The story of Golden Rise and Sunset and their growing relationship
Sunset thought she wouldn't find anyone after Flash. She didn't love him like most thought when they were dating, but she also wasn't the nicest person back then. And then he showed up. Golden Rise. All Sunset knows is that he's the adopted son of Pegasus, and she feels a strange connection to him. One that reminds her of her old home in Equestria.
"Hey Sunset!", Rainbow Dash called out to her. "Some new guy is going up against Burst! You've gotta check it out!" Sunset stopped reading and decided to see Burst dueling with whoever this newcomer was. When she got past the back of the crowd Sunset finally had a good view of the new challenger. He had gold-ish skin and yellow and orange hair. And from the looks of things, Burst was about to win.
"Absolute Neutron Blast!", Burst cried out as the attack wiped out the last of his opponent's life points!
"The rumors don't even measure up to your skills!", Golden Rise said. "You're even better than people say you are!"
"So how did you plan on helping me fight whatever evil force I need to take down this time?"
"Easy! I'm dueling alongside you!"
"Glad to hear it! I've gotta get going to my next class soon, so I'll see you around!", Burst said as he went off to his next class. Gold was about to leave as well until he noticed Sunset. And she noticed him looking at her. Neither of them could explain it, but they felt some sort of connection to each other. Not wanting to waste any time, Gold walked up to her.
'I guess I'm not the only being from Equestria that wound up here. From the feel of her magic she was a unicorn. She's also quite beautiful.', Gold thought to himself with a smile as he got closer to Sunset. "Hi there!"
"Oh. Hi!", Sunset said back. "You were the one dueling Burst Stream earlier. He's pretty strong right?"
"The rumors don't do him any justice. Nice to meet you by the way. My name's Golden Rise. But just call me Gold for short. What's your name? It's gotta be as pretty as you look." Sunset giggled at the compliment.
"It's Sunset. Sunset Shimmer.", she said with a smile.
"It was lovely meeting you Sunset. See you around.", Gold said with a smile as he left for his next class. All the while, Sunset had him on her mind for the rest of the day.
'Gold....why do I feel close to you? Well for whatever reason, I'm not complaining. It's a good feeling I get from him. He's pretty cute too.', Sunset thought to herself with a smile as she went to sleep to see what the next day would bring.
The next day brought about a rather unfortunate event. Sonata had been kidnapped by Ace's brother Dark Ice. Ace had managed to snap Sonata out of it, but she was pretty exhausted from the whole ordeal. Burst and Ace were able to destroy Dark Ice and his monster partner Dark Mist. Sunset was relieved to hear this. 'And I thought that creep was bad the first time we met him. At least we won't be seeing him anytime soon.', she thought to herself. It was a half day at school that day, which fortunately freed up her and her friends schedules to rescue Sonata and defeat Dark Ice. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm spending the rest of the day out.", she said as she took her leave. Sunset stopped by one of her favorite places to eat, and was surprised to see Gold at the same place. "Fancy meeting you here.", she said catching him by surprise. "So this place one of your favorites too?"
"Didn't expect to run into you again so soon Sunset.", Gold said with a smile. "Well since you're here, wanna have lunch together? My treat."
"Sure. As long as I'm not breaking your bank."
"Trust me. I've got it covered." Gold paid for their meal and the two of them worked up quite the conversation. They talked about movies, books, but the thing they talked most about was Duel Monsters. Especially about the monsters that they considered to be their dueling partners. And they grew pretty close over the time they spent together. "Huh. Look at the time.", Gold said as he looked at his phone. "It was nice seeing you again Sunset. But I'd better get going before my Dad starts to worry." Gold called for a ride and waited for it to show up. Sunset was shocked when a limo pulled up and the driver opened to let Gold in.
"At your service Master Gold.", the driver said politely.
"Thanks. See ya Sunset!", Gold said as he got inside and the limo drove off.
'Just who are you Gold?', Sunset thought to herself as she watched him being driven off. Meanwhile, Gold had arrived at his home.
"Hey Dad! I'm home!" Pegasus put down the comic he was reading and went to greet his son.
"Welcome home Gold! I must say you look like you've been soaring above the clouds? Is this because you've found someone?"
"I met someone wonderful.", Gold said in a blissful tone. "She's kind, smart, really pretty, and she loves dueling just as much as I do too!"
"Oh this is wonderful! You must tell me her name!"
"Her name's Sunset Shimmer.", Gold said with a fond smile.
"Oh seeing you like this reminds me of when I met my true love.", Pegasus said as he fondly remembered his long past wife Cecilia. "In fact, I think there's something you should give her if you're thinking of going steady with her." Pegasus pulled Cecilia's ring out of his pocket. "I've held onto this for as long as I can remember. Give this to her to show her just how much she means to you. But only if you think she's the one for you."
"Thanks Dad.", Gold said as he pulled him into a hug. "You giving this to me means a lot. And I think she feels the same about me."
Gold felt like he was on top of the world the next morning. 'Today I tell her what she means to me.', he thought with a smile as he got ready. 'And maybe I can tell her where I really come from too.' After breakfast, Gold was driven to school and went to meet Sunset. "Hi Sunset!"
"Hey Gold! Nice to see you today. "
"I'm assuming you have questions about my mode of transport yesterday?"
"I did actually. How can your family afford that sort of luxury?"
"Because my adopted dad is Maximillion Pegasus. The creator of Duel Monsters.", Gold said with a smile.
"So Pegasus is your adopted father? You've probably gotten all the best cards from every booster pack!"
"Yeah. But my favorite card is one that he made especially for me. Crimson Dragon. And he's got a really good effect too! Maybe I'll show it off to you."
"Is this your cover for asking me out?", Sunset asked slyly.
"Nothing gets by you does it? How about today after school at the duel park?"
"It's a date.", Sunset said with a smile. As she headed off, she ran into Pinkie who told her about Nightmare Moon hanging around at Burst's house. Sunset panicked and wrote to Princess Twilight telling her and Princesses Celestia and Luna to come as soon as they could. The rest of the day was uneventful until lunch period where she found Gold and all her friends chatting with Nightmare Moon. 'That witch has my friends and Gold under her control! Better not make her suspect anything.' Sunset challenged Nightmare Moon to a duel and lost, but was taken aback by her kindness. She certainly didn't act like the dark persona of Princess Luna that wanted to bring eternal night. But Sunset still had part of her guard up. Gold noticed and approached her.
"Moon seems to be in a better mood than she was yesterday.", Gold said.
'Yesterday? He's seen her before?' "Really now?"
"Yeah. Just yesterday she seemed pretty upset, so I tried to lift her spirits. Looks like it worked."
"How nice. And how long has she been staying with Burst?"
"Two days. Speaking of relationships, ready for our date today?"
'Okay. None of them are being mind-controlled. Maybe Nightmare's changed. Just like I did...' "Sure am! Can't wait!"
"Great! See you then!" The rest of the day passed by quickly, and Sunset soon found herself on her date with Gold.
"Hope you aren't expecting me to go easy on you!", Sunset boasted.
"You kidding? I like a girl that can kick my butt!"
Gold: 8000 Sunset: 8000
"Ladies first.", Gold said.
"What a charmer.", Sunset said with a smirk. "I special summon Guardian Eatos since I have no monsters in my graveyard! Now I'll equip her with Celestial Sword Eatos! Then I'll set a card face-down and end my turn. Your move!"
"I draw! Nice! I summon Statue of the Holy in defense mode! I end my turn."
"I draw! I play Ancient Rules to special summon Seiyaryu from my hand!"
"Now I'll activate my Statue's effect! Since you special summoned a monster, I can destroy my statue to special summon two spirit tokens in attack mode and they can't be destroyed by battle!"
"Well it's too bad you'll take damage! Attack!", Sunset said. Both monsters slashed at he tokens making a deep cut into Gold's life points! "That's all for my turn now."
Gold: 2500 Sunset: 8000
"Good move. But when my back's to the wall I always rise to the occasion! I tribute my two spirit tokens to summon Crimson Dragon!" A dragon that looked like Blue Eyes except with bright red scales, a dark red underbelly, and crystal wings descended and let out a mighty roar! "Now I'll activate his effect! I can target and destroy one monster you control and Crimson gains their attack points! I'll choose Eatos to boost him up to 6000! I'll also activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down! Attack Seiyaryu! Crimson Plasma Arc!" Crimson charged up a blast of energy that was unleashed at its peak in a powerful beam!
"I guess I over did it a bit.", Crimson said as he noticed the wisps of smoke that came from where Seiyaryu once stood.
"I end my turn with setting a card."
Gold: 2500 Sunset: 4500
"You weren't kidding when you said Crimson had a good effect. But I'm not out of the duel yet! I play Hand Destruction! Now we both discard two cards and draw two new ones! Now I banish a light monster and a dark monster from my graveyard to special summon BLS!"
"I don't think so! I activate my trap! Imperial Iron Wall! Now neither of us can banish monsters! Meaning you can't bust out BLS!"
"Didn't see that coming.", Sunset said with a smile. "I set a card and end my turn."
"My move! I draw! I'll play Remove Trap! This destroys a trap card on the field! And I think I'll destroy your face-down!" Sunset watched as her Draining Shield card was destroyed. "Now Crimson Dragon attacks you directly for game! Plasma Arc!" Crimson fired his signature attack and wiped out the last of Sunset's life points. "Hope you're not too sore about losing.", Gold said as he walked up to her.
"Are you kidding? That was one of the most fun duels I've had!", Sunset said. "Sooo...wanna make this a thing?"
"Is that your cover for wanting to be my girlfriend?"
"Nothing gets by you either.", Sunset said with a smile. "I can't explain it, but I feel close to you. Some part of me just tells me to be with you."
"Well Sunset, I fell for you when I first laid eyes upon you. You're smart, kind, and you're really beautiful. In fact, there's something that I want to give you to show how much you mean to me." Gold searched in his pockets and pulled out the ring Pegasus had given him. "This was my late adopted mother's. My Dad told me to give this to the girl I thought was the one for me. And Sunset, that's you."
"Gold...", Sunset was awe-struck as Gold put the ring on her finger. "It's beautiful."
"Hey look. The sun's setting.", Gold said as he motioned to the sun going over the horizon. He turned to Sunset and pulled her into an embrace. "My shimmering Sunset." Sunset smiled as Gold held her tight.
"You really rose to the occasion.", Sunset said with a smile as she leaned in and kissed him. "I love you Gold. That's what that feeling I had was when I saw you."
"I love you too Sunset." The two of them watched the sun set together, and looked at each other lovingly. "You light up my life.", they said to each other before they got up to leave. Each of them feeling complete by finding their other half in each other.
That night, Sunset and all of her friends showed up at CHS. Princesses Twilight, Celestia, and Luna had come to decide what to do about Moon. Sunset joined the princesses and heard Moon's story. And what they heard was nothing short of unbelievable. But at the same time, they couldn't deny that what she said was true. It was decided that Moon would get to stay in the human world. Moon was so happy that she kissed Burst! Sunset was sure Principal Celestia would have a problem, but instead Burst walked out of it with two girlfriends in tow. 'Those two are lucky to have him. Like I have Gold.', Sunset thought to herself. Soon Sombra had shown up and somehow survived his encounter with Burst at Duelist Kingdom, but he was defeated easily by Burst and destroyed for good. Pinkie then got a party ready to celebrate Burst getting a new girlfriend and saving the world again. Seeing Moon happy made Sunset think about her past, and she made a decision. 'I should tell Gold. He deserves to know.' "Gold?"
"Yeah?"
"Could I talk to you outside?"
"Sure." Gold followed heroutside. "So what do you want t talk about?"
"It's about....my past."
"What about it?"
"Well, I'm not from around here. And by that, I mean this world. I used to live in a world full of magic called Equestria and I was a pony there. I was also the student of the princess of that world. Princess Celestia. But I was cruel and power-hungry. The second I didn't get what I wanted I threw a huge temper. Soon enough I went through a mirror to this world just to show her I didn't need her. And from then, I pretty much ruled CHS as the worst bully on campus. But it still wasn't enough for me. I wanted more, so I went back and stole the crown of Celestia's newest personal student. Twilight Sparkle. Once I was back I put the crown as the prize for me to win as the Fall Formal Princess. Twilight followed me to this world, and tried to get her crown back. But I forced it onto myself, and the uncontrollable magic turned me into a demon. Twilight and the others unlocked their magic, and were able to defeat me. She forgave me for what I did, but the rest of the school had trouble accepting me after that incident. But over time, people began to accept me and I had made good friends with Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie. And together we faced all kinds of threats. The Dazzlings, and even this world's Twilight being turned into a demon too. Seeing Moon happy and accepted here kind of reminded me of all this. The same goes for Sonata becoming Ace's girlfriend. I'm telling you this because you deserve to know, and I love you.", Sunset said. "And I wanted to know, do you still love me despite all this?"
'I was right. She is from Equestria like me.', Gold thought with a smile. "Sunset. I love you no matter what. I don't care about what you did. I'll never stop loving you." Gold pulled her into a hug. Soon Burst came up to him and told him about a plan he and Inferno had. "In fact, I'm about to prove it!" Sunset was curious as to what he meant, so she followed Gold inside. Him, Inferno, Ace, and Burst were on the stage and each of them were holding microphones. And then, they began to sing As long as you love me by the Backstreet Boys. As they sang, Sunset's heart skipped a beat.
'He really does love me no matter what.', Sunset thought to herself. 'He's got a beautiful voice. Although, all of them do. But his is the one that sings to my heart.' After the guys were finished with their performance they went to their respective significant other. Gold walked over to Sunset.
"Like the guys and I just sang. I don't care what's written in your history. As long as you're here with me.", Gold said as he wrapped his arms around her. "I don't care who you are, where you're from, or what you did."
"As long as you love me.", Sunset said as she and Gold kissed and slow danced.
The next few days were even more crazy than the last two! Ace had a lost brother, Shadow Thunder, who had come home because Dark Ice was destroyed. Also some duelist called Starlight Glimmer had been stealing legendary dragon cards and her next targets were her friends. She was even crazy enough to attack the school, but Ace managed to defeat her than and rescue Critias and Hermos from her and the two dragons told them everything they needed to know about Starlight. They were all wary about her appearance and were on their guard. But when they first saw her without her disguise, they were shocked to see her on a date with Shadow! Ace was the only one to freak out, but Burst reminded him that if he was able to change Moon, Shadow could do the same for Starlight. However when Ace and Shadow went to convince Starlight to turn away from her dark path, it was revealed that she didn't hunt the legendary dragons of her own will. Some evil wizard called Paradox Truth was using her to steal the legendary dragons' power. And he also imprisoned Starlight in his castle. Burst gathered everyone in a united attack against Paradox, but they were separated into groups the moment they entered the castle. Sunset had lucked out partnering when she and Gold were stuck together. "I should have seen this coming.", Sunset said as she and Gold explored the section of the castle they were sent to. Gold put his hand on her shoulder.
"I guess this counts as another date since we're alone together.", Gold said with a smile. Sunset couldn't help but chuckle at hearing this.
"I guess it does. Now let's see if we can find a way to Paradox." The two of them soon came upon an arena-like area. "I guess Paradox likes to entertain a lot."
"Yeah. And I think we're the next act!", Gold said as noticed the doors lock behind them! Soon a swirl of shadow appeared and a figure materialized from it. It was Sunset's past self. Needless to say, Sunset was pretty annoyed.
"Great. What sort of illusion are you this time?"
"Oh I'm very real Sunny!", her dark replica said with a savage grin. "I represent the part of you that hungered for power. The part you cast out! And now I have my chance at revenge!" A duel disk materialized on her arm. "Just you and me!"
"Actually it's going to be Sunset AND me against you.", Gold said as he activated his duel disk. "I'm not letting her face you alone!"
"How sweet.", Dark Shimmer said with an evil smile. "Your boyfriend can keep you company in the shadows!"
Gold and Sunset: 16000 Dark Shimmer: 16000
"I'll go first!", Dark Shimmer said. "I summon Dark Dawn Knight in attack mode and set a card face-down. I end my turn."
"I'm up then!", Sunset said. "I summon Blue Flame Swordsman! Then I'll equip him with Lightning Blade to boost him by 800 points! Destroy her knight! Blue Flame Slash!" Dark Shimmer sneered as her monster was destroyed.
"Perfect! Now I activate my trap! Eclipse Summon! When a dark monster I control is destroyed, I can special summon a level seven or higher dark monster from my hand or deck! Now I can bring out my most fearsome beast! Rise, Fallen Light Dragon!" A large dark-red dragon with demonic wings and a fiery mane descended. "Do you like it? It was made to resemble the demon form you took when you tried to use Princess Twilight's element! Now its effect activates! I can destroy all monsters on your field and inflict their attack points as damage to you during my turn!" Sunset and Gold braced themselves as a wall of flames crashed against their life points! "I think I've tortured you two enough for this turn."
Gold and Sunset: 13400 Dark Shimmer: 15200
"My turn!", Gold said as he drew a card. "Perfect! I play the spell card Light Sanctuary! This lets me special summon two spirit tokens in attack mode with zero attack and zero defense. That's all for my turn."
"No sense in wasting Fallen's effect, so I'll just destroy one of your tokens by battle!" Fallen Light Dragon released a stream of flames from its mouth at one of Gold's tokens, but the token was still standing when the smoke cleared! "WHAT?! How are your tokens still there?"
Gold smirked. "I may have taken a serious hit, but my tokens can't be destroyed by battle!"
"I end my turn.", Dark Shimmer growled.
Gold and Sunset: 10400 Dark Shimmer: 15200
"I don't know how much more we can take! Huh?" Sunset noticed a rainbow colored glow coming from the top of her deck. "What is this?" As she drew the card, Sunset ponied up! "Just what we needed to turn the tide! I play the spell card Harmonic Fusion! By sending fusion materials from my hand, deck, extra deck, field, or banishing them from my graveyard, I can fusion summon a monster that lists those monsters as fusion materials! I fuse Guardian Eatos, BLS, and Stardust Dragon to bring out my true ace card! Come on out! Stardust Luster Guardian-Eatos!" As Sunset called her name, a majestic monster descended from the heavens. She had the body of Guardian Eatos, the wings of Stardust Dragon, and the armor of BLS but in Sunset's colors. "Now I get to activate her effect! I can banish a monster my opponent controls until the end phase! Or I can negate any card effect that destroys a card or cards and destroy that card! And if I destroy a monster by battle I can make another attack! I think I'll go with the first one! Celestial Banishing!" Fallen Light Dragon vanished in a flash of light! "Now Eatos! Attack her directly! Cosmic Flame Slash!"
"Prepare to meet the light!", Eatos cried out as she charged forth and slashed at Dark Shimmer directly!
"Aaaaghh!"
"I end my turn."
Gold and Sunset: 10400 Dark Shimmer: 11700
"This isn't over!", Dark Shimmer snarled. "I play Eclipse Rebirth! This revives Fallen Light Dragon! But I'll put him in defense mode to keep him safe from those effects of yours and end my turn."
"My time to shine then!", Gold said. To Sunset's surprise, Gold ponied-up too! But instead of normal pegasus wings, he had flaming phoenix wings! "I tribute my tokens to summon my ace card! Join the party Crimson Dragon!" Gold's signature monster let out a mighty roar as it arrived on the field!
"Time to light up this duel!", Crimson shouted as he landed!
"Good to have you here buddy! Now to use your effect!"
"Right!" Crimson fired a bolt of red energy that destroyed Fallen Light Dragon!
"Now that your dragon was destroyed by Crimson's effect, he gains your monster's attack points! And now you're wide open!"
"Impossible!", Dark Shimmer howled.
"Attack her directly Crimson! Plasma Arc!" Crimson gathered a huge amount of energy and his wings began to glow! Once the energy was at its peak, Crimson let loose an enormous beam of plasma that struck Dark Shimmer dead-on! "That's it for my turn."
Gold and Sunset: 10400 Dark Shimmer: 5700
"That's it! Now I'm not holding anything back!", Dark Shimmer roared. "I play the spell card Red Giant! This revives Fallen Light Dragon and doubles his attack points! Destroy Crimson Dragon!"
"I don't think so!", Sunset said. "I activate my trap! Negate Attack!"
"Curse you!"
"Now it's my turn! I'll use Eatos's banishing effect! What do you say we end this together Gold?"
"Sounds good to me!"
"This can't be!", Dark Shimmer screamed as Sunset and Gold's monsters charged up their attacks!
"Celestial Flare Blast!", Gold and Sunset shouted together as their monsters fired a beam of crimson energy that destroyed Dark Shimmer! When the dust cleared, all that was left of her was a Malefic Parallel Gear that crumbled into dust.
"Gold that was amazing! But how did you pony-up?"
"Remember when I said that Pegasus adopted me? Well he adopted me after I came to this world from Equestria. Back there I was a Phoenix pony if you couldn't tell by my wings. After my parents died, no one would accept me. By some stroke of luck, I wandered into this world. Pegasus sensed my light aura and asked my about my life. I told him everything, and he took me in and loved me like I was his own son. He also taught me to love my cards. And by the way, I already knew you were from Equestria too. I can sense magic."
"So this explains why I felt connected to you.", Sunset said with a smile. "Now I don't feel homesick at all." She pulled Gold into a hug before a warp opened and the two went through. Soon enough, all of their friends won their own battles and opened the door to Paradox's lair. Burst and the other dragon users defeated Paradox and rescued Starlight. Everyone had to make a mad dash to the exit before the whole castle collapsed in on them. Once they were out, the whole school was cheering for them. Celestia even got the idea to throw the party at the school. The guys even invited their girlfriends to perform on stage with them. Everyone had a good time. Sunset in particular was very happy. "How about a reward for saving the world again hero?", Sunset asked with a smirk.
"What did you have in mind?", Gold asked slyly. Sunset smiled and pulled him in as she kissed him.
"Does that answer your question?" And they all celebrated the night away.
"Okay Gold. What did you want to show me?", Sunset asked.
"It isn't exactly something I can show you. Rather, it's something I can give you. Dad let me use the card creator. And I thought these would capture your essence perfectly."
"You already gave me your late adopted mother's ring. That shows how much I mean to you more than enough."
"I know. But Burst told me that going a little bit of the extra mile can go a long way. I made these with you in mind." Gold then brought out a small box. "Go ahead. Open it." Sunset opened the box and was speechless with joy. Inside lay three cards that gold had made for her alone. "Their names are Daydream Sorceress, Fire Paladin, and last but not least....Solar Flare Dragon." As Gold spoke, all three of the monsters materialized. "They're pretty eager to meet you." Sorceress looked like she was wearing the clothes of Sunset's Daydream Form, Paladin looked like a more powerful version of Flame Swordsman with cooler armor, and lastly Solar Flare Dragon had flaming scales mixed in with dark red scales and was the first to speak.
"It's nice to finally meet you Sunset.", she said.
"So you're the one Gold was going on about.", Paladin quipped.
"Don't ruin the moment Flame.", Sorceress scolded.
"So do you like them?", Gold asked nervously. Sunset smiled and pulled him into a hug.
"Gold. You always rise to the occasion.", she said with a smile and kissed him. The monsters returned to their world to let the couple enjoy the moment.