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!