Sunset Shimmer - The Princess of Lordran

by ratedoni

The Benefits of an Axe?

The declaration by the woman to see Sunset fight truly took the undead girl for a spin, considering she wasn’t expecting that. It also stunned the girls watching through different digital devices with none of them knowing quite well if that was a good idea.

“Are you sure about that?”

“I may be a normal human being, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to take care of things. I am stronger than what I look like,” she said, but Sunset didn’t know if she was being humble or making fun of herself. Because under the white coat she saw that the silver armor with golden filigree was well taken care of. Not the kind of work put in an armor that was never used to make it shine, like the soldiers back in Equestria, whose armor was more for show than for real battle. Madeleine’s armor was carefully restored to perfection after suffering scratches and bumps.

The armored woman was not just using the set just because she wanted to look fine. She was using it because she had been in multiple fights apparently. If a person like that wanted to see her fight, it was obviously for a reason, and Madeleine could even help her get better. So far the only way Sunset could fight was to wave around the axe she found in the Asylum.

Deciding that there could be worse things to do, Sunset went up from her place at the bonfire and was prepared to use her tools before Madeleine put a hand up to stop her.

“I would love to do that, but before we go on, I think it would be a good idea to do something about your appearance,” Madeleine said while Sunset took notice once again to her dry and sick looking skin, wondering if her face looked as bad.

“Considering that I’m undead, I don’t think there is much I could do.”

“You would think wrong then. Although the name Undead will make you believe your appearance would be your current state, the reality is that Undead look the same as any human being, except for the Darksign. Just offer the humanity that you have already at the bonfire. Trust me, you will like the result,” Madeleine said, stepping back from the bonfire to allow Sunset access to its properties.

Sunset meanwhile eyed the mystic flames swirling around the bonfire and once again marveled at the intricacies of the world she had fallen into. If she hadn’t been cursed with being undead, then she could have probably found herself investigating more about the world. But for now, she could only feel a little bit better knowing that at least her appearance could possibly be restored back.

Kneeling before the bonfire, Sunset held the small black particle close to her and as she offered it to the flames, she felt a change deep within. Making honor to her last name, Sunset shimmered in the weak rays of the sun while her body changed in seconds.

Gone was the look of a walking corpse and, once the light show ended, in its place was the unblemished peachy skin of Sunset Shimmer. With a big smile Sunset removed her hood letting her once again vibrant red hair free. Even on the other side of the image Twilight and Applejack smiled at the restored looks of Sunset Shimmer.

“This is so amazing! I had no idea I would feel happy by just watching Sunset going back to the way she looked.”

“Yeah, at least now she won’t be making Rarity and Fluttershy faint.”

“That is not nice to say Applejack.”

“Ah know, Ah know. Still, Ah can bet you that Rarity is right now jumping in joy. For some reason she always found Sunset’s hair –how did she put it?- quite fabulous. If it weren’t because they started fighting at the time of the Spring Fling they would have become good friends.”

“Maybe after all this they’ll have a chance for that.” Applejack abstained from answering back. She herself didn’t know if the redhead would be able to come back, but didn’t want to burst Twilight’s bubble.

Meanwhile, while Sunset kept on admiring her now restored good looks, Madeleine began to assess the girl through the dark grey robes, trying to find anything out of order. But after a couple of seconds she was finally satisfied with something and called the attention of Sunset.

“Okay now, enough grooming. I need you to show me your weapons and then we’ll be ready for some practice,” she said while Sunset simply nodded, placing her Hand Axe on her right hand and Crest Shield in the other much to Madeleine’s surprise. “Well, isn’t that unique. Tell me Sunset, where did you find a shield like that?”

“This thing? It was… one last gift before leaving the Undead Asylum. A knight from Astora was heavily hurt and gave it to me so I could defeat the Demon and start my pilgrimage. His name was Oscar of Astora. Did you know him?”

“Astora is home of many great knights, but sadly I do not know of this Oscar, so forgive me. But what I can tell you is that the gift he gave you is invaluable,” she said taking out her own shield from behind. It was as blue as the one as the one Sunset used but instead of the elaborated crest in the redhead’s shield, the one of Madeleine sported a beautiful four winged silver butterfly. “Crest Shields are rare in this world because they are only given to high-ranking knights.”

“That must mean you guys are important in that kingdom of yours.”

“Perhaps. Although I haven’t go back home for quite some time, so it’s possible that I missed something,” she said, grabbing a spear completely made of metal with two small prongs just beneath the spear head. For her part Sunset took her Hand Axe in one hand and began to shift its weight until she felt comfortable with it.

“So how do you want to do this?”

“Just come at me as if you were trying to beat me. I’ll take care of the rest,” the woman said with an easy going smile that for some reason peeved Sunset into making the first move.

Quickly moving in front of Madeleine, Sunset did a wide swing with her axe aiming for the shield of the other woman, but this one merely took a step back and the axe struck the soft ground. Sunset had to take a second to find her footing as the axe swing made her lose her balance and when she focused on Madeleine again, she had the spear head inches from her face.

“I guess I will have much to teach you so listen well. Even though you seem to have the strength needed to move that axe with quite some freedom, they don’t quite work like swords. An axe uses two different things to be successful in the battlefield; momentum and angle. Both axes and maces use momentum to hit other objects with great power.”

“And because of the momentum they gather they cannot stop easily, so once I strike I need to be sure I land a hit.”

“Correct, so I suppose you could use your brain to take a guess at the other point that I mentioned,” Madeleine said before sending a quick thrust with her lance that was repelled by the Crest Shield. Sunset had to blink before regaining her balance. She then began to think about the importance of angle as she began to circle around Madeleine.

“Because if I don’t swing at the right angle, the axe will veer out from target.” And just as Sunset had said that Madeleine took a strike of Sunset’s axe with her shield. Then she angled the blue shield so Sunset’s axe strike seemed to slide over its gleaming surface. Sunset noticed her mistake too late as Madeleine then pushed the weapon aside leaving her completely open to a counter strike, which never arrived.

“You are unpolished, inexperienced and ill equipped for the search of the Bell of Awakening.”

It stung Sunset’s pride to hear the woman said something like that, even though it was true. From an early age the redhead hated to hear people say she wasn’t prepared and in hindsight that phrase was the one that started all of this.

“So what should I do then? Give up and become a Hollow like the rest in the Asylum?” she asked, feeling those embers of rage grow.

“Of course not. This only means you need to train more and gain experience in how to fight with a heavy weapon like that, so why not just start right now?” Madeleine said while raising her shield once again, making Sunset grin. She nodded with her head before quickly preparing for another bout.

Author's Note:

So Sunset has found someone that is willing to train her, good for her right?

Next episode will show a little bit about the other girls and a priest arrives at Firelink Shrine

Comments

[Deadmanx513]

7390938 all fair points. can you tell me what build she is so i can think of some better stuff?

[ratedoni]

7391281
Sunset started as a pyromancer and is level 1.
Soul levels don't exist per se in the story since I think it would be way too stupid to think of power like a videogame, but they will be useful to measure up Sunset's (and the others) power through the story, so even though they don't use souls to level up, they do it through experience and training, so right now Sunset has some changes in her abilities.
Attunement is 18- In Sunset instead of the 12 of the pyromancer due to Sunset's power as a normal wizard. Is not that huge and she cannot attune many spells for now but gives her 4 slows form the beginning.
Endurance: 14- I envision Sunset growing tougher and tougher with time due to her getting beaten up so much.
Strenght: 14- At first I wanted to leave it at 12 so she could continue using the axe but raised it to 14. The logic behind it is that she is training right now iwth Madeleine and is growing comfortable with her Hand Axe but later will upgrade the weapon to something heavier or similar.
Dexterity: 10- Who knows if Sunset will grow on this department seeing that she isn't exactly the expert in dueling to start using our usual tactics so far, but she is fast enough to use several weapons.
Intelligence 20: I mean, come on, is Sunset, we know she is a genius, of course she had tto have that kind of stats, besides, she will soon discover the power of fire that is inside her, but is pyromancy or equestrian magic?

For armors, I envision Sunset thinking outside the box to get herself some sets early on, but we will see.

[Deadmanx513]

7391373 hmmm.

here is an idea for equipment.

armor. elite knight armor. silver knight armor. black knight armor. giant's armor.

weapon. Quelaag's furysword. zweihander( can become a chaos zweihander or holy or even lightning.) battle axe (To replace her old axe.) gargoyle halberd. (this thing was a good find in my first play through and it can be buffed.) Black Knight Sword. Black Knight Greataxe (this baby was my bread and butter for a lot of play throughs.)

spells. up to you but i do suggest a few miracles.

also quick question. will sunset be able to wear more rings then you could in the game?

[Windsor]

Oh no. Not that backstabber of a liar! Even when I'm playing as a paladin (and roleplaying as well) I feel no remorse on killing him or that bald bastard in the catacombs.

[Jlargent]

I guess Sunset has an "Axe" to grind against the odds.

[ratedoni]

7392483
Neither do I.

7392825
Oh the puns

[XIII Hearts]

7392825 SSSSSAAAAAAAANNNNNNNSSSSS!!!!!

[Dustchu]

I smell a pun...

nice work on this, Sunset's back and she's got a training partner, nice~