Chapter One
By Vanquished!
It had been a lovely autumn so far in the humble town of Ponyville, where leaves of many reds, yellows, oranges, and browns were scattered around the ground and the scent of freshly fallen pinecones hovered in the air. The leaves of the Everfree were stripped of their once ominous, foreboding look and took on a warmer one instead. The trees swayed ever so gently in the wind, their leaves snapping off of their branches — and just as they always have been doing — fluttered off in the wind to fly off to another place and recycle back into the Equestrian soil.
The leaves from the trees of the Everfree swirled around from gusts and slapped on the windows of Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy watched it from inside with some of the windows open, letting the pleasantly cool autumn air rush into the building carrying some of their leaves with them. She smiled ever so gently. It was beautiful, the autumn Everfree. She hadn’t seen nor felt a nicer and more homely thing here before.
Somepony cleared their throat, “Uh, Fluttershy? Yoohoo?”
She gasped a bit and looked to her guest, “Oh, I’m sorry. W-what were you saying?” The pony she’d been talking to tilted her head and continued to speak.
“What I was saying is that your animals are doing very well! No worries, Fluttershy, we have it all under control,” The pony waved her hoof at Fluttershy. “They've just started to prepare for the winter, gathering their food and such.”
Fluttershy shined with relief and happiness. She said softly, “Thank you, Twilight, I couldn't ask for more! It can be a hassle caring for them myself, sometimes…”
“No problem. Me and the girls will keep an eye on the animals, and once they’re all ready to go, we’ll let them on their way,” Twilight said. The purple mare trotted to the door, grabbing the knob. “I gotta get back to help the others now. Who knows when the animals will be ready, but we’ll be back whenever they are.”
“Thanks again, Twilight,” she giggled. “I’ll see you soon!” Twilight smiled once again and headed out, up the hill and out into the Everfree.
Fluttershy silently smiled to herself. She decided to go out herself; she could use the fresh warm air of the outdoors and some time to finish planting the flower buds. She slowly made her way to the back door and opened it, and the sound of falling, brushing leaves and squeaking immediately came to her ears. But… squeaking? She squinted her eyes and looked around for the source of noise, finally spotting something in the distance in the field behind her home.
It was a creature of some sorts, with two legs below it and long narrower arms from its sides. The creature’s skin was dark brown like chocolate, and its body was clad top to bottom in ragged blue jeans, black boots, brown leather gloves, and a matching chestnut colored hoodie. The hoodie had some sort of marking on it: a gray sphere with a distinctive green X embedded within it, and unusual looking gray and green letters under it. The creature did not look at Fluttershy but instead spun around in… a chair? A plain looking swivel chair. The creature spun around quickly in circles on its big office swivel chair. Fluttershy tilted her head in curiosity. Who, or what, was this thing? What was the symbol on its clothing, and what did the strange letters under it mean? And why was spinning in a chair in the middle of a field?
She thought deeply about whether or not to approach the creature, she had never seen anything like it before. It certainly looked masculine in its appearance. But she continued thinking, her hooves tapping on the concrete stairs as she began her descent. She could approach the gyrating creature; she could turn back and tell the others about it; or she could just ignore it and let it go about its business.
Fluttershy thought, and she thought, and she thought...
Chapter 2
By Reimu Phibanachi Kirisame
After much pensive precaution, Fluttershy decided to spin 180 degrees and quickly march back into the cottage.
“Uhhh, girls?” Fluttershy called to her friends timidly.
“What’s the matter, Fluttershy?” Rarity, who was obviously over dressed for the task of feeding the birds, replied from the living room.
“Can you all come outside for a minute?”
Rarity confusedly cantered into sight, while everypony else teleported into the room by means of Twilight Sparkle. The action scared Rarity so much, she toppled over.
Fluttershy had no interest in their shenanigans. She felt it was imperative to get her friends to see what she just saw. Selfishly, it could be because she needed to confirm her sanity. Then again, Fluttershy may have just been too scared to approach the possibly wicked creature alone. Who knows what it could be capable of? Whatever it was, Fluttershy felt safe by the side of a powerful alicorn, a strong, hardworking earth pony, a super sonic pegasus, a reality bending party pony, and… Rarity. Fluttershy took a few moments to contemplate Rarity’s usefulness, like a true friend would.
Fluttershy’s friendly consideration took up 6 minutes. Twilight had been taking drastic measures to reawaken the pony to reality. She was just about to drop a coffee table on Fluttershy’s head when she came to.
“Oh.” That was her opening statement back into the real world. “Well, uh, I saw something strange in the field. I was wondering if you’d all like to check it out.”
Everypony shrugged and exited the cottage, because looking at something strange is better than cleaning up after other animals.
Fluttershy was pleased to see the creature was still there, gyrating in a chair on the field.
“What the heck is that?” Twilight recoiled at the sight.
“I don’t know.” Fluttershy spoke. She now had the courage to move closer to the creature.
The creature marveled at the sight of the six figures. It was at that point it pulled out what looked like a magic wand. Wide eyed, the creature whispered an incantation to the wand that didn’t seem to be comprised of words. Suddenly, the field filled with smoke.
Twilight instructed everypony to keep calm, until a gust of the magical cloud hit her nostrils. The smell was somewhat repulsive, but it relaxed her. Everypony else was also drawn into this state of relaxation. In the blink of the eye, the world they all once knew vanished.
Fluttershy opened her eyes to see that everything was different. The trees were much bigger, and her hooves looked like insect legs. She took a moment to survey her own body. Under close examination, she came to the conclusion that she was a butterfly. She had no objections.
She fluttered about until she saw Applejack. Applejack was a pile of apples, but Fluttershy knew for a fact it was Applejack because no ordinary pile of apples wears a hat.
She fluttered a bit more and found Rainbow dash in the sky. Only, Rainbow dash was a cloud. She knew for a fact this could was Rainbow Dash because this cloud was going fast. The other clouds were going not so fast, so of course they weren’t Rainbow Dash.
Wanting to see her other friends, Fluttershy fluttered over to a balloon that she knew was Pinkie pie. She knew this balloon was Pinkie Pie because balloons aren't normally filled with Coca-Cola Jell-O.
Fluttershy almost forgot about Rarity. Rarity was a rock on the ground. Over the past few days, Fluttershy had been upset with Rarity about Celestia knows what, so it would only make sense that Rarity was a rock. Just an average rock. Made of diamond.
Fluttershy was just about to leave when she noticed the princess’ new form sitting on a nearby table.
“Hello, Twilight!” Fluttershy called out to the banana slice on the table.
The banana slice responded the same way any other banana slice would respond, making Fluttershy feel happy on the inside of her thorax.
Fluttershy landed on Twilight and began to suck out her sweet juice with her proboscis.
Twilight reacted the same way any other banana slice would react, and that caused Fluttershy to regret what she was doing and fly away.
“Geez.” A thunderous voice came from the distance. Fluttershy found that it was the bipedal creature with the magic wand. “I didn't know ponies liked to get wet!”
Chapter Four
By Gerard
Twilight watched the egg closest to her; the creature’s long finger like legs carried it out from inside the egg. In an instant, as it fully emerged from the egg, it leaped onto twilight’s muzzle.
“AHHHH-mmmmrmrmrphphppgsdf!”
Her cries were muffled by the creature, as its body covered her mouth. Its legs wriggled around, trying to find solid footing on the sides of her head. As Twilight struggled to pry the creature off, a feeler protruded from the creature and crept into her nostril. As quickly as the situation escalated, it resolved itself. Apparently dissatisfied with its potential host, the creature loosened its grasp a fell to the floor. The other creatures followed it as it scurried up the path leading out of the cave.
“Twilight! Are you alright?” Applejack asked.
“I think so,” Twilight replied, “I don’t think it really did anything, and they don’t seem interested in us now.”
Rarity interjected, “Hmph, I would never let that grotesque…thing violate my face and get away with it.”
“Maybe the poor little thing was grumpy and looking for its mother, it is just a baby that just hatched.” Fluttershy was quick to defend the freaky critters.
“OOOOORRRRRRR maybe….it was an alien parasite that was trying to implant an embryo of a bigger alien into Twilight but then it realized that ponies wouldn't make good hosts so now they’re all looking for someone else’s mouth to shove their proboscisesesssese down!” Pinkie added.
Twilight regained control of the situation, “Something tells me General Zaroff might have something to do with this.”
The mane six galloped out from the cave, ready to confront the hunter.
“There you are! I thought I’d never find you!” Zaroff beamed with delight, as he eyed Twilight. “I’ve always wanted a purple ushanka.”
Rarity was quick to defend her friend, “You monster! I will not stand idly by and let you turn my dear friend into a hideous crime against fabulousity!”
“I don’t get it Zaroff, there’re plenty more dangerous creatures out there than us ponies, why are you so interested in us?” Applejack inquired.
“Oh, I don’t suppose you’d appreciate the finer points of a good hunt,” Zaroff explained, “ It wouldn’t be very sporting of me to hunt the more “fearsome” creatures out there. Logic will always conquer instinct.”
Twilight pondered and quickly processed Zaroff’s answer, “You’re not interested in game that will put up the most fight, but one that puts up the best fight against your crazy plan.”“You see, my little pony! That is exactly why you are worthy to be my game” Zaroff remarked.
“But what do those creatures in the cave have to do with your plan?” Twilight asked.
Zaroff answered, “I assure you, I intend to savor the pleasure of this hunt myself.”
Rainbow Dash finally stepped in, “Alright then, you wanna take on the most dangerous game in Equestria? Get ready to taste the painbow!”
Rainbow Dash soared toward Zaroff, hooves first, ready to tackle him. In an instant, Zaroff quickly summoned his rolling office chair and gyrated out of the way. He spiraled around the ponies, contemplating his next move, like a shark caught in a Spirograph. He held a peculiar interest in the purple one, she was different. These ponies were indeed far cleverer than any other game Zaroff
encountered; their cognizance rivaled any human.
The mane six looked on and waited for Zaroff to make his move. Zaroff swooped in to take another shot at Twilight, but Pinkie had her party cannon ready and trained on Zaroff. She unleashed the party payload, but the streamers and confetti did little to slow Zaroff. Twilight knew it was up to her to win this fight; she focused and channeled magic through her horn as it began to glow and crackle. As Zaroff closed the gap, Twilight discharged the magic she had accumulated in her horn. A magenta beam struck Zaroff knocking him off his chair. Much to the ponies’ surprise, Zaroff recovered gracefully from the forced dismount, uppercutted Twilight, knocking her slightly into the air, and then to the ground, in a single motion. He readied his rifle and peered down his sights. As he exhaled, the crosshairs fell between twilight’s eyes. At the bottom of his breath he squeezed the trigger.
The thunderous bang from Zaroff’s rifle echoed through the air. Every pony jumped and instinctively grasped their ears. A moment of silence passed.
Applejack frantically rushed over Twilight, “Twilight! Are you hurt?”
“My jaw is a bit sore, but I think I'm fine. What happened to Zaroff?” Twilight responded.
The mane six looked over at Zaroff who was now lying on the ground. One of the creatures from the cave was now clasped onto his face, its tail wrapped around his neck.
“Is…he still alive?” Fluttershy asked, sounding almost concerned.
“I think so,” Twilight replied, as she noticed his chest rising and falling.
“So…..now what?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight took a moment to consider their situation. “He’s certainly not from Equestria. I’m willing to bet he’s been camping out somewhere in the forest while planning for this hunt,” she hypothesized, “if we can find where he’s been hiding out, I think we get some answers as to what’s been going on.”
“And what about our newest friend? Can we keep him Twilight? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we? ” Pinkie asked as she hopped up and down with excitement.
“You can’t be serious!” Rarity gawked. “After all this, and with that thing attached to him, why on earth would you possibly want anything to do with him?!”
Twilight chimed in, “Actually, if he’s still breathing, he may come around. Since he’s incapacitated now, we can be ready when he wakes up and get some information out of him.” She rummaged through Zaroff’s pockets, looking for anything that might be of help.
“Ahhhhh, I think I’ll hang onto this for now,” Twilight remarked as she pulled out Zaroff’s wand.
The ponies traveled deeper into the forest, following what seemed to be a fresh, yet distinct, path. Twilight and Rarity dragged Zaroff along using their magic. After what seemed like hours of wandering through the woods, they finally stumbled upon a small
bamboo hut. Twilight nudged the door open slightly, then stopped.
“Well, what are we waiting for? “ Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.
Twilight paused for a moment and backed away from the door, “Zaroff wouldn't just leave the front door unlocked for anyone to just wander in. Get back.”
As the others backed away, Twilight used her magic to open the door. As she carefully moved the door into its fully open position, something creaked, followed by a loud snap; a bent sapling with a knife on the end of it would have impaled Twilight as it flung into the door way. Twilight entered the hut.
The others followed and spread out in the room, looking around at the various relics. Twilight began to read a book on a desk. It appeared to be his journal. She flipped it open to a random page:
…after which I found a curious cave. I found a rather foul smelling creature inside: a dark gray pony, whose face was covered in crimson lesions and pustules. He wore a tattered garment. He seemed delighted to meet me. He called himself Kwin’lynn. It seems he hadn’t had much social contact, as he told me how fond he was of me and how he desired to molest me. Though he seemed harmless, and far too feeble to be a threat, I considered slaughtering him to steal his “food”. As he professed his affections for a pony named Braeburn, he stuffed his frothing maw with gelatinous confections, shaped like small bears, weighing between 4 to 6 pounds....
Twilight pondered what significance this strange pony might bear in this increasingly confounding plot of events. She looked out the window, the sun had just set. It looked like they were staying the night at Zaroff’s hut. The ponies found places in the hut to sleep for the night, after making sure Zaroff was securely bound. As they sat around the hut preparing to get some rest, they debated on what their next move should be. Search for the Kwin’lynn? Study Zaroff and the creature that latched onto him? Maybe just wing it and see where the next day takes them? Twilight was exhausted and didn't have the energy to decide.
“Let’s just sleep on it,” she suggested to the group.
The others agreed and turned off the lights. Twilight climbed into Zaroff’s bed and crawled under the covers. She closed her eyes and tried to just forget about everything that transpired today. Maybe it was all a dream. As she lay there, she couldn't help but notice how comfortable the bed was.
“I have never slept in a better bed,” she though out loud as she drifted off to sleep.
