//------------------------------// // Triage // Story: Slender Stallion // by Smore98 //------------------------------// Clear Dawn looks upon the forest in concern as Maneshot packs the supplies for the trip. "Why are we doing this?" asked the violet pegasus mare, with increasing stress. "Because I am getting sick of hearing about this stallion. If that crazy colt would have shut his mouth, we probably wouldn't be in this situation." Maneshot said sternly. He was well known to be very eccentric about anything of interest in the land of Equestria. Right next to Pinkie Pie, he always sensed something was at hoof. "Besides, it would be cool to see who this pony is." "That 'crazy colt' went missing only 2 days after he came back from the Everfree", Clear Dawn nearly shouted, "He even warned us not to go near this... thing." The more Maneshot thought about it, the more sense it made. The colt was nearly dragging himself into Ponyville when we came back. He was screaming the story to everyone about a mark and the stallion. He was asked for a full identification of the mysterious stallion. He saw a picture of a thin, tall pony in a suit. There were two odd things though, the stallion didn't have a face, no eyes, mouth, nose. He didn't even have a mane. The second was his cutie mark, a circle crossed out with an X, intersecting right in the middle. It looked like it was etched onto him, with all the rough sides on his flank. "Look, how do you know it just isn't a prank or something?" asked the blue unicorn. "It's the Everfree!" "And?" "Do you want me to hoof you? "Look, we won't even go that deep into the forest, we will just stay inside close to where we can see the border. We will just scan the border and check for anything that seems suspicious." With that, Maneshot put the knapsack on him and another on Dawn. Clear Dawn began to look as if she was going to cry. Maneshot nuzzled her softly, trying to calm her senses slightly. "Look, I promise you we are going to be safe. It's just gonna be a hike by the forest, nothing else." "Promise?" her eyes clearing up slightly. "Promise..." _-_-_-_-_-_-_ It was mid day when the two arrived by the side of the forest. Even with bright sunshine, the inside of the forest was heavily dark. Crickets chirped and other strange noises were audible from a decent distance. Clear Dawn still looked concerned about the whole situation, but decided to ignore it as much as possible. "You ready?" asked Maneshot, determined as always. A bulge can be seen from the violet pegasus's throat. "I-I-I guess." The two descended upon the Everfree. Two words roaming around Dawn's mind, Damp and Dark. They could hardly see anything in the forest, even with no clouds surrounding the forest. "Hold on I got a light" Maneshot said. Clear Dawn took a good breath after hearing these words. The light of the flashlight was blinding in the dark conditions, and the fog didn't help. The two ponies could barely see anything closer to them even with the flashlight. Maneshot continued looking around his sides and looked behind, seeing Ponyville in all it's beauty. "Hey... what's that?" Maneshot looks to where Clear Dawn is pointing her hoof, spying a strange, ponyshaped figure. They couldn't tell if it was a Mare or Stallion. It was not the tall Stallion from the picture. This pony was relatively short. Maneshot walked a little closer with gleaming curiosity. "Hello?" The figure appeared to have faced their position, it was a colt, wearing a mask. "What are you doing here?" The pony just continued to stare. "Look, we just want to..." Suddenly, the colt began trotting towards them. "Hey, what are you doing?" No response. "Sir we don't want..." Suddenly, the colt changed to a galloping speed. Clear Dawn suddenly pounced on to the colt, bringing him to the ground with a grand thud. "Dawn!" Maneshot shouted wildly! The timid pegasus suddenly began smacking the masked figure several times, punches intensifying to an alarming rate. "DAWN!!!" Maneshot quickly ran to the violet mare and stopped her. "What's the matter with you! You could have killed him!" "HE WAS GOING TO KILL US!" Maneshot saw the sharp stake next to the barely breathing figure. "Look, we got to get him to Doctor Whooves, he will..." suddenly, Maneshot saw the fear in Clear Dawn's eyes. "Dawn?" The mare continued looking past him, face growing larger in despair. Maneshot suddenly went wide eyed, and quickly turned to the black suited stallion. The creature wears a black suit, with a nice red tie... Sweat began to roll down Maneshot's body, iris shrinking at the sight of the stallions height. Stands taller than Celestia herself... Clear Dawn sighted Ponyville behind it, sunshine bright and pony's walking by the square. However, it was suddenly blocked by a black line protruding out of the tall figure. Tendrils that extend to indefinite ranges... Both pony's wanted to scream out for help, but the face, if one would call it that, captivated them in it's nothingness. It's face shows no feature, purely blank... The two friends looked to the flank of the of the tall stallion, seeing his cutie mark, not quite as in the picture, but equally has disturbing. The cutie mark bears a scorch of his face crossed out... The situation was grim, nothing but pure darkness surrounded all the ponies. Maneshot only had one option. He quickly shouted 'FLY' and hopped onto Clear Dawn, who quickly obliged. They went speeding through forest, getting farther from the stallion but also farther from Ponyville. Then they suddenly stopped. They were in the middle of the Everfree, unknown of the current location. Darkness seemed to seep toward them, covering them in nothing but blackness. Clear Dawn was bleeding from a cut, tears rolling from her eyes. Maneshot simply went over, and sat by her side.That crazy colt was right, Maneshot thought, That thing is real. "Maneshot..." Clear Dawn said quietly. It took the blue unicorn several moments before answering,"..ya?" The stood quiet for several minutes, before Clear Dawn broke the silence... "That was no fucking prank..." Note: As this is my first part, it is relatively short, since I purely made this as I went. I will be sure to try and make it longer as it goes on. It's not the end... yet.