As Twilight starts getting settled into being a princess with her own castle. Crazy events start occuring within Equestria. Who are the Freaks of Old? What do they want? Why are they here?
As Twilight starts getting settled into being a princess with her own castle. Things take a turn for the strange, as crazy events begin taking place in the usually peaceful land of Equestria. And it's up to Twilight and her gang to stop these 'Freaks' from destroying that peace.
It has been about 3 days since Tirek was defeated, and Twilight is starting to get used to her duties as the princess of magic. Twilight had just finished signing some petitions and was ready to hit the hay. She had had a long day, first of all, she had to help with the finishing touches of Ponyville's repairs, meaning she missed breakfast, then she had to help Applejack with dealing with a few rogue Timberwolves. Then, to help the royal guard with certain crimes, she learnt a spell that could photographically store an image inside her head, that can later be projected as a three-dimensional hologram so that she can use that as evidence of some kind, and finally, she had to sign hundreds if not THOUSANDS of petitions.
Overall though, the work of rebuilding Ponyville was what had got to her the most. Even after three whole days of work, the humble town was only a maximum of halfway done. And many ponies were left homeless by the damage. Her friends were very helpful, of course. Rarity had been working day and night to make enough blankets for all those who were homeless, Rainbow Dash had been keeping rain away from the homeless shelters and straight towards the farms, Pinkie Pie had been baking non-stop (And I'm not even kidding when I say, NON-STOP) to help with the food shortage, Applejack and her family had been helping with the rebuilding of the town, and Fluttershy had been training her animals to carry food and tools to those who needed them. Even Discord was helping! (In his own special way of course) By cheering up the homeless and, though rare, now orphaned foals by making it rain chocolate milk for them and creating magical toys! Even though she had all this help, she was exhausted and was ready to go to bed right away.
As she got up to go to bed, she was startled by a loud slamming of doors opening. She turned to the main entrance to see one of the guards running desperately, looking very panicked.
"P-princess Twilight, we need your help with something!" he said between pants.
"What's the problem?" she asked, expecting it to just be a building collapsed or something.
"There is a pony outside, nobody knows who he is and he's spurting out strange stories about a...Shrine, of some sorts in the Everfree forest. But that's not all, he has several stab wounds and cuts across his torso, and we believe that something has attacked him!", that was the answer she was expecting the least. Well, besides Discord making it rain anything other than chocolate milk for the foals.
"Where is he now?" she asked, trying to sound as calm as possible, though failing slightly.
"In the town centre, there are nurses and doctors tending to his injuries, your friends are already there." He replied, sweat still streaming down his forehead. He looked horrified.
Twilight ran as fast as she could to the scene of attention, and noticed immediately the large amounts of blood on the floor. She scanned the huge crowd of ponies for the scene of the matter at hand, and immediately knew where she needed to go. She could see atleast ten doctors and nurses gathered around a stallion, who she could hear screaming very cryptic lines. Twilight needed to get to him as fast as she could. She could try flying, she could try teleportation, she could try- "MAKE WAY FOR PRINCESS TWILIGHT" yelled one of the guards, causing Twilight to jump about three feet into the air out of shock, but atleast it worked, as fairly quickly the crowd split in the middle, creating a pathway for Twilight to walk through. At this point, she could see the scene at it's full glory. Blood. A lot of blood. Everywhere, on every surface, on every doctor and nurse. Blood, EVERYWHERE. She quickly trotted up to the bloodied stallion, where she could finally understand some of the words he was saying.
"Princess Twilight, thank you for coming! We need your help with this." Nurse Redheart said, pointing towards the scene of drama.
"How can I help?" asked Twilight, hoping to get a 'not at all' creepy answer.
"He has been screaming about a skeletal ape that stands on it's hind legs, in an opening somewhere in the Everfree forest, apparently guarding a temple of some sorts. He has been screaming for one of the princesses to talk to him." replied Nurse Redheart, sounding even more terrified than some of the foals that were bearing witness to the scene.
Twilight slowly walked up to the stallion who had calmed down a little thanks to some weak sedatives. As Twilight got close, he slowly turned his head to her.
"Y-y-you have come! At last, you can help me!" he said, in a very coarse and panicked tone, that Twilight attempted to counter with a calm and relaxing tone.
"Sir, I need you to stay calm and tell me what has happened. Can you do that?" she asked, putting on a friendly smile, to which the stallion smiled back and nodded slowly, taking a deep breath.
"I was searching in the Everfree forest for some exotic herbs, with two of my friends, when we came to a strange but enormous open field in the middle. There, was where we saw the Temple of the Old." he said just before he started coughing up some blood. "We decided to try and search the temple, hoping to find some long lost treasures...But instead we....we.....we awoke the guardian. He was a giant skeletal ape that could stand on only two legs, and he wore a dark hood padded with golden armour. He wielded a sword made of pure Australium." this caused Twilight to look at him blankly.
"I'm sorry, but what's australium?" she asked, sounding more confused than a dog trying to sing.
"It is a rare metal brought to our world during the war of dimensions! It can cut through the strongest of steels, and right through my friends and me." he replied, rewarding him with a look of complete shock from Twilight.
"Y-your friends are.....dead?" she asked, trying to not sound as shocked as she was.
"Yes, and so will all of Equestria if you let this creature awaken the sleeping Freaks of Old!" everypony in the area gasped in horror as to what he had just said, what and who were 'The Freaks of Old'? And why did he fear them so much? He started choking up blood, and let out his final words of horror, "Not even Celestia will be able to stop them....GAH!" he said through his dying breath. Now he lay there. Dead.
Twilight ran to her castle as fast as she could, she needed to search her new library for any books about these 'Freaks of Old', but no matter where she searched, there were no books that had ANY information about them. This caused Twilight some panic.
Twilight ran around her bedroom, with a panicked and worried expression on her face. What were these 'Freaks of Old'? And why are they in the Everfree forest?
She had sent a few of her guards to search the library for any books on the matter, but none of them turned up with any information. She had almost lost hope of searching, when a guard burst into her room with a very large book.
"Princess Twilight, we found something that might help with this situation." He said, levitating the book towards her.
Twilight stared at the book, a HUGE brown book, decorated with strange symbols and images. The book was covered in dust, and the title was barely readable. It read something along the lines of 'The ancient history of Equestria', though was not fully understandable.
"Thank you, keep searching for any more. We've got to find out what these 'Freak' things are." She replied, a look of relief of her face, knowing that there was atleast SOME sort of information that could help.
She opened the book, and skimmed through the pages, until she finally came across a page titled 'Chapter 56: The Freaks'. Twilight began reading through the pages, though all they really explained were some of the names and their characteristics; 'Painis Cupcake' the flesh eater, 'Rubberfruit' the master thief, 'Christian Brutal Sniper' the weapons expert etc. Though none of the pages explained why they were buried in some sort of temple.
Twilight started reading more of the characteristics, when a sudden sound of banging came from behind her. This startled her as she gasped in shock. She turned around to see a pile of different outfits scattered across the floor, along with a nearly unconscious cyan pegasus amidst them.
"Err, heh heh. Sorry about that Twi." She said, re-gaining her stability. "Did you hear about that crazy pony that was in town a while ago? I flew over here to tell you that he-" She continued, only to be cut by Twilight.
"Dash, I was there. I spoke to him myself." She replied before letting out a small giggle. "That's why I've been in here all day. I've been trying to find out what those 'Freaks of Old' things he was talking about are." She continued.
"Oh, okay. Found anything yet?" Dash asked.
"A few names and characteristics of some of the 'Freaks', but it doesn't say what they actually are, or why they're in some sort of temple." She replied, sounded a little frustrated.
"Well, at least it's something." Dash remarked. Her voice implying that she was trying to make Twilight feel better about the whole thing. "But do you know what I think?" She added, sounding as though she was about to say something that would either end in some pain, or something about a new trick.
"What?" Twilight asked, a little worried about what Dash was about to say.
"I say, we grab some guards, get Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity, and we search the Everfree forest for that temple!" She replied, with a sound of pure adventurous nature in her voice. "Think about it; the elements of harmony, and a few royal guards, searching a deadly forest for a mystical temple that apparently has some ancient creatures in it. If we're able to discover what's inside, who know's how popular we'll become!" She added, her voice literally filled with her usual adventurous spirit.
"Well Dash, at least it's good to see your usual spirit hasn't changed." She replied, though she tried to sound a little happy, she couldn't prevent the sound of concern in her voice. "But, that's a pretty bad idea. What if one of us gets hurt? There aren't any doctors in the forest." She added, noticing Dash's excited smile turn into a disappointed frown.
"But, we'll have some guards with us! They should have weapons with them, plus, we're the elements of harmony! We also have the most talented unicorn in Equestria, and a princess at that!" Dash added, making a very valid point. The guards do have weapons, and they are very well trained. And Twilight could just use her magic if it comes to it.
"Well, I guess there are a few combat medics in the castle..." Twilight replied, realising that she had been defeated in the argument. "Fine, but I'll have to tell the rest of the town that we'll be gone." She added.
"Awesome! I'll get the others, you handle the rest." Said Dash, throwing her hoof into the air out of pure joy. She quickly flew out of the window at a speed that even unicorn teleportation would be jealous of.
As the group trotted through the forest, they noticed a large amount of the animals that were usually safe and happy in the forest were now hiding in their trees, looking as though they'd seen ghosts.
The only real problem they had on the way was Fluttershy, who, of course, was usually very shy, was constantly stopping and hiding behind bushes out of pure fear. It also didn't help that she was afraid of the guards, due to their large swords and spears.
Eventually though, they came to the clearing.
"Oh.Mah.Celestia." Said Applejack, as the rest of them looked in awe at the huge temple ahead of them. "Ah've never dreamed of somethin' lookin' like that!" She added.
"It certainly is majestic..." Said Rarity, unable to keep her mouth from opening as she stared at the titanic piece of architecture that was ahead of them. "But, it does need a bit of a clean up, what with all that moss and dirt. Wouldn't you agree Fluttershy?" She added, looking toward the timid young pegasus.
"O-oh yes, it's very...um...big and...mossy..." Replied Fluttershy, who was now on the ground shaking like a dry leaf in the autumn.
"So, what now? Do we get to go inside, do we, do we, huh huh huh?" Exclaimed Pinkie with even more energy than usual, who was currently bouncing up and down at a faster speed than usual.
"We can have a little look around inside, but remember, we're only here to try and find out what these freak things are, then we head back." Answered Twilight.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Remarked Rainbow Dash with extreme amounts of excitement.
They walked into the temple, and looked around the first room, observing the hieroglyphics that were printed onto the walls.
"Be careful everypony, there's no telling what those 'Freak' things placed in their temple hundreds of thousands of years ago. And keep an eye out for the guardian." Instructed Twilight, making sure everypony was able to hear her.
They looked around for about an hour before one of the guards disrupted the silence.
"What in the name of Celestia is that?" Yelled one of the guards, startling the other ponies in the large room.
"Guard, what do you see?" Asked Twilight, expecting him to have seen a statue or something that just startled him a little.
Before anyone could react, the guard let out a yelp, as a bright yellow blur flew toward him eventually landing in his forehead. He remained motionless, as the blur faded into the shape of a golden blade. One that was now wedged between his eyes. Blood began pouring down his face, as he fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood.
"THE GUARDIAN!" Yelled another guard, as the others galloped into a defensive formation. "Princess Twilight, you and your friends head back to Ponyville, we'll distract him!"
Twilight and her friends quickly escaped the temple, as they heard the screams of the guards. They were all dead. The 6 ponies stood outside, frozen in fear, staring at the entrance, as they were all curious to what this ape actually looked like. And they got what they wanted.
After a few seconds of watching, the giant skeletal ape appeared in the entryway, wielding the large 'Australium' blade in his hand. The mares looked at him as their eyes widened, and their postures sharpened.
"Leave..." The creature instructed, before he raised his sword and pointed it towards the gang.
Immediately, the gang retreated into the forest...All except for one.
The young yellow mare lay on the floor, her face in her hooves, trying to hide from the creature in pure shock, unknowing that the creature was heading towards her, his sword ready for combat.
"Fluttershy, what are you doing? RUN!" Yelled Rainbow Dash from across the field.
Fluttershy looked up for a moment, only to see that extremely tall, thin skeletal figure standing tall above her.
"Huh? AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She yelled, before her throat was grasped by the skeletal figure.
"You....DIE!" The guardian scowled, as he raised her into the sky, his skeletal claw firmly gripped around her throat.
"FLUTTERSHY!" Yelled her friends, as the started running towards the scene. But not fast enough.
The skeletal figure positioned his sword so it was pointed towards the young mare, and, after a long while of choking the mare, thrust his blade into her stomach. Blood began to drip onto the floor and onto his blade as the mare let out an ear piercing scream.
"Never return." Scowled the guardian, as he threw the mare's body into her friends.
Rainbow Dash caught her, and immediately flew towards ponyville, with a dying mare on her back.
Twilight worryingly trotted around her bedroom, almost in a state of hyperventilating. How could she have let this happen? How could she let her friend get injured like this? Even worse, her friend could potentially die because of her!
She needed to get her mind off these things. After all, that was at least 3 days ago now, though she hadn't been keeping the time. Twilight knew she needed to get back into the world soon, but she couldn't find the courage.
Rainbow Dash refused to leave Fluttershy's side after the incident, and was now refusing to even leave the hospital in case Fluttershy woke up. Twilight was proud of Dash, none of the others had volunteered to stay there, as they had jobs to do, so Dash was the only one there.
Twilight let out a sigh.
'I need to get my mind off of all this. I need to get back out into Ponyville and be their princess...But...What will they say?' Twilight thought. She had never really realised, but what if the town hated her for all of this? She might have awoken a freak, she could have killed Fluttershy, she could have placed everyone in danger!
Her train of thought was stopped by a loud banging on the door. A muffled voice could be heard from outside, it sounded vaguely familiar, with a posh sounding accent.
"Twlight dear, are you in there? You simply must come out, the Ponyvillians need you Twlight, we need you!"
Trust Rarity to try and get her out. Though she wasn't the most convincing, the sound of her voice after all this was comforting at the least. She couldn't keep hiding any more. She had to face what she had potentially done. She had to go back out into Ponyville.
With a sigh of nervousness, she walked towards the door. Opening it to see Rarity outside, a heart warming smile on her face.
"Are you alright Twilight? You've been in there for a week now! Everyone has been worried sick about you, dear."
A whole week?!?!?! Twilight could have sworn it was only 3 days...This was bad.
"Wait a sec, a week? As in seven whole days?" Twilight replied, the sound of pure concern and worry in her voice.
"Indeed I do, dear. Now, come along. We've got to get you back into reality, young lady."
Twilight took notice of Rarity's eyes. They were red, and looked sore. Almost as though she hadn't slept for a long time.
"Rarity, why are your eyes so red?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, everyone in town has been having strange nightmares since the incident. And they're always the same thing." She replied, only pausing to let out a yawn.
"What are they about?" Twilight asked. Could this be the work of a freak?
"Well, everyone's dreams are the same style, except with their own loved ones in it." She replied. "It's always about a tall, dark ape-like creature, like the guardian, though this one is much larger and...Scarier. It wore a dar-" Rarity was cut off by Twilight galloping back to her room. "Twilight?"
Twilight galloped back as quickly as she could, levitating a big brown book with her horn.
"What on earth is that?" Asked Rarity.
"Hopefully, not important." Twilight replied. "Now, can you tell me what this creature looked like?" She asked, opening the book.
Rarity read the title of the book. 'The complete history of Equestria.'. What did this have to do with anything? She proceeded to read the chapter that Twilight had opened to. 'Chapter 56: The freaks of old'.
"Well, it was a large figure. Dark clothing, a cloak, strange potions strapped to it. It had a large, metal beak, and glowing green eyes. It wore a very wide hat that almost covered it's head completely, and it also-"
"Rarity, is this the thing you saw?" Twilight interrupted, as she turned to book around to show Rarity the page she was on.
"Yes, that's the one! But...What has that got to do with anything?" Rarity replied, looking confused as to why Twilight felt the need to show her that page.
Twilight turned the book around to read.
"The Blightcaller: This fierce freak feeds off the fear of humans and creatures alike. It will cause hallucinations and nightmares for his prey before finally striking them dead. His method of killing is not entirely know, though he can kill with a single touch, and even zombify any creature he desires to do his bidding. His nightmares and hallucinations can last for days, even weeks before he comes in for the kill. If at any point you hallucinate him or have nightmares about him. Stay out of plain sight until they go away, lock all of your doors and keep a weapon with you at all times." Twilight read, causing a look of pure fear on Rarity.
"Twilight, y-you can't possible be implying that..." Rarity responded with fear coursing through her voice.
"If this book is correct, and all of Ponyville have been hallucinating and having nightmares...I think we may have awoken a freak...This one, specifically..." Twilight replied.
So, now they really have released a freak, and Ponyville is indeed in danger...Twilight needs to contact the other princesses right away!
Just as Twilight was about to call for Spike, she caught glimpse of something out the window. It was familiar...and very dark...Oh no...
The figure turned towards Twilight, his metal beak and green eyes in full display. Before Twilight could react, the creature began toying with Twilight's mind, making his face appear in her eyes and mind, and she could vaguely make out what it was saying...
"Ze healing is not rewarding. Ze hurting, is rewarding." It said before finally vanishing.
Twilight now knew for certain. She had let a freak enter Equestria. It's just a matter of time before he claims his first victi-
"Princess Twilight, we have urgent news!" Came a deep, coarse voice from behind.
Twilight turned around to see the same guard that first reported the crazy pony from last week.
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.
"The Ponyvillians are going crazy, at least 500 ponies just had to go to the hospital. About 300 are confirmed dead."
Dash sat awake, her head lying on the stomach of her almost lifeless friend. The constant beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound she could hear aside from her own sobbing.
Dash raised her head to take another look at her friend. She still hadn't moved...
Dash returned to her sobbing, her tears dripping onto the blanket that covered a heavily injured pegasus.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
So many thoughts conflicted her at once, so many, terrifying, heart-crushing, painful, tearful, thoughts. They pierced through her usually cocky personality and struck her at her core, making it impossible for her to resist the onslaught of tears that flowed from her eyes. They were so sore that she honestly felt that touching them would make them fall off...
Beep. Beep. Beep
Dash took a moment to try and get her thoughts together, and to try to figure out what her mind was trying to tell her.
'It's all my fault. I should have never convinced Twilight to take us to that god damned temple! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!' Dashes tears began to well up into a waterfall of depression. 'I killed her, I killed Fluttershy! Nopony will ever forgive me, not even me!' Her head began throbbing, she couldn't bare the thoughts any longer...'I can't live with this guilt, I just can't! I'll be hated forever, the rest of my life I will be hated be everyone that sees me.'
"Please wake up...Please Fluttershy, just wake up, I can't bare it anymore!" Dash exclaimed, hoping to wake up the unconscious mare.
Dashes thoughts were interrupted by a certain beating. It had a certain rhythm to it, it was familiar...
Dash felt her head slowly bobbing up and down. But not on her own intent...Something was moving her head. She could hear something breathing...It can't be...
Dash quickly raised her head and turned towards Fluttershy, as she witnessed something she was hoping for this entire time...Fluttershy was waking up.
"She's waking up!" Dash called, notifying the nearby doctors and nurses what was happening.
The doctors didn't delay, as three immediately entered the room with a trolley covered in medicine, food and water. Fluttershy's breathing became heavier and quicker, as she let out a small whimper. She suddenly sat up, screaming as her eyes widened.
"Fluttershy, calm down! It's just me, it's just me!" Dash exclaimed, pulling Fluttershy into a tight hug. "It's ok, I'm here for you...I wont let this happen to you ever again!" Dash continued, tightening the hug.
Fluttershy calmed down, and looked at Dash, then observed the room. It was a large room, only one bed, medical supplies were in high supply, and there was a single window to her right. Fluttershy soon realized where she was. She was in a hospital bed, surrounded by doctors. And it was at this point, Fluttershy's mind went back to normal, and so she spoke.
"Wh-where...t-the guardian, h-he-"
"Fluttershy, it's fine, we're safe...You're safe..." Dash interrupted, comforting Fluttershy as a stream of happy tears poured down her face.
Fluttershy remembered what had happened, but she wasn't sure if it was real or just a bad dream...She needed confirmation. She looked down, at her stomach, it was tightly wrapped in bandages...It was real...
"Miss Fluttershy, how are you feeling?" Asked the leading doctor.
"I-I feel...strange..." Replied Fluttershy with a slight twist in her expression.
"That is to be expected, we had to use a very powerful anaesthetic due to the injury you suffered. To make matters worse, you've been in a coma for a week now." He said before handing her a small glass of a purple liquid, a medical drink, no doubt. "Drink this, it will ease your headache." He continued with a smile on his face.
Fluttershy lifted the glass to her mouth, observing the liquid inside. She inhaled the scent it was giving off, it was a sweet, yet sour smell, it was fruity, but also bitter. She lightly poured the liquid into her mouth, taking small sips at a time. After a few sips, she let out a sigh of relaxation.
'What is this stuff?' She asked herself, 'Whatever it is, it's working.'. She laid back and smiled gently, much to the relief of everyone else in the room. Slowly, but surely, her headache began to clear, and her heart began to relax.
Dash wiped her tears away and stood up. "I'll go tell the others that you're okay, just try not to think about what happened. Okay?" Dash asked, looking into Fluttershy's eyes and smiling gently. Fluttershy nodded, and Dash muzzled her gently. "See you later, Flutters." Dash said, waving to Fluttershy as she left the room.
'I'm so glad I have a friend like her. But...what DID happen?'
