The Diabolic Shadow Spreads

The Fallen Imp thrashed inside of the freshly made cage, occasionally head butting the bars to terrify any ponies foolish enough to come close. Every time this happened, the Imp released a shrill cackle that was sure to be permanently burned into the minds of the villagers. Max sat in a wooden chair not too far from the cage, staring the demon down. He wasn’t going to start the interrogation. Not until Bozz and the Elements were all present.

Speaking of, a group consisting of Bozz, Twilight, and Fluttershy came running up to the cage. Bozz said in a hurried tone, “We just came from Zecora’s hut. We were ambushed by a Fallen horde during my meditation.”

Fluttershy looked absolutely terrified as she flew towards the group and said in a panic, “I put all of my animal friends in a safe haven away from the house! I made sure the cottage had some protection too. Oh my Celestia, this must be so terrifying for the poor things!”

Max nodded his head and placed a hand upon her shoulder, saying in as reassuring of a tone as he possibly could, “Worry not. As soon as your friends arrive...we shall see what this creature knows.”

As he said this, Rainbow Dash flew from the direction of a massive cloud-like city (Cloudsdale, as Max heard it was called). She looked around frantically as she muttered something under her breath. After another laugh from the Imp shook her from her trance, she spat out, “T-told the Wonderbolts about the situation. Messages from Twi and Max. Circling Everfree.”

Max was about to ask if there were any sorts of updates when Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and Spike all came running from the town’s border. Applejack said as she ran a hand through her mane and said, “Alrighty, I got Mac workin on the defenses with the local soldier boys. Rarity’s designs shouldn’t leave any gaps, and Mac’s got the construction know-how. Should keep the varmints out the hen-house.”

Pinkie bit her lip nervously and said, “I-I made sure all the little fillies and colts here safe in the town hall. Me and spike wrote a message to Canterlot, so the princesses should be able to send some more soldiers. Hopefully big ones with bigger weapons.”

Max gave one last look around. Some townsfolk were still looking at the scene, wondering how it might unfold. Max hollered to them, “Return to your homes, board them up, and remain vigilant, people of Ponyville. We’ll ensure that this problem is resolved.” When the crowd dispersed, he looked back to the demon in the cage, who was growling with a mad grin.

Max immediately went to work. He flicked a finger and allowed lightening to arc from the tip of it. The demon immediately locked up as the electricity coursed through it. It fell to the ground and started to convulse violently. This however did not budge the Imp, as it continued to giggle madly, like it was perpetually thinking of the most demented inside joke. This was starting to try the patience of the wizard in the worst possible way, made evident by his slowly increasing the current.

Bozz had a visible look of confusion on his face, to the likewise confusion of the ponies and dragon. The imps were considered the almost absolute bottom rung of the demon army. While they often only had the most basic of information to give, it was by no means difficult to extract that information from them. Yet despite that, this Imp showed absolutely no fear in the face of this constant electric torture. It was...concerning. Something was not right at all.

Just then, when the Imp fell against the bars of the cage, he looked directly at the pony with the pink mane and the yellow coat. He cackled madly and said something that, while seeming like gibberish to the nephalem, struck fear into her heart.

“Harry not scary! HARRY NOT SCARY!”

The nephalem looked at Fluttershy as she went pale as death itself. “How...do you know that name?”, she said at what was barely above a whisper. The ponies all partly knew why she was so terrified: Harry was the name of her bear companion. However, only Fluttershy knew what was truly terrifying about the seemingly random statement. The fact that scared her was that, when she said she left protection at her cottage...

...she was referring to Harry.

The Imp giggled and said, “Harry has sinew go snap and crack! Smack his head on the floor and drink the nectar within!”

Fluttershy looked absolutely horrified for a fraction of a second before bolting back towards the cottage. Her mind was racing with thousands of images of what could be there when she arrived, and she silently prayed that none of them would come true.

As the group was trying to figure out how this Imp knew about Fluttershy’s cottage so soon after appearing in the forest, the Imp suddenly looked towards Applejack. He still had that same mad grin on his face.

He hissed out as he said, “And what of the green Granny, little apple?! Such an old apple she is...so many soft places to BITE!” He snapped his teeth hard after that last word, chuckling as he cracked his neck.

Applejack felt something rise in her. Folks could threaten her up and down, as much as they wanted, till the damn cows came home...

...but you do NOT threaten her family.

Without a second thought, she grabbed the demon and pulled him hard into the bars. She then sprinted off to her farm to protect her farm and her family...leaving the Imp’s face imbedded in the bar and his body twitching slightly.

All of the remaining elements and the nephalem were troubled by these developments deeply. Not only did the information they had clearly indicate that they had advanced further and much more rapidly than expected, but the reaction of Applejack was frankly the most violent she had ever been.

Rarity found herself pacing back and forth, muttering angrily at the situation. What few words everyone could make out were things like, “foul creatures...take it to their families...” She semmed disgusted by them more deeply than her disgust typically ran. This wasn’t just being grossed out, this could be described as absolute moral repugnance.

Max looked around, trying to formulate...some kind of plan. He took a deep breath. He thought to himself, “Reprioritize Max. Focus on the immediate threat now, plan the rest later.”

He took a deep breath and said to the group, “Alright. Twilight, Pinkie, you see to Fluttershy. Rarity, Dash, you go to Sweet Apple Acres. Both of you take a few squads of the best soldiers nearby. Spike, send a message to everyone friendly to Equestria...we may need reinforcements. Prioritize the dragons. As ambassador, you have significant pull with them.” He looked to the Everfree Forest and said in a low tone, “We’ll need all the heavy firepower we can get...”

Fluttershy stood at the edge of the grotto...where her cottage once stood. In its place was a demolished heap, smoldering and festering with a foul stench. Unidentifiable bits of flesh were scattered across her land, indicating the death of something. She fell to her knees and wept silently, but not for this. As Twilight and Pinkie saw clearly when they arrived, Harry was nowhere to be found. All there was left of him were drag marks and signs of a struggle heading towards the forest.

Fluttershy simply looked towards the forest. Her heart was heavy, her mind was numb. All her body could do now...was sob. Her hands gripped her skirt until her palms began to bleed, her teeth doing the same thing to her lower lip. She looked well and truly broken by all of this.

As Pinkie was trying to console her, she suddenly felt her tail twitch violently. In a fraction of a second, she pulled Fluttershy from her spot. This was just in time to avoid a metal chain with a heavy hook caving her skull in from a tree branch. As Pinkie tried to calm Fluttershy down, her blood ran cold. She looked at the hook and immediately recognized the type. It wasn’t often seen in Ponyville, but she remembered it clearly from her time in the Griffon Kingdom...

...These were the exact same hooks used in a butcher shop.

When Applejack got back to her farm, Big Mac was leaning against one of the barricades, clutching his abdomen. Upon inspection, the medic Unicorn that came with them determined it to be a partial disembowelment. As he was escorted back to town for medical attention, Applejack saw her granny, having just pulled a pitchfork out of what could only be described as a larger version of one of those imps. It was clear from the number of bodies that Granny was fighting tooth and hoof to hold this land. As Granny was pulling the fork, she was also staring down...one of the most vile looking creatures she had seen yet.

The beast stood at twice the height of a pony, and was as wide as a wagon. Its eyes were sunken in deep into the sockets, and its skull sported two massive horns on the sides, one broken off at the halfway point. Muscles that were inconceivable for a mortal being rippled across its body, especially its massive arms. Those same arms had bony growths jutting out from them, some stained with dried blood. He simply wore a loincloth with a belt of skulls, and in his left hand he held a massive hammer with a skull adorning each side.

Granny Smith spat towards the beast and said, “Now lookie here, you overgrown cut of beef! You ain’t gettin yer hands on this land while I’m still standin! Now why don’t you turn around and crawl back in whatever foul smellin hole ya done crawled out of, ‘fore you see me REAL mad!”

The demon didn’t heed the words of the Apple family matriarch. He simply looked over the land and said, “Lots of land here. Perfect for buildin’ siege engines of all sorts.” He then looked at Granny Smith and smiled, saying, “Take comfort knowin’ that this land will serve me master well.”

Granny Smith, pitchfork in hand, ran at the hulking beast. She still had one last fight in her, by Celestia! Just as the demon swung his hammer down, she slid between its legs and ran the tips of the fork along its inner thigh, causing it to howl in pain. She then leaped up and planted the fork in its back, holding on for dear life.

Just as Applejack started to sprint to her Granny’s aid, the demon yanked her off its back. With one mighty swing, he buried everything from Granny Smith’s waist down into the dirt. It was then that the bulk of the soldier squads arrived, driving the demons to, at the very least, a far enough distance to pull the fallen Granny away.

Applejack fell to her knees, holding Granny as her mind rattled off thousands of panicked questions, but none of them left her lips. She was just...feeling so much at once.

Granny, in her pained state, saw her turmoil. She willed herself to do anything she could to calm her grandbaby...for the last time.

“F-fore you ask, Applebloom is fine. Sh-she’s in town w-with the crusaders. A-a-and by Celestia, don’t you go blaming yourself for this. I...I did what I wanted to do. I wanted to fight and g-give my life for my home.”

Applejack hushed her and said, “N-now don’t you go talkin all that nonsense, y-you can’t die yet. A-ain’t nobody else to...to tell stories to Applebloom, or to tell the little fillies of the town our history, or...!”

Granny chuckled and coughed a bit, saying, “Oh child, you can do all that. You’ve...you’ve been ready for some time now.” She caressed the face of her granddaughter and said, “Oh...yer mama and daddy are proud of you. Of that, I am sure as sugar. Remember: you were always enough. And I loved you every day of your life.” She then looked up at the sky and said, “Guess you...did outlive me...you ornery old Pear.” With those words, her eyes gently closed and her breath left her for the last time.

Applejack didn’t do anything at first, aside from just staring at the ground. All of these emotions were fighting for dominance inside of her. Sadness, guilt, regret. However, one emotion showed out above them all...

Rage.

She screamed in visceral anger, her fists flying repeatedly at the ground underneath her. With every punch she let out another yell that reverberated throughout the fields and town. She punched with such force that a crater began to form under her, the rocks from underneath the soil embedding themselves in her knuckles. And with one final scream to the heavens...she collapsed to the ground.

Everyone in the immediate vicinity could swear...they heard a chilling laugh on the air.