Zigzag walked through the Ever free forest. She often looked at her bag, which was open. There lay a small kitten, snoozing. Every time she did this, she smiled warmly. Finally, after about 20 minutes of walking, Zigzag found a waterfall. It was big, and the rushing water was loud. The kitten woke up, stretched, and looked up at Zigzag with big eyes. Zigzag felt happiness overcome her and nuzzled the kitten. It meowed softly.
Zigzag secured the saddle bag with the kitten inside. "I'll call you... Stripe!" Zigzag said.
After Zigzag and Stripe were done having a lunch break, they took a nap. Zigzag had a dream. A peculiar dream. A dream some would call a special dream.
Zigzag flew through space. She felt the wind rushing through her mane. She wasn't a very fast flyer, and most of the time preferred to walk, but this.. this felt different. At last, she arrived at her destination. "Hello?" she called out.
"Hello young Pegasus. I can feel you are troubled in your heart and have many questions, but all will be answered soon." A soft voice rang out as a swirl of mass revealed a blue alicorn.
Zigzag gasped quietly. She felt.. felt like she remembered this pony! "Who are you? What is this place? How did I get here? Who am I? What did you-" Zigzag was stopped by the blue alicorn.
"I am Princess Luna. My sister and I rule over Equestria, controlling the Sun and the Moon. she said quietly. "You must look for the moon stone and bring it to me! Then, all your questions will be answered." she said, dissapering.
Zigzag awoke gasping for breath. She looked next to her, seeing Stripe. Her breathing slowed. She looked up at the sky. She could of sworn she saw Princess Luna there. She noticed the sun was rising slowly. She packed up her things. After she finished, she looked at Stripe. She kneeled down and used her wing to gently move him. He awoke, blinking. "Stripe, stay in my bag. I'm going to be flying today." she said softly.
Stripe blinked again and meowed. She sighed and gently picked him up with her mouth. She put him in the saddle bag.
After she was ready, Zigzag started flapping her wings. She flew up to the waterfall and looked behind the source of the rushing water. She noticed a button; well, that's what she assumed it was, and flew closer. She looked at it, wondering what it could do. Was it dangerous? She checked her bag to see if Stripe was okay. She froze when she didn't see him. Very slowly, she looked down. There was Stripe with two stubby wings. He looked up at her with big, innocent eyes. Zigzag flew down a bit. "Stripe? What happened to you?" Zigzag asked.
Stripe flew down to where they were sleeping. Zigzag followed. When Stripe arrived, he took a bottle in his mouth. Zigzag took the bottle in her hooves. She squinted her eyes as she tried to read the small text. " Wing Brew... Drink brew to grow wings instantly. Side effects include constant hiccupping." she finished. She looked at Stripe with a look of annoyance. Zigzag sighed as Stripe hiccupped.
Zigzag's ears perked up as she heard voices above. She whisked up everything and motioned for Stripe to follow her. She flew low and went into a nearby bush. She cleared some leaves out of the way so she could see. She looked up. 2 pegasi were flying out of the side of the cliff. She noticed the side of the cliff was open, and a unicorn was coming out too. He teleported to the ground and ran into the forest. The two pegasi spotted him and flew after him.
Zigzag suddenly heard Princess Luna's voice telling her to help him. She quickly responded, unable to control her own body. She quickly flew after the two pegasi, noticing a mare and stallion. She stayed quite close, but far enough not to be seen. She had never flown this fast before. It felt great to her. The wind rushing in her mane, her wings a blur, the vast amount of trees that made up the Ever free forest under her. She grimaced as she imagined what would happen if she were to fall from this high. She looked behind her, checking if Stripe was still behind her. Her eyes widened as she saw a white-zigzag trail behind her. She could barley make out Stripe, camouflaged in the colors.
Zigzag suddenly felt woozy. She wildly looked around and saw the unicorn aim a flash of light at her. It hit, and the world went black.
Zigzag woke up on a bed. "Not this again!" she groaned, rubbing a hoof on her head.
She saw Stripe snoozing next to her." Stripe! Wake up! We've got to get out of here!" she whispered.
Stripe woke up." Meow?" he asked.
"Hurr-" Zigzag was stopped by a voice in the hallway.
"I see you're awake." it said.
Zigzag gasped as she looked at Stripe with an angry look on her face. Stripe looked at her the same way. A purple unicorn with a dark blue mane stepped into the room. Zigzag grabbed Stripe and put him in her saddle bag, and opened the window, ready to fly away. She stopped when she felt something tugging on her tail. She looked behind her, and saw a green magical aura. She looked at the unicorn, whose horn was also glowing green. " Let go of me!" Zigzag demanded.
" Listen." the unicorn responded calmly.
Zigzag sighed and turned around. " What?" she spat.
The unicorn motioned for her to follow him as he exited the room. She trudged after him. Stripe flew onto the unicorn's back and laid down. " Traitor!" Zigzag hissed.
The unicorn lead them to an old library. " Oh my! It's so beautiful!" Zigzag said with sarcasm.
The unicorn looked at her curiously. He turned forward and started to walk. Zigzag flew up to the highest book shelf and a took one of the books. She sneezed when dust flew on her face. The unicorn chuckled." My name is Starlight. What's yours?" he asked.
" Zigzag. Funny how someone who nearly kidnapped me and is a stranger is asking for my NAME!" she replied.
The unicorn looked hurt. Zigzag immediately regreted everything she'd said. Great. Now she was being a jerk. The unicorn took a deep breath. " I am Princess Luna's son." he said.
" What?! But.. but.. Princess Luna is a Princess! She isn't married! How-" Zigzag was stopped by the look of amusement on Starlight's face.
" Oh, so you find this amusing?" she spat. Starlight looked flustered.
"N-no not at all! You have to believe me! I really am the prince of the night!" he said.
Zigzag chuckled. " Of course you are! Your similarates to Princess Luna are striking!" she said.
Starlight calmed down at this. " Okay, back to business. I believe my mother visited you in a dream, correct?" he inquired.
"Yup, she told me to get her something called the moonstone." Zigzag said as she sat down on the rug. Stripe jumped off of Starlight's back and went under Zigzag's wing.
" Good. Now, the moonstone is an ancient artifact from long, long ago. Princess Luna made it to store her power. Ponies became greedy one day. They wanted the moonstone. They wanted to get power. Lots and lots of it. Princess Luna was devastated at this. How could she, the Princess, tear apart the goodness of ponies?" Starlight paused to see if Zigzag was listening. Zigzag stared intently at him.
He continued. " Princess Luna decided to destroy the moon stone. If it was going to tear Equestria apart, it was of no use to her. Celestia became worried. If Luna destroyed the artifact, the power was going to go back to her. Such an immense amount of power could corrupt a pony easily. Luna knew this, but was willing to do it for Equestria. But a unicorn, by the name of Darkshadow wanted this power. Not only the power, but something he had seeked for all his life. Immortality. He sneaked into the castle and attacked Luna. Luna was beaten. He took the moonstone and became an Alicorn. Celestia also tried to fight, but with the moonstone, he was just too strong. He noticed nightmare moon's challenges for the Elements of Harmony, and decided to make his own secret organization called the Shadow Bolts. This organization kills other ponies to steal their energy. They give this energy to their leader, DarkShadow. Once he collects enough, he will take over Equestria." Starlight finished.
" Are the pegasi that I saw Shadow bolts?" Zigzag asked. Starlight nodded as he looked at the clock above the fireplace.
" Would you like to sleep here tonight?" he asked Zigzag.
Zigzag nodded.
"Tomorrow we'll stop the Shadow Bolts." he yawned as he walked out of the room, looking for a few blankets.
"Zigzag? Wake up! It's time for breakfast!" Starlight said as he prodded zigzag's side with his hoof.
Zigzag groaned as she woke up. She yawned. She looked to her side, were Stripe was lapping up milk from a bowl. " Hey, Starlight?" she asked.
"Yes?" Starlight answered as he used his magic to levitate a cook book.
" Do you ever have strange dreams about Prin- I mean, your mom?" she asked, choosing her words carefully.
Starlight turned, facing her. " No. Sometimes, I feel so... far away from her. If anypony ever knew that she had married a captain of the royal guard to have me, she would have been in deep trouble. I would have been in deep trouble." He finished, as he lowered his gaze. He walked slowly out of the room, the cook book floating after him.
Zigzag looked down and noticed that Starlight had dropped something. She took it in her hoof, and noticed that it was a necklace. There was a cresent moon hanging from the bottom. It sparkled in the sunlight.
After Zigzag had washed her face and cleaned her hooves, she slowly trudged to the kitchen, her thoughts bearing heavily on her. The smell of pancakes wafted through the hallway and renewed her energy. She trotted toward the kitchen, quickening her pace as she got closer. Then, BOOM!!! Zigzag slid into a mare, and just her luck, the mare had a temper. A bad one.
"Hey! Watch it!" the green Pegasus said as she shot up.
"S-sorry" Zigzag stammered , as she blushed.
The Pegasus snorted, but she calmed down a bit. "So, Starlight, this a friend of yours?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
Starlight looked up from his cook book and noticed Zigzag. "Oh! Hey Zigzag! This is my friend, Herbwing. She's good at healing ponies and identifying herbs and plants. I thought we could bring her along with us to stop the Shadow Bolts. Herbwing, this is Zigzag. I saved her in the forest yesterday. She's going to help us stop the Shadow Bolts." Starlight quickly looked back at his cook book, looking at the next step for pancakes.
"How do you know about the Shadow Bolts?" Zigzag asked, as she walked down the hallway to the living room, with Herbwing trailing close behind.
"M-My dad was murdered by DarkShadow. My mom disappeared recently. Since then, I became a spy against the Shadow Bolts. I live in the mountains, about an hour or two from here." she answered, her voice cracking.
Zigzag's eyes softened. "I'm so sorry..." she said quietly.
Herbwing laughed. "Zigzag, it's not your fault!" she said, but Zigzag could note a touch of sadness in her voice.
Stripe flew into the room, and started to bite her ear. "Stripe!" Zigzag laughed. "Stop that!" she said as she tried to pull Stripe off. Herbwing watched them, amused until her sharp ears picked up a sound outside. She quickly looked out the window, just in time to see a grey Pegasus dressed in the Shadow Bolts uniform ringing the door bell. She quickly grabbed Zigzag and Stripe, and took them up to the attic. "Hey?!" Zigzag protested. "Sssshh!" Herbwing warned as she desperately searched her mind of how she could save Starlight. She heard a plate crash and Starlight yelling help. But soon, all she heard was silence.
Herbwing waited a few minutes before finally opening the attic door and flying to the kitchen. Zigzag did the same. Zigzag's eyes widened as she saw a trail of blood leading to the front door. "B-b-but how? How? S-S-Starlight. T-t-This isn't funny anymore. C-c-come out!" Zigzag said, as tears started flowing down her face.
"Please*Hic* Herbwing. We have to*Hic* find Starlight before it's too *Hic* late." Zigzag said as she looked at Herbwing with wide eyes.
Herbwing nodded curtly. "Take everything you need. We're gonna go on one hell of a journey." Herbwing smiled.
Herbwing and Zigzag had been flying for a long time. A very long time. Just as Zigzag thought her wings were going to burst with pain, Herbwing pointed her hoof toward a clearing. "Let's take a break over there." Herbwing said as she started to make her way down to the clearing.
They had left Stripe at Starlight's house, hoping they would be back soon.
Zigzag stuffed the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth and chewed. " Herting, ouy magke the kest handwiches wever!" she said.
Herbwing got up. "Come on, Zigzag. We haven't got all day, you know." she said. Zigzag nodded and started to pack up her stuff.
Many hours later, they arrived at a cave. Herbwing peeked inside, and sighed when she realized it was safe. She trotted into the cave, thankful they had found somewhere warm to sleep for the night. Zigzag returned from collecting firewood. "Good. Now put it over there and use the match to set up a fire." Herbwing ordered, as she got the sleeping bags and started to set them up.
"Herbwing?" Zigzag said, as she laid down in her sleeping bag.
"Yes?" Herbwing responded, turning over to face Zigzag.
"Do you think we can stop the Shadow Bolts?" Zigzag asked as she looked up at the cold, stone hard cave ceiling.
"Zigzag. You must have faith in your self and those around you. If you don't, nothing will ever go your way." Herbwing responded quietly, as she drifted off to sleep.
Zigzag thought of what Herbwing had said. "Faith" she mumbled as she let the warm clutches of sleep take her.
A shrill cry broke the silence as Herbwing and Zigzag shot up. They looked towards the cave entrance as a white earthpony was being carried away by a pair of Shadow Bolts. "Help me!!!!!!" she yelped,as one of the Shadow Bolts hissed angrily and drove a knife into her side.
Her screaming died out as she fainted. Herbwing quickly flew over to her bag and pulled out a shiny dagger in her teeth. Zigzag stared at Herbwing. Herbwing stepped out of the cave, taking the dagger with her. Zigzag couldn't see what had happened, but she could hear. But, at that split second didn't want to hear. She wanted to be deaf. She wanted to curl up in a ball and make it all go away.
"He-..."
"O-"
"AAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Zigzag winced as she imagined what was going on outside. Herbwing came in dragging the white earthpony behind her.
"Zigzag, get me some of those cobwebs over there. Those are good at stopping bleeding. I also need wild garlic, and a poppy seed or two. The wild garlic is to make sure there is no infection, and the poppy seed is to help her sleep." she explained, a grim look in her eyes.
Zigzag quickly nodded, and dashed over to Herbwing's bag. Herbwing started to stroke the white earthpony's mane, and noticed it was curly.
"I wot kit!" Zigzag announced as she trotted over, her voice muffled by the leaves and herbs in her mouth.
"Good. You'll need to help me, I can't do this alone. Start to lay the cobwebs on her wound, I'll use the wild garlic." she said.
Zigzag nodded and started to use the cobwebs. They were sticky, and wouldn't come off of her hooves, but she managed.
After they were done, they white mare started to come to.
"H-huh? A- a-are they gone?" she rasped.
"You're safe. That's all that matters." Herbwing smiled down at her.
"Really?" the white earth pony smiled weakly. "My name... My name is Cloud heart." she said, as she started to get up, but winced in pain.
"Lay down, you still need lots of rest. Here, take my sleeping bag." Herbwing said as she got up and started hauling the sleeping bag towards Cloud heart.
"Zigazg, Zigzag! I need you to fly by the forest and check if there's any sign of the Shadow Bolts," Herbwing murmured as she prodded Zigzag's side.
Zigzag woke up groggily and nodded at Herbwing. She looked over at Cloud heart. Still snoozing. She forced herself to stretch and opened her wings, ready to fly off.
"Wait!!" Cloud heart shouted as she scrambled up to her hooves.
"What the hay?" Zigzag asked, as she dodged Cloud heart.
"I-I-I have to show you something," Cloud heart gasped.
"Ok..." Zigzag answered warily, as she started to fly down.
"Herbwing, is that Ok?" Zigzag asked.
"Y-" Herbwing was stopped by Cloud heart.
"Why do you have to ask her if you want to do something?" Cloud heart inquired, oblivious to the fact that Herbwing was glaring at her.
"Well, Herbwing's had a bit more experience than I've had in the wild, so she knows what to do." Zigzag hastily answered, trying to avoid letting the two mares fight.
"You may go now." Herbwing said between clenched teeth.
"Ok! He he..." Zigzag responded as she started to trot out of the cave with Cloud heart close behind.
"So, what do you want to show me?" Zigzag asked as they were entering the forest.
Cloud heart giggled. "Just wait and see!" she responded cheerfully.
Zigzag looked puzzled. "Why do we have to go so deep in the forest to see it?" she inquired, hoping Cloud heart would respond.
Cloud heart sighed. She turned around to face Zigzag. Tears were streaming down her face. Zigzag gasped.
" Cloud heart? What's wrong?" she asked, hoping she could comfort the white mare.
"Freeze."
Zigzag turned around just in time as a bullet whizzed past her, barely missing her head.
"What in the name o-"
She gasped when she saw a Shadow Bolt.
"I'm so sorry! I should have never led you here!" Cloud heart sobbed as Zigzag tried to understand what was going on.
"Come with me or that little traitor gets it!" the Shadow Bolt said as he took of his mask, revealing a purple unicorn.
Zigzag couldn't help it. She started to sob.
"Star-s-Starlight?" she asked in a tiny voice.
Starlight narrowed his eyes. "I am not this Starlight you speak of. I am Shadow Bolt number 2,900, loyal to lord Dark Shadow." he added tartly, pointing his gun at Cloud heart.
A crack filled the air.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zigzag screamed, her rage bubbling inside of her.
In a flash, she yanked the gun from the magical aura, and pointed it at Starlight.
You... *Gasp* You monster!" she said.
She could see no fear in his eyes, no emotion. She broke down into sobs. "What... What have they done to you?" she wailed, her voice cracking.
"Oh my dear Zigzag! Can't handle a bit of surprise, hmmm?" A sinister voice filled the air.
Dark Shadow flew down, surrounded by many, many Shadow Bolts. Mares, stallions, even foals carried a sinister smile on their faces.
Zigzag rose to her feet, wheezing.
"What... have... you... done?!" she shrieked, her voice filling the air.
Dark Shadow laughed. "I just brought out is true emotions, that's all. Why, don't you want to join him?" he asked as he pointed a ray of light at Zigzag's head.
She took a few groggy steps, and shook her head. "No... NO!" she wailed, as her coat color became darker. Soon all that was left was a tiny shell.
"Good. Now I have my ultimate Shadow Bolt! Number 1,000,000,000!" He yelled in triumphant.
"I. Don't. THINK SO!!!!!!!!!!" Zigzag yelled again.
"wha-?' Dark Shadow was cut off by Zigzag's sudden burst in energy.
"I can't DO This ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She shrieked again, and grabbed the gun.
"Bye, bye Starlight, Cloud heart, Herbwing." she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.
BAM!
Then she was gone...
Never to be seen again, never to be heard of again.
She had failed Luna.
