//------------------------------// // [05] Visiting Ponyville // Story: The Expected, Unexpected Twist // by PuckDaFolice //------------------------------// Visiting Ponyville The pegasi guards were gaining in on Lance, whose desperate attempts at outrunning them caused him to go breathless. Still, he wasn't going to give up any time soon. 'I should probably think of a plan to lose 'em.' Lance thought, taking a mental note of his surroundings. Lance huffed and puffed as he ran through the woods, when an idea finally struck him. Smiling inwardly, Lance took a somewhat focused look ahead of him. 'Ah Ha! There we go!' Lance thought. Now running with new-found vigor, Lance manage to widen the gap a bit once more as he finally neared his destination. A tree with a loose branch. Lance thought 'I could probably get that by biting it', as he leaped a bit to snatch the twig. A satisfying *crack* sound met Lance's ears, as well as the distasteful flavor of wood in his mouth (no sexual innuendo intended). Lance managed to land perfectly, on all four hooves. Mentally congratulating himself for the accomplishment, Lance turned his head to see that the pair is now merely four feet away. 'I have to time this perfectly...' Lance thought, expertly dodging a boulder. The pegasi got closer. 'Three' 'Two' 'One' The guards accelerated themselves, spears in tow. 'NOW!' Lance mentally shouted to himself, while simultaneously flinging the branch from his maw and into the face of the lighter-colored guard. "What the--?!" Cloud Roller managed to cry out, before being poked in the eye by the stick. "AUUUGHH!!" Cloud Roller scremed, flying wildly "MY EYE! MY EYE!! OH CELESTIA, WHY?!" His wild thrashings caused him to hit his partner, Mist Flicker, by the side. This caused both of the guards to propel downwards. Lance stopped running, there was no need to, the pegasi pair propelled onto a particular pond. Their yelps of terror could probably be heard throughout the woods. Lance tried to laugh but then realized something. They crashed into a body of water. This reminded Lance of his extreme thirst and his exhaustion. 'Aw crap' Lance thought 'I can't go to the pond now! Oh wait...maybe there's a stream nearby?' Lance trotted over to where he believed the duo crashed, careful to hide in the shadows. Looking from behind a pile of fallen leaves, Lance spotted the guards fly out off the water with relative ease. Lance heard them start another conversation. "That was *sputter* interesting..." Cloud Roller mumbled, while spinning in the air to get rid of unwanted moisture. His partner, Mist Flicker flew up beside him and did the same thing "Should we still try to catch it?" Cloud Roller shook his head "No. He's probably long gone by now, and returned to their Hive. We might even get lured into a trap, that Changeling was strangely cunning... We have to go back to Canterlot and inform the Princesses of what we've found. Let's fly." Mist Flicker nodded in agreement, before skyrocketing even higher into the air with his partner. Lance poked his head from the bushes, "H'uh...". Lance slowly trotted over to the edge of the pond. Peering in the water, he saw his reflection for the very first time. "Dayum, I look ugly. Cool, but ugly!" Lance had a holed horn protruding from his head, ending in a curve. His jet-black face was dotted with blue eyes. He also had a miniature fang poking out of his mouth. Shrugging off the discovery of his face, Lance tilted his head and began to drink from the pond. 'That's strange...' Lance thought. He could feel the water inside his mouth, but his thirst wasn't quenched. 'I'll...try that again' Lance began sipping from the pond once more, only this time, he heard running water. "What the heck?" Lance stopped drinking, and began to look around. Lance finally noticed what was making the light sound, it was him. The holes were obviously not just for decoration, with water spilling out everywhere he had holes (again, no sexual innuendo intended). Lance froze in sudden realization. "I can't drink...and now that I think about it, I probably can't eat too...What the hell body?! This is stupid!" Lance cried out his frustrations. "Now how the hell am i supposed to get rid of this damn thirst?" Lance whispered harshly to himself. Shaking his head, Lance noticed a somewhat large stream in a distance. "If there's running water...there's civilization, well hopefully...I ought to follow it...someone better has answers. I just wish they're not hostile." As Lance followed the stream in the direction he was sure would lead to civilization, he began to recount the earlier events. 'So apparently I'm some sort of mutated or burnt/beat up creature that provokes either hostility or fear...I also met a fucking talking unicorn and two pegasi intent on adding more holes to my body. Well, I probably had it coming, since I scared the shit out of them...or at least tried to...' Lance continued onward, looking longingly at the slowly rising sun. Twilight Sparkle exited the library, a smile plastered on her face. As she began her short journey back to the boutique to fetch Spike as well as the hat her mentor ordered for, she noticed two blurs overhead. 'Royal Guards? Why do they look battered? Oh well, I'll probably never know...never know...never...NO!' Twilight looked up frantically at the skies, not noticing that the guards have managed to make their way to Canterlot in those quick moments of thinking. "Oh..." Twilight sighed "I guess I could ask the Princess...but I don't think it's any of my business to..." Twilight continued her trek to Carousel Boutique, her smiled faded just a bit. Lance finally made it to the edge of the woods. Scanning the area, Lance spotted a wooden bridge that was obviously used to cross the now-stream, he grinned a bit. "Bingo...sign of said civilizati--*cough*" Lance coughed and sputtered, creating a sound akin to air being let out of a balloon. 'I really need some help.' Lance thought, gingerly trotting out of the woods. The sunlight glistened on his shiny-black carapace. Lance took a brief look around him, spotting a sort of town in the distance with the aid of his ultra-vision. Lance smiled to himself. "Almost...there" he croaked, limping his way to Ponyville. Twilight began to drag a limp Spike away from the Boutique. "Sheesh Spike," Twilight huffed "Did you..did you gain some weight?" Spike nodded, a goofy smile plastered on his face. "Rarity was so sweet, she gave me a lot of gems for helping her out." Spike said, voice brimming with admiration. Twilight deadpanned, then shook her head as they tread onward to Golden Oaks Library. Twilight began to notice the lack of ponies milling about, but she dismissed it as the effect of an early morning. But after she passed the marketplace, she knew something was wrong. Applejack wasn't there with her cart. The cart was there, but well, it was overturned with apples scattered about. "Spike." Twilight said, growing visibly uneasy. "Spike are you seeing this?" Spike began to come to his sense, taking a look around, he shrugged. "What? There's nopony out there." Twilight nodded "Exactly! See that?" Twilight pointed at Applejack's cart/stand. Spike, growing a tad bit impatient, turned his head and looked at the cart. "Yeah...that's Applejack's cart right? So what of it, Twi, I don't get it!" Spike threw his arms in the air. Twilight facehoofed "It's just like when Zecora first visited. Nopony's around. Not even AJ, and she's a morning pony!" After that piece of information sunk in, Spike muttered a simple "Oh." Twilight let out a disappointed sigh "Oh well, I suppose we have to figure what's wrong this ti--" Twilight stopped, noticing sudden movement at the entrance of town. It was a changeling, and it looked exhausted. It raised it's shiny black head and looked around, meeting Twilight's own calculating eyes. The changeling cocked it's head. "H-hi?" it croaked out, before crumpling on the ground with a thud.