Author's Note
I regret everything... 
Prologue
A shrill shout of panic broke the quiet tranquility.
A knife was raised in the air, glinting under the sun’s rays.
But then—
“I can’t...”
The gloved hand wielding the sharp weapon shook, shook some more, and finally let it go, dropping the knife on the grassy ground.
“I can’t do it!” cried a man as he fell to his knees before a fear-stricken white-as-snow maiden. “Forgive me. I beg you, your highness,” he cried as he grabbed the end of the woman’s long dress and covered his face with it. “Forgive me.”
The young maiden, clad in a blue and yellow dress, slowly brought her raised hands down, looking at him. “I don’t understand...” she said in a low, uncertain voice.
The huntsman suddenly whipped his head up, looking at her. “She’s mad! Jealous of you! She’ll stop at nothing!” he said in one breath, letting go of her dress.
Jealous of her? “But who?” the snow-skinned maiden asked.
“The queen!”
The fair maiden stepped back in surprise, her back against the boulder behind her. “The queen?” she asked in disbelief. Why would the queen—?
“Run away, child!” the huntsman said in urgency, pointing deep into the forest. “Run! Run away!”
She could clearly see and hear the fear in his eyes and voice, and without even realizing it, her feet were already carrying her around the boulder.
“Hide! In the woods! Anywhere!”
She was moving back, she just realized. She took a glimpse of the forest behind her, but the man’s words brought her attention back to him.
“Never come back!”
Never come back? To her home? Her arms covered her mouth in disbelief.
He saw her reluctant steps. He couldn’t blame her. But he cannot allow her to die. “Now go! Gooo!” He doesn’t want her to go, but if she wouldn’t— “Gooo!!!”
The maiden finally turned her back on him and fled towards the forest.
A sad smile flashed on his lips. “Run!” he shouts after her.
“Run!” she heard him say as she ran deeper and deeper into the forest. “Hide!” she can barely hear him now as the distance grew between them, the trees and bushes blurring by.
Heart racing and breath fast and shallow, she swayed her hands left and right to push the thick vines out of her way. Finally, for what felt like an eternity, the vines had cleared and she ran without any obstructions—
Yellow glowing eyes suddenly appeared from the shadows—“GUWAAAARK!!!”—and it flew straight towards her!
Her heart almost leaping out of her chest, she ducked, turned around, and ran, her racing heart beating even faster n—
Even more glowing, yellow eyes in the darkness!
Her ears suddenly rang as the eyes flew around her, screeching all over.
Perhaps she was lucky, but she was able to turn around and run away from them all. Gone were the soft rays of the sun. Gone were the greens of the grass and the colors of the flowers.
The darkness and shadow were blurring past her as she ran—
Her long dress caught on to something—or something caught her. She looked back and a frightened gasp escaped her rosy lips. Long, claw-like limbs were grabbing her dress! She tried to run, yet she can’t, but she persisted, and after a long-hard struggle, the claws lost its grip on her.
She lost her balance from the sudden speed and she fell, but many smaller claws caught her fall, clawing at her dress and her skin. Her breath freezing, she wiggled and struggled and was able to escape their clutches.
She continued to run, away from the claws, the eyes, the—
A monstrous face appeared right in front of her, its long, clawed limbs stretched out to grab her!
A loud gasp escaped her lips. She immediately turned around and—
The leaves under her feet gave way, and with a terrified scream, her fear-stricken mind failed to register the flashes of light and the crashing noises as she fell.
Her arms and feet flailing, she managed to grab a vine with one arm, saving herself from her demise. Catching her breath, she looked down, and when her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw the ground only a few feet below her. Gulping, she braced herself and let go, waiting for her feet to land on solid ground—
A mighty splash erupted as she landed on her feet on a shallow, waist-high water. Wiping her eyes as dry as she could, she opened them and screamed as she saw the opened maws of crocodiles swimming towards her. She stumbled and ran towards dry land, hoping against all hope to get away from the watery predators.
She reached the shore, yet she kept on running towards the unknown. She saw a light up ahead. Sunlight. The end of the forest. The end of her fears.
Claws tried grabbing her, but she pushed them away as she kept on running. She was almost there. She was almost out.
A claw swept down her feet, tripping her and making her fall on the ground.
She lay there, breathing hard and deep, suddenly too tired to run... Too tired to move.
She cast a tired look at the mouth of the forest, the light too bright to see beyond it.
She heard things moving towards her, making her hold her breath. The exit was so close yet so far away. She choked on a sob as she closed her eyes. Tears started rolling down her face as she sobbed, gravely accepting her fate as the noises—footsteps—grew closer and louder.
Something stood before her face. She could sense it breathing down on her. She was terrified, she didn’t want to die, yet here she was, helpless.
And then...
...something poked her nose. It was soft. It was gentle. And it was fluffy.
Slowly, she opened her eyes...
...and she saw a white bunny rabbit looking at her in confusion.
She blinked a teary blink. Her rosy lips curved into small and relieved smile. “O-oh, hello there...” she weakly said as she slowly brought a hand over the cautious rabbit’s head.
Scared that this strange creature might hurt it, the white rabbit suddenly turned tail and fled, causing the other critters who surrounded the strange creature to do the same.
“Please don’t run away!” the maiden pleaded after them, watching every small animal hiding behind bushes, rocks, and branches. “I won’t hurt you,” she added in a gentle tone.
Hearing no malice from the creature’s voice, the critters slowly poked their heads from their hiding place, watching the creature slowly turning around, smiling a gentle yet tired smile.
“I’m awfully sorry...” she said. “I didn’t mean to frighten you...”
None of the animals really understood what she was saying, but something about her voice made them feel at ease and safe. Just like—
She slightly hung her head. “...But you don’t know what I’ve been through,” she said in a sad, quiet tone. She still couldn’t believe that the queen had told that man to...to...
She closed her eyes and took a breath. She was alright, for now, at least. She had run quite a distance. At least, that was what she believed. She hoped that it was enough to keep her safe from the queen.
She suddenly felt two soft paws on her hand. Opening her eyes, she saw the white little rabbit from earlier, trying to grab her hand. It made her smile. “What are you doing, little one?” she asked as two little birds flew and grabbed her dress, pulling her towards the exit of the forest.
The other animals were gesturing for her to go, too.
She suddenly felt worried. Why would the animals want her to go so badly? “Do you little ones not want me to stay?”
They didn’t understand a single word she said.
She frowned, but decided to ‘listen’ to them. “Alright,” she said as she stood up. Strong paws suddenly grabbed her from behind and lifted her up, eliciting a startled gasp from her.
It was a bear. A bear had carried her with its mighty paws as it walked on its hind legs towards the exit of the forest, the other smaller animals following.
She was scared, her eyes locked on the mighty animal’s sharp-looking teeth poking from its closed jaws. She wanted to struggle and run, but she doubted she could. With a gulp, she remained motionless until—
A bright sun greeted them as they exited the forest. After rubbing and blinking her adjusting eyes, she looked around and stifled a gasp. Before her, she saw green, swaying grass stalks on rolling hills, under the clear, blue sky. Tall mountains loomed in the distance...
...and a large, old-looking tree stood on top of a hill a little distance away.
“That wasn’t a very nice thing to do, Angel,” a soft voice said.
Angel Bunny rolled his eyes as he sat on the table, his back leaning against the large red apple. In front of him was Fluttershy, sitting on one of the chairs around the table.
The pegasus sighed, closing her eyes. “...But then again, I would probably do the same if something scary was standing in front of the door.”
A kettle started to whistle. A white hand, protected by a thick washcloth, grabbed the handle and carried the kettle from the fire and was gingerly placed by the sink. One white hand became two, and they grabbed a large cooking pot and placed it on the fire.
Smiling, Fluttershy gently walked towards the sink to prepare some tea. “Thank you, dear,” she said to the thin, well-dressed bipedal creature.
Said creature now wore a simple green dress, with white and yellow laces here and there, a golden bow on the back, and some flowing laces by the shoulders.
...So it wasn’t really a simple dress, but a certain marshmallow pon claimed otherwise.
Snow White gave a rosy smile at the pegasus before returning her focus on her task. Grabbing a dipper inside a pail, she dipped it deeper to get some water, poured the cool liquid inside the pot, and repeated two more times. “Now what should we have for lunch today, Fluttershy?” she asked as she opened a cupboard, looking at the contents inside.
“Hm...” Fluttershy hummed in thought as she busied herself with tea. When she was done, she flew to her cupboards and took two cups. “What do we have?” she asked as she flew back to the table.
“Hm...” Snow White hummed, eyeing the small amounts of vegetables inside the cupboard. “I think we have just enough for a vegetable soup. But we won’t have anything for supper later.” She looked back at the pegasus, who was setting up the table for tea. “Is that alright?”
Fluttershy smiled at her and nodded. “Yes, it’s fine.” She took her seat. “We should go to the market later before sundown to buy food.”
Snow White nodded as she grabbed two carrots and a cabbage from the cupboards. “That is a good idea. Shall I bring two baskets this time?”
“If it’s not too much trouble.”
“Oh, Fluttershy, you worry to much.” She shakes her head. “It’s no trouble at all.” Her gaze then traveled to the red apple lying on the very middle of the table. “So what are you going to do with the apple?”
Angel and Fluttershy looked at the fruit in question.
The pegasus placed a hoof on her chin as she thought about it. “Hm... Well... Maybe we can eat it over tea while we wait for the soup?”
Snow White smiled and nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.” She returned her attention to the meal she was preparing.
After a few minutes of washing, peeling and cutting the vegetables, Snow White dropped them inside the pot with boiling water. Covering the pot, she then turned around and joined Fluttershy by the table.
Taking a seat across the pegasus, she delicately grabbed the teacup’s handle and took a delicate sip of tea. “Mmm...” she mmm’ed with a rosy smile. Her gaze then fell on the apple, already sliced by the pegasus and were on a small plate.
Angel Bunny, after placing the knife back on the sink, hopped down to the floor and hopped back up the table, ignoring the pegasus’ words to be careful. He took an apple slice with a hungry smile. Opening his cute mouth wide, he took a bite—
The apple smelled...weird. Pulling the almost-bitten apple slice out of his mouth, he put it on his nose and took a deeeeeep sniff.
It smelled like an apple. Heck, it smelled like a juicy apple, but there’s something in its...smell. Angel couldn’t put a paw on what it was.
Snow White chuckled, watching how cute the rabbit was. Fluttershy smiled as well.
With a nonchalant shrug, he opened his mouth wide, threw the apple slice in, and chewed noisily and juicily.
“Aww, how cute,” Snow White aww’ed as she picked up a slice.
Fluttershy nodded and giggled. “That’s our Angel Bunny.”
The rabbit threw both of them a glare.
Snow White chuckled some more before taking a small bite on the apple slice. As she chewed, she noticed how quiet the cottage was. She wanted to ask about it, but it wasn’t polite to talk while one’s mouth is full, or when one’s eating.
Angel grabbed another slice, and Fluttershy took her first one. The rabbit opened his mouth wide...and froze in place. His eyes suddenly went wide as his pupils shrank to dots, and then...
...the apple slice dropped to the table, as well as the rabbit himself.
Fluttershy was about to eat her slice when her ears twitched to the soft thud her bunny made. “Angel?” she called.
“What’s wrong with...” Snow White asked, but words suddenly felt too strange to say as her vision started swirling.
“Snow? Snow White?”
Thud!
“Snow!”
As Fluttershy rushed to the fallen maiden’s side, outside the kitchen, an old-looking, scary-looking, black-dressed creature spied the goings-on through the window. Stifling her mad cackle of victory, she spun around and rushed towards the Everfree Forest, running past an exiting zebra.
Animals started poking their heads out from their hiding place. Seeing the ugly creature rushing towards the forest, they quickly ran inside the cottage to see what was going on.
A humming zebra gave a startled yelp of surprise as a black blur ran past her. Looking over her shoulder, she arched an eyebrow, wondering what it was. “A strange creature as dark as the night, I wonder why it rushed in and away from sight?” She shook her head and returned her gaze on the cottage up ahead. A small smile appeared on her muzzle as she resumed her trot. That smile soon turned into a concerned frown. “Strange that Fluttershy’s animal friends look distressed. I wonder what’s causing their—”
The cottage’s door burst open, and a yellow, crying pegasus flew towards town as fast as she could.
“...unrest?”
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” the purple alicorn said, smiling a reassuring smile and placing a supportive hoof on her weeping yellow pegasus friend. “Starlight, Zecora, Spike and I will do everything we can to help Snow and Angel.”
“Yeah,” an orange earth pony nodded in agreement, smiling at the pegasus. “Leave it to them, Fluttershy. I’m sure she and the others will figure out what happened and will fix—”
The castle’s tall crystal doors burst open. “I got the apples!” a blue pegasus announced as she hovered towards her friends.
“Sheesh, Applejack,” Pinkie Pie said, staring at the sliced fruit. “I didn’t know you’re going to be next season’s villain and you’re going to use poison apples on us.”
“Har di har har.”
“Magic mirror on the wall.”
The voice was soft yet carried a powerful aura that bounced off the stone castle walls.
A large, oval-shaped and golden-framed mirror hung on one of the walls, and standing before it was a woman, dressed in an evil queen dress.
“Now, tell me,” a sinister smile crept on her face. “Who is the fairest of them all?”
Her reflection distorted. Gray, swirling mist clouded the mirror. Seconds later, the mist started to clear, revealing a yellow and pink—
“...Preposterous!”
“Preposterous, indeed, my dear,” the yellow pegasus in the mirror suddenly said with a sly grin. Her blue eyes suddenly turned red as she began stepping closer towards the startled queen. She spoke, her voice distorting: “Now, I couldn’t help but notice that you made my dear friend Fluttershy break down in tears.” The mirror distorted as she mare slowly poked her head out of the mirror’s reflective surface. “It saddens my heart, you see. But there’s something that always cheers me up when I’m feeling down,” she said, her voice that of an old and malevolent man. “Shall we play a game?”
