//------------------------------// // A Different Story // Story: A Clover's Challenge // by dudenotactive //------------------------------// "A stalker?" Steel White was puzzled to say the least. He was currently in a coffee shop with his friend Clover, and the one thing he didn't expect to hear from Clover was that he has a stalker. As for Clover, who sat just across the unicorn, he was simply recalling his experience with his intruder from last night. He wasn't bothered by her presence, but Clover was still wary of her since she was still unpredictable. Strangest part was the fact that none of his neighbors had even mentioned the noise he made, strange indeed. "Yup, I didn't even see her until I literally ran into her!" Clover sighed. "And to make matters worse, I said that I was "fine" with it. Then poof! She's gone." White raised a single brow. "Really now? Welp, that's your problem, so you better keep her away from me!" "Dude, I need your help on this, man! I'm scared that she'll do something and I might not even notice!" "And you want to help her out and get rid of that nasty obsession, right." White smirked. "I won't go anywhere near someone who's probably unstable, so good luck with your dangerous quest." Clover paused, his eyes widened as he registered White's words. "Dangerous?" He repeated. "Oh no." White muttered. "It's dangerous!" Clover smiled widely as he realized something. "Ha! This is great!" "It is?" White was far from puzzled. "Yes it is! White, she's unpredictable, that's for sure. Which means she's dangerous, and that would be quite a challenge!" "Sigh. Only you would be excited to talk to their stalker, face to face." "Look on the bright side, if it works, then I get a new friend!" He was actually looking forward to his next encounter with the obsessed girl. And hopefully, she didn't get hurt at all. The Truth Shadow Fang found safety in the shadows, her heart beating calmly as she shy away from the light. Fang waited patiently, everything was ready and all she needed was her target. And just in time too, he had returned from whatever disgusting pit he went to. He entered the room and flipped the switch, but it was useless, she had already used the scroll of invisibility allowing her to hide right in the middle of the room without care. She watched him call out to his pet snake, strange, Fang had not seen a trace of the snake until now. She noticed that the snake was staring right at her. But no matter, it was but a snake. She silently followed him into the kitchen and stood so close to him, that she could just reach and touch him just like that. But she held herself back, it would ruin her plans if she doesn't follow it. Fang watched him reach into the fridge and take out the jar of jam. She grinned, earlier this afternoon while he was out, Fang had added a large dose of sleep powder. Enough to put you in a coma. But she stuttered back a bit once she saw the look on his face as he stared into the jar, it was disgust. Could he have known about the powder? Impossible! It was odorless, not even a dog could even pick up it's scent. He threw the jar straight into the bin without hesitation and ate his slice of bread with a dangerous look that sent a shiver down Fang's spine. But she still had a few tricks and traps on the ready. So she was confident that she would get him soon. Like the pitcher of water she had also spiked with sleeping powder. And hopefully he wouldn't notice it like the first one. Sadly, the pitcher of water had slipped off his hooves and spilled all over the floor. She mentally groaned at his clumsiness, things would've been easier if he- wait, he did it on purpose! Fang glanced down at her hooves and found the water quickly approaching her hooves, she took a step back to avoid the water. She glared at her target, and realized that he was aware of her presence. But no one could ever notice the unseen. Fang still had a few traps set up, and it'll get her target with no problem. She followed him back into the living room, this time she kept her distance so she reduced the chances of her traps backfiring. And much to her surprise, he skipped over the tripwire that was supposed to set off her trap, and what was worse was the fact that he had dodged every single one. Nothing was set off and the target was already at the door of his bedroom. The only thing that was off were the lights, and peeved Fang a little bit. Shadow Fang felt shame, everything had not gone the way she thought it would, he did not touch any other tampered food or drinks. The target simply avoided her traps and went on with his life. Wait... This means that he does know about her existence! He knew where the triggers for her traps were, and he absolutely knew about the sleeping powder! And worse of all, he did not care at all. Or maybe he just thought that she was not worth her time, but the thought of it just made her blood boil with anger. She finally understood that he did not see her as a threat, but she'll prove to him and everyone that nobody underestimates Shadow Fang. She withdrew her dagger and freed it from its sheath with determination showing in her eyes. Fang crept closer towards the door, not a single sound was made as she closed the distance. But that decision was a mistake, as she was getting nearer, a booming voice suddenly spoke from behind the door. "You of all insects chose to invade my home?! Big mistake!" Her eyes widened, and her pupils shrunk. Fang couldn't believe it, he really does know that she is here. Any doubt that was left was just tossed aside as Fang finally understood her place, he was leagues above him and she doubted that she could even handle him in a fight. "Hey!" A green hoof went through the door that separated them, and Fang nearly screamed. Thinking quick, she dropped her dagger and just bolted away from the door. She risked a glance back at the broken door and regretted even thinking about it as he busted through the obstacle as if it was nothing. And worse of all, he was glaring in her direction, she was absolutely sure that the hatred in his eyes were meant for her. Her legs buckled as she stared back at him, the way he stood there in the dark gave off a demonic aura of pure malice that Fang was sure she was going to be the victim. The longer she stared, the louder her heart beats became. She felt hotter inside her armor, and her knees were loose. So she ran, she was with her tail right between her legs like a scared dog. Her eyes started to water as she ran for the window that she had left open from her entry, a rookie mistake for sure, but right now it was her best mistake today. She raced towards her salvation as fast as she could. But her heart skipped a beat once she heard the sets of hooves behind her. "Not today you roach!" This time she didn't risk it, and just kept moving for the window. Sadly she underestimated her target's speed. Before she even knew it, she was struck right on the back just as she was right next to the window, the ray of hope had been snuffed out and she was sent tumbling out the window and down towards the hard yet grassy ground. Shadow Fang's eyes slowly opened itself and what greeted her was the night sky. She questioned herself as to why she was here and where exactly was she. Fang attempted to recall what she had recently done but her thoughts went blank as her gaze landed on a red headed pony. She gasped and then crawled away with all her strength, but she couldn't go far as his gaze had rendered her completely paralyzed. "Easy, I won't hurt you." Lies! Deception! Completely untrue! Fang does not trust his words at all, after being thrown out of a window and was called a roach. But she held her tongue, she needed to focus on escaping, but it was hard to think when death was literally breathing down her neck. "I-I won't call the police or anything." Call the police? Right, he was far above Fang to even punish her himself, so he would've just let someone else do the work. "Wait? If he isn't ordering someone else, then he'll totally do it himself! Oh No!" "But I don't tolerate this obsession, it's very unhealthy." Now her fear was accompanied by confusion, she doesn't understand what he meant by obsession. "W-what do you mean?" She managed to speak even though she was too scared to even move. "I know you're a stalker, and I don't like it one bit. You should just move on." So that's what he meant, he knew, the monster knew about her. Not just her role right now, he knew more than she does. But... "H-how did you know!?" "It was pretty obvious..." "Pretty obvious? Pretty obvious!?" Her eyes bulged out of her head as his words played over and over in her mind. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as they gathered at the corners. "Alright, fine. I'll let you follow me around, but the moment you do something that bothers me, I'm not gonna give you a third chance." Fang felt her lungs devoid of oxygen, she was shocked to hear him say that he'll allow her to shadow him. And what's worse, this was him giving her a second chance, and by the sound of it, it was her only chance. She couldn't believe how confident he was to have her around, it felt like she was being crushed by the sheer aura of power that he was releasing. She tried to reach for her dagger, but Fang found that her body had other plans. In a moment like this, there are only two choices, fight or flight. And it looked like her body had already made the choice for her. "I u-understand!" Fang practically shrieked as she ran from her target. "Wait!" Fang heard him call out to her, she glanced back and once again regretted the action. There standing behind her was Clover, her target, and from him came a dark smoke that exuded a haunting aura of evil. She screamed out her lungs as she ran. Fang didn't know how long she had run, all she did know was where she was headed. A forest, the locals called it the Everfree, she didn't care for the warnings that they gave her. All she cared for what was within the forest. Her legs felt as if they had given up, but Fang kept running. Soon she burst through the thickens and came to a clearing, right in the middle was a campfire that burned brightly to push back the shadows. The fire was surrounded by four ponies and a mysterious hooded creature. There were five tents that were lined up next to each other, each were set up for everyone in the team. One of the ponies stood up, he was covered in armor from head to toe, his distinctive figure and face was hidden to all. He was a knight, an earth pony of noble birth and the leader of the group. "Shadow Fang! You're late." He spoke as he approached Fang. "Where were you?" Fang hesitated to speak, but she needed to tell them. She took a second to catch her breath. "He knows..." "What?" "He knows!" She repeated in a much louder tone. "Impossible!" The knight nearly struck her with his shaking armored hoof. "We were discreet when we entered the country! No one would have known who we were and why!" "T-that's the thing Silver Heart! He knew from the beginning! Not only that, he..." The tears she had been fighting back had breached her defences. Her mask absorbed the tears as she crumbled to the grassy ground. "He knew about me! He knew about my connections with the Night Stalkers! Years of training was simply wasted once he showed up!" "You disregard my order and attempt to take him on by yourself? You nitwit!" Silver scoffed. "Squire!" "Yes my lord?" A scrawny looking mare rushed to his side. Her grey coat was covered in dirt and dust. Her blue mane frizzled and soaked. "Take care and calm Shadow Fang down, I must evaluate the situation, I shall be in my tent!" With that, Silver had left the squire and the rogue by themselves. "There, there." The squire patted Fang's back. "Let's get some soup, I prepared it the way you like it." "L-lots of broccoli?" Squire nodded, and a smile found itself on Fang's face. But that smile had disappeared once the cloaked creature spoke. "Ha! What a total baby, am I right Bolt?" The creature spoke with a feminine voice. The unicorn across the hooded one, Crimson Bolt, only shrugged his shoulders. His red coat was hidden under a cloak, on his chest was a light steel plate that was over his white shirt. A belt of crossbow bolts were wrapped around both his forelegs that held bolts that were just longer than a pencil. And on top of his silver grey mane was a wide brimmed black hat that had extra bolts in the hat band. "Don't know what to say about this Hunter, it wasn't me who nearly got iced by the guy." Bolt said as he stared into the fire. Hunter snickered. "She's such a disappointment, I bet Silver is fuming right now!" "Leave her alone Hunter!" Squire scolded Hunter. Hunter scoffed, then she looked away from the scrawny pony. "Whatever, maybe she should've just used that dagger of hers." "We can't just do that," Bolt sighed. "we need him alive. As much as I hate it, we gotta do our job." "Fine, be that way! I'm going for a walk!" With a huff, the hooded creature marched off to somewhere else. "Hey wait! Lord Silver Heart said that we shouldn't just leave without notifying him!" Squire tried to stop Hunter, but the creature only glared at the squire before continuing towards the treeline. "Tell him yourself!" She said right before she disappeared into the forest. Bolt scoffed. "Stinkin' mercenaries." The squire sighed as she helped Fang settle near the campfire. She glanced over to the tent that contained Silver Heart, worried of the enemy that had defeated Shadow Fang so easily. Squire wondered if the enemy even had any weakness, time could only tell.