Apparition

by GloomyFace

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Original Character
Length: 7634

Former prologue to my yet to be published story.

The appearance of an otherworldly visitor disturbs the peace of a far away forest.

A/N: Former prologue to my yet to be published story.

Published 2012-09-07 23:34:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-07 23:34:01 UTC

What happened in Yellowhoof

Apparition

Seasons. There are areas where the weather is strictly controlled, that includes most bigger cities and strategically placed crops. But in most places, the weather lives its own undisturbed life. The seasons come and go, plants grow and give nutrition to herbivores who in turn satiate the hunger of meat eaters. The magnificent circle of life. Restrained only by the unfathomable forces of Mother Nature, the wilderness takes care of itself entirely on its own. The horror!

During the spring and early summer the grassy meadows and coniferous forests of Yellowhoof are truly a sight to behold. Surrounded by a high mountain range, that gives birth to several small brooks which eventually converge into one grand wild river flowing across the entire place, Yellowhoof is a true oasis teeming with life. At least in the warm seasons. Not many admire its primal and unblemished beauty during the winter, though. Most animals either abandon this mountain region during the cold period or try to wait it out by dramatically reducing their vital functions and going into a very deep sleep. Hibernation. When Mother Nature wears her snowy mantle, the area becomes almost deserted. Yet, a few audacious survivors remain active all the time.

Today, in the early afternoon, not a single cloud was floating in the sky above Yellowhoof. The area was basking in the warm rays of Celestia’s sun. However, the heat radiated by the gigantic sphere of hellishly hot plasma was not enough to tear away the white carapace covering the earth. The snowy clearings of Yellowhoof were completely deserted. Not because of the searing cold or even colder winter winds, the still active animals could endure that with no trouble. The main problem was the reflection of light, making any living creature foolish enough to brave the clearing almost completely blind. Therefore, all living activity was performed in the forests.

An inattentive observer would easily overlook the two white figures lying in the snow near the forest’s border. The smaller figure – a mountain rabbit male, with pristine white coat and ear-ends tinged with black – was diligently digging in search for some juicy roots hidden in the cold earth under the pristine snow coat. Even though he was focused on his task, he couldn’t afford to be careless. The forest was full of predators that would take advantage of any unwary, fluffy creature to get an afternoon snack. For this very reason, every several seconds, the rabbit would stop digging for a moment and look around alertly in search for incoming danger.

The second, larger figure wasn’t as lively as the former, although, it also searched for food. Roots weren’t in its menu, though. The snow-white mountain wolf male was hungrily watching the little rodent. The wolf’s fur made him blend in the surrounding environment flawlessly, making him almost invisible in the snow. He relied heavily on the element of surprise. Every time the small rabbit would resume his digging frenzy, the larger figure got closer to his prey. Just a few little steps at a time. Slowly. Soundlessly. He didn’t want to startle his timid snack. In a moment he would be in range to pounce viciously on his prey and receive the prize. He could already feel the tender rabbit flesh between his sharp fangs, his mouth salivating profusely. Only one more step and the outcome will be inevitable.

Carefully Sharpfang… Steady your breath… Wait for it to start digging again… All it takes now is a swift- *ROARRR!*

A distant growl caused the small rodent’s ear to twitch anxiously. The rabbit quickly turned his head in the direction of the dangerous sounding voice, realizing immediately that the danger was right near him. He reacted instantly.

The wolf’s body ceased all its activity for a brief moment. No! No screaming! What the paw were you thinking, idiot! Wait… this… wasn’t me. Holy Canines! My lunch just bolted away!

The small hole dug up by the rabbit was now unoccupied. Its creator dashed away mere seconds ago. In the times of starvation and famine wolves could try to – although reluctantly – satiate their hunger by eating roots, but now wasn’t such a time. There was plenty of game to hunt… if you were hunting in a pack. Sharpfang, a former alpha male, recently exiled from his pack, on the other paw could either try to catch small rodents – which were painfully hard to snatch – or die of starvation. He wasn’t going to humiliate himself by seeking any dirty bulbs in the earth. Unluckily, in the time of a harsh winter every predator needed to eat even more than usual to sustain their body temperature. The wolf’s anger over the lost meal was rightfully justified.

Sharpfang snarled angrily in the direction of the running rabbit. I will bite off the tail of whoever did this! My bloody luck! He wouldn’t even try to give chase, it would be a total waste of energy. The agile rodent could easily outmaneuver him in the forest.

Another roar pierced through the cold afternoon air, now accompanied with a few bizarre noises which Sharpfang couldn’t really recognize. However, in his anger driven crusade for vengeance such miniscule details didn’t matter for him at all.

OH YES, bring your sorry hide to daddy Sharpfang, so he can bite off your ass!

Sharpfang, baring his sharp fangs (duh), rushed in the approximate direction of the voice of the creature that has brazenly deprived him of his snack. He was quite experienced in dealing with what the wilderness could throw against him – besides hunting for small, agile rodents, naturally – and knew that the worst thing he could encounter right now, in this time of the year, was another lone wolf. But Sharpfang didn’t mind, he was in mood for a little scuffle.

What the white wolf didn’t expect, was two terrified soquili on a collision course with him. They were shouting some incomprehensible words at each other. Not like Sharpfang, or any other wolf, could understand a word of what they said anyway. Wolves tend not to fraternize with herbivorous, hoofed creatures, they are more eager to eat them. Creatures that possess such a wide range of bright and vivid colors on their coats and manes should have become extinct a long time ago. But soquili are different than any other prey. Just like wolves, they are moving in packs most of the time, and unlike deers – or other creatures hunted by wolves – they never leave their wounded or old to their own fate when under attack of a wolf pack. Because of this, it is very hard to get a taste of their flesh. Not like it is some delicacy anyway. Sharpfang tasted flesh of soquili once, it was long ago when he had been just an adolescent pup. It didn’t taste bad, but in his honest opinion it lacked certain… flavor. Meat of deers and elks was better, or perhaps Sharpfang was just biased.

Normal breed of soquili isn’t anything special – still, it is unwise to face more than one of them alone – it is the other two breeds that greatly annoy and sometimes frighten the wolves. Some of them have wings on their backs or a single sharp spike on their foreheads. The former ones are the biggest pain in the butt imaginable. Not only are they extremely hard to catch – when wolves finally evolve wings, the revenge will be sweet… and bloody – but they can alert their pack of danger incoming from very far ahead. The spiked ones are a lot worse, though.

As like any other sentient and intelligent creatures, the wolves are afraid of the unexplainable. Sharpfang doesn’t have the slightest idea of how they are able to perform their fiendish tricks – perhaps it has something to do with the sharp spike on their forehead, as if it couldn’t be used as a weapon already – but their ability is unmistakable. Being able to throw a fully grown adult wolf several meters away… without even touching him… is a feat on its own, but it is just the most basic ability in those monsters’ arsenal. Up to this day Sharpfang sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and shivers uncontrollably. A recurring nightmare. Back in the day, when he had just entered his adulthood, he had been a witness to a scene of absolute carnage. It took just three of the horned beasts to completely decimate a wolf family. Every single one of them, no matter young or old, was burned alive without remorse. And for what reason? One, stolen, soquili foal… From that day onward, Sharpfang tries to avoid the horned monsters like a fire… literally.

Thankfully, only one pack of soquili lives near Yellowhoof, and most of them don’t possess wings or weird spikes.

Seeing the two normal, earthbound soquili charging in his direction, Sharpfang growled and snarled at them threateningly with his teeth clenched. Daddy’s gonna have some fun today. Prepare for a world of pain!

The soquili haven’t paid the wolf much attention. Only briefly have they glanced in his direction and, as if nothing happened, continued their incomprehensible babble, while running like the wind. Sharpfang, faithful to his resolve, aimed for the tail of the one soquili to his right. He had an irresistible temptation to simply pounce on one of them with his claws outstretched, but he knew better than to crash with a speeding equine. Broken ribs totally weren’t worth the effort, especially in the winter.

OH YESS! The loud yelp of the soquili, that had its tail bitten, was like music to the sensitive ears of the wolf deprived of his afternoon snack. Sharpfang bit hard onto the tail hair of his ‘prey’ and tugged it sharply, eliciting yet another yelp from the poor, terrified equine. Sweet, sweet revenge! Unfortunately for the lone wolf – but fortunately for the soquili! – this particular individual’s hair wasn’t very strong. After dragging the angry growling wolf for a good twenty meters, the soquili’s tail hair snapped suddenly and the force of momentum thrust Sharpfang’s snout deep into the cold snow.

Slowly, the lone wolf pulled out his snout from the snow, a sizable tuft of deep green hair in his mouth. He grinned wildly at the two running soquili and spat out the green scalp – well, not really a scalp, whatever – into the hole in the snow made by his head. As a form of celebration, he started to howl his song of victory. “Owoooooooooo~” Yeah! Who’s your daddy!? After his victorious howl, Sharpfang quickly stood up to all his four legs.

*ROAR!*

Behind the lone wolf, dangerously close to his position, another piercing roar resounded. The sound was quite familiar, but he didn’t really associate it with this time of the year. Turning his head around, he saw it… rapidly moving, towering mass of muscle and fat, armed with deadly claws and sharp, glistening white fangs. A brown mountain bear… Sharpfang didn’t have the time to get out of its way. The last thing he saw, before the bear crashed into him, was the enraged creature’s hazel eyes. The brown tank didn’t as much as flinch from the ‘crash’ with the lone wolf, as it ungracefully SHOVED Sharpfang into the soft snow, making him land on his back. The white wolf’s brain made an emergency hard reset just then.

Restarting system…

Please wait…

Loading sensory data…

Subject: Sharpfang, Species: Canis lupus, Sex: male, Age: 42…

Initiating system scan…

Primary vital functions: operational…

Secondary vital functions: operational…

Damage report: two fractured ribs, bruised right shoulder…

Initiating main OS…

After a long few minutes Sharpfang opened his eyes and gazed in the distance with a deadpan look, still lying on his back in the snow. A mountain bear… middle of winter… bears sleep through the whole cold season… so… His left eye twitched. WHAT THE PAW IS THIS THING DOING OUTSIDE ITS CAVE!!! The shocked wolf got back on his legs, wincing a little. It should stick its fat ass in there till like… SPRING!!!

This day, Sharpfang was once again assured of one of the most unbroken and sacred laws of nature: when soquili are involved, you can kiss the laws of nature goodbye.

Running in the woods during the winter can be quite exhausting. Especially if you lose your snowshoes – ponies aren’t really used to prolonged wanderings in the deep snow. The task becomes even harder when you are being relentlessly chased by six hundred kilograms worth of angry mass of muscle and fat.

Two, slightly trembling, earthbound stallions, both wearing light-gray snow jackets that covered most of their bodies, were huddled together next to a massive rock somewhere in the forest. Having a short break from the deadly game of cat and mouse with an enraged mountain bear, two times their size and probably three times their combined weight, the two equines began the most appropriate action at the given time – they started arguing.

“Tell me again, please. How have you managed to piss off this bear so badly?” the lime-green coated earth pony, with his mane of the color of pine needles, asked sternly.

“…” The questioned stallion pursed his lips and remained silent. The only sound that could be heard was the distant noise of gusts of wind ravaging the snowy clearings.

“Storm Front…” with clenched teeth, the lime-green stallion hissed venomously at his companion – a gray coated pegassus, with the mane of a darker shade of gray, streaked with a stripe of silver in the middle.

“I don’t want to talk about this, OK!?” the gray stallion almost shouted with a condescending tone, but he quickly remembered himself and continued with a hushed voice. “What’s done is done! Better question, what do we do now? You’re the wood ranger here…”

“Yeah, ‘Forrest Green to the rescue’…” The earth pony heaved a sigh and glared disapprovingly at his companion. “As usual…”

“Sorry… If only my wings were working…” Storm Front uttered sadly.

Forrest Green’s facial expression softened considerably. Putting on a sad smile, with half-mocking and half-joking tone, he started, “And what would you do then?! Fly away and let me be eaten alive by an enraged bear!? I would haunt you at night your entire life if you did so!”

“I didn’t know you believed in the afterlife,“ the gray stallion said, smirking a little.

“I don’t, I just…” the green stallion sighed sadly. “Look, I don’t wanna spoil your life with my sad, pseudo-philosophical musings. And besides, it’s not the best time for a chit-chat.”

Both stallions suddenly ceased to produce any sounds and listened to the song of the wilderness, their ears twitching alertly. The resulting silence was deafening.

“I can safely assume that the bear is gone,” Forrest said confidently.

“What about our bags… and snowshoes?” asked Storm.

“I don’t want to risk meeting this beast again. We’ll get there tomorrow, with a bigger group.”

The gray stallion nodded. “Yeah, let’s get going.”

Both stallions started to stretch their stiffened joints, resulting in a flurry of cracking noises that many would find unpleasant to their ears. The crippled pegassus stood up first and made a few steps forward. He turned his head to hurry his companion, but no words left his snout. Instead, he quickly walked back to the still stretching earth pony and gently put a hoof on his shoulder.

Forrest abruptly stopped his noisy activity and raised an eyebrow. Without saying a word he gave his gray companion a questioning look.

Storm Front gulped audibly, with clenched teeth he managed to whisper, “The bear is here! Around thirty meters directly behind the rock.”

“What’s it doin’?”

“Sniffin’… Thank Celestia it’s too dumb to track us by our traces in the snow,” Storm breathed a small sigh of relief. “It’s not going in our direction.”

“Actually… bears possess a highly advanced sense of smell,” Forrest replied in a hushed tone, his response causing Storm to take on a very terrified face. “Don’t panic, we’re safe as long as the wind maintains its current direction. It’s late afternoon, so it won’t change its course for another few hours.”

The gray pegassus inhaled sharply, suddenly remembering that he needed oxygen to maintain his basic vital functions.

As if on cue, invoked by the mischievous goddess of nature, due to the very words spoken by the heedless lime-green earth pony, the earth shook briefly, causing the trees to shed most of their snow cover. Earthquakes were rare in Yellowhoof, but they haven’t belonged to the short list of situations that could cause Forrest Green’s face to lose its color, awakening his deeply hidden alter ego – Forrest White. No, the small and brief earthquake wasn’t the cause of the sudden change of his mood. At least not in itself.

Storm Front, after taking a brief glance at his companion’s terrified face, pursed his lips and nodded sagely. “We’re bucked.”

The male mountain bear was starting to become bored with the lack of action. The only thing he wanted to do, before going back to sleep in his peaceful den, was gutting the insolent, gray equine for its unforgiveable transgressions. Unfortunately for the bear, the prospect of venting his justified anger was rapidly moving away with every passing second. Even with his heightened sense of smell, the bear couldn’t sniff out the two pesky, hoofed scoundrels. The self-proclaimed king of the forest lowered his head and was about to abandon his crusade for vengeance, when a sudden series of tremors shook the very ground around him.

The bear, unfazed by the earthquake, noticed the sudden change of wind direction and tried his luck one more time. He sniffed once. Nothing. Another try, and… BINGO! The odor of the two runaway equines was unmistakable. The smell was strong, the brown giant knew his prey was near. He started to pace quietly in the direction opposite to the wind, sniffing the air every now and then.

Finally, the brown behemoth reached a large granite rock and circled it once, then – just to be sure – once more again. Not finding anything worth of his attention he took on a displeased frown. Was his sense of smell losing its sharpness? He could have sworn that he smelled the two pesky equines somewhere nearby, and this huge rock was about the only place where they could try to hide. Old age is truly a burden. The brown mountain bear drooped his head sadly and accepted his bitter defeat. Next stop – his homely, although a bit ravaged, den.

*snap*

A faint cracking sound of breaking twigs echoed through the forest. Although, it may have as well been a cannon blast – its effects would be exactly the same. The brown juggernaut quickly turned his head and grinned mischievously at the sight which appeared before his hazel eyes.

The two terrified stallions – their eyes wide as saucers – frantically shouted something at each other and promptly galloped off like mad-equines.

The bear wasted no time and, after roaring mightily with renewed vigor and eagerness – which wasn’t a waste of time at all – immediately gave chase. He wasn’t so old after all.

The forest was the arena for the second round of the mortal game of cat and mouse for a little more than ten minutes. Finally, its two participants, playing the role of the mouse, broke through the forest border with the brown, bloodthirsty juggernaut in tow. In the normal circumstances the two stallions would easily outrun the mountain bear in an open field, but alas, due to the thick snow cover, the brown juggernaut was slightly favored. Its physique and weight made it seem like the snow wasn’t there at all. Imbalanced you say? Well… deal with it and learn to play! Or pick a better character next time…

“It should get tired *pant* before us, doesn’t it?” Storm Front inquired desperately. His health condition visibly deteriorating with every minute spent galloping for his dear life.

A powerful, taunting roar pierced the air, as if in response for the gray pegassus’ question.

“Stop talking and run! It’s gaining on us!” the lime-green stallion shouted with a commanding tone.

After a few moments of running, a familiar sight appeared to Forrest’s eyes. Seeing the characteristic landmark – in the form of a large rock formation – the earth pony ordered sternly, “Take a sharp turn to the right behind those rocks!”

Before Storm could voice his ‘Yes’sir!’, another angry growl brutally penetrated the cold afternoon air.

After passing the landmark and quickly turning to their right, the two ponies noticed yet another obstacle in the quest for their continuous existence. A snow white wolf was blocking their path. Immediately upon noticing the two ponies it started to growl angrily for no apparent reason, its muscles tensed as if to savagely pounce onto one of the speeding equines.

“W-watch out! *pant* A wo-” Storm wasn’t allowed to finish his sentence.

“Ignore the wolf! Run! Run like the wind!” hollered the lime-green stallion.

Considering the circumstances, not paying attention to the lesser predator and bolting straight ahead was probably the best course of action. What the two ponies haven’t considered, though, was that the lone wolf has been a relentless crusader on a holy mission to inflict pain.

The crusade has been successful. As a result, Forrest lost a good portion of his tail hair. Nothing truly dangerous, but hellishly painful indeed.

Storm was about to ask his comrade why haven’t he simply stopped and bucked the fur out of the invasive canine, but upon glancing at the earth pony’s facial expression – distorted awkwardly from the stinging pain – he decided otherwise. The angry scowl present on Forrest’s face told him that, even in this dire circumstances, he would receive a hoof to the muzzle, if he even as much as mentioned it. Therefore he remained silent and continued to flee alongside his suffering companion.

Sensing the pegassus’ growing anxiety, Forrest managed to overcome the annoying mass of neural signals reminding him again and again about his sore tail. He already knew that for Celestia’s sake! He intended to sound reassuringly and confident, but the way he spoke his words resembled more like a miserable wail of a dying creature pleading to be put out of its misery. “Don’t worry!... I know a place where we can hide!... Just keep this pace for about fifteen minutes… and follow me!”

Storm raised his eyebrows and nodded doubtfully with a crooked smile. Fifteen more minutes? I already don’t feel my hooves. I’m in a serious need of a miracle… He thought sadly, silently hoping that the merciless goddess of nature also had a friendly side to herself.

“I- *pant* I can’t *pant* run *pant* anymore…” Storm stumbled and started to wheeze heavily. With a helping hoof of his companion he floppily got back onto his hooves.

The bear was still stubbornly pursuing them, although it too seemed to get tired from the prolonged chase.

“Come on, I’ll carry you. *pant* The cottage is nearby. *pant* We can make it! *pant*” Forrest pleaded, his tone full of worry.

“Leave me. *pant* I caused this *pant* and I will take *pant* the responsibility for it. *pant**pant*”

“Nope,” the lime-green earth pony replied adamantly.

“Fool! *pant* You’re almost as *pant* tired as me. *pant* You can’t carry-“

“Who’s the fool here?! Featherbrain! I won’t leave you here!” Forrest said sternly, somehow managing not to pant every second. After taking on a sad smile he added reassuringly, “Even if the bear gets us, we will at least graze on the afterlife’s evergreen pastures together.”

They gray pegassus snorted and snickered. You hypocrite. He thought, before sadly uttering. “Sorry… big brother.” Storm head-butted the lime-green earth pony with no warning, causing him to stumble. Then, summoning every last bit of remaining strength, the suicidal pegassus galloped off to draw the juggernaut’s attention away from his older sibling.

Forrest, still in progress of processing what just happened, blinked incredulously several times. All he could discern from the blue and white canvas before his eyes, were two blurred stains rapidly moving towards one another. After shaking his head a few times the realization finally dawned on him. The time stopped to a crawl. Forrest’s irises shrank to a size of tiny pinpricks and his face paled considerably, his countenance full of horror. He was about to shout a hopeless cry of despair and gallop after his brother when suddenly…

*CRACK*

A loud cracking sound, seemingly coming from all directions, pierced the cold air of Yellowhoof. However, the loud crack was but a prelude for the following, deafening sound resembling the noise of shattering glass. All three figures cringed and collapsed from the piercing sound assaulting their eardrums.

In the distance, high above the forest, floated a brilliant source of light. After a few brief flashes, each obscuring the sun with a wave of blindingly white light, the thing ceased its dazzling activity. However, there was no one to admire the beautiful sight that appeared afterwards – the bizarre event caused every living creature in the vicinity of several kilometers to suddenly lose consciousness.

The mortal game of cat and mouse stopped abruptly… for now.

High above the treetops of one of Yellowhoof’s forests a large shimmering sphere, about twelve meters in diameter, floated motionlessly. Its color a very light shade of blue. If one were to look at it from an appropriate angle it could easily be mistaken for a part of the pristine sky. The seemingly bottomless glistening ocean reflecting the rays of Celestia’s sun, without a doubt, would be thoroughly hypnotizing to many forest creatures – if any were awake that is.

For a long moment, that seemed to stretch into hours, nothing seemed happen. Finally, the glistening orb started to slowly distort. Several small discolored bulges appeared on its surface, ruining its perfectly spherical shape and pristine appearance. With a loud pop, every bulge burst out one after another, each one ejecting a small orb. The light-blue sphere quickly returned to its former glory, now accompanied by six glistening, crimson orbs floating beside it – each approximately one meter in diameter.

The smaller spheres started to circle around the larger one with astounding speed, like electrons orbiting an atomic nucleus. After a few moments of this molecular spectacle, the six spheres scattered in all directions, one of them crashing down in the distant coniferous forest of Yellowhoof. After losing its entourage, the light-blue orb floated lazily in the air for another uneventful, long moment.

The shimmering sphere started to slowly lose its luster and vivid color, becoming a dull dark-gray orb with almost no transparency in the end. A faint outline of something shifting inside could be seen. The now membrane-like surface of the sphere distorted, as if something wanted to eagerly get out. After a moment of valiant fighting the gray membrane was ripped apart by the thing trapped inside, its remains quickly dissipating in the air.

A shimmering light-blue figure appeared in the place of the dull-colored orb. Its body shape could be aptly described as something between a tiger and a dragon. However, it didn’t possess any scales or fur, instead, its skin was smooth and glistening as if made of glass. An enormous pair of leathery, dragon-like wings protruded from its back. With sixty meters wingspan and twenty-two meters body length (half of it was its tail) the light-blue creature was of a size of an adult Equestrian dragon, although the size of its wings could make any of them seethe with envy. Its long and spiny tail was tipped with a white, elongated, triple-forked blade. Each of its four legs was endowed with five white, sharp claws that seemed to radiate more energy than the rest of its body. The creature had a medium-length neck with an oval, reptilian head that widened slightly towards the back. Three long, slightly crooked horns protruded from the back of its head, surrounded at their base by multiple shorter, flexible spikes.

A dense, gray-blue liquid slowly started to ooze out from various points on the creature’s shimmering body. The thick fluid morphed and shifted, finally solidifying into some sort of segmented carapace – its metallic sheen was almost mesmerizing. The gray-blue armor covered most of the light-blue creature’s body, excluding some spots on the head, its claws and the blade at the tip of its tail.

The creature didn’t have eyelids on its own, instead, a flexible piece of the carapace, that could slid over the white, glowing eyes to protect them, acted as their substitute. A similar piece could also seal its nostrils. Thanks to the specific, serrated shape of the blue-gray carapace on its head the creature seemed to have two independent sets of jaws.

The dragon-like creature flapped its mighty wings once, floating effortlessly in the cold, afternoon air, as if held by an unseen magical force. Its head trembled, as though it was struggling to open its mouth. Finally its jaws opened wide, revealing rows of sharp, triangular teeth. The creature inhaled deeply, making its chest almost double its size.

“KIIIIIIRIIIIIIAAAAAA~” After flapping its massive wings again, it let out a long, shrill, blood-curdling cry. If any living creature was awake at this moment, it would certainly have passed out from the sheer dread permeating the air.

After voicing its loud ‘Hello’, the armored dragon-like being floated lazily in the air, flapping its wings slightly from time to time. Its gaze shifting slowly from one landmark to another. Perhaps, even otherworldly beings could appreciate true beauty. The surrounding landscape must have been a magnificent sight from its high vantage point.

Suddenly, the creature’s insides rumbled angrily, knocking it out from its reverie. Yes, interdimensional, or interstellar escapades could make you VERY hungry. The amount of energy to perform one of these tasks was unfathomable to a common mortal. But this time, hunger – for whatever the armored dragon-like creature considered as its sustenance – wasn’t the cause of the visceral noise. Its armor clad face looked genuinely surprised.

The moment the otherworldly creature put its clawed hands on its stomach, several golden chains of intricate patterns, ended with sharp, ornate blades, suddenly burst out from its insides, tearing away the thick carapace and spilling large quantities of glowing light-blue liquid that burned and rapidly dissolved everything it came in contact with. Everything, but the blue-gray, shimmering armor and the golden chained-blades themselves.

After encompassing the creature’s whole body and piercing through its limbs, tail and enormous wings multiple times, the chained-blades anchored themselves firmly in its thick carapace. The golden chains began to tug and constrict violently, each sharp contraction eliciting a pitiful wail out of the otherworldly creature. Eventually, the otherworldly being was squeezed to the point where it couldn’t move or produce any sounds at all. Despite its immobility, the creature still floated in the air like a hot-air balloon.

The golden chains flashed brightly, and in the blink of an eye a semi-transparent golden sphere, covered with more vivid, swirly vine patterns, surrounded the bounded creature. In one fierce, rapid movement the golden orb shrank its size considerably – a pony-sized creature would have a slight difficulty fitting inside it – and began to slowly descend into the forest ravaged by blue, ravenous flames.

Forrest Green broke out from the sleep’s embrace with a start. He rarely had nightmares, but when he did, the dream was about him running away from an enraged, bloodthirsty mountain bear alongside his careless younger brother.

“What a ridiculous dream… being near my little brother sure takes its toll on me…”

Despite the soothing sense of tranquility that he experienced every time he woke up, something was painfully nagging him at the back of his head this time. Maybe it was the weird texture of the bed he was sleeping on, or that he didn’t remember painting the ceiling in his room cerulean. Moreover, his forehead and tail were quite sore for no apparent reason. What ultimately broke his link with the dreamland, though, was a loud, hoarse snoring.

After rubbing his eyes, with eyelids half lidded, Forrest squinted at the source of the annoying noise. The look of abject terror engraved on his face was an irrefutable proof that he wasn't yet ready for what he saw.

Not fifteen meters away from him a large brown bear was laying on its back, snoring loudly as if nothing happened. Cuddled next to the juggernaut, using the bear as a makeshift pillow, was Storm Front – visibly tired from his latest ordeal, but nevertheless happy from the pleasant warmth the bear’s body provided him – sleeping like a foal after a full day of merry frolicking.

This wasn’t a dream at all!

The lime-green earth pony didn’t want to imagine what would happen if the bear woke up before one of them. Warily and quietly, he got closer to the two sleeping figures and with careful precision detached his younger brother from the furry behemoth. Trying to get Storm awake – so he could wake up the bear with his surprised shrieks – was a risk Forrest wasn't going to take, therefore he deftly set him up on his back, the action eliciting a series of incoherent mumbles from the crippled pegassus.

After remembering his brother’s very last action before their blackout, Forrest shook his head and asked himself rhetorically. Are all pegasi such thick-headed featherbrains?

Carrying the unconscious body of his little brother, the lime-green earth pony trotted to safety as quickly as he could. He didn’t have time to think about what caused their sudden loss of consciousness, the angry juggernaut could wake up any second.

Wandering lazily through the progressively more dense coniferous forest, Sharpfang recalled the events of today’s afternoon. If the lone wolf kept a diary, this day would be marked as his worst, most annoying day ever, second only to his recent banishment from his pack. The raw emotions sealed in the furiously scribbled note would make the eyes of any unwelcome reader bleed profusely from the sheer coarseness of the language it was written in. Fortunately, wolves weren't able to write. This, however, only incited Sharpfang’s already irate temper.

What the PAW is happening today! One time I get interrupted by two dumb soquili being chased by a bloody BEAR! The second time I just pass out for no reason with the prey still squirming in my jaws! The world hates me!... And my ribs still hurt like hell! The lone wolf growled angrily at the last thought.

Being occupied with his mental rant, Sharpfang haven’t paid attention to the sweet, unusual smell wafting from the depths of the forest, despite feeling it for quite some time. What the lone wolf was blissfully unaware of was that the overwhelming sense of curiosity, deeply rooted into his and every wolf’s subconsciousness, was already directing him to the source of the odd scent. Instinct. When Sharpfang’s ranting consciousness and instinctual subconsciousness finally made contact, he was positively surprised.

What’s this scent, it smells… inviting!

A few snapped trees marked the path to his goal, but the lone wolf ignored them whatsoever.

In a small crater, lay a strange spherical object, partially buried in the snow. From the distance it vaguely looked like a corpse of some recently deceased animal. Its size matched that of an medium-sized deer. With a few energetic leaps Sharpfang rushed to close the distance with his soon-to-be dinner. What he saw, though, wasn’t anything that he honestly expected.

Ugh, If I wasn’t so hungry that I could eat my own tail, I wouldn’t even come near this… thing. Despite its enjoyable scent, the object lying in the small crater didn’t look tasty at all. The thing was a black, spherical object, covered with some unidentified, crimson gel.

As Sharpfang got closer, his salivary glands, despite his slight disgust, started to execute their job diligently. Well, it at least smells nice… here goes nothing! Just as Sharpfang opened his jaws, the seemingly inanimate carcass started to shake violently and multiple dark-red, vein-like tendrils appeared on its glistening surface. A few black tentacles slowly pierced through the red cover and started to floppily flail in all directions.

On another thought, I’m not THAT hungry. Farewell, little… whatever you are. Live long and prosper. The lone wolf thought with revulsion.

The thing certainly would, but for that it needed a suitable source of energy and protein. Sadly, the only one available at the moment was slowly walking away in disgust. The black orb-thing wasn’t going to waste such an occasion. By the way – being in a desperate need of something furry to cuddle makes your tentacles twenty percent stronger and more flexible.

Two black, meaty tentacles suddenly extended from the bizarre creature and quickly immobilized and tightly entwined the lone wolf. The only sound Sharpfang could produce, before his muzzle was forced shut, was a surprised whimper. He thrashed and flailed desperately, but all his effort was in vain. As the tentacles slowly pulled the lone wolf across the snow his pitiful, muffled whimpers grew louder and more desperate, he was soon to experience a close encounter of the third kind and reach places where no wolf has ever been before. It was a small step for Sharpfang, but a giant leap for the canidae…

I hope you choke on my stringy ass! Was the lone wolf’s final thought before he lost the last gleams of light in the world.

Wolves are known for their insatiable curiosity. For several tens of thousands of years they thrived and were able to survive in the harshest conditions possible. Thanks to their endurance, craftiness and gregarious nature, they are one of the most successful, non-magical predators in Equestria. This time though, one of the traits that contributed to their success, curiosity, was the cause of a wolf’s demise.

In the distance, tempted by the same pleasant smell, a very angry looking mountain bear was heading in the crater’s direction.

One particular mountain rabbit could consider himself extremely lucky today. To escape the reaper’s scythe twice in one day was truly a blind stroke of luck. Surviving two near death experiences within less than two hours could make anyone a nervous wreck of one’s past self, so the rodent decided to not tempt the fate any more and stay in his safe and comfortable burrow until tomorrow. As the popular saying goes: ‘third time’s the charm’, his supply of luck for today was most likely already depleted.

The small rodent was slowly drifting away towards sleep’s embrace in his solitary branch that was a part of a larger warren network. He was just at the very border between the reality and the dreamland when a series of faint vibrations, slowly growing in strength, prevented him from completely falling asleep.

The drowsy rabbit judged that something big must be walking on the surface near the warren’s entrance. Perhaps an adult bear… nooo, what a silly thought, bears hibernate during the winter – a stray deer or a bison would be a better guess.

Due to his lethargic stupor the rodent disregarded his every inhibition and vacantly decided to take a quick peek outside. At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary; in the rays of the late afternoon sun, even in the forest, any big animal should be easily distinguishable though. Upon more precise observation the rodent spotted a gargantuan, furry, white silhouette – nearly blending with the snowy expanse surrounding it – slowly walking away into the distance. The rabbit tilted his head in puzzlement – he have never seen a similar creature before, besides, according to his knowledge, animals this big shouldn’t be active in the middle of winter, furthermore…

Lost in his reverie, the lethargic rodent haven’t realized that the big, snow-white figure turned around and started to walk straight in his direction. When he finally noticed the approaching behemoth, he couldn’t move a single muscle, his gaze was locked with the creature’s red, ominous eyes. Every single signal sent to his brain screamed at him to run away and hide, but the terrified rodent was frozen to the spot, as if restrained by some invisible force.

The approaching colossus looked like a hybrid born out of intimate interactions of a mountain bear and... Certainly, it’s father must have been a very brave wolf. The creature’s physique and size was similar to that of an adult mountain bear, although its body was noticeably slimmer. What further distinguished it from a typical bear was its long, furry tail and oversized wolfish head.

The white giant picked up the terrified rodent with its paw, armed with black, curved claws, and positioned him in front of its large snout. The terrified rodent could feel the colossus’ curious and hungry gaze locked on him.

As a last resort, the rabbit decided to use his ultimate weapon of destruction. After pouting his lower lip, he mercilessly launched the best puppy-eyes look he could muster against his opponent. His steel-melting, deathly adorable gaze was the most dangerous weapon in Equestria’s modern history.

Unbelievably, it seemed to only amuse the red-eyed giant. The rabbit’s intricate plan to save his fluffy backside using sheer cuteness failed horribly.

The white behemoth snorted with amusement and slowly began to open its jaws. The interior of its muzzle was a stark contrast to its pristine white coat. Its tongue, gums and even the sharp, pointy teeth were pitch black, all glistening with saliva.

The unfortunate rodent whimpered desperately, he has never seen so many teeth in his entire life. In his terrified eyes the giant’s gullet seemed like a bottomless abyss waiting to devour anyone who dared to cross it.

When the red-eyed colossus stuck out its long cylindrical tongue to further savor the taste of its small snack, the snow-white rodent knew there was no way back from his impending final destination and accepted his fate. He was too innocent – and perhaps too careless – to live in this cruel world where almost everything wanted a piece of his furry bottom.

Sometimes, Mother Nature is a vicious and heartless bitch that doesn’t give a damn about anyone’s innocence and puts her unlucky creations into the most savage circumstances simply for her sheer amusement. Most times, though, no superior forces are involved and one’s problems are a direct result of one’s carelessness. The plight in which the wretched rabbit found himself, was clearly a mix of the two. Still, occasionally, Mother Nature had a bizarre sense of humor.

By the point when the furry colossus decided to take one last, delicious sniff, the rabbit (still held by the behemoth's mighty paw just before its black teeth) was almost entirely covered with saliva. With a powerful intake of air the red-eyed giant savored the delicious smell of its snack before finally… wrinkling its nose and sneezing?

Another powerful sneeze caused the furry colossus to drop the terrified rodent onto the snowy ground. The red-eyed giant tried to rub its nose to ease the annoying sensation, but that only seemed to worsen the situation as it got into a coughing and sneezing fit – with black, slimy mucus flying everywhere.

When its body finally repelled the assault, the red-eyed colossus took a few deep breaths, wrinkled its nose and snorted with exasperation at the small, furry allergen. After giving the cursed rodent a last angry growl the furry behemoth quickly turned and walked away.

The rabbit blinked incredulously several times and stared dumbfoundedly at the retreating furry mass of flesh for a while. He then sat firmly on his rump and stretched out his furry paws in front of him, his gaze shifting to the black, glistening goo slowly dripping from his formerly pristine-white fur.

With a sharp, sudden movement the rabbit raised his head and paws to the cloudless, cerulean sky, as if taunting the forces of nature to put him to the test once again. After a long moment… nothing happened, no sudden earthquakes, no lightning bolts, no otherworldly creatures appearing from nowhere to eat him, no nothing. Just the wind… the sweet, soothing melody of the distant wind caressing the snowy clearings.

The rodent took on a wicked grin and lost himself in an uncontrollable fit of mad laughter. After overpowering his looming mental breakdown, the rabbit fell onto his back and heaved a sigh of relief. Despite being covered with saliva and black, slimy mucus from head to toe, he felt happy, happy like never before in his short, insignificant life.

As he stood up and proudly walked back to the nearest warren entrance, a small crowd of rabbits – gathered near the other entrance – looked at him with awe and admiration. They must have seen his entire ordeal and now regarded him as some kind of a demigod. Technically, he didn’t deserve the praise. Who is going to make a fuss about such details, though? Certainly not the brave rabbit who ‘defeated’ a giant wolf-bear thing.

The lucky survivor felt that from now on his life would change dramatically, maybe he could finally find a mate – or an entire harem! Firstly though, he had to wash off the sticky slime off his fur, the foul stench would probably cling to him for several days. However, this was a small price to pay for becoming a legend among the rabbit kind.