Chapter 1: Grave Mistakes
It was a eerie night, and there was a chill in the air, the full moon hanging in the sky. Not like the playful Summer breeze, or the smell of Hearth's Warming Eve in the Winter. It was unnatural, and harsh, and freezing. Sweet Celestia, it was cold.
How did I get talked into coming into the Everfree forest at midnight?
"What're we gettin' our Cutie Marks' for, again?" Apple Bloom asked Scootaloo.
"Don't you remember?" the Pegasus filly rolled her eyes. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Timberwolf Wrestlers!" She seemed far too enthusiastic for the lethal idea.
"Perhaps we could try something, I don't know, less fatal?" I said, nervously eyeing my saddlebag filled with bandages. And snacks. There is never a time without snacks.
"No way! Diamond Tiara called me chicken, and nopony calls me chicken. EVER." She explained. "Still got that camera, Apple Bloom?" The golden filly nodded.
"Well then let's get going!" She then took off at full speed, wings buzzing, propelling her and her scooter across the forbidden woods.
"SCOOTALOO!!!" Apple Bloom and I yelled in sync as we chased after our reckless friend.
We ran all across the Everfree. All I remember was mud, dirt, puddles, and tree branches. Mostly tree branches. Especially after Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and I, one after the other, crashed into a particularly large tree.
"Mht ms masmam!" Scootaloo yelled with a tree branch in her mouth.
"What?" Apple Bloom inquired.
"Mi med..." Scootaloo replied, spitting out the branch. "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" However, what came next was not so spectacular.
Awakened by the filly's outcry, were a pack of Timberwolves, staring at us with their neon green eyes. They emerged from the brush, hungrily staring at us, drooling. Literally drooling. Being quite smart, I knew the best way to avoid the less desirable outcome of this sticky situation.
"RUN!!!" I screeched at the top of my lungs. We wrestled our way out of the tree, desperately trying to avoid the impending doom from behind. Finally, leaving our stuff behind, we plopped out of the tree, staring death straight in the face.
Then Scootaloo's scooter fell out of the tree.
There was no need to even speak. We dove toward the scooter, Scootaloo gripping the handle bars, Apple Bloom holding onto to Scootaloo, and I holding on to Apple Bloom, clinging for dear life.
Ahead we saw a large chasm, right behind the castle of the two sisters, with a bridge above it. This must me the bridges the Elements of Harmony crossed over! But it was also the one that needed a mere hoof-step to collapse entirely, and it needed a Pegasus who could fly to restabilize it from the other side.
Then reality hit me in the face.
"SCOOTALOO DON'T CROSS THE BRIDGE!"
Too late. The bridge fell down the second three fillies and a scooter shot over it. Scootaloo, however, wasn't deterred by the demise fate had planned for us below. No, she put on the most determined face I'd ever seen from a pony, and her wings buzzed- no, flapped faster than I'd ever seen any Pegasus before. We rocketed over the abyss, magenta sparks flying behind us, creating a rainbow-shaped (but not colored) trail of sparkles.
But Scootaloo went so fast I lost my grip on Apple Bloom.
I started falling near the edge, scraping my side against the sharp rock jutting out from the side of the canyon, adding a scream of pain to my chorus of "HELP!"s. Then, at the last moment, Apple Bloom caught me, and Scootaloo helped her pull me up. I collapsed onto the ground, panting, and rolling over in pain. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo helped me onto the scooter, pulling me along before I gasped, no matter how much my ribcage protested.
"Scoota... loo... Cu... tie... Mark..." I rasped. Suddenly my fellow Crusaders stopped, and turned to look at Scootaloo's flank.
On her flank was a magenta lightning bolt, covered in magenta sparkles. It looked like someone sprinkled glitter on it, because it shone in the moonlight. Her Cutie Mark.
Scootaloo smiled, but her face still had this determined look on it.
"Celebrate later, we've got to find a way to get you home, Sweetie Belle." She replied to our confused looks. Then her face lit up with excitement. "The castle of the two sisters has a library, right? Twilight went here before. Maybe there's a map or something to get out of here!"
I smiled weakly as they trotted into the castle with me still in tow. Then, not being able to stay awake any longer because of sheer shock (and probably blood loss), I passed out.
I awoke to being pierced in the neck by blades that felt like daggers.
Chapter 2: Life is full of changes. Even weird ones.
Oh no. Sweetie Belle passed out. That means she lost too much blood, and if her body makes more, it will leak right out the hole again, and if she's pushed too hard, she might... no, Scootaloo. You're strong. You earned your Cutie Mark! You can make it through this. You flew over the hole and saved your friends' lives...
Wait a second...
Flew.
FLEW.
FLEW! I flew! I wonder if I can still fly? Probably, 'cause I earned my Cutie Mark by doing it! YES! I'm gonna get all the books off the top shelf now by flying!
Okay, time to save Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. I stretched my wings. Stretch, go up, go down, go up, go down. I began to hover, then to lift myself off the ground. Then I gasped.
"WOOHOO!" I screamed, darting about the room as fast as I could, leaving trails upon trails of magenta sparkles in my wake.
"AHEM!" Apple Bloom brought my attention to my unconscious friend, pointing towards Sweetie Belle. I sheepishly giggled and went back to gathering the books off the top shelf and putting them down on the table. As soon we pulled together a seemingly endless pile of books that could possibly contain maps, we dove into it.
It had seemed like forever since we started reading these Celestia-awful books. It had the most detailed descriptions of every room, BUT NO SENSE OF DIRECTION OR PLACE SO WE COULDN'T EVEN MAKE A MAP ANYWAY.
Then a whisper of a chuckle wafted it's way toward us. It became louder and louder, unsettling us more and more. But to us, it seemed like... background noise. It seemed to be directed over the other side of the room.
Where Sweetie Belle was.
We turned over to what looked like a tall, shadowy figure, and Alicorn, with bright yellow eyes and two very sharp teeth. I remember that evil chuckle from that day, the Summer Sun Celebration, when she returned.
It was Nightmare Moon. With Fangs.
You don't think she's a... Vampire, do you?
No, that's not possible. But either way, we have to save Sweetie Belle!
So I lunged towards Nightmare Moon, staring death in the face for the third time that night, and...
...missed.
Nightmare Moon plunged her fangs into Sweetie's neck, and her eyes shot wide open. I heard a sickening slurping sound as Nightmare Moon was probably sucking out her blood. And all I could do was watch, mesmerized.
When she was finished, the tall, black Alicorn stared at me and laughed evilly, then disappeared into a cloud of shadow.
Suddenly, Sweetie Belle got up. Me, jumping with joy at her being flipping alive, rushed over to her. But all she did was stare. Then she blinked.
Then she released an unequisly shriek as she buckled over in pain. Slowly, she rose up from the floor, levitated by an orb of black-colored magic. Then she let loose the loudest, most high-pitched, pain-inducing and pain-caused shriek I'd ever heard.
When she came down, her appearance had certainly changed. She looked older, was taller by at least six inches, and was also thinner. Kind of like Fluttershy when she was younger.
Her ears were considerably pointier, and she had this unsettling feel to her. Then, much to our surprise, she spread a pair of large, leathery, white bat wings, opened her mouth to reveal to new, pointy fangs, and opened her eyes to reveal reptilian pupils and red irises.
Then she hissed, and dove straight for my neck.
