The Everfree Forest was not a quiet place, especially at night when its nocturne inhabitants – from the smallest cricket, to the largest Manticore – filled the air with a cacophony of growls, screeches and long, keening howls that echoed through the trees. And that was just how Zecora liked it, preferring the “unnatural” music of the night, to the otherwise peaceful quiet of a town like Ponyville. The deep forest, its creatures and its plant life, which she used for her wide variety of tonics and remedies, was all a part of what she liked to call her home.
Tonight however, something was different; Zecora was standing outside her hut, listening as she stared intensely into the dark. The only sounds of the night seemed to be even louder than usual, the wind howling through the trees. All the voices of the Everfree however, were silent, to the point where it was almost deafening. The zebra was just able to tolerate it, her ears twitching as she frowned. There was something out there, though not in the Everfree Forest itself. Whatever it was, it was coming from far away, hungry, starving even, and slowly seeking out its prey and devouring what nourishment it could find. The sensation alone was enough to make a tingling sensation of anxiety slowly make its way up Zecora's spine, before settling into an itchy feeling in her mane that made her want to rub against one of the old gnarled roots of her tree.
The zebra turned her back to the forest and went inside her hut.“Great ancestors, whose wisdom I prize, hear my plea for your advice,” as she spoke, she lit a candle and went to one of her shelves where she picked up a tray, that she carefully placed on the floor. Then, she went to another shelf and picked up a set of leaves that had painted symbols on them, dropping them into the tray before she carefully picked up a jar from the darkest corner of her hut. The jar was left open, and a star spider had made it its home, weaving a thick tunnel web inside where it was sitting, curled up tight; Zecora sat down before the tray, holding the open jar between her hooves, with the opening turned away from her.
“Dearest spider, tell me why
the night is heavy with a cry.
Let me know what is to come
and where the evil will be from.”
All it took was a good shake, and the star spider fell out and onto the tray, where it began to scramble around in an attempt to find a new hiding place. Zecora watched it intensely, frowning as the arachnid scampered from one side of the tray to the next, its legs tugging at some of the leaves that had specific symbols painted on them.
“Oh, this is quite a bad surprise, that I see with my very eyes.” She muttered, as she held the jar down to the tray and allowed the star spider to climb back inside.
“Little star spider, forgive me for my intrusion.” She told the arachnid, as she put it back in the dark corner, “now you can return to your seclusion.” The star spider of course said nothing, as the zebra returned to the tray and looked over the leaves that it had touched.
One leaf in particular alarmed Zecora, a red one with a spiral symbol painted on it, with a squiggly line cutting down the middle. It confirmed that something terrible was going to happen, and it was coming to Ponyville and soon. Zecora frowned, shaking her head and looking back down at the tray to see if she had missed something; That one specific symbol didn't overrule the importance of the others.
Three stripes on a green leaf meant three young lives, perhaps a sign that Apple Bloom and her two young friends would be involved. A golden leaf with the symbol of a star meant a pony of importance. Not Twilight Sparkle, even though she had stars in her Cutie Mark, but perhaps another pony of some kind, who would have an important part in things to come. Three red leaves, each with a symbol of three elements: Water, earth and fire. All three were symbols with many meanings behind them, from water being a calm and mysterious element, to earth being an opposite element of fire, which in return was wild and uncontrollable. Another symbol for the crusaders? Or three of the other bearers of the Elements? Zecora couldn't say for certain.
A dark leaf, almost black, with a white circle mark on it lay near a yellow leaf with a red mark that was shaped to look like a broken heart. Some pony had experienced great sorrow, and would come to terms with it in in some way, perhaps by facing whatever had caused this tragedy.
Then there was a blackened leaf, with a symbol that looked like a hoof mark. Some pony, or possibly another creature, enjoyed stepping on others to get his or her way no matter the cost.
And finally, another dark leaf with a white mark, this one a crescent half circle, representing the moon, covered slightly a lighter colored leaf with a straight line that meant cloud...
“The moon hides its face, to hide her grace?” Zecora muttered, twitching an ear in confusion. “What does it mean? Why would it wish to remain unseen?”
Hopefully, Zecora would able to alert her friends, those who until recently had wielded the Elements of Harmony, but now had gained a new kind of powers. They had more than once been victorious, despite the trials they had faced when confronting enemies like Nightmare Moon and the manipulations of Discord, and the powers of mad tyrants like King Sombra and Tirek.
But it would have to wait until morning. Zecora carefully gathered the leaves and the tray, placing them all back on the shelf that she had taken them from. On any other day, she would have had no trouble with going through the forest, with her natural stripes and her cloak working as an excellent camouflaging protection against manticores and timber wolves; But tonight, the creatures of the Everfree Forest, despite the silence indicating otherwise, far too riled up, and the zebra had no doubt that it would be too risky to attempt traveling through the forest.
“Tomorrow, when it once again is light, I shall go and speak to Princess Twilight.” She said to herself.
Fluttershy was the type of pony, who a lot of the time came across as a very easy pushover. Even her beloved animals, Angel bunny especially, could think of using this to their advantage. Tonight however, they were all acting strangely, huddling together in various hiding places and refusing to move an inch, despite Fluttershy's gentle attempts to coax them out or comfort them. Even Angel bunny was curled under up under a blanket in a corner of Fluttershy's couch.
"Come on out, little ones." Fluttershy called, using the rattle of feed being poured into ceramic bowls to hide the uncertain tremble in her voice. She knew that something was frightening her poor animals, but she couldn't understand what. Their fear was rubbing off on her however, so she tried to do what she did best when it came to her animals: she offered food and safety and tried to put on a brave appearance. Her trembling wings gave away her anxiety however, not quite at the fainting goat stage, but pretty close.
"Come on now," she called out again as she peered into one of the mouse-holes. "I'm sure that just a tiny bite will help." When the mice refused to budge, she turned to her birds that sat trembling. "Just a teeny bite?" She finally turned to the huddled lump of Angel bunny, reaching out to gently pull away the blanket. "Angel? Do you want- ah!"
She yelped as the rabbit without warning bit down on the soft flesh right above her hoof, before setting off in a long jump while pulling the blanket with him and tearing off up the stairs to Fluttershy's bedroom, in order to find a new hiding place. Fluttershy looked after him with eyes wide with surprise and hurt, and brimming with tears as she looked down on where she'd been bitten. The bite was deep enough to have drawn blood, though she knew that Angel bunny was just scared, just like the other animals. But she still couldn't help but wonder if she had done something wrong.
Somewhere else in Equestria...
The concert had gone well, Klavier thought, as she worked on disassembling her keyboard before packing the parts down. The chocolate colored unicorn could just as easily have used her magic, but there was something relaxing about doing things by hoof to pick apart her instrument before getting it ready for the road.
“Hey Klavier, have you seen String Winder?” A blue earth pony mare asked, as she came trotting up. “I wanted to talk to her about her performance. Iunno about you, but I felt she kind of strayed a bit on the tune when we got to the final songs.”
“Really?” Klavier said with a frown. “I didn't notice that. Are you absolutely sure, Arctic?”
Arctic Sonnet tossed her head, so her green forelock would get out of her eyes. “Of course I'm sure, or I wouldn't be talking to you about it. So where is she?”
“Well she's not here. I think she was sent ahead to the next town, so she could set up some posters.” Klavier said, “but she should be back early tomorrow.”
“If she doesn't get distracted by something again, like a butterfly or an interesting cloud.” Arctic said with an irritable slight sneer in her voice. When Klavier frowned at her, she sighed. “I'm sorry, but that almost always happens! She was almost late today because of it! Do you know if she took her guitar with her?”
“You know String, she never parts from it.” The blue earth pony groaned in frustration, giving a stomp with her hoof.
“Well that's just great, that means that when we arrive in town tomorrow, she'll probably be at the park or something, playing on a bench.”
Klavier sighed. She cared for Arctic Sonnet, her and String Winder and everyone else working on this tour, but sometimes she felt like she was the only grown up pony around. “You know why she does it, or do we have to have another talk about fame and fortune going to your head?” She asked sternly. Arctic Sonnet snorted, tossing her head again, avoiding the other pony's gaze.
“No we don't.” She finally muttered, “so, where's Knightshade then?”
“Last time I saw him, he was heading for his trailer, probably to clean up.” Klavier said patiently, “why, are you going to get into a row with him?”
“No I'm not.” Arctic said, “but he forgot his promise again.”
“What promise?”
“What pro-” Arctic stomped her hoof again, “see, this is what I'm talking about! I'm never going to get any recognition like this!” When Klavier just gave her a puzzled look, the other gave a frustrated sigh.
“You know that Zeb and Knightshade promised that I would have a solo! And almost every time, right before a concert, both of them ignore me, when I try to remind them of it! And then we have this conversation again!” She shook her head in frustration, then made an annoyed sound when her forelock got into her eyes again.
“I swear, sometimes it's like there's a spell that forces me to go through the same routine with this crud over and over again!” With a frustrated snort, she stormed off, almost running into a bulky figure before making a sharp right and disappearing in the direction of the trailers.
Klavier sighed, looking back over her keyboard. For a moment, she debated if she should go after Arctic Sonnet or continue working on packing down her instrument, but then decided that she might as well let the other pony cool down first. They still had a lot to get done.
“What has pony's tail in a tangle?” A rough voice asked, startling Klavier out of her thoughts.
“Oh, hello Quintin, I didn't see you there.” She said, smiling at the large, bulky diamond dog. “And... well, it's Arctic Sonnet. Knightshade's the tangle in her tail. Again.”
The canine made a snuffing sound, scratching idly at his collar. “Why ponies always make so much noise when annoyed?” He asked, “waste of breath, waste of time.”
Klavier chuckled, shaking her head as she began working on her keyboard again. “I suppose it is,” she agreed, “don't Diamond Dogs argue?”
“Diamond Dogs argue.” Quintin agreed, “but we usually save it for really important things. Like territory or mates. Or gems.” He snorted. “Not silly pony stuff like singing.”
“Yeah, well. You know Arctic.” Klavier sighed.
“I thought it sounded like that was had gotten her tail hairs in a tangle again,” a new voice spoke behind the mare and Diamond Dog. They both turned to look at the owner of the voice, which belonged to a male earth pony with a curly, violet mane. He gave a small, humorless smile. “I could hear Arctic all the way to my trailer, and figured it would be best to find out what the problem was.”
“The 'problem', Knightshade,” Klavier sighed, as she returned to dismantling her instrument, “is that you and Zeb according to Arctic blew her off again! You know she is never gonna let you live it down, the next time she sees you.”
Knightshade gave the brown mare a tired look, which didn't surprise Klavier. Arctic Sonnet and Knightshade had been having this argument more than once by now, and each and every time he would always start out by saying...
“I'm sorry. I guess we just forgot to work it into the schedule.”
“I'm not the one you should be apologizing to,” the unicorn mare replied. Knightshade just sighed, before he sat down, which made Klavier look up at him with a worried frown.
“Are you okay, Knighty?” She asked gently, putting down her tools before she went over and nuzzled him a bit. The white earth pony nodded, returning the nuzzle. “I'll be fine. It was a good concert, but they're so draining.”
The unicorn huffed a sigh, nudging him with a hoof. “You've been working too hard,” she scolded, before nuzzling him again. “I wish we had this tour over and done with already.”
“I know. Me too.” Knightshade said with a sigh. “And I wish Arctic Sonnet could think of something else to argue about, than that stupid solo.” He snorted a bit, shaking his head. “It's not like she'd be able to leave, even if she got the attention she wanted. Not with our contract.”
“Well, you know her.” Klavier said with a shrug. “But would it really hurt so much to let her have it? Just this once?”
“I would be happy to let her have it, even just once.” Knightshade said quietly, “but it might draw other kinds of attention too. And we can't risk that.”
The other frowned, but nodded. “So... I haven't seen Zeb around. Any idea where he is?” She instead asked, changing the subject.
“Where else?” Knightshade said with a scoff. “I saw him disappear with some mare right before the show ended. And you know him.”
“You don't have to tell me.” The unicorn groaned, rolling her eyes. “What is it about zebras that make some mares as soft as taffy?”
“Maybe he good with hooves?” Quintin suggested, scratching at his ear. At the confused looks he got, the Diamond Dog shrugged. “Taffy needs stretch?”
Klavier began to giggle, while Knightshade gave a soft snort of amusement in response.
“So long as she isn't still here in the morning.” He finally said after a moment. “We need to get things packed down and ready.”
“Where are we heading off to this time?” Klavier asked. “Trottingham?”
“No. Zeb told me, that we're heading for somewhere special.” Knightshade said, “and considering a few of the things that has happened there recently, I'm not surprised.”
“What place is that?” Klavier asked curiously. Knightshade just looked at her with a strangely unreadable expression on his face.
“Ponyville.”
