Hey everypony, it's me Lucky Star from the Everfree RestStop. You can just call me Lucky, and I'm proud to be the newest member of the team. The Boss was so impressed with how I managed to stay inside the store for several days without leaving or going insane that they offered me a full-time position while the regular clerk, Bright is out recovering from his leg injury, Happy Monday everypony.
The other guy asked me to do him a small favor while he's getting some much needed R&R. He gave me the password to his laptop and detailed instructions to transcribe his journal entries from last week, in exchange he agreed to keep me on as a full-time assistant after he gets back. I get to learn what to expect on the job through his first-hoof documentation, and he gets to continue his weird little story, now don't know about you, but that is what I call a win-win. If I'm being honest, this is probably the best thing that could have happened to me right now. Ever since the program mysteriously dissolved at the Mathmatist Community, I've been feeling very lost and vulnerable, I've been losing weight and having trouble sleeping, and when I do I keep having these weird dreams of some enormous being deep below the RestStop waiting to devour us all. I believe the condition is called depression, but I have faith that I haven't been abandoned, clearly a mistake was made and I was overlooked, if any of my old brothers and sister are out there and see this post, PLEASE, please contact me, tell the seniors they forgot about me, I'm not mad, I miss you, I love you.
Before I get started. Some Royal Guard ponies came by and suggested that if this story type blog was going to continue, that I make a PSA. If there is anypony still alive that read the story about what happened here on Nightmare Night, don't wait for symptoms to start, PLEASE go to the nearest emergency room, or call the Canterlot Center for Disease Control, and tell them you are experiencing the effects of Rommel's Syndrome.
I also want to say a few things about myself. I'm a Pegasus pony, Orange fur, Blonde mane, and my Cutie Mark is a 4 leaf clover with little Yellow stars on each of the leaves. Now some ponies might thing that Pegasi can only fly, walk on clouds, and change the weather, which we all can. However some Pegasi are born with special abilities which we affectionally call Quirks, the nature of these Quirks usually tie in with our Cutie Marks, weather it be talking to animals, the kind of after image we leave behind, or something physical like massive muscles or goggly eyes. My Quirk has to do with my Luck. I have the ability to either give or take away the luck of anypony around me, the only problem is that I'm not able to control it very well. My quirk usually gives and takes luck as it sees fit, usually giving it to me while stealing it from other ponies, like those three times I killed the same Unicorn, I think his name was Pillar. I was surprised the first time, my luck stealing never really killed anypony before, the second time I thought that he had come back to life, the third time was when Bright explained that Pillar somehow was able to reincarnate himself leaving his dead bodies behind, and reappearing somewhere else, that was his theory at least, as for me, I think he has some kind of cloning machine in his basement that makes a new him every time he dies. Anyway back to the Journals.
I'm going to do my best because the guy's hoof writing is awful, here's the parts I could read.
7:00 pm: The thing in the trenchcoat was standing out back when I went to take out the garbage tonight. I don't know why he keeps visiting my store or why I've never gotten a good look at him. He was standing at the tree line just beyond the dumpster, staring as he ever did, tonight I stared back. The hinge of his jaw began halfway up his face where his nose should have been, the edges pulled back to either ear in a skeletal grin, his tiny milky white eyes were beads behind the oily black hairline that hung down straight in bangs all the way to his cheek jowls, his impossibly wide mouth bisected the head between greasy hair and wet flesh, drool I would assume. We stood there, 15 ft apart staring at one another for what might have been 10 seconds or 10 minutes until he finally turned away, his legs bent funny, in a way that they shouldn't be able to bend, he landed on all fours before galloping off into the woods. I don't know if I've seen the last of the thing in the trenchcoat or not, but this was the first time I got a good look at him.
Holy shit did you guys read that? This is some crazy shit. Sorry, Lucky again. I promise I'm not gonna do the running commentary thing, I just had to say Holy Fuck, y'know. This is some weird stuff, I mean I remember him telling me a couple weeks ago to go outside and talk to a thing in a trenchcoat, I'm super glad I didn't now, what the Tartarus. Okay that's it I'm done, back to the transcriptions.
8:30 pm: A mail pony came and dropped off a package for me. I signed for it and took it inside. I haven't opened it yet, something tells me I shouldn't.
1:30 am: Rocco and his band just came into the RestStop. They didn't even make an effort to sneak, they just ran in and climbed up onto the shelves. They're where about 27 of them in total. I grabbed a broom up in my magic and made my way to shoo them off when I noticed the LARGEST King Cobra I had ever seen in my life. It was having a staring contest of death with Rocco, who was hissing and snarling with fury that he only has in his fights with Scar. I slapped it in the head with my broom over and over again, slowly pushing it outside before closing the door. Rocco charged out the door and began to wrestle with the snake, the two made their way into the woods leaving me alone with the others. Looks like Rocco's gang will have to stay here for the time being until we get this snake mess taken care of.
2:00 am: I called that one Pegasus, FlutterShy again. I told her that the snakes where back, and that there where more than usual this time. We went to the usual space and when we opened the vent, a huge Anaconda wrapped around her and pulled her in with the speed of a bear trap slamming shut. I stared at the vent for a moment before walking back to my post. There was no way in Tartarus I was dealing with that.
2:30 am: I asked BugSpray to cover for we while I went to explain to Princess Twilight at one of her friends might have been eaten by snakes. As I walked outside I tried to think up a way to break the ice, that's when I saw FlutterShy come out from around the corner. Her mane and tail where frazzled, her coat was covered in some kind of glossy liquid, and she had a look of melancholy pleaser on her face. As she walked up to me I saw an army of snakes rush into the surrounding woods. When I asked her what happened, she just said that there where a lot more snakes than usual, hundreds and hundreds of them, she had never seen so many in one place before, not even in her dreams. Before she left she told me to call her if anymore snakes needed taming. Was that suppose to be a suggestion or a flirtation? Either way I had some Raccoons I needed to relocate.
3:23 am: It's quieter than I'd like it to be. The package form yesterday afternoon still sits on the counter where I left it. The label is made out to me with a return address I don't recognize. The rectangular parcel is wrapped like a Hearth's Warming gift, with red and yellow stripes, and it feels heavy, I would say it's just the right size for a dead cat. I can't think of any realistic reason I shouldn't open the package. But there is just something in the back of my mind telling me that to open this would be tantamount to opening Pandora's Box, that the contents of this little parcel will irrevocably charge the course of my life in a way that may have seemed impossible before, I feel like this box is full of butterflies ready to create tsunamis and I'm just not sure I'm ready for that yet. I think I'm just gonna teach Smoker how to clean the drink machines.
3:25 am: Smoker's passed out in a hammock in the supply closet. I think he finished that bottle from earlier on his own. I guess I'll go and clean the drink machines myself.
5:45 am: The Hoof plants are growing faster than I had anticipated, they are now past the elbows and almost to the shoulders. When I went out to check on BugSpray to see if he had survived that whole snake invasion earlier, I saw that the crop had caught a curious coyote that had got too close, it was not pretty. I also noticed Rocco was still alive, and was wearing the Cobra from before as a hooded scarf. I caught him sitting on the roof tossing Cheesy Puffs to the crop of Hoof plants. This is why they're growing too fast, they're eating way too much, if this gets out of control I may have to torch this crop just like the others. I don't want to it sends shivers down my spine whenever I hear the way they scream. How is it even possible for plants to scream?
7:30 am: Looks like BugSpray's alive, he came in for his morning shift looking pretty terrible. He filled up on coffee and told me that he hadn't been sleeping too well, the bad dreams had been keeping him from getting a restful night, didn't help that this time he woke up to see a horde of snakes slithering deep into the forest last night. I wonder if I should tell BugSpray about my condition. He asked about the gift-wrapped package sitting on the counter I told him that it had been delivered here yesterday and I didn't know who it was from. He asked if I was gonna open it and I told him that I had a bad feeling and pretty much decide to never ever open it
10:00 am: I decide to open the package. Without any fanfare or drumroll I'll just tell you that what I found inside was a brand new laptop computer. I never owned my own laptop before and the only computer that ever belonged to mean was a crappy little Pon-E 1000 that I put together as a kid. I've always used my neighbor's computer, or the browser on my phone to access the internet, this could be a game changer, the box also contained a signal repeater and some other gizmos. I know this is crazy, but I think I may actually be able to access the internet from the RestStop now. There was a hoof written note at the bottom of the package.
It read as follows.
Dear Bright.
Hello, I left a comment on your page, there's something I want to tell you. I'm enjoying these stories you're writing but I think if you actually sit down and write out one story at a time in between the entry log, that you will get a lot more upvotes. Forgive me for being blunt, but right know it seems like you have been telling us a lot of half stories thrown together with the main one about the whole situation with the resurrecting Pillar.
I think you'd do great if you write out a whole story at a time if nothing different immediately comes up. I bet you'd get a lot of upvotes and attention, it gets kind of confusing right now, maybe start with when you got there and work your way up to now, or maybe just write about things that happened this past year, like when the Hoof Plants started growing. I'd bet that would be super awesome. I'm so fascinated by the weird goings-on, but at the same time a little muddled about the order. I can tell you have a great talent for writing but I just thought maybe I'd offer a suggestion to help. Please do not take offense, it's just something I was thinking hope everything is going well for you.
Sincerely Anonymous
Great looks like another one of my readers tracked me down, I should have expected this since I gave out the place that I work. At least their not coming to my house though. Thank you whoever you are for the laptop I'm definitely keeping it.
10:15 am: I turned on the Wi-Fi card and noticed that for some reason there are dozens of secured networks around the RestStop, most of which have 4 or 5 bars. The names for the networks are pure gobbledygook, like this one, 1E7G7C7TA11GUY232331324. Who the Tartarus is transmitting Wi-Fi out here?
11:00 am A couple of hour ago a Griffin came into the store to by a pack of beef jerky and some gas for his vehicle. I didn't think much of it at the time, but then he came back in asking if we could help him out with something do the road, I never got his name but he was a big guy, he had black fur, and a thick feathery beard. He said he was having car problems. I told him I wasn't a car guy, and neither were BugSpray and Smoker. He insisted he didn't need a car guy just somepony else to see what he was seeing. Smoker agreed to watch the counter while BugSpray and I followed the bearded Griffon down the hill and around the curve, close to the spot where BugSpray saw that Strega thing in the woods. He couldn't vividly remember what it was, after we got everything sorted out with Slasher, and things started to go back to "normal" I asked BugSpray to describe the thing, but he just shook he head saying he didn't see it, but he felt its presence.
You see Changelings have the ability to sense and absorb emotions, different emotions have different effects.
Love gives them power.
Hatred gives them sadness.
Sadness gives them displeasure.
BugSpray said that whatever that Strega thing was, it was emanating pure, unfiltered, unadulterated, Bloodlust. Which is something that not just Changelings but other creatures can sense as well. Changelings are just much more attuned to the emotions of others. BugSpray said that the Bloodlust emanating off that thing was so powerful it took all he could not to pass out from pure fear. I realized that I wasn't the only one at the RestStop with a list of Try'n'forget stories so I dropped it.
Back to yesterday. The Griffon's car was parked on the side of the road, close to the same spot that Pillar's vehicle was broken down.
"So yeah, my car started acting funny." The Griffon said as we neared his vehicle. I began the wonder why we walked this whole way when we didn't have the tools to fix things. I mean my magic could have helped out in the case of a dead battery or even a busted tire. But if the axle was damaged or the engine was shot we were out of luck. I had bought a vehicle repair book some time ago after Pillar first came in with his vehicle.
The Griffon kept going. "I pulled over onto the side of the road when my electricals all started going haywire, I killed the engine, then when I tried to turn it over again, nada." I could see at this point that the vehicle was a big black SUV similar to the one Pillar owned, only newer and shinier. I could also see that the hood was open.
"I don't see what's so weird about that, you need us to call a tow-" BugSpray began before he was cut off by the Griffon, rudely I might add. "Would ya let me finish, anyway I popped the hood but everything was in order, thought maybe it just needed some gas so I went up to the RestStop. When I got back I saw this."
We rounded the car we saw the "this" he was being so vague about. A small oak tree, maybe 4 or 5 years old was growing up from the ground beneath the car, through the engine, and stretched upwards at least 9ft. The trunk of the tree had swallowed or I should say engulfed a decent portion of the engine and from the looks of it the car had been parked there for years.
"Intersting." I said. "And you're sure that wasn't here when you stared driving?"
Before he could snap at me he spun his head around and looked at the forest.
"You boys hear that?" He asked. We stood still and listened but I couldn't hear anything.
"No." I answered. BugSpray just struggled.
"You boys know what an Anglerfish is?" The Griffon asked as he backed up to the back door of his vehicle and opened it.
"Not really." BugSpray answered.
"I spent some time with Sea Ponies a while back, told me an Anglerfish is some kind of deep sea predator." The Griffon said as he moved back the passenger seat, pulled up a secret compartment from beneath it, and retrieved a large automatic rifle made by Griffons, along with a vest plated with leather and metal, a pair of saddlebags which held cartages of ammunition, and a pair of bandoleers which held small little bombs filled with various liquids. Now I'm not a gun guy so I can't tell you what kind of gun it was, but it was big, and impressive, and cool looking. The Griffon checked the clip and clicked something on the gun which I guess could have been the safety. Like I said I'm not a gun guy but I sounded super cool. BugSpray put a hoof on my shoulder and slowly backed away from the Griffon, pulling me with him. But the Griffon didn't seem to mind us one bit, he was focused on whatever he heard in the woods. "If I'm right, you boys have an AnglerFish in them woods. Not surprising since this is Discord's Dartboard."
"But you just said that Anglerfish are deep sea creatures." I told him.
"I know what I said." He snapped, as be grabbed a pair of high tech military goggles out of the little compartment. "I don't know what to call it though, it's acting like an Anglerfish. It's putting something out there to lure me in, make me think I'm hearing something that I'm not, then when I go looking for the one thing BAM, it attacks."
"You mean like a siren." I asked.
The Griffon looked at me over his shoulder with a smirk and said. "Yeah, like a siren." He closed the door, putting the googles on and pressing a button on the side making them flash for a second. He then turned back to the woods standing on his hind-legs while holding the gun in his talons. "You two may want to get out of here, this could get dangerous. Don't worry 'bout me, I've dealt with these things before I'll be fine." The Griffon pointed his gun an marched into the woods, while BugSpray and I made out way back to the RestStop.
2:00 pm: It's time for me to go home. I haven't used the laptop yet, but maybe tomorrow I'll start to type up these journals.
November 8th 6:00 pm: It's getting dark so early these days, I noticed that Bearded Griffon's vehicle is still at the bottom of the hill with the tree growing through it. I would not call that a good sign.
11:00 pm: I burned the rest of the Hoof plants, I finally know what's going on, and like that pony who sent me the laptop suggested, I'm going to be telling the full story behind the Hoof plants. A long time ago I noticed what looked like strange mushrooms growing in a patch near the dumpster behind the RestStop. I didn't think much about them except that it was strange that Rocco's brood wouldn't go near them. When I took a closer look at them, I could have sworn they looked like the soles of hooves poking out of the ground. As the weather got warmer I kept an eye on the crops, The started getting longer and looking more and more distinguigshedibly similar to pony hooves, sometimes I would ever see them squash a bug that had wandered too close, eventually they started getting longer and growing joints eventually growing legs, Pony legs, the would bend down during the day time and extend in the moonlight. I dug one of them up one day when we were really slow at work, I called Farmer Jr. to ask for his professional opinion. To the untrained eye, the Hoof plant looked just like a normal pony hoof, smaller than an adult's, but larger than a foul's, adolescent, teenager maybe, at the place where I had dung it up from it turned into a gnarled root that smelled like sassafras, and throughout the plant tiny hair like leaves where sprouting. Farmer Jr. stood in the RestStop fo an hour looking it over before asking if we had anymore of those things, I lied and told him no. I asked the Boss what he wanted me to do, he thought it over for a couple days then they told me to keep them. I think they expected to be able to make some money off them somehow, but eventually everypony forgot they were there. Well everypony but me, and Farmer Jr. or coarse.
Jumping back to now. Here's what lead me to torch the plants. I was sitting in my little area, thinking about what might have happened to the bearded Griffon, when I first heard the sound of a baby crying somewhere outside. I was alone in the store and my first instinct was not the heroic that most ponies may have had, to go running outside to see where the poor baby was. My first instinct was more callous and rational and in the form of a question, How the Tartarus did a bay get all the way out here without me hearing it coming? Something wasn't right. The sound of the cries which I could deduce were coming from the tree line were getting louder and louder, and more and more desperate. I looked around for Smoker but couldn't find him anywhere. If I was going to investigate the potential forest baby, I was gonna have to do it alone. I remembered the Griffon hearing the siren call of that thing he called an "Anglerfish", I remembered BugSpray telling me about the sound of crunching and the Strega Witch, and absolutely no part of me believed that I would be safe if I went into the woods, or that there was really a crying baby out there, but what if? I grabbed the crossbow I keep incase of robbers and went out back, using my horn to light up the dark, the crying seemed to be moving deeper into the forest, quickly, like the crying baby were being carried off by something that didn't have to stop and move around trees or physical barriers. I walked into the forest just far enough to see the last thing I ever expected to find. It seems that the Hoof plants had extended slightly further than the little patch outside the RestStop. Those plants that I had been watching and burning whenever they got too aggressive were not as controlled as I previously believed, because out here, just a few steps into the woods, was a Hoof plant that I had missed, that I had never trimmed, or culled, or burned, that was left free to grow as large and wild as it possibly could. Out here was a Hoof plant that had grown so large it had fallen over, it had grown past the shoulder, it had grown its own neck, and head, and torso, and crotch, and legs. Out here was a full pony body huddled on the ground and attached to the soil by thick talons of brown roots, and the weirdest part of all, was that the body was one that I recognized. The body, the fully grown Hoof plant was Pillar. I don't know what possessed me to touch him, maybe I just wanted to make sure that he was real, as if touching him would prove that one way or another. When I did his eyes opened and cracked a smile, he couldn't move the roots had him firmly stuck in place, but this Pillar Plant could talk, and talk he did. We stayed out there talking for over an hour, I won't go into everything the Pillar Plant said, but I will say this. There is something UNDER the RestStop, something big and powerful, something plotting, and me, and the Boss, and every other pony who worked there have been working in a cloud of this Dark God's farts. I felt extra terrible setting the fully developed Pillar Plant on fire with my magic, after I burned the rest of the crop of Hoof plants, but honestly what choice did I have? When I got back to the RestStop, Slasher was waiting for me. He knew I knew, and I knew he knew I knew. I was halfway expecting what came next, but not expecting him to enjoy himself quite so much. Slasher locked the front doors then proceeded to beat the crap out of me. I'd like to say I got in a few good hits as well but that would be a huge lie. Our fight was as one-sided as one of Scar and Rocco's brawls. I don't think I laid a single hoof on him, although I did get his fur all messy with the blood from my face, so I have that going for me. After I was beaten to the point where most Ponies would be unconscious, Slasher dragged me across the RestStop to the hallway past the bathrooms, past the walk-in cooler, and up to that big strange door that I had only just noticed a couple weeks ago.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked as he banged the door three times.
There was a sound from the other side, and Slasher yelled, "OPEN UP IT'S ME."
The door cracked open, and Slasher dragged me into a room I had never seen before. It looked like an old office, the was a desk next to a wall of monitors with security feeds from all over the store and the perimeter, security feeds from cameras I never knew existed. In the middle of the room was a large hole that looked like it had been created with a team of Jackhammers.
"It's time for you to meet my boss." Slasher said as he dragged me to the edge of the hole.
"Pillar?" I asked, to which Slasher let a hearty laugh. "HAHAHAHAHAA, No not Pillar you fucking raisin-brained desk jockey. My boss put a crop of Pillar's Plant copies out there and hired me to watch them, made them from Timberwolf ooze that he infused with Pillar's DNA. The one you talked to was the last of them, and the ones out back where the new crop. Now we're gonna have to relocate and make more."
"Wait if Pillar's not behind this, than who is?"
"HAHA you really thought Pillar was behind all this? Earth Ponies may be good with plants, but their expertise stops at kicking trees and brewing cider. Those Pillar Plants where made with Elder Magic, like the stuff Discord uses, and before you ask, no Discord is not my boss. My boss is much bigger than some idiot politician or trickster avatar, he's on the same level as the Princesses, and ten times as old, but Pillar already told you all of this, didn't he?"
I half-expected Slasher to go continue his explanation into a sort of cliche movie villain exposition, followed by a song and dance routine, but instead drop-kicked right into the hole. I think one of my legs is broken, at least I assume that's what the bone poking out mean, but hey, I'm not doctor. I would be really worried right now if it weren't for the fact that I swiped Slasher's Cellphone in the fight, never underestimate a Unicorn with too much free time on his hoofs. Just as I expected Slasher had the same network as Pillar, which means he somehow had service out here. I put in a call to Blue's direct number which he gave me after the rookie he sent out here got his badge stolen by Rocco, so I'm sure he'll be along shortly until he gets here, I'm just passing the time updating my journals.
11:30 pm: Somepony just dropped the laptop into this hole with me. Maybe it was Slasher, maybe he thinks I'm dead, maybe I am, again I'm not a doctor. Who ever it was I think is was I think I might have heard the sound of boot spurs clicking against the tile as he walked away. I guess I'll boot this thing up an start transcribing my journal entries before it's to late.
Okay so that was the last of his journals. You're probably wondering to yourself, "Where was Lucky while Slasher was beating the crap out of poor old Bright?" Well I had gone into town to see a movie, yes I went and watched the Power Ponies movie, if you haven't seen it yet go see it, IT WAS AWESOME. I guess I'm lucky I went when I did (no pun intended) otherwise this Slasher guy might have tossed me into that hole as well, probably after breaking my wings, cause otherwise what would be the point? I was the one that found Bright, when I came back to the RestStop I couldn't find anypony. When I went to BugSpray's cabin I found a note saying he had gone out on a date, good for him. When I came back in the store I notice that door at the edge of the hall cracked open slightly, I also found a really poorly made bomb behind the register, but it didn't take long to disassemble. You can thank the mandatory bomb-building at the mathmatist program for that. No big deal just me being my typical heroic self.
I just caught myself digging. I don't know what happened, one minute I'm here next minute I'm in an 8ft deep hole out back with a shovel in my hoofs. Bright mentioned that he sometimes digs a big hole out back, whatever I'm just gonna post this and go to bed.
One last thing, if anypony knows who this Smoker guy is please tell me.