"It's burning!" Sunset shouts, "Twilight! It's burning!"
"How?" Twilight replies, running down the hallway: "What happened?"
"It's burning under the Sun!" Sunset says: "Quick! Cover it with something!"
"What the..." Twilight can't believe her eyes: the wendigo they captured yesterday is burning alive. Within seconds, it turns into a pile of dust.
"Holy..." Sunset kneels next to the ashes: "Twilight? What is that thing?"
"A wendigo! With a wolf's head!" Twilight says, scratching her head: "But how?"
"It was burning, like a vampire!" Sunset asks: "Twilight, tell me, where did you find it?"
"In a wendigo's nest!" Twilight takes off her glasses: "It was the only one remaining. It didn't fight back, so I brought it back."
"Twilight, do you think..." After a moment of pondering, Sunset asks: "They are breeding with each other?"
"I am afraid so," Twilight says, messaging her temples: "Sunset, I don't whether you noticed this or not, but this is the third crossbred we ran into this month."
"Yeah, I remember," Sunset says: "Something odd is going on, Twilight. We have to do something."
"I know." Twilight puts her glasses back on: "Do we have a map here?"
"Of course," Sunset says, taking out a map of the town they are in: "It's a small one. Hope it'll do."
"Splendid," Twilight says: "Let's take a look."
Twilight takes out two highlighters from her pocket, highlighting several places with the yellow one: "Those are the locations of nests, however," She proceeds to mark some places with the red one: "Take a look, those are the nests with abnormal activities."
"So the closer we get to the town, the more anomalies we get?" Sunset asks.
"Seems like it," Twilight says: "But there's only two of us here."
"I'll call Applejack and Rainbow Dash," Sunset says.
"And I'll request more equipment from Rarity," Twilight adds: "We have to do a thorough research of the town's map before anything else."
"Say, Twilight, do you think the legend is real?" Sunset asks: "The one about the mother of all monsters."
"I don't think so," Twilight says, taking the map from Sunset's hands: "Besides, even monsters can't live forever. If there's a mother of monsters, it should be dead centuries ago."
"Right," Sunset says: "I wonder what are we for monsters: preys? Meat? Or enemies?"
"Doesn't matter," Twilight answers, still looking at the map: "They are a threat for the human race, and we need to eliminate them before they annihilate us."
"Of course," Sunset stretches: "So do you want to call them? Or do you want me to do it?"
"Can you do it for me?" Twilight says: "Can you bring me a larger copy?"
"Fine," Sunset takes out her phone: "Good luck."
"Twilight?" Sunset knocks on Twilight's door: "You there? Rarity was under attack, and she's too sick to provide any aid!"
"What?" Twilight shouts: "One minute!"
A moment later, the door is open: "What happened?"
"Attacked by Flying Rods," Sunset continues: "I didn't even know those things are capable of attacking people!"
"Technically speaking," Twilight says: "If you got enough of them, yes."
"Twilight, we have to stop," Sunset says, grabbing Twilight's shoulder: "I know you want to get to the bottom of this, but I've got a terrible feeling about this! Think about it! Have you ever heard of flying rods attacking people before? Rarity nonetheless?"
"Calm down," Twilight says: "It's not like they are planning it out or something."
"I don't know," Sunset shakes her head: "But flying rods never come down to earth and target someone like this! They can't even live more than an hour down on earth!"
"You are right," Twilight says: "But remember, they don't have a brain."
"Whatever," Sunset sighs, letting go of Twilight's shoulder: "Rainbow and Applejack are arriving soon, though."
"Actually, do you have a moment?" Twilight says: "I want to show you something."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Come in," Twilight says: "Are you familiar with galdrastafir?"
"With what?" Sunset shrugs, entering the room.
"Icelandic magic staves," Twilight points to a larger map on the wall: "If I connect all the major roads, it forms a Lukkustafir."
"A what?"
"Lukkustafir," Twilight explains: "It protects you from evil."
"Viking, ha?" Sunset replies: "Seems like this town is older than we thought."
"Are are talking about potential Viking ancestry?" Twilight says: "It's interesting."
"Anyway," Sunset adds: "Have you seen anyone else in the town? I mean, we haven't seen anyone so far. Even this motel is empty. They just put the keys under a rug! Can you believe it?"
"I know," Twilight sighs: "But we have no choice. Just be careful and don't leave the house, ok?"
"Right," Sunset replies: "About that Lukkustafir thing, do you think it means anything?"
"Perhaps," Twilight adds: "It probably indicates something about monsters."
"Like, a lot of monsters around?" Sunset says: "Think about it, an empty town constructed after a symbol against evil? Sounds right."
"I know," Twilight adds: "But we are not backing up."
"Look, Twilight," Sunset says: "It's way too dangerous to stay here. We need to find a place and..."
"We have nowhere else to go!" Twilight cuts Sunset off: "Look, This is the only town around!"
"Twilight, this is a trap!" Sunset says: "Think about it! No equipment? An empty town in the middle of nowhere? Use your head! Twilight!"
"Sunset, Sunset, Sunset," Twilight shakes her head: "For all we know, monsters are incapable of higher cognitive functions."
"I know!" Sunset continues: "But it's too much of an accident!"
"Don't worry," Twilight says: "We'll be fine."
"I hope so," Sunset replies: "I really hope so."
"So, what's the plan now?" Rainbow asks: "Which monster are we going to destroy next?"
"Actually," Twilight says: "We are not destroying anything tonight."
"We are staying here until dawn," Sunset says: "And our only mission is to stay safe and observe."
"Sugercube," Applejack says: "I don't mean to offend you, but..."
"Yeah, I know," Twilight says: "It sounds boring, and I am sure that you guys are capable of fighting off herds of monsters, but things are a bit different. Monsters nearby don't attack."
"Speaking of which," Rainbow adds: "I saw a Goatman on my way here. It just ran off like a normal goat."
"What does it look like?" Sunset asks.
"It gave me a creepy smile before running away," Rainbow continues: "And it has the teeth of a Chupacabra."
"And I saw a werewolf with the eyes of a vampire, and it didn't attack either!" Applejack says.
"That's why we are not doing anything tonight," Twilight says: "We plan to stay inside and observe."
"What if monsters attack?" Sunset asks.
"Thay can't," Twilight says: "Remember how the town was constructed? It was built this way, so monsters would not be able to attack humans."
"I don't get it," Rainbow adds: "What do you mean?"
"Just remember," Twilight says: "Magic does exist."
As night falls, creatures of all manners comes out and roams the town. They come out of the seemingly empty houses, and walk the street as if they are the residents.
"How very peculiar," Twilight says, looking through her binoculars: "They don't seem to be fighting each other."
"They seem at peace with each other," Sunset adds: "It looks like they are pretty familiar with everything around here."
"Almost too familiar," Rainbow says: "They might have lived here for a long time, but they are monsters after all."
"Do you think they are just normal people in customs?" Applejack asks: "I've never seen monsters behaving this way! They look almost..."
"Humans?" Sunset says, handing Applejack a binocular: "I know, but they aren't. Here, take a look."
"This seems like a monster settlement," Twilight says, putting down her binoculars and takes out a notebook: "This maybe a trap, so let's get prepared."
"I don't think they are smart enough for that," Applejack adds, taking out a bag full of herbs: "But getting prepared is never a bad thing, just like Granny Smith said."
"Um, girls," Sunset says: "We've got a problem."
Outside of the window, they see a group of monsters, gathered in front of their place, appears to be talking with each other.
"We are doomed," Rainbow says, taking out a crossbow: "But we are not going down without fighting!"
"Actually, I don't think they are planning anything," Sunset says, looking outside of the window: "Seems like they are leaving."
"Most unusual," Twilight says, as she shifts her attention from her rapier to the crowd outside: "It seems like they are walking away."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Applejack says, while spreading salt around the room: "There, all done."
"Actually, they are forced to leave," Twilight says: "Some bigger things came over and they left, how very curious. It's almost like..."
"Like some authority came over and made them leave?" Sunset says.
"Indeed," Twilight continues: "Perhaps this town is ran by monsters."
"Pfft, don't make me laugh," Rainbow says: "Those cryptids? Running a town?"
"Rainbow's right," Applejack adds, assembling her mace: "They are nothing but brainless killing machines."
"If that's the case," Sunset explains: "Then we were surrounded by mindless killing machines just a minute ago! They had every reason to maul us right three and then!"
"Maybe," Applejack says, while pouring fire powder into her weapon: "But wouldn't it be easier if we let our guard down?"
"They are not intelligent enough to form such a plan," Twilight says, taking out her notebook: "The best explanation we can get is that they formed some kind of society."
"That would the the sixth strangest thing I've ever heard," Applejack says, loading her crossbow: "So we going out or what?"
"No, we are stay indoors," Twilight says while flipping through the notebook: "This town is built in a way that any evil presence won't be able to exert violences on others, on the premise that they are left alone."
"Well, that's disappointing," Rainbow tosses her crossbow aside: "So what are we going to do now?"
"Easy," Twilight closes the booklet: "Turn off the light, and observe."
Author's Note
I know this chapter is short, but the next will be longer (I promise)!
