IV. A Chance Encounter
The dark mist swirled around her, whispering to her promises of power and glory. Promises she had heard before.
If she covered her ears it wouldn’t have mattered, the whispers would never stop, she’d always hear them; constantly promising that she’d be adored more than anypony in all of history. She would be the true queen of Equestria that everypony would love.
A bellow of laughter echoed throughout the realm of darkness, silencing the whispers. The mist that swirled around her began to wrap around itself, twisting and turning. Haze turned to black fur and aero armour. A head started to form from the darkness, a long horn protruding from it, wrapping around itself like a boa constrictor around its prey.
She knew what it was turning into, and strained to act brave in front of it, but no matter how hard she tried. A part of her feared it.
“Well, well, look at what we have here,” the mass said, dark mist gathering around to create legs and an ethereal tail that mimicked her night sky.
Two masses shot out from the back of the shape-taking mist, at first they appeared as bat wings, but that likeliness ended as feathers began to take place on them. Two white orbs appeared on the face of the creature, soon turning into dragon eyes to match the toothy grin it gave to her.
The sharp fangs it had begun to shrink and turn into normal pony teeth, making the toothy grin turn to a pony’s smile, “The little foal came crawling back now?”
“We would never return to thee, foul witch!” Luna screamed staring at the horrendous monster she once was.
“I’m hurt Luna. I thought we were friends?” Luna’s alternate said, raising a hoof over her chest where her heart would have been, if she had one.
“We would never be your friend! Thou hast no idea what real friendship is!”
“Oh? And don’t friends help each other get what they want?” the dreaded form of Nightmare Moon asked, one of her eyes arched at the Lunar Princess, her head cocking to the side.
“That is never what we wanted!” Luna hissed, bending down, ready to skewer her embodiment of envy.
“You wanted to be noticed didn’t you? You wanted ponies to love your night? That’s what I did,” Nightmare Moon inclined, taking a step towards the lunar princess as her head swayed to the side.
“Thou hast forced it upon them! We wanted them to love the night for what it is, not to force them to love it!”
“You should have been clearer about that earlier then, but I guess a part of you always wanted to be a real Princess,” Nightmare Moon said, walking towards the Ruler of the Night, “not a Queen.” She straightened herself, towering over Luna as she walked.
“What does thou mean?” Luna asked, slowly stepping backwards as her envious alternate ego approached her.
“Think about it Luna, with me you could become Queen of all Equestria, no one would be your equal. You’d be the center of all attention, the one everypony would love. A master of both night and day.”
Luna stopped as her alternate continued to talk, she gazed down at her hooves, trying to ignore what her foul other was saying, yet she couldn’t help but feel intrigued by the offer.
Luna felt Nightmare Moon’s breath on her ear, but she did not stray, “Join with me and we would rule all of Equestria.”
Nightmare Moon raised her head above the Lunar Princess who peered up to meet her gaze. On the dreaded nightmare’s face was a smile that would allure any unwise stallion, most likely to their grave. “What do you say?”
Luna stared back down at her hooves. She couldn’t betray her sister, but she could and then she’d be the true queen…
No! Her sister always loved her no matter what she was. She’s already felt enough pain because of Luna; no more!
“Dost thou think us a foal to be played with? We shall never join with thee again!? Now return to whatever hell thou comest from!”
Luna glowered at the monstrous Nightmare Moon, her horn glowing as a bolt of pure energy began to gather, ready to tear through the vile abomination that tried to tempt her to betray her sister’s trust once again.
On her dreaded other’s face was a look of surprise, which gave Luna some pleasure in knowing she had bested her, but it quickly vanished and returned to her alluring smile, “Well, well. Looks like the Princess of the Night decided to continue to be the puppet of the Sun.” Nightmare Moon began to laugh, thunder and lightning crashing around the two as Luna started to pour more energy into her attack, “You do not deserve the title of ruler over the night. That title deserves a better owner, and I think I’ll take it!”
Several wisps of her ethereal mane shot towards Luna. However, Luna did not flinch, she knew they could not harm her here, nor could Nightmare Moon afford to kill her. Without Luna there could be no Nightmare Moon.
The wisps bounced off her body as if she was made of solid stone, “Thou wouldst need me to do such actions, and we shall never accept thy influence again!”
Luna should have felt rejoiced that she had managed to do such a deed when she could have so easily succumbed to her nightmare, but it was overlooked by the feeling of shame that the Lunar Princess felt. She almost accepted Nightmare Moon again, she almost forsaken the world she had regained. Forfeiting her sister’s trust once again and hurting her more than anypony else could.
Tears began to well and fall down her face as more and more power was poured into her attack.
She expected Nightmare Moon to start further tempting Luna or begin mocking her, but instead, to Luna’s surprise, she laughed. “You think you’re the only one I have in my service. I think you’ll find yourself poorly mistaken,” Nightmare Moon told Luna as she began to pace away, her body turning back to the dark mist it once was as her laughter echoed throughout whatever realm they were in.
When the final part of the wicked mare disappeared and her laughter ceased along with the whispers of the mist, Luna gave herself the permission to let her spell fade away and collapse onto the floor, or at least what she thought was the floor, to cry. She almost betrayed her sister again! How could she ever face her now!?
Dare we break our sister’s heart once more!?
The sound of heavy hoofsteps filled the air; the Lunar Princess took no longer than a moment to quickly jump from where she lay. Landing a few feet away, she turned to see her newest nightmare through her teary eyes, but what she saw shocked her beyond belief.
It was a large two-legged figure, a black coat engulfing its entire form, in its right fore-hoof it held a claymore, a size Luna had never seen before. It glowed in her presence like the moon in her night sky.
The creature stopped a few feet before her, looking down at the Princess of the Night.
Instinctively, Luna spread out her wings, trying to intimidate it, but it seemed unfazed by her threat.
It reached out its other strange claw to the hood it wore, taking it off to show the face underneath.
A long blue mane fell down onto the coat it wore, a scar on its seemingly fur-less face in the shape of an X was the first thing that caught Luna’s attention, then she saw the two orange eyes that looked down at the Princess that held no emotion at all. As if staring into nothingness, Luna felt her soul being pulled from her the longer she stared into those lifeless eyes.
The creature lifted the claymore into the air with a single claw, something Luna thought to be impossible, and pointed it at her.
She stumbled backwards unconsciously at the great display of strength and heard it say a few words before charging her with the massive weapon, “You… are not my Queen.”
“…And that’s it Luna?”
Luna nodded her head, unable to look at her sister for what she almost had done. “Luna, what you described to me was a simple nightmare. I don’t see why you should be so worried about it,” Celestia said, her voice soft, soothing almost.
“Sister… we have had dreams like this before…”
“Yes Luna, you told me you have had this dream for weeks now. And I’m glad you came to talk to me about it, but it’s nothing more than a dream,” Celestia reaffirmed, but Luna knew it to be otherwise.
“No sister… thou doest not understand. We have had these type of dreams before…”
The silence that claimed the scene broke as quickly as it began, “When?”
“Before Discord was released and before…” Luna didn’t want to say it, after the dream she just had she never wanted to mention that thing again.
“Before what Luna?” her sister’s voice rang as she walked down towards the younger alicorn, putting a comforting wing around her.
Luna said nothing for a while, just wishing it could all just go away. She knew she had done horrible things and she had learned to forgive herself for them. She learned that her past doesn’t make her who she is now… but that didn’t stop the fear she felt.
“Luna?” She cringed as her sister asked again. She had to answer.
“It was before… we became Nightmare Moon,” Luna finally said, hanging her head in shame.
“…Why haven’t you ever told me these dreams before Luna?” her sister asked, her voice weighing heavy with concern for the younger alicorn she held under her wing.
But to the question she had asked, Luna had no answer. “We do not know.” Shaking her head, Luna’s ears pinned down against the sides of her crown.
“Then could you tell me this Luna; why are you so scared of this dream?”
Luna was surprised by the question. Out of everything her sister could ask her, why this?
Regardless, Luna still had her answer to it, “We were afraid that this creature would turn us back into what we once were.”
“Luna, I don’t think you ever have to fear of turning back into Nightmare Moon.”
Luna’s ears perked up and her head rose from the ground to look at her sister.
Celestia wore a comforting smile that warmed Luna’s heart and gave her a sensation of hope, “Luna, from what you’ve told me, you have already shown the strength to do what you know is right. And I don’t think you have anything to be envious about anything anymore, from what I’ve seen, just as many ponies enjoy your night as they do my day.”
Luna pondered over her sister’s words for a while, absorbing everything they said. She had denied Nightmare Moon, even when she was tempted, she swore she’d never be a part of her again. Minutes passed as Luna realized her sister was right, she always was.
“I thank thee sister. Thy words hath lightened the weight on our mind.”
“I’ll always be here for you Lulu,” Celestia said, nuzzling her sister’s neck. “Now I think it’s best for you to handle this creature.”
The Protector of the Night was astonished by her sister’s words and peered up to her sister’s once again kind gaze. “This creature could be a serious threat to Equestria, and it is soon going to be dark. Soon your night will come over Equestria, and I believe it is best that you go to Ponyville to aid Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Together you can bring this creature to justice.”
What she said made sense, soon it would be night and her sister already looked worn from the day’s events.
“We shall go post haste then,” Luna said to her sister.
Celestia gave a small smile before levitating a quill, inkwell, and a piece of paper from a small table.
She gave indication for Luna to leave and prepare herself for her exploration as Celestia continued writing her response to young Twilight. Luna did so after thanking her sister once again and walked out of the throne room, holding her head a little higher.
Night had soon claimed the peaceful town of Ponyville, ponies slept peacefully in their homes or wandered around outside under the beauty of the night sky. It warmed the Lunar Princess’ heart to see ponies enjoying her night, but she had business to do here, and she couldn’t get sidetracked by the few wondering ponies of the small town.
Her chariot flew across the sky towards the town so she and the Elements of Harmony could depart into the Everfree forest to find the creature that had caused so much woe.
Luna studied Ponyville to see the five shapes of young Twilight Sparkle and her friends, all gathered in the center of the town with saddlebags adorning their backs.
The Princess landed in their midst and walked off the chariot, glancing around the town to see ponies of all kinds wave and bow to her. Luna couldn’t help but smile and wave back to a few of the ponies before she turned towards the five Elements in front of her. She looked through them to see the Element of Honesty missing from their ranks, “Where is young Applejack?”
“Ah’m right here!” the southern voice of Applejack hollered as she came rushing towards the group, the saddlebags on her back poorly hiding the bandages underneath. “Sorry Ah’m late Princess, Ah just needed to get some stuff and make sure Apple Bloom was okay.”
Luna studied Applejack’s bandages carefully before shifting her gaze back to the Bearer of Honesty. “We appreciate thy’s enthusiasm Applejack, but the Everfree is a dangerous place, and thou art in no condition to be searching through it.”
“Yeah AJ, no offence or anything, but you’re kinda in pretty rough shape,” Rainbow Dash added to Luna’s comment, receiving murmurs of agreement from the rest of the mares.
“Look Ah’m fine, Ah can handle myself,” Applejack argued, being as stubborn as a mule, Luna believed the saying was.
Sighing, she walked towards the apple farmer, “Applejack, we do not ask thee as a Princess, but as a friend, to rest thyself and let whatever injury thou hast endured to heal.”
Applejack was about to defend her case, but no words came from her mouth.
With her ears splaying against the sides of her head, Applejack admitted her defeat, “Fine, but Rainbow,” the prismatic mare in question straightened at mention of her name, “give that fiery headed creature an extra wallopin’ from me, alright?”
“I’m on it,” Rainbow confirmed, saluting Applejack.
“Um… If you don’t mind me asking… what creature?” Fluttershy squeaked, her small form becoming even more compact as she became the center of attention.
Twilight groaned and hung her head to the ground, “Pinkie, I thought I told you to tell Fluttershy about everything with the new creature?”
The cotton candy mare giggled with a smile that Luna had yet see disappear from her face, “You only told me to get Fluttershy and bring her here with things to go into the Everfree forest, you never said anything about telling her about the creature that burned that Timberwolf. Silly Twilight.”
“B-b-b-burned!” Fluttershy shrieked, dashing off to the nearest bush to hide in.
Princess Luna sighed much like all of the others, but to be honest, she was quite impressed by the timid mare’s speed. However, this situation was of great importance and couldn’t be postponed no matter what. The lives of her and her sister’s little ponies may very well hang in the balance.
With the help of young Twilight and her friends, they managed to coax Fluttershy from her hiding spot to hear the details of their most important mission.
“Now that we are all here,” Luna began, glancing at the timid mare whose cheeks reddened under the Princess’ gaze, “We may tell thou of our mission.
“As we are sure some of you know, a new creature has appeared in Equestria. It is highly dangerous and, from information gathered from the three fillies who first encountered it, is highly intelligent. Already it has burned a Timberwolf to ashes in a span of a few seconds after stopping it from eating the three fillies known as the, ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders,’ who have been hospitalized from the trauma of the horrific event they witnessed.” The Princess of the Night saw Fluttershy cringe and hunker down slightly as she spoke, but she did not run away like before. Luna was quite impressed by the sudden courage Fluttershy had somehow gained, however, it soon disappeared as she saw the magical aura emanating from Twilight that held her friend in place.
Ignoring what young Twilight had to do to keep the Bearer of Kindness from running away, again, the Lunar Princess continued, “Our mission is to track down this creature in the Everfree and determine whether it is a threat or not. Doest thou all understand our task?”
All the ponies nodded their heads except for Fluttershy who instead silently asked, “Do we have to?”
“Yes Fluttershy, we have to. If we do not innocent ponies may be hurt by this creature.”
“B-b-bu-but, I’m scared,” Fluttershy whimpered.
“Come on Fluttershy, you were able to overcome your fear of dragons, you can do this!” Twilight reassured her friend.
“Yeah but a dragon couldn’t burn a Timberwolf into ashes in a few seconds.”
“Hold thy conversation, the event of which thou speak of was when thou were forced to speak to a sleeping dragon to relocate correct?” Luna asked the lavender mare trying to encourage her scared friend.
“Uh, yeah,” Twilight responded, obviously wondering what importance this question held.
“Then we believe we have some news that may ease the situation for thou, young Fluttershy. We shall not be confronting the new creature and speaking with it, it would be highly dangerous to do so. No, instead we are to study the creature as you would an animal, from afar.”
“Oh! Like how Twilight was studying me when she found out about my Pinkie Sense!” Pinkie Pie commented, jumping up and down on the ground. But to Luna, her words were nonsense, Pinkie Sense? It would have to be something she’d ask her when they returned.
“Oh, um… I guess that’s okay then,” Fluttershy said, Twilight’s magic leaving her body, letting her rise from her hunkered position.
“Then let us waste no more time.”
Walking off towards the Everfree, the sound of metal clinking against metal graced her ears, which was then she realized something. She couldn’t allow her guards to come with her.
Should the creature discover their presence, it could deem her guards as a threat. It would not only put one of the monarchs of Equestria into peril, but the Elements of Harmony as well. She settled that as her reason for them to stay and turned to tell them, but she was aware to another truth.
Celestia had calmed her mind, yet the words she spoke to Celestia were only half of the reality. The nightmarish dream still plagued her by the questions drawn from it, how much of her dream was true, if any? Does this new creature, an almost perfect replica of the one depicted in her dream, know the answers to her inquiries?
Is it more than a coincidence that this creature appeared after her foul nightmare?
She could not tell yet if this creature, were they to find it, could give her the answers she sought. They would either bring havoc amongst Equestria, or conclude to her that her dream was nothing more than that.
To prevent the possibility of chaos, she deemed it best to be kept a secret between the fewest amount of ponies as possible until she knew the truth about her suspicions. That was truly why she wanted them to stay, and even though it was not honourable, she knew she had to.
“Thine bravery is admirable, but we ask for thee to stay in Ponyville until our return,” Luna asked of her guards. Both of which stopped in their tracks and looked to the Princess for reason.
“As dangerous as the Everfree has been known to be, this creature has proven it is far superior to anything within the dark forest. If it were to ever discover our presence it could take your armoured appearance as a threat and attack. To avoid such confrontation, thou shalt both stay in Ponyville.”
Both guards were about to protest against her decision, yet stopped short in their tracks; they had been given their orders, and if they were to protect the princess and the Elements of Harmony, as is their duty, they could not object.
In their place, Luna heard Twilight raise her concern, “Um… Princess, are you sure that’s the best idea?”
“Yes, young Twilight, we will have to communicate to this creature that we mean it no harm, happen it find us,” Luna answered as she turned her gaze to the Everfree Forest, a dark shadow standing on the horizon.
She knew that they would all be concerned with her decision, but she hoped they would still follow it nonetheless.
Starting off towards the forest, Luna glanced up at her night sky, the thousand lights of her stars shining down onto Equestria. They had been called many things, and calming was one of them. Yet tonight it did not seem so, for it reflected her tired mind. She sighed and returned her attention to the dark forest that began to crawl closer to them every step they took.
Would they find this creature? Only fate would know.
The sound of voices stirred Axel from his sleep. He got up from his terrible excuse of a bed and looked to the looming doors of the ruined castle from which the sounds emanated. Sneaking over to the two giant doors, Axel peered around them.
At first he saw nothing, but the longer he scanned the forest, he soon began to find slight movements in the bushes and undergrowth across the bridge.
From the undergrowth came a group of six ponies, two of them were unicorns, two of them were pegasi, and one of them was one of the ponies that actually looked like a normal pony. But the sixth one was something new; this one was taller than the others and had both wings and a horn. He ducked behind the doors as the tall one’s gaze shifted to the castle.
Axel waited for a few minutes before peering back around the doors, this time, he saw all of them building up what could only be a base camp behind a couple of trees and bushes. One of the unicorns, lavender in coat colour, levitated a pair of binoculars from the saddlebags it wore and began looking for the correct place to see from them in their base camp.
The others began to hide in the camp, one by one they went into it, trying not to be seen by the fiery headed man they must’ve been after and probably saw. Why else would they make their base camp here?
A pegasus with a pink mane began walking slowly to the hiding spot, watching the castle Axel hid in. Underneath her hoof Axel heard a branch snap and saw the pegasus’ eyes go wide as she screamed and ran into the hiding spot she was walking towards.
Laughing, Axel turned away from the door; were these ponies serious? They were trying to do his job. Well, one of his jobs. And as far as he could tell, they were doing pretty horrible.
Axel joked about it for a few minutes, eventually stopping as he began thinking on what to do next. He could easily attack them, but fighting an opponent you know nothing about is a rookie move; he could give them the slip, but then he’ll still learn nothing. He pondered over the thought until a smile crept on his lips as a plan began to form. I guess I’ll give them a bit of a show…
Twilight couldn’t believe it! They’d found the creature already! She thought it would have taken them days, maybe even weeks to find it in the Everfree, but after Pinkie’s suggestion of going to The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters to look, they found it before an hour even passed!
Double checking that her binoculars were in working order, Twilight began studying the castle to see if they could find the creature again. But it was true! It was all true! The creature really did exist! There was a new species in Equestria and Twilight could study it! She would be jumping for joy right now hadn’t they been trying to keep quiet, not to attract the creature’s attention. Though, Fluttershy almost blew their cover after freaking out over a branch that snapped underneath her own hoof! Sometimes that pony is just so – Oh my gosh! There it is! Twilight thought, focusing her binoculars to the entrance of the castle, the creature in question striding out of it.
“Do you think it knows we’re here?” Twilight heard someone whisper to her, though, obviously it wasn’t Princess Luna; Twilight would’ve recognized it if it was Luna.
“I don’t think so, it doesn’t seem to be interested in where we’re hiding,” Twilight whispered back, keeping a trained eye on the weird creature. Everything that the Cutie Mark Crusaders described was true! It did stand on two legs and wear a black coat. She wondered where it got the materials to make it, and how it made it for a matter of fact. But she ignored those questions as she took out a quill, inkwell, and paper and began scribbling down notes about this creature.
“Alright, time to show this guy who’s boss,” Rainbow said in a hushed voice, starting to dash out of the hiding spot, trying to ruin the mission already.
Twilight didn’t see Rainbow Dash come out of the bush and glanced back to see Princess Luna holding Rainbow Dash in her magic, not even allowing her to speak. “We understand the vengeance thou desires, Rainbow Dash, but now is not the time! The lives of ponies may hang in the balance, and if we’re not careful, we could forfeit their lives!”
The magic that held the prismatic mare’s body lessened and Twilight saw her shoulders slump down. The rainbow mare gave a nervous laugh under the stone gaze of the Princess, “Yeah sorry. Wasn’t really thinking there.”
Twilight dismissed the apology and looked back at the creature through her binoculars, watching every motion it made.
Walking around the castle grounds she saw it observing the palace, testing the walls and studying each detail on them. The creature did so for about thirty minutes before returning to the dark recesses of the old kingdom, appearing throughout windows of the castle until it came out onto one of the few balconies that hadn’t fallen apart.
It began doing the same thing it did on the outside grounds, testing the few standing walls and studying the castle from a higher view. Just like the last time it did so for about thirty minutes before going back down through the castle and studying the outside again, about fifteen minutes longer than the last time. It journeyed back up through the castle and studied from the balcony again for about three quarters of an hour.
The creature repeated this time and time again, each time it came back to the outside of the castle it stayed a bit longer before heading back to the balcony. Hours passed and soon yawns of multiple tired ponies began to distract Twilight and she felt a hoof on her shoulder.
She turned to see that the hoof belonged to Princess Luna who had bags under her eyes just like everypony else, “We’re afraid that our time is up young Twilight,” she said, “it is almost dawn and we have neglected our nightly Royal Duties. Thou may stay if thou wishest, but we must leave for now. Fair thee well, young Twilight Sparkle.”
Princess Luna began walking to the back of the camp, stopping as Fluttershy appeared before her. “Um... If it’s okay with you… Could I, um, come with you?”
“Oh, could I come to? My eyes need a rest from this garish forest,” Rarity added in as she trotted over to Luna. Both of them wished to escape from the forest, and Luna couldn’t hold them back.
“Fine, thou may come. We would most enjoy thine company,” Luna responded, smiling at the two mares before exiting the Everfree. Both of the mares trotting to catch up to the Princess as they made their way back home.
Twilight looked at the two friends who stayed, “Did you also want to go? I’m fine if you just want to leave.”
“Are you kidding, the last time you were alone in the Everfree you became a statue,” Rainbow argued, keeping her voice in a low hush.
Originally, Twilight was a little irritated at Rainbow’s words, but the more she thought on them, the more she realized how much loyalty her friend truly had. It was in moments like these that Twilight remembered how much her friends cared for her, “Alright Rainbow, I hope you’re ready for a long day ahead,” she said, giving a smile to her friends. But her words did seem to ring true, the day did seem terribly long.
Night began to hide for shelter as the approaching dawn made its way up into the sky, in the time it took, it felt like a day had already passed. Twilight felt sore, well, everywhere! Her eyes drooped every now and then and she had to force herself to stay awake. The others didn’t seem to fare any better.
The energetic Pinkie yawned and started to fall asleep on her hooves, snoring slightly and Rainbow began fidgeting around, unable to stand still much longer. And the entire time they were there the creature just did the same thing it had been doing for hours before, currently it was checking on the outside of the castle from the ground.
Rainbow Dash sighed as she lay beside the lavender mare; she began watching the creature with Twilight about an hour ago. She tried to strike up a conversation a couple of times but gave up as Twilight’s only response was, “Uh-huh.”
“Oh my gosh! It’s already four!” Pinkie hissed.
Twilight turned her head to see Pinkie jumping frantically on the tips of her hooves.
“Something wrong Pinkie?” Twilight asked as she watched the cotton candy mare.
“I Pinkie Promised the Cakes that I’d have a part for Pound and Pumpkins birthday! But I can’t leave you two here alone, I wouldn’t be a good friend then!” Pinkie stopped in mid air, somehow, and gasped as her eyes brightened up like a light bulb had been lit in her brain.
“I know! I’ll ask Zecora to stay with you while I go back to prepare! Don’t worry girls! I’ll get her here in a giffy!” Pinkie pronounced as she put a rubber chicken, streamers, cake and pie, and a sombrero into her bag.
Rainbow Dash yawned beside Twilight, “Twi’, I know you want to study this thing and all, but I think we should go with Pinkie and catch some shut eye back in Ponyville.”
“Oh, that’s an even better idea!” Pinkie commented in a low hush, flipping the saddlebags she had crammed her ‘necessities’ into onto her back.
Twilight mulled over Rainbow’s words, it probably would be a good idea to go back before she fell asleep in the Everfree, but then the creature may disappear! Yet she couldn’t risk staying out in the Everfree for much longer.
“I’ve stayed up for longer than this,” Twilight said, sidestepping the question as she began to yawn as well and rub her eyes, “but, yeah. I think that would probably be the best idea. Spike will be worrying like a madpony if I don’t get back soon.”
Rainbow stood from where she lay and stretched her sore limbs. Flipping her saddlebags onto her back, she began to walk into the Everfree with Pinkie.
She paused and looked back onto the unmoved Twilight that still lay in hiding from the creature. “Uh, Twilight?”
“Just give me a minute to finish this sentence. I’ll catch up to you later,” Twilight said, waving a hoof to her friends as she continued to jot down notes.
She heard the sounds of hooves fading away in the distance and gave a sigh of relief, grateful now for the serenity of not having two ponies hanging around her as she tried to observe the creature.
Twilight finished her sentence, and continued to write more and more as she saw the creature do something different than it had for the previous hours before. It stared out into the forest and began to walk to the bridge, testing the planks.
A snap diverted Twilight’s attention from the creature and she scanned through the dark forest around her. Twilight gulped; maybe it would have been better if she had left with her friends.
The forest now seemed to creep around her, trying to grab her in its branches and vines. The librarian shook off her foalhood fears and looked back to the creature, but it was gone!
Vanished, it wasn’t there anymore! Where could’ve it gone! Did it go back into the castle!? Twilight frantically searched through her binoculars trying to find it. Then a hoof or paw of some sorts grabbed her from behind and a shriek escaped her lips.
She jumped into the air hitting her head on a low hanging branch and falling onto her back, pushing her hooves through the dirt trying to get away from whatever monster of the forest around her that just tried to make her its breakfast. But she then heard the most vexing thing; laughter?
It was a male laugh and at first Twilight thought a stallion had snuck up on her and scared her for fun. But as Twilight opened her eyes, she saw it to be the creature she had been so eagerly studying holding one of its weird fore-hooves to its chest laughing at her instead. “Oh, that was worth every minute of waiting. You ponies are hilarious!” the creature said, it said!
It could talk! Twilight doubted it could make any form of intellectual communication after watching it look at the castle for all that time but this was… wait, did it say that was worth every minute? Twilight thought, rubbing a spot on the back of her head that she hit on the branch.
The creature continued to laugh for a while longer before calming itself down, “I haven’t laughed like that in a while, almost made me feel like I have a heart.”
At first, Twilight didn’t know what to think, but then the pieces began to fall back in place in her mind and she had her first question prepared, “How’d you sneak up behind me!?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” the creature arrogantly responded, “now who are you then?”
Recomposing herself, Twilight stood from the dirt and held out a hoof in greeting, “My name is Twilight Sparkle; I am the personal student of Princess Celestia.”
“Nice to meet ya Sparkles,” the creature said, the name of the Princess obviously carrying no meaning to it, “oh, you’re probably wondering what my name is? Let me introduce myself. Who am I? My name’s Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?”
“Uh, yeah,” she said, unable to form together her thoughts as she talked to it.
“Good, you’re a quick learner. Well, catch you later Sparkles!” the creature, uh, Axel said, turning its, uh, his back to the lavender mare, waving a hand to her as it walked back into the eerie forest.
Twilight watched it disappear into the trees of the forest, once it left and Twilight’s thoughts came together again, she finally said her mind, “What just happened!?”
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Don't ask.
Yay finally this updated. I can't stop reading this, I dunno whether it is because I like Axel or that this story is so good.
I think I'll says a bit of both. Keep up the good work sir.
Yes! This was perfect!
3527932Why not Option 3? It's good, It has Axel, AND it has ponies.
:3 Been waiting a while for this. I got this fic memorized :P
Finally a damn update!
3528266 ERMAGERD
How did I not think of the ponies.
Very good chapter to say the least, keep it up. Sorry about your real life problems though
Also those that got huffy over the wait, chill I wouldn't be in a writing mood too if I lost a family member.
3527932 I honestly don't think it's that great, but thank you for saying that. It's always great to hear what people think of my work.
3528112 Ah, thanks.
3528266 I'm mostly writing this because I wanted Axel to interact with ponies, him and a few other characters.
3528486 I was waiting for someone (aside from me) to make that joke.
3528568 I know right?
3528789 1.) Glad to know I'm doing something right. 2.) Thanks but I'll be fine. I think I've found probably the best way I can accept their deaths (involves writing a story). 3.) To be fair though, very few people actually knew that my cat and great aunt die, so in their innocence to that they asked for more.
And thank you all for commenting, it always makes my day, and I hope all of you have a great Christmas!
Lol, Twilight just got trolled... XD
Great chapter.
3528904That's why I try to write stories too.
Man, as soon as you get life handled, more updates.
“We may tell thou of our mission.
1. Forgot your closing quotation mark.
Oh Axel, nobodies don't need sleep. Least I don't think they do.
3530890 Well, if you look at Roxas, he's fallen asleep plenty of times. And in 358/2 days, all of the nobodies have beds, so from this, I got the idea that nobodies do sleep, or at least go into a sleep like state to regenerate the energy they used on their missions, but they don't dream. Oh, and thanks for catching that.
3530729 ???
3528942
3529373 Thank you.
Thy*
(Should it find us)? Happen it find us is really weird....
3533087 Thanks for the suggestion. I think that I had that originally, but changed it for some unknown reason.
3533074 Wouldn't thy refer to your, so in that sentence it would be Luna thanking Celestia's sister, which is Luna. So she's be thanking herself, but thee would be like saying you. I think.
3533250
Thy*
Meaning your.
Yeah I prolly shoulda pointed it out better! XD
3533250 Also,
Words hath lightened
Kidding, I'm not that technical.
3533049
#WeNeedMore
“Yeah but a dragon couldn’t burn a Timberwolf into ashes in a few seconds.”
Um, I think they could. They breathe fire you know...
= 
+ 
You got punked.
3535425 You really think a dragon could burn a timberwolf to ashes in a few seconds even with all the huge amounts of wood it is made of? And these aren't the small timberwolves, these are the BIG ones, remember. In my arrogant opinion, I believe it would take a while longer than a few seconds for a dragon to completely burn a timberwolf. (Note: I'm not saying that Dragonflame isn't hot, it just would take longer than a few seconds for a dragon to completely burn a timberwolf into a pile of ashes.)
3534996 I'm afraid that won't be happening for a long time. Sorry.
3533371 Well that makes more sense. Thank you for pointing that out.
3530890 Oh, that quotation mark I forgot to add, that was on purpose. Sometimes author's do that when it's the same speaker talking for a long time and they want to make it into an extra paragraph. Which is what I did with Luna.
If you look in some books with a long momentous speech, To Kill A Mockingbird comes to mind, you'll find examples there.
But we have not seen anything on the show burn someone else, like dragons burning another creature ~ 3536208
3536844 True, but I have two things to counter that. 1.) Because there's so little of Equestria actually shown to us, I'm building some stuff with it so it fits with the story and the rules of the world, such as with dragonfire, make sense with me. 2.) I'm going to be explaining this and other things that people are probably going to question me about in later chapters. And I would tell you now, but that would be spoiling it.
No making stuff up is fine, but just generally speaking in most fiction, dragons can breathe fire and tons of it to the point of melting stone.
3538086
3538092 I know that. But still, there is so much wood that a timberwolf is made out of that it would taker longer than a few seconds to burn it to ashes. Or at least that's how I thought it through.
I hope you'll update this sometime soon! Until then, keep up the good work! Got it memorized?
3575009>>3575050 Thank you for saying all of that, means a lot to hear people say things like that about my writing. But it still has quite a bit to improve upon. And if you're wondering what's wrong with me, one thing is that I'm a bit unstable.
And I'd say whether you're correct or not about who was talking about who, but
static.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/51ce6099e4b0d911b4489b79/51ce61cae4b0d911b44a0ef6/1370442194021/1000w/spoilersriver.png
3575144 I'm not sure whether I should be sighing because you said that or smiling that I'm not the only one who does that pun... smile it is.
Good bit with Nightmare "Muwa-ha-ha"ing, and it seems Axels more interseted in messing with them rather than fighting, or anything else. Nice :). Well, here's hoping the next chapter comes out soon.
Ermahgerd I can't wait for the next chapter! As much as I like how you're writing the ponies and their interactions, I really hoped to see more 'Axel' in this story than what I've seen so far. Regardless, I'm loving it! Keep up the good work.
3936449 Hahahaha, I'm glad you're enjoying it; and don't worry, there will be plenty of Axel later on.
(P.S. I like Mudkips.)
3936884 Glad to hear it! Can't wait!
Brilliant! Moar please!!
...Also, Axel is awesome in this...but...there isn't that much of him this chapter. Can't wait to see Celestia's reaction when she meets him.
But I don't understand Celestia's mindset.
"He is a threat and must be placed in the dungeon because he killed a timberwolf to save the lives of three filles, even though he gave it several warnings."
4015838 Well, this is my first fic and story I've ever written. And I wrote this all a while ago, so yeah some of it is kinda stupid, I'll admit. I'm re-working everything right now with all the characters, the plot line, getting rid of some things that didn't make sense and putting in things that actually made sense, etc.
So I hope you can wait a while while I fix everything.
P.S. There will be more Axel in the future.
10 months later
5019201 Only 10?
But yeah, sorry 'bout that. Lots of crazy shit has been happening to me lately so I haven't really had any time to write.
ahhh, it's been a while since I've been here. Looks like nothing has changed much. (Re-reading the story, still as good as I thought it was)
5204890 Thanks, though, I'm actually hoping to improve this story with some things I have in store. And sorry for no updates, life just loves to get in the way of writing right now.
Why is this on hiatus?
5216032 To make a long story short, I have too many things going on in my life right now that I can't focus on this story at all, and I also don't have a plot for this story created, so I've decided to put it on hiatus until things actually settle down in my life, and I have actually written a plot for this thing.
Ugh... Sorry about the repeated comment. Just delete it.
Why you no update?
5377042 Because the universe hates me. But in all seriousness, I'll hopefully be able to get some writing done when winter break starts.
5377595 Well...I just ordered a wooden version of Oblivion, so you're off the hook until I finish KH 2.5 HD
5377634 Sweet. And don't worry, I should be starting writing for Got it Memorized? and a few other stories very soon, all the while wearing my Organization XIII coat.
5377698 The guy I'm getting Oblivion from has a final form Xemnas coat.