Barely one day since I was assigned and once again I was on the train. God damnit. The girls and I were being sent to investigate a string of disappearances In a small village called shady hollow. Ordinarily, she’d’ve sent the guard, but the only survivor of the first contingent had flown back to canterlot babbling and crying about puppets and wicked dolls. The poor stallion had to be committed. When we arrived however, we found a lively town. Ponies walked about, smiling and waving. A few appeared to be having conversations. There was something...off about it though. The way these ponies moved about seemed, Contrived. A parody of normalcy. As a grinning pony in a sash approached I put on an aloof, slightly condescending face. (You know, the type of face nobles make when viewing their ‘lessers’)

“Ah, Count Fielder! To what do I owe this honor?” the green stallion asked.

“I have heard rumors that Hollow shades is an exporter of rare lumber and wood. I would like to offer a trade partnership. With Your quality wood, and the carving skill of the Cervi, both our towns would make a tidy profit” I replied, having rehearsed the story a thousand times by that point. It was a half truth, and both towns would profit from trade. I spent the rest of the day in ‘Riveting’ business talks, Hammering out the logistics and kinks in the plan. By the time the mayor and I parted, it was night. The moon hung over the town, and luna’s stars painted the sky. It was beautiful. I arrived at the Inn where the girls had set up. It was a old-timey mom and pop place called the “Blue moon” I couldn’t help but whistle the first few bars of that famous frank sinatra song as I stepped inside. The elderly caretaker pulled me aside when I came in.

“There’s evil here, sonny. Git out on the mornin’ train, and for the love of the princess, don’t go out at night again!” I was a bit surprised, but nodded to keep the old guy calm. I then sat him down.

“Sir, My servants and I are here to investigate this evil. could you start at the beginning?” I said, flashing my royal agent badge.

“.....I’ll jest cut ta tha chase then. Ponies’ve been dissappearin’. At first, we thought nothin’ of it. The woodland ‘round here is thick, and folks get lost or killed in there every year. Then the local police started disappearin’ on search ‘n rescue missions.Then, everypony came back. Walked outta the woods like nothin’ ever happened. Not one a’ them talked, and they had this creepy smile. sometimes they’d jest stare at ye, like a doll. After that, the old mayor disappeared too, and the new guy was voted in. I’m an old stallion. I knew damn near ev’ry colt and filly in this town from birth. Never set eyes on this fella once. I’d start with him. Good luck sonny, and be safe.” said the old man, settling in a rocking chair. I noticed a crossbow with a glimmering silver bolt.

“Expecting monsters?” I asked.

“They might already be here m’boy” he said chuckling darkly.

I nodded and continued to our room. It was a suite, made for the rich and decorated with expensive wood and polished granite. The girls were lounging around when I entered. Greta had changed into a suit that looked more like a butler’s frock than a maid’s, while Crimson wore simple dress clothes. she was currently running tests, and wore a labcoat to keep her blouse clean. Moonlight was still in a maid outfit, but had made outrageous changes in the design, causing it to look more like lingerie than clothing. Willow wore a simple yellow sundress, and finally, Milly wore a white low cut blouse and black skirt. I found my eyes drawn to her copious cleavage before I shook my head and cleared my throat, startling them.

“Well, the old fart gave us our first lead. Suit up, full combat loadout.” I said, getting a nod from Greta. She kicked open a large trunk on the floor, revealing our stuff. I grabbed my armor and began the process of putting it on. Greta just grabbed a claymore and swung it over her shoulder. Milly grabbed a warhammer, while crimson drew a gilded rapier. Willow pulled out a bow, and Moonlight grabbed a whip and a dagger. The moment we stepped outside, we were met with a group of silent ponies with disturbingly persistent smiles. Willow whimpered and covered her ears.

“Oh, godesses….how they scream….” she said, backing away. Before I could ask about her outburst however, one of the ponies came up and grabbed me by the throat. It lifted me high nto the air, attempting to strangle me. Now, as I’ve said before, choking is uncomfortable but fruitless against a dead man. so, I brought my gauntleted fist back and slammed it into my attacker’s face. However, instead of the meaty thunk of flesh meeting flesh, or even the crunch of bones being broken, I was met with the sound of shattering porcelain. When I removed my fist though….I’ll never unsee what I saw that night. A leering, rotten face hidden under a layer of expertly crafted porcelain. with it’s jaw freed, the pony began unleashing a hellish scream. In a twisted, distorted voice it...He...asked me to kill him, or to run. The screaming abruptly stopped as I ran my new sword through the Puppet’s chest, ending his suffering. It was a steel longsword with silver runes engraved within. there was also silver in the fullers of the blade, making it perfect for actual fighting, unlike blades purely made of silver. Black mist poured forth from the corpse, Entering my body. I gritted my teeth as flashes of memory swirled through me, a young stallion lost in the woods, a chase, and a necromantic ritual.

The girls had finished off the group, filling the air with the dark magic that had animated these dolls, which, rushed into me. (You see, dark magic will seek out the nearest pool and join it. Which, while making me more powerful, also has a chance of driving me to madness.) When I stood, I was pissed. I was so angry that I don’t remember much after standing, so, go ask Greta.

******Greta POV*****

Eh? the boss on our first mission? oh boy. Sit down kid, this’ll take a minute. He told ya about the...puppets right? And our team? Good. Now, I am a berserker, but that night? I’d never seen anybody so angry. I could hear his gauntlets creaking and his teeth grinding as that black stuff entered him. When he got up, he just took off to the mayor’s place.

“Come! We must free more souls from this monster’s grip!” Shouted willow as she ran forward, placing silver arrows into any puppet she could find. I was the next to move, decapitating a puppet in guard armor. At least we know what happened to the unit right? Anyway, we get caught up in killing (Re-killing?) these things, because dozens of them just keep showing up outta the woods. Milly would send them flying with her hammer, and I’d chop ’em in half, but our weapons aren’t silver. Willow had some silver arrows, but not enough. Moonlight’s whip was basically ineffective against them too, but her knife had enough silver to make a difference. Crimson was stabbing and pirouetting away, but they kept coming. At one point, we were completely surrounded. Brandon was nowhere in sight, and we were getting tired. Sure, me, Crimson and Moonlight could’ve flown away, but that would leave Milly and Willow to the zombies.

Then, they just stopped. They just quit moving, before turning to look at the mayor’s mansion expectantly. A resounding crack filled the air as the oaken doors of the mansion were torn from their hinges and sent flying, along with a handful of robed ponies. That’s when the boss slowly strode out, dragging another robed figure by the throat as he choked and begged. He tossed him onto the groaning bodies of his comrades and raised his hand, releasing a powerful wave of the black smoke. One by one, the doll-zombies began closing around the necromancers, before shattering their porcelain masks and beginning to scream. They fell upon their creators and began tearing and rending, the agonized screams of their victims drowned out by their own unholy and vengeful cry. After a few moments the struggling stopped, and all was silent. The corpse-dolls fell over, the magic that animated them gone. The boss fell to his knees, sobbing as we surrounded him. Willow hugged him and said

“Look, sire. They are free...they are free…” Willow pulled off his helmet and began petting him and holding him close as he continued to cry, black tears coming from his face. We all grew a bit closer that day, each of us promising to stop such horrors from happening again.

Author's Note

dolls man...they freak me out. NEVER WATCH DEAD SILENCE OR ANNABELLE IN A HOUSE WITH PORCELAIN DOLLS. THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT, THANK YOU.