> Into the Night
>  by TacoTues4Eva
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been two days since voluntarily leaving her small studio apartment after it had been vandalized for three days straight. The last time students were throwing rocks through the windows and had managed to toss a few through the neighbor’s whose kid was almost hit. The landlord had asked her to leave before somebody got hurt since the police couldn’t do much as they didn’t have any real idea of who the vandals were. In the landlord’s defense though, she apologized to Sunset and said she just didn’t want anyone getting hurt.

It really didn’t matter in the end though as Sunset had also lost her job thanks to students from school starting arguments in the middle of the sushi restaurant a couple days in a row. The police were called and those students that hadn’t run were served with a trespassing warning so if they came back they would be arrested. The commotion had forced the manager to fire Sunset as it had greatly impacted the business. 

So she had no income now, meaning she had nothing to pay for her apartment. She was now homeless with only her bag filled with a couple changes of clothes and her journal. She had left her school supplies in her locker since she didn’t have room for them in her bag and didn’t want to be carrying all of that around anyways. A part of her was wondering if she should just leave them there and disappear, leave Canterlot and the pain it had brought her. 

The cold wind blowing snow in her face made sure she didn’t have time to worry about that at the moment as she was entering the edge of the Everfree Forest. There was supposedly an old mansion that nobody would ever go near as people swore it was haunted. Old stories to scare people like that didn’t bother Sunset as she didn’t believe in the monsters that filled the horrible movies Rainbow Dash seemed to love. She knew similar things were real in Equestria as there was natural magic there.  But here where there wasn’t strong ambient magic, there was no way for those creatures to exist.

Finding the large, run down building she had to admit it looked pretty spooky. It was like your typical haunted house with a gothic slant to it and short, stone walls surrounding the property with cast iron pikes rising from it forming a type of fence. The main gate was made from the same cast iron pikes that were much taller, though one was on the ground and the other was barely hanging on, its hinges rusted very badly. 

Not caring about how the house looked, Sunset decided to step over the gate on the ground and walk up the driveway to the large house. If nobody came here for fear of monsters, then she would have a palace to stay and have a safe haven. She doubted it would be too warm as most of the windows had large cracks running through them, if not outright broken. Another gust of wind caused her to pick up her pace and hurry up onto the porch where she almost tried the door handle, but thought it best to try knocking first to make sure it wasn’t inhabited on some off chance. When nobody answered, Sunset tried the door and was pleased to find it unlocked and easy to open.

A warm gush of air washed over Sunset as she stepped over the threshold and into the foyer. She could see a large staircase heading up and splitting in two, spiraling apart from each other and up to the second floor. There was a lot of furniture that was covered in dust and cobwebs, as was a lot of the walls. Shutting the door behind her, Sunset slowly walked through the foyer and came upon what she assumed was a living room as there were two couches facing each other with a long coffee table and a loveseat at one end and an old floor model television. There was also a large piano with pipes sticking out of the top making Sunset wonder if this was a pipe organ that she had heard mentioned. 

“Hello?” Sunset called out, “I’m not a robber or anything, I’m just seeking shelter from the cold!”

Satisfied that there were no responses after a few moments, Sunset decided to try the lights and was pleasantly surprised that they worked. Apparently the place at least had power, but she intended not to waste it. It did explain why the place was warm as the furnace must have been running. The place was filthy though, and she really didn’t look forward to sleeping in a bunch of dust as she didn’t want to get sick or choke to death on it. 

Exploring the bottom floor, she found herself in she found a bathroom, a dining room, a fully equipped kitchen, though the appliances were a little old, a broom closet that looked more like a small bedroom with every cleaning item you could think of stored inside, a pantry full of empty shelves and the stairs to a cellar. She was pretty sure that just the little area she explored was a lot larger than the entire apartment building she lived in up until a few days ago.

“The place won’t clean itself.” Sunset groaned as she returned to the broom closet and got a duster and vacuum to get started. If she could just clean some of the dirt and dust for tonight she would be happy enough for now. She could worry about cleaning more thoroughly tomorrow as well as taking care of some of the other rooms than the living room and bathroom.

It took almost two hours to clean the two rooms as she had to scrub the bathroom. Thankfully, the water also seemed to work, including the hot which made her sigh in relief. She planned on taking a nice hot bath since it would be her first chance to get herself clean other than the quick shower after gym class. Right now, she just wanted to relax, and despite the age the couch was pretty comfortable now that it was clean of dirt.

After that, she was curled up on the couch reading something she found under the couch cushions as she cleaned, a stack of comic books. While most of the students at school probably wouldn’t have believed that she liked comics, she actually did. She was an artist though, she loved all forms of it while also enjoying the story in many of the books. This one was actually one of the more interesting ones she’s read. It was about three normal people with boring jobs that were actually a team of superheroes. They used handheld devices to turn into the Beetleborgs, three differently colored warriors. 

Despite finding what appeared to be the perfect haven, she was still lacking one thing that she wished she had. Food. Her stomach kept growling and she didn’t want to go back out into that storm as the winds were now howling, causing the windows to rattle and the snow was making it hard to see a few feet into it. Even if she did have money to go buy something, she knew she was more likely to die out there as her clothes were just not made for it. She was half frozen when she found this place. 

“You know, I’ve been growling at you for the last five minutes.” A voice said, irritation clear in it drawing Sunset’s attention up to see what looked like one of those things from another movie Rainbow Dash had loved, a mummy. Did someone actually live here who liked dressing up as old movie monsters?

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t know somebody else was here. If I can at least wait out the storm, I’ll leave.” Sunset sighed, sad that she had lost the haven she had thought she had found.

“I’m sorry, what?” The mummy cosplayer asked, slowly undoing his bandages making Sunset feel a little creeped out. Was this guy stripping?

“Look, I’m really sorry I barged in like this, I thought the place was abandoned.” Sunset said, shaking a little as the man wasn’t stopping even after getting off the couch. As she started realizing that this was no mere pervert, but something much more, she started to freak out. How could there be real monsters here? There was barely enough magic before the crown incident to do anything with, so how?

“I do think you will be quite sorry, my dear.” A smooth voice said, a bat flying up to her and hovering in front of her face. The bat continued as it started stretching out and shadows enveloped it until it was taller than Sunset herself. The shadows started pulling back revealing a very regal looking man with skin whiter than Rarity’s herself and black hair. “I do have to thank you though, I normally don’t get delivery.”

“Wh-what are you?” Sunset squeaked out as she took a step back, the new man licking his lips showing two very long and very pointed fangs. The mummy man was finished removing his bandages leaving behind what could only be described as a grim reaper.

“I’m sure you must have figured it out by now, my dear.” The man smirked as he took a step forward making Sunset jump back onto the couch and fall over the back. Groaning as she laid on the floor, she rubbed her head where it hit the floor and looked up to see a large man with old, dusty clothes with wild black hair and two bolts sticking out from his neck.

“This isn’t happening!” Sunset squeaked out as she rolled away from the slow, lumbering man who stomped after her.

“Don’t hurt her Frank, I still need to feed.” The vampire said.

“As long as I get her after, I could use some fresh meat.” The reaper man chuckled, making Sunset shiver as she glared at the man.

“Over my dead body, you pervert!” Sunset snapped.

“My dear, when my friend here is done with you, I’m afraid you will be very dead.” The vampire teased, moving closer only to yell in pain as Sunset kneed him in the groin making him clutch himself and fall to his knees in agony. She turned to run, but slammed right into the big man they called Frank. He tried to wrap his arms around her, only for her to duck and jump away, slamming into the piano.

“Don’t touch that!” The reaper man cried out just as Sunset’s hands came down on the keys making a cringey sound. The three monsters jumped back in what seemed like worry as lightning started arcing over the piano more and more, making Sunset even more worried. She kept an eye on the monsters who were now keeping their distance as they glared at the piano. 

“What have you done child?” The vampire hissed out as he glared at Sunset.

As if Sunset wasn’t freaked out enough as it was, three women appeared out of smoke from three of the middle lower pipes. They were maybe seven inches tall and their legs seemed to fade into the smoke coming from the pipes, the first one having pinkish-red hair with matching dress and gloves, the second was blue and the final one green. As the power arced over the old instrument, it started playing a creepy sounding tune all on its own as the three women danced in place.

“We’re the Pipettes, and back by popular demand, let’s hear it for the flabtastic, flabnominal, flabulous super phenomenal phasm from the seventh dimension! Here’s Flabber!” The three women said together, their hands all pointed to the side where a whirlwind of energy that was laughing flew around the room to come back to the piano and formed into one of the strangest men Sunset had ever seen. He stood with one foot on the stool in front of the instrument and another off of it before hopping down to the floor. 

He looked like a mix between that late night talk show host Pinkie was always going on about, the old singer that seemed to be really popular and a stage magician. He had black hair in what Sunset recognized was a hairstyle similar to that guy off the Happy Days show Fluttershy had talked her into watching that one time with a complexion even whiter than Rarity’s, yet it seemed to give off a soft glow. He had a red cape, a purple jacket with a yellow dress shirt, yellow fingerless gloves with the weirdest pair of slacks Sunset had ever seen. Finishing the loud outfit off, the man had yellow and white loafers, which did nothing to help the rest of the outfit in Sunset’s opinion, making her wonder if she had been spending too much time with Rarity.

“Happy Flabber day!” Flabber cried out, pointing to his side asking, “Who loves ya?”

“What..the…actual…tartarus?” Sunset asked, fear gripping her as now she had what seemed like a ghost or demon she had to deal with along with the other three.

“I’m free!” Flabber cheered, dancing in place as he cried out, “Fat free! Hat free! And home free!” The three women were cheering and applauding as it sounded like a stadium full of people with full fanfare. “Thank you! Thank ya very much!”

“I really wish I was a Beetleborg right now.” Sunset groaned as she saw the comics out of the corner of her eye.

“Aww, you spoiled my introduction, little lady!” Flabber whined, the three women shrugging in response. “Well, I didn’t think I’d get you to make a wish that easily.”

“What?” Sunset squeaked out as Flabber flew up behind the piano, the top half showing above the pipes as the other three monsters groaned.

“Flim!” Flabber cried out, both hands pointing right, “Flam!” His hands switching to the other direction, “Flareo!” Pointing at Sunset now, “You’re a superhero! Phasm says!”

Red energy shot up around Sunset in a whirlwind as she felt as if her body was flattening out. She could feel strength flowing through her as armor appeared on her body. In her hand she had a strange looking gun, or possibly a crossbow, as at the end instead of a single barrel it had a long piece on it with a barrel on each end and one in the middle. She realized she was having trouble moving which brought about another realization, “Why am I stuck in the comic?”

“You got to get it together kid!” Flabber called with an exaggerated shake of his head before pointing all of his fingers at the comic, “Poof!”

It seemed like reality shattered around her like pieces of glass leaving her once again able to move as she was standing outside of the comic as the red Beetleborg. “Wow! This has got to be a dream! I’m the red striker borg and I have the striker blaster!”



“Get her!” The vampire cried out, pointing at Sunset and pushing the large man toward her. 

“I don’t think so!” Sunset exclaimed, pointing her weapon at the large man as a wave of red lightning arced from the three points on the gun, joining to form a wave of energy that slammed into the man and threw him back and into the reaper creature.

“Now that, he had coming!” Flabber laughed.

“He sure did!” The women agreed, giggling as they watched.

“So I’m going to be dead, am I?” Sunset asked angrily as she pointed the weapon at the vampire who was holding his hands up in a placating manner. They were distracted when the comic started glowing bright and six balls of fire shot up out of it. Four balls of orange flame shot through the wall of the house without damaging the structure as a green and blue one flew up to the organ to float on either side of the women who watched them nervously.

“Uh oh!” Flabber groaned.

“What do you mean, uh oh?” Sunset demanded to know as she spun around pointing her weapon at the ghost like genie as the vampire slinked away, helping the other two as they hurried from the room.

“Well, I think I may have made a tiny mistake.” Flabber reluctantly admitted.

“A tiny mistake?” The three women giggled, earning a mock glare from Flabber.

“I may have put too much power in that, it’s been awhile since I granted a wish you know. I think I might have released the villains from the comic too.” Flabber explained sheepishly. 

“And those?” Sunset asked as she pointed to the blue and green fireballs hovering there.

“Those would be the other two Beetleborgs.” Flabber said.

“Well, that’s great, just release the wish.” Sunset suggested, unsure if that was wise with those three monsters and this…thing still here. She wasn’t too worried about the three women as they seemed pretty harmless, but then again, so did the Sirens.

“Well, the thing is…” Flabber fidgeted, “I can’t. Not until all of them are returned to the comics.”

“And how do we do that?” Sunset asked, dreading the answer.

“Well, little lady, it isn’t how we can send them back. It’s how you send them back. It was your wish so only you can send them back by defeating them.” Flabber explained.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Sunset groaned.

“Well, there are the other two Beetleborgs…so you can have help.” Flabber said, indicating the green and blue flames on either side of the Pipettes. 

“So, how do I get them to change into Beetleborgs instead of just the colorful pyrotechnics?” Sunset asked.

“Weeeeeelllllllll…that’s the thing. You can’t. You need two other people to take the powers.” Flabber said nervously as he could see the tic forming in Sunset’s eye.

“I should have just wished to eradicate the four of you idiots.” Sunset groaned, face palming, a metallic clinging sound echoing from the action. “Or at least a freaking home with a nice family far away from this tartarus pit.”

“I’m sorry, I wouldn’t be able to grant any of those wishes.” Flabber sighed, looking a little deflated as he tried to study the girl, though useless as she was still in her armor. “I can’t grant wishes to kill anything and I can’t make people up from thin air. As for a home, I can’t leave this property so I wouldn’t be able to unless it was on this property and…let’s face it, that would raise too many questions.”

“Ok, that sounds a little more logical than I gave you credit for.” Sunset groaned, pacing back and forth while keeping an eye on the ghost and the direction the other three retreated to.

“That hurts right here, missy.” Flabber said, patting a pink stuffed heart he conjured out of somewhere. Sunset rolled her eyes, not that it could be seen. “You said you should have wished for a home or family, don’t you have those?”

“The closest thing I had to one I foolishly threw away, though she wasn’t exactly innocent either. I thought I was fitting into a family here, but they betrayed me.” Sunset huffed, holding her weapon pointing to the ghost.

“I’m actually a phasm, not a ghost.” Flabber said with a lopsided grin.

“What?” Sunset asked at the change of topic.

“Well, people keep calling me ghost so I thought I would point that out.” Flabber said, sitting cross legged…while floating in midair. “Just trying to make you smile a little. I know it isn’t much of what you were expecting, but you can stay here with us.”

“What, to be a snack for those three idiots and play exorcist with you?” Sunset demanded. She may have never seen the movie, but she’s seen enough memes and jokes about it to know what it was.

“You will come to no harm here, scouts honor.” Flabber said holding up a small chubby boy in a scouts uniform by the back of the collar. The boy was giving a scouts salute with a bit of a grin before Flabber threw the boy over his shoulder with a chuckle.

“And I should believe you why?” Sunset asked.

“Because I am granting your wish of a home, you can stay here.” Flabber said, spreading his arms out, “Welcome home!”

“That doesn’t reassure me!” Sunset snapped, making the phasm wince.

“Look kid, I know the three idiots. We might not really get along, but they are a good sort. They would never really hurt somebody, they were just trying to scare you out of the house as they don’t want a bunch of people snooping around the place.” Flabber explained.

Sunset couldn’t help herself as she stomped up to the Phasm and shoved her helmeted face into Flabbers, throwing a hand out to point to the direction the three left minutes earlier while growling, “There is a freaking vampire!”

“Umm…yeah, he is a vampire. Are you prejudiced against them or something?” Flabber asked in the most innocent voice he could. Sunset took a step back in shock as the phasm just floated there waiting for an answer.

“Hu-Wha? What? What the heck are you talking about? He’s a freaking vampire!” Sunset roared.

“So?” Flabber asked, floating a little higher and flipping upside down while still maintaining his seated position before turning right side up again.

“They kill people! They suck their blood and kill people?” Sunset snorted incredulously.

“Let me ask you something, little lady.” Flabber said, rubbing his chin in thought. “How many vampires do you actually know? How many have you ever met?”

“None before tonight.” Sunset snorted in disbelief at the question, crossing her arms. 

“Well, let me tell you something little lady.” Flabber said as his clothes changed to look like a stylized Count Dracula as he put in a pair of false fangs. “Vampires don’t need to kill to feed, and those that do are true monsters, but you don’t have to worry about those. The people they do feed off of are usually either those who freely give of themselves or they don’t remember it. The saliva heals the wounds so they never knew it was there, In fact, it doesn’t even hurt other than a pinch. They feel an exhilarated feeling and once finished, the venom that causes that feeling promotes the body to quickly replace what was taken and makes the person feel on top of the world for a few days. A fair exchange in my opinion.”

“Are you insane? They bite people and turn them into other vampires if they don’t kill them!” Sunset cried out.

“No, child, they don’t.” Flabber said, closing his eyes to rub his temples. “How far have stories of vampires come since I was sealed away? The only way to make a new vampire is to exchange blood three times over the period of a month. There is no danger of dying or becoming a vampire just by being fed off of. Do you think they should just suffer and starve until they die?”

“Well, I don’t want anyone to die.” Sunset relented sheepishly. If this ghost, genie, phantasm, or whatever he was, was telling the truth, then vampires weren’t the monsters that pop culture made them out to be. How was she supposed to know if this was the truth though? It would be foolish to just trust this creature, yet she really didn’t want to go back out into the storm, which if the wind beating on the windows was any indication, was growing worse. She was also getting very tired and if she was honest with herself, she would rather face this unknown rather than brave the storm which was pretty much known. She knew she would die before she could make it back anywhere, and that was if she could even stay on the right track as the visibility was pretty much zero.

“And we don’t want anyone to die, especially you.” Flabber affirmed.

“Fine, I’ll stay on the couch.” Sunset groaned.

“Now that won’t do, little lady.” Flabber said cheerily, floating down the hall towards the other direction of the house. Sunset hesitantly followed the phasm until coming to a hall on the opposite side of the entrance that was dark and even more dusty than the few rooms she cleaned.

“I’m too tired to clean anymore tonight.” Sunset groaned, reluctant to admit it. The phasm only gave her a grin as he spun his hands around each other gathering magic that swirled with them that looked more like something from a comic strip than actual magical energy. With an exaggerated thrust of his arms he threw the energy that turned into a tornado of exaggerated lines and puffs of smoke that swept down the hall leaving everything spotless and lighting the electric lamps hanging on the walls. “Ok, that was kind of cool.”

“Ah aim to please, pardner!” Flabber said, swirling his hands as if they were guns before shoving them into invisible holsters at his side actually earning a bit of a giggle from Sunset. “I’m really happy to hear that, little lady. I was beginning to think I’d never get a smile from you.”

“Who said I was smiling?” Sunset asked, crossing her arms while getting a knowing look from Flabber. 

“Well, little lady, I guess this is where we say goodnight.” Flabber said, holding the back of his hand to his forehead in a good imitation of Rarity for a few moments. He finally pointed to the first door on the left, “This will be your room, it’s perfectly clean now and fully furnished. The next room down is a bathroom, also fully clean. Is there anything else you need?”

“I guess not.” Sunset sighed, her stomach once again making itself known.

“Well,” Flabber said, holding his hand behind his back before bringing it forward with a silver covered tray on his hand. “Then I guess you don’t want this?”

“Are you serious?” Sunset asked, hesitantly picking up the silver domed lid to find a soda and a bag of McDonald’s food sitting there. “Is this real?”

“Sure is, little lady. Now don’t go expecting me to do this often, as I had to steal this and I don’t like doing that. I used my senses to find the nearest restaurant and snatched a bag of food ready to go out. This uses up a lot more magic than I’m comfortable doing normally, and again, I don’t like stealing.” Flabber said, “But I can tell you are very hungry, so go on, take it and get some rest. We will talk more in the morning.”

Swallowing nervously, Sunset picked the bag of food and soda up, “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, have a good night.” Flabber said with an exaggerated bow. “And don’t worry, I’ll take care of our housemates.” He was about to turn and go off somewhere in the house, but stopped and turned back to her. “Oh, and to get out of that suit, just say ‘cast off’. Ta ta!” He added before finally leaving.

“Thank you, I guess good night to you also.” Sunset said as she slipped into what was her room and couldn’t help gawking at the size of it. The ceiling was very high and had a crystal chandelier which was already turned on and illuminating the room. There was a small table as soon as she entered with two chairs that looked extremely comfortable with all of the padding. There was also a reading chair near a bookshelf with another table that had a lamp. The shelf was full of books which Sunset looked forward to exploring when she wasn’t so tired. Placing the food down on the table by the door, she looked over the rest of the room seeing the large four post bed with crimson red and black linen, a large ornate dresser with a large stylized mirror on the back and a freestanding oval full length mirror next to what she assumed was a wardrobe.

“I hope this works.” Sunset sighed, taking a few steps away from the table towards the center of the room and said, “Cast off!” The armor glowed and ejected from her body, disappearing and transforming into the beetlebonder from the comic and in her hand. With a sigh of relief, Sunset went to sit down at the table, setting down her bonder as she did and pulled a straw out of the bag and stuck it in the soda taking a long drag on it before sighing in relief. “So good!”

Digging in the bag she was left a little disappointed, but no less thankful. There was a Big Mac and a ten piece chicken nugget, which she no longer minded eating after being forced to numerous times when there was nothing else available to her. There was also a large fry which she was happy about as she had only had them a few times, but quickly fell in love with them. They tasted so good! After a quick meal, Sunset just collapsed in bed expecting to be up all night watching her back to only fall asleep in seconds.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset couldn’t remember the last time she felt this comfortable as she shifted in her bed. She couldn’t remember when she was able to stretch out this much since her bed was way too small to do so, which made her pause and think. Since when was her bed this large and perfectly comfortable? Her bed was small, lumpy and had a couple springs sticking through that she had to pad over with a blanket to try and cover them up to keep down uncomfortable pokes. Slowly opening her eyes she noticed it was difficult to see much in the room as it was still dark out and there were no lights on. She did see the form standing next to the bed leaning over her though reaching out toward her.

“Come on child, wa-” Was all the farther the voice got before Sunset twisted over and kneed the figure in the groin causing him to squeak out in pain and collapse to his knees.

“What in tarnation is going on in here?” Flabber asked as he stormed into the room, flipping the light switch as he entered, bathing the room in soft light.

“I was trying to wake the child up to tell her about our decision.” The vampire groaned, clutching his groin in pain as he turned his glare to Sunset. “Something I’m beginning to reconsider.”

“You were leaning over me to bite me!” Sunset accused him as she pointed for emphasis.

“I was leaning over to shake your shoulder, child, and ask you for the thousandth time to wake up!” The vampire snapped, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. “I don’t know what I expected of a human child! Always jumping to conclusions and never giving somebody a chance!”

“I’m…sorry.” Sunset sighed after a few moments, hanging her head as she realized that her jumping to conclusions against the vampire was exactly what the entire school has been doing to her. She also couldn’t deny that it did sound like the man may have been saying wake up, or something similar before Sunset kneed him. Her fear filled mind just jumped to conclusions in the hazy state she was in from just waking up. “I know how that feels, and for what it’s worth, I am sorry. I’ll try not to jump to conclusions anymore.”

“Well shucks, little lady, there’s no need to get so melancholic over a small mistake.” Flabber said uneasily, the two men sharing a worried look between them. 

“It’s just I know how it feels to be blamed for something you didn’t do and nobody will listen to your side of things.” Sunset sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and rubbed at her eyes. 

“What do you mean, child?” The vampire asked, actually sounding saddened by what Sunset was going through which surprised the girl a little. 

“I admit I used to be a horrible person, I bullied everyone in school. I changed though, I worked so hard to prove that I did and I thought I made friends who I could see as family. Something happened and everyone blamed me for it, including my so-called friends. Students cost me my job by causing trouble at work and then they started vandalizing my apartment which spilled over to the neighbors and I lost my home. So now I have no family, no friends, no income and no place to call home.” Sunset explained softly with teary eyes, “So yeah, I do kind of know how it feels to not be given a chance to explain.”

“Look child, I know you are probably scared of us, but we truly mean you no harm. It is almost sunrise and I need to speak with you before I turn in for the day.” The vampire said, crossing his arms and giving Sunset a serious look.

“Sunset.” Sunset sighed.

“What?” The vampire asked, arching a brow in askance.

“My name, it’s Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset said.

“Well, Sunset Shimmer, you can call me Vlad, or Mr. Tepesh. You will likely hear the idiots calling me Count Fangula though.” Vlad said, “Flabber let us know what was going on after you went to bed and I’m not exactly happy with the situation. None of us are. We won’t let somebody starve or freeze to death, especially a child.”

“I’m not a child.” Sunset snorted, crossing her arms.

“How old are you?” Vlad asked.

“I’m sixteen.” Sunset replied.

“You are a child, and you need a stable home life. While we aren’t exactly your typical, average family, we will let you stay here. There will be rules though, and we expect you to follow them.” Vlad explained, smirking a little at the girl’s shocked expression. “First and foremost, do not start bringing a bunch of people around here. We like our privacy and we are making a huge exception for you as we believe no child should be without a home.”

“Not exactly anyone jumping at the chance to talk to me anyways, much less wanting to have a sleepover.” Sunset huffed.

“I’m sorry your friends are being ignorant, but the rule still stands.” Vlad said, shaking his head, “If by chance you absolutely must have someone over make sure to give us plenty of notice and we will stay in the basement and upstairs while they are here. All of you will remain on the ground floor, there will be no exploring the spooky haunted house!”

“So this floor is mine?” Sunset asked, a little surprised by this news.

“For the most part, yes. We will be coming through this floor too, but we won’t invade your bedroom without knocking… unless it is to wake you up for something important. And you don’t have to worry about us hurting you, none of us have ever hurt a human except in self defense.” Vlad said, “You are safe here with us and if somebody tries to hurt you here we will protect you.”

“Why go so far for a stranger?” Sunset asked, a little suspicious of the vampire’s motives. Yet it would be nice to have a place to feel safe... Well as safe as being in a house full of monsters can be.

“Because we would never forgive ourselves if a child was hurt or killed when we could have prevented it. None of us are overly fond of humans, but we are usually pretty good judges of character. I was coming in to tell you that this would be a trial basis only, but I don’t think that is needed any longer. I have several abilities not in those foolish movies you humans like and one of them is the ability to tell if a human is telling the truth or not.” Vlad explained, not really planning on revealing it isn’t always accurate as it relied on a human’s physiology much like a lie detector. A sociopath could pretty easily trick his senses, but they also wouldn’t naturally display all of the emotions Sunset has shown since being here. “So you can consider this your home as long as you don’t go advertising it to anyone not needing to know.”

“Thank you.” Sunset whispered softly.

“The appliances in the kitchen may look a little old, but they all function perfectly.” Vlad explained, pulling a wallet out from his pants. “Do you have a license?”

“No, I don’t exactly have any identification or paperwork.” Sunset admitted, turning away from the two men who once again shared a worried look.

“We will have to get that taken care of soon, little lady.” Flabber said softly.

“Until then, while Frank has similar dietary needs, they are still somewhat different from humans. We have moved him upstairs so you can have full access to the kitchen, though Frank will still use the stove.” Vlad explained pulling out a few bills and handed them to Sunset, who tried to refuse at first. “Take the money, child. You need food more fit for human consumption and if that was all you brought last night you will need some clothes and toiletries.”

“This is way too much.” Sunset said through tears as she took the money realizing every single bill was a hundred dollar bill.

“You will be representing Hillhurst, for better or worse, and I will not have my legacy starve or go around in ratty old clothes.” Vlad said, crossing his arms after returning the wallet to his pocket. “I have more money than I will be able to spend in a hundred years with more coming in every day from royalties among other things. I have been around for a long time, I’ve taken many identities, and I am a very rich man.”

“Thank you.” Sunset said, unsure just what to say. She was scared so much of this man earlier and now he has done much more for her in a few minutes than anyone has since coming to this world.

“You are welcome child… Sunset. We will discuss other rules later, though none will be too bad. I will also provide you with an allowance so you can have some spending money so you won’t have to worry about work and can concentrate on school.” Vlad said, “I will not have a legacy that is stupid.”

“Why do you keep saying legacy?” Sunset asked.

“The only way I can help you get paperwork is by adopting you into my family, hence you are my legacy. Don’t worry, it is in name only and I won’t try and force you into doing anything as long as you follow the simple house rules that will be set. I want to see you succeed and get a good education so you can get a good job and a bright future.” Vlad said, truly meaning that as the best way to get the human out of their hair is provide a little so she could stabilize herself and once she gets a job move out on her own. Two years was nothing for an immortal anyways and he wouldn’t have this child starving or freezing to death on his conscience. 

“You would do that for me? I’m a stranger and I was just treating you like crap!” Sunset exclaimed, jumping off the bed and staring up into the man’s eyes looking for any kind of ulterior motive making him chuckle at the action.

“You are actually acting much better than most humans would in your position. Besides, think of this as an investment in your future so you can get into a good school and get a good job and you can move on with your life.” Vlad said, ruffling Sunset’s hair who swatted his hand away while earning another chuckle from the vampire. 

“I’ll pay you back somehow.” Sunset said as she hung her head and gripped the money tight.

“If you want to pay me back, then do your best.” Vlad said giving a kind smile which was something he didn’t grace people with too often. He had a sneaking suspicion he would be giving more to this girl as time went on. “Now if you will excuse me, I need to retire for the day as the sun will be rising soon. Good day, child.”

“Um… good day.” Sunset said, as the vampire turned regally and swept out of the room. He seemed so much different than he did last night and from the look on the phasm’s face, it surprised him too.

“Never thought I’d see the day old Fangula grow a soft spot for a human.” Flabber said, seeming serious which just didn’t seem to suit him for some reason.

“And I never thought I’d come across a bunch of monsters from a horror movie that actually seemed nicer than my old friends.” Sunset sighed, her stomach rumbling a little. 

“Please don’t call them monsters, it doesn’t make them monsters just because they are different from you, does it?” Flabber said.

“I’m sorry, I just… I don’t know. He seemed much different than he was last night though.” Sunset mused, dropping back onto the edge of the bed to sit as Flabber sat in the chair by the small table.

“If you meant not as scary, they were only trying to frighten you away thinking you were just another thrill seeker. If you mean he wasn’t acting goofy... Well, trying to act scary while panicking because I was released is a hard act to balance.” Flabber said. 

“Why panic because you were released?” Sunset asked, curious as she admitted she actually liked the phasm a little. Sure he fed her last night, but it was more that he seemed so earnest and trustworthy as well as kind of funny once getting over the weird stuff he did. “For that matter, why were you stuck there in the first place?”

“Well, my magic can be unpredictable at times since I was banished here from my home in the seventh dimension and my magical levels fluctuate because of my connection to home wavers wildly which is where my magic comes from.” Flabber sighed, “As for why I was banished, I was the second son of my world’s ruler and my family didn’t exactly like my carefree attitude so banished me here. Which I’m fine with by the way, I would never want to fit in with those stuffed shirt psychos anyways.”

“I’m so sorry.” Sunset said, reaching out to squeeze his hand which was resting on his knee. She was a little surprised it was solid and actually a little warm once her mind caught up with her actions.

“Don’t be, little lady. I’m happy with where I am, even if I’m bound to the organ. To answer your question though, a phasm hunter actually tried trapping me but it backfired and sealed me in that organ. The others left me there to teach me a lesson because me going overboard with my magic is what lured the hunter here.” Flabber admitted, looking a little sheepish. “I know I can be annoying with how I act, but I can’t help it. It’s just who I am.”

“Hey, I like you just the way you are and if somebody doesn’t like you for who you are then they aren’t your friends.” Sunset said, giving the sad looking phasm an encouraging look.

“Those idiots are my friends. They actually protected me from that phasm hunter and would be there for me if I needed it. I do admit I needed the time out, it gave time for the heat to die down from the hunters who kept coming around.” Flabber shrugged, standing up and giving Sunset a large grin. “Enough of the serious stuff, yeah? You need to get ready and go get you some food.”

“Thanks, Flabber.” Sunset said with a bit of an uneasy smile.



 

Breakfast consisted of some French toast sticks, mini hash browns which were more or less glorified tater tots, and an orange juice. All in all, it was a pretty decent meal though she didn’t plan on always eating out as that just wouldn’t be healthy, as well as it would eat into the money Vlad had given her. She didn’t exactly feel right about accepting it, but maybe it would be nice having a semblance of a real family for once. Not that she fully trusted any of them, though if she did it would be Flabber and after this morning, possibly Vlad.

She did need to decide what to do though as buses did not run up to Hillhurst, it was a good ten minute walk at a brisk pace to even get out of the edge of the forest and even see a sign or town. She couldn’t carry a bunch of groceries that far so she would have to make multiple trips as getting a ride was out of the question. She could get clothes first, but she wasn’t about to go all the way across town to the mall to get clothes then come back and try to lug groceries with them. 

“Why couldn’t the mansion be closer to everything?” Sunset groaned, walking down the small street littered with privately owned shops that she preferred to bigger stores though were usually out of her meager budget. A store actually caught her attention just as she was about to turn around and head the other way. It had a plain sign hanging above the door that said, “Autumn’s Comics & Book Store” in brightly alternating colors for each letter. There were several advertisements written on the window such as percentages off new hardbacks, buy four used paperbacks and get the fifth free, and Sunset’s favorite, a free smile with every purchase.

“Well, hello dear.” A woman with dark green hair and a light orange skin tone said as she pulled one of those foldable sidewalk signs out of the store and sat it up on the freshly shoveled sidewalk. “Why don’t you come in and get warmed up?”

“I’m okay, I can’t really buy anything here right now anyways.” Sunset sighed, actually wanting to enter the warm look store to get out of the chill for a few minutes. Thankfully it warmed up considerably since last night, but the chill air was still highly uncomfortable.

“Nonsense dear, you don’t need to buy something to come in and warm up. Why on earth are you wearing something like that right now anyways? It’s freezing out here!” The woman exclaimed, motioning to Sunset’s skirt and sleeveless top combo with her leather jacket. Thankfully her boots were pretty much watertight, so tracking through the snow at Hillhurst to get out of the forest wasn’t so bad.

“Well, it’s all I have to wear today until I do laundry later.” Sunset admitted, a bit sheepishly as she felt a little shame at losing most everything she once owned as she couldn’t carry it and she refused to take the outfit Rarity made her after what they had done to her.

“Then come in! I’ll get you a cup of coffee on the house and we can sit and chat until customers start coming in.” The woman said, ushering Sunset into the store, much to the teens' protests. “By the way, my name is Autumn Blush. What’s yours?”

“Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset said with a bit of a sigh, fully expecting the woman to toss her out if she was family to anyone from school.

“Oh, are you that girl from Canterlot High?” Autumn asked as she pretty much pushed Sunset down in a comfortable chair behind the counter before turning to a coffee pot and pouring two disposable foam cups full. “Do you take cream or sugar?”

“Both please.” Sunset squeaked out, nervous of what this woman was going to do to her after hearing she was from Canterlot High. The only way she would recognize her name was if she had a child at the school or was faculty, and she wasn’t faculty.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Autumn said handing Sunset her doctored up beverage while sitting down with her own.

“Yes, I’m from Canterlot High.” Sunset sighed. “Want me to leave?”

“Not really, but I have been wanting to talk to you.” Autumn said, narrowing her eyes a little. “I don’t appreciate your bullying toward any of the students, much less my daughter, but I’ve heard you came around and worked hard to make up for past mistakes.”

“A whole lot of good that did me.” Sunset sighed. “Lost everything I had, even my job and home.”

“What do you mean?” Autumn asked with worry.

“Because of this Anon A Miss disaster, everyone is blaming me and is making trouble everywhere I had anything to do with. My job had to fire me because it was affecting their business and when vandals almost hurt a neighbor at the apartment building, I willingly left to keep it from happening again.” Sunset said, keeping truthful because she was a little scared of what this woman might do to her if she detected any hint of deceit. Normally she wouldn’t care much as she prided herself in her ability to take care of herself, but the pain and trauma of the last week has left her an emotional wreck.

“While my daughter doesn’t exactly believe in you, I don’t see why someone who has worked as hard as you would turn around and pull something like this smear campaign. It doesn’t have any finesse that I would expect from the great, Sunset Shimmer.” Autumn explained, giving an amused smile while Sunset looked at her wide eyed. “Don’t think I’m some innocent or something because I’m nice now dear, when I was about your age I was queen bee of the school and terrorized so many students. I had a rude wake up call and I worked my tail off make up all of the pain and suffering I caused. I would never have thought about going back to my old ways once I got a taste of real friends and I have the feeling we are in the same boat.”

“Really?” Sunset asked, sipping her coffee a little. It was good, she just wasn’t a big coffee drinker though it did its job warming her up a little.

“Really.” Autumn nodded, “Now about your home situation, I take it you are on your own.”

“I was… someone took me in last night though and will be letting me stay with them.” Sunset said, hesitating a little as she couldn’t tell this woman she was staying in Hillhurst.

“That’s good dear, I’d hire you but I truthfully can’t afford it. I can afford to give you a warm place to stay though if needed.” Autumn said, reaching over to pat Sunset’s knee.

“I appreciate it, I really do, but I’m fine.” Sunset assured the woman, before waving out towards the store that seemed to have two parts to it. On the side near the entrance is pretty much your standard comic book store with little figurines, big figurines, toys, and of course comics. Toward the back of the store things changed into a pretty good sized book store by the looks of it. From Sunset’s vantage she could see new books, but also what looked like used ones as well. “I never seen a comic store built into a book store before, I love it.”

“My father owned the building so we have an apartment upstairs and our store down here. My daughter also has a small garden on the roof that she likes to spend most of her time with.” Autumn sighed, “I just wish she could make some friends.”

“I would have been happy to meet her a few weeks ago, I’m sorry.” Sunset sighed.

“Don’t be sorry dear, I wasn’t asking you to and I don’t expect you too. You have enough on your plate right now and if you ever need anything, or someone to talk to, I will always be here to listen.” Autumn said, the bell at the door giving a chime as somebody walked in. “For now dear, duty calls.”





“Hey mom, you called?” Wallflower asked, coming down the stairs from the garden when her mom called her phone from the shop. It wasn’t unusual for Wallflower to need to tend the store when her mom needed to make a quick errand on Saturdays so she wasn’t worried until she saw the expression on her mother’s face. The look made her anger at Sunset Shimmer vanish from the post the girl just made a few minutes ago.

“Yeah, I need to talk to you about Sunset. I shouldn’t have let her go like that, but I don’t really have any reason not to believe her. I just have a bad feeling.” Autumn said, looking toward the door.

“What did she do now?” Wallflower nearly growled out.

“It isn’t what she did, it’s what that school of yours did to her sweetie.” Autumn rebuked.

“The school? She’s the one posting everyone’s private business on her My Stable!” Wallflower snapped, wincing when she saw the disappointed look on her mother’s face. Sure she was shy, but when it came to being along with Autumn she was able to act more bravely. That didn’t mean that when her mom was disappointed it didn’t hurt. 

“I thought you weren’t too sure about that, sweetie.” Autumn said.

“I wasn’t, but she just posted something else about her friends that only they would have known about.” Wallflower said.

“When did she post it?” Autumn asked, a feeling of vindication washing over her as she was sure this was going to prove her right that Sunset wasn’t behind this.

“About twenty minutes ago.” Wallflower said, pulling her phone out and showing her mother the post.

“Well, there you go, it can’t be Sunset. She was here sharing a cup of coffee with me.” Autumn said, feeling a little bad as the color drained from Wallflower’s face. “She admitted to the students costing her not only her job, but her home. She said she was taken in last night, does she have any family?”

“No, not that I know of. It’s been an ongoing debate with a lot of the students if she even has a family.” Wallflower sighed, “You think she’s homeless now?”

“I do. I should never have let her leave. At first I just believed her, but as she left doubt started and it’s bothering me. Can you watch the store for a few minutes while I see if she’s still around?” Autumn asked, knowing her daughter would. Neither of them wanted someone to experience homelessness as they had before moving into this building and opening the store up.

“I’ll watch it, go on.” Wallflower said, shooing her mother away who instead hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head.

“Thanks sweetie, I’ll hurry back.” Autumn said, rushing out of the store. She spent the next twenty minutes asking people and searching the area frantically and was about to give up for the moment as the girl could be anywhere. She was wondering if calling the Principal would be of any help or maybe she could have Wallflower bring the teen home on Monday. 

An explosion just ahead drew her attention from her thoughts to see a humanoid tiger with red armor stalking down the middle of the street with a couple cars in flames and people running away while screaming about a monster. She noticed a few of the people collapse that were closest to the creature as police sirens could be heard coming straight toward them.

“I need more energy!” The creature roared, breathing out flames that seemed to cause small explosions along its path, blowing up another car, along with breaking an electrical pole that brought down the power lines with it and right toward her. She didn’t even have enough time to scream out before a red armored person jumped in front of her protectively and blocked the flames from reaching her.

“Are you okay?” The person asked, looking over their shoulder, momentarily showing that against all odds it was the Red Striker Borg from the Beetleborg Comics. She couldn’t tell if the person was male or female as their voice was distorted and seemed as if multiple voices were coming from it at the same time giving it a scary surreal effect.

“I’m f-fine.” Autumn said, shaking at just how close she came to being killed and not being able to see her daughter again.

“Please get to safety then, Ma’am. I’ll handle Tabby over there.” The Red Striker Borg said before rushing at the monster. Whoever was dressed up as the Beetleborg was pretty clumsy during the short battle, stopping several times as if talking to themselves, or to someone else. When the police sirens got closer, the armored tiger seemed to have enough and quickly fled the battle, the Beetleborg going after them and soon vanished from sight. Deciding that recently arrived police and Beetleborg had things well in hand, Autumn stumbled away from the action and hurried back to her store. She prayed that Sunset was okay, but the only thing on her mind was getting back to her daughter.

“Mom!” Wallflower cried out, rushing to help her mother to a seat behind the counter that the woman gratefully collapsed in before pulling her daughter into a tight hug. “What’s wrong mom? What happened?”

“I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again!” Autumn sobbed, it taking awhile before she calmed down enough to explain the situation to Wallflower who didn’t want to believe it at first until the news came on the small television behind the counter. Apparently there were only minor injuries to the bystanders thanks to the Beetleborg, and even though the police tried, the Red Striker quickly ran off and vanished before the police could question their mysterious protector. 
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning had been rather surprising as she woke up to the fright of her life, a true vampire leaning over her. Okay, so she reacted a little too harshly to that event, but who wouldn’t in her place? Then it turned out that said vampire was actually very loaded and gave Sunset a decent amount of money for groceries and clothes, and now she was wearing her new, much warmer clothes. She had on some black jeans with much warmer boots, a magenta long sleeve shirt with her cutie mark stamped on the front, and a black winter coat with faux fur lining. It was pretty warm, and it was thanks to the vampire. It only took minutes to find as she found a small clothing store another block down the road that didn’t have much, but they had a warm set of clothes that the clerk was able to put her cutie mark on the top. She was carrying a single bag with her old clothes and boots stuffed into it which wasn’t very heavy.

Speaking of vampires, she still wasn’t too sure how to feel about what he had proposed. Sure it would help her out immensely and he said she would be under no obligations to him or his family pretty much, but he also made it sound as if she would be some kind of legacy to him.  How could she not have obligations and yet still be a legacy? It didn’t make a lot of sense, though she already knew she had no other choices. She already realized that the poor job of forged paperwork to get into the school wouldn’t hold up anywhere else. It actually made her somewhat question the competency of Principal Celestia, not that the current happenings was helping the teen’s view of the woman. She would need real paperwork to get a license, go to any higher education faculties, or to even acquire a decent job. 

Deciding to worry about that later, Sunset looked around hoping to find a small convenience or grocery store she would be able to get a few small things from. So far it had maybe been fifteen, twenty minutes tops since she left the bookstore, making a mental note to remember the location of it as she did plan to go back to look when she had more time and money to spend on luxury items. 

Sunset was torn from her musings as a few people went rushing past her in an effort to escape something that made Sunset’s jaw drop as she froze in place. There was a humanoid tiger stalking down the street as some of the people closest to it started to run, only to collapse after a few steps for some reason. Roaring with laughter, breathing out a stream of fire that caused small explosions in its path destroying a fire hydrant and making a parked car go up in a fireball.

Ducking into an alley Sunset noticed Autumn coming up the street and freezing seeing the thing before her, not that Sunset blamed her. If she didn’t act now, the teen knew the woman would be hurt and this monster being there was her fault for making the wish. Pulling her Beetle Bonder out, she thrust it out before her while calling out, “Beetle Bonder!” activating the device as it sparked to life making her hand feel tingly. Thrusting it high in the air she called out, “Beetle blast!” It felt as if her body was cut out of existence as energy traveled over her body, tracing energy around it before she fell backwards as that energy swirled where her body once stood. It felt as if she was tumbling through space as an array of colors flew past her and she could see pages of comic books flying by. The red armor began appearing on her body that now resembled a simple colored drawing before her flattened body stood back up causing the traced area around her to shatter as the armor broke through the smaller cutout and turned Sunset back to normal.

“I need more energy!” The tiger roared, breathing out another jet of flame as Sunset rushed forward.

“Battle mode activated!” A voice chirped in Sunset’s ear startling her a little as several gauges popped up on the heads up display of her helmet. It distracted her as she stepped in front of the flames, bracing herself for the impact. Even with a few small explosions along her body that looked more like fireworks, she barely felt it other than a little uncomfortableness. She did notice a small representation of her armor in the bottom corner of the display and the bar next to it went down a little from the attack.

“Are you okay?” Sunset asked, a little surprised at how her voice sounded. It sounded as if multiple voices were speaking, both male and female making it hard to tell what gender she even was. It wasn’t like the armor had a feminine cut to it to begin with and the bulkiness hid her curves.

“I’m f-fine.” Autumn choked out, her body shaking in fear as her eyes watered while giving Sunset a very thankful and surprised look. It made her feel a little guilty since this monster would have never attacked if not for her wish.

“Please get to safety then, Ma’am. I’ll handle Tabby over there.” Sunset said, pointing her weapon at the monster before rushing toward it to pull its attention away from Autumn. She felt if she could handle blocking a jet of fire without any real pain, that she could handle anything they could throw at her. She noticed something a little concerning though as she rushed forward, looking through her visor she could see something that looked like mist coming off the people closest to the monster and flowing into a jewel on a collar around his neck mostly hidden by fur.

“What are you supposed to be?” The tiger laughed, flame leaking from its mouth as it crossed its arms glaring at Sunset.

“I’m the Red Striker Beetleborg, protector of this city!” Sunset exclaimed, wanting to face palm at how cheesy that sounded after it left her mouth. 

“Pathetic!” The tiger said, breathing another jet of fire at Sunset. With nothing behind her to protect now, she dived out of the way and rolled to a stop aiming her Striker Blaster at the monster, unleashing a torrent of energy at him which seemed to do nothing except be absorbed into the gem on its collar.

“Now what?” Sunset grumbled, seeing the horizontal bar at the top of her helmet display dip very little. She was guessing that it was either an energy gauge for her weapon or a life bar for the monster. She figured it was more likely the former option as the later one seemed a little too incredulous. 

“Try using your Sonic Laser on the monster Red, its life bar barely dropped from that attack.” A feminine voice came over what Sunset assumed was a communications device built into the suit. Who would have access to it though?

“Who are you?” Sunset asked, jumping back to avoid another trail of flame that barely missed her. While it didn’t hurt really, she didn’t want to take the chance that this one might be more powerful.

“I am the Beetle Artificial Intelligence, or Bai for short.” Bai said, “The status bar at the top of your HUD is the monster’s shield levels. All you have to do is take it down to zero and you win. Be careful of your own energy levels though.”

It was hard to miss which ones the voice was talking about as each one glowed a little brighter with each mention of them by the voice. “Great, I’m living a video game.” Sunset grumped. Sure, she loved video games when she could play them, but she never wanted to be dropped in the middle of one. The icon of her armor flashed at the hip and a strange gun was displayed on the HUD momentarily with a tag saying it was a Sonic Laser. Shrugging, Sunset let her Striker Blaster disappear back to wherever it came from and drew the Sonic Laser just as the monster was taking a deep breath. Time seemed to slow down as Sunset noticed a ball of flame forming in the creature's mouth that the girl quickly aimed for and squeezed off a few shots. She wasn’t disappointed in the results as the fireball exploded in the tiger’s mouth making it roar in pain and stagger as several police cars pulled up and the men and women inside them jumped out and aimed at both the monster and Sunset. 

“Freeze!” One of the cops shouted while the tiger whined loudly, struggling to stay on its feet. Sunset could feel a smirk coming from watching the HUD, seeing the one hit made that monster’s health drop down to one percent. Either she was entirely lucky, or the monster was especially weak. 

“Is this some kind of stupid comic promotion?” One of the officers, a white skinned one with blue hair demanded as he stalked over toward Sunset. Seeing the monster regain its equilibrium, Sunset tackled the cop out of the way from another blast of fire while letting off another round with her Sonic Laser which hit the tiger making it howl as it turned into a ball of fire and flew away into the sky.

“What the hell was that?” The cop Sunset rescued asked, his tag saying S. Armor on his uniform.

“A monster, and this wasn’t a comic promotion.” Sunset said, turning to stalk away from the police.

“Hold it right there! We have questions you need to answer!” Another officer declared, trying to block Sunset’s path only for the girl to leap over him.

“Sorry, sir, but I have to grab my bag before somebody else does.” Sunset called out, giving a two finger salute as she actually managed to escape the police with her increased strength and speed that the armor provided, letting her quickly lose the officers. She easily backtracked to where she left her bag and took a stance before calling out, “Cast off!”

Now back to normal, Sunset inspected her bag to make sure her old clothes were still safe. Sure she had a new outfit, but that didn’t mean she could just throw away her old ones. They might not have been in the best condition, but they were still wearable in her opinion. Heading out of the area as she noticed more police cars pulling up not far from where she stood as they started taping the area off and redirecting traffic. Turning away from them, Sunset hurried off away from them and back towards Hillhurst. 

After walking a few minutes she noticed another store she somehow missed earlier that looked like a very small, privately owned, grocery store. Taking a deep breath she walked into the store and gave a bit of a smile to the cashier at the register who greeted her. Sadly she had to leave behind her bag as she shopped, but she understood the need to keep shoplifting down. Something that caused a twinge of guilt as she had done so a few times when she was still bad and didn’t see any other choice.

Walking through the aisles she noticed that they had nowhere near the amount of products offered at most chains that she normally shopped at, but she also noticed the prices were higher too. Of course she expected that as the larger stores were able to get better bulk prices by buying huge amounts then ship them to multiple stores. Still, the prices weren’t that bad and they had things Sunset had never heard of before, such as flavors for some things or whole new items she hadn't seen before. Deciding to stop her temptations of getting everything that caught her eye as she knew she couldn’t carry a lot, she decided on enough stuff to make a small lunch and dinner, as well as breakfast. She would get a few more groceries tomorrow as well as maybe a few more outfits now that she knew two places rather close that she could go to. Too bad it wasn’t closer, but the walk would do her good. 

As she was heading to the front with her cart with its meager load, Sunset bought a few toiletries she would need such as soap and shampoo. Much like most privately owned stores, the cashier was pretty friendly as she rang Sunset up before returning to her bag of clothing. With a smile and a quick, “Thank you.” Sunset headed out of the store and back toward Hillhurst. Fighting that monster had managed to unsettle her some despite knowing it was coming because of her wish.





Inside what appeared to be a dark cave with only torches lit with green flames stood what at first glance appeared to be a horse or pony of some kind. A closer look showed that it was far from normal as its black body had multiple holes through it and instead of fur it had some kind of chitinous covering much like an insect. And like an insect, it also had gossamer wings though they also had holes in them making flight seem unlikely despite easily being able to do so. She also had an aquamarine band around her barrel that matched the color of her mane and tail. Her eyes were the same green that the stripe down her back sported while a growth of some kind near the back of her head resembled a crown while closer to the front was a wicked looking crooked horn that looked as if it could cut somebody in half. 

“So I take it you failed?” Chrysalis snarled, baring her fangs and stomping a front hoof toward the humanoid shadowy figure hiding in the darkness away from the torches. Chrysalis didn’t need the light to see the beads of sweat forming and the worried expression on her underling’s face.

“It was a Beetleborg!” The figure hissed out, giving Chrysalis pause in her anger.

“So they were brought forth from the comics as well. I really should have expected this, I suppose. I will give you leeway this time as even I didn’t expect this situation. It doesn’t mean you won’t be punished.” Chrysalis snarled, green lightning erupting from her horn and striking the shadowy figure making him writhe in agony as he let out a bone chilling shriek of pain. “Remember this pain next time you fail me. We need that energy from these humans in order to revive our Goddess!”

“Y-Yes master!” The figure huffed out, gasping in pain from his punishment.

“Good, now get out of my sight! I need to rest and recharge until I can pull another monster from the comics, and this time you better not waste it!” Chrysalis barked out, making the figure scramble in the shadows to escape from any more wrath from their master while making the other two figures in the shadows in other parts of the area wince in sympathy for their comrade.





“The police are still searching for answers behind this suspected publicity stunt that rocked the city today. It is still unsure how the damage was caused, but thankfully there were no casualties and only minor injuries. The few people who fainted during the incident have since regained consciousness and are only complaining about feeling as if they ran a ten mile marathon. This is Quick Scoop, stay tuned for the weather coming up in a few minutes.” The woman on the news reported before Sunset turned the small TV on the kitchen counter off.

She had returned a few hours earlier and had put the groceries away after cleaning out the refrigerator. Flabber had said everything was clean, but when it came to this, Sunset was a little paranoid. After all, this place was a mess and the other occupants of the house seemed to think it was clean, except for Flabber. It was kind of disgusting in a way, but these things were monsters and their definition of clean was more than likely a lot different than hers. After that she had hit the stove and pans, along with the plate and silverware and made sure everything was as clean as she could get it.

After that, she had started prepping her ingredients, not that there was a lot to do. She actually enjoyed cooking what little she could, it kind of reminded her of alchemy which she enjoyed when she was younger. Using ingredients to create something else altogether, only with this you get to enjoy the results of all that work. The only problem was that the Frankenstein looking monster had come to see what she was doing and was leaving clues that he wanted to try that, which Sunset relented and told him to wait at the table. 

As she cooked the meal, which she ended up planning on lasting a few days until she could get more groceries brought in, she quickly realized it wouldn’t last past dinner. How could it, when the mummy came into the kitchen asking if she was really cooking dinner for them, explaining that while he survived on raw body parts from cows and pigs, such as kidneys and livers, he could consume regular foods from time to time to enjoy the taste and experience of a normal meal.

Next came the vampire, who had woken up a little earlier than usual according to him. Just like the mummy, he also survived on fresh blood though he could eat normal meals at times. He wasn’t too happy with what was going on as he leaned against the counter while Sunset stirred the pasta sauce in the pan as she let it simmer with the meat substitute to get it to absorb the flavor.

“Child… Sunset, I appreciate you willing to share your food with us, but only Frankie actually requires more normal types of food. They should never have pressured you into sharing with them.” Vlad sighed, changing to her name after the glare he received from Sunset for calling her a child again. 

“It’s fine, you guys are letting me stay here with you for free. If I can repay you a little bit by cooking a meal every now and then, it would be the least I could do.” Sunset said with a shrug. 

“I suppose, if that’s really what you want to do, then I won’t argue with you. It does smell rather good even if you aren’t using real meat in it.” Vlad said, shaking his head a little. “I still don’t like that you had to face that thing alone today.”

“I would have thought you guys would have been happy to be rid of me.” Sunset replied.

“I know you don’t like being called a child, but that is just what you are to us. Human or not, you are a child and children should never be put in the situation you are in.” Vlad said, “It’s why I will be calling an old friend of mine first thing Monday morning before I hit the coffin. I plan to have you listed under my clan’s registry by the middle of the week so you can get a license and be able to get into a good college.”

“Won’t your friend wonder why I don’t have papers already?” Sunset asked as she left the sauce to simmer and dump the water off of the noodles. 

“I plan to tell her you are my child and your mother took you to our homeland where I couldn’t get to you. With her dead, you were brought to me and even though identification and such isn’t required there, it is here and can be granted through situations like this rather easily.” Vlad explained, shifting his weight a little. “Don’t worry, as I said, nothing is expected of you. I’m not about to try and force myself on you as a surrogate father or something. Just help you get on your feet and get an education so you can get a career and life of your own.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Sunset sighed, not exactly liking the plan. Yeah it would save her a lot of trouble and actually make her legal, but was that worth shackling herself to this creature in name. She shouldn’t have to change her name, but from now on she would be known as this man’s legacy, be it good or bad.

“You don’t have to sound so excited.” Vlad chuckled, “Look, I know it is a big step, one that I don’t exactly like. I just can’t let this go, because without a proper identity, you won’t be able to do anything in this world.”

“You’re right, thank you.” Sunset said, a little nervousness entering her as she wondered if Vlad knew what she was. Instead of pouring the sauce on the noodles, she just mixed it all together and began plating the pasta up on four dishes since Flabber said he couldn’t eat food as he was a Phasm, which turned out to be some kind of ghost/spirit with a physical form.

“Sunset, for what it is worth, I think you are a brave young woman for facing that monster today and owning up to the side effects of your wish. I feel guilty for the three of us trying to scare you off making the wish necessary.” Vlad said.

“It’s fine, I understand why you did it. At first I thought the three of you were just a bumbling bunch of idiots.” Sunset admitted, giving a bit of a smirk as the vampire scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. 

“Yeah, that wasn’t our finest showing. Usually humans run screaming at the first sight of us, all three of us usually don’t end up trying to scare someone off.” Vlad chuckled, “You aren’t like most humans though. You actually showed bravery and didn’t run screaming making us try harder to scare you, which we don’t like doing. It’s just not something we are used to as we prefer peace and staying hidden for the most part.”

“Well, let me get this toast on the plates and we can head out.” Sunset said, pulling the pan from out of the oven and making sure both the range and oven were shut off before putting some garlic toast on the plates. “Oh crap…it’s garlic.”

“Don’t worry.” Vlad chuckled, “Garlic doesn’t affect me. That old story came from a foolish hunter, who by chance, had garlic on him when he confronted a vampire with an extreme allergic reaction to the stuff. 

“Seriously?” Sunset scoffed, trying to fight off the fit of giggles. “I guess I better cancel that garlic delivery for tomorrow that I was planning to place around my room.”

“The scary thing is, I don’t know if you are being serious or joking right now.” Vlad laughed as he helped carry the plates out to the dining room.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday morning wasn’t something Sunset had been looking forward to as she walked up the steps of the school building while doing her best to ignore the glares and harsh whispers of her fellow students. She was starting to wish she stayed home, making her realize that after a few short days she really was starting to view Hillhurst as a home. Sure the others living there were strange to say the least, but over the weekend she had actually gotten to know them a bit better as both Saturday and Sunday had ended with her cooking dinner for them as well as herself.

She was a little surprised at just how much she learned about the three monsters, though Flabber remained mostly a mystery other than what little he said on her first morning there. She learned the most about the mummy who pretty much embraced his nickname as Mums, even though his real name was Seth Ptolemy. He claimed that he used to be rather handsome and a very good singer known as Pharaoh before his mother cursed him. Apparently there was a huge blow up when he defied his mother’s wishes and clinged to his music as well as rebelled against her choice of wife for him, instead choosing to pursue another singer. Then his mother blew a simple kiss on the cheek out of proportion when Cleopatra thanked him and he was punished by his mother, the curse robbing him of his looks and voice for singing while sealing him in a tomb for centuries.

Frank was actually the one who was a little scary when thinking about it as he was actually THE Frankenstein’s monster who named him Frank. His nickname he found amusing, if a little embarrassing, as it came from his love of beans and the problems they caused him. The revolting, toxic and nauseous problems they caused him and everyone around him. They called him Frankenbeans, and Sunset couldn’t help the name kind of fit him as she learned not to be around him too long after he eats anything with that food in it.

And finally, as the others called him, Count Fangula. A name the vampire despised as he was actually one of two descendants of Count Dracula. Vlad and his brother were conceived right before the original Count Dracula was cursed with his vampirism. In an attempt to turn his wife, the original Dracula infected the two unborn babies with the curse which in turn killed their mother during childbirth before she could be turned. Vlad had somehow inherited the lion’s share of the curse, though didn’t truly come into his powers until he was killed by those striking out at the crazed Count Dracula. Vlad had returned as a full fledged vampire and helped several others defeat his father before he could kill too many more. As for his brother, he gained a few things such as the ability to extend his life by drinking blood and the ability to turn into a bat while all other powers eluded him. He was blessed with an actual living body that did need food, but could naturally produce offspring for the first century of his life and had a daughter. Sadly, he became sterile after that though he didn’t really seem to suffer any other ill effects.

The three could act like such big idiots, but at the same time they actually did have hearts of gold for the most part. They just didn’t want a bunch of people coming and intruding on their peace just to get a few thrills investigating the haunted house. It was something Sunset couldn’t fault them for, they deserved their peace and Vlad truly did own the house. He had accounts set up with automatic payments to take care of the utilities and had deliveries made for the things Frank and Mums needed to survive while he went out himself to take care of his needs. It was something that still creeped out Sunset to some extent, but he wasn’t really harming anyone at least. If he was killing people then there would be a huge panic going on, and there wasn’t.

Shoving her thoughts to the back of her mind, Sunset focused on the matters at hand more… like getting through another fun-tastic day of CHS where she was once again the target of spite. It hurt, it hurt a lot, but she had to admit she was getting fed up with it. While she admitted fault for her current predicament because of her wish, she could lay a huge share of the blame on most everyone walking these halls. She could even go farther and blame most of it on the Rainbooms as they were the ones to announce Sunset was behind everything and threw her to the wolves. If it wasn’t for them, she would still have her job and home and never would have had to venture inside Hillhurst.

Speaking of the girls, she couldn’t help but wither away from their glares as she passed them. No matter how much she psyched herself up, no matter how many pep talks she gives herself, it seemed that their opinion still mattered greatly to Sunset. The problem was, she was getting to the point of the love she had for them being squeezed out by the small amount of hate that was starting to form in her heart for them. She was starting to wonder if the truth did finally come out and they came saying how sorry they were and begging for another chance, if she would give them one. She would like to think she would, but with every passing day, she could feel the bond she had with them slipping away more and more. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was already too late for them as they had a large hand in destroying what little life she had built up rendering her homeless and without income over some stupid gossip column. It just wasn’t fair.





It just wasn’t fair. All day yesterday the shop was closed because of the police investigating Saturday’s incident involving the monster and Beetleborg. Wallflower knew her mother was scared, but still would have known the difference between a stupid publicity stunt and something far more real, and potentially dangerous. Yet the police mostly wanted to blame the most likely suspect. Thankfully, the only officer on the scene that seemed to have half a brain deemed them innocent of any involvement and finally left them alone.

Seeing Sunset walk by in a somewhat hunched up position as if trying to hide reminded Wallflower of the other problem she had to deal with. She hated Sunset Shimmer, there was no denying that after everything the girl had gotten away with at the school. She even destroyed the front of the school and had gotten away with it, something Wallflower highly believed the fire haired teen should be sitting in jail over. She wasn’t though, Sunset was the beautiful girl, the popular girl, the untouchable girl that always got away with everything and even ended up with a bunch of friends she didn’t deserve. 

Wallflower hated to admit it, she knew she was being petty, but she felt Sunset deserved the hate and scorn she had been experiencing lately. It was karmic payback, it had to be as Wallflower couldn’t think of any other way the second time queen bee finally had everything crumble around her. Sure Wallflower felt that Sunset was most likely innocent of the whole Anon A Miss ordeal, but she deserved to suffer because of everything she had done. 

Yet she couldn’t fight the growing ball of guilt gnawing away  from the inside as Wallflower never wanted to see anyone lose their only source of income. She never wanted to see anyone become homeless, even her worst enemies. It just wasn’t fair, the school bully turned angel turned queen bee was making Wallflower feel sorry for the girl and it was pissing the green haired teen off to no end.

“Heh, bet it will take Sunshit weeks to clean the paint off her apartment door.” A boy snickered not far off, obviously bragging to his friends over what he had done.

“Do you think it’s funny you idiots caused a girl her only income and her place to live?” Wallflower snapped at them as she slammed her locker and swirled around to face three sheepish looking boys. While she tried to stay unnoticed at the school, it was a double edged sword as she didn’t pay attention to most of the students so didn’t know who the three boys were. Not that she cared, her rage was an active volcano eruption complete with  hot molten lava at the moment. “Because of you a teenaged girl is alone out in the cold for Christmas! Are you idiots proud of that?”

“What do you mean, are you saying Sunset is homeless?” One of the three boys asked in a worried tone.

“What do you care?” Wallflower snapped before her anger drained and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and mortification of what she was doing and saying. Hugging her school supplies tight she hurried away from the three boys while ignoring their cries of wait. Why did she have to draw so much attention to herself by that outburst? Now she was going to be the center of attention for the rest of the day. It just wasn’t fair.





It just wasn’t fair. Wallflower’s outburst had brought back some less than stellar memories for one particular girl. Trixie had to admit she never much cared for Sunset Shimmer, yet she never hated the girl either. If anything Trixie was a little indifferent to the girl with the bacon colored hair. Sure she liked to get a rise out of the girl at times, but if anything, Trixie was a little jealous. Sunset had made a group of friends and the admiration of a large portion of the student body after the Battle of the Bands despite all of the trouble she had caused. Yet Trixie had a hard time making and keeping friends. Even her two friends from her band left her citing she was too full of herself. It wasn’t her fault that she had a tick that seemed to urge her to talk in the third person. Instead of fighting the urge, she accepted it and even owned it by making it her thing. After all, a little positive reinforcement was always good.

Sorting through the mess that was her locker after checking her makeup in the door’s mirror while wondering if perhaps she should have checked her makeup last, she overheard the distressing claims the green haired girl had made. Wallflower Blush had insinuated that Sunset Shimmer was now homeless which didn’t sit right with the stage magician. She had been homeless herself a few times and knew how rough it could be despite her father finally hitting it big and having more than enough to provide for their family now. 

Withdrawing what she needed for class she decided to head that way while wondering what she should do with the information. She didn’t truly believe Sunset Shimmer was guilty of the glorified gossip column, only an idiot truly would, and Trixie was no idiot. It did leave her wondering about the rest of the student body and a few of the teachers. What moron would work as hard as Sunset did, making up for everything she had done in her bullying days in order to make her friend group proud of her and then turn around and throw it all away over stupid gossip? Anyone with a lick of sense could see that the whole thing was a poorly conceived frame job.

“Just what is Trixie supposed to do about it though?” Trixie mused to herself as she entered her classroom and took her seat near the back and kept an eye on Sunset. The girl did seem dejected, but she was dressed in what appeared to Trixie to be new clothes, begging the question how much of what Wallflower claimed was true? Still, who in their right mind could look at the pain the girl was going through and believe she was doing it to herself by keeping up the most hated profile on MyStable? It just wasn’t fair.





The day had gone by rather slowly in Wallflower’s opinion and watching the hell that Sunset went through was horrible to see from the outside. She didn’t want to know what it must have felt like for Sunset to actually live through it personally. Thankfully the day was finally over, though it left her with one problem…confronting Sunset. She had promised her mother to check in on the girl and do her best to make sure the fiery teen was okay. Wallflower just couldn’t bring herself to go up to her throughout the day as her nerves defeated her every time she tried. Of course her anger and hatred at the girl didn’t help much either.

After shoving her books in her locker as she had completed all of her homework during her free period, she quickly formulated a plan.  She wouldn’t have to confront Sunset at all in order to keep her promise to her mother, all she had to do was make sure she had a home and someone to look out for her. All she had to do was follow Sunset and make sure the girl had a safe place so Wallflower could reassure her mother and be done with the entire situation. With plan in mind she carefully followed Sunset out of the school while hanging back enough to look as if she wasn’t stalking her. 

“What are you doing following Sunset?” A voice asked from next to her, making her jump a little in fright. Turning to look at the owner of the voice revealed it to be Trixie walking alongside her.

“If you must know, I’m not. My home is this way.” Wallflower defended, crossing her arms as she gave a petulant look at the magician while trying not to shrink in on herself.

“If you say so.” Trixie snorted, “Though Trixie thinks you are worried about Sunset Shimmer. Much like Trixie is worried for her… nobody should have to deal with having no home to go to or no way to provide for themselves.” Trixie said softly, giving Wallflower a sad look.

“No, I guess they don’t.” Wallflower sighed. “What do you plan to do if you do find out she is homeless?”

“What can Trixie do? It might sound cruel, but Trixie plans to report it to Principal Celestia so Sunset can get the help she needs. She may hate Trixie for it, but it would be for her own good.” Trixie explained, pulling her hat from her head and clutching it to her chest.

“I guess that might be for the best.” Wallflower said. “... Do you think she is Anon A Miss?”

“At first Trixie wondered, but Trixie isn’t stupid nor blind. Why would Sunset work as hard as she did to be better only to throw it all away? It doesn’t make sense and Trixie blames those girls who Sunset called friends for things getting as far out of hand as they have. If they stuck by her, nobody would have believed she was the culprit.” Trixie said, keeping an eye far ahead of her on the fire maned girl.

“There are times I believe it is her and others I don’t, but yeah, you have a point. None of it makes sense really.” Wallflower admitted, admitting to herself that a part of her really wanted Sunset to be guilty just so she would have justification for all of the negative feelings she’s had against the girl.

“Trixie might not act like it, but she’s… jealous that Sunset Shimmer had so much popularity. Twice even.” Trixie admitted, something that was hard for her to do. “Trixie doesn’t have any real friends as they always leave her sooner or later. Even Trixie’s band finally left her.”

“I’m sorry.” Wallflower said softly, realizing she felt the same exact way. Ever since Sunset reformed it seemed as if everyone flocked to her wanting to be friends, or at least after the Battle of the Bands they did. A part of Wallflower wished she could get over her shyness and have close friends like Sunset seemed to have. Then again, seeing what those friends did to Sunset, maybe it just wasn’t worth it in the end.

“Don’t be sorry, it isn’t your fault. Trixie has problems that make it hard for her to keep friends for long because all they see is Trixie’s mask.” Trixie said so softly that Wallflower almost didn’t hear it. Thinking about it, Wallflower realized that ever since the secrets came out about Trixie’s bandmates making fun of her behind her back, the magician has seemed so down in the dumps and mopey. It must have really crushed Trixie’s spirits making Wallflower feel really bad for the girl.

“If you like, you can come over and see my garden after we finish with Sunset.” Wallflower managed to finally squeak out after a few moments of warring with her shyness.

“Trixie loves gardens, is it a flower or vegetable type?” Trixie asked, a little sparkle gleaming in her eyes.

“Both actually, I love flowers but also grow stuff to help with the grocery bills.” Wallflower said with a little more enthusiasm.

“Trixie has a small vegetable garden too with a few flowers.” Trixie said, “It helps with the food bills and the flowers Trixie can use for her performances.”

“No way!” Wallflower gasped, a little bit of fright flowering inside her as Sunset started cutting through the Everfree Forest. They had walked for quite awhile, but they never expected this. There were two options, Sunset was sleeping in the forest itself or she was crashing at Hillhurst Manor. Neither option was very good as both places creeped Wallflower out despite usually liking places with a lot of plant life.

“What do we do?” Trixie asked nervously, fidgeting as worry took over her expression.

“We do what we set out to do.” Wallflower said with a heavy sigh, “We follow her.”

For the next few minutes the pair of girls followed Sunset at a distance while trying to maintain enough coverage from the trees so they wouldn’t be spotted. Wallflower couldn’t help silently praying that Sunset was going anywhere else in the forest, anywhere but Hillhurst. Unfortunately, that was exactly where Sunset was heading as the pair watched her go through the messed up gate and into the large house.

“She went in there?” Wallflower sputtered, “Is she insane?!” 

“Maybe it isn’t so bad?” Trixie supplied with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “She apparently lied about somebody taking her in. Trixie thinks maybe we should confront her, see if she is okay.”

“That means going in there though!” Wallflower hissed out, pointing to the supposedly haunted house.

“What’s the worst that can happen? A haunted dust bunny going to attack us?” Trixie giggled as she walked forward, leaving Wallflower with little choice but to follow. As the two silently made their way to the door, Wallflower reached up to knock on the door, but Trixie shook her head and put her finger to her lips in a silencing motion. Nodding stiffly, Wallflower followed Trixie as the magician tried the door and it opened without any problems. 

The inside was surprisingly welcoming as the two basked in the warm blast of air that flowed over them as they walked down the hallway toward the sound of a television playing.

“I can’t believe you got a new tv!” Came Sunset’s surprised voice. “How did you get a new tv?”

“Old Fangula thought it would be nice to get you something to watch at night while you do your homework.” A male voice said, making the pair of girls pause just outside the room. Wallflower noticed the man was a little odd looking, but nothing harmful… hopefully. Then again, he was a total stranger, what if he was planning on hurting Sunset, or them? What if he already has?

“Again, the police are requesting everyone stay clear of the area while they try to deal with this new monster that is apparently very real.” A newscaster said from the television.

“I guess I better go take care of it.” Sunset sighed.

“I don’t like you going by yourself.” The man sighed.

“I messed up and made the wish causing these monsters to appear. It’s my responsibility to get rid of them.” Sunset said, pulling a familiar looking device from her pocket and thrusting it out in front of her. “Beetle bonder!” Sunset cried out, energy rippling down her arm and into the device before she thrusted it high in the air with a cry of, “Beetle blast!”

Wallflower and Trixie both watched in stunned silence as Sunset Shimmer transformed into the Red Striker Beetleborg from the comics, and the same one who defeated El Pyre Tigre, the fan of fried fries and frying enemies. The creature was one of the earliest monsters in the comics, and one of the weakest when they discovered his weak spot. Just how was this even possible? The two didn’t have time to ponder the question as they ducked back around the door just before Sunset ran by them and out the door.

“Did we really just see that?” Trixie asked, shock clearly etched into her features as both of their phones received notifications at the same time. Pulling them out at the same time only for both girls to see the same thing, a new post for Anon A Miss. Concrete proof that Sunset wasn’t behind the whole thing, something Wallflower wasn’t sure how to feel about. Sure a part of her didn’t believe Sunset was behind it, yet there was a part of her that just couldn’t let it go.

“Hello girls, would you like some tea?” The strange man asked, the sudden appearance shocking the two girls.

“Well, Trixie is parched, but Trixie has a very important question first.” Trixie replied calmly, slowly bringing her finger up to point in the direction Sunset had left while shouting, “What the hell was that?”

“Ah, I guess you two saw everything.” The man sighed, “I don’t suppose you both could just forget what you saw?”

“No, we won’t forget what we saw!” Wallflower actually snapped, storming past the man to pace in the room behind him. It was some living room or something with a couple couches, coffee tables and what appeared to be a new television set up playing the news which the girl was tuning out. What was she supposed to think, Sunset was the girl Wallflower hated most in the school. Probably the only person she actually hated, yet Wallflower had felt her own concern for Sunset’s wellbeing besides her mother’s own. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the person she wanted to meet the most in life and the person who Wallflower owed a debt to for saving her mother was the same person. How was she supposed to deal with that?

“Well, you see, Sunset was sort of confronted with some really scary… people when she came here. When she freed me from the organ, she earned a wish from me even though she didn’t know about that. She sort of wished she was a Beetleborg to protect herself and I may have messed up and not only brought the Beetleborgs out of the comics, but also the villains.” The man sighed, obviously agitated as he led Trixie into the room as well and turned his attention to the television where an insect-like man was beating Sunset rather badly.

“Uva!” Wallflower gasped. He just wasn’t one of the monsters from the comics, he was the worst of the three generals under the command of Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings. A race of humanoid insects that acted like energy vampires, though they were mostly drones that barely had any kind of sentience about them. They were basically the generals canon fodder later in the series.

“Is Sunset going to be okay?” Trixie asked.

“I don’t know little lady. I’m bound to the organ, I can’t leave the property.” The man said, biting his nails as he was sweating large amounts.

“You said you brought the Beetleborgs from the comics? Where are the other two?” Wallflower asked, chewing on her lip as she tried to figure out what to do. As much as she didn’t really know how to feel about Sunset, Wallflower just couldn’t let the girl die at the hands of some comic monster brought to life. Especially not after Sunset had saved Wallflower’s mother.

“Over there.” The man pointed to the blue and green balls of fire floating over the pipes of the organ. “With nobody to claim the power, they took up residence there.”

“I don’t know why I’m doing this, but I have to help her.” Wallflower said, shaking on the inside at the thought of facing that thing while at the same time realizing adrenaline was pushing her out of her shell for the moment and knew as soon as it wore off she was going to be a mess.

“Trixie isn’t going to stand by and let that thing hurt Sunset or you!” Trixie declared.

“Ever read a Beetleborgs comic?” Wallflower asked, giving Trixie a bit of a grin.

“A couple, we could never really afford comics much.” Trixie admitted sadly.

“Do you remember how they changed?” Wallflower questions, smirking when Trixie nodded and they both thrust out their hands while crying out, “Beetle bonder!” The two flames shot from the organ and into the two girls' hands, green going to Wallflower while blue flew to Trixie, and formed the devices in the two girls’ hands before they thrusted them into the air with a louder cry of, “Beetle blast!”
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jumping off the porch Sunset hurried towards the gate of the property while wondering just how she was supposed to get to the monster attack before the creature did too much damage. Even with the armor feeling as if it increased her stamina and strength, it would take a lot longer than she would like to reach where she needed to go. 

“I’m sending your bike to you now, Red.” Bai said over the helmet’s intercom, surprising Sunset momentarily.

“I’m sorry, I don’t even know how to drive one!” Sunset gasped out, seeing a red stylized motorcycle heading toward her at high speed. 

“Just get on and I’ll do the driving for now. We can worry about you learning how to ride it later.” Bai said as the bike came to a stop in front of Sunset. She barely climbed on and grabbed a hold of the handlebars before it shot off like a rocket which the teen barely managed not to scream from the sudden acceleration. The ride didn’t take long as Sunset flew by a police barricade earning shouts from them and a few reporters that barely managed to get out of the way.

“You humiliated me.” The green monster growled as Sunset disembarked off the bike.

“I’ve never even met you before, green bean.” Sunset huffed, pulling out her Sonic Laser and aimed it at the monster.

“You think that little pea shooter scares me, brat?” The monster chuckled. “I’m not one of your run of the mill Magnavore! I am the strongest of the three generals, UVA! Now, shake in fear!”

“Huh? What now?” Sunset managed to ask before Uva rushed at her while ignoring the lasers from the girl’s gun as if they were nothing. Laughing, Uva punched Sunset hard in the stomach which threw her across the street to land roughly on the ground where she groaned in pain. “I actually felt that...”

“Of course you felt it, foolish brat! I am THE strongest there is!” Uva laughed, cracking his knuckles, advancing on the downed girl.

“I’m pretty sure the Hulk would disagree.” Sunset groaned, wondering what possessed her to say that as the thought of those movies Rainbow had forced her to watch came to mind. Not that she regretted watching them, it was actually pretty good, but the thought brought a tinge of pain from how Rainbow, and most everyone else at school had been treating her.

“You need to get up, Red!” Bai screamed through the communicator.

“I am!” Sunset groaned as she rolled out of the way and up to her feet just as Uva stomped his foot down where the girl just was, leaving cracks on the pavement where his foot struck.

“You should have just made this easy on yourself!” Uva growled out.





“Trixie can’t believe that actually worked! Trixie is the Blue Stinger Beetleborg!” Trixie cried out excitedly, studying the blade-like weapon in her hand.

“And I’m the Green Hunter Beetleborg!” Wallflower cheered, feeling better and more confident than she ever has before. Maybe it was just the change, or the adrenaline running through her system, but she was sure she could face the world right now.

“I’m sorry to cut this short, but Red needs your help right now! Her armor integrity is in the yellow!” A voice came through the communication system in their helmets as their weapons disappeared. 

“Who is that?” Trixie gasped.

“I’m the Beetle Artificial Intelligence, but you can call me Bai. Get out front and I’ll have your bikes ready!” Bai said with an urgent undertone.

“Good luck girls!” Flabber cheered as the two newest Beetleborgs nodded and ran out the door and jumped on their motorcycles before realizing something very important.

“Trix…do you know how to drive one of these things?” Wallflower asked nervously.

“Trixie has never been on one of these before.” Trixie admitted.

“Just hold on then, I’ll drive for now. You three need to come to the command center and practice with your equipment soon.” Bai said. Just like with Sunset, as soon as the two grabbed the handlebars the bikes took off from the property like rockets speeding down the path and onto the road towards where Sunset was.

“This… is… INSANE!” Screamed Wallflower as everything seemed to blur around them, including the blue and red lights of the police cruisers making up part of the blockade. They ignored the cries of stop as they sped by them and skidded to a stop in front of Uva throwing a bolt of lightning at Sunset who screamed in pain.

“You have to hurry, Red’s armor integrity is almost in the red!” Bai urged through the communicators. 

“Uva has a strong resistance to ranged attacks, use your Stinger Blade to distract him while I check on Red.” Wallflower said as they dismounted the bikes, the blade returning to Trixie’s hand once she got off.

“Hurry!” Trixie said, rushing toward Uva and slashing at him with her blade which knocked him away from Sunset so Wallflower could get to her.

“Where did you come from?!” Uva demanded, Trixie fighting the urge to speak as she went in for another slash. She played enough video games that she was sure she could figure out what the gauges meant in her heads up display in her helmet. Luckily, her attacks seemed to be causing some damage as the bar she was sure was Uva’s life gauge dropped to about ninety percent. “Not a talkative one, huh? No matter, while I admit that hurt a little, you still don’t stand a chance against me!”

Smirking under her helmet, Trixie mentally commanded her Stinger Blade to go into Overdrive mode. Sighing in relief as the schematics flashed on the display momentarily as the side the blade’s base slid away revealing a small turbine that started spinning, making the blade spin as well as electricity arced up the length of it. Leaping forward, Trixie brought the spinning blade down from above and slashed Uva once again. The strike dropped Uva’s gauge down to seventy percent at the cost of draining three-fourths of Trixie’s remaining energy. Willing the turbine to stop, the side of the blade slid back closed while Trixie took up a more fencer style stance. 

“You pathetic insect!” Uva roared in pain, clutching at his side as Sunset and Wallflower joined her on either side.





“Hey, are you okay?” Wallflower asked as she helped Sunset sit up a little shakily.

“I’m fine…Wait, who are you?” Sunset asked in surprise.

“There will be time to explain later, come on!” Wallflower said, helping the red armored girl to her feet. “Uva is highly resistant to ranged attacks so pull out your Pulsaber and get ready, but only defend yourself. Your armor and energy levels are too low.”

“That explains a lot.” Sunset grumped as she pulled out the small bladed weapon that Wallflower did moments before her. “Thanks… for saving me.”

“Don’t thank me, I’m just returning the favor.” Wallflower said, her emotions at war between hate, pity and possibly even a little bit of care for the girl beside her as the two joined Trixie. Wallflower rushed by Uva while managing to take a swipe with her blade at the side he was favoring, making him spin and stumble a little as he glared at all three of them with bladed weapons at the ready.

“You may have surprised me today, brats, but I will have my revenge next time!” Uva shouted angrily at the three before flying off in a ball of flame.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here.” Wallflower said as the three put their weapons up. She noticed the police were reluctant to come any closer as if they were waiting to see if they would attack them or anything.  Shaking her head she went over to Sunset and helped her get on her bike that pulled up in front of them. “Can you hang on until we get you home?”

“Yeah… Thanks.” Sunset said, gripping the handlebars before the bike shot off. Moments later, Trixie and Wallflower were following after on their own bikes.

Back at Hillhurst, Trixie and Wallflower walked in, still in their armor, as Sunset dropped on the couch with Flabber fussing over the girl’s injuries while the same news broadcast was still playing on the television.

“It seems that the two new Beetleborgs may be more competent than the red one who took quite a beating today. There is already speculation that the green one may be their leader while the blue one seems to be the strong silent type. The police are warning people to stay away from them if you see them and asking anyone with information about their identities to call it in.” The reporter said before Sunset turned the device off with a grumble.

“Pfft, I’m no leader. I’m surprised I’m not a shaking mess over in the corner.” Wallflower said, earning Flabber and Sunset’s attention.

“Thank you girls for helping Sunny here.” Flabber said, trying to wrap Sunset up like a mummy while the girl kept pushing the gauze away.

“I really appreciate it, Flabber, but please cut it out and just give me the ice pack!” Sunset said, obviously trying hard not to snap at the man.

“Wait, why do you have a black eye?” Wallflower asked, a little shocked at the fact that Sunset actually had one. While she didn’t doubt getting injuries was possible in the armor, the black eye didn’t make a lot of sense. She started to realize something was up when Flabber took on a guilty expression.

“Well, little lady, I kind of accidentally elbowed her trying to wrap her up.” Flabber said, anything else he was going to say cut off as Sunset finally wrestled the roll of gauze from him and started wrapping it around his head, more specifically, around his mouth making Wallflower fight back a giggle as Sunset plucked the ice pack from the coffee table and held it to her eye.

“Thanks again for coming to my rescue but.. Who are you?” Sunset asked.

“Cast off!” Wallflower called out, her armor shattering into light particles as Sunset gave a confused look. When Trixie did the same, the fiery haired girl couldn’t hold a look of disbelief back, her eyes widening and mouth hanging open a little. She quickly shook her head a bit to get her head back on track.

“To tell the truth, I’m pretty surprised.” Sunset said with a wry grin, “I have to ask though, are you two going to be able to keep this a secret?”

“Trixie knows how to keep a secret!” Trixie huffed as Wallflower’s phone gave a notification chime with the magician’s coming right after. Hesitantly, they pulled them out and saw what Wallflower already suspected.

“Anon-A-Miss… again.” Wallflower sighed, “That’s twice they posted where we could see you weren’t even on any devices.”

“You two can give the bonders back, there aren’t any reasons for you to become involved in my mess.” Sunset said as she stood up and walked over to them as Flabber finally pulled the last of the gauze from around his mouth.

“I think you should ask what they want.” Flabber suggested.

“Honestly.. I want to go back to hating you so things can be simple again.” Wallflower sighed, hugging herself a little as she could feel her shyness beginning to bubble up, making her wonder if perhaps the armor did help boost her adrenaline or something to keep her from feeling so self conscious.

“You hated me?” Sunset asked, swallowing a lump forming in her throat.

“I hated that you were so popular and loved, even after everything you did! It wasn’t fair!” Wallflower snapped out, eyes watering a little.

“Trixie has to admit, she was jealous too. But Trixie never hated you though.” Trixie said, her hands behind her back and scuffing a toe of her boot on the floor nervously. “Trixie would like to get to know you and maybe become friends.”

“I’d like that.” Sunset said with a watery smile and Wallflower huffed.

“I am not going to just forget everything though! I'm not going to be your friend just because you are the great Sunset Shimmer!” Wallflower replied, trying to get the anger she had to come out, but the memory of her mom flashed across her mind and she dropped her head with a sigh. “But... You saved my mom from that tiger monster... And I guess I haven’t really gotten to know the real you, so I guess I can at least give you a chance.” She said before lifting her head up a bit to look at her with a small smile. 

“I’d like that.” Sunset said, returning the smile with a bright one of her own before lunging at the two and hugging them. While Trixie seemed to melt into it, and even return it after a few moments, Wallflower was too uncomfortable with the sudden action to do anything, her smile turning into a look of shocked surprise as she went stiff in the hug.