Chapters Captain Lightmane didn't want to be out here wandering the forest at the early hours of the morning as much as anypony else. When the ear splitting sound of a crash befell Canterlot, rousing him and likely every soul within the kingdom, he knew right away he was going to get word from her highness within a matter of minutes.
It was sort of funny in a way he thought as he and his squad trekked through the snow covered forest at a time most sane ponies were still slumbering. His squad was a special tasks unit suited mostly for scouting unknown and potential threats, the only of the sorts within the ranks of her highness's royal service. When the noise that shook the kingdom passed, he counted down the seconds before a night guard would be knocking on his door.
And just like clockwork, there was.
Half begrudgingly he walked on in silence, as did the rest of his troops, wondering why he ever signed up for any of this. It certainly wasn't for the bits, as the service didn't pay much of anything in a salary. It certainly wasn't for any sort of “honor” or any of that cliché stuff you hear about in recruit pamphlets as he got little to no fulfillment for what he did, often feeling ashamed almost for the things he had to do for the crown. There was no honor in it.
“Captain, light up ahead,” his Senior Sergeant whispered, pulling him out of his train of thought.
From a distance, Captain Lightmane could make out a faint white light. He ordered his troops to fan out and approach slower, spears drawn as they closed in on the source.
As they drew closer, Captain Lightmane could make out some details of what had landed. A faint humming could be heard as he moved further in. From a hundred yards he could see that the object was perfectly spherical from his angle. A bright light emitted from the other side of the sphere slightly clouded by the dust and steam.
The Captain worked his way sideways to peer off to the other side of the object as he closed the distance along with his squad. There was opening in the object from what appeared to be a hatch extruding from it. He studied the object, noting it wasn't particularly large, and had what appeared to be grooves along it's surface as well as some cryptic writing he'd never seen before. Even in the bitter coldness he could feel noticeable amounts of heat radiating from it.
He peered into the opening of the vessel finding nothing he could make sense of save it were the, what he could only presume, seat in the center of everything. One solitary seat amongst a mess of blinking lights and bright, built in lamps.
With his squad surrounding the perimeter Captain Lightmane drew his attention off the vessel for a moment to take a look at the ground. Amongst his and his squads prints in the snow, sure enough Lightmane could make out tracks that didn't belong to him or anypony else, or to any creature that he knew of for that matter. The prints lead out further into the woods, and Captain Lightmane could only fathom the distance this creature must have already crossed in the hours it's been since the call to mobilize was made.
“FORM UP,” Lightmane sternly odered, bringing his squad back into line. The squad quickly complied, forming two rows with the captain and the Senior Sergeant leading the front. “WHATEVER THIS THING IS BROUGHT SOMETHING WITH IT AND I INTEND TO TRACK IT DOWN, LET'S MOVE.”
Nearly an hour had passed and the snow had begun to fall again. The Captain and his squad swiftly made their way through the woods following the now barely visible tracks in an attempt to catch up.
Lightmane ordered the line to slow up and catch their breath as they moved forward. At this point he noted the tracks although barely visible, were also more frequent in step, perhaps a sign that the creature was slowing down or stopping at some point.
Then he saw it.
A light blue lump in the snow, now covered in a dust of snow lie in a heap at the forest floor. Lightmane ordered his squad to a halt and pressed on to investigate it himself.
Upon a closer inspection, Lightmane could make out the details of long, slender body covered in a blue wool cloth. Two hairless appendages extruded out from underneath the cloth, pale in color, as well as long brown hair from what he presumed was the head. Lightmane walked around to the side of the creature and used his hoof to prod the face up so he could see it.
He rolled the creatures face up to face his. It's face was pale aside from the light blue and purple hues to it's cheeks and lips. He could only make out small black dots of it's eyes as it's lids were half closed. Lightmane prodded the creature on the side, attempting to rouse it, but it didn't move. He observed the chest of the creature for any signs of breathing only to find no movement. He dropped his head down closer to it's face so he could listen for any faint signs of breathe just to be sure. Nothing.
“Died of exposure, shame,” Lightmane thought to himself as he lifted his head back up. It was then he noticed something else he didn't notice before. More tracks, but larger, and shaped like that a large cat's. From the appearance of direction, they seemed to come and go from the body, but didn't do anything with it.
“Odd,” Lightmane contemplated. “Would've been an easy meal, I wonder why the Manticore turned it's nose up at it.”
"I suppose I should take it back...whatever it is. I'm sure her Highness will want to see this."
“I NEED TWO UP FRONT, WE'RE TAKING THIS BACK WITH US,” Captain Lightmane called back to his squad.
“And I suppose the least I could do is give it a proper burial.”
Three years later.
“Confound it, it happened AGAIN ,” Applejack complained as Fluttershy looked over the Apple Farmer's wares.
“Oh dear, you mean something got into your barn again last night?” The timid pegasus looked over to her friend as she made her selection. “What'd they get away with?”
“Half a bushel of Granny Smiths just like the night before, ate 'em right there in the barn leaving
Fluttershy placed a few bits on the stand for a particularly large and healthy looking Red Delicious. “Well... hopefully you can catch him...or her. Have you thought of maybe asking somepony to watch the barn overnight?”
Applejack raised a hoof to her chin and made round motions with her hoof as she gave it a thought.
“Well, Big Macintosh and myself cain't exactly do it ourselves seein' as we gottah be up early e're mornin' to work anyhow, but maybe...”
Applejack set her hoof back down and looked back at her friend inquisitively.
“Ya think maybe Twilight would oblige? I know she's a librarian an' all but seein' as she stays up late most nights anyway maybe she could watch the barn for a night?” Applejack inquired.
“Oh, I don't see why not,” Fluttershy responded.
“I'll make a complaint with the Mayor as well, maybe see if we cain't catch this varmint red hoofed before it makes off with another one of our loads.”
It was getting late in the evening as Fluttershy was coming home. Along her way she inquired back with Applejack to hear about her progress setting things up with their librarian friend and everything had already been set in motion. Twilight would stay the night at the barn and monitor things and as an added bonus, Mayor Mare had set up a volunteer night watch to keep an eye on the Apple Property.
Fluttershy set about her usual routine of setting out meals for her animal friends. Thankfully Angel Bunny had been unusually content with a simple meal of carrot sticks. He'd been out more often and Fluttershy could only fathom that it was perhaps that season again for him.
Once she had ate her own meal she settled down for the evening, curling up in her bed with a nice book.
Fluttershy awoke to the sound of commotion out in her chicken coop. She rolled over, half asleep looking over to her clock.
“Two in the morning...” she thought to herself.
She sat up and turned on her night lamp, rubbing her eyes with her hooves to drive away the burning sensation of the sudden brightness. With a yawn she stepped out of her bed and made her way downstairs.
Opening her back door she gazed out from her her home at the chickens now running about in the wired in yard aimlessly, squawking and clucking madly. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, seeing nothing inherently wrong from a first glance. The wire fence didn't look like it was broken into so it couldn't have been timber wolves or any predator she could think of for that matter. She had the fence built after the escape of one her chickens into the Everfree forest and the whole fiasco with the CMC and that cockatrice. No predators could get in as far as she was concerned.
Fluttershy spread her wings and flew up over the fence. As she landed she drew up a comforting face hoping to put her chickens at ease.
“There there now shhhh , let's all calm down now and pile together so I can get a count of all of you.”
Fluttershy lightly prodded a few of the chickens as they blindly ran past her in their fright. Slowly her presence became more acknowledged and the chickens gathered around her, lightly clucking and looking up at her inquisitively. With their full attention she started her count.
“...Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.... fifteen... I'm missing one,” Fluttershy quietly mumbled to herself. Maybe she's still in the coop, she chouldn't have gotten out.” Fluttershy looked over to the coop and didn't notice anything inherently wrong with it. As she drew closer however, Fluttershy could hear movement from the inside. She walked up slowly to the side and stuck her head up next to the wall to listen in.
From within were sounds foreign to the pegasus. She could hear small grunts, and the faint sound of chewing, but not the sort typical of her animal friends. Fluttershy retracted her head back and made her way to the entrance stopping just shy of the side. From there she peeked in but the light of Luna's moon did nothing to help her see what was within.
“He.. he.. hello? Is somepony there?” Fluttershy stuttered as she peered from the side. The sounds suddenly stopped.
Her heart began to beat loudly in her ears and more frequently as she spoke again, “I-i-iif y-y-you'd jjj-j-jj-just co-c-cc-come out-”
A high pitched screaming suddenly filled the air, sending the other chickens into a frenzied confusion as Fluttershy ducked and covered her head with her fore hooves.
Fluttershy shakily got to her feet and looked inside wide eyed in panic to see what the source of sound could have been. She shakily put one hoof out before the scream came again and suddenly Fluttershy felt something hit her square in the face. She fell back on her haunches and shook her head. As her vision cleared she peered down to look at what hit her.
Wide eyed in terror, Fluttershy's heart began racing harder and she started breathing heavier as she peered down at the now mangled corpse of her sixteenth chicken.
She spread her wings and bolted out of the fenced in area and ran.
Fluttershy had never been a particularly athletic pony. Yet even so, she ran the fastest she had ever done in her life. Her lungs were on fire and her legs were fairing no better. Yet in spite of this, she ran and she ran and she ran..
Her mind couldn't focus on the physical exertion she was putting her body through at the time. She was incapable of acknowledging it. She set her sole sights on getting to the Apple Barn. She needed her librarian friend and that's all that mattered.
In a fluid motion Fluttershy hopped the fence of Sweet Apple Acres and raced up to the barn entrance, pulling her body weight back and pushing her hooves out in front into the dirt to brake herself before she slammed face first into the door.
There she stopped, and she breathed out at the door trying to form words but can't as her lungs caught up with her. She stood there at the barn entrance gasping and gulping for breathe waiting for the burning in her chest to subside before trying again.
Unfortunately for her after two minutes had passed and she caught her wind again, she completely lost all composure as she reared up on her hind legs and slammed her fore hooves into the door.
“TWILIIIIIIIGHT! TWILIIIIIIIGHT *gasp* TWILIGHIGHIGHIIIeeeeet.... ”
“OPEN UP! OPEN UP PLEASE! LET ME IN! ,” the frightened mare bellowed between sobs and gasps for breathe.
The top left door of the barn opened to a purple mare looking out and confused.
“What.. Fluttershy? What're yoOOF,” the mare was suddenly cut off and Fluttershy tackled her into the ground still shaken and belligerent.
“I WAS SO SCARHAREHARRREED!,” the mare bawled as she squeezed Twilight closely and buried her face into her chest.
“Fluttershy what... what happened?” the mare inquired, only to be met with more sobs and squeals as the pegasus attempted to bury her face further into the lavender unicorns chest.
The barn door suddenly flew open revealing Applejack with a worn out look strewn on her face.
“Just what in the hay is goin' on here?” The farm pony questioned looking down at the pinned down unicorn and the distraught pegasus clinging to her.
Twilight let out a sigh, “yea... I'd like to know too.”
A good twenty minutes had passed since the sudden intrusion into the Apple Barn as Applejack and Twilight continued to console the frightened pegasus.
Applejack turned her face toward open doors of the barn looking up at the moon, noting it was still very early in the morning. With a sigh, she made her way back to house.
“'Ahm gonnah make us some coffee,” she stated as she turned and walked away.
With a frown, Twilight looked at her yellow friend. Fluttershy was sitting back on her haunches, still whimpering to herself and rubbing her eyes.
“So uhmmm...” Twlight began. “What was that all about? What happened?
Fluttershy stopped for a moment to look at her lavender friend. Eyes red and puffy and the fur on her face stained with tears she began recalling the events.
“W..well...” she began, now averting her eyes to look down at the floor. “It was the... the...the coop, the chickens... they got out and it was early and and and and..... something was in the coop... scaring them... they were running around and one of them was missing and... so I checked to see if she was still in the coop and...”
“Wait wait...” Twilight interrupted. “What was in the coop? Did something get in? I thought you built a fence.”
“I did! But that's just it!” Fluttershy explained looking back at her friend. “Nothing should've been able to get in, no predators that I can think of anyway. But there was something in there Twilight I swear!”
“So then, what was it?” The lavender mare inquired with a frown, already knowing where this conversation was headed.
“I don't know! I got up to the entrance to look inside but it was so dark and I couldn't see anything... When I tried to call to it all it did was scream at me... I tried to talk to it but it just screamed more before throwing my missing chicken at me... When I looked at it... it was all... chewed up... and broken...” Fluttershy went quiet, looking down at the dirt floor beneath her lightly strewn with hay letting her eyes rest on a solitary track in the dust.
“Twilight? What... what is this?” Fluttershy spoke while directing the unicorn's attention to just below her hoof.
The lavender mare trotted up for an inspection of the dust. Sure enough amongst the mess of hoof prints dotted about the barn a single track in the dirt could be made out. She lifts a hoof to her chin as she goes through her mental library of possibilities as to what it could have possibly come from. She thinks for a hard minute processing and debating only to come up short.
“I... honestly don't know what to tell you Fluttershy, I would figure you of all ponies would know this better than I but I'm quite frankly... stumped. I've never seen a track like this before, not from any animal I can think of anyway.”
“Coffee's 'bout ready if ya'll is, now what's this I hearin' 'bout a track in the barn?” Applejack asked as she pushed through the door to meet the pair.
The three mares sat along the Apple family table in relative silence as they sipped away at the steaming and bitter brown liquid.
“So uh... what ya'll are sayin' is...” Applejack started, “is ya'll suspect something, not somepony broke into the barn.”
“Well yea, basically,” Twilight replied. To her right Fluttershy simply stirred the contents of her cup.
“And.... you don't know what it is... am ah hearing this right?” Applejack inquired.
“Well.... yea more or less... I'm sure the library has some reference material on the subject and I can look through but as far as Fluttershy and myself are concerned... we've never seen a track like it before,” Twilight explained.
“So then... that aside... what about you sugarcube? How you holdin' up?” Applejack asked, directing her attention to the yellow pegasus who was still stirring the brown liquid in her cup.
“Oh I um... I... don't know,” Fluttershy stated, “I'm a little afraid to go back but I do need to check back up on the other chickens.”
“Would you like me to walk you home then?” Twilight inquired of her friend.
“Oh that'd be wonderful and I'd be ever so grateful...um.. I mean if that's okay with you...” the pegasus replied.
“Not at all!” Twilight chirped back
“Well ya'll get some rest there then an' be safe getting back,” Applejack butted in. “I'll be getting' in touch with you Twi' after ahm done with the chores, I'll just drop by the library if that's okay an' all.”
Twilight gave the farmer pony a smile and a nod as she got up from her seat.
“I'll be expecting you!”
By the time the pair or mares got to Fluttershy's cottage the chickens had managed themselves into a neat pile of clucking and scratching at one corner of the fenced in coop. Fluttershy flew over the wire fence and opened up the door to let her lavender friend in. From there they made their way to the tiny structure only for Fluttershy to notice a small red dried spot in the dust where her sixteenth chicken should have been.
“Do you... do you think maybe it took her with it?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight only responded with a light hum as she ascended the ramp to the coop lighting up her horn and ducking her head in to look around the interior. The coop was small, cramped and unoocupied as far as she could tell.
“Well, whatever it is, it's gone now,” Twilight stated as she turned around to address her friend. “However, I think you'll want to see this,” she continued as she pointed her hoof at the base of the ramp. “I noticed these as I walked up to the coop. They lead straight to the fence and just stop.”
Fluttershy walked over to where her friend was standing to see what she was talking about. As the approached scanning the ground in front her she suddenly stopped and stared in disbelief.
“Whatever this is, I think it's the same creature that's been raiding Applejack's barn,” Twilight stated.
Author's Note
Sort of funny how things just sort of come up when I'm trying to work on something. I'd meant to have this up earlier in the day but a bunch of stuff suddenly got in the way. ugh.