It's been a few weeks since the events at Camp Everfree. Things have been pretty calm in the human world, the occasional Turducken or Timberwolf popping up notwithstanding. However, ever since Sunset gained her pendant, she's been having vivid dreams, almost like memories. Dreams of a lanky blonde guy, of a bombastic redhead with a large hammer, dreams of a silent, ebony haired young man. But that's impossible, Sunset wasn't a human prior to passing through the mirror....
It was another one of those dreams again. They always felt so real to the yellow and red haired girl. In her hands were a smooth, round, bronze shield, paired with a slim, double-edged blade, like those used in Ancient Roam. Before her stood a blond haired man, his face blurred out. He wore what appeared to be basic body armor, painted white, over a hoodie of some kind, worn jeans, sneakers, and some thin gloves. In his hands were similar weapons, except his white sword resembled a standard broadsword, like one used in Pengland. prior to the invention of firearms. Both of them were in battle ready positions. However, something in her knew that this man was important to her somehow and that they were engaged in a sparring match. However, his name escaped her. It was on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't reel it in. "______, are you ready?" she asked, as she lunged forward, blade arched.
"Ready!" The main said as he raised his shield up. He swung his sword forward. Metal bit into metal as their weapons clashed. Sunset smiled warmly, _____'s certainly improving. Sunset thought, as her eyes wandered his body. While he was still fairly lanky, she did notice his physique was slowly, but surely, building. Small muscles were visible through his black hoodie. She could, through the openings in his armor, vaguely make out some sort of rabbit looking face taking up a good portion of the front of the jacket. She pushed forward, sending the man stumbling back, but the blonde youth quickly caught his footing, panting, his chest rising and falling beneath the alabaster and gold cuirass he wore. They had danced this dance before, coming up together onto the rooftop of what she, somehow knew, was a dormitory, every single night for the past few weeks now, metal clashing with metal.
After a few more rounds of back and forth, Sunset raised a bracered hand, her ample chest rising and falling as she rested, a warm smile on her face. "Alright ______, I think we can take a little break," she said, then wiped some sweat from her circlet enclosed brow. The main gave her a tired thumbs up, sheathing his blade into a scabbard attached to his shield, then setting it aside. Sunset smiled, her crimson miniskirt swaying in the faint night breeze, as she went over to a nearby backless steel bench on the right side of the door leading back into the dorm. She leaned back, and grabbed one of the two bottles of water, unscrewed the cap, and began to chug down the cool, refreshing liquid. She sighed in relief, stretching, "You've improved immensely since we first started _____." she said, as he took a seat next to her. Sunset held out the second water bottle, which he took in his gloved hand, uncapped, and began drinking, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with each gulp of water.
The blonde man turned to her, his azure eyes shining. He put the empty water bottle down next to him, intending to recycle it for a little pocket change as soon as he could. He nodded, "Thanks, Pyrrha." He said as reality began to crumble away into darkness.
Sunset awoke, springing up in bed, one hand resting on her forehead. Her heart hammered in her chest. "W-why do I keep having these dreams?" she asked herself, panting softly. She figured she had been watching too much anime at first, but these dreams felt all too real, too vivid, almost like memories.
The ketchup and mustard haired girl shook her head, ¨That´s impossible." she chuckled slightly. ¨I mean, I only turned into a human when I stepped through the portal." she got out of bed, wiping the sweat from her brow. ¨I need to cut down on the Blue Cow.¨ she said, heading into her bedroom´s connected bathroom, trying not to disturb the other occupant of her room. Sunset had been staying with this universe´s version of her, an aspiring archeologist. It had taken awhile for this world´s native Sunset´s family to accept there being two of their daughter, but the original Sunset, who was referred to as Shimmer by Sunsetś new friends to avoid confusion, was overjoyed to have another person to talk to and was eager to learn about Equestria´s history. Running the water in the sink, Sunset Shimmer splashed some water on her face. Checking the clock, she noticed it was about 5:30, about the time she and her doppelganger usually awoke. Right on cue, she could hear the sound of sheets moving about, and her duplicate came into the bathroom, joining her in dunking her face in cold water.
¨Hey Sunset, another one of those dreams again?" Shimmer asked. To further differentiate herself, she styled her crimson and gold hair in a short ponytail, held in place by a rubber band. Sunset nodded drying her face with a worn white washcloth, ¨Have you thought about telling the others?¨ she asked, as her double tossed her the washcloth, and she began to dry her own face.
¨I´ll tell them at Sugercube Corner." Sunset said, quickly sending a text to this world´s Twilight, or ¨Sci-Twi" as Rainbow had dubbed her, due to her rather fetishistic love of mad science, and to resolve any confusion when Princess Twilight was visiting, which, as she was, sent a note in the magic notebook to meet her as well, and the rest of her friends. She put her phone into her jeans pocket and began changing out of her pajamas. ¨Well, better get ready for the day.¨ she said. As she was about to pull on a crimson shirt with a spear and shield emblazoned on the center, something she had a compulsion to buy while clothes shopping a month ago, her duplicate coughed, drawing her attention.
Shimmer was smirking, ¨Before you put that on Sunny, you might wanna put a bra on first.¨
After putting on the appropriate underwear, Sunset finished getting ready for the day by brushing her long hair. She was dressed in the aforementioned T-shirt, and a pair of coal gray jeans, alongside her usual black combat boots. Her doppelganger was dressed in a chocolate bomber jacket, an old charcoal gray T-shirt, a pair of old blue jeans, and a pair of black sneakers. The two headed downstairs, their parents having left for work a little under an hour ago. With both girls having recently turning eighteen, or eighteen and a half for Sunset´s case, their parents had let them stay by themselves. After having a quick breakfast of Pepo Peter´s cereal, which, while not the best tasting cereal in the world, was better than nothing, they headed out. It was nearing seven, about the time Sugercube Corner opened up.
Heading into the garage, they came face to face with their twin motorcycles. Sunset´s was the color of her hair, except the bike was primarily a ruby color, with bronze trim. Shimmer´s was a sleek tactical black with a gold trim. Sunset grabbed the house keys, and strapped her helmet on, Shimmer following suit.
Revving their engines, the two girls rocketed out of the garage, towards the cafe-slash-bakery.
As the incandescent sun began to peek over the horizon, bathing the early morning sky in a fierce clash of black, fiery orange, crimson, and violet, two motorcycles parked side by side in front of a cozy, three story cafe. The first floor was for customers, while the other two made up the home of the owners, Mr. and Ms. Cake, as well as their two toddlers, Pound, and Pumpkin, and was the residence of one Pinkamena Diana Pie, better known as Pinkie Pie.
After locking up their motorcycles, Sunset and Shimmer stored their helmets in password locked, stainless steel boxes on either side of the rear of their motorcycles. Sunset took a deep breath and walked into the cafe. Ms. Cake waved at the duo, as she polished the counter. Aside from a few cops and early bird old folks, the place was empty. Sunset led her double to a large booth where they could wait for the others, and they took a seat next to each other, drinking from some complimentary lattes.
Pinkie Pie, who was sleeping just one floor above the cafe, was the first to meet up. She skipped over, and spun into her seat. She was still dressed in her PJs. Both Sunset and Shimmer were glad Pinkie had remembered to get this morning, having distinct memories of the pink haired party girl forgetting to get dressed during sleepovers. ¨Morning Sunny, Shimmy!" The voluptuously haired girl said, stretching, as her joints cracked to their correct places.
¨Morning Pinkie!" Sunset and her double said in unison, which caused a quick burst of laughter to run through the trio. ¨I´ll tell you what´s going on as soon as the others get here.¨ she said, gently pushing aside her now empty coffee cup.
-Not long after, Rainbow Dash jogged through the front door, and joined her friends at their table, panting lightly. Not long after, a large red pickup truck pulled up, with the rest of the gang either in the back or in the main seating area. Their little table was soon filled by eight teenagers, with small cups of coffee in their hands, and pastries set in front of them.
Sunset took a deep breath, ¨Alright, you guys know I´ve been having weird dreams right? Like, weirder than regular dreams anyway.¨ she asked the group, greeted with all seven other girls nodding in-sync. ¨These dreams don´t feel like your average, everyday dreams. These are more lucid, like, I don´t know, memories.¨ she said. Twilight and Princess Twilight glanced at each other, ideas racing through their brains like fireworks, powered by sugar. ¨It all started about a month ago...¨ she took a sip of her coffee and began to recount to the girls, particularly the two Twilights, as many details of her dreams as she could recall. ¨This latest one was of sparring practice, again.¨
Both Twilight and Princess Twilight rubbed their chins, one using her knowledge of science, and the other using her knowledge of magic and science to decipher the meaning behind Sunset´s vivid dreams. ¨Hmm, you sure this isn´t caused by eating too much junk food before bed?¨ Twilight asked as she and her double took out notebooks. Sunset shook her head. ¨What do you think?¨ The scientist asked the Princess of Friendship.
¨Well, a little while ago I was reading a book about ¨Reality Bonding¨ in essence, two realities become temporarily bonded in some way shape or form. Perhaps your dreams were influenced by a brief bonding with some alternate reality." Twilight suggested, sipping from a mango and vanilla smoothie.
¨Maybe, but, it felt like I was actually there. And wouldn´t it seem odd this dimension and some other dimension with humans cross over repeatedly?¨ Sunset asked, as Princess Twilight merely gave a ¨so-so¨ gesture with her hand. ¨I feel as if there´s something more to this.¨ she said, and then suddenly clutched her chest, feeling as if something was burning a hole through her, in between her breasts. She gasped, feeling her double´s hand on her shoulder, and the others looking at her with concerned, she slowly sat up, the pain subsiding.. ¨That´s also come up. Every so often, I get this, intense pain right here,¨ she pressed her thumb against a spot, close to where her neck joined her torso. ¨It feels like I´ve been stabbed, or shot or something.¨ she said, her voice hoarse. She downed a glass of water Pinkie handed her, gulping.
Princess Twilight glanced at the clock. It was almost closing time. ¨How about this, it´s a school day tomorrow right?¨ she asked, and while not being an official student in Canterlot High School, she did enjoy learning about this world, even if it was through a sometimes sub-par educational system. All the other girls nodded their heads. ¨We can all bunk with Pinkie if Mr. and Mrs. Cake are fine with it,¨ she got nods of approval from the two shopkeepers. ¨Alright, sleepover it is.¨ she said, as the girls grabbed their stuff from the truck, and headed on upstairs, Pinkie leading the way.
Sunset´s sleep went, for the first time in weeks, unmolested by any dreams, which she was thankful for. She could at least get a good night´s sleep for once without something crazy in her head happening. Sunset awoke, refreshed, and went into the bathroom to take care of her hygienic and toiletry needs.
After a quick group breakfast of buttered and sugar coated toast and bacon, the band of girls were herded back into Big Mac´s truck, as the nineteen-year-old drove his sister and her friends to Canterlot High School. Sunset and the others thanked the muscular farm boy, as they separated and headed to their different classes, excited for the new day.
Sunset was bored beyond bored. Scratch that, bored beyond bored would be too soft an adjective for how much boredom she, and a vast majority of her class, had either fallen asleep or started doodling in their notebooks or gaming on their phones. Even Twilight looked rather fatigued as Dr. Waddles continued his history lesson on, what had once been the history of Ancient Fegypt, had somehow divulged into the oh so thrilling¨history¨ of sand.
Thankfully, before the entire class died of boredom, and grow an intense hatred of sand that equaled the white-hot fury of a thousand suns, or a certain whiny space warrior-monk, the bell rang. Sunset quickly packed her bag, and headed out to to the central courtyard, thanking her lucky stars classes had ended for the day.
Making her way to Canterlot High´s parking lot, the ketchup-and-mustard haired girl licked her parched lips. ¨Hmm.¨ Sunset smiled slightly as she noticed a vending machine to her right, and walked over. Reaching into her jeans, after a big of tugging, she pulled out her Grussian Blue wallet and rummaged around for fifty cents.
¨Aha!¨ Sunset grinned in triumph, retrieving the coins from the depths of her wallet. Gazing at the various beverages on display, and briefly shuddering in disgust at the Pero Peter´s soda, often silently praying for the inventor of the vile brand to be eaten alive by killer bunnies, whether or not they were from Caerbannog or not, but she digressed. Quickly thumbing the button for some Sunset Sasparilla, (Rainbow Dash had teased her the first time she had gotten the drink for ¨drinking her own sasparilla¨, Sunset responding via switching her shampoo out with pink hair dye), and popped one of the coins in, enjoying the sound if it rattling down deeper into the vending machine.
Sunset was about to pop the second coin into the machine, when her first slipped, and it slammed into the side of the machine, tumbled from her fingertips, and rolled under the machine. She grumbled, ¨Damnit.¨ she got on her hands and knees, and peeked beneath the vending machine, smirking as she saw it glint not too far from her. ¨Come to mama.¨ she reached in.
Sunset grunted, as her fingertips brushed against the grooves of the quarter, but she couldn´t reel it in. ¨Come on.¨ she muttered, wiggling her arm about. She furrowed her brow, as she reached out to try and grab the coin. Suddenly, the coin flew into her grasp. ¨Huh?¨ she withdrew her hand, and stood up, staring at the coin. While she had regained some of her magical ability, this didn´t feel or even look like her usual telekinectic spells. There had been no golden aura or a tugging sensation. It was like she had just called the coin to her hand, or like her skin was magnetic. Mulling it over in her mind, Sunset inserted the last quarter into the machine, and grabbed her soda from the dispensary slot, chugging it as she headed to her handmade motorcycle, Bellerophon.
She rode back home, her double returning shortly after. They parked their bikes in the garage, and locked up. ¨Night.¨ the duo said to another, as they dressed for bed, fell under the covers, and drifted off to slumber.
Sunset Shimmer awoke the next morning to find her steel and aluminum alarm clock had thankfully not only stopped blaring Space Unicorn, but was seemingly stuck to her face. After a bit of prying, she had the traitorous piece of metal back in its rightful place on her nightstand. ¨What the heck is going on?¨ she muttered, and got up, quickly making her bed. Her double awoke a few minutes later, sans clock sticking to her face, and did the same, fluffing her pillows and folding her wool blanket.
Sunset and Shimmer enjoyed a fulfilling, if disgusting, breakfast of Pero Peter´s cereal, and then headed to school atop their motorcycles. Both Sunset and Shimmer were glad they had earned their driver´s license, and a motorcycle endorsement, as they were free to cruise whenever they wished.
Sunset Shimmer and her double parked their motorcycles in the school´s bike lot, locking their bikes when they dismounted. Neither of them was worried that their bike would get stolen. Sunset had placed a little security system on their bikes. In the event, someone managed to remove the lock on one of the motorcycles and somehow gotten it to start without the ignition key, which both girls kept safe in their wallets, Sunset had added a small touch detector. If anyone not authorized by Sunset, ergo anyone else outside of each other and their circle of friends would receive a quite shock. Not enough to cause any lasting harm, just enough to stun the would be bikejacker for about four minutes, and also set off the alarm on whichever bike was being stolen. It had taken Sunset a little over a month to get the thing working properly, but when it worked, and it rarely needed to work, as the bike locks were password locked, it worked like a charm.
The first two of Sunset´s classes, Quantum Mechanics, and AP Arcadia History were fairly mundane. No demon spawn from Equestria´s bowels had spawned into this reality yet. Thankfully, even if they did, Sunset and her friends could ¨Pony Up¨ as Pinkie had christened their ponylike transformation, and beat whatever it was back to whence it came, without breaking a sweat. Well, unless it was a Turducken, then not only did they break a sweat, but in the end, whenever they brought one down, the school had fried turkey-duck for lunch.
While Sunset still hadn´t been able to find out the cause of her bizarre new magnetic powers just yet, she did admit they came in handy. No longer would she have to worry about dropping pens, and then spend at most five minutes trying to find the thing, but then spend another few seconds picking it up. Now, with enough focus and awareness of her surrounding, she could stop the pen before it even hit the ground, or if it did, she could quickly pull it back into the palm of her hand, and continue on writing, which was just great with her.
Another useful aspect, she found as lunch rolled around, leaving the students with two hours of free time where they could go off campus, but had to stay within city limits, was that loose change around the school practically flew into her pockets as she strutted about Canterlot High, which was quite the boon, as it was practically free and easy money, scratch that, it was free and easy money. From walking down one hallway alone, she got about ten bucks in spare change alone. She got the most money in that one creepy hallway with the sole constantly malfunctioning light, about thirty-two dollars and fifty-five cents in total. In total, aside from the couple dollars she already had in her wallet, Sunset made fifty-two dollars in loose change, just from going to her classes and back.
She made her way off campus, heading to the local dojo. Sunset had started taking martial arts lessons from Master Dojo Sensei, who preferred to go by the rather redundant name over her unfortunate birth name of Morning Wood, and had quickly risen to be a red belt. It only took her about five minutes to reach the dojo, which lay a few buildings down from Canterlot High. Slipping into her weathered training gi, she began to spar with a training dummy, honing her fighting prowess, in case she had to go to melee with an Equestrian beast that had slipped into this reality, which had happened from time to time, or some punk tried to screw with her or her friends. Her body glistened with sweat as she parried, blocked, and countered the strikes of the training automaton, her supple chest rising and falling with every single breath she took.
After about ten minutes, she took a quick break, wiping the sweat from her brow with a dampened washcloth. She leaned against one of the copper colored wallpapered walls and began doing stretches. She groaned in relief as her joints popped back into place. She continued sparring, increasing or decreasing the number of sparring dummies every so often.
When the clock hit 1:50, leaving her with about ten minutes left to get back to Canterlot High, Sunset once more slipped into the changing rooms, undressed, hung up her gi, and then redressed in her usual attire. Fixing her jacket collar, she waved a brief farewell to her Sensei and then began walking back to school, humming a soft tune. ¨Space Unicorn, soaring through the skies, delivering the rainbows....damn it Pinkie.¨ she muttered, for the getting the rather obnoxious, if catchy, song stuck in her head. Well, it´s better than a Vanilla Ice song. the mustard and bacon haired girl thought to herself, as she kept on humming the tune. She entered the gates and, after quickly checking that her and her doppelganger´s prized motorcycles were still where they had left them and that the security system was still functioning correctly, Sunset Shimmer skipped up the stairs, and made her way back to class.
Sunset´s last class of the day, which was thankfully one she enjoyed, Creative Writing, was quite mundane. Nothing interesting happened, no monsters from within Equestria´s depths farted through into this human reality, no cosmic horrors descended from on high to signal the end of mankind and no overtly muscular blonde vampires wanting to take over the world or crush people with steam rollers. All was well.
School ended not long after. Sunset was glad they had gotten out for a week long break. Now she could just relax, and enjoy her life. She headed out to the parking lot.
As her eyes absentmindedly glanced at her various schoolmates as they exited the building, discussing what they´d do over Spring Break, her eyes fell upon one in particular. He was fairly new, but she recalled his name was something like Valor Shield if her memory was correct. However, as her eyes passed over him, staring at his messy dirty blonde hair, lightly tanned body, not exactly beefcake buff, but athletically muscular, like someone who ran track and field for most of their life, she once again felt that stabbing pain in her chest, and before she knew it, she was half running, half stumbling towards him, lightly shoving people out of her way.
As she neared him, she felt a rush of warmth radiate throughout her body and felt something stir deep within her soul. Opening her mouth, and with a voice her own, yet at the same time not, she called out the name that had been at the edge of her tongue, yet always alluded her.
Valor turned at the sound of a name he hadn´t heard in years, in a melodic voice he thought he´d never hear again. He looked Sunset in eyes, his own ocean blue irises widened, and he answered her call to his old name with a whisper of her old one.
¨Pyrrha!¨
Sunset collided with Valor, as the two embraced, a remnant of their old selves flickering for the briefest moment.
As they broke the hug, tears streaming down their faces, they could only say one thing to another.
For what felt like an eternity, the two held each other close, not wanting to let go, fearing the other would vanish into the aether as soon as they broke apart. Warm, salty tears flowed down their cheeks freely, as their foreheads touched, warmth radiating out from their bodies. Their eyes locked, frosty gray staring deeply into soft electric blue.
Meanwhile, seven girls, and one dog, after school had let out, were searching for their bacon haired friend/doppelganger. Pinkie was the first to spot Sunset, as she rounded a corner. She let out a squeaky gasp, ¨Girls, look!¨ she whispered, pointing. The girls peeked their heads around the corner, seeing Sunset Shimmer tenderly embracing the lanky Valor Shield, none of them unaware of their true identities.
"Oh my, it seems our dear Sunset's involved in a secret, sordid romance." Rarity said, smirking. "A hidden paramour she didn't want her closest friends or even her alternative reality double to know about." she swooned. "It's so romantic," she said, beginning to tip over. Thankfully for Rarity, and her outfit, Pinkie caught the royal purple haired fashionista before she hit the ground, propping her up against a nearby wall. "Thank you sweetie." she smiled warmly.
"Um girls, shouldn't we ask Sunset before we assume? You know what happens when you assume." Fluttershy said, running a tender hand through her long hair. "I mean, maybe they're just old friends or something." the pink haired girl suggested, as she moved a stray strand out of her face.
"Well, we could ask Sunset herself, yah know." Shimmer said, playfully rolling her eyes. Even though she had bonded well with the Rainbooms, they still drove her, and her double, off the walls sometimes. Like that one time, Pinkie had accidentally shown, via taking the wrong flash drive, Sunset's entire collection of Filly Fooler Monthly to the group. That had certainly been an interesting evening, and Shimmer certainly had plenty to tease her dear doppelganger about once they got back home, much to Sunset's chagrin.
Sunset, meanwhile, broke apart from Valor. She could see hints of the Jaune Arc she had known in her previous life. His unkempt golden blonde hair, those warm, beautiful electric blue eyes, and that lanky body hiding an athletic musculature which she had so adored. "It's really good to see you again Jaune." she smiled, butterflies fluttering in her stomach, and a faint blush grow on her cheeks, as she felt his original name pass through her lips.
"Same here Pyrrha." Valor responded, laying a gentle hand on her right shoulder. He cracked his neck, enjoying the feeling of his joints sliding back into place.
Suddenly, an idea flashed into Sunset's head. "Hey Jaune, I just had an idea. You could fill in on what happened after I, which I still don't recall, ended up on Arcadia, and I can introduce you to my friends?" she suggested. Since she was going to, in essence, get back together with an old flame, then it would only be right to introduce Jaune, or Valor Shield as he was known in this dimension, to her friends, and lay out what she knew of her old life.
Valor gave her a warm smile, "Oh, the rest of the Rainbooms?" he asked, running a calloused hand through his flaxen hair. "That sounds great." he smiled. As he was about to continue speaking, a car horn honked, and an ultramarine hybrid pulled up in front of the car, the driver honking once again. Valor smiled sheepishly, "That's my sister, well, one of them. Even when I'm not on Remnant, it seems like I'm doomed to have multiple sisters." he chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow Pyrrha." he waved, and raced off, zipping into the hybrid.
"Bye Jaune," Sunset said, waving as his car drove away. "This is turning out to be the best day ever!" she grinned, hands pressed against her chest, a slight bounce in her step. "Better text the girls we'll be having an extra to our table tomorrow," she said, whipping out her Grussian Blue phone, and quickly sending a group text to the girls. With that done, she fixed her jacket and started her way back to the parking lot
On the way back to their home, Sunset and Shimmer made quiet small chat. Shimmer was careful to avoid the subject of Valor, not wanting her double to catch on that she and the other Rainbooms knew about him yet. Seeing a dark gray sedan in the driveway, both girls knew their mother, Amber Dawn, was back from work.
Parking their bikes in the garage, and locking the garage door, the two girls made their way inside. They found Amber in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee, her dark blue blazer laid out on the back of the chair. Having had Shimmer in her late teens, she was a fair bit younger than the mother of a nineteen-year-old girl would be. She barely had a speck of gray in her fiery orange hair. "Hey girls." Amber smiled warmly, putting her coffee cup down. She worked as the afternoon anchor at the local 90210 News station. It was sometimes tedious, but it paid quite well. "How was school?" she asked, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face.
"Great." Both Sunset and Shimmer replied in perfect unison, causing a brief chuckle to come from the three women in the room. "Well, we'll let you rest mom." Shimmer smiled, as the two girls hugged the thirty-nine-year-old woman, and then made their upstairs to their shared bedroom.
After a few hours worth of playing multiplayer matches of Super Smash Sisters 4 on their Neightendo 3DS, both girls decided to turn in for the night. Quickly brushing their teeth, and changing into their sleep clothes, which for now consisted of a loose T-shirt, and a pair of shorts, Sunset and Shimmer bid each other goodnight, before snuggling up under their covers, and falling swiftly asleep.
The next morning, Sunset sat next to Valor at their usual table. Shimmer had to run a quick errand at the local Wall-to-Wall Mart but had said she would get the girls as soon as she was done.
Sunset took a deep breath, as she rapped her fingers against the wooden surface of the table. Upon feeling pressure on her left hand, she looked down and found Valor's right hand grasping her's comfortingly. "Thanks, Jaune." she smiled, "I'm just, well, nervous is all. I mean, I'm gonna be dumping all this info on my friends, and well, I don't know how they'll take it."
Valor gave her a deep smile, and a small peck on the forehead. "Hey, they're your friends. If they're anything like Nora, Dust knows Pinkie is, and Ren, and all our other friends, they'll cope." he grinned goofily. He put his left hand on the table, accidently sticking it into his soda.
Sunset snickered, "You're right Jaune." she said. "Hey, what eve-" she was interrupted by the bell attached to the front door rung, and the Rainbooms, both Twilights, Shimmer, and both Spikes entered the cafe and bakery. "Heya girls." she waved them over, smiling warmly.
"Hey, Sunset." The nine girls and two sentient dogs said in unison as they all took their seats at the table. All twenty-two pairs of eyes turned and focused on the blonde newcomer to their get together. All were asking the silent question of "Who's this?"
Sunset took a sip of her cream soda and gave a small smile to the group. "Girls, I have to tell you something. I...I'm not who you think I am?" a soft gasp echoed throughout the group. "You know those dreams I've been having, it turns out they weren't dreams after all, but memories," she said, sighing. "As it turns out, my real name is, or was, Pyrrha Nikos. Valor here," she lightly squeezed his hand, "was a friend of mine, Jaune Arc. We both came from another I guess dimension, on a planet known as Remnant." Sunset took another gulp of her cream soda.
"So wait Sunset, if that's true, how'd you end up in Equestria?" Princess Twilight asked, fascinated and concerned for her friend and kind-of-sort-of student.
"I don't know yet," Sunset said, rubbing her temples. "I can remember brief flashes. My parents, my little sister, Beacon," at the confused looks of some of her friends, she clarified. "Beacon was a training school. On Remnant, vicious creatures of darkness known as Grimm terrorize and prey the innocent. So, Huntsmen and Huntresses are trained to fight them. It's kind of like normal high school. So far, I can only remember brief flashes, longer memories in my dreams sometimes."
Rainbow Dash and Shimmer got contemplative looks on their faces. "Wow Sunset, that takes some serious balls. I mean, the occasional baddie from Equestria we face are tough, but considering you guys had to train to fight these things, dang." Rainbow grinned,
"Yeah, and each Huntsman and Huntress possesses an Aura, a physical manifestation of one's soul-" Sunset said before Pinkie interrupted her.
"Like a Stand?" The overexcited and often lewd pink haired girl asked, grinned, her eyes sparkling.
Sunset smirked a bit, "Kind of, except it acts....kind of like a personal force-field. It can be drained and takes awhile to charge. Not everyone has an aura, it has to be unlocked by another. When that happens, a bond forms between the two auras, and the unlocker puts a small part of their soul into the person with whom they've unlocked the aura of." she explained. "Alongside this, many who have their auras unlocked has what is known as a Semblance. It's basically a special power they have. Mine is polarity."
"So you can control poles?" Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie asked. Both Twilights and Shimmer were about to correct the trio, when Sunset spoke up.
"Well, possibly, but not, in essence, I'm basically Magneighto." Sunset smiled, as she reached out a hand. Her spoon spun a bit in the air, and then settled back down into her bowl of cake batter ice cream. "Next is-agghh." she groaned, clutching her chest. The last thing she felt before her vision faded was Valor reaching out. She was back at Beacon. She saw her, Cinder Fall, seductive and powerful, smirking at her, hovering. She felt an arrow pierce her heel, then another pierce her heart. "I-I died." she muttered, lips parched, and tears streaming down her face.
"What?!" Her friends, save Valor, asked, a somber looking replacing the jubilant look that had been there prior.
"I died, that's how I ended up here. My soul must have, reincarnated or something, into my pony body." Sunset said, sweat dripping down her face. Valor held her close, a warm arm wrapped around her waist. "Thanks Jaune."
Sunset's eyes widened in surprise, as she turned to face Valor. Her face paled, and her mouth felt dry like she hadn't had a drop to drink in years. "W-what?" she whispered. The others looked at Valor in shock, Pinkie's hair going limp.
Valor's face into a grim expression, his lips tightened, as he cast his gaze downward. A small sigh escaped his lips. "I died, and then, I ended up here." he said, slowly raising his eyes to meet Sunset's, which were brimming with shock. "It was a year after you....died." he clenched his fist, growling. "We discovered a lot. Cinder, she wasn't working alone. She was working for someone. A woman named Salem. She was like this, humanoid Grimm or something." he shuddered. Sunset took some time to process this, her mouth wanting to fire off questions like an organic machine gun, but when she started to open her mouth, she quickly shut it again, silently pleading for him to continue. "After we barely averted a repeat of the Fall of Beacon at Haven, she just started creating more and more Grimm. They were faster, harder, stronger than any other Grimm we had faced. It was total chaos. The Huntsmen and Huntresses were rallied into the biggest army Remnant's ever seen, and the Second Great Grimm War began." he muttered.
A memory flashed into Sunset's mind. Professor (Or Doctor, as he preferred to be called) Oobleck was, as usual, spouting off a history lecture, occasionally sipping from his thermos, and zipping about the room like Ruby or Nora on a sugar rush. They were covering the Great Grimm War. About two hundred or so years prior to the Great War, before the Last King of Vale united the warring nations under the banner of peace, a mysterious woman, known only as The Grimm Queen or the Alabaster Witch, commanding an army of Grimm, led a massive surge of the ebony beasts, King Taijutas, Beowulves, Geists, and worse, against the forces of humanity. According to the legend, with the aid of silver-eyed individuals, trained warriors possessing a mysterious optical power, unlike any eye based Semblances, the early huntsmen and huntresses pushed back the onslaught of Grimm, driving the souless beasts and their leader from whence they came, but not without numerous casualties. The lands of Remnant were strewn with the scarred bone plates of Grimm, as well as the bloodied and battered corpses of countless humans, those who had fought against and fought alongside the Grimm Queen.
Sunset covered her mouth, lightly shaking her head. Tears pricked her eyes, stinging a bit. ¨Jaune, I-I´m so sorry you had to go through that.¨ she held him close. ¨But, at least fate, it seems brought us together again.¨ she said, snuggling into his chest.
Valor gave her a small smile, pecking her cheek, causing a few of Sunset´s friends to ¨Awww¨ at the small show of affection. Valor wiped the salty sweat and teardrops cascading down her flushed face with one of the napkins provided for their meals. ¨But still, at least we´re together.¨ he gazed at the clock. ¨It´s getting late, how bout we stay at my place? My folks are out of town for a few months.¨ he said with a warm smile.
¨Jaune, two questions before we go.¨ Sunset said, wiping the remnants of her sorrow from her face, and fixing her hair. ¨One, please tell me you don´t have seven sisters in this universe.¨
Valor chuckled nervously, scratching his head, ¨Well, I´ve got eleven this time, but I think four of them went out to the mall.¨ he replied as Sunset facepalmed, groaning. ¨And your second?¨ he asked her.
Sunset smirked, ¨You didn´t invite all of us just go and be, more or less, alone with eight of the hottest girls at Canterlot High?¨ she teased, causing Jaune to choke on his smoothie, and alternating between blanching and turning a fiery red as he coughed into his fist. The girls chuckled at his reaction, as they all got into or on their respective vehicles, and followed Valor/Jaune in his family´s big, egg white van.
The Shield Family´s home, while not a mansion, was still fairly big. Not including the attic and basement, it had only two floors. It had a fairly expansive backyard, enough for the large family to have room to have a barbecue and invite at least four other houses, and still have some room to mingle about in. They even had a pool big enough for the entire family, plus five guests at the maximum.
¨Damn Jauney, this place is sick!¨ Pinkie said, bouncing about. No sooner had she said this when about seven girls, the youngest being ten and the eldest being about twenty-two, raced downstairs. ¨So, these are your sisters J-Valor?¨ she changed her response after Sunset elbowed her in the side. On the way over, Sunset had group texted with the others to try and use their non-Remnant names, so as not to freak out Jaune´s family.
¨It´s alright, we kind of know.¨ The eldest, Amber, smiled. She had skin the color of bronze, and hair which was the color of fresh wheat. ¨We thought Valor, or Jaune as it seems you know him as, was just having weird nightmares at first, probably watching too much shounen,¨
¨At least he didn´t grow up to be like Kirito.¨ The second eldest, Scarlet, muttered, arms crossed.
¨As I was saying, we just thought Jaune was having weird nightmares, but when he managed to beat up this douche that was harassing Jasmine,¨ she gestured to an eleven-year-old with purple hair, ¨using only a bokken from the kendo club, and an old trash can lid, we knew something was up.¨
¨Thanks Ambs.¨ Valor said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. ¨Saved me an explanation there.¨ he smiled at his sister. ¨So yeah, seems I still have some of my fighting skills intact.¨ he grinned. ¨I´m one of the most badass members of my family.¨ he ran a hand through his hair.
¨I think that role goes to me at the moment.¨ A cerulean haired girl smirked. ¨I am one of the youngest kendo champions in the country.¨
¨Sure you are Jaune.¨ Sunset smiled, playfully rolling her eyes, pecking him on the forehead. ¨Well, I guess I should say it. Has Jaune ever mentioned a girl named Pyrrha Nikos?¨ she asked, to which all of his sisters burst into laughter.
¨Mentioned her? We´ve walked in on Mr. Macho here stroking it to pictures he´s drawn of her.¨ Amber teased, as Sunset and Valor´s faces turned an interesting shade of crimson. ¨He´s quite a talented artist, takes after mom.¨ she said, patting her slightly shorter brother´s head.
¨Oh, um, that´s interesting to hear.¨ Sunset smiled slightly, cheeks tinged a rosey hue, mentally forcing back a wave of rather perverted mental images, including a few involving a dominant Jaune and a submissive Ren. Wonder if Nora ever envisioned something like that? the former Champion of Mistral and pseudo-Fall Maiden thought to herself, tapping her chin. She shook her head to clear it, ¨Well, I´m Pyrrha Nikos, but I guess you could just call me Sunset.¨ she said.
Valor´s sisters all gave out a sigh of relief, but a few groaned afterward and handed Amber, Scarlet, and the third youngest sister, Juniper, some money. ¨Not only did the three of us just get some cash from that bet, but we´re glad to know you won´t die a virgin.¨ Before Valor could speak in protest at his sister´s betting on whether or not he would remain a virgin for the rest of his days, he and Sunset were wrapped up in an intense group hug. ¨Welcome to the family Sunset.¨ they said in unison.
¨Come on,¨ Valor wheezed, trying to catch his breath, ¨I´ll show you guys around.¨he said, as his sisters, Amber aside separated to go do their own things.
After a little over an hour of touring the house, with Valor and Amber rattling off as much trivia about their family´s centuries-old abode, Valor and Sunset had managed to break away from the group, The star-flung couple now found themselves wrapped up in an old gray blanket, sat atop a swaying, sweet-scented, mahogany bench. Each hand an arm wrapped around the other´s waist. Their heads were tilted up, as they gazed upon the shimmering tapestry of stars that gazed back at them with lights from stars that were likely long dead.
¨You know Jaune, I´m glad you came into a life with a great family.¨ Sunset smiled, enjoying the warmth of his body, and the intoxicating scent of his freshly shampooed and soaped up hair and skin. ¨I mean, Shimmer´s parents, and I guess, my parents back in Equestria were great, but well, you´ve had such a wonderful life, and I, well, I became a lonely, power obsessed bitch who wanted to lead a zombie army to take over what I had considered my home.¨ she said, sighing sadly.
Valor patted her back, ¨Hey, that´s in your past right? Don´t let it define you, focus on today.¨he smiled warmly, running a hand through his flaxen hair.
Sunset snorted, ¨Now you sound like Professor Ozpin.¨ she teased, booping his nose with her own, chuckling. ¨Hey Jaune, you ever wonder if any of the others are here too? Or scattered among who knows how many dimensions?¨ she said, then dropped her voice down to a conspiratorial whisper. ¨You know, I noticed Pinkie´s a lot like Nora.¨
Valor shivered in fear. ¨That would be scary. I still recall all those workout sessions with her and Nana Armstrong.¨ Now Sunset shivered in fear. Shortly after Team JNPR had discovered Blake´s Faunushood, or rather been informed of it by the resident ninja of Team RWBY, Nora had managed to reconnect with her grandmother, a nearly eight foot tall giant of a woman, by the name of Hilde Valkyrie Armstrong, wife of Philip Gargantos Armstrong, a man who, like Sunset and Valor now, had found himself thrust into a reality unlike his own, and Hilde, like her daughter, not only possessed physical strength that would make a Goliath piss itself and run scampering off, but also a lightning based Semblance. She was also like Yang in a way, except her Conductive-Gatling Gauntlets not only allowed her to channel her Semblance into her brawling, especially with the bodybuilder build she possessed, but also fire off lightning at the speed of a minigun, and that was without Dust infused bullets. Whenever Nana Armstrong came to visit, she and her granddaughter would put JPR, and any poor souls that happened to stroll by at the wrong time, into a hellish exercise regimen in either Beacon´s gym, or in the main courtyard.
Valor smiled, ¨Probably. If she is, maybe she´s waiting to spring it on us. I mean, Pinkie is one of the few people on the ¨Banned on Pancake Wednesday¨ list.¨ he chuckled, his chiseled chest rising and falling.
¨That is true. It would be wonder-¨ Sunset was cut off as a chill hung over the air, causing the hairs on the back of her neck, and some on her head, to stand on end. She and Valor stood up, knocking the blanket aside.
A few feet away, bubbling and pulsating, a sickly ebony portal hummed on the cold dirt ground. From within, a hulking, lanky, wolf-like beast, with eyes as red as blood, fur as black as obsidian, and armored bone plates on its body arose, as it howled.
¨A Beowolf?!¨ Both cried out in shock, their Hunstman/Huntress instincts kicking into high gear. It was a simple Beowolf, and not even a strong looking one, almost like a scout. Sunset ponied up, while Jaune grabbed an old sword from his mom´s weapon collection. With a wave of her hand, Sunset blasted the creature of Grimm onto its back, while Valor decapitated it.
By now, Sunset´s friends, as well as Valor´s sisters, came running out, demanding to know what was going on. A few of Valor´s sisters had training weapons in hand.
¨That was a creature of Grimm.¨ Sunset said, returning to normal. Valor stored the sword away, before rejoining them, panting. ¨They´re soulless, destructive monsters from Remnant. They´re attracted to negative emotions, and they´ve been ravaging Remnant for centuries, if not millennia.¨ she said, glancing at Jaune´s family´s weapon collection. ¨We got lucky this time, but if more come, I don´t think some old, albeit well forged might I add, swords will do the trick."
Rainbow grinned, ¨Well don´tcha worry guys. I know a guy who can set us up with some kickass weapons.¨ She yawned, ¨We can check it out in the morning.¨ As one, they began making their way back inside.
Sunset took one last look as the Grimm´s bone plates faded into the aether, then shut the sliding glass door, fliicking off the lights. Today would be a long day.
"You sure this guy knows what he's doing?" Sunset asked as she, Valor, Rainbow, and both Twilights headed to the blacksmithing shop Rainbow Dash had recommended to them. The others were off on their own little errands, primarily with Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack having jobs, volunteer or otherwise.
"Trust me Sunset, Daidara's got whatcha need." Rainbow grinned. Daidara was a local blacksmith of weapons, mostly forging swords for collectors or cosplayers. Each customer was required to sign a legal waiver upon buying a weapon for the first time. "My mom goes to him all the time." Rainbow's mother, Firefly, was a locally famous historical fiction writer, and avid live-action role player. "She went to high school with the guy, and, from what mom said, I and my friends get discounts," she said, running a hand through her chromatic hair. They soon arrived at a humble shop, the sounds of a firmly grasped hammer striking metal, and steam hissing could be heard from behind the sliding door. "Well, here we are." Rainbow said, sliding the door open, and revealing the Daidara behind his counter.
Daidara, as he only went by his surname, was a well-built, if a bit scruffy man of Neighponese origin. "Ah, if it isn't Firefly little rascal." he grinned beneath his trimmed mustache-and-sideburns combo. He flicked the cigarette out of his mouth, and into a nearby ashtray. "Your mom ask you to pick up her order for her?" he asked, hefting up a wrapped bastard sword. "Finest Celyrian steel, those northeastern boys sure know how to make some damn good steel."
"Thanks Uncle Daidara," Rainbow said, carefully taking the sword in her arms, and slotting it into a specialized leather holster on her back. Daidara had helped Firefly and Rainbow Blitz raise Rainbow, he had even been the best man at their wedding. "But that isn't the only reason I'm here." She gestured to Sunset and Valor, who tentatively waved at Daidara. "My two pals here are into Ancient Equasian-Roanan history, and they're looking to get started on a collection." She handed him two drawings that both of the former Remnantians had drawn of their old weapons, as best as they could from memory. "With a unique flair."
Daidara picked the sketchings up, whistling. "Heh, been a while since I got something this specialized. Mostly it's just recreations of weapons from this game or that anime." he chuckled. "Alright Dashie, that'll be thirty bucks." Rainbow paid the price, fishing the money out of her wallet. She and her mom were both "Weaponologists" or "Weaponophiles", at least that's what Daidara called shoppers who had become regular buyers and earned a discount, alongside other benefits. "Come back in two days." He then caught site of Valor. "Hey, you're the Shield´s boy am I right? Tell Amber I said hi, and to come in if she ever needs repairs." Valor nodded, as the trio soon left.
"Well, that went better than I expected," Twilight said, fixing her glasses. "His collection of varying weaponry was impressive, from a historical perspective anyway." she mused aloud, tapping her chin.
Princess Twilight nodded, "I would say I agree, but it would be weird to say you agree with yourself." she chuckled. "So, what are these," she wracked her memory for the term Valor and Sunset had used. "Grimm, exactly?" she asked the duo. They had been passing through the local park, and so decided to sit down at a nearby double bench. After a quick call, the other girls arrived not long after.
Sunset smiled, eager to talk about her original homeland, as more and more memories had come flooding back to her. Some were embarrassing, others filled her with warmth, others existential dread and maple syrup, but she was glad to have them all the same. Sunset waited for the rest of her friends to take their seats, and for Valor to position himself next to her before she began the tale of the Grimm.
"Long ago, the world of Remnant was barren. It was nothing more than a sphere of lifeless dirt and ashes. One day, however, two beings, two brothers, descended from the aetherial plane, and gazed upon this sphere." Sunset said, as her friends listened with rapt attention. Pinkie was munching on a box of caramel kettle corn, which she occasionally passed around to the others. ¨The elder brother, The Lord of Light as some call him, was the God of Creation. With just a casual wave of his hand, he could cause healthy plants to sprout from the ground, the skittering animals, and even the tiniest molecules that live within every single living being.¨ she said. ¨Any questions so far?¨ she asked, pausing.
The girls, mid-munch of their kettle corn, shook their heads. Smiling a bit, Sunset continued her tale. ¨The younger brother, in my homeland of Mistral he was known as Kagirinai-Kage, at least in the native tongue of Mistral, was the God of Darkness. He spread death, disease, and famine, all in an effort to spite his brother, for he envied the life and joy his brother brought to the world of Remnant. In turn, he eventually created....The Grimm. Souless incarnations of his hatred, they fed off of negative emotions, like the Changelings do prior to a certain stage in their development, and slaughter indiscriminately. The ¨younger¨ a certain Grimm is, the more feral it acts, playing whatever feels fear or anger around it. Most non Huntsmen and Huntresses stand little chance against even the most basic of Grimm, at least in small numbers. However, the old a Grimm gets, the smarter it gets. They will rarely actively seek out a fight, preferring to be the reactor, rather than the agressor.¨ She said, taking a deep breath. ¨However, the Elder Brother, wanting to end the feud between them, even if only briefly, they pooled their power together, and created humanity. With the power to create and destroy, it was said the aspects of creation, such as wisdom and of course, creation, and the aspect of destruction were given physical vessels throughout the world, and given to mankind to keep safe.¨ Sunset took a sip of her water, before finishing. ¨Kagirinai didn´t stay his hand for too long though, and after a vicious war between the Grimm and early humanity, he was sealed in the moon, like Nightmare Moon. However, it is said his escape was what shattered the moon.¨ She took a deep breath.
¨And, what about the Faunus?¨ Fluttershy asked. ¨I´ve always wondered it would be like to be part animal or part tree.¨ she mused.
¨Oh right, the Faunus. According to texts from the very first Faunus tribes, there was a third deity. That deity was referred to as simply, The Phoenix. While not directly related to the two brothers, it wanted something to keep mankind in check and to give a part of itself to creation. It created the Faunus, in essence humans with animal traits, like when we ¨pony up¨. Normally, Faunus share only one outward trait with their respective animal, like a tail, not including things such as tastes. I knew this one cat Faunus girl, she had a thing for fish like no other.¨ Sunset chuckled, remembering a hilarious incident involving Blake, Yang, and the buxom brawler accidentally landing in a tub of tuna spread. ¨It IS possible for Faunses to have more than one trait, though its generally incredibly rare, or as the result of grafting onto the body.¨ she said. ¨Well, that´s the creation of Remnant, or what´s generally believed anyway.¨
¨So, what are the cultures like on Remnant?¨ Both Twilights asked, notebooks and pens in their hands. Sunset snickered, playfully rolling her eyes at the resident knowledge addicts in the group.
¨Well, Mistral is primarily a mixture of, in essence Neighpon/Mhinese culture, from the native Mistralians, and Valician, from the kingdom of Vale, which were a lot like the Ancient Roanans when Mistral and Vale first met.¨ Sunset said. ¨My family hails from primarily the Vale side of Mistral, where the culture is moreso Roanan inspired, albeit modernized. In the various combat and non combat schools, we still learn the native tongues of the kingdoms, primarily for formal settings, plus, you´ll never know when you´ll run into some ancient manuscript or monolith with text on it.¨ The Remnant born girl coughed into her hand. ¨I can still speak Ancient Mistralian, if you´d like.¨ Both Twilights nodded eagerly. ¨Alright then, let´s see,,,¨ she wracked her brain for a phrase, before smiling. ¨Yōsei-no kokoro-wo hiromu¨ at her friendś´, save for Pinkie Pie, confused looks, she translated. ¨Roughly it translates to "Spread the spirit of nurturing rightness" it's the kingdom´s motto, has been since ancient times.¨ she ran a hand through her ketchup-and-mustard hair. ¨I could teach you if you want, though the fundamentals are similar to the other languages in this world, and Equestria.¨ She got an eager nod from her friends, except Pinkie who only smiled, and a very eager nod from the two Twilights, whose heads resembled bobbleheads from how much they were nodding.
Valor then checked his watch, ¨Well, it's getting late, we should probably be getting back to our places.¨ he laid a gentle kiss and a firm hand squeeze with his kinda-new girlfriend, smiling. ¨See you tomorrow Pyrrha.¨ he said, as he began jogging back to his place.
¨Cya Jaune.¨ Sunset waved, giddy. She hopped on her bike before her double did, and raced her back to their shared house. Shimmer´s parents and Sunset´s sort-of adopted parents, Ebony Rose (No known relation to one Ruby Rose of Remnant) and her husband Ivory Dawn awaited them, smiling.
¨Hey girls.¨ Ebony said, running a hand through her long hair which shared her namesake color, except for a light crimson strand or two. ¨So, how was the night with your new boy toy Sunny?¨ she asked Sunset, smirking. ¨Should we be expecting any potential grandkids from you two?¨ she teased, a gleam in her eye.
Both Sunsets, particularly the former Mistralian, turned a shade of red that matched their namesake. ¨Mom!¨ they both yelled in unison, as their mother chuckled, smiling brightly. With that, the two girls turned, and hastily zipped upstairs, swiftly shutting the door behind them. ¨Well, now that that embarrassment's over, we should head to bed.¨ Sunset smiled at her double. Both girls stripped, to just a tank top, bra, and a pair of shorts, tossing their old day clothes into the laundry hamper. After that, both Sunsets brushed their teeth, and with a quick ¨Goodnight¨ to each other and their family, they went to bed, shutting off the lights.
Morning came relatively quickly. After a brief breakfast of Captain Cinnamon Crunch, the dual Sunset Shimmers went to go meet with their friends to hang out for the day, as usual.
Little did they know, a tiny, inky black bird was watching. Its blood red eyes leered at them from the ashy white bone plate on its face. With a caw, it took flight, and soared above them with the speed of lightning.
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.
After the rather action-packed park misadventure, the group of seven reconvened at a local CHOP (Canterlot House of Pancakes), to get a quick fluffy, buttery meal before heading back to Valor´s place. The sun had ticked to midday over the dimension of Arcadia. Sunset watched her reborn friend Nora, now known as Morganite Pie, engaged in a pancake eating contest with Pinkie. Sunset smiled a bit, flashing back to fonder times of needing to constantly restock on things like pancake batter and syrup, and new aprons for Ren. Speaking of Ren....
Sunset cleared her throat, getting the attention of the two Pies. Both had crumbs of syrupy hotcake splattered on their face which, in unison, the duo brought down their gullets with a swipe of their tongues. "Hey Nora, can I ask you something?" the orange haired hammer wielder leaned against her reforged Magnhild. It was nearly identical to the one Sunset had known, except this one had a carving on either side of the hammer bit, Ren and Nora's crossed over each other, and the weapon had silver accents in the runic language of ancient Atlas. "So after I, yah know," she shivered, remembering that, in order to begin her current life, she had died with her windpipe closed off, struggling to breathe. "I mean, I know how Jaune turned out," she smiled as she felt Valor wrap an arm around her waist, "But what about you and Ren?" she asked, curious. The others, sans Pinkie, turned to face Nora.
Nora meanwhile, bore a look as if she had seen Ren naked and covered in maple syrup (Which, if one of the myriad of memories Sunset had of her life back on Remnant, had happened at least once, and, with a blush growing on her cheeks, recalled Jaune having been tangled up with Ren during said incident), a smirk on her face, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, Renney, well, after we kicked Salem's ass and saved the world from Angra Mainyu," Sunset and Valor cocked their heads in united confusion, as did the rest of their friends, "Oh, you know that tale of the twin brothers, the Lord of Light and the Lord of Darkness," Valor and Sunset nodded, "Well, Angra Mainyu is I guess is kind of the "mortal" translation of the Lord of Darknesses name. Anyway, after that, and after I confessed to Ren after he saved me from a King Taijuta baby, we hooked up."
"And, what about the others? Ruby, Blake, Coco...." Sunset asked, as the faces of her old friends, one of which had been there when the arrow had pierced her heel, then her chest. "How did they do?" she asked.
"Oh, they were doing alright before Ren and I ended up here," Sunset let out a sigh of relief at Nora's words. Another one of her old team had ended up here. "Ruby and Weiss got together, they have two kids, Mei and another one that was one the way. Weiss was the head of the Schnee Dust Corp, and made some MAJOR changes." she grinned. "Yang ended up in a polyamorous relationship with Sun, Blake, and this one Illia girl Blake apparently knew." she listed off on her fingers. "Well, that and Yang some how ended up with a harem." she chuckled. "Coco and Velvet got together, and they're running Coco's family's fashion business," Rarity perked up at this, interested. "Um, let's see. Neptune apparently got together with that Reese girl from the Festival, Fox became a detective." Nora shrugged, "All that comes to mind really."
Sunset smiled, "Well, its good to hear they had good lives." The gears in her mind then clicked into place. "Hold up Nora, if the four of us got here, do you think there's a chance the others did too?" she said, as Jaune and Nora's eyes widened.
"Hmm, yah know, I DID hear some rumors about a girl with cat ears apparently working at a book store downtown...." Nora munched conspiratorially on a rolled up pancake. "But then again, could be any cat Faunus really." she tapped her chin, then glanced at the clock. "Talked to her a bit, and when I mentioned Remnant, she kind of did that surprised sputtering thing, said she had a lot of books to sort, and dashed into the back."
"Hmmm, well, I guess we could check it out after we finish up." Sunset asked, eyeing the remaining two and a quarter pancakes on her plate. The next five and a half minutes passed in relative, save for the sound of forks and knives hitting porcelain, and the occasional sipping of a soda or shake.
Once they had finished up, and tipped their waitress, Sunset led the way to the local bookshop. The mustard and ketchup haired girl slowly pushed open the door, as said door jingled. Inside, atop a ladder behind the counter, an ebony haired girl with a panther ear headband turned to face them. Familiar gold eyes locked with Nora's sky blue, and widened. She then glanced at the others, suspicious. She slid down the ladder, setting her small stack of books atop the counter. "So, you came back." The girl said, sizing up the group, as she took a seat. Her nametag read Kage N. Neko
"Yeah, I mean, you kind of freaked, so, I gotta ask, are you, yah know...." Nora gestured to herself. "Oh and uh, sorry if I came on a bit too strongly last time." she said.
The girl, who looked to be about 19, sighed. "Its fine, and yeah, I'm from, well, Remnant." she said, "Did I know you there, you look familiar." she said, her eyes narrowing, as she rubbed her chin, trying to sift through her memories from Remnant, muddled by those of her current life.
"Um, maybe. I'm Nora, this is Pyrrah, and tall and somewhat muscular there is Jaune, or well, back on Remnant." Nora grinned, gesturing herself and to her former teammates in turn.
The sound of books thumping against the floor could be heard as the girl's amber eyes widened. "N-Nora? Pyrrha? Jaune....." she muttered, eyeing the three.
"Yeah, i-it's us." Sunset said, taking a hestitant step forward. "Let me guess, Blake?" she said softly, as the girl gave a smile. "I'm glad to see another familiar face." she said, giving the girl a quick hug, as did Jaune and Nora, though Nora did squeeze a bit too tight.
"I'm glad to see you two alive again." Blake sniffled a bit, picking up the books. "Yang will be overjoyed to hear the good news. She's, ah, busy with Illia," She blushed softly. "Sun's watching the kids, he took them to a Light Cycle race happening about two hours away from here." she said.
"Hold up, Blake right?" Rainbow asked, to which the former Faunus nodded. "So, how did you have kids with, alongside others, two gals? Were they were herms or something? Or do you guys have some kinda dick magic."
"Well, Pyrrha's told you about Dust right?" Blake asked the assembled group of Arcadians nodded. "Well, there are some kink-based types." she rubbed the back of her head, smiling sheepishly, flushed.
Jaune checked his watch, "It's getting late guys, and I think Blake needs to get back to work. We'll catch you in the morning." the band either got into Applejack's family truck, or rode with Pyrrha or Shimmer, and began the drive back to Jaune's home.
Blake smiled, shaking her head. She began shelving what books hadn't been shelved. Boy, would she have news to tell her family.
Sunset Shimmer groaned as the morning light streamed into the room. As Valor/Jaune's bed could only fit one person comfortably, she had agreed to sleep on a futon one of Jaune's older sisters, Sapphire, an up and coming author, fanfic and published, primarily of the Boys Love variety, had brought out for her. After changing into her pajamas (And totally not noticing Jaune failing to hide the fact he was using the room's mirror to peek at her changing in the bathroom, not that the reincarnated Nikos cared that much), she had bid her friends and boyfriend goodnight, and dozed off.
Jaune's bed was empty, and freshly made. Figuring he had headed downstairs to help with breakfast, Sunset ran a hand through her ketchup and mustard colored hair, and groggily got up. Reaching into her satchel, she grabbed her comb, she trudged over to the connected bathroom, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with a damp wash cloth, and began doing her hair. An idea came to mind, as the former Mistralian champion styled her vibrant hair into one resembling her old ponytail. That done, she changed out of her pajamas into her usual attire, save her jacket, and headed downstairs.
The group, alongside Jaune's sisters, were all assembled at the table, a hearty meal laid out before them. "Morning guys." Sunset waved, taking a seat the large table, getting a similar reply in turn. Her heart fluttered when Jaune gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, which she returned to his cheek, as he set a piping hot plate of bacon and chocolate chip pancakes at her place. After applying butter, the former Remnantnite began to eat her fill, savoring the warm fluffiness mixed in with the crispy bacon. That was when a thought came to mind.
"Hey Jaune," Sunset piped up, as her reincarnated lover turned his head "I have to ask, where'd you learn to cook?" Aside from basic things like hot cereal, oatmeal, and the like (and microwaveable foodstuffs did not count), she had no memories of Jaune having ever cooked before.
Jaune flashed her a warm smile, and leaned against the counter. "Oh yeah, I took home ec as an elective last year. The teacher, Mr. Emiya, he used to work as the, uh, what was the term, sous-chef, at the Cabaret Grand." The Grand was one of the oldest, and most well respected, cabaret clubs in all of Canterlot City. Opened up a little over thirty years ago, it was currently under the management of the founder's daughter.
Sunset, having taken Home Ec B, having had Mr. S. Yukihira, proprieties of his family's restaurant, and an experimental chef, she had only spoken to Home Ec A's teacher briefly. "Tall, tanned, white haired Neighponese guy?" Jaune nodded, as Sunset tapped her chin. "Alright." she said, and savored her beloved's cooking. Once the group had finished their meals, Sunset helped do the dishes, as a good guest should.
Once done, Sunset decided to go see Blake and Yang, Blake having jotted down her address on a slip of paper Sunset had tucked into one of her jacket pockets. A number of her friends, however, wouldn't be able to go, due to differing reasons, where it be job based, such as Fluttershy volunteering at the local animal shelter or Pinkie helping the Cakes out at the cafe, or personal based, like Rainbow going off for soccer practice.
So, with most of their friends heading out, it was just her, Shimmer, Sci-Twi, and Jaune. Nora had texted that she'd catch up later, while Princess Twilight had to go back to deal with some dragon bandits, but wanted to be filled in on the details once she was finished, and promised she'd try and hop back into Sunset's world.
Shimmer took Sci-Twi on her motorcycle, while Sunset and Jaune took her own motorcycle. Sunset's face lit up like a torch when her beloved's warm hands wrapped around her waist, but she didn't squander the chance to snuggle into him as they zoomed through the early morning air towards Blake and Yang's abode.
About ten minutes later, no small thanks to traffic, the two pairs arrived at the duo's abode. It was a moderately sized home with two floors, a garage, and, if Moogle Maps was correct, then they also had a sizable backyard. "Well, here's the place." Sunset locked her bike in the parking lot, following her counterpart's stead, and then rang the doorbell.
Yang was the one to open the door. Even reincarnated into another dimension, the brawler still had a lush mane of golden hair, an athletically built frame, and, to Sunset's irk, she still had bigger breasts than her. Sunset recalled one, of her well, least proud moments from her past life on Remnant. In a somewhat desperate move to get Jaune to notice her, and being in a bit of a bad mood as, due to maintenance, there was very little hot water in the dorm showers, she had challenged Yang to a bigger breast contest, with both flashing their breasts, and getting Blake and Jaune to judge. "Pyrrha? Jaune?" she asked, having been informed by her wife that their old JNPR friends had arrived on this world.
"Hey Yang." Sunset and Jaune smiled, before they were welcomed by a Yang hug, her toned arms pinning them to her chest. "Its nice to see you too." Sunset's muffled voice said through Yang's chest.
"Its SO good to see you again, come on in!" Yang smiled, pulling the two in. When Yang had been reborn, she had been given the name Golden Wind, while Blake's was, coming from a now Neighponese family, had been christened Kage Neko, or Shadow Cat, a fitting name for the former panther Faunus. Their daughter, Li, had too been reborn in this world, and had found her mothers once more, she still went by the same name though.
"Nice place." Jaune noted, looking around. They had a 60-inch, plasma TV, complete with quite a few gaming systems and two shelves of games on either side, and a massage couch, alongside other items.
"Thanks." Li came in. She had primarily black hair with blonde tips, and a few streaks of gold here and there. Her eyes were a vibrant mixture of lavender and gold. She was, technically speaking, sixteen, but in this new world, she was only seven and a half. "Mama, is it true?" she asked, nuzzling the blonde's leg.
"Yup. Li, meet your auntie Sunset, and uncle Jaune." Yang smiled. Jaune, prior to his death and reincarnation, had been like an uncle to the growing Li. Sunset and Jaune hugged her, before Li scampered off to play.
"So, where's Blake?" Sunset asked, as the five took a seat on the couch, or the weathered recliner, kicking back. Yang brought over some cans of Spryte, as a move played in the background.
"Oh, she went to go pick up something from the shop, but my smitten kitten should be back soon." Yang smiled. It had taken a while for the wounds of Blake leaving her after the Fall of Beacon to heal, but in time, Yang had been able to admit her feelings to Blake, and once the war with Salem was over, though only a few knew where Salem and Ozpin had gone, Yang had proposed to Blake.
Soon, the sound of a key in the doorknob could be heard, as the cat headbanded shopkeep came in. "Hey Yang," she purred, before noticing their guests. "Hey guys." she blushed hotly, as her wife pulled her onto her lap. "I um, got what I was looking for." She slid a book towards Yang, Sunset being able to make out part of the title was Kinbaku. Sunset and Shimmer flashed the couple a knowing smirk, before sipping back their sodas.
"Well, this is fun, but one things still bugging me." Sunset set her soda down, as the others turned to face the former Mistralian champion. "How did we end up in this world, or in my case, on Equiss, and why?"
"Well, before we get down to business, there's one more person you haven't met yet." Nora smiled, bouncing. "I'll go get her." With the speed of a certain cartoon chaparral bird, Nora dashed off, leaving the rest of the group behind.
Sunset and Valor sat beside Yang and Blake. Their daughter Li was busy reading a book on a nearby seat. "So, you two are certainly doing good." Sunset smiled, "Got married, got a kid...." she had a thought. "If you don't mind me asking, how though. Futanari Dust doesn't exist here, as far as I know, and the inclusion of magic is fairly recent....." Sunset tapped her chin.
"Well, let's say fonts of Equestrian magic popped up every now and again...." Yang smirked, as a blushing Blake looked away. 'Blakie and I happened to have taken a hike through Clearwood Pines," Clearwood was one of the local parks, "And we thought, "Hey, we're sweaty, tired, and here are some perfectly good hot springs." So we stripped, went in, and it turned out those springs had been mixed in with some Equestrian magic. Once I got out, well, let's say I had a...Xiao Schlong." The fister grinned, causing her wife and daughter to roll her eyes, while Sunset and Valor groaned, both wanting to slap her. "Well, Blakie here was SO interested in my new addition, we boinked in that pool for hours."
Sunset, upon seeing a glazed look in her dear Valor's eyes, playfully elbowed him, "Hey, no sexual fantasies about my friends unless I'm in them." She teased, causing her boyfriend to blush. "But, alright, dick giving pool. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the Cock Mage of Flowers had visited you two." She smirked. "I am, happy things worked out for you two." she smiled.
The quad of friends made small chat, before the doorbell was soon rung, incessantly one might say. After the tenth ring or so, Yang opened the door. "Oh, hey Nora." she said, sitting back down.
"So, who did you have to get?" Sunset asked, seeing hints of what looked like long, forest green hair behind Nora.
"Well duh, me and Jaune are here, so why wouldn't Ren be. Granted, he KIND of became a girl somehow, but eh, even still, Ren is Ren." Nora scooted out of the way, to reveal-
"Wallflower Blush?" Sunset's jaw dropped. Though, as her mind began to process, it made some sense. Ren's Semblance, allowing him to, in essence, mask himself, albeit to Grimm, could be part of why no one noticed Wallflower. Plus, Ren was never the most, well, outgoing person, or the one who tried to really stand out, nor was he the most outwardly emotional. However, part of her suspected it might be a prank Nora was playing. "Alright, if you really are Lie Ren, what's one thing only he would know?"
Wallflower sighed, and then gave a small smile. "Well, Pyrrah, first, it is a joy to see you back. And second, hmm....late in first year. You challenged Yang to a contest to see who had bigger breasts. You both had Blake, and Jaune, act as judges." She said, "You had Ruby record the whole thing."
Sunset's face grew red, as she was reminded of one of her, well, least proud moments. She admitted, she had been a BIT of jealous of Weiss when Jaune was pining for her, but tried to shove that down. "Alright, I believe you." she said. "Still, I'm honestly surprised to see you as a girl." She blinked. "Did you fall in a cursed spring?" she asked her.
Ren/Wallflower blinked back, "I have fallen into springs in the past, but none, as far as I know, have been cursed." She took a seat, beside Nora. "It seems whatever brought us to this world, seems to have made me a woman for a reason even I don't know still." She shrugged.
"Well, weird, but alright. So, from what I can gather, we all ended up here, or in my case, in Equestria after our deaths, is that correct?" Sunset asked, looking around. She received and more or less confirmatory nod from her assembled former Remnantians. "Though the question is, how, or why?"
"Were any of you hit by a truck before dying?" Shimmer asked, smirking. Those around her either rolled their eyes while chuckling, or gave her blank stares. "Sorry, I had to."
"Isekai jokes aside, I do recall hearing a voice right as I was dying. At first I thought it was my Grandpa Alex Louis, then I realized it didn't sound as manly as he was." Nora said. Her fellow former Remnantians all looked at each other, then at her. "What, something I said?" The redhead asked.
"Did it sound like a somehwat gruff, mysterious old guy?" Yang asked. Nora nodded, as her eyes widened. "I think each of us heard him, whatever he was. Something about wanting a second chance at life....." she recalled the last few moments of her life. Aged fifty five, saving her daughter, Blake, and their neighbors from a horde of Lahmu Grimm, how she would have liked to go down, fighting. Well, either that or dying of a heart attack during sex.
"So what, some voice in our head, or whoever or whatever the voice belonged to, sent all of us here?" Valor asked, and got slow nods from the others, "Well, we still don't know who sent us here, and why."
"Well, its unlikely we can find out more about this mysterious presence that was with us at our demises. All we can do is just wait, and watch out for any Grimm that may show up." Wallflower said. It was only then that the former Champion of Mistral noticed that the woman formerly known as Lie Ren had Stormflower carefully sheathed at her sides. They had presumably been covered up by the hem of her sweater. They looked well cared for, though there were noticeable differences in their design. A dagger of some sort had been attached to one, with a switch to have it pop out, alongside this were the small scars that lined the blades, and the straps on the ends of each hilt. The weapons gleamed with fresh polish.
"Good idea Ren-Ren." Nora beamed, pecking her beloved on the cheek. "So, that's decided then. We wait and see if Mr. Death Voice shows himself, while also kicking any Grimm ass that come our way!" She grinned, pumping a fist.
"Sounds like a plan Nors." Yang chuckled, stretching. "Well, its almost lunch time, so I'll get food started." the blonde bombshell got out of her seat, patted the heads of her wife and daughter, then sashayed her way into her home's kitchen, humming.
In the meantime, Sunset, Shimmer, Sci-Twi, and Blake began doing research. They looked through folklore and mythology, trying to discern if the voice they had heard upon their last fleeting moments of life was a being with some history, so they'd at least know who or what to call on. The others made small talk, laughing and smiling.
Little did any of the group of old comrades realize that, through a small scrying portal, on the surface looking like an ordinary mirror, someone was watching them.
"So, they've started figuring it out. Good, they'll to in order to face what's coming." The man said, stroking his beard.
