Secret OC Origins Compilation

Chapters

Shadowhoof 02
Shadowhoof 03
Shadowhoof Info Sheet
Angelos 01
Angelos 02
New Dawn 01
New Dawn 02
Snigurka 01
Snigurka 02
Snigurka 03
Snigurka Info Sheet
Vanilla Mocha 01
Vanilla Mocha 02
Vanilla Mocha 03
Vanilla Mocha 04
Vanilla Mocha Info Sheet
Shadowhoof 01
Angelos Info Sheet
New Dawn Info Sheet

Shadowhoof 02

Fireworks streaked through the sky, their colorful display drawing oohs and aahs from the ponies gathered for the show. Even though the village was now covered in deep layers of snow, they'd managed to keep the streets fairly clear in case any emergency's occured, the pegasi working extra hard to keep the majority of the snowfall on safe locations. The clear streets had led to todays surprise.

The mayor hummed softly as he looked across the gathered ponies, all bundled up tightly from the snow and cramming around in the field just outside the town, besides the forest. He could hardly blame the excited colts and fillys practically jumping up and down in their parents laps. It wasn't everyday they received performers, especially not in the dead of winter. This performer in particular had made quite the entrance, sending up fireworks the moment her carriage was within sight of the village.

She hadn't even announced herself, drawing her carriage just outside the city, setting up her stage and then disappearing within. A few fireworks had gone off and since then, silence. He'd knocked on the door, but there was still no comment from the mare. The only hint they had were the words 'Great and Powerful Trixie!' painted directly over the stage.

It hadn't been long before all the younger ponies had started dragging their parents to see the show, whatever it may be. While he had no children of his own, the display had piqued his own curiousity. He did worry about having it so close to the woods, but he doubted it would be an issue. Now that the tribute had been given and they'd found the cart near the forest edge a few weeks ago, they doubted they'd see any sign of the creature for months. It was easy to pretend it wasn't even there, that it had never been there.

His eyes wandered to the forest again and he thought he saw a little flash of purple amongst the trees. But a second look revealed just snow covered plants. Nothing for him to worry about. He shook his head and chuckled, before the sound of more fireworks cleared the thoughts from his mind. He turned to the stage where sparks flew into the air, erupting in a multitude of color.

A blue unicorn mare with a dazzling white mane stepped out from behind the curtain. She wore a star covered purple hat and cape. Her head was held high and she had a cocky smirk on her face as she trotted into the center of the stage. Everypony went silent as they watched and waited. Soon the only sound was the wind, howling through the field and making the ponies tremble.

Then there was fire. “Hello ladies and gentlecolts! The Great and Powerful Trixie magician extraordinaire has decided to grace you with her presence! You may have heard rumors of her greatness, her amazing magic arts! Why, she have even performed portions of her dazzling shows for none other than the princesses of Equestria!” There were a few oohs and aahs from the crowd as she trotted about on the stage. “She's certain you've all heard about her assistance in Ponyville, where she assisted the student of the princess in ending the destructive rampage of a hundred foot tall ursine minor?”

There were a few coughs from the crowd. The mayor was confused, was this Trixie's assistant? She seemed pretty... peculiar. Did she normally talk in the third person?

The mare stared for a few more moments. “Well, very well. Surely you've heard of her assistance in locating and ahhh... removing a dangerous artifact known as the alicorn amulet from the world at large? Her great displays of power such as the age controlling spells?” There was even more silence. She sighed and shook her head. “Very well! It seems, my dear ponies, that you required her presence here more than she'd ever thought. Why she... hold on. This snow is so very distracting.” Her horn glowed for a moment as she bit her tongue and focused.

The mayor stared in confusion, wondering what it was she had in mind. Suddenly the ground under him turned pink and he yelped. It lifted up, seeming to phase through him and the other ponies as it gathered all the snow, before tossing it off to the side. The crowd stared for a few moments, looking around wildly at the suddenly cleared field, almost every drop of snow moved aside into a wind blocking drift on the side opposite the forest.

The crowd erupted in cheers, stomping their hooves as they watched the mare with newfound appreciation.

“Ha ha ha. That was but a minor trick of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” the unicorn yelled as she sat down with a confident smirk. She eyed the crowd, grinning widely as she struggled, hard, not to fall over. She had expected a lot less ponies to be here and had only practiced that spell on smaller areas. But she was nothing if not adaptable. Though, she really, really wanted to go ram her horn into a tub of ice until the throbbing stopped. She'd have to hold off on the actual magic for a little bit, time to focus on the minor tricks. She had plenty of those up her sleeve. Well, would if she wore sleeves. The cheering crowd made it all worthwhile, though. They had no idea just how hard that spell was.

She tapped on a loose board and a small device sprang into action. A thick, blue fog covered the stage as she walked about. “Now, for my next act I'm sure you've all seen the bunny from the hat trick?” She pulled the hat from her head. “But the bunnies are always sooooo small! So boring and tiny!” She nudged another board and a small hole opened in the stage, hidden in the fog.

The crowd watched with breathless anticipation.

She pulled out a small stuffed bunny, slightly smaller than her head. “The Great and Powerful Trixie calls this one enlarging the bunny.” She tossed the bunny down and, from the front of the stage, it looked like it went into the hat. The mist helped to hide the fact it fell into her stage. She then reached down... down. “Now... with a little magic...” Her horn lit up, sending sparkles into the air as she grabbed the large bunny under the stage. She pulled it out with another minor explosive flash, holding it up. “A bunny truly worthy of those long, cold nights!” She then tossed it off the stage into the crowd.

There was a slight twitch in her eye as she watched the ponies roar and grapple for the stuffed animal. It had cost her five bits to get one that large. Five. Bits. But it would be worth it, she knew. She'd learned after a few experiences with a certain unicorn. Ponies were more willing to douse you in praise and tips if they liked you, and nothing made ponies happier than giving their children treats. But still, five bits. She was amazing, she shouldn't even HAVE to play the crowd like this. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie, they should feel honored to--

She quickly shook her head. “Now, for the Great and Powerful Trixie's NEXT bit of magic, she'll need a volunteer!” The crowd erupted with ponies, raising their hooves and jumping up and down, flailing about like children. She hummed and looked over them, before choosing a small filly near the front. “You!” she tapped another board and the hole under the stage closed.

The little filly gulped as she walked up to the stage, trembling as the mist swirled around her.

“Now, what's your name, little one?”

“I-I'm T-tinywings,” the mare said softly. The mist almost completely enveloped her.

Trixie nodded and then moved a hoof behind the mare's ear, flicking the hoof under her cloak with each movement. “Now, tell us. Do you like chocolate?” A small chocolate bar formed in her hooves, before it disappeared under her cloak. “How about suckers? Jelly beans?” The candy seemed to materialize in her hoof with each named candy, then disappearing again.

“I... I like c-chocolate...” the filly said, her eyes watching the hoof closely, but too slow to catch the trick.

“Good, good...” Trixie said as the hoof disappeared under the cloak. “You'll have a delicious little treat after this trick, okay?”

The filly nodded rapidly, her attention even more focused on the mare now.

The magician nodded and grinned. “Now then, for the next trick! The Great and Powerful Trixie will demonstrate her ability to phase through solid objects!” She trotted behind the curtain and rolled out a barrel filled with little holes. She laid it on top of a small circular indent in the stage, before trotting into the back and pulling out spears.

The crowd went silent.

Trixie was confused, but didn't let it throw her off. “Now, little filly, you need to pick up these spears and thrust them into the--”

“Are you mad?” a pony suddenly yelled before leaping onto the stage, a pegasus.

“Err, please. Don't worry, I'm a professional. I'll be perfectly safe beca--”

“You? I'm not worried about you! What kind of crazy mare tries to get children to play with real spears?” the stallion yelled before trotting over to the filly. “Tinywing, are you okay? Come on, let's go sit down with mommy.”

“But daaaad! I was chosen! I was going to get candy!”

Trixie gulped as the crowd stared at her, many of them glaring. They were just some harmless razor sharp spears, it's not like she wanted the filly to get in the barrel. “Ahhh... hah hah. Well, then. Errr, do we have any more volunteers?” The crowd went distressingly quiet, making her cough. Time to do her finale before things turned sour.

“Ah, well, I see that... errr, very well!” She stepped forward and more fireworks went off, triggered by a small spell from her horn. “The Great and Powerful Trixie supposes minor tricks and spells aren't enough to impress you ponies, now are they?” She shook her head. “Now she'll show you one of the greatest spells a unicorn can perform! Teleportation!” There was a loud gasp from the crowd. She hit another board and a new, thicker mist filled the stage. “Now watch and be amazed!” Her horn glowed as the mist grew every thicker. The ponies watched with bated breath, mouths open as they stared in wonderment.

Now, she couldn't teleport. At least, not yet. But, she was an expert at getting around minor issues like skill and knowledge. Her horn glowed as she put on a look of determination, taking a step back, deeper into the mist. Her horn flashed, blinding the crowd as her hoof slammed down on a small spring mechanism on the back of the stage. It launched her backwards and into the air, allowing her to land safely on a platform directly over the stage.

She took a second to gather herself, before dramatically posing. The mist cleared and the confused ponies stared, before erupting in cheers. She let out a sigh of relief, waving her hoof at her adoring fans. She'd practiced that trick a thousand times, yet she still hated trying to stick that landing. It always made her uncomfortable flying through the air. Unicorns were not meant to fly. But that was why she had to do it that way, galloping ten feet away could be easily explained, but landing ten feet in the air with no ladder? Not so much.

“Thank you, thank you! Do not forget my name, the Great and Powerful Trixie, magician extradinaire! No other unicorn can wield such magic!”

The mayor's eyes widened as he stared at the mare. He could hardly believe it. It just wasn't possible, could they be that lucky? She bowed and offered her hat as bits flew on the stage. He stepped forward, walking towards the stage. “Trixie!”

It took a few moments for the crowd to silence and for her to notice him, though she gave a smile. “Yet another adoring fan. How may the Great and Powerful Trixie help you? Did you wish to hear more of her daring feats? Perhaps see more of her powerful magic?”

He gulped. “You... you say you are a powerful unicorn, more powerful than any other?”

She nodded. “Of course. Her talent is magic itself! There is no unicorn who could hope to compete with the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

He nodded, a grin forming on his lips. “Have you ever faced a necromancer?”

The crowd went completely silent. Trixie paused and stared at the stallion. “A... necromancer?” She then snorted. “Oh? Do you wish to test your magics against the Great and Powerful Trixie? It has been a while since she has allowed competitions such as this, but very well. Bring whatever... potions you can make an--”

“No, no no no no!” he said rapidly, shaking his head. “Not me.” He pointed a hoof towards the forest. “In those woods, a great evil has held sway over us for the last few years. An evil necromancer that comes out at the start of the seasons and steals from us. If... if you could defeat it, we would be eternally grateful.”

Trixie paused and looked out into the woods. She then snorted. “Hah! The Great and Powerful Trixie has faced down packs of timber wolves, ursine majors and even an entire colony of diamond dogs. Your necromancer doesn't--” There was a sudden scream and wail of a banshee. Her eyes widened, but she kept her calm. “Doesn't scare me in the slightest. However, monster slaying isn't easy, or cheap.”

The mayor nodded. “Name your price! To get rid of that monster we'll pay whatever you wish!”

A wide grin formed on her lips. “Very well. Two hundred bits. If that's acceptable then--”

“Done!”

Trixie paused. “W-wait, really?” She'd expected to have to negotiate such an outrageous sum.

“In order to get rid of this monster, it'll be worth every bit.” There were murmurs of agreement from the crowd. Trixie paled slightly, but nodded.

“V-very well. The Great and Powerful Trixie must prepare. Please leave her. Your necromancer will be gone by the morning!”

Shadowhoof watched, his eyes wide with terror from his hiding spot in the trees. He'd come running at the sight of fireworks, his curiousity overwhelming his worry about being so close. Fortunately, nopony was interested in going into the woods with the show. The Great and Powerful Trixie had been amazing, though it was hard to see everything from a distance. She was able to lift all that snow so easily, then do an enlarging spell and even teleport. He'd never seen a unicorn with such powerful magic. Granted, he hadn't seen many unicorns to compare it with, but still. It was mind boggling.

He'd barely been able to keep his magic from acting up during the show, having to occasionally nudge it when little phantoms would appear or a soft wail would start. However, when the mayor came out, he couldn't hold it in. He'd been so shocked the magic had just burst out before he could snap it back. Worst of all, it seemed the mare was okay with the offer. She was going to hunt him down. Destroy him. She was going to turn him into a toad, or worse.

He stared at the carriage, peering out through his hood and gripping the tree softly. There was no way he could hope to run away from such a powerful mage. He'd bet she had a dozen spells based on tracking a pony alone. No, he'd have to try to scare her off. He shrunk down to the ground and whimpered. He didn't want to have to face someone so powerful and scary. She knew teleporting spells and growth spells. What if she teleported a giant boulder onto his head and crushed him? What if she turned him into the size of a mouse and fed him to a cat? What if she shrunk down his castle to the size of a toy. He didn't couldn't carry enough supplies to last through the winter, it was too cold to gather things. He laid down on the ground and tried plotting. He had to scare her off before she could destroy his home.

He crawled forward and peered out from behind the tree, shivering as some snow fell on his back. He watched her for a few moments and took a slow, deep breath. He was so going to get turned into a frog.

Trixie snorted distastefully as she trotted through the forest, the snow crunching under her hooves. She was cold, wet and tired. The wind kept tugging at her cape, making it billow in the wind that, while dramatic, kept threatening to topple her over. The white snow covered everything, making the world almost as bright as day despite the fact it was almost midnight. She didn't know why she'd even bothered to bring the lantern and considered turning it off, though its little bit of warmth was appreciated.

She couldn't believe how silly these ponies were. They talked of evil spirits and monsters and all kinds of terrors, but then try ignoring the thing since it only comes once a season. Satisfied with a few apples and food stuffs? Obviously this was just some over the top prank, probably done with poorly cut sheets and spreading rumors about. Necromancy wasn't real magic, if it was she would be able to do it. If she wanted. Which she didn't, but she'd never even heard of a pony who could. It was all so silly. Yet these ponies cowered in their homes like foals, expecting some boogie pony to jump out of the darkness to gobble them up. The entire thing made her just roll her eyes and scoff.

The path she was on now was the one they said the creature always came from, so she'd just follow it straight to the pony's lair to find the sheets and little costumes. Come back, brag about how she'd frightened off the troublemakers and get paid. Easy peasy. Even better since saving a village from a necromancer was something she could brag about later. She'd probably even get a medal.

A frown creased her brow as she looked around. The trees didn't seem any thicker and the moon could still be seen in the sky. However, it seemed to be getting... darker. She paused and looked around. Strange. Before she could see a few trees out in the distance, but now it was as if there was a wall of darkness coming out towards her. Her lantern didn't seem to be giving as much light as before, either.

She let out a nervous gulp and looked down at the lantern but, as she had originally thought, it still had plenty of fuel. She turned it up a little, making the light burn in its glass compartment. The darkness seemed to be pushed back just a little further. Still, as she walked she couldn't help but feel as if the shadows were closing in on her.

Her ears twitched as she heard the snow crunch underhoof away from her. She froze and listened. She could hear the sounds of snow dropping from branches, twigs being moved aside. Some even snapping. She stopped and lifted the lamp up higher. “Who's there?” she called out. “Don't think the Great and Powerful Trixie is afraid of you! She has more magic in a strand of her mane than you have in your whole body, necromancer!”

Shadowhoof didn't say anything as he watched her from the shadows. Though, he couldn't help but agree with her, she probably did. But she was in the darkness now, his forest. He knew where they were and he knew how to best get around. Well, knew how to get around-ish. He'd sprained his hoof and slammed face first into a tree when a snow covered root caught his foot. Not to mention he had a bit of a reaction from walking through some poison ivy. But other than that he knew exactly where he was. Off the path and freezing his flank off. He could see her though, and she couldn't see him. That was all that mattered.

His horn glowed as he trailed slowly after her. She was obviously an amazing mage, so he couldn't imagine anything that could possibly frighten a mare like her off. He'd considered trying to sneak up and frighten her with a face to face appearance, but his head started throbbing as he remembered the last time he tried that. Usually ponies ran. Sometimes they screamed, grabbed the nearest large stick or log, beat him in the head with it a few times and only THEN did they run. It was how he gained the current crack in his horn.

No, for a mare like that he'd have to use her own imagination against her. He used his illusion magic to make the darkness close in tighter on her, make the light dimmer. He could also use his very weak telekinesis to shake a little snow free from branches as she passed by. He made some fall down on her back and was rewarded by a sudden shriek and turn as she waved her lamp around violently. He had to stop then and hold his horn, the crack throbbing from the exertion. “Right... stick to illusions... ow...”

“Who's there? The Great and Powerful Trixie heard you! Don't you dare think you can hide!” She held the lantern aloft again, making him quickly cower. A wide grin formed on his lips as his horn began to glow.

The light seemed to sputter out completely, cloaking her entirely in darkness. Even the moon's light and snow brightness disappearing. The flame sprang back to life a moment later, but the mare was visibly shaken at the sudden shift. He grinned as his horn came back to like. The sound of wild, eratic laughter echoed through the forest. The mare started walking again, faster. He followed after her, every so often making the darkness close in tighter and tighter, the lamp light reveal a little less. Shapes seeming to dart and move through the shadows.

Trixie walked quickly, taking slow, steady breaths. Things were moving in the corner of her vision and she swore she could hear them running about in the darkness. Shapes moving, watching from the shadows. She tried not to imagine what monsters were out there, waiting for her. Was it possible? Could necromancy really exist? Were their ghosts out there? Monsters? It had all seemed so silly outside the forest, but now she wasn't so sure. Forests like this had always been rumored to hold all kinds of weird magic and creatures. Was a necromancer just another one?

Even her light seemed to be having trouble enduring whatever horrible magic haunted this place. The shadows grew ever larger, reaching towards her as the path seemed to become dimmer and dimmer. Her heart beat frantically in her chest as the wind howled by. It was even worse because the bushes grew up right against the path and there were plenty of places the trees branches covered it. Whatever was out there could reach out and grab her at any moment. If it leaped onto the path, she couldn't avoid it until it was too late. Her breath formed a mist in the cold air as she started walking faster and faster, soon flat out galloping.

Then there was a loud thunk, followed by a ghostly wale. She had just enough light to see something large move to the right of the path. Trixie let out a scream before turnng and galloping away. Buck this. She wasn't going to become a zombie slave to some monstrous necromancer. She could sneak out, grab her carriage and get out of here. The tips they'd given her were enough, she didn't need the necromancer's bounty.

Shadowhoof moaned pitifully as he held his nose. The mare had started running and he'd tried, desperately, to keep up. Unfortunately, he had no light and was walking off the beaten path. He'd finally slammed right into a tree and brought most of its snow crashing down on himself. He faintly heard the mare's scream, but was too cold and in too much pain to notice. He watched her lamp disappear into the distance before crawling back onto the path with a painful whimper. His sprained hoof hurt even worse after the jog and he was covered from top to bottom in bruises, scrapes and bumps.

He just wanted to go home, crawl into bed and sleep the rest of the winter away.

Shadowhoof 03

The mayor paced nervously back and forth, occasionally glancing towards his large clock against the wall. He wanted to be outside, watching the roads and preparing for the arrival of their special guest, but he was the mayor. If everypony knew how anxious he was, they all might start panicking.

Outside, the fields were now clear of snow and ice, though technically it would be a few more days before winter wrap-up. They'd started it early in preparation for their special guest. Trixie had disappeared in the middle of the night after her first show, even though she swore she'd get rid of the necromancer. When the morning came, both she and her carriage were gone. There was no doubt in his, or anypony's else mind what happened. The creature had obviously taken her life and her spirit would now haunt the woods as his undead servant. Anything powerful enough to do that was a definite threat and they could no longer just give it food and hope it wouldn't decide to feast on them. It had taken a little over a week to get everypony to agree, but a pegasus had finally been sent.

They went to the princesses for help. The response had arrived soon after that a representative would be dispatched soon to help with the issue. He couldn't help but wonder who it would be. A platoon of royal guards, maybe a battalion of lunar ponies. It could even be a mix of both. Maybe even one of the princesses themselves, Luna wasn't seen very often so maybe she'd appear to vanguish this great evil.

They didn't want anything to delay the force coming so they'd worked extra hard to ensure the roads were clear and the majority of winter was wrapped up. There was still one little field filled with snow they'd left for the children, but other than that there were blue skies and clear grass. He'd left orders to have somepony get him the moment anything arrived, but he'd been pacing holes in the floor and there was still no sign of their reinforcements.

He was going mad and, worst, paranoid. What if the creature ambushed their reinforcements? What if they were being isolated before being torn apart by the creature's monsterous abominations? What if they were going to meet the exact same fate as Trixie had?

He whimpered softly. Maybe they should have sent all the youngest away for safety. They hadn't seen the creature for a while, but it was only a matter of time. Soon the necromancer would strike and they'd all suffer for it. He shouldn't have sent that magician after it, maybe if he'd just left it be nothing bad would have happened.

A sudden pounding on the door made him jump. “Who is it?”

“Mayor! The... well... the ummm... the representative of Canterlot has arrived. But... just... she's... it's... ummmm...”

He ran to the door and swung it open. “What?”

“Well...” the pony in the door frame motioned behind himself. “That's her.”

“What?” He looked past the pony and stared. A single earth pony with a pink mane and coat stood there and waved back.

“Hi! Ohhhh! Are you Mayor? Or the mayor? Back home ours is called Mayor Mare, but I guess you're not a mare so you'd have to be just Mayor. Ohhhh, or the Mayornator! Kinda like the governator, now that I think about it!” She darted forward and took his hoof, shaking it as he stared in stunned silence. “I'm Pinkie Pie, I was sent here to take care of the big meany grouchy head who has been causing you all these troubles.”

The mayor just stood, his mouth open in shock. One pony. They sent him one pony. She didn't even have any armor on, just a necklace with a balloon gemstone in it. That's all they warranted, a single pony? “There... must be some mistake, miss Pie. We're facing a... a necromancer. We need a warrior, not a--”

“Oh, don't you worry one little bit,” Pinkie said with a little giggle. “I'll find this necromancer in no time at all and why he's being such a big boo boo head and then bring him back here and everypony can be the best of friends! We can all have a big celebration too, once it's done! I brought the confetti!” She flung her hoof and suddenly there was confetti raining down on him.

He gulped softly and gave her a gentle smile. “I... I see. What... errr... exactly has... I mean. What made the princess decide to choose you of all ponies to... assist us?”

Pinkie giggled again. “Oh, well, if we're going to make this necromancer one of our very best friends ever she'll need me to help calm the pony down.” She paused for a moment. “Besides, Rainbow was her second choice and you know how disasterous that would be. The poor necromancer wouldn't be able to walk for a week. Twilight was third and well, she'd probably strap the poor pony down and start poking and measuring things. You know how she can be.”

The mayor just stared with the look of a pony trying to digest five minutes of information in five seconds.. “Poor... necromancer? Oh, I think not being able to walk for a week would be just what it deserved.” He took a sigh before looking at her necklace again. “Is... that at least a magical charm of some sort?”

“This?” She nudged it with her hoof. “Oh, it's my element of laughter. Oh, one of the elements of harmony! I don't know if you've--”

The stallion burst in quickly. “Wait, YOU'RE one of the elements of harmony? We've heard about you! You purified Nightmare Moon, dethroned Discord, even turned the evil spirit to the side of good! You mean to tell me YOU'RE one of these legendary ponies?”

“Well, I wouldn't say legendary, but yep!”

The mayor burst into laughter. An actual element of harmony, amazing. He thought they'd send something powerful to protect them, but this was beyond his expectations. Maybe a court mage. But one of the very protectors of their entire country? He almost felt bad for the evil abomination in the woods. Almost. “Marvelous! Simply marvelous! So you can take care of this monster, stop it from attacking us?”

“Oh, yes! I'll take extra good care of it! There'll be no more problems soon enough!” She paused for a moment. “Though I kinda wonder if I should have brought Fluttershy. She might have been better at starring him down if it came to that.”

“Wonderful! We'll host a feast in your honor. Everypony will be simply thrilled knowing this gastly business is behind us.” They were truly saved. Sure, the necromancer was dangerous, even deadly. But this was one of the elements of harmony. They took down an evil alicorn AND an almost all-powerful spirit of chaos. One little necromancer would be easy for her.

“Ohhhh, a feast? I'd looooove to throw a party! But shouldn't we wait for me to finish, that way he can join in?”

“He?”

“The necromancer, obviously.”

He blinked a few times. “Why would... I... don't think the necromancer will be... attending this party. There's no need for him to... any of that.”

She frowned, before quickly perking up. “Ohhhh, you're right, how silly of me.” He nodded in agreement. “We can just throw a second party once he's all good and stuff!” The nod froze.

“Errr, miss Pie, I don't think--” But she was already gone, galloping off in preparation of the party. He sighed and shook his head, what was he going to do? She was one of the elements, surely she knew what she was doing. Right?

Shadowhoof watched from the treeline, confusion etched on his face. It had started feeling warmer, a lot warmer, but he had no idea why. There was still plenty of snow in the everfree forest, so winter still had a little bit longer to go. Heck, his drinking hole was still frozen over and he'd been drinking water via ice cube for months. He'd know if it had finally thawed out. He'd been searching for some plants to help increase his dangerously low stockpile, but there was very little.

But then he'd come near the village and seen the weirdest thing. Almost all the snow was gone. Most of the clouds were gone and it was all sunny. It should have still been there for a few more days at least, but almost every drop had disappeared. Even more confusing, they were setting up for a big feast outside, which he couldn't imagine why. He almost thought it was Hearths Warming Eve, but there would be snow if that was here. That and he never missed one, even though he spent it alone in the castle.

There was a little pink blur running around the village, setting up balloons, streamers and all kinds of other party signs. He couldn't imagine why they'd be having a party, was there really something worth celebrating?

Then all of a sudden the pink blur stopped in front of him, causing him to recoil with a shriek. She was an earth pony, but he knew he just saw her teleport. That was impossible!

“Hey, you must be the necromancer! Ohhhh, you got eyes just like Nightmare Moon, are you a friend of hers? Ohhhh, I bet you're a big fan of the night, is that why you dress like that? Her eyes were green though, yours are purple silly. We're having a really big party, do you want to come join us? We were going to have a second party after I got you to come to the village, but we can mix them both together now if you're here. Oh, I'm Pinkie Pie, your new bestest best friend!”

He just stared at her in shock, his mouth hanging open as he tried, and failed, to think of any response. Even his magic seemed lost, with no sounds or images breaking through to the real world.

She reached out for his hood, making him recoil. He stared at her for a few more moments before turning and fleeing. Pinkie watched him before shaking her head. “Really? I guess he must be shy.”

Shadowhoof galloped for his life, his entire body shaking as he ran. What kind of pony just appears in front of a necromancer and is all 'hey, join us for a party, oh, and we're best friends now!' Ponies were supposed to run off and scream, not... not invite him to parties. He was terrifying, he knew he was scary. Wasn't he? He'd been chased out of enough places that he was at least eighty-percent sure he was scary. They didn't chase just anypony out of a town. Especially not with pitch forks and torches.

“I... I'm scary, right?” he asked a nearby tree once he was certain he'd made enough distance and the mare was nowhere near him. It responded by dropping a few drops of snow on him. He let out a sigh before shaking the snow off. “I know that was pure coincidence, but still. Bad tree.” He gave it a little kick with his hoof. The rest of the snow descended and buried him up to his neck.

Shadowhoof sighed as he looked over his meager supplies. He had less than a dozen apples, no more grass and only a hoofful of blue flowers. As cold as it was he hadn't had a chance to clean any of his robes so many of them could now stand up on their own. His blankets and cushions were in a similar state. “Maybe it's time I just start fresh,” he muttered. “Maybe I should have stolen a few bits, too.”

He shook his head then. Food was one thing, he needed that to survive. Most of the bedding too. But stealing bits? That was just wrong. “I'll just find someplace that could... use a pony like me...” He tapped on the ground a few times. “Maybe just lie low until the pink pony leaves, maybe she'll just go away.” He shivered and shook his head. He couldn't make himself believe that. Even if he left, he was certain the mare would come back. He started bundling up what he had, focusing on the thickest blankets and a few cloaks.

“Need a hoof?” Pinkie asked as she helped gather the apples into a little basket.

“AHHHHHH!” Shadowhoof screamed as he jumped back, slamming into the wall. The spider perched up above fell on him, making him scream again before galloping around the dungeon. “Get it off, get it off, get it--” He slammed into the bars of his cell, sending the spider flying as he fell into a heap. “O-owie...”

Large, hulking spiders started materializing in the room as he just whimpered, pulling his hood up. “H-how did you find me? Why are you here?”

“Oh, friends always help each other pack!” Pinkie said happily as she hopped around the room. “So, where are you moving?”

“I-I'm not... I'm not moving. I'm running away. And, and we're not friends.”

“We're... we're not?” the pink bundle of energy asked as she turned to him. “B-but why not? I like you. Don't you like me?”

“W-what? No. I like you just fine! I mean, I don't even know you, how could I dislike you?” he said with a pathetic squeak before getting to his hooves. His head throbbed and he nearly fell over, but he barely managed to keep on his hooves. “W-why are you... following me? Didn't those ponies tell you about me? I'm... I'm scary. Look!” He motioned to one of the giant spiders with thick, dripping fangs and eight beady eyes, just staring at her hungry. “Aren't you scared? I control ghosts and spirits and ghouls!”

“Nope! When I was a little filly--”

Shadowhoof just stared, his mouth falling open in shock. She... she was singing. She was actually singing at his illusions until they popped. He'd seen ponies try all manner of tricks to get rid of his illusions, but he'd never had a pony try singing them away. The mare was mad. She had to be. That was the only explanation. He tried, quietly, to gather his things and put them over his back. He tossed the flowers into the basket with his apples and put it around his neck. She was far, far scarier than anything he could ever dream up. He snuck towards the stairs.

Then she was suddenly in front of him, blocking the exit. She advanced and he had to back away, gulping nervously as she kept singing. “He's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna...” Then she burst into full on laughter.

He nervously chuckled along with her, his eyes wandering to the exit. The mare was rolling on the ground and giggling. He had a chance. He took it. He leaped over her and galloped up the stairs.

She was waiting for him at the top. “So, where yah going?”

He stared at her, before turning to look back down the staircase, then back at her. “That's... that's impossible. Y-you're an earth pony, you can't teleport. There's only one way up these stairs, you had to have passed me. But, but you didn't. You were at the bottom. How could you... how did you... what?”

“Ohhhh, can I guess? You're all robe and stuff are... you going to a vampire convention?”

“What?”

“Ohhh, nightmare night store?”

“Huh?”

“Oh! I got it! You're going to go do a puppet show for foals!”

“I... I don't have a puppet...” To his horror, the few spiders that survived the song were disappearing and now little fake pink ponies were popping up.

“Ohhhhh! I got it!” She nodded. “You're going to come down to the party so everypony can get to know you!”

He shook his head. “No! I'm not going anywhere! I'm just... well, I mean I am. But I'm going somewhere they... they won't find me...” he said as he tried backing down the stairs. “Why... why are you doing this? Just... just leave me alone. I don't... I don't want to bother anypony.”

“Come oooon!” Pinkie said as she trotted after him. “Somethings bothering you, right? You can tell me. I'm your bestest buddy in the whole wide world. Why don't you want to be around everypony else?”

He whimpered and cowered. “If... if I tell you... w-will you let me go? Away? N-not to the village. I won't... I-I'll try not to bother anypony anymore, I promise.”

She frowned, but slowly nodded. “Fine. I promise.”

He nodded again and sighed. He focused for a moment and the assortment of pink ponies disappeared. “I... I have a horn problem. Rumpitrcornutis. It's a... weakening in functions of the horn. It's why I can barely use telekinesis and... and why I lack control of my magic when I don't focus. That's why I can't be around other ponies.”

“Ohhhhh.” She just stood there and watched him. Smiling. She had the... kindest eyes he'd ever seen. They weren't judgemental, or mean, or annoyed. They were just the kind of eyes of a pony who was listening. As if what he was saying was important, even interesting. He couldn't help it, he found more spilling out a moment later.

“Since my magic is based around illusions, it makes illusions appear when... I don't focus and stop it.” He shuffled his hooves nervously as he slowly climbed back up the steps. “Especially when I... sleep. My dreams form and... I... I have a lot of nightmares. It's... it's better if I'm away from everypony. If everypony just thinks I'm a... a monster hiding in the woods. I-I didn't want to steal, really. I-I tried to grow my own food, but I don't know how earth ponies do it. I just... I kept failing and... and I thought this was better. That way I don't scare anymore ponies. Don't... don't horrify them. Please just... just tell them I fell in a well or something. Drowned in a river. Don't... please don't make me face them.”

Pinkie slowly nodded. She reached forward and pushed the hood back. She then leaned in and gave him a big hug, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “Fine. You don't have to face them now if you can't. But you'll need to eventually. You can't hide forever.”

He blinked and stared off into space. The hug felt... the hug felt nice. He tried to contain it, but he couldn't. Something about this mare was just so... so special. So nice. So comforting. She kept talking about being his friend and he had been certain she was insane. But now he wasn't so sure. Now he felt like he really could be her friend. The emotions boiled up within him and he tried, desperately, to suppress them. But he couldn't. He started to cry.

She didn't tell him to shush, push him away despite the smell or even ask what was wrong. She just hugged him and let him cry it all out.

“-- so we'll go down to Canterlot and find a job for him. He says as soon as he has a place of his own and a few bits he'll send them back here to pay for all he took. Anypony mind?”

The mayor and an assortment of the village leaders just stared at the mare. She was taking the necromancer back to the capital of Equestria and was going to get him a job. Just who was this pony? How could one mare control such... such an evil creature? He was unable to speak and merely shook his head.

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said before turning and hopping away. The ponies merely watched her, wondering what powers such an almost normal looking mare could wield to be able to tame such a monster.

Just over the first hill outside of the village, Shadowhoof sat and waited for her to appear. As she popped over the hill he got ready, planning to run at the first sign of danger. Fortunately, there was none. Not a single torch or pitchfork. He gave her a nervous smile as he flung the hood back. “So... I ummm... how'd it go?”

“Great! They don't mind at all.”

“Are... are you sure? I did take a lot of apples...”

“Oh, you worry too much,” she said happily as she trotted by him.

They walked in silence for a while, until he nervously glanced to her. “Ummm, are you hungry? I still have some of the food I was storing.” He offered the basket, holding it in his mouth.

She took one look inside and recoiled. “You... you've been eating those flowers?”

He looked down. “Mm hmm.” He moved the basket around so it dangled from his neck. “They taste sweet.”

“That's poison joke!” Pinkie gasped. “So that's where those eyes come from!” She burst into another giggle fit. Shadowhoof didn't get the joke, but he couldn't hold it in. Something about this mare was just infectious and he started laughing along with her.

Shadowhoof Info Sheet

Creator: Me, obviously.

OC's name: Shadowhoof.

Race: Unicorn

Appearance: Black coat, purple dragon eyes. Dark purple flowing mane with little dots of silver.

Personality: Shy, kind of a wuss. Loves having attention, but a single bad comment makes him crumble into dust.

Cutie mark: An open book with a ghost head on the cover. Scary stories are his talent.

Job: Ex-spa worker.

Family/friends: His family runs a health spa up in the mountains. Current friend is Pinkie and those she introduces him to.

Romance: None. It's not that he's not interested, but things tend to never work out. He'd probably crush on Pinkie Pie a lot(with a healthy dose of fear), but it would never go anywhere because she'd only ever see him as a friend. He's also kind of a coward and while there are plenty of mares he'd want to ask out, he'd never work up the nerve to ask them for fear of what could go wrong. He'd rather have them as a friend than risk losing them for good. So he'd more or less be forever alone, but likely have plenty of friends who are mares, since he tends to get along better with them.

Story: Just his origin story and how he ended up in Canterlot.

Future: Oh, this is kind of a doozy. While his magic tends to be focused on illusions, he does eventually find out his power tends to revolve more around shadow magic. That's why he can use telekinesis in the dark(even though it tires him out) but he can't even lift a thimble in the day. He was eventually going to become Luna's student.

How did you make this OC: This character is probably my weirdest OC, though also my first. I actually made it before I even saw the show. A friend begged me to do a MLP RP with him and, since I liked this friend a lot I was kinda 'meh, why not?' The friend gave me some guidelines and I made a pony on a pony creator and, this is not a joke, made an almost exact replica of Nightmare Moon, aside from the purple eyes. I had no idea the curved face meant female or that the cloud like mane was princess-only.

I made him an illusionist because I was heavily into the non-combat magic at the time and had no idea unicorns tended to have telekinesis too, so I just made him have that magic and that magic only. A few rps later and I watched the show and fell in love, but I realized having a mini-Nightmare Moon OC was kinda... meh. So I just developed some changes. Namely making the poison joke alter his appearance to explain why he looks like that, making him an illusionist and scary story teller to explain why poison joke would make him look like that(since the story of NMM is his favorite to tell.) The Zecora episode was a real boon to Shadowhoofs back story to explain things.

I've since made plenty of other OCs, but this one was my first and, honestly, even though I think he's a bit Mary Stu-ish, he's one of my favorites. If it wasn't for this OC, I likely wouldn't have decided to give MLP a chance, eventually started writing fan fiction for it(many of my fanfics are ones made up either from Rps or ponified stories of books I'm trying to write). Without me writing fanfiction, I would have likely never tried writing again and found out how happy it made me. So, all in all, this OC is definitely very important to me and I'm happy I finally took the time to share it with everypony.

Author's Note

Here we are, first OC story done! Next comes Angelos, after which I'll choose one lucky fan to write their OC story. Hope you're all looking forward to it.

Angelos 01

The wind flew softly against the gentle plains, filling the air with the scent of freshly blooming flowers. A white pegasus with a multi-hued blue mane glided through the air, eyes partially closed as the smell washed over him. The sun made the currents nice and strong, turning the flight into a soft, gentle exercise. He technically could have taken the train, but he'd decided to save his bits and just fly towards his destination. It was too nice a day not to.

Off in the distance a small town, Ponyville, came into view. He let out a soft sigh of relief. He'd been flying from Canterlot and, while the flight was short and easy, he still had plenty of stress built up and was struggling to leave it behind. He occasionally flapped his wings, shooting up higher into the air as he went, just so he could burst through the clouds.

The town came ever closer and he looked around with a soft hum. Near the center he made out a round building. Probably the mayors office. Welp, best to start there. He aimed his hooves down and dived. He tore through the air in a flash, making it to the ground in what he believed to be record time. He skidded to a stop in front of the building, a wide grin on his face. Though nopony seemed to have even noticed his dive or landing, he still felt pretty good. He'd moved like a rocket, he doubted...

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden blur up above. A rainbow colored flash seemed to be moving around the sky, getting rid of all the clouds. His mouth fell open as he watched. Heck, it was flying up faster than he could dive. It didn't seem to stop, either, until every cloud was gone and it disappeared behind a building. “Who was that?” he asked softly.

“Oh, that would be Rainbow Dash, our local weathermare,” a voice said from behind him. He glanced over and saw an old tan mare, with a gray mane. She had golden-rimmed glasses over her eyes and a white collar with blue puff under her throat. “You must be Angelos, correct? I'm Mayor Mare.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Ummm, yes. I'm Angelos,” he said before bowing his head. “You... know why I'm here?”

“Oh yes. It's really quite common for members of the guard to take vacations here,” she said with a gentle smile. “We have lodging already prepared. If you'd just follow me I'll get you a map and your keys. I'd suggest heading to our local spa as well. Aloe and Lotus will be certain to cure whatever knots you may have.”

“O-oh, I ummm... thanks,” he mumbled softly, before glancing up again. His whole dive just felt silly now. “So, do you know why I was sent on vacation here?”

“I was just told for stress relief?”

“Oh... heh heh. Yeah. Stress relief...” He looked nervously to the side. Well, he couldn't deny he had been feeling stressed the last few days. But then, what lunar guard wouldn't after getting drunk and waking up in a prench maid outfit in Princess Luna's bed? She had been quite forgiving about the whole incident, but the teasing would be atrocious when he got home. Not to mention the little joke interrogation he'd received. “So are there any other guards resting here?”

“At the moment, no,” she shook her head. “You're coming back right near the end of our busy time. We had almost a dozen just last week.”

He perked up. “Wow, I guess I'm pretty lucky. Know why there were so many then?”

“Oh, I believe miss Rarity was doing a showing of her summer line of bathing suits. She always hosts it near the end of spring and we tend to get quite busy.”

“O-oh...” he said, lowering his eyes and blushing. Why couldn't he have gotten drunk a week earlier?

“We'll pick up again in a few weeks once we get into summer. Now it's too chilly though and nopony wants to go swimming in this.”

Worst. Vacation. Ever.

Mayor Mare led him into her office and pulled out a small foldable map, a brochure and a key, hoofing them over. “There. Your quarters are marked, you'll be in room L.”

He looked over the map and nodded. “Ummm, thanks. So if I'm here... I guess I'll go unpack and try the spas then. Thanks.”

“A pleasure. If you need anything, feel free to let me know.” She gave him a diplomatic smile. A smile that was impossible to tell if it was fake or real.

He nodded and trotted off, smiling as he made his way towards his new quarters. The town did look nice and the air was fresh. Maybe the vacation would still be pretty good. He didn't need pretty mares to make it spectacular.

He wobbled out of the spa, his mouth hanging open. He was wrapped in one of their robes that he swore was made of the threads of baby clouds that were children of clouds that were made of only the finest silks. He didn't care if that wasn't how clouds were made, the robe was just that good.

Granted, he wasn't so much relaxed as... very happy. He didn't know how those mares did it, he'd have sworn they were unicorns and used some kind of amazing relaxing paralyzation spell on him. The pink one, Aloe, was definitely the best. Sure, he knew her flirtations were only because that was her job, but it still felt really good having such a pretty mare talking to him like that. Everypony likes feeling special and attractive once in a while and she had a way of making you feel as if you belonged on the front cover of some magazine. With two or three mares dangling on your legs.

He was two blocks away before he realized that he was walking down the street in a bath robe. As comfortable as it was, it didn't change the fact he was getting plenty of stares. He squeaked and quickly took it off, folded it up and put it over his back. “Soon...” he whispered to it before trotting down the streets. He just had to find lunch now. Then return to his home so he could being a long weekend of cuddling in that robe.

Angelos hummed happily as he trotted through the town, glancing around at all the buildings and ponies. It really was a nice, simple town. The kind he'd expect to see postcards being taken of at any moment. It was a shame he'd never actually visited the place aside from when he was on royal duties. Then again, he didn't take that many vacations to begin with. He'd only really taken this one since it was forced on him. He was lucky he hadn't ended up in a jail cell. He nearly had.

He shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts. He was on vacation, time for a little enjoyment. He looked around at all the little shops and wiggled his hips, making his bits jingle. Maybe it was time he got a real meal. Not the cheap, deep fried vegetables he usually picked up when he had a late night shift and had to rush to work. No, a real meal for once. He glanced around at all the stands, humming softly as he walked.

It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. The perfect meal. Big and oozing with clear, slightly yellow sauces that the rich and healthy used in place of ketchup, syrup and oil. Wrapped in a delicious tortilla shell around golden heated chestnuts. A small dusting of sugar. Whipped cream on top. It was a meal and a dessert. The sign for three bits dangled overhead, making him gasp. Well, things certainly weren't cheap. But the smell was mouth watering. He walked towards it.

“Angel!” the voice called out.

He paused for a moment before looking up. A yellow pegasus was galloping towards him and she--

His mind finally processed what he was seeing and he nearly fell on his flank. A yellow pegasus? Calling her that was like calling the moon a white rock. No, this mare was kissed by the sun itself, her coat radiating its own golden glow as she moved. Her coat and wings were perfectly shaped and maintained, without a single knot or scuffle. He swore she even glimmered in the sunlight. Her mane was long, flowing pink. Smooth with just a hint of curve on either end. Her frame was... well, if he was a mare THAT was the body he'd want. Not super thin, but not really plump, either. The body of a mare who ate healthy but still worked hard. A gentle hint of muscle, but not so much it drew attention away from her other features.

Then her eyes. Green. The most perfect green he'd ever seen. He'd never even liked the color green before, but it suddenly jumped to the number one spot, possibly behind yellow. She was galloping, her mane jumping up and down with each movement.

She was calling his name. She was running right towards him. He offered up a silent thank you to the heavens as he tried to think of a response, but no words seemed to be willing to enter his suddenly very dry, very parched mouth. He struggled to speak, to say anything, but nothing came out. She was coming closer and closer.

Then she was in front of him. “Brggldish!” he managed to spurt out. She ran right past him, not even noticing. He mentally kicked himself as he watched her run by. He scared her off, how could he... wait, what?

The mare suddenly plucked up a little white bunny from the ground. “Oh Angel, don't run off like that. You had me worried sick...” she said softly. Her voice was one of an angel. No, not an angel, angels wish they had voices like that. It was... it was to voices, to singing, what an angel's voice was to nails on a chalkboard. “You've had such a rough, scary day, didn't you? Come on, let's go get you that cherry...”

He kept staring, his mouth hanging open. If his mouth wasn't as dry as the desert, he'd be drooling. Instead he just watched until she turned a corner, before finally grabbing the nearest pony, who just happened to be waiting in line for the meal he was about to buy. “Who was that?”

“Hey! Get your hooves off me, creep!” the mare snapped, shoving him away.

“What? I... o-oh, sorry, I was just... I errr...” He became distressingly aware of how many ponies were watching him. “I just meant, the ummm... the angelic yellow pegasus who just... she was just... walked by and she... errr...” His face turned bright red as he struggled to think of the words.

The other mare just stared for a few moments, before glaring at him. “Who, you mean Fluttershy? You one of her stalkers?”

“W-what? No! I-I'm not a stalker, h-honest!” he tried not to squeak, but he couldn't stop it. Something about this mare was... quite terrifying, though he couldn't place it. But he had a very bad suspicion that if he made her mad, he could kiss any chance of meeting this Fluttershy away. Along with most of his teeth. Oh wow, even her name was heavenly.

“Oh? Then why do you want to know who she is so bad?”

“I just, she's so, I mean and, I thought maybe, because she, my name and, I uhhh... p-please don't h-hurt me Ms... errr...”

“Dash. Rainbow Dash,” the mare snorted before smirking. “Tell you what. Do you really wanna know who she is? Because Fluttershy there is a close, personal friend of mine.”

“S-she is? S-so you'll introduce us?”

“Buck no!” She jammed a hoof into his chest. “Wishy washy guy like you? Not a chance. If you wanna get to know Fluttershy... well, you'll have to earn it.” The moment he looked down she flicked her hoof up to tap his nose. He yelped. “For a guy like you? Might be easier to just give it up. My tests will break you like a cookie.”

He took a deep breath but slowly shook his head. “I... I'll do it. I-I'll try. What kind of tests are these?”

That grin got even wider. “Oh, you'll see. I got four in mind. You'll have to be awesomely awesome if you want a shot. The first--” She motioned to the stand. “--you're buying me lunch.”

He blinked before looking up. Well... he guessed three bits wasn't much if it got him closer to a mare like that. He walked to the stand and paid for the meal, though he swore he could hear the mare cackling evily. What kind of pony cackled in this day and age? Why did he have a feeling that cackle would be haunting his nightmares for the rest of his days?

Angelos 02

Angelos had seen flying. He'd seen birds fly, pegasi fly, blimps fly, heck he'd even seen a unicorn fly after a minor incident in the chemistry labs at the palace. But what Rainbow did? That wasn't flying. It was as if the very laws of flight just gave up when it came to her and let her do whatever she wanted. Friction? Drafts? Momentum? Buck that, she was Rainbow Dash.

Unfortunately, since they had to give up on her, they seemed to be working double duty on him. He slammed into yet another obstacle in her little course, before slowly sliding down it with his face. He then fell onto his back with a whimper. “Is... is all this n-necessary?”

“Hah! You think you can be a wonderbolt with THAT kind of attitude?” Rainbow asked with a chuckle. “I could do this course in my sleep!”

Angelos rubbed his face and looked up. “I don't wanna be a Wonderbolt...” It required him to weave around tall, thick poles of wood, each laced with cloud rings between them, followed by flying through something she called a 'sap tree'. He could see why, since the tree stood almost fifty feet in the air and from all its branches long, thin lines of sap leaked into little pools on the ground. He wasn't a bad flier, not in the slightest. In fact, he'd averaged an A- in flight back in training. But this mare expected beyond the impossible. She wanted him to dive through the entire thing, making rapid split hair turns then weave around the sap without getting a drop on himself. It was impossible, in fact at the speeds she wanted him to do it, he hadn't managed to make it past the fourth pole. It was impossible. Completely, utterly impossible.

Even worse, the mare had done it a half dozen times already just to show him how 'easy' it was. “H-how... are you not... a-a royal guard?” he asked with a groan before crawling back to the starting line. A small ball of sap splatted into the pools a bit away, making him shiver.

“Royal guard? Laaaaame. Why would I want to stand around all day making a serious face? I'd much rather be flying through the air, having everypony cheering my name. Guards don't get that.”

“We get full benefits, vacation time, a retirement plan and health leave?” he said with a smile.

“Ughhhhhh. I can feel my coolness draining just listening to that. Come oooon. Do you wanna know a bit about Fluttershy or not? Why don't you just go back to Canterlot if you're going to be such a wuss about it. She's one of my best friends, I won't let just anypony ask her out.”

He took a deep breath and steadied himself. “Fine. I'll do this. Just you watch. This time for real. Yah!” He took off, full speed. He whipped through the first cloud, turning so fast his wing skimmed against the wooden pole as he moved between the second. The world was a blur, but he kep going. He turned again, darting through the third cloud. Only three more to go, he could do this. He turned again, his wings vibrating as his momentum fought against him, but he forced himself to go. He passed the fourth one. Two more! He could do it! His wing clipped through the fourth cloud, but he didn't care. He was going to do it. Fifth ring. One more, one mo--

He slammed through it, but not the center. He ran into the edge and slammed face first into the last pole, his turn not solid enough. He dropped to the ground with a moan as the rest of the world caught up to him, snapping his body into place. “Owwwww...”

“Well, you almost made it to the sap. Dust yourself off and try again,” Rainbow said with a chuckle.

Angelos moaned from his position. He'd love to get up and just crawl to the spa for a long, gentle massage. Along with a steamy bath. But that, frankly, was impossible. Even if Rainbow wasn't busy laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes, he could't bring himself to leave. Frankly, he couldn't even move. He was buried up to his knees in sap and, even after a few minutes of tugging and fighting it, he'd only managed to get himself more and more covered in it.

“Will you stop laughing and give me a hoof?” he snapped at her.

She just looked at him, before bursting into laughter again. “Really? Got yourself in, hee hee, a bit of a sticky situation, didn't you?” She started laughing even harder.

He sighed and tried yanking himself out again, but all he managed to do was fall on his side. “Can you just help me get out of this so I can clean up?”

“Fine, fine, you give up?”

“Buck no!” he said before drawing a hoof out. “I've almost got it. I finally made it through the poles!”

“You clipped them with your wing and crashed into the sap pit. You've hardly passed with flying colors,” she said in a teasing tone. “You're just going to get hurt if you keep doing this.”

“D-don't care. I'll get it done if it kills me.”

She nodded. “I see. Well, okay. You pass. Test two complete.”

“I... what? But... what?” He'd have been taken aback if he could move.

“Test two complete. You're stubborn enough to keep trying, so mayyyyybe you're a little worth it. Maybe. Still got two tests to go, so don't get too excited.”

He stared at her for a few moments, blinking in confusion. His eyelids got stuck shut. “What? That's it?” He tried wiping his eyes and eeped as his face got stuck to his leg.

“Yup. That's it, now come on, I'll help you out. Or at least toss you in a lake.” After a few moments something, that felt disturbingly like a catapult, was shoved under his sap covered self. After a few minutes he heard a snap, a lot of force pushing him up. For a few moments he didn't move, as if time itself had forgotten about him. Then the sap gave in and he was sent rocketing into the air, screaming into his hoof as he blindly sailed. A few moments later there was a splash.

“Hah! Nailed it!” Rainbow said before trotting towards the lake. “Don't worry, I'll fish you out!”

Angelos groaned as the two spa ponies worked at him. Sometimes they used gently oiled rags, other times they used a hammer and chisel. But, through great effort, and no small part of suffering on his part, he was soon relieved of a good fifty pounds of sap and finally able to walk out from the spa of his own power. He glared at the wheelbarrow he'd been hauled here in.

He made a mental note if he ever survived to meet this Fluttershy, they fell in love and finally got married, he was not inviting Rainbow to the wedding. Granted, he'd have to have it in hiding since he was pretty sure she would kill him if he tried to leave her out, but it was a risk he was willing to take. Probably. She'd probably dive bomb his cake, anyway.

“So, finally done?” the voice of his tormentor asked, making him lock up before slowly turning around.

“Y-yes?” he squeaked. He hoped she didn't hurt him. Could she realize what he was thinking?

“Okay then. Come on, let's get going. Bring the wheelbarrow.”

He grumbled but did as she said, following after her with it strapped on his back. “Razzle frazzle...”

She led him through Ponyville, humming softly as she walked. He couldn't imagine what diabolic, wicked, evil, cruel and... was that a giant cupcake? “What the hay?”

Rainbow trotted ahead before motioning towards the giant pastry. “And here is our next destination! Sugarcube Corner!” she said enthusiastically.

He stared for a few moments with a cocked eye. “Sooo... I have to...” He then realized the giant cupcake had windows. “Wait, that's a BUILDING?”

“What, a two story cupcake makes sense to you, but not a two story building shaped like a cupcake?”

“Well... I mean, it does, but... it uhhh... shut up...” he said with a blush as he followed after her. “So what's my trial this time? I really hope I don't have to eat the building.”

“Oh no, nothing that easy. Just have to survive two hours.”

“Survive two hours? What's the catch?”

Rainbow grinned and shoved open the door. To her delight, the place seemed empty aside from the pink mare on the counter who was playing a delicious game of tic tac toe with cupcakes. She was winning. “Hey, Pinkie!”

“Hmmm?” the mare asked as she looked up.

“This is a new friend, ummm...”

“Angelos,” he offered.

“Angelos. He's wanting to ask out Fluttershy. Be back in two hours!” the pegasus yelled before flying off.

Angelos blinked before slowly looking up at the pink mare. He'd never quite seen that look before. He was pretty sure the mare would explode at any moment. She actually vibrated. “Err... miss? Are you okay?” He tried to back up, but found it was quite difficult when you had a cart behind you. Then suddenly the pink mare was in front of him. He had no idea how. One moment she was across the room, the next she was in front of him. As if the she just willed it and pop she appeared.

“SoyouwannaaskFluttershyoutwhereareyougoingwhatareyougoingtodowhenareyougoingtoaskherwhatareyougoingto--”

“--howmanydoyouplanto-- Here's your muffin Mr. Tootinany. --havewhat'llyounamethemhowmanypuppieswillyouhave--”

Angelos just stared, his mouth agape and... he had no idea what was going on. He knew he was working at a bakery now, for some reason. But the mare never stopped. A number of customers had arrived and she had dealt with them, though he had helped. But the questions never stopped. She must have had lungs that would have made his old commanders jealous. All of them at once. She didn't seem to breath, think of new questions, anything. They just spilled out of her like a fountain of never ending words. She even served all the guests without skipping a beat.

He felt he was going to explode, his mind unable to process all the questions or the mare's complete ability to just... to do whatever it was she was doing. Magic? She was an earth pony though. Earth pony's couldn't do spells. Their magic was all about their hooves and stuff. He couldn't grasp it. Just thinking about it made his head hurt.

She also seemed to move strange. Rather than moving from point A to point B, it was like she just appeared at point B. It could be ten feet away and she'd just... be there when she needed to be. He swore he saw her actually appear at point B before leaving point A once. His mind couldn't process it. It didn't make any sense. None of it made any sense. Then Rainbow walked into the room. He glomped her so hard she nearly fell over. “Save me!”

She chuckled softly and shook her head. “Really? Just what has...” She glanced up to Pinkie who was still in mid sentance. “Ah. I see. Don't worry, your time is up. You pass this test.”

He whimpered and nodded.

“Pinkie, I'm taking him out for the next test! Thanks! I'll make sure he stops by soon!”

“Okie dokie loki!” she said with a happy wave. The two then quickly trotted away.

He looked back and shivered. “What was that about?”

“Oh, just giving you a taste. Pinkie Pie is one of our best friends. She can be a bit annoying at times, but trust me. She's friends with everypony in town for good reason. Throws the best parties, always looks out for those around her. Everything you'd want in a friend. You'll need to get used to her.” She paused. “Also, expect a celebration party later.”

“I'm not really one for parties...”

“You've never been to one of Pinkie's parties. Trust me. You'll love it.”

He took a deep breath and sighed, before slowly nodding. “I... I guess. I mean, you'd know, right? Eh heh. So who's next? Only one trial to go, right?”

“Yup. You've got speed, endurance and you cover the meals. Only one test to go. I wanna see if you're scientifically a good pony.”

He paused for a moment, but quickly caught back up. “Scientifically? How can a pony measure if you're good or not?”

“If any pony can, Twilight can.” She gave a small burst to her trotting, coming to a large doorway built into a tree. “Here we are, the library.” She gave it a swift knock.

He followed behind, though something was nagging at him. He just couldn't place what it was. Something... something... something was definitely off. Something important. If he could only figure out what it was, he could deal with it. But it just wouldn't click.

The door to the library swung open, revealing a purple unicorn. “Twilight Sparkle!” Angelos said, his eyes widening. He then saw the veritable wall of books behind her. His eyes dilated and he screamed as visions of flowing books rocketed at him. He tackled Rainbow to the ground, covering her head with a hoof as he covered his own with the other hoof.

'No, no, I can put it away I know the magic!' echoed through his mind in a little filly's voice as he laid there, trembling.

“Do you mind?” Rainbow asked, glawing over at him. “Stop being all creepy.”

“T-they're everywhere. Books... the horror... the ponyanity... so many books... so many books...”

Twilight blinked a few times, then her eyes narrowed. “Really? You were one of the ponies from the Great Restricted Bookalanche of '62? I told Princess Celestia that she had to make sure not to send you here. I was a little filly, I didn't know any better.”

“Horrible... the chaos... the anarchy... magic books as far as the eye could see. An ocean coming right at me...” He stared off in the distance, his body still shaking.

“Really? Just how bad was this bookalanche thing?” Rainbow asked as she crawled out from his grip.

“It was... err... I'm not actually allowed to give the details to a civilian,” Twilight said with a light shuffle of her hooves. “B-but I can say there were no fatalaties! And everypony was returned to their original form. Or near enough you couldn't tell the difference. Well, except one. But he's very happy in his new form. Seems to love being a monkey.”

Rainbow stared for a few moments, before glancing down to Angelos. “Poor guy looks horrified. Guess those books were restricted for a reason.”

“Oh Celestia, they put her in charge of a library,” Angelos said, his eyes wide with horror.

“I-I'm not a filly anymore!” Twilight said again, her cheeks bright red.

The stallion gulped and slowly nodded, though he looked inside. “I ummmm... I... s-sorry. Horrible, horrible memories. AHHHHHHH!” He flew up into the tree, hiding behind one of the branches as a book sailed by.

“Rainbow!” Twilight yelled angrily. “Don't throw the books!”

The blue pegasus giggled. “Whatttt? Come on, it was just too easy. Angelos, come down. No more throwing books.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

He slowly glided down and gulped. “O-okay. H-hello again Ms. Twilight. I'm not sure if you remember me. Angelos? I used to escort you in the library?”

She hook her head, eying him curiously. “I'm afraid not. When was this?”

He took a deep breath and sighed. “I... doubt you'd remember my name. You used to call me, ahem...” He put on his best imitation filly voice. “'Shiny wings!'”

“Ohhhhh!” Twilight nodded. “Yes, I remember you now! Because your mane was... errr...”

“Blue manes and white coats are quite common, I assure you,” Angelos said with a smile, before giving a nod. “You were a filly, I can hardly blame you for not remembering me.” He paused. “Though, nearly killing me in that... event...”

“There were no fatalaties!”

He chuckled nervously before nodding. “Of course not. So you do remember me then?”

“Oh, yes. What brings you here?”

“He's hoping to ask out Fluttershy!” Rainbow said quickly before he could get a word in.

She gasped. “Really? Ohhhh! That's marvelous!” Twilight clapped her hooves together. “You'll let us help, won't you?”

“I... I... s-sure?” Angelos said softly. Puzzle pieces slowly clipped into place as his eyes bulged. “W-wait a minute! You're... I remember now! You're an element of harmony!” He said, pointing a hoof at Twilight. “That... that means...” His eyes turned to Rainbow. “You're one as well, aren't you?”

Rainbow snorted. “Wait, you didn't know? Don't you ever read the paper?”

He gulped and shuffled his hooves. “Not... not often. Most of the stories tend to be... well... dramatized. I did see the article about you and the other elements, but I didn't really... well, I never thought I'd see the others or... I mean, if I did it would be at an official event and ummm... sorry... I just didn't memorize the features. I did see a picture once, but that was a long time ago. It was black and white, too...”

Rainbow snorted. “Right, so you couldn't even remember them mentioning a rainbow maned pony?”

“Most of the story focused on Miss Twilight. Sorry...” He lowered his eyes and coughed. “Please ummm... don't let this directly affect my chances of asking out Miss Fluttershy.”

Twilight giggled. “Ohhhh! You need to give her a token of your love! Something... romantic! And adventurous. Something that shows that you truly mean it! You're a guard, right? It has to be something from the knights of old.” The unicorn dashed into the library, gathering books as she went. They flew around her head, flipping through pages as they went. “Spike!”

“Huh? What is it?” a little purple dragon asked as he came down the stairs, holding a stack of books in his claws. “I found all articles about fungus and the effects of--”

“That doesn't matter right now, more important things are ahoof!” Twilight said as she picked up the dragon's books in her magic and pulled them away, to neatly place them on the floor. She then dumped a new, taller stack into his claws. “Go through these, find everything about knights and maidens.”

“What? But I just... but... fine,” the dragon grumbled as he walked off, shaking his head. “Pony doesn't know what she wants, says she wants fungus, I find her fungus. Now she wants knights, I'll find her knights. Bet when I get back she wants wiffle bats...”

“Isn't this all a tiny, itty bit over kill?” Angelos asked softly as he looked between the two mares. “I ummm... aren't you just supposed to find out if I'm a good pony?”

“Huh? Oh, you're a fine pony,” Twilight said dismissively. “But if you're going to woo one of my best friends, you're going to do it right. That means by the book.” She pulled out a small book and motioned to it. “Hmmm... Hoofeo and Unicornette. Do you have any objections to drinking poison to prove your love?”

“Yes!”

“Fine. If you want to be difficult.” She tossed the book away and grabbed the next. The original book stopped in mid air a few inches from the ground, closed and neatly slid back into the bookcase.

Angelos sighed and looked to Rainbow. “Do you do this to all ponies who try to ask her out?”

“Only ones who try to ask her out through me. Just be thankful you didn't ask Rarity. You'd have had to spend eight hours getting a dress or something made,” Rainbow said with a snicker.

“I wasn't dressed as a maid!” Angelos added quickly.

“What?”

“You just said you were dressed as a maid...”

“What? No I didn't. I said I wasn't. You're hearing things. Look! I think Spike found something!” He quickly trotted over to the dragon.

“Well... I did find one thing,” Spike mumbled as he flipped open the book. “About what you'd expect, though.”

“And that is?” Twilight asked, eyes gleaming.

“Well, when a solar knight about half a millenia ago wished to... well, proposition Celestia for--”

“Wait, Celestia was propositioned?” Twilight asked, her eyes going wide as her mental defenses quickly tried to form a cement wall around this new bit of information, before collapsing a mountain on top of it.

Spike stared up at his caretaker for a moment before. “Errr... I mean, proposition a princess, he or she would traditionally go on an epic quest. Usually to defeat some great evil, slay some powerful beast or perform some noble deed. They'd then bring home an offering from this feat. In one case, a knight slew a dragon and brought the scale as tribute.” He paused. “Apparently the princess ended the tradition once she found out about it and told them they could just ask her out. To leave the... defeating of great evils to her.”

Twilight nodded. “That's perfect. All we need to do is find a great evil for him to destroy.”

“Maybe he could try to finish off Discord?” Rainbow offered.

“Rainbow! That's mean!” Twilight said, glaring at her.

“Well, he's still evil, I don't care what Fluttershy says. I know an evil pain in the flank when I see one.”

“Oh, no. Definitely still an evil little monster. But he'd destroy poor Angelos. Probably turn him into a statue of soap or something.”

Angelos opened his mouth to make an objection, before quickly remembering who and what Discord was. He promptly decided to shut his mouth before they decided it was his job to do it.

“Well, maybe he can go slay an evil dragon or something?” Rainbow offered.

“Aren't really many of those flying about these days,” Twilight muttered. “Sure, a few of them can be a bit curt and rude, but we have an alliance with them now and very few actually try to be tyrannical or wicked any more.”

“That and no killing dragons!” Spike objected. Every eye turned to him, before the three ponies looked at each other.

“Well, he is a dragon...” Rainbow offered.

“Technically, a single scale could suffice,” Twilight added.

“But isn't that a little unfair? Besides, don't I have to beat him first?” Angelos asked.

Twilight nodded and winked. “Oh, just leave that to me.”

Spike rolled for his life, roller skates over his claws as he tried to out run the pegasus behind him. It wasn't very hard since, well... Angelos seemed to have no idea how to skate. That, and he wasn't allowed to use his wings. The pegasus wobbled dangerously as his four hooves tried falling out from under him.

“Is, is all this really, really necessary?” Angelos asked as he took a ginger step forward, only for his hooves to slide out from under him and send him flat on his belly.

“This is technically the most... warrior like sport I'm willing to let Spike play,” Twilight yelled. “All you have to do is win then you can have a scale!”

“I never agreed to this!” Spike said as he skated away from the pegasus. “I just wanted to help you with your books, I need my scales! They're a part of me!”

“C-come on Spike,” Angelos said as he got to his hooves. “I just need the one to-- eek!” All four hooves went in different directions, making him land on his belly again. “Ow...”

The dragon watched with pity and shook his head. “You look like Twilight when she tried ice skating.”

“Come on, Angelos!” Rainbow yelled as she flew up behind him, lifted him by his tail and gave him a shove. “Show him what you're made of!”

The pegasus shrieked as he rolled forward, struggling to keep on his hooves and, mostly, succeeding. He flew past the dragon who couldn't help but watch with a fascinated, if slightly cruel grin.

The pegasus blinked and slowly grinned. This wasn't so bad at all. So long as he kept his legs close, all he had to do was just let himself go forward.

“Steer, steer!” Twilight's voice came from behind him.

“Huh?” He looked up, just in time to see the turn in the track. He shrieked as he raced up the curved side and over it, dangling upside down in the air for a few moments, his hooves flailing, before crashing down on his back. “Oww...” he moaned.

Spike skated by with ease. “See, I told you this wasn't going to work.”

“My organs...” Angelos said with a whimper.

“I guess we could try something less physical...” Twilight said with a sigh.

“Check mate,” Spike said as he put his bishop on the chest board. “Wanna go again?”

“That's five to zero,” Angelos said with an annoyed sigh. “How are you so good at this?”

“I play against Twilight,” Spike said with a chuckle.

“Let's try something else. How is this even a battle?”

“Chess is a battle of wits!” Twilight said happily before gathering up all the pieces and humming. “Fiiiiine. I guess we'll do it the old fashioned way.”

“AHHHHHH!” Spike screamed as he ran for his life.

“Come back! I just need the one scale!” Angelos yelled as he chased the dragon, holding a padded lance to his side. “It'll only hurt for a second!”

“You're all insane!” Spike screamed as he darted behind a bookcase.

“Come on, it's even padded!” Angelos yelled.

“Safety first,” Twilight said as she watched.

Spike yelped as he avoided another piercing sweep with the lance, ducking under the pegasus' legs and running back into the main room.

“Come on, you've got him on the run, you can do this!” Rainbow yelled. She then paused and glanced to Twilight. “Do you think we're going a bit too far?”

Twilight shook her head. “Of course not. The research clearly shows a dragon scale is a wonderful first date gift.”

“I meant for Spike?”

The unicorn blinked and looked over the scene. The dragon climbing up a bookcase as Angelos charged, missed and embedded his lance into the wood. “O-oh. Right. I just got caught up in t--” She was cut off by the sudden sound of the bookcase toppling over, burying Angelos in books and leaving Spike to gracefully leap off, run up stairs and slam the door shut. There was the sound of the lock clicking. “We went a bit too far.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and charged forward, shoving the bookshelf back up and unburying the other pegasus. He was curled into the fetal position and whimpering. “B-books... s-so many books...”

“Think we might of broke him,” Rainbow said with a nervous laugh. “Good news buddy, we uhhh, decided you passed. You can ask Fluttershy out.”

“Whimper...”

“Let's get him some hot cocoa or something...”

Angelos stared at the small little cabin outside of Ponyville. It was everything he'd imagined, and more. An adorable little path leading to it, animals in their little adorable pens and, of course, he could hear her adorable little voice inside. His wings were twitching awkwardly after dislodging some books, but he was sure it would go away. Probably. It was all worth it though. He was about to meet Fluttershy.

His hoof stopped mere inches from the door as his face turned completely pale. He couldn't believe it. He'd been so focused on not dying to the insane pegasus, he'd completely forgotten one very, very important detail.

He'd never actually asked a mare out. At least, not one like this. Sweat began forming on his brow as he stared at the doorway. It was only an inch from his hoof, but it felt like miles. Fluttershy was... well, beautiful. And amazing. And if he was correct, an element of harmony. Rainbow hadn't exactly confirmed that and he hadn't directly asked, but he was still pretty sure. More importantly, she was way, way, way out of his league.

Suddenly the trials and tribulations he went through to get to this point seemed insignificant. If anything, he was pretty sure he could, and would, spontaneously combust on her porch. She'd probably sweep it up, singing the whole time, completely unaware. Her heavenly wings flapping gently as she worked.

Oh gosh, she was going to say no, she was going to tell him to get lost, she was going to say she didn't date guards, she was going to--

--open the door. It swung open to reveal the yellow pegasus. His eyes bulged as he stared at her. Oh, she had been beautiful before, but now? It was like gazing into the sun. She was so radiant, so beautiful, so amazing. He didn't have a chance.

He cleared his throat. “F-F-Fluttershy. M-my name is Angelos. Would... would you... would you do the honor of... honor of g-going with me on... out to dinner? I mean, as... as a date?” was what he tried to say. Instead all that came out were gurgles and hisses. She stared at him curiously.

“Can I help you?”

He watched her. So radiant. So amazing. He took a deep breath and placed both hooves firmly on the ground. It was now, or never. He steadied himself and willed every stutter away. He could do this. He would do this. “Miss Fluttershy, would you...”

New Dawn 01

Tick tock. Tick tock.

Time was slowly spilling away, second by second, as a deadline drew ever closer.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

A green earth pony with a single stripe of red down her mane and tail stared at the empty piece of paper in front of her. The floor was covered in other pieces of crumbled up paper, abandoned and destroyed stories and ideas. Her name, Dazzler Star, was the only thing written on the paper in the bottom right corner.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She lifted the pen in her mouth and started drawing again. She had to have a her little funny image done by tonight, or she'd be in big trouble. She wished she could make up a little satire piece, but there was really nothing to satire at the moment. No upcoming elections, no real political snafus, no tension, hadn't even been any trials or police actions in the last few weeks. The few things that she could really joke about had already been taken by her coworkers as well. As much as she loved writing the little comics, there was nothing to write. She then glanced to her article besides it.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

It was a small bit on the recent opening of Blenders and Toasters, a branch off from Quills and Sofas. Hardly front page news. Though, there was enough of a dry spell going on it might possibly make it to front page. Barely. She supposed she could make a little doodle about that, but it just reeked of desperation. The kind of thing you drew when you had nothing else in mind. She shoved the paper aside and laid her head down. She needed a nap, that's what she needed. She glanced around her little office, finally focusing on the small couch she had propped up against the wall, facing the window.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She slowly slid away from her desk and moved to the couch, collapsing on it. The room was a bit cramped, but that was to be expected. She was able to afford a home, barely, on her salary. But it was hardly a large home. One floor, two small rooms(of which her office was the smaller), a kitchen, bathroom, all the basic amenities. Still, it was nicer than most ponies could afford so she had no reason to complain.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She glanced to the old grandfather clock propped up against the opposite side of the room, frowning at the time. She had only three hours until her deadline was over. Dazzler let out a soft, gentle sigh. A short nap, that was all she needed.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

The smell invaded her nostrils again. It was so faint, so small. The smell of something burning. When her eyes were open she could barely even tell it was there, but when they were closed her senses latched onto the easiest distraction. She'd torn her office apart trying to find the source, but she couldn't. There was nothing burning, at all. The sockets were all fine, the smell didn't seem to be coming from outside and there was nothing in the other rooms. So whatever it was seemed to be coming from here.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She tried not to focus on it, but it kept nagging at her. The scent was just... there. It didn't belong. There was nothing that should be giving that smell and, even worse, she had a feeling there was something else distressingly wrong. Nagging at the back of her mind, tugging at her thoughts. It refused to stop, refused to let her relax. It poked and prodded her brain, yelling 'look at me, look at me!'. But then when she tried to find it, it just jumped, leaped and cart wheeled out of reach, refusing to let her figure out what it could possibly be. It was getting on her nerves.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She groaned and rolled onto her side, burying her head into the couch. She had to think of something. Her boss was going to be annoyed if she didn't get the little comic done. Sure, the articles were the main draw of the paper, but they'd be foals if they didn't realize there were plenty of ponies who spent the two bits just to get the little comics at the end. She hated having deadlines. It's why she never had any clocks in her work room, it made it too hard to focus and thing when you had to watch the time. She suddenly sat up in her chair, her eyes going wide.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She slowly turned towards the clock and stared at it.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

When had she moved it into the room? Had it always been here? She didn't remember getting it. It blended in with the room so perfectly, in fact she was pretty sure the old owners had one. But she didn't. She didn't even like clocks like that. So old and rustic and...

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She stared at the door on the front of it. It was a big door. A pony could hide in that thing. Fear began to grip her as she slowly slid from the couch and searched for the nearest object within reach and of proper blunt diameters. One of her dictionaries. She held it in one hoof and slowly advanced towards the clock, gulping nervously.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

The burning smell got stronger as she came closer. She could make out little scorch marks along the clocks sides. Had it been dragged out of a fire recently? Was there fresh ash inside? How had a pony even got it in here? She'd been here since yesterday, but there hadn't been a clock then. Or had there? Even now she found it hard to focus on. It was so... perfect. It molded with the room so well. It was as if it was trying to make her forget about it, to focus on anything else. She had a sneaking suspicion if she looked away, she'd forget about it completely.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

What if she already had? What if she'd walked up to it a dozen times today, only to forget about it once she was distracted? It was just a clock, right? She was now directly in front of it. The door was as scorched as the rest of it. What if she just turned around and forgot she'd ever seen it? It was just a clock. A harmless, defenseless clock.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

But every instinct Dazzler had told her that this was the thing that was wrong. It was all wrong. One hoof reached out, gripping the door and holding her up. The other hoof held the book, ready to launch it at a moments notice. She took a slow, steady breath.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She pulled open the door and threw the book as hard as she could. Except, the door didn't budge. Instead of the book flying into the internal reaches of the clock, it bounced off the unyielding door and smacked her in the face. She toppled backwards with a dazed squeak, landing on her back and staring at the wall opposite her. “Ow.”

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She stared at the wall for a few moments and sighed. She was wasting time, horsing around. She had to get to work, not throw books at... at clocks. Dazzler groaned as she got to her hooves and shook her head. She then turned to the great wooden device and frowned. Maybe it was nothing, just a clock? Nothing more, nothing less? Just something... simple. Nothing to worry about. Nothing she had to... panic about. Her eyes narrowed on the door. Then why wouldn't it open?

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She pushed forward one more time and reached out, gripping the door and pulling. It didn't budge. She pulled a little harder and groaned. The wood didn't seem to even notice her tugs. She sighed and gave it a push. The clock didn't budge. Another firm push, but it refused to rock in the slightest. She looked around the side, but it was only a foot or so in length. It was up against the wall though, so she supposed that could explain its lack of movement.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She moved around and tried poking and prodding from different angles. The clock refused to rock in the slightest, making her nerves stand on end. It wasn't that big, only about the height of two of her. There was no way it should be grounded enough to not move. She wasn't the strongest pony around, but the clock couldn't have weighed more than a hundred pounds. Rocking it should be easy. Yet, against all reason, it didn't budge. She growled and moved to the front. “Fine, be that way.”

Tick tock. Tick tock.

Dazzler turned her back to the clock and bucked. She bucked with all her might, slamming both hooves into the face of the clock. It was only in mid kick that she realized that such an object would be the perfect place to hide an explosive device. She tried to pull her kick at the last second, but it was too late. Her hooves connected with the face and she was propelled forward with a shriek, the clock unmoving. She flew across the room and crashed into the ground, letting out a soft, pained moan a moment later.

Tick tock. Tick--

She slowly got to her hooves and wobbled back and forth for a few moments. “O-okay. That's... that's not... ohhhh...” She dropped to the ground a moment later and shook her head. Okay, she didn't know what that clock was made of, but it was harder than anything she'd bucked before. It didn't explode though, so at least that fear seemed to be unfounded. She slowly got to her hooves and looked around for something hard to hit it with. She knew she had a hammer somewhere.

The scent of smoke filled the air now, making her look up at the thick, billowing clouds of it rolling against the roof. She suddenly had a firm, dangerous feeling that she was being watching. With a nervous gulp, she turned around.

The large grandfather clock door was now open. A pegasus stood in it, framed by billowing clouds of smoke that were shooting out from behind her. “Do you mind? This is all very hard to fix with these blasted hooves as it is. Your banging is NOT helping matters in the slightest.”

Dazzler stared. Her eyes twitched. She screamed.

New Dawn 02

“Easy, easy!” the pegasus yelled before running forward. She tripped over her own hooves and slammed face first into the ground, before flipping over and landing on her back. “Ow...”

Dazzler stared for a few moments, backing away and, for the moment, forgetting her screams. It was hard to feel scared of a pony that just did that. “Who... who are you?”

“Ah, yes, me. Ow. Ummm, hold on. Come on you blasted things, work! What is the point of having wings if they don't do what you tell them?” The mare finally managed to roll onto her stomach and, shakily, get to her hooves. She then tried to push off the ground with her front hooves. For a few seconds she managed to stand on her back hooves, but quickly toppled forwards again. She then rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Fine! Be that way. Ah, yes. Me. As a matter of fact, I am Dawn.” She glanced down at a hoof. “New Dawn, now. Though Old Dawn was quite the woman, I tell you. I hope to be her again soon. Indeed. But first I need to find out what went wrong. Don't know what all those calibrations were for and not to mention the fire.”

“Your... your clock is smoking. A lot,” Dazzler said, eying the clock. She couldn't see the fire, but there was no way there couldn't be a large one. With so much smoke coming out, she was amazed she hadn't smelt it earlier. If that door had been holding it all in it should have killed the pegasus. Burned her alive even. “How... are you alive?” Frankly, she didn't know how she couldn't see the fire. The smoke was just so thick.

“Oh, well, luck mostly. Fell through an interdimensional... thingie. It has a name but I really never paid too much attention to the names of things. Now I'm a horse though and my tardis is about thirty minutes from exploding and creating a black hole the size of, well...” She glanced up and gaped. “Oh my! You're a horse!”

“I'm a pony.”

“Well, yes. But you're a pony and... you're talking!” Dawn glanced to the desk and a wide grin formed on her lips. “Is that your desk?”

“Well, yes. Well, it was my father's, but he gave it to me when I got this job. But what does that have to do with anything?” She slowly inched back towards the large, heavy book she'd held as a defensive weapon earlier. She had a sneaking suspicion she might need it.

“Everything! That is your pen, yes? That means you must have a greater grasp of motor functions than I am, currently, capable of bringing to bear! You must help me!” The pegasus charged forward, stopped behind the earth pony and started pushing the other mare forward with her head. Or at least, that was what she seemed to be attempting to do. She more awkwardly hobbled and gently nudged the mare, before falling over again.

“Are you drunk?” Her book was temporarily forgotten as she realized how many motor functions the mare seemed to have lost.

“What? Me, drunk? Never! Can horses even get drunk?”

“Yes... what are you going on about?”

“My tardis, I require your assistance before it explodes!”

She glanced towards the clock that was billowing out a distressing amount of smoke. “Your clock.” She shrieked and galloped forward. “It's on fire, you're going to burn my home down!” How could she forget? She swore the thing had a way of just... disappearing from a pony's focus.

“What? Oh. No. It won't burn anything down, honest. It'll explode, and well... take out everything for many, many miles. I wish you really would listen for just a second and help me stop it from doing just that.”

Dazzler moved closer, squinting through the smoke. That... that was impossible. The smoke seemed to be coming from deeper inside the clock. It didn't make any sense, her wall should have been there. As well as the back of the device. But there was just smoke, billowing out rapidly. Her mouth fell open. “It's... it's...”

“Bigger on the inside, yes yes, we've--”

“This is some unicorn magic vehicle, isn't it? I'm going to be arrested, aren't I? Ohhh, what if it's top secret! I work for the news, I'll be shot out of a cannon! Banished to the moon! Turned into a potted plant!”

“Uni... corn?” Dawn asked softly, before gasping. “This dimension has unicorns? That's amazing! But really, follow me. Again, explosions. Everything destroyed, unless you help me. Time really is of the essence. Won't take but a moment, really. It's the stairs, mostly. And turning things. Turn it too far and nothing works.”

She gulped and then slowly followed after the mare. The pegasus' awkward movements were almost humorous, if not for the fact Dazzler was sure she'd be going to jail. Then all the pieces fell together. “Wait, you're a test pilot, aren't you? You've got a concussion. That's why you're moving so funny. This must be some kind of... special... testing vehicle, right? Magic and all that? I'll bet the princess probably had you working on getting it to fly, right?” A grin flowed onto her lips like water. Never mind about her little comic, a story like this was breaking news. Front page. Real front page. A secret new vehicle, hidden from the masses? Or maybe it was one that they had hinted at, but this was the first successful test run? Or non-successful? What if this was the unveiling test? She wouldn't go to jail, she'd win a prize! What it--

Oh. It was going to explode and take out the city. That seemed to be rather important now that she had a second to think about it. “How do I stop it?”

“Oh, that's simple, come with me,” Dawn said as she hobbled into the clock, falling flat on her face a moment later. After a few seconds she managed to make her way in and Dazzler followed after her.

The news pony's mouth nearly hit the floor. She stared in fascination at the large control console in the center of the wide open room. It was on fire and had some kind of weird substance hovering about in the center in a glass tunnel. The ground rattled under her hooves and a quick look told her they were suspended about twenty feet off the ground. A staircase branched off from the side and went to the ground, which the pegasus was... trying to go down. After a great many tries, she managed to make it to the floor with only a few new bruises.

Dazzler walked down it with ease, though she found the hoof rails to be quite odd, reaching to just over her head. What kind of pony had this thing been built for? Not to mention it was so narrow even she had to struggle not to fall down it. “So, what do I do?”

Dawn motioned towards another console on the ground, attached at the base of the tower that went up to the entrance level. “How are you with tools?”

“I can use a screwdriver?”

“Great! I don't have one of those.” Dawn motioned towards a small spiral like device with a handle. “Unfortunately, almost everything seems to be... broken. Or not working. Or well... don't even get me started on trying to get the doors to open. I was halfway through my book and now I can't even get into my bedroom. It's all this weird... energy in this world, I swear.”

There was a loud hiss from above, followed by the sound of something metal popping off and pinging against the wall. “Dawn! Attention, pay it!” Dazzler yelled. “Fire, explosion, stopping it, how?”

“What? Oh! Right, yes!” she motioned to the spiral thing before pointing to a screen built into a tower and a small hole. “I need you to use that and insert it in the hole, then twist seventy-five degrees until you hear a pop, then--”

“Why don't you do it?” Dazzler asked, looking at the device.

“I've tried, but well, my mouth isn't made for such precision tools.”

“I mean with your hoof.” The earth pony picked up the tool in her hoof and held it out. “Here.”

“How... but... you have a hoof. You don't have anything to grab it with. There's no fingers or--”

“I'm a pony, not a dragon!” she snapped angrily. “Just take it and do your thing!” She shoved it into the pegasus' hoof, but it fell to the ground. “What did you do that for?”

“I've only got hooves. Flat surfaces. I can't grab things!”

“What do you mean you can't--” A shrill alarm filled the air, making her cringe and pull back. “By Celestia! What's that?”

“Warning of imminent core de-timeization! It's saying it's best to get out of the tardis, off the planet and, if possible, out of this time! Come on, jam it in and twist! Remember, just until you hear the pop, then push it in and push the green button on the right side while I push the yellow button.”

Dazzler growled but took the tool and jammed it inside a small hole under the screen. A quick turn, a pop and a shove. Symbols flashed across the screen and the pegasus nodded. “Good, good! Perfect!” The two pushed the buttons. “Okay, that takes care of the fire!” From above the sound of something loud and blowing could be heard. “Now, up the stairs on the console is a big blue button. Do NOT push it! Besides it is a twisty spiral thing. Turn it very fast and THEN hit the big blue button. After that, the alarm should turn off! Finally, once the alarm is off, smack the big red button. Do NOT smack the big red button UNTIL the alarms are off, okay?”

“Fine! Got it!” Dazzler yelled before running up the steps. The shrill noise was even worse up here, making her head ache. She made it to the console, which was now covered in thick white foam, and searched for the big blue button. Unfortunately, it was hard to see the console since it was quite a few feet off the ground and she had to jump onto two hooves to see over it. Fortunately, she found the buttons without any issue. There was a little round disk besides it, it looked like something from a foal's board game. A quick twirl and it spun around rapidly, at which point she hit the blue button. A few seconds later and the alarms went off. The lights went off with them, making her frown.

The console still glowed, however. Out of the corner of her eye she saw it. The big red button. It called to her. Pleaded with her. Begged her to push it. She grinned widely as she reached out. It was what she was told.

“No, wait! I was wrong--” Dawn yelled, but it was too late.

Dazzler pushed the button and the console died, turning the entire room to darkness. The only light came from the open doorway that led to her office. There were no sounds and the room smelled of smoke and foam.

“Oh dear. Now you've done it,” Dawn said with a moan.

“What?” The excitement was starting to die and Dazzler couldn't help but feel quite silly, listening to the likely head damaged pegasus.

“I thought the damage was worse than it was. Hold on...” The pegasus appeared in the light, hobbling up the stairs. “The button didn't need to be pushed.”

“What did that button do?”

“Released all the energy stored into time...” Dawn sighed softly. “I didn't know the first release would work so well.”

“Okay... I'm going to go get the royal guard. I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't, ummm... don't move.”

“What? No!” the pegasus jumped up, only to fall back down the stairs with a scream.

“Are you okay?” Dazzler called down into the darkness.

“Never... never better. Don't call the guards. Please don't call the guards. I need to find out where I am. What I am doing here.”

“Sure. I'll be right back in a few minutes.” She wondered where the nearest guard would be.

“Wait! Wait wait, I can explain everything! Ow... just... just give me a few minutes to get back up the stairs. Ow.” There was another loud thump from below.

Dazzler hummed and considered for a moment. On the one hoof, crazy pony with magical government vehicle. On the other hoof, the pony was so concussed and having trouble walking, she couldn't really be a threat. Imagine the article she could write. “Fine. Start talking. How did this end up in my living room?”

“I'm... not quite sure. Ow!” Another thump. “I was on the way home but then there was... well. Lots of blue boxes. Explosions, daleks everywhere. I get sucked into this... thingie that was all... well, it took the planet with it. I was trying not to get sucked into whatever weapon they seemed to be using. I succeeded! I think. Possibly. But the whole going up and down through dimensions doesn't always work like we'd hope. Power sources don't always exist. Sometimes we get to a dimension without a proper power source and we have to wait for rescue. Other times this happens and we get such a massive power surge that everything just explodes and overloads. I can fix it though! I think. Maybe. Probably. Possibly.”

Dazzler stared into the darkness. “You're making absolutely no sense.”

“Sorry, sorry. I did just die a few hours ago, you know how it is. New body. Though, really, never had one with quite a harsh shift. Don't get me wrong, I've had a few doozies. Even had scales once. Long story. But this? Ohhhh. I've never had anything like this. I have four legs! No hands!”

Dazzler stared for a few moments as she struggled to process this. Then everything clicked into place again. “Wait, you're a dragon, aren't you? Some kind of spell turned you into a pegasus?”

The was a momentary pause as the pegasus stopped halfway up the stairs. “Dragon. There are dragons. Oh that is-- I mean, yes! I was a dragon! Am a dragon! That is why I am having so much trouble walking and such! I really must find a way to fix this. All of this. New model, you see. Scouting operations. Very important. Nothing quite like finding a whole plethora of daleks and well... you know how it is.”

“I... really don't. I'm going to summon the royal guard. If you're from the dragon lands, I'm sure the princess will want to speak with you.”

“Princess? What about the queen?”

“The changelings aren't involved. Are they?”

“What? Oh. Never mind. Go on, get your princesses. Heh.” Dawn looked around her ship and sighed. Once she heard the mare trotting away she shook her head. “Yeah, go get your princesses. I know plenty about government and it'll be weeks before you get a chance to tell her anything. By then I'll probably be long--”

“It hasn't even been a full day!” Dawn objected.

“Princess Luna is very accommodating,” Dazzler said as the two walked through the castle halls.

“There's accommodating and then there's... it's been less than a day!” Dawn shook her head. “Government isn't supposed to be fast and efficient! It's supposed to be slow and laboring, like taffy rolling down a hill! Also, oddly sticky.”

“Well, it would have taken a lot longer to talk with Princess Celestia. But Princess Luna isn't quite as busy. I just came during the night court. Really, it only took a few hours.”

“It's not... but...” Dawn stared out the window into the night sky. She had been so tempted to just lock the door and wait for everypony to go away, but she couldn't deny a bit of curiosity about this world. It was so bright and colorful, like nothing she'd ever seen before. Also, so many colorful ponies, it was the kind of thing children would dream up. Except it wasn't, it was all real. That, or a very vivid dream. Still, locking the door would likely have held them off forever, but her ship had very little power as it was and she had very few parts with which to fix it. She might need these ponies in the end and, for now, she decided it was best she just go along and say hi. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

She was led through the halls to a large, golden door with an emblem of the moon on it. Pegasi, wearing dark purple armor, stood on either side and slowly opened the door. With a deep breath, the pegasus mare stepped forward and paused. She had a bad feeling everything was going to start once she stepped through that door. She gave a smile to her comrade. “Well, miss Dazzler. It has been a pleasure getting to know you. I do hope we can meet again.” She then slowly trotted inside.

The earth pony watched the mare go, letting out a soft sigh. Whatever was going on, she hoped it would make a great article. She--

The color drained from her face as she realized both her article and her little failures of comics were back at home, waiting to be shipped. Not only that, they were extremely past her deadline. She turned and ran, nearly toppling over a pony on the way out.

A light brown earth pony, with a dark brown mane and an hourglass for a cutie mark. He watched her go before turning back towards the doors leading to Luna's chambers. He stared for a few moments, before turning and walking away.

Author's Note

Here we are, third OC done! Info sheet to follow. Not sure why I chose to do this one, I honestly didn't think I'd do a time lord in equestria story ever. But for some reason this story just poked at me the more I thought about it and it got chosen. So, woo hoo, here it is. Hope you all liked. I left it this way because I'm sure New Dawn has her own ideas and I figure her actual cover should be more her story than mine.

Snigurka 01

Play Write sighed as she looked over the week's assignment. It wasn't a very difficult one, she'd just asked the children to draw a picture and a few small lines for what they planned to do over the summer. She smiled at a few of them. Little Mac said he was planning to clear one of the family's fields all by himself, with an adorable little drawing of him kicking a tree over and making apples rain down. Well, it was more like a little brown blob, with a green blob on top and red dots falling all over. But it was the effort that counted. Rarity had of course drawn a wondrous sketch of her next costume, intending to outdo the ones she'd made for the play. Her lines were impeccable and the level of detail was amazing for one so young. She couldn't help but feel a small bout of pride at her students and how well they were developing. Why, just the other day one of her eldest students, Cheerilee, had approached her and said she hoped to be a teacher one day. For a moment she lowered the paperwork and sighed, it was moments like that, that made all the hard work with it.

She flipped through the paperwork a few more times, humming as she marked down grades. Then she came to one that made her pause and give another soft sigh. Snigurka. Of course. The little filly had been having trouble ever since she'd moved to town. Her paper was about what Play expected, a snowball fight and snowpony. If this was about winter vacation, the assignment would have been perfect. Except it was in the middle of summer and there would be no sign of snow or ice for many, many months. Daydreaming was fine, but this was bordering on obsession.

Play got to her hooves and trotted to the window, looking out over the children playing and let out another soft, gentle groan.

Across the playground, an almost completely white unicorn filly was sitting in the sand box. The only color was in her hooves and the tips of her mane and tail, which were a light greenish-blue. She was making a snow pony, or at least trying to make one in the sand. So far all she had managed to do was make a slightly larger pile of sand.

A glob of wet sand landed on her head, making her shake it and look up curiously. “Go away,” she grumbled as she tried wiping it off.

“Are you trying to make a sand pony again?” the light brown earth pony with a black mane asked. “It's not snow, blank flank.”

“Shut up, Filthy,” the unicorn grumbled as she tried mixing it up again. A moment later a wet glob of sand hit her in the face, making her growl. “Leave me alone!”

“Or what?” the colt asked with a grin. “Also, it's Rich.”

She glared and picked up a small scoop of sand and tried chucking it at him. It was dry and scattered to the winds, blowing into her face and making her cough and hack.

He burst into laughter, a hoof covering his mouth. “Really, blank flank? You shouldn't beat yourself up like that.” Filthy reached down to pick up another clump of wet sand, pre-wetted by the small bucket of water he'd brought. A low cough made him pause.

“Filthy Rich,” Play said, her voice angry and chilling the colt to the bone. “Just what do you think you're doing?”

He gulped softly, dropping the sand. “I-I was just--”

“I know exactly what you were 'just' and you're going to be coming with me to 'just' sit out the rest of recess.”

“But--”

“Now,” the teacher said, her tone allowing no argument.. Every filly and colt in the playground turned to stare as the colt gulped and slowly followed after their teacher, back into the school.

Snigurka watched them leave, before slowly making her way to the wet deposits of sand and using them to try and make her sand pony. By the time recess was over, she managed to make part of one leg that was kind of staying together.

She joined the other children as they trotted back into the school. As she passed the door, Play gently tapped her on the shoulder. “Snigurka? I'd like to talk with you after class.”

The filly looked up. “But I didn't do anything, I--”

“You're not in trouble,” Play interrupted, smiling down at her. “I just want to talk with you.”

Snigurka slowly nodded, though she couldn't help but feel a little worry in the pit of her stomach. She took a seat and stared forward, fidgeting nervously in her seat as the class continued and their assignments were passed back to them. The class was almost over and, fortunately, she could see she wasn't the only one fidgeting. After class summer vacation started. Two whole weeks of doing whatever they wanted, all day. Anypony would be ecstatic. When the bell finally rang there was practically a stampede towards the door as ponies ran to get out.

All except for Snigurka, who sat in her chair with her legs crossed, nervously waiting for the hammer to fall. Play didn't make her wait long, trotting over and giving a gentle smile. “Snigurka, I wanted to talk with you about your summer plans.”

The dread spilled out of the filly. “That's all?”

“Yes. Are you and your family going out of town for the vacation?”

“No, why?”

“So you'll be spending the two weeks in Ponyville?”

“Yes.”

Play let out a soft sigh. “You do know that there won't be any snow during this season, correct? Summer is when it's warm. We won't have snow again until winter.”

The child slowly nodded, though she looked troubled now.

“Then why did you say you'll be having snowball fights during vacation?”

Snigurka looked down at her assignment and slid lower into her seat. “I... I was going to make snow. U-using magic.”

Play let out another soft sigh. Well, at least the child wasn't afraid to dream big. But she'd seen far too often the dangers of young unicorns biting off more than they could chew. “Now honey, the pegasi set up the weather. It's not for unicorns to be messing with it, especially not one so young.”

The child sheepishly poked at the ground. “I wasn't going to steal a cloud or anything. I-I was going to make my own, just a small one. A real tiny one. N-nopony could notice. Just for fun. And--”

Play smiled and gave a little nod. “I see.” A smile formed on her lips. If the child wanted to try so hard, at the very least she could direct her efforts in some way she wouldn't hurt herself. “Okay then. How did you plan on doing this?”

The child opened her mouth, before closing it. She opened it again, before falling silent a second time. She then smiled and gave a nod. “Magic.”

“Oh, I don't doubt there will be magic involved. But what kind of magic do you plan to use? Have you been studying ice magic?”

“Oh, yes!” the child said excitedly, taking the teacher aback.

“You have? Which kinds?”

“When we went up north to visit my grandparents last winter they showed me all kinds of spells and things!”

“Really? They showed you how to use them as well?”

That made the child pause. She looked down sheepishly. “Ummmm... a little.”

“How little?”

“I can make ice cubes freeze faster in the freezer...” the child said, hanging her head.

Play shook her head and sighed. She had a duty to encourage her children, but also to keep them safe. The earth pony gently scratched her chin and watched the filly before giving a nod. “Well then, if you truly wish to do this, I'll see what I can do to help.”

“Really?” the child asked, hopping up quickly, her eyes wide with excitement.

“Of course. Come along.” She trotted towards the door and lead the filly towards the library. Now, Ponyville was an earth pony town, but there were still the occasional unicorn that popped up. As such, their library did have the basic spell books needed for the beginning user of magic. They also had quite a few on weather, to help the beginning pegasus who wished to make that their choice in career.

Play looked through the tomes before pulling out two thick ones and placing them down gently in front of the child. “You'll need these if you want to get anywhere with your magic.” The mare said firmly.

Snigurka stared at them, before looking up. “But... they're so big,” she whined.

“This is a tome on basic temperature control magic,” Play said before sliding the larger one forward. “Before you can even begin to consider making your own snow, you'll need to need to understand the principles.”

Snigurka groaned. She wanted to make snow to play with, not so she could learn all this... stuff. “But that'll be boring!”

“It's the only way to learn. It's that, or giving up on--”

“I'll do it!” The filly grabbed the book in her magic so quickly it flew up and smacked her on the snout. “Ow.” She then let out a little sneeze as the dust spilled over her.

“This other book is about winter weather. It'll teach you about the way the clouds work, how the pegasi form them and how each snow flake is made. You'll need this next if you want to create your own snow.”

The child groaned but took the second as well. She slid them into her backpack, which groaned under the increased weight. The child nodded.

“Good. Now, if you read these books and practice what they tell you, I'm sure you'll be able to learn all about creating snow,” Play said with a gentle smile.

“Really?” Snigurka asked, her eyes alight.

“Yes. You just need to practice, practice, practice. With research, there is no limits to what you can achieve.”

“Thanks Miss Write!” the filly said before galloping off. The sight of her bouncing along with the books in her bags made the teacher smile. At least now the child would probably forget about all that snow making when time for fun came about. Or maybe she'd even finish the books and properly learn the spells, though it wouldn't be easy.

But, if nothing else, at least now the filly wouldn't accidentally hurt herself by doing the wrong spells. She'd seen to many unicorns who blew their horns out when they tried to master something without the proper research.

Snigurka giggled gleefully as she trotted out of the schoolyard. With these books she'd have snow falling all over the place in a week. First thing she was going to do was make a snowpony. Second thing she was going to do was toss a snowball in Filthy's smug face.

“What are you so happy about?” Filthy asked, glaring at her. She stopped and stared at him, he was waiting just outside the schoolyard.

“None of your business,” she said quickly, trying to move by him. He didn't block her way, but as she walked by her bag got mysteriously lighter.

He snorted. “Winter weather? It's summer break. Or are you hoping this will help your sand ponies?” He held up the thinner of the two books.

She turned and glared. “F-for your information, I'm going to learn how to make it snow, in the summer! I have all these books and--”

He burst into laughter, shaking his head. “Really? You can't make it snow in the summer. It's too hot. Everypony knows that.”

She felt the color rush to her cheeks as anger built. “W-well I will! I'll make tons of snow! In fact, in two weeks, the whole school will be covered in snow! J-just you wait!”

He cocked an eye, snickering softly. “Really? Wanna bet?”

“Yeah! Just you wait! I... ummm... desserts for a week! A whole week!”

Filthy stared for a moment, before slowly nodding. “Fine. One whole week of desserts. Easiest treats I've ever gotten,” he said with a snort.

Snigurka took her book back in her magic and stormed off. She'd show him. She was going to show everypony. In fact, she'd have snow falling by the end of the week. That would give her a whole week to rub it in Filthy's face before school started.

Snigurka 02

Play hummed happily as she made her way down the streets of Ponyville. Summer vacation was over, which meant it was time to return to the class room. Her vacation had been wonderful. She'd worked extra hard and caught up on all her back log within the first few days which meant she was able to spend the rest of her vacation lounging about and doing as she pleased. She knew that, technically as a mature, dedicated adult, she should have been working and being productive. But sometimes a pony just needed to lay on a pool chair and let the rays melt away their stress.

She paused for a second as she caught up to a small filly, looking quite sad, with her head hung and each step made as if she was walking to her grave. “Snigurka? Child?” Play asked as she slowed down to walk besides the filly. “You'll be late if you keep at that pace.”

“I don't care,” the filly mumbled. A cloud was practically hanging over her head.

“What's wrong? Is everything okay at home?” A little worry began to nag at the mare. Summer vacation had just ended, so a depressed child was common. But this was full on despair. Her classes weren't that horrible.

“I couldn't do it,” the filly whined. “I-I spent all summer break working on it, but all I could do was make a little bit of rain!” She stomped a hoof angrily.

“Made rain? What are you...” Play's voice trailed off as she thought back to two weeks ago. “You were able to make a rain cloud?”

The filly shook her head. “No. All I could do was make the rain. I couldn't even make the cloud right.” She let out a sob. “It's not fair! I worked so, so hard! I did everything right! Why won't my magic work properly?”

“You managed to make the rain, but not the cloud?” Play asked, staring in confusion. Still, for one so young even rain could be impressive.

“Yes,” she grumbled pathetically.

“Well, that still sounds impressive. It can't be easy making the rain. If you've gotten that far in only two weeks, I'm sure in a few months you'll be able to make a cloud. Possibly even a little bit of snow. Have you been studying those books?”

“Every night,” the filly said, perking up. “Really? Do you think I'll be able to do it?”

“Of course,” Play said with a smile. “If you practice and show the dedication, I'm sure you'll do fine. Even making all the snow you could ever want.”

Snigurka grinned and perked up. “W-well, I did make really good rain. And a lot of it!”

“Well, there you go. The first step is always the hardest.”

“Thank you Miss Write!” Snigurka said before galloping off towards the school, leaving her teacher, chuckling, behind.

The filly smiled as she galloped onto the school grounds, before skidding to a stop. Filthy was there, as were all the other students. Horror flared through her as she remembered their bet.

“Snigurka, Filthy says you're going to cover the schoolyard with snow, is that true?” Cheerilee asked, staring at her.

Snigurka froze, her breath locking in her throat. She wasn't ready, not even close. But everypony was staring. Watching her. She couldn't tell them she'd failed, they'd all laugh at her. She slowly nodded. “Y-yes. I ummm... I... I know the spell,” she managed to squeak out. “B-but I can't do it now, class is about to start. I ummm, after class!” she said quickly.

Filthy snorted. “Hah, I knew it. You can't, can you? I told you, it's impossible to make snow in the summer. It's too hot.”

“I can do it!” she shrieked, before stomping a hoof. “F-fine! I'll do it, just, just give me a moment.” She quickly trotted back out of the yard, hiding behind the corner. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what she could do. She knew the spell, she had the basics. It had to work, she knew it would. Yeah, she made rain, how much harder could snow be?

She gulped and stepped out, smiling nervously. “Prepare to be amazed, everypony!” she said quickly before her horn began to glow. She ground a hoof into the ground as she pulled on her low magic reserves. “Grrrrr...” Slowly she began drawing the moisture from the air and it gathered over her horn in a big swirling mass of water. It was working, she was doing it! The ponies stared in awe, even Filthy going silent as he stared at the ball of water.

She gathered it up and... then the spell broke. She couldn't make it the cloud like she was supposed to, instead it swirled around into a little ball and began to fall apart, dripping slowly at first, before turning into a drenching downpour. Fortunately, it was only a little water so it didn't last long. Unfortunately, when it ended she was completely soaked.

There was silence for a few moments before the ponies burst into laughter. “Bwa ha ha ha! I knew it! Nopony can make snow in the summer!” Filthy said, rolling on the ground in laughter.

Snigurka just sat there, staring at the laughing ponies. The only compensation was all the rain that fell on her made her tears impossible to see.

“What's going on here?” Play asked as she walked into the yard. “Snigurka? Oh my goodness, what happened to you?”

“She was making snow,” Filthy said before laughing again. That just sent the ponies into another fit of laughter. The filly struggled to contain her sobs, her entire body shaking as the tears refused to stop.

“Okay, that's enough, everypony inside,” Play said firmly. The laughter died instantly and the ponies quickly headed inside. She then turned to the child and motioned towards the building. “Okay then. Come on dear, let's get you dried off.”

“D-don't... don't wanna,” Snigurka said fiercely as she wiped her face off and shook her head. “It's, it's just stupid. It's all stupid. Just... I-I wanna go home.”

Play sighed and gently guided the child into the school. “Now now, I know the first day back can be rough, but--”

“I-I failed!” Snigurka said, before letting out a hiccup. “I... I tried s-so hard a-and all I can do is--” She was cut off by another hiccup. “--make a bunch of useless rain!”

Play gave a soothing pat on the head of the child. “There there. Magic like this takes time. Making rain is very, very impressive for one so young. You're doing fine. All you need to do is keep working at it.”

“I don't wanna keep working at--” Another hiccup. “--at it. I want it now. Everypony expects me to now and I-I can't!” Another soft hiccup followed by a sob broke from the filly. Play shook her head and lead her to the nurses office and grabbed a few paper towels.

“Things take time, Snigurka. Everything worth doing, does. If you want to stop doing it, then make sure you do it for the right reasons.” She started drying the filly off. One of the good things of taking care of so many fillies and colts, they always had plenty of paper towels available. “Don't give up just because it's hard or doesn't work immediately.”

“B-but everypony is m-making fun of me and l-laughing a-and it's not fair! T-they don't know how hard it is o-or how hard I worked,” she said with another sob, before breaking into a few more hiccups.

“I know, I know. Things are hard at times, that's how it works. But if you keep pushing at it, there is no limit to what you can do. Are you still studying those books?”

She gave a small nod. “U-uh huh.”

“Then just keep trying. Making rain is no small achievement.”

She nodded and soon enough she was dry and able to walk back to class, her teacher besides her. Her eyes were a little puffy, but nopony said anything more about her failure and class began.

For a while she managed to even forget about her humiliation. Class was easy and a great distraction. Then, suddenly. “Look, it's snowing!” one of the colts called out.

Her head whipped around to look out the window, but there was nothing there. Then a bunch of small bits of paper rained down on her head. Almost instantly the children burst into laughter and her cheeks burned with shame. There wasn't a lot of paper, but there was enough to make her miserable as her classmates laughed.

“Who did that?” Play asked, looking around. The children made sure to look everywhere but at her, the laughter soon dying down to nervous chuckles. “I will not have tormenting fellow students in my class, is that understood?”

“Yes Miss Write,” the ponies said in unison, grumbling softly.

“Exactly. For that, ten minutes of no recess,” the teacher said before sitting down. “Which is good, because it means I can give a nice, long lecture on how to treat your fellow ponies.” There was another long groan from the ponies.

For Snigurka, the rest of the day flew by quickly, albeit with the occasional humiliation. Her fellow ponies weren't openly taunting her any more, at least not in front of their teacher, but they did keep looking at her and laughing.

On the up side, her rain making spell made the sand much easier to work with and she was able to make half a sand pony during recess. The trip home was uneventful as well, but namely because she hung back and let all the other ponies get ahead quickly, so they wouldn't taunt her on the way home.

She felt so alone. More alone than normal. She'd wasted her entire summer break studying and learning, but for what? All she'd gained was the occasional horn ache and the mockery of her classmates. She'd also lost her dessert, too. Though she'd been smart, asked her mom to give her just apples for dessert this week. But by Celestia, she'd never wanted an apple more than the one Filthy ate in front of her.

She barely gave her parents a greeting as she trotted up to her room and sat down on her bed. She pulled out her homework and put it onto her desk, before glancing down at the books laying on her bed. Weather and temperature spells. They seemed so simple when watching somepony else doing them, but they were so... so hard. Why did they have to be hard? The pegasi always seemed to have such an easy time, wizzing about and setting up the clouds.

She wished she'd been born a pegasus. A pegasus wouldn't have any problems. All they had to do was fly, they didn't have to worry about magic or any of those stupid nuances. She picked up the temperature book and tossed it on the floor. “You're stupid!” she told the book, before tossing the weather one after it.

It wasn't fair. If she was a pegasus all she'd have to do was learn how to fly and that would be it. She could get all the snow she wanted. All the snow she needed. But she wasn't, she was a unicorn. She had to make it herself.

So why wasn't it working? She felt another few tears building up in her. Was it her fault? Was she... stupid? Was she just not good enough? What if she could never learn how to make ice? Frustration built up inside and she let out another sob. She'd worked so hard, yet all she'd managed to do was look like an idiot and get soaking wet. She doubted any pony had ever felt as miserable as she did.

Snigurka cried into her blankets and let all the frustration and anger out. She soon felt exhausted, but better. She glanced over to the books and stared at them. It didn't make any sense. What did the whole stopping water and all those bonds mean? How could you grip heat and send it out? It was like...

There was a little click in her head and she gasped, shooting up. She brought the books back to her and quickly opened them, skimming through the pages. She jumped to her hooves a moment later and galloped outside.

A grin formed on her lips as her horn came alight and the water began gather, swirling over her head. Unfortunately, it soon began to collapse into a small puddle, drenching her again. She shook it off and tried again. “Come on, come on...” Again, she just got soaked. Again and again and again the water drenched her, not forming properly.

Then, after so many tries she was sure it would fail again, her horn beginning to hurt and the frustration making her want to cry again, it didn't rain. The water swirled over her horn and began to expand, slightly. It didn't form a complete cloud, but it didn't begin to rain. Instead a big, almost completely liquid cloud formed in the air. It only stayed for a few seconds before falling apart, but the filly didn't care. A cloud. She'd made a cloud. Barely a cloud, but still a cloud.

“Yes yes yes yes!” she shrieked as she hopped around in a small circle around the puddle of water.

“Snigurka! Dinner!”

“Be right in, mommy!” she called back. She'd done it. A cloud. She'd finally made a cloud. She'd done it. All she had to do was a little more and she'd have a snow cloud. She could feel it.

Snigurka 03

Play hummed softly as she worked, gently marking pages down and grading homework. It was another beautiful sunny day and the children were outside playing. If she was lucky, she'd have all the homework graded before they got back. That would mean she'd have plenty of time to relax over the weekend. She tried not to give homework over the weekend either, especially during the summer. Children wanted to play, not stay inside and work on their basic numbers. She, for one, wanted to lounge by the pool side.

A soft knock on the door made her glance up. “Hmmm? Snigurka? Shouldn't you be outside?”

The little filly stood by the door, looking sheepish. “No, I ummm, I-I wanted to ask you for help.”

Play nodded and put her pen down. So much for her free weekend. “Yes? What is it, dear?”

Snigurka slowly pulled out the two books she'd been given almost two months before. “I ummm... I need some help.”

The teacher stared at them for a few moments. Since they'd returned from summer vacation a few weeks ago, she hadn't heard anything from the child about it. She'd thought she had given up. Even the other children had seemed to have forgotten about it, there hadn't been any more paper snow past the first few days. “What are you having trouble with?”

“I ummm, I've been making clouds. Real clouds. And I can make ice now. It's really kinda easy once you know how it works. But... well...” She shuffled her hooves together. “I can't... get them to work together. It all kind of just... crashes down.”

Play slowly got to her hooves, letting out a low grunt before following after the filly. “Okay, how about you show me? We can do it outside.”

The filly's eyes widened. “W-what? No! The others will see, they'll make fun of me, please don't make me!” she practically screamed the words, shaking her head.

Play sighed and shook her head. “Very well, if you don't want to do it now, then how about this. When class is over, stay after and you can show me once everypony is gone, okay?”

The filly stared for a moment before giving a nod. “O-okay.”

“Good. Now, run along and go play, recess will be over soon.” She watched the child run off with a smile. The unicorn seemed to be developing well and it always made her happy when her children found something that made them happy. She then sat back down with a groan, going back to grading her homework. She couldn't deny feeling a little excited. She wondered what tricks her student would end up showing her.

The class went by quickly and soon enough she was watching all the fillies and colts wander out for the day, a few waving back to her. Snigurka was the last out, pausing by the door and watching her classmates leave across the yard. Once they were gone she smiled up at Play. “Okay, watch, watch!” She trotted off a few feet away. Her horn began to glow and she chewed on her lip, focusing purely on the spell. Slowly the moisture began to gather and swirl over her horn. At first it was just a small ball of water, but then it began to expand. Inch by inch it got bigger, wider, thicker and whiter. Soon, a big, white cloud hovered overhead, poofy and soft. Play couldn't resist, she reached out and touched it.

It felt cold and wet around her hoof. When she pulled back, it closed the small hole she'd made quickly. “It's a real cloud.” She couldn't keep the awe from her voice. Sure, she'd seen unicorns do more impressive spells, but for one so young this was quite the accomplishment. Even if the filly was breathing heavily.

“Y-yeah,” Snigurka said as she thrust her horn forward. The cloud began to rumble ominously, before spilling water all across the ground and evaporating. She sighed softly. “See? I can make rain but I can't make snow,” she whined softly.

Play smiled gently and reached out to pat the filly on the head. “There there. Have you considered that, perhaps, it's just too hot? You've developed quite the skill already, there's no need to push yourself too hard and--”

“NO!” Snigurka screamed, her voice cracking. “Look, look!” She thrust her head forward and her horn glowed. The water began to quickly freeze until a small frozen puddle rested on the ground. “See? It's not too hot! I can make ice, so snow should be easy. But I can't mix them, t-the spells just don't mix and... and it's not fair,” she said with a soft whimper, plopping down on the ground and staring at it. “I-I have to do it. I have to.”

Play sighed and gave a small nod. “I see. Well, in that care, hmmm...” She rubbed her chin. “The problem seems to be getting the spells to mix, correct?”

“Uh huh...”

“How often have you tried mixing magic before?”

“Err... this time?”

The teacher nodded. “Well, in that case I think the answer is simple. You've only just learned these two spells, mixing them both together won't be easy. You need to practice mixing other spells first. Perhaps mixing your cloud forming spell with your telekinesis?”

Snigurka sighed. “But I want to make snow. Not moving clouds,” she whined.

“You have to start somewhere. Mixing magic is a difficult process I'm sure, so start with the magic you know, don't try mixing two magics you're only just learning.”

The filly nodded and sighed. “Okay...”

Play hummed softly as she walked on her way to class. Another glorious, wonderful day.

“Ahhhhh!” Filthy yelled as he ran by, pursued by a raining cloud.

“Mwa ha ha ha!” Snigurka laughed vengefully as she chased after him.

“Snigurka!” Play said harshly.

The filly stopped and the cloud evaporated. “Sorry Miss Write...”

“Don't let me catch you doing that again. Magic is not to be used to torment ponies, understand?”

“Yes ma'am,” the filly said as she hung her head and trotted onwards towards school.

Snigurka yelped as the cloud began to wiggle in the air, before suddenly crashing down, shattering against the ground. “P-perhaps a bit too cold,” she mumbled softly. Still, it was at least a hundred and ten degrees out, so she grabbed a few of the shards and laid them around herself, letting the cold move in against her. “Ahhhhh... okay! Time to try again!” The cloud began to form overhead.

Filthy hummed softly as he walked to class, his mind racing. His dad had told him all about a new business venture and it was making him feel all antsy. It was just a silly idea, but what if he tried building a shop that--

His thoughts were disrupted as something cold and hard smacked him in the side of the face. He stumbled and looked around, confused. A water balloon?

There wasn't any plastic though. There was some white stuff on the ground, too. But it was quickly melting. He stared at it for a few seconds. Snow?

He quickly shook his head. It was wayyyyy too hot for snow to exist. He trotted on ahead, scowling as another pony rushed off ahead past him. Snigurka? He wondered what had her so excited. His eyes widened softly. There was no way, she couldn't have.

He started walking faster, accelerating rapidly, nearly galloping by the time he got to the school. There was no way, no possible way.

“Okay! Everypony!” Snigurka said, grinning proudly as she lifted her horn up. “I've finally done it! You're all going to see it, here and now. Snow in the summer!”

The ponies went silent and watched, breaths held as the filly raised her horn. The glow formed on her horn as the water began building up, swirling in a mass of liquid. Slowly it began expanding, poofing and turning into a nice, small cloud.

Play trotted onto the grounds and paused, watching the children as they stared at the filly. She sat down and went quiet, watching curiously to see what her student could do. A silent hush flowed over the crowd.

Snigurka chewed on her tongue and kept her eyes closed, building the cloud in her magic, drop by drop. It swirled and built, rumbling ominously. Then it crashed down, frozen solid and shattering against the ground. The ponies stared for a few moments, before breaking into nervous laughter.

“No!” the filly screamed, shaking her head. “I'm not done!” She dug her hooves into the ground, closing her eyes and sending out every burst of magic she had. The cloud began to melt and regather in the air, swirling and darkening even faster this time. Droplets of water began to drip down, but the cloud kept swirling.

Some of the children laughed, but only nervously. Those closest to the cloud began to quickly back away, watching it nervously. There was a light tinkling and then the cloud stopped and began to fall apart.

Play sighed, before freezing. Her eyes widened as she realized the cloud wasn't falling apart. Little drops of snow were slowly falling from the cloud, sprinkling on the ground and coating it in a gentle layer of powder. It began melting quickly, but there was no denying it. The child had made snow.

The children erupted, cheering and yelling at the sight. Snigurka sat down, panting with exhaustion and covered in a thin layer of sweat. She'd done it, she'd actually done it. Snow. In the middle of the summer. Then the cheers began to die and the ponies stared at her.

“What? What is it?” She looked around, then gasped.

Emblazoned across her flank was her cutie mark, still glimmering from the magic of it's appearance. A single large, white snowflake. Her shriek of excitement dwarfed even the crowds.

Snigurka Info Sheet

Creator: Nishi

OC's name: Snigurka

Race: Unicorn

Appearance: http://nishi199.deviantart.com/art/Snigurka-MLP-OC-449207775 (Before you ask, no, she is not inspired by Elsa from Frozen. Snigurka was created before I even knew about that movie)

Personality: She is not a party pony, that’s for sure. She likes going out with her friends from time to time, but other than that, she likes to stay at home.

Cutie mark: Snowflake. It correspodnes to her ice magic. She uses her ice magic to create sculptures (Though she doesn’t create them just like that, she can create ice in the basic shape, but all the details are have to be made by hoof). She is able to mahe pony sized sculptures, but it’s very tiring for her, so she doesn’t do that very often.

She also knows some offensive ice spells, but nowadays, she doesn’t use them that often. Keep in mind that she’s not OP with it, she can do just enough to get out of the danger.

How she got it? Well, that is pretty simple. She always liked snow as a filly. But you can get snow only in winter, right? So our little Snigurka started researching on how she could make it snow by herself. It was long and hard journey, ponies from her class of course laughed at her because “It’s impossible to make snow in summer”. But she was stubborn. And then, one day, she did it. She created little cloud with her magic and guess what, it was snowing from it. That was only the beggining, but that’s how she got her Cutie Mark.

Job: She does those big ice sculptures that I mentioned, few times a year.

Family/friends: Her parents are her only family.

Romance: She is single at the moment. She had crushes on few ponies in the past, but nothing ever came out of it. Important fact, she is a lesbian.

Story: Any slice of life would do really. For anything specific, atm, I can only think of meeting somepony that will become her marefriend in the future. But since it’s you writing that story, I’ll leave it up to you.

Future: Hmm… Well, I thought of the story where she could go on a journey to expand her magic abilities (more offensive spells, maybe getting better at sculpting). But this is idea for a big and “epic” fanfic, that I probably will never write :P

How did you make this OC: I made her when I found out about Pony Mortal Kombat thing on DeviantArt. I was thinking “What kind of OC could I create?” And then it occured to me. I always liked characters that used kryokinesis or ice magic. Ya know, Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat, if you ever heard of Touhou games, there is an ice fiary named Cirno. So I thought that I will create character like this myself. And I’m pretty happy with how she turned out.

Vanilla Mocha 01

A thick, brown envelope, nearly bursting with its contents, was shoved haphazardly into a door slot. It dropped onto the ground with a loud thump. A moment later a small blue unicorn picked it up in her magic, grumbling softly as she walked back towards her desk across the lobby. “Door is unlocked, do they really have to do this every time?”

She walked back across the room and sat behind her desk, looking at the package and then at a list of names. “Okay, for a Miss... Mocha. Ah! Wonderful.” She trotted out from behind the desk and made her way down the hall attached to the lobby and into a small breakfast room. A few ponies were sitting about and eating breakfast, though one mare in particular caught her eye.

A white unicorn with medium brown hair, she had a golden star as her cutie mark. The only thing she wore was a golden watch over her hoof. Three empty cups and one full cup of coffee were on the table, surrounding a small notebook that the mare was writing in.

“Isn't it a little early to be working?” the desk clerk asked with a smile.

“Hmmm? Oh, no, just a small side project. Not really work. It hardly counts.”

“Vanilla Mocha, correct? I have a package for you.” She held the envelope out.

The mare cocked an eye and took it. “Really? I didn't expect any news for a few more days.” She slowly opened it and pulled out the thick pad of papers within. “Huh. This is... oh?” Her eyes lit up and she jumped to her hooves. “Ohhhhh. I'll be leaving immediately. Just check me out. Thank you!”

She galloped out of the room, leaving her notebook behind. A moment later she returned to grab it, grinning sheepishly. Mocha galloped out from the hotel, stepping out into the open streets of Las Pegasus. Even though it was only a few hours after dawn, they were already ripe with life, ponies running every which way, taxis crowding the streets and the smell of fresh baked bread filled the air from the bakery besides the hotel. The unicorn glanced at the paperwork again, a wide grin on her face. She trotted forward and motioned towards the street.

After her fourth attempt, a taxi skidded to a stop in front of her. She hopped inside, holding out the papers. “I need to go here,” she said, pointing at the address.

The pony gave a swift nod before galloping off, dodging and weaving through the lanes.

Mocha grinned as she went through the paperwork. F&F Productions. She hummed softly as she worked, sorting everything out as she went. All in all the contract seemed simple enough, but there was one thing that caught her attention above all. Complete freedom as a director. They even said the script was ready, but they'd be trusting her judgment and let her make any rewrites she wanted. It was going to be wondrous. Glorious even. So fast, too.

The cab pulled to a stop, making her look out. They were standing outside a warehouse, which made her stop and frown. But the words 'F&F Productions' were emblazoned across the large door. She shrugged and hopped out, hoofing over her bits. She walked to the door and knocked.

There was no answer. She frowned again and knocked, but there was still no answer. She looked around in confusion, before slowly using her magic to grip the door knob and twist it open. The door slid open with an ominous creek. “Hello?” she called out. “It's me, Vanilla Mocha? You mailed me the job offer?”

She pushed the door open and looked around. The warehouse was filled, to the brim, with stuff. Just stuff. Pieces of sets, props. Random baubles here and there. There were lights dangling from the roof and she could hear sounds from the back of the room, ponies talking. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, though every instinct in her body said not to. If this was a movie, this would be the part where the villain stepped out with a mask and machete. Then they'd find out she carried pepper spray tucked away in her mane.

She trotted through the building, navigating the halls of stuff. Abandoned props, pieces of sets, all manners of long since retired equipment were set up against the wall. It made her feel a little at home as she tried imagining what the job would be. She turned a corner and saw them.

Two unicorns, with light yellow coats and striped red and white manes. One of them had a big bushy mustache, while the other was clean-shaven. They were wearing sunglasses and matching berets. They were talking and waving emphatically, but were talking too low for her to hear. She waved over. “Hey, you two called for me?” she asked. “Vanilla Mocha?”

“What?” The two looked up in unison, before wide grins flashed across their faces.

“Stupendous!” the clean-shaven one said.

“Magnificent!” the mustached one said.

“A marvelous entrance! Truly spectacular! Just what we were looking for in our new director. A pony with style, grace, pois!”

She blushed and smiled. “Well, I don't know if I'm all that. All I did was walk in.”

“Don't sell yourself short, not everypony can walk in like that. Isn't that right, Flam?” the clean-shaven one said.

“Indeedly, Flim. Why, we've been wondering when you'd show your magnificent face here!” Flam said.

“What were you two talking about?”

“Oh, nothing you need to worry about,” Flim said with a smile. “Now that you're here, we can begin. Why, my brother and I recently inherited quite the large pension from our dear old grandpappy.”

“May his soul find much rest in the afterlife,” Flam said quickly and for a moment, the two looked quite sad and introspective. Then a second later the energy returned and they were all grins and smiles.

“But, now that this bountiful nest egg dropped in our laps,” Flim said.

“A true gift from the heavens if you will,” Flam added.

“Like a golden egg dropped by the hen.”

“Or a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

“Or a treasure, long lost and found when you fall down a hill.”

“Or--”

“I get it!” Mocha said quickly, her neck starting to hurt from having to look between the two in such rapid succession. She felt so disoriented and awkward, these ponies were weird. But, then again, she'd met more than a few ponies in her business who were a tad eccentric.

“Right, I'm sorry about that, we have a tendency to carry on,” Flim said with a mournful shake of his head.

“Re-itterate our point.”

“Indeed, brother of mine. Now, as we were saying, ever since we had this new found treasure, we decided to do what we always dreamed. Create our very first movie, our finest production.”

“That's where you come in, miss Mocha,” Flam said with a dramatic wave of his hoof. “Why, we found your name after a very thorough search. A true up and comer.”

“A rising star.”

“Diamond in the rough.”

“Indeed,” Flim said before motioning towards the set. “Well, we currently lack the resources and ahhhh, financial ability of some of the bigger studios, but we're sure with such a great director as yourself, we'll be more than able to make a movie to draw in the masses! A true blockbuster!”

“A smash hit!”

“Best seller!”

“A true epic!”

Mocha stared at the two, her mind reeling slightly. They just moved so fast and they talked so smooth. She couldn't help it, she was starting to believe it. She didn't know who these ponies were, but she was certain they could make a movie. They certainly had the passion. “Wait, lack the resources?”

“Indeed. We've had to dump most our bits into this production set,” Flim said with a sad shake of his head. “But! I'm sure with your help, we'll be able to succeed.”

She paused for a moment and rubbed her chin. “What, err, exactly do you plan to pay me with?” She hated having to ask questions like that, but a job like this could take a while. She couldn't afford to be off the grid for too long without a way to pay the bills.

“Oh, don't worry! We have enough in the budget for that. It, ahhh, probably won't be what you're used to,” Flim said with a nervous chuckle.

“A rising star like you is probably used to being paid top bit,” Flam said quickly.

“However, we are prepared to offer a modest sum as well as a ten percent share on whatever revenue the movie creates,” he said with another firm nod.

Mocha nodded slowly. “Okay... how much of a modest sum are we talking?” The two shared a look before quoting the number to her. She stared for a moment. “A... a month?” There was another nod. Well, it was far from what she made on her best jobs, but it wasn't that low. She could get by on that. “I suppose that could work.”

“Wonderful!” Flim held out his hoof and the two shook it. There was a slow nod between the two brothers as they just smiled at her. “We'll get all the paperwork drawn up and here is your copy of the script.” He dropped a small folder on her. She barely caught it in time with her magic. She opened it eagerly before pausing.

“What's this?” she asked as she looked at the front sheet.

“That's hiring budget. Just hire whichever actors you feel you have faith in,” Flim said with another one of those smiles.

She paused. “Wait, really? Don't you want to--”

“Nope! We have complete faith that you'll make us proud. After all, your name will be on this movie. We're certain you'll get the best ponies for the job.”

She nodded slowly. “And the sets?”

“We have all those handled. Don't worry one little bit,” Flam said with a nod of his head. “I'm sure you have a lot to get done, production starts in a week though. Best get to it.”

She nodded slowly, her mind reeling as she looked over the folder. So much to do, so much to do! She trotted out from the building, before frowning as she pulled on the door out of the warehouse. Now she could see the lock was broken.

“Flim? Flam?” she called back.

“Yes?” Flam called back.

“The lock on this door is broken. You'll want to get it fixed!”

“Oh, don't worry about that. We're having a pony out here in a few days,” Flim said. The two shared another confident look as they heard the door shut. “I do believe she bought that hook, line and sinker.”

The two shared a hoof bump. “A total sap, that one,” Flam said with a grin.

Vanilla Mocha 02

Mocha stared at the script before her, frowning. It wasn't... bad, per se. Well, no, it was horrible, as scripts went. The baseline was here. But they really had a ton of ad libing inserted throughout the script. Entire chunks of dialogue were boiled down to 'dramatic reveal of fatherhood placed here' and other place holders. In fact, the script was, to be blunt, a wreck.

Under normal circumstances, she'd have tossed it aside and told them to get another director. But the pay was decent, she was allowed a lot of creative freedom and, in the end, the movie would practically be hers. She'd been trying her hoof at writing a movie for years, this would practically be the same thing. Sure, she wouldn't get all the profits from it, but it would have her name on it and all that control would more or less make it hers. Plus, she'd be getting paid to work on it. Rather than working on a script for free, only to have it thrown in her face after while she tried to find a producer.

She licked her lips and started going over it with a pen, humming as she worked. Though, a second look made her realize something. She was pretty sure she'd read this story before. She frowned and started marking off lines, reading different scenes in different orders, before face hoofing.

“How can these two be so full of energy, while being so... so... well, full of...” She shook her head again. While it wasn't exact, the general story followed, almost exactly, the second Daring Do movie. A few scenes were out of order, but how the scenes went were almost the same. Right down to where Daring finds out that her contact is actually the father of Dr. Caballeron. They just made it Daring's father instead. It didn't even make sense, since the pony had tried to kill the main character near the beginning. The ascension to alicornium at the end was also completely out of nowhere.

She frowned and picked up her phone and dialed the number she had been given in the folder.

“F&F productions,” a... very strange mare's voice answered. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought it was a stallion pretending to do a mare's voice.

“Hello, this is Vanilla Mocha. Is Flim or Flam there? I need to--”

“One moment, please. I'll direct your call.”

There was really, really annoying elevator music playing for a few moments before a voice answered. “Mocha, baby! What's got you calling us so soon?”

“It's about this script. Err, you wrote it, right? Is this Flim, or Flam?”

“Flim, baby. And I wrote it myself. Now, I know it might need a bit of tuning, but that's what we hired you for. We heard you're one of the best in the business, we know you'll make it as good as you can.”

She paused. “You really heard that about me?”

“My brother and I wouldn't settle for anything less. Listen, any changes you want to make, just go ahead and do it. Completely rewrite the ending, beginning and middle if you want. My brother and I have complete and utter faith in you.”

There was a pause as she looked at the script. “Well... I guess I... yeah. Complete control? No matter what I want?”

“You can put Celestia eating the flag in it if you think it's good. Trust me, we believe in you, so don't let us down.”

“I... I wouldn't do that. But, oh. Okay, I uhhh, I won't. Thanks. I'll get right on it.”

“Good, thanks baby.” There was a click on the other end.

She stared at the script again. Well, it was pretty bad. But she could fix it. She pulled out her type writer and got to work. A summary would do for now. She was starting to feel alive. This movie would be hers. All hers. She was even getting paid to make it, too.

First thing she'd have to do was fix the lead. The character was so Daring Do it wasn't even funny. Why did it have to be in a temple, anyway? She licked her lips for a moment. Yeah, why would it have to be in a temple? Why couldn't it be some secret, high tech government facility? Maybe the main character was trying to stop a war. They didn't have to be doing this for their own kindness, either. Maybe they were hired. Mercenary. No, secret spy. Why a female lead, anyway? It was always with the princesses and the amazonian women and the guy was always the token flank who got rescued. Maybe this time the guy could be the hero. Actually, she knew just the stallion. A wicked grin formed on her lips. Oh, she knew exactly how to do this. Her magic flowed over the type writer, making it come alive as the tappy tap of the keys filled the room.

She gripped her phone in another branch of her magic, dialing a quick number. “Hey, it's me. I have a job for you. I think you'll like it. Can you call Pl... Serena for me? Yeah. Meet me at Applebucks.”

She hung up the phone and typed away. Before long a few pages were laid out and she picked them up in her magic, grinning from ear to ear. This was going to be perfect. She folded them up neatly before galloping out the door, only pausing to lock it behind herself.

There were two ponies waiting for her when she walked into the Applebucks. A blue unicorn stallion, with a light and dark blue striped mane. The other pony was a pegasus mare, with a blue coat and dark and light purple mane. She paused for a moment and wondered why all her friends were blue. She shook her head and trotted forward, grinning wide. “I have the greatest opportunity for you two,” she said, before gently rubbing noses with the unicorn. “You're going to love it.”

The blue mare let out a sigh. “Blu wouldn't tell me anything, he just called me up and told me to meet you here. Luckily, I had nothing to do at the time.” She lightly examined a hoof. “Though I do have a spa trip in an hour.”

Blu gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

“It's not his fault, it's mine,” Mocha said with a grin. “But, I'd like to offer you both jobs, acting jobs. Now, the pay isn't very good, but you'd be doing me a big, big favor.”

The two stared at her for a moment. Blue coughed. “Hon, you know I love you, but I'm not really much for acting any more. You know it's... well, I'm--”

“Please please please! You'll be the lead!” She took a deep breath. “I haven't even told you the best part. I will, more or less, be controlling everything. I'm doing work on the script and I'll be the director.”

Serena stared for a moment. “Wait, you found a buyer for one of your scripts?”

“No! These two brothers, they hired me specifically to help develop their movie. They're giving me complete artistic freedom. I can rewrite the script however I want, hire whoever I want, do whatever I want. It's like I'm making the movie myself, and they're paying for it.”

Serena gave a little nod before examining her hoof. “I see. So you want your coltfriend to be the lead. What, pray tell, did you have in mind for me?”

A wide grin formed on Mocha's lips. “I think you'll like this. You'll be the main villain.”

She snorted. “Oh? What makes you think I'll like that role?”

“Because the coolest villains always get the best uniforms, the coolest lines, half the time they get the biggest fan clubs, too. You'll be amazing. Dark, sexy, sarcastic. The kind of villain ponies love to hate.”

Serena hummed for a moment and rubbed her chin. “And how much will I be getting paid again?”

Mocha gulped and wrote down on a napkin, gulping nervously as she slid it forward. “A-a month.”

The two looked at it for a moment, before turning to her. “Ummm, that's kind of low,” Blu said softly.

“I know, I know. It's, well... it's a small company. Very little money, but it should keep you going. I'll give you a share of the profits? I'm sure I can work that out. You two are... well, good names in the field. Flim and Flam would be happy to have you.”

Her friends shared a look, before leaning forward to whisper to each other. They then pulled back and smiled to her. “Well, for anypony else, I'd say no,” Blu said with a grin. “But for you? Yes.”

“Eeeee! I knew you'd do it! Best coltfriend ever!” She leaned forward to give him a tight hug. She then looked to Serena. “And you?”

“Unlike your coltfriend, I don't have to worry about getting cold glares everytime we go out if I turn you down,” Serena said with a smile, before sighing. “Buuuuuut. I did just get off a job so I have some savings put away. You are my best friend too, so... I'm in. But you owe me. And I can't spend years working on this.”

“Yes! You two are the best! Now all I have to find are the extras. I'll be having auditions over the next week, are you two interested in helping?”

Serena made a face and shook her head, though Blu gave a nod. “Sure. It could be interesting being on the opposite side of that conversation for once.”

Mocha nodded. “Great! I'll go down and talk to the brothers, see what I can do about your contracts. I will make sure you two both get a percentage of the profits, my word is my bond.”

The two gave a nod before smiling. “I haven't seen you this excited in a while,” Serena said with a grin. “These backers of yours must be something else if you're this excited.”

“You have no idea. They're amazing, so full of energy. This movie is going to be amazing. Thanks for meeting with me, you two!” She gave them both a hug before starting towards the counter.

“Wait, you're leaving already? You just got here!” Blu objected.

“I'm sorry, hon. But I've got a ton of work today. I need to get ready for auditions, rent a place. I've already got an add that I need to drop off at the paper, as well as a few ponies I need to call in some favors from. Not to mention I still need to discuss some of the sets with Flim and Flam. It's going to be amazing,” she said before going to the counter and ordering her drink. A moment later she was galloping out the door.

Serena gave Blu a teasing grin. “You do realize this means all romantic ventures for you are going to be cut off for the next few months, correct?”

He turned scarlet. “That, that's none of your, it's, shut up.” His eyes lowered quickly and he squirmed in place.

Mocha practically slammed through the door, making it crash back against the wall. She didn't care, she was too excited. She galloped down the hall towards the main set. Then froze. She smelled smoke. There was definitely smoke. Odd smelling smoke, but smoke. She panicked and started galloping faster. “Flim? Flam? Is everything okay, what's--” She froze in place as she made it to the main stage.

Three massage beds had been set up and the brothers were in two of them. There was a third stallion she didn't recognize in the third one. A few candles were around the room, giving it a gentle glow. The masseuses looked up in confusion.

“Hmmm?” Flim asked, glancing up. “Oh! Miss Mocha, we were just talking about you.”

“You were?” she asked softly, looking between them. “What about?”

“This is Pennyworth,” Flim said, motioning to the stallion, who just waved. “He's a potential investor. We were just talking about the amazing directions you were taking this film.”

She paused for a moment. “Investor?” She tried to keep her voice steady. “I actually came to talk with you. I've managed to get a few fairly high class actors on board, I just need to work out some things with their contract.”

Flim groaned and got up. “Take five, dear,” he said to his masseuse before giving her a little wink. He then trotted over to Mocha with a grin. “Of course, of course. Let's give my brother a chance to talk with Mister Pennyworth alone.” He lead her off away, before scowling. “You need to warn us when you're coming over. This could have been very bad.”

She paused and looked back. “My apologies, I just got so excited about everything. About these actors--”

“High class, you say?” he interrupted.

“Yes! One of them is a personal friend of mine. Serena Swift. Perhaps you've heard of her?”

There was a momentary pause. “Wait... wasn't she the lead in--”

“Eeyup. I've cast her as the main villain.”

Flim's eyes seemed to have light up and she could almost see the money signs in his eyes. She tried ignoring it. He then paused. “Wait, the villain? Shouldn't she be the lead? She--”

“No, no no. I have a very special character in mind for the lead. He's a--”

“Wait, he?”

“Yes, he. Rugged, charming, very attractive. Great actor. He'll be marvelous as the lead.”

Flim rubbed his chin. “So, a real action star, huh? The kind mares could fall over themselves over?”

Mocha managed to stifle the little burst of jealousy. He'd better not have mares falling over him if he knew what was good for him. She forced the smile anyway. “Of course.”

“Yeah, I think we could go with that. That sounds great, actually. Any other changes you made?”

“Oh. Yeah, now the lead is a secret agent working for Equestria against an evil group of vicious thestrals intent on over throwing the government.”

“W-what?” he asked, staring at her.

“The lead will be confident, strong and filled with zippy one liners, as well as have plenty of gadgets that are really cool.”

He nodded. “Good merchandising deals on that...” he mumbled under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing my dear!” he yelled boisterously. “Why, I believe we were right in choosing you! I'm just going to--”

“Well, that's the important thing. Getting these two to work will require a... little extra bonus.”

The smile began to slowly drip from his face like syrup. “How... big a bonus are we talking? Our budget isn't very large, you see.”

“Well, I was discussing with them. They were looking for higher rates, but I think I could manage to get them if, say, they were offered an additional... seven percent of the profits generated by the movies, to--”

“Done!” Flim said quickly, the grin returning to his face.

“Really?” she asked, staring. She was certain she'd have had to negotiated lower, but he accepted it so fast.

“Indeed. Top of the line actors, correct? We can't be cheap with them, no sirree! Why, if they'll be working so hard on this movie, it's only fair they get a share of the, ahem, profits.”

“Oh, yes. O-of course. So seven percent each. That, really?”

“Yes, yes. If you have faith in them, well, we're sure it'll work out in the end. Now go, go! I'm sure you have plenty of work to do. I need to get back with my brother and talk with these investors. I'm sure you have it all under control.” He started guiding her towards the door.

“I, I guess I do. I ummm, I still have to, err, okay?” she said softly, trotting towards the door, confusion etched on her face. That was so easy. She then shrugged. They were probably just so dedicated to the project. She grinned. That was it. They were just ponies after making a good movie, they didn't care about the money at all. She paused as she realized she'd completely forgotten to talk with them about the sets. Oh well, she could do it later.

Vanilla Mocha 03

Mocha hummed as she sat behind her wonderful little table, a clipboard held in her magic. Blu was sitting besides her, nibbling on some of the cookies one of the hopeful actors had brought them. She took one and gently nibbled it. “Well, a few of these ponies were pretty good.”

“Mmm hmmm,” Blu mumbled, his mouth filled with cookies.

She turned and glared. “Hey, less of the enjoying the perks, more of the work.”

“Sorry,” he smiled sheepishly. “That one mare, uhhhh... Diamond... Coat? She seemed nice.”

“I didn't like her,” Mocha said quickly, glaring at him. She saw the way that, that hussy had eyed her stallion. Blu was hers. He wasn't much, but she'd be bucked if she was going to let some Applewood hussy take him from her. She was the only Applewood hussy for him. And she wasn't a hussy. “How about... Prim Flower? He seemed great.”

“Yeah, but he was kinda... you know. This was a pretty big rehearsal and he freaked out pretty bad when the lights were on him because of a little sweat. I think we'll need more experienced ponies.”

She nodded. “Probably. Still, we should have enough after this to do it.”

Blu got up and headed for the door. “Good, let's go get some drinks and take a— eep!” His tail was grabbed and he was pulled back down.

“We're on a limited schedule. No drinks, eating or anything of that sort until after we get our extras selected. Understand?”

He groaned, but gave a small nod. “Fine,” he gave her a pouty look. She rolled her eyes.

“Fine, we can order take-out at least.”

“Yes!” He ran out, grabbing a small blue box and returning quickly. When you worked in Applewood as long as they had, you acquired more than a few take-out menus. Before long they had small containers of noodles and broccoli surrounding them as they went through the names.

“I don't think we'll be able to make this work,” Mocha finally said, sadly.

“I'm sure we can find a way.”

“We just need too many. The budget is too small. It'll take, at bare minimum if we were perfect, at least two months. More likely six, or even a year. We can't even afford to hire as many as we'd need for even two months.” She sighed again. “Maybe at minimum wage? But we need more money.”

“Well, you were telling me about investors, weren't you?”

She nodded. “Mmmm hmmm.”

“Well, maybe they got them. Call them, see if you can get more money. I mean, if the money doesn't go towards the film, where else would it go?”

She blinked and nodded. “Right!” She grabbed the phone and dialed the number quickly, humming to herself happily.

After a few moments there was an answer on the phone. “Hello? Who is this?” Flam's voice asked, sounding suspicious.

“Flam? What happened to your secretary?”

“Who?” There was some hushed talking in the background for a few moments before he came back. “Oh! She's on break.”

“On break? Now?” She glanced at the clock, it wasn't that late in the afternoon. How often did she take breaks? “Oh, well, I need to talk with you.”

“I assumed as such,” he said with a light chuckle. “What can I do for you, our marvelous little director?”

“It's about our budget. You were talking to an investor the other day, right? How did it go?”

“Err, hold on one second. Flim needs me.” There was hushed talking on the other end, before silence. Then he answered again. “Sorry, what was that?”

“Well, we've been going over our extras. Unfortunately, the budget just isn't enough. We need more of them if we're going to have enough. I wanted to know how the talk with the investors went? Will we be getting extra funds?”

There was a sad sigh from the other end of the line. “I'm afraid not. We tried everything we could, alas, he just asked for too much to invest.”

“What? What was he asking?”

“He wanted to bring in his own director, said he didn't trust you. We tried to sway him, told him how amazing you were. But he wouldn't hear of it. Sadly, in the end we had no choice but to let him and his considerable funds go.”

Mocha stopped for a second, staring across the room. They did that... for her? They gave up money, funds, even a chance at a more experienced director, just to keep her? “I... I don't know what to say.”

“I know, I know. But we have just too much faith in you, Miss Mocha. Besides, we stick by our own. We have no intention of letting you go for any sum of money.”

She gulped. “W-wow. That's... really touching.”

“Now, about these extras. We'll see what we can do, but there just isn't much money for the budget. Maybe if we--”

“N-no, don't worry about it,” she managed to barely choke out. “It's... it's fine. Really. I-I'll find a way to make it work.”

“Are you sure?”

“O-of course. Thank you. Sorry, to uhhh, bother you.” She hung the phone up and stared at Blu. “The investors wanted to replace me.”

“What?” the stallion asked, standing up. “They aren't--”

“Flim and Flam turned them down. Said without me, they won't do the movie.” She took a deep breath. “They... they are the two most loyal ponies... I just...”

He nodded and smiled. He looked back down over the scripts. “We'll make due then, without the money. You're the best director in town. If we work hard, it'll be great. Besides, I'm sure a lot of the other actors will love being in a small crew. More exposure.”

She nodded. “R-right. Good exposure. A few well developed characters over a whole crew. Yes. This can, this will work.” She looked down at the resumes, then perked up. “Yes, this CAN work. We're already a low budget movie. A small cast is just perfect. Nothing will get lost in the humdrum. I bet even with the low pay, most of them will be happy having all that exposure.”

Blu nodded as he flicked through them. “Of course. But first, we need to find who we can. It's almost time to begin production.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. Everything was going to work out. Besides, she had Blu and Serena with her. Those two could carry the movie, if need be. She'd make them if she had to.

The next few days passed in a blur. Almost every day she swore Flim and Flam were talking to some new investor or other. But nothing seemed to be coming of it. They all wanted to replace her, for some reason. Or the entire crew. She couldn't help but feel offended. This movie was becoming hers, pure and simple, and they wanted to gut it. She'd be bucked if she'd let them do that.

Though, that would have to wait. The first day of shooting was finally upon her. They'd barely been able to scrape up enough actors. The pay wasn't good, but the promise of only a few faces in the crowd was more than enough to sway them. However, she soon came to yet another problem in development.

“What do you mean there's no make-up artist?” Mocha asked, a low twitch in her eye. “You said you had everything under control!” she yelled at the twins.

“Errr, we didn't think it was important. T-things like that are expensive, they--”

“Of course they're expensive! They're important! Without make-up, well, look!” She gestured towards Blu. “Look, he's our main lead! Who's going to want to watch a movie where the lead looks like that?”

“Hey!”

“Sorry hon, but it's true. The blemishes, the messed up fur, all that--”

“Can't you do it?” Flim asked as the twins took a few steps back from her.

There was a twitch and she stared. “No. I cannot. I know a little about make-up, but not enough to do a movie.” She looked around the warehouse. It was a mess. Everything was just a mess. There were plenty of props, but they were all so... random. Just bits and pieces. They'd have to do almost everything themselves.

There was a low cough and one of the actors stepped forward. “Ummm... miss... Mocha?” he said, looked nervously downwards. “I ummm, I-I could do it. I... errr, at my old job I, err, I worked as assistant to our make-up artist. I-I'm not the best, but--”

“See? Right there, that's the kind of can-do attitude that we've come to expect from such great go getters,” Flim said quickly. His brother gave a quick nod.

“Perfect, looks like everything is settled,” Flam said quickly. “Now go, do your directing thing. We'll be trying to smooze another investor. We really think we've got them, this time.”

“What? Oh no you don't,” she said, turning back on them. “We've still got to talk about these sets. Most of them, well, they're so, they won't...” She tried thinking, then nodded. “They look more like they belong in a photo shop. We'll need new ones. Custom ones.”

The brothers blanched. “Err, well, w-we can see what we can do. For now, can't you just do it all in front of, err... a green screen? Add it all in later?”

She stared at them for a few more moments. She barely, just barely manage to avoid screaming. Barely. “We can do... some of the scenes. Some. Not all. We need set designers. Custom props. We need pretty much everything.”

The brothers shared a look, before grinning. “Of course. We'll get you everything you need. We'll have it all ready by next week, you have our word.”

“A proper set designer?” she asked.

“The best,” Flim said with a flourish.

“Props?”

“Whatever you need,” Flam said with a bow.

“We'll need somepony to add the effects for the green screen.”

“We'll find the best in all Applewood. Once we get a few investors lined up, well... there'll be no problem. You have our words,” Flim said with a nod of his head.

She took a deep breath. “Well, in that case it's all good.” She watched them leave, scowling.

Blu leaned up against Serena. “Do... you get a bad feeling from those two?”

“Huh? No, why? They seem fine to me.”

The stallion sighed. “I... guess. But... I mean, don't you think it's a bit odd?” he asked as Mocha started talking to the crew, getting them ready. “It feels like they aren't even really... caring about this production. All they seem to be doing is dumping everything off on Mocha and trying to get investors money.”

“I think they're just incompetent,” Serena said with a shrug. “Trust me, I've dealt with quite a few. They just don't understand what actually goes into making a movie. It's a good thing they have Mocha doing all the work, or this entire thing would collapse around them.”

“Yeah, but Mocha is doing all the work,” he muttered. “The script isn't even fully ready yet, but we're running into production. The time tables on this are just... ridiculous.”

Serena shrugged. “I've seen the script so far. I think she's doing a great job on it.”

“She is, but there's just too much...” Blue sighed. “She's being pushed too hard. It's not fair for her to have to--”

“Relax,” Serena said with a smile. “It'll be fine. She's just excited to be working on a film that's all hers. Let her have her moment, okay?” A wicked grin flashed on her lips. “Or are you afraid she's going to be swung off her hooves by those brothers?”

He hmphed and shook his head. “Of course not. I'm secret agent, Blueberry. I could get all the mares if I wanted.”

She snorted. “Can't believe she's calling you Blueberry.”

“Bite me, Mistress Venom.”

“I think I do in the second act.”

Mocha groaned as she collapsed on her bed, damp from her shower. She'd barely had the energy to take it and pat herself dry after. The first day of production had been brutal. They'd been able to use some of the sets, but most were useless. A few of the props too, but they needed so much more. They'd barely be able to do half the scenes with what they had. But they'd have new stuff in a week, proper things. That's all she had had to wait for. Besides, a week was almost no time in business like this.

She slowly crawled higher into her bed and wrapped her blankets around herself like a cocoon. There was just soooo much work to do. So many preparations to get done.

Worst of all, she was beginning to suspect this movie was going to be horrible. Completely and utterly. The dialogue was fine, the action was fine, everything was just 'fine'. But that was the problem. Viewers didn't want to see 'fine'. They expected perfection. Every line to be spoken correctly, every movement to flow naturally. Everything to be right. She had to let some scenes go by that, if they weren't so strapped, she'd never have let slid by. But, who knew? Maybe they'd get enough money to redo them.

It helped that most of the crew was at least experienced, even if they weren't famous yet. Most were just happy to have the exposure, without being lost in the crowd. She was just sorry that most of them would find their breakthrough role being in a sub par movie.

She glanced to the script and groaned, grumbling again. She had most of the... big stuff, figured out. It was all the connecting things she was having problems with. She had to make them exciting. But so far the dialogue was a bit jarring and rushed. It felt like it was just forced from one scene to the next. How she wished there was more time. She grumbled softly and closed her eyes.

She could worry about it later, that was future Mocha's problem. All she had to do was make it through the week. That was it. One week.

Mocha received a double helping of dread when she arrived at the warehouse a few days later. Namely because the police were stationed outside the building and it was sectioned off with yellow warning tape. She was the first one there, none of the rest of her crew had arrived yet. She stepped forward.

“What's going on? Are Flim and Flam alright? Did somepony break into the warehouse?” she asked the first officer she saw.

The pony glanced to her. “This is a crime scene. Who are you?”

“I'm Vanilla Mocha, the director,” she said proudly, before looking back to the warehouse. She gasped. “Wait, is the film okay? Oh no, oh no. Did someone steal it?” She tried to avoid hyperventilating. It wasn't much, but they'd worked so hard. Some of those scenes were brilliantly done, even if a lot of them were still pretty lack luster.

The officer stared for a few moments. “Wait, you've been using this warehouse?”

She nodded. “Yes, of course. We've been filming for the last week.”

“We're going to need you to come down with us,” she said as she stepped forward.

“W-what? Why? What's wrong?” The officer was looking at her in a way that made her uncomfortable and almost turn to flee. Alas, she'd already given her name.

“We'd like to ask you a few questions. Are you aware of who this warehouse belongs to?”

“Yes, F&F productions. They're the ones who hired me. They... what?”

The mare sighed. “I'm sorry to tell you, miss. But there is no F&F productions. This was all a scam. That warehouse was broken into and been used illegally for the last week. Who knows how much damage was done. We've already contacted the owner and they'll be back within a few hours to assess the damage.”

Mocha stared at the building for a few moments. “But... what? They... the contracts and... everything... what?”

“You'll need to come with us. There's a lot of investors who are going to want to talk with you about where their money went.”

The unicorn just stared at the warehouse, her mind struggling to make sense of everything that happened. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible. But the police certainly seemed real. She was led to a police carriage and set inside, the numbness spreading over her.

Her movie. Her beautiful, if rough, movie. Was it all for naught?

Vanilla Mocha 04

Mocha stared at the group of ponies in front of her, struggling desperately to keep her mouth from falling open.

Five ponies. All investors. All who had given a considerable amount of bits to Flim and Flam, who were now nowhere to be found. They stared at her, as if she could magically make their bits reappear. “I... I was just the director,” she said softly. The police were nearby to ensure nothing bad happen, but she was feeling too crummy to just tell them to leave.

“Not the way they were talking about you,” Pennyworth said, glaring at you. “They called you a prodigy, made as if you were some kind of alicorn princess, reborn in the form of a director.”

“I... I don't know,” she said softly. “They didn't, they didn't talk to me about... that.”

“Go easy on the girl,” one of the others said, she thought her name was Twocents. “It's not her fault. She was probably conned into all this, the same as us. Just another no name director who--”

Well, that got a reaction. She slammed a hoof down. “Hey! I might have been tricked by them, well, I was. But I'm not some no name director. I'm a very good one, I've directed some very popular movies, too. Like Three bits in Hoofinton, or Lost in Discordia. Sure, they weren't block busters but they were hardly flops!”

Twocents sighed and nodded. “I know, I know. But you're inexperienced. They probably just played on your naivety, just like they did all of us. It's no matter. The police will find them and we'll get our bits back. Then this will all be behind us.”

Mocha sighed. Right, all the bits would be returned and-- A new horror flashed in her mind. “Oh Celestia,” she said as she leaned forward, her head in her hooves. “My movie, everything, it's ruined. All those actors are going to be jobless, after how hard we worked. It's all going to be ruined. They were all expecting this to be their big break,” she muttered before collapsing her head on the table. “I swear if I ever find those two I'm going to tan their hides.”

“I think that sentiment is shared by everypony here,” Pennyworth grumbled. “How did you not notice? Didn't you question where the extra money was coming from?”

“What extra money?” Mocha asked with a groan. “There was no extra money. I had a limited budget and I worked with what I had. There was nothing extra. We hadn't even been paid yet. There was just...” She trailed off and cringed. “Oh, they're going to eat me alive. How am I going to be able to tell all of them that the whole last week was a waste of time? The script was coming together so well and... everything was going great, we were just... we were just...” She buried her head in her hooves and struggled to avoid crying. She was a full grown mare, she would not cry just because some... awful ponies abused her trust. Evil, awful, horrible, miserable ponies who she wished she could pile drive through the set. While it was on fire. The ponies in the room slowly began to shuffle out and after a few more minutes she was joined by an officer.

“Miss? Are you okay?”

“I'm an idiot...” she muttered. “How could I possibly believe those two? They were just so... so charismatic. So fast talking. I thought they were truly passionate about all this. Just like me.”

The officer nodded. “If it's any consolation, there are no charges being placed on you. The owner of the warehouse showed up and would like to talk with you, though.”

She groaned. “Fine, just let him come have a nice, good laugh at me too,” she muttered.

The officer sighed and leaned forward, patting her with a wing. “There there. These two were professionals. We've been after them for months after a few heists they pulled closer to the capital. Lots of ponies have been suckered in by them.”

“Suckered being the key word,” she grumbled. “So, who is this pony, anyway? Who owned the warehouse?”

“Oh, he'll be one second. Mister Pants? She'll see you now.”

“Please, just Fancy,” the unicorn stallion said as he stepped forward. She stared at him. A white unicorn with a light blue mane. He wore a perfectly trimmed suit. Besides him was a unicorn mare, white as well with a pink mane. She recognized them instantly. Fancy Pants and Fleur Dis Lee. She'd have had to be daft not to. Fleur was a well known actress and model, while he, well, he owned more than a few studios. As well as being a very, very respected noble who appeared in the papers at least once every three months. She began to shrink into her chair and prayed he wasn't vindictive. She might never work in this business again.

She looked up and gulped. “H-hi,” she said weakly, looking up at him.

He smiled at her, his grin dazzling. “Ah, you must be Miss Mocha, correct?”

“Y-yes sir,” she said softly. “I-I'm dreadfully sorry about everything. I never would have thought--” He raised his hoof and she went silent.

“Think nothing of it. To be honest, I likely would have never noticed had the police not contacted me. I'm honestly amazed you were able to make anything of all that junk. I only even have that warehouse for storage over the years.” He paused. “After all, you never know when one of the movies you fund will hit it big, and suddenly the set designs become exceedingly valuable.”

She nodded slowly, still staring at him. He didn't sound mad. He didn't even sound disappointed. Maybe her career wasn't over!

“After all, you weren't the only one scammed. I'm just sorry that my warehouse was used in such a dreadful scandal.” He shook his head. “Perhaps I should have disposed of all that junk, sooner.”

She gulped. “I-I don't think it's... junk.” He glanced up and cocked an eye. “I-I mean, it's not very valuable. But we were able to make... part of a movie with it. Some of that stuff could be really useful.”

“Oh, indeed. Actually, that does remind me.” His horn glowed an a few metal film tins hovered into the air. “I believe these are yours. For the film you were making, correct?” He stacked them on the table. She stared.

“They're... they're junk now,” she muttered. “The movie will never get completed.”

“That's a shame,” he said with a shake of his head. “I would like to see the script, if that's okay with you.”

She gulped. “It's... n-not finished. It was all kind of rushed. I've been working on it this week, well... I-if you want.” She slowly pulled the script out from her bag, sliding it onto the table. “It's not much now, though.”

“Mmmm hmm,” he said as he picked it up in his magic and began reading through it. She stared, watching him nervously. Fleur stood besides him, scanning over it as well. She could barely believe she was standing across from those two, and they were reading her script. She just wished it was a finished script.

Before long more ponies entered the room to watch as well. She noted plenty of the investors as well. They'd probably come to interrogate her some more and try to find out what she knew, if anything. But, Fancy and Fleur were reading. They were not the kind of ponies you just interrupted. You sat there and waited until they were finished.

Finally, he put the script down and nodded. “I... see. It is a bit crude, I'd have to say.”

She deflated.

“But, you've only been working on it a week?” He shook his head. “It's truly a shame. For such a short time, this is a well done beginning of the script. It would have been quite interesting to see what the final product would have been. Especially after all this publicity.”

She paused for a second. “Publicity?”

“Oh, indeed. This scam will be on the front news of every paper in the city by tomorrow. Your movie would have been there with it. Why, you couldn't buy publicity like this.” He smiled and she could have sworn there was just a hint of playfulness in it. “It truly is a shame you'll have to stop productions now. I'd have been interested to see the final result.”

“W-well, hold on just one moment,” Pennyworth said suddenly. “I don't see why productions have to stop. I invested in this movie once, I'd be more than happy to invest a second time. Once they find those scoundrels, we'll be getting our money back anyway.”

Mocha stared, her mouth falling open. “But--”

“I would as well. I'd heard such great things and, surely you aren't a member of this awful scam,” Twocents said quickly. “Though, I would prefer my accountant get involved to help ensure everything, financially, goes correctly.”

“But there's--”

“Really? I suppose if everypony here is so desperate to keep this production going, I can give my small aid,” Fancy said with a shake of his head. “You may continue to use my warehouse as you see fit, Miss Mocha. Just please try not to break too many things,” he said with a smile.

Within moments the ponies were chatting and talking and money was practically being thrown at her. Mocha just sat there, staring in stunned silence until the investors went off to drum up their contracts and prepare the financial side of things. She slowly turned towards Fancy. “You... what did you... it's magic, right?”

The stallion chuckled. “I suppose if you consider money and status a type of magic.” He shrugged. “I did nothing, Miss Mocha. I merely expressed an interest in an up and coming director. It's hardly my fault how the rest of them decided to react.” He then trotted out. Fleur trailed behind him, but gave her a little wink.

Mocha just kept staring, her mouth hanging open. She still wasn't sure she knew what was happening, or how it happened, or anything. But something had definitely just happened. They had investors. They had a set. They had funds. That could mean decent wages for decent times, actual props. Everything. She glanced back towards that door and swore, if she ever saw Fancy again, she would glomp the buck out of him.

All of a sudden the door swung open as the subject of her affections stepped back inside. “Dreadfully sorry, but I forgot my-- Ahhh! Madam! Control yourself!”

Mocha giggled gleefully as she hopped from hoof to hoof. She'd done it, they'd done it. Sure, it had taken a few more months of hard work, script writing, plotting, wrangling everypony together, lots of rewrites, but it was done. Their movie. Her Movie. Special Agent Blueberry.

Sure, it was still a low budget film with an almost microscopic budget, compared to many she'd worked on, but it was hers. Her story. Her chosen actors. Her designs. Even though they'd had a budget, she'd still kept the cast fairly small, instead opting more to upgrade set designs and backup personnel. The ponies who had signed on for such low pay had done it for the chance of being seen, she wasn't going to betray them once they finally had resources.

She had managed to hire a few additional writers to help her set up the script. Since everypony was already hired and expecting to be working, as well as using the bits to pay for their rent, amongst other things, she decided to keep production going. It had been a frantic couple of weeks, but the fruits of their labors was finally here.

She could barely stop from prancing about as she waited in her wondrous glimmering red dress. Blu was even looking presentable in his little tux as they waited for their limo to appear. “Do you think it'll make the paper?” she asked for the umpteenth time.

“It already has, the whole scandal with Flim and Flam has had it on the paper at least five times,” he said with a little grin.

“Yes, but I mean for being good this time?” She couldn't keep the scowl off her face. Those two brothers had, somehow, managed to keep avoiding the authorities and there was no telling where they were off to now. She just hoped where ever they went, their next victims had the good idea to light them on fire. Still, there was some good news as a sizable chunk of the money had been recovered, from their respective bank accounts. Apparently they had had a nice nest egg at one point.

“The movie is fine,” he said with a chuckle. “I'm sure it will get nice reviews and sell out everywhere. Ponies will come from all over the world to see your film, in herds unlike any seen before,” he said with just a hint of annoyance.

She sighed and leaned in, giving him a little nuzzle. “Awwww, I'm sorry Bluey. I know I've been kind of busy lately.” He snorted. “Fine, very busy. But I just wanted to do the best I could on this. After tonight, I'm all yours. Promise.” There was another snort. “Fine, tomorrow, after the reviews come out.” An even longer snort. “Fine, next week after this settles down?”

He stared at her, before finally smiling. “Fine. You're lucky I'm head over hooves for you, though. Most stallions wouldn't put up with such treatment. Harumph.” He said with a shake of his mane and a mock stomp of his hoof.

She snorted. “Of course not. Then again, most wouldn't be the lead in their marefriend's movie.” His response was cut off as their limo pulled up, pulled by a small herd of stallions. Soon they were galloping through the city and coming to the premier. Dozens of ponies were standing around the red carpet, yelling and taking pictures. As much as she longed to believe it was for her, she knew it was more likely that it had to do with the fact Fancy was here, Serena as well and, most importantly, the scandal surrounding the production. Nothing brought the press quite as quickly as a good scandal.

Still, she was determined to enjoy herself, so she smiled and waved as she trotted into the theater, a grin on her face. She recognized some of the faces who were already ahead of her, but there were plenty she didn't know. Probably either reporters, reviewers or friends of Fancy.

She gave her coltfriend a light kiss on the cheek. “I'll get food, go save us a seat.”

He nodded and gave a little wave, before trotting off through the aisles. She quickly got a large drink and a big bag of popcorn, before turning towards the exit. She stopped and grinned. “Hey Serena. Happy to see you could make it.”

The pegasus merely smiled, flicking her mane back. “Of course. I wouldn't miss this for the world.” She was wearing a dazzling black dress that covered even her wings. Mocha couldn't help feeling a little jealous. The dress she was wearing was definitely just as nice, but Serena managed to fill hers out much, much better. “I'm looking forward to the final production. How do you feel it turned out?”

Mocha took a deep breath and started walking towards the movie room with her friend. “I think it turned out nicely. It's not... perfect, but for what we had, it's great. I think I'll be a hit.”

“Looking forward to a range of sequels?”

The mare snorted. “I wouldn't go that far. But, who knows? I worked pretty hard on this. Maybe we'll start a whole new line of films. This is hardly the only secret agent movie around but, well... you never know.”

The actress nodded. “Of course. I do believe I made a marvelous villain, of course.”

“Indeed. There will be pin ups of you across the walls of every young stallion's room for months.”

The mare froze for a moment, before scowling. “Very funny.”

“I thought so. Come on,” Mocha said as she walked towards the spot Blu had set for them. After a few more minutes and more time for everypony to get seated, the lights began to dim. She grinned gleefully as she stared into the screen.

It wasn't the fanciest movie, the best movie, or the greatest produced movie. But it was hers. And for her first, she wouldn't change a single thing.

Well, okay, a few thousand things. But what artist didn't want to change their first work at least a little?

Vanilla Mocha Info Sheet

Creator: Vanilla Mocha

OC's name: Vanilla Mocha

Race: Unicorn

Appearance: A white unicorn with medium brown hair; the same mane/tail style like Rainbow Dash. She has forest green eyes. She wears a yellow/gold watch on her front left hoof.

Personality: She's creative and fun to be around. She can become easily confused/angered sometimes.

Cutie mark:A yellow/golden star. Her special talent is creativity, thinking outside of the box, and things like that.

Job: Movie director/movie writer.

Family/friends: My coltfriend Blu_Ray, and our friends Plum Rose, Lightning Bolt, and Pixie Stick. (All of their avatar pix are their OCs.)

Romance: Vanilla Mocha and Blu Ray are dating. They met in the movie industry, Vanilla being the director and Blu being an actor. (Blu Ray soon quits his job acting and goes to be a movie producer.)

Story: I don't really care as long as they don't involve anything mature, no cuss words, and no things pertaining to that. I'd prefer something either comedy or adventure, but whatever you think suits these characters.

Future: One day Vanilla Mocha and Blu_Ray will get married, but not yet. I don't want any kind of engagement between the two OCs in this story.

How did you make this OC: I've had many different OCs, but this one really sticks with me. She's like me; creative, coffee, and fun.

Shadowhoof 01

A thin fog rolled into the village of Trotsylvania, gently brushing against the homes that made up the smale locale. From his front room window in a comfy two story home, the earth pony mayor watched the courtyard with apprehension. All of his lights were off, in fact all the lights in the village seemed to be out, the only light coming from Luna's moon that dangled low in the sky.

The fountain in the square had been turned off near the start of winter, leaving it slightly chilled by the frosty winter night, though the water was only just starting to freeze. A single cart rested besides the fountain, stacked high with apples and a few other assorted food stuffs they had an excess of.

From his window he could see the occasional flash of light or staring eyes through the other windows of the village. They, like he, were waiting and watching. The winter was nearly here and the first snow fall would occur tomorrow. The pegasi had already brought the clouds over and were just waiting to allow the temperature to drop a little more before the snow would fall. No pony wanted another wet slushy incident like they had a few years back. The colts and fillys were most excited, tomorrow's classes had even been cancelled to celebrate the arrival of winter and end of fall. The next day would be filled with children running around, throwing snow balls and making a wild, happy mess of things.

But that was tomorrow. Tonight, dread covered the village like a blanket. The moment the sun had dipped behind the mountains every child had been shuffled into their homes, doors had been barred and many had even taken to moving into their basements for the night. But still some, like him, had to watch in the darkness. Had to be sure the creature came and left, without any problems.

Their village was one of the few that bordered the Everfree Forest, though that hadn't been much of a problem until recently. Most of the creatures in the forest tended to leave ponies alone, so long as ponies left them alone. The forest itself could be quite useful for commerce as well, soil near it tended to be great for plant life, you only had to go in a short distance to find all manner of berries and plants you couldn't find elsewhere. It had been wonderous and profitable, so long as the ponies were careful. Until now.

The mayor yelped and dove down onto the ground as a frantic tapping was heard on his door. He recoiled and stared at it, eyes wide and horrified. Nothing had left the forest, he would have seen it. How had it snuck up on him? He looked around before gripping his fireplace poker in his mouth and slowly advancing towards the door. “Who is it?” he called out, his body shaking as he stared at the pounding door.

“It's me, Dew!” a filly's voice called. The stallion blinked a few times before tossing the poker out of his mouth and moving to the door. He opened it, revealing a young blue coated filly, covered in dirt. He motioned her inside, slamming the door behind her when she was in.

“What were you doing out there? Your parents must be worried sick! What if... the thing came while you were out?”

The filly looked down, timidly poking her hooves together. “I... I was playing in the stone fields and I didn't realize how late it was...” She lowered her head as her eyes got big and sad. “Mommy and daddy are going to be really mad if I come home now, but if I said I was here...”

He rolled his eyes and sighed. Only a child would be more frightened of a scolding from their parents than a creature like that. He slowly walked towards the window and peered out again. There was no sign of the monster yet. “Come along, we'll run you back to your parents.” A strangled whine came from her. “We can tell them you were helping me with some winter cleaning and we lost track of time.” The filly cheered up considerably at that.

He sighed and gave another glance out the window. Still nothing. He then looked at his old grandfather clock standing in the corner of the room. The sun had only gone down a short bit ago. If they hurried, they'd likely make it out before the creature even knew they were there. He grabbed the poker in his mouth just to be sure, before swinging the door open. He motioned her to follow.

The two slowly made their way through the village courtyard, the fog swirling around their hooves with each step. The click clack of their hooves against the cobblestones seemed to echo through the night, the only noise in the empty square. There wasn't even the sound of dogs barking, nore the sound of timber wolves out in the forests. On nights like tonight, they'd usually be close enough to be heard, howling at the moon.

But tomorrow was the first snow fall. There was almost an electricity in the air. Even the animals felt it and they refused to make a sound. Tonight the creature would come. The monster had appeared a few years back, bringing demons and monsters with it. It had started small. First they'd heard the monsters in the forest, awful creatures. A few even swore they saw things. At first it was just minor worries, over active imaginations. Perhaps a timber wolf or ursa major. Nothing that ever left the forest or came near settlements. But then, in the middle of winter, the creature had come.

Leading a horde of monsters, demons and ghosts, the evil creature had walked into their village in the night. It had taken food and supplies before disappearing into the forest. He shivered at the thought. Ghosts running through the streets, terrifying everypony that dared to be out.

It had come again soon, taking more and more. Not very much, fortunately, but it kept coming. The villagers had finally set out a wagon of food and, unsurprisingly, the creature had taken it. With so much it hadn't returned for months and they had believed they were saved. Then it had returned near the beginning of the next season. So it had continued, with every season it came into their village and stole their food, before disappearing back into the woods to perform whatever unholy rituals it created.

In fact, while he didn't know anypony personally, his cousin knew a mare whos sister's husband's gardener had her cousin captured and brutalized by whatever monster ruled their forest now, before turning the pony into one of its undead minions. Whatever monster lived there, it was beyond the control of mortal ponies. But so long as they gave it tribute, it never bothered them in the slightest.

He glanced back to Dew. “Hurry up,” he said before stopping in mid stride as they passed the fountain. The mist seemed to be getting thicker. In fact, he was having trouble seeing through it now, to the buildings beyond. A chill went down his spine as a ghostly wail filled the air. “No no no.” He said softly as he backed up. The wail came again and he shook his head even faster. “D-dew, stay behind me.” He backed away, moving behind the fountain as he turned towards the forest.

The creatures that warned of the monster's arrival seemed to be born of the mist itself. The first ones were just the heads. Blank, empty heads of ponies, ghosts of those who had fallen or been possessed by the creature. Then the larger ones, the ones that walked on all fours. Wolves, raccoons, bunnies, ponies. The necromancer had no qualms about what it controlled, the mist like creatures moving through the streets ahead of it.

His heart turned to ice at the sight of the monster. It was... almost like a pony. Almost. Smaller than most even. It wore a cloak and hood. However, from within the cloak glowed two purple, slitted eyes. It didn't walk, either, so much as hovered. It wasn't a windy night, but the cloak still billowed under the creature, revealing a complete lack of hooves under it. Only darkness. Not a sound could be heard as it walked through the village, aside from the rapid beating of his heart. He looked down at the poker in his mouth, before turning to the creature and its minions. He let out a soft whimper and dropped down to his stomach, put the poker on the ground and pulled Dew close as he struggled to hide behind the fountain.

“Don't scream. Don't say a word. Maybe it won't see us...” he whispered.

Dew shook in his grasp, staring up with wide eyed fright. The spirits flew over them, galloping through the air as if their were invisible streets for them to travel on. A few of the creatures flew right over their heads, eliciting a squeak from the filly. He quickly covered her mouth. “Don't. Don't scream. They... they won't hurt us unless their master sees us.” He had no idea if it was true, but he tried to believe it. He struggled to keep the fear from his voice as the creature came ever closer. At least, he assumed it was. He wished he could hear the clop of hooves, or tapping of claws or even the shattering of stone. But there was nothing to signify the creature getting any closer or further away.

The anticipation finally became too much for him and he lifted his head, peering over the side of the fountain.

The creature stared right back at him, from the other side of the fountain. Its eyes glowed with a purple, evil light as it just stared. The mayor froze, his hooves tightening around the filly, watching and waiting for it to strike. He couldn't even breath, his fear so palpable it locked every muscle of his body up.

Then the creature took a step forward and his body finally went back into motion. He shoved Dew away. “Go! Run! Get to one of the homes! Any of them!” He yelled, before swooping up the fire poker and interposing himself between the creature and the filly. He could hear her frightened hooves behind him, but he didn't dare take his eyes off the creature as cold sweat drenched his body. He was going to die. He was going to become another ghost, haunting the town. All he had was a sharp piece of metal. Heck, it wasn't even that sharp, it just just for poking hot things around. It couldn't kill a demon.

The creature merely watched him. Its eyes then shifted past him, towards Dew. “L-leave her alone!” the mayor yelled. “If... if you're going to take anypony, take me!” He then glanced to the wagon. “Or... or just take that! Just take your tribute! Please, just... just go.” He tried to keep the frightened begging out of his voice, but he was too afraid. It took all his will not to fall on his knees and beg.

The cloaked figure watched him for a few more moments. He became distressingly aware that the ghosts that had once flown aimlessly around the village now seemed to be congregating around him. Not coming within striking distance, but close enough he could almost feel their cold, undead breaths. Did ghosts even breath? He hoped he never had to find out.

Then the spell was broken as the creature turned to the cart and trotted to it. It ducked under the chest bar, got into position and started walking away with the food.

The mayor watched it go, his entire body shaking. Soon the ghosts followed suit, some fading away into the mists, others moving to follow their master. The poker fell from his mouth and clattered on the ground as he fell on his flank. He was alive. Alive alive. Not ghost alive, but pony alive. After a few minutes the mist began to clear to its original thin levels and lights around the village began coming on. Ponies galloped from their homes.

“Mayor, that was amazing!”

“I can't believe you scared it off!”

“You've certainly got my vote next election!”

He merely chuckled and nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. He could barely believe it. Next time he swore he'd just baricade his doors and wait for the night to be over before taking a pony home on a night like tonight. He'd rather deal with the angry, frightened parents.

The cloaked figure slowly walked through the forest, tugging the wagon along across a long, narrow path. It was slow, difficult work but the figure only occasionally paused. Despite the path being so narrow that the wagon could only barely fit, it was well worn and the figure only occasionally stumbled. Once it was far away enough that the village was nothing more than a speck, lost in the trees, it flipped its hood back.

It revealed a black coated pony with a soft, curved face and purple, dragon-like eyes. His mane was a dark purple with the occasional dot of silver popping up. Shadowhoof. The spirits continued to float around him, gliding through trees and letting out soft, frightful wails as they went. He closed his eyes and scrunched up his face in concentration until, one by one, the spirits disappeared. The haunting shrieks and wails remained, making him sigh. He reached up and stroked his horn with a groan, scratching a small hairline fracture that ran up to the tip. The wails disappeared.

After a few more moments he started walking again, grumbling softly with each step. Not actual words so much as minor sounds of annoyance as he pulled the cart through the wilderness. Occasionally his cart would get caught and he'd have to detach himself and run back to free it, but that was a rare, if tiring, occurance.

The path soon opened up to a large, open clearing in front of a long abandoned castle. The grounds in front were barren, the rocky soil filled with little holes and long dead plants, small gardens that had never so much as given a proper leaf, let alone actual fruit. The stones rolled under his hooves, making him stumble as he went and making the cart rock with each movement. He pushed through, dragging it up into the castle and letting it rest by the door. He then pulled a small stone from his cloak and shattered it against the ground. Blinding green light flared to life, dazzling him for a few seconds before it finally dimmed and gave a gentle glow across the inner chamber of the castle. He picked up a few of the largest glowing bits and placed them on the cart, before hauling it deeper into the castle.

The castle itself was in ruins on the inside as well. Most of the wood and cloth had long since decomposed, though the massive stones still stood strong, albeit many were covered in plant life. A few of the walls had collapsed, but most were still in place. He made his way to a long, winding staircase and stopped. “Okay...” he whispered to himself. He tossed a few pieces of the glowing stone down, before disodging himself from the cart and trotting down.

Deeper underground was considerably warmer and cleaner. A very small dungeon, there were only three cells down here The windows were covered with wood and by the steps a small fire pit has been made. There was plenty of dirt, but it was all shoved to one corner. The walls were covered in thin layers of cloth, helping to keep the room warm. There were even small fragments of rugs and carpet places all round the floor, though the majority covered one of the cells.

Unfortunately, the glowing stone revealed the other things the warmth attracted. In the darkness he could see a rather large spider, as big as his hoof, that had made its home up in the higher corners of the room. He made sure not to look directly at it, hoping it would stick to their deal of if it didn't bother him, he wouldn't bother it.

One cell held a bunch of small blankets and a few glowing stones, one was filled with an assortment of little things, bowls, seeds, hoof made tools that even the cheapest gardener would have rolled their eyes at. The third, however, held baskets, bundles of grass, daffodils, little blue flowers and some daisies. He began gathering the baskets up on his back and made the slow walk back upstairs.

Basket by basket he dumped the food into them, before hauling them back down into the dungeon. Even though it was warmer than outside, it was still far from warm and he knew the food would last quite a while once it got really cold. Once the cart was empty, he stared at it for a few moments before shaking his head. “I'll take it back tomorrow night. They'll have another panic if I return after... that,” he muttered to himself.

He pushed the cart back to the front entrance and left it there. He then trotted back down to his cell, shivering as the cold brushed against his sweaty, tired form. He took off the cloak and let out another yelp, doing his best to wipe all the sweat off before tossing the cloak in the corner. He quickly slid under the covers, trembling as the cold air rubbed against him. It was going to be another cold winter, he could feel it in his bones.

He laid down his head and started to relax. After a few minutes his horn began to glow and a dreadful wail filled the air, the glowing stones seeming to dim as the darkness seemed to close in on him. He let out a growl before rubbing his horn on the ground and shaking his head. “Knock it off...” he muttered. After a few moments the sound disappeared along with the spirits.

He slowly began to drift off again, grumbling softly as the amplified sounds of skittering could be heard in the room. As if there were little things walking against the floor, giant spiders, rats, other horrible creatures. “Not real... not real... just go to bed...” he said to himself until the sounds died down. Soon he finally fell asleep and the phantoms returned, moving around his sleeping form and even making the spider in the corner of the room try to hide.

Angelos Info Sheet

Creator: Angel

OC's name: Angelos Wing (Angel)

Race: Pegasus

Appearance: Off color white coat. Two toned blue hair. Light electric blue and blue.

Personality: He is pretty level headed about most things, but is a romantic at heart. He does let his emotions go when he hits a point where he feels he needs too.

Cutie mark: A globe with a quill and a set of books. It pertains to his ability to read many languages and his enjoyment ofreading globably.

Job: Lunar Guard

Family/friends: He does know Twilight Sparkle, tho not close friends with her. He was there when she was growing up in the castle and was one of many guards who came into contact with 'Princess Celestia's Prized Pupil'. He is an only child.

Romance: Has a thing for Fluttershy.(It is waaaay beyond a thing)

Story: It seem it is to be his falling for Fluttershy.

Future: The aftermath of his attempts and possibly the results of the legendary 'poker game'.

How did you make this OC: Angelos was created because a friend wanted me to make an OC so he could draw it up. I had been thinking about it off and on but never commited till he asked. I picked the attributes and ended up with a pony who looked like Vinyl(Dj PON3) and was satisfied with it even tho I could see the similarities. Then came Shining Armor who many asked if I based my OC off him (mines predated his existance). I've always liked the pegasi and had I not chosen it, I would have probably ended up with a unicorn. Which would have made me exactly like Shining and Vinyl.

New Dawn Info Sheet

Creator: New Dawn

OC's name: New Dawn

Race: TimeLord (or lady) Pegasus

Appearance: Look at my profile picture

Personality: Kind and gentle but can be hurt or enraged quickly due to past.

Cutie mark: A red and blue yin yang. She's basically a peacemaker.

Job: None, just a free spirit.

Family/friends: She's not related to anyone, but she does travel with a green earth pony named Dazzler Star. She has a FimFic account too.

Romance: No romantic interests.

Story: She was framed for the destruction of galifrey and while escaping she got pulled into equestria. She lands in dazzler's house, where she's finishing up writing for Equestria Daily (It's a spin on the site except now it's a newspaper) With her TARDIS out of commishion, she now lives with Dazzler, helping her with whatever until she gets her TARDIS fixed. Yeah, It's kinda short, maybe too short for your interests.

Future: She eventually gets her tardis fixed and makes Dazzler her companion, as well as her two friends comet tail and little wish (Who has an entirely different backstory. Maybe I'll convince her to tell you about it.)

How did you make this OC: I came up with her while talking over skype with Dazzler (I will not tell you her real name). She had just introduced me to Doctor who and MLP so, I was a newbie and creating OC's she was the one who came up with the idea to create twin OC's (I think... It was about last year so... it's gone from my skype history). I was reading a Doctor whooves fic and I came up with the idea of a timelord who also survived the destruction of galifrey (This was when I was between the 9th and the 10th doctors). we came up with backstory and there you have it. We've been planning on releasing the Backstory for a LONG time on our accounts, but... We never got to it. I've got all her OC's background/story so if you want to hear that, I'm fine with that. I just need to clear it up with her first.

Any special questions you'd like to answer about your OC. I'm not perfect, so I'm sure there are plenty of questions I should have asked, but didn't think to. If they're good, I'll add them to this sheet. No, I don't think so. But, one last piece of info. She loathes the doctor. She believes he framed her.

OC's name: Dazzler star

Race: Earth pony

Appearance: Green everywhere with a stripe of red in her mane and tail.

Personality: Sassy and fun, but she does and an attitude sometimes.

Cutie mark: Three silver stars showing how she loves to entertain ponies.