Chapter 1: Cornfields and Terror
You might be wondering why I’m not telling you when I got hit by lightning. I tell you, being zapped by lightning is quite shocking. I didn’t know a hay mask would attract a considerable amount of lightning that fried my ass. Then again, I find myself scratching my head and be sitting in the middle of a damn cornfield.
The lightning was mad weird, yo. I was just walking with a light drizzle before Zeus decided to smite me by his “all-powerful” hand. The funny thing is, I don’t remember much. I walked out, it was raining, then zap!!
I check my body and face, it seems that everything is fine. I give a grunt and stand up, finding myself tower over the cornfields. That’s weird. When did I get so tall? A cool breeze of a slow and dark night rustled between my clothes.
Cornfields? In New York City? I think that lightning made me go into a coma. I’m probably getting revived by doctors right now. Now that I think about it, why did I get shocked instead of the tall city buildings?
This is all an illusion. Nothing’s real here. I give a few laughs before my voice was dark and raspy. “Oh, sweet Jesus Christ!!” I croaked. “Huh?!” I exclaimed again. My voice was way deeper than usual. I rub my hay mask face and clear my throat. No, this wasn’t my voice. I felt like Ariel from the Little Mermaid. Except in my case, my voice is something else than nothing.
I went silent before I gave a smile. “Fear me,” I said, impersonating Fiddlesticks. I gave a horrifying cackle before I hacked and coughed. Even though it was chilly outside, it was sort of warm. Probably because I still have my costume on.
First things first, I have to take my costume off. I gripped my hands and pulled at the mask. “Ow, ow ow ow!!” I hollar, feeling as if I was ripping my own face off. I stop and looked at my hands. I couldn’t feel my hands under my gloves. Instead of my arms, I could feel the sticks. They were my arms now. I poke my hand and feel the hay that became my flesh.
“Well, fucking shit.” I spy the scythe on the ground. For some reason, it looked all too real. I picked it up and looked at the blade. My glowing green eyes stared back. This felt all too real. I stared at the ground and became used to my odd complexion.
I brought the scythe down hard in front of me before a wave of energy decimated the corn. I choked and saw the plants now in pieces. Maybe this isn’t bad after all. With my trusty scythe in hand, I began to walk to where corn wasn’t that dense. That’s when I heard voices.
“Big Mac, why are we at the cornfields?” a young voice asked. I stand still and watch two figures walking towards my way. Do I wave at them? Say hi?
That’s when I see two ponies. Fucking ponies. “We have some supplies at the back of the shed here, Apple Bloom,” the red stallion named ‘Big Mac’ said. “I know it’s little too early to be back here, but by the time we get back, it’ll be early morning.”
The Apple Bloom yawned in reply. I couldn’t find any words. I just couldn’t talk. I stood there and stared at them, feeling my presence slowly edging away at their bodies. That was when the red pony was on guard. My passive was called ‘Dread’, right?
“Apple Bloom, get behind me,” Big Mac said, facing towards the cornfields.
“Wait, when did we get a scarecrow?” Apple Bloom asked, looking straight at me. “It looks weird too!”
“Me?!” I exclaim. “Weird?! I am Fiddlesticks, the Harbinger of Doom!”
“Why are you called ‘Fiddlesticks’, Fiddlesticks?”
I stop and scratch my head. Yeah, why was Fiddlesticks called Fiddlesticks? Now that I think about it, he was just an evil scarecrow that loved to kill things. I shrugged. “It’s just my name.” I grinned. Maybe I could scare them. I could terrify them!
“What brings you to Equestria? And why Sweet Apple Acres out of all places?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Sweet Apple Acres?” I turned around to to see corn. Corn everywhere. “I like your apples. Yes. Apples.”
“You’re in a deep part of the farm, you weird scarecrow!” Apple Bloom said.
Well, that’s it. She was annoying me. “Ah-ha!! Be terrified you little ponies!” I bellow. I erupt a purple beam from my mouth and hit Big Mac and Apple Bloom. The both screamed and began to run in random directions. I couldn’t help but laugh at the hysterical sight. I could make them run in circles! That’s when I realized I had casted ‘Terrify’. I had Drain? Dark Wind? Crowstorm? I rubbed my glove hands and watched as Terrify came to an end.
“How about that shit?” I asked, feeling their fear radiate. For some reason, their fear was appetizing. Their fear was all I need. Why not scare them more? Dark Wind! I thought, pushing one of my gloved hands toward them. That’s when I noticed I had a hand out like an idiot. That’s also when I noticed the two ponies were gone.
The sun began to rise from the horizon, the warmth comforting up my delicious scarecrow body. This did seem My Little Pony.
I give a sigh and follow the ponies’ hoofprints. I’ll have fun there.
“Applejack, Applejack!!” Apple Bloom screamed from top of Big Mac. “Help!! Help!!”
“Huh? What do you need?” the country pony asked as she finished bucking apples. Her powerful hooves rattled the trees before a bunch of apples landed in the basket. Big Mac was out of breath before Apple Bloom told her the story.
“Cornfields? Weird scarecrow? Scared? Really weird scarecrow? Magic?” Applejack asked, being pelted with an odd story. “Big Mac, did that actually happen?”
Out of breath, Big Mac breathed heavily before nodding and giving a reply. “E-Eeyup,” he hoarsely said.
“I’m going to show this scarecrow a lesson,” Applejack said walking towards the cornfields.
“Wait, no Applejack, don’t face it alone!” Apple Bloom said. “He’s so scary! B-Big Mac and I saw our worst fears when we were hit by his magic!”
“Did he have a horn when he used his magic?” Applejack asked.
“W-Well, no, but-”
“Apple Bloom, I know you’re worried about me, but I’ll be fine. Just get my rope and this scarecrow will be scarin’ nothin’!” Applejack said with a confident smile.
I scratched my itchy butt on the long walk. Damn, that Big Mac can run. I wish that Fiddlesticks could actually fly. That way, I could get around faster. I squinted my Fiddlesticks eyes and watched a pony galloping towards me. I was fairly surprised. Here? Already? It was still early dawn.
That’s when I found myself face to face with Applejack. I could feel my passive take effect already. “Hi!” I said, my dark voice of malice plaguing the air. I felt Applejack already uncomfortable from my presence. She had a rope in her mouth and was visibly disturbed.
Hot damn, it felt good to scare. It was as if it was my purpose. Staring into their soul and extracting their fear. It felt way too good… “What brings you here? To me, Fiddlesticks?” Not that I think about it, ‘Fiddlesticks’ is a pretty worthless name in trying to strike fear into people's’ hearts. Maybe something like, “The Scarecrow”, “TwisterStick”, or “Banehallow”. Something nice and cool.
As Fiddlesticks, staring into their eyes give me a vision of their worst nightmares. It makes me smile. And for Applejack’s worst nightmare… I’m going to give her a real treat. Out of the blue, rope snapped towards my way. By instinct, I brought my scythe up and cut the rope in one quick slash. I readied my weapon again and was fairly annoyed. She attacked right out of the blue.
“I said, ‘hi’, you little shit,” I spat.
“I don’t know what you are,” Applejack said, “I don’t know why you’re here. But you’re creeping me out.”
I chuckled. “Oh, Applejack. I know who you are.” I got closer to her. She took a step back. “I know why you’re here. But I’m going to creep you out.”
Terrify! My mouth glowed up purple again before letting the beam go towards Applejack. My ray singed the ground where Applejack once stood. The damn pony dodged it and glared at me. I tsked. This would be harder than I thought. After all, I just got this body. It wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. I also had to be aware of my mana pool. It isn’t infinite. I had to be careful.
Applejack sprinted towards me and zig zagged side to side. She was going way too fast for me to land my Terrify. But luckily, Fiddlestick was the god of mobility. I slid to the side, watching Applejack deliver a strong kick right next to me. With the blunt end of my scythe, I attempted to knock her away.
However, Applejack briskly ducked before rushing in quickly. I felt a hard kick crush my body. “Oof!” I yelled out in pain. I was shot into a section of the corn field before I clattered to the ground. I held my bruised torso and could feel the splinters inside. Even though my body was made of sticks and hay, I still could feel pain. Perhaps this was the last human thing I had.
Green aura slowly enveloped me before my wounds mended. Sweet. I could regenerate. But I felt a surge of tiredness and grimaced. This regeneration was costly to my energy. I eyed Applejack and frowned. Her kicks were strong. If I was a human, that would’ve shattered my ribcage.
“It seems that I underestimated you,” I said, raising my scythe towards her. I brought it down and sent a shockwave towards her. She jumped out of the way, but I delivered another strike, trying to corner her with my ranged attack. I know that in a fight, you had to create distance or bring the fight close. With my showdown with Applejack, I couldn’t let her get close at any cost. My ally would be my ranged abilities.
My light scarecrow body was lightweight, but I was fragile to brutal force. I couldn’t recklessly charge in. On the bright side, I don’t get tired from moving around too much. There’s a good chance I can easily win this.
I sent another slash, forcing Applejack to slide towards the side. It’s aftermath got the cornfield behind it, forcing her to see what I hit. I gave a smile and let a few more rip, sending a swarm of scythes. Applejack tried to evade it, but I got one blunt hit on the side of her body.
Terrify! I found my opening and let her mind open to her fears. The lighted beam shot right into her eyes. Applejack let out a scream of panic before I went in for another move. Drain! Raising my hands up in the hair, a blue light slowly absorbed out of her. It poured into me, feeling myself regain strength and endurance. I was rejuvenated. I gave out a triumph laugh and felt myself feel stronger. If I could drain more living things, I would be unstoppable!
What interrupted my train of thought was a magical lavender ray scorching the corn beside me. “Eh?” I looked over and stared at a pile of ashes. I leaned over and watched as an enraged flying alicorn rush towards me.
I think this was the part where I run.
