Chapter 1- Shadows

Chapter 1-

Shadows

Music bumped in the dim lighting, people murmuring amongst themselves at tables or moving to the music on the dance floor. It was a typical scene for a bar such as the Lonely Man’s Retreat. The crowd was large and the drinks were flowing. All was well for the owner of the bar… but not so much for red and blonde-haired girl weaving her way through the tables. She hated the crowd, the noise, the drinks. Even the atmosphere was something she detested. All of it was made worse by the way her leather skirt rubbed against her black leggings, the leather vest with maroon trim unzipped partially to just keep her modesty.

She hated that most of all. She hated her sense of self. The feeling of being someone else’s property… but then again, she didn’t have much choice. Technically, she was being paid, and technically of her own will. But, all things considered, it still didn’t feel like she had a choice.

“Sunset.” Green eyes looked up with a frown, her eyes meeting the maroon orbs that had given the accent of her clothing their color. The man was dark-haired, a single strand of silver combed back amongst the mess, complimenting his dark copper skin. The young woman, barely more than sixteen years old, stared up into the unfeeling gaze of her boss, the man who basically owned her, and most of the area around them, if she was being honest, waiting for the next words out of his mouth. “It’s nine-thirty. Go home. You have a test tomorrow and you’d better not fail it. You can’t afford to be staying after school.”

The girl nodded, turning her back to the spiff black slacks, white dress shirt, and the vest that matched the eyes she despised so much. She took her tray back to the bar and set it down, leaving it uncaringly for the barman to put in the back. She went around the back, through the kitchens, grabbed her backpack off a hook and all but ran out of the rear entrance into the back alley.

Sunset Shimmer slammed her back into the metal door behind her, letting out a heavy sigh that turned into vapor in the night air. Clearing her throat, she steeled her features and began the long walk home to the warehouse district. This was her least favorite part of the night. The hour it took her to get home in complete silence. Alone with only her thoughts. Thoughts and the sounds of all the other people that moved in the shadows. That was her life now. Moving amongst shadows….

The girl glanced back through the corner of her eye before looking back down. Sometimes, the shadows moved with her. She really hated when they did that. She picked up her pace only to listen as the footsteps behind her picked up as well. It wasn’t long before she was running down the alleyways, taking any sharp turn she thought would be enough to elude her stalker. She never looked back, but silently cursed when she heard more footsteps fall in behind her. She just kept running, her breaths coming faster and faster, her heart rate beginning to race almost as fast as her feet. She just needed to get out onto the main roads and it would be fine. It was still early enough in the evening that somebody should still be out on the town.

She saw her escape route coming up on the left, getting ready to make the turn that would make the difference between escape and capture. “Shit!” She spat as she jumped back and kept running, a shadow appearing at the entrance to the side alley that would have been her freedom. She kept running, her breaths becoming short now. Every path was blocked now, though, with the limited number of routes that were available to her, that didn’t much matter anymore. Except for the fact that they were corralling her, herding her in whatever direction they saw fit.

That’s how Sunset found herself out of breath and cornered in a dead-end between a pair of dumpsters and a crowd of gangsters. She looked them over, all ten of them as they filed into the limited space. All wore dark gray suits with metallic green pinstriping, vests of the same color under their jackets and no dress shirts. Sunset smirked.

“‘Sup, skins?” She taunted, switching to the accents and slang she’d grown accustomed to within the walls of the Retreat. “Ya lost?”

A few of the men laughed, the girl’s smirk twitching slightly at the sound. “Nah,” the one in the lead replied, a young man with yellow eyes and hair, his deep blue skin contrasting greatly with his suit. “We found exactly what we were looking for.” Sunset’s instincts screamed at her, the girl immediately taking her hands from her knees and backing up. The man in front widened his grin. “Silver Stream’s little angel. He’d pay a pretty penny for your ass.” The man glanced down and slightly behind her before looking back up with a gleam in his eye. “Then again, so would a lot of guys.” The men around her all chuckled at that, Sunset swallowing the lump in her throat.

She tried to back up again, feeling cold metal stop her dead. The chuckles died at the sound of the dumpsters clattering against each other at the girl’s jostling. The leader narrowed his eyes and took another few steps forward. “You are coming with us,” he told her, reaching into his jacket. “Whether you want to or not.” The mob started to stalk forward, each one taking out a tool of their choice. Guns, knives, bats, actual tools, they all had something. Her breath hitched as they got closer, her mind racing a mile a minute as she tried to think of an escape. Her heartbeat in her ears and her breathing couldn’t catch up. Even her ears were starting to ring. She shook her head to clear the ringing only for her to realize it wasn’t coming from inside her head.

The screech of metal came to an abrupt stop, drawing everyone’s attention upward. Where the screech stopped, another sound took its place. A low feral growl. Green eyeshine stared back at them, a hulking shadow hunkered down behind the eyes that stared at them. The gangsters let out a collective gasp, Sunset’s eyes widening at the massive creature above her.

Some of the assailants stepped back, the eyes cocking a bit to the side before the large mass started to rise. “Where you guys going?” Growled a deep, bestial tone. “I thought you were ready to have some fun?” Eyes widened as the large shadow leaped down, landing with a shuttering boom. A huge wall of red scales and black armored plating rose up in front of Sunset, gold accents glinting in the limited light. A dark brown, almost cat-like face stared out at them under a trident-shaped bone plate, three horns sticking out from its snout, one sprouting upward from above its nose while two others jutted out from the sides just underneath it. The huge, muscled arms ended in three long, clawed fingers, black and gold bracers on its wrists, chains wrapping around the back of the armor pieces. Its lower half was unarmored, though the shorter, slightly thinner legs didn’t seem to be big enough targets to require armor and the long, slender tail was swishing back and forth far too much to be able to hit, not to mention the bright green spike at the end.

Lips curled back in a snarl, a rumbling growl emanated from the beast’s chest as it towered over them. “Who’s first?” The leader snarled and raised his pistol, shots ringing through the air. An arm shot up, two shots pinging off the metal gauntlet while the last bounced off the boney horns on its head. Another growl echoed out as green orbs locked onto the young man. “Bad move.” With a roar, the monster rushed forward and the alley exploded into the sounds of gunfire. Bullets bounced harmlessly off the armor plating, bats and other wooden weapons shattering on impact with the hard red scales. The whiplike tail lashed out, slamming into a trio that tried to rush in. A swing of the colossal arms sent several more flying. One unfortunate bastard got pinned underneath the other claw before being thrown headfirst into the leader of their little group.

Screams and roars filled the air as the battle raged on, Sunset frozen in terror as she watched the exchange. A groan got her attention and she looked over to find the yellow-eyed man crawling with one arm, phone in hand. “We need back up!” He yelled into the receiver. “Bring bigger guns. There’s some- some- some kind of-” He was cut off by his own scream as he was yanked back by his leg, the creature roaring before throwing him into the last remaining member, stopping him from running any further.

One last growl rumbled from the creature before it let out a huff, its shoulders still rising and falling with its labored breathing. Slowly, its breathing slowed and it turned around, Sunset’s body tensing as it looked at her. Her breath hitched when it dropped back down onto all fours, taking measured steps towards her. She leaned back as the creature’s snout stopped just inches from her face, emerald orbs trying to look into seas of greenish-yellow. Her eyes widened and pulse quickened, hot breath blowing her hair back from the beast’s nostrils.

“Sunset Shimmer.”

The girl blinked at the sound of her name, barely registering that the creature’s lips moved. “Wh… what?”

“Good,” the beast grumbled, turning his back on her and hunkering down. “Get on.”

Sunset’s fear was very quickly replaced by confusion as she took in her situation. “I, um-”

“Just get on already!” The rough shout shook her out of her confusion, making her gasp as the beast shook itself, causing a metal loop at the nape of its armor to clatter. “Get on and hold on tight.” With a small gulp, she started to climb onto the monster’s back. “Hurry now, if I had wanted to hurt you, I would’ve. There are more of these guys coming and they will hurt you.” Sunset scrambled quickly onto his back, and the moment she took hold of the ring, the creature took off into the alleyways.

The beast galloped quickly, wind rushing past her ears as they raced on, trying to outrun the clock. However, the creature’s fastest wasn’t fast enough. They rounded a corner and black claws dug into the concrete bringing them to an abrupt halt. Clicks racked the air as a squad of twenty or so men stood in front of them. And they weren’t wielding baseball bats. “Blast that bitch.” Every automatic weapon ignited at once, spraying a wall of bullets at them. The creature grunted and raised itself up on its hind legs, effectively shielding her as it did its best to hide its face.

“Damn it,” it grunted, taking several steps back against the maelstrom. It straightened one arm, its gauntlet raising before a missile fired towards the firing squad.

“Hit the deck!” The firing stopped and several men dove to the ground, the projectile rushing over their heads and out into the street behind them. It raced into the sky before detonating in the inky void. A few groans escaped the men, but it wasn’t long before bullets were flying again.

The creature heard a whistle before he felt hot metal dig a trench in the side of his face. “Fuck!” He roared, immediately bringing his gauntlet back up guard his head. All the while, Sunset clung to his back, teeth clenched as she tried to keep her tears at bay, praying to whatever god might be of this world that she could just get out of this alive.

The loud cathoom’s of a grenade launcher sounded out as if her prayers had been answered by a god of war. Soon after, multiple screams of pain and agony ripped the air, and as the smoke from the explosions cleared, a new figure came into the creature’s view, just a short distance away.

It seemed human, and like a woman in shape...until it drew closer, and he noted the literal lion’s mane, ears, and tail it bore, the mane being somewhat short and black and spiky, the ears, whilst black, were far more rounded than a human’s, as well as larger and bearing yellow insides. The tail was also black save for the end, which bore a four-pointed yellow star.

The strange female’s entire form was covered in a full-on combat uniform, IMTV, combat boots, trousers, all of it colored in urban camouflage. A mask and goggles covered her blue muzzle and yellow eyes, as well. Hefting the launcher over her shoulder, she motioned the creature to follow her, and called out in a slightly French accent, “Move your ass! We don’t have all night!” Without any other words, she turned and ran.

A grunt escaped the creature’s muzzle before he rushed forward, galloping full tilt after the newcomer. Sunset clung to his back, eyes still clamped shut.

They ran down many streets, weaving through alleys and more, the creature wondering more and more if this wasn’t some elaborate trap. His thoughts were interrupted however, when three cars pulled up in a row across the street they were running down, three men jumping out of each with guns immediately blazing.

With a surprising amount of calm, the female leveled her grenade launcher and fired off three more grenades at each car, swiftly and efficiently blowing them and the men near them sky-high.

Sunset’s eyes widened at the sight, watching the vehicles arch into the sky. Who in Tartarus are these guys!? She screamed mentally, her thoughts racing a mile a minute as she tried to process the current events.

“Snap out of it already. We don’t have time,” the female reprimanded coldly, swiftly reloading her launcher. After doing so, she started to run off at top speed again.

“Icy,” the beast grunted before chasing after the black and blue female. “Hang on, kid.”

To Sunset, it seemed like they’d ran for hours. They’d gone way beyond her residence, or even where she recalled ever being in the city. But thankfully, they soon reached their destination, the female raising a hand to them both as she stopped in front of a seemingly abandoned concrete building. It almost looked like an old hotel, and based on the broken neon sign beneath it, it was.

The building was crumbling, too, yet the female walked towards it without hesitation. “This is where we’ll be staying for the night. I’ll brief you all once…” She stopped by the door, turning her head to the creature. “...Bob, correct?”

Yellow-green eyes narrowed at the question. “Yeah, that’s my name,” the beast rumbled, stopping Sunset from climbing off his back by raising one of his arms.

She nodded. “Lynette Petremol. Pleasure.” She pointed to the side of the building. “Go around to the back. There’s an old auto shop there. Doors should be big enough for you to walk in, and it’s close enough that you can rush here in case we’re found. Either way, I’ll brief you all in ten minutes. Be ready.”

A low rumble let itself out of his chest before he rose back up on his four limbs, starting to make his way around the building with the girl still on his back. It didn’t take long for Bob to trudge their way to the back of the building, finding the auto shop. With a grunt, he rose back up on his hind legs and lifted the door open. With a small sigh, the large creature walked inside before hunkering down. A slight shiver ran through the titan’s body as the young woman slid down his side.

“Something wrong?” She asked, arching a brow as Bob walked further into the garage, collapsing into a corner.

“There were lots of bullets,” the creature answered with a pained grunt. “A few of them were bound to get through.”

Sunset’s eyebrow arched higher at that, green eyes going to the floor only to widen in shock as she followed the trail of blood splotches all the way to the creature. Upon closer inspection, she noticed more than a few bullet holes in the titan’s hide, some of them bleeding a bit more profusely than others while some looked only slightly pale as if they’d already healed.

“Oh, Tartarus…” she breathed, walking over to the beast before sinking to her knees. “...Why would you put yourself through this?”

She looked up in time to see his massive shoulders roll in a shrug. “Magic biker dude showed up one day and asked me to watch out for you,” he answered lowly. “I wasn’t using my time for anything useful, so I said yes.”

Sunset’s looked at him in disbelief. “You risk life and limb for someone you don’t know because you were bored?” She questioned, only receiving another grunt and shrug in response. She let out her own huff and sat back with her arms crossed.

They sat in silence for several moments, Bob’s wounds slowly sealing themselves as he laid on his side. Eventually, lime green eyes came up to look at the redhead. “...You are taking this oddly well,” he grumbled, not taking his head off his arm where it rested. “You in shock or denial or something?”

It was Sunset’s turn to shrug, staring at the concrete floor rather than at him. “Honestly, I’m still a bit terrified,” she answered, her crossed arms hugging her bare shoulders. “But then again, I’ve been terrified for years now. To be so far from home, not know anyone, and have to rely on the kindness of a criminal to get by, my life has just been one damn nightmare after another. But you?” She paused here and finally looked at him, allowing the beast to catch a glimpse at the terror in her gaze. “You guys are bucking terrifying. A giant cat-dragon-thing that can tank machine-gun fire and shoot missiles and some black and blue were-lioness loaded down with military surplus? I honestly thought you were bringing me out here to die for a few minutes there. But, it’s like you said,” she looked to the floor again, “if you had wanted to hurt me, you would have done it in that alleyway.”

The sound of boots on concrete met their ears soon after, followed by the ‘were-lioness’s voice, “I’m not in the business of hurting kids. I’m a military officer, I protect the innocent, not murder them.” Looking at the entrance to the auto shop, the two saw the female without her military gear finally, letting them see her form more fully. Blue and black fur covered he head to toe, and the bottom of her forearms bore yellow rings of fur along with blue, whilst shaggy black fur covered the top of her forearms.

She was wiping her forehead off with a towel, a simple tank top, and her trousers and boots all that covered her. This, in turn, allowed Sunset to realize that while she may have been sought after for...unsavory purposes, the lioness had much more going on.

Breaking her out of her thoughts, the lioness spoke up again, “Sunset Shimmer, correct?” She asked, the red sclera and striking yellow of her eyes boring into the younger woman.

Sunset swallowed at Lynette’s gaze, giving a small nod of confirmation. A low slithering sound scraped the concrete, a low rumble echoing from Bob’s chest as his tail wrapped around the girl without leaving the floor.

Lynette shifted her gaze to Bob. “Be at ease. I’m not here for conflict, I just want information.” She looked back to Sunset. “Where is the Mirror?”

Sunset’s eyes widened at that. “H-how do you know about the Mirror?” She asked, leaning back slightly.

“...” Lynette paused, then sighed, draping the towel over her shoulders. “Seeing as I will need to work with you for a time to achieve my goal, I suppose I can divulge some of my own information.” Lynette coughed into a fist. “I am in this world of yours for one reason and one reason alone; to reach my family. A note that was on my person when I arrived explained that you knew of the Mirror, a relic that can transport me to my family’s location, and that Mirror’s location. All I want is what you know of the Mirror. Nothing else.” Lynette crossed her arms. “Saving you was just a stepping stone.”

“So…” Sunset muttered quietly, her eyes going from the floor to the red eyes and back again. “Unlike Bob here, you’re just trying to use me?”

Lynette shrugged. “If you wish to put it that way, then yes.”

Sunset looked into the red and yellow eyes for a moment before giving a defeated sigh. “Okay,” she breathed, almost whispering. “The Mirror is located at Canterlot Highschool at the base of the statue outside. Not that it’ll do you any good.”

Lynette arched a brow. “And the reason for that is?”

“The portal won’t open again for a while,” the young woman answered, raising a hand with a shrug. “It only opens up every year or so and that won’t be for another few months.”

Lynette’s eyes narrowed dangerously, her tail flicking in irritation.

Sunset flinched at the reaction, a feral growl catching her attention as Bob started to lift himself to his feet, eyes locked onto the feline woman.

Lynette didn’t bother looking at him, but she eventually sighed. “Very well. In that case, I see no reason to not watch over you for the time being.” She looked to the side, out one of the windows. “I doubt even the strange people of this world would enjoy or tolerate me being out in the open, and it’s better that I make sure you’re not lying.” Lynette walked past them, further into the shop. “The area is secure for now, I checked before coming in. Follow me, girl. I’ll show you to where you’ll be sleeping for the night.”

Sunset hesitated a moment before getting to her feet and starting to follow. She stopped when something caught her waist. She looked back to find Bob’s eyes locked onto Lynette’s back. “Be careful around her,” he rumbled, slowly removing his tail from her waist. “And if anything happens, scream and I’ll bring this whole place down getting to you.” The girl pursed her lips at that and gave a small nod before following after the furred woman.

A silent walk followed until Lynette lead the girl up the stairs and onto the second story. Said story was surprisingly empty, only a scarce few desks, chairs and filing cabinets filling it, and they were more few and far between than butter over too much bread. A sleeping bag - obviously meant for the lioness based on its size - was on the floor in a barren corner. Lynette gestured to it. “Over there. Sleep tight.” Without any other words, the lioness turned on her heel and marched back downstairs.

Sunset watched her go, giving a small, tired sigh before going over to the bag. She got down to the floor and crawled into the sack, curling on herself a little before trying to go to sleep on the hard floor.

Lynette arrived back downstairs where Bob was, and, ignoring him entirely, walked over to a part of the shop where he noticed held a vast array of military hardware and equipment, which she started to sort through - despite it looking sorted already.

“...You’re not going to be very good for that girl’s mental health, are you?” Bob grunted from his corner of the garage, shifting slightly to take the weight off some bullet wounds that had yet to finish healing.

“Her mental health is not my concern unless it starts to threaten her memory. In addition, I never was qualified to attend to anyone’s mental or emotional needs. I am a soldier. An officer. I attend to myself and my men. Family is the only other exception,” Lynette replied simply, starting to disassemble a rifle.

A huff of hot breath ruffled the fur on the back of her neck. “You’d better get to reorganizing your priorities,” Bob growled lowly. “If anything happens to that girl, I’ll come after you first.”

“I am not heartless,” Lynette began, calmly cleaning each piece of the rifle. “And I already said I do not intend to hurt her or any youths or innocents. Furthermore, I do need her to accomplish my objectives. Rest assured that nothing will happen to her.” She glanced back at him, red and yellow eyes meeting pure yellow orbs. “Though I must say, for one who just met her, you’re surprisingly protective. You remind me of the cases my father would often have to take involving kidnappers who thought they were protecting their own child.”

Another huff ruffled her fur before he turned and slinked back over to his corner, lying back down with a grunt. “I would have at least taken her back to her own home so she could sleep in her own bed,” he grumbled, keeping his eyes off her. “But then again, I don’t expect a military basket case to know anything about children.”

Cold silence. Icy, cold silence. Not even the sound of guns being cleaned was heard. But, eventually, it picked up again. “For your information, if she’d gone home, it would’ve made it easier for them to track her down and thus render her home no longer livable. Furthermore…” She frowned, staring down at the fur lining her arms. “...I may not have ever had children of my own, but my niece and nephew were always important to me.” She turned a glare colder than a glacier to him. “There’s a reason I’m more focused on actual family than some random girl, much less a beast who thinks he’s automatically her father after saving her.”

“First, you might want to change your look,” the creature grunted, barely lifting his head before flopping it back down to look at her. “You're going to give yourself a cold with a look that icy. Second, loving children is different from raising them yourself. And finally, a question. How long have you been watching her for? Long enough to realize her place is monitored constantly? Long enough to realize that she’s got the biggest, baddest godfather in the city watching over her shoulder? Who do you even think those assholes in the alley belong to?”

“...” Lynette paused for a time, then sighed. “...All the more reason for her to stay here now, then. Besides, I’ve fought in wars. A petty crime boss is nothing.” She put her tools and the gun pieces down, then pulled out a medical kit. Picking it up, she walked over to him. “Get up. Let me dress your wounds.”

He looked up at her, raising an eye-ridge at her sudden change of demeanor. With a slightly pained grunt, he got up on all four legs, his rear left shuddering with effort. “Still, we’ll need to be more careful,” he rumbled in a slightly lower volume. “Silver Stream is nothing to sneeze at. He’s probably got at least eighty percent of the city in his pocket. Only Tempered Print is bold, or stupid enough, to fuck with him. Tonight, for example. The only people immune to Silver Stream’s influence seems to be those principles.”

She simply furrowed her fuzzy brow at this as she went about dressing his wound, applying hydrogen peroxide to one of the larger and deeper wounds. A growl rumbled from deep in his throat, his lips snarling as he stomped one of his clawed hands. “How do you know all this already?” She continued applying the peroxide. “And who sent you here? Antiquarian? Or some other asshole? Furthermore, how long have you been here?”

“In succession,” Bob started through gritted teeth. “I’ve been looking for and watching the girl from afar since I got here, some magic biker calling himself ‘Soldier’, and about… four… five months?”

Lynette frowned. “So you’ve been here longer than me, then.”

“How long’ve you been here?” He asked, half trying to distract himself and half actually curious.

Finished with cleaning that wound, Lynette pulled out some gauze. “Three weeks.” With no other words, she started to wrap the wound.

“And this… Antiquarian,” the titan grumbled. “He’s the one that sent you here?”

She nodded. “I woke up where the girl is sleeping. The note, some clothes and a bit of gear was all I was given. Nothing else.” She scowled. “Regrettably, I’ve had to steal from gun stores and more just to survive and protect myself.” She stopped her work briefly to tug on the tuft of fur over her cleavage. “The note said this new body would have special abilities. Only ones I’ve noticed so far is literal x-ray vision and electricity conduction. Nothing else. It’s been more of a pain than anything.”

“Never thought you’d miss going out in public, right?” He asked with a guttural chuckle before sighing. “I understand, though. Staying out of sight, no supplies except what you can scavenge, and a whole new body that can do things you never even thought were possible. It’s… a lot.”

She nodded, smiling for the first time since they’d met. “It’s good to know you understand...and that you aren’t completely hopeless.” She smirked up at him.

Bob let out his own little chuckle, his lips twitching in a small smile. “Not anymore anyway,” he grumbled mildly lightly, starting to slowly lower himself back down. “Thanks for the patch job, by the way.”

She shrugged. “You’re an ally. I prefer to help than hinder my allies.”

“Good to know,” the beast replied, starting to settle in. “I might actually rest better.” With that, Bob curled his head under the crook of an elbow and soon filled the room with rumbling snores.

Author's Note

Another chapter of Beast for your consumption while I suddenly realize I haven't done an author's box in a while. Anywho, I hope you guys enjoy it and if you see a mistake, have a comment, or just want to be silly, leave it in the comments below. Have a great one and I'll see you guys in the next one.