//------------------------------// // Chapter 22 - Therohs // Story: The Lost One // by thedarktome //------------------------------// After the questioning, as well as the long clapping, Pencil made her way off the platform back towards her assistants. She smiled slightly and gave Golden Carat a hug, thanking her for being there. There were nearly one hundred thirty questions. And some she couldn't really answer. But she answered to the best of her ability. Some of the questions were plain art questions. Like what was her favorite type of brush. She answered a rigger. Mainly for detail, which is what the deep professionals use. In Equestria. After that it were questions surrounding her career. How did she become so famous so fast, why her paintings cost so much, etcetera. She answered those with because she herself was expensive. And because she's worked up to that point. But what really surprised her, out of all of the questions, was that three-fifths of them were about her cutie mark. What was it? Why did she hide it? She would usually respond with, "That's a secret." Because it was. The day she reveals it would be the day that the world realizes that Rainbow Dash was alive and kicking. And more secrets will be revealed at the same time. Like the fact that she was dating her bodyguard. Who was currently giving her googly eyes by the steps. She walked over to him and whispered in his ear, "Stop that. You're acting funny." She pulled back and gave him a wink. Then shuffled past to the end of the speakers with Golden Carat. Playfully flicking him with her tail along the way. Buff scoffed, rolled his eyes, and followed behind her. Once he reached her, he whispered, "You could return the looks you know." The host walked back up to the podium and spoke while Pencil responded. "I'd rather not make such a big scene around other ponies. And I'd rather not receive all that attention." Buff rolled his eyes once more before they paid close attention to the host. "Thank you all so much for coming to the event today!" She announced. "We hope you are having a great time. We have two more hours to enjoy ourselves, so please continue what you were doing three hours ago!" She walked away from the podium while the spectators and attendees all made their way off the stands. The teachers of the school happily made their way over to their speakers to give them their thanks, as well as some of the students. They all shook the professionals' hooves before moving on to do their own thing. That took a while. "Ms. Sketch," Dean Mighty Scroll said from behind her. Pencil's ear twitched before she turned around to face her. "Thank you so much for giving us your wise words. So, per our agreement, I will be giving you the contact information for our sponsors. Come with me please." The Dean turned around with the three ponies right on her tail, Golden Carat trailing behind just to see what Pencil had in mind with sponsors. While they were walking, Pencil's magic picked up on something. Something that she recognized and that made her tail flick. "Rainbow," she thought. Succesfully awaking the pegasus sleeping inside her mind on a cloud. "Do you—" "I feel it," Rainbow interrupted. She slowly walked off her cloud and stretched with a yawn. "Whoo, that was a good sleep." "We need to leave quickly," Pencil thought back as she walked in the office. "The citizens need to get out of those towns now." "Here you go, Ms. Sketch," Dean Scroll announced. She pulled out a folder from inside her desk and passed it over to Pencil, who happily took it in her hooves. She opened it up, reading all the contact information. It looked legit. This would do perfect. "Thank you very much," Pencil said while closing the folder. "I appreciate this." "And thank you for attending. Will you be staying for the end?" "I would, to be honest. Unfortunately, something important has just come up. I am afraid Buff and I must take our leave. I think Golden will be staying though." "Yeah, the food's great," Golden agreed before making her way towards the door. "See ya', Pencil. Stop by the shop sometime, I'm always up for a talk." "Will do, Golden. Have a good day, Ms. Scroll." Pencil turned around and made her leave while the dean waved in response. "You too, Ms. Sketch." After leaving, Pencil quickly made her way outside of the school and towards the chariot, where her chauffeur was waiting for her. Ignoring the calls around her requesting attention. Her eyes and mind were somewhere else. "So where's the fire?" Buff asked as they climbed inside and got settled in. The chariot flew up a second later, turning back around to head back to the mansion. "I have to go all black again," she told him. Buff didn't get it for a second before he snickered. "Putting on your beach outfit?" Pencil bopped him on the muzzle before she laughed. "No! You know what I'm talking about. THAT outfit!" "I know, I'm just messing with you. So what is it this time?" The chariot landed in front of the mansion, allowing Buff and Pencil out and up to the gate. She quickly unlocked it while answering his question. "In a few cities there are creatures, called Therohs. They're created out of Dark Magic, just like myself. And they're hungry. They're going to attack nearby cities for food. And something else." They walked into the gate and started running to the door while it closed back. Once they were close enough, Pencil teleported them inside. "They will eat those ponies and anyone who tries to stop them from doing so. As well as cause as much damage to any and everything in the process to achieve their goal. And there are hundreds of them." They ran up the grand stairwell while Buff asked another question in surprise. "What? Where are they coming from?" "I don't know the source. But if they get into those towns, it will become a blood bath." She walked briskly into her room with Buff right behind her, who was looking around at everything inside. He's never been in there before. "I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia. Tell her to get everypony out. I have to get ready." "You sound like the Egghead!" Rainbow Dash laughed in her head before getting serious again. "I'll be taking it from here, Pencil. You and I both know how to defeat 'em. Let me take this one." Pencil sighed and switched to Rainbow Dash who cleared her throat and spoke some more instructions to Buff. "Make sure that that letter sounds like it was written by a professional. Not by... Me." She levitated the black suit out from the back of her closet and over to her before Buff asked a question. "And how exactly do I get it to her?" "Put it through the slot on my desk titled Celestia. I never thought I'd have to use it. But apparently I do." She quickly slipped on the suit, as well as a pair of silver hoof shoes for added damage before she turned around to face him. "And hurry. We only have a few minutes." She put the hood over her face, zipped it up, then quickly flew out the balcony door, leaving a slight rainbow trail behind her unseen. She would stuff all of that as soon as she reached the town of Ponyville. Just because the Elements knew who she was, didn't mean the entirety of Equestria could too. *** A loud roar permeated through the air of Ponyville, attracting its citizens' attention. They all stopped shopping, walking, and talking and looked to the sky in worry, trying to pinpoint that noise. It happened again, along with a whole lot more. The ponies started becoming uneasy, stepping back a little and muttering. The Elements of Harmony all looked around from the front of Sugarcube Corner, a little put off as well. "Twilight?" Rarity asked nervously without taking her gaze off of the sky. "What was that?" "I-I don't know," Twilight answered. "It sounded big," Spike added before clinging to Twilight's back. "And I have a very big feeling we should all run." "I second that!" Pinkie yelled before turning around and running towards the train station. They watched her go before looking back towards the air. The roar happened again, except this time it also had a ring of roars right behind it. And there were a lot. And they did not sound nice. "Everypony!" Twilight yelled, getting everyone to look towards her. She took a deep breath, a little freaked out before saying, "I need you all to calmly evacuate the city to—" Spike suddenly burped, releasing a red scroll with a yellow ribbon that suddenly fell on Twilight's nose. She grabbed it in her magic while another chorus of roars pierced through the air, these sounding a lot rougher than the others. She unrolled it and quickly read it before she looked up with her eyes wide. "EVERYPONY! RUUNNNN! Run away from Ponyville! Grab your foals, grab everything you need, and then run out!" Everyone started screaming and ran around to grab their children. That's all they pretty much needed. Except Rarity who apparently needed more. "My designs! They cost bits!!" She ran her way back into the town to quickly grab her sister, as well as her designs, ignoring Twilight's protests. She went to the side and dodged the large crowd of ponies making their way out of the city, trying her hardest not to get trampled on. Once they were out of the way, she quickly ran towards the Carousel Boutique and slammed open the door. "SWEETIE BELLE! Get down here now!" "I'm right here!" Rarity looked over and spotted her sister running towards her with her saddlebags on her back. "LET'S GO!!" "Where are your friends?" Rarity asked as she place Sweetie on her back and high tailed it out of the door. "They're out doing something in Whitetail, I'm not sure what!" A loud roar, along with another, and then a howl pierced their ears before they heard crashing behind them as well as stomping and huffing. Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder and screamed. There were a horde of animal things making and breaking their way into the city coming out of the Everfree Forest. They had red eyes and a completely dark black body. So black that she couldn't really see the claws of them. It just looked like they were floating around. And the creatures were just pouring out of the Everfree Forest. Like an army. "FASTER, FASTER!!!" Sweetie Belle screamed down to her sister. The two made their way over the bridge and ran past the finished Sketch It All! studios before they heard more damage behind them. Rarity looked behind her to see the creatures destroying the town piece by piece. "What in the glorified buck are they doing?" Rarity asked. "They're looking for ponies!" Twilight said from beside her. The two looked over at the other Elements running with them. "We got Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. We just need to get out of the town." The group continued making their way towards the edge of town where all the ponies were currently making their way past the train station and out into the field, where Celestia had an army of Royal guards waiting. "We're almost there! Keep going!" They heard another roar behind them, this one extremely close before something nipped at Applejack's tail. She yelped and looked behind her. There were probably twenty of those blood thirsty things directly behind them. All trying to get a taste of the ponies of Ponyville. "Back away vermin!" Applejack yelled. "Everypony hold on!" Twilight commanded before lighting her horn. She teleported her group up to Celestia right when the creature lunged at the place Applejack was at a second ago. Rainbow Dash flew over the clouds and looked down. There were multiple guard chariots below the cloud layer making their way towards the towns that were currently being attacked. Appleloosa, Ponyville, and Dodge Junction. They were all under attack at this very moment. Well Rainbow has just the spells for them. Once the guards below were out of sight she dipped down quickly and unseen, landing on the grassy plain below. Then unzipped her suit and took off her hood, letting down her long rainbow colored mane and sighed. She could hear the Therohs' roars from nearly a mile away. "Let's do this thing," she muttered before lighting her body up using her Dark Magic. Her body glowed a deep black before it shot out to both sides creating two copies of her. Then it did it again. And again. And again. This is going to be a big battle, Rainbow thought. "We have a horde of creatures of unknown origins!" Celestia yelled to her line of guards, pointing towards the town of Ponyville being overrun by over three hundred of those things . They were smashing buildings, breaking things, and committing overall destruction, trying to look for food. For some odd reason they couldn't get to Sketch It All! studios, which was still standing, despite the scratching they were doing to the marble. "We do not know what they want. But it is obvious. They. Want. War." The monsters let out a giant roar, ringing the ears of the guards through their helmets. "So Equestria will give them war! Are you with me soldiers?!" The guards cheered, raising their hooves, swords, crossbows, and much more into the air with a battle cry. "On my mark!" She turned back around and watched the monsters making their way slowly towards the edge of town where everypony was standing behind. Citizens and soldiers. "One!" Celestia yelled, lifting up her right wing. They approached closer before she raised her left one. "Two!" The monsters picked up speed before charging and roaring towards the line of soldiers. They snarled and bit at the air before roaring at them. "THREE!" She flapped her wings and rushed forward with the guards, intent on smashing those monsters' heads in, screaming a war cry with Luna right behind her. They were about to clash, really sharp teeth to swords, spears, and crossbows before a clear blue shield appeared right in between them, making them all crash into it. They all fell to the ground, including the Therohs, who whimpered and all ran into each other. Everything became silent before Celestia and Luna moaned in pain, sitting up with the rest of the moaning and hurting guards. Everyone behind began muttering, trying to figure out where this giant shield over the town came from. With her eyes on the Shield, Applejack whispered, "Twilight? Any idea?" "None," she whispered back while watching her teacher observe the shield. Celestia fired a beam at it. But it did nothing. Luna tried it with her own magic but received the same result. The two glanced at each other before they all got silent, trying to figure it out. And then someone yelled, "Hey! My sword!" They looked towards a unicorn guard who was struggling to hold his moving sword, trying to get away. He floated into the air with it before it was roughly pulled out of his grip and flew straight up, disappearing above the clouds. Then another one came out of another guards grip and disappeared with it. Celestia and Luna looked at each other before Luna took flight, hoping to see the pony who was meddling with their barge. But when she breached the layer, she saw nothing. Just blue skies that were gradually becoming darker due to the sun setting in the distance. While Luna was busy searching. Celestia received two letters that appeared in front of her in orange flames. She grabbed them in her magic and unrolled them both. It was a report from her generals about the battles being halted due to a strange and tall shield that has cut them off from the creatures. "This is in Appleloosa, as well as Dodge Junction?" She muttered to herself, looking at the letters in confusion. "What is this?" "I could not find the culprit of the missing weapons," Luna announced as she landed beside her sister. She huffed and turned back around, yelling to the guards, "Stand your ground! Do not falter!" The soldiers righted themselves, keeping themselves on their hooves in case the shield lowered while Luna looked at the letters in front of Celestia. "This is happening at all the attack sites?" "Apparently," Celestia answered. "But how?" Another scroll appeared in front of them, one that made the Princesses gasped. But not from its suddenness. But because of its appearance. It was black with white writing. The Princesses glanced at each other before Luna grabbed and opened it, reading it out loud. "'Back very far away from my shield. This about to get ugly.'" "So it is somepony who has created this," Celestia figured. Luna nodded before turning around. "EVERYPONY! BACK VERY FAR AWAY FROM THE SHIELD!!" She ordered. They all moved while Celestia sent her orders to the different battalions at Dodge Junction and Appleloosa. Giving them the same orders. Once the message was sent, the princesses flew back with everyone else, making the creatures snarl and roar in disappointment for missing their meal. Once they landed a guard asked, "Why are we not fighting? What's going on?" The princesses shrugged and shook their heads. "We don't know," Luna answered. They looked back at the shield and waited in silence for something to happen. The large creatures trapped in the town scratched and huffed at the shield before a loud whistle pierced through the air. The ponies looked around in concern. Especially Fluttershy who practically hid under Pinkie Pie, shaking in fear. Before anyone could question it, the ground around them began to tremble and shake, gaining attention. Looking down at their hooves, they noticed the rocks and dirt beneath moving around. "Luna?" Celestia asked before the shaking became worse. "No idea!" Luna responded before something jumped over and landed in front of them, sliding to a stop a few feet away from Celestia. It was a pony wearing a black, fur-tight suit covering their entire body, and a zipper covering their mouth. As well as silver round hoofshoes and the two missing swords on her sides, completely concealing their identity. But Celestia knew that body anywhere. So did Luna, the Elements, and Scootaloo. "Pencil Sketch," they all mouthed silently, unbeknownst it was her twin. Rainbow looked over her shoulder, raised a hoof, and waved it around before the cavalry arrived. A rush of footsteps from the sides made all the Ponyville citizens look around, gasping in surprise. There had to be over a thousand mystery mares running towards the front. "What in Equestria?" Celestia muttered in disbelief, trying to get an understanding. The insanely large army of Rainbow Dashes stopped and saluted towards the leader. The original took the swords off her waist with her magic and held them high. A moment ago they were silver. Now they were completely black. She reached up and unzipped her mouth before yelling, "Team on my right! Appleloosa! Team on my left! Be ready to charge through and advance to Dodge Junction! My team! Defend Ponyville! Let's move!" She zipped her mouth back up before she threw the swords to two of the team leaders. The one on the right grabbed it and pointed East before five hundred of the Mystery Mares ran in that direction. Rainbow turned around and started to trot towards the shield with the two groups right behind. They slowly sped up into a gallop before it turned into a full on run. "What is she doing?" Celestia muttered before the shield lifted. One of the monsters started to roar before Rainbow sliced it with her sword. The creature turned into dust upon impact. Her copies began hitting them with their hooves, having the same effect. The creatures became confused, not realizing what was going on. The ponies gasped as the monsters began to dwindle in numbers...before they fought back. One sliced at a Mystery Mare, and turned them to dust. As well as a few more. But Rainbow paid little mind. "We have to help her!" Celestia yelled. "Guards! We will—" The shield suddenly appeared again directly in front of the spectators once more, keeping them back. Celestia gasped and fired a large spell at it. Only to receive the same effect from before. Nothing at all. "No!" She continued trying, hoping to at least dent it. Unfortunately, she had no such luck. Luna and a few more guards attempted, as well as Twilight, all trying to help the pony fighting for Equestria. Rainbow dodged another strike and delivered one of her own, turning it into dust before another scratched her side, creating a gash. She yelled out before she bucked it and cut another with a sword at the same time. Her copies were dwindling, and so were the Therohs. But they were strong. Really strong. She dodged a swipe to her face and hit its arm, turning that one into dust before surveying her situation. She only had five copies and there were fifteen more. "This battle sucks," Rainbow muttered before one of them pounced on her, pinning her to the ground. The Equestrians all protested in horror before Rainbow teleported above and landed on its back, turning it to black dust. By that point the battle was three against one. Rainbow versus three of them. The creatures growled at her before she pulled back her hoof sliced through all three of them with the black sword. Ending the battle. "Too slow," she muttered while lowering her sword. "And I'm really fast." The ponies yards away all sighed in relief while Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches and unzipped her mouth, taking deep breaths. That battle was intense. "Good job, Rainbow," Pencil teased while Rainbow let go of her swords. They hit the ground and reverted back to normal while she chuckled. "I'm impressed." "Somepony had to fight for your lousy flank," Rainbow whispered jokingly. She rose again and looked around what now made up Ponyville. "Now...where's that receiver?" She looked around the battlefield and started shifting through the dust. The Therohs were always controlled by a controller from a remote location. And they had to receive orders through something. She needs to find it before it's cut off and track it. "What is she looking for?" Twilight whispered. Everyone else was just as confused at the mare's prodding. She sifted through, looking here and there before she ran over to a spot, finding something. She grabbed a plank of destroyed wood and threw it to the side, smiling at her discovery. Using her Dark Magic, she picked up a black crystal. "Buck, the signal's lost," she muttered. Then grimaced and grunted in pain. That gash in her side would be the death of her. That Theroh cut deep. Like REALLY deep. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. She dropped the crystal on the ground and stepped on it hard using her hoof shoes. It shattered upon impact. Once that was done, she looked around at the damage. Most of the buildings destroyed were in the rear of the town. Everything in front of that was fine. Hopefully nopony got caught. After receiving word that Appleloosa and Dodge Junction were clear by two more of her copies she sighed and lifted a glowing hoof behind her, lowering the durable shield. The ponies and guards backed away as it came down before making their way into the city. Celestia, Luna, Twilight and her friends quickly ran over to Rainbow, intent on catching her before she could leave. Twilight, Celestia, and Luna wanted questions answered while the others wanted to see if she was okay. "Pencil," Twilight whispered once they caught up to her. They still didn't realize who it really was. She was leaning against one of the buildings standing on her back legs with her hooves crossed, rolling her eyes. "Wh...wh-what just happened?" "Do you need help?" Applejack asked. "We could help with that scratch." They waited for her response, continuing to stare before the citizens could make their way into town. She reached behind one of her hooves and threw a card out before turning around and darting through the shadow. Once again leaving the scene. The group sighed in disappointment while Twilight picked up the card, reading it. "What does it say?" Celestia asked before coming over to investigate. Twilight hovered it in front of the group, reading: "Canterlot Castle Gardens 10 PM Come Alone"