Is Sunset causing monsters to appear in Canterlot?
Set after 'Rainbow Rocks', life has been getting better for Sunset. After helping to save the world from the sirens, she has been pardoned for her crimes and is more accepted by the students of CHS. Life is good, but something is still bothering Sunset. After buying a mysterious sketchpad, Sunset decides to take out her frustrations through her drawings. But when the monsters in her drawings start coming to life, can Twilight and her friends find a way to help Sunset before it's too late?
Sunset walked into CHS, eager to start the day. Along the way to her locker, several students waved and greeted her cheerfully; a stark contrast to before the Battle of the Bands where everyone just glared and whispered when she walked by. You see, a week ago a trio of sirens tried to take over the world using the school's 'Musical Showcase' as a starting point. Sunset helped the Elements to defeat them, gaining both a 'ponying-up' form and acceptance. For showing a complete reformation and saving the world, Sunset was pardoned of her previous crimes and was now free to live her life without the constant shadow of her past hanging over her.
Sunset arrived at her locker to find the other girls waiting for her.
"Can you believe it!?" Rainbow was asking excitedly, holding out her phone for the others to see. "We're still all over the news! We're famous!"
"No kiddin'" Applejack said, "At my apple stand this weekend, I've had people come up to me and ask me to sign the apples they bought!" She shook her head at the thought of people treasuring a piece of fruit just because her name was on it.
"Well I, for one, am enjoying her fifteen minutes of fame." Rarity said with a flip of her hair, "I've had more customers come in wanting to see my personal designs! This is doing wonders for my business. My boss even wants to put some of them on display!"
"I'm glad you girls like, but I'm not comfortable with people wanting to take pictures of me." Fluttershy shuddered, remembering people walking up and taking her photo, even without her permission.
"Don't worry, I'm sure people are still a little surprised by all this. They'll get used to it soon." Sunset reassured her. "I mean, it's not everyday an ancient legend you heard about as kids suddenly comes true with six random teenage girls becoming the bearers of the six most powerful artifacts ever known."
"She's right." Twilight smiled. "I'm sure this will all blow over soon enough and we can get back to our regular lives."
"You mean our regular lives as the most powerful mages in Equestria tasked with fighting any evil bad guys that comes our way, right!?" Pinkie asked.
"Yeah..those lives..." Twilight said nervously. It was still nerve-wracking that she and her friends now had the responsibility of using the elements to keep Equestia safe on their shoulders. The bell rang, signaling the start of the school day.
"We'd better go, we've got training this morning." Twilight turned to Sunset. "See you at lunch?" Sunset agreed and the girls left while she got out her books for her regular magic class. As she opened her locker, a note fell out. Curious, Sunset read it and her eyes went wide with what she saw. She quickly crumpled the note and stuffed it in a pocket of her (fake) leather jacket and got her supplies ready for the day, trying to put the note out of her mind.
The unsigned note had read 'Everyone might buy the whole 'nice girl' act, but deep down, your as much a demon as you were before.'
The day seemed to stretch out until lunch finally arrived. But unfortunately for Sunset, it didn't improve her day. Sunset as happily sitting and talking with the rest of the girls as usual, until the subject of the girl's families came up.
"So, what're you girls doing this weekend?" Sunset asked, looking for something to get her through the week.
"Apple family reunion's this weekend. So I'll be busy gettin' everything ready." Applejack said.
"My parents agreed to take me to see the great butterfly migration! I'm so excited!" Fluttershy said happily.
"And my parents are going out of town so I'll be stuck going with her too." Rainbow grumbled, taking a bite of her burger.
"My sister Maud is visiting us so we're going to spend the whole weekend together having fun! Like making candy necklaces, and playing hide-and-seek with her pet, Boulder, and having sleepovers, and.." Pinkie was cut off Applejack jammed an apple in her mouth. Pinkie just blinked, shrugged, and continued eating the apple while everyone else continued.
"Well, my parents are insisting on taking me and Sweetie Bell on a camping trip." Rarity shuddered. "They claim it will be good for us to go 'off the grid' for a while. Can you believe, out it in woods surrounded by bug and no cell reception!" she lamented.
"Yeah, my dad's firm is having a party for everyone and their family, so I'm stuck going too." Twilight sighed, before turning to Sunset. "So what are you up too?"
"Oh..uh..nothing really.." Sunset said nervously.
"Why don't you talk your parents into taking you somewhere too?" Rainbow suggested.
"What's it to you!?" Sunset snapped, glaring at Rainbow. When she realized what she, she sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry, it's just...my parents aren't really into family trips or stuff like that." Sunset picked up her tray with her half-finished lunch and got up. "I've got some work to do, see you later." With that Sunset walked away before anyone could stop her.
"What's up with that?" Rainbow asked. Twilight just sighed.
"Sunset's parents aren't the most.." Twilight struggled coming up with the right term. "..openly affectionate. They're really hard on her to be the best, and I think the last few years put a bit of a...wall between them." as she explained, her friends eyes widened with shock.
"Oh my. Is there anything we can do to help." Fluttershy asked, worried about her friend.
"Just..leave her alone about it. I'm sure she'll be fine soon." Twilight said and her friends reluctantly nodded their heads in agreement...except for Pinkie Pie, who was forming a plan.
The day finally ended and Sunset was on her way home. She had found another of those unsigned notes in her locker and that, combined with everything else that happened, was too much for her. She had excused herself from band practice by claiming she had a lot of homework to get to. In honesty, she just didn't feel like dealing with them at the moment. The notes and the conversation from lunch were still running through her head.
She was still thinking about them when she looked up and noticed a sign that read, "The Wishers' Stop", surrounded by stars and attached to what appeared to be a new shop.
"Huh. This wasn't here yesterday..." Sunset muttered. She decided to check it out. A little bell above the door rang when it opened, but no one was in sight. Inside, a various assortment of items were all laid out on tables, hanging on the wall or in shelves, which made her wonder if the owner just picked up any random junk they found and decided to sell it.
"Hello?" Sunset called out, wondering around the store. "Is anyone here?" She continued looking at the strange assortment when a voice spoke up.
"Can I help you sweetie?"
"Gah!" Sunset jumped and turned around. Standing there was a pretty young woman with fair skin, hair as black as the night sky that went just past her shoulders, and stunning violet eyes that reminded her of Twilight's for some reason. She wore a neat button up shirt with jeans and colorful sneakers. She wore a cheerful smile which put Sunset at ease, at least a little bit.
"N-No. It's ok, I'm just looking around." Sunset looked the woman up and down, trying to figure out what was up with her. "This place wasn't here before."
"Yup! I just opened up today!" the woman put out her hand for Sunset to shake, "Name's Stella. And this here is my little corner of the universe."
Sunset shook her hand. "You certainly have a....unique collection." She eyed what she hoped was a fake brain in a jar. Stella just giggled at the statement.
"It certainly is! Each item here is as special as the people who buy them!" She gestured around the store. "Whatever you wish to find can be found right here!" She quickly looked Sunset up and down and smiled sneakily. "In fact.." She walked over to the counter and began looking through items behind it."...I have something here that a creative girl like you will certainly appreciate!"
"Oh no. That's ok, I'm just looking..." Sunset stopped when Stella finally found what she was looking for.
"Ah ha! Here it is!" Stella pulled a pad full of drawing paper. As she lifted the cover to show off the pages, Sunset couldn't help but be drawn to it. The pages were perfectly blank and appeared to be of fine quality too. Stella handed it to Sunset, who flipped through the pages, imagining everything she could draw on the crisp, blank pages. She looked back up to the owner.
"How much?"
"How much you got?" Stella asked. Sunset searched her pockets and managed to come up with two dollars and fifty cents.
"This is all I have..." she said.
"Sold!" Stella promptly grabbed the money from Sunset's hand and put it in the cash register. She then reached behind the counter again and pulled out a set of colored pencils. "I'll throw in these, since your my first customer." Sunset took the pencils and thanked the lady before leaving.
She sure was strange... Sunset thought. It was odd that she had given Sunset such quality sketch paper and pencils for mere pocket change. But she soon shrugged it off and was just glad she got all this stuff at a great deal. She couldn't wait to get home and start drawing!
Meanwhile, Stella watched Sunset go with a mysterious smile before getting back to work.
Sunset arrived at school the next day, less eager than she had been the day before. Despite coming up with all sorts of ideas about what draw in her new sketch pad, nothing worked. When she put pencil to paper, her hand wouldn't move, like it was telling her that none of her ideas were good enough for these pages. After an hour of holding a pencil and waiting for for something she could work with, she gave up. She had the book stashed away in her bag, just in case she found inspiration at school.
When she arrived, she found Twilight just arriving herself, so they walked in together.
"How are you feeling?" Twilight asked, still concerned about her friend's behavior the day before. Sunset just shrugged at that.
"A little better. I think it was just one of 'those days' you know?" She replied, not wanting to go into detail. Twilight nodded but clearly didn't buy it. Before she could ask further, they arrived at Sunset's locker and found the girls waiting for them again. After the common greetings, Sunset pulled out the sketchbook. Her friends looked at it, impressed.
"Oh my." Rarity said, running a hand over the cover and through the pages. "Such fine quality paper, just like the professionals use! Sunset wherever did you get this?"
"At this new store I found on my way home. "The Wisher's Stop" I think. You girls hear about it?" Her friends shook their heads, never hearing any news of a new store nearby. "Well anyway, you girls should definitely check it out. Theres all kinds of stuff there. The owner's a little strange but she gave this to me along with a few pencils for practically next to nothing!" Her friends looked surprised at this, except for Twilight, who was eyeing the sketchbook warily.
"Wait. Since when could you draw?" Rainbow asked. Twilight broke her attention from the book to answer.
"Oh, she's been doodling in her notebooks since we went to magic school together!" Twilight smiled playfully at Sunset. "I may not approve of doodling instead of paying attention to the teacher...but most of the stuff she did was pretty good." Sunset returned her smile, remembering the happier time in her life, before things went south...
Before her mind turned to sad thoughts again, the bell rang, signaling the start of school.
"Well we'd better get going, see you at lunch?" Twilight asked and left when Sunset nodded. Sunset opened her lock and was greeted by another one of those notes.
'Demon Queen' was all it said. Sunset rumpled this one up too and stuffed it in her pocket. Even after she had gotten her stuff and was waiting for class to start, she was still angry. Who would do something like this, and why? Sunset eyed her classmates, looking for any sign of the perpetrator, but finding none. Sunset knew she couldn't go through another day like this, but what could she do? Her eyes suddenly caught sight of the sketchbook, just barely sticking out of her bag. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. Thankfully everyone was either daydreaming or paying attention to what the teacher was writing on the board. Well...Celestia once said I needed a creative output for my anger...
Sunset grabbed the book and placed it on her desk. If the teacher looked over, it would look like she was just taking notes. Unlike last night, when her pencil hit the page, inspiration poured in from her anger as Sunset let out her frustration on the paper. She had just finished when the ball rang, ending class.
Sunset felt satisfied upon seeing the final result. It was a purple lizard-like being with a head that looked similar to an alligator or a crocodile. The creature was scowling and holding out his claws, as though it were about to attack someone. Looking at her completed masterpiece somehow made her feel better. She stuffed away her sketchbook and went off to her next class.
Lunch arrived and just like usual, all seven girls sat together. Sunset couldn't wait to show her friends her work, but when she did, it gathered a mixed response.
"Oh my.." Rarity said, eyes wide as she saw the grotesque creature. "It's certainly...provoking" She said, trying not offend Sunset.
"It's..kinda scary.." Fluttershy said, actually looking a little afraid of the drawing.
"Are you kidding? It looks awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed. "It's like something straight out of a horror movie!"
"Yeah..." Twilight said, not sure what to make of the drawing. She didn't know why, but something about the sketchbook put her on edge for some reason. She tried to shake it off and ask Sunset something when Pinkie addressed her first.
"You know Sunset...if you really like art, you should more of them! And we can all do it together, like an art party!" Pinkie suggested. "And maybe your parents could show up and be really really impressed by your work, and they'd be proud of you and maybe hang up some of it on your fridge!" Sunset had like the idea of an art party until Pinkie mentioned her parents showing up.
"Yeah...their not really party people." Pinkie looked at Sunset like she had turned into the thing from her drawing.
"Not 'party people'?" Pinkie asked like she couldn't believe it. "But...everyone likes parties now and then! If your parents don't like parties what do they like?" Sunset grew annoyed with Pinkie's questioning.
"Why are you suddenly so interested in my parents anyway?" She asked sharply.
"Well Twilight mentioned that you don't really get along with them, so I came up with some ideas to help fix that!" Pinkie explained before anyone could stop her.
"Oh so now you want to try to 'reform' my family life?" Sunset sarcastically asked, getting up with her half-finished food again. "It's none of your business so just stay out of it!" Sunset demanded, before stomping out of the cafeteria. The girls gave Pinkie various looks of annoyance which she replied to an innocent "Whaaat?"
Before anyone could say anything, the speaker blared to life as Vice-Principal Luna's voice rang out with alarm. "Will the Elements of Harmony please meet me and Principal Celestia at the soccer field immediately!?" The girls looked at each other before dumping their own unfinished meals and headed to see what was wrong.
Sunset, too angry to hear or care about the announcement, made her way to the music room, their usual hangout. Thankfully it was empty as she sat down and pulled out her sketchbook and to vent out her anger again.
When they got to the door that led to the field, Celestia and Luna were there trying to calm down several students who looked scared out of their wits.
"You should've seen it!" Curly Winds exclaimed. "It was even bigger than me!"
"The horror! The horror!" Roseluck cried dramatically.
"Whats going on!?" Twilight asked. Luna turned to her while Celestia still tried to comfort the students.
"I think it's best if you see for yourselves." She opened the doors just a little bitt allowing the girls to peek out to the field. At first everything looked normal, but then something came into their field of vision from across the field. The girls gasped, not believing what they were seeing.
Standing there, on the field in open daylight, was the same creature that Sunset had drawn earlier, and it was looking right at them.
"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?" Rainbow shouted. Luna quickly closed the door and addressed the girls.
"We don't know. Several students were spending their lunch break outdoors and claimed that it came from the forest." Luna looked at the girls with a serious expression on her face. "We need you girls to go out there and try and see if you can deal with it."
"U-Us...?" Fluttershy asked, trembling. Celestia walked over once the other students were under control.
"Yes. As much as I hate the idea of sending you girls out there, we need to be here to keep the other students safe. Plus, you girls are very powerful mages. So I trust you can take care of this yourselves." She looked at them, worry written on her face.
"You can count on us." Twilight said, determined. "As out duty as defenders of this land, it's our job to take care of stuff like this, right girls?" The other girls agreed (some more eager than others).
"Alright then. Luna and I will stay here and put up a protection barrier to keep it from getting in. Good luck and be careful" She watched with worry as the other girls went out to the field. Luna put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
"They will be fine sister. This isn't the first time they've handled monsters before, remember." Luna said, recalling Sunset and the sirens. This did little to put Celestia at ease.
"I still hate the idea of sending children out to handle this stuff."
"They are no ordinary children. Now, we can discuss this later, right now we have to do our job. Are you ready?" Celestia looked out to see the girls approaching the creature and sighed.
"I'm ready."
Twilight and the others slowly and cautiously approached the creature, who had stopped moving when it saw them and continued to watch them approach.
"So, do we actually have a plan for this?" Applejack whispered.
"Um..." Twilight said. In all honesty, this was probably the only time she didn't have a plan. For all her studying she didn't even know what this creature was, the only place having seen it was Sunset's drawing. "Let's try and see if we can trap or contain it. Maybe then we can study it to find out what it is and where it came from." The girls stopped when they were a few feet from the creature. It narrowed it's eyes at them, as though waiting for them to make the first move. Fluttershy stepped forward, maybe this was just some kind of animal she could handle.
"Um..hello there. We were just wondering what..." Before Fluttershy could continue, the creature jumped at her, pinning her to the ground.
"FLUTTERSHY!" The girls cried out in alarm. The creature roared at Fluttershy. The poor girl was so scared that, without thinking, she screamed and created a burst of pink magic, sending it flying off her. The creature landed a few feet away but immediately got up and roared at them. Rainbow stepped forward.
"Alright you freak! If you want a fight..."her hand began to glow red with magic."...then I'll give you a fight!" Rainbow sent a blast of magic towards it. But when it hit, it immediately evaporated. The creature roared again, apparently not affected at all.
"W-What..!?" Rainbow stuttered. The creature than charged towards Rarity, but was cut off when Applejack puched it in the jaw, sending it stumbling.
"NOBODY hurts mah friends, ya hear!?" She shouted. See than magic couldn't affect it directly, Twilight focused her magic, and a magenta cage formed around it. The creature bashed against the bars, putting a strain on Twilight.
"I can't keep this up..." She sputtered after a moment."Girls run!" They followed her command and a few seconds later, the creature broke through it's magical confines and Twilight fell to her knees, exhausted by the strain of trying to contain it.
The creature roared yet again before running back into the woods. The girls rushed up to Twilight and AJ and Rainbow helped her up.
"Are ya'll alright sugarcube?" Aj asked.
"Yeah. Was anyone else hurt?" She looked at Fluttershy in particular.
"Oh, I'm fine. Just...a little frazzled." Fluttershy shuddered, remembering the creatures cold eyes right above her. "It wasn't like any animal I've ever seen before."
"I know." Twilight sighed. "Let's just get back and warn Celestia and Luna about this. The others full-heartidly agreed.
On there way back Pinkie spoke up. "Hey did anyone else notice that thing looked like Sunny's drawing?" The girls could only look at each other with worry. Was Sunset somehow responsible for that thing?
"This is serious." Luna said. All of them were now in Celestia's office going over what just happened. "If this thing is really as immune to magic as you say, we might have a real problem on our hands."
"Exactly. I'll inform the mayor of this and hopefully she'll issue a warning for everyone to watch their back, especially near the woods. I'm also canceling all after-school activities until we can sort this out." Celestia looked at the girls. "I also want you girls to be extra careful. The creature might remember you and try to attack again." The girls agreed to this and were just leaving to head to class when Celestia called out.
"Twilight, can I speak with you for a minute?"
After the other girls left, Twilight looked at her. "What is it?"
"It's about Sunset." Celestia sighed. "I've noticed that she seemed to be upset yesterday and today too. I was just wondering if something happened that could've caused it."
Twilight folded her hands nervously. "Well....we were just talking when the subject of Sunset's parents came up."
Luna rolled her eyes. "Of course." She muttered.
"Luna!" Celestia scolded her younger sister.
"Oh please, we've all met them. We know what they're like! Of course Sunset would be upset talking about them." she reasoned. Celestia just sighed.
"Thank you Twilight, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright." Twilight nodded and left. Luna looked at Celestia knowingly.
"You still care about her, don't you?" she asked.
"I care about all of my students." Celestia tried to defend herself, but even she knew that didn't stop her from caring about Sunset a little more than the others.
"Of course..." Luna said, still knowing Celestia's feelings on the matter. She went to return to her own duties, leaving Celestia with her thoughts.
While all this was going on, Sunset was still in the music room, drawing like mad, until she heard someone else enter. She looked to see Flash Sentry.
"Sunset! Did you hear!?" Flash asked worriedly.
"Hear about what?" Sunset asked, confused.
"About the big lizard thing some others spotted outside!" Sunset's eyes went wide at that.
"What!?"
"Yeah! Twilight and the others went to deal with it, but it ran off into the woods!" Flash gave a sigh. "They're alright, thank the stars, but that thing is still out there somewhere. I hope it doesn't hurt anybody.."
"Yeah..." Sunset said, deep in though about the creature. Flash, seeing her worry, decided they needed a change of topic. That's when he spotted the sketchbook in Sunset's lap.
"What's that?" He pointed to Sunset's latest creation, which looked like some sort of mud monster. "It's pretty good, did you make it?"
"Oh. It's just a hobby to work out some things..." Sunset shifted nervously. Flash caught on to this.
"Are you ok? You've been acting upset lately."
"Oh! It's nothing!" Sunset said, trying to get him off her back.
"C'mon Sunset we used to date, I know when something's bothering you." Flash insisted. But before Sunset could come up with anything, the speaker came to life.
"Will Sunset Shimmer please report to my office please?" Celestia's voice rang out. Sunset took this opportunity to escape.
"Welp! She's calling me! See ya later!" She left as fast as she could before Flash could say anything. He sighed. Maybe Twilight knew something...?
Sunset entered Celestia's office and found her alone behind her desk. She looked up from her work.
"Please, sit." Celestia said gently. Sunset obliged before speaking.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked worriedly. Had that teacher caught her drawing in class after all? Did someone accuse her of something?
"No, I just wanted to speak to you for a few minutes." Celestia continued to speak gently. "I've been noticing that you seem be upset about something. Do you want to talk about it?" Sunset diverted her eyes as she tried to evade the question.
"Well, you know us teenagers with our hormones and mood-swings and stuff..." Celestia sighed, decided to hit the nail on the head.
"Sunset, Twilight told me you've been having problems with your parents lately. I could call them down and we could talk about this if it'll help..." Celestia was cut off when Sunset jumped out of her seat.
"What!?" Sunet's face was red with anger now. "First Twilight, then Flash...and now YOU! What is it with everyone sticking their noses into my personal life!?"
"Sunset, please, we just want to help.." Celestia tried to calm her down but Sunset cut her off again.
"Well I don't want your help! So just do yourselves a favor and just LEAVE ME ALONE!" Sunset then stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her and leaving Celestia to stunned to process what just happened.
Sunset returned home, still furious after the events of the day. She deliberately avoided her friends whenever she could and rushed out before they had a chance to talk to her.
She pulled out her sketchbook and got to work, drawing more monsters as a means of getting everything out.
A man was walking home from work later that evening. He was exhausted, and who could blame hime. First, there was an influx of work at his office and then there was a warning about a monster sighting here in Canterlot! Now the man just wanted nothing more than to get home and get some sleep.
The man heard a noise behind him and quickly turned around, but saw nothing. He gave a sigh of relief and turned back, only to nearly faint at what he saw.
The creature must've been a foot or two taller than him. It seemed to be made out of mud and left mud prints as it walked towards him.
The man could only give a girlish scream as he ran for his life, the creature right behind him.
When Sunset arrived at school the next morning everyone was on their toes. More monsters had been spotted throughout the night and early morning, and everyone was terrified.
"I heard it looked like some sort of swamp monster..."
"The one my uncle saw looked like a blob of ooze..
"It was huge! With purple scaly skin..."
But Sunset wasn't paying attention. She was still upset about yesterday, and finding her friends once again gathered at her locker didn't help.
"Sunset! Did ya hear!?" Aj asked.
"Hear what? That my friends don't know how to mind their own business?" Sunset asked sarcastically, glaring at them all the while.
"Look, I'm sorry about yesterday. We're just worried about you! But right now theres a much bigger crisis at hand!" Twilight tried to reason until Sunset cut her off.
"Look, I don't need you or anybody else looking after me. I can do that myself! So just leave me alone alright!?"
"But..Sunset..." Fluttershy pleaded.
"NOW!" Sunset demanded. The other girls just gave looks of defeat and walked away. Twilight looked over her shoulder at Sunset one last time, seeing her still glaring. She then sighed and turned away.
"Well,well,well...looks like someone isn't as good as they like to pretend to be." A mocking voice said. Sunset turned around and groaned when she saw Trixie smirking at her.
"What do you want?" Sunset asked annoyed as she gathered her things for the day.
"Oh, just wondering how the 'Demon Queen' of CHS is doing." Trixie asked casually.
"'Demon Queen?'...."Sunset was confused until it finally hit her. "You were the one who left those notes!?"
"Maybe I did,maybe I didn't...what matters is that you haven't changed at all. An now your making those monsters appear all over Canterlot!"
"What are you talking about!? I didn't do that!" Sunset defended herself.
"All I know is that after you started acting weird, those things began showing up. Everybody's talking about it." Trixie looked Sunset right in the eye. "Face it Sunset: deep down your the same demon you were at the fall formal, and nothing you do will change that!" With that, Trixie sauntered off, leaving Sunset boiling. She wanted to retaliate, but that would just show everybody that Trixie was right and that she hadn't changed at all.
Sunset could only slam her locker in frustration and head to class, kicking herself for having left her sketchbook at home.
The other girls were still mulling over what Sunset said.
"I can't believe she just talked to us like that!" Rainbow fumed.
"Now Rainbow, she's probably just going through some things, let's try to be patient with her." Fluttershy tried to calm her down.
"Well if she is, then why isn't she telling us!? Isn't that what friends are supposed to do?" Rainbow asked.
"Maybe a party will cheer her up!" Pinkie spoke up. "Or at least maybe a 'we're here for you cake?"
"Sunset's a proud person. She likes to try solving problems by herself before asking for help." Twilight explained, still clearly worried about her friend."I hope she'll come around soon, but right now we've got bigger problems to deal with."
"She's right." Aj agreed. "We need to find out where all these dang monsters are coming from. Big Mac spotted one as he was picking apples this morning and it nearly scared him half to death!"
"Exactly, we need to find a way to stop this before someone gets seriously hurt!" Right after she said this, she turned a corner and crashed right into Flash. They quickly got their apologies out of the way while the other girls giggled at this.
"Did you girls see this?" Flash pulled out his phone and showed the girls a sketch of one of the monster seen.
"Yeah it was all over the news, why?" Rainbow asked.
"Because it looks exactly like what I saw Sunset drawing yesterday!" The other girls stared at him in shock, not quite believing what they were hearing.
"What!?" Twilight asked.
"Now that I think about it...didn't that lizard thing look exactly like what Sunset drew?" Aj said, recalling yesterday. "And it appeared right after Sunset showed us her drawing!"
"Hold up." Rainbow said, hands raised. "Are you Saying that Sunset is somehow making her drawings actually come to life?
"Why would she do that?" Flash asked, Everyone went silent, not sure how to answer that.
"Maybe it has something to do with that fancy sketchbook Sunset bought," Pinkie suggested. Twilight considered this, remembering the uneasy feeling she had
"Actually...there was something strange about that book."
"Seemed fine to me." Aj shrugged, and the others nodded, not recalling sensing anything strange about it.
"You don't think it might be magic or...cursed do you?" Rarity asked nervously.
"I don't know...but right now we need to tell Celestia and Luna about this." Twilight said, determined to get to the bottom of this. She just hoped they could do it before it was too late.
Sunset was in the middle of pretending to pay attention in class when she was called down to Principal Celestia's office. When she got there, she found both Principals, the main six, and Flash Sentry all waiting for her.
"What's going on?" She asked suspiciously.
"Sunset.."Principal Celestia said carefully. "I'm sure your aware of the recent monster infestation?" Sunset nodded at this.
"Yeah, but what's it gotta do with me?"
Twilight nodded to Flash and he showed her the picture on his phone. "This was one of the monsters spotted last night." He said. Sunset's eyes were wide with disbelief.
"But..that's..." It looked just like her drawing, there was no mistaking it.
"There's more. "he said and pulled up other photos and sketches of of people described the monsters. Sunset's jaw practically hit the floor.
These were her monsters. The same ones she had drawn were now out there terrifying people. She grabbed the phone and began sliding through them, but they were all there.
"Sunset...did you create these?" Celestia asked slowly, preparing herself for the answer.
"Yes! I mean no! I mean...I drew these but I didn't make them come to life!" Everyone was so confused. What was going on?
"Sunset, I think it may have something to do with that sketchbook you bought." Twilight spoke up.
"What do you mean?"
"Those monsters started appearing the same day you bought it. In fact, the first one appeared right after you drew it. I think that sketchbook is bringing whatever you draw in it to life!" Sunset appeared stunned at this.
"But...how?" Was all she managed to get out.
"Sunset, can we see this sketchbook? We might be able to see if it is magical or not." Luna said. Sunset could only hang her head at this.
"I can't. I left it at home." Everyone looked disappointed by this.
"Then can you at least tell us where you bought it?" Celestia asked.
"It was at this new place, "The Wishers's Stop" the owner practically shoved it in my hands. I can show you where it is."
"Alright, we can check it out after school and see if the owner can tell us anything about it." Celestia said and everyone agreed to it. "Right now we have work to do and you kids have class, meet us at the statue right after the bell rings." Everyone agreed to this plan as they headed back to their classes.
"What do you think we'll find?" Flash asked.
"You know you don't have to do this right? It's our responsibility to keep Equestria safe." Twilight responded.
"But I want to help. This is my city too. Besides, that's what friends do, right?" Flash smiled and Twilight responded with one of her own. She then noticed Sunset was oddly quiet and looking downtrodden.
"Sunset? Are you okay?" This snapped Sunset back to reality.
"Uh.yeah fine. Gotta go!" Sunset rushed off to class before anyone could say anything. Her mind flashed with those pictures and her earlier spat with Trixie.
Maybe she's right. Maybe I am no different than before...
Last period couldn't arrive fast enough. Just after the final bell range, everyone got their things and gathered by the statue. Sunset led them to the store, which had remained unchanged since her first visit, including the fact that the owner was nowhere to be seen.
"Hello? Stella? I've got some people who want to talk to you." Sunset called out.
"Are you sure she's here?" Twilight asked, looking around the store.
"Probably skipped town after she sold ya that cursed book." Rainbow accused, checking out a katana with interest.
"But why would she want to leave behind all this neat stuff?" Pinkie asked, holding up a pink crocodile that the others weren't sure was real or fake.
"Yeah...neat." Flash muttered, eyeing a glass of (hopefully) fake eyeballs. Fluttershy was slowly backing away from what appeared to be human skull, AJ was looking at a miniature guillotine nervously and Rarity was holding up a pair of gaudy disco pants in disgust. Celestia was looking through a barrel of wacky and unmatched socks and Luna was looking over some crystals on display.
As they continued to think about where the owner could be, a familiar voice popped up.
"Can I help you?"
"Aah!" Everyone jumped and turned around to find Stella, exactly as Sunset remembered, standing where she wasn't a minute ago and smiling like nothing was wrong. Celestia was the first to speak up.
"Hello. I'm assuming your the owner of this....establishment?"
"That is correct!" Stella nodded cheerfully. She turned her eyes to Sunset. "Nice to have you back! Enjoying your new sketchbook?" She asked innocently.
"I was...until my drawings started coming to life!" Sunset exclaimed angrily.
"Yeah, that old thing tends to do that." Stella shrugged, as though it were just a minor inconvenience.
"Wait..so you knew what it did!?" Twilight asked.
"And you still sold it to her? Without warning her of the consequences?" Luna asked in an interrogating manner."Don't you know it's illegal to sell magical items like that without a permit and without telling the buyer everything about it!?"
"I thought it would help her out." Stella shrugged, unfazed by any legal implications. "You see...it's kind of my job to help people who need it, an I've noticed that she's been having some..." Stella put a hand to her mouth as though whispering it to them."...anger issues."
ANGER ISSUES!?" Sunset yelled. "I DON'T HAVE ANGER ISSUES!" Suddenly she stopped as she noticed everyone looking at her and realized what she was doing. She could only blush with embarrassment. Everyone turned their attention back on the eccentric owner.
"Well Miss. Stella, I fail to see how something like that would 'help' Sunset, especially with what's already happening!" Rarity said, glaring at the woman.
"The world works in mysterious ways..." Was all Stella said with a wink. Twilight stepped forward.
"Well, can you at least tell us how to stop this?" She asked.
"Sorry sweetheart, but my part's done. Your clever people, I'm sure you'll figure it out." Stella than began shooing and shoving everyone out of the store. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do. I hope you all enjoyed your time here." She said as she pushed them out the door and closed it.
"Now wait just a...."Rainbow turned around to confront her when her jaw dropped at what she saw.
The store was gone. Not just the sign or the merchandise, but the whole building was gone, leaving behind only an empty lot that had been there before. Everyone just stood there, stunned at the fact the a building they had been in just a moment before had vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Wha...wha.."Twilight stuttered.
"But it was there a a moment ago!" Aj said, looking around.
"How the heck did she move a whole building!?" Flash asked.
"Obviously we're dealing with some very powerful magic here." Luna declared, getting over her shock.
"Now what?" Sunset asked in despair. "We still have no idea how to fix this!"
"Now let's not give up just yet." Celestia reassured them. "Why don't we take a look at it and see if there's any way to reverse what it's done."
"Good idea." Sunset said, cheering up. "I'll go grab the book from home and meet the rest of you at school." Sunset had just started walking away when Fluttershy spoke up.
"Why don't we just come with you?" This caused Sunset to stop in her tracks.
"Yeah! I mean we've never seen your house and you never invite us over, so what better time than now?" Pinkie said excitedly.
Sunset quickly tried to come up with an excuse. "Um..well...you see, it's kinda messy and I don't have time to clean..."
"Don't worry about it. Besides, it'll save you the trip back to school." Twilight said.
Sunset sighed, knowing there was no way out of this.
Sunset lead them to a large red brick building close to downtown Canterlot. The sign out front red "Honeyblossoms' Home for the Lost" and was decorated with said flowers. She lead them through the door into a fairly average foyer which held two couches facing each other with a coffee table in between and several comfy chairs. Behind the reception desk was a plump, middle aged woman with lavender hair and light pink skin going through what appeared to be a ledger. Upon hearing the door open, she looked up at the visitors and smiled brightly upon seeing Sunset.
"Well hello again Sunset! I see you've finally brought some friends over!" She said cheerfully.
"Hey. Guys this is Mrs. Honneyblossom, she owns and runs the place." Sunset turned back to the woman."Don't worry, we're only here to pick something up and we'll be out of your hair." She smiled at the lady.
"Oh don't worry about it. Take as long as you need!" Honeyblossom turned to the others. "It's nice to finally meet you all. Sunset hasn't stopped talking about you for weeks!" Sunset blushed at this and lead everyone up a set of stairs in the back. After climbing two floors and down a hallway, Sunset pulled out a key and opened a door, gesturing for everyone to follow her inside.
The room was by no means shabby but not luxurious in any sense. It was small, especially with everyone crowded inside, with bright yellow wallpaper with flowers on it. It had a single twin-sized bed with an orange comforter along with a single bedside table with a lamp, an alarm clock which looked like it had taken several tumbles to the wall, and a picture of Sunset and her friends. A dresser holding her clothes was pushed up against a wall. Another door near the front indicated a bathroom. Sunset had clearly worked hard to make this room hers: posters of the Rainbooms and other rock bands adorned the walls while books, a cactus and other assorted objects cluttered the dresser and shelf.
"Hang on, I think I put it here somewhere..."Sunset sorted through the dresser while everyone else examined the room.
"Sunset, you...live here?" Celestia asked.
"Yeah..."Sunset said, dreading where this line of logic was going.
"But..this is a boarding house!" Rarity exclaimed.
"So it is."
"So this is why you never invited me over when we were dating..." Flash said, looking around the room.
"What about your parents? Do they know about this?" Twilight asked concerned, taking a seat on the bed.
"Look, this isn't about me! Right now we need to focus on getting rid of those.." Sunset stopped when she found it. "Ah ha! Got it!" She pulled out the book, looking exactly the same as when the others first saw it. She handed it to Luna who started examining it.
"Yes..I can definitely sense strong magic coming from it." She then began looking through the pages, her eyes wide at what she saw. You certainly have an...active imagination." The others saw them and their eyes went wide at the thought of these creatures roaming the streets of Canterlot. Sunset felt ashamed, knowing she had indirectly put the whole city in danger.
"Well now what? Is there anyway to stop this?" Sunset asked desperately.
"Well, I'm not sure, but..." Before Luna could continue, Celestia's phone rang. She picked it up and as she listened to the chatter on the other side, her eyes went wide.
"WHAT!?"
She listened some more before finally ending the call and turning to the others with worry.
"All of those monster have been spotted...at Canterlot High!"
The others stared at her in disbelief.
"One of the teachers just called me, he and a few others just saw them breaking into the school!"
"Well let's go!" Rainbow said, heading for the door until Sunset stopped her.
"But what about the book? We can't bring it to where all those monsters are! Who knows what'll happen?"
"She's right." Twilight said, taking charge. "Sunset, Celestia, Rarity and I will stay here and figure out what to do about the book. The rest of you will try to get the monsters under control before anyone gets hurt." She turned to Flash. "Flash..I can't ask you to do any more..."
"I'm going." He said determined.
"But your not even a mage! You could be seriously hurt!"
"Twilight, I can do this."
Twilight turned to the Principal's for an answer on this. Luna though for a moment before finally speaking.
"You can help us evacuate the teachers to safety, but leave the monsters to us, understand?" Flash nodded at this and Twilight could only nod in agreement. The others were soon on their way, leaving the small group behind to figure out how to fix this.
When they arrived at CHS, the front door and several windows were broken.
"Aright everyone, stay behind me." Luna said, leading everyone inside while being on the lookout. "I texted them, and they said they're in the teacher's lounge. Right now our primary focus is getting them to safety. Flash, you and Fluttershy can handle that, right?" Both students nodded. "Good, now if any of you see any monster, try to avoid it. If you can't, either try to incapacitate it or lead it far away from the others, understood?" The rest nodded at this.
They made their way down several hallways towards the teacher's lounge. Although they could hear growls and other noises, the monsters stayed out of sight. Finally they reached the teachers lounge and found a handful of teachers cowering in fear.
"Don't worry, we're here to get you out." Luna reassured them, which calmed them slightly. They had managed to just leave the room when something roared. They looked down the hall and saw the lizard thing looking at them and heading their way.
"Flash! Fluttershy! Hurry!" Luna commanded and got her own magic ready for battle. "Alright girls, let's go!" As Flash and Fluttershy led the terrified teachers away, Luna, AJ, Rainbow and Pinkie prepared to face the monsters that had also entered the hall.
As Luna and her group tried to fight of the monsters, Flash and Fluttershy rushed to get the teachers to safety. They were almost to the front door when another monster blocked their path.
It was tall with orange, scaly skin, it's mouth a gaping black maw and black eyes that popped out from it's head. Fluttershy screamed and fired a blast of magic at it, but the creature waved it off as though it was just a fly. Flash looked around before spotting an open janitor's closet. He ran inside and grabbed the first thing he could: an old mop. The monster was now right in front of Fluttershy and was about to strike when Flash beat it with the mop handle, surprising it and making it stumble back a few feet.
"Hurry! I'll keep you covered!" Nobody argued with him and Fluttershy got everyone out of the school as Flash went toe to toe with the monster.
Back in Sunset's room, everybody felt like giving up. They had tried just about every solution they could think of. Their erasers did nothing, the paper was water resistant, fireproof, and when they tried to white it out with the solution Twilight had, the drawings seemed to phase through it.
"I can't believe this is happening. It's all my fault!" Sunset despaired.
"Now Sunset, you didn't mean for any of this to happen." Celestia tried to comfort her to no avail. Sunset stuck her hands in her jacket pockets, accidentally knocking out a few pieces of paper. Rarity picked them up before Sunset could stop her.
"What are these..?" Rarity asked before actually reading what was on the paper. Her eyes went wide.
"What in the world!?" Before Sunset could stop her, Rarity had already handed them to Celestia and Twilight, who were also shocked at what they saw.
"Sunset where did you get these?" Twilight asked.
"Trixie stuffed them in my locker ok?" Sunset knew by this point that if she tried to evade the question, they would eventually get the truth out of her anyway.
"Sunset this is serious. Once this is over I'll deal with Trixie..."Celestia said sternly before Sunset cut her off.
"What's the point? She's right. I haven't changed at all since the fall formal! I'm no better than these monsters! I'm such an idiot! And worst of all I've put everyone I care about in danger!" Sunset grabbed the book, ripped out a page and proceeded to tear it into tiny pieces.
Fluttershy returned to find Flash still trying to beat the monster back with the mop. He continued to swing it until the creature managed to break it in half.
"Aw crud.."Flash muttered before taking a punch in the gut that sent him flying into a wall. Fluttershy immediately ran up to help him. The monster approached the teens and just when it looked like all hope was lost....the monster poofed, turning into a pile of dust. They just sat there, stunned at what just happened.
"What just happened?" Fluttershy managed to ask. Flash though for a quick moment before realizing the answer.
"Sunset."
Sunset was still breathing hard, calming down a little from her mini rampage just a moment before. No one said anything until a moment later when Twilight's phone rang. As she listened, she became surprised at what she heard.
"What? Are you sure?" She looked at the pieces of the ripped drawing with new understanding before hanging up.
"You aren't going to believe this, but when Sunset tore up her drawing, Flash said one of the monster's turned into dust!" The others were shocked by this revelation.
"You mean..." Rarity said, catching on to what Twilight was implying.
"How could I not have seen it earlier? It was so obvious!" Twilight pointed to the sketchbook. "We need to rip the drawing apart!" She grabbed the book but when she tried to tear one of the drawing, it wouldn't budge.
"Huh?" Celestia and Rarity tried to rip and cut through them too, but it seemed the paper was now indestructible.
"I don't understand! Sunset ripped one apart just a moment ago!" Rarity exclaimed. This caused Twilight to go wide eyed as she realized something. She took the book and handed back to Sunset.
"Sunset...I think you need to be the one to do it."
Sunset paused as she just processed what Twilight just said. "What?"
"Stella sold the book to you, and you were the one who drew the monsters, so I think that means only you can destroy them." Sunset, after a moment of hesitation, took the book from Twilight. She grabbed a page to tear it, but stopped. She wanted to do it, her brain was telling her to do, but her muscles refused to cooperate.
Come on...come on... Sunset mentally urged herself, but nothing happened.
"I-I can't do it."
"What do you mean? If this is some artistic attachment thing I can understand..."Rarity started before Sunset cut her off.
"No! I want to do it! But now..." Sunset looked at the book in despair. What was going on with her?
"Well, what was different before?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know, I mean..I was mad but.."
"That's it! You were angry when you made the drawings, right?" When Sunset nodded, Twilight continued. "I think the book must be feeding off your anger to make the monsters real, and you have to get mad again to destroy them!" Twilight concluded.
"Well, what makes you mad then?" Rarity asked Sunset. She just shrugged helplessly.
"I don't know, lots of stuff! I mean, I was mad about Trixie earlier, but now.." Sunset realized her anger at Trixie had vanished after she ripped the drawing, leaving a trail of sadness at her self-worth. Celestia though for a moment before speaking up.
"I think the question we should be asking is: why were you mad when you made them?" Sunset though about this for a moment.
"Well, there was Trixie, but also you guys.." Sunset said, starting to clench her fists. The other immediately remembered how Sunset had gotten upset when they asked about her family.
"Sunset, does this have anything to do with your parents?" Rarity asked.
"Or why you're living here instead of at home?" Twilight asked too.
"I don't know!" Sunset could feel her rage returning with every question. She didn't want to admit it, but the others were insistent.
"Sunset, I understand if you don't want to talk about this, but clearly it is having an affect on the situation." Celestia said. "I know I haven't seen them in a while, and they've never shown up to parent-teacher conferences or any other event, but you weren't like this before. I understand your parents aren't the most affectionate people, but what I don't understand is why are you so angry now when we bring them up?" This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
"THEY ABANDONED ME ALRIGHT!?" Sunset screamed and began tearing through the drawings like a maniac, leaving nothing but tiny pieces. "JUST BEFORE I STARTED CHS, THEY DUMPED ME HERE AND TOLD ME THEY WERE GOING OUT OF TOWN TO 'SORT SOME THINGS OUT' AND THAT 'THEY WOULD BE BACK IN TWO WEEKS!' WELL, IT'S BEEN OVER TWO YEARS AND STILL NO SIGN OF THEM! NO CALLS, NO LETTERS, NO NOTHING! HOW COULD THEY JUST LEAVE THEIR ONLY KID AND NOT CHECK UP ON HER!? WHAT KIND OF SICKOS DO THAT!? WHO JUST LEAVES BEHIND A KID ABOUT TO START ONE OF THE BIGGEST MOMENT'S IN HER LIFE!? WHY DIDN'T THEY COME BACK!? WHY DIDN'T THEY CALL..." Sunset paused. All of her drawing now lay in pieces by her feet, like pieces of a puzzle too big to solve. Tears now ran down her cheeks as she asked softly:
"Why didn't they want me?" Celestia sat Sunset down on the bed next to her and pulled her into a comforting hug as Sunset continued to sob. Twilight and Rarity, understanding they weren't needed right now, quickly backed out of the room to give them some privacy. Celestia ran a comforting hand over her back as Sunset continued.
"What did I do? Was there something wrong with me? I know I messed up now...but I-I.."
"Ssshhh, honey. There is nothing wrong with you. You just made some mistakes, but you learned from them. You are a smart, strong and beautiful girl and if they couldn't see that, then there is something wrong with them." Celestia said sincerely, her heart breaking for the poor girl.
Sunset responded by burying her head into Celestia's shoulder and sobbed harder as Celestia continued to hold her.
Back at CHS, the whole group was back together again...and backed up against a wall surrounded by various monsters. None of their magic worked and any 'weapons' they found didn't last long against them. Flash had told them that Twilight and the other's had found a solution, but now they were starting to doubt it.
"What's keeping them!?" Rainbow asked.
"Maybe one of the monsters got to them?" Fluttershy worried. Luna stood at the front, ready to protect her students to the bitter end.
"I just want you to know whatever happens, I'm proud to have had you all as students."
The monster closed in, but just before they could do anything, they all began turning to dust. One by one until finally the group was surrounded by nothing more than a large pile of dust. Everyone just blinked for a moment, until they sighed in relief.
"They did it!" Applejack cheered.
"Let's have a party!" Pinkie shouted, throwing confetti she got from..somewhere.
"Before we do that, let's clean up this mess and check up with the others, alright?" Luna said.
Everyone was just relieved that the crisis was over for now and that they could sleep safe tonight without creatures popping out of nowhere...at least for a while.
By the next day, everything was back to normal...or whatever was close to normal in Canterlot. Even Sunset, was feeling much better, her attitude was greatly improved and she didn't feel so angry all the time anymore. But there was one more surprise in store for her.
When Sunset arrived at the home after a Rainbooms rehearsal, she found Mrs. Honeyblossom waiting for her.
"Well if it isn't the woman of the hour!" She greeted Sunset with her usual smile. "You've got some visitors who'd like to talk to you!" She gestured to the sitting area, where Celestia and Luna sat, looking through a magazine and her phone respectively. When they heard Honeyblossom mention them, they looked up and smiled at Sunset.
"Hello Sunset!" Celestia greeted her warmly. "Do you mind if chat in private for a moment?"
"Uh..sure." Sunset was confused. She looked at Mrs. Honeyblossom for a hint but all the older woman did was wink and smile knowingly about something. Sunset led her Principals to her room, which thankfully felt more roomy without all her friends in it.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" Sunset asked. Celestia gestured for Sunset to sit next to her on the bed while Luna examined the room.
"You've certainly been doing good considering you've been by yourself all this time." Luna said, walking around.
"Thanks, I guess? Mrs. Honeyblossom lets me stay her for free as long as I help out around the place. And I've managed to get some odd jobs for some extra cash." Sunset said, looking between the two adults nervously.
"Sunset..." Celestia took a deep breath and decided to get to the point. "I want you to come and stay with Luna and me."
"What?" Was all Sunset managed to get out. She looked at Luna, at she just continued to examine the various knick-knacks Sunset had.
"I understand you've been doing fine up until this point. But now that I know, I can't in my good conscious allow you keep living like this." Sunset was about to argue when Celestia held up her hand and continued. "As your Principal I have a responsibility to look out for the well-being of all my students. Your still a minor, which means you need a legal adult guardian. We've already discussed it with Mrs.Honeyblossom and she whole-hearitly agreed to it." Celestia then spoke in a softer tone. "Besides, if you're not comfortable staying with us, we could find other arrangements."
Sunset thought about this. As much as she enjoyed the feeling of independence, she did admit it got a bit lonely what with Mrs. Honeyblossom having to deal with the other tenants and all. Having friends now did make things somewhat better, but sill. She though about all the times Celestia and Luna had taken care of her throughout her childhood when her own parents couldn't be bothered to. Birthdays, holidays, academic events. They had been more than just her and Twilight's tutors, it was like they were family.
"I guess I could give it a try, if you don't mind."Sunset said nervously. Celestia responded by pulling her into a hug, which Sunset gladly returned.
"Now that that's settled, we have some boxes in the car, so let's start packing." Luna said, already heading for the door.
Sunset was already looking forward to having a place she could call 'home' again.
Outside, a woman watch as they finished packing and drove off. She smiled, everything had gone just as she hoped it would. Her job here was done...for now at least. Just like before, she vanished into the blink of an eye.