//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Equestria's Fall // Story: The Everfree Crusaders // by wanderingmagus //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Equestria’s Fall It had begun like any other day. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were at the park again, trying to get “awesomeness” cutie marks, and they seemed to be having mild success for the first time. Things started going wrong when the clouds turned pink. Then the grass turned into razor-sharp blades, turning the lush hills into bloodied killing fields, and everything went to the Moon. It was Scootaloo’s idea to use the scooter and wagon to pull her friends back to the clubhouse, but when the orange pegasus saw a grayish rainbow blur speed away from Canterlot in the direction of Cloudsdale, she couldn’t just turn her back. She knew her hero would never have abandoned her, and she wasn't about to do the same to her hero. Dropping her friends off at what she judged to be a safe location, she sped off after her mentor. As soon as she was within hearing range she yelled up to the oddly grayed out pegasus. “Dash!” The figure looked down at her, an expression of desperation giving way partially to annoyance. “Go away, Scoots, can’t you see I’m busy here?” The filly wasn’t deterred. “I want to help you! What’s going on? Why is your coat grey? Wh-” Rainbow Dash’s only reply was to fly even faster, beating her wings desperately as if every second counted. Scootaloo kept following as best as she could, confused but determined to help her mentor. They had barely passed Carousel Boutique when the Sun vanished from the sky. At exactly the same instance the ground suddenly lost traction, and Scootaloo faceplanted in a pile of... soap? She barely had time to register all this before a loud roar came out of the second story window of the Boutique. A light-colored figure leaped out, and the filly almost thought it might be Opalescence until it landed on the ground in front of her, claws scratching deep grooves in the soapy road. The sun chose this extremely appropriate moment to reappear, and Scootaloo found herself staring at the ravenous face of what she recognized as a white tiger wearing Opalescence’s bow. The filly screamed, flapping her wings desperately and leaping back just in time to avoid being torn in two by the creature’s gigantic claws. As she jumped onto her scooter and began desperately attempting to fly away, she screamed out to her hero. “Dash! Help me! Please!” There were tears in her eyes as she chased the increasingly grey rainbow. The screams for help caused the pegasus to slow down, looking back. Indecision and pain washed over her face, and Scootaloo pumped her wings faster, hoping that by coming closer Dash might give her a lift. Just as she came within reach, however, the mare turned away, tears streaking her face as she resumed her desperate course. Scootaloo stared as her friend, her role model, her hero, flew away, tears streaming after her even as her coat became nearly grey scale. Even the rabid tiger stalking her was forgotten for a moment. She didn’t feel anger. She didn’t feel horror. The hole burning deep into her heart hurt too much to be either of those feelings. She felt betrayed. ----- Sweetie Belle chased after Apple Bloom, calling out after the Earth pony as they ran through what once was Sweet Apple Acres. “Apple! We have to run! There’s nothing we can do!” “Shut up! Don’t you talk about mah family like that! Big Mac wouldn’ta left the plow in the fields like that. Somethin’s happend to mah family, an’ Ah ain-” The fillies slid to a halt in horror as the farmhouse came into view. Granny smith was doing a jig all over the front yard on her hind legs, her hip clearly broken and turning her cutie mark into a horrible bruise the size of an apple even as tears of pain streamed down her madly grinning face. Winona was frantically pawing at her own body as if it didn’t belong to her, and Big Macintosh was nowhere to be seen. Apple Bloom couldn’t move. Even when Big Mac burst out of the ground in front of her and BARKED, it was like she had lost a staring contest with a cockatrice. It wasn’t until Sweetie Belle bit down on her tail and started dragging her away that she snapped out of it, kicking and crying. “Let me go!” screamed the traumatized fill, trying to buck the unicorn in the face. Sweetie belle shook her head, pulling even harder as they slowly moved away from the scene. “There’s nothing you can do, Apple!” she said as clearly as she could, refusing to let go. “We have to go!” “Ah’m not leavin’ mah family!!” The filly’s tearful wailing made the unicorn hesitate for a split second, but before Apple Bloom could escape Sweetie bit down even harder and resumed her course. “I am not going to tell Scootaloo that I left you to a fate worse than death, Apple Bloom, and so help me Celestia and Luna I am going to drag you all the way to Zecora’s house all by myself if I have to!” The earth pony stopped struggling in confusion, letting the unicorn drag her unhindered for a moment. “Zecora?” she asked, fear creeping into her voice. “We’re going into the Everfree Forest?” She started to walk on her own now, but Sweetie kept her tail clamped tightly between her teeth. “Why?” The unicorn didn’t answer, instead pulling and indicating for them to move faster. It was very fortunate that Apple Bloom didn’t protest, because that was when an orange blur flew up to them, grinding to a stop barely a hoof away and revealing a terrified, crying Scootaloo. Sweetie let go of the earth pony’s tail and bucked. Caught off guard, the filly gave a little squeak of surprise and fell into the red wagon miraculously still attached to the scooter the pegasus was riding. Sweetie wasted no time jumping in herself. As soon as both fillies were seated she screamed, “Go!” Scootaloo didn’t need any encouragement. Even as she frantically started flapping her stunted wings again, a white tiger tore over the hill behind them, letting loose a roar that rivaled Luna’s voice. The three terrified Crusaders fled in the only direction that didn’t lead to death or madness- the Everfree Forest. Now that they were all facing it, it didn’t take a genius for the fillies to realize the reason behind Sweetie’s insistence on going into the Everfree. Even as chaotic colors and sounds flew from the increasingly hostile world around the three ponies, the forest they were fast approaching stood oddly still, almost welcoming in comparison to what was behind them. As soon as they burst across the boundary between the trees and the now-checkered hill, however, the forest reminded them exactly why it was tradition for ponies to fear it. A root crawling across the unmarked path caught on one of the scooter’s wheels, sending the fillies flying into a shallow ravine. They landed in a pile of multicolored limbs and manes, quickly pulling themselves apart and getting to their hooves as they backed away from the forest edge. Just outside the forest, the white tiger paced back and forth, white foam dripping from its mouth. Just as it seemed to make up its mind to cross over, its ears perked up and it stared into the forest behind the fillies. All three Crusaders turned their ears slightly, trying to hear what had given the terrifying creature pause, but too afraid to break eye contact with it. They all heard it. A howl, the same sound that always announced Zap Apple Season. It was normally a welcome sound for the Apple family, but Apple Bloom was shaking in fear. It was the howl of a timberwolf. From the sound, it was barely a hundred hoofsteps behind them. The white tiger stopped pacing, its eyes dilating in terror, and fled back towards Ponyville, each step making a different sound. The sight would have been hilarious if it weren’t for the fact that timberwolf chose just that time to leap out of the bushes, sharp wooden teeth biting ravenously. The fillies screamed again and fled, but remembering the encounter with the cockatrice they fled together, and in a focused direction. Scootaloo got to the wagon first, quickly flipping it over and reattaching the scooter. The timberwolf howled again and burst through the bushes right behind Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, but thankfully missed, leaving just a knife-like gash across Sweetie’s rear right leg. The pain was almost enough to make her fall, but her Earth Pony friend grabbed her by the mane and pulled her onto the wagon just in time as they sped away. As they sped through the forest, the growling timberwolf behind them was joined with howls coming from all directions. Scootaloo took a moment to glance back at her friends and assess the situation, and immediately regretted it. There was blood everywhere. If the wagon wasn’t red already it would have had red polka-dots on it now. Blood was flowing from the lacerated leg, large drops of Sweetie’s life falling onto the wagon with every bump. Tears were streaming from her face as she desperately tried to keep from screaming like her big sister always told her to. The distraction and shock proved to be a mistake, and another root caught on the scooter, this time slamming them into a sheer rock cliff. The last thing Scootaloo saw before hitting the rock was a black and white figure leaping off the cliff from above and landing between them and the pack of timberwolves.