//------------------------------//
// Rise 
// Story: The Forsaken 
// by AmberSun 
//------------------------------//

After her talk with the Dazzlings, Sunset had taken a bit of a brighter outlook on her situation. Yes, she was still understandably hurt over what had happened, but no longer allowed that part of her thoughts to take center light in her mind. Like what she had told Adagio, Sunset loved where she was at. She had friends - true friends - and was able to build herself up in a new school, where apparently she became the cream of the crop in regards to most scholastic aspects. Sunset, with her charm and abilities, became popular once again. 

Things were similar to how they were when she was school bully, but this time with students revering her in admiration instead of the fear and hatred for her underhanded tactics at maintaining her position - save for a few bitter souls that were upset at having their academic status usurped. Being older on the other side of the mirror and being chosen as a personal student to the Princess meant that she had years of experience beyond most of what was being taught here at Crystal Prep, despite being top school in the district. Her studies hadn’t been purely magical, but also based on mathematics and the sciences, arts and other subjects that Sunset assumed were expected of a princess. So with the girl’s dedication to her studies, she became kind of a teacher’s pet with her instructors, and with her latent physiology being truly a pony - she excelled in many of her physical classes. Over the weeks, she had even managed to befriend a few other students besides just Adagio, Aria and Sonata as well and was confident enough to say that they were closer than when she had been a student at CHS and as a member of the Rainbooms.

Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, and  Lemon Zest became like a second family to her. Including Sunset and the Dazzlings, they made a  much larger group than what she originally had at CHS, but were no less dear to her. Sunset tried not to project her past into the relationships she was making now, and while she was initially wary of the girls, happily integrated well with them. It helped that the three former villains were friends with some of them anyway. Aria’s competitive streak with Indigo was always entertaining to behold; Adagio and Sugarcoat both had no issues with saying what was on their mind; Sonata and Sour Sweet got along scarily well together with their common interest in home ec activities.

Overall, Sunset could say that she was thankful to Anon-A-Miss in a way. She wouldn’t have had as rich of a friendship with these girls had she not transferred here in the first place. Wouldn’t have had as fulfilling of an existence as a normal girl without magical problems every other  month. Speaking of magic, she remembered the most recent letter she sent to Princess Twilight. The purple pony princess had been heartbroken in her responses to Sunset’s plight. She repeatedly apologized over not being there to fix the issue earlier - that the political crisis in Yakyakistan couldn’t have been finished early enough for her to respond. She was also understandably furious with the Rainbooms and threatened to come over to set them straight, but Sunset intervened. In the end, Sunset understood, and since then, they had been sending a receiving regular entries to one another almost every day. 

Of course, the teen hadn’t exactly told the princess about who she had first met upon transferring schools. No need to give her friend a heart attack by saying she was friends with the Sirens. All she really needed to know was that Sunset was happy. Looking over her friends, as they sat together now at their conjoined tables in the cafeteria, each member interacting with another, Sunset couldn’t even complain if she wanted to.





“And in other news, police have discovered yet another victim of what is assumed to be a wild animal attack. This marks the fourth mauling in as little as a month. Wild life specialists are warning people not to go out after dark, as this animal is assumed to be an ambush hunter that works primarily at night. No one is sure as to why this activity is happening now, but investigations on the surrounding forests of Canterlot’s suburban homes have yielded results that the timberwolves common in the area are not responsible for these acts. Here’s officer Shining Armor with additional information.”

“Thank you. As a member of this police force, I want to remind citizens not to panic. Our department has been meticulously working with the Wild Life Task Force to get to the bottom of what’s been plaguing our town in recent weeks. Results still remain inconclusive, but we are hoping that  -”

“Hmph. Guess now I have to worry about crazy animals around here. As if human threats weren’t trouble enough.”

Sunset Shimmer turned off the small radio with a huff. It being one of the few luxuries she owned, it was treated mush more delicately than most other things, and she was glad that it hadn’t been destroyed in her fit almost two months prior. She resumed her nightly ritual, brushing her teeth and combing out her hair before she turned in for the night. Something she would forever be grateful for was the fact that despite her home being a shit shack, it had decent plumbing facilities. Along with her meager collection of electronics, she took her grooming very seriously, even when she was a pony. After all, her hair wasn’t naturally this neat. It required work that she was glad her facilities could take care of it.

Once she was done, the amber teen dropped onto her mattress, exhausted but feeling fulfilled after a good school day. The exhaustion was more of a concern for her though. It wasn’t much, but her bed did prove much more comfortable than sleeping on the hard floors. She eagerly dropped her head onto the pillow, covering herself with the thin layer of blankets she owned, before passing out in blissful slumber.





It prowled in the night in search of much needed food. Its stomach loosed another painful growl, spurring the beast onward to the scent trail. Powerful muscles coiled beneath, foul breath bellowing from its mouth. Other than the light pounding of its footfalls, the beast was silent. The many wild and human smells that permeated its senses in one smorgasbord of smells drove the beast insane in the beginning, but it managed to reign in the disgust to focus on the hunt. The forest provided little in the way of a suitable meal, but these creatures - these humans, at it learned the term - were more than enough. It had only managed to hunt one though. Every other opportunity had been tainted with the smell of an opposing predator. The scent alone was enough to have the beast stay clear. But the fear of these humans in recent time, meant that more stayed inside where it was safe from its hungry gaze. If it could not find another option soon, it may just have to take the risk.

Suddenly, it came upon a sound crashing noise in a darkened area to the left, followed by another inhuman sound. Curious, the beast stopped its run, slowly stalking into the narrow space. It knew the danger, but this smell; it was familiar. The beast must have wandered too close to the other’s hunting grounds this night. To show fear though would not do, so with a challenging grunt, it squared away at the large shadow that was slowly becoming clearer in the night, though the figure did not turn.

Closer still, the beast saw that the other - a beast similar to itself - was preoccupied with a fresh kill, the warm scent of blood splattered against the walls, the ground and the strangely vibrant colored coat of the other creature hunched over and tearing into the remaining carcass of one of these humans. Dead eyes gazed through the beast , but that was all that was recognizable. Hideous claw marks and open flaps of skin disguised anything that might have once been recognizable as a living being.

The sound of the beast’s approach soon alerted the other and it slowly raised its blood covered maw to  issue a warning rumble. Following that, to the beast's surprise, the thing raised on its hind legs, standing similar to the humans that it had initially been hunting. Its broad shoulders heaved with every heavy breath and misted when it escaped through clenched fangs. Glowing yellow eyes narrowed dangerously though most of the body still hidden in the darkness and casting an imposing figure. The hairs on the back of the beast’s neck raised in alarm, sensing a coming danger and it backed away slowly, head bowed.

It was not worth it. Intent on turning tail and fleeing, the beast was stopped when a weight bashed into its side, sending it careening into an adjacent wall. The shock  of impact stunned the beast, unused to something more powerful than this opponent. Before it could regain its senses however, there was a sickening crunch and splash, followed by unimaginable pain in its throat and middle. 

The other creature had a large clawed paw impaled into the beast’s belly halfway up to  its forearm, while teeth were still sinking into its throat. Life slowly drained from the glowing green eyes, blood oozing from both fatal wounds. Impossible to think that the once proud beast of Everfree Forest would fall to a newborn welp, but unable to do anything about its impending death.

When the body eventually ran cold and the blood now longer flowed smoothly, the killer victoriously raised its large head, and howled to the darkened sky.