Landstrider's adventures - Stonehoof's prophecy

The grass felt pleasant against Fluttershy's hoofs as she walked through the meadow. Some birds twittered in the distance and bees were collecting nectar from the many colorful flowers dotting the field. The shinning sun contributed to the wonderful scene with its warming rays, and the air was refreshing for the lunges. A hoof-full of butterflies saw the familiar pegasus and greeted her by landing softly on her mane. It tickled her slightly.

The crows eggs had recently hatched, and the yellow-colored-animal-lover's skin was about to jump off the pony's flesh in her eagerness to see them. Last time the couple had tried to have baby's, some dragons had stolen their eggs and smashed them just one week before they were planned to hatch. After seeing how devastated the crows had been, Fluttershy had been taken extra care of them, and now, her efforts were paying off.

She smiled. "This is going to be a perfect day!" She inhaled another deep breath from the relaxing aroma of nature. There was nothing more beautiful than the smell of living trees and green grass... Maybe she should pay Twilight a visit after she was done with the crows? It had been a while now since she last saw her. They could always have a picnic together, that would be nice!

Her bunny suddenly stopped, snapping her out from her thoughts. The butterflies flew panicked away from her mane and the birds abruptly stopped their twittering.

"O-oh," Angel thought. "This is not good..."

Fluttershy looked slightly anxious at her companion. “I-is something wrong Angel?”

There was something wrong! Something terribly wrong! Angel smelled something danger approaching, and fast! He could not determine what exactly the threat was from just the smell. It reminded him of a wolf, or a dog, combined into a dirt monster of some sort. Both were creatures he did not want to get too familiar with. The bunny began to desperately pull Fluttershy’s mane towards the opposite direction of the threat.

“Ouch! Angel, what are you doing? Stop it, it hurts!”

Adrenaline pumped through the bunny's tiny body; there was no time to explain! They needed to run, and that fast! But what could the little bunny do to warn his owner? It was not like these things happened on regular basis in Ponyville... The smell of rotten meat combined with sweat and mud was getting closer for every second they stood still. He stomped his feet as hard as he could in a desperate try to make Fluttershy understand that this was important, but it only made the mare even more confused.

“What do you mean? Don’t you want to see the baby crows with me?”

"Well, that too," he thought but now it was too late. The danger was already here. A red-colored dog jumped up from one of the hills and was leaping through the meadow. The tail looked fluffy, and it was remarkable silent for being so extremely fast. It could only mean one thing: it was a wolf, and wolfs eat bunnies!

Angel found cover behind Fluttershy’s leg and with a shaking pawn, he pointed at the red wolf. Ponyville's easiest-scared pony quickly turned around startled in her expectation to meet a monster from another dimension to devour her in one, large bite. To her relief it was only a red wolf...

Wait a minute!  Wolfs aren't red!

“I-is that an animal?” she asked herself, both puzzled and scared. It sure looked like one, but she had never seen any animal colored red before (She didn't count Dragons). Perhaps this wolf was sick somehow? At least she now realized why Angel was acting so weird.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, I’m not letting that scary red wolf eat you!” she assured him and hid him deep inside her pink, long mane. There were few animals Fluttershy feared, and strange red wolfs were not on that list. In fact, she started to become more curios than afraid.  She hadn’t seen many wolfs in her life and especially not red ones.  But she had read in one of Twilight's books that wolfs are grey or white, hostile to ponies and eats flesh. Because of their aggressive behavior, she recalls from her memory, most of them lives in the Everfree Forest, and only on rare occasions could one be seen around Ponyville. But one thing was for sure: there is no creature Ponyville's number one animal lover couldn't handle!

That was at least what she told herself...

The red wolf was up close now and had stopped running. It panted winded, but kept closing in on Fluttershy. If it was hunting, it would have leapt over the yellow pony long time ago. No, this little fellow was not hunting, it was exploring. She could see it from its wide opened eyes and high-stringed ears.

But her bunny thought otherwise. "For Celestias sake Fluttershy, why don't you just run!?"

Yet again, Angel started pulling the pink mane violently, but this time, Fluttershy was far too excited to notice the living activity in her hair. A living wolf up close! It was a one-life opportunity!

With her soft voice, she called out to the animal. “Come here little fellow, don’t be afraid.”

The wolf slowly did as it was told and soon, it was face to face with the yellow pegasus. There was a second of status quo were neither the pony nor wolf dared to do anything. Only examining each other curiously...

Carefully, very carefully, Fluttershy lifted her hoof and slowly patted its red fur. It broke the stalemate. The wolf happily returned the gesture by rubbing its face into the yellow snout. The wolf's fur was not at all like the fur of a dog, it was much more smoothing, more like a cat than a dog. But the smell was barely bearable! It smelled like it hadn't washed itself for weeks! Yes, that would be the first thing she would do when she got back home! Fluttershy was already planning in her mind of this afternoon. First the baby crows, then she would give this wolf a much needed bath, and then she would visit Twilight. They would have a picnic in the grass field and the purple unicorn would surely be able to explain why the wolf was red. Fluttershy's smile widened. "This is going to be a wonderful day," she thought and giggled.

“That’s a good boy, come here. Oh isn’t he cute Angel? Aren’t you cute Mr. Wolf, Aren’t you cute!”

The scared bunny did not think the murderess wolf was cute at all! It was terrifying! The wolf looked like it was about to quickly snatch him and then run away quickly before Fluttershy even would notice he was gone! Angel made everything he could to keep a low profile inside the pink mane, but he was certain that it was already too late. The wolf had probably already seen him, and it was just waiting for the right moment to strike at his next dinner! The white bunny would have never thought his life was going to end inside a red, wolf's stomach...

Some minutes of snuggling passed when Fluttershy eventually looked up with a big grin. “You know what I’m going to call you, Mr. Wolf?"

The wolf looked confused at the yellow pony.

"I’m going to call you Redie… Because you’re Red!” She snickered like she just had made a funny joke. The wolf didn't react to his new name, but only looked even more confused than before.

Angel facepalmed.

"Fluttershy should really not befriend animals so easily, she will end up in trouble one day," he thought with a damped groan. "Or worse: *I** will end up in trouble one day!"*

Suddenly, a large shadow fell upon Fluttershy and a strange voice interrupted her giggling.

“That really is a fine name but his name is Foxie…”

Her heart made a double jump as she looked up startled. In front of her stood a pony, whose appearance wasn’t like anything she had ever seen before. He was a bit taller than usual, but he would still have to look up at Big Mac. A wide, green, brimmed hat, covered his face from the sunlight, and attached to it where everything from a magnifying glass to different types of feathers and scissors. Fluttershy could not tell if he was a Pegasus or an earth pony, because he wore a lot of hiking equipment that covered the places where potential wings would be. His coat was light grey, a very unusual color for a pony, and his cutie mark symbolized an old, moth-eaten map. There was also something about his smell that confounded Fluttershy. He smelled like... living trees... and green grass...

“…because it is a fox, not a wolf.” The pony lightened up like he just made a good joke.

A fox? The yellow pegasus had never heard about any creature called foxes before... Shy as always, she hid her face behind her mane and remained silence.

Angel sighed. "That’s Fluttershy alright! She befriends animals to easy but as fast as a new pony shows up, she can't even say hello properly."

The grey pony continued. “But I can see why you thought it was a wolf, but foxes do not live in these areas.” He was clearly not from Equestria; his accent was way different. He pronounced the vowels a bit longer than Equestrian ponies did.

“It’s… Beautiful,” Fluttershy managed to say.

“Yes he is quite the sight! You can call me Landstrider.” He put forward his hoof to greet. “And what is your name?” Landstrider looked curiously at the yellow pony as he waited for an answer. Fluttershy gave the outstretched hoof a hasty shook and then dropped it just as quickly.

“Umm… My name… is Fluttershy...” She was getting better at presenting herself to new ponies, but it was still hard for her. She really wished to get rid of the awkward moments she always seemed to get trapped in after saying her name...

The grey pony squinted at her. “Fluttershy was it?”

The pegasus heart made another double jump and she nodded discreetly. This was the first time a pony had perceived her name at the first try... This meant her training was paying off!

Landstrider interpret the yellow pony's weird head movement as a nod and looked at her puzzled in return. “Do not mind me asking but... Why are you whispering it?” The stallion looked around suspiciously. “Are you hiding from somepony?”

The yellow pony twitched and violently shook her head but remained silence.

“Well, that is at least good!" The stranger made a short laugh. "This started to remind me of that time I met a filly who was hiding from his mother. He was so nervous when he tried to explain to me that he had been caught stealing pie from his mother.” He snickered at the memory. “Yeah, and you should have seen the look on his face when he realized that his mother was right behind him the whole time!”

Fluttershy barely paid any attention to the story. Something else was taking up her mind. The smell wasn't the only strange thing about this pony, there was also something with the stranger’s voice that made her feel uncomfortable... well, more uncomfortable than usual... but it was not his accent! It was like, every time he spoke something jumped around in her stomach and made her feel sick.

I-just-want-to-sunk-into-the-ground-and-disappear sick...

Landstrider ignored her strange behavior and continued. “Anyway I am a traveler and I was just wondering if you could point me in the direction of Ponyville where I will hold up for awhile.”

The timid pegasus was caught a little bit of guard but eventually pointed at the direction she came from. “That way,” she whispered.

“Thank you!” he said and stood quiet for some seconds. “But you are lying.”

The curled up pony gasped. “I-I am not lying at all! I promise that Ponyville is in that direction!”

No one had ever called her a liar before, especially not a complete stranger! W-was she really famous for lying? Well, there was that time when she had told Rarity that she liked being a model when she really didn't. Had the word spread so far that even strangers thought she was a liar before they even had met her? And if this stranger thought she was a liar, then all ponies in Equestria must think she is a liar!

She felt the tears pressing at her eyes. In her mind, she pictured everyday ponies walking the streets of far away Candyfornia, talking about that 'dreadful liar Fluttershy' and how 'distrustful and treacherous that pony must be'. No one would ever let her take care of their animals again! When the words would spread to her friends, they would abandon her, and she would be alone... again... She wasn't a liar! They would abandon her for something she wasn't! Ponyville was really that way, why didn't he believe her?

Fluttershy felt her tears drip slowly down her checks. “I-I’m not a liar...” she whispered with words that slowly trailed away into whimpering.

Landstrider just laughed.

“No, no, no, not that! I am sure that you are right when you say that Ponyville is that way.”

Fluttershy made a short sob and looked confused at Landstrider through her mane. So she wasn't known as the biggest liar in all of Equestria?

“I meant that you are hiding from somepony, namely me.” He made a big smile under his hat.

But his joke fell on hard soil. Now, the poor pony in front of him was scared instead!

Should I be hiding from him? Was he a criminal I should have heard of? Was he a spy from another country? The more she thought about it, the more scared she became. I must warn Twilight, no Celestia herself! If I will survive, but I won't survive! He will take me to a dark chamber and I will be locked there forever and... Her tears began to flow down her cheek like rain on a window. This was much worse than being known as a liar!

Landstrider noticed the Pegasus cries and took a startled step back. “Umm... What I meant was that you do not have to be so shy for me, I will not bite anypony.” Landstrider laughs sounded more nervous this time. This was not the way he wanted the conversation to turn, he only tried to be funny! His fox gave him an angry glare and he avoided his gaze.

“Sorry, it was just a joke…”

The yellow pony's desperate whimpering was the only thing that answered his stuttered apology. He felt more and more ashamed that he had managed to scare a pony he didn’t even know to the brink of tears. He made some nervous coughs.

“Umm, thank you for your help anyway umm, Fluttershy, I will take my leave then." He made a long detour around the frightened pony to not seem threatening. The smell of nature slowly disappeared from Fluttershy as the grey pony increased the distance between them.

"Kom Foxie, vi går nu.” The fox responded to the strange words and ran off to the walking baggage slowly moving towards Ponyville.

The grey pony turned around one last time. “…And I am sorry if I scared you, it was not what I intended to do.” He scratched his head a bit uncomfortable before turning back towards Ponyville.

--

When the fox was far gone, Angel dared to jump out from Fluttershy’s mane. The pony was still shaking with fear and sobbing heavily. A hard kick to the flank was just enough to make the yellow pegasus jump up startled with a weak scream. She turned around terrified only to find Angel looking at her meaningfully.

“Oh, please Angel, don't look at me that way! I know what you are thinking, but h-h-he was a criminal of some sort!” The loud sound from the bunny's paw being slammed into his own forehead clearly demonstrated Angel's opinion. By making different signs with his body, he eventually explained to Fluttershy that the stranger only tried to be polite.

“Do you think I overreacted?” She swept away some tears

Angel nods violently.

“You don't think he's a criminal?”

The bunny gives the pegasus an are-you-serious look and then shook his head.

“Well, maybe he wasn’t, but you can never be too sure! He did sound like he wasn’t from Equestria, and countries outside of Equestria are not ruled with friendship, you know that!”

Angel rolled his eyes. Fluttershy's extreme paranoia was still no reason to act hostile toward other ponies. He tried signal this but the discussion was over.

“We don't have time for arguing Angel, we are late for the baby crows!"

Angel snapped his pawn in disappointment. She hadn’t forgotten it. After some inner struggles, Angel jumped cranky after his over-protective mistress...

--

Despite the cute baby crows, Fluttershy could not stop thinking about this Landstrider. She had never ever met a pony from outside of Equestria before, and if that marvelous beautiful creature was just one of many animals where he was from...  She couldn't deny that she wanted to know more about where he was from. Well, she was relieved that the strange pony was gone but she also felt a little bit disappointed that she hadn't dared to ask him more about the fox, or other animals as well.

Every time she pictured Landstrider in her mind, the more she felt that fuzzy feeling inside her stomach. It made her feel like vomiting and jumping at the same time! She didn't like it at all. It was better if she tried to avoid Ponyville for a while. At least until she was sure that Landstrider was gone from it...

Landstrider slowly walked the dirty road to his intended destination. His sore hoofs gave him a stream of pain for every step he took with his old horseshoes. He had been traveling in the open for about three weeks now, and even his trained legs began to get weary. Not to mention his back…

He tried to get his thoughts away from his body. “That was a really shy pony, right Foxie?” he said in his native language.

Foxie shock his head to show him that he did not agree.

“Well, I mean she was shy toward me.”

Now Foxie agreed!

Landstrider thought about the conversation for a moment. “I might have come a little bit 'strong' on her perhaps... Do you think I said something wrong?”

The animal shrugged his shoulders carelessly. Foxie was a great companion to have with you on your travels, but talking to this creature was like having a discussion with a brick wall. But Foxie had been with him since he was a filly, so he was used to it.

“And I thought a pony with such a beautiful face would be *too** social, if you know what I mean."*

Foxie made the chuckling sound he had learned to recognize as laughter. He could not help but giggle a little himself.

"Oh well, I hope the rest of the ponies here aren’t that afraid of me…” A loud 'swoosh' sound interrupted him and he looked up reflexively. He took a step back gasping, before he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Up in the sky, something was moving with an incredible speed, performing the most amazing stunts and tricks whose alike he had almost never seen before... But it wasn't the amazing loops and turns that was the most impressive part; the creature seemed to leave behind a trail of rainbows where ever it flew! How is that even possible?

The creature suddenly stopped and swept away some sweet from his forehead. Wait a second... Was that a pony??

Indeed it was, and the blue pony's mane was colored as the rainbows she left behind her. The blue Pegasus was panting heavy and stretched his muscles a bit before continuing with the air-performance she had been doing earlier. The pony's mane at least explained the rainbow tracks but how could anypony, or anything for that matter, be that fast? The eye could barely keep up with the movements! There was only one reasonable explanation Landstrider could come up with.

“That most be one of the famous Wonderbolts Foxie!” The red companion was just as amazed from the air show above him as he was. “I didn’t know one of them lived in Ponyville..."

The pegasus had started again to do loop and tricks. Landstrider looked around and for his delight, he found a huge tree close by. "It isn’t everyday you see a Wonderbolt train just out in the open like this,” he said and took a seat under the shade of the tree. With a relaxed groin, he let his package drop from his back. Oh, that stuff was heavy!

The Pegasus continued to impress him as it did moves Landstrider didn’t even know a pegasus could do. But then again, Pegasi didn’t really exist where he was from...

It was a marvelous sight...

After several more stunts, the Pegasus landed with a heavy smack in the middle of the green meadow and the rainbow after her slowly faded away. She seemed to be exhausted, which wasn’t really a surprise after all that amazing flying!

Ponyville's cloud-manager exhaled disappointed. She wasn’t 100% satisfied with today's training pass. She had been to slow for the hyper-mega-super-spin and not agile enough for the ultra-cool-awesome-rainbow-loop. But one thing was certain: she WAS going to make it before the Canterlot youth competition in five months! Even if she would have to slay a dragon to master the tricks!

Rainbow Dash had won the Cloudsdale's “Best young flyer competition”, and because of it, she was now invited to compete in the “Equastrias best flyers – youth division”. The competition would take place in Canterlot, and it was a great honor to participate there. It was a much bigger tournament than the one in Cloudsdale, and on top of that, the Wonderbolts would be there to scout for their next member. This was the opportunity she had been waited for her whole life, and she was determined to take it!

It was not until now she noticed that she was being watched. A figure under a tree nearby waved to her and shouted out to her. “Hi there!”

With a fast maneuver, she flew face to face with the green creature under the tree, almost crashing into him from the sheer shock that it in fact was an Earth pony with a green hat! Next to the grey stallion was a strange red dog curved up snoring. A lot of weird packing lay on the ground next to him, and he grinned cheerfully towards her. After recovering from the strange sight, Dash found the whole scene funny.

“Hi!” she replied while holding back a laugh. She landed in front of him, and the shade under the tree felt relaxing for the blue pegasus overused muscles.

The grey pony lifted his green hat slightly. “You were really good up there," he then said with an impressed tune. "But I must say that I did not know the Wonderbolts trained without their suits on.”

She blushed for just a second before her though, proud attitude covered it up. Dash wasn’t expecting a compliment from the complete stranger.

“Please!” she said boastfully. “I’m not a Wonderbolt –yet! But I will be after the Canterlots best flyer competition in five months!” The blue pony proudly posed in front of the stallion, which was clearly impressed.

“Yes, I can see that! I have not seen such stunts since that time I met Spitfire…”

The mares eyes widened upon hearing her idols name. “YOU HAVE MET SPITFIRE??” She flapped her wings exciting, and her face demanded the stranger to tell more.

“Yes, she saved my life actually…"

“Really?? Wow that’s so awesome! You must tell me how!” She always got excited from stories about Spitfires heroic deeds. She flew up so she was in his eye level.

“Well… It was a couple of months ago, when I first entered Equestria…” Before the grey pony could continue his story, she interrupted him.

“’Entered Equestria’? What do you mean?”

The pony looked away from the mare's gaze. “I am not from Equestria, I am from… Scardiva… Anyway, as I was saying..."

“Scardirva? I have never heard of that place before! Where is it?”

The stranger lost his speech again. “It-it is north-east from Equestria but as I was saying…”

“North-east from Equestria? You mean there is something OUTSIDE of Equestria?” She gave the pony a skeptical look.

“Well of course there is!" The grey pony snorted. "Did you think Celestia ruled the world or what?”

The pegasus blushed again. She had believed that Equestria was the world, and that Celestia ruled it with Luna. How can she never have heard of countries such as Scardiva before? How many other countries were there in the world? How could countries not want Celestia as their Princess?

The pony tried to start over again. “Anyway, as I was saying about Spitfire…”

“But if you are not from here, why are you here?”

Again, the pony cleared his throat and started all over. “Hrmm, I would love to tell you that during a warm and nice dinner but right now…”

Dash’s eyes lightened up. “You're hungry? Let’s go to Applejack's farm then! She always has some apple-pies to spare!” she said excited.

“Well that is nice but I was thinking of going to Ponyville right now…”

“Oh, but Applejack's farm is just next to Ponyville. It’s just a slight detour, you have time for that!” Dash eyes looked begging at the stranger.

“Yes I suppose so…”

“Great, it's settled then!” She smiled. “Follow me, you can tell me the story about spitfire on the way.” It was not until then she realized she still hadn’t introduced herself.

“By the way, I’m Rainbow Dash.” The blue mare made a quick bow.

The grey pony smiled. “You can call me ‘Landstrider’, nice to meet you Rainbow Dash.”

“ ’Landstrider’ ” She tasted at the name. “That’s a funny name.”

Landstrider laughed. “Yes I suppose it is. And this little buddy here is Foxie.”

The strange animal watched Rainbow Dash with big eyes from under the tree.

“What kind of animal is it? I have never seen anything like that before…”

“It is a fox. They do not live down here in Equestria, so I am not surprised you have not seen one…” Landstrider gave the Fox some quick pats.

“It looks cool!” Dash inspected the Fox closer. It looked just like a dog, but red. And perhaps more agile... It was moment like this she wished she had chosen the hawk as a pet instead of her tortoise...

“Hörde du det Foxie? Hon tycker du är cool!” Landstrider said and the fox smiled.

She flew backed away shocked. “What was THAT?” Her eyes were wide open.

The stallion looked up. “Oh, it was nothing. I only told Foxie you think he is cool…” The fox began to rub against Dash's leg.

If any of Rainbow Dash's friends was there to see the look on Dash's face right now, she would have been teased about it for the rest of her life! The fastest and bravest of all ponies in all of Ponyville being left speechless like that: priceless! Unfortunately, Landstrider had no idea what big feat he had accomplished by shocking the blue mare to silence.

“You can talk to animals??” Now Rainbow Dash was really impressed.

“No, no, no, I cannot!” Landstrider laughed. “It was Scardivariska, my native language, such as yours is Equestrian…”

Dash was stunned. Not only had she never seen a pony from anywhere else than Equestria before, but he also spoke a completely different language! How cool isn't that?!

“But how can you talk Equestrian then?”

“Well, Equestrian is pretty much the international language all over the world, so if you decide to travel, it is a smart thing to learn Equestrian first.”

“Is Equestrian the international language?” She began to regret that she never had paid any attention in school.

“For ponies, yes. Equestria is after all the largest nation in the world.”

How large is Equestria exactly? I should go and ask Twilight about it later. I wonder if there is other Alicorns ruling the other countries as well...

Landstrider interrupted her thoughts. “Anyway, about Spitfire…”

“How many nations are there in the world?” She asked curiously.

The pony thought about it for a second before answering. “I do not know about the whole world but I do have a map covering the surroundings. You can take a look at if you want…”

“Yes please, show me!” She grinned.

“…after I got something to eat.” He looked meaning at Dash and then gave her a smile.

After a long story (that got repeatedly interrupted by Rainbow Dash) about how Landstrider nearly was killed by a dragon until Spitfire came along, they finally made it to Applejack's endless apple trees.

“…Wow, I can’t believe you actually risked your life just to take back a stolen photograph from that dragon,” said Rainbow Dash and her eyes twinkled.

“It was the least thing I could do after so much that family had helped me. Besides, I know how hard it is to lose the only thing that reminds you of somepony…” his voice faded away and he looked quietly at the ground.

Dash didn’t notice Landstrider's reaction.

“If I was there I would have snatched that picture right in front of that dragons face and then quickly escape! He wouldn’t even know what was happening.” She made some quick movements in the air to demonstrate what she meant.

Landstrider woke up from his thoughts and laughed. “Hehe, yes but for me without wings it is not that easy.”

Landstrider gazed over the miles of trees covering a large valley. It was clear that this ‘Applejack’ lived up to her name. There were apple trees as far as the eyes could see. He scratched his head impressed.

"That is a lot of trees..." he said stunned.

“Yes, it is my friend Applejack we are talking about! Wait here and I will go find her.”

Before Landstrider had time to answer, Dash had flown away into the bush of trees and disappeared.

It was an unusually warm day in Scardiva. The sun was melting away the past months hazardous snow and the mud piles stretched as far as the eyes could see. It was actually so warm, that some ponies chose to take of their winter jackets. That day, the stallions did mourn over their hard work on the field, and mares comforted their fillies, promising them that this was the sign of better times.

Unfortunately, they were wrong.

On this very beautiful day, a small group of five Earth ponies and one Unicorn had gathered outside one of Scardivas more peaceful villages. The five's cloaks was as dark as the night, and their reputation as infamous as the dragon king Firetounge himself. Few ponies had ever seen one of them and lived to tell the tale. The bare sight of their dark cloaks could make even the bravest pony sweat. They were a sacred band of assassins called "The dark knifes" and they served one of the more powerful tribes in Scardiva. Where ever they showed up, evil were sure to follow, and they were feared in all of Scardiva.

The sixth pony however, was unknown in Scardiva. In Equestria, however, he was known as the first pony who had ever escaped one of Celestia's prisons. His name was Deathoak, a former student of 'Celestia's magic school for talented Unicorns', until he had decided to practice more... forbidden magic. He considered himself an artist, and his profession was death.

One of the Dark Knifes took a step forward and his golden eyes penetrated deeply into Deathoak's red ones.  “It has come to our attention that you wish to join us.” The pony's voice was deep and muffled.

“Yes, I do!” The unicorn answered with a confident tune.

The Dark Knife gave a look at his other members and back to Deathoak. “Do not speak again except when spoken to, it is rude.”

The pony’s golden eyes glittered in the sunlight as he continued. “I do not know if you are brave or just young and stupid Deathoak. Please, enlighten me why we should let an Equestrian unicorn into the sacred circle of the Mörka Knivarna, and why we should not kill you right where you stand.” Some of the other ponies slip out some muffled laughs. Their dark giggles would have given the creeps to anypony, but Deathoak was not anypony.

The black unicorn laughed back at them. “For the simple reason that you can’t kill me, none of you can!” He grinned. “I can kill you all with a simple thought if I so wished.”

Deathoak was a smart unicorn. He knew what their reaction would be. Within the blink of an eye, he quickly teleported some meters away, barely slipping pass the daggers that had been thrown towards him by several of the cloaked ponies. The smile on the dark clothed vanished.

Except for the golden eyed. He simply stomped his feet at the ground in an applaud.

“Impressive...” he said. “...but being able to avoid getting killed does not make you a member to our group. What we want to know is: what can you contribute to us?”

Deathoak snorted. “Do you know why I'm a wanted pony in Equestria? It is not because I escaped imprisonment. No, it is because I killed ponies. I tortured them, slowly draining their knowledge and power until they begged to be killed, and then I killed them.”

But the golden eyed just yawned.

“So you think we cannot do the same? And that you actually got caught after killing them is not a good reference to...”

“I got caught because I didn’t realize that I had got my cutiemark!” He showed them his flank, where a symbol of a pony skull could be seen on his black coat. “I can kill ponies quicker than anypony of you, and I can extract information from them way faster than anypony of you can!” Deathoak growled angrily.

“Calm down Deathoak! Showing your emotions are a sign of weakness...”

Deathoak straightened up. “Yes... Of course, I apologize...”

The golden eyed pony just shook his head.

“Killing ponies quick is not really what we need either.”

“Please, just give me something to prove my worth and I do it! Anything!”

The golden eyed looked at the other ponies. They gave him a slightly nod and he looked back at Deathoak.

“All those who wish to enter the circle need to pass three tests: the test of ability, the test of reason and the test of loyalty. We will start with the test of ability.”

He walked to the side of the hill. “You see that village?” He pointed down towards a small settlement some miles away. ”They have allegiance to one of the few remaining rebel leaders. You say that your special ability is killing, so we want you to kill every single peasant in that village...”

Deathoak took a quick glance over the village. It would be no problem at all, with enough time he could-

“...In 5 minutes.”

Okay, he took that back.

One of the five twitched when she heard the time limit. “But Shadowblade, that is impossible for one pony alone! Not even with my speed...” The golden eyed gave the mare a glare and she went instantly silent.

“For him to be useful to us he must be able to do something we cannot do...” He looked back to the confused Equestrian.

Deathoak had no idea what the discussion was about, he couldn’t understand Scardivariska, but he paid great attention to the ponies' reactions. It was clear that the golden eyed not only was the messenger of the circle but also its leader...

“We start the time when you kill the first pony.” The golden eyed took forth a tiny hourglass from one of his pockets and showed it to Deathoak.

Deathoak smiled. “Watch me,” he said and closed his eyes.

For him, this was just a perfect opportunity to try his new spell on more than just one simple pony. He had invented the spell himself, but it was still under development, and he had been in need of test subjects!

His horn begun to glow with a black aura as he let his mind slowly leave his body. Despite he was uncertain if it would work on so many ponies, he still felt confident. It would work in theory, and the most of his ideas that worked in theory worked in practice as well. Like a force field, he let his mind scan the village, locating every stallion, mare and filly in the small town. Soon, he had located everypony in a large radius around the village. He could see the stallions working on the fields, the mares standing in the marketplace in the center of town, and he could see the fillies playing carelessly on the streets. He could see them all.

He now entered the crucial part of the spell. With his magic, he started to penetrate the minds of everypony he had located. The villagers had been unaware of the situation until now. They began to scream in terror, as they felt their grasps of reality slowly dripping away from them, and their thoughts being read like a book.

It worked! It actually worked!

There was of course quicker ways to kill a bunch of ponies. For example, Deathoak could just conjure a massive fireball and pulverize the entire town if he so wished. But with this spell, he could drain the ponies' very soul from energy, making his own magic stronger permanently. The down side with the spell was that it's hard to keep focused during the long procedure, especially when many ponies like now where involved. When you penetrate someponies mind, you get to know absolutely everything about them. This creates a huge information stream right into Deathoak's mind.  On individual targets, he would enjoy the sight of what everypony held closest to their hearts. He usually found it interesting to see what memories and information everypony valued most, but when it wasn’t only one single target, the information stream was just annoying.

He felt their screams inside his head as he closed in to their souls. Memories from the past, concerns of the present, hopes for the future...  It all vanished to oblivion as he winnowed them away from his mind. While some ponies passed out almost immediately, others more will strong ponies actually managed to put up a fight against Deathoak. But it really was a matter of time. As one pony fell, he could focus more of his power against the remaining ponies. Soon, he had drained every last pony from their energy. After he was done, he panted and collapsed. It was more exhausting then he had thought it would be. But at the same time, he could really feel the power he had absorbed inside of him. Soon, he would be the most powerful being in the world...

He looked back at the other ponies. They all had dropped their jaws and were watching him with big eyes. He grinned. But when he took a quick glance at the hourglass, his smile vanished. The time was over, he had been to slow.

He shouldn’t have stolen their energy; he should've just killed them immediately! Why couldn’t he just for once resist his endless lust for more power!

Deathoak turned to the golden eyed. “I swear I can kill them quicker! Just watch!” His voice was filled with desperation. Dizzy, he tried to channel his last energy to conjure a huge fireball over the village, but he wouldn't make it. He was too weakened.

“DEATHOAK!”

He lost focus of his spell and the fireball vanished. The golden eyed took of his hood and reviled his face. The black unicorn gasped. It was full with scars and marks. The only thing that didn’t look crippled on the ponies face was his golden eyes...

“You passed the time…”

“But I told you I can…”

“SILENCE!”

Deathoak swallowed his words.

“...despite your failure, you pass the test of ability. You can definitely be useful to the circle.” Deathoak eyes lightened up and he started to smile again. “But whip that smile away, let's continue with the test of reason.”

Deathoak slowly nodded but the truth was: he felt too exhausted for another demanding test. “Y-yes, what do I have to do?” he said a little bit staggered. His self-confidence had completely vanished from his voice.

“The test of reason is simple: Why do you want to join the circle? What is your reason for it? If it is just your taste for killing, I am afraid it will not be enough.”

Deathoak exhaled relieved. He thought he had to do something that was actually hard! He was just about to answer him when the golden eyed stopped him.

“But before you answer, take a look at my face. Notice how crippled it is, and expect yours to look exactly the same after some years in the circle. If you have a family, you will have to kill them before joining the circle. Otherwise our enemies will use them against us. If you love some special pony, kill her, or you will have a weak point that can be used against you. If you have any plans for the future, forget about them, because you will be bound to follow somepony else ambitions.”

The golden eyed let his words sink in before he continued. “In short terms: Why are you willing to sacrifice your life in order to join "The Mörka Knivarna?”"

Deathoak's bashful expression quickly turned serious. There was moments when Deathoak's artistic side disappeared, and got replaced with a more brutish, and ruthless side. When this happened, Deathoak wasn't an artist anymore; he was a killer. It was this side of him that had made him kill his parents. It was this side of him that had made him killed his baby dragon. It was this side Celestia had locked up...

When the black unicorn answered, his voice was changed. It was now filled with hatred, instead of confidence.

“Because you and I have the same goal…” he shortly said.

The golden eyed looked suspiciously at the Equestrian. “And that would be?”

Deathoak was panting heavily, as he was giving birth to a filly. If he hadn't used up all his energy, he would probably spark dark energy all around him. With a voice more twisted than discord himself, he answered his new master's question:

“I want Princess Celestia’s head on a plate…”