Nothing, nothing happened. The seconds stretched out with nothing happening. No multicolored lightning bolt of lightning struck me. Only a striking silence reigned.
So it was with exaggerated caution that I slowly opened my eyes. Everything was motionless, a bit like a photograph.
Blueblood hid his gaze behind his sparkling white hooves. Next to him, Carrot Top seemed at his worst. His face expressed real anguish. Farther on, Luna looked at me calmly, seemingly waiting for the result of which she did not seem to doubt, unlike me, my recovery.
What the hell is going on here? I sighed heavily, thinking that it must certainly be Lord Hatred. However, I could not breathe a sigh of any kind, except for that shot. All my muscles refused to move. In a panic, I tried with all my strength to move but nothing could be done.
While panic was now giving way to panic, I noticed that everything was not as fixed as I thought. I noticed that, although the movement was barely perceptible to the naked eye, everything was moving at a speed below what the common man calls slowness.
It was after several of the longest minutes of my life that I finally noticed the soft green light emanating from my Pip-buck where the screen marked that the SVAV mode was activated.
Relieved to be able to remedy the situation I relaxed. I now held the key to my release!
Suddenly a horrible thought came into my mind. As soon as I turned off the target mode of my Pip-buck, the rainbow beam would disintegrate me irretrievably, I was trapped again.
So having little other option, I waited. I didn't know what I was waiting for, but I waited while I watched for some angel to come and get me out of this bee-eater. After all, if creatures like Lord Hatred exist, why not an angel?
However, this question was soon taken away from my current preoccupations. The more time passed, the more contradictory little voices shouted at me to press the button, unlike others who advised me otherwise, which had the effect of plunging me into a state of inner turmoil.
When suddenly, a message written in bold replaced the previous display:
"SVAV mode timeout has expired!"
And f...
Time suddenly resumed its normal speed while the elements of harmony struck me on the spot. My vision stumbled briefly while my eyes stung.
"What happened?" Luna asked immediately as she approached me.
"My eyes hurt!"
"And?"
"And what?"
"Don't you feel any different?"
I thought for a few moments but finding nothing interesting to add, I shrugged my shoulders.
"It's strange," Luna seemed to mumbled to herself.
"How? " Twilight exclaimed a few meters away.
She and her friends were just coming down to the ground, visibly exhausted.
"It can't be! The elements are the most powerful relics in Equestria! How can they be? " She began to repeat as she entered a kind of trance.
"How do you feel, my treasure? "Asked Blueblood who happened to be behind me while I was still rubbing my irritated eyes.
Without hardly waiting for an answer, he grabbed me in a telekinetic grip turning me like a ruby-cube, from every conceivable side while Carrot Top took part with her husband in the meticulous observation of every part of my body.
"I was... "I could feel my meal from the day before coming up.
Noticing that I was about to vomit, Blueblood put me gently on the floor while he politely apologized. Carrot Top addressed Luna:
"So it didn't work, Princess Luna?"
Luna sighed deeply:
"Alas, I'm afraid not."
"How? How? How is it possible? How can a filly be indifferent to the elements of harmony when Discord itself cannot resist them. It is incomprehensible..."
"Calm down Twilight, take a deep breath! "Spike, whose presence I hadn't guessed until then, quickly stood by Twilight's side as he asked him to remember what Cadence had said to stay calm.
Against all odds, inhaling and exhaling air seemed to take Twilight out of her state while her friends gathered around her to talk.
"What a strange sight," blew out Flower Cloud, which stood only a few inches away from me, startled me as I passed by.
I nodded my head, agreeing too well with the sentence. Could the world one day return to what it once was to me: normal?
I suddenly thought back to that picture of a fairy dragon that Lord Hatred had shown me. I shivered despite myself when I thought about it.
Soon, our stay in the capital came to an end. It was time to go back to Ponyville from where I had one more week of vacation before school resumed.
Flower Cloud was waving at us from the station platform from our compartment window when the train started to roll. I replied with a friendly smile as my aunts, who also happened to be princesses and rulers of an enchanted country, greeted me from the air as they returned to their castles.
On the train, Blueblood and Carrot Top accompanied by Meteor Breath and Grape Capsule who were accompanying us finished carefully stowing the luggage in the appropriate places.
So it was in the late morning that the white city disappeared from the horizon as we hurried down the steep slopes that made up the mountain on which Canterlot rested.
Twilight and all her friends had joined us shortly before the departure of the train with many boxes more or less large that Princess Celestia had entrusted to them shortly before.
When I had asked them what was inside, none of them had answered my questions about the contents of her boxes. Except for Rarity who had been very vague about dusty objects that would probably not interest the filly that I am.
Not being able to get much more information for the moment, I focused on the landscape until Blueblood's voice took me out of this state of observation:
"So Anon, how did you find his stay at your aunts' house?"
"I loved it very much," I said with a smile.
A few hours later, the train arrived in the countryside at the Ponyville train station where a warm midday sun came to us.
Our bellies rumbled in unison which made Blueblood and Carrot Top laugh while I couldn't stop thinking that the ponies had a wacky sense of humor.
We then returned to our house leaving these mysterious crates which were now on their way to Twilight Castle.
Finally, a little rest, I thought for myself. As we arrived at the door of the house, Carrot Top and Blueblood looked all around them.
"Where are they?"
"Did you give them the right address?"
"Yes, I'm sure of that. Start putting the stuff away, I'll see if anyone has seen it."
"Who are you talking about? "I asked, frowning.
"It's a surprise, Anon," answered Blueblood mischievously.
I raised my eyes to the sky. Why so much unexpected on this earth?
While we had packed our suitcases and Blueblood was cooking, albeit awkwardly, a salad with a mix of vegetables and fruit. That Carrot Top entered followed by two other ponies.
"Anon!!! " Roars the apple-green stallion as he comes towards me in the manner of an old friend.
"Who are you?" I asked cautiously as I fled from the embrace, retreating in vain before falling to the ground.
"Your maternal grandfather, of course! But you're right, first the introductions. My name is Hammer Fate. And the beautiful mare I'm riding with is your grandmother, Sinister Flag."
The mare stepped forward and solemnly clutched my hoof.
"Well, I see everyone has arrived here. Did you have a good trip? " Asked Blueblood as she came out of the kitchen with a golden yellow apron that I was sure had been made to measure.
"Yes, it was a pretty quiet trip. I have to admit that you were right my darling Carrot Top, the train is convenient for traveling. It's not like our old wagon whose wood was starting to rot," Sinister Flag joked.
"I'm glad you like it. And you, my love, did you make it with the salad?" asked the yellow mare, looking radiant.
"I think so, but what do you do after mixing the salad?"
It was after a good meal with a mixed salad that looked more like spinach porridge accompanied by a good walk that Blueblood insisted that I do my homework at Littlenight.
I asked, "Why?" I asked in a supplicant tone.
"Because." Simply argued Blueblood.
I suddenly thought back to that picture of a fairy dragon that Naturally, I was against this stupid activity which was an insult at my true age. I had long since passed this kind of nonsense that parents impose on their children. However, Blueblood made me realize that I didn't have a choice...
When the door opened after Blueblood had knocked, my face decomposed when I saw the sadistic trainer, Dark Light, on the threshold of Littlenight's house.
"Hello, how are you Blueblood? I assume you're here about the proposal I made to you about Anon?"
"Indeed, it is for Anon. I also wanted to thank you once again that Anon can come to work with your son."
"You're welcome. Besides, it's a win-win situation for everyone. Littlenight is happy to have a friend over."
"I'm delighted, would you mind if I picked up Anon in a couple of hours if that's not too much trouble?"
"No, not at all. Don't worry, your filly is between good hooves."
Then the dark-skinned mare opened the door a little wider as she waved me in.
What dark place would I end up in? Even though I had been around such hybrids before, I was not the least bit more reassured.
However, when I entered, all my fears evaporated. It was a house full of color and life that welcomed me.
Brightly colored wallpaper adorned every room where decorations such as skillfully painted vases and drawings hung everywhere.
Suddenly, seemingly coming out of a marathon, Littlenight rushed down the stairs and almost threw herself at me. Then he took me after short greetings to visiting his room leaving Blueblood stunned for a few moments.
"He doesn't have visitors often," the confused mare seemed to apologize.
Littlenight's room was covered with a midnight blue wallpaper corresponding to a few shades of the color of the princess of the night.
Lots of drawings were hung on the walls as well as posters of what looked like some kind of space program. On the ceiling, a planisphere of planets unknown to me was orbiting Equestria, which disturbed me a little.
"Look at my drawing," trumpeted Littlenight, who quickly presented me with a sheet of paper. "I've drawn you. Do you like it?"
On this drawing, one could see a sort of a green circle with a smile consisting of a single curved line accompanied by two black dots representing the creature's eyes.
Multiple spike-like blue lines stood on its head. It must have been the hair.
"It's... " I was looking for my words. "Pretty."
"Thank you. So, how do you like my room? " Asked Littlenight proudly to show her room and her other numerous drawings on the wall.
"I like it very much. It's about space?"
"Yes, Dad taught me so much about the stars that it became a real passion for me. For my next birthday, Mom and Dad even promised to buy me a telescope if I was good."
"In that case, I'm sure you'll get it."
"Thank you," he says, blushing again. "And you, what's your passion?"
I thought about it before answering ironically. "I like to sleep."
My answer soon made us both laugh when a voice was heard from the bottom of the stairs:
"It's homework time, kids!"
It is after the stories from Greek mythology about ponies having achieved Dantean feats that we finished the part of our homework about equestrian history. This, I admit, was of no interest to me at all.
Dark Light, who had helped us with our homework, called me as we were clearing the table of our notebooks:
"Anon, I would like to know, would you have found a sport that you would have liked since the last time?"
"I... "
"Yes!" Said the little foal next to me delighted. "We played a game of buckball and Anon said she liked it."
"Really? I never thought you would like this sport." She said, staring at me as if to see if I was physically able to do it. "If you're interested in playing it in a club, you should ask your parents. You could even do it together with Littlenight, he loves the sport. Don't you, sweetheart?"
"Yes, Mommy." He flew up to his mommy's cheek and kissed her on the cheek. Dark Light just smiled what seemed rare for the little I knew of this mare.
For my part, I hesitated. Should I practice this sport? But with Littlenight's happy eyes, I promised myself to ask Carrot Top the question.
Littlenight held me tight in her hooves and then backed off quickly, red as a lobster.
His mother just laughed a little as she got up and walked towards the kitchen:
"Anyone hungry?"
How good it was! Hot cookies just out of the oven stood there in front of us. Placed on a large plate with a beautiful silver sheen to enhance the dish.
"I like your plate."
"Thank you, it was my mother's. It's a family heirloom that I treasure for my little cookie-eater."
Then while Littlenight was devouring the cookies with an ogre's appetite, his mother ruffled his mane. Thus, it must have been proper for mother ponies to ruffle their children's manes.
Later, Littlenight and I played quietly passing the ball around the garden until the bell rang.
"Anon, those are your parents! Anon, those are your parents!" Shouted Dark Light from the doorway.
"I'm coming in. "I turned to Littlenight." I can't wait to play a game of buckball with you next time. "Why did I say that?
"I would love to, Anon, that would be great. Especially with you. "Why was he still blushing?
Outside, everyone was there as Blueblood thanked Dark Light for keeping me.
"There's nothing to worry about," she replied. "And then, Anon and Littlenight her friend. I can do that. " She turned to me: "Goodbye Anon, have a good end of day. And don't hesitate to come and see us if you want to play with Littlenight."
"Thank you very much, Mrs. Dark Light."
And as she closed the door of the house, all gathered around me as we returned home.
"So did you have fun, sweetheart? "asked Carrot Top quickly.
When my day had been over for a few hours and I was sleeping peacefully, I suddenly started to feel very cold. My entire bed felt hard and cold and my blanket was no longer covering me at all.
So it was with pain and by cursing a few swear words that I knew very easily that I had no interest in repeating them in front of Blueblood, otherwise he would brush my mouth with soap, that I was looking for my blanket tattoo.
But only a stupid piece of paper reached my hooves which I threw a little further away. So I opened my eyes to realize that I wasn't in bed, or even at home, but lying on the floor in a dark corridor. Where was I?
I sighed to myself, why couldn't I ever have peace no matter what fucking world I was in? I was angrily lighting the flashlight built into my Pip-Buck as I remembered the paper on the floor.
Rolled into a ball where I had previously thrown it, it didn't seem to have moved. So I unfolded it without any delicacy while I quickly noticed some writing.
"Anon, if you are reading this message today, it means that you have woken up and it will save me the trouble of finding your body in the morning. You are now in the castle of the purple mare Twilight Sparkle, who, as you probably know, has been carrying a large number of objects in crates with her friends.
So I would ask you two essential things if you care about your dear pony parents. First, you will have to delete the last item on the list at Twilight's bedside. Second, you will have to search on your own until you find a purple box among the items and bring it to me. And one last thing, know that you are far from being alone. :)"
The bastard threatened to kill Blueblood and Carrot Top if I refused. Once again, I threw the paper as far away from me as possible.
And what does he mean by the fact that I was not alone? Of course, I'm not alone since Spike and Twilight are sleeping here. Without waiting much longer, I hurried to look for Twilight's room first.
Despite long minutes of exploration in the various corridors, I still couldn't find it. As I searched an umpteenth corridor with my flashlight, a filthy creature came up to me.
It was a sort of flying horror whose upper body vaguely evoked a human appearance. A kind of nightmarish specter whose face was a skull where the jaw was split so that it looked more like an unhealthy smile. Two yellow eyes adorned the empty eye sockets of the demented being who stood in front of me.
Another thing disturbed me, his hands. If they were, they were misshapen and looked more like sharp tree branches. But what frightened me most was the fact that the body dressed only in transparent flaps stopped at the trunk. The body was therefore floating without physical support.
Taking advantage of my astonishment, the creature threw itself furiously at me, but a massive wooden chair was thrown against it, interrupting its charge. The effect was enough to bring me back to my senses as I ran as far away from the creature as possible while looking around me to see where the chair could have come from and, above all, who had thrown it.
Arriving in a corridor where a decorative table was standing there, I threw myself under it and waited.
It was not long before I saw the thing pass in front of me. Fortunately, it passed without stopping.
As I was about to come out of hiding, a new ghost entered the corridor. However, to my amazement, others followed him in a group.
Once the procession had passed and after counting to a hundred, I came out from under the table and walked slowly through the dark corridors, my mane hair had become more bristly than a hedgehog.
Ghosts? I find myself in the presence of creatures that have returned from the dead and look quite threatening!
I immediately thought back to that show I used to watch with my older brother when we were younger. A group of paranormal investigators was visiting haunted places looking for evidence of the existence of any ghostly creatures. In reality, I watched the show more to spend time with my brother than for the tricks on the show.
As I walked out of my reflections, I noticed that the hallway I was standing in was leading to a new crossroads. Hearing noises, I turned off my flashlight and cowered in a corner so I wouldn't be spotted.
A tall, slender skeleton unicorn came forward from another corridor in a nonchalant trot surrounded by several specters. His green gaze turned to one of the specters that were coming toward him:
"What is the status of the research concerning the western part of the castle?"
What the specter was content to shake its head negatively.
"So that leaves us only the eastern part corresponding to the rooms and the north, which we have not yet excavated. All right, take four more spectra and head east. I'll take care of the other part of the building."
Four new ghosts arrived immediately at the crossroads and without further ado left silently in the corridor to my right, followed by the first one who had previously been chatting with the unicorn. The unicorn left opposite.
Why did I have the impression that Lord Hatred had not told me everything? It must have been a simple robbery, and here I was in the middle of big trouble with an army of ghosts led by a demonic unicorn who, given my flagrant good fortune so far, was looking for the same thing as I was.
Not wanting to immediately confront me with the scary unicorn, I followed with a timid trot the group who fortunately for me never looked back.
Arriving in the direction of the rooms, one of which was the one where the princess Twilight was sleeping, although I don't remember which one, the creatures dispersed to explore as many rooms as possible.
I seized the opportunity and sprinted to the end of the corridor as long as there was no one left and started searching as fast as I could.
It was finally at the end of the third door that luck finally smiled at me. When it opened, I was greeted by the not very royal snoring of the Princess Twilight accompanied by Spike who, in her basket, whispered the name of Rarity so many times. How I would love to sleep like them, I thought.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I quickly erased the last name named lock of the kingdom from the list so that one could see that there was no lack of them. Questions for later, I thought.
Suddenly I heard the squeak of the door opening. Without thinking, I threw myself under the bed. Soon a ghost with a small purse that he carried around his neck with a string entered.
He silently approached the bed while I felt my blood freezing. When he got to the side of the bed, he stopped. I tried to calm myself while the creature was probably doing something horrible to the princess.
The seconds passed and then the creature turned to the list I had left on the table and took it in his hands.
Then he put it down and gently closed the door behind him, trapping me in his company. He began to check every corner of the room, looking for me.
When he was out of my sight and I was about to run out of my hiding place towards the door, I felt something wrapped around my tail and before I could do anything, he suddenly pulled it out.
Finding myself underneath him, I gave him my best shot with my back hoof against his arm, which propelled the fragile thing against the wall. I was hoping that the noise wouldn't attract any more of these things.
The creature got up and then without a sound, it propelled itself furiously at me with its claws pointing in my direction. I threw myself to the side and narrowly dodged the broad claws.
Then taking advantage of the fact that it was forced to turn around, I sent my back hooves into its deformed back, which produced a horrible cracking sound.
The creature broke in two and the part that was separated from the head suddenly turned to ashes. Disgusted by the noise I had just heard and the ashes on the ground, I backed away.
The specter, which had lost its ability to float in the air, began to crawl towards me like a broken automaton and pushed me against the heavy wardrobe of the room.
Stuck, I thought my last hour was approaching. To my surprise, a huge bowling ball that was supposed to be stored on top of the cupboard suddenly fell on my attacker's head.
The body of the ghost turned to ashes as before until a blackened, dust-like heap surrounded the bowling ball.
I listened for a few seconds to the silence of the room. To my astonishment, my fight in the room had in no way awakened Twilight and Spike, who was sleeping soundly. The purse that had remained on Twilight's bed was spread all over the bed and in Spike's basket.
Thinking that I could use it as a weapon, I gently took the purse containing the remaining yellow powder and tied it around my neck.
Preparing myself to see a new ghost to land at any moment, I wedged the bowling ball over the door and waited patiently for my trap to work.
After a while, two specters entered and were violently crushed by my trap in an almost simultaneous manner.
But unfortunately, the two last ones came in just afterward in the room in the suite. I grabbed my purse and sent them at face level.
The yellow powder spilled into the air as I hid in the direction of the curtains from where I watched their reactions. Their limbs were suddenly detached by it and then burned to ashes.
Wow, I have to admit I was not expecting such an effect at all. Walking through the ash heaps, I carefully picked up the purse again, but it was now empty.
Shit, why didn't I think to keep some! Meditating on all this, I left the room and went in the direction of the skeleton unicorn.
As I was on my way, I couldn't help but wonder what was the final purpose of all this?
I had the impression that a huge puzzle was forming around me and that I didn't understand anything about it. Why is Lord Fear so friendly to me? Why did he need those special mushrooms? Why were such creatures in Twilight Castle looking for the same thing as Lord Hatred? And what could this precious artifact do? I felt like my head was about to explode.
It reminded me of when my older brother used to help me with my math homework because I honestly didn't understand it. Everything had changed so much since then.
I sighed to myself, it was not the time to think about these things. I had an object to retrieve.
I couldn't believe my eyes, a huge room full of various dusty boxes stood in front of me. I was almost certain that there were many more than I had seen earlier in the day.
How was I found what I was looking for in there? I looked at the aisles for a long time when I noticed that not all the boxes were covered in dust. One row seemed almost clean compared to the rest of everything else in here.
Smiling in my deductive mind, I noticed only too late the imposing presence that was behind me.
"Who are you?" asked the voice of the skeletal unicorn behind my back.
"No one. " I murmured in fear.
"If that is your desire, you will indeed be no one in a few seconds."
"Wait, I'll tell you," I had to save time.
"So talk!"
"My name is... Green Tax and I am ... the daughter of Twilight, the princess of Twilight. If you kill me, she will want revenge!"
"Listen to me, kid, I know you're lying to me. Now tell me the truth, because I am sure that you long for the moment when I torture you in the presence of my acolytes."
"My name is Anon and I am at the command of Lord Hatred. Please don't hurt me!"
"I'm afraid you chose the wrong side if you didn't want to suffer."
I closed my eyes, expecting to die in horrible pain when the door to the room was slammed with a terrible noise.
"Who is that again? Specters, take care of him, I finish absorbing the vital energy of this filly and I'm coming."
Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, it was the opportunity you never expected.
I quickly grabbed a lid and hit the skull of the skeleton with all my might.
Contrary to my expectations, the skeleton did not detach itself from its body but cut the spell it had loaded into its horn. I took the opportunity to flee.
Arrived out of sight of my attacker, I hid in all haste behind a box. I soon heard angry footsteps.
I quickly grabbed a sword that protruded visibly from one of the boxes next to me and waited for the right moment. When the noises were only a few steps away from me, I quickly skewered the unicorn before I realized too quickly that I had made a big mistake.
This one did not suffer from it, it even started to laugh while the sword was from now on in its thoracic cage.
"I believe that I begin to understand the theory of natural selection." she chuckled.
She opened a wide mouth while my forces were being sucked into her mouth. In a final attempt to break the deadly embrace, I grabbed a crate within reach and hit it, but nothing did. However, it was enough to destabilize the pile of crates that fell violently on my attacker and me.
The pain was the right word. I came out of the collapse as best I could while I was in extreme pain on all parts of my cozy body.
A small explosion finished sweeping me off with some of the spilled objects as the unicorn that was the author got up and walked towards me.
"The part stops there."
"Ccccccccrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. " A strident and repetitive noise made us raise our heads as a chandelier hung from the ceiling fell violently on the surprised unicorn.
I got up as well as I could and noticed that the giant skeleton unicorn was reduced to the state of a fine green flame in a small pile of red ashes.
Finally, the nightmare was finished or almost finished. What had become of the remaining specters? As if to answer me, my eyes saw several piles of dust. I walked with a lame step towards the purple box so much desired by Lord Hatred and hastened to leave here.
As dawn broke across the landscape and the early-morning ponies were just beginning to wake up, a huge green flash surrounded Twilight Castle and disappeared immediately.
Too much mystery for me murmured my tired brain before I set off on my way home.
Putting the purple box behind my pillow, I lay down exhausted. Then, pulling my blankets loosely over my aching body, I finally closed my eyelids and...
The door opened revealing a painful light as Blueblood looked at me :
"Anon wake up, it's time."
Why does the whole world hate me?