The Magic of Music

“Dude, great party! Kinda small, but I'm glad I came!” shouted Krys over the blaring music.

“Glad you could make it, Sleight!” the host/DJ shouted back, using her stage name. “I wasn't sure you'd be able to come, especially since your grandad is such a strict guy!” Krys existed for the night life and was well known around the school as a gifted DJ. Her grandfather, however, is a practitioner of classical musical arts and is very assertive when it comes to training and recording the old style.

“Snuck out, Digit! Wouldn't miss this for the world!” It had been a while since she got away from the studio, and a night with her very bohemian friends was just the thing she needed. “Hey DJ, crank up the bass! I've been workin' slow songs all week and I need to unwind!”

“Why don't you step up here and strike a few beats, then? You're amazing at it, and it would be an honor!”

“Come on, tonight's my break! I wanna be shakin' so bad there's like eight of you!”

“You asked for it!” And when the bass drops, there are only two words to say: Aww Yeah! Krys downed the rest of her drink and danced till she dropped. Which was an unsurprisingly short time after she finished the drink. Upon seeing this, the DJ allowed the music to die down. “Damn, she's out cold, even after the bass drop. I thought she'd last longer, bein' a jockey herself, but behold, the modern day magic known as the sleeping pill!”

A small group of people clustered around the unconscious party-goer. From beneath a case of beer, the host unlocked a compartment which held 6 hooded robes.

“With the modern day magic aside...” She put one on before handing out the rest to the others, who then held hands and surrounded Kris, forming a five-pointed circle. “...it's time for some not-so-modern-day magic. Let's begin.” He raised his hands toward the group as they began swaying.

“Oh, powerful nightmare,” they chanted in chorus as Digit began to play a dark, ethereal rhythm on the pads. “we call upon your might...” The night had a full moon, just like the book called for. Not only that, but it was also the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. Digit could only think this was the perfect chance to try out the new spell. Half an hour later the chant neared completion, but...

“Ugh... What's going on?” Krys mumbled, still woozy from the drug administered in her drink.

“She's metabolized the pill already?! It's too soon!” cried the host/overseer. Krys's body began to glow. “Hurry up! The magic is almost done!” The rhythm increased and the chanters sped on the flow of their words as she groggily rose to her feet, furious at being doped.

“--Take this human away! This human, our rival!”

“More magic?! I'm sick of your games, Digit! I'm gonna--” In a flash she disappeared, leaving only her clothes behind. The group stood silent, stunned at the sudden disappearance of the girl. After a moment of complete stillness, Digit smiled and let off a relieved sigh.

“...It actually worked! Now, who wants to really party?!” He picked up the music right where it left off, ready to blow the ears off all the uneasy party-ers.

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Once up on a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there lived a Pegasus pony by the name of Fluttershy. This Pegasus was, as her name suggested, very shy. She preferred to live by herself on the edge of the Everfree Forest rather than in town with all the other ponies. She did have a few friends, but more often than not, one could find her tending to the many animals with which she lived.

One day, while she was feeding the chickens, a small flock of colorful birds flew straight to her house with news of a creature they had never seen before in the forest. This was relatively common since the Everfree Forest was, for the most part, an unexplored jungle. There were just so many scary monsters that nopony dared to go inside, so Fluttershy had asked the birds to tell her all about the creatures that lived there. She took out a pad and quill and began to take notes on the description.

This creature, the birds told her, was different from all the rest. It was fleshy, but had no fur, feathers, or scales to keep it warm, and no armor to protect its pale skin. Its legs were long, round, and slightly bulbous. A set of smaller appendages were at the ends of each leg instead of a hoof or claws. The bottom two legs were larger near the flank than the top two, but had smaller appendages at their ends. It was lying down, curled into a ball on the ground. It had a pure white mane but no tail. Its teeth were flat, and its snout turned down instead of up. Its eyes were small and round, but closed so their color was unknown.

As Fluttershy added her notes to the sizable catalog of wildlife, several thoughts nagged in the back of her mind. First, it was curled up on the ground instead of standing up on its oddly shaped legs, and its eyes were closed. Second, this creature was in the Everfree Forest with no protection from weather and no claws or sharp teeth to defend itself. Third, it was alone.

Fluttershy's care for wildlife instinctively awakened at the thoughts.

“Birdies, go and fly over the creature's position in the forest. Don't lose it, okay?” The birds chirped in assent and flew off to find it again as Fluttershy ran to town to get help.

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Krys clutched her aching head. Ugh... Just woke up with a massive headache and no clothes. I can't believe those jerks! She mentally fumed. Let's go party at Camp Vinewood, they said. It'll be awesome, they said. Yeah, awesome, up until somebody gets her coke spiked.

You know what? I can handle that. I guess I can handle being stripped, too (once I knock more than a few heads together). After all, there weren't any guys at the party except Digit, and he's got no balls anyway so it's not like I'm gonna be pregnant or anything. She looked around. But being moved from the campsite and left behind in the woods? That's taking a prank way to far! All for a stupid magic trick, that damn DJ!

Ouch... Okay, Sleight, calm down. Raising your blood pressure does nothing for this headache, and being mad right now isn't going to change what happened or the situation you're in. Gotta focus on getting back to the road. Where ever that is.

Funny though... I don't remember this part of the woods. No markers, no signs. No traces of a path either. Did they just drop me off somewhere in my sleep?! Agh... blood pressure...

*crack* What was that? “Okay guys, joke's over! This isn't funny anymore!” ...Of course no responses. No sign of people at all. Just some eyes glowing like I'm in a ghost story. And this awful stench. Smells like somethin' died in a swamp... *ggrooooooowl* Aaaaand since that wasn't my stomach, that's my cue to RUN!

*********************

“Twilight! Applejack! Oh, thank goodness!” Fluttershy huffed, exhausted from running all the way from her home to the library of Ponyville.

“Fluttershy! Why are you so worked up? Is something wrong?” asked the purple mare.

“It's awful, Twilight! There's something in the Everfree Forest that needs our help!” she replied hurriedly, unable to think of anything but rescuing the strange creature from the dangers of the woods.

“Whoa there, sugar cube! Slow down a bit. Whaddaya mean 'something'?” asked the currently more level-headed Applejack.

“The birds told me all about a creature that they've never seen before, and it isn't safe in there! We have to save it!” The canary yellow Fluttershy charged back to where she came.

“Wait! Fluttershy! ...Well, we can't let her go alone, can we? Let's go, Applejack!” The two friends rushed after her. In a few minutes, the three sprinting ponies neared the edge of the Everfree.

“There they are!” Fluttershy cried. Twilight and Applejack just looked at each other and tried to keep up with the unusually agitated Pegasus. “And they're coming this way!”

“There what are, Fluttershy? All I see is a flock of birds, but they don't need our help!” Twilight groaned.

“There THEY are!” she pointed, directing the mares' attention toward the most peculiar and equally unnerving sight of a strange and large bipedal creature being chased by timber wolves.