Sunset's Isekai

by Wanderer D

Lagniappe (Sunflower Gardens — Fanfic)

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.