The Mare in the Woods

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!"