Both Sunsets met up with their friends, those that could make it anyway, at a local boba tea place Pinkie had recommended. Aside from the two Sunsets, Valor, Pinkie herself, and ¨Sci-Twi¨, better known by her non-nickname as the human world´s Twilight Sparkle, showed up. Princess Twilight said she would try and make it later after she got done resolving some issues in Equestria.
¨Hey Pyrrha, Sunset.¨ Valor smiled, greeting the two bacon haired girls. He referred to his fellow former JNPR member by her original name, and her double by the prename name both girls shared. Sunset smiled, wrapping her arms around Valor for a brief bit, before Pinkie pushed them inside the tea shop. Sunset wasn´t really into boba tea that much, but if Pinkie found it good, she´d give it a try. As she entered the store, she noticed an obsidian bird watching them, but pushed the thought to the back of her head, as a pleasantly sweet and fruity smell filled her senses with pure bliss. Sunset smiled, as her bouncy friend pulled the small group over to an empty rounded table next to the window.
¨This place looks pretty good Pinkie.¨ Shimmer said as she slid into the rubber seat, leaning back. Menus were carefully stacked on the table. Catchy Neigh-Pop music played over speakers, serenading the customers as they ate, drank, and chatted with one another. The walls were painted in a calm fiery orange color, which both Sunsets greatly approved of. The waitresses were dressed in sanguine colored T-shirts, dark gray skirts, and black aprons that reached to their thighs. A few of girls glanced at the waitresses, before quickly glancing back to their table.
One waitress, a Neighponese girl around their age, came over. ¨Welcome to Heart Tea, what´ll you guys have?¨ she asked, smiling sweetly. She had pale gray skin, ruby red hair, and shimmer emerald eyes. Her name tag read Akai Shiro, and was pinned over her right breast. The group of five looked over their menus, scouring over the selection of drinks, snacks, and desserts.
¨Hmm,¨ Valor looked at the menu. ¨I´ll have a mango and vanilla bean tea, and a small cinnamon cake.¨ he said. Sunset seconded his order. Shimmer, Twilight, and Pinkie each gave their own orders, as Akai soon left, jotting their orders down on her kitten shaped notebook, a light skip in her step.
¨She seemed nice.¨ Sunset said, leaning slightly against Valor, his body heat warming her on this chilly morning. Her friends and lover nodded in agreement. In no time at all, Akai soon returned with their orders, deftly and swiftly placing them before each member of the group. She bid them a bon appetite, and then left to deal with tea place´s the other customers. Sunset took ahold of her mango and vanilla tea, smiling after taking a sip. ¨You were right Pinkie, this place does serve some pretty good milk tea.¨ Pinkie grinned, as the others began to partake in their food and drinks.
¨So, what´s for desert Jaune?¨ Sunset asked her boyfriend, smiling as she wiped some flecks of tea off her face with a napkin. Valor smiled, telling the girls he had ordered a funnel cake big enough for everyone in their little group to get a slice, Princess Twilight included when and if she got there. The soft, chewy carnival treat was brought out, as big as two footballs, as wide as a small briefcase, and topped with fresh whipped cream and sweet powdered cinnamon. The group hungrily licked their lips, as Sunset carefully carved the cake into equal slices, placing it gently on each girl´s plate, putting aside the Princess of Friendship (and unofficially Books)´s slice for whenever she arrived, covering it with a spare napkin.
As the four girls and one guy finished up their food, Rainbow´s Pear P-Phone 7 buzzed. Unlocking the phone´s touch screen with swift swipe of her finger, she found a text message awaiting her. ¨Hey guys, listen to this.¨ The rest of her friends looked up from their empty trays, Pinkie having been in the process of literally licking her´s clean. Canterlot High´s star athlete cleared her throat and began reading. ¨Hey Dashie, it´s your Uncle Daidara here. My apprentices and I had some spare time on our hands, so we were able to do your friends´ orders early. You can swing by and pick them up anytime.¨ Sunset and Valor glanced at each other, smiling warmly. Valor paid for the food, slipped his left hand into Sunset´s right, and lead the way to Daidara´s weapon emporium.
The shop´s bell jingled and a customer notifier buzzed as the door swung open. An electronic sign by the door read ¨Entrants: Six¨ in digital crimson letters. ¨Yo, Uncle Daidara, yah home old timer?¨ Rainbow grinned, as she and her friends stepped into the store. The scent of sawdust and oil filled the air, causing a few of them to cough or wrinkle their noses.
¨Who you calling old timer, yah prismatic twerp?¨ Daidara chuckled, coming in. The 6 foot two tall Neighponese man scratched his crimson handlebar mustached face, as he placed two wrapped bundles on the counter. ¨The transformation bits were tricky, but nothing the great Master Daidara couldn´t handle!¨ he grinned. ¨Been awhile since I´ve gotten a job like this though. Last time was.....oh almost a year ago, about seven months.¨ Sunset and Valor´s ears perked up upon hearing this. ¨Nice girl.¨ he said, as Sunset and Valor took the bundles in their arms, which were a fairly light, yet felt sturdy. ¨Well, I´ll see you around, come buy if you ever need anything else.¨ he waved, and went deeper into his store, as the group left.
¨Someone else from Remnant?¨ Sunset asked as they headed back to his place to relax. By now it was late morning, the sun beginning to shift towards the ¨center¨ of the sky. The group had decided to cut through the park to save on time, idly chatting as Sunset and Valor carried their replicated weapons back to Valor´s home.
¨So, you think we can get a look at these kickass weapons of your´s Sunset?¨ Rainbow asked. ¨Or should we call you Pyrrha, or what?¨ she asked, as the group once again plopped down in a little lounging area with a painted and polished picnic table with attached benches.
¨Either´s fine, I guess. I´ve been going by Sunset for pretty much all my life back in Equestria and here in Arcadia, but I guess my original name would work too.¨ Sunset shrugged, as she laid out her bundle. Unwrapping the string, she opened the bundle, revealing a master crafted crimson and bronze colored Xiphos, and a polished semi-circular shield, shaped similar to thick, twin-ax heads, bronze with black and gray etchings on it. ¨Milò and Akoúo.¨ she whispered, gently running her hand across the blade, an electric tingling racing up and down her fingers. ¨Speak¨ and ¨Listen¨ in Valician¨ she said, a smile coming to her face both from the familiar feel of her old weapons in her hands and from the sound of pen tip meeting paper. Upon fingering a button the hilt, she pressed it, eyes sparkling as, with a seamless transition and the sound of gears clicking, the blade stretched, shifted, and bent into a similarly colored rifle. Feeling its weight in her hands, she pressed a button near the firing pin, as it shifted back into a sword.
¨Crocea Mors.¨ Valor said, as he held up the simple, yet elegant, arming sword. ¨Let´s see if this still works.¨ he slid the blade deep into the shield, and clicked a button, as the shield merged with the blade, turning it into a bastard sword, or perhaps a greatsword.
¨You got an upgrade Jaune.¨ Sunset said, approval echoing in her voice, eying his longsword up and down, smiling slightly. Valor returned the smile, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead, which she returned, before he detached the blade from the socket, as the shield morphed back to its base form. He slid Crocea Mors back into its scabbard, as he clicked a button, and the shield folded up.
¨I couldn´t have done it without your help Pyrrha.¨ Valor said, warmth radiating from his voice. Sunset glanced at her boyfriend, confusion etched on her face. ¨After you...¨ he took a deep breath but released it when Sunset placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, firmly grasping it as a show of support, followed by a brief peck on the lips. ¨After that, what metal I could scavenge, I incorporated into my armor and weapons.¨ he said, tracing the bronze colored metal imbued in his blade, alongside the circlet style etching on his shield. ¨Plus, my weapons back in Remnant are ever passed on, then every one of my sisters´ descendants will carry a part of you with them. I guess it was a way for me to make you a part of my family, you know, so you´d always be with me, like you said in your video.¨ he said.
Sunset sniffled, as she embraced Valor in an intense hug, burying her face into his shoulder. ¨Jaune´s, that´s the sweetest thing I´ve ever heard.¨ she then enveloped his face in a deep kiss, as she dried her tears with her free hand. A brief ¨Awww¨ from some of the girls caused faint blushes to appear on their cheeks. ¨Thank you, Jaune.¨ she said, smiling warmly, cuddling with him
Unfortunately, the tender moment wouldn´t last, as the air chilled as it had the night before yesterday. ¨Oh not again.¨ Sunset sighed, ¨Just when we had just started cuddling.¨ she withdrew Milò and Akoúo from her package, feeling her confidence surge as her weapon and shield once more found themselves in her grasp, ready for combat. Valor also armed himself, while the others, save Shimmer, ponied up. Shimmer grabbed a plank of wood off the ground, holding it like one would a baseball bat.
A dark violet, bubbling pool formed a few feet from the group. Out of it emerged a hulking, primate-like Grimm, its armored chest rising and falling as it stared down at its prey. With a bellowing roar, the Grimm charged.
¨A Beringel?¨ Sunset asked as she and Valor formed a small shield wall around her friends. Digging their heels into the ground, the two took the force of the ape-like Grimm slamming its head-sized fits against their shields. Their Aura´s pulsed as it registered the impact. ¨At least our Auras still work.¨ she said, with a grimace as she and Valor, as one, pushed upward with their shields, staggering the Beringel. The ponified girls sent bursts of magic energy into the beast, blasting it back, and leaving nearly unnoticeable burn marks on the Grimm. ¨I´ve heard these things were tough, but this could be a problem.¨
The Grimm rubbed its chest, growling, its breath chilling in the lowered temperature air. Sunset and Valor took the high ground, standing atop the table. Sunset clicked the button on her blade, as it morphed into its repeater form. Taking a deep breath, she fired a few shots at the Grimm. One of the rubber bullets glanced off the hardened bone plates, while the other two hit their mark, ramming into the beast, and digging into its blackened hide. It groaned, clutching its chest where the shots had found their mark.
The Beringel roared once more, shaking the surrounding trees, as it charged with speed that betrayed its bulky frame. With her honed reflexes, Sunset dived out of the way, but Valor wasn´t so lucky. The beast slammed into him, sending him crashing into the nearby park´s pool, and knocking aside a few of the other girls with a sweep of its powerful arms. Sunset gasped, ¨Jaune! Girls!¨¨ she then turned to the Grimm, her eyes ablaze. ¨Nobody hurts my friends or my boyfriend.¨ she growled, as the various metal objects around her began bending and twisting. Letting out a yell, she charged at the beast, her shield raised. She crashed into its chest, and slashed at its belly, sending it stumbling and clutching the wound. Sunset panted as she caught her breath, her arms lowering slightly. Jaune and the girls who had been knocked down, ergo Twilight, Rainbow, and her double, slowly got up, groaning.
Sunset took a deep breath, raising her arms. Even with her Aura, ramming into the hulking Beringel had hurt a fair bit. She raised her shield in front of her upper body and face, her sword at the ready. Even with her injuries, her Aura was slowly, but surely, healing her. The scarred Beringel growled and began to charge at Sunset....
....When the former Mistralian champion noticed a familiar heart-shaped bundle of Dust grenades appear behind the Grimm, giving off a faint whistling noise. The Beringel heard this, turned, and almost immediately was blasted by all nine grenades. In a flurry of dust, dirt, and soot, the air cleared, as the bloodied lower half of the Beringel, the only piece of it left remaining, faded into the aether.
¨PYYYYYYRRRRRHHHHHAAAA!¨ A familiar, chipper voice sounded out. Before Sunset could even respond, she was knocked down by a blur of pink, black, fiery red, steel, and Papaya whip. As her vision cleared, Sunset Shimmer found herself gaving into the sparkling turquoise eyes of an old teammate, one Nora Valkyrie. ¨Didja miss me?¨
¨Hey cuz!¨ Pinkie grinned, jogging over. The others came over, Valor as flabbergasted as ever. ¨Thanks for the save!¨ she said, as Nora got off of Sunset, letting her stand up.
Not long after, Sunset passed out, tumbling into the arms of Valor Shield.