A Tale of Hunters, Wanderers, Hucksters and Monsters.

Bon Bon was nervous as she waited for the train to arrive at Ponyville train station but she kept a hopeful smile on her face as the train came into view. Next to her, Twilight Sparkle nudged her encouragingly.

"Just stay calm Bon Bon; Lyra will get off the train, you'll explain everything and apologize, she'll forgive you and then she'll be happy when you tell her about what we did for her!" Twilight smiled, "I even made a checklist to keep us on track!"

Bon Bon giggled, "That is so like you Twilight Sparkle." Her ears perked up at the sound of a train whistle and she bounced nervously, "It's here! Itshereitshereitshereitshereitshereitshere..." Twilight leaned against Bon Bon and the mare calmed down, "Right, right, sorry, just so nervous."

"Just take deep breaths Bon Bon, the train's almost here." Twilight was right, already the locomotive was thundering down the tracks and already the platform signaller was raising the flags that told the train that there were passengers to pick up. As it began slowing and hissing to a stop in a cloud of steam, Twilight and Bon Bon waited nervously before blinking as Lyra hopped out of the first-class carriages with a pair of large packs slung over her back.

The mint-green unicorn mare searched the crowds with her golden eyes before they locked onto Bon Bon and Twilight and she trotted over, face set in a neutral expression as she approached. Once she was close enough, she nodded to them, "Twilight, Bonnie."

"Lyra...I..." Bon Bon started before Lyra pressed a hoof to her lips.

"I know Bonnie, and I'm not mad. Maybe I was being silly, holding it all back from you for six years. I should have trusted you more." She smiled sadly, "Maybe it's for the best, I have so much to tell you, and you have to meet my friends, I'm sure they'll love you!"

Bon Bon blinked, "Friends?" It was silly to think that Lyra was alone before they met, but knowing that she had friends before her still stung a little.

Lyra nodded, "I made some very close friends during those years, the best I could ever have. I was planning on sending them some messages asking if they'd like to come to a little get together." She suddenly points at a nearby bush, "That means a small party, not some huge shindig like you usually plan Pinky!"

Pinky Pie popped out of the bush with a pout, "Oh phooey, and I was all set to meet them as well."

Lyra shook her head with a grin, "Ah what the fuck..." Twilight raised an eyebrow at the strange word as Lyra continued, "If you promise to just bring a large chocolate fudge cake, I'll let you and your friends meet them as well." She smiled, "I'm sure you'll love them, they're the most loyal and wonderful friends in the whole world!"

Pinky nodded vigorously, "Okie-dokie! Tell me when you're having the party and I'll whip it up in two shakes of my tail!" She dashed off as Lyra chuckled.

"Same old Pinky, same old Ponyville." She sighed before turning to Bon Bon, "So, you went into my room. You didn't touch anything did you?"

Bon Bon smiled weakly, "Well...I wanted to do something nice for when you came back and it smelled kinda bad in there..." Lyra stopped listening as her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. Smell? Do something nice?

"No..." She whispered as Bon Bon announced, "So I had the hoodie and room cleaned of that nasty scent!"

"NO!" No-one was expecting Lyra's shriek of terror as her horn glowed and she shoved Bon Bon out of the way, the packs sliding off easily as she ran like Tartarus was after her towards their home.

Bon Bon scrambled back to her feet, "Lyra! Wait!" She turned to Twilight, "What happened?"

The purple unicorn shook her head, "I have no idea! We'd better follow, who knows what she's going to do!"

Lyra ignored the ponies saying hellos or asking her what was wrong as she dashed towards the house she shared with Bon Bon, whimpering to herself, "Nonononononononononononono..."

She didn't bother slowing down to open the door, and before the eyes of everypony, she simply blasted the door in and dashed up the stairs towards her room, kicking open the door as she slid inside and sniffed the air desperately.

Nothing, there was nothing in the air, and the panicking mare frantically dashed over to the hoodie hanging on its hook, plunging her nose into its folds and breathing deeply, trying to find something, anything, that managed to escape the cleaning spell that had been cast on it.

Tears dripped from her eyes as she sobbed before she smashed her forehooves into the wall of her room again and again, cracking the plaster until a hoof smashed straight through as she breathed hard, eyes wide and unfocused, before she unsteadily dropped back down on all fours and approached the crates, magic tugging the hoodie off to slip it on as the crates clicked open.

Outside, Bon Bon and Twilight stopped as the window to Lyra's room exploded into a spray of glass shards as a shape leaped out and landed to reveal Lyra standing there, the hood of her garment down to reveal that she was wearing a long red scarf that obscured her muzzle, but what caught their attention, and the attention of the other townsponies, were the weapons strapped to her form.

Throwing knives were strapped to one foreleg, a long blade set into a strange brace on the other with a compact contraption that looked something like a bow, if it was collapsed inwards, to Twilight's eye, slung across her back. A twitch of Lyra's back leg sent a bundle into the air as the unicorn closed her eyes, and sang.

Twilight suddenly froze and looked down at her hooves and she gaped upon seeing her shadow literally fusing with her legs as the bundle glowed before exploding into a shower of sparks that covered the entire town. Looking around, she could see ponies attempting to flee before their own shadows suddenly fused to their hooves and stopped them moving, leaving them to cry for help as Lyra flicked her right foreleg and the blade shifted into a ready position as she approached Bon Bon.

'This is it.' Twilight thought, 'I am going to die here...unless...I have to try!' She focused her magic and suddenly screamed as a lance of agony went through her skull and she stopped, breathing heavily as Lyra continued approaching, before she focused on Bon Bon.

"Lyra..." Bon Bon whimpered as Lyra flicked her leg and the blade sprang out, and from her position, Bon Bon could see that it was very sharp, "Please...don't do this...I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too Bonnie, but I have to do this, otherwise I won't be able to stop myself." Bon Bon blinked at Lyra's reply and realised that Lyra was shivering slightly, "You have no idea what you have done. Oh Bonnie, I should have told you earlier, should have explained The Rule, but now its too late. If I don't do this, the fury will overwhelm me, and then you will die. You and everyone in Ponyville."

The blade lifted to Bon Bon's neck as Lyra continued, "Just a drop, just a drop spilled, and I can explain everything, I can tell the whole story and then vanish back into the Badlands and the Far Country." Bon Bon swallowed as the blade came closer, and closer, when a bolt of magic and a rainbow streak smashed into Lyra at the same time, sending her flying into a house as Rainbow Dash hovered above the cobblestones.

"Bon Bon, are you alright?" Rainbow asked the mare as Twilight Sparkle trotted into view, breathing heavily as her horn glowed with magic that surrounded her feet, "Twilight, what the heck's going on!"

"I don't know Rainbow, one minute Lyra's panicking because we...cleaned her stuff. Oh no, she must have gone crazy after she checked her room! Rainbow! We need to..." Anything further was drowned out as a wave of magical energy swept over them along with a sound that made Bon Bon shudder, a scream of fury that made Twilight and Rainbow Dash freeze as Lyra stepped out of the ruined front door, eyes glowing as motes of magic span around her.

Twilight swallowed heavily, "Rainbow, I need you to do exactly as I say. Hopefully we can slow...Rainbow!" The brash Element of Loyalty was already charging towards Lyra, who turned her gaze to focus on the pegasus and snarled, a sound that should not have come from a pony's throat rumbling through the air.

Zecora hummed a short tune to herself, part of an old tribal children's song, as she approached Ponyville, intent on purchasing some items for a new batch of medicinal potions when she felt the pull of her shadow on her hooves and frowned lightly, whistling a small charm that immediately shielded her from the binding spell as she focused her attention more fully on the town.

"Powerful magic is in the air, it seems one was not being very aware." She slipped a hoof under her cloak and checked that the darts and blowgun she always carried were still there, "If an enemy from home is there, they shall find I do not fight fair."

She dashed into the town, ignoring the cries for help from other trapped ponies and rounded a corner just in time to see a pony get sent flying into a statue. Approaching the prone form, Zecora noted that it was the brash pegasus, Rainbow Dash if she remembered correctly, and she was not in good shape.

The flying pony was covered in cuts and three distinctive throwing knives were embedded in her side, causing Zecora to grimace, "So it is the fury of the heart that upon this town fell, truly the curse of memory contains a powerful spell."

She trotted in the direction Rainbow Dash had come crashing down from and regarded Lyra Heartstrings stalking towards a battered Twilight Sparkle, eyes and magic tainted through with a bloody red energy that the Zebra shamaness recognised instantly, "Blood is what you crave, even though lives you wish to save. For you old friend I cast my die, and with this attack let fly."

She grabbed a dart, slipped into her blowgun, brought it up to her lips and with a deep breath, aimed and blew. The projectile, tipped with a sleeping potion for defending against Everfree beasts, zipped through the air and struck Lyra on the neck, prompting a howl of rage as the unicorn turned her attention to Zecora, who simply sang and before the unicorn could react, her shadow suddenly bound her in place and she began to struggle as Zecora approached, watching as the unicorn mare's struggles began to weaken until she finally collapsed.

"Zecora!" The Zebra turned from her inspection of Lyra to see Twilight Sparkle approaching slowly, magic around her hooves to try and stop the spell from latching onto her hooves.

Zecora whistled, loudly, and just like that the citizens of Ponyville were free as Twilight found herself flailing for a moment before she steadied herself. Approaching the Zebra, who was now singing softly to Lyra, Twilight looked down at the unconscious unicorn, "I don't understand, I had an idea that Lyra would be upset, but why did she try to kill us?"

Zecora finished her soft song as Lyra's shadow formed chains that wrapped around her as the Zebra turned to the purple unicorn, "A curse on her family that has caused many tears, one that dictates her hopes and fears." She carefully draped Lyra over her back, "A message to your princess you should send, to ignore this is not something you can pretend."

She turned to leave but paused as Twilight shouted, "Wait! Where are you taking her?"

Zecora smiled, "A message I too must send, to summon those who are her closest friends." With that, ignoring Twilight's shouted calls, the Zebra whistled and simply dropped into her own shadow.

Twilight stared for a long moment, before gasping, "Rainbow!" She galloped to where she had seen Lyra throw her friend to see if she was okay.

In an empty field on an abandoned farm, a blue mare practised her latest act, face set in concentration as she went through some flourishes and sweeping of her cloak to distract her audience as he then released a set of magical fireworks to blind as she vanished into invisibility before moving to the rear of the group of stolen pony dress forms that acted as a makeshift audience and dropping the invisibility.

Nodding in satisfaction to herself, Trixie decided to practice her usual showmare boasting, when she blinked as her magic told her that the stone in her travel pack was had received a message. Shrugging, she trotted over to her pack, opened it, and pulled out a small crystal and concentrated.

Trixie's eyes instantly flew open as she tossed the crystal back into her pack, slung it over her back, and dashed out of the field. She paused just long enough to cast a spell on the dress forms and smiled as she blinked and the inanimate objects were now positioned to be staring directly at her.

She turned and left, content her little prank would scare a few foals and wanderers.

Gilda yawned as she lounged in the sun, a passing pony moving a little quicker as the action revealed the razor-sharp rear teeth behind her beak. Nothing like soaking up sun in beautiful Colterado on their famous beaches. She twitched as a chiming sound in her mind dragged her gaze lazily towards her travelling pack.

Grumbling, the griffin used her tail to pull the pack closer and tugged out a crystal from a side pocket, and concentrated.

Her eyes flew open and she quickly tossed the crystal back into the pocket, secured her travelling pack and shoved a pony to the ground, "Move dweeb!"

Her wings flexed and she was airborne.

"I hear those things are awfully loud." Said a pony in time to the piano beat.

"It glides as softly as a cloud." Replied Flim as Flam played the piano.

"Is there a chance the track could bend?" Sang a pony.

"Not on your life my pony friend!" Answered Flim.

"What about us lazy slobs?"

"You'll be given cushy jobs!"

"Were you sent here by the griffons?"

"No good sir I'm...hold on a moment." Flim suddenly stopped the song as he trotted over to a saddle bag set down next to the piano as Flam stopped playing and the ponies in the audience watched as Flim pulled out a crystal and concentrated.

His eyes flew open and he turned to his brother who nodded and smiled to the audience, "My good ponies, unfortunately a situation has arisen with another client that requires our immediate protect...I mean attention! We hope you enjoy your purchases of Flim and Flam's Patented Multi-Purpose Elixer, thank you Goodpony Springs!"

They leaped into the Super Speedy Monorail Maker 2000 and roared off into the distance. Once they were fully out of view of the town, Flim turned to Flam, "We need to go faster!"

"Then we shall engage the Ultra-Power Velocity Magnifier 600 and engage the Super Gliding Wings my dear brother!" He grabbed a lever, "Hold on to your hat!" He yanked the lever.

A bird sitting on a cactus chirped in shock as in the distance a great plume of smoke and sand appeared before a dull boom echoed through the air as a streak rocketed into the sky.

The bird swore it heard the sound of two ponies cheering as it fluffed its feathers and flew off.

In a dark cave across the sea, on an island wracked by constant storms, a queen studied the first of her newborns with a practised and expert eye as she glided through the mewling, chittering mass of bodies and slime, inspecting them for flaws and weaknesses when she twitched as a chime sounded in her mind. Turning slightly, her horn glowed and she picked up a crystal from a pedestal and concentrated.

Her eyes opened lazily as she smirked, "I think I will enjoy the look on their faces." She murmured as her form began to warp and shift, compressing inwards until a black alicorn with dragonfly wings, crooked horn and strange holes in her legs was standing amidst her brood, who slithered across the black stone to hunt for food.

She took wing and vanished into the stormy skies.

Zecora sighed as she sang the spell to its end and regarded the sleeping Lyra, tossing and turning in the binding circle as she snarled and wept, and the shamaness smiled sadly, before removing an object and placing it near the unicorn, who sniffed it and suddenly breathed in deeply as her fitful sleep became more peaceful.

Still smiling, Zecora prepared some tea and waited.

It would not be long.