Echoes fill the air within the dark confines of the Everfree Forest. Throughout the mysterious world of Equus, only a few dare trot within this one particular area... and those few would either be deemed extremely brave, or immensely foolish.

Regardless, though, only few ever found the light of day after entering these wretched lands... for the dangers within have been deemed unstable. From the unpredictability of the unicorns' magic, to the inability to control the weather for the pegasi... even the earth ponies never could find a way to tame the lands of the Everfree.

And thus, the place has been quarantined for as long as "The Era of Writing" began... and even in the beginning, it had been abandoned.

So why is it, then, that few would even dare explore such a place? It is the perfect place for exploration... but then again, it's also the place where unpredictable alterations of magic takes hold of many animals.

Wolves, after living inside the Everfree for long enough, would eventually die, only to rise again in the shells of wooden bodies. Massive bears with the divine, endless fabrics of space, itself, lie dormant within very few caves. Serpent-like creatures with numerous heads reside within the swamps deeper inside the darkest paths, ready to strike any that invade their territory.

Indeed, many strange occurrences have been reported within these woods; each bearing capital threats to the safety of the kingdom, unless dealt with by the Royal Guards in secrecy.

What they never expected, however, was to hear tales of a mysterious figure that appeared five days ago.

The figure's form is that of a mythical creature known as a "Human"... but he, as the shape of its body hinted at, is far from the normal ones that have been written about within the archives; notably due to the pitch black wings on his back, and his piercingly demonic, glowing red eyes.

His hair is just as black as the feathers on his wings, with the occasional white strand near the front. It is short, and combed center-parted.

He wears a long, black cloak with a folded shroud over his shoulders. Black leather armor covers his chest inside, with light chainmail added beneath the leather. His leggings, however, are made up of a thin cloth, with red leather shin guards protecting the lower halves of his legs.

His feet are protected by black steel-toed boots that rise halfway up the guards.

His lower arms are covered in red leather cuffs with black, sleeveless gloves protecting his palms from the elements that rise only a few inches over them.

While protected in medium-grade armor, however, he appears to not be carrying any weapons on him... which is odd, considering the creatures that dare approach him always wind up dead with cuts and severed limbs.

Seemingly unbeknownst to him, a pair of bright blue eyes could barely be found hiding in the bushes behind him from a distance... watching him eagerly, and silently creeping through the shadows.

It's been a long day for the fallen angel. He sighs before approaching yet another nearby tree with a barely noticeable gash on the side of the trunk.

"Another circle... of course it would lead me back here." he mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Finally, he decides to rest his legs for a bit. Sitting with his back rested on the notched tree, he closes his eyes and, within a few seconds, drifts into a meditative trance.

"Well, what have we here?" a gruff male's voice echoes through the darkness.

"A spy, perhaps? Where could its hive be?!" another male's voice, less gruff than the previous, guesses.

A third, more noble-sounding male snorts. "Who cares what vocation this creature has? A freak's still a freak! The quicker we dispose of it, the better!"

The gruff one asks, "But Captain Light Speed! Isn't it a little... small? It looks like it's just a little filly!"

The noble, Light, replies, "Who cares what age it is, Quick Draw? It'll just grow up to be just like the rest of its hive!"

Quick sighs, then pauses. "What are your thoughts, Split Second?"

Split hums to himself before replying, "Well, we have our orders... and it's not like it's a pony, or anything. Hay, it's best to think of it as us killing off a potential new Queen Chrysalis, or something like that!"

Silence fills the area.

"Alright, then... let's just do it quickly, though, and be done with it! The thing's starting to actually look like it's pleading for its life... and it's difficult enough as is." Quick finally agrees.

More silence.

The sound of a blade sheathing from its scabbard finally fills the gap, followed by the squawking and flapping of birds and their wings.

This, of course, disturbs Caim from his meditation, and forces him to open his eyes and stand back up from his resting place.

Three Canterlot Guards stand in a triangular formation. They all have white coats, and wear golden armor with blue pigments dying the sides and the feathers of their helmets.

The leader is a unicorn with blue eyes. The other two are pegasi; the tallest one with green eyes, and the shorter, skinnier one with purple eyes.

On the backs of their helmets are their initials; the unicorn's being "LS", the large pegasus' being "QD", and the slimmer one's being "SS".

Crouched beneath the large tree lies a frightened changeling filly with light blue eyes, a small horn, and a pair of light blue insectoid wings. A few scratches adorns her sides, where a light green fluid oozes out slowly. Her cheeks are stained with tear streams as she sniffles and stares up at the three guards that tower over her.

No sooner than when Light's sword begins to glimmer from the treeline, a tall, ominous shadow rises above the stallions by twice the tallest one's height. A pair of black angel-like wings flare open from behind the tree. Finally, the figure behind the tree slowly walks around it, revealing the infamous creature from the rumors in the flesh.

The guards step back a few paces, now staring up at the creature's glowing red eyes, which stare back at them with a bored, half-lidded gaze.

"Where is the nearest settlement?" the shadowy figure asks Light in a casual, yet slightly bemused tone.

Light gulps before glaring at him. "Y-you! You're interfering with official Royal Business, you... thing! Please leave this area at once, or be tried by the laws of her majesty, Princess Celest-"

The creature's wings flare out quickly, sending a large gust of air around the area, and forcing the guards on their backs. Then, in a far more darker, venomous tone, the creature speaks again.

"I ̡car͜e ̨ver͘y͡ l͝i̴tţl̵e͞ a͝b̨out͘ ͢yo̶ur p͞at͢h͞e͟tic̡ ͢l̨aw̸s̛ a̢nd́ y̴o̷u͝r̡ f̨e̷eb̧l͞e̴ órder! ͝N͘ow a͠n͝s̶wer ̸ḿy ͡que҉s̡t͝i̛on, ̀or̴ ̀yo̸u ̷an͡d͝ you̡r͞ ̴l̕ov́ed͝ ̴o͏n̴és sh̷a҉l͜l ͘jo̡in̵ the͘ c͢ou͞ntles͏s ̀ar̨m͜ies ͡that͜ ͘I̷ ҉ha̕ve ͡s̵la̢u̕gh́te̸r͢e͏d͡ ͝ĺong̵ b̕efo͡r̀e͜ ỳou҉!"

The soldiers gulp before slowly standing back up. Then, unable to hide the fear in his voice, Light stutters, "T-then you... y-you're under arrest! A-and the-"

Before Light could even finish his sentence, the creature snaps his right fingers. Immediately a long, jagged sword materializes from a black and red smoke.

The handle is pitch black with red diamonds embroidering the hand guard. The upper tip of the hand guard curves up with the back of the blade, while the lower half lowers over his knuckles, and swirls to the lower half of the handle, where another red diamond rests in the black metallic handle. The lower half of the blade is blood red, with several serrated curves, with the thickest end of the blade being the top half. The upper half, however, is pitch black, and shaped like a thin triangle, ending just a few inches away from the tip, before being engulfed in the red metal.

Upon seeing that the creature is armed, the soldiers quickly drop their weapons and crouch onto the ground, hiding their heads with their forehooves.

The creature, however, doesn't sway his annoyed expression, but only continues to speak to them in his demonic tone.

"Y̕o̧u... ̡a̢re w͜as̡tin̷ǵ..̡. ͘m͜y t͜im̧ȩ.͡.̕.̢"

Finally, with shaky hooves, Light points towards the direction away from the tree. "J-just t-t-through t-that p-p-passage, t-take a r-r-right t-t-turn! C-can't miss it!"

The creature glares at them even more, before raising his sword up to Light's neck. He winces at the close proximity of the blade, and sweats profusely.

"L̛ęàd ̀t̸h̡e w͜ąy, ̕then."

With a nod, Light slowly drifts his right hoof towards his sword, only to yelp and jerk his hoof back as the red blade clashes into the glowing white sword, shattering the guard's blade into several shards.

"Y͞ou͡r͢ ͟ẁe͘ap͢o͞ns ͘a̕re̢ useless͟ agai̷n͟st͜ ̨m͢ę.͡ ͢R͞eme̷m̨b͏e͝r t̀h͠at̵, ͟fool̸s͠.̶.̡.͡ an̶d ̵k҉now th̴a͟t ̡I͜ ķno͠w̴ wh̢at҉ you̶'͠re up͟ t̛ǫ.͝ ͢Sh̨o̕u͠l҉d y̸ou ̨mis̢g͡u҉i̛d̢e͟ ̶me҉ for ́t͢o̧ǫ ̧l̸on͢g,͟ h̸owev̛er,͘ ̨th͞e͘n͞ k̛n̡ow ̨tha͟t y͠our r̡et͜urn͝ ҉hom̡e̸ shall n͢ot ̧be ͠pr̨o͟m͜ise͜d͠..̶."

Without hesitation, the guards quickly stand up and start trotting away from the area Light pointed. However, the creature quickly speeds past them, and blocks their path, forcing them to stop immediately. Then, with a feral growl, the creature points towards the area where Light pointed at.

"First,͏ ͢y̡o̧u ̡wi͡l̡l̶ t͘a̵ke͘ ͞me ̧t̴o̢ t͞he ͢pl̕àce y̕ou ̨w̨a̛nt̶e̸d ͢m̕e ̷t̸o ͏ǵo.̵ ͠ I̵ wil̛l͠ ҉u̡se ̵m͡y ͢e̴x͡p͏e͜r̛ie̵ǹce̷ th̵rou҉ǵh th̀a͏t̷ to j̶ud͡g̡e ͘t͜h̷e̸ ͜t̨hr̢ee̡ ̛o͜f ̷ýo̧ưr҉ ̷fa̴te͟s̛!"

With another gulp, the guards nod and turn around. Then, ever-so-slowly, they begin to trot towards their destination, now completely ignoring the changeling filly that looks up at the creature in awestruck wonder.

Caim grows tired of the three guards that are obviously sending him into a trap. Regardless, he decides that he's been going too soft on these foolish creatures. It's about time that they see just what "good" their plans against him would do.

He hears a light chirp, and sighs. Then, he quickly stretches his right hand out towards the changeling filly that's been watching him from a distance these past few moons.

"Do not mistake my intentions. I am not here to save you. I only seek answers... and you were just there at the time. Nothing more."

As he walks on down the path, leaving the little changeling behind him, he adds, "You'd be wise to stop watching me, now. It will only bring you death."

As he and the guards vanish from the distance, his words echo through the little filly's mind. She looks around, now very frightened and alone, before looking towards the direction that her unintentional rescuer and her former captors disappeared from.

She weighs the options in her mind carefully, before a determined look crosses her face.

Finally after letting out a light huff, she gallops towards the area deeper into the forest... the place where her "target" now heads to.

The place called "Froggy Bottom Bog".

Author's Note

So here's the first part. Expect the next one soon.

I'm putting my other stories on hold while I deal with unpacking my stuff into my new FEMA Trailer. I'll be working a lot, though, so please don't expect much responses.

I'll continue the other stories in due time. For now, please note that I'm on a new laptop, and might be able to bring it with me occasionally.

Regardless, though, I'm on a pretty heavy schedule, with about 48 hours of work time this week, and possibly somewhere around that in the week ahead.

Had Kidney Stones, too, which put me $1,500 dollars down the hole, excluding the medical bills. That was just for the ambulance trip! Had to put up with that, which is why I couldn't respond much these past few months.

That, plus the lack of a PC. I was forced to use my phone, and might've started a new story on Wattpad. That one's also a FanFiction, but is based on "Zootopia", instead. ("Zootropolis" in the UK, I think.) Seriously good movie, go check it out some time!

And of course, as always... stay strong, My Little Bronies!