Everfree Blanks

Everfree Blanks

Metalhoof stood in front of the Everfree Forest. The sunlight barely penetrated through the forest's thick trees, leaving only thin rays of light to illuminate the forest floor. Still, the path was dark and dangerous. Metalhoof felt a bead of sweat run down her mane.

"This is a terrible idea, I know-" Metalhoof said to herself, "-but if it's for the greater good then I might as well."

She swallowed her courage, and began to creep into the darkness awaiting her. Ghastly faces were carved into the trees to scare ponies away, but Metalhoof had to keep going. Through all of this darkness there was bound to be hope.

Metalhoof thought she saw something amongst the bushes, a strong blue glow of some sort. She started to back away, but realising it might not be harmful, decided to investigate. She got closer to the bush the glow was coming from, and pounced at it, but then realised the glow wasn't behind the bush any longer... it had warped to the forest entrance.

Metalhoof turned her head around slowly. A stallion stood there, emitting blue light from all around itself. It had no eyes, mane or mouth, and it’s body was completely white, from it’s head to it’s flank.

Metalhoof, losing her courage, scrambled to get away, but the stallion noticed the sudden movement, and ran at her. She rushed blindly into the heart of the forest, trying to ignore the light catching up to her. Without warning, she was suddenly pulled back. It felt as though the very air around was wrapping itself over her body. Metalhoof tried to scream, but nothing came out her mouth. The air became thicker and thicker, making it hard to breathe or see. It continued to thicken, engulfing Metalhoof’s entire body until...there was nothing. Only darkness.

Metalhoof awoke with a start. She was lying on floor of what looked like somepony’s home. Remembering what had happened moments ago, Metalhoof frantically checked her body, just in case. Whatever that... thing was, it was gone.

With a sigh of relief, she picked herself up and began looking around. There were strange bottles vials of liquids lining shelves, and exotic plants hanging from the ceiling. In the center of the room was a large cauldron. Peering over the edge, she saw a strange, bubbling green fluid inside. Curious, Metalhoof poked at the vicious liquid, licking it off her hoof. She retched in disgust at it’s foul taste, wiping the rest off with a nearby cloth. This was definitely Zecora's hut, but Zecora wasn't there. Moving towards the front door, she noticed a change. The hut was a disheveled mess. Potions and concoctions were spilled over or broken on the floor. Books were strewn about, with pages torn out and left scattered everywhere. Either Zecora was in a hurry, or somepony came looking for her. Metalhoof’s head began throbbing in pain for some reason, so she lay still, trying to collect her thoughts.

As the pain left her she noticed blood was trickling onto the floor. Metalhoof slowly touched her hoof to her forehead, and almost screamed. Blood! There was blood running down her face! Panicking, she rolled onto her hooves and started making her way out the door. When she glanced back, she noticed the spot where she had laid down was stained with blood. Thinking it was her own, Metalhoof approached the blood soaked floor. The blood itself was a much darker red, and it gave off a pungent smell that made her wonder how she could have just laid there without noticing. Still, she was glad it wasn’t her own blood. Metalhoof lowered her head to get a better look. Just like the blood writing Applebloom described, there was a message on the floor:

"YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE A STRONG PONY,
BUT YOU ARE WEAK, SO VERY WEAK.
YOU CHOSE TO BE EVERFREE."

Metalhoof shuddered. This was not what she wanted. Not at all. She could feel the pain returning to her head, even stronger this time. She scanned the shelves of the hut for any potions, anything at all to dull the pain, but almost all of the potions that could've helped her had been spilled over or were empty. Nothing was left.

Metalhoof backed out of the house and looked around. The trees had turned an unnatural black and the ground was a dark turquoise, making it look as though she were standing over an abyss. The whole forest looked more unwelcoming than usual. Only the inside of Zecora's hut retained it's usual colour, a stark contrast to the rest of the woods. With no destination in mind, Metalhoof ventured out into the forest once again.

Lost and alone, Metalhoof continued to wander aimlessly through the thick woods. All the while, she felt as though something were following her, watching her every move. Suddenly, the sound of heavy breathing came from behind her. Metalhoof whipped her around just in time to see a black figure crawl out of the ground. All that was visible were it's piercing red eyes. It made groaning and weezing noises, but Metalhoof could hear it speaking inside her head.

SO WEAK, SO VERY WEAK.

"No. NO! NO!!" Metalhoof cried. She turned to flee, hoping to get away from the figure.

YOU WANT TO RUN. YOU WANT TO ESCAPE.

Metalhoof skidded to a stop as another dark pony appeared from the undergrowth.

YOUR FATE HAS ALREADY BEEN SEALED.

She turned and ran again, dodging and weaving between the trees. But no matter how fast she ran, or which direction she turned, more dark ponies kept forming from underneath her. She couldn’t keep running forever. Metalhoof suddenly felt her body fly forward as she tripped over tree branch. Hastily picking herself up, she found herself in front Zecora's hut.

"What the...?!" she panicked. "Have I been going in circles? But I went in a straight-"

A voice in her head interrupted her thoughts. YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE. THIS IS YOUR HOME. STAY WITH US.

The black ponies stepped out from their hiding places, staring at Metalhoof with lifeless eyes.

"NO WAY!" she screamed. "I am not going to join your... dark... club of ponies!"

Metalhoof thought she saw Fluttershy amongst them. She looked closer, and sure enough, A fully coloured and distressed Fluttershy was frantically running through the forest, calling "Is anypony out there? Hello? Please answer me!".

"Over here!" Metalhoof cried, running towards her. Much to her surprise, the dark ponies did nothing but watch as she brushed past them.

Fluttershy eyes widened as she saw the cherry red pony. "Oh, thank goodness!” she smiled as she wrapped Metalhoof in a hug. “I thought somepony might be lost out here...come on, let's get out of here before you get taken!"

Metalhoof nodded in agreement. With a few flap of her wings, Fluttershy broke through the black covering of the forest. She grabbed Metalhoof’s front hooves and began lifting her higher into the air. Metalhoof had to use her wings as well to help keep Fluttershy in the air as she could see the yellow pony wasn't strong enough to fly with extra weight. The sky was also black, just as black as the trees. At this Metalhoof felt scared again.

Fluttershy gently lowered Metalhoof to ground, and landed beside her. From this distance, the Everfree Forest looked like a black wall. Metalhoof shuddered uncomfortably. At least the dark ponies couldn't call her from the outside.

"That was really close..." Fluttershy began, "-you could've been killed!".

"Well what do you expect when you're being chased by those... black things!” Metalhoof sighed.

Fluttershy sank onto the ground in exhaustion. "Ugh... I know that feeling."

"So, where to now?" Metalhoof asked Fluttershy. "We're still quite close to the forest, don’t you think we should get further away?"

"We should... but, um... this time, could you carry me?" Fluttershy said quietly. “I- I mean if it’s not too much trouble! It’s just that I’m really tired from wandering the forest, and flying you back, so..."

Metalhoof sighed and propped the timid yellow mare onto her back, then trotted off into the distance.

She eventually reached the outskirts of this alternate Ponyville, but as the town came into view, she gasped in surprise. The houses had been dyed black too, and all of the houses that Metalhoof passed by had been damaged badly. Windows were smashed, doors knocked off their hinges, large chunks of the roofs and walls gone. Such houses gave her more reason to be afraid.

"What happened here?" Metalhoof asked Fluttershy.

"I really don't know." Fluttershy explained. "This is what I found when I escaped the forest."

"Where are the all the other ponies?" Metalhoof questioned Fluttershy again.

When Fluttershy didn’t respond, the red mare almost exploded in anger.

"WHERE ARE THE OTHER PONIES?" Metalhoof screamed, throwing Fluttershy off her back.

The pink maned mare landed with a thud, curling up into a ball and shivering in fear. "I- It was too late! Nopony trusted me! I t- tried to rescue them, but nopony listened to me. They're all blank now!"

Metalhoof paced back and forth, trying calm herself down before. "Blank?" she asked.

Fluttershy had stopped shivering at this point, but she still didn’t look at Metalhoof as she answered. "Those dark ponies you saw in the forest..." she explained, “It always starts with somepony hearing voices in their head... sometimes, in their dreams. It calls out to them from the Everfree Forest, and then, when they go in... they... they turn into one of those horrible things!”. Tears began welling up in Fluttershy's eyes.

Metalhoof’s expression softened at the mare. She helped her up and reassured her that the dark ponies couldn’t reach them here.

“T- thank you...” she said, sniffling quietly.

The two mares followed the path to Fluttershy’s cottage, which was remarkably in better condition than the other houses in town, but damage was still visible.

"Well, here's your house." Metalhoof announced.

"I don't live in my house anymore,” Fluttershy sighed, “-I wander around the place. The buildings are always changing shape, so most of the time I sleep out on the road."

"You mean the houses rebuild themselves?" Metalhoof looked confused.

"In some way, then they damage themselves again."

"Huh. Is there a way back to the real Ponyville?"

"There is one way,” Fluttershy said, looking thoughtful, “...but it's too hard to catch him."

"Wait... what? Catch who?"

"He's a glowing stallion. He’s always wandering around both Everfree Forests. I’ve seen him few times... he never says anything, all he does is look at me... b- but I’m sure he’s a nice pony! You just have to find him and catch him... I haven’t been able to."

Metalhoof was going to question how Fluttershy knew all this, when she saw the stallion in the corner of her eye. It turned around and galloped off into the woods.

"Well I'm going to catch him." she said.

"Wait, don't leave me!" Fluttershy cried.

"Why don't you come with me? That way you'll be able to escape with me." Metalhoof turned to leave.

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.

Metalhoof looked back at Fluttershy, disturbed by the unusually altered voice. She was crying, but as she did, a hollow upside-down triangle was forming on her head.

Metalhoof whimpered. She shut her eyes and ran off into the clearing once again, hoping to find the stallion. An even more altered voice started echoing in her head, causing her heart to beat faster.

COME BACK. NOW.

When Metalhoof opened her eyes, a blank was forming in front of her. She turned to the left, and another blank appeared. To the right, another blank. Everywhere she turned there were dark figures forming. She was completely surrounded.

YOU'RE WEAK, SO WEAK.

Metalhoof stared in the direction of the voice. Fluttershy stood there, but her body and the left half of her face were uncoloured. She smiled menacingly. The triangle on her forehead glowed white.

"You... lied to me... all this time..." Metalhoof cried. The blanks surrounding her edged closer every second.

WELL YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BELIEVED IN HOPE IN THE FIRST PLACE. YOU DIDN'T DESERVE TO LIVE, YOU BELONGED WITH US ALL THIS TIME. YOUR FATE HAD BEEN SEALED. YOU COULD'VE BROKEN THE CHAIN, BUT YOU DIDN'T. YOU CHOSE TO BE EVERFREE. YOU CHOSE TO BE WITH US.

One of the blanks pounced on Metalhoof. It flicked it’s snake-like tongue along Metalhoof’s neck. Metalhoof shivered in disgust and rolled on her side, knocking the dark pony off her. It hissed at her, picking up the Stetson hat that had fallen off it’s head in the scuffle. The cherry red mare gasped as she realized who it was.

AND NOW YOU MUST. FOREVER.