The Blackened Heart

It was a dark night in the Everfree forest all was quiet except for the occasional howls of the timberwolves that lived inside. The only sound that was audible among the silence were hoofsteps trekking through the mud. Two figures were making their way through the hell like forest.

If you were close enough you could see they had nasty wounds on their sides. One was a changeling that walked with his pride high even with the wounds he had. His left eye had a scar over it with a three pronged claw mark. Another thing that was noticeable is he had a cutie mark of a sword covered with a spiraling green flame.

His partner on the other hoof who he was carrying was a black alicorn with a gray mane and tale that were ruffled due to the fight from earlier. His cutie mark was a dark red skull with ram like horns with no bottom jaw. He was out cold due to being knocked out by a hydra while ago and having to be rescued by his friend.

The changeling sighed "damn it Shade one of these days your ass is gonna get a good beating and I wont be able to help"

Shade started to regain consciousness as he did he could hear his friend. He knew how much he cared about his safety they were best friends for quite a while. He decided to get off and walk on his own.

"You know Dex once we find a town I will buy you some booze and a mare to bed will that satisfy your whiny ass"?

Dex chuckled "only if I get the really expensive stuff but you can have the mare".

Dex burst out laughing after that he knew that would make Shade uncomfortable and he knew why. Shade was a virgin and Dex would use the mention of mares and sex just to mess with him. Shade however would always get back at him just by scaring him as a matter of fact Shade just loves scaring ponies whenever he gets the chance.

As they continued their walk they could see an opening up ahead. Dex and Shade trotted towards the exit as they left the forest they saw the wide night sky. However as they stared at the sky somepony was staring frightfully from afar in her cottage.

Fluttershy was having a peaceful day nothing was going wrong, there was no disasters over the horizon, and most importantly she was having quality time with her animals. She was about to head outside to feed her chickens she saw two figures burst out of the Everfree forest.

She reacted the way she always did and immediately hid behind her door. She looked out the window to see the two figures. One was a changeling with a claw scar over his left eye but what caught her attention was the mark on his flank.

'That is strange changelings cant get cutie marks can they'? She thought to herself she didn't know a whole lot about changelings she only knew the basic stuff because of the wedding. Fluttershy then looked at the other figure only to stare in both surprise and fear. Next to the changeling was a black alicorn who stood a bit taller than the changeling. His dark orange eyes stared at the night sky as he stood next to his companion Fluttershy was a bit scared at his appearance. As she stared at them she began looking into the alicorn's eyes she began to feel his emotions.

Pain, hate, sadness, misery, but also love. There was a hint a happiness that felt like it died long ago before she could ponder the thought further she began to hear them talking.

"Hey Shade you think if we follow this trail we might find some civilization?" Dex asked he didn't want to be any closer to the forest than he needed. Shade looked at the path it seemed to lead to a town in the distance he thought about it for a minute. He looked in his bag to see how many bits were left they still had 5,000 which could be enough for a room and food.

Shade sighed and said "we got enough bits to last us for a while lets go and see what this place has to offer us". Dex was happy that they were out of that hellish forest and were finally having some good luck.

"Oh! and Dex don't think I'm not gonna get you back for that 'comment' you made back there" Shade said with evil grin on his face. Dex gulped and continued walking now he was sure he was gonna have a jump scare in the morning.

Fluttershy was scared not just for herself but also her friends and all the other ponies. She couldn't really tell but something was off about the two strangers especially the alicorn. She had to get to town and tell her friends before they did anything that could destroy the town.

"Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear! this could be bad really bad I have to find Twilight and the others!" She raced to Ponyvile in speeds that made Rainbow Dash seem slow.

(Twilight POV)

Twilight was busy with reading a new book she got with a delivery of books brought from the Canterlot Ancient archive. She was really into the book as it was describing somethings called the Dark Elements which were like the Elements of Harmony but much more powerful and dark. She was very enticed in the book until frantic knocking was heard.

She opened the the door with her magic as she did she saw a terrified Fluttershy "Oh my Fluttershy are you OK you look scared half to death."

Fluttershy walked in and took deep breaths when she calmed down she began to speak "Twilight we need to find the others quick there is a changeling and black scary alicorn coming to Ponyville."

"What!?! were are they and how long until they get here?" Twilight asked she wasn't sure how to react to this. She thought that the changelings had been beaten. This was bad if the changelings were going to attack Ponyville with the help of alicorn they wouldn't stand a chance.

"I saw them walking down the trail from my house it wont be long until they get to the town." she said Twilight began to calm down and paced back and forth trying to think of the next course of action.

"Alright Fluttershy listen you go and get the others and I will send a letter to the princess and hopefully she can get here in time." Fluttershy nodded and bolted out the door to find their friends.

"Spike get down here quick I need to send the princess an urgent lette." a purple baby dragon made his way down the stairs with a quill and paper. He was going to ask the unicorn why she was so frantic but that look she had told him not to question her. He began to write down the urgent message and sent it to Celestia Twilight just hoped it got to her before it was to late.