To Devour the Seventh World

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Twilight sat in the largest chair around a crystal table, listening to Rainbow Dash tell her story. It was, as most Rainbow Dash stories, filled with numerous embellishments and asides. The content, though, was disconcerting.

They were not alone, of course. At Rainbow’s request, Twilight had called a meeting of all their friends, and Rarity, Fluttershy, and a rather exhausted looking Applejack were there as well. Pinkie Pie had not appeared because, strangely, nopony knew where she was.

“Twilight, he attacked me!” cried Rainbow Dash, slamming her hoof on the table.

“But you chased him first,” said Twilight. “Besides, you didn’t get hurt, and neither did Fluttershy?”

“Didn’t get hurt?” cried Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, not hurt at all, except that my reputation got completely shredded! How can I ever live this down? Not only did I lose a fight, but then I had to walk across town with my wings like that and then go to the spa! For a massage!”

“Well, a free trip to the spa is hardly a punishment,” said Rarity, looking up from filing her hoof. “In fact, this D27 hardly sounds like a bad pony to me.”

“He was rather polite. I mean, for a villain,” said Fluttershy quietly.

“Whose side are you on?” yelled Rainbow Dash. “You were there. He threatened Twilight! He hit me and…and…”

“And what?” asked Twilight.

“He saw my down, okay?” cried Rainbow Dash, angrily.

“Your down?” said Twilight, confused. She took one of her own wings in her hooves and separated the feathers, exposing the light purple fluff below.

Rainbow Dash almost instantly crossed the table and clamped Twilight’s wing to her side.

“Hey!” cried Twilight. “Rainbow, what are you- -”

“Twi, come on,” said Rainbow Dash. “You don’t expose your down in public!”

“Really?”

“A Pegasus’s wings are very personal,” said Fluttershy. “Not that you could know, of course, but- -”

“Seeing your down is like seeing you naked,” said Rainbow Dash bluntly.

“Rainbow, were horses,” said Applejack. “We’re ahlways naked.”

“That’s not the point!”

“That’s weird,” said Twilight, looking at her wings. “I didn’t see that any of my books on Pegasus culture.”

“Because it’s supposed to be obvious. But you get that what he did was…it was…”

“Emasculating?” suggested Twilight.

“Yes,” said Rainbow Dash, returning to her seat. “Definitely that.”

“You’re a mare, Dash,” said Applejack.

“Well, it sounds to me that all that really got damaged was your pride,” suggested Rarity. “And he more than compensated for it.”

“He still threatened Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash. “I should punch him in his ugly face for that alone.”

“He may have just been scared,” suggested Fluttershy. “Now that I think about it…we did just swoop down and chase him like that. He must have been so very frightened. I know I would be.”

“Ah agree with Fluttershy,” said Applejack before Rainbow Dash could begin yelling again. “You’re the one who threw the first punch in that fahght. Thret-nin Twalight was a bit extreme, but ah know ah sometimes say all kands of dumb things when ahm angry.” She paused but started up when Rainbow Dash began to open her mouth. “But I ahgree that somethin ain’t right ahbout that pony. He’s ‘bout as normal as a squahr apple. He sent some kahnd a- -thing to get his apples the other day.”

“Thing?” said Rarity. “What sort of ‘thing’?”

“Ah don’t know. Never saw anything lahk it. Like a big pile ah rocks, except moving. Picked up an enhtire ton ah apples without breakin a sweat.”

“Made of rocks?” said Twilight, suddenly interested.

“Yeah,” said Applejack, slowly, confused by Twilight’ sudden fascination.

“And it moved on its own volition?”

“Sure did.”

Twilight smiled broadly and tapped her hooves together excitedly. “That was a golem!” she cried. “An actual golem!”

“And that is…”

“It’s a creature made out of inorganic matter and animated through magic. Do you have any idea how lucky you are to have actually seen one? I mean, I’ve read about them, but I never thought that one might actually exist!”

“Why wouldn’t one exist?”

“Because not just anyone can raise a golem! It takes some truly impressive magic, and the spell has been lost for almost a thousand years! It’s said that the last pony to be able to create them was Starswirl the Bearded himself, and that he once created an army to defend against a force of- -”

“Well if it’s so hard, where did he get one?” said Rainbow Dash, angrily. “And can we get back to talking about what he did to my wings?”

“Sweetie Belle did say that this D27- -terrible name for a pony,” began Rarity, “was actually quite able with magic.”

“He must be a wizard,” suggested Twilight excitedly.

“A wizard that threatened to kill you,” said Rainbow Dash. “He’s dangerous.” She looked at the empty crystal chair, one marked with an image of three balloons. An expression fear crossed over her face. “Oh Celestia!” she cried. “He’s probably got Pinkie!”

“Got her?” asked Twilight, momentarily brought back from thinking about golems and sorcerers.

“Sugarcube, I don’ think anypony can ‘get’ Pinkie,” said Applejack.

“He could. He’s probably got her right now, tied up in some dark hole. He could be doing terrible things to her as we speak- -shaving her head, or forcing her to eat rotten apples, or making a suit out of her cutie marks!”

“Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity. “Don’t be morbid! Your frightening Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy was, indeed, shaking beneath the table.

“Yah would also need more than two cutie marks tah make a suit,” said Applejack, clearly nonplussed by Rainbow Dash’s concern.

“That’s what we’re for,” said Rainbow Dash, fluttering up to the top of the room and looking around suspiciously. “We’re all next!”

“Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight. “I think you’ve been reading a bit too much Daring Do. And that’s coming from me.”

“Then explain where Pinkie Pie is right now!”

As if on cue, the doors to the chamber slammed open and Pinkie Pie stumbled in. Her appearance was highly disheveled, with her hair even more frizzy than normal and filled with various foreign objects. There were bags under her eyes, and she did not seem to be able to walk straight. Regardless, she was wearing a wide smile on his face.

“Those rock-guys sure know how to party,” she said, nearly falling over. “I haven’t partied that hard since college.”

“I didn’t know you went to college, Pinkie,” said Twilight.

“I didn’t. That’s how hard I just partied.” She stopped, looking a bit nauseous, and squinted. “Ohhh. I feel pretty Pinkie Party pooped. I don’t even know what happened for the last bit, but I woke up in bed with Berry Punch, so it must have been good.”

All the other ponies simultaneously blushed.

“Oh my,” said Fluttershy.

“Relax, everypony,” said Pinkie Pie, stumbling into her crystal throne. “It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve woken up in a bed with Berry Punch. We’re both pretty used to it by now.”

“Pinkie,” said Rarity, staring with wide eyes at Pinkie Pie’s neck. “Where did you get that necklace?”

“What?” said Pinkie, looking down. She was still wearing the device that D27 had given her, a complex metal assembly arranged around a pulsing, glowing crystal. “Oh. D27 gave that to me. He said he made it to keep the eye-shadows from gobbling me up.”

“Eye shadow was gonna eat you?” asked Applejack.

“No, silly filly, eye-shadows. Sss. Like regular shadows, but with eyes.” She widened her own eyes, revealing the fact that they were rather bloodshot. She turned to Fluttershy, who was only just emerging from beneath the table. “Shadows that watch you. Waiting for you to let your guard down before they...get you.”

Fluttershy released a terrified squeak and, shaking, returned beneath the table.

“They love apples, though,” said Pinkie Pie, slouching back into her chair. She leaned forward and shook her head, causing various objects to fall out of her hair including several surprisingly large branches, a half-eaten apple, an empty bottle of cider, and a narrow octahedral crystal that promptly sprouted a pair of legs and squeaked angrily as it climbed over the map of equestrian on the table and jumped onto the floor, escaping beneath a cabinet while all the ponies stared at it.

“Why,” said Pinkie, her hair and normal personality rapidly restoring. She took off the necklace. “Do you like it?”

“Darling, it’s simply fabulous. I mean, I’ve always been quite critical of industrial fashion, but this…” she took it in her magic and examined it. “The quality, the subtlety! And the gem! I’ve never even considered having one light from within.” She set down the device on the table and turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. “The pony that created this surely cannot be evil.”

“Evil? He’s not evil, silly,” said Pinkie Pie.

“And just how would you know?” said Rainbow Dash, crossing her forelegs.

“Because I was partying with him all last night…although it really felt more like several weeks, actually.”

“You were partying? With the enemy?”

“No, I was partying with D27 and his rock-guys and wow do they party hardy! If only Maud had been there!”

“Rock guys?” said Twilight. “You mean he had more golems?”

“Golems? Sure. There were thousands of them. By the way, for future reference, never try to mosh with rock-guys. Not my best idea.”

“You haven’t been drinking Berry Punch’s moonshine, have you?” asked Applejack.

“Berry Punch doesn’t make moonshine, silly. Her great-grandpappy Still There does, up in the mountains. Now that is some strong stuff. I hear even Princess Luna can hardly drink it, and she’s like, the goddess of moonshine!”

“I don’t think that’s what Luna does,” said Twilight, sighing. The meeting was only beginning, but Twilight could already tell that it was going to be a long day.

“I officially call this meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders to order!” said Applebloom, pounding the tiny gavel against the podium of the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse.

“What are we going to do today?” asked a rather excited Sweetie Belle. “Cutie Mark Crusader well-diggers? Shelf-assemblers? Carriage washers?” She turned to Scootaloo for more suggestions, but Scootaloo seemed not to be paying attention.

“Scoots?” she said.

“What? Oh. How about Cutie Mark Crusader vengeance getting…ponies.”

“Are you still mad about Rainbow Dash losing a fight with D27?” said Applebloom, getting down from behind the podium and crossing the creaky wooden floor that made up their clubhouse. “My sister says that if you start a fight, you have to be prepared to lose, and be a good sport about it if you do.”

“But Rainbow Dash never loses fights! She’s Rainbow Dash!”

“Maybe this will cheer you up,” said Applbloom, pulling out several cans of paint and brushes.

“What is this?” said Scootaloo. “We already tried being Cutie Mark Crusader painters, and we know how that turned out.”

“No,” said Applebloom, smiling almost as wide as Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle and I came up with this last night. We figure that we spend a lot of time trying to get our cutie marks, but never spend any time thinking about what we’re going to do once they show up.”

“I don’t follow,” said Scootaloo.

“Things like how to walk or run or jump,” said Sweetie Belle. “All that will be different with a cutie mark on our flanks.”

“Really?” said Scootaloo, “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Of course it does,” said Applebloom. “I mean, it’s a cutie mark, of course it’s going to feel different. So, we need to practice having one, or else we’re going to look like fools when we finally do get our marks and don’t know how to walk around and stuff.”

“But how are we going to do that without actually having our cutie marks?”

“Simple,” said Applebloom, taking the brush in her mouth and popping open a can of black paint. She dipped the brush into it and promptly stuck it against Sweetie Belle’s flank.

“Oop!” cried Sweetie Belle. “Hey, that’s cold!”

“Sorry,” mumbled Applebloom, drawing out a neat square. She then turned the brush on herself and drew two black marks on her own flanks. Sweetie Belle took a second brush and finished her other side.

“Oh, I get it,” said Scootaloo, momentarily forgetting about Rainbow Dash’s inglorious and extremely embarrassing defeat. “We’re going to paint some on.”

Applebloom handed Scootaloo the brush, and Scootaloo dipped it into the can and painted on a black cutie mark. At first, Scootaloo tried to draw a cutie mark similar to Rainbow Dash’s, but the brush was too wide, and she came out with something vaguely triangular.

The paint dried quickly, and all of them set down their brushes.

“How does yours feel?” asked Applebloom.

“My butt feels heavy,” said Scootaloo. She took a few steps around the room, as did the other two.

“It doesn’t feel any different,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “This is kind of dumb.”

“I guess it only works with real cutie marks,” said Applelboom. “I guess it was worth a try.” She reached for a basin she had set up earlier in the corner and took out a washcloth in her mouth. She rubbed the black stain on her flank. When it did not come off, she rubbed more vigorously. It still did not budge.

“Sweetie Belle,” said Applebloom, putting the cloth back in the tub of water. “Why is this not coming off?”

“Why would it come off?” said Sweetie Belle, confused.

“Because I told you to get a washable paint.”

“I did,” said Sweetie Belle, frowning.

“Then why isn’t it coming off?”

“Because I did exactly what you said,” said Sweetie Belle, turning the can of paint toward Applebloom. It clearly read, in large black letters, “Unwashable Black Paint”.

“Sweetie Belle!” cried Applebloom. “That’s an unwashable paint!”

“That’s what you told me to get!” cried Sweetie Belle.

“No, I said to get a washable paint! As in a paint that you can wash off!”

“Well, I couldn’t tell! You have an accent, it sounded like ‘unwashable’ to me!”

“So we can’t wash these off?” said Scootaloo.

“How are we supposed to know if we get our cutie marks if the spot there supposed to be is covered in paint?” whined Sweetie Belle, on the verge of panic.

“If we show up at school like this, we’ll look like idiots!” cried Scootaloo.

“There’s got to be a way to get it off,” said Applebloom.

“Does your brother have anything for removing paint?”

“Just some of Still There’s moonshine, Granny Smith says I’m not allowed to touch that until I’m older. That, and I think it would take off the coat under the paint.”

“Dry cleaning!” shouted Sweetie Belle, suddenly.

“Dry cleaning?” said Scootaloo and Applebloom simultaneously.

“Yes! Whiteing Wrong’s dry cleaning! Rarity goes there all the time! They have chemicals that can get stains out of clothes, and I’m sure it’ll work on ponies too!”

“There’s not much time,” said Scootaloo, looking out the window. The sun was dangerously close to setting; no doubt, the ponies of Ponyville were beginning to finish their daily duties and starting to return home.

“Then we have to hurry!”

The sun was starting to set, and a beautiful sunset was filling the sky. The cool, moist night air was already seeping in from the forest, filling the cemetery on the edge of Ponyville with a sweet and pleasant odor.

Coverin Stiffs whisled as he worked, raking up some of the freshly fallen leaves that had been knocked down winds earlier in the day. This was actually his favorite time to work; it was cool and less bright, and, his job being in a cemetery, the situation was always quiet and peaceful.

In addition, he had not had to dig any new graves recently. Fewer and fewer ponies were dying recently, but even when nopony was finally taking their trip, it was always useful to have at least one grave ready. However, after losing a bet, the responsibility of digging had fallen to Stiff’s mentor, Sixfoot Deep, the best pony gravedigger who ever lived.

As Coverin Stiffs raked the leaves, he wondered why Sixfoot was even called that. He did not have six feet; rather, he only had three, the fourth having been lost in a terrible accident decades earlier.

Pondering this, Coverin Stiffs took up his watering can and applied some water to a set of flowers that had been placed on a pair of graves in the Apple family plot. As he did, though, he noticed that the ground in a nearby portion seemed to be moving slightly. Putting down the watering can and taking up his rake, Stiffs approached the spot. At first he had thought it was his imagination, but the ground definitely seemed to be heaving.

Then, suddenly, the grass parted and a dirt-covered blue pony with triangular pupils broke through the surface, gasping and clawing its way out from underground.

Covering Stiffs gasped and dropped his rakes. He began running. “Sixfoot!” he called. “It’s happening again! Get the shovels!”

D27 watched a dirt-colored pony ran off across the placid field of stones. He did not understand why a pony would do that, but upon further thinking, concluded that it was probably the fact that ponies did not normally rise from the earth as he just had.

A retreat to below ground was necessary, though. After spending time with Pinkie Pie, D27 had realized that he had been too harsh with Rainbow Dash and the yellow Pegasus mare, and their friends. He had hoped to tender an apology, especially to Rainbow Dash, who he realized he had badly offended. On his way, though, he had found a field of stones with abnormally soft, disturbed ground and decided that it would be safer to move under the cover of darkness. As such, he had buried himself in the soil and waited until sunset.

Incidentally, he had also learned that ponies buried their dead, and that ponies had also not yet established immortality. Those were both facts that he had not been aware of.

He dragged himself from the ground and absorbed the dirt covering him, incorporating it into his own structure, and began his trek into Ponyville.

Twilight moved through her library, holding one of the carefully curated catalogue cards in her magic, searching the shelves. She was also holding the necklace that Pinkie Pie had been wearing. It had taken great effort to persuade Rarity to allow Twilight to borrow it, although Pinkie had had very little attachment to it.

“Twilight?” said Spike, following her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing spike. I just have a theory.” Twilight grimaced, knowing that she had used the word “theory” incorrectly.

She found the book she was looking for located high on a shelf. It was a large and ancient tome, one taken from the Castle of the Two Sisters. She used her magic to pull it down. The book resisted slightly, but D27’s spell had mostly dissipated, so it was easy enough to remove. She crossed the shelves and set it down on one of the more secluded desks at the back edge of the library’s third story.

The book was tremendously old, to the point where it did not have a title. It was fragile, but made of some kind of leathery material that was surprisingly durable even after centuries in an abandoned castle, and probably even longer in that castle’s collection.

Twilight turned through the book rapidly, searching the pages for an image she had seen. She suddenly stopped.

“There,” she said. She set the necklace down next to an annotated image that dominated most of the page. Her eyes shifted rapidly between the two, and she realized that despite some differences, they were mostly the same.

“What is it?” said Spike.

“I thought I recognized this when I saw it on Pinkie Pie’s neck. This is a book of schematics.” She withdrew that necklace held up the book, demonstrating that the part that resembled the core of the necklace was only a small part of a much larger image.

“Schematics for what? I wouldn’t think necklaces would need schematics.”

“It’s not a necklace,” said Twilight. “It’s some kind of machine. It’s not magic, though, so I don’t fully understand what I’m looking at.”

“That’s new,” said Spike, and Twilight glared at him. She then looked back at the book, carefully examining the detailed designs. By the language alone, she could tell that whatever it was, it was impossibly ancient, but also somehow far beyond any technology that modern ponies had. “I can’t tell what it is,” she said. “But I have an idea. It’s a power source of some kind. The image isn’t complete, but I think it’s for some kind of…some kind of weapon.”

“A weapon?” said Spike, picking up the necklace. He started salivating when he saw the glowing gem in the center. “It doesn’t look dangerous to me.”

“Because it isn’t,” said Twilight, taking the necklace back from Spike. “At least, I don’t think so. This book isn’t complete, but neither is the device. What concerns me is where D27 got it.”

“Maybe he has a complete copy,” suggested Spike. “Or knows how to build these things. I wonder if he had any more of those gems…I hear he gave Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy a blue tourmaline…if only I had one of those. Even Rarity doesn’t have a blue tourmaline…”

“Spike, this is no time for thinking about food. This could be serious.”

Twilight was beginning to feel nervous. Although all her friends except Rainbow Dash believed that this D27 was not a threat, it was obvious that he was strong with magic and also with technology and had access to things he should not have. The cerorite gems that she had spent the latter half of the day confiscating were, according to the princess, extremely dangerous in their own right. Where there was any powerful being, there was a strong possibility of danger.

Twilight took a deep breath, though, and remembered her position. Regardless of power, where there was a pony, there was an opportunity to make a new friend.

Applebloom pounded on the door, but there was no answer.

“I think they’re closed,” said Scootaloo.

“I can see that,” snapped Applebloom. She sighed and looked up to the sky. The sun had already set, and the only light was from the broad rainbow that had formed on the horizon that meant that night was about to fall. Her sister would be angry with her for being out so late, as would Sweetie Belle’s parents. She was not so sure about for Scootaloo.

“Now what?” said Sweetie Belle. “Everypony’s going to laugh at us at school!”

“Maybe not. We can come back tomorrow, before school starts.”

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo, somewhat reassured. “I think that will work.”

“But right now,” said Appleboom. “We really need to get home.”

They started walking, when suddenly Sweetie Belle cried out in pain.

“Ow!” she cried, slapping her neck.

“Mosquitos?” said Apple Bloom.

“Big ones,” said Sweetie Belle, pulling something out of her neck. She looked down. “Metal ones, too.”

“Metal?” said Applebloom. She turned around and saw a glinting dart in Sweetie Belle’s hoof.

“I feel funny,” said Sweetie Belle, before she swooned and collapsed onto the ground.

Another pair of darts flew through the air. Applebloom and Scootaloo had faster reflexes than their unicorn friend and dodged them.

Shadows moved, and suddenly they were surrounded by two tall creatures, one white and thin and the other muscular and brown.

Applebloom cried out and tried to run, but one had already grabbed her. Before she could buck her way out of its strong grasp, she found that her legs had been tied together and her mouth tied closed. She could see that the same was happening to Scootaloo.

Scootaloo’s tiny wings suddenly buzzed, not strong enough to fly but enough to jerk herself free for a moment from the dark-colored creature’s grasp. Her legs had already been tied, so the best she could do was spiral on the ground like a wounded insect, but she still managed to call out.

“Rainbow Dash!” she screamed. “Help me! Rainbow- -” Her mouth was then tied shut.

The two creatures stepped back for a moment. The white one pointed with a long finger down at the well-drawn black square on Applebloom’s side.

“The mark of the enemy shall be,” she said.

“A shape, geometric,” said the other, who was male.

“Creature,” said the white, “although you exist in three bodies, you are one.”

“Your deception does not sway us.”

“An order for your execution,”

“Has been issued by our divine goddess.”

Applebloom heard the word “execution”, and she knew that the two monsters were insane. She tried to buck free, but she was tied to tightly. Scootalloo was buzzing her wings as hard as she could, but to no avail. Sweetie Belle was limp and easily carried, and Applebloom prayed internally to Celestia tha the dart had only made her sleep. As the tears ran down her face, she and her friends were picked up. The two creatures began to carry them toward the Everfree forest.

Rainbow dash flew through the air at moderate cruising speed. Her wings still ached from the day before; having them stiff and unresponsive for even less than an hour had made them more sore than an entire day of practice. That was good in some ways, though; she supposed that they had at least received some exercise. She only hoped there was no permanent disability.

She was not happy, though. She had not been able to convince her friends that D27 was a threat. Pinkie Pie had been obsessed with his partying, and Rarity and, oddly, Twilight, obsessed with the necklace he had made. Applejack only tolerated him because he had paid her off. Even Fluttershy seemed to have become convinced. Rainbow Dash knew better, though. She was not going to be so easily tricked again.

Then, suddenly, she heard a voice. A distant cry for help, from a voice she recognized.

“Scootaloo?” she said. Almost instinctively, she dove and accelerated, leaving a contrail of rainbow behind her, focusing in on where she had heard the cry. She swooped through the streets of Ponyville, ignoring the ache in her wings.

As she crested one of the taller buildings, she saw two figures in the distance, rapidly approaching the border of the Everfree forest. At first, her mind could not comprehend what she was seeing, but she had read enough Daring Do- -and lived one of the stories- -for her mind to quickly make the connection.

“Ahuizotl!” she cried as she raced forward toward them, realizing that they were carrying Scootaloo and her friends, two of whom were doing their very best to escape. The two cat-like figures were not blue like the Ahuizotl she was familiar with, but she recognized there shape well, and knew that they were surely trouble, especially if they were trying to hurt Scootaloo.

One of them turned, a narrow white creature who was carrying Rarity’s little sister, the only one of the three fillies that was unbound and the only one that was not resisting. The creature exuded an air of viciousness, even more so than Daring Do’s nemesis himself.

Rainbow Dash suddenly felt a prick in her chest. She looked down and saw a tiny metal dart in her chest. She pulled it out, and once again her mind returned to the Daring Do stories. She knew that there was only one thing such a dart could mean.

“Second time in two days!” she shouted before the world swam and her wings stopped fluttering. The world faded, and she suddenly felt oddly peaceful.

D27 was passing through the darkened streets when he saw a rainbow colored contrail pass by him. He realized that he had just been passed by Rainbow Dash, one of the ponies he had been searching for. Seeing her above him induced a sudden desire to hide or to deploy flak, but he ignored both and changed course. He compressed himself into a hovering sphere, and followed.

He rapidly arrived to where Rainbow Dash was hovering and returned to his pony form in time to hear her yell out something above. He looked up and saw her suddenly fall. D27’s first response was to wonder if he had somehow actually managed to deploy flak, but realized that he could not have.

Realizing that Rainbow Dash was in danger, D27 searched his mind for a response. His own magic was limited mostly toward mass destruction; he was not able to perform levitation spells on external objects and could slow her sudden descent. All he could think to do was release a cloud of Order sparks that increased the order in the air, increasing its density.

Rainbow Dash slowed slightly, but still hit the ground with considerable force. D27 ran to her.

“Miss Dash,” he said, shaking her shoulder with one of his claws. She was unresponsive, but fortunately still breathing. It was apparent that she had been poisoned. A nearby dart that had fallen with her indicated the source of the toxin.

“Scootaloo,” she whispered.

D27 looked up, focusing his eyes on where Rainbow Dash seemed to have been facing. His triangular pupils narrowed, magnifying and piercing the dark. In the distance, his eyes locked with those of Appleblom. She and her two friends were being carried away by creatures that D27 did not recognize.

“Adorable ponies are stolen,” he stated to himself, as if trying to rectify the odd situation with his perception of reality. He looked down at Rainbow Dash. He had no antitoxin or stimulants with him to reverse the poisoning, but it seemed that she would probably not die.

There was no time to move her. D27 needed to act quickly. He realized that, for the first time in a long time, he felt an instinctive urge to protect something. Leaving Rainbow Dash sleeping in the street, he began galloping back toward the familiar forest