Ah, the Everfree forest. A dangerous place, but overall, a quiet one.

Well, it would be quiet, if Mercer didn't just get blasted into a tree.

He got up and dusted himself off, chuckling at the attempt. He looked towards the purple horse, who was now looking more concerned and worried than ever. "How....how did you shrug that attack off?"

Smirking, he slammed one of his claws into the ground, cause the ground to shake in a certain direction.

And that direction was towards the horse.

It saw this and used its wings to dodge out of the way, turning back to see a massive eruption of spikes come up from the ground, exactly on where she was just standing a moment ago. The spikes disappeared and she looked towards him in fear and shock, seeing him pull out the claw from the ground. She flew into the air and tried to bash into him, protecting herself with a magical barrier. He noticed this and morphed his arm into its shield form, seeing that this made the horse try and pull up as to avoid his shield.

But it was too late.

Using his strength, he shield bashed against the force field, pushing her back, sending her flying onto the ground. She winced at the impact, looking up to see him jump over to her, landing just a few feet in front of her.

Her mind was racing right now. "What do I do? This thing is just shrugging off my magic as if it's nothing more than a tickle....unless..."

She charged up her horn again, noticing his smirk. She stood up before he could reach her and activated a different type of spell.

Using all the magic that she could currently generate, she held him in place, stopping him in his tracks.

Mercer looked at his body in shock.

"I....can't....move..."

It felt exactly like the force that had pulled him into this place. Albeit a lot weaker.

He pulled himself towards the horse, trying to free himself of whatever was holding him in place. He grunted, using all of his strength to pull away from the force. "Come on. I've got to get...back....Dana...."

With the thought of his sister, he used every ounce of strength that he had, eventually breaking the hold of the magic. The horse fell back, sweating profusely, looking exhausted. Having control of his body again, he walked over to it, staring down at it with a look of anger. "I don't know what the fuck you are, but I'm about to find out for myself." He morphed his arm into the blade form. The horse tried to crawl away, looking at him with a pleading look. "No...please..."

He raised his blade and was about to cut its head off, before he felt something tug at his leg. He looked down to see that a lasso had made its way around his foot.

"What the..."

He felt it pulled on his foot, barely moving him. He simply stomped his foot down, cause the floor to crack., He looked behind him and saw 5 very strange looking horses.

He chuckled to himself a bit. "More of these things?"

A pink one, that currently looked shocked more than anything else.

A white one with a curly purple mane and horn what was currently sending an angry glare his way.

A cyan like coloured one with wings what was matching the white one's expression, this one looking like it was about to attack.

A yellow one, which also had wings, which was currently hiding behind the others.

And the culprit of the lasso that had tried to pull him back was an orange coloured one what was currently looking at him in shock and anger. It was wearing a....stetson hat?

He laughed. "What the actual fuck is going on in this place?"

The orange and the cyan one both stepped forward, getting ready to attack. The former one spoke up first. "Now listen here. I ain't the foggiest clue as to who you are, but if you so much as touch Twilight, you ain't going to like what comes next, ya hear?"

The cyan one looked at his blade, having a concerned expression for a second, before stepping in front of the stetson wearing one, pawing its hooves at the ground and kicking up dirt. "Yeah! Step away from her, freak! Or you'll have to deal with me!"

He looked between the two before bursting out in a cynical, dark laughter. They all looked worried, if only for a moment.

He shook his head. "Twilight, eh? This must be this purple one's name." He looked towards them, his eyes shining.

"Oh really? Well, when I'm done consuming your friend here, you're all welcome to try. I promise that it won't end well for you. If you all run off now, I might actually let you go. I'm sure this one here will keep me going for long enough to get out of this place." He turned around to face the pur...."Twilight", raised his blade and was about to decapitate her, before something bashed into him. Something that could hit hard. His back hit one of the trees, causing him to slump for a second. He looked up and saw the cyan one flying towards him at incredible speed. He morphed his wings onto his back and flew up, just missing the horse, causing it to pull up just before it hit the tree. It flew up to him and tried to once again bash into him, but this time, Mercer was prepared.

He dodged in the air and morphed his arm into its whipfist form, sending it out to grab the annoying pesk. It dodged the first grab, but wasn't so lucky on the second. He grabbed it by the neck and pulled it in, pulling its face to his, smirking at it.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" It looked scared. Incredibly scared.

He liked that.

Using his strength, he gripped its throat tighter, causing it to start gasping for air. Before he could snap its neck, he felt something grip him.

The same force from earlier. Once again, attempting to hold him in place. Only this time, it wasn't anywhere near as strong.

The one in his grip used this as a distraction, getting free from his gasp, flying off only to come back and try to kick him in the face. Even though the force was still holding him in place, he transformed into his armor form, having the horse kick him in the face.

Only for it to scream and fall to the ground, holding its back leg, it breaking from the impact. It cried out in agony as he saw the pink one and the yellow one rush to its aid. The white one took its attention off of him for a split second to look at the quivering mess that was its friend, giving him a chance to break free of its hold on him. Considering how easy it was to break the hold of this time, he assumed this one wasn't as powerful as Twilight.

He used this opening to his advantage, flying down and stomping the ground, the shock wave sending the white one into the back of a tree, making a very sickening crack sound, indicating that its spine had broken on impact. It drooped to the floor, dead. The others screamed, rushing over to the now lifeless corpse of their friend. Twilight looked up in horror, a single tear coming from her eye, whispering to herself "No...Rarity..."

While he was distracted, she lit up her horn, using her last bit of strength to send a message to the princess for help.

He noticed that she had started moving again and kicked her in the head. "Stay down!"

It went flying in a different direction, him now pulling his attention to the others, all of them now looking at him in fear and pure anger. The orange one was the next one to charge at him, running up to him. He stood there, amused, wanting to see what it would do. It attempted to buck him, but before its back legs could even make contact with his armored body, he stepped to the side, dodging the attack. Its face contorted into one of fear as he grabbed one of its legs, slamming it down on the ground, creating a mini crater. He looked down, seeing it convulse as blood poured from its mouth. He took this opportunity to look at the pink and yellow one, both who were staring at him in fear. However, the yellow one flew up into the air suddenly, gaining a look of hatred and anger on its face.

"How dare you..."

He laughed, before something nearly burst his ear drums.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

It flew down towards him, staring at him. He looked back. "What the fuck are you trying to..."

He once again could not move. Only this time...

It was much stronger.

"What the fuck is...happening?"

He fell to his knees, clutching his head in pain. It kept staring at him.

"Something about this things eyes.....I need...to look...away..."

He used his last ounce of strength and raised his fist. He punched in the direction of the yellow horse, connecting with its face, causing it to go flying backwards, it landing somewhere in the distance.

Feeling his strength returning to him, he shook his head and looked over to see the pink one shaking, cowering behind a tree. He jumped over to it, walking menacingly slowly towards it. It crawled away, its back hitting a tree. It looked up to him, tears in its eyes.

"Please...don't...no more...why are you.....doing this?"

He knelt down and returned to his original form, red tendrils covering his body for a second, causing it to look away and flinch. "My only concern right now getting out of this place, get back to where I came from and find out who or what brought me here. When I do find it, I'm going to rip it apart." He grabbed its throat, causing it to gasp for air.

"Now tell me. What are you things and how were two of them able to restrain me without so much as raising a limb?"

Before he could get an answer, he heard something shout out.

"LET HER GO!" land behind him. Something big.

He let go of the pink one, throwing it to the side. He turned around and saw that it was another horse.

However, this one was white, had a multicoloured mane that seemed to flow by itself, had a horn and wings like the purple one and was the tallest one that he'd seen so far.

It also had a smaller, blue one accompanying it. It also had wings and a horn. It gave him a death glare as more horses showed up behind them, these ones having spears and golden clad armour.

The white one looked around, noticing the dead bodies of the orange and the other white one with the curly purple mane. Anger flashed in its eyes as its horn glowed. A large blast was sent towards him, but he managed to dodge out of the way just in time, looking back at the tree it had just hit. Well, the remains of the tree.

He looked towards the two tall ones, them charging their horns for another attack. The tall white one spoke, anger rooted deep in its voice.

"I don't know what you are or where you came from, but you have brought death and harm to my subjects. I will make sure that you are punished for your crimes."

The, what he assumed to be guards of some sort, stood in front of the 2 taller horses and raised their spears, glaring at him, ready to charge.

Mercer laughed, cracking his knuckles, activating his armor and musclemass forms, making the guards gasp in confusion. He ran at them and jumped into the air, slamming his fist into the ground, creating a giant shockwave which caused the guards to all go flying in different directions. One of the flying ones tried to stab him. Which it did.

Only for him to grab the spear and swing his body, causing the horse to go flying into the air. He took this chance to remove the spear, making a squelching sound, throwing it into the air and impaling the horse. It fell down to the ground with the spear in its head, dead.

He ran up to the two taller ones, hoping to finish this.

That never happened.

There it was again. That same force. He didn't think it could have gotten any stronger...

But he was wrong.

He felt himself pulled down to the ground, the two tall one's horns glowing. He tried to push himself up, making the horses sweat and grunt. They were straining theirselves and he could see it.

"I just need to....break...free"

But he just couldn't do it. Not this time. He was too exhausted from all the fighting. He should have consumed the pink one for the strength.

He saw the blue one pull its head back as it fired a blast into him, his body going numb.

"What is happen...."

He didn't have the chance to finish his sentence as he was knocked out cold. The two tall ones sighed and looked around, staring at the devastation in the area. The white one looked around and shouted at the guards, who were still picking theirselves up and dusting theirselves off.

"The creature is down! Make sure it doesn't get back up and get it one of the cells in the castle!"

They all saluted and shouted "Yes, princess!" in unison. Multiple of them had to carry the creature in their magical grasp as it was too heavy for just one of them.

The two tall ones looked at each other in shock and horror. Then, the white one started shaking. "Twilight....where is Twilight?!" She ran off into the forest, the blue one screaming her name behind her, it going completely on deaf ears as she ran through the forest. She eventually flew up into the air, trying to get a better view from the sky. After a few minutes of searching, she found her. She landed next to her crumpled body which was on the floor.

"No..."

She saw her breath, making her sigh in relief. She picked her up in her magic, flying back to the blue one, the latter of which looked shocked to see the unconscious body that she now held in her magic.

"Celestia, is she alright?"

The white one, known as Celestia, nodded. "She's breathing, Luna, but she's in bad shape. You get her to the infimary in Canterlot. I will see to our...guest and make sure that it doesn't cause any more harm to anypony."

The blue one, known as Luna, nodded and took Twilight from Celestia's grasp, flying into the air. Celestia walked up to the now broken trees, noticing the two dead bodies. "Rarity....Applejack....how could anyone do this?" She heard a cry in the distance. She turned around and flew up into the air, seeing a yellow blob in the distance. She flew over to it and landed to find that it was none other than Fluttershy, one of Twilight's friends and another one of the element bearers. She had gotten her leg stuck in a spiked vine. Celestia quickly rushed over to her and used her magic to get rid of the vine, making Fluttershy look up at her in shock. "Princess...I....Rarity...Applejack...." The yellow pegasus burst into tears, causing Celestia to cry a little as well. She scooped her up in her hooves and nuzzled her. "It is alright, my little pony. I know. The creat...the monster, has been detained and will be sent to the cells in Canterlot. I will see to it that it does not harm anypony else. I promise."

Fluttershy cried into Celestia's chest, causing the princess to hug her tighter. When she had calmed down, she looked up to her, tears still in her eyes. "What abo....what about the bodies?"

Celestia flinched at the word, looking down at her. "Don't worry. I will personally see to them and make sure that they have a proper burial. I can't imagine what you're going through right now, but just know that their killer will be punished. You have my word."

Galloping came from behind her. She turned around to see that one of the other element bearers, Pinkie Pie, was stood there, shaking as she ran up to her.

"Princess Celestia! A monst...came and...murdered..."

She looked down, bursting into tears. Celestia walked up to her, comforting her by nuzzling her, Fluttershy still in her hooves. "It is alright, my little pony. You're safe now."

She looked down at her, a serious expression on her face. "Pinkie Pie, can I ask, what exactly occurred? What caused that...creature to attack you all?"

Pinkie walked up to Fluttershy, who was still being held by Celestia, nuzzling her. She sat down and wiped away the tears from her face.

Celestia noticed that her mane had lost its puffiness.

She looked up to her and spoke. "Spike came around to Sugarcube corner and asked....if we'd seen Twilight. He said that she'd gone to Zecora's for some...herbs or something and that she'd been gone for a long time. Too long. So, me and the girls...."

She started crying again at that last word.

Celestia put one of her hooves on her head, rubbing her mane softly. "It's alright, sweetheart. Take your time."

Pinkie nodded and took in a deep breath, before looking back up to her, her eyes now bloodshot red. "So, me and the...g-g-girls went into the Everfree forest to look for her. We nearly made it to Zecora's when we heard a lot of screaming from somewhere in the forest. We found out where it was coming from and well...."

Celestia cupped Pinkie's chin with her hoof softly, causing her to look into her eyes. "That is enough, my dear. You don't have to tell me any more. I will make sure that your friends will be honored for their bravery."

Hearing that, she broke down again, Celestia looking at her sadly.

Before she could say anything else, she heard wings flapping above her. Looking up, she noticed that two of her guards were flying down to her. They landed and saluted. "Princess, the creature is in a cell. It is still unconscious for the time being."

She nodded in thanks and handed the quivering pegasus towards them, one of the guards grabbing her in his hooves. "Take Fluttershy to the infirmary. She has wounds that need to be attended to."

She looked towards Pinkie, giving her the warmest smile that she could muster up. "Pinkie, sweetheart, if you could go with Fluttershy, that would mean a lot to me."

The pink pony nodded and walked up to the guards, nuzzling Fluttershy, who was now unconcious.

"Don't worry, Shy. Everything will be alright..."

Celestia looked towards the guards with a stern expression. "As for me, I will collect the bodies of the....deceased."

They looked at each other in concern, looking back to the princess. "Are you sure, princess? We can have a squad of guards come back for the bodies when we've gotten Miss Fluttershy and Miss Pinkie Pie to the infirmary."

She shook her head in response. "No, I will see to it that the bodies are taken care of. They were two of the element bearers and two of Twilight's best friends, so I will personally make sure that they are seen to."

The guards nodded in response, saluting and saying in unison "Yes, princess!" before flying off with Fluttershy, one of the guards grabbing Pinkie as well and proceeding to fly in the direction of Canterlot. Celestia looked down and sighed, a single tear trailing down her face.

"I don't know why anyone would do something like this....but I will make sure that it knows what it has took from me, Twilight and everypony else."

She flew into the air, heading for the direction of the bodies.

"And I will get some answers."

"Make sure that she gets the treatment that she needs, fair doctor. When she awakens, inform me and my sister." Luna said as she handed Twilight over to one of the doctors, them putting her on a bed.

"Yes, princess Luna."

She nodded in thanks and left the infimary, rethinking on the days events.

"Whatever that thing was, it will pay, that is for certain. But why did I sense a strange force when me and Celestia confronted it? It felt a bit like something had pulled it in from somewhere. Something like..."

She grimaced.

"No....no, it couldn't have been that."

Shaking her head, she took off into the sky, heading for Canterlot.

"This thing will tell us why it did this and where it came from. It will pay for its crimes. If Celestia can't bring herself to do that, I will personally make sure that it does."

Author's Note

So yeah, chapter 2, kicking it off with a very....action driven start. I decided to make this story quite dark, so I hope that it is to your liking.

Hope you enjoy. Again, constructive criticism is always welcome. Cheers.