A dark fog descended upon the Everfree Forest, blanketing the shunned place in shadows. Nothing moved. Not a sound emanated from the forsaken forest. A chilling rustling echoed from the brambles, shattering the silence like a hammer would glass. The shadow of an equine figure dragged itself forth from said brambles, falling to the ground, just outside the tree line.

The shadow slowly forced itself to stand, managing to take three gruesome steps before falling to the ground once more, unconscious.

*

“Alright, Thunder. Go left, and take Cirrus and Stratus with you. Turn around and work your way back when you hit where the tree line and the fog line meet,” Rainbow Dash called. “I’ll go right with Starshine. We’ll meet at the entrance path in the middle. Got it?”

“Aye. Head out, cut on the way back, rendezvous in the middle. Gotcha,” replied the bass voice of the pegasus known as Thunder. The bright yellow-maned colt veered left, a pair of gray pegasus mares following suit. The cyan mare tilted right, an orange mare following just behind. Rainbow Dash flew low, keeping an eye out for their target point. Something caught her eye, just a few moments later. She ascended, and told Starshine to continue on as planned. She turned back, and flew to the point of interest.

Landing on her hooves, Rainbow Dash trotted only a few meters to where somepony seemed to be taking a nap. That’s weird. Taking a nap on the edge of the Everfree Forest? Who does this pony think she is? Upon closer inspection, though, this pony was quite cut up. Numerous nasty looking gashes adorned the mystery pony’s body, blood slowly trickling from them. A trail of blood lead back to the brambles, just a meter away. Oh, dear Celestia, this pony needs a hospital! Picking the pony up from under the arms, she flew away from the Everfree Forest, towards the small town of Ponyville, and more specifically, the hospital.

*

“Thanks, bye!” Twilight concluded, putting the goods in her saddlebag. She walked away from the small shop, facing up at the almost cloudless sky, enjoying the warmth of the sun. A shadow passed over her, causing her to open her eyes, just catching a glimpse of what appeared to be Rainbow Dash, not on duty, like she was supposed to be. What the…? She thought to herself. Curiosity got the better of her, and she followed in the general direction of the shadow.

*

“Nurse Redheart! This pony needs help, like, now!” Rainbow Dash called, bursting through the door of the hospital. The tan pony looked up from her deskwork, and gasped at the sight of the dark, bloodied up figure in Rainbow Dash’s arms. She slammed a button on her desk, and within ten seconds flat, the dark pony was on a stretcher, headed to the Intensive Care Unit.

“What happened?” Nurse Redheart asked, looking at the rainbow-maned mare.

“No idea. I was on weather duty, cutting the fog that was rolling out of the Everfree forest, and I saw that pony lying on the ground,” she replied, voice cracking ever so slightly.

“Rainbow Dash!” came a loud call. A purple unicorn walked through the door, glaring at Rainbow Dash. “Why are you not on weather duty?”

“Because I found somepony on the edge of the forest that needed help,” Rainbow Dash replied matter-of-factly.

Twilight simply looked at Rainbow Dash, inspecting her. “You should go wash the blood off your hooves. If what you say is true, you don’t want to catch any blood-borne illnesses.”

Rainbow Dash looked down, seeing a little blood on her hooves. “Eheheh… Be right back.” She grinned sheepishly, and flew towards the nearest bathroom, instantly entering. Just moments later, she returned, not a stain on her.

“Well, since the pony you brought in will need some time to rest and recover, you should go back to whatever it was you were doing. Come back tomorrow, and the patient should be ready for visitors,” Nurse Redheart said, smiling lightly.

*

The rest of the day ran by with absolutely no incidents worth note. Just another standard day in Ponyville. The sun set, and the moon rose, beginning the night over Equestria. Everypony was asleep by the time the moon reached its zenith, and began returning to the horizon. That is, most everypony. Only the purple librarian was still awake. She stared up at the moon, lost in thought.

Who was that pony Rainbow Dash brought in? What happened that made that pony need to be flown to the hospital? Oh, Celestia. Pinkie’s probably going to throw that pony a ‘get well soon’ party, after a ‘welcome’ party. Consecutively. I don’t know who that pony is, but they had better like parties, or tomorrow’s probably going to end up being Tartarus for them. Poor pony.

Well. All I got a good look at was that that pony was a unicorn. But since Rainbow Dash flew right in front of the sun, I couldn’t get anything else. Oh well. Looks like I’ll be visiting that pony tomorrow.

With that final thought, she laid down, and fell asleep within a few minutes.

*

In the dark of the hospital room, the shadow awoke. Though its eyes did not open, it looked around, seeing everything. It observed that its cuts had been closed, and that there were a few IVs in its arms. And though its awakened state was only temporary, it understood that it had come close to death, and it was now being nursed to health again. It soon fell back asleep, a strange aura surrounding its horn. Dead silence enshrouded the hospital, and a strange fog descended upon Ponyville.

*

A pair of eyes watched the image in the cauldron before it. It watched its fog fall upon the small town. A dark laugh echoed from just beneath the eyes. “Perfect. Breathe it in, my little ponies. Prepare yourselves for our feast. Ripen your fear, so we can feast upon it like Changelings at a wedding!”

Author's Note

Okay. Basically what I did here was, I started with introducing the main character (My signature character, Darq.) and let the story write itself from there. I saw I was short a few words, so I added the antagonist at the end, to give myself a beacon in the dark to aim this story towards. Anyway, this is the result of one day without proper, fitting music to write to.

Please leave comments and/or advice in the comments below so I can improve my writing.