"And that's how we got here."

Sunset placed the regular sized Monte Cassino in front of Ukyo, and a much smaller version in front of Remy. "I have to admit, of all the things I expected when I saw you two walk into the bar together, it wasn't a story about love, food, and the animal underworld of Paris. That's pretty crazy."

"Story of my life," Ukyo replied, "difference is, now I'm dragging my own friends around the world opening restaurants and discovering myself."

"Well, I've met other Ukyo's around the multiverse, but never one that was dating a rat. No offense, little chef."

Remy simply shrugged and sipped his drink.

'LIKE YOU HAVE ANY RIGHT TO COMPLAIN', a voice echoed from the entrance. Kuro nodded politely at Remy and Ukyo, then placed the food order on the bar.

"Oh, shush, you. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just unexpected." Sunset gave the goddess of death a small pouch with coins. "Come back sometime soon after work, we need to hang out."

'I will. I'll bring curry,' Kuro replied, walking out of the bar and back to the restaurant.

Ukyo laughed. "I will say at least the fact that I turn into a mouse when splashed with cold water makes it slightly less weird than an inter-dimensional bar."

Sunset smirked. "Only slightly."

"And yet… on impulse!" Boromir's hand tightened around the tankard as he brought it up to his lips, drinking deep. "As if I didn't know what was happening—as if I didn't understand my Lady Galadriel's warning!" He held his breath, closing his eyes as if in physical pain. "I tried to take the ring."

Sunset schooled her expression, swallowing the lump in her throat carefully.

"What right do I have to claim honor to Gondor? What bright day that my brother, Faramir might shine in our father's eyes can I bring, where I betray a trusted friend? For what? Folly. Temptation. Fake glory."

"It was the ring…" Sunset whispered gently, grasping his arm.

Boromir laughed quietly, patting her hand with his. "Aye. The ring speaks deep into the darkness of man's heart. But darkness there must be for it to grasp in the first place. It whispered, true. But I listened."

From her table, Freya shook her head slightly when Sunset turned to face her. She knew.

"Alas, this brief respite might be all I will get for now." Boromir sighed, standing up. He slung the Horn of Gondor across his shoulder, fastened his shield and readied his sword in its sheath. "Perhaps for a long time… I must find Frodo. I must seek forgiveness… from him and from the Fellowship."

He reached into his purse.

"N-no," Sunset said, raising her hand. "It's fine. It's on me."

Boromir laughed. "My dear, fair barmaid. Already my honor is stained by my actions. Your timely arrival has given me the time to clear my mind, and that alone is something I sorely needed. Allow me to pay this small price as well." He fished out a coin, raising it so the gold could catch the light. "Never let it be said that Gondor would leave a debt—or drink—unpaid. Maybe I will come again." He took her hand and pressed the coin onto her palm. "Thank you."

Nodding briefly to Freya, he marched to the door and took a deep breath before trying to pull it open. It didn't budge. "My lady, there seems to be something wrong with the door."

Sunset swallowed, and felt as if her heart was tightening, but she forced it to let go. "Try again."

Finally pulling it open, Boromir gave them a last smile and jumped out, a challenge coming out of his mouth as he rushed the unsuspecting Uruk-hai.

Sunset stared at the coin in her hand, then slowly placed it in the small box where three other Gondor coins were.

"Are you okay?" Freya asked, walking over to the bar and placing a gentle claw on Sunset's shoulder.

"I always want to stop him." Sunset leaned onto her, sighing. "It never gets easier. I have to wonder why the bar has opened up to him in different dimensions, almost always at this exact moment."

Freya pulled her into a hug. "Maybe it's just the right time to help lift his spirit."

"I just wish one time things went differently."

"One day they will."

For a single moment she thought she could hear a horn summoning allies to help before it was cut short.

"I hope so."

"There's no way he can beat Wrex," Commander Sparkle said, horn aglow to levitate her beer up and taking a deep drink of it, next to her, Octavia nodded firmly, putting down her martini glass.

"Are you crazy? Have you seen his muscles?!" Sunset "Ryder" Shimmer responded, waving with her hand at the pair in question. "I'm betting on Crocodine."

"I don't know, Ryder," Drack grumbled, the ancient krogan shifting in his seat. "Urdnot Wrex is Urdnot Wrex."

"Two hundred credits says that Crocodine wins."

"You're on."

"I'll put bits on that bet."

"Same here."

"Crocodine will win," Hyunckel said, raising his mug to his lips. "He was the General of the Hundred Beasts Army. There's no way he'll lose if he expects me to respect him."

"Put money where your lips are, pretty boy!"

Hyunckel's eyebrow twitched and he pulled out a bag of gold, placing it on the counter.

A few tables away, Maam, Pop and Dai quietly watched the exchange.

"Hyunckel is really making friends fast now-a-days," Dai commented. He was still too young to drink beer, but these things called milkshakes? He loved them.

"Yeah but…" Pop lowered his voice. "Do they have to be so scary? Even the most normal of the ponies has weird armor and exudes haki."

Maam downed her beer. "Calm down, Pop, they're all getting along. Let's see what—"

CRACK! BAM!

"Hey! Wait! What does it mean if the table breaks?!"

"It means..." They all quieted down when they felt the angry energy from behind the bar, and turned to look at Sunset "Isekai" Shimmer, who was not looking very happy at the moment. "...that you guys owe me a new table."

Aria glared at Isekai. "You just had to remind her of that, didn't you?"

Sunset 'Isekai' Shimmer glanced at her sobbing counterpart, one of the leaders of a band of Hunters/Peace Keepers that called themselves the Hells Bells, in honor of AC/DC apparently. "Hey, I just asked why she was so nervous about having interdimensional counterparts."

"I-I only wanted them to give up!" Sunset Shimmer wailed, banging her fist on the bar. "I told them they weren't monsters and they-they…" she sobbed and grabbed the next beer, gulping it down without pausing for breath.

Isekai looked at her with some concern. "Are you sure she can take that many? That's twelve so far."

Aria shrugged, drinking a little of her whiskey. "She'll be fine. It's just a sour spot for her when she tries to save a bunch of cloned vampires and they all… you know..." She slid her finger from one side of her neck to the other. "...rather than face her."

Sniff. "Princess Twilight told me to make frieeeeeends!"

"There, there," Aria grumbled, patting her on the back. "Come on, Sunny. Walker and the gang are probably wondering where we are and we still might need to go to Hell again if we can't convince these factions to work together."

Isekai watched as Aria dragged Sunset out of the bar. "What an odd couple of monster hunters."

"Alright, so walk me through it again."

Matt sighed. Next to him, Black Peregrine, the female reploid smirked and took a long draw from the straw of her drink. Weregarurumon, for his part, was downing the whole milk carton he had ordered like it was a shot glass. "The whole story?"

"Alright so… you were in the Digital World with Gabumon here—"

"Weregarurumon."

"Right, and Dr. Wily hacked into it, thought you were software and modded you so he could use you as the 'soul' for Project Zero?"

"Pretty much, yes."

"Wow." Sunset shook her head. "What a jerk."

"In his defence he didn't know he was hacking a real child, but I do agree with that sentiment," Black Peregrine said. "However, it's thanks to Zero here that we were able to fight back the Mavericks and I was able to come to his universe."

Sunset nodded. "Um… so I know other Matts from the multiverse, and their parents aren't… good at handling these things… how did T.K. take it?"

Matt smiled a bit sadly. "T.K. was just happy to see me back. Dad… understood a little. Mom… not so much."

"Aww, don't be sad, Matt," Mimi said, grinning at him, with Palmon right at her side drinking water from a bottle. "You have all of us, your girlfriend, and even X!"

Matt smirked. "I never said I was sad. Or lonely."

"Speaking of which," Sunset said, pointing with her thumb at the table near the end of the bar where two men in black suits were pretending to not be interested in their conversation. "How come you came in here not only with Megaman X, but MIB Agents K and J as well?"

Mimi grinned. "Oh. That's a completely unrelated incident." She raised her glass and an eyebrow meaningfully.

Sunset couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile. "Another V. Raspberry Mojito coming up."

"Hey, Miss Shimmer?" Agent J called out. "Why do you just use the "v" instead of calling it a virgin mojito?"

Sunset shrugged. "I like my bar in one piece."

Lena cackled, and Danni snorted, while Freya tried to keep her composure. Sitting to their right, even Kale had the vaguest of smiles playing on her lips, simply holding her cup of tea between her hands as the table shook with her aneki's laughter.

"Oh, yeah, you should have seen her," Caulifla said, laughing loudly and smacking her knee with her hand, while Lena, Danni and Freya leaned eagerly to listen. "So, Brianne is fighting 18, right? And they have already devastated the whole area they're fighting at even more, and Brianne starts spouting something about truth and love, and how 18 was unworthy… and Sunset immediately went Super Saiyan 2 and started a shouting match with Brianne about how Love and Friendship look beyond physical appearance, and that the true value of a person is inside! I wish 18 had been able to come with us, she remembers the whole thing perfectly."

At the bar, Sunset focused on mixing the drinks she was preparing for the gang sitting on the bar, all the while pretending that she couldn't feel the grins directed at her from behind.

"Really, Sunset?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You went full Sailor Moon in a tournament to decide the fate of the universe?"

"I still don't see why that's a problem," Usagi Tsukino muttered, slurping her milkshake. Makoto put down her own milkshake long enough to pat her shoulder reassuringly while the rest of the scouts giggled quietly from their table.

"And how is it that you were able to turn into this Super Saiyan thing?" Applejack asked.

"I told you girls, I lived in that world for some time and the bar transformed me into one."

"Can you do it again?" Twilight asked. "For science, I mean."

"No." Sunset growled. "For one, it was temporary, I lost all that power when I returned to normal. Second, I had a really bad temper while I was a saiyan, and I don't want to break this place apart, and thirdly, if anyone goes Super Saiyan here, they're getting kicked out, ladies night or not." The last part was said with a raised voice so it could cut across the chatter and laughter from several tables.

"Aww, you're no fun, Sunny!" Caulifla shouted back, leaning back on her chair so she could grin at the bartender. "It used to be your favorite thing! Remember when we invited you over to Lord Champa's palace and you destroyed all of his pottery because, and I quote: 'He was a bad kitty!'?"

"I remember," Vados said, sipping her tea.

Sunset's eyebrow twitched.

"Oh my," Belldandy said, "It seems like Sunset really misbehaved while she was your guest, Vados-chan."

'Truly unruly, these former mortals are,' Kuro added knowingly.

The 'Goddess' table as a whole nodded sagely.

"Why, I remember having to calm Lord Champa by putting him to sleep long enough for Sunset-chan to learn pottery and fix the ones she had broken," Vados said.

"You… learned pottery?" Charlie asked, incredulous. She shifted a little, still getting used to all the humans—and inter-dimensional gods and angels that were not actually antagonistic—but she was the princess of hell, dammit! So she continued with her line of questioning, "and you learned how to do it well enough to fix the pots in the palace of a god?"

Sunset smirked.

"Oh, no." Vados spoke up. "Her 'pots' were half-molten abominations. As soon as she was gone, I ordered Kale to destroy them all and I just made new ones."

Sunset's smirk vanished.

"Don't feel discouraged. It's all about making up for your mistakes, Sunset-chan," Belldandy added with a gentle smile.

'Indeed.' Kuro smirked. 'Sunset-chan.'

Vados smiled. "It helps build character."

Rainbow Dash burst out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

Sunset looked down at the map on her bar, then up at the expectant faces of Scrooge and Della. Behind them, Duck!Rarity smiled. "So you want me to go with you to Muspelheim."

"Quite right, dear, although you'll have to make sure to transform to fit with the locals."

"You mean the fire giants?"

Duck!Rarity tilted her head. "I mean a duck."

Sunset sighed. "Look, it's not that I don't want to help, but you three should be able to tackle this one on your own. The clues are right there!"

"We know," Scrooge said with a confident smile. "But why search for a staff that will turn us into fire, when we know someone who is quite effective with it already?"

Sunset sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Did you know that fire bending and general pyromancy are a lot more difficult to manage adequately when you're in what basically amounts to an elemental plane of fire?"

Iroh raised an eyebrow, carefully avoiding looking up at the very short hair regrowing from Sunset's scalp. "You don't say."

"Alas! The beer and mead are beyond my grasp!"

Sunset glanced at Thor. "Shut up and drink your protein drink. You said you wanted to get back in shape."

"Heh. You're such a child."

"Here's your milkshake, Quill."

Rocket Raccoon turned to face Quill. "You came into a bar and ordered a milkshake?!"

"I am Groot."

"It's a very good milkshake!"

"So how are you feeling?" Freya asked as she helped clean up one of the tables.

"Exhausted," Sunset admitted. "But happy."

"Why wouldn't you be?" Lena asked, bringing several empty glasses over behind the counter and putting them in the sink. "You made a killing tonight, but I still don't understand what could possibly possess you to allow Tenchi's entire family, plus the Juraian nobility to celebrate a wedding here."

"They needed neutral territory, and my bar won't let enemies in," Sunset said. "Plus Ayeka asked me right in front of Belldandy."

"Yeah, well, I wish you would let some villains in occasionally," Danni offered from where she was wiping the tables she had managed that night. "I haven't had a good fight in a while."

"I'm sure you would, dear," Rarity said, going through the register. "But I'd rather not have to deduct from anyone's salary if equipment got destroyed."

Sunset merely chuckled and shook her head. "I'm just glad that now that it's all over and I can spend it with my family."

"Aww." Lena said, deadpan, but her smile betrayed her sarcasm as false. That still earned her a smack on the shoulder from Danni.

The doorbell chimed and they all stopped, surprised. They turned to the entrance where a tall alicorn stood, eyes wide as she took in the whole place. "Oh my. This isn't my bedroom." The mare still walked in, glancing curiously at everything until she stood in front of Sunset, blinking. "Sunset Shimmer?" her smile grew. "Twilight had told me about your bar, but I didn't think…"

"I—"

"You did say you wanted to spend time with family," Freya said. "It seems your bar took you at your word."

"I—" Sunset shook her head, licking her lips and taking a deep breath. "I… guess you're here! Would you like something to drink?"

Celestia smiled. "Tea, please."

"Coming right up!" Rarity said. When Sunset looked at her in surprise, she shrugged. "It's not often your mom comes visiting."

"But I—"

"Sunset?" Celestia spoke up, drawing the bartender's attention back to her. "Why don't you introduce me to your family?"

Sunset blinked a couple of times, then chuckled and looked up at the bar, shaking her head in amusement before smiling more honestly at her guest. "Come on, let's go sit down and talk."

As they walked to sit down, Celestia giggled. "I can't believe you told them I'm your mom."

"I didn't. Rarity is just the type of person to say that kind of thing."

Celestia's smile became a little less pronounced. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I know now it wasn't to be."

"Perhaps. I look back on those days with regret on a lot of things, but I am glad you turned out to be the mare that you are today. Or human." She stopped and pulled Sunset into a hug with her wings. "I'm proud of you, Sunset Shimmer. More so than you might believe. You might have not been my daughter but… I do love you like family."

Sunset leaned into the embrace. "Thank you, Celestia."

The Princess nodded and sat down, summoning a book as the others came and took their seats. Sunset frowned. The book looked familiar. With widening, panicking eyes she finally recognized it. "Oh no."

"Now," Princess Celestia said, "who wants to see baby pictures of Sunset?"

Author's Notes:

Series:

"The Secret of Ukyo" - Fanfic (Ratatouille, Ranma 1/2, Secret of NIMH, others)"Lord of the Rings" - Books/Movie"Dai no Daibouken" - Dragon Quest anime 90s & Sparkle's No. 1 Assistant - fanfic"Hell's Bells Saga" - Ask Pen Stroke"Digital Souls" - Fanfic (Digimon Adventure/Megaman X) & (MIB/Digimon Adventure follow-up story)Various series/universes - Hazbin Hotel, Ah! Megamisama, EqG, Dragonball Super, Restaurant to Another WorldDucktales - 2018 ongoing seriesAvatar: The Last AirbenderMCU post Endgame (Asguardians of the Galaxy)Tenchi Muyo