Author's Note

I do not own any MLP:Fim characters accept the Oc used in this chapter "Golden Treasure"
Please critique my story so I can make it better! Please be polite about it and be kind to each other!
I hope you all enjoy!

Prologue

Deep in the dark woods of the Everfree, there wandered a young stallion named Golden Treasure. He had a bright orange coat with a yellow and black striped mane, along with large silvery grey eyes. His cutie mark was a treasure chest inside of a compass and ironically, he was lost. He had decided to face the lurking dangers of the deadly forest in faint hopes of great glory and fame. His special talent was in archeology, and after all he had found many precious relics and glittering treasures even though he was barely out of his colthood. He had traveled independently to many exotic places across Equestria, from the burning desserts of Saddle Arabia to the great pyramids of Neighgypt, from the wild jungles of Zebrica to the mountains Yakistan. He had decided to face the Everfree for he had heard spreading rumors of unforetold riches in the cursed forest. He had a bright future ahead of him, but he would not expect that his oncoming doom lay inside that very Celestia dammed forest, for much more than Manticores and Timberwolves hunted there…

“Why didn’t I even bring a map for Celestia’s sake!” He yelled in self-frustration at his own stupidity. His aching hooves were sore from walking for hours on end. He was stumbling through the darkness with nothing else but his horn to light the way, for daylight had faded many hours ago, but not even Luna’s moon offered its light in the darkness of the dense foliage. His eyelids were heavy from exhaustion and his stomach was growling from lack of a good dinner. Eating a few wild berries and nuts had not served his empty stomach well. He was just about to lose all hope, until…. A light? Far off in the distance? He imagined his mind had been playing tricks on him, but as he drew closer, the light grew less faint. He started to quicken his pace, hope flaring inside him as he saw the shadowy outline of a large castle…slowly coming into view.

When Golden Treasure was only a couple hundred yards away, he saw that the light was shining through one of the few windows on the building. This relieved him for it meant another living soul was there. What they were doing so deep into the woods was a mystery to him, but nonetheless he galloped towards the castle, toward hope, light and possibly warm food.

He was galloping to his own demise...

Once he reached the large black doors that marked the entry to the castle, he had to catch his breath, taking the chance to really look at the state of the castle. It was so dark he could not see much other than that it was quite large, not nearly as big as Celestia’s palace in Canterlot but still quite vast in its own right. He also noticed the many carved stone gargoyles along the roof of the building, and pondered the age of this building, and more importantly, what rare relics and unforetold treasures may lay behind the doors. That last thought was what made him finally knock after standing outside for several minutes.

Only a few yards behind him in a thicket, a creature was lurking, stalking the young stallion, its next meal…

The stallion stood there silently for a moment, awaiting a response, but none came. He knocked once again with a little more force, then waited once more. No answer came. He started calling out to the residents.

“Hello! Is anypony there?”

He started walking towards one of the windows and called out again. “I need a place to stay for the night, at least till dawn when I can see past my front hooves…”

He knocked on the window. “Is anypony home? The lights are on so you must be-” His last sentence was cut short by the sound of one of the large doors creaking open. As the stallion approached the door, the creature realized that its prey was about to escape. As the stallion started walking through the door, it pounced and raced to the door, missing by mere inches, before the door was slammed in its face. Still very hungry, the creature wandered back into the woods to look for another meal.

Meanwhile, the stallion was shocked when the door slammed behind him, causing him to jump in fear. The gust of wind from the door slamming shut caused the numerous candles’ flames within to extinguish, encasing the room he was in, in a thick darkness. As Golden Treasure used his horn to light up the room around him, he noticed the walls shone with golden patterns and linings on the crimson walls. Ornate silver and gold vases placed around the room shone with the light cast from his horn, leaving long distorted shadows along the walls around him. In front of him, a massive staircase led up to the second floor the top splitting into presumably two wings of the building. To his left he heard gentle humming, a cheerful yet contagious tune that got anyone who heard it to smile. As the humming drew closer he noticed that light from that direction was also growing closer. He waited for the pony so he could ask for a night’s stay.

A pink mare with a poofy pink mane slightly darker than her coat came bouncing in, still humming the sweet tune. She was lighting the candles all along the hallway, and once she reached the entrance hall where Golden was, she looked at him. What he saw next surprised him. Her smile was bigger than her face and her eyes widened exponentially in excitement. He saw her eyes glaze over, but only for a second, so he chalked it up to sleepiness, and said “Hello?” with a sheepish grin. She in turn said, “HIYA WHATSYOURNAMEIMPIKEIEPIEBUTALLMYFREINDS
CALLMEPINKIEANDILIKECUPCAKESDOYOULIKECUPCAKESOHWAITINEEDTOFINISHLIGHTINGTHECANDLESFIRST!”

“Uhhhh…?” He did not know how to respond to the hyper mare. She suddenly zoomed off down the hallway she came from, then zoomed back, past him, while lighting both the other hallway and the entry hall. Then she zoomed past him again causing him to spin around and fall flat on his flank. Dazed and confused on what had happened, the stallion stood back up, a bit dizzy from the way he got spun around. He suddenly heard hoofsteps coming from the second floor landing. He looked up to be met with ocean blue eyes staring at him. The mare at the top of the staircase was a buttercream Pegasus with gentle pink hair wrapped up into an elegant bun. She was wearing a red satin dress that was laced with golden trimming. She gently glided down the steps toward him and landed right in front of him. She paced around him and studied him until she had walked a full circle.

She spoke. “You must be hungry.” She said with warmth and a gentle smile. But her eyes flashed for a second, appearing…red? He shook his head trying to wake himself up. It had to be his sleepiness that caused such hallucinations. He said “Yes ma’am.” whilst nodding yes. She led him to the dining room down the hallway the pink mare originally came from. All the while he felt like he was being watched by many eyes, but once again, blamed it on his hunger and lack of sleep. Once they reached the dining room, there was a bowl of tomato basil soup waiting for him. He quickly rushed to the table as if the soup was going to disappear if he did not get there in time. He quickly used his magic to lift up the bowl to his lips, trying to drink from it. In turn he burnt his tongue.

The mare laughed at his behavior. Almost forgetting the mare, he turned his head, tongue sticking out, and asked “wat is er neme?”. She giggled and replied “My name is Fluttershy”. He nodded his head and turned back to his food not noticing the hunger in the mare’s eyes. She sat down at the other side of the long table and asked him how he got there. As he explained his life story in agonizing detail in hopes of impressing her, she just nodded and smiled gently. Once he finished talking and eating, she started to lead him to one of the guest rooms. She stood in front of the door and nodded for him to go in. As he walked in, he did not notice the many ponies that had followed them…waiting to see what would happen next.

As he trotted in, he noticed the room had no windows and that the whole room was colored a shade of red. He heard the door slam behind him. He quickly turned around and the mare who had been so kind to him all night, stood there, her eyes blood red. He watched in horror as she began to shake violently, color draining from her body and turning her coat into a pale sick greyish yellow. Her hair darkened and became disheveled as many strands fell from the once regal bun. Her feathers seemed to be peeling off, and revealed thick, veiny, and leathery bat wings. Two sharp long fangs sprung from her mouth. Once the transformation was complete, she let out an unearthly hiss.

He stood there frozen and unmoving. He was just about to make a run for it, until he realized he was frozen in place. He willed his body to move, but move it did not. Panic set in, his eyes darting for anything, anything to free him from the situation. The mare walked up to his face and said, “Look at me.” He avoided making eye contact. She said once again, “Look at me…and tell me what you see…” He suddenly could move his jaw again, and he said, “I see nothing but a monster! Set me free! YOU BEAST!” He once again couldn’t open his jaw. She sighed, “I see…exactly what I expected.”

His eyes filled with panic once again as she drew closer, then he met her gaze. Suddenly he felt calm, sleepy, relaxed. She then said in a soothing tone, “Shhh, everything’s all right…” She drew closer to his neck. “It will only sting for a second…”, she cooed, before biting in to his neck.

A sharp pain flooded his senses as he stiffened. Then warmth flooded into his body, a soothing warmth spreading down to his hooves. Whatever spell that was being used to keep him still wore off and he fell to his side. All he felt was warmth, and the soothing voice humming a gentle tune. The last thing he saw was the mare walking out the door whilst glowing eyes were watching him from the door way. His eyes slowly closed as his heart beat was slowing. He could only hear at this point and the last thing he heard was Fluttershy uttering the words, “Go, feed!”.

Then darkness enveloped him in its warm embrace.