Eraser

Knock, knock.
A filly would hear the knock on their door.

The young pony would saunter lazily towards it to open. And there a tall stallion stood; it was Rockhoof.

"What do you want so early in the morning, two-timer?" The pink filly asked.

"Two-timer? Hey! Where'd you learn that from? You shouldn't even be talking like that to your elders. Do you even know that word?" He scolded the little filly.

"Yes, and I'm looking at him."

"Oh yeah? What made you say that?"

" You already have big sister, and yet you simp to another."

"Simp? Now yer just making words up. Pebbles, can I just go in already? I have some business to attend to."

"Uuuu, you horny stallion." She smirked.

"Hey you! Watch your mouth, young filly!"

" ~I'm telling Madeline!~" she mockingly hymned.

"Foals these days, what in Equestria have we been feeding them?" He worried for the filly.

The stallion entered the inn and sat at one of the tables and looked through the menu handed over to him by Pebbles.

Rockhoof would browse the menu while taking his time, which irritated the Pink filly for taking too long. "What's taking you so long!? There are only four things to choose from that paper, and you always go for the rock soup!"

This caught the stallion by surprise, forcing him to drop his dithering and went with his usual order. "Sheesh filly, then rock soup it is!"

"And I bet you're going to stay long if that mare doesn't wake up any sooner... This'll be a drag..." The filly yanked the menu rudely, making the stallion flinch. "What's gotten into you?"

The filly would just flick her tongue and leave.

"... Well, good morning to you too, Pebbles..." He sighed.

The filly would hand over the order to her mom in the kitchen, "here mom!"

"...."

She'd quickly go up to Kesu's room and would rudely barge in without a knock and wake the sleeping pony.

"Wake up!"

This jolted Kesu up from her bed, and almost fell. "Wha!?..."

Unamused, the pink filly waited a bit before continuing, "You have a stalker waiting for you down the hall! If you won't wake up to meet him, he'll probably stay there the rest of the day for you, and is stinking up the dinning hall."

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the pink filly. "... Curly."

The young filly blushed and pouted, slamming the door close as she left. "Hmph!"

"She's such a cutie..." She yawned and prepared herself sluggishly for today.

"... I wonder what's taking her so long," Rockhoof questioned as he was playing with his food, stirring his soup endlessly.

"You missed me that much, stud?" Kesu sat across his table, spooking the stallion, as he had not noticed her presence.

"Ohh!... Uh, how much have you heard from my mumbles?" He sheepishly blushed like a young maiden, which ended abruptly as he recalled he was called a — "Wait, what? A stud?" The confused stallion followed up.

"Well, you got that young filly and her mom wrapped up in your hooves, right?" She dismissively looked away from Rockhoof, but in fact she just wanted to get some answers from him.

The stallion paused for a bit and wondered, "Who, Pebbles? The pink filly who works from the inn?"

"Oh, so that's her name... She's the cute pink curly filly, right?" She asked.

"Well, yeah, and I don't think she likes ponys pointing out her curly mane by anyone like that. And wait, wait, mother? Her mom's dead for a year now."

This gave shivers throughout Kesu's whole body that she ended up curling up from her seat and tried to contain her goosebumps.

She then covered her ears, "Kyaaaaa... Yamete rrrrgh!" She silently screamed, trying to contain her fright and shiver.

As Rockhoof continued to ponder, "Oh, maybe what you meant was her sister? Yeah, she seems to look old enough to be her mother... I think? The sisters had a really stressful life, and everyone in the village is chipping in to help them out."

Kesu gave a big sigh of relief. "Phew... That filly never seazes to creep me out; it's quite amazing actually... Perhaps it runs in the family."

"Creepy? Those two are like the mascots of this town, always smiling and welcoming, makin everyone in this farm cozy and ready for another day!" He happily announced. "Although Pebbles has become quite rebellious lately... Hopefully it's just a phase."

What he just said was quite contradictory to Kesu, as doubt can be seen painted throughout her face. " ...yeah, no wonder the farm is so famous."

"... Hey, was that sarcasm?" Rockhoof questioned and disapproved of her thoughts against the sisters.

"I will admit Pebbles is cute, but her sister creeps the hell out of me..." She shivers at the mere thought of Pebbles's sister.

"How so? They're so nice to everyone." He continued to defend her.

She looked around the inn, and the only people there were the two of them and Pebbles, who was at the counter.

"Yeah, sure." To her it seems like the sister was only kind towards Rockhoof and no one else.

"Hmmm..." Rockhoof was a bit miffed that Eraser didn't believe what he said.

"Anyway, I'm not a stud, okay? I'm not that kind of a pony; I respect each and everyone here," he proudly proclaimed.

"Mmhm, yup, you are definitely different." She gave an unconvincing answer, which Rockhoof picked up. "Hmmmm..."

"Anyway, once you're done playing with your food, where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry! Would you like something to eat?"

" Nah, watching you is enough."

"Oh! Uh, umm..." He hurriedly slurped his soup and nearly choked on it. "Ahurph! Ahm... Well, the ones that we haven't visited yet are the actual farms and the town hall. So after we finish the tour on the farm, we can go and visit the Elders."

"... Wait, elders? In the town hall? Wait, what? You mean the mayor, right? Aren't the elders supposed to stay in a retirement home, and the mayor running the hall?" She smirked as she mockingly questioned their ways here, but Rockhoof took no offense at how she acted and calmly replied, oblivious to the sarcasm she commented.

"Well, that really depends on the situation of the village. Ours is... kinda rocky at the moment. The farm's population isn't as great as it was, and everyone seems to be leaving." This gave the stallion a down mood and gloomed him a bit.

"Our community is quite small, you know, so even just one pony can have a big effect on us."

"Oh, sorry." It seems Kesu has hit something sensitive.

"No, don't be, and besides, it's getting better, remember?"

"... Hmm, I guess so..." she worried.

Ssssllliiittt!

Blood would gush out of the sea lion crab abomination, showing the victor to Comfy.

She pants heavily as the sun rose from the horizon, and none of the invaders stood, but at what cost?

"Haaaa!!!!—ugh—urrrrgh..." Comfy, weakened and in a daze, would collapse to her knee as she desperately gasped for air and rest. Her body continued to feel heavy, not willing to listen to the mind.

"SHIT! HAA! WE... we won..." As she panned through her surroundings and looked at the state of her troops, few remained.

Tears would drip as she could not hold it no longer.

"I guess you owe your life to me now..." The bruised mage stood in front of her.

"Tsk, I cannot deny that, but if your goals do not align with the princess's, then forget that we owe you anything." She then lightly pierced the sole of her hoof, but not of blood would spill, but a mist of dark shadow would erupt and enter Bluebell's nostrils.

"What the fuck!?" She struggled for a bit until all of it went in her. "Hey! What the hell was that!" She pointed her horn at Comfy.

"A pact that I have made with you; my second undying devotion towards you."

Bluebell scrounged her eyes towards that remark. "...hmm..."

"You've always been an ungrateful mare, you know that? Ever since you were a filly." She sighed.

"Tsk, I do not need your half-assed loyalty! If I had known you'd kept your loyalty to the princess, then I should've just left you to die." The mare would limp away and into the unknown.

Comfy could only look at her as she limped away. She in turn would head the other way, to where her injured troops awaited her.

"Is this all that remained?" She asked the rest.

"Are you disappointed?" one of the shadows would ask.

"Watch your tone, unless you want your head cut off," she threatened him.

"Where is my commanding troop? I need my report," she asked once more.

"I AM!" the same persistent shadow shouted. "I am the commanding troop." He presented himself once more.

"No... Where's Madeline!" She shoved the stallion to the ground, disapproving of his new status.

"There is no one here except you who outranks me, Head Shadow," he angrily replied.

"You... You really want your head cut off? her face distorted with rage and engulfed in shadow.

The stallion would hold his tongue lest he wish to lose not only his status but his head.

"MADELINE!" She madly requested for her.

The other shadows would look away and avoid her gaze.

As she looked at them one by one, she became irritable and confused.

"Search for survivors! Quickly!" She yelled. The rest of the shadows would bow and do as they were told and vanished into the dark.

She too would search but would trip and fall, her body still refusing to follow. "SHIT... AHHHGGG MOVE!" She'd abuse her body to move.

One of the shadows would return and see her sorry state, forced to assist her to stand.

"Why have you returned? Did I not order you to rescue surviving troops!?" She scolded the shadowling.

"Head Skadu, we have more pressing matters."

"What?" Her face confused and irritated.

"The other shadows have abandoned you; only I remained."

"W-what?" Her tears flow once more.

"Do they not care for their kin!? Why would they abandon them!? And what of our promise to the princess? Do they not wish to serve her no longer!?"

"Head Skadu!" The shadowling yelled and caught Comfy's attention.

"There are no survivors... And their faith is gone," the shadowling sadly replied.

"Lies! Madeline... MADELINE WOULD SURELY SURVIVE! That mare. That mare is as tough as a roach, haha. No matter what harsh training I gave her, she'd always stand tall! Any missions I gave her, she'd always pull through! She can't be dead!"

The shadowling would pity her as she'd stand and listen to the head Skadu. "My lady... Please, follow me." The Shadowling would then present her back for her to ride. "Please, so we may quickly meet her."

This left a question in Comfy's head about what she had said, but she would welcome her offer, as she'd want to meet her as soon as possible. "So you've found her? Why didn't you say so! Quickly!"

The shadowling would then carry her from her back and lead the way. "Yes, head Skadu," she said sorrowfully.

"Well, the farm was unexpectedly amusing. I quite enjoyed that," Kesu said joyfully towards Rockhoof, which made the stallion perk up. "Really?"

"No, not really." She smirked and giggled.

"Now that's just mean." He pouted back.

"Well, for a rock farm, I didn't expect it to be... to be... to be too deep into it, you know what I mean?" Kesu tried to explain.

"How so?" he asked.

"Well, I didn't expect you guys would dedicate any kind of research to these rocks. I mean, I thought you guys would just mine and break rocks and stuff."

"Well, yeah, we do that too, but we need to also learn their uses since we keep discovering new materials in our digs and minin."

" Hmm, yeah, I know; it's just... weirdly surprising is all."

" ...hmm, I see you've greatly underestimated us rock farmers then." Rockhoof gave a look of moue.

"... Sorry, I mean, not really? You turned a rock into dust with just one swing of your hoof, mind you!" She smirked.

"True." The stallion blushed and was proud of himself.

"You can be so innocent sometimes, Rockhoof, you know that?"

"That's a good thing, right?" He asked innocently.

"... Probably?" She simpered.

But then a foul odor would hit Kesu's nose.
"Holy—what is that smell!?" It was a smell of something rotting. Her body felt heavy as she started to sweat; the atmosphere in the area was like no other.

"Hmm? Oh, perhaps it's the town hall; that place hasn't been well maintained and isn't in the best condition," Rockhoof explained.

"What!? You should burn that thing to the ground and just build a new one! How can you keep up with this smell!!"

"Is it that bad? Perhaps I've gotten used to it... Strange."

"Strange? That's all you can say about it!? I wouldn't be surprised if the elder running your hall is dead... Which we should probably check if he is, though..." she worriedly replied.

"Don't jinx it, Eraser! Now you're makin me worried."

The two would rush towards the eerie town hall that stands at the center of the village; watching over everyone.