Chapter 1: There were no birds singing
Twilight Sparkle woke up in a good mood. One of the best moods she ever had. The day before, Winter Wrap-Up was finished, done even earlier than last years. With this, the Mayor decided to throw a party commemorating the new Wrap-Up record. Everyone in Ponyville was going to attend, especially since the Cake family announced that the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness (AKA the MMMM) would be made for the occasion.
“This might just be one of the best days ever!” Twilight said to her self.
As she got out of bed and began to place the sheets back into order, the first thing she heard was her trusty assistant Spike, snoring as loud as a dragon a hundred times his size. With a small smile, the unicorn shook her head at the baby dragon’s lack of tact. As she continued to set the bed, she suddenly noticed that there was no other sound. She looked over at a vacant owl perch.
“Owlowiscious?” Twilight called.
No response.
She looked over all of the room, but her pet owl was nowhere to be seen. The young unicorn went down stairs and called out for the owl again.
No response.
“Maybe she went outside,” she murmured as she went back upstairs.
Twilight looked out the window, which had been left open to let the first warm breeze of spring into the library. Owlowiscious was not there either. But Twilight suddenly realized something else. Unlike last year, and the year before that, and what she can only assume was every other year before that one, there was something missing. Something seemingly insignificant, but now left a strange emptiness in Ponyville.
There were no birds singing.
Twilight went over to the window, opened it wide and peered out into the branches of the tree that was her home. She saw no signs of the sparrows, cardinals, or blue jays that lived and played within the greenery from spring to fall. As she looked to the sky, she didn’t even see any birds flying. In fact, she didn’t see any birds anywhere. No beak, wing or even a feather.
“Weird.” She thought, “They usually sing and fly around non-stop for days after winter is cleaned up. Where did they all go?”
Twilight swiftly walked over to Spike's basket, using her hoof to lightly shake him awake.
“Spike,” she said. “Wake up. Something’s wrong!”
The purple dragon woke with a start, making quick glances around the room.
“Huh? Wha-what is it?!” He stuttered.
Twilight was quickly preparing breakfast while using her magic to gather every book she had on birds
“It’s the birds!” she exclaimed, “They’re gone!”
“So do you think all the birds just left Ponyville?” Spike asked.
It was about 11 in the morning now. Twilight and Spike left the library and were walking through Ponyville, where the citizens were preparing the town square for the celebration that evening. The Pegasi were decorating the city hall, while the Earth ponies constructed stands for the food and games, and the Unicorns used their magic to set up the stage for the speeches and performances. There were vibrant colors everywhere, mimicking the flowers and the trees that surrounded the town. The sound of tools and wings were drowned in the chatter of the ponies. Though the mood was cheerful, many conversations were on the exact same topic as Twilight’s. Where were all the birds?
“I don’t know Spike,” said Twilight. “But I am going to find out. And I know the first place to go.”
“Where?” the young dragon asked.
“To Fluttershy’s. If animals are going to go anywhere in Ponyville, its there.” Twilight said.
But as they left Ponyville and walked closer to the edge of the Everfree forest, they neither saw nor heard any birds like they had hoped. They saw the usual rabbits, mice, ferrets and the bear that lived in a tree not far from Fluttershy’s cottage. But not a single bird.
“What is going on here?” Twilight asked to no one in particular. “I was sure that at least some would be here?”
“Maybe you could ask Fluttershy!” announced Spike, pointing at the sky. “Here she comes!”
Twilight looked to where the dragon indicated and saw her timid friend. Fluttershy was flying very fast, descending rapidly toward them. When she got within 50 feet, they could see a frantic look on her face. The mere fact that she was flying at such a fast speed at them told them she had notice the same problem they had.
“Oh, Twilight, Spike its horrible!” the Pegasus almost wailed, landing a few feet in front of them. “The birds, they’re all gone! I searched all of Ponyville, all of the Everfree forest, and haven’t found even a feather of them!”
“We notice that as well,” Twilight explained. “ It’s like they just vanished. There has to be a reasonable explanation.”
“Oh I hope so,” said Fluttershy, “I’m so worried about them. What if somepony birdnapped them?!”
Her eye went wide with terror, and her lower lip began to tremble. Spike stepped forward hastily to comfort his friend.
“Don’t worry Fluttershy. I’m sure everything will be alright soon. You’ll see,” he said soothingly.
He then led the Pegasus back to her tree, both surrounded by animal concerned for their surrogate mother. Twilight followed, silently thinking, trying to think of a reason why the birds were gone. Before stepping in to the house, she glanced up at the sun, almost wishing Celestia would show her the answer.
“Where did they go?” she thought aloud. “And why?”
Hunt. Kill. Eat.
Those were its only thoughts. Since it was born, satisfying its hunger was its only concern. Hunting, killing, and eating were all the beast could comprehend. There was no room for reason, for mercy, for common sense. Even emotions were lost to it. It didn’t need them. It needed only hunger and blood lust. It only slept when it got full, which wasn’t often. The rest of its time was devoted to killing and eating any living, breathing thing that it could. And it had just finished the carcass of a full-grown hydra it had killed only a day ago. It was inside the rib cage of the serpent, licking the bones to strip any remaining trace of flesh.
The creature rose to set out again, driven by its urge to continue feeding. Not knowing, not caring where it wound up. There was no more food in the swamp. It had eaten all the animals that lived in it. It was able to live in any environment. As long as there were animals to kill and eat, it would stay. When it ate all the inhabitants, it moved on. It didn’t care how harsh the conditions were. It didn’t even mind the rotten odor of the bog. It had already filled the swamp with hundreds of skeletons, each picked clean to the last morsel of meat.
It sniffed the air. The smell of prey led it west. As it entered a heavily dense forest it stepped on a small sign, crushing it to pieces. As the beast disappeared into the thick brush, a lone grey mouse warily crawled out of its burrow. It was the lone survivor in the swamp, having escaped by being so small and by digging a 30-foot deep hole. The rodent scurried over to the splintered remains of the sign. Thanks to a kind Pegasus it had befriended, it knew how to read the writing of Ponies. But with the condition of the wooden plank, it could only make out two words.
Everfree Forest.
Author's Note
Though i acknowledge Puzzle Piece as my official editor, is anyone else feels the need to, go right ahead.
note that this is the only chapter i have at the moment. if it is liked, i will update them more quickly. but for now i will try to make it 1 chapter a week. Hope you enjoyed!
Chapter 2: How could this night be ruined?
“Looking good Big Mac!” Yelled Applejack. “Just a little bit more!”
The red-furred stallion slowly let the rope slide through his teeth, lowering the barrel of apples onto the cart. The Winter Wrap-up Record Festival was going to be so enormous that the Apple family didn’t have enough apples in the trees to use for their food stand. Luckily they had about two-dozen barrels of apples stored away in the attic of the barn. The transporting of them was difficult though. It took from 8 to 11 in the morning to finally get all the barrels out.
As the last of the cargo was placed in the cart, Applejack tied them down.
“With everypony being there,“ she said, “we’ll sell more apples t’night then we did all last year!”
“Eeyup,” replied Big Macintosh.
Applejack made a small frown. Though she loved her big brother, his lack of excitement and vocabulary on the subject annoyed her a little. The sound of the house door slamming and little hoofs galloping closer brought her out of sulking.
“Can I help with the stand Applejack?” squeaked Applebloom.
“Well…. alright,” Applejack said hesitantly, “But not till all your day chores are done. That means feeding the chickens too.”
“Yes!!” the little filly exclaimed
Applejack smiled as her little sister ran off. Applebloom loved the festivals in Ponyville and always wanted to help with the Apple’s food stand, even if she made a lot of mistakes. But she had shown a lot of responsibility with her chores lately.
“ She might just be a help this time.” Applejack said to her self.
“Eeyup,” replied Big Macintosh.
The orange pony glared at her older brother.
“Can you say anything other then ‘Eeyup’, Big Macintosh?” she demanded.
He stared back at her with the bored expression he always wore.
“Nope,” replied Big Macintosh
And he walked away. Applejack could have sworn she saw the smallest trace of a smile before he had turned around. Grumbling, she turned her attention back to the cart to double check they had every thing to bring down to their food stand. With everything in place, she went to the front of the cart, strapped on the harness, and made her way to the town square.
“I think it needs a little more marzipan peaches over here Honey bunch,” suggested Mrs. Cup Cake.
“I’m on it, sweet-ums. And I think there needs to be more meringue in the 2nd tier,” replied Mr. Carrot Cake.
The Cakes were just adding the finishing touches on the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, a cake they had worked on since yesterday afternoon to insure that it would be available for the festival tonight. Normally this would have been impossible with their two children, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. Luckily their go-to baby-sitter was able and willing to tuck in the two foals while they worked on the cake. Now 11am, the cake was nearly finished. Pinkie pie was just done feeding the twins when she saw for the second time the wonderful MMMM. She couldn’t help but marvel the tall and beautifully decorated cake. Just looking at it made her mouth water and her instincts to completely devour the cake kicked in. but she restrained the urge. This was a cake made for one of the biggest party to be in Ponyville. There was no way she would ruin it by chowing away the long desired desert.
After burping Pound Cake and cleaning the face of Pumpkin Cake, she took them upstairs and put them to bed for their morning nap. Coming back downstairs, she heard Mr. Cake sigh with relief.
“Finally!” He said, falling into the nearest chair. “Its finished!”
“It took a lot of work, but it came out perfect Dear,” said his wife, relaxing beside him.
Pinkie pie walked over to inspect the cake her self. It looked even more delicious then the last one!
“Its amazing Mr. and Mrs. Cake!!” she exclaimed. “ It’s the most marzipaniest, marcarponiest, meringueiest cake ever!!!!”
The pink pony was pretty sure that the words she used weren’t really words. And yet they worked so perfectly! She was bouncing with excitement. Soon everypony in Ponyville will have a piece of the MMMM!!! They would all be so happy!!
The Cakes smiled at her compliment and her excitement.
“Thank you Pinkie Pie,” said Mr. Cake. “It was a lot of work, wasn’t it sweet’ums?”
“Yes it was,” Mrs. Cake replied. “And thank you again Pinkie, for watching Pumpkin and Pound cake. With out you, we wouldn’t have made it in time!”
“Aw it was nothing,” the bouncing pony exclaimed. “Those cuties were no trouble at all.”
The Cakes smiled. The only reason their foals behaved so well was because of Pinkie Pie. They loved her. The mere mention of her name made the babies squeal and giggle.
“And it’s a good thing we only have to make Big Mac move it to the town square!” said Pinkie, bringing them out of their thoughts.
“Oh yes!” Ms. Cake said with relief. “ I don’t think I could handle that stress again!”
He remember how he quite literally fainted last time the masterpiece was moved across Ponyville. But who could blame him? When he and Mrs. Cake planned and tested it for all those months, It was very frightening seeing it start to topple.
“Well how about I leave you guys to rest? You’ve earned it. I’ll go see how things are going outside. See if anypony needs my help.” Suggested Pinkie Pie.
They nodded gratefully. A good nap was just what they needed.
Pinkie Pie left the sweet shop and skipped along, heading for the town square. But she couldn’t help but talk and joke with every one else, telling every pony she met that the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness was going to be well worth the wait. By the time she got to her destination, it was already 3 a clock.
Pinkie looked at all of the stands and decorations that were being put up. She loved all of the bright colors and the cheerful chatter of all the ponies there. As she trotted through the crowd however, she over heard several conversations about the birds being gone. She was wondering what they meant, when remembering she didn’t see any birds either. Double-checking herself, she looked up at the sky.
“Nope, no birds,” she said. “Maybe they went off to have a party of their own.”
“I hope the birds being gone doesn’t ruin the festival tonight.” Said a small voice.
Pinkie Pie looked over at the source of the statement. It was a little light blue filly, one that had no cutie mark yet. Her small face had a frown, with big eyes giving away her disappointment that none of Ponyville’s feathered residents would be around for the festivities.
Pinkie Pie smiled at the young pony.
“Silly filly,” She said. “How could this night be ruined?”
Deep in the Everfree Forest, a male manticore had just woken up from a wonderful catnap. He lived in a rocky valley close to the center of the huge mass of trees. He stretched and exited his cave. He decided it was a good time to go find some food. He knew a deer herd that often roamed close by, near a small lake to the east. They were pretty easy to sneak up on too. He might just get two of them this time. Jumping 15 feet to the ground, he set off.
As he entered the forest, he became aware that he didn’t see or hear any birds. He took a brief pause to listen intently. Not a single tweet. But he simple shrugged and moved on. Why should a proud manticore care about the birds? They kept warning other animals of his presence. Suddenly he stopped. There were no birds. That meant that the deer would be even easier to get close to. He might be able to grab three or four before they could get away! The manticore quickened his pace.
He was half way to his destination when he heard rustling in the bushes about 100 feet to his left. He froze. What ever it was, it was big and moving fast. The rustling was only 50 feet away now. The manticore tensed. Few things ran toward a manticore. But he was no coward. The only creature in the forest that scared him was the green dragon that lived in the side of a mountain to the north. And though the creature sounded large, it didn’t sound that large. He raised his hackles and left loose a growl that shock the gravel around his feet. Flexing his poisonous tail and extended his claws, he prepared to fight what ever came at him.
Suddenly a Timber wolf shot out of the brush. Surprised, The manticore flinched. But it quickly recovered, ready to swipe at the wooden canine. But the Timber wolf just kept running past him. Confused, the manticore watched as it disappeared into the ticket. Though he shouldn’t be too surprised. Not even a pack of Timber wolves were a match for a healthy male manticore, let alone just one of them. Still, why would it run toward him? He shook his head. He never did understand those dogs. Always barking and running after every little thing, not caring what it is till it bit them back. As the manticore was about to continue on, he heard the bushes rustling again. He turned around, thinking it was the rest of the pack.
For a split second, all he saw was an open mouth large enough to encase his entire head, mane and all. It was lined with knife-like teeth, each twice the length of his own fangs. Then he could just make out two dark purple eyes behind the gaping maw. They were devoid of thought, filled only with the blind blood lust. Then the huge jaws closed, and the manticore saw black.
Author's Note
i added this chapter because i felt there should be more then just one. hope you all enjoy. please comment and let me know how it is.
