Author's Note

Chapters marked with that P mean it follows the ponies. They won't be there for every chapter, but I think they'll add something to the story.

(P) A Strange Walk

Twilight finished her letter quickly, barely containing the sense of unease that she was feeling. The surge she had measured had been an incredible magical cataclysm inside Everfree Forest. She tossed the letter to Spike's waiting claws. "Send that, I'm going to grab Fluttershy and try to find out what's going on."

Spike nodded and torched the letter. "Alright, but are you sure you'll be okay? I mean, you're almost to level three on the 'how close is Twilight to snapping' scale. I normally have to get the girls at this point."

Twilight ran a hand over her mangled mane. "No, just... Something came here. I don't know what, but if I read the energy output right it's something alive, and possibly very scared and dangerous. I just need Fluttershy there and hopefully, we can get it to calm down enough to get it back here."

Spike looked at her sideways before shaking his head. "Whatever. It's getting late so I'm gonna bunk down. Be home by morning or else I'm gonna have to write about it to Princess Celestia, then I'll never hear the end of it." Spike slowly walked out of Twilight's study to his own room across the hall. Twilight sighed after him and grabbed her backpack. She kept one handy for surprise trips to the Everfree after ascending. She hardly believed the number of things that popped out that seemed to require her personal touch. Either way, she made her way out of her home, and into the night.

Fluttershy's little cottage was almost creepy in the dark of night. Twilight had written entire short stories from that thought alone, but it only really flourished in its creepy atmosphere before she had to go do something dangerous. Twilight shook off the miasma of fear and knocked on the cottage door. It took only a few moments before Fluttershy appeared in the doorway. She was still wearing the simple yellow sundress she had gone out in earlier that day, so Twilight got to avoid the guilt of waking up one of her friends. Fluttershy gave Twilight a small smile. "Hello Twilight, why are you here so late? I mean, if that's okay."

Twilight smiled at her shy friend. "Hey Fluttershy, I need your help with something. The Everfree forest just had a massive thaumic cascade that deposited an unknown creature into its eye. I need you there in case the creature is hurt."

Fluttershy nodded, pretending to understand whatever a thaumic cascade was while walking back inside. "Oh, like last time?" She paused with one hand over her bag. "Th-the creature won't be dangerous. R-right?"

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know, it could be dangerous. It could also be lost and scared. That's why I wanted you with me."

Fluttershy nodded and threw on her own small pack. "O-okay. I'll make sure whatever critter it is isn't hurt. But if it's scared we shouldn't try to force it. A cornered animal won't be very nice."

Twilight nodded and turned, with a flinching Fluttershy at her back. "Alright then. Let's get going. The eye of the cascade isn't too deep in the forest." With that they walked off, trying to find whatever strange creature was thrown into their world.

The forest was quiet as they walked. Or would have been, if Twilight could contain her excitement for even a second. "Just imagine Fluttershy. Something from another world falling right here in our forest. It could have landed in anywhere in Equestria, but here it is right outside of my castle."

Fluttershy nodded, keeping her eyes scanning the forest. "Th-that's nice Twilight, but can you keep it down. The forest is dangerous and-" She was interrupted by a quiet metal click. They froze and stared at each other. They shared a silent question before Twilight nodded, and began to quietly walk through the forest. As they approached they heard a threatening growl. Fluttershy barely paused as she began to let out a small stream of sweet nothings. Twilight followed as they broke into a small clearing. Twilight scanned the clearing once and saw nothing. However, Fluttershy instantly spotted the dog in the corner. It let out a set of three barks, drawing Twilights eyes to it. As well as the creature.

It was crouched in the shadows of a tree. Low in dark clothing. Twilight could make out a pair of workman jeans, faded from use. A dark shirt covered its chest, an unknown symbol covering it, with a brown jacket over that. It even wore a hat, similar in style to Applejack's stetson, except for its bright white coloring. All that was secondary to its body though. It could be mistaken for a light pink pony at a distance since it had no fur. The most striking was its face though. It had no muzzle like most creatures Twilight had seen. Instead, a small nose and mouth perched flatly upon its head. It held a strange device to them as if the thing was a weapon, which gave both ponies pause. They stared at it slowly raised it's off hand, and made a shoo-ing gesture.

Twilight moved forward slightly. "Look, I know this must be scary, but we're here to help. These woods are really dangerous and I woul-" She was cut off by a lone bark that caused both Twilight and Fluttershy to freeze as the dog raised its hackles.

Fluttershy trapped Twilight. "Uh, the dog is listening to him."

Twilight didn't stop looking at the creature. "How do you know it's a hi-" Twilight was cut off again as the creature began to speak. It let out a series of grunts and words that obviously made up some language, but none that Twilight had ever heard. Twilight stared as it made the gesture again, apparently intent on them leaving. Fluttershy seemed to try and talk next. "L-look mister. I-I'm sure your scared but we really want to help." The creature seemed to sigh before saying something else, and the dog began barking much louder. Its hackles went from a minor rise to a full raise, making it seem larger.

Twilight lost her composure, and sent a small shield around the dog, keeping it from charging at her. Its demeanor instantly changed, the tail flicking between its legs and seeming to shrink inside its purple prison. The creature stood quickly, and the fire in his eyes froze Twilight to her core. He screamed something while holding his tool in both hands. He advanced as Fluttershy seemed to shrink farther and farther back. "Twilight, I think maybe you should drop the shield. I mean, I understand the dog is scary and all, but maybe you should" They were cut off as the creature quickly moved his tool, and it exploded. Dirt flying in every direction as something impacted the snow-covered ground. The sudden sound caused Twilight's focus to falter, dropping her shield. The creature moved quickly, picking up his dog before running deeper into the forest.

Both ponies stared at the retreating figure, trying to catalog what happened. Twilight was the first to speak. "Should we follow him?"

Fluttershy looked at his footsteps in the snow. "N-no. I know you didn't mean to, but I think you may have made him a teensy bit angry with what you did to his dog."

Twilight jumped. "But that dog looked feral, it was barking and growling like it was about to jump us."

Fluttershy looked at the yellowed snow under where the dog had stood. "I'm pretty sure the poor thing was doing as it was told. I heard some breeders train dogs to be very defensive of their masters. If he was like that I think that the creature was asking him to."

Twilight stared at Fluttershy. "Wait, the dog was acting like that because the creature WANTED it to?!"

Fluttershy nodded. "Oh dear, I bet the poor thing is so scared and alone. I think that we should go tell the girls, chasing him down now would only him even more scared."

Twilight nodded and sighed. "You're right Fluttershy, I shouldn't have been so rash. I guess an aggressive guard dog wouldn't like two strange things coming near its master in the middle of strange woods. And if the creature was telling it to be protective, then I really shouldn't have put it in a shield."

Fluttershy nodded as Twilight began to turn back, but took another moment to look at the splattered ground where the creature's tool had struck. There was a large crater there. She gulped at the thought of what it would do to her while she turned to leave. That was something to bring up out of the forest though, preferably back in the safety of her home.