A Father's Footstepsby Alex SilvermaneChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1It was a warm spring day in Ponyville, and many ponies were out enjoying the day. The sun was shining brightly through a cloudless sky, and a light breeze was blowing through town. Silvermane was no exception, as the guardspony trotted through the town. Stopping to greet the occasional pony, the green stallion was on his way home from picking up some groceries. As he approached his brightly painted house, the breeze picked up slightly. Pausing to enjoy the breeze, a sense of nostalgia ran through the stallion. Today was almost exactly like the day he got his cutiemark. Grinning, Silvermane headed inside. Once inside the cozy house, Silvermane carefully set the groceries down on the counter, and began to briskly put them away. He was about halfway finished, when he got tackled from behind. Spinning around swiftly, and feeling adrenaline rush through him, he saw Silver Blossom. Smiling, she said innocently, "Surprise..." Grinning back at her, he nuzzled her and replied, "You're a dork, you know that right?" Suddenly, with a loud staccato of hooves, his little filly ran in from playing outside. In an excited rush, the first one said, "Dad! Dad! I got my cutie mark Dad!" Glancing up, Silvermane saw that it was true. Right there, on her caramel colored flank, was a chessboard. Nutmeg was so excited, she couldn't stay still, and was currently flying around the room at warp three. However, his other foal, Silver Oak, was far less excited. In fact, instead of heading into the kitchen to grab a snack like he normally would, the young colt stormed off dejectedly to his room, obviously upset about something. Leaving Nutmeg to talk to her mother, (still at warp three), Silvermane headed upstairs, and knocked on his colt's door. "You mind if I come in?" "...... Go ahead." Came the miserable reply. Opening the door, Silvermane walked in quietly. The orange colt was curled up on his bed, facing the wall. Sitting down, Silvermane said, "What's wrong Silver?" Not hearing a reply, Silvermane eventually said, "Wan't me to take a guess?" The young colt merely shrugged. Nodding slightly, Silvermane continued, "You're upset that your sister got her cutie mark first, even though you two were born at the same time...... Right?" ".......Right." Silver Oak said, clearly frustrated. Before Silvermane could begin to comfort his son, the young colt continued venomously, "I don't get it! We were born at the same time, We get the same grades, we go on the same adventures........ Why does she get her's first!?! When did she get better than me?" Tears of frustration began to flow down Silver Oak's face. Wrapping a hoof around his son, Silvermane said quietly, "It's not a case of better or not.... she just found her special talent first that's all." When his son stubbornly continued to glare at the wall. Leaning over confidingly, Silvermane said, in low tones, "If you promise not to tell anypony, I'll let you in on a secret." For a moment, the young colt, only looked confused. Then, Nodding, he leaned in, to better catch any whispered details. "I was the last one of my friends to get the cutie marks.....and I was much older than you are now." The stallion said, with a confidential air. "R-really.....?" Silver Oak said with an awed tone. "Yup." Silvermane said with a slight grin. After a long moment of silence, Silver Oak looked up and asked quietly, "Hey Dad?... How did you get your cutie mark?" Chuckling, Silvermane replied, "It's a long story, you sure you want to hear it?" Silver Oak jumped up on the bed, practically shouting with excitement. "Please dad? Pleeeeeeeeeease?" the young colt begged. Laughing, Silvermane said quietly, "okay, but sit down first. You don't want your mother to come up here and yell at us, do you?" When the excited foal finally settled down, and curled up on the bed again, Silvermane began. "Well, It wasn't too long after Winter Wrap-Up......." Author's Note Thanks to my fillyfriend Silver Blossom, and my good friend Khaki Slack for pre-reading this. As well as thanks to all my non-brony friends who helped proof-read this. And further Thanks to Kytan223 for recommending some changes, and helping me make this all around better. Chapter 2"....... Most of the snow had finally cleared up, and we'd just gotten out of school. My best friend Khaki Slack were arguing about which game we were going to play that afternoon. I wanted to play soldier, pretending to defend all of Equestria from the evil griffon army. He wanted to play archeologist, however. Pretending to dig up dinosaur bones, or ancient pony civilizations. While we were arguing, we found our way into ponyville. After a brief discussion, Khaki and I decided that we could make a decision over a milkshake at sugarcube corner. When we got there, we split up like usual. This time, it was Khaki's turn to get the drinks, while I grabbed us a table, before the other foals from school got there. We had just gotten ourselves settled, when the other foals showed up. With a multicolored rush of hooves and manes, they all rushed the counter, hollering and shouting their orders at the poor swamped workers. Glancing at each other, Khaki and I began to grin, and gave each other a quick brohoof, before returning to our drinks..... and argument. Well, we hadn't got much done before a couple of the newcomers began to fight. I can't remember why anymore, but I certainly remember what It was about. The argument was between a brown earth pony, wearing a pair of glasses, and a white pegasus. I don't know who started it, but both ot the ponies seemed awfully riled up. Khaki and I glanced at each other, before walking over to see what the commotion was about. "...... no way you could. You're just a filly." The white pegasus sneered. "you'd chicken out in ten seconds flat." "I'll show you!" The brown earth pony shouted, "I can so last five minutes in the Everfree forest!" And with that, the filly stormed out, running through the town as fast as she could. After a moment of silence, the white pegasus began to snicker, and soon, he and his friends were flat out laughing. Frowing slightly, I turned to Khaki, and nodded towards the door. "Come on. We'd better go see if she's okay." A few seconds later, we were tearing though Ponyville at top speed. We were trying to catch up to that brown filly, but she was fast as lightning. We came tearing around one of the corners at top speed, when suddenly we saw our friend Orion, walking around the corner towards us. I had to jump into the air, and start flying to avoid him. "Come on man, we're catching up to a filly. Explain on the way." I called down to the green unicorn........ And then it hit me. I could have been flying after her. After the confusion of running into Orion, we lost track of the filly. I told Khaki to explain the situation, while I flew up and relocated her. After a few minutes of searching, I saw her on the outskirts of town. Swooping down, I pointed towards where I saw her, and said, "Come on guys, she went that way!" We finally caught up to the young filly at the edge of the Everfree forest. Out of breath, I called., "W....... Wait. What...... was that...... about....?" She tilted her head at me, confused, before it dawned on her what I asked. "Oh those stupid colts," she scoffed, "They were mad because I beat them in hoofball. They said i was cheating, and that it didn't count anyway, because i was a filly." Sticking her tongue out, she continued, "Well, I'll show them..." A great idea occured to me then. "Hey, we were bored anyway, you mind if we come with you?" Khaki Slack began to bounce up and down excitedly, "Oh boy. It'll be just like an adventure. We can look for Dinosaurs, and Tombs, and lost civilizations, and......." Orion glanced back at Ponyville. "Well..... the new Iron Stallion came out today..... and I should get it before it gets sold out...." He said nervously, shifting from one hoof to the other. I just stared at him, until gulping, he continued, "but... I guess I could always get it later...." Beaming, I flew a few feet into the air. "Then It's settled." Pointing at the dark, looming tees I cried, "Onward!" If only I knew what those trees had been concealing..... Chapter 3We started off bravely marching through the forest, laughing and joking, even daring each other to touch random plants. After the first minute or so, the dark, looming trees, and the strange wild noises had caused us to clump together. It had gotten so dark that even though Orion created a magical light using his horn, it's beam only lit a few feet in front of us. The worst parts were the shadows cast by his light. Each one seemed to hide monsters and demons... and who knew what else. Eventually, we got so scared that our little cluster collided in on itself. Of course, being terrified little foals, we all screamed and ran off in different directions. After a minute or so of running in circles, and yelling our little heads off, we realized what happened. We all got back together, and nervously looked anywhere but at each other. It was downright embarrassing....... but more than that, I thought it was funny. I started laughing. Weakly and nervously, but it was still a laugh. At first, they all stared at me like I'd lost my marbles, but it wasn't long until we were all quietly laughing. As the laughter spread between us, it grew and grew, until we were practically rolling all of the ground, unable to breath. Suddenly, a resounding roar reached us, silencing our little group, and paralyzing us with fear. The roar seemed to come at us from all directions. It was so loud, that it seemed like whatever creature created it was waiting for us on the other side of the nearest bush. Of course, thinking that didn't help my imagination. I knew it was just my head playing games with me, but I could have sworn I'd seen a large pair of glowing eye hiding in the tree behind us, waiting for their chance to strike. I quickly pushed Khaki into moving, and nervously, "W-well, there's nothing to see here. Let's just keep going, and see if we can't find something else. Like a stream, or a nice clearing..... or anything something other than here." The other ponies quickly agreed, and we set of as fast as out little hooves could carry us. A little while passed, with us looking every which way, and suddenly, bursting through a bush, we came upon the most amazing thing ever. The clearing was much brighter than the rest of the forest. It almost seemed like a completely different place. Golden sunshine filtered through the tops of the trees, sparkling over a clear, streaming river. The clearing was full of song birds, and butterflies, and the occasional squirrel could be seen running through the branches. To top it all off, there was an old apple tree in the center, it's branches practically dropping with the weight of their fruit. With cries of delight, we all dashed forward. The brown earth pony quickly flopped herself down on the soft green grass, and began to roll around in it, laughing uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Orion and I began discussing possibly building a treehouse here. I figured that we should put it in the apple tree, so that ponies could get apples without trying too hard. Orion, however, said that we'd be better off putting it in a different tree, or on the ground, so that the apple tree didn't get hurt. At first, Khaki Slack listened to our conversation, and even threw in a few ideas. He quickly became bored though, and dove into the flowing river with a loud splash. He proceeded to continually dive under the water, saying he was searching for lost treasure. Grinning, I glanced up at the sky. As long as we don't go anywhere, I thought to myself smugly, absolutely nothing's gonna go wrong. I shouldn't have tempted fate like that, for no sooner did I finish the thought, than there was a loud thudding noise behind us. Spinning around, I saw a massive timberwolf. It's green glowing eyes seemed to be filled with an unearthly hatred. A long line of drool ran from it's snarling mouth. It's teeth each seemed to be as big as my head. Noticing us, it gave a loud growl, and then roared. I swear, to this day that roar was the loudest thing I've ever heard in my life. It made my head ring for hours afterwards..... but I digress. The monster began to slowly stalk forward, shaking the ground with every step. We all just stared at it, paralyzed with fear. I was barely able to think, it felt like my brain was completely frozen. My heart was racing faster than I thought was possible, and sweat began to roll down my forehead. Then it occurred to me. "RUUUUUUUUUUUN!" I screamed at everypony. After a brief moment of confusion, we did just that. Screaming, we all sprinted towards where we thought Ponyville was. It was a nightmare run. Every tree seemed to be leering at us, and reaching out their branches to slow us down. The bushes seemed to be trying to trip us. Even worse, we weren't certain we were going the right way, because everything looked exactly the same. All the while, we could hear the panting of the timberwolf right on our hooves. It was so close behind us, that we could even smell the creature's foul breath. Once, it had gotten so close, that I almost kicked it in the face. It lunged at me with a wild snarl, and it was only because I was able to fly just out of it's reach that it didn't get me. For the second time that day, I realized I could fly. I quickly flew up. Above the treetops, where the sky was an beautiful shade a blue. It seemed unreal how peaceful and beautiful it was up here. The golden sun hung high in the air, and not a cloud could be seen. Shaking my head, I reminded myself why I was up there. I swiftly cast my glance around, and located Ponyville. We were going the right way, and we were almost there. Soaring down, I called to the others. "Hurry! We're almost there!" With renewed hope, we redoubled our efforts. However, going faster meant that we weren't paying as much attention to the bushes as before. The brown filly tripped over one, much to the delight of the timberwolf. I could have sworn that I heard the forest laughing with glee. The rest of us stopped, horror struck. Turning the the rest, I screamed, "Go! Get somponies help!" before flying towards the timberwolf as fast as I could. The timber wolf was just leaning over, about to take a huge bite out of the young filly, when my forehooves connected. The look on it's face was priceless, and had it been under better circumstances, I probabally would have stopped to laugh my flank off. As it was, however, I could only think about how terrified I was. The good news, was that It had forgotten all about the young filly. The bad news, I had it's complete and undivided attention. I was terrified....... yet strangely I'd never felt more alive. Adrenaline was coursing through my system. I felt like I could fly around Ponyville a million times at top speed, and still have enough energy to pick up a giant boulder. Everything seemed to slow down. Not taking my eyes off the timber wolf, I mouthed "go" at the earth pony, and made a shooing motion with my hooves. At first, she seemed confused, then, realizing what I meant, she began to glare and shake her head. I hissed in frustration, and made the motion again. Frowning, and still glaring, she got up, and began to run. Not fast enough, however. The timberwolf noticed the movement, and started after her again. I charged, screaming. I don't remember what I screamed, but I think it was something to the effect of: "Not this time you loghead!" The timberwolf turned, and growled menacingly at me, but it had learned it's lesson. This time, it ducked, and I went sailing over it's head, and was forced to swerve to avoid hitting a tree. There seemed to be a strange light coming from behind me, but I ignored it. I had more important things to think about. Looping back, I just noticed it lunging at me in time to dodge it. I dove under the monster's outreaching claws, and just avoided running into the beast itself. I figured, that If I could just keep this up, the rest of them would be able to bring a guardspony, or sompony. And so time passed. I did my best to keep dodging, but I was starting to get tired, and move slower. Where once I had been blindingly fast, I became slow, and clumsy. Making stupid mistakes became more and more common. Like I accidentally clipped a tree, and that would have been the end if I wasn't lucky enough that the monster hit the same tree. Just when I thought I couldn't go on anymore, I heard noises. At first, I ignored them, but then the noises turned into voices. Risking a glance over my shoulder, I saw a group of guardsponies, in their shining golden armor charging towards me, being led by the rest of the foals. Smiling with relief, I turned back, thinking Oh sweet Celestia, I'm saved!. I had just enough tome to see a giant wooden paw rushing towards my face, before it connected, sending crimson pain through me. And then suddenly nothing. It was all black. Author's Note Special thanks to Prince Solstice for proofreading this chapter. Chapter 4I woke up screaming. Sitting bolt upright, I tried jumping into the air, and getting away, but my wings were tied to my sides. I was in a room, with wooden walls painted a comforting green color. There was a window, that showed Ponyville of in the distance, and allowed bright sunny light to filter in. As I calmed down, I noticed a few more things scattered around the room. There was a large, soft bed with blue blankets behind me. It was all messed up from when I jumped out of it in a panic. There were a few machines scattered about. Some just sat there, while others lit up in strange colors, and made weird noises. There was one in particular that was right next to the bed that had a green line on it, and was making a constant high pitched tone. There were a few things dangling off of it, with what looked like suction cups attached. That was all I had time to notice, before a swarm of ponies in strange outfits came charging in. A few had these strange white coats on. The coats had huge pockets on them, and almost completely covered the pony's forehooves. The rest of them were wearing clothes that were a strange shade of green. Noticing me standing there, they stopped, before one of them made a shooing motion to the rest. As the filtered out, the grey pony trotted over to me, and sat down saying, "Hi. I'm Doctor Pierce. How are you feeling?" I flopped down myself, and replied, "I feel fine...... I'm just a bit confused. What happened?" The doctor smiled, and gently pushed me towards the bed, saying, "Don't worry. Lots of patients that get knocked out are confused when they first get here. I'll try to fill in the blank parts, if you don't mind." I jumped up onto the bed, and got settled. Once I was under the soft blue blanket, I looked back at the doctor, and said, "Please." "What do you remember last?" "Well......" I said, scrunching my face up in thought, "I remember that we were in the woods...... A timberwolf tried to eat us.... Some guard ponies showed up.... and then I got hit in the face....." Pausing, I continued, "And then.... nothing." Smiling reassuringly, the doctor said, "Well, that's not too bad then. Lets see..... after you distracted the timber wolf, your friends came galloping into town as fast as their little hooves could carry them, screaming to anypony that would listen about how there was a monster in the forest. A group of guardsponies quickly got together, and set out to the forest. They said you were doing pretty good til you got distracted. It didn't take them long to subdue the monster, and luckily, you weren't hurt too badly." The grey pony smiled, and tapped the side of his skull, "Just took a bump to the noggin, and some pretty deep scratches on your wings from the fall. You'll be fine." I breathed out a sigh of relief. Noticing, the doctor smiled, then said calmly, "Well, If you're feeling good enough, I could send word out to your parents...... they're really worried about you." I gasped, and said, "Oh horsefeathers!" Blushing at my own language, I explained, "I.... kinda never told them where I was going....." The grey doctor chuckled at that. "Don't worry, they won't kill you...... or if they try, at least you're in a hospital where we can put you back together." Wincing, I merely nodded, and hid under the covers partially. The doctor left the room with a large grin plastered to his face, and called for a nurse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After being grilled over by my parents, we'd ended up having a touching moment. It was the usual. Hugging, kissing crying, the work. Blech. It got better though, because at about the same time they left, my friends from school showed up. Orion practically slapped me upside the head for staying behind like an idiot. I was starting to get mad. All I'd wanted was to save that pony. Khaki Slack, noticing the mood, quickly changed topics. "So..." He started, "One good thing came out of all of this." Orion and I both stared at him, until he continued, "You got your cutie mark didn't you?" I tilted my head, and looked at him like he was crazy. "You sure you weren't the one who got hit on the head?" I asked skeptically. He responded by pulling the covers off of me, and saying excitedly, "Look look!" Sure enough, there it was. On my once bare green flank was my cutie mark. It was a pair of swords, crossed over a white shield, that had a light blue stripe running from the upper left of the shield, to the lower right. My mind went blank, as conflicting emotions arose. I was excited for my cutie mark, yes, but at the same time I was kinda disappointed. Since I got my cutie mark, my special talent wasn't a mystery anymore. I could't daydream about how I was destined to be a great pilot, or a writer. Still, it was my talent to guard people. That's awesome. As these conflicting thoughts spiraled around my head ll I could think to say, was, "How did you know before I did?" Khaki Slack grinned from ear to ear, and said, "I saw it when the guards ponies picked you up." After a moment of silence we all began laughing hysterically. I don't know why, but it was just so darn funny. We ended up just joking around for a couple of hours, until visiting hours were over. Waving goodbye, Khaki and Orion promised to visit tomorrow. That night I fell asleep quickly. In my dream, I was flying over the Everfree forest. It was as perfect a day as could be imagined. The sun was brightly shining warmth across Ponyville, and there were only a few white puffy clouds in the sky. Not enough to block out the sun, but there were enough clouds to make shady places if ponies got too warm. The Forest didn't even seem as scary as normal, it's trees were all bright shades of green, as opposed to the dark, shadowy green they were normally. All in all, I was perfectly content and happy. I flew over, and grabbed a chunk of cloud. If you've never touched a cloud before, it's one of the most unique feelings ever. Since this was a white puffy cloud, it was soft, and cool, unlike dark grey storm clouds, which are hard and cold. Anyway, I took my chunk of cloud, and began to fashion a floating couch. After a few moments of kicking and molding, I had a soft fluffy couch to relax on. Soaring over, I flopped myself onto the cloud with an audible thump. I had just gotten settled, when I heard a cry for help. I perked up, and scanned the trees below me quickly. I couldn't tell where It was coming from from here, so I jumped off of my floating couch, and began to soar back and forth over the forest, listening with all my might. Suddenly, there it was again. Right below me this time. I shouted, "Hold on!", and dived at top speed. Curbing my speed just before I hit the upper branches of the Everfree forest's massive trees, I lowered myself down to the forest floor slowly. I landed with a crunch in a pile of discarded leaves, turned all different shades of color from time. Glancing around nervously, I saw..... nothing. Nopony was in sight, and no monsters either. Nervously, I checked out my surroundings. The trees were still brightly colored, and a light, gentle breeze was making the upper branches sway softly. Nearby, to my left, a hill rose up out of the ground sharply. Examining the hill more closely, I noticed that there was a cave on the side. No sooner did I notice the cave, when echoing out of it, I heard a filly screaming "Help me!" I dashed forward at top speed towards the cave's dark, shadowy maw. Upon entering, the first thing I noticed, was that the cave wasn't quite as dark on the inside as the outside indicated. There was some kind of luminous moss lining the walls farther in. It almost resembled what I would imagine a bat pony cave would look like. The second thing that I noticed, is that there was some sort of puddles liquid on the ground. It was darker than mud, and reddish. I creeped over slowly, and put at tip of my hoof into it. Slowly, I brought it up to my face to examine it closer. It was blood. Screaming, I backpedaled out of the cave, and began to run for my life. The trees weren't bright anymore. In fact, they had resumed their dark shadowy colors, but now they all had faces. The trees began to laugh as I sprinted away as fast as my hooves could carry me. I should have paid more attention to where I was going, because I ended up tripping over a bush, and falling into a pile of leaves with a loud crunch. I sat up shakily, and shook leaves off my head. Standing up, I noticed that something seemed odd about the pile of leaves. I scraped off the top layer, and closely examined what lay underneath. The leaves had been hiding entire skeletons of poor ponies. For the hundredth time that night, I screamed and ran away. The forest melted, and instead was replaced by a barren red landscape. I began to hear strange noises, almost like some sort of demons were messily eating meat.... probably pony meat. The ground became a dark crimson. As I ran, I looked behind me, and noticed that a wall of shadow seemed to be chasing me. I tried to run faster, but I was just so tired. I could barely move my legs. The shadow slowly closed. I grew closer, and closer, and closer...... and then nothing. The shadow caught me. I couldn't see, or hear anything. "....... You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" a creepy, yet familiar voice said. "Wh-who's there?" I asked, terrified out of my mind. Ignoring me, the voice continued, "It didn't have to end this way...." "What's going on?" I asked, feeling my fear grow. "Well, Silvermane?" The voice asked, barely containing a laugh. "P-Pinkie?" I asked, terrified, "Is that you?" "Weeeeeeelll doooooonnee" The voice said. Then, after a brief moment of silence, She appeared in front of me, shrieking like some sort of possessed demon. I threw myself down onto the ground, and covered my head with my forehooves. I tensed up, waiting for the strike to land...... and then nothing. Nothing at all. I peeked up over my hooves, and what I saw nearly shocked me as much as what I was suspecting. I somehow was transported into surgarcube corner... into the middle of a party no less. Pinkie was practically giggling herself into a coma not too far away. Standing, up, I tried to speak but nothing came out.... well nothing that made any sense anyway. After a minute or so had passed, I finally got out, "What's going on here?" Turning serious, or at least as serious as she could get, Pinkie replied, "I don't know. This is your dream silly." I relaxed slightly, "So this..... Is all a dream." "Probably," She replied with a giggle. Slightly confused, I asked , "Okay, if this is my dream.... then why are you here.... and why did you try to kill me?" "I didn't try to kill you silly!" She said throwing a hoof around me. "It's OBVIOUSLY a Nightmare Night party. And What Nightmare Night party is complete without a good scare?" "Ummm...." I was just getting more and more confused as time went on, so I decided to ignore that. "You never answered what you were doing here." She began giggling again. "Didn't i tell you already Silly? We're in a dream." I scrunched up my face in confusion, and had just opened my mouth to ask another question, when Pinkie shushed me, and put her hoof on my mouth. "SHH!" She said, "It's time for you to wake up....." Diving behind the wooden counter, she began to rummage through something back there, all the while muttering. "where is it?" " I know it'- AH-HA!" she exclaimed jumping up, and over the counter again. In her hooves was a large, sky blue cannon on wooden wheels. I started to ask her what it was for, when I realized that she was aiming it at me. "Wait! What are you doing?" "Good Morning!" she yelled in response, before pulling the string. The cannon fired with a loud squeak, and blasted confetti at me. I woke up with a gasp, and sat up. Sunlight was just beginning to filter through the hospital room's window, illuminating the soft green walls. Sighing, I flopped back down into the bed, and stared at the window. All I could think, was, What in Celetia just happened?
Chapter 1It was a warm spring day in Ponyville, and many ponies were out enjoying the day. The sun was shining brightly through a cloudless sky, and a light breeze was blowing through town. Silvermane was no exception, as the guardspony trotted through the town. Stopping to greet the occasional pony, the green stallion was on his way home from picking up some groceries. As he approached his brightly painted house, the breeze picked up slightly. Pausing to enjoy the breeze, a sense of nostalgia ran through the stallion. Today was almost exactly like the day he got his cutiemark. Grinning, Silvermane headed inside. Once inside the cozy house, Silvermane carefully set the groceries down on the counter, and began to briskly put them away. He was about halfway finished, when he got tackled from behind. Spinning around swiftly, and feeling adrenaline rush through him, he saw Silver Blossom. Smiling, she said innocently, "Surprise..." Grinning back at her, he nuzzled her and replied, "You're a dork, you know that right?" Suddenly, with a loud staccato of hooves, his little filly ran in from playing outside. In an excited rush, the first one said, "Dad! Dad! I got my cutie mark Dad!" Glancing up, Silvermane saw that it was true. Right there, on her caramel colored flank, was a chessboard. Nutmeg was so excited, she couldn't stay still, and was currently flying around the room at warp three. However, his other foal, Silver Oak, was far less excited. In fact, instead of heading into the kitchen to grab a snack like he normally would, the young colt stormed off dejectedly to his room, obviously upset about something. Leaving Nutmeg to talk to her mother, (still at warp three), Silvermane headed upstairs, and knocked on his colt's door. "You mind if I come in?" "...... Go ahead." Came the miserable reply. Opening the door, Silvermane walked in quietly. The orange colt was curled up on his bed, facing the wall. Sitting down, Silvermane said, "What's wrong Silver?" Not hearing a reply, Silvermane eventually said, "Wan't me to take a guess?" The young colt merely shrugged. Nodding slightly, Silvermane continued, "You're upset that your sister got her cutie mark first, even though you two were born at the same time...... Right?" ".......Right." Silver Oak said, clearly frustrated. Before Silvermane could begin to comfort his son, the young colt continued venomously, "I don't get it! We were born at the same time, We get the same grades, we go on the same adventures........ Why does she get her's first!?! When did she get better than me?" Tears of frustration began to flow down Silver Oak's face. Wrapping a hoof around his son, Silvermane said quietly, "It's not a case of better or not.... she just found her special talent first that's all." When his son stubbornly continued to glare at the wall. Leaning over confidingly, Silvermane said, in low tones, "If you promise not to tell anypony, I'll let you in on a secret." For a moment, the young colt, only looked confused. Then, Nodding, he leaned in, to better catch any whispered details. "I was the last one of my friends to get the cutie marks.....and I was much older than you are now." The stallion said, with a confidential air. "R-really.....?" Silver Oak said with an awed tone. "Yup." Silvermane said with a slight grin. After a long moment of silence, Silver Oak looked up and asked quietly, "Hey Dad?... How did you get your cutie mark?" Chuckling, Silvermane replied, "It's a long story, you sure you want to hear it?" Silver Oak jumped up on the bed, practically shouting with excitement. "Please dad? Pleeeeeeeeeease?" the young colt begged. Laughing, Silvermane said quietly, "okay, but sit down first. You don't want your mother to come up here and yell at us, do you?" When the excited foal finally settled down, and curled up on the bed again, Silvermane began. "Well, It wasn't too long after Winter Wrap-Up......." Author's Note Thanks to my fillyfriend Silver Blossom, and my good friend Khaki Slack for pre-reading this. As well as thanks to all my non-brony friends who helped proof-read this. And further Thanks to Kytan223 for recommending some changes, and helping me make this all around better.
Chapter 2"....... Most of the snow had finally cleared up, and we'd just gotten out of school. My best friend Khaki Slack were arguing about which game we were going to play that afternoon. I wanted to play soldier, pretending to defend all of Equestria from the evil griffon army. He wanted to play archeologist, however. Pretending to dig up dinosaur bones, or ancient pony civilizations. While we were arguing, we found our way into ponyville. After a brief discussion, Khaki and I decided that we could make a decision over a milkshake at sugarcube corner. When we got there, we split up like usual. This time, it was Khaki's turn to get the drinks, while I grabbed us a table, before the other foals from school got there. We had just gotten ourselves settled, when the other foals showed up. With a multicolored rush of hooves and manes, they all rushed the counter, hollering and shouting their orders at the poor swamped workers. Glancing at each other, Khaki and I began to grin, and gave each other a quick brohoof, before returning to our drinks..... and argument. Well, we hadn't got much done before a couple of the newcomers began to fight. I can't remember why anymore, but I certainly remember what It was about. The argument was between a brown earth pony, wearing a pair of glasses, and a white pegasus. I don't know who started it, but both ot the ponies seemed awfully riled up. Khaki and I glanced at each other, before walking over to see what the commotion was about. "...... no way you could. You're just a filly." The white pegasus sneered. "you'd chicken out in ten seconds flat." "I'll show you!" The brown earth pony shouted, "I can so last five minutes in the Everfree forest!" And with that, the filly stormed out, running through the town as fast as she could. After a moment of silence, the white pegasus began to snicker, and soon, he and his friends were flat out laughing. Frowing slightly, I turned to Khaki, and nodded towards the door. "Come on. We'd better go see if she's okay." A few seconds later, we were tearing though Ponyville at top speed. We were trying to catch up to that brown filly, but she was fast as lightning. We came tearing around one of the corners at top speed, when suddenly we saw our friend Orion, walking around the corner towards us. I had to jump into the air, and start flying to avoid him. "Come on man, we're catching up to a filly. Explain on the way." I called down to the green unicorn........ And then it hit me. I could have been flying after her. After the confusion of running into Orion, we lost track of the filly. I told Khaki to explain the situation, while I flew up and relocated her. After a few minutes of searching, I saw her on the outskirts of town. Swooping down, I pointed towards where I saw her, and said, "Come on guys, she went that way!" We finally caught up to the young filly at the edge of the Everfree forest. Out of breath, I called., "W....... Wait. What...... was that...... about....?" She tilted her head at me, confused, before it dawned on her what I asked. "Oh those stupid colts," she scoffed, "They were mad because I beat them in hoofball. They said i was cheating, and that it didn't count anyway, because i was a filly." Sticking her tongue out, she continued, "Well, I'll show them..." A great idea occured to me then. "Hey, we were bored anyway, you mind if we come with you?" Khaki Slack began to bounce up and down excitedly, "Oh boy. It'll be just like an adventure. We can look for Dinosaurs, and Tombs, and lost civilizations, and......." Orion glanced back at Ponyville. "Well..... the new Iron Stallion came out today..... and I should get it before it gets sold out...." He said nervously, shifting from one hoof to the other. I just stared at him, until gulping, he continued, "but... I guess I could always get it later...." Beaming, I flew a few feet into the air. "Then It's settled." Pointing at the dark, looming tees I cried, "Onward!" If only I knew what those trees had been concealing.....
Chapter 3We started off bravely marching through the forest, laughing and joking, even daring each other to touch random plants. After the first minute or so, the dark, looming trees, and the strange wild noises had caused us to clump together. It had gotten so dark that even though Orion created a magical light using his horn, it's beam only lit a few feet in front of us. The worst parts were the shadows cast by his light. Each one seemed to hide monsters and demons... and who knew what else. Eventually, we got so scared that our little cluster collided in on itself. Of course, being terrified little foals, we all screamed and ran off in different directions. After a minute or so of running in circles, and yelling our little heads off, we realized what happened. We all got back together, and nervously looked anywhere but at each other. It was downright embarrassing....... but more than that, I thought it was funny. I started laughing. Weakly and nervously, but it was still a laugh. At first, they all stared at me like I'd lost my marbles, but it wasn't long until we were all quietly laughing. As the laughter spread between us, it grew and grew, until we were practically rolling all of the ground, unable to breath. Suddenly, a resounding roar reached us, silencing our little group, and paralyzing us with fear. The roar seemed to come at us from all directions. It was so loud, that it seemed like whatever creature created it was waiting for us on the other side of the nearest bush. Of course, thinking that didn't help my imagination. I knew it was just my head playing games with me, but I could have sworn I'd seen a large pair of glowing eye hiding in the tree behind us, waiting for their chance to strike. I quickly pushed Khaki into moving, and nervously, "W-well, there's nothing to see here. Let's just keep going, and see if we can't find something else. Like a stream, or a nice clearing..... or anything something other than here." The other ponies quickly agreed, and we set of as fast as out little hooves could carry us. A little while passed, with us looking every which way, and suddenly, bursting through a bush, we came upon the most amazing thing ever. The clearing was much brighter than the rest of the forest. It almost seemed like a completely different place. Golden sunshine filtered through the tops of the trees, sparkling over a clear, streaming river. The clearing was full of song birds, and butterflies, and the occasional squirrel could be seen running through the branches. To top it all off, there was an old apple tree in the center, it's branches practically dropping with the weight of their fruit. With cries of delight, we all dashed forward. The brown earth pony quickly flopped herself down on the soft green grass, and began to roll around in it, laughing uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Orion and I began discussing possibly building a treehouse here. I figured that we should put it in the apple tree, so that ponies could get apples without trying too hard. Orion, however, said that we'd be better off putting it in a different tree, or on the ground, so that the apple tree didn't get hurt. At first, Khaki Slack listened to our conversation, and even threw in a few ideas. He quickly became bored though, and dove into the flowing river with a loud splash. He proceeded to continually dive under the water, saying he was searching for lost treasure. Grinning, I glanced up at the sky. As long as we don't go anywhere, I thought to myself smugly, absolutely nothing's gonna go wrong. I shouldn't have tempted fate like that, for no sooner did I finish the thought, than there was a loud thudding noise behind us. Spinning around, I saw a massive timberwolf. It's green glowing eyes seemed to be filled with an unearthly hatred. A long line of drool ran from it's snarling mouth. It's teeth each seemed to be as big as my head. Noticing us, it gave a loud growl, and then roared. I swear, to this day that roar was the loudest thing I've ever heard in my life. It made my head ring for hours afterwards..... but I digress. The monster began to slowly stalk forward, shaking the ground with every step. We all just stared at it, paralyzed with fear. I was barely able to think, it felt like my brain was completely frozen. My heart was racing faster than I thought was possible, and sweat began to roll down my forehead. Then it occurred to me. "RUUUUUUUUUUUN!" I screamed at everypony. After a brief moment of confusion, we did just that. Screaming, we all sprinted towards where we thought Ponyville was. It was a nightmare run. Every tree seemed to be leering at us, and reaching out their branches to slow us down. The bushes seemed to be trying to trip us. Even worse, we weren't certain we were going the right way, because everything looked exactly the same. All the while, we could hear the panting of the timberwolf right on our hooves. It was so close behind us, that we could even smell the creature's foul breath. Once, it had gotten so close, that I almost kicked it in the face. It lunged at me with a wild snarl, and it was only because I was able to fly just out of it's reach that it didn't get me. For the second time that day, I realized I could fly. I quickly flew up. Above the treetops, where the sky was an beautiful shade a blue. It seemed unreal how peaceful and beautiful it was up here. The golden sun hung high in the air, and not a cloud could be seen. Shaking my head, I reminded myself why I was up there. I swiftly cast my glance around, and located Ponyville. We were going the right way, and we were almost there. Soaring down, I called to the others. "Hurry! We're almost there!" With renewed hope, we redoubled our efforts. However, going faster meant that we weren't paying as much attention to the bushes as before. The brown filly tripped over one, much to the delight of the timberwolf. I could have sworn that I heard the forest laughing with glee. The rest of us stopped, horror struck. Turning the the rest, I screamed, "Go! Get somponies help!" before flying towards the timberwolf as fast as I could. The timber wolf was just leaning over, about to take a huge bite out of the young filly, when my forehooves connected. The look on it's face was priceless, and had it been under better circumstances, I probabally would have stopped to laugh my flank off. As it was, however, I could only think about how terrified I was. The good news, was that It had forgotten all about the young filly. The bad news, I had it's complete and undivided attention. I was terrified....... yet strangely I'd never felt more alive. Adrenaline was coursing through my system. I felt like I could fly around Ponyville a million times at top speed, and still have enough energy to pick up a giant boulder. Everything seemed to slow down. Not taking my eyes off the timber wolf, I mouthed "go" at the earth pony, and made a shooing motion with my hooves. At first, she seemed confused, then, realizing what I meant, she began to glare and shake her head. I hissed in frustration, and made the motion again. Frowning, and still glaring, she got up, and began to run. Not fast enough, however. The timberwolf noticed the movement, and started after her again. I charged, screaming. I don't remember what I screamed, but I think it was something to the effect of: "Not this time you loghead!" The timberwolf turned, and growled menacingly at me, but it had learned it's lesson. This time, it ducked, and I went sailing over it's head, and was forced to swerve to avoid hitting a tree. There seemed to be a strange light coming from behind me, but I ignored it. I had more important things to think about. Looping back, I just noticed it lunging at me in time to dodge it. I dove under the monster's outreaching claws, and just avoided running into the beast itself. I figured, that If I could just keep this up, the rest of them would be able to bring a guardspony, or sompony. And so time passed. I did my best to keep dodging, but I was starting to get tired, and move slower. Where once I had been blindingly fast, I became slow, and clumsy. Making stupid mistakes became more and more common. Like I accidentally clipped a tree, and that would have been the end if I wasn't lucky enough that the monster hit the same tree. Just when I thought I couldn't go on anymore, I heard noises. At first, I ignored them, but then the noises turned into voices. Risking a glance over my shoulder, I saw a group of guardsponies, in their shining golden armor charging towards me, being led by the rest of the foals. Smiling with relief, I turned back, thinking Oh sweet Celestia, I'm saved!. I had just enough tome to see a giant wooden paw rushing towards my face, before it connected, sending crimson pain through me. And then suddenly nothing. It was all black. Author's Note Special thanks to Prince Solstice for proofreading this chapter.
Chapter 4I woke up screaming. Sitting bolt upright, I tried jumping into the air, and getting away, but my wings were tied to my sides. I was in a room, with wooden walls painted a comforting green color. There was a window, that showed Ponyville of in the distance, and allowed bright sunny light to filter in. As I calmed down, I noticed a few more things scattered around the room. There was a large, soft bed with blue blankets behind me. It was all messed up from when I jumped out of it in a panic. There were a few machines scattered about. Some just sat there, while others lit up in strange colors, and made weird noises. There was one in particular that was right next to the bed that had a green line on it, and was making a constant high pitched tone. There were a few things dangling off of it, with what looked like suction cups attached. That was all I had time to notice, before a swarm of ponies in strange outfits came charging in. A few had these strange white coats on. The coats had huge pockets on them, and almost completely covered the pony's forehooves. The rest of them were wearing clothes that were a strange shade of green. Noticing me standing there, they stopped, before one of them made a shooing motion to the rest. As the filtered out, the grey pony trotted over to me, and sat down saying, "Hi. I'm Doctor Pierce. How are you feeling?" I flopped down myself, and replied, "I feel fine...... I'm just a bit confused. What happened?" The doctor smiled, and gently pushed me towards the bed, saying, "Don't worry. Lots of patients that get knocked out are confused when they first get here. I'll try to fill in the blank parts, if you don't mind." I jumped up onto the bed, and got settled. Once I was under the soft blue blanket, I looked back at the doctor, and said, "Please." "What do you remember last?" "Well......" I said, scrunching my face up in thought, "I remember that we were in the woods...... A timberwolf tried to eat us.... Some guard ponies showed up.... and then I got hit in the face....." Pausing, I continued, "And then.... nothing." Smiling reassuringly, the doctor said, "Well, that's not too bad then. Lets see..... after you distracted the timber wolf, your friends came galloping into town as fast as their little hooves could carry them, screaming to anypony that would listen about how there was a monster in the forest. A group of guardsponies quickly got together, and set out to the forest. They said you were doing pretty good til you got distracted. It didn't take them long to subdue the monster, and luckily, you weren't hurt too badly." The grey pony smiled, and tapped the side of his skull, "Just took a bump to the noggin, and some pretty deep scratches on your wings from the fall. You'll be fine." I breathed out a sigh of relief. Noticing, the doctor smiled, then said calmly, "Well, If you're feeling good enough, I could send word out to your parents...... they're really worried about you." I gasped, and said, "Oh horsefeathers!" Blushing at my own language, I explained, "I.... kinda never told them where I was going....." The grey doctor chuckled at that. "Don't worry, they won't kill you...... or if they try, at least you're in a hospital where we can put you back together." Wincing, I merely nodded, and hid under the covers partially. The doctor left the room with a large grin plastered to his face, and called for a nurse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After being grilled over by my parents, we'd ended up having a touching moment. It was the usual. Hugging, kissing crying, the work. Blech. It got better though, because at about the same time they left, my friends from school showed up. Orion practically slapped me upside the head for staying behind like an idiot. I was starting to get mad. All I'd wanted was to save that pony. Khaki Slack, noticing the mood, quickly changed topics. "So..." He started, "One good thing came out of all of this." Orion and I both stared at him, until he continued, "You got your cutie mark didn't you?" I tilted my head, and looked at him like he was crazy. "You sure you weren't the one who got hit on the head?" I asked skeptically. He responded by pulling the covers off of me, and saying excitedly, "Look look!" Sure enough, there it was. On my once bare green flank was my cutie mark. It was a pair of swords, crossed over a white shield, that had a light blue stripe running from the upper left of the shield, to the lower right. My mind went blank, as conflicting emotions arose. I was excited for my cutie mark, yes, but at the same time I was kinda disappointed. Since I got my cutie mark, my special talent wasn't a mystery anymore. I could't daydream about how I was destined to be a great pilot, or a writer. Still, it was my talent to guard people. That's awesome. As these conflicting thoughts spiraled around my head ll I could think to say, was, "How did you know before I did?" Khaki Slack grinned from ear to ear, and said, "I saw it when the guards ponies picked you up." After a moment of silence we all began laughing hysterically. I don't know why, but it was just so darn funny. We ended up just joking around for a couple of hours, until visiting hours were over. Waving goodbye, Khaki and Orion promised to visit tomorrow. That night I fell asleep quickly. In my dream, I was flying over the Everfree forest. It was as perfect a day as could be imagined. The sun was brightly shining warmth across Ponyville, and there were only a few white puffy clouds in the sky. Not enough to block out the sun, but there were enough clouds to make shady places if ponies got too warm. The Forest didn't even seem as scary as normal, it's trees were all bright shades of green, as opposed to the dark, shadowy green they were normally. All in all, I was perfectly content and happy. I flew over, and grabbed a chunk of cloud. If you've never touched a cloud before, it's one of the most unique feelings ever. Since this was a white puffy cloud, it was soft, and cool, unlike dark grey storm clouds, which are hard and cold. Anyway, I took my chunk of cloud, and began to fashion a floating couch. After a few moments of kicking and molding, I had a soft fluffy couch to relax on. Soaring over, I flopped myself onto the cloud with an audible thump. I had just gotten settled, when I heard a cry for help. I perked up, and scanned the trees below me quickly. I couldn't tell where It was coming from from here, so I jumped off of my floating couch, and began to soar back and forth over the forest, listening with all my might. Suddenly, there it was again. Right below me this time. I shouted, "Hold on!", and dived at top speed. Curbing my speed just before I hit the upper branches of the Everfree forest's massive trees, I lowered myself down to the forest floor slowly. I landed with a crunch in a pile of discarded leaves, turned all different shades of color from time. Glancing around nervously, I saw..... nothing. Nopony was in sight, and no monsters either. Nervously, I checked out my surroundings. The trees were still brightly colored, and a light, gentle breeze was making the upper branches sway softly. Nearby, to my left, a hill rose up out of the ground sharply. Examining the hill more closely, I noticed that there was a cave on the side. No sooner did I notice the cave, when echoing out of it, I heard a filly screaming "Help me!" I dashed forward at top speed towards the cave's dark, shadowy maw. Upon entering, the first thing I noticed, was that the cave wasn't quite as dark on the inside as the outside indicated. There was some kind of luminous moss lining the walls farther in. It almost resembled what I would imagine a bat pony cave would look like. The second thing that I noticed, is that there was some sort of puddles liquid on the ground. It was darker than mud, and reddish. I creeped over slowly, and put at tip of my hoof into it. Slowly, I brought it up to my face to examine it closer. It was blood. Screaming, I backpedaled out of the cave, and began to run for my life. The trees weren't bright anymore. In fact, they had resumed their dark shadowy colors, but now they all had faces. The trees began to laugh as I sprinted away as fast as my hooves could carry me. I should have paid more attention to where I was going, because I ended up tripping over a bush, and falling into a pile of leaves with a loud crunch. I sat up shakily, and shook leaves off my head. Standing up, I noticed that something seemed odd about the pile of leaves. I scraped off the top layer, and closely examined what lay underneath. The leaves had been hiding entire skeletons of poor ponies. For the hundredth time that night, I screamed and ran away. The forest melted, and instead was replaced by a barren red landscape. I began to hear strange noises, almost like some sort of demons were messily eating meat.... probably pony meat. The ground became a dark crimson. As I ran, I looked behind me, and noticed that a wall of shadow seemed to be chasing me. I tried to run faster, but I was just so tired. I could barely move my legs. The shadow slowly closed. I grew closer, and closer, and closer...... and then nothing. The shadow caught me. I couldn't see, or hear anything. "....... You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" a creepy, yet familiar voice said. "Wh-who's there?" I asked, terrified out of my mind. Ignoring me, the voice continued, "It didn't have to end this way...." "What's going on?" I asked, feeling my fear grow. "Well, Silvermane?" The voice asked, barely containing a laugh. "P-Pinkie?" I asked, terrified, "Is that you?" "Weeeeeeelll doooooonnee" The voice said. Then, after a brief moment of silence, She appeared in front of me, shrieking like some sort of possessed demon. I threw myself down onto the ground, and covered my head with my forehooves. I tensed up, waiting for the strike to land...... and then nothing. Nothing at all. I peeked up over my hooves, and what I saw nearly shocked me as much as what I was suspecting. I somehow was transported into surgarcube corner... into the middle of a party no less. Pinkie was practically giggling herself into a coma not too far away. Standing, up, I tried to speak but nothing came out.... well nothing that made any sense anyway. After a minute or so had passed, I finally got out, "What's going on here?" Turning serious, or at least as serious as she could get, Pinkie replied, "I don't know. This is your dream silly." I relaxed slightly, "So this..... Is all a dream." "Probably," She replied with a giggle. Slightly confused, I asked , "Okay, if this is my dream.... then why are you here.... and why did you try to kill me?" "I didn't try to kill you silly!" She said throwing a hoof around me. "It's OBVIOUSLY a Nightmare Night party. And What Nightmare Night party is complete without a good scare?" "Ummm...." I was just getting more and more confused as time went on, so I decided to ignore that. "You never answered what you were doing here." She began giggling again. "Didn't i tell you already Silly? We're in a dream." I scrunched up my face in confusion, and had just opened my mouth to ask another question, when Pinkie shushed me, and put her hoof on my mouth. "SHH!" She said, "It's time for you to wake up....." Diving behind the wooden counter, she began to rummage through something back there, all the while muttering. "where is it?" " I know it'- AH-HA!" she exclaimed jumping up, and over the counter again. In her hooves was a large, sky blue cannon on wooden wheels. I started to ask her what it was for, when I realized that she was aiming it at me. "Wait! What are you doing?" "Good Morning!" she yelled in response, before pulling the string. The cannon fired with a loud squeak, and blasted confetti at me. I woke up with a gasp, and sat up. Sunlight was just beginning to filter through the hospital room's window, illuminating the soft green walls. Sighing, I flopped back down into the bed, and stared at the window. All I could think, was, What in Celetia just happened?
