Chapter 1. Home

As the Moon Rises

As the daytime comes to an end, the nighttime shall begin. The city of Canterlot is engulfed in darkness with the moon and stars being there to providing light. To most, the nighttime is the time to lay down in bed, awaiting for the sun to rise again. To others, it's an excuse stay up and maybe party the night away. But for one, the nighttime is its chance to lurk around the city and hunt for whatever prey it can see or even smell.

This thing is an abnormal beast filled with strength, great speed and some of the strongest senses known to mankind. This thing, however, can only be seen during the night. No one knows where it hides once the sun is up. Some do not believe in it, but some fear it, wish for it to be brought to justice and that this beast is actually human during the day.

Just what is this monster?

July 3rd, Canterlot High School, Tuesday Night
10:34PM

Six teenage girls all gathered around what used to be a statue that sat in front of Canterlot High. They were all waiting for the return of their friend, Sunset Shimmer, after her week long trip to Equestria, her home world.

"Ugh! Where is she?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently. "She said she'd be here twenty minutes ago."

"Cool y'er jets, Rainbow, she might'a jus' forgotten' somethin'," said Applejack.

"It doesn't take me that long to get my stuff together."

"That's because you have superspeed," Twilight Sparkle told her rainbow friend.

"Yeah, but even without the superspeed I'd still be faster."

"Well, you are the most athletic out of... everyone, actually," Rarity pointed out.

"Still! She's taking too long."

They continued waiting. Sunset still hadn't arrived.

"She might've just forgotten her horn," Pinkie Pie wondered.

Everyone looked at her confusingly.

"Her horn, Darling?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah! It could've just fallen off and she lost it and now she has to find it."

"How does a unicorn just lose their horn, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.

"Well, one time I saw this movie that had a unicorn that lost her horn. She never got it back though." Pinkie finished her last sentence sadly.

The rest of them remained looking confused at Pinkie after her little story. Then they were pulled back into looking at the statue which began to glow very brightly. An orange arm emerged from the light, and then the body the arm belonged to appeared. A girl with red hair with yellow streaks, orange skin and a spiky leather jacket stood in front of the girls.

"Sunset Shimmer!" everyone cried in unison.

They all crowded around Sunset Shimmer and hugged her. Sunset, who at first was surprised by the sudden embrace, smiled very sweetly.

"It's good to see you all again too, but it would be nice to have air in my lungs, please!" Sunset said struggling for breath.

They all released Sunset to give her room to breathe. Once done, the silence between them all was then broken by Rarity.

"How was your trip, Darling?" she asked.

"It was great! So many things to see, so many ponies to meet. Oh, I loved it," Sunset happily answered.

"Do you have any stories to tell from your trip?"

"Oh you better believe I do. Come on, I'll tell you on the way." Sunset began walking down the street.

"On the way to where?" Fluttershy asked.

Sunset stopped and turned around to face her friends. "To home; I'm more tired than Twilight preparing for a test."

Twilight caught up beside Sunset and punched her on the arm. She tried to show anger as if she had been insulted, but Sunset was able to see she was trying to hold back a smile. Sunset laughed and they all began walking in the direction leading to Sunset's house.

On their way, Sunset told her friends her different stories, such as: when her, Princess Twilight and, her student, Starlight Glimmer went on a hunt for an Ursa Major in a mountain valley round the outskirts of Equestria. The Ursa Major, apparently, had been stomping it's way into Equestria and was flattening everything in its path. The three powerful magic users were assigned to chase it away back to where it came from.

Sunset bragged about how she was the one that delivered the final blow of chasing it away. As much as her friends wanted to believe that, they couldn't, especially how she described an Ursa Major: a gigantic, cosmic bear who was so big and stomps were so fierce, they could collapse towns from miles away.

After a few stories, they all arrived at the door to Sunset's house. Twilight passed Sunset her house key - because she was house sitting for Sunset - and she unlocked the door. The seven of them all stepped inside small house. Sunset sat down onto her couch and looked around the place.

"Wow, Twilight, you did a great job taking care of this place," Sunset complimented. "Thanks for house sitting for me."

Twilight smiled. "It's was nothing, but I'm always happy to help."

Sunset yawned and stretched her arms out. "Sorry girls but, if you all don't mind, I really need to get some rest. Princess Twilight is great to be around, but whatever mission she's assigned to really sucks the energy out of you."

"Aww! We'll all hang out tomorrow though, right?" Pinkie asked.

"I promise, we'll all get together and do whatever our hearts content. It is summer break after all."

Everyone smiled and pulled Sunset into another group hug. Only this time, Sunset was able to breathe. Sunset yawned once again and they all pulled away. Everyone (Not including Sunset) began leaving the house.

"See you tomorrow, Sunset!" Twilight waved.

"Bye, everyone!" Sunset said closing the door and then locking it.

She then began climbing her stairs into her bedroom, pulled out her pyjamas from her closet and changed into them. She lifted the covers on her bed and slipped herself right under them. Sunset was now the cosiest she had been in over a week. It wasn't long before she eyes began closing, drifting her off to sleep.

July 4th, Sunset's House, Wednesday Morning
12:47AM

Sunset was suddenly awoken by what sounded like clunking. She looked over to her alarm clock. 12:47AM. Sunset tried ignoring it so she could get back to sleep, but the clunking wouldn't stop. Whatever was outside was driving Sunset crazy, so she decided that she was going to have to deal with it herself.

She climbed out of bed and collected her flashlight and she pulled out her baseball bat (Just incase) from under her bed. She traced the noise to be coming from her back garden, so she walked towards the back door, opened it and stepped outside.

Once outside, she saw a shadow run into the bush at the back of her garden. Sunset slowly walked towards the bush with her bat at the ready.

"H-Hello? Is someone there?" she called out.

When she was only a few feet away from the bush, she began to hear growling from inside. Sunset grabbed part of the bush to pull it away, but the growling only grew louder. She hesitated but managed to build up the courage to pull the bush away. She shined her flashlight inside and caught sight of what looked like a large, stray, grey dog.

It emerged from the bush and lunged at Sunset. Sunset jumped back, only to have the animal bite her on the hand. Sunset held her injured hand close to her chest and shouted in pain. She looked towards the thing that attacked her. It appeared to be a large wolf that had been feeding off of the garbage from Sunset’s trash can.

The wolf then roared and began charging at Sunset. She, once again, jumped out of the way and began running back for the house. The wolf was catching up to her, so Sunset threw her bat away, in hopes that it would go fetch it. Instead, the bat hit it directly onto the nose, leaving the wolf whimpering in pain.

Sunset reached the inside of her house and used her body to close it. She was panting and the bite she was given made it all the much worse.

She then heard the wolf's footsteps approaching the door, it knew she was inside the house. She heard it growl once more as it got right up to the door. Sunset tried to remain calm and quiet, in hope that it would think she wasn't there and left. Sunset was covering her mouth at this point, trying to control her breathing.

Then she saw that the door handle was being pulled downwards. This wolf was able to open doors. Sunset tried pushing the handle back up with all her might to keep it out. She, however, wasn't strong enough and the handle was pulled right down. Her breathing rate was quickening once again.

She was certain that she was going to die tonight until she heard the howling of another wolf. The door handle was raised once again and the wolf standing at Sunset's door howled back and finally ran off.

Sunset slid down her door and began to calm down. But then she remembered that she had to treat her hand, so she rushed over to the kitchen to find a bandage. After scoping through a couple of drawers, she eventually found the large bandage roll. She wrapped it around her hand and cut it off at the end. The blood started soaking into the bandage, clearly showing that she would have it on for a while.

'I should probably check up with the doctor tomorrow, incase that wolf had some kind of disease or something,' she thought to herself.

She still hissed at the pain but figured that it wouldn't keep her up all night. She began climbing the stairs back to her bedroom. Her head began to feel strange, very strange, as if her brain began to get bigger and was now too big for her skull. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Sunset collapsed, unconscious.

Chapter 2. Wound

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July 4th, Sunset's House, Wednesday Morning
11:21AM

Sunset's eyes fluttered open. She saw that she was still laying at the top of her stairs. 'So it wasn't a dream after all,' Sunset thought as she scratched her bandaged hand.

She began to think over her encounter with that creature the previous night. It looked as though it could have been a wolf or a coyote, but it looked much larger in size and build to be either of the two. She thought either the creature was born from Equestrian magic or this was just some paranormal bull.

Sunset’s train of thought was interrupted by a buzzing sound. She followed the buzzing to her phone into her bedroom. Pinkie Pie was blowing up her inbox with messages.

hey sunny! u still up for our super duper hangout 2 day?
11:23AM

Sunset picked up her phone and began writing a reply.

ye, what time and place?
11:24AM

She waited for Pinkie to respond.

we're meeting at coinky dink diner for lunch around 12. i don't hv work 2 day so it's all good.
11:25AM

k. i'm gonna go get ready. c u there pinkie.
11:25AM

c ya sunny!
11:26AM

Sunset put her phone on her bed and began getting dressed for the day. She made a mental note to get herself checked at the doctor's for her wound. If the thing really did have a disease and gave her it when it bit her, she'd probably already be sick. Though, judging by how she wasn't, everything was probably fine. But she still planned on visiting the doctor, just in case.

To take any extra precautions, she wrapped a new bandaged around her hand, as the other one was soaked in blood. Her hand still hurt, but it wasn't going to ruin everyone's day, not if Sunset Shimmer has to say anything about it!

Coinky-Dink Diner, Wednesday Afternoon
12:02PM

Sunset arrived at, what she would say as, the best diner in all of Canterlot City, the Coinky-Dink Diner. She looked through the glass of the windows and saw all of her friends sitting in a booth to the far left of the diner.

As soon as she entered, Pinkie Pie shot up and began waving to get Sunset's attention.

"Over here, Sunset!" Pinkie called out.

Sunset rolled her eyes and smiled. Putting her hand behind her back, she approached the booth and took a seat next to the brains of the bunch, Twilight.

"Hey everyone!" Sunset greeted. She hid her bandaged hand under the table, as to not let anyone worry.

Rarity was the first to greet back. "Hello, Darling, how has your morning treated you?"

Sunset shrugged. "Eh, it was fine. Got up at little later than usual, though."

"We can't really blame you," Twilight joined. "You did tell us that you did a lot during your trip to Equestria."

"Yeah, I did." Sunset smiled as she thought back to all of the things her and Princess Twilight had done.

The table fell silent for a brief moment. The silence between everyone was broken by Rainbow Dash.

"So, what's the plan for today, if anyone has any ideas?" she asked. "'Cause I got nothing." She leaned back against the chair, putting her feet up on the table.

The table was silent once more as everyone wondered what they all should do today. Rarity was about to give a suggestion but then immediately took it back. The same went for Twilight and Sunset.

"Well, there is that fair being held in Canterlot Park today," Fluttershy suggested.

"There is?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah, I saw fliers about it all last week. It said there'd be games, snacks and even a raffle. All of the money will go towards a charity, it even said."

"Then that's it, girls, we're going to the fair!" Rainbow Dash announced.

Everyone cheers in unison.

"But first... LUNCH!!" Pinkie shouted. "Waiter!"

The waiter approached the girl's booth after Pinkie's loud call, with a pen and notepad in both hands. "What can I get'chu girls?" she asked.

Later, everyone's lunch was given to them. They continued to share some laughs and other ideas for later days while they ate.

Sunset continued to hide her hand from the group, causing her to eat her lunch with one hand. Still, they would eventually notice sooner or later, so why really bother? Who knows, but she planned on keeping it up for as long as she could.

Which wasn't that long at all as Fluttershy seemed to be the only one to have noticed that Sunset was hiding her other hand under the table. She didn't seem to think too much about it at first, but she wasn't sure she had even seen her left hand at all today. Even when Sunset entered the diner she hid her hand behind her back.

"Umm... Sunset, why are you hiding your hand under the table?" she asked.

Sunset's eyes widened. She didn't think anyone would notice this soon. Now everyone in the group was looking at her with confusion across their faces.

She tried thinking of an excuse, "Uuh... I- umm... It's because I..." She then sighed as there was no getting out of it. "Well, it wasn't going to be long until anyone saw it anyway." She put her other hand on top of the table for everyone to see.

Everyone gasped, Rarity being the loudest. "My word, Sunset, what on earth happened to you?!"

Sunset scratched the back of her head. "Well, after you guys left I went to bed and later into the night something woke me up. I went to investigate what it was and I was attacked by this large beast. I don't know what it was, I think it was, like, a large wolf or a coyote or something. Anyway, it bit me on the hand and went in to almost kill me. I make a break for my house and closed the door behind me but this thing knew how to open doors."

"So, how'd it go away?" Applejack asked.

"Another wolf had howled, the beast howled back and ran then off," Sunset finished. "If that wolf didn't howl, I'd probably be dead."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy said behind her hands.

"You described this wolf thing as 'large'," Twilight jumped in. "How big are we talking?"

Sunset began to think back to how big it was. She got out of her seat and held a hand on top of her head. "It was standing on two legs, so about this big."

Twilight's jaw fell. She had never heard of a canine like creature that large before in her life.

"That's a big dog..." Pinkie said.

"But why didn't you just tell us before?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Sunset sighed again. "I didn't want this to ruin our day, so I tried hiding it for as long as I could. How well that turned out."

"Nonsense, Darling. We would have understood completely," Rarity explained. "Though, have you been checked yet?"

Sunset shook her head. "I was going to get it checked out after our day today."

"Wouldn't be the decision Ah'd make," Applejack responded.

Rarity gestured towards her farmer friend. "I agree with Applejack. Seeing the doctor's would be my first priority if I were to have been bitten by some mad creature. Who knows what kinds of diseases it could have been laced with?"

"Listen, if I'm fine right now, then chances are I'll still be fine later," Sunset tried assuring.

"Are you absolutely sure, Darling?"

Sunset raised her wounded hand. "This happened last night, Rarity, I should have been sick when I got up out of bed."

Rarity was still a bit uneasy about how Sunset had decided to deal with this. Though, Sunset was right; if the thing had bitten her last night, then chances are that she should have caught something by the time she woke up.

"Well, okay, but make sure you get that wound looked at," ordered Rarity.

Sunset smirked. "I promise."

"So... I'm guessing that means we're ready to leave now?" asked Rainbow Dash.

A chorus of agreements were heard throughout the group, so they all got up from their seats and began to leave. Except Twilight, who was still caught up in thinking about how Sunset described the thing that attacked her.

Rainbow Dash began clicking her fingers directly in front of her face. "Yo, Twilight! We're leaving now!"

Twilight was brought back to reality. "Huh? What? Oh, okay." She followed after everyone else.

Now, their day had officially begun.

Streets of Canterlot City, Wednesday Afternoon
01:24PM

During the walk to Canterlot Park, it was mostly silent. Especially to Sunset Shimmer as she did begin to feel a little bit weird and was falling behind. She didn't understand what happened, she just began feeling very strange. Fluttershy stayed behind for her flaming haired friend.

"You don't look too well, Sunset. Are you okay?" she asked.

Sunset tried taking deep breaths. "Yeah, yeah. Just feeling a little strange is all."

"Are you sure? Because I don't-"

Sunset interrupted her. "I said I'm fine! It's probably that the sandwich I had just isn't... isn't..." Her head began to pound and she began to feel very dizzy. She felt as though she were about to pass out at any moment.

Fluttershy tried holding her still and put her hand against Sunset's forehead. "Oh my, you're burning up. Girls, I think we need to get Sunset to a doctor right away!"

Sunset's sight and hearing began to blur. She couldn't tell what exactly was happening to her but one thing was for sure, it wasn't good. She began losing her sense of balance so Twilight rushed over to help Fluttershy support her.

"Rainbow, call an ambulance! Quickly!" Applejack instructed.

Rainbow Dash scrambled to get her phone out of her pocket. She quickly began dialling for an ambulance.

Rarity tried her all by keeping Sunset awake. "Okay, Sunset, just relax and focus- Hey! Hey! Don't you close those eyes on me, missy!" She gently began patting Sunset's cheeks.

"W-What's going on?" Sunset weakly asked.

"Everything's going to be fine, Darling, we're just going to get you to a doctor right now, okay?"

"B-But what about our... our day out?" Sunset was having serious troubles keeping herself conscious now.

"You is what matters most now, Sunset. Now, try and focus on staying awake for us."

"I... I don't feel too good, Rarity..."

Rarity began to panic. "I know, I know, but you're going to be fine, Sunset. Just as long as you stay awake until we get there."

"I... don't..." Sunset’s body finally gave up and went limp.

Rarity began shaking her. "Sunset? Sunset! Wake up!"

"Hurry up, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack began to rush.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Rainbow continued waiting for an operator to pick up the phone. "Hello? We need an ambulance fast! Our friend just passed out!"

"Come on! Come on!" Rarity tried slapping her. "Wake up!"

Pinkie pushed Rarity out of the way. "Let me try." She knelt down next to Sunset's ear. "HEY SUNSET!!! CAN YOU WAKE UP FOR US PLEASE?!!?"

Sunset did not respond.

"Rainbow Dash! Where's that God damn ambulance?!" Applejack demanded.

"Hold on!" Rainbow continued listening to the call for another small moment before hanging up. "They said they should be a couple of minutes!"

Applejack groaned in frustration. "We don't got a couple a' minutes! We need them now!"

"We just have to wait!" Rainbow Dash retaliated. "Now c'mon." She ran towards Sunset with Applejack.

Twilight and Fluttershy rested and sat next to Sunset against a wall. No matter what they tried, she wouldn't respond to anything.

"Anything at all?" Applejack asked.

"No, she isn't answering to anything we do," Fluttershy explained.

"Not even hugs! Freakin' hugs? She loves hugs!" Pinkie Pie added.

Rainbow Dash knelt down in front of her and began shaking her again. "Sunset, wake up!"

"It's no use, Darling. I've already tried," Rarity told the athlete. "Nothing from her!"

"Has she got a pulse?" Applejack, again, asked.

"It's very faint, but it's there," said Twilight.

Applejack sighed in relief. "Good, so at least we know she ain't-"

Rarity interrupted Applejack, "I'm just going to stop you right there before you say something terrible, Applejack!"

"What the heck even happened to her?" Twilight asked. "Fluttershy, you were with her, do you know?"

Fluttershy shuffled where she sat. "No, I don't know. I just noticed that she was slowing down so I went to check on her. She then said she was feeling weird, that it was probably because of her sandwich. Then, the next thing I knew, she started to pass out," she explained.

Rarity put a finger on her chin. "It's very strange, indeed," she said. "Does anyone else think this was the work of the thing that attacked her?"

Everyone began thinking about that theory and then nodded.

"It definitely makes more sense than everything else, really. The way she described it makes it look to be almost twice the size of any average person," Twilight theorised. "Like the thing she fought against really isn't just any animal."

"What're you sayin'?" Applejack asked.

"Girls..." Twilight squinted her eyes dramatically. "I think we're dealing with something supernatural."

"Oh, that's just nonsense, Twilight. I mean, really now? Supernatural?" Rarity objected. "What, are we dealing with some sort of alien?"

Rainbow Dash put her hand on Rarity's shoulder and raised an eyebrow her way that screamed 'You're kidding, right?'

Rarity gulped and began sweating from her nervousness.

They continued watching over Sunset for another moment or so before the sounds of sirens could finally be heard. Everyone looked down the street and saw an ambulance coming their way. Two doctors lifted Sunset onto a gurney, took her on board the ambulance and drove towards the hospital.

Everyone looked at the ambulance as it drove away.

"I hope she's okay," Fluttershy said.

Twilight rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "We all do, and I'm sure she will be."

The group fell silent, still looking in the ambulance's, which was long gone, direction.

Rarity sighed, "We can't all just stand here and just hope for immediate news. Come on, we'll go to the boutique for a while, until we're able to visit."

Everyone else murmured agreements and all began walking down the street towards Carousel Boutique.

Carousel Boutique, Wednesday Afternoon
02:44PM

Everyone sat around a table in Rarity's own fashion store, Carousel Boutique. Nobody really talked. Rarity would now and then ask for an opinion on a dress or line she was in the middle of working on. Everyone answered with things like "It's fine," or a simple "Hmm." The mood wasn't bright, it was very dull.

Twilight, however, wasn't quiet because of Sunset's accident. Something was bothering her. She kept wondering about the beast that had attacked her friend. Was it really how Sunset described? Was it really the cause of her accident? Could such a creature really exist? It all sounded so amazing yet so scary to the speccy girl. Now she really wants to see it for herself. No, she has to see see it for herself.

An idea popped into her head, and it wasn't a very good one.

A devious smile crept across her face. "Say, Girls, what would all of you think you'd do if you happen to see the monster?" she asked.

Rainbow Dash answered first. "I'd make that furry asshole regret it ever hurt Sunset!"

"No need t' resort to violence, Rainbow," Applejack told her.

"Why not? Look at what that thing did to our friend! God knows what else it did to her!"

Applejack tried calming her down, "Look, Ah know y'er upset, we all are, but-"

"Upset? I'm furious! I swear, if I ever come across that thing I'd... I'd..." Rainbow couldn't exactly put her threat into words, so she make a snapping gesture with her hands.

"Is that so?" Twilight's smile only widened. She then sat next to her athletic friend and put an arm around her. "Then how about we do something about it?"

"What've you got?"

"I say when the moon rises once again, you and I will both try and hunt this beast. You can take your anger out on it and, who knows, I may be able to study it."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "Twilight, it's summer vacation. Put the studying down for one moment, please?"

"Sure, it may be summer, but that doesn't I don't have any projects I'm studying on." Twilight pointed a fist towards Rainbow. "So, what do you say? Wanna go on a monster hunt?"

Applejack interrupted. "No, no, no! There's no way you two are goin' out huntin' down some powerful monster! Y'er gonna get y'erselves very hurt!"

Rainbow then shared a simpler smile to Twilight's. "What's wrong, AJ? Don't think we can take it on?"

"No, Ah don't! That thing put our friend in a coma from a bite! That thing would maul the both of yous if it got its furry hands on you!"

"Applejack, I have telekinesis and she has super speed; that thing won't even be able to touch us," Twilight explained.

"Still, it's a terrible idea. Ah mean, think about it, what're the odds that both of you will even be able to find this thing and take it down?"

Rainbow saw her point. She knew the idea was stupid, but it will all be worth it when she kicks it to the ground. So, with no longer leaving Twilight hanging, she fist bumped her. "I'm in."

Chapter 3. Condition

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July 4th, Unknown Place, Wednesday ???
??:??PM

"Wake up..."

Sunset groaned in her sleep. She twisted and turned in her place, trying to stay comfortable.

"Wake up, Sunset Shimmer..."

Sunset kept feeling as though there was something calling her name, but what was it saying?

"Wake up, Sunset Shimmer..."

Her eyes slowly opened, she was greeted with darkness. She wasn't at home, she wasn't at the hospital, like her friends said she'd be, she wasn't even on the street where she passed out. She was in some kind of black limbo.

"Hello?" Her voice echoed through the darkness. She waited for a response, hopefully, from the thing calling her. She stood up and began looking around. "Is anybody here? Where am I?" Still, a response never came. She kept walking forward, hoping for there at least to be something wherever she was. She continued calling out, never giving up. Sunset heard a voice, she knew she did. "Hello? Somebody! Anybody! Is anyone here?!"

Silence.

She sighed deeply and sat on the ground. Whatever she heard, it was gone now. Now she's trapped in a limbo, all alone.

"I'm here," a deep voice suddenly said.

Sunset jumped back up and looked around the place. "Who's there?" she asked. "Where are you?"

The voice began speaking again, "I am nothing but a figment of your imagination; I have no physical form, but I do still exist."

"My imagination?" Sunset now began pondering. "So... does that mean we're in my mind right now?" She looked around the eternal darkness that surrounded every side of her.

"You are very correct, Sunset Shimmer. You are currently inside of your own personal mindspace, which many do visit whenever their incarnation of myself requires them to be here," the voice explained.

"But why am I here?"

The voice left her there for a moment.

"Look behind you," it requested.

Suddenly, there was an extremely bright light rising behind Sunset. She turned around and shielded her eyes with her arms. Through the spaces of her arms, she could see silhouettes of two people, walking closer and closer to her.

"Who are they?" Sunset asked the voice.

The voice no longer responded, which caused Sunset to wait until she could make out the silhouettes. They finally managed to get close enough for Sunset to recognise their shapes.

Sunset gasped when she realised who they were. "T-Twilight?! Rainbow Dash?! What are you two doing here?"

They didn't say anything back; they kept walking towards her.

The light finally dimmed so that Sunset could look at her friends directly. But when she did, she saw that something was terribly wrong. All around her friend's bodies were cuts, grazes and bruises. They looked extremely beaten up. Eventually, once they both got close enough to Sunset, they collapsed on the spot.

Sunset screamed. She rushed over to the two lifeless bodies and knelt down before them.

"W-What happened to them?!" she asked with fear. "Why did this to my friends?!"

The voice hummed. "Due to a mistake they both made. It led them to suffer..." It paused on the last word. "...consequences."

Sunset started breathing very fast and heavily. "What are you talking about?! What mistakes did they make?!" She sat her friend's heads on her lap.

"Given time, Sunset Shimmer, you will know what mistake they made and when you do, you will know what to do."

Sunset sat there confused, staring off into the abyss while her unconscious friends began to disappear. "Is that all you brought me here for?" she asked. "Isn't there anything else, at all?!"

She heard the voice let out a long sigh. "Unfortunately for you, there is in fact more. For you see, Sunset Shimmer, that monster will only bring more pain to both you, and everyone close to you personally. And what it will bring to you shall happen within the night tonight, as the moon takes its place in the sky."

"What are you talking about? What's going to happen to me?!" Sunset began raising her voice toward whatever was above her (Most likely nothing).

"I'm sorry, but that is all I can tell you for now," the voice finally finished. "Goodbye, Sunset Shimmer, and good luck."

Her eyes widened and she held out her arms upwards as to, hopefully, bring the voice back. "No, wait! Don't leave, please!"

It wouldn't return to give answers, forcing Sunset to give up. She sat on the dark ground, thinking over everything she was told.

'The thing that attacked me will somehow make things worse for me tonight?' she thought, looking down at her bandaged hand. She groaned, "Dammit! What was he talking about?"

The words that the voice echoed in her head, 'Due to a mistake they both made. It led them to suffer consequences... that monster will only bring more pain to both you, and everyone close to you personally.'

"Is there a chance these are both linked?" Sunset asked herself. "Could that thing have been the one that hurt Twilight and Rainbow Dash?"

Suddenly, all of the area surrounding Sunset began to crumble away. Sunset began to panic, looking all around for a way out, but there was now only the small patch of ground beneath her feet. The land had completely disappeared around the girl, causing her to begin falling into a white abyss.

Canterlot Hospital, Wednesday Evening
05:55PM

Sunset shot up from the pillow she was lying on. She saw that she now laid in a hospital bed. She looked around the room she was in, she saw at least five other patients sitting in the room and when she looked forward, she saw her friends, two of them. Them being Rarity and Fluttershy. Both of their faces lit up.

"Oh, thank the stars you're alright!" Rarity cheered as she jumped up and hugged Sunset.

Fluttershy stayed where she sat, on the opposite side of Rarity. "How are you feeling, Sunset?" she asked.

Sunset tried moving Rarity off of her, sat up and shrugged. "I feel fine, if not still a little dizzy but yeah, all good."

"That's lovely to hear! And, in better news, we also got the doctor to look at your hand," Rarity announced, sitting back in her seat.

Sunset perked up in her bed. "Really? What did they say?"

Rarity sat up. "Well for starters, they said that you turned out fine, no diseases or anything. But the thing is that not even they know the creature that bit you, even when we described it the wayvyoi did, which did surprise us, but hey, at least you're all right."

Sunset looked at her hand once again. It was in a new bandage. She then realised that there were a few people missing here.

"Wait, where are the others?" she asked.

Rarity tapped her chin. "Hmm... Well, I think Pinkie Pie and Applejack both went home," Rarity answered. "And as for Twilight and Rainbow Dash, I think they're both over at Twilight's house."

"They didn't come to visit?"

"Honestly, Darling, I'm sure they all have somewhere they need to be right now, and they would've come if they could, but at least you have us by your side."

Sunset smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Rarity tried changing the subject. "Hey, Sunset? Do you perhaps think that you're feeling well enough to go home tonight?" she asked.

That lead Sunset to, again, think over what that voice had told her. If something bad were to happen to her tonight, would it be best to stay, or would it be best to go home? "I guess so..." she said hesitantly. "Yeah, I think I could go home."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Is there something troubling you, dear?"

Sunset sighed shook her head. "No, no, everything's fine."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Rarity smiled. "Well, okay then. That's great." She stood up and Fluttershy followed. "We were actually about to go and get some food, do you want anything?"

"No, thank you, I'm fine for now."

Rarity's smiled dropped. "Well, if you're sure. We'll be back soon to take you home," she finished.

"See you soon, Sunset." Fluttershy waved.

"Bye, girls." Sunset waved her friends back.

Sunset was now alone again. At least this time she wasn't trapped in a black limbo. She laid back in her bed, rubbing her forhead. Whatever was coming, Sunset could only hope that it didn't come while her friends are with her. She didn't know what she would do if something hurt them. She'd have to make sure Rarity and Fluttershy leave as soon as possible when they take her home. Her head began to hurt just by thinking about what might happen. She might have just developed a headache.

Streets of Canterlot City, Wednesday Evening
06:23PM

As promised, Rarity and Fluttershy helped taking their fiery-haired friend home. They drove in a small pink car which was owned by Fluttershy. Sunset was in the back seat, lost in thought, looking out of the window. Rarity took notice of this.

"Is something the matter, Dear?" Rarity asked, looking through the mirror.

Sunset was pulled back. "Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah, I'm fine," she answered.

Rarity hummed questioningly. "Are you sure? You seem very lost."

Sunset waved her hands and tried put it on a fake smile. "Seriously, Rarity, I'm okay. You don't have to worry."

Something was very suspicious about Sunset, Rarity thought. She could practically see through her like an X-Ray. "Well, if you're sure..."

Nobody said a word to eachother the rest of the way home. All that could be heard was Fluttershy's quiet humming as she drove. Sunset continued looking out of the window, thinking very hard. As long as her friends weren't around her for what was about to happen, they should be fine.

Fluttershy finally pulled in next to Sunset's house. Trying to be nice, Rarity helped Sunset out of the car and lead her to her door. Sunset took her house key out from the inside pockets of her jacket and made her way into the house with her friends. Her first priority was to feed Ray, her leopard print lizard. Rarity and Fluttershy just sat on Sunset's couch as they watched her go about her house.

Rarity cleared her throat. "Is there anything at all we can help you with, Sunset?" she offered.

Sunset stopped what she was doing and looked at her friends. She saw an opportunity to get rid of them. "That's really kind, you guys, but I think I can handle it from here."

"Because if there's anything at all-"

"Rarity, seriously, I'm okay. You don't have to keep worrying about me," Sunset told her. "I mean, yes, I'm just out of hospital, but I honestly feel very great." Sunset ushered them out the door. "Now you two go on, spend the day together, have fun. No need to worry about me, okay?"

Rarity, now outside Sunset's house, sighed through her nose. "Well, okay but-"

"Okay! Great! See you! Bye!" Sunset quickly said before closing the door on them.

Rarity and Fluttershy were both surprised. Never before had Sunset just thrown her friends out of her house. Rarity did suspect something strange must have been going on in Sunset's head. She didn't know whether or not it was something worth really worrying about. Sunset has been acting very strange around them since they began taking her home. Rarity thought maybe she was a bit afraid of the beast, which she couldn't argue with. She knew even Applejack would worry about something like that, especially if it had a chance of not happening again.

They both walked back into Fluttershy's car and drove away. They didn't have any plans, so they were just going to drive around Canterlot and see if anything eventually comes to mind.

Sunset's House, Wednesday Evening
07:58PM

Sunset was pacing back and forth her living room. Nighttime was approaching, and it was coming faster than she would have wanted it to. As the seconds quickly ticked past, she only became more and more paranoid. She worried for everyone's safety, even Ray's, who was sleeping peacefully on a stick. To calm herself down, Sunset tried this breathing technique Twilight taught her. It didn't help out an awful lot but it did work slightly. Now having her breathing under control, she crashed onto the couch. She continued to breath deeply into her nose and out of her mouth.

'Maybe it was really nothing? Maybe I'm just thinking about this to much?' she thought to herself.

This whole thing being nothing is what Sunset desperately hoped for. That maybe her conversation with that voice was nothing more than a dream. There was no way that something could go terribly wrong tonight, right? She was completely safe in the comfort of her own home, right?! Oh, did Sunset want to believe that, that maybe she's just crazy.

After spending a long time lying on her couch, she decided that maybe sleeping it off would do the trick. So she made sure that Ray had plenty of food and water, changed into her pyjamas and tried to go to sleep. The problem was that her anxiety was keeping her up. She twisted and turned in her bed, trying to get comfortable, which she just could not do. She looked at the clock sitting on the drawers beside her bed.

11:22PM

Sunset was surprised that it was already that late. She felt like she had only been home for a little over an hour.

After failing again and again at going to sleep, Sunset finally gave up and sat up on her bed. She groaned in annoyance and then looked out of the window. She could see the moonlight shining into her home and onto her. And then suddenly, she began to feel... strange. All throughout her body she was shaking wildly. It felt like a ghost trying to possess her. She then shouted in fear and gripped hard onto her covers.

Sunset Shimmer was changing...

Chapter 4. Breaking News

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July 5th, Sunset's House, Thursday Morning
09:33AM

Morning time arrived. Sunset still laid on her bed and, as a bonus, she was still in one piece. Fit as a fiddle. Clean as a whistle. The morning sunlight flooded her room, reaching far enough to cover her face with the light. Sunset groaned as the sunlight hit her and woke her up. She realised that she wasn't hurt in anyway shape or form. She sighed with relief but then realised something. If she was fine, then that must mean...

Sunset gasped and scrambled to find her phone. She quickly texted all of her friends, asking them all the same thing.

r u there?
09:35

She then waited for everyone to reply, which took a while probably because it was still early.

yes. why? is something the matter?
09:38

yeah im here, but its still early sunset.
09:37

i think so... hold on!
09:38

yes. is there something wrong Sunset?
09:41

yes, but why are you texting me at 9 in the morning?
09:38

Everything was looking good, but then Twilight sent her back a pretty strange text.

Yeah, I'm here. But you might want to look at the news.
09:39

Sunset wasn't excited to find out why, but she hesitantly obliged. As she got out of her bed, she realised something. Her pyjamas were torn! The sleeves and the bottom half of her shirt was gone, as well as the legs of her trousers. It now looked like she was wearing very short shorts. Sunset couldn't think of what had happened to them, but she continued to walk downstairs into her living room and switched her TV onto the news channel. The picture showed someone being interviewed in front of a building with a broken down door. Sunset didn't recognise the building but from the looks of it, it appears to be a apartment block.

She listened closely to the interview. The person being interviewed was a boy with brown hair, light skin and blue eyes that looked about Sunset's age.

"So can you describe what happened to you last night?" the reporter asked.

The boy began explaining. "Well, I was just walking home from a friend's place and I decided to take a shortcut through the park, and while I'm about half way through I could hear something in the bushes. I went over to investigate it and then I heard loud growling. I backed away and walked home faster. I noticed that it was following me through the bushes so I began to run. I ran and ran until I reached the park's other entrance. And then it tried to pounce on me so I ran my ass back home faster than I've ever ran.
Luckily for me, my flat isn't far from the park.

"So, I make it to my block, ran right upstairs into my home and made sure I locked it. I could just hear it trying to tear down the door, which it did if you didn't notice." He pointed behind him to the broken down door. "Then I could hear its claws scraping against the floor as it made its way upstairs. Then I guess it couldn't find me 'cause I didn't hear it come near my door."

"Fascinating!" the reporter said. "And can you describe what this creature looked like? Fur? Size? Anything?"

Sunset made sure she listened closely to this part.

"Well, umm... it had golden fur and was just a bit taller than me. It looked like a very big dog or wolf or something."

Sunset was confused, that description didn't exactly fit the wolf she saw. The one she saw had dark grey fur, not golden. And it was much taller than he made it out to be.

She then shivered. There was a breeze entering her house. She looked around for the source of the breeze and traced it back to... her now broken front door. Now Sunset was very confused. Did someone break into her house last night? No, nothing was stolen. Did that same wolf break in? No, she probably would already be dead if that were the case, still, it might explain the torn PJs.

Suddenly, she began having a terrible idea of what exactly happened... The new wolf, the broken door, the ripped pyjamas, the whole thing about something happening last night. It all started to make sense to her now! The wolf the boy saw couldn't have just been any wolf... Could it be possible that it was actually Sunset? Could that creature have turned her into a werewolf?!

Her hands began shaking and she started hyperventilating. She couldn't believe it. That wolf was a werewolf the whole time, and now it was possible that it turned Sunset into one too!

Her panic attack was then interrupted by a new text from Twilight.

Did you see it, Sunset?
Isn't this amazing?!
09:47

Sunset snatched up her phone and began typing a reply.

i dont c how this is amazing twilight!
09:47

There's obviously another one out there, and this one doesn't seem as bad as the one you described, which will make it easier for me to find it, capture it and study it.
09:49

Sunset couldn't believe what she was hearing. From Twilight of all people.

are u listening to urself right now? do u not realise how stupid of an idea that is? u heard the guy, he barely made it back to his apartment!
09:50

I know it's a stupid idea, but this is an opportunity of a lifetime, Sunset! I can't let this pass!
09:51

u have to though. i was lucky enough to walk away with only a bitten hand. if u were to face it head on, then you might not make it back! please dont do anything stupid twilight!
09:53

Sunset hoped that she would be able to reassure her. She tightened her grip on her phone as she waited for Twilight to reply.

I know you're worried about me, Sunset. I'm even scared of doing this, but I desperately want to study this creature. I can't and I won't let this go.
And I think I can hold it off with my telekinesis. It won't even touch me.
09:55

Sunset sighed in disappointment.

ur making this sound as if itll be easy. but do u really think ur powers will b enough 2 hold it off?
09:56

To be honest, I really don't know, but I still do really want to try.
09:56

but the other wolf is still out there! what if you were to somehow run into both of them?!
09:57

That's ridiculous, Sunset. What are the odds that I'll run into both of them? I think you're beginning to worry about bit much.
09:58

technically i have every right 2 b worried twi. that thing is dangerous and i seriously think u will get urself in2 trouble if u faced it!
10:00

And I don't blame you, I really don't. But I think you underestimate our abilities and powers, especially mine. If you want to, you can come over later and I can show you my plan. Anyway, I've got to go now. Talk to you soon.
10:01

i guess i can do that. c ya twi and please think about what ur doing. i dont know what id do if u got badly hurt.
10:02

Twilight didn't reply after that.

Sunset turned off her phone and placed it next to her on the couch. Now there are bigger problems at hand. First she finds out that the wolf had (probably) turned her into one too, but now one of her best friends now wants to try and hunt her.

Suddenly, her phone received a new notification. She hurried to pick up her phone again and read the new message.

yeah im here.
10:04

Sunset rolled her eyes and placed her phone back down again. She had just come back from her visit from Equestria and already something bad is happening. It's like she can't go a single week without Equestrian magic running amok in Canterlot City. That is, if it is Equestrian magic.

She sighed through her nose and laid down on her couch. 'You'll be fine, Sunset Shimmer. You just gotta... chill out a bit. Yeah, that's it, you'll be fine,' she thought to herself. 'You just have to make sure nobody finds out, and try again to convince Twilight not to go hunting. Yeah... it's all good.' She continued sighing deeply until she was sure she was calm. No surprise to her at all, she couldn't wrap her head around all of this. How could she? So much is happening right now, and all of it currently points towards being Sunset's problem. Sunset then felt a breeze again, which caused her to look back up at her now broken door. "But first thing to do: get that door fixed."

Unknown Office, Thursday Morning
09:45AM

"Well, umm... it had golden fur and was just a bit taller than me. It looked like a very big dog or wolf or something."

"Are you implying that you may have seen a real werewolf?" the reporter asked.

The boy being interviewed shrugged. "I mean, probably. A lot of strange stuff has been happening over the last few years," he explained. "I'm willing to believe anything now."

The reporter held the mic back to his own mouth and looked directly at the camera. "And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. What the strange creature the people of this city were complaining about; could this thing really be a real life werewolf? More on the story as it develops."

Once the story had finally finished, the TV was switched off.

"You hear that, Dear?" a rather feminine posh voice said sarcastically. "A real werewolf. Might want to add that to your list, hmm?"

Now a more masculine voice laughed. "So it would seem. I've seen a lot of animals in my time, but none of them match what that boy there described." This man then walked into an office room with walls that were fully covered with decapitated heads of all different animals. "I've been faced with some mighty creatures, but I think that this one shall be my crowning achievement."

The man was pretty skinny and tall, with ginger hair and a mustache and very big triangular nose. His name was Woodland Musket and he was a hunter, the very best in Canterlot City (As he was always told). In his hunting career, he has collected the heads of many many animals: from canine to feline to farm animals to jungle animals and even forest animals.

Then there was his wife, who wasn't the fondest of his career but always supported him anyway. "Honestly, Dear, this is a fictional creature we are speaking of," Musket's wife sneered. "Such a beast couldn't possibly exist."

Musket, who now sat on the chair behind his desk, nodded on agreement. "And you are probably right. But I personally think it is worth a look."

His wife scoffed. "Oh please, this is probably just some ludicrous tale that the kids are all spreading. If I were you, I wouldn't even bother."

"Just a quick search and if I don't find anything, even clues, then I will drop the whole thing immediately. Deal?" He held out his hand for his wife to take.

His wife had to think about it for a moment. She crossed her arms and looked away from him. She really didn't want him wasting his time but she also worried that what this is may actually be real. Then she remembered that Musket was an expert on all things hunting related. She then hummed annoyingly and turned back to her husband. "Fine, but if you do not come back with even a spec of evidence then that is it." She shook Musket's hand.

Musket chuckled. "Believe me, Dear, I'll come back with something, you can count on it!"

His wife nodded at him. "I'm sure you will," she said before leaving the room.

Musket sighed and walked over to a drawer. He opened it and pulled out a large, dusty, wooden plaque. He blew the dust off and revealed a small gold plate at the bottom. On the plate, there was writing. It read, 'WEREWOLF' in a black and bold font. "I've finally found you, you vile beast! I will make sure I catch you, if it's the last thing I do." He placed the plaque on his desk and took down a large musket gun that was hung on the wall. "You can count on it!"

JTwilight's House, Thursday Afternoon
01:23PM

Sunset arrived at Twilight's house. Whatever this plan of her's was, Sunset hoped it was at least a good idea. She knows that Twilight will probably go with this plan no matter what, but it was still worth trying to change her mind.

She knocked on the door and waited for Twilight (Or anyone at least) to answer. She could hear someone on the other side unlock the door and they then opened it.

"Oh, Sunset Shimmer! What a surprise!" Twilight's mother said happily.

Sunset smiled. "Hi Mrs. Velvet! Is Twilight here? She said she wanted to show me something," she asked.

"Yes, she's just in her bedroom. Come in, please." Twilight Velvet opened the door all the way and gestured for Sunset to come inside. "Would you like some tea?"

"No thank you, I'm fine for now." Sunset began walking up the stairs to her friend's bedroom.

"Well, alright, but if you need anything, feel free to ask."

"Thank you, Mrs. Velvet." Sunset always loved how sweet Twilight's parents were, especially her mother.

Twilight was in her bedroom standing in front of a chalkboard. She was looking over her plan while making here and there changes to it. "Maybe if I could just change this here..." she said while dragging a stick of chalk across the board. "And perhaps over here... aaand I think I'm done!" She stepped back to admire her work. She smirked at her own handy work.

Twilight was caught by surprise from someone trying to open her door. "Who is it?" she called.

"It's Sunset!" Sunset said on the other side. "Can you unlock the door please?"

"Oh, yeah... sorry!" Twilight began taking off the locks on her bedroom door. She then let Sunset in her room. "I'm so glad I get to show you this!"

"It better be some plan..." Sunset said, unsure.

"Oh, it is! Come have a look!" Twilight brung Sunset over to her chalkboard.

Sunset looked at the plan and was surprised at how seriously Twilight was taking this. Almost the entire chalkboard was covered with chalk of all different colours. The majority of the board was taken up by a large map that looked like the forest just beyond the park. "You sure thought of everything..." she complimented.

"Why, thank you," Twilight said confidently. "I had to make sure I covered every little detail, and possibly a little more."

"No kidding. I mean, look at this!" Sunset stepped closer towards the board. She noticed little pictures within the map. "What's all this?" She pointed towards one of them.

Twilight looked at where Sunset was pointing. "Those are traps. I'm going to make all kinds of them: I've got nets, ropes and even bear traps!"

Sunset imagined how that might feel, being caught in a bear trapped. She hissed in pain at the thought. "Bet he's going to be feeling that in the morning..."

Twilight herself even hissed at the thought. "Yeah, it's really going to hurt if it gets caught in one of them..."

A thought went by Sunset's mind as she looked over the map more. "So, Twilight, if you somehow catch this thing..." She felt nervous to ask. "...what do you plan on doing to it?"

"Well, nothing bad really. I just want to find and prove to myself, and obviously others, that such a beast actually exists in our world. There are werewolves in Equestria, right?" Twilight asked.

"There are these things called timberwolves," Sunset answered. "Werewolves, though? I don't think they exist. Or even normal wolves for that matter. Anything else?"

"Oh, right! Where was I?" Twilight tapped her chin. "I may also want to conduct a few little experiments. Nothing terrible. I just want to see if I can analyse whatever magic courses through it, if it is Equestrian magic."

"So, how do you plan on holding it down? Do you just have a canister of anesthesia laying around or something?"

Twilight didn't respond. Instead, she just opened her closet and pulled out a metal canister. It had a label that read 'ANESTHESIA'.

Sunset was surprised but also quite shocked at the same time. "Where in the world did you get that?"

Twilight smiled confidently and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I have many methods of which I do not share with others."

Sunset raised her eyebrow.

Twilight huffed. "Okay! My dad helped me. He managed to persuade his boss to allow him to take a canister out of the hospital."

"Why would his boss just let him take a can of anesthesia home?"

"I dunno. He probably said something like 'if there was an emergency at the house,' or some crap."

Sunset laughed. "And his boss bought it-"

"Moving on!" Twilight interrupted. "I've also looked at possible places where it might hang out while waiting. I've noticed that it usually likes to hide in the darkest places as an act of camouflage, so it'd be best if most traps are set up in the bushes." She pointed to circled pictures of what was supposed to be bushes. Instead, they looked like a green brain.

Sunset then noticed little faces at the bottom of the map. "Twilight," she pointed to them. "who are they?"

Twilight looked to where she was pointing. She was hesitant on telling her. "Oh, them? Uuh... well, that one there is me and that one... is Rainbow Dash..."

Sunset was suddenly shocked. This must have been what the voice was trying to tell her, it had to be. That thing that hurt her friends was because of this. But still, who did it? Was it the other one, or was it her? Either way, she can now see how in danger they are. She grabbed Twilight's shoulders. "Twilight, you can't do this!"

Twilight tried taking Sunset's hands off of her. "But I must! I have to figure this monster out!"

"No! You don't understand! You'd both be in grave danger!"

Twilight sighed. "I told you, I know that this is dangerous, but I know what I have to do! With this plan, it'll be like we're invincible!"

Sunset didn't notice she began raising her voice. "You still don't understand! Your plan will fail!"

"How do you know?! You haven't spent all night scribbling down a plan, have you?!"

"I know because I-" She quickly stopped herself from finishing. She then looked at Twilight guiltily.

"Because you what?" Twilight asked more calm.

Sunset couldn't bring herself to tell her. "I-I... I gotta go!" She quickly rushed out of Twilight's house.

Twilight was left stunned by Sunset's sudden take off. Sunset was acting very strange, and it worried Twilight. Something was clearly on her mind and she won't tell her.

Then she heard a yawn from her pet dog Spike. "What's up with her?" he asked, stretching.

Twilight sighed and petted Spike's back. "I don't know, Spike. She's just... a little upset with my plan."

"Can you really blame her, though?"

"I guess not, but I really want this to happen, Spike. I want to find out more about this creature."

Spike jumped onto Twilight's lap. "Do you think your plan will really work? Figured out all the holes?"

Twilight looked from Spike back up to her chalkboard. "Yeah, I think I have."

"When will you start on this?"

"Geez, Spike!" Twilight laughed. "You've just woken up and you've already asked so many questions."

Spike shrugged. "Sorry! I'm just very curious, is all."

Twilight smiled at her dog. "Tonight should be our first night. I've made sure to check up on Rainbow's plans and she's free tonight, so why not start now?"

"And what about Sunset?"

"Well, she wasn't the first one to say that this was a bad idea, but she definitely took it worse than everyone else, which was pretty surprising."

"Well, she does care an awful lot of your safety. Even though you do have your cool psychic magic."

"Thanks, Spike." Twilight picked him up and hugged him.

Chapter 5. Forces

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July 5th, Streets of Canterlot City, Thursday Afternoon
01:46PM

Sunset continued to run straight home from Twilight's house, after almost completely freaking out right in front of her. She mentally facepalmed just thinking of it of it. This wasn't a good idea, she didn't know why she decided to come in the first place.

Sunset eventually stopped running to catch her breath. Apparently, she had run off in a random direction rather than the path home. She leaned against a shop's wall and tried to clear her mind.

'This is just some nightmare, right? God,
I hope it is...' she thought. 'This is just a nightmare and I'm going to wake up...' she closed her eyes tight. "Now!" Sunset said out loud. She was still in the same street, on the same walk, at the same time. Being crazy, she tried again. "Now!" Sunset groaned. "Now! Now! Now! Now!"

"What are you doing?" asked a new voice.

Sunset turned around and saw the Crystal Prep student, Sugarcoat. "Oh, uh... hi, Sugarcoat. How are you?" she nervously asked.

Sugarcoat crossed her arms. "You didn't answer my question. What are you doing, spinning around, shouting 'Now!' in the middle of the street?"

"Uuh... no reason..." She gave the Crystal Prepper a wild, and obviously nervous, smile.

Sugarcoat raised her eyebrow at the crazy girl. "Sunset, I've may not have known you or your friends (except for Twilight) for a very long time, but I think I know you well enough to tell when something is up, especially when you act like that."

Sunset didn't know what to say. Sugarcoat was probably one of the most direct girls she's ever met. She then shook her head and tried smiling again. "Yeah, sorry. I'm just... having a bit of trouble with Twilight at the moment."

"What happened?"

"Well... we just had separate opinions on this thing that she so desperately wants to study, but I tell her it's a bad idea and then shortly after, I left her," Sunset explained.

Sugarcoat's expression didn't change. "Seriously? Is that it?"

"It's a lot easier to understand if you knew what we disagreed with eachother with." Sunset repeatedly shifted her arms in opposite directions up and down.

"But clearly I won't get to know because you're not going to tell me, right?"

Sunset opened her mouth to speak but instead left it closed and she slowly nodded.

Sugarcoat huffed. "Whatever. I'm in a rush anyway, so I guess I'll see you later, Sunset." She began walking down the street away from Sunset.

"Hey, Sugarcoat?" Sunset called, holding her arm out before Sugarcoat. "Before you go, could you pinch me?"

Sugarcoat's eyes widened at the bizarre question. "Never have I ever been asked such a weird question..."

"Would you please just do it?"

Sugarcoat walked back up to Sunset, still wide-eyed, and gave her a pinch on the arm. Almost immediately, Sunset pulled back her arm in pain. Now, she had a red mark on her arm and, unfortunately, it's going to have to fade away on its own, for this was no dream.

"Happy now?" Sugarcoat asked. "Or do you want me to do it again?"

"No, no!" Sunset stepped back to make sure Sugarcoat couldn't touch her again. "I'm fine. Thanks, though."

"Yeah, whatever. Look, I really have to go now. See you again soon, Sunset." Sugarcoat began walking away again, this time managing to get away.

"Bye, Sugarcoat." Sunset waved her goodbye.

Sugarcoat stayed facing forward and waved backwards at Sunset.

Now she knew for sure that this definitely wasn't a dream and that she was currently living in a hell. A hell of which only includes herself and her friends.

She frantically shook her head. She had to get her mind off of this whole werewolf fiasco, at least for now, because there was probably a chance she'd go insane with fear and try and isolate herself only to keep everybody safe.

She started walking again. Not in the direction to her home, but to a place where she could clear her head.

After a while of walking, Sunset arrived at the entrance to Canterlot's large park, the same one where that boy was jumped. She travelled deep into the forest of the park until she found this large pond. She sat at the edge of the water onto the soft grass. She slipped off her boots and laid her head down. Whenever she felt stressed out, she'd always come to this pond for it was the most peaceful place she knew. The grass was always very soft and warm enough to even sleep on. It was also very quiet here, so no one could interrupt while she tried to rest her head.

She breathed deeply out of her mouth and smiled. This place never fails to do its job.

Suddenly, she begins to feel very strange again. Similarly to when she went out while with her friends. Much like last time, her eyes closed and she was gone.

Unknown Place, Thursday ???
??:??PM

Sunset woke up in a place that was all too familiar. "Not again," she said, disappointment, as she stood up and looked around the black limbo. "Why am I here, again?"

"You are failing, Sunset Shimmer," the voice said flatly.

"Failing? Failing how, and what?" Sunset could probably tell what, but she wanted to make sure.

"The condition of your friends from your last visit, time is coming together. If you can't act now, they will become hurt."

"I tried to tell Twilight to not go through with this, but she didn't listen to me!" Sunset snapped and sat back down, wrapping her arms around her legs. "Then she backed me into a corner and I left as soon as possible."

There was a long pause.

"What did she tell you?"

Sunset sniffed. "Well, she said that she did feel scared of doing this but she apparently has to do this. Then I told her how I know why this was a terrible idea, especially for the fact that she now wants to go for this new wolf." She sighed. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Proceed."

"Am I really this new werewolf?"

The voice hummed and then paused again. "I'm afraid to say, but yes, you are in fact that beast."

Sunset nodded. "Which is the reason why I left Twilight. I thought I was this monster from the beginning, and now I know that my own friend wants to hunt me."

"What is it she wants from you exactly?"

Sunset shrugged. "She says that she just wants to run a few tests and doesn't want to harm me, but you should see the traps she's setting up."

"What is worrying you more?"

Sunset know the answer to that straight away. "The safety of my friends, and those who I might end up harming."

"What about the safety of yourself? Are you worried about that at all? There may be people who would want to harm you."

"Yeah, but I don't know who would be stupid enough to do that." Then, something clicked in her head. "Wait, is that why I'm still here?"

The voice paused once again.

"Okay, seriously, you have got to stop with these long pauses. It's very uncomfortable and nerve-wracking," Sunset scolded.

"All I can say now is that you must watch out, for dark nights will bestow upon you, Sunset Shimmer. Goodbye, may we see each other again soon."

Then there was complete silence. As a repeat of last time, the ground all around her started falling apart piece by piece. This time, it more surprised her than scared her as she again fell into an infinite white abyss.

Sunset’s Secret Place, Thursday Evening
07:32PM

Sunset's head sprung up as she awoke. She was still lying by the pond and, thankfully, fine. That voice, so far, had done nothing but make Sunset more and more paranoid as to what was coming for her. First it tells her that she's a werewolf, and now there's actually something, other than Twilight, out for her. But what exactly? Or who?

Sunset looked up at the sky. It was sun was beginning to set over the horizon, so she still had time to get home before her transformation. So, she put back on her boots and began running back home.

Twilight's House, Thursday Evening
07:48PM

Twilight had invited Rainbow Dash over and they both went over their game plan. Rainbow Dash often made her suggestions and Twilight would make changes to the board. Twilight was very surprised as to how serious Rainbow was taking this. Then again, she did say she'd get her revenge on that wolf for Sunset's sake.

"So, Rainbow Dash, go over what we just talked about," Twilight said, pointing a stick of chalk at her friend.

"Place traps wherever it can hide; always stay close to eachother; and flash it with the flashlights to distract it whenever it gets too close," Rainbow Dash listed.

"And remember, if at any point we have to use our powers, we'll use them, got it?"

"Got it!"

Twilight smiled confidently and placed her chalk back onto the chalkboard. She then began walking out of the room. Until Rainbow Dash stopped her.

"Wait, we're doing this now?" she asked. "I mean, it's still pretty early. Why not later?"

"Do you know how many traps we have to set up? If we want to do this tonight, we set these traps up now," Twilight explained.

"I guess so. Fine then." Rainbow shrugged and followed after her egghead friend.

Canterlot Park Forest, Thursday Night
09:10PM

Surprisingly, the girls finished setting up all of the traps much faster than Twilight predicted. That being mainly because of her rainbow friend's superspeed.

Twilight scratched her head. "It looks as though we still have time left to kill. We should probably go check up on all of the traps, see if anything had set one off."

"I'm on it!" Rainbow quickly announced before speeding off into the woods. She was back again only seconds later. "A squirrel had set off a net trap, so I helped it out and set the trap back up." She looked at Twilight. "Oh, uhh... you got a little something..." She pointed at Twilight's hair.

Apparently, Rainbow's speed had messed up Twilight's appearance. Her glasses began slipped right down her nose, her hair was a mess and some leaves were caught in it. Twilight quickly fixed herself up and loudly sighed. "Okay, so it looks like we're going to have to wait for another while." She began pacing back and forth while tapping her chin. "What to do? What to do?"

Then, something caught the attention of both girls. It sounded like a whip cracking. It was one of Twilight's traps nearby. Both girls looked at eachother confusingly and went to investigate it. As they got closer, they could hear someone shouting.

"What is this compulsory?! Get me down this instant!"

Twilight and Rainbow then broke into a slow run and found a man hanging from his ankle on a rope trap. As soon as they got close enough for the man to realise, he quickly spun around 180° and pointed a large gun at them.

"Don't shoot!" Twilight quickly shouted, holding her arms up. "We're going to get you down from there, sir."

The man confusingly hummed and then lowered his gun. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh nothing, just going on a little hunt for a monster," Rainbow Dash answered as she untied the rope.

"A hunt for a monster? I presume you are talking about the werewolf from the television- oof!" he finished as he fell to the ground, unbound from the rope.

The girls lifted him back onto his feet. He turned to them and rubbed the dirt off of his arms. "Do you girls have any idea what that thing may be capable of? It could tear you both into shreds!"

"And what you may not know, mister, is that we've fought against many demons the last couple of years," Rainbow gloated. "I doubt a werewolf can compare to what we've faced in the past."

He raised an eyebrow. "Demons, you say? That was you girls?"

Twilight answers this time, "Well, it was us along with five others. But my friend here is right, compare it to what we've seen. That werewolf probably couldn't beat those standards."

The man nodded assuringly. "Hmm, I see. So, I take it that you two were the ones who set up all of the traps? Oh, I'm sorry! Where are my manners?" He stuck out a hand. "Woodland Musket, at your service."

Twilight's eyes widened. "W-W-Woodland Musket? The Woodland Musket?!"

Musket chuckled. "I presume you have heard of me, yes?"

Twilight smiled widely. "Yeah, I've heard of you! I've read all of your books and they are A-MA-ZING!" she shouted with excitement.

"Ah, a big fan of the 'Hunt for Monstrosities' series, how I love it! It's not everyday I get to meet a fan such as yourself, Miss...?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, heh-heh." Twilight cleared her throat. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and this here is my friend Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash only waved.

"It is a pleasure," Musket said. "So do tell me, why do you think you are capable of hunting down such a beast?"

"Two words, book-man! Super powers!" Rainbow announced.

"That, and all of the traps around the forest," Twilight finished her friend off. "I made sure to think of absolutely everything: hiding spots; possible exits; advantage points, you name it, I've looked at it."

"Fascinating!" Musket complimented. "You really are such a well organised female, I must say!"

Twilight blushed and curled her hair around a finger. "Thank you, Mr. Musket!"

"Please, Twilight, call me Musket. Now come with me. I must bring you both to my office!" Musket began walking out of the forest.

"Wait, what about the wolf?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Don't you worry! We'll be back in time to find it."

Rainbow looked at Twilight. She just shrugged and started following after the hunter. Rainbow then looked deep into the forest before catching up with everyone.

Musket's Office, Thursday Night
09:26PM

Musket opened the door into his office, allowing the two girls to step inside. To Rainbow Dash, his office looked like a principal's office only bigger. On the walls were the decapitated heads of other animals hung up by a wooden frame. Musket took a seat on the black leather chair on the other side of his desk.

Twilight had the look of amazement drawn on her face. "Wow, you've surely found a lot of animals."

Musket leaned back. "Ah yes, for years upon years I have had this job. They labelled me as best in the whole city which really gave me the inspiration to make my book series." He sniggered. "It's really smacking that 'Daring Do' out of the park."

Rainbow turned to Musket in shock. "You did not say what I think you just said..."

"Are you a fan of that A.K. Yearling woman?" he asked.

"More than just a fan! Daring Do is literally the greatest book series of ALL TIME! Nothing can compete with it!"

Twilight spun her hand 90° back and forth, giving her an 'eh'.

"Twilight, you read those books too," Rainbow said, pointing a finger at her.

"Well, yeah, but it's not my most favourite book series."

"You're dead to me," Rainbow told her 'friend' dryly.

Twilight continued looking at all of the different animal heads and one frame in particular really got her attention. That reason being because it was empty. The name under it was carved in a gold plate saying 'WEREWOLF' in big black letters.

"I see you have noticed the one I still haven't found," Musket said, now appearing next to Twilight. "The creature my family has been on the hunt for for generations."

Twilight turned to Musket. "Wait, the werewolf existed before all of this?"

"Blimey, yes! And everytime my family has come even close to catching it, it attacks and then disappears back into the shadows!"

"Wow, but why has this one only just began attacking again?"

"Unfortunately, I don't exactly know. These are strange creatures, but I do know that they'll stop at nothing when it comes to hunting for their prey. Anyway, we ought to get going soon. Feel free to look around, girls."

Twilight took this opportunity to its fullest and looked for any other information on the werewolf. She looked in drawers, on shelves, anywhere. She took note on what she found, but there was something that was very interesting to her. A large, but old, page. It showed pictures of a werewolf, a moon and a sun. There was also written text which she read in her head.

As the sun sets, and the moon shall arise
A beast you shall become and finally rise
You read during the beginning hour
And shall be granted with great power
Granted with strength stronger than man
Sense strong and speed through the land
And finally be given the mind of one
For a beast you shall now become

Twilight made sure to jot down the passage and made a mental note to look it over when this is over.

Musket picked up the gun he left on his desk. "So," He cocked the gun. "I'm going out to find this thing. You two will stay here."

Rainbow perked up. "What? Nuh-uh! We're going to find that wolf thing with you!"

Musket moaned and looked at the girls. "I know you two think you are capable of handling this, but this monster is extremely dangerous. I don't want to be the one responsible for the death of two high schoolers. That's why I brought you here, to keep you out of harm's way."

Twilight crossed her arms. "I think you've forgotten, but I've figured out all of the possible outcomes in my plan. If we can just follow every step correctly, we can find this thing! You can't do this without us, Musket."

"But I-I..." Musket knew that he could use the help, but he didn't want their blood on his hands. He has looked at Twilight's plan and found it amazingly planned out, and if Musket were to do this without them, then he'd have no plan to follow. He loudly groaned, "Alright fine, but you two will do exactly as I say without question, got it?"

"Got it!" Twilight and Rainbow said in unison.

"Looks like we are all part of a team, now," Twilight said, holding out a hand.

Musket took the hand confidently and shook it. "Yes, I'd say we are. Lead the way, Twilight Sparkle. I'll make sure to follow your lead."

Chapter 6. Encounters

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July 5th, Canterlot Park Forest, Thursday Night
10:25PM

The team of three arrived at the edge of the forest once again. They all had confidence on their faces. They will find this wolf even if it will be the last thing they do. They all stepped forward and officially began the hunt for the werewolf.

Twilight felt as though her plan has a good chance of success, and with Musket on their side, their chances were greater. With the amount of hours that was put into the plan, she couldn't possibly think of anymore faults. It was perfect. She was ready.

Rainbow Dash was the most confident of them all. Everything that has happened to Sunset was the wolf's doing, and Rainbow promised to herself that she would avenge Sunset. From what Twilight has taught her about werewolves, she realises that she can't really harm the werewolf, since werewolves are most weak against anything silver. So helping out capturing it will have to do to avenge their friend. She prepared herself before this. She was ready.

Woodland Musket, though he was a professional hunter, was feeling a little afraid. The history with his family and the werewolves weren't exactly the most pleasing tales to tell. He wanted to become the first in his whole family to finally hunt the beast down and come back with its head ready to be hung up on his wall. To make sure he was prepared, he took the extra step and packed himself spare ammunition and not just any ammunition, but silver bullets. He was ready.

They were all ready. They knew they were ready as soon as they all stepped inside its territory together as a team, and tonight they will do whatever they possibly can to find it. The forest was large, so they will be searching for a long time, but they hoped to find it before the sun rose.

"Are you girls ready for this?" Musket asked. "This is your last chance to back out."

"Are you kidding? I'm always ready! Let's just do this already!" Rainbow shouted, throwing her fist in the air.

"I was up almost all of last night making this plan, I'm not backing out of this now," Twilight said, holding up her map for everyone to see.

"Alright then. Where to now, Twilight?" Musket watched as Twilight unrolled the map. It was covered with red X's, probably to show all of the traps.

Twilight traced her finger across the map. Her finger landed on a section of the park just next to a small cliff. She then pointed everyone in the direction of the cliff and began to search. They kept cautious as they explored, for their target could be lurking anywhere in the woods. They passed a bunch of Twilight's traps along the way and made sure to avoid them.

July 6th, Canterlot Park Forest, Friday Morning
00:49AM

So far, during the hunt, they've all turned out unsuccessful. There had been occasions where they had seen footprints or claw marks on the trees and sometimes they even heard the howling of a wolf, no doubt it was their one.

"Ugh! Where is this damn thing?!" Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Patience, dearie. This creature may be a wild animal, but it is intelligent. It knows a threat when they see it," Musket explained.

"I'm surprised how it hasn't come out to attack us already. Aren't we seen as it's prey?" Rainbow asked.

"Anything smaller than it is seen as it's prey. Which is why we came prepared! That blimey beast will never know what hit it-"

"Wait, guys, what's that over there?" Twilight pointed towards what looked like a very small building. They got closer to it and saw that it was a small, abandoned, wooden hut. "I think we should look inside."

Rainbow held her arms up. "Are you crazy, Twilight?! What if it's hiding in there?"

"Then I've always got my gun to blow it away!" Musket held up his gun.

Twilight pointed Musket's gun down to his feet. "Put that thing away! We don't want to kill it!"

"What?!" Rainbow and Musket said in unison. Rainbow sounding more dramatic.

"I never said I wanted to kill the wolf. That wasn't part of the plan. I just wanted to see if it existed or not and even see what kind of magic it possessed if it did at all."

Musket placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed. "Twilight, you are very intelligent but I don't think you understand. This beast is extremely dangerous and is a threat to the people of this city. Letting it live will just leave everyone in danger. Do you understand me?"

Twilight shook his hand off. "But that werewolf is a person. Killing it as a werewolf would be just as bad as killing a person. I can't let you do this, Musket."

Then suddenly, a canine like shriek came from somewhere in the forest. Rainbow was the only one who heard it, as Twilight and Musket continued bickering about whether or not the werewolf should live. Without gaining the attention of her team, Rainbow Dash snuck off to investigate.

She looked all around, pushing branches out of her way to help her see. She followed the noises of whimpering. It sounded like a dog crying. She eventually came across one of Twilight's bear traps. Along with the trap was their target which had its foot caught in it. Rainbow hesitantly stepped closer towards the beast. It had golden fur, a fiery coloured pattern along its back and teal eyes. Rainbow stepped on and broke a twig, gaining the attention of the werewolf. It began growling at the sight of her and tried getting up but then fell as pain shot into its paw. It then began to whimper again.

Despite the fact that it was a dangerous beast that was likely to kill her, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel quite sorry for it. Yes, she was afraid of it and did say she'd want to avenge her friend for the pain the beast had brought onto her. But then again, she thought about how this one was another werewolf to the one Sunset explained.

They both stared directly at eachother. Then Rainbow knelt down to it and spoke. "Hey there, uh... wolf thing. You doing okay there?"

She expected the wolf to have torn her to shreds, but it didn't react. It continued just looking at her. Rainbow looked at where the trap had caught it. The trap latched on tight onto its leg. It didn't bleed, but it did look painful.

Rainbow then sighed out of her nose. "Okay, here's the deal: I'm gonna let you free and in return, you don't rip my head off, sound cool?" She couldn't believe what she was saying.

The wolf responded by licking her face. That sounded like a yes to Rainbow Dash. So, she went over to its back leg and tried with all of her strength to pull the trap apart. It was extremely tight, but she managed to pull it far enough so the wolf could escape. She then quickly took her fingers out of the trap for them to only just not get cut off by it.

Rainbow sighed with relief but then her attention was brought back to the wolf, who was now standing on all of its legs again, staring directly as her. She shuffled back against a tree as the werewolf slowly came closer to her. Rainbow tried screaming for help, but her voice refused to let out any sound. Her breathing became insanely fast as the creature was now feet away from her, preventing any sort of escape. It growled loudly at her, while also licking its lips, revealing its sharp teeth. Rainbow Dash continued trying to move back, despite the fact that her back was pressed right up against the bark of the tree.

As the wolf was now right up to Rainbow Dash's face - and as she prepared herself for her inevitable demise - they both heard the rustling of bushes. Then Musket and Twilight appeared.

"Step away from Rainbow Dash, you foul beast!" Musket shouted pointing his gun towards the wolf.

The wolf barked loudly and began running away back into the woods.

Rainbow continued breathing fast as tears began pouring from her eyes out of fear. Twilight helped her back onto her feet and Rainbow quickly wrapped her arms around Twilight, soaking her shoulder with tears.

Twilight pushed Rainbow in front of her and started inspecting her for injuries. "Are you okay, Rainbow Dash? Did that thing hurt you?!"

Rainbow slowly shook her head, unable to speak with her breathing being so fast.

"What were you thinking, girl?!" Musket snapped. "That thing could have killed you if we hadn't noticed you'd gone!"

Rainbow Dash didn't listen to him. All she wanted to do now was go home, she had seen enough for one night. "C-Can we just go home p-please?"

Musket cooled himself down and huffed. "Yes, I suppose we should leave it for another night. Haven't caught it yet, but we've made progress." He began walking out of the woods. "Come on, girls, I'll escort you out. We can try again tomorrow night."

"Actually, I think Rainbow Dash should skip the next one. Just so she can get her mind around things. Is that fine with you, Dash?" Twilight asked, gently patting her friends back.

Rainbow cleared her eyes of tears with her hand. "Yeah, I think I should skip the next one."

Once they all found their way out of the forest, Musket left them to walk home by the entrance. Twilight wanted to walk Rainbow home, in case she had gotten too afraid of it appearing again. It was quiet on their walk to Rainbow's house.

Once they finally reached her door, Rainbow pulled Twilight into another hug, thanking her and Musket for saving her. Twilight smiled warmly, hugging her friend back. Then, Rainbow went inside her house, leaving her purple friend alone.

On her own way home, Twilight remained very cautious. The streets were very empty and quiet. Too quiet for her liking. The wolf could literally be anywhere. Twilight was very thankful that Rainbow only lived a few blocks away from her. She even kept her guard up walking through the large gate to her house. She wasn't going to let her guard down, even if she's safely home.

Sunset’s Secret Place, Friday Morning
06:22AM

As the sun was finally beginning to rise, the werewolf sat by the lake looking up at the sky. The sun could be seen glistening over the trees, lighting up the sky with light blue.

The wolf began twitching. Then, it started barking loudly as if it were in pain. Lying on the ground, shaking, as it began to change. Its tail was pulled back into the body, the arms and legs became skinnier and the muzzle became shorter, looking more like a person's nose. The barking of the wolf transformed into a person's voice groaning. A girl's voice.

Then after, Sunset Shimmer was now laying on the grassy ground. She sat up and looked at her surroundings. She had changed back in a different location for some reason. Last time, it took her back to her house and onto her bed. Now, it left her at, what she called, her venting space. She didn't know an awful lot about werewolves other than how they're vicious creatures that have many confusing laws. One of them being, where they leave to transform.

She realised she couldn't stay in that one spot forever, so she picked herself up and began walking home. But not long after, she then fell of one side. Her ankle hurt for some reason. Whatever that wolf was doing, it had apparently gotten itself hurt. It didn't feel like it was broken or anything, it just badly hurt. So, she limped her way back to her house. Judging by how low the sun was, it looked very early in the morning, so she probably wouldn't get caught limping down the street.

Since the wolf had broken down her door last time, she thought it would be a good idea to leave her back door open so it didn't break anything else. She knew it'd be risky, but it's more worth leaving it open rather than having it broken down and never being able to close it again.

Upon hearing her enter her house again, Ray, Sunset's leopard lizard, woke up and smiled at the sight of her. Sunset smiled back and she lifted him out of his glass cage and sat him on her shoulder. They both nuzzled their cheeks together.

"You hungry, Ray?" Sunset asked her pet. Ray's eyes lit up and he smiled at her, his way of saying yes. Sunset laughed, "I thought you'd be. I think there's still some crickets left for you~" Sunset took her lizard into the kitchen and looked out a bowl and cereal for her and a tub of crickets she stored for Ray. She scooped a couple of them out and placed them, and Ray, onto the table. They both ate their breakfast together.

Then, Sunset took Ray into the living room with her and they both watched TV together. Despite all of the bad that's happening right now, it always felt nice to pretend none of it even happened and just continue living life like any other.

Sunset's House, Friday Morning
10:42AM

Sunset was having a rest on her couch, until she was suddenly woken up because of her phone. She looked around for her phone and found it beside her alarm clock in her bedroom. She checked the phone and found that she received a message from Pinkie Pie.

hey sunny. jst checkin 2 c if u want 2 hang out with every1 again since wednesday didnt work out
10:42AM

sounds good pinks. what do you guys have planned?
10:43AM

nothing yet. being honest here. im askin every1 1 at a time. rd says she doesnt want 2 hang 2day
10:44AM

what? why not?
10:44AM

dunno. she jst said that she was tired or sumthin
10:45AM

'Strange,' Sunset thought. 'It's not like Rainbow to miss hanging out with us.'

okay then... where should we meet up?
10:46AM

i was thinkin maybe that cafe at the mall around lunch. we hvnt been ther a lot hv we?
10:47AM

cant say we have. anyway, sounds great. see you guys soon.
10:48AM

c ya sunset!
10:48AM

Now, she had plans again. Hang out with her friends, possibly try again to turn Twilight's train of thought around (There's still a low chance of that happening) and try and not get so worried or panicked if anyone brings the werewolf up. To her, it sounded easy, when in reality she has almost no control over anything. Then there was the hangout with her friends. The only thing that could really interfere would be that voice that keeps warning her, which would probably only interrupt her day again if she was doing something wrong. But most importantly, she had to stay positive and everything could turn out okay.

Sunset went into her bathroom and got washed in the shower. After that, she got dressed again in her regular wardrobe. By the time she was prepared to leave, she still had time to spare, so she sat back down onto the couch and turned the TV back on. For a few minutes, she randomly typed in channel numbers, having the thought that it could surprise her with something. All she did find were channels that didn't even speak English, crappy music channels and gambling channels. Being disappointed with the network, she just chose to watch the news channel. Perhaps there could be an interesting story or two. "Okay, news, surprise me!" She said pressing her back against the couch.

"Good afternoon, Canterlot City. This is your news anchor Mic Clip," the anchor introduced himself. "Our top story today comes from none other than one of Canterlot's most popular, Woodland Musket."

Sunset was sure she heard that name somewhere before, but she couldn't exactly remember where. She listened close.

Mic continued, "Late last night, he posted a blog regarding this week's monster, the werewolf, as to what everyone has been calling it. Mentioning things such as an encounter that one of his new 'partners' have had with the monster. He said as I quote, 'I only managed to step in and save her just as the monster was directly in front of her. It was a close call, but we managed to leave the night unharmed. Wherever this monster may be, let it be sure to everyone that my new team and I will not stop until it is found. As for now, stay indoors at night; this thing hides within the shadows greater than a ghost.'"

Sunset swallowed a lump in her throat and began sweating with nerves as she watched on.

"Unfortunately, no footage or picture was shared of this werewolf, and people do deny this creature's existence. Some have commented saying it's all fake and used to start panic and drama within the city. It may still be a while before something is finally shown of this beast, so, we can only leave off with a question today. Does the werewolf really exist? Can our Woodland Musket bring it to justice? More on the story as it develops. And now for our weather report."

Sunset just stared at the TV. The remote fell out of her hand, falling onto the floor. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't think. The more she tried to think, more panic built inside her. This Woodland Musket person appeared to be a hunter. And not just a hunter, but the hunter of the city. And now, he was after her. 'Great, now I can add this to the "Bad Things That Are Currently Happening to Sunset" list,' she thought. She rested her face in her hands. "I literally come back from Equestria and that same night I'm cursed with becoming a werewolf. Absolutely splendid!" she yelled folding her arms angrily. "I can't wait to see what bad thing happens next!" Then she saw the time on the TV. "Crap! I gotta go! Bye, Ray!" Then she rushed out of the door.

Canterlot Mall, Friday Afternoon
01:12PM

As Sunset ran past people to get to the café, she overheard some of them talking about the werewolf. They talked about whether or not the thing exists, how dangerous it is and hopes for this Musket man to catch it. It only created more and more worries for the girl. What if they tried to find her themselves? What if they get too close?! Sunset tried shaking those thoughts out from her head. She knew they'd do her no good in the long run. And they might as well leave her head now, because she could see her friends (Except Rainbow Dash) sitting at a table outside the café.

Pinkie was the first to see her, not surprising Sunset whatsoever, and shot up to her feet and waved at her. "We're over here, Sunset! At this table! Can you see us?! Over he-!" Pinkie's mouth was blocked by Applejack's hand, who had gotten up from her seat. Sunset could see her telling Pinkie something with an annoyed face.

Sunset finally arrived at the table and took the last empty seat, not without a grin on her face.

"Did you see me, Sunset?" Pinkie asked, smiling excitedly.

"Pinkie, Ah think ya got th' attention of everybody in the whole darn mall," Applejack said, sitting back down.

"Well, you never know, Applejack, there could have been a chance that Sunset didn't see us."

Rarity piped in for Applejack. "I'm failing to see if there was, Darling. Anyway, how are you, Sunset? You haven't spoke to any of us since Fluttershy and I dropped you off the other day."

"And the way you shut us out then was kind of strange," Fluttershy quietly mentioned.

"Yeah, sorry about that, you guys. Since I got home, I've just been either sleeping or getting a bit paranoid from time to time," Sunset answered.

"Especially how you left my place yesterday," Twilight reminded Sunset.

"Yeah, I don't know what came over me. Sorry, Twilight," Sunset said, trying to make an excuse. "I've been feeling insanely anxious since I was bitten."

"Speaking of which, how is your hand, Dear?" Rarity asked.

Sunset held up her once injured hand for the group to see. "All better now!" Everyone smiled to see that Sunset's hand was finally better. It had been a nasty bite.

"So, uh, any of you guys seen the news this morning?" Twilight asked, changing the subject. "Y'know, the whole thing about the werewolf?"

Everyone nodded with the same sad written faces.

"Poor person, must've been scared half t' death bein' so close to that thing," Applejack said, crossing her arms. "Luckily that Woodland Musket fella was there t' save her. You and Rainbow were there, weren't ya, Twi? D'you know anythin'?"

Twilight nervously laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, umm... we might've had something to do with that, being completely honest."

It didn't take long for any of them to put the pieces together. "Wait, is that why Rainbow Dash hasn't come today? Was that her that came face t' face with that beast?!" Applejack raised her voice, standing back up. "Twilight! How could you let this happen?!"

Twilight lowered herself with fear. "I'm sorry! Musket and I were having an argument and all of a sudden Rainbow Dash was gone! We found her in time before it could hurt her, at least."

"Not th' point, Twilight!" Applejack groaned in frustration. "Ah told you! Ah told y'all this was a bad idea, and ya didn't listen to me! Now look at what happened! Rainbow's probably lyin' in 'er room totally scarred 'cus of this!"

Rarity tried pulling her back down. "Applejack, do calm down. You're causing a scene."

"Ah feel like Ah have th' right, Rarity! Ah mean, when Ah think of a team, Ah think of trust and partnership. If y'all let some petty argument get between y'es! Ah can't imagine what seconds longer could've done to her! What even made 'er go away anyway?!"

Tears were beginning to form in Twilight's eyes. "I-I don't know! When we found her, I saw that one of our traps were set off. I-I guess that the wolf had set it off and she somehow heard it and went to check without us."

"See, Applejack, it was just an act of Rainbow being irresponsible again," Rarity stated. "Now please stop shouting! You're making her very upset! Look!"

Applejack then looked at Twilight straight in the eye. Then she suddenly felt quite guilty. Perhaps she did take it a bit too far. Applejack let out a long sigh through her nose and slowly sat back down into her seat. "Fine. Fine. Ah'm sorry, Twilight. Ah jus' really don't wanna see one of y'all get hurt. Just please keep an eye on eachother. You wanna hug, Sugarcube?"

Twilight sat up straight again and cleared her eyes of any oncoming tears. "Yeah, I kind of do."

Applejack stood up once more, went over to Twilight and pulled her up into a hug. Then, not long after, everybody else joined in with them.

After they all let go, Applejack left a hand on Twilight's shoulder and looked at her. "Ah do trust you and Dash, but just as long as all of you stick together, cooperate, and stay behind Mr. Musket, ya hear?"

Twilight nodded. "Okay, Applejack, I'll try to be more careful. For my team's and everyone of the city's sake."

"Heh. Spoken like a superhero there."

They both laughed as they took their seats again. They were all able to start their day again as they chose what they wanted for lunch. Everyone ate and chatted as if what just happened never did. Even Sunset was having a good time. Being with her friends distracted her from the whole werewolf business. To her, it looked like today would end on a higher note. Eventually, they all finished their lunch and were ready to leave.

"Hold on a moment, I gotta use the bathroom," Twilight said, walking away from the table.

Sunset watched as she left, then had an idea. "I have to go too." She followed Twilight.

They both finished up their business and started washing her hands. Then, Sunset cleared her throat. "You doing okay, Twilight?" she asked.

Twilight didn't look up at her friend. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

Sunset scanned her face. "You look upset. Is it because of Applejack?"

Twilight closed her eyes tight and pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, it's not that. Well, it kind of is, but..." Twilight stuttered. "It's just... she's right."

Sunset raised an eyebrow, confused.

Twilight noticed this and continued. "I mean, just look, Sunset. I let some dumb argument get in the way of our mission and it resulted in Rainbow Dash almost being killed!" She said the last word louder than she expected. She then took a deep breath. "Our plan was going perfectly, and then there was just that one thing that pulls it all apart. How responsible of me." she finished sarcastically.

Sunset looked at her sadly and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Twilight, don't beat yourself up over it. You're an amazingly talented girl. What happened was just an easy mistake to make. I mean, yeah, sure, there was a chance that it wouldn't turn out in the end okay, but you're both still here. Just as alive. Actually, probably even more alive than you've ever been!"

"Heh. (Sniff) I guess it was quite a rush."

"Exactly. Now, I won't blame Applejack for telling you to be more careful, she's right on that. But I wanted to just tell you too. So, if you're going to keep doing this, - and I won't stop you - please be careful, Twilight. I don't know what I'd do if any of you got hurt."

"I will, I promise."

"Pinkie Promise?" Sunset faced turned smug.

Twilight laughed and did the actions with a smile. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Good. Now, let's go." Sunset was about to open the door until Twilight pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks, Sunset," Twilight said quietly.

Sunset returned the hug. "Anytime, Twi. Now, let's go. They're still waiting for us, you know."

Then, they both left the bathroom happy and prepared for the day they were about to have.

Chapter 7. Signs

View Online

July 6th, Streets of Canterlot, Friday Afternoon
01:49PM

After the scene that occurred back at the mall, the girls all decided to let it go and continue with what they actually wanted to do. Have a fun day out.

Pinkie was busy writing something on a page. "Okay, I think I have just the plan to make today a 'Mega Super Happy Fun Day'!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"'Mega Super Happy?'" Twilight asked, smirking. "With a description like that, we'd probably think we were going to Equestria Land."

Pinkie stopped and looked at her page. She then crossed something out. "Okay, a 'Super Happy Fun Day' it is."

"What have you planned for us, Dear?" Rarity asked.

"Only the best day of the summer!" Pinkie began bouncing. "C'mon, guys, follow me!" She dashed off, leaving the girls behind.

Everybody paused for a moment. "You'd think she would wait for Rainbow Dash to be here before we had the 'best day of the summer'," Rarity said.

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, Ah'd never think Pinkie would plan such a day out without us all bein' here."

The group all just shrugged and followed their excited pink friend, who was now patting her foot impatiently. "Guys! Come on! We're going to have our 'Super Happy Fun Day'!"

Pinkie was about to run off again, but Applejack stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Now hold on there fer jus' a second. We were just talkin' about why ya didn't wait fer Rainbow to be here to spend the rest of th' day with."

Pinkie sighed. "I was going to, and I even messaged Rainbow to ask her when we'd see her next, but she just told me to forget about waiting for her and just spend the day with everyone else," she explained.

"She must have been very scared when she encountered that wolf last night," Fluttershy said, looking downwards sadly.

Twilight was still feeling very guilty after what had happened the previous night. She let an argument get herself distracted from their mission and it resulted in one of her best friends almost getting extremely hurt.

Applejack noticed how Twilight was feeling and threw an arm around her. "Why don't we visit her later?" she suggested. "Ah bet she could use th' company."

Everyone seemed to agree with that idea and Pinkie began scribbling something else on her list. "Let's get this party started!" Pinkie shouted excitedly. "For real this time!"

Canterlot Mall Arcade, Friday Afternoon
02:05PM

"Alright, first thing on my list... two hours at the greatest arcade EVER!!" Pinkie announced to the world.

Everyone entered the arcade looking at all of the different games surrounding them. They ranged from video games to prize games to competitive games.

"Well, it certainly has been a while since we last came here," Applejack said. "Ah forgot just how much we used t'uh love this place."

"Mmhmm," Everybody agreed in unison.

The girls explored all of the arcade, deciding which game they all wanted to play first. One game in particular caught Fluttershy's eye.

"Hey Applejack, isn't this the game your brother used to always play?" Fluttershy asked.

Applejack came to look at which game she was talking about. The meek girl pointed towards a boxing based game with the name 'Iron Will's Test of Might' printed on top. A punching ball hung from the top of the game.

Applejack smiled. "Oh yeah! Whenever Big Mac was given the chance t'uh come 'ere, he'd always try this machine. I bet he still holds the high score."

"You should totally give it a try!" Pinkie shouted, wrapping an arm around her cowgirl friend.

"No can do, Pinkie. Big Mac has played this game fer many years to get this high score. It wouldn't be very kind of me t'uh take that away from 'im."

Pinkie pouted and stepped back. "Okay, fine." She then dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out a couple of quarters. "But I'm gonna try it."

"Heh. Good luck," Applejack concluded, patting a hand of both encouragement and sarcasm onto Pinkie's shoulder.

Pinkie grinned as she inserted her quarters into the machine. The game came to life and a punching ball came from the game's ceiling. The pink girl breathed deeply as she brung a fist back and then spun if in circles like a wheel, finally throwing it with all of her might. The ball slammed back into its place and the points were rising. The points began to slow down and eventually stopped on 426 points.

Pinkie threw up her punching hand and cheered, only to instantly bring it back down as she then shouted in pain, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Applejack rushed over her hurt friend and looked at her hand. "Geez, Pinkie, you can sure throw a punch. Might of done a lil' too much on your hand, though," she explained. "You gonna be okay?"

Pinkie hissed at the pain. "It's hurts pretty badly, but yeah, I'll probably be fine."

"Well alright then. Though, it's best you lay off that hand for a while, ya hear?" Applejack lifted Pinkie back to her feet and patted her on the back.

"Okay." Pinkie looked at her score again. "How close did I come to beating Big Mac's score?"

"From the looks of it, you really only got a quarter of his score," Twilight answered, stepping next to Pinkie.

"What? Only a quarter?" the Pink girl whined. "Jesus, your brother is strong, Applejack."

Applejack smiled. "They don't call him Big Mac fer nuthin'!" Everybody laughed after that.

Sunset was looking at the game. Pinkie had gotten a pretty high score, especially for a girl with her build. She tapped her chin smiling, wondering how good she could do. She then pulled out her own quarters. "I wanna try it now," she said, inserting her change.

The girls all stepped out of the way of Sunset as she brought back her own hand and threw it towards the ball. However, her aim was a little off, hitting it only on its left side. Her score was 107 points.

Frustrated with her score, she inserted more coins and tried again, making sure this time to aim for the ball. This round, she managed score 433 points, only just beating Pinkie. She smiled at her score, but felt as though she could do better.

"Umm, Sunset. What are you doing?" Fluttershy asked.

Sunset inserted more change into the machine. "Going for gold, baby." She drew back her hand and suddenly felt something surging through her body as she threw one last punch. This time, Sunset was close to almost breaking the machine as the machine almost bounced when the ball returned home. The points where rocketing up sky high, surpassing even 1000 points. Then 1200. Then 1500. Finally ending on a score of 2874 points.

Everybody's jaw dropped as they all looked at Sunset's score. Sunset looked down at her hands. There was no way she was as strong as that.

"S-S-Sunset?" Twilight began. "You managed to beat Big Mac's score by over one thousand points! How did you do that?!"

"I-I don't know," Sunset said. "I just felt something as I was throwing the punch, and then..."

The machine then powered down, but not before the words 'New High Score!' appeared on the screen.

Applejack appeared to be the most shocked out of everyone. "He played this game hundreds 'a times jus' t'uh get this score... and you jus' beat it on yer third go..."

"I really don't know what happened. One second I feel normal, then the next second I felt... well, amazing! Like I could take on whatever and win!"

A thought came to Twilight's mind. She pondered over it. "Hey Sunset, are you wearing your geode today?"

Sunset shook her head. "No, I didn't think I'd need it today."

'Strange. One minute she's as strong as Pinkie, then suddenly she's even stronger than Big Mac!' Twilight thought. 'What's going on?'

Pinkie closely analysed Sunset's hands. She looked all around them for any sort of clue as to what just happened. She scanned them closely, almost as if she had x-ray vision. Later enough, she let go of Sunset's arms. "You look fine to me," she concluded. "I have no idea how you managed punch like that. Now we gotta move on! We're burning daylight just standing here wondering Sunset's punch power thingy!"

How Sunset became so strong still bugged everyone just thinking about it, especially Twilight. But they knew Pinkie Pie was right, if they just stand there, they'll never get to have their 'Super Happy Fun Day'. So with what remaining time they had left at the arcade, they all continued to play games. Sunset was more careful with her hands for the time being, incase she accidentally broke another machine. Luckily, she managed to keep herself in check in time for them to leave for their next activity, lasertag!

Starblasters' Entrance, Friday Afternoon
04:12PM

They ventured the mall once again until they came across their next location. It was built to look like a space station. In bold, bright text, just above the entrance, read 'Starblasters: Laser Tag Arena'. Pinkie was bouncing excitedly as the girls all packed into the spacestation.

"Hello there, would you like to book a match of Starblasters?" asked the cashier as he saw the group approaching his desk. "There's only a twenty minute wait until the next match."

"Yessiree! We'd like to play one match for six please!" Pinkie announced, pulling out a poofy pink purse.

"Alright, that'll be forty-eight dollars please."

Pinkie pulled out only two twenties and laughed embarrassingly. "Hehe, it seems that I'm a little short. Anyone got ten bucks?"

Rarity rolled her eyes and pulled out her own purse. "Honestly, Darling, I told you to not spend so much money on that crane game," she scolded. She handed Pinkie the remaining money. "Here. Don't worry about having to pay me back."

Pinkie smiled sweetly and pulled Rarity into a hug. "Aww! Thanks, Rares!"

"You're very welcome, Dear," Rarity said, accepting the hug.

After Pinkie had finally let go, she slapped the fifty dollars onto the desk and their wait for the next match began. They all sat around a table not too far from the entrance.

"Okay, so when we get in there, I think we should split into teams," Pinkie suggested. "If I can remember correctly, there are three teams, and since there are six of us here, we can split equally and the winning team will decide what we have for lunch. That sound like a good idea?"

Everyone seemed to like the idea and nodded.

"Ah take it you'll need help payin' fer that too?" Applejack asked.

"Well, duh! I only have two dollars from the change I got."

"It probably would have been better if, y'know, didn't spend almost thirty dollars on a crane machine," Sunset said coldly. "All you got was a little pink horse!"

"And she was worth every penny!" Pinkie said happily, hugging her prize close to her before stuffing it in her hair. "Anyway, teams! I choose... Fluttershy!"

"Twilight!" Sunset was quick to choose. She quickly moved next to Twilight, slapping a hand onto her shoulder as if she was sticking a sticker that says she owns this.

"Guess it's me and you then, Rarity," Applejack said, looking at her teammate. She held up her fist, pointing it to Rarity.

Rarity gave Applejack a team-spirited fist bump. "Let's go kick some backsides! When the time comes that is..." She then noticed everyone was looking at her confusingly. "What is it? What are you looking at?"

"'Kick some backsides'? Seriously?" Pinkie asked, unamused. "Rarity you're practically a grown woman. If you're gonna say things like that, do it right, please?"

"Oh, be quiet, you! You all know I'm really not one for using profanities. It's immature and it does nothing but spread negativity. I'm sure Fluttershy can agree with me, couldn't you, Dear?" Rarity looked at Fluttershy now.

Fluttershy thought about Rarity's statement for a moment before speaking. "Well, I guess so. But it isn't all too bad when they're used for something like... well, what you just said," she explained to Rarity.

"Hmm, I guess you are right, but I'm still going by my word that they are immature." Rarity crossed her arms as she concluded her statement.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't, it's just that when you say it the way like how you said it, it does sound a little weird," Fluttershy added on.

Rarity cheeks were beginning to turn a bright shade of red. "Can we just drop it please!? I don't want to have this constantly reminded while Applejack and I are kick-" She tried to think of another way around it. "... erm... winning!"

"Okay, okay, we'll stop saying it," Pinkie said almost on the verge of laughing. 'No we won't!'

The girls - with the exception of an embarrassed Rarity - laughed and continued to wait for their match to begin.

When that time finally came, the girls made sure they were with their teammate and picked a colour for their team. Sunset and Twilight were on the blue team, Pinkie and Fluttershy were on the red team and Rarity and Applejack chose the only other team, the yellow team. They were split up into three different rooms, each for the teams they were all on. They were all given the match rules before finally entering the darkly lit room and beginning their match. Each team started off on a different side of the map.

The teams all split up, but the girls stayed together.

Sunset was peering around the corners of all of the walls with Twilight protecting herself behind her. Sunset listened out for any oncoming enemies. "This way!" Sunset signalled.

Twilight followed wherever Sunset went, as it seemed like she had a game plan.

Upon approaching another corner, Sunset closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings. She could hear footsteps coming there way from behind the corner. She opened her eyes and signalled Twilight to stay quiet. Once the enemy was close enough, Sunset jumped from behind the corner and blasted a red enemy, then rushed off with Twilight following close.

They continued this process, Sunset taking the front and Twilight taking the behind. They were both doing amazingly well.

On the other side for the map, Fluttershy was becoming very paranoid as she kept hearing footsteps running and guns blasting. She stuck very close to Pinkie, who was sneaking around like a ninja. They have already been shot at and Pinkie tried her hardest to not let that happen again.

"Pinkie, can you just slow down for a second, please?" Fluttershy asked, becoming a bit out of breath. "I-I can't keep running like this."

Pinkie stopped and looked at her shy friend. "If we have a shot of winning, which we do, we mustn't stop. We gotta keep- Watch out!" She pulled Fluttershy's head down and shot at a yellow who was aiming at them.

When Fluttershy was set free, she quickly looked behind her and saw someone quickly run off.

"You see what I'm saying, Fluttershy?" Pinkie said. "We were very lucky there. One more second and we would've been-"

Suddenly, both of their packs lost their colour, signalling they had just been shot.

"What the?" Pinkie looked in the other direction and saw two reds running off. "Was that Sunset and Twilight?! Oh-ho, those two are gonna get it now! C'mon, Fluttershy!"

"Pinkie! Wait up!"

Applejack and Rarity had control of the higher ground. Applejack was aiming her blaster over the edge like a sniper while Rarity was covering her.

"Found anyone yet, Applejack?" Rarity asked, paying close attention to anything that moved.

"Ah got a few people, though Ah keep seein' Twilight 'n' Sunset and they keep managin' t' get away faster than a cheetah on ice," Applejack explained. "Got a few reds and, like, one blue. How you doin'?"

"Nothing yet." Rarity smiled devilishly. "Perhaps everyone's too afraid of coming up."

"Don't jinx it now, Rarity! Ah got someone in mah sights! Two blues!"

Sunset and Twilight were still sneaking around the arena. Sliding through different paths like snakes. Especially Sunset, she seemed very aware as to where to go and who was coming. Not once has she been shot at. Twilight was amazed at all of this. This whole game so far, Sunset had kept her completely safe.

They stopped once again, standing behind a wall. Sunset peeked around the corner and could see a yellow pack standing atop the tower, scouting the lower level. From the looks of it, it looked as though this yellow pack was looking at them.

Sunset looked back at Twilight. "I'm going to take out those guys up on the tower. Stay safe, okay?" She began sneaking around the other corner.

Twilight was surprised that Sunset was just going to leave her on her own. "Sunset, wait for me!" But it was too late. As Twilight tried to stop her teammate from leaving her, she was already gone.

"Any updates, Applejack?" Rarity asked, beginning to get bored.

"Ah'm keepin' mah eye on those two who jus' hid behind that corner," Applejack said, keeping her focus. "Looks like they're on the move-! Wait, where's the other one? There was two of 'em!"

Then came the sound of a blaster not too far away from the tower. Applejack looked around for whoever was there. She heard rushing footsteps running circles around the tower and then up the path leading to the upper floor, where Applejack and Rarity were.

Rarity was now back in full focus mode. She held her blaster up, ready to shoot whoever was approaching. However, her pack was suddenly shut down. Someone had shot her. Then the same happened to Applejack. They both looked around the tower, but there was no one there other than them.

Applejack scanned the map from the tower again. She spotted a red pack's light reflecting off of the wall next to it. Not too far from it, she could see a blue light going in the direction of the red's location. This blue player was moving very fast. She then saw that when the blue came around the corner to the red, the red lack was immediately shot at. It then rushed off to another location.

"Applejack, can we go now? It's getting really boring here now," Rarity whined.

"Hold on there, Rarity. Ah'm watching this blue player take out everybody. Damn, they're moving really fast..." Applejack thought aloud.

Rarity looked over the edge with her teammate. "Fast? How fast are they moving?" she asked.

Applejack shrugged. "Just, like, faster than an average person kinda fast. See? Look." She pointed in the direction of a blue player running through all of the different paths. "They're takin' out one player, then immediately movin' in the direction of another, kinda like they know where they are."

Ducking behind another corner, Sunset was closing in on another enemy. Two reds this time. She peeked out and saw it was Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Pinkie looked like she was completely focused, while Fluttershy was shaking in pure fear. Poking her gun out from the corner, she shot the two and ran off again. Pinkie and Fluttershy were confused as to who shot them both.

"Hey! Come out with your hands up!" Pinkie shouted, firing in every direction.

She stopped when she felt Fluttershy tapped her shoulder. "They're gone, Pinkie," she told her pink teammate quietly.

Pinkie growled. "Damnit! I'm so sick of being shot and there's no one even there! Let's go, Fluttershy! We're taking the tower!"

Sunset was still tearing it up. There are six on each team, and Sunset most likely shot at every enemy within the arena. But she didn't stop, she continued shooting familiar enemies. She didn't know how she was doing it, but she has managed to go through the entire match so far with no one coming close to shooting her. It was like she could detect when there was someone nearby. She was also suddenly really fast. One second she is right behind an enemy, then the next she is gone.

After an insane streak of shooting, Sunset found Twilight again, hiding in a corner.

"Where have you been?!" Twilight asked angrily, getting right up into Sunset's face. "I've been shot at countless times after you left! There were these kids that just wouldn't leave me alone!"

Sunset backed away with her hands up. "Sorry Twi. I had to deal with Applejack and Rarity up in the tower. They'd have probably found us if I didn't do something," she explained. Sunset did not actually think they would have found them (what with how well Sunset was doing), but she needed a reason. "Also, you probably could've just used your telekinesis to scare those kids off or something."

"Oh-ho-ho! Believe me, I was so tempted to, but I figured that that would have been cheating so I didn't. Anyway, where have you really been this whole time? It doesn't take you that long to take out the tower." Twilight tapped her foot impatiently.

Sunset was about to explain but then she heard footsteps not too far from them both. So, Sunset took Twilight quickly by the hand and brung her to hide behind a close by wall. Sunset peeked out and saw Pinkie trying to act very sneaky with Fluttershy trying to keep up with her. They eventually both wondered off somewhere else and Sunset let out a sigh of relief.

Twilight then looked around the wall. "How did you know someone was coming?" she asked, more calmly.

"I could hear their footsteps," Sunset answered, not taking her eyes off of where her other friends once were.

Twilight was a little confused. "Well I couldn't hear anything, also you were a little harsh when you brought me behind you." She gently squeezed the wrist Sunset had grabbed, which now had a red ring going around it.

Sunset rubbed the back of her head guiltily. "Hehe, sorry Twilight... again."

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes. "It's fine, Sunset. So, where to now?"

For the rest of the match, Sunset and Twilight stayed close. They were completely safe together. While Twilight was mainly just following rather than shooting, she watched as Sunset was destroying everyone in the game. It was really cool, but also very strange. Twilight had never seen Sunset act so stealthy and aware before. It was probably just because she wanted to win, but to make sure, Twilight was going to keep a close eye on her and her actions.

After a long match, everybody was pretty puffed out, especially Fluttershy. They all hung up their blasters and packs and left the arena to check their scores. While everyone was proud of their own scores, everyone was amazed when they saw Sunset's score. Everybody had scored inbetween 2000 to 2500 points. Sunset completely outdid everyone else, holding a score of 8900 points! The group slowly turned from the scoreboard over to Sunset, who was just standing there eye wide. She knew her friends were all staring at her, but she did nothing about it.

She cleared her throat to break the long silence. "Uh... Guess that means Twilight and I won. We get to choose lunch... or in this case, dinner now."

Sunset had hoped at least this would get their attention onto something else, but to her disappointment, it wasn't so. She then was beginning to get very uncomfortable with everyone staring at her. "Girls, could you all stop looking at me like that please? You're all creeping me out."

"How are you doing this?" Pinkie asked. Her expression finally changed from shock to a loud, sudden amazement. "This is now the second time today you've kicked such ass! First, you annihilated Big Mac's score along with the machine! Now, you're at the top of the leader board by a landslide! What! Is! Your! Secret?!" She finished, shaking Sunset's shoulders rapidly.

Doing nothing to escape from her grasp, Sunset only answered with, "Luck... I guess?"

Pinkie glared at the winner. "Bull that was luck! Nobody wakes up with the strength of a bull or the speed of a cat! Please tell me what your secrets are!!" She finally stopped, now all puffed out from the unnecessary shouting, which gained the attention of quite the amount of people.

Rarity stepped forward and took Pinkie away from Sunset. "Dear, I think we will put that to an end there and we can all go and get some dinner, how's that sound?" she whispered to her bubbly friend calmly.

After a few deep breaths from Pinkie, everybody decided to resume their plans.

"So... uh, where to, Twilight and Sunset?" Applejack asked.

Twilight and Sunset looked at eachother and shrugged.

"I guess we should just explore the place until we eventually see something," Twilight suggested. "If you're all okay with that that is."

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, let's get moving then," Sunset finished, beginning to strut away. Everyone followed after her.

Canterlot Mall, Friday Evening
05:34PM

They explored the mall again, this time, not knowing where they were going. They passed a lot of different cafés and restaurants that all looked so good, it would almost be impossible to choose only one.

Suddenly, a smell treated itself to Sunset's nose. She stopped and started sniffing the smell that had found her. It smelled amazing. It smelled delicious.

"Do you girls smell that?" she asked, smiling with amazement.

Everyone copied her smelling, but turned up with nothing. They all shrugged at Sunset.

"What's it smell like?" Applejack asked.

"It smells amazing, and warm, and juicy, and delicious!" Sunset almost began drooling at the scent.

"That's what she said!" Pinkie whispered, snickering. Her joke was resulted by a slap on the back of the head from Rarity, who glared at her.

Sunset started following the smell which took her deeper into the mall. Confused, her friends kept following her. It seemed as though the smell trail was travelling wherever it wanted to, as Sunset constantly changed direction. Eventually, they closed in on a restaurant that nobody would ever imagine Sunset to describe as delicious.

"Umm. Sunset? Why are we at a steak house?" Fluttershy asked. "I thought you were a vegetarian."

Fluttershy was completely ignored by Sunset who was looked through the windows of the restaurant. She could just look at of the delicious and big slabs of meat that sat on everyone's plate. The smell was stronger than ever, and the food was within her sight. Her mouth began filling up with lots of saliva and began leaking out her mouth.

The girls weren't confused anymore. Now, they were very concerned for Sunset. First, there was the strength game, then her score during lasertag, and now she's drooling over a food she doesn't eat.

"Hey! Earth t'uh Sunset! You okay?" Applejack waved her hand in front of Sunset's face to put her attention onto something else. Luckily, her plan worked as Sunset shook her head and swallowed whatever saliva she still had. "You alrigh' there, Sugarcube? You've sure been actin' quite strange t'day."

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just feeling a bit weird today," Sunset said, stepping away from the window. "I don't know what's going on with me. I just feel really, really weird."

"Well, whatever it is, always remember that you have us at your side!" Rarity announced happily. "Now, let's just get you away from this restaurant before you start something else."

Then they were just wandering around the mall again, occasionally slapping some sense into Sunset whenever she could smell something. They still didn't know what they could do for lunch. There were some cafés and restaurants they had in mind, but they all had to agree on one, which was the problem. There were a lot of 'What about here's and 'This place looks nice's.

"Ugh! This is hopeless!" Rarity groaned in annoyance. "Why don't we just go to Coinky-Dink?"

"Don'chu feel like we go there a bit much, Rarity?" Applejack asked. She saw that Pinkie was glaring at her now. "Now don't get me wrong, Ah do love th' diner, but why not try out a place we've never been to before? You guys have t'uh agree on that." Everybody around her nodded, but there was something missing... She looked at all of the group and noticed they were missing someone. "Uh... girls, where's Sunset?"

"Well, she was standing right he-" Fluttershy began before looking at where Sunset once was. "Oh boy, she's gone..."

"But gone where?" Twilight asked.

It didn't take long for them all to realize, so they all started running back through the mall again to find her.

The Steakhouse, Friday Evening
05:58PM

Sunset was now standing within the steakhouse. It smelled so much better on the inside. The smell of the greasy, warm meat filled her with pure bliss. She had to eat here. Why else would her nose bring her here?

She took seat and looked at the menu. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates as the looked at all of the items onto it. There were so many huge steaks and hamburgers. They were a little pricey, but she could get at least something. But then there was the main problem, waiting for the food to finish. She didn't know how she possibly could sit there waiting for her food while everyone else in the restaurant gets to enjoy there's.

Then, a devilish idea came to her head. It wasn't a good idea, but it could save her the wait. She sneaked out of her chair and explored the restaurant. She was looking for any table that has been served but no one was currently sitting there.

Fortunately for her, she almost immediately found a table. This person was having a decently sized steak that already had a few pieces cut from it. Sunset smiled. This person would never notice if one piece was missing, or two, or three! Before she could realise she was getting carried away, she had eaten the entire thing and it tasted... amazing! It was so juicy, so chewy and so so delicious!

Sunset quickly turned away before the person finally came back. She sat herself back down in her seat and begin thinking of the taste again. But she figured, why stop here? There had bound to be other tables. Which there were many of. Sunset snuck around and continued to steal the ever so delicious meat from peoples' tables. Big and small steaks.

After a while, Sunset finally became full and sat down on her chair, patting her stomach. It was like nothing she had ever tasted before. It felt amazing, it felt so warm, it felt... wrong. Then she remembered what Fluttershy had said earlier on about her being a vegetarian, and she was right, Sunset is a vegetarian. So, why is she eating all of this meat all of a sudden?

Sunset had a thought, was it a coincidence that this was all happening to her? Was it Equestrian magic on the loose again, or was it... something deeper. Then it hit her. Werewolves were known to have great body strength, and the ability to sneak and run as fast as a predator, and to have a better sense of smell and most importantly, have a taste for meat.

Sunset snapped herself back into the real world and realised what she was doing. 'I just ate an animal...' she thought, pupils shrinking. 'I just ate a once alive animal...' Suddenly, the steak wasn't sitting well in her stomach anymore. So she rushed out of her seat to the nearest bathroom to let the meat free.

She knelt down over toilet and began to empty her stomach. She could not believe she would actually do something like this. This was not her at all.

After a few minutes of sitting with her head hanging over the toilet, she heard the bathroom door open.

"Sunset? Are you in here?" Twilight called out.

"Be out in a second," Sunset answered, her voice cracking from the sick feeling.

She then tried coughing up whatever was left, wiped her face and flushed the toilet, finally leaving. When she looked at the girls, they all had a face that either read disappointment or sorry.

Sunset then sighed. "I'm sorry for leaving you girls like that, I just couldn't keep myself away from this place for some reason." Sunset was then unexpectedly hugged by everyone.

Once they all let go, Rarity was the one to break the silence. "So, are you feeling better now, or do you need another minute or two?"

"I think I'll be fine, now that I've learned my lesson." Sunset glanced back at the toilet. "So, what now?"

"We still haven't found a place to eat," Pinkie said. "But we still have time to visit Rainbow Dash."

"That's only if she wants company right now," Rarity added.

Sunset did not feel comfortable with the idea of visiting Rainbow Dash after what she had done to her own friend. Just the thought of the possible outcomes caused her stomach to gurgle more.

"We thought we would jus' order a Mama Gemma's pizza," Applejack suggested. "If you're feelin' okay, you can have some."

While Sunset did love a Mama Gemma's pizza, she wasn't quite feeling up to it. "Uh... no thanks, I think I'll just go home and rest for a bit, you all go and get pizza without me."

"Are you sure, Sunset?" Twilight asked. "We were planning on getting stuffed crust~"

Sunset laughed. "No, no. It's fine, really. You all enjoy yourselves. I'm still not feeling the best." She began to leave the bathroom, her friends followed her out of the restaurant.

"Well, if you're absolutely sure, Ah guess we can't stop you," Applejack concluded, hands on her hips.

"Thanks, AJ. See you guys again soon." And with that, Sunset left the mall and her friends. "Tell Rainbow Dash I said hi!" she called back.

She had a lot of time to herself about everything that had happened today. She was more than sure that this was all related to the werewolf. What else could it be? So now, the werewolf not only takes over during the night, but now it's like it's controlling her during the day, which makes everything worse for the people around her. Especially her friends. She was no longer safe around anyone anymore. What is she to do? She cannot control her actions. And what about her beloved pet Ray? Not even he was safe around her anymore. She might have to give him back to Fluttershy, Sunset knows that she will take special care of him. And then there was this Musket guy. At this point, he has probably hatched a fool proof plan to catch her. Her brain began to hurt from all of the terrible possibilities.

From this point onwards, Sunset Shimmer was a danger to the human world.

Chapter 8. Twilight

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July 6th, Canterlot Mall, Friday Evening
06:26PM

Around half of an hour ago, Sunset had unexpectedly decided to leave everyone and head back to her home. Her decision was understandable though, she had just emptied her entire stomach in the bathroom of a steakhouse, the last place everyone thought they would see their dimension jumping friend.

After she had left, the rest of the gang headed over to their favourite pizza shop, 'Mama Gemma's', for their dinner. While the pizza was great, the wait was absurdly long, to Rarity at least.

Rarity tapped her foot impatiently in the pizza shop. "How much longer are we going to have to wait?" she asked with impatience.

"Calm yerself, Rarity. Can't be too long now," Applejack reassured. "It's only been, what, twenty minutes?"

Rarity let out a loud whine, "Ugh! Twenty minutes?" She moved and stood back against the giant glass window. "There's barely anyone here! Why this long?"

Everyone else continued to wait for their pizza to be ready with the exception of Twilight who was deep in thought. This whole day one of her best friends was acting extremely strange. Each activity they had done, Sunset did something that was very strange. While there probably was a reasonable explanation for everything that had happened, it all just did not sit right with the spectacled girl. She would have to make a note to speak with Sunset soon. Maybe if they put their heads together they'll come up wih something.

But there was something the girl was not seeing. Directly in front of her the whole time were two pink sticks rubbing against eachother, making a clicking sound. Then something boomed into her ear.

"Twilight Sparkle!" came an earth shaking yet high pitched voice.

Twilight shouted and jumped back, smacking her head against the large window wall.

"Oh goodness me! Are you all right, Twilight?" Rarity asked coming to Twilight's aid. "You could have just tapped her on the shoulder, Pinkie!"

Pinkie rubbed the back of her head guiltily. "Whoopsie...?"

Rarity rolled her eyes and turned back to Twilight. "Are you okay there, Twilight?"

Twilight winced and rubbed the back of her own head. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. What is it, Pinkie?"

"I was just going to tell you that our pizza's ready now, but you were deep in a daydream..." Pinkie explained slowly.

Twilight looked past Pinkie and saw Fluttershy being handed a large pizza box. She smiled past her wince for it to immediately disappear when another concern appeared. "Wait, did I break the glass?!"

"Thankfully, no," said Applejack. "But are ya sure yer alright, Twilight? You did hit yer head off of the window pretty hard."

"I swear I'm fine. Now, we gonna eat this thing or what?"

"To Rainbow Dash's place!" Pinkie jumped in, carrying the pizza over her head out of the shop.

Everyone else just stood and watched Pinkie carry their dinner away. "We should make sure she doesn't sneak out a slice along the way," Rarity said grinning.

Everyone laughed and followed Pinkie out of the shop and then out of the mall, finally on their way to Rainbow Dash's house.

Streets of Canterlot, Friday Evening
06:38PM

While on their way to their rainbow haired friend's house, Twilight was still thinking hard about all of Sunset's acts. She feels as though the clues are right there in front of her, but something just is not clicking. A simple answer would be that 'Equestrian magic is on the loose again', but, for some reason, it does not feel that way, not this time. There is something deeper under the surface but she can't seem to dig through it. 'Is it possible that she's...?' She immediately pulled herself away from that thought. 'No! It couldn't be possible. I mean, she would at least tell us about that if she was, right?' Twilight doubted the thought that Sunset could be that thing, but it made too much sense. Everything she had today, they were all traits of a canine. But she didn't want to think about her friend, so she debunked the thought for the sake of her friend.

They turned the corner into the street where Rainbow lives, but again, Twilight was not paying attention and walked forward towards the road. Applejack quickly noticed her and pulled her back onto the pavement.

"Jesus! Are you absolutely sure yer feelin' alright, Twi?" Applejack asked. "You seem to keep losin' focus."

"What? What did I do?" Twilight asked, unaware of what she was about to do.

Fluttershy stood beside Applejack. "You almost walked right onto the road," she explained. "What's going on, Twilight? Is there something wrong?"

"No, no. I assure you, I'm perfectly fine." Twilight nervously smiled, hoping everyone would believe her.

Unfortunately for her, nobody bought it. Everyone either raised their eyebrow or stared at her blankly.

An idea then came to the shy girl's head. "It's about Sunset, isn't it?"

Twilight realised she would not win this and immediately gave a sigh of defeat. "Yeah, it is, mostly."

"Mostly?"

Twilight nodded. "I'm also thinking about Rainbow, how she came face to face with that thing and how she didn't feel comfortable with leaving her home today. Shouldn't we just wait until she's ready before we visit her?"

Everyone did not want to admit it, but they all somewhat agreed with her. Rainbow had decided that she wanted to stay in today, and they didn't know when she would be comfortable with coming back out. It did not feel right to just leave their plan on visiting her as they were her closest friends.

"Ah won't admit that you're wrong, but as her friends, we have t'uh give support, otherwise she probably ain't gonna feel as invulnerable when she's outside," Applejack explained. "Ah feel that it's only right that we visit her. And if she don't wan' us there, then Ah guess so be it."

Twilight tried thinking of another way out of it, but, unfortunately, she had nothing. "Ugh! Why are you so good at being persuasive?!" Twilight groaned. Everyone, including her, then laughed. "Alright, alright, let's do it."

Rainbow Dash's House, Friday Evening
06:40PM

Once they finally arrived at the house, they all gathered around the front door. It took a moment of confidence building but Applejack finally volunteered to ring the doorbell. They stood there waiting for anyone to respond. The front door then opened, revealing a woman, with blue skin but orange hair and about as tall as the girls, smiling at the sight of them.

"Oh! Hello there, girls!" she greeted. "We weren't expecting company tonight."

"Good evening, Mrs. Whistles," Rarity responded. "We were just checking in on Rainbow Dash. She didn't want to come out with us today for some reason."

Windy Whistles' smile faded. She sighed. "Yes, she has been... awfully quiet ever since she came home last night. As soon as she came in she went straight to bed and she hasn't come out since. What happened to her?"

Pinkie took a deep breath but Rarity and Applejack quickly covered her mouth so she wouldn't explain what really happened.

"That's what we came here to do," Applejack lied. "See if we can get 'er to tell us so we can help her snap outta whatever's happenin'."

"Well, it won't be easy. Believe me, Bow and I tried everything, but she wouldn't budge. But go on ahead I guess." Windy stepped out of the way to let the girls enter.

They all gathered in front of Rainbow Dash's door, which had a paper sign of a cloud with a rainbow lightning strike stuck onto it. They were all really hesitant. Maybe this wasn't a very good idea after all. Fluttershy gulped and decided she stepped forward to knock on the door.

After three soft knocks they waited for answer. It came with a muffled 'What?'.

"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy called. "It's us, can we come in please?"

It was silent for another moment, but then they heard slow footsteps coming to the door. It opened and from within the dark room was Rainbow Dash, slowly stepping out of the darkness. The others looked all around her face. Her hair was even more of a mess than usual; her eyes were bloodshot; her eyelids looked as though they could barely stay open and her cheeks were stained with dried tears.

"God..." Rarity started, staring at the mess that was her friend. "You look... Umm..."

"Terrible? Yeah, I know," Rainbow Dash finished Rarity's sentence. "Last night was... well, it was pretty damn rough. Anyway, what is it?"

Fluttershy helped move a hair that was dangling in front of Rainbow's face. "We wanted to come check up on you. Twilight told us what happened last night and you didn't want to leave the house, so we all kept worrying about you," she explained. "Even your mother told us you haven't left the room today."

"Of course I've left my room!" the rainbow haired girl snapped, rubbing her eyes to keep them open.

"Any other times apart from goin' t'uh the bathroom?" Applejack asked, crossing her arms.

Rainbow Dash then looked downwards defeated. She slowly tried inching her way back into her bedroom, only to be stopped by Rarity.

"Listen, Darling, we know you're quite upset after your encounter with that beast last night, but it's no use to try and shut us out; we're here for you. Come on, let us in your room, you can tell us about what happened and you can kick us out right after, how does that sound?"

Rainbow wasn't sure on what she wanted to do. She didn't know if she'd feel any better explaining when she was at her weakest ever. Then again, these guys were her best friends, and they'd try absolutely anything to ensure she's safe and happy.

"We got pizza!" Pinkie lifted the box for everyone to see.

If it was anything Rainbow would never refuse when offered, it was Mama Gemma's pizza. "Okay, okay, you can come in." She opened the door fully and switched on her bedroom light. Surprisingly, her room was in better condition than she was right now. Even with the empty bottles on the floor and the clothes hanging over her bed and also scattered on the floor.

"My word, Rainbow Dash, would it kill you to clean this place every once in a while?" Rarity scolded, pinching her nose. "Uck! It smells like a sewer being sprayed by an air freshener."

"What? I think it adds character. Really shows you it's my room."

"There'd never be any doubt this was your room," Rarity muttered, luckily not heard by anyone.

Rainbow Dash sat down on her bed, next to the box of pizza Pinkie had brought in. "So, where's Sunset?" she asked, taking a slice of pizza. She took a bite and immediately smiled at the taste of the melted cheese.

"It's kind of a long story," Twilight started. "Basically to shorten it, she began acting a little crazy, she ate meat and threw it all up into the toilet. So, she left us so she could go home."

Rainbow stared wide eyed at the spectacled girl. "Wait! Sunset, a vegetarian, decides to go nuts and eats meat? What?!"

"Not the exact words I'd use, but basically yes. Sunset was acting super strange today and none of us understand why. The meat wasn't the only thing."

Rainbow then readjusted herself into a more comfortable position. "Oh-ho-ho! This I gotta hear."

Pinkie jumped forward and beat Twilight to explaining. "So, you know how Big Mac has totally held the high score in that strength game at the arcade for years and nobody has ever come close to beating it?"

Rainbow nodded, waiting patiently for the answer.

"Well, in comes Sunset, same body shape and strength and all, and then somehow completely whooped his ass by beating his score by, like, a bazillion points! And that's not all! She even broke the machine!" Pinkie explained, sending both herself and Rainbow Dash into loud fits of laughter.

The rest of the girls just stood there watching as the other two's laughter continued. It seemed as though just the thought of Sunset's crazy doings made them start their laughter over again, which was most likely the case as they continued laughing for many more minutes straight.

Thankfully, they finally calmed themselves down, still smiling and crying from the laughing.

"Are you two done now?" Applejack asked, mentally praying for it to be over. Pinkie and Rainbow nodded in unison, still wiping their eyes. "Alright then. Now, you mind tellin' us what happened last night?"

Rainbow's mood almost immediately switched from joy to guilt. She thought about the night before again and just the image of it still scared her immensely. She had hoped for them all to have forgotten about that after the many minutes of such annoying laughter.

"Well... really it all happened because I was such an idiot. Twilight and Musket were arguing, then I heard a trap being set off somehow close by in the woods. I go and investigate it and I find that the wolf had actually got itself caught in one of the traps." Rainbow sighed before moving onward. "I don't really know what I was thinking after that. But just looking into its eyes, something about them felt familiar. It made me feel terribly sorry for it. So I released it and then I looked at death straight in the eye as it closed in on me. It backed me into a tree, no way of escaping. I swear, I could see myself in its eyes, it was that close." Her expression saddened. "With how close it got to me, I thought that was it. Then Twilight and Musket come at just the last second and scare it away. After that I didn't want to stay and I was taken back home. You can probably guess the rest after that."

She looked up at the rest of the girls. They all shared the same sympathetic expression on their faces. Rainbow closed her eyes and hid her face, unaware that the girls came in closer for a group hug.

"I was up all night thinking about what would've happened of Twilight hadn't noticed I'd gone," Rainbow finished with a tear escaping her eye.

"Shh. It's okay now, Rainbow Dash, you're safe," Rarity told her, stroking her head.

"I'm so sorry, Rainbow," Fluttershy whimpered.

Rainbow tried shaking everyone off of her. "Don't be. It's my fault for being so stupid. Heh, you know what? I'm just happy to be alive right now. Just thinking back at it, and realising I survived... it kinda feels good." She wiped her eyes.

"Well of course it would, silly! You're alive!" Pinkie announced happily. "And we're just glad to still have you here!"

Rainbow's smile appeared once again. "Thanks. I love you guys!" She pulled them back in for another hug.

"We love you too, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy.

If it was one thing they achieved that night, it was making Rainbow feel better. Everyone encouraged her to go downstairs and explain what had happened again to her parents. Unsurprisingly, they were much more sorry for her than the girls were. Even her father, a big, muscular and very masculine man, his eyes were even watering. Then after that, Twilight asked if Rainbow still wanted to go out hunting for the beast. She said yes, but said it would have to be the next night, just so her parents don't have to worry for her as much.

After that, they all finished the pizza and left Rainbow with her parents, heading back to their own homes.

Twilight's House, Friday Night
08:32PM

Twilight entered her own house, only to be immediately greeted by Spike.

"Geez, Twilight! What took you so long?" he asked, standing next to her leg. "You've been gone forever!"

Twilight laughed and scooped up her dog. "I did say I'd be out for the whole day, Spike," she told him while carrying him up to her bedroom. She opened the bedroom door and placed the canine onto the bed.

"But I thought 'all day' would only be, like, from when you left to about dinner time. Speaking of, when's dinner, Twilight?" Spike patted his stomach with his paw. "Spikey-Wikey demands num-nums!"

But his demands fell on deaf ears as Twilight sat down at her desk and began scribbling in her notes. She was mumbling things to herself, which the dog was unable to translate.

"Uuh... Twilight?" Spike pressed his paw against his owner's leg, hoping that would gain her attention. Unfortunately, she was already too focused on whatever she was writing that she blocked out everything around her, even contact. "Ugh! Fine," the dog moaned. "I guess I'll go help myself." He turned round and left Twilight alone, continuing to scribble in her book.

"Not only did her strength increase, but so did her other senses," Twilight silently told herself. She wrote down every strange thing Sunset had done today. She was linking it all together, hoping she'd come to a definite conclusion as to why this has all happened. "It was like she could detect whoever was coming only by listening out, even in a loud room. Her agility also seemed to have increased insanely and her sense of smell worked from across an entire mall. Not only did this just so happen during this whole werewolf fiasco, but the fact that there's now another, and the way she described what had bitten her... So, if I... Then I... Then that must mean..." She gasped and moved away from her desk.

"Sunset’s the other- Gah!" Twilight then felt an intense pain fill her head. She fell from the chair and onto her knees as she gasped for air. She tried making her way towards her bed and managed to climb on top of it, but after doing so, her body became completely numb...

...and her eyes closed into sleep.

Chapter 9. Isolation

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July 7th, Unknown Place, Saturday ???
??:??AM

Twilight's eyes slowly opened. She gasped as she looked out at the never ending black limbo. She looked out in every direction but found nothing, nothing but pitch black darkness. She tried moving but found she was bound to the one spot. No matter how much she pulled, her legs remained in place.

"Hello?" she called out with no reply. "Is anyone out there? I'm stuck! Please help!" Nothing. She was completely alone.

She suddenly felt herself being pulled down to her knees, giving an attempt to resist but failing. Twilight then heard footsteps coming from behind her, but she couldn't turn her head around. Her entire body was completely bound to the one direction. When they got close enough, she could feel someone wrapping their arms around her body. She managed to move her eyes downwards and catch a glimpse at this person's arms. They were orange, much like...

"You're messing with something you shouldn't, Twilight Sparkle!" this person hissed. Twilight knew this voice.

"S-Sunset? Is that you?" Twilight asked panicky. "What is this place?"

Sunset fell silent for a moment. "Leave all this werewolf stuff behind you. It will only put you and everyone into more danger."

"I-I can't! I've already figured you out! I can't give up now!" Twilight began to raise her voice. She was scared, even with her friend there.

"Let it go, Twilight!" Now Sunset began to shout, her voice was raising in anger. "Let it all go!"

Twilight's eyes began to well up. "No! I can't! I have to find a way to help you! Musket is after you and only I can stop him now!"

Sunset began chanting, "Let it go!" with her voice increasing with more anger everytime she said it. Then it sounded like there were more voices surrounding both of them, chanting it in unison to Sunset.

"Let it go! Let it go! LET IT GO!!"

Twilight could then feel something was changing with the hands that were restraining her. They felt like they were getting larger... and the fingertips were getting sharper... and the arm was getting hairier...

She managed to pull herself out of her bind and threw herself forward. Quickly turning around, she watched as Sunset groaned as her body was changing.

"Sunset..." Twilight managed to say as she was on the verge of a panic attack. She was now completely immobile, she could only watch as a large, golden furred wolf stood where Sunset use to. Through the continuous chants, Twilight could hear it growling. It slowly began walking towards her, it was then that Twilight was able to move again. Still on the ground, she moved backwards, away from the monster. "Sunset... please don't...!"

The wolf growled once again and lunged towards the girl. After that, the chanting stopped.

Sunset's House, Saturday Afternoon
12:28PM

Sunset was laying on her couch, still in her pyjamas, deep within thought. 'This werewolf shit is now beginning to affect my whole life. I can't have it be this way.' She sat up and looked towards a picture of her and all of her friends at the beach. There was no one she could call family more than her best friends. They've all been through thick thin, and even hell and back.

She sighed. "Thanks to that bastard, I'm not even safe to be around anyone anymore! Not my friends! Not anyone at CHS! Not even..." She gasped and looked towards the glass cage sitting at the back of her home. "...Ray." She kept staring at the little lizard sleeping soundly on his twig. The pet that helped Sunset’s loneliness, now no longer safe with her.

A thought finally came to her mind. It wasn't a good idea, but to ensure everyone's safety, especially Ray's, it should be worth it. She grabbed her phone and decided to make a phone call.

Saturday Afternoon
01:43PM

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked, taking the glass cage from Sunset. "You know he's going to miss you so much."

Sunset sniffed. "I-I know, but there's something I have to deal with and... I can't have him be here while I'm trying to figure this out," Sunset explained, holding back a sob. She looked into the cage her meek friend held and saw her pet looking at her sadly. She hated to see Ray this way; he was always such a chill and happy lizard that seeing him this way now felt so alien, it absolutely killed Sunset.

Sunset took the lizard out of the cage and they shared one last cheek nuzzle. "It's alright, Ray. Mommy just has something to take care of. I promise, I'll have you back as soon as possible, okay?" He responded with a slow nod. A tear rolled down Sunset's face as she placed Ray back into the cage. "You'll take good care of him, right, Fluttershy?"

"Oh, of course, Sunset! I'll take perfect care of him," Fluttershy responded. "I promise, you don't have to worry about a thing."

"Thanks Fluttershy." Sunset hugged, or at least tried to, her friend who was still carrying the cage. She knelt down and looked at Ray, giving him a final wave. "Goodbye Ray, Mommy loves you." Her tears were becoming more powerful at the second.

"Oh Sunset..." Fluttershy got out, barely able to contain her own emotions.

"I-It's fine. I just need some time alone right now." Sunset stepped back into her house, hand on the door ready to close it. "Thanks again for doing this, Shy."

"I-It's no problem, Sunset. I'd always be happy to take care of another's pet while their doing... What is it you're doing, anyway?" From everything Sunset had explained to her, she had not told Fluttershy why she wanted to leave her beloved pet with her.

And she didn't plan to. "You should probably go now. I'm sorry..." She finally closed the door on the two. She turned the lock and sat down against the door, very quietly sobbing to herself. "...but I don't have a choice," she whispered.

So this was it, the solution was to completely isolate herself. She was far too dangerous to be around anyone now. She was too dangerous for the human world.

Then, the familiar sensation she felt with her head returned. And like that, she was unconscious.

Unknown Place, Saturday ???
??:??PM

Sunset groaned as she picked herself up from the... pitch black ground.

"Oh God dammit," she muttered, standing up straight. "Alright, what am I doing here for now?"

"Why do you think you are here once again, Sunset Shimmer?" the deep voice asked.

Sunset crossed her arms impatiently. "You ask that as if I'm gonna know the answer. Why don't you just tell me instead of just leaving me here?"

"My my, aren't we quite moody this visit," the voice coldly added.

Sunset frowned and sat down, letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling too good right now. I take it you know what I did?"

"I do, and I must add that you are still failing to succeed."

"Oh come on! I've already tried everything I possibly could, but Twilight just wouldn't listen to me. Though, I'm pretty sure I accidentally got Rainbow Dash out of danger. But what else can I do to stop Twilight?"

The voice didn't reply, but instead it showed Sunset three figures: Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Woodland Musket.

"Though, it would seem that your friends have succeeded in giving Rainbow Dash the confidence to continue helping with the hunt for you."

Sunset expected that but yet she still hung her head and groaned. "Figures. And here I was thinking that I had managed to scare off one with only two to go."

"Actually, there is a possibility that you still have the chance to think that way."

Sunset's head flew back upwards. She raised her eyebrow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Last night when Twilight Sparkle returned to her own home, she was analysing the clues you had recklessly set out for her, and because of that she had managed to figure out your little secret." The voice began turning bitter. "And since you could not do anything to stop her, I had to take matters into my own hands."

Sunset eyes widened in shock. "What did you do to her?!" she demanded.

"The only thing that I could. If you would like to, I am able to show you."

"Show me."

Then there was a heavy and cold wind that blew from in front of her, forcing her to shield her eyes. Once the wind subsided, she opened her eyes only to be met with the greatest thing she had feared ever since this began.

From a distance away, she watched as Twilight was on the ground keeping her distance from a large monster that was slowly approaching her, growling.

"W-What's going on? What is that?!" Sunset shouted upwards.

"Is it not obvious, Sunset Shimmer?" the voice asked. "It is you. I have shown her just what would happen if she were to continue with working with Woodland Musket."

"No! No, no, no! Twilight! Over here!" Sunset tried running over to her but she bumped into an invisible wall. She began pounding on the wall, still calling out her name. "Twilight! I'm over here! Get out of there, now!"

"It's no use. She cannot hear or see you, for this is not a present showing, but a recent occurrence when I had pulled her into her mind space."

"You cannot show her this!" Sunset screamed. "Do you not realise how much she's going to end up fearing me now?!"

"To the point where she fears hunting and gives up in the process? I think I understand completely."

"No! Twilight!" She turned back to Twilight, only to see that the werewolf version of her was ready to pounce.

"Sunset... please don't...!" Sunset had heard Twilight say.

She watched in terror as it jumped onto Twilight's body and began biting all around her. The dams had crumbled as Sunset screamed in fear. The closed her eyes and ears, hoping to block out the screams of agony Twilight was letting out.

"Stop this! Stop this right now!" Sunset cried.

Another huge wind blew over her, and then the screams of pain faded away. Sunset looked to where Twilight was and found that she was gone along with her werewolf self.

"What good do you think isolating yourself will do? You are still a werewolf and you will escape when the nighttime comes. So why bother?"

Sunset didn't answer. She didn't want to stay anymore, not after everything it had shown her. "You're a sick, twisted bastard!" she muttered. "Could you just let me go back home?" Sunset asked, eyes leaking with tears. "I just really need to be by myself for a while."

The voice hummed. "As you wish."

And like that, the area began crumbling once more, causing Sunset to plummet into a white abyss.

Twilight's House, Saturday Morning
10:16AM

"Twilight! Twilight!"

Twilight's eyes shot open. She saw her mother standing over her, shaking her awake.

"Mom?" Twilight asked. As soon as her eyes finally focused, she immediately began sobbing, bringing her mother into a hug.

"It's okay, I'm here for you, Twily," Velvet said, stroking her daughter's hair. "Gosh, you were shouting in your sleep. You must have had such a terrible nightmare."

"I-It just felt so real," Twilight said through her crying.

Velvet moved Twilight so they could both face eachother. "What happened in it?"

Twilight never told her parents about the werewolf or the hunt. She had always told them that she was going over to one of her friends' places, so she couldn't tell the truth. "I... I don't really want to talk about it."

Velvet gave her a reassuring smile. "Are you sure, Sweetie? You'll feel much better if you do."

"I-I know and I will, but I... I just want to be alone right now, please?" Twilight concluded. She got out of her mother's embrace and laid back down.

Velvet's smile faded. "Well... okay then, but I do hope you tell us soon. Your father and I really hate to see you upset, Twily." She kissed her daughter's forehead and left Twilight alone in her room.

Twilight contemplated over the dream she had that previous night while she laid. She wondered as if it was really a dream at all or actually a warning. Now knowing that her greatest friend was the other werewolf... it terrified her. Sunset had told her to stop, but now Twilight can't. Now her mission was to prevent Woodland Musket from killing her, while also not dying in the process.

How was she going to bring this up with Sunset? Should she at all? Should she tell anyone? Would that just put everyone into more danger? The questions doubled and tripled and Twilight's head felt like it was on the verge of exploding!

Twilight then heard a knock on her bedroom door. It opened and then came in Velvet again, now holding a plate and a furry friend.

"Hey, Twily. Your dad made you some breakfast, and Spike also wanted in." Twilight didn't answer her. "Make sure Spike gets none of this! We don't need our little guy becoming tubby!" Velvet tried joking, which got an annoyed "Hey!" from Spike, but still nothing from Twilight. She sighed and placed the plate on top of the drawers next to the bed. She then placed Spike at the foot of the bed and finally left the room again, but not before having another look at her daughter, frowning sadly.

Spike looked from the door over to Twilight. "Uhh... Twilight?" he asked.

Twilight still remained silent for a moment. "Hey Spike," she finally said hoarsely.

The dog moved to the top of the bed behind Twilight and rested his front paws on her body. "Are you feeling okay?"

Twilight shrugged very slightly. "Not really, I guess. No."

"What happened? You came home late last night, then you scribbled something down in your notebook, then the next minute you're in bed sound asleep."

The girl didn't want to explain exactly what happened to her, but he deserved some kind of an answer. "Am I doing the right thing, Spike?"

"What?"

"All of this. This whole hunting thing. Is this right? Should I even continue? I mean, because of this, all I've managed to do was put one of my closest friends in danger and... I'm afraid I might end up putting everyone else in danger too." Twilight sat up on her bed and faced her dog. "This werewolf, it's like nothing the girls and I have ever faced before. We don't even know if it's just Equestrian magic running rampant in the streets. Not only that, but there's two of them."

"Well... I don't know much about werewolves, or just regular wolves for that matter. But you and the girls have been through an awful lot, and they all included danger. If you have a shot of beating this thing, then you're probably gonna need a rainbow laser."

But that was the thing, if they were to face it, there would only be six of them able to do it.

"I don't think the magic of friendship is going to be very useful this time around, Spike," she said instead.

"Why not? It's never failed you all before."

"Yeah... but I'm sure I just found out who the newer werewolf actually is, and because of who it is sort prevents us from using the magic of friendship."

"Oh..." Spike looked downwards at the bed's covers. "Well, who's the werewolf then?"

Twilight, again, would rather not say. She did not to be back in that dream again. "I-I'd rather not tell," she said nervously. "I wanna try to keep it between me and... the person." She then took the plate from on top of the drawers. Bacon, eggs, and toast.

"Can I get a piece?" Spike asked, his tail began wagging.

Twilight sighed calmly. "One small piece of bacon, but that's it." She ripped off a small piece of bacon and threw it up for the dog to catch, which he managed to do. Twilight applauded him.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Spike asked, chewing on the bacon.

Twilight tapped her chin. "I guess I'm going to Sunset's place for a while. She and I have a little something we kinda need to discuss," she explained.

"And that is...?"

"I can't really say. It's a... personal thing."

Spike raised a brow at her, which caused her to suspiciously gulp. The longer the dog stared at her, the more a drop of sweat ran down her face. His cold stare made Twilight feel as though she couldn't breathe. It was too intense for her.

"Alright then. Just don't stay out so late, please? Your parents don't exactly do much entertaining, so I'm left feeling really bored."

Twilight laughed and clapped the dog's head. "I promise."

Streets of Canterlot, Saturday Afternoon
03:01PM

Twilight was walking down the street, on her way to Sunset's house. During her journey she thought long and hard of how she would bring up that she knew, or if she should at all. It came to a point where she had to stop for a while, just to make sure she had time to think of the right thing to say, or at least what's close to being remotely acceptable.

"Hey, Sunset! Listen, we have to talk for a while about yesterday. Yes, I know you tried to pass it off as you didn't know what was going on, but I just wanted to say that I know what's really going on," Twilight said to herself. "Ugh! No! It's too sudden and in-your-face!" She leaned up against the wall and rubbed her temples. "It's alright, Twilight. You got this. She's your friend, and you... have no idea what you're talking about!"

She continued her way through the streets. Eventually, she walked down a street were one building was significantly smaller than all the others. Sunset's house. Twilight's heart began pounding. She was almost there yet she still didn't know what to say to her. What was she to do? Should she just say what's on her mind? Should she just turn around and go home?!

But it was too late. Before she knew it, she was already at her door. She hadn't even told Sunset she was coming, so this didn't sit right with her. But there she was, standing completely still at her best friend's door.

'I should just get outta here! Why can't I leave?! Body! Move!' she shouted in her head. Her hand began slowly rising towards the door. 'Wait! Not that way!
Abort! Abort!'

She knocked on the door, and Twilight now felt like she wanted to die. Now Sunset was going to answer the door and Twilight wasn't even prepared. She wanted to run away so desperately, but her body wasn't doing what she wanted anymore.

She stood there waiting for Sunset to answer, but she still hadn't come. Twilight couldn't even hear anything coming from inside. She tried knocking again, perhaps Sunset didn't hear her. She waited and waited but still nothing.

"Sunset! Are you home?" Twilight called out. Although, again, no reply. Twilight peeked through the letter box and found that it looked completely dead on the inside. No light, no sound, just silence. "Come on, Sunset! There's something we have to talk about."

'Where could she have gone?' Twilight thought. She came to the conclusion that Sunset probably went out somewhere for the time being and without saying and decided she'd have to come back later to talk.

Sunset's House, Saturday Afternoon
03:06PM

Sunset stayed perfectly still and quiet. She was lying in her bed, under her covers, keeping as quiet as possible. Someone was at her door, but she didn't know who-

"Sunset! Are you home?" came a voice.

It was Twilight. What was she doing here? She would have at least told her she was coming.

"Come on, Sunset! There's something we have to talk about."

Something they have to talk? Talk about what? Was it about yesterday? Sunset had a good idea that it was about everything that happened the previous day. She stayed completely quiet, at least until she knew Twilight had gone away. Sunset peeked out from under her covers until she heard faint footsteps walking away from her house.

Sunset hated to do this to her friends, but it's not like that they can really help her if they knew. Not even Sunset understood why this was happening, and she especially didn't know if there is a way of stopping this. But maybe the answers lay elsewhere... She caught glance of her journal, a bulky brown book with half of her and half of the princess's cutie marks on the cover. Maybe she could ask the princess if there is a way. She took the journal from her nightstand and grabbed a pen. She opened it to the latest empty page, hovered the pen over the book and took a deep breath.

Dear Princess Twilight,

Chapter 10. Answers

View Online

July 7th, Sunset's House, Saturday Afternoon
03:12PM

Dear Princess Twilight,

Sorry for not writing to you for a while. Things have been... well, really strange this summer. A few days ago a werewolf appeared in Canterlot and has been terrorising everyone in town. I don't remember myself, so I'm asking you, is there any history of werewolves back in Equestria that might have managed to pass through the portal?

-Sunset Shimmer

Sunset laid the book on her lap, waiting for the princess to reply. She desperately needed to know this, it was her only hope of potentially stopping this werewolf thing. She was still waiting after a moment of silence, she wanted to be there as soon as the princess replied. Then, the book began vibrating and writing appeared on the next page.

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

I've never heard of actual werewolves being in Equestria, but I'll see if I can find anything at all in my library. For now, explain to me what this werewolf has done, if you know anything.

Sunset thought for a moment before writing her reply. Should she tell her? Her mind immediately went to no. Though, it was possible for her to explain this without mentioning herself. The pen began tracing along the page again.

Princess Twilight's Castle, Saturday Afternoon
03:19PM

Princess Twilight was flying quickly through her crystalline library, picking up any books that had a relation to mythical creatures. Her journal began buzzing, signalling Sunset had written back, but Twilight was too busy right now to read it.

"Spike!" Twilight called out. "Could you read me Sunset's message? I'm a little busy."

The small dragon jumped from the wooden stool he was sitting on, reading a comic book. "Sure thing," he said, running over to the table and picking up the journal.

He cleared his throat and began reading,
"She says... umm." Spike squinted at the writing. "I really can't read her handwriting, it's way too curly."

"Give it here!" Twilight snatched the book from Spike and read it to herself.

It started on the night I came home. There's was a news report the next day mentioning that someone had seen a large creature roaming in the streets. Others have said that it tried to attack them.

This world's Twilight had the idea that we should all go on a hunt for it. Most of us declined but Rainbow Dash actually accepted. They both went on the hunt and found that there's another wolf. One of them was very close to catching Rainbow, but don't worry, she was saved.

Our main problem is that we don't know how to stop a werewolf without killing it.
I was wondering if there was a way to reverse the effects?

"What's she saying, Twilight?" the dragon asked from below.

"There's a werewolf back in her world and she's asking if there's a way of getting rid of it without resorting to violence."

"Is there a way? And werewolves actually exist?"

Twilight continued searching through all of her books. "That's what I'm looking for and apparently so, yeah." She picked up a new book and threw it away into a pile of already read books almost every second. Pages flew by so fast they could challenge Rainbow Dash during a Sonic Rainboom. While blazing through all of her books, she handed her journal to Spike with her telekinesis. "Write back to Sunset for me."

"Right!" Spike ran and grabbed a quill, awaiting for Twilight's message.

"Write back, 'I'm looking as hard as I can currently but with the library I have I, so far, have come up empty. If there are not any answers here, I will visit Canterlot and have a look there, and if I fail there as well, I'll ask Princess Celestia to have a look in the Restricted Section. If you can, keep the werewolf at bay until I find something, and be careful, Sunset,'" Twilight finished, having already done another thirteen books. "You got all that, Spike?"

"Yup, just gotta wait for Sunset now." Spike caught sight of the pile of books a few feet away and jumped back in surprise. "Geez Twilight! How many books have you read already?"

"Dunno! Didn't count! Didn't care!" she replied quickly. Somehow, she seemed to have gotten faster. Spike was a little anxious that the books might catch on fire, she was reading so fast. Shelves on books disappeared in almost an instant. "Nothing here! Nothing there! Nothing here either! Why do I own every book except the one I desperately need?!" Twilight cried.

"We should probably just go to Canterlot now," Spike suggested. "I mean, you've already almost read every book there."

Twilight looked up at her shelves and her eyes grew wide to how empty they were now. She then looked downwards to the books she has read and her jaw fell, now the same size as her widened eyes. They did probably have to go for the Canterlot idea, but Twilight desperately wanted to make sure. "But what if one of these is the one?" She pointed a hoof towards whatever books still remained.

"Twilight, we clearly don't have the book if you've found absolutely nothing," Spike said with a hint of coldness. "Now just calm down, fly down here and we can go check out the Canterlot library."

"But what about this mess?"

"I dunno, get Starlight to do it or something? Now c'mon. I'll grab the journal."

Spike ran back to the table and picked up the journal, still no message from Sunset, and made their way out of the castle. Twilight rushing out as fast as she could and Spike trying to keep up.

Starlight walked into the library with a book in front of her face, she didn't notice the huge mess at first. She sat by the large crystal table and when she placed her book onto it, she finally noticed the piles of books all over the library.

Her mouth fell open with a gasp. "What the buck happened in here?!"

Sunset's House, Saturday Afternoon
03:29PM

Sunset was still laying in her bed, her pen tapping the page not knowing what to write back. Had they talked enough for now? Should she just leave Twilight to help her out? Probably. This isolation idea still seemed like a bad idea, not that she ever thought that it was a good one. Even if she stays inside at all times, what exactly will it fix? She could still escape once nighttime eventually came along, and her friends will become suspicious as to why she's not showing her face anymore. There had to be a way to fix this, because even if she liked it or not, she couldn't stay inside forever. But how long could she stay inside before she had no choice? That's what she was aiming for, so she could show her face as little as possible.

Sunset then heard a buzzing. Not from her journal, but rather her phone. She picked it up from the nightstand beside her bed and saw she had a message... from Twilight. She opened her phone and read the message.

Hey, Sunset. Where are you right now? I visited your apartment because I wanted to talk with you about something but you weren't there. I really need to see you in person to talk about this.
15:30

Sunset wasn't sure whether or not she should reply. If she did, she'd have to lie on where she was since she didn't want anyone over here. But if she left her hanging... Sunset moaned and fell back onto her pillow. There's no way out of this hell hole. It was like the world was out to get her. Nothing but bad stuff has happened ever since she was bitten and Sunset was tired. Very tired. She squashed her pillow into the front of her face as she screamed into it.

She then began banging her head against the mattress, saying with every bang, pillow still in her face, "Why! Did! I! Have! To! Be! The! One! To! Have! To! Suffer! This?!" She rolled onto her side, lifting the pillow off of her. "Twilight better find an answer soon," Sunset said through clenched teeth.

Canterlot Castle, Saturday Evening
04:22PM

Twilight was mentally preparing herself to ask Princess Celestia access to the Restricted Section. She needed answers and she'd most likely find them there. The princess just had to let her in. She creaked open the door to the throne room and she and Spike stepped inside.

Princess Celestia smiled at the arrival. "Twilight and Spike! Hello!" she greeted happily. "What brings you two here today?"

"Umm... Hi, Princess Celestia. I was just popping in to ask for you to..." Twilight couldn't bring herself to finish. Her brain wasn't allowing it for some reason.

"For me to...?" Celestia leaned forward a little bit, showing Twilight she was all for listening.

"Givemepermissiontousetherestricedsectionagain," Twilight quickly said.

Celestia's expression didn't change. "I'm sorry, I couldn't understand you. Could you speak just a little slower?"

Twilight sighed and held her head high. "I want permission to use the Restricted Section of the library once more."

Celestia expression finally changed to surprised. "Whatever for, Twilight? Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"Yes. In Sunset Shimmer's world there is a werewolf roaming around during the night. She thinks it's the work of Equestrian magic again and has asked me find any way to stop it without having to resort to violence," Twilight explained. "I looked in my library and came up empty, so I thought I might find something in the Restricted Section."

Celestia hummed. She then stood up from her throne and began walking out of the room, gesturing for Twilight and Spike to follow her. They all travelled through Canterlot at a steady pace, though, Twilight would have preferred they hurried. She chose not to say anything, however, and eventually arrived at the grand library. They all stepped inside and Twilight couldn't help but just look all around the place as they continued walking. The library was huge and Twilight just felt all kinds of delight whenever she stepped inside. They eventually stopped at the very back of the library, but there was no other path. All that was around them were more books or the way back.

"Uuh... this don't look too much like a 'Restricted Section'," Spike mentioned. "It looks very public."

Celestia laughed before turning to Twilight. "Twilight, can you pull down that Luna book over there?"

Twilight found the book her teacher talked about. A dark blue book with a black pattern similar to Princess Luna's cutie mark. She grabbed it with her magic and, at the same time as Celestia, she pulled it down. With both books down, gears could be heard turning. Along with the sounds, the whole shelf of books began to move, revealing a secret staircase.

Spike's eyes widened in amazement. "Woah-ho-ho! That is cool!"

Twilight and Celestia both hushed the dragon in unison. Spike then smiled embarrassingly.

Together, the three of them climbed down the staircase with the shelf closing over behind them. Lanterns lit the long downwards staircase. They followed the path down and they found themselves in an old, dirty library filled with all kinds of ancient books. There was a pile already on the table, signifying that somepony has been here before.

Spike coughed on a cloud of dust. "Yeesh. You'd think to clean this place up once in a while."

Celestia walked over to a shelf of old books. "Ever since the library upstairs opened, I haven't had much use for this library anymore. The last time anyone used it was Twilight and Sunset Shimmer during their memory stone crisis." She turned and glared at Twilight. "And they didn't clean up."

Twilight nervously laughed. "Hehe. Sorry..."

Celestia smiled and turned back to her shelf. "Anyway, we should start looking around if we want any kind of answer."

After that, the three of them split up and began searching the secret library. Twilight, again, was blazing through all of the books while Princess Celestia and Spike read at a more steady pace.

Canterlot Park, Saturday Evening
04:30PM

Twilight sat on a wooden bench in the city's largest park. She sat there watching the sun set, lost in thought. She thought of the nightmare she had the previous night. Did it have a meaning? Sunset, was she trying to keep her safe? Should Twilight really stop with the idea of a hunt? When she thought about it, she thought of yes to everything, but there was still one more thing... Sunset.

Twilight was right, Sunset's the second werewolf. So she has a reason to not stop and that is to protect her friend from Musket and to try and fix her.

She moaned. "This keeps getting worse and worse! Where are you, Sunset?" she asked nobody. "Why haven't you replied to me yet?"

She then thought about something, and she's surprised it took her over an hour to think about it. She opened her messenger app and texted to everyone else.

Has anybody seen Sunset at all today? I've tried texting her but she's not responding.
16:33

A chorus of replies then came.

cant say I have. sorry
16:34

not since yesterday. no.
16:34

nope.
16:34

I havent. is there something wrong?
16:35

cant say i have twi.
16:35

"Strange," Twilight said after reading everyone's replies. Nobody has seen Sunset at all today. What was she doing? Was her phone off or something? She opened up her messenger again. She found Sunset's profile and saw that her phone wasn't off; she was online, so clearly she has seen Twilight's message. But why wasn't she responding? Is she trying to hide?

She opened Sunset and her's chat and began typing.

Sunset, I know you're online. I really need to talk to you. Please respond.
16:39

She checked Sunset's profile again and she saw that it now said she was offline. Sunset saw her message, then closed the app. It's like she's trying to stay away from her. Twilight wondered if she's doing the same to their friends. But why would she do this? She knows everyone would be by her side to help her. So why is she hiding?

Whatever it was, Sunset really seems she doesn't want to be bothered by anyone today. Perhaps she feels guilty for what she's done. It was probably best for Twilight to leave her alone for now and try again tomorrow.

Sunset's House, Saturday Evening
04:40PM

Sunset was now sitting in the dark. Nighttime was approaching. It would be here very soon. Then there would be another night of terror, much like the last few nights.

Twilight has been trying to get a hold of her with this whole 'I must speak with you in person' kind of urgency. No doubt about it, it was about the werewolf. Twilight left her alone after thinking no one was in the house. Sunset wondered how long it would take her to suspect she hasn't left her house at all. Not only that, but Sunset has continuously ignored her friends today. What she was doing to herself and her friends is turning out to be a terrible idea. But what was she left to do?

Princess Twilight hasn't returned with any answer. For now, Sunset was all on her own, for the better and for the worse.

Chapter 11. Hunter

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July 12th, Musket's Office, Thursday Afternoon
01:22PM

Woodland Musket was sitting at the desk within his dimly lit office. He was writing another update about his and the girls' progress on catching the werewolf that roamed Canterlot during the night. Unfortunately, they were not much closer than they had been during their first night hunting. His update mainly contained somewhat the same information from the previous couple of nights. Their progress was currently extremely slow.

The werewolf may be a wild animal, but it was intelligent. Intelligent enough to slip itself out of danger to prevent itself from getting caught. But Woodland did not plan on giving up. This werewolf hunt has been passed down his family for generations. All had failed on catching the werewolf during their time, so Musket planned to be the first in his family to have a werewolves head on a plaque. The problem was, however, his teammate Twilight Sparkle was against the idea of killing the beast. She believes there is a way to turn it back to normal, which Musket highly doubted.

Musket looked over what he had written so far and decided to come back to it later. Since this werewolf business had started, he hadn't spent much time with his wife. He stretched his arms down to his fingers, stood up from his desk and left the office. He was greeted by his wife, Hilda Musket, once he stepped out into his house.

"So, anything new on the werewolf, Woodland?" Hilda asked. Patting him a spot on their couch.

Musket sat down beside her and sighed. "Unfortunately, no, my dear. Nothing new yet," Musket announced disappointingly. "This beast is just far too clever for me. But I don't plan to give up, you see! I'll find the beast, I'll make sure of it. It... just may take a while to see if I can find a pattern to its nightly schedule."

"Perhaps there is a way you can strike as soon as the night begins," Hilda suggested.

Musket looked at his wife. "What are you saying, dear?"

"I'm saying that maybe it is possible to predict where the human will go to transform, and when he does you finally strike."

Musket thought over the idea for a moment. It wouldn't be easy since literally anyone in the city could be the beast. But it wasn't such a bad idea either. Musket nodded. "That's... actually a good idea, I can't believe I didn't think of that. Thank you for the suggestion."

Hilda smiled as the reached for the cup of tea sitting on their coffee table. "When will you be leaving again?" she asked.

"Well, thanks to your idea, I now plan to leave very soon. I want to search the forest and cover as much ground as possible before nighttime comes around," Musket explained. "But I swear, when all of this is over, I'll be spending a lot of time with you again."

Hilda hummed. "It has been quite a while since we last spent a lot of time together."

"Yes, and that's been my fault. I'm just so focused on my jobs that I couldn't focus on much else. But that will change, you can-"

"Count on it I'm guessing?"

Musket and Hilda then began laughing, then right after, they shared a kiss together.

Canterlot Park Forest, Thursday Afternoon
02:01PM

Woodland Musket stepped inside the forest once more. This time during the daytime, as he wanted to see of there were any potential hiding spots the werewolf could come to once nighttime rolled around. He already had a few spots in mind, but, judging by how large the forest was, there could be many more. So he may be at in the forest for quite a while.

He sighed through his nose. "Well, it's now or never."

The forest was really big, huge, but Musket felt determined enough to find any left behind clues. It could lead him to saving the city. He was a hunter, this was his duty, and as a hunter he will bring this beast down.

Throughout the forest, he found many things, claw marks on trees and boulders, footprints dug into the ground, but they led him to nowhere except in circles. They were scattered all over the place, they had no pattern. The werewolf clearly had places to be if it had to go everywhere. Musket tried to follow the footprints backwards to see if he can get anywhere that way, but the footprints were too bunched together, it was easy to lose where he was going.

Wherever this monster was, it was surely making a mess of the forest.

Musket sighed at the sight. "A beautiful place where the youth can explore and wander, ruined," he said sadly. "It is a right good shame, but nobody will have to fear much longer, they could count on it."

Musket found one of the potential hiding spots he mapped out. It was the cabin he and the girls found on their first night. It looked just as intact as they had found it. A small, abandoned, plant covered building that could suit only one person.

He looked around the inside for any proof there was someone staying here. He first checked the largest room, which was still pretty small. He checked the walls of any claw marks to show its been here, but it was empty, no scratches, no holes in the walls, nothing. He then walked through the door just further ahead. Again, there was nothing. He proceeded checked every other room in the small cabin - which was about two more - but, unfortunately, he turned up empty. There was nothing living here.

Musket stepped outside, looked back at the cabin and hummed questioningly. "Perhaps they thought it was too open to the public," he theorised. He began walking off, keeping a positive attitude. "Oh well. The day's still early! That hiding spot is somewhere in this forest, I just know it! I just have to... think more outside the box! Where would one hide that was private?"

He looked around on the spot. No hiding spots immediately came to mind, but then Musket looked up at the small mountain nearby. It was likely for it to have a cave, maybe that was where it was hiding. He then began trekking to the mountain.

Once he finally arrived at the foot of the mountain, he looked up to see that it was quite a steep journey up. The cliff side was very narrow going up. Although, that wasn't going to stop an old man like Musket. He reached into his bag and brought out a grappling hook. A four pronged, sharp piece of metal with a thick and strong rope tightly tied at the end of it.

Musket stepped back and tried throwing the hook upwards towards the edge of the cliff, hoping that it would attach to a rock. His first attempt, he swung the hook around in a circle until it had gained enough speed and power and launched it upwards. He, unfortunately, missed the first shot by not throwing it high enough.

He began swinging again, keeping the note in mind to add more power to his swings. Musket threw the hook again. This time, he almost had the hook over the top, only missing due to the hook hitting against the side when it reached the top. The hook fell down with a clatter as it hit against a rock and few feet away from Musket's feet.

Musket huffed and wrapped the rope around his hand again. "My, it certainly has been quite some time since I've had to climb," he said to himself. "Age really does take a toll on one's body." Once the rope was tight around his hand and the hook was sitting in the other, he looked back up at the edge. "Alright, third times a charm."

He swung the hook once again, round and round, getting faster and faster until he threw it again, harder than his last attempts. The hook finally made it over the cliff. Musket began reeling back the hook to see if it would get stuck on anything. Luckily, the hook found a rock to hold onto, keeping it in place.

Musket unravelled the rope around his hand and gripped it tightly. "Rusty climbing skills, don't fail me now," he said with a confident grin. He jumped up, wrapped his legs around the rope and began pulling himself up. Pulling his body up the rope he found quite difficult. It had been so long since he last went on a hunt as great as this that he must have lost some strength over the years.

But he eventually found himself at the top. He hoisted his entire upper body up onto the edge and rolled further along so he didn't fall off. He laid there for a few minutes panting while also fist bumping the air in success. He looked around for a cave, if there was one, and he found one... higher up.

He groaned in anger and looked to see if there was a way up without using the grappling hook. There, unfortunately, wasn't another way but the wall leading up to it wasn't too steep, so he could throw the hook up and walk up the wall.

He sighed and began swinging the hook once again. He threw the hook up as hard as he could, given how exhausted he already was it wasn't all that hard, and managed to, once again, have the hook fly over the edge. It latched onto another rock and he began climbing again. This journey up was far easier than the last one, as he could walk up while he was pulling himself up.

Musket finally arrived at the mouth of the cave. He looked inside and saw nothing but a gloomy darkness. He grabbed a flashlight from inside of his bag and shined it inside. However, it didn't help all too much, he could only see a few metres in front of him.

With another reassuring sigh, he walked inside the cave, not looking back.

Deep Within the Cave, Thursday Afternoon
03:52PM

Musket could barely see in any direction inside the cave. He couldn't even see the exit anymore. All he could hear now were his cold, steamy breaths and his echoing footsteps on the stone cold ground.

He had to admit, after all of his years of being a hunter, he'd never felt as spooked as he did now. What if the werewolf was here? What if they were a psycho as a person? Despite the coldness of the cave, he began to sweat mainly from discomfort and fear.

How was he still walking forward? How long was this cave?

It seemed that last question would finally be answered, from a distance away, Musket could see a very faint flicker of light. He walked towards it, the light grew larger until it was revealed to be a lantern.

"Peculiar," Musket said, stroking his mustache. He looked around the area he was in, shining his flashlight in whatever direction he was facing.

He gasped at the sight of something sitting at the walls to the left... bones! He looked around more and found more bones, and he found there to be dark stains on both the floors and the walls. Beginning to shake, he walked towards a stain and analysed it closely. As he got closer, he noticed that there was a hint of red on the stain. There was blood smeared all across the walls!

He stepped away from the walls, only to then find more stains. There were also large scratches covering almost all of the area.

This was all the evidence he needed. He noted his sighting on a notepad and, before taking one last glance at the gore, quickly made his way out of the cave.

Canterlot Park Forest, Thursday Afternoon
04:35PM

Musket continued to run. He ran and ran and didn't look back. He now knew where the werewolf was going to be later tonight. He had to tell Twilight about this. As his teammate, she deserved to know what discoveries he makes. Rainbow Dash too. They both had been huge helps to Musket ever since their first hunt, they should also be there to help for the last one.

Should he make another update tonight, though? Every night after the hunts, Musket posted updates online on him and the girls' progress on catching the wolf. But he was skeptical about making one based on what he just saw in the cave. If he mentioned where he found the hiding spot, it may encourage people to go there themselves, putting themselves in danger, more lives being lost to that thing, and it would be all his fault.

But what if he were to attack it tonight as well? The quicker the wolf was gone, the better it would be for the city's safety.

Now resting by a tree, he thought over the idea. Though, he was distracted by his panting. But he now knew what to do. And as soon as he got back home, he'd tell Twilight and her friend to meet him back at the park's entrance. This was it. This was his final plan. No more games!

This werewolf problem ends now!

Chapter 12. Carer

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July 12th, Fluttershy's House, Thursday Evening
07:03PM

Fluttershy sat at a desk in her bedroom, resting her head on it. Directly in front of her was a glass cage filled with sand, sticks and leaves. Inhabiting the cage was the small, leopard print lizard Ray.

Ever since Fluttershy was given the responsibility to take care of Sunset's pet while she was doing... whatever she was doing, Ray barely showed his chill smile to Fluttershy. Instead, he only showed her this sad and worried look.

Around Fluttershy's neck was her pink and yellow geode, which gave her the ability to talk to all animals.

"Where's Mama?" Ray asked.

Fluttershy sighed sadly. "I don't know, Ray. No one has seen Sunset for days," she explained to the lizard. "Sunset just seems to be... gone."

"No one seen Mama?" Worry was clearly heard in Ray's voice. "Does Butterfly think Mama okay?"

Fluttershy tried to force a smile to lighten Ray's mood. "Ray, Sunset's a strong girl. It isn't like her to disappear like this, but wherever she is and whatever she's doing, I'm sure she's okay," she said reassuringly, but not even she was sure if Sunset was okay. She didn't want Ray to know, but Fluttershy was extremely worried for Sunset.

"Does Butterfly promise?"

Fluttershy's attention was brought right back to the lizard. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't answer him. If she promised him, she would be lying, and the last thing she wanted to do right now was to lie to her friend's pet who's owner was missing.

But what if Ray begins to get suspicious if Fluttershy continued to not answer his question? A simple yes or no question? Would he realise himself what Fluttershy's answer would be?

Ray continued to look at his carer with worry in his big, innocent eyes. This only made Fluttershy feel more and more guilty.

Realising she was holding her breath, Fluttershy stood up and turned away from Ray. She unclipped her geode and clenched it in her hand. She looked back at the lizard. He was desperate for an answer. He must know that something is wrong.

With a sigh, Fluttershy put on another smile and picked up a plastic tub of crickets. She picked the rest of the crickets out and placed them in a small bowl inside the cage. Ray munched away as Fluttershy picked up her jacket and put it on, slipping her geode in one of the pockets.

She walked to the door and placed her hand on the handle. "I'm just going out to the store, Ray, I'll be back soon," she told him before walking out the door.

Streets of Canterlot, Thursday Evening
07:42PM

Fluttershy walked down the pavement leading to the store. She spent most of the time, so far, thinking about Sunset. Why did she have to give her pet, who she loved dear to her heart, away to Fluttershy? Why was she not answering to anyone's texts or calls? Why has no one seen her for days?

Questions continued to multiply in the poor girl's head. She could feel a headache coming as more questions with no answer sprouted in her head. Fluttershy had been trying to keep her mind away from worrying about Sunset, but she could never be able to.

Another thing that made Fluttershy worry was why wouldn't Sunset give an explanation. Didn't she trust her friends? They had all been through terrifying and magical battles together. Why would Sunset think she has to deal with something on her own?

Fluttershy was so caught up in what's currently bad that she found that she had almost walked right passed the store she was looking for. It was a pretty large and very filled store. Anything anybody needed, this store possibly had it.

She travelled through the store, looking for the pet isle to buy Ray more crickets. During her search, she saw a familiar face down an isle filled with shampoos and body washes. A violet skinned girl with large white pigtails.

Fluttershy walked down the isle and smiled when she recognised the girl. "Hi, Sugarcoat!" she greeted.

Sugarcoat turned around at the sound of her name and smiled when she saw Fluttershy. "Oh, hey, Fluttershy. I haven't seen you in a while," she said. "How long has it been? Since the music video contest?"

"Yeah, it was," Fluttershy answered. "How's your summer been so far?"

Sugarcoat shrugged. "Meh, it's been alright. Although, the girl's and I haven't been with eachother as long everyday since that werewolf showed up."

"Who do you think the werewolf is?" Fluttershy asked.

Sugarcoat crossed her arms. "I don't really care who it is, I just want that Woodland Musket guy to make it go away whether he kills it or not. Anyway, how's your summer?" she asked, still pretty calm.

Fluttershy's expression saddened as she looked downwards. "Not so great lately," she said quietly.

Sugarcoat's eyes widened slightly. "Oh? How come?"

"Well, you see, almost a week ago, Sunset gave me her pet lizard to look after but she never told me why." She looked back up at Sugarcoat. "Now, she's not answering any of our texts or calls and we haven't seen her at all."

Sugarcoat slowly raised a hand over her mouth. "Has anyone went over to her house to check on her?"

"Twilight, Applejack and Rarity all have over the last few days," Fluttershy answered, nodding. "Applejack even said she stood there for over an hour calling and waiting, but nothing. Sunset's just... gone."

"Maybe she just went back to that pony world... whatever it's called," Sugarcoat suggested.

"Maybe, but she always lets us know whenever she was going to Equestria. The girl's and I suspect this is something more."

"What makes you suspect that?"

Now Fluttershy shrugged. "We don't know exactly, but we do know that Sunset hasn't been acting like herself before she went missing.

"Only the day before, we all went to the mall for a day out. We went to the arcade where, at a strength game, Sunset showed to be almost as strong as Applejack using her super strength. Then at the end of her day, Sunset had snuck off and we found her at the steakhouse bathroom vomiting up meat she ate," she explained. "And if you know Sunset, she's a vegetarian."

Sugarcoat gripped her chin curiously. "Hmm... that certainly isn't like her. Well, I wouldn't know what's going on, but if you want my advice, I'd suggest you go back to Sunset's, and if she doesn't answer, call someone," she told Fluttershy. "The last time I saw Sunset, she was running away somewhere, I don't know where, but she told me she just came from arguing with Twilight. Maybe ask her about that."

Sugarcoat turned to the shelves, took a bottle of shampoo and placed it in a basket she had. "Anyway, I have to go now. It was good talking to you, Fluttershy." She began walking down the other side of the isle.

Fluttershy waved at her. "Bye, Sugarcoat, and thank you for the advice." She turned and walked back the way she came.

She purchased a new tub of crickets and finally left the store. On her way home, Fluttershy thought over Sugarcoat's advice. She stopped where she was and looked back at the street she came from.

"Sunset's house isn't actually too far from here," she told herself. "I should probably go check to see if she's there." And so, she began to walk in the opposite way, in the direction to Sunset's house.

During the journey to Sunset’s house, Fluttershy's phone buzzed. She took her phone out of her pocket and opened it. Twilight had sent a message on the chat room her friends all shared.

Guys! Musket just told me that he found where the werewolf comes out at night! We're finally putting an end to this!
20:33

WHAT?!?!?!??!?!?!?!!
20:33

make sure u be careful twi. okay?
20:34

be careful out there darling, but also make sure that beast doesn't return!
20:34

please stay safe twilight. Please?
20:35

dont worry fluttershy. we'll be fine I promise
20:36

Fluttershy saw that Sunset still hadn't replied. She waited where she was to see if something would happen with Sunset's profile. It took a few minutes of waiting, but, very quickly, she eventually saw that the red dot next to Sunset's profile picture turn green, signifying that Sunset was online. But as fast as it went green, it turned back to red. Sunset was still here. She might still be at her house.

Fluttershy turned off her phone and began running the rest of the way to Sunset's house. She finally arrived at her door and raised her hand to knock. But she hesitated and reeled her hand back. What will happen if she knocked? What if Sunset wasn't even home?

Fluttershy shook her head, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Sunset? Are you there?"

Chapter 13. Dark Nights

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July 12th, Twilight's Castle, Thursday Night
07:53PM

Princess Twilight was currently laying her face down on the table in her giant library. She was mumbling something to herself.

Spike came in and walked over to the alicorn, taking out the chair beside her and sat on it. "Still can't find anything, huh?" Spike asked with a monotone voice.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Spike," Twilight said, turning to face him. "I haven't found a single thing about werewolves anywhere in our history. How am I supposed to help Sunset now if the creature doesn't even exist in Equestria?"

A thought came to the dragon's mind. He pondered over it and smiled at the idea. "What if we don't have to look in history?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean what if we actually look in different fiction books? Maybe, if they all include same explanations for things like turning one back into a human, we could pass that onto Sunset!"

Twilight thought over the idea herself. It sounded a little ridiculous to her. But then again... "Maybe werewolves really did exist, but were removed from history and passed down onto fictional stories..." She gasped. "Wait! I think I know where we can the answer!"

Twilight turned around and faced her gigantic bookshelves. She scanned through each and every shelf until she found the book she needed. Finding the book, she smiled, levitating it out and flying back down to the table.

Spike looked at the book in wonder. "What's that?" he asked.

"Kairo Conjure. He was an earth pony from thousands of moons ago who created spells that could be activated by chanting them out and drawing a specific pattern on the ground, but all his spells did was bring chaos to towns. He was sentenced to tartarus for his crimes but he fled, and nobody was able to find him," she explained, not looking away from the book. "But they did find his book of spells that he mistakenly left behind."

"Kairo? That name sounds familiar," Spike said. "Wait. I saw that name while we were in the Restricted Section."

"You did?" Twilight asked, now looking at Spike.

"Yeah. The book I read mentioned that he was a criminal, but not specifically what he did."

Twilight nodded. "Kairo was one of the most powerful ponies of his day, even comparing to the likes of Starswirl. It would've made sense to remove him from Equestrian history, so nopony could find his learnings and repeat what he did."

Twilight placed her hoof on the book's cover. "This book here is a retelling of all his crimes. It includes the different spells he used to commit them, including a werewolf transformation spell, but they didn't include their patterns and the spells were rewritten in a way so they wouldn't work anymore."

"How do you know so much about this Kairo guy if he was removed from Equestrian history?" Spike asked.

Twilight froze and slowly turned to the curious dragon. "Easy, I asked Star Swirl to share with me the stories of some of his greatest foes. He wasn't very willing to do it at first, but he eventually came around, and fortunately, one of those villains just so happened to be Kairo Conjure," she explained.

"Right, but that still doesn't explain how his spell got to Sunset's world," Spike said.

"Don't you get it, Spike? Kairo must have fled to the human world. Since he was without his book, he must have rewrote all of his spells and somepony there must have found it."

Once Twilight finished her explanation, she opened the large book, skimming through every page until she found the chapter she needed. She slammed her hoof onto one of the pages.

"Here it is," she announced. "'The Rise of the Werewolf Pack.' The answer must be somewhere in here."

Twilight's House, Thursday Night
08:21PM

The human Twilight was getting herself prepared for the nightly hunt for the werewolf. There was a big excited smile on her face. She didn't know what it was, but she had a really good feeling about tonight.

It may have only been a week ever since the hunt started, but during that time she, Musket and Rainbow Dash had come so much closer to catching the wolf, and it's that experience that gave her the confidence that this will be a very important night. She could feel it in her gut.

Although, there was still the matter of what will happen to it once they capture it. Musket was for killing it to ensure it didn't return, while Twilight was against killing it. It may be a dangerous beast, but it's also a person that had been cursed. If there was a way of saving it, that was the solution.

This includes the one that attacked Rainbow Dash, which Twilight had figured out to be someone within their group of friends... Sunset! Before she went missing, she made the clues very clear to the spectacled girl; the super strength, the enhanced senses and, most importantly, the taste for meat. It was all there for Twilight to piece together.

And now she has to prevent Musket from harming her.

After getting changed, grabbing the equipment she needed to bring along with a jacket, Twilight walked to the front door and stepped out of the house.

But suddenly, her phone began vibrating. She took the phone out of her jacket pocket and opened it to a new message from Musket. She stayed where she was as she opened his message.

Twilight, I hope you're rightfully prepared for tonight's hunt.
Because I have found the place where we can find this beast as soon as the sun sets. If tonight is a success, then it's a job well done for us all.
20:32

Twilight gasped after she read the message. Was this really it? Already? They could end the werewolf problem tonight? Thinking of that scared her. It gave her the vibe that Musket was fully set on killing the wolf where it stood, the one thing Twilight had pleaded him to not do.

But she did have the power to stop him if he wasn't willing to listen. It would be severely risky, but she didn't want any of the wolves dead, especially one of them.

The only thing was... which one is living where Musket is describing? What if it was Sunset? What if that was where she was hiding?

Keeping the thought in mind, she began a run to, now, the final destination: the Canterlot Park Forest. Her gut was right, this was a very important night.

Sunset’s House, Thursday Night
08:33PM

Another night. Still no answer from the princess. Sunset laid on her couch in the dark, journal clutched tightly in her hands, waiting for any sort of answer. Sunset wanted to be there for the exact moment when she sends one.

The last five days had been truly awful for Sunset. During that time, she had only left her house once while keeping a profile as low as she possibly could. She had gotten herself different meats, something she, for some reason, had been craving for quite a while now.

But she never sought help from any of her friends. It would be too dangerous for her to be around anyone, which is why she spent so little time outside. One thing they all said when one of them came over was that they could help her with whatever was going on. But they couldn't because Sunset was dangerous.

Her house also had to suffer from this. There were claw scratches everywhere, on the walls and on the floor. Things from different drawers and cabinets were flung all over the place. Her door, while still damaged, still remained mostly intact. She figured that if she left the door open, she'd be at less risk of destroying it later.

Sunset buried her face in the journal, whispering to herself, "Please answer, please answer, please answer."

But a knock on the door pulled her out of the book. Sunset stayed quiet and stared patiently at the door. Who was here at this time?

"Sunset? Are you there?"

It sounded like Fluttershy. What was she doing here?

Sunset's attention was pulled away from the door when a weird surge of pain went through her left arm. She covered her mouth to suppress her cry, but then her other arm began to hurt as well. It was happening again...

...and Fluttershy was right outside!

Streets of Canterlot, Thursday Night
08:37PM

Fluttershy was outside Sunset's house, checking to see if she would at least answer her, but she didn't.

She knocked on the door a second time. Still no response from the inside.

She was about to give up hope, leave and call the authorities, but then she heard something coming from inside. It sounded like groans of pain. She placed her ear against the door. The groans turned into silent cries.

Now Fluttershy began pounding on the door.

"Sunset!" she shouted. "Are you okay?! Please let me in!"

But then the door creaked open. Sunset had left it open.

Then she heard Sunset shout. "Don't come in! Aah! P-Please!"

But Fluttershy didn't listen. She opened the door and found Sunset on all fours on the floor, looking like she was in agony. She looked straight at Fluttershy with tears streaming down her eyes.

"Fluttershy! G-Get out of here!" Sunset screamed in between gasps, waving her hand at her to shoo her off.

Fluttershy closed the door and rushed down beside Sunset, placing a hand on her back.

"What's happening?!" she asked in fear.

Before Sunset could answer, Fluttershy saw that Sunset was getting larger in size.

"Y-You... have to... Grr!! Get out! Now!" Sunset voice started to sound different. It sounded deeper and gritty. She grabbed Fluttershy's shoulders and threw her back in the direction of the door, much stronger than she had intended to.

Fluttershy, now laying on the floor, looked up at Sunset as she continued to grow. Golden fur began to sprout out of her body. Her fingernails began to grow rapidly and they became extremely sharp. Her nose and mouth began to move outwards, converting into a muzzle. Her ears became longer and more pointy, now they both sat near the top of her head. Her cries of agony disappeared, and had turned into howls. Sunset had transformed.

Fluttershy stared with pure terror. Right in front of her, before her very eyes, her friend had turned into the werewolf. She slowly stood up, hoping not to gain the wolf's attention. But she stepped on a creaky floorboard, which caused the werewolf's head to snap at her. It growled and slowly began walking towards her.

Fluttershy whimpered in fear, but suddenly remembered she brought her geode. She quickly put a hand in her pocket, took out the small necklace and clipped it around her neck.

The wolf looked as though it was ready to pounce.

Fluttershy grasped the jewel of the necklace and ears, a tail and a pair of wings appeared on her. She flew upwards, only just dodging the wolf's attack.

"Sunset! Can you hear me?!" she called out. She tried using her magic on the wolf to see if she could hear anything.

"Prey! Prey! Prey!" it repeated.

"No, Sunset! Not prey! I'm your friend!" Fluttershy cried as she tried to fly further up. The wolf tried jumping up to catch her. "It's me! Fluttershy!"

She looked around the house for something she could probably use to defend herself, but Sunset's house was very empty, there was nothing lying around.

She continued hovering around the roof of Sunset's house, evading the werewolf's attempts at attacking. If Fluttershy didn't come up with an idea fast, she would be done for, surely.

But then, Fluttershy caught sight of a glimmering on the nightstand beside Sunset's bed. She waited for the wolf to attack again and quickly flew over, grabbed what it was and flew back to her spot. She looked at it, and it was Sunset's geode. She must not have been wearing it.

Looking at the geode, an idea immediately came to the girl's mind. It was an absolutely terrible idea and could easily result in the death of her, but it might just work. She started looking around for something to extend the size of the necklace.

Unknown Place, Thursday ???
??:??

Sunset opened her eyes. She found herself in an all too familiar place again. But what for this time?

She stood up and called out, "Hey! What am I doing here again?"

"Tonight is a big night, Sunset Shimmer," the deep voice said. "For you, for the hunters, and for your friend, Fluttershy."

"What are you talking about- Wait... Fluttershy's out there with the werewolf!!" Sunset shouted. "I-I have to save her!"

"But you can't save her. When the moon rises, the wolf takes over, and you have no power over it."

"No! I have to... I-I have to find a way out of here!" Sunset looked around where she stood. There was only an endless abyss of darkness whatever direction she looked in.

"It is impossible to leave unless I allow it."

"Then let me out! Please!"

"It is too late. You have failed. And the consequences are about to set in motion. Now, only they can save themselves, and you do not have the power to control that. And even then, if I do let you out, what good will it bring? You have no control of the beast."

"No! Let me out! Now!" Sunset screamed.

"You have failed them all, Sunset Shimmer. You waited too long for a solution to come to you, all while continuing to worsen the situation by not taking your own action."

Sunset got down onto the floor and tried to block out the voice, but it was able to, somehow, pass through her hands and into her ears.

"You had the power to stop this, but you only stood there and make it worse for your friends, for Woodland Musket, and for you."

"SHUT UP!!" Sunset screamed again.

"Why should I? I'm only pointing out what you were so oblivious from. What I am isn't the problem. What the real problem was, unfortunately, was you doing the absolute least you could have done, and now the consequences are finally being paid. Are you happy now, Sunset Shimmer? Is this what you wanted? To sit by and watch your friends die to the one thing you could have prevented?" The voice echoed louder than it ever has before. It agonised Sunset's ears to listen to it any longer.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Sunset looked up at the ceiling and cried, forcefully squishing her head inbetween her hands trying to block out the noise.

She tried all she could to silence the agonising voice. She didn't believe anything it tried to tell her, but the images of her friends falling before her, all bloody, torn and dead, still remained in her head.

She pounded the ground with her fists, and opened her eyes to see that there was a crack in the floor. She punched it again. The crack got larger and a white light shined through.

"You have no power over me," the voice boomed. "I'm in control. I decide when you enter or when you leave, but there is no point in letting you leave. You have already failed them all, you have no control over the werewolf!"

Sunset didn't listen, she continued to destroy the floor. The cracks extended further and a giant hole began to form from the broken shards.

"What are you doing? Stop that right now! If you continue, there will be nothing left of me in you! There will be no control in this place!"

But Sunset continued to ignore it. She kept destroying all of the ground that surrounded her. Eventually, the cracks ran up a wall and then the ceiling. Pieces and shards of black all fell into the abyss below.

Sunset stopped smashing and sat down panting.

The voice didn't say anything to her anymore. It must have left what with all of the damage she had done to its little world. Eventually, the only black that was left was the little piece of floor she sat on. The very last piece. She stood up and stomped on it, shattering it. She prepared herself for the fall, but she found that she wasn't falling, nor was she actually floating either. She still felt ground below her, but it looked as though she was standing on nothing. Below her was still the white abyss.

"What's going on?" she asked herself. "Hey! Are you still out there?" Her voice echoed. There was really nothing left. At all. What was she to do now?

Sunset got into a sitting position, continuing to look around. "I hope Fluttershy's okay," she said worryingly.

She sat there for a minute, with nothing at all happening. It was just Sunset continuing to hover in the air and nothing else.

Then suddenly, a large screen thing appeared in front of her. She looked right at it confusingly, but then noticed that she was looking at the inside of her house.

"What is this?"

She then saw something fly by the screen. Something yellow. The screen looked to be chasing it around. It didn't take Sunset long to figure out what it was. She was looking through the perspective of the werewolf, which was chasing Fluttershy around in her house.

Sunset stood back up, eyes wide at the scene. "Fluttershy! Get out of there!" Sunset shouted. But she found that Fluttershy couldn't hear her. She was forced to just watch what was happening.

While Sunset watched, she noticed Fluttershy was holding tightly onto something. With a closer look, she saw a red chain hanging out of Fluttershy's hand. It was Sunset's geode. What was Fluttershy doing with her geode?

Sunset's House, Thursday Night
08:57PM

Fluttershy continued to look around, which wasn't made easy what with there being a big werewolf chasing her around her friend's house.

She circled around the house many times now, and the wolf showed no signs of stopping. She flew against the wall where the door was and she managed to trick the wolf into hitting itself against it. Then she flew over and clung to the wall on the other side of the house, trying to catch her breath.

She took the chance to look around again, checking of there was anything at all in there to make the necklace bigger. Then she saw Sunset's guitars. The strings on those looked long enough.

Seeing she still had a chance, Fluttershy flew over and grabbed a guitar. She hung in the air and tried to detach the longest string. She turned the peg and the string loosened, but she had no way of cutting the thing off.

She saw that the werewolf was recovering itself, and would be ready to attack again. Fluttershy tried, with all of her might to rip the string out. She turned again and saw the werewolf, ready to pounce. It lunged at her, but out of fear and adrenaline, Fluttershy swung the guitar, smacking the werewolf right in its jaw.

Upon impact, the guitar smashed, freeing all of the strings. Fluttershy took the longest string and tied the ends to the ends of the chain of Sunset's geode, making it much longer.

Now, with the perfect opportunity, Fluttershy quickly went over to the werewolf and put the geode around its neck. It was made more difficult what with how fast Fluttershy tried to put it on.

But when she did, the wolf's eyes glowed white and it started thrashing and roaring as if it was in pain. Fluttershy flew up to avoid it.

"I hope this works," she said quietly, holding her hands together, praying.

Unknown Place, Thursday ???
??:??

Sunset had watched everything Fluttershy had just done. She sighed with relief now that she was okay. But she questioned, what was she planning to do with her geode? She wasn't sure, but whatever it was, it seemed to have stopped the wolf.

Suddenly, the area around her began furiously shaking.

"Now what's going on?!" she asked. She looked around to find a source, obviously finding nothing.

But then, some kind of force started pulling Sunset towards the large screen. She screamed in terror as she closed in on the wolf's perspective. Her vision was flooded with light.

Sunset's House, Thursday Night
09:06PM

Sunset's eyes tiredly opened. She moaned and tried to sit herself up. When her eyes came into full focus, she noticed Fluttershy was there. She looked as though she was about to have a panic attack.

It was then that Sunset realised that she towered over Fluttershy, even while sitting down.

She tried to ask what was wrong, but instead of words coming out, a small bark came out instead. She looked down at her hands and saw that she was covered in fur. She put her hands on her face and felt that she had a long nose. She was still a werewolf, but... she was somehow now in control.

Sunset looked back at Fluttershy, Sunset didn't think she understood that she was back yet. She spun her head around, looking for a way to communicate with her. She then saw that Fluttershy was wearing her geode. She pointed at her own geode, hoping Fluttershy would get the message.

Fortunately, it worked, and Fluttershy had once again activated her powers.

"Surprise," Sunset said awkwardly.

"Sunset?" Fluttershy asked. "Is that really you?"

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck and nodded. "Yeah... I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Fluttershy stepped closer to the beast. "What do you mean?"

"This." She gestured to herself and then her house. "I just didn't think I was safe around you guys anymore, so I isolated myself in hopes that I wouldn't cause any more harm."

Fluttershy was now close enough to hug Sunset. "Why did you think you were too dangerous to be with all of us anymore? We could have helped."

Sunset laid down and whimpered like a dog. "Did you see how I was acting when we were at the mall? That was only the beginning of it. So I became afraid of harming you and the girls and I locked myself in my house. That's why I gave you Ray." She looked back at Fluttershy. "How has he been by the way?"

"He's been terribly lonely without you," Fluttershy said sadly. "Everyday he was asking where you were and if I knew when you'd come back."

Sunset continued whimpering. "My poor, little Ray... I waited so long for a solution to just come to me, I didn't notice how I was still harming everyone." She then started growling. "I swear, when I see that wolf again, I'm gonna-! Wait..." She jumped back to her feet when she finally realised. "Twilight and Rainbow Dash! They're in danger!"

Fluttershy gasped when she remembered too. "We have to go help them! Let's go!"

Fluttershy ran to the door, but was stopped by a large, clawed hand.

"I'm going to go save them. You are staying out of danger," Sunset told her sternly. She walked outside without Fluttershy, and before she left she said, "It's my fault they're in danger in the first place. I don't want anyone else to have to suffer because of me."

"Sunset! Wait!"

But it was too late. Sunset took off, running on all fours towards Canterlot Park. So then Fluttershy, without thinking, sprouted her wings and followed behind the werewolf at a much slower speed.

And then, still laying on the couch, Sunset's journal began buzzing.

Canterlot Park Forest, Thursday Night
09:18PM

Twilight and Rainbow Dash followed Musket through the forest once again, trying to find the spot where the hunter said he'd found the werewolf's hideout.

Rainbow was excited about finally ending the beast's reign of terror. Although, Twilight was uneasy, which didn't go unnoticed by her prismatic friend.

"Hey, you alright, Twilight?" Rainbow asked.

"Uuh, y-yeah. Yeah, I'm-I'm good," Twilight responded. "Just, uuh, totally not a little scared. Hehe..." She put on a fake smile, but Rainbow didn't buy it.

"It's alright to be afraid, my dear." Musket joined in. "Rainbow Dash is scared also."

"I am not!" Rainbow said back, blushing.

"Hmm. That's odd, because even I feel quite uneasy, and I've been hunting for over twenty years, so I've had plenty of experience."

Rainbow snorted. "Yeah, but you haven't faced against evil magic that threatened to destroy the world."

"Then why is Twilight scared?"

"I don't know! Maybe it's because she hasn't been doing it as long as me and our other friends."

Musket began chuckling. "Well, I guess you're right then. I guess hunting isn't really comparable against threats against the world."

Twilight said nothing, but still crossed her arms and sighed through her nose. "You two finished your little ego contest?"

"We might as well be. Look," Musket said, pointing forward. "We're almost there."

Beyond some trees, where Musket was pointing, was a cliff edge. The trio walked towards it and they saw quite far up was an opening to a cave.

"There it is," Musket announced. He clapped his hands together and turned back to the girls. "Okay, so, how good are your climbing skills?"

"I could just levitate us up there," Twilight said, pointing to the purple geode around her neck.

"And I can fly up," Rainbow added, again, pointed to her blue geode.

"Oh," Musket said, surprised. "Well, umm... isn't that convenient?"

Twilight laughed. "Don't worry, I'll lift you up."

"Oh, thank Christ," Musket said, relieved. "You have no idea how difficult it was for me to climb up that earlier today."

So then, Rainbow Dash activated her wings and flew up to the mouth of the cave. Twilight and Musket followed behind her, having being levitated by Twilight's telekinesis. Now, they all stood just outside what was their final destination.

Twilight could feel her heart pumping out of her chest. "W-What if it isn't in there?" she queried, talking quick. "M-Maybe it already left!"

"It couldn't have. The night's barely begun," Musket said, looking up at the moon which was only just shining over the horizon.

"Well, y-you never know, Musket. It's possible that-"

"Could we stop wasting time here?" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "The longer we continue going back at eachother, the more of a chance the wolf just comes and attacks us."

Musket shook his head stood up straight. "Rainbow Dash is right. We cannot waste anymore time." He began walking inside. "Come on, you two! It's now or never!"

Twilight looked at Rainbow and laughed nervously. "After you?" She pointed towards the cave.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and pushed Twilight inside. Twilight glared back at her but Rainbow ignored and walked past her.

Twilight looked out her flashlight, turned it on and shined it in front of her. It was still very dark, but for what it was worth, it still somewhat helped. She then noticed that Rainbow Dash stood very close to her. She shined the light on her to get her attention.

Rainbow Dash, who tightly shut her eyes, shrugged at the purple lass. "I forgot my flashlight, okay? Now would you please that light out of my face?"

It was now Twilight's turn to roll her eyes as she shined the light forward again and pressed on in the cave.

The team had been walking for a few minutes with no sign of any werewolf. Their footsteps echoed throughout the cave and their breaths were steamy, that was how empty it was.

"Where is this thing?!" Rainbow shouted, her voice giving a loud and long echo.

Musket and Twilight both shushed Rainbow in unison.

"We're trying to keep quiet!" Mukset whispered harshly. "We don't want the wolf sneaking up on us!"

Rainbow scoffed. "I doubt the thing's even here. I haven't been hearing a single thing from anything apart from our own footsteps aimlessly wandering around in this cave."

It was then that they all heard growling coming from further in the darkness. Everyone slowly turned to where the sound was coming from and Twilight and Musket shined their lights in the same direction.

From the darkness emerged a large, furry, grey hand, followed by another hand. It walked forward and the furry face was revealed to them all. Bright blue eyes and razor sharp teeth. It pushed itself up from the ground and stood on its back legs, showing off its incredible build and size. The werewolf had finally come and confronted them, and it was the one they had all yet to see for themselves.

"I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut..." Rainbow said guiltily.

The team slowly stepped backwards towards the exit. The wolf continued to approach them.

"It's so much bigger than I imagined," Musket said quietly with fear clearly heard in his voice.

"This has to be the one Sunset described to us," Twilight whimpered. "It's... It's so large."

"W-What are you waiting for?" Rainbow asked, being just as afraid as everyone else. "Just shoot it."

Musket shakily pointed his gun towards the wolf while still moving backwards. But as soon as the wolf heard the gun click, it roared and got back down onto all fours, ready to charge.

"It's about to charge at us!" Musket announced. "Quick! Head to the exit!"

The girl's both screamed and ran back the way they came, the werewolf followed closely behind. They could see the light at the end of the tunnel, they were almost outside, but then, the wolf overtook the team and stopped in front of them, blocking their only way of escaping. It slowly approached them again.

"Quick! Shoot it! Shoot it!" Rainbow Dash cried at Musket.

"No, wait! There has to be another way of dealing with it!" Twilight jumped in front of Musket to prevent him from killing the beast.

Then suddenly, another roar was heard, but it wasn't from the werewolf. Everyone turned to the source of the roar and saw another wolf. It had golden fur, a red and yellow fiery pattern travelling down its back and teal eyes. It was comparatively smaller in size than the grey wolf.

Twilight gasped when she saw the newcomer. She had a pretty good idea as to who it was. She inaudibly whispered, "Sunset."

The grey wolf had turned away from the team and looked directly at the golden wolf.

"Mate has arrived," it said in a growly voice.

Sunset growled and said, "I'm no mate of your's! Leave my friends alone and then leave this city!"

The grey wolf tilted its head in confusion. "Female make friends with prey? Prey try kill wolves! Wolves eat prey, not friend them! Female soft! Female weak!"

"Then I guess I'm not a regular werewolf!"

Now the grey wolf growled. "Then you die!"

The grey wolf readied itself and jumped towards the golden wolf. Sunset held onto the grey one as they both fell backwards towards the cliff edge. Sunset was pinned to the ground, arms held to the floor as the grey wolf tried to bite the face clean off.

Sunset lifted her legs from underneath and kicked the grey one off, sending it flying backwards. She stood back up and pushed the grey wolf against the wall of the mountain. She continuously shoved it back into the wall until she felt that it was stunned enough.

She went towards the trio. Musket and Rainbow Dash stepped back in fear and Musket began raising his gun at the golden fur, but Twilight turned and shot a glare at him that told him to put it down. She then turned back to the wolf and approached her with a relieved smile.

"I am so glad you're here right now, Sunset," she said, hugging the wolf.

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Wait, that's Sunset?!!" she shouted.

Sunset could hear the grey wolf growling again. It was getting back up. So, hurrying, she grabbed the team, ran out of the cave and took them all off of the cliff. She placed them back down after getting them away and gestured them to stay put before going back.

After she ran away, Rainbow still had questions. "Sunset's a werewolf?!" asked Rainbow Dash again. "We gotta go save her!"

"We can't. It's far too dangerous," Musket said, watching Sunset run back.

"But she can't take that thing on her own! Look at the size of it! It could kill her!" Rainbow shouted, running in front of Musket's view. "Twilight, c'mon. You know we have to help her, right?"

Twilight was unsure. Her friend did need help, but she told them all to stay put. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but then they could hear a panting just behind them.

When they all turned around, they saw Fluttershy flying down towards them. Once she came to the ground, she fell immediately onto her knees panting heavily.

"Fluttershy? What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy looked up at them. "Sunset... werewolf... you guys... danger... I followed," she said inbetween heavy breaths.

Rainbow and Twilight helped Fluttershy to her feet, giving her support on each of their shoulders. While Fluttershy continued catching her breath, she saw Musket approaching her with a serious look.

"You shouldn't have followed your friend," he said to her. "This beast is far too dangerous for any of you all to handle."

"What? It's not too much for you?" Rainbow Dash retorted.

He now looked at Rainbow Dash with a mischievous grin. "You seem to forget, my dear, I have the werewolf's greatest weakness!"

"And yet, you didn't take the shot even when given the chance to." Rainbow frowned at the hunter. "You say it's too dangerous for us, but really you've only gotten as far as you did because of us. Let us help Sunset with you!"

Musket then turned his head in the direction where Sunset ran off to. He played with the idea in his mind. He thought that it may be worth it for additional support. He then got an idea and turned back to the girls.

"How about we go make some real use of your powers, then?"

Sunset slowly approached the grey wolf as it still sat against the cave's wall. It stared deeply into her with its big, blue eyes.

"You are strong female," it said to her.

Sunset didn't reply. She just stared back at it, growling loudly.

"But it take more than that," it finished before getting itself up.

With incredible speed, it jumped forward and tackled Sunset, pinning her to the ground once more. With one hand golding her down, the grey wolf used the other to continuously punch Sunset's muzzle.

Sunset attempted hitting back, but with the only hand that wasn't held down, the grey wolf easily avoided her throws.

Sunset was in trouble now. She had no way of escaping. Her face felt numb. Her free arm had no more energy to protect her. Everything was beginning to darken for her. All she could now really see was the moon in the sky. The light from it was dimming very fast. She could only barely see it now. This looked like the end.

But then, the punching suddenly ended as something had hit the grey wolf. The grey fur looked up and behind it and it saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, dropping any large rocks they could both find onto its head.

Seeing an opportunity, Sunset broke her bound hand free and grabbed the neck of the grey wolf. Using all of her strength, she threw the wolf over the edge along with herself. She positioned herself to be on top of it as they both plummeted to the ground.

They both crashed into the ground, Sunset’s attack was successful. But then, the grey wolf began to rise again as if nothing had happened. It knocked Sunset off of its back and turned towards her, death now being seen in its eyes.

It ran towards her, throwing an arm back with its claws spread out. It was going to slash her.

But when its hand came towards her, a purple aura had caught it by its wrist and pulled its arms back. Sunset looked over it and saw Twilight using all of her strength to hold the grey wolf back. Sunset then used this chance to begin punching it now. Unfortunately, her punches seemed to be doing nothing against the wolf.

The grey wolf struggled against Twilight's magic and had managed to break free. Twilight fell to the ground from the exhaustion. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew back down and helped Twilight back up to her feet.

The grey wolf lifted Sunset upwards by her neck and began charging to the wall. She was pushed right up against the rocky wall as she continued to throw punches its way.

Seeing that he now had a clear shot, Mukset pointed his gun directly towards the werewolves. There was nothing to distract him now. He was about to end this once and for all. He put his finger onto the trigger and he was ready to shoot.

But just as he pulled the trigger, his gun was forcefully pushed upwards.

"No!" Twilight shouted from behind him. She used whatever magic she had left to stop Musket from shooting the wolves.

But even if Twilight ruined Musket's shot, the bullet still hit something. They both heard an extremely loud roar coming from the wolves.

The grey wolf loosened its grip around Sunset... and Sunset fell to the ground.

"SUNSET!!" Twilight screamed in terror.

Sunset laid flat onto the ground. She wasn't moving. The bullet from Musket's gun had caught her.

And now that one of its problems were finally out of the way, the grey wolf turned around to face the now team of four. It slowly began approaching them again, this time without anything that could possibly interfere.

Musket pointed his gun again and pulled the trigger. But nothing came out. He realised that he needed to refill the ammunition. Quickly, he reached into his bag and brought out a box of silver bullets.

"Hurry up!" Rainbow Dash rushed Musket.

He did exactly that, which caused him to drop the box. Bullets scattered all across the dirt ground surrounding him. He rushed to pick one up and tried to slot it into the gun, finding it difficult due to how fast he was now forced to do it.

The wolf then came so close to them all. They couldn't possibly escape from it now. It reached out a large hand towards them, ready to finally kill...

But then, it was forcefully pulled backwards. Something pulled on its arms, holding them behind its back. It looked behind itself to see that it was Sunset who interrupted once again. She held the grey wolf's arms behind its back tightly, giving a clear shot.

She roared something towards the team. Fluttershy used her magic to communicate with her.

"Now! Shoot it now!" Sunset was shouting.

"She's saying to shoot it now!" Fluttershy announced. "You have to hurry!"

Musket looked towards Twilight, who looked very scared. But hesitantly, she nodded at him. Getting the message from her, Musket reloaded his gun with a single silver bullet and, for the last time, pointed his weapon. He aimed right at the heart of the grey wolf. Now, with a steady shot, he pulled the trigger and the bullet came flying out with a big bang. It came towards the wolf and it pierced its chest.

The grey wolf cried an ear piercing scream as the bullet was lodged deep into its chest. Its eyes slowly became duller and the scream began die down. Sunset let go of it and the grey wolf fell to the ground with a large thud. It was finally dead.

Sunset remained standing there, looking down at the corpse that now laid before her. They had all done it. The werewolf was finally put to an end. Peace could finally be brought, once again, to the city of Canterlot.

But suddenly, her head began to pound painfully. She moaned loudly and fell down to her knees, clutching her head tightly. She started feeling very dizzy. As if she could pass put at any second.

"Sunset? Are you okay?" Twilight asked, running towards the golden wolf.

Sunset looked up at her friend. But her vision had become very blurry, she could barely make out Twilight's face.

"Sunset? Speak to me! Are you okay?" Twilight's voice had clear worry in it. She lifted the wolf's face to look at her's directly.

Sunset couldn't stay awake any longer. Where she stood, she fell onto the ground, unconscious. All she then heard was someone shouting, "Sunset!"

Chapter 14. Rest

View Online

July 13th, Canterlot Hospital, Friday Afternoon
04:42PM

Sunset's eyes opened ever so slightly. Her vision was very blurry, she couldn't make out where she was. From what she could see, there was light shining through a large window and onto her, where she laid in a bed of some sort.

The light shone in her eyes. It was really annoying her. She slowly raised an arm to block the light. Then, only barely, she heard a voice, but she couldn't make out what was being said. Was someone trying to talk to her? What was going on?

She then suddenly felt something clasp onto both of her shoulders, and she began to move as if she was being shaken. She looked around to see what was doing it.

And then she saw a figure come closer to her. It looked like a person's face. They had pink skin and purple hair.

When the figure came closer, she could hear their voice, and she was able to understand it a little better.

"Sunset? Are you okay?" they said. The person then came even closer, to the point Sunset could make out who it really was.

"Twilight..." Sunset said very weakly.

Her eyes finally came into focus and she began to hear much better. On each side of her bed, there were more of her friends. In fact, all of her friends were here.

"Guys... you're all here." Sunset smiled slightly.

"Of course we came! We're always there for everyone we love!" Pinkie Pie announced excitedly.

"And you, Dear, are no exception whatsoever," Rarity finished for Pinkie.

Sunset, even though her face hurt very badly, smiled even wider. She always loved to hear that her friends are always there for her, even if she's heard if about a million times.

"How're ya doin' there, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Sunset shrugged. "Could be better. My head's pounding up a storm, my jaw hurts like a bitch, I can barely move my arms or legs and I can't even hear out of my right ear," she explained.

Everyone looked at her uncomfortably after she mentioned the part about her ear.

"What is it?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah... the thing about your ear is... well," Rainbow Dash began, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's kind of, umm... bandaged up."

"Why? What's wrong with my ear?"

Nobody looked too confident to have to explain it to her. But then Twilight cleared her throat to gain Sunset's attention.

She began to explain for her. "Last night, when you were fighting the other wolf, Musket took a shot while I tried to stop him. I threw his gun upwards just as he shot it and... the bullet had caught your ear."

Eyes opening slightly wider at the sound of it, Sunset raised her hand up to her right ear and began feeling around. She could feel that there was a chunk missing from it.

"I'm so sorry, Sunset," Twilight said quietly, sadness being heard.

"What for?" Sunset asked, bringing her hand away from her ear as she turned to face the teary eyed Twilight.

"If I hadn't have acted so protective and worried during then, then you'd still have two full ears and Musket could have wrapped this all up just that little moment sooner. I'd only done that because, for some reason, my brain wasn't sure who he was aiming at, so I didn't take any chances and stopped him just incase." Tears of guilt began to fall from Twilight's eyes as she looked downwards.

Twilight then felt a hand land onto hers. She looked up again and saw Sunset's sympathetic smile. "You acted out of worry, I can't blame you for that. And honestly, I don't really care if I lost a part of my ear. It's better than having my face eaten off by a werewolf," she said jokingly.

Sunset noticed that her attempt at humour fell quite flat as Twilight's expression didn't change.

Sunset sighed and decided to take a different approach. "Look, I know you've been worrying about me a lot lately and I can't blame you. It's all my fault anyway.

"If at the time you felt it was right to stop Musket because you didn't know who he was aiming at, then I'll just say that you did what you had to do. We all have to make sacrifices and, well, losing part of an ear was probably one of the least bad outcomes that could've came last night. I mean look at me, I'm alive, I'm safe, I don't see the problem," she finished, looking around her bandaged up but still alive body.

Sunset looked back at Twilight and saw she gave a small smile. "You're stupid," Sunset could hear Twilight whisper, causing the injured girl to chuckle.

"I just wonder what this means for your werewolf condition, Darling," Rarity said in a wondering manner.

Sunset shrugged again. "I don't know, I may or may not still be one, at least I now know how to control my werewolf form."

Fluttershy cleared her throat, gaining the attention of everyone there. "Actually, after you went unconscious after the fight last night, both you and the grey wolf turned back into humans," she explained.

"Well, I guess that explains that then," Rarity chimed in. "It seems that you're no longer a werewolf."

"How does that work?" Sunset asked turning to Twilight, hoping she'd have the answer.

"I guess maybe since that was the werewolf that turned you into one, when it died, the powers it was possessed by and gave you died along with it," Twilight tried to explain.

Everyone gave a confused look at the spectacled girl.

"That don't sound like it'd make a whole lot 'a sense," Applejack said.

"I don't know what to tell you all, I barely actually know anything about werewolves and their crappy rules, give me a break here," Twilight huffed.

Everyone laughed at the girl's little fit before Twilight began laughing herself. But, when the laughter subsided, there was one thought that had loomed Sunset's mind.

"I wonder who the grey werewolf really was," she said curiously. "Did you see what its human form looked like?"

"Yeah, actually," Twilight answered. "After it turned back, it turned back into a lumberjack, I think it was. We got him to the hospital too, but as far as we know, we don't know who he really is yet and that he is most certainly dead."

"What I wonder is how this kind of magic ended up here in Canterlot," Fluttershy said. "Have you brought this up with Princess Twilight, Sunset?"

Sunset nodded slightly. "Yeah, about a week ago in fact, but she hasn't answered me at all since. It makes me wonder if it's even Equestrian at all."

"Well, I, for one, am completely positive that it was Equestrian magic," chimed in Rarity. "Every weird thing that has happened to us over the last few years has been, I don't see how this possibly wasn't."

"Well, you would think that Twilight would've gotten back to me by now if it was, wouldn't you?" Sunset asked.

"Never doubt, Sunset. I'm sure the princess is doing all she possibly can to get all of the information she can to give to you. But for now, let's just never mind the werewolf right now. It's all over now. We can finally live freely again. Let's not waste time wondering over something that's now dead, okay?"

"Sounds good t'uh me," Applejack agreed.

"I'm in," Rainbow and Pinkie said in unison.

"That would be nice," Fluttershy said quietly, playing with her hair.

Sunset and Twilight both nodded at the same time to the fashionista.

"So, what are we all gonna do once I get out of here?" Sunset asked, starting a new conversation."

They all continued to chat, whether it was about Sunset's werewolf form, or it was anymore details everyone didn't know yet about the previous night, or even plans to do stuff once Sunset becomes well enough.

Peace was finally brought again to the city of Canterlot, and Sunset couldn't be any happier, but for now, all she'll want to do is rest for a while. It had only been just over a week ever since she was bitten, and during that time, so much had happened. Too much, for that matter. But it was all over now, and Sunset could sleep happily without risk now.

July 17th, Sunset's House, Tuesday Evening
05:17PM

Sunset was finally let out of the hospital, and Fluttershy had volunteered to be the one to bring Sunset home. In her car not only sat the still recovering bacon hair, but also the pet she held most dearest to her heart, Ray. They were coming home together, with their lives finally back to normal.

Fluttershy carried Ray's cage as Sunset unlocked her door and stepped inside. They all moved in as Sunset turned on the light. Sunset gave a relieved sigh as she looked around the perimeter of the small house. It was... a mess, but nothing Sunset couldn't handle, despite her condition. The scratches that covered the house though, and the broken door, she'd have to hire some people for that.

"Do you need help with anything else at all, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked, placing Ray's cage back on a table against the far wall, where it usually sat.

Sunset smiled and shook her head. "No, thank you. I already can't thank you enough for even bringing me and Ray home," she said, sitting on her couch.

"Oh, it was the least I could possibly do, really. Are you absolutely sure you don't want anything else at all?"

"Really, it's fine. You go home, enjoy your evening. I'm just gonna feed Ray and just chill for the rest of the night."

"Well, if you're sure. Bye, Sunset." Fluttershy walked back to the door, waving at her friend.

"See you later, Fluttershy." Sunset waved back.

And then Fluttershy closed the door behind her, leaving Sunset alone. She slumped back on her couch, still feeling completely exhausted. She stood up again and went over to the plastic tub Fluttershy had placed next to the glass cage. Sunset scooped out a few little crickets and placed them inside the cage for her little, leopard print lizard.

"It's been a long few weeks now, hasn't it, Ray?" Sunset calmly asked, scratching the lizard's head lightly with a single finger.

While Ray started munching some crickets, Sunset heard a buzzing sound coming from her living room, she went back and saw that her journal was buzzing. The princess had sent her a message.

She sat on the couch and opened the journal to the latest used page. Needless to say, she was caught by surprise when she saw the messages she was left.

Sunset! Are you there? Are you okay?

Did you take my advice? Did it work?

Sunset?! Why aren't you answering?!

Did something happen?!

Should I come over?!

SUNSET!!

Sunset went back a few pages. She landed on the last one that wasn't taken up by huge words.

I think I found the answer. I think it is possible that an ancient earth pony named Kairo Conjure was the one that brought the werewolf magic to your world.

It was said that he had escaped from custody and he had accidentally left behind his book of spells for the guards to find.

Now, I don't have evidence, but I have reason to believe that he rewrote his spells once he escaped to your world, including the werewolf transformation one, and somepony had found it and used it for themselves and for moons, the curse had been passed onto anypony that was bitten and had survived.

In the book that I had read, it said that the only way to lift the curse is for the source of the curse, which would be the first wolf, to be killed. Then, the curse should be lifted to those who were bitten and whoever else they bit.

I hope this helps. Be sure to respond as soon as you can. I just want to make sure you're all well and safe.

-Princess Twilight Sparkle

Then every page after that, Twilight blew her journal up with worried messages.

Smiling, Sunset reached to her nightstand to grab a pen, and in her journal, she wrote to the princess the only two words she needed to calm down.

Dear Princess Twilight,

It worked.

Musket's Office, Wednesday Evening
05:42PM

Musket sat at his desk with his computer sitting in front of him. On it was an empty page which he had yet to fill with his latest blog. For a few nights, he had tried to write about his experience with facing the werewolf head on, but previous attempts didn't please him enough to post them.

He sighed and cracked his fingers. He began his newest attempt at writing his final blog.

For over a week, I made it my mission to hunt for the werewolf that roamed Canterlot during the night. And on July the 13th, 2018, my team and I were very successful by bringing down not just the one, but both of the werewolves.

But it wasn't just the three of us that had brought an end to this hunt, as we had made an unlikely ally. We had managed to team up with the golden wolf that appeared shortly after the first one. It appeared that the mind of the person had not been corrupted to have the mind of the beast's. Together, we fought as one ended the true cause of the problem. And now, no one will be forced to live in fear when the nighttime comes.

What does this mean for the golden wolf, some will ask. All I can say is that there is no more wolves roaming at night, but the golden wolf now lives, cursed no more.

This hunt has been my grandest achievement to date, and I am glad I came out successful.

But I couldn't have done so if it weren't for my allies who had helped me throughout. It is by great honor that I thank Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Sunset Shimmer for all of their help and contribution. If I had never met any of these girls, I may no longer be writing today.

But as the sun sets and the moon rises, all great stories must come to an end, and this will be probably the greatest story I ever share. I thank the girls for their contribution, my dear wife who continued to support, and those who have read my blogs.

May I see you again for the next chapter. Until next time.

-Woodland Musket.

Sunset's House, Wednesday Night
08:36PM

The sun began to set over the horizon. Nighttime was to begin again very soon. The time of day where either some will choose to skip or entirely, or to party it all away. However anyone chose to spend it, Sunset Shimmer knew how she was going to spend this night. And that was to have what was to be the greatest sleep of her entire life.

Once she changed into her magenta pajamas, she climbed back into bed, she shut off the lamp that sat on the nightstand, she rested her head on the pillow, and she pulled the covers over her body.

More comfortable than she had been in quite a while, she shut her eyes with a peaceful smile.

"Goodnight, Sunset Shimmer," she said to herself before sleep took over.

THE END