Sunset cricked her neck as she got ready for her little fight with Grand Pear. She wished Twilight could’ve hung on a little longer, just so Sunset could at least have an idea what she was up against. Skipping the ‘learning your opponent’s moves’ phase of the fight would’ve done wonders for the speed of this encounter, but nothing doing, she supposed.

Sunset looked over to Twilight; poor little tied up Twilight Sparkle. She sure didn’t look happy, or comfortable for that matter. Those lions did some shoddy ropework, and poor Twilight was gonna get rope burn like woah if Sunset didn’t hurry this match up.

Jokes aside, seeing Twilight like that did put some ideas into Sunset’s head. She’d love to show Twilight some proper ropework sometime, but they really didn’t have that kinda relationship, did they?

Sunset took a deep breath and tried to focus. Twilight was so stupid, but it was almost endearing. She was just so damn earnest all the time. Reminded Sunset of someone else she knew, and that thought brought a genuine chuckle to her lips.

I’ll protect her.

“You aren’t going to stand between me,” Grand Pear growled as he scraped his claws against the knoll behind him, “and my goal of, running this godforsaken Circle.”

“Old man,” Sunset sighed and flicked her fingers at him, sparks of flame crackling around her nails, “your small-town goals aren’t even a stepping stone to me.”

Honestly the truth of that statement was the most frustrating thing about this. If not for Twilight, this battle wouldn’t be worth Sunset’s time. She supposed all she could do was try to at least get something out of it; more familiarity with Twilight’s soul and the power it could give her.

With that in mind, Sunset dug into her chest and pulled out a sword handle, a stream of flame emitting from it in place of a blade. She swung it around once or twice to get a feel for it, and it felt damn good to use this thing again.

Grand Pear’s tree soldiers lined up in front of him, taking a defensive stance, but Sunset almost just yawned as she swung her flaming sword, bathing the soldiers in fire. As the flames cleared though, the soldiers just looked gently singed, and Sunset clicked her tongue.

“Did you really think,” Grand Pear laughed, “that I wouldn’t protect my tree soldiers against fire?”

“Wow you got it all planned out, huh?” Sunset said casually.

“A battle is won or lost,” Grand Pear gave a self-satisfied chuckle, “before either combatant even, steps onto the battlefield.”

“Yeah okay nerd,” Sunset said. Far as Sunset was concerned, a battle was won or lost after she beat the enemy into submission.

Three of Grand Pear’s soldiers rushed at Sunset, leaving the two biggest ones to escort him up to the top of the knoll. Sunset danced around their clumsy attacks pretty easily, not even bothering to fight back and visibly yawning to convey just how bored she was by Grand Pear’s mediocre strategies.

“Are you not,” Grand Pear spat, “taking me seriously? You’ll regret—”

“If your opponent has a temper,” Sunset said as she shoved one of the tree soldiers aside like she was a schoolyard bully, “piss them off as much as possible, isn’t that right?”

“It is,” Grand Pear let out a single chuckle. “So, you have read a book then. At least once.”

“Wow you can even give an enemy a compliment,” Sunset said, grabbing a soldier by the hand and twirling around it like a dance partner. “Now let me try! You did a great job at setting yourself up for defeat!”

Sunset snapped her fingers, and the three soldiers she’d been dancing with burned up from the inside out, withering and crackling as their bodies writhed in the flames until they were nothing but blackened husks lying discarded on the ground.

“You think I was just messing around?” Sunset declared, pointing a finger at Grand Pear. “I etched some runes on each of your soldiers while I was keeping ‘em occupied! Then it was just a matter of activating my hex, and BAM!”

Grand Pear laughed, causing his allies to laugh alongside him. Sunset grimaced and rolled her eyes; no respect for her brilliant strategies. At least Twilight was probably impressed.

Sunset looked over and saw Twilight wasn’t even watching her, instead her eyes were focused over on Orchard Blossom, whose dumbass hadn't even escaped yet! What was she doing?! Were her and her band just gonna stick around and watch? Sunset had to be prepared for the possibility that they wanted to mop up the stragglers of this battle, and the irony wasn’t lost on her as she sighed irritably.

And y’know, if Sunset thought that Twilight was watching Orchard instead of her because she thought Twilight was wise to the possibility of Orchard’s band attacking after this battle, and Twilight just wanted to be prepared, that’d be fine.

But Sunset knew that Twilight was watching Orchard cuz the werewolf was still getting healed by her mediocre buddies, and that dumb purple bitch was probably worried more about her than she was about Sunset.

Whatever. By the end of this battle, nopony would be able to take their eyes off of Sunset.

“Fool! Ignorant whelp!” Grand Pear snarled and laughed, his claws crackling with magic as the husks of his defeated tree soldiers followed suit, and then so too did the earth around them until maybe fifteen soldiers had taken the place of the three defeated. “My soldiers have been planting seeds into the ground this entire time, they’ve been absorbing the magic of the land, and now they’re going to destroy you!

“And even if, even IF, you are able to beat these ones? I will simply, make even more!”

“Not bad, old man,” Sunset cackled. “Not bad. Victory through attrition. Make your enemy waste so much of their resources fighting your first or second wave, then they have nothing left for the third. I can see how you’ve managed to stay alive this long.”

“And yet,” Grand Pear glared at Sunset, who offered a cold smile in return, “you seem undeterred. You must have a strategy, or you’re just brainless.”

“Could be both,” Sunset shrugged.

Sunset raised her hand into the air and snapped her fingers. A series of bright red runes flashed in a circle around the entire battlefield, and with them the fifteen tree soldiers lit up as well, their green magic aura being sucked out of them into the air, and into a large ball that fit snugly in Sunset’s outstretched hand, the soldiers themselves collapsing into splinters.

“Wh—how—”

Instead of answering Grand Pear’s frantic questions— though Sunset did quite enjoy the sudden shift in his expression to pure, pale-faced shock— Sunset took the ball of green magic in her hand, the color shifting to red the closer it came to Sunset’s body.

She opened her mouth, revealing rows of sharp fangs dripping with thirst, and took a huge, self-indulgent bite out of the magical orb, which squished and stretched underneath her fangs before popping into a juicy and delicious meal, the magic being absorbed into Sunset’s maw after just a couple more bites, and leaving a trace of red juice dripping from her lips, that she licked up with her tongue.

“What’s the matter, Grand Pear?” Sunset asked, her eyes glowing with burning magic. She looked over to Twilight Sparkle and was delighted to see Twilight’s wide eyes focused on her. “Not a fan of my hex?”

“How did— when did you have time—”

“While you were fighting Twilight,” Sunset admitted with a sadistic grin, the last drop of color vanishing from Grand Pear’s face. “I admit, I wish she’d given me a bit more time. It was supposed to suck you dry too, but then again if it had I wouldn’t be able to see that look on your face, so I guess it worked out for the best.”

Grand Pear said nothing. The lion gritted his teeth and tried pathetically to still look tough, probably for his allies who were crapping their pants just like he was.

“What’s the matter, old man?” Sunset took a few steps forward, Grand Pear reflexively stepping away even in his position of relative safety on top of that knoll. “A battle is won or lost before either combatant even touches the field—”

Sunset disappeared in a crack of red magic, teleporting behind Grand Pear and putting her hand on his shoulder, the man letting out a nearly silent gasp as he slowly turned to look at Sunset, baring her fangs in a manic smile as her prey sweat buckets in front of her.

“—isn’t that right?”

“Y-you bastard!” Grand Pear snarled. “Men! Kill the purple—”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Sunset’s eyes flickered with fire as she revealed the massive hex that covered the entire area. Every inch of grass and rock within sight was drenched in Sunset’s distinctive blood-red runes, and now everyone could see it. “Just admit that you’re outmatched, my dude.”

Grand Pear exhaled sharply. He took a step back, but Sunset just took a step forward. He hung his head, eyes shut tight and teeth gritted enough to crack against each other. This was the end, and even he had to admit it now.

Sunset breathed a sigh of relief as Grand Pear’s dudes cleared out, and while Orchard Blossom and her little posse stuck around, it didn’t look like they were planning to beef with Sunset and Twilight, so Sunset forced herself to get around to the unenviable task of untying Twilight.

“I really do think you’d like it better if it was me,” Sunset grumbled, removing Twilight’s gag and the last of the rope, or at least the last that kept her constricted; she could untie the rest herself.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Twilight said flatly, standing up and stretching her arms and legs.

“Rope burn?” Sunset asked, sending the ropes into a little pocket dimension that Sunset could access later. You never know when ropes could come in handy.

“No, I think I’m good,” Twilight sighed. “You really saved my bacon there, huh?”

“Hehehe well I am a bacon expert,” Sunset smirked, running a hand through her red and yellow mane.

“Thank you,” Twilight said, fretting with her bangs. “You didn’t have to, um… well, I know you probably just did it for the soul, but thanks anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sunset groaned and rubbed the back of her neck. “Look, I know I give you a hard time and stuff, but I’m not gonna leave you hanging. I told you I’d protect you when I agreed to be your guide, and I’m sticking to that. If nothing else, I’m a mare of my word.”

“Well then,” Twilight said with a smile and a curtsy, hands on the hem of her skirt, and gawd it pissed Sunset off how cute she looked. “Thank you very much.”

“No problem,” Sunset said awkwardly, quickly pointing Twilight’s attention to Orchard Blossom so she’d stop looking at Sunset.

Sunset sat down on the ground while Twilight talked to Orchard and her band. Sunset didn’t really think that the werewolves would try to attack at this point, but she still watched them like a hawk regardless, even if she wasn’t terribly interested in what they were saying to each other.

They looked like they were having a pretty amicable conversation though. What were they saying? Twilight laughed and put her hand on Orchard’s chest, and Sunset grimaced despite herself. What was so funny?

Twilight returned with a spring in her step, Orchard and her band departing on their own way and leaving Sunset and Twilight alone again.

“What was all that about?” Sunset asked as she stood up.

“She wanted to thank me,” Twilight beamed. “For sticking my neck out for her, and she knows you were just protecting me, but she wanted to thank you too.”

“Hm,” Sunset turned around and arched her back, letting out an over-exaggerated groan as she stretched so Twilight wouldn’t see that blush on her face. “Is that right? Well, anyway—”

“So,” Twilight stood beside Sunset and poked her head into Sunset’s view, “that was some hex, huh? That one at the end, that sure was uhhh something.”

“You saw through that one, huh?” Sunset cackled. “Honestly, I half-expected the old man to see through it too, but I guess I got him scared enough to believe it.”

“I know a thing or two about illusions,” Twilight said proudly. “What school was that? Astromancy, right?”

“You got it,” Sunset chuckled as the two began their trot back up the hill they came from so they could resume their journey to Paradise. “Was that your specialty on the surface?”

“No, but I tried to know a little bit of everything,” Twilight replied.

“Ha, why am I not surprised to hear you’re an over-achiever?” Sunset snarked, getting a cute little laugh out of Twilight.

“Guilty, it’s true,” Twilight hummed. “I majored in Arcanamancy though. Wanted to be like my hero, Starswirl the Bearded.”

“Oh you’re basic too!” Sunset teased, Twilight scoffing in contempt.

“Okay miss know-it-all, how about you?” Twilight said. “What did you study on the surface?”

“I didn’t study,” Sunset shrugged, “I got laid.”

“You’re awful,” Twilight snorted.

“Not what the girls on the surface told me!” Sunset said cheerfully, Twilight trying desperately to hold in her laughter and failing miserably.

This was nice. It was… a lot better than being at each other’s throats. If all it took to hit it off with Twilight like this was rescuing her from danger, Sunset would just have to put her in danger and then rescue her more often.

Actually… maybe that was the wrong takeaway from this?

Eh… whatever.

sunset has some mighty fine chompers

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