Chapters Chapter 1 (edited)
Dripping. Bed sheets stained in red.
A figure's shadow loomed over the bed. Back crouched, It wiped a free hand onto the walls and bed spread, painting some of the remaining untainted spots in the room a faded color when it was done. Slowly making a fist, Its eyes moved from its hand to where a little boy laid, unmoving. Leaning closer, the figure tightly gripped a grotesque, bloody blade and grabbed a clump of the boy's hair. In a single rough motion, the head was quickly face-to-face with the figure. It brought the knife dangerously close to the boy's face, connecting the sharp edge of the blade between the lips of the boy's mouth. It paused, stared at the victim's face one last time, and grinned. It started. Cutting. Carving. Mutilating.
"Now I'll make you look beautiful.." The figure said in a deep, cracked voice.
It starts to cut outward from the edge of the lips to make a pair of perfectly curved lines, representing a large "smile".
"Why so serious, buddy?" It chuckled. "You should be happy. I saved you from the evils of is God damned world. Smile!"
It waited for a response, one it did not truly expect to get. Letting the victim's head limply fall back on the pillow, It simply stared, unblinkingly, toward the now "smiling" corpse.
The figure stopped grinning, hearing footsteps. It swiftly stood up, staring down at the bloodied corpse angrily.
"Now you will STAY happy." It growled, before turning around to retrieve another, slightly cleaner, but equally large blade. "Forever."
__________
-New York City
Jeff was strolling down the dark slums of New York City, hiding his face in a seemingly "blackened" white hoody while keeping his hands on the grip of his ever sharp knives he keeps in the pockets of his hoody. Out in the slums, he fit right in. Everyone here has a secret. Secrets that are sometimes to DIE for. Naturally, people in this rough patch of the city keep to themselves, minding their own business in the fear of meeting "undesirable" company.
Jeff hears a radio playing in the background next to an old man sitting on an apartment door step.
"Emergency Report: Armed serial killer still on the loose. Dozens of confirmed victims have been reported of this mysterious and ruthless predatory psychopath. It is believed that he was last spotted in Trenton, New Jersey, yesterday after the discovery of the heavily mutilated body of a young boy in his own room. The body hosts multiple stab wounds in the chest and limbs. The corpse was also gashed open from the neck to the stomach. There is reason to believe the victim was alive when most of this happened. "
Jeff's smile grew under the shade of his hood, but continued to listen in.
"Most disturbing of all, though, is that the mouth was cut into the cheeks on both sides, resembling a big, demented smile. For privacy reasons, the name of the victim was not revealed to the press. The killer is described as a male, around thirteen to sixteen years of age, five foot seven, and is reported to have been wearing a white hoodie and black denim jeans. If anyone spots a person with this description or sees any suspicious behavior, please report it to the Crime Stoppers Hotline.
In other news, a power outage at the superbowl is causing outrage as-"
Jeff has lost interest in the radio. Yet, he finds amusement in something else. The old man, and everyone else who has been listening in, failed to notice the irony.
I am right here! He wanted to scream. A feeling of euphoria swept over him. He felt invincible, like no one could touch him. That no one could stop him...
All of a sudden, he started to laugh roaringly, causing onlookers to stare, some in confusion, others in annoyance.
_________
-Canterlot
"Exactly Where did you find them?"
"The victims were in their home, with the filly killed in bed. The parents were also believed to be killed soon after, probably after barging into the room to catch the suspect in the act. All three bodies were found in the filly's room, with no sign of them having been moved."
"What do you think killed them? Was it a pony, or maybe some bloodthirsty beast?"
"W-We don't know. No portions were missing from the bodies to assume they were being eaten, and the stabs inflicted seem to have been done by a knife. Judging by the size and shape of the cuts, the weapon was most likely a large cerated kitchen knife, which, unfortunately, is found in most homes."
Captain Shining Armor collapsed, unable to process all that has happened.
"We do not know anything about the suspect at all?" Shining asked tiredly.
"Regretably, no." Investigator Crime Finder replied. "That is all we know. Nopony saw anything suspicious because the act was believed to have happened in the dead of night, according to the neighbors. The only possible witnesses, or at least the ones that can actually tell us something useful, were the residents of the house. Unfortunately, as stated before, they were all... disposed of.
"N-No... No magic was found on the bodies of the victims, and no traces of the suspect has been left to study. The suspect is believed to be very intelligent and experienced, as to be able to escape without being noticed or leaving any viable evidence. Interestingly enough," Finder claims, "Our forensic team suspects the perpetrator to be a changeling, on the reasoning that nopony spotted an unfamiliar character walking around the area hours before or after the crime. We have some suspects, but none with a real base to be accused. The reasoning behind the murders are unknown, but if the suspect is in fact a changeling," Investigator Finder took a breathe, "It is reasonable to assume that the crime is linked to the failed changeling invasion from a few months ago."
Shining Armor flinched at the mention of changelings, looking up. What Finder saw, though, was not a confused face.
It was a look of hatred.
"I have personal experience with changelings, enough to know that this is definitely the act of one of them." Shining stated authoritatively, snapping at the investigator.
The changeling hive must have sent an assassin to kill citizens and distract the royal guards, Shining thought resolutely. We should focus on looking for the invading changelings taking advantage of the chaos, not on a lone assassin, who has probably escaped back to its hive by now!
"Investigator Crime Finder, I know what must be done."
__________
-Ponyville
It was a glistening day in Ponyville, where Fluttershy was caring for her many animals, as usual. Today was the day that she would clean out the excess mud piles for her pigs, which have gotten dry and crusty. She cares for her pigs, like all her animals, deeply, and making her animals happy is her pride and joy as an animal lover. The pig kennel faces the Everfree Forest, were the occasional wild animal would leak out of. Fluttershy, being as kind as she was, would always try to befriend any animal she encountered. Except dragons. Fluttershy was deathly afraid of dragons.
Once in awhile, an animal Fluttershy has never seen before would find itself on the edges of the Everfree, where a quiet voice with a warm heart was there to welcome them. Fluttershy, being around animals all the time, naturally learned a few tricks from them overtime.
Fluttershy quickly learned how to copy many different bird calls, how to find food in the Everfree, even how to know if a predator was stalking her. This comes easily to a pony like Fluttershy. If an animal ever tried to attack her, she could always convince the animal otherwise, preferring to befriend rather than fight or run away.
It was on this particular day, on her way to the pig pens, that Fluttershy felt a tingling, a strong one. A feeling, the type that signifies she is being watched by a "predatory animal". Fluttershy tenses a little, as she turns around. Yet as Fluttershy stares at It, she does not understand what she sees. In the background of the forest, she spots a black and white figure. The figure seemed to fluttershy as an animal taller than a pony, but smaller than a bear standing on its hind legs. This was not what Fluttershy worried about, though. Size of an animal never really made a difference to the animal lover, who cared for animals bigger and smaller than herself all the time.
What was eerie to Fluttershy, though, was the figure seemed to acknowledge it was spotted, but refused to move. It seemed content to staring, confusing the pegasus. What did it want?
For the record, the creature didn't seem scared, not in the slightest. Fluttershy just stared back, also not scared, but confused. Animals she had experience with would often run away, hide, or attack when they are spotted, but this strange one did not. She contemplated her next move, when all of a sudden the figure started running full speed toward her. Dazed and still, she stood frozen for a couple of seconds while the creature ran at speeds easily faster than what the average pony could muster. By the time Fluttershy thought to run, It already closed half of the distance between them. Fluttershy quickly launched to the air as fast as she could, being just over the creature's head before it jumped and slashed at her. Being incredibly lucky, the creature missed Its mark and only slashed a hind leg. Fluttershy, in adrenaline fueled panic, did not notice this and continued to fly as fast as she could, making her just a little slower than the the figure that was chasing her. She did not dare turn back in fear that she would find the creature still chasing from behind her, and quickly went high up to a comfortable hieght among the clouds. The creature did not seem to have wings, so the skies would have to shelter her for now.
Fluttershy, finally calming down and resting on a cloud, decided she wanted to get a good look at the creature that was chasing her. She pokes her head from hiding and looks down at the ground. She was able to see all of Ponyville, but no strange creatures (other than the Ponyville pedestrians) in sight. It disappeared, out of thin air. Just a couple of seconds ago, Fluttershy could have sworn that the beast was still chasing her. She, losing her adrenaline fueled rush, figured it must have ran back into the Everfree Forest.
Minutes pass, as Fluttershy's heavy breathing turns back to a shallow, whispered rhythm. Fluttershy, thinking back to the occurrence, thought of why the strange animal attacked her.
"Some ponies... they don't like it when other ponies stare at them, so maybe this animal doesn't like it either!" Fluttershy exclaimed to herself. "I could have scared or threatened it by staring at it the w-wrong way."
"...I-I mean, no animal will attack somepony without a reason, right?"
Fluttershy decided. She would make things right by apologizing and befriend this mysterious, new creature.
-New York City
It was an unusually quiet and peaceful night in the city, with barely any cars on the streets or people cluttering the sidewalks. A sleeping woman in her early twenties, wakes up in her city apartment to a loud 'thump'. She briefly recognizes the sound as something hitting a brick wall.
Startled and annoyed, she listens in silence for a few seconds, but does not hear anything worthwhile to lose sleep over.
'Must have been my imagination or something,' she thought. She tries go back to sleep, but isn't successful.
She could not let go of this strange... uneasiness...
After several restless minutes, she thinks back to what could have caused that noise from earlier. A bird? She thought. A freaking raccoon? What animals are big enough in the city to cause-
She hears more noises. Then, a knock , someone's at the door she thought. Now fully awake, she gets up from her bed and looks through the eye hole. She groans as she fails see anyone in it.
Is this some type of joke? She thought. It being past twelve, maybe someone thought it was funny to wake her up in the middle of the night?
Yet, her unusual feeling of uneasiness returns.
Slowly, a figure walks into her view in the eye hole, and slowly faces the door. She relaxed a bit when she had a good look at the figure. It was a kid. Maybe a sleepwalker? The city is a strange place, after all. Her mind reassured her that she was not in any real danger; just her imagination overworking itself in this ungodly hour.
Yet, why did this kid's presence all of a sudden disturb her so much? She just wanted the kid gone.
Alas, just standing still, she decided to quietly study the figure, as if the kid was the source her seemingly irrational feelings. She wasnt completely sure what gender the kid was because the figure was looking down and a white hood covered most of its face from her, but if she was to guess it was probably a male. She watched "him" for almost a full minute, as he stayed still as a statue, until she started to hear a faint snickering that slowly became louder as seconds passed.
Within seconds she hears outright laughing, then sees as he pulls out a large knife seemingly out of nowhere and starts to do something to the door. Startled, The woman quickly trys to orient her body downward to try to see, but gives up and looks back at the hooded figure. He then pauses on whatever he was doing, looks straight up to the eyehole, and grins. The woman could not stay quiet any longer. It was then that the woman knew true fear, the face of the person who kept her awake that night, and froze. It was horrifying, with eyes of a psychopath, completely white facial skin, and a smile much too big to be physically possible for a human being, she quickly backed up and started to silently sob, not knowing if the door would be able to keep that boy, no, MONSTER, from entering the tiny apartment.
Suddenly, with a big bang that was surely heard by the entire floor, It kicked the door down and stood there, giving the woman Its horrifying smile, before hissing:
"Go. To. Sleep!"
__________
-Canterlot
"Your Majesty," Captain Shining Armor stated, "In order to protect ourselves, we must destroy the changeling problem at the source!"
"But is it truly wise to attack the changeling hive for the act of one?" Princess Celestia asked with a questioning tone.
"But princess, it was not one changeling! They are obviously working for Queen Chrysalis to weaken and destroy Equestria!" Shining replied fevorishly. "The only way to avoid this is to finally go on the offensive and destroy them first!"
"But the changelings were just defeated a few months ago," Celestia said, with slight smug. "They cannot possibly have regained enough power to even consider another invasion, at least not this soon. Especially," Celestia paused, "since procedures YOU commanded were issued to prevent them from infiltrating our cities and stealing love from our ponies."
Shining Armor did not reply, finding the floor very interesting all of a sudden.
Princess Luna, almost always being ignored from these important decisions, decided to speak.
"Sister, I must agree with Captain Shining Armor in this." Luna spoke. "The changelings must pay for their foolish actions against us and, if thou sees it necessary to exterminate them from this very earth, so be it."
Celestia, shocked that her sister actually spoke up during court, and further shocked when she realized she was arguing against her, asked,
"And why does it not occur that maybe the changelings deserve a second chance? How about the ignorance to the fact that changelings might have not even been responsible for the murders that this entire court is based on?"
"This is something that should have been done a long time ago!" Luna suddenly screeched in the Canterlot Voice.
Shining Armor backed up from the two Princesses, with Celestia and Shining wide-eyed from the change in volume.
"The changelings have been a thorn to the pony civilization for centuries!"
Luna spoke with rage. "We should have wiped those abmonimations from existence immediately as retaliation right after their invasion and attempted coup!"
"But I-"
"Do you remember?" Luna questioned. "Do you remember how that wretched queen, Chrysalis, disgraced you in front of your subjects? Ponies that saw you as an unbeatable protector of Equestria will start to lose faith in you... Unless you destroy Chrysalis and prove once again that there is none more powerful than thou."
Celestia, for once, was speechless, struggling to argue against what she had heard.
__________
-Ponyville
Fluttershy was excited. With her plans to make a new animal friend of the creature she "provoked", she flies off of the cloud she was laying on and starts to land in the middle of market square.
She decided to walk to the library, where her friend Twilight Sparkle lives. Her preference of walking over flying has been an enigma to her childhood friend, Rainbow Dash, for years. As she lands, though, she gets an unexpected shock of pain from her left hind leg. She looks at her leg in fear, to calm down as she realizes the cut wasn't severe. Not bad enough to need a trip to the doctor, at least. She wonders, though, if the cut will scar when it heals.
While im there I should also ask Twilight about any spells that prevent scarring, Fluttershy thought.
As she painfully limped, earning the stares of many ponies, she finally decided to fly the rest of the way, to her displeasure.
Its not that she hated flying, but Fluttershy enjoyed her life connected to the ground, where all her animal friends were. Most animals could not reach pegasi exclusive areas such as Cloudsdale, making it a very undesirable place for fluttershy to be in. What if her animal friends needed her and she wasn't there?
She landed once again, wincing, as she knocked on the door of Twilight Sparkle.
The door opens with Spike greeting her.
"Hia, Fluttershy!" Spike smiled.
Spike was the only dragon that Fluttershy was comfortable around. Fluttershy did not truly vision Spike as a dragon at all, but more like a baby brother, but she would never say that to him.
"G-Good afternoon Spike. Is Twilight he-"
"Hey Fluttershy!" Twilight stepped into view, startling the poor mare. "..Fluttershy?"
"S-S-Sorry.. Twilight can you please help me if you can?"
"Sure, Fluttershy!" Twilight beamed, "what exactly do you need me to do?"
"Um.. I saw an animal from the Everfree Forest.. it was almost double our height and is very fast. Please, can you check if there is any books on animals like that?" Fluttershy pleaded, making Twilight a bit uncomfortable.
"Okay, then. Fluttershy, I am going to need to know a lot more about the animal you saw before we could do anything. There are plenty of large, fast creatures that roam the Everfree."
"Um..." Fluttershy studdered, "its top half was almost completely white, and its bottom half was black."
"Fluttershy, is that really everything? Come on, think!" Twilight pushed. As time passed, She started to secretly grow a curiousity for this creature as well. An animal that Fluttershy has never seen before, and to top it off has a bizarre discription that she never heard of.
"I-I think it was running on its hind legs." Fluttershy said. "It had four limbs. I think its fore legs each had a large sharp claw, but I am not sure."
Spike, now returning to the room the mares were in, spotted Fluttershy's left hindleg.
"Fluttershy, what happened to your leg? It looks like it hurts a lot!" Spike exclaimed.
All attention suddenly went to Fluttershy's left hind leg, where the injury resided.
Fluttershy, momentarily forgetting about her wound, replied, "Oh no, it is okay. Its just a scratch, it will heal just fine if I clean it later."
"It does not look like JUST a scratch, Fluttershy." Twilight states. "It looks like something-" Twilight goes wide eyed for a second, "Fluttershy, did that animal hurt you?"
"Y-Yes, but it was my fault!"
Fluttershy quickly retorted. "It is my fault, I probably threatened it by mistake. Animals don't attack people for no reason, Twilight."
"But if this creature is around Ponyville right now, what will happen if other ponies made it feel threatened?" Twilight questioned.
"If what you said was right, a large, fast creature with claws, lurking just outside of Ponyville, its presence will be a danger not only ponies, but to itself!" Twilight shouted, not realizing how loud she was talking until afterward.
"Oh, oh no. I don’t want that." Fluttershy starts to get tears in her eyes.
"Its okay, Fluttershy, I have a plan. First, I am going to write a letter to the princess. Then we are going round up the girls and safely and painlessly capture the creature."
Fluttershy, upon hearing this, cheered up a bit.
"If it is truly a creature never seen before, just imagine what we could learn from it!" Twilight hopped excitedly. "Spike! Get ready, we need to notify the princess and see what she says about this."
*ahem*
"Dear Princess Celestia..."
-Ponyville
It was early evening, and the Apple family was having dinner as usual. Activity was always a constant when the Apple Family was together, and tonight was not an exception.
"Alrighty, whos hungry?" Grandma Smith asked, as she carried a large pan full of apple themed dishes.
Many of the Apple Family's special recipe plates were made that night, including apple pies, apple dumplings, apple turnovers, even the Apple Family's famous cider to finish the job. The Apple family always kept barrels of apple cider for themselves each year before selling the rest to the townsfolk.
Apple Bloom, naturally, was first to respond to the appearance of the fine apple delicacies.
"Me! Me!" Applebloom chirped happily, earning a glare from her stern big sister.
"Hold your horses, Apple Bloom." said the orange apple bucker. "Your gunna hafta be patient." Applejack said.
"Granny will get everypony their food, there is no need to act like its runnin' away."
"ughh.." Applebloom moans. "Can't we hurry a jiff? I want to go with the girls after dinner to get our cutie marks!"
Upon hearing this, Applejack was stupified. The crusaders trying to get their cutie marks at all was risky, but at the dead of night? that would be outright dumb. Applejack's face quickly transformed from shock to anger.
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack scolded. "Are yah out of your dang filly mind? Its way too dark for any of you fillies to be crusading and what not."
"Buut Applejaaaack!" Apple Bloom whined. "We-"
"No buts, missy!" Applejack stubbornly inturrupted. "When ah say yah ain't going, yah ain't."
"...Big Mac?" Apple Bloom pleaded.
"Nope."
__________
-Canterlot
Princess Celestia was caught between a rock and a hard place.
After the discussion with the Captain of the Royal Guard and her dear sister, Princess Luna, she has become more aware of the thin line of peace and war Equestria has become between the changelings.
She doesn't even give herself time to read the letter her personal student, Twilight Sparkle, has just recently sent to her. She normally enjoys reading her letters, but it is quite obvious that Equestria's safety is more important right now.
Thinking about Twilight, With her being the Element of Magic, her death would be quite sought for by any enemy. Especially an enemy that could go from one place to another without being caught.
In response, Celestia has decided next morning to set some of her specially trained royal guards into Ponyville, to protect her prodigy from the expected assasinations on the hands of changelings.
Still, She paces back and forth in her chamber, with a worried face that only shown when she was alone.
She looks out of a window of the castle, looking down on the courtyard. She stares at her little ponies down at the ground, oblivious to her glance. Guard ponies working, nobleponies talking, colts and fillies playing. A particularly large pony with tiny wings screaming "Yeah!" every few minutes.
She worries, isn't there anyway around this without bloodshed? Does what the changelings do as their nature warrant them for extermination? An entire species, in question for extinction because of how they were born?
On the other hoof, Celestia ponders, the changelings have done more than enough to Equestria that past nations would have easily gone to war over long before.
Since the start of the conflict, Equestria has been spied on, invaded, and even almost been overthrown by the changelings.
Celestia grew in anger, forming an uncommon scowl on her face.
'And now, to add to that list, changelings are now suspected to be murdering Equestrian ponies?!' Celestia thought angrily.
Celestia, now resolved of the internal conflict, calmed down, swallowing all her worry and replacing it with self-declared resolve.
'Changelings have obviously proven themselves to be inherently evil.' Celestia decided bitterly, 'It is in their nature to feed off of the good, as that is the nature of evil.
Luna is right.
Evil must be destroyed.'
Princess Celestia, with a grim but adamant frown, calls up a guard.
A large, stoic guard arrives within seconds, bowing and awaiting orders.
"Send a message to Captain Shining Armor." Celestia commanded to the guard.
"Equestria is now officially at war."
__________
-Ponyville
Luna's moon was glistening as the two crusaders awaited their third member.
"Do you think she's gunna come?" Scootaloo asked.
"She has to!" Sweetie Belle claimed with urgency. "How can we be Cutie Mark Crusaders without her?!"
"Ahm' right over here!" The fillies hear.
The two turn their heads to see as Apple Bloom sprints over, nearly tripping herself as she gets to a stop in front of her fellow crusaders.
"Hey, we still goin' ta Zecoras or what?" Apple Bloom blurted. "Lets go! Gogogo!"
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo wear confused reactions as their friend latches onto them and prompts them to run.
"Come on, Zecoras waitin'!" Apple Bloom says, suppressing her yell.
With what felt like wasted seconds to Apple Bloom, they complied. All three sprinted into the Everfree, following the path to Zecora's home.
_________
Back in the Apple farm, a sleeping Big Mac awakens, startled by the soft noise of the wood floor creeking and a rusty window opening.
With suprisingly silent movements for a bulky frame, the red giant was able to sneak through the hallway without so much as a squeak.
He goes down the hall, checking Applejack's room to see a sleeping lump underneath purple blankets.
Satisfied, he continues down to Apple Bloom's room, but is forced to a stop.
He sees a bed with no Apple Bloom.
He quickly, while still maintaining his code of silence, looks out of the window. He looks out just in time to see three fillies run off into the Everfree.
With an tired glare, he watched as they quickly disapeared into the dark trail of the cursed forest.
He silently sighs, and aggressively turns around.
Big Mac moves, with a speed as fast as a pony's jog, out of the house, only uttering a faint noise from the twisting of the door handle.
Once out, he breaks to a gallop towards the Everfree.
'Those fillies..' Big Mac thought miserably, 'They better not get a basilisk after them like last time!'
__________
The girls quickly get to Zecora's, only to be introduced to an eerie aura as they slow to a trot and hesitantly approached the hut. The hut was excruciatingly quiet, not giving any hint of activity or life. Instead, a wave of coldness seemed to radiate, causing Sweetie Belle to shiver.
"H-Hey, maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.." Sweetie Belle mumbles under her breath, not being loud enough for her two friends to acknowledge.
•Oh, when did you realize that?• A sarcastic voice resonates.
Sweetie Belle jumps, latching onto Scootaloo.
The voice chuckles, its laughter echoing through the confines of the forest opening.
"Woah, did you guys hear that??" Sweetie Bellie fearfully asks her two aquaintances, whom of which stopped to stare at the white filly.
"Hear what, Belle?" Apple Bloom asked.
Sweetie Belle, shocked when seeing the calm reactions from her two friends, replies, "I think I am hearing things."
"Well", Scootaloo starts, rolling her eyes, "Maybe Zecora has something for that. Can we just go in already?"
The three quietly agree, and approach the door of the hut. Scootaloo knocks on the door, and waits.
Seconds pass, and Scootaloo knocks again, louder this time.
"Zecora said she was going to be awake tonight to help us," Scootaloo exclaimed, "She wouldn't leave us hanging."
Scootaloo starts to knock again, but stops as Sweetie Belle yells.
"Hey, girls!" Belle yelled, starting to show signs of fear. "Zecora isn't here! Lets just go back!"
"No way!" Scootaloo feistily objected. "I had to stay up late and go into the creepy forest at night for a DOOR to stop me?"
Scootaloo turns around, buzzes her tiny wings for a second, and bucks the door as hard as she could.
The door easily slams open. It wasn't locked.
"Thats... creepy." Scootaloo hesitantly states. "Doesn't Zecora lock her doors when she isnt home?"
"Yeah..." Apple Bloom replies questionably. "Jus' whats goin' on here?"
The three fillies enter the dark hut, where all but one candle were burnt out.
The one lit candle resided in the center of the room in the back of the hut.
Apple Bloom recognizes it as Zecora's bedroom. Apple Bloom yells into the bedroom,
"Hey, Zecora, me and mah friends are here!"
The fillies waited earnestly for a response, but as seconds passed they were only answered with a murky smell.
The fillies automatically figured the smell came from a potion Zecora was brewing. Curiousity made the three decide to enter the room, with Apple Bloom leading the way.
"Zecora!" Apple Bloom called out. "Zecora? Wher-"
The three freeze as they comprehend the scene.
A body, colored in blood and wounds, was spotted in the corner of the room, bearly visible by the bleak light the candle gave out.
The fillies' faces strung with horror. Sweetie Belle looked like she was about to scream, but nothing came out. Applebloom, with tears slowly forming in her eyes, gripped the lone candle with her mouth and approached the outline of the body. As the scene was fully revealed, the fillies couldn't believe their eyes.
The body of a zebra, with its front legs practically chopped off, laying with its back against the wall. Blood was leaking on the floor from its face. Apple Bloom shines the candlelight upward, and immediately regrets it.
The eyes of the zebra were carved off, and a huge smile was carved onto the victim's mouth. The corpse seemed to stare at Apple Bloom, with its forced smile, and taunt her.
It was definitely the face of Zecora.
Applebloom couldn't take it anymore. She screams, a wail loud enough that even some ponies back in Ponyville shuddered in their sleep from hearing it.
__________
-Everfree Forest
Big Mac ran as fast as he could once he got a fair distance from the Apple household, getting anxious as he entered a foggy part of the forest, with no fillies in sight.
Actually, Big Mac wouldn't be able to see anything more than ten feet through this fog. Just as chances of finding the fillies and dragging their doomed flanks back was becoming hopeless, Big Mac started to hear crying.
He followed the noise through the fog. The source of the crying didn't seem to be from any of the fillies, it was slightly deeper, more resonated.
He followed onward, presumably getting closer but at still least twenty feet away when the crying turned to scratchy wails.
Unearthed, Big Mac slowly approached the wailing, thinking something peculiar. He just couldn't put his hoove on it.
He was now able to barely make out a white and black creature huddled on the floor.
He presumed the shadowy figure was the source of the crying, and slowly approached it.
Less than ten feet away, the figure still didnt respond to Big Mac's approach. It just continued to wail, with its back facing him. Big Mac stops and stares, being a little more than five feet away from the strange spectacle.
Big Mac doesn't know what to do, as he has never been in a situation this bizarre, or maybe even somewhat frightening, in his life. The most frightening things he experienced in his life range from Apple Bloom falling in a well and almost losing the Apple Family farm to the Flim Flam brothers.
A misty, lingering stink instinctively makes him turn his head. He sees, through squinted eyes, another large figure on the ground, unmoving. The new figure seems to be at least twice his size, making him nervous. The seemingly increasing wails from the smaller figure didn't help.
He steps away from the unknown white and black creature, now throughly convinced of something deathly strange. He instead approaches the larger figure, blackened from the fog and just out of his vision.
After a few steps, he recognizes a paw. A large paw with razor sharp claws.
Big Mac, shocked, takes a few more steps until he was less than five feet away from the larger creature, and many feet away from the crying one.
It was a manticore. Actually, the corpse of a manticore, with bleeding wounds on its back and a slashed neck. 'What could ah killed a manticore?' Big Mac further worries, his stoic demeanor finally cracking to show tints of fear.
The 'wailing' started to sound familiar to Big Mac.
Hearing a misplaced chortle, he started to understand what was so strange about the creature's crying.
It was laughing. This entire time, it was laughing at him.
He turns around quickly, just to see a large figure zip by his peripheral vision.
The laughing increased, as his fear followed. The laughing seemed to be coming from no where and everywhere at the same time.
Big Mac, now terrified, discovered he was completely defenseless. He could not hear anything but the haunting laughter and his heavy breathing.
He still could not see any end to the fog, which surrounded him and took away his vision. The fog just seemed to get thicker, the laughter louder.
Suddenly, Big Mac hears a piercing scream from the distance. He turns his head towards the scream, to immediately discover the laughing creature from earlier behind him.
Its two front "legs" were high above Big Mac's head and wielded sharp eyes that seemed to penetrate the fog like a knife, staring down at him. He could see black eyes, filled with desire.
The terrified Big Mac panics, instinctively bucking the tall, foggy creature with all its might.
Big Mac heard a sickening crack and a howl, as the figure flies many yards away, past Big Mac's allowed sight of vision. The figure seemed to be engulfed by the fog, as he hears the thump of It crashing onto the forest floor.
Adrenaline taking over, Big Mac runs the opposite direction, and doesn't stop even after escaping the fog.
Within seconds, he collapses at the edge of the forest, unwilling to move an inch.
Time passes, and after several minutes, three evidently disheartened fillies come out of the forest and into Ponyville. Big Mac looks up just in time for them to make eye contact. Big Mac steadily gets up takes them into custody, without resistance.
Both sides were wary and exhausted, Big Mac and the crusaders both wondering if they were still in bed and simply having a nightmare. The walk back to the Apple Home was quiet, with only the crunch of the grass underneath their hooves.
Apple Bloom didn't get any sleep at all that night.
-Ponyville
"WhywhyWHY??" Twilight, in her crazed state, ranted mercilessly. For the past half hour. "WHY DIDN'T THE PRINCESS RESPOND TO MY LETTERRR??"
Twilight shifted nervously by herself, looking not too different from when Pinkie first tasted coffee and asked to sit still. (It was declared by Princess Celestia herself as a physical impossiblity, by the way. In the end, Discord almost got free again and powerful magic needed to be used to restrain her until the caffine effects wore off.) Her mane was a mess and her eyes showed fear, as if she was minutes away from being excecuted in the most horrible way possible.
She paced back and forth in the library, as she was doing so ever since she had sent the letter to Canterlot (via dragon) several hours ago.
What if something has happened to the princess? Twilight worried miserably. Princess Celestia always sends a reply right away! Maybe something is wrong with Spike? He has been eating a lot of ice cream lately... I should see the effects ic-
"Twilight!" Spike yelled from accross the library, knocking Twilight out of her stupor and unknowingly saving himself from being a test subject. "Your dinner is getting cold!"
"O-Okay, Spike!" Twilight replied, exhausted. Twilight slugged into the kitchen, still shaking a little, where a plate full of spagetti and hay was waiting for her on the table.
"Oooh, oh well." Twilight sighed, relaxing considerably. She still looked like she was attacked by a demonic spirit, but at least the shaking stopped.
She sits down in front of the table and levitates a fork over her spagetti. "Spike IS right." She reassures herself. "I am probably thinking too much about it. Poor Fluttershy waited almost an hour yesterday with me while we waited for the princess to reply, but left when she needed to feed her animals. Unlike silly me," Twilight emphasized with a pause and a facehoof, "Thats all I can worry about. I should really focus on my responsibilities instead of festering over one late letter!"
Twilight relaxes and looks at her plate. She spins a few strands of spagetti in her fork but stops before lifting it in her mouth, realizing something.
What about the creature Fluttershy mentioned?! While we were waiting for the princess to respond to my letter I completely forgot that a dangerous new animal is lurking near Ponyville! How could I neglect the issue this far?
You know what? Its all the princess's fault! If somepony is hurt, it is because she didn't respond to the letter in time. Tommorow we will look for the beast and capture it, forget about Princess Celestia!
Twilight quickly changes back from crazed and annoyed to worried, And it is obvious that the creature is probably very dangerous. Fluttershy lives near the Everfree, and an animal that dangerous could easily kill her!
__________
Meanwhile, Spike passed by the kitchen to see Twilight staring at a wall with her left eye twitching and a dangerous look on her face. Spike decided the best way to go about the situation was to back away slowly...
___________
Fluttershy is too innocent to understand that there are animals out there that might be too dangerous to interact with alone! Twilight thought. I really hope this isn't one of those situations...
A long pause of pondering ensues, in which the spagetti and hay has officially become cold.
I should have went with her, Twilight decides anxiously, completely oblivious to the status of her meal. I should see if she is alright. She could have been attacked again while all I was worried about was Princess Celestia's letter!!
Twilight lunges off her chair and topples over, hitting her head. "Ah!" She yelps. Twilight rubs her sore rump, clearly not in the mood. "What the hay!"
She levitates the chair off the ground and sets it upright, before calling for her roommate/assistant.
"SPIKE!" Twilight yells, "I'm going out! I just need to check on Fluttershy! Please look over the library while I am gone, okay?"
All she hears is a grumble from the other side of the library, but considering the situation, that was more than good enough for her. She exits the library, to see the sun was setting.
The princess had time to set the Sun but didn't respond to my letter? Twilight felt anger and confusion boil, but only enough to portray slight annoyance. Twilight can't be upset with her mentor for long, she always has her reasons. Even if those reasons literally cause her to fall sick from worry.
Ignoring her prevailing negative thought, Twilight galloped through Ponyville, approaching the corner of the Everfree and her yellow friend's cottage.
She did not see anything out of the ordinary or worth looking over on her way through Ponyville. Everything was as it always was. No weird animals roaming, Derpy delivering mail while narrowly avoiding a tree, The market filled with ponies buying goods.
Actually, the market square was congested with more ponies than usual. She looks ahead to see ponies on line to buy strawberries, an unusual sight considering it being an import almost exclusively from Westberry, all the way in Itony. These berries often bring up as much business as the Apple Family's Annual Cider sales.
They say strawberries can help heal all wounds and disease, but most customers just buy the strawberries because of their taste. After all, most ponies and one dragon would agree apples make horrible ice cream.
Twilight, oogling the berries, momentarily considered stopping to buy strawberries for Spike and herself, but immediately repremanded herself.
"No! Bad Twilight!" Twilight hissed under her breathe. "Fluttershy is more important right now!"
She gallops faster, away from the growing group of ponies and approaches the cottage. As the cottage came into view, she came to notice something that disturbed her. The cottage was normally surrounded my many birds and other small critters, yet she was unable to spot a single sign of them in the area. She did not see a single bird, bunny, or butterfly in sight as she usually spotted when Twilight visited. Suspicious, instead of going directly towards the door, she gets to the back of the cottage to the pens.
As Twilight reaches visual of the pens, she sighs in relief as she sees all the chickens, pigs, and the lion still in their pens. Twilight noticed, though, that every single animal there seemed to either hide from her or watch her every move. It was very unusual for Fluttershy's animals to do that, and the knowledge of it gave Twilight shivers. Each animal that dared to look at her had fear in their eyes, some even... pleading?
The chickens were all huddled in their respected coops and the pigs just seem to act more jumpy to any movement she made. The lion, which was normally lazily loafing around or asleep, was growling at Twilght.
Weirdly enough, though, the growling didnt seem too threatening, it was more like a very, very deep purr. Yet, Twilight had a strange hunch the lion seemed to be trying.. to tell her something. To warn her.
Ignoring the lion, which the lion noticed and started to growl angrily, Twilight always wondered why Fluttershy had a large lion in the first place. They only ate meat, and a lot of it. She always wonders, if she loves animals, why take care of one that eats them? What does she feed the lion? Where is Fluttershy right now?
Twilight examined the lion once more, to see it now laying down with its back turned to her. It now seemed disinterested and angry, as if she offended it.
Twilight found that kind of funny, but at the same time ominous. Lions don't normally act that way, do they? Twilight wondered. On the other hand, maybe this lion is retar- has some screws loose! Twilight corrected, blushing furiously.
That would make a lot more sense on why Fluttershy is taking care of it even though its an apex carnivore. At least its not a three legged manticore...
"um.. H-Hi Twilight."
"eek!?" Twilight, startled, turns around to see a confused and worried Fluttershy behind her.
"Oh, its only you, Fluttershy." Twilight's demeanor suddenly turned serious, almost frowning. "I was wondering, did you notice anything strange lately?"
Fluttershy, shocked at the nature of the question, recovered quickly and began staring downward, refusing to make eye contact with the purple mare. She fiddled with her front hooves, muttering, "No, Twilight. I didn't notice anything weird lately. Thank you for asking, though."
Fluttershy looks up at Twilight, waiting to see how she would react. Twilight, upon hearing this, felt her earlier twitch start to come back.
"Fluttershy!" Twilight moaned. "Its obvious that something is going on! I can't be imagining... all this!"
"Um.. Twilight?" Fluttershy murmured, interrupting her rant. "A-Are you okay? You dont look very good. I mean your m-mane... and your shivering and.." Fluttershy quiets, now hiding behind her mane.
"Uggggh!" Twilight raged. "Im alright!! Nevermind! Where is Rainbow Dash?! RAINBOW DASH! GET YOUR FLANK OVER HERE!"
Twilight runs off, leaving behind a bewildered and frightened pegasus.
__________
-Everfree Forest
Pain. Something that was all too familiar.
And despiced.
Jeff moaned, and struggled to get up. His newfound headache causes him to cringe. He gnarled and violently shook his head.
"Where are you..." He whispered in the cold night, accompanied by a dangerously low growl. Jeff took a look around, to only become more aggravated.
He couldn't see through the fog very far, but could just scantily hear steps being taken. The creature ran away.
They always run. Jeff thought with slight playfulness, cracking a smile for just a moment before returning to a scowl as his head pounds. All they are doing is prolonging their suffering. * Living is a curse*.
He tried to get up, but felt more stinging pain coming from all over his body, mostly his chest.
He felt as his many broken and fractured ribs poking at his insides, causing agonizing pain.
The red one...
Jeff hissed maliciously, rage boiling. If his rage was liquid mercury, the plantlife around him would be dying off right now.
It must live nearby, I can sense it. That freak horse deserves to feel pain before he dies. Jeff ruthlessly decides. He calms from raging anger to simmering resolve. But I am not that unforgiving that I would forget about him. I swear, I won't. Everyone. Everyone will have their turn.
With a scowl, making his face even more terrifying than usual, he starts to walk, or grovel, out of the fog.
He was getting hungry again. Hunger... I almost forgot. Doesn't it seem that I have been eating a lot less lately? Whatever. Tommorow... Tommorow I will have to make another visit to that cottage.
__________
-Ponyville
The moon was out, yet Twilight still did not get back. Spike, all alone in the big library, started to wonder. Unlike Twilight, Spike doesn't worry over trivial things like this.
"I guess something came up." Spike thought aloud, simply shrugging the worry off.
Spike just continued with his guilty pleasure as he was alone in the library; lighting things on fire.
Spike is a closet pyromaniac, often using his dragon breathe to create his magical flames. He has been able to hide his secret very easily from Twilight, only because he would be strict to only use his dragon flames to burn instead of regular ones. His dragon flames dont leave ashes or smoke, plus if he ever lights something on fire with it, he can say it was a burping accident, as using real fire would require him to explain why he made one in the first place. Not that he will have to worry about ever setting the library on fire. One would figure Twilight is plenty smart enough to fireproof her place of living when rooming with a fire breathing dragon like himself.
He wouldn't dare burn any of Twilight's books, anyway. Especially recently, considering she is always a bit crazy and overreactant for at least once a month over something that a lot of the time isn't very important anyway. Spike just shrugs it off, and takes out a piece of paper he found in the trash. With a puff of green fire, the paper smothered to nothing in a matter of seconds.
Every so often, Spike would read a book about dragons he finds in the library to learn more about himself. He learned a lot about dragons this way, like their natural fascination with fire or their extremely long lifespans. One time, he even read an ancient book made by dragons that said dragons normally learn how to breathe fire before they learn how to walk!
Naturally, Spike didn't think much about his hobby, its a dragon thing.
Spike would never let Twilight find out, though. Even though she lets him send her letters to the princess, that is probably the limit to what he would normally be allowed to burn. It would be funny, though, if everything he burned ended up being sent to the princess. That would be impossible, though. He chuckles to himself with the thought, imagining trash falling on the princess every few minutes during an important meeting, or whatever princesses do.
As minutes pass, Spike realized to his annoyance he was starting to get sleepy. It was already late into the night, seriously? Where in Equestria is Twilight?
He looks out the window once more, hoping to see Twilight galloping to the library. All he saw, though, was empty streets and a full moon. Nothing unusual here.
Spike walks up to his bed, getting ready to sleep. He slouches into his bed, getting comfortable. He settled in, falling asleep......
A shiver, and Spike woke up, suddenly alert. He couldn't have been sleeping for more than a few minutes! What was THAT? Spike thought with ideas already poking into his brain. A-A scream...
"Twilight?!"
Spike ran towards the window again, scanning with his eyes the perimeter ahead. It was even darker than several minutes ago. Just when his worst fears were taking over, he sees a pony a few yards away, approaching the library. The path was too dark to see clearly, but it was obvious that the figure was a pony, about the same size as Twilight.
"Twilight!" Spike shouted, now running out the door towards the pony. he blindly latches on to her, but the response he got wasn't what he was expecting.
A hard kick in the gut.
"(W-Wha... What IS that?)"
"...."
A hushed, masculine voice resonates in Spike's head, as he wakes up and regains control over his body. Spike opens his eyes to see the face of a white pony with a brown mane and yellow eyes.
"...Woah, ...... Waaauh..?" Spike gripped, staggering. He keeps himself from falling again, pushing himself up with his claws. After a couple of seconds, Spike groggily stood up, while the stallion just stared intently.
"What are you ...and how do you know Twilight?" A curious but mellow voice asks Spike. It took a second to realize the question was directed at him, still dizzy from having the air in his lungs kicked out.
To be fair, Spike's head was still throbbing from the fall, and the darkness of the night didn't help. Spike takes a better look at the stallion he mistook as Twilight; A unicorn with shiny white fur and a modest, brown mane. The stallion had only two solid colors of brown and white, the exception being his eyes, being a tinted yellow with a ring of gold around his irises. Studying his facial features, the stallion seemed apologetic, maybe even fearful. Of him, Spike guessed.
Well, Spike thought, would be scared too if *I* kicked a dragon in the gut!
Hiding his irritation, Spike straightens his bruised body, successfully holding back tears. Spike's eyes meet the stallion, forcing a weak grin.
"H-Hi.. My name is Spike. I," Spike points a claw toward his chest, "am Twilight Sparkle's Number One Assistant!" Spike declared proudly.
Hearing this, the stallion's body gestures noticeably seemed to relax, as he took a large step towards Spike. A large smile slowly grew on his face. Creepy.
"Great!" the somewhat shy stallion replied with conflicting vigor. "Do you know where she is? Also, I’m afraid you didn't answer my question."
"What? I told yo- Oh! Oh.." Spike sighed. Didn't he ever see a baby dragon before? He is definitely new to the neighborhood, I guess.
"I’m a dragon."
The stallion's smile seemed to quiver for a second, which Spike easily noticed. He didn't think too much into it, though.
"Ha!" The stallion replied in a deep-throated laugh, almost causing Spike to step back at the outburst. "So you’re like a bodyguard or something, right?" The stallion joked, trying to cut the tension. Spike, recognizing the awkwardness of the situation, decided to let it pass.
After being woken up from sleep and then knocked down by a stallion he never met before at the dead of the night, he couldn't care less anymore.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Spike flashes a smug smile and puffs out his chest, something the stallion just barely cringed at.
Spike's ego boost was thwarted, though, as he falls over to a creepy noise. The noise recognized a second later as a timberwolf's howl in the distance. "heehehe.."
__________
-Ponyville
Rainbow Dash was returning to her cloud home, after a long day working at the weather over Ponyville.
'Rain on Tuesday, check. Sunny days all rest of the week, sweet! Perfect for... activities...' Rainbow Dash laughed maniacally. She was outmatched, though, by the the 'laughter' in her stomach, reminding her its almost time for dinner.
"Hmm..." Rainbow Dash hovered for a second, before racing to her kitchen cabinets. She opened the cabinets labeled 'food' (pretty easy to find). She opened it to find... nothing. Sure, there was lots of old leftovers and she can always make a great hay sandwich, but where’s the fun in that?
"Buck it. I should check on Pinkie and see if I can get her to slip me some food!" Rainbow Dash grinned deviously, a sly smile forming on her face. "Thats a lot tastier than eating a boring sandwich... Plus I could hang out with Pinkie at the same time!"
Rainbow Dash slips out of her house and races down to ground level. She passes by the market, to see it still buzzing with activity. A lot of activity.
She flies above the market to witness ponies shoving and pushing each other, getting on a giant line. The line was huge, so big that it actually cut through most of the market square! A line for what, though? Not mentioning the sun was setting, and most ponies didn't stick around at night in Ponyville.
Kind of like a curfew, now that I think about it. Rainbow Dash thought.
She landed to the ground, gracefully, and pushed through the crowd to see what the commotion was.
They were selling strawberries. Rainbow stood still for a solid two seconds until she finally recoiled, revolted by the discovery.
"EW, why does everyone like those things?!" Rainbow Dash demanded irritability, ignoring a few glares she earned from some of the ponies.
Rainbow Dash HATES strawberries, with a burning passion. If she was in the desert with only strawberries as a food source, she would feed them to the sand lizards. If all edible foods in the world except strawberries and cold medicine were to be wiped off the planet, she would never have to worry about getting a stuffy nose ever again. She will never, ever eat strawberries if its the last thing she does. NEVER.
The reasonable reaction to seeing a stand selling the cursed fruit? Blast out of there, tail behind our backs. And that is exactly what she did, to the mob's annoyance (and awe, in some cases). Apparently the air friction from accelerating from still to breakneck speeds in an instant are too loud for most people to appreciate. Oh well. She sticks her tongue out at the crowd, before blasting off once again.
Once high enough, Rainbow Dash zipped to... or was about to zip to Pinkie's, until something caught her eye. Being a pegasus and having been hanging around a griffin for much of her life, it isn't an exaggeration that her eyesight fits her reputation: being awesome. Saying this, it would be quite easy to simply spot three fillies dangerously close to the Everfree Forest.
And the name of those fillies are..... well at this point it's kind of obvious.
Most ponies, especially foals, would stay far away from the Everfree Forest, Rainbow Dash included, but not the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They seemingly flourish, no, live on doing stupidly dangerous stuff. Rainbow Dash sighs. Was I like this when I was a squirt?
Alas, Rainbow Dash was bored.
"What are they up to now?" She wonders with a spike of interest, as she quietly glides behind a bush and tip hoofs towards them, getting in close enough that she was in earshot.
"So, are we really gonna do this?" Rainbow Dash heard Scootaloo say.
"Yah, I ain't chicken! I ain't afraid of no old forest!" Spoke Apple Bloom, with confident vigor, an attitude never scarce for the three. "Besides, Zecora already said it was okay, so we have to!"
Ah... the mind of a filly... Wait. Are they going into the Everfree?! Rainbow Dash squinted before sighing again. Well, I rest my case. I better stop them before they start a forest fire or something. Again.
Rainbow jumps towards the crusaders, alerting all three of them. Two of the crusaders, once recovered from their shock, wore confused faces, while the last wore a large smile.
"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo screeches happily.
"Hey, kids." Rainbow Dash chuckles. "I couldn't help but overhear. You aren't planning anything crazy like going into the Everfree forest are you? Because going there is not -"
Rainbow Dash was unable to finish what she was about to say, as all four ponies are interrupted to hear loud clopping and shrieks in the distance.
"RAINBOW DASH!!!" A terrifying voice laced with venom was directed toward Rainbow and the fillies. They turn their heads to see a raging purple mare in full gallop running for them. "GET YOUR FLANK OVER HERE!!"
The four of them freeze, unable to process what was going on. Rainbow Dash, naturally the fastest, was first to recover.
"Girls, run!" Rainbow Dash blurts out, while getting into a pivot stance facing the purple menace.
What would the most reasonable thing to do when a crazy mare is charging at you and a group of innocent, defenseless foals?
Thats right, charge head on, full speed! Once again, that is exactly what Rainbow Dash does.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!" Rainbow Dash cries, as the fillies run off, presumably to their respected homes.
__________
Fluttershy exited the library, after waiting for over an hour for Princess Celestia to respond to the letter she and Twilight sent.
Surely the princess must have been very busy. We shouldn't have bothered her.' Fluttershy thought. 'Maybe at another time....
She goes through Ponyville, on the trail heading towards her cottage. She passes by the Market Square, to see an empty table opening up. Normally, shops opened up early in the morning to get as many customers as possible, yet why did this stall choose to open in the afternoon? Fluttershy walks up to the mare opening shop and asked,
"E-Excuse me, but what are you selling today?"
"Why!" The foreigner leading the stand wore an impressed look. "That was fast! I didn't even start shop and already customers are lining up."
Fluttershy, confused, tried to speak up, "B-But ma'am, I don’t und-"
"Strawberries for sale here!" The mare suddenly howled over the market squabble, ignoring the yellow pegasus. "Get'em while they’re fresh!"
Fluttershy turns her head... What happened next would traumatize the poor pegasus for the rest of her life.
In response to the mare's calls, dozens of ponies within radius came rushing in, followed by even more hearing about the news or interested about the commotion. Fluttershy was pushed and shoved, and easily toppled over. A couple of ponies fell over her, but not many batted an eyelash to the scene. It was truly a miracle nopony got seriously hurt.
Hence, In order for Fluttershy to survive further abuse, she had to crawl through the crowd, an action most ponies ignored. After a couple of minutes, she successfully dug herself out. She only suffered a few bruises and a seriously shriveled mane, which a first aid kit and a comb can easily solve. Fluttershy was disheartened, though, as she felt her injured leg begin to throb again, with increased consistency.
The crowd was soon forced to form a rough line, measuring already over fifty ponies long. Fluttershy slowly recovered from her post-trampled daze, in which seven more ponies were added to the line.
Wait.. S-strawberries are for sale? Fluttershy realized, blinking her eyes repeatedly, shocked at the unusual sight. Completely ignoring the ordeal she went through, her mind cleared at the mention of her favorite fruit. I bet Angel would absolutely love strawberries, it would be a shame if I don't get some while I have the chance.
Reluctantly, Fluttershy got onto the line, with a slight limp, hoping it wouldn't take too long. After all, she didn't want to disappoint her animal friends by not feeding them on time.
_________
Jan 12, 2002 12:05 PM
My name is Rick Dimetri. The main reason I am writing this is because there is a person after me.
He is probably a male, around five foot four inches, and wears a white hoodie and black jeans. I've seen this man stalking me at least two or three times, two for sure. Lately I can't tell when he is there or if its my mind tricking me again...
I think hes been following me everywhere. My favorite restaurant, my house, my workplace, who knows where else?
I think I see him right now.
Jan 14, 2002 01:32 AM
HE WAS IN MY HOUSE!
My house is a mess, my door was busted open. He destroyed the TV, stole my wallet, he even ate my food. I don't have enough food to last the rest of the week, but I am too terrified to go out anymore.
He was looking for ME! If I wasn't at the bar with my friends that night, I might not be alive today. I need to call the police, right now.
Jan 15, 2002 3:27 PM
I ran out and bought a shotgun. I normally don't like guns, I think they do more harm then they are worth.
You can see what he is doing to me. I can't trust anyone. I can't go outside, I can't rest. He is making me doubt myself, making me do things I don't believe in. I don't want to kill.
But I don't want to die either. The police are useless. They think I am crazy. Who will be the crazy one at the end, though?
Police Report, Criminal Murder investigation
"These entries were found in a notebook on the table of the house that the victim, Rick Dimitri, lived in. The book is a regular hard cover notebook, with 'READ ME' written in large black print on the covers. The entries were all written in black ink. The handwritings of the victim and the entries match, giving enough reason to treat the entries as primary evidence for investigation.
The victim hosts multiple stab wounds, many situated in the left thigh and chest. The victim's mouth was mutilated into a smile, similar to many cases heard all around the Northern Hemisphere, mostly in Canada and concentrated in many parts of the United States.
The victim seemed to be in the possession of a Model 1887 shotgun, with the clip full except for a single shot. A bullet shell was discovered near the area, supporting the theory that a shot has been fired at the perpetrator, though the blood proving the act could not be confirmed because of the blood from the victim puddles the entire scene. The fatal wound seems to have been a slit throat, though it is possible that the heavy bleeding wounds could have killed him first before the corpse was mutilated further.
The house has suffered a broken front door as well as a smashed window. It is unsure exactly how the perpetrator entered the vicinity, but it is believed to have entered by one of these entryways.
It is unknown where the suspect could have gone, but the pattern of assault dictates that he will reappear in a different city, to repeat the crime. This person has been assigned to be on consistent look out and manhunt, dead or alive. This case is highlighted as the first time the order was issued on a domestic individual in United States history."
__________
-Ponyville
Fluttershy, after patiently waiting almost half an hour for her turn to purchase a batch of strawberries for her and Angel, starts the walk towards her cottage.
Wow, its still hours away until dark, plenty of time to go and feed all the animals before nighttime. Fluttershy quietly rejoices, while reluctantly reminding herself of one of her many fears, Achluophobia.
Being afraid of the dark is something many ponies share, and is nothing to be ashamed of... Fluttershy reassures herself, her mood beginning to lift. She starts thinking about other, more comforting, thoughts, while waving and saying hello to fellow ponies that pass by.
Enjoying the sunset and thinking to herself, Fluttershy slowly paces her walk home, staying content even with the light throbbing in her leg that refused to leave. The peacefulness of the nature around her always makes walks blissfully pleasant for the pegasus. Unfortunately, as she gets visual of her cottage, all those pleasant feelings slip away.
She can automatically feel something wrong.
She looks around the cottage scenery, in odd dismay. All her animal friends left, and silence reigned. No song birds tweeting, no small animals playing in the grass, not even one of her favorites, the butterfly, seemed to be anywhere in sight for her to enjoy. Malicious vibes ruled over the plot, preventing the pegasus from relaxing the tension building up in her mind. Finally, Fluttershy's instincts kicked in, throwing her into her second adrenaline fueled rush of the day. Fluttershy ran into her cottage as fast as she could, narrowly avoiding clipping off her tail on the door. She rested on the door for the moment, taking deep breaths.
Exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale.
Fluttershy rapidly shakes her head. She repeats this for several seconds, holding one hoof to the door and another to her chest. Thinking rapidly, she contemplates her next move.
Should I-I get Twilight? Or stay here? Yet, she feels like she has forgotten something, which causes her to remember she still failed to feed her animal friends. Fluttershy, your animal friends are counting on you! What type of friend would I be if I let them go hungry?
Fluttershy, defeated by her own logic, got up slowly and moved towards the innards of her house, where many of her smaller 'indoor' animals lurked. Or really should have been, if it had been a normal day. Fluttershy calls out to them, but in vain. Her voice has already become lower than a whisper, mute to the ears.
They were nowhere to be found.
Fluttershy feels her lungs hyperventilating once more, knowing something is wrong. She falls to the ground, shivering in fear. That was when she felt a light tapping on her head. She opens her eyes to see a white bunny take up most of her vision.
"Angel!" Fluttershy yelped in joy, taking the bunny in her hooves and gently hugging him. Angel, on the other hand, was not as receptive. The bunny tries to escape her grasp and relentlessly pounds his paws on her head.
Fluttershy, wincing at the light, uncomfortable thumping gently releases the bunny to the ground, confused.
"..Angel?"
Angel waves his paws around her face frantically, pointing at the front door. Angel then starts hopping toward the door, prompting it to open.
Fluttershy compiled, following the bunny and opening the door for the two of them. Angel started hopping towards the back of the cottage. Fluttershy's instincts told her something horrible has happened, and tries to hold her heart as she follows her favorite bunny. They reach the pens, with a wave of relief as she sees the animals here had not disappeared. Fluttershy lets herself breath as she sees everything was alright... for the most part.
Fluttershy walks up to each pen, to notice the fear each and every animal had in their eyes. They gathered towards her when she reached their pen, as she counted each one.
As she reaches the chicken coup, however, she notices the chickens gather around a spot in the pen. They ignore the yellow pony, yet as she examines closer she realizes that the chickens were seemingly the most bewildered and bothered of all the animals.
Now staring at the scene with hesitant curiosity, Fluttershy unlatches the hook to the pen door and slowly steps toward the chickens. She pauses for a second each step, by which a couple of chickens finally either stared or made way for Fluttershy. They were all silent, not making a sound, and even animals from other pens noticed and added on to the silence. Fluttershy confronts the chickens, and where almost all eyes were staring at.
"U-U-Um.. w-what is wron-" Fluttershy looks down. She spots the cause of the disturbance, to only recoil in astonishment.
A blood stain.
-Ponyville
*CRASH*
“Agh!”
“Erk!”
Rainbow Dash grunts as she tackles the purple mare, knocking both of them off their hooves. They both tumble in a circular motion before crashing, landing with their backs on the ground. The purple mare was first to recover, Rainbow Dash still stunned.
The purple mare swiftly lunges, attempting to pin the colorful pegasus down with her hooves. Rainbow Dash’s hooves were quicker, though, blindly bucking at the mare and making her land on her back once more with a ‘thud’.
Taking this opportunity, Dash stands up, staggering. She puffs out a breath, leering.
“Hey !
Hey, what is yo-”
A hoof strikes out. The mare easily manages to hit Dash square at her muzzle, shutting her up. She stumbles back, seeing stars, but keeps her legs steady. Falling was not an option.
Unfortunately, Dash already knew she was in trouble. Whenever she had to fight somepony, she was used to being the quicker opponent, knocking ponies out cold before they had a chance to take a whack at her. She was always the one to strike first in a fair fight.
This was definitely not a fight anyone could consider ‘fair’.
Dash yelped, holding her muzzle with a hoof. Her other three legs spread apart, with her wings now sprawled out.
“I can’t...” Dash struggled to regain her footing. Dash whispered silently, “...I won’t lose!”
Even with her best efforts, she found it insufferably hard to ignore the pulsating pain coursing through her muzzle. She hesitated, something that she regretted.
Her eyes blurred, tears fracturing her vision. She darts back, her front hoof still attached to the side of her muzzle, trying to locate the purple mare befo-
*Smack!*
Another two hooves connect with her chest, causing her to slam onto the ground.
“Ahh!” Dash gasps. T-That one is gunna hurt in the morning...
All Dash’s energy seemed to have been drained from absorbing that last kick. She found it hard to move, and even harder to get up. Her body has given up. She sets her head onto the ground from exhaustion.
Dash’s head hurt, as each second sped up to a minute in her adrenaline fueled mind. Strangely, the pain did not hurt as much anymore, with her priorities now focused solely on fighting the purple pony back.
She watched as the silhouette of a pony walked toward her, slowly.
...This pony hits like a filly, but fights dirtier than a crazed mule! And I know crazy!
Dash was down, but refused to go out. Hence, only one thought was able to process through her now rattled mind.
Rage.
Anger starting to seep out of her, she started to question. What she did to deserve this? Who is she? Why me? Her restrain now at its limits, Dash starts to see red.
Thats it!
Rainbow Dash breathes through clenched teeth.I am THROUGH playing around here!
Resolve renewed, Dash looks up, to see the pony practically on top of her. Through her blurry vision, she locates the head of the pony, to see the glow of a horn.
Dash quickly pivots, to the assailant’s surprise, and bucks her hind legs as hard as she could.
*CRACK*
An unearthly scream was heard, stunning both mares.
The purple pony fell back, shaking beneath her legs before abruptly collapsing.
Dash, taking a step back, stared at the fallen pony, trying to process what happened. Through the blurry image she was provided, she could have sworn she knew this pony...
--
As Rainbow Dash waited for her vision to return, her combatant simply laid still, the occasional twitch and slow rise and fall of her chest the only indicators that shown the mare was still alive.
What could have this pony wanted from me? I don’t remember getting on anypony’s bad side lately.
The pegasus pondered further for a couple of seconds.
...Or at least not anypony that mattered, anyway.
How many ponies have purple fur and know my name? Wait, that was a bad question. Everypony knows who I am!
Ok... SO how many ponies do I know that have purple fur?
But... now that I remember, that pony also had a horn, didn’t she? A unicorn, mare, with purple fur?
....
Nah, couldn’t be. Twilight? That egghead? She is one of my best friends, she would never be THAT crazy, right?
Yet as Dash’s hawkish vision returns, her blood runs cold. There was Twilight, her eyes rolled back, and a huge crack at where the tip of her horn used to be.
__________
The Castle Courtyard was closed to the public, with only permitted staff and the Royal Guard allowed through. Celestia and Luna watches over an army of Equestria’s Finest lined up, donned in gold armor and iron tipped spears.
Right now the nation’s soldiers just barely numbered over a couple thousand, a majority of them stationed in Canterlot. Celestia could name many of the stallions in front of her by heart, making her worry furthermore about the events following.
Luna, on the other hoof, stood proud and unswayed, standing next to a high ranking general as he barked out orders to a large group.
Shining Armor and Cadence were nowhere to be found. Presumably too busy with their married life to remember about us, Celestia’s face gave way to a small smile.
Of course, this did not last. “ATTENN - HUTT!”
Luna stepped forwards, in front of the generals and towards the Royal Guards.
“Soon, thou shall fight an evil that has plagued the world for far too long!” Luna howled adamantly.
Many of the ponies near the courtyard perked their ears to the noise, recognizing the Royal Canterlot Voice. Luna continued,
“An evil that has been a thorn to all ponykind for millennia!”
Luna’s Night Guard made their entrance, slowly and quietly joining next to their princess. Few ponies noticed this, though, Princess Luna grabbing their full attention.
“An evil, one that has not only attacked us, but tried to destroy the way of the ponykind! We shall not be enslaved by these ... abominations!
“It shall be the time to take one’s stand from thou enemies, thou abusers, thou deceivers. Ponykind will not stand for these crimes against Equestria anymore, it must end!
Soon, the changelings shall be no more!”
Everypony except for Celestia and the Night Guard had a shocked or pained look, recovering from the ringing in their ears as well as the knowledge that this, in reality, has been an official declaration of war.
War has been absent from Equestrian life for over a millennia.
Ever since the banishment of Nightmare Moon, the presence of true warriors have become less frequent as centuries passed.
From being the most powerful military nation in the world, Equestria has simply diminished its ranks and kept only a handful of soldiers, solely meant for keeping the peace and watching over the citizens.
The “soldiers” that Equestria used to rely on became lowly guards, inexperienced and under equipped for true combat. The Royal Army, renamed the Royal Guard over time, became for show, not possessing much of the real power they once held.
Equestrian defence and military has sunken so low that, in reality, the greatest reason that the nation has survived through the many dark times it has was simply because of fear. Fear not of Equestria’s might, but of the wrath of its alicorn rulers.
Yet, destiny had a funny way of stepping in at the most random of times.
It was finally going to happen. Many knew that it was inevitable. Changelings and ponies cannot co-exist, so one must destroy the other. On order of the princesses, Equestria will finally invade the changeling hive.
But then what, not many knew. What will be the fate of the changelings? What is their own fates, as they go into battle against a foe they know little of?
Even in fear, most of the Royal Guard were proud to march into battle, being led by their perfect and invincible leader.
It was an honor to place one’s life for the crown, and a chance to have revenge upon the very invaders that have humiliated the Equestrian Guard. Never before has Equestria ever been invaded with such ease before, especially not by such inferior numbers.
The guards outnumbered the changelings two to one at that monumental day, yet still took many humiliating defeats by the hands of them. Even so, Celestia would still ask herself if it was right to let Equestria face another war when for so long the teachings she held was of love and tolerance.
Not even Celestia knew of what would happen, and felt queasy from the thought of it.
Now that the baselines of the event were over, Celestia decided to leave early, leaving her more proactive sister to look after things. She silently excused herself to her chambers, flanked by two of her personal guards. The guards open the large doors to her chambers and instinctively positioned next to the two guards already assigned just outside the chambers.
She slumped down onto her large bed, and let her eyes close for just a second... before remembering something of “grave” importance.
Twilight’s letter!
Celestia turns around, to see the letter still where she left it; under one of her pillows.
Finding it, she levitates the parchment towards her, removing the seal and unraveling it to reveal a lengthy message. As she reads, her smile slowly turned to a small frown, and finally to shock as the letter concluded.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Excuse the brashness of this letter, but I would like your advice on a certain problem. You see, today, I found Fluttershy with a large gash on one of her legs.
When I asked her about it, though, she initially neglected it and avoided answering me. As I persisted, though, she described a very strange animal to me. It was an animal that walks, and runs in that matter, on two legs. Its size is about as tall as you are, and is supposed to be very fast.
When I checked the library for information on this creature, though, I came back empty hoofed. It was not of anything Fluttershy says she ever seen, and I was wondering if maybe you had any information of an animal like this.
What do you advise we do? Fluttershy and I plan on gathering the other Elements of Harmony to capture this creature, so if you have any knowledge, that would help alot.
Your forever faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
Putting the letter back on the table, Celestia nervously pondered. Not so much from fear, but as from the implications of the event. What could this mean?
Is it possible? Celestia uneasily rises from her bed, while her head resides in the clouds. Storm clouds, considering how all the thoughts in her head insisted on racing and colliding with each other. This, however, did not earn a change in complexion from the Sun Princess.
A human, after so long, roams the world once more...?
N-no, no. That IS impossible... impossible... within reason. It is always better safe than to regret afterwards. Celestia gathered an empty parchment and a quill, and quickly scribbles her own letter to her loyal student.
Dear Twilight,
Please hold your plans, I will be there shortly.
Your Mentor,
Princess Celestia
__________
Deep in the Everfree Forest
A manticore, sleeping under the shade of a tall overgrowth in the forest, solemnly awakes to an intrusive odor.
An undeniably delicious scent, causing the manticore to grumble in hunger. The manticore eagerly risen and took a step out of its comfortable shade, before stopping to examine the scent further.
The scent was something unlike anything the manticore has ever smelt before, like the meat of many of its favorite forest animals combined into one.
The smell was also accompanied by the smell of fire and ash. A forest fire?
The manticore nervously crouched low while slowly approaching the irresistible smell.
As it went further through the plant infested biome, fear morphed into simple curiosity, as well as the hopeful desire for a once-in-a-lifetime treat.
As it continued onward, it approached an opening in the forest. The manticore quietly and steadily hid in the bush closest to the site, using the trees for cover. The plantlife mixed with the manticore’s body well, making the manticore slightly strenuous to spot unless being stared straight on.
The manticore stealthily steals a couple of looks at the opening, expecting another carnivore to have beat it to the prize. Yet, the manticore did not spot anything other than plant life and strange scents. No movement, no noise.
The manticore salivates at the prospect of having an easy meal, and steps out of hiding. It reveals itself and enters the opening, only to find more oddities.
The manticore, now curious once again, looks around its surroundings, checking once again for movement or any type of animal life.
It found none.
Now satisfied it was alone, it started to follow the delicious scent once again.
As it got closer, it noticed the stench of the smoke increased as well. So did the unrecognizable stench from before, the manticore noticed.
Yet, the manticore’s curiosity told it to continue onward. It was a large and powerful manticore, not a small and wimpy bunny! Anything in the way could either be fought off, or scared away.
If lucky, maybe it will lead to an extra meal. *Grumble* ...Yes, an extra meal would be nice.
It reached a point where the stench was highest, and looked up.
A gap, or hole, underneath a large tree, was the delicious scent seemed to end. The manticore continued slowly and carefully toward the tree.
This was too unusual. Too easy. The forest rarely gives gifts, every animal that calls the Everfree their home knows this. Something in the manticore’s head told it to stay away.
Danger. It is a trap. Stop. Turn around.
Thoughts were dwindled behind bars and spat on, as thoughts of the loss became too unbearable to take. The manticore’s curiosity was the only source of courage the beast had left, ushering it to move forward and claim its prize.
The manticore to took a steady step closer, before charging into the gap.
It squeezed its head into the hole, to find pieces of some type of plump bird, strangely warm and featherless. The manticore took one of the leftover chunks, to suddenly push itself closer into the gap and started gobbling up the rest of the pieces.
It was delicious. The best thing the manticore ever had the chance to taste. Not a single piece has been wasted, the gap empty of flesh.
….......... *Thuck*
The manticore was about to poke its head back out of the gap, to suddenly feel a heavy weight collapse on top of its back and a sharp object being scraped softly onto its hide.
The manticore desperately tried to get out and see its attacker, but the strength of the assailant proved to be greater than its own. The manticore felt its entire body being pushed downward, making it very hard to move, nevermind moving its head out and into the open. It thrashed and squirmed, causing the giant tree to whine and crack in reply.
As time passed, the manticore stopped struggling, letting out a deep, low whine not too different from a large wolf. The manticore steadily found it useless to try to resist, unable to even get an inch away from the attacker’s mercy.
Terrified, it could only listen in from the darkness of the gap underneath the tree, now acting passively while still hoping for a way out.
The attacker’s heavy weight and size made it impossible to retract its stinger to defend itself, so the attacker was free to continue scrapping its sharp... claw on the manticore’s back, causing its fur to stand upwards.
“Heh... I found you.”
“Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!” Rainbow Dash mumbles relentlessly, her wings flapping fast enough to emit a faint buzzing sound, not so unlike a changeling’s. In her front hooves was Twilight’s still twitching body, two hooves wrapped around her waist. Dash was barely able to hold in her tears, mixed in with fear and disbelief.
She never did find Twilight’s missing horn piece. Dash spent a sparse minute to check around for the obvious sight, without success. With a kick like that, she couldn’t be sure just how far the piece could have flown off. Maybe it flew off to space.
Okay, no it didn’t. Think rationally here, Dash. First get help, then we can find everything. But, but still! Maybe if she gets it now they could reattach it or something?
Then where did it go? Maybe she should scout the nearby grounds some more. She could ask around ponyville to see if they found a cracked horn piece nearby. Oh, who am I kidding?! It probably flew into the Everfree Forest, if anywhere.
Dash passed over the Ponyville Library, making a right. The white walls of the Ponyville Hospital make themselves known, and she quickly slams back down to the ground. Her wings flutter rapidly, her hind legs making two dents on the dirt.
“Move!” Dash shouts excitedly, blasting through the air with Twilight still in her hooves. “Get out of the way!”
Passerby turn their heads, while a rainbow blurs past them in the direction of the hospital doors. Dash crashes through the large twin doors, causing them to boom outward, damaging the adjacent walls. Dash collides into the front desk, cracking the wood, and causing further damage to the lobby. Twilight’s body tumbles in cartwheels, at a much slower pace, colliding next to Dash.
“Hey! What happened?”
“Whats going on?”
Hospital staff rush in and crowd the two mares, one wearing a doctor’s coat and three with nurse’s outfits. Dash can hear ponies mumbling and talking with each other, some staring with startled manes. She looks at the pony with the doctor’s coat before her vision starts to fade.
“H-Help... T-Twi...” Dash tries to yell, though barely audible before she falls to unconsciousness.
Dash wakes up in a white hospital bed with silver metal bearings. She looks around to see a yellow curtain on her right. White walls adorn the room, with a poster of a red cross and bold letters in her front. The hospital. Twilight. W-Where is she? She lowers a hoof into the floor, before she feels another hoof connect onto her shoulder. She is pushed back onto the bed, with a dazed look adding onto her messy complexion.
“You really shouldn’t get up just yet, Rainbow Dash.”
Dash turns her head to see a white pony in Nurse’s clothes, looking quizzically at her, while maintaining a neutral smirk.
“Nurse Redheart!” Dash yelps. She recovers quickly, sitting upright. “I-I was just...”
“Are you worried about Twilight?” Nurse Redheart asked, staring at Dash with saddened eyes. “Rainbow Dash, what happened?”
The two ponies pause as the air stills and all is quiet except for the occasional beep or clopping coming from outside the door. Dash lets her eyes dart at the door before setting her eyes back at Redheart, unable to answer. “I... I dont want to talk about it.”
“Wha... whatever do you mean?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, alright!” Rainbow Dash turns her head away from the medic, trying to hold a look of unbreaking defiance.
“Dash, please!” Redheart strains her voice, starting to show signs of impatience. “We need to know how Twilight got hurt or -”
“Its not any of your business! It only needs to be between me and Twilight, alright? Where is she? Is she okay? Where are you keeping her!”
Dash practically jumps off the bed, causing the suspensions to whine. Dash cringes when her four hooves reach the white and grey tiled floor, but pushes through the white mare before Redheart could react.
“Wait!” Nurse Redheart exclaims, wide eyed. “Where do you think you’re going?!”
Ignoring the nurse on her tail, Dash gallops out of the room, to spot the stallion with the doctor’s coat in the corner, overlooking some papers next to two other nurses.
“Hey!” Dash yells, startling the nurses while only earning a bored glare from the stallion. “Twilight, purple unicorn, where?!”
“Eh...” The stallion doesn’t hesitate as he looks back at his clipboard, and turns a few papers, before returning his bored stare and pointing a hoof. “Room two o’ three. Two doors to the right of the stair doors.”
Dash restrains from speaking out, choosing instead to zip down the hall, wings buzzing. Nurse Redheart follows suit, chasing after the skittles-colored mare. The other two nurses still haven’t recovered from their shock, only their eyes following the pair as Redheart tiredly tries to keep up with Dash. Sweat running down her mane, Nurse Redheart barely kept a trot as Rainbow Dash disappears through the aisles. The doctor’s stare follows both of them, with a look of disgust while positioning his papers back in place.
“D-Dash!” Redheart yells, but with no indication of being heard, tiredly collapses on the floor. A couple of staff nearby look pitifully at the exhausted nurse, two of them walking up to help her up. Yet Nurse Redheart could only look on with worry, staring at the direction of Dash’s pitfall.
__________
Dash flies past all the staff and patients, expertly dodging and using aerial tactics to go past the alarmed ponies. An old wrinkled mare waives her hooves angrily as Dash passes above her, but was ignored because Dash simply had better things to do than to be stopped by an angry grandma.
“Two hundred and - Ah ha!” Dash excitedly exclaims, stopping into a harsh grind. She repositions herself, bringing a hoof over her mane as it bounces back to its original glory. Dash inhales, taking a second to calm herself before putting a hoof onto the door.
__________
There exists a place where one too many dangerous creatures reside; a forest feared and awed by its neighbors. It borders the bubbly town of Ponyville, a place that knows and fears the horrors of the bizarre and gaga wilderness. Anypony with a right mind would never feel safe deep in the “Darkness through the Trees”. All accept one, at least. Inside the forest, not too far from the edge, resides a modest home of sorts, housing a very wise and knowledgable zebra. Previously feared like the forest itself, the mare is a young prodigy, a master of her crafts.
In the hut the zebra calls home, a spiced and bitter smell generously emits. Slight bubbles of steam come out as Zecora prepares a brew in her centerpiece pot. It is close to nighttime, hinted by the lack of light in the room. Only the fire radiating from the woodwork sufficed to any light, crackling and creating all types of shadows, forming beings with long necks, others with menacing grins or sharp teeth. Zecora reaches into a bag in a shelf to reveal a candle, which she lights and places back on the shelf.
Yet, almost all this does is create more shadows. The shadows start to expand and narrow, less like equine beings and more like the monsters that one would hear about in a mare’s tale. Zecora simply chuckles a bit, though, not falling for the illusion that the mind loves falling prey to. What else is there to do, though? Living in the Everfree Forest is not as exciting or dangerous as many make it out to be. In fact, it is actually quite boring. Nothing to do except stay in a hut and hope something comes her way. In fact, recently these past few months have been the most exciting she have had for a long, long time.
Cutie Mark Crusaders. Those three have been a triple terror threat to most ponies, but the zebra found a unique innocence and playfulness in them. Apple Bloom especially, seemed to look up to her and spend time with her unlike any other. She often acts like an assistant to her at times, her presence always welcome. Zecora cannot deny she was a bit in the way at the beginning for her potion brewing, but Apple Bloom always tried to find something to do to help her at the end. If only the young filly was a zebra...
A shadow violently flickers for a moment, enough to catch the attention of the thinking zebra. The candle flickers and goes out, leaving a part of the hut in darkness.
“What has stolen my light?” Zecora questions tiredly, walking toward the candle. She eyes the spot on the floor strangely, and looks around for an open window. “Surely this can’t be right.”
Zecora finds the candle toppled over, drops of spilled wax starting to dry on the wooden floor. Eyeing it quizzically, she sighs. She picks the candle up with her mouth, and approaches the fire, carefully tilting her head so only the tip of the candle would light. Satisfied, she turned around to place the candle back to its designated spot. This time, though, she decides to place the candle farther to the side of the room. This way, the entire room, which took up half the hut, would be illuminated. It would make it easier, Zecora decided, to move around and find her ingredients with ease later on.
Zecora decides just that, and takes a few steps ahead to place her new light source. Placing the candle onto the floor once more, she grins as it keeps a steady flame without all the previous flickering from before.
...Her grin fades as she sees a strange, tall shadow seeming to detach on top of her. The shadows resemble nothing she has ever imagined before, seeming to slowly inclose on her. As the shadow starts to overlap her, Zecora starts to feel claustrophobic, stepping back.
Her eyes dart up, to come in contact with the eyes of another.
Two unblinking eyes stare deep into her, Zecora unable to move. The tall being’s body was barely visible in the dark corner just steps away from her, but to Zecora it was all she needed to see. Through agonizing seconds of simply staring at the unmoving figure, she starts to think her mind is playing tricks on her again, until she sees the being’s lips smile to a large, demented smile. Yet, Zecora still could not urge herself to react, until the smile moved to form letters, pausing with each word. “Go. To. Sleep.”
Zecora all of a sudden blinks repeatedly, and regains control of her body. Bending over, she holds her head between her front hooves, and scrunches her eyes closed. “I am so tired, I must be imagining things. Maybe I should rest, until a Cutie Mark Crusader rings?”
“Yeah, maybe you should take a break, maybe take a nap right over in that comfy bed of yours!”
“Yes,” Zecora strains, her head still in her hooves. “Maybe I shall do ju-”
Zecora’s eyes shoot open.
“AAAAHHH!?!” Zecora shouts in terror. She manages to hold in her screams to utter a single sentence to the intruder. “What are thou beast, are you here to feast?”
“What?” The ‘visitor’ balks, confused. “You bastards are edible?”
Zecora blanks out for a moment, before uttering mournful shriek and retrying to the closest room, which happens to be her bedroom. She locks the door, and starts to look for things to use as a barricade. As she starts pushing a dresser towards the door, she hears a faint knocking.
Terrified but skeptical, she abandons her post and returns to the door. She puts an ear toward the door before speaking loudly. “What do you desire? If it is items of value, then they are no longer just yours to admire.”
“Nooo...” The voice from the other side of the door replies with mild playfulness. “I have a question.”
Confused and no longer as stiff as before, she starts to find the words in her throat sprout out.
“If you promise of no harm to come to -”
“SHUT UP!” The voice spouts violently, causing Zecora to fall backwards. The voice returns to its mild playfulness. “Shut up and answer the question!”
Zecora, now shaking, stays on the ground for a couple of seconds before managing to hold herself up. The floor underneath her was now wet with moisture, as the sudden fright caused a release that the zebra could not control. Terror-stricken to the level of horror simply being written in her body language, she could not think clearly anymore. She could not seem to come up with a rhyme in her state, and was only able to process a single word that came to mind. “Y-Yes.....?”
“ How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”
A kick slams the door open, and the zebra is knocked back. She could see the full features of the being in front of her, on top of the rubble that used to be her door.
“I’ll let you sleep on that,” The tall monster spoke, before raising his right appendage.
