//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Into The Woods // Story: Rise of the Equestrians // by Doodle Note //------------------------------// Sunset kept running after the figure that was spying on her, but she stopped when she lost him. "That was odd. Where did he go? Could he be one of the Alliance?" Sunset crossed her arms. "Hello?" She called out. "Anybody there? Anybody at all?" Sunset walked around the forest to look for the man. "Hello? Anyone? If you were looking for me, here I am!" Sunset looked around. "Um, my name is Sunset Shimmer if you were looking for me. You don't want to know about me. But I can show you my skills." Sunset looked and saw the sun going down. "I wonder what this place is like at night. Probably like back at home where people can look at the night sky until midnight." Sunset sighed. "Poor Luna. She loved the night. But that stupid Alliance took her away. Now the night isn't the same without Luna. And without Luna, there will be no stars in Equestria." Sunset turned and saw a pond. She walked up to the pond and looked at her reflection, then sighed not liking how she looks like now. "Look at you, Sunset. Your hair's a big mess. And you look exhausted." She knelt down at the pond and started to wash her face. As she was about to fix her hair, she heard a groan behind her. Sunset looked behind her and saw a zombie with green skin, a cyan shirt, blue pants and gray shoes limping up to her. "What the?!" Sunset only had two choices. Either run or fight. Sunset was about to pull out her sword, but she realized something. "Oh wait. I left my sword at the boat. So, it's best for me to run!" Sunset ran away from the zombie. Then she stopped as she heard a clack. She turned and saw a skeleton holding a bow and arrow. "Huh?!" The skeleton shot the arrow, but Sunset blocked it with her magic and broke it. Sunset continued running as fast as she could to get away from the skeleton. Then she stopped to catch her breath as she turned seeing more zombies and skeletons and a spider. "Oh, you got to be kidding me." Sunset lit her hands with magic. "Get back!" The spider jumped on Sunset to attack her, but she kicked it off and shot magic at it. "Now that should teach you a lesson." Sunset said as she got up and the light from her hands faded. The spider got back on it's legs and screeched angrily, leaving Sunset with a shocked face. "Note to self; always bring a sword everywhere you go. Even when you're in the woods being attacked by monsters." Sunset told herself. The spider was about to jump on Sunset again, but someone shot an arrow at it, leaving Sunset with a confused face. Sunset turned and saw a cloaked being run up to the spider and shoot another arrow at it. The cloaked being jumped in front of Sunset as he pulled out a diamond sword with a glowing blade, putting Sunset in awe. The spider jumped, but the being slashed the spider with his sword killing it as it turned into a piece of string. The cloaked being took the string and turned to Sunset. "Let's get out of here." Sunset nodded and followed the cloaked being. After that, Sunset and the cloaked being went to a cave. To Sunset, she thinks the cave is just a place to hide. "You shouldn't be out there went it's dark. It's dangerous." The being scolded. "You wouldn't know what the night here is going to throw at you. Zombies, skeletons, spiders, you name it. But now that you know, you have to be more careful." "I'm so sorry, sir." Sunset placed her hand behind her head. "It's just that I got curious and I really wasn't thinking of what's going to happen next." "Next time, be careful. Because if you don't, you could get yourself hurt. Or worse." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Sir, I can handle myself just fine. Just look at me. So scrapes, no bruises, no scratches, I'm completely fine." "Good. But be careful. This place can be dangerous." "This isn't my first time in a cave, sir." Sunset crossed her arms. "Listen, if you want to survive the night, you need a weapon. Like a sword, a bow, an axe, anything." "And where do I get one?" The being turned to Sunset. "You don't have to buy one. You can make your own." He stopped as he pulled out a crafting table and placed it in front of him. "You're going to make me one?" "Actually," The being pulled out two stone blocks and a stick. "You can make it yourself." Sunset took the blocks and sticks and walked to the table. "How do I do this?" "It's easy. All you have to do is place the pieces on the table and that's it." Sunset looked at the table and placed one of the stone blocks on the top middle square. Then placed the other block below the first, then the stick below the block. She then saw the three ingredients come together and turn into a stone sword. Sunset picked up the sword. "How is this possible? Do you use some magic spell?" "Let's just say it just does that." Sunset puts the sword away. "You know, you're pretty cool." The being smiled. "Thank you. Now let's go." Sunset nodded, following the being out of the cave as she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a silver locket with a red and yellow sun-like symbol on the front. She opened the locket, seeing a picture of her with six other girls that were at a carnival on a summer night. The fire-haired girl smiled at the picture, unaware that she caught the being's attention. "Miss. Miss. Miss." Sunset stopped looking at the picture in her locket and turned to the being. "Huh?" "You okay? You kinda spaced out on that locket." "Oh! Uh...sorry." Sunset said, putting the locket back into her jacket pocket. After they got out of the cave, they were now crossing a bridge as they stopped seeing a colorful beacon from far away. "Well, looks like you and your friends won." The being said. Sunset turned to the being. "Wait. You were the guy spying on me?" "To be honest with you, yes. I was just interested of what you were building. I like the way you and your friends built that Enderman with wool and stained glass. Though, I don't know how you managed to light up a beacon without a Nether Star." The being laughed. "Just like the old days." He turned to Sunset. "By the way, I didn't get your name." "Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer. You?" The being took off his hood showing his brown hair and green eyes. "Name's Jesse." He looked around. "We should probably get to EnderCon before we see those monsters again." Sunset and Jesse continued walking. "So, Jesse, what are you going to do at EnderCon?" Sunset asked. "That's classified." Jesse said. "But how did you manage to light up a beacon without a Nether Star?" "That's for me to know and for you to find out." The two laughed as they saw three green creatures on four legs in front of them. "What in the name of Ce--er--what are those?!" Sunset pulled out her stone sword. "Creepers!" Jesse pulled out his diamond sword. Sunset ran the other way, but she saw four zombies in front. "Um, Jesse?!" Jesse turned and saw the zombies. "What are we going to do?!" Jesse puts his sword away and ran to the side of the bridge. "We jump!" Sunset turned to Jesse. "Jump? Are you nuts?! What are you going to do? Build a boat before we land on the water?!" Jesse pushed Sunset off the bridge and jumped off. "Woohoo!" The creepers started exploding as Sunset and Jesse went into the water. The two popped their heads out of the water. Sunset shivered. "It's cold! It's so cold!" "Not use to cold water, are you?" Jesse teased. Sunset glared and punched Jesse's arm. "Trust me. You'll get used to it." Jesse said holding his arm. After they got out of the water, they went straight to EnderCon. "Um, thank you for saving my life." Sunset said. "Anytime, Sunset Shimmer. Anytime." Jesse replied. "Um, you can just call me Sunset. All my friends do." "Well, if that's what you desire, Sunset." Sunset looked in front of her, seeing a large convention filled with lots of people and music. "So, this is EnderCon?" "Uh huh." The two looked in front and saw four people, two girls and two guys, wearing the same black cloak Jesse was wearing looking at Sunset's build. Jesse smiled and walked up to them. Sunset followed. "Are those your friends?" Jesse turned to Sunset. "No. They're just a bunch of strangers that I'm suppose to be with for the whole night." He said sarcastically. Sunset wore a face of confusion. "Of course they're my friends. Who else?" Jesse turned back to the four cloaked people. "Hey, guys!" The four people turned around and saw the two. "There you are. We've been looking around for you!" One girl said strictly. "What took you so long?" One guy asked. "Guys, long story, but I was walking in the woods watching the Building Competition. Suddenly, I heard a scream and saved this fire-haired girl from a bunch of monsters. Then, I showed her how to build a sword, then we jumped off a bridge to escape even more monsters, and suddenly, we survived." Jesse said. "Well, good thing you're not dead." The other girl said. The big guy turned and saw Sunset. "Jesse, I hate to be rude, but, who is that?" Sunset wore a face of anxiety. "Guys, this is Sunset Shimmer. I found her in the forest being attacked by monsters." Jesse turned to Sunset. "Sunset, these are my friends. Olivia, Axel, Lukas, and Petra." The four took off their hoods. One showing dark skin, black hair in pigtails and brown eyes, one showing pale skin, red hair under a blue striped bandana and brown eyes, one showing blonde hair and blue eyes, and the last showing pale skin, black hair and brown eyes (I guess). Lukas walked up to Sunset and shook her hand. "We are very pleased to meet you." Axel walked up to Sunset as he pushed Lukas out of the way, held Sunset's hand, and went down on one knee. "I am super pleased to meet you." Sunset turned to Jesse and pointed her thumb at Axel seeing him shrug. Olivia pulled Axel away from Sunset. "Sorry about him. He's just, well, much sometimes." "Yeah." Petra said. "Well, it was great meeting you all, but I need to look for my friends." Sunset was about to walk away from the five to find Coloratura and Starlight, but she was stopped by Axel. "Hold up. We heard that YOU lit up a beacon WITHOUT a Nether Star at the Building Competition. I have ONE question for you. How?" Axel squinted his eyes at Sunset. Sunset laughed nervously. "We all have our secrets." She brushed past Axel and walked away. Axel smiled. "I like her, but, something is very off with that girl." "I know. It's like she was from another dimension or something." Olivia said. "Yeah. Never seen someone almost extremely peculiar before." Petra agreed. "Who would name their own kid Sunset Shimmer?" Lukas asked. "How can someone have fire-like hair?" "Let's just go, guys." Jesse added as he and the others started walking, but he stopped and turned to look at Sunset with a face of suspicion. He continued walking.