"This.....is......AWESOME!"
"SCOOTALOO! You- get- back- here- right- NOW!"
Cheerilee growled a little as she galloped down the hill after her sister. By the time she finally caught up with the younger filly, Scootaloo was lying next to a tree, the scooter some few meters away, still rolling. She got up, shook her head, grinning, and tore the blindfold off. Cheerilee glared, and they spoke at the exact same time.
"I told you blindfolded hill scootering was a good idea!"
"I told you blindfolded hill scootering was a terrible idea!"
Rainbow Dash caught up with them. "It did seem rather foolish, darling."
"Of course it was foolish," snapped Cheerilee. "You could have gotten yourself killed! What on Earth were you thinking?"
"It was fun!" protested Scootaloo.
"It sure wouldn't be fun if you died!"
"Let's just be happy she's okay!" decided Pinkie Pie as she caught up with them. StarSong flew down towards them and nodded in agreement. "Although it was a silly idea..."
"It was not, it was super duper fun!"
"That doesn't make it any smarter!" shouted Cheerilee. "Don't you ever do that again, you nearly gave me a heart attack! What the heck is-"
"Cheerilee!" scolded Pinkie Pie. "Language!"
"Pinkie Pie!" called a voice. "You promised you would try on socks with me!"
They all turned and saw the familiar green mare. "Minty!" laughed Pinkie Pie. "Sorry, Scootaloo was inventing a new game and I lost track of time."
"Ooh, can I play?"
"Err...."
Minty was pretty much a walking disaster, as all of them knew, at one point even managing to almost ruin Christmas. None of them were mean enough to even admit it to themselves, let alone tell the poor mare. On the other hoof, blindfolded hill scootering was dangerous enough.....
"I have an idea!" decided Pinkie Pie. "Minty, we can go and get Sweetie Belle and Toola-Roola, and then we can get Toola-Roola to paint us wearing socks while Sweetie Belle makes cake!"
"Mint cake?"
"Sure!"
"Alright then!"
The two friends galloped off happily. "So," muttered Scootaloo. "Who's up for a blindfold downhill scooter race?"
"Scootaloo! Are you a freaking idiot?"
"Gee," muttered StarSong. "For somepony so protective of her, you're certainly not being a good role model in terms of language!"
"Oi!" snapped Cheerilee. "Let's see you take care of another pony!"
At that moment Rainbow Dash noticed something purple dashing towards her. The next thing she knew she was on the ground, a familiar mare piled on top of her. "Kimono?"
It took a few minutes for the others to recognize the pony as Kimono. As she stood up, her mane fell out of the Japanese-style bun it was always so neatly tucked into, this time being loose and messy, and she didn't even bother to fix it up. Her coat was covered in dirt and twigs and bits of grass. "Run." she breathed.
"Kimono?" asked StarSong. "Are you okay?"
"Run!" the purple pony repeated. "There's something outside of town- massive snakey thing- it has wings- horns- arms and legs- different hands-"
"What do you mean?" pressed Scootaloo, moving a little closer to her sister.
"There's a monster. And it's on its way to Ponyville."
"M-M-M-M-M-Monster?" stammered Scootaloo. Cheerilee shook her head. "Monsters aren't real, everypony knows that!"
"This one is. Trust me."
"Are you sure?" asked Rainbow Dash. "If there really is a monster, we should warn the rest of-"
"There's no time," Kimono insisted. "I'm sorry, but we'd just put ourselves in more danger by warning the others.
Scootaloo scoffed. "Relax, I'll just dash over to Minty's house and tell them, it's gonna be fine!"
"Scootaloo," warned Cheerilee.
But the orange pony was already on her way.
No time? Kimono was being rediculous. There was enough time for her to get to Ponyville and the monster still hadn't arrived. Maybe it wasn't coming at all. Maybe it wasn't real. Of course she would be able to go and warn Pinkie Pie, Minty, Toola-Roola and Sweetie Belle! In fact, if everypony got together they could warn at least all of Ponyville, if not Ponyland...
It wasn't long before she found herself in front of the door. She raised her front hoof and knocked. It was a few seconds before the door swung in to reveal the familiar green mare. "Hi, Scootaloo-"
"Kimono says there's a monster coming to Ponyville!"
Minty laughed. "Monsters? Monsters aren't real, silly!"
"Kimono said so-"
She was cut off by the familiar sound of rain pouring down outside. "Weird," muttered Scootaloo. "It was nice and sunny a minute ago- woah! Chocolate milk!"
They both stared out the window. Instead of the clear water they were both used to, thick drops of pale brown liquid were coming from the sky. Pinkie Pie galloped into the room to greet them. "Raining chocolate milk? That's not right...."
"Did somepony say chocolate milk?" asked Sweetie Belle excitedly, trotting outside. Toola-Roola followed. "Am I the only one who finds this weird?"
"Nope," answered Minty. "In fact, I think it's only those two-" she gestured towards the two foals- "that aren't confused."
At that moment a rather large sheep floated in through the wall and violently exploded, covering everything in glitter.
"Okay," coughed Scootaloo, shaking glitter out of her mane. "Maybe this is a little weird."
"It must be the monster!" screamed Sweetie Belle, ducking under the table. Pinkie Pie stared out the window. Not a pony- or monster- in sight. Still, knowing it was better to be safe than sorry, she turned to Scootaloo. "You'd better go. Cheerilee will be worried."
Scootaloo nodded and galloped off. Pinkie Pie stared out of the window. Monster? Monsters weren't real, she knew that. They were imaginary, make-believe, fake......but Kimono was no liar.....
She heard a crash and turned sharply. It looked like a part of the roof had fallen down, landing where Minty's head had been just a second ago. She looked up. There was no hole in the roof.
"Come out, my little ponies!" said an icy voice. "Come on out, and I'll show you how to really have fun....."
Sweetie Belle screamed. "It's the m-m-m-m-m-monster!"
Pinkie Pie turned to the others. "Gallop. I'll catch up."
"Don't be crazy-" began Minty.
"Just go!"
"Fine by me!" decided Sweetie Belle, galloping outside and out of view. Toola-Roola followed but Minty stayed behind. "Pinkie Pie, I can't just leave you here!"
"Just gallop! I don't want you getting hurt!"
"Are you sure?"
"Go, you idiot!"
"Okay....."
Pinkie Pie backed towards the door, waiting for the monster to show itself.
That was when she saw it.
Discord.