Adeleine and Ribbon: Unlikely Survivorsby Kir BChaptersThe history of humans in Equestria.Chapter 1Chapter 2The history of humans in Equestria.Humans. . . A simple name, for such an abhorrent creature. Throughout the history of Equestria, humans have proved to be the most vile and despicable creatures that have ever walked around the planet Equis. Wherever they tread, a wave of unrivaled destruction follows, earning them the nickname "Harbingers of the End." They find joy in causing devastation and despair to all living creatures around them, often times decimating entire villages without a second's thought. There are many recorded moments in history where, ponies, donkeys, and various other creatures had created settlements, only to have a horde of humans decimate the land, leaving nothing behind but ash and corpses. Very few ever survived, and none were ever the same after escaping the human's wrath. Those who did survive, however, told of their experiences and recorded journal entries to cope with their feelings of torment. They told how they had settled in before waves upon waves of the hairless figures swarmed the land, mercilessly slaughtering innocent lives and raiding the houses of everything they could carry. They told of how whenever they looked into the eyes of a human, they didn't see some sort of crazed animal or untamed beast, but rather the cold, sadistic, gaze of a killer. They knew what they were doing and what it caused, and the humans found pleasure in their actions. As a warning they told anyone who would listen that should they ever see a hairless figure that walked on two legs, to leave the area and never look back. It wouldn't be until the rise of the Two Royal Sisters that human attacks began to decline. The ruler of the sun loved her subjects and would fight to keep them safe. But she was a peaceful ruler, preferring words over war. Multiple times she attempted to reform the creatures to no success. Her younger sister, who ruled over the night, held no desire to rehabilitate the humans and would detain, and kill, any that were found. The two methods of dealing with the bipeds cause strife between the sisters for many years, until one day everything changed. According to a journal entry by a guard during the time, the Castle had been raided. Massive waves of the humans surged into the castle, attacking everything in their path. It was the highest causality rate ever recorded in history. . . But it was also the beginning of the end for the humans. For one lone human managed to worm its way to the younger of the two sisters, and stabbed her with a spear, severely injuring her. The older sister, bearing witness to this, was enraged. Using a spell of unknown origin or power, the elder sister purged the entirety of the human horde from existence, effectively ending their reign of devastation. From then on, the Elder Sister traveled the continent, actively seeking humans to out for complete eradication. None of the beasts were spared. Should the the pony of the sun find a human village, it would be reduced to ash in a matter of seconds, only to have the ash be vaporized under the rays of the sun. This came to be known as the "The Cleansing." To bring the head of a human would fetch high respect, and often time a wealth of riches. Emboldened by their Princess, more and more ponies began to fight back against the humans, forcing their number to grow smaller and smaller. In turn human attacks happened less and less in the following years. With fewer numbers, their victims had better odds of survival, repelling their attacks and putting an end to them. After many years, the human attacks ceased altogether, but that wasn't enough for the Sisters. Spells were crafted specifically to track humans for miles. They wanted the human race eradicated. They sent guards around the country, and the elder sister still ventured out to make sure that the vile race would never rise to see another day. Any human they found, they killed without hesitation. From the elders to the young, none were spared from the wrath of the ponies. Eventually, their spells stopped working, and the ponies couldn't find any further traces of the humans, the eldest sister leaving for one final excursion of their nation. Her search brought nothing. They had done it. The human race, was extinct. After this fact was made known, ponykind rejoiced. No longer would they have to suffer by the hands of humans. Celebrations were held, and praise was brought to the elder sister for her actions. The younger sister received no accolades or praise, despite the fact she was the one who had originally wanted to wipe the humans from the face of the planet, and became bitter over the years, but that's a different story. With no more humans, the beasts became forgotten over time, shifting from a thing to be feared, to a myth and then from a myth, to a legend. The only remains of the humans were in history books and tomes of mythological creatures, and even then their tales had become corrupted over the course of time. Only a few passed down knowledge and the tales of what the beasts had done and still held the tools used to strike them down, these instruments also being lost to time. However, there were two minds that never forgot what the humans had done, they could never forget the atrocities that were committed by man, and they would have the rest of eternity to think remember what they had done. Celestia, ruler of the day. The pony who destroyed the human race. and Luna, ruler of the night. The pony who had been severely injured by man. Chapter 1It was a beautiful day in Dreamland. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and for once Planet Popstar wasn't in grave danger! Everyone on the planet surface was taking full advantage of the day. However two in particular were having more fun than anyone else in Dreamland. "Come on Ribbon! We can set up right over here!" "Alright Adeleine! Wait for me!" Adeleine and Ribbon were out in the fields, looking for a place to play games. The two were moving as fast as they could, Adeleine running, and Ribbon flying through the sky trying catch up. At last, the human girl came to a halt. "Right here should do it!" Adeleine exclaimed, as she pulled out her portable easel. Ribbon had managed to catch up to her by now, panting lightly. "So. . ." The fairy began. "Is this the place you were looking for?" Adeleine turned to face her friend, who had decided to settle down on the ground. "Correct!" Adeleine smiled, as she finished setting her things up. She looked at her easel and brought out her paintbrush. She put an hand up to her chin and her face fell in thought. 'What to paint. . ." the painter thought aloud. Hearing her query, Ribbon spoke up. "How about a bubble gun?" she offered. Adeleine was brought from her thoughts and she her face broke out into a grin. "Good idea Ribbon!" she said, already stroking the her brush across the canvas. With speed and accuracy that would put most painters to shame, she painted two pink bubble guns. They looked rather rushed, but the painter wasn't exactly going for high quality, she didn't really need to. Once she deemed the picture done, she took a step back and watched as the two bubble weapons magically fell from the canvas and onto the ground, gaining depth as they did so. Adeleine walked up to one and picked it up. She smiled deviously as she turned to face her fairy friend. "Hey Ribbon. . ." she said ominously. Ribbon gulped. "Y-yes Adeleine?" she stammered. Adeleline's grin grew wider. "Think fast!" The painter shouted, raising her weapon and firing a stream of bubbles towards the fairy girl. Ribbon squeaked in reply, taking flight just fast enough to avoid the barrage of bubbles. "Hey no fair!" she called out, as Adeleine began chasing her around, firing bubble shots towards the small fairy. Eventually though Ribbon managed to loop around back to the canvas, nabbing the second bubble gun. Adeleine's face fell as Ribbon cocked her weapon. "Heh heh. . . oh boy." Ribbon fired towards the painter, giggling as the bubbles managed to hit their target. exploding in a shower of water. "Ah! I've been hit!" Adeleine shouted in mock pain, before running from the fairy. She began firing her own weapon again, this time actually managing to hit her target. Ribbon yelped, before giving chase to her human friend. The two ran around the field for what seemed like hours, shooting bubbles at each other, and dodging the other ones attacks. Ribbon was a far better shot than Adeleine though and so the painter ended up taking more "damage" than the fairy did. "Tactical retreat!" Adeleine suddenly shouted, and darted off, giggling as she ran. "Oh no you don't!" Ribbon shouted, and flew after her, firing a few bubbles as she did. They ran through the fields away from the area they were in. They were having too much fun, and they didn't plan on stopping anytime soon. So engrossed in their game they were, that they didn't noticed a danger sign placed just to the side, they ran right past it never even knowing it existed. The two continued their chase, Adeleine looking behind her so as to dodge Ribbon's bubble shots. Ribbon was about to fire another round before the fairy suddenly noticed something ahead. There was a gaping hole in the ground and Adeleine was currently running straight for it! "Wha?!- Adeleine look out! Stop!" she shouted, pointing at the danger ahead. The painter girl's face fell to confusion and alarm, and she turned around just in time to fall into the abyss, shrieking as the world turned to darkness. "Adeleine!" Ribbon shouted. The fairy quickly flew into action, diving into the hole. She summoned a crystal beneath her, and rocketed downwards slowly catching up to the falling girl. Adeleine managed to stop screaming as she noticed the glow of the crystal above her. The wind was rushing through her ears but she managed to hear what the fairy was currently shouting at her. "Adeleine grab my hand! Hurry!" The painter reached out as best she could, the crystal carrying her salvation drawing ever closer to her. Soon the fairy was just about in reach of her, when all of a sudden, everything went dark and Adeleine felt nothing more. It was a splendid day in Ponyville. By all means it was just an ordinary day, but to everypony who lived in the town, today just felt special. Ponies walked to and fro, enjoying each other's company as they went about their day. Some sold various goods in the market, while others simply lounged around on a bench, taking in the warm rays of Princess Celestia's sun. There was a bell that rang nearby, signalling the end of the school day for the young fillies and colts that attended. A trio of fillies in particular stood from the rest of their classmates. An earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn raced past the rest of their classmates with tremendous speed. They were known by the entire town as, The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Consisting of Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, the three fillies were on a constant hunt for their cutie marks. "Come on you two!" Applebloom called back towards her friends, the longer it takes fer us to make it to the club house, the less time we'll have to try and find our cutie marks!" "I wonder what awesome thing we could try this time!" Scootaloo exclaimed, her wings buzzing with excitement. "We won't know until we get to the clubhouse Scootaloo." Sweetie belle called out from behind her friends. "But I'm sure that whatever we do, we'll get our cutie marks this time!" The trio ran clear through Ponyville and up the road towards Sweet Apple Acres. Passing through the gates open land shifted to apple trees that went on as far as the eyes could see, and the three fillies grinned in unison. They were nearly there now. They ran for about a minute more not stopping for anything before their clubhouse came into view. They wasted no time climbing up the ramps leading up to the door. The trio charged inside, skidding to a halt in the middle of the room. "Finally!" Scootaloo exclaimed. She turned to face Applebloom. "Alright what are we going to do!? Wrestle bears, go zip-lining? O-oo ooo, or maybe some cool stunts!?" She couldn't contain her excitement. "Scoots we already tried those" Applebloom deadpanned. "The tree sap and injures from the latter two had us holed at home for a few days, and Fluttershy still forbids us from ever seeing Harry the bear after the last time." Scootaloo sheepishly looked towards the floor. "So what ARE we going to do for our cutie marks Applebloom?" Sweetie Belle questioned. At her question Applebloom smirked. She trotted over towards the podium and pulled out a large book. The cover read, "Mythological Creatures of Legend." Upon seeing the book, Scootaloo groaned loudly. "Seriously?" she deadpanned. "You brought us out here to read a book? How it that supposed to get us our cutie marks?" Applebloom glared at her friend. "This ain't some run of the mill book Scootaloo!" the earth pony replied. "Take a look at this!" She opened the book and began flipping the pages. The other two fillies moved closer, peering skeptically at the pages. Inside the book there were, various sketches and drawings of creatures they had never seen or even heard of before. "What are all these things?" Sweetie Belle wondered aloud, looking at the various creatures that were drawn upon the pages. "Apparently these are creatures that roamed Equestria a long time ago!" Applebloom replied. "Supposedly, many of them evolved into creatures that we know today!" Sweetie Belle looked on with interest, while Scootaloo yawned loudly. "So what exactly do these things have to do with us and our cutie marks?" the pegasus groaned. "Ah'm glad ya asked." Applebloom smirked, lightly poking the pegasus on the muzzle. She flipped further into the book, stopping on a page that held three odd figures. It was depicted as some sort of hairless monkey, the only hair shown being on the top of their heads. They stood tall while wearing very basic types of cloth around there waist and in some cases their upper chest. They seemed to have a friendly enough grin, but it seemed. . . wrong. . . in a way. A quick look at the top of the page read. . . "Applebloom, what exactly is a . . . . .hoo-man?" Applebloom frowned at her friends. "That's something I want to know too." She said softly. I got the book from Zecora! She said that her people liked to write about creatures that they discovered and what uses they might have!" She turned back towards the book. "She said this book was passed down generation after generation and that everything in this book did in fact roam the planet at one point or another!" Applebloom smiled at her friends. Sweetie Belle seemed to be on board while, Scootaloo still seemed a bit disinterested. "Well what are we waiting for!?" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, snatching the book from Applebloom, she skimmed the contents of the page on to frown a bit. "Ahh. . . the pages are smudged a bit." "Ah know." Applebloom sighed. "Ah asked Zecora bout it, but she got real quiet and simply moved on to somethin else." "Well we can at least see what's still here Applebloom." Sweetie smiled weakly. "Though looking at it there's really only a few words. Looking back at the book, she began to read. "The human is a . . . . . . creature of d-vi--t-t-i-n. . . . . . . .It has been hunted for. . . . . . .laying waste to everything." "So it puts trash everywhere it goes?" Applebloom scrunched her muzzle. "That's kinda weird." Sweetie Belle continued reading. "If one sees a human. . . . . d-st-u--ion is near. It is...." Sweetie Belle was interrupted by Scootaloo, how shoved her out of the way. "Come on Sweetie Belle!" she shouted "We don't have all day! Just skip over this stuff and see if there's anything interesting." Before her friends could protest, the orange pegasus began skimming through the rest of the pages, she had to re-read a few parts as badly smudged as they were, but eventually her eyes fell upon something that made her jaw drop. She remained motionless for a time, prompting her friends to see what had her so shocked. They promptly had the same reaction. At the very bottom of the page was a simple phrase. A phrase that had put their minds into overdrive. ". . . capture of a human, will grant you anything your heart desires. . . ." The three started at the words for what seemed like hours. Then they looked up at one another. A grin broke across their faces at once. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER HUMAN HUNTERS YEAH!" "Girls, maybe this was a bad idea." Sweetie Belle trembled, as the group of friends walked further into the dreaded Everfree forest. "Come on Sweetie Belle, don't be such a scaredy cat!" scoffed Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle pouted with annoyance, but said nothing further. The three fillies knew that the forest was dangerous, so they planned to only go a little farther than Zecora's home at the max. The sounds of various animals and creatures were everywhere, tittering and tattering everywhere the three went. It was a bit annoying but the three continued on. Eventually, they came across a the small clearing where Zecora's tree hut stood tall. "Alright, this is it it girls." Applebloom smiled, glancing back to her following friends. "If we can find ourselves a human we'll get our cutie marks for sure!" "And if we can't get our cutie marks that way, we could ask for some money instead!" Scootaloo chimed in, wings buzzing happily at the prospect. "That way, if we don't get cutie marks for this, we could at least have money to fund our other ideas!" The idea swirled within the minds of the young ponies, being able to afford higher quality materials and items for their futures plans should this one fall through. That was enough to re-invigorate them. With a nod the three ran forwards, darting into the foliage ahead of them. The soon came to a halt further inside the brush. "Alright." Applebloom began, waving her companions over to huddle. "We can't go too far in otherwise we could run into trouble, so pay attention to how far you go!" The other crusaders nodded, and with that they broke away from the huddle and started looking. At first they stayed relatively close to each other peering into bushes and peering into holes. Sweetie Belle checked under a rock. But as time passed on, the three began to separate from each other, heading on their own path to find one of the mysterious humans. Time continued to pass and soon the sun was quite low in the sky. The crusaders would have to leave soon, or risk being caught in the Everfree at night, and that was a venture they didn't want to risk. With a sigh each of them began walking back they way they had came, meeting up at Zecora's hut. "Did ya'll find anything?" Applebloom questioned when she stepped into the clearing. Scootaloo sighed and Sweetie Belle looked down. "Welp, guess thats a bust then." Applebloom said, glumly. "Maybe would could try again tomorrow?" "I guess." Sweetie Belle muttered halfheartedly. "Maybe we should just try something else." "Yeah this turned out to be a bust." Scootaloo stated bluntly. "I call dibs on choosing what we do for cutie marks next time." "Alright alright." Applebloom sighed. "Fer now though, we should just worry about getting home, its startin to get REALLY late." The others agreed and ran off. The clearing was silent for a time. Suddenly, without warning, there was a flash. A bright light swirled into existence a ways away from the hut. With a loud *THUD* two figures fell out of the light, both landing in a large bush to the side while the light quickly dissipated. Moments later, the door to the hut opened, revealing a groggy zebra. Zecora sleepily peered around, trying to see what may have caused the disturbance. Finding nothing, she returned inside, as unaware as every other creature on the planet was of their new arrivals. Chapter 2"Arrgghh." Adeleine awoke with a groan. Her body ached, feeling bones popping and cracking slightly as she made to sit up. She found it slightly difficult to do as she was caught in a bush, but she managed to pull herself out with little issue. It took a moment for things to catch up to her. "W-wait. . .I'm alive?" She questioned softly. She felt herself over, making sure that she was really in one peice. seeing nothing really wrong with her, a massive grin spread across he face. "I'M ALIVE!"" she exclaimed, jumping with joy. She began to dance a bit, aches and slight pains completely forgotten. She was in the middle of doing the wave when she noticed something pink out of the corner of her eye. She peered down to find Ribbon, snoring lightly within the confines of the bush she had pulled herself out of moments before. The girl wrapped her arms around the sleeping fairy and slowly began to untangle her from the bush's branches, being extra careful as to not hurt her or ruin her clothing. It had taken a bit of effort, but eventually the human had free'd he friend. "Ribbon? Ribbon, wake up we're alive!" The human exclaimed. The fairy stirred from her sleep slightly, slowly opening her eyes. "Adeleine. . ." she said softly, fluttering her eyes closed after a moment. Suddenly, her eyes shot open, and she rocketed upwards, startling the painter and causing her to tumble. "Adeleine!" Ribbon shouted, frantically flying circles around the area. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no OH NO!!! Where could she be, she could be really hurt! ADELEINE WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!!" "Down here." came a voice. Ribbon paused from her panicked yell and looked down to see a slightly amused Adeleine. Ribbon flew down and gripped her friend in a tight hug. "Adeleine!" the fairy exclaimed, heaving a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're okay! I thought I thought I had lost you!" Seeing her friend in distress the painter returned Ribbon's hug. "Don't worry Ribbon, I'm fine!" the artist soothed. "At most I've got a few scratches, but otherwise nothing too bad." Her words helped soothe the fairy a little bit, but Ribbon continued to hug her friend, as if she would disappear should she let go. Adeleine got back up onto her feet and looked around. They seemed to be in some sort of forest, but didn't they fall down into a hole? How would that even work? However Adeleine was stirred from her thoughts when there was the sound of something shattering, and a voice shouting out in slight frustration. Ribbon, startled, let go of the painter and the two were immediately on the defensive. "W-what was that?" Adeleine stammered, frantically looking around. Then her gaze fell upon something rather peculiar. Her eyes widened a bit. "Hey Ribbon, look!" she said in a hushed voice, pointing into a clearing. Ahead of them was a tree, but it wasn't an ordinary tree. It had windows built into the sides, and a door at its front. A dim light filled up the interior, flickering ever so slightly. "It looks like someone live outs here." Ribbon said softly. "Maybe we could ask them for directions or at the very least, ask where we are." The two relaxed a bit and made their way towards the hut. Once they reached the door, Adeleine reached out and gave it a couple of knocks. "Hello?" the painter called out, "Is anyone inside? My friend and I are kinda lost and we kinda need some directions!" There was the sound of . . . footsteps? The were loud and sharp, more like if someone was clacking two stones togethert than actual shoes. The door was opened and out stepped. "Huh? Is. . . is that a zebra?" Before Adeleine and Ribbon stood a zebra, but it was unlike any zebra Adeleine had seen before. It had rings on its forelegs and had its mane in a mohawk. It also seemed to posess a strange marking on its hind-quarters. Currently it was staring at the two with widened eyes and seemed to be trembling a bit. The zebra looked at the two beings before it, before promptly slamming the door hard in their faces with a shout. The unexpected action made Adeleine flinch, causing her to stumble. "H-hey!" she exclaimed, knocking on the door once more. Zecora was terrified. Every impact against the door made her curl up tighter and tighter in the corner. She had dealt with many creatures in her life of all shapes and sizes. However she was not prepared to deal with the horrors that were currently clawing at the entrance of her home, trying to worm their way in, likely to eat her. Or worse. . . Eventually, the banging stopped, but the Zebra was too far gone in her fear to really notice. And there she stayed for the rest of the day. After knocking on the door a couple more times, Adeleine finally gave up. "Well that was a bust." she sighed. Ribbon simply gave her young human companion a pat on the back. "Aw cheer up!" the the fairy said kindly. "Perhaps we can find our way out of this forest ourselves!" "I guess." Adeleine responded, though she was rather unsure. "Maybe I could fly up and see where we are?" Ribbon offered. Adeleine nodded in agreement, it was better than nothing and it would be best to see if there was anything of interest. Ribbon began to ascend higher into the sky, eventually breaking through the tree line and looking about. She quickly spotted a village in the distance, though it was unlike any she had seen before. The fairy soon came back down into the forest and told her friend her findings. "There's a town in the distance headed that way." She said, pointing through the trees. "We'd best get a move on though, this forest makes me feel a bit uneasy." Adeleine gave a cheeky grin in response. "Well in that case. . ." She began, pulling out her paint brush. "I believe I've got just the thing!" She reached back to bring out her portable easle, only to find nothing there. "Wait what?" the painter stammered, checking her other pockets. There were art supplies and a few sheets of regular sized paper she had folded up, but to her horror the easel wasn't there. "Uh. . . . Ribbon? You wouldn't have happened to bring my easel or my canvas with you, would you?" The painter asked pleadingly. Realising what her friend was getting at, the fairy sadly shook her head. "I'm afraid not." the fairy confirmed with her voice a moment later. "We were just so caught up playing that we kinda just left it behind." Adeleine groaned. "Ugh. Guess we'll just have to go on foot." she sighed. And began walking in the direction that Ribbon had pointed in. "H-hey! Wait up!" Ribbon called out, trying to console her friend as the two walked further into the brush. It had taken a bit more time than either had expected but eventually the two found that that vegetation was slowly starting to get thinner and thinner. Trees began to look a bit more normal and the foliage was looking a bit brighter. Eventually they finally managed to find the exit. The two peered around at their new surroundings. It looked beautiful, but something didn't quite add up. "Hey Ribbon?" Adeleine began. "I don't think I've ever seen this area before in Dreamland, have you?" The fairy shook her head. "No, I haven't. In fact, this looks almost nothing like Dreamland! No windmill trees, no dome hills, I'm pretty sure as large as the Dreamstalk is we should be able to see it from almost anywhere. . ." The fairy began to ponder the implications of their predicament. "You don't think we might have like, fallen to the other side of Popstar do you!?" Adeleine questioned worriedly. Ribbon giggled in response. "I don't think that could happen Adeleine." the fairy smiled "We still should see where we are at the moment." The two looked out, spotting the town just a little ways ahead of them. "Come on! Maybe there will be someone in town that could help us out!" With nothing else needing to be said the pair took off towards the town, smiling the whole way. As they ran they took in the sights around them, despite not seeing any familiar land marks they still had to admit that wherever they were it was really nice. Birds chirped happily and a gentle breeze swept through the air. All in all it despite being lost, it was rather pleasant here. After a few minutes of running, the town was right upon them. The dirt road gave way to stone walkway as they ran over the bridge. As entered the village they came to a halt, gasping at what they saw. Ponies. Ponies EVERYWHERE! There were lots of them, all in many different colors and hues. Adeleine, even as a painter, was shocked by the amount of colors they seemed to have. Strangely enough they all seemed to have an image on their rears. Equally as strange, was the fact that every single pony in the area was staring at them as if they would tear their heads off. "Uh. . ." was all the painter could mutter, before there was an ear-peircing shriek. "EVERYPONY RUN! IT'S A--- IT'S A-------HUMAAAAAN!!!!!" After that, everything devolved into madness. Ponies were darting left and right, knocking over stands, and generally causing a big mess of things. In only a few moments the town seemed to be devoid of life. "Well. . ." Ribbon spoke, after the event had transpired. "That. . . was certainly something." "I guess they're afraid of me?" Adeleine questioned. "I mean, one off them yelled human and then they all ran away!" she then paused, realizing something. "Oh dear, do you think that's why that zebra from before slammed the door in our face?" "Possibly." Ribbon responded. "But for now, we should probably see if we can convince the locals that we mean no harm." Adeleine agreed. The two ventured further into the town. As they walked they looked around a bit, the buildings were constructed with stone and the roofs way made of hay. The two shared a laugh at the irony of ponies using hay for building, before continuing on. Every now and then they would shout out, stating that they were lost, or that they were harmless, but nobody ever ventured outside their abodes. Suddenly, there was the sound of a bell clanging in the distance. "Huh? Was- was that a bell?" Adeleine questioned aloud. "Must've been the change of an hour or something." "Has it really been that long?" Ribbon asked. "I dunno." The painter responded. "Honestly though, who knows how long we've been here." The human slumped, heaving a sigh. "Come on, maybe we can find someone who can help elsewhere." The two picked a direction and slowly made their way through the town, unaware of the event that were about to happen. The bell had only begun to ring when three small blurs shot out of Ponyville Schoolhouse. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweeie belle were running full tilt towards the town, leaving the rest of their classmates in the dust. "Alright then!" Scootaloo said as the three galloped closer to Ponyville. "Since I'm choosing what we're doing to earn our cutie marks this time, I've got something just for the occasion at Sugarcube Corner!" The other fillies looked at one another before asking the obvious. "What is it?" Sweetie and Applebloom questioned their friend to which the orange pegasus simply told them "It's a surprise!" Seeing how they probably wouldn't be able to get their friend to spill the beans, they decide to wait and see. The three ran ahead, finally entering the town. As they ran they seemed to notice that something was off, slowing down a bit. "Uh girls?" Sweetie spoke up. "Where is everypony?" "I dunno. . ." Applebloom said after running the oddity through her mind. "Usually when this sort of thing happens its because of a. . . " She didn't finish her sentence as her eyes widened and her pupils shrunk. Soon enough Sweetie Belle came to the same conclusion, followed by Scootaloo. "We better find a place to hide!" Applebloom whisper-yelled to her friends, both of them quickly nodding in agreement. The trio soon began to travel as quickly yet quietly as they could. If something dangerous really was on the loose in Ponyville, it would be best not to draw its attention. The time seemed agonizingly slow to the three as they looked around, trying to see if anypony was willing to open their doors and let them in. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and they were forced to continued on with their search. "Maybe we should go to Sugarcube corner!" Sweetie whispered to her friends. "We were on our way there anyway, and I'm sure Pinkie would let us in." The others, seeing no real reason not to, silently agreed, and began making their way towards the bakery, Scootaloo in the lead. They were just turning a corner when Scootaloo bumped into something. Too close to stop themselves, Sweetie and Applebloom stumbled into the pegasus. "Arrgh. . . Scootaloo what did ya. . . stop. . . . . .for." Applebloom's voice faded away as her jaw dropped. Sweetie and Scootaloo were in a similar state. There before them, was a pair of humans. Or at least they looked like humans. One of them was rather big, standing a little under the height of the average pony, but still much taller than they were. It had short black hair with purple eyes. Atop its head it wore a what a red beret and its torso was concealed by a green dress. At the bottom, the human seemed to wear some sort of brown covering for its feet. All and all a perfect replica of a human, albeit a young one based on its height if their book was to be believed. As for the other one, they weren't so sure. This one had pink hair, and was about the size of the of the other one's head, if not a tad bit larger. It wore a bright red dress, with a ribbon in it's hair to match. Two pink bee-like wings protruded out from its back, fluttering quickly to keep itself afloat. It didn't seem to have any legs, but it still seemed to have feet. All and all, both seemed to be similar enough. Maybe this flying one was kind of like a pegasus version of it? Then the bigger human shuffled. "Uh. . . Hi?" Author's Note Yep. Sorry for those who wanted Zecora to speak, but I'm fairly certain I'm not good enough with rhymes in order to pull off her character properly.
The history of humans in Equestria.Humans. . . A simple name, for such an abhorrent creature. Throughout the history of Equestria, humans have proved to be the most vile and despicable creatures that have ever walked around the planet Equis. Wherever they tread, a wave of unrivaled destruction follows, earning them the nickname "Harbingers of the End." They find joy in causing devastation and despair to all living creatures around them, often times decimating entire villages without a second's thought. There are many recorded moments in history where, ponies, donkeys, and various other creatures had created settlements, only to have a horde of humans decimate the land, leaving nothing behind but ash and corpses. Very few ever survived, and none were ever the same after escaping the human's wrath. Those who did survive, however, told of their experiences and recorded journal entries to cope with their feelings of torment. They told how they had settled in before waves upon waves of the hairless figures swarmed the land, mercilessly slaughtering innocent lives and raiding the houses of everything they could carry. They told of how whenever they looked into the eyes of a human, they didn't see some sort of crazed animal or untamed beast, but rather the cold, sadistic, gaze of a killer. They knew what they were doing and what it caused, and the humans found pleasure in their actions. As a warning they told anyone who would listen that should they ever see a hairless figure that walked on two legs, to leave the area and never look back. It wouldn't be until the rise of the Two Royal Sisters that human attacks began to decline. The ruler of the sun loved her subjects and would fight to keep them safe. But she was a peaceful ruler, preferring words over war. Multiple times she attempted to reform the creatures to no success. Her younger sister, who ruled over the night, held no desire to rehabilitate the humans and would detain, and kill, any that were found. The two methods of dealing with the bipeds cause strife between the sisters for many years, until one day everything changed. According to a journal entry by a guard during the time, the Castle had been raided. Massive waves of the humans surged into the castle, attacking everything in their path. It was the highest causality rate ever recorded in history. . . But it was also the beginning of the end for the humans. For one lone human managed to worm its way to the younger of the two sisters, and stabbed her with a spear, severely injuring her. The older sister, bearing witness to this, was enraged. Using a spell of unknown origin or power, the elder sister purged the entirety of the human horde from existence, effectively ending their reign of devastation. From then on, the Elder Sister traveled the continent, actively seeking humans to out for complete eradication. None of the beasts were spared. Should the the pony of the sun find a human village, it would be reduced to ash in a matter of seconds, only to have the ash be vaporized under the rays of the sun. This came to be known as the "The Cleansing." To bring the head of a human would fetch high respect, and often time a wealth of riches. Emboldened by their Princess, more and more ponies began to fight back against the humans, forcing their number to grow smaller and smaller. In turn human attacks happened less and less in the following years. With fewer numbers, their victims had better odds of survival, repelling their attacks and putting an end to them. After many years, the human attacks ceased altogether, but that wasn't enough for the Sisters. Spells were crafted specifically to track humans for miles. They wanted the human race eradicated. They sent guards around the country, and the elder sister still ventured out to make sure that the vile race would never rise to see another day. Any human they found, they killed without hesitation. From the elders to the young, none were spared from the wrath of the ponies. Eventually, their spells stopped working, and the ponies couldn't find any further traces of the humans, the eldest sister leaving for one final excursion of their nation. Her search brought nothing. They had done it. The human race, was extinct. After this fact was made known, ponykind rejoiced. No longer would they have to suffer by the hands of humans. Celebrations were held, and praise was brought to the elder sister for her actions. The younger sister received no accolades or praise, despite the fact she was the one who had originally wanted to wipe the humans from the face of the planet, and became bitter over the years, but that's a different story. With no more humans, the beasts became forgotten over time, shifting from a thing to be feared, to a myth and then from a myth, to a legend. The only remains of the humans were in history books and tomes of mythological creatures, and even then their tales had become corrupted over the course of time. Only a few passed down knowledge and the tales of what the beasts had done and still held the tools used to strike them down, these instruments also being lost to time. However, there were two minds that never forgot what the humans had done, they could never forget the atrocities that were committed by man, and they would have the rest of eternity to think remember what they had done. Celestia, ruler of the day. The pony who destroyed the human race. and Luna, ruler of the night. The pony who had been severely injured by man.
Chapter 1It was a beautiful day in Dreamland. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and for once Planet Popstar wasn't in grave danger! Everyone on the planet surface was taking full advantage of the day. However two in particular were having more fun than anyone else in Dreamland. "Come on Ribbon! We can set up right over here!" "Alright Adeleine! Wait for me!" Adeleine and Ribbon were out in the fields, looking for a place to play games. The two were moving as fast as they could, Adeleine running, and Ribbon flying through the sky trying catch up. At last, the human girl came to a halt. "Right here should do it!" Adeleine exclaimed, as she pulled out her portable easel. Ribbon had managed to catch up to her by now, panting lightly. "So. . ." The fairy began. "Is this the place you were looking for?" Adeleine turned to face her friend, who had decided to settle down on the ground. "Correct!" Adeleine smiled, as she finished setting her things up. She looked at her easel and brought out her paintbrush. She put an hand up to her chin and her face fell in thought. 'What to paint. . ." the painter thought aloud. Hearing her query, Ribbon spoke up. "How about a bubble gun?" she offered. Adeleine was brought from her thoughts and she her face broke out into a grin. "Good idea Ribbon!" she said, already stroking the her brush across the canvas. With speed and accuracy that would put most painters to shame, she painted two pink bubble guns. They looked rather rushed, but the painter wasn't exactly going for high quality, she didn't really need to. Once she deemed the picture done, she took a step back and watched as the two bubble weapons magically fell from the canvas and onto the ground, gaining depth as they did so. Adeleine walked up to one and picked it up. She smiled deviously as she turned to face her fairy friend. "Hey Ribbon. . ." she said ominously. Ribbon gulped. "Y-yes Adeleine?" she stammered. Adeleline's grin grew wider. "Think fast!" The painter shouted, raising her weapon and firing a stream of bubbles towards the fairy girl. Ribbon squeaked in reply, taking flight just fast enough to avoid the barrage of bubbles. "Hey no fair!" she called out, as Adeleine began chasing her around, firing bubble shots towards the small fairy. Eventually though Ribbon managed to loop around back to the canvas, nabbing the second bubble gun. Adeleine's face fell as Ribbon cocked her weapon. "Heh heh. . . oh boy." Ribbon fired towards the painter, giggling as the bubbles managed to hit their target. exploding in a shower of water. "Ah! I've been hit!" Adeleine shouted in mock pain, before running from the fairy. She began firing her own weapon again, this time actually managing to hit her target. Ribbon yelped, before giving chase to her human friend. The two ran around the field for what seemed like hours, shooting bubbles at each other, and dodging the other ones attacks. Ribbon was a far better shot than Adeleine though and so the painter ended up taking more "damage" than the fairy did. "Tactical retreat!" Adeleine suddenly shouted, and darted off, giggling as she ran. "Oh no you don't!" Ribbon shouted, and flew after her, firing a few bubbles as she did. They ran through the fields away from the area they were in. They were having too much fun, and they didn't plan on stopping anytime soon. So engrossed in their game they were, that they didn't noticed a danger sign placed just to the side, they ran right past it never even knowing it existed. The two continued their chase, Adeleine looking behind her so as to dodge Ribbon's bubble shots. Ribbon was about to fire another round before the fairy suddenly noticed something ahead. There was a gaping hole in the ground and Adeleine was currently running straight for it! "Wha?!- Adeleine look out! Stop!" she shouted, pointing at the danger ahead. The painter girl's face fell to confusion and alarm, and she turned around just in time to fall into the abyss, shrieking as the world turned to darkness. "Adeleine!" Ribbon shouted. The fairy quickly flew into action, diving into the hole. She summoned a crystal beneath her, and rocketed downwards slowly catching up to the falling girl. Adeleine managed to stop screaming as she noticed the glow of the crystal above her. The wind was rushing through her ears but she managed to hear what the fairy was currently shouting at her. "Adeleine grab my hand! Hurry!" The painter reached out as best she could, the crystal carrying her salvation drawing ever closer to her. Soon the fairy was just about in reach of her, when all of a sudden, everything went dark and Adeleine felt nothing more. It was a splendid day in Ponyville. By all means it was just an ordinary day, but to everypony who lived in the town, today just felt special. Ponies walked to and fro, enjoying each other's company as they went about their day. Some sold various goods in the market, while others simply lounged around on a bench, taking in the warm rays of Princess Celestia's sun. There was a bell that rang nearby, signalling the end of the school day for the young fillies and colts that attended. A trio of fillies in particular stood from the rest of their classmates. An earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn raced past the rest of their classmates with tremendous speed. They were known by the entire town as, The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Consisting of Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, the three fillies were on a constant hunt for their cutie marks. "Come on you two!" Applebloom called back towards her friends, the longer it takes fer us to make it to the club house, the less time we'll have to try and find our cutie marks!" "I wonder what awesome thing we could try this time!" Scootaloo exclaimed, her wings buzzing with excitement. "We won't know until we get to the clubhouse Scootaloo." Sweetie belle called out from behind her friends. "But I'm sure that whatever we do, we'll get our cutie marks this time!" The trio ran clear through Ponyville and up the road towards Sweet Apple Acres. Passing through the gates open land shifted to apple trees that went on as far as the eyes could see, and the three fillies grinned in unison. They were nearly there now. They ran for about a minute more not stopping for anything before their clubhouse came into view. They wasted no time climbing up the ramps leading up to the door. The trio charged inside, skidding to a halt in the middle of the room. "Finally!" Scootaloo exclaimed. She turned to face Applebloom. "Alright what are we going to do!? Wrestle bears, go zip-lining? O-oo ooo, or maybe some cool stunts!?" She couldn't contain her excitement. "Scoots we already tried those" Applebloom deadpanned. "The tree sap and injures from the latter two had us holed at home for a few days, and Fluttershy still forbids us from ever seeing Harry the bear after the last time." Scootaloo sheepishly looked towards the floor. "So what ARE we going to do for our cutie marks Applebloom?" Sweetie Belle questioned. At her question Applebloom smirked. She trotted over towards the podium and pulled out a large book. The cover read, "Mythological Creatures of Legend." Upon seeing the book, Scootaloo groaned loudly. "Seriously?" she deadpanned. "You brought us out here to read a book? How it that supposed to get us our cutie marks?" Applebloom glared at her friend. "This ain't some run of the mill book Scootaloo!" the earth pony replied. "Take a look at this!" She opened the book and began flipping the pages. The other two fillies moved closer, peering skeptically at the pages. Inside the book there were, various sketches and drawings of creatures they had never seen or even heard of before. "What are all these things?" Sweetie Belle wondered aloud, looking at the various creatures that were drawn upon the pages. "Apparently these are creatures that roamed Equestria a long time ago!" Applebloom replied. "Supposedly, many of them evolved into creatures that we know today!" Sweetie Belle looked on with interest, while Scootaloo yawned loudly. "So what exactly do these things have to do with us and our cutie marks?" the pegasus groaned. "Ah'm glad ya asked." Applebloom smirked, lightly poking the pegasus on the muzzle. She flipped further into the book, stopping on a page that held three odd figures. It was depicted as some sort of hairless monkey, the only hair shown being on the top of their heads. They stood tall while wearing very basic types of cloth around there waist and in some cases their upper chest. They seemed to have a friendly enough grin, but it seemed. . . wrong. . . in a way. A quick look at the top of the page read. . . "Applebloom, what exactly is a . . . . .hoo-man?" Applebloom frowned at her friends. "That's something I want to know too." She said softly. I got the book from Zecora! She said that her people liked to write about creatures that they discovered and what uses they might have!" She turned back towards the book. "She said this book was passed down generation after generation and that everything in this book did in fact roam the planet at one point or another!" Applebloom smiled at her friends. Sweetie Belle seemed to be on board while, Scootaloo still seemed a bit disinterested. "Well what are we waiting for!?" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, snatching the book from Applebloom, she skimmed the contents of the page on to frown a bit. "Ahh. . . the pages are smudged a bit." "Ah know." Applebloom sighed. "Ah asked Zecora bout it, but she got real quiet and simply moved on to somethin else." "Well we can at least see what's still here Applebloom." Sweetie smiled weakly. "Though looking at it there's really only a few words. Looking back at the book, she began to read. "The human is a . . . . . . creature of d-vi--t-t-i-n. . . . . . . .It has been hunted for. . . . . . .laying waste to everything." "So it puts trash everywhere it goes?" Applebloom scrunched her muzzle. "That's kinda weird." Sweetie Belle continued reading. "If one sees a human. . . . . d-st-u--ion is near. It is...." Sweetie Belle was interrupted by Scootaloo, how shoved her out of the way. "Come on Sweetie Belle!" she shouted "We don't have all day! Just skip over this stuff and see if there's anything interesting." Before her friends could protest, the orange pegasus began skimming through the rest of the pages, she had to re-read a few parts as badly smudged as they were, but eventually her eyes fell upon something that made her jaw drop. She remained motionless for a time, prompting her friends to see what had her so shocked. They promptly had the same reaction. At the very bottom of the page was a simple phrase. A phrase that had put their minds into overdrive. ". . . capture of a human, will grant you anything your heart desires. . . ." The three started at the words for what seemed like hours. Then they looked up at one another. A grin broke across their faces at once. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER HUMAN HUNTERS YEAH!" "Girls, maybe this was a bad idea." Sweetie Belle trembled, as the group of friends walked further into the dreaded Everfree forest. "Come on Sweetie Belle, don't be such a scaredy cat!" scoffed Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle pouted with annoyance, but said nothing further. The three fillies knew that the forest was dangerous, so they planned to only go a little farther than Zecora's home at the max. The sounds of various animals and creatures were everywhere, tittering and tattering everywhere the three went. It was a bit annoying but the three continued on. Eventually, they came across a the small clearing where Zecora's tree hut stood tall. "Alright, this is it it girls." Applebloom smiled, glancing back to her following friends. "If we can find ourselves a human we'll get our cutie marks for sure!" "And if we can't get our cutie marks that way, we could ask for some money instead!" Scootaloo chimed in, wings buzzing happily at the prospect. "That way, if we don't get cutie marks for this, we could at least have money to fund our other ideas!" The idea swirled within the minds of the young ponies, being able to afford higher quality materials and items for their futures plans should this one fall through. That was enough to re-invigorate them. With a nod the three ran forwards, darting into the foliage ahead of them. The soon came to a halt further inside the brush. "Alright." Applebloom began, waving her companions over to huddle. "We can't go too far in otherwise we could run into trouble, so pay attention to how far you go!" The other crusaders nodded, and with that they broke away from the huddle and started looking. At first they stayed relatively close to each other peering into bushes and peering into holes. Sweetie Belle checked under a rock. But as time passed on, the three began to separate from each other, heading on their own path to find one of the mysterious humans. Time continued to pass and soon the sun was quite low in the sky. The crusaders would have to leave soon, or risk being caught in the Everfree at night, and that was a venture they didn't want to risk. With a sigh each of them began walking back they way they had came, meeting up at Zecora's hut. "Did ya'll find anything?" Applebloom questioned when she stepped into the clearing. Scootaloo sighed and Sweetie Belle looked down. "Welp, guess thats a bust then." Applebloom said, glumly. "Maybe would could try again tomorrow?" "I guess." Sweetie Belle muttered halfheartedly. "Maybe we should just try something else." "Yeah this turned out to be a bust." Scootaloo stated bluntly. "I call dibs on choosing what we do for cutie marks next time." "Alright alright." Applebloom sighed. "Fer now though, we should just worry about getting home, its startin to get REALLY late." The others agreed and ran off. The clearing was silent for a time. Suddenly, without warning, there was a flash. A bright light swirled into existence a ways away from the hut. With a loud *THUD* two figures fell out of the light, both landing in a large bush to the side while the light quickly dissipated. Moments later, the door to the hut opened, revealing a groggy zebra. Zecora sleepily peered around, trying to see what may have caused the disturbance. Finding nothing, she returned inside, as unaware as every other creature on the planet was of their new arrivals.
Chapter 2"Arrgghh." Adeleine awoke with a groan. Her body ached, feeling bones popping and cracking slightly as she made to sit up. She found it slightly difficult to do as she was caught in a bush, but she managed to pull herself out with little issue. It took a moment for things to catch up to her. "W-wait. . .I'm alive?" She questioned softly. She felt herself over, making sure that she was really in one peice. seeing nothing really wrong with her, a massive grin spread across he face. "I'M ALIVE!"" she exclaimed, jumping with joy. She began to dance a bit, aches and slight pains completely forgotten. She was in the middle of doing the wave when she noticed something pink out of the corner of her eye. She peered down to find Ribbon, snoring lightly within the confines of the bush she had pulled herself out of moments before. The girl wrapped her arms around the sleeping fairy and slowly began to untangle her from the bush's branches, being extra careful as to not hurt her or ruin her clothing. It had taken a bit of effort, but eventually the human had free'd he friend. "Ribbon? Ribbon, wake up we're alive!" The human exclaimed. The fairy stirred from her sleep slightly, slowly opening her eyes. "Adeleine. . ." she said softly, fluttering her eyes closed after a moment. Suddenly, her eyes shot open, and she rocketed upwards, startling the painter and causing her to tumble. "Adeleine!" Ribbon shouted, frantically flying circles around the area. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no OH NO!!! Where could she be, she could be really hurt! ADELEINE WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!!" "Down here." came a voice. Ribbon paused from her panicked yell and looked down to see a slightly amused Adeleine. Ribbon flew down and gripped her friend in a tight hug. "Adeleine!" the fairy exclaimed, heaving a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're okay! I thought I thought I had lost you!" Seeing her friend in distress the painter returned Ribbon's hug. "Don't worry Ribbon, I'm fine!" the artist soothed. "At most I've got a few scratches, but otherwise nothing too bad." Her words helped soothe the fairy a little bit, but Ribbon continued to hug her friend, as if she would disappear should she let go. Adeleine got back up onto her feet and looked around. They seemed to be in some sort of forest, but didn't they fall down into a hole? How would that even work? However Adeleine was stirred from her thoughts when there was the sound of something shattering, and a voice shouting out in slight frustration. Ribbon, startled, let go of the painter and the two were immediately on the defensive. "W-what was that?" Adeleine stammered, frantically looking around. Then her gaze fell upon something rather peculiar. Her eyes widened a bit. "Hey Ribbon, look!" she said in a hushed voice, pointing into a clearing. Ahead of them was a tree, but it wasn't an ordinary tree. It had windows built into the sides, and a door at its front. A dim light filled up the interior, flickering ever so slightly. "It looks like someone live outs here." Ribbon said softly. "Maybe we could ask them for directions or at the very least, ask where we are." The two relaxed a bit and made their way towards the hut. Once they reached the door, Adeleine reached out and gave it a couple of knocks. "Hello?" the painter called out, "Is anyone inside? My friend and I are kinda lost and we kinda need some directions!" There was the sound of . . . footsteps? The were loud and sharp, more like if someone was clacking two stones togethert than actual shoes. The door was opened and out stepped. "Huh? Is. . . is that a zebra?" Before Adeleine and Ribbon stood a zebra, but it was unlike any zebra Adeleine had seen before. It had rings on its forelegs and had its mane in a mohawk. It also seemed to posess a strange marking on its hind-quarters. Currently it was staring at the two with widened eyes and seemed to be trembling a bit. The zebra looked at the two beings before it, before promptly slamming the door hard in their faces with a shout. The unexpected action made Adeleine flinch, causing her to stumble. "H-hey!" she exclaimed, knocking on the door once more. Zecora was terrified. Every impact against the door made her curl up tighter and tighter in the corner. She had dealt with many creatures in her life of all shapes and sizes. However she was not prepared to deal with the horrors that were currently clawing at the entrance of her home, trying to worm their way in, likely to eat her. Or worse. . . Eventually, the banging stopped, but the Zebra was too far gone in her fear to really notice. And there she stayed for the rest of the day. After knocking on the door a couple more times, Adeleine finally gave up. "Well that was a bust." she sighed. Ribbon simply gave her young human companion a pat on the back. "Aw cheer up!" the the fairy said kindly. "Perhaps we can find our way out of this forest ourselves!" "I guess." Adeleine responded, though she was rather unsure. "Maybe I could fly up and see where we are?" Ribbon offered. Adeleine nodded in agreement, it was better than nothing and it would be best to see if there was anything of interest. Ribbon began to ascend higher into the sky, eventually breaking through the tree line and looking about. She quickly spotted a village in the distance, though it was unlike any she had seen before. The fairy soon came back down into the forest and told her friend her findings. "There's a town in the distance headed that way." She said, pointing through the trees. "We'd best get a move on though, this forest makes me feel a bit uneasy." Adeleine gave a cheeky grin in response. "Well in that case. . ." She began, pulling out her paint brush. "I believe I've got just the thing!" She reached back to bring out her portable easle, only to find nothing there. "Wait what?" the painter stammered, checking her other pockets. There were art supplies and a few sheets of regular sized paper she had folded up, but to her horror the easel wasn't there. "Uh. . . . Ribbon? You wouldn't have happened to bring my easel or my canvas with you, would you?" The painter asked pleadingly. Realising what her friend was getting at, the fairy sadly shook her head. "I'm afraid not." the fairy confirmed with her voice a moment later. "We were just so caught up playing that we kinda just left it behind." Adeleine groaned. "Ugh. Guess we'll just have to go on foot." she sighed. And began walking in the direction that Ribbon had pointed in. "H-hey! Wait up!" Ribbon called out, trying to console her friend as the two walked further into the brush. It had taken a bit more time than either had expected but eventually the two found that that vegetation was slowly starting to get thinner and thinner. Trees began to look a bit more normal and the foliage was looking a bit brighter. Eventually they finally managed to find the exit. The two peered around at their new surroundings. It looked beautiful, but something didn't quite add up. "Hey Ribbon?" Adeleine began. "I don't think I've ever seen this area before in Dreamland, have you?" The fairy shook her head. "No, I haven't. In fact, this looks almost nothing like Dreamland! No windmill trees, no dome hills, I'm pretty sure as large as the Dreamstalk is we should be able to see it from almost anywhere. . ." The fairy began to ponder the implications of their predicament. "You don't think we might have like, fallen to the other side of Popstar do you!?" Adeleine questioned worriedly. Ribbon giggled in response. "I don't think that could happen Adeleine." the fairy smiled "We still should see where we are at the moment." The two looked out, spotting the town just a little ways ahead of them. "Come on! Maybe there will be someone in town that could help us out!" With nothing else needing to be said the pair took off towards the town, smiling the whole way. As they ran they took in the sights around them, despite not seeing any familiar land marks they still had to admit that wherever they were it was really nice. Birds chirped happily and a gentle breeze swept through the air. All in all it despite being lost, it was rather pleasant here. After a few minutes of running, the town was right upon them. The dirt road gave way to stone walkway as they ran over the bridge. As entered the village they came to a halt, gasping at what they saw. Ponies. Ponies EVERYWHERE! There were lots of them, all in many different colors and hues. Adeleine, even as a painter, was shocked by the amount of colors they seemed to have. Strangely enough they all seemed to have an image on their rears. Equally as strange, was the fact that every single pony in the area was staring at them as if they would tear their heads off. "Uh. . ." was all the painter could mutter, before there was an ear-peircing shriek. "EVERYPONY RUN! IT'S A--- IT'S A-------HUMAAAAAN!!!!!" After that, everything devolved into madness. Ponies were darting left and right, knocking over stands, and generally causing a big mess of things. In only a few moments the town seemed to be devoid of life. "Well. . ." Ribbon spoke, after the event had transpired. "That. . . was certainly something." "I guess they're afraid of me?" Adeleine questioned. "I mean, one off them yelled human and then they all ran away!" she then paused, realizing something. "Oh dear, do you think that's why that zebra from before slammed the door in our face?" "Possibly." Ribbon responded. "But for now, we should probably see if we can convince the locals that we mean no harm." Adeleine agreed. The two ventured further into the town. As they walked they looked around a bit, the buildings were constructed with stone and the roofs way made of hay. The two shared a laugh at the irony of ponies using hay for building, before continuing on. Every now and then they would shout out, stating that they were lost, or that they were harmless, but nobody ever ventured outside their abodes. Suddenly, there was the sound of a bell clanging in the distance. "Huh? Was- was that a bell?" Adeleine questioned aloud. "Must've been the change of an hour or something." "Has it really been that long?" Ribbon asked. "I dunno." The painter responded. "Honestly though, who knows how long we've been here." The human slumped, heaving a sigh. "Come on, maybe we can find someone who can help elsewhere." The two picked a direction and slowly made their way through the town, unaware of the event that were about to happen. The bell had only begun to ring when three small blurs shot out of Ponyville Schoolhouse. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweeie belle were running full tilt towards the town, leaving the rest of their classmates in the dust. "Alright then!" Scootaloo said as the three galloped closer to Ponyville. "Since I'm choosing what we're doing to earn our cutie marks this time, I've got something just for the occasion at Sugarcube Corner!" The other fillies looked at one another before asking the obvious. "What is it?" Sweetie and Applebloom questioned their friend to which the orange pegasus simply told them "It's a surprise!" Seeing how they probably wouldn't be able to get their friend to spill the beans, they decide to wait and see. The three ran ahead, finally entering the town. As they ran they seemed to notice that something was off, slowing down a bit. "Uh girls?" Sweetie spoke up. "Where is everypony?" "I dunno. . ." Applebloom said after running the oddity through her mind. "Usually when this sort of thing happens its because of a. . . " She didn't finish her sentence as her eyes widened and her pupils shrunk. Soon enough Sweetie Belle came to the same conclusion, followed by Scootaloo. "We better find a place to hide!" Applebloom whisper-yelled to her friends, both of them quickly nodding in agreement. The trio soon began to travel as quickly yet quietly as they could. If something dangerous really was on the loose in Ponyville, it would be best not to draw its attention. The time seemed agonizingly slow to the three as they looked around, trying to see if anypony was willing to open their doors and let them in. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and they were forced to continued on with their search. "Maybe we should go to Sugarcube corner!" Sweetie whispered to her friends. "We were on our way there anyway, and I'm sure Pinkie would let us in." The others, seeing no real reason not to, silently agreed, and began making their way towards the bakery, Scootaloo in the lead. They were just turning a corner when Scootaloo bumped into something. Too close to stop themselves, Sweetie and Applebloom stumbled into the pegasus. "Arrgh. . . Scootaloo what did ya. . . stop. . . . . .for." Applebloom's voice faded away as her jaw dropped. Sweetie and Scootaloo were in a similar state. There before them, was a pair of humans. Or at least they looked like humans. One of them was rather big, standing a little under the height of the average pony, but still much taller than they were. It had short black hair with purple eyes. Atop its head it wore a what a red beret and its torso was concealed by a green dress. At the bottom, the human seemed to wear some sort of brown covering for its feet. All and all a perfect replica of a human, albeit a young one based on its height if their book was to be believed. As for the other one, they weren't so sure. This one had pink hair, and was about the size of the of the other one's head, if not a tad bit larger. It wore a bright red dress, with a ribbon in it's hair to match. Two pink bee-like wings protruded out from its back, fluttering quickly to keep itself afloat. It didn't seem to have any legs, but it still seemed to have feet. All and all, both seemed to be similar enough. Maybe this flying one was kind of like a pegasus version of it? Then the bigger human shuffled. "Uh. . . Hi?" Author's Note Yep. Sorry for those who wanted Zecora to speak, but I'm fairly certain I'm not good enough with rhymes in order to pull off her character properly.
