The Mare in the Woods

Chapters

Introduction Chapter 1: The Decision and The Disappearance
Introduction Chapter 2: Trebass Plus Two
From a Musician's View: Chapter 1: The Golden Sun and the Golden Harp
From a Scientist's View: Chapter 1: Behind the Trees
From a Knight's View: Chapter 1: The Stallion Stranger
From a Musician's View: Chapter 2: Hide and Seek
From a Scientist's View: Chapter 2: The Faceless Pony
From a Knight's View: Chapter 2: Taking to the Flight
Final Chapters: The Approaching Finale
ENDING

Introduction Chapter 1: The Decision and The Disappearance

Trebass walked through the mall, his hooves in his vest pockets. The sound of children running circles around the fountains brought a cheery smile to his face. He passed by display windows the contained mannequins with fancy flashy dresses on them. He thought he saw a familiar face on one of the mannequins, but it disappeared as quick as it came. He sat down in the food court to take a rest. His leg was still wounded from the day before. He couldn't forget what happened the day before, he had lost a friend.

"Trebass!" A sweet tender voice called to him from across the court. A light brown mare waved to him, she was sitting down beside a blue pegasus. It was Royal Flush and Shock Bolt.

"Great..." Trebass whispered to himself as he walked over to them and sat down.

"Fancy seeing you two here." Trebass said in a cheery, yet serious voice.

"I was about to tell Shock.... My decision." Royal said slowly.

Shock Bolt sat there, silent as ever. The constant chattering of ponies sounded muffled as the three (3) ponies sat there. It seemed like Trebass, Shock, and Royal were surrounded by some kind of cone that seperated them from everypony else.

"I.... Choose..." Royal spoke softly. Trebass and Shock awaited her answer.

"Neither of you." Royal's answer struck the two (2) stallions down.

"N-Neither of us?!" Trebass and Shock spoke in synchronization.

"You can't make me choose between you two. It's my decision after all." Royal stood up, "I have to go. See you later."

Trebass leaned towards Shock. "I think you need to back off."

"She doesn't belong to either of us." Shock leaned back from Trebass.

The white unicorn stood up and trotted off in Royal's direction.

"What a fool..." Shock stood up to follow Trebass.

**********************

Alexander stood in his laboratory, standing in front of the computer screen. Something popped up on the screen that made his eyes widen.

"No... Impossible..." He spoke to himself. "This can't be happening... I have to hurry!" He grabbed a strange device on his desk and ran out of the laboratory then closed the vault door behind him.

**********************

Royal trotted into book store. She began to browse books when she thought she heard hoofsteps. "Is anypony there?" She asked, no reply.

She shrugged, and continued to browse the books. Still, she felt as if somepony, or something, was watching her. She found it odd that no one else was in the bookstore, not even the cashier.

"The owner must be on break." She thought to herself.

She thought she heard static coming from the aisle behind her.

She poked her head around the corner, "Hey can you turn that off? Someponies want to re-" She stopped in mid-sentence. Nopony was there at all. She still heard the static coming from somewhere. She began to examine the bookshelves, then she noticed something else. The doors to the bookstore were locked shut. She walked over to them, then heard something behind her. She turned around quickly, a pile of books lay on the floor. She picked one up, and it revealed a strange note.

The words "No" were scrawled over the page.

Royal began to sweat, she was nervous. She ran for the door and tried to open them. They were locked from the outside, a chain and lock were tied around the handles. Royal was paranoid now. She turned around, and caught a glimpse of something moving around the bookcases. It looked like something white.

"Is anypony there?" She asked again. Still no reply.

**********************

"Excuse me, have you seen a tan mare pass by here?" Trebass asked around the mall. He followed the directions he was given. He came to a bookstore, the doors were unlocked. Ponies reading books lined up in front of the cashier and stood around flipping pages.

"Excuse me, have you seen a tan mare around here?" Trebass asked a pony in a tuxedo reading in a corner.

The stallion shook his head.

"Okay, thanks anyways." Trebass turned away. As he walked to the exit of the book store he thought to himself, "Why didn't he lower the book to talk to me? I couldn't see his face at all."

He walked out of the store, but he couldn't help having a strange feeling about that pony in the corner of the room. It was awfully hot to be wearing a tuxedo. Trebass turned around, the strange tuxedo pony was no where to be seen.

He saw Shock Bolt approaching him. "Have you found her yet?" Shock asked Trebass.

"I didn't know you cared." Trebass had a smug grin on his face.

"I don't care about you, but I do care about Royal." They both sat down on one of the mall benches. But stood up again when they heard screaming coming towards them.

"Help! Somepony help!" A mare with a red coat and blonde mane was frantically asking for help.

"What's the problem miss?" Trebass asked.

"My little foal! He's gone!" She was panicking, Shock Bolt attempted to calm her down by sitting her down on the bench.

"Please explain every detail to us miss." Shock Bolt instructed her calmly.

"My little foal, Pip, went into the toy store and never came out! So I went in looking for him, and everypony just said they never saw him!" She began to hyperventilate.

"Easy, just breath normally." Shock put his hoof around her and tried to get her to calm down again.

Trebass stood there, his eyes widened. "Just like Royal..." He looked around.

"Quick! Was there a pony in a tuxedo in the toy store?" Trebass asked the scared mare.

"Y-Yes... He was holding a newspaper, so I couldn't see his face."

Trebass felt a hoof on his shoulder, "Quick Trebass! We have to get going!" Alexander was panting crazily.

"Alexander?! What are you doing here? We have to find Royal and this mare's foal! They've been foalnapped!" Trebass removed Alexander's hoof from his shoulder.

"What?! By who?" Alexander asked.

Trebass lowered his voice, "A pony in a tuxedo."

"Then we're on the same page, we have to get to the Eyeglass. Now." Alexander and Trebass ran off. Shock Bolt Followed them slowly.

The frightened mare shouted, "What about my foal?!"

Introduction Chapter 2: Trebass Plus Two

The white unicorn and the black pegasus arrived at their home. Alexander opened the front door, bursted past the dining room and turned the picture frame on the display cabinet. Trebass caught a glimpse of what the picture inside the frame was for the first time, it was a mare. She was dark purple, with a lighter shade of purple for her mane.

"Say, who is that?" Trebass asked, as he ran down the hidden metal corridor with his companion.

"Somepony important to me... But that's not important right now. Somepony, or something in this dimension is emitting strange readings that I've never seen before!" Alexander quickly changed the subject.

"What kind of readings? And does this have something to do with Bable?!" Trebass had many questions.

"This... Thing. Has the power to move throughout time and space! Just like the the Eyeglass!" Alexander opened up the vault door leading into his lab.

The computer, Eyeglass, and small coffee table looked as polished as ever.

Alexander continued, "I'm not sure if Bable is involved, but I've managed to pinpoint it's exact location space. Oh, and you might notice that I've added something extra to the Eyeglass."

Trebass opened the glass door leading inside Alexander's invention. The first thing he noticed was that there were four velvet chairs inside instead of one. It had only been a day since Trebass had been inside the Eyeglass, he wondered how Alexander had improved it in such short time.

"I've removed that metal helmet you've been wearing this entire time. The chairs are now equipped with force field that protects you from anything that could harm you while travelling through space and time." Alexander stepped into Eyeglass.

"Then, what was the helmet for?" Trebass asked.

"Well, it was used for mediocre protection against the atom deterioration that you would experience when travelling in the Eyeglass. In other words... Um... You're kinda lucky you're alive right now." Alexander chuckled.

"I hardly find that funny." Trebass scoffed.

"Anyways, I've also placed three more models of the M.a.s.t. on the three other velvet chairs. But these models are prototypes of the one your currently wearing." Alexander said, as he picked up one of the M.a.s.t.'s and wrapped it around his wrist.

The silver watch-like mechanism began to light up. Alexander sat down in one of the velvet chairs.

"Wait, you're coming with me?" Trebass asked.

"Yup! I thought I'd tag along for once. Besides, I've got the computer running itself-" Alexander was cut off, as he noticed the dark blue pegasus standing in front of the vault door.

"What the hell is all this?!" Shock Bolt blurted out as he looked at all the machinery around him.

Trebass leaned towards Alexander, "We don't have time to explain all this again. And he'll probably run his mouth to everypony if we let him out. I think we should just come with us."

Alexander nodded, "Look, you wanna help Royal right? Then you'll have to trust us. Get in, and hurry up."

Shock Bolt looked at them with a doubting look, "How can I trust you-"

"Just sit in the damn chair!" Trebass shouted, with an annoyed look on his face.

Shock Bolt jumped from being startled, then trotted into the Eyeglass. He sat down next to Alexander, he sensed a some hostility from Trebass and didn't wish to aggravate him by sitting in the seat adjacent to him.

"Here we go, hold on tight rookie." Alexander looked at Shock Bolt, as he pressed a button on his M.a.s.t.

The Eyeglass began to make the same flickering noise that Trebass heard before he was sent into the other dimensions. Sparks began to fly above the three ponies as the room they sat in began to fade into a white room of nothingness.

"W-What's happening?!" Shock Bolt had never experienced anything like this before, naturally he would have panicked in that moment.

"Even I didn't freak out this much when I first started doing this." Trebass said in a bragging manner.

"You've done this before?!" Shock Bolt asked.

"Look, you two need to cool it. If we're gonna get back home safely we need to work together." Alexander folded his arms as he sighed.

The blue pegasus and the white unicorn turned their heads away from each other. Alexander could feel heat coming from the two as angry looks stuck to their faces. The black pegasus sighed, as the whiteness turned into blackness.

"Where are we?" Trebass asked.

"I can't see a thing, it's too dark..." Shock Bolt whispered.

"Hold on, each one of our M.a.s.t. models are equipped with high powered flashlights. They'll last about forty-eight (48) hours before it dies." Alexander explained.

"What's a... Mast?" Shock Bolt

"It stands for Micro Analyzer for Space and Time. To put it simply, it tells you where you are and what point in time your in." Alexander explained.

Shock Bolt took the M.a.s.t. Model on his seat and wrapped it around his hoof. He looked at it as it began to glow green. Numbers and characters whizzed by on the tiny screen so fast that he couldn't keep up.

Trebass could only see part of Alexander's face, since the LED screen wasn't all that bright. Suddenly, a white flash of light blinded him. Trebass covered his eyes with his hoof, as he pushed the light away with his other hoof.

"Next time, warn me when your about to send a ray of light-" Trebass cut himself off, as he saw what Alxander's light had revealed.

In the center of the ray of light sat a pony in a corner. His mane was dark brown and he had a light grey coat. Blood was dripping down his forehead and from his mouth. In his hoof, he held a meat cleaver.

"I think I'm gonna be sick...." Shock Bolt went into a state of fear as his legs shook and a disgusted look imprinted itself on his face.

"Sweet Celestial almighty. What is this thing?" Trebass knelt down next to it.

"It's a pony, what did you think it was?!" Shock Bolt whispered.

Trebass looked back at Shock "What's with the whispering? It's not like he's alive anymo-"

*SLAM*

"What the hell?!" Trebass scrambled to his feet.

A meat cleaver was slammed into the wooden floor and had just barely missed his leg. Trebass pointed his flashlight towards the mysterious pony, he was nowhere to be found.

Shock Bolt jumped again as the sound of childish laughing filled the air.

"Hee Hee Hee..... Let's play hide and go seek!" A high pitched voice seemed to be coming from every direction around them.

Suddenly, another loud slam echoed throughout the darkness. A door had opened, as a dim light from outside cleared away most of the darkness. The three ponies trotted outside. Trebass exited first, then Shock, and finally Alexander.

They had emerged from a wooden shack that was surprisingly in good shape. Trees of all sorts of colors surrounded them. The sky was a dark orange, it gave off enough light for them to see in front of them. But further into the woods was pitch black.

"What do we do now? And where's Royal?" Shock Bolt asked.

"I hoped it wouldn't have come to this... But we have to go into the woods." Alexander sighed.

"Why? I mean, can't we just stay in this nice little shack?" It was clear that Shock didn't quite fancy the woods just yet.

"I'm picking up that thing's energy signature from within those woods." Alexander took a step towards the woods.

Shock spoke up again, "Well, shouldn't we wait until its brighter outside before we go into that pitch black forest?"

Alexander sighed, "We're in a different dimension. This weather could last forever for all we know. Besides...." he glanced at his M.a.s.t. "We only have twenty four (24) hours until the Eyeglass leaves. We can't stay in this universe forever, it'll cause a rip in the-"

"Okay okay! I get it." Shock finally gave in.

The three decided that they would split up to look for Royal, the mysterious tuxedo pony, and the little foal that went missing.

"I need to investigate these strange readings, so I'll look for the tuxedo pony Trebass told me about." Alexander fiddled with his M.a.s.t.

Shock volunteered to look for Royal. Trebass felt like objecting, but decided not to.

"Looks like I'm stuck with the kid." Trebass sighed.

The three walked for about five (5) minutes into the woods. They came to a three (3) way fork in the path.

"The readings are coming from the middle path, so I guess this is where we split up. Don't forget, our M.a.s.t.'s have a GPS system that can show us where each of us are." Alexander said as he examined his own M.a.s.t.

Trebass and Shock nodded as the black Pegasus ran off into the darkness.

The white unicorn spoke up as soon as Alexander was out of earshot, "Now we'll see who finds Royal first. I'll head down the left path."

Shock nodded again, then headed down the right path.

As the three ponies headed down their own paths, the sound of the child's laughter echoed throughout the woods and sent shivers up each of their spines.

From a Musician's View: Chapter 1: The Golden Sun and the Golden Harp

Trebass wandered in the dark woods for the longest time. He felt like he had been walking in circles for hours, but his M.a.s.t. showed him that it had only been five (5) minutes.

"How large are these woods? I can barely see anything even with my M.a.s.t. Light..." Trebass complained to himself.

His hoof steps on the soil were the only noise he could hear. But that changed when he heard the chirping of a bird coming from the distance.

"At least I'm not the only thing in this place." Trebass whispered to himself.

He decided that he would follow the sound of the bird. Perhaps it would lead him somewhere lighter, or maybe he had a small case of insanity; not even Trebass himself knew.

He tried to keep up with his winged companion, the chirping was the only sign of life anywhere around him. Finally, he saw something in the distance. It was light.

"Thank Celestia for birds, it's about time!" Trebass galloped as hard as he could towards the ray of light.

He slowed down as he came near. He quickly hid behind a nearby tree as he saw something move in the light. It was bigger than a bird, but smaller than the Tuxedo Pony. Trebass was sure it was a pony though.

The white unicorn peeked out from behind the tree. A white unicorn mare with a dark brown mane sat on a tree stump with a harp between her legs. The sunlight surrounded her.

She began to play her instrument. The beautiful melody filled the air and soothed Trebass' aching ears. Trebass had finally relieved himself of the shouting and arguments he had been hearing for the past few days.

Trebass gasped. As the mare plucked the final string, he felt a sharp pain in one of his back legs. Then, it disappeared as quickly as it came. He looked back at his leg, the bandage around his wound was gone!

He remembered the day before, he had been hit by a piece of shrapnel and it hadn't completely healed until that moment.

"W-what the..." Trebass covered his mouth, as he noticed the mare staring at him.

They both froze in place, until the mare giggled.

Trebass chuckled quietly along with her.

"Hee Hee... Your a strange one aren't you?" The mare asked.

"Well, being strange is in my nature I guess." Trebass replied.

"Tell me, who are you? I thought only me and my brother lived in these woods. But... I haven't seen my brother in a long time..." The mare looked at the ground with a saddened look on her face.

Trebass tried to cheer her up, "Hey, don't look so down. How about we go looking for your brother?"

"You don't understand... But all will be explained when the time is right. Would you like to hear another song?" The mare asked.

Trebass nodded, as he sat down next to her on the stump.

She began to pluck strings of her harp as she sang lyrics that Trebass couldn't understand. He didn't need to understand them, he was too distracted by the golden harp that the mare was playing.

Birds, bunnies, and other woodland creatures began to gather around the two ponies. Which was surprising, because Trebass had hardy seen any living creatures since he split up from his group.

"Would you like to try?" The mare handed the harp to Trebass.

"Oh, um.. I can't play the harp." Trebass fumbled with his words.

"Oh it's easy. It's just like playing a guitar." The mare smiled.

Trebass looked at the woodland animals sitting around him. It looked as if they were cheering for him to play.

"Okay, here goes nothing." Trebass began to pluck the strings.

He felt like his arms were moving on their own, they way he played felt like it was natural for him. How was he playing so well? He never seen a harp up close let alone played one before.

His music came to a halt, as an eery voice came from the dark woods around them.

"I thought we were going to play hide and seek? Looks like you don't want to play... So I guess I'll come out now!" A grey colt emerged from the dark woods.

The wood land creatures fled from the scene at the sight of the evil looking colt.

"You!" Trebass placed the golden harp on the ground.

"I thought we were all going to play hide and seek? What's the matter? Gave up on finding your friends?" The grey pony creepily approached them.

It was clear that he was referring to Royal and the others. Trebass has completely forgot about his companions and the missing ponies.

"Do you know where they are?" Trebass asked.

The grey pony replied, "Nope! Daddy doesn't tell us where his stuff is. But I'll let you ask him."

Trebass exclaimed "Great! If you'll just-"

The grey colt cut him off, "But! You gotta play hide and seek with me first! If you can find the pegasi you came here with, then maybe I'll let you talk to daddy!"

"Fine, I'll play your little game. Is there anything else?" Trebass asked.

"One more thing, daddy will be playing too! Have fun! Oh, and you have until nightfall to find them all." The colt disappeared into the thick darkness.

The mare sat beside Trebass and waited until the evil looking pony left, "I'm so sorry about my brother, he can be... A little strange at times."

"Your brother?! You two are related?" Trebass asked, shockingly.

"Yes. When father and mother split up, my brother went with father and I with my mother. But.... Mother passed away, and father has had to take care of both of us ever since." The mare explained.

"I see... I'm sorry. By the way, I never caught your name. Or your brother's for that matter." Trebass changed the subject quickly.

"I'm Notelie, and my brother's name is Richord. Shall we get going? I know my way around these woods, I can help you find your friends!" She introduced herself, then giggled.

Trebass nodded, then the two set out into the woods. Little did they know, that they would face more trials than they expected.

From a Scientist's View: Chapter 1: Behind the Trees

Alexander trekked through the woods, being sure not to lose the energy reading on his M.a.s.t.

"How large is this place? I've been wandering around for at least an hour. We have to find the missing ponies, for Trebass' sake." The pegasus kept his eye on the blinking red dot on the watch-like device wrapped around his hoof.

He kept trotting over fallen branches and fallen trees. He wondered if he would ever get out of this pitch black darkness. The only thing that kept him from tripping over objects was the flashlight built into his M.a.s.t.

"Hm? Who's there?" Alexander thought he heard a noise behind him.

"Huh, guess it was nothing. I better get-- Hey! What the..." He looked at his M.a.s.t. Confused.

The red blinking dot had disappeared from the M.a.s.t. screen. Suddenly, the dot began to reappear and disappear all over the place. First it was behind him, then in front of him, then to his left and right.

"What is this madness? Nothing can quantum travel that quickly!" Alexander looked around him, shining his light onto the trees and bushes.

The sound of something snapping to his left. Then the sound of static began to emanate from the opposite direction. Was it his mind playing tricks on him or maybe the was something there? Doubt began to cover him as he started to gallop in any direction that didn't have a tree blocking him. A cold sweat shot through him as something caught his back leg. He fell face first into a pile of leaves, he panicked and stumbled to his hooves. It was only then, that he knew something was chasing him; and it didn't plan on giving up.

"What... Is... this thing?!" He began to pant heavily.

The black pegasus ran into branch after branch as he tried to get away from his unknown pursuer. He felt the crunch of the fallen autumn leaves underneath his hooves as he ran through the dark woods. Suddenly, his flashlight led him into strange wooden wall.

"Ow! Huh, what's this? A shed?" Alexander felt his way around the wooden building and finally came to a door.

He bursted through the door and locked it behind him. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he sat down to catch his breath.

But his luxury didn't last long, as the sight inside the shed paralyzed him on the spot.

Inside were tables that were littered with test tubes and microscopes. The floor was covered in blood and cages hung from the ceiling. Inside the cages were rotting corpses and skeletons. A giant see through jar-like object stood in the far corner of the room.

"What in Celestia's name is this?" Alexander wondered. Nothing ever fazed him but this scene proved to be too much even for him.

*THUD* *THUD*

The creature that was chasing him was banging on the door. Alexander could hear the deep breathing of whatever was after him. He quickly grabbed a chair that was sitting beside him and jammed it between the floor and the doorknob.

"That won't hold for long, I better find a way out. Or a hiding spot." Alex looked around the room, and found a closet in the back corner of the room. He dashed inside and left the door ajar, just a crack so he could see what was going on outside.

Soon, the chair that barricaded the door snapped in half and the door itself swung open quickly. Alexander couldn't see who, or what, had just burst into the room. But, he knew it wasn't going to offer him tea anytime soon.

The mysterious creature growled, and began to breathe heavily again. Suddenly, a bright flame lit up in the center of the room and revealed what Alexander's flashlight already had. But this time there was some thing else in the room, something in the shape of a pony. It was in fact a pony, but something was different about this pony. The equine wore a black tuxedo, a red tie, and a something white over it's head. The white object covered it's mane, neck, and face then tucked disappeared into the tuxedo.

An oil lamp sat on a table in the center of the room, and was lit by the pony in the tuxedo. The pony looked around the room, just barely missing the hiding pegasus in the closet, then walked over to a desk behind the oil lamp. He placed his hoof on a photo frame. Alexander could just make out what the photo was. It was a mare, she had a brown coat, and her mane was black.

The black pegasus observed the strange pony quietly from the closet. The sharply dressed pony walked over to the jar-like object at the far end of the room.

"That's.... A vat! But I can't see what's inside it..." Alexander whispered to himself.

The stranger pressed a button next to the vat, and something began to rise from the bottom of the jar-like object.

Alexander's eyes widened, "Wait... That's... Oh no!"

From a Knight's View: Chapter 1: The Stallion Stranger

Shock Bolt was shaking, he didn't do well in the dark. It felt like the shadows were following him everywhere he went.

"I hope I get somewhere soon, this is really freaking me out." His knees shook with every step he took.

After wandering for hours he finally came to what felt like a stone wall to him. He thought it was strange to find something like that in that forest. Dark vines were overgrown on the rough stone wall, as the branches and leaves of trees reached over the tall wall.

"What is this? I should find a way inside, hopefully there'll be more light inside." Shock said to himself, as he thought something was watching him outside and it would be safer on the other side of the wall.

He felt his way around the wall and finally came to a hole in it. The hole looked as if something had smashed it in as stone bricks were scattered on the other side of the wall. When he emerged from the hole, lightning struck and revealed something humungous in front of him. Shock couldn't get a good look, but it looked familiar to him for some reason. Then, he remembered the flashlight on his M.a.s.t.

He turned on the light and shined it on whatever it was that the lightning showed him, "What the hell? A castle? What's this doing out h--" He cut himself off, as he heard something growling on the other side of the wall.

"Crap. I gotta get inside!" He thought to himself as he rushed to the giant door in front of him.

A large wooden door that was half open hid an even darker gloom than forest behind Shock. When he entered the building a large flame ignited in the middle of darkness. The flame lit up the room he was in, and it quite a beautiful sight that he saw. The room he was in was, in fact, a lobby. Beautiful pictures lined the smooth red coloured walls. A giant candle-lit chandelier hung from the ceiling. On the floor, a luscious red carpet stretched from each corner into the center of the room. In the center of the room was a rainbow coloured stone and marble circle. Just past the rainbow circle was a large staircase that led up to a second floor.

"It's awfully clean and tidy for an abandoned castle in the middle of the woods. Especially from the look of that mossy wall outside." Shock Bolt walked over the center stone and started to climb up the staircase.

*Clop*

"Huh? Who's there?!" The pegasus quickly turned around.

A black wrinkled old earth pony stood in the center of the marble and stone circle. He leaned on an old wooden cane that supported him. He wore a red robe that was lined at the ends with what looked like animal fur. A black top hat sat upon his grey mane and a smoking pipe in his mouth.

"Ah, I guess today's youth aren't as polite as I remember. My name is Merstur. Mr. Mérstur to be exact. And I believe you've just trespassed on my property." The old pony introduced himself.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. But the storm outside forced me inside." Shock Bolt explained.

"Well that's quite alright then. But I don't think the 'storm' forced you inside. Perhaps it was a certain black demon that was chasing you? Or maybe a science experiment gone wrong? Or a cursed mortal simply trying to communicate with you. But those are just some examples of my own experiences." The stallion chuckled.

Shock Bolt raised his brow, then stepped down from the stairs. The old stallion trotted over to the pegasus.

"What do you mean your own experiences?" Shock asked.

"Well, you should know more than anypony. After all, you DO have the same blood as me." Mérstur said.

Shock's eyes widened in surprise, "W-what? Same blood? But, I don't even know you!"

"Don't take that too literally young colt. I mean it as that we are both knights. You didn't think you could hide it. Did you?" Mérstur chuckled again.

Shock spoke up, "How did you--"

"Maybe next time you should hide your Knight's Emblem eh?" Mérstur interrupted as he pointed to the shield on Shock's shoulder.

Shock felt as if he had been bested in the little mind game that he had been playing with the stallion.

Suddenly, a loud knock echoed through the room. The pounding seemed to be coming from the large door that Shock had entered through.

From a Musician's View: Chapter 2: Hide and Seek

Trebass and Notelie rushed through the dark forest in search of the unicorn's friends.

"This way, I know these woods well. I think I may be able to find out where they're hiding your friends!" Notelie lead Trebass into even darker parts of the woods.

Trebass didn't know where he was going, or if he could trust his new companion. Perhaps he was just going along because of her looks, or maybe it was because he had no other option. After all, it took him long enough to find one spot of sunlight in the entire forest since the leaves and branches blotted out any sort of light source from above. The only thing that gave off any kind of life was Trebass' M.a.s.t.

"Tell me, what are... friends like?" Notelie asked.

"What do you mean? Don't you have friends of your own?" Trebass' raised an eyebrow at her.

"O-Oh! I... Of course I have friends. I meant what are... 'your' friends like?" Notelie corrected herself quickly.

"Well, there's Alex. He's been my best friend for a while. He's a scientist pegasus, and in the Canterlot Orchestra." Trebass explained.

"C-Canterlot? What's that?" It was clear that Notelie wasn't from where Trebass was from.

"Ah, it's... A place far away from here. It's quite a regal and fancy city." The white unicorn kept walking ahead.

Trebass continued, "Anyways, there's also Shock Bolt. But... We're not exactly friends, more like acquaintances."

"Tell me, why do you hate this 'Shock Bolt' so much?" Notelie asked.

"W-well, I wouldn't say I 'hate' him persé..." Trebass glanced away from her.

"Don't try to hide it, you're really bad at lying." She said, catching up to him.

Trebass gave in, "I guess it's that obvious huh? Well, you see... He--"

"Sorry to interrupt! But I forgot to mention one more rule!" The grey pony, Richord, burst from behind the darkness.

Trebass jumped, while Notelie stayed completely calm.

Richord continued, "My daddy is playing as you know. But he plays real rough! So watch out!"

Finally, the annoying grey pony vanished quickly into the shadows.

"Ugh, he is such a nuisance. Now we better hurry up, this way!" Notelie dragged Trebass by the hoof.

They quickly tromped through the forest.

They walked for a short time, until they saw a dim glow in the distance. They approached the strange orange light, and they realized it was the window of a small shack. The shack resembled the shed that the Eyeglass was currently sitting in the dark. Notelie came to the door, and opened it slowly. Trebass followed behind her, as he looked around the eery dimly lit room.

Trebass thought it was strange to see another run-down shack in the middle of this thick dark forest. Since the only form of civilization was the previous shack that the Eyeglass was, at the time, sitting, unguarded, while he was looking for his friends.

It looked like a lab that Trebass would see back at his old high school. Tables spread across the room, some were on their side, and some were right side up. The floor was covered in bloody scalpels and other surgical tools, which almost made Trebass throw up. But what made him lose his lunch were the soggy red organs piled up in the corner of the room, the stench and flies caused Trebass to run behind on of the fallen counters and vomit.

Notelie covered his nose and mouth with her hoof to block the foul aroma from entering her senses. She approached the back of the room where a large foggy vat sat, ominously looming over the mare.

"What is this?" Notelie asked herself.

Trebass wiped his mouth and turned to his companion, "You mean you don't know? I thought you knew these woods like the back of your hoof?"

"I do! But this shack isn't the woods... Maybe daddy knows something about this?" Notelie replied.

Trebass kept thinking about Notelie and Richord's father, so he asked, "I meant to ask this earlier... But what's so special about your dad?"

She began to reply, "Well he--"

*THUD*

"Eek!" Notelie shrieked in terror.

"What happened?" Trebass rushed to her side.

"Something's in there!" She pointed to the foggy vat.

Trebass slowly approached the vat. The inside walls of the vat were covered in grime and condensation which made it hard to see the contents. He crept up to it and wiped away the grime on the outside, and what he couldn't believe what was inside.

From a Scientist's View: Chapter 2: The Faceless Pony

"Th-That's Royal Flush!" Alexander thought to himself.

A tan coloured mare stumbled in the vat, as if she had just woken up from a long sleep. Alexander could see Royal pressing her hooves on the vat's glass wall. The faceless tuxedo-wearing pony pulled a lever on the side of the vat. Suddenly, the vat rose up from the floor as if it were the cover of a cake platter. Royal Flush collapsed into the stranger's hooves. He turned around, and stared directly at the closet where Alexander was hiding. Alexander slowly moved his hoof towards his coat pocket, and pulled out something in the shape of a stick. The stranger growled quietly, and then it walked out of Alex's line of sight from inside the closet.

Alexander slowly opened the closet door. He look to his left and tried to escape the closet. But as soon as he stepped out of the doorway he felt something long wrap around his waist and pulled him down. Alex panicked and clutched the stick he had pulled out of his coat pocket a moment ago. The tip of the stick opened up and a sharp needle popped out. Alex jabbed the pointed end into whatever was wrapped around his waist. He heard a something that was similar to the shriek of a banshee. He quickly looked behind him and saw the faceless pony with five (5) other long black "tentacles" behind it and Royal Flush cradled in it's hooves.

"What the hell are you!?" Alex screamed as he scrambled to his hooves.

The creature stood there, as the thunder cracked in the background.

Alex pulled out his pointed stick, "Put Royal down now!"

The creature growled again, but this time Alex heard something other than grumbles.

It was as if the creature were asking for his help. It let out a high pitched whine, like that of a hungry puppy.

"D-do you want my help?" The black pegasus asked, as he retracted his weapon.

The creature let out another growl, Alexander could hear something that was closer to pony language this time.

"C-O-M-E W-I-T-H M-E?" Alex attempted to translate what the creature was saying.

The creature nodded, turned around, and trotted over to the door. Alexander followed the stranger through the door to that led into the dark woods. The creature led Alexander around the wooden building and into a back door. Now they were in a new room, and it was as dark as the previous one before the candle was lit.

The stranger struck up a candle with one of it's tentacles. The flame revealed a giant crucifix in the middle of the room. The stranger lit the crucifix on fire, and it instantly created enough light to see the entire room. Rather than test tubes and vats in the room, there were renaissance style prisoner chains on the wall and guillotines.

"W-what..." Alexander was shocked to see all these torture device scattered around.

The creature placed Royal Flush on a metal table behind the crucifix.

"What do you need Royal Flush for? And how did you travel into our dimension?!" Alex asked loudly.

The creature turned around, and finally answered him, "You never shut up do you?"

Alex took a step back, and then pulled out his weapon, "How are you--"

"Talking? This crucifix is my means of speaking." The creature had no mouth, and didn't look like there was a mouth behind it's mask. But his voice was deep, and soothing at the same time. Which was quite strange because of the creature's behaviour earlier.

"The crucifix? I've seen lots of these, but I never thought they did anything special." The black pegasus turned to the burning crucifix.

The creature ran it's hoof through Royal's mane, "That's not an ordinary piece of wood you see in the holy churches. This is a Cupony crucifix, made from pure lovewood."

Alex raised his brow at the creature, "Cupony? Lovewood? I've never heard of either of those things."

"And I never expected you to. I can already tell your not from Cutopia, which is homeland." The creature continued to caress Royal's face.

The creature asked Alex to sit down on the other side of the table where Royal was laying.

As if it was beginning a ghost story, the creature began to tell a tale, "I am a Cupony, one of the few left in the universe. I come from Cutopia, which is the kingdom of love and happiness. It is only found above the clouds during the storm of hearts, which happens every one hundred (100) years. Now you may think that it's a paradise, and it was, until that fateful day."

"What happened?" Alexander sounded like an innocent foal listening to his grandfather's war stories.

"The king had two (2) sons, and some time later... His wife passed away. The king was so distraught, that he couldn't bear being away from his queen. He called an oracle and asked her to bring his queen back to him. The oracle agreed, but she had a one condition. The condition was that the king would have to chose one of his sons' bodies to sacrifice. The king decided to sacrifice his first-born. The oracle brought the wife back from the dead, but the queen was furious that her husband sacrificed her own child that she took her life again. The king followed his wife into the underworld, and the last living son of the noble family was left to fend for himself. Then one day the prince left Cutopia and ventured into the outer world. Some say that his maid told him a story of a world outside Cutopia, where the mortal ponies were at war but there was still love in the air. The prince was fascinated, 'how is there war and love in the same place' that's what he thought to himself. With that thought in his head, he waited for the 'Storm of Hearts' and left Cutopia." The stranger sounded as if he had been reading from an old foal's storybook.

"Let me guess, you're the Prince of Cutopia. Right?" Alex asked.

The creature replied, "No, my name is Sin Maneder. I am, or was, the brother of the King of Cutopia. The prince was my nephew. But I wasn't able to follow him, as the 'Storm of Hearts' had blown over, and the only way out of Cutopia was gone. I asked the oracle for help, and she did... For a price. It turns out the oracle had fancied me, but I was already betrothed to another. Once the oracle had found my betrothed, she attacked her. But I threw myself in front of my love, and the oracle's attack wiped away my image. Now I am merely an unpainted canvas. Unfortunately, the oracle cursed my descendants too. I came back to Cutopia to bring my family down to Equestria... But.. my love had passed away due to illness, and my own son had been corrupted by darkness. My daughter had hidden herself from the oracle, and remained as pure as a Cupony can be."

"I... I'm sorry to hear that. But... If you're the prince's uncle, the who's the prince?

From a Knight's View: Chapter 2: Taking to the Flight

The knocking on the door grew louder, and grew into banging. The bangs echoed throughout the large foyer. Mérstur stood still, while Shock readied himself for whatever stood behind the door.

"Why do you stand still, and not unsheathe your blade?" Shock asked.

Mérstur turned to his guest, "How can you tell our guest is an enemy?"

"Well--" Shock was cut off.

"You can't. And if you decide if the unknown is an enemy, then you'll be overcome easily, as we are surrounded unknown." The old colt finished his sentence.

Mérstur walked over to the door and opened it, while Shock Bolt stood still objecting. Standing in the doorway was a grey pony that felt familiar to Shock Bolt.

"Greetings old man, I think you have something I want." The grey pony stepped inside aggressively.

Mérstur replied, "I have nothing of any use to you here. Now I believe you should leave, before I have a word with your father."

"Bah! My father can't do anything to me!" The grey pony shouted. "Now, if you'll gladly hand over what I want."

The grey pony extended his arm, and dark sharp dark shards shot quickly, from his hoof, into the old stallion's heart.

"NO!" Shock Bolt screamed.

The old knight fell to the floor, and let out a deafening shout. As the jagged sharp dark shards stuck out of his back.

The grey pony stood over the dead Mérstur, "Should've given me what I wanted old pony. Now..." The pony bent down and took a photo from the retired knight's coat. Shock bolt couldn't see what the photo was of, but he was too enraged to care.

""I'll kill you! You're sick!" Shock ran towards the fallen pony.

"I'll leave you to sort that out with my new pet." The grey pony scoffed, as sharp shadows covered him and he disappeared into the floor.

Shock stopped in his tracks as he reached Mérstur. The fallen pony reached for his cane, which had snapped in half. Inside the cane was a key looked rather large.

"T-Take... This..." Mérstur sputtered as blood spat from his mouth.

"Yes, of course. But what does this unlock?" Shock asked.

"There is... A lockbox in the room upstairs... Inside is a--" The wounded pony tried to explain, but was cut off.

The four (4) shards stuck in his upper body began to pulse. Suddenly, a black circle began to form around the two ponies.

"W-what the--" Mérstur pushed Shock out of the radius of the circle, and the blue pegasus fell on his back.

"R-Run..." Mérstur was covered by a wall of shadow that shot up from the dark circle.

Shock Bolt's eyes widened, as the wall of shadow lowered. When the shadows disappeared, a large dark creature with four (4) sharp shards for legs stood before him.

"Well, time to run." Shock scrambled to his hooves and flew to the top of the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a giant door. The blue pegasus bursted through the door, and began to search to well-lit room.

"Lock box... Lock box..." Shock Bolt frantically ravaged through cabinets and drawers.

*CRASH*

The dark monster burst through wall, and let out a blood curdling scream. The monster crawled onto the ceiling and smashed the sharpened end of it's legs into the roof above them. As it scampered on the ceiling it knocked over the hanging candle chandelier. As the chandelier hit the floor, the table underneath it shattered. A metal box fell out of the chandelier and onto the floor.

"That's it!" Shock dove for the iron box, put it between his arms and flew out the door and into the foyer.

"Gotta get out. Gotta get out..." Shock thought to himself as he flew for the entrance door.

He smashed into the door and tumbled outside in to the rain and into the mud.

"I've gotta find the others and get out of here! It'll only be a matter of time before that thing catches up."

The panicked blue pegasus galloped off into the stormy night, and into the dark forest. As the monster loudly thumped and destroyed the mansion bit by bit.

Final Chapters: The Approaching Finale

A hoof the size of a mouse slammed on the glass wall. Trebass jumped back onto his flank. The vat walls lowered, and a young foal was laying there. The foal had a white coat with brown patches that are mixed in with it. The brown mane of the foal was covered in sweat and blood. The brown patch on the foal's eye was covered in tears.

"Mommy? Daddy?" The foal looked at Notelie and Trebass, who were standing rather close to each other.

Notelie blushed, but then looked back at the door where they had entered from.

"Who are you? And why are you here?" Trebass asked.

The foal replied, "Name's Pip sir. I don't know how I got here, I was looking at the toys in the toy store... Then I saw a shadow coming up behind me, and then... I couldn't remember anything after that."

Trebass thought to himself, "This must be the foal that mare was looking for..."

Notelie tapped Trebass on the shoulder, "We gotta go. Now. My brother is not far behind us."

Trebass nodded, "C'mon Pip, we're getting you home to your mom."

Pip followed the two ponies out of the shack and into the woods. The three galloped and galloped as hard as they could.

Trebass read his M.A.S.T, it was counting down from fifteen (15) minutes. They followed the arrow on Trebass' M.A.S.T.

"I hope you have a plan." Notelie panted as she galloped with her two companions.

"Yeah, well... It's hard to explain. You see... I've got this machi--" Trebass ran straight into something, and fell on his back.

He thought he had run into a tree, but when he shined his M.A.S.T. Light on it, it revealed a wooden cross about twice the size of Trebass.

"What's something like this doing in the middle of the forest?" Trebass asked.

"That's daddy's. He planted them around the forest when we first moved here." Notelie replied.

Pip had a confused look on his face as the two ponies stood in front of the crucifix.

"Strange... This wood seems... Familiar." Trebass scratched his mane.

"There's no time to waste, he might be catching u--" Notelie was stopped by the sound of a snapping twig behind her.

A dark figure stood behind the three of them, and it stood tall. Trebass jumped to his hooves and readied himself for a fight.

Notelie rushed towards the dark figure, "Daddy!"

"Daddy?" Trebass and Pip both spoke at the same time.

"Trebass?" A black pegasus trotted out from behind the figure, and a tired tan coloured mare came out from behind the black pegasus.

"Alex? Royal!" Trebass stepped forward.

"My prince?!" The tall dark figure stepped forward as well. Everything above the stranger's neck was white.

"Prince?!" Trebass, Pip, Alexander, and Notelie shouted in synchronization. Royal Flush was too tired to realize what was happening.

The faceless pony knelt down on one knee and bowed, "After all these years, I have finally found you... My Prince!"

"I-I think you have me confused with somepony else..." Trebass stepped back slowly.

Suddenly, the bushes behind them began to rustle. A blue pegasus came tumbling out of the plants and onto the dirt.

"Shock?!" Trebass and Alexander were startled to see their friend. Again, Royal seemed too tired to care.

"Trebass! Alex! Royal too! Erm..." Shock stopped speaking when he saw the three other strangers with his friends.

"Just ignore them, why are you in such a hurry?" Alex asked.

"No time for questions! Just ru--" Shock was cut off by the sound of a tree falling over behind him.

The faceless pony, Sin Maneder's head perked up at the approaching giant.

"Run! This way!" Trebass galloped off in the direction that his M.A.S.T. was pointing to.

Everypony followed him as the monstrosity gave chase not too far behind. Alex plopped Royal Flush on his back and galloped after his friends. The ponies looked behind them and saw a dark spider-like creature chasing after them. The moon reflecting off of the creature's shiny dark body was the only thing that gave them an idea of what their pursuer was. They all galloped as hard as they could, and it wasn't long until they saw an orange light at the end of the long dark wood.

"Look! That might be our way out!" Trebass shouted.

Trees fell one after another behind them. Alex could feel the sharp claws of the creature breezing behind his legs. The rest of his friends had already reached the light, and Alex was galloping slower due to the extra 'weight' on his back.

"Hurry Alex!" Trebass shouted from the light.

The spider-like monster dug it's claws deeply into the soil inches away from Alex's back legs. He galloped, the light was getting closer and closer until he dove out of the dark woods. As he landed, Royal flew off his back and onto Trebass, who fell over backwards. Almost immediately after Alex had gone over the border between the light and the dark wood, the creature jumped out from behind the trees. But, the darkness peeled away slowly, until the only thing left was a old posh black stallion.

Sin Maneder trotted over to the fallen old colt, "My old friend, you have always been there for me. But I cannot even protect you."

Mérstur replied, "My friend, I see you have found our prince. I have given his friend the royal treasure."

"Then our duty is done." Maneder let out a sigh.

The black colt closed his eyes slowly, as a tear dripped onto the luscious green grass.

Trebass looked at his M.A.S.T. and his eyes widened, "We have four (4) minutes left Alex..."

Alex looked at the wooden shack behind him, "Well, it's right over there. But there's another problem. We only have four (4) seats in the Eyeglass. I didn't take Shock Bolt into account."

"So, who are we gonna leave behind?" Trebass asked.

Alex replied, "We may not have to leave anypony behind."

Trebass raised his brow in confusion.

Alex turned to Sin Maneder, "Maneder, I think you should take him now."

Maneder finished his time with Mérstur, and turned to Trebass, "My prince, please come with me."

Trebass turned to Alex; and to his surprise, everypony was already inside the shack, and most likely in the Eyeglass. The white unicorn was now alone with Maneder, Notelie, and the deceased Mérstur.

Trebass approached the faceless pony, "Now that nopony is around... It's been a while... Cousin, and Uncle."

ENDING

The faceless colt hugged Trebass, "Ah, it has been a long time my nephew."

The two embraced after the long hiatus they had been separated.

"Tell me, who else have you told of my identity?" Trebass asked.

"I told your scientist friend. Say, he reminds me of good old Raymon back at the palace." Maneder replied.

"I'll admit, there is a striking resemblance." Trebass chuckled.

Notelie giggled, and the two colts began to laugh with her.

"I've seen the dark woods from afar, but never actually visited it. Also, I barely recognized you Notelie! I haven't seen you since I left this place." Trebass chuckled again.

Everypony looked upward, and an oddly shaped cloud sat in the sky.

"There's our home, and I always looked down on this patch of darkness, wondering what it was." Notelie said.

The cool wind blew through the grass, the orange sun was just setting as the three relatives silently reminisced about Cutopia. They exchanged stories and chatter as the time passed.

"So you harnessed the power of the 'Storm of Hearts' and used it to travel to our dimension?" Trebass asked.

"Yes, I was able to open up a 'Storm of Hearts' with a bolt from the storm that I harvested from the storm. I had watched you from afar. But I knew that the only way to bring you here would be through love." Maneder replied.

"I see, so you took Royal and brought her here... Clever. But what I'd like to know is why you brought me here in the first place. But why did you bring little Pip here? I barely knew about him until a few moments ago." Trebass questioned again.

"I've been monitoring your activity... and your brother's activity as well. As for the foal... I believe that was Richord's idea of a joke." Maneder replied again.

"So you could show me a way to get rid of him?" Trebass' tone lowered.

"Yes and from what I've heard from Mérstur, that blue pegasus left our world with that means of terminating your brother." Notelie cut in between the two.

"You deceived your friends, you've told them you know nothing of your brother. Why?" Maneder asked.

"I do not wish to involve my friends in any danger. But I today, I failed what I intended to do." Trebass sounded disappointed.

"Are you sure it's not to conceal what you actually are? Are you afraid that you might lose your friends if they find out what you are?" Notelie cut in, once again.

Trebass grunted, "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to get back to my own dimension please."

"I see, I'm sorry if I upset you my prince." Maneder apologized calmly, as he pulled something from his jacket.

Sin Maneder handed Trebass a line of bright light bouncing around in a jar.

"This is the bolt from the 'Storm of Hearts'?" Trebass took the jar and asked.

Maneder nodded, and turned to his daughter.

Notelie nodded to her father, "I shall go searching for my corrupted brother. Now if you'll excuse me..."

The mare turned around to walk into the dark woods, but stopped to turn at Trebass. She gave him a wink, then disappeared into the darkness.

"Well, give my best to Richord. To Notelie as well." Trebass said as he turned away from his uncle.

The faceless colt turned away from Trebass as well, "You'll have to tell them eventually. Did you really think you can keep your heritage a secret for long?"

Trebass didn't respond, instead he twisted open the jar of lightning. The bolt flew out at the speed of light, and exploded into a grey spiral. A large hole sat in the middle of the tornado. Inside the hole was the image of Alexander's laboratory. The sound of thunder, rain, and blowing wind flew around Trebass' ears.

"I'll see you later uncle." Trebass said as he jumped straight into the grey spiral's hole.

The white unicorn landed on the metal floor of Alex's lab. He looked behind him into the hole, Sin Maneder was walking into the woods after his daughter.

"Looks like you made it. Took you long enough." A black pegasus placed his hoof in Trebass' shoulder.

"Yeah, I was reminiscing for a while... Anyways, where is everypony else?" Trebass changed the subject quickly.

"Royal is in your room, resting. Shock Bolt is having a snooze on the couch. Pip is currently having a bowl of cereal, we'll send him to his mom tomorrow morning. It's getting pretty late, almost midnight in fact." Alexander yawned.

"That sounds like a good idea. After what we've been through, I think I deserve a week's rest at the least." Trebass chuckled.

"But... There's something I gotta do first." The white unicorn continued, as he walked into the corridor leading out of the laboratory.

His hooves echoed on the metal flooring of the hallway until he came out into the living room. Pip was at the kitchen counter, adorably chewing on a cookie. Sleeping on the couch was Shock Bolt, the tired knight was hardly snoring. Trebass walked over to Shock Bolt. On the floor next to the pegasus was a metal box with a handle on it. A key sat on the coffee table next to the couch, Trebass took the box, then the key, and trotted up to his room. He opened the door, and found a blond mane sticking out of the comforter. He gently walked over to his desk and turned on the lamp, making sure the brightness wouldn't wake Royal Flush.

"Now... Let's see what secrets you hold..." Trebass said to himself quietly, as he inserted the key into the keyhole. The box's lid swung open and nearly gave Trebass a minor heart attack. Inside the box, was a beautiful golden key. The key handle was in the shape of a harp.

Trebass opened his desk drawer and took another two keys, the handles were in the shape of a dove, and a rose.

"What do these even mean? I just don't get it... Father... Why is this all happening to me?" Trebass sighed.

The white unicorn heard the sound of shuffling coming from his bed, it seemed royal was having a pleasant dream as a smile crept onto her sleeping face.

"Hm, I guess I could sleep sitting in this chair." Trebass said, as he switched off his lamp; and the room was plunged into darkness.

Trebass thought to himself, "After all, she'd kill me if I slept there..."