Chapters The Janitor - Cleaner of the Everfree
Chapter 2: The Research Begins!
The Everfree Forest was covered in rain. Aside from the rain, however, there was only silence, broken by the sound of mud, twigs, and leaves being disrupted by the pair of feet that belonged to the mysterious biped. The rain didn't affect him in any way. He simply continued to walk while the blood from his previous battle naturally dripped off by the water that reached his skin.
He was several miles away from the town that, according to a billboard, was called "Ponyville". The name didn't bother him the first time he saw it, as he recalled there being even stranger names of places in the last place that he considered his home.
There, just beyond the treeline, was a dimly illuminated cave. He smiled and continued towards the cave while admiring the environment just outside the cave.
The rain was still going, but it didn't stop the patch of land from being covered in light. There was a huge amount of multicolored flowers that covered the entire ground, ranging from red, blue, yellow, white, orange, purple, pink, and a mixture of colors on one stem. There was a stone path that led towards the cave with smoothed-out stones conveniently placed in the center of the field to keep any feet, paws, talons, and/or hooves from stepping on the flowers.
He sighed in relief when he found his home still safe from the dangers of the Everfree Forest. Across the borders of the tree lines, strange stones with even stranger symbols written in blood surrounded the area; runes that were capable of keeping any and all unwanted visitors out, all planted firmly in the ground.
Only innocent blood would be spared upon crossing the runes... though exceptions were more than capable of being made.
The figure stepped into the cave, where a small bonfire was lit in the center. Multiple charred branches were placed in the center of the fire, and a circle of the same runes surrounded the fire, keeping the smoke from engulfing the entire cave.
When the figure was close enough, he sat down with his legs crossed just meters away from the bonfire, rested his hands in his lap, and closed his eyes. As his eyes closed, the black fog surrounded him once again, only it engulfed the entire room, save for the runes and the lights of the bonfire. The figure's back was literally the only thing the fog was touching. His front half, however, was relaxed inside the light of the bonfire.
Then... he just sat there. The sounds of the world around him played through his ears, but he didn't react to any of it. He just listened... waiting for the first signs of trouble to play anywhere through the forest.
Ponyville... Later That Night...
Twilight Sparkle stood at the entrance of the Everfree Forest, alone, and cautious so that she wouldn't have been seen. She took a deep breath before checking her saddlebag. She had quite a few shrunken down rations of food and medicine stored, as well as a notebook, a pencil, a makeshift map that she made from her previous adventures inside the Everfree Forest, a compass, a few miscellaneous measurement tools, and a few books she could read in case she gets bored.
With her inventory checked and secured, she slowly trotted past the treeline that separated the horrors of The Everfree Forest from the rest of civilization. In mere seconds, she was completely out of sight.
She was beginning to get worried as the sounds of the wildlife grew evermore feint and distant. Eventually an hour passed, and all she could hear was the sound of her own hooves stepping into the fallen leaves. The only source of light that she had was from the tip of her horn. She had her map in front of her, and eyed the pictures that she drew curiously before looking around for any familiar signs.
Unfortunately, the darkness was too much for her to truly tell. The trees hid her vision from the moon, so she was unaware of which direction she was going. To make matters worse, there was something nearby that caused her compass to malfunction.
It was when the sounds of distant movement played in her ears when she started to panic. She spun around worriedly and breathed even heavier as the movement got closer. She then saw a pair of glowing red eyes looking right at her. Before she could even scream, a metallic device collided with the back of her head and rendered her unconscious. The sound of the metal pipe that hit her echoed through the forest.
The figure opened his eyes as the sound of the metal pipe played into his ears. The second his eyes opened, the fog behind him dissipated into nothingness. He looked outside the cave towards his next destination. Then the fog engulfed his body, and he was once more outside of the cave.
When Twilight opened her eyes, she was only able to see the other end of a black blindfold. She could hear the sound of metallic devices like tiny drills rotating and small wheels turning. There was clearly light on the other end, though. She could tell by the corners of the blindfold.
She groaned before attempting to lift her right hoof to rub the throbbing pain in the back of her head, only to discover that her hooves were bound to a metal bed.
As soon as the realization dawned upon her, she began to shake in a feeble attempt for freedom. The sound of the drills came to a sudden halt, and an angry male voice began to shout something incomprehensible at her right. She turned towards the source before asking, "W-who's there?! S-show yourself! "
The male groaned before walking towards her again. Then she felt a hand firmly grip onto the back of her blindfold before it yanked it off... along with a couple strands of her mane. She yelped in pain and closed her eyes at the sudden intrusion of light. Then, once she was able to see again, she immediately regretted seeing what was above her.
A huge machine with a multitude of needles, drills, scalpels, knives, probes, and even syringes filled with oddly colored liquids hovered mere feet above her stomach, attached to a thick metal sphere, which was attached to a rod on the metal ceiling.
Then she turned towards her captor and gasped. It was almost like a human, but he had a metal plate over his scalp, and instead of eyes, he had a goggle-like attachment implanted into his skull where his eyes used to be. He wore a short sleeved white button-up shirt, white pants, and white boots, but his skin was tan, and his face was wrinkly, revealing that he must've been old before being converted into a cyborg.
He glared at her before speaking his native language again, though to Twilight, it must've been a taunt-reassurance comment, as shown by his demented grin and his somewhat calming voice.
He walked up to a keyboard and began typing words that looked Equestrian, but were combined in foreign words. A female's voice echoed through the room... but this one was understandable.
"Attempting to begin dissection. Please restrain the subject."
Again Twilight attempted to shake herself free. This caused the scientist to growl at her and rush to her bed with a syringe in his hands. Then he spoke in heavily-accented Equestrian. "You are needed alive , so hold still while the procedures go through!"
Twilight felt a sudden sharp pain in her neck that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Following the loss of the pain, however, her control over her bodily functions quickly faded, and her hooves fell limp on the table. Her eyes remained open, and her brain was still functioning, so she was able to see what was going on... the device above her was starting to lower towards her chest very slowly. She shed a single tear as the scalpel started piercing through the center of her stomach, and cutting a horizontal line across her lower half.
The machine then slowly pulled the scalpel back inside itself before a pair of clamps replaced where it was. Then the clamps lowered towards the massive cut on her stomach and pinched the corners of her flesh. Ever-so-slowly, she witnessed as her insides started seeing the light of the outside world... though thankfully, they weren't being tinkered with... just exposed.
Then she saw the scientist walk up to her with a metal bucket in his hands. She mentally gasped at her next realization... this scientist was harvesting her organs !
As the machine held her flesh open, all she could do was watch as the scientist reached his hand inside her and start carefully pulling her intestines out.
He merely pulled her intestines an inch out of place when the lights started to glow red. A loud buzzing noise followed the lights, and the female spoke in the intercom again. "WARNING! WARNING! THE LAB HAS BEEN BREACHED! I REPEAT, THE LAB HAS BEEN BREACHED!"
The scientist gasped before releasing Twilight's intestines, unclipping her flesh from the machine, and lifting the machine up a couple feet above her again. Then he turned around and pulled on his right hand, which was then removed, and replaced by a group of metal tubes... gun barrels.
He aimed the gun at the door as the sounds of blood spraying outside the room sounded through the halls. Then the door burst open, with a floating TV robot flying through with a huge crack in its screen, and the tip of the turret that was once below it flying behind it. When it landed, a brain was splattered onto the wall, with the hole that it came out of covered in blood in the center of the TV screen. The brain fell from the wall and rolled beside the TV, while more blood spewed from the organ.
The scientist then decided to open fire at the entrance, despite not seeing anyone there. Then, once he had to reload, he reached down into his pockets to pull out another clip for his arm gun. His movement was hindered once he looked up and saw the mysterious figure standing right in front of him . He gasped when the figure gave him a fang-filled grin similar to the one Apple Bloom showed Princess Celestia. Then, before he could even react, the figure gripped onto the scientist's arm gun and ripped it clean off before shoving the scientist back to the center of the room.
The scientist quickly regained his footing, but as soon as he looked forward, the figure jammed his arm gun through his chest, spewing blood on the floor at an alarming rate. Then the figure dropped the arm gun on the ground before pulling his own arm from the scientist's chest.
The scientist fell on his knees before slowly looking up at the figure. He grinned wickedly at the scientist before placing both hands on the scientist's cheeks. Then, in a split second, the scientist caught a glimpse of the warning signs on the monitor behind him, before being lifted up in the air, where he saw his own body fall on its back. The figure smiled at him as everything went dark, and his life faded away.
Twilight could barely see what was going on, but the sounds she heard were beyond gruesome. She looked down... and wanted to scream the moment she saw the familiar green eyes looking closely at her stomach. Then the figure slowly opened her flesh up again, and gasped when he saw her heart beating. Finally he looked at her and rubbed his chin in thought, ignoring the blood all over his arms that was getting smudged onto his skin.
He turned around and rushed out of her sight, only to reappear a second later with a syringe filled with blue liquid. She eyed it warily as it pierced into her neck. Then, her consciousness faded once again.
The figure removed the syringe from the pony's neck and tossed it behind his shoulder. Then he rushed towards the nearest first-aid kit attached to the wall and pulled a needle and a spool of stitches from the container. Finally he rushed up to the pony and began sewing her flesh together once again, while keeping a close eye on her pulse, and trying his best to keep most of her blood inside her body.
After a minute of cautious sewing, he had her attached once again. Then he rushed towards the first aid kit again and pulled out a few long strands of bandages, a bottle of disinfectant, and a bag full of cotton balls. He tucked the extra medical supplies into a hidden pocket beneath the cloth on his chest, while keeping one roll of bandages in his hands. He then ran up to her and wrapped her into the bandages, before trying to lift her up. Letting out a groan, he looked at her hooves and noticed that she was bound to the bed.
He gripped onto one of the bindings, but stopped himself from pulling it off. An idea stuck in his mind, and a grin formed on his mouth. Instead of lifting her from the bed, he gripped onto the handle bars at the foot of the bed and gave it an experimental pull. It had wheels attached to it!
He then contemplated on what to do, before looking up at the huge metal device over the bed that still had multiple blades and sharp points attached to it. His grin slowly rose as he looked between the huge "Ball of Blades 'n Needles" and the "Portable Bed".
The cyborgs began piling inside the hallways with their guns and swords aimed ahead at the broken wall. They camped for a moment while anticipating the figure's next move.
Suddenly the black fog left the room, and the figure materialized in front of a pair of soldiers with their pistols aimed at him. He quickly snatched their pistols out of their hands and "shifted" back into the room while the others opened fire, unintentionally gunning down a large portion of their own. Then they all turned towards the doorway and aimed their guns again, this time slightly more aware of their enemy.
Tension started to rise. The alarms faded from their minds, and everything almost went silent.
The tension was broken once the bed skidded through the opening with the metal desk that held the scientist's computer attached to the rolling chair, and the huge medical device firmly attached to the head of the bed with mixtures of wires, medical tape, and wet bandages tying it to the corners. The figure had one foot planted on the chair, and the other floated in the air to allow him the chance to gain speed in a fashion similar to a skateboard. He firmly gripped onto the bed's handle bars and slid through the crowd of cyborg soldiers with ease, as their bloodied corpses were either "attached" to the sharp points of the "Orb of Death", or smashed below the heavy bed.
The flying TV Robots started to appear from the corners with their lasers ready to fire. This caught the figure's attention and made him glare at the androids. He then quickly sped the chair up before "shifting" on top of the metal orb through the black fog. There he reached into the back pockets of his blue jeans and drew both pistols that he took from the guards earlier. Then he fired forwards and backwards, disarming the soldiers behind him of their weapons and causing the robots ahead to explode from their own weapons jamming, which was caused by the bullets flying into the barrels with bizarre accuracy.
As the explosions went on, more robots flew forward through the smoke. The figure then quickly leaped on top of one that was close enough and dragged it onto the orb while holding onto its gun. As it fired rapidly, its lasers only blasted through the enemy soldiers even more.
Finally, there was the destination straight ahead... a window. The figure aimed the laser at the window, only to realize that it was out of ammo. He sighed out of frustration and punched inside the screen, then yanked the brain out of the system and crushed it in his fist. Then he gripped onto the TV and slammed it onto the sharp tip of the orb before "shifting" back onto the chair as it started to slow down.
With his hands firmly gripping the handlebars of the bed, he kicked his foot onto the ground to build up momentum before "shifting" onto the bed with his hands firmly gripping Twilight's bindings on her forehooves. After a quick checkup, though, he sighed in relief when he still felt a pulse. Finally, as the wall inched closer, he crouched down to where his body was on top of her to keep any glass and/or debris from touching her. Then... the window shattered, and they were falling down a massive cliff.
In midair, the figure quickly tore the metal bindings from Twilight's hooves, lifted her into his arms, and leaped into the black fog. As soon as he rematerialized, he landed on the grassy floor with Twilight's unconscious form still wrapped into his arms, and his left knee touching the ground. Then, once he stood back up, he walked away from the area as the contraption they escaped from landed on the ground with an explosion.
Naturally, he didn't even bother to look back. Instead, he rushed the unconscious mare through the Everfree Forest, and towards his cave, where he knew she would be safe.
Author's Note
On a side note, please don't be hating on my lack of "Drawing Skills"! I am aware I can't draw that well. Thank you!
The Janitor - Cleaner of the Everfree
Chapter 3: Behind The Fog.
Twilight slowly regained consciousness... and there was only one word that she could use to describe how she felt this time... agony.
Her hooves curled up to her stomach, where she felt the intensely sharp pain of the stitches that held her stomach in one piece. Her tears streamed from her eyes, and her cries echoed through the cave. She was frightened, she was in pain, and most of all, she was alone... or so she thought.
Her cries were briefly cut short when she realized that it was late at night, and she was sitting near a strange bonfire. Across that bonfire, however, was none other than the green-eyed enigma with a questionably insatiable thirst for blood. She still ended up whimpering from the pain, but now she also had fear thrown into the mix.
Ignoring the tears from her eyes and the increasing pain inside her, she feebly attempted to crawl away, only for the figure's eyes to open, and his head to turn towards her. Needless to say, she tried to scream at the top of her lungs... but her mouth was quickly held shut by one of the figure's hands after he appeared in front of her through the black fog in a split-second. Out of fear, she closed her eyes and continued to scream, though her voice was muffled by his hand.
Her muffled screams were then countered with him shushing her. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped when she saw his fangs inside his mouth, which was open. His right pointing finger crossed over his lips in a way similar to how Spike, the little drake from the library that she protected, would motion when he shushed anypony.
Then, he did something else that she didn't expect... he spoke.
"Please don't move around yet... it'll only make your pain even worse." His voice was somewhat medium-pitched, and calming. The way how he used his words gave her the impression that he must've been serious natured, which only backed his shadiness, and made her feel a little more uneasily towards him.
He kept his hand over her mouth and slowly leaned closer at her. She leaned backwards a little by his close proximity, but stopped her muffled screaming. "Will you promise me that you won't try making any sudden movements, or screaming? It's important if you want the medicine to work effectively."
She nervously closed her eyes and nodded her head. Then he removed his hand from her mouth and walked back to the bonfire, where he sat on the ground and closed his eyes once again. As he did, the fog filled the room, only stopping near the bonfire. Twilight's eyes widened at the sudden change, and she started to look around uneasily.
"It's not going to hurt you," the figure told her as his eyes remained closed. "It's just listening out for anything."
Twilight looked at him before weakly crawling closer to the bonfire... she was only able to move an inch before the pain in her stomach started acting up once more. Then she curled up and yelped, only for her movement to be hindered by the figure again.
"I know it's hard to understand, but you really mustn't move!" She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off by covering her mouth again, and shaking his head. "You need to rest... there's no need to try speaking, yet... in fact, it's a miracle that you even can ... but it's a good sign. Perhaps ponies recover much faster than humans do." Then he inched closer to her. "Please promise me that you won't try to run off, though... it won't just be your life that you'll be endangering... understood?"
They stayed that way for a short while. Then she weakly nodded her head and mumbled through his hand, "Okay."
He removed his hand from her mouth and smiled. "Thank you... by the way, when I say 'your life you'll be endangering ', I'm not talking about what I would do... it's what they will do."
Twilight sniffled a couple times before weakly stuttering, "T... they ?"
The figure nodded his head and sat back down next to the bonfire with his eyes closed. "Cyborgs, Robots, Zombies... take your pick. They'll all be a threat."
Twilight's ears perked up at the last of the list. "W-wait... Zombies ?!"
Again the figure nodded his head. "As long as you're in here , though, you'll be safe."
"B-but... z-zombies don't-"
"Exist?" he finished for her. She nodded her head in response. "That's what my people thought... before our world was destroyed."
Twilight lied there speechlessly for another long moment. Whether it was a side effect from the "medicine" that she took, or the large amount of sleepiness that she felt, she decided to just go with what the stranger said without any debates. "I'm... I'm sorry."
The figure opened an eye and looked at her. "You weren't there... so there's nothing to apologize for." Then he closed his eye again. "But if you're apologizing for bringing it up, you don't have to worry. It's... relaxing... to talk to someone new again."
She weakly smiled at him, but only for a brief second before the fog filled the room, save for the area around them. "S-so... about the-"
"Fog?" he asked for her. She nodded her head in response. "It's a side-effect from a... special kind of medicine that a chef gave me after I died."
Her eyes widened at that comment. "Y-you... you died ?!"
He nodded his head. "Yeah... but The Chef brought me back with that medicine. As a side-effect, though, I've been changed... but it wasn't the first change I've gone through."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked. She tried to move, but winced and hissed before deciding against it once the sharp pain in her stomach started holding her back.
He opened his mouth and pointed at the fangs in his mouth. "The fangs are the results of my first transformation... it's what made me become a Vampire."
She stared at his fangs for a brief second before attempting to back away again, while trying to fight the pain. Plus, the word 'Vampire ' gave her an even worse idea for why he was keeping her in there.
He sighed before Shifting up to her and pinning her to the ground once more. He then deadpanned at her and griped, "Seriously, will you give it a rest, already?! I'm not here to hurt you!"
She whined and flinched at him as he held her forehooves to the ground with his hands, and pinned her midsection to the ground with his legs wrapped around her, carefully so as not to mess up her scar. She tried shaking free, but gave up and settled down while still breathing heavily. Then she opened her eyes and realized the close proximity that he was in... as well as the awkward position. He, however, appeared to not notice, as he was still deadpanning at her.
"Listen... I was transformed into a Vampire the first time... and that was before I died! When I was transformed the second time, I regained control over myself, and was freed from the curse, even though I kept some of the benefits! Now, will you stay calm this time?!"
She weakly nodded her head and replied, "Y-yes, sir... I... I'm s-s-sorry!" Then she started to break down into tears again. The figure sighed and loosened his grip on her forehooves before gently brushing her mane, which made her open her left eye and look up at him.
He then spoke in a calming manner. "Hey... I'm trying to be reasonable here, okay? Plus, it's not like I've spoken with anyone in a long time, so you might as well blame the attitude on the lack of friends. Alright?"
She nodded her head and replied, "O-okay... um... c-can you please get off of me? I... I won't run... I promise for real this time."
He looked down and stared at the position they were in with a blank expression. "Um... this just got awkward." He shifted back to the bonfire and was sitting cross-legged at it once more. "Yeah... sorry about that. I didn't even notice the position we were in, because I was too focused on calming you down."
She tried to hide her blush but failed. Then she looked at him and shook her head. "It's... alright."
They sat there for another long moment in silence. The figure decided to close his eyes and allow the fog to fill the room again. Twilight eyed the fog curiously, but with less fear this time. She opened her mouth to speak, but the figure beat her to the punch.
"The fog is a result of my first transformation that stayed with me, but was enhanced by my second one. The second transformation returned my sanity to me... in a way, it set me free from the curse that the first one brought onto me, while also adding its own benefits into the mix."
"S-such as?" she asked.
He opened his eyes and looked up before rubbing his chin in thought. "Well... for starters, it gave me protection from death by normal means... not even jumping off of a mountain can kill me, now... sure it'll still hurt like Hell, but... what's to expect from jumping off of a mountain to begin with?" He lightly chuckled at his comment while noticing Twilight cover her mouth and puff her cheeks, holding back a laugh. "I see my sense of humor hasn't worn off, at least."
She shook her head before rubbing her stomach to ease the slight pain her held laugh brought. "It's... okay." Then she looked up at him and said, "T-thank you, by the way..."
He opened an eye and looked at her again. "You're welcome... but please, next time, just try to avoid getting caught. While I'll admit you getting caught did help me locate the lab I was searching for, it was a huge gamble on your life... and that scar on your stomach is just visual proof of what they'll try to do to you... and that's if they don't try putting you down where you stand... or lie."
She looked at the scar on her stomach and nodded her head. "I... understand." Then she looked up at him again. "Um... if you don't mind me asking... who exactly are you?"
He closed his eye again and resumed his meditation. "Unfortunately, the price of being resurrected is the loss of memories... and one of those memories happened to be my own name. Therefore, I've taken the last job that I had prior to dying, and considered that my name."
She nodded her head and asked, "S-so... your job was?"
He opened his eyes and looked at her again. "You can call me... The Janitor ."
The Janitor - Cleaner of the Everfree
I've walked the trail of Darkness ever since I was a kid.
My life was changed the moment that I heard the sirens call.
I was woken up by the one they call "The Chef".
"Now I know the difference between the Darkness and the Light.
But now I must warn you, Darkness, pray you heed my word.
Justin Daniels Presents...
Our story begins in Ponyville... in the middle of an invasion.
The Janitor - Cleaner of the Everfree
Chapter 1: The Black Fog.
Everything was in flames. Ponies of all shapes and sizes were galloping through the streets of Ponyville while dodging lasers and bullets. A few were unfortunate enough to get hit by one or the other, but thankfully, none of them were killed from the shots, though the agony that they felt quickly made them wish they were.
The shots were coming from tall humanoid bipeds. Some ponies addressed them as aliens, while others called them "humans", though even they were unfamiliar with the mixtures of metal that these humans' limbs were replaced with. Without any other ideas for names, they decided to give them the same names as the fictional "metal-pony hybrids"... cyborgs.
There were also floating monitors with several different kinds of guns attached below them. They flew in the sky and caused the pegasi to fall to the ground for safety, due to the lack of protection from above.
From inside a red barn, a western family were trying to fight off the cyborgs... but unfortunately, these cyborgs were too powerful for them. Eventually, they had to retreat by the protection of a group of guards who burst through the doors shortly after hearing their cries for help.
From inside a boutique, a pair of white-coated, purple-maned unicorn mares were hiding in a cabinet from the glowing red eyes of the cyborg ninjas who each carried glowing red katanas with them. One was just a little filly, while the other was a fully grown adult. The sound of the front door bursting open and the guards' yells was the only chance that the unicorns were able to take in order to escape the boutique... they took it without hesitation.
From inside a bakery, two mares were battling the cyborgs and flying robots; a mare with a pink coat and mane, and a cyan-coated pegasus mare with a rainbow-colored mane. There was another pegasus mare with a yellow coat and a pink mane, but she was hiding underneath the cabinet in the kitchen. The pink mare fought with a cannon that was filled with explosively modified confetti and silverware, while the pegasus mare fought with her bare hooves while relying on her super-fast speed to evade and counter any attacks thrown at her. When the cyborgs' arms were replaced with chainsaws, however, the mares didn't want to go with that kind of risk and ran away while taking the other pegasus mare with them.
From inside a library, a lavender unicorn mare with a purple mane constantly blasted the cyborgs and robots with a magic beam while protecting a young purple and green drake from danger via a pink shield bubble. Despite her success at striking her targets, they only seemed to brush her magic off, and eventually the entire library was swarmed at every angle. Seeing no other options, the mare engulfed the drake and herself in a spell that made them teleport out of the library, and luckily out of the cyborgs' and robots' sights.
The chaos continued for several minutes. Eventually, though, most of the ponies were captured and carried towards the Everfree Forest. Those who weren't captured, however, cried at the sights of their friends being taken away by Celestia-knows-what.
The first of the cyborgs only made it a single step before a black fog materialized from the distance, and flew towards it at a blinding speed. Then, once the fog was directly over the cyborg, a pure white hand materialized from the fog and punched directly through the cyborg's chest, allowing the blood to spray at an alarming rate, as the cyborg looked at the damage before dropping the pony in its hands and falling to the ground.
The pony weakly looked up, only to see nothing but a fog with a pair of glowing green eyes move towards the next of the cyborgs. Then she passed out.
From cyborg to cyborg, the fog continued to stream through them and leave nothing but unconscious ponies and cybernetic corpses in its path. The robots began scanning the fog, but mere seconds after they began their scans, the fog was already after them.
The lavender unicorn, having been completely unaware of the giant muscular cyborg wearing samurai armor standing behind her until the shadow loomed over her, turned around and gasped when the cybernetic behemoth lifted its massive hammer in the air over its shoulders.
It was only able to lift the hammer behind its back when a laser shot from the sky and vaporized its head. When the lavender unicorn looked towards the source of the laser, her eyes widened when she saw the shadow of a bipedal figure sitting on top of a flying robot while forcibly turning its laser towards the other robots and androids. Then, after the robots and androids were all taken care of from outside, he forcefully ripped the laser out of the robot and shoved the barrel inside its screen, causing whatever core it used to break, as the robot began to fall. The figure turned into a mist again before the unicorn could catch a good glimpse of it. All she was able to see was the pair of glowing green eyes that the figure had.
Inside the Carousel Boutique, the guards lied in agony as their enemies overpowered them drastically. The cyborgs then prepared to deliver the final strikes when the black fog flew inside and disarmed them of their weapons. They turned around to fight their opponent, but were quickly dealt with by the foggy warrior. The guards were only able to see the green eyes, as well as the pale white flesh of the tall biped that the fog was constantly hiding. They were able to get a glimpse of that after the figure snapped the neck of one of the cyborgs and removed its head entirely. Then they passed out from a mixture of pain and disgust.
Inside the now burning barn, a huge group of pony guards lied on the ground, either unconscious or dead. They were all scattered out and about by another behemoth of a cyborg, though this one didn't wear any armor. It just wore a camouflage outfit with a pair of black boots on its feet. Its hands were made of metal, and on its head it wore a beret.
Across the room was an unconscious red stallion with a yellow-coated filly with a red mane and a pink bow on the back of her mane crying and trying to shake him awake.
"C'mon, big brother! Wake up !" she cried as the behemoth walked closer to her, ignoring the flames and the falling wooden debris behind it. "Please! Wake up! Please !"
The filly looked up at the behemoth with terror in her eyes, as the behemoth raised its iron fists in the air to deliver the finishing blow.
Suddenly the black fog appeared from behind the behemoth. Instead of materializing partially, however, the figure leaped out of the fog as a whole, planted its feet onto the behemoth's back, gripped onto its head, and opened its mouth, revealing a pair of alarmingly sharp fangs in its mouth. Then the figure growled before biting into the neck of the behemoth and ripping a huge chunk of it out, which caused the behemoth's blood to spray out and cover the filly, her brother, the behemoth itself, and the figure from the black fog. Finally, the behemoth choked out and fell on its back, while the figure jumped into the air and landed on the behemoth's head; crushing it, and spewing even more blood out behind them.
The filly's eyes widened at the bloody figure that she was certain to have nightmares from seeing. Though completely soaked in blood, it was clear the figure was wearing blue denim jeans with a bandage behind it that raised just below its belly. By the way how its body was shaped, the figure appeared to be a male. His feet were bare, and he only had three toes that were undeniably sharp at the tips. His hands were completely red from the things he just killed in mere minutes. His mouth was covered in blood from his recent stunt, and his eyes, like from within the black fog, glowed bright green, though the right one was covered from his long black hair at the angle that he was looking at her from. Over his neck and chest he wore a torn black cloth that partially covered his left arm, while completely covering his right arm, but failed to cover his stomach completely.
She was only able to see him for a second before he was covered in the black fog again. This time, however, the fog came towards her , and caused her to scream at the top of her lungs, as she felt the bloodied hands grip her and lift her from the ground, with her brother next to her.
An orange mare with a blonde mane and a stetson hat galloped through the corpse-filled orchard towards the burning barn with tears in her eyes. Behind her an elderly-looking mare with a green coat and a white mane breathed through a paper bag while a medic started treating the injured along with several nurses from Ponyville.
"APPLE BLOOM! BIG MCINTOSH! " the orange mare shouted at the top of her lungs as the burning building started to collapse. A pair of guards had to restrain her while she tried to get to the building.
"THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO! THE PLACE IS COLLAPSING! " one of the guards shouted, while another guard near him gasped and pointed towards it. When the first guard turned towards the barn again, his eyes widened as he saw the shadowy biped leap from a window with the ponies in question in his arms. Just outside the barn, the surviving soldiers from inside were already scattered outside the entrance.
The biped quickly placed the filly and the stallion on the ground before fading into the black fog, and quickly floating towards the Everfree Forest before anyone could get near him.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING
Princess Celestia could not believe her eyes. As soon as she received a letter explaining the situation from her faithful student Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn from the library, she prepared a chariot to bring her to the town at once. Once she got there, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in disbelief.
Several houses and businesses were burnt down, multiple injured ponies were being treated by doctors and nurses even outside the hospital , and countless fillies and colts were crying in their parents' hooves. Guards were examining buildings, doctors were carrying unconscious ponies from inside the buildings while others were zipping the fallen in body bags.
Needless to say, this was worse than a nightmare... and Princess Luna, her sister who was already there before the sun even rose, felt the same. Whoever could've done this was, by all means, an enemy that would be judged with a punishment far worse than banishment... execution.
When Celestia trotted up to Luna, Luna nodded her head at the mare who she was talking to and turned towards her sister. "We have yet to know the full story of the events that transpired late last night... but we shall not rest until we do!"
Celestia wrapped her sister with a wing before shaking her head with a saddened expression on her face. "Dearest Sister, please don't overwork yourself. You need your rest!"
Luna glared at her before breaking from the hug. "Nay, Sister! We shall not rest until the cause of this catastrophe has been discovered! "
Celestia sighed before closing her eyes and looking away from her angry sister. If there was anything she could remember about Luna, it was that her decisions were always written in stone. Then she nodded her head and asked, "Very well, then... have you learned anything from any of the locals? Have we at least figured out who the heroes were that stopped the menace?"
Luna closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her snout. "We... have only heard rumors... though the rumors sound far from truthful... perhaps a hallucination from either the enemies, or the smoke and fire?"
Celestia tilted her head in confusion. "Hallucinations?"
Luna nodded her head and turned towards the Town Hall where she received her information from... more specifically, the mayor, herself. "Indeed. The mayor received multiple reports of a strange 'Black Fog' that just simply 'appeared from The Everfree Forest', and killed the monsters that, according to other witnesses, came from the same location."
Celestia rubbed her chin in thought. "A black fog? Was that all that they reported?"
Luna shook her head before replying, "Nay... there were glowing green eyes within the black fog."
Celestia's eyes widened at that statement. "Y-you mean, like... the results of Dark Magic ?!"
Luna nodded her head and replied, "Indeed... but to hear of one that could harness the powers of Dark Magic and keep their sanity is far from possible, as even We couldn't control it... and We are certain that thou can remember the results as well as We do."
Celestia nodded her head again and looked towards the stallion that broke from the crowd, rushing towards them with a pair of guards standing in-between to keep him from getting too close to the princesses.
When he was close enough for them to hear him he dropped to the ground in a bow before saying, "P-Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! We... we've found somepony who knows what the figure inside the 'Black Fog' looks like!"
The princesses looked at each other with wide-eyed expressions before following the stallion towards the location he came from... the remains of Sweet Apple Acres.
When they made it, the entire family was under medical attention. Several of their relatives from near and far were starting to show up to help them rebuild, and perhaps help the injured when needed.
One of the family members, however, was sitting up on a makeshift hospital bed with a sketch pad in her lap and a piece of black chalk in her mouth, guarded with a cloth to keep the powder from getting on her teeth, lips, and/or tongue... the yellow-coated filly. By the time the princesses showed up, she was already finished, and looked up to see the princesses headed her way.
"Apple Bloom... did you see what the strange creature looked like?" Celestia asked in as calm of a tone as she could muster up.
Apple Bloom nodded her head but said nothing. She then shakily lifted the sketch pad and offered it to the princesses, who took it while thanking her. As Celestia stared at the drawing, Luna sighed and looked away from the shaken-up filly with an even sadder expression on her face. "Poor little filly must be feeling traumatized... I only hope she can sleep easier soon."
Celestia, however, didn't reply. Luna raised an eyebrow before turning to her silent sister. She then noticed Celestia's mane and tail were no longer flowing... a sign that she was distressed about something. "Sister? What is the matter?"
Celestia lowered the sketchpad and pointed at the drawing. When Luna looked at it, her eyes widened in shock at the monstrosity within.
"What in Equestria is that?!" Celestia finally asked in a panicky tone.
Luna shook her head before replying, "I... do not know... but whatever it is..." she looked towards The Everfree Forest and concluded, "... it is not of this world."
The two of them eyed the sketch with worried expressions on their faces.
