Equestrylvania

by Brony_Fife

The Wolf Revealed, Part I

A lonely wind meanders through Canterlot’s once-proud streets, indolently batting about small debris and garbage, a sickening chill cloaking its shoulders. The buildings all stand in mournful silence, their lusters lost, their innocence traded for an emptiness that grows like kudzu. Celestia’s star is nowhere to be seen; although it is still daylight, the matrimony of the ashen clouds above and the fog crawling along the streets below produce their own fearsome atmosphere.

Overlooking Lost Canterlot is the ominous Castle that began all this madness, tall and dark, clawing forever upward. Between the heaving fog and the whispering wind, the Castle is merely a vague black shape—but it watches them. Rainbow Dash can feel it. No eyes. Yet it stares. It knows they are here, and mockingly, it welcomes them to its new residence.

She can’t say she likes what it’s done with the place.

“Okay,” she says quietly, her breath coming out in cold clouds. “We’re here.”

Shatterstorm observes the new surroundings, this ghost city, in all its emptiness and eerie serenity. “This close to the Castle, there’s bound to be some powerful monsters. Stay alert.”

“Hey, thanks for the protip, Captain Obvious,” Rainbow Dash says glibly. “What would I do without you?”

Shatterstorm scowls. Harrumphs.

“So, anyway,” she continues, “the plan’s to get to the Hospital first. I dunno why you wanted for us to land; we could probably just fly there from here.”

Shatterstorm looks upward, head tilted at an analytical angle. There’s a storm gathering above; he can feel its presence. Despite the lack of any telltale signs—rainfall, lightning, the booming of thunder—something deep inside him prickles at his senses. It’s a feeling not unlike the gradual awareness that you are becoming sick. He looks to his partner and shakes his head.

“Not even two steps into Canterlot and you’re already set on killing yourself,” he sighs.

Rainbow Dash smirks. “Shatters. I have wings. You have wings. I say we use ’em.”

“It isn’t about if we can fly, it’s about whether or not we should.” He waves a hoof as if to present their surroundings. “We’d be more visible to the enemy in the air. We need to play it safe.”

She rolls her eyes. Sighs. Shakes her head. “So? I’m a fast flyer; this’ll only take like a second.”

“And what about the monsters I apparently didn’t need to tell you about?” Shatterstorm asks, his voice more solid and biting. “Did you already forget what Actrise was capable of? We don’t need more nasty surprises.”

Rainbow Dash waves a hoof. “Dracula’s out of surprises! We’re prepared this time.” She scoffs. “At least, I know I am.”

A pause. “…You think you’re so tough,” Shatterstorm grunts, scowling. “Dracula and his minions aren’t a joke.” He turns, his hooves clopping against Canterlot’s cobblestone road. “Be serious about this mission. It’s pretty sad I have to tell you that.”

“Don’t lecture me!” Rainbow Dash says irritably, shaking her head and following Shatterstorm. “I’m just naming some good ideas. Heck, why don’t we just raid the Castle now and put an end to this? It’d be easier, right?”

“That’s not what we’re here to do,” Shatterstorm says impatiently as they pass by some ruined buildings. He recognizes one as the coffee shop he and some of his squadmates would visit while off duty. “We’re here to investigate where they’ve taken the Princess.”

Rainbow Dash groans. “Am I the only one who thinks that Princess Cadance is being held in the Castle itself? Like, big castle? Kidnapped princess? It’s so obvious! Dracula might as well put neon signs all over the windows: ‘KIDNAPPED PRINCESSES: TWO FOR ONE DEAL.’”

She catches a smirk dancing across Shatterstorm’s lips before he puts it away. “You’ve been watching too many action movies. That’s too obvious a solution—or were you asleep during Miss Sparkle’s briefing?”

“I just think you guys are over-thinking this,” Rainbow Dash sniffs, stepping over some debris. “Dracula’s overconfident at this point. He won’t be expecting just two pegasi to sneak into his castle.”

“‘The most obvious solution to a situation set up by your enemies is always a trap’,” Shatterstorm quotes. “General Winter.”

“General who?”

“General Winter,” Shatterstorm repeats, taking a left at the corner. “He was a general and philosopher. Wrote a lot about strategy and warfare.” He pauses, taking the moment to look around. “Of course,” he adds snidely, “if you actually read books, you’d know that.”

“Hey, I read books!”

The mental image of Rainbow Dash actually sitting down and reading a book pops into Shatterstorm’s mind, twisting his lips into a smirk that threatens to burst into a laugh. “Oh, really? Which ones?” He rolls his eyes, expecting her to name some silly comic book or trashy “young adult” novel.

I read Daring Do!” she announces with a proud smile. “I’ve read each book in the series cover-to-cover three times!”

Shatterstorm turns to her suddenly, his eyes sparkling in admiration as a boyish smile lights up his whole face. “I loved Daring Do!” he says in an uncharacteristic squeal.

“Really?!” Rainbow Dash says, sharing Shatterstorm’s starry-eyed fangasm.

He blows a huff of hot air. “Yeah... when I was ten.” He turns around, a mean smirk on his lips and a mischievous look in his eyes, as he continues down the street. “Lemme know when you’re ready to read books meant for us grown-ups.”

Rainbow Dash’s face distorts into a puckered glare. She growls, but elects to leave this fight where it lies and follows him until they’re once again next to each other. The fog only thickens, as does the unsettling silence. Cautiously, they walk along as Canterlot closes its mouth around them.

---

Empty, quiet hooffalls echo in the empty, quiet city. They pass by a couple buildings before Shatterstorm notices that Rainbow Dash has fallen silent. An aside glance reveals she is no longer beside him. He quickly turns his head, catching the only colors amidst this now-dreary, fog-stained street. She’s turned to look at something—frozen in place, face pale, eyes wide, and lips thin. Immediately, Shatterstorm rushes to her side and whispers, “What’s wrong?”

Rainbow Dash points. Shatterstorm follows her hoof.

His breath is stolen.

A wall is scribbled with mad warnings and feverish images. Black chalk barks at anypony whose fool eyes fall upon it. Warnings. Repeating. Spiraling. Screaming.

You Too Shall Be My Puppet, warns the wall.

YOU TOO SHALL BE MY PUPPET, shrieks the wall.

yOu ToO shA LL bE M y PuPPE t, sobs the wall.

The warnings on the wall become more hastened, less controlled, more jumbled, less coherent. Scribbled eyes accompany the warnings, gazing deeply into their two witnesses. It all forms almost a mass near the bottom, finally descending into a single black line that drags from one end of the wall to the other, the chalk that was used to write this madness now rattling on the cold ground as the slow wind bats at it in boredom.

There, nestled in a heap below the warning and not even a few inches away from the chalk, is a puppet the size of a full-grown pony. Its four wooden legs are splayed recklessly, as if it were simply dropped without a care. The detail to its face is stunning and eerie, frozen in a crumpled expression of terror—eyes wide, lips red and twisted.

Rainbow Dash bites her bottom lip and exhales slowly. She looks aside at Shatterstorm. “Y-You sure that hoofin’ it’s gonna be easier than flying to the Hospital?”

“Never said it was gonna be easier,” Shatterstorm says quietly. “I just said it’d be safer.”

Rainbow Dash cocks her head to this morbid scene before them. “By how much?”

Shatterstorm looks up at the ashen sky. Despite the horrible thing they’ve found on the ground, he still feels that there’s something even worse up there. Something that refuses to makes its presence known yet. It watches. It watches, and it waits.

“Enough to make a difference,” he says quickly.

Rainbow Dash opens her mouth to argue, but Shatterstorm is quick to shoot her down. “Just trust me on this one, OK? Do you trust me?”

Silence. Rainbow Dash nods solemnly. “…Let’s just go.”

They leave, stealing down another street. The stick of black chalk is stroked by the wind, rolling further into the indecipherable fog.

---

“You sure this is the way?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“I’m absolutely sure,” Shatterstorm replies.

The fog is thickening—so thick that Shatterstorm can barely make out the many colors of Rainbow Dash’s namesake mane, despite that she’s at most three feet away from him. The buildings have become the same unrecognizable walls of gravy on either side, with any bushes, trees, benches, and other street occupants becoming nothing more than vague grey blotches.

The two stop. Shatterstorm reaches into his saddlebags and takes out his map, looking it over in frustration. It’s too foggy to even read it.

“…We’re lost, aren’t we?” Rainbow Dash says flatly.

Shatterstorm scowls at her—not that she can see it.

“It’s because of the fog,” he says, putting the map away.

“I’ll take that as an invitation,” Rainbow Dash says. She flaps her wings.

Before Shatterstorm can demand she stay grounded, the fog around them is pushed away. Every flap of her wings swats the fog away for a few good feet. Shatterstorm catches onto her idea and unfurls his own wings. Within a few flaps, visibility is restored—for twelve feet ahead, anyway.

“Why didn’t we think to do this before?” asks Shatterstorm quietly.

“Sorry,” Rainbow Dash smirks. “Got too busy getting creeped out by an eerily empty city.”

Shatterstorm ignores Rainbow Dash’s retort, and takes in their immediate surroundings. “Okay,” he says. “We’re gonna walk down this street and reach the plaza. We’ll know we’re there when we see the fountain with a statue of the royal sisters. From there, we’ll go down Bodeley Avenue, which takes us west.”

Along they go, occasionally flapping their wings to dust away the filth of fog. Not another word is exchanged between the two, both now much more alert thanks to the puppet’s warning.

Of all the weirdness that’s happened so far, it’s the emptiness of the town that unnerves Rainbow Dash most. Most other times she’d been here, the place was just alive, with ponies bustling, the sounds of conversations all merging into one oceanlike sound, the sun shining overhead. She recognizes this street. Some months ago—maybe even just a week and a half ago—there’d been foals playing around on the cobblestone, while their parents sat nearby, reading newspapers and shooting the breeze. It all feels so surreal.

Breaking the silence like an explosion comes an ominous howl from far away. It’s a piercing wolf howl, slightly distorted, warbling as the light and visibility of Canterlot slowly ebbs away.

“…Scared?” asks Shatterstorm, a bit shaken himself.

Rainbow Dash only realizes the moment Shatterstorm speaks that she’s holding onto him like he’s a comfort blanket. She pushes him away. “A-As if!” she lies.

Shatterstorm dusts himself off in a way he hopes doesn’t look nervous. Off in the distance, a door claps shut, causing them both to flinch. They stare wide-eyed in the direction of the sound.

Slow creaking above. They look up sharply and are met by a pub’s sign pushed by the cold wind.

Leaves rustle, blown across the street by the wind picking up.

Something small drops to the cobblestone with a muted plink.

Every sound seems intensely magnified by the silence they periodically break.

Gingerly, the two ponies walk forth to the plaza. They take as careful steps as they can, their rhythmic clip-clop-clip-clop barely audible. Finally, the fountain depicting the royal sisters comes into view. As if it’s an oasis in a desert, Shatterstorm and Rainbow Dash rush to the fountain, gliding slightly over the ground and landing quietly beneath the effigy of the sisters.

Rainbow Dash takes note of her fast breathing. Shatterstorm’s as well. His face is caked with beads of cold sweat. A wipe of her hoof on her own brow reveals the same for her. She gulps, only now noticing how quickly her heart is racing, how hard it pounds against her chest. Part of her honestly wishes something would just jump out at them already; the terror building inside her is too much.

Shatterstorm takes out his map as he sits on the park bench in front of the statue. He sits up suddenly. “What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asks in near-panic.

He looks aside at her. Then he smiles sheepishly as he reaches underneath himself and pulls out a piece of paper. “I just sat on something,” he whispers. “False alarm.”

On the paper, there is noticeable writing, but with the fog and the waning daylight, it’s difficult to read. Rainbow Dash reaches into her saddlebags and brings out an oil lamp. Shatterstorm raises an eyebrow as she lights it and brings it over his shoulder, spreading visibility over the paper.

He reads it aloud in a whisper:

To whoever finds this:

I’m sorry I had to return to this place… its not like I wanted too. But there’s somepony in trouble—life and death. We all evacuated but she didn’t get out with us before all communication stopped with Canterlot. I can’t call myself her best friend if I was to scared to look for her. So I’m back in here doing just that.
I wish I could say something cool, like I hid weapons somewhere or something, but this is’nt that kind of message. Sorry for not bing able to help you!!
If I never return from this place, I’m sorry.

Good bye.

Shatterstorm puts the letter in his saddlebag, but says nothing. He sighs and resumes looking at his map.

Rainbow Dash looks at him curiously. “…Shatterstorm?”

“What?”

“…You okay?”

“I’m fine,” he replies, a little too quickly, his voice cracking at fine. He traces a hoof down the map. “We go down Bodeley until we see the Wonderhorse Theatre. From there, we go north. Can’t miss it.”

He looks up to see Rainbow Dash biting her lower lip in thought. “What?”

She looks to him, her eyes expectant. “…That note.”

“Don’t even suggest it,” Shatterstorm warns. “We have enough on our plate as it is. We can’t just… go play hero in a place... where…” His voice trails off as his ear perks.

Rainbow Dash is about to ask him what’s wrong… until she hears what he does.

A small whine. Like static from a radio.

Both pegasi turn their heads to the sound. There, amidst some rubbish, is a small battery-powered radio, likely dropped by looters. The static it produces grows in volume, going from a slight whine to crackling screams.

The hairs on the back of Rainbow Dash’s neck stand on end. Her eyes dart around, terrified of what they might land on. Surprisingly, she finds nothing.

The radio static cuts out abruptly.

For nearly a minute, all the two pegasi can hear are their own heartbeats. “…You think the batteries died?” Rainbow Dash asks, hoping her statement comes off as a wry joke.

She gets no response from Shatterstorm. Rainbow Dash turns her head

and finds Shatterstorm staring, his mind kidnapped by terror, at a large figure looming right next to them. Thanks to the light cast from the oil lamp, Rainbow Dash can make out its face: lupine and hoary, with long black wisps of hair protruding into every direction. A pair of beady eyes glisten wetly like a pair of silver coins at the bottom of a well. Its massive maw—easily big enough to envelop a pony’s head—opens slowly to reveal rows of teeth sharp as needles and breath as hot and toxic as a dragon’s.

The moment the beast realizes it had its preys’ attention, its mouth springs open and lets loose the same loud howl they’d heard only a few minutes ago. The beast makes an announcement: its hunt is now on.

In response, the only thing the two pegasi could do was run for their lives, Rainbow Dash dropping the oil lamp as they flee, the oil lamp breaking with a loud pop and setting the ground it fell upon in flames. As they both run, Rainbow Dash steals a look behind her, and sees the giant wolf stepping through those flames, its mouth twisted into a fanged grin, its eyes steeled, the tongues of flame whipping and flailing around its legs.

Then it bounds.

Comments

[thatguy45]

i'm sorry...

[DriftingReader]

Is it just me, or did anyone else notice the Silent Hill references in this chapter here?

Not that it's a bad thing. Always liked the idea of Silent Hill. Been meaning to sit down and play the roms someday...

[Clocklike]

I read Daring Do!”

*forgot a " at the start