Dinky Hooves was the first to disappear.
It was days before Derpy was calm enough to tell the investigators any details at all of the events leading up to her daughter's vanishing. She wasn't able to recall any strange ponies hanging around or any strange behavior from the little unicorn. There seemed to be only one clue; a nightmare that Dinky had dreamed three days prior to her disappearance.
The horrible nightmare had caused the normally quiet filly to awaken screaming at the top of her lungs. Once Derpy had calmed her, the crying child had spoken of an impossibly skinny stallion who seemed to have no face on his stark white head. She'd talked about how he’d seemed to be gesturing towards the Everfree Forest... and how he'd reached for her with tentacles that stretched from his black coat.
One week later, Rarity’s parents burst into their eldest daughter’s home in hysterics; Sweetie Belle had received the same dream. The authorities scoffed and said that it was a simple case of the child dreaming things she’d heard the adult ponies discussing. They assured the parents, and Ponyville as a whole, that there was no link and no danger.
Sweetie Belle disappeared three days later.
Snips was the next to have the nightmare, and Twilight Sparkle spearheaded the investigation on orders from Princess Celestia herself. She analyzed Snips’ recollection for clues, but it soon became clear that there were no clues to be found. His dream was the same as Dinky’s, the same as Sweetie Belle’s; the tall, long stallion with no face and a dark coat. Special security was posted at the rotund young colt’s home and everypony in town breathed a sigh of relief when the sun rose after the third night.
Snips’ mother’s screams let everypony know that they had failed once again.
A week passed and Snails was gone, following in the hooves of his closest friend and vanishing into the void.
The populace of Ponyville began to lose it’s collective mind. School was cancelled until further notice and the little ponies were barred from leaving their houses unless accompanied by an adult. Suspicious glances were cast this way and that as neighbor suspected neighbor of the heinous foal-nappings.
Rumors began to spread. Gilda the Griffon was taking her long-anticipated revenge. Oh, it was revenge alright, but it was the Great and Powerful Trixie’s magic at work making the children disappear. What about the Diamond Dogs? Were they spiriting the young ones down into their underground abyss?
The fear and unrest grew, and as it grew an almost tangible shade of darkness began to cast itself across the quaint town. The shade grew and grew and grew, far past the borders of the town proper...
…all the way to the borders of the farm that lay on the town outskirts.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
“Applejack?” Macintosh pushed his way into his little sister’s room without knocking, trusting that she would be decent. There she was, piling supplies into her saddle-bags. “Now what in the hay are you…?”
“I’m going after her, Mac.”
The tone in his sister’s voice gave Macintosh pause. “Like hell you are!” He crossed the room and pushed the saddlebags off the bed and onto the floor. The contents spilled; bottles of water, fresh apples, plenty of rope, oil, a lantern…
She was going into the woods.
She was going after Applebloom.
“AJ, stop. This is crazy.”
“What’s crazy is that you’ve already given up on her. She’s yer kin, yer baby sister fer Celestia’s sake…”
“And it tears me apart that she’s gone. But she’s gone Applejack. Gone. She’s not coming back. The sooner we accept that…”
Applejack sniffed and pushed her supplies back into the saddlebag. “Yeah, you do that. Meanwhile I’m going to get her back.”
“AJ…”
She left him there, still protesting her departure. She passed Granny Smith in her rocker on the porch. The ancient Earth Pony had taken Applebloom’s vanishing especially hard and hadn’t left her chair since. She just sat and stared towards the Everfree Forest in silence. “I’ll bring her back, Granny. I swear.” She took a deep breath and started down the stairs.
“T’ain’t the first time this has happened.”
Granny’s voice stalled her. She turned slowly and found the old mare still looking towards the woods. “What…?”
“Way back when I was a filly, barely more than a baby, I remember my Ma and Pa talking about children havin’ bad dreams. Dreams about a stallion with no face. Few days after the dream, the children vanished. That’s why we kept movin.’ We were tryin’ to get away from that awful spectre. Celestia lead us here, gave us this land, and we thought we’d be safe under her watchful eye.” She sighed sadly. “I guess it found us in the end, though.”
“Granny… what is it?”
“Don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s old. Older than the goddesses. Older than Equestria itself. It has no conscience, no emotions, only an insatiable hunger; a never-ending urge to feed.”
Applejack gulped. “What… what does it eat?”
“Fear. It feeds on fear. And children.”
Applejack shuddered and faced the woods. “Anything else I need to know?”
“Don’t be afraid. Your fear will only make it bolder. And if you see it… run. Run as fast as you can. And most important of all; never, ever look back.”
Applejack nodded and started walking. “I’ll be back, Granny. Just you wait. I’ll be back and I’ll have her with me. I swear.”
Her brisk pace had carried her so far so fast that she never heard Granny Smith’s reply. “Good-bye Applejack. Good-bye.”
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Her teeth wrapped around the handle of the lit lantern, the young farmer trod carefully down the beaten path. Night had long since fallen and any available moon-light was silenced by the overgrown branches above her. The only light came from the lantern’s beam. There were no animal noises save crickets, and the only other noise came from the small twigs that snapped beneath her hooves. Exhaustion came for her and she started looking for a clearing in which to set up camp.
She saw the note on the tree.
At first she paid it no mind, thinking it to be some figment of her imagination. The closer she got, however, the clearer it became. What’s more, even in the dim light she recognized the childish scrawl.
Applebloom’s hand-writing.
She ran forward and dropped the lantern to the forest floor. “APPLEBLOOM!” She yelled into the darkness.
No reply.
“APPLEBLOOM!” She called again, louder. Her voice echoed in the quiet of the woods.
Nothing responded… at first.
It was faint, but she heard it; the faint and distant laughter of children.
Were they laughing? Or were they screaming?
The crickets had gone silent but a new sound soon reached her ears. It was quiet at first, but it seemed to grow in pitch and volume. It was a strange, deep pounding that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. It even seemed at one point to be coming from inside her own head. It almost sounded like…
…like footsteps.
Struggling to control her breathing, Applejack grabbed the lantern handle in her chattering teeth and raised the light to examine the note more closely. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the figure in the center of the paper.
It was just as Applebloom had described. Impossibly long legs and neck, a coat of deep black, a red tie so slight it was almost like a drop of blood on the paper…
…No face.
Surrounding the figure were five crudely drawn little ponies. They all seemed to be dancing around the figure. Dancing or worshipping? She couldn’t tell.
One of the figures had a large bow in her hair.
Written at the bottom of the page was a single word written in broad, slashing strokes; RUN.
She felt it’s presence behind her without even turning around. She forced herself to breathe, faced slightly to the right of the tree… and ran.
She ran as hard and fast as she could using all the strength imbued in her legs from years of apple-bucking. The drum-like pounding seemed to follow her, beating at her from all sides. She stared straight ahead, the lantern lighting her path. She ran off the main road and deeper into the forest. She dodged tree after tree, jumped root after root, and still that infernal pounding followed her.
At last her strength began to fade. Her sprinting became a gallop, her gallop a trot. Finally, she had to stop completely. She was panting so hard that the lantern almost fell from her mouth. She felt around herself to check the status of her things.
Her saddlebags were gone, probably ripped off by some wayward branch or tossed off in her sprint. Her hoof came to her head and felt only her mane.
She’d lost her hat.
No, she’d lost Pa’s hat.
The sorrow from her collective losses struck her heart and she let out a single dry sob, her head drooping. Applebloom was gone. There would be no getting her back. And with the way things were going, she wouldn’t be getting home anytime soon either. She raised her head to get her bearings…
…and saw it standing not ten feet away.
She gasped and dropped the lantern to the ground where it struck a rock and shattered. The dreadful figure before her was lost in the darkness, but she’d already slammed her eyes shut. Her breath came out in little terrified gasps as she shuddered in uncontrollable terror. She had no strength left, no will left to run.
All she had left was the childish hope that this was all a bad dream and that she would wake up soon enough. She’d open her eyes and it would be a bright sunny day on the farm. Macintosh would already be out plowing the fields. Applebloom would be wishing Granny Smith a good day as she joined her friends on the way to school. Ponyville would no longer be in a terrified state.
Yes. Everything would be all right.
All she had to do was open her eyes.
Slowly, she raised her eyelids.
She stared at the blank white head inches from her. There was no face.
She opened her mouth to scream.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Applejack’s disappearance was the beginning of the end for Ponyville.
The townsfolk were stunned. Applejack was no mere filly. She was a well-respected citizen, a Bearer of Harmony, a national hero! She’d bravely charged into the Everfree Forest to meet this evil head-on… and was never to be seen again.
What chance, then, did anypony else stand?
Mayor Mare called a town meeting two days later and the decision was nearly unanimous; if this evil would not leave them alone, then they would leave it alone. In a matter of days, the citizens had packed their belongings, boarded up their doors, and set out for new horizons.
Scootaloo, aboard the last train out of Ponyville, watched sadly as the town vanished from sight. Her parents snoozed in the row next to her and she envied them. They still slept peacefully.
She hadn’t the heart to tell them about the dream she’d had the night before.
He’d called to her.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were with him. They’d called to her as well.
Her time was near.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
It watched from the woods, stoic and silent, as they left. No matter. It would find them again. That was it’s way.
It would stay here a while longer, shaded in the tall trees. The last few chosen could easily be taken, even from here. It’s reach was longer than anypony could possibly imagine.
Here, though, was unfinished business. Somepony who had escaped it long ago...
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Granny Smith stared at the border of the Everfree Forest. Two of her grandchildren had been taken there, never to return. Macintosh was gone, albeit reluctantly. He’d done his best to persuade her to accompany him, but she’d refused. Ponyville was abandoned.
Now there was but to wait. She was done running.
She blinked and it was there, standing just beyond the forest boundary.
She blinked, and it was out of the forest.
She blinked, and it was in the south field.
She blinked, and it was in the garden.
She blinked, and it was at the porch steps.
She blinked.
