Author's Notes:

So before we begin today's tale I think it's prudent to begin with a little fun fact. That being, TODAY THIS STORY TURNS 1 YEAR OLD! Hooray for writing, it's been a roller coaster of a time, and I think I've come a long way. With the help of the best editor ever, the amazing Seventeen, I feel I've grown an inch or two as a writer. So as you all enjoy the story give yourselves a little pat on the back, as without you these would still just be the insane scribbles on my bedroom wall . Peace out and happy weekend folks!

Sunset looked over her fist at the opponent before her, a lanky and lean young man with a glorious afro, and a predilection to dancing quickly from foot to foot as he prepared dynamically for the coming match. She had seen this one stretching before, and he was clearly a skilled student of yoga to say the least. However she could see past his fairly cool exterior, as every flex of his legs showed the massive web of muscle beneath. “Hope you’re ready girlie,” the young man said dropping into a perfect split before popping back up like a spring, “‘cause I’m not playing with you.”

“I look forward to it,” Sunset whispered, noting the official approaching from her side and raising his hand. As he dropped his hand Sunset became aware of the noises around her slow to a low groan, her opponent on her as the final indiscernible syllables left the official’s mouth. Pressure in her midsection alerted her that she’d just been rabbit punched several times as Boogie Night weaved back out, but even just those rabbit punches saw her slightly staggered, her opponent now seemingly in slow motion as he set up a nasty looking sidekick.

He may have seemed quick, but something in Sunset had turned over, and even as the kick came to her head she could see it nearly frozen in time. Now it was Sunset's turn, ducking beneath the kick and bringing her back leg in a smooth step forward. Her opponent’s lanky nature gave him incredible reach, but in one step Sunset’s strong leg was now primed, and in a springing jump the fiery martial artist brought her knee up. Boogie Nights could have no more escaped that knee than he could a speeding train, only able to just bring his arms over his chin.

Sunset became aware of a crunch, she could feel smooth forearm give and crackle at the coiled force of her knee, but Luna had not trained her to simply tag an opponent. She pushed through, visualizing her knee like a wrecking ball, smashing through the poor afroed man’s guard and sending his neck snapping back as the blow slid off his damaged forearm and into his mouth. Boogie Nights didn’t stumble back, he slammed back, pain and iron taste flooding his mouth as his body flooded his brain with signals to run.

Sunset saw her moment, capitalizing on her prone foe and slamming her raised foot down onto his thigh. Boogie Nights now wished he’d stayed in bed, as his speed was almost entirely defeated in one swift round of strikes. He’d assumed Sunset was a master striker, he didn’t foresee her being so brutally powerful with her lower body. Then the pain worsened, Sunset twisting her heel into the mass of erogenous nerves in the least erotic way possible as she dropped to the ground, and seamlessly locked him in a figure four.

Pain: his world was pain as the panic from the taste of his own blood and the sheer terror of having his nerves shocked to life became married to the sharp snapping pain of his legs being bound together. He could only scream, his training to never tap now conflicting with his desire to walk normal someday. He resisted, twisting and turning, but with every movement Sunset seemed to coil around his lower body more. He threw a strike, not realizing he needed to put weight on his near shattered arm to do so.

Sunset felt the bruising force of a blow slam into her thigh, but couldn’t take stock of it as her opponent let out an awful retch, vomiting all over the mat and passing out before even thinking of throwing another blow. “ENOUGH!” the official screamed, rushing over and forcefully breaking the submission hold. For the third time a very angry set of EMTs rushed over, meeting Sunset as she pulled her opponent's face from his own voided stomach to prevent asphyxiation. Even Tirek couldn’t stop himself from rushing over, mainly bemoaning the vile state of his perfect mat and the amount of disinfecting which would be needed to have it ready again.

Sunset moved back to her feet, shaking her head at the raving master as she took in the scene. Had she really done this? A broken man lay groaning in the arms of an EMT, a pile of red tinged vomit the trophy for the beating she’d just administered. “FINISH YOUR ROUNDS AND THEN GO TO EARLY LUNCH!” Tirek screamed, calling over a group of professionally clad cleaners to the soiled mat before looking violently at Sunset. “I expect you’re rather proud of yourself?” the massive man growled, his muscles coiled into an aggressive ready state.

The murder in his eyes caused Sunset to assume an equally aggressive stance, her eyes examining the warrior for any sudden flinch. “No I’m a fighter,” Sunset whispered dangerously, noting Tirek’s foreleg inching towards her, just giving his long arms the kind of range to strike at her. “The only thing that will make me proud is to make your fighters better, even if it takes beating them,” Sunset continued, an eerie growl emanating from her new opponent.

Tirek suddenly flinched, his muscles giving an almost invisible shudder as a hand thundered forward. Sunset caught the hand, her gloved hand shaking his dutifully as she met his eyes. “He’s an impressive martial artists Sensei,” Sunset said evenly, loud enough to bring all eyes to her. “I appreciate your willingness to come out with such concern for him,” she said, punctuating her statement with a firm squeeze before stepping back and bowing, never breaking her gaze at the stunned master.

Realizing his transgression Tirek gave a curt bow, and quickly retreated, dodging glares from a number of females sitting in the Iron Hooves’ corner. Sunset simply turned on her heel, walking back as she took in a number of matches going on around her. Rainbow Dash was bobbing around a poor victim, her jabs opening him up for terrible head shots. By her estimation the match would last another round, before Dash felt confident unleashing her punishing kicks, at that point there would be only a knocked out man on the mat.

Button Mash, by far the youngest in the dojo, seemed to be taking punishment, but Sunset could see through the young fighter’s strategy, taking only minor strikes to his hardened forearms, and just as his winded opponent stepped back to catch his breath Mash struck. “SHORYUKEN!” Button Mash screamed, delivering a furious uppercut to the exhausted fighter’s chin, and ending the fight in an instant. While not the most practical fighter, his joy at learning to be, in his words, “the next great Hadouko” made him an excellent student.

“Don’t let him get that close to you again,” a familiar voice said gravely to Sunset, as she turned to see Aria approaching her, hands in her pockets as she walked.

“Don’t worry Aria, he’s tough but he wouldn’t screw his business over with an assault charge,” Sunset whispered, linking her arms with Aria’s as she turned to accompany Sunset back to her extremely angry looking cheer section.

“He won’t live if he does,” Aria growled, a muffled click punctuating her words as she withdrew her hands from her pockets. Sunset had seen a number of Aria’s weapons in her training, but never before had she known her lover to posses a firearm. Indeed the only weapon she’d ever seen of that nature was an antique pistol Adagio hid in the reading room.

“Aria?” Sunset whispered, slightly fearful at the implication of what she’d just heard.

“We all have secrets Sunny, and they aren’t always super nice,” Aria said simply, seemingly dropping the subject as she turned to sit beside a fuming Adagio.

“Did that boisterous waste of carbon hurt you?” Adagio asked, her cell phone out, furious taps striking at the touch screen keyboard as she seemed to grow angrier and angrier at whatever the screen was displaying.

“No, he lost that round,” Sunset said simply, trying her best to remain calm, but somehow taking grim satisfaction in her lover’s concern for her. The only real concern Sunset could feel was that Sonata seemed to have disappeared during her match. This could bode ill, as while Aria might be packing heat, and Adagio could be calling in a team of assassins, Sonata could be rounding up Tirek’s family or planting a bomb on his car. “Uhhh so where’s Sonata at?” Sunset asked, her mind now firmly on the track of unmarked vans and packages.

“Taco truck,” Adagio and Sonata said in stereo, immediately alleviating Sunset’s concern. Both her lovers seemed somewhat preoccupied, so Sunset chose to focus on her teacher, looking to her calm and grace to soothe her worries that any permanent damage might be caused by her less than law abiding lovers. She found only controlled fury in her former teacher’s eyes, staring hatefully to Tirek

“P-princess Celestia?” Sunset whispered, feeling suddenly very hot from just being near the solar princess. Something about her glare, her normally violet eyes tinged an angry looking gold. Truly even in a world bereft of magic, Celestia seemed to posses something in her body, and this scared Sunset.

“He was lucky to get Tartarus in Equestria,” Celestia whispered, her normally dulcet tones now a venomous hiss. Her fists were clenched in her lap, and to Sunset she seemed more furious than the glowing plasma giant she controlled.

“Please Celestia, I dunno what you’re doing here, but nuking the dojo might cause more bad than good,” Sunset whispered, taking a seat beside her former master, and placing a trepadacious hand on Celestia’s fist. The contact produced a rather large amount of heat, but Sunset had to smile as the warmth reminded her of those long nights of study sat flank to flank with the Equestrian goddess.

Celestia’s face wavered ever so slightly, reverting to her normally calm demeanor. “You have to understand Sunset,” Celestia said with a sigh, “Tirek was and is an evil, manipulative, power hungry monster. I have little reason to believe he’s any different in this world, and his threats to my students have made me grow rather weary.” Celestia’s fists remained clenched, but as she turned to Sunset she couldn’t help but smile. Sunset’s eyes seemed to glow with their own shade of magic, but rather than fury they were tinged with pure confidence.

“Let us handle this monster Celestia. With all due respect, would you try to fight Twilight’s battles for her?” Sunset said, her hand clenching around Celestia’s fist. “If Tirek does turn out to be a huge threat in this world then we’ll handle him just like Twilight.... With maybe one change,” Sunset smiled fiercely, the infectious nature of her smile causing Celestia to grin softly.

“How pray tell is that?”

“By kicking his ass into the dirt, no magical transformations necessary. That’s how the Dazzlings do buisness,” Sunset said, waiting a moment before she and Celestia both burst into a fit of giggles.
*****************************************

Sunset sighed as she moved into the chill of the winter air, the city’s relative odor seemingly refreshing after such a stint in the stink of testosterone and cleaning product. It was a lovely clear day, the sky not dumping snow on them for once, and the temperature less cutting than had been the last month. Lunch was firmly on her mind, something filling but light was definitely on the menu.

“Ah good it seems our investment is making dividends,” Adagio whispered coyly in Sunset’s ear. Sunset had to gnaw on her lower lip, Adagio’s tone that ever present erotic that just drove her insane, even if she had no idea what her poofy haired lover meant.

“MARTIAL ARTISTS AND THEIR FAMILIES RECEIVE A DISCOUNT AT THE PUFFLECHRYS FOOD TRUCK TODAY ONLY!” a voice boomed over a loudspeaker, directing Sunset’s view to a massively crowded area on the side of the street.

“Oh~” Sunset thought chuckling slightly at her overreaction to Adagio’s comment, as a hand planted itself firmly on her ass.

“Lunch is on Sonata today, but expect dinner on me~” Adagio whispered, her voice a husky moan as she finished, her hand squeezed the meat of Sunset’s ass, earning a low groan from the hungry warrior.

“Ok you two, let’s get some real food instead of a Sunset sandwich,” Aria said, her eyes rolling heavily as Sunset stood trying not to flush as Adagio fondled her.

“How does one make a Sunset sandwich?” came Celestia’s soft knowing voice as she cast a gentle smile directly on her former student. Now Sunset’s face was a glorious shade of red, and two evil grins appeared on her lover’s faces.

“Well Princess, first you take Sun-MPH!” Adagio began, silenced quickly as Sunset’s hand flew over her mouth.

“LUNCH NOW!” Sunset yelled, practically grabbing Celestia and dragging her away from the evil which was about to reveal the secret recipe of Dazzling Playtime®.

“Could Sunset Sandwiches be for dinner? I’m always interested in trying new cuisine,” Celestia continued, her voice several octaves louder causing Sunset’s face to glow even brighter as Adagio and Aria cackled with laughter. “I prefer my sandwiches with a nice juicy cucumber, can that be a component of my Sunset Sandwich?” Celestia continued, despite being pushed away by Sunset, the cackles turning to snorting laughter, Adagio and Aria barely supporting each other.

Sunset stopped her relentless retreat from the situation and sighed. “So Princess Celestia, we usually eat our sandwiches at night, how do you feel about an intimate dinner under the moonlight?” Sunset asked, watching as her former master turned stiff as a board. “I imagine you enjoy a tasty meal, ya know, after the sun goes down,” Sunset continued, stifling her giggles as Celestia’s alabaster cheeks tinged a sunny red.

“Yes well, ah, did I not hear about lunch?” Celestia nervously asked, the implication of Sunset’s jabs not lost on her. The snorting laughter behind them turned to breathless sobs as Adagio and Aria rolled on the ground, those coming out of the dojo giving them the looks one reserves for the insane ramblers on a street corner.

“Oh yes, lunch would be lovely,” Sunset said, chuckling as she linked arms with the Equestrian ruler and walked quickly away from the cackling hyenas she loved so dearly. As they approached the mass of people gathered around the food truck a delicious aroma greeted Sunset’s nostril, causing her to salivate slightly.

“SUNNY BUNNY!” Sonata screamed from the window, motioning her to the driver’s side of the truck and earning plenty of angry glares from those near the back of the line. Sunset smiled and waved at her bubbly lover, glad she was too busy to be plotting Tirek’s downfall. As they approached the other side of the truck a tinted window slowly rolled down revealing none other than the deviously grinning Chrysalis.

“Ah my favorite business partner, not too much head trauma today I hope?” Chrysalis asked, chuckling at her jab at Sunset.

“Only for those unfortunate enough to stand on the other side of me in the ring,” Sunset said cheerily.

“As good a fighter as a businesswoman, perhaps we’ll need to have you train security in the new location,” Chrysalis said with a genuine smile, leaning her seat back as a huge bag appeared in front of the window obscuring the owner of the pink hands which presented it. “Please enjoy our daily special, in the hopes that you can bring home some silly trophy and then get back to focusing on this little project of ours,” Chrysalis said from behind the massive bag.

Sunset had to smile as she took the bag from the pink grasp, revealing Fluffle Puff sitting happily on Chrysalis’ lap. “Thanks a lot you guys, I really appreciate it,” Sunset said, opening the bag and seeing four large bowls of what looked like Haysian cuisine. “So what’s the hook, new dish have some special name?” Sunset asked, the delicious smell of soy and chilies causing her to become yet more aware that she was incredibly hungry.

“Naturally, this is our Dazzling Sunset Special, the noodle bowl so hot it will have you begging for more,” Chrysalis said with a sly grin, her left hand stroking Fluffle like a perfect cat. Sunset gave the obsidian woman a deadpan look, raising a finger to protest. “My darling Fluffle Puff came up with that one,” Chrysalis said, causing Sunset’s eyes to snap wide, and her mouth to hang open as her protest died in her throat.

“Pbht.”
*******************************************

Sunset, having finally recovered from her daily dose of mind violation, now sat with the steaming bowl of chicken, veggies, noodles, and clear broth before her. The scent rolling off of the meal was simply too good not to dig directly into, and yet Adagio insisted on waiting, as though Sunset would need a drink for food truck food.

“Alright Sunset you may begin destroying your food now,” Adagio said, chuckling and shaking her head as she took in the pure focus of her lover on the steaming food. Setting a massive bottle of water, and two small tubes of yogurt beside her, Adagio tucked into her own bowl. Admittedly a folding table in a gym might not seem cozy, but in that moment Adagio felt just perfect taking in things she’d have never considered even months ago.

Sunset didn’t have time to focus on the longing gaze of her lover, nor Aria showing Celestia the finer nuances of her ‘cloud machine’, she could only think of food. Chopsticks had been provided, but Sunset wasn’t much for trying to master eating with two stupid sticks, no she chose that finest piece of cutlery, the mighty spork. Dipping her impliment of culinary devastation into the bowl Sunset tried to get a bite of every single ingredient in one, and in one swift noodle laden movement shoved the entire load into her waiting maw.

It was glorious, a melange of flavors all melding into a glorious symphony in her mouth. The veggies were just crisp enough to be pleasing, but carried with incredible flavor of the broth. Savory soy, slightly funky mushroom, plenty of soy, and a tinge of garlic and chili heat. And the chicken, oh the chicken! Somehow Sonata and Fluffle had managed to turn a normally boring meat into a flawless representation of the spicy and savory dish.

“Dagi,” Aria said, as all eyes focused on the almost orgasmic face of Sunset. “Sunset’s scaring me,” Aria finished, just in time for Sunset to begin cramming the food into her mouth at near mach speed.

“Just don’t try to put your hands near her, one could lose a finger,” Adagio said, rolling her eyes as she took a bite of the, admittedly, delicious dish. As Sunset tore through her food Adagio couldn’t help but meet eyes with Celestia. The Equestrian goddess offered her a simple smile, and Adagio had to admit she could see the grace and charm behind that smile. It was rather interesting that despite being considerably older than Celestia Adagio could still feel an immense presence of wisdom from her.

“Sunset Shimmer, perhaps you should take time to taste your meal?” Celestia offered, causing the eating machine to halt her assault on lunch almost immediately, and resume eating at a slightly more normal pace. This amazed even Adagio, as while Sunset was possessed of quite a number of wonderful traits, table manners had never been one.

“I’m calling it, the horse queen still has magic,” Aria said, shaking her head before digging into her bowl of deliciousness.

“While I have some doubts about her rank as ‘horse queen’ I must certainly express some concern, hiding something from us Celestia?” Adagio said, leaning over her bowl as though to more closely examine the solar princess.

“Well while I can’t claim to know whether or not any of my power is at my disposal in this realm I can certainly attest to having worked for quite some time on improving Sunset Shimmer’s, shall we say, questionable sense of table etiquette,” Celestia explained, her eyes far off in memories of the past. For those days back when Sunset would petulantly cram food into her mouth in front of the prim and proper nobility of Equestria, indeed Celestia wouldn’t have traded those memories for the world.

Adagio had to smile herself, knowing well that far off look. Seeing another being look back ages into the past, comparing and contrasting the endless strings of mortals one comes into contact with when one has no end. It gave Adagio an indescribable feeling, perhaps somewhere between happy and sad to know of others that had felt the passage of time. Shaking the feeling off Adagio chuckled, “Well perhaps we’ll need to record you saying those words for our next dinner date.”

“I’d be happy to,” Celestia said smiling at Sunset’s ever growing flush as the subject of her infamous table manners once again haunted her.

“Come on~” Sunset whined, placing her hands around the sides of the bowl. “They’re not that bad, Rainbow Dash is way worse.” With that Sunset tipped the bowl of broth into her lips and drained the contents in one massive gulp. While not ending the meal with a massive belch, Sunset did certainly lean back and let out a long contented sigh.

Aria, Adagio, and Celestia locked eyes, all shaking their head at the hopeless nature of the fiery haired martial artist, but chose not to address their concerns for her gastrointestinal health. Instead the three women began enjoying their bowls, Celestia diligently plucking pieces of chicken out of her bowl, and placing them on the upturned lid.

“Well I’ll be, y’all couldn’t hold up from kickin’ butt to wait for all yer friends before ya dug in?” came a familiar southern drawl from behind Sunset, causing her to smile widely.

“Hey you miss us kicking ass then you don’t get to see me beat up food,” Sunset said, turning to look at AJ, accompanied by Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, all giving winning smiles, and sporting shirts with both her and Rainbow’s cutie marks on them.

“Awww but Sunny Bunny you didn’t wait for Pinkie’s Power Protein Praline Pastry!” Pinkie said, giving Sunset her best crocodile tear stained face, and holding out what looked like a candy bar.

“Oh Pinks,” Sunset said, shaking her head and hugging her buxom bestie. “You know I always save room for you,” Sunset’s breathy tone in saying as much caused a chorus of groans to ring out in the gym. Pinkie squealed happily, as Sunset kissed her cheek, and took the bar in question, nibbling at the rich concoction. While a touch sweet Sunset knew Pinkie better than to assume she’d be unable to fight, and with another half hour to digest Sunset found herself in an excellent and satisfied spot.

“Hey babe, ready to see me mop up?” Rainbow asked, approaching the growing group and wrapping Fluttershy in a sweaty hug. Fluttershy simply giggled, nodding as the ladies formed a circle to keep the glares from the other side of the dojo away. “So Sunset and I have been sending these lame-o’s to the ER, what have you guys been up to?” Rainbow asked, winking at Sunset as she reflected on her last opponent’s head injury.

“Business,” all four women said at once, averting their gazes slightly, and causing both Sunset and Rainbow to give each one of their friends suspicious looks. While Rainbow focused on Fluttershy, an obvious attempt to stare the answer out of her, Sunset focused on Adagio, whom simply examined her nails.

“Don’t look at me, I’ve got other, more devious plans for this evening,” Adagio said, earning a nod from Aria, and rather disturbingly, Celestia. Storing that fresh terror in the back of her mind Sunset chose to focus on…

“Wh-whatcha lookin at me fer darlin’?” AJ asked, a bead of sweat forming on her brow, as she averted her eyes to Rarity’s.

“Just curious. What kinda business were ya up to there AJ. On the farm. In the middle of the weekend. During winter,” Sunset ticked off, thwarting an attempted explanation at every pause by continuing to speak.

“Oh don’t be silly darling she was working in the shop with me. Weren’t you my big strong dress model,” Rarity said, bringing AJ into her arms, and looking sensually into her eyes. Between nearly having to lie and Rarity turning on the bedroom eyes, AJ was lost, unable to make words.

“Is that true AJ?” Sunset asked, giving the poor apple farmer her best cutting gaze, but before AJ could spill any proverbial beans Rarity pulled her into a long passionate kiss, causing a hard reset in her brain and making Sunset sigh in defeat. “Alright RD, we’re screwed, they probably put Pinks to a Pinkie Promise, and if you think you’re gonna out-stare Flutters then you took one too many punches to the head,” Sunset explained, leaning into Pinkie, and molesting her, while staring directly at a group of Wendigos.

“It’s true, you two had one shot and stretchy mcstripperpants kinda destroyed it,” Aria said, chuckling at the indignant looks from both RD and Rarity, as the sound of Pinkie giggling rang out through the dojo.
******************************************

Thirty minutes of digestion, and an advanced stretching and warm up routine later saw Rainbow and Sunset standing in preperation for the last two fights between them and a huge victory against Tirek’s Wendigos. The mats had all been cleaned to a near perfect shine, and as the two instructors met at the center, a few of the students made non-verbal threats towards each other.

Chief amongst these pre-match threats was Kaivus, cracking his knuckles and flexing as he looked directly at Sunset. To this Sunset simply smiled, licking her lips as she sized him up and down. This caused Kaivus to give his opponent an odd look, never had a fighter honestly looked at him as though he were a piece of meat, but the warrior now understood what it was to be a steak.

Sensing the younger man’s discomfort Sunset turned the look up to 11, bending forward and cutting her best bedroom eyes as she mouthed profane requests at Kaivus. Kaivus found himself, for lack of a better word, entranced by the gaze of the fiery headed woman, as she flash gaudy amounts of sexuality at him. Then, with a suddenness befitting a bear trap, Sunset snapped. Her teeth curled into a mad smile as she flexed her own arm, her lower left lip caught by one of her canines, and slowly trickling blood down her chin.

Kaivus, now thoroughly confused, and somewhat concerned for anything that might be caught by Sunset’s teeth, turned. He could only hope the half erection he’d gained from his future opponent hadn’t shown.

Sunset returned to her dignified dance, glancing back at Adagio, whom wore a massive evil smile. Regardless of what happened in the ring, Sunset had landed the first blow.

“Fighters will form into matches per the current board, let the semi-final matches commence!” Tirek shouted, causing all scheduled to fight to run onto the mats, and prepare for the contest to truly begin.