Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Sherclop surveyed his surroundings with an intensity unmatched by any other Detective. Lighting his pipe and taking a long drag he smiled widely and nodded to his long-time partner and best friend Watson. With that same loop-sidded grin the ecentric detective always had plastered on his face he said.

"Watson, I have deduced the case!"

"And what is your deduction sir?"

Sherclop puffed some of his pipe smoke into the air and turned to the suspects lined up in the room. One was a Griffon writer, the other two were two minotaurs on honey moon, the third one was a upper-class unicorn from canterlot and the last suspect was a refined zebra with an upright posture.

"The culprit is-"

"Kiiids~! Dinner is ready!"

Trixie used her magic too close the book with reluctance. She gently put it down on her nightstand and hopped off of her bed. Her sister quickly hopped off of her bed on the other side of the room. She galloped out of the door leaving Trixie to her own devices.

She couldn't help but glance back at the book one more time.

Hopping off of her bed aswell, she slowly trotted over to the door. Taking one look back at her room she smiled.

"One day, I will be a hero just like all of you." she said, shutting the door gently and leaving the seemingly endless supply of heroic posters, books and pictures. Millions of depictions of caped heroes, the alicorn princesses and real heroes clad in armor all stared on with a stoic or fierce face.

Almost as if they were facing an oncoming storm.

Trixie blew a strand of her mane from her eye. Some hero she was now... embarrassing herself in front of an entire town TWICE and being degraded to... busy work.

She muttered her laments under her breath as she trudged on.

"Trixie, is everything alright up there!?" A stallion shouted from behind her.

"Yup!" Trixie barked back, struggling to keep her business facade up. The stallion didn't say another word as he popped his head back into the carriage.

...The carriage that she was currently pulling and 'guarding'. When she had been approached back in fillydelphia to be a body guard she didn't expect to pull the carriage as well! But... it was alright they were a very rich family, the famous well-to-do's were a well... famous earth-pony family that was well known for their craftsmen ship in mechanics, it was all she could do to not drop everything right there and kiss their hooves.

But she had way more pride than that and besides, the family was pretty tolerant with her since then. Save for the two foals who instead of tolerating her just absolutely adored her. Something about her background drew them in.

The father was a bulky, light brown stallion. With a handlebar mustache, big bushy eyebrows and a swept mane cut to match the mustache. His cutie mark was a simple, grey wrench. The mother on the other hoof was the complete opposite of him, a grassy green coat with a light pink mane and tail done up in a complicated bun that could only be described as unnecessary, her cutie mark was a brass cog with two arrows swirling around it.

The kids were... better off too say the least. The older sister, Speed Pan had her fathers bulk but mothers color scheme. That toppled with a shorter mane and tail than most others led to ridicule of the poor filly. Her younger brother, Hex Nut was slightly luckier. He too had the bulk of his father but with extra pudge to go with that. A jet black bowl cut mane and his large, square glasses kept him in the same situation as his older sister. Both had yet to earn their cutiemarks which didn't help with the social problems they already possessed.

Trixie wiped some sweat off of her brow and focused on the scenery around her, trying to ignore the burning in her legs. They were on a rather large dirt path. Surrounding it were bushes covered in multi-colored flowers and oak trees so high they could have been used as buildings. The sky was a clear blue today, which was good for her because she didn't feel like dealing with the rain. Every once in awhile they would pass an opening that lead to deeper parts of the forest and the sounds of the forest toppled with that of faint music drifting from the carriage helped Trixie relax and mull some more over her position.

But, they had asked for a little much here. First they had asked for escort through the everfree forest. Which wasn't the ideal place for ponies of their upbringing. Not only were creatures like manticores, timberwolves, and even dragons abundant here but so were theives and rogues. So keeping an eye out was a constant here.

But it wasn't like she hadn't been practicing up on her offense magic. After failing to defeat Twilight the second time she had begun to train herself feverishly. She had spent days in and out perfecting offensive, defensive and more. Soon she would be on Twilights level.

Speaking of that purple mare, the second fault in their offer was their destination... Ponyville. She would have a problem if she had to wait for her pay...

A couple of more hours passed like this. Just her deep in thought with some music floating through the air until dawn hit. The blue sky was replaced with a orange and yellow tint now, giving the forest a warmer feeling which almost overshadowed the constant feeling of danger. By now they were two miles away from ponyville but could not continue the trek.

She huffed to herself as she plopped herself down in the soft grass.Normally she wouldn't let her glorious, well-kept mane and fur touch this ground. But it just felt too nice to get up. She watched silently as two foals played tag with one another. Further away in the clearing the parents were setting up camp, the mother fanning herself while the father began to start a fire.

Maybe they wouldn't be too bad off on their own...

The father let out a frustrated cry as the fire blew up in his face, leaving him with a soot covered face and a terrible mane-cut.

Nevermind....

Trixie sighed to herself and tipped her magicians hat lower to try and ignore it. She sighed again and tipped it up to see the father standing in front of her with an expectant smile.

Trixie plopped herself down in the grass again. This time even more exhausted than before. She closed her eyes for a second...than re-opened them. The mother stood in front of her this time, with a mallet in one hoof and tent stakes in the other.

"I'm so sorry too bother you dearie but could you help me?"

She sighed again, thinking about the massive check she should get after this.

One the outskirts of the clearing, far away from either Trixie's or the Well-to-do's eyes nimble creatures moved across the bushes quickly. Some kept their luminescent yellow eyes fixated on the foals. Some of these creatures snapped their wooden jaws hungrily as the foals let out a squeal of delight.

A larger pair of yellow eyes appeared to loom over the eager creatures. They seemed to hover in the darkness, observing the foals play. A large snap followed by the sound of a growling stomach alerted the creatures to the presences shadowing them.

"Them ponies look like a right fine snack." There was a canopy of grunts from the wolves almost as if they were agreeing.

"Ah want em' by midnight ya' hear?" The dominant pair of eyes leered down at the others, causing them to whimper and cower away.

"Good, glad we all understand the game plan..." The dominant glow seemed to fade away as the others grew in intensity.

The mother nodded with encouragement as Trixie finished setting up the last of the tents.

"Oh thank you so much Trixie. My husband and I don't know how  we could cope without you!"

Trixie nodded through a faux smile and clenched teeth. "Yes, well I imagine you wouldn't have gotten very far..." she grunted out. The mother gave her a confused look before smiling. "Oh! Is this commoner humour? A little rude but funny I guess..."

Trixies totally-not-forced smile wavered. "Yes well...."

The mother gave her an expectant look.

"This is the wort job I've ever taken. I hate it and you, my employer. But that's alright because I'm only doing this for the paycheck. Did it ever occur to you that ponies only put up with your crap because of your social status? You probably made a fool of yourself at so many events but ponies keep their mouths shut because they have too, because your rich plot is too good to be laughed at. How is it? Being a social shell so stupid and ignorant that you can't even get the largest hints you freaking bimbo. I could literally turn you into a frog and they would throw me a parade.

"Haha yeah, commoner humour..." Trixie instantly snapped her mouth shut. Glaring at the mother as she turned around and trotted away.

"Trixie is too good for this..." Trixie muttered under her breath.

"Trixie!" Two sets of tiny hooves pounding against the ground caught her attention.

As soon as she turned to greet her new accomplices they skidded to a stop in front of her hooves. Hex Nut panted heavily as his brother pan trotted up to her with a smirk. "Hex Nut and I raced over too see who was fastest." Pan said proudly beaming a smile at her brother. "He aint' got nothing on me!"

Hex Nut peered over his heavy glasses with a look of annoyance. "Yeah.....well.....it's cos you got those muscley stallions legs."

"I do not have stallions legs!" Pan said bringing a hoof to her chest in shock.

"Yuh-huh, all the stallions at school think so!"

"Y-You, they do not!" Pan stamped her hoof on the ground, adding humor to her already beet-red face.

Trixie quirked an eyebrow and peeked over at their parents who were too busy doing their own things to even acknowledge their children. She smirked and turned back to the children, strapping in for the ride.

"And everypony thinks you eat cat-poo." Hex said crossing his fore-hooves as if he made a valid point. Pans mouth simply hung open in response.

That had escalated quickly.

"I'll make you eat those words!" Pan screeched before tackling Hex to the ground.

Trixie watched on in mild amusement as the two wrestled. Pan suddenly flipped Hex over and wrapped her fore-legs around his neck. She put him in a choke hold until Hex pounded the ground three times. She triumphantly let him go and beamed down at him.

"She does have muscular legs." Trixie thought to herself.

"So..." Pan said nonchalantly rubbing some dirt off of her hoof. "I was wondering if you wanted to tell us another story Trix?"

As if he didn't just suffer a humiliating defeat to his sister Hex hopped up eagerly. "Yeah! I really like the one where you took on a dragon, ursa major and hydra at the same time!"

That totally happened...

"Well if you insist..."

"Nopony was insisti-"

"This is the story of the time Trixie faced THE Princess Twilight Sparkle in a magic duel."

By the time Trixie had finished her long-winded and over the top story night had fallen. Though Pan and Hex didn't even notice, they were so invested in Trixie's story.

They had moved over to the fire. Not for warmth or light but just for a certain setting. And it worked perfectly. While the wind picked up and softly swayed the grass and fireflies danced around the clearing they sat there, enveloped with a warm orange and yellow glow. The stars slowly dotted into existence as heavy clouds moved slowly over them, threatening the Everfree with rain but not actually doing so.

The tents lay silently a couple of feet away. The parents sleeping soundly in them, entrusting their children with Trixie.

"And that's when the humble and changed Trixie decided to leave the town. Or course leaving the princess a gift."

Pan and Hex clopped their hooves in approval. They were always easily entertained by her stories.

"Wow, I can't believe the Element had to trick you to win!" Hex shouted.

"Yes well, Trixie is just that awesome." She fluffed her mane as she soaked up the attention.

"Alright. While you were telling that story I remembered one I heard awhile back." Pan said.

"It's not the jelly one is it?" Hex asked.

Pan shot him a look that caused him to cower away.

"Continue..." Hex muttered.

"This is a story I heard from my foal-hood. A story that takes place in these exact woods. You see a lot of ponies did not know where these woods came from. They supposedly sprouted up over the night! So naturally they would send some experts in to try and figure it all out. One of these experts was Star swirl the bearded..."

"When Star-swirl and his research team first entered the Everfree woods the most trouble they had crossed was a stray bear or timber wolf. But on the third night they had caught on too something, something never before recorded or sighted in the history of equestria.

A group of ponies stormed through the everfree, the unicorns utilizing their magic as flashlights and the pegasi searching up above. The earth ponies used their strength to clear out any heavy foilage that would block their path. They moved frantically, erratic as if they were tracking something which... they were.

Standing proudly among the many ponies was none other than Star-swirl the bearded. His brown coat shimmered almost heriocally in the moon-light. He was a frail looking pony, a thin body with a think beard that reached down to his hooves. A large, blue wizards hat slumped over his head as his golden eyes watched the ponies work frantically.

All of a sudden his eyes darted over to a set of bushes.

"There!" Starl-swirl had shouted. Seeing movement among the bushes. The ponies worked quickly to clear them away.

The group gasped as a large, shadowy figure sprinted from the bushes. Before any of the pegasi could react it lept into the trees in a single bound.

"Onwards!" Star-swirl shouted.

Every pony there scrambled after the figure. The pegasi taking to the air and keeping their eyes pinned on the target. Some earth ponies upon catching up attempted to buck it out of the trees but with no avail.

One pony which was clad in golden armor chucked a spear into a tree-top. There was a shout of surprise as the shadowy figure fell from the tree, just barely dodging the spear. It landed ungracefully on the ground with a thud and instantly got back up.

"Those that were there that day said it stood just a little under seven feet, had these.... canine teeth and eyes that had like... no pupils or anything like that.

The pony closest to it, a female earth pony moved to apprehend the figure but it turned on its heel suddenly and kicked up some dirt into her eye. The pony screeched and fell back on her rump, clutching her eye. The figure did a gesture that involved its middle finger and sprinted off into the woods.

Eveypony else tensed up to go after it but Star-swirl halted them. Shaking his head slowly. Despite the adrenaline coursing through their veins the ponies listened to him and let the figure run off.

"That's interesting...." Trixie muttered as Pan sat back with a smile.

"I know. Our nanny was the descendant of the mare in the story. She said that she would never talk that much about it though. All she mentioned once was that whatever it was, it was fierce. They tried to track it later but the tracking team came back in full body casts!"

Trixie leaned forward slowly. "Did they say anything else?" she asked, quirking up an eyebrow.

"Well let's see...."

Hex watched as the two mares began to discuss amongst themselves. Realizing they had forgotten about him he shrugged and hopped off of the log. He trotted to the outer-edges of the clearing to relieve himself of some duty.

After pushing past some bushes with some considerable effort Hex found himself in a smaller clearing. A swarm of fire-flies floated around here, doing their intricate, graceful dance.

In the middle of the clearing was a massive tree, the top so high up that Hex couldn't even see it. He hummed to himself quietly as he trotted over and began to evacuate a couple of cups of big chug.

In the middle of his business a low growl resonated throughout the night air. Hex stopped abruptly and slowly turned around. A larger pair of fire-flies moved around slowly, moving to the left and right quietly. They began to bob up and down, Hex's eyes following them the entire way. Suddenly another growl emitted right in front of him and the nature of the 'fireflies' were truly revealed....

"So I told him-" Pan and Trixie were interrupted as Hex came sprinting out of the bushes as fast as his stubby legs would carry him. He huffed and puffed attempting too form words. He didn't even need too though because a large timber-wolf came sprinting out of the foilage after him.

It leapt through the air.....

and was blasted away by a well aimed blast on Trixie's part.

All at once what seemed like hundreds of timber-wolves came lumbering through the bushes on all sides of the clearing. Pan scooted closer to Trixie as Hex halted to a stop by them. He too took his place at her side as she studied the pack of wolves around them. She had counted twelve so far, but if the leering eyes peering out of the bushes were accountable at least thirty.

"Behold, the true power of the great and powerful TRIXIEEE!" Trixie stood on her hind-legs and pointed to the sky. With a shout her horn began to emit a powerful, white glow. The glow intensified citing a pause from the timberwolves. But they quickly steeled themselves and rushed forward.

With a shout Trixie fell back to all fours and unleashed the built up energy. In a massive surge of energy a white wave rushed forward, moving like a literal wave from the ocean. The fluid motion of the magic washed over the timberwolves  she was facing wiping out at least five of them.

She whirled around to deal with the others but was too late. One of the smaller ones tackled her to the ground, it opened its toothy maw and shot forward to finish her. Trixie shot her hooves out and gripped the sides of its face, keeping the hungry wolf just centimeters away from her beautiful face.

Trixie tried her hardest to focus. After a couple seconds of magical slip-ups and disasters she finally summoned what looked like a giant magical crochet mallet. The timberwolf looked at it for a brief second before being swatted away with a yelp.

She rolled over to her hooves just in time to see the foals get snatched up. Hex cried out for help while Pan struggled in the wolves grip. As if to make matters worse. Two more wolves were dragging the parents along as well... who were still fast asleep. She went to fire another blast but one of the heavier wolves hopped on her back weighting her. Trixie shouted in surprise as they both tumbled to the ground.

Within seconds the wolf was knocked off by her. She instantly scrambled up and fired a shot at the wolf carrying Hex. Right before the beam made contact another timber wolf lept in front of the beam. It instantly exploded into a pile of splinters and twigs, not so much as a whimper coming from the wolf.

Trixie growled and tried to shoot again but was tackled from the side. She needed to get to those kids! With a grunt she heaved the timber wolf off, luckily this one was the lighter of the others. A quick survey showed her that the other wolves were indeed coming out of their hiding spots.

There was no way she could divide her focus on both the wolves and the Well-to-do's. Besides... there was one last cry from Hex before the wolves disappeared behind the bushes.

"Uhg!" Trixie exclaimed stomping a hoof down. She whirled around and glared at the Timber wolves. There had to be atleast fifteen staring her down but that didn't deter her in anyway.  "You are SO going to regret that!" she shouted. Her horn began to hum but stopped when one of the wolves were tackled by a brown blur.

Another one yelped out as it too was tackled. And another...and another. Trixie slowly moved out of her defensive stance when all of the timber wolves were soon battling.... other wolves. Though instead of yellow eyes these ones had green eyes. In a flurry of claws, teeth, and howling a practical war broke out in front of her.

Trixie quirked an eyebrow as she watched everything unfold in front of her.

It wasn't long before more of the green eyes joined in the fight against the yellow eyes. The fight quickly went in the green eyes favor, the yellow eyes running back into the woods around the clearing yipping in defeat.

One of the green eyed wolves let out a victorious howl. Its brothers soon joining it eagerly. But it wasn't over yet. As soon as the wolves lowered their heads they all stared directly at her.

What seemed to be the alpha of the pack. A big, burly looking wolf that was about just under Candance height wise growled and took a step forward. It gave her a predatory glare and snapped its jaws hungrily.

Trixie moved into a defensive stance again.

Then a high-pitched whistle carried through the air. It seemed to come from all sides as the wolves listened attentively. The Alpha instantly went from a prowl to a sitting position. Not even seconds later after the whistle another wolf broke through the bushes. It sprinted towards Trixie so fast that she could hardly even see it.

But she could!

She aimed her horn at the wolf but couldn't get a blast off before it got there. It slid to a halt at her hooves and panted up at her like some kind of domestic dog.

"....What?"

She noticed that the wolf had a rolled up note in its mouth. Using her magic to take the drool-covered paper she read it over.

Trixie slowly peeked over the top of the paper. The wolf continued to sit there and pant, giving her some blank expectant stare. "You've got to be kidding...." Trixie muttered.

Should she trust them? They did save help come in when they were completely unneeded and fight off those other wolves. But then again they themselves were wolves. She took another look at the nonsense of a note and shook off any doubts. Maybe whoever made this note knew where the well-to-do's were.

She let out a long sigh.

After what felt like hours of pushing through heavy shrubbery and trotting in circles Trixie was about ready to call somepony out on this. What sentient being could run a pack of timber wolves!? They were one of the fiercest creatures in the Everfree. The fact that somepony could control them let alone as many as the ones that packed into the clearing was ridiculous.

Most of the wolves had stayed back and guarded the area, so she didn't have to worry about her stuff.... maybe. And about five of them were currently taking her wherever so she didn't have to worry about being attacked... not like she needed too.

"Where are you taking Trixie? This mare has some important business to attend too." The wolves seemed unresponsive to her.

Trixie opened her mouth to say something again but the sound of rushing water cut her off. The wolves nudged their way through a curtain of ferns. Seconds after that Trixie found herself standing on the back of a pond. The sand here was soft and wet, dampened and gray from the lack of light. Up above was a waterfall, falling down below and forming the quite exotic sight in front of her right now.

The place where the waterfall and water met was kicked up with a powerful spray. This caused a rather thin layer of mist to cover the area. All five wolves sat down forming a half-circle around the pond. The first wolf to howl was in the middle. After that the wolf to its right joined and the wolf to its left, then the far right and the far left.

For a couple of seconds nothing happened. Then the ground began to rumble and shake. Trixie let out a low 'oh' of surprise as a cobblestone pathway rose out of the pond. It was covered in moss and water but it looked as if it was just made. The wolves moved forward as if they had done this a million times before.

Trixie not one to fall behind quickly followed them. As they neared the waterfall it parted, being controlled by an unknown force. This led way to a massive hallway. As she stepped into it she couldn't help but admire the architecture. Massive stone pillars roughly about the size of three stories supported the intricately painted roof. Massive paintings decorated the walls around them, their golden frames matching the tattered red and gold carpet they were on.

Trixie squinted as it dawned on her. This as a royal room.... or used to be. The paintings on the roof all depicted Luna and Celestia doing one deed or another. Saving equestria, knighting ponies and attending festivals. The paintings depicted different important ponies throughout history, Star-Swirl, Snowflake, and many more.

Trixie wasn't easily awed, but even in this aged room she couldn't help but let her jaw drop. Which also sparked her curiosity as to how old this room was and who lived in it?

As they reached the end of room Trixie noticed even more. Two massive statues of Celestia on the left and Luna on the right stood proudly over the room. With spray paint on them.....

"Jay wuz here." was sprawled across Celestia's face. Trixie quirked an eyebrow as she noticed "XXXXL" on Celestia's flank and "Ice cream" on one wing and "Cakey cake" on the other. Luna's statue wasn't spared either, "Who wants a taste of the dark side?" was painted on her chest while "Can't lovegood" was sprayed down the arch of her back"I'm the thirteenth man to touch the moon!" was on her side.

Whoever did this had a lot of spare time...

And she was sure most of those were references...

It was then that Trixie noticed the large spray paint just above the hole in the wall.

"STAY OUT!"

"Nothing here!"

"Maybe...."

One of the wolves nudged her catching her attention. She turned too see what they were trying to hurry about. The two thrones in the room were knocked out of the way, leaving a massive unnatural hole in the wall. The thrones themselves once luxurious now lay on their sides decrepit, and most likely uncomfortable.

A timberwolf nudged her side lightly snapping her out of her trance. It nodded its head to the hole in the wall and sat back on its haunches. Joining the other wolves in giving he an expectant stare.

She stepped over the once royal thrones cautiously and moved into the hole. It was wide enough to fit another three ponies atleast and Trixie couldn't help but wonder what had made this hole and why it had made it.

She trotted through the tunnel softly. She didn't even have to worry about her hooves getting dirty, the trek to even get here in the first place had already solved that. But her legs were getting increasingly worn-out.

Another thing that bothered her was the fact that she could see zero light at the end of the tunnel.

"What rubbish is thi-" Trixie let out a surprised shriek as the ground gave out from under her. Sending her deeper into the abyss. Strangely enough though what was taking her down was another tunnel, much smaller this time around, not a massive, gaping hole.

She tried to halt by putting her fore-hooves out but found that just kicked up dirt in her face. She voiced her disdain with some very choice words.

After a couple minutes of tumbling Trixie suddenly rocketed out of the tunnel. She could feel herself flying through the air then landing on something padded, then something hard. With a grunt she pushed herself off of the ground. After rubbing her fore-head softly she turned around to see a worn out mattress duct-taped to a wall. Across from the mattress was the opening to the tunnel.

"Reeeal innovation at work here...." She muttered sarcastically.

She turned around to see another tunnel leading forward.

"Really!?"

Five more tumbles and and ten more tunnels later Trixie finally found a tunnel with light at the end. With a little more caution and excitement she moved to the very end of the tunnel...

Too come out where she had started.

"....."

The wolves were still there as if expecting her.

"....."

Without hesitation the alpha nudged its snout under the red carpet the led to the hole. In one swift motion it tossed its head up revealing a trap door under the red carpet.

A small sticky note reading "Suck it." was taped to the heavy wooden door.

Trixie's eye twitched....

Before she could go off on whatever unknown force that was toying with her the wolf gripped the handle in its mouth and opened the door. Trixie stared down into the trap door too see..... another tunnel.

"You know what. Trixie is done with this nonsense. Tell your 'master' that he's a bucking creep. And he most like-" One of the wolves head butted her flank sending her tumbling to the abyss once again. A shrill scream was let out all the way to the bottom.

Darkness surrounded them....

Nothing but darkness...

Suddenly light flooded the young foals vision as they were ushered from the pitch black darkness and into the significantly lighter area. The first thing they had noticed was their parents, who quickly rushed over and embraced them in a tight hug. The second thing to make itself apparent was the sheer amount of animals in the room.

Manticores, Bears, Timberwolves, Cockatrices, Rockodiles, Parasprites and many more. A hulking creature built like a wall with the head of a jackal growled and snapped its jaws in one corner while a creature that could only be described as nightmare fuel slithered in a black murky pit of its own mess.

Beyond all of that was the (at the moment) under-appreciated beautiful room which they were in. The walls were made of blue crystals that despite no entrance of light reflected light constantly, giving the crystals a eerie glow. The area itself was big enough to house a group of Ursa Majors and their cubs, a still pond taking up a quarter of it. The ground was made of a soft, brownish-yellow sand that led into a crystal, clear pond that was comparable to a mirror. Miniature cliff faces hung in the walls over head overlooking the area.

Reflections stood in reflections making the sight even more breath taking.

If they weren't focused on the creature emerging from the pond that was.

What it could be described as was a bipedal alligator with giant, clear crystals jutting out of its back. Its mossy, scaly skin looked so thick that a sword couldn't pierce it. Its bulking figure moved forward with a swagger that screamed alpha male and this became apparent because all of the other inhabitants of the room quickly backed down as it emerged. Its long snout riddled with unrealistically sharp teeth twisted into a scowl. Two piercing, glowing yellow eyes stared the well-to-do's down with seething anger.

"Well, well, well looks like ya'll didn't fail me after all!" The creature exclaimed cheerfully rubbing its hands together. "Ah get to eat something other than twigs."

"What do you want!?" The mother asked suprisingly calmly catching the creatures intention.

It quirked an..... what should be an eyebrow and gave her a playful smile. "Excuse me where are my manners. My name is Grudge and ya'll are gonna be my meal tonight."

Hex and the parents gulped. Pan on the other hoof twisted her face into a scowl. "You eat ponies? That doesn't seem very healthy..."

"Ah don't think ah should care about that."

"Really?" Pan inquired. "Cos' it looks like you're putting on a little weight there."

"What! Am not.." Grudge looked down at his stomach and quickly glared back at her. "Don't play games with me girl, a lizard-man's gotta watch his figure. Don't wanna disgust all the sexy lizard ladies of the bad lands."

"I think I just threw up a little." Pan muttered.

"Me too..." Hex shakily agreed.

"Um, mister Grudge" The father stepped forward. "Could you please not use that kind of language there are children here."

Grudge ran a scaly hand down his face. "You are making me warm blooded..." he grunted. "Fine, ah won't use adult words while ah eat ya'll."

"Thanks."

"Now, prepare too-"

"Wait a minute." Pan waved a hoof in the air to catch everybody's attention. "I think Hex and I are old enough to hear that."

"Thank you!" Hex added.

"Well honey, there are some things you children shouldn't be hearing about and sexy lizard ladies are one of them." The father placed a hoof on Pan's withers calmly.

"Pulley!" the mother exclaimed. "You just said it!"

"Oh! Sorry dear!"

"Oh, whatever. It's okay at this point the children have already been tainted by that beast over there."

"I dare say you are right my dear, only a brute would use such langauge in front of child-"

"EEEENOUGH!" Grudge shouted.

The banter ceased as the family focused on him.

"First of all, you just said what I said in front of YOUR kids so ah think that makes you a hypocrite! And second of all you're supposed to be fearing for you LIFE right now, ya know the thing that keeps you in the waking world!?"

"Well, sorry mister Grudge but i'm afraid we can't do that." The father said calmly.

"What!? Why?"

"Because our bodyguard is most likely on her way here and will be here any second now."

The foals seemed to perk up at this. "Yeah Trixie's gonna kick your butt!" Pan piqued. "Yeah she took on the Elements of Harmony once!" Hex added.

A low throaty laugh came from Grudges maw. "You seriously think some pansy lil' pony can take on me? ME!? HAHAHAHA!!!"

"Yes." All four ponies said at the same time.

Grudge stopped his laugh abruptly. His eyes widening in surprise.

"O.K... you seriously do think that. Why don't we wait for her to show up then.... in oh let's say the next three hours. And when she gets here ah will beat the living snot out of her and prove you guys wrong." Grudge crossed his arms and smiled maliciously. "And if she don't show up in the next three hours. I get to have a four course meal."

The family traded looks before slowly and cautiously sitting down.

"YAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Trixie suddenly found her scream cut short as he landed into the ground in a very ungraceful manner. Slowly getting up and dusting herself and her mane off she sighed and face-hoofed. Then slowly pulled the hoof away with a look of shock on her face.

The sight in front of her was absolutely beautiful sight. An Ebony colored ground, roof, and rocks decorated the room, different shades of grey swirled in at some points. The only thing illuminating the room were these giant spotted mushrooms that gave off a calming green glow. A waterfall tinted green by the light ran calmly off to her far left. Everywhere else was covered with some very strange things to find in a cave like this.

A bookshelf all filled with the same colored books laid against a wall. A writing desk with a glass bottle ship n the middle of the cave, with various colorful wrappers of candy littered around the desk. A surprisingly clean wooden bed rested near the waterfall, sagging from most likely years of use.

The size of the cave while not overwhelming was large enough to comfortably fit a large family of ponies in.

A decorative chandelier hung at the very top, the crystals broken and fabric battered giving the cave a somewhat uneasy effect.

Various spray painted words hung in the walls above.

HI NOW BYE

BRUH LEAVE

YOU GOT THREE STRIKES

TRANSFORMERS 4 WASNT THAT BAD

IT ACTUALLY WAS

A shadow suddenly swept over her breaking her from her trance.

"Who's there?" she demanded whirling around to where she had felt it come from.

A slow, raspy laugh filled the cave. This obviously made her beyond uneasy.

"You better come out right now. Trixie is not a mare you want too mess with!" To help her point she stamped one hoof on the ground.

Another shadow swept over her in response, this time from her left. She whirled around just in time to catch a glimpse of something large moving behind a rock.

She glared at the rock as if look could kill. She kind of wished they could right now. Readying her horn and summoning a ball of luminosity she shined the makeshift torch at the rock.

Something shifted along the roof, quickly moving out of her sight.

"SHOW YOURSELF NOW!" She screamed furrowing her brow.

A shadow moved over her again, this time slowly... a lot more slowly. The shadow felt as if it were a weight crushing down on her with the knowledge that something was behind her.

The shadow seemed to have some kind of sinister smile etched into it. The eyes and mouth imprinted to make some sort of angry smiley face in the shadows head.

"Boo!"

Trixie whirled around, horn fully charged and body tensed for battle. She had come face to face with a.....