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// Sunset Shimmer: Master of the Sword 
// Story: The Many Talents of Sunset Shimmer 
// by SonicSpeedster97 
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Another Wednesday, another evening of matches for the CHS fencing club. The Rainbooms were a bit surprised when Sunset invited them to watch this evening’s fights in the gym – along with Applejack trying her hardest to hide in the background as she remembered when she photobombed the club’s yearbook picture in her contest with Rainbow Dash – but those feelings were quickly put on the back-burner when they saw Sunset absolutely decimate her fellow club members with almost professional sword-fighting moves.
After an evening of ringing steel, Sunset was the only one left standing as she flexed her foil. “This is almost too easy,” she smirked as she took her glove off. “You guys had me for a second there though; keep it up and you might stand a chance.”
“Easy there, Sunset; we’re just here to have fun, remember?” one of her opponents reminded.
“Yeah, I know. Same time next week?” Sunset smiled.
“We’ll be here.” the others agreed.
After a while, Sunset had changed out of her fencing gear and back into her usual clothes as she met her friends. “That was awesome!” Rainbow grinned broadly. “How’d you get so good at that?”
“Lots of practice.” Sunset smiled. “Just because I never resorted to it back in the day, don’t think I know how to fight.”
“There some backstory to that?” Applejack asked.
“Eh, maybe a bit.” Sunset shrugged as they walked out of the school. “When I was Princess Celestia’s student, I… may or may not have snuck out from time to time.”
“You snuck out of class?” Twilight was astounded by that; she thought Sunset was a model student.
“I was a rebel. Sue me.” Sunset shrugged. “Anyway, a lot of the times when I snuck out, I ended up hanging out with the Royal Guard. Ended up learning a lot from them.”
“Ponies used swords?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Well, as much as none of us like to think about it, Equestria wasn’t always all sunshine and rainbows back in the day.” Sunset shrugged. “We had our wars, same as any world. And so yeah, I learned how to fight without relying on my magic. It’s tough to think about it like that though.” The girls could tell Sunset was feeling down as she discussed this, but she quickly brightened back up. “I think that’s part of why I like fencing; it lets me take what I learned from the Royal Guard and view it more as a sport.”
“If it helps, I guess.” Twilight shrugged; she wasn’t expecting an explanation like that, but as long as thinking that way did in fact help Sunset to disassociate from swordplay, she wasn’t going to argue.
Still, she was concerned as only a friend could be and Sunset saw that… which thankfully gave her an idea as she remembered something. “Y’know, speaking of the Royal Guard… how’s your brother doing, Twilight?”
Twilight appeared surprised by the question. “Shining Armor? Uh, he’s fine; why?”
“Oh, I just remembered; his counterpart in Equestria was in the Royal Guard when I was Celestia’s student. Rising star of the ranks, last time I saw him.” Sunset remembered as she approached her bike. “He taught me a lot too; fighting and magic.”
“No kidding?” Twilight asked, almost impressed.
“Yeah.” Sunset nodded, her smile spreading into a cheeky grin as she jumped onto her bike. “He was pretty cute, too.”
“What?!” Twilight asked loudly.
“Easy, Twilight; it ain’t your brother,” Applejack advised, calming her friend down.
“Although that’s not to say your brother isn’t cute.” Sunset winked before she tore off down the street on her bike. Twilight yelled in objection as the others laughed, secure in the knowledge that they would absolutely not let her live that one down.