Prologue: Why must the good die young?
A young blue colt without a care in the world sat about in the sun on a humid spring day. The day had been short and the school he attended was having problems with termites, so the building had been closed for the time being. He would not have to attend for a few more days either, while the walls were repaired. The free time provided by this arguably serendipitous event was spent by the pond near the colt's house.
The slightest hint of orange lit the horizon as the sun's rays began it's journey below the outline of the planet. The colt watched with lazy amusement, a butterfly, as it went about it's daily life, looking for nectar before the air cooled too much.
"Arabian Night! Are you still by the pond, dear?!" A stern voice called out from above the hill overlooking the pond's crest. A head with a pointed horn bobbed into view over the curved slope of the hill. Arabian Night's mother stood at the top, looking down with a surprised look.
"Still here? You've been laying about all day. Why not play with your friends, uh...uh...Polka and Ace," Arabian Night rolled his eyes at his mother's inability to remember names, "Being so inactive will make you fat, you know?" Arabian Night's mother was being her usual worrisome self.
"They're both off with the Ponyscouts on some camp-out in the forest. They said that the scout masters put it together when the school got closed." Arabian Night explained. He changed position so that he was laying on his back with his legs in the air. He kicked them absentmindedly.
"You can join if you want, dear, you know that." His mother walked down the hill, coming closer. She spoke more softly, and relaxed her tone.
"Nah, I don't like camping, those bug noises are too annoying." Arabian Night never quite enjoyed being in the forest at night either, he'd had too many bad dreams about monsters in the forest.
"Your father can go with you on the camp-outs if you're scared." Arabian Night's mother casually said, almost as if it was just a sidelong comment about a nice picture in someones dining room.
"I'm not scared!" Arabian night proclaimed with a haughty tone. He swore his mother was a mind reader sometimes, but he would never allow her to know that she was right. He curled his legs into his body to appear aggravated, and he puffed out his cheeks. It was his usual pout. His mother simply chuckled.
"If you say so..." His mother trailed off and a sly expression crossed her mouth.
"Yeah, I do say, besides I'm fine right here." Arabian Night huffed in a breath of air then puffed it out quickly. His mother came over to his side and kneeled down next to him and kissed him on the forehead, then stood up.
"Well at least come inside now, then; it's getting cold and we have some carrot stew waiting for you." Arabian Night's mother nudged him on his side, gently rolling him over. She smiled as he stood up and shook away the stiffness and dust that had accumulated from lying on the ground all day.
"Let's go, dear." His mother began up the hill before him, giving Arabian Night a small window of time to notice a brief shine of two orbs coming from the treeline leading into White Tail Woods, on the border of his family's property. The pond was near the forest and animals would occasionally come at night to drink from the pond, so he payed no heed, believing that it was just a normal animal.
A crash and a high scream awoke Arabian Night. The moon was full, and it's glow lit his grimacing face through the open shutters of his window. He erupted from under his covers after realizing what the sound was, the chill of his initial fright working it's way down to his hoofs, and ending at the tip. He sat upright and stared, with wide-opened eyes, at the door to his room. The crack in his door revealed the figure of his older sister racing down the stairs, perhaps to the source of the sound. He pushed the covers off of his lower body and put his hoof down on the floor carefully, then he tip-hoofed to the door, as silently as possible. He neared the door and began to peak around into the hall of his house's upper story, when a second scream, definitely from his sister, broke through the heavy silence. His fear froze him until he heard other shouts. and a deep booming voice, most likely from his father. Arabian Night rushed down the stairs, stopping at the bend of the second flight as he witnessed a horrible scene. Shouts of "Damnit!" and unidentifiable muffled banging could be heard from the kitchen. The entrance and walls were speckled with blood around the kitchen's hinged frame and the door was firmly shut, with only the shadows below the door and noise to betray the events transpiring behind the wooden slab.
Arabian Night cautiously sneaked down the stairs noticing the iron sting in his nostrils when he approached the blood. His young mind did not understand the implications that the red liquid's presence had in these circumstances. He reached his legs over the puddle and thin streaks leading to the door, and reached shakily for the knob. His hoof hovered for a few seconds while he contemplated a few things. "What could be on the other side?", he thought, and his shock lifted slightly for a moment of unimpeded thought. His mind suddenly flashed back to glowing orbs that he thought were the eyes of an animal. He remembered, now, something that had eluded him before. The orbs were a deep, deep red, and they were far too large to even belong to a coyote. Arabian Night swallowed, his throat dry from his mouth having been open in a frozen look of awe for the past few minutes. The noise, he now realized, was dying down. His curiosity overcame his fear and he opened the door gingerly.
The back of a large, black, and scaled creature sat in bright light of the magical lamp hanging from the ceiling. The kitchen was alight in deep reds covering the pale baby blue walls. Appliances and furniture were scattered about sitting in larger puddles of blood than the one outside. All of this came to Arabian Night slowly before he noticed his father's body laying on the ground behind the creature, three deep gashes across his chest, matting his coat and seeping scarlet blood onto the ground. His sister was nowhere to be seen, but he could clearly see his mother, missing a leg, the jagged cut still spurting a small amount of blood fro an exposed artery, and lying in a crumpled state against the back door of the kitchen. Without the slightest reason, the creature turned it's head slightly. It's red eye caught a glimpse of Arabian Night's paralyzed form, and it turned it's body full around to look face-to-face at the young colt. A toothy smile opened up across the creatures visage, a very equine expression, but unnatural and twisted by the monster's scaly face. Arabian Night's mother's leg was being clutched in the creature's clawed talons. It threw the leg to the side and stood up, appearing larger than the tallest stallion Arabian Night had ever seen. It took a small step forward and then quickly shifted it's weight, causing Arabian Night to jump. A rumbling noise came out of the creatures mouth...it was laughing. Laughing at the horrible things it had just done, and laughing at the fear it caused in a young colt. The seething evil that Arabian Night felt from the creature was too much, and his instincts finally kicked in. He turned and bolted for the door, running headlong into a solid wall of flesh. He looked up and his vision was met with the inquisitive expression of another of the black creatures. It looked down, and it looked up, turning it's attention away for a moment. It's bulk took up the entire door, and before Arabian Night could think up another plan of escape it looked back down. It opened it's mouth, and Arabian Night took the last breath of his life to make a final cry for help that would never be heeded.
Part 1: Chapter 1: It's really shiny, man.
Author's notes: Tara Strong voiced Juliet in Lollipop Chainsaw. The 5 hours I put into that game were spent imagining Twilight in a Cheer-Leading outfit and waving around a chainsaw. It was magical.
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In a tree, a small, furry animal sat in a chair tied down with ropes. An impish face and a bowler hat were all that separated in from being just a ball of hair tied to someone's furniture. A large stallion in the indicative armor of Celestia's personal guard stood near it, keeping his eyes firmly on the animal. An average-sized young, lavender unicorn paced about the room, impatiently stamping her foot against the floorboards occasionally while flipping through pages of a book. Eventually she would discard the book and pick another from the shelves lining the literal "tree house".
"There must be something in here...these tomes are one-thousand years old. How could they not have a spell for waking someone from enchanted sleep?!" Twilight Sparkle quit pacing and looked at the furry creature, a wide smile on it's face. It seemed to be enjoying her frustration. Twilight Sparkle placed the book on the ground softly, the magic aura leaving it, and rubbed her head with a pained expression on her face.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I need to get some air. While I'm gone, do whatever you did to get him to talk earlier." Twilight Sparkle sauntered out of the door with a sigh. As soon as she closed the door behind her, a loud crack of bone came from behind the door followed by muffled crying.
Just out of the door, Twilight spotted Rarity and Pinkie conversing. Rarity seemed to be thoroughly off-put by Pinkie, who was holding an accordion for some reason or another. Perhaps a pleasant talk with her friends is what Twilight needed to calm down.
"Hey there ponies!" Twilight called and trotted over, "What are you doing with that Accordion, Pinkie?" Pinkie paused and looked down at the billowy instrument for a moment.
"That's what you call these? Could've sworn it was a flute. That guy lied to me." Pinkie ended the remark by tossing the accordion over the back of her head. Twilight watched with a look of fear as it collided with a gelding peddling on the side of the road. The gelding shook off his bewilderment and snatched the accordion from around his neck, adding it to the pile of assorted junk he was attempting to sell.
"Pinkie Pie, darling, could you recount your story for Twilight, she might have a use for your information." Rarity requested in her charming sing-song voice. Pinkie's face lit up and she giggled as she attempted to remember the story.
"Oh sure! Well, I was throwing away some expired pastry supplies behind the cake shop when this guy in a big, shadowy coat came over and said he would give me that flute if I closed my eyes and showed him I could play one, so I closed my eyes and there was something poking me in the cheek..." Pinkie Pie was cut off by Rarity's hoof being placed against Pinkie's mouth. Pinkie's mouth continued to move behind Rarity's hoof, and Pinkie's cheeks filled with air until their color began to pale from the over-expansion.
"No, no...please deary, just stop right there. I am trying to purge that image from my mind, and I would prefer if you did not repeat that story, please." Rarity looked dead into Pinkie's eyes, trying to communicate directly with her rational brain. She removed her hoof from Pinkie's mouth then looked down and grimaced. She wiped it very carefully with a handkerchief.
"Oh, OK. Well then, I'll tell you the other story that I told Rarity." Pinkie concluded. Twilight was wondering what kind of story could have prompted Rarity to interrupt Pinkie. Rarity was looking down at the ground with a very serious expression. She looked like she had just found out that she had a twin-sister who had been smothered for being disfigured.
"So there I was, walking through the Everfree Forest so that I could get some herbs from Zecora, when I saw a changeling!" Pinkie jumped into the air and landed on the ground in a cloud of dust to demonstrate the importance of that last particular word.
"Changeling? Really? They should have been chased beyond the border. What was it doing, exactly?" Twilight's interest was definitely piqued. The changelings, after their plan was exposed and their queen defeated, were chased out of Equestria and into the south.
"It was messin' with this weird rock, I didn't really notice until I saw the thing start shining, and man, did it shine! It was like that time I stared at the sun to see if it had a face like the moon did! You could have blinded somepony with it!" Pinkie Pie danced around happily with her typical level of enthusiasm, continuing to use idioms and anecdotes to describe exactly how bright the stone became. Twilight gave Pinkie little attention while she pondered the info, bending her neck down and closing her eyes to concentrate.
"Bit for your thoughts, Twilight?" Rarity asked Twilight from above. Twilight raised her head back up. Her body language must have been very telling of her state of worry.
"This is all just getting to me. These alps especially. Coming from the mountains near Saxpony to attack Equestria. It's unheard of for these imps to even leave the mountain ranges, but they're as far south as ponyville now, and the dream-eating beasts are everywhere. If that wasn't bad enough, reports of entire towns gone missing, and the chimeras are starting to push into equestria from the south. Miss Cheerilee still hasn't awoken after Big Macintosh tried to wake her from an alp dream." Twilight's face darkened as she remembered the faces that also infected her dreams only this morning. She had used some of her magic to capture one, but it wasn't revealing any meaningful information, other than constantly spouting out
"Dreadful events of late, no? The troubles, they just keep coming." Rarity said. Twilight only nodded. She decided to return her attention to Pinkie's story, and she turned back to Pinkie and tapped her lightly on the hip.
"That rock, could you give me something more specific? Did the changeling take it somewhere?" Twilight Sparkle asked Pinkie Pie. Pinkie stood stock still and turned around to meet Twilight's gaze.
"No, the rock is still there, but that Changeling...it's definitely gone." Pinkie spoke quietly, all of her previous enthusiasm removed.
"Hmm? What do you mean 'gone'? Was there a reason for it to have left without the rock?" Twilight quizzed Pinkie, this story might be very relevant to the alp problem at the least.
"It didn't leave, but it's gone. When I said the rock started glowing really brightly, I meant it. I couldn't see a thing. After a few seconds of rubbing my eyes the thing was back on the ground and the changeling was gone." Pinkie drew her mouth up on one side and hunched her shoulders making an "I don't know" expression with her hoofs in the air. Twilight took a second to gather the importance of Pinkie's words.
"I thought that this was a rather important little gem of a story. Perhaps we should go and observe this 'rock'?" Rarity said walking up behind Twilight. Twilight nodded in response to the question.
"I'll go get Fluttershy, you two go get Rainbow Dash and Applejack." Twilight walked off to Fluttershy's home in the glen. She walked through the streets on the way over, and noticed a visible lack of happy pedestrians shopping in the marketplace. The stores that were open were only sparsely visited, and everyone had a look of disparity and paranoia. The numerous troubles of Equestria were not something that could be ignored, especially when everyone's sleep was haunted by evil faces and twisted nightmares.
Twilight arrived at Fluttershy's house after a few more minutes of walking. Twilight crossed the little bridge leading up to Fluttershy's front door and knocked. The dull thud filled the silence for a few seconds, then Fluttershy opened the door slowly. Only her eye could be seen behind the door.
"Fluttershy, Pinkie found something interesting in the woods. We're going to investigate it, I know you don't particularly like the forest, but it's better if we all go." Twilight tried to sound as calm and soothing as possible. Fluttershy had bags under her eyes signifying her most-likely very sleepless nights spent hiding under her covers. Twilight mentally decided that once she had checked what was in the forest, she would redouble her efforts to rid the town of alps.
"Uh-o-okay, Twilight." The shadowy eye looked left and right cautiously then the door's hinge squeaked open. Flutteshy stood there sheepishly for a moment. Twilight motioned behind her and towards the direction of the forest, hoping to quell some motion from the skittish pony. Fluttershy took a tentative step forward to show her good faith, then Twilight turned around and led Fluttershy away and toward the forest.
The others were waiting in front of the through-path at the mouth of the forest.
"So, we're going into the forest to look at some retarded rock?" Rainbow Dash was quizzing Rarity about the reason for the gathering.
"Yes, Pinkie's account gives it a rather intriguing light, and taking a look couldn't hurt. We can't do anything about the alps during the day, so let's just see what this is about." Twilight said, walking into the middle of the group.
"Eh, I don't see the point." Rainbow Dash retorted.
"Yeah, I don't really see the point, either. Shouldn't we be trying to do sumthin' about them furry dream-eaters?" Applejack asked. Her eyebrow was raised inquisitively.
"It's mostly about the changeling, not the rock. The alps, trolls, harpies, and now changelings? There's something going on. It might have nothing to do with the rock, but investigating the spot where it supposedly disappeared is still a smart choice." Twilight answered with a hint of impatience in her voice.
"'Supposedly'? Are my stories really that unbelievable?" Pinkie spoke up. Rainbow Dash adjusted her pose in the air, and floated over.
"Do you like cookies, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Like, duh? Of course!" Pinkie shouted.
"There's your answer." Rainbow floated away from Pinkie with a smug smile on her face. Pinkie turned her head to the side and furrowed her brow. Applejack, to get everyone's attention, adjusted her hat and tapped the tip of her hoof against the ground.
"Well, if we're gonna do this, might as well not take all day." Applejack took the first step into the woods followed by the rest of the group.
The forest was dark and uninviting, as usual. Sunlight screened in sparsely through the treetops, creating spots of light on the path through the forest that looked like a lit up runway at a flying exhibition. It did nothing to change the ghastly visages in the sides of the trees. The path forked every once in awhile prompting everyone to wait while Pinkie performed a complicated series of twisting, somesaulting movements that she called her "memory dance". After it was over she would point in the direction that she believed was right, and the journey would continue with much of the group snickering at the absurd "dance".
"Oooh! There it is!" Called Pinkie. The others looked around at the completely blank surroundings. Pinkie's beckoning hoof pointed at a completely ordinary oak tree.
"You sure, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, yeah! There was this really cool tree frog on there when I came by!" Pinkie excitedly affirmed. Twilight raised an eyebrow then sighed, and she walked through the bushes past the tree and into the overgrowth. A clearing with very bright sunlight came into view to Twilight's left and she changed courses, making a bee-line for the area devoid of canopy. In the direct center sat a crystal of perfect, though unrefined, quality. It was as large as one of the ponies heads. Intensity, sheen, and color, the beauty was otherworldly. Rarity came into view and a visible chill ran down her spine.
"Oh! Look at that gem! What on earth could that be?" Her eyes shone even brighter than the crystal. Twilight was astonished.
"It's...it's a hope stone." The words hung in the air for a moment, the learned nature of Twilight coming into focus, "It's one of the rarest of all precious gems, and it's what the crystals in the Elements of Harmony are made of. To find one of this size, of any size, without any sort of mining or scrying... this is beyond belief." The group gathered around it in a semi-circle without a word. They were transfixed by it. Even Fluttershy abandoned her depressed stupor to observe the stone in awe.
"That's the darn prettiest stone I've ever seen." Applejack mused.
"See? I told you! It's SO shiny!" Pinkie squealed.
"This would be so awesome to find in some ancient ruins." Rainbow Dash said. Twilight hid a little smile.
"My adorable little bluejays would love to have this in their birdhouse." Fluttershy added. She seemed thrilled by the thought of using the priceless stone as a decoration for birds.
"Ohoho my!" Rarity looked furtively at it with a sly smile and began to inch her hoof closer to the stone, but just as she came within a hair's breadth of the stones surface, a loud rustle sounded from the edge of the clearing. Twilight indicated a clump of bushes on the other side of the clearing, and with some urging, she guided the group into the hiding spot, just as a few slick black forms came into view pulling a cart followed shortly by a slim and tall grey pony with extremely bright two-toned black and teal mane. As they neared the center near the stone it was obvious that the black forms were changelings. The pony appeared to be a earth pony mare and was shading her face with a wide-brimmed visor and sunglasses.
"Changelings, I knew this was a good idea. Maybe this'll prove fruitful after all." Twilight murmured.
"We should go over and give 'em a thrashing." Rainbow dash whispered. Her wings gave a single, small flap. She got into a starting position like she was preparing for the whistle to blow for a race.
"I'd rather not. They don't look like they're trying to hurt anyone right now." Fluttershy timidly breathed. Her barely audible opinion stayed Rainbow Dash, who snorted and laid down with a huff. After a moment of silence, Twilight noticed that the Changelings were talking. She raised her head slightly and her horn started to glow, suddenly the group could hear the conversation.
"What is this thing, anyway?" The largest of the three changelings said, his voice was so raspy it sounded like he hadn't drunken a drop of water in days.
"It's a really shiny rock." The smallest one piped up, an annoying whine of a voice. Rarity could be heard muttering, "Shiny rock? How boorish."
"No really, you don't thay?" Said the third, who had a lisp. The large one gave the small one a derisive look.
"I mean, I know it's a shiny rock, but what kind. It isn't just a normal rock, kid." The large one eyed the hope stone from a few inches away. It began to reach down and tap the stone, when the grey mare shouted from behind it, "DON'T TOUCH IT!". The grey mare grabbed the startled changeling, and pulled it's face around to look at her.
"Are you retarded? Didn't I tell you not to touch the damn stone? Do you have a death wish?" The grey mare spat. The shocked Changeling wriggled it's face out of the mare's grip and swung it's body around to face her.
"Wha'd you say? Are you saying you're gonna kill me if I touch your precious little stone?!" The changeling asked dangerously. The mare's mouth drew up at the corners changing her frown into a look of condescension.
"No, you moron. Did you not hear me when I explained it the first time? Let me explain it again, in that case. The. Stone. Will. Kill. You." The mare spaced out the words and annunciated each syllable like she was talking to a foreign tourist at an amusement park.
"Sounds like bullshit. How can a stone just kill somebody? You said it's not magic yet." The changeling retorted. The mare appeared to lower her head and look at the ground, though she was probably looking over her sunglasses.
"No I said it's not enchanted, yet. Of course it's magic, what do you think brought all of those alps here? The seasonal weather? And yes, it kills things. You wonder where Nyzgal went, don't you? I guarantee he touched the stone. Probably tried to make off with it, like a greedy little fool. That's a nice, simple lesson on fair trade, don't you think?" The mare sounded angry, "Now do what I say, don't ask any more questions, and you get paid. Do you understand?" The changeling flared it's nostrils and muttered something about her stubbing her hoof on the stone and dying. The lisp-prone one drew a blanket from a saddlebag on the small Changelings back, and placed it flat on the ground. The lisp-prone one using a stick it picked up off the ground, rolled the stone onto the blanket and carefully pulled each of the four corners up and tied them at the top. It placed the stick through the top of the sling it had made and placed the bundled-up stone into a chest held open by the largest Changeling. The chest lid closed with a loud thud.
"Let's wheel this cart back and get paid. Minty is probably waiting for me." The largest one said to the other two. The three changelings lifted the chest and placed it onto the cart, then put the harnesses on and wheeled it back the way they had come. The grey mare looked around for a brief few seconds, her gaze pausing shortly at the closely bunched together bushes that the six ponies were hiding behind. Twilight let go of the sound enhancing spell, and settled her body lower to the ground. The mare didn't seem to be suspicious and looked away. She followed behind the cart with a high step to avoid the brambles. Twilight lifted her head up above the bushes after they disappeared into the brush.
"We're following them. I want to know what that mare is going to do with the hope stone." She stated. All of the other courses of action seemed foolish after hearing that mare speak about the hope stone. The others agreed with her plans and followed as Twilight ran after the mysterious group.
