Many great years ago..

In the Griffon lands, there was a warrior. His name is not known, but he was renowned as the most powerful in all the Griffon lands. He was strong...fast...brave.

Yet one day, during a ferocious storm, a stranger came to his home and did homage to him, offering him greater power if he made a deal with him. Intrigued, the warrior took the Griffon's claw, but that was when the warrior was overcome with dark energy. The warrior could only scream as he was changed into a colossal, horrifying monster, with spines of black and three eyes of purest green. His wings grew skeletal and cloaked in black smoke, and his tail became a bladed spine, with his claws growing like sword blades. He threw himself back in agony, and eventually, he became known as the Shrieker. The stranger revealed himself as the evil Sorcerer Grezin, and the warrior was consumed by dark magic. He became a terror of the night, bound to the sorcerer's will.

Yet one day, the Sorcerer made a deal he could not keep, and was cast into the depths of the Abysmal Abyss, never to return.

The Shrieker was free, but he did not return to his former body. He fled to the south, to a forest, and there he remains, punishing and hunting those who encounter his wrath. And with his power came an immortal life, and in this forest, he rests, his mind tormented by the pain he undergoes every day.

And to this day, no one has heard him howl, but he still remains…

Watching…

Waiting to be set free.

Twilight Sparkle closed the book and sighed. Gabby the Griffon had sent her a volume of Griffon folktales as a present, and though many were interesting, the one at the end, the Tale of the Night Shrieker, was the one that she couldn't understand in the slightest.

"Whoever wrote this was a total moron." She groaned. "There is no way a Griffon can harness magic, let alone dark magic, and a three-eyed monster Griffon? That's totally unbelievable!"

Twilight sighed and looked at the clock on her desk.

"Dear Celestia, it's late." She said, seeing the time was around 10:30 PM. "I should get some sleep and write Gabby a thank-you in the morning."

As she headed upstairs, she failed to notice a sheet of fog come through town. It swirled and twisted, and in the middle of it, three piercing green eyes opened and a dull growl became audible. Then, an ethereal, ear-piercing howl sounded. IT was howl of pain, anger, and rage. As windows came on in several houses and a few foals cried for their parents, the three green eyes faded away.

====

Twilight sipped her morning coffee at Sugarcube Corner, with Spike filling out the morning crossword.

"Hey, Twi? What's a three-letter word for haranguing someone?" He asked.

"Rag, I believe." She said in reply. Spike nodded and filled it in, smiling. At that moment, Rarity walked in with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. All were deep in conversation.

"You too?" Rarity asked Applejack. "You heard that unpleasant sound?"

"You bet." She replied. "Scared Applebloom so much, she had to sleep with me."

"Scootaloo heard it too." Rainbow said. "She nearly wet the bed, she was so frightened."

"What's going on?" Twilight asked.

"You didn't hear it?" Applejack asked. "Last night, half the town woke up to a real nasty howl. Sounded like...something out of a nightmare."

Like some creature in the dark was screaming bloody murder." Rainbow added.

"I didn't hear anything." Twilight replied. "I think that's due to the natural soundproofing of the crystal, but do we know what caused it?"

"Nope." Rarity replied. "Sweetie Belle also saw something...unusual."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Three green orbs in the middle of a fog bank." She said. "Said if she didn't know any better, she would've said it was a ghost."

Twilight paused. She flashed back to the tale mentioning a three-eyed griffon with green eyes.

"That's something." Twilight said. "Anything else?"

"Something clawed up my trees on the southern orchard." Applejack said. "Real big cuts. Like a sword."

Twilight raised her chin thoughtfully, again thinking of the tale.

"Well, Timberwolves can't come that far out of the Everfree." She said. "When did you notice them?"

"This morning." Applejack replied. "And Big Mac won't admit it, but he's scared. Granny Smith's already mighty worried we won't have a reunion this year due to everything that's going on."

"I'll look into it." Twilight said. "I'll write Celestia, and maybe she can give me some advice."

As the four of them shifted to a more pleasant conversation, at the Ponyville Schoolhouse, in the bushes near the Everfree, a shadow watched the foals play. Three piercing green eyes watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders play around, almost with amusement. The eyes slowly moved back into the darkness, leaving no trace behind.

======

Deep in the Everfree, at the base of the Mountain, lay a den going underground. At the deepest point of the den, lay a beast. It was as large as Celestia, with sword-blade sized claws, smoking black wings, and thick, spined fur. It's tail was sharp and thick, and on its head lay three green eyes, one large on it's forehead. The Shrieker slowly shook itself awake and strode up a slope to a vantage point. As it took in the sunlight, it's dark gray and black dappled fur evident, it surveyed its territory. It raised its muzzle, almost proudly, before it retreated into the cave to sleep once more. It would need its strength to survive, like it had done for thousands of years.

That night, Twilight heard it through an open window. As more lights came on, Twilight hastily scanned the area. She then locked her eyes on three glowing orbs in the middle of a bank of fog. Before she could even gasp or scream, they were gone. She summoned her courage and went back to sleep, though sleep was a long time coming.

Author's Note

A new story, yeah!

Like the concept?