, bet, punch, or whatever was, it stops being as important as the pleasure you get from it." She put it down on the bar and sighed. "Addiction can be treated in different ways across the multiverse… but it is always treated as a disorder at least." She shrugged, looking up apologetically. "I'm sorry if I can't just answer your question. I've seen serial murderers. I've fought megalomaniacs that take pleasure in eradicating entire planets. I don't know if there's such a thing as a disease that makes you addicted to that… just circumstances, chance and choices."

Fine’s entire demeanor shifted. He was no longer ponderous and uncertain. Replacing it all was a hard expression that briefly made Sunset wonder if she hadn’t said something offensive. “There is no ‘enjoying’ the Bloodmane,” he muttered darkly. “It doesn’t work like that. We didn’t do it because we wanted to. One minute you’re walking down the street and everything is perfect and sunshine and rainbows, the next you’re having a lifelike vision, a hallucination of death. And if you can’t reel it in, you do it. When I was a teenager, I woke up late one night to a vision of murdering my father in his sleep with a pillow. When I came out of it, I was standing over his bed. He was asleep, and I was holding a pillow. I ran away that instant because I knew I’d come within seconds of doing something horrible.”

His dark manner faded, shifting once more to uncertainty. Sunset might have even detected a hint of fear in there. “I had it. Pinkie had it. We were able to fix it. Through friends and a lot of pain, we got better. But today Pinkie reminded me: she just turned thirty-five. She won’t be able to have foals for much longer. And the Bloodmane, for all the little we know about it, is almost certainly genetic in nature.”

"I see," Sunset said, taking a deep breath and letting it slowly out. "I've seen many things, but there's always something unique or different in each world." She sighed. "But think about it this way: it might be hereditary, but it's not infallible. You both have an excellent network of friends, many of them with incredible knowledge in magic and yes, psychology. So there is a chance either way, but if you both want foals, you'd be the best ponies to manage that and help them through it."

He sipped his drink. Stared into it some more. After a second or two, he set the mug down and slid it slightly towards her. “Heat me up? Please.” She did so, heating the still mostly-full mug with her magic. “My parents didn’t have it. My grandparents didn’t, either. Pinkie’s grandmother… probably did. She killed herself when she found out Pinkie did too.” He heaved a long sigh. “I know the odds aren’t 100%. I know that. And Pinkie doesn’t have any reservations. I’m confident she would have told me if she did. She wants to discuss the topic later. Maybe even tonight.”

The mug, now warm, returned to his hooves. He took a sip and smiled, but it was a wan expression. Reaching into his mane, he pulled out something black. It was a knife which, if Sunset wasn’t mistaken, was made of bone. He set the ominous thing down on the counter between them, staring at it with a weary, nostalgic expression. “This belonged to my first friend, back when I was a teenager. She killed another pony and took it as a trophy. Then I killed her during a vision. I kept it on me at all times as a reminder of what I was and a signal of hope that maybe, some day, I’d be able to control it.

“Now I have Pinkie Pie.” He pushed the knife away. “It’s nothing more than a tool used for protection, just in case. I don’t need it anymore. I got over who I was. Because of Pinkie.” The frown came back yet again. “But it’s still a reminder of what I was. And Pinkie wants kids. I can’t look at this and not think about...”

He shuddered and went back to his mug. “So I guess now you’ve got the full story. A surrogate sister who wants the job I don’t, a marefriend who wants to go all the way, a sickness that scares the cutie mark off me.” He made a show of glancing back, as if to make sure his cutie mark was still back there. “Yeah. It’s quite the package. How do I gauge what the most important thing is? How do I get over my uncertainty? How do I buck up and… and do what I want to do?” More sips. He didn’t look Sunset’s way, but it was pretty clear he was hoping for some kind of answer.

Sunset was at a loss. This wasn’t her usual hurdle. Fine seemed pretty determined to stay in his rut. Finally, she asked what seemed like the most important question. “Do you love her?” He stared at her for a moment, as if not sure what she’d asked.

Then he lit up into the brightest smile she’d yet to see on his face. “Yes. That mare makes life worth living. There is nopony in any world who can understand me like her. I sang for her, and if you knew how I am about singing you’d understand that to be a shocking ordeal worthy of history books. Absolutely, unquestionably, with no qualifications, I love that mare. She is the jelly to my peanut butter.” At her cocked head, he elaborated with a wistful smile, “Nopony can separate peanut butter and jelly once they’ve come together.”

"Then there's your answer," Sunset said, grinning. "Don't give me that look, I mean it. If she wants that, and you do to, you're only torturing yourself over what ifs and fear. If you two have foals there's a chance they won't have this ‘Bloodmane’ thing, and if they do you're ready. You probably understand it much better than Pinkie's grandmother ever did. Haven't you heard that no one is ever ready to be a parent? I can't tell you how many people I've had sitting here giving me a list of reasons to not have children that matches exactly what the previous one said." She reached over, patting his hoof gently. "And it's kinda obvious you want this too."

“You bet I do.” His smile started to fade. “But what about—?”

Nope. Sunset refused to let him fall into a rut again. She thrust a finger in his face. “You love her.”

His eyes crossed staring at the appendage. “Well, sure, but—”

She poked his muzzle. “You love her.”

“Yes. We've established that. But—”

Another poke. “You’d do anything for her.”

“Yes?” Now he just appeared confused.

“Including having kids with her?”

“I…” He swallowed. His frown began to shrink. “Yeah. I would. If she really wanted it.”

Another poke. “Don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And you love her.”

He glowered, but it was betrayed by the smile growing on his lips. “How many times are you going to have me—?” Poke. “Yes!”

“Then stop whining and second guessing yourself!”

“I am not—” Poke. He was outright grinning “Okay, yes, I’m whining! And I love her, so stop poking me. Pinkie does that plenty as it is.”

"But fingers are so efficient for that!" Sunset countered, even as she lowered her hand. "So what will you need to do to get your affairs at the office sorted? Given that you have time here to plan, you should make sure you do this transition as smoothly as possible, don't you?"

He snapped out, as if by rote, “Two weeks to get Fleur caught up on certain things she doesn’t know about yet. Luna can keep everything still in the office because all the stuff I care about is already at my place outside of Ponyville anyway. I've already got the earrings and the perfect arrangement for how to get them delivered, I only have to pull the trigger.” At her smug look, he blushed with a grin. “Okay, so maybe I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”

She snorted. "It's not often Pinkie is taken by surprise. Is she expecting this at all?"

“Considering she asked me just this morning about discussing some of these topics, I can say with some certainty that, no, she’s not expecting this.” He chuckled and took something most decidedly not a sip from his mug. “We sort of compete in the whole ‘surprise each other’ game. She’s a tough opponent.”

Sunset grinned. "I rest my case."

He narrowed his eyes at her in mock annoyance. “Somehow I feel like I just won and lost an argument at the same time.” Then he took another drink of his chocolate. “Alright, fine! I’ll do it. I’ll retire, I’ll ask the best mare in all of Equestria, history included, to marry me. Tonight. That being said…” He eyed his mug, then eyed Sunset. “Time doesn’t change here, you say? I can go back whenever I want? In that case, I’ll take another of these. They’re too good to just have one.” He paused, glancing around as if in search of something. “Do I even have the right currency for a place like this?”

"One more hot chocolate coming up!" Sunset chuckled. "This being an interdimensional bar, I have made arrangements for that, so whatever currency you have should work. Also," she added, slipping her fingers into her breast pocket and pulling out a card, "you can have this. Use it to visit again sometime, alright? And bring the wife."

He took the card in his magic, examining it curiously. “I’m going to assume its usage is painfully obvious and I’ll figure it out when I’m ready to.” The card disappeared in his mane, not unlike the way Pinkie tended to hide things in hers. Sunset idly wondered if she’d taught him the trick. Then, as she worked on his second hot chocolate, he grew very quiet. He stared at his hooves, as if not sure what they were. “I’m going to marry Pinkie Pie.”

A grin split across his face, bigger than ever. “I’m going to marry Pinkie Pie. Luna’s stars, that feels good to say.” Then, slowly, as if to relish the experience: “I’m going to marry Pinkie Pie.”

"Well," Sunset said, "in that case, the first three hot chocolates are on the house as a small congratulations."

“Volume aside, there is nothing ‘small’ about those hot chocolates.” He extended his hooves, appearing for a moment more like a foal than a full grown stallion. “Allow me to channel my inner Pinkie and say: Gimme!”

She obliged, sending the second mug his way. “Have at it, you lucky guy.”

“I am lucky.” He paused, mug halfway to his lips. After a few seconds’ consideration, his smile grew warm. “You know what? I am a lucky guy.”

He then drank the entire mug in one go.

Sunset nursed her drink long after Fine had left. The knife he had left behind was made of unicorn horn bone. Something that would horrify a lot of ponies she knew if they ever found out. Most Twilight Sparkles would if they got the chance to study it.

But it was much more than that. It was bathed in willpower, regret and hope. The fact that Fine had walked away from it without a second glance said much about where he had probably been when he obtained it first, versus where he was today.

With a wave of her hand, the knife was encased in a small display box, with a golden tag under it that read Fine Crime. She levitated it and placed it in one of the small areas behind the bar where such it could be displayed properly.

In a way, it would help remind her of the journeys she and many of her guests had made or were making, and how time, experience and hope could make any creature change for the better if they so desired.

She glanced from the knife down to the boxes of materials she had been preparing and smirked. That was a lesson she would never forget, and one she hoped to be able to teach.

The Secret Life Of Sunset Shimmer (Gunsmoke — Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
The Secret Life Of Sunset Shimmer (Gunsmoke — Complete)
By Wanderer D

Desert Mirage sighed as she materialized in the middle of the plaza, quickly checking her messages to see if there was anything brewing, before starting to make her way through the busy streets of the city.

Space Battle Cruiser (SBC) Glocken, which became the capital city of the world of Gun Gale Online after crashing into Earth and turning everything else into a wasteland with mutations included, was always, always, packed with people, and most of them knew exactly who she was due to an unfortunate series of events. Granted, they did not know of her extracurricular experiments.

"Hey, Desert Mirage!"

"Mirage! Join my party!"

"Desert Mirage! Please train me!"

"Marry me!"

Rolling her eyes, she ran into one of the alleyways and pulled on her hood, activating her camouflage. After a patch about a year prior, it didn't work as well within the city as it did before—simply obscuring her avatar instead of rendering her fully invisible as it would in the field—but that wasn't much of a problem. All she needed was to not be instantly recognized, and as long as she walked fast, she wouldn't really be noticed unless someone was determined to talk to her.

"Ugh, I hope I don't have to quit the game or take a sabbatical until people forget me." She shook her head. "I bet Surgeon and the others don't have to go through this stuff all the time."

She navigated the alleyways and would have just emerged back into the city proper, having lost her pursuers, if she hadn't noticed the sign, and even more importantly, the cutie mark on the logo. A yin-yang-like sun on the corner of a cocktail glass. Her cutie mark.

Narrowing her eyes, she walked back to the door and studied it. The worn stone arc around the wooden door was an odd choice for a door, given the location. Glocken was supposed to be the remains of a large space battle cruiser—the lore of the game being that it was the ship's carcass used to recolonize the planet—containing technology long forgotten after the crash. Even if the human-changed parts of the city would have some bricks, the door looked completely out of place in this environment.

In fact, it looked more fit for a fantasy game, or maybe one of those locations in the world map that had a more rustic image. She considered the door, glancing behind her. To be completely fair, she was very curious about it, and well, she was supposed to meet "Moonie" for a date at a bar a little later.

If this was a decent bar… maybe she could kill two N00bs with one shot. She quickly sent a DM out informing her lover of the location on the map, then pushed the door open.

Despite her expectations, it didn't creak, and she heard a silver chime announce her presence.

Just past the door was a short corridor that opened up into the bar itself. From her angle, she couldn't see much other than tables and a lot of pictures and posters, but she was definitely not alone in there. She could hear two voices.

"So wait… that was your project?" someone, (a teenager's voice) asked.

"Yep! And it's just about ready. What do you think?" an oddly familiar voice responded.

"I think you have a guest, but that sounds amazing! Oh! Can I tell Luz?"

"Yep! I had her among others in mind when I thought this up."

"That's amazing, Sunset! Thanks!"

Mirage stopped at the door, both in shock at what she was seeing, and at hearing the name.

The bar had indeed a multitude of pictures and posters, some with very familiar looking people and ponies… like one of an anthropomorphic Twilight Sparkle who looked like a rocker, or pictures of Principal Celestia or Princess Celestia… and a gorgeous anthro version of Rarity in a cowboy getup.

There were a pair of guitars, a plant growing up one of the corners, a small terrarium next to the bar with an odd white spider in it, and more importantly, at the bar itself, a young… duck-teen of some sort... was smirking at her with a knowing glance, while behind the bar was… herself, in an old west bartender's getup.

"It's okay," the duck teenager said, crossing her arms cockily. "Take it. Breathe it in. It's real."

"Lena!" the other Sunset chided. "That's not how we greet guests."

'Lena' rolled her eyes but slid off her seat. "Well, it's a personal visit so I guess I should get going. I'll go tell Luz and her friends."

"Hey, just Luz and her crew, alright? I don't want everyone in the Boiling Isles to rush through that door when I pick you up."

"Got it!" Lena said, picking up a backpack and running to the door. "I can't wait! That'll be awesome!"

"Stay safe!" Sunset-at-the-bar shouted as Mirage followed the duck teen with her eyes, noticing that, as she opened the door, it wasn't Glocken but some sort of forest out there.

"What. The. Hell." Mirage finally said, "Is going on?"

The other Sunset Shimmer chuckled. "Sorry, that was Lena, she's my student and she got very excited about some news I had for her, so that side-tracked the usual greeting." She cleared her throat and motioned with her hand at the room they were in. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the omniverse."

Mirage crossed her arms. "Not the multiverse?"

"I did say that before, but some people got confused because their multiverses were somehow finite and able to be destroyed by powerful beings. Me being able to move past way beyond that limit was kind of hard to explain, so I changed it to 'omniverse' and then Spell-Jammed an explanation that made it digestible for them."

"Oh?"

"Bubbles," the bartender replied, motioning for Mirage to get closer and take a seat. "Multiverses are bubbles, with more bubbles within but also part of a bigger bubble. The boundaries of the mini-bubbles inside the bubbles are easier to breach and reach each other since they are packed closer than the other multiverses which are not only separated by the bubble-boundary, but also by considerable space between them."

Mirage sighed. "I guess in an oversimplified way…"

The bartender shrugged. "It helps most people imagine it, and those that understand why it's an oversimplification know enough to fill the gaps themselves."

Mirage chuckled, picking up a menu. "Fair enough. So… that explains why you're me."

"It took me a moment to realize that was the case, but yes," the bartender grinned. "When there's more than one of us in this room, I usually go by Isekai to avoid confusion."

Mirage looked at herself. Her camouflage duster was singed and scraped in some areas, her armor telling of many a gunfight her two guns holstered at the side carefully maintained, not to mention that she looked and sounded older in here than in Canterlot City itself, made it hard for even people that knew her to connect the dots.

She shook her head and glanced at Isekai. "So why do you have an old-west bartender getup?"

Isekai grinned. "You know that Rarity you were ogling earlier? She's the Bulletproof Heart, out of your favorite Lone-Ranger type of story, and she never gave up sewing and designing clothes. When she came here, she insisted on making this for me, so I use it occasionally because…" she threw her hair over one shoulder and gave Mirage a smoldering look. "It's fabulous."

Mirage chuckled, glancing at the choices in the menu before sliding it towards Isekai. "I'll take a glass of bourbon. On the rocks."

"Coming right up!" Isekai said. "So, what about you?"

"Me?" Mirage crossed her arms and leaned on the bar, observing her counterpart move around. "Well, in this world I'm called Desert Mirage." On a whim, she transformed back to her normal form. "And in Canterlot City I'm just regular old Sunset Shimmer." She became Mirage once again, grinning. "I've graduated Highschool before the girls, since… well, I didn't really need to be in highschool, and also because of personal matters. Over here, in Glocken, I'm Desert Mirage, a gunslinging scoundrel, mercenary, legend, and hunter. Fun times."

Isekai raised an eyebrow as she put down Mirage's drink on a coaster. "I feel like there's a story behind this."

Mirage nodded, not answering yet until she had sipped her first taste of the whiskey. She hummed in appreciation, and nodded. "Oh, there is." She paused, considering where to start. "So this whole thing began because, after the Battle of the Bands, I realized I was miserable."

"How so?"

Mirage sighed and slumped forward. "Miscommunication, mostly," she admitted. "You know how bad that can get, I imagine. But yeah… I was trying really hard to please the girls. I'd cancel plans, ignore concerts I wanted to attend, didn't give myself time to relax… I went to their parties, their events, their homes, their everything... at the cost of my own happiness."

Isekai winced. "Ouch. That's… a lot to deal with. Was this because of guilt?"

Mirage nodded. "Yeah. Even after the battle of the bands I couldn't shake the guilt over what I had done… and almost done. After the Friendship Games, things didn't get any better. Sure, I was more involved, and the girls were trying their best to include me into what they loved, but weren't thinking about me in the sense of also doing things I liked."

"In my case, I found the girls willing to listen most of the time, especially after the Battle of the Bands," Isekai said.

"Well, yes," Mirage drawled, sampling her whiskey once more, "but mine listened in a very… self-oriented way," she said neutrally. "I'd say I felt like going to a concert, and they'd take me to one they wanted to go to, never offering to let me choose, or even asking. The one time I did tell Dash about going to an event, she essentially said 'no way, let's do this instead'."

Isekai shook her head, and Mirage chuckled.

"It's not that they didn't care… It's just that I wasn't able to get across that I felt that they just wouldn't give me a chance to be me, and they were doing their best as best as they could, while still being focused first on their interests. I mean, it's not like I have that many years over them, but… well, it's a very teenage thing to do, right?"

"You'd be surprised how many hundred-year-olds act the same way."

Mirage blinked at and snorted, glad she hadn't been drinking at that exact moment. "They're my friends," she insisted for clarity, as if she had to defend them even though she knew Isekai hadn't implied otherwise, "they had my back all that time in their own way, but we never broached the subject." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I fully admit that a big part of it was because I kept quiet, just expecting them to put two and two together because I was honestly terrified for a while that they would push me away if I was honest." She licked her lips as the bitter memories surfaced. "And that's what eventually boiled into a real fight among friends. I almost fried Rainbow Dash."

"Okay," Isekai said, nodding. "But how do you go from insecurities like that to this?" she asked, motioning with her hand at Mirage's getup. "Mercenary and legend you said?"

"Well… have you heard of Sword Art Online?"

Isekai sighed wearily. "You didn't."

Mirage grinned. "I didn't play that one, no, but the technology allowed me to join Gun Gale Online, where I created my current persona: Desert Mirage," Mirage responded with a small smile and using her hands to motion at herself. "Looking at you, I guess that I was pretty close to how I would look a couple of years older." She took a deep breath and nursed her drink, looking at the whiskey with a contemplative eye. "In many ways, as silly as that initial fight was, it turned out to be what I—we really needed.

"The girls kind of realized that they were drowning me with their best intentions. I learned that in many ways, I was holding myself back for selfish reasons… admitting what I loved and what I wanted to do was terrifying in many ways."

Isekai nodded, patting Mirage on the shoulder. "Standing up for who you are is not as easy as some people think… not when you feel you might lose so much just for being honest."

Mirage smirked, taking a deeper drink. "I thought they'd drop me as a friend, and… well, I almost managed that by keeping those things secret, rather than helping them realize what was happening, instead of putting the burden only on them." She smiled more gently. "I don't know how different things might've been if I had, but Gun Gale allowed me to meet not just new friends… but peers in a way.

"My frenemies respected me for being me. I didn't have to pull my punches, or not be 'too good' at something because it would offend anyone who hadn't fully forgiven me. Proving my worth at something without fearing that I'd be judged just for being me was liberating."

"I remember shortly after Twilight cleansed me of the out-of-control magic," Isekai said, "the students would walk on eggshells around me at first, then, when they realized I wasn't going to do anything to them for existing, the petty bullying started." She grimaced. "It was cut short really quickly by the girls and the principal, but it made me very cautious about trusting until much later, when I had earned their forgiveness."

Mirage snorted, shaking her head at the memories. "Yeah. I went through that… and the Battle of the Bands… and the Friendship Games. After that, I formed a strong bond with Twilight, and went to visit her often at her lab in Crystal Prep."

"Wait… Twilight went back to Crystal Prep?" Isekai asked, blinking. "That… doesn't happen often."

"Really?" Mirage tilted her head, then half-turned, looking at the wall of pictures, trying to spot any of the gang. While she did see a couple, they were all outside of school, so guessing correctly if any of those universes was like hers was really just a gamble. "Well… Cinch was fired when it came out that she had been bullying the students. Her efforts were deemed divisive, affecting the minds of young people to turn them into little more than troops loyal to herself" she said, straightening up in her seat.

"Thankfully most of the student population saw her real colors during the Friendship Games, and the transition was pretty seamless. While Crystal Prep's status as a tough school was appreciated, let's just say not many parents embraced that at the cost of stressing their kids to the brink, or suffering abuse in the guise of education. Turns out, getting rid of her actually was beneficial results-wise, and Cadance quickly became the favorite principal of both students and parents."

"Well, the multiverse is fond of variety," Isekai said, shrugging. "But I'm glad things worked out for everyone."

"Hell yeah, they did," Mirage said, leaning in. "Twilight set up base there. She has her lab, and helped me and the girls with our powers through some experimentation on the transformations. We all got to know the Shadowbolts pretty well that way, even if for most of us it was just friendly rivalry at first. After the last tournament… well. I guess we're still rivals, but closer to friends now."

"Well, school rivalry is not a bad thing as long as it doesn't get too crazy, I think," Isekai said.

"In our case… we're more like sister schools now," Mirage explained, sipping her whiskey, then sighing as she tilted the now-empty glass, making the ice click against it. "Crystal Prep took us in for the rest of the school semester while Canterlot High was rebuilt, this time with some Equestrian investment and magical engineering to make it much more resistant to incidents in the future. In that time, I essentially graduated ahead of the others."

Isekai hummed as she reached over to serve more whiskey for Mirage. "So why the rush?"

Desert Mirage grinned just as the door opened once more, the bell ringing across the bar. "So there you are!" a familiar voice spoke. "I've been looking for you, dear."

Isekai took in the woman that walked in. She was taller than Mirage and was wearing a black ops armor. The lower half of her face was covered with a deep blue bandanna, and the ballistics helmet on her head covered most of her hair, except for a long dark-blue ponytail that flowed out of it.

A half moon decal on her right shoulder armor was scratched with bullet and flame marks, and she wore a black cloak that fit under the shoulder guards and flowed around her like living darkness.

The visitor walked up to Mirage and kissed her, before turning to face Isekai. She then gaped for a moment, looking from the bartender to the other guest silently before sitting down a bit more heavily than she probably would under normal circumstances.

"Nightmare Moon," Mirage said, taking the other woman's hand with her own, "meet Sunset Shimmer."

It had just started raining when she reopened the message to check it again for clues.

Hey Moonie, I found a strange-looking bar in Glocken in the 3rd District. You should be able to spot it. Come see me there.

~Mirage

"Is that…?"

"I think so…"

"Wow, I never thought I'd get a chance to see her in the flesh!"

"Hang around long enough and you'll see other big names, kid."

"I wonder what it's like being in the same team as her?"

Nightmare Moon smirked, pretending that she wasn't listening to the comments as she closed the messages and strode purposefully through the streets of Glocken—and through the space other players opened for her—in search of Desert Mirage.

As a long-time top ranked fighter in the history of Gun Gale Online, and part of the team that won the last tournament (which had exploded into something almost too incredible, even for this place), she was afforded a lot of respect by everyone, and she drank it all in.

Her partner/best friend/lover should be somewhere nearby, as the last location she had appeared in the map was in the immediate area. Nightmare Moon climbed up a ramp to a bridge overlooking the part of town she was currently at: still modern, but with a sense that the first settlers had attempted a more turn of the 20th century appearance, with neon signs and even some brick walls.

She looked down at the whimpering masses as they strolled under the bridge, covering themselves from the rain, and only paid attention to passing familiar individuals she had encountered before or seemed remotely familiar.

No one of interest, really, but perhaps she might spot a mutual acquaintance of Mirage and herself. Still, she was used to hunting from an elevated position, and with the assistance of her Hawkeye skill, quickly zeroed-in on a familiar-looking theme on a particular door a couple of blocks down. She couldn't really make out the exact details, but the color-scheme and parts of the design were obvious.

She took a running leap, jumping from the bridge to the top of a nearby building and dashed down to where she had spotted the door, jumping onto another two rooftops before grabbing onto a drain pipe and using it to control her fall in front of the strange door.

Despite the oddity of it, she had to acknowledge that Mirage had been right. The moment she saw it, she knew it was the bar. It looked distinctly out of place with the rest of Glocken, not even accounting for Sunset's Cutie-Mark being on it, so as far as clues went, this was pretty obviously the correct place.

She opened the door, silver bell chiming, and stepped inside, out of the rain, which pixelated off of her coat in seconds. It took her a moment to get her bearings. For some reason the moment she had entered this area, everything had suddenly felt much more… real. Which was silly, of course, since she was in a game.

She frowned. Except of course, where Sunset/Mirage was involved things were never that easy.

"...Equestrian investment and magical engineering to make it much more resistant to incidents in the future. In that time, I essentially graduated ahead of the others."

She smirked, recognizing her lover's voice immediately. She stepped into the bar proper, making a show of gracing the place with her presence. She was, after all, Nightmare Moon, and the dwellers of Glocken would stand in awe of her. She immediately spotted Mirage at the bar and grinned. "So there you are!" she purred, "I've been looking for you, dear."

She glanced up at the bartender and blinked, forgetting what she was going to say after. She looked from Sunset Shimmer down to Mirage, who smirked at her with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Nightmare Moon, meet Sunset Shimmer."

Admittedly Nightmare Moon had had a few surprises in the last couple of years that had left her stumped. Interdimensional travel, meeting her pony double in dreams, discovering Twilight and Sunset's dimension-bending experiments, getting a girlfriend, resurrecting her girlfriend, and meeting her pony double in RL among others. So to say that she thought that what she was witnessing was impossible would be a gross overstatement. It still, however, made her mind go blank for a moment.

Rather than speak immediately, she simply slumped onto one of the seats at the bar, staring at the pair. Mirage passed her a beer labeled Viper's Milk and she greedily chugged down half the bottle before she was able to speak. "How?" she finally managed to ask. She then blinked, feeling the beer hit her. "Wait, I can feel the alcohol?"

Mirage grinned and leaned over to pinch her cheek.

"Ow!" Nightmare Moon gasped, touching her cheek with her hand. "That shouldn't have hurt!"

"Welcome to being me," Mirage said. "It's like when you were in the Real World, Moonie. We're not in the game at the moment."

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai," the bartender said, grinning just like Mirage. "You can call me Isekai to avoid confusion."

It clicked then. "Figures. This is like the Restaurant from Another World," Nightmare Moon said. She turned to Mirage, "You know, the one with the dragoness that became a waitress?"

"Oh," the bartender chirped. "You mean Restaurant Nekoya? Yeah, same idea, although they only reach one other world and I reach them all."

Nightmare Moon smiled, feeling more at ease now that this Sunset Shimmer had identified herself as a fellow anime fan. "I guess you've watched the series too?"

"Nope!" Isekai said, smiling as she pulled a menu from under the table. "Nekoya and I have an agreement, so I order food from them occasionally."

Nightmare Moon's eyes went wide as she stared at the menu. "Y-you mean it's real?"

Isekai nodded.

"Dragonball?"

"I'm a Saiyan when I'm in that dimension."

"Naruto?"

"I've met a few."

"One Piece?" Nightmare Moon asked eagerly, "What abo—"

"Is this a Shonen Jump convention?" Mirage interrupted, shaking her head. "I thought you were a proud gamer, Moonie, not a weeb."

"So I guess we won't be watching Food Wars together?"

"Carry on."

Nightmare Moon laughed, resting back on her seat. "I never said you couldn't be both a weeb and a gamer."

Mirage grinned and leaned into her. "I think it's adorkable."

"So you and Luna?" Isekai asked after watching them snuggle.

"Yep!" Mirage replied, the grin still in her face. "One of the reasons for graduating early instead of taking it easy and slow." Nightmare Moon watched as Mirage stretched to grab her whiskey and took a sip, her grin fading into a warm smile. "My transition into GGO was really crazy… when the girls thought I was abandoning them, when our friendship was almost destroyed… but in the end, it allowed me to be honest with myself about who I was and who I wanted to be in this world."

She took Nightmare Moon's hand in hers and squeezed. "And being honest with myself and with others helped me reconnect with Celestia back in Equestria, and to become friends with the pegasus version of Rainbow Dash as well… and then to come back and fix my relationship with Rainbow Dash here.

"I made friends with the Shadowbolts… and SciTwi. And I made good friends in GGO. People that even risked their lives to help me and the girls. And finally…" she turned to face Nightmare Moon, who leaned in and gave her a peck on the lips. "I got the badass girl as any good main protagonist should."

Nightmare Moon raised her eyebrow, amused. "And who made you the main character?"

Mirage laughed, leaning into her again and everything was right in the world.

Sunset walked slowly around the bar, her hand touching the tables or stopping to straighten a picture frame. Finally, she hung up the one containing Nightmare Moon and Mirage, both slightly drunk, taking cover behind two tables and "shooting" at each other with finger guns.

She smiled at the scene, then glanced over at the bar, thinking of her new plans and the value of the lesson Mirage had learned as well. That sometimes things needed to change a little to become something greater.

And she intended to make it happen. She walked around the bar and pushed open the newest door behind it. Nope had made good on her delivery service and had even helped set up the many desks Sunset had ordered.

She walked to the front of the room, checking the blackboard, the materials and even making sure none of the dangerous magic books had made it to the bookshelf before turning around and smiling at her newest project.

The walls were decorated with mystical symbols, ancient devices and even pictures of familiar faces, all garbed in appropriate scholastic attire for their different worlds.

"I wonder how many lessons we can teach here?" she muttered, sitting behind the teacher's desk. She heard the bell ring and stood up, smiling. "I guess we'll be finding out soon," she said to herself as she walked out of the room, waving at her newest guest. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai!"

Variants in the Multiverse

Sunset's Isekai
Variants in the Multiverse (Fic concepts))
By Wanderer D

- Parallel Effect - -

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya sighed, swirling her distilled drink in the container before using the emergency induction port (or as Sunset would have called it: the straw) to carefully sip the contents, relaxing into her seat as the flavors hit her tongue.

She had thoroughly scanned the presented concoction, after all, it was being handed to her by a human. Or what seemed like a human, since she wasn't one hundred percent sure that the bartender, who was currently offering a synthetic cocktail to Legion, was actually what she looked like.

Tali hadn't survived by being naive, or by being distracted. Quarians as a rule were really good at keeping track of their surroundings. After all, any damage to their suits could spell unavoidable death, so it was a standard need of her race by now to really look closely at things as time permitted. In combat it was understandably more difficult, but sitting at the bar where only the bartender and Legion were with her? She had immediately noticed the pictures, the tech, etc. Yeah, she would be careful. She didn't want another incident like what had happened between her and Jacobus.

"So, you're from the future and somehow came back in time to save Tali?"

Sunset's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she turned, wide-eyed and panicked to the other two people in the room. "Wait, why are you telling her that?!"

"She inquired, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

Sunset blinked. "Really? After you reached self-recognition as an individual, I would have thought you'd be on first-name basis."

Legion's face-plates vibrated lightly, but didn't do much as its one eye turned slightly to look at her. "She does not trust us yet, and thinks we are trying to trick her. I have provided as much evidence of our friendship as I can, but…" Legion's voice lowered as he faced away from her. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya is not Tali'Zorah vas Normandy."

"There you go again," Tali groaned. "You understand, Legion, that you are talking about a future that might not come to pass at all this time around, right?" She huffed. "That is assuming everything you're telling me is true and not some fabrication."

Legion's face plate shifted in place, flaring up slightly from the back, giving him a look of being slightly hurt, which made her feel bad, and she hated it. "You have to admit it's far-fetched!"

"So…" Sunset spoke up, drawing their attention back to her, "how does this time travel work for you?"

"The conclusion that it is time travel is hypothetical," Legion said, "This unit… I believe that there is enough evidence of dimensional translocation. It is my theory that the Reaper known as Nazara had more functions than simply waiting for the return of the others. It is possible that the reason Reapers have never lost is not just because of their overwhelming power, but also that their cycle continues in other cycles in constant influx of information and change. When Nazara landed in the Citadel, it did not leave when its body was destroyed. It remained until the end of the last cycle, when Sheppard-Commander defeated them. I carry within me part of Nazara, which I believe is the reason of my current status as active in this parallel reality."

Tali slurped her drink, feeling the buzz hit. "And now... " she hiccuped... "And now he wants me to find a thing called a Garrus and a Sheppard."

Legion nodded. "That is correct. But we are locating other individuals that Nazara will target."

"I also wish you'd male up your mind and decide whether you'll talk like an organic or a computer," Tali groaned. "You sound like a Turian." She waved her hand lazily as the alcoholic drink made her feel warm and fuzzy.

Legion continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "So far, Nazara's strategies have diverted little, but enough to be of concern. Tali was attacked by a bigger force and extranet research has revealed that Saren has a bounty on Urdnot Wrex, Liara T'soni, and Garrus Vakarian. It is my theory that Nazara expects their deaths to collapse any chance of Commander Shepard's success."

"Hm." Sunset tapped her chin in thought. "But what about Kasumi, or Zaeed? Grunt? Wrex? Mordin?"

Tali blinked. She had heard those names before from her friend. Wait. No. From the geth. From Legion.

"I have already established contact with Zaeed," Legion said.

Tali turned violently towards him. "What?! Isn't he the Blue Sun mercenary?!"

Legion continued, unabated. "Kasumi is more difficult to pinpoint, but at this time her lover should be alive, so I have made attempts to contact him."

Sunset sighed. "Well, it seems like you have it all sorted out."

"Not at all, Sunset Shimmer," Legion said. "But if we are to defeat the Reapers once and for all, we must stop Nazara's cycle."

Tali sulked. "All I wanted was a drink and to stay away from the stupid mission. Was that too much to ask?"

Sunset laughed. "That's fair. Legion, why don't you tell us some of Tali's crazier moments?"

Tali twitched.

"I have recordings of several interactions which I think would be amusing to organics."

Tali looked up. "Can we go back to talking about the mission?"

Legion turned to regard her very slowly, with as much of a straight face as he could make. "No."

~ ~ Nightmares ~ ~

"I dunno, Hilda," David said, walking to her left as Frida bookended him to her right, and Twig following faithfully behind them. "I know that Trevor is as bad as they get, but if you're giving him Nightmares just because you dislike him…"

"... it kind of feels like petty revenge," Frida finished, giving Hilda a worried glance.

"Oh, come on." Hilda sighed. "It's not like I'm trying to publicly humiliate him in the real world. Now that would be petty revenge."

"Well, yes," David had to agree, "but having been on the receiving end of a Marra Nightmare as well, you can't tell me that it isn't as horrifying as the real thing."

Hilda rolled her eyes and with a 'puff' turned into green mist that floated around her two friends before forming her back, sitting on top of a nearby fence. "That's the point! It's less… damaging. Maybe he'll learn something!"

"Hilda," Frida turned to face her, arms akimbo. "Research has proven that attacking and scaring people only does more damage. If you must give nightmares to Trevor, try not to make it about you and revenge? You tried being his friend once, after all, you can't just… abandon your good side and cecome—"

"What?" Hilda interrupted, and Frida took a step back when a flash of green light flickered through Hilda's eyes. "Become an evil creature? Well!" She sniffed dismissively. "I hate to disappoint you, Frida, but I already am an evil, magical creature!"

"Well, not entirely evil," David spoke up when Twig whined and ran up to sit miserably under the fence. "Just a little bit?"

"Not helping," Frida muttered. "We've talked about this, Hilda, being a Marra doesn't automatically make you evil."

"Just like being human doesn't make Trevor good either," Hilda argued. "But he gets to bully anyone he wants with total impunity, but me, the evil spirit of Nightmares has to be held to higher standards! That is just not fair."

"But Hilda…"

"Ugh." Hilda let herself fall backwards, ignoring her friends' gasps. She turned into mist and went up a drain, following it out into the street further down, while she could see David and Frida climbing over the wall to look for her.

She materialized and sighed, starting when Twig ran up to her and cuddled against her leg. She smiled and knelt down petting her deerfox on the head. "Come on boy," she whispered. "I need some time away from them." She started walking down, giving Twig a small smile when he whined. "Don't worry, I'm not ditching them forever… I just need time to think. And there's nowhere in Trollsburg where…"

She trailed off, staring at the door that she knew wasn't there the day before. A small sign next to it announced that milkshakes were sold within. She blinked, then looked from the door down to Twig, then back to the door. "Well!" she reasoned, "a door that just appeared out of nowhere? You know what this is, Twig? It's an adventure! And since I am an adventurer, I need to investigate."

"So, in short," Sunset said, passing Hilda her second chocolate milkshake, and double-checking that Twig had enough water in his plate, "you lost a bet with an evil spirit who recruited you to her growing cadre of teenage girls turning into nightmare spirits."

"That's pretty much it," Hilda agreed. "And now I must cause nightmares on others to survive." She shrugged. "I don't have to do it all the time, but if I don't every so often, I start… getting moody." She sighed and slouched, twirling the shake with her straw. "And my friends don't get it. They want to treat me like I was before… and for the most part I can do that. It's not hard to be me… me. Normal me."

"But when you need to feed this aspect of yourself…"

"I'm trying to figure it out," Hilda said, gripping her milkshake tightly with her small hands. "I don't want to scare people. Even bullies like Trevor. But who is left? Trolls? Dragons? Giants?" She shook her head. "I can't. It's wrong… but I just… I can't ignore it." She shuddered. "It's really hard. I've been trying to avoid it, for everyone's sake, and my own. But if I don't do it soon, I might lose control."

"And didn't The Marra tell you ways of feeding without hurting others?" Sunset asked. "What if they allow you to scare them willingly?"

Hilda shook her head. "Marra said that it was not fun to go into the dreams of people that wanted her to… but that was a lie she told David. The truth is that if there is no fear, we don't get to eat. I don't have to enjoy it… but it is necessary."

"Hm. And can't she just turn you back?"

"If I was a normal girl being turned into a marra? Yes." Hilda paused, reaching over to scratch Twig's head as she gathered her thoughts. "But I'm not one of the teenage girls that intentionally want to do this. I lost a Deal."

Sunset smiled and patted her hand. "You're strong willed, Hilda. I'm working on something that might help you in the future if you want… but in the meantime, have you thought about using your powers for good?"

Hilda studied her for a moment. "I want to, but I have no idea how!"

Sunset grinned. "Well, how about this…"

"So let me get this straight…" Frida said after a moment. "You want to cause people Nightmares in order to help them with their daily stress?"

Hilda nodded. "Yes!" She grinned. "I can start the whole thing very scary-like, and then give them control. They'll figure out their fears and see that they don't need to be afraid or stress over things!"

"And you got this from a bartender?" David asked. "Why were you at a bar?"

"That's not important!" Hilda insisted. "Don't you see? This might actually work!"

Frida and David looked at each other, then back at her.

"Okay," Frida said, placing her hand on Hilda's shoulder. "I trust you. Let's see how this works and go from there."

Hilda nodded, her hand wrapping inside her pocket around the silver business card she had been given. Maybe she'd take Sunset up on her offer… but until the time came, she had some experimenting to do!

End Chapter

Author's Note

These are a couple of fics I've started and I'm thinking of possibly writing in full, probably in AO3 or Fanfiction.net. Please let me know in the comments what you think!

Based on Mass Effect & Hilda (which you should watch)

Chocolatl (Maya and the Three)

Sunset's Isekai
Chocolatl (Maya and the Three)
By Wanderer D

"Here you go," the bartender said, setting the mug of chocolatl on the table.

Lady Micte blinked and looked up. 'When did I start getting so distracted?' she wondered silently. But she knew. She knew very well when… and why.

She glanced around at the other gods and goddesses, wondering if any of them had witnessed her lapse, but they were all concentrated on their own conversations, and their own problems. They were so different from what she was used to… and not.

Long, straight black hair, pointy ears and purple irises… one goddess of death from another realm quietly sipped her tea… of a variety she was unaware of, immersed in thoughts and contemplating a menu.

Another goddess, with white, flowing gowns that revealed painted blue lines on her pale skin, gentle blue eyes and brown hair in a ponytail giggled while her two sisters, one looking like a younger version of her, the other just a bit more mature, but with deep tanned skin and white mane-like hair dressed in black and purple, all seemingly amused by the white-gowned goddess with the golden staff that had joined them at their table earlier, who seemed happy enough while telling them about the exploits of her warriors against other gods.

Another powerful being… a demon in a suit more similar to what the bartender was wearing, but with a face painted to look almost like a skeleton (very similar to her own look) and long blonde hair sat at another table, arguing about redemption and the future with a short woman in an elaborate and frilly black and red dress with a bow on her head that made it look like she had cat ears and a huge, purple axe.

A woman with wolf ears and a tail ate dried fruits from a plate while amusedly watching two cat gods argue back and forth about which of their fighters were better. Those two would have started on a rampage earlier were it not for another group of gods—a muscular man with chained forearms, bald, beared and painted in white and red; a female deity also with a cat head and dressed similarly to them; another goddess with an elaborate cape made of crow feathers; and a familiar-looking god (almost as if being from her own pantheon) a man painted in blue, with elaborate gold decorations, feathers and a serpent staff—all glaring at them from across the room. Gods of war. None of them her husband, thankfully.

The glares had given them pause, but they hadn't really limited themselves to arguing at a slightly-louder than normal voice until the bartender had placed her hands on both their shoulders and told them flat-out to sit down and refrain from fighting… or else.

Still, despite all the other gods and demons in the room, she felt at peace. Like she had space to be herself. None of the gods here were from her own specific pantheon, no need to be tense and in fear that her husband would find her weak or worse, remorseful.

Themes were familiar. Great exploits. Warriors of light and darkness. Redemption. Gifts. The pride that came with being a god. And yet, other than the two brothers, there was no underhanded attempt to gain power or the upper hand.

Why would they need that, when none of the others belonged to their pantheon? Or even their universe?

Gratefully holding the chocolatl, she sipped the bitter concoction as she gazed at the silver card on the table. Her sister, La Santa Muerte, had given it to her. There was little she could do to hide her true feelings and despair from her sibling, after all… and her sister had suggested she find a moment to be alone and use the card.

She had not expected this. That the microcosmos that was her universe, her pantheon and world, were part of something so much bigger and varied. That there were other gods and entities out there who didn't have their own egos only to care about. It was humbling, but also encouraging to know that there was something beyond the grasp of her husband, as powerful as he was.

It gave her hope. For the world. For herself… for her daughter.

The thought of Maya soured her improving mood. King Teca had suffered a devastating defeat, not only with his armies, but the loss of his three sons weighed heavily in her mind. How would Maya deal with the deaths of her brothers? How would she deal with the defeat of the army? She shook her head, thinking about the funeral, and humming the jaguar song to herself.

Through her escapades to spend time with Maya, she had gotten to know them well enough. They were brave and caring, and they loved their adopted sister without reservation. The whole Teca family had welcomed her child there, despite the harm that could have come thanks to her.

"That is a beautiful melody," a voice said. "Bolom Chon, right?"

Lady Micte blinked, startled. She looked at the bartender, who was smiling at her. Then she realized that everyone else was gone, and her chocolatl had been drank. Apparently she had been lost in her thoughts too long.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't realize you were closing."

"I'm not," the bartender replied, placing a fresh mug of chocolatl in front of her. "Time works a bit differently here, and when someone needs it, well, it's here. So, what brings you to the bar? I see you got one of my cards, and you look a bit familiar, but you haven't been here before."

Lady Micte studied the bartender for a moment. She certainly wasn't human, whether she was a goddess or a demon, Lady Micte didn't know, but she knew, she could feel that this bartender was powerful. Far too powerful to be a simple bartender, and yet here she was.

She supposed that it was necessary for the owner of an establishment such as this to have that much power, if she was to order gods and demons around and maintain order. She thought back to when she had walked in, and how she had been greeted.

She looked at the card. Sunset's Isekai. "My sister, La Santa Muerte, suggested I visit your establishment. I've… had some tough times lately." She rose slowly and bowed. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Lady Micte, goddess of death."

The bartender smiled, and bowed as well. "Welcome to my bar, my name is Sunset Shimmer. I would have spoken to you earlier, but you had a lot to think about and I figured you needed some space."

Sunset motioned with her hand, and Lady Micte took her offer, sitting down at her table, this time joined by the mysterious bar owner. "La Santa Muerte, huh? I haven't seen her recently, I thought she had forgotten about this place."

"Oh, no—" Lady Micte laughed. "Nunca. She spoke to me of this place with a very clear desire to come back. I think she just wanted me to take a break from the things my esposo, Lord Mictlan is doing…" she hesitated. "I am… partly to blame for someone dear to me losing very close family." She wrapped her arms around herself, staring morosely at the chocolatl's surface. "I have many sins to pay for, but this one… this one hits very close to my heart."

Sunset grimaced. "How did it happen?"

"When King Teca, his sons, and his armies went to fight for Princess Maya's sake, my husband… Lord Mictlan used his powers to kill her brothers and seriously hurt the king." She cleared her throat. "The king and I… had a daughter. While we were both married. Myself to Mictlan, he to his wife, Queen Teca."

Sunset's eyebrows shot up. "Oh."

Lady Micte looked down in shame. "At first I thought this whole thing up because I was power hungry," she continued, "but having a child… me? The Goddess of Death? I created a life within me, and brought her to the world… only because she was to be a sacrifice."

Leaning back, Sunset crossed her arms. "I assume things changed?"

"I couldn't go through with it. I convinced him to wait, delivering my daughter to her father, who was the king of the mightiest human kingdom." She sighed. "Queen Teca was not happy with the King, but she adopted my daughter and raised her as her own, with no questions of hesitation. She gave her all the love a mother could give to a child." She chuckled slightly. "My little Maya grew up strong, loved and happy…" her brow darkened "...until my legacy caught up with her."

"So what will you do?"

The question took Lady Micte by surprise. She looked up at the expectant face of Sunset Shimmer, who had leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "What?"

"What will you do now?" Sunset repeated. "It seems your daughter could really use your help now."

"I-I don't know." Lady Micte cringed, looking up at Sunset. "I know I deserve her hatred, and that she probably won't forgive me… but even if I try to help, will she accept that?"

"Claro que si!" a male voice said.

Blinking, Lady Micte turned to look at who had spoken. There, on the table next to theirs, sat three men in elaborate jaguar armor. They were all grinning at her and Sunset, elbows on the table, eyes wide and proud. Their bodies were made of soft, golden light, and although they seemed ephemeral, they also somehow appeared to be as solid as she and Sunset were. "How are you three here?"

"Eso es..." the one with the spear started.

"Because you left the funeral..." the one with the shield added.

"...too early, Lady Micte," the last one with two daggers finished.

Lady Micte stood up and bowed deeply. "I am so sorry for the pain my husband and I brought to you and your family."

"Eh, just a little bit," Spear said.

"Well. Okay, more than a bit," Shield added. "We did die."

"But you brought not just pain, my Lady," Dagger said immediately. "Thanks to you, we had Maya."

"The best sister!"

"The strongest sister!"

"The tiniest sister?"

"She is tiny."

"Pequeñita, but don't tell her that."

"Okay, I'm losing track of who's speaking," Sunset said, laughing a little. "What brings you here boys?"

"Ah, Lady Micte," Dagger said, sighing. "Maya is stubborn, but she is also—"

"Strong! She punched a—mph!" Shield was interrupted by Spear, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Gentle and forgiving." Spear said, glaring at his brother.

Dagger nodded. "She might give you a hard time, buuuut, she will warm up to you."

"We know now you were watching over her all along," Shield said, pulling down Spear's hand. "Y una vez que sepa?" He waved his hand dismissively. "I'm sure she'll come around." He cleared his throat. "Eventually."

Lady Micte sniffled, smiling at the trio. "Boys… thank you… but how…"

"Dia de los Muertos!" Spear said, grinning. "Ademas, con el funeral…"

"How could we not?" Dagger asked.

"We already gave Maya a hint about the true prophesy," Shield said, earning sagely nods from the other two.

"It's just a matter of time before she sets out to the Underworld," Dagger said and frowned. "That is when she'll need the most help."

"Your help," Shield clarified.

"What matters right now, is if you will," Sunset said. "I can see you're afraid of your husband… but there will come a time when you have to decide what to do."

"We believe in you," Spear said, marching over to place a ghostly hand gently on Lady Micte's shoulder.

"After all, you were there for us when we died," Dagger added, placing his hand on her other shoulder.

"And we know you love her, like we do." Shield said, standing in front of her and placing his hands on his brother's shoulders, making a small circle of the four of them.

"We learned early on that death, lady death…"

"That means you…"

"...is always with us. A constant companion."

"Now that we are dead, we'll be with you and Maya."

The trio glowed brighter and then faded into a golden aura that went into Lady Micte, who embraced it until it was all gone. "You know, Sunset… I think I know what to do now."

Sunset nodded, smiling.

"But first… I think I need to finish my chocolatl. I have a few tough months ahead."

Author's Note

A short one, but I wanted to do something for Day of the Dead.

Okay! So, guest stars at the Isekai:

Goddesses of Death (each on their own table): Micte and Kuro

At the bar: Beerus and Champa, with Holo watching (amused) at their antics.

Gods of War Table: Kratos, Huitzilopochtli, Sekhmet, The Morrigan

Conversation about redemption: Charlie Magne and Rory Mercury

Goddesses talking about warriors fighting gods: Belldandy, Skuld and Urd talking with Saori Kido (Athena).

The Janitor's Assistant (Control — Video Game)

Sunset's Isekai
The Janitor's Assistant (Control — Video Game)
By Wanderer D

*Cast and references in Author's Notes.

Jesse Faden turned on the lights as she walked up to the room, and waited patiently as one by one the lights came on, as if prompted by the previous one to get on with it and get out of bed.

The flickering, yellow light of the desk lamp in the room cast stark shadows around the room before it finally stabilized with a low hum of electrical protest, revealing the mess of papers on the desk. Gritty concrete walls painted red from about shoulder height down, barely decorated with some posters and pictures, and a dart board. An old sofa with an even older-looking coffee table stacked with odd magazines of random topics ranging from gardening to DIY shelf-making, to plumbing, and even an esoteric issue about 'mold people' on the corner next to the lamp.

That, plus a coat rack with its prerequisite dusty coat hanging from it, and a bowler hat tilted on top. Metal lockers and a table mostly made all of the contents in the room, except for the slightly tilted, barely-held-together cork tack board on one of the walls, which is what she had come to check.

'And here I am again. The Janitorial Office. The one place that really reveals what my job is all about. I may have the big title and office, but what good does that make if I believe my place is there and not here, where I can find out what needs to be done to essentially save the world?' The thoughts accompanied her as she stepped in fully into the office.

Her hand went absently over to her belt, where the cassette player was secured. Touching it, she smiled as she glanced around. 'No sign of Ahti. That's good, that means he's still on vacation. Funny that someone having a holiday is so comforting. But still…' she glanced at the board, suspiciously empty of additional work, or just about anything other than a single business card for a bar, which she took from it with some confusion, twirling it in her hands as she went over her mental checklist of things to make sure reality didn't collapse around everyone in the building, and/or prevent them from being eaten by extradimensional moss.

'Seems like there's nothing at the moment.' Jesse sagged and sat down on the table with a tired sigh, glancing at the card in her hand, finding no address or phone number on it. 'It's been months of near constant work. We seem to have a handle on the Hiss remnants for now, and nothing new has come from the Foundation expedition.' She twirled the card in her hands. 'It's been a while since I went out… I could really use a drink.' She chuckled to herself, shaking her head as she gathered her willpower and stood up again, ready to go back up to her office, when she felt the resonance within herself.

'Polaris… she's telling me something. Something's… changed?' She looked around the room again, and immediately noticed that the door that would normally take her towards the Ventilation area had changed.

No longer was it made of metal—it was now carved, dark wood, with a somewhat familiar symbol on it. Blinking, she looked down at the card in her hand, where the yin-yang sun was depicted. Immediately wary, she used her senses on the card, then the door.

"This… this could be dangerous," she muttered, frowning as she approached it. Unlike many other objects of power, this door was too unique to comprise an archetype of a door, which meant that it was either vastly more powerful, or something that just wouldn't have existed in that world.

She considered her options. Previous history with suddenly-appearing objects leaned heavily onto the realm of nasty results. 'Maybe I should bond the do—' she immediately reared back when she felt Polaris' reaction to the thought. 'Nope, bad idea? But…' her frown turned into surprise when she felt the slight push of intent. 'So you're saying not to bond it… but still go in? Is it safe?' She shook her head, sometimes wishing that she could hear a voice rather than intent, but Polaris had never failed her. It had always protected her and led her right. Even here, in the Oldest House.

"If you say so…"

The chime of a silver bell. 'This place feels different.' Jesse thought, stepping past the door into a small corridor made of red bricks. 'I the air is fresher, I still feel like I'm inside a huge creature, but this time I'm not being constantly watched. It doesn't feel like I'm going to be ambushed, distorted or trapped if I'm not careful…' Her eyes narrowed. 'Suspicious.'

She made her way through the short corridor and up just a couple of steps to where she could see a room. Or more accurately, a bar. Several tables waited for customers; a jukebox at the far end of the room lit the area about it with neon colors; pictures, posters, and artifacts lined the walls, some of them mundane, others pulsing with power.

Closer to where she stood, at the entrance and the cashier, was a crystal container with some sort of golden liquid. 'I feel it passively probing the area around… I wonder what it does?' She walked further in, taking in the strange creatures in the pictures. Unicorns. Griffons. Dragons. Aliens. Furries. She paused when she saw the spider in its terrarium. 'Dangerous…'

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the Omniverse!"

Jesse blinked at the bartender, a young woman with red and gold hair, a tinge of orange to her skin that seemed to be natural, and striking teal eyes. 'Omniverse? Does she mean she has access to other places? Places like the slide? The Hiss? She's not human…'

"Hello." She said awkwardly, trying not to seem uncomfortable, suddenly being on the spot. "I uh, didn't see you there."

The bartender smiled, grabbing a menu and motioning for Jesse to take a seat. "Don't worry, when people with deeper perceptions walk into the bar, they usually take in the outside objects first, and I tend to fade into the background while they do so."

Jesse narrowed her eyes. "I don't understand how that's possible… you are brimming with power."

Indeed, the bartender had an aura that put to shame just about anything she had seen so far. 'How did I not notice her? She wasn't hiding her presence, and she eclipses the energy of everything else in here by magnitudes.'

"Maybe you were looking at the trees rather than the forest?" the bartender asked ponderously, before shrugging and placing the menu on the bar for Jesse's perusal. "Anyway, I'm Sunset Shimmer, welcome again to my bar."

Jesse nodded as she felt a slight nudge from Polaris. 'I did want a drink…' She started reading the options.

"If you don't mind my asking," the bartender—Sunset—spoke up, "It seems you used one my business cards to visit, did someone give it to you?"

'The card. I know it wasn't there yesterday, and the only one that would go to that room, or send anything there really…'

Jesse nodded, pulling out the card from her pocket, studying it for a moment before showing it to the other woman. "Ahti."

Sunset smiled. "It's been a while since I've seen him. How's the old codger?"

"He's taking a vacation." Jesse responded, unwilling to provide too much information, given how little she knew of Sunset herself.

Around her senses, Polaris lay, not dormant, but… content, somehow, yet her experiences made her wary of the calm. 'How much does she know, really? How much should I say?'

"Good for him," Sunset said, nodding firmly. "Being at it for thousands of years does get on your nerves after a while, no matter how menial the task. He must've found one hell of an assistant."

Jesse's smile was self-deprecating. "Well, here I am."

Sunset gave her a look before letting out a proper belly laugh. "No wonder you need a drink. The Old House is a pain in the ass. Especially since Director Ash stepped in." She shook her head. "That man should have known he was way out of his league."

Jesse blinked. "You knew Director Ash?"

"I had the misfortune of bumping into him during a visit," Sunset replied with a sour grimace. "Utterly convinced he had things under control, which he didn't, and utterly convinced of the benevolence personally awarded to him by… not so benevolent beings." She snorted, crossing her arms. "If Ahti hadn't stepped in, his entire crew would have been gone in an instant."

"I see."

That matched with the history she knew of the Oldest House, and was safely within the parameters of what she had learned in the Foundation. 'But, what is your agenda? How do you know so much? Are you like Ahti, and if so, benevolent?' Jesse started when she felt Polaris give her the ethereal equivalent of a smack to the back of the head.

"Have you decided what you'd like? If you're Ahti's assistant and he gave you the card, I can put the first drink on his tab."

"He has a tab?" Jesse asked weakly. She shifted in her seat, looking around and imagining Ahti in his overalls sipping his drink.

'Ahti is essentially an ancient god. And he has a tab in a bar, likes to fish, and visit woodlands with the commodities of modern day convenience.' She sighed, letting the thought push away some of her wariness. "That's oddly reassuring."

"What is?" Sunset asked.

"Um… nothing." Jesse perused the menu, noticing some of her favorite cocktails were listed, while drinks she would normally avoid were completely missing from it, even if they were on the shelves behind Sunset. It was as if the bar knew her already. "I'll uh, have whatever Ahti would order out of these."

"MacCutcheon on the rocks it is."

Jesse straightened up. "Never heard of the brand." Watching Sunset, who had turned around, grabbing a bottle from almost the top of the shelf. 'Oh. Ahti might not be happy about this one.'

"I'm not surprised, it's not something you can find in many worlds."

Jesse leaned on the bar, holding her hands to her face. "Many worlds? Just… how expensive is it?"

Sunset chuckled, pouring her a glass and placing it in front of her. "In some worlds? A single shot could be over a thousand dollars? In my bar? Not quite that much." She shrugged. "Besides, I've forgiven his tab a few times. Ahti is just… he really needed a break. He cares a lot more than he lets on."

Jesse snorted, relaxing a little. "That he does." She took a deep breath, letting the aroma from the whisky reach her nostrils. The smokiness, spices and hints of wood. It smelled delicious, so she took a sip. "Hmm."

Sunset nodded. "Yep, that's usually the reaction."

"I have questions."

"Many people do," Sunset replied, leaning one elbow on the bar. "I'll try to help, but your world is not my own. I might be limited on how much I can help."

"You said you met former director Ash, how did that happen?"

"Hm." Sunset pushed back and went over to grab a glass of whisky for herself before walking around the bar to sit on a stool next to Jesse. "I guess my answer depends on whether you've been to the Foundation or not."

"I have." Jesse nodded. 'The Foundation, the place where it all started, where the FBC had been effectively created. Where Director Ash had found the Service Weapon. Where the Nail was located… so much happened there. Is it any wonder that it would be at the center of even this new event?'

"Well, then, I was on a regular treasure hunt, you know? Old Scrooge and my business partner, Rarity, had found documents indicating a powerful device that was hidden somewhere in this particular corner of the omniverse. So, naturally, I came by to check it out. Turns out that Director Ash and his team had just broken through the lowest levels of the Old House and found their way into the Foundation."

"What… did you find?"

Sunset lifted her glass and swirled the cubes and whisky inside, watching the amber-gold liquid slosh a little. "When I arrived… there was a column. Black, obsidian like, and stretching up from far underground to the ceiling above. Nothing was happening, there were some entities there, but nothing of note other than some busybodies that threatened me for a while. Then, when the FBC broke in, things… changed.

"The column broke before they arrived, cut by the entities, who then lifted the upper half until only the tip was visible on this side of reality. They called themselves the Board and used that piece to filter out the voices of others in there, and uh—" she blushed a little, "—I admit they caught me by surprise. I was rendered ethereal at that moment. So I watched the FBC meander about and study everything, subtly guided by the entities that had broken the column, which they called the Nail now."

Jesse frowned. "Wait, the Pyramid is part of the Nail?"

Sunset shrugged. "It's simple but effective. You have two spiritual parts of the same unifying object. A nail is essentially something that binds things together, a pyramid concentrates power or intent into a single point. If the pyramid is what completes the nail, then…"

"The intent, and thoughts are bound together," Jesse muttered.

"Exactly, if you're inside the Oldest House, which ethereally is located now under the Pyramid, you are bound by the intent from above, and the pull from below."

"But if you're at the same level as the Nail, the intent is dispersed… there's no binding or glue to behold you to the single thoughts…" Jesse shook her head. "Is… that why I could understand the Former there, but not above?"

"I'm not sure who the Former is, but at least there would be less interference from the Board," Sunset said. She cleared her throat. "I realize this sounds weird coming from someone that's from another dimension, but you have to be careful who and what you trust from other realms, no matter how benign they might seem."

"Tell me about it." Jesse snorted again, and took a deep drink out of her glass, wincing as the whisky burned her throat a little. 'Damn good whisky though.'

"I don't trust just anyone," Jesse continued, allowing a slight hint of bitterness to enter her voice. "Outside of Ahti and… someone else, I can't afford to believe people or entities have my best interests in mind. Even when I thought I was living my own life, it turns out that everything I did, everything I said was recorded, notated, analyzed and archived. Even if I'm the Director now, I'm in the dark about what the Bureau wants."

She sighed, letting the weight finally show in front of this stranger. "It's… hard. Hard to deal with the politics on top of the secrets, on top of the danger. When are you supposed to feel calm or safe when the mere acknowledgement by those around you that an object is exactly what it is turns it into the primal, archetypal representation of itself with often malignant intent?

"Everyone wants to keep their secrets, to guard their place, to protect their interests, hide their knowledge, but they expect me and everyone else to somehow figure things out and make them work in spite of that." She snorted. "I couldn't get a single straight answer most of the time. Everything is redacted, classified, protected… even being the Director I have to go through hoops and chase red herrings before they feel like they have no other choice but to be honest… even my allies!

"I'm in a position where power is implied, but denied. Where the change I can effect can only come from breaking the whole establishment, but even those that want me to change things feed further their agenda to possess—not change—the establishment they 'so hate'. Is it any wonder that the real job of the Director is to be the assistant of the janitor? I do my job and clean up after the mess they create themselves, despite their mistrust, and despite their envy… and whatever little respect I get is undermined by the sheer greed of these people, gossip, the Board and anyone else that has a stake in it."

Jesse clenched her fists, closing her eyes and forcing herself to slow her breathing. 'I had never… been this honest with anyone other than you, Polaris. Is this normal? Am I being manipulated? Or have I just had enough?'

The sound of whisky being poured into her glass made her open her eyes and blink.

"Hey, it's okay," Sunset said, turning to pour a bit more into her own glass. "This is what I'm here for." She motioned with her head at the wall of pictures. "The majority of those pictures are of people that came here because life was getting to them. They needed a place to relax without worrying about being judged or attacked." She shrugged, smiling. "This is what my bar is about."

Jesse liked her lips. "No Board, no agendas?"

Sunset shook her head.

"No interdimensional invasions or wandering evils from the dark corners of the universe?"

"None of those, no one, and nothing with bad intentions can walk through that door," Sunset assured her.

Jesse drank her whisky, then reached over to the menu. "Um. It says here I can order food?"

Sunset grinned, motioning over to one of the tables. "Come on, let's get you somewhere more comfortable. Then you can tell me all you want, and I'll listen."

Jesse stepped out of the bar with both, a card of her own, and a small picture frame, where Sunset, herself and—incredibly—Polaris sat around a table full of food and drinks. She shook her head in wonder at the whole thing, turning to find that the door to Sunset's Isekai was now gone.

'For now.'

Jesse let out a small sigh and stretched, feeling refreshed after a long, long conversation with Sunset Shimmer. She still wanted to investigate if there had been other sightings, and she still had questions about what Sunset had been doing in the Foundation, but…

"I can leave that for next time."

The radio on her belt buzzed to life. "Director? Are you there?"

She took it and brought it up closer to her face. "I'm here, Frederick, what's going on?"

"We had some weird reactions in the Panopticon, do you mind coming over to check them out?"

Jesse snorted. "Of course you did," she muttered, then pressed the radio's button. "Roger that, I'll be right there."

She replaced Ahti's card where she had found it, then put away her card and the picture. "Time to get back to work—" she grinned, "—but at least now I have a full stomach."

The End

Author's Note

Control Video Game Cast

Jesse Faden is the current Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, and the protagonist of the game "Control." She is guided by a benign interdimensional (read: higher dimensional) being called Polaris, who communicates with her through impressions and empathic feelings.

Ahti claims to be the janitor of the Oldest House, and is the first person Jesse meets. He decides that she's hired as his assistant, and should go to the director's office to assume her new position. Ahti is shrouded in mystery, and is much more than meets the eye.

Simply put, The Oldest House is the Place of Power in New York City. Can only be found if the searchers know its supposed to be there, and it's the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Control. It's NOT a safe place, constantly shifting and changing. Rooms appear and disappear (as do people), and objects brought inside tend to… develop some sort of sentience.

The FBC is responsible for both the scientific study of paranatural elements and the protection of the nation (and humanity as a whole) from these forces. (Control Wiki)

Great Expectations (Macross Δ & Others)

Sunset's Isekai
Great Expectations (Macross Δ)
By Wanderer D

*Cast from Delta at bottom of document.

The planet Ragna was—arguably—one of the most idyllic planets under the New United Nations Government.

Clear skies, beachside property, friendly local species (both sapient and non), shimmering, glimmering, sparkly oceans that spread as far as one could see… overall it was extraordinarily beautiful. Especially from the top deck of the CV/C-110 Hemera, the carrier where Delta Squadron nested, and which was currently attached to the SDF/C-108 Macross Elysion.

Mirage stood atop of her plane—the custom-painted VF-31C Siegfried—somberly gazing at the horizon, admiring the expanse of the planet all around her, yet deeply in thought about less pleasant things.

The beauty of Ragna never tired her, although she didn't allow it to show as often as she should—especially with her charge around—but it wasn't her relationship to Hayate Immelman, Freyja Wion, or Walküre (or even the war) that darkened her thoughts right now.

Time had passed since she had said her silent goodbyes to her superior, Messer Ihlefeld, and yet, his words and observations still echoed in her mind. Having devoted herself to piloting, her whole life, her whole career, she had endeavored to live up to her name.

Mirage Farina Jenius.

As if the last name by itself wasn't enough through association, the fact that it was conspicuously close to the old Earth Language word that meant 'genius' simply made it worse. It seemed to taunt her and mock her… although no one in her family had ever shown any sign of disapproval, it was very clear to her that the tradition of extraordinary pilots had simply diluted too much by the time the genetic material got around to her.

"Your flying is manual-grade and predictable."

What a thing to say to a member of the Jenius family. No pressure there. It's not like her former superior was brutally honest with his assessments and that probably was already in her file… and even if Masser had said it with the full objective of helping her without formally noting it, the fact of the matter was that it just made her feel… inadequate.

She glanced to Hayate, the slightly younger pilot that had been assigned to her for training. He was at that moment literally dancing with one of the heavy lifting mecha to one of Walküre's songs while the crew laughed and cheered.

As much as it pained her to admit it, she didn't think she had it in her to be so… in tune with her mecha.

Hayate's movements were focused and seamless when he was in that state. He turned, slid, and did things with a mecha designed to move heavy equipment that seemed borderline grotesque in its fluidity… lifting machines shouldn't be able to move like that.

And yet, he made the mecha do it.

He obviously had issues when it came to flying his own plane in contrast to other mechas—mostly due to his resistance to taking killing shots, ignoring orders, and general stubbornness—that somehow bottled him up and prevented that grace from emerging during battle, but she knew it was just a matter of time before he'd break through whatever wall was holding him back.

He'd dance way past her, leaving her in the shadows of not just her entire family and Masser, but her own trainee as well.

With those dark thoughts in mind, she jumped off the cockpit and landed lightly on the deck. Even though a couple of people noticed her, they made no attempt to reach out. If her mood was plain on her face, she couldn't blame them.

Rather than stick around and mope, she decided it was probably time to take a walk around town.

A few minutes later, she walked down the familiar streets of Barette City. The city itself was very peculiar, designed to cater to the humans, Zentradi, and other species that were part of the Macross Fleet, while still being very much Ragnan.

She loved living with the amphibious humanoids, even if she'd never be as agile a swimmer as any of them—lacking their natural advantages and living next to and under the water their whole lives—their culture, their open-mindedness, their welcoming and friendly personalities… it was a place well worth protecting, even if she wasn't one of the best.

She paused, feeling as if something was out of place. She had walked this road home many times, so it took her only a moment to see the bar sign.

'There's a new place in town?' She approached the door on the side of what she could have sworn was someone's house, but it had a distinctly different look to it than the rest of the town did.

The door was framed by an arch of stones, which clashed with the other entrances, since Ragnan's designed their entrances smooth and without crevices. The door was rustic, made of wood of some sort—certainly nothing local—and it was decorated with a stylized sun of some sort, split in half of reds and golds.

And next to it, was a small blackboard.

"Aviator's Night special," she read aloud. "All pilots get the first drink on the house. Wide selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Huh." She considered the entrance. Usually she wasn't into visiting bars, but Masser's words and her own feelings of self-loathing were battling her right now. Her instincts also seemed to be edging her towards the door.

"Deculture," she muttered, rolling her eyes. She grabbed the door, opened it, and walked in. She let her eyes grow accustomed to the lower light, as the door closed behind her, the silver bell above it ringing once more, announcing her arrival.

She was in a small hallway that had a couple of steps ahead, where she could see several tables and already hear people talking. She glanced back at the door, already regretting getting in there, but what was done, was done, and it would be rude for an officer to leave immediately after stepping in. Plus, she didn't recognize any of the voices, which was a good sign as far as she was concerned.

She walked through and up the two steps, finding herself on something that would have been more at home inside one of the Macross Cities. Perhaps in a more upscale area. She believed the style bar was called speak-easy, something related to an ancient occurrence humans had back on Earth, where some places were hidden away for their customers to be able to talk to each other without worrying about unwanted ears.

Funny enough, that suited her just fine right now. The decor however, was… different. Several species were portrayed on posters and pictures of the bartender with guests. Some of them fantastical even, but with the galaxy being as vast as it was… could it be that the bartender had been all over the known universe?

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the Omniverse. I'm Sunset Shimmer, pleasure to meet you." the bartender called out to Mirage, making the other guests pause to look at her.

They were mostly human. Except for the pig. Shaking her head, she headed over to the bar, where the smiling woman waited for her. Considering all the pictures and paraphernalia, she was either older than she looked, or had a lot of money to jump all over the place. Mirage cleared her throat and sat down as the other patrons resumed their conversations.

They were an odd group. All of them wore overalls as pilots would, but she didn't recognize the insignias.

"Since you're a first-time visitor, the first drink is on the house," Sunset said, "and since you're also a pilot, that means you get another drink on the house. Lucky you."

Mirage blinked and turned to look at Sunset. "How did you know I was a pilot?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow, and Mirage looked down at herself. She was wearing the purple and white body-fitting overalls she wore during flights. "Oh."

"Lot on your mind, huh?" Sunset asked, smiling gently. "That happens a lot here."

Mirage pursed her lips as she looked around. "I've never seen that species before," she said after a moment. "And the other pilots… their uniforms don't match anything I've seen around. They look… well, old."

"Hm." Sunset nodded. "You're from… one of the UN Spacy types, huh? We'll get a few more from your universe later on, but I can guarantee that all of these guys are legit. Even the pig. His name is Marco, by the way, and you wouldn't believe it, but he's actually human."

Mirage gaped. "No way."

Sunset shrugged. "Well, it is Pilot's Night, why don't you mingle? All of these guys are incredible in their own way, you might find some interesting conversation. If you need anything, I'll be here at the bar."

"Right…" Mirage was having a tough time following some of the conversation. The bartender had implied something about her dimension, but was it just a fancy way of saying galaxy quadrant? People from different planets tended to call different worlds anything from 'yonder' to 'other realms', depending on the local language. Perhaps it was some sort of miscommunication. She glanced down at the menu.

"I think… I'll have a Harvest Sour," Mirage said, picking the first drink that caught her eye. There were some more exotic ones but… well, she might try them later.

"Coming right up."

Mirage turned around, studying the people there. At the moment there were only four other pilots besides herself. The two youngest ones couldn't be much older than Hayate, but they had the eyes of weathered pilots. Especially the one with the small scar on his cheek and darker hair.

The other two were the pig-like-human, and a man who looked to be in his late twenties. They both had their headgear on the table, the pig—Marco, had a brown aviator hat, something out of a museum next to him, made of leather and with thick glasses to protect his eyes.

Next to his table mate, was a white helmet, much more familiar-looking (if still antiquated) completely white except for a stylized red cross.

"You can't be serious!" one of the younger pilots exclaimed, drawing her attention to him. He had sandy-brown hair and looked more like an engineer than a pilot, if she was honest. Earlier on he had seemed calm and polite, but right now he was standing up, both hands on the table staring at his impassive counterpart. "You can't possibly do that! There's no way you did that! The sheer forces alone would tear you and your machine apart!"

"Hey!" Marco called out. "Keep it down Claus, night's just starting and you're already acting like Maverick."

The now identified Claus turned to look at the pig. "But, Marco, Sagara here just told me he was slammed by the fist of a gorilla-like machine from his world that's forty two meters high and weighs about fifteen hundred tons, and he stopped it with his nine meter tall, ten-ton robot!"

"That… sounds like a stretch," Mirage blurted, staring at Sagara.

"See? Even uh… the new girl… knows it's BS."

"Excuse me?" Mirage asked, glaring at the youngster. "Are you implying I know less about piloting than you because this is my first time at this bar?!"

"Kids, kids," Marco raised his voice. "Calm down. Claus, remember that Sagara's world has that strange technology… what did you call it that one time?"

"Lamda Drivers." Sagara said, leaning on one arm on the table while he sipped a small coffee. "And I'm not lying."

"Well, next time bring a damned video," Claus muttered, sitting down. He stole a couple of glances at Mirage before clearing his throat. "And uh… sorry. Just got a bit… um. Yeah, sorry."

"This is why I hate kids," Mirage muttered. She shook her head and passed the sheepish boy to sit down with the other two adults.

Marco guffawed when he heard her muttering. "Girl, you're not much older than them yourself. How old are you, seventeen? Eighteen?"

"Marco, it's rude to ask a lady her age," the other man said, shaking his head. He looked at her, measuring her up. "Seems like you're military, how long have you been flying?"

Mirage blinked. "About five years."

"Now who's being rude?" Marco asked, elbowing the other man. He grinned at her. "Allow me to introduce myself, Marco Pagot, at your service. But you can call me Porco, and this sourpus is Shin Kazama."

"Mirage," she said. "Mirage Farina Jenius."

"Well, things are going to be interesting," Marco said, and it looked like he was about to ask something when Shin elbowed him in turn, shaking his head.

Marco shrugged. "Eh. So why the frown, kid?" he asked instead. "Saw you walk in like a seagull had jammed itself in your propeller."

Mirage frowned. "My plane doesn't have prop—"

"It's a figure of speech," Sunset said, setting Mirage's drink in front of her on top of a coaster.

"Oh."

"What Marco means is that you walked in looking like you had a lot on your mind," Shin added. "Is it something you'd like to talk about?"

She was about to answer when the door opened again, and a young man in his twenties with a mess of brown hair and an odd suit stepped into the room. 'Is that medieval armor?!' His left leg had been replaced by a simple mechanical appendage, but he walked in with a confidence that made that a minor detail at best.

It was just unusual due to the technology level. It was starting to dawn on Mirage that she really wasn't in her world right now.

"Hey, hey," another voice called behind him as the silver bell chimed again. "I thought this was a pilot's night, since when do dragon riders count?"

The first man stopped and rolled his eyes. "You really want to argue the point, Pete? I'll make sure to bring it up when Lessa comes in later."

The second man had similar overalls to those that Shin was wearing, although his were all a dark gray, with what she recognized as one of the old Earth national patches on his arm. He grinned and lifted his hands in surrender. "Nope, all good here. Also, remember to call me Maverick, Hiccup."

Hiccup laughed, motioning with his head to the bar, where Sunset already had two drinks out, one a flagon of what appeared to be beer, and the other a small glass with ice and some sort of drink in it. 'Probably whiskey', Mirage thought.

"Hi Hiccup, where's Astrid?" Sunset asked, passing him the drink.

"She's home, we couldn't find anyone to take care of the kids, but she sends her regards," he replied, taking the beer with a grin. "Also, Toothless said that he's looking forward to Dragon night again."

Sunset shrugged. "It's on the calendar, don't worry."

Hiccup looked around and headed to where Mirage, Marco, and Shin were sitting, while Maverick took a seat at the bar, very obviously hitting on Sunset.

"Hey guys," he said, walking around to sit between Marco and Shin. "I see we have a new face here."

Mirage blinked while the others introduced her. She could have sworn there was no other seat at the table. She shook her head and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Well, very nice to meet you, Mirage," he said. "I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."

"Heir to the throne of Berk! King of the Vikings! Greatest Dragon Master to ever live!" Marco added.

"Nooo, well yes." Hiccup frowned, glancing at the pig with some measure of annoyance.
"Technically." He cringed at Shin's look. "Fine. Yes. But just call me Hiccup."

"Anyway," Marco spoke up before she could ask about their newest tablemate's name and title, "you were saying?"

Mirage paused. She was aware that none of these people knew her, and being from different worlds, chances were that they'd never be able to share what they learned from her with her friends or teammates. She nodded, taking a deep breath and a deep drink of her Harvest Sour.

"I've been struggling," she confessed after putting down the mostly empty glass. "I'm a good pilot, but apparently that's as far as I can get." She stared bitterly at her drink. Sour. That fit her mood. "My superior officer called my flying predictable and manual-grade."

"Aaand that's not good?" Hiccup asked, earning himself a look from the other pilots.

Shin leaned back. "Depends. If you want to be an instructor, that sets a good precedent for other pilots to start with, but stepping out of the box is what makes the difference between a good pilot and a great pilot."

"Especially in war," Marco grumbled, nodding in acknowledgment of Shin's point. "Think about it Hiccup, if your flying was predictable, do you think you could have survived all those battles you and Toothless were in?"

"It's not just that…" Mirage groaned, finishing the last of her sour, "it's my name. Or my last name in any case. The Jenius family has a long history of ace pilots, and I… I'm not."

"Jenius?" Hiccup asked, then he blinked and leaned back a little. "Ooooh." He grinned nervously. "Oh."

Mirage narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"Nothing!" Hiccup said quickly. "If it helps, I know exactly what you mean."

"Oh?" It was her turn to cross her arms and show disbelief. "Do tell."

"Well, before my people made friends with dragons, we were… well, we still are, but the point is that 'rowdy' and 'violent' does describe us vikings very well. And um, well my father, Stoic the Vast, was… uh, very different from me."

Mirage leaned back when someone placed what looked like chocolate milk in a martini glass in front of her. She looked up and had to fight back a gasp at the bird-girl that had brought it to the table. She had seen ducks before, but never like this.

"Maverick sends you this, he thinks you need it," the girl said, and Mirage looked past her to where Maverick had sat down at the end of the bar and raised a glass to her. 'Was the bar always that long?'

She looked around, just realizing that there were a lot more pilots here than before. Sagara's table had two new young pilots in it, one with a long braid and dressed in a chinese-inspired getup, and a short-haired pilot in overalls that resembled more what the Macross fleet would use, but not quite.

Mirage nodded in thanks to him and was wondering if she should say something when the bell chimed again, and Maverick turned his attention to the tall, handsome black human that had walked in. "Hey, if it isn't Steve Hiller, come on buddy, tell me about them aliens!"

Instead, she turned to the serving girl. "Um, thank you. What is it?"

"Chocolate Martini," she replied. "And don't worry, Maverick flirts a lot, but he's mellowed down ever since Sunset set his head on fire." She grinned. "It was an illusion, but it proved the point."

"Ah, Lena," Hiccup called out, "excellent timing, can you do me a favor and show Mirage here what my dad looked like?"

Lena snorted. "Fine, but you're letting me ride Toothless next time I visit."

Hiccup grinned. "Deal."

Lena motioned with her hands and—to the utter confusion of Mirage—small lights floated out of them before forming the image of a very big man with a full beard, massive muscles and stern expression.

"Yep," Hiccup said with a wistful smile, "that's my dad. Thanks, Lena."

"Anytime." The duck serving girl turned around and headed to the bar again, where Sunset was currently talking to another alien she had never seen before, a woman in casual clothes of some sort, with white and black striped horns (or tentacles, she wasn't sure).

"Yeah, so, that was him," Hiccup said, drawing her attention back to him as he motioned from the hologram to himself. "This is me. I was even more scrawny back then, and I didn't want to do what he and the others did, which was hunt and kill dragons… but I was the son of the chief and well…" He cleared his throat as the image dissipated. "A huge disappointment for the longest time."

Mirage was quiet for a moment, soaking the weirdness, but also Hiccup's words in. She tried her martini, and it was delicious. "So, what did you do?" she asked.

Hiccup shrugged, raising his arms helplessly. "I tried to be something I'm not, and I failed so miserably I became the first Viking—"

"Second. Your mom does count," Shin pointed out with a small smile.

"Ahem, yes, second viking to ride a dragon," Hiccup clarified. "It took some time, but after some crazy, crazy stunts, I managed to turn the town's ideas around." He took a swig of his beer. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you keep trying to live up to everyone's expectations, you're going to suffer for it."

Mirage frowned, deciding to drink a little more martini rather than saying her initial thoughts. "But without having set expectations, how am I supposed to improve?" She asked, shaking her head."If I can't live up to the expectations of Masser or the others, someone will get killed."

"The question then is, are you trying to live up to the expectations of others to make sure you and they survive," Shin asked gently, "or because you expect to be just that good a pilot regardless of what others see in you?" When she didn't answer, he continued, "Sometimes all you can do is take the advice, keep your head on your shoulders and work on improving."

"But working on improving is not your problem is it?" Marco asked, grinning knowingly. "I can tell you spend a lot of time on perfecting your skills. It's the mentality of it." He tapped his head with his finger. "If your superior hadn't thought you could handle it, he wouldn't have told you to think outside the manual."

"It feels like he was asking me to not think like a fighter pilot," Mirage muttered. "What about protocol? Orders? I can't be like Hayate and just ignore things."

"I wouldn't worry too much about breaking protocol in order to think outside the box," Shin said, "look around. Most of the pilots here are in active duty in their own worlds, and outside of Maverick, they don't actively try to stick it to the man."

"Speak for yourself!" A man sitting next to some sort of silver, female robot called from his table nearby.

"Come on, Joker," Hiccup said, "we're trying to have a conversation here."

"Alright, suit yourself. Just trying to be helpful, that's all," he replied, turning to talk to the fox and bird sitting with them.

The place was starting to really get busy. In addition to Joker and his table, another pilot, this one dressed like a pirate out of one of those videos she used to watch as a little girl, with his short, spiky blonde hair kept in control only by a pair of goggles, had joined Maverick and Steve, and was describing flying something that sounded conspicuously like a boat.

On another table, a bear in a shirt and a pilot's cap was animatedly talking to a young woman in a cyan overall that looked amused at both, his story, and the little squirrel creature she was feeding nuts to.

Besides Lena and Sunset, another girl was helping out with drinks, this being a teen with silver hair and green eyes that would sometimes float over to help. Behind the bar some sort of giant mouse woman in red clothes was helping mix drinks for other pilots… one of which…

"Is… that Basara Nekki?" she whispered.

"Oh, you know him?" Marco asked.

Mirage nodded mutely, watching as Basara picked up a tray with several drinks and walked past them to a table where several other people were sitting. Including her aunt. "Yack deculture," she swore under her breath.

"Yeah," Hiccup said. "I guess we should've told you earlier, but I wasn't sure you were directly related."

Mirage turned to glare at him, and he shrugged, grinning sheepishly as Mylene Jenius just happened to catch Mirage's eyes when Basara set down her drink. Her aunt immediately stood up, staring at her. "Hold on a sec?! Is that you, Mirage? Wow, you've grown!"

It was then that Mirage realized that her aunt didn't look a day older than herself, as the latter excused herself from the table where the rest of Fire Bomber was sitting alongside a man and woman who she could've sworn was Alto Saotome, and Sheryl Nome.

Mirage stood, awkwardly returning the hug her much shorter aunt gave her. "Um. Hi."

Mylene stepped back, taking in Mirage and grinned. "Wow, the last I saw of you, my sister had sent me pictures of your fifth birthday."

"For shame Mirage," Hiccup said, grinning at her. "Look at you, abandoning your family for… how long?"

"It hasn't been thirteen years!" Mirage snapped, belatedly realizing she had given them her age. "I sent her a card just last week."

"Time dilation," the man sitting with Maverik and Steve said, "the bar doesn't care about when, how, or if. It's all about the present."

"Right, great explanation, Cid."

"Oh, just ignore them," Mylene said, walking Mirage over (after grabbing her milkshake) to a two-seater nearby. "How have you been? I heard from sis that you were going to attend flight school."

"Well, clearly it worked, graduated with honors and now I serve with the Macross Elysion fleet." Mirage said, still trying to process what was happening.

Mylene made a face. "Wow, you sound just like my dad. And Gamlin."

"Uh… sorry?"

"Nah, it's okay." Mylene leaned over her milkshake. "So… tell me. You already have a boyfriend? Does he sing?"

"Uh… no?" Mirage stammered. "I-I'm sorry, I'm still trying to process this. How old are you?"

"Hmph." Mylene crossed her arms and fake-glared at her. "A lady never tells!" She leaned in, glancing around before speaking. "But you're older."

Mirage closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, alright. I can handle Walküre, I can handle this."

"What's Walküre? Some sort of drink?"

"It's a group… but anyway," Mirage cleared her throat. "How come you're here?"

"Oh, Basara comes here occasionally, and I convinced him to bring us this time around. We'll be playing later on on the stage." Mylene said. "What about you?"

"What stage? There's no…" Mirage followed the direction Mylene's finger was pointing to a small stage with several instruments already on it. "Of course." She sighed. "I'm trying to sort out some things," she said.

She studied Mylene. She looked much younger than she had the last time they had managed to talk. Half her age, maybe. She had always liked her aunt, although they didn't talk much. Mylene was much more relaxed about things than some of her other aunts. Really dedicated, but less intense than the others, and had encouraged her through her early years in the academy. "I'm trying to figure out… I guess what type of pilot I want to be."

"Oh?" Mylene tilted her head. "Aren't you too old for that?"

"Mylene!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm joking! Seriously though, I'd thought you'd have it down, being a member of our family and all that."

Mirage grimaced. "No. And that's part of the problem. I feel like I'm letting down the name Jenius with my… predictable flying," she muttered.

Mylene's smile softened. "Hey, sorry, but don't feel bad. We all feel like that at the beginning. No matter how good we are, we'll never be as good as mom or dad."

"But you and Fire Bomber are all excellent pilots!" Mirage countered. "I'm just… okay. Good enough to teach newbies how to do it, but not enough to shine. Soon enough even my charges will surpass me."

"Do you do it just for recognition?" Lena asked, bringing over a menu for Mirage as she took the empty martini glass. "Sorry, couldn't help but overhear. I'm asking because although I'm not a pilot, I can relate a little."

Mirage blinked. "What? Of course I…" She trailed off. 'Why AM I doing it?'

"Look, I know I shouldn't butt in, but, everyone here flies for different reasons, and they all love it for different reasons, right?" Lena said, she nodded over to where the bear had been joined by another duck, this one in an old-style pilot's getup. "That one there is Della Duck, she loves adventure, and to her flying is an adventure. That's why she enjoys it so much, and I think part of why she's so good." She shrugged. "That's my opinion though. What'd you like next?"

Looking down at the menu, Mirage checked the options. "I uh… I'd like a Jet Pilot, please."

Lena nodded, took the menu and started walking away. "Coming right up!"

Mirage turned to look at Mylene, who was staring at her with an inscrutable expression. It was odd seeing her aunt (beyond the fact that she was much younger) like this, so she didn't know how to react to the sudden seriousness she was exuding. "Uh… what?"

"Why do you fly?" Mylene asked. "Do you still know?"

That question… was one she had really avoided for some time now. "I don't know what you mean," she mumbled, "it's a thing we Jeniuses do, right? Flying."

"That can't be your only reason!" Mylene stated, smacking the table with her fist and almost toppling over her chocolate milkshake. "Deculture, Mirage, that's not what this is all about, is it?"

"Language!" Mirage immediately said. Aunt or not, that was still not okay in polite company.

"Oh, don't give me that. I heard you swear earlier."

"Yack Deculture."

"Anyway, don't try to change the topic!" Mylene shook her head. "Be honest, we're trying to help you here."

"I-I don't know!" Mirage snapped. "Okay? I remember when I got accepted into the academy… I was going to do what grandad did. What you did. What my mom and other aunts did. I wanted to make you all proud! Be as good as all of you!"

"And what makes you think we're not proud already?" Mylene asked, her voice gentle. She smiled encouragingly. "You're a Second Lieutenant already right? That means you've worked really hard to get there. And even though I only know you from a few videos and calls as a child, and a few minutes now, I can tell you belong here with all of us. You don't have to worry about making your family proud. We all can appreciate how hard it is to do what we do."

For a sixteen year-old-ish teenager she packed quite the emotional punch. Mirage felt herself tearing up a little and fought to hold the tears back.

"Oh no," Mylene said, eyes wide and shaking her hands desperately. "Did I break her? I was trying to be nice!"

Hiccup leaned back on his chair, balancing perilously on the two back legs long enough to take a look at Mirage's face before falling back into place. "Nope," he said, "she just had an epiphany."

Mirage couldn’t even bring herself to glare at Hiccup. He was right, it had just dawned on her that, other than doing her job, or simply following the footsteps of her family, she had no reason to fly. Not that there was anything wrong with flying, but that’s what set the others apart from her.

She barely noticed someone shooing Mylene away as she was lead over to sit at the bar. Her thoughts were in turmoil. The key had always been there, but she'd been to focused on repetitive training and studying and trying the moves of others without being able to break that glass ceiling.

Firebomber's amazing flying was fueled by their musical passion. Her grandfather had always loved flying, as evidenced by his early years, and her grandmother had always loved battle. They had both loved tricky maneuvers and challenging each other.

Hayate loved the freedom it brought him to be part of the wind, that’s why he could let loose like he did. All the great pilots had that little something else that made them be more than just a person flying a machine, and as she heard the conversations going on around her, she realized that she was missing just that little part of being a pilot.

Passion.

She noticed the drink that was right in front of her and blinked, only now realizing she was at the bar away from the others, with only Sunset around.

"I figured you needed just a little more space," Sunset said, "that and Mylene was panicking, so I didn't want her to interrupt your thoughts."

"Um… thanks," Mirage said, taking her drink and sheepishly drinking a bit. "I was that obvious?"

"When you've been doing this as long as I have, you learn to see the signs," Sunset replied. "Fate, destiny, the universe, my bar… call it whatever you want, but you ended up here, when you needed help." She nodded at the barfull of pilots of all sorts as yet more walked in, this one an attractive human male dressed in black and white, like a cowboy, and accompanied by a tall, very furry creature. He was smiling and bumping fists with others as he went on to join Maverick.

"Everyone here flies something different. F15s, test airplanes, Gundams, biplanes… things that don't exactly fall into those categories but require piloting… and you're one of them," Sunset said.

"And you're not?"

Sunset smiled. "I'm pretty handy with a motorcycle, but no, not this kind of piloting."

Mirage looked down at her drink. "I realized earlier that I didn't have any passion for flying… or I do, but I don't know what motivates me anymore. I used to think living up to my family's fame was what I was supposed to do but… the more I realized I would never be good enough for that… the less important it became, until I was just… flying for the sake of doing my job."

"I think a lot of us, if not everyone, wonders at some point what is our motivation for doing something," Sunset said after a moment. "Sometimes it helps us realize that whatever it is is not enough for us. Sometimes it feeds our willpower to try harder. But you're still piloting, you're here worrying about something you feel passionate about."

Sunset reached over and gave Mirage's hand a squeeze. "I've got some ideas for the future if you're interested, but first, why don't you mingle? Listen to the others about their adventures, about their lives and what they love."

"You think I might find what I'm looking for?"

Sunset smiled, nodding. "I think you'll figure it out. They might look quirky, funny, furry, scaly, feathery, too serious, too goofy… but they are your people. You literally have family here. But there's two particular ones you might want to meet. Grab your drink."

Straightening a little from the pep talk, Mirage grabbed her Jet Pilot and followed Sunset across the bar. It wasn't just her imagination, the place was bigger now than earlier, when she had walked in. It hadn't been tiny, but there hadn't been these many tables at all. Pilots of all worlds talked to each other, and the bar staff, surprisingly.

"Ah, Ahsoka, I was just telling Din here that you'd be perfect to teach at my new Jedi Academy."

"Webby has been asking me non-stop to convince Uncle Scrooge to allow her to join you guys…"

"I'm telling you, Amuro, the math doesn't make sense!"

"Says the guy that had a panic attack over the Lambda Drive."

"I don't want to hear that from a man that wants to pierce the heavens with a giant drill."

Everywhere the conversations were more and more surreal, and yet… she really felt at home. She was snapped out of her reverie when they reached the table they were aiming for. She shook her head to pay attention and almost choked.

"Gentlemen," Sunset said to the two pilots seating at the table, "this is Mirage Farina Jenius. Mirage, let me introduce you to Isamu, and—"

"Maximillian Jenius," the young pilot said, standing up and pulling the remaining free seat away from the table. "A pleasure to meet you. It seems we are related?"

Mirage nodded mutely as she took a seat, but shook it off when Sunset patted her on the shoulder. "I'll leave you guys to it. Enjoy!"

The RaguNyanNyan Restaurant was currently closed, which meant all the members of Walküre and Delta Flight were relaxing for the rest of the day… until the front door slammed open and Mirage stumbled in. She dropped her jacket, purse and some stuff on a table, seeming to consider sitting at it until she yawned and decided to just go to her room.

The singing stopped, the cooking paused and even the mercats stopped chasing each other as she waddled and heaved herself through the room towards the stairs.

They watched in silence as she dragged herself up the stairs, and remained quiet until they heard her door close upstairs.

"Was she drunk?" Hayate asked.

Freyja gasped. "No way."

The group of curious singers and pilots went upstairs to listen outside Mirage's door.

"I hear her snoring," Makina said, while her lover, Reina, nodded.

"Come on, let's give her some space," Hayate finally whispered. "She's never been even close to letting loose, I don't want to give her a hard time about it… yet."

The group grumbled but acquiesced.

"What do you think happened?" Freyja asked.

"Guys, check this out!" Marianne, Chuck's sister called out.

When the group gathered around her, she showed them an old-style printed out picture.

"Wow, that's a lot of people and aliens," Freyja said, staring at it. "Wait, I recognize some of them, isn't that Fire Bomber?"

"And Sheryl Nome," Reina noted, her usually unemotional tone almost breaking. Almost.

"I never knew Mirage knew so many famous people," Hayate muttered. "I always thought she was more of a shut-in."

"Hey, that looks like Admiral Jenius…" Chuck said. "I wonder how he keeps looking so young after so long? And is that… Isamu Alva Edison?"

"Who?" Hayate asked, only to be dragged back by Chuck. "What?!"

"You need to study your history."

Meanwhile, inside her room, Mirage snored away, a smile on her face, her hand holding tight the small silver key she had been gifted.

End Chapter

Author's Note

Mirage Farina Jenius - Formerly a pilot for the NUN Spacy, she is now a member of Delta Flight, which is a private military unit tasked with the protection of Walküre. She comes from a family of legendary pilots, many of which have been involved in saving the galaxy at one point or another, and this sort of gives her a complex. She's also my waifu.

A/N: So, I really think that although some people might not be familiar with Delta, the theme of Mirage's visit is something we can all relate to. What do you think? Also, how many series/pilots can you spot and identify? Let me know in the comments!

For the checklist click here!

Toughing it Out (Fallout Girls — Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
Toughing it Out (Fallout Girls — Fanfic)
By Wanderer D & Universal Librarian

Sunset Shimmer huffed as she strode through the snow, her breath turning to fog in the chill air. It had been months since she and her friends had been dumped in the Capital Wasteland but, despite everything they had dealt with, from violent raiders and hostile mutated wildlife, right up to the travails of a desperately-fought war, this was the lowest point that she had ever reached.

Kicking angrily at a patch of snow, Sunset swore under her breath and headed towards the nearest checkpoint. The Adams Air Force Base had such checkpoints all over the place, mostly staffed by overly eager young cadets whose uniforms were much too big for them, but luckily Sunset had high enough clearance that none of them dared to stop her. The fact that she stood out clearly thanks to being one of the only brightly-colored people in this washed-out world also meant that she didn’t have to bother with trivial details like presenting her holotags for identification.

Once she was past the checkpoint, Sunset turned down the street to the house she was sharing with Luna, Trixie and Sonata. She didn’t particularly feel like going to the house, mostly because the urge to stab Sonata if she was there was almost overwhelming, but just as she was considering just wandering off somewhere, Sunset spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

It was a door. Normally, a door wasn’t anything to be suspicious of, but this one was so out of place that Sunset had to wonder if her new meds were making her hallucinate.

A lovingly-worked door, constructed with some golden-red wood, was nestled in a stone archway. A crystalline version of Sunset’s own cutie mark adorned the door, glittering in the light of a vintage gas lamp that hung next to it. The door probably wouldn’t have looked so out of place if it wasn’t sparklingly clean compared to everything else in the Wasteland, not to mention the fact that it was apparently built into the side of a steel-walled armory that had definitely not had such a door when Sunset had passed it this morning.

Suspicion bloomed in Sunset’s chest. The Enclave had been messing around with Equestrian magic already, she knew that, but none of their experiments had involved anything at all like this. Not that she knew of, anyway.

Sunset glanced up and down the streets, but no-one else was in sight. She briefly considered heading back to the checkpoint and radioing for a squad to investigate, or maybe even Horrigan, but she quickly decided against it. It was her cutie mark, after all, so whatever this thing was, it was probably meant for her.

Just in case, Sunset patted her sides, making sure that she had her Nova Pistol and combat knife safely holstered and ready for use. She idly wished that she had her plasma rifle too, but she wasn’t interested in going back to the house to get it.

“Well, I guess it’s not like things can get any worse,” Sunset muttered to herself. With a fatalistic shrug, she stepped over to the door and turned the handle.

"I'm still not sure about this," Mirage Farina Jenius muttered, glancing down at her current… uniform? Dress? Armor?

"Nonsense dear," Rarity responded, walking around making little adjustments to the purple and black shoulder pads. She arranged Mirage's cape a little more, hummed to herself and added a silver pin. "There. How does she look, Hiccup?"

"Eh," the dragon rider shrugged. "I think she'll be fine. You said this stuff was fire resistant?"

"Yes."

"Ice?"

"Yes."

"Poison?"

"Yes."

"I'm starting to second-guess my willingness to do this," Mirage muttered. "Are you going to teach me to fly dragons or are you planning on torturing me?"

"Sometimes it's the same thing," Rarity declared, earning herself a glare from the Valkyrie pilot. "But Hiccup is a Master Dragon Rider, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Sunset?" Mirage turned pleading eyes to the bartender, who shrugged.

"You did fine piloting those other models, this is just… the live version of an airplane. One that doesn't have to swallow you whole for you to pilot." She tapped her chin and gave Mirage a calculating look. "I could arran—"

"Nope! I'm ready to go, Hiccup!"

"Finally!" Hiccup stood up from his seat and grabbed his gear. "Come on, Astrid is waiting."

"And that's also my cue to be on my way," Rarity said, packing up her gear. "I will see you soon, darling. Maybe we can visit Niffleheim soon for some materials."

"See you soon, Rarity," Sunset called, watching the procession walk into the small hallway towards the exit. "Don't do anything… that will follow me for the next one hundred years even if I was unrelated to it!"

Rarity's voice faded into the room. "You know me better than that, darling!"

"That's why I said it!" Sunset countered, hearing the bell chime as the door opened and closed. She sighed and looked at all the pieces of equipment on the bar. "And maybe next time help pick up? Well at least I have—" the silver bell chimed again "—a guest!"

She glanced at the things on the bar, and then leaned a little to listen. Whoever was at the door was the type to carefully look around before walking in. But they hadn't left, so she still needed to hurry. She carefully stacked the UN SPACY uniform and helmet inside a box, put in the far-too-advanced-forHiccup's-world weapons, and was just placing the whole thing down behind the bar when her guest finally stepped into the bar proper.

It was another Sunset, but one that had been through some tough times, if looks alone were a good indicator. Although she couldn't see much under the tan-and-black leather trenchcoat her guest was wearing, she could see thick fur lining the inside of the coat, hanging open to show the military gray uniform under it. The snow and mud on her boots also told the story of a very not-nice day out there, but it was really her face and tense body-language that really gave the impression that this version of her was not in a good place right now.

Sunken in eyes, lips pressed thin and a little cracked, (probably from the cold out there) she was glancing around in a calm-but-ready state, her hands neutral, but close enough to her gun to jump into action at a moment's notice. Better not mention they wouldn't work anyway, that would definitely not help things.

Rarity would have a stroke just seeing how unkempt this Sunset's hair was, as if it hadn't seen shampoo in months. Not even the horse kind she had bought the first few months in the human world.

Then again, Rarity would freak over the boots alone, although on a practical level they seemed sturdy and well-fitted. This Sunset had an obvious scar over her right temple, mostly healed, but still reddish, and eyes that reflected frustration and exhaustion.

It was a look she was familiar with, having seen it on other warriors, or visitors that had gone through the inhumane conditions of war.

At first, when her guest's eyes had settled on Sunset, there had been a slight moment of confusion and panic, slowly melting into even more wariness, and oddly enough, resignation.

And so, she smiled, waving her hand towards the bar. "Hey there, Sunset. Come on in. Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the omniverse."

"A bar?" Sunset asked flatly. She raised an eyebrow and looked around again, focusing in particular on the pictures. "Is this another alternate reality?"

"Sort of, yes. By the way, you can call me Isekai, to make things easier." Isekai pulled out a menu and set it on the bar. "I set this place up for people that needed… a bit of a break, someone to talk to and have them listen. If anything… think of it as a bubble that touches on many realities, some familiar, some not so much."

"Can it connect to more than one world?!" Sunset practically yelled, her eyes widening and a touch of hope reaching her features. "Would you be able to get us back to our world?!"

Isekai sighed. "Unfortunately, it wouldn't work like that… the bar, as much as I can control it, would allow me to say, have you visit a place or two, but it wouldn't fix your current situation. If I left you back in your original dimension without you getting there in the natural way that you would otherwise, you'd just pop right back to where you were trying to escape."

She nodded at the pictures. "There's a lot of ponies and people out there that are in similar situations, but I'm only able to provide them with a safe place to recuperate for a little while as their journey continues. In some cases, I can even let creatures visit other universes than their own, but it's always limited time and they end up back here, and then back home." She shrugged. "I guess otherwise I'd be breaking the omniverse."

Sunset sagged, the hope dying as quickly as it had come. "Figures." She sighed heavily and looked up at Isekai. "So you're another me, huh?"

"Yep, probably similar origins, but at some point our universes diverged," Isekai said, "Mine did when I met a Rarity from another universe visiting my world. We talked, became business partners, and here I am. There are a multitude of us out there. Even Pokemon versions."

"I don't have a damned clue what a Pokémon is, but I figured there'd be more of us out there. You're actually the fourth me I know of." Sunset looked around at the pictures again, glanced back at the exit, then shrugged and stepped over to the bar. "Mind if I stick around for a bit? I don't think I can face going back to that hellhole right now."

"Not at all," Isekai said, smiling encouragingly. "That's the point of this place. Relax and have a drink on me. If you don't like alcohol, my Hot Chocolate is Babish approved." She paused. "I guess. A lot of people like it, is what I'm trying to say."

Sunset's eyes widened. "You have hot chocolate?" She asked tentatively.

Isekai nodded. "Absolutely, take a seat and let me prepare that for you. If you want, you can put your coat on one of the other stools, I don't think we'll be interrupted. And it's practically impossible for the bar to be full."

She turned around and started pulling out ingredients, which Sunset could tell included three different types of milk, and no less than four different types of chocolate. "You've been in this other universe a long time?" she asked.

"A few months, but it feels like a lifetime," Sunset replied, watching her counterpart's movements like a hawk. She took the opportunity to strip off her coat and dump it on one of the stools before sitting on one adjacent. "The only things we've been able to drink are water and brahmin milk, unless you're willing to risk the irradiated crap."

"Ah, Wasteland scenario," Isekai sighed, shaking her head. "Definitely not one of the top ten destinations for visiting. Did you get Deathclaws and murderbots? A friendly Assaultron named Ada?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "We've got Deathclaws, and I'm sure that I've heard of Assaultrons, but I've never heard of Ada. You've had people from the Capital Wasteland here before?"

Isekai coughed. "Well, a few. Nick Valentine is a regular. But also… I'm not sure how to put it, but it's a popular video game in some worlds."

A low chuckle escaped Sunset's lips. "Good one. What's it called, Radioactive Rainbooms? Or Pinkie's Wasteland Treats?"

"Mostly it's just called 'Fallout', with New Vegas being one of the sequels." Isekai started pouring the chocolate into a glass. "It's funny, it's just so prevalent in the multiverse… there's versions where Equestrai becomes like that place, with Twilight and the others in charge of Ministries, and causing a war where only the wasteland is left."

When Sunset didn't say anything, she continued, "then there's worlds where our world is just a cartoon. Or a comic." She started adding the whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, cracker and marshmallow to the drink. "The omniverse is definitely not for people that buy too much into their own importance. It sort of beats humility into you through sheer exposure."

Sunset gave Isekai a dumbfounded look. "You're not joking?" She asked quietly. "Me and my friends are trapped in a god-damned video game world?!"

"Not exactly," Isekai clarified. "I've found that themes can span the consciousness of people across different dimensions. Right now, someone could be writing our conversation for a fanfic, or watching it on TV. But it's not because we're not real, it's that they perceive that as their imagination and give it form to the best of their ability. You see where I'm going with this?"

"It sounds like the plot of some crazy meta-series," Sunset said bluntly. She frowned and shook her head. "Actually, I'd probably watch a show like that religiously. Hang on…" Sunset looked up at Isekai, an odd look in her eyes. "Have you seen any worlds where they worship a Sunset as a goddess?"

Isekai chuckled. "I've uh, been there. Done that. But yes, it's happened." She slowly slid the hot chocolate over to Sunset. "In some worlds, it's just a magical culmination of Harmony Energy, and in others, well…" She summoned a fireball for a second and then let it dissipate. "People just assume. Doesn't help when you get gods visiting on the regular."

Sunset stared at the air where the fireball had been a second ago. "So some of us have different magic, there's real gods that actually exist, and some of them regularly visit this place for a drink. Right. Cool. Good to know." She blinked rapidly a few times, then turned her attention to the hot chocolate sitting in front of her. Sunset reached out to it, almost cautiously, and gently pulled the cracker out of the cream. "What kind of wafer is this?"

"Graham cracker," Isekai replied proudly. "Classics never fail." She let Sunset study the chocolate as she poured herself some, albeit without all the extra addons and took a sip.

"I suppose you're right." Sunset eyed the cracker warily, then bit the cream-covered end off. She perked up instantly, her eyes widening at the taste. "This is amazing!" Quick as a flash, she scooped up some more cream with the cracker and took another bite, moaning softly. "Oh, sweet Celestia, I've missed real sweets. And this is real cream, too!" Sunset froze, apparently realizing something. "Aw, crap, this is all real, isn't it? I'm not just hallucinating or dreaming?"

Isekai grinned. "It's real. You really became an omnidimensional bartender in another world."

"No shit?" Sunset heaved a tremendous sigh and shook her head again. "Whoa." She smirked and scooped up a little more cream. "These new meds are just as good as the doctor said. I'd probably be freaking out right now without them."

"Well, the bar does have a calming effect," Isekai admitted. "Not enough to be invasive, but it does project a lot less hostility than you'd get outside. Can you imagine how some visitors would immediately react otherwise? I'd be having gunfights all day."

"Sounds like a Tuesday," Sunset said with a huff. "I don't think I've managed to go a single day without firing a gun or punching someone since we first left Megaton."

"Well, at least here you don't have to worry about that," Isekai assured her gently. "You're safe, nothing can come in here that can harm you."

Sunset glowered as she finished the cracker. "That's what my Disciples said about the Temple, but some Talon Company psycho with a Geode still managed to get in and cause a scene." She sighed and sat up straight. "Still, I suppose a bar outside of reality should be a little bit safer than anywhere back in the wasteland."

Isekai nodded, sipping her own chocolate. "Well, that and I can blow up planets. So, no fighting here." She sighed happily with the taste of the chocolate. "I'll never get tired of this stuff. I'm curious though, earlier you mentioned you had met other Sunsets? How did that happen?"

"That's… kind of a long story." Sunset picked up the glass and blew gently on it. "The first one was actually the Capital Wasteland's version of us. Her name's Becky. She was a scientist working for an organization called the Enclave that was, uh, not exactly benevolent. Still, Becky helped me and my friends escape, then there was a whole war between the Enclave and us with the Brotherhood of Steel, which ended up with the pair of us helping to hash out a peace treaty. She's actually the President of the Enclave, now."

Sunset sipped the hot chocolate and closed her eyes, savoring the flavor. "Oooh, I'm going to hate having to go back to water after this." She hesitated for several seconds, before finally opening her eyes and continuing, "Anyway, I haven't actually met the other Sunset yet, but I've heard about her from Sonata. It turns out that the Sunset Shimmer native to Canterlot High worked with the Sirens and a changeling to, uh...." Sunset paused and looked at Isekai. "I'm assuming you know about the Sirens and changelings?"

"Yep. Met a few of them. I'm good friends with some versions that have had it… rough. But I went through some things with my original universe ones that made me a bit wary of them for a long time. As for changelings, I'm sure you've seen some of the pictures here."

"Good point," Sunset said sheepishly, looking up at the pictures on the walls. "Well, the native human Sunset worked with the Sirens and a changeling to sabotage a project we were working on." Her grip tightened on the glass and her expression hardened. "She's the reason me and my friends were dumped in the Capital Wasteland in the first place."

Isekai grimaced. "I'm sorry to say that not all versions of us I've met are, well, benign. We do have a temper, and we did start our dimensional travels with a mostly bitter disposition in most cases. Do you know why she's doing it? Some sort of revenge?"

Sunset shook her head slowly. "No idea. Most of the time the changeling was the go-between for them, and Sonata apparently didn't pay much attention anyway." She took a sip of the chocolate and added darkly, "When I finally meet her, though, you can bet your last cap that I'll find out what she has against us."

"Sonata tends to be like that," Isekai said, shaking her head. "I hope you find out though… and I hope she realizes what she's done." She walked around the bar to sit next to Sunset. "You said she was responsible for you guys being there… does that mean everyone else is there? Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack too? I can't imagine Fluttershy and Pinkie especially having an easy time adjusting."

“Yeah, things have been… difficult,” Sunset admitted quietly. “I think Pinkie was the first to… to break, but I was in a coma at the time, and the other girls still won’t tell me what happened. She does seem to be getting better though. Or was, anyway.” Sunset took a deep breath, apparently trying to calm herself. “Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack all seem to be coping okay. Not well, but okay. Twilight is… having trouble. She had a close encounter with a Deathclaw that left her in a wheelchair for a while, and ever since she’s been a little, what’s the word? Zealous?”

Isekai winced, squeezing her counterpart's shoulder with her hand. "That's horrible! Especially only to find out that, well, it just seems like petty revenge from this side of the story." She shook her head. "And people are now also treating you like a goddess? I can't imagine that being stressful," she added with a small roll of her eyes.

“They’re treating all of us like goddesses,” Sunset clarified, blushing faintly. “There’s a group calling themselves the Disciples of Harmony based in Megaton, then there’s the Church of Atom that treats us like angels of their weird radiation god. The two groups even worked together to build a Temple dedicated to us in Megaton.” She pouted and swirled her remaining hot chocolate. “Every time I go back there it seems like there’s even more of them leaving offerings or praying in the Great Hall.”

"Well, who knows, three thousand years from now, they might have ceremonies between one hour to three singing songs about you, putting words in your mouth, and starting wars in your name." Isekai nodded. "Good times."

Sunset groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I didn't even think about what the Disciples will do when we finally get back home. Damn it. I'll have to make sure that I lay down some rules and drill it into their skulls that they are not open for interpretation, and I'll get the rest of the Rainbooms to help out."

"Piece of advice?" Isekai said gently. "Don't give them that until you're ready to leave or they will never leave you alone."

"Duly noted." Sunset glanced sidelong at her. "Talking from experience?"

"Had the one god or two drop that tidbit. I usually don't use any powers in places where it's not the norm, or where there's no people that might be as strong or stronger than I."

Sunset snorted. "Wish I'd had that option. We tried to keep our magic hidden, but life or death situations kept coming along, then we made the mistake of giving up and letting the wasteland's main radio host in on our secret." She sipped the hot chocolate again and sighed. "Then there were the magical explosions. That kinda let the cat out of the bag on a pretty big scale. Half of the creatures in the wasteland seem to have magic these days."

"Sounds like things keep getting more complicated," Isekai said. "But to be fair to yourself and to your friends, when there's no choice left but to reveal that secret or die? I think you made the right choice, inconvenient as it might seem sometimes."

A dark expression flashed across Sunset's face. "I wish it was only an inconvenience. Ordinary war was bad enough, but now there's threats out there that are more powerful than anything I've ever seen."

Isekai reached over, gripping the younger Sunset's arm. "Hey. You've got this. You'll get the girls safely home. Believe me, I know you have it in you. And hey, there's always this place for the occasional chance to let it out."

"Heh, I guess you're right. I hope you are, anyway." Sunset downed the last of her hot chocolate. "Random question, do you have any advice on how to deal with psychics? Like, mind control and stuff?"

"Depends on the psychic, I suppose," Isekai ventured, tilting her head. She hummed and took a sip of her chocolate. "It really depends on the rules of the world, some places magic just doesn't mix with that… but if you're asking… there's always mental exercises you can do, or figure out the limits of their power. Sometimes a small injury will break control, and if they're trying to read your mind, you could always start doing complicated math in your head. Others… well, they might require equipment of some sort."

Sunset chuckled darkly. “Yeah, injuries make her lose control. Unfortunately, the thing we’re dealing with shrugged off having a hole blown through her skull.” Sunset patted her pistol meaningfully. “I’m immune to her powers, I think it’s because of my Geode, but the others…” She looked down into her cup, her expression grim. “She’s got my friends. All of them. And the majority of the Brotherhood of Steel. We have a plan for beating her, and I think we’ve got a real shot at it, but, yeah… It’s not a fun situation to be in.”

Isekai nodded. "There's a couple of things that I could think of, but most of the preparation for simply blocking psychic powers on your own usually takes training and time. Have you tried figuring out the frequency of the psionic signals? Maybe if you know that, you can make something to lessen them, or even interrupt them."

“One of the Enclave’s scientists, a woman named Lily, has a psychic inhibitor that makes her immune to psychic powers,” Sunset replied. “We’re building another one for Horrigan, that’s one of our soldiers, and we’ve got an undead beast or two, don’t ask, that can’t be mind controlled. Anything else is beyond our resources at the moment. We’re pretty sure Horrigan will be able to deal with the issue, but… I don’t know.” She sighed and slumped over the counter. “I just hate not having my friends around. I keep feeling like I’ve failed them, and every day that passes is yet another twist of the damned knife.”

"I know words are just that, but, you need to listen to this," Isekai said, making sure the other Sunset was facing her before continuing, "you need to remember that we all fail, and that things get out of control. For someone like us, it's… it's hard. We've always strived to be perfect for the most part."

She motioned with her hand at the pictures around the room. "From trying to be Celestia's perfect little fillies, to Prom Queens, to lead singers, to… well, bartending." She smirked. "Or even the best fighter in an interdimensional tournament when there's no way you're beating the bald guy."

She met Sunset's eyes firmly, with a small encouraging smile. "This is who we are. What you're feeling is normal. But it's not the end of things. You are working to help them. And you will get them back. And it's going to be really hard to do that, but when it's done, you will also have to remember that you have succeeded, and don't let fear of failure keep you from moving forward with your chin up."

Sunset nodded slowly. “Aside from the fillies and the interdimensional asskicking and the, uh, bald guy, that’s pretty much what the doctor said.” She straightened up and slowly breathed in and out. “Ugh, the next few days are going to suck.” Sunset drained the last of her hot chocolate, then sighed, stood up, and stretched. “Still, I guess you’re right. I can’t let myself give up just yet. If other Sunsets can handle this kind of mess, then so can I.”

"Well, I was mostly projecting," Isekai admitted, her grin never fading. "But I'll knock out Jiren within that universe's constraints someday. In any case, yes, I can definitely say that right now is the time to listen to yourself rant a bit about how strong you really are."

“I’m not sure if I’m strong, or these meds are, but either way I’ll take it.” Sunset smirked and glanced down at Isekai. “Alright, I’d best get back to the Air Base. Thanks for the chocolate and the sympathetic ear.”

"Anytime," Isekai said, "but before you leave, we need to take a picture together, and I need to give you a business card. Otherwise you won't be able to bring the girls here for a party when you're all together again."

Sunset nodded. “Pinkie would like that. Alright, fetch a camera.”

Chill air practically slapped Sunset in the face as she stepped back out of the interdimensional bar. She shivered and looked back at the door, but it had already disappeared. “That was… weird. Nice place though.” Sunset stared at the now-blank steel wall. If it weren’t for the warmth in her stomach from the hot chocolate, she would have almost believed that it was a hallucination, and there was one other thing.

Sunset fished the little business card out of her pocket. It was a simple little thing, just a silver card with Sunset’s Isekai engraved on it and a cocktail glass decorated with her cutie mark in the corner as a logo.

“There you are, we were getting worried!” Sunset looked up to see Luna crunching through the snow towards her. “Was there some trouble with the inhibitor?”

“Nah, it’s going okay so far,” Sunset replied as she slipped the card back into her pocket. Her older counterpart had been right, she could get through this situation, no matter what it took. The thought of having Pinkie’s reaction to that place made her smile softly. Sunset’s head snapped up as she suddenly realized something. “Whoops, I forgot to tell her about how Fluttershy’s a vampire now!”

“Huh?”

Lagniappe (Sunflower Gardens — Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
Lagniappe (Sunflower Gardens — Fanfic)
By Wanderer D & I-A-M

There was something very charming about New Chevalean that Sunset couldn’t quite put a finger on, but she knew, at least, that it was one of the things that drew her mind to it again and again when she’d been younger as a place she had always wanted to visit. She had never found the time to go to the Equestrian version of the city back when she’d been Princess Celestia’s student, but then, she’d been so stuffed up her own rear end back then that Sunset doubted she’d have been able to appreciate the city’s beauty.

Seeing it here and now, like this, in the human world where everything was so much the same and yet so very different felt better. Back in Equestria she had people who cared about her and a few good memories, but this world—the human world—was her home.

Finally reaching the city she’d always wanted to see had, in a rare occasion of providence, actually not disappointed her. It was exactly as wonderful as she’d imagined. There was something so lively about it. The city of New Chevalean was a unique clash of old and new that never seemed to grow tired of itself. The historic, centennial houses and shops rose tall and storied around kitschy pop-up places that hadn’t been around for more than a year and likely wouldn’t be around the year after that, and people moved to and fro wearing the wildest clashes of styles.

And all around her was the smell of food.

Sunset smiled broadly as she took a deep breath of the warm morning air, and with it came all the smells of a living city which, unlike Canterlot, was a bit more varied than last week’s dumpster juice. New Chevalean smelled like life that never stopped and yet, paradoxically, was happy to take everything at its own, leisurely pace, and that included meals.

Gumbo, po’boy, and jambalaya food carts jockeyed around along the streets with all varieties of fried foods and dessert carts. The sheer number of beignets that she and Wally had consumed over the mere two days they’d been in the city so far probably would have balked Pinkie Pie, and despite the stomach ache the sugary pastries had induced, neither of them had a single regret.

That morning, Sunset didn’t have any plans. Neither she nor Wally had really made any plans at all for their honeymoon beyond coming to New Chevalean, seeing the sights, and just enjoying some time where they could just be together. The day before they had toured several of the big old historic monuments, of which there were about a bazillion in the city limits alone, and Sunset had almost managed to pay attention to them all.

The fact was that having Wally on her arm and knowing that they were married had been taking up most of the space in her head that would normally have been used for thinking.

The tours had worn both of them out though, and they had returned to their hotel in high spirits, ate dinner, gorged on beignets, and then passed out on the fluffy hotel bed together. Wally was still up there, snoozing away, but Sunset had woken up restless. She had never been the type to idle well, and it was too hot for her to sleep in very late anyway. She wasn’t like Wally who could just curl up under a ball of blankets and pass out, slowly getting warming and more comfortable the longer she stayed there.

Sunset just got sweaty.

That, among other reasons like maybe burning off some of the calories from those pastries, was why she had decided to take a walk. She wasn’t going anywhere in particular, so when Sunset stepped out onto the sidewalk outside their hotel, she simply turned to the right and began to walk.

Despite the early hour, the sun was high in the sky and her long, red-and-gold hair soaked up the warmth. She occasionally ducked into little boutique shops, antique stores, and second-hand book sellers to browse around a little and cool off, but never stayed for long. She did spy a small garden shop, though, and made a mental note to bring Wally back to it.

Maybe they had a nice ornamental flowerpot or something. It would make a good souvenir for the trip. That train of thought led Sunset to wondering what kind of flowers grew around the city that they could keep in the cold climes of Canterlot as a reminder, and it was while she was drifting through that distant space of thought that she spied something impossible out of the corner of her eye.

Set into a stone archway in a building that looked like it had been built around the same time that rocks were soft was a door crafted from warm, solid oak. It was heavy, crafted in a style that suggested it was done by hand, and stained a startling shade of golden red in the high sunlight. That wasn’t what had caught her eye, though. What stopped Sunset dead in her tracks was that the light had glinted off of a crystal image of her own cutie mark that was set into the doorway.

A split sun, divided between red and gold, with rays radiating out from it. It was utterly unmistakable and completely impossible.

“One week,” Sunset muttered as she turned to face the door. “Is one week, on my friggin’ honeymoon, without magical shenanigans happening too much to ask?”

She could ignore.

She should ignore it. Right? That would be easier. It would probably also be smarter. It was be smarter, and easier, and better. All she had to do was ignore it. That would be the wise thing to do. This was not her job. Not today! Not this week! This was not her circus and not her monkeys. Those monkeys belonged to a wholly different circus.

Then again, no one had ever accused her, Sunset Shimmer, of being wise.

“Written’s Quill, I swear to you, if this ends up putting a damper on my vacation because some world-ending chungus wants a piece of me I won’t even bother with the Elements, I will just break my foot off in their—” she cut herself off and blew out an angry breath as she stepped up to the door which, she noted with more than a little suspicion, was going ignored by the few other people on the sidewalk.

Once upon a time, magic had been her life. It had been everything to her. Acquiring greater and greater mastery of her spellcraft and the power that had come with had been her sole drive. As time had passed, though, and she had gotten older and especially after she’d fallen so completely in love, she realized the truth that her old teacher had wanted to impress on her all those years ago as a filly.

Magic kind of sucked.

Alright, that might not have been the precise lesson that was on offer, but it was what Sunset had eventually taken away from everything. Magic caused trouble, and frankly Sunset had had more than enough trouble in her life.

“Okay, time to figure out who’s messing with me today.” Sunset turned the handle and pushed the door open, and a wash of cool air filtered out past her, washing away the sweat-inducing heat.

Well, that wasn’t so bad.

Keeping her guard up, she opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside.

Sunset wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting but a well-appointed bar was not it. It was nice, too; neither overdone nor overly dive-y. The floors were clean, and the walls were covered in photographs that showed a startling assortment of figures and places. The scent of oak was in the air, and the tables were modest—sized for two and no more, and given the early hour it was all but empty.

All but for the bartender.

Sighing, Sunset clenched her eyes shut and massaged the bridge of her nose, then looked back up. Yeah, she was still there. Damn.

Sunset had pretty much finished cleaning the bar and was in the process of overlooking the schedule for the next few large group visits when the bell chimed, announcing the arrival of a new guest.

Glancing at the menu, she noticed it was mostly a breakfast-style spread. Different coffees, smoothies, etc. "Huh. Must be early there."

It was always a bit of a thrill to wait for her visitor of the day to make their way to the bar itself, which is why she had never tried to change that small hallway. It created anticipation, not just for herself, but whoever stepped into the bar and was exposed to what would most likely be their very first look at the omniverse.

In a way.

Would it be an alien of a species she hadn't seen before? Or perhaps an adventurer, just stepping into the world at large in search of fame and glory, only to find an impossible doorway in the middle of an abandoned ruin? There was no knowing until they walked in.

Although to be fair, if the menu listed something like "gagh" on it, it did tend to limit the possibilities. But, the person that walked in was not a Klingon, this time, even if there was a Klingon version of her.

Her counterpart, Sunset Shimmer, stepped into the bar dressed in something that was much more light than her usual fare. Perhaps she was currently in a place that had a lot of sunlight? The only distinguishing feature outside of that, was the sunflower broach she was proudly wearing.

Usually this was when she'd just jump into her usual welcoming spiel. Lay down the groundwork concepts like multiverse, omniverse, parallel dimensions, possible interpretations of godhood, etc. However, this particular Sunset was not actually impressed, surprised, or intimidated by what was happening. In fact…

"I'm more used to the incredulous gaping than that look of slight annoyance," she said to her guest, grinning when she rubbed her eyes to make sure she was real. She used a hand to throw her long, red and gold hair over her shoulder as she studied her guest up and down. "I take it you were expecting someone else?"

“Before we get into this can I just…” Sunset put a hand up and sighed. “Is this going to end up in a fight to determine who’s the real Sunset or something? Because I’m really not in the mood, but if that’s where this is going I’d prefer to just cut to the chase.”

Isekai laughed. "I'm afraid not, you're as real as it gets, same as I." She gestured around the room. "Same as all the others in the pictures. This is a bar in the middle of the omniverse. I'm sure you know what that means."

“Omni, meaning all or everything, sure,” Sunset replied dryly. “I can venture a pretty good guess, but I guess that leads to the more pressing question which is, of all the things to take the center point of creation, why—” she gestured around herself— “a bar?”

Isekai shrugged. "Have you ever needed a drink?" She didn't wait for Sunset to respond. She was her. Of course she had needed a drink at many points in her life. "I discovered that I was good at listening, and I like meeting people. What better place to do that? Coordinating people in line to Disney amusement park events is not a good way of doing that, despite what they might tell you."

Sunset relaxed, or at least the tension in her shoulders bled out somewhat, and she moved up to the bar to take a seat.

“I guess that’s fair,” she said quietly. “And to your question, the answer is…no, at least, not in a long time.” Her hand went to her broach to fiddle idly with it. “I quit drinking a while ago due to an incident with my geode.”

"Ah, I guess that would explain the menu," Isekai said, placing it on the bar in front of Sunset. "I've had plenty of guests that don't drink alcohol… for various reasons. But the idea of the bar, or at least my bar, is less about what you drink and more about sharing stories, listening to people that might just need an ear, and hey, I make good coffee." She cleared her throat. "Also, I don't carry my geode in here. Privacy reasons, as you can guess. It's not fun to have very powerful beings after you because you saw something they didn't want, or were prepared to share. Can't say I blame them."

“My geode is in a shoebox under the bed, and I hope it stays there,” Sunset said flatly.

Isekai grimaced, studying Sunset's body language. Definitely a touchy subject. "It sounds like it was a particularly horrible experience to get that reaction."

Sunset shrugged. “I don’t know if our geodes work the same way. Magic can get funny between universes, I hear. But mine is…visceral. When I share experiences, it’s like getting dragged under white-water rapids and ripped along the current. I feel everything. Every twist of the gut, every panicked thought, every single reflexive twinge of stress. The last time I used it was to pull someone out of a psychogenic coma.”

Isekai sucked in her breath. "It's… not always like that, but I've met a few Sunset Shimmers whose geode worked like that. One of them… was very close to a bad ending. I stayed with her until she got picked up to get help." She sighed. "She's doing better… but yeah, those specific types of geodes are brutal. I was lucky that mine wasn't like that. I still don't like using it but…" She gulped. "Why don't you pick something from here? It's on the house."

“Dark coffee with a little cayenne?” Sunset asked.

"Dark coffee with a little cayenne it is," Isekai responded, walking over to get her drip coffee maker. "By the way, I sort of forgot to mention, but you can call me Isekai. It makes things easier to think about it that way. Plus it's technically true."

“Isekai?” Sunset raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly. “That’s Neighponese, right? It means…Other world?”

"Pretty much! That's why my bar is named 'Sunset's Isekai'. Clever, right?"

“Well it’s certainly what it says on the tin,” Sunset replied.

"Wouldn't want to get sued for false advertisement," Isekai said, scooping some beans to grind. "The phone bills to my lawyer alone would be…"

"Stop it…"

"...out of this world."

“Ugh, I know I have a shitty sense of humor, but am I really this bad?” Sunset asked.

"Nah. Only sometimes." Isekai placed the filter and the ground beans in the drip vase. "I just spend too much time entertaining, and people tend to love to hate things like that. So I jump at them when I see the chance."

Sunset nodded, chuckling quietly as she continued to toy with that broach of hers. “I can’t say I don’t do the same thing, I have no idea how Wally puts up with me.”

Isekai paused. Of course a world with a geode like that and a distressed Sunset would have Wally in the mix. "Wally?" She asked, tilting her head. "As in Wallflower Blush? How is she doing in your world? Is she… okay?"

“Okay?” Sunset’s eyebrow inched up again. “Yeah, she’s…I mean, things can be rocky sometimes, but she’s fine, why?”

"Ah, well, you see…" While the coffee dripped, Isekai nodded with her head a table next to the door, where a forget-me-not was slowly growing out of a vase and onto the corner of the bar there. "That's Wallflower's table, from another world. She was not in a good place when she came here. And, you know that other Sunset that had a similar experience with the geode to yours? Well, she accidentally 'read' into one of her Wallflower's worst moments." She sighed, leaning back to look at the coffee slowly drip. "I obviously know the Omniverse is a big place… hell, my own Wallflower is happily teaching botany in College. But, a lot of the ones I see out here are struggling still. So I'm a bit paranoid at times."

Sunset cocked her head curiously, then said, “Can I ask a personal question?”

"Sure."

“Are you two together?”

Isekai blinked. "Nope. My girlfriend is Burmencian… she's basically a rat."

It was Sunset’s turn to blink.

“Like…what, like a rat-rat? Like the kind of thing level one adventurers kill in a barkeep’s basement? Or like…I mean, not that I’m judging—” Sunset shook her head and then asked. “Okay, uh, I guess it’s just…”

"Here," Isekai said, levitating the picture off the wall and floating it over so her counterpart could see it. "This is Freya, my girlfriend for… uh… a few hundred years. That's my quasi adopted daughter of sorts, Lena, and this is Dannielle Phantom, who's a friend and sometimes bouncer/waitress. And you know Celestia."

“I do,” Sunset said quietly as she looked over the photograph before looking back up. “And a daughter, too? Wow.” Her smile warmed as she looked back up and handed off the photo. “I can at least assure you that my Wallflower is perfectly fine, though…actually, I could bring her in here if you want to meet her? Assuming this place doesn’t dissolve away the moment I step out.”

Isekai felt herself smiling. "I think I would like that. Your coffee is ready, but we can wait until you bring her in. If you want to go now… you only need to open the door."

There was a certain comfort in being a burrito.

Wallflower mused on that in the sleepy, half-waking state she was in as she buried herself more deeply in the thick blankets of their hotel bed. Burritos didn’t have anxiety or worries. Blanket burritos certainly didn’t. They were solipsistic creatures existing wholly for their own comfort. There was no passage of time and nothing to be concerned about when one was a burrito.

Unfortunately, Wally was more than aware that she couldn’t remain a burrito. Mostly that was because Sunset wasn’t in bed with her. As much as she loved the city they had chosen to honeymoon in, it was very…loud. Not as overwhelmingly so as Canterlot could be. Canterlot was a city that thrived on being as obnoxiously loud and painfully present as possible.You just couldn’t get away from the place.

New Chevalean was a little more laid back. Wally appreciated that in a city. The night life was a little…raucous, but that wasn’t surprising.

Wally had been sort of hoping that she and Sunset could spend most of their day somewhere quiet. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see more of the city, she just wanted to spend some time with her wife.

Warmth flooded Wally’s cheeks at the thought.

Her wife.

She was married!

Rolling over in bed, Wally popped her head out of the nest of blankets she had ensconced herself in, and them slowly extracted the arm and hand where a ring glittered on her finger. It was beautiful, with a deep, lovely topaz and a setting in the shape of a sunflower. Her wedding ring. Just look at it made her chest get tight and her throat close up and at the same time it made her want to wiggle and squeak in glee.

She was married!

Take that stupid anxiety and trauma! Bright Eye had told her that she would get better and better as time passed when they first started their sessions, and at the time—which at that point was something like…four years ago? Wow—Wally had nodded and smiled but hadn’t really bought it. Who would have guessed that would have been right?

Things weren’t perfect. She had her low days and hours. She had doubts and anxieties that occasionally came for an unwelcome visit. But those times were more seldom than they had been. Bright Eye had been right. She was getting better.

Bit by bit.

Maybe today, they could find a nice cafe or something to while away the afternoon. A little people-watching seemed like a good way to spend the day. At least for a time.

Wally turned over and reached for her phone, intent on sending a message to Sunset, but she’d barely gotten her fingers around it when she heard the door open quietly, and then clicked shut, and a smile bloomed on her face as she flipped back over and sat up.

Her wife was standing in the threshold of the bedroom wearing a smile on her face that was just for Wally. That smile was something that warmed the whole of Wally’s heart. When Sunset smiled—really smiled, that is—her entire face was involved in the production. The edges of her eyes crinkled just a little, and cheeks dimpled. Her eyebrows rose just a little. Best of all was the look in her eyes, though. It wasn’t anything that Wally could put a finger on exactly. It was warmth and fondness and fire and passion, all mixed up together.

Love, maybe. Maybe it was really that simple.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Sunset said softly.

Wally laughed quietly and blushed as she ran her fingers through the wild knots of her sleep-messed hair. She didn’t bother to pull the blankets around herself as she might have years ago, though. If Sunset wanted to look, then let her. Wally wanted her to.

“Morning,” Wally murmured. “Did you have a good walk?”

“Mhm.” Sunset moved up next to the bed and sat down. “Met a familiar face, too.”

Wally raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Someone that Sunset knew? Or that they both knew? It seemed unlikely since neither of them had ever been to New Chevalean, but if Sunset said so… “Who?”

Sunset made a quiet hum in the back of her throat as she held out a hand for Wallflower, and Wally took it. Sunset pulled her closer and laid her head on Wally’s crown of messy hair, and sighed.

“It’s weird,” she replied after a moment. “It’s magic, but not the bad kind…but I think you’d like to meet them, too, if you want? It’s not far.”

“Is it…” Wally began, then paused to reorder her thoughts. “Are there many people?”

“Just the one.”

That didn’t sound so bad.

“Sure, then,” Wally said. “Can we uhm, maybe get breakfast after?”

Sunset smiled faintly at that. “Actually, its in a little…sort of a pub? I already ordered a coffee but they’ve got breakfast stuff, if you want.”

“Oh, okay!” Wally smiled back as she pulled herself out of bed.

As nice as lounging around like a warm lump sounded, she was getting hungry, which was actually kind of a novel feeling. For a long time, she had trouble even remembering when she had eaten last or whether or not she needed to. Wally took the return of her appetite as a good sign.

Their clothing had gone into the dresser across the room, and Wally, in an act of brazen confidence that she usually didn’t feel but was probably brought on by the fact that she was still riding the high of being on her honeymoon—she was married!—didn’t bother to drag the blanket with her. She also didn’t even pretend not to notice Sunset’s eyes following her the whole way over.

It was a good feeling. A new feeling, but a good one.

“Hey,” Sunset called, and Wally looked back at her over her shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“You’re precious to me,” Sunset said softly.

Wally’s grin couldn’t have gotten wider if she’d tried.

“I know,” she said warmly. “I love you, too.”

Wallflower dressed lightly. It was warm already and would only get warmer as the day got on, and as much as she liked the warmth, she knew from her last day’s experience that a sweater would get cloying after a few hours. That bothered her a lot less than it used to.

Once she was dressed, Sunset stood up from the bed and held out her arm like a gentleman waiting for a date, and Wallflower chuckled as she slipped her hand around the crook of Sunset’s elbow. Even after this long, she was as rakishly charming as ever, and Wally suspected she would stay that way for the rest of their lives.

Some things would never change.

“This way,” Sunset said as she led Wally into the hotel den, and then stopped at the door to the hallway.

Or at least, it should have been the door to the hallway.

What stared back at her instead was a stone archway and a heavy oak door, and set into the door, at just about average head-height, was the red-and-gold divided sun insignia that normally formed Sunset’s cutie mark.

Wally looked up at Sunset, who just smiled back at her.

“You trust me, right?”

Wally huffed quietly.

“What kind of question is that?” she asked back.

It wasn’t really a question at all. She trusted Sunset with everything and more than she would ever trust anyone else in her life. So when Sunset stepped them forward, took the handle of the door, and opened it, Wally stepped through alongside her.

"By the Nine Realms," Isekai said when Sunset walked hand in hand with Wallflower, "you two are adorable." She waved at Wallflower, who seemed to be trying to process just who was talking to her, on top of now being in a completely different place than the one she had been in just a few seconds ago. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, Wallflower."

“Uhm…th-thanks?” Wallflower stammered.

Sunset laughed at her side. It was a gentle rolling sound, and she seemed almost like a different person with Wallflower on her arm.

“Wallflower, this is Isekai, and as you can see, she’s a…a different version of me,” Sunset said, gesturing to the startlingly familiar woman behind the counter. “And Isekai,” she said, looking up at the woman. “I’d like you to meet my wife, Wallflower Blush.”

Isekai felt her smile widen. "Married? That's amazing! Congratulations, you two! No wonder you asked me earlier if I had something going on with my own Wallflower." She shook her head, still grinning. "Looking at you together, it does seem like you found the perfect fit in each other."

She thought for a moment. "Well, I was going to tell you to come over to the bar, but why don't you take a seat at one of the tables and eat something first? I have your coffee ready, Sunset, but what can I get for you, Wallflower?"

“A chocolate chip muffin? If you have some, I mean.”

"Sure, and to drink?"

“Milk, please,” Wally said.

"Coming right up." Isekai went over behind the bar, opening the fridge and looking inside. "Regular, cow milk, you mean, right?"

“Uhm, yes please.”

“I’m tempted to ask what other kinds of milk you’ve got back there but I’m not sure I want to know,” Sunset remarked.

"You know," Isekai said, pulling up a gallon of cow milk. "The usual. Cow. Bantha. Dragon." She poured the milk and then simply produced a plate with a chocolate chip muffin on it out of thin air. "I have a lot of products."

She went over to set the plate and glass of milk down for Wallflower, then made sure the usual implements and spices were available before nodding to herself. "Although certain types do tend to take some getting used to."

“I have no doubt,” Sunset said, then nodded to the empty space between them. “Care to join us?”

"If that's okay, I'd love to," Isekai said, bringing over a chair to sit down.

“Fair warning, this—” Sunset laid her hand over Wallflower’s, on whose ring finger glittered a lovely ring of the same style as Sunset’s broach— “is kind of a long story.”

Isekai shrugged, summoning a milkshake for herself. "I'm not going to run out of time."

Sunset looked to Wallflower and said, “You still have the picture right? In your wallet?”

“The picture—oh!” Wally laughed and nodded. “Of course I do.”

She fished around in her pocket for a moment before pulling out a simple folding wallet, flipped it open and flicked through the contents before pulling out what looked like a simple photograph. It was time-worn, faded, and wrinkled, but still together, and Wally laid it carefully on the table.

“It’s from our very first date,” Wally said quietly.

The picture was…stunning. It showed Wallflower Blush, visibly younger and maybe a little leaner, wrapped warmly in Sunset’s arms. They were wearing gorgeously tailored outfits that could only have been crafted by a certain fashionista friend of theirs. The Sunset in the photo was dressed in black that was threaded with gold and crimson, and her hands were gloved in arterial red. Wallflower was her polar opposite, clad in layers of white and green silk shaped like spring foliage, and they were both smiling, they both looked so happy.

And at the bottom of the photo were five words written in simple ballpoint pen.

First Day Of My Life

“There’s a long story leading up to that picture,” Sunset started, “and as much as she says it was the first day of her life, I still maintain that that…” she paused as emotion visibly washed over her. “That was the first day of the rest of my life, too.”

“Tell me?” Isekai asked.

Sunset nodded and laughed, then looked to Wally, who nodded, before looking back at Isekai and saying, “Would you believe it began in a homeless shelter?”

Sunset walked up to the wall, expanding it to display all the pictures she had taken with her visitors, then quickly locating the few she had with Wallflower. She smiled fondly at them, then looked down with a certain amount of pride at the one in her hands.

All too often it seemed like Wallflower Blush was destined for a painful life, with just how often the ones she encountered were going through the worst of things, but sometimes… sometimes she'd encounter the few who had made it. The few that had shared pain and longing, and walked out of their personal hells stronger. Sometimes on their own, and sometimes with the love of their life.

This particular pair, her other self and Wallflower, had found happiness and strength in each other, despite struggles, despite self-doubt, they had been there for each other, and still were to this day.

It was a beautiful marriage, and, a sign that even at the worst of times, there was someone there that would be there if you let yourself accept them. Some Wallflowers still were not quite there yet, but there was hope.

And she hoped, there was happiness waiting for them too.

How Cherries Blossom (The Maretian — Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
How Cherries Blossom (The Maretian — Fanfic)
By Wanderer D & Kris Overstreet

Repotting a plant, when done properly, stank.

Though Cherry wasn’t a farm pony, she'd grown up in a farming community, from a farming family, doing odd jobs for farmers. She knew better than to just yank a root-bound plant, dirt and all, out of one pot, stuff it into a larger pot, and dump in more dirt until the pot was full. You needed to get the roots free of the old soil and spread out so they could expand into the new soil. You needed moist, rich, fertile, composted soil to encourage the new root growth. All of that meant putting a lot of water on what had once been, at least in part, roadapples, and getting cannon-deep into it in the process.

Cherry hated it, but she liked it a lot better than being Cherry Berry, Space Hero.

She'd spent the past two months being Space Hero. She'd assumed it would go like her other brushes with being Space Hero, as the first pony to set hoof on the asteroid Minmus, and then as the pilot who landed CSP Dreamer on the moon. There had been excitement and interest a couple weeks before the launches, and for a month afterwards (including the week or two of quarantine), and then ponies found something else to be interested in. That was how ponies were: the new, flashy thing today was the way things had always been tomorrow.

Except... now, since Mars, not.

She'd thought that, once Mark Watney had returned to his home world and the crew of Amicitas- no, of the Phoenix- once they had gone their separate ways, that all the attention and interruptions would die down.

She’d been wrong.

Dozens of ponies had come to ask her to endorse this or that crackpot scheme or questionable product- and only one-quarter of them had been Flim and/or Flam in a wig or beard. She’d had absurd job offers from businesses she didn’t understand who just wanted a Space Hero on the corporate board. And she couldn't stick her head out the door at Horseton Space Center, Appleoosa, or Dodge Junction without being swarmed by autograph hounds. Ponyville, which she thought had been immune to that sort of thing, seemed packed with ponies armed with cheap cameras and zero concept of personal space. Even in the air Cherry couldn't get away. Pegasi flew escort every time she took her balloon up, and one by one they'd swoop over to the basket and ask for a photo and an autograph before returning to position and allowing the next distraction to swoop in.

And then came the letters- mailbags, plural, full of letters, coming from all over the world. She'd got Chrysalis to detail half a dozen changelings to handle them, but that still left her spending two hours every day autographing prints of a photo taken just prior to the final flight of Amicitas. She went to bed every night with a crick in her neck because of that.

Now she understood why the space agency Mark Watney flew for had an office totally dedicated to handling astronaut mail. It was the only way any astronaut would have time to do anything other than answer it.

And then there had been the kidnapping. That had almost been cute. The cultists' sackcloth robes had still had the flour company's name on them. There had been a five minute musical number about the proper redistribution of horns and wings, which had been rather peppy up until the moment Cherry had realized they intended her to be the recipient of both. Fortunately Chrysalis (of all ponies!) had arrived just in time to rescue Cherry from unwanted princesshood... and then Twilight Sparkle and her friends arrived just in time to rescue the cultists.

Anyway, Cherry was sick of it all. She wanted time to herself to relax, to rest, to figure out what she was going to do with her life now that she wasn’t in constant peril of losing it to the whims of a red planet. She wanted to stop being Commander Cherry Berry, Space Hero, and go back to being just Cherry Berry, aviatrix and odd-jobs pony.

Buck, she just wanted a couple of hours by herself!

That was why she was here, in a greenhouse slapped together in the middle of HSC's research and development complex, repotting Groot. Permanently planting the little Martian cherry tree anywhere souvenir-hungry, celebrity-obsessed ponies could find him was an obviously bad idea. To keep him safe, he had to stay in a pot, under guard, as far away from the tourists as possible.

Repotting Groot bought her a bit of time alone. Even so, she still hated it. Leaving aside the unpleasant feeling of potting soil in the fur, fooling around with plants was everything Cherry Berry had been flying to get away from. Earth ponies grew things: that was the pigeon-hole she'd tried to escape ever since the day she'd decided it wasn't fair that birds could get to the cherries on top of the tree and she couldn't. And before Mars, she'd never been any real good at growing plants, anyway.

Before Mars. Yeah. And that was the reason why Cherry wanted more than a stolen half-hour with Groot.

As much as Cherry had hated working the farm in the crystal cave... there had been something about it that just felt right, too. Making plants grow out of a mixture of compost and sterile Martian soil made her feel like she'd contributed to keeping them all alive, using the only skills she had besides piloting things. It was the only time she didn’t feel like a fraud.

And to be honest, working on the cherry saplings in particular had probably saved her sanity. For over three hundred sols those trees had been her hope for the future. For three months after that it had been Groot in his little improvised square plastic pot. On Mars, caring for those trees had felt like her life's calling, the thing she was supposed to be.

Before Mars, that thing had been eating cherries, not growing them. (And also flying, but that came second.)

Now, it was... which? What? She didn't know, and she wanted peace and quiet to work it out, and-

"Hey, bossmare?"

Cherry groaned. It hadn't even been half an hour. "How did you get in here, Dragonfly?" she asked.

"Told the guards my queen wanted to see you," Dragonfly said, letting the greenhouse door shut behind her and walking in uninvited.

"Does she?"

"Probably," Dragonfly said. "I didn't ask her."

Cherry took a deep breath. She knew Dragonfly could tell, to the exact degree, how she was feeling at this very moment, and that her emotions were shouting their fury into what passed for changeling ears... or nostrils... whatever. But that didn't mean she had to add to that. "What do you want?" she asked, not quite in the perfect calm tones she'd wanted to use, but at least not shrieking either.

"Well, it's about... huh." Dragonfly looked over Cherry's shoulder. "Since when did they put a wooden door in here?"

"What?" Cherry had supervised the design of the greenhouse herself. There were two doors, one at each end, both metal with very strong locks. Groot should have been the only wooden thing in the room. She spun on her hooves in the direction Dragonfly was facing, and there she saw it.

It was a wooden door, with a little sign that the reflections from the glass roof made hard to read and a stylized blazing-sun cutie mark carved into it. And it was in a wall that should have been solid from corner to corner.

She'd never seen one herself before, but she'd heard stories. Magic appearing and disappearing doors, leading to magic shops full of nothing but trouble- that's how Granny Dewberry had described them. They usually appeared in Canterlot, but they'd popped up in Ponyville for about as long as there had been walls in Ponyville for them to appear in. (They were a large part of the reason why insurance policies in Ponyville had contained broad exceptions for Acts of Magic long before Twilight Sparkle moved to town.)

And once one appeared to you, you were going to go in. It had something or other to do with destiny, or Everfree magic, or maybe Discord making mischief, or- what was that phrase from the books Mark Watney read- oh, yes, narrative causality, that was it, or close enough.

Cherry sighed. Well, it would keep the crowds away for another five minutes- maybe fifteen if she browsed really slowly.

"Dragonfly?"

"Yeah, Cherry?" The changeling had picked up on Cherry's change of mood and got serious along with her.

"If you have ever shoplifted in your life," Cherry said, "and I am NOT asking if you have or not, but if you have, do NOT do it where we're going." For lack of any more descriptive way of expressing the thought, she finished with, "It would be bad."

"Where we're going?" Dragonfly cocked her head in confusion. "Where are we going?"

"Through this," Cherry said, walking over to the door. It swung open with the slightest touch.

Sunset Shimmer sighed, overlooking the almost shiny perfection all of her efforts to clean the bar had earned her. She had dusted. She had polished, she had mopped and waxed, she had carefully scrubbed the glass cover of every single picture frame on the wall. All of them.

She had watered the plants in the corner, fed Bernard while she cleaned his terrarium, rearranged all of the bottles in the visible spectrum behind the bar, and even considered cleaning and reorganizing her fridge before remembering that it was actually impossible.

And sure, the bar could be magically cleaned, but with an unending out-of-time lifespan, it kind of seemed too lazy to let the ethereal and mystical forces of the universe do it for her, whether she did the casting or not.

Sometimes she needed to go adventuring, sometimes she just wanted to attend to her customers, or cuddle with Freya, or talk interdimensional politics with Rarity, and it was all good… but sometimes, she just wanted something absolutely, inconsequentially normal.

Put her mind at ease with basic labor that sometimes ended up being more involved than anticipated, but produced amazing results and left anycreature with a sense of accomplishment, and a very clear example of their success… such a shiny, squeaky-clean bar, ready for any customer that walked in to be wowed by its owner's cleanliness.

As Remi said, 'cleanliness was close to godliness'', even if practical experience with gods of all sorts had actually proven that to be complete BS. But she wasn't going to hold that against the French rat. It wasn't the point anyway.

As if summoned just in time, she heard the doorbell chime, and the sound of not one, but two voices drifted down to her. It was always hard to guess who or what was walking into her bar, but she had grown used to listening for clues. The feminine voices sounded familiar with their accent. Granted, that could mean anything, but also reduced options down to very likely to be pony-related.

She checked herself to confirm she hadn't been changed into some other species by the bar, so most likely creatures that had met humans already, or wouldn't freak out by seeing her in a bad way. It was one of those suggestions for the bar's setup that she had to thank Rarity for. Certain individuals would not have reacted well to her being another species.

However, past that, and going back to her incoming customers, they were… making squelching noises as they walked. Half-squelch, half-sticky resistance when the next step was taken.

Sunset's smile faded a little as she realized that all the work she had just done for the past six hours was being diminished by the first customer in. She could almost feel the bar both, shudder and laugh at what was happening. If it was some sort of life-lesson, it was the annoying kind.

"Well, at least this doesn't look like a shop."

"Why would it look like a shop, bossmare?"

"I don't—look, just remember what I said and don't just grab anything okay?"

The squelching approach finally stopped when a changeling and an earth pony walked into the bar.

Well, they were guests.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai," she spoke up, smiling at the pair, who had just turned to look at her and were now staring. "My little bar in the omniverse. The name's Sunset Shimmer, and I'll be happy to serve you some drinks today."

She cleared her throat. "If you don't mind, please go ahead to the washroom to wash your hooves. It's at the end of the room to the left, first door on the right.”

“Hey,” the changeling said, holding up a pair of reasonably clean forehooves, “I’m not the one who was potting plants just now. That’s all on the bossmare here.”

The earth pony- pink with blonde hair and eyes that were either magenta or gray depending on how the light hit them- shot a glare at the changeling. “Would a little soap and water hurt you that much?” she asked, stern words undermined by a naturally squeaky voice.

“Of course it would,” the changeling said. “One touch and I’d just melt away. Don’t you know we changelings are made of sugar? That’s why we’re so sweet and loveable!” She smiled, in the process baring sharp teeth behind fangs that, a moment before, had seemed more decoration than menace.

The pony’s only response to that was a snort. Then, after a glance at Sunset and a quiet, “I beg your pardon,” she strode off to the indicated door, squelching with fifty percent of her hoofsteps until the bathroom door closed behind her.

The changeling, unruffled, bounced up onto a stool and leaned onto the bar, giving Sunset a look up and down. “So, you’re a human,” she said.

Sunset shrugged. “Technically,” she said.

“Huh. I thought humans were pink or brown or something in between,” the changeling said. “I never heard of an orange one before.”

"Well," Sunset said, glancing with a sigh at the mud on the floor, "the omniverse is a big place, and there are places where humans are just as technicolor as ponies. Excuse me." She leaned over the bar waving her hand in a spell.

Both watched as the mud slowly faded away, leaving a very clean floor, but for Sunset it still felt like the original mopping had done a better job, even if most people wouldn't have even noticed.

"I also thought you couldn't do magic, but I imagine that can also be blamed on the omniverse?"

"Hey, when you have the perfect answer to avoid deep introspective questions about the nature of what makes a being real, why not use it?" Sunset replied, passing the changeling a wet towel. "However I do know you're not actually made of sugar, so please wipe your hooves with this."

A faint sense of amusement from the changeling was all she got in addition to a gentle shrug, and soon the changeling's hooves were clean enough. Sunset nodded, pulling a menu for the changeling, and another for the pony.

"I've got some cool changeling-friendly drinks here, emotion-charged with anything from passionate love to motherly love for the occasional visitor, and endorsed by a few queens I've had over, so feel free to take a look and choose something you'd like. Do you know what your friend would like?"

"Oh, definitely something with a lot of cherries," the changeling responded, almost completely hiding her curiosity while perusing the current menu.

"Hm, I think I got something for her," Sunset replied, getting to work. She fished some fresh cherries and started cutting them into smaller pieces, pitting them and throwing them into a cut--glass lowball, alongside some lemon wedges. She proceeded to muddle them for a bit before adding a splash of maple syrup, then floating over a bottle of cherry bourbon, which she generously poured in, before adding crushed ice, mixing it with the spoon, and decorating it with one full cherry on top, just as the bathroom door opened.

"I'm sorry about the mess," the earth pony said, emerging from the back. "If you have a mop or something, I can clean…um, never mind then." She glanced around the room, a slight frown on her face before noticing the drink on the bar. "Is that…?"

"One of my most cherry-intense cocktails on the menu," Sunset said, sliding over next to the changeling. "It's called a Cherry Bomb."

"Seems legit, bossmare," the changeling called out. "For my part, can I have a Quiet Night?"

"Absolutely, let me get the mother's attentive love from its container. It's fresh too! Nope just delivered it the other day. Also, I'm sorry I didn't catch either of your names yet."

“I’m Dragonfly,” the changeling said. “Cute and grumpy here is Cherry Berry.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sunset said. “I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

The earth pony, who had just eased herself up onto the barstool next to Dragonfly, looked up sharply. “That’s a pony name,” she said simply.

“Sure is.”

“But you’re a human.”

“Well, at the moment, yeah.”

“I’ll bet.” Cherry looked at the drink, obviously tempted, but more obviously wary. “This drink,” she asked carefully, “this isn’t going to cost me my soul, or my magic, or all the gold in Equestria, or anything like that?”

It was Sunset’s turn to snort, more with amusement than scorn. “The first drink is always free,” she said. “Subsequent drinks are normally priced in non-diabolic currencies.”

“Uh huh.” Cherry’s expression shifted slightly away from suspicious and towards tempted. "This isn't some magical drink that will put some permanent curse or something on me, is it?"

Now this was getting to be a bit much. "Um... noooo... did you want something like that?" Sunset asked. "I can add—"

"NO!"

"Okay, then,” Sunset said, smiling and dusting her hands ostentatiously. “That stuff causes more trouble than it's worth anyway. You would not believe the lawsuits."

“So,” Cherry said, “no tricks.”

“No tricks.”

“No traps.”

“Nope.”

“Just a drink.”

“Well,” Sunset said, “I would like to think nothing I serve is just a drink. Magical bar between universes, you know. Let’s say, a very good drink, and nothing else.”

“Cherry, really,” Dragonfly said, “what’s the point of this? If you’re really that suspicious, we shouldn’t even be in here.”

“Granny Dewberry told me the ponies who run shops like this never lie,” Cherry said. “It’s beneath their dignity. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get into trouble.” She glanced at Dragonfly and asked, “Did any of that smell like a lie to you?”

Dragonfly sighed. “She’s a very patient woman,” she said. “And right now you’re using up a ton of that patience, bossmare. So how about you drink up and stop insulting the weird human who lives behind a door that shouldn’t be there, okay?”

Cherry blushed a little, bowing her head and throwing her ears back. “Sorry,” she muttered vaguely in a direction midway between Sunset and the countertop. The cherry on top went first, chewed slowly and judiciously, the pit and stem carefully deposited in a hoof and set on the counter. Next came a sip from the straw. Her eyes widened, and she slurped enthusiastically at the drink, sucking down all she could.

“Careful!” Sunset reached over and pinched the straw shut in her fingers. “That’s meant for slow sipping! You can get wasted pretty quick if you’re not careful.”

That got Cherry’s attention. “Wasted,” she thought aloud, letting go of the straw. “You know, I haven’t let myself get drunk since... since...” Her face clouded up as more implications set in. “Since never, because I always had work or flying.” She shook her head. “Faust, that’s all I need,” she said. “And they call Cousin Punchie the family drunk.”

“Maybe you’re due,” Dragonfly suggested. “A year and a half on Mars would drive anyone to drink.”

Cherry shook her head and carefully pushed the glass away with one hoof. “That really was a very good drink,” she said carefully. “But maybe I should stick to non-alcoholic.” Pause. “But those cherries can keep coming. They’re excellent.”

"Not a problem," Sunset said, producing a small bowl full of cherries from somewhere behind the bar. She also passed Dragonfly the drink she had finished making for her, a tall, thin glass that glowed lightly with iridescent pink light. "The glowing is really just for show, but the contained love is legit. As for you, Cherry… I'll make you another of those, but mocktail version. No alcohol in it."

As she got to work on the new drink, she glanced at the pair. "So Mars huh? Does your Equestria share the same space as Earth, or is there a story there? Doesn't sound like it was too pleasant."

Cherry shrugged. “Kind of?” she asked. “I don’t understand all the details. You’d have to ask Twilight Sparkle or Starlight Glimmer about that. But it all started when I was picked to fly the third test flight of a new magic spaceship engine...”

From there the bare bones of the story came out: a system malfunction that threw the ship and its five crewmembers out of their universe and into another one with little or no magic to speak of, on a collision course with an uninhabitable planet, that ended with a miraculous crash-landing that deposited them, luckily for all concerned, about six miles away from the only viable habitation on the planet, which was itself occupied by a lone alien- a lone human- also marooned on the planet due to a bizarre series of circumstances.

“We were there for a year and a half,” Cherry said. “A year and a half of survival and terror before we finally got rescued. That was... huh... about two months ago, or a little more than that.”

Through the story, Sunset had slowly become more grim, until all she could really do was pass Cherry the mocktail. "Still on the house," she muttered before taking a slow, deep breath. "That sounds like the kind of experience that really few creatures would have the fortitude to survive. You both are made of sterner stuff than the average pony or changeling, that's for sure."

Dragonfly cringed at this remark. “Um, yeah,” she muttered, “let’s go with that.”

“Let’s not,” Cherry said firmly. “All I did was not die. Every pony does that every day.”

“Not everybody does it on Mars, bossmare.”

Cherry’s hoof slammed onto the bar. “Have I mentioned recently,” she said quietly, “how very much I do not want to be called bossmare? How I never wanted to be boss of anypony? How much I just wanted to be able to fly faster and farther, and nothing else? How much I did not want to be the one responsible for keeping five other people alive when I had no idea how to do it? No magic, no engineering, no science? Nothing but these?” She held up her forehooves.

“You did it anyway,” Dragonfly said gently.

“Did anypony ask me if I wanted to??”

"Maybe, you were just the one they needed," Sunset said gently, not quite reaching over to pat Cherry on the shoulder, but clearly wanting to be supportive. "It wasn't just engineering or magic that they needed, but someone with willpower. I've never met any ace pilot that didn't have the focus or mental strength to push themselves farther than anyone else."

“Sure, I’ve got that,” Cherry said bitterly. “I’ve got that when I’m behind the flight stick. But only when I’m behind the flight stick. All the rest of the time I’m just a panicky pony from Ponyville. I could give chickens lessons about running around in circles.”

“Cherry,” Dragonfly said quietly, “we were there how long? And you never once cracked. Tried to quit, yeah, but who was going to replace you? Spitfire would have rubbed everyone raw in a week. So who’s left? Mark? Fireball? Starlight?” She shook her head and added, “Me? That would have been a disaster. I did crack, remember?”

“Not the same thing,” Cherry muttered. “You were sick.”

“Weren’t we all?”

"In an odd way it seems that you were still piloting a ship," Sunset said, "just made out of your crew rather than instruments. Who else would keep them together and working through any problems than the pilot herself?" She replaced the now empty bowl with more cherries. "I know my example is silly, but Dragonfly is right… as much as it was shoved into you, the fact that you stepped up to it and pulled them through speaks for itself. Hell, I think sometimes the best leaders for this kind of situation end up being the ones that never asked for it."

She leaned back, giving Cherry a considering look. "But that's in the past, I suppose. You've probably heard all of this from others… so what do you want to do now?"

Cherry sighed, slumping over the bar. “I really don’t know,” she said quietly. “And apparently I’m not allowed to figure it out,” she added, her tone growing louder and angrier with every word, “because I can’t get fifteen minutes to myself to think about it without somepony finding me to ooh and aah at the Great Hero Cherry Berry!” By the end she was sitting up again, forehooves over her head in exasperation.

A bit of green fire surrounded a cherry, and it popped into Cherry’s mouth the instant she stopped shouting.

"You know, you can spend several hours here and no time will have passed back home," Sunset said. "There's no rush here, things like these take a lot of time. I've met some people that took years to figure themselves out, and others that just needed a break." She gave Cherry a look. "No wonder my bar dropped by, you really needed some 'you' time, Cherry."

This time the pit didn’t come out delicately in a hoof; it spat out onto the floor. “No time passed?” Cherry asked, looking anything but thrilled. “You mean, outside of time and space? Between worlds?” She leaned her hooves on the bar. “Magical door that can appear anywhere, any time, any place?”

A perforated hoof began pulling on Cherry’s shoulder. “Cherry,” Dragonfly said, “maybe you should-”

“Where were you,” Cherry asked, her voice losing its squeak and going husky, “where were you when we were on our two hundredth day of nothing but alfalfa, potatoes and water? Where were you on all those nights when I wanted to cry myself to sleep because I thought we were all going to die there, but I couldn’t, because fear and panic spread and I was the commander and someone might hear me? Where- were- you- when...” She slumped forward, covering her head with her forelegs, and began quietly sobbing.

Dragonfly patted Cherry on the back. “Um,” she said apologetically to Sunset, “this was probably overdue. But... well, I’ve known her for over five years now. I’ve seen her happy, I’ve seen her serious, I’ve seen her angry enough to curse in twelve languages. But I’ve never seen this except for the day we got home.”

Sunset nodded, smiling a little at Dragonfly. "She's very lucky to have you… and Cherry, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. This place can do all of that, but neither the bar nor myself are omniscient or able to help everyone in the multiverse… it's sometimes just not possible, and for what little it might be worth in some cases, all I can do is be there for others after things have happened." She walked around the bar to sit at Cherry's other side. "I'm sorry I wasn't there then to provide some relief to a horrible situation, but I'm here now, and in the future if you need me."

“Listen to her,” Dragonfly added. “And listen to me: you are here now, too. We won. Mars didn’t get us. It’s all over now.” She patted her commander’s back and repeated softly, “It’s all over now.”

Sniffles emerged from under the forehooves. Cherry slowly raised herself up off the bar. “Yeah,” she said shakily. “Yeah. It’s over now. Yeah.” After a moment, she looked at Sunset with a face that had none of the rage or sadness in it from before. “I’m sorry,” she said.

"No need," Sunset insisted, "this is why I opened my bar in the first place. It started with a breakup and a friend that needed time to herself and someone to talk to, that's what I've been doing this for for ages now, and why I'll keep doing it."

“Well, you’re earning your pay today, I guess,” Cherry said, sitting back on the barstool and sighing. “How much is it? Three bits an hour and all the abuse you can eat? I really am sorry about that, by the way.”

“How about we not go there anymore?” Dragonfly said. “Like my queen says about old evidence: let’s look forward, not back.”

"That is a very Queen Chrysalis thing to say," Sunset nodded, "and I'd have to agree with that statement in this case, even if does imply things I'd rather not think about." She hummed. "Although I suppose that's the whole point. How about a cherry pie? I can get one delivered."

“Hey, the day the bossmare here- oops, I mean the steely-eyed missile mare-”

“Don’t call me that either.”

“- the day Cherry here says no to anything with cherries in,” Dragonfly pressed forward with barely a hesitation, “is the day they bury her, and I think it’s in her will that they bury her in a cherry basket.”

“That’s not true at all!” Cherry said. “I mean... I get full sometimes... that’s what doggie bags are for.” Her forehooves tapped together in a multiversal gesture of self-consciousness.

"Heh, then I'll order that pie for us to share, don't worry… there'll be plenty." She stood up to head over to the register, where she had the contact numbers for other places, when an entry on her calendar caught her attention. "By the by, I do host a pilot's night every other… uh… well, probably every other month for people in actual timelines, would you be interested in coming?"

“Huh... other pilots?” Cherry thought about this a moment. “And no time passes outside while we’re in here?”

“Not if you don’t want it to,” Sunset said. “That’s the default, anyway.”

Cherry let out a breath of relief. “Good,” she said. “Otherwise I don’t see how I could not invite Chrysalis along.”

“Your Chrysalis is a pilot, too?”

“She thinks she is.”

“She really is,” Dragonfly put in. “Lots of solo flying in rockets, anyway. But...” She looked around the bar and added, “Maybe we shouldn’t put ideas into her head. Not when things are so sweet right now.”

"Well, I was going to say she might be interested in Changeling Queen night, but um, yeah, sounds like she needs to center herself a bit more in your universe." Sunset grinned. "I'll still be around whenever that happens."

“She’s way too centered as it is,” Cherry said. “Self-centered. That’s the problem.” She shrugged and smiled for the first time since she’d come in the door. “Sure, I’d love to come.”

Sunset glanced at Dragonfly, "you're also welcome here when you feel like it," she said. "What did you think of the drink?"

“Pretty good,” Dragonfly admitted. “Better than my queen’s leftovers. Not as good as a Mark Watney hug, though.”

“Can you stop teasing the man once he’s gone?” Cherry smirked.

“Hey, I wasn’t teasing,” Dragonfly said. “I didn’t mention Daisy Duke or Linda Carter even once.”

Cherry sighed. “How about that pie?” she asked.

“So,” Dragonfly asked as the magic door closed behind them, leaving them back in the greenhouse-lab, “feeling better now?”

Cherry considered this for a long moment. “Well, it was a very good pie-”

“Bossmare, please.”

“I don’t know,” Cherry said in exasperation. “Maybe?” She paused, looking down at her own hooves for a moment. “I don’t feel as... wrung out, I guess. It was nice to be alone... almost alone,” she corrected herself, shooting Dragonfly a glance.

“Not sorry,” Dragonfly said briskly. “You needed me.”

“Yeah.” Pause. “Why did you come in here in the first place, anyway?”

“Because I figured you needed me,” Dragonfly said. “You said it yourself. You couldn’t get any alone time. And that meant I couldn’t get time alone with you, either.” She poked the pink pony pilot with a hoof. “And I knew exactly how you’ve been feeling for weeks now. Remember, I’ve been at a lot of those poke-the-hero-with-a-stick events since we got home, right next to you. Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

“I thought you wouldn’t say anything,” Cherry said. “Like Chrysalis hasn’t said anything.”

“My queen is... well... she didn’t spend five hundred plus sols on Mars,” Dragonfly said. “I don’t know what she thinks, but I do know she’d be no good for this. I’ve learned how, a bit, and she hasn’t.” Pause. “By the way, please don’t tell her about any of this, even if you tell her about the bar.”

“We’ll see.” Cherry sighed. “But the thing is, maybe I feel better, but I’m back where I started.” She gestured at Groot, who was listing a little to the side in his new half-filled pot. “Do I go back to farming? Do I want to keep flying? Is all this poking and prodding the price of me still flying? Would I even be allowed to start a farm in peace? I haven’t got one step to figuring any of that out yet.”

“I think you have.” Dragonfly reached up and tapped Cherry on the forehead. “Your head is clearer. I can tell. I think that’s a big step forward.”

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Cherry pushed the divot-riddled hoof away from her face. “But you know what would be another-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going,” Dragonfly said. “By the way, I can only buy you another half an hour, tops. There’s the meeting on picking new astromare candidates, remember?”

Cherry sighed. “Yeah, sure,” she said. “I’ll be there in time.”

“No hurry.” Dragonfly said. She paused next to the pot, gently stroking the trunk of the little cherry sapling. “Take your time with Groot. We Mars survivors gotta watch out for each other.”

Cherry nodded firmly at that. “We sure do.”

Sunset held the frame in her hands as she considered the wall where all of the others were. The picture itself didn't manage to reflect the enormous strength of character of the mare scarfing down the cherry pie she had ordered delivered to the bar, or that of the changeling next to her, for that matter.

The two sold themselves short at every corner and only Dragonfly had caught on that Sunset wasn't buying it, but the changeling had simply shrugged when she had given her a look.

To be able to convince someone of their own self-worth was always an uphill battle, and not her job really. When it came to telling people that kind of thing, it did come across as platitudes, regardless of how true it was, and usually if a visit to her bar helped at all, it was mostly due to giving her visitors a place to feel free from pressure and judgment.

Most of the visitors would return at later dates with ever-increasing confidence in themselves, and she hoped that Cherry hanging out with the pilot gang would help her realize just how essential that ability to steel-up was for a leader and pilot.

But Cherry really was more than just a pilot, or a leader, or a farmer of cherry trees even. She had taken over so much responsibility on Mars that would have broken lesser beings. She hadn't asked for it. She hadn't trained for it…. but she had stepped up, and taken the reins of the situation, steering her crew to not just surviving, but flourishing in circumstances that baffled the mind.

Really, there was only one place in that wall where the picture would fit.

She had the wall expand a little to make room, then placed the picture even with the one from the Normandy crew.

Sometimes true heroes were so—not just because of their obvious achievements—but because they would shoulder what no one else could… and succeed.

An Unlikely Visitor (Fallout 4 - PT. 1)

Sunset's Isekai
An Unlikely Visitor (Fallout 4 - PT. 1)
By Wanderer D

The group settled down on the beach close to the Nakano family. There was little to be said, their young daughter had been replaced by a Synth, who had somehow figured out she was not the real Kasumi Nakano (or at least that's what she convinced herself) and had ran away without an explanation rather than hurt her not-quite-parents.

She was alive and well, but she'd be staying with the Synths in Far Harbor for some time, figuring out her place in the world, and also whether she'd be visiting her parents or not… and telling them the truth.

"Hey," Piper called, bringing over a container with several Gwinnett stouts and some snacks. "Where's Blue?"

"Back to exploring the Wasteland with Dogmeat," Cait muttered. "Never wants to take the rest of us with, it seems. Hancock also headed back over to Goodneighbor, something about needing to get the Silver Shroud on a case once he figured out where the damned robots were coming from. Sill," she said, "I could've used some personal time."

"I'm sure there's plenty of things we can do on our own to better the Commonwealth, Cait."

"Yeah, I'm sure and that's just grand, tin can, but some of us enjoy the company and cuddles."

"Some more than others," Piper piped in, sitting next to Cait and elbowing her with a grin.

"You said it, girlfriend."

"I'm still surprised that worked out between all of you," Nick said, poking the flames of their camp with a long stick. "No offense," he immediately added when both women gave her glares that could've melted his innards. "Polygomous relationships weren't acceptable back in the day before the vault. It was one partner or be judged."

"Barbaric," former Paladin Danse muttered just loud enough to be heard.

"Well, thankfully Blue is more open minded than the rest of the 21st century."

"Very true," Danse said, sighing. "I never met someone like that… someone who could look beyond what I had built around myself, later discovered was a lie, and still be there for me." He paused, staring at the bottle he had just grabbed. "Before, I had the Brotherhood and I thought—" He stopped, sighing.

Cait softened her frown, reaching over to pat the armored arm of the other synth in the group besides Nick. "Hey, we are all here for you. All of us."

"What I'm surprised about isn't so much learning that single partners was the rule back when," Piper said, "I mean, I've read the old magazines and their idea of women's place and roles was not… the best. But that doesn't matter anymore. What I want to know, and what surprises me is that you are surprised by anything at all, Nick."

Nick leaned back, giving her a look. "You don't say."

"With all due respect, Valentine, I think she's right," Danse admitted. "We both know synths can be surprised, or scared but, when we were in Far Harbor and all those creatures appeared, you were hardly fazed at all."

"I guess nothing impresses Detective Valentine," Piper said. "Even by the time we arrived in Far Harbor and those things appeared, the worst thing you did was shout out warnings whenever you spotted anyone in danger."

"Heeey, that's true," Cait said, leaning her head on Piper's shoulder. She passed the journalist an open beer and took a sip of hers. "Spill it, Valentine, how come nothing shakes you?"

"Well, I wouldn't say nothing does," Nick replied, thinking about DiMA, but simply sighed. "I've just seen worse, that's all."

"Worse than the Gulpers, Fog Crawlers and Anglers?" Piper asked. "Do tell."

"Sitting around a campfire seems the perfect place to share a story," Danse added, taking a swig of his own beer.

"You've really mellowed out, you know that, Danse?"

"Thanks, Cait."

Nick chuckled, looking around the camp. "Alright, alright. I'll tell you about the weirdest thing I've seen."

It all started back in Diamond City.

Diamond City.

You've all been there… a city where the grime of the wasteland becomes an afterthought. Where the rich still live above us all in the rafters of a bygone era, and the unsavory still make their way down to the underbelly of society. And yet, it's still better than 'out there'.

Neon signs, merchants, the smell of cigarettes, oil and black powder mix with the exotic cuisine prepared by an automaton chef that can only speak in broken Japanese. Muddy floors covered with wood mats and cement.

Never try to explain what baseball really was to them. It will not go well.

Ellie had just started working as my secretary and we had just closed up a case; a young man by the name of Derek Pacion was looking for his friend Ralph, who had become a merchant and supposedly traveled to the Commonwealth. Long story short, he didn't make it. Got ambushed by some Raiders. But at least we found out and Derek could bring some closure to his family.

I thought that was it for the day and was about to send Ellie home when the door opened and this kid walked in.

Now, I've seen all sorts come through Diamond City from all walks of life, but there was something about this young woman that was very different. It was like seeing a movie in color for the first time, and the world around her just shone a little more whenever she was there.

At the time I didn't understand how. I just thought I was imagining things, and that I was due for a checkup. That my old sensors had finally got the RGBs mixed up. She was dressed strangely, in a gray-navy blue uniform of some sort with sleeves and pants of different colors, green, blue, red and purple. She had a hood covering her head, which she removed as soon as she entered, revealing a short mop of brown hair, and expressive brown eyes.

At first I thought it was a dare from some of the kids in the city, but then again, I had never seen this one before. So I thought it might be a case of missing parents… I was close, but I never expected things to go the way they did from that point on…

"Um, heeeey, I read outside that this was a detective agency and…"

Nick sighed. That was a typical reaction for newcomers, who were still terrified of Synths. He could already see Ellie half-rising to reassure the young girl that everything was fine…

"Ay, Dios mio! Un robot!" the girl squealed excitedly, a wide grin flashing across her face as she dashed forward to check Nick up close.

He wasn't sure what was more surprising. The fact that the girl was not scared of him, the fact that she was so enthusiastic, or the fact that half her conversation was in Spanish. All the way to Diamond City?

That was very strange.

"Okay, Luz," the girl muttered once she had poked and prodded enough at him, "calm down. You have a mission." She straightened up. "Um. Yes."

Nick and Ellie watched as the girl clasped her hands behind her back and walked self-importantly in front of them back and forth. "I heard that this place here is a Detective agency. Is that right?"

Nick exchanged glances with Ellie then turned to face the young girl, falling down to one knee so he could be more even with her when he responded. "That is correct, young lady. This is Ellie, my secretary, and I am Nick Valentine. This is my agency."

"Oh my gosh! A robot detective!"

"Synth," Ellie corrected without much heat in her voice. The girl was too excited to really have meant any insult.

"Oh! So sorry, I have just never met a Rrrr-synth Detective! Yeah! I'm sure it's totally normal in this woooor-place!"

Nick chuckled. "No offense taken, miss…"

"Luz! Luz Noceda," she said, offering her hand for him to shake, which he did.

"So what can I help you with, Miss Noceda?"

"Well, it's um, complicated."

Nick stood up and motioned for her to take a seat, which she did. "Why don't you tell me about it and let me decide if it is?"

"Alright, I see how it is, and I like it, Mr. Marlow!" Luz said, winking, snapping her fingers, and pointing at him with a confident grin.

"His name is—"

"It's alright, Ellie," Nick interrupted, eyes widening a little. "It seems Miss Noceda is well-read."

"Aaww, thanks! I really liked the movies!" Luz said, but then blinked. "Oh yeah! So, Mr. Valentine—very cool name by the way—I'm here to hire you!"

Nick chuckled. "I gathered as much. But what, or who do you need me to find?"

"Well, we, that is my friends and I, need you to find um, someone for us."

"What thing? And are you a part of a caravan?"

"Uh, no, we take classes together."

"Classes." Nick repeated, then nodded. "That's unusual, I am not aware of that many schools in the Commonwealth."

"Well, yeah… uh, it's not exactly here that she teaches us… but um, the thing is I can't give you too many details about it until you have agreed to work for us." She paused, tapping her chin as he thought. "So there are a few things I can say, obviously… The first thing is… that it's going to be dangerous. The second is that we are going to need your word that you'll not freak out when you meet the rest of us, or judge us by our looks… and finally, if you decide halfway through the investigation to quit, that you agree to not say anything about us to others for at least a few years."

Nick leaned back. "I'm not sure I can agree to that without more information, Miss Noceda. It's suspicious enough as it is. It wouldn't be the first time someone tries to use underhanded means to catch the single obvious synth in Diamond City, and I've made plenty of enemies."

Luz bit her lip and drummed her fingers on the table. "I-I'm not supposed to really show you anything yet but… well," she stood up and took one of his pens, scribbling something on a small piece of paper.

Nick couldn't make out what it was exactly, figuring it was an address of some sort, but she simply put the pen down on the table and held on to the paper. "If you're interested, we'll be outside Diamond City, near the Parkview Apartments."

"Okay, now I know you're up to something," Nick said, frowning. "That place is a breeding ground for Raiders. There's no way a group of kids could be hanging out there."

Luz had already stood up and opened the door. "Well, I guess I'll let you think about it. We'll wait until tomorrow."

And then she clapped the hand holding the paper against her chest. And she was gone. Literally.

"What?!" Ellie ran over to the door and stared at the empty space for a moment before leaning out and scanning outside. "Nick! She's gone!"

"Now, miss Noceda," Nick wondered, standing up and walking to the door. "How did you do that?" he muttered. His sensors hadn't detected any radioactive emanations, so it wasn't one of those fabled Stealth Boys that the army used to have. "Huh."

"Nick," Ellie's tone had a warning to it. "Don't you dare."

He grinned, shrugging. "It's too tempting," he said as he walked out of the door. He needed to ask around and see what he could find before heading over to the meeting point.

Whether she was an agent of his enemies or something else, she had certainly captured his attention.

Nick Valentine titled his fedora as he walked through the Diamond City market. "Lois, always a pleasure."

"Hi Nick!"

Most people in Diamond City greeted him now-a-days with a smile and a wave, although there were still some that glowered or muttered under their breath, but those were far fewer than before. For better or worse, Nick the Synth was pretty much part of the city now, and an upstanding citizen according to Mayor Roberts.

Turned out, saving his daughter and not making a nuisance of himself had put Nick firmly in the Mayor's "good citizens" list, and that had swayed public opinion in his favor. Plus, it was always good for a city to have its own unique quirks and characters, he supposed.

He couldn't really feel it, but his sensors told him that it was a cold day today. The sun was mostly hidden behind some clouds and although it didn't look like it would rain, it gave the whole place an eerie look that brought back memories of misty mornings, music, the smell of peanuts…

Nick shook his head. Not his memories. Just… echoes. And right now he didn't have time to indulge them. Instead he hummed to himself and started making his way around the agency, checking for clues.

"Hey Carl," he greeted the barber that had just set up shop nearby. The man had come from somewhere further West, but hadn't been very clear about where exactly. Not that it mattered, he was here now, was clearly not a Raider and had settled down quite nicely.

"O-oh! N-Nick! H-hello! A-are you here for a haircut?"

Unfortunately he was one of those people that still hadn't got used to the sight of Nick's robotic eyes and silicone face.

"Not this time, Carl, but thanks. Say, you wouldn't happen to have seen a young girl in a gray-blue hood running around, would you?"

"O-oh! N-no, Nick, I-I can't say I have."

"Anyone speaking Spanish? Heard nothing?" Nick probed. "This is the only way they could've come."

"S-sorry, Nick. I-I really haven't…" he trailed off. "W-well, I did h-hear someone running, and then felt some wind, but when I looked there wasn't anyone around… is that…?" he trailed off, giving Nick time to consider what to say.

Telling Carl, or anyone for that matter, that there was some invisible kid running around would just not help matters. Either they'd think he was crazy, or worse, they'd believe him and they would start a manhunt at best or set the city ablaze at worst.

"She was short, so you might've missed her," Nick said instead. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure I'll find her. Have a good one, Carl."

He could hear the relief in Carl's voice once he had turned around and walked away. "A-anytime, Nick!"

It was a bit empowering for some people there to talk to Nick. He was the robot man. The synth of Diamond City, an unintentional celebrity that bridged their fears with a healthy dose of polite friendliness. They could confront their fear and walk away. It was a quiet service of sorts that helped curve the hate that he would otherwise face, Mayor's endorsement or not.

He followed the diamond towards the home plate, keeping his eyes peeled. Even if no one thought Luz's clothes were strange, there might be some indication that she had passed by. Grumbling guards or merchants muttering about kids running around, or something, but by the time he had reached the stairs… nothing.

He sighed. There was nothing else to do but see it through. Despite what he had said, and his guest's apparent confidence, he had seen in her eyes she actually was looking for help. "Hey Mike," he called out as he stepped down to the mechanical door that blocked out the rest of the Commonwealth from the city's entrance. "Did you let in or out any kids today?"

Mike, a heavily built man wearing an umpire's mask and a mix of metal armor and other baseball equipment, looked up from where he was perusing an old magazine that had somehow survived the test of time. "Valentine? No, we haven't let anyone through today, merchant or otherwise," he answered. "'sides, you know we wouldn't allow some kid to run out into the Fenns."

"I figured as much, but I thought I'd ask anyway," Nick responded amiably. "Mind opening it for me? I'm working on a case."

"Eh, sure why not, you know what you're doing."

"Thanks." Nick didn't say anything else, waiting patiently for the heavy doors to open for him to step outside. He raised his hand to lower the glare of light as the door was lifted, allowing him to clearly see the fortified plaza outside.

"Be careful out there, Nick."

He didn't let the surprise show. Mike hadn't been a big fan of his when they had met, but he had at least been polite. How time changed people. Instead, he nodded. "See you around, Mike."

What was once Boston greeted him in all its collapsing glory. The few guards outside nodded at him amiably enough, but didn't engage him in conversation. Not that he blamed them. They needed to be ready. Not only for things in front of them, but attentive enough to hear any incoming parties, or even if they were lucky the sounds of battle that might hint at merchants being possibly attacked.

They watched him in silence as he made his way around the barricade into the city ruins proper. In the distance, he could see the Parkview Apartments, poking above other smaller, crumbling buildings.

The streets of Boston were covered with debris and dying vegetation. It was funny how no matter the time of year, it always seemed like whatever attempted to grow there (other than murderers and mutants) was constantly dying or about to die. He supposed the radiation would cause that, but the levels here were negligible enough to be comparable to pre-war life.

Upended, rusting cars, collapsed walls and knocked down street lamps buried the walkways and street under them, creating little holes and artificial caves providing good hiding spaces for radroaches… or feral dogs.

He paused. He had heard a growl of some sort. It didn't sound like the normal mongrels that lived near the cities. But also didn't sound like a Deathclaw.

He slowly pulled out his gun, checking the barrel to make sure it was fully loaded before sticking to the side of the street so that at least he wasn't standing out there in the where cover more of a suggestion than anything else. Raiders, mutants, mongrels, feral ghouls, and even giant crabs had been spotted around the Boston area and it wouldn't do for him to be caught empty handed.

He allowed his instincts, such as they were, to guide him. Slowing down to a stop every so often to listen carefully before moving ahead. Far, in the distance, a firefight started, but it didn't seem to come from his destination, and it was too far away to threaten to spill all the way to where he was. He just hoped it was a group of Raiders meeting some Super Mutants or Gunners.

He was more than content to let them take care of each other, as long as they didn't put innocents in danger.

He was almost at the apartments when something told him to dodge. His intuition had saved his life—or the original Nick Valentine's life in any case—several times during investigations, and it proved to be just as reliable now.

Without questioning it, he rolled just in time to avoid the window he had been standing next to exploding out and a huge canine of some sort smashing through it, Before he could lift his gun, he had to roll back again as the massive dog, no… wolf, tried to catch his leg with its jaws. One massive paw still managed to step and hold his trench coat in place, and Nick cursed when he had to hastily slide out of it while still turning to face the creature.

He raised his gun, but before it even got high enough to aim, something smashed into it, just missing his thumb, sending it clattering. In a second, the wolf had it's paw right smack in the middle of his chest and he was pushed back with significant force until he was flat on his back on the street, the massive reddish-brown wolf growling at him.

"We told you lot not to come by anymore," a young female Irish voice said. "I thought it was very clear myself, didn't I, Mebh?"

The wolf growled in apparent agreement, shifting just enough for Nick to stare at another young girl, this one blonde and blue-eyed wearing a dark green hood. Impossibly, what had knocked the gun from his hand (and almost taken his thumb with it) had been an arrow, just like the one she was aiming straight at his face right then.

"Alright then," the girl drawled, glaring at him from under her hood. "What should we do with you?"

The wolf growled and the girl smirked. "Aye, that sounds about right, Mebh, but eating those metal pieces can't be good for your stomach."

The wolf snorted and rolled its eyes.

If Nick didn't know better, he would have sworn they were actually talking to each other.

"Wait!" a distant, familiar voice said. "Stop! Robyn, don't kill him!"

Twisting a little and earning himself a warning growl, Nick turned around enough to stare at Luz hovering down to where they were. She was riding some sort of staff with an owl on it, wings extended. When she landed, the owl wrapped its wings around itself and seemed to become solid wood.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Language!" the other girl, Robyn, snapped, then turned to face the new arrival. "What do you mean, Luz?"

"This is the detective we heard about! His name is Nick Valentine, I was going to tell you about it, but when I got back to the camp you and Mebh had gone scouting."

Robyn straightened and lowered her bow, blinking in his direction. "This mechanical man is a detective?"

"They call them synths here," Luz replied, as the big wolf stepped back and allowed Nick to sit up. Then the wolf picked up his trench coat and trotted back to him, offering it back.

Nick took it gingerly, nodding cautiously at the smarter than expected creature.

"We got it from here, Mebh," Luz said placing a confident hand on Robyn's shoulder. She gave the wolf a thumbs-up. "Can you tell the others we're coming in with the Detective?"

The wolf grunted in reply then turned to give Nick what looked like a mischievous look. Nick almost fell back flat again when the wolf jumped over him and turned into a golden mist that quickly floated away.

"Well, Mr. Marlow…"

"Didn't you say his name was Valentine?" Robyn asked.

Luz sighed. "Anyway, Detective, I'm glad you took me up on my offer." She grinned. "Come on, let's introduce you to the rest of the gang!"

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Part 1! Nick has to be IMO one of the best characters in the Fallout series. There's so much character development from the moment we meet him, it's hard to imagine what the game might've been like without him. Certainly not better.

I've wanted to write a Nick Isekai for a while, but I wanted to make sure to make it unique, and what better way to do it than a detective story?

Cast so far (and links to first appearances in the Isekai:
Luz: Protagonist from "The Owl House"
Robyn & Mebh: Protagonists from "Wolfwalkers"

Also! Remember R&R (read and review!) it helps encourage the authors!

Set the World on Fire (Fallout 4 - Pt. 2)

Sunset's Isekai
Set the World on Fire (Fallout 4 - Pt. 2)
By Wanderer D

The silence was broken by a log splitting on the fire.

"Come on, Nick," Piper said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. She studied the synth for a moment. "You can't expect us to believe that."

"We've seen some weird shit," Cait added, "but I'm not falling for something like this."

"Is this whole thing a metaphor?" Danse asked, frowning at his beer as if it held the answers. "I've always had trouble with those."

"Har. Har." Nick shook his head, leaning forth to poke the fire with a long stick. "Do you want to hear the rest of it, or not?"

When the others muttered that they did, he nodded.

I know what it sounds like. A wolf big enough to keep a man, or synth, down with one paw? Not only that, but one that turns into golden mist at will? A girl dressed like Robin Hood, bow and arrows included, and another that flows down on some sort of staff?

Old Boston is a place of booze, drugs, criminals, mutants and violence. A place where the unwary get lost, killed, looted and left to rot. And yet here I was, in a firefight alongside these same weirdos, witnessing what should have been impossible.

I wouldn't blame you if you called me crazy. Hell, I was half tempted to walk away right there to the nearest mechanic to have my brain and eyes checked on my own. But, unless I was imagining them too, the two very human-looking girls were also acting like a wolf turning into mist was normal.

I studied the pair as we made our way past crumbling buildings, listening to their conversation, trying to learn what might've brought them here and seeking me out, but they were keeping their conversation a little too casual, as if the matter needing solving was almost a second thought… except that I could tell they were nervous, and oddly enough, it wasn't because of the danger around us.

Robyn—the Irish one—was actually the same age as Luz, but acted more like an older girl, or maybe someone that had grown up trained to hunt or survive. She kept her guard and walked steadily but stealthily, keeping her eyes moving, studying shadows, windows, rubble for hidden enemies and traps. She kept an arrow at the ready at all times. She did not act paranoid, but cautious. She was experienced like a tracker, or a hunter.

Luz on the other hand, strolled ahead of us with an almost cocky bluster, her arms behind her head and the staff with the owl on it between her arms and the back of her neck. She was exposed, blatantly oblivious to danger as far as I could see, and worse, overly energetic and loud. A combination that could get a synth scrapped in these ruins.

A hawk cried above us, weaving its way through the buildings, making both Luz and Robyn stop. I almost stumbled into them, but managed to avoid that by grabbing the edge of the wall next to us.

I almost jokingly asked Robyn if she could talk to that one too, but bit my tongue when I saw her smile at it.

Of course she would.

Nick watched the hawk as it spiraled down to land on Robyn's shoulder, chirping to her. She nodded, glancing at Luz, then at him. "Merlyn says there's danger ahead."

"What kind of danger?" Nick asked, ignoring the fact that the girl claimed to have understood a bird. The wolf earlier had been almost enough, and who knew what kind of weird mutations the Wasteland could produce? "Raiders? Gunners?"

Robyn gave him a look. "Is it Raiders? How would I know? Merlyn's a hawk. He can't speak in words." She turned to Luz. "Are ye sure he's a detective?"

Luz chuckled. "Hey now, he's not used to us."

Robyn sighed. "Sorry," she said, turning to glance at Nick. "Didn't mean to offend. This place is just…" She shuddered, glancing around, eyes narrowed. "Unnatural... There's not a sign of nature—real nature—around. The plants are sick… even the wooded areas outside of this city are… contaminated, somehow. The air stinks… even Kilkenny in the middle of summer wasn't this smelly."

"No offense taken," Nick assured her. It was very clear that her very healthy paranoia was not just a result of the immediate danger in the area, but also her being uncomfortable in a setting like this.

Wooded area? Stinky air? She sounds like she's been living in the mountains. Maybe these girls are originally from the Appalachia area? I had heard that the area wasn't as demolished as other parts of the country. That would explain why they sound so different and act so different.

Seeing a window of opportunity, he took it. "You mentioned Kilkenny? I'm not aware of a town around here named that, so you must have traveled far. Is that where you're from?"

"That's because there isn't," Luz answered, smirking at him over her shoulder. "Kilkenny is in Ireland."

This took Nick by surprise. There's no way. No way that she crossed the ocean to come to Boston. Something so monumental would not have remained hidden from the public! Heck, for all their secrecy, even the Institute was a known factor.

A boogeyman factor, for sure, but still known to some extent.

"I lived there for a bit," Robyn provided, unaware of Nick's thoughts. "Not anymore."

"I'm starting to see that," Nick said, keeping his thoughts to himself. "As impossible as it sounds."

"Nothing is impossible!" Luz declared, raising a fist valiantly into the air just a second before the wall next to her exploded.

She dove down, rolling to a stop next to Nick and Robyn, who had taken cover behind a barrier made of several collapsed buildings. "It's the green guys!"

"Super Mutants?!" Nick asked, worry creeping into his voice. Raiders would have been bad, but Super Mutants can take a lot of damage before going down. He glanced at the other two. Can I even protect them long enough for them to escape?

"I guess that answers your earlier question about what Merlyn had spotted," Robyn muttered, glancing carefully over her cover then crouching down.

"We kind of expected them to come back, though," Luz provided, almost conversationally. "Remember what their leader was shouting the other day? Something about 'the age of mankind is over! Now is the time for—ackgh!'' She pretended to be choking and then dead.

Robyn shook her head. "Of course I do! I just expected them to wait longer. Ever since Cromwell I haven't had anyone this eager to kill me! And I've met the krang!"

Luz patted her shoulder. "Hey, it comes with the territory, don't let it get to you." She leaned back, making a fist and smashing it against her open palm. "It's the prize of popularity, girl! Oh, yeah!"

"Popularity? Who needs that?"

"Aren't you two being a bit too reckless right now?" Nick asked, leaning around the wall to take a couple of shots at a charging super mutant bruiser. One of his bullets hit the creature's armor, and the other elicited a surprisingly whiny 'ouch' but a second later the super mutant was jumping over the wall, raising its hammer to crush him…

"Break you!" the super mutant shouted, bringing the hammer down…

Only for a pillar of ice to suddenly—and violently—crash into its chest, tossing the green berserker clean over twenty feet away. It landed heavily on top of a nearby metal fence and didn't move.

"Sorry! Not sorry!" Luz called over the wall.

"I'm gonna feast on your flesh, human!" came the answering call from another super mutant, along with one corner of their cover blowing into chunks and dust.

"I got him." Robyn rose for a second the moment the bullets paused, and let loose her arrow that went straight into the creature's eye.

"There's too many of them!" Nick shouted, seeing several more start rushing towards them. Thankfully he didn't hear the tell-tale sound of a suicider running towards them. Yet. "We need to go!"

"We have backup!" Luz said, putting away a piece of chalk she had used for some sort of drawing on the wall. "Just give them a second." She tapped the drawing just as a couple of super mutants ran around their cover, raising their weapons.

Before Nick could react, vines as thick as a grown man's trunk emerged from the wall and wrapped around the horrified mutants, covering them completely and tightening around them.

"When will they be here?" Nick shouted over another explosion, which he could now tell was caused by a super mutant carrying a missile launcher.

"We already are."

Nick blinked as a head emerged from the floor of the house. Normally, that kind of event would be accompanied by splinters, blood and severe trauma. Instead, this young lady had just… emerged from under them.

"Cool! A robot," the white-haired young woman said, staring at him.

"Synth," Nick corrected automatically, still trying to figure out what he was seeing. A hologram?

"What took you so long, Dani?" Robyn asked.

The hologram tilted her head. "Hey don't blame me. Lena and I had to get rid of Immortan Joe, Aunty Entity, and what we think is their unholy offspring. Lena stayed behind with Mehb to hunt down the last ones."

"I think they call them Raiders," Luz provided. "And they're not related."

"Thank the Omniverse for small miracles," Dani replied. "I thought they had thrown the biggest two in a cage with some pheromone gas and—"

"Ewwww! Ewww ewww! Why?!" Robyn whined.

"Well, obviously to—"

"NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

"Aww, I think it could be kinda cute!" Luz threw in.

"You would."

"Girls, might I remind you that we're in a life or death situation?" Robyn asked, pushing away the mental image while quickly rolling out of cover, shooting an arrow, and then rolling back in.

"Alright, alright," Luz said. "Let's get this over with so we can actually get to solving our little problem, okay?"

"I don't suppose we could convince this lot to give up, could we?" Robyn muttered.

The three girls stared at each other. "Nah."

"Whatever you want to do," Nick said through gritted teeth, "I suggest you do it now, I can hear a suicider coming this way!"

It had just been a matter of time, after all.

"That doesn't sound nice," Luz muttered.

"It's not! It has some kind of bomb!" yet another voice said, and this time Nick really felt like he needed to have his eyes checked, as the flying duck-girl suddenly zoomed to levitate above them. "Let's make this quick! Luz, be ready to raise a dome, Robyn, when I give the signal shoot an arrow at the knee of the green guy with the glowing bomb in his hand. Dani, heard the other three left towards the guy with the bomb!"

"Right!"

"Will do!"

"On it!"

The duck girl glanced at Nick. "Detective? You lay low."

"If you say so…" Nick shook his head, crouching behind the wall, and glancing carefully over it. Whether the flying humanoid wanted it or not, he'd give the girls support.

There wasn't much of a fight after she arrived however. The hologram girl used some shots to herd the few remaining Super Mutants towards her, while the suicider immediately noticed her and ran to her.

Large walls of dirt and concrete immediately surrounded them just as Robyn's arrow crippled the bomb-carrying mutant. The explosion collapsed the walls inward, but it had been contained, and through the molten rocks, the hologram girl, Dani, emerged again.

"Girls," Luz said after a moment. "Let me introduce you to Nick Valentine, Detective extraordinaire." She turned to Nick. "And in turn… this is Dani and Lena Shimmer."

"That's not—" Lena began, but Luz interrupted her.

"We all know it," she said. "You just need to make it official."

Dani and Lena glanced at each other.

"Do you really doubt she'd take you in?" Robyn asked.

Dani crossed her arms, but she could do little to hide the edges of her mouth forming into a smile. "Anyway, let's get going. Mebh is already waiting for us at the camp."

I don't know what I was expecting when we got to their camp, but an actually clean room in the apartment building, with painted walls, brand new chairs and table, functioning fridge and clean windows and electricity?

That was not it.

"How in the world did you girls do this?"

"Magic," Lena responde, then sat down on a couch while the others took seats around the room. There was a short, wild-looking girl there with copper-red hair that grew out of her head like a mane. She was studying Nick with an intensity that was uncomfortably familiar.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Nick finally asked.

"See?" the short girl snorted. "How can he be a detective if he can't tell the difference?"

"I thought we established that magic is not a thing here," Dani said, "give the guy a break."

At the name, Nick turned back to look at the short girl, who smiled at him. It was the smile that did it.

"Call me crazy," Nick said, "but you remind me of a certain wolf I met earlier."

"That's me!" the girl said proudly, pointing at herself with her thumb. "Mebh Óg MacTíre! I'm a Wolfwalker!"

Nick nodded. "So I see." He didn't. "In any case," he continued, turning to stare at the other girls. "Luz mentioned that you had lost something and that you needed help finding it." He glanced around. "What that might be that you can't find, I can't even imagine."

"Weeeeell," Luz spoke up, "It's not really a thing… as in a thing… it's just we don't know what she actually is."

Nick blinked. "A person?"

"I mean, what qualifies as a person, really?" Luz laughed nervously.

"Okay, you're not being helpful, Luz," Lena said. "We are looking for… a… girl."

The way she said it, it was clear that she thought calling whomever they were looking for 'girl' was a stretch. Now, if I had this conversation with a normal wastelander (as much as that word can be applied to anyone in the wasteland) I would have immediately assumed that they were judging this other person on not being human.

Could've been a synth. A mutant. A robot. Anything not human, but with this lot that didn't make sense. They had taken a look at me and barely batted an eye, and that was just to note that I'm synthetic, and I hadn't sensed any discomfort with that.

"Right," Nick nodded.

"The thing is," Mebh spoke then, "her scent… it's just gone. I can't smell her anywhere where we were… it's weird, when she's with us, I can sense her presence normally. Her scent, hear her perfectly… but as soon as she's out of sight, it's like she's not here anymore."

"She doesn't have a ghostly presence either," Dani said. "In all the time I've known her, she's just been there when she's around, and when she's gone, I can't even tell she was around."

"I've tried finding her with spells, but she's like the Isekai… you just can't cast something to pinpoint her location." She hesitated, but instead of saying anything glanced at Robyn.

"I did try tracking her, didn't I?" Robyn sighed. "But much like her scent, there was little I could do. I'm not familiar with hunting on city grounds, and there were not tracks for me to follow."

"And I did a fly-by but, no sign of her," Luz said, shrugging.

"If she's anything like you girls, I can't see her taking too long to come back here," Nick said honestly.

"Yeah, well, you see… that's the problem. It's not that she can't make her way back to us, or that we're afraid she'll be in trouble," Dani explained, rubbing her arm. "It's just that she's not supposed to be here and it could be very bad if she gets sufficiently angry before we can get her back to the Isekai."

Nick hummed. "This Isekai place, is it far?"

"Nah, it's wherever we want it to be," Luz said.

"Can't you use it to find this missing girl?"

That got a reaction of them. One of mild panic.

"Oh, hell no!" Luz gasped. "If we go back without her we're all dead!"

"Probably worse!" Dani threw in with a shiver.

"I knew bringing her here was a bad idea, but did anyone listen?" Robyn groaned. "No. Of course you didn't."

"Hey, how could we know she'd go on her own?" Mebh asked defensively. "We were here just for one concert!"

"Girls?" Nick spoke up, drawing their attention to him. "I need you to slow down. I'll help you find her, but I need details. I have questions for you that I need answered. How did you all end up here? What concert? Why are you so worried?" He shifted in his seat. "But let's start with the most basic one: Who is this girl that's missing?"

The girls traded glances before Luz sighed. "Well, we did ask for help." She faced Nick. "She's the sister of someone that can be very, very scary. She's not someone we're supposed to take around without express permission to do so… her name is Sweetie Belle. And she might destroy the world."

Open Season (Fallout 4 - Pt. 3)

Sunset's Isekai
Open Season (Fallout 4 - Pt. 3)
By Wanderer D

The campfire crackled merrily as the group contemplated Nick's Story.

"So, we've gone from random magical girl and Robin Hood, to aliens." Piper rolled her second beer bottle between her hands. "Nick, you must have plugged yourself into some weird Children of Atom shit to get that bad.

"Well, it's funny you should mention that," Nick said.

Cait gave him a look. "Why do you say that?"

"Spoilers." Nick smirked.

"I think you've been hanging out with The Silver Shroud a bit too much."

"There's a thought, let's go to the Machinist and have her take a look at you, maybe she'll figure out what's wrong."

Turns out the girls had come to Boston to throw a concert. Seemed a few hundred years too late to me, but their friend, Sweetie Belle, had insisted.

It was clear that all these girls were good friends, even the lost one, and their personalities meshed well.

Luz Noceda, the first one I met, was full of energy and curiosity. Too much of both, if I was honest, but her relentless optimism was a great source of much needed will to keep going. Her and Dani Phantom, the hologram—or ghost as she insisted—girl, was similar to her in that she sought adventure and challenges.

Robyn and Mebh were similar to each other, and yet not. Mebh was a menace of sorts. She was curious, but in a guarded way that made her less likely to find an unfortunate end than say, Luz. However she was also full of energy, and aggressiveness. She did act like some sort of puppy, and the fact that she was also supposed to be the wolf I had met earlier was beginning to sound more and more plausible.

The sheer joy she brought Robyn was also something to be witnessed. These two were very close, and it seemed their happiness was deeply entwined with each other. They were definitely pack creatures. Robyn was a lot more relaxed around her sister and friends, even though both her and Mebh still seemed out of place in mannerisms and clothes.

The last and oddest one was Lena. She wasn't glowing blue anymore, and looked almost like a normal teen, if teens were ducks. She was the most reserved of the group, not out of distrust, but simply because she was the type to keep a calm mind and plan. Whether they knew it or not, all the others looked up at her, and she fell naturally into the role of the leader.

I have the feeling that if duck people were a more common sight in the Wasteland, she'd been the one to contact me.

It made me wonder what kind of person this Sweetie Belle was. With a name like that, chances were a spoiled brat, but I had been surprised before.

"Okay," Nick said. "Let's summarize. Your friend, Sweetie Belle, set up a concert at the Charles View Amphitheater, and it went well."

"Yes!" Luz said, sitting on the floor with her legs crossed. She pulled out a T-shirt with a picture of the group of girls behind one adorably-innocent looking human girl, all of them dressed up and apparently in the middle of singing a song. "I was in charge of Merchandizing!"

Nick stared at her for a second before he continued. "In any case, the concert went well, and then you were approached by some people?"

"Correct," Lena said. "They wanted us to perform for them in their clubs and such, but this was just an outing. We don't have permission to stay in any world for too long."

"And you came here without asking for permission in the first place," Nick stated. "Why didn't anyone stop you?"

"Sunset was really upset about something happening to Myne, so she went out to visit some guy named Francis?" Luz said.

"Ferdinand," Lena corrected.

"He's the High Priest at her church, remember?" Robyn said.

"Oh, yeah!" Luz shot to her feet and then stood on one foot with her arms upwards as if she was skating or something. "Praise the gods!"

"Yes," Robyn growled. "That guy."

"I'm not certain what's going on, but it seems like your teacher was busy. And so, from what you told me earlier, after the concert you all got distracted and when it was time to go, Sweetie Belle was gone." Nick sighed. "Okay. I'm going to need details."

"Well," Robyn said, "ask away."

"You said that the concert attracted a lot of attention, how did it go?"

"It was awesome!" Luz said. "The crowd loved it! We got a standing ovation!"

"A lot of people were talking to Sweetie afterwards, asking her about future concerts and such," Dani added.

"Is that so?" Nick muttered. "What can you tell me about the people asking her that?"

"Well, there were all sorts," Mebh said. "Some were dressed like the people that live in your area, dirty normal twentieth century clothes, mostly nice."

"We saw some groups eyeing her," Luz said, but the only ones that really approached were a group in suits."

"Oh yeah! They looked like gangsters!" Dani said.

"We have a lot of those around." Nick grunted, rubbing his chin. "What can you tell me about these gangsters?"

"Well, their leader was a short guy with thin whiskers, that I remember."

"Smelled like alcohol," Mebh said, while Robyn nodded.

"And cigarettes," the latter added.

"Short guy with whiskers," Nick muttered. "Out here, instead of Good Neighbor. Tell me, did this man talk with a lisp?"

"Oh yeah, now that you mention it… I think he did?" Luz said. "I only managed to hear him talk at the end, when I went to tell Sweetie we were getting ready to go. But he was already leaving by then."

Nick nodded. "I'm willing to bet that's what he wanted you to think. That right there sounds like Mickey "Snarky" Milano. He's a nasty piece of work, that one."

"But I saw them go away," Dani said.

"Most likely just to get his goons to pick up Miss Belle," Nick muttered. "If she's as good a singer as you say—"

"I've met sirens that couldn't match her."

"—if she's as good a singer as you insist," he corrected, earning himself a mock glare from Lena, "then he'd want her for his Speakeasy downtown." He hesitated. "It's not a nice place, being out here. But 'Snarky' made a reputation for himself that got him kicked out of Good Neighbor—which is hard enough to do—and he wouldn't be allowed in Diamond City."

"Well, if you know where it is, maybe we should go knocking?" Dani suggested.

"Or, we could knock down the door!" Mehb cheered.

"Let's go investigate," Nick agreed. "Are you all coming?"

"Might as well," Lena said. "Mebh, Robyn?"

"Tempting, but I'm staying human," Robyn replied. "I hate the smells here, and we'll have some extra ranged weapons if we need them."

"Aww, it's not that bad, is it?" Mebh said. "There's so many smells to explore!"

"Maybe you should bite Luz, between the two of you you have the weirdest interests."

"Oooh! Can you? Please?!"

"We've talked about this, Luz, not without asking your mom. And Sunset. And Eda. And Amity."

"Aww."

Nick watched as Mebh went over to sit on a couch. She closed her eyes and relaxed. After a moment, golden mist swirled around and through her, then flew out, splashing on the floor before them and took the shape of the giant wolf from earlier.

"And, that's my cue," Lena said, lifting a coin. She muttered something under her breath, and suddenly Mebh's human body was gone.

Nick stared. "How in the world—"

"I'm never getting tired of watching a body get sucked into a coin," Luz said, patting him on the shoulder. She glanced at Lena. "You think I can learn to do that with runes?"

"Maybe?" Lena replied. "We'll have to look into it, but it might be a very complicated one. I'm just using a spell Magica designed to trap Scrooge."

"Isn't she, like, an interdimensional threat?"

"Yep."

"Cool."

"Ladies, I think we're getting off track," Nick said, trying—and failing—to understand what had just happened.

"It happens."

The Bar's name was the "Lady's Knickers", and it had the exact effect on the girls as one would imagine.

Nick wished he could smoke, like the old human Nick Valentine could. Because this was going to take some time. The girls were rolling on the floor, unable to stop for more than a few moments before their eyes would inexorably stray to Mikey's bar's name and they would lose it again and laugh uproariously.

He had to admit he couldn't blame them. It was a dumb name for a dumb place. No one from the old neighborhood would be caught there willingly, and the bar served the densest of the dense. The bottom of the barrel out of the already low-quality individuals that hovered around this area smack in the middle of territories already infested by feral ghouls, supermutants, raiders and gunners.

Eventually they calmed down enough to keep to snickers, so he deemed it time to step inside.

Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't this. The bar was a mess. Tables had been tossed around with enough force to explode against the walls. A chair was embedded on the roof, alongside the poor sap that had been sitting on it. The bar was split in half, with most of the bottles having been swiped forcefully across the room.

Three goons were stuck to the wall, having been run through by the microphone stand.

"Yep," Luz groaned. "Sweetie was here."

"My god."

"Nope," Lena said, "that one was definitely not involved."

Mehb growled and turned, barking as she jumped through the remains of several pool tables.

"Mehb's found something!" Robyn announced, getting the attention of the rest of the gang. They followed the wolf over to where they could now hear groaning.

"I... I can't believe what I'm looking at," Nick said, climbing over the sofa next to the man half-buried in furniture. "If it isn't Mickey 'Snarky' Milano himself."

"Valentine?" the man rasped, coughing. "W-what the hell happened?"

Nick leaned back. "I was hoping you'd tell me. These girls are looking for a friend of theirs. Maybe you've seen her?"

The man blinked several times, shaking his head and groaning. "Must've hit my head harder than I thought, I'm seein' a duck."

"That's not the only thing you'll be seeing, buster!" Luz said. "We need details! Who, when, how?! Where were you the night of the 20th of December, 2021? Was it really Col. Mustard, in the Library, with the candlestick?" She shook him by the collar. "We want answers, 'Snarky', and we want them now!"

"Easy there!" Nick spoke up, "don't want to break his neck. We don't know if he has any serious injuries."

"He doesn't," Lena said. "He's surprisingly complete, considering Sweetie was here."

At the name, the gangster scrambled back. "Sweetie Belle?! Is she still here? I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

"Calm down, buddy," Nick ordered, grabbing him by the shoulder. "Miss Belle is not here, which is the problem. We need to know what happened, Snarky, and you were the last person to see her."

The weasel-like gangster twitched, glancing around to make sure the little girl in question was not around. "She's… really gone?"

"Really, really," Dani said. "It's just us, you, and the dead."

Before she could do her ghost thing, Robyn thankfully grabbed her shoulder. "No."

"But—"

"She's right," Nick said, "we need him coherent for now." He grunted as he grabbed Snarky's shoulder and helped him up, then, with Robyn's help, sat him down.

"Here," Lena said, passing him a cocktail. "Best I could do with what you have here, but you need some liquid courage, I'm sure."

Nodding shakily, Snarky took a sip. Then another. "Huh. This is… really good. Say, I don't suppose you're lookin' for a job?"

"Snarky, focus," Nick ordered. "What happened to Sweetie Belle?"

The man shuddered again, then took a deeper drink before talking. "Well… after the concert, me and the boys went over to talk to Miss Belle about maybe doing a gig here."

"A more permanent one, I imagine," Nick growled.

Snarky shrugged. "Gangster, eh? But yeah, we offered and she declined, so I sais to the boys to go pick her up when she's not looking."

"Next thing we're here, and I'm talking to the little lady, trying to tell her how things will go from now, on…" his smarmy smile slowly faded. "But she wasn't paying attention. At first she was just curious about the place, then… something grabbed her attention. I told her to sit still and follow orders…"

His eyes went wide and he started shaking. "Sh-shadows. Eyes. Something came for me and threw me over the tables. I heard whispers and slithering… something like the sound the wind makes when running through dry leaves… and then screams!"

"Snarky!" Nick shouted, shaking his shoulder as the man turned to stare at him with wide, open eyes that slowly calmed down.

Snarky blinked. "Nick! What brings you here?"

"You were just telling us about Miss Belle."

Nick fell back on his chair. "Sweetie Belle?! Is she still here? I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

"I don't think we're getting anything else out of him," Luz muttered.

"Sweetie Belle did a number on him, alright," Robyn said. Lena, Dani and Mebh all nodded.

"H-hey Nick, what was I drinking? I think I'm seeing a giant duck."

"Just go lay down, Snarky, we were just leaving."

"Right. Right… sleep sounds good…" Snarky walked over to the other side of the bar, then fell face-first on a couch and stayed there.

"Any clues?"

The others shook their head.

"Mebh and I will look around," Robyn said after a moment. "You can check if there's other survivors."

"Right." Nick sighed and turned, intending to wake up Snarky again when he stepped on something that crunched under his foot. He paused and looked down. "Oh. I think I found something. And it's not good."

He leaned down to pick what he'd found.

"Are those… sunglasses?"

"And not just any sunglasses," Nick said, twirling the colorful item in his hand. "Only one group of idiots in the Wasteland wear this kind of cheap plastic stuff."

"And who's that?" Lena asked while Mebh approached to sniff them, then obviously regretted it.

"That would be Olaf Brutalhammer's gang," Nick said. "Raiders."

Ghoul Problem in Old Boston (Fallout 4 - Pt. 4)

Sunset's Isekai
Ghoul Problem in Old Boston (Fallout 4 - Pt. 4)
By Wanderer D

"The poor girl was captured by raiders?" Piper asked, eyes wide. "No wonder the place was destroyed. I'm surprised Snarky survived, but then again that little weasel didn't die until a couple of months ago in Goodneighbor."

"It's funny tho," Cait said, leaning back and studying Nick. "I never heard of anyone called Olaf Brutalhammer. And I had the misfortune of getting to most of the bastards near Diamond City."

"Well, what can I say," Nick said with some amusement, "this one was before your time."

"So, if I'm understanding this correctly," Danse said, "the girls held a concert, and both Olaf and Snarky got into a fight over the lead singer?" he chuckled. "Sounds exactly like Boston."

"You aren't going to tell us that times were different back then and raiders knew mercy, are you? Because then I'll know yer lyin'." Cait snorted.

"Of course not, if anything they were worse. Now-a-days most raiders just try to take over each other's territory," Nick said, chuckling, "back then, they were fighting to build it in the first place. They saw more betrayals than the entire works of Graham Greene put together."

"I don't understand that reference."

"Never mind. Old world literature. Anyway, they just picked her up and assumed everyone was dead because Sweetie had pretty much destroyed the place already."

"So a little girl wrecked a gangster's bar, which I guess I could see if she was on Psycho and armed to the teeth, but you really want me to believe that you had a genuine Irish girl with you, do you?" Cait insisted. "Not even the tin cans—" she ignored Danse's annoyed glance "—ever made it to Europe."

"Well, no," Nick conceded.

"Ha! I told you didn't I? I'm—"

"There were two Irish girls, Cait: Robyn and Mebh."

"You did mention her, didn't you?" she grumbled, crossing her arms. "The one that turned into a wolf."

"That's the one."

"It seems Cait's attempt at catching you lying didn't work out," Piper said, leaning across Danse to kiss the other woman on the cheek and pat her head. "Nice try."

"Dryshite."

"In any case," Danse spoke up, gently pushing both ladies away from each other. "It's not that I fully believe you, but what happened next?"

"Well, I was worried…"

My first thought was to assume the girl was already dead, or worse. Olaf Brutalhammer was not particularly friendly at the best of times, and he was infamous for having a bad temper even among Raiders.

However, looking at the place, it was clear that the damage hadn't been done by raiders. They tended to be more… haphazard. However traumatic it had been for Snarky—who was already in the process of trying to block the events that had transpired here—the damage was relatively contained, and it was obvious that the violence that had taken place inside the Lady's Knickers was very intentional.

Raiders would have thought nothing of destroying the stage, for example, but it had been left free of damage, while the bar, and the 'meeting' rooms behind it were thoroughly destroyed. Raiders would have blown up the walls if they had started the fight, but the building itself was mostly still operational, even if it would require a lot of cleanup.

Most of the furniture was little more than kindling now, except for the one frilly sofa that seemed to have been spared because it fell into a category that could arguably be called 'cute', especially in comparison to the rest.

Whatever had happened in Snarky's bar, it hadn't been the raiders that had cleared up the place and almost done him in. And I was conflicted. Part of my mind told me the girl was in danger, but my instincts told me that we all were.

And I could only assume that she was in danger if I willfully turned a blind eye to everything I had witnessed so far. It was easy to say that the girls were exaggerating… if it weren't for the fact that they could fly, some weren't human at all, and some could transform into wolves and talk to animals.

I had seen that, and yet my mind rebelled against it. It went against everything I knew and believed to be true… and here I was, regardless of my beliefs, with a couple of self-proclaimed witches, a giant wolf, a ghost, and an Irish girl with a crossbow and a hawk.

When overwhelming evidence challenged my preconceptions, would I delude myself into thinking the world worked in the way I wanted to? Or would I, despite being a Synth, have the open mind to acknowledge the fault in my logic and accept that there was much, much more to the world than I thought possible?

"So what do we know about this Olaf fellow?" Robyn asked, then smirked. "Put him on the hot spot? Have him bathe in sunlight?"

"We can be almost sure that he loves warm hugs?" Luz suggested. "Maybe we should hug him until he gives up Sweetie?"

"I dunno. He sounds like he'd melt under pressure," Dani scoffed.

"Really girls?" Lena groaned, while Mehb the wolf simply snorted.

"I don't follow," Nick said, giving them an unamused glance.

"It's probably for the best," Lena said with a sigh. "Seriously, everyone. The fate of the world, anyone? Sweetie could really mess this place up."

"Right, right," Luz said, nodding sagely, then turned to face Nick. "So, where is his camp?"

"I believe it's a bit North of here, near Charlestown Highschool, towards the Boston Harbor," Nick said, already heading for the door.

There was no need to interrogate Snarky any further. The man had already lost his mind and Nick would be surprised if the memory loss from earlier wasn't a new, permanent scar on the man's psyche.

The despondent ruins of the Boston Wasteland welcomed us into their cold, radioactive embrace once more. My memories of the place—or rather the real Nick Valentine's memories—were a sharp contrast with today's Boston.

There was no green to the streets to make them prettier, and no people walking on the way to the public market. No children talking excitedly to their parents, and no tourists trying to find the Freedom Road.

No, Boston had become something that would have horrified any of its old residents unless they had time to adapt, like some ghouls. The girls, however, took it in stride with the confidence of someone who had seen worse.

"Alright! So North it is," Robyn said, getting her bearings almost immediately as she studied the landscape and quickly heading in the right direction. "Hopefully we can get some tracks or scents to follow."

Nick followed behind Robyn and Mehb alongside the other girls, keeping his eyes on the buildings around them as he gave instructions on which streets to take as they moved towards the Charles River.

"Ugh, smells like rotting meat," Robyn groaned. "I think it's more of those zombies from the other day."

"Ghouls, remember?" Luz chided. "We spoke with some of the sane ones, they're not too bad."

"Yeah, yeah," Dani muttered. "The problem isn't them, it's their crazy naked cousins I'm worried about. You know, the green glowing guys that just run at us like perverts."

"Don't remind me." Robyn shuddered. "At least their bites don't turn you into ghouls."

"They're not Wolfwalkers."

"Har. Har."

As if summoned by their argument, they heard a long, suffering howl and seconds later several ghouls rushed out of nearby buildings.

Nick quickly backpedaled to put some distance between himself and the rushing creatures, while Luz jumped on her staff and flew up to hover alongside Lena, while Dani sank underground.

Robyn jumped on top of Mehb as the large wolf ran in a half-circle around the approaching ghouls effectively breaking their rush as they stared, confused, at all the available targets before splitting into smaller groups, going after Nick and the Wolfwalkers, and ignoring the flying girls.

That was their mistake.

Gigantic plants broke through the street, slamming with punishing force against four ghouls and basically splattering them on the side of a building. A flash of light caused several others to slow down until they stopped and their bodies hardened into solid stone.

Nick and Robyn stood side by side shooting at the nearest Ghouls, while Mehb snapped and scratched and pushed back at any that got too close.

"Why isn't she biting them?" Nick asked when he got a moment's respite.

"They taste horrible!" Robyn replied. "I bit one the other day and it was absolutely disgusting! That, and Lena had to purge my body of radioactive poisoning! It's not fun!"

Despite himself, Nick had to chuckle at that. "I can see how that would be annoying."

Between gouts of flames, ice, giant plants, stone spells, the ground opening and splitting under their enemies to swallow them, Dani's strange, almost radioactive-looking green fire… and the occasional shots from Nick whenever he wasn't gaping at the impossibility of the situation, the group made short work of the otherwise massive amount of ghouls.

Even though they were pressed for time to find Sweetie Belle, they decided to investigate quickly to make sure no more ghouls were around. Dani quickly floated up into the air to serve as a lookout as they took in the area.

A quick glance around revealed the origin of the creatures to Nick: an old, large church with still-slightly-golden columns and gaudy inlays of a heavy-weight man speaking to a large crowd at the top of the columns, still visible in parts, almost like it was trying to imitate the Parthenon in an almost disrespectful mockery of what the place itself was supposed to stand for.

Following the trail of the ghouls, they had found a makeshift heavy door at the back, still bearing the logo of the church and its owner, leading deep down under the building itself, identifying the building as the origin of the mass of ghouls. Most likely the devoted had fled into the church and down into its basement in a futile attempt to save themselves from the bombs.

This area of town had been bathed in radioactive fallout, not enough to blow away the structures, but more than enough to soak them in the toxic wastes that turned these people into mindless creatures.

Here and there posters inside the church proclaimed that the word of God was more powerful than any weapon made by man. That the church was the only safe place for people to not only survive, but flourish.

While they made sure to clean up any stragglers, he grimaced at the littered floor of the basement, where old, empty cans, empty bottles of water and worse, the bones of much smaller people… what could only be children… rotted away in small piles. Worse, Nick's human memories gave him more details… pastor Oswald Sephtis was a popular TV celebrity, always inviting people to join his church, to donate, and to liberate themselves.

He shook his head. He had never had time for faith. Neither him nor his human template had found any use for it, especially knowing that the 'pious' pastor actually had lived in a huge mansion nearby while his devoted made do in the attic of the church, and probably the basement before the bombs. His rhetoric had always incited borderline violence against others for any number of reasons, be them political, religious or financial.

The 'others' were always the enemy, and no matter what the pastor did or said, his flock backed him regardless of evidence or discourse. They had followed his orders to the day the bombs fell, and when food ran low they had fed from each other until driven mad and turned into ghouls.

He was almost cynical enough to say that there was almost no difference from before the bombs. But the better part of him reminded him that these people had been scammed and abused. Still, he was glad this temple to xenophobia and hate was no longer active. Even if people now had found other things to hate.

"Let's keep going," he muttered, leading the girls out. Being here and reminiscing about the hate and hubris of humanity was not helping his state of mind. Nick's memories of the world before the bombs were full of marches and violence perpetrated by that group, and even as optimistic as he could be, there was only so much he wanted to remember.

"There's something you should know," Dani said, floating down to hover just a couple of feet above ground. "I saw some explosions near the river, and now I can only see a column of smoke from where that happened."

Nick grimaced. "Is it in the direction we're headed?"

Instead of answering, Dani simply pointed, drawing a sigh from him, Mehb, and Robyn.

"Yep, that's North alright," the hunter girl muttered. "And I wouldn't be surprised to find that Sweetie was behind that."

"Well, that's not a comforting thought," Nick responded.

He felt a pat on the back and glanced over to Luz, who gave him an unsure smile. "Hey, come on, Detective, you feeling alright? Where's that dogged persistence gone?"

Nick chuckled. "With the last bottle of Scotch I left in my office."

Robyn snorted. "Scotch, is it? Why bother with that when you can get some of O Cahanes? Best whiskey in the region, according to my father."

Nick gave her a look. "I don't mind Irish Whisky, whenever we can find it, but I never heard of that one."

"You haven't, have you?" Robyn shook her head. "Weird. It was still going strong in 1650."

"It's 2287," Luz countered.

"Wasn't it 2077?"

"No, that's the other place with Tokyo in Los Angeles."

"Huh, weird. I kinda thought we were in the wild areas that Panam talked about. You know the ones, don't you?"

Lena sighed. "Yes, I know the place, but this is not it."

Nick allowed the girls to walk past him as he followed them at a more leisurely place, chuckling and listening to their completely unbelievable conversation and lightening his heart in the process. The world was constantly surprising him, even though he had grown cynical about a lot of it even before being made into a synth. Or rather, just being made.

Even though he kept himself occupied and did his best to help the people of Diamond City, there was always this underlying feeling that humanity never changed, and the world just suffered for it. Every now and then he'd witness something heroic, or selfless or simply beautiful emerging from the ugly and it would remind him that yes, it was worth fighting for them.

But it wasn't until now that he understood how small his world was, and rather than feel intimidated by the vastness of it all, or the overwhelming difference of the unknown out there, it revitalized him. He had seen the worst of humanity chase down and destroy others based on religion or even skin color.

The Institute abused that fear—knowing that isolationists and fear mongers would use any difference, abuse any little detail to feed fear into the hearts of the credulous and alienate others with rhetoric and violence—to control the population of the Commonwealth and keep them weak and vulnerable.

Nick's views of the world had been dark. And he was sure that in days and years to come, he would be tested again, but looking at these girls who were complete strangers to this world, brought him joy. Because there was more out there, and he was sure it was not only out in space or other worlds, but here in the Commonwealth too.

One day things would change for the better, and he would see that welcoming camaraderie between synths, humans, ghouls… hell, even Super Mutants and robots. All he needed to do was keep an open mind.

He glanced back over his shoulder at the destroyed church as they rounded a corner. "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt, huh?" he muttered.

"You said something?" Luz asked, turning around to face him as she walked backwards, albeit a little slower.

"Nah," Nick responded, walking a bit faster to catch up to her and walk together. "Just thinking."

Author's Note

Nick has seen a lot.

It Walks Among Us (Fallout 4 - Pt. 5)

Sunset's Isekai
It Walks Among Us (Fallout 4 - Pt. 5)
By Wanderer D

"How would Robyn know about a whiskey refinery from the 1650s?" Piper asked.

"You know us Irish girls, love," Cait said, smiling invitingly as she snuggled up to the reporter. "We've got good memories for the important things in life."

"Booze?"

"And lover's weak spots…" Cait bit her ear.

Piper giggled and squirmed away, sitting on the other side of Danse, who chuckled in amusement. "Blue's going to get jealous that we got started early."

"Blue needs to pay more attention to us," Cait countered, "plus I taught Courie a new trick."

"Ah, the energy of youth," Nick said, deadpan.

"So," Danse asked, putting his arms around both women more to keep them in check than because he wanted to cuddle, although the decision was taken from him immediately as they both snuggled in. "Ahem." He cleared his throat, intentionally looking straight at Nick. "So, the smoke?"

Nick chuckled. "Are you sure you want to know? You three seem busy."

"No, Nick!" Piper gasped, sitting up straight. "You can't leave the story there! I need details! Why! When! How! Where!"

Cait, who hadn't removed herself from Danse, smirked. "You're going to write an article, aren't you?"

"Or a novel!" Piper declared. "Either way a good journalist won't let a story drift out of her grasp."

Nick shrugged. "Fair enough. Now, where was I?"

Navigating the streets of modern-day Boston is by no means an easy feat. Collapsed bridges, buildings, and roads; derelict cars, broken up streets with danger lurking in every shadow. Any open window could mean a sniper; any street the potential for an ambush.

Even so, few things bothered us while we had a wolf the size of a car trotting along, and our scouts couldn't be beaten: an eagle and a ghost. Who would even think of keeping an eye for that, or flying witches?

I had always known the world was a strange place. After all, I had woken up in a dumpster and discovered I was basically a robot out of the pulps. I had seen mutants and giant bugs; creatures that belonged in the pages of Grognack or the writings of a deranged mind.

But with the visit of one young witch, my world had only gotten stranger. I wasn't sure what was next, but it would have a hard time beating this. Cryogenically frozen clones? Ancient cults hiding in plain sight? Hell, even that dumb Gilded Grasshoper Marty was going on about just last night.

All of them together wouldn't be enough to surpass this.

Despite the complicated navigation between the ruins of Boston, we finally made it to Olaf's camp. Or what was left of it.

The front wall of the camp had exploded outwards, sending pieces of metal and people flying in all directions, and littering the entire street with debris and occasionally identifiable body parts, almost like someone had detonated a mini-nuke right next to it. However, the area of the explosion didn't match that kind of explosion; whatever had destroyed it had expanded outwards like a fan that had melted the asphalt at the edges of a large crevice it had carved through.

Here and there I could hear the groans and cries of raiders nursing their wounds. There wasn't much threat left: whatever raiders were alive were in no condition to even defend themselves against their former prisoners, who were taking immense pleasure in getting back at them.

The girls immediately spread out as I went to investigate deeper into the camp, where Brutalhammer's nest would be. There I found the patchwork structure collapsed and half-melted… although there were no signs of heat. Parts of the walls were melted in, as if something incredibly hot had seared through them like a warm knife and butter… but there were no scorch marks here. Half the structure was not only melted, but also buried under hard ground, as if something had pulled it into the ground itself before losing interest and letting it rest where it lay.

The only thing I could find was Olaf's War Hammer; a nasty piece of work with rusted spikes, razors and nails dipped in toxic waste making the already deadly super sledge hammer an environmental hazard as well as an invitation for tetanus.

It was broken. The wood had splintered backwards, as if it had smashed with immeasurable force against something much sturdier than it was capable of harming. An arm and hand still clung to it, muscular and tattooed… probably Brutalhammer's.

I could only shake my head. The place looked like a giant had simply swept into an anthill, carelessly destroying, burying, smashing… while the helpless insects attempted their best to stop it with futile, harmless attacks that ended up hurting them more than they would ever hurt it.

Following a noise, I found a live raider, who seemed to be whole in body but the look on his face… It was horrible. As if he was witnessing horrors beyond what we could imagine. His eyes were wide, his mouth open in a silent scream while his hands curled and uncurled in desperate grasping motions at some unseen route of escape.

Except his lower body was swallowed by the ground, so he couldn't run. Instead his hands had scratched his face into a bloody mess.

"Wow," Danni said, emerging from the ground next to me and almost making me jump, "that dude's messed up."

I closed my eyes and counted silently to ten before I opened them and glared at the ghost. "Can you help me move him? Maybe we can find out…"

"No can do," she interrupted. "His lower body is completely gone a few inches underground. I think the pressure from the concrete being so tight around him is what's kept him alive so far. The moment we move him, it's going to be… messy."

She looked away. "It might be kinder to just… you know."

"Hey, guys!" Luz called, flying over to them. "Did you see the giant broken hammer with the arm still attached?! Wowzer! That guy doesn't look so good."

"He's not," Danni said. "He's dead already."

I glanced at the raider, confirming with a sigh that he had perished as we spoke.

Luz shuffled in place. "Well uh. Darn. That's… one way to go."

I had thought that the girls were used to this kind of thing, but it dawned on me right then that not all of them were as experienced as the other.

Luz was able to fight for her life, but she still held some sympathy for others, while Danni or Robyn were more callous, probably because of their different origins.

"W-well," Luz continued, turning to face away from the horrifying grimace of the half-buried body, "Lena and Robyn found a group of hobo-leppers that saw Sweetie earlier."

"Hobo-leppers?" I asked, blinking as I followed both girls across the destroyed camp to a group of… "Oh. Children of Atom." The spike in my geiger counter should've given me a hint. "Be mindful, girls. That group is radioactive."

"Oh, they're not so bad, Nick," Luz said. "They're kinda nice."

"I mean it literally. They drink radioactive water and make camp next to radioactive waste."

"Oh… that can't be good for their complexion."

"...among other things."

Turns out that Olaf Brutalhammer had crossed paths with a group of Children of Atom, led by 'Sister Mei', a short woman with the sickly-parchment-like skin pallor of a true devout of Atom and traces of what used to be long, black hair still remaining in patches on her head.

She wasn't a ghoul yet, but she was as close as she was going to get before she died. When the girls hadn't cringed or shunned her group, she had opened up quickly to them, seeing Lena as clear proof that 'Atom's love for living creatures clearly extended beyond humanity itself' or something along those lines.

Maybe she thought she could pull them into her cult, or maybe she genuinely was just that willing to help. Either way, she told us about things from her perspective, once we got her talking in earnest.

Sister Mei patted the rotting arm of Brother Tom with silent reassurance. "I know this looks bad, brothers and sisters, but we must have faith in Atom. He works in mysterious ways, and His will embraces us and draws us closer to the truth every day."

She walked around the cage, touching a hand here, a face there. Ruffling the hair of the younger ones. "We are not like the faithless that are trapped with us," she continued, "we are chosen. And as chosen we are challenged, but not prisoners. Never true prisoners."

She turned to face another nearby faithful, but reeled back when his face exploded into pieces, making the others cry in surprise and horror. Above them, safe from their reach, Olaf's Raiders laughed at their suffering, but Sister Mei quickly gathered herself.

She would not give them the pleasure of seeing her shock, or her pain at the loss of yet another member of her flock, although she cursed under her breath the bad luck that had led them to cross paths with these raiders on their pilgrimage towards the wastelands.

She was about to speak again when a commotion near the entrance gathered the attention of all present. She turned to look past the several other large cages containing prisoners, to where Olaf himself led a large group of raiders back to camp.

Apparently their prize was a young woman of maybe… twelve years of age. Certainly no older than fourteen in appearance, at least. But there was something about that girl.

Her skin was flawless, and looked soft, her hair colored skillfully into pink and purple, and she was dressed in a simple white dress that seemed to challenge anything to get it dirty at all, that's how clean it was. Sister Mei would have dismissed the child as no more than some sort of unlucky, rich child abducted by these savages if it hadn't been for the eyes.

As if sensing her gaze, the young woman had turned to stare at Sister Mei with the greenest eyes she had ever seen. Eyes that belonged to no mortal. Eyes that shone with a radiance that could only be matched by the most toxic of radioactive sludge that could carry Atom's blessing.

This was no mere child.

Not even a young woman… she was something else. Something inexplicable that awakened a deep sense of danger within Sister Mei's senses. Although not exactly the same, it reminded her of her test of devotion, performed so many years back, when she had drank Atom's water, ran through Atom's forest, following the flashes and visions that had led her to the Children of Atom's camp and into her true devotion.

It was the exhilaration of being called by a higher force, but also the nagging, almost overwhelming feeling of having done something tremendously, irreparably stupid and dangerous, something so consequentially damaging that being aware that the drugged-like state that had kept the fear at the edges of her senses had allowed her to continue through things that would have otherwise paralyzed her with fear and horror.

It was just a second, but for an eternal second, she was once more there in the forest, running high on radiation-induced delirium, but this time the light haze that kept the darkness away was not her friend or protector, it was mocking her and threatening to fade away just so she could be consumed by darkness.

She ignored the questions from her followers, ignored the dead body in the cage, ignored everything else as Olaf picked up the young… creature… and set her up on a stage.

"Well then, little princess," he said with one of his big, bellowing laughs that promised unpleasant times ahead, "now that you're here, sing for us. If we like what we hear… well, I might let you join my gang as our pet."

The young woman, who had been studying the camp while he talked, turned to face him, tilting her head. "Your pet?"

Olaf, a giant of a man as any Sister Mei had seen, leaned over grinning, his muscles rippling, his spiked, dirty leather and metal clothes clanking menacingly as his wide eyes seemed to grow with malice. He licked the young woman's face.

"My personal pet."

The young woman's eyes narrowed. "I think not."

This caused a roar of laughter from the gathered raiders as Olaf roared in laughter before savagely punching the young woman in the face.

"Ah." Luz bit her lip as she glanced around. "I guess that explains the arm," she said helpfully to Nick, who turned to look at her.

"The one still attached to the hammer?"

"No the other one," she said, pointing to a body nearby.

Nick took a long, pondering look at it before turning around to face Luz again. "How does that explain OIaf having his other arm ripped off then used to punch through his face all the way to the elbow?"

"He should have known better than to punch a lady in the face."

Mei giggled almost hysterically, and Lena patted her on the shoulder. "There, there. Sweetie's gone now."

"Still," Danni groaned, "she left us quite the mess." She turned to face Nick as he walked closer to an area with half-devoured bodies. "Hey Nick, be careful. Don't touch the black stuff, it will drain your soul and possibly chew on your body."

Nick looked down at the puddle of obsidian-black liquid. It bubbled once, as if mocking him. "I'm a synth."

"So? You still have one, and Azathoth wouldn't care if you didn't anyway. It'd probably give you one only so it could eat it, and I'm certain that's one of its."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nick replied.

"All the more reason to leave it alone. Shoo. Go do detective things, I'll get rid of the chaos puddle."

With nothing better to do, Nick left the ghost to her work and sat next to Lena and Sister Mei, who was now the defacto leader of not only the remaining Children of Atom, but most of the survivors that had been released during the fight.

"What happened next?" Lena said gently, while Robyn brought a bottle of water for Mei, who took it gratefully.

While Mei did her best to describe feverish descriptions of the dismemberment, destruction, tearing apart and physical disassembly of several dozen raiders in varying levels of unbelievable violence that had traumatized a good amount of prisoners and driven others mad, Nick instead concentrated on figuring out Sweetie's next move.

According to Mei, after Olaf had punched Sweetie Belle, all hell had broken loose. Literally. Sweetie had maimed, murdered, ripped, disintegrated, and summoned creatures from beyond to do her bidding in making sure the Raiders were not only dead, but suffered before being snuffed out… possibly only to suffer more later on in other planes of existence if Lena's whispered mutterings were to be believed.

"Wait," he interrupted. "What was that you just said?"

"W-well," Sister Mei stammered, "the Goddess…"

"Nope. Don't call her that. Bad idea," Robyn interrupted quickly. "Just Sweetie."

Clearing her throat and glancing nervously at the archer, Mei nodded. "Um…. y-yeah. Okay. Uh, t-the G-Sweetie Belle… she said she sensed something familiar heading North East from here… she said it was moving, so she wanted to see what it was."

"It was… moving?" Nick repeated softly. "Could it be that she's been following someone all this time?"

The girls looked at each other. "I guess… that would explain things?" Luz said. "If she wasn't interested in something in particular, I think she'd be okay with just heading home."

"But what could possibly interest her so much? This world has very little that could draw her attention," Lena said.

"Unless she really wants to destroy it," Robyn pointed out.

"Yeah, but she would get in trouble with Sunset if she did that while we're here," Luz said, making all the girls nod.

"Whatever the case might be," Nick said, "we still have to follow her somehow, and she's hidden her steps too well. Even Mehbe can't track her." He stroked his chin. "If we only had another thing to focus on…" His voice trailed off as he contemplated the traumatized Child of Atom. "Tell me, Sister Mei, did Sweetie pick up anything from here? Did she take something belonging to Olaf, perhaps?"

"N-no, but… w-well," Sister Mei cleared her throat. "S-some of my group decided to worship her and follow her… although I think she's been chosen by Atom, I just couldn't abandon everyone else, so I stayed behind…"

Robyn's eyes widened. "Brilliant! That's fantastic, isn't it?" she turned to face the others excitedly. "Mehbe and I can't follow Sweetie's scent on our own… but we can follow the one from the Children of Atom that followed her!"

"Yes!" Danni crowed, grinning. "Let's go get her!"

"See?" Luz elbowed Nick, grinning at the others. "Aren't you girls glad I got us a detective?"

Debt Collectors (Fallout 4 - Pt. 6)

Sunset's Isekai
Debt Collectors (Fallout 4 - Pt. 6)
By Wanderer D

"So Sweetie got herself a cult?" Danse asked, frowning. "Children of Atom are… not a reliable bunch at the best of times. I can't imagine things went smoothly."

"Come on, she kicked a Raider camp's collective ass on her own!" Cait countered. "Surely those cultists knew better than to cause her problems?"

"Have you met the Children of Atom?" Piper asked. "They're always one step away from asking you to jump into the sludge canister with them, no matter who you are, what you've done, or how likely you are to kill them."

"All good points," Nick said, nodding. "But it has been my experience, and even the original Nick Valentine's, that cults and cultists are never the brightest bunch. They'll make any excuse to justify what they do or have done, and to convince you that it's the only way, regardless of facts or evidence."

Piper sighed. "So what happened to the cultists?"

"So who's this ATOM fellow that Sister Mei swears by?" Robyn asked, glancing at Nick as they followed Mehb across a bridge. "Some sort of god?"

"Some sort of god," Nick said, pondering. "I'm not sure if it qualifies, but they believe that the radiation from the bombs and toxic waste has a will of its own."

"Oh, so it's not like Slaanesh, Tiamat, or Nyarlathotep?" Lena asked. "Just your average anthropomorphization of a basic concept?"

"Well, basic…" Robyn muttered. "Maybe for you, don't you think? We did not have atomic bombs in Kilkenny."

"Slaanesh sounds familiar," Dani said, her head emerging from the floor. "Why does it sound familiar? I know Tiamat has been trying to get into the bar for Dragon's Night, and Nyarly is a riot. But Slaanesh…"

"He's from that 'beastly' world Rarity loves to pretend to hate. The one with the battle nuns from space," Luz explained. "You know. Waaargh!"

"Ooooh!" Dani said. "I remember that place! Didn't Sunset headbutt some chaos god there?

"That was Slaanesh."

"Oh wow, she actually did it?"

"She did, and she swears she got an apology too," Lena said, "but to be honest I doubt the apology part. I didn't hear it, and both of them were mostly groggy from her going Krogan on its ass, so it is entirely possible she imagined that."

"I didn't think you could do that to Slaanesh to begin with."

"I can't, but I'm not Sunset."

"I'm lost." Robyn looked at Nick, who shrugged. He had no idea either.

"Well, it's never bothered her since, though, so there's that," Lena said. "Not that it stops the local humans from trying to shoot her."

"Okay, I think we lost track of the conversation altogether," Nick interrupted. "Th bigger question here is, why would Sister Mei think she was blessed by Atom? Is she a ghoul? Is she radioactive?"

"I'm sure she showers."

Nick simply looked at Luz, who grinned. "Sorry."

"Well, it is a legitimate question, isn't it?" Robyn said after everyone had started walking again. "Why do you think they thought she was chosen by Atom, Lena?"

"Why ask me?" Lena grumbled.

"Because you've known her the longest. What, like two centuries now?"

"Hey, I'm not Sunset! I'm only…" Lena trailed off, counting with her fingers. "Oh, shut up!"

"Wait, you're—" Nick stopped when Lena raised her hand.

"It's hard to explain. I'm… really old, but not? I still age when I'm in my original world, but it's more like… because I want to grow with my friends and family there?" Lena sighed. "I'll probably age until I'm in my mid twenties or so, physically. But… I've been traveling the multiverse with Sunset for a long time."

Nick nodded, thinking about his own, (mostly) unchanging appearance. "It must be hard."

Lena smiled a little, glancing at the others. "It was harder before… but Dani was there, and I still spend time with my other family, back in Duckburg. And with Scrooge being there, who knows how long everyone will live? In a good way, I mean. He's known Rarity for longer than I've known Sunset, and that's saying something. Still… It's hard growing up in an invisible way. Being older, and yet being a teen, you know?"

Nick smiled, "Somewhat. I still am the same thirty-something year old detective I was back when… before Nick transferred his memories into this. I've grown and seen things, but… well. I'm still him."

The girls all nodded solemnly.

"Luz, myself, Dani, Robyn, Mehb, Panam, Mirage, Freya and a few others… we'll live as long as we want to, and we'll look the same," Lena said. She smiled and nodded at the others. "I wouldn't trade it for anything… I'm just lucky that I have this family and my family back home."

Nick coughed. "So… Sweetie Belle."

Lena's smile soured. "I can't tell you much that would make sense, since Rarity and Sweetie sort of defy explanation, but… Sweetie has a corrupting aura around her that can drive people crazy if you're not protected through magic or other means if exposed long enough. I think that's probably what felt familiar to Sister Mei."

"So, the Children of Atom feel the madness and damage the radiation is doing to them, and they still think it's good?!" Luz asked, aghast. "That's crazy!"

"You might think that, but it might just be simple human nature," Nick countered. "You girls have a favorite snack or even soft drink? You know it's not necessarily good for you, but you still keep eating it or drinking it."

"I still won't worship french fries," Dani muttered.

"Anyway," Lena said, "that's my theory."

"Makes sense," Nick said, shaking his head. "Figures that the Children of Atom would flock to something or someone that would make them crazier, faster."

"Well, at least it makes them faster to find," Luz muttered.

Merlin flew back, landing on Robyn's outstretched arm, just as Mebh came back trotting, whining and barking something, that made the Irish girl frown.

"Mebh says that she found the Children of Atom, well, what's left of them."

The group we found was in a sorry state. Well, more sorry than what I have seen the Children of Atom ever be. A couple weeped off to the side, and the road where they were gathered was slashed and mostly melted.

It's hard to explain how I felt. Being a synth, there's always a distinct nagging in the back of my mind screaming at my sense that what I feel is not real. That it's manufactured data that is processed and elicits a response that imitates the 'feelings' that a 'real person' would experience.

On the other hand, I am aware. I know my history, I know I am not human, and I never pretended to be… but I understand others, and whether it's through advanced programing or experience and empathy, I can still connect to people around me, be them human or ghoul, or even other synths.

Maybe it's my memories of how the original Nick Valentine would have reacted… but his time is so long ago, and his experiences so different to mine, that I think at some point I realized it was a moot point to argue whether I could feel or not… and in a big part, I believe that moment when we found the remnants of the group that had followed Sweetie Belle is when I fully realized my empathy was not fabricated.

One of the survivors told us the tale: Sweetie had continued on her unexplained mission, and they had followed. They had simply done so, and she had simply ignored them as inconsequential to her mission… but somehow, these cultists had gotten it into their heads that she was leading them in the ways of Atom.

And this is where my empathy kicked in. To witness these fools place so much faith into a false prophet of sorts… not even an intentional one, but one they projected their distorted view of the world into, only to find out the hard way they had been severely mistaken was… sad.

In many ways, one could interpret their fate as hilarious, in a slightly hysterical and psychopathic way, I suppose. They had followed this apparently 'blessed' little girl until she had taken a turn away from their perceived destination.

They believed that she was leading them to the wastelands of the Glowing Sea, where Atom waited to bless them with radioactivity, so when she had met a ghoul on the way and after talking to him briefly decided to head in a completely different direction, they had been… upset, and called out to her to clarify what her intent was.

Needless to say, this Sweetie Belle of Luz and company doesn't really like being questioned or ordered about, which makes me wonder how this will end up once we catch up to her.

While Dani herded a consortium of crabs into a conveniently-sized box with straps on it for easy carrying, Nick walked over to the Child of Atom that had been babbling his tale to the group when they had found them.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Nick said, fighting the urge to massage his temples, a habit he had (unnecessarily) carried on from his human template, and which he had thought he had gotten rid of. "You were following this young girl…"

"Like a caravan of perverts, don't you think?" Robyn tossed in.

Nick gave her a look. He knew that was not the intention for their… misguided devotion… but she made it sound even worse than it already was.

"...and Sweetie spotted this ghoul…"

"Yes!" Bernard White, the last member of the troup said, rocking back and forth. "What did we do wrong?! The Chosen One was—"

"Trust me," Luz interrupted him with a raised hand, "I don't know what your god or goddess is like, but none of them in their right mind would choose this particular Sweetie Belle as their champion."

"But—"

"Seriously," Lena interrupted as well. "Gods have nothing to do with her or her sister."

"Anyway," Nick continued, snapping his fingers in front of Bernard to get his attention back away from the duck girl. "what can you tell me about this ghoul? Did you hear a name? Did Sweetie say why she wanted to go with him?"

"She said… she said he had a familiar energy around him," Bernard muttered.

"That's uh, never good," Luz said, while Mebh came to sit next to her and nodded her massive head next to her. The size of that wolf was simply staggering.

"W-well, she did!" Bernard stammered. "And then she said that she was going with him, after she had uh, somehow made him fly to her from where he was ahead in the road."

"She what now?" Nick asked.

"Telekinesis," Lena said.

"Right."

"B-but she was going the wrong way! The Glowing Sea is in another direction!" Bernard hissed. "We told her so! That she was mistaken, that Atom's will would have her go to our greatest sanctuary!"

"Oooh…" Luz hissed, wincing in sympathy. "That is not something you want to tell Sweetie or Rarity. They have a nasty habit of eating chaos gods."

"Luz!" Lena gasped. "That's just a rumor!"

"Is it, though?"

"Some of those are pools of goop, that's disgusting!"

"It doesn't work like that!"

"Girls!" Nick interrupted the escalating, and rather baffling, argument. "Focus." He turned to look at the man, considering his options. "Let's go back to basics. Did she mention a name? Can you describe this ghoul to me?"

"Uh… he was a ghoul?" Bernard said, hesitantly. "You know how ghouls loo—"

"How was he dressed?" Nick interrupted.

"Oh. Um… he had some armor on… kinda looked from different factions, leather jacket…" the child of Atom paused for a moment, eyes straying away as he thought of the ghoul. "Uh, well armed, not that it did any good against the Chosen o—"

Luz cleared her throat.

"...um, against uh, Sweetie Belle. I think he wore a page hat?"

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait." Piper spoke up, interrupting the story. "Are you telling me Sweetie Belle snagged Edward Deegan?"

"Well, aren't you reporters fond of ruining the surprise?" Nick muttered.

"Sorry! It's just the description fits perfectly!"

"Who's that?" Cait asked.

Piper glanced at Nick, who shrugged.

"Um, he's the manservant of the Cabot family…" Piper muttered, then her eyes widened. "...you're telling me…"

Nick grinned.

"I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with this ghoul, but from the sound of it, he's a mercenary working at the Parsons State Insane Asylum, which is in the direction Bernard here pointed us," Nick said where he was crouching in a circle with the girls and the giant wolf. He looked from them to Bernard, now stumbling away, carrying the box full of crabs. "Can she really…?"

He trailed off. He had seen plenty of crazy things around the Boston area, and even more in the last day, but…

"Turn them all into crabs?" Luz asked, "yes. Yes she can."

"It has something to do with Rarity fighting giant crabs, I think," Lena added.

Nick frowned. "Giant crabs? Like Mirelurkers?"

"Oh, those things?" Dani waved her hand, dismissing the thought. "Nah. I mean actually giant crabs. Not mutants like these ones."

"I see," he said. Although he really didn't. "Are they going to be okay?"

The girls exchanged glances, all turning eventually to Lena, who sighed. "Probably. I don't think that was permanent."

"They got lucky then, didn't they?" Robyn said.

"Well… that's assuming that Bernard taking them to the Glowing Sea doesn't trigger some sort of horrifying mutation that mixes with the magic to create a race of crab people that will somehow try to take over the world in a hundred years or so."

They all turned to stare at Luz.

"What?" she said. "Don't you know how many eggs crabs lay? We're talking millions here."

"Please tell me that won't happen," Nick said to Lena.

She cleared her throat. "Um. It's very unlikely."

"In any case, we should head over to this Parson's Asylum place," Robyn said. "Now we know where she's probably going, don't we? We shouldn't dally."

"I suppose that's true," Nick said, standing up and dusting his pants. "Come on: I know the way."

They walked in silence for some time before Luz finally spoke. "So… what's with the Asylum? No offense, but why would you have one still working when everything is like this?"

Nick shrugged. "No one knows. The Asylum is abandoned as far as anyone is concerned, although it's been used for years as the gathering place for a group of mercenaries. We never crossed paths, and they never committed crimes near or in Diamond City, so there's never been any need for me to find out more about the place."

"Why would Sweetie want to go there then?" Dani asked, floating back to keep even with Nick as they walked. "I don't think she has been here before."

"Well, whatever her reason, we can't have her rampaging across the Wasteland," Nick stated. "Sooner or later she's going to harm someone that's actually innocent instead of simply turning them into crabs." He visibly cringed. "Now, there's a sentence I never expected to say."

Luz patted him on the shoulder. "It happens. You'll get used to it."

"I'm not sure I want to."

"Okay, I hate to interrupt," Piper interrupted, "but how long between check-ups was this? Because there's no way it's real."

"What do you mean?" Danse asked.

"Come on, you're telling me that some girl turned a bunch of people into crabs? And I'm supposed to believe that?!"

"You didn't argue much about her taking down the Raider camp, did you?" Cait stated, eyes narrowing.

Piper rolled her eyes. "You know that could have been anything from an uprising of other prisoners to them getting a lucky break from a Super Mutant attack on the camp."

"What about the witches flying around, the ghosts and—"

"Ok. Look, the crabs are just too much, alright?"

"Ladies, why don't we let Nick finish his story first and then argue about it?" Danse asked.

"Fine."

"Sounds good to me!"

"Is it me, or does that place have way too many electric towers?" Dani asked. "Why would you need to go so… Tesla on it?"

Nick shrugged. "I don't think it does much for the architecture of the place, but it's not unusual to see old places like this one, refitted past the days of glory into an amalgam of lost grandeur and modern psychotic."

"Wow, that was a mouthful," Luz said.

"It makes sense, though," Lena said, shrugging. "It's obvious it was a nice looking asylum at one point, but after the war they made do with what they could to turn it into this."

"Let me take a look around." Luz jumped onto her staff and flew off. "Come on, Merlyn! Mebh!"

The hawk and wolf shared a look before following after her, the hawk in the air, the wolf sniffing around the building, leaving the rest to study the structure at a distance.

"I don't like it." Robyn crossed her arms, frowning at the place. "It seems… severe? Is it odd that it somewhat reminds me of the Head Laundress from the Castle back in Kilkenny?"

"No, it looks like the type of place that would have a job called 'Head Laundress' in it, just not… related to clothing," Dani said.

Nick gave her an amused glance.

"What? It's true! This place looks less like the place you'd take anyone with mental issues to heal, and more where you'd dump them for a lobotomy."

"Well, whatever the case might be, it seems we're at the right place!" Luz said, descending up to hover just above ground. "I saw some people melded alive into the walls!"

"Cool!" Dani said, eyes shining. "I've got to see that!"

Nick followed the group at a more subdued pace, grimacing when he saw the desperately waving hands, legs and arms of people trapped in the walls. "You girls are far too used to this kind of thing for it to be healthy."

"Ha! I laugh in the face of health!" Luz declared.

"That's not something to be proud of, is it?" Robyn asked, shaking her head.

"Mamá said the same thing."

"Well, she was right."

They stepped through the main door and glanced inside. The place was a mess: old abandoned wheelchairs were scattered around the dirty floor, half collapsed walls obstructed the main hallway, and plants had grown through the cracked windows and into the building itself, with vines climbing along the edges of the walls and wrapping around abandoned furniture.

"If it weren't for all the security outside, I'd almost believe this place was abandoned," Lena said. "Well, that and the dark magic. That kind of puts things in another light."

"Oh no, there's more!" a raspy voice hacked out between coughs.

Nick and the girls turned to see a well armed and armored ghoul leaning back against a broken sofa. He studied them all one by one until his eyes fell on Nick.

"Well, that's a face I didn't expect to see. You're Nick Valentine?"

Nick rolled his shoulders as he approached. "That would be me, but I'm afraid I don't know who you are, Mr…"

"Deegan. Edward Deegan," the ghoul replied, sitting up straighter. "What are you doing here?"

"We're after the little girl that did all this," Nick replied, kneeling down next to Edward to check him for wounds. "My friends here can stop her."

"Is that true?" Edward asked, looking at the girls, then blinking when he realized one of them was a giant duck.

"Yes," Lena said. "It's weird that Sweetie even went through all of this trouble. What's going on here that would get her attention?"

Deegan visibly clamped down.

"If we don't know we can't help…"

Deegan gritted his teeth. "I don't know. The girl said she could feel someone's prayers on me… but that's ridiculous! And then she… look this will sound crazy, but she levitated me! I couldn't even move to get my gun. It was like was being held by a yao guai!"

"A what?" Luz asked.

"Mutated bear," Nick said, then motioned for Deegan to continue.

"A-anyway, she wanted me to tell her where I was going, and I said that I would not, then she… somehow… she touched my head and I saw clear as day this place, and the entrance to the underground—"

He cut off.

"I see," Nick said. "How long ago did you arrive?"

"Just a few minutes, she shouldn't be all the way down," Deegan answered, pointing at a door. "Whatever you do, don't let her get to the bottom!"

"Alright, let's go stop her," Lena ordered. "We don't know what she's planning to do, so everyone be ready for a fight."

It was then that they heard the voice.

"Lorenzo!" the voice of a young woman shouted, making the girls jump in place.

"That must be Sweetie Belle?" Nick half-stated, half-asked Luz, who nodded.

"Lorenzo! I know you're in there hiding, you dumb, godless nerd! Where's my payment?!"

"Who the hay is Lorenzo, and why does he owe her money?" Dani asked.

"I don't think it's money she's after," Luz muttered. "Come on!"

They ran down into a subterranean hallway that slowly turned from the bones of an old building, into something more akin to a dungeon, oddly mixed with more advanced medical-looking equipment, until, at the bottom, they found Sweetie glowering from within a room at an old man with a weird helmet, who was trapped inside some sort of high security prison.

As I took my first look at the young girl that had caused all of this, I can't say that I wasn't mildly disappointed.

From gangsters, to raiders, to radioactive cultists and secretive mercenaries, my idea of Sweetie Belle had devolved from that of an innocent-looking girl, into some sort of evil-incarnate, tentacle-wielding, barely-human creature that possessed and abused her incredible power to bully her way through the Wasteland.

I did not expect this young, classic beauty with bouncy hair and pouting lips. She was… or looked… as young as the other girls of the group, promising to grow from a young woman to a stunning adult in a few years.

She stood there, leaning forward with her hands on the computer deck in front of her, pouting at a cowering man inside some old tech prison.

I was expecting Sweetie Belle to be upset at our arrival, but she simply turned and studied us in surprise. "Oh. Girls… you brought Nick Valentine?" She then seemingly forgot about Lorenzo and turned to face us, crossing her arms and glaring sternly at the girls.

"W-well, we needed a detective!" Luz stammered.

"You know better than to change major events! Nick wasn't supposed to find out about this for a few years!"

Nick shook his head, blinking. "I—what?"

"You say that, but here you are terrorizing an old man!" Dani argued. "How's that not a double standard?"

Sweetie's eyes narrowed. "Oh, Lorenzo here contacted me several decades ago, then when he got the powers he wanted, went over to worship some other unknowable evil! He didn't give me the payment he promised!" She harrumphed. "I have legitimate reason to be here demanding payment."

"Isn't he like, needed later on?" Lena asked.

"Not really, he's optional at best," Sweetie countered. She leaned back to shout at the cowering man. "You hear that, Lorenzo? You're a side quest! A glorified NPC of no real value to the universe!"

"This is… not a game, Sweetie," Robyn spoke next.

"Okay, you need to explain this to me. How does she know who I am?" Nick asked, glancing warily at Sweetie.

"It's difficult—"

"No, it's not," Sweetie interrupted Lena. "Nick, there are many versions of you, me and even them in the multiverse and omniverse. Some are very similar to you, some are not. I am not anything like most other Sweeties the girls have met. So I know, you… from other yous."

"Wow," Lena said after a moment. "I think you said that more effectively than Sunset."

Sweetie rolled her eyes. "Sunset just tries to be gentle about the same facts. I'm too young to care about that."

"Is that how it works?" Luz asked. "Because when I said the same thing to my mamá, she pulled out… la chancla." She shuddered.

"That's not how it works," Lena muttered. "It's just teenage angst."

"Huh." Sweetie said, giving Lena a look.

"I know," Lena snapped, "that's why I'm telling you that's not how it works."

"Okay, you need to slow down, this whole conversation is giving me a headache," Nick said, "and synths aren't supposed to get headaches!"

"That, and we can't have you run away as you did, you know?" Robyn said, marching over to pat the young woman in the arm. "Do you know what Sunset and worse, Rarity, would do if something happened to you?"

Sweetie glared at Lorenzo one last time, then sighed. "Fine, it's not like he's going anywhere."

Nick poked the fire with a stick, rustling it a bit before throwing in another piece of wood.

"Turns out that while coming here was a first for the rest of the girls, Sweetie had visited this world a few times in the past. Not a similar one… this particular one, and had met Lorenzo when he was much younger and breaking into an ancient Pyramid where she had decided to take a nap between hunts.

"Lorenzo had asked her for power and given her little things and presents of more extravagant earthly value until, more tired of his whining than actually happy with the gifts, she had granted him a smidge of power, which he had promised to pay back to her in kind, now that he could recover more ancient secrets.

"Looking at her, I also quickly deduced that she had completely forgotten she had done that, and it was merely a cosmic coincidence that she had ended up coming back, rather than intentionally being here for him.

"Sweetie explained to us that she had visited other worlds like these when she remembered Lorenzo, but she had arrived at different locations that were similar, but not quite right, and that the Lorenzos there were not affected by her power at all.

"Eventually she had completely forgotten about him—as I suspected—and it was Edward Deegan passing by the concert that had triggered both her memory, and her unexpected trip.

"Sweetie got her payment, which reduced Lorenzo's power, as she only took back what 'she was due, but with a 10% APR', and left with us. We assured Edward that everything was in order, and even met with Jack Cabot for a moment, who confirmed to all involved that everything was secured and Sweetie had not caused any damage.

"I got watch people emerge from the walls as Sweetie taught Lena how to perform the magic herself… something about resonating their powers. After that, the girls went with me to Diamond City, where we said our goodbyes."

Nick grinned at his friends. "And that is why nothing surprises me anymore."

"You—you expect me to believe all of that?!" Piper jumped up from Danse's lap so fast she almost didn't give Cait time to remove her chin from the danger zone. "And what, they just left?"

Nick shrugged.

"So what happened to the crab people?" Cait asked.

"Sweetie said that it was only temporary, and at worst she would check on them later," Nick said. "I don't think she's come by since, so if they didn't turn back into humans or mutated as Luz suggested, it's too late by far now to do anything about it."

"And so everything is tightly wrapped together," Danse said, grinning. "That was a nice story, Nick."

"I guess it was a good way to pass the time, wasn't it?" Cait asked, elbowing Piper, who had sat down, cross-armed and pouting. "I never knew you had this side to you, Nick. Good for you."

"What side?" Nick asked, blinking.

"The creative side, you know?" Cait clarified. "You should get Piper to help you write the whole thing down. Some polishing here an' there and you've got yourself a good book series for kids, don't you?"

"Right." Piper snorted. "It's too bad we ran out of drinks. I need a stiff one after that."

"What?" Cait cackled. "Danse and Blue not doing it for you?"

"That's not what I mean!" Piper said, although she could barely hide her own smile. "It's just… I wanted the true story, damn it."

"Hm." Nick nodded solemnly, twirling a card in his fingers. "Well, I suppose we can't do much for disappointment there. But, if you really want a drink, I know a place nearby."

The girls and Danse looked up at him and blinked.

"Oh?" Danse asked. "Where?"

"Yeah, I didn't know there were any watering holes around here," Cait added.

Nick stood and dusted his trenchcoat free of sand, walking around them to stand next to the arch of stones framing the wooden door with the yin-yang sun in it. "Sunset's bar, of course." He gently pushed the door open and they could see…

"Oh no," Piper whispered, eyes wide. "I see a duck with a tray delivering drinks to people."

"I see it too," Cait said.

"It's real…" Danse muttered.

Nick grinned. "Yes it is, and I for one, could also use another drink. Coming?"

The End

A Legacy of Hope (Horizon: Zero Dawn/Forbidden West)

Sunset's Isekai
A Legacy of Hope (Horizon: Zero Dawn/Forbidden West)
By Wanderer D

Warning: Minor Spoilers for Forbidden West

More and more dirt and rusted metal. Deadly swarms of robots flying in the distance, destroying and consuming anything organic to propagate and continue their destruction of the world. "This is the legacy we built, Ted… and I get to witness it. Well. For a few more minutes more, I guess."

If there was one thing Elisabet Zobeck wanted more than anything else in the world, it was to get out of the damned suit she had been wearing for days, ever since sealing the Zero Dawn facility from the outside, and leaving as quickly as she could to avoid the Faro Plague.

She was sweaty, exhausted; tired of the taste of recycled air and… water. But the world around her continued dying. The air was essentially poison; the water toxic; the earth basically entirely barren save for odd patches of dried grass and weeds.

Having fought so hard for decades to save the world and restore the flora and fauna that humanity had pushed to the brink of extinction, it was personally devastating to see how futile those efforts had been thanks to her former employer's hubris.

Humanity was gone. She doubted there would be anyone else left alive out here. Other than her friends and coworkers at Zero Dawn, and maybe a couple of bunkers like the one where Faro was hiding, but even those were bound to eventually die off. With Orion having failed to escape orbit, the entirety of humanity would be gone for a long, long time. Possibly forever if—no. She wouldn't think that.

Not after everything that she had to do. Not after all humanity had sacrificed. Not after what they had asked the world to do. GAIA would work. Zero Dawn would work. There was no room for panic now.

It didn't matter anymore whether she had doubts. She had done what she could. Harnessed the knowledge of the world's best and brightest. Created the one hope for humanity. It might take a hundred or a thousand years, or two thousand, or three!

However long it took, humanity would be back.

She wouldn't witness it, but she could rest easy in the knowledge that—a warning beep interrupted her musings, making her start. She had been standing in place, dazed and thinking about the future, about the past… too long. She needed to go, reach her destination before she died.

She checked her stats. She wasn't going to make it. Not with her equipment as it was, not without somewhere to rest for a bit. It would still be hours before she got to the next designated safe house, and even though she had slept, she felt the sort of fatigue that indicated a deeper problem.

She snorted. A safe house. How conceited to even call it that, when it was simply a temporary place to hide from the machines that were destroying everything. And as far as its efficiency… well. It was better than sleeping outside at least, even if staying too long was still an invitation to certain death.

She would still have to stay in the damned suit, which would somehow have to last her for another hundred miles. Just long enough to make it home… but the isolation and the distance just made it seem so impossible!

Another beeping sound made her start. She stared at the HUD's flashing lights for a second, then felt the blood drain from her face. A part of the Swarm was on its way to her location! But it didn't make any sense! All organic matter it could use had been destroyed! Except… except her?

There was no way for her to stop the swarm. They would devour her. She was so close to home and yet so far… her eyes noticed the door where there hadn't been one before.

The alarms ringing in her HUD prompted her to run and open the door. It was dumb. It was silly. There was no way this door would protect her, but all of her instincts called for her to hide, futile as it was, and…

The door closed behind her, cutting off the roar of toxic air. A silver chime ringing clearly in the low-lit brick and wood hallway that led into the brighter-lit… restaurant? Bar?

Elisabet stumbled, then righted herself, placing her hand on the wall. It was real. It felt real. There were voices inside, and it was then that she noticed her HUD's flashing lights and the beeping warnings were gone. The air analysis was… clean.

She carefully removed her helmet. If she was so far gone it wouldn't matter.

She took a deep breath. It was… real. It smelled of spices and flowers. The voices were clear, young and female. As she approached the bigger room, she had to quickly move out of the way as several teens ran past her.

"Hi, Aloy!" the first teen at the lead, a young latina girl shouted as she ran past, followed so quickly by the others that she could've sworn not all of them were human.

"Hi, Aloy!"

"Hey, Aloy!"

"Hello, Aloy!"

"'sup, Aloy!"

"Excuse me, Aloy!"

But there was nothing… she heard the door open. "No, wait!" Reacting quickly, she grabbed the arm of the last kid, a young girl in flowing, good quality robes, with long, dark blue hair, who stared up at her in confusion.

Elisabet blinked, looking past her at the open door, which didn't go out into the wastelands left behind by the Faros Plage, but rather a lush, dark forest.

So surprised was she that she let the girl's arm go, and watched stunned as she bowed at her with a smile and walked quickly to join the others. "Wait up! Guys! You know I can't run yet!" was the last thing she heard before the door closed.

She heard a chuckle from behind her, and turned to stare at a young woman. A bartender that was just putting away the chairs where presumably the teens had been sitting. "Sorry about that, Aloy, you know how the girls are."

"I—" Elisabet shook her head. "I'm sorry but… what is this place? Who are you? How are you safe from the Plague? What's happening? Why do you keep calling me Aloy?"

The woman had straightened up and blinked at her in confusion, then wide-eyed understanding. "Oh. Wow… you're not actually Aloy or Beta, are you?"

"W-what's happening?" Elisabet felt the world spin and soon everything went dark.

Sunset looked up from the environmental suit when the door to the guest bathroom opened and Elisabet stepped out, hair still slightly wet. She still looked slightly dazed, but color had returned to her cheeks and she walked more steadily than when she had woken up earlier and been convinced to take a shower before doing anything else. The poor woman had been so completely overwhelmed by everything happening on top of the obvious strain to her system, that she had barely put up a fight.

"I took a look at your suit. It seems one hose under the breastplate got damaged and was leaking… that was probably why you were feeling so exhausted, the recycled air was becoming thinner and thinner," she said to the scientist, who had walked over and sat down only to stare at her.

"How is any of this possible?" Elisabet asked.

Sunset sighed a small chuckle, and nodded at the suit. "Let me get you a drink. Why don't you check my fix in the meantime? I'm no Rarity, but I think I did a good job there."

She kept an eye on Elisabet as the latter examined the fix, reaching in to tweak it a little, then turning and examining the rest of the suit. "Anything in particular strike your fancy? I left a menu on the table."

Her guest, after giving the suit one last check, glanced at the menu, then looked again. Then looked up at the bar, studying it. It was clear that Elisabet was not ready for things to be like this, and Sunset could not really blame her.

"Um. A calafia would be nice, if you have them?" Elisabet asked, putting the menu down as she glanced her way.

"One Calafia, coming up!" Sunset said, pulling out the mezcal.

"How are you…" Elisabet shook her head, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I-I need to focus. The shower helped but—"

"Don't worry, take your time," Sunset said gently. The suit on the table told the whole story, after all.

Elisabet seemed to have caught on to her knowing something, because after a deep breath, she spoke again, this time fully focused on her, as if trying to discern something.

"Thank you for allowing me to shower… It's liberating after several days inside that thing." She paused, gathering her thoughts again. "Where to begin? Who are you? What is this place? How are you safe from the Faro Plague?"

"Well, you know my name is Sunset Shimmer," Sunset replied, adding the tequila, agave, lime and fennel juice to the shaker. "And this is my bar, Sunset's Isekai, which is outside of the constraints of space, time, and dimension… among other things."

"Inter-dimensional travel," Elisabet gasped, eyes wide. She looked down, frowning as her thoughts echoed in her baffled expression. "Is that even possible?"

"Well, you're sitting here, aren't you?" Sunset replied, pouring the mix into a glass with ice, then topping it with club soda and decorating it with some fennel fronds.

"But, what kind of technology would allow you to—"

"Ah well, that would be because this was done with magic."

Elisabet blinked, walking over from the table to sit at the bar, shaking her head. "Magic? Please, I realize that the technology you use must be more advanced than my own world's, but you can't expect me to believe that."

"And yet, it's true," Sunset said. "There's that old saying: 'sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic', true, but it doesn't negate or deny the existence of it." She grinned. "And that's the case here. I do have some advanced tech, but the bar itself, me, and many of my guests are magical in nature."

Rather than answer, Elisabet simply took a long drink, then sighed as she leaned back.

"That's… very good," Elisabet said, glancing up at her host. A thousand thoughts were flashing through her mind. Questions. So many questions. It was almost ridiculous that she had been told magic was real, was experiencing it firsthand right at that moment, and yet the only thing she could do was compliment the drink. Which was very good… but it didn't change how frustrating it was to be unable to just adapt to this.

The worst part was that she had a nagging feeling about why she was unable to accept this and continue.

"Thanks!" Sunset replied, smiling honestly at the compliment. It was refreshing to see that. Having been stuck with her team members for so long, completely isolated from the world as everyone out there died… it had been hard.

"So, this place is safe from the plague because it's not part of my world," she said, then chuckled at the crazy unfairness of it all. "Figures a solution like this would present itself as the world ends."

She shook her head and grimaced. "Why couldn't you be here earlier?" Then a thought crossed her mind, and she looked up. "Wait, you can travel back in time, right? This place is not limited to dimensional travel. You said the bar is outside time, space and dimension. We could save everyone!"

Sunset's smile strained. "That's… not how it works. The bar is a place to talk to individuals, or to connect with people across dimensions, but I cannot use it to save a world, or change history."

She felt anger boil inside of her. "That's bullshit! You can save us all! You have the power! How can you not—" she choked, biting her lip as what felt like the weight of so many months of desperate, unforgivable acts pressed on her. "I'm—it's not your fault but— I'm so angry at what happened! There has to be something you can do!"

"Hey, it's okay, I'm not angry or offended. Come on, let's talk. Walk me through everything that's happened. We can discuss stuff after."

Elisabet nodded, taking another, smaller sip of her drink. "Where do I even start?" She ran her hand through her shoulder-length hair. "The world, or rather humanity has been on a spiral of destruction for a long time, and we hadn't really become much better. By the time I was twenty two, we'd had cities wiped out by extreme climate change conditions, eco-terrorists that had released mutated viruses, and the usual disregard for life and concern or the future from certain political sides of the spectrum."

She raised her glass to her lips, but hesitated, her eyes distant. "Never mind the damage corporations were doing constantly overall to both society and the world… it got so bad, that when I started working for Ted shortly after I graduated, and sent out our line of eco-friendly robots to help revitalize the world, the entire decade was called 'The Claw-back'."

"That sounds horrible," Sunset said, "but sadly not surprising. Climate Change denial is unfortunately prevalent where humanity is concerned across the multiverse. It's hard for a lot of people to visualize how that affects them, and when the danger is not immediate… well. There's many worlds where people are downright adamant that it's made up, despite the consequences of it glaring at them in the face."

Elisabet snorted. "Good to see we're not an isolated incident, I suppose." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "It baffles me sometimes how smart, sensitive people that have common sense on a day-to-day basis are so willing to turn a blind eye to something so huge it will affect not only them, but generations to come."

Sunset grimaced in understanding. "That, unfortunately, is not exclusive to humanity."

"Once again, glad to see we're not alone," Elisabet said, raising her glass. "In any case, things didn't get particularly better even though we essentially did claw our way back from that particular disaster." She sank into the bar, resting her head on the cool surface. "Ted eventually signed a contract with the military, which was the last straw in our business relationship. I founded my own company, 'Miriam Technologies', and our focus was exclusively on green robotics, with helping the environment in our sights… of course FAS wasn't happy with me leaving and started a series of BS suits that lasted almost twenty years."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "Twenty years. I sometimes wonder… I quit because my morals and ethical values wouldn't allow me to be part of automatization of the military. I wanted to save lives on all fronts, not make it harder for anyone to survive. But without me as Head of Robotics, Ted was surrounded by yes men that allowed him to build a practically unhackable killing machine with no backdoors, even for his company.

"As might be predicted, it took one. Single. Glitch. One error in the code started this whole thing. And worse, he couldn't just destroy it… the Chariot Peacekeeper was designed to multiply as needed, and it had access to processing organic material as biofuel. And who did he turn to? Me.

"I ran the numbers," Elisabet said, eyes dull. "The robots were replicating too fast, their security too tight to hack our way through in time. I had essentially just mapped the extinction of all life on Earth within a period of fifteen months thanks to my former boss." She glanced up at Sunset without raising her head. "And humanity wouldn't make it that far. And thus I decided to save humanity by sacrificing humanity."

"I told Ted and the world leaders the truth: That we couldn't stop the machines. That unless we did something the world ended with us. So we lied to the world. We told them that we were designing a super weapon to take down the Swarm, when in reality we were just creating an AI powerful enough to fix the planet for us, because we wouldn't be around to do so." She smirked. "And now, I'm the only one alive out there. Everyone else that is alive, the so very few… are in bunkers designed to have enough sustenance for about a hundred years or so. All of us had to be chemically sterilized… all of us that survived are the last remnants of the past, and everything now depends on my AI, GAIA, and the subfunctions my team created for her." She closed her eyes, sighing. "I taught GAIA to care… and all my hopes lie with her now."

"How come you're not in your bunker then?" Sunset asked.

"There was a glitch and one of the doors was not sealing properly and it could only be closed from outside, but whoever did it, was sealed out of the facility forever. It was such a tiny crack in a perfect shield, but tiny as it was, it would allow the swarm to detect GAIA so I… I closed it."

"I had resigned myself to die without any more human contact, and I was headed to my old farm." She smiled. "I wanted to die in a familiar place I loved… and hope." She sighed and lifted her glass to take another drink, blinking when she realized she had finished. She didn't have to wait long as Sunset, having anticipated this, slid another drink next to her. She took it with a grateful smile. "So now you." She glanced up. "Why can't you save Earth?"

Sunset pressed her lips. "I've made a vow of non-interference with world-changing events like this one. It will shape the history of your planet beyond your wildest expectations… if I single-handedly changed the whole future of your world by saving it, I am dooming the future that exists already. If this was my universe, my world, part of my existence, then I would be part of its history, but as an outsider… what damage can I cause by simply stepping in and solving everything? What happens to the future of that world? For good or bad?"

"But don't you think that saving a world is a worthy cause?" Elisabet countered. "Saving the innocent lives that Faros doomed?"

"And then what?" Sunset said, shaking her head. "Am I supposed to stay here and fix everything that comes after? Because things will. I'm not a goddess dedicated to the welfare of humanity, Elisabet. I am able to interfere, or be part of a small part of a world or universe for a short time, but I have to draw a line on what I can do and I should do."

"And where is that line?" Elisabet countered. "It's an invisible, fully made-up decision. You could move the line at any point. Cross it or change it."

"And then leave?" Sunset asked. "If I had saved every single Narn from the Centauri like I was asked to do, and just put them in a planet where they can prosper and build ships only to go back to war… and I just leave them with no thought to the consequences of my actions, what does that make me?"

Elisabet looked away and closed her eyes.

"There's good reason for things like the Prime Directive to exist, you know?" Sunset continued, "If excessively advanced technology is given to a world unprepared for it… they will doom themselves. Similarly, if I were to just simply fly in and destroy all the Faro Plague's robots, all that would achieve would be to prolong the inevitable, and deny the future of others."

"We could learn!" Elisabed whispered. "Humanity is not blind to everything!"

"Could you? So quickly?" Sunset asked. "Had your civilization learned not to ignore history already? To heed the dangers of doctrines that would doom your world over and over again? Your Earth's history is very similar to other Earth's up to around the year two thousand. Were there no political extremists flooding your news networks? No nationalists trying to regress to a time of racial fantasy and dominance over others? Was your world free of hunger and illness? Were there no greedy corporations feeding off of their workers, or politicians lying to people to vote against their best interests to benefit the few?"

"That's—"

"Unreasonable?" Sunset interrupted. "Maybe. No world is perfect. Checkmarks for everything I mentioned doesn't mean it'd make it perfect either, but whether one thing is good or bad for your world, it is not something that I should get to decide." She let the words sink in as she busied herself by preparing a drink of her own.

"Even though you have the ability from what you're saying?"

"Whether you move forward morally and technologically is not for me to enforce," Sunset said. "You said so yourself: that the world was already spiraling into doom even before Faro's Plague. He and his plague are a consequence of where culturally your world was at the time… if the plague somehow just stopped, it wouldn't have the same effect as if your people had managed to stop it on their own. All that would do is remove the immediate consequence of his mistake." Sunset sighed. "People would then justify making the same mistake again, because there would have been no consequence. No lesson for them to learn. And with an easy, magical solution to their problem, delusions would feed into the minds of those still around, and I can't change that. Something like that can't be forced. Change in society has to come out of willing growth and understanding, not some magically empowered overseer that decides their morality for them."

Elisabet frowned. "Even at the cost of all life on Earth?"

Sunset's own frown softened. "Even at the cost that brought project Zero Dawn alive. Zero Dawn is not just GAIA fixing things magically. It's a lesson for the generations to come and understand. It's your people's legacy."

Elisabet cringed. "A legacy of failure and inability to change. I know what you're referencing, by the way. Yes, we still had neo-nazis all the way up to when this started. Terrorists. Intolerance to gender identity, sexuality and even just political stances… people buying into the far end of one side of the political spectrum or the other essentially spewing the exact same hate. How can our legacy be any better?" She clenched her hands. "How can my legacy be any better?"

Sunset reached across the bar to hold her hand. "It is."

Elisabet studied her. "You know something." Her eyes narrowed as she recalled everything she could since she came here, coming to a conclusion. "Is it related to why the children called me 'Aloy'?"

Sunset chuckled. "Well. Yeah. Figure's you'd be this sharp."

"What makes you say that?" Elisabet asked, leaning forward.

"Aloy and Beta are just as sharp as you are. Seems like that runs in the family."

Elisabet blinked, once again processing her words. She leaned back, staring at Sunset. "I don't have any surviving family."

"Not… in the present. No."

Sunset hummed to herself, looking pensive, and Elisabet kept quiet. trying to see what this strange creature would come up with. Already the bartender's words were whirling in her mind. Was it even possible?

Finally, Sunset smiled. "Come on, I'll show you."

Elisabet stood up as the other woman walked around the bar and motioned for her to follow. When she saw Sunset heading for the front door, she reached out for her suit, but the bartender interrupted her.

"Don't bother, you won't need it."

When Sunset opened the door, they were outside of San Francisco. But it wasn't as she remembered. The entire place was covered in plants; machines designed like baboons, or birds, or rams roamed the area, processing scrap, planting, or performing other not immediately obvious objectives.

This was clearly the result of Hephestus. And then, a giant mechanical bird swooped down, and on top of it…

"Is that me?!" Elisabet gasped. She held onto Sunset as they both levitated and flew behind her copycat. This young woman of about twenty had the lithe body of a hunter or soldier. Her long, red hair was tied into braids and fluttered behind her, held back by a headpiece made of unknown metal. She was dressed in leather and metal parts, with the exposed areas of her belly and part of her arms either tattooed or painted black and red with primitive symbols. The only familiar thing she wore was a Focus, pressed to her temple.

"That, is Aloy," Sunset said. "She's a clone of you, born a thousand years after the Faros plague."

They followed Aloy as she flew. High above several strange villages, over a coliseum where warriors fought machines, above large fields being plowed by mechanical, singing Triceratops, their songs echoed into the air by the people of the city.

Each time, most of the people would stop to shout and wave eagerly at the passing Aloy, who would wave back with a bit of self-aware cringing.

"It's beautiful… so familiar, and yet… so alien," Elisabet murmured.

"It's is a wonderful world," Sunset said, nodding.

The flight took them over the remains of Las Vegas, and eventually to a large mountain, where Aloy landed and entered into an old-looking facility.

"Is this one of the Regional Control Centers?" Elisabet asked, reaching out to touch the wall, and noticing that her hand was almost transparent. She turned a questioning look to Sunset, who shrugged.

"I'm showing you around, but your presence here would cause a lot of confusion."

They followed Aloy, and Elisabet was surprised and slightly alarmed at the state of the facility, which was not in the greatest condition. That and so many primitive things being added around, it was somehow both charming and horrifying.

Aloy walked into the main room, where several other people waited. A large, strong-looking man with a giant hammer strapped to his back. An older, fierce-looking warrior with similar markings to Aloy's, just in different colors and missing an arm greeted her with a sharp, if warm, nod of the head. A young woman in clothes made of plants smiled encouragingly, while a balding man shook his head in borderline contemptuous amusement, and there was another, younger version of herself there… more similar to what she had looked as a twenty year old than Aloy was. Softer looking, and shy.

"What… happened?" Elisabet asked. "Who is that?"

"That is Beta, and, well Aloy has never told me all the details," Sunset said, "but your plan worked. Sort of. We're a thousand years into your future. Entire cultures have risen, and proliferated, the world continues and exceptional people like Aloy and her friends here are saving the world."

"How do they look like me?" Elisabet asked walking over, her hand raised to touch Beta's cheek, but simply passing through her.

"Both Aloy and Beta are clones of you, just with vastly different upbringings." Sunset motioned at Aloy who was now talking with the big guy with the hammer. "Aloy here was a clone of you made by GAIA to help her. She grew up as an exile of the Nora tribe until she was accepted into the tribe when she was about seventeen. She grew up to face incredible odds and succeeded. She's joined the people of her world in order to build a better future with GAIA's help."

"This… is not what I thought—this is not what we planned! What happened to… to teaching them? To Artemis and the other systems? What I saw out there shouldn't—"

"This is your world's hope," Sunset said, raising a hand to stall Elisabet. "Look at them. United for a common cause, at peace with both nature and technology. Sure, they have to fight and hunt machines because of what's currently happening, but you saw Plainsong, and how they had embraced the roles of machines and their own into a symbiosis.

"This is different. This is not what was planned but what is. This could only happen thanks to you." Sunset walked to stand next to Aloy. "And your daughters are exceptional people that have inspired thousands and will inspire more."

"Daughters," Elisabet snorted. But, as similar as the twin clones were to her, and each other, she couldn't deny how different they acted, and yet how similar. Like real daughters would. For all intents and purposes, they were her blood.

Aloy walked away into an office that had been turned into personal quarters. There was a bed, and several objects, among them…

"My pendant…" Elisabet walked over to a wall where Aloy had placed a small tree-like art of some sort that held a couple of pendants, including the one Elisabet had on right now: a tiny planet Earth.

"Aloy has been doing her best to live up to your wishes," Sunset said, walking up to stand next to Elisabet, who in turn gazed at the exhausted-looking young woman sitting on her bed. It was funny how she had seemed so strong out there with the others and only allowed herself this moment of weakness when she was out of sight.

"Just like you, isn't she?" Sunset asked, as if reading her mind.

"This is not the world I wished for humanity," Elisabet said softly, moving over to sit next to Aloy, and wondering for a second why she could do that, but not touch other things before dismissing the thought as unimportant.

"I know, but it is the world they have thanks to project Zero Dawn," Sunset said. "She bears the weight of the world on her shoulders like you did… but she will succeed. I know it."

Elisabet looked up. "Have you seen her future?"

Sunset shook her head. "No. This time period is the 'present' for me," she said. "I don't want to look into her future, especially since she sometimes visits my bar. I want her to live unimpeded by some fate or destiny awaiting her."

Elisabet mulled this over, studying the face of her clone. No… her daughter. Her distant, unknowable daughter.

Aloy was shaking, as if about to burst. But then straightened up. "If it looks impossible… look deeper," she said, and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "And then fight like you can win."

"GAIA once asked me what I would wish of a child of mine if I had had one…" Elisabet said, not taking her eyes away from Aloy. It wasn't too long ago… I still remember what I said: that I would have wanted her to be curious. Unstoppable. But kind enough to do her best to save the world."

Sunset kneeled in front of her, smiling up. "Well, you got that twice over now."

"I do, don't I?" Elisabet laughed. She turned to give a tender look to Aloy. "I'm proud of you, both of you," she whispered.

"Come on, let's go," Sunset said, offering her hand to Elisabet, who took it and stood up. A second later they were walking back into the bar, the wooden door closing behind them.

"That was something." Elisabet muttered as they made their way to sit at the table where her suit awaited. She stared at it for a moment before turning to face Sunset. "Thank you, Sunset."

"You're welcome," the bartender replied, then tilted her head as she studied Elisabet. "What are you planning to do now?"

"Now?" Elisabet sighed. "I'd like to go home. Complete my trip back to Nevada and see the old ranch again."

Sunset nodded. "Need a ride?"

Shaking her head, Elisabet stood and started pulling on her suit. "No. I think I can manage. I have a lot to think about, after all." She chuckled.

"It's going to be hard out there."

"I know, but my time has passed… as has the time of my version of humanity, my world… is now a seed for a new one full of life and… I never thought I'd have kids. I never thought… I'd live to see the world slowly heal, even if it's not the perfect utopia I had envisioned, it is beautiful. Better even, in many ways. I'll make sure not to say anything that will clue Aloy in, though!"

Sunset nodded. "Would you like me to tell her anything?"

Elisabet paused, holding the helmet in her hands. The last piece before she was to head out. "If she ever asks about me… just tell her that I am proud of her, and of Beta for fighting for this future… this world. Proud and grateful to have such wonderful daughters."

Sunset nodded. "I will."

"Goodbye, Sunset… and thank you for not letting the spark of hope in me die." She offered her gloved hand, which was shaken firmly by the bartender, who didn't let go immediately.

"Before you go," she said with a smile, "we have a tradition here."

She was tired. So tired. But she was content.

Sitting on a bench, she studied what remained of her farm. Thankfully mostly-undamaged structures, but the grass… everything had been consumed by the Swarm already. Nothing alive remained but her.

And not for long.

But she had seen what the future held. Not the one she and her peers had envisioned, but a braver, stronger, newer and unpredictable future, where humanity and machines were not in a constant race to destroy the world.

I wasn't perfect. Sunset had been right: no world would ever be perfect. She closed her eyes, letting a slow breath out.

It wasn't perfect. But it was good enough for her daughters to thrive. A future where humanity would find their way anew.

That was her legacy.

And it was good.

Author's Note

Relevant (to the story) Character cast:

Elisabet Sobeck:

Lead scientist/engineer behind the Zero Dawn project. Presented as a "Super-Weapon to fight the Faro Plague" by the governments, it was in reality an attempt to secure a future for Earth and mankind... many, many years in the future.

Aloy:

Main character of the Horizon series. A clone of Elisabet created by GAIA 1000 years after the fall of civilization.

Beta:

A clone created by the Zenith (Bad guys in the second game) of Elisabet for their own dastardly intentions.

Ted Faro:

Essentially the Elon Musk-type of the game. Ultimately responsible for ending life on Earth.

GAIA:

An AI created by Elisabet Sobeck and gifted with the ability to feel and understanding of emotions. Several sub-routines (such as Hephestus, Apollo, Minerva, Poseidon, etc.) are responsible for making the world inhabitable again.

Isekai Cast: Random Shenanigans 1

Isekai Cast: Random Shenanigans 1
The Royal Academy's Teen Goddess Appears!
By Wanderer D

Spoiler Warning for Ascendance of a Bookworm, Vol. 4 and onwards. This happens after the anime so far, but not quite up to the latest published novels.

Rozemyne closed the book she had been very involved in reading (not that there was any other way to read a book, mind) and glared at her retainer and de-facto guardian while attending the Royal Academy; Rihyarda.

"Now, Lady Rosemyne, don't give me that look. You are the one that scheduled today's meeting after all," Rihyarda said, raising a hand to her cheek as she gave a conflicted look that Rozemyne knew was simply for the sake of making her feel guilty. "If you and Lord Wilfried truly intend to inspire the rest of the students in the dormitory to do their best, you can't spend every minute you have reading. They await your instructions, my lady!"

"Can't I have…"

Dropping the concerned act, Rihyarda narrowed her eyes. "Lord Wilfried is waiting for you right now, Lady Rozemyne."

"Fine, fine," Rozemyne grumbled, getting down from her chair and heading for the door after a quick check from Rihyarda to make sure dress was straight and showed no creases from sitting too long. She glanced at the knight guarding her room. "Leonore, I shall head downstairs to the meeting now. Judithe should be there by now, yes?"

Her apprentice knight nodded, her purple-red hair swishing gently. "That is correct, Lady Rozemyne, I believe that Hartmut and Philine should have joined her already as well, and since Brunhilde and Lieseta were both in charge of getting the room ready, everyone should be accounted for."

"Let us join them, then."

"I shall entrust Lady Rozemyne to you, Leonore," Rihyarda intoned. "I must see to that summoning from Ehrenfest. I trust that you won't need me for now?"

"No, thank you," Rozemyne responded, giving her a smile, "I have everything ready, Rihyarda, you may leave."

The truth of the matter was that Rozemyne would have rather stayed in her room reading, but having been entrusted alongside her adoptive brother, Wilfried, to raise the literacy level of all students from their duchy of Ehrenfest, she had a duty to see it happen.

A duty and invested interest, since higher literacy meant more interest in books, and therefore it would help with her expansion of the budding printing industry… in addition to granting her more access to the Royal Academy's Library, which was severely limited for her unless she achieved several goals.

To that end, she had formulated study plans, and organized groups to help all students in all three years of the Academy excel.

It was a lot of work and demanded a lot of her time and attention. If it wasn't for a certain underhanded way she had to obtain completely new books and learn different things, she'd be much more stressed.

Summoning her high beast, Lessy, she sat inside the magical construct, grabbed the steering wheel, and followed Leonore downstairs. They made their way to the room that had been arranged within the Dormitory for her and Wilfried's retainers to get together and plan in good time, thanks to her not having to walk on her own, but she was surprised to spot people waiting outside.

"Wilfried?" she asked a moment later as she reached the entrance to the room. Her brother was standing outside the room, shaking his hand with a deep frown of worry and confusion on his face, which lessened slightly when he spotted her. "Rozemyne! I thought… well, I'm glad I was wrong."

Next to him her other brother from her second noble family—and apprentice guardian knight for Wilfried—Lamprecht, looked at her apprehensively.

"What's happening? Why are you not inside?" Rozemyne asked.

"I can't!" Wilfried interrupted. "There's some sort of shield blocking the door, and we thought that you had set it in place for some reason. The moment I touched it, it shocked me!"

"A shield?" Leonore frowned, going over to study the door, which Rozemyne could now see had a semi-transparent rainbowy bubble-like shine to it. "But how?"

"I don't know, but nothing we do can bring it down, and I don't think the others can hear us," Wilfried said.

Rozemyne frowned, getting out of Lessy while dismissing the highbeast to take a closer look while the others talked. There was something familiar about this…

"This is unusual," Lamprecht said. "I suggest we inform Professor Hirschur."

"I agree," Leonore said, a serious look crossing her face. "Lady Rosemyne, please step back. I shall—"

"No." Rosemyne interrupted, waving her hand. "That will not be necessary." She sighed, recognizing the spell. She rubbed her forehead. "Of course something like this would eventually happen. Why couldn't it have been back home? Or in the temple? Why here? Now? Geez this is going to be hard to explain!"

"My lady!"

Rozemyne sighed again and turned around to glance at all of them warily.

"I insist we inform Prof. Hirschur," Lamprecht said firmly. "We do not know what caused this! It could be dangerous!"

"If we do that, then Ehrenfest will be seen as weak because we can't solve our own problems," Rozemyne responded, silently thanking the gods that Rihyarda was not around. It was easier to convince the others than it would have been to convince her head assistant short of downright pulling rank. Her mind went over several possible explanations she could give them, but with the others inside the shield, and them all being here… she had to move fast before anyone else returned to the dormitory.

Is there any way I could get them to just… let me handle it? She glanced dubiously at the others. Gah! Even if I could argue it out, knowing how weak I am physically there's no way they'd leave me alone. Fine, but whoever's behind this one is going to owe me big!

"I need you all to give me your absolute promise that, no matter what, no matter who asks, no matter why, when or how, you will not share what is going to happen now with anyone of any rank." She crossed her arms. "We have precious little time before the other students come back and a real panic starts. If you are unwilling to swear secrecy, then I task you to stay guarding outside."

"Rosemyne, we need to be careful—" Wilfried started but she cut him off.

"Our precious retainers... our friends... are in there, Wilfried! Trapped, probably scared, and unable to get out. I can free them, but this is a secret I have not shared with anyone before. Can you keep it?"

Immediately Leonore was on her knees, arms crossed and head bowed. "Lady Rosemyne, I give you my word," she said. Rozemyne knew her retainers would trust her that much, but that still left Wilfried's. His cooperation was crucial, as his retainers would follow his lead.

The others gave each other uneasy glances until Rozemyne looked at Wilfried directly. "Do you trust me?" she asked.

After a moment, he nodded, resolute. "I do. I promise."

As predicted, the others swore almost immediately, even if they didn't look too happy about it.

"I shall trust you all," Rozemyne said once that was settled, then took a deep breath and glared at the door, wondering who was behind this. Seriously. They should know better than coming here! she thought angrily, placing her hand straight on the shield, earning surprised shouts of warning from the others, which died into confusion when nothing happened to her.

"Agnen."

The group gasped behind her when, at the simple command, the shield popped out of existence like the bubble it had resembled.

"Rozemyne, that wasn't a normal spell, what's going on?" Wilfired asked.

"I'll explain later, dear brother. I really can't believe I'm dealing with this," Rosemyne grumbled. She turned to look at the others. "I'm not sure who exactly is behind this, but close the door behind us when we're all in. Leonore and Lamprecht, take your places at either side once within," she ordered before pushing the door open and walking into the room.

Inside, there was chaos. The large table they had set for discussing materials and plans was turned on its side to serve as a makeshift shield, behind which most of their retainers were hiding.

"What the—" Wilfried gasped.

"Close the door," Rozemyne reminded her companions once they were inside, and Leonore hastily did as ordered, before joining Lamprecht at aiming her schtappe at the creature in the room that was currently holding back their fellow apprentice knights by having them both float in the air.

They had been both disarmed, and were struggling against what seemed to be ropes made with light.

The creature turned, an angry look on its face which faded when she spotted them.

"Lena Shimmer," Rozemyne said.

As they stepped into the room where their retainers were, Wilfried immediately took out his schtappe, raising it to prepare a spell trying to stifle a gasp. He had never seen such a fey beast. It walked on two legs, like a human would, and even seemed to be wearing something that looked like an imitation of clothes, as if it were trying to mock the carefully made clothes people would wear.

Its eyes glowed white-blue with power, as winds and unseen energy whipped around it. Lamprecht took a protective step in front of him and his sister as Rosemyne ordered Leonore to close the door behind them.

What could she be thinking, ordering them all trapped inside with this creature that was so easily controlling the other apprentice knights?

"Lena Shimmer," Rozemyne spoke up, a tinge of… annoyance to her voice, rather than fear.

The creature stared at her sister for a moment… then…

"Rozemyne! I didn't expect to see you here."

"Um…" Wilfried glanced at Lamprecht. "What's happening?"

"Could you please put down Alexis and Judithe?" Rozemyne asked, crossing her arms, not at all intimidated by the strange powers this creature wielded. "You're scaring everyone here."

"Hey! They're the ones that attacked me!" the creature responded defensively.

"Nevertheless, I insist that you do as I say," Rozemyne stated. "They've never seen someone from Duckburg before, there's no way they would have known you were not going to attack anyone here. They were just trying to protect the others."

The creature snorted. "Fine." She gently lowered our very dizzy knights, leaving them on their knees, heaving, and trying to regain their balance right next to Rozemyne, who shook her head with obvious annoyance.

"Lady Rozemyne?" one of her retainers asked with a shaky voice—Philine, if Wilfried recalled correctly—as she stood up hesitantly.

"Everything will be fine everyone," Rozemyne assured them with a smile. "I ask that you all stay here while I take care of this matter, but I promise that there is no need to fear now. Lena won't hurt any of you."

Slowly, the rest of their retainers stood up from behind the large table, and, upon hearing Rozemyne's words, started cleaning up, giving dubious looks at my sister and the creature.

"Here," the creature, Lena, suddenly said. "Sorry I scared you."

It… or she? Waved her hand and everything simply straightened out and returned to its proper place. It wasn't anything new, as most adults could use magic to clean up a room, it was just the casualness of the act that surprised Wilfried. No chanting, no schtappe to control the mana flow… just a gesture.

"I see that you've put a lot of practice with the cleaning spell Sunset taught," Rozemyne said to the creature.

"Well, you sure didn't look like you were going to use it, and I did apparently terrorize a bunch of kids."

"Watch how you speak to Lady Rozemyne," Leonore said gruffly, while Lamprecht nodded slowly, eyes narrowed.

Lena didn't acknowledge her, other than giving Rozemyne a questioning look.

"I am the Archduke's daughter," my sister explained. "Politeness and proper behavior is an absolute necessity here at the Royal Academy, and when addressing each other, status dictates that we keep to strict rules."

"Wow." Lena said, unimpressed. "I guess I really should get out of here before your guard blows a gasket. Care to give me a hand?"

"Rozemyne?" Wilfried asked, tired of not understanding what was going on. "Care to explain?"

At his words, all the retainers stopped what they were doing and focused on her.

Rozemyne blinked and looked at him, then laughed nervously as she took in the other's looks. "Ah. Well, dear brother, allow me to introduce to you Lena Shimmer. She might look different, and act… uncouth, but she is the daughter of a very powerful goddess."

A goddess?! the thought was preposterous, but it was so ridiculous that he had the nagging feeling she was actually telling the truth.

"You know very well that my mom doesn't like being called that," Lena said, clearly amused. "How are you going to explain that one to her?"

Rozemyne looked ponderously at the… demigodess? What did one call the direct descendant of a goddess, but a goddess? A godling? Wilfried shook his head. A goddess.

"I shall wait for the next time the gods gather together, and pray for her understanding in this matter," Rozemyne countered, smiling smugly. "After all, explaining her would not be a problem if a certain someone had not suddenly and rudely appeared in my dormitory, trapped our attendants and fellow students with a shield spell that doesn't exist in this mortal world, and required my direct intervention. It is unfortunately the only way to explain you and her in a manner that will not completely reshape their understanding of the world and mortality itself."

"At least it was contained…" the goddess, Lena, said, less confrontational and seeming more amused than threatened. It nagged a little at Wilfried, and he tried to figure out what his instincts were telling him about this whole interaction.

"Yes, I suppose so," Rozemyne said, still grimacing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "But it is still not something this world is ready for." She whirled around, startling him, as she extended her hand to present him. "In any case, Lena Shimmer, be known to Lord Wilfried, the first son of Aub Ehrenfest, and my older brother. Next to him are our knights, some of which you have already met: Leonore, Judithe, my older brother Lamprecht..."

Wilfried tuned out her voice as Rozemyne proceeded to introduce each and every person in the room, once again ignoring rank, as she occasionally would. Not that he resented that, but he made a mental note to remind her to practice that, as even if this goddess didn't care, noble society definitely would outside of their very tight circle of trusted friends and advisors.

His attention returned to the present as the goddess performed a perfect curtsey belying the entirely-too-casual disposition that she had presented earlier, however now that her true nature had been exposed, everyone in the room save Rozemyne immediately kneeled.

"May we pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the fruitful days of Schutzaria the Goddess of Wind?" they all chanted at the same time.

"Really?" Wilfried heard the goddess mutter, then a slightly exasperated, "You may. Blessed be."

That's not how… he started to think, but he felt the tell-tale imbuement of mana flowing through him. It makes sense, a part of him thought, after all, if she's a goddess too, she doesn't need to bless in the name of anyone else.

Wilfried shook his head in amazement at just how casually his sister was taking all of this. Rozemyne really is incredible, he thought to himself, once more glad to have her on his side.

"Truly, being in the service of the Saint of Ehrenfest is its own reward!" Hartmut gushed, once all retainers were on their feet. "To think we would get to meet a goddess!"

"A very strange goddess," Rozemyne muttered. She then took a step to the front of the room. "Lena, if you could cast a distraction spell again so no one would interrupt us?"

Lena Shimmer raised her arms and something similar to the bubble-like shield from earlier expanded out. Presumably anyone trying to enter would encounter the same problems as they had earlier, or something of a similar nature.

"We have to make this quick," Rozemyne said. "As you are all aware, Lena is also a goddess, being the daughter of one. As blessed as we are by her presence here, I must ask you all to give your word that no one will know she was here. The implications of her existence are immeasurable, as you can imagine, and not only would others finding out about this event accuse us of lying, we run many risks that we don't need whether they believe us or not. Therefore, Lena and I will create a contract that we will all sign, preventing us from speaking of this to others, or in the presence of those who are unaware of today's events."

"But… Rozemyne, this is unprecedented!"

"I'm sorry Lamprecht, Lena isn't supposed to be here in the first place," she said, glancing at the goddess before turning back to face everyone once more. "Please understand that there are things many mortals should not be aware of and are kept protected from. If it eases your concern, I can at least assure you that both Sylvester and Ferdinand are well acquainted with Lena's mother, and they both would agree with me here."

Everyone glanced at each other before bowing in acceptance. "As you wish." What else could they do, when even Aub Ehrenfest himself would want this kept secret?

Wilfried watched curiously as his sister and the goddess made motions with their hands and mana, or something like it, floated between them.

"Why are you here?" Rozemyne asked in a low voice.

Lena shuffled in place, but still continued her part of the spell. "I forgot my key when I went to Duckburg. I sort of rushed out to catch up with Webby, and while I was expecting to be picked up, Magika used a spell to banish me. I assume her spell used a fate thread to get the upper hand and since we had tea just the other day…"

"...it brought you here, to me," Rozemyne said, sighing.

Rozemyne has tea with goddesses…

Wilfried watched as his sister and the goddess stepped back, opening their arms wider and a shimmering magic circle appeared between them… nothing like he had ever seen before.

"This will only take a moment," Lena said, turning to face everyone. "Since you have accepted Rozemyne's terms, this will just make it take effect. No additional steps need to be taken."

The spell expanded around all of them, and… disappeared.

"It is done," Rozemyne said, opening a door that hadn't been there before.

Wilfried blinked. "Lamprecht, that was not there, right?"

"I don't know what's happening anymore," his knight lamented.

Rozemyne smiled at the goddess. "Really Lena, you need to be more careful."

"I know, I know," Lena responded, shrugging. "I'll make it up to you."

"You'd better!" Rozemyne responded, her manner of speech slipping just enough for Wilfried to finally realize what had been nagging him about their interaction. Rozemyne was not only acquainted with this goddess; they were close friends.

Noticing the eyes of the others on her, Rozemyne quickly became formal again, not realizing that Wilfried had caught her slipup. "It seems Dregarnuhr the Goddess of Time has woven today's threads with exceptional speed and grace."

"She tends to do that when we're together," Lena said warmly. "Stay safe."

And then she was gone, closing the door that shouldn't have been there behind her, and then the door itself was gone as well, as if it had never been there.

Everyone in the room remained silent for a moment, jumping in place when Rozemyne clapped her hands. "I know you all have a lot of questions, but we do have a job to do! Let's get started!"

As the others ran around, Rozemyne sat down with a tired sigh. Wilfried took the opportunity to slide closer to his sister and sat down. "Are you okay, Rozemyne?"

She glanced at him warmly. "I am. It's good to see Lena, but I just feel like I barely managed to dodge a huge incident. If any of the factions that don't really owe us their loyalty had been around…" she shook her head. "It's bad enough that I'm going to have to deal with the aftermath of this with our own friends."

Wilfried nodded. He doubted anyone could do anything about gods and goddesses interacting with Rozemyne, but it was clear she didn't want anyone knowing about it, and after some thought he thought he understood why.

After all, she was already under incredible pressure, and if news of this were to reach others, being accused of being crazy was probably less of a hassle than being believed and suddenly really being in the spotlight for everyone.

Not that she wasn't doing well enough on that front on her own.

"Rozemyne," he said, walking over to her. He then leaned in and whispered. "You know you're not getting out of this so easily, right?"

"I know. But at least, dear brother, I'll have a bit more time to figure out what to say." Rosemyne's smile froze. "And I'm definitely getting Lena to help."

Wilfried gave her a look. "Well. Just don't go around antagonizing the gods."

Rozemyne laughed in just the right way that he knew… he knew… she was covering something up. "Me? Oh? No, no, I would never do such a thing, dear brother!" She quickly moved over to where Philine and Brunhilde stood, bringing the discussion forcibly to address the magical Library tools: Schwartz and Weiss.

Wilfried groaned and resisted the urge to scratch his head in frustration. But then again, that was just who his sister was, and would always be: a crazy, irresponsible mystery that would bring him endless headaches.

He grinned, looking at her and muttered, "I wouldn't have it any other way." Before walking over to join everyone and bring things back to order.

End Shenanigans 1

Author's Note

Isekai Shenanigans will basically just be short stories with the regulars, staff, and/or students of the Isekai. Single chapters, no long arcs, that give us a glimpse of what Sunset's family and friends are up to with the multiverse open to them.

Evil is… (Dragonlance Chronicles - The Black Wing)

Evil is… (Dragonlance Chronicles - The Black Wing)
By Wanderer D

A myriad thoughts crossed Khisanth's mind as she stared at the group of invaders that had dared make their way down into Xak Tsaroth. Under her claw, she felt the young human mage groan and hold back a whimper. She could feel the latent power of the human squirming as the tip of her claw pierced his golden-tinged skin into soft muscle. Her eyes however, stayed on the barbarian woman and the half-elf.

Love. The muscular warrior reeked of it. Love for her victim. Others might have not recognized the similarities, caring so little for other species, but she could tell. The eyebrows. The general shape of their faces, the subtle movements that were similar. Brothers.

She briefly wondered if Skie or Ember would be able to tell the differences or similarities, but chances were that they wouldn't so easily.

Love. The barbarian woman and the barbarian man behind her. She could smell it. They were mated. She had been stunned to see that Riverwind had survived her attack on the surface, but seeing the two here… it made sense. The power of Mishakal flowed through the staff and the cleric-to-be wielding it.

She had thought herself free of the brooding plainsman, but her thoughts had been haunted by his apparent death at her claws. As much as she disdained humans, Riverwind had bested her at the last moment, not once… but twice. She was almost proud of him.

Love. Friendship. She had no idea what that gully dwarf was doing with them, but the kender, the dwarf, the knight… and all the others. Friendship and love bound them together, protected them from the eyes of the queen, from the influence of evil. Well. Most of them.

She pressed her claw just a fraction of an inch down and they all stopped, paralyzed in fear for their friend and brother.

Draconians and goblins would have sneered at that. At their reliance on each other. No wonder they hadn't run away when she had attacked them on the surface. No wonder that they would pass through her 'guards' and their pathetic, slavering savagery.

Friendship and love were very powerful, far more than the queen and her dragons and her draconians and highlords and mercenaries gave them credit.

A pang deep inside of her made her growl threateningly. She hesitated, wasting time letting them talk and plan. Would it be so bad to let them go?

Sure, the queen would be angered, but who cared? At worst, she would just strike Khisanth dead, she supposed, or send a flight to kill her. If they could.

Here she had fierce examples of what she had lost. Of what she had failed to save.

Her enemy's plan was obvious. Get close, and attack her. They had no weapon strong enough to damage her. Even the staff… well, maybe the staff, but what if it didn't do the job? The staff would harm evil, definitely but…

Could she go quietly after what she had witnessed? After being punished for seeking justice?

Takhissis had scorned her. Her. No other dragon like her existed on Krynn. And she had scorned her for avenging her fallen friend. And of course Paladine had turned a blind eye, for what did he care for chromatics?

But was her fate to be decided here? By a group of adventurers that should be dead by rights at her claw and breath? Or should she trust the gods one more time?

She glared at the barbarian and fought back a sneer as she made her decision. Screw her queen. Show me what you have, cleric. Show me the mercy of Mishakal! Show me that the gods are not blind to our hearts!

She made a show of being surprised as the crystal staff slammed against her claw and she barely managed to get her claw-tip away from the wizard, before she and the cleric were enveloped in blue, searing flames.

Okay. That had been a bad idea.

The blue flames had burned through her as if her scales were made of paper. She hadn't even had time to think about anything as her entire being had been consumed.

Khisanth.

A shiver ran through her, from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail.

Khisanth. Onyx.

A female figure floated before her eyes in the blue-white nothingness of flames. The pain was gone, but yet lingered at the edge of her senses, as if waiting.

You called to me, of all gods, Khisanth?

Khisanth tried to make sense of where she was, but everything around her was flames… except for the kneeling barbarian cleric, who was next to her, her eyes fixed on the figure in front of them.

But it was as if the cleric was unaware of her presence here. Khisanth's attention went back to Mishakal. For who else would it be?

The goddess did not speak more, but Khisanth knew it was her time to speak. "I did, Mishakal."

Why? Why not pray to your own goddess?

"Takhisis is no goddess of mine!" Khisanth snarled. "Not if I have a choice!" She stared at the goddess. "And you… you gods claim that all creatures of Krynn do, do you not?"

It is as you say, and I have seen your heart. It is true that you do not belong to her… you never have. But your time on Krynn has ended. No more pages about you will be penned by Astinus. No more adventurers or thiefs will invade your lair.

Khisanth almost snarled in defiance.

This is the gambit you chose.

She looked away, towards the flames.

Your story would end completely here, but for a single request. Your request reached me at the most opportune time for you, as redemption and possibility opened before you.

Khisanth blinked, unsure. "Am I to be reborn as a metallic dragon?"

No. You will remain yourself. For within your heart I have seen the pain of losing friends. The pain of having loved and lost. The pain of being betrayed and yet being strong enough to believe again. And this request comes from someone that can give you that chance.

Khisanth straightened up. "What must I do? What must I prove?"

Be yourself. And cross that door.

"What door?" Khisanth asked, but when she turned to look around, she was floating in a void, with a single, rock-framed wooden door and a strange orange and gold symbol on it, like a flaming sun.

There was nothing else. Nothing around, behind above or below. She floated in the void, not even aware if her own body was truly still alive, or if she was imagining all of this. Whatever the last price she would have to pay was, it would be behind the door.

"Huh." Khisanth looked down at her hands.It was a bit strange being Onyx, the human warrior, once more. Unlike her usual transformation through qhen, it had happened immediately, and she felt no tingling, no confusion of senses.

She studied herself. She wore leather pants and boots, a white blouse that contrasted with her dark skin, a black-colored leather corset and pauldrons. Her shins and forearms were protected by metal and leather pieces of armor, and her her long, black hair was tied into a tight ponytail that kept it under control. An empty sword sheath bumped against her hip, secured by another, lower, belt that kept it close to her leg.

"Well, dear, I think as a fast improvisation goes, it's not too bad, is it? I dare say it suits you!"

Onyx blinked, looking up at the human woman with pale skin across from her. With a body just as sensual as her own, and a mane of blue hair carefully sculpted to frame her pretty face, the woman speaking to her smirked. "I do apologize for the sudden change, but the bar is not presently suited for a full-sized dragon."

Khisanth narrowed her eyes. "Where am I?"

"Well, isn't that a loaded question?" the woman said. "You are at the entrance to Sunset's Isekai, the bar owned by myself and dear Sunset Shimmer. But you are also dead, dear. Or, perhaps, almost dead? Caught in between."

"I feel perfectly fine." Khisanth raised a gloved hand to knock on the wall. "And I'm fairly solid for a ghost."

The woman laughed, but not mockingly, clearly finding the humor in Khisanths words that the dragon herself had intended. "You do recall Mishakal telling you that your story had ended, correct?"

Rolling her shoulders and taking a half-step back to brace herself, Khisanth readied to transform back if necessary. "Are you here to—"

"Of course not," the woman interrupted. "I am merely reminding you of why you're here."

"And why am I here, then?"

"To talk." the woman responded, stepping aside. "To relax. To… be heard. You need someone to listen to you, and in there is the best entity to do so. She won't judge you, but she will listen. Tell me, my dear Onyx, have you ever thought of what is evil?"

"Evil is…" she hesitated. In Krynn chromatic dragons were evil. Therefore she was evil. "I'm—"

"Talking to the wrong person about it." The woman shook her head. "Go in. Find out."

Khisanth sighed and marched past the woman, into the larger space, where another woman stood behind a bar. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai! I'm Sunset Shimmer and this is my little bar in the omniverse. Sorry about the crowd, we're just finishing, if you want to take a seat?" the bartender asked, offering a relatively empty area for her to choose.

Khisanth nodded warily, walking over to sit at the bar, which was less crowded. A glass of dark-red wine was quickly placed in front of her, with a quick whisper of "on the house" by a young human woman, who left to attend to the other guests.

She quickly glanced around first to establish if the area was truly safe. As a human, she wasn't as well-protected as she would be in her true form. Inexplicable art. Confusing artifacts. Plants, flowers, a spider of some sort trapped next to a bowl of what seemed to be honey… Inexplicably accurate portraits on the walls… some of them representing some people currently in the room.

And there were several others in the room, of course: people… or creatures. She inwardly cursed her current human form. However the woman from the entrance had turned her into her Onyx form, it was as thorough as her own qhen training, meaning that, unlike the traditional draconic polymorph, she was a simple human warrior at this time.

She glanced at the massive barbarian like man with the axe, who had—of all things—the undead head of a satyr hanging from his belt. Other human warriors were there too, but something felt off about them. A sense she was familiar with, but not in this form.

Three women, or rather two women and a young female with strange markings on their faces were just standing up, their robes floating in some sort of unseen wind. With them, yet another human with long, lavender hair also rose, her hand grasping a weird staff or lance, which had a sun-like theme with a bird's wings creating the sun's shape. It seemed to be made of pure gold, and too heavy for someone of her frame, but she wielded it as if it weighed nothing.

All of them seemed to have been getting ready to leave until she had walked in. Now, she was the center of attention, many eyes weighing her.

Another one of them, long, blonde hair and wearing strange armor over his incredible physique walked past her, then stopped at her side. Patting her shoulder in a friendly manner. She had to fight her immediate instinct to pull away even at the gesture.

"This won't be easy for you," he said, his voice raspy as he lowered it so only the two of them could probably hear. "But remain strong and true. And most of all honest. None here are free of past mistakes."

She blinked at the man as he gave her a smile that sent her heart aflutter for a moment (curse this human body!) before patting her again and heading out.

"I have no objection." He waved his hand over his shoulder as he headed towards the door where she had come in. "This matter is not for me."

"Alright, alright!" out of the back of the bar came floating out a ghost. "Unless you all have something to say to the lady dragon, time's up!"

"I do not know all of her story," the bald giant of a man with the axe said, as he shrugged. "But she reminds me of my own shortcomings and growth, and that is enough. I stand with Thor."

"Right you are, brother," the head said as they walked past her. The head then focused on her. "And if I may say, lass: you are indeed a lucky one."

Khisanth blinked. "My… thanks?"

The three women with the markings smiled as they walked past her with knowing eyes, making the dragon really have to hold back demanding answers. Something deep within told her that challenging anyone here, dragon or not, was a bad idea.

One by one the others left, some giving her a gentle word of reassurance, some simply acknowledging her, until all that was left was the bartender, who was running around cleaning tables with a couple of strange creatures resembling a duck and a rat, what appeared to be an elf with abnormally long ears and dressed in black and white, and a crumpled, gray hat someone had put on the bar next to her.

'You are like me,' the elf-like creature said, sounding a little amused.

Khisanth blinked, not having seen her open her mouth.

'Similar at least, how interesting that one such as you would be here. How interesting.'

Before Khisanth could formulate a question, the elven woman had quite firmly walked out of the bar.

"Ah, here you are!" an old voice suddenly said.

Khisanth's head whipped around to the old man in gray robes who had shuffled onto the seat next to her and was looking rather proud of himself as he studied the hat in front of him, which, upon minor reflection seemed to match the disheveled appearance of the rest of his clothes.

The old man gave her a look, humor shining in his eyes under those white bushy eyebrows of his, and stroked his beard as he looked at her, nodding to himself. "My my, it seems you have found your way to a very interesting place, my dear."

Khisanth cleared her throat. "More than found my way. I was forced to come here."

"Forced, you say?" the mage said, "how curious. How curious indeed. Do you mean to tell me you had absolutely no choice in the matter?"

"If you mean death, sure," Khisanth muttered. "Or perhaps staying in the void forever?"

"Difficult choices," the man mumbled.

"No choices at all!"

The old man shrugged. "Well, how did you get dead in the first place?"

"I—" She stopped. Blinking as she recalled her wilfully allowing Riverwind and the other intruders to live long enough to execute their plan. She looked away.

"I find that choices are easily forgotten when consequences come around the corner to badger us about it," the old man said with a sad smile. "Choices and consequences are so often bemoaned."

Khisanth grimaced, forcing herself to admit that yes, she had invited this fate herself. That much she could not deny.

"And that, right there my dear, is why you're here," the old man said, reaching over to pat her hand gently. "And I also admit, it is something not all of us were willing to see that earlier on, when we were needed."

She blinked, studying the old man. "What do you mean?"

He gave her a wry smile. "That you are different from your kin. That if you are so, maybe there were others, but we never listened until now, because it's hard for us old people to change."

Khisanth sat straighter. "I am not that different from my kin."

"Oh?" the old man stroked his beard, leaning back to look at her once more. "I suppose you've never felt true regret? You've never respected an enemy enough to admit their strength even if it's not on the surface? You've never felt jealous of those who find true love or true friendship?"

"I knew true friendship."

"I know."

Khisanth closed her eyes. "Why now, Paladine. Why not then? Why not when I avenged my friends?"

"Change is happening, my dear… and I was afraid to show my hand. I was afraid to choose to help those deserving because of the cost of what may happen."

Khisanth opened her eyes, angry and ready to shout at this god that dared come to her now, now that it was too late.

"We've made terrible choices, for a greater good." The old god interrupted her before she could speak. "We've been blinded in many ways, and now we have to catch up, as they say." He looked at her and sighed. "I failed you, as I have failed others… but I cannot fail the world and the future." He locked eyes with her. "I will not ask you to forgive me, because I know what I did, I had to do. But for what it's worth, I did hear you… and so did Mishakal, and everyone else in here."

Khisanth's eyes went wide as she recalled all the… gods… that had been in the room with her. She gulped, glad that she hadn't started a fight. Suddenly that sense of unease she had felt under her skin when she walked in made sense.

"The others chipped in," Paladine continued, "and a consensus was reached. You are more than just Khisanth the black dragon; you carry with you more. The legacy of a people that disappeared forever from Krynn, among those things. Krynn might not be your home anymore… but you, Khisanth, remain. What you do with your future now, is up to you my dear… and not in the hands of the gods."

With that, Paladine stood, dusting his old robes to make them somewhat presentable and putting on his hat. His stern expression faded into an affable, old man, and he muttered to himself about where to go next as he exited the bar.

"Hey Sunset!" they were interrupted as the ghost girl came floating on to give her what looked like a key. "Lena left her key behind."

The bartender shook her head with a smile, putting away the key. "That girl. You do have yours, right?"

"I do."

"Alright, go have fun!"

Khisanth watched the ghost wave as she also headed for the entrance and soon she heard the chime once more, then the door closing.

Finally, she was alone in the bar with the bartender, Sunset Shimmer, who approached her, releasing a long sigh. "Sorry about that. I didn't expect all of them to start an argument over you before insisting you come here. Once again, I'm Sunset Shimmer. And before you ask, I am not a goddess."

"Khisanth, or if you prefer, you can call me Onyx while I'm in human form." With no gods around, she now felt more comfortable. She took a sip of the wine, humming in surprise at how good it was.

"Well, Khisanth, I have to admit, I don't often see the gods of different pantheons argue about a single dragon, but you sure left an impression. I think Kratos was the tipping point on this one, but you really surprised Mishakal."

"Kratos?" Khisanth asked, already lost.

"The god with the severed head dangling from his belt," Sunset said. "That, by the way, is another god by the name of Mimir." She shrugged. "It's a long story."

"Right."

"Essentially all of the gods that waited until you arrived were involved in bringing you here," Sunset explained as she listed them. "Athena, Belldandy, Urd and Skuld, Kratos, Thor, Paladine, and Black. All of them had their godly reasons for it, of course."

"What about the one that greeted me and turned me human?"

"Oh, that was my business partner, Rarity. She's definitely not a god."

Khisanth nodded as the concept of gods arguing over her fate fought to overwhelm her. "What about Takhisis."

Sunset snorted. "She has no say in this matter. You don't belong to her. In fact, that was one of the arguing points, but according to Mishakal and Paladine you didn't actually belong to her at all."

Khisanth frowned, thinking back on her life before sighing. "I suppose not. Not for a long time at least."

"So, if the evil goddess has no claim, and neither did the neutral or good gods of Krynn… who can claim you except yourself?"

Khisanth bit her lip, a habit she only had incorporated as Onyx, while she lived as a human. "So I am hoardless, homeless, godless, wordless and not even alive."

"Well, that depends on who you ask, but it's also not entirely true… you see, Krynn simply isn't your home anymore. The trio of goddesses that walked out together are known as the Norns, and they each represent the past, present, and future. Uninvolved as they are with Krynn, they informed all the gods here that your fate in Krynn did not continue past your meeting with The Companions."

"It seems like a silly fate still," Khisanth growled. "Why did they take notice only now?"

"Well, in part because you prayed to Mishakal right in front of her cleric, while being smacked with an artifact made of her power crystalized, at a defining moment of history." Sunset grinned. "She did not expect that at all. We were all here when she stood up so suddenly, she knocked the back of Bast's chair and almost made her spill her drink."

Khisanth didn't see the humor, even as the bartender chuckled.

"She explained what had happened, and several gods tipped in. I think Kratos wanted to leave immediately, but he resisted the temptation because he had seen what gods meddling in the lives of mortals could cause. Soon, only those closely involved with mortals stayed back, while the rest of the gods left back to their own dimensions."

Sunset sighed and leaned on the counter, shaking her head. "It took them days to come to an agreement, but all of the gods here today upon your arrival have seen the best and worst of mortals, and each had their own perspective to give until those that resisted giving you a chance were convinced that you were worth it."

A warm feeling spread through Khisanth at that. "I have been betrayed so many times by my own—by my former goddess… that I never thought any god would stand behind me. But why give me this chance when I have done as much evil as other dragons?"

"Is evil that simple?" Sunset asked gently.

Khisanth blinked. "Of course it is. Isn't it evil to torture a man that has no chance of defeating you? Or to tease those that love him with his death while your claw digs painfully into his flesh? Isn't it evil to not care at all for the lives you displaced when you and an army invades their home and essentially enslaves them, even if they're not even aware that's the case?"

"Is it evil to know those things are wrong?" Sunset asked.

Khisanth gulped and drank some more wine to hide the tinge of regret that coursed through her. She put down the wine glass. "It's evil to let it happen."

"Even if you're trapped and feel like you have no choice?"

Khisanth snorted. "I asked Paladine that question a moment ago. I always had a choice. I always regretted things and fought that feeling down with anger and violence rather than putting that energy to correct them. I allowed them to continue because that was what benefited me the most." Her voice became softer as she thought about the past. "I did not want to lose again what truly mattered."

"And yet you gave the Companions a chance to defeat you."

"Giving up because I'm tired of being under Takhisis' claw doesn't make up for all my other acts of evil, even if it amounts to suicide."

"I suppose not, but you knew Raistlin would burn with the fire of the crystal staff if your claw was still touching him, and so you removed your claw."

"It was a natural reaction to getting struck with a staff."

"You could have allowed the draconians to kill all the gully dwarfs in the city, yet you allowed them to live."

"I needed the gold and gems."

"Did you?"

Khisanth's hand went up to her neck, which was devoid of decorations of any sort. "For the longest time, I kept my 'treasures' close to me," she mused. "I only had several valuable swords and one or two magical items that I tied together with a chain, because that's what was important, or so I thought. But their loss was nothing compared to my two first friends and teachers passing away, alongside their whole species."

Sunset nodded.

"But I am a black dragon. I moved on, embracing the idea that I needed no such friendship or attachment. Humans, Elves and others had proven that they cared not for anything other than themselves, so why should I be different?" Khisanth's hands clasped into fists. "And yet I found another friend I loved and cared for. And she was betrayed by her bonded human. And what did the queen do? She did not seek justice for one of her own, but permitted it to continue! She ordered me to be that man's mount! And then did nothing when he sought to have me replaced again!"

Khisanth smacked her fist on the bar in frustration. "I sought revenge for my friend, but I didn't act until it was my life on the line. I was punished by Takhisis and caged in Xak Tsaroth, watching over ruins and a statue of an old goddess that never heard nor acknowledged me when I snuck into her temple."

Sunset nodded once more. "But you still wanted to be better didn't you?" She poured more wine onto the glass, and crossed her arms, leaning on them on the bar as she looked at Khisanth intently. "I'm not an expert on Krynn dragons by any means, but that is a very unusual thing for chromatics, isn't it?"

"Regret is short lived, even when the weight of it should crush us," Khisanth replied, shrugging. "Even when I witnessed the extinction of the nyphids…" she narrowed her eyes and she felt a pang in her chest and the area around her nose grow warmer. "Stupid human body."

"It's not too bad to be honest with your feelings," Sunset replied, handing her a handkerchief, which Khisanth used to wipe the slight hints of humidity from her eyes. "You really cared for them, didn't you?"

Khisanth snorted. "I almost gave up fighting because it was anathema to their way of life. They were peaceful creatures. I was to help them find the last of their females, and guide them to safety in order to fulfill my deal with them. I was… planning to remain with them and protect them, but she was killed by human bandits." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I failed them. I can destroy a city on my own. My scales can resist all but the strongest of attacks if they're not magical. I say a word and kill my opponent. But I could not save a single, defenseless nyphid. What is the point of power if it can't be used when needed?"

"But does that make you evil?"

"Everything else does. My frustration and anger at myself or my whishing to do better amount to nothing in the face of action. For every thought of redemption there's a knight of Solamnia that fell to my claws, my magic, or my acid. For every pang of guilt there's an abused gully dwarf. For every friend… there's an act of betrayal. I can be better. But I have never tried since… since Jahet."

"Was she the other friend you mentioned?"

Khisanth nodded, her thoughts drifting to her long-dead friend, who had also rejected her species' disdain for respect and trust, only to die ignominiously by the actions of her Highlord.

"It seems to me that Mishakal and Paladine asked for your presence here because despite where you are now you weren't always like this," Sunset said, making the dragon-turned-human look up at her. "The other gods here, except perhaps for Belldandy and Skuld, have also been in dark places of their own making. I suppose it's easy for a pantheon that very clearly delineates Good and Evil to forget that not everything is essentially black or white."

"I do not consider myself remotely neutral either," Khisanth said.

Sunset, however, simply shook her head. "It's not about that. Doing good doesn't always end in good…" She smiled self-deprecatingly, "...as I have learned over and over. And having done evil does not stop you from turning that around either." She raised her finger and an illusion of the symbol Khisanth had seen on the door floated between them, except it lacked some of the flames that made it resemble the sun, as only the golden side was surrounded by red flames. "A long time ago, I was full of hate and contempt for others… and myself, even if I didn't want to admit it."

The red part of the center as well as the red flames glowed stronger at Sunset's words, almost consuming in their brightness the golden side.

"I thought I was denied many things. A family. My rightful place. Power. Recognition. I fed my anger and pain, turning them into hatred, and when I was caught, rather than face the punishment I had earned, I ran away, with the intention to seek revenge. Time passed and I got my chance… but…"

Around the glowing red section, golden flames appeared, covering that side, and matching the other flames as the golden side started to glow stronger as Sunset spoke.

"...someone from my world stopped me, and she gave me a chance, because she had seen that I was capable of good. My friends picked me up and helped me learn to be better… even after we almost were torn apart again by lack of trust and old resentment. We grew together, and I grew too… until I wasn't the same Sunset Shimmer that had started with hate."

Khisanth turned to look at her as the illusion faded. "And… you think I can find that balance too? Being a goody-good dragon is not something I desire either."

"Like I said, you need to find your balance, and for that, you need a place to start over. Making up for what you'll know you need to make up for is not going to be easy or quick… but you can do it, and then at least you can be what you want to be without being caged for not being one hundred percent evil," Sunset said firmly. "I will take you to a place where you can begin your change… and I'll check on you, in case you need help."

Khisanth nodded silently, unable to pretend she wasn't touched by this act of kindness from even the gods she had despised. "Will I ever come back here?"

Sunset smiled. "Of course. There's always dragon night, but… I think I'll see you more often. Once you are more comfortable with yourself, let me know if you want a job. I can always use some help during big gatherings."

"Hm." Khisanth took another sip of wine.

"How do you feel?"

Sunset glanced at Rarity, who studied the picture of Khisanth in mid flight, with Sunset riding her with a small smirk. "It feels good to help someone find hope again," she admitted, turning to study the picture as well. "She's a complex creature. She's not afraid of being evil, but she's not committed to it either, just as she's not committed to being good, and yet is also not afraid of it."

"Possibilities," Rarity said, "that's what the omniverse, your bar, my skills… that's what that's all about. Khisanth is full of possibilities, now that she's free. I'm interested to see where she goes with this newfound freedom."

"Me too. She made no excuses for herself… I think she'll fit right in in her new home."

Rarity nodded. "I never expected Paladine to allow her to live."

"It's hard even for him to ignore a whole bar of gods and goddesses who also know the value of redemption," Sunset said. "Khisanth was always at the border of being free of the enveloping force that is her world's definition of good and evil. Now she can really spread her wings."

"You know she'll never really fall into her world's definition of 'good', right?" Rarity asked, giving Sunset a glance.

Sunset shrugged. "It took me a long time to understand just how vague that is… but I think her heart is in the right place to be better."

"I suppose we can only wait and see."

Author's Note

I've always loved Dragonlance. In fact, I love it so much, that it's one of the few worlds that I'd actually be a dangerous addition to if I were to suddenly find myself there. I know too much!

"The Black Wing" was a novel about the evil dragon Khisanth, who the Companions "fight" in the very first book of the Dragonlance series: Dragons of Autumn Twilight.

Realistically, the companions were severely outmatched, yet, they survived by the grace and power of the DM, especially with just how strong Khisanth truly was.

The Black Wing explores Khisanth's life and really makes her stand out from other dragons, both chromatic and metallic. Another novel that explores a bit of her past is "Riverwind the Barbarian" however, that is… subpar, and ignores entirely the story and complex past of my favorite dragon from Krynn, so I took a minor liberty and just added a bit more of Black Wing to Riverwind to balance it out.

Cast:

Khisanth: A female black dragon who was trained in a secret technique that allows her to transform into whatever form she wants without the aid of a spell. She's smore sleek and slender than other members of her species, and faster and stronger than just about any other black dragon.

Paladine: The Platinum Dragon serving as counterpart to the goddess Takhissis who represents evil. His domains include: Order, hope, light, redemption, good dragons, and kingship. During the time of the War of the Lance, he acted through his avatar to bring the heroes of the lance together to fight the machinations of Takhisis.

Mishakal: Known as the goddess of Healing, she is Paladine's wife, and her domains include: Healing, the home, compassion, knowledge, fertility, life, beauty, blessing, love, and childbirth. During the War of the Lance, she was the first goddess the Companions ever met, with her first cleric in centuries being Goldmoon the Barbarian.

Isekai Cast: Random Shenanigans 2

Isekai Cast: Random Shenanigans 2
In A Galaxy Far Away...
By Wanderer D

Sabine Wren grimaced as she retrieved the report she had been sent. Although technically she and Ahsoka were outside the grid—even for rebels—she still got messages from Senator Organa about possible leads on imperial movements, as well as communications regarding planets that were in trouble.

And this was one such planet. Chartallooi was one of the farthest planets from the center of galactic civilization; bordering the Far Rim, it was far closer to the edge of known space than was comfortable for anyone in the galaxy, and it had taken some intense negotiations to get a colony started there in the first place.

The more she researched into it, the more she was impressed with the fact that it had lasted this long. If someone had asked her to make a wild guess about how far they'd get, she would have given them a month at most before they quit.

However, as separated from most of the galaxy as they had been… as isolated as they had made themselves, with communications being spotty at the best of times… they had managed to both survive, and thrive. The colony had grown and now several settlements were strewn around the planet which was now reluctantly acknowledged as a farming community.

But now, the few communications they had sent had gone silent. The Empire, of course, had not been willing to waste resources to build up security on a planet so far from Coruscant that produced nothing of value to them, and while the New Republic would very much like to help, it was too busy rebuilding in the core worlds to assist, so all that was left was whoever was in the area… and that was them.

And no one else.

"Ahsoka," she called out, walking away from the cockpit and into the main cabin, where her current companion was sitting, studying several pads with information on them… by meditating on them. "There's trouble nearby."

Ashoka did not seem to hear her, but Sabine didn't let that bother her. She had seen the slight frown in Ahsoka's forehead as the togrutan former jedi shifted her focus from meditating on the pads, to meditating on what she was sensing from Sabine.

The mysticism and esoteric nature of the Force made a lot of non-Force-users wary of the few who could sense and use its power. It could be scary knowing that powers like that existed; that there were sith and jedi and others who could use them for any purpose, and a regular person would be unable to fight it at all.

But she was not a regular person.

After parting ways with Hera, Garazeb, and Chopper, Ahsoka had become Sabine's mentor of sorts. Most mandos were not comfortable around force users, but for her, it added a certain measure of familiarity. After all, she had been working with Kanan for years, and he had been a jedi, and, with the addition of Ezra to the crew of The Ghost, she had indeed become very comfortable being around force users.

Thus, she simply sat back and rested her feet on the table as Ahsoka exhaled and relaxed her posture, opening her eyes and blinking a couple of times as she regained her bearings. "Anything?" Sabine asked, knowing that her mentor was very powerful indeed, and if there was something there, she'd sense it for sure.

Ahsoka did not disappoint.

Nodding, the former jedi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I sensed a disturbance… it is strange, and yet somehow familiar." Ahsoka frowned. "I'm not sure where exactly I have felt this kind before, but I sensed great distress, anger, confusion and fear."

Sabine felt a shiver run down her spine. "Not… Sith, right?" she asked, releasing a sigh of relief when Ahsoka shook her head.

"I did not feel anything sith-like, though the emotions are strong. There is power there, I am just unsure of its intentions," Ahsoka clarified, sitting up across from Sabine.

Sabine nodded. "Given how close Chartallooi is to the actual edge of the Outer Rim, I wouldn't be surprised if something truly strange was happening there, maybe even visitors from outside."

Ahsoka smiled at her. "I'm glad you're keeping an eye out for those in need, Sabine."

The mandalorian shrugged. "It's what our team was here for."

The jump from lightspeed to normal space didn't take long, but now that they were close to the world in question, Sabine was surprised by the lack of communications.

"Chartallooi, this is The Basilisk, we received information that you needed assistance. Over." She frowned and changed the frequency after a few minutes of no response, but there was no sign of transmissions coming out.

The door to the cockpit hissed open and Ahsoka walked in, sitting down on the copilot's seat. She met Sabine's eyes with her own, but the mandalorian simply shook her head.

Ahsoka turned to glance at the planet, eyes narrowing. "We can't tell anything from here, but I can sense distress. Let's go in."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Sabine muttered, steering The Basilisk towards where her charts indicated the biggest colony, Sua'Dero was located. She kept an eye on the readings as they approached the planet, then blinked. "That's odd."

"What is?" Ahsoka asked, turning to look at her, but Sabine was too busy trying to get control of the ship as it suddenly banked and the console overloaded.

"What the—something's happening to the controls!" Sabine cried out, eyes wide. She pushed back from the console as Ahsoka took over from her seat, and dove under the panel, quickly starting manual bypasses as they fell out of control into the planet.

"Come on, come on!" Sabine muttered, wincing as electricity shocked her hand. She shook it off as quickly as she could, ignoring the pain as she worked. "I don't know what's going on but something's overloading the systems!"

With a grunt of frustration, she diverted the offending source of energy and redirected the more manageable power from other, less necessary devices to the panel.

"It's working!" Ahsoka said, and Sabine soon felt the ship slide into a much more smooth flight. She crawled back onto the pilot seat and dropped onto it. "I'm glad we got another VCX-100. If I wasn't so used to the systems…"

Ahsoka nodded, still focusing on flying. "Things worked out for now, but we still need to figure out what's causing the communications blackout and those power surges."

"Right, right." Sabine said, entrusting the piloting to the capable ex-jedi. She slid her guns into their holsters and started getting ready for combat. "I haven't blown up anything in two weeks!"

"You are terribly fond of doing that," Ahsoka chuckled.

Sabine grinned as she put on her helmet. "It's a Wren specialty."

"I see our destination," Ahsoka called out, prompting the mandalorian to join her once more. The colony was pretty small, but big enough to count as a town. Several buildings formed a large circle, with a spaceport off to the side, containing a few spaceships that seemed to be in good enough condition to fly, at first glance.

"You think whatever got us up there stranded them?" Sabine asked, looking at them.

"Possibly," Ahsoka replied ponderously. "I think we're about to find out." She glanced out at the city and called over Sabine to take a look as well. Several people were carefully making their way up to them, glancing around nervously, as if expecting to be attacked.

Ahsoka parked the ship, giving Sabine a warning glance, which she acknowledged with a nod: she would keep an eye out for attackers.

"I am La'Seca," the leader introduced herself. She was an elder Twi'lek, with green skin that was just beginning to hunch down with the weight of her years. She led Ahsoka and Sabine back to town while the townspeople kept nervous guard around them. "I'm glad you heard about our plight; we were worried that we hadn't made it in time before the monsters attacked."

"Monsters?" Sabine asked, leaning in. "What kind of monsters?"

"Creatures like we've never seen before," the old woman continued as they reached the town. She motioned for them to go into what appeared to be the town hall, being larger than most of the buildings around, and clearly designed to allow large groups to gather.

The town hall was a simple affair. It wasn't as small or spartan in decorations, as the places used by mandalorians to gather these days were, but it wasn't as big as the one in Lothal either. Sabine studied most of the crowd that had ventured in, nervous and scared.

It was made up of humans, twi'leks, a small group of rodians, and even a togruta couple that were blinking in surprise at Ahsoka's appearance.

As the crowd settled down, Ahsoka faced the elder. "These creatures just appeared without warning?"

"We've been farming these lands for several years now, and before that, we scanned this planet to ensure the local flora and fauna would not be dangerous or unknown; just the usual small predators, and most recently someone brought some baby sandworms that we had to destroy for obvious reasons. We saw no traces of these monsters until now."

"What do they look like?" Sabine asked.

"They have different shapes, different sizes… some of them are made of metal, and others are some mixture of organic and robotic," one of the human farmers offered.

"I saw one that looked like some sort of bird, but it had a helmet of some sort on it!" another farmer, this one a twi'lek, said.

"As you can see they vary in size and shape, but they are all the same," the elder said. "We thought them mindless monsters at first, but some of them talked to each other, and they somehow destroyed our communications arrays when we attempted to call for help."

Sabine grimaced. It sounded too farfetched.

"They're attacking again!" a voice called from outside, and the town moved immediately, picking up weapons as they ran outside, followed by Ahsoka and Sabine.

By the time they made it out of the building, the battle had started. Several yellow, insectoid creatures buzzed around, shooting some sort of energy attacks at the farmers, who retaliated in turn with their lasers, while other, larger creatures of too many shapes and forms attacked the streets making everyone flee.

"Okay, I'm going out." Sabine pulled out her guns and prepared to fly.

"Wait." Ahsoka said, as she stepped out into the street. Ignoring most of the fighting, and the confused Sabine, she studied the several attacking monsters intently, before shaking her head and extending her hand.

She yanked it back and a squeaking bird-like monster zoomed over to float in front of them.

"Ah." Ahsoka said. "Digimon."

"A what?" Sabine asked, lowering her guns in confusion.

"Hawkmon, if I'm not mistaken," Ahsoka said.

The creature stopped fighting and glared at her. "Let me go!"

"I must know first how you came to be here, and why you are attacking these people," Ahsoka answered, unperturbed.

"This is our world!" the creature that Ahsoka had identified as Hawkmon answered, starting to struggle again. "They invaded it!"

"You must be confused," Ahsoka said, blinking. "This planet is in my universe. This is not the Digiworld."

"Then why did all of you appear outside our village?!" Hawkmon asked. "I don't want to hear your lies! Let me go!"

"Ahsoka!" Sabine cried out.

The former jedi released the creature and diverted her attention to the pair of missiles flying their way, concentrating and deflecting them into the air above, where they exploded, creating a lull in the battle as all involved cringed away.

"Retreat!" a booming voice called out, and the digimon ran, flew and burrowed away, leaving the town damaged, but with surprisingly no casualties, as a quick recount would reveal.

"This is complicated," Ahsoka said, grimacing. She turned to look at La'Seca as she and the others approached. "Hawkmon said you attacked their village?"

The Twi'lek blinked in surprise standing straighter. "Nonsense! We're farmers, what need do we have to attack their village?"

"We wouldn't have even come close to them if we had seen something like those creatures!" another farmer said. "Every time they come by they look different too!"

Ahsoka shook her head. "Okay. It seems they might've been done for today, but… before you go, I need you all to think real hard. Did you destroy anything weird recently?"

The farmers looked at each other, then Sabine's head snapped up. "Wait, didn't you say someone brought Sand Worms? Who did that?"

"I'm not sure," La'Seca said hesitantly. "We don't get that many visitors, but it must've been in that ship from… Dac."

"From Dac." Ahsoka grimaced. "There is a type of early stage Digimon called Wormmon… they're usually non-aggressive…"

Sabine watched as La'Seca's hand went up to cover her mouth, while her eyes widened in horror. Ahsoka had trailed off and was shaking her head.

"...but… we didn't know!" the old Twi'lek whispered.

"It's going to be hard to get them to understand that… especially if more are arriving by whatever accident brought them here." Ahsoka said, grimacing.

"Surely they can't be that dangerous!" one farmer said. "No one died when they attacked us."

"That is because the ones you have been fighting are not the aggressive type… and they are all essentially children." Ahsoka looked up. "Sabine and I will figure out what we can do… but we must act before more evolved Digimon arrive. We might not be able to fight them off if they do."

As her people dispersed, La'Seca grimaced and shook her head mournfully. "I can't believe we would do such a thing… we didn't know, Ahsoka Tano."

"I know, but this can get really bad," the Togruta replied seriously. "Please make sure that your people don't head out to hunt them or fight them. Rookie Digimon might be mostly harmless compared to others, but they can still be deadly."

"Right… right, if you'll excuse me, I have people to talk to."

Sabine watched the elder walk away and turned to look at Ahsoka. "How bad is it, really?"

"There are Digimon powerful enough to warp time and space… some even can destroy galaxies," Ahsoka responded as she started walking downtown, away from the people that were gathering to listen to La'Seca.

"That's really bad."

"It is, and they won't listen to me… we need help," Ahsoka said.

Sabine grimaced. If the former jedi was right, this was much worse than fighting an Imperial Fleet. What kind of help could they even get for this? "So… where are we going?"

Ahsoka took a corner into a small cul-de-sac, and smirked, motioning at the door there. "Where else? The bar."

Sabine couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Wait. We're getting drunk?! How is that going to help? I thought Jedi didn't drink!"

"Generally no," Ahsoka said, opening the wooden door, which chimed as she did. "But Jedi are allowed to drink a little if they want. It's succumbing to the temptation of alcohol or drugs that is frowned upon, but they're not outright forbidden from doing it. Jedi just prefer other types of drinks."

"I see," Sabine growled, following the ex-jedi into the bar. A thousand questions were in her mind: how did Ahsoka know about Digimon? If she had never been to this world, how did she know about the bar? Were they really going to drink instead of helping?

"Ahsoka!" a voice called out, making Sabine snap back to reality. She looked around the bar, more and more confused as she realized it was nothing like she had ever seen before. The walls were not metal, there were people there, humans among them, but other, unknown species as well, and they were all greeting Ahsoka like old friends.

"Hello everyone," Ahsoka said, grinning as she shook hands and waved at others. "I'm sorry but I can't stay long… I have a Digimon invasion in a planet in my universe."

"Oh, wow," a man in some sort of armor and a prosthetic leg said. "Do you need help? How bad is it?"

"It's not too bad yet," Ahsoka responded, "and I do need help, but no fighting yet, Hiccup."

"Bah," a large alien of unknown species said from a table at the end, where it was drinking alongside two other species Sabine couldn't recognize, one looking like some sort of synthetic life form, the other a female covered completely in a suit of some sort. "Why come tease us then?"

"Sorry Wrex, but I want to keep intrusion to a minimum for now," Ahsoka said. "If it turns bad, you'll be the first to know."

The creature, Wrex, grunted and nodded, going back to his conversation.

Ahsoka, meanwhile, had walked over and given the human bartender a friendly hug over the counter, before stepping back with a grin. "I was wondering if I could borrow Erika."

"Sure, you know where to find her," the bartender said. Ahsoka motioned over to Sabine. "This is Sabine Wren, she's traveling with me for now."

The bartender studied Sabine for a moment before fake-glaring at Ahsoka. "You didn't tell her about this place, did you? She must be really confused."

Ahsoka simply laughed. "Anyway, Sabine, I'll be right back. Take a seat and get something to drink in the meantime. It's on my tab."

Overwhelmed, Sabine sat down at the bar while the bartender gave her an understanding glance. She watched as Ahsoka walked around the bar and through a door marked "Employees Only", and shook her head in bewilderment. How did Ahsoka know all of these people? How did she look so… relaxed? She never looked this relaxed with her!

"Here. On the house. It's non-alcoholic."

Sabine blinked at the cold glass with some strange, brown, milky liquid inside. Taking off her helmet, she placed it next to her and sipped the straw. "Wow."

"Chocolate milkshake, never fails," the bartender said with a wink. She patted Sabine on the shoulder and went over to attend to her other guests. It didn't take long for her to finish almost all of it, and for yet another customer to arrive.

Sabine did a double-take as the other mando sat next to her, examining her helmet intently for a moment, then turning to look at her.

"Sabine Wren, of house Wren," she said automatically, looking him up and down. He was wearing armor made of pure beskar, and held himself with the confidence of a true warrior.

"Din, are you trying to impress young Mandalorians?" Wrex asked, walking over to punch the mandalorian in the shoulder.

"No… of course not. She's just the first I've met since coming to the Isekai."

Wrex was about to respond when Ahsoka walked out of the back with a young woman wearing a blue jacket with golden highlights.

"Wrex," the young human said.

"Erika," the alien responded with a grunt.

"Ahsoka Tano," Din, the mandalorian said. "Nice to see you."

"You too, Din. I see you met Sabine Wren. I'm sorry, but I have to take her with me, but if you want to know more about her, ask Bo-Katan. I'm afraid we need her at the moment."

Din chuckled. "I'll ask her. The look on her face might be worth it."

Stumbling back into the dark, quiet streets of Sua'Dero was almost a relief for Sabine. The bar hadn't been threatening at all, in fact, it had been very welcoming… but there was too much happening there that she felt everyone else knew about, but she didn't.

It had been stifling and confusing, and she had felt overwhelmed by the sense of really big things happening and her not being aware of what they meant. Ahsoka being fully relaxed and even acting a bit mischievously had thrown her off a bit. It's wasn't like her mentor/friend was unreachable or distant at all, but… it was odd seeing her let down her guard so much.

The whole experience was surreal and overpowering. It was as if suddenly she had just discovered that her galaxy was much, much smaller somehow in an already vast universe, and even worse, she had been exposed to a truth that yet eluded her.

"I thought you'd know better, being a jedi and all that," the human girl that they picked up at the bar said to Ahsoka, regarding Sabine with some bemusement before looking reproachfully at the former jedi, who grinned uncomfortably.

"I wasn't sure who'd be in there, for all I knew it could've been just Sunset," Ahsoka replied, shrugging.

Erika rolled her eyes. "Don't try that with me, Ahsoka. You have a key. You could have gone in when no one else was there."

"Fine," Ahsoka said with a sigh, reaching out to pat Sabine on the shoulder. "I'll bring Sabine back sometime when it's just Sunset and we can have a talk."

Sabine closed her eyes and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. When she opened them, the door was not there anymore. "What was that?" she asked.

"One of the great mysteries of the omniverse," Ahsoka said.

"Omniverse?" Sabine asked, already not liking where this was going. "Is it related to that place that Ezra found?"

"Yes, and no," Ahsoka responded in very Jedi-like fashion. "I will tell you more about it later, and maybe introduce you properly once this mess is fixed. For now, we need to go visit the Digimon."

She started walking, followed by Erika and Sabine who caught up without much trouble. She glanced at the young girl then back at Ahsoka. It wasn't the first time she'd had to do things without seeing the whole picture… so she could cope. For now. She concentrated on the matters at hand. "So… she can help us with those creatures?"

"She didn't tell you about me either?" Erika asked, looking at Sabine, then shaking her head. "Very well, then I will. My name is Erika Mishima, and I work at Sunset's Isekai… the bar we were at earlier. I'm her IT specialist."

"She's a slicer," Ahsoka explained when Sabine tilted her head in confusion.

"Hacker," Erika said. "I suppose different universes have different terms. But yes. I suppose slicer would be the term for yours. Also, I might look human to you, but I'm actually a Digimon."

"Right." Sabine cleared her throat. "You don't look like one."

Erika smirked. "For now."

"What confuses me is how the Digimon got here in the first place," Ahsoka said, glancing at Erika. "I didn't think we'd be connected to a Digiworld."

Erika shrugged. "Digiworlds are all over the omniverse. It's surprisingly common. We'll figure out what's happening, but you know that there's only so much I can do… if having a Digimon incursion is part of this universe's fate…"

"Well, Sabine and I were here through normal means," Ahsoka said, shrugging. "We'll see what caused it and go from there, but my instincts are telling me that's not the case."

"Alright then," Erika said. "Let's see how bad it is."

"Okay, that's not great," Erika said as the trio stood overlooking the slightly growing array of nests. "Is that an Yggradsil root?"

Sabine simply stared. Out of the sky, as if breaking through glass, a large root of some sort of tree came down to the surface of Sua'Dero, and it was at its bottom, where it started to dig into the planet, where the Digimon were nesting.

Already there were much bigger digimon there.

"I see Metalgarurumon," Ahsoka said. "He's probably the one that shot the missiles yesterday."

"That, and there's a Royal Knight," Erika said with a sigh. "At least it's not Crusadermon."

Ahsoka peered at the Digimon, and Sabine followed suit, although she wasn't sure what she was looking at. It took a moment for Ahsoka to point out to her a humanoid-looking Digimon, much bigger than the others that was floating next to the root.

The Digimon in question was armored in heavy white metal, and oddly enough had wolf and dragon-shaped gauntlets, sporting a long, red and white cape. It was slim and tall… much larger overall than all the other Digimon in the area.

"Is that one of the Digimon you said could destroy the world?" Sabine asked.

"Oh, Omegamon can do a lot more than that," Erika replied. "Let's go talk to him."

The mandalorian shook her head in bewilderment. "Is that a good idea?"

"Omegamon's usually a good sort," Ahsoka reassured her. "Less likely to resort to extremes than other Royal Knights. That's probably why there's not an all out war between them… it would've been a massacre."

The trio made their way down towards the roots, and they were soon spotted. Several groups of Digimon flew over protectively while Omegamon, and the other wolf-like one Ahsoka had called a Metalgarurumon flew over towards them.

"Let me do the introductions first," Erika said, stepping in front of the other two.

Before Sabine could argue for her safety, the young human was enveloped in light that morphed through several bright colors, and seconds later, where she had originally stood, was a completely different being.

She now looked older, like a teenager, with thin arms and legs. Instead of her coat and hood, se was wearing a body-fitting armor, topped with a furry collar around her neck and an insectoid-like helmet with large golden eyes that matched the details of her armor at the knees and elbows.

A pair of huge butterfly wings seemed to grow out of her helmet, and it seemed as if Erika's long, blue hair had simply taken the wing's shape and the space between filled with shiny, gentle blue and purple light, falling around the girl's waist gracefully down to her knees.

This transformation had apparently not only surprised Sabine, for both Digimon stopped and were regarding her with evident surprise.

"Wish me luck," Erika muttered as she flew over to speak with the larger Digimon.

Sabine watched nervously as the other Digimon surrounded them, so she scooted over closer to Ahsoka. "What do we do if they don't want to solve this peacefully?"

Ahsoka grimaced. "Depends on Hudiemon. That will decide our options."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if the Digimon connection is… so to speak 'natural' and part of the regular process of this universe, then it'll be up to us. She might help you and I specifically get out of this one, but after that it falls into both our universes to figure out the balance of things."

Sabine frowned under her helmet. "And if it's not natural as you say?"

"Well, then Sunset and others can get involved," Ahsoka said, "and things escalate very quickly."

"Isn't Sunset the bartender?" Sabine asked. "What can she do?"

Ahsoka gave her a look accompanied with a slight grimace. "I wouldn't want to be on the bad side of any Sunset Shimmer I've met, but Isekai Sunset in particular is someone that any wise being would avoid conflict with. Even someone as powerful as Omegamon."

"Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren, meet Omegamon, Royal Knight, and Metalgarurumon," Hudiemon said, motioning them over to come closer as she and the other two Digimon landed nearby.

"A pleasure to meet you," Ahsoka said, bowing, while Sabine nodded stiffly. She wasn't sure what to make of all of this.

"It seems that your people were confused as to the nature of us digimon," Omegamon said with a voice that sounded surprisingly young.

"That would be correct," Ahsoka said. "The people of Sua'Dero are mostly farmers, they are not well-versed in the lifeforms of other worlds, much less other dimensions. It seems that they confused some rookie digimon with a parasitic creature that inhabits other planets."

"That is indeed unfortunate," Omegamon said. "They were lucky that they didn't kill any digimon, but their attack was unprovoked."

"I'm sure that, if given the chance, they will be happy to apologize and work with you," Ahsoka replied smoothly. "However, we are curious about how you ended up in this world."

Omegamon turned to the root. "We are unsure. But Yggsadril's root is here." He looked back at them. "Hudiemon says you are a friend of Digimon."

"I know a few," Ahsoka said, "a Renamon, Gallantmon, and others."

"She lies," Metalgarurumon growled. "Gallantmon would have mentioned meeting a creature like her."

Sabine grimaced under her helmet, ready to dodge any attacks, but Ahsoka nodded to Metalgarurumon. "Since you don't recognize me, I think they are from different worlds."

"A likely story," Metalgarurumon grumbled.

"Nevertheless," Omegamon spoke up, "perhaps they can understand the Digifairy we found."

"Digifairy?" Hudiemon asked.

Sabine blinked at Hudiemon, who was bumping her head against one of the rocks next to the roots, while Ahsoka tried—and failed—to not be amused. "So… let me get this straight." She said, glancing at the blue glowing creature next to Ahsoka. "You know this guy too."

Ahsoka grinned and nodded. "And he's not a Digifairy, are you, Ori?"

"Breep!" the creature's musical voice seemed to somehow convey that it was agreeing with her.

"We were only doing maintenance!" Hudiemon said, turning to stare at Ori. "How did you end up punching an Yggdrasil root through reality?"

Ori responded in his chirping, musical language, and the mandalorian turned to Ahsoka, who shrugged. "He says she told him to help the tree grow… so he did."

"This is why I asked you to just do it carefully…" Hudiemon muttered.

"Now, now, Erika," Ahsoka said, "you can't blame Ori. He was only doing what you told him to do. What did you expect would come out of mixing his spiritual energy with your Digital reality?"

"I should have asked Mirage-Shimmer to help me with this. She's digital!"

"Yes," Ahsoka said, "you should have. But now we have an Yggdrasil root that shouldn't be here."

"Ugh… fine." Erika groaned. "It's not too difficult, just a lot of work. I'll get started. I'll stop the data transfer first, then work on recompiling the data…" grumbling, the digimon flew over to the root.

Ahsoka nodded. "As for us… well, let's introduce Omegamon to La'Seca. This might take a few days, and we don't want more fighting."

Omegamon nodded. "Agreed."

Sabine jumped down from the wall where she had been sitting as soon as Ahsoka approached. "Can we go now?"

Ahsoka gave her a look. "Don't want to see how this plays out?"

Sabine sighed and shook her head. "Not if there's nothing to blow up." She snorted. "I can't believe your friends were responsible for all of this."

Ahsoka smiled and motioned for Sabine to follow her. "We get into a lot of trouble sometimes. I'm just glad we solved this without a fight."

"Well from what you said… yeah." Sabine hesitated. "Ahsoka… what is all that about? Really?"

Pausing, Ahsoka motioned for Sabine to follow her. The mandalorian's eyes widened when she saw the door. "No. No. Definitely not. I can't handle a crowd like that."

"Don't worry," Ahsoka said, opening the door and motioning with her head. "It's empty."

Sabine peeked in, and blinked. It was.

"Come on, let's have some tea," Ahsoka said, "what I'll tell you is something I intended to tell you about for a while, but never found the right time. But, as you have already gotten a little taste of it, let me tell you about how undefinable, and big things are beyond our universe."

Sabine hesitated.

"Or we can just leave. Your choice."

Sabine snorted. "And waste the inspiration? Never. Besides, that place needs a Wren mural."

Ahsoka grinned. "Well, I'm sure Sunset can clear a wall for you."

Sabine nodded and watched Ahsoka step into the bar. She took a deep breath and let it out slow. "One step at a time," she said, smirking under her helmet. Then she stepped inside.

End Shenanigans 2

Isekai Cast: Random Shenanigans 3

Isekai Cast: Random Shenanigans 3
Where Only The Brave Dare Fly
By Wanderer D

Philine did not know what was happening.

One moment, she had been standing with the other students at the Academy, investigating an ancient design under the Academy Library, when it had suddenly flashed to life! All she remembered was Lady Rozemyne going over to pick up a silver-bound book that was in the middle of the secret chamber… and then…

Green, red, blue, black and white energy had whirled around them in an explosion of light so strong that Philine had feared she would be blinded. Howling wind had drowned her surprised scream and then, suddenly, she was standing in the middle of nowhere.

She stared wide-eyed around her, taking in the expanse of wild grass that grew around thousands upon thousands of crystalline, almost mirror-like puddles. A smooth, rolling sound made her turn around in place to stare at what could only be the sea; its waves gently swishing into the shore before retreating back and rolling over again.

She had never seen the sea. She only knew about it from stories and descriptions from other students, but there was not a doubt in her mind that she was staring at a sea or an ocean. It couldn't be anything else… it just extended beyond sight in all directions not covered by sand and grass. She followed the shore with her eyes, to the right, it was just nothing but flat sand and grass, to her left, the shore merged into sheer cliffs and giant rocks.

She felt an indescribable fear build up inside of her. As wondrous as the sight was, she was not where she was supposed to be! She called out, shouting the names of her fellow retainers, Lady Rozemyne, anyone… teachers, her brother… there was no answer, no one was around to help her.

Her cries simply faded into the air, completely ignored. Well… maybe not completely. Although she had not heard any replies, Philine felt a shiver run up her spine. She stood in silence, petrified, with only the sound of the waves splitting the eerie silence.

But something was watching her. Afraid of being an easy target, but terrified of drawing even more attention to herself, she slowly, very slowly, studied the area around her. At first, she saw nothing, in fact, her eyes passed the spot a couple of times before some sort of instinct drew her gaze back to one of the ponds.

It seemed almost as crystalline as the others, 'But…' She narrowed her eyes, staring at the center of the crystalline pond, where two rounded rocks poked out of the water.

And then they moved.

To Philine, it seemed like they were rolling back in place, slowly revealing a yellow center, with a pitch black split in the middle. It took her only a second to realize they were eyes. And worse, as she took a step back, she suddenly noticed more and more in all the ponds around her.

Stifling a whimper, Philine stepped further back into the sand as the creatures emerged from the ponds.

She had never seen the like. Almost twice as tall and wide as she was, each creature was easily as long as three of her would be, lying down on the floor in a line. Bulky, slimy and rubbery, the creatures flapped in a clumsy manner which would have been funny if they were not so terrifying and not so terribly fixated on her.

Their webbed feet slapped the grass and sand with each fumbling step they took, some of them doing gentle hops rather than steps, but as they came closer, a deep intrinsic instinct told her to run.

She bolted out of there as fast as she could, and thankfully so, as a second later, a long, whiplike tongue smashed into the place where she had stood just a second ago. Gasping, she took out her schtappe, firing a desperate, too-weak shot of magic at the creatures, which only hesitated at the flashing lights before starting to hop in her direction.

Philine took towards the rocks, hoping to hide between them and escape the creatures, running left and right to avoid the whipping tongues.

She tripped once, and the accident managed to save her life, as one of the creatures landed suddenly in front of her, blocking her path to the rocks. Had she not stumbled, the creature would have landed on top of her, but now…. now she was surrounded, and her magic was not strong enough to fight them.

She was about to die. She would never see her brother again. She would never…

Something smashed onto the creature that had jumped ahead of her, sending sand and dust flying into the air. Philine cried out and crouched down, covering her head with her hands as something flew through the air, sizzling like water from a kettle.

The creatures croaked in pain around her, while an ear-deafening roar made all thoughts flee from Philine's mind. She could only feel fear at what was happening around her as the noise rose to a cacophony of squelching, croaks, splashes, crunches and sickening thuds.

She remained crouched until it all calmed down and she could sense and hear movement, but not near her… fading away. She risked a look up, staring in surprise at the few creatures left as they hopped powerfully away.

Around her, she could see what remained of the other creatures: one of them steaming as some sort of liquid ate through its body right before her eyes, another tore open, it's innards still twitching.

She gulped as she turned slowly, her eyes even wider as she beheld the majestic creature that had saved her. Sleek black scales covered almost all of its body, save for its plated belly and underside which was a muddy-yellow. Shockingly white horns protruded from its head, and equally white claws (the ones that were not covered in the blood of the creatures) contrasted with the sheer darkness of its body.

Red eyes studied her with an intelligence far beyond any simple beast, and its massive wings stretched and fanned gently as the regal creature… the dragon… studied her.

Oddly enough, rather than the immediate realization that she was still going to die, her first thought had been, 'How beautiful!'

The massive head came closer and Philine realized this was it. She closed her eyes. At least it wasn't one of those horrible creatures. The dragon would probably just chump down on her and swallow her whole. "I wish Lady Rozemyne could see you," she whispered, ready for the end.

She heard a snort and, despite herself, opened her eyes as the massive dragon—which was now simply glaring at her—snorted again, then shook its head. "Figures," it said.

Mirage Jenius stretched after closing her locker. No matter where she went, there was nothing like being back in her form-fitting piloting overalls. And now that the war was over, she could rel—

The alarms blared and she was already running towards the hangar of the Macross Elysion, and in seconds, she was airborne, with Chuck joining her in the air seconds later. "What's incoming?"

"We have a bogey closing in on Island Jackpot. It's large… about a hundred meters long, and moving at a speed of roughly Mach 3."

"That doesn't tell us much," Chuck said. "Why don't you use that fancy tech and tell us what we're meeting?"

"We are unable to. It didn't appear in radar until recently, and it has some sort of field that messes with our systems. It doesn't match anything we have registered, and does not respond to hails so far. Investigate and engage if necessary."

"Roger that!" the pair acknowledged.

"Man, and here I was hoping we'd only have to worry about regular patrols from now on," Chuck grumbled good-naturedly on the radio.

"You don't think you'd get bored with the lack of sudden, blaring alarms?" Mirage asked.

"I just want to relax, maybe I should retire," Chuck countered.

"Oh no, you're not leaving me with all the rookies," Mirage radioed back. "Anyway, we'll be within interception range soon… Increase speed to mach 5, I want to see what we're dealing with before it manages to see us."

"Roger!"

Soon they had left the city behind and were flying over the Ragna ocean towards the approaching intruder. It didn't take long for them to spot the unidentified object.

"I've got eyes on it!" Chuck said, "but what the hell is it? It looks like some giant lizard!" Chuck gasped as the pair of planes flew by the creature in question. "It's huge! And it has some sort of force field around it, maybe that's what messing with our systems?"

"This is control tower. We can't allow something like that near the city. Engage and deviate its path if possible. If it resists…"

"That won't be necessary," Mirage said. "I got this."

She turned around and sped after the creature. Ignoring Chuck's surprised look on their HUDs.

Earlier…

"Oh, my!" Philine gasped as the dragon smirked. She couldn't help it. The creature was magnificent, beautiful even, but it exuded a deadliness and energy that just screamed danger… somehow she hadn't started screaming and running or maybe even curling up in the ground in horror… and yet, at the edge of her senses, she could feel the sheer terror that should have broken her mind.

Somehow, she knew the creature itself was responsible for her not making a mess of herself right now. She took a deep breath. Lady Rozemyne had faced terrible things, she knew! There was even a rumor she had heard that her lady had faced a Lord of Winter in all its might! There was no way she wouldn't live up to her coura—

"So then, little girl," the dragon said, her voice much softer than the lost noble had ever expected it to be, "how did you come to be in my domain?"

Philine's mind went blank.

The dragon's head tilted. "You're an odd one, human. I can feel magic in you. A little wannabe sorceress, perhaps?"

"I—" Philine shook, then, remembering her manners, she curtsied. "I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the fruitful days of Schutzaria the Goddess of Wind!"

"Haven't met her."

Philine blinked and stared at the dragon. "Um, what?"

"Haven't met your goddess, Sushitaria, was it?" the dragon said dismissively.

"Oh." Philine blinked, unsure of what to make of that. How did she explain to the dragon towering in front of her that it was the politest way she knew to greet her? Why had she taken it as a sign that she should know Shutzaria personally? It wasn't normal for anyone, or any creature she supposed, to meet a god or goddess, right? Well, unless you secretly had tea with them, like Lady Rozemyne. "I uh… I-I'm Philine," she said rather lamely, curtseying again. "N-nice to meet you?"

The dragon nodded. "You may call me Onyx." They stared at each other for a moment. "I take it you're lost, little girl?"

Philine cringed and nodded.

The dragon sighed. "I thought there were no magic users in this place. That is why I live here for now. Where do you come from? What city?"

"E-erenfest, Lady Onyx."

The dragon snorted. "Lady." She shook her head. "I do not know of your city, but there's a big one with humans a few hours away across the ocean."

Philine followed the direction the dragon was pointing with a sinking heart. "Oh."

"...can't fly?"

Philine shook her head, feeling tears welling up.

The dragon sighed, glaring at her, then looking at the ocean, then back at her. "Fine. If there's wizards here I won't stay too long anyway."

Philine sank back when the dragon reached out with a claw, picking her up from the back of her uniform and lifting her all the way up to put her on top of her head, between her white horns.

Philine's eyes were wide as she held on for dear life as the massive head turned to face the horizon.

"I learned an interesting spell somewhere else… I've been meaning to try it out."

"Um… what spell?" Philine asked.

In answer, the dragon coiled down, then jumped into the air, her massive black wings spreading open as she took them both high into the air, spiraling until it was moving very fast above the ocean. Then, just as Philine was starting to feel safe…

"Raywing!" the dragon roared.

As fast as the dragon was flying, Mirage was much faster. She caught up with it in seconds, then flew in front of it, tilting her plane a few times to make sure it got the message.

Apparently it did, because it glanced in the direction she was indicating, and slowed down from its boosted speed to a much more normal one for a dragon, although she was still fast. Expecting this, Mirage also adjusted her speed, although Chuck wasn't quick enough and shot past them once more.

"We're landing on that small island," Mirage radioed to them, as the black dragon, who had a small child on her head, dipped and started a leisure spiral as Mirage did a quick tour of the area to make sure no vessels were around. "Elysion, Lt. Mirage here, we've got the creature under control, I'll send it on its way soon."

"Roger that, Lt."

"Mirage, what's going on?" Chuck asked, as he followed her lead and changed into Gerwalk mode so they could hover down to the island, where the creature and its small passenger—who he had just noticed—were landing.

"That is what I intend to find out," Mirage said. "I'll do the talking. Make sure you don't provoke her, she might not be mechanical, but she can cause a lot of damage."

"That kid? She—"

"Not the little girl, the dragon."

"How can you tell it's a she?" Chuck asked.

"I have a strong feeling I've met her before," Mirage said.

"Right."

The mechas landed, and Mirage opened her cockpit, which put her closer to the dragon's head now that it was standing on all four. She studied the dragon and the terrified girl. "Well, I can't say I expected to meet you here of all places, Khisanth," she said, taking off her helmet.

The dragon's eyes narrowed, studying her. "I know you," she said, "you were one of the barmaids at the Isekai."

"You're a barmaid?!"

"Shut it, Chuck, if you know what's good for you," Mirage growled, then looked back at the dragon. "I sometimes help there. I thought I recognized you."

The dragon snorted. "All things considered, I shouldn't be surprised you're some sort of knight."

"Y-you're a knight?" the girl on top of the dragon's head peeked out at her, eyes wide. "Is that your high beast?"

"High beast?" Mirage repeated, blinking. "Wait, I think I recognize that uniform, you're… I think from the Royal Academy?"

"T-that's right!" the girl, encouraged by that, sat up straighter, although she still looked shaky. "Can you take me back to Ehrenfest?"

"Hm. Might be a bit easier to do at the city," Mirage said as Khisanth got closer, allowing the girl to take Mirage's hand and sit on the back seat. "Do you want to come with us, Khisanth?"

"I—"

"Pleeease?" Philine asked. "Could you? I would be ever so grateful! You've helped me so much already!"

"I don't know if the city folk are ready to receive a visitor like this one," Chuck said, opening his cockpit to speak to them, while also removing his helmet.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Mirage said, smirking. "If you don't mind riding in Chuck's plane, it would make things faster, Khisanth."

The dragon studied the other airplane's back seat while Chuck gave Mirage a confused—and worried—look.

"I suppose it will suffice," the dragon said.

Mirage watched with interest as a soft glow enveloped the massive creature and it shrank, until Onyx, which was how Khisanth had looked that one time in the bar, stood on the beach, black leather corset over her white blouse, black leather pants and boots, and a short sword strapped to her side.

"Aren't you going to offer the lady a hand?" Mirage called at the flabbergasted Ragnan.

Chuck shook himself out of his stupor, then lowered one of the Gerwalk's hands down, allowing for the human-looking creature to climb on to it, then from there up and into the back seat of his Valkyrie she went.

Mirage smirked at the worried look in his face as he put on his helmet. "Don't worry… she wont' bite."

"Yet." Khisanth's return smirk made Chuck visibly cringe.

The pair of fighter pilots took to the air seconds later, and Mirage couldn't help but smile at the sound Philine made. "Don't worry, it's at least as safe as flying on Khisanth's head."

"That wasn't safe at all!" Philine said.

"You should count yourself lucky, most people from where you come from will never have a chance to fly on a dragon like Khisanth."

Philine was quiet for a moment. "Most?"

Mirage grinned. "Good catch. Yeah, I know another person from your Academy that has ridden a dragon."

Philine was quiet for a few moments, her gaze on the ocean below. "Who was that?"

"Her name is Rozemyne."

Philine gulped, shifting in her seat. Next to her, a kind-hearted noble just a few years older than her, named Lady Makina, patted her hand encouragingly.

At least Philine thought she was a noble. She did not understand how mana wielding people and people unable to wield mana identified themselves in this world, but according to Lady Mirage, Lady Makina came from a place with similar government, and although they couldn't really seem to communicate all that well, it eased Philine's heart.

She had seen how skillful and even wise commoners were back home, and the thought of offending anyone here because of how her viewpoint was so different horrified her. Lady Rozemyne never put commoners underneath her, and Philine would follow her example, as best as she could.

From what Lady Mirage had explained, Lady Makina and others like her used potent magical music to aid the knights in battle. It was very similar to how priests would pray to the gods to assist the knights in battle back home, in her world.

And this was a different world. Lady Mirage had explained to her that the spell had somehow transported her to this world, far away from her own, and it was very lucky that she had been able to meet with Onyx.

Thinking of the dragon, she glanced at the dark-skinned woman sitting back next to her. Unlike Philine, she exuded confidence and did not seem at all intimidated by anyone here. Even the giant in front of them.

He was BIG! but he was apparently the leader of the knights here, so she had introduced herself deferentially, only to balk at Onyx's dismissive greeting to the man, although he had taken it in stride.

Lord Johnson, as the commander of the knights identified himself (although she was the one calling Lord, the others simply called him 'Captain') was scary-looking, but so far had been kind to them both. Right now, he was apparently trying to figure out what to do with them.

Philine glanced at the windows, her eyes taking in the massive city beyond them. It had to be created with the most potent magic, but it didn't have tell-tale signs of buildings created by Aub magic.

There was no temple either, and although the commoners were separated from nobility, it was simply done by sections of wealth, rather than entirely separated cities. Mirage had intended to take her and Onyx exploring, but the strange, instantaneous ordonnanz Mirage had on her High Beast had ordered her to head back there immediately.

"I am less concerned about Philine than you, Miss Onyx."

Philine watch with interest as the dragon-turned-human studied the giant with half-lidded eyes. "Oh? What's your concern, captain? I haven't bothered anyone since I arrived in this world, and I've been here for a couple of years already. I even visited your cities a couple of times."

Lord Johnson crossed his arms. "I understand, but now that we are aware you're here, I'm concerned with others discovering your true nature, or invading your claimed territory by accident."

Onyx shrugged and looked out the window. "I can always leave."

She didn't sound sad about it, but Philine could only feel bad. "I'm sorry."

Onyx turned to look at her, surprise clearly written on her face. "Why?"

"If you hadn't helped me, they wouldn't know you were here." Philine looked down in shame.

"Don't worry about it, kid," Khisanth said. "Dragons live a long, long time. I'm still young and have some growing to do. I can always travel to another world."

"But do you have to?" Lord Johnson said, drawing their attention back to him. "Mirage has vouched for you both… and I know that she's in the process of finding out how to help Philine here get back to her own planet. You might be a different species than we're familiar with, Onyx, but if you want to try living alongside us, I'm sure we can help make it happen."

Onyx snorted. "Will I get to fly one of your machines?"

Lord Johnson scratched his chin. "It takes time to learn how to do it well, although I suppose you have some instinctual advantage… I can ask, if you truly want to. But given that you can already fly…"

Khisanth shrugged. "I would not mind learning. Besides—as I said—I'm still just a few centuries old, I have time to learn."

Centuries. It boggled the mind.

"You should," Lady Makina spoke up, softly, locking eyes first with Onyx, then with Lord Johnson. "If you can give her the chance, you should do it, Captain."

The Captain of the knights gave Lady Makina a calculating look. "You don't expect her to join Walkure, do you?"

"Heavens, no!" Lady Makina laughed, then smiled a bit mischievously. "Are you trying to get her in a frilly dress?

"No!" both Lord Johnson and Onyx snapped at her at the same time.

"Um…" Philine was about to ask what did they mean when the doors slid open, and Mirage, Lady Rozemyne and another woman with red and gold hair walked into the room.

"Philine!" Lady Rozemyne gasped, moving forward to embrace the startled girl. Lady Rozemyne had always been odd, but Philine was too glad to be bothered by the lack of etiquette, and returned the hug.

"Lady Rozemyne, I thought I'd never see you or Konrad again!"

Lady Rozemyne, stepped back, wiping a small tear from her face, and accepting a handkerchief that the woman that had walked in with them had offered. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Philine nodded, grateful.

"Allow me to make introductions," Mirage said. "Captain, these are Rozemyne, from Erhenfest, the same city as Philine, and this is Sunset Shimmer."

The casualness these people had with introductions and titles! Philine held her tongue, however, when Rozemyne gave her a small smile, leaned in, and whispered: "Sunset is Lena's mother."

"Oh".

'Ooooooooh.' Philine stifled a gasp. This was a goddess! She was the mother of the younger goddess that had visited the Academy not too long ago!

"Lady Rozemyne," Lord Johnson said, nodding formally. "A pleasure to meet you. Miss Shimmer… I have of course heard of you. An acquaintance of mine, Maximilian Jenius mentioned that you and some friends had helped Mirage find her focus, I can't thank you enough."

"I consider Mirage part of my family," the goddess said, smiling. "Least I could do."

"Khisanth," Lady Rozemyne said, turning to face Onyx. "I was told by Mirage that you protected and helped Philine when she found herself in this world. I thank you ever so much," she said bowing formally to the dragon. "I know you're still figuring what to do, so believe me when I say that I can't find the words to express my joy at you helping her. I had been looking forward to meeting you eventually. I pray that Dregarnuhr the Goddess of Time has woven our threads of fate tightly together."

Onyx looked slightly embarrassed by the words, and simply nodded. "Yeah. That sounds good. You know about me and my relationship with gods, right?"

Lady Rozemyne smiled sweetly. "Of course, but where I am from, it is a way of wishing that we might meet again."

Onyx rubbed her head. "It's sometimes better to speak directly, you know?"

"I do, but it's too much fun to watch people get confused by these greetings I had to memorize."

"Lady Rozemyne!" Philine gasped, eyes wide.

Her friend and Lady turned to her, blinking. "Oh my, did I say that out loud?" she laughed nervously. "I intended only to think it!"

"So, I managed to hear what you were offered, Khisanth," the goddess, Sunset, spoke then. "It's entirely up to you. I can take you somewhere else if you want."

Onyx gave the others a considering look. "If I can get some training, I wouldn't mind staying for a while."

"That won't be a problem," Mirage spoke up, smiling confidently. "I can do that."

"Are you sure?" Lord Johnson asked. "You know she's a dragon."

"Captain, I have experience with dragons. Besides, I promised Hiccup he could visit one of these days, I think between the both of us we'll have it covered."

"Who's Hiccup?"

Philine stepped gratefully into Lady Rozemyne's room in the temple. Fran was the only assistant there, and he had already prepared a table for them with tea and sweets.

"Fran, I need to talk to Philine alone for a little while, can you please give us some space? Please inform Ferdinand that I have returned from Sunset's Isekai, and that I need to discuss this with Philine before returning to the Academy."

"Of course," Fran bowed. "Allow me to prepare your hidden room."

It had taken but a few minutes, and then they were alone, the door magically locked with only Ferdinand being the one person outside of the room able to access it.

"How do you feel, Philine?" Rozemyne had asked after a moment to let them both settle in.

"I'm… not sure." She had been intrigued by the Isekai, but the thought of being surrounded by gods and goddesses was too much, even if Lady Rozemyne had insisted it was fine, and the goddess had offered her to stay for a bit, Philine desperately needed a sense of normalcy for herself.

She had almost died, met a gigantic, ancient dragon, met knights from another universe whose High Beasts could transform and fly faster than anything she had seen before. She had met a giant, and seen a structure so huge it dwarfed everything she had seen, even the palace, and if she believed what they had said, it was Lord Johnson's High Beast! He had to be even more powerful than the Emperor!

There was too much, and although she felt safe and protected enough, it was nice to be back home, where things made sense. Sometimes she felt she was getting closer to Lady Rozemyne, and then things like Lena's visit, or this unexpected adventure happened, and she was reminded that the Saint of Erhenfest was far beyond her.

With a sigh, she spoke. "It amazes me, Lady Rozemyne, that you can talk to dragons, gods and even people from a world so different than ours with… such confidence."

"They're an excellent source of books!" Lady Rozemyne said, nodding firmly. "Of course I would make sure to deal with them as best as I could."

Philine stared at Lady Rozemyne for a second. Then she started laughing.

True, Lady Rozemyne might be too amazing to catch up to, but she would never give up on her love of books, and that… that was normal. That was Lady Rozemyne's passion, and Philine would be there to help her achieve her dreams.

And maybe… have tea one day at the Isekai. Just to see what it was like.

End Shenanigans 3

Author's Note

Cast:

Philine: Rozemyne's laynoble retainer, Philine shares a love of books and writing with Rozemyne, and declared her intentions to support her no matter what early on.
Chuck: A flirt, Chuck Mustang is both an excellent pilot and a restaurant owner in his planet, Ragna. He runs the RaguNyanNyan restaurant and loves food and sharing Ragnan delicacies with guests.
Captain Johnson: The Captain of the Macross-class ship, Elysion, he's half-human, half-zentradi in charge of Delta flight and Walkure. He's very loyal to his troops and a capable officer.
Makina: One of the members of Walkure, she's a cheerful and reliable member of the group who is noted for being upbeat, kind and understanding.

Watching them Grow (The Owl House (spoilers!))

Author's Note

(Spoiler Warning: This story takes place after "Watching and Dreaming". If you're a fan of The Owl House and for some reason you haven't watched it, you should go do so! It's free to watch on Youtube in all its glory directly from Disney, after all!

If you're not a fan of The Owl House… It's never too late to start!

Needless to say, the conversations here will reveal a lot of what happened, so continue at your own peril!

…

Still here? Okay then!)

Watching them Grow (The Owl House (spoilers!))

Watching them Grow (The Owl House (spoilers!))
By Wanderer D

As he flew into the air, his flaming form bidding a silent goodbye to the boiling isles and the world where his son would grow and flourish, the Titan felt a tug. Which was odd, because as far as he knew there should be nothing else for him to do but fade into whatever followed a long, long… looong life and a just-as-long quasi-death.

Instead of his consciousness fading, however, he suddenly found himself in the familiar form he had assumed while he was in the world between worlds, down to the PJ pants and bathrobe. The Titan blinked, staring down at his claws with mild surprise before looking up and around.

He was in a small, brick hallway. Ahead of him, at the end of it, he could see a room with tables and welcoming light, behind him was a closed door.

"Odd," he said as he shrugged and started walking. "I don't remember walking into this place."

"That would be because I snagged you before you got too far, you old coot," a refined voice said behind him, making him turn in surprise.

Leaning against the door, arms crossed and a mischievous grin on her face was none other than…

"Rarity!" he said with a laugh and opening his arms.

"No hugs!" Rarity said, eyes widening. The human-looking female raised her hands to ward him off. "Not when you're in that… that disaster! What could possibly possess you to throw those rags on yourself and call it a day?!"

The Titan shrugged, looking down at his stained T-shirt. He patted his belly and grinned. "Oh, you know. Years… decades… centuries… of being stuck between life and death, away from the gym with only cubes of ethereal trans-dimensional energy to let me look into the other worlds. I worked hard on this dad-bod." He gave her a serious look, then laughed. "And it shows!"

Rarity sighed and shook her head, a small smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. She crossed her arms again with a look of mock disdain. "Yes. Well, I'm sure you could have found better-fitting clothes."

"What? And deny the universe the surprise? Nah. Besides, these are comfy! And we all need to feel comfy once in a while, don't we? Now, come over here. Don't tell me you really won't make a hug exception for a very old friend?"

Still smiling, she finally caved in and accepted the hug. She sighed as he squeezed him. "It's good to see you."

"I can say the same," he replied gently. "But I already decided to move on, Rarity. I was already supposed to be gone thousands of years ago. What remains of me is… barely holding together."

Rarity grimaced and shook her head. "At least join a lady for a drink?"

"How could I say no to that?"

"King?"

"Well!" The Titan said, "Not quite! But you have a sharp eye if you can see the family resemblance!"

Sunset blinked, then looked from the oddly dressed titan to Rarity, who had walked into the bar with him. "So… King's dad, then?" She smiled. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai. Your son and his sister are good friends with my daughters."

"Sister?" the Titan asked, blinking as he sat on a stool at the bar. "You mean Luz?"

Rarity sat to his right and elbowed him. "Isn't she one of your heirs as well? You did give her your powers."

"Oh. You were watching. Well, my powers are mostly gone from her, although she did make a striking titan herself! Maybe the seed of power I left within her will let her grow into one too." He sighed, letting out a short laugh as he nodded. "But that's up to her. She certainly is someone I'd love to have as a daughter, but I wouldn't presume to adopt her. She already has two wonderful mothers, after all."

"This is true," Sunset said.

"Besides!" the Titan waved a claw in the air, "I wouldn't be much of a dad. Being dead and gone and all that for all this time."

"We could set you up, you know? Death doesn't mean much unless you want it to when you're here." Rarity murmured. "We've rescued souls, undead… you name it. I can make it happen."

Rather than answering her, the Titan looked down at the bar with a frown.

"How about we start with a drink?" Sunset said. "Wine for Rarity… what would you like? I also have some food I can make or order for you."

"I've always wanted to try that blood-apple juice Eda is so fond of."

Sunset nodded heading over to pour their drinks.

"Why are you hesitating?" Rarity asked, "you know I can make it happen. Say the word. I've known you since you were a kit, there's still much you could do."

Titan sighed, looking at Sunset as she placed down his drink. He gently lifted it up, the owl demon from his eye wiggling in place as he took a sip. "Belos destroyed my core and my heart. Going back there, I think I would do more damage to the already precarious balance the land has achieved. Now, it can grow alongside King. He is the new Titan."

"It must've been hard not being able to talk to him," Sunset said. "Rarity said you were trapped between life and death, able to see him, but unable to interact.

"It was," the Titan said, nodding. Then he smiled. "But I watched him grow. I watched how he accepted his sister, his mother, his aunt… his entire family. Even Hooty! I couldn't wish for more, all things considered. Eda did everything I couldn't do. I might not have been there as I would have liked, but I witnessed him becoming a fine young titan indeed."

Rarity sipped her wine, frowning.

"It's all we can wish for them, right?" Sunset said, smiling at his nod. "I know I'd regret not being able to spend time with them if I was somehow blocked from seeing Lena and Danni, but I'd do my best to keep track of them and see how they're doing, even without me."

The Titan nodded. "When King's brothers were taken away and I trapped the Collector, I worried about King's final fate. I never expected Eda to find him, or take him in as she did." He swirled the blood-apple juice in its glass contemplatively. "I wasn't sure at first… I was powerless to stop her, true, but I still wanted him to be safe. All I could do was watch over him and hope."

"Well you did get lucky on that front," Sunset said, reaching over the bar to pat his arm. "Eda is fiercely protective of her kids, as you well know."

"And it's thanks to her that I can move on," the Titan said, glancing at Rarity when she grimaced. "Oh, I know you can help me back into semi-immortality, my good friend, but not all souls want to keep going forever. My time in the Boiling Isles is over. I'm sure with all the people you have met, you've learned that accepting death is no less noble than wishing to live, especially with a fulfilled life."

"That may be," Rarity said, "but now that your time there is over, the multiverse can accept you without issue. Your fate is not threaded to your world past this point, so allowing you to live outside of it shouldn't be a problem… you would be able to really be a dad to King and maybe even Luz, eventually. She has plenty of you in her blood and magic to make her family now."

The Titan sighed, looking into the glass with a melancholic air. "I… have been imprisoned and 'dead' for so long that I don't know how to be 'alive' anymore. It's true that I have observed what's going on in the Isles, and that I transferred my power to Luz—however briefly that was—but that is a far cry from being directly involved, or jumping right back into it."

Rarity huffed. "So you're scared."

The Titan shuffled in his seat. "Yes. And although that fear is lessened by the prospect of having a family around me again, it's not the only reason I am… reluctant to return."

Rarity scoffed, but relented when Sunset gave her a look. The latter turned to face the Titan again. "What else could stop you?"

The Titan took a long drink from his glass, almost emptying it before answering. "Past mistakes… I know what I did to the Collector was wrong, even if I wanted to justify it as being blinded by rage at the time. My mistake cost us both and forever changed the world. Returning to the Isles goes beyond just reconnecting with my son… and, um, Luz, I suppose. It would involve reconnecting with the entire isles, with my old body, with my old powers. Going back is not just a matter of appearing and resuming life. It's changing the surface of the world itself once more, just for the benefit of my own wishes."

Sunset glanced at Rarity—who was studying her wine with a frown—before speaking. "Well, their whole civilization is built on your bones, isn't it? I understand being afraid of destroying all that, but what about how you look right now?"

The Titan sighed. "It's different when I'm stuck as this. Is it that much for a soul to ask for peace?"

"I'll make sure you get a new body." Rarity would not budge, and even though she was capable of much, it took Sunset by surprise how vehemently she had made the statement.

"Rarity…" Sunset whispered, but her business partner's eyes were on the Titan only.

"You're not just a soul," Rarity said. "You're the Titan. You're King's father. You're not out of options… yes, you sacrificed yourself for everyone in the isles, but you have a chance to be someone for all the people that cared for your son. Your fate in the Boiling Isles might be over, but not here, in the omniverse if you chose to continue it."

"We don't often get a chance to help someone live after their fate has reached its conclusion," Sunset said, "but it has happened."

"So what is stopping you?" Rarity insisted, giving him a glare. "Because it's not just a noble sense of wanting to move on, and you know it."

The Titan sighed, and took Rarity's hand in his own, patting it gently. "Oh, Rarity." He shook his head. "You can tell, can't you? No matter how much you insist."

Sunset blinked, unsure of what he meant, but the sudden flush of red in Rarity's cheeks, and her eyes watering up meant that she did understand what the Titan meant. In her many, many years, she hadn't yet mastered half of what Rarity had. Her business partner was much more experienced in the ways and ever-changing laws of the multiverse, and sometimes it made Sunset feel like one of her brand-new guests: a bit overwhelmed.

"But they just… I just…" Rarity sniffled. "We just got you back. I can't let you go away again forever. Not again."

The Titan drew her in for a gentle hug, and this time, Rarity did not fight him. She didn't break down into sobs, but did hold tightly to him. "I want my friend back. It's been so long since we saw each other, Titan."

"Are you going to tell me in all the multiverse… in all of the omniverse and beyond, you've not met me again?"

"Not you. Not the one I befriended so long ago. Other versions are nice but..."

"I know," the Titan answered gently, "and I want to thank you for taking me with you to explore so many times, so long ago. But I am not me… you know this. I'm just the remnants of my power."

Oh.

It made sense now. Sunset gave Rarity a look of understanding. "So no matter what you'll fade away?" She sighed, then shook her head when he simply nodded. "Maybe… there's no way to stop that, since you're not complete here, but… you don't have to leave so definitely."

Both Rarity, and the Titan gave her a confused look. The former puffy-eyed, the later intrigued.

Sunset nodded. "You have a son that needs you to be there in some way or another… so be there through what you are now, and his sister."

Rarity sniffled almost imperceptibly, gathering herself and delicately wiped a tear from her eye. "Sunset, you can't mean…"

Sunset nodded. "Something didn't feel right about the Titan just fading away into nothing, but I could also feel that he… had moved on. Forcing the last of him to stay as he is seems unnatural." She cleared her throat as she tried to explain her logic. "But he's already taken the first step to leave a true legacy for his family… including Luz and Eda."

"I don't think I follow…" the Titan began, but Sunset stopped him with a smile.

"You might not be all of the Titan, but in you are his power and memories and hopes, and you already lent it all to Luz… so be part of her for real now. Let her be even more of a sister to King, and help them both carry your legacy."

The Titan hesitated. "I already imposed so much on her good will. She took my power, yes but it was also temporary… do you really think she—"

"I definitely would!" Luz interrupted from the entrance to the bar. Grinning at the surprised looks from everyone. But this wasn't the Luz they were used to: she looked a little older now, closer in age to Lena and Dani.

She took it all in, then walked over and sat on the other side of the Titan as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Do you have any idea what it meant to be the same as King? I want to be his older sister for a long, long time, you know?"

The Titan sighed. "You shouldn't use my magic as a crutch, young witch."

"It's not." Luz summoned a glass of water over to her. "I've been learning magic from Sunset and many others. But… my magic? The one I discovered inch by inch by understanding you little by little? That is gift… from someone that saw me as his son's sister. A step-dad if you will."

"You… would be there for King…"

"For as long as I'm alive," Luz said firmly. "Titan Magic or no." She her grin turned bashful. "But I admit… there's something about talking to you and my dad silently when I have doubts and feeling you both support me… step-dad."

The Titan's eyes went wide, then he laughed a deep, happy rumbling laugh. He laughed so hard he almost fell over, if not for Rarity holding him up until he calmed down. He was still snickering, and wiped a tear of laughter from his good eye. "Step-daughter, huh?"

"Hey, I'm a family girl, what did you expect?" Luz said. "I started with two parents, and now I have three moms, several sisters and a furry little brother that I love with all my heart."

"Three moms?" Sunset asked, blinking.

Luz grinned and winked at her. "Wait till you meet my bio-mom."

The Titan was silent, thoughtfully contemplating Luz's words, while Rarity looked from Sunset to Luz, then back to the Titan. With a long sigh, her shoulders slumped, but a weary smile adorned her face now. "Even I sometimes forget how much our legacy means."

Sunset smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

"Then… I believe I can do that." The Titan looked up at the others as he eventually spoke. "I will entrust what remains of me to Luz, if she'll have me."

"Perfect," Luz said, drinking the rest of her glass, then standing up. "I'll be back in a moment, but there's also someone you'll need to talk to about this." She paused, as if remembering something. "Actually… several someones. Hold on."

The trio watched her leave while the Titan shook his head. "I'm always surprised by how quickly humans grow. Just a few minutes ago she was—" his eyes widened as Rarity grinned.

"Just caught up, did you?" she asked.

"But how…"

His question was interrupted as several voices came from the small hallway just outside the bar's entrance to the main room.

"Espera, mija, you mean to tell me you've been coming to a bar?!"

"It's not just a bar, mom, it's the Isekai!"

"I can't believe you have been coming here too, Eda! I thought this place only—oh my Titan."

"Oh, me." The Titan chuckled as three women, two girls and a young Titan stepped into the bar. Luz was dressed differently, and seemed much younger than earlier. She was holding Amity's hand, who was staring at the trio at the bar with a shocked look.

Behind them, Eda, Ms. Noceda, and Lilith stared at the Titan in surprise, but his eyes went down to the wolf-like creature standing before them.

"D-dad?" King asked.

"In the spirit," the Titan said, standing up and walking up to them. He took Eda and Ms Noceda's hands in his own, then glanced at Luz and King. "Would you four mind coming with me? I have… something to discuss."

As Sunset hurried over to guide Lilith and a confused Amity over to the bar, Rarity stood up and went to the foursome. "I think you four should talk about this somewhere private, come on, I'll show you one of the party rooms we reserve for small events."

Already King was asking a multitude of questions, and Rarity knew it was going to be a bittersweet conversation for all involved… but for some reason, knowing that her friend's true legacy would live on in his children was enough for her to face his future absence with a smile.

Reignition (Firebird Dahlia — Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
Reignition (Firebird Dahlia — Fanfic)
By Wanderer D & Albi

Spitfire breathed out another sigh as she closed the umpteenth folder and put it in the complete file. Only a few performance reviews to go, then she would be free from this Tartarus for another whole year.

She had gotten the hard ones out of the way first at least, leaving the Wonderbolt officers for last. From the notes she kept, none of them had royally screwed up this year, so Spitfire hoped to breeze through them.

She hated that she had to start the new year grading last year’s performances of her teammates. For her, the second Hearth’s Warming and New Year’s ended, she had to get back to work while everypony else got a few more days of rest.

It sucked being the leader sometimes.

Instead of being at home, spending a few extra days with her parents, Spitfire sat at her desk in the Wonderbolts Academy office. The central heating purred, the only sound in the room aside from the scribble of her pencil. She should have been drinking eggnog with her dad, or baking cookies with her mom, or throwing snowballs at her sister.

Spitfire paused her writing as her thoughts turned to Sunset Shimmer, her baby sister. The unicorn in a family of pegasi, and could do no wrong.

No, she can do wrong. She did do wrong. And then she made up for it. Their sibling rivalry was over. They had both come out on top as winners. Neither of them had anything left to prove.
Spitfire hastily scribbled a few more notes into Fleetfoot’s file, slapped it shut, and tossed it onto the pile. Two to go. She opened up Soarin’s and looked over the year he had. He had gotten sloppy a few times, and his top speed was a few seconds slower than the year before. Spitfire new he could bounce back if he applied himself. A few refresher drills would do him some good too.

Open and shut. Spitfire put his file aside and looked at the last one. Her own name looked up at her. Right. Crap.

With another sigh, Spitfire opened her own file up. It was… remarkably bare. Nothing bad, nothing noteworthy either. Her flight times were on par with previous years. Her peers had given her good marks on her stunt performances. She was just…

She was just.

Spitfire pressed a hoof between her eyes. She hated grading herself most of all. Especially since she didn’t give herself anything to work with. Good job, Spitfire, you had an average year! Keep up the average work!

Meanwhile, her sister had defeated some evil alternate dimension version of the Princess of Friendship… after beating three ancient monsters.

Spitfire slouched back in her chair, remembering why she had left the house to come work in the first place. She needed a place where she wouldn’t snap at her sister and all her achievements. It wasn’t a competition. Anymore. And Sunset was by no means flaunting it. And yet, the entire holiday during her visit—during the mini-adventure they had to find a cure for their mother’s sickness, Spitfire looked at Sunset and saw success. And they laughed and joked and play-fought like sister should. But a bitter note lingered throughout all that familial sweetness; one that drew closer and closer to the surface as Sunset’s visit from the human world dragged on.

“It must be nice, getting to be the hero all the time.”

In her head, it had been a flippant jab at worst. But the bitterness inside her had devolved into poison and had coated her words on their way out. Sunset asked what Spitfire meant by it. Spitfire said, ”Nothing.”

It didn’t spin into a fight, but the tension Spitfire had thought was long past them had resurfaced. The next day, Spitfire made the mostly-true excuse that she had paperwork to do. She needed to cool off—to not think about Sunset and her amazing feats.

Staring down at her yearly review, Spitfire thought not of Sunset’s accomplishments, but her own. Or rather, everything she hadn’t done. She had made captain of the Wonderbolts, her dream since she had been a filly. But what had she done with it? In terms of aerial performance, she had been pretty good. Wowed the crowds and kept the Wonderbolts in top shape. But her services to Equestria? Spitfire needed a few extra hooves to count the times she hadn’t been able to do her job.

Her sigh turned into a groan and she pressed a hoof to her temple. Where had she gone wrong? Sunset disappears for ten years and comes back wielding magic almost as strong as Princess Twilight and can stare eldritch horrors in the face. Meanwhile, Spitfire wasn’t even the fastest pegasus in the Wonderbolts.

Her eyes found the blank lines waiting to be filled in. Spitfire gave a slow shake of her head and stood up. “Yeah, I can’t do this sober.”

She stood up and trotted over to her office closet to grab her scarf. A warm pick-me-up from the local pub might put her in a good enough mood to make something up. And maybe go back home and have a level conversation with her sister.

She twisted the knob and pulled the door open, hearing a small chime that reminded her of the bells around Canterlot. She didn’t have time to process that, because inside the closet she found not the small nest of scarves, wing-warmers, and boots, but a narrow, dark corridor with another door at the end. Warm light spilled out from the space at its bottom, and Spitfire could faintly hear music.

Spitfire closed the door. Blinked once, then opened it again, hearing the bell chime once more. The corridor was still there.

“The heck?” Spitfire was (semi) used to strange, magical happenings. Her sister was a unicorn. But this felt… different. Not bad different; her hackles weren’t rising and her wings remained unruffled, but this was definitely something out of the ordinary, even for Equestria.

“I just wanted to get a drink, I really don’t wanna deal with this,” Spitfire whined under her breath. Still, if there was a mysterious corridor in her academy, she should probably deal with it. She pushed forward, keeping her eyes on the thin bar of light, the only thing she could see in this tunnel. When she reached the door at the other end she considered knocking for a moment. But if whatever this was was going to pop in unannounced, then so was she.

Spitfire pressed the golden handle down and pushed the door open. She genuinely had no idea what to expect, but she still never would have expected this.

She had crossed over into what had to be a bar. Red-brick walls greeted her, bathed in a soft-orange glow from the lights overhead. Random knick-knacks hung from the walls: a guitar, swords, and various pictures of creatures Spitfire could never have dreamed up. To her right were a few empty tables. A jukebox sat in the back corner playing a soft, lonely jazz tune.
To the left was the bar counter, also empty save for the bartender and her vast collection of booze and spirits. Spitfire’s eyes fixed on her.

She had never seen the human world, but Sunset had written about it extensively, and about what these humans looked like. Spitfire could never get a clear picture, and them being mostly hairless sounded grotesque to her. But, it had been enough for Spitfire to be able to identify what kind of creature was tending this serendipitous bar inside her closet. However, it wasn’t the kind of creature that had Spitfire entranced. It was her mane. No matter what form she took, the red and gold cascade of hair was instantly recognizable. Her back was to Spitfire as she cleaned a glass and set it back on the shelf.

Spitfire worked her jaw and finally sputtered out, “Sunset, what the heck?”

Sunset finished polishing the frame of the last picture on the wall when she heard the silver bell ring. This sounded like less work than it actually was; after all, her bar (and the walls) adjusted its size depending on needs, so she had to keep it expanded to its full size in order to make sure she cleaned everything, and it had gotten big.

Not Dragon Night-big, thankfully, but it certainly wasn't the cozy little bar most guests got to see when they walked in.

Dismissing the rag into the air, and allowing the bar to slowly adjust down to the more friendly-sized venue where guests would feel more welcome and comfy, she started walking around the tables, stealing a glance at the figure that was silhouetted at the entrance, clearly trying to decide whether they should walk in or not.

All she could tell without enhancing her sight with magic, was that it was a pony, and from the lumps on the side, it was most likely a pegasus. She didn't spot a horn, so there was little chance it was an alicorn.

Just as the pony stepped in, she realized it was a familiar pony, but not one she had at the bar before, despite knowing well who this was. After all, it was rare to find a Rainbow Dash out there who would not gush at the mere idea of meeting this mare, much less talk to her.

Smirking, Sunset walked behind the bar and stared at the drinks on her shelf, while recalling what she knew about the different versions she had heard about. What would Spitfire want to drink? She struck her as a whiskey-type, but maybe some gin would work as well?

As she pondered what to do, she absently picked up a glass and gave it a considering look, deciding that it needed a bit of polishing. (It didn't, but it helped her think.)

A legend in her own right, Spitfire was always a topic of conversation whenever Wonderbolts old and new came up, and even though there were some occasional jabs at how strict she could be, no one ever spoke of her with anything less than the respect she had reached through hard work.

Well. No one but Commander Sparkle, but she was a bit of a unique case.

Much like her regular special-case visitors, this particular Spitfire seemed to carry on her back additional weight, and Sunset could only try to guess at what had caused it. But hopefully they could touch on that and her guest would come out of the bar feeling better in general. She watched as Spitfire stepped in and took in the bar, trying to take it in.

It was then that she heard her name. "Sunset, what the heck?!"

She quickly turned around and grinned at the baffled mare. "Oh, you know me? Sorry, I got distracted with trying to figure out what to serve a Wonderbolt."

She bowed, her smile never failing. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai!" she said, greeting the now-frowning Spitfire. "Come on and grab a seat. What would you like to drink?" She leaned over the bar. "First drink is on the house, of course."

That was usually a good way to break the ice, after all, few creatures in the multiverse would say no to a free drink, but if anything, this particular Spitfire seemed a bit wary, more than intrigued. "Um, Spitfire? You okay there?"

Spitfire continued to stand in the doorway, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She took another look around the bar then back to Sunset. She worked her jaw, her wariness morphing into what looked like annoyance of all things.

Gesturing between herself, Sunset, and then herself again, Spitfire asked, “What? How?” She grit her teeth together. “Why?”

"Well," Sunset said, leaning back a bit. "Free drinks are usually a good way to get visitors to loosen up?"

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it, dodo!” Spitfire finally took a few more steps toward the counter. “What are you doing? How is this—” She gestured to the bar as a whole. “—here? And why, when I need a drink the most, do you of all ponies happen to appear with an entire flipping bar?”

Carefully, Sunset looked down at herself, confirming that she was indeed still quite human and hadn't turned into a dodo. Stranger things had happened, after all.

"This is my bar," she started slowly, "and I think there's some confusion here as to who you're talking to. I'm not the Sunset Shimmer you know. I'm… from another universe altogether. And, um… I try to help ponies, or other creatures that might need an ear, by providing a nice, comfortable environment for them to relax." She grinned a bit uncertainly. "Doesn't seem to be working this time around."

Spitfire’s annoyance turned to exasperation. “Another universe? Seriously? What, was two not enough?” Despite her agitation, Spitfire climb onto a stool, if only to glare at Sunset at a more even height.

Sunset nodded. "Sort of. My bar moves between universes, sometimes I end up in places that are exactly like the Equestria I grew up in, and sometimes, well…" she motioned with a nod of her head at a poster of Princess Sparkle, anthropomorphic lead guitarist and singer of a hard rock band. "...sometimes, it's close enough."

She studied the mare in front of her for a moment, then offered a small smile. "It seems you know your world's Sunset very well if you're so comfortable glaring at a being of unknown origins and power in the eye because she looks familiar." Slowly, she slid a menu between them, pushing it with her fingertips to stand just in front of Spitfire. "Drink?"

Spitfire’s throat constricted like she wanted to yell. She glared at Sunset for a few seconds longer before slouching in her seat and pushing the menu back toward her. “Just get me your strongest whisky. On the rocks.”

"Heh. I knew it." Sunset turned and walked over to consider the top shelf. "For some reason, the moment I saw you thinking about walking in, I thought to myself: this is a mare that will enjoy a good whiskey."

She briefly considered the Wild Pegasus, but with Spitfire being as tense as she was, she'd probably need something not local to break through. The only concern was that her guest seemed to be in the state of mind where the first glass would be gone in a second, chunks of ice or not.

Spitfire steeped her hooves together, her eyes on Sunset but her mind was clearly still somewhere else. “So you’re for real with this different universe thing? I’m guessing… in that one… we’re not… related in anyway?”

The question made Sunset pause. 'MacCutcheon Whiskey it is,' she thought, grabbing the bottle and bringing it over to the counter, alongside a glass with a big piece of ice inside. She poured a few fingers worth of it for Spitfire before grabbing her own and serving herself a good helping as well.

"So that's how it is," she said, sliding the glass over to Spitfire. "No wonder you even had a nickname for me!" She chuckled. "But I'm afraid not. I was an only filly, as far as I know… I uh, never met my biological parents."

“That’s rough.” Spitfire ran a hoof around the rim of the glass. Her demeanor softened immensely as she stared at the drink in front of her. She looked pensive, almost sad. “Can’t be related in that world then. There’s no way our… my… our parents would ever dump either of us.”

Spitfire picked the glass up and pressed it to her lips. Sunset feared she would actually knock the whole thing back in one go. But, the ice seemed to deter Spitfire. She took a long sip, nursed it in her mouth, then swallowed. She shuddered and exhaled in satisfaction, then set the glass back on the counter with a firm thud.

“Yeah. We’re sisters where I come from. And you were the magical unicorn prodigy born to a family of pegasi. So I called you ‘dodo’ since you couldn’t fly. In hindsight, it’s kinda messed up, but, like… I usually mean it in good nature.”

"I wasn't offended, but maybe that's something you'd better bring up with your own Sunset," Sunset said. She raised her glass and swirled the contents a bit, more to hear the ice clinking against the glass than because it needed to cool or mix. "And yeah, it was a bit rough for me when I was little, but now I have a pretty big family." She sipped the whiskey, letting it burn her tongue before swallowing, the smoky aftertaste familiar and comforting. "Hey, maybe you'll get to meet your not-quite-nieces one of these days."

Spitfire’s head jerked up. “My what?”

Sunset grinned. "I have two adopted daughters… three depending on the moment in time, according to the latest one." She materialized a small, framed picture and showed it to Spitfire. "That's my girlfriend, Freya, and those two are Lena and Dani." She chuckled. "They're kinda competitive, but they get along well. How about you two?"

“I…” Spitfire leaned into the picture, eyes squinting. She leaned back, shook her head, and took another sip of her whisky. “Unless she’s keeping something from us, pretty sure she’s still single. And I… I’m not great with foals. Signing autographs and giving flying advice sure, but raising them? I wasn’t the best big sister, I’d hate to think what kind of mom I’d make.”

She leaned over and looked at the photo again. “Celestia, I have so many questions,” she muttered.

"Are they: are you dating a giant rat, is that a duck, and is that one semi-transparent?" Sunset asked with a grin, taking the picture back. "Because the answer is yes, of course." She chuckled, putting the frame down next to the cashier. "I imagine your Sunset would let her sister know if she had kids, so I'm sure you'll be the first to know. Besides her, I mean."

Spitfire finally broke a smile and chuckled as well. “Yeah, maybe. I could rock the cool aunt vibe, I think.”

Sunset nodded. "Not many foals can boast having a legendary Wonderbolt as their auntie."

It was subtle, but Sunset saw Spitfire tense up for a second. The mare took another sip from her glass and glared at the ice cubes drifting around. “What makes you think I’m ‘legendary’?”

Sunset tilted her head, giving the question some serious thought. It seemed like Spitfire was really interested in her answer, despite the attempt to make it sound unimportant.

"It has been my experience with ponies from different worlds that know you, or a version of you, that you have been an inspiration to a lot of them… if not an outright rival for a certain commander," she said. "Wherever your name is brought up, it's usually with that sense of weight that comes alongside very few creatures indeed."

Spitfire raised her glass and swirled its contents around. “Gee, sounds nice.” She hunched her shoulders. “‘Cept that’s not me, is it? The Spitfire in this world is just… fine. Yeah, I’m captain of the Wonderbolts, so what? What have I actually done?”

She looked up at Sunset. There was the faint red flush in her cheeks. The whisky was kicking in. “Fine, you’re not my sister. You’re some Sunset from out in the multiverse—gonna have to process that later. But you know what my sister did? She beat three Sirens at their own game with the power of music! Then, she saves Equestria and the human world from some evil version of Princess Twilight! And then, when I think I have the chance to be the hero for once, actually do something that matters and find a rare flower to stop our mom from dying, she just has to come with me because we’re sisters and we have to stick together! But of course, she’s the one who finds the damn thing!”

Spitfire finally tipped the rest of the drink back, ice and all and slammed the glass on the counter. “I know it’s not a competition! That’s what drove us apart in the first place: we both kept trying to outdo each other! She wanted to be the strongest unicorn ever! Princess Celestia’s prized pupil! I wanted to be the youngest Wonderbolt captain in history! Didn’t get that because our stupid rivalry resulted in her nearly blowing me up! She disappears for ten years, I become captain anyway and for a while, I think I’ve won! And then she comes back and does all these things, and she makes me feel…”

Spitfire wildly flailed her hooves. At some point during her rant, she had stood up on her barstool. She took a deep breath and sank into her seat again. “I thought… if I could be the one to save mom… maybe I’d…”

"Feel worthy of yourself?" Sunset asked gently, taking the bottle to pour more for the mare across from her. "Why do you think you're… losing? Is there anything to lose, really? We Sunsets have screwed up royally across the multiverse… most of the times it's sheer luck, desperate moments and being pulled out of the fire by others. Didn't she ever tell you how she met Princess Twilight?"

She drank the rest of her whiskey, remembering. "I lost myself back then… if it hadn't been for her, I'd be little more than your regular villain needed to be blasted by the Elements… or brought down in another way. If your Sunset hadn't been lucky that time, your claim to fame in the hero-ing business might've been bringing her down."

“Pfft, yeah right.” Spitfire looked at her refilled glasses. “I’m well-aware of your screwups. You blew me up, remember? I mean, the other you. My you. You know what I mean!” She took another sip.

“And it’s not even that I want to be a hero. I just… I want to not be a failure!” There were actually tears welling up in her eyes. “To not feel like a failure when it counted the most! How many times has Equestria been in peril? How many times have I led the Wonderbolts to step up and do some actual good? I’m proud of everything my Sunset accomplished, I really am! But every time Equestria’s in danger, the Wonderbolts fail to help—I fail to help!”

She pushed her glass away. Her raspy voice quivered. “We couldn’t even rally in time to face Nightmare Moon. Couldn’t lift a feather against Discord.” Her tears fell onto the counter. “A dragon trapped us in a water tower. I got beat up by changelings. Tirek sucked the magic out of me! I couldn’t even save a pony falling to their death because she punched me square in the nose!”

Spitfire slumped forward. “I can’t even call myself the fastest pegasus in Equestria anymore. Not when Rainbow Dash broke almost every academy record and can make a Sonic Rainboom going upwards!” She reached for her glass, hesitated, then lowered her hoof.

Sunset let the silence linger for a bit before speaking up. "Don't you think you're being unfair to yourself? Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek… those guys are powerhouses in their own right, magical beings that Celestia can't fight on her own. The Wonderbolts are not limited to just fighting supervillains, or to a single occasion where failure rears its ugly head… when you start judging your own achievements as failures just because someone else did something bigger or flashier, you're taking away all the effort and success you had until now… and everything you did to become who you are is real too."

Spitfire wiped her eyes and looked longingly into the wooden countertop. “I… I don’t know. You’re right; Discord and Tirek are above my paygrade but… I would have liked to have done something against them instead of being sidelined from the jump. I feel like some days I’m just the pretty poster mare for the Wonderbolts.”

"Hmm." Sunset considered the whiskey in her glass, tilting it so that it pooled up a little. "So… what would you change if you could? In order to not feel like the poster mare, I mean."

Spitfire looked up at her, unfocused eyes dumbfounded. “Uhh…” She put her hooves together as she thought. “I… I don’t know. I guess… I just want to be able to say I did something as the Wonderbolt captain. One solid victory I can claim under the title. That I’m not just average.”

"I've mostly been a solo-act when it comes to adventuring or doing crazy stunts," Sunset said after a moment. "But what I have learned from watching other, much better leaders than I, is that their value is not that easy to describe."

Sunset started pacing behind the bar as she spoke. "You became the Captain of the Wonderbolts, and you're the one Rainbow Dash looks up to, right? You're the one the Wonderbolts follow… nopony else. That's not something that a random mare or stallion can just do, and you're still early in your career. If you're already commanding this level of respect and admiration from others, what's stopping you from reaching greater heights?"

She shrugged. "So Rainbow Dash can perform a Sonic Rainboom… did that take your wings away? Aren't you the one that coordinates the stunts that she's trying to master? Speed is not everything for a Wonderbolt, is it?"

“Nooo…” Spitfire dragged the ‘o’ out for a second and it almost sounded like a question.

"The correct answer is: Hell no, Ma'am!" Sunset said, grinning. "Speed is important, I get it, but come on, don't tell me that when you wanted to become the Captain it was just so you could fly fast? If that was it, why would you venture in to take on enemies like Chrysalis, or Nightmare Moon? What makes a Wonderbolt a Wonderbolt?"

“Agility, daring, determination,” Spitfire listed off automatically, rising higher in her seat witch each word. “I wanted to be a Wonderbolt not just to be the fastest, but the greatest. Not just in all of Equestria, but…” She let out a sheepish snort. “Between the two of us.”

Spitfire gave a bitter chuckle and ran a hoof through her mane. “I tried to tell myself it wasn’t a competition, but part of me was always jealous of you. I let our sibling rivalry fuel my drive to be the best. And then you left and I thought you were dead and I became the captain and thought, that’s it. I won. I got to the top. But you came back… and we made up. And thinking I was at the top while you came back and started having all these adventures and victories again made my accomplishments feel trivial. But… maybe you’re right. I’m still young. I just need a new drive.”

"You do know that feeling like you won because you thought I croaked is kinda messed up right? Just sayin'…" Sunset smirked.

Spitfire snorted. “It wasn’t—” She snorted then laughed, wiping her eyes clean of the last remaining tears. “I mean yeah, when you say it like that! It’s… complicated. I only thought you were dead because it made me less angry with you.” Spitfire grew sober. “If you were still alive, it made you disappearing without a trace… without telling mom and dad anything hurt more.”

"But it seems like you two have… sort of made up in a way, right?" Sunset said. "Now that you have new challenges before you, doesn't it make more sense to let that competitiveness between you go and, you know, face things together? Like sisters?"

“It should.” Spitfire heaved a sigh. “I always wanted to be a Wonderbolt, but being better than her was the fire that fueled that dream. I want to let that competitiveness go but… how do I climb higher without it?”

"The easy way out of this would be to say that Rainbow Dash is a good pony to compete with, but as a Captain, I think you have even better opponents." Sunset looked Spitfire in the eye. "Every other famous Wonderbolt Captain. Your own heroes. Your mentors. Put them to shame, don't just be the Captain, be the best one. Help your troops grow and do stunts and missions that no pony has ever done before. Don't you have some crazy signature move?"

Sunset watched Spitfire’s dilated eyes widen. “The Firebird Dahlia,” she whispered. “You’re right.”

Spitfire jumped up and slammed her hooves on the counter. “You’re right! Why am I throwing myself a pity party? I’m gonna make sure my Firebird puts Rainbow’s Rainboom to shame! She may be fast but she still has a lot to learn! And I’ll drill my Wonderbolts so hard, they’ll fly circles around whatever threat tries to attack Equestria next. You said there were more Spitfires out there? Well you know what? I’m gonna be the best one!”

"Make it something nocreature will ever forget!" Sunset cheered her on. "And hell, I'll host a multiverse of Spitfires here at the bar so you can compare notes." She raised her glass. "That way you can plan on how to show them all up."

With a mischievous grin, Spitfire grabbed her glass and clinked it against Sunset’s. “I like the way you think, dodo.” She tossed back the rest of her whisky. When she set her glass down, she smacked her lips and said nonchalantly, “That probably wasn’t a great idea.”

Sunset chuckled, following suit. She grimaced as the whiskey burned her throat on the way down. "Whooo." She coughed. "It's fun to do occasionally, just don't do it with this one too often." She shook her head to clear it. "So, I'm dodo too now? What should I call you?"

Spitfire laughed softly. “Well, my Sunset calls me ‘Spits’. She couldn’t say my full name as a foal, so she only said the first half, and it kinda stuck. I’m partial to ‘Ma’am’ or ‘Captain’ as well,” she said, lifting her chin in playful haughtiness.

"Captain it is," Sunset said, soberly. Then she grinned. "When we're in public. You're Spits here too, if you don't mind… it's too good a nickname, and the story is adorable. Besides, I've got a Captain Morgan here that wants to meet you, unless you have plans? I should tell you, time does not pass outside the bar while we're in here."

Spitfire tipped her glass toward Sunset. “I mean, if you’re offering. I would love to meet a fellow captain.”

Sunset nodded, grabbing two new glasses. "Well, get comfortable, he inspires long conversations."

"Sisters, huh?" Sunset considered the wall of pictures, the frame containing the most recent one she had taken with Spitfire in her hand.

She knew there were versions of her out there that had siblings, but she hadn't had any. Her closest family had originally almost been Celestia, then her friends in Canterlot High, and finally her daughters. A family she had built over the years, but none by blood.

When she was younger, studying under Celestia, she'd often wondered what it would be like to have a sister or brother of her own. Would they admire her, or be jealous? Would they be supportive or mean to her?

It had been a fun thing to think about… how she'd awe or amaze them. She'd not only be the perfect big sister, she'd be the hero! It'd never occurred to her back then that sibling rivalry could be a thing that could affect the course of her entire life and relationships, or how hard it could be to get past that for all involved.

Sunset chuckled, hanging the picture up. Spitfire looked a lot more like the one she remembered: confident and ready for anything. A big difference from when she had walked into the bar.

Whatever Spitfire and her sister's issues were, she had the feeling that they'd be okay now that Spitfire's focus was on her own future, rather than showing up Sunset, and ideally with a healthier outlook on being competitive without destroying that relationship they had so recently revived.

Spitfire had been on the verge of discovering this on her own, Sunset was sure, but she was glad that she had been able to provide the Wonderbolt with a good place to vent, rant, and get everything out of her chest without risking hurting someone else however unintentionally. Especially remembering just how… sensitive… she had been shortly after being Harmony-Blasted by Twilight and the others.

It would be a process to achieve those high ambitions that Spitfire had set for herself, but Sunset was sure that the legendary Wonderbolt Captain would be more than up to the challenge.

And of course doing a Spitfire night would probably fuel that fire.

Author's Note

I've wanted to do this crossover for over a year, so I'm very honored that Albi found some time to work with me on this. It's not often that I see a good sibling story with Sunset and Firebird Dahlia is such a departure from the insistent (and misguided) tendency to sibling-ize Sunset and Sunburst.
Anyway, outside of my disdain for certain types of sibling-assumptions, Dahlia delivers a heartwarming story of sibling rivalry and discovery that I have seldom seen matched here in fimfic. Be sure to give it a try.

As for Albi, they'd like you to know that this chapter takes place and helps bring closure to the unfinished Ice Iris which unfortunately will probably never be finished.

A Goddess' Wish [Mother's Day Special]

A Goddess' Wish [Mother's Day Special]
By Wanderer D

It had rained the night before, and in the early morning, the air in Tokyo felt chill and pure on mornings like these, and she took a deep, deep breath and let it out slowly as she stared out into the city.

"Ah, Motosu-san!" her kindly neighbor, an old lady, bent down by the weight of years, yet energetic enough to manage all the kids in the neighborhood greeted her. She was, as always, tending her plants. "Good morning! I see you are out early today."

"Good morning, Sato-san," she greeted in return, offering a gentle smile and a slight bow. "Yes, I am now headed over to visit Urano-chan."

The old woman's smile turned from gentle to understanding in an instant. "Ah. Be sure to greet her for me."

Yuka Motosu simply bowed in acknowledgment, then turned and walked away. There was no need for more words. Mrs. Sato had always had a soft spot for Yuka's daughter, Urano, when she was alive. Although Urano would never get her nose out of her books, and before she had gotten her job at the library, she had always been welcome to sit with old Sato-san, who would talk for hours while the oblivious young woman would keep reading.

It was an arrangement that had suited them both for the longest time, until one fateful day, an earthquake has collapsed an entire bookshelf on top of Urano, ending her life in an instant.

For almost a year the absence of her daughter had made Yuka feel dead inside. She had visited the grave every morning of every day, be there rain, snow, or sunshine. It didn't matter if she risked getting sick, and it didn't matter if her coworkers looked at her in pity.

Her life had been hard to pick up when her husband had passed away, but she'd managed to persevere for the sake of her daughter. But without her…

It had all changed one day, however, when a small miracle had happened. She had been visiting Urano's grave when she had noticed a young, beautiful girl, praying at the grave. It had been very strange to see someone like that. She had studied the area around them to look for her parents, but the young (obviously foreign) girl seemed to be there on her own.

Had she perhaps known Urano from the library? But how had she ended up here on her own, this early?

The girl had talked with her for a little bit, and then, out of no-where, had apologized to her for things that.. it was then that she realized her daughter was gone, yet not… that somehow a miracle beyond anything she could have ever hoped had happened, and she had been granted a magical, ephemeral moment from the universe to let her know that… It was okay. Her daughter was out there, changed, but still there.

She remembered the young girl so clearly, it was almost as if she could see her right now, standing next to a foreigner woman with the most fabulous hair Yuka had seen.

She blinked. Why was the young girl not wearing the same clothes as her memory? Could it be…

"Hello, mom," the young girl said, smiling sweetly at her with tears on the edge of her eyes. "Happy Mother's Day. This is Lady Rarity, and we have a few things to tell you…"

After the spell the nobles had cast had restructured and cleaned the Lower City, it had become relatively normal to see merchants and visitors walking around and even haggling for small low-level feystones of creatures that did not exist in their dutchy, but this guest was not a merchant.

Having waited outside of her workplace, the woman that was now blocking her path was dressed differently than any other woman she had seen before. Tall and strong-looking, she carried a sword at her belt, and exuded an air of capable danger. Her clothes were simple under an unusual, almost-glowing armor, and her eyes studied Effa and her surroundings quickly and efficiently.

They were in a small alley, close enough for Effa to call for help, but far enough that, if she did, it would cost her. Effa gulped, trying to read the golden-brown eyes of the tall warrior woman.

"You are Effa, correct?" the woman asked, her tone clearly indicating she knew exactly who she was.

Despite this, Effa straightened, hopefully showing none of the fear that was eating away at her. "Yes."

"Good." The woman grinned. "You have a nice look in your eyes, Effa. I see where a certain archduke candidate got them."

Her words put Effa on edge. Somehow she knew!

The woman pulled out a letter and passed it over. "Calm down. I'm a friend. This is for you."

Effa blinked in surprise, but that did not make her lower her guard. Keeping one eye on the warrior, she took the letter, noticing the nice quality of the paper, and the small emblem on it. Her daughter's emblem.

A bit less wary, she opened the letter and scanned it quickly. Then read it again, not believing her eyes. She looked up at the warrior with wide, hopeful eyes. "I-is this true?"

The woman nodded, her grin still there. "It's nearby. She needs some time to get there on her own, but…"

"Please…" Effa said, throwing caution to the wind. If it was real… if the letter was true, she wasn't going to miss her chance. "Show me the way…" she hesitated.

"Kassandra," the woman answered. "The name's Kassandra."

They started walking together and Effa glanced at the warrior woman. "Are you one of her… um, the knights?"

"Nah," Kassandra shook her head. "I'm a friend of hers through a mutual acquaintance. When I heard what she was planning, I couldn't let her do it alone, so I offered to help."

Effa glanced at her curiously. Even though the woman stuck out of the crowd like a Trombe in a field of roses, she moved in such a way that it didn't draw the attention of others. She was very skilled, as many times people waved at Effa, but didn't seem to spot her companion. "Why offer to help?"

Kassandra's grin became softer. "I was separated from my mother when I was a child of ten," she said, glancing at her. "It took me years and many adventures to reconnect with her. How could I not help?"

The place where Effa walked into was nothing like she had ever seen before. Strange paintings adorned the walls, there were things and devices she could barely understand, but this was no place for a commoner!

Besides them, there were only two people here; one standing behind the bar, the other, a woman dressed in strange clothing, with brown hair tied in a ponytail. Both of them had apparently been talking when they had arrived.

Effa hesitated, but Kassandra unwaveringly led her in, and then waved a greeting at the woman behind the bar. "Sunset! I found Effa."

Effa studied the woman named Sunset, as something tickled her memory. Sunset… wasn't that the name of the noble that Lutz and Rozemyne had met before she had been adopted by the Aub? It made sense… it was a noble that knew Rozemyne before she had become one herself! And much like Damuel must be someone that had kept the secret!

Upon realizing she was standing in front of a noble, Effa made a move to kneel, but Sunset spoke up. "No need for that, Effa, you're our guest today."

Effa blinked in surprise. "I'm… thankful, mylady, but—"

"None of that either," Sunset said, smiling as she walked around the bar and smiled warmly at her. "Rozemyne is my beloved student, you know? I couldn't treat her mom any less than as part of the family."

This was the first time in her entire life that Effa could have kissed another woman. Instead, she smiled shyly and looked down. "Thank you. But won't Aub Ehberfest object to that?"

"Not here," Sunset said firmly. "Now, come. I hope you don't mind sharing a table for now… I'll bring you something to drink. For now, let me introduce you two, this is Yuka Motosu. Yuka, this is Effa, who I was telling you about earlier."

It was nerve-wracking having a noble serve her. It was just tea and snacks, but Effa felt like she was going to faint! What-how had Rozemyne done this?! Even Damuel, as kind and understanding as he was, would never—

Yuka stood up and bowed slightly with a sad smile. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Um," Effa stammered, blinking at the slightly familiar move. Wasn't that the bowing Rozemyne had done? Probably a noble and temple thing. She bowed similarly. "T-the pleasure is mine, my lady."

The woman smiled. "I'm not a noble either, please, sit down and let's talk."

Effa nodded, sitting carefully across from the other woman as Lady Sunset returned to serve them tea and a plate of cookies. Rather than let anxiety dominate her with the noble doing this for her, she studied Yuka instead.

If she wasn't a noble, Yuka was certainly not a lower-city commoner. Her skin was clean, and her clothes were of good quality, if unusual. She probably was a rich merchant. Maybe she was from another Dutchy where the trends were different?

She made a mental note to draw the design when she got home. Maybe she could get some new ideas that might help Tuli, herself, and more importantly, Rozemyne. Where was she anyway?

As if reading her mind, Yuka spoke again, reaching out to Effa with an envelope. "Rozemyne asked me to give you this before we talked. She said it would help put your mind at ease."

Effa took the letter, feeling like she was being judged, despite having just met Yuka. For not being a noble, that was a very noble-like attitude!

As if realizing what she was doing, Yuka sighed and closed her eyes. Composing herself. "I apologize… I know it was rude to look at you as I did."

Effa noded, still wary of the whole situation, then opened the letter. She immediately recognized Rozemyne's beautiful handwriting. There was not much written there, just a simple message:

I will be there soon. Please feel at ease at the Isekai. It's a special place where nothing bad can happen. You will not be mistreated or threatened. No one will hear things they shouldn't.

Yuka is someone you can definitely trust! She won't tell anyone our secret, so trust me, and trust her.

Well. As far as communications from Rozemyne went, that wasn't the worst, even if she wished her daughter had been more forthcoming with information.

"It's odd that Rozemyne wouldn't have introduced us in person," Effa said. "How do you know her?"

"The truth is," Yuka said, "that I lost my child some time ago, and well, from what I've heard, she was very similar to your own daughter. I met Rozemyne a year or so after losing mine, when I was… laying flowers at the cemetery."

Immediately Effa's guard lowered a little. Not completely, but a little. She carefully sipped her tea, enjoying the flavor, but not forgetting to practice her manners. This was the best chance she would get outside of help from Tully. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said gently. "How was she similar?"

Yuka smiled. "Well, she loved books. If she got her nose in one, there was little anyone could do to get her attention back."

That got a laugh out of Effa. "That does sound familiar. Myne is the same way. When it comes to books she'll get her hands dirty and work until she collapses, but other manual labor was too unimportant."

Yuka nodded, smiling. "Yes. My daughter, Urano, was the same way. I tried to teach her many crafts, or encourage her to dance or play a musical instrument, or do sports… but her heart and soul were always within those pages." She looked down. "She loved them so much…"

Effa's heart melted at the look in Yuka's eyes. The other woman's lips were pressed together and tears were welling up.

"I miss her so much."

Fighting back tears of her own, Effa forgot about propriety (something that could get her killed in certain situations) and reached across the table to hold Yuka's hand.

The other woman sniffled and nodded with a small smile of thanks. "I like to think that life goes on somewhere else, and wherever my Urano went after… I hope that she's happy." She gave Effa a very slight shug. "Speaking of which, I'm told you've been separated from your daughter… I can't imagine going through that."

Effa nodded, gathering her thoughts. Yuka had lost her daughter… in a way it was similar, yet not. She couldn't see Rozemyne outside of very few, very specific, very, very, very calculated circumstances. and even then couldn't act as a mother… but she could at least see her. She could make sure her little girl looked well, and although she hadn't been trained well enough to visit the castle, the odd visit to the temple allowed her a glimpse of Rosemyne, and how she was becoming a wonderful young noble woman.

Remembering that, she let go of Yuka's hand and straightened up. "Yes. Although my daughter is alive, I cannot see her when I want, and she cannot visit me. If we meet each other… I cannot be her mother, or address her as such. For her own protection, and for that of our family, I must act like a stranger to her."

"How sad," Yuka said softly. "Rozemyne clearly loves you very much as well. It's such a shame that we can't be with our loved ones due to forces outside of our control."

Effa simply pressed her lips. "We had to pretend she had died. And we had to tell everyone the same thing to protect her and the rest of us—" she stopped herself, curling her hands into trembling fists. She had kept that inside for years now, and speaking about it to a stranger was both nerve-wracking and freeing. But mostly nerve-wracking. "I trust Rozemyne when she says that here I can speak freely, but out there… if anyone hears this... "

"They won't," Yuka said firmly. "Not from here, and definitely not from me. I would never betray Rozemyne like that, nor you."

Effa looked up to see Yuka struggling to hide tears.

"I can't be with my daughter…" Yuka said in an almost-whisper. "She is gone from my life now, and even before that she was distant and—" She took a shuddering breath, letting it out slowly, visibly fighting to control herself until, with a sigh, she slumped slightly. "Even though you are not allowed to be her mother in public, she is there, she's alive, and she knows you are her mother."

A crystalline chime announced the door to the bar opening, and a few seconds later a familiar young girl stepped into the room, dressed in a finely-made black and ochre school uniform that Effa immediately recognized as the one worn in the Noble Academy. The young girl, a cute girl with golden, honey-like hair and grass-green eyes glanced around curiously before a familiar voice called out to her.

"Philine, I told you I'm fine on my own."

"My Lady, you should always have one of your retainers with you at all times!"

Behind the girl, Rozemyne stepped in, dressed similarly, only with even a better quality of materials.

"You say that, but you really just want to visit Khisanth and Mirage, don't you?" Rozemyne asked.

When the girl, Philine, blushed and looked down, everyone there knew that Rozemyne had hit the nail on the head, so to speak. "Um… would that be okay?"

"That's not a problem, Philine," Sunset said, smiling at the young girl. "Just head out the door. It'll drop you off with Mirage."

Philine looked ecstatic then remembered herself and glanced at Rozemyne, who sighed. "Go ahead, I'll meet you here when you're done."

"Thank you, My Lady!" Philine gasped, then bowing to everyone in the room, she happily turned around and left. The bell chimed again and the sound of a door closing reached everyone's ears. Sunset and Rozemyne shared a giggle before the former nodded at Yuka and Effa.

"And on that note," Yuka said, startling Effa, who had been distracted by her daughter and her assistant's shenanigans, "I should go. It was a pleasure to meet you, Effa."

Effa also stood, smiling. "And you too, Yuka."

She watched as the other woman walked towards Rozemyne and gave her a firm, but warm, hug before leaving the bar. Somehow the action hit her deep within her heart, like she was seeing a family part, odd as it was.

"Mom? Thanks for coming," Rozemyne said, wiping little tears from her eyes. She had relaxed her speech, but her education in noble society was such that even now it sounded more refined than before. "I'm sorry I made you wait."

Effa smiled, shaking her head. It was the first time in a long time she had taken a good look at her daughter, and Myne was looking much healthier than ever before. "I'm just glad I get to see you. Thank you for arranging this."

Rozemyne grinned that familiar, spirited smile of hers. "Sunset decided it was a good time to celebrate Mother's Day."

Rozemyne's smile never dwindled as she gave Effa a small box with one of those strange symbols of hers on the lid. "These can be shared with Dad and the others if you want, but always remember I made them specially for my mom."

Yuka sat down on her sofa. The TV was on with the news, but the volume was low enough just for it to work as background noise as she took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. Things had gone very different than she had expected in her life.

When Urano had passed away, it had turned into nothing but dull grays and monotony. But somehow her daughter lived on. Different in many ways, but still living. It gave her hope that life could get better. Meeting Effa had been heartwarming, even if this other woman was now her daughter's biological mother, as crazy as that sounded, she knew that her daughter was loved… adored even by her family.

It had been a short conversation, but what had mattered was Effa's very evident love for her child. Hopefully Rozemyne's other mothers were just as devoted.

Yuka sighed and massaged her temple. "Two biological mothers, and two adoptive mothers. All at the same time. You really have a crazy life, Urano." She snorted at how crazy that sounded, even to herself, knowing it was true, then reached into her purse and pulled out a box identical to the one Rozemyne had given Effa.

The Kanji on the lid read: "For Mom"

With a soft smile she opened the box and found several neat rows of cookies inside.

Urano might not be with her anymore, and her daughter might have changed in more ways than one, but she was still there, and she loved her too.

And that love from her daughter was all she needed.

Elizabet's sighed with a deep sense of contentment and the surety of a future existing for earth. She knew she was dying, but she had done everything she could and thus had no regrets. Her legacy... the human race... would live on. She sighed again, ignoring the warnings and beeping of her suit as the devastated Earth and distant clouds of plague slowly faded from view.

She had never failed to believe in their cause, or second-guessed the necessary lies and hope she had given the people of Earth as the plague devastated everything around them. As soldiers fought and died for every inch of ground as the world crumbled around them through the actions of the tiny percent of people that controlled mega corporations so powerful and wealthy that they had steered the fate of humanity and all beings on Earth towards a devastating almost-extinction.

Before, she was filled with hope. Now, she was filled with contentment of a job well-done. Her last message to the future daughters she would never meet was recorded. Things would progress as intended until nature took its course and change happened… and her daughters were born a thousand years in the future.

And she knew this certainty because of a fluke in the world. Something so unexpected, so… unscientific that it had blindsided her completely and altered her understanding of everything. She had been amazed. She had been angry. She had been shown that her sacrifice, and that of everyone else meant something.

And now she could rest.

"I'm telling you this is not how this works! Gah! Por que no me entiendes? Esta mujer esta muerta! Just let her go."

"Bah! Metiche! I did not ask you to come with me. Besides, this is a personal favor."

Or she would… if not for the voices.

When she opened her eyes, she saw two curious beings. One, in a dark-gray, almost black poncho, was very clearly an anthropomorphic wolf, with red eyes and a dangerous air about him. The other, also with a dangerous air to her, was a female skeleton in a red, velvet dress, with a large winged hat decorated with orange flowers of some kind. Somehow, despite being a skeleton, her female figure was clearly filling out the dress itself. Her skeletal face was decorated with carefully painted swirls and makeup, reminding her of the ancient Mexican skull decorations. And despite the fact that she was clearly a skeleton, her mouth moved as if it were flesh and blood. It didn't make sense… but it somehow felt right.

It was then that Elisabet remembered that she was supposed to be dead. She looked down at herself, and panic shot up her spine in a second. She wasn't wearing her environmental suit! She turned around, wide-eyed and—there she was.

Slumped over, observing the world around her with eyes that couldn't see anymore, her body would remain there forever.

"Oh." Elisabet said. She looked down at her arms, noticing for the first time that they were slightly translucent.

"Ves? Ya se dio cuenta. Let's just get it over with," the wolf growled.

"You've been too grumpy ever since that cat—"

"I will see him again!" A pause. "Eventually."

Elisabet turned to face her visitors once more, just starting to realize as well, that she should have been freaking out, or at least surprised at seeing them, but instead it just felt… normal. Like it was perfectly reasonable for a sexy female skeleton and a grumpy anthropomorphic wolf to just be there when she died.

Which could only mean…

"Death?" she asked.

"Yes?" they both answered, turning to look at her.

There was an awkward silence until the wolf sighed. "You can simply call me Lobo."

"And you can call me Lady Micte," the skeleton added, smiling.

Smiling. Not grinning. It was a genuine smile coming from a skeleton that shouldn't be able to do that.

As if Lady Micte could read her mind, she shrugged. "It does throw some people off. Especially if I'm not their regular Death."

"Donde esta la Muerte local?" The wolf asked.

"We have a 'local' death?" Elisabet asked, blinking and thanking her Spanish lessons hadn't faded altogether.

"Well, they're busy," Lady Micte said in a matter-of-fact tone, waving with her hand at the massive cloud of self-replicating murderous-ai-controlled machines. "So they didn't mind if I picked up a random soul as a favor."

The wolf threw up his hands in exasperation and muttered something about seeing to the last few living beings on the planet before walking away from them and fading into the air like an apparition.

Which, for all Elisabet knew, was what they all were.

Lady Micte rolled her brown eyes in amusement before turning them to regard Elisabet warmly. "My, but you have been through a lot, haven't you dear?"

"Oddly enough it feels like I still am," Elisabet said, eliciting a small laugh out of Death, who offered her her arm. Taking it, they both started walking towards a door that hadn't been there before. "Wait… is that—"

The door opened. The silver bell chimed. The bar felt solid. Real. She turned to stare at Lady Micte, who smiled and nodded. "Welcome back. Sunset is the one that asked me to bing you here."

"But why?" Elisabet asked as she followed Micte into the bar itself and stopped, staring.

"It's Mother's Day at the Isekai," Micte responded. "The one arm-wrestling Aloy is my daughter, Maya."

Both were dressed like aztec warriors. Or… similar. Maya, Death's daughter, was wearing an armor decorated with feathers and a complicated eagle-like headpiece, obviously crafted as such, while Aloy's armor was decorated with similarly tribal adornments, but the armor itself was an amalgam of machine pieces, as if a hunter had destroyed them and claimed their 'bones' to make their own armor.

It was surreal just seeing Aloy. It was like looking through a mirror that turned her reflection into a stronger, brasher and much fitter young version of herself. Aloy couldn't be older than twenty five, but Elisabet knew that she hadn't looked that good in her younger years.

Next to the two arm-wrestling young adults, was another version of herself. Although she knew Beta was the same age as Aloy, her shy nature and the way she kept looking around the bar in awe and evident interest made her look a little younger. But even if she was less visibly enthusiastic than her sister, it was obvious she was also enjoying herself watching the shenanigans of the warriors.

It was Beta who spotted her first, and gasped.

The distraction threw Aloy off—who was already struggling to keep her elbow straight—and her hand slammed on the table. Maya literally backflipped and struck a pose, both fists in the air. "Woo! I won!"

Aloy didn't argue, she was now also staring straight at Elisabet with her mouth open in surprise.

"Hey, mom!" Maya called out, skipping across the bar to take Death's other arm. "Feliz Dia de las Madres!"

"Thank you, mija, come on, let's find a table and let these three talk," Lady Micte responded, giving Elisabet a smile and a pat on the hand.

The pair walked off while Elisabet stumbled into the bar. She spotted Sunset, who was grinning at her, behind the bar. "Sunset? Is this your doing?"

Sunset shrugged. "Hey. Yes and no. A couple of visitors reminded me I needed to do this. A certain version of the Goddess Bast reminded me that I owed her for tricking her into giving up three possible immortal bodies, and settled for me organizing an interdimensional Mother's Day… so here we are."

"Wait, so what you're saying is…" Beta looked from Sunset to Elisabet. "That's… really you? But how is that possible?"

"It's definitely not science, if that's what you're using as reference," Sunset said, bringing up menus over to their table. "Let me know if you want anything, alright? I need to check on Rozemynes moms."

"Who?" Beta asked.

"She explained it to me the first time," Aloy said, glancing around. "Sometimes you can… yeah, look at that table over there."

"It's empty."

"Look closely."

Elisabet followed Beta's gaze and stared at a table that seemed to be vacant. Then, for a moment the air around it shifted, as if she was looking at a mirage, and she could see two women, one Japanese, one caucasian but with oddly green hair sitting there and talking… and then they were gone.

For one brief moment, the bar seemed to suddenly be full of people talking. A woman with a mass of red hair and two young girls, the youngest one looking as feral and red-headed as her, and the other older one, thinner, well-kept and blonde.

Nearby another table shimmered for a moment, revealing a female-looking duck humanoid in a pilot's getup sitting with three younger ones dressed in red, blue and green each before once more they all faded away.

"Ghosts?" Elisabet asked, blinking.

"Of course not!" Beta said, laughing. "There's no such thing as…" She trailed off, glancing at Elisabet uncomfortably.

"Ghosts?" Elisabet asked again, smiling.

"They're not ghosts," Aloy said. "Sunset explained it to me the first time I was here. It's like… collapsed time and space, they exist in the same place as we are, but not exactly. There could be any number of people around us, but they are not aware of us, or us of them… it's kind of a way to have several people be able to have private conversations in the same room and right to each other. The only ones that are aware of all of them are Sunset and her staff."

"I've a headache now," Beta muttered, sitting down heavily on her chair.

Elisabet could empathize. Her rational mind, as open as it was to experiences and ideas, was still tied to the confines of science and laws as they understood them. They were experiencing a 4th Dimensional event and being cognizant about it taking place.

"I'd probably also feel a headache if I was alive."

And on that thought, she sat down between her clones.

The three of them stared at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time, until…

"Well, you said you wanted to have a daughter," Aloy said, referencing the message Elisabet had just recorded and Aloy would hear a thousand years in the future. "Surprise?" She grinned a very familiar, uncomfortable grin. "Now you have two?"

Elisabet didn't answer immediately, but after a moment, she reached out and drew both young women into a hug. "So I do. And I have seen a little of what you have gone through and I am so very proud of you both."

After a few seconds she felt the arms of both young women wrap around her too.

"We've been wanting to meet you for so long," Aloy whispered.

"I've wanted to meet you too," Elisabet said, sighing as she let them go and settled down. She glanced at the menu. "How about we get something to drink first?"

"We have so many questions…" Beta said. "About your work… your life…"

"And I want to know more about the world before… were the Pangea holos really that good?" Aloy added.

"How in the world…" Elisabet stared at her, then started laughing.

"It's always fun to have these many guests," Sunset said.

"I have to admit I am impressed," the Goa'uld, Bast, said. She narrowed her eyes, concentrating as she gazed into the empty-yet-full bar. "And you have dealt with my request perfectly, if in a completely baffling manner."

Sunset grinned. "I had been wanting to organize something like this for some time now, so you provided me the perfect excuse."

The Goa'uld sighed as she stood up to leave. "My life changed after our first interaction. I am still annoyed that you took the sirens from me, but I have since reached out to Princess Celestia on your recommendation. We uncovered a plot to destroy me and Sekhmet… you have my thanks."

"Well, I was a bit underhanded," Sunset admitted.

"Aren't we all?" the alien remarked, making her way to the door. "Thank you for sharing some stories with me. I am satisfied with how you reach out to mothers and children. Our arrangement is fulfilled. I shall depart now, and go back to my duties."

"Say hi to SG-1 for me!" Sunset called as the doorbell chimed with the departing Goa'uld.

Sunset glanced around the bar. Unlike her visitors, she could see everyone she had gathered as if they were all existing in the exact time and space, rather than in their own realities. She usually didn't do this, but it allowed all of them to comfortably talk without feeling the need to hold back lest others hear them.

Dela Duck and her boys were having an animated discussion, while Robyn and Mehb were showing Moll food from different places, each plate delighting and surprising the elder Wolfwalker.

Luz caught her eye and waved before returning to her animated chat with Eda and Camila, who were sitting alongside Vee and King.

Neko Haru and her mom were talking at their own tiny table, with the former already showing signs of her first baby, and the latter showering with advice and love.

Rozemyne talked about her life at the Royal Academy with Effa, who hadn't had a chance to speak to her in years. Aloy and Beta both took turns regaling Elisabet with their deeds.

"Hey," a familiar voice made her look up from her musings, and she blinked in surprise.

"Freya?" Sunset asked, walking closer to greet her lover. She took the Burmecian's claws in her hands and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I wasn't expecting you here tonight."

"Kassandra found me. She and I will take care of the bar tonight, so why don't you celebrate Mother's Day as well?"

She nodded over to the other side of the bar, where a table had been set by Rarity, who stood smiling next to Lena, Dani and… "Celestia?"

"Go on, love," Freya insisted. "We've got you covered."

"Are you sure?" she asked. She wasn't comfortable leaving the work to everyone else.

"We insist," Rarity said. "Go spend time with your mom and your daughters, Sunset. There's never a wrong time, but if you're celebrating Mother's Day here, there's no way in the Omniverse we're letting you miss out."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Don't worry. Ahsoka, Kuro, and White are also coming to help," Kassandra said, giving her an encouraging thumbs-up. "This is your day too, don't miss out."

Before Sunset could protest further, both of her arms were entangled in her daughters', as both teenagers started dragging her away from the bar.

"Come on mom," Lena said, grinning as she pulled her towards the table. "The tea will cool down and granny Celestia is waiting."

"Granny Celestia?" Sunset chuckled as she was pulled over to the table.

"She told us not to call her that," Dani said, "but of course we will. I always wanted a grandma."

"I suppose there's worse things to be called," Celestia said, overhearing them and standing up to walk slowly up to Sunset. The alicorn tilted her head and smiled.

Sunset chuckled and drew her in with a hug, feeling the girls latch to her sides as well as soft wings wrapped around them all. "Thanks for coming, Mom."

"Always."

Author's Note

Mother's Day in Mexico is always celebrated on the 10th of May, rather than on a set day of the week, like in the US or Japan when it's always on the second Sunday of May. Not that that matters to the Isekai, since Sunset could pick up someone on the 10th, the 14th, the 7th and mid-november at the same time.

I thought of this one a bit to late to visit all the characters interacting with their mothers as I would've liked, but I hope you enjoy a couple of looks into how that went for a few of our guests.

However, the 10th is the day I grew up celebrating, so… Happy Mother's Day, early and late, for all moms out there.

*I don't remember ever seeing a name for Rozemyne's original pre-reincarnation mother in the light novels, and a search came up with nothing, thus I named her Yuka after the Japanese voice actress for Rozemyne, Yuka Iguchi.

Unstoppable (The Sweetie Chronicles: Fragments)

Sunset's Isekai
Unstoppable (The Sweetie Chronicles: Fragments)
By Wanderer D

Leaving the Wasteland behind (hopefully for the last time) Sweetie Belle allowed herself to fade out, the wavering figures of Lil Pip and Midnight Shimmer slowly dissipating into nothingness. She expected the sudden rush of moving to another world, but for some reason that did not happen.

She waited a little bit longer.

When she finally opened her eyes she was… nowhere. Darkness spread all around her, and the fae whispers were conspicuously silent. Was she… dead? Was that last jump the one that had finalized her travels somehow?

After a moment, a soft, purple light gently grew in front of her, until a very familiar pony stood there, smiling at her. Unlike the original pony, this one appeared to be made of the purest crystal.

She had hoped too soon, it appeared. She still would have to pretend that everything was alright. That she was good to go. That punch, after punch, after punch in the gut would not stop her. That she was strong. She held back a shudder.

"Twilight," Sweetie said, forcing a smile. "I see I found another piece of you."

"Of sorts, Sweetie Belle," Twilight replied, stepping forth to warmly embrace the young mare. "I am the Twilight Fragment that you found with Lyra and BonBon, at the lake. I am now more fae than pony."

Sweetie's eyes went wide, and she raised a hoof to point at the translucent Twilight. "You're the one that sent me to the other worlds without Fragments!"

Twilight nodded. "That's right. My intention was to help you grow… to help you see that you had done good, and that you could move on past your guilt over the first Fragment's decision to tell you to absorb us."

Sweetie closed her eyes. It still stung. It had changed her… but it was worse than that. "She basically told me to kill you."

Twilight shook her head, smiling gently. "We've told you before, Sweetie… her choice was to try to help you. As you were… you could not survive, and in the time you were her apprentice, Twilight grew to love you as a sister too. She could not allow her BLSF to be powerless in the infinite possibilities that awaited you."

"But…"

"Sweetie… our choice was to protect you. Because we love you. Like any love, familial or otherwise, it takes a bit of sacrifice to make it work."

Sweetie Belle sucked in a breath, clenched her teeth and looked away. "I was killing you little by little."

"We sacrificed parts of us to help you live… and now you are able to gather what remains out there and bring Twilight Sparkle back to your world." She shrugged. "From our point of view, some experiences, memories and power were well worth it to keep you safe."

"So why did you send me off to other worlds without Fragments?" Sweetie demanded.

"Because, unwittingly… we were destroying you." Twilight sighed, then tilted her head as she tried to look Sweetie in the eye. "What you had suffered up to the point you found me in the lake… what you were going through… it was breaking you, Sweetie. Your body changed, your magic changed, your life, your power, your understanding… all of it in such a short time. The only chance you had had to find some balance was with Blueblood… but Blue Belle's Fragment killed you both over and over with her sadistic games." She shook her head. "And then things became worse, didn't they?"

Sweetie didn't reply. She didn't need to.

"When I looked at you, I realized that you needed to grow in order to not be overwhelmed by us… by everything. Even if the latest fragments are not within you, our influence is strong within you. And you were very close to losing yourself. I tried to send you places where you could heal, even if it wasn't always pleasant… places where you could re-establish your own identity and discover yourself."

Sweetie closed her eyes. "Including… Vision?"

Twilight hesitated. "No." She looked away. "Not Vision. You were redirected there. That place was the opposite of what you needed. You fell prey to it because you were in a vulnerable state, and I couldn't pull you out." She held her head down in shame. "I'm sorry, Sweetie."

Sweetie closed her eyes, holding back an angry retort. Holding back the urge to lash out and hurt Twilight, reminding herself that someone or something had done this to her. Eventually, she managed to look at Twilight again. "I betrayed everything about who I am there. I lost. Completely."

"Sweetie…" Twilight shook her head.

"Anyway, what now?" Sweetie spoke up quickly, sensing that this Twilight's Fragment was struggling to apologize. She didn't need another apology. She wouldn't know what to do with it. It wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

The fragment studied her for a moment, seeming to know what she was thinking, but thankfully dropped the topic, choosing to go back to her original topic.

"It is time for you to move on to the next world… but Sweetie, I will not be joining you."

Sweetie reeled back. She had not expected any Twilight Fragment to make such a statement. Did she need to convince her, like she had convinced Blue Belle's Fragment? "But… why? Don't you want to be whole again?"

The Fragment's ghostly form sat back. "There are a few reasons, Sweetie… you do not need my power, and I am… too much myself now, and too little of the original Twilight Sparkle from your world." She shrugged amiably. "If I was meshed with the other fragments, their entire personality would be destroyed."

"How did that happen?" Sweetie asked, narrowing her eyes. "Even other Fragments that had been in their respective worlds for a thousand years were still not…" she motioned at the apparition with her hoof.

Twilight smiled. "The lake where Bonbon, you, and Lyra found me had very special properties… it sends beings to the past. But I couldn't get out after being returned to the present, so I… was sent to the past again, where I would stay there until I arrived again, and we were sent to the past, to wait again… Time has passed and started over again many times over for me. So much so, that my power went beyond the realm I was trapped in… and when I found out my beloved apprentice was drifting between worlds, I knew I needed to plan and act. I even reached out to an old friend who I helped you meet."

"And old friend?" Sweetie asked. "And I met them? But wh—" she gasped, almost taking a step back due to sheer surprise. "Discord?!"

Twilight smiled, nodding. "He's… different from other Discords. His origin there was as a being of extreme order. I met him during one of my time travels, and we became friends. I dare say that there was much of my influence in what prompted him to separate from the others and become free of their dogma. I thought you meeting him while helping XCOM and Twilight seemed like a good idea."

"Well, it was one of the nicer places, even with the death bugs. I did get to play with the crusaders and relax for a bit. Oh, and witness myself have the most adorable crush on a griffon prince." Sweetie sighed, thinking back on Discord's last discussion with her. "So that's what he meant."

Twilight nodded. "You are close to getting the last fragment, Sweetie… at least the last fragment that you can take back home and use to bring me… well, Twilight back. Just remember: She will be a bit different from what the others and you remember. All Fragments have lived through much, and some… some are part of someone else now."

Sweetie nodded somberly. "I've… wondered what the endgame is, if there's any. Will she and I be our true selves at all, or just… shadows of who we're supposed to be. I wonder how much of her I took in me that she'll never get back."

Twilight tilted her head. "Are you okay, Sweetie?"

No. "I'll be fine."

Twilight studied her in silence. "You've been through so much, Sweetie. There is one big last challenge that faces you… a being as old and powerful as I am. I had thought to send you forward, prepared as you are to get the last Fragment."

Sweetie frowned. "Did you change your mind? Are you saying that now you don't think I'm ready?"

"I believe you are. And you will go there, I promise. But first, before I let fate and destiny take you back in their arms, there is a place I would like you to visit."

Twilight stepped to the side, revealing behind her a door with an unfamiliar cutie mark on it, and a more-familiar folding blackboard listing some of the day's specials.

"A bar?" Sweetie asked, narrowing her eyes. "You know how that has worked out for me in the past."

Twilight laughed. "Not just a bar. It's a very special place, with a very special someone there… someone that you haven't encountered on your trips yet. Well… not exactly… but who is also a constant in the multiverse… maybe even beyond. It belongs to a friend of mine who has yet to meet me."

Sweetie sighed. The phrasing had indicated too much, and usually that meant a headache if she tried to dissect it. "Will you be gone when I'm done there?"

"No," Twilight said, shaking her head, then meeting her eyes with her own. "I'll meet you again," she promised, tapping with her hoof the non-existent floor. "Right here."

Sweetie hesitated. "What's going to happen? Who is this pony you want me to meet?"

"Just someone that can lend you an ear. I believe that you need a breather, Sweetie Belle." Twilight nuzzled her before stepping back and clearing the way for her to walk through. "Nothing more, nothing less."

Sunset heard the bell chime as someone new entered the bar. There was a pause and then she wondered if she had imagined the door opening. Usually by now she would have heard whoever was coming in, and even been able to tell if they walked on hooves, paws, feet or other appendages.

Thus, she had just started relaxing when her guest walked into the bar area, still without making a sound.

The young mare was somewhat familiar to Sunset Shimmer. Sweetie Belle was not an unfamiliar sight. She had known the human version of her while attending Canterlot High, and later on met several versions of her as visitors, not even counting her business partner's sister.

And yet.

Her body was unusual for a Sweetie Belle; thinner, taller, with some resemblance to Fleur De Lise's body type. She walked cautiously, but with a practiced surety, head held high like a noble pony would, but body loose and ready for a fight.

She made no secret that she was there, yet still her hoof steps made no sound, even on the hard wood of the bar's floor.

Sunset had been about to greet her with the usual welcoming spiel, but something stopped her as she studied her guest. Something tugged at her heart when seeing her, something she couldn't quite identify. She could feel a knot in her throat… she knew enough about Fate and Destiny to know that this was someone that she was meant to meet.

Sweetie's coat looked relatively normal at first glance, but somehow… it wasn't. For, even as it moved like normal hair follicles would, Sunset could tell it was something else… marble, white marble, and here and there, tiny pieces of onyx poked out, as if someone (or something) had stabbed them into the otherwise pristine coat.

Her body told a story of horror and fighting… as pristine as it was, as almost immaculate as she looked, there were hints. Sweetie's Fleur-like body lacked the natural growth one familiar with ponies from Equestria would expect. It was just… a little bit wrong. A little too long here. Perhaps a little too thin there. Change had happened… and it hadn't been gentle or kind.

After taking a few steps into the bar proper, this Sweetie Belle slowly studied the place, seeming to relax slightly as she noticed they were alone. Her eyes drifted to the wall full of pictures of strange creatures and weird versions of familiar faces, but rather than the normal curiosity Sunset was used to experiencing, Sweetie gave a sense of… fondness.

This was not new to her. Perhaps the bar, but certainly not the unfamiliar familiar faces.

As her guest turned, taking in the sights, Sunset spotted a cutie mark. It wasn't the shield of the Crusaders. It was a familiar star, broken apart, as if being burst into pieces by an eighth-note. Just as she noticed that, her guest finally looked up at her and their eyes met. Teal-blue meeting literal sapphire irises.

Sunset couldn't help the smile that came to her face. It wasn't the usual energetic smile for newcomers. It was gentler. "Hi Sweetie," she said, motioning to the bar so that the young mare could approach. "Welcome home."

"Home?" Sweetie asked, blinking.

The bartender chuckled self-consciously. "I'm sorry, I just blurted that out. For some reason it felt natural."

Sweetie nodded. It had, which was strange. She had never been here before, after all.

"In any case," the bartender said. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai." She opened her arms wide to encompass the entire place with the motion. "My little bar in the Omniverse. I'm Sunset Shimmer."

'There is something vaguely familiar about her…' Sweetie approached the bar and sat down, realizing that the seats were perfectly designed for pony use, even if Sunset was human. "And I'm Sweetie Belle, although it seems like you've met a few of me before."

"That I have, but none quite like you," Sunset said, and it was right then that Sweetie understood that this bartender could see her. The true her.

The scarred one.

The tortured one.

The scared and helpless… her.

Sweetie shrank back, feeling like her marble-like skin was electricity and fire, like it was boiling against her. "What happened to my glamor?!" she gasped as echoes of crashing crystal, of exploding obsidian flooded her memory. "You shouldn't be able to see me like this!"

She started breathing hard and fast, her eyes wide in horror at being so completely exposed in all her failures and forceful transformation. Triggered by her emotional response, the obsidian shards poked out of her skin marring her even more. Making her uglier. Allowing a complete stranger to see how broken she was, body and soul.

The purple and pink marble of her mane seemed to lose its luster and became more rock-like, like chalky limestone, cracking a little as she moved. Whispers and darkness pooled at her hooves as she felt the urge to flee. To dive under the nearest table and fade away.

When Sunset reached out across the bar and touched her cheek with her hand, caressing it gently and soothingly. the world seemed like it was frozen and she was about to die. But then Sunset's words made it through, like distant whispers through mist and rain.

"It's okay, Sweetie. I see you. I see you. And you're as beautiful as you have always been in any world. It's fine, don't lose yourself. You're safe here. All creatures are safe here."

Sunset's touch helped—it was something real to hold on to. Sweetie held onto her hand with her hooves, sobbing a little as the world ceased to be shadows and whispers. 'It's not the first time.' She whispered to herself. It's not the first time I've been seen. I am me. I'm me. I'm not an instrument for the bloody chorus. I'm not an exposed nerve to make me hurt. I'm Sweetie Belle. I'm me.

She gulped, forcing air into her lungs. Forcing herself to breathe; for her hooves to loosen up little by little. "I-I'm sorry, Sunset," she stuttered hoarsely, fighting back every slight hint of those destructive, self-deprecating thoughts that came to her so easily when she was exposed as she truly was to anyone.

"You don't have to apologize for anything," Sunset replied, "how about I get you something to drink? Is there anything you'd like? On the house, of course."

Sweetie trembled, then nodded quickly. She was back in control, although her body still twitched defensively. "Can… I have a Chocolate Martini?"

Sunset took Sweetie's hooves in her hands and gave them an encouraging, gentle-but-firm squeeze, as if the sharp obsidian shards were not even there. "Of course."

She pushed back from the bar and went over to fish out the ingredients as Sweetie concentrated on her breathing, slowly—but surely—controlling her instinctive reaction. Sunset had seen her like that from the beginning… she hadn't thought she was a monster. She had recognized her as Sweetie Belle.

It had been a long time since she'd had a reaction like that. Normally her glamor would protect her from others, or, if needed, she could use illusions to hide the worst of it.

Once again, Sweetie turned her eyes to all the pictures. All the Twilight Sparkles, the Rainbow Dashes, the Octavias and Princesses and the many Rarities and started to understand why the Twilight's Fragment had wanted her to come here. Or at least, part of the reason.

It wasn't even just that Sunset wasn't human in all the pictures, so she would know that appearance meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. It was that in… an odd way, Sunset was like her.

The entire place… the entire bar was living; a changing and evolving being that was part of Sunset. From the jar of Royal Jelly glowing faintly above the cashier, to the symbiotic spider busying itself in its terrarium to each and every picture in the room… everything was part of Sunset, but also part of the omniverse.

This truly was a place where her true nature—twisted by cruel magic as it was—wasn't only acceptable but appropriate. She had nothing to hide here because… Sunset understood.

Sweetie closed her eyes. 'I could have really used a friend like you when this all started. When I was afraid. Alone. Forced into Silence to survive, or struggling to come to terms with my fate.

Some, she thought, would be resentful that such a place and person hadn't been there for her when she had needed them.

But when she thought about it, when she looked at Sunset mixing liqueur, vodka and chocolate, she didn't feel resentment for that absence early on.

For everything she had gone through she had gained something (even when she hadn't wanted to), and as such being here, she could tell on some level that Sunset was also someone few could understand now in ways that her much younger self at the beginning of her journey could have. And it went both ways.

The bartender smiled at her and motioned with her head as she walked around the bar, not one, but two chocolate martinis in her hands. "Why don't we sit at a table to talk? It's only going to be the two of us this time around."

"Sounds good to me!" Sweetie said, shaking herself off of the last of her visceral reaction. She hopped down from the stool and trotted over to the table Sunset had selected for them. Sitting down, she raised her martini glass to Sunset, who grinned and raised hers as well.

Once that was done, she wasted no time in bringing the glass to her lips and taking a sip. She closed her eyes, a smile spreading on her lips as the flavor exploded in her mouth, liquor and vodka and sweetness and tartness coating her tongue.

It was amazing. If there was one thing she would never regret, it would be to have discovered the Chocolate Martini, and this one was just fantastic. She supposed it came with the territory… a bar that could be anywhere, anytime, would always be able to get the best ingredients.

It was the best drink she had ever had… and it brought the best memories of her travels with it. She felt a tear slide down her muzzle, a single, unnaturally fluid sapphire that fell onto the table, splitting into miniature little crystals that dissipated after a few moments.

"Hey, I didn't think it was that bad!" Sunset said across from her, making Sweetie snort and chuckle.

She used the back of her hoof to wipe away another crystalline tear. "No, it's amazing… It just brought back some good memories. And got me thinking."

Sunset nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

When was the last time that I didn't bluff? Sweetie thought, her eyes studying the human across from her. When was it? At the beginning? When I just… let it all out? Before things went this way? Before Blueblood? Was it really that long ago? A decade? More?

She saw in Sunset's eyes someone who would listen to everything. "I see you've been a little bit of everything," she said. Purposefully deflecting to her host. "Cat, unicorn, rat, wolf… demon? Are you a changeling?"

Sunset didn't appear bothered by the change in direction. She simply smiled. "I started as a unicorn. I was Celestia's student just before Twilight Sparkle. Probably even in your own universe." She took a glance at the pictures and one levitated over, so she could show Sweetie a picture of herself and others, including Princess Celestia. "That's her. My Celestia, that is. Mom."

"Mom?"

Sunset shrugged. "Took us some time to get around to it, but eventually it was made official. The reason you probably never heard of me was because I was… not a good pony." She chuckled. "Oh, I had reasons to be a brat. Plenty of them. As an adult I can see how things could've been different had this or that happened, but… those things didn't. And I left angry, hurt, and frustrated to another world, where I took it out on others."

Another picture floated over. It was Sunset with several other humans, but Sweetie immediately recognized Twilight, Rarity and the others. "I stole the element of magic and took it to this world, where we became human. Twilight… she showed me the way, but not before…"

Another picture floated over. This one the demonic version of Sunset, who was with another human-like creature. "...not before I misused it. The magic turned on me. It corrupted my mind and spirit, transforming me into a demon. Where before I wouldn't actually physically attack them, I was ready to kill them. I was ready to mind control everyone around me to use them as cannon fodder in some insane attempt to take over Equestria and probably Earth too."

Sweetie looked at her. "I take it you were rainbowed into submission?"

Sunset nodded, grinning. "With cheesy speech included."

Sweetie snorted.

"After that… I spent the last few years of my human highschool experience trying to make it up to everyone. I messed up over and over again. I had a lot to learn… and a lot to answer for." Her face softened into a sad smile. "It was so easy to justify things as real attempts, when I was only considering superficial discomforts… I was never actually violent. Until the magic affected me, I would threaten but it never came to blows… so I focused on things like that, never understanding how deep scars can go. How much damage bullying others and terrorizing them actually did." She sighed. "I was very lucky that, in my world… the bullying didn't take away people whose only mistake had been to cross my path."

Sunset reached with the back of her finger to stroke the forget-me-not flower growing from a pot on the table. "It's a very hard lesson to learn how close it was… and how, in many other places? I didn't stop. And people… good people were lost."

Sunset drew a deep breath. "Anyway, before I learned all of that, I eventually met a version of your sister, who helped me set this whole bar up. She's my business partner, and it's thanks to her that all you see here came to be."

Sweetie looked around the room again, nodding. "Each picture is a memory."

"And a promise," Sunset said. "That no one here will be forgotten. This bar has… taught me so much. I've gained a family through it, more friends, I've helped people other versions of me damaged, and I have helped other versions of me help themselves and others. And I'm sure it'll grow. I'm sure I'll be able to do more good. I'll take any shape, and visit any place where I can be a stepping-stone for those that need me to heal or find the strength to be better."

"So that's who you are."

Sunset shrugged and nodded.

Sweetie drank more of her martini. The alcohol was sadly not going to give her any sort of boost in confidence. Her body couldn't get drunk like that anymore. But it sure felt reassuring to sip that martini.

"I've… kept so much inside," Sweetie confessed, chuckling a little. "That even starting at the beginning feels… plain." She sighed a long, contemplative sigh. "How do I even explain? When… if I ever go back home, I won't be the little filly my sister loved anymore."

She shook her head. "I think, when I first became Twilight's apprentice… I think I was scared." She smiled, her hoof tracing a circle on the surface of the table. "It's been so long, but I remember… how I was barely showing signs of magical aptitude. I remember how I felt like it was a waste of time, but Applebloom and Scootaloo were growing and I was not.

"I was scared of not belonging when they found their calling. I was scared that my sister would be disappointed, or that Twilight would decide I wasn't worth the effort. I wanted to just… stay where I was. That nothing would change and I could play forever with my friends and not worry about being more than a dumb dictionary."

"A dictionary?"

"It was Scootaloo's thing."

"Ah."

"Anyway," Sweetie continued with a small grin and a shake of her head, "I eventually warmed up to Twilight. I started to actually understand and even love magic. And my respect for her grew and grew. I wanted to make her proud just as much as I wanted to make Rarity proud. That's when I just… was me. And I screwed up.

"I interrupted an experiment and watched Twilight explode into crystals and the next thing I knew, I was in another body, in another world… I had no idea what I was doing. If Trixie hadn't figured out what was happening…" she shook her head. "I… was out of my element, but Twilight's lessons, along with Trixie picking me up as a temporary apprentice, taught me enough to feel a little safer." She chuckled. "How wrong I was."

"You must have been so confused… how old were you?" Sunset said. "If you were just beginning to learn magic? Nine? Ten years old?"

"I didn't even have my cutie mark," Sweetie said, glancing at the mark with a small smile. "But… thinking back on it, although I was confused… I felt so guilty." She took a slow breath, staring at her martini rather than at Sunset.

"I thought I had been dreaming. I couldn't have possibly hurt Twilight." She licked her lips. "But when Trixie explained I was in another world… when the pieces fell into place, I realized I was personally responsible for the death of someone I'd grown to love and respect as a friend and teacher.

"She had been so proud of me, taking me in… and I had betrayed that trust by destroying her." She shook her head when she saw Sunset was about to speak. "I know. It was an accident, but sometimes knowing something doesn't mean… it doesn't mean you've accepted it, especially as a child. I think… that's why when I found the first of Twilight's fragments and it told me I'd be absorbing it to help her come back home, I never gave it a second thought."

"Hold on," Sunset said. "So… you were thrown into a world where one of Twilight's crystalized pieces had landed? And you were able to communicate with it?"

Sweetie nodded. "The local Twilight Sparkle had been foalnapped, you see, so Trixie and I went in search of her. When we found her, she was being held near a fragment. I could feel it, although at the time I didn't understand what drew me to it. We took it with us back to Ponyville and Trixie figured out we could talk to it… I used my magic and… Twilight… she told me it was what I had to do."

"Oh, Twilight…" Sunset sighed. She looked up with some pity at her. Sunset had understood immediately. But still, Sweetie wanted, no, needed to tell her everything.

"I… didn't know." Sweetie's shoulders slumped. She took a moment to recompose herself, raised her glass and sipped a good amount of martini, allowing the chocolate to kick in and cheer her up. "I think… Trixie knew. I think Twilight knew." She smiled. "I don't think Rarity did, but between them they made me a book to write spells and… do other things." She chuckled. "It's hard to imagine them not knowing, yet designing a book like that.

"In many ways that went over my head, that first world set up the foundation for my magical, emotional and survival education." She shook her head, almost really amazed. "Obviously they couldn't have predicted what would happen, but the forethought and care they gave me is an incredibly big part of why am even still alive today."

Sunset nodded, reaching out to take the now-empty martini glass. "Let's get a refill for you. I can see the alcohol will not knock you out."

Sweetie smiled. "Thank you."

Sensing that Sweetie needed a few moments to herself, Sunset stood up and walked behind the bar to make another couple of the chocolate cocktails.

It was then that she remembered one time Cinder and Allure had been here, discussing The Sweetie Belle.

"You'd know if you'd met her."

But… could it be? Allure hadn't given much of a description, yet, she and the others that had met "Chronicle Sweetie Belle" had all agreed that she had left a mark on them. That it would be impossible not to recognize her.

And maybe, the fact that right now she was putting that together meant that they were probably right.

"I think," Sweetie said, the moment Sunset had returned with their drinks and sat down, "that my biggest fear during my initial jumps lurked deep within me."

Sunset leaned forward, resting her arms on the table as she listened. "How so?"

Sweetie grunted, a grimace crossing her face. "The first few jumps were easy… although emotionally draining. I met the Elements of Harmony as immortals. I found a world where Nightmare Moon was hitting on Twilight, and they both were into it." She snorted. "I was too young to really see what was happening. I met myself as a male, in a world where everyone was the opposite gender. And I even went to the Wasteland… but in every place, I was either within the local Sweetie, or as an apparition…

"Where the Elements were immortal ponies, I was just… there, and the local Sweetie had died decades ago. In the Wasteland, I was long dead too… so, what did that make me?" She looked up at Sunset. "Even now I-I sometimes doubt that I'm real. Wherever I went, I was just… an apparition. Am I even really alive? It almost seems easier to believe I'm not… that I'm just a figment of someone's imagination and all the hurt I've caused is just… make belief."

Sweetie paused, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

"I understand that all too well," Sunset said. When Sweetie looked up, she found Sunset was smiling at her. "I can feel my breathing when I concentrate on it. The beating of my heart… sense the world around me. I feel when I'm touched and I feel… sadness and joy. But the Omniverse is huge. I've seen realities, entire concepts of the omniverse collapse… and I remain outside of that… but does that mean that I'm the real one?"

Sweetie smirked, nodding and looking down at her glass. "If I only exist through others, am I real?"

"How could a real being live as long as I have?" Sunset said softly.

"Even if I feel joy and the love of my big brother and big sister, do I really feel that? Or do I think I do?"

"Can I truly exist in every instance of the omniverse as a single, unique entity that's different from other Sunset Shimmers?"

"Did I really survive Twilight's experiment?" Sweetie whispered. "Or am I just a fleeting thought? A fancy notion that someone made up?"

"And if I'm just a thought… does my existence have value?"

The two fell into silence for a few moments.

"I live in a magical bar that opens its doors to anyone with good in them to rest and be heard," Sunset said. "I try to give advice learned through thousands of years of experiences, and yet I am as fallible and ignorant as the first day I stepped in here."

"I jump from life to life… world to world… in search of pieces of a pony that ceased to exist the moment I screwed up," Sweetie said, then took a deep drink of her martini before adding, "we're perfect examples of a creative imagination."

Sunset nodded.

"But… I have to admit," Sweetie said into the heavy silence, "that this chocolate martini is excellent."

Sunset snorted. She then took a deep breath. "There was an Earth Philosopher named Descartes who became very famous in part due to his existential theories." She tapped her fingers on the table, thoughtfully looking at Sweetie. "In a nutshell, it was popularized by the phrase, 'I think, therefore I am.'

"The actual theory has… a lot of additional implications about the independence of the being versus the purpose of it and its place in the grand scheme of things… but for our purposes I think we can borrow that phrase for now, even if we end up not taking it in the same direction it normally is."

Sweetie sat a bit straighter. This was a familiar feeling. Just like Twilight. Like Trixie. Like Octavia. Even Chrysalis. It was… very nostalgic.

"I am capable of thought," Sunset said, "and other people cannot truly know that to be true. Only I can be aware of this fact with absolute certainty, for I am the one doing it. That in itself—being capable of thought—is a declaration of awareness of action. If I am aware of my action, my thoughts… then, I am that action. That thought is mine and therefore real to me, whether others recognize it or not."

"If I can taste this…" Sweetie said slowly, "and I can love it… if I could talk to Blueblood when I was in his world, and I could feel what it was like to have a loving big brother… if I could embrace Rarity in so many worlds and feel her unconditional love supporting me…"

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "If I feel like all of this is real. If it is real to me. If my words have an impact on anyone at all… doesn't that make me real?"

Sunset grinned. "This is where we take that statement a little further… If the thoughts and feelings we know we have when we help or talk to others reach them… when we suffer through or enjoy things…and they feel that with us, doesn't that mean we have value?" Sunset asked, her cocksure grin becoming an encouraging smile. "We doubt ourselves, like anyone else would, don't we?"

Sweetie blinked. "So every world we have been in…"

"And every visitor I've had…" Sunset added gently, nodding for Sweetie to continue.

"Has been real to us… and us to them…"

"And because the experiences they had and shared with had weight and were real to them and us and beyond that, related to others and mattered to them when we shared them…"

"That's real."

Sunset nodded. "Yes, it is."

Sweetie closed her eyes. A shiver of sheer relief washed through her. "Real." She slumped back into her seat. "This is going to take some time to truly process… but thank you, Sunset. That has been torturing me for… a long time." And yet, if she was real, so was all the damage she had caused.

"I'm sure you'd come to the same conclusion eventually," Sunset said, unaware of the dark thoughts bubbling under Sweetie's smile. "You just needed a place where you could talk and sort things out."

"Hah." Sweetie snorted. "You remind me of this alicorn I met again just recently in the Wasteland. She also liked giving me time to think and talk." She blinked. "Wait. You really remind me of her."

Sunset blinked. "I do?"

Sweetie nodded. "It was during my last jump…" She smiled a little. "Silly as it sounds, I just… hadn't thought about how much I had changed. I mean… physically, yeah… I look like I do now. But it just… hadn't dawned on me that Sweetie Belle… the little, innocent, hopeful and scared filly… was gone. Really gone."

"How did that happen?" Sunset asked, her voice soft. "How did you—"

"Break?" Sweetie interrupted.

Vision.

"I'm broken, Sunset," Sweetie said. "When I started jumping…I pushed down my fear with hope. I eventually found a sort of interim family that loved me for years before I moved on. I learned so many things, grew in strength and ability and knowledge… even when I was tortured and turned into… what I am today, hope and the belief of my purpose pushed me through." She shuddered, glaring down at her drink. "And then… and then I ended up in Vision. And I dared fall in love."

"Oh no." Sunset's hands went up to cover her mouth. Her eyes were wide with horror. "Are you talking about the City that Twilight and the others…"

She trailed off, but she didn't need to continue. The look of horror and the whispered shock behind the name was enough to tell her that Sunset knew that place.

"I… was confident," Sweetie said slowly. "I thought—I had battled monsters. And survived creatures from beyond comprehension and cruelty. I thought I could go somewhere and be someone and then, you know, move on." She sighed. "I… lost myself in Vision… until I—" she raised her hoof to her chest touching it right atop of where the phoenix amulet lay, enveloping her heart "—perished and came back to life, free of all the drug addictions and dependencies I had somehow fallen victim to. Something in that world corrupted whatever was left good in me, and I had to die and be purged by phoenix flames to be… me again."

"Vision is a place where corruption eats at what's good within any of us," Sunset said, "Rarity—my partner, that is—is the only creature I know that has been able to visit that place and be unchanged. But her nature is… different than ours."

Sweetie smirked sadly. "Were I able to have been different enough, even with this fae body, this alien heart, this changeling essence… I was too much of a pony to remain unaffected. I don't remember what happened."

Sunset's eyebrows came down as she narrowed her eyes. "Go on…"

Sweetie receded into her seat a little, as she pieced together what she had been unable to tell Lil' Pip and the others. "I… well, as I said I don't remember. But from the clues I gathered, and what Twilight said, I got addicted to drugs. Alcohol too, although I know that my body doesn't react to it like a pony. The drugs though… they somehow ate through me, magically and spiritually. The me of that time… she fell deeply in love and even married a mare named Swiftwing."

Sweetie raised her eyes, trembling with tears. "And Sunset... that mare was a saint. She stayed with me. She bathed me. She watched over my miserable self as I cheated and wasted away. I may not remember any of that but… I did that to her."

"Oh, Sweetie…"

"It's… it's not like I didn't know I could fall into an addiction," Sweetie confessed, her hoof sliding across the top of the martini glass. "Before I went there, I became addicted to alcohol for a time. I was so close to losing it, you know? But I got turned into this and non-magical alcohol became inconsequential."

She gulped and looked away. "I think—I thought I was strong enough to recognize if that was happening again." She chuckled mirthlessly. "Apparently not."

She straightened as she looked up at the Forget-me-not next to her on the table, unable to look at the bartender herself. "Do you know how much I let myself go? How much hurt I caused because I was weak and disgusting? Because I replaced alcohol with magical drugs?" She shook her head. "And I was a coward. I was such a coward that I chose to end my life… because I knew I'd get a new, free shot. Because the pain would be gone, and I would be okay."

She pushed the martini glass away. "You know who wasn't okay?" She gritted her teeth. "My wife who cared for me at my worst… and I didn't have the decency to even remember. My wife who succumbed to the same drugs that destroyed me. My wife and—" she cut off.

Sunset gently picked up the glasses and walked over to the bar. She was making something, but Sweetie didn't care. With a thought, her diary emerged from its pocket dimension and settled on the table. Twilight's fragments hovered around her, almost like curious little fairies taking it all in.

Sunset returned a moment later, setting down two gently steaming mugs of… something.

"It's called Klah."

Sniffling, Sweetie took it in her magic and got it close enough for a whiff. It smelled… sweet. Almost chocolate-like. She sipped a bit. "This is… this is good."

"Glad you like it."

Sweetie nodded, then took a deep breath. She needed to tell this to someone.

"After I… resurrected… I searched for clues and found out about all that I had done, who I had hurt, what had happened… and I found my way to Twilight and the way out of Vision. At the cost of not… of not saying goodbye."

"What… did Twilight say?" Sunset said slowly, and Sweetie could feel anger building there. She couldn't blame her.

"She showed me how I hadn't cared about others, how I had been a selfish, self-centered creature that had given myself to drugs to escape my frustrations and fears and anger. Who had betrayed ponies that loved her and gotten out of it by cheating at life and death." She was shaking.

"Tell me," Sunset said after a pause. "Did you put that Phoenix Amulet inside your heart?"

Sweetie looked up, frowning. "What? No. It was… just… put in me after Blackjack… um, killed me. Kinda."

"When you met these ponies that she used to prove you being self-centered, were you free of worries? Did you not have something that you needed to accomplish?"

"I—" Sweetie cleared her throat. "I mean, I was trying to find what had happened and—"

"When she judged you and expected your answers… did she give you your memories back?" Sunset asked. "Or did she hide more things from you?"

"She… didn't tell me."

"Didn't tell you about what?"

The answer caught in Sweetie's throat. She licked her lips and tried to speak again. She remembered the anger and helpless frustration when she had found out. The destruction she had caused.

"You played me!" she shouted, tears not even reaching the ground before they were blown away by the winds.

Twilight had seen right through her.

"You played me like a fool!"

Silent. Unable to look at Sunset, she slowly slid the picture out of the diary, facing down. Her hoofwriting clean and perfectly legible condemning her.

Distant Shores, 15th day of Fall, 12 AF.

Sunset didn't move at first, and Sweetie looked up. She looked pale and reluctant. But slowly, her hand came up and her fingers rested gingerly on top of the picture, before she slid it over to herself and turned it up to look at it.

Sunset's face lost all expression, and then tears slowly slipped out.

Sweetie couldn't help herself. She sniffled. She shuddered and then sobbed. "I didn't know. I—I'm a horrible pony, I didn't remember… and I didn't find that until… I had left."

Sunset winced and closed her eyes.

"She was right…" Sweetie sobbed. "I'm a self-centered monster… that would leave her own child behind." She fought the tears, forcing herself to control herself as she felt her anger slowly consume her guilt. "Or I was. I don't know what I was… but I know who I am now."

"She hid that from me. The one thing that would have stopped me. And my choice was final… I don't know how, but deep within me I know I can't go back… she made it so, somehow." Sweetie let a deep, guttural growl emerge, shaking her head in denial of that thought. "I will go back there somehow… and I will find my daughter."

The air around the bar felt heavy and slowly, Sweetie realized that Sunset's hair was fluttering slightly. When she opened her eyes, there was a light behind them. A terrible, righteous light that burned with a power that was beyond anything she had ever felt or encountered, even from the Twilight Fragment that had brought her here.

"You have… kids?" Sweetie ventured hesitantly.

Sunset nodded. "Adopted… Lena and Danni. My entire family is adopted… but if someone hid their existence from me and used it to torture me for some sadistic pleasure…"

Her eyes flashed and Sweetie knew that nothing would stand in her way. She nodded. "Then you know."

"This will not stand."

Sweetie sighed and remembered Pip's words. Midnight Shimmer's encouragement. Velvet and Calamity's kindness. Spike's empathy. "It's never going to be okay, even when I somehow get her back," Sweetie said, wiping away her remaining tears. "But I will be there for her. Somehow. When I figure out how to get her from the claws of that… monster."

"What happens for now?" Sunset asked after a pause.

Sweetie pursed her lips as she took the picture back and slid it into her diary. "According to the last Fragment I talked to, I am close to the end of my journey. I'll bring Twilight back to my original world… and then I'll see."

She closed her eyes and let a long, slow breath out. "I'm so tired, Sunset. I've had amazing adventures, met ponies that I'd give my life for. Ponies I long to see. If I could have everything…" she chuckled. "If I could have everything. If only."

She looked up, feeling her resolve strengthen her heart. She knew what she had to do. One step at a time, Midnight Shimmer had said. "I will first return to my world and save Twilight. I will hug my sister and… tell her everything. Then I'll figure out a way to get Distant Shores out of Vision. I'll figure out a way to return to Blueblood for visits. I will have my family. I will make it whole!"

She paused. And then… Another deep breath. Another smile. "And then I'll figure out what to do with my life. I'm not who I was before… but whatever happens, I will have a home."

Sunset nodded. "And I'll help you." She slid a card out of her pocket, and leaned over to place it in front of Sweetie. "When you have gone home, and you and Rarity and Twilight are back together… use that card. I'm sure you all will need a drink."

Sweetie looked down at the card. "I can… come back?"

"Anytime," Sunset said, smiling. "And we can get your big brother here too. And your other friends as well. I think… you're all due to meet each other again anyway."

Sweetie stared at the card for a moment. Could she… change the past? Ask Sunset to show her everything? Make it so that she never interrupted Twilight?

She felt her tense shoulders relax. No. No. She couldn't do it… even if Sunset could make that happen, that would void away everything she had sacrificed and done. All the growing she had achieved… the good and the bad.

She didn't really buy Vision Twilight's arguments about many things, but there was one thing that, despite herself, she had to agree with. Someone strong would take responsibility and make change happen.

She was sure that resolution was not what Vision Twilight wanted, and that was just the cherry on top. But she was responsible for her decisions and mistakes. At least all the ones she knew about. And if there were more that would someday come to light… then she would embrace those mistakes too.

She couldn't ask Sunset to erase the past for her. Or demand that decisions and choices should be made void just for her own benefit. Even if it would be so easy if none of this had ever happened.

If the bad was gone, so was the good. Each act of kindness, and each thoughtful gesture from the wonderful ponies and creatures she had met and sometimes even bled with.

"When I'm done. I'll come back and introduce you to all of them," she promised, pursing her lips into a half-smile as she looked resolutely at Sunset, who nodded firmly. "But, I'd like to give you something back for all of this…"

"Oh," Sunset raised her hands, waving them gently. "It's no problem at all, Sweetie. You don't have to."

Sweetie chuckled. "Then let me do it because I want to." She took her bookmark out of her diary. "I'd like to play you a song."

Sunset blinked in surprise at the bookmark which suddenly grew into a full-sized cello case. "Well," she said, shaking her head in amusement, "how could I say no to a personal concert?"

Sweetie had stepped out of the bar to meet once more with the Twilight Fragment. Apparently there were details they needed to hash out before moving forward, but she had the card, and she would be coming back. That had been a promise between friends.

For her part, Sunset was silent as she hung out the picture she had taken with Sweetie. It was a special one. It had a spell that would show the glamour-ed version of Sweetie to those that were not ready to see her real self. And those that could see her… well, they'd know exactly the kind of soul they were looking at.

Sunset made sure it was straight, then stepped back, studying the picture. Danni had taken the picture: Sunset and Sweetie, both sitting on the table, where the diary rested, next to a few pictures that could be barely made out, although Sunset could tell which one was the one of the immortal Elements of Harmony, and the one of Sweetie's graduation with Octavia, but the last one, partially covered by the diary was the one that gave her pause.

She stared at the picture for a long moment, before narrowing her eyes.

"Do you want company?" Rarity asked. She was sitting on the table next to where Sunset stood. "Things can get a bit… rough," she added, sipping her tea calmly.

"No." Sunset said, taking a deep breath before turning on her heel and heading straight for the door. "No, I got this."

"We rescued a version of her once, you know?"

Sunset nodded. "I heard."

"Poor thing held so much resentment for Sweetie… she wasn't ready to understand. I'm not sure she ever will." Rarity sighed. "She might have been a fetch, but she was as wholesome as any pony. I thought until now we had gotten the original out."

"I know. And Distant deserved to get out too. Last I heard she was doing quite well as an engineer. But Distant Shores… Sweetie's biological daughter—not her fetch—is still there. But no longer."

Rarity gave her a look. "Why do I feel you're going to go to unnecessary lengths to confront Twilight about this? You need to understand, dear, that Twilight is the devil. Her intent is not just. She lies. She is the antithesis of what Twilight Sparkle should be."

"I know."

"Beating her at her own game is pointless, Sunset. Don't waste your time."

"I won't waste too much time." Sunset walked out.

The door opened to a grayed-out landscape of a city. Sunset didn't even feel herself change into her alicorn form. She normally wasn't too fond of it, since it made her look like a princess, after all. Yet, she didn't stop to think about it. She could feel the corrosive nature of this world all around her. From the stagnant air, to the toxic ground, walls and even the plants. But nothing reeked of corruption more than the empty promises of those additional cutie marks ponies here sought out.

She walked, unperturbed, across the dirty streets drawing more than one pony's attention. They stared at her. They made as if to follow her, but something kept them back. It wasn't Sunset's doing… they just… collapsed back into their misery. They were just a part of this world, and this world and its ponies had closed their doors to the outside to the point that hope was an ironic concept.

It was horrible, but this was caused by them and the Elements of "Harmony". The only ones that could pull them out of this were themselves, and almost none of them—Elements included—were truly inclined to do so.

But there was a discrepancy here. A pony that existed here where it shouldn't have. Her destiny and fate unraveled from this world from the moment of her conception.

Sunset stopped in front of an old, dilapidated husk of a building and looked up, studying the concrete structure for a moment. She could sense them here. Slowly, she made her way into the building and up the stairs to an apartment door past which she could hear sniffling and groaning.

The door was unlocked, and she could hear voices.

"Well, Blueblood is a complicated pony, you know? Definitely a good bad influence." A familiar voice said over a scratchy, clicking interference that distorted a snort and giggles.

"Oh?" Another voice said, amused, young, happy.

"There was this one time when he took me over to apprentice under Sapphire Shores a—"

The voice was interrupted by a click and the sounds became a high pitched jumble until another click stopped that.

"She's beautiful!" Sweetie's voice said, tired and joyful. "She's as beautiful as you are. I'm glad she's not inherited my… wait, are you recording this?"

"OF course I am, and what are you afraid of her inheriting? Your beauty? You would deny that to our child?" the other voice responded, teasing. "She is as beautiful as you, Sweetie, and I think your more exotic nature is a blessing."

Click. Whirr.

"I'm sorry," Sweetie's voice slurred. "Uh… I'll change, I dunno what's happening—"

Click. Whirr. Whirr.

"And what happened next, mommy?"

"...and your mom managed to escape that monster, breaking through space like it was a window. She and the shadow princess—cough—they…"

The voice faded. A click. Whirr. Click.

Silence.

Sunset stepped into the mostly empty room, where a single, young unicorn mare sat, holding a tape recorder in her hooves. She was a couple of years younger than Sweetie Belle, but he looked thin in an unhealthy way. A couple of cutie marks adorned her body, but thankfully hadn't corrupted her fully. She didn't look up. "I don't care what you want," she whispered as her horn lit up to lift a slightly bent pipe. "I will use this and you're going to be walking with a limp—"

Sunset couldn't help but smile at the unicorn's reaction. Her wavy blue-green mane seemed to shimmer as she stared at her unexpected visitor and shook her head in denial at what she was seeing.

The pipe cluttered to the floor.

"Distant Shores, correct?" Sunset asked, stepping fully into the room. Sure, she wasn't intentionally projecting her inner Celestia, but she could imagine how surreal the situation felt for the young mare.

The unicorn gulped, then nodded. "Y-yes, y—"

"Sunset," she interrupted her. "Just Sunset Shimmer."

Distant Shores could only nod numbly. Whether Sunset's attempt to keep things casual had helped at all remained to be seen.

"What were you listening to, Distant Shores?"

"I um," the mare looked down guiltily at the cassette player. It was a very old thing. Probably had gotten it very cheap. "It's a recording… of my mom Swiftwing… talking about my other mom."

"I see. It sounded interesting."

Distant snorted, but a twitch in her lips appeared for a second before it was replaced with scorn. "Apparently she was quite the adventurer. Except she was a drug addict and a failure that left me and my mom to take care of her until she died."

Sunset grimaced. This… was not going to be easy for Sweetie. "I'm here on her behalf," she said. She didn't want to rush things, but this place was slowly sinking its claws even past the natural resistance that Distant Shores had inherited from her mother.

Distant Shores didn't answer, but she looked up at Sunset.

"I'm here to take you away from Vision. Your mother, Sweetie Belle is searching for a way to come back for you. I think… I'd like you both to have a chance to figure where you stand outside of this pit of corruption and grime."

"How rude."

Sunset turned to the door, while Distant Shores gasped in fear. She jumped to her hooves and stepped back, making herself smaller against a corner of the room.

"What makes you think I would allow such a thing, Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight Sparkle asked, stepping into the room. "What makes you think you have the right to take one of my citizens… one wilfully abandoned by her mothers?"

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Twilight," she said curtly. "I'm not going to give you much of a choice."

"You know my power."

"And you can't begin to know mine."

Sunset was aware of Distant Shores whimpering. The noise made Twilight smirk. Almost lazily, she shrugged. "There are rules. When Sweetie Belle arrived here, she agreed to the rules of this place."

"Did she, now?" Sunset asked, not convinced. "That is very convenient. I wonder if she was aware of what you were imposing of her."

"Ignorantia juris non excusat," Twilight said, deadpan. "Unless you, of all creatures, wants to pretend there are no consequences for breaking the laws of the universe."

"Funny that," Sunset replied, snorting. "Because I hear you proposed a deal to Sweetie. A contract, if you would. What was it? Stay here forever to try to make it up to those she had hurt, or leave."

Twilight held her head high. "And what of it? She knew what she had done, and she left. I think her decision was very clear, the contract fair."

"Despite the fact that she had no memory of her life here past the moment she woke up?"

Twilight smiled. "My dear Sunset, I did not hide from her what she had done. She dug deep and found out everything she needed to know to make her decision."

"Did she know she had a daughter?" Sunset asked.

Off the corner of her eye, she saw Distant Shore's ears twitch.

"That is irrelevant," Twilight stated, shaking her head. "Her choice was to stay or leave."

"Stay and play a rigged game where you and your… friends… corrupt every living being here?"

"It's not unusual to play a game where things are in favor of the house… I believe you had casinos where you grew up, correct?" Twilight countered with a small smile. "At no point did I tell her it would be fair, but in what world is life actually fair, bartender?"

Sunset didn't bite. "You asked her to stay where she has no knowledge of the joy she brought, only the pain?"

"She brought many things," Twilight acknowledged, "but by the time she was done, all she had left others with was pain and betrayal. She fell for her own weaknesses."

"You preyed on them, you mean."

"Does it make a difference? The result remains the same."

"It does, because it's a lie." Sunset raised her head. "Did you tell Sweetie she had a daughter?"

Twilight's eyes flashed. "I was under no obligation to do so."

"Oh, but you see," Sunset smirked, "I'm not Sweetie Belle, so I know that there are rules and laws that have to be respected, don't they Twilight? Even the likes of Lucifer Morningstar, in all their power, play by those. And that does include you, doesn't it?"

Twilight's face contorted in anger for the first time.

"Oh, don't make faces Twilight," Sunset said, "I'm merely talking about the basic rules of contracts. You have those too, don't you?" She smirked. "And we both have them too. I just don't use them to trick creatures for my benefit."

"She agreed to my terms."

"A barely-adult mare with years of emotional trauma was abused and corrupted by your active efforts to doom everyone to your own fate. We are talking about a pony with a mental illness, who had no legal advice or representation; who didn't have the whole picture… you gave that pony a 'choice'."

Twilight's lip curled into a snarl.

"Let's be generous and call it a poor choice of words. But… you gave her the choices that would give only you what you wanted, wouldn't it?" Sunset raised her head and spread her wings, ignoring the almost savage anger the action brought Twilight. Sunset probably looked exactly like Celestia had at one point when she had been displeased with her student. "Ever heard of unequal bargaining power in a contract presented as equally beneficial?"

"Look at you, trying to speak legalize about souls and creatures" Twilight spat. "You won't stop an apocalypse and save millions, but here you are to save a single filly. And you dare talk to me about morality and honesty."

Sunset nodded. "I have many times allowed entire races to suffer the consequences of their world's actions. I could have overturned more than one war, changed the past, or erase invaders, this is true."

Twilight smirked. "And one filly is worth more than all of that?"

"This young mare…" Sunset smirked in return, "is irrelevant to all of that. A false equivalency is not going to magically save your position, Twilight. You know that you twisted the rules and presented Sweetie with a false choice under the pretense that it was fair. That makes your 'final' decision… well, invalid is a good word for it."

Twilight Sparkle lowered her head menacingly and glowered at her. "She is gone. There's nothing you can do about what happened."

"I can, but discussing your shortcomings is not what I'm here for. I am here, acting on behalf of Sweetie Belle, who is not a part of your world. Distant Shores would not have been born naturally here. Her existence is, should we say, displaced from your domain. She has no future in this place, and thus her value for the fate of this pit of suffering you have so carefully constructed is not just insignificant, but actually non-existent. She does not belong to you, and therefore I can save her, even if you tricked Sweetie."

"You cannot take her away."

"No, I actually can. You cannot stop me."

"Then why argue with me?" Twilight snapped, slamming her hoof on the floor.

"This might seem a bit childish, since this whole discussion was just so I could give you a piece of my mind, but I'm sure you know how good it can sometimes feel to corner a mare with her own words, don't you, Twilight?"

"So you just wasted my time and yours for your petty revenge?"

"Making a scammer waste their time is never a waste," Sunset replied. "Now hush."

When all the other mare could do was fume, Sunset shrugged, then turned to look at the other mare in the room. "There is only one pony here with the power to stop me from taking Distant Shores out of this hellhole. It's up to her."

Distant Shores had come to the old apartment out of spite, more than anything. Half submerged in salty water, she had followed her other mother here, a long time ago. When the mantle-covered unicorn had forced herself out of her room and slithered down into the ruins, Distant Shores had known something was up.

Not trusting either of her mothers, she had still some memories of the good days, and for whatever that was worth, following the wretch to make sure… of what? She hadn't known. But she had followed.

Her other mother, Swiftwing had stopped her. Asked her to stay behind and let Sweetie go. But Distant Shores had refused. She loved them both and she couldn't just… abandon her, no matter how bad it was. No matter how hard it could get.

Swiftwing had watched her go after Sweetie with a haunted look that had torn at Distant Shore's heart. She wished she could stay with her too… but her other mother also needed her.

Distant Shores had been surprised her unicorn mother even had the strength to form coherent thoughts, much less move. She had watched her drag herself in, up the stairs, to the very room she had walked into now.

She had heard scratches, the hollow, gut-wrenching coughs of her mother… and knowing that she wouldn't be moving out of there anytime soon, had trotted out.

That's when her life had changed. She had returned home to find her mother had had packed everything and left. Once Sweetie was gone… Swiftwing didn't want anything to do with her daughter.

A single note was all that was left. I wish you luck. You are very smart, you will be fine. I need to start a new life too. Find me if you need anything, I can't promise… and so on.

It had been a month now, since then. Somepony looking like her had taken over her job, and she didn't dare tell Pinkie about it. She had thought about going to the authorities but… Vision's 'police' were worse than starving to death.

And… she didn't have the energy. She had walked away, to the other side of the city, where she would never encounter the other two.

She had found the odd job, been offered (and been tempted) to take a mantle or two. But seeing what that had done to her mother… she had refused, no matter how easy her life would have been.

This had become her place to escape. When she had returned only to find an oily mark against the wall where something had burned, she knew she was truly alone. She had snuck into her home while her doppelganger was out and stolen a few things, including a cassette recording of the old times, when they had been a real family.

Occasionally, she would come here when things were getting too hard, and watch and listen to her mothers when they were happy. Before the mantles. The betrayal. Death.

After a couple of weeks, her other self had disappeared, but Pinkie wouldn't take her back. Something had gone wrong there, and her counterpart had been at the center of it. Pinkie did not want anything to do with it, as long as Distant Shores left with a smile on her face.

It was dangerous not to smile. So she had. And she had walked away, and come here to think and remember.

When an actual alicorn, looking glorious and royal and goddess-like had walked in, she hadn't even known what to do. She had heard the door open, assumed it was some wretch, here to try something… but this…

And then freaking Twilight Sparkle had arrived.

This was not normal. This was bad. Really bad. Just what had her mother done? She was now caught in a fight between two powers she could not help to escape, much less match.

As the conversation between two beings that clearly held her life in their hooves continued, she listened for clues on how to get out of there… but what she was hearing was…

"There is only one pony here with the power to stop me from taking Distant Shores out of this hellhole. It's up to her."

She stared, blinking blankly at the alicorn. "M-me? I'm not involved in whatever this is!"

"You've listened to what we have argued," Sunset Shimmer, the alicorn, said, "but that is irrelevant for now. I'm offering you a choice: come with me. I will take you away from Vision, and I will allow your mother, who is so desperate to see you, to meet you… no matter what this one wants."

Twilight Sparkle. THE Twilight Sparkle turned to look at her, anger in her eyes, although Distant Shores was glad to notice that most of it wasn't directed at her. "You were already abandoned by her once. And you were abandoned by Swiftwing. Going with her is exposing yourself to that again."

Sunset snorted, then shook her head. "I offer you a home. A job. A chance to make friends that don't want to betray you… and the chance to meet your mother if you wish."

Distant Shores turned to look at Twilight, who sniffed in disdain, then turned to look away.

Still. Distant Shores looked at Sunset. "And if I don't want to stay with you? Or see my mother?" she asked softly.

The alicorn walked closer to them and rested a wing on her shoulder, looking her straight in the eye. "Then I will help you find a home where you want to stay."

Twilight Sparkle started walking away. "Never come back. Either of you."

Distant Shores looked down at the cassette player, using her hoof to brush her curly mane out of the way. "Are you telling the truth? I can see her?"

"Yes."

She felt… empty. She wasn't sure what she needed to say. Or what she should feel. There was much she wanted to say to her mother… and if Sweetie had been forced away… "Did… she not remember me?"

Sunset sighed, and Distant Shores thought she'd tell her that she'd find out everything only if she came with her.

Instead, the alicorn surprised her by sitting next to her on the old, filthy bed. "This will be hard to hear, Distant Shores, but… when Sweetie died, she was resurrected, and somehow—although I can imagine who was responsible—she lost the entirety of her memories here. She tried to piece things together, but all she discovered were the awful sides of her that had been cultivated by Vision."

Distant Shores looked across the room at the oily stain.

"Your mother is very strong," Sunset said, "but she's not perfect, and she's young. She's… really not much older than you are. She was not ready for this place… I don't think anyone really is."

"So when she ran away…"

Sunset shook her head. "She was put in a situation where the only things she had as evidence of her prior existence here were horrible acts that had severely hurt other ponies. Acts that she understood she could not take away… wounds that, to her understanding, would only fester in her presence. And if she stayed only to make things worse, no matter her intentions, she would be trapped here forever, unable to continue her mission."

Distant Shores snorted. "So she made the right choice, huh?"

"No." Sunset wrapped a wing around her and pulled her into a reluctant hug. After a moment of resisting however, Distant Shores sank into it. "No," the alicorn repeated. "It wasn't the right choice. There was no right choice for her to make… especially because she didn't know about you."

Distant Shores didn't look up from Sunset's chest. "What do you mean?" she whispered.

"I think, had she known, she would have made the right choice… and stayed with you."

Distant Shores closed her eyes tight. "I want to believe you."

"Give me a chance, then."

"Is it true that Twilight can't stop you?"

"That is true."

Distant Shores opened her eyes and saw, in that oily, burnt stain, what awaited her here, just like every other pony in Vision, and realized that Twilight had known exactly what she would choose, and that's why she had left.

She had never belonged here.

She sank into Sunset's coat and whispered… "Yes."

End Chapter

Author's Note

I'll probably have to write a blog about this rather than just a note. Sweetie Belle from the Sweetie Chronicles is one of my favorite characters, and a tremendous source of frustration for not finishing her story. It's back on the works, but it's hard to do justice to something I love, after so long, and after also changing how I wrote, even if it might not be too obvious to people.

I honestly wanted to do my best to portray her and Sunset together... and celebrate the Isekai's 100th chapter. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

As for the title... I thought Sia's song was perfect for Sweetie:

Re: Distant from League of Sweetie Belles: I like her, but she is a deviation from the canon of where I wanted to take the Sweetie Chronicles, but Sunset's Isekai couldn't ignore the fact that she existed, therefore there had to be a reason… then I remembered.

Distant Shores is half-fae, and thus Fetch!Distant Shores was born. Personally I don't think Fetches are not real people/ponies, and if you slap a Mantle on one, well. You can't argue with the result, I guess.

I'm sure League!Distant lived a fulfilling life.

Breather (Star Trek: Phoenix)

Sunset's Isekai
Breather (Star Trek: Phoenix)
By Dewdrops on the Grass, Wanderer D, & Vic Fontaine

"You're on!"

Sunset leaned over the bar to look at the large table in the center of the room. This kind of event usually wouldn't coincide with the girl's usual gatherings, but Rozemyne and Philine had brought back with them Khisanth and Mirage, who had gone to mingle with the adults in the room as more and more of the regulars came in.

Soon, the bar had grown large enough to keep the group separated, with Rozemyne hosting a very civilized-looking tea party with Hilda, Philine and Robyn, while the rowdy adults had their own overly-large long table stocked with food, alcoholic drinks and irrational behavior.

Usually this wouldn't be a problem, however, Lena, Michiru, Dani, Luz, Mehb and Kipo had been drawn to watch the usual challenges between the adult gang, which included drinking games (which everyone knew well enough to keep the kids away from), arm wrestling, shows of skill and powers, etc.

And it was loud! Not surprising, given who was partaking in the impromptu festivities: Eivor and Kassandra, Wrex and Crocodine, Commander Sparkle and Octavia, G'kar and Londo Mollari, Khisanth and Mirage, Tsunade and Aqua, Cana and Yukari, Zoro and… well, Luffy's Crew was always drinking and eating in excess. Luffy himself was managing an impressive amount of drinking, eating and keeping an eager eye on the two people at the center of the current debacle.

One Michiru Kagemori, a tanuki/human hybrid, and one Kipo Oak, a hybrid of many different beasts. Both teens had been egged on by the crowd around them, and Sunset was sad to observe (but not really surprised) that the one teacher in the room—Yukari—had joined the group in encouraging the two teens to have an arm wrestling match.

Already disproportionately giant arms and paws were resting heavily on the table, while the entire gang around them shouted encouragement.

Sunset watched warily as the table, already overloaded as it was, creaked under their weight as the pair started their wrestling match.

On the one hand, the kids were not drinking alcohol, and were just having fun. On the other, the adults around them seemed oblivious to the inevitable outcome of this impromptu match. Though knowing them, Sunset thought, they were probably hoping for exactly that.

"Come on, Kipo!" Michiru shouted with more confidence in her voice than in her strained smile, "don't tell me that's all you've got!"

"Oh, I'm just getting started!" she leaned in and fought back, her massive pink giant paw pushing hard against Michiru's transformed arm. The table rocked and creaked beneath them with every shift in momentum, each one more worrying than the last.

Sunset sighed, narrowed her eyes, and began tabulating the bill.

"Come on, kid!" Wrex snorted from behind her. "I've got a hundred credits on you!"

"Ha!" Cana shouted from behind Michiru, "I'll see your hundred credits and raise you a hundred gold!"

"Wooooo!" echoed from several spectators.

"Guys," Sunset called. "The table is going to—"

The crack broke through the shouts of encouragement and soon, the table toppled altogether, sending food and drinks splattering around and into the air.

"Alright!" Sunset snapped, walking around the bar to stand in front of the sheepish teens and the laughing adults. "You're all cleaning this up! And I'm charging the grown-ups here for the damages!"

It took all of them about fifteen minutes working together to clean the place up, and march good-naturedly out of the bar, grinning almost unapologetically at Sunset.

She tried to be stern, but she loved these guys. And at least they'd paid up and cleaned. The last ones to go were her daughters and her students.

"Sorry mom," Lena said, grinning sheepishly. "We got carried away."

"That you did," Sunset said, shaking her head. "But it's okay. The grown-ups should've kept you out of it."

"I'm sorry, Miss Shimmer," Michiru muttered, rubbing her arm and looking down.

"Hey, it's alright, Michiru. Next time, let's just have you girls visit when the loud gang is not around, okay?"

The racoon-girl smiled, nodding rapidly.

"Alright, I've brought you all to Scrooge's, try not to cause too much trouble," Sunset said, opening the door for the group of girls to trot out.

"See you later, mom!" Dani and Lena echoed as they ran out, followed by the others.

"See you soon!" Sunset waved at them and closed the door, resting her back on it with a heavy sigh.

She took in the sudden quiet and calm of the bar. Whenever she had large groups suddenly leave, the silence was almost overwhelming, but the Isekai was as welcoming as ever, and instead of missing the people that had just left, she embraced the small respite.

Shaking her head, she made her way into the main room, resizing it for casual visitors once more as she put away the last dishes and glasses.

Sunset closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Love the hustle and bustle, but sometimes I really need a break from large groups," she muttered.

As if in response to her comment, the door opened and the bell rang, the silvery chime announcing a single visitor.

Light clopping steps made it sound like a pony, and sure enough a familiar alicorn stepped into the room. Dressed in what appeared to be a late 24th-century Starfleet uniform, a Sunset Shimmer made her way into the bar, looking around in confusion until she quickly spotted her.

"Who the hell are you?!" she cried, almost taking a step back.

Taking a moment to finish drying up the glass she had in her hand, Isekai smiled. "Hi, me," she said, knowing that would confuse the mare even more. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai."

I fell backwards on my rump, unable to process what I’d just heard. “I-I’m sorry, Sunset’s what?”

“Sunset's Isekai,” repeated the human woman, still impossibly speaking in my own voice. Her eyes took in my appearance and a smile tugged at her lips. “My little bar floating in the omniverse. I gotta say though, you’re the first version of me from Starfleet to walk in here.”

“What?” I breathed. A deep sense of panic had begun to take hold of me, my heart stampeding in my chest, every hair on end, the urge to bolt rising rapidly.

The woman reached for a bottle behind the bar and a mug, poured a pint of something amber, then brought it over to me. “Here. This’ll help.”

Mutely, I took the offered drink in my magic and sipped it. The taste of crisp apples and cinnamon exploded on my tongue, all warmed by the ever so finely balanced burn of alcohol. I swallowed and looked at the mug in shock. “This tastes just like Alma’s family cider.”

“Alma?” She raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Not Applejack?”

“Who?”

“Ah, nevermind, it's just one of those minor differences out there.” She stepped around me and pulled out a chair from the bar I hadn’t noticed before, tapping it. “Please, sit down. Get comfortable. You look like you need it. And don't worry about the tail, it's pony-friendly.”

“But, wait, no,” I objected, even as I found myself sitting down. The chair, despite being made of wood and rough hewn, was shockingly comfortable. Almost form fitting. “I’m supposed to be searching the station for parts. I don’t have time to be sitting back and drinking cider.”

“Relax, Sunset, you’ve got all the time in the world,” she said as she went back behind the bar. She resumed polishing glasses. “Think of this place as an extradimensional pocket universe. It’s outside of normal spacetime. You can spend all the time you like here and almost no time at all will pass outside.”

“R-right,” I murmured, sipping more cider despite myself. The warmth it brought me did help. It took the edge off my nerves, and allowed me to catch my breath. Mostly.

Now that I wasn’t panicking, I took in the space around me. It was a warm, comfortable environment that reminded me a bit of Captain Liang's pub back in Hong Kong. Booths lined one wall, with vinyl-covered furnishings. A handful of musical instruments, plus dozens of framed posters and pictures, lined much of the available wall space, giving it the feel of a place that had seen countless patrons over time. I tried my best not to dwell on the fact that many, many people in the pictures looked very similar to myself.

The bar itself looked to be made from a lovely mixture of mahogany and birch, all finely crafted and polished to give a refined but welcoming air. Chairs similar to the one I was sitting in sat at a slight angle along the front of the bar, ready to receive their next guest. A door behind the bar led into what might’ve been a kitchen or office, I couldn't tell which, given that it was only marked by a sign that read 'Staff Only’.

“I think I’ve heard of a place like this before,” I murmured as I drank more cider.

“Oh, really?” asked the woman. Her voice being identical to my own still filled me with shivers, like I was speaking into a mirror. A bizarre, distorted mirror, showing me in a form I’d never once wanted to occupy. “How so?”

“Captain Liang told me he’d once been to a bar like this,” I said as I set my mug down on the bar, glancing around. It struck me as odd that I saw no other patrons, not even another employee working tables. “Said he found it way back during the Cardassian war. Heh, now that I think about it, he was on an abandoned station at the time too. He said it was called the Captain's Table. Same sort of vibe as this place, only it was full of captains just like him.”

“Huh.” I saw her briefly pull a book out from behind the bar and examine it for a moment. Did it say Captain’s Table on the spine? But she put it down almost as fast as she had picked it up, and went back to polishing glasses. “Sorry for working while we talk. The last customers left a little bit of a mess in their wake. Anyway, my place doesn't cater just to captains, although I am pleased to say we do have a Captain's Night. It caters to anyone who needs it.” She paused. “Well, anyone who needs it that’s friendly, anyway.”

“But why am I here?”

She set the glass and cloth down, and leaned over the bar, steepling her hands together. “That’s for you to tell me, Sunset. I’m just here to listen and talk.”

“And that’s another thing,” I said as I reached for my mug. Every sip of cider helped loosen my tongue. “Who are you? And don’t tell me you’re Sunset Shimmer, because that’s impossible.”

“Why?”

I blinked. “Why what?”

“Why is it impossible?” She beamed at me, her teeth shining white. “I’m Sunset Shimmer, just like you are.”

I found myself laughing, mostly without mirth. “No no no. No way. I’m a pony, not a human being.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That you are. And not the first pony me I've seen in here. Or the first Starfleet officer, by the way.” Her eyes dropped to my collar for a second. “You're a captain yourself, which means you have your own starship, correct?”

“Yeah, the Phoenix. We’re pretty far from home right now, and pretty banged up too. We stopped at that abandoned station to scavenge for parts when I wandered into here.” I took another pull of cider, which was inexplicably just as cold and refreshing as it had been when she first gave it to me. “But what’s that got to do with how and why you’re human?”

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Come on, Sunset, you know exactly why. I know for a fact Starfleet is well aware of the existence of other universes, which means there's multiple versions of all of us out there. Is it really that shocking that you’d be human in some of them?”

“Well… when you put it that way, I guess not,” I admitted. “Still weird, though.”

“If you want to make things easier, you can always just call me 'Isekai'.”

“Isekai,” I repeated, tasting the unfamiliar syllables on my tongue. “Sounds Japanese.”

“It is. As for us being human… actually, it’s pretty normal,” she countered. She placed the glass she’d been polishing back on the shelf and grabbed another one to start working on. “Most universes with a Sunset Shimmer in them have her spend at least some of her time as a human. Did you never come across a mirror that took you to another universe entirely?”

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow at her. “If by mirror you mean the Iconian portal that dumped me and my sister on Earth, then yeah.”

She tilted her head. “Sister?”

“Adopted sister,” I added. “Twilight Sparkle.”

She broke into giggles at that, to my surprise. “Wow. Twilight Sparkle, our sister. It's been a long time since I've seen that variation come in here. I’ve seen adopted daughter, mentor, mentee... plenty of friends, rivals, lovers, spouses, even enemies. But sister is a rare one indeed.”

A sick feeling rose in my stomach. “I’m sorry, did you say lovers? Spouses?”

She chuckled and shook her head a bit. "Yeah, alternate relationships always catch me off guard a bit no matter how many times I see them. But hey, infinite universes means infinite possibilities, right?" She gave the glass in her hand a final touch with the polishing cloth and set it down. “Anyway, if your mirror was an Iconian portal, that explains a lot. For most universes, including my own, it's actually an enchanted Equestrian artifact that takes the user to a parallel human world, and turns you into a human in the process.”

The sick feeling doubled in intensity. “Wait, you used to be a pony too?”

“Yep.” Isekai gave me a wry smile. “Though in my case we have a stable terminal at either end of the portal, so I could go back and forth anytime I wanted. Now I can just change at will, or when a particular world or dimension demands a specific shape.”

“Wow.” I shook my head in disbelief. “How did you adjust to it all? I’m surrounded by humanoids all the time and I never once thought about what life would be like if I was one of them.”

“It has its advantages. And some drawbacks. But it’s not been bad.”

“Consider yourself lucky, then,” I replied. I took a long gulp of my cider this time. The sweet taste and slight burn of the alcohol washed away more of my tension, as well as the increasingly strange images of myself and Twilight that had begun to fill my mind. “Because in my world, Starswirl the Bearded used the Iconian Portal to banish the Sirens, and it permanently transformed them into Siren-like humanoids. Even returning to Equus didn’t restore their original bodies.”

“Huh, so you met the Sirens after all? That’s interesting. Usually they just turn human. So how did things go for you, exactly?”

One last gulp of cider polished it off. After I set the empty mug aside, I replied, “I found the portal beneath Canterlot Castle, and the moment I touched it I was sucked in and literally dumped out onto Earth. Mom and Mother took me in and eventually adopted me. Twilight showed up six months later. She was eight years old at the time, but unlike me, she never went looking for the portal.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? How’d she come through, then?”

“Magic surge during her entrance exam for Celestia’s School. Somehow that triggered the portal, and it sucked her in from across the castle.”

“Huh. How old were you when you went through?” She took the mug and filled it with more cider, passing it back to me.

“Eleven. Well, eleven and a half.” I took another sip. This time the cider tasted a bit different, but no less good. Like a different batch, with a different tang to the apples and a touch less cinnamon.

“And lemme guess, right now you’re… mm… twenty-eight?”

“Just about.” I found myself chuckling. “Actually, it’s my birthday next month. Guess I’ll be celebrating on the ship, assuming we have enough supplies to even bake a cake by then.” All of a sudden my stomach rumbled. “You got anything to eat?”

“I’ve got just the thing, gimme a sec.” She disappeared into the back through that door, and a minute later came out with a steaming tray that sent my mouth watering. “How’s a havarti cheese sandwich and tomato soup sound?”

“Absolutely perfect,” I said as I immediately lifted one half of the sandwich and took a bite, moaning in sheer delight. “Oh wow, that is excellent.”

She smiled a little at that. “Glad to hear it. Gotta say, that's an unusual order. Most versions of me that come by here order things like pizza or burgers, and one in particular always gets sushi. But soup and a sandwich is a new one for us.”

“Really?” I took another bite, which was somehow even better than the first. Then I halted. “Wait, you say that like you didn't know what you- er, I mean I wanted to eat until you walked in there.”

“I didn’t. But you'd be amazed at what a non-linear kitchen can do.”

Both my eyebrows disappeared into my mane as I stared down at the food. “This doesn’t taste replicated.”

“You’re worrying too much about the little things, Sunset,” she said as she patted my hoof. “Now, why don’t we get to the reason you’re actually here. You said something about a station and looking for parts?”

I swallowed the mouthful of cheese sandwich and started on the soup, which just like the sandwich and cider was absolutely spot on perfect. “Mmhmm. The Phoenix was damaged in a battle with the Orions, and so we’re scavenging for parts on this derelict Orion station.” I paused. “Err, do I need to explain who the Orions are?”

“Nope. Like I said, I’ve seen Starfleet officers plenty of times, so I’ve picked up a thing or two. Anyway, I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re not just visiting a shipyard instead.”

I winced. Despite the food and drink, the sour, bitter, and shameful feelings I’d been sulking in returned in full force. “Yeah. See, ever since Twilight and I joined Starfleet, we’d been trying to find Equus. And we finally did, sort of. It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

Hesitation creeped into me, and after a moment’s thought I shook my head. “Actually… can we talk about something else? I’m not trying to be rude, but I haven’t had a moment’s peace in almost two months.” I took another bite of my food, which despite my mood remained perfectly satisfying. “If this place really is outside of time, and I can spend as much time here as I want, then I'd like to talk about something else, anything else, for a minute. Please.”

Isekai shrugged with a smile. "Hey, like I said, I'm here to listen and let you take a break, who am I to deny you the chance? 'Sides, I've been told by some of my guests that clearing their minds first helps to bring a fresh perspective. How about we talk about happier things, then? Tell me a little about your family? You have two moms? Human? Klingon?" She grinned, leaning forward with anticipation. "Please say Klingon."

“Klingon?” A bark of laughter escaped my lips. “No, no, no. Mother is Vulcan. Her name is T’Lona. And Mom is human, Amina Riviera. I take after Mother more than I do Mom though. She’s the reason I was able to adapt to life on Earth at all.”

"Ah," Isekai nodded. "That is logical. I just have a soft spot for our very rowdy counterparts out there." She tapped her fingers on the bar. "So you actually take more after your Vulcan mother? That's interesting… it's a departure from the more familiar, emotional-driven Sunsets out there. Why do you think you resemble her more?"

My ears flattened against my skull as I took a moment to demonstrate one of Mother's meditative techniques. “Because she helped me quell the anger and hurt I used to carry around with me. I never really had a family before her and Mom, and on that first day, when everything was beyond terrifying and I was convinced I was going to die, she made a connection with me. And the more we connected, the better I felt. She… she helped me heal.”

"She sounds like a wonderful person," Isekai said, her smile softening as she nodded. "You are very lucky to have them both. Most of us Sunsets out there didn't get anyone on the other side of the mirror to help us adjust… it gets pretty bad sometimes, but we're a resilient bunch, at least."

Isekai took a moment to refill my mug, this time pouring one for herself as well before returning and placing her mug conveniently close to mine. "It's no wonder that, with loving parents to help you harness your natural talents in a positive way, you've come as far as you have.”

“I know what you mean,” I replied as I took another sip of cider. “When I think about the kind of pony I used to be back before I met them, it’s like night and day. I never knew my biological parents. My earliest memories are of growing up in an orphanage. I only became Celestia’s student because the ponies running the orphanage took me to Canterlot and signed me up for the entrance exam to the School for Gifted Unicorns. I guess I impressed them, because I got the sole scholarship entry for that year, and then out of nowhere Celestia pulled me aside and asked me to be her personal student instead.”

A slightly bitter sigh escaped my lips. “I always wanted to be closer to her than she’d let me be. ‘Trusted student,’ she’d call me. Almost always ‘trusted student.’ She usually used my name only when she was angry with me. When she showed me the mirror – the portal – it actually showed me what I look like now.” I gestured to my uniform, to the pips on my collar, and then spread my wings. “Of course, all I could focus on after that was making that image reality.”

"That is a sadly common thing," Isekai said, shaking her head. She took a deep… very deep, drink from her mug and set it down with a sigh. "It was pretty similar for me. Mom didn't acknowledge any familial feelings as I grew up with her, and if I called her that by accident, she'd always gently remind me that I was a student, not her daughter. That was half the reason I left… after she adopted Cadence straight to the Royal Family when she became an Alicorn. Didn't even know who she was before. I felt… betrayed." She raised her glass again, using it to motion at me. "Saw the mirror, had wings in the reflection… didn't really think past the fact that it was my ticket for power, recognition… and very deep… acceptance. So I crossed it as soon as I could."

I nodded in understanding. “Sounds like we have a lot in common alright. Though I never knew Cadance. She didn’t ascend till a few years after I’d already left. When I took the portal to Earth, it passed near a black hole, and I arrived on Earth twenty years later than I ‘should have.’ It’s how and why Twilight and I are sisters at all, because I should be over twenty years older than she is.” A cold shiver ran through me as I contemplated the deeper meaning of her words. “Though… you actually call Celestia Mom, huh? She adopted you?”

Isekai looked uncomfortable for the first time since I stepped in. She shifted in place a little and glanced at her drink as if considering whether she should have more. Eventually she did take a smaller sip. "Yeah. It… took us a couple of centuries to get past the awkwardness. And even now, calling her 'mom' to her face takes a bit of conscious effort. I had given up for the longest time, you know?" She cleared her throat and whispered under her breath, "That never stopped her from showing my family pictures of me as a foal though…"

I reached out with a hoof to set on her hand in what I hoped she’d take as comforting. “I’m sorry if I touched a sore spot. It sounds like you went through a lot of rough times.”

Isekai shrugged. “Embarrassing, more like. Let me tell you, having Celestias over can get pretty awkward. They all regret losing their Sunset Shimmer in one way or another. Some of them lost her forever, some of them are still angry, or distraught, or both. But when they see me?” She chuckled. “That's when the waterworks start. Needless to say, it made my relationship with my Celestia a tough one to figure out.”

She gave me a considering look. "You mentioned you reached Equus earlier, right? How was Celestia in your world? Was Nightmare Moon still around? Without Twilight, I can't imagine how that one could've turned out."

I blinked in confusion. “What’s Twilight got to do with it? Equus handled itself just fine while we were gone. My Celestia found another student, someone named Starlight Glimmer, and she and her friends managed to find the Elements of Harmony and restore Princess Luna to her true self. Though it didn’t completely eliminate the Nightmare. In fact, it almost took over Twilight entirely when she Ascended, because she used dark magic to deal with the Dominion fleet.” I shook my head. “Anyway, Celestia and I… we found a way to come to terms with each other. We had a few talks, some pretty long ones at that, but we reconciled. I’m not angry with her, not like I used to be. And all she ever wanted was to be sure I was safe. Oh, and I see what you mean about the waterworks too. I don't think I'd ever seen Celestia cry, but when we finally had that breakthrough with each other, she became an even bigger blubbering mess than I was.”

"Hm, que sera sera, I suppose," Isekai said. "So Starlight stepped up, huh? You certainly come from a very unique universe. But I'm glad you got to talk to her… it's kind of humbling finding out how fallible our idealized princesses can be, isn't it? Even when you know, one hundred percent, that Celestia is or was wrong on something, seeing her vulnerable, repentant, or just apologetic is a game changer."

“It really is, though I long stopped thinking of her as idealized. When your entire worldview gets proven wrong, repeatedly, by real-world physics and a twenty-fourth century education, it’s pretty hard to keep viewing Celestia as some kind of goddess-like figure or whatever.” I blushed and waved my hooves in embarrassment. “N-not that I ever thought of her like that! Just… I had to listen to a lot of people tell me that’s how I thought of her, when I was first learning about solar physics on Earth. So the word kinda stuck in my head. And it actually kind of helped when we spoke, too. Helped me see her for the person she is, rather than whatever I had pictured her to be as a kid.”

"Eh," Isekai shrugged. "As for those people you mentioned on Earth, if they limit their thinking to that, this place would break their minds in minutes. Each universe has its own laws, and in some, magic just can't be explained by science, be it 24th Century or more. In others, Magic is as easy to explain as your ABCs." She grinned. "You could try to explain this place with normal physics, I suppose. It might even work on some of my regulars. But good luck trying that on any of the gods who pop in from time to time."

I smiled along with her. “That actually tracks with a lot of what I’ve learned. If there’s one constant in the multiverse, it’s that there is no constant. Though, at least where it comes to our Equus, they were actually right. My Celestia doesn’t really move the Sun, nor does Luna move the Moon. It’s actually an artificial environment, a rogue planet hidden in a nebula with massive satellites keeping it going. And the satellites are starting to fail.” My smile slipped away. “It’s getting colder on Equus by the day. Celestia’s aged, too. She’s lost a lot of her youth.”

“The whole system's an artificial construct? Wow, that's a new one for the books, and pretty dire too. Given you're at this abandoned station looking for parts, that tells me your Equus is pre-space era, right? Do the princesses have another way to evacuate if needed?”

“Yeah, their technology level is roughly equivalent to Earth’s early twentieth century, plus or minus a few oddities. As for evacuating, even if they could leave now, there'd be nowhere for them to go. There's nothing else habitable inside the nebula, and the region of space surrounding it may as well be uncharted for what little we know about it. In other words, Phoenix is the evacuation plan. We patched up the ship as best we could while on Equus, but if we can't restore high warp capabilities, a trip to Federation space that should take a few weeks will instead take a year. And I can't honestly say that I'm sure Equus has that much time left.”

“So what’s the plan for when you do get back?”

“Get the ship repaired properly, assemble a small fleet, and race back to fix the satellites before they fail entirely.”

Isekai nodded. "It seems like a solid plan, so you and Twilight are headed back? I'm sure the Federation should help. The Prime Directive wouldn't leave an entire population to be destroyed."

“You’d be surprised,” I grumbled, thinking back to a few of the more irksome instances I’d studied or personally witnessed in the past. “As for Twilight, she stayed behind. She's leading a science and engineering team to continue investigating the situation. We also had to leave a number of badly injured crew behind with our CMO, including... including our former Captain.” I let out another sigh. “Twilight always had a bigger attachment to Equus than I did. I wanted to find it because it was where I came from, but she always thought of it as home, even after she accepted our parents as our parents.”

Isekai hummed. "I see. So… how do you feel about that, if you don't mind my asking? It can't be easy to be separated like that and knowing what is home to you, is not necessarily for her."

I rocked back in my chair and took another bite of food, taking a long time to consider my response. “I-I know it was never easy for her, adjusting to life on Earth. She had an actual family she was torn away from, after all. And my Ascension didn’t help matters.” A sour grin spread on my face. “I got to spend two years eking out a meager existence on a desolate planet called Viridian Three because a warp core blew up in my face. I saved a lot of lives and Ascended in the process, but Twilight spent that whole time thinking I was dead. And she was utterly furious with me for months after I got back. She nearly got thrown off the ship, actually. So I get it. I get that she has a lot of mixed feelings. But…”

The food stuck in my throat, forcing me to swallow some more cider before continuing. “But at the same time, I don’t want to lose her. We grew up together. I love her a lot. She’s important to me. And ever since I started at the Academy there’s been one thing or another constantly getting in the way of us getting to just live. To be sisters. I’m afraid… I’m afraid she’s going to pick Equus over me and our parents, and I don’t…”

I trembled, and a few tears ran down my face as another lump formed in my throat. “I don’t know how I’d cope with that.”

Isekai reached out to pat me gently on the shoulder. "I understand. It's not exactly the same, but I still sometimes wonder if my daughters or girlfriend would ever choose their original worlds over me. And how could I blame them? They have friends and even more family there. But then I remind myself that despite the distance, they love me just the same. Granted it's easier for me to see them right now than it is for you and Twilight, but I'd look at that as all the more motivation to succeed in your mission. So even if she does decide to stay, seeing Twilight won't be as hard in the future. If your Twilight is anything like the ones I know, she's not giving up on you, because she also knows you'll never give up on her.”

“No, I won’t,” I said, nodding firmly. “If there’s one thing I know it’s that I’ll never give up on her. Or Equus. I don’t care if I have to leave Starfleet and build a new ship piece by piece, I’ll do whatever it takes. And you’re right. Whether or not she leaves Starfleet and remains on Equus, I’ll still see her. I just hope that…” I bit my lip nervously. “I hope that the satellite holds out. We barely learned anything about it before we had to leave; that’s part of why I left the science team behind. And if it fails before we get back…”

I suddenly sat up straighter. “Wait a minute. You said this place exists outside of time and space. Does that mean you can let me leave here in a different place than where I came in? Y-you could help me get back to the Federation sooner, maybe.”

Isekai sighed and shook her head. "There are situations where I can directly act in ways that a universe permits it, but every universe—or even multiverse—has a destiny that it must fulfill before I can interact fully with it. The consequences otherwise are not just unpredictable, but oftentimes irreparable."

She glanced warily at her empty mug, then set it aside in favor of pouring a shot of something green.

"I'm thousands of years old, Sunset. With experiences and powers that even I can barely comprehend in the grand scheme of things. If I use that knowledge to interrupt a universe's path, even with the best of intentions, I'd cause untold damage to everything and everyone inside of it.” She leaned back and glanced at all the pictures on the wall. "Thus I'm only allowed to act with people I know, or friends I've made, when the fate of the universe will no longer depend on their actions. Until then I can only offer them a respite. A chance to breathe, to think. A cold drink, a warm meal, and a friendly ear.”

She chuckled. "And you, my dear Sunset, will definitely steer your universe one way or another."

I laughed with her. “You know what, that’s fair. I probably shouldn’t have asked.” I reached for my mug of cider and took a long drink. “I really do appreciate all of this. You’re surprisingly easy to talk to. You know, for being a human me.” I smirked to show it was meant as a joke.

"Hey, I might have some insight that other bartenders don't," Isekai replied, smirking back. "It's not often that you look in the mirror, ask a question, and it answers back, right?" She took a deep breath. "So Twilight home, at least for now, and you’re on your way back to the Federation. It seems like a very heavy weight for any Captain to handle."

Those words landed on me like the heavy weight they spoke of, erasing my smile in a heartbeat. “I shouldn’t even be Captain right now,” I murmured. “I’m only in charge because Captain Liang was too injured to continue his duties. He was on another ship when the Dominion attacked us. Took us all by surprise and wiped out half our fleet before we could even respond. It was a miracle that we found Liang's escape pod floating amidst the wreckage of the ship he was on.”

“That's horrific. I know Starfleet's not one to be taken by surprise too often. What happened?”

“We were working together to perform magical research, looking for anything that could help us even the odds against the Dominion. The nebula we were hiding in masked our signatures well, but it also clouded our sensors. It turns out that the Dominion had located a magical artifact that at one time was associated with the Sirens, and they used it to track our location. We never saw them coming until it was too late."

I took another long drink of cider. “The Phoenix barely survived, thanks to Twilight. Like I mentioned earlier, she used some dark magic spell she’d memorized years ago and obliterated the attackers in an instant, seemingly killing her in the process. That’s how she Ascended… and how she had to deal with the Nightmare. It took Luna and Celestia to save her.”

More cider flooded my mouth as I needed it just to keep going. “Then, because she was on Equus with them after returning from wherever the heck we end up when we Ascend, she was able to use the help of a lot of others to summon the Phoenix to Equus. They literally pulled us through subspace and we crash landed outside of Ponyville. All told, we lost roughly half the crew, plus the loss of nearly all hands from the other ships in the fleet. Even with the locals helping more than I ever thought possible, it took us over a month to repair the ship enough to be spaceworthy at all.”

"Ah, Ponyville, of course, the everpresent magnet for weirdness in Equestria. The fact alone that you were able to get your crew and ship back into shape to fly all the way to Federation Space says a lot about all of you," Isekai said slowly, leaning down a little to try and catch my eye. "And a lot about you, as their leader."

I couldn’t help but laugh at that, bitter and entirely without mirth. “Yeah. Right. A great leader. That’s me, alright. That’s why we’re scrounging for parts in a friggen abandoned Orion station while my patchwork crew scrambles to keep the ship from falling apart all over again. Yup, real great leader here, let me tell you.” Mechanically I shoved another bite of cheese sandwich into my mouth and chewed it thoroughly before swallowing. “Because a competent leader gets the ship half-wrecked dealing with a simple band of pirates.”

"Or," Isekai spoke up, "a great leader gets the ship running, survives a pirate attack, and gets her crew to where they need to go to get repairs started. I imagine you didn't barge through pirate space on purpose."

“Not exactly,” I replied as I picked at my soup. “We ran into the Orions ten days after leaving Equus. We were nowhere near ready for full-scale combat, and they tore us to shreds. We barely made it out of there alive, and only because we pulled a few rabbits out of our hats.”

"Do you think any Ensign could've pulled those off, or do you think experience, training, and the ability to think under stress helps?" Isekai asked, giving me a look that clearly indicated what she thought of that. "Barely making it out alive is much better than not making it out at all, even if not in optimal condition. Even Kirk barely survived the battle against Khan in the Mutara Nebula, and his ship wasn’t in much better shape than yours."

I burst into laughter again, even more bitter and angry. “Maybe Kirk survived, but at least when Spock sacrificed himself to save the ship, he died because there was no other way to fix the warp drive. He didn’t get somepony killed because he failed to properly test an EPS conduit!”

Isekai's eyes widened a little before they became more gentle. "I see. I know you said you spent a while on Equus fixing your ship, but it sounds like it was still a work in progress when you left, then?”

“A work in progress?” I repeated in a soft whisper. “Sure. That’s what you call it when you get somepony like Flitter killed. A work in progress.”

There. I’d said it. And as I did, tears began to drip from my eyes once again. My breath shuddered in my chest, and the taste of the food and drink turned to ash in my mouth. I shoved the tray away and slumped onto the bar, feeling like the scum of the earth itself. “It was entirely preventable too. All of it. Local materials and pony engineering helped a ton, but there were still so many things we simply couldn't properly repair without 24th century tech. So many patch jobs I lost count. Like the EPS conduits.” I took a shuddering breath and sniffled back more tears. “I wanted to run more tests on them before leaving, but I was in a rush to leave too. Sun dying and all, you know? So I thought I'd test them on the way, but we hadn't gotten to it before... before…”

“Hey.”

Isekai wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a bizarrely comforting hug. My emotional control slipped, and what had been a few tears transformed into sobs, then gut-wrenching crying as I inundated her shoulder.

“Sssh, sssh, hey. It’s alright, Sunset, it’s alright.”

“No it isn’t,” I insisted, choking on the words. My throat burned like fire. “She’s dead, and it’s my fault. I might as well have walked right up to her and shot her with a phaser.”

“Don’t say that,” she chided gently, using one hand to stroke my withers. “You can’t blame yourself.”

“Easy for you to say,” I growled, pulling away from her. “I’m an engineer. I know exactly what we needed to do in order to test those conduits safely, and I didn’t take the time to get it done.”

She crossed her arms and stared down at me. “And I’m sure you had a reason for that, right?”

“Well, technically,” I admitted. “The extra tests would have cost us an extra week, probably more. I decided that was too long, especially when we don't know how long the artificial sun will last before it fails completely. The ship was spaceworthy, so I made the call to leave and complete the remaining tests enroute.”

She calmly set a hand on my shoulder again. “So you weighed your options and made the best call you could to keep moving forward. Sounds like the kind of thing a Captain would do. You said it yourself, you were planning to test them on the way. I’m guessing you were doing just that, right?”

I scowled back. “Technically, yes. Those conduits were to be tested a couple of days from now. But then the Orions showed up, and now Flitter's dead. And that’s my responsibility as her Captain.”

A sigh escaped her lips as she placed her other hand on my other shoulder and gave them both a squeeze. “Sunset. You’re blaming yourself for not anticipating factors you couldn’t have. You didn’t seek a battle with these Orions, right? They attacked you.”

I shrugged her hands off me. “You’re missing the point. I could’ve tried to flee. I could’ve done all sorts of things, like plan the battle better, or-or find some way of repairing the phasers well enough to damage their shields, or something! But I didn’t. I failed her.”

She stared at me wordlessly for a moment, then with a shrug, went back behind the counter. “Alright. You feel responsible, and nothing I say is going to change that. Wouldn't be the first time a captain came in here dead set on shouldering all the blame for something. The question now is, what're you going to do about it?”

I blinked, taken aback by this sudden rebuttal. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Like I said, I've had conversations much like this one with captains of all types. Usually this is the part where they swear vengeance on the enemy, or start thinking about time travel to try and prevent something from happening, or banishing themselves to the desert for a while.”

“What? No!” I slammed a hoof on the bar. “Why the hell would I do that? My crew needs their captain.” I let out a snort of disgust. “Or at least the person passing for their captain.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Aha. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

”Huh?”

She nodded. “Classic imposter syndrome. Seen that many times, believe me. You suddenly found yourself in charge, and despite your best efforts someone died under your command.”

“A lot of people died under my command,” I murmured as I reached for my mug. “We had seven hundred and fifty crew, and lost over three hundred.”

“So why aren’t you beating yourself up over them?” Isekai asked me as she refilled her shot glass, this time with something glowing and smelling of fruit. “What makes Flitter so special?”

I swallowed another bite of sandwich before responding, “You've met Starfleet people before; you know the training we all go through. All of us know we're risking death the moment we put the uniform on. But Flitter's not in Starfleet. None of these volunteers are.”

“So? You trained them anyway, didn’t you? You told them they might die in space, right?”

“Of course we did,” I growled. “We gave them as much training as we could. But it’s not the same thing. Until we crash landed on Equus they had no idea aliens existed at all, let alone starships and faster than light travel and everything else that comes with the Federation. They… they couldn’t understand what it really meant.” A snort escaped my nose. “Well, they do now.”

She knocked back her drink and set the glass on the bar with a clink. “You feel bad because she was a pony.”

“Yes!” I shouted, throwing my hooves up, and accidentally knocking over my tray of food onto the floor behind the bar in the process. “Yes, damn it. She had no way of really understanding the risk she was taking. None of them do. Hell, her sister even said she had to talk Flitter into volunteering.”

She glared down at the mess I’d made and sighed, reaching down to pick up the spilled tray, placing the dirty dishes and utensils below the bar. “She wasn’t a child, Sunset. She was an adult, and adults can make their own decisions.”

I bit my lip, watching in embarrassment as she started wiping off the spilled tomato soup from the wall. “...sorry about that.”

She waved it off. “Forget it. I’ve had a lot worse happen in here, trust me. And don’t change the subject. Flitter made her choice.”

“Yes, but like I said, she couldn’t have understood what it truly meant, not like someone raised in the Federation would.”

Isekai tossed her rag below the bar and stood back up. “You say that as if she didn’t understand what death was. But she lived in Ponyville, right? And unless this Ponyville is different, it’s on the edge of the Everfree Forest, right?”

“Err… yeah, but what does that have to do with—”

She cut me off. “Everything. The Everfree is dangerous. I can’t tell you how many versions of ponies I’ve seen in here over the centuries telling me about how this friend or that friend got gobbled up by a hydra, or torn to shreds by a timberwolf, or snapped up by a cragadile, or even just sank into the marsh and drowned. Death might happen less often in Equestria, but it still happens. Flitter knew what death is, Sunset. Treating her like she didn’t is insulting her memory.”

I sat there in silence for a few moments as I digested that. “But… it was still my fault that she died,” I protested in a weak voice.

She nodded. “Yes, it was, in the sense that you were her Captain. I'll grant you that point. But you didn't attack that pirate ship first, and you did everything you could to get your crew out of danger.” She took my mug and refilled it. “You didn’t mention why she died.”

“...she was reconfiguring the deflector dish to act like an inverse tractor beam, so we could hurl some debris at the Orion ship to disable it long enough for us to escape.” I let out a shuddering breath. “And she succeeded. If she hadn’t, we would’ve been destroyed.”

She smiled a little at that. “It sounds like she made a valiant sacrifice in a difficult situation, and saved all of your lives in the process. That doesn’t feel like something worth blaming yourself over to me.”

“But I… I still didn’t…” But my protests were weak, shallow even. They lacked the bite they had before. “...I should’ve tested those conduits…”

She reached out and patted my hoof. “Remember what you said before. You have to get back to the Federation, and time is critical, so you made the best choices you could with what you had available. You had no way of knowing you'd run into Orions so soon, but Flitter sacrificed her life so the rest of you could live."

I sat back on my haunches, frustrated by her words, more so because she was right than anything else. And the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize how much I was heaping scorn on myself for things outside my control. “Maybe you’re right,” I finally ground out. “But… I still feel like I let her down somehow. Like maybe I could’ve done something to save her life.”

Isekai nodded. "You have no idea how many good people tell me that. Legendary Heroes, Captains, pilots, you. What it indicates is that you are a good person, Sunset. And a good Captain who really cares about her crew. But like everyone else, you have to remember you're not omnipotent. Flitter made her choice because she valued everyone else on the ship, you included… and the only way you'd be letting her down now would be to take that blame onto yourself and allow it to hinder your decisions. She left them all in your hooves to protect, Sunset." She smiled, squeezing my hoof gently. "That is something you can do something about."

For the first time since I’d stepped hoof into the bar, I felt a sense of peace in my heart. It was nascent, flickering like an ember in the wind, but it was there. And it could grow. “You’re right,” I said. “You’re absolutely right. Thank you… thank you for everything.” I sat straighter in my chair. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure her sacrifice wasn't in vain. I'll get this crew home, one way or another.”

Isekai raised her fist and it took me a moment to realize she wanted to hoof-bump. "I know you will. We Sunsets are a resilient bunch, after all. Not to mention cute, creative, reliable, and 110% humble." Her grin softened once more. "I know you'll make her proud, Sunset."

“I’ll certainly do my best,” I said, giving her the hoof bump she wanted. I took a final drink from my mug of cider and set it aside, and climbed off my chair. “Well, I think it’s probably about time I headed back to the station. I’ve still got a lot of work to do, and a ship to fix.” I looked up into her eyes. “I mean it when I say thank you, by the way. This means a lot to me. I needed this.”

"It was my pleasure," Isekai said, then raised a finger. "Oh, before you leave, we do have a tradition here, unless you missed all of the Sunset pictures on the wall."

I glanced back at the wall, and chuckled. “Well, who am I to part with tradition?”

Sunset "Isekai" Shimmer walked down the line of pictures. "Alright, where were they… Sheridan… Reynold… nope, Cid. Nope. Hm. aha!"

She stopped in front of a picture. "Here we are. Starfleet. Archer. Kirk. Picard. Janeway. Sisko. Riker. Kira… Shimmer." She smirked, saying the last name as she hung up the picture of herself and her adorably uniformed counterpart.

She stepped back, looking at the Starfleet captains, a group among many others, but certainly consistent across the multiverse when it came to strength of character and vision. And now, for the first time she had found a version of herself who served as captain of her own ship, with a title earned through fire and blood.

Perhaps her counterpart was ignoring the significance of her ship's name when it came to fate and destiny. Phoenix was not a name given to things that passed into obscurity, after all. And now she was on a mission to save not only Equus and all the species living there, but also to prove to herself that she deserved her role as captain.

Each loss and each win would forge her, especially during this trip, into the mare that would fit the role perfectly. And it would undoubtedly come with more pain and sorrow. She could only imagine for now what type of adventures were still lying in wait for Captain Shimmer.

Maybe it was bias, but she knew that Sunset would be up to the task, and that she'd have one hell of a story to tell when she came back one day. And sure enough, the Isekai would have drinks and warm food ready for her.

"What makes a Captain a Captain?" she muttered, looking at all her visitors. From Captain Picard to Captain Glober. From Bright Noa to Harlock. From Cherry Berry to Reynolds. She had met many of the best, and there were many more she would be meeting in the future.

All of them were different in the way they acted, or how they approached situations, even down to how they handled personal issues. There couldn't be a more disparate bunch. But there was one thing all had in common: they knew the value and weight of sacrifice; their own and their people's.

And now, Sunset Shimmer was part of that proud group.

She chuckled, and turned back to the bar. It was time to make sure that everything was ready for her next visitors.

She hummed a song as she cleaned up the table and put the mugs away. "What was the name of that Captain she mentioned? Liang?" she murmured. "I wonder if he'll ever visit? I'll have to ask Picard or Sisko to invite him over."

End

Author's Note

Star Trek: Phoenix is one of those stories that easily captures your imagination, whether you're a Trek fan or not. Carefully planned, written and lovingly developed, it became quickly one of my favorite stories in the site.

Getting this chance to write with Dewdrops and Vic was a great opportunity to explore more into Captain Shimmer's psyche.

Just Gods Talking (Oversaturation)

Sunset's Isekai
Just Gods Talking (Oversaturation)
By Wanderer D & FanOfMostEverything

Sunset Shimmer trudged through her refurbished warehouse and collapsed onto her unpronounceable Scandineighvian couch and sighed. This last month had been one of the longest years of her life. Almost literally given some of the time dilation she’d had to employ.

That got a tired smirk out of her. She finally had casual access to magic again, and all it took was nearly destroying the universe. She was even kind-of sort-of an alicorn as well, inasmuch as anyone could be without the kind of drastic changes to body plans that she’d specifically avoided. Instead, Sunset sported a small, oval gem in the center of her forehead, the same color as her eyes and the same function as her horn back home.

The smirk slipped off her face. Home. Part of her still thought of Equestria as such. It was hard not to; two months ago she’d still been the school pariah, with only her friends willing to give her the time of day. And now, between the Battle of the Bands and the desperate rush to keep the world from buckling under the weight of magical overload afterwards, she had more popularity than she knew what to do with.

Sunset pressed her head back into the couch’s cushions and groaned. No matter how she looked at it, she’d gotten everything she wanted back before taking a rainbow to the face. And she…

Well, she couldn’t honestly (or Honestly) say she hated it. She was glad to have her friends, her new home, and the power to fix the mess she’d caused (which was still very much an ongoing project.) Becoming the local equivalent of the Tree of Harmony came with a lot of perks to go with the responsibilities. But…

O Divine Bacon Horse, whose neigh heralds the end of strife and whose hoofsparks kindle the fire of friendship, hear my plea…

Sunset groaned again. Throw pillows streaked to her hands wrapped in golden magic so she could press them against her ears and fall on her side. The prayers had started only a few days after she announced to the world that there would have to be some changes to account for the new fundamental force, and they hadn’t stopped since. If anything, they were getting more elaborate and ridiculous with time, as like-minded people came together and started deciding on dogma without her input.

In hindsight, “Thou shalt not worship me” was a self-defeating commandment.

“I need a drink.” In theory, she could create anything she could imagine. In practice, it would take a good deal of focus to keep herself from instantly metabolizing the alcohol, focus which was hard to maintain while drunk.

Most other beings wouldn’t have felt the shift. To Sunset, the outer-dimensional vibrations were like a foot on a squeaky floorboard. She straightened up. “Either Ditzy Doo tripped outside of the universe again, or…”

She trailed off as she took in the door. Her own cutie mark looked back at her.

Sunset couldn’t hold back the grin, certainly not when Laughter bubbled up in her soul. “So,” she said as she got off the couch, “a spirit of Harmony walks into a bar…”

There were many times when Sunset just had to stop. And most of them took place when she was entertaining a guest for the first time, or more often, when her daughters or girlfriend, or certain friends needed a bit more normalcy than a full bar of only gods and goddesses existing and being served at the same time as a full bar of super heroes, and a full bar of pilots, or wizards.

In some cases, a few of the patrons would consequentially notice each other (mostly the wizards and the gods, but pilots were very perceptive and who knew what Sisko was actually able to notice when captains and commanders were about) and arguments might start.

So, if this was life for her, it was really no surprise when the bar's door swung open and another version of her entered looking like she had been doing Celestia's (neglected) paperwork for the last ten years. Things like these happened with a lot of frequency to herself and Ranma Saotome.

There was something familiar—besides the obvious—about this Sunset Shimmer. Like an aura of Harmony emanating with too much consistency from her. And she was sure that she had met her before, but for whatever reason her guest had the refreshing look of slight confusion and anticipation so many of her first-time-guests had when they stepped into the bar.

And she definitely looked like she had at least fifteen things going on at the same time… oh. Oh. It was the non-linearity that was familiar. What an odd thing to find comfort in. She put forth her best, welcoming smile and leaned over the counter so she could be easily spotted. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the omniverse. I'm also Sunset Shimmer, but you can call me Isekai."

The newcomer blinked, then turned to look at the rest of the bar. She snapped her head back, blinked a few more times, and focused back on Isekai. “Okay. Not going to repeat that until I decide which layer to focus on.” She slid onto a stool and gave a shaky smile. “Nice to meet me. Have I been doing this long? Also, feel free to tell me if I’m messing up the pronouns; I have about forty other things to do before I track down my human analogue.”

Isekai grinned and waved a hand. "Oh we shouldn't worry about what we do here, time outside of time, multi-layered existence and all, I'm here for us. We know how it is, don't you?" She produced a menu, and handed it over. "Seriously though, don't fret about it. This is a place to relax. On all levels."

“I appreciate it, more than I can say. Not to make it a contest or anything, but I have way more than a bar to manage and I…” Sunset looked at the menu, frowned, turned it over, and looked back up at Isekai. “This just says ‘Start pouring.’”

"Good enough for me," Isekai said, walking over to a barrel and pouring two mugs of cider, before sliding one in front of Sunset. "And don't worry, the first couple are on me." Her smile grew. "And the rest are on us. Literally."

“I’d ask about employee discounts, but I feel like we’ve made enough grammarians angry as it is.” The two clinked their mugs before throwing back the cider almost symmetrically.

Sunset’s eyes popped open as she drank. Once the mug was back on the counter, she stared at it like the remaining foam formed the meaning of life. “That’s Equestrian. I didn’t think I’d taste that for decades.”

Isekai responded by bringing the barrel over and setting it next to them. "Well," she said, sipping hers, "this is straight from one version of Sweet Apple Acres… not entirely sure which one. I think it's either the one before Applejack was born, or the one where Applebloom married Sweetiebot."

After a few false starts, Sunset said, “I have several questions, and right now the answer is ‘cider.’” She went back to drinking.

"Cheers!" Isekai said, also drinking from her own mug. "So, goddess, huh?"

Sunset winced. “Look, I’ll accept a lot of titles: spirit, catalyst, legitimate princess of one Fall Formal. Goddess is not one of them. I have enough on my plate just keeping my reality stable while it adjusts to the presence of magic. I…” She trailed off and looked back at the door. “You did say time outside of time, right? Because I’m not sure how much of me is here, but it’s probably too much.”

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Isekai assured her. "No time at all will have passed outside the door, and if you need to relax, you could let loose in here and I think you might shake the dust and cobwebs. (Not that there's any! I clean this place!) The bar is very resistant to all sorts." She took the opportunity to refill Sunset's mug as she spoke. "And I guess you don't want that title… sorry about that, I have plenty of gods visit so I didn't think twice."

“It’s fine. At least you take no for an answer. Like I said, I have enough to worry about without getting into things like right and wrong. Less than a year ago, I was kidnapping puppies and brainwashing students. Just because I have power doesn’t give me the right to tell people how to live, especially when there are plenty of other religions happy to do so. But…” Sunset slumped, one elbow on the bar. “I don’t know, maybe people are just attracted to the shiny new option.” She briefly glowed golden for emphasis. “Literally. And I can’t get them to stop. I don’t know how Princess Celestia does it.” After a moment and a thoughtful pull of cider, she added, “And I should probably ask her.”

"Don't tell me you manifested in front of everyone in the world?" Isekai blinked. The thought was… kinda hilarious in a way. "Is that why you have worshipers now?"

Sunset straightened up. The blush might have just been the cider, doctored to work on just about anyone. Isekai doubted it. “Look, if I didn’t tell them what was happening, then people would just suddenly have feathers coming out of their necks or fingernails like tiny hooves or, you know, these.” She jabbed a finger at her own headgem. “Or any of the other aspect mutations. And they’d have zero context for what was going on. Someone had to explain it to them, and I was the only one who could. What was I supposed to do, leave a voice mail on every phone in the world?”

"Hey, I'm not saying you did the wrong thing, but I sure think that left an impression on them," Isekai said, patting her counterpart's shoulder gently. "Think on how humanity has depended on gods, primordial forces, or simply the idea of them through their existence, and suddenly one not only changes the world, but also appears to all of them and provides a relatable, and dare I say beautiful (and humble) option? It's no surprise they'd latch onto you when you essentially validate everything." She shrugged. "I'm sure you'll get the requests for winning the lottery soon enough, just… don't grant them to everyone."

That got a nod. “The girls made sure I saw Spruce Almighty a few days after everything changed. I’m pretty sure they meant it as a joke, but it did a lot to convince me I don’t want anything to do with godhood if I can help it.” Sunset sighed. “If. It’s… I get it. Humans wanted to explain natural forces as much as anyone, and they couldn’t just say ‘Of course there was thunder; my herdmate kicked a cloud.’ And when it came to the big questions, it helped to know there was something out there. Something that cared, that wanted them to be the best version of themselves.” She wrinkled her brow. “Or something like that. I still have a hard time getting the girls to explain Harmonism to me.

“But I did enough research into possible human magic during my bad old days to understand just how unavoidable this kind of thinking is for people. Even ponies if you go back to before Celestia. I just…” Sunset snorted as a shaky smile came to her lips. “I almost wish I had someone to pray to. A bartender’s probably the best thing I can hope for. Especially one who’s been where I have. I assume.” She squinted. “Pretty sure there’s a unicorn deep down in there.”

"And a demon, and a cat… and a super saiyan, and a wolf. And a smurf. Musn't forget the smurf." Isekai had closed her eyes, crossed her arms and nodded with every entry. "But yes, my very first self was unicorn Sunset Shimmer, apprentice/unofficial daughter of Celestia." She opened one eye. "Although it took us both centuries to admit. And… yeah, I'm afraid that if you decide to worship me, my girlfriend will get jealous and I'll have to raise the prices on the drinks." She smirked. "Otherwise there's no point in the tax exemptions."

She studied her guest for a bit. "It's really giving you a hard time, getting used to all of this, huh? Even though clearly you have seen what, when and where at the same time."

“First of all? We can never let Rainbow Dash know that Dragonpearl X is real somewhere. She’d be insufferable.” The two shared a smile before Sunset’s slipped. “But… looking at things from a cosmic perspective isn’t that hard. I can handle the unbelievable power and responsibility. The hard part is trying to stay connected to everyone on top of that. I won’t just sit in some cave and let things play out the way they’re ‘supposed’ to like certain trees I could mention. I still want to be Sunset Shimmer. I want to be with my friends. I want to live my life. I’d hoped I could still do that with a little more magic, but people keep making a big deal out of everything I did and…” She groaned and grabbed at her hair with her free hand. “Despite everything I’ve done, I’m afraid of change and I’m being a whiny foal about it.”

"Hmm." Isekai leaned back and turned her eyes at the rows and rows of pictures on the wall. No doubt this Sunset could see them all at the same time, just like her, even if most guests could only glimpse at a few of them. It was relatable. All of it, if under different circumstances.

"I understand," she finally said, bringing her eyes back to her counterpart. She raised her mug to her lips, frowning a bit when she realized she had actually finished the cider already. She stared at the empty glass for a second before shrugging and refilling it. "When I started this bar… over a thousand years ago—in here at least—I had no idea what was in store for me, but I wanted to be with my friends… and still be Sunset Shimmer, no matter where I was. I meet with individuals from wildly different universes all the time, but… nothing feels more centering than drinking a milkshake with the girls back home."

She sighed, licked her lips and downed the mug. "I've spaced my visits, more and more, because my time is infinite and theirs is not. I'll always be there for them, but they won't be for me… it's scary. Even if they exist elsewhere, they won't be the ones I first knew who changed my life. And, if I don't have someone to keep me… real, so to speak, I fear I might become too detached to be able to empathize with others. I guess… it's an unfortunate part of being us. Or maybe it's the best part of being us." She refilled her glass and raised it at Sunset. "Only we can decide that, right?"

Sunset raised her own, less full glass in turn. “We are what they made of us, for good and for ill. We certainly wouldn’t be where we are today without them. And… well, they kind of are my Elements of Harmony, I think? It’s weird. Twilight and I are still looking into that; Mr. Discord doesn’t want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. The point is I should use the support structure I have while I have it.” She shuddered. “I’ll definitely need to talk to the princess about how to deal with friends’ mortality. Good luck there. And thanks.”

Isekai chuckled. "It's not going to be easy, but well, I can tell you at least what has worked for me, besides time travel." As if on cue, the silver bell rang and two voices were heard, although only the stomping of a single pair of feet.

"Hi, mom!" "Hi, mom!" the voices echoed as a floating human girl and an anthropomorphic duck paused to stare at Sunset. "Oh," the duck said, "sorry, I didn't realize you had a guest! We'll go to the back for now."

"Make sure you finish your homework," Isekai said as the floating girl went through the wall with a "yeah, yeah" and the duck waved at Sunset as she went into the 'staff only' room. Isekai chuckled and grinned at Sunset. "They have the best timing. Or so my chronicler keeps thinking."

Sunset had tracked the two as they’d walked through the Isekai, eyes unblinking and head swiveling beyond the limits of the human neck. After a few moments, she remembered herself, turned back, and managed, “I’m going to assume at least one of them is adopted.”

Isekai tilted her head. "What makes you say that?"

That actually got Sunset to settle down a bit and smile. “Because I’m getting a feel for your sense of humor.”

"Ah, I need to work more on my 'innocently oblivious' look, it seems." Isekai sighed. "Alas, we can only fool ourselves only so much." She grinned. "But yes, both of them are adopted. Lena comes from a universe of sentient ducks, and Danni from a world where ghosts are an active part of the community, so to speak. Still. I think you got my point about how to deal with change… more change, but the type that fulfills you and brings people into your life… and let me tell you, when my version of the Rainbooms found out I had daughters, it was hilarious. Especially Rainbow Dash. She asked the same question you did, but couldn't answer me without stammering when I asked her what she meant."

Sunset nodded. “Makes sense to me. Definitely not ready for kids yet—honestly, I’d never even imagined myself as a mother until I heard those two call you Mom—but I get what you mean. And if I’m going to be a more outgoing spirit of Harmony, I might as well cast a wide social net. The Friendship Games are coming up soon. Maybe I can turn all this hype into a way to make both schools actually enjoy the event. Especially with Twilight helping to bridge the gap.” Her smile wavered. “... Did you hear thunder just now?”

Isekai's smile was frozen on her face. "Oh." She chuckled. "The Friendship Games, yes. It'll be a blast, I'm sure." She cleared her throat. "Have you thought about inviting Princess Celestia over for a day? If you can't go back, maybe she can visit?"

Sunset’s narrowing eyes gave way to a wince. “It’ll be another few months before I can even let Princess Twilight through the portal, much less the others. That much power in one place is dangerous right now. I was just going to use the journal.” She gave a shrug that tried and failed to look casual. "But hey, at least the two of us will have time down the road.”

Isekai shrugged. "Or, if you want, you two can meet here. You're welcome to come back more than once. I find myself pleasant company most of the time."

“Oh. That’s… huh.” Sunset took another look around the bar, contemplative this time. “Yeah, that could work. Looks like plenty of me can already attest to that.”

"If you mean me and all the other Sunsets in the pictures, that would be a yes," Isekai nodded encouragingly. "But there's no rush. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here for you."

“I appreciate it. I guess that’s the great thing about being Sunset Shimmer. Once you hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up.” Sunset emptied her mug. “But not yet. I have enough to sort out right now without adding my history with the princess on top of it.”

Isekai nodded. "This is true. And as you said, you have all the time in the world, just… don't be like me and postpone it too long." She chuckled. "It took me centuries to not run away from her and address my issues." She gave Sunset a thumbs up. "Granted, different than yours, but still. You get my point."

“Oh yeah. Time’s a precious thing, even for us. And acting like I have forever is a good way to never get anything done even when I’m not dealing with my baggage. On that note...” Sunset eased her way off the stool, shaking her head as she took a few steps. “Ugh. That stuff sneaks up on you. Shouldn’t be surprised you had something that would stick with me.”

"I do have a whole lot of things that might, but before you go, I do have a request." She lifted her cell phone. "We need our own picture for the wall!"

Sunset grinned. “Sure! Most polite selfie request I’ve gotten all week. Not saying much, but still.”

Sunset walked back into her living room with a wide smile and just a bit of a stagger. She felt the Isekai pull away from the local reality gently enough that it didn’t leave anything to repair, then once more collapsed onto her diacritic-rich sofa. The card in her hand seemed to… well, shimmer in a friendly way.

“Okay,” she said to herself, scrap paper and a pencil floating into position around her. “First things first, write Princess Twilight and start some messages on their way to Princess Celestia. Then—”

O Holy Maiden of Two Suns Entwined, I implore thee to smite my enemies that I—

Sunset jabbed a finger in the general direction of that latest, loudest supplicant. “No. No smiting. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

But—

“I said no. That goes for everyone. I don’t smite or purge or cleanse the unclean. My kitchen sink can attest to that last one. Now let me focus, I need to write home.”

Agnostically blessed silence answered her, and Sunset happily composed a letter to the princesses.

The next morning, she’d have to deal with the first theological speculation about where she’d come from, but that was a problem for future Sunset.

"So, darling," Rarity asked, leaning back on her chair as she took a sip of wine. "What would you have done if you'd been thrown into the role of a goddess without warning?"

Sunset shook her head, hanging up the picture she'd taken with this other Sunset. If one could see more than one layer of reality, then one would see that it was not just the two smiling Sunsets, but also the layer where they were at the same time trying to figure out if it was the best pose, and the layer where they were making faces at each other, and so on and so forth.

Non-linearity was fun, but she definitely understood her counterpart's wish to remain linear enough to be relatable. It was after all what she was all about.

"I don't know," she answered eventually, walking over to sit across her business partner. She poured herself some mead and took a sip of the sweet beverage. "I don't think I could have done a better job than she did, especially at that period of time in my past. If I was who I am now, and knowing what I do, I suppose I could have just fixed the rift."

"Just like that? Oh my, somepony is getting a big head," Rarity teased.

Sunset mock-glared at her. "Sure. What would you have done?"

"Moi? Well, I would have just let the magic transform every human in the world into anthropomorphic animals. Hybrid ponies, griffons, dragons… yaks. The whole deal. Not only are they more cute, but it would be fun to watch them try to use other people being different as an excuse for war." Her smile became vicious. "Plus, imagine the possibilities for designing clothes!"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "I have nothing but fondness for anthropomorphic people as you well know, but you do realize that kind of forced change upon an unsuspecting world would not achieve world peace just because it happened. Such a sudden and unavoidable change would destroy society as they know it. Sunset did the right-ish thing in allowing them a period of time to slowly get used to the world before it fully sank in, I think. You'd be hard pressed to manage the chaos otherwise."

"Why would I want to manage that?" Rarity asked. "I think it would be amusing to watch; I never said anything at all about taking responsibility." She huffed. "If Harmony made me a goddess, then she can deal with the consequences of leaving me unsupervised."

"You can be kind of scary, sometimes," Sunset said, sighing. "I think Sunset is doing a good job so far, and we know she'll grow into it."

Rarity narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't you tell her you've met before?"

"Have I? Or is it just that I'll meet her in the future?" Sunset shrugged. "She might be working on her own time, but she still needs some to settle in and learn to be herself in these new circumstances. Throwing more stuff about the omniverse on top of that is probably not ideal."

Rarity chuckled. "I do forget you are a goody two shoes most of the time."

"And you're not?" Sunset asked, raising her glass.

"Depends on who you ask." Rarity clinked her glass against Sunset's. "But, I agree she did better than most would."

"Yeah," Sunset said, smiling as she partook of her mead. "She'll do just fine."

Author's Note

So, FOME and I spoke about doing this during EFNW. I hadn't really read all of Oversaturation yet, so once I had the book... what was my excuse? :rainbowlaugh: Here's hoping you all enjoy this little slice of life from one of the most interesting Sunset Shimmers out there.

For those astute observers out there, the title is indeed a reference to the late Mythrilmoth's story: Just Girls Talking Rest in Peace, buddy. And maybe make some time in heaven to finish up the original version of the Megaman 1/2 series you started a while back on the FFML. I always thought it was better than the .exe version.

Isekai Shenanigans: A Nomad Wolf in Night City (Cyberpunk 2077)

Isekai Shenanigans: A Nomad Wolf in Night City (Cyberpunk 2077)
By Wanderer D

Note: Isekai Shenanigans do have some continuity to them as they follow events in previous Isekai chapters. Panam's situation is explained in the Cyberpunk/Wolfwalkers crossover chapters. New cast/footnotes in Author Notes at bottom.

Judy Alvarez was not exactly an Aldecaldo, although she was getting there. After V had contacted Panam before the attack on Arasaka Tower, she had been formally invited to join the clan, and she had, but, she still checked on the Mox and others, so she had been tied to Night City a bit longer than intended.

It was funny, in a way, it had taken her so long to join them. Or another clan, if not them, given that she was a sort-of-Nomad herself. All her life consisted of being displaced by corpos and gangs; her original childhood home had been flooded by a corp, then falsely arrested, then working for the Tigers at Clouds, then joining the Mox, and finally breaking free thanks to V… and finding this family who didn't just want her for her editing skills (although she was respected for them). Mitch had found a common soul in her, and she had been able to transfer her robotics hobby into actual practice.

Life had been a process of slowly falling in love with the lifestyle of the Aldecaldos. She had heard from V that a friend named Misty had once tried to live city life only to end up really missing the hustle of it; the sounds of cars, and constant hum of a dense population. Judy had been a bit afraid that it would be the case for her, but to her surprise, the life in the badlands suited her well.

It also stirred her imagination to be surrounded by such characters as the Aldecaldos. From Mitch and Panam to Dakota, Carol and Bob, all of them were crazy in one or another endearing way, especially the vets. And while they all worked together to a communal good, each fostered and relished in their independence and personality.

A few months back, Panam had gone out on some spiritual journey while Judy was visiting her grandparents, and she had returned to find Mitch being in charge while Panam made her way back. It had taken a week or so, but the decidedly gorgeous woman had rejoined her clan with not only a strong sense of purpose, but, if anything, an even stronger sense of belonging.

That, and a supposed guardian spirit that, as legend (relatively new one at that) had it, protected the camp. Judy had even heard it once… seen it against the wall of her tent when the moon had been full, but when she'd walked out, there was nothing.

Everyone had been interested in learning more about where she had been, but Panam had been secretive about the whole situation, simply assuring them, that she had needed a sort of spiritual retreat to tame her more wild side. The only one that seemed to have an idea of what had been going on was Mitch, and he hadn't said anything other than Panam needing that time to herself. And it appeared to have worked.

Panam was by no means any less dedicated, strong, or resolved. Combined with the fact that she wasn't trying to turn the Aldecaldos into some sort of cult like many religious converts did, and with her sights on strengthening the clan come what may, everyone's worries had been put to rest, and for months since her return, there had been no problems. Panam would occasionally take a day or two on her own out there, but it wasn't more than that, and she never was too far for a call to have her back immediately if needed.

Ever since joining the Aldecaldos, she had felt complete. And that was why she had joined Panam in her visit to Night City… she knew it better than anyone at camp, and so she had volunteered to join the other woman for both, enjoying eye-candy purposes, and also to actually be of use.

It had helped that they had grown closer since V introduced them, thanks to their shared acquaintance, and the crazy stunts they had both helped V with. Which was how she and Panam had ended up infiltrating a Wraiths base in the middle of the night.

"I still can't believe you found this camp in the first place," Judy said, her holovid-feed going straight to Panam, who was silently making her way up to the wall of the compound. "Wraiths might be crazy, but they're not dumb when it comes to finding places to hide."

"Heh. You could say I've developed a nose for it."

Judy chuckled at the joke, lame as it was, although the way Panam had said it made her feel there was more to it than what she was catching on.

"You sure do," Judy said. "I just hope they haven't figured out where we're camping."

"If they do, we can move, but we also have the Basilisk," Panam growled. "Let's see these raffen shivs try to get us with that in the way."

"Yeah, I don't see them doing a frontal assault," Judy muttered, her eyes studying the data and cameras. "There's two of them ahead, by the way. Patrol, looks like."

"Yeah, I could smell them coming, and they make more noise than Claire's truck."

"Okay, so real talk, did you get some sort of nose cyberware?" Judy asked, "because you keep referencing smells."

"Why? Are you afraid I'll smell you looking at me?"

"As if." Judy could feel her ears burning. Had Panam known all along?

"If you say so." Panam chuckled. After a moment, she continued. "You know, V and I almost got there."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah. She and I were in the Basilisk, testing it out, and when we connected I could feel her attraction to me. I was game for messing around a bit, but we got interrupted by Wraiths."

Judy shook her head and sighed. "I thought you were into guys." She tapped two spots on her display. "Another patrol to your eight."

"I am, and I see them," Panam answered as she stopped, spotted the pair of guards and weaved around the various objects, undetected. "But a girl can have fun, right?" She sighed. "V was a special case, I admit, but even then… other than a friendship with benefits, I didn't see us going stable ever, like you and her."

Judy snorted. "Well, then there was River. Although she let him down gently, nice guy that he is. Still a horn dog, tho. I saw some of their chats and she was laying it thick that she wanted nothing but friendship from him."

"Did you read that piece where they said she was Eurodyne's new output?"

"Yeah, that was a stunt from their Samurai revival concert. It doesn't count. But still, if her merc work hadn't been amazing, that concert alone made her a legend. I've edited BDs of that night and it was pretty nova."

"I also heard she… or maybe Johnny… took out Rogue on a date." Judy could almost envision Panam shaking her head. "Our V sure led an eventful life."

"Yeah." Judy paused. Swallowed. "Have you… heard anything from her?"

Panam sighed. "Nothing yet. I'm keeping my ear to the ground, tho and… ugh."

Judy could see Panam had stopped and pressed her back to one of the crates. "What's wrong?" she hissed, her eyes scanning the displays. "You're right in the middle of two patrol crossing points, don't stay there."

"I think we're already too late," Panam said somberly. "I can smell the stench all the way here."

Judy winced. A few young Aldecaldos and some Night City residents had gone missing after a party. Rogue had reached out with an offer, not really knowing how many people or their origins had been captured, only that some of them came from a wealthy enough family to pay for rescue. After confirming with the fixer that they were talking about the same place, Panam had traced their location to here. She'd of course taken the job… not because of the money, but because she didn't want to trust family to rescue from strangers that might think nomads were disposable.

She bit her lip. Hesitated. "Do you… want to—"

"No," Panam interrupted, although she sounded a bit resigned. "We can't leave without making sure. Maybe some of them are still alive."

"Right." She pulled up the map they had recorded with a drone and frowned. "You're still pretty far away… are you sure…"

"I am," Panam said. "It's definitely coming from there."

"Alright, you still have time before the patrols get there."

Clink.

Judy paused, tearing her eyes from the monitors and displays. Her hand strayed to the silenced smart gun next to her. The van was dark, except for the ghostly light of her equipment. There were no windows to look outside, more due to the necessity of obscuring the light coming from within. And they hadn't parked too close to the site… but… had she heard something? She kept quiet for a bit, but couldn't hear anything else.

"Everything alright there?" Panam asked.

Judy's eyes went back to the displays, spotting her friend already reaching the door to where they knew the Wraiths had dragged all their prisoners. "Yeah. I thought I heard something, but—" Her words trailed off as Panam opened the gate and she saw, through the link, the massacre that had taken place inside. "Oh, no."

"No Aldecaldos," Panam said, thankfully moving away from the metal slabs where some of the bodies lay. "Damn scavs," she growled. On the other side of the room, she found several cages with unconscious teens inside. "Judy… they're alive."

"Probably keeping them to either draw you out or get the camp location from them," Judy said, still struggling to hold her food in. "We need to get them out somehow. What's the schematics showing?"

"On it," Judy responded, quickly bringing up an overhead view and sending a message.

Clink.

Judy ignored the sound and studied the map. "Yeah, I think I see where… it looks like the place was undergoing construction just before the Wraiths took over. There's a ditch near—"

Judy came to with a splitting headache, wondering where she was. A flash of memory came to her… a loud sound, the whole world turning upside down, rolling as equipment exploded around her, hitting the side of the van… she groaned, and rubbed her eyes. Her hands scraped on the sand and stone she was lying on as she turned on her elbows to stare around her. Several meters away, she could see what remained of the van, and other residue clued her into what had happened to it.

The Wraiths had drones of their own, and they had remoted a couple to attach themselves to the side of the van and explode. The sounds she had heard were the devices landing on it. It was only thanks to Mitch's zealousness on the van's armor that had stopped her from becoming minced meat, and the reinforcements had prevented the vehicle itself from exploding or burning away.

She groaned and rested her back against a rock, bringing up her HUD. She'd been out for almost an hour. But… something didn't sound right about that. She looked down at herself. "How did I get here?"

A rumbling, deep growl made her shiver. She slowly turned around and spotted a brownish-maroon furred… not a dog. Not that size. That thing was as big as a car. A wolf? Here?

She vaguely remembered sightings of wolves in the city a few months back, but she had dismissed those as fantasy… nothing natural could survive out here. Certainly nothing that size!

The wolf stepped forth, a paw as big as her head thumping gently on the dirt.

Judy slowly crawled back until her back bumped against another large rock. She spotted her gun… right behind the wolf. Great. "Um… good boy…" she said, trying to remember if she knew anything about dealing with extinct creatures in person. Something about not making eye contact since that was apparently a challenge? It was too late for that!

The wolf stopped and narrowed its eyes, growling.

"Uh… w-what's wrong boy?"

The wolf growled again.

"Um… girl?"

The wolf snorted and nodded.

"Right." Judy rubbed her head. The unusual behavior and seeming intelligence of the creature was somehow reassuring. It was dawning on her that she had been at the wolf's mercy for as long as she had been unconscious and nothing had happened. The wolf looked downright worried about her. "I must've hit my head harder than I thou—oh no, Panam!" She tried ringing her friend through the HUD, but there was no response. "Is she alive? Dammit, Panam, answer!"

The wolf growled and nudged her with her head… towards the Wraiths camp. Judy stared from the animal to the Wraith's lair, back to it. "You want me to go there?"

"Woof." Half snort, half bark. It made her feel like the creature found her amusing.

"So… you know where we're supposed to go?"

"Woof."

"...is that a yes?"

The wolf rolled her eyes and nodded. More and more Judy realized this was not just an abnormally smart animal, and it wasn't just the size either that made it so. She peered at it. "Are you some sort of European overly-modded person? I know they had the whole furry thing going there, just not to that extent."(1)

The flat look from the wolf was telling enough.

"Hey, not that it would be wrong! I thought about doing a cat theme for myself a few years back, you know? Couldn't afford it, unfortunately. Well, that and Grandma Alvarez would have skinned me alive."

The wolf raised an eyebrow, clearly amused and seemed to look her up and down, then, sighing, motioned at the Wraith's camp again with its large head.

The intention was clear, and Judy did not want to make the wolf big enough to chomp her in half angry. "Do you know where Panam is?" she asked after a moment.

"Woof."

Look at that. A bark AND a nod. Now they were getting somewhere. Where exactly that was, was anyone's guess. Judy pushed herself up and walked/stumbled over to pick up her gun. She checked it, then took a moment to note to herself, that—given what she was about to say—anything that happened now was her own damn fault. "Okay, lead the way."

For a creature of such size, it moved not only surprisingly silently, but also fit in places she would've never imagined it would. At times, she could almost believe it could change sizes, although that was impossible.

Judy had already requested backup, but she knew the others would still take a few minutes to reach them. She had mentioned the wolf to Mitch, who had taken it in stride.

"Wolf? She's with you?"

"You know her?"

"She didn't bite you, did she?"

"No? Should I be worried?"

"Huh. Nah, you'll be fine. Anyway, that's good news! That means Panam is okay. Listen, we have to get rolling, but trust her and get to where Panam is. Send me a message once you've found her and we'll launch the attack." Mitch paused. "Oh, and don't mention the wolf to anyone else for now, alright? Thanks."

Judy glanced at her furry friend. "Well, Mitch seems to trust you too. I wonder what's the story there?"

The wolf snorted, sounding amused. They stopped behind a large truck, still outside of the perimeter of the actual base, but close enough to see the guards.

"I hope she's okay," Judy sighed. "Besides being unfairly hot, she's been so kind to me… she loved V, just as much as I did… and she's made so many efforts to integrate me into the Aldecaldos properly. I usually don't trust people but V met a lot of good ones, and she was kind enough to introduce me to the best of them."

The wolf looked away, almost seeming embarrassed. Judy chuckled, and in a move that surprised her, elbowed the much larger creature with a familiarity that was alarming. "Hey, no bashfulness, alright? Just don't tell her I said she's hot and an ideal woman… don't want her getting the wrong impression. I mean, I wouldn't say no to her, but I'm not here to get in her pants… I just respect and appreciate her."

The wolf gave her a look of baffled surprise, then—eyes narrowing warily—it snorted as if to say: Sure, and I'm a fairy queen!

Judy felt her cheeks blush at the wolf's unimpressed look. "A girl can dream, okay? That's where I'll keep those thoughts. In my dreams. And with you, I guess. It's not like you can speak. But still, just in case, keep it a secret?"

The wolf rolled her eyes, but there was decidedly a smile creeping on her muzzle; as if she knew more than Judy could imagine. Then the wolf lifted a paw and ran it across her maw in a very clear 'my lips are sealed' motion. Judy grimaced, her instincts telling her that she was going to have a hard time living this down. "As long as you keep your word…" she mumbled.

Still, a nudge from the wolf brought her back to the real world, and she stalked to the edge of the old truck so she could look. The guards seemed to be walking away, so the shift was coming up… it was good that Wraiths were not Militech or this gap would have never happened.

Hacking the camera was easy, at least long enough for them to sneak past, and they both took off, taking advantage of the opportunity presented.

Judy was by no means a coward. As a former Mox, she had more than enough experience in fights, although she'd never be as efficient as V or Panam. Thus, despite her heart racing in her chest like she had ran a marathon, she kept enough presence of mind to regulate her breathing and fight the adrenaline rush enough to not act impulsively.

She didn't have subdermal armor, or even equipment that could survive the guns of the Wraiths. She'd be lucky to make it out alive on her own, but… she couldn't just sit on her ass and wait for the others while Panam was in danger. Plus, she had the wolf.

A Wraith, who had been searching a nearby container had looked up and spotted Judy, but before she had been able to raise the alarm, the car-sized wolf had slammed the unsuspecting raffen against the wall and, with a sickening crunch, had ended her life before even a scream had come out. The large animal had then dragged the body away and hid it before rejoining Judy, who was trying hard not to shiver.

"G-good girl."

The wolf snorted, then led her further into the camp. As they made their way, Judy noticed how the wolf would disappear for a few moments, then reappear to guide her, and, suspicious of this behavior, she kept an eye around, noticing the telltale marks of several Wraiths having been dispatched by the powerful creature.

An abandoned gun barely visible under a bag. Traces of blood. The lack of more enemies.

"I'm starting to think you didn't need me at all," she whispered to the wolf, who gave her a full-body shrug, then indicated a camera with its head. "Ah, I see, you want me only for my camera skills." She sighed. "So much for being a true Aldecaldo."

The wolf gave a soft whine and prodded her.

"I'm joking, I'm joking," Judy said, smiling and giving the large beast a hug. "I am just glad I can help in some way."

The wolf gave her a look as they reached the next hiding spot.

"It's just… I feel like I'm dragging everyone down, you know?" Judy said. "Sure, I can do some fancy mechanical things, but so can Mitch and many others. My only transferable skills are BDs and Netrunning, and I'm not really that great at the latter." She sighed. "I don't want to be added weight to the clan, but I'm clearly not cut out for this kind of thing."

The wolf nudged her gently.

"I-okay, I know. I shouldn't let that get to me. Come on… let's go."

Just as she was about to get up, the wolf growled softly, stopping her. Another pair of Wraiths had come into the area, but they were on opposite sides. There was no way for her furry friend to kill them both without raising the alarm.

The wolf gave her a pointed look.

Judy chuckled nervously as she raised her gun and checked that the silencer was attached properly. "I had to open my mouth, huh?"

The wolf seemed to smirk, nodding with her head at the closest Wraith, then, turning in place, she bounded off and was lost in the maze of boxes, pallets, and freight containers.

"I guess I'll do that one…" she muttered. She was no stranger to gunfights, but she felt the rush of excitement nevertheless. She pressed her back against the box, and kept an eye on the slowly moving Wraith.

She heard the thud of the wolf colliding with the other scav at the same time the Wraith in her sights did. He turned, confused, not even thinking about raising his assault rifle, and then he was staring straight at her, eyes wide under one of those metallic half-face masks that they favored.

They held each other's eyes for a second, then he raised his weapon, stumbling back, and her finger instantly pulled on the trigger. The smart weapon accounted for her hesitancy, the liimited AI recalculating the path of the two bullets that shot out in quick succession, both hitting the panicking scav in the head, snapping it back with a sickening squelch.

Judy held her breath. Had she been too slow? Had he somehow managed to alert anyone?

She gulped and stayed quiet, ears straining, but there were no warning shouts, no calls for action.

She released the breath just as the wolf came back to sniff at the dead body. The wolf glanced at her, giving her an almost smug look that seemed to say: "And you doubted yourself. Silly girl."

"I'm still keeping my mouth shut," Judy said, following the wolf along. "You might've been right, but I still don't want to tempt fate."

The wolf seemed amused as she led her deeper into the compound, until they reached a locked room. Judy was about to try and force it open, when the wolf pushed her to the side, then walked her around until they could both see an open window a few feet up.

"I don't know, seems a bit too high for—" Judy bit back a cry of surprise when the wolf slid its head between her legs and lifted her up onto her back. The former Mox steadied herself, eyes wide, then, when the wolf moved to stand right under the window, she understood. "A little warning next time?" she muttered, looking down at the wolf, who seemed to snicker.

Shaking her head, she carefully got to her knees on the large wolf's back, then, shakily, stood up, balancing carefully. "Here goes…" she muttered, then jumped up and managed to grab onto the edge of the window. She started to pull herself up, then felt the massive head of the wolf pressing up against her feet, helping her stabilize.

She glanced down with a smile at the wolf, who was standing on its hind legs and resting its front paws on the wall. It wasn't fully standing straight, but still, standing like that, it was clear that if it stood straight up, it would be just shy of the window itself.

Judy turned and managed to pull herself into the room, carefully twisting so that she could lower herself to ground level feet first, then looked around. The room wasn't too big, more like a large closet with a few devices on the walls.

Panam was there, seemingly unconscious, and tied down in a disconnected Netrunner chair. She had a bruise on her face, and it looked like they had tried to interrogate her before leaving her to steam for a bit.

"Mitch," she said into the holo. "I've found her, she's secure."

"Understood," came the reply. "We're just outside, I've pinpointed your location. Be ready."

Just as she started looking around for a way to release her, she heard a whine just outside the door. "Oh…" turning, she inspected the panel, and jacked in. Security was thankfully not as big of a deal with Wraiths as it would've been with Maelstrom, so after a few seconds, it wheezed open, allowing the large wolf's head to peek in.

"I know you're worried, but I don't think we'll both fit in…" She trailed off as the massive beast started glowing a gentle white-golden that slowly seeped into all of it, turning it into a wispy, spirit-like form that twirled around the room and around her before flowing straight into Panam.

Judy stared.

Panam groaned and slowly opened her eyes.

"Oh shit," Judy whispered. "Oh shit! She's the wolf!" She covered her mouth in horror. "I told her everything!"

Panam coughed and gave her a look. "If that's what you're worried about, I think you're taking it quite well."

Judy shook her head. "No. I'm not. You're a-you're a werewolf! Gary was right!"(2)

"Wolfwalker," Panam corrected. "And I am also tied down. Could you help get me out of here?"

"I told you I thought you were hot!" Judy hissed as she moved over to unclasp the mechanism holding Panam down. "Y-you have to forget everything!"

Panam tilted her head. "Why?"

"You promised not to tell! The only way not to tell yourself is to forget!"

"That's dumb, also, I didn't promise anything."

"I heard you bark!"

Panam grinned. "We're not that close."

"Oh my god." Judy stepped back, allowing Panam to finish untying herself. In the distance she could hear the shooting and shouting already. The Aldecaldos had attacked the camp. "You know, you take the meaning of being a bitch to the next level."

"Bitches get things done," Panam said, shrugging.

Well. Judy couldn't quite disagree with that statement. "You turned into a wolf. How's that possible?! Can all Aldecaldos do that?"

"No… just me," Panam said. "It's a long story, better told over a cold beer… but we still need to get out of here."

"Right." Judy struggled to keep her thoughts straight. "But you have to explain this whole thing!"

"I will, I promise." Panam stretched and Judy took a moment to enjoy the view before quickly turning around when Panam started picking up her equipment. "Hey."

Judy sighed and looked over her shoulder as Panam joined her. "Yeah?"

Panam grinned. "I think we can scrunch up enough eddies to send you to Europe, kitty cat."

"Gah!"

Panam burst out laughing and gave Judy a quick hug. "V was special, but so are you. I'm glad you've joined us."

Judy sighed. "Thanks… I'm glad too."

"And who knows," Panam said, walking ahead. "I might be into guys, but I've got at least one Basilisk ride that I never finished."

"Are you…"

"Come on," Panam interrupted. "Let's get the captured kids out, and then you and I can have a long talk."

Judy chuckled, then, taking a deep breath, kept her gun steady and followed the Aldecaldo leader. She still liked cats, but she wouldn't mind being a wolf, either.

"Oh," Panam said, looking over her shoulder. "And don't worry. I don't bite unless I mean it."

End Shennanigans

Author's Note

Welcome back to Isekai Shenanigans! This time around we're checking in on Panam Parker, who was last seen heading out to another dimension's Ireland with Robyn and her family to learn more about being a Wolfwalker. She's come back home since, and had been keeping her secret well until now.

Cast:

Panam:

Current leader of the Aldecaldos, Panam was accidentally turned into a Wolkwalker by Robyn Goodfellowe during the events of An English Wolfwalker in Night City. After leaving from time to time via the Isekai to learn more about her condition, she's managed to master it as much as her Packmates in Aisling's Forest.

Judy Álvarez:

Brave and loyal, and a master of editing BDs (BrainDances), Judy helps V and Evelyn plan the ill-fated attempt to steal from Arasaka tower. She's one of the games possible romances, and a marshmallow under all that tough exterior. After Cyberpunk 2077, she can go with the Aldecaldos if you take certain actions. Clearly V did just that in this one.

Wraiths:
Wraiths are Nomads, just like the Aldecaldos, unlike them, however, the Wraiths are and will mix with Scavs (Scavengers) who will capture innocents and harvest them for parts after... doing things of various levels of excess and inhumanity. No-one's favorites, they are a cancer in the already dangerous Badlands.

Footnotes:

(1) This is true in the sourcebooks. It is not mentioned in the 2077 game itself. But, it's the same universe.

(2) This is also true. There is a popular myth in Cyberpunk about Nomads, and even a shard found in-game where Nomads being werewolves is discussed, not to mention Gary the Prophet's infamous rants about Nomads being said lycanthropes right when a few are around. They don't like it.

Isekai Shenanigans Part 1: What's This? (Nightmare Before Christmas)

Isekai Shenanigans Part 1: What's This? (Nightmare Before Christmas)
By Wanderer D

Note: This story takes place after the book: The Pumpkin Queen, so be wary of spoilers if you intend to read it one day. Isekai Shenanigans do have some continuity to them as they follow events in previous Isekai chapters. As this involves a certain book worm, it's one of the more reference-heavy chapters for the Isekai. New cast/footnotes in Author Notes at bottom.

"Um, I'm not certain that we should go in there."

Rozemyne blinked, stopping short of the entrance to the library section they had discovered. "Whatever do you mean, Philine?"

"Well, it seems even Weiss and Schwartz are reluctant to go in there, Lady Rozemyne," Judithe whispered. "It's no wonder Philine would feel uncomfortable."

Philine—who was standing apprehensively next to the two rabbit-like automatons—nodded vigorously.

"Dangerous," Schwartz said, its long ears twitching.

"Forbidden section!" Weiss added.

"Maybe we shouldn't go in there then?" Hannelore said, tugging at the edge of her Library Committee armband like she was reconsidering her life choices. "It would be for the best if we maybe waited for permission?" The archduke candidate from Dunkelfelger glanced dubiously at Rozemyne, clearly not wanting to displease her friend, but also trying her best to suggest caution.

The small group was gathered outside a gated arc that separated a small area of the staff section in the library from the public area. With the renewed mana-flow towards the library, it had been one of several mana-intensive devices that had eventually started working again.

Little could be said about Rozemyne's reaction to suddenly witnessing a shimmering stone portcullis appearing on one side of the room, then slowly rising to reveal a pair of gates that opened to a long corridor full of books other than it had been… exuberant.

Cordula, Hannelore's attendant was quietly discussing something with Solange, and they didn't even seem to have noticed anything amiss. If Rozemyne was going to get away with taking a look without fussing from a group of paranoid noble adults.

"Is… there another barrier?" Rozemyne asked, looking at the shumils(1).

"Lady Rozemyne," Judithe said slowly, "I don't like where you're going with this."

"No barrier. Just old," Weiss answered her mistress, ignoring Judithe.

"Old!" Schwartz agreed.

Curious, Rozemyne cast a basic scanning spell, but nothing happened. No warnings, or traps activated to her vision, and the magic was particular enough in this world that she'd notice something.

"Schwartz," she said, "Weiss… why is it dangerous?" She glanced back at the rows of books just past the threshold. So many books! "Has anything happened to anyone going in?"

"No," Weiss responded.

"It is forbidden," Schwartz said.

"But nothing has happened to anyone that entered there, right?" Rozemyne insisted, turning her gaze from the automatons to gaze adoringly at the books past the gate.

The two automatons hesitated. "No," they finally both said, and Rozemyne smirked at her three friends.

"And I didn't detect anything strange." Rozemyne nodded, then turned again to the automatons. "Please bring me any books related to this hidden passage."

"Yes, Milady!" the shumils echoed, then bounced off on their mission.

"W-we should still be careful," Philine said in an almost-whisper, "I didn't bring my card if anything goes wrong."

Rozemyne pressed her lips. "I didn't bring my key either," she muttered, "Ferdinand asked me for a diagram of it, and I um… left it on my desk," she elaborated when Philine gave her a startled look.

"Card? What key?" Hannelore asked, while Judithe narrowed her eyes, studying first Rozemyne, then Philine.

"I remember a key being mentioned, and this card… are they related?" Judithe asked carefully, shooting a quick glance at the adults and Hannelore. "Is that what you're talking about?" She gave Philine a suspicious look, which turned into a frown when the laynoble scholar looked down and started touching her fingertips together. "Philine!" she hissed. "Don't tell me you're involved with Lady Rozemyne's escapades!"

Judithe's eyes went wide and she clapped a hand over her mouth, glancing at the adults.

"I don't think there will be any issues, even without the keys…" Rozemyne trailed off, blinking, as Hannelore pushed the gates open.

"Um. Dunkelfelger takes what they want," she said, mustering a miniature smile, which faded as the sound around all four of them became muted, and it felt like the world was suddenly compressing around them.

"Lady Rozemyne?" Hannelore called, worry creeping into her voice.

"Oh no," Rozemyne said, quickly grabbing onto Judithe. She barely had time to shout a warning as they both were sucked by a sudden warm air into the corridor.

Tumbling through the air, she saw Philine valiantly grab hold of Hannelore's outstretched arms as the pair was also sucked in. Beyond them, the two adults in the room turned, startled as the gates clashed closed and the light faded into the distance.

The world came back in a cacophony of sounds, smells and sensations. Too much was going on for Hannelore's senses to initially make sense of things, but slowly things started to register in her mind.

She was lying down flat on a cold, forest floor. She was surrounded by lush, green-leafed trees, but she could hear the distant sounds of a town nearby. She felt her ears twitch at the sounds of birds chirping, and her nose wrinkled at the earthy scent of rich soil and grass after the rain.

She groaned, carefully pushing herself up into a sitting position, then rubbed her head with a soft paw as she recalled what had happened… She had opened the gates, taking a very Dunkelfelger approach to things, something she usually didn't do, but hearing the whispered secrets about Rozemyne's apparent adventures had stirred something within her.

Something almost competitive, but… not quite.

Lady Rozemyne was already ahead of everyone else, but Hannelore had not expected her bookworm friend to also be involved in dangerous adventures. Her duchy wasn't known for knights errant, as it was, but Rozemyne had always had this mysterious air to her and… well, Hannelore honestly wanted in.

In retrospect, or rather from an outsider's perspective her actions had been a bit too daring, but, while she wasn't as obviously aggressive as her brother, she was not afraid to take matters into her own hands, especially now, after her Ditter match against Ehrenfest. Dunkelfelger was renowned for its people's assertiveness and fearlessness, and Hannelore had been trained in combat and even feybeast hunting. The thought of Rozemyne—who was arguably her closest non-duchy friend (possibly even including her own duchy)—daring the unknown fearlessly and decisively hadn't made her jealous, but it definitely had inspired her to act.

She always felt like she was holding the Ehrenfest archduke candidate back, so now she had taken the initiative.

And ended up in an unknown forest. She vaguely remembered the laynoble, Philine, breaking decorum and grabbing onto her. But it hadn't been fear in the other girl's eyes that she had seen, when they had looked at each other's eyes. It had been concern… for her.

"How brave," Hannelore muttered to herself, smiling slightly. "It seems all of Ehrenfest is surprisingly strong."

It was then that she realized something and looked down at her hand. Except, it wasn't a hand. It was a paw, of sorts. Similar to a hand, but not human like. She had claws, and lavender fur all over her arm. She turned it around and then looked at her other arm, then she stood up and felt her face, where she could now feel a muzzle, and whiskers that tickled her when she touched them, and even more fur and… she slowly looked over her shoulder behind her and confirmed her fears. She had a tail.

St. Patrick's Day Town had more than a few rowdy folk, was always ready for a throwdown (or dance-off), and liked to party hard in between preparing for the next year's celebration. But even though they had increased awareness of otherworldly visits after the Sandman had invaded their Holiday Town, they were not prepared for the cat-creature that barreled into town, knocking down several carefully stacked kegs of beer, and sending several nearby leprechauns rolling into the street.

"Damned mutated Faoladh!" one of the short, human-like creatures she had barreled into shouted at Hannelore. She realized immediately that they weren't human, and carried on trying to look for help.

At any other time, she would have stayed composed even as she tried hard not to stare in wonder at the decorations, the bright green plants, the rainbows and green and gold-decorated banners… she would have gazed at the strange clothes they wore, or laughed with them at one of the circles of dancers.

But not now. Not as she was, transformed into some strange zantze(2)-human hybrid! She didn't know who to ask for help, or if these strange creatures were benign, human-like as they were. This town made no sense, it was too small, and isolated, too colorful, too overwhelming to her terrified mind.

Were these fey-creatures responsible for her transformation? Could she be changed back?! She slid to a stop when several armed creatures surrounded her. She let out a feral growl that seemed to rattle them, but utterly terrified her.

What was to become of her? Could she even use her magic in this state? Regardless, Hannelore would not go down without a fight. She crouched a little, instinctively, but her schtappe materialized in her claws as readily as ever.

The creatures warily aimed lances at her, and that distance, it was going to be hard to dodge them or even use her schtappe quickly enough to transform it, surrounded as she was. Her armored undersuit might offer some protection, but without knowing their capabilities, it was a risk she would rather not take.

Just as it seemed the creatures were about to push forth, a loud roar made the short people yelp in surprise, while Hannelore crouched down further covering her ears as a shadow flew over them. She barely registered as something landed next to her, and she wondered what type of monster she would have to fight now, but then she got a look at the creature… which was wearing familiar-looking robes.

"Are you injured, Lady Hannelore?"

Hannelore blinked, staring at the creature as the familiar voice finally registered in her mind. "L-lady Philine?!"

Philine had also changed. However, she wasn't some sort of furry zantze-human, like herself.

Although still humanoid in many ways, the Ehrenfest laynoble had been changed into something more similar to an eiderot(3), with black, shiny scales, a pair of leathery wings & bone-white horns on her head. Philine's face was that of a reptile—also with black scales, except from the neck down which were more of a muddy yellow color as far as she could see before they were covered by the Royal Academy clothes she was still wearing. A long, flexible tail sprouted from her lower back, also covered in black scales with a similar underside of yellow.

"That is correct, Lady Hannelore, please take a moment to compose yourself, we are in no danger."

Gulping back a retort, Hannelore stood straighter and closed her eyes, dismissing her schtappe as she concentrated on taking a deep breath as she allowed herself to recover her dignity, which he had to admit had been strongly tested today.

Now that a familiar presence was here, she could only look back in shame at her actions. What sort of Archduke candidate was she if she lost all sense of herself so quickly? What kind of Dunkelfelger noble could she call herself if she acted with so much fear?

After a few moments, the fact that she looked more relaxed seemed to get through to the strange creatures surrounding them, the presumed guards lowered their weapons as the townspeople slowly emerged from the houses where they had hid to stare at the pair of them curiously.

The biggest of the soldiers stalked over to stare up angrily at Philine, then, rather rudely, pointed a finger at Hannelore. "Oi! Coinnigh do chat ar iall nó déanfaidh mé cinnte é a craiceann, a laghairt diabhal!" he shouted, practically spitting in the process. His red-faced angry scowl landed squarely on Hannelore—who didn't understand a word he said—before returning to Philine, who surprised the Dunkelfelger noble by taking it in stride.

Instead of backing away, as Hannelore would have expected of the meek scholar, Philine leaned down to plant her reptilian face very close to the short man's, glaring in return. "Éasca, a chara, nó gheobhaidh tú amach gur féidir leis an dragan seo níos mó ná tine a análú," she all but growled.

The small man's fist balled up before he spat to the side and waved a hand dismissively. "Bah! Imeacht gan teacht ort."

Philine straightened up and crossed her arms, also looking dismissive. "Sin é an plean."

The short man turned around grumbling and muttered something to the others, who moved away back to their posts, except for a couple that stepped away, but still remained within eye distance, clearly keeping an eye on them.

"What… what was that?" Hannelore asked. "What did that strange man say? What kind of language was that?"

"Oh… it was… um, some friends taught it to us…" Philine looked away sheepishly. "And um… He has strong feelings about cats."

"Cats?" Hannelore wondered.

"Ah, it's what many other cultures would call creatures similar in appearance to zantzes or fetzes." She paused and touched her scaled cheek in thought. "Another word they could use is 'feline'. Given that you are currently some sort of feline person, possibly a Caitian, although I've never seen one with lavender fur."

It would make sense that one of Lady Rozemyne's prodigious scholars would know this kind of cultural detail, even for strange lands, she supposed. But that didn't explain the rest. How was Philine so comfortable in this situation? Although she had seen Ehrenfest Scholars participate in Ditter, this was a completely different thing!

Hannelore looked down at herself. "Is that what happened to me? I'm a… cat? What about you? How can you be so calm?"

Philine's cheeks managed to turn slightly rosy under the scales. Somehow. "Oh. I was turned into a dragon. A black dragon, to be specific, acid included." She smiled slightly. "Just like Khisanth…" When she caught the look Hannelor was giving her she looked nervous. "Not that I expected this! I'm… familiar with the species, that's all. I'm just used to them being much bigger than I am, though."

Hannelore blinked. "Black dragon? Is that some sort of fey creature that lives in Ehrenfest?" she had never heard of such a beast. And who was this Khisanth?

Philine chuckled nervously instead of answering, and Hannelore felt a slight pang of annoyance. The scholar was acting too strangely. Too casual, and not just with their status—which was not actually offensive in her opinion, since Hannelore considered Philine close enough to be a proper acquaintance/possible friend, although her retainers would have been very upset about the breach in etiquette—but also with the fact that they were both in a strange land, transformed into feybeats of some sort and as far as she could tell completely lost… yet the scholar looked almost happy to be turned into such a creature.

She took a deep breath, but, before she could ask further questions, another of the humanoid creatures approached. This one seemed to be female. Once more she spoke in that strange language, then—apparently noticing Hannelore's look of confusion—spoke again in the common tongue.

"Might I interest ye in some food and drink?" she asked, smiling at both of them, her grin widening when Hannelore's ears twitched in recognition. "Can't have visitors saying St. Patrick's Day Town is not hospitable, can we?"

"T-thank you," Hannelore said, looking at the strange creature in bewilderment. "But that other… man…"

"Bah, Fergus? Ye can mostly ignore ol' Fergus, lass. He's always had his knickers twisted into knots. Ye both be from Halloween Town I imagine. Found yer way here fer a visit, didn't ye?"

"Halloween Town?" Hannelore repeated, confused. "I'm afraid not, we are students at the Royal Academy."

"Fancy name. Don't know it." The woman shrugged. "But ye wouldn't be the first lost souls to find yer way here, would you?" She cackled. "Come on, let's grab some grub and I'll tell you how to go to get help. I hear the Pumpkin King and the Pumpkin Queen know about many different towns. I'm sure they can help."

Hannelore was about to say she wasn't hungry when a growl made her look down in surprise (and embarrassment) at her stomach.

Philine grinned and the woman let out a loud laugh, then proceeded to escort them to a long table full of food.

After sitting painfully on her tail, she finally managed to find a way to be comfortable, and soon resigned herself to getting a full stomach while their host talked about doorways leading to other places.

She wasn't sure how she felt about this whole situation, but if a laynoble scholar from Ehrenfest could take it with such aplomb (even if Philine was one of Rozemyne's retainers), then she as an archduke candidate could do no less. She paid attention to the woman's tales and promised herself that she'd do better from now on.

Author's Note

Hannelore: is an archduke candidate from Dunkelfelger, one of the stronger Duchies in Rozemyne's world. She is soft spoken and kind, but determined to prove to everyone how strong she truly is. She is one of Rozemyne's best friends, and a fellow book lover, who she quickly includes in her Library Commitee.

Judithe: Judithe has sparkling violet eyes and fluffy, bright orange hair. She wears it pulled back into a ponytail. She is a specialist in long-distance attacks and is one of Rozemyne's loyal knights.

Schwartz and Weiss: Rabbit-like automatons that help manage the Royal Library. They were awakened from their long slumber by Rozemyne accidentally letting out a blessing, and have since called her Milady. Schwartz has black fur, and Weiss has white fur.

References:

(1) Shumil: Rabbit-like feybeasts that are usually kept as pets by nobles.
(2) Zantze: Cat-like magical beast that evolves into Fetzes.
(3) Eiderot: A salamander-like dangerous lizard that breathes fire.

Isekai Shenanigans Part 2: Judithe's Lament (Nightmare Before Christmas)

Isekai Shenanigans Part 2: Judithe's Lament (Nightmare Before Christmas)
By Wanderer D

Judithe had held on to Rozemynes hands tightly as they were both sucked into a whirlwind of books, stars and candles. In the distance she had heard Lady Hannelore and Lady Philine, but—although she was worried about her roommate—her mind was on protecting Rozemyne. As her knight, she would not let her fall into harm. What would Angelica think if she failed?

She shook her head and pumped magic into her arms, reinforcing her physical strength, pulling her lady closer to her to make the most of her ability to protect her on this wild ride.

Or that had been the plan, at least. Unfortunately the moment she had attempted to pull Rozemyne closer, was when they had slammed into a large bookshelf. It wasn't a horrible hit, more disorienting than anything, but they had been startled enough for her to lose her grip on Rozemyne's hands.

"Judithe!"

"Lady Rozemyne!"

The world had lit up around them in a flash, and she had felt as if she were being pulled in different directions before everything had gone dark.

The world came into focus again, and Judithe took a deep breath of relief knowing that, if she was alive and unharmed, chances were that her lady would be okay too. Her deep breath was also rewarded by a soothing, pleasant scent.

She was lying in a field of tall stalks full of tiny light-purple flowers, which were responsible for the calming aroma around her. The sky above was just turning into night, and she could see stars glittering beyond puffy white clouds far above. The air was cool, but not too cold. The ground below her felt soft and inviting, and she was very tempted to take another deep breath, exhale and drift into a smiling dozing state before sleeping for a good few hours.

She sat up, eyes wide. She couldn't do that! She was still supposed to be protecting her lady! Speaking of which… "Lady Rozemyne!" she called out, pushing herself up and doing her best to keep the aromatic flowers out of her face. "Lady Rozemyne! Are you okay? Can you hear me?!"

"Judithe?" the familiar voice of her lady reached her from somewhere in the fields. "I can hear you, but I can't see you with all this lavender around!"

"Lavender," Judithe murmured. "So that's what it's called." She raised her voice. "I can't see you either! I'll cast Rott!(1)"

"Okay," Rozemyne said, although she sounded dubious. "Just… don't be surprised when you see me."

"Surprised?" Judithe asked.

"You'll see. Cast away!"

Shrugging, Judithe summoned her schtappe and raised her hand to the sky. She noticed something odd about her skin, but decided not to worry about it for now until her Lady was back with her.

"Rott!" she called out, and a ray of red light shot into the twilight sky, indicating her exact position. If Lady Hannelore or Philine were around, they would surely see it too."

"I see it!" she heard Rozemyne shout, and soon heard the ruffling of plants as someone approached. She turned in the direction of the noise just in time to see a human-sized shumil appear out of the flowers. "Buh-wha!?" she pointed her schtappe at it reflexively.

"Stop! It's me!"

Judithe took two steps back and studied the shumil. Just like Weiss and Schwartz is was as tall as her and could speak. Like them, it also stood on its hind legs, like a human would, and its paws were human-like enough to resemble hands, capable of picking up objects. This shumil's fur was a familiar midnight-blue, and it was wearing the ochre and black robes of an archduke candidate from Ehrenfest.

Unlike other shumils, this one's eyes were blue and looked human-like.

"L-lady Rozemyne?!"

The shumil smiled and nodded. "I almost didn't recognize you either!"

"What could you possibly mean?" Judithe asked, looking down wide-eyed at herself, half-expecting to be a shumil as well. She thankfully wasn't, not that she didn't want to squeal in delight and hug Lady Rozemyne (who looked so soft!), but she did notice that indeed her hands looked different. She touched them, wide eyed, realizing that they felt firm, yet soft. Her skin was.. not even skin anymore! It felt like cotton… in fact, they were cotton scraps, roughly sewn together with a fluffy type of string!

Now that she was looking down, she saw her ponytail over her shoulder, and it was no longer hair! It was thick, flat strands of orange cloth! She touched her face, surprised and alarmed that she was able to feel anything at all, but glad that she could. Her face was also rough cotton, nothing like what she was used to. She could trace stitches at the edges of her mouth, her neck, and even her face.

"I must stay, Judithe, in your knight gear, you make quite the ragdoll!" Lady Rozemyne said, giggling and looking at her fondly. "I also seem to be a doll of some sort," she added, taking Judithe's hands in her own furry paws and squeezing gently.

Judithe could tell that Rozemyne was indeed also a doll of some sort. She felt her stomach sink. She had failed to protect her Lady! How could she call herself a knight?! She felt tears start pooling on her eyes, and even though she was confused as to how that worked since she was a doll, she struggled to contain herself and maintain a proper look.

"What's wrong, Judthe?" Rozemyne asked, tilting her head. Her nose twitched with worry, and her ears drooped. She look so much like a shumil that Judithe couldn't help but laugh a little.

"I'm sorry, Lady Rozemyne," she said, wiping her tears. "I-I must apologize, I must look like a disgrace."

"Not at all," Rozemyne said kindly, taking Judithe's hands in her paws again. "It's okay. We will be okay."

She was so brave. Even knowing that Rozemyne was friends with goddesses, it was still such a shock to her to actually see how fearless her Lady was. One could say it was to be expected of an archduke candidate, but she knew even the Aub would have panicked were he to find himself turned into a shumil.

Her Lady's calm demeanor in the face of this adversity finally got through to Judithe, is in addition to remembering that—whatever she was now… a rag doll apparently— she still had her schtappe and her magic. She could still empower herself physically, bring forth her Highbeast, and cast spells. Whatever happened, she was not going out without a fight.

She could still defend her Lady, and if Lady Rozemyne was so calm at the moment, it meant that she had a plan!

"Now we need to figure out what happened, and how to get help," Rozemnyne said. "Come this way, Judithe, I believe I saw some humans in this direction."

"Shouldn't we wait here?" Judithe countered, "surely the local knights saw my Rott spell, or maybe Lady Hannelore and Lady Philine did."

"Hm. If they did, they would have flown here by now in their Highbeasts," Rozemyne said, shaking her head. "It's better to see if we can gain some information. Philine can take care of Lady Hannelore."

Judithe stared for a moment, then started following Rozemyne. "Philine? Are you sure, Milady? She's just a scholar."

Rozemyne laughed. It was that slightly uncomfortable laugh of hers that made all of her retainers brace for the worst. The kind of laugh that said: I know something you don't and you're definitely not going to like hearing it.

"Lady Rozemyne…" she said, sighing.

Rozemyne sighed, her ears drooping adorably. "I guess you would have found out eventually… Philine has been traveling to other realms on her own for several months now. She's an experienced adventurer by now."

Philine. An adventurer. Judithe couldn't believe it. She pressed her lips together and curled her hands into fists.

As if sensing her distress again, Rozemyne stopped and turned around to face her. "Judithe?"

"I-I just can't believe she didn't tell me." She closed her eyes. Normally she would keep this within, but here? She wasn't home. She wasn't even in the Academy. She was gods knew where, away from everything she knew other than Lady Rozemyne. She wasn't even a human anymore.

She was a knight, but she had been made uncomfortably aware of how powerful Rozemyne really was when the young goddess, Lena, had appeared at their dormitory in the Academy. While they were there, or even in Ehrenfest, she felt she could be useful, even if Rozemyne could probably tackle any problem on her own. But, in their world, it didn't matter how much more powerful a noble was; a knight was sworn to protect her lady, and there she had a chance to be useful.

Here? Chances were that she'd only be in the way. And now even Philine, who was a scholar and not supposed to be a fighter, inspired so much confidence in Rozemyne that she was less worried about her scholar than she was of another archduke candidate that had the ability and training to fight.

Judithe was out of her depth, and worse, her friend… her roommate was doing all of this behind her back.

Understanding came to Rozemyne's furry face, and her nose and whiskers trembled adorably. "It's not what you think, Judithe. When we are out here… we are sworn to not bring back home our full power, or to use the skills and magics we learn."

Judithe looked up at her, gulping. "I-I don't understand."

Rosemyne led her out of the flower field, and over a short wooden fence. They were on a dirt road that snaked up to a walled city in the distance. A large rock on the side of the road served their purposes well, so they sat together there, watching people working the lavender fields.

"Imagine we are brewing some rejuvenation potions," Rozemyne said. "As you know, the nature of the ingredients—like what elements they have affinity for—affects the end result."

"Of course," Judithe said, nodding. "There's so many to memorize, that's why we knights hire scholars to do it for us."

"Heh, well, yes. But imagine you're brewing it. And then you add Regisch scales."

"Why would I do that?"

"Let's just say that… um, it makes it stronger. But then you add Grun glands. And then you add trombe branches… and so on and so forth. How long do you think it would take for the potion to explode or turn into something nasty?"

"Not much," Judithe agreed. "Are you saying that's what would happen?"

Rozemyne shrugged, smiling a little. "Each world can take different amounts of external influence. There are worlds where the most minimum amount of magic can break them entirely, opening gates and breaking its walls into reality… possibly even destroy them. There are others where we could fling around hundreds of spells from a multitude of different dimensions and nothing would happen."

Judithe considered this, but Rozemyne wasn't done.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The problem is we don't know, do we? Our magic doesn't mesh well with certain others, and thus those of us that travel across different places must be aware that what we do has consequences. And so, we made a promise to Sunset that we wouldn't abuse what we are learning, and that we would not mix magics… not just for our sake, but for everyone we care about. This promise also comes with a clause for secrecy… the more people know, the more danger they could face."

"So you're saying that Philine stayed quiet because of an oath," Judithe sighed. That she could understand.

"Now that you know a bit more, I'm sure she'll be delighted to share her adventures with you," Rozemyne said. She grinned. "And you're going to have to enroll at school with us!"

Okay, that didn't sound great.

"School?"

"Oh, you'll see!" Rozemyne said, then her ears straightened out and she turned to the road, where a woman dressed in… a very long, single piece of clothing that looked more adequate for bed than casual use, was walking in their direction, carrying a large basket full of lavender and other flowers. "But that will have to wait, come on!"

Dream Town was like no place Judithe had ever visited. The locals did not seem to have nobility, they were all commoners apparently, always half-asleep, and talking in riddles or little songs. They all wore sleeping clothes, even up to the hats with little puff balls on the top.

The woman who had helped them hadn't batted an eye at either of them. And, tho Judithe wasn't sure if it was because she was just sleepy or not, she had simply nodded at both of them, listened to their request and used a little song to lead them to the town itself, where she had led them to the possible worst place for them to be right now.

Lullaby Library.

"Lady Rozemyne?" Judithe asked, then sighed. Her lady had stopped in her tracks and was staring at the building in front of them with her shumil paws drawn up to cover her mouth as she stood there and trembled.

Looking like a giant shumil, one would be understandably confused by the reaction to assume she was terrified. But Juidithe knew her Lady better than that. Rozemyne, the Saint of Ehrenfest, Archduke Candidate, Organizer of the Library Committee, friend and advisor to Princes and Princesses, personal acquaintance of the Zent, bonafide legend of the Royal Academy… was helplessly in love with books. So much so, none of her other achievements could matter in the face of a library like this one.

Even Judithe was impressed. Could this be bigger than the Royal Library? It certainly seemed to be much larger than the one at the Academy. Rows, and rows and rows—seemingly endless—stretched beyond sight.

Comfortable chairs, sofas, and large tables piled with books and illuminated by soft candlelight were populated by sleepy-looking, but smiling men and women, all hunched down, writing and writing. It was too much for poor Rozemyne most likely, and Judithe feared her lady would now want to take over this library too!

"Allow me," an old voice said.

Judithe blinked when an elderly man, with a balding head and a long, long beard floated up to them. His proportions were somehow wrong… not in twisted way, exactly but… he was too large. He was an adult, so naturally he was bigger than them, but he seemed bigger than an adult person should be. He was dressed in comfortable-looking white sleeping robes, but he carried a sack of cloth from which tiny particles of what looked like sand occasionally fell from.

The old man waved a hand in front of Rozemyne who started and looked around, still blissfully happy about the books, but no longer frozen.

"Wha-what?!" Rozemyne gasped. "Why did you interrupt me?!"

"You were daydreaming, my dear," the old man said as two more figures approached. "And while Albert here must be delighted to see it in action, I believe the two of you were somehow lost?"

Judithe's eyes were wide. Having only seen humans around, she was very surprised to see both, the recently identified Albert, and the woman next to him were just like her! What had Rozemyne called her? A rag-doll?

"Oh my!" the woman said, smiling warmly at Judithe, then glancing at Rozemyne. "Two more dolls! I hadn't seen a rabbit quite like you my dear, we usually get teddy bears!"

Rabbit?

"There are two more rabbit dolls where I come from," Rozemyne replied, undeterred. "But neither Judithe nor I looked like this originally, miss…"

"Oh, pardon my rudeness!" Albert spoke up. "Please, allow me to make the introductions since my name was offered first. This is my lovely wife, Greta," he motioned with his cloth hand at the woman, who inclined her head politely with a smile. "And this is the Lord of Dream Town…"

"The Sandman!" Rozemyne gasped, taking a good first look at the old man.

The old man chuckled. "It seems my reputation precedes me," he said, nodding slightly.

"You know, him, Lady Rozemyne?"

"Well, not him exactly," Rozemyne responded, "but the legend of the Sandman is of the man that blows sand into people's eyes to make them sleep!"

"Sand? Isn't that a bit rude?" Judithe asked, making the others chuckle, although she didn't see what was so amusing.

"Sometimes," the Sandman admitted. "But other times my special sand helps people rest."

"I see…" Judithe said, although in reality she didn't. Quite frankly she was getting tired of being in a strange world in a strange body.

"So even though you are a ragdoll, and you are a rabbit doll," Greta said, talking first to Judithe and then to Rozemyne, "you are not citizens of Dream Town?"

"Please address my Lady Rozemyne first," Judithe said, raising a hand. "She outranks me by far."

"Oh, Judithe," Rozemyne sighed, shaking her head gently, although her long ears still swayed with the motion, "there is no need for that here. Our ranks do not matter where we are."

"I must insist," Judithe said, then lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "Please. I-I need something to remain normal."

Lady Rozemyne exchanged glances with the others, then cleared her throat. "I see, well, um allow me to introduce us now, then. I am Lady Rozemyne, Archduke Candidate of Ehrenfest, and this is Judithe, one of my retainers, and a knight."

"A knight?" Albert sounded impressed. "And at such a young age?"

Judithe felt herself flush, despite being made of cloth. "I am an apprentice knight."

"And she is amazing at long distance attacks!" Lady Rozemyne spoke up, puffing up her chest like she always did when bragging about her friends, retainers, and craftspeople. She truly was proud of them.

"Well, we should hope that there is no need for fighting, of course!" the Sandman said. "But please, follow us. We have arranged dinner for you, and of course will do our very best to aid you. If you truly are lost travelers, it might be best for us to take you to Halloween Town after dinner."

"Oh! Halloween Town?" Rozemyne asked, eyes wide, a smile spreading on her shumil-face. "Do you mean Jack and Sally Skellington's town?"

"Why, yes!" Greta said, as they all started walking. "Have you been there before? Have you met our daughter, Sally?"

Rozemyne gasped once more, and if her smile could grow further, Judithe would have been afraid of her lady's head splitting in half. "Your daughter! How delightful! I had no idea! I haven't met them, but where I'm originally from you would be hard-pressed to not have heard—" she stopped and turned guiltily to look at Judithe. "I-I mean, I have heard of them, although I'm afraid most of my current contemporaries wouldn't have."

Judithe frowned. What had Rozemyne meant? It was then that she spotted the food laid out for them and her stomach grumbled. Maybe she was thinking too much about it. It might be common knowledge from the Temple. That would explain why her 'current' contemporaries wouldn't have heard of it... nobles hadn't started going to the temple until recently, although it could be a commoner knowledge that Lady Rozemyne was aware of that many nobles wouldn't be.

Either way, she was sure she'd learn more whether she wanted to or not. But for now… "Is that pie?"

Author's Note

Rott (Spell): A simple signaling magic taught to all first year students at the Royal Academy. It shoots a bright red light straight up from your position, and it is usually cast to call the attention of the guards.

Isekai Shenanigans Part 3: This Is Halloween (Nightmare Before Christmas)

Isekai Shenanigans Part 3: This Is Halloween (Nightmare Before Christmas)
By Wanderer D

"A young Rag Doll you say?" Lock asked. "With a rabbit? Well, isn't that something!"

"Do we need another one?" Shock asked, sniffing in contempt.

"And that's not all," Barrel said, his grinning mask almost, almost, looking like it was grinning more, "the leprechaun I cornered on his way to Valentine Town said that there's a cat and a lizard in St. Patrick's Day Town before he snuck away."

"Hm." Lock crossed his arms, his eyes glinting behind his devi's mask. "So what? We've got plenty of those here!" He lifted a struggling lizard by the tail to show it to the others. "Besides why do we care about another girl ragdoll?"

"What's wrong with her being a girl?" Shock asked. The young witch glared at the pair of boys, arms akimbo.

The two boys looked at each other and shrugged. "They're staying there for a bit, but he said they were coming here soon," Barrel continued, undeterred by Shock's apparent annoyance.

"But if they're coming here… maybe we should make sure they meet us first!" Lock said. "We wouldn't want them to meet Jack and Sally first!"

"Why not?" Barrel asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Because they're not going to spook her, that's why!" Lock replied.

"Yeah! That's not a proper introduction to Halloween Town!" Shock added. "Now that Boogie's not around we have to pick up the slack!"

"Besides, ragdolls are monsters too, right?"

"I guess," Barrel said. "Oooh! I know! Should we cook the rabbit and feed it to the lizard?!"

"A rabbit and bone stew to warm their hearts!" Shock said, laughing as she took a wooden spoon from her cauldron and whirled it around, splashing sizzling liquid all around them.

"I have just the recipe!" Lock said, giggling. "And we can add extra roly-polies for spice!"

"Maybe we should take the stuffing out of the rag doll and fill her up with bugs! Just like Oogie!" Shock suggested. "Then we could have a Boogie Queen!"

"Do we need another queen?" Barrel asked.

"I think one is more than enough!" Lock said, shaking his head.

"But if she becomes as rotten inside as he was, then we'll once again be the real terror of Halloween Town!" Shock retorted as the trio walked over to jump into their bathtub, which started wobbling towards the forest.

The thought seemed to appeal to the two boys who turned to stare at each other before cackling evilly.

"And we can tame the lizard and skin the cat!" Barrel roared excitedly.

"Skin the cat, skin the cat! Tan its hide and make a mat!" Shock and Lock sing-sang together. "Tame a lizard/make some soup; get a doll/stuff it full!"

As they walked through the forest, following their shadows like the leprechaun had told them, Hannelore glanced at Philine, who was a little despondent at having to walk the last stretch, since she had been so fond of flying alongside her without the aid of a Highbeast.

She had to admit: seeing the scholar soar alongside her with a confidence that defied everything she knew about the young laynoble had made Hannelore question everything she thought she knew about Ehrenfest.

At first, she had been under the impression that Rozemyne was an outlier. Even Wilfried couldn't measure up to her, and although Charlotte was just getting started at the academy, it was obvious it would be an uphill battle for either sibling to catch up to their sister.

Thus, herself, alongside most of the other dutchies, had kept an eye on Rozemyne. As she got to know her fellow archduke candidate better—and by extension her associates—Hannelore had come to appreciate the excellence of Rozemyne's retainers.

Even though most other duchies had found it odd that Rozemyne would employ so many laynobles alongside the more common (as far as retainers went for archduke candidates) mednobles and archnobles, Hannelore had been impressed by the quality of their work and their training.

All of the students from Ehrenfest were doing great in their studies and finishing quickly, of course, but it was well-known that Rozemyne had the best of the lot—no matter what pretenses Wilfried made about his own assistants—and that was something, considering her fellow archduke candidates from other dutchies didn't even have the insight that she herself did into how incredibly efficient they were.

But even all of that had not prepared her for how even demure Philine truly was behind the scenes. She was fearless! Yet, self-aware. It was oddly endearing how she'd be pushing her own limits, but fall back on social interactions to her more demure personality, even though moments before she had been ready for a fight.

Most people would have panicked when they found themselves transformed into a strange creature (just like Hannelore herself had), but the scholar had taken it in stride, embraced it and was fully enjoying it! She had been flying all over, practicing her roar (only once, then she had blushed bright red under her cheek scales), and just having the best time of her life.

What baffled Hannelore the most was that, even if Philine knew some of the traditions, or even the language these strange creatures practice or spoke, she had simply accepted this change.

Hannelore was not nearly as comfortable. It wasn't that she itched, but all the sensations her body was informing her of were confusing her, and it made her want to just jump out of her own skin. Smells she had never paid attention to before carried layers upon layers of significance that she somehow understood. Her coat of lavender fur was sensitive, her hand/paws were soft and padded on the bottom, and she could just make a slightly stretching effort with her fingers and claws would grow out!

And she didn't even want to think about her whiskers or her ears. It was just all she could do to concentrate on her spells and think about other things. But thinking about that was making her think about them! Hannelore quickly walked closer to Philine.

"So, Lady Philine… it seems you are rather fond of that shape of yours."

The laynoble 'dragon' quickly perked up. "Um, yes," she said, clearly embarrassed. "It just reminds me of big sis Khisanth."

"Oh, you have a sister? Does she hunt these dragon creatures?"

"She's taken me under her wing, although we're not related by blood." Philine said, giggling a little. "And no, she doesn't hunt them. She's uh… well, I'm not sure how much I can say."

'Oh ho ho, no… you're not getting out of this that easily!' "Come now, Lady Philine," Hannelore said, putting forth her best archduke smile, "surely now that we're both here it means I can learn a little bit about it, right?"

"I-I suppose…" Philine said, shifting her wings uncomfortably. "I'm just hoping Sunset Shimmer doesn't get upset with me about it. But we are in the middle of another world…"

'Another world!?'

"...but then again, I learned at least the basics when I was thrown into planet Ragna…" Philine continued.

'Hold on, planet? World?'

"Well…" the laynoble-turned-dragon stopped and turned to face her, hands behind her back and looking a bit shy. "Ahem, we are not in our own world. There is no Ehrenfest or Royal Academy here… we might not even be in the same dimension. This happened to me once, and that's where I met Khisanth..."

"What an odd shape," Judithe muttered, staring at the door in the tree. It was a vegetable she had seen before, of course, but Lady Rozemyne had called it a 'Jack o' Lantern'.

"It's for the holiday spirit!" Rozemyne answered, fluffy tail wagging.

Judithe had to clench her fists and look away lest she hug her. "W-what do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll see." Rozemyne pulled the door open.

"Wait," Judithe said. "Let me go first, to make sure it's safe."

Rozemyne looked a bit unsure. "But…"

"Please, Lady Rozemyne," Judithe insisted. "I know we're in a strange land, and you are more than capable of taking care of us, but it is my duty."

Rozemyne paused and gave Judithe's words some consideration. "Well, I suppose there's no harm in letting you check first. Go ahead, Judithe! My faithful knight!"

"R-right!"

Judithe walked into the doorway and suddenly found herself stepping out into a circle of trees, similar to where she was before, but where the Dreamland forest had been green and lush as well as several decorated trees, the trees here were tall but devoid of leaves and the area was covered in underbrush, except for a single dirt trail that led up to the tree she had come out of, otherwise the ground was covered in dried out leaves… but there was something else.

A young girl was kneeling, facing away from the tree she had come out from. She was sobbing and crying. She was dressed oddly, with a single gray-blue robe of some sort and a pointy hat over long, messy black hair.

"Are you okay, miss?" Judithe asked, approaching her carefully. She heard a noise behind her, and suddenly the door was slammed shut! Judithe whirled in place to stare at the two costumed creatures in front of it, and suddenly the world went dark.

"Aww, I guess we miscalculated!" Lock said, tying more ropes around the struggling doll. "I think we trapped the rabbit in Dream Land." He shook his head at the cartful of boxes they had dumped in front of the door. "I don't wanna pick that up!"

"Well, we still have the cat and the lizard, we might still catch them! They're supposed to be coming out of the first grove!" Shock retorted.

"Let's go catch them!" Barrel said, cackling as they tossed the tied-up ragdoll into the tub and jumped in themselves.

"Hey, let me out!" the rag doll hollered from within the sack they had put on her head.

"No!" the trio answered then cackled together.

"Lady Rozemyne! Help!"

"Aww, we forgot the rabbit!" Lock said. "Now what are we going to feed the lizard?"

"How about the cat?"

"It probably won't know the difference."

"Wait, why are you talking about feeding things to something else?!"

"Shut up, you!" Barrel poked the side of the bag.

"Hey!"

"Don't do that," Shock said. "Remember, she's going to be the queen!"

The rag doll in the bag went quiet for a moment. "What are you talking about?!"

"We're going to take the stuffing out of you!" Barrel said.

"And stuff you with bugs and spiders and centipedes, and cobwebs and dead leaves!"

"..."

"And then you'll be our boss!"

The rag doll started squirming like a worm that had salt poured over it. "Let me out of here you crazy children! I-I'll report you to the authorities!"

"Haha! She thinks we care!" Barrel said to the others.

"Lady Rozemyne!" the ragdoll wailed. "Unstitched! I don't want to be filled with bugs!"

"Who's Rozemyne?" Shock asked.

"Eh, beats me." Lock replied. "Probably just another rag doll."

"Look!" Barrel suddenly exclaimed, "The tree grove!"

"Come on! Let's be quick!" Shock hissed, her voice dripping malevolence, "before…" she trailed off as the door to St. Patrick's Day Town opened up and two creatures emerged. "That's not a lizard! That's a dragon!"

"And that's not a cat!" Lock said, turning around to smack Barrel on the back of his head. "That's some sort of crazy werecat!"

"I didn't say they were! It was the leprechaun!"

"Little bastard!"

The two creatures were staring at them, and although Shock really wanted to capture them, the dragon looked particularly dangerous at that moment. "Come on! Let's go!"

They turned around their bathtub and headed away from the confused pair that had just emerged from the tree, moving as fast as they could.

"Were those children?" Hannelore asked, blinking in confusion. "They looked just a few years younger than us!"

"I… think so?" Philine said. "This is Halloween Town's territory, so that would explain why they were dressed like that."

"They looked utterly horrifying!" Hannelore said. "Why would they use such dreadful disguises!"

"I'm not sure if they'll look any better under them, if I'm honest, Lady Hannelore," Philine said, looking around uneasily. "I never really understood the appeal of scaring people on Halloween, although big sis Khisanth seems to really enjoy it."

"I must say you and Rozemyne have the oddest acquaintances."

Philine turned to stare pointedly at Hannelore, who looked back with a straight face before the two broke down into giggles.

"I suppose that counts me as well," Hannelore admitted, "well played, Lady Philine."

Philine giggled. "I am so glad that you know more about this situation now, Lady Hannelore. I can always tell that Lady Rozemyne has been dying to tell you all about it." She regarded the catgirl fondly. "She truly values your friendship, you are her first bookworm friend in the Academy, after all."

Hannelore felt herself blush. Surely Lady Rozemyne had many other friends. Hannelore might be an Archduke Candidate, but she was usually overshadowed by her brother, or many of the other, more aggressive candidates. With Lady Rozemyne engaging royalty, and with her connections, it had always been surprising to her how her friend would go out of her way to spend time with her.

But then again, that was part of being friends.

The thought made her feel warm inside.

The pair were distracted when the door with the oval shape on it opened up and a large Shumil jumped out, looking ready for battle.

"Lady Rozemyne!" Philine exclaimed.

"Philine!" the shumil said in return. "Bwah!? You're a dragon! Is that Lady Hannelore?! Did she turn into a purple caitan?"

"You are surprisingly adept at recognizing us like this, Lady Rozemyne," Hannelore said, amused by Rozemyne's honest reaction.

"I take it Philine has already told you everything?" Rozemyne asked.

"She told me a lot," Hannelore said diplomatically. This was strange, but having tea with goddesses required a different level of suspension of disbelief. "But I still have a lot of questions."

Lady Rozemyne hopped up to her and held her hands in her paws. "And we'll be happy to answer them!" she declared excitedly. "Oh! This is going to be wonderful! You'll love the multiverse, Lady Hannelore!"

"Um," Philine raised a hand, "Excuse me, Lady Rozemyne, but where is Lady Judithe?"

"Judithe!" Rozemyne gasped. She twirled around. "She's not here? Someone shut the door to Dream Town and blocked it! I had to go to Easter Town's grove to get here."

"We haven't seen anyone other than three strange children," Hannelore said, shaking her head.

"Oh no." Rozemyne gasped. "Describe them."

"I-I wouldn't even know where to begin… the girl was wearing a single piece purple dress, dirty and patchy. She had a pointy hat on her head." Hannelore cleared her throat, not liking to speak ill of others. "She looked… rather unkempt."

"There were two boys," Philine reported. "One in a devil costume, another in a skeleton one."

"Lock, Shock and Barrel." Rozemyne said. "Oh, this is not good. Did you see anything else?"

"They were riding a bathtub and had something squirming in the back," Hannelore said, unable to believe the words she was uttering. This was a very strange world.

"I believe they might have kidnapped Judithe!" Rozemyne said. "Philine, can you fly?"

"Yes!"

"Excellent, please follow them, Lady Hannelore and I will head over to Halloween Town and find Jack Skellington."

Philine nodded and jumped into the air, breaking through the few branches that blocked her way with ease.

"Come on, Lady Hannelore, we'll reach the edge of the wood this way and we can summon our Highbeasts."

Judithe glared at the three… creatures. There was no way this trio of malicious little gruns(1) were human. "Release me at once! I am a retainer of Lady Rozemyne! You have no idea of the trouble you're in!"

"Ooooh, Lady Rozemyne!" Shock said, snickering. She sneered down at the tied-up doll. "Look at me! I'm soooo scared!"

"I'm shaking in my boots!" Barrel added, very clearly not shaken at all.

"What are we going to do if big, mean Lady Rozemyne comes for us?!" Lock cried mockingly from the ledge he was standing on behind her. He leaned down, a mean tone slithering into his voice. "Maybe we should turn you into the Boogie Queen before that happens."

"I don't want to be your queen!" Judiithe snapped. Her situation was very frustrating. Although she could enhance her strength, the trio of little monsters had tied her up tightly and in a way where she couldn't get any leverage. As much as she wanted to just snap the ropes apart, she wouldn't be able to do so until then.

"Aww, you're just shy," Shock said.

"I'm not!"

"But don't worry," the little witch continued, ignoring Judithe's answer, "once we stuff you full of bugs you'll be one of us!"

"One of us! One of us!"

"I'm a knight, dammit! Let me lose and fight me honorably!"

"Ha!" Barrel said, dragging a large sack full of squiggly things closer and closer to her. "No."

Those could only be the bugs they had mentioned! Judithe hated bugs! That was why when there were bug-type feybeast hunts, she would dispatch them as quickly as possible. And now they wanted to stuff her full of them!

She stared at them with wide eyes, then started struggling again, "Let me go!"

"Don't struggle too much!" Shock said, raising a pair of disproportionately-sized scissors up. "Don't want me to cut off your entire arm instead of just the stitches!" She quickly snipped one of the threads on Judithe's arms, and it started unraveling, revealing soft cotton under it.

"Oooh! Cut off her arm! Do it! Do it!" Lock said, jumping up and down. "We can stitch her back together again after that!"

"Good idea!" Shock said, grinning as she opened the scissors wide.

Judithe gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. She didn't want to see it coming.

"Stop right there!"

Judithe's eyes opened wide as Lady Rozemyne hopped into the room, followed by another creature wearing Royal Academy robes in Dunkelfelger colors, which could only be Lady Hannelore! "Lady Rozemyne! Lady Hannelore!"

"We're here for you, Judithe!" Lady Rozemyne declared. "Philine!"

"Right!" a voice answered from above, and Judithe's head turned to stare at her roommate, who was some sort of flying lizard gliding out of the darkness. She watched in awe as Philine opened her maw and a splash of green, sizzling liquid struck the bag in Barrel's hands.

With a shriek, the little monster let it go as the bag and its contents dissolved into a smoking, squealing mess of creepy crawlies that died in whatever Philine had spit on them.

Barrel turned to run, but Philine landed in front of him with a growl.

Lock and Shock stared at each other for a second before making a bee-line towards the tunnel entrance, only to stumble on each other as two figures, one a tall, lanky skeleton; the other a rag doll, stood on their way.

"Well, well, well," the skeleton said, leaning forward to glare at the trio of creatures. "What have we here?"

"Uh," Shock spoke up, "H-hi Jack! Hi Sally, we were just playing!"

"Yeah!" Lock said, "No harm done, right?"

"Well, not now that we didn't stuff her full of bugs…" Barrel bemoaned, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from Shock.

Jack shook his head and stood straight, drawing a hand up to massage his forehead dramatically. "What will I do with you three? I thought we made it clear you weren't to bother visitors from other towns?"

"We totally haven't!" Lock said. "We uh, we were just playing with the rag doll! It was all in good fun!"

While the trio of monsters squirmed under Jack's disapproving glare, Sally had joined Rozemyne and the others, helping to untie Judithe. She stared at the younger rag doll, then delicately raised Judithe's arm, where the string had been cut. "Here, let me take a look at that…"

Very quickly, she pulled out a needle and a bit of thread, and in seconds, the younger doll's arm was repaired. "There you go, good as new!"

Judithe stared at the other doll, then down at her arm, where the stitches did indeed look like they had never been cut before. "Thank you!"

"Oh, it's no worry at all!" Sally said. "After all, Rozemyne is one of our dear friend Sunset Shimmer's students. We couldn't disappoint her, could we?"

"Uh, oh." Lock, Shock, and Barrel said in unison.

"Indeed." Jack sighed. "Zero!"

A flying… ghostly dog with a shiny nose flew in, quickly picking up a rope in its muzzle and flying circles around the trio, getting them tied up in seconds.

"You three… are in so much trouble!" Jack growled. "We'll see about getting you to do community service!"

"No! Not community service!"

Judithe, still sitting down, looked up when a claw was offered to her. Her eyes followed it up to Philine's eyes.

"Need a claw getting up?"

Judithe snorted, then wiped a stray tear quickly, ashamed that her Lady would see her cry. But Rozemyne, once Judithe was up, ignored all protocol and simply hugged her tight. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Um… thank you."

"Come on," Sally said, waving her hand at them. "Let's go to Halloween Town. I'll get you some tea and cookies, then we'll contact Sunset."

"What about them?" Judithe asked, glancing at Lock, Shock and Barrel.

"My husband, Jack, will handle them, don't worry." Sally said. "It's not often I see another rag doll. Even if you're only one for the time being, I have to say you're quite pretty."

"Um. Thank you. S-so are you… miss… Sally?"

"That's right," Rozemyne said. "She's the Pumpking Queen!" She leaned closer to Judithe. "Essentially the Zent's wife."

"And you just addressed her by her first name," Philine said.

"Oh." Judithe nodded. Then her eyes rolled back and she passed out.

"That was mean," Hannelore said to Philine, who was wide-eyed as she held up her unconscious friend.

Hannelore tried to look serious, but the situation was so ridiculous she couldn't help but giggle. The others did too, and the relief that came with that simple action was surprisingly intense. Things had been very strange since this all had started, and she was sure that, if she had been on her own she'd probably still be panicking somewhere near St. Patrick's Day Town.

But she had ended up here with friends, and she had proved to herself that she could adapt with the best of them. What had happened to Judithe had been scary, but thankfully Rozemyne and Philine had known what to do.

She promised herself to learn all she could about this place, and about her friend's adventures. Rozemyne had told her earlier that they'd be returning home in a way that made it so that no time had passed since their departure.

If this was something they could do, she wondered how many adventures Rozemyne had secretly been part of.

"Lead the way, Sally!" Rozemyne said to the horrified look from Judithe, and giggles from Philine.

Hannelore wondered for a moment if she'd be able to keep up.

Well, she'd find out soon, she supposed. And although it was a bit scary… she wasn't alone.

End Shenanigans

Author's Note

(1) Grun: a mix of red panda and jackal, it is one of the most despised creatures in the world where Rozemyne and others live. Stinky, ugly and considered a dangerous pest, it's never a good thing to be compared to.

Note: Sorry for the delay! I was hoping to finish this up last night, but I was really sick. And it wasn't because I ate too much candy, unfortunately. I'm feeling better today, so I was able to finish the chapter, but not on the deadline I had intended.

A Moment in Time (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End)

A Moment in Time (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End)
By Wanderer D

2 Weeks After The Hero Himmel's Death

Frieren had left behind most signs of civilization at this point, and although she was still within human lands, the heavy forested area she had walked into was so cut off from other specie's usual haunts, that she might've just as well been in the middle of the Northern Lands.

So far away, and yet here she was, standing in front of the collapsed entrance to a long-forgotten castle. So old in fact that she had no recollection of it, but not old enough for everything to collapse quite yet. It might have seen the last of its inhabitants roughly around the time she was born.

She could probably figure out who had lived there, but the thought didn't cross her mind for more than a second of curiosity. There were many places like this in the world, back when her teacher and herself walked the land together. Centuries before Himmel or Heiter, or even Eisen.

Instead, she made her way around the structure, taking it in, and studying the craftsmanship, figuring out the details of its last days through ancient marks left by weapons and the occasional discarded shield or arrowhead. Two days later, she finally made her way through the entryway, where she paused to examine the old, rusted hinges and the creeping vines that had slowly grown up and around the entire wall.

She knew, of course, that she was only trying to distract herself from the thoughts that really weighed on her mind, but she had time. She had a lot of time. Being an elf meant that two days to walk around a castle was comparable to a minute or two in the lifespan of a human.

Still, there was a chance the library in the castle was still sufficiently protected from the elements to justify a visit before she checked anything else. Life would continue and with it the castle's decay would also progress, but as beautiful as both were, the books shouldn't have to be eaten away by time and nature without at least a last read.

Maybe there were some interesting spells there, too.

She stepped into the courtyard. The cobbled stone under her feet was covered in moss and grass whenever it hadn't been completely buried under dirt and debris. To her left was a pretty large chapel for the size of the castle, with an effigy of the goddess adorning the top. Time and elements had weathered away all the careful carved details that originally humanized the goddess, and now it was simply a gray slab, vaguely humanlike in appearance where vines and flowers hadn't covered it completely.

Places like these always made her feel how fleeting a mortal life was, but they also fascinated her with how much history was tied to them for such an ephemeral amount of time.

She knew she was struggling with the concept of putting value to something that just faded in the blink of an eye.

'We only traveled together for ten years.'

And yet…

Frieren has finally reached the library entrance. She had entered the main hall and followed one of the passages on the side towards one of the towers. She now stood at the gateway, staring into a dimly-lit, dusty room with several broken down and rotting bookshelves.

There didn't appear to be a single book there that hadn't been damaged beyond recognition. But what held her in place wasn't the state of the books and shelves (she was used to seeing those destroyed by time over and over), it was the door at the other side of the room, flush against the wall of the tower that, she knew, had nothing behind it.

Unlike the rest of the castle, and indeed, all other doors she had seen thus far, this one was in perfect condition. The stone archway around it was carefully crafted and maintained, while the door itself appeared solid and lacking any indication of degradation.

A symbol at eyes-height for an adult was unlike those she had seen before. It resembled an effigy of the sun, clearly so by the circle in the middle with the flames around it, however the circle was split into two tear-like shapes one red, the other gold, with a single spot of the opposing color in the middle of the thickest part of each.

"Curious," Frieren said aloud, speaking for the first time since she had left Eisen and Heiter at the Capital.

She could sense ancient magic emanating from the door. Older than anything she had felt before. After a careful study of the door, she came to the conclusion that there were no traps around it. She stood back and considered her options.

The door was ancient, as she had determined earlier, which begged the possibility that the castle had been built around it, if it had been some sort of known magic. But it didn't make sense to build the place as they had if the door was that important, and a known factor at the time of construction. Surely something so magical and valuable would have been deeper in the keep. If it was knowledge-related it was possible it would have a library around it, but certainly not something so readily accessible.

So that meant that the door arrived here afterward, somehow.

Frieren shrugged. "Maybe there's another library through, and new spells."

The silver bell chimed, announcing a visitor. Sunset, who had been reading a book on the counter, looked up and blinked at the white-robed elf that entered the bar. Her silvery-white hair—which was held up into twintails—had a very light lavender-tinge, all of which gave her a very innocent look. She wasn't too tall, and due to her youthful looks, it would have been easy to confuse her with a young girl.

Sunset, however, knew enough elves from many different worlds to not assume something like that, and her senses told her of the incredible amount of constant control this young elf had on her own magic. That spoke of many years of experience, which belied her apparent physical age.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the omniverse!" Sunset smiled. "I'm Sunset Shimmer."

The elf studied her with a carefully inexpressive face for a few moments before nodding. "I am Frieren." She carefully sat down on one of the barstools, and kept her eyes on Sunset. "You look human."

"Been one for a while," Sunset said, leaning over to the side to grab one of the menus. "Not all the time."

"Reincarnated god?"

"Definitely not," Sunset said, "Former unicorn."

"Ah."

Sunset passed the elf the menu.

Frieren studied it for a time, and settled down for wine, then leaned on the counter, arms crossed, and watched Sunset fish out the bottle and uncork it. "How is the human life going for you?"

"It was disorienting at first, but I've had a lot of time to get used to it." Sunset put down the glass on the counter and slid it a bit towards the elf.

"I see," Frieren said, reaching over to take the wine. She examined it, but did not try it. "Maybe you can help then."

Sunset smiled. "That's what this place is about. What's troubling your mind?"

"I do not understand humans."

"My dear Frieren, no one understands humans," Sunset said with a smile.

Frieren understood the joke, but settled for shaking her head. "I do not mean that in a casual way." She looked at her hands, then up at the not-quite-human in front of her. She knew this Sunset Shimmer was the most powerful being she had ever encountered.

At first, when she had walked in, she had assumed the human to be a regular mortal, however, her keen senses soon told her the truth of the matter: she hadn't been able to detect Sunset's power from the beginning because the moment she had stepped into the bar, she was within Sunset's aura of power.

But now that she was aware of this, it made sense to her to ask Sunset about… humans. It wasn't as if Serie could be of help with this, and she would not burden Eisen or Heiter with educating her.

"Time is different for me," she continued, "I was a member of the hero Himmel's party. We defeated the Demon King a little over fifty years ago. I traveled with them for ten years, and yet I learned so little about them. When Himmel suddenly died…" She trailed off, a slight pang of something constricting her heart for the briefest of moments. She sighed. "...of old age… he said that that decade with them would stay with me forever."

Sunset considered this. "Well, without knowing the full story it's hard to understand, I suppose. But, besides the fact that you guys went against a Demon Lord and won, what made this different than your many years of life so far?"

Frieren tilted her head, thinking back on things. "I'm not sure. But, I had been on my own for centuries before Himmel and the others found me. Another hero even tried to recruit me before them, but I turned him down."

"I see," Sunset said. "Where would you be now if Himmel and your friends hadn't picked you up from where you were?"

"In the forest," Frieren responded. "Doing the same thing I had been doing all of those years after the passing of my teacher."

"Letting time pass you by?"

Frieren didn't answer. She didn't need to. She sipped her wine and smiled a little at the taste.

Sunset chuckled and shook her head. "I guess it can be strange breaking from something like that." She leaned on the bar. "Every fifty years or so Rarity and the others will force me out of here because I've spent too much time in the bar and I need an adventure or two. Maybe even go live somewhere for a century or something before returning to work."

Frieren looked mildly amused. "Being human and living so long doesn't make much sense."

"I suppose not," Sunset acknowledged, "but I think it's less the time one is alive, and more the mentality and appreciation of it that humans have. Even knowing that I have eternity, I still get restless. I have to find a bit of meaning to my time, whether it's learning a new skill or simply enjoying myself in a different way than before."

"Elves like me live too long to let that bother us," Frieren said.

"Maybe," Sunset said. "But, if you weren't doing something that brought you some sense of reward—doesn't even have to be physical, but rather, emotional or spiritual, what's the difference between doing the same thing every day by rote, and simply being stagnated?"

Frieren took in a sharp breath. Was that what her life was before Himmel and the others had invited her over?

"Stagnation, as weird as it sounds, has its own momentum," Sunset continued, "you are not challenged, yet do a few things that keep you distracted without really changing anything around you. It's a constant repeat of the same day. Humans can't function like that for too long, at least not in a healthy way. And I don't think elves can either, but because of the continuity of it, this stagnated momentum is hard to break."

Frieren blinked. "So Himmel, Heiter and Eisen pulled me out of that stagnation?"

"That's what I believe, yes," Sunset said.

Frieren looked down at her wine. "I suppose being broken out of a centuries-long cycle is something worth remembering," she admitted.

"Not only that, but I imagined traveling with them had its challenges, right?"

Frieren smirked. "Traveling around with a corrupt, drunk priest is pretty challenging."

"And yet you say that with such fondness," Sunset replied, crossing her arms.

"We did go through a lot together, and Heiter was pretty good at his job," Frieren admitted reluctantly. "He was also… empathic."

"That's always a good thing in my book," Sunset said.

Frieren allowed herself to smile a more gentle and genuine smile. Flashes of memories fluttered through her mind as she recalled the first time she'd found what a 'birthday steak' was, or that time they'd found the abandoned temple to the goddess, or even when they fled particularly strong monsters.

At the end of each of those adventures, they would still sit together, eat together and laugh together. Even if she hadn't been cackling like Heiter or Eisen, or even laughing aloud like Himmel, she still recalled the warm feeling of companionship that the antics (and their resolutions) evoked within her.

"There are very few elves left in the world," she said to Sunset after allowing the memories to take her back to those not so ancient times. "We seldom see each other, if ever. The last time I saw an elf—my teacher's teacher, Serie—was several hundred years ago. We spend entire human lifetimes in solitude with no problems. It seems silly that a decade of travel would change my understanding of the world so much."

"Hm." Sunset nodded. "I guess another way of looking at it is that it is an instant that changes the trajectory of your life, right? For me, it was a princess from the land I had abandoned that brought me to my senses, saved me, and set me up on the path I am today. After a thousand years it feels like just a moment, but I see the evidence of how impactful it was every day."

"Huh." Frieren thought back on how she was before Himmel and the other, and her outlook right now. It was as Sunset said… she had stagnated, fallen into the immortal trap of contentment by remaining in a single place, doing the same chores as always. She had survived, and she couldn't say she regretted those years of peace and quiet exactly, but had she enjoyed that, or had it just been simply existing?

Glancing at her travel case and her staff—and considering the fact that she had managed to find herself in an interdimensional bar with an immortal former unicorn—she could admit to herself that no, it hadn't been a fulfilling existence.

"After my master passed away, the joy of adventuring left me for a long time," Frieren confessed. "I passed on invitations from heroes and other visitors to travel with them until Himmel pulled me away from my routine."

Sunset didn't say anything, simply sitting next to her at the bar and focusing her attention on Frieren.

"I don't know if I will ever be able to understand the feelings of humans," the elf admitted, "but I can acknowledge that those I have allowed into my life changed me. From my teacher, Flamme to Himmel and the others. If it hadn't been for Flamme, I probably would have died a long time ago, and if it wasn't for Himmel, I would still be plucking herbs from the forest." She picked up her staff and looked up at it, smiling. "But unlike after my teacher's passing, I now find myself with the willpower to continue traveling. Thanks to him and Heiter and Eisen, I have a new purpose to seek understanding and knowledge for. One day, they too will be gone, but if I can keep adventuring I will do them honor, and if I keep learning new spells, I will keep doing honor to my teacher."

Sunset smirked. "I think you're a little bit closer to understanding humans than you think, Frieren."

The elf blinked and turned to face her, slightly confused, but Sunset simply laughed. "I won't spoil the surprise for you, for when you figure it out," she said. "Why don't you tell me about your teachers and your friends? I'll treat you to lunch."

Frieren put down the staff and smiled. "I can do that."

Frieren left the bar and found that no time had passed since she had stepped into the door. She turned around to face it, only to discover it gone. She shook her head, and looked down at the only proof that it had ever existed: a small, silver card Sunset had given her.

She set down her travel case and opened it, sliding the card carefully into an interior pocket. Closing the lid, she secured it and stood up, wiping her pants with her hands before nodding to herself and looking around.

Her journey had just begun, and things were looking up already. She had many more things to do before checking on Heiter and Eisen in the coming years, and although she intended to take her time, she still felt the sense of urgency for her new mission.

As she turned to leave the room, a single apparently abandoned chest caught her attention. "A treasure?" she wondered as she approached it cautiously. She couldn't see any traps around it, so she smiled and leaned in, ready to open it. "Fufufu, people of the past were so careless to leave something like this here!"

It took her almost the whole day to escape the mimic.

Author's Note

Crossover with Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

I had to decide at what point of the story to have this take place, since there are a LOT of good places for the crossover to happen. I decided to pick up early in Frieren's travels from the manga and anime, since most people are familiar with the latter and have no idea what awaits them past where it is right now.

Masquerade (Genshin Impact— Video Game)

Sunset's Isekai
Masquerade (Genshin Impact— Video Game)
By Wanderer D

*Cast and references in Author's Notes.

"One day, the water levels in Fontaine will rise, and all individuals with sin will be drowned and dissolved, with only the Hydro Archon remaining, weeping on her throne."
—Prophecy of Fontaine

The crowd whispered, harsh and judgmental, their gazes turning cold when they looked up onto the balcony of the Opera Epiclese, the grandest stage in all of Erinnyes—nay Teyvat itself! The center of Justice, the pride of Fontaine…

She felt now more alone than ever, as everyone she had grown to trust on some level turned her back on her. Even Neuvillette.

"In my capacity as the Chief Justice, I shall now render judgment on Furina's misrepresentation of herself as the Archon of Fontaine. As a human who knowingly deceived her fellow citizens, Furina is… guilty."

She felt the strength leave her.

She had failed.

The curtain call had come before the fight call ever came. She was barely listening as she stumbled back onto her throne and sank in, all thoughts of pretending gone. All was lost.

She felt the tears pull in her eyes but didn't have the energy to wipe them off now. What did it matter? She barely heard Neuvillette's voice, the words barely registering in her mind.

"According to the judgement of the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, Furina is…"

Did it matter?

"...the Hydro Archon, guilty to be punished via the death sentence." Neuvillette was clearly shocked from his tone alone.

'Good,' she thought as the entire opera house exploded in frenzied disbelief. She felt immediately guilty for her selfish thoughts. They didn't know. But even now, she couldn't scream at them or beg them to change their minds. She had failed.

'I'm sorry for being selfish this one time but at least… at least… I don't have to pretend anymore. I'm sorry everyone… I couldn't save you in the end.'

Furina gasped and sat up suddenly in her bed, clutching her bedsheets in both hands. Her breathing was hard, almost hyperventilating. She glanced around, heartbeats calming down to a regular beat as she took in the familiar surroundings of her home in downtown Fontaine.

She was safe. She was alive.

The Prophecy had come and gone and her part had been played. She was now off-stage, a part of the crowd that…

She sobbed and rested her forehead on her knees, wrapping her arms around herself.

They would never know. She hugged herself tighter just for a few more seconds then forced herself out of bed.

"Thank you, Eugenie," Furina said, taking her bag with a smile.

"It's always my pleasure Lady—I mean, Miss Furina," the vendor's face turned into a slightly embarrassed grimace. "I'm sorry, I'm still getting used to it."

"Oh, not at all, please," Furina replied, forcing a smile. "Worry not, and please, just Furina is fine."

"Oh… of course, m-Furina," Eugenie replied, smiling at her uncertainly.

Was that… pity? Or perhaps commiseration? Was it real though?

She pushed the thought away, bowed lightly and started walking back home.

As she passed a nearby bakery, Furina stopped and stared down at the bag of produce she had bought and sighed. "I wish I could just make another Pour la Justice," she muttered, her mouth watering at her true specialty dish. Only very few people had ever been fortunate enough to experience the delicious cake she would bake only for the rarest of occasions, and she found herself not just craving a taste, but the mental energy to indulge herself.

She sighed and then smirked. Who said she couldn't bake it for herself this time? She was past the low-effort meals she had prepared for herself after the trial, was she not? Her career as an actress, director and consultant was skyrocketing as it was. She should be able to treat herself at least once every few—her thoughts stopped and her eyes widened as she spotted one of the last people she wanted to see.

Long, curled blonde hair tied with a black bow and wearing an ornate dress with bodice made of navy-blue, white and black silk, as well her signature wide brimmed hat with blue and ochre roses, and gold and blue decorations complimenting the large white feather on the right side… there was no mistaking her.

Navia, the president of the Spina di Rosula, was walking towards her.

Furina almost dropped her groceries, but caught her breath when she realized the blonde detective hadn't spotted her yet.

Gathering her purchases, she did an about-face and immediately started walking in the first direction she found promising. In this case, a little nook of hidden space to the right of the Beaumont Workshop. She thought she heard Navia calling, but that only spurred her to walk faster.

Just her luck that just as she was truly beginning to build up her self-worth and confidence, she would once more face the person that exemplified the worst failure of her long life. She was even struggling with Neuvillette, who had accepted and encouraged her.

She was coming back as her own person… she needed space. She couldn't face what and who Navia represented quite yet, but it seemed like her success in assisting the late Aurelie's troupe and obtaining a vision had provoked Navia to assume she was ready for true interaction beyond that uncomfortably polite visit to Poisson.

Praying that the owner of the workshop hadn't seen her, she snuck among the crates and boxes, trying to hide from the detective. Granted, this being right in front of her home didn't help much, but if Navia thought that she had made it into her house and simply didn't want to be bothered, she would leave soon enough.

Probably.

Maybe.

It wasn't like Navia had no reason to hate her. Everyone in Poisson did. Those that had survived, that is.

It had been her fault. She knew that. They knew that… but also… they didn't know the truth. Nobody did… and those that hated her already would never listen anyway, no matter how sorry she was.

She shook away the dark thoughts and peeked from behind the boxes as Navia slid to a halt almost right in front of her house. The detective glanced around suspiciously, and Furina was alarmed to see that her gaze had only momentarily paused on her home before roaming possible hiding places.

Navia knew she hadn't made it in!

Furina took a careful step back, then another, and was about to take a third when her foot hit the door.

Startled, she turned around and saw a door she never knew was there. It had a strange symbol on it… it wasn't one of the celestial visions, and in fact did not include them in its motif at all. However, the sign above it declared it a bar, which was perfect.

Furina would never be caught in a bar! Not in a million years! In fact, she had never even stepped into one in the recorded history of Fontaine! She could hide in there!

She pushed the door open.

"Garnet and Cid both have completed their assessments of Burmecia's forces and infrastructure," Freya said, her head lowering so much her hat almost hid the pleased smile from Sunset's eyes. "They declared that the city and lands were strong enough to now support ourselves without the aid of other nations." She gave her a sly look. "Or rather odd Burmecians with red hair and strange powers."

The bell chimed but neither of them paid it much heed, lost as they were in each other's presence.

Sunset shrugged sheepishly, sitting next to her girlfriend on one of the stools at the bar. She took Freya's hands in hers and rose them to kiss them gently. "I'm glad things are better, Freya. It took a lot of time, but your people are finally back on their own feet."

Freya lifted her head, amethyst eyes peeking between silver-white hair and smiled more genuinely. "I am proud of them. Knowing that they have a future after such tragedy takes a huge weight off my shoulders. Even being able to come here and visit other lands, Sunset… I sometimes wish none of it had happened. I wish Beatrix had seen the light sooner… I wish none of my people had died."

Freya sighed and leaned in to rest her forehead against Sunset's. "Thank you for being here for me."

"Always."

A small sound made them straighten up and look around, where a young woman in a gorgeous blue ringmaster get-up that would have made Rarity gasp in delight was standing at the entrance to the bar proper, eyes wide and holding a bag of groceries to her chest.

Her hair was a light blue, so light it was almost white. Her irises were also blue, the right one a true blue, and the left one a capri blue, with the pupils shaped like waterdrops or tears of the inverted color. She wore a dark blue top hat tilted to the left of her head, like a ring master would wear, except it was carefully decorated, and even had hints of a golden crown at the top.

"Oh! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't want to interrupt—"

"No, it's okay," Freya said, wiping under her eyes with the back of her hand. She studied the young woman for a moment—who looked like a deer caught in the headlights—and her flustered smile turned more gentle. "You heard what I said."

"Y-yes, I—"

Freya stood up and walked over to the young lady, who looked like she was ready to flee at a given notice, then gently placed a clawed hand on the woman's shoulder. "I can see you understand," she said gently. "Do not worry about me, Sunset is always available when I need her… but it seems you need someone to talk to more than I."

Furina wasn't sure of what to think. This person… this creature she was unfamiliar with, had shown her more kindness in her first meeting than anyone else she had met. There had been no attempt to suck up to her due to her fame, or even recognition of her as the former Hydro Archon for that matter.

She didn't know anything about her species… being more of a mouse-like creature, she didn't look anything like the more familiar Melusines or Hirichurls, and in her five hundred years she had never heard of the place they were talking about… Burmecia… but she had heard enough to understand that Freya had witnessed something very similar to what Navia had lived through, and somehow mustered the strength to move on and be kind.

Just like Navia. She also doesn't know. What would she say if…

"Anyway," Freya continued, "I should go, love."

The human woman… if she was human… walked over and leaned in to give Freya a peck on the lips. The pair gazed at each other with fondness and love and reluctantly parted, as Freya headed down the same short corridor she had walked through to get to the bar, and soon enough the silver bell chimed.

"So, welcome to Sunset's Isekai," Sunset said, smiling at her as well, no resentment or trickery evident in either smile nor words. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, and this is my little bar in the omniverse, and I'm happy to be your host."

"Omniverse?" Furina asked, already more confused than before. Perhaps this hadn't been the best idea…

The bell at the door rang once more.

"Furina! I finally caught up to you."

Furina's felt ice form in her stomach, and the bartender gave her a worried glance. She could only imagine how pale she'd gone the moment she heard Navia's voice.

"I don't know why you thought you could hide from me in a bar of all places."

"N-Navia, I—"

"How about—" Sunset interrupted "—you both take a seat and I get you something to drink? It seems you have things to talk about, but I will not permit any cajoling, provoking or intimidating any of my guests, such as Miss Furina here." The bartender stepped between her and Navia with a firm smile on her face,

A brief flash of annoyance graced Navia's face, but the blonde quickly reined it in, taking a deep breath and nodding. "My apologies, that is of course acceptable to me." She turned to face Furina. "How about you, Furina?"

Furina bit her lip and looked down.

"You don't have to," Sunset said, making her look up in surprise. They were still at the bar, but Navia was nowhere to be seen.

Seeming to catch on to her confusion, Sunset gently took the bag of groceries from her arms and put it on the counter. "It's unusual for these situations to happen, where someone follows you here. This is a safe space for you. No one here will harm you, and no person with ill-intent can come in. But that doesn't mean you have to talk to her if you don't want to."

"Is she okay? Where is she?" Furina asked, confused.

"She's right here," Sunset said, "at the exact time, space and dimension as she was before, you and I are currently just in another layer."

"Oh." That she could understand. But that meant… "Are you an Archon? A goddess?"

Sunset shook her head. "Not at all. I'm just the bartender."

"Right." Furina sighed. "I suppose I could use some time to myself but…" She took a deep breath. "It's only delaying the inevitable. I have to deal with what happened and… I like Navia. I would like to be her friend."

Sunset nodded. "If that is what you wish… if she's here the bar sensed that you two needed this time together. Just remember that we can take a break whenever you want."

"Thank you."

Navia could've sworn that the bag of groceries had been in Furina's arms just a second ago, but at long last the former… was it even correct to call her an Archon? Furina had been no goddess. She had fooled them all and people had suffered so much thanks to her, and yet seeing the cocky, boisterous, savvy goddess-impersonator reduced to this husk of her former self was… discouraging.

It nagged at her because she could see the intense pain that Furina was in; how her fragile walls broke like glass whenever Poisson was brought up and the guilt consumed her.

And it should!

But something wasn't quite right with the whole situation. Furina had been stripped of her title and position, yet, despite the order to execute her she hadn't been. And even if that was a relief, the person that had pretended for generations to be a goddess, and fooled everyone hadn't even been punished for her crimes!

The same person that had allowed tragedy to take place through inaction!

There were many thoughts that infuriated Navia as they were led to the bar and sat down, so much so that it took her a moment after looking up at Furina to realize the sheer look of awe in the other woman's face as she studied the walls of the bar.

Following her gaze, her anger faded as she took in everything. Everything that was familiar and unfamiliar. The details that landed the place in reality… chairs, tables, picture frames… and faded into the impossible… like the pictures themselves, the uncanny instruments, the shifting size of the place.

Had they somehow stumbled into a domain? But even what she had heard from the Traveler and experienced herself was different. It was like they had crossed a fairy gate and ended up somewhere that made Teyvat seem somehow… small.

"Here you go," the bartender passed them both menus, and glancing at them she could only shake her head at the familiar drinks and completely foreign offerings. She was well-versed in many products from all the nations, and they simply didn't match what she knew.

After a moment, Furina finally spoke, a hint of bewildered confusion in her voice. "Um, Sunset? There's so much here. I don't know what to order."

Navia sighed. "Me neither."

The bartender tilted her head. "Huh. You must have a lot of conflicting emotions running amok. But don't worry, I have just the thing. And don't worry…" She winked at them. "The first drink is on the house."

As Sunset turned around to prepare their drink, Navia turned her attention back to Furina, finding her once again looking down.

"Why did you avoid me?"

Furina looked away—almost like a kicked puppy—but after a moment spoke up. "You know why."

'I do, don't I?' "Indulge me."

Furina sighed and glanced at Sunset. Navia was no fool. As the obvious master of this domain, Sunset could expel her at the request of Furina, who had fooled her with her act of innocence.

"It's because…" Furina's voice faltered, filled with pain. "Because I couldn't stop Poisson from flooding." She closed her eyes and clenched her hands. "I couldn't stop people from being dissolved."

A spark of anger flared inside Navia's heart. "Wrong."

Furina looked up at her and Navia knew that the former 'Archon' was lying. Furina knew why, but for some reason wouldn't even acknowledge her worst sin not only to those lost in Poisson, but to Fontaine itself!

"You've not apologized at all for pretending to be the archon!" Navia said, controlling her emotions. She kept struggling with not wanting to hate Furina, but she couldn't understand why Neuvillette hadn't sent her to rot in the Fortress of Meriopede. "If you hadn't lied to all of us, we could have been more prepared! Saved more lives instead of trusting you to save us!"

Furina mumbled something. "...five hundred…"

Frowning the blonde narrowed her eyes. "I didn't hear that."

As if unleashed from a chain, Furina's head snapped up and she faced Navia with a look of pure pain in her face. "Five hundred years! I pretended for five hundred years, Navia! Unable to grow! Unable to do anything but act like I was expected to! If I didn't—"

Navia gulped, taken aback by the outburst. "If… you hadn't?"

"If I failed… the prophecy would be fulfilled."

A cold feeling swept over Navia like frozen wind. "What do you mean?!"

The seemingly sudden appearance of two extremely-decadent-looking chocolate drinks in front of them made them both jump in their seats, and they turned to stare at Sunset, who had a tired look on her face. "I think you both need to slow down."

Furina watched Navia warily straighten up and take a deep breath to calm down at Sunset's interruption. She glanced down at the tall glass containing her chocolate, decorated with whipped cream, shaved chocolate, crackers and syrup… and if her nose didn't deceive her, even a slight hint of orange liquor of some sort. Just a hint, hidden in all the sweetness and comfort of the rest of the drink.

A straw came out of the concoction and bent down, giving the already beautifully decorated drink a slightly inviting and quirky feel.

"Now," Sunset continued, "as you both have guessed I'm not from around here. My bar opens its door to a myriad of worlds. I've had many, many guests through the centuries, and neither of you would be in here if you were bad people." She paused for effect and then crossed her arms. "So let's begin with both of you at least acknowledging the fact that the other person here might not be perfect, but they're also not malicious."

Navia bit her lip. "I know she's not malicious," she said at length. "But I can't forget that her charade resulted in the deaths of so many. Including my closest confidants."

Sunset nodded. "And do you know the full story?" she asked gently. "I think you're doing a formidable job of not letting that pain envelop you and blind you, but I also know from experience how strong emotions can give us a tunnel vision when it comes to others involved."

Navia shook her head. An uncomfortable silence descended upon them both, and Furina decided to take a sip out of her drink, out of courtesy if nothing else. Her eyes widened as the chocolate invaded her senses. "This… this is amazing!"

Sunset smiled smugly. "Isn't it? I created that specific milkshake mix for my business partner, Rarity. It's called The Carousel Au Chocolat." She nodded twice, humming to herself. "The right types of milk, the right balance of bitter chocolate and sweetness, and of course, the tiniest hint of Cointreau Liqueur."

Navia, distracted from her own dark thoughts, blinked and also took a sip. Her eyes widened and a smile played on her lips. "It is fantastic!"

"Glad you like it!" Sunset said, although the look in her face told Furina that the bartender had never expected anything less, and from Navia's giggle, the blonde thought the exact same thing. She and Navia exchanged a smile for just a second before the feelings on both sides returned in full.

Furina glanced down at her drink again, then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Sunset, who smiled encouragingly. "If you don't speak up, people will never know what you're thinking, or what you truly feel."

She sighed, then, gathering herself took a deep breath. She still couldn't bring herself to look up and meet Navia's eyes, but the words started spilling out and slowly she gained confidence.

"It's difficult to break my vow of silence over this…" Furina whispered. "I never lied about…" she sighed and shook her head. "I am, or was Folcalor… the second Hydro Archon."

"But—" Navia started, but stopped when Sunset lay a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.

"Folcalor inherited the burden of the Prophecy," Furina whispered. "With nothing but raw power, she had no hope to save the people that had been created by Egeria when she had offended the gods above by transforming the Oceanids into humans, as they desired. This sin… she saw no escape from it. The waters would one day rise and the descendants of these first humans would all perish, leaving her, and only her the lone survivor to cry alone in her throne."

Navia frowned. "But then, why…"

"Neuvillette told me," Furina whispered, "that five hundred years ago, Folcalor separated from her human self and created me. Someone as lost and clueless as she was when she became human before inheriting her place as Archon." She closed her eyes, the events of that fateful moment when she had suddenly existed, and in a mirror, she stood… but not her.

It was her mirror-her. The Goddess Folcalor.

"She told me that I had a choice," Furina continued. "She said that I could pretend to be the archon for as long as it took, and suffer alone and in silence… but in doing so, the people of Fontaine would survive and even hopefully change the outcome of the Prophecy." She sighed. "I chose to do so, and she cursed me to immortality for as long as she lived too."

Navia took a deep, sharp breath and stared at Furina as she realized… "You succeeded… I thought—we all thought it was because the prophecy was fake."

Furina shook her head. "Only Neuvillette and the Traveler knew the true reason. Traveler… chose to not tell anyone, maybe because Neuvillette said something, or maybe she didn't care." Furina bit her lip. She liked the Traveler, and had sort of counted her as a friend in the time after… but the hurt was still there.

"So, is Folcalor—"

"She's gone," Furina interrupted Navia. "She's gone… after the sentence was passed by the Oratrice, she sacrificed herself… the death sentence was for her. She saw justice in returning what was rightfully his to Neuvillette, in presenting her case and settling the balance… with her life. He in turn—as the greatest authority in the land—declared the people of Fontaine… not guilty."

Furina's words shook Navia. Her thoughts went to that terrible night, when the rain poured over all of Fontaine… the primal sea mixing into the waves, ready to dilute anyone it touched into water. How the sea rose, the waters lapping over the tall walls around the city until it was all submerged and all she and the Spina could do was stare in despair from their boats, thinking it all lost before one after another, people floated and swam to the surface, safe and alive.

Even then, if Wriothlesley hadn't anticipated this happening and been building that massive ship, it would have been impossible to save everyone.

She looked up at the not-exactly young woman across from her, remembering the whispers she had grown up hearing from old members of the Spina. Even her own father.

About how the Archon had a specialized team of researchers constantly looking for clues and solutions to the prophecy.

She remembered the Traveler confiding in her how The Knave had attempted an assassination, catching Furina, of all times and places, playing with a kitten in the middle of the night, isolated and alone.

She remembered the mocking and derision that followed Furina during and after her trial. She remembered the desperation in Furina's voice and attitude, plain to see to all as she denied the charges and swore on her life that she was the Archon.

They had brought Primordial Water to the stage, diluted just in case, to disprove her… and although Furina hadn't known it wouldn't kill her, she had shoved her hand in rather than accept the lie… because accepting the lie… telling the truth… would have doomed the very people judging her.

She felt a shiver run down her back. She felt ashamed.

"Although I never lost faith in Mirror—I mean, in Folcalor, I tried to figure out a way to stop the prophecy on my own. No matter what I did it all came to the same conclusion. I couldn't stop… I couldn't break character or everyone would pay the price."

Unbidden, the mental image of the ambush they had prepared for Furina in Poisson came to Navia. She had been too angry, too struck by grief and wanting justice to really listen to what Furina had been saying before the Traveler had taken her to hide and begin their plan.

Their plan to break down her defenses.

To pretend to care.

To extract the truth… never knowing the personal cost to Furina, nevermind the entirety of the continent.

And through centuries of pretending, Furina had never told a soul even when facing death.

This was who the people of Poisson hated. A woman who had sacrificed so much, carried an immeasurable weight that, had she been a being of lesser character, could have doomed them all with a single word.

They all had suffered and endured, but none more than Furina. And the saddest thing was that the true tragic hero of this whole opera, Furina herself, was still derided, still mocked, still hated… and still chose to suffer in silence.

"But why would Neuvillette not say anything?" Navia finally found the strength to ask.

"I asked him not to," Furina confessed. She managed to blush under Navia's incredulous look. "I appreciate the attention I get for my theater productions, and even my acting—" She paused briefly to touch her Vision "—but… when Folcalor died, I heard her voice. Her last wish was for me to live happily as a human, as she had wished she could've too. I want to be recognized for myself, and not seen as a savior or an echo, or even as the Hydro Archon."

Sunset studied the pair for a moment when both went quiet and settled for sipping their milkshakes in silence. "So, what will you do going forward?" she asked.

The pair looked up at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Navia asked.

"Well," Sunset said, "it seems to me that Furina needs friends, not just this Traveler and Neuvillette." She looked pointedly at Navia. "And you have been itching for a while for a reason not to be angry with her."

The blonde took a deep breath. "After my father passed away, I had a lot of resentment for Neuvillette and Clorinde, until I learned that many things had been hidden under the surface to protect me and those I-we loved." She shook her head with a bitter smile crawling into her lips. "I learned then that as much as I prided myself in my investigative abilities and my search for justice… that there are many reasons behind the decisions others make. Even if I don't agree with them all the time."

Navia sighed and reached out to take Furina's hand in hers. The blue-haired actress' eyes went wide as the blonde giggled. "But I'm glad my instincts were right and there was more to you than I ever knew. I'm so sorry that you had to suffer in silence all this time, Furina."

Clear tears pooled in Furina's eyes, and she blinked, confused, as she raised a finger to wipe them. "I'm… crying?"

Sunset reached over and squeezed her shoulder gently. "Those are tears of joy."

Furina laughed and sobbed at the same time, both hands now busy brushing away tears. "I thought that kind of thing was just some theatrical exaggeration. How silly of me."

"Oh, they're real," Sunset said, noticing that Navia was also silently wiping away a few tears of her own. "No one should ever have to suffer in silence, friendless and isolated. I don't know how many people have said this, or if anyone has at all, but you have admirable fortitude to have been able to keep that act perfectly for five hundred years."

Furina sniffled. "It never felt like I was strong," she laughed. "Every day I was terrified. Every night I'd go to sleep asking myself if I had messed up… wondering if tomorrow I'd wake with the city underwater. And every morning…" she trailed off.

"But no more," Navia said firmly. "I can respect your wishes and not tell everyone what you really went through and what you did, but I won't let my friend be kept out over a misunderstanding."

Furina blinked. "Friend?"

"The people of Poisson might have a hard time coming around, but they will," Navia said, ignoring the question. "And we might not be able to tell them the whole story, but they'll come around."

"But—"

"No buts!" Navia interrupted, raising her hand. "Both you and Neuvillette keep way too many secrets! Don't think I forgot that he went through a tear in space alongside the Traveler to fight a giant interdimensional narwhal."

Sunset blinked. "I don't think that would be the kind of thing anyone would forget."

"My point is that there's plenty of odd things about him too! In fact, I think we all deserve a trip! How does a visit to Chenyu Vale sound to you?"

"I've… never been outside of Fontaine."

"Well, then, it'll be a blast. Leave it all to me!" Navia grinned as she put a hand to her chest. "But first we should celebrate our newfound friendship." She turned to look at Sunset. "Can I borrow your kitchen?"

"Um, sure?" Sunset said, motioning for Navia to come around the bar. "What for?"

"I'm making Macarons!" Navia declared, crossing the door into the kitchen.

Sunset and Furina shared a baffled look.

"Um… if you have space for me to use," Furina said after a moment, "I have my own specialty I could bake."

Sunset grinned and shrugged, walking alongside Furina into the kitchen. "Why not? I'll prepare some tea."

"You don't bake?"

"When it comes to the kitchen, my specialty is sushi. I don't think it'll mix well with these."

Furina held her bag of groceries in one arm, and waved with the other at Navia, who had just walked off to join her Spina di Rosula bodyguards. They remained mostly professional, but Furina was able to tell they were a bit confused about the new attitude their boss had around her.

She turned in place, humming to herself as she crossed the street to her house. She had finally baked another Pour la Justice after so long of not making her favorite treat. And now it seemed like she'd get a chance to evolve her culinary skills in good company… and although here and there, a person glared her way as she made it inside her home, she knew… she felt better than ever before.

But, if she ever needed a break… she pulled out the card with a flourish, along with a picture of herself, Sunset and Navia eating cake and colorful macarons. If she ever needed a break… there was always the Isekai.

Author's Note

Navia Caspar is the current leader of the Spina Di Rosula, an organization that helps the Guarde of Fontaine deal with issues they find too complicated or hard to handle. Her father was responsible for creating the aqueducts around Fontaine that allow the aquabuses to transport people to the Court of Fontaine. Her small home town of Poisson was almost destroyed during the Prophecy of Fontaine.

Furina/Folcalor was the Hydro Archon (read: Goddess) ruling over the domain of water and also known as the Goddess of Justice for the last one thousand years. She was eventually judged and found to be a pretender. Disgraced after the almost-destruction via-prophecy of Fontaine, she has started building a life for herself again as a consultant, director and actress in theater and movies.

Also, don't forget that Sunset's Isekai now has a Tropes Page! If you know your tropes feel free to add 'em up!

Isekai Shenanigans: The Mando and the Butterfly Pt. 1 (Secret of the 327th - Fanfic)

Isekai Shenanigans: The Mando and the Butterfly Pt. 1 (Secret of the 327th - Fanfic)
By Wanderer D and Fergus Flamacron

Sabine Wren considered the temple she had found in the wilderness of Peridea. Run-down, half-buried in rocks and plants, it seemed to bore deeply into the depths of the planet.

Needless to say, it did not look promising, and yet, something, perhaps the Force, was telling her that great possibilities within its hidden chambers. She was careful to analyze the sensations going through her.

Was it the Light Side? Was it the Dark Side? Simply the Force? They hadn't seen any sign of Skoll or his apprentice since Thrawn's escape, but despite the fact that she and Ahsoka were hot on their heels, it was still no excuse to give up on her own training.

So the question remained: What to do now? Explore? Return to check on Ahsoka? She didn't know, and it was very frustrating for her, as her pride would not allow her to simply ask Ahsoka for help, since she was in the middle of training.

Still. "I'm procrastinating," Sabine muttered, narrowing her eyes. Despite caution and patience, her instincts were telling her to go in there. Could this be a part of the test? She didn't know. She wasn't a jedi.

"Gah." With a heavy sigh, and a glance over her shoulder, she made her way in, activating the night-vision in her helmet once it was dark enough to be needed. She slid down a short slope, easily keeping her balance, allowing her senses to stretch around her as Ahsoka had taught her.

She supposed she could turn off her night vision and train her senses more, but really, her training wasn't just about the Force. Right?

Scoffing, she went deeper and deeper. Her route was not that complicated; most of the ancient structure was blocked off, with few rooms having enough space for her to crawl into, and there was nothing of interest in those.

The main hall, however, continued further underground, and as she reached steps taking her down, the damage of time slowly faded, until the place remained ancient, but at least not half-buried.

At last she reached the bottom of the stairwell, which opened into a large room with massive carved columns with depictions of strange creatures in them. The air seemed different, and Sabine turned off her night vision when she discovered that the room had an unexplainable source of light that illuminated everything in a moonlight-like blue-white aura in the form of some sort of black hole that irradiated energy all around her.

Her sensors didn't indicate any dangerous levels of radiation, so she felt confident enough in taking a look around before investigating the strange light later.

Sabine paused to study the carvings and murals. The style was certainly unique, as the creatures represented were depicted with very square edges and light variations of colors to indicate shadow, or more drastic changes to indicate different materials.

The pictures showed creatures of all sizes and sorts, building communities or inhabiting the lands around, and if the sizes of some of them were accurate, she was glad that they were not around any—she frowned, leaning in to study the pictures.

They looked familiar somehow.

She tilted her head, trying to figure it out, but just as the thought was coming up in her mind, she heard a noise and whipped around, ready for battle… only see what appeared to be a young humanoid with the upper half of their body stuck inside the black hole-like construct in the middle of the room.

Concerned, she quickly made her way up to the proximity of the trapped person, and, seeing them kick and struggle, quickly made up her mind. It was clear that whatever that thing was, it wasn't safe, so she took hold of the clothes around the waist of the person trapped in it, and pulled as hard as she could.

The person trapped in the energy hole cried out as they were pulled out very easily, so much in fact, that both of them fell backwards with startled yelps. The moment the human female popped out of the black hole a sudden bright flash overwhelmed the sensors in her helmet.

"Whoa!" Terriermon cried out of the blue.

Henry watched his partner roll off his sleeping mat and crash onto the floor, meanwhile Lopmon and Renamon sat up, eyes wide and alert. Instinctively the fox Digimon turned her head in the direction of what seemed to have bothered the others.

"What happened, Renamon?" Rika asked, rubbing her eyes as she fought back the urge to yawn and drop back into sleep. Next to her, Suzy was also tiredly sitting up, although she didn't even make an attempt to really even raise her hands. She simply stared at Lopmon in a half-asleep daze.

"We felt something," Renamon replied, her eyes narrowing as if she could see through the wall, past the camp, and into the distance where the disturbance had originated. "I think it was Digital."

Henry was more alert now. "Parallelmon?"

"Or maybe another Digimon egg?" Rika suggested.

Renamon shook her head. "No. Definitely not that. It felt similar to Parallelmon, but less…" she shook her head again. "I'm not sure how to describe it."

"Hm." Henry considered her words. "'I'll check in with the others. Rika, could you watch over Suzy?"

The redhead glanced over at the younger girl, who was already swaying and nodding in her sleep. Lopmon gently helped her Tamer lie back down again. "Sure thing."

It took a minute for Sabine to feel able to sit up with a groan. The world seemed blurry around her, but finally settled after a few moments and she stumbled up to her feet, looking around. Something had changed, but she wasn't sure what.

There was a nagging feeling… like something was missing too. But what?

"Ooh…"

The voice reminded her that she was not alone, so she turned to look at the person she had saved. "Wait… I know you."

The girl rubbed her head and looked up at Sabine with obvious annoyance. "Well, you didn't know me well enough to leave me alone."

"Hey!" Sabine crossed her arms defensively. "I pulled you out of that black hole!"

"It's not a black hole, it's a dimensional distortion, and—" the girl gasped, looking down at what appeared to be a thick piece of cable that was at her feet. "Oh, no! Oh, nonononono…"

"What? What happened?" Sabine asked, worry creeping up her spine despite her efforts to keep calm.

Normally, she would have simply a panicking girl in stride, but this was not a normal, panicking girl.

Sabine hadn't lied when she had said that she knew her. This was Erika Mishima, an incredibly gifted splicer, but more than that, definitely not human despite her appearance. Erika was also a Digimon known as Hudiemon, and although Sabine hadn't witnessed the crazy power of the creatures Erika shared species with, she had seen what their basic level forms could do, which was destructive enough.

Not only that, but Erika worked for Sunset Shimmer, the owner of the interdimensional bar known as Sunset's Isekai. Few things could ever truly bother those that lived and worked there, as their own power was so outlandishly crazy that she had heard from Ahsoka entire pantheons of gods would welcome Sunset if she stepped into their world just to see what her intentions were.

In that light, Erika panicking was certainly concerning.

The girl was currently scrambling around the platform where the dimensional rift had been earlier, muttering to herself and cursing before turning to face Sabine herself. "Do you realize what you have done?! We've been moved to a different, random dimension!"

"Geez, calm down," Sabine groaned.

"I am calm. Do you know how long I've been doing this?" Erika sighed, giving her an unamused look. "It's just inconvenient, and a lot of work, but we deal with universe-destroying problems all the time. This is really nothing."

"I'm sorry I messed up your work, okay? I'll be more than happy to help you fix everything. I'm pretty handy when it comes to technology, so I'm sure I can follow your instructions, but getting into a fight won't help."

Erica gave her a dirty look. "Right. Anyway, bring out your card. I wasn't expecting my rift to collapse, so my key is still at the Isekai."

Sabine felt a cold sensation descend into her stomach. "I—"

"Come on, I… or rather we do have work to do!"

Sabine sighed. "I don't have it."

"You don't have it?!" Erika all but shrieked.

Sabine flinched.

"How did— Why?!"

"I… gave it to Ahsoka some time ago, when we had a fallout," Sabine confessed. "And I never asked to get it back."

After taking her in as an apprentice, Ahsoka and Sabine had explored the galaxy together, training… and failing at establishing a proper relationship. Ahsoka had a heavy weight on her shoulders that, despite her best efforts and Jedi training, she could not get rid of, and her expectations and demands wore Sabine's patience thin.

It hadn't taken too long after meeting Erika the first time, in fact, for them to go their separate ways, and Sabine—not wanting to have anything to do with Ahsoka—had given her the business card that allowed her to travel to the Isekai.

After Thrawn's escape from Peridea, Ahsoka had returned to train Sabine with a much more clear mind.

Something had happened between losing that fight against Skoll in Corvus, and her arrival in Peridea, something that had awakened the old Ahsoka she had remembered from before they had thought she had died in her battle against Vader.

Now they could talk again. Now they could even visit the bar, if Ahsoka ever felt like it, which didn't seem about to happen any time soon. Sabine had given her her own card in a moment of spite, and had regretted it since.

However, she didn't feel like she deserved the card back... yet. She had felt like she had disappointed everyone, and although the rational part of her brain told her it wasn't like that, there was still a part of her that felt otherwise.

Sabine was aware of it, and so was Ahsoka, which is why their communication had improved so much. She still had work to do on that front, but at least they knew where to focus and on what.

By the end of her explanation, Erika was rubbing her temple. "I-I understand. I'm not happy about it, but I understand." She glanced up at Sabine, not even attempting to hide her annoyance. "I don't have the tech on me to contact anyone that can take us back. We're stuck here for now."

"But I need to get back!" Sabine said. "Ahsoka—"

"Can take care of herself," Erika interrupted. "And even if she's somehow in a bind, once we get to the Isekai we can drop you off exactly the moment after you left." She smirked. "Plus, you could probably use a drink."

"Tell me about it." Sabine sighed then worked the kinks on her shoulders and neck before taking a deep sigh. "Well, so what do we do?"

"We'll have to figure where we are and what kind of technology is available. Depending on that, our options and timeline will be decided by how near is the next Digiworld."

"How will that help?"

"Well, Digiworlds are very unstable, dimensionally speaking," Erika said, picking up her whale keyboard as they started walking up the stairs to exit the temple. "It is extremely easy for one to overflow into the regular dimensions, like what happened the last time we met."

"That wasn't the Digiworld overflowing on its own," Sabine pointed out, "you and Ori punched through the dimensions with a giant root."

"Yeah, well, the point stands," Erika grumbled. "Anyway, Digiworlds being so unstable are very easy to use as jump-points into other Digiworlds or dimensions."

"I hope you're not expecting us to jump from one dimension to another," Sabine said. "Because I might not be an experienced interdimensional traveler myself, but that sounds like we'll be dust before we even get close."

"Of course not." Erika sniffed in disdain. "Think of it as the command prompt we need in order to get root access. We can type all we want on the word processor, but it's not designed to grant us what we need. That is the physical world. The digital world is where we're running things with admin rights all the way down. So, if we do things right, we don't only get to trace our dimensional route; we get access."

"Hmm." Sabine nodded as they reached the beginning of the hallway. "Well, I hope the tech is compatible then."

"If it isn't, we'll just need to make it so."

As they stepped outside the temple, Sabine sighed. "Well, I hope you can make cables with some vines."

"So, did the general actually say what we're looking for here?" Boil asked.

"No, but with our track record it can't be anything good," Waxer retorted.

One of the others snorted at the comment. "You can say that again."

The five clones carefully made their way through the jungle of Anaxes. Just because there had been no reports of Separatists in this area, it didn't mean it was without its dangers. In the recent months they had to deal with their fair share of problems in Felucia, and returning to a jungle planet to investigate was not on the top of the list of things they wanted to do.

"Quiet," Boil ordered. "There's a structure up ahead."

The group immediately stopped talking and slowed their speed, approaching more carefully, and keeping within cover as much as possible until they had a clear view of the entrance to some sort of ancient building.

They were about to move forward to investigate when two voices made them hesitate and stay hidden.

"A mandalorian?" Waxer muttered. "What's she doing here? Are they both mandos?"

"I don't know," Boil replied, a hint of anger in his voice. "But I like that less."

The other clones focused on where he was pointing. At the hip of the Mandalorian woman was a lightsaber.

"A trophy?"

"What else? You remember the Death Watch, right? Enemies of the Jedi the lot of them."

"What should we do? Is that girl with her a padawan hostage?"

Boil shook his head. "She's not resisting, and she's not secured. They act like friends, so I imagine she's with the mando."

"Orders?"

"I've sent the signal. Keep an eye on them, I'll contact Commander Bly."

"Hm. Or maybe you won't."

Boil's head snapped up in time to take a knee straight to the face. He had been lucky: the movement had prevented the full force behind the attack from hitting him, and his helmet protected him from the worst of it, but it had come in with enough force to stun him.

If he had taken that directly, his neck might've been snapped by the force behind it. The others reacted immediately, shooting at the Mandalorian, who dodged their shots with uncanny skill. The mando found herself in the middle of the group, with Boil down, a kick to the sternum took Max down, although a stray shot hit the armor on her shoulder.

Boil cursed when he noticed it didn't slow her down, in fact she seemed enraged and pulled out her guns, but instead of firing, she jumped back suddenly, just in time to avoid being cut in half by General Secura.

She had sensed the clones as soon as she had stepped out of the temple, and it hadn't been reassuring. Not only was she familiar with what happened between Clones and Jedi, she was also familiar with how Clones and Mandalorians saw each other.

Knowing that she was in another universe, she didn't want to risk being captured or killed, and her senses told her the group had been preparing for an attack. She had felt anger directed at her, and had quickly sliced her way into their comms in order to assess their intentions.

She hadn't expected it to be that easy, but it made sense. Her software was already decades ahead of theirs, and their codes and encryption were easy to cross-reference. The moment she heard the clone say he'd be calling in reinforcements, she had to act.

After signaling to Erika to take cover and hopefully take action if needed, she had Force-rushed the group of clones with the intention of taking them out as quickly as possible without killing them. She had no idea what point in time she was currently in, after all.

But just as she was about to disarm and finish off the rest, this Twi'lek had arrived. The green lightsabers indicated a Jedi, but Sabine had met former Jedi before… the type that were not quite with the Dark Side, but definitely not on her side.

And she didn't know this one.

Sabine hesitated for a second, but it was enough for the Twi'lek to swing her lightsaber in an attempt to destroy her guns. The move, however, was known to Sabine, and she instinctively she side-stepped the attempt, surprising her newest opponent.

"Not bad," the woman said. "But I'm afraid you're coming with us."

"I don't think so," Sabine said. "Quite honestly I couldn't care less about the lot of you, and I was trying to just knock them out before they called in anyone else. How about you leave and I go on my way?"

The Twi'lek narrowed her eyes. "I don't think so. You have much to explain."

"Yeah," Sabine sighed. "I thought you'd say that."

The flame thrower seemed like a good choice, and the Twi'lek's eyes went wide in surprise for barely a second, but with the skills she had displayed from the moment she arrived, and the obvious strength in the Force she had, it barely managed to do its job of giving Sabine more space.

She fired both of her blasters at the presumed Jedi, who simply dodged the first, then reflected the second.

Without missing a beat, Sabine raised her arm and blocked the blast with her armor, not even thinking twice about shooting another blast at the Twi'lek, which was predictably batted out of the way by the lightsaber.

"I see you have battled Jedi before," the Twi'lek said as their exchange turned into a wary circling of each other. Her eyes narrowed. "I'll give you another chance to surrender."

"Sorry," Sabine said, "I appreciate the thought, but I'm afraid I have other plans already. There's an old scrap convention in Tatooine and I have a bunch of Jawas waiting to swindle me." She shrugged. "Can't cancel that. The party wouldn't be the same."

She thought she heard a snort, but kept her eyes on the Jedi. Whoever was out there was content to just watch for now, so there was no reason for her to freak. Besides, Erika was here too, and since the Digimon also had invested interest in getting out, she expected her to step in if things got out of hand.

"Snarky," the Twi'lek said with a short-lived smirk. "But you have something that doesn't belong to you, and if you have it, then it means you took it from someone and that means you're coming with me."

'Crap. The lightsaber.' Sabine grimaced.

"I see you know what I'm talking about."

"I know what you think you're talking about," Sabine countered, "but you are mistaken. This is mine."

The Twi'lek grimaced and braced herself, allowing a second for Sabine to get ready, and once more their dance started again.

Aayla Secura dodged the blaster shots with ease, but the Mandalorian was ready for her, and she had to quickly put in added effort to clear the explosion from the mini-missile that exploded at her feet.

In her defense, it seemed the Mandalorian woman was not trying to kill her, which was what had held her back from going all-out. It was unusual for a Mando to not go in for the kill. Unusual and confusing.

The lightsaber on her belt, as well as the ease of movement, the familiarity with fighting her, and the confidence on display were all clear indicators of not just an experienced fighter, but a fighter used to fighting Jedi.

Could this be some sort of mercenary? It wasn't unusual for Mandos to take that role, but then why wasn't she more ruthless? Why not bring that up? Why claim the lightsaber was hers?

Not many Jedi were used to fighting Mandos head on, and Aayla was certainly not one of them. But she knew enough about the armaments she could see this particular one carrying to know that the deadliest of them were not being used to their full capacity, or at all.

Overconfidence?

No. If this was someone fighting a Jedi for the first time, that would be a possibility, but her opponent showed too much competence. She was intentionally holding back. Whether it was to avoid any real harm or setting up a trap was anyone's guess, and either way she was not going to allow her to get away.

The Mandalorian was a conundrum, but if she wasn't willing to come with them, Aayla saw no other option than to take her down for now and force the issue. A quick swipe of her blade was dodged, but that wasn't her objective, hidden within her spin, she focused her will and with a sudden push, she used the Force to throw the Mandalorian back.

The woman was quick to regain her footing, but the few long seconds it took was enough for Aayla to swipe her hand to the side, ripping both guns from the Mandalorian's hands.

"I think this has gone long enough," she said to her opponent. "Boil, escort her to--" she trailed off as the Mandalorian took the lightsaber in her hand and switched it on with an almost resigned look to her body language.

Aayla raised her own lightsaber. "This is not the type of fight you want."

The Mando warrior shook her head. "We can agree on that," she replied, then crouched lower, taking a familiar stance.

Aayla's surprise was enough for the Mandalorian to suddenly Force-rush her in a pattern she was very familiar with. The shock of the attack cost her, as she was only able to barely defend herself from the very tight Djem So moves, putting her immediately on the defensive.

"General!" Boil shouted, probably horrified at seeing her at such obvious disadvantage.

"Stay back!" she ordered. The Mando's attack had been a surprise, as well as her Force ability, but it was clear she was not near her own level of expertise, nor was she truly proficient in Djem So itself.

But if that wasn't the case, why was there such a familiar feeling to this rushed attack? Had she met this opponent before? She mentally shook her head and focused back into the battle, jumping back to gain some space and resume her own attack.

But that seemed to be what her opponent had been waiting for. With a final, sweeping swing to ensure the distance remained, the Mandalorian's hand shot to the side in a familiar motion, and Aayla watched as one of her discarded blasters flew straight into her waiting hand.

As soon as that happened, Boil and the others wasted no time in shooting at the Mando, who blocked two of the blasts, endured the one that hit her in the armor chest, and Force-pushed them off their feet.

Her opponent's style changed as well. Dropping the Djem So into a more comfortable,position, she used her lightsaber and blaster to maneuver the recuperating clones into the space between Aayla and herself, getting them in the way of Aayla's potential attacks. With quick movements, the Mando holstered her blaster and recovered the other one. "Nice chatting, but I gotta go!"

"Wait!" Aayla warned as the clones tried to rush their opponent, only to have a smoke grenade explode in front of them.

Sabine smirked as her strategy played out just as intended. With the Jedi and Clones distracted, it was time to head into the jungle and lose them.

Or it would have been if not for the sudden appearance of a humanoid fox-like creature right in front of her. She barely managed to cross her arms in front of her as it punched her. The beskar resisted, but she felt like her bones were about to break as she flew out of the smoke and crashed onto the floor, rolling several times before stopping.

"Ugh." She shook her head, trying to clear her vision as he pushed herself up. "What the hell are you?"

The creature smirked, and Sabine noticed the Twi'lek doing so as well. The Clones all looked at ease, as if the new arrival guaranteed their victory.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the creature responded, jumping high into the air, spinning once and shouting: "Diamond Storm!"

Sabine force-jumped out of the way just in time, but it was getting harder to keep up. Her training had only gone so far, and her breakthrough was too recent for her to really get used to using Force powers. She needed to get out of there! And where the hell was Erika?

"Renamon," the Twi'lek called, "don't kill her!"

"I think she'll survive," the creature replied, but it was all Sabine needed.

"So, a Digimon," she said, sliding to a stop where she could face all of her opponents. "All things considered, I should have expected that." Immediately her opponents became decidedly less friendly. "Or maybe not?"

"Where have you heard of Digimon?" Renamon asked with a threatening growl. "Answer me!"

"I'd rather not," Sabine countered. "But you know what I could use? A helping hand!"

"Ugh." Erika's voice echoed around them, making the clones and Renamon look around warily. "Fiiine. Infinity Dream!"

Glittering dust fell from the sky, covering the area where their opponents were, and the moment it touched them, they stopped moving altogether. Little electric-currents seemed to criss-cross their bodies, as they struggled to move.

"Couldn't you have done that earlier?!" Sabine asked, turning to walk away.

"Wait!" the Twi'lek called out, still struggling to move, but only managing to fall to her knees.

"Sorry," Sabine said. "But it was never my intention to hang out."

"Ouch!"

Sabine turned to see Hudiemon flutter down to the floor, holding her head in pain as two short, rabbit-like creatures landed next to her. Sabine was familiar with at least one of them. "Seriously? A Terriermon took you down with one hit? And not even a special move?"

"It hurts!" Hudiemon growled, massaging her head.

"There, there." The other Terriermon-like Digimon said. "It's not that bad."

"Serves you right for paralyzing Renamon!" Terriermon said, crossing his ears like they were arms.

Sabine shook her head. "You've been part of the Isekai for how long? Don't you fight universal threats?"

"I'm out of practice alright? I'm a hacker, I don't do the actual fisticuffs!"

Terriermon snorted. "Did you seriously say 'fisticuffs'?"

Sabine sighed and glanced at the now-recuperating Clones, Jedi and Digimon. "So much for not interfering," she muttered, walking over to offer her hand to the Twi'lek. "The name's Sabine."

The Jedi gave her a considering look, then glanced at Hudiemon before nodding and taking her hand. "Aayla Secura."

Aayla didn't know what to think, and for that matter it was clear Renamon and the other Digimon were also confused. A Force-trained Mandalorian with a lightsaber traveling with a Digimon was not a normal sight.

Now that the fight was over and Sabine seemed to have resigned herself to come peacefully, it was time to get a few answers. She watched as Sabine proceeded to help Renamon, then the clones up before speaking up just as she was helping Boil.

"That's an unusual fighting style you had. Was that Form VI?"

Sabine snorted. "Almost. It's based on Ezra's—"

"Sabine…" her Digimon partner said in a warning tone.

The Mandalorian hesitated, then sighed. "Almost. I'm not quite proficient enough in any form to call it such."

Aayla frowned. She could sense no ill intent from the young woman, but that hesitation and the warning of her Digimon didn't inspire much confidence. "Was… is this Ezra your teacher?" She didn't know any Jedi by that name. Maybe they were a Green Jedi?

Sabine shook her head. "No. He's taught me a lot, but he's more like a brother. My Master is someone else."

"Sabine, you're really pushing it here. Do you know when we are?" the Digimon said.

"Of course I do," Sabine replied. "But we're stuck here for now, and they have Digimon, it's clearly not the same—"

"We can't say anything that would endanger them," the Digimon countered, getting to her feet.

"They're our best bet to get home, unless you want to risk your chances with the Em—the Separatists."

The Digimon looked away. "Fine. But remember to not get too attached."

Pretending not to hear them, Aayla went over to Renamon. "What kind of Digimon is that?"

"That's Hudiemon, she's a full level above us so I'm surprised that Terriermon's smack on the head was enough," Renamon replied. Her eyes grew distant, and Aayla quickly realized that she was conferring with Rika. "The Digivice says that Hudiemon is said to be like a backup of the Digital World, accessing records throughout the world and storing vast amounts of recorded data within itself. Even if a strange phenomenon occurs in the Digital World and records and memories are lost, the lost data will be restored if Hudiemon is around."

"That is impressive," Aayla said. "And it does sound like something you wouldn't see every day."

"Hudiemon is also supposed to be cheerful and carefree, but this one seems…" Renamon shrugged. "Jaded." She paused, studying their unexpected guests. "What do you think?"

"It's a conundrum. On the one hand we have a very unusual padawan, and on the other a very rare Digimon. They don't seem to be victims of Parallelmon like you and the others are, and they are very guarded about sharing information."

"What's so unusual about her being a padawan?"

"She's not very strong in the Force," Aayla said. "She uses it effectively and sparingly, which makes up for her lack of power, but the reality is that she would have not stayed long at the Temple. I also don't know any Jedi in their right mind who would take a Mandalorian as a padawan."

"So she's a Sith?"

"No. There's none of that anger within her. She's… definitely on the Light Side, but not Jedi."

"If what we felt was them arriving, then they're taking things very calmly for being transported somewhere else, and it wouldn't explain their familiarity with each other."

Aayla shrugged and indicated to Renamon to join her as she approached Terriermon, Lopmon and the other two. "So, are you Hudiemon's Tamer?"

She sensed confusion.

"Tamer?"

"Oh, so you come from that type of Digiworld," Hudiemon muttered.

Lopmon and Terriermon looked at each other with some confusion before turning back to Hudiemon. "There's other types?"

Sabine elbowed the Digimon. "Who's saying too much now?"

"Hm. Anyway, she's definitely not my Tamer, we're just… old acquaintances. "

Terriermon tilted his head. "How old?"

"Depends on who you ask."

"What does that mean?"

"It's about the difference between two centuries and…" Hudiemon looked at Sabine.

"Two years?"

"That long huh?"

Lopmon head one of her ears to her head as if she was suddenly feeling a headache, which Aayla was beginning to as well. "Wait, how is two years 'that long' and two centuries not?"

"It's complicated," both Sabine and Hudiemon replied in tandem.

"I'm really not following this conversation, Sir," Boil said. "But we should probably head back to camp."

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Aayla said. 'Guys, we're headed back.'

Aayla saw Sabine straighten her back and look around in surprise. She and the clones looked around to see what had spooked the Mandalorian, but there was nothing around them.

After a moment, Sabine visibly shook herself off and went about her business.

'Okay!' Henry replied through their mental link. 'I'm looking forward to meeting Hudiemon.'

'I think it's nice we have another badass girl in our team,' Rika added.

'Aww it seems you had all the fun, Aayla,' Ahsoka jumped into the conversation. 'Skyguy and I just got into the system. We'll be heading down to you guys soon.'

'Sorry Ahsoka, maybe next time,' Aayla responded with a mental smirk, which faded when Sabine suddenly turned to face her.

'Ahsoka?' Sabine's voice echoed in the shared link only the Tamers, their Digimon, and their closest Jedi friends could ever hope to access.

End Part 1

Author's Note

Secret of the 327th is a long fic, but a fun one. I hope you enjoy it if you go read it!

Fergus hasn't been around for a while, but a couple of years back I reached out and got permission to use Secret of the 327th for an Isekai chapter. I had already done my Ahsoka chapter by the time I heard back, so I postponed it, and now it seems like the perfect time to do this.

Isekai Shenanigans: The Mando and the Butterfly Pt. 2

Isekai Shenanigans: The Mando and the Butterfly Pt. 2 (Secret of the 327th - Fanfic)
By Wanderer D and Fergus Flamacron

Ahsoka kept glancing at Sabine. Something about the Mandalorian just felt… oddly comfortable. She had never met her, but there was a sense of quick familiarity that was so sudden it had taken her by surprise.

She and Anakin had arrived at the camp before Aayla and the others had, still shaken over the sudden invasion of their mental network. It was the oddest thing, although she had been shocked, she had felt her heart give an almost joyous pump in her chest when the connection had taken place.

But what could this mean?

She almost wanted to ask Anakin, but chances were he would immediately assume she had a crush on the Mandalorian, which was ridiculous. Although, she supposed she could ask him if that was what love felt like just to make him sweat for a while.

No. She was sure that wasn't it, but it still didn't explain her sudden interest in one of their guests in particular. She still had a long way to go as a Jedi, but she was sure she could figure things out on her own.

And if not… well, there was always Aayla to talk to.

"Not too long ago, we were back home in our own world. It had been months since out last major battle, and things were settling down nicely. However, shortly after Fanglongmon made a prophecy about us, we were attacked by a Digimon called 'Parallelmon', who has the ability to open up portals in different dimensions.

While fighting him, we ended up getting tossed into this universe, and we were separated. Rika, Suzy and I were captured by Separatists, while Renamon ended up meeting Aayla and other Jedi. Eventually, she reconnected with Terriermon and Lopmon, then, while aiding the Republic in secret, they found us.

"Ever since, we've joined the fight, since the Republic is not only our best bet to find Parallelmon, but also because we believe in their cause, and our friends. Through our battles we met Anakin and Ahsoka, and with our help, and keeping the secret of our existence away from politicians and the enemy, we have started working a lot more together, which is why they are called now the 'A-Team.'"

"And that's our story in a nutshell!" Rika said, nodding.

"But! You left out the best parts! Like how I pilot a starfighter with an xbox controller!" Terriermon cried out. "Or how Renamon befriended a bunch of—"

"What's an xbox controller?" Sabine asked.

"Something you wouldn't put in a submarine," Hudiemon muttered. She studied Renamon, Lopmon and Terriermon, who looked at her with equal interest. "Well, it seems like you lot are where you're supposed to be, so at least it's not a result of Sabine's blunder."

"My blunder?!" Sabine asked. "Seriously? I wasn't the one with half my body inside a portal to an undefined place in the omniverse and the other in Peridea!"

Hudiemon got in Sabine's face. "Oh? I know what I was doing! I was almost finished too! You're the one that dragged me out of the Isekai and caused the portal to collapse! You're familiar with splicing, tell me what happens then you cut the cables that transmit the data?"

"Omniverse?" Renamon tilted her head.

"Peridea?" Ahsoka asked.

Aayla sighed when both Sabine and Hudiemon clamped up immediately.

Once they had arrived at their camp, Sabine had taken off her helmet—revealing a young woman just past her teens with her hair dyed a deep purple that faded into warm orange-yellow—and introduced herself properly to the Tamers and Obi Wan, then later Anakin and Ahsoka, who were immediately suspicious of her. Things had been very awkward since it had been revealed that Sabine could somehow listen in to their private mental conversations, and with all of them keeping too many secrets, it was no surprise their reaction would be negative.

Although the exact mechanics behind it were still unknown, the mental connection between the Tamers and their Renamon had somehow resonated with the Force, and allowed those most closest to them (who had the sensitivity for it) to join a network of sorts where they could communicate with each other, even at great distances, although the greater the separation, the lesser the strength of the signal.

If they were close enough, they could speak. If not, they could sense each other… and if they were separated by planetary clusters… well, that was a bit more tricky.

But so far, no one else had been able to tune into their little mental group, and Sabine doing so had immediately disrupted their dynamic. They had immediately suspended the connection, and both sides had pretended that it had never happened.

Sabine might not be an enemy, but they didn't know her. And to be fair, she didn't know them.

Or did she?

Aayla's instincts and trust in the Force rarely failed her, and something was nudging at her. She pretended to concentrate on the question and answer session Renamon and the other Digimon had with Hudiemon, but kept her senses on Sabine.

The Mandalorian was so far the most confusing of their two visitors.There had been a Mandalorian Jedi before… the Mandalore himself, Tarre Vizsla, who had made a legendary black lightsaber saber—which had in turn been lost to history—but outside of him there was no record of any Mandalorian Jedi in the last thousand years.

And she was clearly being Jedi trained. Much too late in her life to be endorsed by the Jedi Temple, but the signs were there.

But, that begged the question: if not a Jedi, then who? Sabine wasn't acting like a Sith would, and although it was clear from that encounter with Vamdemon that there were indeed evil Digimon, the Tamers and Digimon held no doubt that Hudiemon was not evil, and Aayla had learned to trust her friends when it came to that.

Although she was trying to be cautious, Sabine's incomplete training was obvious. Her eyes would constantly stray over to stare in almost confused bewilderment at Anakin and Ahsoka. Spurred by the hints the Force was giving her, Aayla finally went over to sit down next to Sabine.

"Since you said you were from a parallel universe, does that mean that you have met other versions of us?" she asked Sabine, making everyone else fall quiet.

"We shouldn't ask that," Henry said, "they seem to have rules regarding telling us about other universes"

"What do you mean, Henry?" Terriermon asked.

The young boy sighed. "If you think about things like the Prime Directive from Star Trek…"

"Ugh. Listening to Picard lecture me about it one time was enough," Hudiemon said.

"So he lectured you about that as well, huh?" Sabine asked with a hint of amusement.

"Wait, Picard is real?"

"Moumantai, Henry. We're talking about the Multiverse. It makes sense he would be real somewhere."

Henry gave him a dirty look.

"Those of us from the Isekai are not as bad as the Federation," Hudiemon added. "They have their own rules and we follow them when we're in that universe just to be polite, but It's not like we have to absolutely hide where we came from if people in that universe know or are at least aware of the multiverse. What we can't do is fix the universe for them, interrupt the universe's natural course beyond reasonable circumstances, and finally, in the case of Sunset, Lena, Luz or Rozemyne, we are not supposed to use spells that are too unique or powerful, since that could really collapse a universe."

"So then why are you so guarded about it?" Anakin asked, crossing his arms. "From what I heard earlier it seemed like you didn't want to share any information at all."

Hudiemon snorted, "It's common sense not to spill the beans on everything you know to the first people you meet. Especially if you know things they don't. I had to assess several things before deciding if it was safe."

"Oh?" Anakin arched an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Nunya."

"Nunya?"

"Nunyagoddamnedbusi—"

"Children, please," Rika groaned.

Sabine sighed. "I'm not part of the Isekai. This is the first time I've ended up in another universe. The only reason I know Erika is because of my Master."

"Who's Erika?"

"Nunya."

"Children!"

"Moumantaaaai."

"In any case," Sabine continued, ignoring the shenanigans of the Digimon and Anakin, "I don't know what I should or shouldn't say, but I know that I am in the wrong time and place and I don't know what I'll mess up if I say anything, although from what I have seen so far, there's very little chance of that."

"But that's not the only reason, isn't it?" Aayla pressed. "One of us here is your Master in your own universe."

Renamon and Rika looked at each other with wide eyes. "If that's true, it's a pretty crazy coincidence," Rika said.

"There's no such thing as coincidence," Obi Wan said. "There's only the Force."

"Isn't there?" Hudiemon asked. "There are entire universes where the Force never existed. We've had Jedi confirm it, if you're curious. And yet, coincidences still happen there."

The gathered Jedi looked at each other.

"Really?" Sabine asked. "You had to bring that up?"

"What? The Force might guide a lot of things as you well know, but that doesn't exclude the possibility that things might just happen out of pure luck, good or bad."

"I feel like this is detracting from our original conversation," Obi Wan said, focusing on Sabine, then back to Aayla. "How did you come to this conclusion?"

Aayla smiled. "During our fight earlier I could tell there was a certain familiarity to her lightsaber moves, and I don't mean just because she used the basics of Djem So and Niman."

Ahsoka and Anakin glanced at each other in surprise. Obi Wan stroked his beard as he considered her words. "If this is true… that might explain why Sabine was able to listen in to your telepathic conversation. Somehow her padawan link connected to the version in this universe of whoever her master is."

"I've never heard of anything like that before," Anakin muttered. "But then again, I have never met someone from a different universe that is actually like ours."

"So… what does this mean?" Ahsoka asked after a moment.

Aayla smiled. "Well, we can't have her skills degrade. We have two Jedi Knights and a Jedi Master here, plus a padawan to practice with."

Sabine whipped her head to look at her in horror. "You can't possibly mean—"

Aayla grinned. "Until you get back, you're with us. And you're getting trained."

"I like it," Anakin said with a grin. "But given what you told us, she also will need some training from other sources." He turned. "Rex!"

"General?" the Clone Trooper said, saluting as he arrived.

"Sabine here could use some additional weapons handling training. We're going to cover the Jedi side, but I'm sure you guys could help her with the firearms?"

The clone turned his head to her. "I… suppose, sir. If she doesn't object?"

"Why would she object?" Ahsoka asked.

"Some Mandos have a problem with clones being, well, genetic copies of Jango Fett," Sabine spoke up. She smiled at the clone. "But I don't have any such issues with clones. It'd be nice to train with you ag—um, I mean, it'll be nice to train with you, Rex."

Rex studied her for a moment before nodding and smiling slightly in return. "Then it will be done."

"That is all well and good," Obi Wan said, "but make sure that your training doesn't interfere with our mission."

Hudiemon tilted her head. "And what is that?"

Anakin smirked. "Nunya."

Author's Note

A little short, I know, but I'm busy this weekend and just wanted to post something.

Principal Celestia Hunts the Undead then goes Drinking (Hunts the Undead — Fanfic Series)

Sunset's Isekai
Principal Celestia Hunts the Undead then goes Drinking (Hunts the Undead — Fanfic Series)
By Wanderer D & Rune Soldier Dan

It had been a very, very rough day. Everyone had them now and then, but those words meant something a little different for Principal Celestia than most others.

A morning that just hit harder than most, producing a headache which never quite went away. Not one or two, but three screaming parents blaming the school for their own children’s grades and detentions. Another budget cut announced via email, creating another search for which of Canterlot High’s long-deferred maintenance needs could be pushed back. A new student trend of using sharpies to cover bathrooms and windows in as many inappropriate drawings as possible, obligating her to pitch in with the janitors. And Luna had another one of her nights and didn’t show until mid-afternoon. A dozen minor crises with no one to handle them but Celestia, and so handle them she did. All as the pile on her own desk slowly mounted.

Then after school she had to put down a black goat some idiot summoned in Canterlot Stadium, which sounded easy enough on the phone except that Zecora didn’t clarify this “black goat” was an eldritch abomination constantly birthing more monsters looking to overrun the city. Fortunately Nurse Redheart was next on the scene and her penchant for, hm, “high-combustion area control” made the whole thing a bit easier than it could have been. Which still left Celestia exhausted and staggered, and very much not wanting to think about how much expensive powdered silver they used returning the stupid thing to the void. The shotgun blasts and explosions hadn’t done anything good for her headache, either.

More to the point, she was injured. The spined tentacle of one of the man-sized newborn monsters had gotten her across the left arm. Not terrible, all told, but it was another ruined blouse. At least she took off her good blazer before the fight. A few quick cuts of the knife sliced off her bloody sleeve and she wrapped it around the wound. A stopgap - she needed a bathroom with soap and water to give herself proper first aid. The sooner the better.

She could have just grabbed Redheart or one of the other monster hunters. But Celestia could take care of it herself, and she… needed a little time alone.

A text. Sunset Shimmer. Celestia smiled and typed back. ‘No, sweetie, it’s already over. I’ll be home soon. :)’

The weight of her shotgun holster was starting to ache. She kept walking, now in the wide concrete halls behind the bleachers. It was a stadium, she couldn’t be too far from a bathroom.

Or a restaurant, that would have what she needs. Celestia never went to football games herself, but it gave a spark of amusement that the place seemed to have a high-class bar on its roster. Gorgeous wooden doors stood out clearly from the functional white and gray all around them, embellished further with some little cocktail design.

Celestia didn’t give it a second look. She pushed at the door with her unwounded hand and was a bit surprised to find it unlocked. Even the lights were on, and there was some motion in the room behind the counter as a bell chimed.

She saw the bathroom and moved towards it.

“Don’t mind me, I just need your sink,” she called, only seeing a flash of red hair as someone poked their head out before she disappeared into the bathroom. The work from there was cursory - really, the wound looked worse than it was. Rinse, soap, rinse. She was surprised to find a first aid kit hooked onto the wall, and hemmed a bit guiltily before taking a roll of gauze and antibiotic cream and putting them to use.

Celestia met her own eyes in the mirror. Worn from the budget cuts, smudged from the spilt blood of unholy abominations. A quick wash of the face and hands left her feeling just a little bit more sane. The rest would have to wait for a shower.

She donned her blazer, and with the sleeveless blouse and wound covered she looked ready for a faculty meeting.

She smiled. Sighed. “Just get home.”

The door swung smoothly back into the bar. Her voice was light and pleasant. “I’m sorry about that. I hope you don’t mind, I opened your first aid kit. Can I leave a few dollars to cover the…”

The bartender stood at her place behind the counter, politely waiting for her to finish speaking. Red hair, golden skin.

Sunset Shimmer.

Celestia’s eyes lit up, and a doting laugh escaped her lips. Relief at the familiar face seeped through her.

Then she tensed, and hid it. The smile remained.

Not Sunset Shimmer. The posture, the expression, all wrong. Changelings again - as if her day could get any worse.

Well. The shotgun had one shell, still loaded. Better to play along for now, though.

“Hi, sweetie. So this is the new job you mentioned, hm?”

The fake Sunset tilted her head and blinked, studying her for a moment, before smiling pleasantly. "Sorry, not your Sunset, so I can't say if she also became a bartender." She motioned with her hand, inviting Celestia over to the bar. "You know my name, Sunset Shimmer, and this is my little bar in the omniverse. Happy to have you! Please take a seat, and feel free to peruse the menu. First drink is on the house."

A stressed chuckle bubbled out. “I’m sorry, what did you say? Omniverse? What do you mean… ‘your’ Sunset?”

"Well, if it helps, you can call me Isekai, everyone seems to find it easier if there's a Sunset Shimmer in their world," Isekai said with an easy smile. "As for the Omniverse… I'm not sure what the current movie, fantasy or science fiction scene is in your world, but a good example would be the theory of parallel worlds, if you're familiar with that? Two worlds… almost exactly alike, but with small differences? That is usually escalated into a 'multiverse' which is several of those, very similar worlds with slight deviations—" She paused to take a deep breath. "—and the Omniverse is an escalation even of that, in simple terms." Isekai nodded to herself, as if pleased with her very generic explanation.

“Ah, like in Star Trek!” Celestia nodded. “I suppose I know a little about this. In my, um, world there’s… another world where everyone is a pony. As silly as that sounds, but…”

She trailed off with another chuckle, though the gears turned in her head. A wild lie if this was a changeling. But wasn’t it too fantastic to be real…?

…Well, wasn’t Equestria, where Celestia was a mighty queen? And this place it… was all a bit too odd. No concrete smell, no hum of the stadium’s electricity. She should still be able to hear the sirens, smell fetid smoke from the battle.

Celestia didn’t know that even the small bit of magic within her signaled this place just felt different, growing the budding conclusion that she was not in Canterlot anymore. Her eyes slid to the many photos on the wall. Sunsets hugging Sunsets. Ponies, exactly like they are in Equestria. Aliens. She grinned broadly when her eyes found Patrick Stewart posed with Sunset, complete with his Star Trek uniform. Somehow, it was encouraging to know weird things like this happened even to famous actors.

Abruptly, she realized quite a few seconds had passed in silence as the woman smiled at her. Kindly and patient, just like her daughter.

“I won’t call you that,” Celestia said, reclaiming familiar ground in what was already a very strange conversation. “Your name is Sunset, no matter how many are out there. Heavens know I’d be last in line to call myself Celestia if we made it exclusive.”

Too many questions buzzed through her mind to try any of them. Awareness that she wasn’t in immediate danger brought with it a wave of lethargy, and her knees trembled. “As for the seat, yes, that would be lovely. Thank you.”

Celestia slipped onto a stool with one hand on the bar to keep upright, unleashing a groan of relief as the cushion welcomed her. She held up the menu, but the various mixes and cocktails of Earth befuddled her, let alone the strange things on this. “I’m not much of a lush… oh, it’s Friday. Just one, sweetie - I mean, Sunset. If it’s not too much trouble, maybe something good for a rookie drinker, but strong enough to feel?”

Sunset studied Celestia for a bit as she considered what would be the best possible cocktail to begin with. Her mother's counterpart had an aura of competence and battle-weariness that went just a bit further than the usual teacher fare, and it had traces of different magics, from the mundane to true eldritch influences. In fact, some of what was probably the latest encounter still clung to her, like a bit of a miasma that, while not dangerous to someone as tough, would still sap their energy.

Well, no worries, that would dissipate after a few minutes in the bar. This Celestia was a fighter, but there was a sense of… unease? Self-doubt? Still too early to tell, but she was certainly humble.

"Well, let's start you up with something to perk you up, then, shall we?" she said, turning to look at the rows and rows of liqueur she had on display. Celestia was on her guard, if friendly, so it was probably for the best to stick to familiar drinks rather than something too magical, flashy, or downright alien.

A golden-amber liquid caught her eye and she smiled, nodding. "I've got just the thing," she said over her shoulder as she picked up the bottle, alongside a high-proof bourbon. "It'll be just a moment."

As she started measuring, she couldn't help but notice how preoccupied her guest was, so she struck up the conversation, "Oh, and before I forget, no need to pay for the first aid kit stuff. It's there for a reason. You'd be surprised at how many people find their way here after a particularly tough fight." She added the ingredients into the shaker and gave it a good dry-shake. "So, what kind of abomination did you tussle with?" she asked, pausing to add ice into the shaker before starting again.

Celestia’s eyebrows rose with mild humor. “Probably nothing too special by your standards. The Black Goat. It has a real name that I can’t pronounce, it begins with something like ‘Shub.’”

Sunset nodded. "Ah. Shub Niggurath, that one's particularly annoying for low-magic worlds… in high magic worlds? It just gets more annoying." She chuckled. "I don't envy you one bit." She turned to strain the drink into a lowball glass, decorating it with a lemon twist and 2 skewered cherries. "I'm hoping this Amaretto Sour helps a little."

“Mm, some days it doesn’t feel very ‘low magic.’” A deep, tired sigh emerged, but then Celestia smiled instinctively as their eyes met. “Thanks, sweetie. I mean, Sunset. Goodness, my apologies. She’s, ah, been my daughter for a few months. I suppose you have that in common, she’s not from my world either, but the pony one.”

Sunset smiled, a warmth spreading within her as yet another of her counterparts had found a family. "Yeah," she said, grinning. "Same with me, although, in my case it took pony Celestia and I a few… um. Some time to admit that we were family. I'm so happy for both of you! I'm glad Sunset found you so quickly. In fact, to celebrate that, the next round is on me!"

Celestia sipped the drink. An interesting blend of sweet and citrus, at once intriguing her senses. Her eyebrows quirked a little higher. “She turned eighteen just a month after we made it official. I’m not sure how quick you can really call that, but thank you. It’s been a delight, it really has. Here…”

She produced her wallet and removed a few photos. One of Sunset beaming in her leather jacket, one with a graduation gown, and one with the pair of them and Luna.

“Luna says I bore everyone with these, but you might be curious.” Her eyes all but glow as she looked lovingly on the pictures, with a bit of it remaining as they move back to Sunset.

"Ooh, graduation photos! Let me see." Sunset leaned a bit closer to look at the proffered pictures. "She looks very proud, and very happy," she said softly. "And the one with both of you… being her, in a way, I can really tell how much you both mean to her."

“That’s Luna, my sister. Ah, but of course you know Luna, you’re adopted by the real Celestia.”

Sunset blinked. "I'm… not sure, I follow. The real Celestia? Unless you're a changeling, I'm talking to her right now, right?" She narrowed her eyes. "You're… not a changeling, right? I've never been fooled before, but it's just a matter of time before it happens, I imagine."

“Not since last I checked, no.” Celestia took a deep drink, annoyed at her little slip. “‘Celestia-One’ is what we usually call her, that’s a little more correct. The immortal ruler from the mountaintop, The Good, The Wise, The Just, and all that. It can be a hard act to follow. But please, don’t mind me. This drink is delicious, thank you for it.”

Sunset shrugged. "I dunno. I don't want to bad-mouth my mom… but you know. She cast me out of Canterlot for being an unruly teenager. And then, at least in my case, she didn't contact me at all through the years until Twilight arrived." She cleared her throat. "In fact, although we 'forgave' each other, it took centuries before we even were able to talk about our relationship as mother and adopted daughter, and quite honestly, if it wasn't for my girlfriend and daughters, I wouldn't have even gotten there. I just think it's easy to pretend to be wise, good, and neigh-omniscient when you have a lot of time in your hands. I would know. I'm less impressive than I might seem." She sighed. "A human version of her, just like you, did her best to set me straight for all of highschool… The fact that you adopted Sunset, and that she's clearly found her family with you says a lot about you, and a lot about what the Celestia she met first never tried to fix."

She frowned. "Wow. I hadn't ranted about her in a while. I should get a drink too."

Celestia hesitated. “Well… I wonder. Maybe it’s our fault for putting her on a pedestal like that. But maybe it’s her fault for stepping onto it.”

Their eyes meet again, and the hesitation ends. “Certainly, she is not infinitely wise if it took her so long to see what a wonderful young woman you are.”

Sunset chuckled. "Thanks, but the truth of the matter is also that she realized she wanted it, and I was really stubborn about being just acquaintances for years. It's just hard to let go of preconceptions and notions we build ourselves." She looked around her bar. "This place has taught me just how different people are under even the slightest different circumstances… and I think it also helped me realize the value of each and every version of Celestia I've met, or myself, or hell, Death. Everyone is different out there."

The last of the drink disappeared, lending a few seconds for quiet thought. This Sunset clearly knew what it was to meet herself, and that was something Celestia shared with few others. Luna, yes, but the Lunas always ignored the deep questions in favor of fun and schemes.

A strange, rare chance to compare notes. Her romantic side wondered if that was what brought her here.

Celestia played with the empty glass, staring at the light in its reflection. “Do you ever get jealous of the other yous that you meet?”

Sunset picked up the glass and went off to mix another one. She remained silent as she started, then sighed. "At the beginning, yeah. I mean, it took me a lot of time to find myself…" She paused. "Well, you know what I mean. In any case, I met some versions of me who I didn't envy at all, but a few had their life together in ways I hadn't yet realized I was on my own way of doing. A Sunset here would be a great mage, or a Sunset there would be part of a rock band with her friends… and I was just a barkeep, able to meet the infinite, but… alone except for my business partner." She sighed and poured two more Amaretto Sours, giving Celestia one of them. "I even thought about quitting."

Celestia swallowed guiltily - she had asked for her own sake, and received an answer she could not hope to give a good response for.

But as Sunset’s eyes slipped down, her shoulders squared. Transdimensional barkeep or no, this was Sunset. ‘A’ Sunset, at least, whose Celestia wasn’t there when she was needed. Not twice - not Celestia.

“I’m sorry, it’s… hard for me to even imagine.” Without thinking, Celestia set her free hand atop Sunset’s. “I’m a low-magic human Celestia from a low-magic world. For all I know I’ll be gone by the time they call you over for Christmas.” A breathless little chuckle fled her lips. “So while I don’t know transdimensional such-and-such, I do know loneliness and jealousy and wondering if it’s worth it. So if it’s something you need to talk about, I’m all ears.”

Sunset chuckled. "I think you put yourself down too much, but… don't worry. This was… heh, a long time ago. Centuries ago. The thing that saved me is the same thing that's saved your Sunset: family." She waved her hand and a picture floated over to Celestia. In it were a bunch of odd creatures: a duck girl, a ghost girl, a mouse girl and Sunset herself.

"That's my family," Sunset continued, a hint of pride in her voice. "Freya, the mouse girl is my girlfriend, and the other two, Lena and Dany are my adopted daughters. In an odd way, I found myself in your shoes… and I chose to take them in." She grinned. "So, while you're a mom… mine's feeling her age whenever Grandma Celestia comes to visit."

“Oh my goodness, they’re wonderful.” Celestia put a hand to her mouth, almost surprised at her own honesty. She could feel the familial love, strange species or no. After all, were they really stranger than ponies or humans? “I’m glad you're in a better place Sunset, I really am. Although heavens - look at me trying to mother someone centuries old! With children of her own, no less.”

"Don't fret, I love it," Sunset answered immediately, her hand squeezing Celestia's. "Really. It took me some time to really appreciate it… but I do. How does your Sunset feel about it? I'm sure she enjoys it, even though she might not say it."

The exhaustion falls from Celestia’s face, and her coy smile barely masks her clear joy for the topic. “Oh, quite the opposite. She calls and texts, sometimes to ask about monsters but usually just to chat. We go for walks and to the shooting range together. She even invites me to hangouts with her friends that I have to decline for everyone’s sake. Can you imagine? Seven girls at a party plus the principal of the school! What a joke, but she doesn’t see it that way. I’m so lucky.”

Sunset raised a playful eyebrow. "Oh? So you're cool enough to battle monsters with her, but not cool enough to hang out with her friends?"

Celestia tittered into her drink, lowering her voice with mock indignation. “No mother will ever be cool enough for that.”

"I beg to differ, I'll have you know that I enjoy spending time with my girls and all their interdimensional friends!" She gently poked Celestia's hand with her finger. "Granted, they have no choice if they want to hang out."

“Well, the situation is a bit different when you don’t have a captive audience.” Celestia mused. “I’m grateful for her love, of course, but it’s also part of a young woman’s life to spread their wings. It’s good that she has different groups of friends away from her mother’s watchful eyes. Even little secrets of her own. I don’t know everything, and I’m not supposed to.”

She sips from a new glass and makes a face. “Except for hunting. She knows she’s not supposed to do that on her own, and yet…”

Sunset chuckled and leaned back, glancing fondly at her pictures. "I never listened, that's what got me in trouble. It wasn't… that I didn't care, for me it was a couple of things: I wanted Celestia to acknowledge me as her daughter, but I also wanted to be my own mare. Um, woman." She gave Celestia a sheepish look. "I wasn't really thinking that I was immortal, or anything like that. I just… wanted my own things, my own proof that I could, even if someone said I shouldn't."

Celestia smiled benignly. “That’s not so different from any child. I would know, I am the principal for three-hundred of them every year. You Sunsets merely had the misfortune of actually being able to act on your immaturity, and you have both since grown up into fine young women.”

Her eyes moved back to the pictures, still full of warmth. “My Sunset is a cool, gun-toting monster hunter who saves the day then lets her mother know after it is too late to stop her. I can’t even claim that she’s imitating me. When she learned there were vampires and such on Earth, she demanded to join us in protecting the school from them or else she’d do so on her own. So of course, on my end there was no choice. Then I learned she was homeless and invited her in, and… it all went on from there. Like you, she found her identity. She’s a hero.”

Celestia blinked slowly and her gaze went far. “Some days I think of the palace waiting on the other side of the portal and the god-queen standing by to welcome her, and I ask myself why she stays. Yet after hearing your side of things, I wonder if I am beginning to understand.”

"Well, the saying about the grass being always greener is pretty much a constant truth across the multiverse," Sunset said, shrugging. "There are infinite versions of you and I all over the place, but so far, I think the human versions of you are the most centered." She tapped the bar with her finger as she thought about what she was saying. "There are places where Celestia fully understands where she went wrong with her Sunset, and other places where she's utterly blind to her own part in it… and yet, most of those same universes, when you cross the mirror, have a Celestia that, while not immortal or infallible, understands much more the mind of a young, brash teen that punched way, way above her weight. In a lot of places that's who saves Sunset from herself." She grinned. "Well, that and being slapped around by a rainbow."

Celestia downed the last quarter of her drink and set it down. Her smile emerged a bit more easily than before. “That is kind of you to say. I promise I’m not usually this much of a downer. It was a tough day, and it has always been a little humbling to talk about my princess self. I’ve only ever known one other Celestia, and all cushioning aside the comparison is not flattering on my end. I suppose being in an alcohol-serving paradox like this has me thinking about how all those infinite pony Celestias also stand head and shoulders above me.”

Sunset shook her head. "I assure you, that depends entirely on which universe. There's one where Celestia the Alicorn barely reaches my waist." She ignored Celestia's unamused raised eyebrow. "But more to the point, there's places where Sunset never forgives her. The single version of you right here stands heads and shoulders above those kinds of Celestias in the book of any Sunset Shimmer you see in those pictures."

Celestia surprised herself with a shiver. Her brow furrowed.

She… glimpsed something with the words. Not with her eyes, but some revelation she could not even describe. Clumsily, an old quote tumbled off her tongue.

“‘For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?’”

She blinked, not realizing her eyes were wet. A pass of the sleeve wiped them.

“Thank you, Sunset, that was… good to know. In truth I do love my life, my family. If I could trade places with her I don’t think I would. Not for her or all the Equestrias.”

Celestia set the empty glass down. A shy smile was on her face. “I find I am a little tipsy, but not as bad as I thought. I’d be remiss to leave a fantastic place such as this without one more drink. Something I couldn’t get on Earth or Equestria.”

Sunset tapped her chin, then grinned. "Well, there is a special drink that a certain commander saved for special occasions… you ever heard of a Serrice Ice Brandy?"

“No. Don’t tell me, either!” Celestia hiccuped and grinned. “But that sounds lovely. I’ll go with whatever you suggest.”

"I think it's just what the doctor recommends." Sunset pushed away from the bar and bought two glasses to the table. A snap of her fingers and two, large very clear ice cubes appeared, one in each, then she served a bright blue liquor from an elaborate bottle with strange markings. She slid one of them to Celestia and picked up the other, raising it in a silent toast.

Celestia copied the gesture. “To your family.”

"To your family!" Sunset replied with a grin, clinking the glasses.

Celestia downed the drink. Crisp and cold and delicious, yet her face grew wistful as she drew it back. “Time for me to be heading home, I think. Will I ever see you again?”

"Well, there's a tradition here before you head back," Sunset said. "First, you get a business card from me, so you can visit anytime… and second… we need a selfie."

“Ah! To join your wall, of course.” Celestia stood, only swaying a little. “I admit I’m not usually one for bars. But this will be an amazing surprise for Sunset’s twenty-first birthday, if she still thinks I’m cool enough to hang out with in a few years.”

Celestia had resigned herself to walking home, but it so happened that no time had passed at all. She rode in the back of Redheart’s car, the nurse evidently putting her odd stumbles down to exhaustion.

It took two tries with the key before she stuck it to the lock. Celestia pushed open the door to her small house to find Luna at the table.

“All good, sis?”

“All good,” Celestia sighed. It was still a long day, and now it was a long day with three drinks inside of her. But the headache was gone, and a pleasant drowsiness had replaced the draining exhaustion. She strolled in, and it took her tipsy mind an extra second to notice the laptop perched before Luna, and the stack of folders by her side.

“What are those?”

“The budget and grant reports,” Luna replied. Her fingers tapped across the keyboard.

Celestia smiled benignly. “It’s Friday night, Luna. You don’t have to do that.”

“We both know you would’ve had to go in tomorrow to get them done.” Luna took a sip at her coffee. “And we both know you wouldn’t have had to do that if you weren’t busy with the janitors and my end and - oh yeah - the Black Goat.”

The droll blue face glanced away from the screen only long enough to give a wink. “Love you, sis.”

Celestia ruffled her hair affectionately, then went on into the house. Sunset greeted her with a hug and an odd scent of cinnamon. “Hi, Mom! Redheart texted and said things got a little grody at the stadium. I have a bath set up, and I hope you don’t mind but I lit one of your candles there. I’ll get started on dinner. It’ll be maybe an hour, so take a nice long soak and I’ll knock when it’s ten minutes out.”

Celestia nodded, yet loitered in the kitchen entryway. Watching an extra moment as Luna tapped on the computer, and Sunset consulted a recipe on her phone.

“Not for all the Equestrias,” Celestia murmured, and slipped away to her bath.

Sunset placed the framed picture on the wall, unable to contain a smile. In the picture, she stood side by side with Celestia, each of them holding up the picture of their families. A little magic had blown up the size of Celestia's picture just for the occasion, since Sunset had wanted to make absolutely sure that they could be seen clearly.

Stepping back, she took a moment to take in all the other pictures, once again reminding herself of how lucky she was to be able to meet every single person in them, and reaffirming her belief that this destiny she was forging for herself was just right.

She couldn't remember exactly when she had stopped comparing herself to other Sunsets. It had been surprisingly easy to do so… especially when contrasted with her struggles at comparing herself with Twilight.

Questions like, 'how was Twilight really that different from me as a filly?' or 'I know I performed better on those tests, why wasn't it enough?' had plagued her for many a night when she was in highschool, after being rainbow-blasted. Even though she was Twilights' friend and moving on with her life. These nagging feelings would creep out of nowhere, making her feel insecure and unworthy.

It took her a long time to come to grips with those insecurities and her inferiority complex when it came to Twilight, and it wasn't an 'Eureka!' moment either. It just slowly dawned on her that Twilight really was flawed in her own way too (mostly quirks of personality that made her own life more difficult, unlike Sunset's own Blaze of Glory shenanigans), and that simple fact opened the gates to self-forgiveness and the will to move forward.

It was never healthy to compare yourself to others in that way. But, even as Celestia had this time seemed insecure about her own value, it was clear that her love of and from her daughter and sister were powerful sources of self-affirmation.

Sunset wasn't sure if Celestia had gotten a lot out of this one conversation, but at least there had been a moment when she felt her mother's counterpart had at least felt that assurance that she was, and never would be, lesser than other Celestias.

"And we'll always have our families and friends to remind us of that."

The End

Author's Note

And now, a collaboration with Rune Soldier Dan! If you haven't read his "Hunts the Undead" series, you really should! It's like Buffy meets Equestria Girls. Fun, irreverent, and stressful for dear Celestia!

I met up with Dan at EFNW and we talked a bit about working together, thankfully the stars aligned and we have a new chapter! Remember to throw some love in the comments!

The Valkyrie's Tab (Sunset Shimmer VS the Multiverse)

Sunset's Isekai
The Valkyrie's Tab (Across the Shimmerverse)
By Wanderer D & DapperLilArts

"Thank you, Isekai, I really needed this," Sunset Shimmer said to her alicorn counterpart. "You have no idea how annoying it is to deal with idiots that try to force their theories into the lives of others."

Isekai chuckled, her magic gently passing her counterpart the book she had brought with her. "You have to admit, a mortal unicorn deciding that they know Celestia's entire life better than she herself does is a new level of denial."

"Tell me about it," Sunset said, shaking her head as she stuffed the book in her saddlebags, alongside the card Isekai had given her. "Hopefully between AJ and I we managed to get through him."

"Here's hoping," Isekai said, chuckling as she opened the bar door for her guest. "Feel free to return any—" Her eyes widened, and, with nary a second to spare, she pulled Sunset out of the way just in time for somecreature to flash into existence at the edge of the door, barreling through the entrance in an uncontrolled roll that turned into a skidding-battle stance in the middle of the hallway leading to the bar proper.

Sunset stared at the heavy-breathing, wild-eyed alicorn version of herself that was taking in her surroundings and then zero-ing in on them. She turned to look at Isekai, comparing both alicorns before grudgingly admitting, "Okay… This is new."

Isekai nodded, studying her new guest. "Um, usually entrances are less violent." She cleared her throat. "Um, hi? Welcome to Sunset's Isekai. Why don't you step in while I get this other Sunset on her way?"

“What exactly am I stepping into?” This alicorn, this particular alicorn Sunset, carried herself with every movement unflinching. Her fur was messy, with specs of dried blood, with plenty of fresh scars in it. Her body, muscular and defined, towering over most. Her eyes had a piercing gaze that scanned her environment like it was a battlefield that could never hurt her. “Two mes?” She stood there, in a half hearted battle stance, mostly just wary. “I’ve never seen another alicorn Sunset in the multiverse, so… Is one of you a changeling? ” She almost sniffed the air in suspicion.

“I was gonna ask you that! Ugh, this is getting confusing–” The unicorn Sunset in the room grimaced at the sight, tilting her head. “Um. Uh– Did I do this?” She shot a brief, confused glance at Isekai.

And the newcomer alicorn did the same– She inspected the seemingly innocuous alicorn bartender carefully. “And what are you?” She tilted her head. “There’s something different about you– You’re not just any Sunset are you? You’re the real deal.” Her wings instinctively flared as her hide shivered with caution.

“Oookay. Breathe. Everything’s okay,” The barkeeper spoke gently, yet assertively. “It’s good to know you’re not new to the multiverse at least, Sunset, but getting angry doesn't help here.”

“T-the multiverse– You know about it?! What do you know?! Can you get me home?!” Any and all wariness the alicorn had was replaced with frustrated desperation. “You’re the first goddamn being I’ve met that just casually mentioned it– Not even the Discords I met knew shit!”

"Alright," Isekai repeated, raising a hoof. "Let's all calm down. As I said, deep breaths… um, Princess Shimmer, if you don't mind holding for one second…" She turned to face the unicorn. "Don't worry, this is unexpected, but unrelated to what's going on in your world. You can go back, do you have your card?"

The unicorn Sunset glanced nervously at the obviously-warrior-like Sunset, then nodded briefly.

Isekai smiled. "Good, you can come back whenever you want, alright? See you soon!"

Sunset almost bolted out of the hallway, closing the door behind her with a gentle "ding!" from the silver bell.

Isekai turned around to study her new arrival once more, taking in the confused look, and the wariness she displayed.

And the alicorn kept glancing carefully at every single motion her strange barkeeping counterpart made.

"Alright, I apologize for that, but unlike you, that Sunset is not used to multiverse shenanigans," she said with a shrug. "Why don't we start again? There's no rush."

Carefully, warily, the newcomer Sunset moved her gaze away from her strange counterpart and studied the bar. The mundanity of it all was the strangest of all. “Two alicorn Sunset Shimmers walk into a bar…” she muttered, with the thinnest of smiles. “...what the fuck happens next?”

“You tell me, friend," Isekai said, walking past her new guest, then motioning with her head. "Please, come in. You may call me Isekai, to make it easier.”

“And you can call me the Valkyrie if it’s easier, too.” She shrugged, still watching her counterpart carefully. ”I earned the title. Might as well use it." She paused, then conceded, "Though just Sunset is fine too.”

Cautiously, she stepped inside. Every single little nook held a strange mundanity to it. But the pictures on the walls drew her attention most of all. The strangest of beings, the oddest of creatures, even humans–Even monsters she had never once seen, all casually gathering to do simple bargoing activities.

She didn’t dare take a seat. Not yet.

“There’s more than one Twilight. In those pictures,” she muttered strangely, narrowing her eyes. “This bar, it’s… There’s something strange about it.” Her gaze landed on her counterpart as she studied her carefully. “There’s something strange about you.”

“Not the bad kind of strange, I hope.” She took residence behind the bar, smiling warmly. “I promise you you’re not in danger. Please, take a seat! You look like you could use it.”

With hesitation, the Valkyrie stepped forward, but instead of resting, simply leaned on the bar, closer to her counterpart. “Okay. No danger. Fine by me, I don’t care.” She shrugged, but wasn’t any less tense. “But the multiverse. What do you know about it, and can you get me home?!” The desperation in her voice was palpable, hidden underneath a layer of savage frustration.

"Hm," the bartender grimaced. "I take it you're not traveling by choice?"

“Far from it.” The understatement of the century was snarled with a weary exhale. “I’m cursed. Every hour, I’m shot into the next random universe– Again, you’re the first being I’ve met that knows anything at all, please tell me you can help me!”

The bartender shook her head, the grimace still there. "I'm afraid I can't… I'm unable to interfere when fate is still at work. And it seems from what I can see it's not done with you yet."

“Y-you’re kidding, me right? Fate?” Her frustration turned to manicness. “If you think my fate is to die far from home, alone, isolated– Fighting some sort of impossible battle, then yeah, you’ve got me there, fantastic, color me surprised, a Sunset Shimmer dies unfulfilled and alone far from home! What a completely new and unforeseen event in the multiverse, wow! But don’t give me that bullshit, can you help me or not?!”

She sighed. "It's not the fate you're thinking, not your personal fate, more like an effect of sorts that moves your story, and therefore that of your own universe forward. Interfering with that, even to try and help has had catastrophic results. At best you'd immediately be kicked out again, at worst… well, your original world could suffer if we force the issue."

With a groan of frustration, she held back an answer, letting out a few sounds of displeasement, closing her eyes, covering her face, inhaling deeply.

“S-so… You can’t get me home.”

Isekai shook her head.

“You can’t even tell me how to get home. Point me in the direction of–”

“Believe me, if I could, there's a couple of people I would've done so for already as well,” she shook her head. "The only thing—"

“You can’t get me home, you can’t help– What CAN you do?!” Sunset interrupted.

Isekai coughed. “The only thing I can do is the same I do for all my guests… offer you a safe place to relax, recuperate a little, and maybe drink something to help calm your nerves. That's what I've done for everyone you see on the walls." She smiled. "And of course, the first drink is on the house.”

The Valkyrie took only two seconds to measure her response, all her tension vanishing with an exhausted sigh, as she simply took a seat by the bar. “...fuck it. Give me something strong.”

“Sure thing. Cocktail, or straight? Depending on where you're going you might want something that burns fast out of your system. Or we could get you something refreshing. Ever had a Caipirinha?”

“I smoked with dragons and with Starswirl the bearded.” She spoke unenthusiastically, exhaling. “I’ve even had Zebra moonshine. But I’ve never had multiverse booze. So surprise me.”

"One Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, coming right up…" Isekai glanced at her, looking her up and down. "I hope you have one of those metabolisms that can survive metaphorical cannon fire, because if you don't, you'll be feeling this one and might want to reconsider."

“Yeah. That’s what I thought at first, too.” She smiled ironically, shrugging. “I kept thinking I should keep a clear head, focus on staying alive. But no amount of booze was going to lower or increase my chances against a goddamn Kraken. So why bother?”

Isekai raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you actually tried fighting a Kraken within an hour. I get that you're strong… I'd say stronger than a lot of alicorns I've met, but that sounds foolhardy at best.”

“I fought a Kraken as much as an ant fights a boot.” Her gaze darkened, as she grimaced over recent wounds. “I didn’t have a choice. The Sunset in that universe was a pirate, we were in the open sea… If I didn’t do anything the goddamn monster would have eaten the whole ship, the whole crew… It was there because of me. Drawn to me. Because of these.”

She spread her wings slightly, looking back shortly. “And you have them too.” She narrowed her eyes, not in suspicion, but curiosity. “How did you get them? Again– I’ve never seen an alicorn Sunset Shimmer in the multiverse other than me. I presumed there might be more, but…”

Isekai glanced over her shoulders at the wings. "I honestly don't know. It happened at some point. Might've been when I fought Midnight Sparkle back in school, or some other time during my travels. I'm not always an alicorn, as you can see from the pictures, so it's anyone's guess… Maybe Rarity would know, but she's out at the moment."

“Rarity’s involved in this mess too, huh.” She looked away, almost disinterested. “Funny. I got my wings after fighting Midnight Sparkle, too. Maybe that’s a constant, out there…” She exhaled, shaking her head. “I guess it doesn’t matter.”

"I've found there's no such thing as a constant," Isekai said, smiling as she passed the drink she had promised to Sunset. "One of our counterparts did that and a lot more, and the only time she became an alicorn was literally when she was transformed into a different avatar, then sent to Equestria like that. She looked badass, though."

A slight, curt smile manifested into the customer's lips, as she shrugged. “I’ve met a Sunset that literally became the Tree of Harmony. I guess the multiverse is just like that.”

When Isekai saw Sunset envelop the glass with her magic, she raised a hoof. "Wait, before you do that I should tell warn you to—"

Sunset took a long drag of her drink, then placed it back on the counter.

"—drink it carefully," Isekai finished under her breath.

Her eyes bulged, and she burped out a multi-colored flame while facing away– Bursting out laughing. “H-hAH! What did you just give me, the blood of a dragon?!” Before getting a response, she immediately brought her lips back to the drink.

Isekai pulled out a notebook and scribbled something within, before putting it away. "Alright, that makes two alicorns that can do that in the multiverse."

“Hey, you said it yourself, this is my ‘fate’, right?” She grinned teasingly, shrugging. “Might as well go out swinging. If I have to go fight some kind of space leviathan, or even have to kill Discord again, I might as well do it hammered.”

"I suppose there's something to that, I think Thor would approve, at least," Isekai said. "But… Discord? Why would you kill Discord?"

“Oh, you know. A Discord. From a sea of infinite Discords.” Her voice became colder, as she glared at nothing. “I preferred fighting the Kraken. It wasn’t fun. But… Pinkie asked me to, so you know...”

Isekai grimaced. "Pinkie is always a tricky one. Sorry it came to that. Discord is usually not that bad of a guy."

“This one was.” Her expression hardened. “I’m not partial to anypony using my neighbours as footstools. Or, you know, a throne of skulls. But I digress. It’s just another universe checked off the list, another near-death experience for me. I’m running out of luck.”

"Hey," Isekai reached over and put her hoof gently on Sunset's. "If there's anything I know, it's that we Sunsets are resilient."

“Heh…” She closed her eyes, nodding lightly. “I could write a book about resilience– And Sunset Shimmer’s role with it... How’s that for a constant, eh?”

Isekai turned and started mixing up something slightly different. "So, how long have you been stuck like this?" she asked as gently as she could.

“Like this, you mean the wings, or the multiversal curse?” She asked almost absentmindedly, without energy, taking another sip.

"The multiverse thing," Isekai clarified. "It's not the first time I've seen something like it but… it's not something anycreature could just breeze through without well, sacrifice. Mental health, loss of memories, powers… even sometimes body parts."

“I don’t know– Three weeks? A month?!” She spread her wings in exasperation, breathing frantically. “That’s the worst part– in such a short time, I already can’t keep up with it– with time! It’s meaningless, I can barely sleep, I can just–”

She swallowed, closing her eyes bitterly, grimacing. “If three weeks is all it took for me to fight a Kraken– If three weeks is all it took for me to be forced to fight the Lord of Chaos– Then I’m not lasting two months.”

Bitter quiet passed, accentuated only by the quiet chatter in the corners of the bar and the music that silently echoed through the room.

“This drink is fantastic, by the way.” She spoke without smiling, even if it was genuinely earnest, her voice barely above a raspy growl. “Really helping me feel better.” She didn’t even have the energy to enunciate sarcasm.

Uneasy, listless silence passed, as the alicorn stared at her drink mournfully, until she finally began speaking without thought. “You mentioned fate, before. And I’ve been thinking… It’s bullshit. So many Sunsets I’ve seen live awful, unfulfilled, lonely lives. And a lot of times, it’s due to their own making, too. If that’s our fate– If our fate is to die alone, if what defines being Sunset Shimmer is loss, then… well, then you’ve got a point.”

Isekai shook her head. "That's not what I mean at all. I believe we have control of our own fates. 'Fate' is just the word closest to what I've come to see as the essence of a greater journey, linked to one individual." She shrugged, a bit helplessly, "it's just a driving force behind a lot of us, and until that driving force is done with each of us… interference is never good."

“So we’re on our own, then,” she murmured, looking away. “I’m on my own. …That check’s out.”

"Not exactly," Isekai said, "I know it must be a small comfort, but the multiverse is also full of friends and allies you might meet and might get help from. I mean, look at me." She levitated a picture from the wall, where Isekai stood as a human, next to Celestia, Rarity, a strangely glowing human with white hair, a duck-like creature, and a mouse-like creature. "At first it was just Rarity and I doing business, but now I have reconnected with mom, have two adopted daughters and a romantic partner." She shrugged. "None of this would be possible without the bar and holding hope for things to come."

“And I thought fingers were weird.” The Valkyrie almost chuckled, observing the picture mournfully. “You’ve got friends. A family… Why the hell are you messing with the multiverse– Isn’t your world enough?”

Isekai shrugged. "As I said… My family came from the multiverse. Hell, from somewhere even bigger. For me it's not a curse, although our circumstances coming into it are different. I imagine if I was forced into an uncontrolled journey through it, I wouldn't be too happy with it. But for me… it's an opportunity to help others, as much as I can, depending on the circumstance."

“I… I can’t imagine that.” She lowered her head, beholding her drink coldly. “I never wanted or needed anything more than my world– The grass is absolutely not greener on the other side– This? All this?” She waved a hoof towards the dozens upon dozens of pictures of so many different universes that hung on the walls. “It all just feels like noise… And it’s going to kill me.”

"Well, that is what I'm here for," Isekai said, then waved a hoof. "Not killing you, mind. I'm here for you to rest a little. To relax and talk. Get everything out of your chest, so that for once you can go forward feeling maybe with a lighter heart. It might be just one place, one encounter… but I'm hoping that you'll get a little something good out of it." She smiled. "You're right, the grass isn't always greener, and that is okay too."

“I wish it was okay. I wish it was,” she muttered painfully, taking a sip. “But the grass feels greener now that I can’t go back to my own. Does that even make fucking sense? Ugh, I don’t know.” She took a breath, frowning, grimacing. “I meet a lot of friendly creatures out there… I see a lot of different worlds, and none of them miss Sunset Shimmer– And then, I see the occasional happy Sunset, you know. And it doesn’t help me feel any better. Because even with a small life, even without wings, they manage it. And even a small life feels better than this.”

Isekai slid Sunset another drink before walking around the bar to sit next to her, rather than across her. She let the Valkyrie's breath calm down a little. The moodiness was still there, but a moment of calm without rebuttals could do wonders sometime.

After breathing unsteadily, eyes closed, the Valkyrie let out a painful sigh. “What’s the point of being able to raise the sun if I can’t even go back home…?”

"I'm sorry that you're going through this, Sunset. You have a lot of things going on right now, and I don't want to throw examples and advice at you when… personally… I don't think that is what you might need at all. Rather than me telling you about how anyone else in the multiverse did so and such, you tell me about the good things in your life? There must've been some good things to discover, or fun things that you didn't expect? When you get back home, what will you tell the others?"

She took a moment to think about her answer, while she tasted her new drink, and did not comment. It was sweet, lighter, refreshing, and she didn’t mind that at all at the moment.

What would she tell her family, if she ever did get back home?

“That I missed them…” she muttered as her expression softened. “That I missed her. And that I fell in love with her in every universe I saw her.”

She took a breath, shaking her head, significantly calmer than before. “It’s not me I’m worried about, y’know. I’m not trying to get back home for me…” She spoke almost with a whisper, bitterly gritting her teeth. “M-my wife, she… She doesn’t even know where I am right now. I… I promised her that we’d spend a thousand years together, and we didn’t even have a decade– And now, now… Now I’m gone.” She closed her eyes, shuddering.

"Hey," Isekai whispered, extending a wing across Sunset's shoulders. She gave her a gentle squeeze. "What you're going through is horrible, but I'm sure you've caused good things to happen too. And that comes back to you, one way or the other. You're good, Sunset. I'm sure you've done good for others. Do you want to see?"

“See…?” Her ears twitched as she wiped the few tears she had let go. “See what? As far as I know, I can’t go back to universes I’ve been to…?”

Isekai nodded. "I understand that's how that works… but, you wouldn't be going back. We can take a look from within the bar. I think one of the private rooms has windows we can use."

Her expression hardened, but not out of expectation or even anxiousness, just curiosity. “Show me.”

Isekai nodded, and motioned for her to follow into an area with doors that definitely wasn't there earlier. She guided her through one into a small room with a long table and two large windows with the curtains drawn.

"We've used this for parties a couple of times," Isekai said as she used her magic to open the curtains and revealing… space. Infinite stars. "Nope's party was one of them. She used it to show us some of her crazier adventures, but it works for any visitor. Close your eyes for a moment, and think of the place you left behind. The magic will work through your trace to show us that place."

Closing her eyes, the Valkyrie decided on a destination quickly, and opened her eyes carefully, hoping to see something good.

The image shifted, shimmered, and showed her one of the latest universes she had visited.

Pinkie Pie, now with wings and a horn, with saturated polkadots and vibrant streaks, walked forward, channeling the bizarre magic that filled her being.

When she released, a seemingly innocuous plushie became a pony once more, crying, hugging her, thanking her, feeling the joy in every movement.

“She figured it out!” The Valkyrie couldn’t help but smile warmly, beholding the scene– The pink pony made her way to more objects, more caricatures of ponies, and brought them back to physical form, restored them to what they once were. “Heh. She’s doing it. I knew she could.”

"By Tzeentch! Pinkie became an alicorn?" Isekai shook her head. "That's going to be a wild ride for everycreature living there."

“Part of me killing Discord was giving his powers to Pinkie,” Sunset affirmed with a confident nod. “The world was a lot more damaged than if a Tyrek or a Sombra had their way, and well, it’s up to her now. She’s less of an alicorn, more of the Princess of Chaos and Joy. It’s a lot on her shoulders, but it’s up to her to undo the damage that he did in her world now.” Her smile widened even more when she saw the image change.

This Pinkie had a Sunset Shimmer– One dressed for a party, grinning, cheering her on– There was even a Twilight Sparkle taking down helpful notes beside them, and seemingly other Princesses watching proudly from the sidelines. “And she shot her shot, I see.” The Valkyrie grinned even wider. “So, if I want to see another universe, I just think of it?”

"Pretty much," Isekai said, her eyes studying the current world with plenty of amusement. "Just concentrate on it. You should feel it working, just like normal scrying magic."

“Awesome.” She closed her eyes, gave the next universe a single thought, and opened her eyes.

The image changed again– This time, into that of the exterior of a ship. In it, several pirates drank and partied casually, as the ship took them through an archipelago, shallow, comfortable waters, seemingly overjoyed.

And she Saw Sunset the pirate, next to her captain, Tempest Shadow, seemingly singing shanties together, celebrating, and what she saw next surprised even her.

Princess Celestia was right there next to them, singing along clumsily, matching their glee– Not as a pirate, but simply as a visitor, watching over Sunset with warmth. “H-huh! W-wow. I guess… I guess she made it after all!” The Valkyrie noted in surprise. “They’re alive. The Bihorn made it. Good.”

"I've never seen Celestia chant shanties…" Isekai muttered. "That is a first in the omniverse for me. Is this the one where you fought the Kraken?"

“Y-yeah. I wasn’t sure if they had made it… I’m glad they did.” She let out an exhausted, relieved exhale. “I lost consciousness fighting the monster, and well… Celestia was my final gambit. I raised the sun to call her, and… They made it.” She let out an enormous sigh of relief.

She closed her eyes, and waited for the next universe to manifest.

The image was simple. Some kind of hospital in the Crystal empire, some kind of private, secluded room.

Twilight Sparkle slept in bed, seemingly malnourished, but recovering, wounded, but alive, thankfully. And sleeping on a couch next to her bed, was a Sunset Shimmer.

“I killed the Sombra in that universe– And made this Sunset promise that she would stay by Twilight’s side as she recovered from what he did to her.” Her expression hardened. “And she’s holding up her end. Good.”

Isekai grimaced. "I've never liked Sombra. There are supposed to be some good ones out there, lost in the vast, infinite realities, but… just about every time he's existed in my experience, he's been a despicable wannabe tyrant."

“He’s a fucking insect!” she snarled, narrowing her eyes in hatred. “But at least he’s easy to squash.”

She shook her head and concentrated on the two unicorns they could see. "It seems you've been doing a lot of good out there, Sunset."

“I—” She hesitated, looking down for a moment. “—I did what I could. If I’m there, I might as well help– It’s better than sitting around and doing nothing, waiting for the hour to pass. I can’t just… ignore them.” She exhaled, unsure if this was a weight off her shoulders, if this was a relief. She couldn’t help but smile. “It’s nice to see… See that I actually helped.”

"Of course you did," Isekai said firmly, putting a hoof on Sunset's sturdy shoulder. "And I bet this has happened in most if not all the places you've been to so far where you've tried to."

“I hope so. I don’t know. I try to, but I can’t always… I can't always make a positive change. It’s hard to make it feel real. With only one hour…” She shuddered, and inhaled. “Okay. Two more. I don’t want to… I don’t want to overdo this."

The image changed again. This time, there was a Sunset Shimmer, dressed on a fancy regalia, hair decorated in an intricate Crystal-Empire like manner.

And next to her, was a Twilight Sparkle– One that seemed incredibly happy to be there, dressed just as fancy. It was unsure if they were dancing at a party, or by themselves in a royal palace of sorts– But they seemed overjoyed.

“Heh… Cadance got to her after all.” Sunset grinned, nodding. “This Sunset was Cadance’s apprentice– She might have gotten the idea of setting up that Sunset with Twilight from me, actually. They seem happy…”

"They do," Isekai said, grinning at the image. "I'm sure they're going to be doing this again. But seriously, I can't imagine what being Cadance's pupil might do to a pony."

“She seemed to be going through some things.” The Valkyrie suppressed a chuckle. “Not to mention that this Cadance was somehow in a relationship with Chrysalis, of all creatures. I nearly puked.”

"Aww, it's not that bad," Isekai said, glancing sideways at Sunset. "Chrysalis can be adorable too."

“Eugh I don’t know…!” She grimaced and snickered. “Give me a couple fifty universes before I can accept it. Well, it was better than the universe where she was with Celestia.”

"Well, there's all sorts of places out there," Isekai said. "In some, Celestia is in fact a changeling, so hooking up with another one is not a big deal, although Chrysalis would've been her sister in that instance" She stopped to ponder her next comment. "You might also want to be careful when hooking up local Sunsets with Twilight… in some worlds they're sisters too." She grinned. "Although their reactions will probably be worth it."

“Oh, it’s not that deep.” She shrugged. “I just don’t want to see Chrysalis sticking her gross tongue into my second mother’s mouth.”

Isekai elbowed Sunset, wagging her eyebrows at her. "But the things she can do with that tongue, Sunset!"

“And now that visual is ingrained in my retinas.” She grimaced jokingly. “Thanks a bunch.”

They shared a companionable chuckle.

“Okay. Last one. I just need to be sure of something.” She concentrated, and the image changed.

It was a tree. A tree she knew quite well. A tree she and her wife had spent plenty of time near, in their world. A tree with red leaves no matter the season, a tree in a cozy, safe meadow in the Everfree forest.

Her eyes narrowed as she pouted. “Those two found the same damn tree in their world? Friggin constants, man…”

At the bottom of the tree, there was a Demon Sunset Shimmer, one with crooked wings and jaws, smiling warmly, with a Twilight Sparkle in her embrace, who cozied up with her warmth.

“That Twilight was Midnight Sparkle when I met them. They basically ruined their world together… And, well, ruled it, too.” Sunset huffed, and raised a leg. “That demon there gave me these scars.” A very distinctive bite mark was visible around her lower leg.

"Oof, that doesn't seem like it was a fun fight… but you still helped them? It's unusual for our evil sides to find fulfillment like this."

“Yeah. I know, right? They were actually goddamn happy, at the expense of the whole world.” She frowned. “I’m the one that rained on their parade. Dethroned them. And they’re still happy.”

"I guess whatever you did wasn't enough to destroy their link together?"

“I told them that despite… Despite what they did to their world, at least they were together. And they should cherish that.” She looked down in defeat. “At least they can be together, despite everything. Not many of us have the same luxury.”

After a moment's contemplation, Isekai glanced at Sunset. "You could try, you know?" When Sunset gave her a confused look, she motioned at the window with her head. "You could try and check on Twilight."

“O-on…” She hesitated, shifting her eyes away from the window. “On my Twilight.”

She remained quiet. Still. Not breathing. “If I look through that window, and I see her mourning me like I’m dead… I… I won’t be able to fight anymore. A-and if I look through that window and I see that she’s moved on, that she… That she can carry on without me, well…”

She turned around, forcefully not looking at the window anymore. “I don’t know which is worse. But I don’t want to find out.”

Isekai nodded. "No pressure. I understand. Is there anywhere else you'd like to look, or do you want to go back to the bar? I can fix you up with something different."

“Yeah. I'm done here. Curiosity killed the cat, and all that.” She let out a weary exhale, and made her way out of the room. “Though I’m not sure there’ll be time for you to mix me anything good. My hour’s almost up.”

Isekai blinked in confusion. "But you've been here an hour and half already."

A split second passed, where she looked back and forth. “That can’t be right. How can you tell??”

"Well, it is my bar, but also I have a clock on the wall."

She hurried over to it and spared it a nervous glance. “What time did I even arrive in? I didn’t look– Shit.”

"I… did mention that we are outside of time and space here, right?"

She stood there, processing the information for a moment, or simply trying to understand it.

“I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Goodnight.” She immediately laid on the floor and covered her face with a wing, as if ready and willing to fall asleep.

"Um. No." Isekai said. "You're not doing that here, on the floor. I have rooms, and I suggest you take a bath."

The Valkyrie’s eyes gleamed with the hope and excitement of a child at a candy store. “Y-you have baths here?! And beds?!”

Isekai grinned. "Of course. Let's set you up. You can sleep as long as you want to and take a shower again before leaving. Come on."

“I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW LONG IT’S BEEN– Y’KNOW WHAT I DON’T EVEN CARE TO LET’S GO”

“Thanks for having me.” The Valkyrie yawned and stretched, with a base level of relaxation she had long since overlooked and underappreciated before being acquainted with the multiverse. “I’m… I’m not sure I’ll make it. But having a place to sleep does absolute wonders, you have no idea.”

"I can only imagine," Isekai said, nodding. "I know it might sound too optimistic, but don't give up. The Isekai might be only a small respite, but at least it goes to show that good things can happen to you too, right?"

“A bandage on a wound that is too large to heal, I guess...” she exhaled, looking away. “You’ve got a weird home, but hey, you also have everything you could want here. And honestly just a bed and a shower sells this place to me.”

"It was my pleasure, Sunset," Isekai said. "We only have two things to do before you head out…" She hovered a business card over to the Valkyrie. "This card should let you come back here whenever you need to… and, other than that, we just need a picture." She glanced over behind her at the bar's wall. "Memories are important."

“I could write a book about that.” She exhaled, but then smiled, readying herself for the picture. “Leaving a piece of me behind here feels fitting. Hang on…”

With a flash and a battle stance, she adorned her Valkyrie armor, Celestial gold and bronze meshed perfectly for a sleek, protective design, her helmet adorned with its own wings and spikes, Her wings covered with sharp metallic scales, the entire set worn and damaged from her last weeks of fighting. “Back home, they called me the Princess of Valor.”

And with that, she smiled warmly for the camera, ready for her next challenge.

“To the death, then.” Tempest Shadow, the Captain of the royal guard, narrowed her eyes and entered a battle stance. “Ready, Shimmer?”

“Ready.” Her second in command, her Lieutenant, readied herself, side by side. The gates of Canterlot would not fall on their watch.

Letting out short, raspy, amused laughter, Grogar tilted his head. “...So this is the last line of defense? Two unicorns, one lacking her horn?” He rarely allowed himself a moment to gloat, a moment to scorn, but he did so now. “My, I knew Celestia was an unfit ruler, but… How pathetic. And you two are simply here to buy time so that the dear Princess of Friendship tragically attempts to discover a way to stop me?”

Neither of them replied, simply glared at him. Tempest’s horn crackled to life.

Grogar grinned, and his own horns became glowing as well, its energy incinerating the air around him, as he gathered his energy for one mighty strike. “Begone.”

And, coincidentally, awkwardly, with a flash, the Princess of Valor manifested into this universe with a thud– And completely ignored her surroundings, despite the distant shouting of armies clashing, the nearby sound of flames of ruin crackling.

With a smirk, she inspected the business card that she had received. “Sunset’s Isekai. How about that? Yeah, I'll be using this.”

“U-um–” Tempest Shadow’s expression softened to an utterly confused grimace. “What?”

“W-what the fuck are you?!” Her Lieutenant observed the Valkyrie up and down in utter confusion.

“Shush, both of you.” With a dismissive wave of a hoof, she inspected the back of the card as well– The solution to her problems. “Give me a second, will you–”

Grogar’s magic exploded towards them, Lighting overlapped with flames that pierced the air and the ground itself, shaking the earth.

The Valkyrie cursed and yelled in pain as she and the other two were launched past and through the gates of Canterlot, and she quickly spun in mid air, landing skillfully, angrily, her armor taking the brunt of the damage. “Give me a goddamn SECOND, ASSHOLE!” She snarled, but her anger broke.

Where was the business card?

She looked around frantically, she was surrounded by fire and debris, by rubble and ruin, and she couldn’t see it– Her vision went red as she ignored all around her; Ignoring the two armored guards trying to get up from the rubble, ignoring the fearful glances of the rest of the army towards the broken gate, ignoring the sounds of war raging in the distance.

“So Celestia is training Valkyries again? How amusing.” Grogar scratched his chin, inspecting her up and down. “It seems you are just another indication of how inadequate she is as a teacher, however–”

“You.” Sunset flared her wings.

“Little.” She entered a battle stance.

“FUCK.” She blew flames from out of her nostrils. “YOU JUST COST ME MY SLEEP TICKET, YOU ASSHOLE!”

“Excuse me?” He tilted his head in confusion, and it was the last thing he did.

The Princess of Valor was upon him like a meteor.

Author's Note

Principal Celestia Hunts the Undead then Celebrates Sunset's Birthday

Principal Celestia Hunts the Undead then Celebrates Sunset's Birthday (Hunts the Undead — Fanfic Series)
By Wanderer D & Rune Soldier Dan

It took Principal Celestia - the Principal Celestia who hunts the undead, for those keeping track - no time at all to return to Sunset’s Isekai the first time. Warm maternal bonding and tipsy emotion resolved themselves the next day into a blind panic upon realizing she forgot to pay for the drink. A mortified Celestia then flew to Isekai with her purse over her pajama robes and settled accounts with the bemused bartender.

The second return took a few more years to occur. Celestia was not a lush or drinker by any stretch, nor a woman with abundant free time for visits with multiversal contacts. It didn’t take long for Isekai’s card to find itself wedged between an insurance ID and outdated driver’s license, forgotten more days than otherwise.

Yet Celestia never fully forgot, and one day returned. She was a little older now, with signs of creeping middle age still relegated to intense scrutiny in bathroom mirrors, and she had certainly come on a better day. The tired, wounded principal who stumbled first to the medical supplies was replaced with a groomed and polite Celestia, although self-conscious shyness still hovered around her greetings. Perhaps the hesitation was caused by her request, which she could not help but wonder at being some terrible imposition.

“Sunset. My Sunset, of course.” Celestia stammered, then took a quick sip. Today, she accepted only water. A proud smile warred valiantly with her nerves. “Her twenty-first birthday is coming up. I’m not asking for a party or anything, just if it’d be okay for me to bring her next Friday. I, ah, haven’t told her about this place and I think it might be exciting. I can give you my credit card now, if that’ll make it easy.”

Her eyes went over the empty seats - all three times it had been just her and Isekai. “Don’t… feel the need to clear the place out or anything. Heaven knows I don’t know how it works, but I can’t imagine ours is the only universe where Fridays are good nights for bars.”

Isekai shrugged. "This is an—well, let me put it this way, although you and I are currently alone, the bar is also currently full of visitors… it's nonlinear. We can clear up the area and have more guests from your world without any issues, at no extra cost, Celestia."

Celestia’s smile grew broad, and a giggle-snort escaped. “You should have heard my boyfriend. Torch, if that name rings a bell. He seems to think this place is a magic lamp of fiction made real, and told me to go wild while I was here. Especially if there was a dragon named… Filia? Some cartoon crush, I gathered. Of course I told him I could never fool around and do that to him, but he said ‘no, do it for me!’”

She laughed, then caught herself and coughed into her hand. “Ahem. If it isn’t any trouble, that is. I don’t know how you feel about plus-ones and guests and the like.”

"I don't think there's any problem with any of that," Isekai said. "Don't worry about a crowd, and bring whoever you like… it wouldn't be the first time we've celebrated birthdays here. Nope had quite the party, and one time I had Rainbow Dash invite all the Rainbow Dashes out there we could find. And don't even get me started on my daughter's parties… they want me to unofficially adopt many of my students."

“Students?” Celestia looked at her with new interest and a fresh smile.

"Ah," Isekai scratched her chin sheepishly. "I didn't bring it up last time, did I? I have a few students from across the multiverse. Mostly kids that get involved with it and need to learn to handle new magics and how to, you know, destroy reality. Besides my daughters, I have eight more students here. They like to visit other worlds, so it's very important I make sure they're prepared for anything." She giggled. "I'd be happy to introduce them to you at some point."

“Hmm, I forgot who I was talking to for a moment.” Celestia’s eyebrows went up in good humor. “It’s good that they have you, Sunset. I know you’re doing well by them. As for the offer…”

Her lips tightened and her eyes went to the side. “She’ll have a big party with her friends that Saturday. Even Torch and Luna signaled they would love to join but also felt this was… special. I don’t get to hang out with her as much now that she’s in college, you know. Maybe just her… well. Applejack and Adagio - yes, that Adagio. They’re all very close. Maybe I’ll ask if she wants to bring them.”

"Of course," Isekai said, patting Celestia on the arm reassuringly. "There's no wrong choice here, go for what feels right, and I'll help you make it happen."

Celestia nodded and gave her own pat atop Isekai’s hand. “Alright. We’ll see what she wants.”

Sunset vibrated. Her smile positively glowed within their dim hallway, and Celestia couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, I hope this is a winner.”

“A multiversal bar that you just wave a card around and make a door for? That gets guests from other worlds and dimensions, including alternate versions of ourselves? With weird drinks that it’s now legal for me to try, run by some demi-goddess version of me?”

The grin turned itself to Celestia. “50-50 on it being a dud, I guess. But seriously Mom, holey moley.”

“Just remember that it’s a bar, not Disneyland. Anyone else is there for drinks, not for you to poke at.”

Sunset’s expression turned snarky, yet no less thrilled. “Oops, looks like you have to put a quarter in the ‘somehow forgot Sunset is an interdimensional magic horse alien’ jar. Seriously again, thank you. Mom, this is so incredibly awesome.”

She embraced Celestia as the latter tried to fish out Isekai’s card, winning a fit of giggles from both. It was just the two of them, after all. When Celestia asked after the others, Sunset shrugged it off and said she’d see them tomorrow. These few hours of magic would just be Sunset and Celestia’s adventure. Sunset and Mom.

The little buzz of pride had been in Celestia’s heart all week. With more flourish than strictly needed she waved out Isekai’s card.

They blinked, and there it was. A varnished wooden door, certainly out of place in their house but sized perfectly for the hall. Celestia pushed it open, revealing dim light within.

She gestured for Sunset to enter first. Instead, Sunset took her hand and they slipped in together. Which required them turning to the side as the door magically fit their home’s narrow suburban style, but all that only drew new laughter as they fumbled into Sunset’s Isekai, already grinning like fools.

The bar seemed a bit bigger, or perhaps it was just that—unlike Celestia's other visits—it was actually full of people. Creatures. Everything. One table had a bunch of individuals in overalls of all sorts talking in a huddled group, pilot helmets of all sorts resting on the table, or even at their feet.

Another had a more medieval group, bows and arrows, swords and magic staves were sitting side by side with robots and automatons and creatures in environmental suits. Barmaids/waitresses were busy delivering drinks and food, including Isekai's daughters, which Celestia recognized from the picture.

The bar had been empty each time before. Celestia hesitated.

Sunset did not. She strode past the first set of tables and began to turn, taking it all in. Then again, almost spinning.

“What’s this? There’s magic in the air!
What’s this? There’s elves and maidens fair!
What’s this? Aliens with blasters
Friday night and getting plastered!
What… is…”

Sunset caught herself. She placed a hand to her mouth and gave a single cough, unconsciously mimicking Celestia’s habit and drew back to her mother’s side.

“Sorry,” she said, though her mood hardly had dampened. “Musical space pony and all.”

“Still better than my first time here.” Celestia mused. Sunset gave her a goading glance, and her eyes twinkled. “I thought the other Sunset was a changeling and almost shot her.”

"Aww, it was just getting good, too!" a voice said, making them both look down at the white-haired girl's head that had emerged from the floor. The rest of the body followed as the ghost levitated completely up to their level. "You got a nice voice, other mom," she said to Sunset, grinning. Then she turned to nod at Celestia. "And hello to you, other grandma. Come on, mom is waiting for you at the bar. And don't worry, you won't get interrupted by this lot."

A Viking leaned back from the table where he was talking with a very large bald guy with an axe. "Hey, 'this lot' is your regulars, y'know?"

"Zip it, Hiccup, this is Sunset's birthday here."

The Viking blinked, then raised his horn in toast to Sunset. "And many more to come!"

"Hear, hear!" The table roared as the ghost chuckled and waved them over to the bar, where Isekai and a giant mouse—who Celestia knew was Freya, Isekai's mate/wife—were busy making drinks and passing them over to the waitresses. Even then, with all the hustle and bustle, Isekai simply smiled and walked over to them as if there was no hurry.

"Ah, good, you made it! Welcome back to Sunset's Isekai, Celestia, and welcome for the first time, young Sunset."

Sunset took an extra second. “Other… mom.”

“Doing okay?” Celestia ventured.

Sunset’s eyes focused. “Yep, that one’s on me. When I heard ‘alternate Sunsets’ my mind went to post-apocalypses and sapient bunnies, not so much the whole family thing. I guess it’s not the weirdest possibility that one or two mes out there might be responsible adults.”

“Ah - anyway!” She took Isekai’s hand and gave a firm pump and grin. “I’m Sunset. Uh, no duh, I guess. ‘Celestia’s Sunset’ might narrow it down.”

“Thank you for having us,” Celestia followed, not so much shaking Isekai’s hand as holding it for a second. “And Miss Freya, it is good to meet you, I am Celestia. I don’t want to interrupt you all - where should we sit?”

"She called mom a 'responsible adult' the ghost chuckled, floating over to pick an order and flying off to deliver it.

Isekai shook her head, smiling. "Well, I figure I'd save you both spots at the bar, and don't worry, time is irrelevant here, so you're not taking us away from work." She took Freya's hand when she came over to greet them. "This is the Principal Celestia that hunts the undead, remember her, love?"

Freya nodded, smiling from under her wide-brimmed hat. "Of course I do," she said, taking Celestia's hand in her own and shaking it. "It's very nice to meet you, Sunset, my Sunset, that is, has only good things to say about you." She then turned to look at Sunset, who seemed to be having trouble looking from their joined hands to her face then back, as if undecided on what to do. "And your daughter looks so much like Sunset when we first met."

"That's because I barely age at all," Isekai stage-whispered. "And feel free to call me Isekai for convenience… especially when the bar is full. It will save us trouble, since you're the only other Sunset here at this time."

“Then the bar we shall have.” Celestia placed a hand on each of Sunset’s shoulders, looming behind her with maternal pride. “I see that you’ve spread word, but I can’t resist: Today is my Sunset’s 21st birthday, so by, er, our laws she is legally old enough to drink. She expressed a great interest in trying beverages which don’t exist on Earth.”

Sunset blushed under the attention, giving the Vikings a wave and following giddily to the bar. While Celestia slid gracefully onto her stool, the shorter Sunset had to give a bit of a hop.

Whereas Celestia’s first visit saw her meekly asking for advice, Sunset wasted no time eyeing the chalkboards and menus.

“Fairy wine? Nah, that seems kinda… whoa, Duff beer? I mean, cool, but… Aw, here we are: Romulan Ale! What are you getting, Mom?”

The question caught Celestia off-guard. “I was just going to have water.”

“Want to just do one with me? Come on, you’re always putting on Next Generation episodes. You can go where no Trekkie has ever gone.”

Celestia wasn’t so much a “Trekkie” as it was her comfort show. Still, her initial idea to stay dry wavered on realizing Sunset wanted to experiment with her.

And this place, this… strange, strange place. It wasn’t like any other bar out there. It was safe.

“Alright. But I don’t really like ale…” Celestia opened to the middle of the menu, then laughed out loud. “Maybe it’s fate. A Vulkan brandy for me. Ah, with a glass of water for each of us, thank you.”

"Coming right up," Freya said, leaning over to give Isekai a peck on the cheek and leaving the trio to talk for a bit. The sounds around them remained, but seemed to be dimmed a little bit, and when Sunset glanced at her older self, blinking in realization, Isekai grinned and nodded.

"That's right. A small spell that allows parties that want a little privacy to talk easier. Others can still hear, but only if they pay extra attention, and these guys are way too familiar with the rules here to eavesdrop on private conversations." She glanced from Celestia to Sunset, then back to Celestia. "But really, Celestia, you had no intention to drink tonight? It's a special night, you need to relax. Besides," she leaned closer, almost conspiratorially, then tilted her head towards a particular table at the bar. "I think Picard, Riker, Sisko and Captain Freeman over there would love to share a drink with a fan."

“Old habits die hard,” Celestia murmured distractedly as she beheld the four men in uniform. “But oh my God! Patrick Stewart, Frakes, Brooks… I grew up with them, Sunset! I, oh, I’m about to make a fool of myself but I can at least thank them. I’ll be back in a moment!”

She paused. “Er, would you like to come?”

Sunset waved her forth. “Nah, that’s your thing. I’ll send over your drink if it comes.”

Her eyes followed as Celestia took off with odd energy of shy exuberance. Sunset smiled with love at her mother’s retreating form…

Then her gaze slunk over to Isekai, and the smile grew sly. “So, I naturally have so many questions and Mom made me promise to not hassle you. But one I gotta ask: that’s not the actors over there, is it?”

Isekai shook her head. "Oh no, those are all the real ones. I'm still surprised that she hasn't realized that since the first time she came here."

“She’s about to get her mind blown in the best possible way.” Sunset gave one last smile after her mother then turned to Isekai with a far more serious expression. “Okay, I know what I just said, but there is one other question I absolutely have to ask. And I know it is a not-cool kind of question and I’m sorry but I can’t not do it, so please-oh-please just put it down to the baby multiverse-naive alternate you being young and dumb if it comes out wrong.”

Sunset closed her eyes. “Freya. She seems cool, that’s awesome. Everyone deserves love.”

The eyes opened and looked at Isekai. “Without judgement: are we a furry?”

Isekai regarded her with a serious expression. "Sunset… we're ponies. Anyone that dates us is a furry. And depending on the interpretation you want, they're into ferals."

“Yep, that’s fair and right and now I’m the one who needs to put a quarter in the jar.” Sunset chuckled, flushing just a little. “Back home everyone seems to forget I’m not fully human. So it’s all ‘Sunset, do you think I’m weird?’ And I’m all, ‘I am literally an alic… uh, unicorn.’ So, yeah.”

She clasped her hands and bowed her head, only half in jest. “Forgive me, sensei.”

"Don't worry about it, I know what you mean," Isekai said, chuckling. "I have met Sunsets of all sorts, and some of them, when they're human, do not find other species attractive. Same as some when being ponies. Alicorns, unicorns, pegasi, earth pony or even bat ponies, each of us is unique, and we all have slightly different preferences. We have a counterpart that's really into body builders, for example." She tapped her finger on the counter, and gave Freya a peck of her own when she brought the ordered drinks. "I'm just lucky to have found her, or rather have her found me," she said watching her partner go, before adding, "I hear you're in a relationship yourself, or did I not get that right?"

“Yes, and bringing that up really does make it make sense,” Sunset mused, looking off thoughtfully. “There’s no way all Sunsets are actually into the same thing. I could have just looked at myself for that.”

She clicked on her phone. “Weird. I have a signal here? One second…”

A few taps brought up an image: an impulsive, ridiculous selfie on the giraffe platform of some zoo. Sunset held the camera, catching her own, Applejack’s and Adagio Dazzle’s beaming faces while the giraffe’s head loomed above them.

“We’re, uh, kind of a mini-herd. I can believe there are other Sunsets into Applejack. But no way, no how are there any with Adagio.”

"Hm, not in a herd, no…" Isekai acknowledged.

“Or with her in general,” Sunset smirked. “Come on, siren demon and all.”

"...or at least a herd with the Rainbooms, I mean, there was this one that was going out with all three of the sirens… she was basically declared a siren herself." Isekai coughed when she caught Sunset's expression. "It's the omniverse, Sunset, I wouldn't be surprised if another me somewhere else was also dating a Freya."

“Huh.” Sunset blinked, staring off. “Huh. Yeah, I mean… that tracks. Gonna just…”

She picked up her bright blue drink and took a sip. Her face scrunched and a light cough shot out, but she took another. “Ooh, I feel the hit, nice stuff. Gonna be a long war between wanting to try everything and not wanting to spend all night in the bathroom.”

Her eyes drifted to the smiles on her phone, then she clicked it off. “Hey, thanks for being cool. You probably get tired of new people wandering in needing multiverse tutorials, especially when it’s super-young clones of yourself. My only direct trans-dimensional experience comes from Equestria, but we’ve tangled with enough demons and such that I can pretty well guess the multiverse is a tough crowd. Glad you’ve got a handle on it.”

Isekai smiled and shook her head. "No need to thank me, honestly, I always learn something new about myself or other selves with each visit, and it never gets tiring seeing how small differences make such great changes," she summoned a beer Sunset could see was named 'Sectoid Sweat' out of the fridge and took a sip. "Take you and Celestia for example. It took me… ages to come to terms with my own mother and having a family relationship with her. And I can't tell you how many other Sunsets and Celestias out there lose their chance, or never make up, or even never discover they could be family." She pointed at Sunset with a slight tilt of her beer. "But you found her and look at how well you get along in just a few years. I admit, I'm kinda jealous."

“I… I get that. I really do.” Sunset gazed over to where Celestia now sat with the four captains. Her face was alight with joy as she talked - they inspired her in her youth, did it really matter that they were not who she believed?

“I don’t know where you and I… diverged? Obviously it was a crazy big change. But I’m guessing we both had so many chances for things to go horribly wrong, where either we wouldn’t make it or would come out broken on the other side. Instead of that, I got Mom.” She finished the glass, and set it down, grinning from ear to ear. “Not even just a mom, the coolest mom in the world! Mild-mannered principal by day, monster-hunting bad-ass by night, takes her daughter to multiversal bar by evening. I know I’m lucky. I’m grateful for it. For her, for everything. No - aw, ‘scuse me.”

Sunset swept up a bar napkin and gave her eyes a quick wipe. “Sorry. But man, it’s hard to even say out loud. No one made her take me in. No one’s making her risk life and limb against werewolves and vampires and Space Nazis. She’s just that capital-G Good. That’s why I wanted this to be just us. I don’t want her to be maturely watching me have fun and smiling because she loves me. I want her to have fun with this, too.”

"I did get that feeling, that's in part why I didn't book you two for a solo visit to the bar," she glanced over at Celestia, smiling as well. "She's convinced herself she isn't that great, and it's hard to tell people otherwise when they're constantly second-guessing themselves, but hearing you talk about her, it's clear she has nothing to fear—she's a great mom, and she really loves you. It's very rare for any Sunset to be this lucky, and I'm glad you appreciate her as you do."

“She’s the best,” Sunset murmured. “How could she not… no, I get it. We all second-guess ourselves, don’t we? That was actually day one with us. I said something about her always giving losers a second chance, didn’t even drop my own name, and she stopped me before leaving and said I wasn’t a loser.”

She paused the conversation, focusing on the menu for a second before ordering an Apple Blood with a smirk.

“I wonder if AJ’d think this is heaven or heresy… anyway, maybe you… I don’t know, can’t even get this, but the only thing I don’t love is that things are changing. Wish we could go on like this forever, you know? A monster-hunting multiverse bar of our own.”

She sipped and grimaced. “Ooh, gonna finish this one but definitely not again, it literally does taste like if apple cider was made of blood. Anyway, I’m… kind of at a crossroads right now. Applejack and Adagio are my best friends, but they’re more into each other than me, if you get that. And Mom’s trying for a kid with her boyfriend. It’s something she’s wanted for a really long time and I’ve decided I am one-hundred percent going to be happy for her and love this theoretical future kid as my sibling… but that means no more monster hunts for Mommy. No kick-ass mother-daughter team, no more fun evenings in the graveyard whenever there’s a necromantic surge where she lets me use the shotguns and then go out for late-night burgers afterwards.”

"That does sound like a lot of change," Isekai said, sighing. "I understand a little how you feel, I could take up every day, hour and minute of my friends lives if I chose to do so. Time here is meaningless regarding the outside of the bar… but what I've become here… if I did that I'd stagnate their lives with my own, and I'd never get to see who they would become." She pondered her beer. "It's hard to let things move to the next step, when you're not at the center of things anymore and everyone else—and you—have to change, but, you know… I've come to embrace the time we don't spend together and letting them have their own time because when I go back and it's been, say a month for them, I've seen their relationships shift, or grow closer, and I do less things with them, but they're never any less happy to be part of my life either."

She downed her beer, then summoned another, different one, named Dragon Milk with a picture of a clearly equestrian female blue dragon on the label. "What I'm trying to say is… things will change, but you will be just as important as you are to her now, and, you know. Knowing Celestia, having another daughter might slow her down a bit, but really, can you see her not escaping now and then to off some vampire into ash?" She glanced over to the young goth woman placing her empty glass on the bar on her way out. "No offense, Mavis."

"None taken!"

Sunset gave a dry chuckle. “Honestly, it’s nice of you to take this seriously. I’m not an idiot. My life is good, and it’ll still be good. For all I know at this exact moment you’re also comforting the last survivor of Alderaan or something. It’s just…”

She shrugged. “I know we’re supposed to be honest and open and stuff, but there are some times when that’s wrong. I can’t tell her I’m not into the baby, because it’s her dream and she loves me so me telling her it’s not mine would divide her at the time when halfway through her life Celestia is finally doing something for Celestia because Celestia wants it.”

Despite Sunset’s earlier comment, the bottom half of the apple blood vanished in one deep swig. “Not so bad, actually. Next I’ll try the Utterdark, I saw the name and it’s metal as hell. Anyway, I guess I just wanted to tell someone. Can’t tell her, don’t wanna tell Luna, and my friends don’t know Mom as well as you seem to. Maybe I just needed an ancient demi-goddess of pleasant company and inebriation to bounce off of, so… thanks. Part of me wants you to give a warning on how immortal sameness isn’t something to envy but you’ve been super cool already and I don’t really want to pry.”

Isekai patted her on the shoulder. "I'll give you your own card, for whenever you need to let stuff out of your chest." She cleared her throat. "But, um, I'm not a demi-goddess. Or a goddess regardless of what this lot here will tell you. So… I might not have all the answers you might seek, but I'll definitely have a pair of working ears."

“Seems like a perception thing to me, but you do you,” Another shrug, but Sunset grinned as she took the card. “Fair warning, I’ll probably use this more than my mom. But uh, first thing’s first: That thing you’re drinking… look I’ve seen other world’s dragons and that is definitely from Equestria. And yes I’m from there but I don’t actually know, so… ‘dragon’s milk?’ You know, for real? Lactation and such?”

Isekai paused for a moment, then looked down at the bottle. A brief flash of panic crossed her face as she seemed to realize something, then, slowly, she raised her head with a completely flat expression on her face.

"Well," Isekai coughed, keeping a straight face. "Look, it's a thing in some universes, alright?" She coughed again, then looked to the side. "It's um. It has a nice feel and body to it, very uh, high proof."

Sunset’s look of amused curiosity broke into a fearless grin. “Dragon-tits are real, huh? Wallflower’s going to love this. Alright, forget the Utterdark, get me one of those.”

Isekai shrugged, then levitated the bottle over to them, passing it on to Sunset. "Here, this is my favorite. It has a smooth, rich mouthfeel with a noticeable little aftertaste of cayenne. Try it out."

Sunset took a sip, and her eyes lit up. “Hoo, that’s dangerous. I can feel how much alcohol is there but it’s like exciting milk, I could chug it down way too easily.”

"Right? I love it. They have different dragons, of course, but Ember's has to be the best," Isekai said cheerfully, clicking her bottle to Sunset's.

“Ember?” Sunset asked sharply. A face came to mind - Torch’s daughter, and probably her future adoptive sister.

"Yeah, she's the blue dragon on the label," Isekai said. "Kinda grumpy sometimes, but she's the one that made this whole busyness. A lot of people are a bit put off by it being, y'know, actual dragon milk, instead of just having a fancy name, but if you're not too hung up, it's very good as you can tell."

“And this came from her personal… you know. Dragonamaries.”

Isekai nodded. "I've not been privy to Applejack and Ember actually, uh, milking it, but it is 100% natural."

Sunset paused.

“Huh.” She took another drink.

Then another. It wasn’t her Ember, after all. “Delicious. Best thing I’ve tried all night.”

It didn’t take long for the assembled captains to leave - time in this place didn’t matter, but it mattered for them. Each was a man of energy and action, and they never stayed long.

Still, it was a pleasant chat. Celestia stood with them, shaking each one’s hand in turn. She accepted a hug from Riker, and felt her teenage crush rise up into her cheeks. She rode the feeling, and trading a kiss on the cheek with him seemed to satisfy it.

“Thank you,” she said, pulling away. “Thank you all, for everything you do. For the good you’ve done in your own universe. And, strange as it is, for the good you did in mine. Fiction it may be to us, but it is fiction that teaches and inspires - courage, sacrifice, and the rejection of bigotry and arrogance. By whatever silly logic this multiverse follows, somehow the lessons you taught echoed to my own little corner of it, and made it just a bit brighter.”

Captain Sisko’s handshake was firm, and his voice as grim as Celestia remembered. “In our universe, it is vampires and demons which are fiction. Fearful bogeymen of nightmares and legends. Praise from one brave and skilled enough to hunt them is high praise indeed.”

“And she does it without a whole Federation backing her up,” Riker added with a broad wink. “Let’s meet again. Maybe next time bring some stories of your own adventures; it was a hell of a tease to meet a vampire hunter who only wanted to talk about Starfleet.”

Celestia smiled and waved as they made their exit, forcing her jellified legs to remain straight until the door closed, whereupon she collapsed into the booth.

It was… a lot, all at once. Riker’s gorgeous blue eyes turned personally upon her wasn’t even the most of it. The shock of meeting her once-fictional childhood heroes warred with the embarrassment of initially treating them as actors and the incredible pride that they thought she was cool, too.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a large woman in ancient Greek armor wearing an Isekai apron on top of it placing a drink on the table where the captains were. "Sunset thought you might need this, after confusing the captains with hypokrites." The tall woman said, smiling. "I don't blame you, some of the ones I witnessed myself in modern Athens were just as convincing as the real thing thousands of years back."

“A multiverse is one thing. The existence of characters who are definitely works of fiction from the imagination of actors and writers is quite another!” Celestia blushed into the drink, yet a giddy high kept the corners of her lips firmly in a smile. “It’s fine. It’s actually wonderful! I just hadn’t realized.”

One sip, then she remembered Sunset and began making her way to the bar. It was all a bit foggy… she had two or three drinks with the captains, and God knows what was in them. Best pace herself a little with this one, delicious though it was. Like sweet and spicy milk.

Sunset was right where Celestia left her, wearing a ready smile and one raised brow. “Good time?”

“One surprise after another, but yes.” Celestia gave her a pat on the shoulder, partially to balance herself. “This seems the kind of place where it is best to float along rather than try to stay grounded.”

"We do have a ghost night," Isekai piped in, "but I don't think either of you will be really ready for that one for some time."

“I’ll keep that in mind for… ah, never mind.” Celestia cleared her throat, straightening a little as the silly giddiness began to subside. “All great fun, but it was also very good to meet your family. They’re even more beautiful in person. You must be proud.”

Isekai grinned. "Thank you. I'm also very glad to see how your relationship with Sunset is so strong. You'll be the envy of a lot of Celestias out there, you know?"

“Oh I don’t know about that,” Celestia said, yet she blushed deeply and chuckled. That all was a little easier to believe, these days. “You were right of course, back then. It’s not good to try to compare myself to her, I don’t think that rightly changes when I’m feeling on top of the world. Mind, it’s not that I was ever doing very badly, that first time I was just having a tough day. But things are going well. Luna and I are getting better and better at coming out of our shells. I have a boyfriend with a lovely daughter of his own, Ember.”

She took another sip of the milky liquor. “Sunset has an apartment at her college, but it’s in the same city. I miss having her at home of course but we still see each other quite often. I suppose I’m somehow still cool enough for her.”

"Ember, huh?" Isekai glanced at Sunset who smirked in challenge, swirling her mug of Dragon Ember's milk as a taunt. "So, she's going to be Sunset's sister, and your daughter soon. It's uh, good I guess you like that drink."

“It’s good!” Celestia beamed, taking another full swig and blissfully unaware just how much alcohol percentage the sweet milk hid. “What is this?”

“Dragon’s milk,” Sunset said quickly. The smirk grew friendly as she gave a quick hug. “And you’ll always be cool enough for me, Mom.”

"See?" Isekai's look was smug. "I told you." Anyway, I hope the visit is as fun as you were both expecting so far."

“It’s amazing!” Sunset bounced in her chair, with slight lisping being her only sign of inebriation thus far. “Mom, that’s like a Greek amazon! And the Star Trek guys, and these magic drinks. Ghosts, super-cool alternate mes. Isekai even gave me her card.”

Celestia’s eyes slipped over to Isekai, but Sunset kept speaking. “Ooh, the Viking dudes wanted to treat me to a horn of space mead. They say normally it actually launches you through space but space works weird here so this is the only place you can drink it safely but you’ll still feel like it.”

Sunset hopped down, then wrapped Celestia in a bigger hug complete with a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be back right after.”

Celestia’s brain moved a bit more slowly than it should, didn’t fully register it all until Sunset was across the bar.

“The card, of course,” Celestia managed, then gave an awkward cough. “I, ah, trust you’ll have some rules so she won’t be too irresponsible with it?”

Isekai patted Celestia's hand gently. "Don't worry, I don't only serve alcohol. Besides, as I've told you, my daughters and their friends study and come over frequently here so I keep track of things, and you'd be surprised on the amount of visitors that simply do not have a taste for it. I'll-we'll make sure she doesn't get sloshed whenever she comes visit. This place is not for that."

“I appreciate that,” Celestia sighed. “Not that I doubted you or anything. If you don’t mind, how do you know if a Sunset who comes in is one you’ve seen before? Say, if one’s a robot or such and the other has a mother who would dearly like her to have a two-drink limit?”

"Well, it's usually through their expression… just about all first timers freak out a bit. If they're coming back, they'll have a card that works for them only, like the one you have. And beyond that… there's… a feeling. When you know someone you create a bond, and this is a good place to do so. That bond just tells me if it's someone I know, and also helps me recognize them." She shrugged, smiling and opening her hands in a slightly sheepish manner. "Magic." She patted the bar, looking at it fondly. "Plus, the bar helps."

Celestia breathed out slowly, looking wistfully after Sunset. “Alright. I, I can trust you. She wants to experiment and explore, and frankly this seems a better bar to indulge than any on Earth. And if she comes here from the house or her dorm, so much the better.”

She turned her head to Isekai with a maternal smile. “But how are you doing? It’s been a while, I know. Are you still… liking it? Doing well?”

Isekai nodded "Yeah. The girls, Freya, Rarity and everyone else help. When I've been here too long, they'll come up with some plan to get me a change of environment and recuperate. I lived for a decade or so in one world or another, actually leaving the bar and coming back to work like a normal person for a while. I've… I dunno. I'm a citizen of the Federation, but also a townsperson in Solace, or a merchant in Babylon 5 or Deep Space 9. I could never get tired of this, or creating bonds with all of my friends here."

“I’m glad, Sunset. I really am. You do so much good for so many people. You should be proud of yourself. I’m certainly pr-”

Celestia caught herself and laughed. “Silly me, but yes, you do good and it’s wonderful to know that you have people looking out for you. I’m sure even this can become burdensome at times, and when that happens it’s good to have others for help and perspective.”

"Speaking of which," Isekai prompted, "how's your overall life going? Last time we chatted you were feeling a bit intimidated by other yous, but right now I see you're finally accepting your own awesomeness." She rolled her eyes. "Or coolness, if we ask Sunset."

“Not so much intimidated, just… oh, I don’t think ‘depressed’ is right either.” Celestia drained her glass, unable to suppress a smile. “This is quite good! I’m tempted to ask for another but that feels like heresy when Sunset wants me experimenting. Water when you can, please, and don’t worry I’m just pacing myself.”

The smile fell to a more sedate expression. “I just… well. It was hard not to, back when the only Celestia I knew was some distant goddess. Coming here gave a bit of perspective, but what really helped was when we took the risk and got to know each other. My Princess Celestia is… she understands, I think. How I must feel. So she always wanted to give me space, but once we began talking it became… nice. She is a little sad, a little lonely. Like me she holds tight to her duties and her family, and I think we are now the latter.”

The first drink of water went down the wrong pipe and she gave a cough. “Ah, no ‘think’ about it, we literally are. I learned she visited Earth in the middle ages and stayed long enough to, erm, leave a mark. It turns out I’m descended from her. Which sounds like it should complicate things, but I found quite the opposite. It’s a bit easier to handle being a distant relative than someone who is literally supposed to mirror her.”

"Heh. Reminds me of this one universe where Sunset had a twin sister. She ended up on Earth, while the Sunset that ran from Equestria ended up in another planet. Turned out, their mom was I think Adagio's sister. When they all went back to Equestria and changed into their original forms, it was pretty crazy."

“So she would have been a… siren?” Celestia’s face twisted, then relaxed with a shrug. “You could turn to writing if you ever want to leave this behind for another decade, though the only shame there is no one strange to this place would ever believe it.”

"Well, one of them was a siren, the other was a unicorn. But the siren had grown as a human so… well, it gets complicated." Isekai chuckled, then passed Celestia the menu. "Come on, drinks are on me for you two tonight." She paused to summon for herself a shot of something blue with electricity on it, for all appearances. "At best it would be considered fanfiction, but trust me, it's being done."

“I’ll try that too, please,” Celestia said quickly. Perhaps it was the buzz, but she felt herself getting a bit bolder with all of this. “B-But Sunset, I couldn’t ask you to do that! We are not really being frugal with our drinks. On Earth this all would be hundreds of dollars and I budgeted to make sure it wouldn’t be a hit. You’ve already been so good to us, really.”

"Celestia," Isekai laughed, "It's Sunset's birthday, I couldn't do less. Don't worry about it. This entire crowd couldn't put me in the red in one night if I gave them all free drinks." She quickly summoned another shot of electric-blue… something and slid it over to the principal, then got another for herself. "Bottoms up!"

“I appreciate it. So much. Thank you.” At the prompt, Celestia downed it in one go. She swayed a little, yet set the glass down gently. “I think… we’re the same in that way. We both need those around us to help push us out of our comfort zones. And I’m glad you have them, Sunset. So glad. After all you do, you deserve it.”

Belatedly, Celestia realized she was gripping onto Isekai’s arm and sheepishly let go. “Er, sorry. I just kept thinking about how with you always helping others, someone should look after you, too.”

"They do," Isekai said gently. "I promise. I don't know what my life would be like without Lena, Danni, Freya and Rarity, but I have many friends that love me and care for me, you included." She squeezed Celestia's hand. "And I'm grateful too."

Celestia sniffed wetly. Tears ran down as she smiled up at Isekai. “Too much to ask to give you a hug?”

"Come over here," Sunset said, opening her arms wide.

Celestia stood, and would have fallen over if she wasn’t leaning on the bar anyway. Her hands wrapped around Sunset’s form and gripped tightly.

“I think,” she whispered as she felt Sunset’s nails grip through her jacket. “Since some Celestias fell down on the job with you all, it is up to ones like me to be here for you.”

Isekai's voice was a bit muffled. "You all do. Even the one from my world finally came around." They held the hug for a bit, then slowly pulled away.

Celestia held her gaze as they parted, smiling beatifically.

Then her eyes went to the distance, and she frowned. “Should… should I be worried about Sunset partying with Vikings?”

"Nah," Isekai waved a hand dismissively. "They're all good sorts. Well, maybe not Eivor, but she's not exactly evil. At most she'll help Sunset get more mead than needed. But she's got Hiccup there and he'll step in if that gets rowdy, and if he's not enough, Kratos and Freyja are there too, and the latter will not abide anything going wrong with a young me."

“You’re sure?” Celestia said, her eyes darting back to Isekai. “Vikings on my world have some specific connotations. I can… I can step back and not mother-hen her. But I want your word.”

"On my word." Isekai said solemnly. "Also, don't forget… she's essentially a me. No one would dare try to take advantage of her on that alone, but also, my bar doesn't allow the type of person that would take advantage of a young woman to visit."

“Okay.” Celestia breathed out, and the last of her tension seemed to flow out with it. Which did cause her to stagger, but she caught herself on the counter. “Sorry, it’s a little hard to let go. I’m sure you know how it is.”

"Hey, we both have done it a few times before. Like when she's gone hunting or Lena or Danni decide to visit a particularly dangerous universe. All we can do is trust them." She cleared her throat. "And be ready to jump in if they need help."

“Thank you, Sunset.” Celestia pushed herself from the counter, swaying slightly. “I think I’m going to sit in a booth, I don’t really trust myself on a stool right now. But in case I’m too far gone by the end of the evening, it really is good to see you. I’ll try to be better about stopping by more often.”

"Hm," Isekai hummed. "How about I help you out? There's someone I'd like you to meet, and you can sit at their table, what do you think? I'll keep an eye on Sunset for you."

“I’ll just make a fool of myself,” Celestia hiccupped loudly, then paused. “No, wait. This is the point, of course this is the point. I don’t want Sunset looking over and thinking I’m just waiting on her. don’t just want to wait on her.”

She took a deep breath, pulling all outward signs of inebriation within her, for the moment. “And you’re so kind to think of us. Yes, of course. May I have another dragon’s milk? It really is good, and I think I just prefer alcohol that doesn’t taste like alcohol.”

"I guess depending on where the conversation goes, it could give the right message," Isekai said, summoning a fresh one for Celestia. "Come on."

She guided Celestia past a few tables, and it didn't take long for the Principal to realize that they had walked further than what the actual size of the bar should've been, but, before she could decide whether that was due to her drinking, or some sort of magic, Isekai had already stopped at one of the tables where a group of adventurers sat.

"Hey Lina, Zel, Filia, Gourry," she said in greeting, waving at the group. "Have space for one more? Celestia here needs a chance to let loose, and I think you guys can help her."

The redhead of the group looked up, mouth still stuffed with food and shrugged, nodding towards the end of the table, where Isekai was helpfully pulling up a chair next to Filia, a blonde woman in a white dress who blinked twice.

"Celestia, Filia, Filia, Principal Celestia. I hear you two would get along swimmingly."

“Did you, now?” Celestia shot Isekai a nonplussed glance before smiling brightly at the table. She really didn’t know the anime Torch had talked about, but among a band of fantasy adventurers… well, why not? Maybe it was the liquid courage or good experience with the captains, but Celestia felt a deeply uncommon need to share in the only public place where she could.

“Hello! I’m Celestia, I guess you could call me a vampire hunter. I suppose I let slip that my boyfriend adores your… stories, what with the multiverse and all. Especially you-”

The redhead swelled with pride.

“-Filia.”

The redhead growled. The blue-skinned man gave a smirk, while the woman in question looked a little surprised.

Celestia caught herself, feeling a hesitation yet refusing to surrender to her natural awkwardness. “Please don’t feel obligated, but I think he’d be disappointed if I didn’t at least ask to sit with you.”

Her eyes naturally moved to the subject of Torch’s appreciation - of all the strange things men sometimes obsessed over, dragons and motorbikes were fine by her. Even though this dragon… wasn’t? Merely a blonde women dressed as a fantasy priestess. Certainly beautiful - a tall height which made her look slim, contributing to a slightly alien sense of comeliness. Perhaps with some draconic aura which made the room seem warm, but perhaps that was alcohol or… something else.

Really, Celestia didn’t consider herself anything but straight. But Torch’s half-joking request lodged into her mind and reddened her cheeks, making a tipsy blush which only deepened as Filia’s wide blue eyes locked with hers.

Filia smiled, giving a snide glance at Lina who had opted to simply drink more beer, which had been cheerfully brought over by another of the barmaids. "Why is it that every time we come here, it's always the dragons that get the attention?" Lina muttered.

"Because dragons rule," echoed a voice in the minds of all present, as the barmaid—who looked more like an elf than an implied dragon—smiled demurely before finishing up handing drinks and moving along.

"Anyway," Isekai said, patting Celestia on the shoulder. "I'll let you girls chat. Filia's surprisingly open minded for a former priestess."

"What do you mean by that?" Filia asked, her brow furrowing. "You'd better not be planning something, Sunset Shimmer."

"Me?" Isekai blinked innocently. "Never. I just need to go take care of my counterpart. Ta."

Celestia sipped at her… dragon milk. The silent implication turned her halfway to purple, yet she acted like nothing was wrong at all as entirely too many drunken emotions roiled within her.

“There was no need of her to bring that up.” Celestia said archly. “I really apologize, that was my fault. You see, I unfortunately let slip that my husband joked that he’d love for me to kiss you, and I suppose our dear bartender is poking some fun.”

The nerves were too much. She downed the dragon’s milk, feeling the nervousness fade into pleasant heat.

“If you don’t mind - a little trade of stories? I suppose if you like adventure I could tell you of me and my daughter saving our school from a vampire, and I would adore hearing about… well, whatever you care to tell.”

Filia's eyes followed the bottle in Celestia's hand to the table, her own cheeks flushing a little pink as she pressed the tips of her fingers together in thought while listening to Celestia's explanation. After a moment, she gulped, then drank some of her own beer before turning to face Celestia again.

"I think we can talk about our adventures… I'm taking a break from watching my adopted son at the moment, so I haven't had a chance to really get out much. Lina and the others brought me here since they happened to be visiting."

Celestia’s tipsy, distracted gaze focused at once into purple brilliance. Both nervousness and bravado fell away as she leaned in, unconsciously taking Filia’s hand.

“My Sunset’s here celebrating her twenty-first,” Celestia breathed. What was once an awkward meeting most desired by others turned to an open door as sympathetic love filled her heart.

“Tell me about him,” she said. Filia looked surprised, for most cared nothing for the children of strangers. Yet Celestia smiled back, happy to turn to conversation closer to both of their hearts.

“Tell me everything.”

"Thanks for the help, guys," Sunset said, waving at Mirage, Onyx, and Kassandra. The trio was spending time together for now in one of the many dragon worlds, she wasn't sure which, but it probably involved riding them at least, by the getup the Valkyrie pilot wore now.

Well, to her, that was part of the fun of the multiverse. Either way, things had calmed down and she had decided to take a break. No more visitors for now, as she bid farewell to her friends and visitors, cleaned up the tables with the help of her staff, then sent them off on their way back home until it was just her, Freya, and the girls.

"Good job today, everyone," Sunset said, sitting down at the table with them. Lena and Dani both preened at the attention. They had grown a little older after all this time, and Sunset had the feeling that soon she'd be seeing a little less of them than she would like.

She chuckled. Celestia was right about how that felt.

"You alright, mom?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, just thinking about stuff."

"So, did Sunset have fun?" Dani asked, floating over to sit down at the table Sunset had cleared. "Yeah, she did. I think her mother did too, at least from what I saw from over here."

"Tell me about it," Lena said, chuckling, also taking a seat.

Seeing that the floor had been cleaned off, the tables wiped, and everything sorted, Sunset joined them, and Freya who also sat down.

"I honestly expected both her and Filia to be much more reserved," Lena continued. "I think Lina's entire table was surprised by how comfortable they got with each other."

Sunset chuckled.

"Sometimes, people just need to let lose," Freya said gently, leaning over to ruffle Dani's hair. "Especially parents."

"Like you, mom?" Lena asked Freya.

The Burmecian Dragoon got a rosy tinge on her snout. "Yeah. I suppose me too."

Sunset grinned and leaned on her partner. Not married officially, but really, who doubted that they belonged together?

The bell rang as the door opened, and Sunset frowned. Who could it be? Hadn't she closed the bar?

The answer was Rarity and Princess Celestia—her Rarity and her princess, at that—both were carrying or levitating several large bags, smelling deliciously of food that they deposited on the table.

"Well, hello darling," Rarity said, then went over to hug the girls and Freya, while Princess Celestia's white, downy wings wrapped warmly around Sunset.

"Hello, Sunset," Celestia said, resting her head gently on the bartender's shoulder.

"Hey mom," Sunset replied leaning into the hug and wrapping an arm around the alicorn's neck for a quick squeeze. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Oh, you know how it is," Celestia said, releasing her to go around the table greeting the others. "It's tradition to come over twice a month, remember?"

Sunset chuckled. "So it's been two weeks in your world already?"

"Oh yes," Celestia said, helping the others to take out the food from the bags. "How long has it been for you girls?"

"That's a tough guess," Lena said, giving Dani a glance.

The ghost shrugged. "Beats me, feels like a couple of months at least," she said.

Celestia gave Sunset a playfully reproachful look. "Two months, and no calls? Sunset." She shook her head.

"You do get a bit distracted, darling," Rarity added. "I swear, if we didn't insist on a forced vacation every decade you'd just stay in here for a century."

"Is it really work if you're doing something you love?"

"If you don't stop to take a break?" Rarity asked.

"Yes," the rest of her family said.

Sunset blinked in surprise, then laughed. She took Freya's hand in her own and kissed her knuckles. "Alright, alright. How about we have dinner and figure out where we could settle down for a few years?"

"It has to have magic!" Lena said excitedly.

"And places to explore," Dani added absently, reaching out for a plate. "Can't have a boring life."

"You're a ghost," Lena remarked.

"My point, exactly."

Sunset glanced at Celestia. "Feel like living with us for a bit?"

Her mother chuckled and hugged her. "Of course, but you'll have to drop me off no longer than an hour after I left home. I don't want everypony to panic."

"Spoilsport," Rarity said with a chuckle.

As the others bantered, Sunset's eyes went to the latest picture on the wall, with Sunset and Celestia hugging among the cheers of the other visitors. One thing was for sure: Celestia was very right about the importance of family.

The birthday party Celestia hosted for Sunset’s friends should have been a calmer affair. Sunset’s age hovered in the middle of her friend group, meaning some of the Rainbooms were still underaged. In perfect solidarity, all agreed they wouldn’t drink in front of each other until all could. So it was pop, water, and pizza, plus an arsenal of outdoor party games.

Of course, it wasn’t actually calmer. Not only were these the Rainbooms, masters of turning any little slice of life into a wonderful disaster, but Sunset’s normally moderating presence was turned on its head. She giddily told the story, vibrating faster than Pinkie Pie during the post-Halloween candy sale.

“Okay, so after the Vikings I hung out with this edgy pretty boy, think I complimented his leather jacket or something. Turns out he’s a half-vampire vampire hunter himself, so we talked shop and really I should’ve gotten more out of it but I saw mom across the way, and she… wow. She’s got this GOLD DRAGON with freaking BLONDE HAIR not really any bigger than her. And they’re sitting in this booth, holding hands, just staring into each other’s eyes, and the dragon (who is, by the way, super cute) leans in and gives her a little smooch, then draws back but mom leans in to kinda kissy-chase her and they meet halfway. And before I could get my phone out she turns into this blond chick so I only got them kissing, but later mom fell asleep and snuggled with the dragon’s tail and I got a pic of them together and it’s just the cutest thing!”

Sunset took a theatrical drink, simultaneously drinking in the whistles and questions from her friend.

Vampire hunter. Multi-dimensional traveler. Dragon-seducer.

Celestia was the coolest mom ever.

“Hold off the cat-calls ladies, I’m just getting started. The dragon girl then out of nowhere takes Celestia’s head and…”

It was not a large house, and Sunset was not a quiet girl. Plus they didn’t have air conditioning, so the windows were open. Every word was audible on the inside.

Luna played her computer game, conscientiously glancing over every few minutes to make sure her sister was still breathing. She really couldn’t be sure with how tightly Celestia pressed the pillow to her face.

Then again, her face looked ready to burn through the pillow so maybe there wasn’t a risk.

“Tia, don’t be so dramatic.”

“My daughter is boasting about my sexual escapades.”

Luna rolled back from the computer, looking briefly to the ceiling. “You know, I’ll give you half-credit on this one. Maybe a ‘what happens in Isekai stays in Isekai’ rule in the future. But it’s not like you did anything wrong.”

“I have a boyfriend and I kissed another.”

“Did Torch see the pictures?”

“He made one his phone wallpaper.”

Luna smiled. “The ‘you hugging the tail’ one, or-”

“No, the third kiss.”

“Ooh-la-la.” Both eyebrows went up as Luna tried to convey her amused-yet-supportive expression through the obscuring pillow. “You had a great time and everyone loves that you had a great time. Sounds good to me.”

“I really did end up too silly over there.” Celestia peeked out over the top, still hiding her mouth.

“Horror of horrors, you got to cut loose and not be the adult in the room for once in your life.”

“I shouldn’t have drunk so much.”

“But did you have fun?”

Silence.

Then, a shy smile rose from the pillow. “Yes.”

Sunset’s voice trailed from the outside. “So then Filia said ‘which form?’ and mom said she could see a human any time so-”

The face disappeared. Luna pulled out her phone. “I’ll shoot her a text, she really should reign it in… anyway: planning to go back?”

“Yes,” Celestia said again, safe behind her fluffy fortress. “I want to be a better friend for the Sunset there, and not wait as long to see her again.”

And you want to have more fun, Luna thought, and did not say. There had been enough teasing for one afternoon.

Besides, there was nothing wrong with more fun. Most of all for Celestia, who devoted her life to others and kept so little of it saved for herself.

Author's Note

And we have another visit from "Hunts the Undead" Celestia, but this time bringing her daughter, Sunset, to visit and celebrate as you only can in the multiverse. As always, writing with Rune Soldier Dan is an absolute pleasure, and it was nice to take the opportunity to delve a bit more into the maternal side of many of our characters. Hope you enjoyed!

Close Encounters of the Random Kind

Sunset's Isekai Bar
By Wanderer D
Chapter 1

"Rarity?"

The young woman turned and blinked, looking at Sunset up and down. "I'm sorry, darling, do I know you?"

"Uh… it's me? Sunset Shimmer?" Sunset replied, smiling uncertainly. "You didn't get your memory stolen again, did you?"

Rarity's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh my. I-I'm sorry, I forgot I—this might seem strange to you... Miss Shimmer, was it? But… I was trying to be in a place where I didn't exist. Clearly, I failed, so if you'll excuse me—"

Sunset moved forward, placing her hand gently on Rarity's shoulder. "Hey, wait… so, you're from another world? Me too. Rarity from this world is my friend." She smiled gently, taking in the familiar image of her friend, and how she looked overstressed. "So, how about we talk? You look like you could use a friend right now."

Rarity's smile waned. "Do I look that bad?" She sighed at Sunset's look. "Very well, darling, lead the way. Someplace where they serve straight shots would do wonders for me." She hesitated. "Just, someplace where other... friends might not show up, please."

Sunset smirked. "Before I became a good girl, I knew all the dives, and plenty of them with the privacy you want. But I don't think we need that. I happen to have a well-stocked bar at home and everyone else I know is too young to drink."

"So, he wouldn't take no for an answer," Rarity said, taking a sip of her martini, and humming in appreciation at the taste. "I tried to be gentle… it wasn't one thing he had done, you know? Just… many little things that sprung up like red flags in my mind and I had foolishly ignored."

"I take it he didn't appreciate that?" Sunset asked softly.

Rarity shook her head. "He insisted. He chased me around, called me after we had broken up, stalked me online, threatened people close to me with blackmail… he did everything that validated every worry I had developed during our short relationship. It's been two years now, and he still talks trash about me." She sighed. "I just hope he eventually gets over it. It gets tiring in its pettiness."

"Wow," Sunset said, her Manhattan clasped in her hands. "That's insane. I never expected Spike—"

"To be fair, darling, the multiverse has all sorts," Rarity interrupted. "You think you know a dragon and you give him a chance…" She shrugged. "I'm sure that the Spike you know is a true gentle-drake. Circumstances are always different out there, in the multiverse."

Sunset chuckled. "I suppose that's true. I can't see the Spike from either world being that much of an ass. But you still should report him to the police."

Rarity smiled. "Oh, I have."

Both girls chuckled, relaxing into the sofa.

"I must say, darling, you are a wonderful mixologist. Have you ever considered setting up a bar?"

Sunset blinked, leaning back in her seat. "Who? Me? N-no." She cleared her throat. "It was just one of the jobs I got here while I was trying to work things out. It went well for a while, but the owner found out I was in high school and kicked me out."

"His loss." Rarity chuckled. "And you should. Not only do you have a distinct knack to make people talk, but you also have real skills to make delicious cocktails. I, for one, would return to such an establishment," she said, winking at Sunset.

Sunset blushed. "Do you really think so? I really haven't given too much thought to what to do with my free time."

"Darling, I know so," Rarity replied, fanning her face and rolling her eyes. "You would not believe how many multiverse versions of us exist… well, you might believe it, but you wouldn't be able to count it. Why, there's a bunch of Sweetie Belles running around the multiverse."

"That… can't be good."

"It really depends who you ask," Rarity said, shrugging. "But even the older ones of the group need to relax from time to time, don't you think?"

"Huh." She shook her head. "I wouldn't even know where to start…"

"But I do." Rarity finished her martini and stood. "Darling, it has been a pleasure. If you ever need some help setting up a bar, do give me a call and I will gladly help. Here's my card."

Sunset blinked and looked down at the silvery, almost translucent business card. "How do I even—?"

"Ah, different tech levels, of course… just touch here…" Rarity said, demonstrating the procedure. "If you ever feel ready to tap into the multiverse, let me know, I'll be delighted to help."

Sunset licked her lips, watching Rarity sway her way towards the door. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was her curiosity… or maybe it was the challenge. Or the alcohol. Or all of it. But, was she really going to let this one go?

It was probably the alcohol.

"H-hey," she said, just as Rarity pulled a device out of her purse. "You know, I think I might like to tap that."

"Well," she cleared her throat, "Sunset, I'm honored, but we just met and as I said earlier, I just came from a very toxic relationship—"

"No, nono…" Sunset stammered, feeling her face blush. "The multiverse. I mean. The bar. I think… I think I'd like to do that."

Rarity smiled, eyes glinting. "Oh darling, I know just the man to help us."

Author's Note

Like what you read? Remember that by joining my Patreon, you are helping the creation of more stories to enjoy!

Remember that my Patrons have first dibs on what worlds get visited!

The Bar at the End of the Multiverse

Sunset's Isekai
By Wanderer D
Chapter 2

Somewhere in the multiverse, there is a bar.

It's small—the kind of a hole-in-the wall place which you might find open late at night while walking down the streets of Canterlot City in the 1920's… and a certain sturdiness to it. Resilient.

But unlike most bars, this one is not actually there… or rather, not where creatures think it is.

The entrance to Sunset's Isekai can only be found in passing, and from the corner of the eye, an archway made stone, emerging from a wall where nothing was before, and in fact seems impossible to actually lead anywhere.

A door of solid oak—lovingly worked and stained to look almost golden-red—with a thick, crystal version of her cutie mark at eye level awaits visitors under the soft light of a gas lamp. A small wooden blackboard with a crayon-drawn cocktail glass with a ying-yang sun on it instead of a lemon wedge invites creatures in with the promise of a good time.

This door opens to all worlds, and can only be seen by those that need a drink. And they need that drink to be just the right type of different.

The bar's doors, once opened to a customer, will always be open to them when they need to step away. The interior of the bar is simple… a narrow hall with four tables to the right of the entrance—all in a line—designed for no more than two guests per table. The bar itself is long, made of wood and black leather, and allows for about ten more guests to sit down there, facing the bartender, before it ends by curving into the corner of the room, right next to the hallway where the restrooms are and across from the old jukebox.

The jukebox itself is an interesting device—with a magical sensor that plays just the right song at the right time. Or so it says in the instruction manual.

The restrooms are serviceable, single-entity. Kept clean by techno-magical means, and tastefully decorated to match the theme of the bar itself.

The walls of Sunset's Isekai are brick and mortar, with panels made of dark, almost black, wood, decorated only with a couple of guitars, and several empty frames, save for one picture of the proud owner and her patron.

Behind the bar itself, a considerable assortment of drinks and glasses extends all the way down to the end of the establishment, stopping only where the bar turns in to connect with the wall, four levels high above the sink and containing bottles of all shapes, sizes and prices.

And also behind the bar stands its esteemed owner, cleaning the surface—again—and wondering why she had decided to actually do this in the first place.

"What do you mean by 'forever'?"

Rarity cleared her throat. "Well, darling, I did mention that purchasing this establishment meant that it was yours forever."

Sunset rubbed her temples. "And that, I took to mean that I didn't have to make any further payments!"

"Well, you're not wrong, it just… has some unintended effects."

Sunset stopped rubbing her temples. "Unintended effects?"

"Apparently so." Rarity patted her on the back, then headed for the door. "I'm going to do some PR for the bar, see you soon, darling!"

Sunset shook her head, grumbling under her breath as the memories replayed in her mind, and fondly thinking about choking her business partner to death.

Sunset paused and tapped her chin. "Wait… does that mean I can actually do stuff that would normally kill her and not do damage? What does she even mean by—ugh. No. Bad Sunset! Bad! Now I need a drink."

Just as she was reaching for a bottle, the door to the bar opened, the little silver bell that Rarity had insisted on putting there giving a cheerful, clear, almost crystalline chime as her very first patron entered. Two voices reached her ears, and one person ran past behind her and into the restrooms before she could even turn around.

Sunset forgot her drink, making sure that the bottle was in place before quickly checking her attire—a plain white blouse under a black waistcoat (with a pin of her cutie mark on the lapel), a simple black tie, and a pair of dark slim dress pants—before forcing herself to smile pleasantly at her very first guest.

The Ghost and the Shadow (Danny Phantom - Post Series)

Sunset's Isekai
The Ghost and the Shadow
By Wanderer D

"Alright," Lena said, leaning back and closing the book. "I think I've had enough for today."

"I think—as your mentor—that's my decision," Sunset countered, but after a moment of glaring at each other, she smirked. "And I agree. I'm glad the magic lessons are paying off."

"Well, without your help I wouldn't have been of much assistance with Scrooge's team to take back the mansion," Lena admitted with a grimace.

"Hey, you did fine," Sunset said, patting the young duck's shoulder. "You controlled the flow, transformed things, kept your cool, and used your magic like a pro. I'm proud of you."

Lena chuckled. "Heh, I'm still not used to praise like that. Whenever I performed some complicated spell, Au—Magica simply told me that it was "sufficient", you know?" She grimaced. "Because it was natural that even if I was just a shadow of her, I should be able to do it."

Sunset shrugged, "I'm not impressed by her decision-making skills. And clearly she completely underestimated your own talents. If you were a unicorn, I'd recommend you immediately to study under Celestia herself."

Lena's smile grew. "Coming from you, that means a lot. I never thought a mere shadow could achieve this much."

"And I mean every word too," Sunset said, smiling warmly. "So none of that "I'm just a shadow" attitude. I think you'll grow up to be one of the best magicians in the multiverse, and that is something Magica will never accomplish herself."

"Aww, shucks," Lena laughed then leaned in to pick up her tea and took a sip. "You'll make me feel self-conscious, teach." She brushed her feathers out of the way and looked up at Sunset. "So, when's our next lesson?"

"Hm, let me—" Sunset was interrupted when her phone chimed. "Hold on." She picked it up, glancing at the message. "Huh. It's Nightmare Night back home."

"Nightmare Night?" Lena asked. "What's that, like Halloween or something?"

"Pretty similar,' Sunset said, putting down her phone. "Although in my world it's the night that Nightmare Moon was exiled to the moon for a thousand years." She grinned. "Little colts and fillies run all over the city asking for candy to appease her appetite so she will not gobble them up!"

Lena laughed weakly. "Yeah, we have legends like that too."

"That was a true story, though," Sunset said, standing up and picking up the empty teacups. "Princess Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon and fought Princess Celestia over the Everfree Forest. The whole world was encased in darkness during the fight, and by the end of it, the silhouette of Nightmare Moon's head was visible on the moon, as it trapped and absorbed her essence."

Lena's eyes were wide. "What happened then?"

"Well, a thousand years went by and the spell imprisoning her broke," Sunset said as they started cleaning up the table. "She came back to Equestria and captured Princess Celestia, trapping her in the sun, just as she had been trapped in the Moon. But that's when Twilight Sparkle comes into the story. Together with her friends, she hunted down the Elements of Harmony, and used them to fight Nightmare Moon."

"So, is Nightmare Moon trapped in the moon again?" Lena asked, following Sunset into her office and starting to organize the books on the bookshelf.

"Nope. The Elements worked differently with her, just as they did on me," Sunset said, turning to smile at Lena. "Nightmare Moon was slammed by the magic, and when it was all over, Princess Luna was back. With Nightmare Moon gone, Princess Celestia quickly returned to the world and instead of finding a victorious student and a trapped monster, she returned to find her sister alive and well, and cured of her madness."

Lena laughed. "Okay, that's a good ending, but I thought you were going to go for a scary one. You missed a perfect chance."

"Did I?" Sunset asked, motioning for the young duck to follow. "If it's Nightmare Night, then I'm bound to expect a special guest."

Lena blinked. "What do you mean?"

That's when the door slammed open and a young human girl ran in. She was dressed in a very similar way to Lena, with clothes that were just a bit too big, without it becoming so much it would hinder her. Her hair was raven black and her eyes an ocean blue. She looked around and noticed them, grinning. "Sunset Shimmer! You came back, just like you promised! And you brought a Teenage Mutant Duck!"

"A what?!" Lena gasped. "What did you call me, brat?"

Sunset couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "She's not a mutant, I told you before I'm visiting all of the multiverse. Anyway, let me introduce you girls." She stepped to the side so the two youngsters could get closer to each other.

There was something about this girl that reminded Lena a lot of Webby. She wasn't sure if it was the height—she was short—or the mischievous smile, or that self-assured air of competence and curiosity, but she felt herself instantly liking her. Something told her they would be getting along fine.

The girl studied her with similar interest, looking her up and down and taking her measure. Whatever she saw, she seemed to approve and returned Lena's smile with her own.

"Lena, this here is my bodyguard-wannabe, Danielle Phantom." Sunset turned to the young girl. "Dani, this is my student: Lena de Spell."

"I can't believe you made me wait a whole year and you got a student in the meantime!" Dani moaned. She gave Sunset a rueful look, slurping her strawberry milkshake.

"Hey, don't give her a hard time," Lena said, her own, chocolate milkshake in hand. "I hate to admit it but I really needed help, you know?"

Dani sighed. "I know, I know, but I'm… not doing that great either. It's hard living on your own, even with superpowers."

Lena raised an eyebrow. "What type of powers?"

"I'm a ghost," Dani said.

Lena stared at her, then poked her. "Nope. I know a ghost and you can't poke him. He's also see-through. And a waste of magic."

"Different ghosts in different universes, Dani," Sunset said, joining them at the table. "So it's not a bad ghost." She paused and looked at Lena. "Right?"

"Nah, Duckworth isn't that bad," Lena said. "He has a nightmarish form which he can use to scare people, and granted, he enjoys that way too much... but he throws the best parties."

Sunset pondered that. "Huh."

"Anyway," Dani spoke up. "I'm totally a ghost! I just have a human form too!"

Lena leaned back, draping her arm over the back of the chair, and gave Dani a half-lidded eye of disbelief. "Prove it."

The little girl jumped off the table and stood, legs spread and fists raised as her whole body was enveloped in light blue energy that transformed her clothes into a black and white jumpsuit, while her hair turned completely white and her bright blue eyes, into slightly-glowing emerald-green.

Smirking, the young ghost levitated up into the air and phased through Lena, who trembled at the feeling. "Okay! I believe you!"

"Ooooh! A ghoooost!" Dani crowed as she hovered around the duck. She made to do another pass, but Lena's eyes lit up with inner light that had traces of darkness around it. An invisible barrier stopped her in the air where she could do nothign but stare in surprise. "Alright, alright! I was only playing around. I'll sit down! Geeze!"

She reverted down to her normal form as soon as Lena released her and took her seat. "What's with the black magic, anyway?" she asked, slurping more milkshake as if nothing had happened.

Sunset glanced at Lena, ready to act if necessary, but the young witch was able to get a hold of the warring energies and dissipate them with long, steady breaths. She fell forward, grabbing the edge of the table to steady herself. "T-that was not cool," Lena mustered.

"Hey, you okay?" Dani asked, leaning over the table a little worried. "I'm sorry, I didn't think my prank would do this."

"Yeah. I'm just… I'm not a normal duck, alright? I was created by my evil "aunt" from her shadow and sometimes my essence just does that."

"Oh my gosh!" Dani gasped, leaning across the table. "You too?!"

Sunset chuckled and stood up. "I think I'll let you girls talk, I have plenty of work, so just call me if you need anything."

"Will do!" Dani said.

Lena watched her go and then turned her attention to Dani. "What do you mean?"

"Well, to explain that I need to explain a bit more about my sorta-family."

Lena grinned and leaned back, crossing one leg over the other as she got comfortable. "I'm not going anywhere. And it's not like it's possible to be late in this bar."

"That is true," Dani said, smiling. "Anyway, I'll try to make this short. Back in my world there's this kid named Danny Fenton, right? He got powers thanks to an invention that my 'father',"—She stopped to make quotation marks with her fingers.— "Vlad Masters and his parents had developed when they were younger to access the Ghost Zone."

Lena sighed. "Oh. One of those places. Sounds a lot like the Shadow Realm: Parallel to Earth? Full of scary things? Normal people can't see or access it?"

Dani nodded. "You got it. Well, it turns out, Vlad also had powers—and he had been using them for ages, to get rich and control several companies! But anyway, he wanted to recreate Danny for one of his bone-headed plans, and while cloning him he created many failed ghosts that would only last for so long before melting, in one variation he got me."

Dani cleared her throat. "It… wasn't very stable, so he convinced me to help capture Danny… but he betrayed me, and left me to die." She curled her hand into a fist. "Danny helped me escape and later on helped stabilize my ectoplasm, so now I won't just die because I'm using my powers… but after that? I mean, Danny and his family offered to adopt me, but there was just so much to do, you know?"

"Heh," Lena grinned. "Oh, I know what you mean. Once I got over being on my own, the world was my oyster."

"Right?" Dani asked, eyes shining. Then her smile faded a little. "But I still was an outcast, and I still was made from… whatever Vlad had thrown in along with Danny's DNA. After Danny convinced all the ghosts to save Earth, I was really stuck on what to do. I could feel the darkness in me… but then, during a fight with another ghost, I found the page."

Lena tilted her head. "The page?"

"From Sojourn's Journal(1)," Dani said. "It was something that Vlad had told me about before… he's been hunting for them as his plans advanced. They're pieces to find a secret place in the Ghost Zone which is called "The Elsewhereness"."

"That's a mouthful," Lena said, shaking her head.

Dani took the opportunity to drink more of her milkshake. "Tell me about it. Anyway, the problem is not only that it's basically a legend, but also that getting to the Ghost Zone is really hard… and any slight miscalculation can end with you in… really bad places."

Lena watched as the young human tapped her fingertips guiltily. "I… knew this, but I didn't care. I used tech that I had stolen from Vlad and borrowed from the Fentons—"

"Borrowed?"

Dani gave Lena a look.

Lena smirked.

Dani shrugged. "Anyway, with the tech, I went to several places in the Ghost Zone, but none of them matched what I thought was in the page… and one time, I messed up and I ended up in a place called The Unworld."

"These names." Lena frowned. "They're killin' me, smalls."

"Whatever," Dani said, grinning. "I know it sounds dumb, but that place is horrible. If you're a human, you can fly, go through things and all that good stuff in the Ghost Zone, while ghosts can't. In the normal world, ghosts can do those things. In the Unworld… you have no powers." She gulped. "And it's dangerous."

"That's where I found her," Sunset said as she walked into the bar proper, carrying a heavy-looking box. "I had to drop Rarity off there, and just as I was about to head out, this girl comes running through the door."

Lena chuckled. "Scared?"

"Hey, there were… things chasing me, okay?" Dani said, crossing her arms and glaring at her.

"Okay! Okay!" Lena said, raising her hands in a placating manner. "Let's not get into an argument! I've been chased in my nightmares to the point of being afraid to sleep, so it's not like I have a leg to stand on if I wanted to make fun of you."

The pair sat back into a comfortable silence, slurping their milkshakes and with the silence of the bar only broken by Sunset coming or going. It wasn't long after Sunset went into her office that Lena spoke up again, "So… created as a clone, huh?"

"Yep," Dani said, "from green goo. It wasn't too long ago that I was melting into a puddle. It was really dumb luck that Danny managed to infuse a random experiment of his dad's into my DNA and save me but… I did melt. It was not fun."

"Yeah. When Magica took over Ducksburg and I tried to fight her she…" Lena wrapped her arms around herself. "She turned me back into a shadow and absorbed me."

"Ouch, that doesn't sound fun." Dani grimaced.

"It's not." Lena chuckled. "At first I was just… meshed in her, part of her army of shadows, but Webby—she's my best friend—was able to reach out to me and… I don't know how, when Magica was defeated, and all the other shadows were blasted into basically oblivious nothingness, I remained behind. I stayed stuck in the Shadow Realm for almost six months though." She smirked. "I couldn't talk to the others, but I could still hang around Webby and the others and… well, try to help, at least, even if I didn't do much unless magic was involved."

"Heh, like some sort of stalker ghost."

"I mean, I didn't follow her to any weird places!"

"I'm teasing." Dani ginned. "Yeah. When I went… goo… I didn't really feel pain, but it was horrifying. I felt the strength leave my arms and legs. I couldn't lift them and I could feel them melting before I slowly stopped feeling anything at all. At least if I had been able to feel something I—" She gulped. "I dunno."

Lena took a deep breath and let it out slowly, she glanced around the bar. "I wonder what will happen to us when we die?"

Dani blinked. "Okay." She pointed at herself with her free hand, the other holding her milkshake for another quick sip. "Ghost?"

"Alright," Lena said, crossing her arms. "Hear me out. So, ghosts happen when a creature—"

"Not person?"

Lena gave her a short glare. "It's a habit I've picked up from here. Too many species. Anyway, person, creature, whatever. They die, then ghost and/or afterlife, or something, right? Kinda hard to argue with that since I have ghosts in my own world."

"Right." Dani put down her milkshake and slid her hands into her pockets. "That's pretty much standard."

"But… we're not really people, are we?" Lena asked softly. "We're constructs."

Dani stared at her. "Wow. Now I'm really going to get a complex."

"I'm serious, though," Lena said, choking back a laugh. "We didn't really die, did we? But we were close. I usually don't think much about it but..." She motioned at Dani with her hand. "You come from a world full of ghosts."

"No, I get what you mean," Dani said. "I usually just don't think about it. I mean, it's a certainty that everyone else has a chance to become a ghost, at least in my world. There are also a LOT of different places in the Ghost Zone, where ghosts live as normal people or go to areas where they can do what they most enjoyed in life. But…" She trailed off.

"What about us, right?" Lena said. She licked her beak. "I—don't even know if I'll age. It took some time for me to turn from a shadow left behind into this but. I've been around for a while, looking like this. I might be a teen forever."

"Well, I for one hope I get older," Dani said. "I don't want to be a kid the rest of eternity like something out of an angsty vampire novel."

"Tell me about it."

They fell into an uneasy silence, neither willing to meet each other's eyes, or even drink their milkshakes.

"Well, I expected you to become friends, not to fall into doom and gloom at the first chance you got," Sunset commented as she emerged from her office. When she closed the door, it shimmered and the ying-yang sunset mark on the door turned into Rarity's three diamonds. "What's going on?"

"Nothing much," Lena sighed. "Just wondering what happens to constructs when they die."

Sunset frowned. "I imagine this is not a joke."

"It's not," Dani said. "Since we're both created like this, even having an afterlife of sorts like I do, what would happen if I really died?"

Sunset blinked.

"I'm made of shadows, and basically she's a clone," Lena elaborated. "Most places require you to not be made up to have a soul and therefore an afterlife."

"I see." Sunset took a seat. "Man, this is above my paygrade."

Lena and Dani glared at her and she grinned. "Sorry, sorry. I'm not making fun of you girls, I'm tying to figure out how to put my thoughts into words." She took a deep breath. "A lot of places have no concept or even a real proof of an afterlife, you know?" she started, crossing her arms and staring at the half-full glasses of milkshakes. "Sure, they have some religion or other telling them they have one, but proof?" She shook her head. "Nah. And just because it's true in one universe, it doesn't mean it's true in another."

"So… what do they do then?" Lena asked.

"The same we do, the same you do." Sunset gestured with her hand and a bottle of soda levitated from the fridge up to her. She took a sip before continuing, "they live their lives and try to change and leave a mark in the world that will come after them."

The girls were quiet.

Sunset sighed. "I have a friend… someone I want you girls to meet some day, but he once wrote the declaration of principles for an alliance of many species and worlds, to work in harmony. Every time I talk to him, I—he touches something deep within me. With his words, his history—" She laughed a little, then straightened up in her seat. "Anyway, part of that declaration of principles says this:

"Here, gathered together in common cause, we agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule: That we must be kind to one another.
Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us and each voice lost diminishes us.
We are the voice of the Universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future.
We are one."(2)

The girls stared at her, and Sunset wasn't sure it was because of the words themselves, because of how solemnly she had said that, or because she had remembered it exactly, but she took that as a sign to continue. "This has been true every place I have been to. Every Rarity, every Gilda. Every wizard. Every human. Every Atlantean. Every immortal or mortal."

She smiled and reached out taking the girl's hands in her own. "It's scary, not knowing. I don't know either for sure, but… every voice matters. Every creature across the multiverse has a message of their own; a shared intent to live or be outlived by their legacy in some way or another. Maybe we'll become ghosts, or maybe we'll fade… but I look at you girls, and I sit here and I hear you and I feel your joy and sadness, and I know you're as real as I am. As anyone else out there.

"I know you matter, and not only to me, but to everyone else that meets you. And that your absence would sadden me and make the universe a little less bright. And what is that but your soul? The one thing that every culture across the multiverse debates and argues but all agree that is, in the end, what goes to the afterlife or not?"

Lena smirked, then chuckled, then let out a laugh. "Sunset, you take things too seriously."

"Yeah," Dani said, a big grin on her face and her eyes sparkling with veritable joy. "We were just talking, you know?"

Sunset smiled, and finished off her soda, before patting the pair on their shoulders. "Of course. I didn't need to take things so solemnly, right?"

"Right!"

"How about we go back to my home and visit Princess Twilight and the others? Tonight's Nightmare Night, after all, and what better than demons, shadows with magical powers and ghosts to give them all a good fright?"

Lena and Dani shared a glance. "Sounds like a plan!"

As Sunset picked up the glasses and took them to wash, the girls smiled at each other.

"We are one, huh?" Lena asked, offering her fist to Dani.

"We are one," the ghost replied, bumping her fist with her own.

End Chapter

Author's Note

(1) Butch Hartman's Youtube Channel explorations of the Danny Phantom characters. Future, development, Ghost Zone secrets, etc. Many, many vids!

(2) G'kar, Declaration of Principles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guLQ8KDNyLw

Weyr Drinks (Harry Is A Dragon, And That's Okay — Fic - Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
Weyr Drinks (Harry Is A Dragon, And That's Okay — Fanfic - Ongoing)
By Wanderer D & Saphroneth

Harry looked left, right, then left again, before finally crossing the street.

This didn’t occasion any comment from passing pedestrians, even though he was a dragon and you didn’t normally see dragons on the streets of medium-sized towns in Scotland. But then again, the people in Fort William didn’t see a dragon when they looked at Harry, so as far as they were concerned Harry was just a normal fourteen-year-old out shopping in the afternoon.

Thinking about how mostly right they were, Harry turned left onto the main pedestrianized bit of Fort William. He’d been around the town quite a lot, ever since only a couple of months after he started going to school nearby, and by now it was really quite familiar and he could find his way between the bookshops almost without needing to think about it.

Halfway past an alleyway, though, he stopped and frowned before backing up a step and looking down the alley.

Yes, there was definitely a door there. And Harry wasn’t an expert on non-magical construction techniques - or magical ones, really - but he was fairly sure that that door hadn’t been there last week and therefore there seemed to be something quite odd going on.

Tilting his head, he thought for a moment about what he had to do on this visit. He had two books to take back to the library, and he wanted to see if there were any new books he’d be interested in, but neither of those things seemed like they’d take very much time and it was still quite early. Then there was the whole thing with what to do about the Yule Ball, which Harry had been putting off for days now and which he still hadn’t come to any sort of decision on, but that was more of a background thing than anything urgent for today.

Shrugging - which was quite an extravagant thing for a dragon to do, involving as it did a lot of activity for his wings - Harry turned down the alleyway to see if there was anything interesting behind the door.

The door itself seemed to qualify as quite interesting all by itself. It was sort of set into a stone archway, all of it in the side of the cinema, and that gave Harry a moment of pause because he was fairly sure that the cinema wouldn’t build a stone archway that led into one of their screens or something.

And if they did it would probably have to be a fire escape.

Instead, this door looked a lot like oak, albeit a very golden-y-red-y sort of oak which struck Harry as a much better colour for the wood in his House common room than the actual wood they used, and it had a funny crystal symbol on the front that looked like someone had tried to mix a sun and a yin-yang and decided to compromise at exactly the point that let them make it red and yellow.

There was a sign next to it with a cocktail glass.

It all reminded Harry of a pub, albeit quite a peculiar one, and he sat back for a long moment while he thought about whether he should see what it was like inside.

Maybe it wasn’t open yet? That would sort of decide things for him, and he gave the door an experimental push with a paw - only to discover that, in fact, the door simply opened with a kind of smooth glide to it.

That was good enough for Harry, and he made his way inside thinking vague thoughts about what Sirius called Pub Grub.

The bar had been quiet for hours, and expecting that to continue—it was a random Wednesday, after all... or someday—Sunset had pulled up a small stool behind the bar and sat on it, pulling out one of the magazines she had accumulated across the multiverse.

The Tesla Science Magazine, issue #9, "Tomorrow's technology for today's Super Soldiers (Blast Off To Adventure!)" had some weird concepts about how the world worked, and more specifically physics, but Sunset had to admit to herself—that chances were—the people that wrote the articles had a better grasp of that universe's laws than her. 'But still. Gamma-radiation guns? Really?'

She flipped a page just as the silver bell chimed, announcing a new guest. Sunset blinked, slowly standing up to stretch as her visitor seemed to take in what little could be seen of the bar, before proceeding to make their way to her. She could hear four steps, and although there were small clicks and clacks on the floor, the foot stomps were padded. So it was most certainly a creature with claws and paws approaching.

She used her foot to push the stool under the bar and blinked when the dragon walked into the bar proper.

It was very definitely a dragon, but not really the sort of dragon that Sunset was used to. In the first place, it was four-legged despite being small enough that an Equestrian dragon would be two-legged, and on top of that it was wearing a set of black robes that almost blended into black scales and hide.

Then there were the accessories, like a large backpack slung between the dragon’s forelegs and a pair of glasses balanced somewhat precariously on its muzzle with frames reaching back to its ears. And the odd lightning-bolt pattern of paler scales on the forehead, which looked like an identifying mark but Sunset wasn’t entirely sure what.

"Huh, aren't you an unusual sight," she said, smiling. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, this is my bar between the universes. I'm Sunset Shimmer, and I'll be your bartender tonight. Would you like something to drink? I could make you Skie's favorite: Storm over Gold, a creation of my own." She smirked proudly. "Aged Rum, Grand Marnier, Cognac and trapped lightning."

“Not really,” the dragon said, shaking his head. “I’m only fourteen, and it’s not legal for me to drink alcohol in this country unless Scotland has different drinking laws. I think butterbeer is allowed, but I’m not sure that’s alcoholic.”

He tilted his head a little. “Oh, do you have white spirits? I don’t think that’s alcoholic and it’s got a nice tang.”

"Huh." Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Not sure if I'm comfortable giving you turpentine to drink, even if you say it's okay. I can get you some butterbeer if you want, but I think I should have some more selections for a young dragon." She hummed and brought out a menu, shifting around.

“Oh!” the dragon said, his ears going up poing and coming dangerously close to sending his glasses flying. “You can see I’m a dragon, then? Because I’d be sure if this was Hogsmeade or somewhere, but because it’s not I wasn’t really sure if I was able to talk about anything to do with magic.”

She stopped shifting through the menu. "Butterbeer. Hogsmeade…" she peered at the dragon more closely. "Robes. Glasses… is that a scar or just different colored scales?" She leaned back. "Huh. You're a Harry Potter."

The dragon looked down at himself, then back at her. "Well, I should hope so. I am the only Harry Potter I have met I'm afraid, though there was that book series about a human one. Are you sure you’re not going off those? Because Harry Potter and the Dreadful Misunderstanding is the most accurate one and that’s not saying a lot."

She chuckled. "It's a big multiverse, Harry… can I call you Harry, or would you prefer Mr. Potter? Or do you have a specific Draconic name? Like Bryagh, Glaurung, or Khisanth?" She squinted at him. "You don't look like an Ingeloakastimizilian."

“I think Harry is fine,” Harry said. “My friend Ron’s brother Charlie Weasley was the one who officially described me, and he said I was a Black-Backed Bookwyrm.”

He stopped his forwards movement, then, and snagged one of the nearest chairs to use as a support. Hoisting his forelegs up on the seat to get a better look, he studied Sunset much more intently.

“You said multiverse?” he asked, but didn’t really bother waiting for a reply. “You mean you’ve been there - have you actually met dragons like Glaurung or Khisanth? What about Ruth, or, or maybe Pug, he’s not a dragon but he’s still a really interesting sort of person…”

It was at about that point that Harry visibly realized that there was no point asking questions if you didn’t let the person actually answer them.

“Sorry,” he added, wings flapping a little for support as he dropped back down from the stool. “A few years ago I found out that - well, one of the things I’ve always wanted to do is actually visit the places in my books. To even just know that some of them are real is…”

He shook his head, a little lost for words, then slid the chair back into place with his tail and repeated his hop-up-onto-his-hind-legs trick at the bar.

“What about… some klah?” he asked. “If you’ve got any, I mean.”

"Klah, sure," Sunset said. "I should be able to get some. Do you want some milk with it?" She asked as she went over to the bar to check for ingredients. "As for your questions… maybe? I haven't been everywhere, but a lot of places that I thought were only fiction, or even tv shows in some worlds, turned out to be real. They're not always exactly as the books or artists depict them," she said, as she started to mix the extract she had stored. "Sometimes they're more scary, or the people there less friendly. Overall, if someone imagined it, it probably exists somewhere."

She hummed in consideration, then decided to use milk, to make the klah richer in flavor. "So from what you said earlier, about me being able to see you, and Ron's brother, I take it the others are humans?" She glanced over her shoulder as the drink warmed up with magic. "Doesn't that complicate things for you? Must be kind of tough."

“No?” Harry said, slightly surprised by the idea. “It’s actually going quite well, really. I suppose there’s more work than last year, but I am on the way to doing my O.W.Ls.”

"Well, that's great to hear, Harry," Sunset said, turning around and gently placing a large cup—almost a bowl—in front of him. "Here you go, one klah with milk, just remember it might keep you up at night."

He took a sip of the drink, licking the inside of his mouth like he was committing the taste to memory (which was largely if not entirely because he was). “I am a bit unsure about the Yule Ball, though.”

“That’s…” Sunset began, trying to refresh her memory, but Harry kept going as if it had been a question.

“That’s a kind of dance, or mostly a dance,” he did his best to explain. “Or… something. I’m not really clear on the details because I haven’t been to one yet, but then nobody’s been to one yet, even Dumbledore isn’t old enough. But I’m not really sure I want to go, it just…”

His wings twitched a little. “I don’t really know how to think about it. I imagine it’s a lot simpler for other people though.”

Sunset crossed her arms and looked at him curiously. "What do you mean simpler for others? I happen to know bipeds can dance with quadrupeds just fine."

“You do?” Harry asked. “That sounds like the sort of thing it’d be good to know - but, not really. I mean…”

He took another drink to try and clear out his thoughts.

“From what everyone’s been saying, it feels like it’s all about romance and stuff,” the young dragon explained. “And I don’t really think I have any of that sort of feeling yet? Maybe dragons like me age differently than humans do… but it sort of seems like it’d be pointless to go if that’s the main thing it’s about.”

There was a little click as he set the bowl back down. “And at the same time it doesn’t seem fair that nearly half the school isn’t allowed to go, and… I’ve kind of been thinking about it all week, I suppose,” he explained. “Even when I thought I wasn’t thinking about it. Or thought I wasn’t really thinking about anything.”

"So, you don't have a girlfriend… drakefriend?" Sunset hummed. "I'm sure there's a proper term. Anyway, I mean anyone that you might be interested in and that's why you're thinking it's going to be complicated?"

“Well… there aren’t any dragons at Hogwarts, except for me,” Harry tried to clarify. “And Nora, but she’s a different sort of dragon, the sort everyone’s used to. And I suppose the hatchlings now, but they can’t even talk in Dragonish yet…”

Harry realized that was unhelpful. “Anyway, um, sort of? Or I’ve never really felt that sort of thing, not yet, so when everyone’s talking about dates I’m not really sure what to say.”

"And you're obviously not looking at this time," she added, nodding in understanding. "Well Harry, I went to my fair share of balls back when I was in highschool." She tapped her chin. "I don't think you need to worry much, unless your friends have been teasing you about it?"

“I don’t think they have,” Harry answered, then added, “but I’m not sure I’d notice. What were the balls like at your high school, then? I’ve never been to one, and it might help.”

"Well," she smiled. "When I was a unicorn, back in Canterlot, Princess Celestia used to organize balls for her school, and it was mostly about having fun. The Grand Galloping Gala, for example, was different. In that one, you needed to be on your best behaviour, and the idea was to get contacts and impress the nobles and important ponies." She giggled. "Looking back on it, I tried a little too hard to impress a few of them." She chuckled and went over to serve herself a small sample of klah in a more human-sized cup. "My human High School balls were a lot like the ones back at pony school, although I admit some people took the opportunity to smooch around. I uh… had other plans, but I'd say it was mostly about having fun."

“You were a unicorn?” Harry said. “Is that sort of like how kitsune can turn into foxes, or rather kitsune are foxes and are not foxes at the same time so they can sort of pick what to be? Or is it more complicated than that?”

Leaving that aside as a puzzle for the ages, the dragon looked up as he tried to remember the last few days more clearly. “It does seem a lot like the girls are having fun talking about it, so I suppose it is fun for them. All the boys who are going to be going seem too stressed out by the whole thing though.”

Sunset nodded. "Well, yes. For girls, it sometimes involves a lot of things. Choosing the right dress, looking nice, fixing their hair… also feel appreciated when boys take note of that." She fixed him with a look. "So take note of it. Don't go overboard, but a girl that spent hours getting ready will like to hear she looks nice, alright? Other than that… do you enjoy dancing?"

“I don’t really dance at all,” Harry shrugged, which once more involved his wings and sent quite a rush of wind throughout the pub. (Or bar, or whichever it was.) “Most dances seem to be learned out of books or by other people teaching you, and there aren’t many of those for dragons. June might know one or two for four legged people though.”

After a moment, he looked up to clarify. “She’s a warg.”

That didn’t seem to clarify anything.

"Aren't wargs supposed to be evil?" Sunset asked.

“Well, yes, they’re supposed to be,” Harry agreed. “But they aren’t, really. Being descended from a werewolf doesn’t make you evil.”

"I… can't really argue that point, well played, Harry," Sunset admitted, smiling. "Here's what I think… well, a possibility, if you will. If you wanted to learn to dance, I could always turn into a unicorn or maybe even a dragon roughly your size and teach you a little, but if you don't, that shouldn't really matter in the long run. It depends on how you'd like to pass the time."

“I’m not really sure I’d have the time to learn,” Harry admitted. “I know it’s not very late in the day yet, but I’ve always heard it takes a long time to learn to dance. And I still feel like I’m not sure if I’d actually enjoy going at all.”

He shifted a little, which made his backpack nearly fall onto the floor until his tail caught it. “I’d much rather spend the time reading a book or something, usually.”

"Hm. I see where this is going." Sunset leaned on the bar. "We could handle the time to learn to dance, but I don't think that's really the problem. Harry," she poked his snout, "you need to hang out with your friends. Don't they read books or watch the same movies? Have similar interests? The point of a ball is in part to dress up, sure, but also to have fun. Chat around. Get informally accepted into Slytherin through a game of 'who poisoned the punch'. It's a good chance to break the ice with others."

“Well, they do read books, and Hermione showed me my first movie,” Harry said. “I spend a lot of time with them, really…”

That last part gave him a bit of a pause, though, and he subsided for a bit before carefully picking up a peanut from a convenient bowl. A thin jet of flame roasted it thoroughly enough that it turned black, but the dragon ate it with every indication of enjoyment anyway.

“So…” Harry resumed, clearly thinking deeply, and took a long drink of his Klah. “It’s sort of like a Gather, then. You can go to a Gather with someone, or you can just go to a Gather. And since this is supposed to be all about meeting people from other schools, it’s the best chance there is to just… talk to them without one of you doing homework or it being the middle of a lesson or being told off for being too loud in the library. Or talking with your mouth full.”

Sunset blinked a couple of times. "Well. Yes. I mean… I want to say that it's more special than that, but—" she slumped a little "—that would be a lie. It really boils down to that."

Harry giggled a bit. “No, it’s helpful!” he assured her. “It’s sort of good to know that it won’t just turn into a disaster if it goes a bit wrong. I understand about things like dark objects, because dark objects are meant to be thrown into volcanoes or things like that, but how to deal with a ball is something that in all the books they sort of just… either they say it went well without giving all the details, or they give all the details and it goes badly wrong.”

That made him frown. “Maybe because reading about it going well would be a bit boring?”

"It definitely depends on the novels you read," Sunset said, nodding sagely. "I don't think any ball in any of Rarity's books ever goes badly. Or at least if it does, the rest of the night doesn't. But that's romance literature for you."

“I tried reading one of those, once,” Harry told her. “It had a dragon on the front.”

His tail went thump against the ground. “The dragon wasn’t very relevant to what happened at all. I wonder if that’s what’s called false advertising?”

"It is certainly a stretch of the metaphor," Sunset said grinning. "I take it it's not your cup of tea?"

“I prefer the sort of stories which talk about different places, I think,” Harry said, after considering that. “Or… I suppose that tell good stories? I started out reading books because they had dragons on, because nobody else was a dragon but those stories had plenty of dragons in, and I sort of got into liking a lot of them.”

He gestured with one paw, nearly moving far enough to overbalance from his bar stool. “It’s sort of hard to describe? Because sometimes there’s a book that I think I’ll like, that has a lot of the same things as other books I like, that’s even by the same person as another book I like, but it just… doesn’t seem to work?”

Sunset shrugged. "I think Rarity would be better at defending romance novels than I can ever be. My interests lie in other directions. But I think I know what you're saying, sometimes an author will try to venture into a different genre and they don't carry the spark they had before to that one."

“It is funny how that works,” Harry said, then frowned and looked at his watch. “I feel like it’s a lot later than it should be.“

"I guess you'd better get going then, don't want to miss the chance to buy some extra books, right?" Sunset asked. "So you never told me, though, what did you think of the klah?"

“It was great!” Harry replied, brightening up considerably, and this time his glasses did go flying. He tried to catch them out of the air, juggling them a couple of times before they finally landed on the bar top, and Sunset watched with some surprise as Harry snagged them with his tail from several feet away before bringing them back to his paws.

“Don’t you need those to see?” she asked.

“Not really, it’s more sort of habit,” Harry replied, putting them back on. “And - yeah, I’ve sort of guessed that klah was a bit like hot chocolate but I didn’t know it was going to be like that. I’m going to remember it every time I read any of the books now.”

Sunset laughed. "Do you want to take some extract?" she offered, "I can always get more, and the one I opened is halfway done. Just warm milk and pour it in."

“That would be great,” Harry agreed, already thinking about rationing and being careful with such a precious gift.

Or possibly whether he could get someone to duplicate it, because if he remembered correctly you could do that with magic.

"Perfect!" Sunset said, passing him a small vial. "Now, just before you go, we have a tradition here." She gave him a small, silver business card. "If you ever want to come back, you can use that. And…" she showed him her cell phone. "We take a picture together."

The way Harry reacted to the phone was something of a reminder to Sunset that, for a Harry Potter to be fourteen, it would have to be about nineteen ninety-four.

“How far in the future did that thing come from?” he asked. “It’s all screen! And it’s a camera?”

"Hm." Sunset smirked. "Spoilers."

Buoyed by his talk with Sunset, Harry made up his mind quite firmly on the way back to Hogwarts, and it felt much more like a pleasant decision than the one he’d made before. In an odd sort of way, it felt like he now wasn’t as worried because he’d made the right choice (while before he’d made a choice which turned out to not be the right choice and that was why he’d been uncomfortable) which was that the whole ‘going out with someone’ part of the Yule Ball was only the point of it if you wanted it to be. Otherwise it was just a chance to spend time with people, especially people from the other schools which were the whole point of the Triwizard Tournament in the first place.

So Harry could invite someone else if they wanted to go and couldn’t have gone otherwise, or he could just show up by himself and talk.

And when he explained all that to Sirius at his house in Hogsmeade, his godfather considered it for almost a minute.

“Maybe I should have expected that,” he said, eventually.

“You mean that I’d be worried about it?” Harry checked. “Sorry I didn’t ask you.”

“No,” Sirius replied, and it looked to Harry as if a grin was trying to escape onto his face. “I mean I should have expected that you’d be confused about whether you could go to the Ball on your own. It’s what James did, you know.”

Now Harry was confused all over again. “But there wasn’t a Yule Ball while you were at Hogwarts.”

“That’s not what I mean, Harry,” Sirius replied. “You should know better than most that your father often went stag.”

After a long moment of thought, Harry got it.

After a much shorter moment of thought, Sirius got a cushion to the face.

End Chapter

Author's Note

This chapter takes place in the unique and very fun Alt-universe Harry Potter Fanfic: Harry Potter is a Dragon, And that's Okay by our very own Saphroneth!

Legends (Assassin's Creed: Odyssey — Post Fate of Atlantis)

Sunset's Isekai
Legends (Assassin's Creed: Odyssey — Post Fate of Atlantis)
By Wanderer D

431 BCE, Phokis, Greece

"Barnabas."

Perhaps it was the tone in her voice, with the underlying threat of being displeased, or perhaps it was the sense of guilt for his obvious crime, or maybe... it was just that he was feeling jumpy today. But Kassandra was willing to bet it had more to do with the first and second options rather than the third.

"Ah, Commander!" He said, turning around with a slightly-forced smile on his face, awkwardly motioning with his arm towards the bay. "What a wonderful morning this is! Have you come to gaze upon the beauty of Eos with me?"

Kassandra crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "It is truly a sight to behold," she agreed, not even looking at the sun peeking from behind the horizon. "And I would have loved to have the blessings of Helios and Aeolus on our way back to Thera, but do you know who has decided to bless us instead today?"

Barnabas shuffled in place, glancing at the several passed out sailors, along with the ones still frolicking with the locals. "We will be ready to set sail, Kassandra, I can guarantee it!"

"It was none other than Dionysos himself," Kassandra continued, ignoring his words. "Ah, but that's not all, he decided to bring with him Achlys, just to make sure some of us would not be ready to depart today."

"Pah," Barnabas said with a wave of his hand and a nervous chuckle. "No sailor worth his salt—"

"She decided to grant one of her minor blessings upon our dear friend, Herodotus, who for some unknown reason—" she glared at him "—overindulged and now is wishing she had fully blessed him to spare his pain."

Barnabas cleared his throat. "Well, you see, Commander…"

"I do. And I don't like what I see."

"A-anyway, I assure you Commander, it was all for good reason!" the man insisted, and Kassandra found herself both, anticipating the excuse, and dreading it.

"Okay then, out with it," she said.

"You see, while I didn't tell the whole crew that you had visited Hades exactly…"

"Barnabas…"

"I might have mentioned that you helped young Phoibe to go to Elysium to meet her parents…"

"Barnabas... we have talked about keeping secrets, have we not?"

"Well, yes! But can you blame us for feeling happy that such a tragic, young child… found happiness in the afterlife? A brave girl who made her way through the Underworld to meet her parents, and almost tragically died again only to reach Elysium with your aid! We needed to celebrate!"

Kassandra rubbed her forehead. "I was wondering why the locals were looking at me like that. Now they all think I'm some sort of goddess!"

Barnabas replied with a shrug and motioning at her with his hands.

Kassandra looked down at her Atlantean armor, very similar indeed to the armor worn by Athenian heroes of old, and other than leather, made with unknown materials. "It's an armor, Barnabas."

"You can hardly blame people for believing you're a goddess if you look like Athena herself decided to descend from Olympus and take a stroll through Phokis when you're dressed like that!"

"People can create amazing things!" she countered, trying to ignore the fact that it did, kind of make her look like Athena. Especially considering that it made her Isu side a bit more apparent. "This could all be a trick! It's just a fancy armor!"

"And let's not forget that you ride a horse that is technically made of fire." The look he gave her was enough for her to back down. That was harder to explain. As a matter of fact, she had no idea why she could make Phobos look like that, but it did add a lot of shock value whenever she rode into battle when her horse took the Abraxas mantle. "Or that we have seen you go underwater for more time than is possible for any human."

"Fine, fine, I get your point." She shook her head, forcing herself to return to the item at hand. "But even then, you know Herodotus cannot drink that much. I need you to keep that in mind in the future, Barnabas."

"Of course, Commander! I will not forget it!"

"Alright, then I will talk to you soon." Kassandra walked away from the remains of the party and towards the town itself, mentally going over everything she had to do. A visit to the blacksmith wouldn't be a bad idea. Her weapons needed sharpening after all, given the constant use, and if she was going to seek more adventures… well. Better be prepared.

She stopped to shift through her belongings, stopping when she noticed the slightly shimmering piece of blue metal in her pocket. "Well, I am in Pokis, might as well, see if Sargon has any use for a single piece."

The walk through the busy, coastal town was always pleasant. Phokis was just far away enough from Attika and Lakonia to be on the fringe of the war. Sure, it traded places with who was in charge often enough, but it was far from the suffering around Athens to seem peaceful in comparison. The more one went inland, however… well, it wasn't her concern right now.

She made her way through the market to the docks and looked down towards the Oikos of Olympus Sargon's store of odds and ends than ever ceased to surprise. "Sargon!" she called, as she stepped under the tent.

"Ah, Kassandra!" the merchant chortled, waving her in. "How is my favorite misthios?"

"Ashore for now, unfortunately," Kassandra said, taking his forearm in a strong shake. "How is business?"

Sargon shrugged, motioning with his hand at the several items in his tent. "Better than ever! Now, tell me..." He leaned in with a glint in his eye. "Have you found any more orichalcum?"

She sighed. "Just the one piece," she said, pulling it out of her bag and tossing it at him. "I don't suppose you have anything worth it?"

Sargon shook his head. "None of the usual things of interest to you that I can sell for a single piece." He thought about it for a moment, before snapping his fingers and opening a drawer. "The only thing I have is this." He lifted a small, flat, rectangular object. It had silver engravings and marks that made up some sort of design. A sun?

2018, Greece - Safe House

Layla Hassan gasped as she sat up violently, shaking her head. She took off the Animus and rested her head against the cold stone of a nearby stair to gather herself before picking up the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus. "Aletheia, did Kassandra just find a business card?!"

When there was no response, she immediately turned around, "Victoria—" she stopped, looking at the carefully arranged body of her friend. With a pang of guilt, she sat down on the stone floor and took a deep breath. Half the time she needed to remind herself she wasn't going crazy… that she was responsible for her own actions, that she needed to learn how to control the staff, before it controlled her.

The reality of her current situation weighed heavy on her. After the incident in Atlantis, she had convinced the others that spending more time with Kassandra would help her gain better control of the Staff… something that seemed to be working, as the bleeding effect from Alexios was now little more than a trickle. A trickle that exposed how dangerous this was for her mental health.

But still, she was the only one who could use the power of the staff, now that Kassandra was gone. And she needed to learn more. She sat on the computer and checked the code, just to make sure nothing had been added without her knowledge, but it seemed to be just fine.

Which could only mean one thing. Kassandra had found an actual business card.

In 430 BCE.

"Oh this better have a good explanation," she muttered. "Maybe an Isu artifact? Did Isu even use business cards?"

She sat down and sighed, putting on the animus. Only one way to find out.

431 BCE, Phokis, Greece

Kassandra turned the object in her hands this way and that as she walked out of Sargon's store, walking out of town so she could examine it uninterrupted. "I swear that malaka sold me something completely useless. The symbols don't match anything I've seen before." She lifted it up so that it could reflect the light of the sun. "How do you even use this? Is it a clue to some ancient ruin?"

She sighed and dragged a hand down her face. "This is stupid. I can't believe I traded that piece of orichalcum for it."

"Oh, so that's where it ended up!" a voice said.

Kassandra blinked. Then blinked again. The woman that had just approached her was gorgeous, tall, with long purple-blue hair that curled at the ends, wearing a lovely one piece dress with a gold vest and bracelets. She had long, sensual legs and unusual blue eyes, however her ivory-white skin had familiar glowing patterns on it, which didn't make sense… because they should not be possible. "Are you a goddess?"

"Well, I've been called a great many things, dear, but I assure you I'm quite the opposite," the woman said. Then admired her own arm, tracing a finger on the Isu designs. "But if you're asking because of these, don't worry, I am not one of the Isu."

Kassandra raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I find that hard to believe. You are as tall as one, and as beautiful as Persephone herself."

The woman giggled. "Oh my, you really are a charmer."

"So, about this… device." Kassandra said, showing the woman the object she had obtained. "What is it?"

"A very special card," the woman replied. "It's usually not something you purchase, but I imagine you got it at the Oikos of Olympus?"

"Yes, Sargon traded it to me for a piece of orichalcum."

"Sargon?" the woman asked. "That young kid?" She shook her head. "He has no idea of the worth of that card. But now it's yours, Kassandra. I suggest maybe taking a stroll downtown. I'll have to talk to him about giving away such a precious artifact. I don't know how he expects to keep in business."

Kassandra nodded, and bowed a little, letting the not-goddess pass. She was an odd one, claiming not to be Isu, but as far as interactions with the gods went, that had been suspiciously nice.

Shaking her head, she summoned the Staff of Hermes. "Aletheia, who was that?"

"Unknown, Keeper. She is not Isu."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Kassandra muttered. "She looked like an Isu and even talked like one."

"Subject is not Isu. Attempts to scan the subject failed. Unknown technology is at work."

Kassandra sighed and shook her head, pacing in place before dismissing the staff. "I suppose it was just a matter of time before I would be dragged into another strange adventure." She resisted the urge to swear at the heavens, and took a deep breath. "Very well. To town we go."

431 BCE, Sunset's Isekai, Greece

Sunset heard the door open and the chime ring.

"Malaka," an unfamiliar voice muttered. "I knew this was going to get me in trouble. Where am I now?"

Heavy footsteps followed, and then a woman stepped in. Perfect balance between muscle and height, wearing the same type of armor she had seen Achilles wear in other universes. She stopped and looked around the bar, clearly bewildered before turning to look at Sunset herself.

"Athena?"

The woman dragged a hand down her face. "Okay, I give up. I guess I owe Barnabas an apology," she said, marching over to the bar. "But no, I am not Athena. My name is Kassandra."

"Right," Sunset said, blinking at the vehemence in her tone. "Nice to meet you, Kassandra, my name is Sunset Shimmer, and this is my little bar in the multiverse: Sunset's Isekai."

Kassandra took a moment to nod, then study the area. "So, a kapeleion." She sat down and pulled out one of Sunset's business cards, showing it to her. "This, and a goddess, are what brought me here."

"A goddess?" Sunset asked. "I don't have that many Greek goddess acquaintances, especially in this dimension. Can you be more specific?"

"Tall, really white skin, long blue hair, a bit haughty. Blue eyes."

"Rarity," Sunset surmised. "Okay, don't let her hear you calling her a goddess, it'll go to her head."

Kassandra smiled. "Too late, but she did tell me she wasn't one."

"That's unusually humble of her," Sunset said, causing Kassandra to chuckle. She handed her guest a menu, which Kassandra took.

"This is…" the warrior woman's eyebrows shot up. "It reminds me of Atlantis, but it's very different still. Less flashy."

Sunset shrugged. "Eh. I don't see the point of being too flashy. People come here for drinks, not to watch the pretty lights and colors I could make happen."

Kassandra shrugged and nodded.

2018, Greece - Safe House

"Guys," Layla called out on the radio, "can you hear me?" She was sitting down on the computer again, studying the code from the last hour of simulation. "I'm having something really strange happening in the Animus. Is there any sign of interference?"

"Nothing that we can detect," Alannah replied through the radio. "There's been no noise and as far as we can tell, the connection is secure."

"Kassandra just walked into a bar, guys," Layla insisted, typing furiously. "An honest-to-goodness, speakeasy bar, in the middle of Ancient Greece."

She could almost hear the incredulity through the silence in the comms.

Finally, Alannah found her voice. "Are you drunk?"

"I'm not drunk!" Layla snapped. "I've been checking the code to make sure that I'm not imagining things, but there's no interference or anything wrong with it! As far as I can tell, Kassandra did go to this 'Sunset's Isekai' place!"

"Did you say 'Isekai'?" Kiyoshi asked, his voice curious.

"Yes, I haven't gotten around to looking up for the meaning, I was convinced someone hacked into the system and was making me see things." Layla pulled up the ancient greek dictionary on her computer.

"It's not a Greek word," Kiyoshi said, making her pause. "It's Japanese. It means 'another world', or 'other world'."

The silence returned to the coms.

"She did say it was multidimensional," Layla muttered.

"Wait, who did?" Alannah asked. "I'm getting lost here. It's like you're talking about a bunch of characters from a book or movie that I haven't seen. You need to be more specific."

"Fine, fine, miss history expert with substantial knowledge of church-construction and ancient documents." Layla growled. "I'm talking about the bartender, one Sunset Shimmer, who had an Isu acquaintance named Rarity. Does that ring a bell to you, or you mister ex-yakuza?"

"Now you're just being facetious," Alannah said.

"I'm just being more specific," Layla said, shrugging although they couldn't see her. "You know, so that whoever reads this report has something to use as reference."

"Right," Kiyoshi said. "I don't know anything about this Sunset's Isekai."

"And neither do I," Allannah added. "I'll start looking into it."

"Okay, I'm going back into the animus—you know, the device that lets us see through the eyes of ancient people through the use of—"

"I know you're not supposed to stay in there too long, but you should definitely go in there again. Like now."

Smirking, Layla laid back and put the animus on. "See you guys soon."

431 BCE, Sunset's Isekai, Greece

"Your list of wines is quite extensive," Kassandra said. "What is Qualinost wine?"

"It's wine made in Qualinesti, it's less aged than the Silvanesti wine; more fruity, with hints of nuts and pine."

"I have never heard of it."

"It's made by elves."

2018, Greece - Safe House

"Seriously guys," Layla snapped. "Who's messing with the animus? Don't you know that's dangerous?"

"Noone's messing with it, Layla, just shut up and stay in there while we search!"

431 BCE, Sunset's Isekai, Greece

"Never heard of elves either," Kassandra said. "I'll try it."

"Alright!" Sunset said, picking up a bottle and dusting it off. "Two-hundred year old Qualinesti wine red wine," she said, showing the branding on the bottle to Kassandra, who nodded.

"I have no idea what it says there either."

Sunset chuckled, "sorry, sorry, force of habit."

"Also, didn't you say it was a younger wine? Two hundred years doesn't sound too young to me."

"Oh, it is… elves live very long lives," Sunset said, pouring the wine into a glass.

Kassandra took it gingerly with her fingers. "I'm not used to this…"

Sunset gasped. "Oh, of course, I'm so sorry!" she said, "please put it down again."

Curious, Kassandra did as instructed, and took a hasty step back from her seat when Sunset snapped her fingers and the glass was replaced by a kylix decorated with prancing horses, pegasi and unicorns on the outside. "Malaka!"

"No need to swear," Sunset said with a small smile. "Don't tell me there's no magic where you come from."

Kassandra gave her a glare and sat down, carefully picking up the cup and studying it. "It's… impressive. I noticed you didn't water the wine, are you perhaps familiar with Alkibiades?"

"Does sound familiar, but I don't know him personally. I believe Rarity said he was one of the people she'd be visiting."

"Huh." Kassandra carefully sipped the wine. "Very nice… I guess elves can take the time to allow the wine to reach perfection."

Sunset nodded. "One of the perks of living very long lives," she said.

"Might as well get used to it," Kassandra said, taking another sip.

Sunset gave her an odd look. "What do you mean?"

Kassandra pulled out the Staff of Hermes. "This staff was given to me by my father, and until I meet the Heir of Memories in the distant future, and she is ready to receive it, I am sworn as its Keeper to protect it."

"Interesting," Sunset murmured, waving her fingers in the air.

"Unauthorized scan detected. Keeper, protect the Staff."

She quickly pulled the staff away and stored it, but Sunset had already stopped wiggling her fingers. "Curiouser and curiouser," her host muttered. "It's not magical, although it's very advanced technology."

Kassandra rolled her eyes. "So, now are you going to demand I give it to you? Or tell me about a new quest?"

"Nope!" Sunset said. "You're here as my guest, and that's that. Besides, if you're here, you probably have things you need a sympathetic ear for a couple of reasons. And I imagine your newfound immortality is one of them."

Kassandra felt her eyebrow rise. "Not bad." She sighed, motioning for Sunset to refill her cup. "It is one of the things that keeps me up since I returned from Atlantis. One of the lessons there was to learn to say goodbye… I saw my friends, who had perished already in Elysium and in Hades… and I couldn't bring them with me."

Sunset nodded. "It's hard… you continue living, but your friends and family slowly age away… and while time stopped for you, it doesn't for those you care about."

Kassandra smirked, looking down at the wine before taking a long drink. "You seem to talk from experience."

"I'm… much older than I seem," her host confessed. "And even though I'm not necessarily trapped by space and time from seeing whoever I want, whenever I want… if I want to respect their lives, or see them as much as I can, they will eventually reach run out of time while I carry on."

Kassandra nodded. "How do you carry on from that?"

"I don't know yet," Sunset admitted. "I have the luxury of being able to do many other things to distract myself before I go back to them, therefore stretching the amount of time they are in my life. But I know that one day I will run out of chances to see them other than in their deathbeds." She licked her lips, summoning one of those fancy transparent glasses she had used earlier and pouring herself some wine. "I realize that I'll have to let go at some point, but I don't know how I will handle it."

"I suppose that's what Aletheia wanted me to understand with my trials in Hades," Kassandra said, tracing a finger on the edge of her kylix. When she noticed Sunset's look, she smiled. "Aletheia was one of the go—Isu, who somehow stored her knowledge into the staff. I can sometimes speak to her, as I assume the Heir will be able to as well. She lived for a really long time, so I suppose she knows what she's talking about."

"Letting go will be hard," Sunset said, nodding. "But I will never forget what my friends brought to my life. I think that way at least, they will carry on forever with me."

Kassandra grinned and raised her cup, taking a sip. "I can toast to that."

"It's still scary, though," Sunset admitted, lifting her glass to toast as well. "I know many others who are immortal and have gone through that grief many times. I can only hope I am just as strong."

"I'm sure you are," Kassandra replied. "And it seems that you have plenty of friends to help you through." She motioned with her head at the wall full of paintings so realistic she knew they were either magical or the result of some sort of technology she wasn't familiar with.

Sunset smiled. "Yeah, there's always that. You seem very comfortable with this whole situation, considering how different things must be."

"It's hard to be surprised when I've been to what amounts to different worlds," Kassandra responded, looking down at her armor. "Even though I was assured it was a simulation, I still lived it… I met friends, family… I felt every cut and kick. Every bite and burn. I am told it wasn't my own reality, and yet here I am, wearing the armor made for me as the Dikastes of Atlantis.

"My sword, staff, bow, and daggers are made from metal that does not exist in this world… and they cut as true—or better—than any blade made by the best blacksmiths. I ride a horse that, depending on my mood I can transform at will. People look at me as if I'm some sort of goddess, or demi-god… and by all accounts I do have the blood of those we know as gods in me." She lifted her hands to show her inability to explain it. "I don't know how it works, I just know it happens. I know I can fall from the highest cliff and not even feel rattled if I land on solid ground. I am…" She frowned, clenching her fist. "I am a legend brought to life."

Sunset reached over and patted her hand. "Doesn't seem like that makes you happy."

Kassandra sighed, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "It… does not. No. When we hear the legends of Herakles, or Achilles, we hear the glory that came with them, their noble sacrifice or their great fights. We often forget how they die, or worse, what they must have lived through.

"I've met kings, politicians that shape the modern world—well, my modern world, in any case—I've met gods and villains, ghosts and heroes… and it's always 'do this' or 'get that'." Kassandra sighed. "I'm tired… and this is my first lifetime. How am I supposed to live many, many more while I wait for someone who I will meet only briefly before I die?"

"You'll die?"

"If my father was anything to go by, yes." Kassandra cleared her throat. "He had lived close to two hundred years by the time we met, and the moment he gave me the staff…" she gave Sunset a shaky smile.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sunset said, returning the hand squeeze. "But, if it helps, you're always welcome here if you need someone to talk to."

Kassandra chuckled and sipped her wine again. "Thank you, Sunset." She took a deep breath. "So, you said that I was here for a couple of reasons," she smirked playfully. "What do you suppose is the other reason?"

Sunset shrugged. "I dunno, maybe the other person you have inside of you?"

Kassandra blinked. She had expected some flirting back, not, that kind of answer. "I'm not pregnant." She cleared her throat. "I don't think. I'm not attached to anyone."

"I'll have to introduce you to Freya first if you keep that up." Sunset laughed. "But no, that's not what I meant. There's someone there, tied through science and genetics, looking at things from your point of view, through your eyes and your senses." She leaned back, sliding her hand from under Kassandra's. "That's what my spell tells me anyway. I could have blocked them, but… I'm not sure what your connection is yet, so I didn't want to risk it… and she's gone."

Kassandra's eyes went wide. "That might be the Heir of Memories," she said. "Aletheia said that she was with me right now, and during my travels to Elysium, Hades, and Atlantis."

Sunset gave her a considering look.

2018, Greece - Safe House

"Guys, this person, this Sunset Shimmer—she knew I was there," Layla said into the coms.

"That's impossible!" Kiyoshi replied immediately.

"I saw her transmute a glass of wine into a clay kylix," Layla snapped. "Don't tell me what she can, or can't do! Tell me you found something about her!"

"Other than a relatively obscure character from a My Little Pony spinoff called Equestria Girls, there's nothing we can find about her," Alannah said. "I've sent you a picture of the character."

Layla studied the animated drawing with a sudden sense of dread. "Oh gods. It's her."

"That's a cartoon, Layla," Alannah said, "and a relatively new one, all things considered."

"Surprisingly catchy songs, however," Kiyoshi chipped in.

"Guys, I'm telling you that's her." Layla blinked and looked up, gulping. "What if it's all real? What if Kassandra met a character that can actually transcend dimensions?"

"Well, she's also a unicorn, so now you have something to talk about if you meet her," Allanah replied. "Make sure to tell her she's adorable."

Layla slowly stood up and approached the door that had appeared on her wall. A sun-like yin-yang symbol of it, identical to the one she had seen in the card (and the picture Allanah had sent her) was etched into it. A sign to the side, with a variation of it declared that to be the entrance to Sunset's Isekai.

"I guess I will," she muttered into the microphone as she pulled open the door. A silvery chime announcing her entrance. Within, sitting at the bar, with her helmet resting on the stool next to her, sat Kassandra, and behind the bar was Sunset Shimmer herself.

"You must be the fabled Heir of Memories," Kassandra said, standing up tall. "I am Kassandra, Keeper of the Staff."

"L-layla… so…" In a moment it all clicked in. "So this is how you knew me when we met in Atlantis!"

Kassandra seemed amused. "It appears so, if you've met me, and I have not met you before."

"Come on in, Layla," Sunset said. "Let's have a drink… and maybe you can fill us in into what's happening in your world."

"Layla? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah… Um, I'll be having a drink with Kassandra and Sunset. I'll fill you guys in later."

Sunset grinned knowingly and lifted a bottle. "Elven wine?"

Layla ignored the frantic questions from the others and stepped into the bar fully, closing the door behind her.

Perhaps now she'd have the chance to learn how to control the staff… and maybe change the world for the better.

"Sure."

End Chapter

Author's Note

Omake:

Sunset grinned knowingly and lifted a bottle. "Elven wine?"

Layla ignored the frantic questions from the others and stepped into the bar fully, closing the door behind her.

Perhaps now she'd have the chance to learn how to control the staff… and maybe change the world for the better.

"Sure."

She walked up to the bar and sat down, looking at the pictures on the wall. "So you really are a pony unicorn that turned human and now owns a bar."

"Yep! You've heard of me?"

"I did a quick internet search."

Sunset slid the cup of wine to her. "Well, let me know what you think of the fanfic. I think it's pretty accurate."

Barely in time! (It's still Wednesday here in EST time :P)

Anyway, sorry for the delay, and I realize not many might be fans of the AC series, and of those that are, Odyssey might be the... least AC of them all. But I love it and really wanted to write the characters. I hope you all enjoy it, and if you've played, please let me know in the comments if I captured the characters' voice!

-WD

The Road Goes Ever On (The Multiverse in a Nutshell — Ongoing)

Sunset's Isekai
The Road Goes Ever On (The Multiverse in a Nutshell — Ongoing)
By Wanderer D & Pennington Inkwell

The sun was low in the sky, covering the entire world in the dusk of near-nighttime. They'd stopped later than usual, but that was plenty forgivable considering the fact that they had been trying to outrun the consequences of their last foray into another world. Sunset took a deep breath and looked around their campsite. It was just like they made it almost every night for the past year: one tent for the girls, one fire pit to cook dinner over, a few logs to serve as chairs, and their faithful oldsmobile parked nearby on the side of the road, waiting to carry them away in the morning.

It was the same collection of odds and ends that she'd called "home" for the last year, but... it didn't feel right.

And not in the "I have a bad feeling about this" way she'd been getting from time to time since they'd set out. This was a different kind of off-putting, something that just didn't seem to compute.

How can we just... go back to normal like this? After everything that happened?

She glanced over at Penn, trying to spot any sign that she wasn't the only one who felt this way. At first glance, he seemed completely consumed with trying to build the fire in semi-darkness, carefully arranging different sized sticks into a cone shape. Every few seconds, however, she'd see his eyes turn to the sky or he'd glance over his shoulder. He was still on high alert, expecting to be attacked at any moment. She didn't blame him, considering their rapidly-growing list of enemies and the increasingly desperate measures they'd resorted to just to stay alive.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh..." Missy squeaked with relief as she floated by in the air. As usual, gravity was merely a suggestion for the Ghostrick Angel of Mischief. She stretched all four of her limbs and her wings at the same time, spreading her child's body as far as she could. "It feels good to get OUT of the car! Is it just me, or does it feel like we were in there forever today?"

In spite of herself, Sunset felt a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. She reached out and grabbed at the younger girl, pulling her into a tight hug from behind.

"What, did having Rainbow Dash riding in the back with you make you feel squished, Missy?"

Missy erupted into a fit of giggles at the sudden affection, her wings flailing fruitlessly to try and pull herself out of Sunset's grip. "Sunset! Cut it out, you're squishing me!"

Sunset started to feel laughter of her own bubbling up when something caught her eye: a scar near the base of Missy's wing where it poked out the back of her dress. There was a thin line where the feathers wouldn't grow back, exposing a seam where the flesh had been stitched back together. The memories of the past overshadowed the present, and Sunset could still see it in her mind's eye: Missy had collapsed, her strength spent just before they'd arrived. Her attacker still had the bloody knife in their hand. Sunset heard her own voice screaming, felt the icy touch of terror as her worst fears seemed to be playing out right in front of her. And what came after...

"Sunny? You okay?"

Sunset blinked, suddenly back in the present. Missy had floated up to address her face-to-face, a look of worry in her eyes.

"Y-yeah. Just kinda got lost in thought." Sunset forced a smile and tousled the little spirit's pink hair. "Guess we DID drive a long way today, huh?"

"Well, when you're trying to outrun a bunch of crusading dragons because you beat up their god, I guess that's par for the course, right?" Missy asked, flashing her a toothy smile.

Before Sunset could offer her response, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of snapping wood. Both of them glanced over at the fire pit, where Penn was still standing. His face looked calm, but he was gripping the stick in his hands with a white-knuckled grip, having easily snapped it in half. After a few seconds of silence, he returned to his task, placing the wood as though he had always intended to break it into pieces and moving on. Sunset and Missy both glanced at each other. They didn’t need to be connected on a spiritual level to know what the other was thinking: Too soon to bring that up...

More often than not, Penn's encyclopedic knowledge of other dimensions was enough to get them out of a tough spot, but... this last stop had taken more. Much more. He'd hardly spoken since the battle, something out of character for their combination driver and guide.

Missy was finally the one to break the silence again. "So... does anybody know where Rainbow Dash went? I know she's new to the group, but I figured she'd want to stick around for treats, not ding-dong-ditch us!"

"She’s scouting the area around camp, making sure there’s no portals nearby that could give us a nasty surprise while we’re sleeping." Penn pushed himself up into a standing position and dusted off his hands. He flashed them a smile, as if he was pretending the earlier moment hadn't occurred at all. "Well, I think that’s enough to get us started! Who wants to do the honors?" he punctuated the question by reaching into his pocket and retrieving a box of matches.

Sunset knew that she was going to have to confront him about bottling up his trauma again. It didn't spare her as much guilt or worry as he seemed to think it did.

"OOH! ME! ME!" Missy rushed forward, snatching the box from his hand. She needed no instructions, starting to strike them on the side of the box as Penn stepped back with a satisfied smile on his face.

"No matter what universe they’re from, kids always love starting fires..." he whispered. "Whether they’re human... or the spirit of a children’s trading card brought to life."

Sunset chuckled at that. The fact that they could say something as absurd as that so casually just went to show how accustomed she’d grown to the impossible being a part of their daily lives. "You should see how many get started a week back at Celestia’s school. The fire department has their own division just for cleaning up their messes!"

They both quietly chuckled to themselves as they watched Missy grow more and more frustrated with the matches. Finally, she seemed to give up, removing her hat and reaching inside. After a few seconds of rummaging, she produced a tiny jack-o-lantern, small enough to just barely extend beyond the edges of her palm. She delicately removed the lid and reached inside, retrieving the lit candle from the center. She took a moment to glance between her two hands before shrugging and tossing the now-unlit pumpkin over her shoulder. A few seconds later, the candle had been used to start their campfire for the night, and Missy was giving them a proud smile.

"Did it!"

Sunset smiled, trying to convince herself that things were going to be okay. They had their camp, they had each other... We even found one of the other Rainbooms! My friends really ARE out there!

If they were trying to get back to a sense of things being "normal," though, there was one more tradition that was missing.

"So... tonight's movie night, right?" she asked. "Did you have anything in mi—"

She was cut off, however, by a sudden intrusion into the camp. Rainbow Dash entered in a multichromatic blur, kicking up a shower of dirt as she skidded to a stop just a few feet from them.

"YO! I checked everything out. The coast looks clear!"

Sunset was slightly surprised, jumping a little in place and instinctively reaching for her lightsaber. It was a reflex she’d developed in a very short time after they’d taken to the road, but this time an unnecessary one. It had only been a day since they’d managed to track Rainbow down on the world she’d been stranded in, and her presence was still going to take some getting used to. A short glance around the camp showed that she wasn't the only one who had been caught off-guard by Rainbow's entrance.

Missy had immediately taken to the air, already holding several other Yu-Gi-Oh cards in her hand at the ready. She may have been a child, but Sunset had seen first hand how devastating her magic could be, especially with the small army of other "Ghostrick" spirits at her command.

Penn's arms were raised in a blocking position, hands curled into tight fists. He'd immediately stepped out in front of her, placing himself between Sunset and the potential danger. His breathing was coming in short gasps, and as Sunset watched his head swivel from side to side she could see that his eyes were wide, but unfocused. She felt a pang in her heart as she wondered where his mind was. Back in Waterfall, maybe? In the underbelly of Joey Drew Studios? She shuddered to think he might have gone all the way back to his cell in Salem's castle.

And a second later, he was back.

He grabbed at his chest, trying to slow down his breathing. He forced a smile before looking at Rainbow Dash, as though the moment had just been one of Missy's harmless pranks. "G-geez... If this is what you’re like with just a geode, I’d hate to see what you could do with a chaos emerald..." he whispered.

"Chaos emerald? What’s that?" Rainbow tilted her head in confusion, clearly oblivious to how she'd nearly set off multiple attacks aimed in her general direction. "Sounds cool!"

Penn opened his mouth for a moment as if he was going to explain, then shook his head. Before anyone could pursue an explanation, their eyes were all drawn to the sound of metal clattering against metal. Isis's drone had come to a landing on the roof of the car, looking out over the camp with its typical expressionless face.

"My apologies, but it appears that Rainbow Dash failed to notice a dimensional breach near the campsite."

"What? Where? I looked everywhere!" Rainbow argued, placing her hands on her hips.

"Everywhere, apparently, except the campsite, itself."

The small metal dragon clambered down the back windshield, inserting the tip of its tail into the keyhole for the trunk where they kept their supplies. The trunk popped open with more force than usual, flinging the tiny robot back up and over the car. A moment's examination revealed that it had been pushed open by the presence of something that most certainly didn’t belong:

It was a door. A door carved from warmly-colored oak wood and framed by a stone archway. It was clearly the work of a skilled craftsman, heavy and well-aged in a way that made it clear that they were not the first to lay eyes on it by a LONG shot, nor would they be the last. Laid into the wood was a stained glass rendition of Sunset’s cutie mark. It caught the light of a gas lamp that had sprouted from the lid of the trunk, refracting and diffusing it until it looked as if it was glowing from within. Accompanying the lamp was a neon sign, one that displayed a filled martini glass with a familiar yin-yang sun hanging off the rim where a lemon wedge ought to be. A chalkboard sign flopped out of the trunk to punctuate the moment, landing perfectly right-side-up and proudly displaying the night's specials.

No one seemed quite able to respond to the situation for several seconds, all of them were simply gobsmacked at the sudden appearance.

"Well, how was I supposed to know I needed to look for interdimensional portals in the trunk?" Rainbow asked, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Sunset..." Penn growled. "WHAT... did you do to my car? Did you and Missy set this up? Some kind of variation on Ghostrick Go-Round?"

"Wha- I didn't do this!" Sunset countered.

"It's literally got your name on it!" Penn grabbed at the neon sign, pointing at the words displayed under the glass: Sunset's Isekai.

Sunset sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Isis... do you have ANY idea what's going on? Other than—" she gestured to the door's location, "—THIS, is there anything else strange about this portal?"

The repair drone poked its head up over the top of the trunk, having climbed back onto the car after its impromptu flight. Multiple panels on its body slid open, along with its mouth. Delicate instruments poked and prodded at the air as an array of lasers passed over the entire doorway. After a few seconds, the scanners all moved back inside the drone's body.

"Unlike many of the passages between worlds we have encountered, this one seems remarkably stable. Ninety-nine percent of electromagnetic radiation and time-space fluctuations match the surrounding reality. Were it not for the... odd positioning, I would conclude that it is not a dimensional gateway at all, but simply part of this world."

"That doesn’t tell us much about what’s on the other side, and I REALLY want to go at least three days without something trying to kill us after the LAST dimension we went to..." Sunset muttered. This was NOT something they needed to deal with right now.

"Only one way to find out, right?" Rainbow grinned and rubbed her hands together before reaching for the knob. She was robbed of the chance to be the first one through, however, by a rough tug from Penn that yanked her back.

"I should go first—"

Sunset didn’t even give him a chance to finish THAT familiar statement before she snuck around him. "I’m the one with a weapon, plus my name’s on the sign. I’ll let you know if it’s safe!"

"Wait! What about ME?" Missy added, latching onto Sunset from behind. "We’re partners, remember? Where you go, I go!"

"This repair drone is disposable, the most logical solution would be—"

Just as the five of them started to overlap with one another, the door opened of its own accord. Sunset’s eyes widened and she felt her jaw drop as a familiar-but-different face emerged.

Rarity looked to be in her early twenties, and she was dressed oddly enough, like a motorcyclist from the 1940s, including the leather helmet and goggles. She paused, blinking, to study them, before smiling. "Oh dear, I guess we have new visitors! I'm sorry Sunset, but I'm on my way to this universe's version of Pern. You ran out of klah."

"I told you I can just order it!" another familiar voice shouted from behind Rarity.

"But where's the adventure?" Rarity called back, smiling politely as she made her way past the group, pausing to pat Penn on the head. "Besides, you have guests! And they do really look like they need a drink!" She winked at them and proceeded to walk out of the camp area without looking back. She was gone before they had time to stop her.

"Visitors? Rarity? Are you gone already?" the voice called out. "Dammit."

There was a long pause as everyone tried to process what had just happened. The Rarity that Sunset knew could be a bit... overbearing at times, but this one had some kind of aura about her that left them all unable to reply before she had vanished as quickly as she’d come. Penn looked as though the pat on his head had left him in a daze, Rainbow’s jaw was hanging slack, and Isis had executed her normal head tilt that she reserved for moments where she was having trouble processing a lack of logic in a situation. Finally, Penn snapped back to reality.

"Fine. Missy, Sunset... you’re with me. Dash, you guard the camp with Isis."

"WHAT?" Rainbow cried, clearly outraged at being forced to stay behind.

"Affirmative."

Sunset sighed, knowing she was going to have to put out the fire Penn had started as he walked through the now-open door. "Rainbow, if it’s safe, I’m sure you can come in as soon as we get back. For now, though..."

"Experienced multiverse-traveling superheroes only!" Missy cheered as she spread her wings and flew through the door.

"We’ve got... a synergy. We've been doing this for a long time together. We’ll be RIGHT back, I promise!" Sunset sighed and stepped up into the trunk before walking inside (a very disconcerting sensation). Whatever had made itself at home in the car that was THEIR home, they were about to meet it face-to-face.

Earlier…

"How many times do I have to tell you to be careful with the clothes I make for you?" Rarity tutted as she shook her head. She walked around Sunset, studying the damage. "This was supposed to last you for a couple of centuries. More! Why, I made it with the best materials from Universe 1!"

Sunset, for her part, felt her anger rising and took a deep breath, letting the feeling go. She glanced behind and watched as her monkey tail slowly faded away. There. Back to 'Normal Sunny'. "This is why I have issues going back to visit Goku and the others. Plus, that stuff might be enough for them, but Broly had no issues busting through that shoulder pad."

Rarity huffed. "Broly. That muscular, tall, handsome hunk of a Saiyan."

"Yes…" Sunset narrowed her eyes. "That one."

"Of course that delectable brute would have the strength and stamina to do this to my clothes."

"I think we're looking at things from a different perspective here."

"Right." Rarity sighed, and then patted Sunset's shoulder. "I'll fix it soon. For now, have some rest while I go procure some ingredients."

"You know I can order them, right?" Sunset asked as she watched Rarity head towards the door. "Did you hear me?"

She heard the silver chime as the door opened.

"So… you're back to normal?" Dani asked cautiously, head emerging from the bar. "Remind me to never, ever go back there with you. You're really scary there, Sunset."

Sunset gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry. There's something about transforming into a Saiyan… I'm not sure exactly why, but it really affects me."

"Tell me about it, you basically—"

They heard Rarity's voice come from down the hall. "I'm sorry Sunset, but I'm on my way to this universe's version of Pern. You ran out of klah."

She let out an exasperated groan. "I told you I can just order it!"

"But where's the adventure?" Rarity called back, with the usual almost-dreamy-tone that she attached to the word adventure. The only other being she knew did something like that was Scrooge McDuck whenever he talked about gold. "Besides, you have guests! And they do really look like they need a drink!"

Dani and Sunset shared a look, before she shouted out, "Visitors?" No response. "Rarity? Are you gone already?" She grimaced, looking down at her half-destroyed Saiyan armor. She wasn't even dressed for the job. "Dammit."

"Um, do you want me to hold them back while you get changed?" Dani asked.

She shook her head, glancing warily towards the entrance. "The door already opened, I'll ask them if they mind when they come in, it would be rude otherwise. Are you going to be solid for a bit?" Sunset asked as she walked around the back of the bar.

"Sure, I can do that."

Sunset nodded thankfully, barely able to hear a short discussion taking place outside the bar, before the sound of footsteps preceded the arrival of her new guests.

The first one through the door was an unfamiliar young man. He was dressed in a casual pair of khaki cargo pants and a floral-patterned shirt, topped off with a recreation of Ash Ketchum’s hat. He looked dressed for a trip to a bar, but the look on his face was decidedly less relaxed. He was eyeing every inch of the bar with suspicion, and his posture looked ready for a fight. She could see multiple poorly-hidden scars on his arms, making it clear that he had been in fights before and expected one now.

The second one was much more friendly-looking, though definitely not human. She was a young girl dressed in a lacey black dress. She was pretty sure the style was called 'gothic lolita' from what little she’d heard of Rarity’s work. She wore a tiny top hat and her pink hair seemed to swoop upwards, transitioning from a cowlick into an improvised halo. The thing that caught her attention the most was that she was being carried along by a pair of wings, the feathers mimicking the coloration of piano keys. The wings weren’t flapping, she just seemed to float along effortlessly through the air. Is she some kind of ghost? Unlike the first guy, she looked ecstatic, staring around the bar with wide eyes and clapping her hands with glee.

The last person to enter was another Sunset, which was a helpful dose of familiarity. But a quick look made her wince. She looked over to Dani, who nodded in understanding.

After staying with her in the Isekai for so long, both the ghost girl and Lena had learned how to tell when a Sunset was tired, and this one definitely was. Her eyes had the beginnings of dark circles under them, and her shoulders seemed to sag with an invisible weight. Her clothes were a pretty typical Sunset Shimmer outfit, blue jeans under a small yellow skirt and a robin’s-egg blouse under her typical leather jacket, but they looked worn thin in places. As for the visiting Sunset, herself, she was definitely wary, but not to the same degree as her other companion. She had one hand on something buckled to her waist, but she seemed to relax to simple confusion when she understood the nature of the bar.

"Dimensionally transcendental..." the first one muttered under his breath.

"What, like the TARDIS?" the second one asked, tapping her chin in thought as she reclined on nothing.

"You tell me, I was possessed ninety percent of the time we were there, remember?" he fired back.

Sunset cleared her throat. "And I guess that's my cue to introduce this place. I'm Sunset Shimmer, as you probably guessed, and this is 'Sunset's Isekai', my interdimensional bar. Not… exactly like a TARDIS, but it's the easiest way to compare it." She grinned uncertainly. "Please make yourselves comfortable. And um, if you don't mind, I could whip you up something quick and get changed into my usual bar uniform… or if you're fine with your bartender looking like she got into a brawl with a bunch of aliens, that works too." She motioned with her hand at Dani. "This is Dani Phantom, by the way, and for convenience, you can call me Isekai, that's what people usually go with when there's more than one Sunset."

"Well, we were mostly here looking for an explanation of why your bar is parked in the trunk of my car..." the first visitor muttered, relaxing a little upon seeing her. "But if we’re intruding, there’s no rush. We were just setting up camp for the night."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Isekai said, "my bar appears to people that need rest, someone to talk to, a drink… basically, this is a safe space for you. All I provide is an ear, and drinks. I can also order food for you if you want." She chuckled. "And, no offense but you guys do look like you need a rest. First round's on me." She slid three menus on the bar. "So, if you feel like it, you can sit and relax, or look around the bar area."

The three looked at each other. In just a few looks and expressions they managed to deliberate and settle on a decision, approaching the bar together. The way they each watched each other for cues made it clear that they had done this kind of thing many times before. Their Sunset gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you... I hate to say it, but you’re right. We could REALLY use a break." She leaned forward comfortably before pointing to each member of their party. "Before you go get changed, let us just introduce ourselves. I’m Sunset- though you probably know that. This is the Ghostrick Angel of Mischief, but—"

"Just call me Missy!" the little one cheered, removing her tiny top hat and giving a sweeping bow.

"—and THAT is Penn."

The young man jumped slightly in place before he gave her a small wave. "Sorry. Bit on edge right now... Looks like you got roughed up by some Saiyans, you alright?"

Isekai shrugged and watched silently as a bit of armor fell to the ground. "Given that I was one of them, yeah, I'm okay. But this thing is falling apart, so it's probably best to get changed. You guys look like you've been through the ringer yourselves. I uh, don't usually do this, but if you need a shower or something… you can use the one in the guest rooms."

Their Sunset gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, I might take you up on that..."

Penn nodded absently, his attention having moved to the many photos hanging on her wall. "Mass Effect, Ducktales, Final Fantasy, The Owl House..." he whispered under his breath, sounding more and more shocked the longer he continued listing off their universes. When he finally caught himself, he looked at her again, but now with awe instead of suspicion.

"Uh oh... He's got a LOT of questions..." Missy muttered as she floated up into the air. She held one hand up beside her mouth, loudly pretending to whisper. "I’ll distract them, hurry and get out of here!" She floated over, grabbing at Penn's arm and trying to pull him off the stool. "Penn! I need your help! Ghostrick Nekomusume's tail got stuck to the ceiling!"

Penn didn't even bother turning to look at her. "And WHO put it there?"

Missy paused before sheepishly at her feet. "...me."

"Missy... You KNOW we could hear you. We don't need a distraction." Sunset gave Isekai a knowing look. "Go get changed, we’ll be fine for a bit."

Missy didn’t seem flummoxed by the failure of her distraction, simply removing her hat and reaching inside. A few seconds later, she was back in her seat and happily chewing on a handful of candy corn.

Isekai nodded. "Well, check out the menu and choose a drink, Dani here will keep you company. And thanks for understanding, be right back!" She hurried into the Employee's Only area. It wouldn't take long to be ready.

Dani looked the visitors up and down. She had seen her fair share of interdimensional travellers (being one herself), so she knew it could be hard sometimes, but they seldom seemed so… exhausted. "So, having a tough time out there?" she asked, casually phasing through the bar to start serving them glasses with water.

Sunset and Missy both seemed surprised, but Penn's tired expression didn't budge, almost as though he had been expecting it. Missy tapped her hand against the bar several times before leaning down and practically pressing her eyeball against it, trying to figure out how she had done it.

"W-well... a little tougher than usual, lately," Sunset stammered. "If it’s not ink demons, a vengeful Grimm witch, or a Dalek invasion, we usually have a pretty good time. But lately it feels like we’ve been scrambling from one emergency to another." She looked around at the array of photos, her eyes widening. "It looks like you tend to have your own share of adventures, too."

"It's a dog-eat-dog multiverse, Dani, and we're wearing Milkbone underwear..." Penn muttered into his glass. "At least we FINALLY found another one of the Rainbooms, which means they really are out there somewhere." He seemed to have completely shifted gears now that he was sure there were no threats present, leaning against the bar as though he could barely keep himself awake. "So our mission IS possible."

"Hm." Dani glanced at the water. "Maybe I should've made you some coffee instead. Suns—Isekai is better at guessing." She sighed. "So you're in an 'across-the-multiverse' adventure? Heh. I've been on a few of those." She crossed her arms, smirking cockily. "Of course most places were not prepared for me, so I got away with it."

She leaned on the bar. "It seems like you—" she pointed at Sunset "—come from a very similar universe from Isekai, that with the Rainbooms and, y'know, you not being some sort of demonic, blood-bending abomination. How come your pop band is spread all over the place?" She raised an eyebrow. "Did you turn them into crystal and blast them across space and time?"

"Blood-bending abomination" seemed to set the two girls on edge, but Penn just chuckled darkly to himself.

"Well, not quite- at least, not as far as I know?" Sunset sighed. "To make a long story short, we tried to close the portal to Equestria so we could go on tour without CHS being at risk and it kinda... blew up. And it didn’t just blow up THAT portal, it blew up everything. Next thing I know, I’m waking up alone halfway across the country, and everything that used to be fiction in HIS world—" she pointed towards Penn, "is suddenly coming to life."

"Lucky for us that Penn’s a HUGE nerd!" Missy interjected. "He knows, like, EVERYTHING about movies and tv shows and stuff! He probably even knows who you are!"

Dani blinked. "Well. Of course he would. I'm Dani Phantom. Who wouldn't know?" She narrowed her eyes. "Wait. you're telling me you've been out there for over a day and you haven't heard of me? What is this multiverse coming to?"

The door from the back of the bar opened and Isekai stepped back in, looking a lot cleaner and wearing her bartender clothes. "Dani, it's a multiverse, and by what I heard as I was about to step back in, theirs is a bit… messed up. They might still get to meet you, but you can't expect all of existence to know about you."

Dani's grin twisted into a frown. "Well, okay. But now they know who I am." She floated into the air. "Danielle Phantom!"

"Also, in the way," Isekai said, moving Dani with a bit of magic so that she could get to the bar without having to walk through her. "You'll have to forgive her, she's still working on that ego of hers."

"You call it 'ego', I call it, 'healthy self-awareness'."

Isekai smiled at her guests. "See?"

"Wait..." Missy tapped at her chin. "So... for the uninitiated, how did you—"

"She’s half-ghost." Penn interrupted her. Missy’s eyes widened as her grin grew, and it was possible to see stars in her eyes as she nearly threw herself across the bar with excitement, wrapping Dani in a vice-like hug.

"I’m a duel spirit! WE CAN BE GHOST BUDDIES!"

"I accidentally summoned Missy when I got roped into a shadow game a couple months into our trip." Sunset smiled and reached over to give Missy’s hair an affectionate tousle. "She somehow managed to stick around in our world after it was all said and done, so she’s been traveling with us ever since!"

Missy gave her an indignant look, still not releasing her grip on Dani. "You summoned me? I summoned myself, you didn’t know the first thing about dueling!"

"Anyway- that’s a VERY long story, just like the rest of our three-hour tour..." Penn rolled his eyes. "Before we order anything, can you take a card? We don’t have a lot of cash on us."

"Three hours?" Sunset asked. "I thought you packed for a week when we first left?" Penn looked as though he was going to explain, then gave up and took another long drink from his glass, polishing off the last of the water.

"I take cards, don't worry," Isekai said. "Besides, I did say the first drink was on me, and I didn't mean the water." She rolled her shoulders. "So, what will you have? Do you have a preference, or should I guess?"

Dani struggled half-heartedly within Missy's hug. "Well. I guess. We don't get that many ghostly visitors to the bar for some reason."

"It's just a matter of time, Dani," Isekai said, ruffling her hair. "Besides, you've made friends with similar people, right? Lena is half-shadow, and Sunshine is a full energy-sucking shadow entity, if I recall."

"Shadows, Isekai, not ghosts." Dani rolled her eyes. "And Lena's more like a sister."

"Yes, well, there's other ghosts out there. Nothing's stopping you from meeting them and bringing them over." Sunset cleared her throat, turning to face the others. "So? Drinks?"

"Well, the rose lemonade sounds good to me." Sunset set down her menu.

"Something with LOTS of sugar for me!" Missy added, finally releasing her grip on Dani to return to her seat.

"You’ve got ginger beer, right? I know it’s usually a mixer, but I like it by itself." Penn shrugged. "The stronger the ginger, the better, and..." he glanced down at the menu again. "It says here you can add... lightning? Is that some kind of special drink?"

"Unless you specifically can digest electricity, it's more for show," Isekai clarified, "but it's basically using a spell Cozy Glow showed me, compressing lightning into a small ball that slowly seeps into the drink, or just makes it glow."

Penn chuckled again, raising his eyebrows. "You know, as much as that’s something I’d like to see, I’m pretty sure I can’t digest lightning..." He pondered again for a moment before leaning back slightly "But... Speaking of things most people can't digest, could you possibly get me a shot of black printer ink on the side?"

"Um, sure," Sunset gave him a considering look as she walked over to gather the ingredients for the orders. "You sure about that? Taste might be a bit iffy mixed with the ginger beer."

"Ginger beer’s for me, the ink is for—" he paused for a second, blinking several times. "That’s weird..."

Sunset and Missy both exchanged a nervous glance. "Penn... you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, it's just... for the first time in a while, the ink demon’s gone quiet." He blinked several times and knocked lightly at his skull. After a moment, he waved Isekai closer and pulled down on the bottom of his eye. "Hey, what color is the inside of my eyelid?"

She leaned closer. "Inky black. That's unusual. It has writing in white… it's in Quenya. It says: Gone fishing."

He looked somewhat crestfallen at her answer. "Okay, so it’s still there..." He shook his head, only to notice the curious look she was giving him. "A while back, we visited Joey Drew studios, and we kinda... broke the timeline. As everything was collapsing in on itself, the ink demon managed to attach itself to me, specifically my blood. I just... can’t hear it right now. I don’t have to repress it. It’s like he’s asleep." He glanced around curiously. "Does... this bar repress demons, or something?"

"Not really, if they're friendly like, say Charlie Magne, they can come in. If not, they stay out, usually along with the host," Isekai said. "Maybe it receded enough not to be an issue?"

Penn shrugged again. "I think I’ll still have the ink, if you don’t mind. Just because it tastes good to me. Chewing up a ballpoint usually perks me right up, and I DEFINITELY need it."

"One ballpoint coming right up," Isekai said, opening up a drawer.

A moment of silence fell as everyone watched Isekai do her work, but it was soon broken by Sunset Shimmer. Isekai had noticed her counterpart moving back and forth between looking at the photos and examining her closely, and her thoughts seemed to finally be coming to a head.

"So... you’ve been traveling the multiverse for a long time?"

Dani snorted, and Isekai absently slapped the back of her head. "Yeah," she said, glancing at her counterpart over her shoulder. "Been at it for—"

"Yes, Sunset," Dani interrupted sweetly, "do tell us how long you've been at it."

Narrowing her eyes at the ghost, Isekai turned around to place the ginger beer and ballpoint pen in front of Penn. "Centuries," she said neutrally. "Not only inside the bar, mind you. I sometimes go to a different universe than my original home one to live there for a while, so… the years pile up."

She then placed the rose lemonade across from her counterpart. "It has its moments, and it certainly keeps me busy."

The other Sunset looked down into her drink, and Isekai could see the telltale twitch in her eye that she was trying not to cry.

"Does... it ever stop trying to kill you?"

Deciding that it was best not to mention that time she had technically died in the Dragonball universe, Isekai shrugged. "Yes. Absolutely. There are some amazing places out there that just… make you happy. Of course there's a lot of strife, but that's to be expected… most universes have free will, after all."

She started mixing up a chocolate-ladden, super-sweet milkshake for Missy. "But, even though there've been times where everyone is out to get each other, you find the most amazing people that inspire you to be your best." She nodded towards the pictures. "Like Charlie, who is the nicest princess of hell you can meet, or G'kar who grew through wars and political BS into an amazing leader."

The thing she placed in front of Missy had three different types of chocolate, sweetened whipped cream, a cherry on top and was sprinkled with pieces of gooey caramel. "Here you go, Missy." Missy eyed the drink with hungry eyes before popping the cherry into her mouth and giving the straw a long sip. For a moment, she almost seemed to melt into her seat, humming with pleasure as her wings gave a joyful flutter.

She leaned on the bar and smiled at her counterpart. "It's going to be okay. Maybe difficult, but we Sunsets are not known for giving up."

"I-it’s just... we finally found one of my friends, but—" Sunset paused to take a sip of her lemonade. It seemed to calm her down, slowing her breathing and stopping the stuttering. "The cost wasn’t something I was okay with. Over and over, we get hurt, we’re attacked, and we just get back up and move on, trying to act like nothing happened. Haven’t we done enough, yet?"

Penn pulled the end of the plastic out of his mouth, having chewed through half the ink-bearing portion. "Sunset, I told you, it’s fi—"

"IT’S NOT FINE!" All at once she lost control, slamming her fist against the bar as the tears began to flow. "You won’t even TELL me how long you were in that time loop, Missy lost a wing that we were LUCKY Doctor Alphys could reattach, and I STILL have nightmares about losing my soul in a children’s card game! I just..." she folded her arms across the polished counter and buried her face in them. "I just need a break. I need to know that the universe isn’t just punishing me for breaking it... I don't want my friends to keep getting hurt."

There was a short pause, everyone present looking to the others for some sign of whether or not to take action. Penn was the one to finally move, sliding out of his seat and walking to Sunset. In one motion, he wrapped both arms around her into a tight hug. "Well... isn’t that what this place is for? A place to catch a break? That's what Isekai said."

Missy glanced at Isekai, then carefully set her milkshake down on the counter with a serious look on her face. "First of all: THIS—" she pointed to the drink, "is the work of the divine. You have been blessed by the gods of sugar. Second—" Without warning, she practically threw herself into Sunset’s arms, joining the group hug with enough force to nearly knock the three of them over backwards. "SUNSEEEEET, WE LOVE YOU, TOO!"

Isekai smirked. "Seems like you're in good hands. Not all interdimensional travelers are lucky enough to have a family."

"Yep!" Dani said, "we made our own little family here too!" she floated over to wrap an arm around Isekai's shoulder. "She's even dating a giant rodent, and basically adopted a duck!"

"What Danielle means," Isekai growled, "is that having people around you that care and love you is something that will always bring you happiness in the end… remember our friendship lessons? Your friends, old and new, bring out the best in you."

She leaned across to place a hand on Sunset's arm. "The multiverse is not out there to get you. It's brought some really good people with you, right?"

Sunset finally smiled again, sniffling and gripping Missy a little tighter as she nodded. "Mhmm... Th-thanks, guys..."

"Speaking of people we’ve met along the way, do you think we should go tell Dash this is a SAFE dimensional portal?" Penn whispered.

Sunset’s eyes widened as she nearly jumped out of her seat. "RIGHT! Oh gosh, I completely forgot! I’ll go get her!"

It was almost comical to watch her rush back out the door with Missy still clinging to her from the front, as if the younger girl weighed nothing at all. In the brief moment while she was gone, however, Penn turned to Isekai, his voice low as if he were afraid of being overheard.

"Do you mind if I ask a question of my own?"

Sensing that this was a bit more serious, Sunset nodded, keeping her voice low. "Sure, go ahead."

"What do you do to deal with... things that make you jumpy? Or upset? Y’know... nightmares, paranoia... stuff like that?" He shifted uncomfortably, clearly forcing the words out. "I just came out of what’s more or less a time loop that always ended when I di—when I failed to win an important fight... I can’t get myself calm again. Combine that with having added a speedster to our team recently and, well... it’s not healthy for me. Do you have any advice? I don’t think my Sunset could take any more on her shoulders, so I figured maybe I should ask you..."

Isekai grimaced. "She's doing the thing where we Sunsets take the blame for things, isn't she?"

Penn chuckled slightly and nodded. "Yeah. If I had a nickel for every time I said ‘It’s not your fault,’ I could drink this place dry and still pay in cash."

Isekai took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Unfortunately, that's a bad habit we—well, most of us share. We tend to make it about ourselves, rather than recognizing it's not that." She paused. "Even though I sort of died once or twice, it wasn't as shocking or traumatizing as it has been for others, due to the rules of that universe… but I've had emotional stabs straight into my heart that have left me… well, more wary of trusting even other versions of me."

Penn nodded sagely. "I've died... more times than I'd like to say. Enough for the reaper to start making personal calls. She's..." he cast a sad look back at the door, as if checking to make sure Sunset hadn't come back, "never taken it well..."

Dani leaned back, clearing her throat. "I'll uh, go check on the others while you guys talk."

"Thanks Dani," Isekai said, watching her friend go out the hallway and out the door, closing it behind her. "While the door is closed behind her we can take more time, so don't worry about them coming right back in," she told Penn. "I'm not sure what advice I can give you that would make things much better… but they do get better. Take the time to enjoy the trips and get to know the Rainbooms. They're… well, special, but they each bring something essential with them, you know?" She patted his hand gently. "I don't blame you for not sharing everything with Sunset… it's clear you care for her, but maybe it's worth discussing things not alone with her, but with the whole group?"

Penn looked down for a moment, pondering her words. He squeezed her hand for a moment, his breath hissing through his teeth. When he stopped and looked up again, he was smiling. "Right. Well, at least I know I’m going to get to meet them all, I made a promise I’d get them home!" He sighed, this time sounding less upset and more out of relief. "I... Thanks, Isekai. Even just admitting I’ve been struggling makes me feel better. It sounds weird, but the Rainbooms have been this abstract goal for so long, I guess I never thought that they’re probably going to be my friends, too. I’ll take your advice."

There was a loud bang as the door was flung open. A Rainbow Dash burst into the room in a blue blur, instantly looking amazed at the space inside. A small metal dragon sat on her shoulder, clearly holding on for dear life.

"Woah... Dude, your car’s trunk must be HUGE!"

"Dimensional gateways need not adhere to euclidean geometry, Rainbow Dash."

"You-kid-ian-what-now?"

Penn smiled and reached into his pocket, placing a credit card down on the surface of the bar that read First Integrated Bank. "If it’s alright with you, Isekai, I think we might be here for a little while to get our strength back..."

"Hey, I have all the time in the multiverse," she said, "plus you guys might get a kick out of the stories I have." She levitated a picture up to Rainbow Dash for her to grab. "As you can probably imagine, it gets somewhat interesting in here sometimes."

Rainbow Dash’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she stared at the photograph. "Are these all... me?"

Penn gave Sunset a quick side-hug as she came to sit beside him again, Missy riding on her shoulders. "Well, we haven’t been at this for centuries, but why don’t we take turns sharing stories? I can tell you all about the time Sunny, here, got accepted to Beacon Academy and saved all of Remnant from total war!"

"Oh come on, we both know I couldn't have done it without everybody else!" Sunset flushed slightly.

Isekai laughed. "Well, if we're doing this, do you want to move to a table?" she offered. "I'll start whipping up more drinks."

Missy laughed and settled leaning on top of Sunset’s head, her milkshake clasped with both hands. "ONWARD, faithful steed!"

Dani gave her a look. "Did you just quote King?"

"King who?"

"Oh, then I know what story to share," Dani said. "Come on, Sun—Isekai, let's get seated."

"You are helping me serve the drinks," Isekai stated, pulling the ghost by the ear. "And only then we can sit." She glanced at the others and nodded. "Pick a table guys, and make your orders, we'll be with you in a second."

Penn took a deep breath, for once feeling as though he didn’t need to worry. It was the first time in a long time he’d felt like he genuinely belonged back behind the wheel. After a long night of sharing stories both harrowing and hilarious, they had finally bid farewell to Isekai and Dani and settled down for the night. It had been the first time in recent memory that he had slept completely through the night, no nightmares or intrusive memories. Today, Sunset’s geode had given them a fresh heading, sending them driving into the west. He smiled as he felt the hum of the Oldsmobile’s tires against the asphalt.

Sunset had dozed off in the passenger seat, a smile on her face as she rested peacefully. In the back seat, Missy and Rainbow had both leaned on each other as the hypnotic hum of the open road lulled them into an unwilling nap, as well.

Everyone was safe, everyone was happy... and there was a hope in the air that hadn’t been present the previous day.

The multiverse could be a brutal and unfeeling place, and it most certainly demanded everything from them that they could give, but... That was what family did for each other. When one needed help, the rest stopped at nothing to make it work out. Isekai had shown up just when they needed her most. She was living proof that this was possible, that one could travel the Multiverse without letting it break them.

He reached up to the dashboard, giving Isis’s drone a tap on the head.

"Hey, Isis... fade in some music. Slowly."

"Affirmative. What would you like to hear?"

"How about... Carry On Wayward Son?" He smiled to himself, fingering at the wallet in his pocket where a new, silvery-colored business card had settled into a permanent place. "We’ve got a long drive ahead of us, after all..."

Dani brought the last of the plates over to the sink while Sunset hung the newest picture on the wall. This time, rather than all posing together, it was a shot of the group, facing the camera, as they sat around the table, drinks, food and discarded napkins on the surface. A typical, 'having a good time' sort of picture, which was exactly what the occasion called for. "Hey Sunset?"

"Yeah?"

"How come, if the other Sunset broke the multiverse, we don't see it happening in others?" she asked, genuinely curious. She closed the water tap and turned to face her friend/landlord.

"Hm." Sunset tapped her chin as she considered the photo. "I imagine that it's simply that the multiverse is so vast, that whenever we encounter something like that, we're… in a multiverse within a multiverse?" she offered, looking back at her friend with a sheepish expression. "I'm really not sure. But… we've encountered places that have been completely erased then returned… and it's as if that multiverse was gone, but the rest wasn't."

"So… ask Rarity?"

"Ask Rarity."

"Right." Dani chuckled. "You think they'll be okay?"

Sunset reached out to straighten the picture. "They're probably going to keep having it tough… it's how these things go. But I think that as long as they remember that they're there for each other, and that they're building themselves a family? Yeah. I think they'll be alright in the end."

Dani grinned. "Good to know. I did tell Missy that she could come back and visit often, though, I think Lena and the others will get along well with her."

"Just remember to talk to Penn and Sunset before you drag her into the Digital World or something crazy."

Dani rolled her eyes. "Yes, mom," she drawled.

"Danielle Phantom! I know I told you not to call me that, little miss."

"You never said that."

"You never called me mom either. Well, keep it in mind anyway. People might start believing it if we're not careful, and you're going to get Lena doing it too."

"Yes, mom."

The End

Author's Note

Crossover with The Multiverse in a Nutshell by Pennington Inkwell

An English Wolfwalker in Night City (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)

Sunset's Isekai
An English Wolfwalker in Night City (Wolfwalkers/Cyberpunk 2077)
By Wanderer D

Note: Cast in Author's Notes. Also, might have some Cyberpunk spoilers.

Robyn's thoughts were a mess. Just a few hours earlier, she and the others had roamed the new forest as wolves, joined by their pack. They had gone deep into them, and so far away from society that there were no scents of human cities, or even signs of them. It was like, at some point, they had stepped into another world.

And they sort of had. And they didn't know.

Eventually they had found the stone circle. It was ancient, and there was power there. She hadn't known it, exactly, except that it had made her hair stand on end. Her father, also new at wolf-walking, was equally uncomfortable, but Moll and Mebh had immediately reacted. The sky had cleared enough for the moon to cast its light over the stones, which had started to shine with silvery wisps of energy.

Suddenly, giant claw-like appendages had sprouted from the tallest columns, and before they knew it, they held Moll and Mebh in them. The pack tried to attack, but their claws and bites were as ephemeral to the claws as they seemed to be themselves. That's when her father had jumped in, biting at the one holding Moll and making it release her for a second before another claw grabbed him and dragged him back.

A last claw shot towards her, but before she could move, a white shadow knocked her out of the way. She rolled with it outside of the circle, and watched in shock as the misty claw slammed against an invisible barrier when it tried to follow them out.

She stood up, ready to attack them, when two slender, but surprisingly strong arms wrapped around her neck. "Stop! Ye can't go back in! They'll trap ye and take ye away!"

"Let me go!" she barked, but a cloud passed over the valley, and when the moonlight illuminated the circle, they were gone. "Oh no! Father! Mebh! Moll!" she whined, running into the circle, this time unimpeded as the pack of wolves howled in sorrow. She could see the scent trail of each of them going into different columns. "Oh. Oh no. What should I do?"

"Nothing." The young voice made her turn, finally focusing on the slender girl that had stopped her earlier. She smelled… not human. "Ye can't run in there, just like that! Ye don't know where ye'll end up, and that'll be yer last chance to bring them back."

"But my father!" Robyn shook her head, turning to face the stone. "I need to help them. I can't stay here a-and do nothing!" Not again. She was not going to stand by until the last moment. She wasn't going to risk everything like that again.

Just as she was about to head over to the stones, the girl grabbed her. "Shh. Do you feel that?"

Robyn did. It was that sense again… that something was coming.

"That's not normal," the girl said again, jumping into the mist. A second later a white wolf raised her head. "Go on. Don't just stand there! Come hide!"

"Are you a wolfwalker too?" Robyn asked, bouncing over to the other wolf as the sense of inevitability grew around them and mist swirled in to envelop everything.

"A wolfwalker?" the white wolf asked, blinking. "Oh! That explains so much! No wonder ye four were able to get through the Hawthorne gates! I was wondering if the magic had faded."

"Hawthorne?"

"Shh! Quiet now, spirit wolf. We have guests."

They watched as the three new creatures appeared. Well, two humans and a rabbit creature. But they didn't smell like any humans Robyn had smelled before. And neither did her companion, for that matter. Was she also a wolfwalker? But where was her human body then?

She turned her attention back to the new visitors, who—unlike the claws from earlier—didn't seem to be interested in capturing anyone. When one moved over to touch one of the columns from earlier, her companion jumped out, shouting: "Stop!"

Robyn barely followed the discussion after that. Sunset Shimmer, Rarity, Ori and Aisling could have been talking another language for all that mattered to her. She could see the scents. It was like it was summoning her to go help her father, or Mebh or Moll.

That's when she heard Aisling. "Who knows? Gates open only for a few nights every couple o' centuries, but whoever goes through, never comes back."

She approached the closest of the standing stones and whined. "But I have to do something!

"I've told ye, if ye go through, yer not comin' back, and your family will be stuck together away from each other."

Robyn grimaced. Aisling had said that but… but… nothing ever got done by being afraid and holding back. She thought back on her own life, on how so much pain might have been avoided if she had been sure of herself. This was no time to hesitate.

As soon as Aisling turned, Robyn dashed into the stone.

The world around her exploded into lights, colors, smells, sounds… she could hear wind howling, distant popping sounds, a cool breeze, and suddenly she was barging out of mid-air, falling inexorably towards a strangely-dressed woman, who gaped at her in growing horror.

The woman had quicker reactions than Robyn would have thought possible, as just as she was about to smash into her, she raised a gun of some sort and shot her. She felt the bullet graze her front left leg, thankfully missing, but she couldn't allow the woman to shoot again.

The momentum carried her straight into the woman and she bit hard on her arm, when she raised it to shoot again, tasting a little blood before they were both tumbling down, rolling on the rough, dry ground, and she smacked her head hard on something.

The world went dark.

Panam Palmer sat up in her bed, blinking at the roof of her tent in confusion. "How the hell did I get here?" she muttered, rubbing her head. She winced when she felt a sharp pain in her forearm. She studied the bandage in confusion before the image of the… coyote? Dog? Came back to her mind. "Great. All I need is to get rabies."

"You won't."

The voice made her realize she was not alone, and she quickly sat up, taking in her guests. She cast one a questioning glance before turning to the other. "Mitch. What happened?"

"We don't know," Mitch said, rubbing the back of his head with his prosthetic hand. "We all saw you get hit by something large and furry, I almost wanted to say it was a dog or a wolf but… well, those breeds have been extinct in the wild for a couple of decades now." The war-veteran shrugged, bending awkwardly to sit on a nearby stool. "By the time we got to you, you were unconscious, and there was no sign of the beast. Not even prints. I dressed the wound, injected you with everything known to man to prevent infections and viruses, just in case, and we dragged your sorry butt into your tent."

"Right," Panam sighed. "So who's the kid?" she asked, nodding with her head at the young blonde girl sitting miserably on the floor in the corner of the tent like someone had just sent her to her room in punishment.

Mitch followed her line of sight, then turned to look at her with confusion. "What kid?"

"Come on, V, come on!" the woman she had been bound to (apparently) when she had appeared in this world muttered, hitting some sort of glowing contraption.

Robyn slowly raised her head as things started to click. The woman kept glancing at her. That meant that… "you can see me?"

If anything, the woman became more desperate. "V, where the hell are you? I have a problem! It's big! Johnny Silverhand big! Come on!"

Robyn slowly stood up. When she had found herself a human, surrounded by humans, she had panicked at first, but then felt relief when she had discovered she wasn't tied up or caged, and a bit confused when she had looked down and seen her human form. They didn't seem to know she was a wolf.

However, that soon passed when she realized she had no idea where she was, and that this place… the humans here… it was all wrong. Many of them had strange body parts, made of metal. They had carriages that moved without horses, made completely of metal that could race faster than even her wolf pack. They even had one carriage that simply floated in place.

And they had guns like she had never seen before. And they dressed strangely, the women wearing very revealing, tight-form clothes. She had no preconception of what was really a woman's dress code. Her father had allowed her to dress like him when they went hunting, and dresses were common enough that she'd wear them, but this… this was closer to what the two strangers that had arrived to the standing stone circle had been wearing, only rougher.

There were also a LOT of guns. Too many, in shapes she had never seen before, and they could fire more than one round before needing recharging. Even with her speed as a wolf, it wouldn't take them long to kill her if they decided to.

The place seemed to be full of magic. The chariots, both wheeled and hovering, the smaller flying devices, the weapons, the magical armor… and yet it all felt… cold. It wasn't like her wolf magic. It wasn't like Aisling's magic. Not even the magic of the stones.

It felt dead inside, for all the miracles it could produce. It wasn't something that could grow and transform, or live and nurture. As intriguing as it had been, she'd wanted nothing more than to go back home. To find her father and Moll and Mebh and just roam the forest.

But none of that had been helpful, because no matter what she said or did, they were not able to see her. She'd go right through them if she tried to touch them, and she found herself unable to move too far from the unconscious woman she had smashed into when she had arrived.

Panam, was her name, she had a tanned skin, and wasn't homely like most of the women in England. She seemed like a warrior, an amazon like in her books. Women here were not soft and too motherly, obviously used to a harsh life in the desert.

"Panam?" the man, Mitch spoke up.

Robyn liked him. She hadn't been able to speak to him, but it was clear that he cared deeply for Panam. While everyone she had seen had been worried, he was the one that acted the most like her father would. The others listened to him, and quickly got things together for some sort of medical procedure she hadn't really understood.

"Mitch. I see a little girl right there. Tell me you see her? Dressed in some sort of green suit with a black cape and hood?"

Rather than answering, Mitch picked up something flat and metallic that had numbers running down through it. He scanned it, flicking his finger over the surface a few times. "I didn't find any viruses in you." He looked up. "You didn't happen to find some weird shard and slipped it into your head?"

"Mitch, this isn't funny, and I can't get through to V!"

"Hm." Mitch sighed. "Probably still in space."

"Of all the times to leave Earth…"

"Excuse me," Robyn finally interrupted, "if you can see and hear me, could you tell me where I am, please?"

She watched Panam glance at Mitch with an almost desperate look before turning to look at her. "Y-you have an English accent."

"Well, I am from England," Robyn said. "My name is Robyn Goodfellowe, pleased to meet you."

"R-right."

"She talking to you?" Mitch asked, shaking his head. "Whatever it is, Panam, you shouldn't be talking back and encouraging it. You don't have a chip so that means it's all in your head, you know?" Mitch cleared his throat and glanced outside, making sure there were no other people around. "We don't want the family to think you're going cuckoo."

"If it's not the same as V's, what is it?"

"I dunno, maybe whatever it was that bit you has some sort of disease!"

"I certainly do not!" Robyn said, aghast that she'd be accused of… oh. Oh no. "I bit you," she muttered, covering her mouth in horror. "Oh nononono. I bit you and I didn't heal you!"

"Mitch? The imaginary girl is now panicking because she says she bit me."

"Okay, look Panam, I'll uh… reach out to Vicktor, he worked with V, right? He might have some ideas." He raised his hands. "Don't worry, I'll keep it on the downlow, but maybe you shouldn't stay in camp for now… if you can't stop talking to your ghost friend and the others catch wind of it, we might be in trouble."

Panam grimaced. "Fine. I'll head over to that old place V and I took Saul to. Should be far enough from anything. We'll tell the others I'm scouting." She glanced at Robyn. "Hey girl."

Robyn looked up, meeting eyes with Panam. "I don't know if you're real but you're coming with me. You can tell me all about why you bit me and why that's bad on the way."

"Ooooh…" Robyn groaned as she followed the older woman out. "I'm in so much trouble."

Sunset groaned and rolled her shoulders, standing up on top of the building she had landed on. "And this is why I prefer my own interdimensional traveling methods."

A shrill cry made her look up. She raised her arm and allowed the hawk to land on it. "Oh, you're the bird from earlier. What was your name? Merlyn?"

The hawk crooned and gave her an almost imperceptible nod, which was enough for her. She glanced around at the even taller buildings, the flying vehicles, the holograms that scrolled into the clouds. The noise, the gunfire, the smells.

It was almost too much, having just arrived from a fairy world. "You know, I think your wolf friend is going to have a really tough time here."

It was then that she felt something else. Glancing down, she blinked as runes and lines formed around her feet and suddenly a barrier shot up around and above her, encasing her and the hawk in a semi-transparent dome of energy.

"I have you, intruder," an unfamiliar voice growled.

Sunset blinked when an Elf stepped out of the shadows. She rubbed her eyes, then looked at the city, then looked back at the elf. "The hell?"

"Silence! I will ask the questions—"

Sunset shrugged and stepped through the shield, watching the elf's face pale when pieces of light fell and crashed into the concrete floor before dissipating into mist with some amusement. "You were saying?"

"Foul creature I will—"

"That'll be enough, Avallac'h," another person said, stepping out from behind a large generator. It was a familiar young woman with long white hair tied in a ponytail, and a scar on the side of her face. "This is not someone you want to antagonize."

Sunset chuckled, shaking her head. "I should be surprised, but somehow, I'm not." She stepped forward to grasp the woman's forearm. "It's been a while."

"I could say the same. I certainly didn't expect you out and about. Usually people go to you," Ciri responded, grinning. "So what brings you to Night City, Sunset?"

To be Continued

Author's Note

Cast:

Wolfwalkers:

Robyn Goodfellowe: Protagonist of the movie, she is a young huntress who is forced to move to Ireland with her father. There, she meets Mebh, a wolfwaker that soon became her best friend and family.

Cyberpunk 2077:

Panam Palmer: Panam is a Nomad, one of the Aldecaldos; a tight-knit family of roving free-spirits—though by adoption, not birth. Panam’s left the family behind and taken on work as a mercenary, the kind of entanglement with rotten-world corporations and cyberpunks the Aldecaldos deliberately shun.

Mitch: Mitch is a member of the Bright family, a group of nomads in the Aldecaldos nation.

Witcher 3:

Ciri: Also known as the Child of Destiny, Ciri is described generally as a weapon that has the potential to destroy the very world that she inhabits. Along with this there are ties to her being an apprentice to Geralt when she was younger. Her Witcher training, coupled with the magical abilities, mark her as one of the most powerful individuals in the world.

Avallac'h: An Elf Wizard that helped Ciri hide from the Wild Hunt in several worlds.

A Night on the Drive (Electro Swing — Fanfic)

Sunset's Isekai
A Night on the Drive (Electro Swing — Fanfic)
By Wanderer D & Lord Regulus, AKA Rego

Canterlot, the shining beacon of pony-kind’s power, glistened atop Mount Canterhorn under the night’s brilliant moonlight. Since its founding, the capital had always been known as a proper place for proper ponies to properly enjoy a proper evening. They attended extravagant galas, art auctions, and fancy soirees, all to see themselves be seen by those worthy of their attention under the spotlight of Princess Luna’s nightly display.

However, secreted away under thick canvas canopies and surrounded by sound dampening wards to protect the city’s serenity, bustled a wretched din of debauchery: Dressage Drive. Here, common ponies burned what little hours remained of their free time amid the many bars and nightclubs of the once respectable venue. While a useful siphon for plebian bits, the wild strip was a forbidden place, rightly reviled by any civilized pony of Canterlot. Nopony worth knowing would dare be seen setting hoof upon its dirty cobblestones.

“Wait, Luna! For Hades’ sake, wait!” a husky, but soft voice cried out as her royal highness, Princess Luna, burst forth from yet another one of the numerous nightclubs on her shaky hooves.

“Neigh! Though it is still early in the evening, our night is not forever. ‘Tis the bittersweet curse of good company that makes time even shorter! Our schedules rarely align like the planets, so we must continue if we are to experience the Drive to its fullest!”

Hot on Luna’s trail, Athena squeezed herself through the pony-sized doorway, nearly breaking it as she tried catching up to her fleet-hoofed friend. With a loud crack, the massive minotaur freed herself from the frame with a quick apology to the upset bouncer. She stumbled over her flowing orange dress as she chased the lopsided princess into the busy streets. Despite running a restaurant with a bar herself, she was completely out of her element on the Drive.

The restaurateur looked around, catching sight of her friend’s nebulous mane as it quickly bobbed down the street. She wasn’t sure if Luna’s unsteadiness was from the excessive dancing, drinking, or mixture of both, but it could only end poorly. The princess was plowing through each place they went to, barely taking the time to look around. To Athena’s growing frustration, her royal friend was giving the term ‘bar hopping’ a more literal connotation.

“For Styx’s sake, Luna. Just slow down! We don’t need to burn through the whole blasted Drive in a single night! I’m not even dressed right for half of these places…” Athena trailed as she looked down at her orange stola, covered in sweat, stains, and all matter of other, unknowable materials. “I thought we could just pick a spot and spend the night there.”

“When gazing upon the night sky, one does not simply settle for one lonely star in the endless expanse.” The princess leapt onto a nearby light pole, twirling around it with a hoof extended towards the spotlit canvas covers above. “Not when the tapestry of the universe unfurls before you!” The princess’ eyes bugged as her hoof lost its grip and she collapsed to the ground.

“Luna! Are you okay? For the love of—How are you still so eloquent when you’re drunk anyway?” Athena asked as she helped her friend to her hooves.

“Our speech is still coherent? This error must be rectified at once. Your princess of the nightlife has yet to reach peak inebriation. Now come! We spy a most unique secret in the alley over yonder garbage cans!”

“Garbage cans?” Athena asked with trepidation. Luna flared her wings to help balance her unsteadiness as she raised one of her hooves to point out the door she had spotted. Following the trail, Athena noticed the quiet, unassuming door, which was already suspicious enough to be on the Drive. A lovingly-worked door, constructed with some golden-red wood, was nestled in a stone archway. A crystalline version of a blazing sun cutie mark adorned the door. It was far enough away from the rainbow of lights on the drive that it only glittered in the light of an out-of-place oil lamp that hung next to it.

“Oh, no. I really don’t think we should…” Athena muttered as the Princess reared up on her hind legs.

“To adventure!” Luna battle-cried as she leapt over the cans at full gallop. She somehow cleared them perfectly and caught herself before running muzzle-first into the door.

“Luna, please! Can’t we just go back to the Labyrinthyum? I’ll grill you up a portobello mushroom steak and get some water. Whatever you want! We really shouldn’t keep—”

“We do not wish to! Are we—Am I not the princess of the nightlife?” Luna interrupted with a sloven hoof stomp. “If it is not meant to be explored, then explain the loveliness of the sizeable doorway’s welcoming design!”

Athena paused, errantly flicking her crescent moon earring as she pondered what such a beautiful door was doing in an alley in the first place. It was also strangely large for an Equestrian door, even by Canterlot’s standards. She’d still have to duck down, but it wouldn’t even be that tight of a fit. “Well, it might be someone’s home for all we know.”

“Then all more reason to see who dwells within! Anypony living on the Drive must surely be adventurous as it is an illegal act to establish a permanent residence. At the behest of my sister, we have studied the most dull of modern zoning laws of our land and I know this area to be a purely commercial district. If it is truly a home, I will arrest them personally after getting to know whoever is wayward enough to live in such a lively place.”

Approaching the suspiciously humble door, Athena noticed the words on the sign. “‘Sunset’s Eyes-kai’? I’ve never heard a pony name like that before.”

“Perhaps it is meant to be read as ‘Izzy-kay’. Regardless of the spirit of this place, we shall meet this Sunset and demand an explanation, a drink, or whatever service lies within.” Luna unceremoniously shoved the door open, nearly slamming it against the interior. She opened her mouth to shout something, but was greeted by the gentle chime of a bell.

“Aha! The portal greets us as we enter. This is a business! In that case, we shall have the finest of whatever it is you provide for your patrons, Sunset Izzy-kay!”

“L-Luna! You can’t just—woah…”

The minotaur gazed at the warm lights and welcoming atmosphere, completely different from the rest of the neon wildness of the Drive. The brick and mortar walls were lined with panels of dark, almost black, wood, decorated by an array of storied pictures. All of the overwhelming noise of the outside world vanished as the bell behind her chimed once more, leaving only a serene quintessence in the still air.

“Oh thank goodness, I can hear myself think,” Athena said to no one in particular. Her eyes caught the nearby wall as she found herself briefly wondering what sorts of creatures were pictured there, but was immediately pulled away to keep an eye on the royal pain.

Past the alicorn, the minotaur looked over behind the bar itself. There was a considerable assortment of drinks and glasses extending all the way down to the end of the establishment, stopping only where the bar turned in to connect with the wall. Arranged before them were shelves four levels high above the sink, containing bottles of all shapes, sizes and implied prices.

In front of all of them was a creature unlike anything she’d ever seen before.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar in the Omniverse," the creature behind the bar said. She was dressed in smart black pants, a long sleeved white shirt with a black vest, and didn't seem too threatened by the sudden intrusion of a princess and a minotaur. A true professional.

“Another subspecies of your kind, Athena?” The princess mumbled quietly as she inspected the owner of the bar. “Just how many variants of minotaurs are there?”

"The correct term at this point would be 'human'," Sunset offered, "I haven't been a minotaur since I had to fight alongside Kaz at the Coliseum." She cleared her throat at Athena’s bafflement. "Not that it matters. Human. Just human."

“I am unaware of who this ‘Kaz’ is or what business a strange minotaur would have in Cloudsdale, but well met, bartender! Bring out your finest menu so that we may see what you bring to Dressage Drive’s nightlife.”

“Luna, please. You’ve already had more than enough,” Athena begged as she cautiously drew closer to the bar.

“Neigh! The night is no longer to be feared, and I intend to enjoy its bounty to the fullest! Now, tell me, do you have something strong enough to best an alicorn princess?”

"Well, I don't think of it as a competition to knock you out, but I have things for all tastes," Sunset said, pulling out two menus and setting them on the bar. "Please, have a seat and take a look."

“You have my thanks, Sunset Isekai.” Luna fluttered into her seat, clumsily pawing at the menu with her hooves before reaching for it with her unsteady magic. “Do you also have a specialty concoction to bring a unique flair to your humble eatery, or is the lack of such spice the reason your bar is quite empty this evening?”

"Sunset Shimmer, your highness. As for unique… my bar is outside time and space," Sunset said, leaning over to rest her elbows on the bar. "I have drinks that don't exist in this world and defy the laws of magic of at least a hundred others. I have everything from a humble rye whiskey to actual dragon milk." She winked. "Whatever is your pleasure you can find here… and since I have all the time in the universe, I can make sure my visitors get what they want."

Luna grinned blearily and slammed a foreleg down. “Ha! I like this one’s colorful excuses for such a barren bar! Perhaps developing a quick tongue would benefit your humble establishment, Athena.”

“Thanks…” Athena rolled her eyes and picked up the menu. Curious by the strange bartender's claims, the restaurateur began thumbing through the menu to see how she could’ve fit hundreds of things within such a thin booklet. To her horror, the first offerings seemed to be familiar dishes pulled straight from Minossus, but with a vegan twist like her restaurant. Was Sunset trying to edge her out of business from the Drive?

“Oh my… this is strange indeed,” Luna muttered with a dull edge. “You’ve so brazenly put meat offerings front and center, Sunset Shimmer. I will have to figure out if I’m supposed to fine you or throw you in the dungeon after dinner.”

"I hope you enjoy your time here regardless," Sunset Shimmer replied, unflinching.

“M-meat?” Athena balked and turned back to see what page Luna was looking at to find only a random selection of various waters. Confused, she kept turning and turning, letting the pages flow like a flip book. Her heart began to sink as they kept coming and going as the booklet flowed through stranger and stranger things.

“I-I don’t understand! What’s going on here?” Athena muttered as she began getting lost in the infinite scroll of thin pages. The booklet pulled at her, feeling as if it was drawing her inside the dark spaces between the lines. They sped by faster and faster in her futile attempt to reach the other side. There had to be an end to such madness.

"Ah," Sunset said, leaning over to place a finger between the pages. "It seems you wanted to see the entire menu… it's… not a good idea for mortal minds." She laughed a bit self-consciously. "Um. Sorry. It's just designed to show first drinks or dishes that the creature holding it would find appealing. As I said… I'm not really a local bar."

The hostess leaned back, studying Luna for a moment. "Although, I have to admit, skipping the drink section and going straight for the meat is not something that happens often with ponies."

“Such peculiar magics we have at play here.” Luna giggled as she flipped through the menu. “And such enticing horrors! We are not even sure what this ‘veal’ is, but it does seem most delectable.”

“V-veal?” Athena had heard of the barbaric practice before, but had never seen anyone with the gall to sell such an innocent creature as tender meat.

As if sensing Athena's apprehension, Sunset shrugged. "To be fair I had no idea it was listed there. And if it's any comfort it wouldn't be the veal you're thinking of, Miss Athena." She cleared her throat. "I really need to check the menu more often."

“Well, this night is for making grave mistakes, so please! One lemon veal scaloppini with mushrooms and whatever is the best wine pairing!” Luna's smile rang hollow as she closed the menu. Taking a deep breath, her horn glittered with shimmering midnight, but sputtered out with a rain of blue sparkles. “Huh… we thought it was mere salt inebriation, but we can no longer sense our moon.”

"Okay, one veal scaloppini, with a glass of House Foxmantle Pinot Noir," Sunset said, writing down the order. She tilted her head when she heard Luna's mutter and nodded. "Since we're in a different dimension, you'll have to step outside for your magic to link up to your world again, Princess," she informed her gently.

“Still relying on such farcical claims, we see. Very well! Instead of calling the guard to arrest thee for tampering with our magic, we shall venture beyond this realm to retrieve our teeth,” Luna snickered darkly as she stumbled out of her chair. Athena followed her with a worried gaze before looking back to the bartender once Luna was out of earshot.

“Please, Sunset. I know she’s a princess and everything, but you can’t give her any of that! Do you have something that might sober her up?”

"Is it unusual for ponies to eat meat in your universe?" Sunset asked.

“What does that even—Yes! Very, very yes!” Athena said while pulling at her horns in a panic. “I moved to Equestria to get away from meat, but that’s not what I’m talking about. From one restaurant owner to another, you have to know when to cut someone off. Especially if you’re the one running a bar. I shouldn’t have even had to ask!” Athena fumed, slamming her hands firmly on the counter.

Sunset sighed. "Fine, if it's not her usual fare it would be bad practice to feed her something she might really regret later when she's finally sober." She hummed and tapped her fingers on the bar. "I have a couple of mocktails that will sober just about anyone. I'll give it to her on the house, and dare her to drink it in one shot if she hesitates. It's worked with other Lunas before."

“Other Lunas?” Athena shook the strange detail out of her head, failing to understand anything of what the bartender was talking about. After a moment, she took a deep breath and shrank back into her seat. “Look, I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that. It’s just… it’s been a really stressful night and I don’t know what to do!

“Luna came by the Labyrithiyum, but she looked like she needed something more than just her usual,” Athena admitted as she rested her forehead on her hand, trying to calm down. “I tried to find out what was wrong, but then she asked if I was free tomorrow. I couldn’t make her wait until then and figured ‘Hey, it’s a slow night,’ and closed early. I threw on my best dress, expecting to go someplace quiet to talk, but all we’ve been doing is rushing down the Drive building a royal tab!”

"I dunno," Sunset said, "I think you look lovely in that dress. But, I get your point, it's sometimes hard to keep up with some immortal beings, or long-lived princesses. Trust me, I would know. Let me get started on that drink to sober her up. We won't get more visitors at all, so maybe you can still have a good time with a more relaxed Luna, and some more… normal dishes."

“Th-thanks, Sunset,” Athena said with a slight blush at the unexpected compliment. “But, it’s not the drinks, the dancing, the dishes, or the dress. I can usually key into my customer’s emotions pretty easily, but Luna is just so different. I know something is eating at her, but I can’t put my finger on it. It’s like every place we go to, before we have a chance to get comfortable to talk, she gets frustrated and flies off. I like having a good time as much as the next… whatever you said you were… I just feel like I can’t do anything for her when she needs someone to help,” Athena sighed as she looked back at the door. She drummed her fingers on the bar, noticing that Luna was taking her sweet time with her teleportation. “She must really be struggling with her magic out there.”

"Oh don't worry, Space-time, remember?" Sunset said, only earning a confused look from the minotaur. "It’s like very powerful time magic,” she added and the minotaur nodded along. “The idea is to provide a place for everyone to feel safe and able to talk about their problems. I can't solve them… but I can lend an ear, provide a drink or dish, and maybe help them leave with just enough clarity of mind to get started on the right road. Be them princesses or fellow bartenders."

She poured a crystal glass of iced water for Athena. "Here, just relax for a bit. Take a deep breath, Luna will come back when she comes back, and she won't know some time has passed in here."

Athena pushed a small smile through her anxiety and took a drink of the water. The unassuming liquid danced upon her tongue, with the crisp coolness of snow melted from the top of Mount Canterhorn. It wasn’t invigorating cold, but like the fresh side of a pillow.

“My goodness. I never knew water could be so amazing.”

"It was bottled in Rivendell, so I was assured that its quality would 'cleanse the fears and worries of any who drink it. 'Very ceremonial bottling’." Sunset replied with a grin.

“But it’s just water…” Athena trailed as she looked through the side of the glass curiously.

"Well, yeah, but chilled water is really sometimes what you need. It's not alcoholic, it doesn't have random, weird flavors… It's great for calming nerves, as much as hot tea at times. Depends on the occasion, and the elves were very proud of it, so I figured it would work," Sunset replied, glancing at the wall where the picture of her visit to Middle Earth was.

Athena took another sip and looked over her shoulder to where Sunset’s eyes were pointing. Across from them was the wall covered with pictures. She hadn’t gotten a good look at the photos when they first came in, but it was like a star-studded wall of fame with all manners of creatures the likes she had never seen. Griffons weren’t that surprising, but changelings, alicorns, more creatures like Sunset, and a smorgasbord of other things both enormous and tiny. “Is that rabbit wearing a police uniform?”

"Yeah, that's Judy Hopps, the fox is her partner in both senses of the word, Nick, and you might not believe it, but I'm the red and gold wolf in the black leather jacket next to them."

“Not really. I’ve seen changelings before. Just not ones that weren’t trying to, you know… do whatever their plan was. I mean, you seem nice. But I guess that’s what changelings do?” Athena tensed at the thought, realizing a changeling would act ‘nice’ in order to lull their prey into a false sense of security.

Sunset started laughing. "I've been a lot of things, but I'm not a changeling." She snickered, summoning her favorite picture over. "Here, take a look. This is clearly me, and these other creatures are all from different worlds and times. My semi-adopted daughters, Lena and Dani, my not-quite-mom Celestia—”

“Your mom is Princess Celestia?”

"I said ‘not-quite-mom’. Totally different. I grew up in Canterlot, as a unicorn, and Celestia adopted me as her student before Twilight," Sunset said. "But that's… a long story. If you look carefully at the other pictures, you'll see there are a lot of Celestias I've met."

“Wow. okay.” Athena was at a loss for words at the various solar princesses as they came and went in a slideshow of suns. “Is she a changeling in this one?”

"Yep, that’s Alternia… it's a sad story, but you'll be happy to know that the local Celestia endorsed her, and they're good friends."

“It seems like stories about the princesses are always sad. At least she seems nice.” She looked at the picture of the changeling queen, smiling softly and regally like the princess she knew. “Luna is just going through a lot right now. I just hope she finds her own happiness by the end of it.”

Sunset nodded. "Want to talk about it? How long has she been back in your world?"

Athena took another drink of the elvish water to help collect her thoughts. She’d have to look up where this “Rivendell” place was later. “A few months, I think. She first turned up last year during the Summer Sun Celebration as far as I know, but Princess Celestia keeps everything about her so secret. The papers said her royal sister was freed from the clutches of Nightmare Moon after being lost for a thousand years, but Luna told me she was Nightmare Moon. I believe it too. You’ll see why when she gets back.”

"She was," Sunset said gently. "I'm not sure how similar her situation is to other versions of herself, but if she just returned from the moon, bear in mind she's been gone from Equestria for at least a thousand years. It's… it's a lot to deal with, especially with how different the world is for her. The fact that you're her friend is without a doubt doing her a lot of good."

“You really think so?” Athena cupped her glass with her hands, rubbing the outside and letting the condensation soak into her furry fingers. She hadn’t noticed until now, but the glass fit comfortably in her hands rather than the little pony ones she always had to constantly refill. It was a small thing, but the quietest details were always the ones that welcomed customers the loudest.

“I always kind of feel like an oddball anywhere I go. I mean, I’m a simple minotaur cook who is terrified of killing anything for their meat that wound up opening a meat-less Minoan restaurant in Canterlot. Maybe if Luna had someone—somepony more normal…” Athena’s mind drifted back to Hearth’s Warming. Seeing the weakened princess, battered, broken, and so lonely. She was begging for forgiveness for something that Athena couldn’t even wrap her head around as Luna clung to her desperately. She’d never seen the illustrious guardian of the night look so helpless.

"Luna... Celestia, Nyx, Cadance... no matter which alicorn, creature, or goddess you run into out there, you've gotta remember that, for the most part, they're people too," Sunset said. "Sometimes they're scary, or very good at hiding their inner-selves. Then there's the ones that seem simply too alien to understand at all, but for the most part every one of them has a way to connect to just like us." She nodded towards the picture of the sweet-smiling changeling queen. "Take Alternia for example, she might've pretended to be Celestia, but she was afraid of losing everything if ponies discovered her true self. All across that wall, anyone you see, be it a mouse or a god, they're just like you or me in some way or another."

She reached over to pat Athena's hand gently. "And Twilight has always been right. Friendship is magic. We all need friends. Especially those of us who are long-lived."

Athena smiled and took another soothing sip of water. “I really can’t imagine what it’s like living forever. I mean, I didn’t even think about that when I got to know Luna. When Fancy Pants… wait, do you know—I guess it’d be a different Fancy Pants somehow. Well, he’s a friend of mine and kind of a big deal. When he was an ambassador, he helped me open up the Labyrinthiyum and often used it as a regular spot for diplomatic dinners for more carnivorous guests since I offer meat substitutes. I guess he was keeping it in the spirit of things when he brought the princess over one night. After some initial… awkwardness… we really hit it off.”

Athena smiled warmly as she thought about the better nights with her favorite customer. “Now, when my restaurant is empty—which is a lot after dark—Luna sometimes comes in to get her coffee before starting her nightly duties. The last thing I ever expected was to become friends with one of the co-rulers of my new home.”

Sunset grinned. "It must be nerve-wracking. Especially with how judgemental some ponies can be, but, you're doing a good job. When you both walked in, your concern was for your friend first, and you didn't hesitate to try and get help to sober her up rather than letting her do something that she might regret later. If you're willing to go out with her for a girl's night, I think she really did find a good partner in crime. Is this the first time you're both doing this kind of thing? What do you usually do?"

“I’m not sure about crime or anything. This is the first time I’ve done anything like this, really. I’m kind of a homebody since I’m so… well, big. Even for a minotaur, I’m huge, so I already don’t fit into a lot of places, physically or mentally.” She ran her thumb along the rim of her glass, taking comfort in the low hum of its crystalline vibration. “To be honest, I didn’t want to go out at all, but she just seemed so upset. I thought getting some fresh air might help, but she kept saying that she wanted to ‘forget everything’ for a while. I just don’t know what to do.”

"That's a sign right there that she trusts you, and if she has a lot on her mind, I'm not surprised she's overdoing it to keep her head clear," Sunset said. "At least we now know that she also enjoys the quiet times with you. When she comes back, let's make sure you two get some time to talk, alright?"

“You don’t know how relieved I am to hear you say that.” With a large sigh and sniff, Athena released all the tension she didn’t know she had. Her shoulders relaxed as she hunched down over the bar. “Everypony has just been ‘yes, your highness’ this, ‘anything you want, Princess’ that, the entire night. Between you and me, I think she snuck out. I know they’re super stealthy, but I haven’t seen a single Lunar Guard.”

"Well, I don't blame her," Sunset said. "Guards can be a pain, especially for a girl looking for some time for herself and her friend."

As if on cue, the door to the restaurant was thrown open, shifting the two’s attention towards Luna. “Behold! Your princess returns with double the teeth!” she announced while holding a U-shaped case aloft in her magic. Popping what looked like a set of cheap costume teeth into her mouth, she shifted her jaw back and forth, causing a subtle flash of magic. After running her tongue along the outside, she grinned, showcasing her sharpened pearly whites ready to tear through meatier food.

“They’re fake,” Athena whispered leaning towards Sunset. “I think…”

"Right." Sunset cleared her throat, ducking under the bar for a second before setting a low glass with a slightly-glowing blue-black drink. "By the by, Princess, please have this. It's a cocktail for you, on the house."

“We see no domicile to place it upon, but we shall partake in thy most generously gifted beverage.” Luna took the offering in her magic and swirled the glass around. Looking through it, the liquid within seemed to mist around in deep blues and purples in an ever-shifting orange light that was never seen for long. The glass glowed with a bright outline as the mixture swirled around the edges. “Such a deep, mystical hue this beverage has. What do you call this?”

"Midnight sun." Sunset said. "It has the tiniest bit of magic to add fizz and glow to it."

“Heh… of course you would serve your princess of the night a sunlit beverage,” Luna mumbled wistfully as she eyed the bubbly drink. “Still, you will not best us by shining sunlight at such a dark hour, Sunset Shimmer. We shall partake of this paradox posthaste!”

With wild abandon, Luna knocked back the subtly glowing drink in one large gulp before slamming it down to the counter triumphantly. “There! We have eclipsed thy defiant sunlight and—oh heavens…” Luna’s face crumpled into a cringe of sour contempt as one of her eyes twitched violently from the magic working through her system.

"Uh, step back," Sunset said to Athena, watching the alicorn carefully.

Despite her massive frame, Athena launched herself cleanly over the bar to Sunset’s side and ducked for cover as Luna’s cheeks filled with a dangerous pressure. Luna, with all the dignity befitting a princess, released a deep, royal belch. Mystical fire spewed from her mouth in a nebula of dark clouds amidst a fiery orange ribbon of flaring solar winds. For a moment, the Luna’s dark coat flickered to a lighter blue as her mane and tail lost their ethereal luster, but roared back to life as the starlight dissipated and rushed back into her body. The force of her alicorn magic reeled her back and she collapsed in a heap to the floor.

Sunset leaned over to look down at her. "Well, she's breathing." She immediately noticed Athena cupping her mouth with her hands in abject horror. "Not that I had any doubts, mind you," she clarified, for the benefit of the minotaur, "But I thought you'd like to hear that and be sure after that display. Come on, let's help her up."

Sunset rubbed herself on the shoulder with a guilty smile at the minotaur's visceral terror. She reached out with her hand, helping Athena to her feet. "Don't worry, I was joking. It's a perfectly safe drink with some flashy results. She'll be up and about in a moment, so I was thinking maybe we could carry her over to one of the tables, so she can sit somewhere more comfortable."

Athena nodded quickly before running to the princess’ side and picking up the little pony. She gently placed her friend in a seat, laying her unconscious body on a table and stepping back to make sure she looked comfortable, or at least how passably comfortable a pony propped up in a biped’s chair while drooling face down could be.

“Umm… you wouldn’t happen to have any Tartarian coffee beans and ashen amaranth, would you?”

After allowing Athena out of the bar straight into her restaurant—priceless reaction there—Sunset sat down next to Luna, brushing the alicorn's mane out of her face while she recovered.

Luna shifted from the touch with a miserable grunt. “Why doth mine skull tremble with the righteous fury of the Elements’ rainbow crushing the Nightmare once more?” she mumbled with a royal amount of slobber running down her cheek, her mane somehow fraying despite its ethereal aura.

"Well, we had to sober you up quick before you did something you’d regret, princess," Sunset said. "Athena stepped out to get you your favorite coffee, so… I guess we have as much time as you need to get yourself together and talk if you want to."

“We cannot recall how many years it has been since we have partaken so liberally, but it would also appear we have failed to drain recent failures from our mind. ‘The memories of the night will never yield its lessons to the cleansing morning light’ indeed. Not even for the one who commands it.”

Sunset sighed. Unfortunately, she knew all too well what it was like to want to forget past mistakes. Granted, she hadn't quite reached Nightmare Moon levels of regret, but it had been very close. "I've had many guests come here trying to drown their memories with whatever was available, princess, but I don't think it ever helped them in the end. You were already on the right track when you went to find your friend before falling off the wagon."

“We know the truth of your words, fair Sunset Shimmer. But… its siren’s song tempts in the moment. Just because we know better does not mean we will be better than we are.” Luna chewed her lip. She yelped in surprise as she drew blood, forgetting she was still wearing her sharper teeth. “It would appear we have made many a mistake this night and cannot stop ourselves from further worsening it.”

"Well, there's no judgment here," Sunset assured her. "I've… also been hit by the Elements of Harmony. Between Athena and I, you're in company that not only understands, but also cares."

Luna searched Sunset’s eyes deeply, as if peering through her very soul. “How curious. There is truth in your words, but I do not recall hearing another time the Elements had been—oh, wait. Yes. You said you were a traveler. Please forget the words we uttered of your arrest in our stupor. Instead, as a representative of this realm, please depart from this Equestria at once and take your… establishment with you. Such influences upon worlds can prove disastrous if they reveal fates too similar to ones that have yet to make themselves known.”

Sunset nodded. "The bar is very careful about who walks in, and how anycreature is exposed. You won't be finding out the future from me, Princess… and no guests ever do. We don't talk about Bruno."

“It is as well that we do not know what this ‘Bruno’ is you speak of. You are both wiser with years beyond our original reckoning if you know not to interfere on such a whim.” Luna sighed as her eyes flickered with an unpleasantness shooting through her. “Unlike our most recent student who seems to have unknowingly blundered his way into weaving another’s fate. Perhaps had we been a better mentor, we would be of help to him in his time of great need. Alas, we seem incapable of doing much of anything anymore.”

"Well," Sunset said, getting a bit more comfortable in her seat, "Athena mentioned that you had just recently returned. I imagine there's a lot of things you're still catching up with, and adding an apprentice to that?”

“Ill-advised, we know. Quite a quirk of fate that we found such a gifted one so shortly upon our return. He’s a most unique pony among the others of his noble class who honors us by accepting our help to hone his talents. Such potential should’ve been realized for its true nature at a much younger age, but we were…” Luna briefly flinched with regret as her frown deepened further, “...indisposed. As a result, he struggles to overcome the most basic obstacles that would be mere child’s play had we been there for him.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it. It's normal that you'd have some small issues when it comes to doing stuff as well as you did before. Give yourself some space and time to consider your moves, I'm sure he'll improve under your tutelage."

“But that is just it, Sunset Shimmer! We had time. We had space. And we threw it away!” Luna grit her teeth as she ripped her tiara off and cast it aside with her magic. “Our ponies have paid dearly for our dereliction. A sky filled with stagnating stars, a withering Dreamscape, and our sister’s terrible suffering while we slept for a thousand years; all because we—because I wanted more? How pathetic! None of it should be, but it is. And now, I cannot even right my wrongs! There is naught to do but gaze helplessly from afar as fates crumble around me!”

Sunset rested her arms on the table, contemplating her hands for a bit as she thought about Luna's words. "I've heard… that the first step to help others is to help yourself," she said slowly, allowing for Luna to hopefully listen to her words and cool down her emotions.

“That assumes one is worthy of the opportunity. The world never forgave my sins. They were merely blanketed by another. What you see before you, this meager waning crescent… she fails to see what can be done to repair so much damage.”

"You deserve it." Sunset stated. "We all deserve a second ch—”

“Be still!” The princess slammed her hooves on the table and glared at Sunset. “Second chances? Do not shower us with mere platitudes! You know not of what you speak!” Luna roared as her eyes flared with the blinding fury of a pulsar. “Praytell, what would a traveler know of this Princess Luna before you? Our soul may rhyme with a million branches across infinite realms, but what of our severed stem that cannot make amends? We were never given a first that we might rectify our mistakes!”

Sunset sighed, but didn't interrupt Luna, simply motioning for her to continue.

After a moment, the princess gasped as she realized her fiery temper. She lowered herself into her seat and sunk her head in shame. “Meager platitudes, Sunset Shimmer. Do not be so cruel as to offer us—to offer me honeyed words that ring hollow from ignorance born from the assumptions of witnessing a thousand moons.”

"Platitudes?" Sunset asked, meeting Luna's eyes with her own. "Is that what it is to let people talk about their fears, or their hopes? I speak from experience, Luna. Just because you can string some fancy words together, doesn't mean I agree with them. You're not the only pony or creature that has come to this place with their soul torn apart by regret, and while I'll be the first to admit I can't fix all problems with magic, time travel or the perfect drink—"

“‘The perfect drink’?” The princess chimed in over her hostess. “Yes. I believe it was this search for such liquid salvation that brought me to your humble door, correct Sunset Shimmer?” Luna chuckled bitterly as she retrieved the menu from her former seat at the bar. She flipped to the next page past the meat section. It was different than before, displaying an incredible array of mystical drinks, each bearing curious and strange effects. “Then perhaps one of these wondrous concoctions may grant the mercy my sister bestowed upon all of Equestria and purge my memory of the Nightmare as well?”

For a few seconds, Sunset simply stared, stunned. She had to have heard wrong. There was no way Celestia would just… strip the memory of her sister from everyone living at the time. Would she? "She. Did. What?"

“The fault ultimately lies with me. In a vision of the past, my sister showed me the path I forced upon her. After my… violent departure… our ponies only grew more disdainful of the night, some going so far as to pray for Celestia to purge it from Equestria.” Luna took a deep breath and gazed towards a lamp on the wall, glowing with the comfort of a sun at twilight. “Ironic, is it not? I wished to bring about eternal night and force my little ponies to recognize its beauty. To appreciate my work. To… to simply want me around.”

Luna took a shuddering breath as she forced the past behind her. “But my rage made them shun everything all the more. Sister tried to repair the damage I had wrought, but their fears festered into a zealous warsong that pleaded for her to destroy the Nightmare’s night and all who dwell within it. In the face of such reckless hate, she did the only thing she felt she could…

“She burned it all away, rendering it to naught but ash with her morning star. Upon a red dawn ‘Luna’ was purged from history. The memories of me were cleansed from the minds of Equestria along with the sunlit city her subjects had built in her name. There was neither a Princess of the Night nor the cataclysm she tried to create, only legends of a terrible Mare in the Moon and the silent suffering of the lonely sunrise.”

After taking a moment to process Luna’s story, Sunset looked up at the lost princess. "Someone I love deeply once told me that 'to be forgotten is a fate worse than death'," Sunset whispered. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you'd been… erased from the memory of all that lived before you were banished."

Luna gritted her fangs and her eyes began to water. “If death is truly preferable, then why does forgetting sound so blissfully sweet? To throw all to oblivion and allow it to be wiped away and buried as the future bears down upon us all? Time doesn’t simply heal wounds, Sunset Shimmer, it folds everything within its annals. Those that come after us may never hear our names or know the actions taken before the eternal dream whisks us away to Elysium.” Luna’s tears flowed freely from eyes filled with ancient sorrow.

“Why can’t I just forget like the others and be happy?”

"I don't know, Luna. I don't think that forgetting everything will solve it. Things still happened, you can't just simply walk away and forget."

“I envy you, traveler. You may bounce between worlds on a whim. Whisk yourself to a place and never dwell upon the fates playing within any world.”

Sunset frowned, glancing at the pictures around her. She bit down her tongue, stopping an angry retort so she could take a deep breath. "Is that how it seems to you?" she asked patiently. "This place… my purpose through entire centuries has been to be there for people when they need someone.. I know I can only do so much, but every picture on the wall behind you, every creature there shared their sins, their hopes, their fears and their happiness with me. I've seen absolute despair, and incredible courage. And, you know what? I choose to carry it. I choose to remember it," she declared, touching her chest.

She picked a random picture from the wall and let her eyes study the smiling faces of three sirens. "I remember all of it. All of the similarities and all of the differences. Every guest I talk to is etched into my heart. I see people walk in to have one last chat just before they have to go back to their deaths. Sometimes knowing it, and sometimes not. And I can't stop them, because I'd be interfering with their fate, or their destiny, or their choices. They will always be remembered and I am always here for them to return. Even if eventually, they will not. Even my best friends will be gone one day when they just don't have enough time left." She smiled a bit sadly. "I love being able to be here for all of you… but I wouldn't necessarily wish it onto another as if it were a better existence than a normal lifespan."

“The pain of departure is great indeed, Sunset Shimmer. But you see, you are the one who is allowed to fill that wall in the manner you see fit and cherish the ones who patronize your bar. You are not such a powerful creature that commands the flow of fate upon a mere whim. That is where I envy you, traveler: an immortal without the trappings of consequence and the disaster it brings.”

Sunset held herself back and leaned away for a moment, studying Luna. "I think I understand you a little better now, Luna," she said. "And as much as I would like to continue this back and forth… I would much prefer to do for you the one thing I can truly offer: I'll listen, and I will remember. If you want, you can tell me everything that the world forgot."

“You? You would subject yourself to my story? But—but there would be no point!” Luna floundered, her eyes darting back and forth as if she was fighting her own words. “No. Your forgiveness wouldn’t matter. You could forgive the most heinous act and be done with me the moment I step out the door!"

"No, I won't," Sunset said, sliding a card over the table to Luna. "That's my promise. That card will let you come here anytime you want. My doors don't open just once to my friends." She grinned, a small, little girl grin, glancing behind Luna as the princess took the card in her hoof. "And I'd like to be your friend and Athena's if you'd both let me."

“You wish to be my friend?” Luna smiled with a hopeful, hesitant gleam that faded almost as quickly as it came. “Then, please. I know it’s wrong, but I can bear this weight alone no longer. If you truly wish to help me… please. Help me forget.”

"If I do that, Luna, you will stop being you… more specifically, the you that understands what went wrong before, and how to prevent it."

“I don’t care! I hate the pony I am! Knowing the sweet lies my sister has woven… My jealous attempt on Celestia’s life became the evil Nightmare sealing away a lost princess within the moon to rob the world of her beauty. My quest for night eternal is now just a ceremonial eclipse performed every decade on the anniversary of my banishment. Did you know I devoured ponies for their magic? My crime against nature was reduced to a mere children’s fable told to prevent the overindulgence of sweets on a holiday called Nightmare Night! Can you believe it? Cannibalism turned into a day of foalish celebration?” Luna's grim smile crawled across the princess’ face as she laughed at the absurdity.

“Do you see now, Sunset Shimmer? The truth, my truth, is unforgivable. Not even Harmony itself could pardon this!” Luna slammed the menu closed and reopened it, revealing the first page still brimming with all the mouthwatering meat she secretly craved. “This page? This is what I am. So, if it is within your power… Please, I beg of you. Grant me this selfish desire and help me forget this. Let me be forgotten!”

Before Luna could grovel any further, she felt a tight pull behind her as a familiar, fluffy firmness enveloped her. The princess' eyes widened in dread as teardrops fell onto her muzzle from above.

“No. Please, not now.” Luna whispered to herself before looking up at the minotaur, tightening her crushing grip on the princess as she cried softly into her friend’s mane. Only a few gasps of air escaped her as she desperately hugged the princess, refusing to let go. “Athena? When did you—”

“I’m so sorry, Luna. I’m so sorry all of that happened. I didn’t know.” Athena gripped tighter as her tears began flowing even faster. “I didn’t know anything!”

“N-no! That’s not—You were never meant to know any of this!”

“But then, how am I supposed to help my friend if she won’t tell me what’s wrong?” Athena pleaded.

“Because! All I have done to my little ponies, my nation, my sister…” Luna fell limp in the minotaur’s arms and she did her best to look away and hide her shame. “I have so little now, Athena. To lose anything more… I-I can’t.”

“Luna, listen to me.” Athena sat the princess down, wiped her eyes, and kneeled down to meet her friend who couldn’t help but look away. “What you did a thousand years ago might be really scary. Terrifying, actually, but you need to allow yourself to forgive your mistakes. The princess I know is better than that now, and you shouldn’t forget that.”

“But, what I did was reprehensible. Barbaric. Look at me, Athena Cypriel. These meat-hungry fangs, this vile scar on my soul, if the Elements wouldn’t wipe away such wickedness, then I know I am unworthy of forgiveness,” Luna stated matter-of-factly.

“That’s because you never asked, you stupid princess!” Athena retorted and smacked her friend lightly on the head, snapping Luna back to attention. “How am I supposed to forgive you for something I don’t even know happened?”

“B-because you shouldn’t forgive me! You weren’t there to bear witness to my sins, Athena!”

Athena smiled and nodded. “Exactly. I wasn’t there.”

“... Pardon?”

“I wasn’t there, Luna. You don’t need to apologize to me,” Athena pulled the bewildered princess into another tender hug. “The only thing I want you to do is to forgive yourself.”

“How can I? My mistakes are—”

As quickly as the hug came, Athena pushed the princess back, holding Luna by the shoulders. “The only mistake that I’m aware of is you making me sweat in my favorite dress while chasing a bar hopping princess all across the Drive! You’re lucky it didn’t tear on anything. This thing is expensive, you know!” Athena whined as she puffed out her cheeks.

Without thinking, Luna reflexively gasped and clopped her front hooves together nervously. “We are truly sorry! We did not mean to ruin your lovely attire nor your evening!”

“No worries. Nothing a little dry cleaning won’t solve, right?” Athena said with a dismissive razzberry. “I forgive you for everything.”

“Wait... everything?”

“Mhmm!” the minotaur replied with an enthusiastic nod.

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. You're my best friend, Luna. Of course I’d forgive you! That’s a no-brainer.” Athena squeezed Luna like an oversized plushie pony. Hearing the pops of the princess’ spine, Sunset was glad not to be on the receiving end of the muscular minotaur’s bone-crushing affection. She wasn’t sure if those were just tears of joy anymore.

After giving the two friends a moment, the bartender politely coughed into her sleeve. "I think it's time for some refreshments," Sunset said. "Do you want to get another coffee, Athena? After that, I suggest we close down the shop and bring out the ice cream, cake, and some movies."

“Another coffee?” Athena blinked and cupped her mouth in horror as she suddenly recalled the reason she left Isekai in the first place. Looking back towards the door, she saw the discarded mug shattered into pieces. “Oh, right. It kinda slipped my mind in the heat of the moment.” The minotaur shrunk sheepishly away, poking her index fingers together as she looked around. Sunset always found it adorable when gigantic creatures shied away. It reminded her a little of Scorpia the first time she stumbled into the bar. “Is there a mop I can use?”

“Here my friend, allow me,” Luna lightly laughed as she enveloped the shattered mug and coffee in a glimmer of midnight magic. The cup teleported to the table whole as the spilled liquid was whisked from the floor and shot around in a vortex of cleansing magic before draining back into the repaired mug. “Twould be a most egregious sin to let this divine mixture go to waste. And I suppose a motion picture would not be unwelcome. Though the noise of the reel does tend to distract from the images flashing before us.”

Sunset grinned. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I have blu rays, data crystals, etcetera. No reel. Let me bring you my collection so you can pick what you like."

“I see! Then perhaps we would all enjoy the fish’s display. I’ve never seen one perform. Is it much like those flea circuses that I’ve heard about?”

The chime of the bell faded as the door closed behind Luna and Athena as they left Sunset’s Isekai. Stepping past the garbage cans, the two looked around as the Drive was still bustling with the noisy activity of the night. Luna closed her eyes and focused on herself, feeling the connection to the moon once again and chuckling. “Nary five minutes have passed since I retrieved my omnivores.”

“Are you serious?” Athena sighed as sleepiness bore down on her broad shoulders. “But we had dinner, a movie, chatted for what felt like hours, almost had a sleepover… I don’t know how much more ‘nightlife’ I can take.”

“Indeed. Funny how such things work. Perhaps this will be a rare night that I join everypony in restful sleep. I wouldn’t mind trying to explore the world of that Baron character the girl was writing about.”

“You mean the one in that movie we watched?”

“Yes. I must say, the imagination of the maker of that work of art was truly inspiring. If we ever meet again, I will most assuredly enjoy seeing more of the works of that strange, grinning jiggly monster at the start.”

“I think Sunset said it’s name was Ghibli or Toto-something.”

“Regardless, perhaps I will meet him one day and ask him to share his dreams with me,” Luna remarked as she looked at the card she had received from her new friend. “A most beautiful world shared within an already amazing story.”

“I don’t know about that,” Athena looked up at the shimmering canvas of lights overhead and brought her finger to her head as she absently flicked her earring in thought. “It was kind of weird at the end. Why do you think that girl asked him to marry her anyway? I mean, I’m usually all aboard for a romantic ending, but it seemed a little out of nowhere to me.”

“I believe it was a shared spark of creativity, the inspiration that is shared between artists that allows the other’s work to shine all the brighter. His violin inspired her story. Such a collaboration of minds and hearts brings beauty to the world. It was indeed a most lovely affair.”

“I guess…?” Athena crossed her arms, not completely convinced. “I mean, that girl almost destroyed everything she had though. I don’t think I’d propose to someone if I almost ran my store into the ground while distracted by something else like that.”

Luna chuckled as she looked up at her confused friend. “You know, once a pony finds their talent, they doggedly pursue their dreams to realize what fate has in store for them. I suppose it is easier for me to relate to finding a fate worth realizing.”

“Well, whatever the reason is, I’m too tired to think about it.”

“I can see that. It would be rude of me to keep you up any longer, my friend. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your friendship. For listening to me. For everything.” Luna forced a smile. Parting at night was always a lonely affair, but to keep others awake during her night was cruel to those who worked under her sister’s light. “Now, stand close to me, I will teleport us to the Labyrinthiyum.”

“Whoa, wait a sec! I’m not that tired. It’s still a nice evening. At least I think it is,” Athena said as she looked up at the thick canvas blocking Dressage Drive from the outside world. “Why don’t we walk it? We could see the actual stars for a change before I turn in for the night. It’s kind of one of the downsides of living underground.”

Luna’s small smile broadened like the moonrise. “Of course, dear Athena. I would most certainly enjoy that.”

"So you had a movie night and didn't invite us?" Lena asked, helping Dani move tables back to their place.

"Hey, there were a lot of emotional things going on," Sunset said, using her magic to stack several plates one over the other. "Plus, Luna and Athena both take some time to get to trust people. They're a bit shy, and I didn't want to take away from their bonding moment. I'm sure they'll be happy to have another girl's night here sometime, and provided they don't mind, maybe I'll have you and the others over."

"Well, I guess I can forgive that," the young duck said, starting to work on the chairs. "It must have been intense if you brought out the ice cream."

"I think… it was just the right thing to offer, at the right time." Sunset placed the dishes on the counter, then carefully picked up the coffee cup Athena had gifted her—a white mug with the restaurant’s logo: two marble columns lining the sides of a stone slab, depicting the imposing doorway with the tagline, ‘Labyrinthiyum: Get Lost in the Flavor.’—using a quick spell to clean it and reinforce it, before walking behind the bar.

In many ways that cup perfectly represented that world's Luna. Full of darkness, broken, and then mended by the love and forgiveness of her first true friend after returning from the nightmare. It would always have an important place in Sunset's memories… another reminder of the importance and value of friends in times of darkness and doubt.

She studied the area for a moment, then decided to place the cup between the jar of pure love-detection-jam that had been given to her by Cheval, behind and above Bernard's terrarium.

"So," Dani called out, bringing the now-framed picture of Luna, Athena, and Sunset to the bar. "Did you ever tell her that you actually know a bunch of Athenas and they're all goddesses?"

Sunset snorted. "No. I don't think she'd appreciate that tidbit of information quite yet." She picked up the picture, smiling at how comfortably uncomfortable Luna looked when Athena had hugged her for the shot. "I'm just glad those two found each other."

She took the picture over to the wall, hanging it next to the table the three of them had been sitting at earlier. "I'm looking forward to seeing where they go from here."

Author's Note

Rego’s AN: Thank you so much for asking me to collaborate within this wonderful multiverse of fictions you’ve written. And to you, reader, thank you for taking the time to read this chapter. I hope you enjoyed my small part in this continuing work. I did my best to contribute to it.

WD's Note: "Electro Swing" is one of those stories that once you start, you want to read more... so, here we are. With more. It's an ongoing story that I am enjoying immensely, and I'm very thankful that Rego was willing to bring his characters to the bar. Luna and Athena have a lovely and interesting dynamic in that story, and when we considered what characters to bring, we thought we could do something amazing without giving away major plot points as we might by bringing other characters. And I can say I am very pleased with the result!

Curry Talk (Reincarnated as a Sword - Light Novels)

Spoilers for up to Light Novel 10

Sunset's Isekai
Curry Talk (Reincarnated as a Sword)
By Wanderer D

The capital city of the Beastman Nation, Bestia, was a sight to behold, and even more importantly, a place where Fran felt comfortable at. Perhaps not as much as she did at the Black Catkin Village, but the overwhelming feeling of welcome and appreciation for her was both endearing and a much-needed change in their lives.

That, and most of her friends on this continent were here; The Beast King Rigdith, Mea, Quina, and Gwendarth and many others, which made it a fun place for her to both hang out and train. Unlike other countries, the beast people just accepted that Fran (being the one and only living Black Sky Tiger) was just as crazy as their king, and also just as destructive.

Unfortunately it was almost time to leave the Beastman Nation and return to Balboa if they wanted to make the capital city in time to meet with their dwarven friend, Gallus, and although Fran was very good at keeping a straight face, it was very clear to Teacher that she was already missing Mea.

He couldn't blame her. Afterall, Mea was not only a fellow beast person… she was also Fran's age, and powerful enough to actually keep up with her to boot. He had already lost count of how many times they had trained together, and their bond as warriors had only strengthened. And as much as she respected and loved her other friends and mentors, they were all older than her, or simple civilians… and the latter would never be able to keep up with a C-Rank adventurer, much less someone like Fran who was C-Rank only in paper while the reality was that she had enough power for an A-Rank.

Fran…

"Hn?"

Teacher paused, trying to sort his feelings and thoughts. What could he say to her to make her feel better?

That's when he spotted the bar. The door had a stylized yin-yang symbol on it, made of glass, and designed to look like a sun. It was located in an odd place, being attached to one of the few walls that eventually reached the main gates of the city.

If that wasn't a blatant breach of security, he didn't know what would be. But then again, a lot of people here actually enjoyed fighting monsters, so maybe it was socially acceptable to grab a beer and run out that door to hunt chimeras or something.

But it was not just the bar being in an odd place that had drawn his attention. It had been the blackboard sign in front of the door that had done the trick.

Fran… look. They sell curry.

"Curry." Fran's cat ears stood at attention.

An excited "Woof!" came from the shadows as well.

If there was something that would cheer up Fran instantly, it would be curry, and having come over to this continent, their supply of spices and saved curry was running drastically low. This was the best possible scenario to take Fran's mind off from her impending trip, even if for just a short time.

"I did not know curry had reached this continent yet," Fran stated with a nod. "We should try it."

"Woof! Bark!"

Trust Jet to be all for it too. The pair was insatiable. But, they did have a lot of money right now, so splurging a bit to drown sorrows and muster up energy to head out once more couldn't hurt anyone.

Why not? Let's go take a look.

The moment they entered the place, Teacher could feel it was different.

The door opened into a short, cool, brick corridor, accompanied by the sound of a silver bell chiming. Something about the place tugged at Teacher, something familiar.

Fran, undeterred and not sensing any danger, walked straight into the bar proper.

This is…!

Teacher?

Fran's telepathic reply showed how much she had learned caution.

I think it looks like a Speakeasy bar but that's impossible… Teacher ignored the few patrons and started looking around. At the tables. The posters and pictures. The guitars!

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai," a voice said in their minds.

Telepathy!

They both turned to face the person speaking to them and were surprised to see what appeared to be an elf. Now that they were looking at her, they could feel immense power from her. How had she snuck up to them?

Immediately Teacher used his appraisal skill.

Name: Kuro
Race: Black Dragon God
Title: Goddess of Death
[Stats Blocked]

Teacher almost winced when the rest of his scan was blocked entirely. The elf turned to look at him… not Fran…

"That information is private, Mr. Sword." The… maid… turned to look at Fran. "Have you come here for a drink or food?"

"Hn." Fran nodded, her wariness already forgotten. "Curry."

The maid nodded in understanding. "Chicken Curry is the best."

They're already getting along… Teacher thought as Fran followed the maid to a table. However, his thoughts were not on the curry itself. His thoughts were on what little he had gleaned. If he had been human still he was sure a chill would have run down his back. He had never seen anything like that.

Dragon God. That was her race. Not a title. Not a job. She was a goddess?! Fran, he said to his charge, she is very dangerous! She's a god!

Fran, however, was not disturbed. "Hn. People that like curry are good people."

"Indeed," the dragon god added to their conversation.

Teacher looked around. The other people in the bar's table area were humans. A young human girl with long black hair, with another young lady standing behind her while she drank some tea. It was a very similar situation to Quina waiting on Mea, although these girls were much younger.

But now that he was focused on them, Teacher realized that he could feel the pressure of a tremendous amount of mana within the girl sipping her tea. First, he checked the girl serving the other.

Name: Philine
Race: Human
Class: Apprentice Scholar
Condition: Normal

Status:
Level: (Not Compatible)
HP: (Not Compatible) MP: (Not Compatible)
STR: (Not Compatible) AGI: (Not Compatible)

Skills:
Acting, Spying, Noble Etiquette, Research, Bureaucracy, Poison Detection, Mana Sense, Magic Use, Highbeast Creation, Schtappe Usage, Potion Making, Dancing, Music (Harpsiel), Scholar Work, Piloting, Valkyrie Piloting, Mecha Piloting, Dragon Riding.

Unique Skills:
Blessing of the Gods (Ehrenfest)

Title: Friend of Dragons, Saint of Ehrenfest's Protege, Ace Pilot's Trainee, Interdimensional Traveler

What are those skills?! At first the girl had started somewhat normal for someone working for a noble. Just like Quina, the girl had a couple of skills that would be natural to an assistant of her stature, but halfway through it, they became nonsensical.

Almost dreading what he'd see, Teacher studied the sitting girl.

Name: Rozemyne
Race: Human
Title: Saint of Ehrenfest
[Stats Blocked]

It wasn't normal, but it was also not unheard of to have his scan blocked by either ability or difference in rank. In the case of a Dragon God, chances were that Kuro was simply too powerful comparatively for his skill to process, and in the case of the young lady there… well, she was human, so chances were that it was due more to a skill preventing him from scanning her than a vast difference in power.

He then turned to face the bartender and used appraisal on her.

Denied.

The bartender too?! Fran, we might not be safe here. He had never had a result so blatant. Whatever this place was, there was no way being surrounded by people so powerful was safe.

"No one with ill intentions can come into the Isekai," the dragon-goddess-turned-maid informed them telepathically. She glared at Teacher. "I already told you that scanning people in the bar is rude."

"A healthy amount of paranoia is useful for adventurers, Kuro, don't mind them too much. It causes no harm," the bartender lady said.

"It's still rude."

"Hn," Fran grunted, giving Teacher a narrow-eyed glance over her shoulder.

Fran?! You too?

"Hn. We were told it was rude here. There are no enemies. There's no need."

You seem to trust them easily.

"Kuro likes curry. Good people like curry."

It's not as simple as that… but okay. He gave up arguing. Despite how single-minded she seemed, Fran was a very good judge of character. She took him off her back and rested him on a chair next to hers as she sat down.

Kuro placed down two menus. One with a matching logo to the bar's, the other with a black cat sitting down logo on it, and words in japanese that read: "Nekoya".

"Curry."

Kuro smiled. "I will bring you some."

"Hn."

The pair watched in silence and anticipation as more people came into the bar and took a table. There were creatures of all types, and Teacher had to force himself to stop Appraising each and every one of them as they walked in.

When a woman dressed purely in white had walked in and he had gotten a headache from the feedback when he tried to read her.

Name: White
Information Exceeds Your Authority

What not even a species?!

"Special delivery!" a creature that looked like some sort of winged unicorn walked into the bar, levitating a bunch of barrels with her sparkly-looking magic and heading to the employees-only door.

Appraisal.

Name: Nope.

And that was when Teacher gave up, dropping the appraisal without waiting to see what else would come up. It was just too much and when he was getting a headache, he knew it was getting to him.

Even though he technically couldn't feel pain, being a sword and all that, he had decided to give it up before his blade started cracking due to mental stress.

He watched as a redheaded girl claiming to be an alchemist was led into the room by a lady that everyone greeted named Rarity.

Something like a duck beast person had joined Rozemyne at her table, followed soon by a pair of similarly-dressed girls that acted like sisters, then a human mage girl that led over a young lady that seemed to be half-dressed in a mixture of school uniform and armor—and had somehow lost a shoe—to introduce her to the others.

They were a bit young for a bar, but then again so was Fran, and they weren't drinking anything alcoholic.

Soon enough, a large flagon of juice was set on the table for Fran, and curry was served. Not only for Fran, however. Kuro had brought a large bowl which she set next to the table.

"Woof!"

…I guess it's fine if they already know, Jet.

With Teacher's permission the wolf emerged from the shadows and immediately dug in.

"It seems you're enjoying the food," the bartender said, walking over to their table, and after a nod from Fran, sitting down with them. "I'm Sunset Shimmer," she said, smiling. "And this is my little bar in the omniverse."

"Hn. I'm Fran," Fran said, thankfully pausing to swallow before talking. "This is Jet. And that is Teacher."

If she was put off by Fran's way of speaking, Sunset didn't let it show, turning to nod at both of us as we were introduced.

"I saw you trying to scan my guests when they walked in," Sunset said, a small smirk on her face as she faced Teacher. "I imagine it was quite the shock."

Um. I apologize… it's a habit now, that I've been told a couple of times I should try and keep under control, Teacher replied, trying to fight the feeling of a chill going down his blade.

"It's okay," Sunset replied, glancing around to wave at a young blonde woman wearing her hair up in a ponytail, who stopped briefly to say hi before making her way to a table where she sat down with all the dignity of a noble, next to another noble-looking lady with brown hair, who was talking to the woman that had walked in earlier with Lady Rarity.

"Lady Catarina!"

"Lady Aileen! I've been waiting for you! Have you met Lady Dahlia?"

"I told you, I'm not a Lady!"

"Not yet!"

Sunset watched that with a gentle smile on her face before turning to face Teacher again. "You'll find there's a lot of people here that have that same problem. After all, most of the guests today outside of my daughters and some of their friends, are also world travelers, or reincarnations in another world."

You mean…

Sunset nodded. "You're not alone… at least not in the big scheme of things. It's unusual to see people reincarnated into objects, but you seem to be doing well."

For a moment, Teacher feels conflicted. His circumstances are certainly different from the others here, who are at least… beings. I'm not sure how to feel about that, he confesses after a moment.

"Well, you're traveling with Fran here, and she seems to be a healthy young woman. Strong too."

"Hn." Fran looks up from her curry, licking the side of her lips to get every bit before adding, "Teacher is the best. He cooks for us and helps me become stronger."

Fran…

Despite the crazy situation he found himself in, or perhaps because of it, Teacher found himself opening up to the bartender.

When I woke up… it was strange to not be human, but I had already accepted my existence as it was despite the initial surprise. I grew stronger, fighting monsters and eating their cores to gain experience and power… it was fun, sometimes, but lonely.

Sunset nodded. "Especially being a brand new being in a strange world."

If Teacher could have nod, he would have done so as well. Just as things were starting to really get repetitive and I was considering moving on my own, I came upon a young black catkin slave girl, who was about to be mauled by a monster that had killed everyone else.

She had such a will to live, that when she saw me, she was able to muster the strength to fight! And I wasn't about to leave someone like her to her fate like that… we started working together then… Fran gave me the name "Teacher" and from then on we became inseparable.

Sunset grimaced, and gave Fran a nod of acknowledgment. Teacher was grateful it hadn't been pity.

Fran has achieved so much that I just feel lucky to be able to see it happen, he continued, her dream, and that of her tribe was to discover the secret to Black Catkin evolution, and although at first it seemed like an impossible dream, we never wavered until we found the secret… both of why Black Catkin can't evolve, and how to break the curse.

"It can't be an easy one to break if a whole race of people are bound by it."

It wasn't. But we found the way to break it, and we've been letting the word travel since. There won't be that many Black Heavenly Tigers like Fran here for a long, long time, but now Black Catkin can do it… and eventually they will be able to break the curse itself!

"I owe it all to Teacher." Fran took a spoonful of curry and nodded sagely.

"I can see that," Sunset said as she smiled at Fran's words. " It's no wonder that you two were able to find the way, being as strong and united as you are."

You can see how strong we are? Teacher asked.

Sunset nodded.

"Could we defeat anyone here?" Fran asked, eyes flashing with interest.

Sunset laughed. "Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, not that many. One on one you'd probably give the kids a few bruises, depending on who you fought… but there are very powerful beings here who you do not want to mess around with…" she gave it some thought. "Maybe one day I can get you to spar with the others. I'm sure plenty of them would love to help you get stronger, especially once they see the kind of person you are."

"Hn. I look forward to it."

Fran!

"I want to be stronger."

But it's rude to come to a restaurant or bar with the intention to get into a fight!

Fran tilted her head and her ears twitched. "It is?"

Yes!

"But we always get into fights when we go to a bar."

Teacher mentally sighed. Fran… that's because people can't sense how strong you are…

Fran nodded emphatically. "Exactly. So, we show them."

That's not how it should be!

Sunset giggled. "You two are very close, it's nice to see more little families being born out of completely crazy situations."

It takes a moment for Teacher to process that… but… can he deny it? Fran has been the apple of his eye ever since they met. She's been the one he has sworn himself to support and make sure her dreams come true.

And even though he couldn't remember all the details of his previous life… it did seem very close to what his understanding of family was.

"Most of the people I've met that have been sent to other worlds, either after dying and reincarnating, or simply being taken there, have ultimately gained a family of sorts," Sunset continued, turning to look as two frogs (walking on their hind legs like humans would) stepped into the bar and—wide-eyed—met the girl in school uniform and armor that had come in earlier in the middle of the bar, hugging each other and laughing. "Sometimes a completely different species, as you can see."

… when I came to, I didn't have anyone. I was on my own, as a sword, in a forest full of monsters, Teacher said, …it wasn't until Fran came along that I found a purpose… and my life here really started. Teacher said, thinking back on what he had just told Sunset earlier. I didn't realize until then that I was missing something.

"Hn." Fran paused to swallow before giving her sword a fond look. "Before I met Teacher, I was close to giving up. But we fought together, and now we grow strong together."

Sunset nodded. "And that's how you became a family."

You speak as if it's the same with you.

"Well." Sunset grinned. "That's because it is. All of my family comes from completely different worlds, and they're all unique. Like you, Teacher, I'm happy to be part of their growth… and I am happy to be able to learn something new from them every day."

Fran nodded in apparent understanding. "Hn. Teacher is always sharing his skills with me."

Well, that's kind of my power…

More people came in as Fran dug into her food again. A trio of girls dressed in blue, red, and green school uniforms, also wearing armor on top —which seemed to be something of a theme, apparently—walked in and greeted Sunset as they made their way to a table.

You seem to have a lot of returning guests, Teacher noted.

Sunset nodded. "Been doing this for a long time… long enough, and lucky enough to meet a lot of people."

Teacher was quiet for a moment, taking her words in. If she meant what she said… the chances of meeting people from different worlds, even with a bar that could go anywhere, were astronomically low in a normal lifetime. …Is living for so long… difficult?

Sunset glanced at him, and for the first time, he saw just how ancient her eyes seemed, even if her body and mannerisms seemed to be those of a young adult that didn't look like she was past twenty five.

Sensing her question, he gave a mental sigh. I just… never really think about the future, but I'm a sword… a magical, regenerating one at that. Unless I am destroyed in battle, I am going to carry on.

"Ah, I see," Sunset said, smiling at him in understanding. "It's a difficult subject to tackle… a lot of people are terrified of the idea so much that they try to convince themselves that immortality, or near-immortality is a bad thing." She leaned back, tapping her finger on the table as she thought. "It's a shift in perspective, and a shift on expectations. Pain goes away, memories fade a little, and what we're left with if enough time passes is the core of the people we knew and loved embedded in our hearts. So, in a way it can get lonely…"

…I see…

"But," Sunset said, leaning forward again, "that's where our understanding of life and the value of people in our lives matters. Their core… the things they leave behind with us forevermore, is something we can cherish by starting new relationships, meeting new people, and sharing those memories and experiences with them. In that way, no matter how long ago they went away, or how little time we feel we spent with them, we continue our way together."

"I want Teacher to continue forever," Fran said, joining the conversation as the last of the curry in her plate was licked clean. "I will stay with him forever."

"Woof!" Jet agreed.

…guys…

"You still have a long time before it becomes an issue," Sunset reassured him. "And as your relationship grows, so will your commitment and your purpose. It's scary, but it's also something I think you'll be able to manage just fine."

It was then that Fran's stomach growled.

Sunset chuckled and stood up. She pulled a business card out of her pocket and offered it to Fran. "Keep that with you, in case you guys ever need a break. For now, let me get you more curry."

Teacher watched Sunset walk away while Fran smiled in satisfaction at getting more food, and Jet wagged his tail, also excited to be fed even more. A place to come back to if we need a break, huh? Fran, make sure not to lose it.

"Hn."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that dear," Lady Rarity said, having clearly heard him. "I believe you can absorb skills from certain items, right?"

If Teacher was still human (or humanoid) he would have narrowed his eyes. Yes?

"Why don't you try that with the card?"

I don't know if—Fran?!

Without waiting for him to finish, he had sliced the card on his blade. Immediately the card disappeared.

***New Unique Skill Obtained***
Sunset's Isekai - User can used Teacher to summon the door to Sunset's Isekai as long as the bar rules are followed.

Teacher stared at the skill, while Lady Rarity smirked, as if saying: "I know what I'm talking about."

"This way," Lady Rarity said, patting Teacher's pomel gently, "it won't matter how long, or how soon: you don't have to depend on anyone else to come back here."

Fran nodded firmly. "The curry is good. We'll be back soon."

Teacher agreed, but he also could sense what Rarity was really telling him: "No matter what happens, where eternity takes you, you always will have a place to come to if you want."

Thank you, was all he could say.

He might have tried for a longer conversation, but Kuro had brought back the second serving of curry, and it would have been folly to interrupt Fran and Jet.

Still, he thought to himself, it's nice to have a place for us to come back and not worry about anything… no matter when.

The End

Author's Note

Reincarnated as a Sword!

Cast:

Fran: She's a Black Catkin adventurer who teams up with our reincarnated friend to get stronger and help her clan. She's one of our two main protagonists for this entertaining series.

Teacher: Also known as Master depending on the translation, is the protagonist of the books and anime: a human that was reincarnated as a self-aware magical sword with a mysterious past.

Jet: is a Summoned (and evolved) Darkness Wolf; a magical beast that can travel in shadows. He's very powerful and will get along just fine with Robyn and Mehb.

Also a bunch of other Isekais, how many can you spot?

Yes, yes. Like with Bookworm, Overlord, Tanya, etc, I know there are web novel versions of this that are much further ahead, but as I mentioned once in the comments, I'll stick to what is published and available in an official manner rather than referencing web versions.

Why? Well, what ultimately becomes official is sometimes different than what is published in the webnovel. Overlord's Invader of the Tomb of Nazarik saga is a good example of big differences... and webnovels are a bit too niche and a lot of the time not accurately translated.

Hence me sticking to the published official material.