It was a beautiful afternoon in Ponyville, and all was quiet at the Castle of Friendship. Inside the library section was Spike, who woke up a couple of hours ago, ate breakfast, and started his chores. As he was sweeping the floors of the library, he suddenly felt his stomach grumble, then he let out a burp of green fires. The fires manifested into a letter, which landed on the ground. Spike picked up the letter and saw the seal on it.

"A letter from the Princess? I wonder what's going on," Spike told himself.

Suddenly the doors to the library burst open, and Twilight, along with her friends came rushing in. Twilight noticed the letter with Celestia's seal on it in Spike's hands.

"The Princess sent a letter? She must've felt it too then," said Twilight.

"Felt what?" Spike asked.

"It was a feeling of some kind. Whatever it was, it was dark and powerful, possibly more powerful than Sombra."

"P-possibly more powerful than Sombra?!" Spike asked with a hint of fear.

"Spike, read the letter."

Spike opened the letter and started reading.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I'm writing to you because of something urgent. Luna and I felt a strong presence, and it can quite possibly be more powerful than King Sombra. I'm sure you felt it as well. If you did, than you understand why I'm concerned. We can't pinpoint exactly where this darkness originated from or where it currently is, so I ask you and your friends to be on the lookout for anything remotely suspicious. Once you find this dark presence, contain it, for I fear that it will plunge Equestria and its citizens into an era of darkness. I also ask that you don't tell anypony about this as well, for I don't want a mass panic to occur. And be careful Twilight, for we don't know what this darkness is capable of.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia

After the letter was read, Twilight looked at her friends. Applejack, Rarity, and Spike had worried expressions, Fluttershy was scared, Rainbow had a look of confidence, and Pinkie was smiling as usual.

"Lands sakes. You must be serious about the whole darkness being powerful than Sombra if Celestia herself is worried at its mere presence," Applejack exclaimed.

"Whatever it is, I'd say we start looking for right now and kick its butt. We can take it," Rainbow said.

"OH! You think that if we befriend it, we can have parties with it?! Gasp. ANOTHER REFORMED VILLAIN?! That would be amazing!" Pinkie cheered.

"Pinkie. We don't even know if this is a living creature we're talking about. And even if it is, if it's in possession of dark magic, and is more powerful than the king of shadows, than I'm pretty sure there's no befriending it," Twilight stated.

"I'm afraid Twilight is right darling. If there was no hope in befriending Sombra, then who's to say that this one will?" Rarity asked.

"I-I really hope you're wrong about this. I don't wanna fight something that's darker than Sombra," Fluttershy said.

"Well, until we know for sure, I'd say we be on the lookout. I'll try to see if I can use my magic to pinpoint the location of the darkness. I just hope it doesn't hurt anypony anytime soon, nor does anypony besides us to look for it," Twilight said with worry.

Meanwhile at the entrance of the Everfree Forest

"So Applebloom, tell why we're going into the Everfree Forest again," said an orange pegasus filly with a magenta mane and tail.

"I told ya already Scootaloo. We're going to Zecora's so we can practice potion making," said a yellow earth pony filly with a red mane and tail and a large pink bow.

"Correction. So you can practice potion making," said Sweetie Belle.

"Well, can ya blame me for not wanting to go in alone? Ya'll know how ma sister gets when I go into the Everfree alone," Applebloom said.

"I guess you're right. Besides, there's no way we would let you go in alone," said Scootaloo.

"Yeah, after all, we're..." Sweetie Belle started.

"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS! YAY!" all three fillies yelled before they went into the forest.

After a few hours of walking through the forest without finding any signs of life besides animals, Kyle started to get both worried and aggravated. He didn't jump through the trees nor use his tendrils to travel in fear of anybody he finds thinking he was a predator of some kind. In a way, he was, but that's besides the point. The point is that it was starting to get on his nerves.

Groan. "Where in the world is civilization? I've been walking for who knows how long. I hate using these powers, but I guess I don't have any other choice," Kyle thought.

Deciding he wasn't getting anywhere, he decided to use something he always hated even since he got them, his beast-like abilities. Calming his mind, he focused all of his senses, especially his senses of smell and hearing to try find civilization. Through his heightened senses, Kyle has been able to find targets that are, at most, 3 miles away. And it worked, about 2-3 miles away was a sound. It was faint, but very noticeable to Kyle. It was the sound of talking. From what he could hear, there were three voices in total, one with a country accent, one a bit raspy, and one squeaky. Judging by how young they sounded, Kyle deduced that these were kids.

"I really hope those kids aren't in this forest. I'm pretty sure this would give anybody the creeps. Anyways, looks there's civilization on this world after all. Thank god. Now I just got to introduce myself."

Getting on all fours, Kyle proceeded to stampede towards the voices. When he was about 1.5 miles away from them, he decided to hop onto the trees and continued jumping. As he was jumping, Kyle thought about how he was gonna introduce himself, and not make him look like a monster, even though he does look like one.

"I suppose I can act like a docile dog, but that might make me look something that can be tamed and become some kind of pet. So how can I let them know that I'm not an animal, but in fact a sentient being? Hell, how am I gonna let them know I'm even human?" Sigh. "It's times like these that I really wish my transformation didn't take away my ability to speak."

After a few minutes of traversing, Kyle hopped onto the ground and proceeded to jog onwards. With a little less than a mile away from the kids, he slowly started to get worried about how they will react to him at first glance. He knew that he looked like a beast that will kill people without a second thought, but deep down, he was a kind soul that only wishes to be accepted for who he is, not what he looks like. However, that's what he thought. He remembered one time where he got out into that dark forest and looked for other people. He specifically remembered a girl wearing a pink top, runner's pants, and had pigtails. He tried his best to let the girl know he was friendly, but she thought otherwise. She freaked out and ran away after a few seconds of noticing him. He shook his head upon that memory.

"That was different. She was in the Trials, where it's very dark and she died pretty much everyday. She probably thought I was one of the killers. This place is bright and colorful, so there has to be some people willing to accept me for who I am and not what I look like. Right?"

"Applebloom, are you sure we're going the right way?" Sweetie Belle asked with a worry and fear.

"Yeah, cause it looks like we're lost," Scootallo said.

"Of course we're going the right way. We're just...taking a shortcut?" Applebloom lied while sweating.

"Just admit it Applebloom. We're lost. And besides, you're a terrible liar," Scootaloo said.

"Ok alright, we're lost. I think we went the wrong way. And besides, it's not my fault I'm a terrible liar. My sister's the Element of Honesty for lands sake," Applebloom said.

"W-well, d-do you at least know the way back?" Sweetie asked.

"Um..."

Scootaloo facehoofed at this and Sweetie started to get a bit more scared. Obviously, they were lost and had no idea how to get back. They knew the dangers of the Everfree Forest and still decided to enter, but it was all to ensure that a friend doesn't enter alone, so...

All of a sudden, they heard growling nearby. The three fillies looked where the noise came from and saw three pairs of glowing green eyes in the darkness. They stepped away from the eyes, knowing what those eyes belonged to, one of the common dangers of the Everfree. The eyes came closer, and the creatures they belonged revealed themselves in the sunlight. Full of fear, the fillies only had one option that gave them any hope of surviving. They ran.

"AAAAHHHHH!" While screaming. Can you really blame them? The creatures behind them then started to pursue their prey.

In the distance, was Kyle with a worried expression. As he was approaching the kids, he suddenly heard them scream and run away. He also the sounds of growling and running after the kids.

"Shit! Guess those kids were in the forest, and it sounds like some wolves decided to target them for their next meal." Following his heart, he chased after them in hopes that he gets to the kids before the wolves do and feast on them. "Screw introductions. I will not let any other kids die, and this time, I will not fail in saving them. Hang tight kids, I'm coming and I'll protect you."

Hearing the sounds of screaming and running come closer and closer, Kyle got on all fours, ran in a full sprint, and hopped onto the trees. He hopped from tree to tree until he saw something...weird. He saw what looked like three large wolves completely made out of wood, and they were growling and slowly approaching something. Kyle looked at what they were looking at and saw something that he wasn't sure if it was even weirder than the wolves. He saw three small ponies, one yellow, one orange, and one white, hugging each other against the bottom of a cliff. He then noticed that they were shivering in fear.

"SOMEPONY! HELP US!" the white one said. Kyle recognized the voice immediately. It was the squeaky voice, one of the three voices that he was tracking. At the moment, he realized something. These three fillies were the kids who were pursued by the wolves and were in dire need of help. Kyle could've felt many things. Shocked that there's colorful ponies that are sentient and can talk. Saddened that there's a chance there's no humans in this world. He felt neither of them. He felt determined. Determined to protect the fillies. He then got a serious expression on his face as he prepared to jump at the wolves looking to harm the kids.

"Don't worry little ones. I'll protect you," Kyle thought as he lept at the wolves.

Author's Note

So the Main 6 are now on the lookout for the dark presence. And Kyle found out that there's ponies in this world, and three fillies are being cornered by wooden wolves. Will Kyle be able to protect them? Find out next time.