Chapter one: Old Friends
Tifa Lovegood ran blindly through the forest, brambles clawing at her pale green coat and twigs and leaves in her snow white with a faint blue highlight mane and tail. The moonlight shining her path. Her hooves ached so badly, but she has to keep running. Keep running from….. She stopped. Running from what? She looked around, the trees looming over her. She listened real hard to see if she could hear what it was. Nothing. Same when she looked around. Suddenly, she heard a twig snap and leaves rustle. She snapped her head around and held her breath. It was a moment, and then she heard a faint laugh. Her heart started pounding. It got louder. Her ears went down and she curled her tail around her left back leg. She crouched a little and opened her mouth to speak. “W-Who’s the-“ She got cut off by a voice. “Tiiffaaa……” Tifa was now shaking. She turned around to look behind her and she saw a shadow coming straight towards her. She let out a shriek and started to back up. The shadow was coming at her fast, and before she knew it, she was being engulfed by the shadow. She let out a scream.
Tifa woke up, still screaming. She stopped, and looked around, breathing hard. She started to chant to herself, “I’m in my bed; I’m in my bed……” She did this for about three minutes. Shakingly, she raised her hoof to her forehead, and wiped off the cold sweat. She was covered in it. She’d been having these dreams since she was a little filly. Her parents told her that it was just nightmares and that she’d be having them every once in a while. She’d been having them almost every night. She sat in bed for awhile, calming down. Then she got up from bed and went to her bathroom. She looked in the mirror and tried to stifle a laugh. Her mane was really puffed out. And her fur was a mess as well. When she looked at her tail, she couldn’t help but laugh. It looked just like the mane. She sighed and took out her brush.
After she brushed herself, she went downstairs to see if the shop was ready. Her parents left her in charge because they were gonna be gone for awhile. It was ready. She looked in the front window and saw that the three- layered chocolate cake was still there along with the beautifully decorated cupcakes. She looked around the shop and the sweets were still there. Pies, cakes, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, and more sweets. Her special talent is baking goods. . She checked the time and it was time to open the shop. She walked up to the door and unlocked it and went to stand behind the counter, waiting for her first customer.
It was about six o’clock when she decided to close. She grabbed a rag and started to clean up a mess a little filly had made when she heard the ring to the front door. She turned around while saying, “Sorry we’re closed.” A stallion stood there. His light brown fur shone under his gleaming, ash colored armor. There were hints of black she thought to be part of the armor. His short brown mane and tail looked like it hadn’t been combed for days. His hazel gaze met her baby blue eyes. “Sorry,” was his only response. He looked around the shop. “Nice place.” ”Thanks,” Tifa said, a little skeptical. “Can I help you?” He looked back at her and shook his head. “You new around here?” He nodded. “What’s your name?” “Nanite.” A flash of recognization of the name went in her head. “I’m…” She suddenly got this big headache. It hurt her head so bad. She raised a hoof to her head and said, “Excuse me.” She left the room without Nanite’s response. She went through the back door. His name sounded so familiar. Had she met this pony before somewhere? She tried to clear her mind. But she mainly tried to clear her headache, but that didn’t help any when she heard a voice behind her. “You ok, Tifa?” She turned around to see Nanite. “Yea, just great,” she mumbled. Nanite walked towards her, but Tifa raised a hoof.“No, I’m fine.” Tifa finally got the headache to go away when she saw Nanite look at her. “What?” He just kept looking at her. Tifa was starting to get a little irritated. She stomped her hoof and tossed her hue less mane to the side, causing the stallion to an utter quite. “Hmm.” He looked directly past her and up at the sky. Tifa followed his gaze and saw a falling white ball. She cocked her head in confusion. What the…… was all she could think of. The white ball was heading down fast. When it was about near the land, Nanite said “Run.” Tifa ran till she got to the oak tree, then she took cover behind it. Nanite hid in a ditch. All was quiet. Tifa waited for about five minutes. There was still nothing. Tifa began to peek when she heard a loud crash. She decided to wait for awhile longer. When she peeked, all she saw was smoke and chunks of land missing. She let out a gasp when the smoke cleared up. There stood a human male in white armor, and like Nanite, had some black parts. It had golden arms and white long hair. Tifa’s curiosity started to get to the best of her and she started to cautiously approach it. “Tifa,” Nanite warned. Tifa jumped. She forgot that Nanite was even there. She shot him a glare and continued approaching it. Tifa soon reached it and looked at him. She was in awe that she even saw a real human. “Wow.” She whispered. It suddenly turned around and looked at her. Its icy blue glare met her eyes. She shivered, but she held his gaze. “Can I help you?” “Take me to your ruler, pony.” He demanded. Tifa was starting to get angry. Who does this guy think he is? “My name is Tifa.” He snorted. “I could care less of your name, pony.” Tifa was getting furious. “If you expect me to take you to her, then let’s first start by getting my name.” He got in her face and growled, “I could care less of your name, pony. Now do as I say or else…” Tifa narrowed her eyes. “Or what?” she challenged. “You’ll suffer the consequences.” He growled, balling his fists up. He leaned closer. “Tifa,” a voice warned her. “This is Asura.” Nanite walked up beside her. Tifa forgot all about him. She looked a him, and then looked back at Asura. She flicked her ears in annoyance. She kept glaring at Asura. “Well?” Asura growled. “No.” Asura raised his arms. “You should have just taken me to her,” he growled and was about to bring his arms down when something fast flew by and it took Asura with it. Tifa stood there, dazed by what just happened. Nanite brought her back to reality when he gave her a nudge saying, “Go!” Tifa started to run, but looked behind to see what that flash was. There stood another human male. He had short, brown hair and he also had on an ash colored with white spots armor. It was a sort of sky blue color. Before Tifa could look at him more, Nanite pushed her along. “Hurry up! To the shop!” Asura was already on his feet and trying to fight off the other male. Then he caught sight of Tifa and he hit the male as hard as he could. The male went flying into the big oak tree. Asura started to chase after Tifa. She ran as fast as she could, but her hooves started to give away. Her hooves got tangled and she fell. By the time she looked up, Asura was already in front of her, grinning. He picked her up by the mane and she gave out a cry in pain. “Oh, I’m sorry. Does that hurt?” He yanked harder on her mane. Tifa gave another cry. Asura leaned in. “You should have listened to me, pony.” He spat the word “pony”. He raised his other arm and grinned more. “Oh, this is going to be fun.” He brought his arm down. Tifa covered her face and closed her eyes, waiting to be hit. Suddenly, she was dropped to the ground. She opened her eyes and saw Asura replaced by the human male. Tifa kinda coward down, wrapping her tail around her, scared the male might hurt her too, but also that he was taller than she thought. He looked at her and said, “Are you okay?” Tifa gave a small nod. He turned to look at Asura, but instead was knocked away. Asura’s nose was bleeding a bit, but he didn’t seem to notice. He looked at Tifa, his eyes full of hatred. He raised his arm and brought it down hard on Tifa. When he did, Nanite yelled, “NO!” Pain went through her face as she fell on the ground. For a minute, everything went white. She was rolled over by Asura and he punched her again, this time in the gut. Tifa let out a cry of pain, but was cut off when she couldn’t breathe for awhile. She gasped for air. When Asura was about to hit her again, Nanite knocked him over and was hitting Asura hard with his front hooves. He let out a yell of anger while hitting him. The other male went to Tifa as she was passing out. She saw the brown eyes of the male and heard the urgentness in his voice. She remembered being dropped and the male saying, “Never hurt the innocent!” and hearing a sickening thud. She looked up and saw the male holding, what looked like a maul, and saw Asura’s head gone. The male removed the weapon and looked over at her. Tifa was beginning to pass out. She closed her eyes and opened them to find Nanite and the male beside her, muttering. She only managed to hear “…Might remember….” “We’ll see.” And she passed out.