Chapters There has been ongoing reports about a mysterious creature terrorizing the outskirts of Ponyville. Actual sightings have been scarce, but eye witness descriptions have been matching up far too well. They say it can make itself look like any Pony it wants to which makes filing first hand description next to Impossible.
Sometimes in the dead of night, some ponies have witnessed a creature resembling a fox with dark Crimson fur and 9 glowing Tails as if on fire. Every report states that those are just very brief glimpses. Just last week, there was a report of a tattered green t-shirt next to a trail of paw prints found in the nearby Woods.
Equestria slowly became gripped with fear as members of the mane 6 started to go missing one by one. When things started to get out of control, Mayor Mare enlisted the help of a couple of Canterlots finest investigators since Twilight Sparkle has been missing for weeks. The investigators arrived 2 Days Later by train. These weren't your ordinary investigators, they were highly competent and world-renowned detectives. The first one to get off the train was a light blue unicorn stallion by the name of detective Private Eye. Next was his partner, a light purple pegasus mare named detective Gumshoe. After getting the rundown from the mayor, the two detectives ponies went to the first stop at Sweet Apple Acres.that was where the first set of disappearances happened.
Upon arrival, the once happy and vibrant Farm was now very quiet and somber. Granny Smith and Big Mac we're sitting in front of the main house extremely distraught and in a state of mourning. Big Mac was sobbing and clutching onto what remained of Applejack's precious hat. Sugar belle was hugging him close in an attempt console him. After a few moments, The detectives began to ask what had happened here.
"I know this is a very difficult time, but please start from the beginning"
Poor old granny smith looked at the detective sadly and began to recount what had happened just a few short weeks ago.
It was just another normal day at Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack and Applebloom were out Gathering apples from the apple trees.
"Don't y'all wander off too far now Applebloom. Just stay right where I can see ya!"
"okay! I won't sis!"
As Applejack began bringing the gathered apples to the barn, Applebloom heard a distant sound of laughter in the distance. Her curiosity soon got the better of her as she found herself following the laughing sounds.
"I'll only check for just a sec. I won't be gone too long." She thought to herself with confidence as she went to investigate.
Applebloom Followed the laughing until it led her to an open clearing far away from the farm. As she looked around, a young Colt seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was a young Earth pony with an oddly shaped cutie mark and a mane that covered his eyes.
"Hi there...." Said the strange Colt.
"I wanna show you something...."
Back at the barn, Applejack and Big Mac were putting the freshly gathered apples into barrels when they heard a high pitched ear splitting scream.
"W-What in tarnation was that...?? It s-sounded like.... Applebloom!!" Said Applejack.
She them told Big Mac to watch the barn as she took off galloping towards the direction of the screaming. Her heart pounded as she ran all the way to where she had last saw Applebloom.
"Applebloom! Applebloom! Where are you?? I told y'all not to wander off!!"
"Something strange is going on here...."
She looked down and her eyes widened as she noticed that she had just stepped on the blood soaked Bow that belonged to her dear sister. Tears flooded her eyes as she slowly picked up the bow.
"A-Applebloom....N-No...." She sobbed.
The Fog faded away slowly, as Applejack started to hear Applebloom's voice all around her.
"hello sister.... I'm just fiiiine......"
"Y-Yer not Applebloom! W-What the hay is going on and where is my little sister!?!" Applejack shouted with tears falling from her eyes.
As the last of the fog disappeared, a large and grossly distorted version of Applebloom's head came into view. It had a big disturbing grin on it's face and blood oozing from it's eyes. Applejack screamed and tried to run away but strange thorny vines Sprouted from the trees and bound her head to hoof. Applejack screamed in agony as the vines constricted tightly around her to the point of snapping 3 of her ribs and causing her to vomit blood.
The giant head slowly floated towards her as it slowly transformed into a dark Crimson colored demonic fox with 9 flaming tails.
"shhhh.... it'll all be over soon...."
Applejack gasped desperately for breath as the thorns from the vines sank deep into her flesh, puncturing her lungs.
"W-What...... A-Are..... Y-You.....?"
The Fox appeared to grow in size, turning completely black as the night.
"..... Nogitsune...."
"....the void....consumes you...."
The Demon opened it's giant mouth and enclosed it around Her. Applejack slowly disappeared Into the darkness.
"M-Mom....Dad... I-I don't wanna die....."
The illusion faded and there Applejack lay, wrapped in the Tails of the demon fox as it he had his fangs clamped down around her throat. After she completely bled out, the Nogitsune dragged her away and left her in the spot right next to the body of Applebloom. Little Applebloom's head was nearly Completely decapitated.
Granny Smith Finished telling the Detectives about how they discovered the AJs hat then broke down in tears again as Big Mac hugged her.
"thank you for the information madam....we are very sorry for your loss..." Said detective Private Eye with a somber expression.
"we will do everything that we can to get to the bottom of this tragedy..." Said detective Gumshoe.
With that, the two investigators went off to the site of the next incident.
----END OF CHAPTER----
Author's Note
Next chapter will be out soon
Reports of missing ponies from all over Equestria have been pouring in by the hour. Its been less than a week and Most of Ponyville, along with all other nearby towns, were now in Complete and utter hysterical panic. Equestria had never encountered such a phenomenon. Descriptions of a shadow-like Fox creature have began surfacing more frequently. The Green shirt that was discovered was confirmed to belong to an orange Fox by the name of Felix Floetry who lives in Ponyville and works at a local bookstore. He apparently went missing at around the same time that the monster appeared in equestria and is currently wanted as a suspect. His shirt was recovered from some local woods and was covered in Bloody claw marks.
What we Know:
• Felix Floetry is originally from a very distant country inhabited my a civilization of Foxes called Vulpisia.
•He was a 9 tailed fox, similar to the monster running loose (investigation is underway to determine if they share some kind of connection)
• He was the very first citizen to be reported as "Gone Missing" and is presumed Deceased. Most likely the monster's first victim.
•Nothing Else is currently known at this time. (Investigation ongoing)
**End of investigation document**
The next stop was Manehattan. It was a 3 hour trip but Private Eye and Gumshoe were following a lead on the whereabouts of the next Mane 6 member, The unicorn pony named Rarity. Gumshoe had gone over to her original shop at the Carousel Boutique in Ponyville the night before. It was there that Rarity's younger sister named Sweetie Belle had told the detective that Rarity had gone to her Manehattan store a few days prior in order to prepare for "Fashion Week." Rarity never came back home.
"oh My Celestia..... that was such a tragic story.....those poor youngsters..." Said Gumshoe.
Private Eye looked out of the window with a very worried expression
"Indeed, I'm fearing what might have befell miss Rarity....if it's anything like what happened to the Young Apple ponies then....."
Private Eye couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. The two detectives did not have the luxury of processing the heartwrenching report given to them by Granny Smith. But of course, being in this line of work, they were used to that sort of thing.
"Next stop, Manehattan!" Yelled the conductor as the train began to pull into Manehattan station.
When they got off the train, There was a noticeable sense of nervous paranoia among the resident Ponies. The normally busy and bustling big city was now filled with silent skeptical looks, paranoid rambling and empty businesses that closed their shops due to some sort of recent event that shook this metropolis to it's very core.
Private Eye and Gumshoe cautiously walked the Manehattan streets as every pony in town stared intensely at them. The Manehattan citizens all had tired expressions on their faces with bloodshot eyes and heavy eye bags as if none of them had slept for days.
Gumshoe Approached one of citizens hoping to get information on the whereabouts of Rarity's boutique. The citizen was a light orange colored Earth Pony with a very messy mane, exhausted looking bloodshot eyes and very deep and Dark bags under His eyes that were a dark purple color and made him have a very disturbing undead looking expression on his face.
"Excuse me sir, um... could you please tell me where 'Rarity For You' fashion boutique is located? My partner and I are in the middle of an investigation and if you have any information on the whereabouts of that shop, it would be a tremendous help."
The Stallion just looks at her for about 2 minutes in a very unsettling manner. It was as if he was looking straight past her. Eventually the stallion slowly opened his mouth and spoke, tho his voice was very weak.
"Two weeks.....T-TWo w-weeks.....no....sleep...... too much...... Nightmares......"
Gumshoe was writing in her notepad as he fumbled through, what she assumed was some sort of testimony containing clues as to what happened here in Manehattan. Once it seemed like he had finished, she looked up from her notes and tried to interpret what the Stallion was trying to say by piecing together and deciphering what he just said.
"So let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. You're saying that everypony in this city haven't slept in over two weeks because every night, they all experience terrifying Nightmares?"
The orange Earth Pony slowly nodded His head as tears welled up in his eyes. The memories of those nightmares haunted him even in his waking hours. While Gumshoe Continued to talk to the Stallion, Private Eye was combing the streets looking for clues as well as the location of Rarity's Boutique. He had a magnifying glass and his note pad levitating in his magic Aura as he trotted along. As he passed an alley, he suddenly heard loud shrieks of pure terror coming from the darkness.
Without a second thought, Private Eye drew his weapon and sprinted down the alley. About halfway down, he caught sight of a tall slender blue unicorn mare will a long orange and yellow mane. Upon further inspection, Private realized that it was none other than Sassy Saddles! Her stomach was torn open and her left eye was missing. It was as if she was mauled Within an inch of her life by a Savage monster.
"H-Help me....oh Celestia, somepony HELP MEE!!!"
Back over to Gumshoe, she had just finished questioning The Orange Stallion. She took out her notes and a sheet of paper fell to the ground.
"What the--" she said as she picked it up with her wing and examined it.
After a brief moment, she gaspsed as she suddenly realized that it was a part of a field report that was filed about the current events happening in Manehattan Over the past several days.
"Oh my Celestia, I forgot that we had this in our reference folder. This will help me to understand what is going on with this town!" Said Gumshoe, now with more clarity as to what the tormented stallion was trying to telling her. Here is what the report said:
***Manehattan Field Report***
Current reports have been made about very Strange and anomalous activity currently going on in the town. Some Ponies have been complaining about Experiencing very bizarre and vivid illusions that suddenly started appearing at random in broad daylight.
The majority of said dreams tend to include the appearance a dark colored bloodthirsty Fox like monster that matches the description of the beast that has been allegedly terrorizing parts of Equestria and murdering Citizens at random.
*** Witness testimonies**
"I-I swore it was real...I-I swear those giant spiders were EVERYWHERE!" ~Local Shop pony.
"Everytime I close my eyes...It's there....I see it Everytime I blink! T-Those cold...yellow eyes.." ~Street vendor
Until further investigation we advise telling the public that Nopony should be allowed to enter Manehattan until we are able to track down the Anomalous creature.
End of report.
Just as Gumshoe put away the notes, she heard screams of terror and gunshots coming from the direction that Private Eye went. There were multiple screams.
"Oh no, Private Eye! I hope nothing happened to him!" Said Gumshoe in a panic as she then took flight in that direction.
Meanwhile, Private Eye was running down the street carrying wounded Sassy Saddles with him in his magic Aura. Right behind them was an extremely bloodlusted Rarity who appeared to now have a more monster-like facial expression and was brutally slaughtering innocent ponies who got in her way.
Earlier, Sassy had Told Private Eye that she had actually spoken to rarity yesterday and she was just fine. But This morning at a fashion event with Coco Pomel, both her and Coco were reportedly abducted and later found dead behind a wearhouse with their throats torn out and their jaws missing. Not long after, this Rarity lookalike appeared and started Mutilating and torturing random Citizens for fun. Unfortunately Sassy Saddles became one of those victims.
As private eye Continued to run, the ground suddenly became like quicksand and he fell, dropping Sassy in the process. The Rarity imposter stopped and slowly transformed into a large dark colored 9 tailed fox with piercing yellow eyes and a sadistic grin. It then stretched two of it's Tails out towards the two Ponies, only grabbing Sassy. In a flash the fox brought her back to himself and proceeded to devour the poor mare with brutal bloody bites until she was completely consumed.
Private Eye helplessly watched in horror from the quicksand as the fox creature slowly approached him, licking his chops clean of the blood. He then slowly spoke in a deep demonic voice
"....pain..... suffering....death...I am your worst nightmares incarnate. I.....am... Nogitsune...."
As he got ready to Chow down on the vulnerable detective, Gumshoe dove down from the sky and grabbed her partner by the hooves, freeing him and carrying him away to safety as the 9 tailed tormentor looked on with a wide grin. Gumshoe turned to her partner and said
"Well Private....I think it's time we reconsidered this entire case...."
----END OF CHAPTER----
The last classified file on record officially states that the evil fox creature might be closely related to another similar fox creature, and local resident, by the name of Felix Floetry. The file states:
FIELD REPORT: CREATURE OF INTEREST
Name: Felix Floetry
Race: Fox/Kitsune
Age: 28
Occupation: Bookstore Clerk
"We have reason to believe that Felix Floetry may be somehow connected to this mysterious evil fox creature that is terrorizing Equestria. A scrap of a green t-shirt found in the nearby woods has now been confirmed to in fact belong to Mr. Floetry. It is unclear at this point if Mr. Floetry was murdered by the fox creature due to the fact that his body has never been recovered nor seen. As investigations continued to progress, two of our finest detectives managed to get a sample of the creature's DNA. After careful analysis, it was discovered that the deadly fox creature shared the same DNA as Felix Floetry.
We have now made Felix Floetry our prime suspect and a warrant has now been issued for his immediate arrest for questioning in connection to the killer fox creature's rampage. If it turns out that Mr. Floetry is indeed in fact deceased as earlier thought, then we will relaunch a new investigation. Until then, there is no new information at this time."
It has been 3 days since Detectives Private Eye and Gumshoe narrowly escaped the beast back in Manehattan. Private Eye needed a day off to fully regain his composure after the horrible events he witnessed in that poor devastated city. Meanwhile Gumshoe spent day and night going over all the reports and files associated with the killer Fox beast invasion.
By this time, enough information was added to finally put the pieces together. The creature was revealed to be what is called a "Nogitsune" an evil, almost demon-like fox that feeds on the pain and suffering inflicted on other creatures. A Nogitsune is a Dark kitsune, one of type Void. They draw their power from strife, chaos, tragedy and pain. The strength of a Nogitsune is determined by the number of tails it possesses. Just like a good Kitsune, an evil Nogitsune will 9 tails possesses magical strength equivalent to a fully powered Alicorn like Celestia or Luna.
Gumshoe poured through her notes vigorously in hope of discovering some possible way to terminate the Nogitsune. In the file listed "First Attack", it was revealed that Fluttershy and Discord were the creature's first victims. The file detailed how the encounter went down.
(The following is a flashback to the event that lead to the deaths Discord and Fluttershy)
Fluttershy Was in her cottage awaiting her good friend Discord to arrive for their monthly one on one Tea Party date. Usually it's a fun, light-hearted and relaxing day that they have together. But this time was completely different. One that would actually turn out to be their last Tea Party ever….
It was a warm sunny afternoon and Discord stepped out of a tear in reality right in front of Fluttershy's door. He was holding a bouquet of singing Flowers that were dancing and harmonizing inside the flower pot that he was holding. He knocked on the door and after a few moments, the cottage door slowly creaked open. Fluttershy peeked her head out with a soft warm smile.
"H-Hi Discord, thank you for coming over. I can't wait to start our tea party!" Said Fluttershy as she opened the door to let the draconequus inside.
"Oh yes dear Fluttershy, I do look forward to our monthly tea parties. Here, I brought you a little gift." Said Discord.
He held out the potted singing plant to her. The flowers were dancing on their stems and singing "Rocket Man" by Elton John in a harmonious barber shop quartet fashion. Fluttershy giggled and clapped her hooves at the magical flowers. Discord set the plant down on a nearby table and took a seat on the sofa as Fluttershy went to the kitchen and fetched the tea and treats. As Discord looked around the room, he noticed something a bit different.
"hmm Fluttershy, I've noticed that your animal friends aren't here with you today. Don't they normally join us for the party?" He asked with genuine curiosity.
Fluttershy called out from in the kitchen
"Oh, I decided to let them stay over at the animal sanctuary this time. They seemed very tired today so i wanted them to get some rest."
After her response, Discord agreed with the explanation. Shortly after, Fluttershy returned with the tray of Tea and snacks that consisted of small sandwiches and cookies. The two friends began to enjoy themselves. Discord showed off some funny reality bending tricks and Fluttershy laughed in amusement. The draconequus looked around again then questioned his friend once more.
"Where is little angel. My next trick could really use my favorite little volunteer!" Said Discord.
Fluttershy suddenly stopped laughing and looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"Don't worry about him…. he's out for the day…" she said in a rather sudden mono tone manner.
This put Discord on alert. He set his cup down and leaned close to the small yellow pony.
"F-Fluttershy…. Are you feeling alright? Why did your demeanor change when I mentioned Angel? He's not in some sort of punishment for something now is he?" Said discord.
Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at the question and replied.
"Angel was a bad, bad bunny. And yes...I did have to punish him…. now, would you like a sandwich?" She said, slowly lifting a plate with a neatly prepared sandwich on it.
It was at this point that Discord started to feel gripped with concern, only for it to grow exponentially worse once he inspected the sandwich. He noticed that it was rather lumpy and when he picked it up, it was dripping a thick red liquid…. without hesitation, he lifted the top slice of bread. His jaw dropped and his claw quivered in disbelief as he looked at what was inside.
There were the remains of two severed bunny ears and rabbit foot. All with white fur. Discord dropped the sandwich and looked at Fluttershy in horror. Fluttershy now had a very creepy smile on her face.
"F-Fluttershy...W-What did you do to Angel?! He was your favorite pet!" Said Discord in total shock.
Fluttershy laughed hysterically and stood up. Her eyes slowly turning red and yellow. Her voice started growing deeper and distorted.
"Oh Discord...I had to get rid of him…otherwise, he would have blown my cover and ruined the surprise…." Said the distorted Fluttershy.
Discord rose up and flared his nostrils in anger.
"YOU'RE NOT FLUTTERSHY!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?! Shouted Discord angrily.
He then launched and attack. The attack went through the fake Fluttershy as she vanished into smoke. Slowly, the entire house started to evaporate into an empty void-like space. Discord tried to use his magic to escape but nothing happened. His magic was somehow being nullified.
"W-Whats going on here?! What are you?!" Said the now panic stricken draconequus.
Deep in the void space, a large figure in the shape of a giant black fox head appeared with a large toothy grin.
"I am…. The Nogitsune…I had to lure you here in order to get you to lower your guard…." Said the fox creature.
"You would have posed an annoying burden if I didn't get rid of you right away…." It also said.
Discord slowly felt himself losing his ability to move. His entire body began to go limp and contort with violent snapping and twisting.
"U-Ugh…W-What's h-happening to me….w-where is Fluttershy…?!" Said discord writhing in pain.
The Nogitsune laughed.
"I'm Ripping away your soul…. it's much worse than just turning you to stone. And it's a lot more painful….as far the Pegasus... she was very easy to take care of…. I lured her to her doom...all I had to do was pretend to be you... much like how I lured you…." Said the beast.
Moments later, Discord was nothing more than a hollow grey husk. Just like a snake after it discards its old skin.
(Back to Gumshoe's desk)
Gumshoe closed the file and rushed to her bookshelf. She looked up everything she could regarding Kitsune, Nogitsune and how to stop them. She stayed up all night pouring through as many books as she could.The next day, she called up her partner Private Eye.
"Good morning Private. I think I finally figured out how to stop this fox beast!" Said Gumshoe with immense determination.
"Yeah…? Well I withdrew myself from this case yesterday... I strongly suggest you do the same Gumshoe.. please.. for your safety." Said Private. He was very scared and still badly shaken.
Gumshoe sighed and pleaded with her partner.
"Private….I know you're scared, but this is the only way that we can stop it and potentially save Equestria. I can't do this alone…." She said with a sad yet understanding tone.
There was a long silence. After several minutes, Private Eye spoke up again.
".... Come by my house in one hour…" He said before ending the call.
One hour later, Gumshoe flew over to Private's house. She brought along the notes she took about the plan to stop the Nogitsune. The way to stop this particular Nogitsune, is to completely nullify and contain the darkness within its heart. But this was and no way as easy as it sounds. They needed the help of an artifact and a powerful spell caster. The two detectives enlisted the help of Zecora and Star Swirl the bearded. Having heard about all the devastation being caused by the Nogitsune, those two were more than happy to lend assistance.
Zecora had an enchanted dagger that was able to cut through evil spirits. Together with a modified ancient spell together with an ancient spell that Star Swirl was able to look up in the Royal Archives, they were able to empower the dagger to cancel out dark magic from its source. The trick now was to get close enough to the Nogitsune in order to implement this weapon. The four ponies began to track down the fox for the final showdown.
Using a tracking spell, Private Eye located the site of the Nogitsune's newest target location. The spell took them to the center of the Crystal Empire. When they arrived, they saw that he had already begun his attack on the city. Scattered corpses of dozens of crystal ponies and guards lay strewn about littering the main roadways. Some of them looked as if their tongues and eyes were torn from their sockets. As the team followed the trail of carnage, Gumshoe caught sight of a light pink alicorn with blue tipped wings flying in their direction.
It was Princess Cadence! She seemed distraught with a devastated look on her face. Her young daughter Flurry Heart clung to her back crying loudly. Zecora rushed over to Cadence's side to console her.
"Cadence my apologies for taking so long, but please your highness, won't you tell us what's wrong?" Said Zecora aa she put a hoof around The grieving alicorn.
Cadence clung to the zebra tightly and began to sob uncontrollably for several minutes. Then she was finally able to speak.
"M-My husband…h-he's D-DEAD!!!" she said as she began to sob even harder.
-------END OF CHAPTER--------
