A Darker Tale

The city of Manehatten was experiencing one of the most intense storms it had been dealt this year. The Pegasi had missed a storm from two weeks prior due to a mishap in the organized list of dates at the Cloudsdale weather factory. Now, they had to make up for the loss by piling on the previous amount of rain clouds with the ones that were set to appear today.

The cold wind rushed through the dark sky, whipping the heavy drops of rain down onto the desolate town. Windows rattled from the force that was pushing at them from the outside. The gathering water on the roofs poured over the sides and fell down into the streets below. Small streams flowed through the cobble stone alley ways and streets downhill following the flow of gravity. Every pony locked themselves indoors to escape the harsh weather.

All except one.

A lone pony ran through the vacant main street of the city. It's body was draped in a dark cape, partly used to help block the harsh weather that battered it, but mostly to hide its identity from any pony that may happen to be outside or look out of their window. Dipping behind the covered wagons and stalls on the sidewalk, the mysterious figure made its way towards a certain shop in which it was looking for in this town. It was seeking one thing specifically that it desired for its goal that it wanted for itself.

Coming to the door, the pony opened it and quickly escaped the bitter wind from outside. Turing around, the pony pushed back against the wood and forced the front door shut once again to the storm. To its delight, the store lights were off inside, giving the secrecy that it desired. The pony then went on to begin shuffling through the many piles of loose items that were stuffed together in unorganized masses across the tables and floor. Pushing stuff aside, several items fell to the ground with more noise than preferred.

Suddenly, the lights at the front counter flipped on, startling the cloaked figure. Turing it's head around, it saw a pony coming from the doorway behind the counter. Entering the light, it was revealed to be a gray, middle aged earth pony. Its braided light blue mane was topped by a tan and red cap, complementing the brown shirt and red scarf it adorned. His golden eyes stared through the spectacles on his muzzle at the pony that had entered his shop.

After a moment, the shopkeeper grinned at seeing a possible customer. "May I help you, traveller?" he asked in a curious tone. He watched at the dark figure slowly came into the faint light from the counter. All that he could make out under the black Cloak was the hooves of the pony, which were a bright azure color.

Walking behind his counter, he kept his eye on the secretive pony, "Something drew you to my shop, something powerful." he watched as one of the hooves lifted off the ground and pointed to the glass lid that covered the stores most prized possession.

Inside of the glass container was a dark gray amulet In the shape of an upside down arrowhead. Inside of the center of it was a blood red diamond inserted into the metal. On the top of the pendant was the head of a unicorn with red eyes. Spread out to the sides of the he's were gray wings tipped with red feathers.

The shopkeeper chuckled at the choice, "Aw, you have a keen eye. The alicorn amulet is one of the most mysterious and powerful of all of the known magical charms."

The "customer" once again pointed at the amulet on the shelf. The shop owner suddenly felt a strange chill go up his spine, 'What would any pony want with this trinket?' he thought to himself. Walking over, he stood between the pony and it's goal, "I'm afraid this is... Far too dangerous."

The secretive pony reached under its cloak and pulled out a large bag. Tossing it onto the counter, the top of it tipped over, allowing the contents to spill out. A large number of bits toppled onto the wooden top, the gold sparking under the ceiling light. The owner was astounded; judging from the size of the bag, he guessed it must have contained at least three hundred bits. Still, he shook his head, "I don't think you understand, this is not for sale. No amount of bits will get this to be sold."

From below the cloaked ponies hood, a magenta glow suddenly appeared through the dark material and shot out to the owner. Enveloping his body, the owner thrashed around  in fear to what was happening to him. In an instant, he felt his body thrown across the room and slammed hard into the wall.

"Agh!" he yelled out in pain. Immediately, he feels the sensation of being lifted again and thrown across a nearby table. Crawling off the ground, he looked over to see the now identified unicorn walking towards him. Panicking, he tried to crawl backwards towards the hallway. Before he made it, he felt a hoof connect with the center of his back, holding him down in place. He flipped his head around to see the dark figure standing above him, it's face completely hidden in the shadows. His blood ran cold as his mind began creating images of what was going to happen to him. "Pl-please..." he pleaded, "Just leave me alone."

The figure did not respond by speaking, but instead once again causing its horn to glow. Enshrouding a nearby trophy in magic, the attacker bought it down and connected with the side of the stallions head, striking him directly in the temple. The owner screamed out in pain and fear from the blow, rattling his mind against his skull. Before he could put his hooves up to cover up, the trophy is brought down again to the same spot, creating a large gash on the scalp. The pony's head dropped to the ground with a hard thud, completely unconscious.

Stepping off it's victim, the pony walked back behind the counter towards the item that it desired. Approaching the glass, it saw the outline of the cape in the reflection, followed by the bright white grin that showed up through the shadows of the hood. The cold pony had obtained the item that it wanted, but now it had a much more important thing on its mind.

Revenge.