Samneo: The Earth Pony DX

Chapters

1: The Arrival
2: New Roommate
3: Nightmares
4: Cave of Silk
5: Slaughter's Web
6: A Day with Rainbow Dash

1: The Arrival

It was a wonderful day in Ponyville. It was the perfect time and weather to go for a stroll. Starlight Glimmer had been feeling a little lost inside the castle, so she decided to take a small walk outside for some fresh air. She closed her eyes, feeling the soft breeze brush against her fur. The castle's back was a nice plain, a place where she could see fillies and colts having fun. She let out a sigh of relief as she took in the wonderful scenery. Smiling, she gently closed her eyes and basked in the warmth that Princess Celestia’s Sun brought her.

Unknown to her, something else was burning in the sky. As Starlight started daydreaming, she heard something above her. When she looked up, her eyes widened. A comet, probably the size of Discord was heading toward what she thought was her direction. Starlight Glimmer panicked after realizing what it was, not having enough time to get away as the comet crash landed about twenty feet away from her!

She stumbled backward from the shock wave. Dust and rubble were in the air, kicked up from the impact. After a few seconds, Starlight cautiously approached the impact. Surprisingly, she didn't see the asteroid or comet in the crater, but rather, she saw somepony laying in the center of the crater. It was a stallion. Starlight Glimmer's eyes widened with horror.

“O-Oh sweet Celestia! Are you alright?” she asked. The stallion didn't reply, only hazily opening an eye. His coat was tan colored, his mane was shaggy, and his eye was a piercing Green color. "Oh no! This is bad! I'll... I'll get help for you, okay? I'll be right back!"

The stallion watched with blurred vision as the sand purple figure got behind the top of the crater, in reality Starlight ran back inside, and the stallion fainted.

...

Eyes opening, the stallion blinked as he lifted his head. He glanced around and saw seven pastel colored ponies staring at him. He was in a room on a purple bed, the walls were almost crystal-like in design. He was somewhat dazed, but alive. He heard the ponies whispering something to themselves, but he couldn't make out anything. Once he was fully awake, he was able to see them more clearly.

"Excuse me." the purple-colored mare asked. "Would you mind telling me your name?"

He attempted to speak, but grunted from how dry his throat was.

“G-Green,” he mumbled, grimacing at how raw his throat felt. The seven of them gave him a strange look, but accepted his name.

“Wowie! What a strange name, I like it!” the pink mare replied, bouncing in the air enthusiastically. The room fell into an awkward silence, before the one who he saw earlier spoke up, “A-are you alright? You were in pretty bad shape when I found you.”

Green’s head wobbled as he struggled to keep it upright, “Where… am I?”

“You’re in Twilight’s castle, she’s the one with a horn and wings,” the blue mare replied, hovering in the air and eyeing him carefully. Green glanced up at her, and for a moment, he felt his heart... beat twice?

His eyes widened as it dawned on him that whatever was going on, this was most certainly not a vivid hallucination, he was lucid. He let out a gasp of shock and attempted to scramble out of bed, only to cry out in pain as he forced his aching muscles to move.

“P-please, stay still,” the yellow mare with wings said softly, gently holding him down, “You crash landed near Twilight’s castle and you were badly injured. You're still in a state of injury.”

The orange pony wearing a Stetson hat let out a small whistle as she looked down at the Green’s now exposed flank. “Well I’ll be, this fella doesn’t have a cutie mark! Where are you even from, sugarcube?”

Green cringed at the acrid taste of iron in his mouth, “I… what? W-what’s a cutie mark?”

The seven of them whispered amongst one another, before Twilight eventually spoke up. “Either you hit your head harder than I thought, or you’re something else entirely. You’re not a changeling, I can tell that much, but until you recover, I can’t form any solid conclusion.”

Twilight gave him a glass of water with her magic. Green tried to grab it, but left it on his lap. After lifting it carefully, he gulped down the water. He sighed, voice now clearer after the much needed drink, Green laid back down, eyes droopy and staring at nowhere. Rainbow Dash hovered in front of his mental cross-hairs, his eyes lit up, as he once again felt like his heart had a double beat once. He felt concerned, but after observing Dash's mane and eyes, his breathing softened. Rainbow noticed that he was staring at her, making her tilt her head. Some ponies followed his gaze, as Rainbow got a little nervous.

"Um...What's up?" she asked. Green blinked, and darted his gaze around the room. Everypony's eyes widened when his chest suddenly began to glow, though it faded as quickly as it came. The pony shuttered, and rested his head, closing his eyes.

“Please… let me just… sleep.”

...

The group of ponies were talking all about the incident earlier, as Green was napping. He was sleeping in bed as Fluttershy and Twilight kept watch over him. Fluttershy looked over at Twilight. "Where do you think he came from?"

"I don't know Fluttershy. He's certainly not your average pony that's for sure." Twilight was pondering on what Green was when Starlight joined the conversation.

"I guess he's from outer space, but that can't be possible." Starlight thought out loud. Twilight's eyes shot wide open, as her thoughts went into overdrive.

"Wait, ponies... from space!?" She protested.

"Ah chillax, he probably just happened to be there when it crashed." Dash said.

"But I didn't see him when it was burning in the sky, and it was very quiet before it hit. Surely he would've made a noise or attempted to get out of the way if he did, assuming I wasn't paying attention." Starlight replied, remembering what happened a few minutes ago. Twilight thought of where Green could've possibly come from, assuming that he is from space. Are there ponies on other planets? If so, how and why? As everypony was trying to figure out who or what Green was, the stallion curled his body up slightly, head resting on a pillow as his mind was experiencing a rather unsettling nightmare...

...

As he slowly became lucid in his nightmare, the first thing he felt was nausea. He didn't understand what was going on. From what he could get from, he was in a grass field, with darkness around him at night. He couldn't see more than eight feet due to the fog surrounding him. There was also a feeling that he was being watched, but was too nauseous to see who or what it was.

Green had to sit down to get himself stable. He slowed his breathing, or at least tried to. He was able to think somewhat, as he turned around. Behind him, the silhouette of a slender figure stood tall, limbs longer than anything he saw, and two demon-like horns on its head stood. It stared at him from the fog. Green instantly froze, shaking before he tried to run away, but his movement was slow and wobbly. He could feel eyes behind him, but the figure had no eyes, let alone any visible features on its body!

As he tried to escape the unsettling sight, the aura around him changed suddenly. He paused, feeling off as he looked back. The figure was gone, and everything was feeling... calm. The world around him suddenly got more gray, and then became white. Green found it was all happening too fast, but then he felt a new feeling.

When Green turned around, he was met with an unexpected sight. A sphere of glowing blue energy was hovering in front of him. It was larger than him, and inside the sphere, he saw a silhouette of a dragon. Its shape was oddly humanoid, yet lacked wings and had a long tail wrapped around it.

It's the last thing he saw, before he saw everything around him fade.

...

As the mares were talking, something... or someone, was watching them. A pair of white eyes were staring at them through the window. It was a dark silhouette hiding from sight. It was outside, listening to what they're saying. Patience was not their specialty, so they ducked down and began heading toward the front of the castle. Fluttershy glanced back at Green.

"Yeah, he seems to be sleeping fondly—" Fluttershy was interrupted when she saw the stallion suddenly sit up. Everypony noticed he was awake, and saw his rather horrified expression. "Oh, you're awake."

"Is there something wrong, darling?" Rarity asked. He shook his head, glancing down at the blanket. He was still feeling unsure of the nightmare/dream he had, he could only remember the creepy parts and the mystifying moment at the end. He looked at them, all staring as he didn't speak.

"... what?" He asked. As everypony glanced at each other, the sound of doors being flung open was heard nearby, and the next thing they heard was the sound of Spike screaming. The group of mares' faces turned to concern as they called out his name, running out of the room.

Green nervously glanced around, afraid of what's going on, or how things felt were getting weirder and weirder. He was about to get up when his back arched, making him silently groan, forcing him to stay in bed.

The group of mares ran down the hallway, and met Spike, who was running toward them, slamming into Twilight's leg.

"Oof!" Spike rubbed his head as Twilight asked him,

"Spike!? What's wrong?"

"Look!" He said, pointing behind him. They all looked, and their eyes widened. A dragon-like creature was standing at the entrance, he had no wings, and had charcoal black scales. There were three gray crests on top of his head, with a black dorsal fin behind his head, and his eyes were ghostly white, with no pupils. He had something on his back, but they couldn't identify what it was.

"I've waited for this moment." The mysterious foe said to himself. "I heard about you for a while, and I intend on making you mine."

The main six were a little confused by his words, but some pieced together what he meant pretty fast. He crossed his arms, smirking as Twilight eyed him with a glare.

"Who are you?" She demanded. The black dragon appeared disappointed by her response, and glanced up at the sky, as if he wasn't expecting her to say that, so he had to think of something else to say. Once he got it, he glanced at the ground.

"You really think I'm gonna answer? I'm not a fool like Chrysalis, ya know," He replied, his tone being that of a wise guy. He looked up with his right eye at Twilight. "Plus, I've been busy sharpenin' my blade for this."

He uncrossed his arms, and grabbed the handle of the long blade on his back. Tiny shadowy tendrils were sprouting from his shadowy skin, which were holding his sword. The tendrils released the blade, as he pulled it from behind him. He presented it, as if proud to show it off. Suddenly, his right arm holding the sword started to light up with red, fiery magic. It appeared that his arm had orange and red cracks, almost like lava on his skin, and his entire hand was the same color as the lava. At the same time, the magic appeared to be flowing into the blade, the glow starting at the hilt before moving up to the tip, along the sides of the sword, causing the black piece of steel to ignite in flame!

"Also, I came for the pony guy." He casually added, lifting his sword to point toward the hall behind them. Everypony's eyes widened. Rainbow Dash glared at the intruder, along with her friends.

"What do you want with him?" Twilight said, but Dark simply stared at her.

"You think I'm gonna tell you?" Dark taunts. He then glanced up at Rainbow for a second, before looking away once she made eye contact. There was something about his gaze that suggested he was planning something with her.

"Well, whatever the case, we won't let you hurt him!" Rainbow protested. Dark smirked, though it was hard to see it.

"Fine then, I guess I'll add your friends to my list." He squeezed his grip on the blade, his eyes suddenly darkening to a gray color, revealing two piercing white pupils.

As Green tried to get up, he groaned more as he struggled to stay on his legs. The second heartbeat was felt again, and he cringed while he tried to head for the doorway. As he walked, he started to feel strength return to him, the more he thought of Rainbow Dash, which strangely gave his body motivation to move. When he began going down the hallway, he saw the mares he met before facing something, and so walked over to them to see what was happening, hugging the wall.

The main six heard running behind them, and turned around. Their eyes widened seeing Green approaching them. Spike glanced at Green.

"Green! You shouldn't be here!" Twilight warned.

"That guy's after you!" Applejack said. Dark watched as they were telling him he needed to run, though he was still a bit too weakened despite his burst of energy earlier. While everypony wasn't looking, Dark glanced at Rainbow Dash. He's had his eyes on her for a while, and planned to capture her when he crushed Green. His arm began to glow again with red magic, before the sky blue pegasus' eyes widened at her sudden loss of control!

"Ah!" She yelled. Her body jerked backward toward the blade wielding dragon, as he tried not to smile from her reaction. Dash struggled hard against his grip, but he was much stronger with his magic. Everypony heard Dash's sudden protests, and turned around, their eyes widening in horror as Dark grabbed Dash, having her floating next to him as he pointed his sword at Green.

"There you are, lil' squirt. I've been looking for you." He said under his breath, a hint of distaste in his mouth. "It's time I've got what I deserve, after bein' out in the wilderness!"

Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer aimed their horns at Dark, and fired their magical beams. Dark swung his sword in a horizontal slashing motion, causing a magical slash of energy to erupt from the blade from the hilt to the tip to fire at the beams. When the three powers collided, it caused a mini explosion, stopping Twilight and her student's beams from hitting him!

"Ha!" Dark laughed. Twilight and her student sat there, jaws at the bottom of the floor, and eyes as wide as dinner plates. He pointed his glowing arm at the other mares.

That did it for Green. Seeing her struggle was causing him to change. He began to shake and growl, as Green's body began to glow, and his emerald eyes flashed various colors. Green felt a strange surge of power.

Most ponies didn't notice him, but Rainbow saw him instantly, and her struggles stopped. Dark blinked, before glancing behind him, and his eyes also widened, along with him making his best 'oh crap' face

"What is this? If this is..." Green thought as he got up. Spike backed away, when he noticed Green's mouth. His mouth opened, revealing dragon teeth. "...N-n... no matter."

Spike gasped. "What!?"

Green arch his back, and a loud bellow erupted from his mouth. "MuuuAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!"

Everypony saw his transformation, and were shocked by this. He bowed his head, panting as his back began to sprout three dorsal fins! He reared back on his back legs, as his body was enveloped in a light blue glow. His height increased to be roughly the same as Dark, as his tail extended and grew longer!

As the glow subsided, it revealed a new creature in the place of Green, a dragon. The dragon was unlike any even Spike had seen before. It had blue scales, with long hair flowing past it's shoulders, along with a tuft of hair at the tip of the tail. Three dorsal fins were on it's back, and three going down it's forehead and neck, with orange horns on both sides of it's head. The dragon opened his eyes, revealing multicolored eyes with a hint of blue on the sides. Green had transformed! His chest glowed a cyan blue, the same shade as Rainbow's. He was taller than the main six, and around the same height as Dark. His tail wagged side to side slowly

Dark's cocky expression was gone, replaced with his best 'oh buck' face. Green blinked, before he looked at the ponies in front of him. Everypony was both in shock and awe of what had happened.

“Hmph, I ain't scared.” Dark said to himself. He then ran towards Green, releasing Rainbow as he was rapidly approaching him. Green shivered, but there was an odd sense of confidence and courage by his side. He squinted, and stepped back slightly.

"Bring it on," He said, before he started running towards his foe, while also muttering something under his breath, quiet enough for nopony to hear. “You won’t hurt that girl.”

The two charged towards one another, Green gaining the upper hand by going down and ramming Dark's abdomen with his horns. Dark growled as Green pushed him back. Green pushed like a bull as Dark had trouble trying to grip the floor with his feet. Dark saw his exposed back, and then pointed the sword backward, so he could stab him in the back.

All of a sudden, Green's tail reared up and lashed out at him like a snake, wrapping around Dark's wrists, and pulling his sword back.

“The hell!?” Dark shouted. He tried to turn to the side, but Green's horns were locked on Dark's rather slender abdomen. Dark's arm glowed, he then pushed Green away with his magic, freeing his wrists in the process. Green lifted his head up, his arms spread out, and he roared. His roar sounded like a mix between an incomplete medley and something out of this world.

At least that’s what Dark heard. He swung his sword to hit Green's left shoulder, but Green ducked just in time. After Dark swung his sword, Green took this extra time and rolled away from the blade wielding dragon.

"Ugh! You’ll be better off running than knowing who you are!"

Green got up and turned, making a rather intimidating pose. Dark also tried to intimidate his foe by swinging his blade, and using it like nun-chucks. The blade made all sorts of noises as it was lightning fast. Green, however, stuck to his ground.

Dark attempted to hit the other dragon square in the face with the blade, Dark put all of his muscle in this one move, and Green swiftly blocked the sword with his right for-arm, his scales acting like steel. Upon impact, everypony's hearts stopped for a moment, before they realized his arm wasn't hurt. Green pushed the blade to the side, before punching Dark, trying to aim for his head but ended up hitting his shoulder. Dark's body shook at this move, causing him to fly back slightly. Dark managed to catch himself.

His arm reignited with magic, as he thought of the strongest spell he could manage. He then shot a red, fiery beam out his right hand. Green’s eyes widened, before he rolled away once again. The flame hit the wall, making a huge burn. Green charged towards Dark. He smirked as the blue dragon was running towards him.

“C’mon, hit me.” Dark taunted. Green was then picked up by Dark’s magic, and was thrown towards the wall! Green groaned as he got up, and turned towards Dark.

The two dragons were panting as they stared at each other. Everypony watched in suspense as Green's mouth was leaking a bit of liquid, from the outside, it looked to be just drooling, but the way it moved, it suggested that it was water.

"What is that?" Dark asked bluntly. Green inhaled from his mouth. Twilight squinted at this, wondering what Green was doing. She received her answer when she looked down. Everypony gasped when they felt water flowing below them, flowing like snakes as the source of the water was from the nearby bathroom!

The water was crawling towards the blue dragon, before they then flew into his mouth. Dark felt chills down his spine, causing him to step back as he gazed at the sight before him. Green's hands began to glow a dark blue, his eyes lit up with energy as water began to bubble in his mouth.

"What are you doing!?"

The blue dragon’s back dorsal spines light up a bright Green. When he opened his mouth, it was glowing a bright cyan, the same shade as his eyes. His chest glowed brightly. He took a deep breath, and Green then fired a big, strong, blast of water out his mouth like a geyser. Dark wasn't able to get out of the way in time, and was hit with the beam. Dark went flying backward, and he hit the wall next to the front doors.

Everypony gasped at the moment unfolding before them. Green watched as Dark picked himself up, he then ran out of the room, running with a noticeable look of terror on his face. Before anypony had the change to tackle him, he bolted out of the room, running at a speed that impressed Rainbow Dash.

Green panted, as he looked over at the mares watching, they all looked shocked, before they cheered. Green glanced over at Rainbow's face, she was just as surprised as the others. He smiled softly with relief, before he was engulfed in blue tinted mist.

When the mist cleared, Green turned back into an earth pony and fell to the ground, falling asleep as he did so. The last thing he heard before he passed out again was Rainbow Dash's voice. "Woah! Green!"

...

When Green opened his eyes, he was back in bed. He caught the sight of his new friends, including Spike. He was back in the same room as before, and everypony looked like they had seen a ghost.

“Uh... hi...?” The earth pony muttered, nervously.

“How did you do that!?” Twilight suddenly asked, referring to the dragon form Green took. He cocked his head to the side, obliviously.

“Do what?”

“That dragon form you took!” She replied. Green thought for a moment, before he realized what she meant.

“Oh... that. I dunno, I guess I just... thought of it?” He replied, eyes barely staying open. He sat up, allowing him to face everypony. Twilight and her friends were whispering among themselves again, before they faced Green.

"We haven't probably introduced ourselves. This is Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy." Twilight said. Each respective pony waved as she introduced them. When he heard the name Rainbow Dash, he gave a weak smile, like he had been offered something. He sat up, and rubbed his eyes. His belly rumbled, as his lethargy reached him. Seeing that he was hungry, they went to get him something.

As he sat back, he felt his chest pulse again, the glow returning from before. He glanced down to his chest, as he felt breathing in his ear. He jumped, terrified as the breathing stopped as soon as it came. Green was shaking, afraid, yet somehow... his fear quickly subsided, as he thought of his dragon form.

"... are you... alive?"

Dark was walking down a gravel path, within the walls of a dark cave. He was well away from Ponyville, groaning to himself over losing against not just the Main Six, but the guy he was supposed to distract, yet Green still transformed. He probably wasn't going to get his pay, but at least he got to sneak a peek at the mares' butts while fighting. He shrugged, slapping himself.

"Great, now I'm turning into that perv." He swore mentally. He knew of another person he met not too long ago. What annoyed him the most was that freak's hyper sexuality. He just couldn't stop talking about mares' soft buns and other things he dared not go into. The cave's darkness didn't scare him, for that he could see in the shadows. As he looked around, feeling defeated as he remembered their conversation beforehand.

"I bet ye can beat da Main Six in one go!"

"No I won't fight them. I'm getting paid to harm that boy, remember?"

"Not exactly, what ye should do is not let em' know of his destiny.... or somethin' like dat, I dunno."

"... fine."

He wasn't good at negotiating. At least he's getting paid... right? Dark kept looking around, and was about to give up when he heard a pebble drop nearby. He sighed, feeling chills as he heard a familiar voice.

"Eyy, ya winnin' son?" The voice asked. He's like that one friend who knows isn't funny, so he'd fire off every meme or joke randomly in a non-comedic atmosphere. Dark glanced behind him, and saw another pair of eyes. These eyes were circles instead of almonds like his, and a silhouette of a serpent-like body with weirdly shaped horns on top of its round, snake-like head. The eyes were bulging out almost like mantis eyes. Due to the lack of eyelids, the eyes simply fade out when 'closing'. The creature was hanging off the ceiling, with its several arms hooking onto the thousand year old rock, slowly approaching the more humanoid creature.

"Ugh... Slaughter, this isn't the time." Dark replied, not wanting to experience whatever punishment the other creature had in store for him.

"I saw you lose, no lies mutha--" Slaughter was interrupted by Dark pulling out his sword, igniting the flames around it with his magical hand.

"I SAID LET ME BE!" He hissed. Slaughter, for a brief second, felt a bit shaken by this, but decided to let the guy go...

... He'll have to deal with him later...

Author's Note

One thing to note with all these author's notes, they're basically commentary on each episode. Some may even be longer than the actual chapter. Just thought I'd let you know.

The part where the comet lands has to be one of the biggest, most frustrating task of figuring out. The original Earth Pony was made with a very different mindset, since it was written like how most HiE stories are, granted, with a weird twist.

You're probably wondering why he's named Green and not Sam like in the original. Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't really identify as him. Neocros has obviously gotten better development as a self insert, imo.

There are a few reasons aside from that, but one reason that I'm sure we can all agree on is that Neocros is just a better design, with Green being a cookie cutter pony. However, if you still don't like the change, then rest assured that in canon he's still named Sam at this point in the story, but obviously is changed in later stories. I'll change it back if it's received negatively.

To give my reason why Green looked like the way he did... if I'm being honest again, I felt a sense of obligation back then, like if I didn't make myself a pony, I'd be either left out or will be denied into Equestria, stuff like that. My intrusive thoughts would bully me like that, telling me I was not worthy even though Equestria is fictional. It was me overthinking back then.

Anyways, I made Dark a bit more threatening in this, having him actually enter the castle rather than just hitting the wall until the Mane Six investigate. I always cringe whenever I read that section in the original, for me it feels so forced.

To end this off, I initially had a prologue to this story that's fully written, but I decided I won't release it here since I feel like it gives away what little mystery the story has.

fun fact: in the AO3 edition of this fic, Green was named Emerald instead. That is because during the development of this and even Neocros 2, I kept going back and forth but eventually settled with Green again, but forgot to edit out Emerald in the AO3 version. I'm sorry for that.

2: New Roommate

The sound of hoofs clicking and clacking against the crystal floor was heard from a few rooms away, from where Twilight guided Emerald, showing him around. Twilight had decided to have Emerald stay as a roommate, at least until they figured something out about his past.

"And this will be your room for now, since it's the one you're probably familiar with. If you need anything, just let me know." She walked down the hall, as Green glanced around in his room. Of course, it was the same one he woke up at, but still, he felt a little homey here. Spike said that dinner will be ready soon.

In the meantime, Green decided to rest in bed, staring up at the ceiling as he found the bed sheets comfy. He was unsure why he liked the feeling so much, but it seemed to make him feel better about the situation he was in. Green sat there for a while, trying to take in all that has happened. What was he? Where was he? Why was he here?

He found it too much for him, and tried to go to sleep. However, He then began to remember when he fought that dude with the fiery arm. When he saw that weird thing in the dream, it looked similar to his dragon form.

"What was the connection?" He thought. Getting nowhere, he slowly got out of bed, disappointed he wasn't able to sleep. The earth pony trotted out of the room, and went to go find Twilight.

Wandering about, Emerald glanced around each corner, feeling a little lost, but also a little intimidated by the castle's vast interior. As he was nearing what he thought was the princess' quarters, he instead encountered the unicorn, Starlight Glimmer.

"Hello Green." She said,

Green was looking around, and not looking at her.

"I am lost." is all Green said in reply.

"Ha ha, yeah, it's pretty vast, especially since I keep getting lost trying to find the bathroom." Starlight chuckled. Emerald looked off to the side, a little bummed since he already felt alien to this place. Starlight noticed his rather silent aura. When she asked what was wrong, he merely replied that he was getting hungry.

In the area where most of the houses were in town, most ponies were enjoying their day as word of mouth spread about a strange meteor landing outside Twilight's castle. For most it felt normal since they're used to threats or weird happenings across Equestria, but the fact that the rumor itself was new was something that was worrying some.

One of the houses looked ordinary for everyone, but little did they know something was amiss. The sun was casting a shadow behind the house, and under the shade, a strange shape began to slither out from the darkness under the house. It was long and oval shaped, and matched the darkness of every shadow around it, making it impossible to see it if it got under a pony. Nopony noticed it move away from the house's comforting shade, the way it moved was like a fish within the water, except the 'water' was solid ground, and it made no noise as it wandered toward a table, entering the shadow underneath it.

Under the table, it contemplated on whether or not to surface, in fear of being spotted. Changing his mind, he moved away from the table and toward the comfort of another house, casting darkness behind it, for that the house faced the sun rather than away like the other one. Once it was sure no one was watching, it decided to rise out carefully. Huge black antlers sprout from the puddle of darkness, oozing dark matter onto the cobblestone. The antlers were connected to a dragon-like head, concealed within shadow. Soon it rose its head above the black water, revealing bright crimson eyes, a small dorsal horn in the center of its head, and black, velvety scales.

It was hesitant to fully rise out, so he instead thought to himself.

"Dark failed..." The entity whispered to himself, his voice was smooth, yet inaudible. His voice was the opposite of Dark’s, being more shy. "I guess.. things go wrong.. inevitably."

Admittedly that sentence depressed him a bit, a reminder of his past. As he was lost in thought, he thought to himself if maybe he should check on Green. The entity, Dark, and Slaughter knew each other, and though logically he should go and check on Dark, he felt it was better to see how Green was able to handle himself.

Twilight, Starlight, and Green were in the library. Twilight was showcasing what cutie marks were all about, showing him various books on the subject.

"You see, cutie marks represent the talents of the pony. When a pony is born, they have none, but they eventually get their cutie mark in some way." She explained. Green tilted his head, imagining what she was talking about. "So, that was a brief explanation of cutie marks. If you like to know more, I have hundreds of books here."

Green rubbed the back of his head, unsure what to think.

"Why don't I have a cutie mark?" He asked. Twilight took a second to think, while Starlight put her hoof to her chin, thinking of an answer.

"I'm not quite sure. There's no documentation on a fully grown stallion with no cutie mark. Although, considering that you had turned into a dragon, I think I have a small theory." She explained. "It's believed that Rainbow Dash's cutie mark has something to do with her Sonic Rainboom, maybe his mark has something to do with his ability to turn into a dragon."

Starlight asked her mentor. "If that were the case, why didn't it appear as soon as he transformed back?"

"Good question." Twilight replied, a little puzzled. "Considering Green is possibly from outer space, anything is possible."

While they were locked in speculation, Green quietly left the room, wanting to explore more. Something was giving him the sense to go outside...

...

Upon finally finding the front door, he took in the fresh air from being inside. It was odd that his mind wanted out, but he wasn't against it either. As he wandered around, he saw Ponyville up ahead, and chose to turn away, not wanting to feel exposed to ponies he's unfamiliar with.

He glanced around as he entered the area where the crater was. He felt a sense that maybe he made a mistake going there.

Green approached the huge crater, and glanced down into the hole. All he saw was dirt and some bits of grass that went flying. As he was looking through, he noticed something odd. There was something reflecting in the sunlight, as if it was either metal or a diamond. He cautiously approached it, wondering what it was.

When he got close, he slowly pushed the dirt away, digging it out. It was a small pearl-shaped stone that was shiny. Green stared at it curiously. The orb shined with a cyan glow.

He lowered his hoof onto the top, finding it to be fascinating... but then suddenly...

"... hi..."

He turned his head, thinking he heard a faint voice.

"You're our last hope..." a feminine voice spoke. Green blinked, before everything with dark in his vision. He felt something wet on his hooves, making him look down to see water below him, but it had a mirror-like surface. What he saw in the water surprised him. It was a humanoid silhouette with what appeared to be a glowing, cyan orb in the center. He is left breathless, before everything goes back to normal in his sight. First thing he did was gasp quietly, out of breath from what he just witnessed.

His hoof suddenly hit the dirt, which brought him back to reality. Green glanced down, and saw the stone was gone. He just stared, as a tornado of emotions flew through his system. After what felt like minutes, he decided he won't tell anyone what he saw, fearing they'd think he's crazy, and besides, even he didn't know what it was. As Green headed back inside, a familiar shadow with antlers emerged from underneath a nearby tree's shade. The entity had seen Green, but he didn't see the crazy dream Green had.

Night came, and Green was still feeling off about that incident earlier. Aside from his name, he had no knowledge of who or what he was. For some reason, he felt like that voice was speaking about him, but how is he 'our last hope'? This left him with so many questions.

Why is he here?

How is he able to turn into a dragon?

...and ultimately, Who was he?

Not having the strength or patience to try and answer anything, he went over to the bed. He quickly tried to sleep, however he couldn’t find the will to, still anxious over who he is. He even grabbed his pillow, and tried to find the right position. He hugged it softly, and thought of Rainbow for a brief moment...

The dark entity from before hid in the darkness of Green's room, watching the pony sleep. Despite this, Green felt like there were eyes watching him, but whenever he looked, he couldn't see it, even with the moonlight from the window illuminating the room slightly.

As he laid back down, the entity could read Green's thoughts telepathically, and suddenly paused when he saw Rainbow Dash. Somehow, a wave of panic, sadness, and fear washed over him. The entity slowly slithered toward the window, before flying out the window in a hurry when Green quickly sat up. Green was laying there, when he saw a dark tentacle-like appendage moving across the window. When he turned to face the window though, it was gone.

The shadow entity began to weep to himself, feeling upset over seeing Dash. To him it was a reminder of his past, to the point where he had an intrusive memory of Rainbow saying his name.

“I’m sorry…” he wheezed to himself, the pain burdening his senses. The night continued, with Green asleep, unaware he had a visit from a dark entity…

Author's Note

Not much to say here. I could've had more things happen, but canonically nothing really happens aside from this.

3: Nightmares

His bedroom was still and quiet. Green was still asleep when his eyebrows furrowed, his mind depicting a rather unpleasant nightmare. Green jolted awake, sitting up in bed and shaking with fright. He curled up and covered his head with his forelegs. After a few seconds of him being afraid, he looked around the room, wondering why he had to have such a bad dream.

He was in a dark and ruined looking bedroom, which was depressing, and he saw a purple feminine silhouette heading toward him. The last thing he remembered was the only thing he remembered clearly, the purple silhouette spoke to him.

"Please senpai, come back to me" It said in a feminine voice.

He was still saddened and afraid of it. He covered himself with the blanket, just wishing he had something to hold, but alas all he had was a pillow. Getting out of bed, he sighed, before leaving the bedroom so he could get some breakfast.

...

As he carefully ate the pancakes, his mind couldn't stop thinking about the dream he had. Green felt like something was important about it, yet he was unsure if it was true or not. Then again, he did touch that stone yesterday, and it did some freaky stuff. Somehow he started to feel like things weren't right, especially since his dream happened after. He contemplated on whether or not to tell his friends what he had experienced, but was still unsure what they'd think.

He decided to stop thinking of yesterday, and back to the nightmare. Most of it is now leaving his mind, but the ending remained fresh in his memory.

What was the creature? More importantly, why was it called senpai? One thing he knew though, was judging by the tone of voice, it was a different voice from the one he heard when he touched the stone. Twilight was eating her pancakes when Green's stern look caught her attention.

"How're you feeling, Green?" She asked, causing him to glance at her. He wanted to tell her all about the dreams he's had, but he decided against it.

"I'm okay." He replied, trying not to make it obvious he wasn't. Twilight nodded, before they resumed their pancakes, with Starlight joining them.

...

After breakfast, he decided to relax in his room for a bit. Green had the door shut as he laid in bed. The softness of the bed was nice, and he was about to doze off when he thought of something.

He started to think back to when he transformed, and how he felt. After awakening from exhausting himself, he could've sworn to have felt a second heartbeat inside. Why was there one? But more importantly, he somehow felt at the time that the dragon was... alive? And that maybe he gave it life, he guessed. Green had no idea what to think of that time, but what's even stranger is how he felt about hearing Rainbow Dash's name.

Somehow he felt as if he heard it before... but wasn't sure where. He couldn't think for much longer, for that he drifted back to sleep. Underneath Green's bed though, the shadow entity's eyes glowed within the darkness. He was weak to sunlight, so he had to stay under for now.

The earth pony was laying in bed, thinking to himself. This had caught the attention of the shadow, who sensed his thoughts via telepathy once again. As Green slowly drifted back to sleep, the entity decided to pay him a visit. His antlers rose out of the floor, but remained hidden, they began to glow a soft crimson color, the same as his eyes. With his magic, he was able to enter Green's mind and begin a dream, able to set the scene for him...

~..~..~...~...~...~..~..~..~

Having no idea how he got to sleep, he now wandered through what appeared to be an in-door garden. Dense black fog filled the room, leaving very little to be seen, aside from the exotic yet sad looking flora fauna. Sounds of frogs, crickets and water streaming filled the room, which was relaxing, but something felt off about it.

As he glanced around, Green found himself getting lost in the fog, unsure where he was going. He was surprised he hadn't tripped on anything. Just when he was about to give up exploring, he heard the wind rushing behind him, causing him to turn around instinctively. More wind rushed behind him, but when looking in front, nothing there. Whatever it was, it was toying with him. This back and fourth of hearing the wind and him turning to look kept going for a few seconds.

The shadow entity had fun toying with him, watching him get more and more afraid and unsettled. Green didn't feel all that in control of the dream, and was soon left in a state of confusion. Soon he heard chilling noises come from the dark fog. The noises sounded like low growls and small child-like giggles.

It was then the shadow revealed himself within Green's nightmare. When Green turned around, he saw a tall figure, with large antlers on its head. He stared for only a second, before he began running in the opposite direction. It was a rule within nightmares to have the dreamer move as if they're walking through mud, and that was exactly what was happening with Green, his movement slow and sluggish. Surprisingly, the shadow didn't chase after him, and instead stood there, staring at him.

Finally, Green turned around, and the shadow suddenly disappeared.

He paused for a second, confused by this. It's then Green realized something, he wasn't in a garden anymore. The fog had cleared a little, revealing a new location. It was his current bedroom, but it looked withered and decrepit. The rug and window curtains were tattered, the bed sheets looked as if they were shredded with claws, and there were papers all over the floor. Green blinked, unsure why this was the case. By this point, Green started to gain a tiny bit of lucidity, but still wasn't aware he was in a dream.

Picking up one of the papers, there were scribbles and chicken scratch all over, that seemed to vaguely show shapes. The weird thing was, if he held two papers next to each other, they seemed like they depicted something on them, but it was hard to see.

Green dropped the papers, and looked around the room. He also shut the door, fearing something could come at him from behind. For some strange reason, an idea dawned on him to try and put the papers together, since they were the one thing out of place in the room. Using his hoof to gently nudge the papers in a huge rectangle, he aligned them in a way to where he realized something. The scribbles were not only meant to form a shape if stared long enough, but they were also puzzle pieces!

As he assembled the papers closely, they now started to form a more distinct picture. It appeared to show two words, saying 'behind you'. He turned around, and saw the shadow from before, towering above Green. Receiving the jumpscare of his life, he backed away, Green staring at the entity in fright. Before waking up, the shadow entity pulled something out from behind it, but he didn't have time to see it, for his mind slipped back into reality...

~..~..~...~...~...~..~..~

Green woke up from his brief nap, and was left feeling like he didn't receive much answers. He groaned from his heart racing slightly, but decided to just stare up at the ceiling. Beneath the bed, the entity took enjoyment in tormenting Green, but knew his only goal was to either mislead or prevent the earth pony from gaining his memories back. Although he didn't know most of Green's past, when he was lurking around in Green's mind telepathically, he sensed a third presence, a second heartbeat…

Author's Note

One thing I want to say, is that aside from the orb from the previous episode, there's no memory orbs in this version. I felt the orbs were primarily a gimmick in the original, and I feel like I could come up with a better way of Green regaining his memory. (but I more than likely will screw that up as well. at the time of writing this I haven't slept)

4: Cave of Silk

Not far from Ponyville, there was a cave. The cave entrance was the size of a door. The entrance led to a tunnel, and Inside was a room with black crystals, with some drawings on the walls. The drawings consistently have Ponyville, and a certain Pegasus. The only source of light was a small lantern hung from the ceiling, and some light from outside. Up ahead was another tunnel, leading deeper into the cave. The tunnel leads to another room. This one is different from the room before. No crystals, no lanterns. There was this yellowish green web all over the place. There was a pile of animal skins in the middle of the room.

Dark laid in the dirt, unconscious from his fight with his rival. Over in the corner of the cave, was a tall, lime colored, ugly creature. Its body shape was that of a centipede. It had fabric-like skin like a puppet, with small rips patched with rather unprofessional stitching. It had three legs with five arms, one leg was limply laying on the ground as the other two were supporting the creature's lengthy body, and the fifth arm was on the back of the thing's shoulder.

The creature's face was reptilian like Dark, having two glowing white eyes, but unlike Dark's almond shaped eyes, this creature has circular eyes, and rotated like a mantis. To top it all off, it had two oddly shaped horns on the top of its head.

The thing was biting at a bone, making some disturbing noises as it did so. Feeling bored, the creature slowly began to crawl down the floor, passing some empty webs as it did so. Light was shining from the few holes in the ceiling of the cavern. It finally reached the mouth of the cave, a deep desire burning inside it. It was reluctant to leave its hole, when it suddenly heard something behind it. The creature, not really giving a crap, shrugged it off, and crawled out of the cave. The light almost blinded the creature as it carefully held onto the rock and grass underneath it.

"Mares..." He hissed, voice crackly and slightly high-pitched. Slaughter's "skin" began to blend in with his surroundings, his camouflage never failing on him. ".. I need... mares..."

a day earlier...

Dark sat in the dark, sharpening his sword with a rock he found on the cave wall. He could easily see the blade, helped by the small sparks it made as black metal was scraped by stone. Over on the other side of the cave, Slaughter laid in a small hammock made from yellowish green web, silky strains infused with dark magic and normal spider silk. He relaxed as he fantasized to himself over the thought of wrapping a fine young mare in his web, the thought of her kicking helplessly as his webbing tightened around her soft frame.

The black dragon stared at Slaughter from the corner of his eye, snorting quietly in offense. He thought to himself. "Pervert."

As they minded their own business, something darker than the darkness itself moved between them, catching their eyes. The entity rose from the puddle of shadows, antlers glowing a faint blood red color with magic, but the magic was off though, lacking the distinct shape and look of normal unicorn energy. The antlers illuminated the room slightly, as Dark stood up and Slaughter rolled out of his hammock.

"Al ight' boss, what's the deal?" Slaughter asked. The shadow entity turned toward Slaughter, then to Dark.

"I've come to... inform you guys..."

"About what?" Dark asked. The shadow opened his eyes, revealing his bright crimson irises.

"Green is... remembering something... I think." The last part he whispered to himself, enough for the other guys to not hear. Slaughter shot Dark a look, which caused Dark's short fuse to go off.

"Look, I fudged up, okay!?" Dark growled impatiently. "I should've went straight towards the little shi-numskull!"

Dark nearly swore at the end, but saved it. He and the other guys were not allowed to swear, for that would upset a group of people who call themselves the 'World Enforcers'. They are said to be people who allow so-called 'Bronies' through, but they have to follow the rules of a TV show. Slaughter didn't care for it that much, as he cared more for his libido than the parents at home. Dark was pissed off about it, but understood the implications of him swearing out in the open.

"So, what we do? Voss?" Slaughter asked, in a very sarcastic tone. Voss was the one the shadow entity calls himself, but that wasn't his real name, and that only he knew of it.

"..." Voss took a second to think, before he told them. "... I will keep an eye... on him. Don't get into trouble..."

"I'll go and get him again." Dark interrupted, not wanting to be considered useless. Slaughter, Dark, and Voss were supposed to get paid for catching Green, or at least making sure he didn't regain his memories, but so far only he was having an issue with it all.

"Uuuugh... I hate this job." Slaughter thought to himself. Voss told the two that they need to work together. With that, as soon as he came, Voss lowered himself into the ground, turning back into a shadowy puddle, and retreating to the darkness. As long as there was a shadow, he could teleport anywhere.

However, there was a small bet Slaughter had with Dark, that he so wanted payback for.

"Say, Dark. Don't you remember the other end of the bargain?" He asked, slyly. Dark snorted, already no longer interested in keeping his end of the bet. He told the living ghost puppet to buck off, but Slaughter wasn't going to be pushed over this time. Slaughter's entire tone and behavior changed. "Then I guess I'll have to show you my secret."

Dark hissed, only for his hiss to be cut off when he saw Slaughter open up his jaws in a complete 90 degree angle, before flattening his jaws and seemingly 'deflating' into an empty puppet. Dark felt his face become pale as he then heard a loud joker-like cackle erupt within the room. Slaughter wasn't lying when he said he was half ghost...

Author's Note

It's here I decided to have the world enforcers be an established thing, just so there's not too much explaining in Neocros 2. The idea of a character witnessing Slaughter strip down was a concept I've had all the way back since Slaughter's inception, in the original version of the earth pony in 2016. I don't think it was ever added in, but I decided I needed it to make it a thing in the series. I don't know what else to say, so here's some trivia about my OCs:

Dark was actually a design I reused in an even earlier concept that eventually became The Earth Pony. He was meant to be a Black Rider-type of character, who rode a horse and haunted a forest, and his rival: Samuel, was a lizard wearing red shorts and blue dorsal fins on his head(I think, the clay model I made for him is lost). This idea went nowhere and I ended up going for an earth pony protagonist while Dark samuel just kind of stuck around, but he changed inside.

5: Slaughter's Web

Fluttershy hummed to herself as she exited her cottage. She took a deep whiff of the fresh air, before she proceeded with her everyday activities. She began with feeding the birds, giving them seeds in their little bird houses, before watering the plants. Little did she know, a pair of large white eyes hid behind a tree. Thanks to his binocular vision, he was able to spy on her flanks all day. He licked his lips at the thought of swallowing the mare's rather large plot.

The thought of her silhouette inside his throat was enough to drive both his hunger and lust mad, but he had to hold himself back from lunging out. His spear-like tongue practically oozed with venom from the thoughts he was having. He knew what he was going to do. Slaughter formulated a plan to not just capture Fluttershy, but turn her and her friends into his harem, but Rainbow was his most desired girl. The reason he didn't go after her first, was because he knew full well how strong she was, yet somehow there was the thrill behind the concept of catching the athlete.

As he replayed the thoughts over and over, he realized that her animals were a problem. The bear was one of them, and despite his ability to turn invisible to the naked eye, he was physically frail. Slaughter was used to wrangling females, but he never dared catch something so strong looking. Because of his frailness, he had to figure something out.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy hummed to herself, watering her flowers. Unaware of the plotting predator nearby, she had finished her chores and Fluttershy was about to go back inside, when she heard a raspy cry behind her.

"Oi! Aye! Help me! I'm stuck!" The voice roared. She turned around, eyes wide.

"H-hello? Who's there?" She glanced around. She thought she heard the voice near the trees.

"I'm here, I'm right here! Behind the tree!" He called again. Fluttershy scanned the tree line, and noticed a hand reaching out from above the tree trunk. It was attached to a tail, and then...

Fluttershy's mouth hung agape, gasping at the sight. There, snared in the tree's branches, Slaughter hung on some branches, with his leg keeping him from falling head first into the dirt. Fluttershy had never seen any animal like this. Despite his rather terrifying appearance, she swallowed before calling out. "o-oh dear, hang on! I'll get you down!"

She ran over to help out the helpless... whatever it was...

...

After a long struggle, Fluttershy managed to get Slaughter inside the cottage. He had large holes in his body, where pieces of cloth had been ripped and taken by the trees. Slaughter grunted when he was laid on the couch. While she went to get some medical supplies, he looked around, and saw several animals staring at him. He felt chills as the bear stared at him, making him feel severely uncomfortable.

"My god, he is so terrifying!" He thought, regretfully. Nonetheless, he had to try. His thoughts were interrupted by Fluttershy. She approached and tried to patch the holes with some bandages, but quickly noticed he wasn't severely wounded. She looked up in confusion at Slaughter, who merely tilted his head.

"Why is there no.." Before she could finish, Slaughter interrupted her. "It uh… dried up, I guess. I'm actually a spirit possessing a puppet body."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

Slaughter nodded. He was expecting her to be scared, but was surprised that she kept bandaging him up. She then asked him his name.

"Uhm.. do you have a name?"

"Meh name? Slaughter. But that's just a place-holder name." He replied, but he whispered the last part to himself. Fluttershy looked rather confused.

"Slaughter? That's such a creepy name..." She commented. He merely rolled his eyes, before licking his upper lip, giving Fluttershy a glimpse at his needle-like tongue. It was then, Slaughter realized that he hadn't eaten or drank anything in a few days, which made him cringe. The golden pony noticed this, and asked softly. "S-so.. uhm.. what can I get you to eat?"

Slaughter seemed to perk up at this, his tail swaying side to side. He glanced at her.

"I can't eat... at least, not anything physical. It'll just get... stuck in my stomach..." He explained. He pointed to his belly, where there were small lumps of objects inside him. Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Instead I drink.. Blood."

"So you drink blood, well... uhm..." She trailed off. Slaughter rotated his right eye to stare at her. Fluttershy sighed. "Uhm.. okay.. I-I... guess I could find something for you to drink out of..."

For a moment, Slaughter felt like Fluttershy was going to offer herself to him.

It was becoming noon now, and Green was feeling a bit claustrophobic. He asked Twilight if he could go outside earlier, and she allowed him to do so.

Now that he was outside, he could feel the breeze hit his face. Green took a deep breath, and proceeded to look around town. He walked down the road, glancing over at the buildings. Green was wondering what to visit, since he was supposed to socialize right?

He took the time to reflect on what happened over the past days or so. How he met his friends, how he fought a humanoid dragon named Dark, and overall, why was it that he's here? Green kept trying to find answers to himself, and was determined to find them. Green had repeatedly been taking naps, seeing if anything significant would happen. Unfortunately nothing much happened, but that didn't stop him. Twilight had given him a journal and pencil, telling him to try and write down his dreams. It was difficult though, for that Green had an easier time writing with his hoof instead of his mouth, which puzzled the purple unicorn, but it wasn't important to Green, for that he now had sort of a way of documenting his thoughts. He wasn't good at describing the dreams, but it was more than enough to help him.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts, he didn't notice that his shadow had stopped following him. It slithered away into the shadow of a nearby pony. The pony never noticed it, and instead was too busy talking with their friend. His shadow slithered out of the pony's shadow, and into the darkness of a building. The shadow's eyes flashed a familiar red color. Voss was spying on Green, and after managing his way through town, he headed towards Twilight's Castle.

He wanted to know where Rainbow Dash was, and so wished to check the Cutie Map to see her house. Although, he was only doing this to confirm his own suspicions...

Slaughter glanced around the room, while Fluttershy was looking for something to give him. He took into account the amount of animals in the room, as he remembered how the creatures in Equestria act. He knew that he can't just simply web her now, especially with the larger pets in the area. The bear, who Slaughter found out to be named Harry, was staring at him through the window with a gaze that said "I'm watching you", which unnerved Slaughter. With Fluttershy not present though, he decided he'd try and perhaps confuse the bear. Slaughter gave Harry a devilish smirk, in a teasing manner. Inside, he had to hold every ounce of fear he had, as Harry made a quiet snarl at him.

As Harry stared at him through the window, Slaughter's expression changed to one of horror, eyes wide and mouth agape, before he pointed behind Harry. Harry hesitated on looking away, but based on the puppet's reaction, Harry for a brief second turned around to see nothing, but when he turned back, Slaughter was not on the couch!

More than concerned, he entered the sanctuary, in a desperate attempt to find him. In reality, Slaughter had become invisible, and crawled behind the couch. Harry looked around, confused as to how such a creature who was merely a foot shorter than him could just disappear like that. Slaughter waited, as he held his breath so Harry wouldn't hear him.

With Harry's back turned, Slaughter quietly approached, before he quickly lunged himself toward Harry's neck. He didn't have time to react when Slaughter's tongue skewered his skin underneath his fur. Harry looked back, but he didn't see Slaughter. Slaughter had pulled back as soon as his venom was in, only to feel dread seeing that Harry was showing no signs of slowing down. Realizing he needed to doze him with more, he decided to do something that even he admitted to himself was stupid...

Voss found himself waiting patiently underneath Rainbow's mansion. The cloudy structure gave a huge shadow below, allowing him to hide perfectly. He hoped to see Dash enter, so he can ride her shadow up there. However, Dash hasn't returned yet, making him impatient.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." He thought. He and Dash had some history together, except this Dash was not his. Trying to meet her was like revisiting a dark alley after losing your parents there. The shadow was uneasy about this, but rather than facing it, he decided to see what Slaughter and Dark were doing. He closed his eyes, before the slender dorsal fin on the center of his head began glowing softly, allowing him to see what the other guys were doing telepathically. After a few minutes of him silently reading his friends' minds, he groaned internally over Slaughter's efforts. "So... despite my words, he's still getting into trouble..."

He then checked on Dark, and was surprised to see him approaching Ponyville, but for reasons Voss didn't care for. After he 'disconnected' with them, Voss glanced up at the cloud mansion above him. He realized that he can't just wait here. Taking a deep breath, his shadowy form rose from the darkness. He wore a black coat that covered his body completely, and there was a small hood around his neck. He looked up at the underside of the cloud, before he floated upward towards it, sensing the shadows within the mansion as a way of 'teleporting' inside.

Once inside, he looked around, deciding to take some time to explore Rainbow Dash's home. Although his feet and small tail were showing under his cloak, he didn't land on the ground, and instead continued floating only a few inches off the floor. He took a second to take a huge whiff of the air, before his eyes snapped open. The scene was so familiar, but he knew it was worlds apart from the one he was familiar with. He couldn't help but take multiple whiffs, as he longed for her scent, yet at the same time dreaded it.

As he continued exploring, he heard the front door open. Voss quickly floated down into the floor, turning back into a dark puddle, and hiding underneath the nearest shadow. In his case, it was the darkness of the closet. He stayed silent, his vision limited to the closet. He could hear her nearby, presumably doing her usual routine. It was then he detected something happening with Slaughter, and took a second telepathically to see what he was doing.

His expression completely changed upon 'logging in'. What Slaughter accomplished completely baffled the shadowy being, which then gave him an idea. He guessed Slaughter was at Fluttershy's cottage because he was thirsty...

What if he somehow lured Rainbow Dash and her friends there?

Fluttershy was looking through her storage, trying to find something to feed Slaughter. She had some apple juice that she'd occasionally feed to some fruit bats, but she didn't remember if they ever ate them or not, she'd just wake up after with the juice empty. Fluttershy wasn't sure how she can help the creature, as he clearly said he drinks blood, and she currently had none. Sighing in disappointment, she was about to give up when she heard Harry growling loudly in the other room. Her eyes widened, he was in danger!

She quickly dropped her things and ran out of the room and towards the living room! Upon entering though, things fell silent. Harry was in the middle of the floor, growling but laid still. His eyes were open, and had a horrified expression. Fluttershy gasped and asked what was wrong, but Harry's body remained paralyzed. She took a second to inspect him, and saw two circular marks on his neck, oozing with a green fluid. Her eyes widened, and just when she noticed them, Harry's eyes darted toward something above her. She saw his eyes, and was about to follow his gaze...

...when everything suddenly went lime green.

Green was at the local market, where he was trying to choose which fruit he was going to get. Days ago, he had no idea what bits were, but Twilight was there to educate him on what they were. He had asked Twilight if he could borrow some bits to buy some fruit, which she agreed, but she also noted that Green would need to get a job somehow.

As he was looking at the apples, he felt everypony's eyes on his flanks. He found it both annoying, and saddening. Some ponies had asked him why his flanks were blank, which he couldn't explain, while others thought he had painted over his flanks to hide his cutie marks. He decided that he'll make his trip short, and bought five apples. Green quickly got out of there, and back toward Twilight's castle.

Deep down, he felt ashamed for not being like everyone else, even if he didn't completely understand why. Pushing the front doors open, he passed by Spike, who had a bag of his own. As he traveled down the hallways, he wondered if he'd remember his past more. His thoughts were interrupted though when he saw Starlight looking around, checking under what he was told was the Cutie Map, under the chairs, and every dark crevice around the room.

"Oh hey Green!" She greeted him briefly, before she went back to looking around. Green asked her what she was doing. "I thought I saw something dark move under the map, but I don't know what it was."

This puzzled Green, but he didn't exactly care enough to join the search. He passed her, and walked to where he thought was the direction of his bedroom...

Voss stole a piece of paper from Dash's desk, and began writing a ransom letter to her. The letter told her Fluttershy was in danger, and wanted Dash to pay in order to see her friend okay. The note ends with telling her to meet them at her cottage. Voss held his breath as he held the letter inside his shadowy puddle, as he watched Rainbow, looking for the right moment. He placed the letter neatly on the table without her looking, before retreating back under the sofa. He waited patiently for her to see it.

After a few seconds, along with him making a whistle in hopes of getting Dash's attention, she noticed the letter. Rainbow cocked her head to the side, finding it weird that she never noticed the paper before. Voss watched with anticipation as she read the note. Her expression changed from confusion to horror, before anger. She bolted out of the room and toward the front door. Voss took a sigh of relief... It worked.

...

It wasn't a very long trip to Fluttershy's place, since Rainbow's speed outmatched any other transport. After a few minutes, Rainbow arrived at her destination. She wasted no time, and opened the door. She noticed that the door wasn't locked.

Rainbow trotted in, and saw that the room was completely empty. There were strings of web, and some wiggling sacks made of the same silk, it was a yellowish green color. Dash was a little freaked out by the wiggling cocoons, and heard some of them make bird noises. Who or whatever did this caught all the animals! The room itself also seemed to have a green fog swirling around.

"Fluttershy...?" She called out. Her response was silence, which only made her more worried. Rainbow then looked around. "Alright, come on out! Where's Fluttershy!?"

"Help!" Fluttershy's voice cried out. Dash glanced over to the stairs.

"Hang on, Fluttershy! I'm coming!"

She flew up the stairs, and saw Fluttershy covered in bright green spider web. She was stuck to the bed, with her hooves bound to all the corners. Rainbow gasped.

"Fluttershy-" Before she had a chance to speak, she was suddenly blind-folded by something white. She tried to fight back, but her limbs were grabbed by lots of hands. Rainbow growled. "Ngh! Let me go!"

"No..." Slaughter whispered as he restrained Dash.

In Fluttershy's point of view, Slaughter had grabbed all four of her friend's limbs. One hand had the blind-fold wrapped around Rainbow's vision, with the others doing the dirty work. Slaughter then stood on his legs, raising Rainbow into the air. He had Dash's back legs spread, and her arms were positioned outward. Rainbow tried to pull back against his grip, but he remained solid as she desperately tried to escape.

Rainbow Dash struggled, but her captor's grip was like iron. Slaughter moved his head next to her neck, and Dash felt his hot breath on her neck. She growled from his perverted nature.

He licked his lips in anticipation, ready for the start of his favorite part in every catch. Rainbow was about to protest, when she felt a sharp pain on the left side of her neck. She yelped, as she felt his fangs sink into the area between her neck and shoulder. Dash's eyes widened as she felt something being ejected into her bloodstream.

Fluttershy watched in horror as Slaughter bit into Rainbow's neck and shoulder, and pumped his venom into her. Rainbow Dash's heart raced as she felt her entire body grow numb ever so slowly. Her struggles were even more stifled by his tight grip on her hooves, as if his fingers were like sticky cuffs.

After what felt like a solid thirty seconds, Slaughter released his bite, and allowed Rainbow to struggle helplessly as the venom spread throughout her body. His eyes were glued to her movements, and his mouth was practically drooling with desire. That's when he decided to take the blind fold off, allowing Dash to see his ugly face in all of its glory. Rainbow's eyes widened when she turned to meet his gaze. His blank, lifeless gaze. Rainbow fought once more, but her body was now losing movement.

Slaughter smirked, wanting to humiliate her even further in front of Fluttershy. He then pulled Rainbow's upper left leg up, while using his open hand to force Dash to look away. He then carefully, ever so gently, licked up her neck, starting with Dash's shoulder, up her throat, and stopping just before her jawline. Rainbow moaned helplessly, with her eyes closed. He chuckled darkly.

"Soon, your friends will be joining the party... and that Green boy, or Soarin, or Big Mac, or any stallion won't take you away from me." He mentioned. Rainbow turned her head slightly, losing all movement in her body except for her head.

"Y-you won't get away with this..!" She gritted her teeth, and he smirked in response.

"I can, and I will. My boy Voss told me you were coming here..." Slaughter laughed, mockingly. Rainbow Dash glared angrily. Voss had indeed called Slaughter telepathically about Dash's arrival, but not before scolding him for doing this. He then has a mood-swing, and becomes serious once again. "Now... go to sleep, you two. You'll wake after a few minutes."

Rainbow tried to respond, but he suddenly latched his mouth onto her shoulder. Though she was unable to move, somehow she was able to feel a needle puncture her skin.

"N-n...no...please...uuugh..." Rainbow soon felt whatever he ejected come into effect, and then she passed out...

...

Voss had gone to work making note after note for each mare, not because he enjoyed Slaughter indulging in his fantasies, but because there would be nopony who could protect Green. However, he realized quickly that they could easily get the authorities to stop them, so he added a small detail in the letters, telling them if they tried calling authorities, they'd never hear from their friends again. It was a deliciously evil plan, but Voss knew there was a chance it would fail. He chose not to make a note for Twilight, knowing her connections to the princesses.

However, he didn't send the letters right away, as he felt it was way too risky to catch them all at once. Instead, Voss left Dash's mansion, and headed back to the cave...

... but Rainbow and Fluttershy's friends weren't oblivious.

Green entered the Cutie Map room, a little curious as to what was going on. Twilight and her friends were talking to one another, before they noticed that Dash and Fluttershy were late to a meeting. Applejack found it strange that Rainbow was this late.

"What's going on?" Green asked, a little unsure as to what the meeting was about. Twilight Sparkle and her pupil Starlight were planning to show something involving the map, but so far they've waited almost eight minutes for their two friends to arrive.

"Rainbow Dash would never be this late, as she usually is the first one to be here." Rarity pointed out.

"Maybe she's still napping?" Pinkie Pie proposed, but Green felt a sinking suspicion behind this odd change of events. Most of the time, they're all together, but almost never two of them are late. For some reason, Green started to feel his second heartbeat.

bum-bum...

"Uh... man, not this again..." He thought to himself.

bum-bum...

Green started to feel weirdly nervous, as if something was happening, and he was not answering the call. He didn't know why, but he decided to tell Twilight.

"Uhm.. hey, Twilight?" He asked, "I don't.. feel so good. I think something's wrong with them..."

"Huh? What makes you think that?" She asked. Green flinched, and didn't reply. It was then he started to feel his body become more and more... stressed.

...

It must have been almost an hour since she was knocked out. Rainbow groggily opened her eyes, only for them to widen. She was met with a yellowish green silk blind folding her. She tried to grab the blindfold, but realized that her hoof had been pinned to her side! She soon started struggling, her hooves were tied together and her wings were restrained behind her. She had been wrapped in a skin-tight cocoon, much like Fluttershy, who also started to wiggle helplessly. Fluttershy was quick to give up, but Rainbow was delivering kicks that would make Applejack jealous. Alas, the webs weren't breaking.

Unaware of them, Slaughter stared at the two cocooned mares, a huge smile dawning his face as he watched them, as if they were living art.

"Hmmngh!" Dash yelled into her gag in frustration. Slaughter found her anger sexy, but also found Fluttershy's cute whimpers to be music to his ears as well. Did he have ears? Even he didn't know. Either way, he was having the time of his life. He had the girls displayed on the bed, with webs covering the sheets like an extra layer on top. He hoped that maybe he could make the bed his throne with the mares hanging on the wall above, to showcase his harem of soon to be six mares, with maybe two more for good measure.

As for the animals? He knew it would be bad news if Harry awoke, so he made sure that even if he did awake, he would basically be scratching for days on end at the layers upon layers of silk Slaughter put on him. He stashed all the animals away in the closet and other rooms of the cottage, spraying web at the doors so they can't get out. He tossed Harry into a spare room, making sure his cocoon was practically a huge ball, and his door and windows were reinforced with over one hundred layers. Even though he had unlimited silk, he had exhausted himself once he caught Rainbow. After webbing her, he needed to take a long break.

His break would be over though, when the front door opened.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight's voice echoed. Slaughter was shocked. How did she get here!? Voss didn't tell him he sent a note to her! Now he was screwed...

... unless.

Slaughter's eyes began to form a scowl in frustration. He hissed under his breath, with a hint of annoyance. "Green..."

Twilight, Applejack and Green had arrived at Fluttershy's Cottage, which was larger than what he expected. The trio were shocked by the new look of the house, the purple unicorn and orange pony now realizing Green was right to be concerned. Though Green had no idea what the threat was, he felt that something was up. Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Starlight went to investigate Rainbow's mansion, leaving the three here to check on Fluttershy.

"Oh no, what happened here?" Twilight asked, dread in her voice. Applejack glanced around, a little creeped out by the new look.

"Uh... I don't know about you, but maybe Nightmare Night has gotten to Fluttershy's head?" Applejack thought to herself. Green cringed, and pressed his hoof against his chest again, only to yank it away. The mares noticed him again, Applejack asking him. "Feeling the heartbeat again, sugar cube?"

Green nodded. "Y-yes... it's much higher now... perhaps it.. senses danger...?"

Suddenly, the voice of Fluttershy called out.

"Twilight?" Her voice came out in a whisper, and sounded as if it came from around the back of the cottage. Twilight's ears perked up, concern on her face.

"Fluttershy? Are you okay?" She asked, as she approached the direction she thought the voice came from. Applejack and Green followed closely behind, only for Applejack to suddenly pause, glancing around before looking over towards the right.

"AJ..." Rainbow's voice echoed. Green noticed something was up with both mares' reactions. Green backed away for a second, and decided to only listen to the second heart. Everything started to become quieter for him as he tried to listen, hearing it pulse softly. It was then he realized that the more he listened to it, the more aware of his surroundings became. He noticed the front door was closed, when it wasn't before, and then he heard some scuffling behind him, causing him to quickly turn around, just in time to see a shadow ascend the staircase!

"Wait..." Green said under his breath, before he began climbing the stairs, slowly and with caution. Applejack and Twilight looked around, confused out of their minds as to why they could hear their friends' voices, but couldn't see them. The fog and webs didn't help, as for a moment Applejack almost bumped into a table.

Twilight tried to use her horn to illuminate the area, but even her light couldn't penetrate the dense green fog, only showing a few feet in front of her.

As the two mares looked around, Green slowly made it up the staircase. Upon entering the room, the fog wasn't as dense here as it was down below. He could vaguely see the shape of a bed, before he got closer. His eyes widened when he saw two squirming pony shaped bodies, struggling and making quiet muffled moans. Green gasped, and shouted to alert his friends.

"Twilight! Applejack! They're upstairs!" He was about to say more, when he suddenly heard a low growl down the steps, before some shuffling was heard. He was so scared, he quickly crawled under the bed. Meanwhile, Twilight and Applejack whipped their heads around upon hearing Green shout, and Twilight saw a shadow move across the room.

"Hey!" She shouted as well, before she ran over to the stairs, nearly tripping as she reached it. When she got to the steps though, she paused. Chills ran down her spine when she heard footsteps running up the staircase, but didn't see anything or anyone on the stairs. Applejack found her and asked what was going on, when Twilight shushed her as the footsteps continued.

Everything fell silent, as Green heard the disembodied sounds reach his level. Green tried everything he could, not to scream. He also tried to hold back his breathing slightly, breathing through his nostrils rather than his mouth. As he heard the creaking of each foot-step, Green took notice of a small spider. He wasn't sure why, but fear instantly sparked upon seeing it. Green was shivering, biting the inside of his mouth as it crawled across the floor.

Then, it turned and revealed its face. Green nearly yelped at the sight of its eight eyes, and its mandibles. This caused Green to unintentionally breathe more deeply, almost giving away his spot. Green and the spider stared at each other for a few seconds, but to Green it felt like eternity. The spider soon crawled towards him slowly, curious at what it was looking at. Green almost cried at the sight. The spider crawled closer slightly, only being a few centimeters away from Green's front leg...

"I know you're in here, Earth Pony... come out... now..." Slaughter whispered the last word. This brought Green back to reality, and that he was in danger. Though yes, he can turn into a dragon, but he had no idea how to trigger it. He guessed that it triggers when his friends are in danger, but for some reason it hasn't happened yet…

"Who's there?" Twilight said. Slaughter quickly turned around and saw Twilight and Applejack ascending the stairs. Slaughter decided to play chicken, and fired a string of web at her horn. Twilight Sparkle was caught off guard by the sudden string of web, causing her to yelp in surprise. Applejack also jumped back as her friend's horn now had web at the tip! "Whaat!? Hey!"

She angrily stared at the web at the tip of her horn. Slaughter had to hold back a laugh, but Applejack heard the snicker, causing her to grow tense.

"Wait, Twa'light! There's somepony here messin' with us!"

Slaughter paid no mind to them at the moment, for that he saw Green's tail briefly peek out from underneath the bed. Slaughter smirked. "I'm gonna find you... and I will..."

Green suddenly felt something grab his tail forcefully!

"KILL YOU!" Slaughter yelled. Green screamed at the top of his lungs. He was yanked out from under the bed, and into Slaughter's view.

Applejack and Twilight looked on in horror as Green was seemingly grabbed by an invisible force! Green tried to kick back, but Slaughter was quickly making do with gaining control. He grabbed the pony's hooves, and put his foot down on Green's chest, literally. Green just looked up in terror. Slaughter chuckled at Green's face, but soon his chuckle disappeared quickly.

Green's chest began to glow blue, and now it was Green's turn to smile devilishly. Green morphed into his water dragon form!

As Green grew in size, he shot water at Slaughter's face. Slaughter felt the water hit his eye, causing him to let go of Green. For a brief second, it gave Twilight and Applejack a glimpse at Slaughter's silhouette, and they were taken aback at how tall he was! He growled, before he made a run for it. His soaked form betrayed him as Applejack tried to kick him again but he managed to cling onto the wall, and started crawling away quickly like a spider!

Twilight used her hooves to finally rip the webbing off, before she began blasting at the wet form of Slaughter as he crawled past them quickly!

For a tall creature like him, he was shockingly agile, easily dodging the beams as he crawled down the stairs, and running to the living room. Applejack and Twilight chased him, while Green got up, and was about to join them, when he heard the struggles of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"Mmmph!" Rainbow muffled.

"Hmmmph!" Fluttershy whined.

He decided to take a moment to untie them, after all, they are his friends. He used his claws to rip the silk off one of them, which he guessed was Rainbow Dash. After cutting the binds enough, Rainbow managed to squirm out, and brush herself off. Green then proceeded to untie Fluttershy, being careful not to harm the gals. After breaking them free, Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at Green with amazement.

"You saved us!" Fluttershy whispered.

"Uhm... yup, I did. I guess..." He said, nervously. He rubbed the back of his head, and he seemed... embarrassed? Rainbow blinked.

"Is it just me? Or is Green blushing...?" Rainbow thought. There wasn't time for that, Green needed to stop Slaughter.

Green proceeded to run down the stairs, and saw Twilight and Applejack were in the doorway, looking somewhat disappointed.

"Whoever or whatever that was, they got away." Applejack said, turning around to see Green and the other girls. Twilight looked up at Green, and apologized for doubting him. Green's body glowed cyan, along with a soft hum sound, before he transformed back into an earth pony. He blinked as he looked at his hooves.

"How do you do that?" Rainbow Dash asked, finding it cool that a pony like him could transform. He shrugged, unsure how he could do it.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"We were kidnapped by a terrifying creature named Slaughter!" Rainbow Dash replied, with Fluttershy shivering.

"He wanted to make us part of his... h-h-harem." She muttered the last part, out of embarrassment. Applejack was disgusted, along with Twilight who was confused. Green felt a sense of anger toward Slaughter, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the plan or the fact that he wrapped Rainbow Dash. His second heartbeat seemed to confirm the latter to him... wait, did it really say that?

As Green looked within himself, confused, little did they all know, the foe was still in the room. He was good at holding his breath, and Slaughter wasn't a complete coward. As much as he wanted to leave, he wanted to at least grab a bite out of a juicy flank before he left. However, with the fog being slowly cleared thanks to the front door being open, it was becoming harder and harder to hide in plain sight.

"What if he's still here?" Green thought openly. Everypony glanced around. Within the dense fog, he would be hiding anywhere, combined with his invisibility, Slaughter was practically air to the naked eye. He wanted to take one of them so badly, to drink their blood like he did earlier, but alas the fog cleared more and more. They were all on alert, and so Slaughter decided it was time to leave.

He very carefully moved above them, crawling on the ceiling as he knew the floorboards would give him away, now that they were listening closely...

...

At the end of the day, Fluttershy's cottage was cleared of all the webs, thanks to her animal friends for cleaning up, especially her spiders. One of the spiders was the one Green got scared of earlier, which Fluttershy heard it tell her about him. She told Green that the spider had something to say.

"She said she's sorry for scaring you. She was just hiding from the larger predator." Fluttershy translated the spider's words.

Green felt a little better knowing it didn't mean to, but he was still uneasy. Fluttershy turned to Twilight, and asked her something.

"How did you know we were in danger?"

"Green told us he was feeling uncomfortable, and said he 'sensed something bad' happening to you and Dash. I didn't believe him at first, but as time ticked by, he started to hyperventilate, and I started to believe him more and more."

Her eyes widened. "He did?"

"Yes. I don't know where he came from, but he's certainly more than meets the eye."

As Green stood outside of the cottage, Rainbow Dash flew down to him.

"Thanks for saving us back there." She said, which made Green feel happy. It was odd, he thought he heard her name before, but there was no memory of when. His second heartbeat was going crazy when staring into Rainbow's eyes, forcing him to focus more on her face and body to calm the heartbeats down. She noticed his gaze going all over the place, and asked. "Uh...you okay there?"

"S-sorry... I guess I'm... I need to get back home." Green said, but before he left, he asked Dash. "Say uh... I don't know what it is, but I feel a strange connection to the dragon form."

Rainbow was intrigued with his words, as he continued.

"I remember, I wasn't sure if it was Twilight or Starlight, but I remember one of them saying.. that maybe my dragon form is similar to your Sonic Rainboom. Perhaps my.. what's it called? Cutie Mark? Is it linked to it, somehow?"

The sky blue pegasus thought for a second, before answering. "That sounds interesting, but I'm not sure if a dragon is as awesome as the Sonic Rainboom."

Green was a little confused, but shrugged it off. As they stood there, a shadow watched from under the brush. Voss had seen everything, and found Slaughter to be an embarrassment. However, he didn't anticipate Green to transform again. He wondered if it's because of the second heartbeat. He also used his telepathy to read Green's mind, but didn't find much of interest, aside from the fact that it seemed Green was catching onto the idea of the heartbeat being linked to the dragon form.

By this point, what mattered to him was not letting Green get his memories back, though something told him the earth pony was going to eventually remember…

Author's Note

You may have noticed that I decided to make Slaughter and Samvoss' goals sort of separate. They do work with each other sometimes, but this episode was mostly Slaughter's own doing, for reasons said in the beginning of the episode.

I kind of felt this was true to Slaughter's character, while it sort of felt off to me in the original. I feel like I could've done a better job at having the girls find out what happened to Rainbow and Fluttershy, since mystery is one of the tags.. though then again I can remove it anytime, I guess.

6: A Day with Rainbow Dash

It had been only a day since his defeat. Slaughter was slithering through the tall grass in an open field, completely and utterly baffled at how easily Green was able to get him on the run.

He hissed to himself as Slaughter dug his clawed fingers into the dirt to pull himself across the ground, grunting every time he hit a rock as he did so. His legs kicked against the ground, trying to give himself a boost in crawl speed. He looked up to see a nearby tree, and decided he'll sleep there until he's well enough to reach the cave. Slaughter bite his lip. "This is going to be a long day..."

As he approached the tree, he thought to himself about his failure. His two favorite girls would've been the beginning, with the others joining after seeing their friends going quiet. If only...

"That... scumbag..." He hissed under his breath. "If he hadn't pulled a power from his ass... it would've been easy as cake..."

Normally he was able to climb up faster than a black bear, but due to his low mood, he ended up making it harder on himself. After a lengthy climb, he was hidden inside the leaves. Slaughter began resting on a branch, taking a break from the long trip. He stared out at the land through the foliage. While he had a blank gaze, he thought of how he was going to get revenge for having his quest get cut short.

"Webbing the girls will be easy... but that boy, he's a different beast." He thought. "How can I beat him if the idiot can transform? He can render my webs useless! Actually-I don't know that."

He yawned as his eyes closed halfway. Aside from trying to figure out how to counter Green, he also was planning on making a base in the tree, but knowing himself, he probably wasn't going to get around to it. Slaughter felt sleepy, having not slept in a few days. He decided to throw in the towel for the week, and closed his eyes to slumber.

Green was getting used to the castle's layout, being able to find the exit was a blessing for him. What still baffled him though was his ability to 'sense' Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy yesterday. He was still unsure about it, but didn't lose too much sleep from it. He was talking with Spike, as Green was curious as to what the dragons were doing, which prompted Spike to leave earlier that day. Spike explained his adventure with a dragoness named Ember, who had now become the new ruler of the dragons.

"Huh... so Ember has become the new princess?" He thought. Though he never heard of Ember, he took Spike's word for her personality and such.

"Say... Green? How is it that the dragon lord's call didn't happen to you? You can transform into a dragon, don't you think that when the lord's call came, you would be forced to answer it like me?"

The earth pony paused. He was right, he felt nothing when the call came to Spike. He was confused by this, but also felt relief as if there was anything Spike has shown him, it would've been the worst feeling he's felt since getting here.

"Actually... yeah, How is it that I didn't..." He trailed off. Green glanced over, and spotted Rainbow Dash hovering next to the front door. As he stared at Dash, Spike ran over to Twilight, who he brought up the details of Green not being affected by the call. Twilight Sparkle seemed equally as confused as he was. Green watched as Dash flew out the door.

"I'm not sure why Green isn't affected by the call. Since we know little of Green right now, this only baffles me more." Twilight rubbed her chin as she stared at the window. The earth pony didn't pay too much attention to her words though, for that he sensed something again. He was aware of the weird things he had experienced up until this point, the second heartbeat, his ability to transform, and that weird vision he had when observing the crash site. However, he sensed something new when seeing Rainbow Dash.

There was something oddly familiar with her shape, her silhouette and colors seemed to ring a bell, but when he tried to pinpoint it, he couldn't find a reason inside. Part of him wanted to follow Rainbow Dash, to hopefully gather more information, but he didn't know how to explain it, let alone strike up a conversation. Feeling overwhelmed by this, he went down the hallway to return to his bedroom.

...

Green was laying in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He had no idea why he was feeling this way toward someone he only met a few days ago. It confused him and left the pony feeling completely lost. He decided to see if he could remember anything from his past, only to hit another brick wall. Green gave up and just laid there, breathing as he felt his stomach grumble.

Sighing with relative sadness, he felt disappointed in himself. Outside of not remembering anything, he hadn't really eaten breakfast. He could have, but he didn't. Breakfast reminded him of Twilight, Spike and Starlight. He realized another thing, he hadn't told them about the purple entity in his nightmares.

Turning over to his side, he stared at the wall. He noticed a painting on it, which was a depiction of the two alicorns of the sun and moon. He didn't really know them, but he thought the painting looked nice. The colors blended together nicely and it was eye-candy to him, especially... the rain...bows...

Wait...

He sat up, the gears in his head turning.

"Perhaps I must've met her before. No, she doesn't know me... unless," Green turned to the side, staring at the wall as he thought more. "maybe I've... seen her before? But she never met me? Maybe this has something to do with my previous life..."

Suddenly, the more he thought of her, he felt a familiar beat inside him, one that was alongside his usual heart rate. It was the second heartbeat!

He was confused as to why it was happening again, especially since he wasn't transformed. However, he quickly realized what might be causing this, even if he wasn't 100% sure on it.

After a few minutes of thinking to himself, he got out of bed and went to see Rainbow Dash.

Slaughter grumbled to himself as he started making threads to build the foundation, feeling a bit peeved he was only able to nap. He self taught himself in the art of making spider webs, and tried making huge webs before to moderate success. Granted, they stood out like soar thumbs, so he'd build them inside a hole or in the dark, to make them less obvious to any unfortunate female prey who stumbled into his tight webs.

His desire for women was never ending, which made it agonizing for him to have to wait for anyone to fly into his web. To distract himself, he decided to remember all the times he had temporary homes. Whenever he would need to move location, he'd let any prey go afterward, mostly since it was a pain to have to carry them around everywhere he went.

Even he felt hungry as he thought of their squirming bodies trapped inside his cocoons. He groaned to himself, since he forgot to drink the two girls' blood when he was at the cottage. He won't die from starvation, but he would be in a world of pain after a month of not eating. It was then Slaughter heard some rustling down below, making him stop his work for a second. He turned invisible so he didn't get spotted, and scanned the area down below. The gift that came with having mantis-like eyes was he had excellent vision, seeing even the tiniest detail.

A small bunny tail peaked out from behind the brush, which told him everything he needed to know. He didn't like catching regular animals, for that he preferred intelligent life, it was part of the thrill of dominating his prey, but an animal doesn't have the brain power to realize they're no longer free from his silky threads. Unfortunately he was so hungry, he started to consider having rabbit stew.

Slaughter considered himself insane, but part of him was fearful of drinking something that wasn't on the same level as him. What he decided to do instead was to look for new prey. What stumped him though was where in the hell he was going to get some without much challenge?

Once outside, Green looked around, desperately searching for Rainbow Dash. He had hoped she was right there at the entrance, but he didn't realize how active she was until now. He scanned his eyes across the sky, hoping to see her flying.

It didn't take long to spot her flying over some houses, and he took off after her. He passed a few ponies as he tried to keep up with her. Green remembered her silhouette somewhere, even before awakening, but the origin was hard to pinpoint. With little understanding of his past, him knowing about her vaguely could mean anything.

When he got close, he called out to her. "Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash glanced down at the ground below her, and noticed a certain tan colored pony below her. "Green?"

Dash swooped down, and landed near him. She was curious as to why he's here, out in the open. Green usually stayed inside the castle, and rarely went out. Whenever he did, he would have a reason.

"What's up, Green?" She asked, which made him stutter. What was he supposed to say? Should he come up with an excuse? Or tell her that a second heartbeat signaled him to follow her?

"No! She'll think I'm crazy!" He thought, as Green was having trouble on what to say, which made him feel a twinge of anxiousness.

"Uh…Green?" She asked again, prompting him to glance up at her, with a rather intense stare.

"I-I uh... I was... was fo-observing? From a distance..." He tried to not look nervous, but he was. Rainbow blinked.

"Observing what?"

"Uhm... y-... you?" He replied nervously, cringing deep inside over the obviously dumb move he made. He wasn't sure whether to smile awkwardly or frown profusely at his mistake. Rainbow was left even more puzzled, but with her pride, she smirked.

"Like how awesome I am?" She teased. Breathing a mental sigh of relief, he managed to find an excuse.

"W-what i-if... uh.. Slaughter might come back, I mean.. let's not forgot the fact he retreated. Sooo... mind if I tag along? I do feel bored inside the castle." Part of him was screaming for him to stop, but the second heartbeat told him to keep going. It had quieted down a little as he stayed with her.

"Uh...alright," Dash said, unsure what to make of it all. Green felt a sense of happiness within him, causing him to smile. Little did he know, he wasn't the only one feeling such emotion. The two decided to go to the park. Rainbow would notice him glance at her every now and then, seeing a rather intense look in his eyes.

The happiness inside Green soon turns into a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever he glances at the pony hovering next to him. Rainbow Dash decided to break the brief silence between the two

"So.. how've you been?"

Green honestly didn't know how to respond. In the days he's been here, he didn't exactly socialize much, since he was too busy obsessing over what he can't remember.

"W-well.. er... I.. don't know..." He uttered.

"Don't know?" She asked, curiously.

"I've.. been too worried over my past life..."

"It's alright, I'm sure you'll remember yourself eventually." She assures the earth pony. The second heartbeat started to become more steady, He smiled a little from it, and looked over to Dash.

"Thank you..."

"It would be cool if your memories came back, especially how you're able to turn into a dragon!"

For a moment, he felt more confident to speak to her about his deja vu. He glanced up at her, and found the words to tell her.

"So uhm.. Have we met before…?" He asked, and he quickly felt stupid for not adding context at the start. Rainbow Dash looked at him, a little confused as to what he meant.

"Huh? Of course we met over a week ago. Why do you ask?"

"I-I… I ask because, I feel like… before waking up, you are very familiar to me, but I don't know why." He explained, surprised he was able to get it in one go. Now Dash was very confused. Green sighed. "I thought I remembered something this morning… and I wish I knew the context… but it feels as if I met you, before I came here..."

"Wait, what? Really?"

He nodded.

"Hmm…well, I know for a fact we didn't meet before, unless you happen to be one of my many fans…" She said, putting a hoof to her chin. "I have many fans who vaguely resemble you, but I've never met a cutie mark-less fan."

As they stood there awkwardly, he glanced at a painter nearby. The pony held a paintbrush with his mouth, while a mare was sitting on a chair in front of him. Green squinted his eyes to see better. Things were blurry from a distance, but fortunately they were close enough to where he made out the brush and canvas. However, the more he thought of the mare, and the canvas, his mind started to remember something he hadn't before.

Suddenly, Green felt something come across his mind, a series of vague images of a cyan figure with multicolored hair, along with multicolored hair. It didn't take long for him to realize it was Rainbow Dash!

When Dash turned to look at him, her eyes widened and her mouth went agape. His eyes were glowing white, with no pupils visible.

"Woah!" She hovered back slightly, and as soon as it came, the glowing eyes faded back to Green's normal emerald colored ones. He just stood there for a few seconds, realizing something he thought he wouldn't have before.

"Green! Your eyes were white for a moment!" Rainbow exclaimed, causing Green to gasp quietly to himself.

"I did?" He asked. Green had to process what had happened, and was too afraid to say anything in fear of falling flat on his face. After a few moments, Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

"Your eyes were glowing too, like you were possessed or something!" She was surprised to see him act so oblivious to it. Green had remembered seeing artwork of Rainbow Dash, within some kind of gallery, but it wasn't like the one in the library, it was on a flat plain and the art seemingly moved upward like a scroll. It was freaky and strange, yet at the same time he felt there was some context that he just didn't have at the moment. He had no idea how to explain this to Dash, but he decided to just mention one thing.

"I believe I remembered something." He started, making Dash's ears perk up. "Perhaps.. the reason you're familiar.. is because I saw some artwork of you."

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, and asked, "Really? Where?"

"I don't remember... all I can see is you on a canvas... I think." He was disappointed he couldn't say much more, but it was already enough to get Rainbow Dash excited.

"Wait, so does that mean somepony painted art for me? Awesome!"

He nervously rubbed the back of his head, as he thought to himself, "Uh... yeah."

In the tree, Slaughter had managed to finish making a small web, or at least relative to his size. It was still massive to the average sized pony, but for him, he made much bigger webs before.

"This will certainly keep a female restrained." He thought to himself. With this, he laid down on it like a hammock. Despite his rumbling belly inside his body, he couldn't get anything or anyone to feast on, and he didn't care to get out of the comfortable bed. His powers allowed him to create several different types of web, and the type he was using for his hammock was soft and comfy.

At least now, he could get some shut eye for now...

Author's Note

ngl, this was kind of a filler chapter, even in the original, though it had Neocros speaking to Green in the OG version, I wanted to do a slightly different route with this one, having the second heartbeat being an indicator of Neocros.

The reason I didn't have him talk to Green is because Neocros was suppose to be asleep, it's the entire point of the villains wanting them to not retrieve their memories since Mol... I'm getting ahead of myself.

With all that being said, this one is alright, I guess. There was going to be a second battle against Slaughter in this new version, which is a recycled idea from the beta version. Much like the 6th episode of the 2017 edition, the beta version of episode 6 didn't lead to much, aside from some shit happening that felt a little pointless. You'll see when I link the beta version at a later date.