Just Smile

by Fire-Dash

Chapter Two

The pegasus squirmed, struggling in Lurker's grasp. He held tighter, sure to cover her mouth so she could not scream. Feathers flew and fur was torn as he carried her away, off to the Hidden Place. The place where he could store his treasures, where he could escape from the world and all it's fear. This town was rich in such happiness, such joyful ponies so ignorant of how dark the world could be. He wanted them. Wanted their joy, their pleasure, their bliss.

So long had he lived for the dark. Hiding away where nopony could hurt him, where nopony would take away his treasures. He struggled to keep flying as he carried the terrified pegasus. His wings strained under the extra weight but he was determined to keep her. This one would help him, he was certain of it. She could heal the wounds, heal them with silver words and beautiful phrases. Yes, this one would help.

Though they were all bright at first, their colours brilliant, their eyes wide and their voices clear, they always faded. All of them. No matter what he gave them, how he cared for them, they faded away into the shadows, sinking deep into sorrow and depression. But this one would be different. This time he would give her everything. He would make her happy, make her stay bright. Her colour would not, could not fade. He would make sure of it.

As the deep, inky night sky faded away to a dull grey, Lurker was already past Ponyville. The little, happy town with its little, happy inhabitants. His hunting grounds.

Ragged feathers flew away on the wind, torn from the young mare's wings as she struggled. “Shh, it'll be okay,” he cooed in her ear, “I'll keep you safe. I promise.”

He made a quick turn in the air, his long, black cloak flowing behind him. His wings were the only visible part of him, silhouetted against the misty, half-lit sky. He was heading for the dark forest. His safe haven. Where he collected his treasures.

-Falling.

Something... reaching up, grasping, holding, trying to find-

Fear. Wide-eyes, panic. She's gone.... Gone! Forever, never coming back. Lost, dead-

-Gone.

Swimming in the fear, in the hatred, in the sorrow -drowning. Can't keep up. The current... the current.... Help! Somepony! Help!

Falling. Down and down and down forever. Wings broken, legs useless. Falling. No way to help..., no way to-

“Rainbow Dash!”

A voice? Where..., where-

“Rainbow! Wake up!” Something heavy landed on the sleeping pony's back, jolting her awake and tearing her away from the confusion of the dream. She groaned, sitting up. The figure got off of her and moved to the centre of her vision. Just a blur.

“W-what's going on?” the groggy pegasus asked, blinking several times to clear her vision. She soon realized she had fallen asleep beside the road. Her fur was covered in dust.

“I didn't want to wake you, you looked so peaceful all snoring and twitching and making little noises but something's happened!” A pink blur moved around in front of her so quickly, Rainbow was having trouble focusing on it. At last her eyes cleared.

Pinkie Pie. Of course it was her. At least she had taken her away from that dream. The falling and calling for help, somepony gone missing. Rainbow didn't want to think about it. “What do you mean? What happened?” She stood up slowly, giving her body a shake. The dust her fur had collected rose to the air in a puff and Rainbow sneezed.

Pinkie was jumping up and down, even more hyperactive than usual. She looked urgent. “Somepony's gone missing!” she exclaimed. “Her brother's been looking for her all morning! He said he saw a big, scary monster-y thing carrying something last night. He thought it was just his eyes being all tricky but when he went to look for his sister this morning she was gone!” She started galloping down the road. Rainbow followed, taking everything in.

The story was not real, that monster just couldn't exist. Nothing but legends, that was all, just-

Pinkie Pie stopped abruptly and Rainbow ran into her from behind. Ponies were gathered all around, staring at something on the ground. Rainbow jumped up, spreading her wings and hovering there in the air above the ponies' heads. She looked down.

There, in the centre of the road, lay two distinct sets of hoofprints, some larger, some smaller. Perhaps a mare and a stallion. There seemed to be a struggle. Dirt was dug up, scraped, there was fur on the ground, feathers everywhere. Rainbow shook her head. “B-but it can't be!” was all she was able to say. She looked around, surveying the horrified faces, picking out the brother who had lost his sister. One stallion apart from the others and pacing furiously. He kept shaking his head and talking to himself. She guessed he was blaming himself for what had happened.

“R-Rainbow, oh, Rainbow, d-did you hear?” a soft voice called from behind. The blue pegasus spun around, facing a terrified Fluttershy hovering behind her. “Th-they can't f-find her. He s-said it was a m...m-”

“A monster?” Rainbow sighed, placing a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. “Look, I really don't think that's what it is. She probably just got lost on a walk or something.” They landed away from the others. Rainbow was sure to keep her timid friend away from the crowd. Fluttershy was shaking so hard, she looked like she was going to pass out any minute.

“Oh, I do hope y-you're right. M-monsters are scary.” She buried her head in her hooves, still shaking. Rainbow didn't know what to do.

“Come on, Fluttershy, there's no monsters. Quit being such a scardy-tail,” the bolder pegasus helped her friend back to her hooves. “Let's go find the others. You'll feel better when we're all together.”

Once they gathered everypony in Twilight's library, Rainbow was sure her book-smart unicorn friend would be able to rid everypony of their fears. However, that was not the case. For even the logical, level-headed Twilight Sparkle was having doubts.

“I've heard of this before,” she began as they all gathered around. “Of course, it's all superstition but there are some truth in legends.” A book floated down from the top shelf, engulfed in purple magic. Twilight blew on it and a cloud of dust lifted into the air. She opened it up and began turning pages. “Ah ha! Here it is...” She stopped at a page with a less-than-reassuring drawing of a cloaked, winged monster with the title of 'The Lurker'.

“Ah don't like where this is goin'...” Applejack mumbled, peering at the tattered old page.

Twilight cleared her throat and started reading, “the Lurker is a chimera-type being, a cre-”

“A chimer-what?” Pinkie Pie blurted, tilting her head to the side.

“A chimera is monstrous creature composed of two or more different animals,” Twilight explained. “Now as I was saying, the Lurker is a creature with the body of a stallion, the wings of a dragon, the fangs of a wolf and the strength of an Ursa Major.”

A chill ran down Rainbow's spine. It was just like her story....

“It says here that the Lurker steals mares from their homes and keeps them alive in a place, often a cave, hidden in a dark forest.”

“W-what d-does he do to them?” Fluttershy whimpered, pressing herself back against a bookshelf. Her mane was covering most of her face, as though she were hiding behind it.

Twilight flipped the page again, her eyes scanning the lines of text. “Unknown for sure. There are, however, some theories.”

“Theories? Like what?” Rainbow asked, trying to sound skeptical. She wanted to seem brave, though she didn't feel it. This Lurker, well, it was sounding more and more like the monster in her story by the second. And that stallion, the monster he saw, his sister going missing, it was all too close. She didn't like this. It scared her, though she'd never dare admit it.

Twilight eyed the book some more. At last she said, “here it says some believe the Lurker takes the most beautiful mares for his mates-”

“The most beautiful!” Rarity exclaimed, holding a hoof up to her head in an overly-dramatic pose. “By Celestia, I'm sure to be next! Quick! Find me a place to hide-”

“Calm down, it's just a theory and this whole story is nothing but a legend. There's probably a much more logical explanation,” Twilight reassured her, trying to calm the ecstatic unicorn down.

“Yeah!” Rainbow jumped in, perhaps a little too quickly. “I mean, this is all just a story, right? There's no way it could be real. Right, Twilight?”

But the purple unicorn shook her head. “I don't know. Stories have been right before.” She sighed and flipped a few more pages. “Here it says he keeps only the best singers and musicians so they can play music for him. If they don't preform well, he... he eats them.”

Rainbow turned back to Fluttershy who was still hiding in the corner. “Hey, don't worry. It's probably not the Lurker's doing at all. That stallion's sister probably just got lost, like I said before. These kind of stories, they're just old mares' tales.”

“B-but....” Fluttershy couldn't finish.

The blue pegasus placed her foreleg around her friend's shoulders, giving her a small grin. “Hey, don't you worry. If it is a Lurker, I'll fight him off for ya.”

Pinkie Pie bounced over to them, eyes wide. “You'll fight off the Lurker? But he's so strong and mean and evil and pointy-toothed and-”

“Pinkie, I think that's enough for now,” Twilight said, stopping the earth pony from saying any more. “I think Fluttershy needs a break from all this. In fact, I think we all do. As Rainbow said, she probably just got lost and will turn up in the morning. Nothing to worry about.”

Applejack nodded. “Twilight's right. We should all be gettin' some shut-eye. Y'all feel better in the mornin'-” Her sentence was cut short by a rather large yawn, a yawn that spread across the room, infecting all the others.

“D-do you think we could all stay here tonight, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked softly, “I mean, i-if you don't mind.”

The unicorn smiled. “I don't mind at all. I think that should be just fine. So long as I find enough room for you all.”

Rainbow watched as Twilight went off to find blankets and things. Her mind wandered back to the dream she'd had that morning. The falling and reaching for something, somepony gone forever, the fear of death. She shook her head. No. That wasn't related to any of this. It was just a weird dream. She found herself chuckling a bit at that. Getting all scared over a dream. It was stupid. It meant nothing.

Outside, ponies were looking weary. The whole town seemed to have a very grim air, like something just wasn't right. Rainbow shook her head, refusing to give in to the others' fear. There was nothing at all to worry about. Certainly not anything the amazing Rainbow Dash couldn't handle.

But as the night drew nearer, confidence was not something the young pegasus felt.