Chapter 3 – The Enemy
Rarity and Fluttershy were walking together through the forest. While they were going Rarity kept asking about the promised safe haven to Fluttershy... however almost all of her questions were more interested in the promises of treasure rather than salvation.
“Do you think there will be many gems in this refuge?” asked Rarity. Her imagination started to fly, showing her a beautiful city full of many buildings, each one decorated with all kinds of gems sparkling at the sun, just waiting to be found by somepony.
“I don’t think so, Rarity. The treasures the book promised weren't… things you can actually get in your hooves”, Fluttershy explained.
“Ah”, replied Rarity, feeling a bit disheartened. She asked then: “But what about silver? There should be lots of silver, he is Silver Light after all!” Rarity imagination started to go again, this time showing a city made of solid silver, with many jeweled crosses and other expensive things.
“Hum…” Fluttershy said a bit uncomfortable, trying to correct her friend: “I don’t think you are actually understanding what this is really about…”
“Of course I do darling!” Rarity reassured her. She continued: “…hey, you also said something about shining clothes. Do you think they are made of a magical fabric? Some kind of new texture?” she spoke as her mind went wild for a third time, imagining how much bits and fame she could get if she made a dress from such material.
“…sigh”, released Fluttershy. She looked up, looking at the sky through the few gaps that existed in the dense vegetation. She began to wonder if Rarity would ever get the message she was trying to share.
After talking for almost an hour without interruptions, Rarity questions finally stopped. “You know dear, I think I will wait to see by myself when we arrive there,” she replied, finally ending the issue. Fluttershy only nodded, tired of answering question after question... while most of her answers went ignored. The duo then proceeded through the woods in silence, taking the time to enjoy the silence of the Everfree Forest…
Sometime later, while the two mares were going through the way they heard a voice coming from the woods: “I wouldn't go through this path if I were you.”
“Who is there?” asked Rarity.
The duo looked around, trying to find where the voice came from. From the middle of the trees a stallion showed up. He was brown, having red eyes and a like flame mane. His head and most of his body were hidden by a wide brown cloak. His appearance was kind of terrifying, a strange creepy smile in his face.
“What are you two little mares doing here?” the stallion said, slowly shaking his head. He continued: “You two must be lost, otherwise I don’t see why you would be going through this way.”
Fluttershy was downright scared. While it was true that Fluttershy never felt comfortable near strangers, there was something in him that made her feel extra uneasy. It was like she could feel evil coming from his presence.
Fluttershy slowly moved besides Rarity, afraid. Rarity was also speechless: she had never seen a stallion with such color scheme before. She also felt like there was something wrong, but she couldn't exactly understand what it was.
Being naturally more sociable, Rarity gave one step forward, answering: “We are seeking a pony named Silver Light. It was said he had a sacred refuge, a place full of treasures. Is it near?”
“Ah, I get it! You two must be adventurers!” answered the stallion with a smirk. Staring at the two mares for a moment, he continued: “You are not the first ones to come after him. I saw many and many ponies trying to find his place. Do you want to know what happened to them?”
“What happened to them?” asked both Rarity and Fluttershy, speaking in unison.
“The smarter ones gave up along the way, returning to their homes. The others… they all had terrible, painful deaths. Their pain was so great that many begged for their lives to end, only to be denied until they couldn't take it anymore…” he answered, his words landing hard on the mares' ears. He then smiled, saying: “Doesn't this sound scary?”
“Err… Fluttershy. That does seem a bit dreadful… are you sure about it?" replied Rarity, as she started to give a few steps back.
Now it was Fluttershy turn to show courage. She quickly went in front of Rarity, answering: “You… You can’t scare us!”
“Ah, but you should be scared. Listen! Through the forest you will meet the Swamp of Oblivion. This swamp was devoured all the ponies who tried to pass through it”, he said, pointing towards the path Fluttershy was following. With a smile, he added: “They disappeared, not even memory of them remained. They were lost forever to the darkness.”
“Should you still insist, there are many creatures in this forest. Not like that dragon or manticore you tamed, Fluttershy”, the stallion continued, now pointing his hoof at Fluttershy. With another smile he added: “These creatures cannot be put in place with your stare. They will get you and rip you to tiny little bits. It will be pretty, pretty messy. And painful if I must add.”
“Without talking about the king of all the demons. Tell me white unicorn: did the yellow Pegasus there ever tell you about Decay?” he finished, now pointing at Rarity.
“Decay?” said Rarity confused. She tried to remember: she was sure that Fluttershy had said something about him… but sadly she hadn't paid attention.
Fluttershy closed her eyes, remembering what she had read about. She opened them and answered: “I read about him. Decay, the enemy of the light, also known as The Traitor. The book told me that he was a very powerful angel, but in his pride went against The Master. He was defeated and condemned to the abyss, a place where only darkness exists.”
“Yes. Decay guards the path to the sacred refuge from all those who try to seek it. And nopony never prevailed in a battle against him!” the stallion replied. His smile suddenly disappeared, his expression turning into a threatening one: “Listen to reason Fluttershy! Go back to your home: you have your cottage, your animals and your friends! You were pretty happy before reading this book… just forget about it and go home!”
Fluttershy stopped a bit, thinking about the stallion words. It was true... she did leave a lot of things back on her hometown. However… she left them to find something else. Something else who could save them and herself. Fluttershy looked at him and replied: “No… you are wrong. At first I couldn't notice it… but this book… The Holy Word was made me stronger. It has helped me grow… I will continue on this path! If I want to save the things I love… I have to first find Silver Light myself!”
“You will never leave this forest alive Fluttershy!” the stallion shouted, stomping his hoof hard at the ground. His face turned to one of pure anger, screaming: “You're not getting it! Doesn't the concept of death make you afraid?!”
“I’m not afraid!” Fluttershy only answered. It was then that a thought crossed through her mind. She gave the stallion a confused eye, asking: “Wait… you did say my name several times through this conversation. I never introduced myself… how do you know about it?”
The stallion froze a bit at the question. He then gave up a smile, which turned into a soft laughter: “Ha ha ha! You really are a clever pony! Oh well, I guess it’s time to end this farce.”.
The stallion then removed his cloak, showing a horn and a pair of wings. In his flank there wasn’t a cutie mark. Rarity and Fluttershy eyes grew wide, shouting in unison: “You are an alicorn!”
“I have looked after you for a good time. I don’t like losing followers, yellow Pegasus! I tried to save you…” said the alicorn, walking in a circle around the two mares. He suddenly stopped, before adding: “No matter. We will meet again.”
After saying those words, the alicorn charged magic through his horn, releasing it. He simply teleported himself, vanishing in a blink of red magic…
Rarity and Fluttershy could only look at each other, their mouths open in confusion. “What did just happen?” was the only thing Rarity could muster.
“I…” answered the yellow pegasus, confused. “I... am not sure.”
Fluttershy then felt something in her heart. She touched it... and then answered: “No… I think I know it. My heart warned me about his evil. He must have been one of the followers of Decay, The Traitor! Do you understand what this means, Rarity?”
“What does it mean?” Rarity was even more confused at this moment.
Her eyes suddenly got bigger. And with a smile, she jumped and shouted: “It means that everything I read is real!”
A second later, however, she noticed that didn't sound very well so she quickly amended: “Well, not that I didn't believe before… but there were so many times that my heart got in doubt. Now I see they were unfounded… that I was on the right path all along!”
“I wouldn't be that sure, darling. He sure seemed like a creepy fellow… but I wouldn't go as far as name him anything like a ‘follower of the darkness’. I mean, he didn't do anything after all,” replied Rarity clearly unbelieving. She added: “Besides, I don’t think this is a good reason to be happy. He did threaten to kill us darling.”
“Well, this is true…”, Fluttershy shrugged. “But I am not worried. Because if he is against us, then that means Silver Light is with us. He will protect us from his evil,” Fluttershy nodded.
“Sure, darling. Let’s ask the invisible stallion to protect us,” Rarity accidentally released with sarcasm. Fluttershy only looked at her with a shocked expression. Rarity then quickly added: “OH! Yes, the invisible stallion that is very real and is always protecting us. In mysterious ways, right Fluttershy?”
Before Fluttershy could answer, Rarity continued: “Ah don’t worry, let’s just keep going! We won’t find the sacred refuge just by standing here, doing small talk!”
Fluttershy sighed again. She was sure that Rarity would start believing after this incident, but it just didn't happen. Returning to their travel the yellow pegasus mind started to fly again: she had read that a follower of Silver Light would be tested many times. Was this the first test? She wasn’t sure…
She remembered what the stallion had said: ‘Swamp of Oblivion… deadly creatures… Decay guarding the path.’ She wondered if he really was lying about them. She wouldn't be surprised if the enemy of the light had put traps along the way. And even though she had just assured Rarity that Silver Light would be protecting them, Fluttershy started to wonder if they really could match the power of evil. If Decay, the strongest angel and the king of demons was really guarding the way, could they really get past him?
Fluttershy shocked these thoughts out from her head. She remembered the phrase: 'If The Master is for us, who can be against us?' If that was true then she shouldn't have fear of what was coming. She finally buried her personal worries, focusing her energy only on going through the forest accompanied by her friend…
Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were running through the path, trying to find Fluttershy. They were guiding themselves through the mark of hoof-steps, the ones that the yellow mare had left as she dashed. As they were rushing forward Twilight suddenly stopped, accidentally making Pinkie Pie crash in a nearby tree.
“Ouch! Twilly, you need to warn others before stopping!” shouted Pinkie Pie, putting her hoof on her nose.
“Oh, sorry Pinkie. Are you okay?” asked Twilight with a worried expression, quickly offering a hoof to get her up.
“Ah, sure! It was just a bit tiny hit,” answered Pinkie, gladly accepting the hoof.
“Why did ya stop?” asked Applejack, who was following from behind.
“Look…” said Twilight, pointing at the ground. At the ground there were a mark of leaves and broken sticks forming a figure similar to a Pegasus. “Do you know what this means?”
“Ah, I have an idea!” Pinkie Pie said while bouncing.
Before Pinkie Pie could answer Twilight replied, not wanting to give a chance to the pink mare to create one of her random histories: “Don’t bother. It looks like a pony crashed here. I think that means Rainbow Dash caught up with Fluttershy here, pushing her into the ground. That would explain why there is this mark.”
“Couldn't it really have been another thing?” said Pinkie, adding: “Like two bears having a wrestling contest or a…”
Twilight quickly interrupted: “No Pinkie! You can clearly see wings on the shape… and also a bear would leave a much bigger spot!”
“And also… look!” shouted Twilight, noticing something else: “There are hoof prints in this way! They must have gone through there!”
“Hmm… I see. You are really good at this Twilight!” Pinkie Pie complimented her, bouncing happily.
“I really enjoy detective novels,” Twilight nodded, making a detective pose. She always took pride on her deductive ability. “Anyway… let’s get going! I am sure we will quickly catch up with them!”
“Let’s!” said Applejack, who had stood silently watching the two mares conversation.
Twilight looked at the path, preparing to start running. As she started to give her first steps she noticed that Pinkie wasn't following her. Twilight looked back, only to see Pinkie Pie waving her hoof in a greeting way towards the woods.
“Uh… Pinkie Pie? To whom are you shaking your hoof?” asked Twilight, trying to see who she was greeting. Twilight eyes kept scanning the place but they couldn't see anything other than trees and bushes.
“Ah! I was greeting that menacing looking alicorn that was staring at us., answered Pinkie Pie, smiling. “Over there. Can’t you see him?”
“Where?” Twilight Sparkle looked where Pinkie was staring, but no matter how hard she looked she couldn't see anything. “Pinkie you must be mistaken. There is nothing there.”
“Ah ya sure, Pinkie?” Applejack also replied, making an effort to see. “I can’t see anything.”
“But girls… can’t you really see him?” Pinkie looked at them confused. She then turned her head, only to give a shocked expression. “Oh my, look Twilight!”
“What did you saw, Pinkie?!” shouted Twilight.
“Strange… he just disappeared!” Pinkie Pie said, her mouth open in confusion. “Isn't this weird, girls?”
Twilight and Applejack stood still for a minute, trying to understand what did just happen. Twilight suddenly face hoofed herself: she remembered that the mare she was talking with was Pinkie Pie. “Well… this sure was a loss of time. No matter, let’s go girls!” Twilight turned her eyes back on the track of hoof steps, following them.
Applejack didn't say anything, starting to follow Twilight again. While she knew that Pinkie Pie had a mysterious power, which they had nicknamed ‘Pinkie sense’, she also knew how fertile her imagination could be. The pink mare was probably fantasying again.
“Okie Dokie. Bye Mr. Alicorn, wherever you are!” shouted Pinkie Pie, waving her hoof towards nothing. She then started running alongside Applejack and Twilight, with destination towards the depths of the forest…
As the three mares left the area, a sudden red blink appeared. The same alicorn from before showed up from nothing: he was sitting still, without his cloak this time. He used his hoof to touch his head, doing a thinking pose. He said: “Strange… how did the pink mare manage to feel my presence? Hmm… this may become a problem.”
Upon finishing those words the alicorn vanished again, teleporting himself to an unknown place…