Storms and Shadows

(Zecora’s hut)

“Thank you for having us Zecora,” a purple unicorn mare said.

“But of course Twilight Sparkle, my dear friend. My door is always open should you have free time to spend,” the zebra said with a warm smile.

Twilight returned it before taking a sip of tea. She looked around the hut to see how her friends were doing.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were arguing over who should get the last bread roll. Rarity was looking over some exotic fabrics Zecora had brought from her homeland. She seemed especially interested by a roll of black silk. Or was it polyester? Twilight didn’t know nor did she really care. And finally, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were having tea with her and the zebra. Though Pinkie seemed more interested in the cauldron with a pink fluid Zecora had been working on.

Twilight shook her head when the cyan Pegasus challenged the orange earth pony to hoof wrestling. “Sorry about those two Zecora.”

The zebra chuckled good naturedly, “No need to worry, though for Miss Dash I have to feel sorry.” As soon as that was said, a loud “hah!” came from Applejack as she took the last snack.

Twilight shook her head while Zecora covered her mouth to hide her smirk. The violet unicorn sighed as she stood up, “We really should get going, what with everything that’s been going on.”

Zecora nodded solemnly. Things had taken a turn for the worst in recent months. It had been a year since the changeling invasion of Canterlot and a new enemy had begun harassing Equestria. Not only had the changelings returned, but now strange beasts of shadow had been attacking settlements in Equestria and the Gryphon Kingdom.

“I will go to my people in the east. Hopefully I can convince them to help you in your fight against these beasts,” Zecora said.

“Oh Zecora, you don’t have to,” Fluttershy said, worried for the loss of more lives.

“No Fluttershy, I must. There is no excuse to not fight for what is right and just,” Zecora said firmly.

Twilight frowned at the thought of more people getting drawn into this conflict. Without anything left to say, the six ponies left Zecora’s home. Zecora watched them go with a worried expression. It would be a long time before she saw them again.

“Be safe.”

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Aella sighed as she relaxed into the cool water of the stream. This was one of the few times she could relax in this damned forest. Apparently the animals of the forest had made it their personal mission to try and kill her at the most inopportune times. She would have been able to deal with them easily enough but the paranoia of being followed prevented her from leaving a trail of corpses in her wake.

She removed a small twig from her hair before washing herself. She took a moment to listen to stream before sighing. “They’ll be here soon,” she thought to herself. Quickly dunking her head, the woman removed as much dirt and grime from her hair as she could before getting out of the water. She looked downstream to see a large disturbance in the water.  Strolling over to a thick tree, she undid the vine wrapped around it. The manticore she had killed not too long ago fell into the water. “There, you’re fed! Now leave me alone next time I want to bathe,” she shouted irritably.

Sighing, she moved to a soft patch of grass and laid down to rest. She stared through the tree canopy as she, not for the first time, pondered her predicament and how she had gotten herself into it. “Eight years,” she thought to herself.

Eight years of hiding.

Eight years of playing cat and mouse.

Eight years since she had watched her home burn while the only person she could consider a father ordered her to run.

And she still sat here doing nothing to, at the very least, find out what had happened to her home. She put that last thought to the back of her mind. She couldn’t go back anyway since she had no idea where she was right now.

A frustrated sigh escaped her lips. She shouldn’t have run. She was almost a master of her magical arts when the beasts had attacked. Even still, she ran like a coward.

Pushing all thoughts of home away, she got up and stretched. Brushing off the dead grass that had clung to her, the woman moved to a large, if slightly worn, leather bag. Opening it, she pulled out her clothes. More like rags now, a shadow of their once regal appearance. Dressing herself, she threw the strap of the bag over her shoulder and began walking along the riverbank. She had been following it for several weeks now, hoping that it would lead out of the forest and even better, towards civilization.

(Later)

The sun was beginning to set over the tree tops. Soon Aella would need to make camp for the night. Slowing down, she began looking for a suitable tree to sleep in. Wouldn’t want to be caught unawares by a manticore or some other wild beast after all. But before she could find an adequate resting place, she heard voices. Immediately, she hid in a large patch of overgrown grass.

Her emotions were running rampant. Had she been found? Had her father sent a search party to find her? Or was it shadow beasts? Relief and happiness mixed with suspicion and fear.

The voices were getting closer and their words clearer. And as they got closer, her hope slowly faded away. Nothing they said sounded anything like her language. Slowly she began moving behind a tree in hopes of getting a view of the speakers.

She didn’t like what she saw.

She scowled angrily and slowly pulled a large tome out of her bag. “Shadow beasts,” she hissed scathingly. That could be the only explanation for such odd looking forms.

As the creatures passed, she opened the tome and focused her magic.

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“I just don’t get it,” Rainbow Dash said.

Rarity sighed in exasperation, “The reason this fabric,” she indicated the large rolls of black material on Pinkie’s, Applejack’s, and her own backs, “is not ‘just like any other piece of cloth’, is the fact that it is top of the line Zebracon Silk. It is one of the strongest and softest materials in the world. Do you have any idea of what I could do with this? Just think of the possibilities!” the white unicorn finished with a gleam in her eye.

Applejack grunted as she shifted the dozen rolls she was carrying, “Probably not much. I doubt there’s going to be much time for luxury soon.”

Rarity sighed. Applejack was right. She looked over at Pinkie only to see her standing stock still. “Pinkie dear, are you alright?”

Pinkie seemed to be mumbling to herself, wide-eyed. Fluttershy moved to ask if her friend was alright and heard some of the pink mare’s ramblings. “Twitch, twitchy, twitcha, twitch…” Then she gasped and yelled, “Run!”

Not a moment too soon too as a bolt of lightning flew over Twilight’s head. “Woah!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she dodged a second bolt. The mares tried to run deeper into the woods but a violent wind trapped them in the clearing they had stumbled into. Dash was unlucky enough to have been thrown into a tree, knocking her unconscious.

“Rainbow!” Twilight called in concern. She was however unable to worry too long us another bolt hit the barrier she had constructed over Fluttershy, Rarity, and herself. Applejack was trying to get Rainbow to safety behind them and Pinkie… Pinkie was nowhere to be found.

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Aella grimaced as another bolt was stopped by the purple beast’s barrier. She took a moment to move positions so they couldn’t focus on where the bolts were coming from and find her. She also thought on how they had immediately tried to run. From what she remembered, all shadow beasts threw themselves at their enemy. Then there were the facts that the cyan one had been so easily incapacitated and the concern from the others. She shook her head and scowled, “Probably just a trick to make me pity them.” Well, she wouldn’t fall for that.

A voice behind her stopped her in her tracks, “Why are you attacking us?” Aella spun around to see the pink one frowning at her. How had it gotten so close without her noticing? She quickly jumped away from it and landed in the clearing.

Now all the beasts were looking at her. A yellow one was looking at her, wide-eyed with fear. It made her pause for a second before anger flashed through her. “I will not fall for your tricks shadow beast!” she roared as a wave of water surged from the river towards the group protected by the barrier.

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Twilight gasped as the wave neared them. Focusing, she wrapped her friends in her magic before teleporting them to the only safe place in the clearing, behind the creature attacking them.

Deciding this was the best chance she would get, Applejack charged the creature. She rammed her head into it midsection, making it fly back and lose its grip on the book it was holding. Twilight immediately noticed the winds around the clearing become erratic, less controlled. She watched as the creature once again began letting lose bolt after bolt. She noticed it took considerably longer to form and it seemed to take much more out of the creature. She looked at it for several seconds before the tome caught her eye. She gasped in realization. “Rarity!” the white unicorn looked up from caring over the still form of Rainbow Dash, “I need you to get that book over there! I’ll keep Fluttershy and Rainbow safe!”

Rarity hesitated before nodding. Fluttershy looked on worriedly before returning her attention to the fallen Pegasus.

“Ready?” Twilight asked. Rarity glanced at the fight between the creature, Pinkie, and Applejack before setting her sights on the book. Twilight let the barrier fall long enough for Rarity to pass.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my!” Rarity repeated over and over. This was madness! First, some strange creature attacks them, next her friends are thrown around like ragdolls with one being knocked out, and now she was running for her life to get some book the creature had dropped. She took a moment to glance at the fight long enough to notice the creature turn its sights on her. Its eyes flicked from her to the tome before they widened. Rarity immediately looked away.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my!”

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Aella’s eyes widened in horror. The other horned creature was heading directly for her tome! Her thoughts were interrupted for a moment as the pink one once again appeared from out of nowhere. Aella rolled to the side as it tried to tackle her.

She didn’t have long to recover before the orange one charged her. Too tired to make another bolt before it hit her, she drew her fist back. Just as it was about to ram her she swung and hit it across the face, making it veer away from her at the last moment. Looking back to her tome, she saw the white creature making its way back to its comrades. “No!” she yelled. Charging the beast, she prepared another spell, tiring her even further. However, all she focused on was the area in front of it.

Slowly, a small tornado formed in front of the creature. Too close to dodge, the creature was picked up off the ground. The tome in its telekinetic grip was ripped away and thrown back to its owner. Aella sighed as she raised a trembling arm to catch it. Once she had the tome, she could use the last bit of her energy to create a wave on the river and ride it to a safer location.

Her hopes were dashed however as a rainbow blur slammed into her side. Gasping, the only thing she could do was stare up at the rainbow maned creature. As she succumbed to her exhaustion, Aella couldn’t help but think, ‘Father would be so disappointed if he saw me now.’

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Rainbow panted heavily before wincing, “Ow.”

Pinkie Pie and Applejack were the first to arrive. “Oh my gosh! Are you alright Dashie?” Pinkie asked worriedly.

“Me? Oh yea, it’s going to take a lot more than that to take me down!” Dash declared. A sharp pain in her ribs made her wince.

Applejack frowned, “Yeaaano. You’re not fine sugarcube. You shouldn’t even be moving.”

The Pegasus was about to retort when the other mares joined them. Fluttershy looked at her fellow Pegasus worriedly, “She’s right Dashie. You should have someone carrying you.” Rainbow looked at her with a pout, making her blush and hide behind her pink mane. Dash sighed but conceded.

Twilight, meanwhile, was examining the creature. It was tall by pony standards. Well giant fit better as it was probably a few inches taller than Princess Celestia. There was no fur as far as she could see except for the unruly mane on its head. Its skin was extremely dark, most likely to combat the sun’s harmful rays due to its lack of fur. It moved on two legs and had hands, much like a Minotaur. It seemed to be wearing rags of what she could only guess was once regal clothing. On its chest, under the rags, was a large bulge. She could only guess at what it was. Mammary glands maybe?

Her quick examination over, Twilight looked at the tome wrapped in her magical aura. Ah, that’s right. It could also use magic. Though, from what she had seen, it was difficult without a conduit. She pulled her mind away from the tome just as Rainbow stopped being stubborn about her bruised ribs.

All the mares stared at the creature for several moments before Applejack turned to Twilight, “It ain’t like anything I’ve ever seen Twi. You reckon it could be one of those shadow beasts?”

Twilight shook her head, “No, it doesn’t look anything like what the descriptions said. Though, I think it would be best if we took it to Canterlot.”

Fluttershy seemed a bit distressed at that. “You mean take it… with us?” She was all for meeting new animals but this one was obviously intelligent and dangerous. Plus the added danger that it could be one of those things recently attacking Equestria. “Can’t we just tie it up and let the Royal Guard get it?”

Twilight shook her head, well aware of her friend’s panic. “No, even if we did tie it up, there’s the possibility it could escape. With us, we can at least keep an eye on it.”

“Yea! Plus it’d be too scared to run when it sees me!” Rainbow yelled confidently while throwing a few jabs. She quickly stopped however and leaned on Applejack while groaning.

The apple farmer smirked before looking up at the others. “What’re we going to use to tie it?”

Several loud rips made everyone look in Rarity’s direction. She raised two large pieces of the black cloth she had been carrying. “We could use these, no?”

Pinkie gasped, “But Rarity, that’s your super-duper-expensive-hard to get silk!”

“Please dear, I still have three dozen perfectly good rolls,” the unicorn replied while motioning towards the scattered rolls. That said, she quickly tied the creature’s arms and legs. As soon as that was done, Applejack picked up the creature and threw it onto her back. Pinkie picked up Rainbow, to the Pegasus’ chagrin, while the other three mares picked up the rolls of silk. When they were ready, the group hurriedly left the forest for home and hopefully get a letter to the princesses before the end of the night.