Autumnby DomaldoChaptersThe Gentleman, The Merchant and The AmuletA Whole New World"Say pal, you don't look so good...""...You better find something to eat before night comes!""I hate spiders!""Do you like science?"Lunar DistressHairy RevelationsA way out?'The Birds and the Bees & Dogs That Want to Kill You'"Facing insurmountable odds, with black, one-eyed midgets...""...also known as Patapons"Mad Mare Makes a Mess and the Portal Pukes Piles of ParaphernaliaEndThe Gentleman, The Merchant and The AmuletAuthor's Note Word of warning, this part, in my opinion, is utter garbage. Due to popular demand, I'ts staying in the story, but it wont be rewritten due to the fact I gave up on this story. Feel free to see what I had, hopefully you enjoy. Good day everyone! The Gentleman, The Merchant and The Amulet Somewhere in Colorado, USA “I told you, I’m NOT wearing the wig until we are at the con, it’s pointless to wear it in the car, and the thing is too damn itchy anyway!” I protested for what felt like the one hundredth time since Mike started driving us to the convention. “C'mon Robert, stop being such a crybaby! I’m sure a little itch is nothing for a ‘Master Outdoorsman’ like you.” Mike teased, knowing me far too well. I liked the outside, and growing in Colorado, camping trips came easy. My father taught me how to survive in the wild, and I have enjoyed it ever since. We used to go camping almost every weekend, looking at all the beautiful places the state had to offer. And I always wanted to invite my friends over to an adventure, but none of them had the time, or just didn't want to come. So I made a deal with my best friend, Mike. I would accompany him to the con, dress up as whatever Mike thought suited me, and he would go camping with me, see what the outside really looked like. It didn't take long for us to arrive at our destination. Exiting the car, some bystanders managed to notice we were actually in costumes. Since he didn't want to spend any money, we decided to cosplay something simple, yet elegant. Mike managed to get a nice purple suit with matching pants, a yellow buttoned shirt, a green bowtie, white gloves and black dress shoes. I, however, was wearing a white, buttoned shirt, with a black, long-sleeved, undershirt, and old fashioned red vest with black, vertical lines running across it and black dress pants with matching shoes. Placing the wig atop my head while he put on some red lipstick, we were finally ready for the con. If it weren't for Mike’s make-up, complete with green dyed hair and my ‘W’ shaped wig, we would've simply looked like impeccably dressed men, for a very questionable party. We were kind of late to the fray too, since it was dark, and people were already exiting the con. But this didn’t bother us for we could still have fun tonight, and tomorrow we can muck around all day. People wore the most amazing costumes I've ever seen! A guy with a BAD ASS IronMan costume, tho he still needed a helmet, still cool. There was also this guy rocking another awesome costume, I asked Mike what it was, and he told me it was from a game called Metroid. But he also added the character was a female, not a man. “Dude, you need to stay in more, I bet half of the shit here you never even knew it existed!” Mike added. “And if YOU got out more, you would know what it is to breath fresh air” I stated simply. Getting through the crowd, I saw glimpse of some guy from Naruto, I think, hanging out with a robot ninja thing. There was this guy from one of the games Mike suggested me to cosplay as, but I lacked the physical appearance to pull it off so I declined. We also managed to see this guy who looked like a lizard in a prison jumpsuit. Neither of us knew WHAT he was, but then he explained us he was a humanized SCP 682. I was still confused, but Mike chatted with him before he left. I saw a hooded guy not far from me, his costume looked cool “That’s from the game Assassin’s Creed, but of course you probably never heard of it” Mike informed me. “I’m not a gamer, and you know it!” “I do know it, you are like the reverse hipster of modern age” He replied. Before we could discuss for longer, we both got a glimpse of a Transformer, one of the few TV shows I have watched. “WoW…” We both rang out, looking like complete idiots, fawning over a robot. Shaking his head, we continued deeper. We could see more awesome displays, more people dressed up and ready for action. We saw this cloaked guy with a white, polished mask, also awesome. A girl was also looking pretty lethal with her black cloak, silver hair and even fluorescent contact lenses with slitted holes in the middle for the pupils. Again I asked my friend what she was supposed to be, and as he turned around, he looked at her, a lot. After a while I noticed he was doing something ungentlemanly, so I took the liberty to slap him and make him come to his senses. “Can you control your hormones for one minute? What if she had noticed?!” “First of all, ow! Second, LOOK AT HER, she is soo badass, in more ways than one!” My perverted friend said, the grin plastered on his face suiting his character perfectly. As I raised my arm to slap him out of his perverted fantasies, he called out for me “Hey, look at this! You MUST have it, ASAP” I lowered my arm, and decided to stare at the thing he wanted me to see. It was a piece of jewelry, a golden collar with a red gem the size of my fist incrusted in it. “Uhuh, soooo why I ‘must’ have it?” I asked, seriously, why would I want or need a pretty necklace?! “Oh, yeah right, you never played Don’t Starve…” He drags me to the booth as he continues “This, is a Life Giving Amulet, it’s one of the items in the game that heals you periodically, as well as resurrecting you if you die while wearing it, BELIEVE ME, if anyone should buy this, it should be you, I haven’t really seen anything Don’t Starve related anywhere in the con” He said with his left arm around me, using the other to show the amulet like some sort of commercial. “I agree with your friend, if anyone should have this piece, it should be you” Said a man from behind us. Turning around, well more like jumping like scared cats, we saw a man dressed in probably the most dapper yet evil suit in existence, with a vibrant red flower on his jacket. “Holly shit, dude your costume is AWESOME, how did you get the materials to make a perfect replica of Maxwell?!” Mike asked exited, barely masking his gamergasm. “Oh, well I’m glad you liked it, but I see you are looking at my amulet, and I won’t lie to you, nobody anywhere has ever had the chance to try this out, I should know” “Well, how much for it?” I asked, faking some interest into the item. “35$, but since nobody seems to appreciate it, I’m giving it to you for 21$” Faster than I could blink, Mike had his wallet out, handing the exact amount to the strange man, who in return handed us the necklace. I took the amulet, however I didn't put it on, for crying out loud it was JEWELRY. But before we could thank him, he was already attending someone else, handing him a mask of some sort. Having nothing to do, we exited the booth. I was getting sick of the crazy amount of people, that and there where flashes of light everywhere. The amulet secured in my pocket, and my friend looking at me with a concern look on his face, we walked outside. “Dude, are you sure you only need fresh air? Because I haven’t seen these flashes anywhere, just a giant crowd” “Mike, I’m telling you, they should fix their fancy light show, it was giving me a headache” “Hey, not to be rude, but can I get back in the building? I’m not seeing anything wrong with their lights and the crowd wasn't bothering me” “Sure, just don’t mess with anything we can’t afford” “THANK YOUUUUU” His voice echoed already half way back inside. Being bored out of my mind I took the amulet from my pocket. It felt warm in my hands, probably from staying in my pants for so long. Deciding I had nothing to lose, I put it on, and felt… safe? Then there was this flash of red light, it was decidedly bright, and almost blinded me. Before I could react, I was pulled to the ground, the amulet shot downwards, pulling me from my neck. “Woah woah WOAH!!” It feelt like it was strangling me, but I managed to get a hand in between to stop it from suffocating me. I tried to take the necklace off, to no avail. Then I saw a hand, pulling the collar of my amulet, I stopped sinking but I didn't rise either, the light was shinning brighter, and a humming noise came with it. “SOMEONE, HELP ME!” I screamed, panicking. I looked around but everyone seemed to be ignoring me, almost everyone. “I’m trying! Hold on!” A voice rang out, one I've never heard before. I couldn't see him, the amulet as bright, if not brighter, than the sun itself. The noise picked up, almost deafening. “PLEASE! I DON’T WANT TO GO!” I begged, I felt it trying to pull me somewhere. And I didn't want to go. I started to rise, and I managed to grab his hands. But before my right foot left the ground, dark hands sprung from the black pool surrounding me, grasping my limbs and pulling me back down. I tried to speak, but one of the shadow hands shut me up. And then I saw the pool growing, engulfing whoever was trying to help me as more hands shot up to get him. “FUCK I'M GETTING PULLED TOO!!” His voice screamed, and with it my heart sank, now we both were getting sucked into the ground. I couldn't see anymore, all was darkness, but it felt like oil. The noise became nonexistent. I passed out, I tried to tell him something, but I can’t remember what it was. All I remembered was that something went horribly, horribly wrong. A Whole New WorldThrone room, Canterlot Castle Everypony from Ponyville had gathered in the throne room, waiting for their heroes to arrive. Soon the trumpet sound was heard as the royal guard opened the giant doors of the massive room. The Elements of Harmony walked in, their heads held high and very proud of their recent victory over the Lord of Chaos. As they neared the throne itself, Princess Celestia stood above them and announced to the big crowd of ponies as well as the elements. “We are gathered here today, to once again honor the heroism of these six friends, who stood up to the villain Discord, and saved Equestria from eternal chaos!” Everypony started cheering the six mares. As the crowd died down, Princess Celestia pulled some curtains away to reveal a new window, depicting the defeat of the draconequus with the mane six using the magic of friendship to seal him in stone. The crowd went wild again, throwing confetti into the air, some jumping in joy, while others clapped their hooves into the ground. With everypony distracted, including the Elements they were thanking for saving the land again, nopony noticed the thunder that rang out in the everfree. Celestia herself didn’t see it, even though it was right outside her window, but she felt it, she knew something was coming. Concern grazed her features for no more than a second, and that second is all it took for her most faithful student to know that something was bothering her. “Um, Princess Celestia, are you ok? You looked worried for a moment,” she whispered lowly to not attract the attention of the crowd, but loud enough for her friends to notice. “It’s quite alright my little ponies, nothing we can’t solve in the morning, for now rest and enjoy, something tells me you might need it tomorrow,” she said reassuringly. Celestia didn’t know what happened exactly, only that something new came to her land. Twilight, trusting her mentor, decided to do as she was told and tried to have a moment of peace from the chaotic events that happened prior to this celebration. Everfree Forest, Afternoon “GAH!” *pant* “AH!” *pant* “Ah” *wheeze* “ah… huh?” … !!! Um, where am I? … Looks like a forest, a very odd forest but a forest nonetheless. … Why am I in a forest? … wait a second, I don’t remember falling asleep in a forest. What DO I remember then? Hmm, ok, there was a convention; my friend Mike and I attended said convention, we saw a lot of people in costumes, he bought me something… That’s right! The amulet! I stood up as quick as a bunny and looked to my chest, and I noticed I was still wearing it. I thought about throwing it away, but the moment it left my chest I felt, well, a little less safe. It was a weird feeling, especially since I was pretty sure I was here because of the damn thing. My memory was still very fuzzy; I could barely remember what’d happened. Only one thing stuck with me, that it all went horribly wrong in the end. I looked around, as only plants, trees and weirdness greeted me. There was no clear path to anywhere; it looked like I was just dropped here from the sky! Why was this happening? This was so bizarre. I began to walk, hoping to find someone that could help me. “Hello?” I called out, but silence was the only response. “Is anybody out here?” I tried once more. “CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME?!” I yelled. “HELLOOOOOO!!!” I tried one more time, a little more irritated. … Nothing, I was, indeed, alone. I needed to find someone before dark, who knows what sort of animals go through these woods, even if I’m somewhat familiar with camping, I went to a place I knew and this forest looked like NOTHING I’d ever seen in my life. I searched for what felt like ages, still finding nothing, no tracks, no clues, nothing. I checked my pockets and pulled out my phone, not bothering to see if I had lost something. Turning it on I was disappointed, and somewhat scared, as it told me there was no signal wherever I was. So not only was I lost somewhere in these mysterious woods, but I was also unable to contact anyone that could help me. It was near dawn that I decided to let go of my search of an exit, I needed a place to camp for the night, so I gathered some sticks lying around here and there, garbed some dead leafs, and made a simple pile in a small clearing I found while I was searching. Trying to remember how to start a fire from scratch was surprisingly easy, and oddly enough lighting it worked almost instantly… weird, very few times did I go out camping with my father as a child. Using the free time on my hands, I looked through the rest of my belongings despite how little I had originally on me. My house keys where next to useless, no point in them if the locks they opened weren’t close by. I still had my wallet, and what little money it had left as well as some personal mementos. My car keys where gone, I must have dropped them… Hold on, what did actually happen? What if someone drugged me and stole my car? After I find a town or a city, I should report this to the police; see if they can find something because I sure can’t with the information I have. “Ok, tomorrow I’m going to see if I can find sings of civilization, shouldn’t be too hard considering how even the land is,” I muttered to myself as the small campfire roared in front of me. I needed some rest, the night was already on me and I didn’t want to spend more time talking to myself. I went to the campfire to try and extinguish it, until I noticed how dark it REALLY was. The clearing I was in didn’t have anything flammable around my campfire to begin with, and I myself removed any dead branch or leaf that might trigger a forest fire, so it was relatively safe to leave it there. That and the fact I was now terrified of the dark that surrounded me, I was pretty sure that if I got rid of my campfire I wouldn’t be able to see anything! It wasn’t normal, it wasn’t right, where the hell was I? A question for tomorrow, right now I needed to rest. I kept the amulet on, something telling me I might need it, plus it felt good to wear it. Ponyville’s Library The mane six could be seen inside the library, all of them huddled together listening to their unicorn friend Twilight Sparkle. “We defeated Discord, and I believe I speak for everypony that it was exhausting.” All present agreed, even the baby dragon among them. “And you all saw Princess Celestia’s concern, right?” “Yeah, what was that about? I thought Discord was the only ruffian we had to take care of,” exclaimed Rarity, getting some positive responses from the group, well almost all of them. “But his chocolate raiiiin, ooohoohohooo it was soo DELICIOUS!” Everypony stared at the energetic pony, fawning over precipitating dairy products. This was until she noticed them, and added, “still a big meanie, no matter how delicious it was,” she said with her smile adorning her face. “Well, if the Princess herself told us not to worry ‘bout it, ah think we oughta listen to ‘er,” said Applejack, confident in the princess’s judgment, “besides, she told ya that we’ll deal with it in the mornin’.” “I guess you are right, if she thinks we can let this go for one night, we will listen to her,” Twilight finished, getting nods of approval in return. “Um, Twilight, I was, erm, wondering if I, um, could sleep here tonight, if you don’t mind,” the shy pegasus asked her friend. “Of course you can, but why? What’s wrong with your house?” “Did Discord do something permanent to it before we stoned him?!” The other pegasus in the room asked, angered by the thought itself. “Oh dear no, my house is quite alright, it’s just that, um…” Fluttershy tried to vocalize her thoughts, but every time she opened her mouth, she closed it, unsure of how to explain. “Aw c’mon Fluttershy? What are you scared off now? The dark?” Spike said as he opened the door to the outside, trying to explain that it was perfectly fine. It wasn’t perfectly fine. It was dark, really dark. It was so dark nopony in the room could see a thing past the door. Even the dragon himself took a step back when he looked outside, before shutting the door immediately. “Ah think ah speak fer everypony here when ah ask, can we all sleep ‘ere?” Applejack said, concern evident in her voice. “Uhuh,” everypony present said in unison, even the dragon who lived there. Too tired to argue, understand or deal with the strange situation before them, everypony picked a spot, took a pillow and a blanket, and went to sleep. "Say pal, you don't look so good..."Ponyville, Morning Ponies where awaking from their sleep, some ready for the day, others groggily and in dire need of coffee. Most of them had jobs to do, things to see, ponies to meet. Basically, a day as normal as the town was peaceful. *snort* “Yeah right” OY! PINKIE, WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT READING MY PARAGRAPHS!? “Aww, you are no fun mister author!” DOES IT LOOK LIKE I CARE!? “Who are you talking to Pinkie?” GREAT, NOW TWILIGHT SAW YOU, DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!? FIX IT! “Oh nothing Twilight” “just talking to a meeanie” I CAN CREATE AND DELETE YOU YOUNG PONY! “Oh yeah? PROVE IT!” Everfree Forest, Robert’s POV “HEY, NOT FARE!” DON’T CARE! “HUH?!?” … I could have sworn I heard a girl say something; well at least I was awake, still wearing my amulet. Ugh, my body felt sore, probably from sleeping in the ground. I stood up and stretched my arms and legs, while also getting a satisfying crack from my back. As I looked towards the smoking remains of my fire shoot to the sky, I wondered why no one had come to find me yet, was I really that far away from any town or form of civilization? I shook those thoughts from my head; I needed to stay positive if I wanted to find my way back home. Deciding to climb the nearest tree, which proved easy considering how piney it was, I managed to get a good look at the sun, and oriented myself. I looked north, and I saw something beautiful. A beautiful palace placed on the side of a lonely mountain, it was a sight to behold. But no matter how breathtaking the view was, it was far, far away. That and the fact that I’d never heard of such a thing anywhere on Earth, much less in the U.S, made me feel uneasy, where was I? I told myself that question yesterday, and I was going to stick to my word, today I had to find out. Looking backwards I saw something big. It looked manmade, for the shapes it made where too complicated for it to be a giant rock in the distance. Good, a place which would probably offer a roof over my head. I climbed down from the tree, but slipped and fell hard on the ground, it hurt. I groaned, running a hand through my- HOLD ON A SECOND, wasn’t I wearing a wig?! “…what the…” I pulled at what I thought was my wig, only for it to be painful for my head. Did someone glue the darn wig to my head!? No, I ran a hand through my entire head, unable to find any sort of restriction or adhesive, my hair now looked like my wig, and I looked ridiculous. “… This is too weird but too harmless for me,” I told myself, seeing no problem in the extra hair, I could always cut it if it became an issue. I kept walking for a while in the general direction of the structure I had found, making sure I didn’t get lost in this dense forest. Everything looked so wrong about it, the trees, the plants, I even thought I saw some green eyes looking at me through the bushes, but as soon as I got close they would disappear. After half an hour or so, I encountered a problem. A river was in my way. The current seemed relatively calm, but I didn’t know how deep it was. Taking a stick from nearby, I carefully placed it down inside of the river. It sunk very little before it touched something. Good, if I was careful enough, I might be ab- *SPLASH* *ROAAAAAAAAR* “…” I ~~screamed like a girl~~ roared in a manly fashion while backing away from the beast. What in the name of Darwin WAS THAT!? No time to think, just run, run, RUN! And for what felt like hours I ran. Before I knew it I was gasping for air, and lost. “Oh for the love of-” I fell to my knees and screamed to the sky “-WHERE ON EARTH AM I!?!” Outskirts of the Everfree, Fluttershy’s Cottage It was late in the morning, and Fluttershy had already gone to her home to tend for her animals. She expected to have a nice, peaceful, uneventful evening until Twilight had the approval of the Princess to go search for whatever caused her to be concerned. She needed to pack some supplies and meet at the entrance to the Everfree to go with her friends. She did not expect to see new animals coming to her home. She also did not expect them to be a new species. “And who might you be little guy?” She crouched down while she sweetly asked the innocent looking creature. It appeared to be a normal rabbit with a brown coat, if you were blind enough to miss the small antlers grown on its head. The Jackalope turned around to look at her. She took a small step back, for its eyes where completely white, something very unusual for a creature. It immediately ran away to hide on a hole in the ground, one she didn’t remember existed. “It’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you,” she whispered into the hole before backing away to let the creature meet her. “Don’t worry, I just want to be your friend,” she told it once it exited the hole. It approached her cautiously, but once they got close enough to each other she petted it and soon made quick friends. “Aw, you are such a nice rabbit, you should meet Angel, I bet you’ll get along just fine,” she told the small critter, going to her home to retrieve the supplies for the trip ahead. Everfree’s entrance, early afternoon “Alright girls, as you all know, Princess Celestia gave us a new task,” Twilight was met with nods of approval from her friends. “And even though it is to look for something neither of us knows what it is, or what it looks like, I’m confident we will succeed, for our friendship can overcome anything!” She exclaimed positively, sure that her friends could win over anything thrown at them, after all they defeated a god not too long ago. With their heads held high, their spirits up, and Pinkie Pie behaving- “I’m still mad at you!” SHUTYOURHORSEMOUTH! -they entered the forest, slightly questioning their pink friend's sanity. "...You better find something to eat before night comes!"Deep in the Everfree, Robert’s POV After I found that… thing in the river, I didn’t know what else to think. Sure I’ve heard about creatures that live in water that are big and dangerous and stuff, BUT WHAT WAS THAT!?! I decided to follow the river, but I kept my distance. Another encounter like those might give me a heart attack! *grumble* I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hungry. As I continued through the forest, the trees started to get more apart, and I liked that. It meant there was another clearing up ahead, and a big one, I could feel it! Almost an hour later I found it. It looked like a castle, a BIG castle. It also looked deserted, for the walls were cracked, the vegetation surrounding every rock they could find. That and, well, it looked like it went through a bombing, for the roof was nowhere to be found. The two things that still stood proud and undamaged were a couple of towers, one in the front right, and one in the back left. As I came closer, I noticed there was a gigantic ravine separating me from the ruined castle, only an unsafe-looking wooden bridge connecting the castle to the rest of the forest. That’s when I noticed the berries, by Darwin they were everywhere! Honestly there was little to nothing stopping me from gobbling them up. Crossing the fragile bridge, making sure to not plummet down to my death, I made it to the other side of the ravine, where the many bushes of delicious looking fruit stood, oh and also the castle. I took one of the berries and tried to examine it. I was no botanist, so I couldn’t tell right off the bat if they were poisonous or not. However, botanist or not, I was still a scientist. I took the plant apart, and began to examine everything it had to offer, and test if any part made my skin itch or my mouth irritated. I should’ve boiled them if I’d wanted to have the least amount of germs as possible, but my last experience with water almost got me eaten. Since it wasn’t obvious the berries where poisonous, I began to eat them. Then they got delicious… *NOM* *NOM* *NOM* NOM* *NOM* *GULP* “OOH THAT’S THE STUFF!” I just ate all of the possible berries in the bush, and also took note of how hollow it was. It looked like I could curl up in a ball and hide in the bush, and no one would be able to see me. I then moved to the next bush, and ate all of its berries as well. I really needed some sort of pouch to carry some stuff, because just putting these in my pockets seemed like a horrible idea, especially since I was wearing my fancy black pants. Then an idea hit me. It felt like it was both my own, but also from someone or something else. I looked down at my clothes, then my hair, finally my amulet and wondered. I was hesitant at first, but eventually allowed the idea to flow into my mind. It felt odd, but right at the same time. I knew what I had to do. But first, I wanted to fill my st- *GOOBLEGOOBLEGOOBLEGOOBLE* “GAH! WHAT THE HECK!?” *thump* “Ow…” I grumbled out as I fell on my back. Oh what now!? A giant turkey!?!? What’s it do-? !!! “Stupid bird! Stay away from my berries!” I shouted, chasing it away from my precious food. *Gobble* *Gobble* *Gobblegobble* *Gobble* “Get back here bird!” I kept running after the oversized turkey, but it was faster than me, so I lost sight of it. “Well, there goes my protein filled dinner…” I kept walking in its general direction hoping to f- “Hey it’s right there! And it’s just… standing there…?” I muttered to myself. Hehe, stupid bird. I thought before dashing towards the orange feathered gobbler. “HA, NOW I GO-” *thack* Huh? Why is the ground all white and sticky? … Has that giant bag of spider webs been there the entire time? Erm, ok just walk away, slow-*thack* *HISSSAAAHHGGG* !!! THAT SPIDER IS BIGGER THAN BULLDOG! I thought as I tried to move away, only for my feet to be stuck to the ground. “What should I do, WHAT SHOULD I DO!?” I said as I panicked. Come on foot, get out of the webbed floor AND HELP ME RUN! *HISSSSS* *thack* *thack* *thack* *thack* The sounds of the spiders walking towards me rang in my ears, begging me to run, hide, do something! GET OUT OF THE WEB AND RUN! *GOBBLE* *GOBBLE* *GOBBLE* *DEAD* Did… did the turkey thing just died…? NO, STOP getting distracted and FOCUS! *munch* *nom* *munch* *bite * *gulp* Almost there, JUST A LITTLE LONGER! My left foot was out, but my right one had me pined to the webs. *HISSSSSSSS* “THERE!” I said triumphantly, and turned around to see how close the spi- *HISSSSSAAAAAHHHHGRRR* “I HAAAAAAATEEEE SPIDEEEEEERS!!” I screamed whilst running for my life. Everfree Forest, Main Six, Afternoon As the mares walked through the forest, they noticed how the trees’ appearance had changed slightly, as well as other leafless trees which had screaming faces on them. No matter how much Pinkie laughed and sang the leafless trees stood with a permanent expression of pain. “Since when does the Everfree normally grow these awful things?” Rarity asked nopony in particular, all the while examining the not so common trees. “Also since when do we dig graves in the Everfree saying ‘Milk, Eggs, and Bacon’? That’s a little weird doncha think?” The pink mare asked, completely unfazed by the fact they just entered a graveyard littered with strange stale looking flowers. “GRAVES!?” Everypony and dragon exclaimed, a few more panicked than others. “M-m-mmm-ma-aa-ay-b-bb-be ww-we sh-sh-should he-ea-ad ba-ack?” Stuttered the shy, yellow pegasus, worried for their safety. “I don’t know Fluttershy, we need to press on if we want to find whatever Princess Celestia thought was dangerous enough to threaten Equestria,” replied the lavender unicorn. “Besides, if anything tries to hurt any of us we’ll kick its ugly flank!” Said Dash, sure of her knowledge in flank-kicking. “Although ah agree with Twilight, it’s getting very dark and ah don’ wanna sleep in the forest,” the farm pony warned the group, not too exited in camping within the Everfree, especially if whatever the Princess wanted them to find was there. “Alright, if it’s ok with the rest, I think we should hea-” Twilight began to say, until the noise of leafs shuffling and sticks breaking caught her ears. “Um, wha-at was th-that?!” Asked the small dragon, panic evident in his voice. “Is somepony out there?” As if on cue, the ponies heard frantic steps as something tried to escape. “QUICK! Before it runs away!” Everypony galloped, hoping to catch up with whatever was watching them. Robert’s POV, Dusk Well, that happened. Sure let’s throw in GIANT SPIDERS into this forest, why not!? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SPIDERS!!! I thought, almost out loud, as I walked trying to catch my breath. “Ok, just… calm down, its ok, you outran it and its hive, it’s alright, it’s goi-” … *whimper* I stumbled upon a tombstone, surrounded by strange, and frankly evil, flowers. It seemed like it had been here a while, the letters engraved on the smooth stone slightly faded but very much readable. I felt my mind spin slightly as I stood before it. …Why is there a grave with my name on it in this forsaken forest…? *shuffle* *muffled talking* *laughing* “what the…?” Ok, something else is coming, calm down, and breathe, ok? Ok. I hid behind a tree, which had a face and looked like it was screaming in agony. This place was just doing wonders to my sanity now wasn’t it? I couldn’t see what was happening, but someone was coming, it sure sounded like a bunch of girls, and one of them was laughing. Curiosity took the better of me as I dared to look at the source of the sounds. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised. … …No… …Just… …Just no… “Are, are those multicolored talking horses?” I barely muttered to myself. … “Those are, indeed, multicolored talking horses…” It seemed they were looking for something, and I could’ve bet my skin it was me. I didn’t care how cute and cuddly they looked; I wasn’t risking meeting them, not yet anyways. It was getting really dark, I couldn’t stay here for longer, and I needed to make a campfire fast! I began to move out of the wa- *thump* *shuffle* *crack* “oww…” I fell on my face this time… and I was pretty sure they heard me. With little to nothing else to do, I got back on my feet and began to run for my life. I heard them shout something, but I was far too occupied running away from them. "I hate spiders!"Robert’s POV, Dusk Light, that’s all I needed, I needed light. That and to get away from the horses chasing me through the forest. I was running back to the spider den, why? Because it’s a path I traversed before, and it was close to the castle. It made it easier for me to go through, and making it more difficult for the horses behind me. Then there was the den itself, I needed to find it before I got stuck in its web again. After a while I started to panic a bit, for I could not see the den anywhere, and it was getting too dark for comfort. I never got a break, for the horses where, slowly but surely, catching up to me. So I kept running, hoping to get away, or at least find something to hel- “Whoa!?” There were three of them now! I stopped altogether, mere inches from the sticky-white floor. Was it just me, or where there a lot of spiders walking around? They haven’t noticed me yet, good, I really hate spiders. “STOP RIGHT THERE!” “Huh?” I turned around and A FLYING BLUE HORSE! The horse tried to tackle me, but I dodged and circled around the dens, wanting no part in having to deal with giant spiders. The horse however, wasn’t so lucky. *HISSSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAARRRHHHGGGGGGG* *HIIIIIIISSSAAAARAAAHHHGGGGGGGG * *HHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHH * *HIISSSSSSSSSSSSS* *RAAAAAAAAASHHHHHGG* I ~~screamed like a girl~~ let out a manly battle cry at the sound of a lot of angry spiders, or were they just hungry? I didn’t know, and frankly I didn’t want to. *thack thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack* “Huh, what the hay!? I’M STUCK!” She, I took from her tomboyish but feminine voice, exclaimed. Oh crap, if she couldn’t get out, then the spiders would try and get her, she was in danger! “Rainbow, hold on!” Another horse wearing a cowboy hat said, using her mouth to form a lasso, which somehow worked. The western sounding horse threw the lasso towards the blue winged one, pulling her out of the web before the spiders could harm her. *thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack* *thack thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* The spiders, not seeing the horses, went back to their homes. It seemed that as long as you weren’t on their web, or directly in front of them, they wouldn’t notice you. Good to know. I realized I’d wanted to get away so I could find a place to stay the night, for the sun was almost out of sight. So I ran, albeit more quietly, back towards the way to the castle. Mane Six, Dusk “Don’t let it get away!” “ON IT!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash, flying as fast as she could. Since the trees prevented her from going in a straight line, she was forced to slow down to avoid hitting them. Everypony was wondering who or what was watching them, and a certain purple unicorn needed those answers yesterday. They kept running and flying after the strange creature, but only the rainbow mare was able to keep up with it. The other mares, unable to match the pegasus’s speed and agility, were slowly being left behind. Sometime later, they lost both her friend and the creature, and hoped for the best. This was, until, they heard an unholy screech from multiple, not so friendly, monsters. They doubled their efforts and before long they managed to arrive at the scene. Dash was stuck in some massive webbing, and enormous spiders where crawling towards the helpless pegasus. Applejack managed to catch her with her trusty lasso, and pulled her out of trouble. But after making sure their friend was alright, they had no sight of the creature, and night was quickly approaching. “Rainbow, dear, are you ok? You look, erm, white and, well, sticky,” asked the white unicorn to the pegasus, who was trying to get as much web out of her coat as possible. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, but IT got away,” she responded, more disappointed of losing the creature than anything. “Don’t worry Dash, we will catch it later,” said the drake reassuringly, before looking somewhat scared as he added, “but I didn’t know the Everfree had spiders THAT big!” It was clear he was somewhat terrified of the dog sized arachnids. “Maybe we should talk somewhere else, it’s almost night,” suggested the purple unicorn, there was something about the dark that begged them to find someplace lit to stay the night. “Ah agree with ya Twi, we can’t stay here,” said the cowpony, getting some nods of agreement from the group. “Maybe we could go to Zecora’s hut, Ponyville is too far from here, and, um, I don’t want to walk in the dark,” offered the timid pegasus. “With everything that has been going on I can’t really blame you Fluttershy, who else agrees?” Asked Dash, surprising the group a bit, before they all nodded and went towards the zebra’s home. Walking through the Everfree proved slightly harder than before. They had to keep avoiding the spider infested places. This was new to everypony present; for nowhere in Equestria had they heard about giant spiders roaming this forest. After some time they encountered the familiar hut, with their stripped friend welcoming them into her home. “Hello my friends of seven, have you come to seek safe haven?” She greeted the crowd, before Twilight stepped up to speak to her. “Thank you for letting us in Zecora, It was getting dark and this was closer to us from Ponyville, I hope you don’t mind.” “I understand your distress, truth be told this has me in quite a mess. But now in you must come, or to the dark you might succumb,” she rushed them inside, getting the group closer to her fire. “Now tell me why you have arrived at my door, so that I may help you some more.” “I don’t know if you have noticed, but the forest feels like it’s, different,” said the purple mare. “Not only that but we caught something spying on us, I chased it down, but got stuck in giant cobwebs, with giant spiders trying to EAT me!” Added the energetic pegasus. “You live here right? Do you know what’s wrong with the Everfree?” Asked a somewhat nervous Spike. “There is something corrupting the land, not just the forest where we all stand,” the zebra said in a somber tone. The group of ponies and dragon went tense, not long ago they had to deal with chaos destroying their homes. “Was this something Discord did? We thought the Elements got rid of his corruption,” exclaimed Rarity, getting looks of approval from everypony/zebra/dragon present. “I do not know why it happened, but it seems the entire forest has darkened,” she said motioning to the outside of her home. Past the light her fire emitted, it was pitch black outside. No matter how long they tried to look for something past the darkness, their eyes never adjusted. “But I think we are all tired, why don’t we sleep close to my fire?” Zecora suggested as tired yawns met her ears. “I guess some sleep won’t hurt, we can try and solve this mystery in the morning.” Twilight was already getting comfortable in her friend’s home, everypony else following suit. “Goodnight everypony,” she finally added before the rest replied tiredly, “Goodnight.” Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins I tried to find the castle again, even encountered the same den from before and oriented myself to find the ruins. And after what seemed like an eternity, I found the clearing, the ruins in plain sight, and the darkness was close to engulfing me. I made a quick campfire inside of the building; I didn’t get deep, for I was very close to the entrance. But despite the gigantic hole in the ceiling, I now had a roof over my head. By the time I was done with the fire, the shadows around me seemed like they were watching me. I could have sworn there where eyes in the dark, but whenever I tried to look at them, they winked out. Must be my head failing to cope with my situation. I mean, seriously!? Giant water monsters!? Giant turkeys?! GIANT SPIDERS?! Oh and let’s not forget the multicolored talking horses, pegasi and unicorns… Whatever that madness was, I still needed some sleep. If I kept thinking about how everything that has happened to me so far was impossible, I would’ve gotten a migraine. Making sure the surroundings of my fire where clear from anything that could burn, I lied on the cold, hard ground. I pulled my amulet out of my shirt just to look at it for a few brief seconds, before I closed my eyes, and slept. I was going to desperately need it for what I had planned to do tomorrow. "Do you like science?"Robert's POV, Castle Ruins, Morning As I woke up, I realized that I was in dire need of a bed. Or anything really, I was sick of sleeping on the ground. I stretched my limbs, trying to get the soreness out of them. I arched my back and got a satisfying crack out of it, then immediately wanted to lie back down. Never was a morning person to be honest. I checked myself, all my clothes where in a somewhat bad condition; I desperately needed to wash them. My amulet dangled on my neck, making small clinking noises whenever I moved. As much as I wanted to look around the castle, I had no time to waste. I needed materials to build something my mind had been telling me for a while. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew it would help me greatly. I needed help now more than ever in my life. Stranded who knows where, with giant creatures that wish to eat me, and intelligent, talking, colorful horses, you have to take advantage of every opportunity. I had a couple bad situations when I went camping, but it usually resolved itself and I could go home afterwards and rest. My father always made sure we were prepared, so supplies weren’t an issue. Besides, we did it for fun, not because my life depended on it! This was not the case. I was alone, with nothing but my fancy, deteriorating clothes and jewelry. I didn’t know where home was anymore, and I didn’t want to contact whatever passed for people in this place. Human survival instincts teach you to fear the unknown, and it has worked in my favor so far. No more getting sidetracked, I had a shelter now, and I doubted anyone lived here anymore. I still needed much more if I was planning to stay here; I just really hoped it didn’t come to that. Seeing that there was no point in standing around and doing nothing, I went outside. There were still some bushes that had some berries among them, so I went up to them and gave myself a small snack. After eating a handful of berries, and checking around to make sure no turkeys would eat my precious bushes, I went back into the forest. I quickly gathered some materials and made a very crude axe out of a stick and a sharp rock I had found. It would probably break after a few trees, but it was something. Sure it was unusual how easy it was since I had never done this before in my life, yet it felt natural to craft this tool. Once I had the chance, I would definitely look into it. Traversing the forest, I tried to not lose sight of the castle’s clearing. I found a few random boulders in the middle of the forest. Some of them even glistened in the light. Odd, I didn’t remember them being there at all yesterday… “Please don’t tell me I’m losing my mind, if anything that would just make things worse.” I traveled back to the clearing, going towards the smaller trees so that I could get them down quicker and carry them towards the ruins. Cutting as many as I could, I brought the thin logs back to the entrance of the castle until my axe became useless. I could probably use the loose stones from the broken walls around this place to build the other parts of this idea. Then I needed… gold… How in Darwin’s name was I going to get gold from a forest in the middle of crazy-land?! I used a hand to rub my temples, I saw some boulders somewhere deep within the forest that had a yellowish reflection to them. Maybe… Nah, that’s ridiculous! There is no wa- … So was half of what I went through yesterday… Grabbing some more supplies I managed to make myself a new tool, it was a pick made from more sharp rocks and sticks. I found one of the many boulders, and began to pick it to ruble. A while later I managed to get some rocks, some flint, and a... yellowish stone? Hey, I was no geologist, give me a break! Still, it didn’t look like it was gold. “It looks like for once, logic won. Too bad it wasn’t in my favor,” I muttered out of breath, taking down a boulder twice your height was a heavy job. I was very surprised that I even managed to do it! Taking a few deep breaths I was able to compose myself, I was not about to give up just yet. I approached another boulder; it was slightly taller and had a few yellowish cracks that shinned in the sunlight. Mining it down as well, my pick still somehow held itself together. After reducing it to rubble small enough for me to pocket, I noticed the same results. “More rocks, more flint, an-” … …There is no possible way… “Are… are those small chunks of gold?!” I took off my collar and compared them. It was the same exact material as far as I could tell, and they were size of my fist. With my newfound resolve, I made a couple more crude picks. I was getting better at this, for they looked nicer than before. I brought down half a dozen more boulders, not all of them had gold, but I still had quite enough to satisfy my vanity. Bringing the materials back took some effort, for I could only pocket so little and carry so much, I had to do a couple of trips back. However by the time the sun was setting I already had a nice pile of resources at my disposal. I used the remainder of the afternoon making the parts for this idea on my head. It took quite a while, but after I assembled the machine I instantly questioned if it was worth my time and effort. It looked like a cube, suspended from the ground by three wooden legs. It had a lever facing down, and a couple of hand carved wheels connecting the cube to the fourth log atop the contraption. What on Earth did I just build? That lever was just screaming at me to be used. I went up to the machine, and threw the lever upwards. It made a whirring noise, before the wheels slowly moved and picked up some speed. The moment it stopped warming up, I felt, well, enlightened. Even more ideas where flowing into my mind, the knowledge felt amazing! “How does this work? How is this possible? This… this could change humanity as we know it!” It was my duty as a scientist to test this strange new contraption. Standing near what my mind believed to be called the “Science Machine”, I began to browse through the recipes it had to offer. Using the machine was… well, interesting to say the least. I had to think of what I wanted, and an image began to form in my mind. It felt odd and surreal, but I was slowly getting used to it. Going for something simple, I decided to craft myself a backpack. I gathered the materials, which fortunately where just pieces of grass and sticks, and began to assemble them together. My hands where incredibly more dexterous than before, and where they… glowing? It must have been the sun reflecting off my skin, but it still made me wonder. The backpack was made almost flawlessly, have I always been this able? Questions, questions, far too many of them and not enough answers, it almost felt like teaching again. “Heh, well one thing is for certain. This machine will help me; it will help me out a lot.” Lunar DistressPonyvile’s Golden Oak’s Library, Morning The group of ponies, zebra and dragon left the forest, making sure to pack whatever essentials Zecora might need, for she did not intend in coming back until things got less… chaotic. Twilight offered her a place to stay at her library, she had a spare guest room, and they could look into whatever was causing the forest to behave more strange and hostile than normal. But at arrival, Spike puked out a letter from the Princesses themselves, it read: To my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle I’m afraid that I need you and your friends to come to Canterlot castle as soon as possible, for there is something that I desperately need to discuss with you. It’s important that you come here by your own means, for bringing the royal carriage to pick you up might bring some unwanted attention. Don’t tell anypony else besides your closest friends. Your grateful teacher, Celestia. “Oh my, sounds serious,” declared Spike after reading the royal correspondence out loud. “But… I thought the Princesses trusted us to handle this on our own. What changed?” Said Twilight, a little disappointed that she and her friends couldn’t pursue the strange creature they found within the forest. “I’m sure the trip won’t take too long, but do you mind if I come along?” Asked the zebra, she too wanted to know more about what was going on, the forest held her home after all. “Sure Zecora, I don’t think the princesses will mind, you are our friend after all,” answered the purple unicorn, she was sure Zecora could help. “Spike, can you go to the girls and tell them what is happening? Make sure to tell them to be ready at the train station in the morning to get the first train to Canterlot,” she commanded her assistant, and with a salute, he was off to tell Rarit-erm, the rest of the mane six. The mares found themselves alone in the library, with nopony but each other as company. Both used the remainder of the day to study into their own books, compare notes, etc. Plus theorize about what was going on in the forest, the world, and what might be happening to the princesses. Before long, Spike came back to the library, very tired since he ran all the way from Sweet Apple Acres to arrive before dark. The candle lights flickered as night finally had set upon Ponyville. Two tired mares and one exhausted dragon, slumped into their respective beds, Zecora using the guest room, and fell to sleep. Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Night After crafting myself a much needed backpack, I began collecting some materials needed to craft even more stuff. Mostly twigs and tall grass, and some berries for food. I was having so much fun messing around with the Science Machine I almost forgot to make a campfire, but managed to make one within the castle in the time I had left of sunlight. Thankfully, though, I created a sleeping bag with some of the left over grass I had gathered before sleeping. When I made sure my improvised bed was free from any bugs, I lied down, embracing the small comfortableness it provided. I recalled my activities of today; I chopped some trees down, brought the logs back, mined giant boulders and brought those back too, and built a machine with them. Then I used the machine to craft a backpack, somehow getting it on the first try, and also this bed. Finally, I had gathered some berries for dinner which I was currently eating. *NOM* *NOM* *GULP* “Mmmm, red berries taste best," I said out loud, these berries were amazing! I was exhausted, in both mind and body. Taking my amulet out, I stared at the bright red gem encrusted in the piece of jewelry. Today was a good day, and it was staying that way. I closed my eyes, and waited for sleep to take me away. Ponyvile’s Train Station, Early Morning The seven mares and dragon were ready to board the train. Their luggage was small and pretty easy to fit in the train car, because nopony knew what was happening or how long they might be staying at the Canterlot Palace. Even though the train’s crew gave the zebra some looks of curiosity, the ride was pretty normal. Despite this, however, everypony and dragon present seemed tense. If Princess Celestia needed them immediately, and wanted them to be as quiet about it as possible, then it was a good time as any to be worried. “Not for me!” !! “What? Who are you talking to sugarcube?” “Oh, nobody in particular.” Good, your cooperation shall be rewarded. SHE DESERVES NOTHING! “Erm, are you sure you are ok darling?” “Yeah I’m fine-” She tucked a supper vanilla cupcake, extra sweet with sprinkles on top, in her mouth “-Mmm, not bad, not bad at all” Why thank you. YOU ARE SPOILING HER! Shush! “Um, Pinkie, where did you get those cupcakes from?” Asked Fluttershy, curious as to where she might have gotten the tray with confectionaries. “Duh! She is Pinkie Pie!” The rainbow maned mare exclaimed, emphasizing her point by flying around her, while Pinkie just beamed her usual smile. While the girls chatted about, keeping each other positive, Zecora just kept her thoughts to herself, occasionally smiling at their antics. Looking outside the window, she could see the beautiful landscape of Equestria, basking in the celestial sun from their goddess. s̓̅t̾ͫ̐ͥ̉ͣu̎́͊lͦͧ̂ͩ̿tͫ̾̀̉ͦ͂ǔ͑̂s̋̎̃̑͐ͦ̄ͫ ̌̋ͬcͥͪͨͫͥͥ̅r͛̆e͌ͯ̾̀ͫ̇̍̚a͗͊ͧͬ̐̍̉ͮt͆̑̌u̅̐͗̍̈́̊r̓̎̉̾ͤ͌ͯ̚a͗̇̄͆̈́͒̒͆͊ẻ̈́͌̅̔̃̒̐ ͮǹͯö́̑̈́͑̾n͑ ͦ̿s̋ͮ̽͒͐̈̉ͣ̚ċ̊ͬͣ̓iͯ̂rͮ̏̏ͯ̔e̊̎͛ ͨ̐̄f͗̏̆ͣȃt̒̄̌̐a̎̇ͫ ͫͤͪ̈͌̾́̇m̒̀̔o͛̒̇͒ͨ̌r̃͑̓ťͧãͬl̊ͭ̈̀̏͑͑eͥͨͪ̚s̍ͦ̽͐ ͌̿̍͒́͗̔ Before long, they were already nearing the top of the mountain. Grabbing their things, they sped past the adorned streets, with one clear objective on their mind. Canterlot Palace, Early Afternoon The solar princess paced around her throne room, bearing a clear expression of worry. They had cleared the throne room so they could speak to the elements in peace and quiet, nopony besides them should know. “Dear sister, art thou sure they should be told of our problem?” Asked Luna towards her sibling, she too wore an expression of deep concern, bordering on fear. “If not, then who? We alone cannot solve this and you know it,” Celestia replied, her calm and knowing tone easing her sister ever so slightly. “We know, it’s just,” -she paused- “they are so young, so innocent, we are afraid we don’t like thine actions,” her sister said, but she added in a slightly more somber tone, “but we have to agree they may be the wisest.” “Fear not dear sister, did they not defeat the god of chaos days ago?” “Precisely our point, they did defeat Discord, which is why we do not und-” *knock* *knock* “Yes?” they both said simultaneously, quickly regaining their usual, regal, composure. The door opened just enough for sound to enter the room. “The elements and company are here, they said you wished to see them,” came the voice of a guard through the small opening of the door. “Tell them to come inside, then shut the door, you are dismissed,” said the solar princess with authority in her tone, lacing her usual motherly voice. “At once your majesties.” The door opened, seven mares accompanied by a small dragon came inside just as the guard left the hall. As the ponies, zebra, and dragon came into the room, all of them bowing before the princesses. “It’s quite alright my little… ponies…?” The sun goddess began to say, but her words failed her once she laid her eyes upon the zebra. “You said we could bring in our closest friends, so I thought we could bring Zecora with us, you don’t mind, do you?” Twilight said, a little hesitant towards the end. “I’m sorry to pop in unannounced, but the forest is where I’m housed,” the zebra rhymed to address the princesses. Both alicorns looked at each other for a brief moment, unsure whether to talk to the elements with, or without the unexpected guest. “I suppose she could hear us as well, as long as she promises to keep this quiet,” decided the lunar diarch, convincing her sister in the process. “If my tongue must be silenced, then I won’t talk, not in the slightest,” she stated, using her right fore-hoof to create an imaginary zipper on her mouth, before closing it. “Seeee? She CAN be trusted!” Pinkie said, following her example and shutting her own mouth with a literal zipper. Both sisters relaxed a little at the pink one’s antics, knowing far too well how hard it was to get that particular pony down. “That aside, you said you wanted to talk, is something wrong?” Rarity intervened. “I think you all already know that things haven’t been as normal as they should,” Celestia began. “There is something hiding within the Everfree, and we fear it’s tampering with our glorious nights,” Luna followed. “By tampering I think you mean making it so dark it was impossible to see?” Said Spike. “Yes,” the princess answered, but her tone seemed… off. “Yeah, what’s up with that? Every night so far has been pitch black, we couldn’t see the stars, hay even the moon was hard to see!” Rainbow Dash interjected. The princess turned her head away from them, and answered; “We know our night hasn’t been the brightest…” She tried to continue, but then was interrupted. “Then why don’t yah fix it? Ponies are scared by the dark now because nopony can see no more when yer night comes. Ah mean yer the Goddess, if not, Princess of the night.” “We know we are, it’s just…” Her words died on her throat, with her head turned away from them, nopony present could see her face. “Just… what? Why haven’t yo-” “BECAUSE WE CAN’T!!!” ... *sniff* ... *sob* *sniff* Hairy RevelationsRobert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Day “Ah, this is much better,” sleeping on grass sure beats sleeping on the ground. Doing my morning stretches and back cracks, I got up from my grass bed. And boy was I hungry! “I got berries, and some berries, and, *GASP* even MORE berries…” As much as I liked them, I needed to balance my diet with something with more protein. But where could I get something small enough for me to hunt, but good for my stomach? Maybe I could try and get some of those turkeys, but they ran too fast for me to catch them. I needed something to help me catch that stupid bird. I raised my hand to scratch an itch on my bea- HOLD ON!!! … … Is this… … Is this what I think it is…? To confirm my suspicions, I pulled my necklace out, and held the back of the amulet towards my face, creating a golden mirror. “I have a beard! Sweet Darwin this is a dream come true!” How on Earth did I managed to grow one was beyond me, but I guessed it was a nice trade off from this ridiculous hair. I went towards my favorite contraption, looking through the recipes, and… huh?! “There is an even BETTER machine?!” Well, there is nothing wrong with knowledge right? Hmm…! Oh great… this new ‘Alchemy Engine’ will be tough to make, but if it’s half as good as this one, then it’s worth it. I began to refine my materials into something more useful than just logs and rocks. Taking one of the sharpest rocks, I used it to chip the logs into smooth boards. It took little to no effort as I stood next to my machine. Making the squared bricks of rock was also incredibly easy, same with the gold circuitry. How do these machines get their power I did not know, but as long as it was there I wasn’t going to questioning it until I had the proper equipment to examine them once I got back home from crazy-horse land. After some time, I had at least half of the components I needed, but I was far too tired to continue. Then I heard something in the distance, somewhere in the direction from the fancy palace on the edge of that lonely mountain, it sounded like a frustrated scream. Right, the weird talking horses… If they built that thing, or the castle I was standing on… I was scared… Hopefully these creatures lived on some far off island secluded from humanity so well, they have never been found, because I didn’t want to entertain the idea of being stuck in another world. Well, until I knew for sure, I will try my best to find a way out, until then though, hmm? I needed meat, my mouth might be delighted with them, but my stomach was getting tired of berries. Walking outside the castle, I went around the clearing. There were some more ruins along the way, a few flower gardens, but not much else. Then I found another of those dammed birds, gobbling away at some berries. I couldn’t just punch it to death, and running after it won’t work either. I needed a weapon. I quickly got back inside, and looked through some recipes the machine had to offer. It looked like I could craft myself a simple spear from just flint and sticks; the only problem was tying them together. Using some of my grass, I made myself a small length of rope, and used it to tie it around the sharp rock and a stick I had left. With my new weapon, I ran towards the direction of the dumb animal, hoping to find it there. And lo and behold, it was still gnawing at my precious berries. Taking careful aim, I hurled the spear towards the animal. I missed... I never was the best at sports... The spear got caught in the ground next to the over-sized bird, startling it. It ran towards the ruins, but I wasn’t going to let it get away from me this time! Running to get my spear, I picked it from the ground and ran towards the bird. I managed to corner it between two walls, it couldn’t escape me now! “I will destroy you!” I battle-cried while charging towards it, and before it could doge me I used the pointy end smack him. After a few hits it went down. Cringing, I took its massive corpse, and dragged it towards the castle. I didn’t really like to kill that bird for food, but at least I was going to eat well today. Canterlot Palace, Dusk Everypony was quiet, not daring to speak a single word. Their youngest princess was now crying openly, and they could only watch as her sister came to her side and wrapped a wing around her. “I’m, I’m sorry… we didn’t mean to…” Twilight began, but she couldn’t voice her thoughts out. “Tis-” *sniff* “-tis not only our nights-” *sob* “-our moon won’t-” *sniff* “-won’t answer to us anymore,” she barely managed to say, truly saddened by the fact that her nights where taken from her. “I’m afraid my dear sister wasn’t the only one affected,” said Celestia in a somber tone, catching the eyes from everypony present. “What do you mean?” Asked Twilight, then Fluttershy added, “is… is there something wrong with the day too? Because… um, it looks fine to me.” “Well, I wasn’t the one who raised the sun today,” she said, her head looking down slightly while still embracing her sobbing sister. Collective gasps from everypony present was heard. “Which is why we want this conversation to never leave this room. The panic it could create is immeasurable, so please, we implore you, to keep this to yourselves,” Luna said after she regained some of her regal composure, casting a look towards the mares and dragon in the room. All of them nodded, most where shaken from the situation. “Don’t worry your majesties, we won’t say a word to anypony,” declared Rarity, and with no objections to her statement, the princess continued. “I’m glad we can count on you, but since we may be facing something completely different I will take precautions.” Celestia looked at them, Twilight in particular. “I’m sending the royal guard to your town, make sure that you are safe. If you are to pursue this matter into the Everfree further, make sure to take your brother with you,” she stated while staring at the purple unicorn, getting some odd looks from the mares, except Twilight herself and Spike. “Wait, you are going to send in-?” “Although he has other matters to attend to, I believe this is far more important than an old legend of a broken kingdom,” she finished. “Hold on a second, you have a brother?!” “Ah didn’t know yeh had a sibling” “Wow a new pony! I can’t wait to throw him a welcoming party!” “Why darling, you never said you had a brother, what does he do?” And so on most mares bombarded the poor unicorn with questions. “Yes, I’m sorry I haven’t told you about him, you can throw him a party, and he is captain of the royal guard” “WHAT?!?!” The ponies present blurted out loud, the princesses and zebra watching with amusement. “We are sorry to hear of your plight, but now we must part before we lose our sight,” finished Zecora, pointing outside showing the sun setting. “I’m sorry girls but I believe she is right. I wish you good luck my little ponies,” -She turned to the dragon- “and Spike,” -She looked at the zebra- “and you too Zecora.” Celestia fared them goodbye, but before they had a chance to leave, she trotted towards the massive throne room’s doors, and called out. “Guards!” Celestia called her royal security. A couple of guards showed up, bowing before her. “Yes your majesty?” Both said simultaneously. “Go get Captain Shining Armor and tell him that he must leave his previous assignment to gather a small platoon of onehundred and go with them to protect Ponyville.” “At once your majesty.” They bowed again, and left through the hallway. Everypony bowed before their rulers, and traveled back home before they ran out of sunlight. Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Night After eating the bird I killed a few hours ago, I felt better. I also realized I needed to cook my food somewhere better than just hovering it over my fire. That and I needed some sort of place to put my food in. I approached the Science Machine, and found the recipe I needed, but I was lacking the fuel to make it. Using my spear to take some of the already burnt logs from my fire I let them cool down on the stone floor. No need to burn the forest down just so I can get some coal. In the meantime I worked on the Alchemy Engine, which was coming along nicely. Sure, it was confusing at times, and was taking its sweet time, but I persevered. I wanted to see this project of mine through and through. After an hour I felt tired, the coal was ready, and all the parts were made, all I needed was to assemble both and I was done, but I felt my bed calling out to me, so I obliged and sat on my grass cushion. I pulled my amulet from my vest and turned it over, looking at my bearded face. I looked good in a beard, so there is no way I’m shaving this! Having little else to do, besides fawning over my beard, I fell to sleep. A way out?Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Early Morning I woke up very early today, so I used my time to assemble both my ‘Alchemy Engine’ and my new cooking station, the crock pot I think it was called. I just had to place the coal on the ground, and support a stone stove over it with some sticks, nothing too fancy. At least I now had somewhere to cook my food more properly. Then I began to build the second research station. It was kind of hard, considering how complex it was, but in the end I finally got some nice results. The new contraption appeared to be far more refined than the Science Machine. It looked like one of those globes people had as maps, supported by three wooden legs and a wooden ring around it. It had a golden cable connecting it to the ground. It also had some sort of valve, and at the top it had two golden spheres connected by a wooden antenna protruding from the globe itself. This time I wasn’t skeptical, if this is as good, or even better, than my previous machine, it had to be great. And now, how do I turn this thing on?! I tried the valve, turned it clockwise a few times before it came to life, and like the Science Machine, a softer but evident whirring noise came out of it. My mind was flooded with even more ideas now, it was crazy! So many things I could build craft and use to my advantage. It was even more science-y than the last one! Looking through the recipes I found some very interesting things. But most of them made sen- …! Huh? What in the world…? There is yet ANOTHER contraption within the recipes. It looked odd, but so did the rest of the machines. It was called th- … …um… …erm… se-seriously…? Well, that’s a very dumb name, apparently it was called the ‘Prestihatitator’… “Who would name something that?” I asked myself, seriously! Huh, it was also listed under the “Magic” section… “Wait, I CAN USE MAGIC?!” That’s so ridiculous! There is no such thing as magic! … is there…? Well, considering the things I’ve been through so far, I really shouldn’t put it beyond me. Besides, if it did exist, it would probably help me in escaping this awful forest. However the materials for making this thing didn’t make a lick of sense, and I was already regretting even considering building such a thing. For starters I needed four live rabbits, with horns… Oh, and also a Top Hat, because, why not?! At least the boards and gold needed weren’t an issue, but I really don’t want this to become a failed project. Looking through my pile of materials, I really needed something for storage because this was getting ridiculous, I sadly found out I was fresh out of wood. Making myself another axe, I went towards the forest to gather some more logs to; A) make the ridiculous Prestihatitator, and B) have some fire wood for tonight. This was going to be a long day. Ponyville, Early Morning Almost everypony was asleep, some were just about to get up, and others fueled themselves with some good old morning coffee. This was until several guards approached the quaint town, all of them fully clad in golden royal armor. Everypony who was already awake took notice of this, but they all knew the royal guard was there to protect them. The only problem was from what? Then a particular guard stepped up, and knocked on the town’s library door. “It’s a public library! Just come inside!” Was heard from within, the mare who said it was obviously irritated. “And here I thought you would be more excited to see your big brother,” came the masculine voice of the Captain of the guard, while stepping inside the building. “Shining?” Twilight immediately snapped her attention towards her brother. “Twily!” He said, pulling his sister into a warm embrace. “So how was the train ride?” “It was long and boring, but now that I’m here it was worth it,” said the eldest brother. “Well, can you come inside? I’ve been waiting for so long to tell you how great it has being living here at Ponyville, erm, minus the chaos…” “I wish I could, but right now I need to rally my troops to organize them, Captain of the guard and all.” “Oh…” “Don’t worry though, after I’m done I’ll make sure we have some time together,” he said while beaming a smile towards his little sister. With an adorkable squeal, she thanked him whilst hugging him before he left the library. By the time it was dusk, all the guards where already by their post, or patrolling around the town. Most ponies where curious as to why there where so many guards and why they where needed, however whenever they tried to ask, the ponies where turned down, dismissed or simply told that it was royal matters. Even though it put the town on edge, they still kept with their daily activities as if nothing was wrong. Ponyville was the most targeted town for disaster, so they thought the guards where a nice addition considering previous events. Before long, their captain was free of his duty, and decided to check on his sister. After an hour or so of chatting about their lives, their experiences and mostly catching up, he said: “With all of my troops placed, and the town thankfully doesn’t seem to be panicking, I guess this is as good time as any to talk to you about something,” Shining told Twilight. “Well, I already told you how I’ve been, my friends and adventures we had during my stay here in Ponyville, so what else do you want to talk about?” She asked her brother. “Well, last I heard was that you and your friends where tasked to go to the Everfree, but I don’t know what or why yet.” “Oh, I can’t really tell you all of it, and I’m sorry,” she then added, “but what I can tell you is that there is something hiding in the forest, and that me and my friends need to find out what so we can get some answers.” “Answers? Answers to what Twily?” “Wait, you haven’t noticed yet?” She asked confused. “Noticed what? Something is wrong?” He started to get worried. “Well, let’s just say that there is something wrong with the dark while its night, and the princesses fear it may have something to do with what we are trying to find in the forest” “Well then, how about me and some of my soldiers go with you next time you go there?” He asked. Twilight remembered the advice Celestia gave her, so she had no other choice but to agree; “Yes, of course! I would love for you to come.” “Good, now what did you mean by ‘something wrong with the dark while its night’?” “You’ll see pretty soon, don’t worry, as long as you have a light there should be no problem,” she reassured her brother. “Well, until then, let me tell the guards about this, just in case,” he said before leaving the town’s library. Robert’s POV, Everfree Forest, Late Morning When I finished gathering some logs and putting them back at the castle, I sent out to find these weird rabbits. I had made a couple of traps and gathered some berries to use them as bait, just in case these things where real. It wasn’t long until I found a smaller clearing than the one I’m using as a temporary home. It had fewer trees, and there were some holes in the ground, much like the ones rabbits use to live. It was then when one of them popped his tiny little head out of one, its eyes where completely blank, and it had small antlers on top of its furry little head… … why are you a thing… … just… … just why?… Well, I was looking for you anyway, so might as well do what I came to do in the first place. I placed one of the traps down, baiting it with some of my berries, and waited as I hid behind one of the berry bushes, and while I picked it clean I saw the rabbit come closer. Before long it was trapped inside my small trap, trying hard to get out. Good, now to get three more. I grabbed the already trapped rabbit and placed it on my backpack, making sure the little creature could breathe through an opening, but not enough for it to escape. I felt him, at least I thought it was a male, wriggle on my back, but I paid him no mind and searched for three more. Three horned rabbits later, I had enough of them to fill my backpack, and bring back to my camp. They sure where scared, and they should be, because not even I knew what I would end up doing with them. Walking back to the ruins I pondered, where in this forest was I going to get a top hat? I remembered there being a recipe for that, but I didn’t look into it since I wasn’t going to use it back then. Finally inside of the castle, I consulted my Alchemy Engine. And… …oh… Yeah… that’s not happening… There is no way I’m going to take silk from those GIAGANTIC SPIDERS! I barely managed to kill the turkey! How do you expect me to take down a spider nest with a SPEAR!? Huh…? I browsed through the knowledge the engine had to offer, and found out there was some armor I could craft for myself. Hmm, well, wooden armor is better than nothing I suppose… Wait, was I seriously considering this? If it meant I could make a new machine to help me get out from this place, then yes, I guess I was. I crafted myself some lengths of rope with my remaining grass, and used some of my wood to craft this ‘Log Suit’. After I was done it looked like a vest, but made of wood. Uh…huh… I needed more than to protect my chest, those buggers could still bite at my limbs if I’m not careful! Using more of my resources I crafted more wooden protection. When I was done, I wore my armor, and realized how stupid I looked. Apart from the vest, I made myself separate plates of armor that protected my arms and legs. It wasn’t much, but in the very least it would protect me if they tried to bite me. Just then, tiny little squeaks let me know of my other, fuzzy, problem. I made the rabbits a small pen, making sure they wouldn’t easily escape it. It was also made out of wood, and I was almost out of it. After checking that everything was secured, none of the armor plates would slip from my limbs, my amulet secured in my vest, and spear in hand, I walked in the direction of where I knew was one of the spider dens. It didn’t take long to find it, but it was already dusk by the time I arrived. Some of the spiders were walking around, oblivious to my presence. “Ok, breathe, all I need to do is kill them, and then grab as much of their web as possible and make the stupid Prestihatitator,” I silently muttered to myself. “I’m going to stomp you dead!” I charged at them, spear raised and ready to bash some spiders. *HISSSSSSAAAAAHHGGGHH* One of them crawled towards me, but before it could bite me I smacked him across its ugly face, sending it sprawling towards its nest. *HIIIIIIISSSAAAARAAAHHHGGGGGGGG* *RAAAAAAAAASHHHHHGG* *HIISSSSSSSSSSSSS* … this was such a bad idea! One of them lunged at me, but he only caught me by the plated part of my arm, so I shoved him off. However the other two took this as an opportunity to bite at my legs, both chomping on my unprotected knees. “OUCH!” I threw my spear in panic to try and impale one of them, but I missed and it got stuck into the ground. They almost made me trip, but luckily I sustained my balance by supporting myself with a nearby tree. Using my legs I kicked them both off, and ran for my spear, swearing never to let go of it ever again. My body was pumping with adrenaline as I picked my weapon and swung it towards the nearest spider, a purple liquid staining the crude blade after it connected with its skull. It dropped to the ground and stopped moving, while what I assumed was his blood was oozing out of the wound I managed to make. “Ewwww!” Calm down, and breathe. One down, two to go. Now I used my spear to stab at lefty, while kicking righty out of the way. I managed to hit its eye, but it was now angrier than ever. It lunged at my feet again, thankfully though, this time it bit the wooden plate. I had no time to shake lefty from my leg for righty was getting back into the battle. Kicking both spiders against each other, I managed to shake lefty off and dazed him long enough for me to stomp him. Righty, however, was fully aware by the time I finished with his hairy friend. He tried to bite at me, but I blocked his attack with my spear. Before it could do anything I rushed him and used my weapon to do a downwards stab, impaling him to the ground. “Ah” *pant* “gah” *wheeze* “ah” *pant* “ah… dam, that was exhausting!” I managed to say, before the pain in my knees started registering once my heartbeat steadied. I sat on the ground, removed the wooden plates of armor and stared at my abused legs. The fabric of my pants was tattered, and on my knees, plus part of my right leg, where small gaping holes. However, they didn’t hurt half as much as I thought they should, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to walk without limping, and I wasn’t bleeding out either. Then I realized I was still wearing my amulet. If this thing actually worked, then who is to say magic isn’t real? I sat up, wincing ever so slightly, and made sure the den was empty from any more critters. “Good, now how do I bring it back? Wait I got an idea!” I took my spear from the spider’s corpse and used it to entangle it with the web, turning it around so it could gather the web like some sort of Halloween cotton candy. I kept spinning it before it became too heavy to lift, and walked back home. Robert's POV, Castle Ruins, Night By the time I arrived it was almost night, so I made the campfire roar and placed some food on the pot. I was really hungry, if not starving, for some food. I don’t think I’ve ever been this hungry before, it was probably the fight that took out most of my energy. While the food was cooking, I took off my armor and checked my wounds again. By Darwin, Mike wasn’t kidding, this thing was almost done healing my legs! Michael… I have been here for days, he must be worried sick about me, one more reason to get home as fast as possible I’d say. Now, using the silk from my fight with the spiders, I crafted some of it into a nice little Top Hat. It looked very fashionable indeed. Too bad I needed it for something else. Making the parts for the new contraption was easy, so it didn’t take me long to finish it. By the time I was done, I looked at this strange new machine, it had a lever like the first one I build. I tried to push it upwards, but it wouldn’t budge, something was missing… OH right! The rabbits! I picked the little creatures up, and shoved them down the hat. They screamed a little before calming down inside of the machine. Erm, is this going to kill them or something? I really hoped not. I pushed the lever upwards, and it seemed to be working. The hat was bouncing up and down, and when I looked at the inside, it was empty. Huh? Where did all the rab- “WHOA!!!” THAT’S NEW!! WHAT IS GOING ON?! “Bloody hell! That’s some magic alright!” I browsed through the amazing recipes this thing had, and came to a sad conclusion. I didn’t own half the resources needed to make any of these artifacts work… Where was I going to get gems? What in Darwin’s name is a Mandrake?! And why did I get a bad feeling about using something called ‘Nightmare Fuel’?! … this is sad… At least I found my amulet, but I needed this strange fuel and a red gem to make a backup, and that’s not mentioning my precious gold. There were other things too it, even another magical station, but I didn’t know where or how I could get the materials I needed. This was such a waste of ti- Wait! What is this?! I could make something called the “Jury-Rigged Portal”, and if it does what I think it does… “I can craft myself a way out!” With my newfound energy and motivation, I ate my dinner and began getting the things necessary for this portal. This was going to be great! IT IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK FUCKNUT, YOU ARE THE MOST RETARDED DON’T STARVE PLAYER EVER! He never even played the game… 'The Birds and the Bees & Dogs That Want to Kill You'Everfree Forest, Morning A big group of ponies, dragon and zebra where traversing the dense forest. The elements of harmony, the zebra and dragon we all know far too well. But there, at the front of the group, was the Captain of the guard, two of his soldiers flanking him, while three more where trotting behind the group of mares. “So where do ya’ll reckon we’ll find it?” Asked the farm pony towards the group. “Well, have you ever seen it before?” Asked Shining back at the mare. “Uh, we saw it somewhere around the crooked trees, where the, erm, graveyard was…” Said the dragon, unsure if he should have said that or not. Almost all ponies present flinched, but the zebra, party pony and captain kept their composure. “Graveyard? I never knew you had one so deep in the Everfree” Said one of the pegasus guards. “We don’t” Replied the purple unicorn mare. At this point the guard’s eyes opened wide. “Specially not one that says ‘Milk, eggs and bacon’” Said the pink pony, cheerful as ever, while pointing towards one of the graves. The guards and their captain stared incredulously at the mare, before realizing she was right. This also meant they entered the same graveyard as before. “C’mon everypony, last time it ran that way!” Said Dash, while pointing at the direction of the Castle and flying towards it. “Woah there kiddo! We are here to protect you! And we can’t do that if you speed past us like that” Said the pegasus guard from before, while flying in front of the mares path, keeping her from flying further. “Hey what gives!?” “Rainbow, remember when ah had to pull yeh out from them spiders?” Reminded Applejack, scolding her with a look. “Yeah, yeah, thanks again by the way” She replied back sincerely, while flying close to her friends. *snicker* *whispering* “What’s so funny?” Asked Dash indignantly. “Spiders?” Asked the unicorn guard who was laughing. “Hey, give her a break Go Fish, maybe she is arachnophobic!” “If you were there, then maybe you would understand!” Replied the embarrassed mare. “Oh please, what’s so scary about spi-?” *thack* *thack* *thack* “-huh?” “What in Equestria?” She tried to get her hooves unstuck from the webbed forest floor, before a very peculiar sound was heard: *HIISSSSSSSSSSSSS* *HIIIIIIISSSAAAARAAAHHHGGGGGGGG* *HHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHH* *HISSSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAARRRHHHGGGGGGG* *RAAAAAAAAASHHHHHGG* “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK” She screamed while dozens of giant spiders appeared from three massive dens. The pegasus guard dove in and got her out from the webbing swiftly before any of the spiders got close enough to harm her. “Behind me!” Ordered their captain, before lighting up his horn and creating a solid, purple shield to separate them from the giant arachnids. The spiders recoiled from the light, and crawled back to their dens. “You were saying?” Said the rainbow maned mare, getting an annoyed glance from the guard. “Gee sis, you weren’t kidding about something being wrong with the forest” Said Shining, before the group regained formation and continued to walk in the direction of the castle. “Not, one, word, Stonewing” *muffled giggles* Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Early Morning I was almost too excited to sleep last night I just had to wake up as early as possible. I went to the magic station and saw what I needed. Hmm, well, everything seems doable, but where the hell was I going to get a couple of crows? I’m not giving up! I went to the engine, and found a bird trap that would serve me well. Wasting no time I used some of my giant pile of silk and made the trap. I placed it outside, and rigged it. After waiting for some time, an unlucky crow got caught. Good, now I need one more. The next bird I trapped was red, dam. “Well, sorry about that, here you go” I said as I set the bird free. After one more try I finally managed to trap the next crow, and brought them inside. Alright, I plucked some feathers, and then tied the two birds together. I made a mix with the feathers, ashes and some of my berries. Then I had to, huh? Well, whatever, the amulet will take care of that. I made a small cut on my hand, letting the blood drip down and added it to the mix. I watched in amazement at how quickly the small cut healed. Now that this strange mix was done, I needed to make the frame of the portal. I then crafted a small bag with some grass and chucked the crows inside before closing it. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, but I let the aura of knowledge flow into me enough to know this is how it must be done. After an hour or so, I managed to get all the parts done. I used some of my stones to make the base of the frame. Then refined my wood and made the rest. Using some of my leftover wood, I crafted the wheels and gears it needed. Then I crafted a wooden scale, putting the mix on the right side, and placed the bag with the crows on the left side. I was on fire today! Then I began assembly, a pain in the ass, but still worth it. The wheels were placed, the contraption was made, and strange things grew from the top of it. Again I had to take a moment and question what the hell I had built. But that didn’t take long for I was dying to turn it on. I threw the switch, and watched the machine start up with wonder. Yes! I can finally get out of this f- *Pata* *thump* Castle Ruins The group of ponies, dragon and zebra stumbled upon the castle’s entrance. After their encounter with the spiders on the forest, the guards where very wary. Carefully, they entered the ruins. Inside, was a sight to behold. There where various machines and weird contraptions sprawled across the throne room, all of them having some motion to them. There where piles of rocks, logs, gold, grass, sticks and silk around them. It was an awful mess. “What in Equestria is going on here?” Twilight whispered to herself, the group agreeing upon looking at the chaos before them. A random butterfly fluttered by. Then there was this ominous noise coming from deeper within the castle, surpassing the sounds the machines where making. They stayed quiet, slowly approaching the way towards the new noise. Before long, they encountered a new contraption. It looked like a giant portal, and before it stood a creature. Its shape was bipedal, it had a black wavy mane with an odd shape, and was clad in tattered, but once handsome, dapper clothing. It seemed to be staring at the machine with wonder, while the wheels and gears of it turned faster and faster. When the noise it was making reached its peak, an object shot out of the portal, made a strange drum sound colliding with the creature’s face, and both fell to the ground with a loud ‘thump’. “…” “Well, that happened…” Said Pinkie Pie, perfectly depicting the entire group’s current thoughts. “Erm, yeah, yeah it did…” Said one of the guards. “Then, what are you waiting for? Grab it!” Ordered their captain, quickly getting his troops out of their daze. “What about the drum?” Asked one of the guards who wasn’t carrying the creature. “Bring it too, but don’t let it get close to the drum, we don’t know what they are capable of” He commanded. Ponyville, Afternoon It was near dusk before the group arrived back at the town. They were quickly met by the guards, but upon seeing their captain, they let them pass with the odd creature on their backs. They all met up at the town’s library, so that they could take a closer look at the strange being. To help pass the time until it woke up, Twilight, Zecora and Shining began to inspect the creature, making Spike write down as much as he could. Meanwhile, Pinkie pulled out a board game and set it on top of the drum, producing the same *pata* sound as before. She started playing checkers with one of the guards, who lost quickly and another took his place. “What?! How did you do that?!” He asked her surprised. “She is Pinkie Pie darling, just don’t question it” Answered Rarity, getting various nods of approval. Twilight first casted some diagnostic spells to it. This thing was odd, since it lacked the magic most sentient beings usually had in Equestria. After looking at the creature, few things where obvious. It wasn’t anything Equis had ever seen, or at least ever recorded in history. It was also a male and judging by his clothing plus the odd machinery found within the castle, a very smart one. He appeared to be wearing something around his neck, but before anypony or zebra could do anything, he began to stir. “Um, I think he might be waking up” Said Twilight to everypony in the vicinity. The guards quickly stepped in, making sure to position themselves so they could neutralize him if he turned out to be hostile. Robert's POV “Guh, erm… what… what happened…?” I muttered out loud. Why does the ground feel different... And why do I feel like someone is whaAAAAAAAARRHHH!??!?! “GAHHH-!” *thump* “-…ow…” FUCK, my HEAD! As I rubbed my abused head from front to back, I realized I was being talked to. “Ugh, just… give me a second I can’t even think right now…” I muttered weakly, hoping my amulet would heal my poor skull quickly. “I said IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” A commanding voice shouted at my face, what an asshole. Erm, should I tell it to fuck off, my real name, or lie? “Eh, you can call me Wilson” I stated simply, remembering my cosplay's name. “The gentleman scientist at your service” I added with a small bow. What? It’s better than nothing! After I regained more of my senses I realized I was surrounded by horses in some expensive looking armor wielding spears pointed at me. I jumped back when one of the horses, a purple one without armor or a weapon, got straight in my face. “How are you doing that?” She stated simply. “What are you…” “You had hit your head when we first found you, but there is no bruise anymore” Oh yeah, I did didn't I? Wait, how did I- “And right now after you hit your head again I’m sensing some magic healing it as we speak” “Wait, you said I hit my head when you found me, did YOU have something to do with that?!” I asked her. “Uh, you don’t remember?” She asked back. Wait, I do, I was building my portal, and when it turned on… “Heh, I do now, soo where is the thing that hit me?” I asked, I needed to know what it was, for if it came out of the portal it could probably help me escape! “I’m not telling you anything until you answer my question” She informed me, and was it just me? Or where the armored horses backing away from her?! “Erm, what did you mean again? Oh wait, yeah, it’s my amulet!” I said proudly, taking my precious gem for all to see, or at least her before she kills me for it… And then she snatched it from me, but before I could voice my complains the other horses stepped forward, blocking my way. “Hey! That’s mine! I paid good mon- my friend paid good money for it!” “Not until I figure out how it works” She called out, further away from me with every word. I crossed my arms, seriously what the hell is wrong with her? “Look… erm… Wilson? It will be much easier if you can cooperate with us” Said one of the horses, I assumed he was the leader, because he was the only one with a distinct armor than the rest. Deciding it was best to behave, totally not because of their weapons aimed at me, I sat down and crossed my arms. Then I heard it, it sounded distant, but having nothing else to do but sit around it was easy to pick up. “Did you hear that?” I asked them. “Hear what?” *growl* “That!” “Actually, I think I di-” *growl* *bark* *growl* “What was that?” Asked the purple, horse, girl, thing? There was a name for them but I can’t put m- “Oh, we are mares” Thank yo- wait What? “What are you talking about Pinkie?” Another MARE said, a bit on the tomboyish side. *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* “Oh oh, twitchy tail, TWITCHY TAIL” Pinkie, I believe, called out fanatically. What is goi- Hold on, I remember Mike telling me something about the growling in the game. “And those aren't the only danger that come looking for you” Mike finished explaining something from the game I didn’t care about for the eleventh time. “uh huh” I called out uninterestedly. “There are also these ‘hound attacks’, and if they catch you off guard, it can seriously be a major problem” “uh huh” “You will first hear these growling and snorting noises coming from afar” “uh huh” “But then they get louder, and louder, until you can hear them running towards you to kill you” “uh huh” “But that’s not the worst part, they attack like every week, and every wave there is a new hound” “uh huh” “And this is even worse when playing with other people, because their numbers double with each player” “uh huh” “So if it’s just the first wave, but there are four players in the world, there would be eight hounds instead of just two” “stahp” “Oh, and there is also the other bosses in the game that can attack you if you are not careful” This was quite the long ride. “Uh, how many of you live in this place?” I said, my voice cracking a little. “There are about four thousand ponies living here in Ponyville, why do you ask?” *whimper* “that’s-" *gulp* "-that’s eight thousand hounds…” I barely muttered. *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* I’m dead. *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* *growl* *bark* WE are dead. *GROWL* *bark* *GROWL* *SNORT* *growl* *BARK* *growl* *SNORT* *GROWL* *snort* EVERYONE IS SO DEAD! "Facing insurmountable odds, with black, one-eyed midgets..."Robert's POV, Ponyville *GROWL* *BARK* *GROWL* *SNORT* *GROWL* *BARK* *GROWL* *SNORT* *GROWL* *SNORT* “GAH! All that growling won’t let me concentrate!” ARE YOU SERIOUSLY MORE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR STUPID GAME OF CHECKERS RIGHT NOW?! The armored pony used his hooves to smack the board, sending it flying. I then noticed that whatever they were using as a table flew away from them. Before any of the ponies could try and catch it, it landed on my lap. "To those who beat the drums of war, To those who face insurmountable odds, Beat the sacred drum, And I will help you conquer your foes!" “…” “My name is Wilson Percival Higgsbury, and I’m so dead right now you cannot begin to comprehend! Please please please PLEASE HELP ME!!!” I panicked and screamed at the air while beating my hands frantically on the strange white drum. “Hey! I thought I told yo-” Their pony leader began to say, before a green light appeared in the middle of the room. As I looked up, I saw a green swirling mass of smoke producing the light. “What on Earth is that?!" I asked no one in particular. Then a figure stepped out of the green portal. It looked humanoid, but its 'skin' was as black as the nights in this forsaken land. Its shape was too flat, too generic, heck it wasn't wearing any clothing besides a weird hat, yet there was nothing that may distinguishing it as a male besides the lack of breasts. His nose and ears where mostly gone, only small elevations on his head like an early sketch begging to be done. But what I found most eerie was his eyes and mouth. His eyes where perfectly circular, and there was no color to them for they where black irises on white contrast. And his mouth seemed to be drawn over with white paint on his face, for there was no depth to it whatsoever. This was until it moved to speak, acting like any mouth on a cartoon should. “That was unpleasant” The strange guy said, by his tone it was clear he was male. He began to look around, and I noticed the armored ponies aimed their weapons at him. It just got worse from there when black, one eyed freaking MIDGETS with spears, shields and bows stepped out of the portal. They also had his eyes, along with the strange hat on their bald heads. I really don’t know what the fuck just happened, all I know is that apparently he is the owner of this strange drum in my hands, for he asked: “So, who summoned us?” And everything in the goddamn room pointed at me as I raised my hand. I could barely keep it up without shacking, for he was STARING at me with those freaky looking eyes of his. *GROWL* *BARK* *GROWL* *SNORT* *GROWL* *BARK* *GROWL* *SNORT* *GROWL* *SNORT* “I assume that whatever’s barking are the things you want me to kill?” Oh right… the hounds… Man he sounded like a robot, heck he could be a robot for all I know! “Uh huh...” “Could you please tell me what we’re going to fight?” WE?! HAVE YOU EVEN LOOKED AT ME?! Wait, you did, and it was very unpleasant… “...hounds...” I said helpful as ever, while he rested his hand on his face. Also, apparently the eyes of both him and the midgets worked as eyebrows, like some sort of children's show they still managed to get some expression out of them. “Let’s go then.” Before I could try and say anything, drums began to sound as if they where everywhere around him. *Pata pata pata pon* The black, one-eyed midgets marched forward to the door, despite the fact that they could barely move in the small... library? It has quite the collection of books... “Pata pata pata pon!” Oh for fucks sake that is CREEPY... they all sang along the ethereal beatings of the drums! I shook my head hard to try and focus, all this weirdness had stunned me. “You don’t understand, there are a lot of hounds!” I warned him, before he turned back to me and smiled... Great! some fuel to haunt my dreams... “Dogs can’t beat us, my friend.” Is it wrong that I'm still very afraid? *Pata pata pata pon* “Pata pata pata pon!” Then another very small pony came into the room from the portal, singing with the rest of the group. I also took note of her small wings and horn atop her tiny little head. “Hello!” She said while waving her arm around, looking extremely cute all the way. “Uh, hi?” One of the armored ponies said, and honestly I could tell I'm not the only one confused about all this crap. The cute small pony simply smiled while catching up with the rest of her group. “Well, I’m going outside. Don’t get in my army’s way PLEASE.” The black guy said, before slamming aga-HE CAN GO THROUGH WALLS?!?! “Hold it right there you, erm, thing!” HEY! That's VERY racist! But before I could voice my thoughts, their horse leader ran after him. I tried to run after them too, but I was surrounded by a purple aura, like if something physical was keeping me in place. "Nuh uh, you sir are NOT going anywhere after the stunt you just pulled by bringing them here with your drum!" Said the purple, unicorn mare, I also noticed she, and all the other ponies in the room had some sort of unique picture on their butts... weird... "Oh, those are our cutie marks you are staring at!" Wait, what? Why are they all looking at me li- OH GOD NO, NOPE FUCK NO!!! "I DIDN'T MEAN TO" I all but screamed at them while averting my eyes... Why was this happening?! I then took a moment to realize most of the grumbling had died down, and dared peek outside a nearby window. "Oh no!" I called out, pointing at the massive wave of hounds coming from the forest. But before they managed to enter the town, a gigantic shield made of purple light encased the town. "Don't worry, my brother has it all covered! I bet that shield could encase the entire Can-" That is as much as the purple mare could get, before obvious cracks where forming around the shield. "Oh, crap I must warn him!" I didn't care anymore, I bolted for the door, leaving the mares speechless and ran towards the strange guy. After catching up with the group of black midgets and their leader, I shouted: “That's what I was trying to say in the first place!” He then turned towards me. “How many do you think?” He asked me, and I was not sure if telling him was a good idea or not. “... ehehehe erm… around...eight thousand...” I barely muttered, how on Earth do I break this to him?! He sighed, quickly followed by his hand once again resting on his face, what was the expression again? “Please say that again, Could you?” “Eh, well if my calculations are correct, and I really hope not, there should be somewhere between, erm, seven thousand to eight thousand hounds…” His eye twitched right after I said this, and I felt like I had failed my math homework. “Your joking, right?” Ehehehe... no... no I'm not. “Well, might as well get on with it.” He said this, his expression turning serious. “Wait, how many did yo-?” The armored unicorn tried to say something, before his eyes grew wide as I stared terrified at the cracks on the shield. Hey at least most of the ponies had already ran somewhere safe by now! Looking back at the other guy, I realized he was calm and collected. Does he really think he can wi-OHGODHERETHEYCOME!!! Befor I knew it, the drum on my hands floated away from me, transforming into a strange, new green one. “I like our chances now.” The guy said with a smile on his face, before reaching out to tou-HUH?! IT DISAPPEARED!! *Chaka chaka pata pon* The strange noise rang across the wind, reaching towards the small army. “Chaka chaka pata pon!” I hid behind a nearby bush and watched as the army immediately got into some form of practiced formation with ease. Their shields stood at the front, ready to take on the wave of relentless hounds. All the while spears and arrows rained hell upon the devilish beasts. And wow, the cute blue pony from before was using her weirdly shaped swords to attack them, but she lacked the experience the rest of the army sported. But then I noticed this was probably not enough, for their numbers where too great they almost engulfed the poor midgets, almost. The ponies finally decided to lend a hand, erm hoof? With the two combined efforts of the ponies and black, one-eyed midgets, the hounds where held back with ease. This isn't so bad! ... Aaaand I fucking jinxed it didn't I? *Chaka chaka pata pon* “Chaka chaka pata pon!” As the sounds of drums filled the air once more, they increased their efforts, well, as much as they could. And OMGWTFBBQ!?!?! Okay?!?!? Apparently the red ones EXPLODE IN A SHOWER OF FLAMES AFTER DYING!!! I backed away slightly, until I felt a small drizzle. As I looked up I saw a few of the flying ponies... erm, wut? They where using their hooves to gather CLOUDS and force them to rain upon the flaming hell the battle had become. Not only that, but some of the unicorns lit up their horns to help with most of their fire... yeah I don't really understand that logic either... *Chaka chaka pata pon* “Chaka chaka pata pon!” The drums and the army cried again, taking the hound waves with ferocity that would put most battles to shame. Until one of the midgets with a shield got a chunk of flaming hound stuck on him, and began running around like a chicken that lost its head while screaming bloody murder all the way. This left a hole in their seemingly unbreakable defense, until the small pony managed to barely hold them back, some of the midgets with spears aiding her. The pony who was leading his troops used his horn to create a similar barrier like before, but much smaller and potent able to hold the beasts off of them. *Chaka chaka pata pon* “Chaka chaka pata pon!” As they singed their battlecry, the shield midget got back to his post, giving the pony a much needed rest. How the hell did he managed to put out the fire by running around instead of 'Stop, Drop and Roll' is beyond me, I thought running only vented the flames and made it worse? *Chaka chaka pata pon* “FEVER!” What seemed impossible just happened, for the army of black midgets plus cute-small-pony DOUBLED their resolve, resulting in the cutting edge for the battle. This also seemed to have some affect to the armored ponies, for they too decided to fight harder than ever. This just basically fucked the hellhounds over so hard, the battle was finally coming to a close. Heck even when the ponies themselves became too exhausted to fight, the remains of the enemy was too small to take the midgets on. Soon enough, there where no more hounds and the ponies where sprawled on the floor panting heavily. The midgets however seemed more energetic by their victory, for fucks sake what do they run on?! AIR?!?! For a moment I thought there would be a gigantic mess of rotting corpses littering all around the area, but it seemed they where dissolving into the very air, becoming motes of shadows before burning out in the very sunlight. Then I noticed I wasn't entirely wrong, nor right. All across the battlefield where sprawled about teeth, chunks of smoldering meat and... RED GEMS?!?! The mysterious black guy floated towards the unicorn leader, saying: “My advice for next time, try not to antagonize possible help. The next person through here might not be as friendly as me.” I don't think he payed too much attention to what he said there, for he barely nodded before collapsing again to th- Wait, what did he mean by 'the next person'? I noticed the midgets gathering the spoils to their war, and this included the gems. Crap I must act quickly! I came out of my hiding spot and ran towards their leader, and promptly thanked him: “Hey! Um, guy uh, thanks for helping me and the town” He smiled softly, I guess he was glad too. However, I still needed something else. “But, can you please save some of the gems for me? I uh, kindoff need them, and some of the teeth too if you don’t mind, erm mister…?” Thankfully he responded: “My name is Kami. We can’t take much back, so sure. But if I may ask, why do you need them?” “Well, I think it would be better if I could show you” I told him, I really did not know what the gems true potential could be unless I properly experiment with them first hand on my research stations. “Where do yah think yer going mister?” Oh... right, the ponies... “What makes you think we are going to let you walk off just like that?” The leader of the pony army asked, seriously is he retarded or something? HE JUST SAVED OUR ASSES, plus you look like you are ready to fall again and sleep for the rest of the day. “And how will you stop us? Just out of genuine interest” Kami grinned at them before responding, and I couldn't help but let a smile graze my face. “Thank you, now if any of you need us, you know where to find us” I told them politely after thanking my companion, I was a gentleman after all, plus I'm pretty sure they know where we are going. “Let’s get MOVING! Just follow this guy!” He pointed at me, and I guided them through the forest as they followed me to the castle. This day turned out pretty ok after all. Author's Note This was the first part to the crossover with Dundredo's "PIE: Patapon In Equestria" Go check out his POV! Have a fantastic day Everyone! "...also known as Patapons"Robert's POV, Castle Ruins, Late Afternoon We walked all the way from the pony town through the forest and got back to the castle. Surprisingly enough, we managed to get back before night had even set. With the last rays of sunlight upon us, we entered the insides of the ruins. “Those are pretty!” Huh? Oh, that was the small unicorn-pegasus, erm, cute-pony, and she was pointing towards one of the many banners that hung on the deteriorated walls. “I like them. Can I take one home with me for a blanket?” she asked Kami, who sighed like a parent would towards their child. Wait, she is not his daughter, is she? I mean how would th- NOOOOOO, GO AWAY IMAGES IN MY BRAIN!!! It took me a moment to shake those thoughts off before realizing I was being asked something. “Wilson, you own this castle essentially. Do you mind?” “Erm, not exactly. I kind of use this as my home, sure, but I’m not its owner,” I said, somewhat hastily. I really need to get out of this place before it messes with my sanity more than it already has. “Unless you know who owns it officially, I think that you are the owner. You claimed this abandoned ruin as your home, after all.” “I guess its okay for you to take one of them, it doesn't seem like anyone cares about this place besides me.” “Thank you!” the pony said adorably. I think I’m going to get diabetes just by staring at her! She lit up her horn as a blue aura appeared surrounding it. Then a similar light engulfed the tapestry and it slowly glided down towards her grasp. Okay, apparently the horns can do that… “Erm, what’s that sound?” the black midget who held what I assumed was their flag asked, and I realized those were the noises from my machines! “Oh, that’s what I was talking about with fangs and the gems!” I told them before practically sprinting to get to my precious beauties faster. As we arrived at my main research area, the midgets stared at my contraptions. Well, that was until a certain blue pony piped up. “What is all this stuff?” she asked, but before I could tell her anything she approached my Science Machine, and when she was pretty close to it, she retreated with a scared look in her eyes. “I don’t like that.” Huh? What do you mean you don’t like it? Wait… “Hmmm, it seems I’m not the only one affected by the machine’s field of knowledge… Interesting.” I thought it was just me and my crazy hair! “Would you please explain?” he asked me, why is he looking at me lik- “Woah woah woah! It’s alright! no need to get feisty!” Sorry if I panicked a little when the small army who helped take out THE EIGHT THOUSAND HOUNDS pointed their weapons at ME! “It’s nothing to be worried about, it’s just knowledge! These machines I’ve built have helped me immensely due to the information they give me whenever I’m around them. Sure it was confusing and scary at first, but after you get used to the recipes, it’s not that bad.” Damn! I never thought it would be that terrifying for the poor small pony, for she was shivering behind one of the shielded midgets. Kami carefully floated near my Science Machine as well, before his freaky eyes opened wide. “This... just wow...” he said as his eyes gleamed. “So many new ideas for Patapons!” Pata-what now… “Huh? What are patapons?” Now everyone slapped their forehead, including the pony with her tiny blue hooves. I swear it was felt throughout the entire castle. Also WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT EXPRESSION?! I STILL DON’T KNOW!! “These guys here are Patapons,” Kami said very slowly, while waving at the black, one-eyed midgets. “Ooohhh, ok then, but what did you mean by ‘new ideas for Patapons’? I thought the Science Machine only had knowledge about tools and buildings and such,” I informed him, he just shrugged and explained. “Patapons are born from a divine tree named Mater.” They are made on a tree? What are they fruit or something? “We bury specific things by her roots, and certain Patapons are born.” So when he said new ideas, that means new recipes for making them, huh that’s very interesting. “And how should I know anything about the knowledge in the science machine? It’s your creation." Hmm, actually that is a very good question. Maybe… “Well, it could vary depending on who uses it. I mean, I haven’t really gotten the chance to test that until now, so shall we experiment?” I had the irresistible urge to do science right now, and I’m liking it! Wait, why is he backing away from me? “Oh! Me please!” said one of the Patapons, before rushing towards my machine. The same strange gleam appeared in his eye as he said, “Ohhh, if I use a hound fang...” He then reached for a tooth from another Patapon “And do this...” he said before smacking the canine on his spear, which bonded with it quite nicely. But then I realized this was not going to end well, because of what he asked for next. “Does anyone have a bone?” As he stared at me, the gleam in his eye grew even stronger. “Maybe that’s enough experimenting. I think that’s too much knowledge,” I said while walking towards him before he could do something stupid. After he left the field of knowledge, the gleam disappeared from his eye. Good. “What just happened?” the Patapon with the new fancy spear asked, before Kami looked at my machine, then turned back to his army. “No one else is allowed near that thing,” he declared. “Agreed.” I really didn’t want to question the black guy’s decision. Really, I don’t think it would be a good idea. Kami pondered for a while, before saying, “I think that we might have a use for something like that, but I would need to make a new one. I don’t want to risk any of my Patapons carrying it back.” “Erm, I’m not sure how to hel-” I began to say, before an idea hit me. “...hmm, that could work.” I could make a blueprint for him so he could build it himself, hopefully this works as well as all my other crazy ideas. I swear it’s my hair, no sane man would ever have it combed like this! “But where am I going to get a piece of paper?” I asked no one in particular, before the mares from before, including the unicorn leader, came in through the doorway. “See, I told you they would be here!” said a pink mare, while the Patapons raised their weapons at them. “It’s not worth it. They couldn’t do anything even if they wanted to,” said Kami, making sure his troops don’t do something very stupid. “We aint here to cause trouble mister, we jus’ wanted ta talk,” said a mare with an evident western accent. “Alright, I’m listening as long as you are,” I told Kami, who seemed to agree. “Speak your mind.” “We wanted to thank you for helping us fight those creatures, and I personally apologize for thinking of you as a threat when you came through as an ally.” The unicorn thanked us with pure honesty. Kami merely told them: “It’s fine. You could have handled it better, but you did alright.” “Hey Twilight, do you have a piece of paper Wilson could borrow?” Pinkie, I believe was her name, asked the purple mare. “Uh, sure but why would he ne-” Pinkie took the paper with her mouth and brought it to me. “Thank you Pinkie, but how did you know I needed that?” I asked the pink, bubbly mare. “She’s Pinkie Pie! You are better off not questioning it,” the pegasus that tried to catch me a few nights ago answered, I reaaaally hope she won’t hold a grudge after the whole spiders thing... “Uh, oh-kay?” I feel the sudden urge to know about their friend now more than ever, but I shrugged. Hopefully I’ll get some answers later. I took the piece of paper and walked towards the Alchemy Engine. Okay, just a simple sketch of the Science Machine would do. And ta-da! Wait, it turned blue for some reason. Eh, I’m not questioning it anymore. I brought the blueprint to the Patapon leader. “Here you go Kami, thanks so much for your help with the hounds, I don’t know if we could have survived without you and your Patapons.” I thanked him again, and placed the bluepri- IT FELL RIGHT THROUGH HIS HANDS?!? WHAT IS HE MADE OF?!? “...Forgot about that for a second. Luna, could you please get that for me?” I guess I’m not the only one who forgets how weird things have gotten. “Sure!” the cute little pony replied adorably, and picked it up with her weird horn magic. “Hello! Didn’t I see you back at the libraryish place?” All ponies besides Pinkie Pie stared at her like she is some sort of ghost or something. “Don’t worry about it.” The more you say that the more I worry. Even the pony guards agree! “So, I assume that you can make things out of the gems and teeth?” Huh? “Oh yeah, RIGHT!” Forgot about that for a second... “Just make a small pile of them somewhere around here and take whatever else is left. If I can make something useful out of them, I bet you could too” I instructed them. If they were taking plans for the Science Machine with them, they could find a way to make the teeth useful, and eventually the gems as well. “Alright! Split the gems and fangs into two piles!” The Patapons did as instructed, before Kami asked me the most horrible question possible. “Do you want any meat as well?” Pal, you don’t say that in front of intelligent, English speaking horses. Seriously, thats like offering bacon on Veganville! “Uh, no,” I said out loud so the ponies could hear me, and then whispered into his ear. “I’m not eating anything in front of them, and especially nothing that is purple!” It’s the same color of the spider’s corpses for crying out loud! “Your loss.” I tried to laugh to make the situation less uncomfortable, I failed miserably. “ANYWAYS, I think it might be time for you to go. I don’t think you came here to stay, right?” I really needed to change the subject before the ponies start asking questions. “No, although I wouldn’t mind coming back at all.” I couldn’t help but smile, I may need his help later. “Alright, if you could follow me, I think I can get you home.” But before we could get moving, Twilight I believe, had a question: “What about us? Can we come with you?” I really don’t want them to get anywhere near my machines, any of them. “Just, erm, sit tight. I’ll come back and try to explain as much as I can. Please don’t touch any of my machines until then,” I told her, and judging by how her eyes were looking at my contraptions, I better hurry. Reluctantly the ponies accepted, after all, Kami saved them. “Gather the stuff that’s ours, and let’s follow him!” I guided them deeper into the castle, making sure to keep the lights bright so we didn’t get lost. Before long we finally arrived at my jury-rigged portal. And as we got close to it, it turned on, as if inviting Kami and his Patapons to cross it. “Well I guess this goodbye,” I told him, extending a hand before he left. “True. It was nice meeting you, Wilson.” I tried to shake his hand, buuuut it kinda went right through his. “Oh, and don’t call me Wilson, it’s not my real name, I just don’t want the ponies knowing, just in case.” You can call me paranoid, I still won’t trust the ponies. “Oh? How so?” “I don’t exactly know them, and I really would appreciate if you helped me keep it that way.” He smiled, again… I’m not sleeping well tonight. “May I know your real name?” he asked me, and I thought about it for a little bit before responding. “Well, after the whole hounds thing I trust you enough to know it’s Robert, Robert Smith.” “I’ll keep your secret safe. Anyway, see you later!” “Time to go home!” Kami addressed his Patapons as they all went through my portal. Man I’m gonna miss them, but I can always ju- …the drum… “Oh fuck, how the hell am I going to call him back!? HE TOOK THE DRUM!!” “WILSON?!” What now!? “YES PINKIE?” “REMEMBER WHEN YOU TOLD TWILIGHT TO NOT TOUCH YOUR STUFF?!?” Author's Note Shout out to Emtu for proof reading this chapter and Dundredo's part on his story! Don't forget to check out his POV, you may find something interesting. Good day everyone! Mad Mare Makes a Mess and the Portal Pukes Piles of ParaphernaliaCastle Ruins, Night After the strange creatures left the ponies, Twilight’s curiosity only grew stronger for the odd contraptions. “Well, he only said touch,” the purple mare assured herself while she approached the machinery. But before she could examine it, a pink mare stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “Nuh uh Twilight, I'm sure he warned us about them for a reason!” insisted Pinkie Pie, trying to make her friend wary of the machines. “I promise not to touch them, but there is nothing wrong with taking a closer look.” She circled around the other mare, getting closer to the nearest machine. “Besides, what kind of harm ca–” That is as much as she said before entering the Science Machine’s field of knowledge. As the ideas flowed into her mind, her brain was working overtime to try and figure out what exactly was going on. Before long, she had a wide, WIDE grin plastered on her face. “Well, this is… interesting!” A gleam could be seen shimmering in her large lavender eyes. “Uh, Twah? Yah alright there?” one of her friends asked her, afraid of what might happen. Pinkie Pie, however, made sure to herd the other ponies as far away from Twilight as possible, with her tail twitching frantically. Twilight began to chant to herself, giggling at her own crazy train of thought. Even Shining Armor knew this was bad, but decided against going to his sister. Last time, trying to stop her only made it worse. “Just let her cool off, girls, and she will be fine,” he attempted to reassure the group. It did absolutely nothing, for Twilight had crafted herself a hammer from the machines. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?!” she asked the group, the hammer held high in her purple aura. “Uh, its nig-” Rainbow began, only for the sound of stones clashing together to cut her off. The Science Machine lived a good life. At this point, the pink mare made up her mind and called out to the human. Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Night … “…Crap...” Crap crap crap crap CRAP! I ran as fast as I possibly could after the voice of the pink mare. I almost tripped once or twice along the stone floors, but eventually made it back to… Oh.. …OH NO…!!! “TWILIGHT! FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING SCIENTIFIC, PUT THE HAMMER DOWN!!!” I all but yelled at the pony, stopping her mid-swing from destroying the last of my machines. She looked at me, then to the ‘Prestihatitator’, then back at me before realization hit her harder than.. noo, I still think she clobbered my poor contraptions harder. There was nothing but rubble left for crying out loud! As she looked back at me, I began to notice a few things wrong with this picture. All the other horses stood away from her, with their rumps to the wall as if to avoid her, probably manic, rampage. Then was the pony herself; her hair was disheveled, and she was covered in soot from her neck down throughout her purple fur. As the violet aura encompassing the hammer dissipated, it clattered to the ground, leaving a very confused and scared mare backing away from me. “I-I…” she tried to form the words, but she just kept staring at me, on the verge of tears. And I am standing here, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Before she could shed a single tear, I sighed while relaxing my posture. “I can always rebuild them later.” That seemed to calm her down, albeit only a little. “Y-you a-are not m-mad?” she asked me shakily. I simply nodded. I mean LOOK AT HER FACE, I would feel bad if I made THAT FACE cry! “Look, as much as it pains me to see my machines destroyed, they are just that. I can rebuild them later, just please stop trying to hammer down my Prestihatitator, I would greatly appreciate it.” I half joked at her, stopping her from going emotional and earning a blush. “That’s a stupid name!” said the rainbow maned mare, I agreed. “I like it!” Why is it always the pink one? “Ok, erm, Wilson? I am sorry for breaking your machines, I-I, I don’t know what came over me,” she apologized, and I honestly think it was enough. Not even I understand them that well, to be honest. “It is quite alright, just... don’t do it again,” I said as I smiled at her, and she took it with a relaxing breath. “I’ll find a way to make it up to you,” the mare said, determination plastered on her purple face. Which reminds me... "You can start by handing me back my amulet," I told her, and she reluctantly complied. "I still want to get a good look at it," she said with a pout, me chucking the amulet in my red, tattered vest. Ah that feels good, so odd but safe. "And you will, but not right now, it's getting late and I'm pretty sure after the whole hounds thing we all are very tired," I said, and received a nod from all the ponies, lizard, and erm, zebra. "And we all are grateful mister, we misjudged you," the cowboy hat wearing mare said as I gratefully nodded. "Hey, now that we found him we can show him to the Princesses!" Princesses? There is royalty in this world? I began to ponder, they must have authority to have those titles and to send these ponies to find me. I will give it a shot, hopefully when we meet there will be more answers than questions. "Hmm, sure I can go see your princesses, but can it wait? I mean it's almost midnight." The ponies beamed, most of them agreeing with tired faces. Then the leader of the small army added, "We need to go as soon as possible, for we were tasked to finding whatever anomaly was in the Everfree. Which, in this case, turned out to be you, I'm sure you understand?" "Yeah, we can go tomorrow if that's alright, just need to check some things," I told him. And with that we said our goodbyes, hopefully everything will turn out better tomorrow. "Bye mister scientist!" I chuckled at Pinkie, that mare is so, I don't know, makes you feel happy just by being around her. After they left me to my own devices, or more like what was left of them, I began to ponder. What was going on!? SERIOUSLY! WHY HAS EVERYTHING BEEN SO WEIRD LATELY?! Ugh, just, backtrack a little. I somehow ended up in this weird place; I am honestly going to consider calling it another world, it is filled with magical, intelligent, talking, and quite cute ponies. Not to mention the weird, but really useful, machines and contraptions I somehow managed to build with the new knowledge that appeared in my mind the moment I got here. I have didn’t mess up my first encounter; in fact, I prevented a town from being massacred thanks to the mysterious drum... that I no longer had… What was it anyways? I mean sure it allowed me to summon a “God” of black, one-eyed midg-er, Patapons. But how and why it even got here eludes me. The portal was made as a way out! Not a way in! Was he just a random coincidence? No, I am a man of SCIENCE! I do not, must not, WILL NOT believe in coincidences! There is something crucial I am missing, and I MUST find answers to it! I began my trek back to the portal, walking sluggishly because I was very tired. Still though, there it gle- … Why is there a pile of junk coming out of it?! WHAT THE HELL!? “HEY, stop puking out random junk!” I yelled as I ran to it. I shut it down and the flow of garbage stopped. The portal winked out, leaving a crazy amount of things and objects and such. This was going to be a problem, a big, messy problem. They must have some connection to that “God” that helped the ponies not get mauled by an army of hounds. Well, no better time than the present! Let’s see, what do we have here? A metal keychain of a skull with spikes protruding from the eye and nose holes, the words ‘Soul Eater. Sword for hire’ engraved on the back of it. A bluish-black scale, seven inches long, shaped like a leaf and razor sharp. A black, feather shaped throwing knife with a six inch blade. A small crystal figure shaped like a fire axe. A perfectly cut black diamond, shiny! And many, many pieces of junk that look like they belong in a gift shop. Oh, and did I mention touching most of them blurted out a very pretentious message? There was this Holy Grail that just kept screaming in my head about these “Servants”, I honestly was tempted to just chuck it back into the portal the moment it began. But this also opened a new door of possibilities, maybe I can try and summon another one to see if they can explain better what on Darwin’s name is going on! “Gah! I need a break from this madness!” And now I’m talking to myself… Well, my castle is in complete disorder, but I’m too tired to do anything about it. I can sort out my machines and the piles of junk, gems and teeth later. Right now I need my sleep; I lose my mind when I don’t get some rest. EndI wish this where, maybe, a little less anti-climactic? I dunno. I am not going to lie to you, but for very personal reasons, I don't feel like continuing this. I want to apologize to anyone I promised to continue this, so, sorry. Thankfully this story didn't make it so far, so I didn't leave too big of a cliffhanger, right? I'm rambling, anyways, yeah. Case closed folks. Regardless, I hope you all have a good day.
The Gentleman, The Merchant and The AmuletAuthor's Note Word of warning, this part, in my opinion, is utter garbage. Due to popular demand, I'ts staying in the story, but it wont be rewritten due to the fact I gave up on this story. Feel free to see what I had, hopefully you enjoy. Good day everyone! The Gentleman, The Merchant and The Amulet Somewhere in Colorado, USA “I told you, I’m NOT wearing the wig until we are at the con, it’s pointless to wear it in the car, and the thing is too damn itchy anyway!” I protested for what felt like the one hundredth time since Mike started driving us to the convention. “C'mon Robert, stop being such a crybaby! I’m sure a little itch is nothing for a ‘Master Outdoorsman’ like you.” Mike teased, knowing me far too well. I liked the outside, and growing in Colorado, camping trips came easy. My father taught me how to survive in the wild, and I have enjoyed it ever since. We used to go camping almost every weekend, looking at all the beautiful places the state had to offer. And I always wanted to invite my friends over to an adventure, but none of them had the time, or just didn't want to come. So I made a deal with my best friend, Mike. I would accompany him to the con, dress up as whatever Mike thought suited me, and he would go camping with me, see what the outside really looked like. It didn't take long for us to arrive at our destination. Exiting the car, some bystanders managed to notice we were actually in costumes. Since he didn't want to spend any money, we decided to cosplay something simple, yet elegant. Mike managed to get a nice purple suit with matching pants, a yellow buttoned shirt, a green bowtie, white gloves and black dress shoes. I, however, was wearing a white, buttoned shirt, with a black, long-sleeved, undershirt, and old fashioned red vest with black, vertical lines running across it and black dress pants with matching shoes. Placing the wig atop my head while he put on some red lipstick, we were finally ready for the con. If it weren't for Mike’s make-up, complete with green dyed hair and my ‘W’ shaped wig, we would've simply looked like impeccably dressed men, for a very questionable party. We were kind of late to the fray too, since it was dark, and people were already exiting the con. But this didn’t bother us for we could still have fun tonight, and tomorrow we can muck around all day. People wore the most amazing costumes I've ever seen! A guy with a BAD ASS IronMan costume, tho he still needed a helmet, still cool. There was also this guy rocking another awesome costume, I asked Mike what it was, and he told me it was from a game called Metroid. But he also added the character was a female, not a man. “Dude, you need to stay in more, I bet half of the shit here you never even knew it existed!” Mike added. “And if YOU got out more, you would know what it is to breath fresh air” I stated simply. Getting through the crowd, I saw glimpse of some guy from Naruto, I think, hanging out with a robot ninja thing. There was this guy from one of the games Mike suggested me to cosplay as, but I lacked the physical appearance to pull it off so I declined. We also managed to see this guy who looked like a lizard in a prison jumpsuit. Neither of us knew WHAT he was, but then he explained us he was a humanized SCP 682. I was still confused, but Mike chatted with him before he left. I saw a hooded guy not far from me, his costume looked cool “That’s from the game Assassin’s Creed, but of course you probably never heard of it” Mike informed me. “I’m not a gamer, and you know it!” “I do know it, you are like the reverse hipster of modern age” He replied. Before we could discuss for longer, we both got a glimpse of a Transformer, one of the few TV shows I have watched. “WoW…” We both rang out, looking like complete idiots, fawning over a robot. Shaking his head, we continued deeper. We could see more awesome displays, more people dressed up and ready for action. We saw this cloaked guy with a white, polished mask, also awesome. A girl was also looking pretty lethal with her black cloak, silver hair and even fluorescent contact lenses with slitted holes in the middle for the pupils. Again I asked my friend what she was supposed to be, and as he turned around, he looked at her, a lot. After a while I noticed he was doing something ungentlemanly, so I took the liberty to slap him and make him come to his senses. “Can you control your hormones for one minute? What if she had noticed?!” “First of all, ow! Second, LOOK AT HER, she is soo badass, in more ways than one!” My perverted friend said, the grin plastered on his face suiting his character perfectly. As I raised my arm to slap him out of his perverted fantasies, he called out for me “Hey, look at this! You MUST have it, ASAP” I lowered my arm, and decided to stare at the thing he wanted me to see. It was a piece of jewelry, a golden collar with a red gem the size of my fist incrusted in it. “Uhuh, soooo why I ‘must’ have it?” I asked, seriously, why would I want or need a pretty necklace?! “Oh, yeah right, you never played Don’t Starve…” He drags me to the booth as he continues “This, is a Life Giving Amulet, it’s one of the items in the game that heals you periodically, as well as resurrecting you if you die while wearing it, BELIEVE ME, if anyone should buy this, it should be you, I haven’t really seen anything Don’t Starve related anywhere in the con” He said with his left arm around me, using the other to show the amulet like some sort of commercial. “I agree with your friend, if anyone should have this piece, it should be you” Said a man from behind us. Turning around, well more like jumping like scared cats, we saw a man dressed in probably the most dapper yet evil suit in existence, with a vibrant red flower on his jacket. “Holly shit, dude your costume is AWESOME, how did you get the materials to make a perfect replica of Maxwell?!” Mike asked exited, barely masking his gamergasm. “Oh, well I’m glad you liked it, but I see you are looking at my amulet, and I won’t lie to you, nobody anywhere has ever had the chance to try this out, I should know” “Well, how much for it?” I asked, faking some interest into the item. “35$, but since nobody seems to appreciate it, I’m giving it to you for 21$” Faster than I could blink, Mike had his wallet out, handing the exact amount to the strange man, who in return handed us the necklace. I took the amulet, however I didn't put it on, for crying out loud it was JEWELRY. But before we could thank him, he was already attending someone else, handing him a mask of some sort. Having nothing to do, we exited the booth. I was getting sick of the crazy amount of people, that and there where flashes of light everywhere. The amulet secured in my pocket, and my friend looking at me with a concern look on his face, we walked outside. “Dude, are you sure you only need fresh air? Because I haven’t seen these flashes anywhere, just a giant crowd” “Mike, I’m telling you, they should fix their fancy light show, it was giving me a headache” “Hey, not to be rude, but can I get back in the building? I’m not seeing anything wrong with their lights and the crowd wasn't bothering me” “Sure, just don’t mess with anything we can’t afford” “THANK YOUUUUU” His voice echoed already half way back inside. Being bored out of my mind I took the amulet from my pocket. It felt warm in my hands, probably from staying in my pants for so long. Deciding I had nothing to lose, I put it on, and felt… safe? Then there was this flash of red light, it was decidedly bright, and almost blinded me. Before I could react, I was pulled to the ground, the amulet shot downwards, pulling me from my neck. “Woah woah WOAH!!” It feelt like it was strangling me, but I managed to get a hand in between to stop it from suffocating me. I tried to take the necklace off, to no avail. Then I saw a hand, pulling the collar of my amulet, I stopped sinking but I didn't rise either, the light was shinning brighter, and a humming noise came with it. “SOMEONE, HELP ME!” I screamed, panicking. I looked around but everyone seemed to be ignoring me, almost everyone. “I’m trying! Hold on!” A voice rang out, one I've never heard before. I couldn't see him, the amulet as bright, if not brighter, than the sun itself. The noise picked up, almost deafening. “PLEASE! I DON’T WANT TO GO!” I begged, I felt it trying to pull me somewhere. And I didn't want to go. I started to rise, and I managed to grab his hands. But before my right foot left the ground, dark hands sprung from the black pool surrounding me, grasping my limbs and pulling me back down. I tried to speak, but one of the shadow hands shut me up. And then I saw the pool growing, engulfing whoever was trying to help me as more hands shot up to get him. “FUCK I'M GETTING PULLED TOO!!” His voice screamed, and with it my heart sank, now we both were getting sucked into the ground. I couldn't see anymore, all was darkness, but it felt like oil. The noise became nonexistent. I passed out, I tried to tell him something, but I can’t remember what it was. All I remembered was that something went horribly, horribly wrong.
A Whole New WorldThrone room, Canterlot Castle Everypony from Ponyville had gathered in the throne room, waiting for their heroes to arrive. Soon the trumpet sound was heard as the royal guard opened the giant doors of the massive room. The Elements of Harmony walked in, their heads held high and very proud of their recent victory over the Lord of Chaos. As they neared the throne itself, Princess Celestia stood above them and announced to the big crowd of ponies as well as the elements. “We are gathered here today, to once again honor the heroism of these six friends, who stood up to the villain Discord, and saved Equestria from eternal chaos!” Everypony started cheering the six mares. As the crowd died down, Princess Celestia pulled some curtains away to reveal a new window, depicting the defeat of the draconequus with the mane six using the magic of friendship to seal him in stone. The crowd went wild again, throwing confetti into the air, some jumping in joy, while others clapped their hooves into the ground. With everypony distracted, including the Elements they were thanking for saving the land again, nopony noticed the thunder that rang out in the everfree. Celestia herself didn’t see it, even though it was right outside her window, but she felt it, she knew something was coming. Concern grazed her features for no more than a second, and that second is all it took for her most faithful student to know that something was bothering her. “Um, Princess Celestia, are you ok? You looked worried for a moment,” she whispered lowly to not attract the attention of the crowd, but loud enough for her friends to notice. “It’s quite alright my little ponies, nothing we can’t solve in the morning, for now rest and enjoy, something tells me you might need it tomorrow,” she said reassuringly. Celestia didn’t know what happened exactly, only that something new came to her land. Twilight, trusting her mentor, decided to do as she was told and tried to have a moment of peace from the chaotic events that happened prior to this celebration. Everfree Forest, Afternoon “GAH!” *pant* “AH!” *pant* “Ah” *wheeze* “ah… huh?” … !!! Um, where am I? … Looks like a forest, a very odd forest but a forest nonetheless. … Why am I in a forest? … wait a second, I don’t remember falling asleep in a forest. What DO I remember then? Hmm, ok, there was a convention; my friend Mike and I attended said convention, we saw a lot of people in costumes, he bought me something… That’s right! The amulet! I stood up as quick as a bunny and looked to my chest, and I noticed I was still wearing it. I thought about throwing it away, but the moment it left my chest I felt, well, a little less safe. It was a weird feeling, especially since I was pretty sure I was here because of the damn thing. My memory was still very fuzzy; I could barely remember what’d happened. Only one thing stuck with me, that it all went horribly wrong in the end. I looked around, as only plants, trees and weirdness greeted me. There was no clear path to anywhere; it looked like I was just dropped here from the sky! Why was this happening? This was so bizarre. I began to walk, hoping to find someone that could help me. “Hello?” I called out, but silence was the only response. “Is anybody out here?” I tried once more. “CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME?!” I yelled. “HELLOOOOOO!!!” I tried one more time, a little more irritated. … Nothing, I was, indeed, alone. I needed to find someone before dark, who knows what sort of animals go through these woods, even if I’m somewhat familiar with camping, I went to a place I knew and this forest looked like NOTHING I’d ever seen in my life. I searched for what felt like ages, still finding nothing, no tracks, no clues, nothing. I checked my pockets and pulled out my phone, not bothering to see if I had lost something. Turning it on I was disappointed, and somewhat scared, as it told me there was no signal wherever I was. So not only was I lost somewhere in these mysterious woods, but I was also unable to contact anyone that could help me. It was near dawn that I decided to let go of my search of an exit, I needed a place to camp for the night, so I gathered some sticks lying around here and there, garbed some dead leafs, and made a simple pile in a small clearing I found while I was searching. Trying to remember how to start a fire from scratch was surprisingly easy, and oddly enough lighting it worked almost instantly… weird, very few times did I go out camping with my father as a child. Using the free time on my hands, I looked through the rest of my belongings despite how little I had originally on me. My house keys where next to useless, no point in them if the locks they opened weren’t close by. I still had my wallet, and what little money it had left as well as some personal mementos. My car keys where gone, I must have dropped them… Hold on, what did actually happen? What if someone drugged me and stole my car? After I find a town or a city, I should report this to the police; see if they can find something because I sure can’t with the information I have. “Ok, tomorrow I’m going to see if I can find sings of civilization, shouldn’t be too hard considering how even the land is,” I muttered to myself as the small campfire roared in front of me. I needed some rest, the night was already on me and I didn’t want to spend more time talking to myself. I went to the campfire to try and extinguish it, until I noticed how dark it REALLY was. The clearing I was in didn’t have anything flammable around my campfire to begin with, and I myself removed any dead branch or leaf that might trigger a forest fire, so it was relatively safe to leave it there. That and the fact I was now terrified of the dark that surrounded me, I was pretty sure that if I got rid of my campfire I wouldn’t be able to see anything! It wasn’t normal, it wasn’t right, where the hell was I? A question for tomorrow, right now I needed to rest. I kept the amulet on, something telling me I might need it, plus it felt good to wear it. Ponyville’s Library The mane six could be seen inside the library, all of them huddled together listening to their unicorn friend Twilight Sparkle. “We defeated Discord, and I believe I speak for everypony that it was exhausting.” All present agreed, even the baby dragon among them. “And you all saw Princess Celestia’s concern, right?” “Yeah, what was that about? I thought Discord was the only ruffian we had to take care of,” exclaimed Rarity, getting some positive responses from the group, well almost all of them. “But his chocolate raiiiin, ooohoohohooo it was soo DELICIOUS!” Everypony stared at the energetic pony, fawning over precipitating dairy products. This was until she noticed them, and added, “still a big meanie, no matter how delicious it was,” she said with her smile adorning her face. “Well, if the Princess herself told us not to worry ‘bout it, ah think we oughta listen to ‘er,” said Applejack, confident in the princess’s judgment, “besides, she told ya that we’ll deal with it in the mornin’.” “I guess you are right, if she thinks we can let this go for one night, we will listen to her,” Twilight finished, getting nods of approval in return. “Um, Twilight, I was, erm, wondering if I, um, could sleep here tonight, if you don’t mind,” the shy pegasus asked her friend. “Of course you can, but why? What’s wrong with your house?” “Did Discord do something permanent to it before we stoned him?!” The other pegasus in the room asked, angered by the thought itself. “Oh dear no, my house is quite alright, it’s just that, um…” Fluttershy tried to vocalize her thoughts, but every time she opened her mouth, she closed it, unsure of how to explain. “Aw c’mon Fluttershy? What are you scared off now? The dark?” Spike said as he opened the door to the outside, trying to explain that it was perfectly fine. It wasn’t perfectly fine. It was dark, really dark. It was so dark nopony in the room could see a thing past the door. Even the dragon himself took a step back when he looked outside, before shutting the door immediately. “Ah think ah speak fer everypony here when ah ask, can we all sleep ‘ere?” Applejack said, concern evident in her voice. “Uhuh,” everypony present said in unison, even the dragon who lived there. Too tired to argue, understand or deal with the strange situation before them, everypony picked a spot, took a pillow and a blanket, and went to sleep.
"Say pal, you don't look so good..."Ponyville, Morning Ponies where awaking from their sleep, some ready for the day, others groggily and in dire need of coffee. Most of them had jobs to do, things to see, ponies to meet. Basically, a day as normal as the town was peaceful. *snort* “Yeah right” OY! PINKIE, WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT READING MY PARAGRAPHS!? “Aww, you are no fun mister author!” DOES IT LOOK LIKE I CARE!? “Who are you talking to Pinkie?” GREAT, NOW TWILIGHT SAW YOU, DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!? FIX IT! “Oh nothing Twilight” “just talking to a meeanie” I CAN CREATE AND DELETE YOU YOUNG PONY! “Oh yeah? PROVE IT!” Everfree Forest, Robert’s POV “HEY, NOT FARE!” DON’T CARE! “HUH?!?” … I could have sworn I heard a girl say something; well at least I was awake, still wearing my amulet. Ugh, my body felt sore, probably from sleeping in the ground. I stood up and stretched my arms and legs, while also getting a satisfying crack from my back. As I looked towards the smoking remains of my fire shoot to the sky, I wondered why no one had come to find me yet, was I really that far away from any town or form of civilization? I shook those thoughts from my head; I needed to stay positive if I wanted to find my way back home. Deciding to climb the nearest tree, which proved easy considering how piney it was, I managed to get a good look at the sun, and oriented myself. I looked north, and I saw something beautiful. A beautiful palace placed on the side of a lonely mountain, it was a sight to behold. But no matter how breathtaking the view was, it was far, far away. That and the fact that I’d never heard of such a thing anywhere on Earth, much less in the U.S, made me feel uneasy, where was I? I told myself that question yesterday, and I was going to stick to my word, today I had to find out. Looking backwards I saw something big. It looked manmade, for the shapes it made where too complicated for it to be a giant rock in the distance. Good, a place which would probably offer a roof over my head. I climbed down from the tree, but slipped and fell hard on the ground, it hurt. I groaned, running a hand through my- HOLD ON A SECOND, wasn’t I wearing a wig?! “…what the…” I pulled at what I thought was my wig, only for it to be painful for my head. Did someone glue the darn wig to my head!? No, I ran a hand through my entire head, unable to find any sort of restriction or adhesive, my hair now looked like my wig, and I looked ridiculous. “… This is too weird but too harmless for me,” I told myself, seeing no problem in the extra hair, I could always cut it if it became an issue. I kept walking for a while in the general direction of the structure I had found, making sure I didn’t get lost in this dense forest. Everything looked so wrong about it, the trees, the plants, I even thought I saw some green eyes looking at me through the bushes, but as soon as I got close they would disappear. After half an hour or so, I encountered a problem. A river was in my way. The current seemed relatively calm, but I didn’t know how deep it was. Taking a stick from nearby, I carefully placed it down inside of the river. It sunk very little before it touched something. Good, if I was careful enough, I might be ab- *SPLASH* *ROAAAAAAAAR* “…” I ~~screamed like a girl~~ roared in a manly fashion while backing away from the beast. What in the name of Darwin WAS THAT!? No time to think, just run, run, RUN! And for what felt like hours I ran. Before I knew it I was gasping for air, and lost. “Oh for the love of-” I fell to my knees and screamed to the sky “-WHERE ON EARTH AM I!?!” Outskirts of the Everfree, Fluttershy’s Cottage It was late in the morning, and Fluttershy had already gone to her home to tend for her animals. She expected to have a nice, peaceful, uneventful evening until Twilight had the approval of the Princess to go search for whatever caused her to be concerned. She needed to pack some supplies and meet at the entrance to the Everfree to go with her friends. She did not expect to see new animals coming to her home. She also did not expect them to be a new species. “And who might you be little guy?” She crouched down while she sweetly asked the innocent looking creature. It appeared to be a normal rabbit with a brown coat, if you were blind enough to miss the small antlers grown on its head. The Jackalope turned around to look at her. She took a small step back, for its eyes where completely white, something very unusual for a creature. It immediately ran away to hide on a hole in the ground, one she didn’t remember existed. “It’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you,” she whispered into the hole before backing away to let the creature meet her. “Don’t worry, I just want to be your friend,” she told it once it exited the hole. It approached her cautiously, but once they got close enough to each other she petted it and soon made quick friends. “Aw, you are such a nice rabbit, you should meet Angel, I bet you’ll get along just fine,” she told the small critter, going to her home to retrieve the supplies for the trip ahead. Everfree’s entrance, early afternoon “Alright girls, as you all know, Princess Celestia gave us a new task,” Twilight was met with nods of approval from her friends. “And even though it is to look for something neither of us knows what it is, or what it looks like, I’m confident we will succeed, for our friendship can overcome anything!” She exclaimed positively, sure that her friends could win over anything thrown at them, after all they defeated a god not too long ago. With their heads held high, their spirits up, and Pinkie Pie behaving- “I’m still mad at you!” SHUTYOURHORSEMOUTH! -they entered the forest, slightly questioning their pink friend's sanity.
"...You better find something to eat before night comes!"Deep in the Everfree, Robert’s POV After I found that… thing in the river, I didn’t know what else to think. Sure I’ve heard about creatures that live in water that are big and dangerous and stuff, BUT WHAT WAS THAT!?! I decided to follow the river, but I kept my distance. Another encounter like those might give me a heart attack! *grumble* I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hungry. As I continued through the forest, the trees started to get more apart, and I liked that. It meant there was another clearing up ahead, and a big one, I could feel it! Almost an hour later I found it. It looked like a castle, a BIG castle. It also looked deserted, for the walls were cracked, the vegetation surrounding every rock they could find. That and, well, it looked like it went through a bombing, for the roof was nowhere to be found. The two things that still stood proud and undamaged were a couple of towers, one in the front right, and one in the back left. As I came closer, I noticed there was a gigantic ravine separating me from the ruined castle, only an unsafe-looking wooden bridge connecting the castle to the rest of the forest. That’s when I noticed the berries, by Darwin they were everywhere! Honestly there was little to nothing stopping me from gobbling them up. Crossing the fragile bridge, making sure to not plummet down to my death, I made it to the other side of the ravine, where the many bushes of delicious looking fruit stood, oh and also the castle. I took one of the berries and tried to examine it. I was no botanist, so I couldn’t tell right off the bat if they were poisonous or not. However, botanist or not, I was still a scientist. I took the plant apart, and began to examine everything it had to offer, and test if any part made my skin itch or my mouth irritated. I should’ve boiled them if I’d wanted to have the least amount of germs as possible, but my last experience with water almost got me eaten. Since it wasn’t obvious the berries where poisonous, I began to eat them. Then they got delicious… *NOM* *NOM* *NOM* NOM* *NOM* *GULP* “OOH THAT’S THE STUFF!” I just ate all of the possible berries in the bush, and also took note of how hollow it was. It looked like I could curl up in a ball and hide in the bush, and no one would be able to see me. I then moved to the next bush, and ate all of its berries as well. I really needed some sort of pouch to carry some stuff, because just putting these in my pockets seemed like a horrible idea, especially since I was wearing my fancy black pants. Then an idea hit me. It felt like it was both my own, but also from someone or something else. I looked down at my clothes, then my hair, finally my amulet and wondered. I was hesitant at first, but eventually allowed the idea to flow into my mind. It felt odd, but right at the same time. I knew what I had to do. But first, I wanted to fill my st- *GOOBLEGOOBLEGOOBLEGOOBLE* “GAH! WHAT THE HECK!?” *thump* “Ow…” I grumbled out as I fell on my back. Oh what now!? A giant turkey!?!? What’s it do-? !!! “Stupid bird! Stay away from my berries!” I shouted, chasing it away from my precious food. *Gobble* *Gobble* *Gobblegobble* *Gobble* “Get back here bird!” I kept running after the oversized turkey, but it was faster than me, so I lost sight of it. “Well, there goes my protein filled dinner…” I kept walking in its general direction hoping to f- “Hey it’s right there! And it’s just… standing there…?” I muttered to myself. Hehe, stupid bird. I thought before dashing towards the orange feathered gobbler. “HA, NOW I GO-” *thack* Huh? Why is the ground all white and sticky? … Has that giant bag of spider webs been there the entire time? Erm, ok just walk away, slow-*thack* *HISSSAAAHHGGG* !!! THAT SPIDER IS BIGGER THAN BULLDOG! I thought as I tried to move away, only for my feet to be stuck to the ground. “What should I do, WHAT SHOULD I DO!?” I said as I panicked. Come on foot, get out of the webbed floor AND HELP ME RUN! *HISSSSS* *thack* *thack* *thack* *thack* The sounds of the spiders walking towards me rang in my ears, begging me to run, hide, do something! GET OUT OF THE WEB AND RUN! *GOBBLE* *GOBBLE* *GOBBLE* *DEAD* Did… did the turkey thing just died…? NO, STOP getting distracted and FOCUS! *munch* *nom* *munch* *bite * *gulp* Almost there, JUST A LITTLE LONGER! My left foot was out, but my right one had me pined to the webs. *HISSSSSSSS* “THERE!” I said triumphantly, and turned around to see how close the spi- *HISSSSSAAAAAHHHHGRRR* “I HAAAAAAATEEEE SPIDEEEEEERS!!” I screamed whilst running for my life. Everfree Forest, Main Six, Afternoon As the mares walked through the forest, they noticed how the trees’ appearance had changed slightly, as well as other leafless trees which had screaming faces on them. No matter how much Pinkie laughed and sang the leafless trees stood with a permanent expression of pain. “Since when does the Everfree normally grow these awful things?” Rarity asked nopony in particular, all the while examining the not so common trees. “Also since when do we dig graves in the Everfree saying ‘Milk, Eggs, and Bacon’? That’s a little weird doncha think?” The pink mare asked, completely unfazed by the fact they just entered a graveyard littered with strange stale looking flowers. “GRAVES!?” Everypony and dragon exclaimed, a few more panicked than others. “M-m-mmm-ma-aa-ay-b-bb-be ww-we sh-sh-should he-ea-ad ba-ack?” Stuttered the shy, yellow pegasus, worried for their safety. “I don’t know Fluttershy, we need to press on if we want to find whatever Princess Celestia thought was dangerous enough to threaten Equestria,” replied the lavender unicorn. “Besides, if anything tries to hurt any of us we’ll kick its ugly flank!” Said Dash, sure of her knowledge in flank-kicking. “Although ah agree with Twilight, it’s getting very dark and ah don’ wanna sleep in the forest,” the farm pony warned the group, not too exited in camping within the Everfree, especially if whatever the Princess wanted them to find was there. “Alright, if it’s ok with the rest, I think we should hea-” Twilight began to say, until the noise of leafs shuffling and sticks breaking caught her ears. “Um, wha-at was th-that?!” Asked the small dragon, panic evident in his voice. “Is somepony out there?” As if on cue, the ponies heard frantic steps as something tried to escape. “QUICK! Before it runs away!” Everypony galloped, hoping to catch up with whatever was watching them. Robert’s POV, Dusk Well, that happened. Sure let’s throw in GIANT SPIDERS into this forest, why not!? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SPIDERS!!! I thought, almost out loud, as I walked trying to catch my breath. “Ok, just… calm down, its ok, you outran it and its hive, it’s alright, it’s goi-” … *whimper* I stumbled upon a tombstone, surrounded by strange, and frankly evil, flowers. It seemed like it had been here a while, the letters engraved on the smooth stone slightly faded but very much readable. I felt my mind spin slightly as I stood before it. …Why is there a grave with my name on it in this forsaken forest…? *shuffle* *muffled talking* *laughing* “what the…?” Ok, something else is coming, calm down, and breathe, ok? Ok. I hid behind a tree, which had a face and looked like it was screaming in agony. This place was just doing wonders to my sanity now wasn’t it? I couldn’t see what was happening, but someone was coming, it sure sounded like a bunch of girls, and one of them was laughing. Curiosity took the better of me as I dared to look at the source of the sounds. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised. … …No… …Just… …Just no… “Are, are those multicolored talking horses?” I barely muttered to myself. … “Those are, indeed, multicolored talking horses…” It seemed they were looking for something, and I could’ve bet my skin it was me. I didn’t care how cute and cuddly they looked; I wasn’t risking meeting them, not yet anyways. It was getting really dark, I couldn’t stay here for longer, and I needed to make a campfire fast! I began to move out of the wa- *thump* *shuffle* *crack* “oww…” I fell on my face this time… and I was pretty sure they heard me. With little to nothing else to do, I got back on my feet and began to run for my life. I heard them shout something, but I was far too occupied running away from them.
"I hate spiders!"Robert’s POV, Dusk Light, that’s all I needed, I needed light. That and to get away from the horses chasing me through the forest. I was running back to the spider den, why? Because it’s a path I traversed before, and it was close to the castle. It made it easier for me to go through, and making it more difficult for the horses behind me. Then there was the den itself, I needed to find it before I got stuck in its web again. After a while I started to panic a bit, for I could not see the den anywhere, and it was getting too dark for comfort. I never got a break, for the horses where, slowly but surely, catching up to me. So I kept running, hoping to get away, or at least find something to hel- “Whoa!?” There were three of them now! I stopped altogether, mere inches from the sticky-white floor. Was it just me, or where there a lot of spiders walking around? They haven’t noticed me yet, good, I really hate spiders. “STOP RIGHT THERE!” “Huh?” I turned around and A FLYING BLUE HORSE! The horse tried to tackle me, but I dodged and circled around the dens, wanting no part in having to deal with giant spiders. The horse however, wasn’t so lucky. *HISSSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAARRRHHHGGGGGGG* *HIIIIIIISSSAAAARAAAHHHGGGGGGGG * *HHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHH * *HIISSSSSSSSSSSSS* *RAAAAAAAAASHHHHHGG* I ~~screamed like a girl~~ let out a manly battle cry at the sound of a lot of angry spiders, or were they just hungry? I didn’t know, and frankly I didn’t want to. *thack thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack* “Huh, what the hay!? I’M STUCK!” She, I took from her tomboyish but feminine voice, exclaimed. Oh crap, if she couldn’t get out, then the spiders would try and get her, she was in danger! “Rainbow, hold on!” Another horse wearing a cowboy hat said, using her mouth to form a lasso, which somehow worked. The western sounding horse threw the lasso towards the blue winged one, pulling her out of the web before the spiders could harm her. *thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* *thack thack* *thack thack thack thack* *thack thack thack* The spiders, not seeing the horses, went back to their homes. It seemed that as long as you weren’t on their web, or directly in front of them, they wouldn’t notice you. Good to know. I realized I’d wanted to get away so I could find a place to stay the night, for the sun was almost out of sight. So I ran, albeit more quietly, back towards the way to the castle. Mane Six, Dusk “Don’t let it get away!” “ON IT!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash, flying as fast as she could. Since the trees prevented her from going in a straight line, she was forced to slow down to avoid hitting them. Everypony was wondering who or what was watching them, and a certain purple unicorn needed those answers yesterday. They kept running and flying after the strange creature, but only the rainbow mare was able to keep up with it. The other mares, unable to match the pegasus’s speed and agility, were slowly being left behind. Sometime later, they lost both her friend and the creature, and hoped for the best. This was, until, they heard an unholy screech from multiple, not so friendly, monsters. They doubled their efforts and before long they managed to arrive at the scene. Dash was stuck in some massive webbing, and enormous spiders where crawling towards the helpless pegasus. Applejack managed to catch her with her trusty lasso, and pulled her out of trouble. But after making sure their friend was alright, they had no sight of the creature, and night was quickly approaching. “Rainbow, dear, are you ok? You look, erm, white and, well, sticky,” asked the white unicorn to the pegasus, who was trying to get as much web out of her coat as possible. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, but IT got away,” she responded, more disappointed of losing the creature than anything. “Don’t worry Dash, we will catch it later,” said the drake reassuringly, before looking somewhat scared as he added, “but I didn’t know the Everfree had spiders THAT big!” It was clear he was somewhat terrified of the dog sized arachnids. “Maybe we should talk somewhere else, it’s almost night,” suggested the purple unicorn, there was something about the dark that begged them to find someplace lit to stay the night. “Ah agree with ya Twi, we can’t stay here,” said the cowpony, getting some nods of agreement from the group. “Maybe we could go to Zecora’s hut, Ponyville is too far from here, and, um, I don’t want to walk in the dark,” offered the timid pegasus. “With everything that has been going on I can’t really blame you Fluttershy, who else agrees?” Asked Dash, surprising the group a bit, before they all nodded and went towards the zebra’s home. Walking through the Everfree proved slightly harder than before. They had to keep avoiding the spider infested places. This was new to everypony present; for nowhere in Equestria had they heard about giant spiders roaming this forest. After some time they encountered the familiar hut, with their stripped friend welcoming them into her home. “Hello my friends of seven, have you come to seek safe haven?” She greeted the crowd, before Twilight stepped up to speak to her. “Thank you for letting us in Zecora, It was getting dark and this was closer to us from Ponyville, I hope you don’t mind.” “I understand your distress, truth be told this has me in quite a mess. But now in you must come, or to the dark you might succumb,” she rushed them inside, getting the group closer to her fire. “Now tell me why you have arrived at my door, so that I may help you some more.” “I don’t know if you have noticed, but the forest feels like it’s, different,” said the purple mare. “Not only that but we caught something spying on us, I chased it down, but got stuck in giant cobwebs, with giant spiders trying to EAT me!” Added the energetic pegasus. “You live here right? Do you know what’s wrong with the Everfree?” Asked a somewhat nervous Spike. “There is something corrupting the land, not just the forest where we all stand,” the zebra said in a somber tone. The group of ponies and dragon went tense, not long ago they had to deal with chaos destroying their homes. “Was this something Discord did? We thought the Elements got rid of his corruption,” exclaimed Rarity, getting looks of approval from everypony/zebra/dragon present. “I do not know why it happened, but it seems the entire forest has darkened,” she said motioning to the outside of her home. Past the light her fire emitted, it was pitch black outside. No matter how long they tried to look for something past the darkness, their eyes never adjusted. “But I think we are all tired, why don’t we sleep close to my fire?” Zecora suggested as tired yawns met her ears. “I guess some sleep won’t hurt, we can try and solve this mystery in the morning.” Twilight was already getting comfortable in her friend’s home, everypony else following suit. “Goodnight everypony,” she finally added before the rest replied tiredly, “Goodnight.” Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins I tried to find the castle again, even encountered the same den from before and oriented myself to find the ruins. And after what seemed like an eternity, I found the clearing, the ruins in plain sight, and the darkness was close to engulfing me. I made a quick campfire inside of the building; I didn’t get deep, for I was very close to the entrance. But despite the gigantic hole in the ceiling, I now had a roof over my head. By the time I was done with the fire, the shadows around me seemed like they were watching me. I could have sworn there where eyes in the dark, but whenever I tried to look at them, they winked out. Must be my head failing to cope with my situation. I mean, seriously!? Giant water monsters!? Giant turkeys?! GIANT SPIDERS?! Oh and let’s not forget the multicolored talking horses, pegasi and unicorns… Whatever that madness was, I still needed some sleep. If I kept thinking about how everything that has happened to me so far was impossible, I would’ve gotten a migraine. Making sure the surroundings of my fire where clear from anything that could burn, I lied on the cold, hard ground. I pulled my amulet out of my shirt just to look at it for a few brief seconds, before I closed my eyes, and slept. I was going to desperately need it for what I had planned to do tomorrow.
"Do you like science?"Robert's POV, Castle Ruins, Morning As I woke up, I realized that I was in dire need of a bed. Or anything really, I was sick of sleeping on the ground. I stretched my limbs, trying to get the soreness out of them. I arched my back and got a satisfying crack out of it, then immediately wanted to lie back down. Never was a morning person to be honest. I checked myself, all my clothes where in a somewhat bad condition; I desperately needed to wash them. My amulet dangled on my neck, making small clinking noises whenever I moved. As much as I wanted to look around the castle, I had no time to waste. I needed materials to build something my mind had been telling me for a while. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew it would help me greatly. I needed help now more than ever in my life. Stranded who knows where, with giant creatures that wish to eat me, and intelligent, talking, colorful horses, you have to take advantage of every opportunity. I had a couple bad situations when I went camping, but it usually resolved itself and I could go home afterwards and rest. My father always made sure we were prepared, so supplies weren’t an issue. Besides, we did it for fun, not because my life depended on it! This was not the case. I was alone, with nothing but my fancy, deteriorating clothes and jewelry. I didn’t know where home was anymore, and I didn’t want to contact whatever passed for people in this place. Human survival instincts teach you to fear the unknown, and it has worked in my favor so far. No more getting sidetracked, I had a shelter now, and I doubted anyone lived here anymore. I still needed much more if I was planning to stay here; I just really hoped it didn’t come to that. Seeing that there was no point in standing around and doing nothing, I went outside. There were still some bushes that had some berries among them, so I went up to them and gave myself a small snack. After eating a handful of berries, and checking around to make sure no turkeys would eat my precious bushes, I went back into the forest. I quickly gathered some materials and made a very crude axe out of a stick and a sharp rock I had found. It would probably break after a few trees, but it was something. Sure it was unusual how easy it was since I had never done this before in my life, yet it felt natural to craft this tool. Once I had the chance, I would definitely look into it. Traversing the forest, I tried to not lose sight of the castle’s clearing. I found a few random boulders in the middle of the forest. Some of them even glistened in the light. Odd, I didn’t remember them being there at all yesterday… “Please don’t tell me I’m losing my mind, if anything that would just make things worse.” I traveled back to the clearing, going towards the smaller trees so that I could get them down quicker and carry them towards the ruins. Cutting as many as I could, I brought the thin logs back to the entrance of the castle until my axe became useless. I could probably use the loose stones from the broken walls around this place to build the other parts of this idea. Then I needed… gold… How in Darwin’s name was I going to get gold from a forest in the middle of crazy-land?! I used a hand to rub my temples, I saw some boulders somewhere deep within the forest that had a yellowish reflection to them. Maybe… Nah, that’s ridiculous! There is no wa- … So was half of what I went through yesterday… Grabbing some more supplies I managed to make myself a new tool, it was a pick made from more sharp rocks and sticks. I found one of the many boulders, and began to pick it to ruble. A while later I managed to get some rocks, some flint, and a... yellowish stone? Hey, I was no geologist, give me a break! Still, it didn’t look like it was gold. “It looks like for once, logic won. Too bad it wasn’t in my favor,” I muttered out of breath, taking down a boulder twice your height was a heavy job. I was very surprised that I even managed to do it! Taking a few deep breaths I was able to compose myself, I was not about to give up just yet. I approached another boulder; it was slightly taller and had a few yellowish cracks that shinned in the sunlight. Mining it down as well, my pick still somehow held itself together. After reducing it to rubble small enough for me to pocket, I noticed the same results. “More rocks, more flint, an-” … …There is no possible way… “Are… are those small chunks of gold?!” I took off my collar and compared them. It was the same exact material as far as I could tell, and they were size of my fist. With my newfound resolve, I made a couple more crude picks. I was getting better at this, for they looked nicer than before. I brought down half a dozen more boulders, not all of them had gold, but I still had quite enough to satisfy my vanity. Bringing the materials back took some effort, for I could only pocket so little and carry so much, I had to do a couple of trips back. However by the time the sun was setting I already had a nice pile of resources at my disposal. I used the remainder of the afternoon making the parts for this idea on my head. It took quite a while, but after I assembled the machine I instantly questioned if it was worth my time and effort. It looked like a cube, suspended from the ground by three wooden legs. It had a lever facing down, and a couple of hand carved wheels connecting the cube to the fourth log atop the contraption. What on Earth did I just build? That lever was just screaming at me to be used. I went up to the machine, and threw the lever upwards. It made a whirring noise, before the wheels slowly moved and picked up some speed. The moment it stopped warming up, I felt, well, enlightened. Even more ideas where flowing into my mind, the knowledge felt amazing! “How does this work? How is this possible? This… this could change humanity as we know it!” It was my duty as a scientist to test this strange new contraption. Standing near what my mind believed to be called the “Science Machine”, I began to browse through the recipes it had to offer. Using the machine was… well, interesting to say the least. I had to think of what I wanted, and an image began to form in my mind. It felt odd and surreal, but I was slowly getting used to it. Going for something simple, I decided to craft myself a backpack. I gathered the materials, which fortunately where just pieces of grass and sticks, and began to assemble them together. My hands where incredibly more dexterous than before, and where they… glowing? It must have been the sun reflecting off my skin, but it still made me wonder. The backpack was made almost flawlessly, have I always been this able? Questions, questions, far too many of them and not enough answers, it almost felt like teaching again. “Heh, well one thing is for certain. This machine will help me; it will help me out a lot.”
Lunar DistressPonyvile’s Golden Oak’s Library, Morning The group of ponies, zebra and dragon left the forest, making sure to pack whatever essentials Zecora might need, for she did not intend in coming back until things got less… chaotic. Twilight offered her a place to stay at her library, she had a spare guest room, and they could look into whatever was causing the forest to behave more strange and hostile than normal. But at arrival, Spike puked out a letter from the Princesses themselves, it read: To my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle I’m afraid that I need you and your friends to come to Canterlot castle as soon as possible, for there is something that I desperately need to discuss with you. It’s important that you come here by your own means, for bringing the royal carriage to pick you up might bring some unwanted attention. Don’t tell anypony else besides your closest friends. Your grateful teacher, Celestia. “Oh my, sounds serious,” declared Spike after reading the royal correspondence out loud. “But… I thought the Princesses trusted us to handle this on our own. What changed?” Said Twilight, a little disappointed that she and her friends couldn’t pursue the strange creature they found within the forest. “I’m sure the trip won’t take too long, but do you mind if I come along?” Asked the zebra, she too wanted to know more about what was going on, the forest held her home after all. “Sure Zecora, I don’t think the princesses will mind, you are our friend after all,” answered the purple unicorn, she was sure Zecora could help. “Spike, can you go to the girls and tell them what is happening? Make sure to tell them to be ready at the train station in the morning to get the first train to Canterlot,” she commanded her assistant, and with a salute, he was off to tell Rarit-erm, the rest of the mane six. The mares found themselves alone in the library, with nopony but each other as company. Both used the remainder of the day to study into their own books, compare notes, etc. Plus theorize about what was going on in the forest, the world, and what might be happening to the princesses. Before long, Spike came back to the library, very tired since he ran all the way from Sweet Apple Acres to arrive before dark. The candle lights flickered as night finally had set upon Ponyville. Two tired mares and one exhausted dragon, slumped into their respective beds, Zecora using the guest room, and fell to sleep. Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Night After crafting myself a much needed backpack, I began collecting some materials needed to craft even more stuff. Mostly twigs and tall grass, and some berries for food. I was having so much fun messing around with the Science Machine I almost forgot to make a campfire, but managed to make one within the castle in the time I had left of sunlight. Thankfully, though, I created a sleeping bag with some of the left over grass I had gathered before sleeping. When I made sure my improvised bed was free from any bugs, I lied down, embracing the small comfortableness it provided. I recalled my activities of today; I chopped some trees down, brought the logs back, mined giant boulders and brought those back too, and built a machine with them. Then I used the machine to craft a backpack, somehow getting it on the first try, and also this bed. Finally, I had gathered some berries for dinner which I was currently eating. *NOM* *NOM* *GULP* “Mmmm, red berries taste best," I said out loud, these berries were amazing! I was exhausted, in both mind and body. Taking my amulet out, I stared at the bright red gem encrusted in the piece of jewelry. Today was a good day, and it was staying that way. I closed my eyes, and waited for sleep to take me away. Ponyvile’s Train Station, Early Morning The seven mares and dragon were ready to board the train. Their luggage was small and pretty easy to fit in the train car, because nopony knew what was happening or how long they might be staying at the Canterlot Palace. Even though the train’s crew gave the zebra some looks of curiosity, the ride was pretty normal. Despite this, however, everypony and dragon present seemed tense. If Princess Celestia needed them immediately, and wanted them to be as quiet about it as possible, then it was a good time as any to be worried. “Not for me!” !! “What? Who are you talking to sugarcube?” “Oh, nobody in particular.” Good, your cooperation shall be rewarded. SHE DESERVES NOTHING! “Erm, are you sure you are ok darling?” “Yeah I’m fine-” She tucked a supper vanilla cupcake, extra sweet with sprinkles on top, in her mouth “-Mmm, not bad, not bad at all” Why thank you. YOU ARE SPOILING HER! Shush! “Um, Pinkie, where did you get those cupcakes from?” Asked Fluttershy, curious as to where she might have gotten the tray with confectionaries. “Duh! She is Pinkie Pie!” The rainbow maned mare exclaimed, emphasizing her point by flying around her, while Pinkie just beamed her usual smile. While the girls chatted about, keeping each other positive, Zecora just kept her thoughts to herself, occasionally smiling at their antics. Looking outside the window, she could see the beautiful landscape of Equestria, basking in the celestial sun from their goddess. s̓̅t̾ͫ̐ͥ̉ͣu̎́͊lͦͧ̂ͩ̿tͫ̾̀̉ͦ͂ǔ͑̂s̋̎̃̑͐ͦ̄ͫ ̌̋ͬcͥͪͨͫͥͥ̅r͛̆e͌ͯ̾̀ͫ̇̍̚a͗͊ͧͬ̐̍̉ͮt͆̑̌u̅̐͗̍̈́̊r̓̎̉̾ͤ͌ͯ̚a͗̇̄͆̈́͒̒͆͊ẻ̈́͌̅̔̃̒̐ ͮǹͯö́̑̈́͑̾n͑ ͦ̿s̋ͮ̽͒͐̈̉ͣ̚ċ̊ͬͣ̓iͯ̂rͮ̏̏ͯ̔e̊̎͛ ͨ̐̄f͗̏̆ͣȃt̒̄̌̐a̎̇ͫ ͫͤͪ̈͌̾́̇m̒̀̔o͛̒̇͒ͨ̌r̃͑̓ťͧãͬl̊ͭ̈̀̏͑͑eͥͨͪ̚s̍ͦ̽͐ ͌̿̍͒́͗̔ Before long, they were already nearing the top of the mountain. Grabbing their things, they sped past the adorned streets, with one clear objective on their mind. Canterlot Palace, Early Afternoon The solar princess paced around her throne room, bearing a clear expression of worry. They had cleared the throne room so they could speak to the elements in peace and quiet, nopony besides them should know. “Dear sister, art thou sure they should be told of our problem?” Asked Luna towards her sibling, she too wore an expression of deep concern, bordering on fear. “If not, then who? We alone cannot solve this and you know it,” Celestia replied, her calm and knowing tone easing her sister ever so slightly. “We know, it’s just,” -she paused- “they are so young, so innocent, we are afraid we don’t like thine actions,” her sister said, but she added in a slightly more somber tone, “but we have to agree they may be the wisest.” “Fear not dear sister, did they not defeat the god of chaos days ago?” “Precisely our point, they did defeat Discord, which is why we do not und-” *knock* *knock* “Yes?” they both said simultaneously, quickly regaining their usual, regal, composure. The door opened just enough for sound to enter the room. “The elements and company are here, they said you wished to see them,” came the voice of a guard through the small opening of the door. “Tell them to come inside, then shut the door, you are dismissed,” said the solar princess with authority in her tone, lacing her usual motherly voice. “At once your majesties.” The door opened, seven mares accompanied by a small dragon came inside just as the guard left the hall. As the ponies, zebra, and dragon came into the room, all of them bowing before the princesses. “It’s quite alright my little… ponies…?” The sun goddess began to say, but her words failed her once she laid her eyes upon the zebra. “You said we could bring in our closest friends, so I thought we could bring Zecora with us, you don’t mind, do you?” Twilight said, a little hesitant towards the end. “I’m sorry to pop in unannounced, but the forest is where I’m housed,” the zebra rhymed to address the princesses. Both alicorns looked at each other for a brief moment, unsure whether to talk to the elements with, or without the unexpected guest. “I suppose she could hear us as well, as long as she promises to keep this quiet,” decided the lunar diarch, convincing her sister in the process. “If my tongue must be silenced, then I won’t talk, not in the slightest,” she stated, using her right fore-hoof to create an imaginary zipper on her mouth, before closing it. “Seeee? She CAN be trusted!” Pinkie said, following her example and shutting her own mouth with a literal zipper. Both sisters relaxed a little at the pink one’s antics, knowing far too well how hard it was to get that particular pony down. “That aside, you said you wanted to talk, is something wrong?” Rarity intervened. “I think you all already know that things haven’t been as normal as they should,” Celestia began. “There is something hiding within the Everfree, and we fear it’s tampering with our glorious nights,” Luna followed. “By tampering I think you mean making it so dark it was impossible to see?” Said Spike. “Yes,” the princess answered, but her tone seemed… off. “Yeah, what’s up with that? Every night so far has been pitch black, we couldn’t see the stars, hay even the moon was hard to see!” Rainbow Dash interjected. The princess turned her head away from them, and answered; “We know our night hasn’t been the brightest…” She tried to continue, but then was interrupted. “Then why don’t yah fix it? Ponies are scared by the dark now because nopony can see no more when yer night comes. Ah mean yer the Goddess, if not, Princess of the night.” “We know we are, it’s just…” Her words died on her throat, with her head turned away from them, nopony present could see her face. “Just… what? Why haven’t yo-” “BECAUSE WE CAN’T!!!” ... *sniff* ... *sob* *sniff*
Hairy RevelationsRobert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Day “Ah, this is much better,” sleeping on grass sure beats sleeping on the ground. Doing my morning stretches and back cracks, I got up from my grass bed. And boy was I hungry! “I got berries, and some berries, and, *GASP* even MORE berries…” As much as I liked them, I needed to balance my diet with something with more protein. But where could I get something small enough for me to hunt, but good for my stomach? Maybe I could try and get some of those turkeys, but they ran too fast for me to catch them. I needed something to help me catch that stupid bird. I raised my hand to scratch an itch on my bea- HOLD ON!!! … … Is this… … Is this what I think it is…? To confirm my suspicions, I pulled my necklace out, and held the back of the amulet towards my face, creating a golden mirror. “I have a beard! Sweet Darwin this is a dream come true!” How on Earth did I managed to grow one was beyond me, but I guessed it was a nice trade off from this ridiculous hair. I went towards my favorite contraption, looking through the recipes, and… huh?! “There is an even BETTER machine?!” Well, there is nothing wrong with knowledge right? Hmm…! Oh great… this new ‘Alchemy Engine’ will be tough to make, but if it’s half as good as this one, then it’s worth it. I began to refine my materials into something more useful than just logs and rocks. Taking one of the sharpest rocks, I used it to chip the logs into smooth boards. It took little to no effort as I stood next to my machine. Making the squared bricks of rock was also incredibly easy, same with the gold circuitry. How do these machines get their power I did not know, but as long as it was there I wasn’t going to questioning it until I had the proper equipment to examine them once I got back home from crazy-horse land. After some time, I had at least half of the components I needed, but I was far too tired to continue. Then I heard something in the distance, somewhere in the direction from the fancy palace on the edge of that lonely mountain, it sounded like a frustrated scream. Right, the weird talking horses… If they built that thing, or the castle I was standing on… I was scared… Hopefully these creatures lived on some far off island secluded from humanity so well, they have never been found, because I didn’t want to entertain the idea of being stuck in another world. Well, until I knew for sure, I will try my best to find a way out, until then though, hmm? I needed meat, my mouth might be delighted with them, but my stomach was getting tired of berries. Walking outside the castle, I went around the clearing. There were some more ruins along the way, a few flower gardens, but not much else. Then I found another of those dammed birds, gobbling away at some berries. I couldn’t just punch it to death, and running after it won’t work either. I needed a weapon. I quickly got back inside, and looked through some recipes the machine had to offer. It looked like I could craft myself a simple spear from just flint and sticks; the only problem was tying them together. Using some of my grass, I made myself a small length of rope, and used it to tie it around the sharp rock and a stick I had left. With my new weapon, I ran towards the direction of the dumb animal, hoping to find it there. And lo and behold, it was still gnawing at my precious berries. Taking careful aim, I hurled the spear towards the animal. I missed... I never was the best at sports... The spear got caught in the ground next to the over-sized bird, startling it. It ran towards the ruins, but I wasn’t going to let it get away from me this time! Running to get my spear, I picked it from the ground and ran towards the bird. I managed to corner it between two walls, it couldn’t escape me now! “I will destroy you!” I battle-cried while charging towards it, and before it could doge me I used the pointy end smack him. After a few hits it went down. Cringing, I took its massive corpse, and dragged it towards the castle. I didn’t really like to kill that bird for food, but at least I was going to eat well today. Canterlot Palace, Dusk Everypony was quiet, not daring to speak a single word. Their youngest princess was now crying openly, and they could only watch as her sister came to her side and wrapped a wing around her. “I’m, I’m sorry… we didn’t mean to…” Twilight began, but she couldn’t voice her thoughts out. “Tis-” *sniff* “-tis not only our nights-” *sob* “-our moon won’t-” *sniff* “-won’t answer to us anymore,” she barely managed to say, truly saddened by the fact that her nights where taken from her. “I’m afraid my dear sister wasn’t the only one affected,” said Celestia in a somber tone, catching the eyes from everypony present. “What do you mean?” Asked Twilight, then Fluttershy added, “is… is there something wrong with the day too? Because… um, it looks fine to me.” “Well, I wasn’t the one who raised the sun today,” she said, her head looking down slightly while still embracing her sobbing sister. Collective gasps from everypony present was heard. “Which is why we want this conversation to never leave this room. The panic it could create is immeasurable, so please, we implore you, to keep this to yourselves,” Luna said after she regained some of her regal composure, casting a look towards the mares and dragon in the room. All of them nodded, most where shaken from the situation. “Don’t worry your majesties, we won’t say a word to anypony,” declared Rarity, and with no objections to her statement, the princess continued. “I’m glad we can count on you, but since we may be facing something completely different I will take precautions.” Celestia looked at them, Twilight in particular. “I’m sending the royal guard to your town, make sure that you are safe. If you are to pursue this matter into the Everfree further, make sure to take your brother with you,” she stated while staring at the purple unicorn, getting some odd looks from the mares, except Twilight herself and Spike. “Wait, you are going to send in-?” “Although he has other matters to attend to, I believe this is far more important than an old legend of a broken kingdom,” she finished. “Hold on a second, you have a brother?!” “Ah didn’t know yeh had a sibling” “Wow a new pony! I can’t wait to throw him a welcoming party!” “Why darling, you never said you had a brother, what does he do?” And so on most mares bombarded the poor unicorn with questions. “Yes, I’m sorry I haven’t told you about him, you can throw him a party, and he is captain of the royal guard” “WHAT?!?!” The ponies present blurted out loud, the princesses and zebra watching with amusement. “We are sorry to hear of your plight, but now we must part before we lose our sight,” finished Zecora, pointing outside showing the sun setting. “I’m sorry girls but I believe she is right. I wish you good luck my little ponies,” -She turned to the dragon- “and Spike,” -She looked at the zebra- “and you too Zecora.” Celestia fared them goodbye, but before they had a chance to leave, she trotted towards the massive throne room’s doors, and called out. “Guards!” Celestia called her royal security. A couple of guards showed up, bowing before her. “Yes your majesty?” Both said simultaneously. “Go get Captain Shining Armor and tell him that he must leave his previous assignment to gather a small platoon of onehundred and go with them to protect Ponyville.” “At once your majesty.” They bowed again, and left through the hallway. Everypony bowed before their rulers, and traveled back home before they ran out of sunlight. Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Night After eating the bird I killed a few hours ago, I felt better. I also realized I needed to cook my food somewhere better than just hovering it over my fire. That and I needed some sort of place to put my food in. I approached the Science Machine, and found the recipe I needed, but I was lacking the fuel to make it. Using my spear to take some of the already burnt logs from my fire I let them cool down on the stone floor. No need to burn the forest down just so I can get some coal. In the meantime I worked on the Alchemy Engine, which was coming along nicely. Sure, it was confusing at times, and was taking its sweet time, but I persevered. I wanted to see this project of mine through and through. After an hour I felt tired, the coal was ready, and all the parts were made, all I needed was to assemble both and I was done, but I felt my bed calling out to me, so I obliged and sat on my grass cushion. I pulled my amulet from my vest and turned it over, looking at my bearded face. I looked good in a beard, so there is no way I’m shaving this! Having little else to do, besides fawning over my beard, I fell to sleep.
A way out?Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Early Morning I woke up very early today, so I used my time to assemble both my ‘Alchemy Engine’ and my new cooking station, the crock pot I think it was called. I just had to place the coal on the ground, and support a stone stove over it with some sticks, nothing too fancy. At least I now had somewhere to cook my food more properly. Then I began to build the second research station. It was kind of hard, considering how complex it was, but in the end I finally got some nice results. The new contraption appeared to be far more refined than the Science Machine. It looked like one of those globes people had as maps, supported by three wooden legs and a wooden ring around it. It had a golden cable connecting it to the ground. It also had some sort of valve, and at the top it had two golden spheres connected by a wooden antenna protruding from the globe itself. This time I wasn’t skeptical, if this is as good, or even better, than my previous machine, it had to be great. And now, how do I turn this thing on?! I tried the valve, turned it clockwise a few times before it came to life, and like the Science Machine, a softer but evident whirring noise came out of it. My mind was flooded with even more ideas now, it was crazy! So many things I could build craft and use to my advantage. It was even more science-y than the last one! Looking through the recipes I found some very interesting things. But most of them made sen- …! Huh? What in the world…? There is yet ANOTHER contraption within the recipes. It looked odd, but so did the rest of the machines. It was called th- … …um… …erm… se-seriously…? Well, that’s a very dumb name, apparently it was called the ‘Prestihatitator’… “Who would name something that?” I asked myself, seriously! Huh, it was also listed under the “Magic” section… “Wait, I CAN USE MAGIC?!” That’s so ridiculous! There is no such thing as magic! … is there…? Well, considering the things I’ve been through so far, I really shouldn’t put it beyond me. Besides, if it did exist, it would probably help me in escaping this awful forest. However the materials for making this thing didn’t make a lick of sense, and I was already regretting even considering building such a thing. For starters I needed four live rabbits, with horns… Oh, and also a Top Hat, because, why not?! At least the boards and gold needed weren’t an issue, but I really don’t want this to become a failed project. Looking through my pile of materials, I really needed something for storage because this was getting ridiculous, I sadly found out I was fresh out of wood. Making myself another axe, I went towards the forest to gather some more logs to; A) make the ridiculous Prestihatitator, and B) have some fire wood for tonight. This was going to be a long day. Ponyville, Early Morning Almost everypony was asleep, some were just about to get up, and others fueled themselves with some good old morning coffee. This was until several guards approached the quaint town, all of them fully clad in golden royal armor. Everypony who was already awake took notice of this, but they all knew the royal guard was there to protect them. The only problem was from what? Then a particular guard stepped up, and knocked on the town’s library door. “It’s a public library! Just come inside!” Was heard from within, the mare who said it was obviously irritated. “And here I thought you would be more excited to see your big brother,” came the masculine voice of the Captain of the guard, while stepping inside the building. “Shining?” Twilight immediately snapped her attention towards her brother. “Twily!” He said, pulling his sister into a warm embrace. “So how was the train ride?” “It was long and boring, but now that I’m here it was worth it,” said the eldest brother. “Well, can you come inside? I’ve been waiting for so long to tell you how great it has being living here at Ponyville, erm, minus the chaos…” “I wish I could, but right now I need to rally my troops to organize them, Captain of the guard and all.” “Oh…” “Don’t worry though, after I’m done I’ll make sure we have some time together,” he said while beaming a smile towards his little sister. With an adorkable squeal, she thanked him whilst hugging him before he left the library. By the time it was dusk, all the guards where already by their post, or patrolling around the town. Most ponies where curious as to why there where so many guards and why they where needed, however whenever they tried to ask, the ponies where turned down, dismissed or simply told that it was royal matters. Even though it put the town on edge, they still kept with their daily activities as if nothing was wrong. Ponyville was the most targeted town for disaster, so they thought the guards where a nice addition considering previous events. Before long, their captain was free of his duty, and decided to check on his sister. After an hour or so of chatting about their lives, their experiences and mostly catching up, he said: “With all of my troops placed, and the town thankfully doesn’t seem to be panicking, I guess this is as good time as any to talk to you about something,” Shining told Twilight. “Well, I already told you how I’ve been, my friends and adventures we had during my stay here in Ponyville, so what else do you want to talk about?” She asked her brother. “Well, last I heard was that you and your friends where tasked to go to the Everfree, but I don’t know what or why yet.” “Oh, I can’t really tell you all of it, and I’m sorry,” she then added, “but what I can tell you is that there is something hiding in the forest, and that me and my friends need to find out what so we can get some answers.” “Answers? Answers to what Twily?” “Wait, you haven’t noticed yet?” She asked confused. “Noticed what? Something is wrong?” He started to get worried. “Well, let’s just say that there is something wrong with the dark while its night, and the princesses fear it may have something to do with what we are trying to find in the forest” “Well then, how about me and some of my soldiers go with you next time you go there?” He asked. Twilight remembered the advice Celestia gave her, so she had no other choice but to agree; “Yes, of course! I would love for you to come.” “Good, now what did you mean by ‘something wrong with the dark while its night’?” “You’ll see pretty soon, don’t worry, as long as you have a light there should be no problem,” she reassured her brother. “Well, until then, let me tell the guards about this, just in case,” he said before leaving the town’s library. Robert’s POV, Everfree Forest, Late Morning When I finished gathering some logs and putting them back at the castle, I sent out to find these weird rabbits. I had made a couple of traps and gathered some berries to use them as bait, just in case these things where real. It wasn’t long until I found a smaller clearing than the one I’m using as a temporary home. It had fewer trees, and there were some holes in the ground, much like the ones rabbits use to live. It was then when one of them popped his tiny little head out of one, its eyes where completely blank, and it had small antlers on top of its furry little head… … why are you a thing… … just… … just why?… Well, I was looking for you anyway, so might as well do what I came to do in the first place. I placed one of the traps down, baiting it with some of my berries, and waited as I hid behind one of the berry bushes, and while I picked it clean I saw the rabbit come closer. Before long it was trapped inside my small trap, trying hard to get out. Good, now to get three more. I grabbed the already trapped rabbit and placed it on my backpack, making sure the little creature could breathe through an opening, but not enough for it to escape. I felt him, at least I thought it was a male, wriggle on my back, but I paid him no mind and searched for three more. Three horned rabbits later, I had enough of them to fill my backpack, and bring back to my camp. They sure where scared, and they should be, because not even I knew what I would end up doing with them. Walking back to the ruins I pondered, where in this forest was I going to get a top hat? I remembered there being a recipe for that, but I didn’t look into it since I wasn’t going to use it back then. Finally inside of the castle, I consulted my Alchemy Engine. And… …oh… Yeah… that’s not happening… There is no way I’m going to take silk from those GIAGANTIC SPIDERS! I barely managed to kill the turkey! How do you expect me to take down a spider nest with a SPEAR!? Huh…? I browsed through the knowledge the engine had to offer, and found out there was some armor I could craft for myself. Hmm, well, wooden armor is better than nothing I suppose… Wait, was I seriously considering this? If it meant I could make a new machine to help me get out from this place, then yes, I guess I was. I crafted myself some lengths of rope with my remaining grass, and used some of my wood to craft this ‘Log Suit’. After I was done it looked like a vest, but made of wood. Uh…huh… I needed more than to protect my chest, those buggers could still bite at my limbs if I’m not careful! Using more of my resources I crafted more wooden protection. When I was done, I wore my armor, and realized how stupid I looked. Apart from the vest, I made myself separate plates of armor that protected my arms and legs. It wasn’t much, but in the very least it would protect me if they tried to bite me. Just then, tiny little squeaks let me know of my other, fuzzy, problem. I made the rabbits a small pen, making sure they wouldn’t easily escape it. It was also made out of wood, and I was almost out of it. After checking that everything was secured, none of the armor plates would slip from my limbs, my amulet secured in my vest, and spear in hand, I walked in the direction of where I knew was one of the spider dens. It didn’t take long to find it, but it was already dusk by the time I arrived. Some of the spiders were walking around, oblivious to my presence. “Ok, breathe, all I need to do is kill them, and then grab as much of their web as possible and make the stupid Prestihatitator,” I silently muttered to myself. “I’m going to stomp you dead!” I charged at them, spear raised and ready to bash some spiders. *HISSSSSSAAAAAHHGGGHH* One of them crawled towards me, but before it could bite me I smacked him across its ugly face, sending it sprawling towards its nest. *HIIIIIIISSSAAAARAAAHHHGGGGGGGG* *RAAAAAAAAASHHHHHGG* *HIISSSSSSSSSSSSS* … this was such a bad idea! One of them lunged at me, but he only caught me by the plated part of my arm, so I shoved him off. However the other two took this as an opportunity to bite at my legs, both chomping on my unprotected knees. “OUCH!” I threw my spear in panic to try and impale one of them, but I missed and it got stuck into the ground. They almost made me trip, but luckily I sustained my balance by supporting myself with a nearby tree. Using my legs I kicked them both off, and ran for my spear, swearing never to let go of it ever again. My body was pumping with adrenaline as I picked my weapon and swung it towards the nearest spider, a purple liquid staining the crude blade after it connected with its skull. It dropped to the ground and stopped moving, while what I assumed was his blood was oozing out of the wound I managed to make. “Ewwww!” Calm down, and breathe. One down, two to go. Now I used my spear to stab at lefty, while kicking righty out of the way. I managed to hit its eye, but it was now angrier than ever. It lunged at my feet again, thankfully though, this time it bit the wooden plate. I had no time to shake lefty from my leg for righty was getting back into the battle. Kicking both spiders against each other, I managed to shake lefty off and dazed him long enough for me to stomp him. Righty, however, was fully aware by the time I finished with his hairy friend. He tried to bite at me, but I blocked his attack with my spear. Before it could do anything I rushed him and used my weapon to do a downwards stab, impaling him to the ground. “Ah” *pant* “gah” *wheeze* “ah” *pant* “ah… dam, that was exhausting!” I managed to say, before the pain in my knees started registering once my heartbeat steadied. I sat on the ground, removed the wooden plates of armor and stared at my abused legs. The fabric of my pants was tattered, and on my knees, plus part of my right leg, where small gaping holes. However, they didn’t hurt half as much as I thought they should, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to walk without limping, and I wasn’t bleeding out either. Then I realized I was still wearing my amulet. If this thing actually worked, then who is to say magic isn’t real? I sat up, wincing ever so slightly, and made sure the den was empty from any more critters. “Good, now how do I bring it back? Wait I got an idea!” I took my spear from the spider’s corpse and used it to entangle it with the web, turning it around so it could gather the web like some sort of Halloween cotton candy. I kept spinning it before it became too heavy to lift, and walked back home. Robert's POV, Castle Ruins, Night By the time I arrived it was almost night, so I made the campfire roar and placed some food on the pot. I was really hungry, if not starving, for some food. I don’t think I’ve ever been this hungry before, it was probably the fight that took out most of my energy. While the food was cooking, I took off my armor and checked my wounds again. By Darwin, Mike wasn’t kidding, this thing was almost done healing my legs! Michael… I have been here for days, he must be worried sick about me, one more reason to get home as fast as possible I’d say. Now, using the silk from my fight with the spiders, I crafted some of it into a nice little Top Hat. It looked very fashionable indeed. Too bad I needed it for something else. Making the parts for the new contraption was easy, so it didn’t take me long to finish it. By the time I was done, I looked at this strange new machine, it had a lever like the first one I build. I tried to push it upwards, but it wouldn’t budge, something was missing… OH right! The rabbits! I picked the little creatures up, and shoved them down the hat. They screamed a little before calming down inside of the machine. Erm, is this going to kill them or something? I really hoped not. I pushed the lever upwards, and it seemed to be working. The hat was bouncing up and down, and when I looked at the inside, it was empty. Huh? Where did all the rab- “WHOA!!!” THAT’S NEW!! WHAT IS GOING ON?! “Bloody hell! That’s some magic alright!” I browsed through the amazing recipes this thing had, and came to a sad conclusion. I didn’t own half the resources needed to make any of these artifacts work… Where was I going to get gems? What in Darwin’s name is a Mandrake?! And why did I get a bad feeling about using something called ‘Nightmare Fuel’?! … this is sad… At least I found my amulet, but I needed this strange fuel and a red gem to make a backup, and that’s not mentioning my precious gold. There were other things too it, even another magical station, but I didn’t know where or how I could get the materials I needed. This was such a waste of ti- Wait! What is this?! I could make something called the “Jury-Rigged Portal”, and if it does what I think it does… “I can craft myself a way out!” With my newfound energy and motivation, I ate my dinner and began getting the things necessary for this portal. This was going to be great! IT IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK FUCKNUT, YOU ARE THE MOST RETARDED DON’T STARVE PLAYER EVER! He never even played the game…
'The Birds and the Bees & Dogs That Want to Kill You'Everfree Forest, Morning A big group of ponies, dragon and zebra where traversing the dense forest. The elements of harmony, the zebra and dragon we all know far too well. But there, at the front of the group, was the Captain of the guard, two of his soldiers flanking him, while three more where trotting behind the group of mares. “So where do ya’ll reckon we’ll find it?” Asked the farm pony towards the group. “Well, have you ever seen it before?” Asked Shining back at the mare. “Uh, we saw it somewhere around the crooked trees, where the, erm, graveyard was…” Said the dragon, unsure if he should have said that or not. Almost all ponies present flinched, but the zebra, party pony and captain kept their composure. “Graveyard? I never knew you had one so deep in the Everfree” Said one of the pegasus guards. “We don’t” Replied the purple unicorn mare. At this point the guard’s eyes opened wide. “Specially not one that says ‘Milk, eggs and bacon’” Said the pink pony, cheerful as ever, while pointing towards one of the graves. The guards and their captain stared incredulously at the mare, before realizing she was right. This also meant they entered the same graveyard as before. “C’mon everypony, last time it ran that way!” Said Dash, while pointing at the direction of the Castle and flying towards it. “Woah there kiddo! We are here to protect you! And we can’t do that if you speed past us like that” Said the pegasus guard from before, while flying in front of the mares path, keeping her from flying further. “Hey what gives!?” “Rainbow, remember when ah had to pull yeh out from them spiders?” Reminded Applejack, scolding her with a look. “Yeah, yeah, thanks again by the way” She replied back sincerely, while flying close to her friends. *snicker* *whispering* “What’s so funny?” Asked Dash indignantly. “Spiders?” Asked the unicorn guard who was laughing. “Hey, give her a break Go Fish, maybe she is arachnophobic!” “If you were there, then maybe you would understand!” Replied the embarrassed mare. “Oh please, what’s so scary about spi-?” *thack* *thack* *thack* “-huh?” “What in Equestria?” She tried to get her hooves unstuck from the webbed forest floor, before a very peculiar sound was heard: *HIISSSSSSSSSSSSS* *HIIIIIIISSSAAAARAAAHHHGGGGGGGG* *HHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHH* *HISSSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAARRRHHHGGGGGGG* *RAAAAAAAAASHHHHHGG* “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK” She screamed while dozens of giant spiders appeared from three massive dens. The pegasus guard dove in and got her out from the webbing swiftly before any of the spiders got close enough to harm her. “Behind me!” Ordered their captain, before lighting up his horn and creating a solid, purple shield to separate them from the giant arachnids. The spiders recoiled from the light, and crawled back to their dens. “You were saying?” Said the rainbow maned mare, getting an annoyed glance from the guard. “Gee sis, you weren’t kidding about something being wrong with the forest” Said Shining, before the group regained formation and continued to walk in the direction of the castle. “Not, one, word, Stonewing” *muffled giggles* Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Early Morning I was almost too excited to sleep last night I just had to wake up as early as possible. I went to the magic station and saw what I needed. Hmm, well, everything seems doable, but where the hell was I going to get a couple of crows? I’m not giving up! I went to the engine, and found a bird trap that would serve me well. Wasting no time I used some of my giant pile of silk and made the trap. I placed it outside, and rigged it. After waiting for some time, an unlucky crow got caught. Good, now I need one more. The next bird I trapped was red, dam. “Well, sorry about that, here you go” I said as I set the bird free. After one more try I finally managed to trap the next crow, and brought them inside. Alright, I plucked some feathers, and then tied the two birds together. I made a mix with the feathers, ashes and some of my berries. Then I had to, huh? Well, whatever, the amulet will take care of that. I made a small cut on my hand, letting the blood drip down and added it to the mix. I watched in amazement at how quickly the small cut healed. Now that this strange mix was done, I needed to make the frame of the portal. I then crafted a small bag with some grass and chucked the crows inside before closing it. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, but I let the aura of knowledge flow into me enough to know this is how it must be done. After an hour or so, I managed to get all the parts done. I used some of my stones to make the base of the frame. Then refined my wood and made the rest. Using some of my leftover wood, I crafted the wheels and gears it needed. Then I crafted a wooden scale, putting the mix on the right side, and placed the bag with the crows on the left side. I was on fire today! Then I began assembly, a pain in the ass, but still worth it. The wheels were placed, the contraption was made, and strange things grew from the top of it. Again I had to take a moment and question what the hell I had built. But that didn’t take long for I was dying to turn it on. I threw the switch, and watched the machine start up with wonder. Yes! I can finally get out of this f- *Pata* *thump* Castle Ruins The group of ponies, dragon and zebra stumbled upon the castle’s entrance. After their encounter with the spiders on the forest, the guards where very wary. Carefully, they entered the ruins. Inside, was a sight to behold. There where various machines and weird contraptions sprawled across the throne room, all of them having some motion to them. There where piles of rocks, logs, gold, grass, sticks and silk around them. It was an awful mess. “What in Equestria is going on here?” Twilight whispered to herself, the group agreeing upon looking at the chaos before them. A random butterfly fluttered by. Then there was this ominous noise coming from deeper within the castle, surpassing the sounds the machines where making. They stayed quiet, slowly approaching the way towards the new noise. Before long, they encountered a new contraption. It looked like a giant portal, and before it stood a creature. Its shape was bipedal, it had a black wavy mane with an odd shape, and was clad in tattered, but once handsome, dapper clothing. It seemed to be staring at the machine with wonder, while the wheels and gears of it turned faster and faster. When the noise it was making reached its peak, an object shot out of the portal, made a strange drum sound colliding with the creature’s face, and both fell to the ground with a loud ‘thump’. “…” “Well, that happened…” Said Pinkie Pie, perfectly depicting the entire group’s current thoughts. “Erm, yeah, yeah it did…” Said one of the guards. “Then, what are you waiting for? Grab it!” Ordered their captain, quickly getting his troops out of their daze. “What about the drum?” Asked one of the guards who wasn’t carrying the creature. “Bring it too, but don’t let it get close to the drum, we don’t know what they are capable of” He commanded. Ponyville, Afternoon It was near dusk before the group arrived back at the town. They were quickly met by the guards, but upon seeing their captain, they let them pass with the odd creature on their backs. They all met up at the town’s library, so that they could take a closer look at the strange being. To help pass the time until it woke up, Twilight, Zecora and Shining began to inspect the creature, making Spike write down as much as he could. Meanwhile, Pinkie pulled out a board game and set it on top of the drum, producing the same *pata* sound as before. She started playing checkers with one of the guards, who lost quickly and another took his place. “What?! How did you do that?!” He asked her surprised. “She is Pinkie Pie darling, just don’t question it” Answered Rarity, getting various nods of approval. Twilight first casted some diagnostic spells to it. This thing was odd, since it lacked the magic most sentient beings usually had in Equestria. After looking at the creature, few things where obvious. It wasn’t anything Equis had ever seen, or at least ever recorded in history. It was also a male and judging by his clothing plus the odd machinery found within the castle, a very smart one. He appeared to be wearing something around his neck, but before anypony or zebra could do anything, he began to stir. “Um, I think he might be waking up” Said Twilight to everypony in the vicinity. The guards quickly stepped in, making sure to position themselves so they could neutralize him if he turned out to be hostile. Robert's POV “Guh, erm… what… what happened…?” I muttered out loud. Why does the ground feel different... And why do I feel like someone is whaAAAAAAAARRHHH!??!?! “GAHHH-!” *thump* “-…ow…” FUCK, my HEAD! As I rubbed my abused head from front to back, I realized I was being talked to. “Ugh, just… give me a second I can’t even think right now…” I muttered weakly, hoping my amulet would heal my poor skull quickly. “I said IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” A commanding voice shouted at my face, what an asshole. Erm, should I tell it to fuck off, my real name, or lie? “Eh, you can call me Wilson” I stated simply, remembering my cosplay's name. “The gentleman scientist at your service” I added with a small bow. What? It’s better than nothing! After I regained more of my senses I realized I was surrounded by horses in some expensive looking armor wielding spears pointed at me. I jumped back when one of the horses, a purple one without armor or a weapon, got straight in my face. “How are you doing that?” She stated simply. “What are you…” “You had hit your head when we first found you, but there is no bruise anymore” Oh yeah, I did didn't I? Wait, how did I- “And right now after you hit your head again I’m sensing some magic healing it as we speak” “Wait, you said I hit my head when you found me, did YOU have something to do with that?!” I asked her. “Uh, you don’t remember?” She asked back. Wait, I do, I was building my portal, and when it turned on… “Heh, I do now, soo where is the thing that hit me?” I asked, I needed to know what it was, for if it came out of the portal it could probably help me escape! “I’m not telling you anything until you answer my question” She informed me, and was it just me? Or where the armored horses backing away from her?! “Erm, what did you mean again? Oh wait, yeah, it’s my amulet!” I said proudly, taking my precious gem for all to see, or at least her before she kills me for it… And then she snatched it from me, but before I could voice my complains the other horses stepped forward, blocking my way. “Hey! That’s mine! I paid good mon- my friend paid good money for it!” “Not until I figure out how it works” She called out, further away from me with every word. I crossed my arms, seriously what the hell is wrong with her? “Look… erm… Wilson? It will be much easier if you can cooperate with us” Said one of the horses, I assumed he was the leader, because he was the only one with a distinct armor than the rest. Deciding it was best to behave, totally not because of their weapons aimed at me, I sat down and crossed my arms. Then I heard it, it sounded distant, but having nothing else to do but sit around it was easy to pick up. “Did you hear that?” I asked them. “Hear what?” *growl* “That!” “Actually, I think I di-” *growl* *bark* *growl* “What was that?” Asked the purple, horse, girl, thing? There was a name for them but I can’t put m- “Oh, we are mares” Thank yo- wait What? “What are you talking about Pinkie?” Another MARE said, a bit on the tomboyish side. *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* “Oh oh, twitchy tail, TWITCHY TAIL” Pinkie, I believe, called out fanatically. What is goi- Hold on, I remember Mike telling me something about the growling in the game. “And those aren't the only danger that come looking for you” Mike finished explaining something from the game I didn’t care about for the eleventh time. “uh huh” I called out uninterestedly. “There are also these ‘hound attacks’, and if they catch you off guard, it can seriously be a major problem” “uh huh” “You will first hear these growling and snorting noises coming from afar” “uh huh” “But then they get louder, and louder, until you can hear them running towards you to kill you” “uh huh” “But that’s not the worst part, they attack like every week, and every wave there is a new hound” “uh huh” “And this is even worse when playing with other people, because their numbers double with each player” “uh huh” “So if it’s just the first wave, but there are four players in the world, there would be eight hounds instead of just two” “stahp” “Oh, and there is also the other bosses in the game that can attack you if you are not careful” This was quite the long ride. “Uh, how many of you live in this place?” I said, my voice cracking a little. “There are about four thousand ponies living here in Ponyville, why do you ask?” *whimper* “that’s-" *gulp* "-that’s eight thousand hounds…” I barely muttered. *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* I’m dead. *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* *growl* *bark* *growl* *snort* *growl* *bark* WE are dead. *GROWL* *bark* *GROWL* *SNORT* *growl* *BARK* *growl* *SNORT* *GROWL* *snort* EVERYONE IS SO DEAD!
"Facing insurmountable odds, with black, one-eyed midgets..."Robert's POV, Ponyville *GROWL* *BARK* *GROWL* *SNORT* *GROWL* *BARK* *GROWL* *SNORT* *GROWL* *SNORT* “GAH! All that growling won’t let me concentrate!” ARE YOU SERIOUSLY MORE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR STUPID GAME OF CHECKERS RIGHT NOW?! The armored pony used his hooves to smack the board, sending it flying. I then noticed that whatever they were using as a table flew away from them. Before any of the ponies could try and catch it, it landed on my lap. "To those who beat the drums of war, To those who face insurmountable odds, Beat the sacred drum, And I will help you conquer your foes!" “…” “My name is Wilson Percival Higgsbury, and I’m so dead right now you cannot begin to comprehend! Please please please PLEASE HELP ME!!!” I panicked and screamed at the air while beating my hands frantically on the strange white drum. “Hey! I thought I told yo-” Their pony leader began to say, before a green light appeared in the middle of the room. As I looked up, I saw a green swirling mass of smoke producing the light. “What on Earth is that?!" I asked no one in particular. Then a figure stepped out of the green portal. It looked humanoid, but its 'skin' was as black as the nights in this forsaken land. Its shape was too flat, too generic, heck it wasn't wearing any clothing besides a weird hat, yet there was nothing that may distinguishing it as a male besides the lack of breasts. His nose and ears where mostly gone, only small elevations on his head like an early sketch begging to be done. But what I found most eerie was his eyes and mouth. His eyes where perfectly circular, and there was no color to them for they where black irises on white contrast. And his mouth seemed to be drawn over with white paint on his face, for there was no depth to it whatsoever. This was until it moved to speak, acting like any mouth on a cartoon should. “That was unpleasant” The strange guy said, by his tone it was clear he was male. He began to look around, and I noticed the armored ponies aimed their weapons at him. It just got worse from there when black, one eyed freaking MIDGETS with spears, shields and bows stepped out of the portal. They also had his eyes, along with the strange hat on their bald heads. I really don’t know what the fuck just happened, all I know is that apparently he is the owner of this strange drum in my hands, for he asked: “So, who summoned us?” And everything in the goddamn room pointed at me as I raised my hand. I could barely keep it up without shacking, for he was STARING at me with those freaky looking eyes of his. *GROWL* *BARK* *GROWL* *SNORT* *GROWL* *BARK* *GROWL* *SNORT* *GROWL* *SNORT* “I assume that whatever’s barking are the things you want me to kill?” Oh right… the hounds… Man he sounded like a robot, heck he could be a robot for all I know! “Uh huh...” “Could you please tell me what we’re going to fight?” WE?! HAVE YOU EVEN LOOKED AT ME?! Wait, you did, and it was very unpleasant… “...hounds...” I said helpful as ever, while he rested his hand on his face. Also, apparently the eyes of both him and the midgets worked as eyebrows, like some sort of children's show they still managed to get some expression out of them. “Let’s go then.” Before I could try and say anything, drums began to sound as if they where everywhere around him. *Pata pata pata pon* The black, one-eyed midgets marched forward to the door, despite the fact that they could barely move in the small... library? It has quite the collection of books... “Pata pata pata pon!” Oh for fucks sake that is CREEPY... they all sang along the ethereal beatings of the drums! I shook my head hard to try and focus, all this weirdness had stunned me. “You don’t understand, there are a lot of hounds!” I warned him, before he turned back to me and smiled... Great! some fuel to haunt my dreams... “Dogs can’t beat us, my friend.” Is it wrong that I'm still very afraid? *Pata pata pata pon* “Pata pata pata pon!” Then another very small pony came into the room from the portal, singing with the rest of the group. I also took note of her small wings and horn atop her tiny little head. “Hello!” She said while waving her arm around, looking extremely cute all the way. “Uh, hi?” One of the armored ponies said, and honestly I could tell I'm not the only one confused about all this crap. The cute small pony simply smiled while catching up with the rest of her group. “Well, I’m going outside. Don’t get in my army’s way PLEASE.” The black guy said, before slamming aga-HE CAN GO THROUGH WALLS?!?! “Hold it right there you, erm, thing!” HEY! That's VERY racist! But before I could voice my thoughts, their horse leader ran after him. I tried to run after them too, but I was surrounded by a purple aura, like if something physical was keeping me in place. "Nuh uh, you sir are NOT going anywhere after the stunt you just pulled by bringing them here with your drum!" Said the purple, unicorn mare, I also noticed she, and all the other ponies in the room had some sort of unique picture on their butts... weird... "Oh, those are our cutie marks you are staring at!" Wait, what? Why are they all looking at me li- OH GOD NO, NOPE FUCK NO!!! "I DIDN'T MEAN TO" I all but screamed at them while averting my eyes... Why was this happening?! I then took a moment to realize most of the grumbling had died down, and dared peek outside a nearby window. "Oh no!" I called out, pointing at the massive wave of hounds coming from the forest. But before they managed to enter the town, a gigantic shield made of purple light encased the town. "Don't worry, my brother has it all covered! I bet that shield could encase the entire Can-" That is as much as the purple mare could get, before obvious cracks where forming around the shield. "Oh, crap I must warn him!" I didn't care anymore, I bolted for the door, leaving the mares speechless and ran towards the strange guy. After catching up with the group of black midgets and their leader, I shouted: “That's what I was trying to say in the first place!” He then turned towards me. “How many do you think?” He asked me, and I was not sure if telling him was a good idea or not. “... ehehehe erm… around...eight thousand...” I barely muttered, how on Earth do I break this to him?! He sighed, quickly followed by his hand once again resting on his face, what was the expression again? “Please say that again, Could you?” “Eh, well if my calculations are correct, and I really hope not, there should be somewhere between, erm, seven thousand to eight thousand hounds…” His eye twitched right after I said this, and I felt like I had failed my math homework. “Your joking, right?” Ehehehe... no... no I'm not. “Well, might as well get on with it.” He said this, his expression turning serious. “Wait, how many did yo-?” The armored unicorn tried to say something, before his eyes grew wide as I stared terrified at the cracks on the shield. Hey at least most of the ponies had already ran somewhere safe by now! Looking back at the other guy, I realized he was calm and collected. Does he really think he can wi-OHGODHERETHEYCOME!!! Befor I knew it, the drum on my hands floated away from me, transforming into a strange, new green one. “I like our chances now.” The guy said with a smile on his face, before reaching out to tou-HUH?! IT DISAPPEARED!! *Chaka chaka pata pon* The strange noise rang across the wind, reaching towards the small army. “Chaka chaka pata pon!” I hid behind a nearby bush and watched as the army immediately got into some form of practiced formation with ease. Their shields stood at the front, ready to take on the wave of relentless hounds. All the while spears and arrows rained hell upon the devilish beasts. And wow, the cute blue pony from before was using her weirdly shaped swords to attack them, but she lacked the experience the rest of the army sported. But then I noticed this was probably not enough, for their numbers where too great they almost engulfed the poor midgets, almost. The ponies finally decided to lend a hand, erm hoof? With the two combined efforts of the ponies and black, one-eyed midgets, the hounds where held back with ease. This isn't so bad! ... Aaaand I fucking jinxed it didn't I? *Chaka chaka pata pon* “Chaka chaka pata pon!” As the sounds of drums filled the air once more, they increased their efforts, well, as much as they could. And OMGWTFBBQ!?!?! Okay?!?!? Apparently the red ones EXPLODE IN A SHOWER OF FLAMES AFTER DYING!!! I backed away slightly, until I felt a small drizzle. As I looked up I saw a few of the flying ponies... erm, wut? They where using their hooves to gather CLOUDS and force them to rain upon the flaming hell the battle had become. Not only that, but some of the unicorns lit up their horns to help with most of their fire... yeah I don't really understand that logic either... *Chaka chaka pata pon* “Chaka chaka pata pon!” The drums and the army cried again, taking the hound waves with ferocity that would put most battles to shame. Until one of the midgets with a shield got a chunk of flaming hound stuck on him, and began running around like a chicken that lost its head while screaming bloody murder all the way. This left a hole in their seemingly unbreakable defense, until the small pony managed to barely hold them back, some of the midgets with spears aiding her. The pony who was leading his troops used his horn to create a similar barrier like before, but much smaller and potent able to hold the beasts off of them. *Chaka chaka pata pon* “Chaka chaka pata pon!” As they singed their battlecry, the shield midget got back to his post, giving the pony a much needed rest. How the hell did he managed to put out the fire by running around instead of 'Stop, Drop and Roll' is beyond me, I thought running only vented the flames and made it worse? *Chaka chaka pata pon* “FEVER!” What seemed impossible just happened, for the army of black midgets plus cute-small-pony DOUBLED their resolve, resulting in the cutting edge for the battle. This also seemed to have some affect to the armored ponies, for they too decided to fight harder than ever. This just basically fucked the hellhounds over so hard, the battle was finally coming to a close. Heck even when the ponies themselves became too exhausted to fight, the remains of the enemy was too small to take the midgets on. Soon enough, there where no more hounds and the ponies where sprawled on the floor panting heavily. The midgets however seemed more energetic by their victory, for fucks sake what do they run on?! AIR?!?! For a moment I thought there would be a gigantic mess of rotting corpses littering all around the area, but it seemed they where dissolving into the very air, becoming motes of shadows before burning out in the very sunlight. Then I noticed I wasn't entirely wrong, nor right. All across the battlefield where sprawled about teeth, chunks of smoldering meat and... RED GEMS?!?! The mysterious black guy floated towards the unicorn leader, saying: “My advice for next time, try not to antagonize possible help. The next person through here might not be as friendly as me.” I don't think he payed too much attention to what he said there, for he barely nodded before collapsing again to th- Wait, what did he mean by 'the next person'? I noticed the midgets gathering the spoils to their war, and this included the gems. Crap I must act quickly! I came out of my hiding spot and ran towards their leader, and promptly thanked him: “Hey! Um, guy uh, thanks for helping me and the town” He smiled softly, I guess he was glad too. However, I still needed something else. “But, can you please save some of the gems for me? I uh, kindoff need them, and some of the teeth too if you don’t mind, erm mister…?” Thankfully he responded: “My name is Kami. We can’t take much back, so sure. But if I may ask, why do you need them?” “Well, I think it would be better if I could show you” I told him, I really did not know what the gems true potential could be unless I properly experiment with them first hand on my research stations. “Where do yah think yer going mister?” Oh... right, the ponies... “What makes you think we are going to let you walk off just like that?” The leader of the pony army asked, seriously is he retarded or something? HE JUST SAVED OUR ASSES, plus you look like you are ready to fall again and sleep for the rest of the day. “And how will you stop us? Just out of genuine interest” Kami grinned at them before responding, and I couldn't help but let a smile graze my face. “Thank you, now if any of you need us, you know where to find us” I told them politely after thanking my companion, I was a gentleman after all, plus I'm pretty sure they know where we are going. “Let’s get MOVING! Just follow this guy!” He pointed at me, and I guided them through the forest as they followed me to the castle. This day turned out pretty ok after all. Author's Note This was the first part to the crossover with Dundredo's "PIE: Patapon In Equestria" Go check out his POV! Have a fantastic day Everyone!
"...also known as Patapons"Robert's POV, Castle Ruins, Late Afternoon We walked all the way from the pony town through the forest and got back to the castle. Surprisingly enough, we managed to get back before night had even set. With the last rays of sunlight upon us, we entered the insides of the ruins. “Those are pretty!” Huh? Oh, that was the small unicorn-pegasus, erm, cute-pony, and she was pointing towards one of the many banners that hung on the deteriorated walls. “I like them. Can I take one home with me for a blanket?” she asked Kami, who sighed like a parent would towards their child. Wait, she is not his daughter, is she? I mean how would th- NOOOOOO, GO AWAY IMAGES IN MY BRAIN!!! It took me a moment to shake those thoughts off before realizing I was being asked something. “Wilson, you own this castle essentially. Do you mind?” “Erm, not exactly. I kind of use this as my home, sure, but I’m not its owner,” I said, somewhat hastily. I really need to get out of this place before it messes with my sanity more than it already has. “Unless you know who owns it officially, I think that you are the owner. You claimed this abandoned ruin as your home, after all.” “I guess its okay for you to take one of them, it doesn't seem like anyone cares about this place besides me.” “Thank you!” the pony said adorably. I think I’m going to get diabetes just by staring at her! She lit up her horn as a blue aura appeared surrounding it. Then a similar light engulfed the tapestry and it slowly glided down towards her grasp. Okay, apparently the horns can do that… “Erm, what’s that sound?” the black midget who held what I assumed was their flag asked, and I realized those were the noises from my machines! “Oh, that’s what I was talking about with fangs and the gems!” I told them before practically sprinting to get to my precious beauties faster. As we arrived at my main research area, the midgets stared at my contraptions. Well, that was until a certain blue pony piped up. “What is all this stuff?” she asked, but before I could tell her anything she approached my Science Machine, and when she was pretty close to it, she retreated with a scared look in her eyes. “I don’t like that.” Huh? What do you mean you don’t like it? Wait… “Hmmm, it seems I’m not the only one affected by the machine’s field of knowledge… Interesting.” I thought it was just me and my crazy hair! “Would you please explain?” he asked me, why is he looking at me lik- “Woah woah woah! It’s alright! no need to get feisty!” Sorry if I panicked a little when the small army who helped take out THE EIGHT THOUSAND HOUNDS pointed their weapons at ME! “It’s nothing to be worried about, it’s just knowledge! These machines I’ve built have helped me immensely due to the information they give me whenever I’m around them. Sure it was confusing and scary at first, but after you get used to the recipes, it’s not that bad.” Damn! I never thought it would be that terrifying for the poor small pony, for she was shivering behind one of the shielded midgets. Kami carefully floated near my Science Machine as well, before his freaky eyes opened wide. “This... just wow...” he said as his eyes gleamed. “So many new ideas for Patapons!” Pata-what now… “Huh? What are patapons?” Now everyone slapped their forehead, including the pony with her tiny blue hooves. I swear it was felt throughout the entire castle. Also WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT EXPRESSION?! I STILL DON’T KNOW!! “These guys here are Patapons,” Kami said very slowly, while waving at the black, one-eyed midgets. “Ooohhh, ok then, but what did you mean by ‘new ideas for Patapons’? I thought the Science Machine only had knowledge about tools and buildings and such,” I informed him, he just shrugged and explained. “Patapons are born from a divine tree named Mater.” They are made on a tree? What are they fruit or something? “We bury specific things by her roots, and certain Patapons are born.” So when he said new ideas, that means new recipes for making them, huh that’s very interesting. “And how should I know anything about the knowledge in the science machine? It’s your creation." Hmm, actually that is a very good question. Maybe… “Well, it could vary depending on who uses it. I mean, I haven’t really gotten the chance to test that until now, so shall we experiment?” I had the irresistible urge to do science right now, and I’m liking it! Wait, why is he backing away from me? “Oh! Me please!” said one of the Patapons, before rushing towards my machine. The same strange gleam appeared in his eye as he said, “Ohhh, if I use a hound fang...” He then reached for a tooth from another Patapon “And do this...” he said before smacking the canine on his spear, which bonded with it quite nicely. But then I realized this was not going to end well, because of what he asked for next. “Does anyone have a bone?” As he stared at me, the gleam in his eye grew even stronger. “Maybe that’s enough experimenting. I think that’s too much knowledge,” I said while walking towards him before he could do something stupid. After he left the field of knowledge, the gleam disappeared from his eye. Good. “What just happened?” the Patapon with the new fancy spear asked, before Kami looked at my machine, then turned back to his army. “No one else is allowed near that thing,” he declared. “Agreed.” I really didn’t want to question the black guy’s decision. Really, I don’t think it would be a good idea. Kami pondered for a while, before saying, “I think that we might have a use for something like that, but I would need to make a new one. I don’t want to risk any of my Patapons carrying it back.” “Erm, I’m not sure how to hel-” I began to say, before an idea hit me. “...hmm, that could work.” I could make a blueprint for him so he could build it himself, hopefully this works as well as all my other crazy ideas. I swear it’s my hair, no sane man would ever have it combed like this! “But where am I going to get a piece of paper?” I asked no one in particular, before the mares from before, including the unicorn leader, came in through the doorway. “See, I told you they would be here!” said a pink mare, while the Patapons raised their weapons at them. “It’s not worth it. They couldn’t do anything even if they wanted to,” said Kami, making sure his troops don’t do something very stupid. “We aint here to cause trouble mister, we jus’ wanted ta talk,” said a mare with an evident western accent. “Alright, I’m listening as long as you are,” I told Kami, who seemed to agree. “Speak your mind.” “We wanted to thank you for helping us fight those creatures, and I personally apologize for thinking of you as a threat when you came through as an ally.” The unicorn thanked us with pure honesty. Kami merely told them: “It’s fine. You could have handled it better, but you did alright.” “Hey Twilight, do you have a piece of paper Wilson could borrow?” Pinkie, I believe was her name, asked the purple mare. “Uh, sure but why would he ne-” Pinkie took the paper with her mouth and brought it to me. “Thank you Pinkie, but how did you know I needed that?” I asked the pink, bubbly mare. “She’s Pinkie Pie! You are better off not questioning it,” the pegasus that tried to catch me a few nights ago answered, I reaaaally hope she won’t hold a grudge after the whole spiders thing... “Uh, oh-kay?” I feel the sudden urge to know about their friend now more than ever, but I shrugged. Hopefully I’ll get some answers later. I took the piece of paper and walked towards the Alchemy Engine. Okay, just a simple sketch of the Science Machine would do. And ta-da! Wait, it turned blue for some reason. Eh, I’m not questioning it anymore. I brought the blueprint to the Patapon leader. “Here you go Kami, thanks so much for your help with the hounds, I don’t know if we could have survived without you and your Patapons.” I thanked him again, and placed the bluepri- IT FELL RIGHT THROUGH HIS HANDS?!? WHAT IS HE MADE OF?!? “...Forgot about that for a second. Luna, could you please get that for me?” I guess I’m not the only one who forgets how weird things have gotten. “Sure!” the cute little pony replied adorably, and picked it up with her weird horn magic. “Hello! Didn’t I see you back at the libraryish place?” All ponies besides Pinkie Pie stared at her like she is some sort of ghost or something. “Don’t worry about it.” The more you say that the more I worry. Even the pony guards agree! “So, I assume that you can make things out of the gems and teeth?” Huh? “Oh yeah, RIGHT!” Forgot about that for a second... “Just make a small pile of them somewhere around here and take whatever else is left. If I can make something useful out of them, I bet you could too” I instructed them. If they were taking plans for the Science Machine with them, they could find a way to make the teeth useful, and eventually the gems as well. “Alright! Split the gems and fangs into two piles!” The Patapons did as instructed, before Kami asked me the most horrible question possible. “Do you want any meat as well?” Pal, you don’t say that in front of intelligent, English speaking horses. Seriously, thats like offering bacon on Veganville! “Uh, no,” I said out loud so the ponies could hear me, and then whispered into his ear. “I’m not eating anything in front of them, and especially nothing that is purple!” It’s the same color of the spider’s corpses for crying out loud! “Your loss.” I tried to laugh to make the situation less uncomfortable, I failed miserably. “ANYWAYS, I think it might be time for you to go. I don’t think you came here to stay, right?” I really needed to change the subject before the ponies start asking questions. “No, although I wouldn’t mind coming back at all.” I couldn’t help but smile, I may need his help later. “Alright, if you could follow me, I think I can get you home.” But before we could get moving, Twilight I believe, had a question: “What about us? Can we come with you?” I really don’t want them to get anywhere near my machines, any of them. “Just, erm, sit tight. I’ll come back and try to explain as much as I can. Please don’t touch any of my machines until then,” I told her, and judging by how her eyes were looking at my contraptions, I better hurry. Reluctantly the ponies accepted, after all, Kami saved them. “Gather the stuff that’s ours, and let’s follow him!” I guided them deeper into the castle, making sure to keep the lights bright so we didn’t get lost. Before long we finally arrived at my jury-rigged portal. And as we got close to it, it turned on, as if inviting Kami and his Patapons to cross it. “Well I guess this goodbye,” I told him, extending a hand before he left. “True. It was nice meeting you, Wilson.” I tried to shake his hand, buuuut it kinda went right through his. “Oh, and don’t call me Wilson, it’s not my real name, I just don’t want the ponies knowing, just in case.” You can call me paranoid, I still won’t trust the ponies. “Oh? How so?” “I don’t exactly know them, and I really would appreciate if you helped me keep it that way.” He smiled, again… I’m not sleeping well tonight. “May I know your real name?” he asked me, and I thought about it for a little bit before responding. “Well, after the whole hounds thing I trust you enough to know it’s Robert, Robert Smith.” “I’ll keep your secret safe. Anyway, see you later!” “Time to go home!” Kami addressed his Patapons as they all went through my portal. Man I’m gonna miss them, but I can always ju- …the drum… “Oh fuck, how the hell am I going to call him back!? HE TOOK THE DRUM!!” “WILSON?!” What now!? “YES PINKIE?” “REMEMBER WHEN YOU TOLD TWILIGHT TO NOT TOUCH YOUR STUFF?!?” Author's Note Shout out to Emtu for proof reading this chapter and Dundredo's part on his story! Don't forget to check out his POV, you may find something interesting. Good day everyone!
Mad Mare Makes a Mess and the Portal Pukes Piles of ParaphernaliaCastle Ruins, Night After the strange creatures left the ponies, Twilight’s curiosity only grew stronger for the odd contraptions. “Well, he only said touch,” the purple mare assured herself while she approached the machinery. But before she could examine it, a pink mare stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “Nuh uh Twilight, I'm sure he warned us about them for a reason!” insisted Pinkie Pie, trying to make her friend wary of the machines. “I promise not to touch them, but there is nothing wrong with taking a closer look.” She circled around the other mare, getting closer to the nearest machine. “Besides, what kind of harm ca–” That is as much as she said before entering the Science Machine’s field of knowledge. As the ideas flowed into her mind, her brain was working overtime to try and figure out what exactly was going on. Before long, she had a wide, WIDE grin plastered on her face. “Well, this is… interesting!” A gleam could be seen shimmering in her large lavender eyes. “Uh, Twah? Yah alright there?” one of her friends asked her, afraid of what might happen. Pinkie Pie, however, made sure to herd the other ponies as far away from Twilight as possible, with her tail twitching frantically. Twilight began to chant to herself, giggling at her own crazy train of thought. Even Shining Armor knew this was bad, but decided against going to his sister. Last time, trying to stop her only made it worse. “Just let her cool off, girls, and she will be fine,” he attempted to reassure the group. It did absolutely nothing, for Twilight had crafted herself a hammer from the machines. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?!” she asked the group, the hammer held high in her purple aura. “Uh, its nig-” Rainbow began, only for the sound of stones clashing together to cut her off. The Science Machine lived a good life. At this point, the pink mare made up her mind and called out to the human. Robert’s POV, Castle Ruins, Night … “…Crap...” Crap crap crap crap CRAP! I ran as fast as I possibly could after the voice of the pink mare. I almost tripped once or twice along the stone floors, but eventually made it back to… Oh.. …OH NO…!!! “TWILIGHT! FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING SCIENTIFIC, PUT THE HAMMER DOWN!!!” I all but yelled at the pony, stopping her mid-swing from destroying the last of my machines. She looked at me, then to the ‘Prestihatitator’, then back at me before realization hit her harder than.. noo, I still think she clobbered my poor contraptions harder. There was nothing but rubble left for crying out loud! As she looked back at me, I began to notice a few things wrong with this picture. All the other horses stood away from her, with their rumps to the wall as if to avoid her, probably manic, rampage. Then was the pony herself; her hair was disheveled, and she was covered in soot from her neck down throughout her purple fur. As the violet aura encompassing the hammer dissipated, it clattered to the ground, leaving a very confused and scared mare backing away from me. “I-I…” she tried to form the words, but she just kept staring at me, on the verge of tears. And I am standing here, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Before she could shed a single tear, I sighed while relaxing my posture. “I can always rebuild them later.” That seemed to calm her down, albeit only a little. “Y-you a-are not m-mad?” she asked me shakily. I simply nodded. I mean LOOK AT HER FACE, I would feel bad if I made THAT FACE cry! “Look, as much as it pains me to see my machines destroyed, they are just that. I can rebuild them later, just please stop trying to hammer down my Prestihatitator, I would greatly appreciate it.” I half joked at her, stopping her from going emotional and earning a blush. “That’s a stupid name!” said the rainbow maned mare, I agreed. “I like it!” Why is it always the pink one? “Ok, erm, Wilson? I am sorry for breaking your machines, I-I, I don’t know what came over me,” she apologized, and I honestly think it was enough. Not even I understand them that well, to be honest. “It is quite alright, just... don’t do it again,” I said as I smiled at her, and she took it with a relaxing breath. “I’ll find a way to make it up to you,” the mare said, determination plastered on her purple face. Which reminds me... "You can start by handing me back my amulet," I told her, and she reluctantly complied. "I still want to get a good look at it," she said with a pout, me chucking the amulet in my red, tattered vest. Ah that feels good, so odd but safe. "And you will, but not right now, it's getting late and I'm pretty sure after the whole hounds thing we all are very tired," I said, and received a nod from all the ponies, lizard, and erm, zebra. "And we all are grateful mister, we misjudged you," the cowboy hat wearing mare said as I gratefully nodded. "Hey, now that we found him we can show him to the Princesses!" Princesses? There is royalty in this world? I began to ponder, they must have authority to have those titles and to send these ponies to find me. I will give it a shot, hopefully when we meet there will be more answers than questions. "Hmm, sure I can go see your princesses, but can it wait? I mean it's almost midnight." The ponies beamed, most of them agreeing with tired faces. Then the leader of the small army added, "We need to go as soon as possible, for we were tasked to finding whatever anomaly was in the Everfree. Which, in this case, turned out to be you, I'm sure you understand?" "Yeah, we can go tomorrow if that's alright, just need to check some things," I told him. And with that we said our goodbyes, hopefully everything will turn out better tomorrow. "Bye mister scientist!" I chuckled at Pinkie, that mare is so, I don't know, makes you feel happy just by being around her. After they left me to my own devices, or more like what was left of them, I began to ponder. What was going on!? SERIOUSLY! WHY HAS EVERYTHING BEEN SO WEIRD LATELY?! Ugh, just, backtrack a little. I somehow ended up in this weird place; I am honestly going to consider calling it another world, it is filled with magical, intelligent, talking, and quite cute ponies. Not to mention the weird, but really useful, machines and contraptions I somehow managed to build with the new knowledge that appeared in my mind the moment I got here. I have didn’t mess up my first encounter; in fact, I prevented a town from being massacred thanks to the mysterious drum... that I no longer had… What was it anyways? I mean sure it allowed me to summon a “God” of black, one-eyed midg-er, Patapons. But how and why it even got here eludes me. The portal was made as a way out! Not a way in! Was he just a random coincidence? No, I am a man of SCIENCE! I do not, must not, WILL NOT believe in coincidences! There is something crucial I am missing, and I MUST find answers to it! I began my trek back to the portal, walking sluggishly because I was very tired. Still though, there it gle- … Why is there a pile of junk coming out of it?! WHAT THE HELL!? “HEY, stop puking out random junk!” I yelled as I ran to it. I shut it down and the flow of garbage stopped. The portal winked out, leaving a crazy amount of things and objects and such. This was going to be a problem, a big, messy problem. They must have some connection to that “God” that helped the ponies not get mauled by an army of hounds. Well, no better time than the present! Let’s see, what do we have here? A metal keychain of a skull with spikes protruding from the eye and nose holes, the words ‘Soul Eater. Sword for hire’ engraved on the back of it. A bluish-black scale, seven inches long, shaped like a leaf and razor sharp. A black, feather shaped throwing knife with a six inch blade. A small crystal figure shaped like a fire axe. A perfectly cut black diamond, shiny! And many, many pieces of junk that look like they belong in a gift shop. Oh, and did I mention touching most of them blurted out a very pretentious message? There was this Holy Grail that just kept screaming in my head about these “Servants”, I honestly was tempted to just chuck it back into the portal the moment it began. But this also opened a new door of possibilities, maybe I can try and summon another one to see if they can explain better what on Darwin’s name is going on! “Gah! I need a break from this madness!” And now I’m talking to myself… Well, my castle is in complete disorder, but I’m too tired to do anything about it. I can sort out my machines and the piles of junk, gems and teeth later. Right now I need my sleep; I lose my mind when I don’t get some rest.
EndI wish this where, maybe, a little less anti-climactic? I dunno. I am not going to lie to you, but for very personal reasons, I don't feel like continuing this. I want to apologize to anyone I promised to continue this, so, sorry. Thankfully this story didn't make it so far, so I didn't leave too big of a cliffhanger, right? I'm rambling, anyways, yeah. Case closed folks. Regardless, I hope you all have a good day.
