Have I not been too long in the Shadowsby The-MoonsorrowChaptersChapter 1.1Chapter 1.2Chapter 1.3Chapter 1.1 “Ugh, by Luna and Celestia how much further to the next town? My friggen legs are killing me.” lamented Moonsorrow as he walked and walked along a road toward gods know where. His exhaustion was slowly catching up to him, explaining why he now is becoming irritable. Even worse, the pain in his side is becoming more apparent. ‘Stupid llamas, using poison gas, makin’ me need surgery’, he thought to himself. ‘Man, I’m really feeling crappy. Maybe I should stop at the next town’. He has traveled for days to find the pony he is looking for, but has yet to reach his destination. It’s apparently some place called Ponyville, a predominantly Earth Pony township. And it’s apparently WAY away from the rest of society (in other words, metro areas). If experience told him anything, these resident’s may not take too kindly to him. Just like the last couple of towns, and most small communities he’s been to. Probably because he has a gloomy air about him. This is always difficult, coming home. Then again, it has always been difficult to adjust to being in the homeland after being gone so long. No matter how many times he leaves and returns to Equestria, he can never really adjust. Oh well. He decided to stop for a moment after he turns the next bend. Reaching under the cloak, he searched for his map, wondering if he can find out where he is. Sudden pain twinged in his head and eyes. The sun shouldn’t be affecting his eyes when he has his hood on. Then, realising it’s -this- kind of headache, he sighed. ‘Again? Whatever, I’m not going to answer. Don’t any of those jerks recognise that they're being ignor-’ Something jumped out of a bush right in front of him, startling him. He let out a quick yelp and fell on his back. ‘The heck was that?!’, he thought. Looking up at the figure who apparently was waiting for someone to pass by, he saw it was a Pony. A young mare, average civilian height, with a light pink body and hot pink mane, jumping up and down with a goofy smile on her face. Perplexed, he thought, ‘Ok, what’s this now?’ “Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie. You seem new around her. What’s your name? Why are you on the ground?” she asked hyperactively, still hopping around. ‘Holy crap, she talks fast.’ Not wanting to reveal much at all, he decided to ignore the questions for now. He started to get up when he felt pain in his side. The spot in his ribs that was stitched up was hurting quite a bit now. She’d knocked him off his concentration and so he can’t suppress the pain. He let out a short hiss and cringed a little as he got up. Her eyebrow rose a bit hearing him. “You ok? You sound like you're hurting.” she asked. He realized he was showing he was hurt. ‘Crap’, he thought, ‘she noticed. Our golden rule, never show weakness. Meh, whatever. Not trying to impress anyone anyway. No need to worry about -them- watching.’ He got up and, figuring there is no avoiding it, answered her. “Uh, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”, he said even though that probably won’t work. “Um, wait. What was your name again?” “Pinkie Pie! At your service~” She turned her head upside down and stuck her face near mine and asked; “Can you tell me yours please? It’s only fair since I gave you my name, and granny Pie always said it’s polite to-” “FINE-FINE-jeez! I’ll tell you...” I rubbed my temples after hearing her start that tangent. She didn’t seem upset in the slightest by my getting angry with her, in fact she seemed happier that I gave in to her demands. Plus she forgot about my injury, win-win I guess. “My name is Moonsorrow... can I please just look at my- Hey! Where the-” My map was missing from the ground where I had left it. I looked back at the pony and she had somehow taken it from me while I wasn’t looking. “Where are ya headed? Is it Ponyville?” “That’s none of-- Actually yes... how did-?” “It’s pretty close to here Moonsorrow~ You look like a.. Straight-to-the-point kind of colt, so follow me! La-lala-lala-lala~” She began hopping away from me, in the direction I came from. “Wait! Why should I listen to you- YOU STOLE MY MAP!! Get back here!!” I yelled after her. But her singing and prancing was hard to shout over, I had no choice but to go after her. She seemingly toyed with me as I chased her, she managed to always stay ahead of me, regardless of how fast I ran, if I was on some kind of drug, I’d appreciate knowing which and why it showed me this pink mare... ‘Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me’, he thought, remembering his visit to Kronos earlier. ‘So is this is the fool? The one signifying i’ve made it to my destination,’ remembering the reading with Fable O’Shannon. ‘OK, so I should follow her’. She slowed down, noticing I had done so. “C’mon! You coming or what?” She called back. “Yes...” I said slothfully, slowly catching up to her. Trying to regain concentration was getting harder due to the pain increasing in my noggin and side. I calmed myself and decided to just ignore the pain for a few minutes. No harm in trivial conversation. I sped up my pace and caught up to her. “So... can I have my map back?” “Sure, I was just having fun!” She said handing it over, having a playful smile on her face. She apparently likes to just laugh, have fun, or be random. Jeez, I feel like a heel. I can already tell that I am not going to like her as much. Meh, oh well. Back to conversing. “So, judging from your demeanour, I’m going to guess you like parties, yes?” I inquired. Might as well check if Fable was accurate. She inhaled with a big smile on her face, her eyes lit up, and, somehow, she started to talk and move faster than before. “OH MY GOSH I LOVE PARTIES! I THROW PARTIES ALL THE TIME AND EVERYPONY LOVES THEM AND THEY HAVE SO MUCH FUN AT THEM! I THROW PARTIES FOR MY FRIENDS, FOR CELESTIA, FOR MY NEIGHBORS, FOR GUMMY OR JUST TO THROW A PARTY! (GASP) I’LL THROW YOU A WELCOME PARTY!!! IT’LL BE SO NICE AND SO AWSOME AND-” She was darting around extremely fast, and is throwing around confetti. ‘Oh, what in the name of Luna have I done?’ I thought while processing what she was saying. Well, Fable’s tarot was spot on. That means Ponyville is where the one I’m looking for is at. So... ‘Wait, did she say she was going to be throwing me a party!? I hope she’s just joking!’ “Did you say you’d throw a party for me?” I asked, hoping she was. “YEAH I AM!!! IT’LL HAVE BALLOONS AND CAKE AND PUNCH AND EVERYPONY IN PONYVILLE WILL BE THERE AND-” she stopped when I shoved my hoof in her face. I cannot draw undue attention to myself. I gave her an intense stare, hoping to get the point I’m about to make across to her. I did my best to avoid projecting my will, hoping to be able to persuade her. “I. Do not. Want. A party. Please, do not do throw me a party, when I did not ask for one. And I don’t like parties much anyway.” I pulled my hoof away and started to walk again. She trotting along near me, not hopping along, at the same pace. She looked rather indignantly and quizzically at me. She then asked, “How could you not like parties? They’re so fun and nice and-” “I don’t like those kinds of social gatherings.” I interjected, hoping vainly that would end it there. “But everypony loves a good party!” she responded with a smile. “They have fun talking to friends and and meeting new ponies and have so much fun!” “Still though, that’s not my thing.” I said as we went over a small hill. The town started to come into view. “But why don’t you like pa-” “Woah, wait.” I said, “Hold up, I thought Ponyville was a small town.” “It is, why?” “Then what’s with the banners and.. what the- is that a VILLA in the middle of town!?” I was amazed, having heard of the town of Ponyville and looking through documents and other information, it was a backwater little town of low importance. Yet I could make out banners, commerce, pieces of importance and notice, even royal guard patrolling the streets! This is an important place. Yet, now that i’m thinking about it, the emblems on the banners are unfamiliar. ‘The heck is going on here?’ “Hm? OH! Thats Twilight’s home! It’s also the town library. It’s something Celestia gave her since her coronation!” She was jumping up and down as she said that. She seemed very excited about that. “Who? Wait- did you say someone was- was CORONATED!? WHEN?” I asked with some semblance of alarm. ‘What all have I missed since I’ve been gone?’ “How DON’T you know?” she asked when she stopped jumping. She was looking at me as if I had just insulted her. ‘Well I guess a lot has happened.’ “I’ve been out of country for quite some time. As such, I’m unable to keep up on news back home. Here. In Equestria.” I said truthfully. She looked sceptical for a couple of seconds. ‘Maybe she wouldn’t believe me’, I thought. “OK, that makes sense. then I’ll explain. (inhale)”. Then her mouth shot off an entire explanation faster than I could possibly understand. ‘Holy god, how does she talk that fast?’ I wondered. ‘Is she even real? I hope not. But you don’t always get what you hope for. (sigh)’ Almost as fast I had finished my thoughts, she had finished explaining. I had no idea what she had said and she was looking at me, expecting me to respond. “Uh, ok?” “Exactly!” she said with a smile and hopping up and down again. “That was all simple enough, right?” I opened my mouth to respond, but she cut me off. “Right. Anyway, welcome to Ponyville! La-lala-lala-lala” she said as she, finally, left me behind. I just stood there befuddled, trying to process what I had seen. Well, might as well go into town. Guess this is where she is. I just hope Fable’s predictions weren’t all accurate. I proceeded to enter town, whilst thinking of how I should approach the one I'm here to see. I sighed, “Ugh, Moonsorrow, what have you gotten yourself into this time.” Chapter 1.2It was an abnormally calm day in Ponyville, the kind of day where life was slower than normal. At least, as normal is now since the town became a center of world attention because of Twilight. Applejack was selling her apples as usual, but she sighed as nopony seemed to be approaching her stand. Winona was calm for the most part, yapping playfully and happily. All was well and good, as always. Once all of Equestria had heard that this was the town which allowed Twilight to grow and become a princess, many a pony came to here to see what kind of town this was. Business had been booming since then as more ponies had been getting more apples, and thus the Apple family gets more profits. Seeing nothing to do for now, I looked around at the scene of the town as it is now. Banners with twilight royal emblem waved and flapped in the breeze. Guards, though few, walked along the areas of town they’re assigned to. Within sight is the new ‘watering hole’, the Olden Days’ Tavern, in one direction and in the other direction is a newer motel, the Friendly Neighbors Inn. These are all new and have only popped up over the last few months. Ponyville is definitely different, yet it’s still not much changed from before. ‘Heh, guess Twilight was right,’ I thought to myself, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Then a figure made it's way into our line of sight. Winona was the first to notice, and immediately got into a defensive position, growling towards the figure. This then turned to whimpering as the pony was approaching closer and closer. I tried calming her down, but to no avail. This pony was tall, lanky and a dark stallion, covered in a black cloak and a deep hood covering his face, more so his eyes. He seemed to glide towards the open air apple stand like a specter. He approached the stand, Winona nearly barking, as I felt severely uneasy. Something was very odd about this pony “Uh... Howdy. What’cha lookin’ fer?” I asked hesitantly. Have to look out for the family business. “. . . um, i’d like to buy an apple please. H-how much?” He asked, a little far off and distant. Or was it remorseful, and haunted. Couldn’t really tell. “Two bits...” The money went down to the counter as the pony grabbed an apple, he moved to the side of the cart, Winona’s eyes following. He then pulled something out from under the cloak, a slender object that appeared metallic. As he took it to the apple, It cut through it, revealing it to be a blade. The knife was now clearly visible as the mysterious pony carved the apple. I stared at this object as its shape was unfamiliar, not a common tool seen by anypony around here, nor a military issue seen on the guards. Then I noticed the blade had markings in it ‘Is that writin’ on that thing’. Focusing in on it, it read ‘Sequitur omnia, fiducia nihilo’ along it’s side. The heck does that mean? Curious, I decided to strike up conversation with him. “So, when’d ya’ get here in town?” I looked over at him, he never averted his eyes from the apple. “Uh, a few moments ago.” he said after a short silence. “What’s yer business here in town? Been seein’ an awful lot o’ ponies comin’ into town. for a while now. And ya’ seem to have a reason fer bein’ here.” I based that assessment of his demeanour on absolutely nothing. Maybe it’ll work. He stopped eating and looked over at me, kinda’ puzzled, kinda’ impressed. “You're either very perceptive, or very good at guessing.” ‘Wow, I actually got it right!’ I thought, feeling proud of myself. “Let’s just say i’m here to meet someone I know.” he went on. “Really?” This guy knows someone around here? That’s very interesting. “Who ya’ here to meet? ‘Cause i’d like to know if I know them.” He looked at me with a serious look in his eye’s, and I then noticed the pupils in his eye’s. They were hexagon shaped. I thought of the crystal ponies, but i’ve met many crystal ponies, and none had eyes like that. Then something else caught my eye. He had weird markings on his face, they looked like tattoos. Never met anypony with tattoo’s in my life. This guy was strange. He then spoke with a serious tone in his voice, “You shouldn’t pry too far into other ponies business.” ‘Oh. uh, ok” There was a silence for a moment after, he just kept on eating the apple. Then he paused, and turned to me. “Oh, uh, i’ve been out of the country for some time. I heard somepony got coronated. What's with that?” “Ya’ don’t know about that? It’s been news all over Equestria!” “Again, been outside of Equestria for quite some time.” “Right. Well ya’ see, this here town has become a real iconic place because of Twilight. She-” “Who?” he asked cutting me off “Princess Twilight Sparkle. She’s the one who got coronated.” “Ah.” He replied “Anyway, she was assigned the task to learn about the magic of friendship a while back by her teacher, Princess Celestia. Twilight’s been Celestia’s best and most favored student for years and when she made friend’s with us-” “Whoa whoa whoa, US?” “Yeah, i'm on of her friend’s. The name’s Applejack by the way.” “Nice to meet you. I’m Moonsorrow. Now you said that Twilight was taught by THE Princess Celestia, right?” “Right! Now we’ve been friends through some pretty tough time’s. First defeating Nightmare Moon when she came back.” “Ah, i’ve heard of this. Ok continue.” “We helped out at the wedding in Canterlot, the one between Princess Cadence and Shining Armor? I was in charge of the catering!” I had a very proud look on my face. “Alright then. Go one.” “Well, there’s a whole lot that’s happened. I won’t bore you with it all. A few months ago, Celestia sent Twilight a book with spells made by Starswirl the Bearded. And we all got our destinies mixed up. She helped us get them right again and then, after that, all of a sudden she disappeared in a flash of light! She came back after night had fell and had returned as an alicorn! With her new wings! Celestia had come to tell us that she’s passed a final test to see if she was ready, and so she passed and became a princess. Ponyville got a lot of attention, being the place she learned what she needed to be a princess, and so now we have a new princess. That explain it all?” “Almost. What’s with the villa? “The what?” I asked. ‘What’s a villa?’ He pointed to Twilight’s home here in ponyville. “Oh! Well she didn’t want to leave her friends here in Ponyville, she cares so much fer us. So Celestia asked us to have the a new home made for here. Twilight asked if we could rebuild the library and make it a part of her private home. So she lives there when she’s not working in Canterlot.” “Heh, that must take a lot of flying.” he replied with a slight snicker. “That’s why Princess Celestia made a portal doorway for her to use.Twilight uses her magic to activate it, she can walk through it and go from here to there and back again. She lives here, but works there.” “Neat.” He then got back to the apple. he seemed to grimace a little when he ate each piece of it. Almost as if it tasted unappealing to him. “How do ya’ like the apple?” He, for a second, did not seem sure what to say. He was hesitating, as if he didn’t want to say. “They’re, um.. It’s uh, it’s good. Very good.” he said, then poorly putting on a fake smile. He didn’t sound too sure about that assessment. This guy’s lyin’, he doesn’t really think they’re good, he's sayin’ it. “Come on, what do you really think.” I asked with a tone that said I could tell he was lying. “I can take it.” “Really, it was good.” he said after he finished eating, “Thank you, have a nice day.” “Now wait a minute,” I said moving toward this dishonest colt, “I’d just want to know what ya think is wrong with my apples.” He was about to leave when Winona started to bark at him again. AJ tried to get her to stop, but she wouldn’t stop barking. ‘What's gotten into her?’ she thought worriedly. Winona never does this to anypony. Ever. She stood in a defensive, yet aggressive posture, ready to attack him. ‘What is it about this guy that’s so dang disconcertin’ for Winona?’ He turned his head over to look at Winona, almost slowly, and suddenly she went silent. ‘What the-’ I started to think. Then suddenly I felt a feeling I have never felt before, a feeling likes I was surrounded by absolute suffering. Surrounded by pain and madness. ‘Whoa what’s goin’ o- MY APPLES!’ I looked at the apples in the stand, and was horrified as they seemed to be rotting and decomposing in the blink of an eye! The wood of the stand was aging and turning old, everything around us, except him, turned ancient and decayed. I suddenly felt nauseous, like I was gonna be really sick nauseous. How was this happening? I looked back at Winona, and she was terrified, slinking away from this pony out of fear. This wasn’t natural. I felt I was on the verge of a full panic, thinking ‘What in the name of Celestia is goin’ on!?’ He seemed to notice what was happening around us, was noticeably shocked, turned around, and hustled away almost as if in a slight panic. And suddenly everything went normal. The stand returned to normal, the apples became fresh and ripe. Winona seemed to calm to almost normal, but watched after this pony, just in case he decided to come back. “The heck just happened!?” I wondered to myself in stark horror. What did he do? “Hey!” I called to him as I decided to catch up with him, “Wait up! What WAS that back there? What happened?” “Please, leave me be.” he said. Was that fear I heard in his voice? I caught up to him, grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. His hood fell and when I saw his face I was taken aback, shocked, as the first thing I noticed now were the scars. He had several on his face, a couple went into his hairline, but most prominent was one that went across his right eye. They seemed to be slashes from blades or claws. One even looked like some kind of burn mark. He looked like some kind of veteran, as soldier, or a warrior.. or a maybe even criminal. He pulled himself from my grasp. “Get away from me.” he said coldly, placing his hood back on, and started to walk away. “Holdup, sugarcube.” This guy ain’t getting away so easily. “You gotta tell me about what happened. Why’d all that weird stuff happe-” “I asked you to go away, now leave me alone. Please.” he said still walking, still trying to ignore me. He seems really desperate to be left alone. Maybe he IS a criminal! He certainly seems like the type who’d be a criminal. I should just make him say what he doesn’t want to say. “Hey! Don’t you just blow me off stranger. I got more strength in me than you might think. So whatever you're hiding just say it, ‘cause you aren’t going anywhere till you do.” I got in his way and made him stop walking. That apparently got his attention, he stopped dead in his tracks. The look in his eyes went from annoyance and worry to what seemed almost like disbelief. “What did you say? Did you say strength?” he asked with a lighter tone in his voice. He seemed to be a little shocked. “Yeah, I did. Why?” Why would that concern him? “It’s nothing, it just reminded me of something somepony told me.” he trailed off toward the end. This pony seems to be just stranger and stranger. He seemed to be in some trance for a moment then caught up with himself with a little shake. “Please, just leave me be.” he said as he tried to continue walking away. “Wait a minute! You didn’t explain what happened!” I exclaimed. “Just go away, I don’t want to cause anything to happen. Just get away.” He pleaded. I need to know what happened. “Tell me what happened now!” “NOOO!” he yelled as he spun around. When he did his hood fell and suddenly his face had completely changed. For a moment, it had morphed into a grotesque and monstrous shape. Horns like a goat, fangs in his mouth, eyes like serpents going down the sides of his face. He had taken on a terrifying form. This was absolutely horrifying. ‘Oh my goodness...’ Then it returned to normal just as fast as it seemed to change. It seemed to only last for a second, and apparent only I saw it. ‘What in the name of Celestia was that!?’ He must have figured out what happened, because he could clearly see the terror in my face. Realizing it, he himself seemed on the verge of panic again, and, without a word, scurried away. I had never seen anything like that before. Dragons and Minotaur are things I have encountered before and handled well. But that was a whole new level of freaky. I must have stood there for a while and was completely out of touch, as I didn’t notice Winona had come up next to me. She barked a couple of times and that snapped me out of it. ‘Wait, where’d he go?’ was my first thought. I looked around but I couldn’t see him. He’d disappeared. “I’ll probably see him again soon.” He said he was looking for somepony in town. I just hope they fare better, ‘cause now I actually hope I don’t see him again. “ What kind of pony is he?” The thought sent shivers down my spine. Chapter 1.3 “Come on ya’ll, we gotta’ get to the meetin’ and see what our destinies’ll be and get our cutie marks!” said Apple Bloom to her friends as they hurried to the C.M.C. meeting. “How are we going to get there when we planned too now?” complained Sweetie Belle as they ran through town, “Hey, why do we have to hurry anyway?” “Because SOMEpony decided to sleep in like a lazy good-fer-nuthin’!” replied Apple Bloom. “HEY! I heard that!” yelled Scootaloo, who was still waking up, from her new scooter. “Well you did happn’ to pick today to sleep in.” Apple Bloom retorted. “And today happn’s to be the day we were gonna bring in more members to the Cutie Mark Crusaders! So sor-ry for bein’ a little..” she trailed off, not knowing quite the word to say. “Prudent?” Sweetie Belle suggested. “Yeah, prudent in this.” AB finished. “Alright already. Geez, I already said I was sorry. What more do you want?” Scoot’s lamented. “For you too wake up and hurry!” AB replied. Today was as they said. It was in fact an important day for them, as they were going to try and bring in new members to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They had been planning on doing this for a week now and they weren’t going to screw it up. Ever since Twilight was coronated six months ago, new ponies have been arriving in town, either moving in or visiting for a while to see the place. Something about it being significantly historic now. That means families were moving in, which means they have children, which potentially means new blank flanks, and more potential new members. This was a chance to expand the C.M.C. even further, remembering about Babs Seed’s progress in Manehatten. So, in order to accomplish this goal, they need to recruit new members. And so they decided to set up a meeting in town hall, see what would come of it, and try their best! And maybe see if they get their cutie marks. You never know. “Again, why do we need to arrive early?” asked Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom replied. “So we can see who came and how many. That way, we won’t feel so overwhelmed if there are a lot, or seem disappointed if there aren’t that many. A way of composing ourselves for meeting them.” was her explanation. “Yeah,” said Scootaloo, “that sounds good. Hey, can we rest a sec? I’m still waking up here.” said scootaloo as they entered the park, the meeting spot still a ways ahead. Apple Bloom thought about it for a second, then replied, “Ok, just a sec though.” They slowed to a halt, pulled over and stopped by a bend in the paths. They all then, simultaneously, fell over and began to pant with exhaustion. They ran too much, too hard and too fast. They’ve burned up all their energy and are tired. “Whoa, *pant* didn’t think we’d get this tired. *pant* Guess we should’a *pant* gone at a slower pace, *pant* huh?” asked Sweetie Belle, realizing how exhausted she really was, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. “Come to think of it, *pant* I still had a bit of energy in me *pant* then suddenly i’m exhausted.” “What?”, said Apple Bloom. “You too?” “Yeah,” replied Sweetie Belle, “I guess so. *pant**pant* Hey, do you hear somepony coming?” The others perked their ears up and listened. And, lo and behold, somepony was indeed coming closer. Running closer, actually. Sudden, irrational fear gripped them. “Some pony is coming! Quick, hide!” said Scootaloo. They got up and found that it was coming from around the bend ahead. Wondering who else seemed to be in a hurry, but not wanting to be seen spying on them, they hide in the bushes and peaked to see who it was. “Wait, why are we hidin’?” asked Apple Bloom as she turned to Scootaloo. Scootaloo thought but couldn’t think of a reason why. “I don’t know why. I just had this sudden urge to hide and-” “Aww, did some little pony get scared? playfully teased Apple Bloom. “No. Shut up.” she retorted “Hey, who is that?” Sweetie Belle asked, cutting off Apple Bloom who was going to say something. They looked out and saw an unusually tall pony leaning on a bench, tired and out of breath. A red stallion with a dark brown, messy mane, scars, tattoos and wearing a black robe. This colt looked as tall as Princess Luna almost, which fascinated the three. But the mane, scars and tattoos make him seem menacing, so they refrained from approaching. He seemed frightened or agitated, like he’d been spooked or scared or something. “Why was he runnin’?” asked Apple Bloom. “Dunno. Let’s see.” replied Sweetie Belle. “Damn it, gods DAMN IT!” he yelled to himself, then kicked the bench. “Why does it have to be now? *hnff* Of all times for me to go through the Flux, it had to be now. Why not happen, oh, I don’t know, a month ago. When I DIDN’T have some important shit that I was doing.” The three were immediately taken aback as they never heard anypony say that out in public. He sat down at the bench and held his head in his hooves, apparently very stressed. “Have you ever heard anypony say any of that stuff before?” asked Apple Bloom. The others shook their heads in the negative. “OK Moonsorrow,” continued the colt a few moments later. “calm thy fury. You need to think clearly, not angry.” He did some deep breaths and it seemed to calm down a bit. Then at the same time, a sensation of calm and relaxation swept over the three. “Hey, I feel a bit less tired all of a sudden.” whispered Sweetie Belle, seeming to relax a bit. “Wait you feel that happen too?” Apple Bloom asked, puzzled as she also felt a feeling of less fatigue. “Hold on, how’d we all feel that at the same time?” asked Scootaloo, evidently more awake now. “Was-was it...” she stopped realizing that he infact was the cause. “How did he do that?” she asked looking toward the strange stallion. He lifted his head up, seeing if anypony was around evidently, then went on. They had quieted down to listen, as he didn’t seem to notice them. “Ok. So, the tarot reading Fable gave me has been accurate so far. That first pony I met in this friggen town, what’s her name again... uhh, Pinkie Pie? Yeah, that’s it.” “He saw Pinkie earlier?” they all thought aloud. “So, according to the tarot, she’s the Fool. The one i’d meet first, the one who will herald my arrival to my destination. Heh, she certainly seemed fit the part alright.” “Did he just make fun of Pinkie Pie?” said Sweetie Belle, a little ticked. “Quiet, he’ll hear us.” urged Scootaloo. Sweetie settled down. “Wait,” asked Sweetie Belle, “why are we watching this guy?” “He seems suspicious, now shut up.” snapped Apple Bloom. They shut their mouths. “OK, so first the Fool, then Strength. *sigh* I’ve definitely met that one, the orange mare who sold the apples. She was Strength.” “My sister?” said Apple Bloom. “God I hope I don’t see her again. I really don’t want to explain the flare up that occurred back there. I can’t attract too much attention to myself. Can’t afford it.” “Wait, what? D-did he do something to my sister?” said Apple Bloom with worry in her voice. “Oh hell, I am not looking forward to meeting the Charioteer. The predicted encounter with Strength was murky, but Charioteer... *sigh* that’ll not end well.” He said solemnly. What the heck is he talkin’ about?” Apple Bloom asked, starting to panic. “Did somethin’ happen to my sister?” She was getting worried. Did she get hurt, was there some accident, was this guy involved? The thoughts were racing through her head. “Calm down Apple Bloom, I’m sure nothing has happened.” Sweetie Belle said to comfort her friend. Then, before she could panic more, they heard a thud from the stallion and saw he had fallen over, clutching his head. “Aahhh! Ngh, gah... AAAHH! They knew now he was in immense pain. “Hey, he’s hurting! We gotta help him.” said Scootaloo, seeing him in pain. “What’s wrong with-” Apple Bloom was cut off as the pony jerked up and they saw what was happening. He was clutching his tattoo’s, and they were GLOWING now! He let out a curt yell and suddenly his pupils went from what appeared to be hexagon, which they didn’t notice before, to cover his eye’s. The dark spread like inky tendrils and covered his eyes, and made them turn completely black. Wind began blowing, and wailing, and noises were being heard. It took a second to realize they were whispers. The three of them were petrified with terror at what they were witnessing. “The heck's going on here!” yelled Scootaloo, as they were huddled together, fearful of letting go. “I don’t know- What’s he doing!” exclaimed Apple Bloom as the tree behind the bench became old, then ancient. The leaves were withering, falling, disintegrating, disappearing. The bark peeling off and falling to the ground. The tree was dying. “Oh god, crap! Crap!” now he saw what was happening, still clutching his head. He was himself freaking out over what’s happening. He then crawled over to the tree, which looked ancient now, and placed his hooves together. The three saw him doing something, it looked like he was saying something, a spell maybe? They came apart and were placed on the tree. His face grew an expression of determination, and his tattoos glowed even brighter. And then, suddenly, the wind stopped, the noises went silent and the tree stopped aging. The CMC’s looked on, curious at what he was doing. “Live. Live you stupid tree! Live!” He lifted a hoof of and punched the tree, and the tree then came back to life! Really! The branches grew back, the leaves too. The bark came back, and the whole thing looked as it did before in a matter of seconds. “Wait a sec, what happened?” said Scootaloo. This was a legitimate question. What the heck just happened? His head jolted up, and he looked over. He’d noticed them. They would have reacted, but they were transfixed. His eyes, they were terrifying. They weren’t just black, the seemed to radiate darkness as if it were like heat from a radiator. The color of them spilt out and spread just immediately away from their place in his head, the images around distorting what was being see. He knew they were there, but they were scared stiff. The feeling they got from being seen with those piercing eyes. It was as if he saw their souls... “LET’S GET OUTTA HERE!” they screamed in unison, and they bolted. Scootaloo grabbed her “What. No wait-Gahhhghng...” He got up but then fell over, in pain, clutching his side. “Please. done run...” He couldn’t say more, it seemed to pain him, and there would be no point they were already way out of the park and into town. After a bit of that they pulled over and waited a moment. “Dude, what the hay happened back there?” asked Scootaloo, catching her breath. They had not seen something like that before and they needed to figure out what that was. “I dunno. Maybe he’s some kind of sorcerer or somethin’. Like Zecora.” suggested Apple Bloom. “Nu-uh. Zecora’s never done anything like that before.” replied Sweetie Belle. “Whatever that was, was something else.” “What was all that stuff he talked about? Like ‘tarot’ or ‘flux’ and all that?” asked Apple Bloom, intrigued about all this. “How about we talk about it later, huh?” suggested Sweetie Belle. “Were going to be late for our arrival plan.” “What? Are you insane!?” said Scootaloo indignantly. “A guy talks about weird, rotally bizzare things, killed and brought back a tree, scared the living heck outta us, and you want to wait to talk about it?” “She’s right.” replied Apple Bloom. “We got to go, we can’t just sit and talk about it right now. We got to do what we need to do. We’ve got to think about the C.M.C. for now. We can figure that stuff out later.” “But- but... *sigh* ok.” Scootaloo agreed in defeat. “ I gotcha’. Let’s go. But afterward, we try and figure out what that was. Got it?” “Agreed” the other replied. They then started back on their path. They still had a bit of time to prepare for the meeting.
Chapter 1.1 “Ugh, by Luna and Celestia how much further to the next town? My friggen legs are killing me.” lamented Moonsorrow as he walked and walked along a road toward gods know where. His exhaustion was slowly catching up to him, explaining why he now is becoming irritable. Even worse, the pain in his side is becoming more apparent. ‘Stupid llamas, using poison gas, makin’ me need surgery’, he thought to himself. ‘Man, I’m really feeling crappy. Maybe I should stop at the next town’. He has traveled for days to find the pony he is looking for, but has yet to reach his destination. It’s apparently some place called Ponyville, a predominantly Earth Pony township. And it’s apparently WAY away from the rest of society (in other words, metro areas). If experience told him anything, these resident’s may not take too kindly to him. Just like the last couple of towns, and most small communities he’s been to. Probably because he has a gloomy air about him. This is always difficult, coming home. Then again, it has always been difficult to adjust to being in the homeland after being gone so long. No matter how many times he leaves and returns to Equestria, he can never really adjust. Oh well. He decided to stop for a moment after he turns the next bend. Reaching under the cloak, he searched for his map, wondering if he can find out where he is. Sudden pain twinged in his head and eyes. The sun shouldn’t be affecting his eyes when he has his hood on. Then, realising it’s -this- kind of headache, he sighed. ‘Again? Whatever, I’m not going to answer. Don’t any of those jerks recognise that they're being ignor-’ Something jumped out of a bush right in front of him, startling him. He let out a quick yelp and fell on his back. ‘The heck was that?!’, he thought. Looking up at the figure who apparently was waiting for someone to pass by, he saw it was a Pony. A young mare, average civilian height, with a light pink body and hot pink mane, jumping up and down with a goofy smile on her face. Perplexed, he thought, ‘Ok, what’s this now?’ “Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie. You seem new around her. What’s your name? Why are you on the ground?” she asked hyperactively, still hopping around. ‘Holy crap, she talks fast.’ Not wanting to reveal much at all, he decided to ignore the questions for now. He started to get up when he felt pain in his side. The spot in his ribs that was stitched up was hurting quite a bit now. She’d knocked him off his concentration and so he can’t suppress the pain. He let out a short hiss and cringed a little as he got up. Her eyebrow rose a bit hearing him. “You ok? You sound like you're hurting.” she asked. He realized he was showing he was hurt. ‘Crap’, he thought, ‘she noticed. Our golden rule, never show weakness. Meh, whatever. Not trying to impress anyone anyway. No need to worry about -them- watching.’ He got up and, figuring there is no avoiding it, answered her. “Uh, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”, he said even though that probably won’t work. “Um, wait. What was your name again?” “Pinkie Pie! At your service~” She turned her head upside down and stuck her face near mine and asked; “Can you tell me yours please? It’s only fair since I gave you my name, and granny Pie always said it’s polite to-” “FINE-FINE-jeez! I’ll tell you...” I rubbed my temples after hearing her start that tangent. She didn’t seem upset in the slightest by my getting angry with her, in fact she seemed happier that I gave in to her demands. Plus she forgot about my injury, win-win I guess. “My name is Moonsorrow... can I please just look at my- Hey! Where the-” My map was missing from the ground where I had left it. I looked back at the pony and she had somehow taken it from me while I wasn’t looking. “Where are ya headed? Is it Ponyville?” “That’s none of-- Actually yes... how did-?” “It’s pretty close to here Moonsorrow~ You look like a.. Straight-to-the-point kind of colt, so follow me! La-lala-lala-lala~” She began hopping away from me, in the direction I came from. “Wait! Why should I listen to you- YOU STOLE MY MAP!! Get back here!!” I yelled after her. But her singing and prancing was hard to shout over, I had no choice but to go after her. She seemingly toyed with me as I chased her, she managed to always stay ahead of me, regardless of how fast I ran, if I was on some kind of drug, I’d appreciate knowing which and why it showed me this pink mare... ‘Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me’, he thought, remembering his visit to Kronos earlier. ‘So is this is the fool? The one signifying i’ve made it to my destination,’ remembering the reading with Fable O’Shannon. ‘OK, so I should follow her’. She slowed down, noticing I had done so. “C’mon! You coming or what?” She called back. “Yes...” I said slothfully, slowly catching up to her. Trying to regain concentration was getting harder due to the pain increasing in my noggin and side. I calmed myself and decided to just ignore the pain for a few minutes. No harm in trivial conversation. I sped up my pace and caught up to her. “So... can I have my map back?” “Sure, I was just having fun!” She said handing it over, having a playful smile on her face. She apparently likes to just laugh, have fun, or be random. Jeez, I feel like a heel. I can already tell that I am not going to like her as much. Meh, oh well. Back to conversing. “So, judging from your demeanour, I’m going to guess you like parties, yes?” I inquired. Might as well check if Fable was accurate. She inhaled with a big smile on her face, her eyes lit up, and, somehow, she started to talk and move faster than before. “OH MY GOSH I LOVE PARTIES! I THROW PARTIES ALL THE TIME AND EVERYPONY LOVES THEM AND THEY HAVE SO MUCH FUN AT THEM! I THROW PARTIES FOR MY FRIENDS, FOR CELESTIA, FOR MY NEIGHBORS, FOR GUMMY OR JUST TO THROW A PARTY! (GASP) I’LL THROW YOU A WELCOME PARTY!!! IT’LL BE SO NICE AND SO AWSOME AND-” She was darting around extremely fast, and is throwing around confetti. ‘Oh, what in the name of Luna have I done?’ I thought while processing what she was saying. Well, Fable’s tarot was spot on. That means Ponyville is where the one I’m looking for is at. So... ‘Wait, did she say she was going to be throwing me a party!? I hope she’s just joking!’ “Did you say you’d throw a party for me?” I asked, hoping she was. “YEAH I AM!!! IT’LL HAVE BALLOONS AND CAKE AND PUNCH AND EVERYPONY IN PONYVILLE WILL BE THERE AND-” she stopped when I shoved my hoof in her face. I cannot draw undue attention to myself. I gave her an intense stare, hoping to get the point I’m about to make across to her. I did my best to avoid projecting my will, hoping to be able to persuade her. “I. Do not. Want. A party. Please, do not do throw me a party, when I did not ask for one. And I don’t like parties much anyway.” I pulled my hoof away and started to walk again. She trotting along near me, not hopping along, at the same pace. She looked rather indignantly and quizzically at me. She then asked, “How could you not like parties? They’re so fun and nice and-” “I don’t like those kinds of social gatherings.” I interjected, hoping vainly that would end it there. “But everypony loves a good party!” she responded with a smile. “They have fun talking to friends and and meeting new ponies and have so much fun!” “Still though, that’s not my thing.” I said as we went over a small hill. The town started to come into view. “But why don’t you like pa-” “Woah, wait.” I said, “Hold up, I thought Ponyville was a small town.” “It is, why?” “Then what’s with the banners and.. what the- is that a VILLA in the middle of town!?” I was amazed, having heard of the town of Ponyville and looking through documents and other information, it was a backwater little town of low importance. Yet I could make out banners, commerce, pieces of importance and notice, even royal guard patrolling the streets! This is an important place. Yet, now that i’m thinking about it, the emblems on the banners are unfamiliar. ‘The heck is going on here?’ “Hm? OH! Thats Twilight’s home! It’s also the town library. It’s something Celestia gave her since her coronation!” She was jumping up and down as she said that. She seemed very excited about that. “Who? Wait- did you say someone was- was CORONATED!? WHEN?” I asked with some semblance of alarm. ‘What all have I missed since I’ve been gone?’ “How DON’T you know?” she asked when she stopped jumping. She was looking at me as if I had just insulted her. ‘Well I guess a lot has happened.’ “I’ve been out of country for quite some time. As such, I’m unable to keep up on news back home. Here. In Equestria.” I said truthfully. She looked sceptical for a couple of seconds. ‘Maybe she wouldn’t believe me’, I thought. “OK, that makes sense. then I’ll explain. (inhale)”. Then her mouth shot off an entire explanation faster than I could possibly understand. ‘Holy god, how does she talk that fast?’ I wondered. ‘Is she even real? I hope not. But you don’t always get what you hope for. (sigh)’ Almost as fast I had finished my thoughts, she had finished explaining. I had no idea what she had said and she was looking at me, expecting me to respond. “Uh, ok?” “Exactly!” she said with a smile and hopping up and down again. “That was all simple enough, right?” I opened my mouth to respond, but she cut me off. “Right. Anyway, welcome to Ponyville! La-lala-lala-lala” she said as she, finally, left me behind. I just stood there befuddled, trying to process what I had seen. Well, might as well go into town. Guess this is where she is. I just hope Fable’s predictions weren’t all accurate. I proceeded to enter town, whilst thinking of how I should approach the one I'm here to see. I sighed, “Ugh, Moonsorrow, what have you gotten yourself into this time.”
Chapter 1.2It was an abnormally calm day in Ponyville, the kind of day where life was slower than normal. At least, as normal is now since the town became a center of world attention because of Twilight. Applejack was selling her apples as usual, but she sighed as nopony seemed to be approaching her stand. Winona was calm for the most part, yapping playfully and happily. All was well and good, as always. Once all of Equestria had heard that this was the town which allowed Twilight to grow and become a princess, many a pony came to here to see what kind of town this was. Business had been booming since then as more ponies had been getting more apples, and thus the Apple family gets more profits. Seeing nothing to do for now, I looked around at the scene of the town as it is now. Banners with twilight royal emblem waved and flapped in the breeze. Guards, though few, walked along the areas of town they’re assigned to. Within sight is the new ‘watering hole’, the Olden Days’ Tavern, in one direction and in the other direction is a newer motel, the Friendly Neighbors Inn. These are all new and have only popped up over the last few months. Ponyville is definitely different, yet it’s still not much changed from before. ‘Heh, guess Twilight was right,’ I thought to myself, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Then a figure made it's way into our line of sight. Winona was the first to notice, and immediately got into a defensive position, growling towards the figure. This then turned to whimpering as the pony was approaching closer and closer. I tried calming her down, but to no avail. This pony was tall, lanky and a dark stallion, covered in a black cloak and a deep hood covering his face, more so his eyes. He seemed to glide towards the open air apple stand like a specter. He approached the stand, Winona nearly barking, as I felt severely uneasy. Something was very odd about this pony “Uh... Howdy. What’cha lookin’ fer?” I asked hesitantly. Have to look out for the family business. “. . . um, i’d like to buy an apple please. H-how much?” He asked, a little far off and distant. Or was it remorseful, and haunted. Couldn’t really tell. “Two bits...” The money went down to the counter as the pony grabbed an apple, he moved to the side of the cart, Winona’s eyes following. He then pulled something out from under the cloak, a slender object that appeared metallic. As he took it to the apple, It cut through it, revealing it to be a blade. The knife was now clearly visible as the mysterious pony carved the apple. I stared at this object as its shape was unfamiliar, not a common tool seen by anypony around here, nor a military issue seen on the guards. Then I noticed the blade had markings in it ‘Is that writin’ on that thing’. Focusing in on it, it read ‘Sequitur omnia, fiducia nihilo’ along it’s side. The heck does that mean? Curious, I decided to strike up conversation with him. “So, when’d ya’ get here in town?” I looked over at him, he never averted his eyes from the apple. “Uh, a few moments ago.” he said after a short silence. “What’s yer business here in town? Been seein’ an awful lot o’ ponies comin’ into town. for a while now. And ya’ seem to have a reason fer bein’ here.” I based that assessment of his demeanour on absolutely nothing. Maybe it’ll work. He stopped eating and looked over at me, kinda’ puzzled, kinda’ impressed. “You're either very perceptive, or very good at guessing.” ‘Wow, I actually got it right!’ I thought, feeling proud of myself. “Let’s just say i’m here to meet someone I know.” he went on. “Really?” This guy knows someone around here? That’s very interesting. “Who ya’ here to meet? ‘Cause i’d like to know if I know them.” He looked at me with a serious look in his eye’s, and I then noticed the pupils in his eye’s. They were hexagon shaped. I thought of the crystal ponies, but i’ve met many crystal ponies, and none had eyes like that. Then something else caught my eye. He had weird markings on his face, they looked like tattoos. Never met anypony with tattoo’s in my life. This guy was strange. He then spoke with a serious tone in his voice, “You shouldn’t pry too far into other ponies business.” ‘Oh. uh, ok” There was a silence for a moment after, he just kept on eating the apple. Then he paused, and turned to me. “Oh, uh, i’ve been out of the country for some time. I heard somepony got coronated. What's with that?” “Ya’ don’t know about that? It’s been news all over Equestria!” “Again, been outside of Equestria for quite some time.” “Right. Well ya’ see, this here town has become a real iconic place because of Twilight. She-” “Who?” he asked cutting me off “Princess Twilight Sparkle. She’s the one who got coronated.” “Ah.” He replied “Anyway, she was assigned the task to learn about the magic of friendship a while back by her teacher, Princess Celestia. Twilight’s been Celestia’s best and most favored student for years and when she made friend’s with us-” “Whoa whoa whoa, US?” “Yeah, i'm on of her friend’s. The name’s Applejack by the way.” “Nice to meet you. I’m Moonsorrow. Now you said that Twilight was taught by THE Princess Celestia, right?” “Right! Now we’ve been friends through some pretty tough time’s. First defeating Nightmare Moon when she came back.” “Ah, i’ve heard of this. Ok continue.” “We helped out at the wedding in Canterlot, the one between Princess Cadence and Shining Armor? I was in charge of the catering!” I had a very proud look on my face. “Alright then. Go one.” “Well, there’s a whole lot that’s happened. I won’t bore you with it all. A few months ago, Celestia sent Twilight a book with spells made by Starswirl the Bearded. And we all got our destinies mixed up. She helped us get them right again and then, after that, all of a sudden she disappeared in a flash of light! She came back after night had fell and had returned as an alicorn! With her new wings! Celestia had come to tell us that she’s passed a final test to see if she was ready, and so she passed and became a princess. Ponyville got a lot of attention, being the place she learned what she needed to be a princess, and so now we have a new princess. That explain it all?” “Almost. What’s with the villa? “The what?” I asked. ‘What’s a villa?’ He pointed to Twilight’s home here in ponyville. “Oh! Well she didn’t want to leave her friends here in Ponyville, she cares so much fer us. So Celestia asked us to have the a new home made for here. Twilight asked if we could rebuild the library and make it a part of her private home. So she lives there when she’s not working in Canterlot.” “Heh, that must take a lot of flying.” he replied with a slight snicker. “That’s why Princess Celestia made a portal doorway for her to use.Twilight uses her magic to activate it, she can walk through it and go from here to there and back again. She lives here, but works there.” “Neat.” He then got back to the apple. he seemed to grimace a little when he ate each piece of it. Almost as if it tasted unappealing to him. “How do ya’ like the apple?” He, for a second, did not seem sure what to say. He was hesitating, as if he didn’t want to say. “They’re, um.. It’s uh, it’s good. Very good.” he said, then poorly putting on a fake smile. He didn’t sound too sure about that assessment. This guy’s lyin’, he doesn’t really think they’re good, he's sayin’ it. “Come on, what do you really think.” I asked with a tone that said I could tell he was lying. “I can take it.” “Really, it was good.” he said after he finished eating, “Thank you, have a nice day.” “Now wait a minute,” I said moving toward this dishonest colt, “I’d just want to know what ya think is wrong with my apples.” He was about to leave when Winona started to bark at him again. AJ tried to get her to stop, but she wouldn’t stop barking. ‘What's gotten into her?’ she thought worriedly. Winona never does this to anypony. Ever. She stood in a defensive, yet aggressive posture, ready to attack him. ‘What is it about this guy that’s so dang disconcertin’ for Winona?’ He turned his head over to look at Winona, almost slowly, and suddenly she went silent. ‘What the-’ I started to think. Then suddenly I felt a feeling I have never felt before, a feeling likes I was surrounded by absolute suffering. Surrounded by pain and madness. ‘Whoa what’s goin’ o- MY APPLES!’ I looked at the apples in the stand, and was horrified as they seemed to be rotting and decomposing in the blink of an eye! The wood of the stand was aging and turning old, everything around us, except him, turned ancient and decayed. I suddenly felt nauseous, like I was gonna be really sick nauseous. How was this happening? I looked back at Winona, and she was terrified, slinking away from this pony out of fear. This wasn’t natural. I felt I was on the verge of a full panic, thinking ‘What in the name of Celestia is goin’ on!?’ He seemed to notice what was happening around us, was noticeably shocked, turned around, and hustled away almost as if in a slight panic. And suddenly everything went normal. The stand returned to normal, the apples became fresh and ripe. Winona seemed to calm to almost normal, but watched after this pony, just in case he decided to come back. “The heck just happened!?” I wondered to myself in stark horror. What did he do? “Hey!” I called to him as I decided to catch up with him, “Wait up! What WAS that back there? What happened?” “Please, leave me be.” he said. Was that fear I heard in his voice? I caught up to him, grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. His hood fell and when I saw his face I was taken aback, shocked, as the first thing I noticed now were the scars. He had several on his face, a couple went into his hairline, but most prominent was one that went across his right eye. They seemed to be slashes from blades or claws. One even looked like some kind of burn mark. He looked like some kind of veteran, as soldier, or a warrior.. or a maybe even criminal. He pulled himself from my grasp. “Get away from me.” he said coldly, placing his hood back on, and started to walk away. “Holdup, sugarcube.” This guy ain’t getting away so easily. “You gotta tell me about what happened. Why’d all that weird stuff happe-” “I asked you to go away, now leave me alone. Please.” he said still walking, still trying to ignore me. He seems really desperate to be left alone. Maybe he IS a criminal! He certainly seems like the type who’d be a criminal. I should just make him say what he doesn’t want to say. “Hey! Don’t you just blow me off stranger. I got more strength in me than you might think. So whatever you're hiding just say it, ‘cause you aren’t going anywhere till you do.” I got in his way and made him stop walking. That apparently got his attention, he stopped dead in his tracks. The look in his eyes went from annoyance and worry to what seemed almost like disbelief. “What did you say? Did you say strength?” he asked with a lighter tone in his voice. He seemed to be a little shocked. “Yeah, I did. Why?” Why would that concern him? “It’s nothing, it just reminded me of something somepony told me.” he trailed off toward the end. This pony seems to be just stranger and stranger. He seemed to be in some trance for a moment then caught up with himself with a little shake. “Please, just leave me be.” he said as he tried to continue walking away. “Wait a minute! You didn’t explain what happened!” I exclaimed. “Just go away, I don’t want to cause anything to happen. Just get away.” He pleaded. I need to know what happened. “Tell me what happened now!” “NOOO!” he yelled as he spun around. When he did his hood fell and suddenly his face had completely changed. For a moment, it had morphed into a grotesque and monstrous shape. Horns like a goat, fangs in his mouth, eyes like serpents going down the sides of his face. He had taken on a terrifying form. This was absolutely horrifying. ‘Oh my goodness...’ Then it returned to normal just as fast as it seemed to change. It seemed to only last for a second, and apparent only I saw it. ‘What in the name of Celestia was that!?’ He must have figured out what happened, because he could clearly see the terror in my face. Realizing it, he himself seemed on the verge of panic again, and, without a word, scurried away. I had never seen anything like that before. Dragons and Minotaur are things I have encountered before and handled well. But that was a whole new level of freaky. I must have stood there for a while and was completely out of touch, as I didn’t notice Winona had come up next to me. She barked a couple of times and that snapped me out of it. ‘Wait, where’d he go?’ was my first thought. I looked around but I couldn’t see him. He’d disappeared. “I’ll probably see him again soon.” He said he was looking for somepony in town. I just hope they fare better, ‘cause now I actually hope I don’t see him again. “ What kind of pony is he?” The thought sent shivers down my spine.
Chapter 1.3 “Come on ya’ll, we gotta’ get to the meetin’ and see what our destinies’ll be and get our cutie marks!” said Apple Bloom to her friends as they hurried to the C.M.C. meeting. “How are we going to get there when we planned too now?” complained Sweetie Belle as they ran through town, “Hey, why do we have to hurry anyway?” “Because SOMEpony decided to sleep in like a lazy good-fer-nuthin’!” replied Apple Bloom. “HEY! I heard that!” yelled Scootaloo, who was still waking up, from her new scooter. “Well you did happn’ to pick today to sleep in.” Apple Bloom retorted. “And today happn’s to be the day we were gonna bring in more members to the Cutie Mark Crusaders! So sor-ry for bein’ a little..” she trailed off, not knowing quite the word to say. “Prudent?” Sweetie Belle suggested. “Yeah, prudent in this.” AB finished. “Alright already. Geez, I already said I was sorry. What more do you want?” Scoot’s lamented. “For you too wake up and hurry!” AB replied. Today was as they said. It was in fact an important day for them, as they were going to try and bring in new members to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They had been planning on doing this for a week now and they weren’t going to screw it up. Ever since Twilight was coronated six months ago, new ponies have been arriving in town, either moving in or visiting for a while to see the place. Something about it being significantly historic now. That means families were moving in, which means they have children, which potentially means new blank flanks, and more potential new members. This was a chance to expand the C.M.C. even further, remembering about Babs Seed’s progress in Manehatten. So, in order to accomplish this goal, they need to recruit new members. And so they decided to set up a meeting in town hall, see what would come of it, and try their best! And maybe see if they get their cutie marks. You never know. “Again, why do we need to arrive early?” asked Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom replied. “So we can see who came and how many. That way, we won’t feel so overwhelmed if there are a lot, or seem disappointed if there aren’t that many. A way of composing ourselves for meeting them.” was her explanation. “Yeah,” said Scootaloo, “that sounds good. Hey, can we rest a sec? I’m still waking up here.” said scootaloo as they entered the park, the meeting spot still a ways ahead. Apple Bloom thought about it for a second, then replied, “Ok, just a sec though.” They slowed to a halt, pulled over and stopped by a bend in the paths. They all then, simultaneously, fell over and began to pant with exhaustion. They ran too much, too hard and too fast. They’ve burned up all their energy and are tired. “Whoa, *pant* didn’t think we’d get this tired. *pant* Guess we should’a *pant* gone at a slower pace, *pant* huh?” asked Sweetie Belle, realizing how exhausted she really was, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. “Come to think of it, *pant* I still had a bit of energy in me *pant* then suddenly i’m exhausted.” “What?”, said Apple Bloom. “You too?” “Yeah,” replied Sweetie Belle, “I guess so. *pant**pant* Hey, do you hear somepony coming?” The others perked their ears up and listened. And, lo and behold, somepony was indeed coming closer. Running closer, actually. Sudden, irrational fear gripped them. “Some pony is coming! Quick, hide!” said Scootaloo. They got up and found that it was coming from around the bend ahead. Wondering who else seemed to be in a hurry, but not wanting to be seen spying on them, they hide in the bushes and peaked to see who it was. “Wait, why are we hidin’?” asked Apple Bloom as she turned to Scootaloo. Scootaloo thought but couldn’t think of a reason why. “I don’t know why. I just had this sudden urge to hide and-” “Aww, did some little pony get scared? playfully teased Apple Bloom. “No. Shut up.” she retorted “Hey, who is that?” Sweetie Belle asked, cutting off Apple Bloom who was going to say something. They looked out and saw an unusually tall pony leaning on a bench, tired and out of breath. A red stallion with a dark brown, messy mane, scars, tattoos and wearing a black robe. This colt looked as tall as Princess Luna almost, which fascinated the three. But the mane, scars and tattoos make him seem menacing, so they refrained from approaching. He seemed frightened or agitated, like he’d been spooked or scared or something. “Why was he runnin’?” asked Apple Bloom. “Dunno. Let’s see.” replied Sweetie Belle. “Damn it, gods DAMN IT!” he yelled to himself, then kicked the bench. “Why does it have to be now? *hnff* Of all times for me to go through the Flux, it had to be now. Why not happen, oh, I don’t know, a month ago. When I DIDN’T have some important shit that I was doing.” The three were immediately taken aback as they never heard anypony say that out in public. He sat down at the bench and held his head in his hooves, apparently very stressed. “Have you ever heard anypony say any of that stuff before?” asked Apple Bloom. The others shook their heads in the negative. “OK Moonsorrow,” continued the colt a few moments later. “calm thy fury. You need to think clearly, not angry.” He did some deep breaths and it seemed to calm down a bit. Then at the same time, a sensation of calm and relaxation swept over the three. “Hey, I feel a bit less tired all of a sudden.” whispered Sweetie Belle, seeming to relax a bit. “Wait you feel that happen too?” Apple Bloom asked, puzzled as she also felt a feeling of less fatigue. “Hold on, how’d we all feel that at the same time?” asked Scootaloo, evidently more awake now. “Was-was it...” she stopped realizing that he infact was the cause. “How did he do that?” she asked looking toward the strange stallion. He lifted his head up, seeing if anypony was around evidently, then went on. They had quieted down to listen, as he didn’t seem to notice them. “Ok. So, the tarot reading Fable gave me has been accurate so far. That first pony I met in this friggen town, what’s her name again... uhh, Pinkie Pie? Yeah, that’s it.” “He saw Pinkie earlier?” they all thought aloud. “So, according to the tarot, she’s the Fool. The one i’d meet first, the one who will herald my arrival to my destination. Heh, she certainly seemed fit the part alright.” “Did he just make fun of Pinkie Pie?” said Sweetie Belle, a little ticked. “Quiet, he’ll hear us.” urged Scootaloo. Sweetie settled down. “Wait,” asked Sweetie Belle, “why are we watching this guy?” “He seems suspicious, now shut up.” snapped Apple Bloom. They shut their mouths. “OK, so first the Fool, then Strength. *sigh* I’ve definitely met that one, the orange mare who sold the apples. She was Strength.” “My sister?” said Apple Bloom. “God I hope I don’t see her again. I really don’t want to explain the flare up that occurred back there. I can’t attract too much attention to myself. Can’t afford it.” “Wait, what? D-did he do something to my sister?” said Apple Bloom with worry in her voice. “Oh hell, I am not looking forward to meeting the Charioteer. The predicted encounter with Strength was murky, but Charioteer... *sigh* that’ll not end well.” He said solemnly. What the heck is he talkin’ about?” Apple Bloom asked, starting to panic. “Did somethin’ happen to my sister?” She was getting worried. Did she get hurt, was there some accident, was this guy involved? The thoughts were racing through her head. “Calm down Apple Bloom, I’m sure nothing has happened.” Sweetie Belle said to comfort her friend. Then, before she could panic more, they heard a thud from the stallion and saw he had fallen over, clutching his head. “Aahhh! Ngh, gah... AAAHH! They knew now he was in immense pain. “Hey, he’s hurting! We gotta help him.” said Scootaloo, seeing him in pain. “What’s wrong with-” Apple Bloom was cut off as the pony jerked up and they saw what was happening. He was clutching his tattoo’s, and they were GLOWING now! He let out a curt yell and suddenly his pupils went from what appeared to be hexagon, which they didn’t notice before, to cover his eye’s. The dark spread like inky tendrils and covered his eyes, and made them turn completely black. Wind began blowing, and wailing, and noises were being heard. It took a second to realize they were whispers. The three of them were petrified with terror at what they were witnessing. “The heck's going on here!” yelled Scootaloo, as they were huddled together, fearful of letting go. “I don’t know- What’s he doing!” exclaimed Apple Bloom as the tree behind the bench became old, then ancient. The leaves were withering, falling, disintegrating, disappearing. The bark peeling off and falling to the ground. The tree was dying. “Oh god, crap! Crap!” now he saw what was happening, still clutching his head. He was himself freaking out over what’s happening. He then crawled over to the tree, which looked ancient now, and placed his hooves together. The three saw him doing something, it looked like he was saying something, a spell maybe? They came apart and were placed on the tree. His face grew an expression of determination, and his tattoos glowed even brighter. And then, suddenly, the wind stopped, the noises went silent and the tree stopped aging. The CMC’s looked on, curious at what he was doing. “Live. Live you stupid tree! Live!” He lifted a hoof of and punched the tree, and the tree then came back to life! Really! The branches grew back, the leaves too. The bark came back, and the whole thing looked as it did before in a matter of seconds. “Wait a sec, what happened?” said Scootaloo. This was a legitimate question. What the heck just happened? His head jolted up, and he looked over. He’d noticed them. They would have reacted, but they were transfixed. His eyes, they were terrifying. They weren’t just black, the seemed to radiate darkness as if it were like heat from a radiator. The color of them spilt out and spread just immediately away from their place in his head, the images around distorting what was being see. He knew they were there, but they were scared stiff. The feeling they got from being seen with those piercing eyes. It was as if he saw their souls... “LET’S GET OUTTA HERE!” they screamed in unison, and they bolted. Scootaloo grabbed her “What. No wait-Gahhhghng...” He got up but then fell over, in pain, clutching his side. “Please. done run...” He couldn’t say more, it seemed to pain him, and there would be no point they were already way out of the park and into town. After a bit of that they pulled over and waited a moment. “Dude, what the hay happened back there?” asked Scootaloo, catching her breath. They had not seen something like that before and they needed to figure out what that was. “I dunno. Maybe he’s some kind of sorcerer or somethin’. Like Zecora.” suggested Apple Bloom. “Nu-uh. Zecora’s never done anything like that before.” replied Sweetie Belle. “Whatever that was, was something else.” “What was all that stuff he talked about? Like ‘tarot’ or ‘flux’ and all that?” asked Apple Bloom, intrigued about all this. “How about we talk about it later, huh?” suggested Sweetie Belle. “Were going to be late for our arrival plan.” “What? Are you insane!?” said Scootaloo indignantly. “A guy talks about weird, rotally bizzare things, killed and brought back a tree, scared the living heck outta us, and you want to wait to talk about it?” “She’s right.” replied Apple Bloom. “We got to go, we can’t just sit and talk about it right now. We got to do what we need to do. We’ve got to think about the C.M.C. for now. We can figure that stuff out later.” “But- but... *sigh* ok.” Scootaloo agreed in defeat. “ I gotcha’. Let’s go. But afterward, we try and figure out what that was. Got it?” “Agreed” the other replied. They then started back on their path. They still had a bit of time to prepare for the meeting.
