The Traveling Horseman

Twilight was looking at the dead humanoid. Rainbow flew outside, just to see Traveler riding into the forest, at high speed.
Spike dragged Rarity to the couch. It was now the second time, that she fainted.
They all did something different at the moment, still felt the same.

Shock, fear and confusion took over their minds...

''Now what?'' Asked the confused Spike, who tried to wake up Rarity.

''He-... he went into the forest...'' Flew back inside Rainbow Dash.

''T-t-those t-things a-are coming t-to ponyville...'' Twilight was now shaking.

''Twilight, calm down! He said those things will follow him. That's what they are, Followers. Hehhe...'' Rainbow tried to lighten the mood, but her unicorn friend just collapsed to the ground.

''What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?'' She repeated, as she slowly curled into a ball, holding her head.

Rainbow and Spike looked at each other, trying to come up with a solution. The situation was really bad. Two of their friends freaked out. One fainted and one is just losing her mind.

''Twilight! Twilight!'' Rainbow flew to her friend. ''Twiilight!'' She said louder and tried to pick her up. ''Come on Twilight! Don't lose it now!'' Twilight just kept panicking.

''*GASP*'' Rarity woke up. She quickly looked around and saw the situation. She knew what to do. ''Twilight, dear! We have to send a letter to the Princess, remember?'' She said, calmly as she can in this stressful moment.

Mentioning the Princess was a good idea, because Twilight immediately stopped shivering. then she quickly looked up, glanced around the room. Gears turning in her head... aaand... puff! Light bulb...

''Spike, take a letter. We must do something, but first...''

She looked at her friends...

'' ... we're going to prepare too...''

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Traveler and Sprint sped trough the forest. The trees weren't that frequent, so the good old 'go left, go right, duck before you hit the branch, jump over a bush' tactic worked.
But as they ventured deeper, the wall of trees made the ride slower. Traveler looked up and saw the Followers, with their purple, glowing eyes watching him. ''They found me... now they can tell the blue and green ones where am I. Let's make it harder for them.''

He summoned his Eagle. ''Map! Get rid of our uninvited guests!'' He commanded and his eagle flew up, in it's purple flames. Map flew close to them and with a sudden outburst of purple flash, the Followers lost their track on Traveler and lost conscious.

As the now falling Followers were having their last seconds, Map screeched and flew away. But not without leaving another small explosion of purple flames. Traveler knew his eagle found something and he followed it.
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Ponyville afternoon. The shops were open, ponies going to their own business. The strange being's arrival was no more the most interesting gossip. A new one already spread around the town.

''The Princess is in the town!''

''Where is she?''

''At the Carousel Boutique.''

''Princess Celestia needs a new dress?''

''Miss Rarity sure makes fine clothes.''

''If the Princess likes her work, then I should buy my dress for the gala from her.''

''That means Rarity is rich?''

These misunderstood statements reached three pony. And they went to pay a visit for their friend, Rarity.

''If tah Princess needs some fanc' dress, then she found tha finest des'gner in all of Equestria.'' Said Applejack, as her two other friends trotted next to her.

''Oh, it's so wonderful. It was Rarity's dream to make a dress for the Princess.'' Spoke up quietly Fluttershy.

''If the Princess is here, I can throw her a welcome to ponyville party. And Rarity's dream come true so we can go and celebrate. But we can't have two party at the same time. Well, actually we can, but ponies would get tired so fast, like Rainbow Dash. So instead having two party at the same time, we can have one HUGE party. And everypony would have fun. And having fun is FUN!'' This sentence only costed one breath for Pinkie Pie.

As Applejack rolled her eyes, she could see the boutique coming to view. From the front door, outstepped the Princess, Twilight, Spike Rarity and Rainbow Dash. The look on their faces told bad news for the farm pony and she ran up to them.
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie soon followed. Which meant Fluttershy flying over to them and landing gracefully. And Pinkie Pie popping up... from nowhere of course.

''W'at is goin' on 'ere?'' Asked Applejack.

''See for yourself. I don't want to look at it.'' Shook her head Rarity.

The three went inside and just as they went in, Fluttershy screamed and ran outside, crying. Soon followed by a silent Pinkie Pie, with a blank stare. And Applejack looked shocked.

''What in tartanation happen'd?'' She asked slowly.

''It's no time to explain my little pony.'' Spoke up the calm Celestia. ''I send Luna after him. While you six support the royal guards. A new threat to Equestria is not a good sign. Take the elements of harmony and follow the guards!'' She ordered them.

''And what about you Princess?'' Asked an unsure Twilight.

''I must make sure that Canterlot and the other towns are safe. I will join you when I'm done.'' With that said, she left in a flash of light.

''Ohkay, can somepony tell me what tha hay is goin' on?!''

''I'll tell you on the way Applejack. Now bring your element and go!'' Said Twilight and she gave all the five elements to her five friends. She place her element on her head and they were right on the way.

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Traveler traveled too slow, due to the lot of trees. He jumped off of his horse and it disappeared into his talisman.
But not just the trees slowed him down...

''This place is evil.'' He muttered.''Every shadow could be dangerous. It feels like something or someone is watching me. Yet, when I look there, I saw no one. I haven't seen any predator. I probably will, but now I know why they don't come into this forest.''

His eagle screeched again, and he looked up. ''The moment when I stepped amongst these trees, I walked into a magical area. The forest simply wants the visitors to go away. It's using our most feared imaginations to keep away the citizens.''

Map landed on his wrist and after one last quiet screech, it turned into his map. The map shoved a point where a small, purple spiral formed. ''Looks like a huge number of Followers are there. But something stronger must be with them. A leader maybe...'' He mused.

He then sent back his eagle to the sky and he thought for a moment. ''Now... map shoves me the way. I... use the same tactic as the Followers and predators...''

He attached his claws on his gauntlets and looked over it. ''Still sharp...'' Satisfied with it's condition, he ran up on a tree and pulled himself up with the claws. He climbed higher, then he sticked his head out from the leaves. He looked over the area.

He was in the middle of the forest. Trees around him formed a leaf blanket, that reached the horizon. Everywhere he looked, green. Green, green, green, tower, green, gre-... wait.
He looked back where he saw some kind of structure. And sure enough, a tall tower sticked out from the leaves.
And the huge amount of energy came from there...

''There...''

He said to himself and jumped...

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''... so we must go after him. Maybe he doesn't want to hurt us, so we help him. If the Princess decides to send him away, then we have to make sure that he's not going to turn against us.'' Twilight finished explaining.

''So that's why I didn't felt twitchy tail. He isn't a pony and his ride is a horsey.'' Spoke up Pinkie, who stayed silent for the whole time.

''I hope the animals are alright...'' Said to herself Fluttershy, but nopony heard her.

''I made him those clothes just today. He better be careful with those.'' Chimed in Rarity... and she was the one who received a strange looks, not Pinkie.

''Ah still can't believe that happen'.'' Told Applejack, to Twilight.

''I know, I can still see that dead creature. And he's just killed it.'' Shook her head Twilight.

''Am I the only one who finds strange that he's riding Spirit?'' Suddenly Rainbow Dash.

Those looks on the faces... let's just go back to Traveler.
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''Catch, swing, wait, repeat...''

Traveler used his claws to swing to another branch. Chains made his work easier, to reach farther. Those chains were strong enough to carry his weight.
After each swing, he fell trough leaves and branches, absolutely ruining his clothes. It already has some dirt on it. ''For giving me the opportunity to ruin your work, I'm terribly sorry Miss Rarity.''

When he saw the right time, he caught a branch, chains tightening and he released. The forest was thick, he was easily swinging himself trough the woods, above the ground.

''If I keep that pace, I can reach that building under a hour...'' He told himself.

He knew that the Followers lost him long time ago. He took down their trackers, they don't know where he was now.

So he just swung to tree to tree...

Little did he know, that not just a few Followers was behind him. But a huge battalion of royal guards and the elements of harmony themselves...