Beyond the Forest

Reader Discretion is Advised.

~Five Days Later~

Shining Armor had gone back to Canterlot after his and Twilight's failed attempt at catching Scootaloo. Upon his arrival, he's been sending guards to search the area around Ponyville, but none came back with anything useful. He frequently updated Princess Celestia of the guards' predictions as to where the pegasi were, but it was obvious that they were getting nowhere with the search.

Shining Armor had just finished reporting to Celestia and was a few meters away from the throne room doors when a guard called to him from behind.

"Captain. Permission to speak freely?"

The young, blue haired man turned to the guard. "Permission granted. What is it?"

"We've been looking for them for days, Captain. Don't you think we should just give up?" a grey royal guard asked.

Shining Armor was taken aback. "Why in Equestria would we ever give up? The Royal Guards have never given up on anything before and if we give up now, Equestria will be in grave danger!"

"Yes, but-"

"No! How dare you even think about forfeiting! You'd just hand Equestria to the enemy!" The angry captain scoffed. "And you call yourself a soldier." Before the royal guard could defend himself, a third voice cut into their conversation.

"Please, excuse my interrupting but you are dismissed, soldier." Celestia stood up tall as she walked over to the pair from just outside the throne room doors. Her voice was calm and comforting but firm. The guard immediately bowed and excused himself with a "Yes, Princess."

Once the guard turned a corner and was out of hearing range, Celestia looked at the only other person in the room. "Shining Armor, I suggest that you watch your temper. These are tough times for us all, but snapping at everyone won't solve our problems."

Shining Armor sighed. "Yes, Princess." With that, the Princess and Shining Armor went their separate ways.

I just don't understand. Shining Armor thought to himself as he walked down the halls of the palace. Why is it that all of a sudden these demons come out of nowhere and threaten our lives? They aren't from any enemy civilizations or else we would have found the village that they are from, so what is it?

As Shining Armor exited the Princess's Palace, he stopped in his tracks as he spotted a hooded figure turning a corner. He felt that something was wrong and that it had to do with that person. The captain turns to a nearby guard with fair skin, black hair, and a grey horn.

"What's your name, soldier?" He demands.

"Crimson, sir."

"Crimson, follow me," Shining Armor commanded.

"Yes, sir."

Shining Armor led Crimson around the corner where he saw the suspicious figure walk. The two royal guards saw the mysterious person cross a street and head into a crowded area. They tried to keep up.

Pinkie Pie hopped around Ponyville all day for the past few days. She's been singing about acceptance and threw multiple parties and get togethers to get the people of Ponyville to make a choice for themselves.

"Hi there, Aloe! I hope you're having a great day!"

However, her mood plummeted when she saw Twilight stand on a box in the middle of the shopping center.

"Everyone! Please stop what you are doing and pay attention! This is very important!"

Here we go. I hope all I've done has helped my pegasi friends...

"Over the course of about two weeks, there have been unsettling events happening. First, three strangers had suddenly shown up in Ponyville! At first, my friends and I believed them to be friendly. However, two fillies have discovered their true nature, and my friends and I felt the need to investigate..."

"...So we went and as soon as we found them hidin' from us, we knew they were up to no good. Now, Ah know this is goin' to sound crazy, but my friends and Ah have found out that the three people were actually pegasi!"

The crowd that gathered around Applejack had stopped eating their food to listen to all that the girl had to say. They were engaged in every word the farm girl projected to the crowd, and they seemed ready to run some pegasi out of town.

"The pegasi's names are Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo. They have taken the lives of guards and brainwashed my sister, Apple Bloom, and Rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle..."

Rarity's crowd wasn't doing so well.

Most of them seemed to not like the idea of throwing someone out of a country. They also had a hard time believing that anyone was capable of killing anyone else.

"...They must simply be stopped!" Rarity said. "Citizens of Ponyville, we must come together! We must throw these heathens out of Equestria! If you see any winged demons that fit the descriptions posted around Ponyville..."

"... I urge you all to report them to a guard or any one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony!" Twilight ended.

Pinkie Pie watched the mixed reactions the citizens had. Some were doubtful about the existence of pegasi, some were unsure if they supported the deportation of any creature, and others were all for keeping Ponyville pegasus free. It seemed that Twilight has too much influence for Pinkie Pie to combat. The majority of the crowd wanted to fight against the pegasi.

Good luck Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo. I can't do too much to help you now.

The pink haired girl turned away from the unicorn and the crowd that was rallying with her and made her way home.

After two hours of following the strange character, Shining Armor was ready to give up the chase.

All of this chaos has been getting to me. I have no proof that this man is bad.

Then he examined his surroundings.

Wait a minute... Why would anyone need to be in a place like this?

Shining Armor and Crimson had followed the mystery man into a desolate place a distance away from Canterlot. The blue mountains looked down upon the two guards, blocking their main source of light in protest of their trespassing of the land.

"We seem to be going towards Fillydelphia." Shining Armor whispered. "What do you think he wants from there? And why does he take this path?"

"I'm not sure, sir," Crimson responded.

Soon, the man stopped. He turned around and looked at Crimson and Shining Armor's hiding spot behind a rock.

"I know I'm interesting to watch, but it would be kind of you to leave me alone. I have an important mission to complete and I would rather not make a scene and hurt you. That would make my life more difficult."

Shining Armor and Crimson glanced at each other incredulously. Nonetheless, they left their hiding spot and faced the man.

"Thank you." He had a warm, deep voice. He stood up straight, smiling comfortingly. His black cloak covered his heavily built form; his arms rested at his side unthreateningly. He took careful steps towards the two guards.

"I really am not looking for trouble with you, guards. I simple wanted to get away from civilization." The man stops in front of Shining Armor, forcing the guard to make eye contact.

Sweet Celestia...

His eyes were blacker than night itself; they were colder than a glacier, more vicious than a swarm of angry changelings. They killed death itself, taking death's place as the taker of lives. This man's eyes revealed a life of relentlessly ripping souls from all types of lifeforms, refusing pity and moving on to his next target without so much as a second glance at his victims. This man was cold blooded, and he would not hesitate to hurt Shining Armor and Crimson if worse came to worst.

However, Shining Armor was the Captain of the Royal Guards. He would not let a threat to Equestria roam freely no matter what happened.

"There will be no trouble if you come with us, sir." Shining Armor stood up straight, making himself look taller. "As the Captain of the Royal Guards, I must arrest you. Stand down and turn yourself in."

The man chuckled, and with the calm, even tone of his soothing voice, he asked, "And what exactly are you going to arrest me for? I've done nothing."

Shining Armor relaxed unconsciously, "Suspicious activity. Sir, please follow us."

The man simply chuckled. He lifted his brown arm and held out his hand. Shining Armor and Crimson wielded their weapons: spears. Quickly, the man's chuckle became a maniacal cackle. The crazed man's hand glowed green and as his deranged laugh grew in volume, he summoned a smoke bomb. It blew up as soon as the two guards were able to register that the man was not normal.

"Get down! Get- Gak!" Shining Armor couldn't see anything through the smoke, but he heard Crimson start coughing and choking.

"Crimson!"

All he could hear were screams and gurgling. Shining Armor jumped when he felt something warm touch his arm.

What the Tartarus?! What is going on?!

He looked at his arm and saw Crimson's blood, but no sign of his comrade.

"Crimson! Where are you?!"

Multiple earsplitting cracks resounded throughout the mountain range Shining Armor was trapped in. Then there was only deafening silence.

"Crimson!"

Shining Armor received no answer as he walked aimlessly through the smoke that refused to clear. After a few steps, his foot bumped into something.

"Oh dear Celestia..." Shining Armor whispered. "Crimson..."

Half of Crimson's body lay twisted on the ground. His right arm was shoved down his throat, his eyes rolled to the back of his head. His left arm was protruding from his stomach, and the bottom half of his bruised and bloodied body was nowhere in sight.

Shining Armor started hyperventilating and searched frantically.

Oh Celestia, oh Celestia! He's still here! Oh dear Celestia!

Appearing in front of the petrified captain was the man. His eyes were the same onyx orbs they were before, but now there was a desire in his eyes; there was a need for him to damage, to hurt, to kill.

And Shining Armor was his target.

Twilight! TWILIGHT! He used his telepathy as a desperate attempt to contact anybody.

Shining Armor? What is it? Are you okay? The man dragged himself closer to Shining Armor in a drunk-like state.

Twilight, you have been the best sister I could ever ask for, okay? I love you so much...

"HehehehaHAHAHAHAHA!" The man laughed.

What? Shining Armor, where are you?! Why are you saying these things?!

In the mountains leading to Fillydelphia... I'm going to miss you and Mom and Dad.

"Bye bye, Captain!" Tears streamed down Shining Armor's face. He couldn't believe this was it. He wouldn't get to live a long life and die peacefully in his sleep... No, he would have his life stolen by a demon of all things. And all he could do was sit there and pitifully sob. Shining Armor cried and cried some more as he prepared himself for the end.

Twilight...

The man raised a clawed hand up.

I love you all.

The claw came rushing down at a speed barely within comprehension's reach, and all Shining Armor could see was his own blood flying out of his stomach. He then closed his eyes.

~That Evening~

All I wanted to do was get some food!

Rainbow Dash ran through Ponyville, an angry mob both in front of and behind her. She made another left turn and ran into another mob.

How annoying.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and jumped on top of carts and hoisted herself onto a building. The more athletic people followed her onto the rooftops.

Crap!

Once again, Rainbow Dash ran as quickly as she could. This all started when she walked from behind a cart she was hiding behind in the shopping district. She didn't spot any of the girls that were after her, and she had stolen a few bits, so she decided to buy food; the main reason for this being that she and her sisters needed to eat something other than apples, and the district was too crowded to steal from. When she attempted to buy celery, the vendor backed away from her in fear. Other people caught on to the vendor's behavior and figured out that a pegasus was right in front of them. Some people started screaming at her to leave. Others joined in, and eventually someone threw a rock at her. Rainbow Dash caught it, of course, but that only angered the growing crowd more.

"That's right, demon! Run away! We don't want you here!"

"Leave and never come back!"

Rainbow Dash eventually outran the angry citizens and found her way back to the cottage. She ran in and slammed the door shut, startling the only other occupant.

"Rainbow Dash? Are you okay? What happened?" the small pegasus asked.

Rainbow Dash sighed and sat next to the door, glaring at the floor for a brief moment before answering, "They know who we are."

Scootaloo gasped. "What?" she whispered incredulously. Then she understood what might've happened.

Their sisters must've told everyone...

"We need to find Fluttershy and leave."

Scootaloo protested immediately. "No! I have friends here! We can convince everyone to not hate us somehow!"

"And if they don't listen?" Rainbow Dash countered. "If they keep angering us, then what? We'll end up wiping all of them out! Once that happens, the whole country will be after us and we'll be in yet another war!" She sighed. "It seems like starting wars is the only thing we can do, huh?"

"That isn't true, Rainbow Dash! We've done other things!" Scootaloo thought for a moment. "Let's see...we...um...Oh! A group of healers found land without having to hurt any others!"

Rainbow Dash stood up. "Yeah, and then when they were discovered by the changelings, the healers were attacked. They fought back and long story short, the war against the changelings began." The older pegasus walked aimlessly around the room. "How will we ever fix this mess?"

Scootaloo pouted at having her argument countered. "We could try talking it out with the girls one at a time. The people in this place don't seem to want to kill us, so anything we do won't end in a complete disaster."

Rainbow Dash paused her walking and turned to Scootaloo. "Well I guess we have nothing better to do. Let's tell Fluttershy first-"

She was interrupted by someone banging on the door.

"Open the door! We know you demons are in there!" an unfamiliar female voice shouted.

"Bucking nuisances," Rainbow Dash muttered. She grabbed Scootaloo's hand and ran through the cottage looking for another exit. As soon as they left the main room, the door was broken down.

"There they are!" Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo turned their heads briefly and saw three people in golden armor running at them. To the left was a grey horned male guard, in the middle was a female guard with no horn, and to the right was a male guard with no horn. Each guard glared at the two pegasi with anger and contempt.

Rainbow Dash turned around and spotted the door she was looking for. She pushed Scootaloo through the door, but that temporarily slowed her down and allowed the guards to catch up to her. One raised a spear and stabbed her leg, causing her to fall.

"Agh!"

The non-unicorn male guard that stabbed Rainbow Dash took the spear out of her leg and prepared to strike again. Rainbow Dash, however, ignored the wound and launched herself at the female guard. Dash punched her in the gut, turned halfway around, and elbowed the other guard in his stomach. Both guards backed away from the angered demon, but the Demon did not hesitate to scratch the man across his abdomen. Blood gushing from his wound, the man dropped to the floor; he was conscious, but in immense pain. The Demon grabbed the female guard's neck and threw her to the floor, cracking the back of her skull. The woman's eyes were unmoving and her chest suddenly became still, signifying her death.

Rainbow Dash turned to her other opponent. Her red eyes glowing in anger, red electricity crackling around her body.

The guard coughs, "You sicken me, demon! You are at fault! Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle will take you down, and you will never hurt anyone else ever again!"

Rainbow Dash kneeled down and roughly grabbed his neck. She held him up so that he had no choice but to look into her fiery red eyes.

"You sicken me, guard. You and your pitiful friends can never even hope to kill me." The Demon used her red electricity to shock his heart, ending his life.

~~~~Meanwhile~~~~

Scootaloo ran out the door and into the forest as fast as she could. She heard Rainbow Dash fall, but knew that the guard who had attacked stood no chance against an angry Dash. Scootaloo had her own problem anyway, and that problem was beginning to catch up to her.

"Get back here, little demon!"

Scootaloo sighed. She knew everything would come crashing down at some point -as it always does- but did it have to end up with them all being separated? How annoying.

"Go crawl in a hole and die!" Scootaloo shouted at the guard. She was not in enough control of her powers to burn him without taking the forest down as well.

So she had to rely on Plan B.

Scootaloo stopped running, ending up in a clearing with the guard running at her.

"Stand down now! I don't want to hurt a kid, but I will if I have to!"

The demon rolled her eyes. She charged at the guard and punched him in his stomach. However, the guard took the opportunity to trap her in his magic.

"What the-" Scootaloo tried to understand what was happening as she struggled to free herself from the teal glow surrounding her. "What is this?! What did you do to me?!"

Damn it! I was too careless! This must be his unicorn magic...so that means that it comes from his horn! How do I attack his horn?

"Ha! Take that demon! Now, I'll take you back so you can be contained," the guard said, simultaneously levitating her in the direction of Ponyville, but not the same path they took to get to the clearing.

"Contained?"

"Of course. There's no way we can allow you to roam freely. You'd destroy everything," the guard said.

Think Scootaloo, think! You need to get yourself out of this mess! What would Dash and Fluttershy say to you if you don't?
They'll be so disappointed that they'll leave! So THINK!

The guard was levitating Scootaloo fairly close to tree branches, but not close enough to where Scootaloo could grab one and hit him with it. He was walking on a dirt path instead of grass, so that didn't help either. Scootaloo looked up and focused on looking through the spaces the leaves left between each other. The darkening sky was clear and the sun was struggling to cast its last light upon the forest.

The sun...That's it!

The end of Scootaloo's tail lit up, and eventually, her whole tail became a magenta flame. The hair on her head did the same, and her body lit up as her body hair also turned into fire. Soon, she was a magenta ball of fire, and the guard noticed how hot it became all of a sudden. He turned around and, in his surprise, disabled the containment spell he had around Scootaloo.

She took the chance to ram into him and grab onto him, ultimately burning the guard to death.

Scootaloo powered down and looked at her singed clothing. Apple Bloom's hoodie was completely obliterated and her white shirt exposed most of her stomach. Her pants were turned into shorts, and her shoes were in the same state as the sweater. Scootaloo grumbled as she headed back to Ponyville to find her sisters.

'It's fireproof!' she said. 'It will stay intact!' she said. I'm going to kill that vendor if I ever see her again!

Fluttershy failed.

She knew that it could've ended this way, but she refused to acknowledge the possibility.

"Okay, demon, we'll start the interrogation now," an unclear, disembodied voice spat.

Fluttershy had gone out to find Rainbow Dash when she didn't return to the hideout. Then, she had seen a panicked Twilight running out of town with a large number of guards (ten to be exact, two of which were medics), and being the curious demon she was, Fluttershy had followed Twilight and the guards into a mountainous area. Two bodies lay unmoving on the ground: one had been cut in half with limbs sticking out of it and the other had been covered in blood but still in one piece.

"Shining Armor!" Twilight had cried over the body in one piece. "Shining Armor! Shining Armor!" Twilight had lain her head on Shining Armor's chest for a few moments. She had raised her head slowly, an incredulous expression on her face.

"He's alive," she had whispered. "He's alive! He's alive! Guards, he's alive! Do something!"

The medics had rushed to Shining Armor's side to begin saving him. Twilight had kept repeating to herself, "He's alive! He's alive!" and had paced around frantically.

Fluttershy had known a demon had done this, and she knew neither Rainbow Dash nor Scootaloo would split someone in half to kill him or her. No, it was a new demon.

They had been found out.

"Hey! Who's there?" a guard shouted in her general direction. She had been hiding in a small hole in the mountain above the group, but as Fluttershy thought about the possibility of a new demon, she had dug her nails into her hand, drawing blood. The blood fell next to the guard that shouted at her.

Crap!

Fluttershy had realized beforehand that she was trapping herself by hiding in that spot, but there were no other places to hide as the mountains were too wide to hide behind while also being able to eavesdrop and there were no caves around to hide in. She should have run away, but she had really wanted to know what happened. Something had told her that it was important.

She had no choice but to wait until they levitated up to her or reveal herself. She had chosen the latter and peaked down from her hiding spot.

"Um...i-it's me, but I'm not here to hurt anyo-oof!" A unicorn guard had hurled a boulder at the pegasus, slamming her against the mountain that had provided a place for her to hide.

The boulder had fallen and an unscathed Fluttershy had jumped out from the indentation in the mountain to the ground. She held her hands up in a gentle manner, trying to show that she had meant no harm.

The guards, excluding the medics, had pointed their spears at her, and an angry Twilight had marched forth.

"What are you doing here?! Did you do this? Did you do this to my brother?!" Twilight had briefly turned towards the guards to say, "Look at her hands! They have blood on them! She did this! She's the only one who could've done it!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Wait! I didn't do this! I was just following you because you seemed hysterical-"

"Hysterical?! How would you know I'd be hysterical unless you were spying on me to see my reaction, you demon!"

Fluttershy calmly told the aggravated girl, "Look, I can explain. None of us have done this-"

"You had to have done-"

"No, we didn't! There's ano-"

"Guards, don't listen to her!"

"There really is another-"

"Take her down! Don't listen to anything she says!"

"A new demon did this, Twilight!" The guards had run towards Fluttershy, who had been ready to fight. "I'm telling the truth!"

Three unicorns and five regulars against one pegasus. The sun hadn't been retreating fast enough for Fluttershy's comfort, but she had to have dealt with it.

The regulars had charged first with spears ready to impale her. She had jumped over the one in the middle and kicked him hard enough so that he had fallen unconscious. A female regular had chucked her spear at Fluttershy's head, and the pegasus narrowly missed getting her ear cut in half. However, as Fluttershy had ducked, a unicorn had blasted her back with a magic beam, burning a hole into the back of her sweatshirt. She had jumped out of the way of the many other magical beams that followed.

As she had avoided the magical assault, the pegasus hopped closer to the guards that had been prepared to pin her down with their spears. Fluttershy had realized this and side stepped to the right at the last minute to dodge. One of the magic beams had hit one of the guards with the spears in her face, knocking her out.

"Why did it have to come to this?" Fluttershy muttered. She had dodged more magical beams from the guards and had been preparing to fight the last spear-wielding guard.

Wait a minute...

Fluttershy had looked around and noticed a certain purple horned unicorn was missing. She had searched as well as she was able to while dodging assaults from four different people, but she hadn't been able to find Twilight. Suddenly, as Fluttershy had looked up, she had been surrounded by a purple glow.

"What the-" Fluttershy had struggled, but the forcefield was only strengthened by the other unicorns adding their magic to it.

"Got you," Twilight said as she had levitated herself down from above Fluttershy.

"Listen to me, I'm going to be the least of your problems if you don't let me go right now!" Fluttershy tried. She had only needed to stall until the sun decided to set. Then, she would've been able to escape.

She should have been able to escape.

Unfortunately, it hadn't worked out that way. They had ignored everything she had said and cast a spell that knocked her out, dragging her to where she could only assume would be Canterlot.