A moonlit path

by Quillhart

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 1685

A nice, cozy little camping turns into an adventure with adversities and foes far beyond their conceptions!

Ever been out camping before? You may have brought your friends with you and watched the moon raise with the stars sparkling in the background? It's beautiful! And so thought Quillhart as well, until he realized that they weren't alone. The night is swarming with dark creatures, one more wicked than one other. Everywhere one turns one can glance the glimmer of sharp teeth, hear the roll of thunder from their empty stomachs, and worst of all, stare into the pure hatred within their eyes.

Once you're trapped, their's no escape! Once they have you there's nowhere to run.

Would you be able to keep the spirit up? Or a better question. Would you be able to help your companions to stay strong in their hour of need? Quillhart wasn't sure about that. He wasn't meant to be a leader, the title was forced upon him. He was shy, scared of all kind of conflicts and uncertain with himself on many levels. How could he possibly put everything back to order?

Published 2013-03-10 22:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-10 22:10:01 UTC

Capter 1, When the moon is in zenith

The white, spotted full moon was slowly rising to its zenith. Its bright glow went through the elongated white clouds which reflected the light to the darkened earth for everypony to see. The stars were glowing like pearls on the bottom of a black river. The moonlight recolored the landscape into a glimmering, clear blue tone.

It was a beautiful night for the sole wanderer on the moonlit ground; his black, squared glasses lenses reflected the light and glimmered in the dark. His body bobbed up and down in a slow and peaceful rhythm to his smooth walk. His brown fur was tousled and his struggled mane swayed in the nightly breeze. His deep-brown eyes were determinately fixed on the moonlit path, and he suffered from the enormous amount of thoughts that passed through his head.

The heavy mind clouded his observance and he didn't notice the two stalking, agile shadows that surrounded him.

He walked uphill a great craggy mountain which pebbly surface was only disrupted by some few straws of grass that appeared now and then. He wandered on a clear-cut path up the mountain with his eyes fixed on the goal uphill.

The shadows drew closer.

The wanderer increased his speed since he would soon reach his destination. His tail and head rose in exaltation; he would soon be there. He looked up at the moon on his right and sighed relieved to himself. Nopony could be more pleased by the night than he was by that moment, he would soon be back to their camp.

One shadow smiled cruelly to itself and its teeth glistened in the dark. It glanced at the other shadow, they were both quite ready.

Quillhart took his eyes from the moon and laid his focus to the camp ahead. He squinted when he saw that there was no fire running in the camp. Fire Walker and Docket should have one crackling and ready by now. The others were already sleeping and they were appointed to guard them tonight.

The shadows smiled widely while they sneaked closer.

His ears perked. There was something moving nearby. Had this thing taken Fire Walker and Docket? Was the rest of the group okay?

They were very close now and their legs were strained before the onset.

He froze on the spot.

The shadows grinned with malicious pleasure.

Quillhart’s eyes and heart shrank to a minimum, it was right behind him!

They unleashed the charge with a loud wheezy cry with their eyes glimmering.

He turned in less than an instant with his eyes sparkling with fear, and he lifted his hoofs for protection.

The shadows crashed into Quillhart and threw him to the ground, he screamed and the shadows smiled at each other.

They took of their capes and Quillhart glanced up to see that one shadow had a red mane and the other had two green glistering eyes, he recognized that. He frowned and sighed loudly.

“Was it really THAT necessary?!” He squinted with his eyes and glared at them with a sulking face.

Fire Walker was breaking apart laughing and she tried to keep her herself from bursting into laughter when she responded. “No,” She began before she burst into laughter again, “But it was plenty of fun doing it!” She glanced at Docket and saw that she was giggling too.

Quillhart sighed deeply to himself and shook his head. “I’m glad that you two are amused…” He rose and began to walk before he turned his head at them, “Come on and let’s get that fire burning.” He continued walking while the other two ponies were still chuckling behind him. He rolled his eyes and sighed lightly. “someponies...” He mumbled, shook his head and continued his walk up the mountain with his friends close behind him.

Quilhart twirled the stick between his hoofs until a flame sparkled and the wood caught fire. He leaned back and smiled to himself, proud of his work. He pulled up his glasses further upon his muzzle and glanced on his fellow to comrades.

He laughed triumphant. “I still got it, don’t I?”

Docket shrugged where she sat on a laying, moss filled log. “I haven’t really seen you light a fire before,” she leant forward and smiled with gloat; the flames lightened up her white face in an orange glow and made her eyes glimmer, “I guess you’ll do as a novice.” Fire Walker giggled with her red wings shivering the whole conversation.

Quillhart chuckled at Docket’s sarcastic remark before he turned his head to Fire Walker with a raised eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you today Fire?! You've been acting weird since you two tried to sneak up on me.”

Fire continued the giggling and took a sip from her packet with juice through its straw; this was very likely her tenth juice so far. “What if you had said: I still got the spark?! And you made up the fire?!” She giggled even harder and it turned out into a loud laughter.

Quillhart sighed resignedly; he trotted over to her and snatched her juice packet. “ You've had more than enough sugar for tonight.” He said determined and looked into her eyes. She sighed lightly, crossed her hoofs and silently accepted her faith.

Quillhart walked off and took a seat next to Dentor. He pulled the straw to his mouth and had a huge swig.

Fire Walker’s pupils shrank when she saw what he did with her juice; her mouth was wide opened for some seconds before she spoke, “How can you drink while SOMEPONY cannot?!”

Quillhart glanced at fire with a raised eyebrow, still sipping the juice. His mind was working frequently and came up with an idea how to tease Fire Walker a bit, “Oh, that’s right, that’s really selfish of me,” He reached the juice to Docket and smiled friendly, “Do you want some too?”

Docket smiled back, she accepted the juice and took a sip as well. Fire walker was shocked, her mouth was wide opened and her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets, “WHAT IN THE WORLD OF EQUESTRIA ARE YOU TWO DOING?! THAT JUICE IS MINE!” She screamed at them and flapped her hoofs rapidly in rage.

Quillhart and Docket looked amused at Fire and were quickly laying a hoof on the other’s mouth to suppress their chuckling.

Fire Walker glared at them with a question mark all over her face. “What are you two up t–?”

“Sis? Why are you shouting?”

A blue filly Pegasus left the tent and rubbed the tired eyes of hers while she yawned loudly. Quillhart was about to greet her before Fire forgot that she was on sugar and began to objurgate her sister.

“Windy, you should be asleep by now!” Wind Walker glared back at her sister with her lively, glimmering blue eyes. Quillhart laid his hoofs on his ears, he knew what was coming and he did not like it.

“I was asleep until somepony woke me up!” Wind walker answered with a reproachful voice. Fire walker walked up to her sister with her face a few inches from hers and Wind walker glared back at her.

“Then be a gem and go right back in there and go to bed again, will you? You'll be all overtired at dawn if you don't” Wind Walker kept on glaring and squinted at her sister’s comment.

“I was about to do so until you told me to!” Fire Walker squinted back and stooped closer to her.

“Is that so?!...” Wind walker leant and stretched towards her sister as well and squinted even more.

“Yeah!” Quillhart turned a lot like if he was searching for an escape route, he couldn’t take this anymore. The sister glared at each other like if they were having a stare contest.

“Yeah?”

“YEAH!” Fire Walker snorted, she was not amused with her younger sister.

“Now listen here my little filly! I’ve just had enou—!”

“ENOUGH!” Quillhart appeared right next to them with his mouth wholly opened and with his arms flapping up and down in desperation. Fire Walker and Wind walker were completely taken by surprise and both went quiet in an instant with their pupils shrunken.

“I can’t stand conflicts, you both know that…” Fire Walker shuffled a hoof and her face showed that she was a little repentant. Wind Walker was still a bit rabid at her sister but she decided to stare into the ground instead of hassling, all for the sake of Quillhart’s problem. An awkward silence lay throughout the camp for some seconds before Wind Walker took the floor.

“I guess I’ll just go back inside again.” Fire Walker nodded to her, afraid of flaring up the quarrel again. Wind Walker went back into the tent and the rest took a seat and soon were they all chatting and chuckling in the night.

Two green eyes was opened and glimmered in the dark. Not the comforting, nice kind of eyes like Dentor had. No, this gaze had a crippling glow and a clear glimpse of the purest hatred in them. The bearer of these eyes yawned loudly. Its rigid body creaked and cracked while it rose and its eyes swept through its surrounding. A dark desire flowed through its veins. It needed to be fed, rip flesh of the bones of some poor creature. Mince their joints, mash their veins. Anything would do. The creature took a deep laud breath which turned into fog in the cold air. The creature saw a fluttering light in the night and he smiled cruelly with a creaking sound.

“Ah, Food…” Its voice was as dark as the night and hateful as his eyes, even his voice gave away cracking sounds, and so the creature began its path downhill. It stopped by a sudden and lifted its head at the moon and howled a cold, extracted, evil howl that sent chills via the spine of any creature that happened to be nearby.

It was time to feast.