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// File 7: Month 14-Part 1: The Nightmares 
// Story: SWWC: Something Wrong With Canterlot 
// by Lighttone GryphonStar 
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Fourteen months after Canterlot fell, pain and agony spread in all directions. The evils of the great tyrant covered everything except for the legendary Everfree forest. This was why Strawberry Sunrise chose this place as the perfect hiding spot away from the problems plaguing Equestria. The pegasus was a farmer by trade and adored her strawberries above all else.

She didn't care about the outside world and upon finding the remains of a zebra home she began renovating. With weeks of hiding out here, she had made this place into a perfect home. While she was occasionally on edge with the cockatrices, she was at least glad to not be in the view of the tyrant.

That is until a new guess stepped into the Everfree Forest. Arriving in a twisted chariot of magic and crystals, was a nearly naked white mare covered in black veils and roman style helmet. As she stepped off the chariot, Strawberry watched from the shadows of the trees.

The pegasus was so perplexed by the sparse attire of the mare. However, she kept a blade at her guard when seeing the emblem of King Kray between the chest of the veiled mare and emblazed over her cutie mark like a twisted branding. It was truly a cold and cruel sight to see.

Veiled Mare held out her arm and smoked covered warriors exited on the train as well. They followed her directions without a word and swarmed off and out of sight. The mare herself then walked deeper into the forest and toward the abandoned zebra house that turned into a farm.

Strawberry hid herself the best she could. While she didn't want anything to happen to her precious fruits, she couldn't let herself be killed. Bidding her time and hoping this mare would leave. Instead, Veiled Mare reached down and picked up one fruit. Seeing her feast on the stock she had, sickened Strawberry to her core.

Veiled Mare left a single berry core and entered deep into the farm. Strawberry couldn't take it anymore as she hopped out from the tree and ran up behind her. She hoped the smoke soldiers were far enough away, but she had no idea about the truth. Seeing Veiled Mare reach the center of the stock made things worse. Her eyes glaring as the enemy spotted a strange sight that Strawberry wanted to keep private.

"Stop!" Strawberry screamed as Veiled Mare reached a great zap apple tree. "Don't you dare touch her!!" She rushed in and swung her sword, only for Veiled Mare to dodge under it. She turned her blade downward and attempted to stab her, this time Veiled Mare danced out of the way.

Swinging left and right at her fastest meant nothing at all, as Veiled Mare evaded every advance. The pegasus tried to take command in the sky, but even from up there, she could do nothing more than miss every stab, slash, and thrust.

Living in the Everfree Forest had kept her from losing her magic and the ability to fly. Yet that wasn't even enough as Veiled Mare didn't retaliate once. The enemy chose to simply move around the zap apple tree rather than being pushed back.

Every time Strawberry tried to redirect her, Veiled Mare would just jump clear over to the other side of the tree only for the cycle to continue again and again until she was out of energy. Reaching her limit, Strawberry crashed her sword down like a crutch. "Just... leave..." She exhaled heavily.

Veiled Mare stopped but didn't even face the pegasus. Instead, she straightened her stance and snapped her fingers. Without warning, the smoke soldiers reappeared out of nowhere. They wrapped around Strawberry and forced her to the ground. She tried to whistle for help, but the timberwolves she had been raising were presented to her feet, ripped apart.

Her eyes widened at the corpses, as she didn't even hear them yelp or scream early. Half assuming, they were hiding just like her, while she was watching Veiled Mare and the farm. The truth was far more wrong as the smokey ghosts were killing off all her defenses.

Strawberry's ears flicked at the sound of a branch breaking. Her eyes flinched to Veiled Mare taking one of the zap apples. "No, stop!! Those are not for--" She was shoved harder into the ground. "Those are... one of the last of the zap apple trees..."

"But this isn't just some ordinary zap apple tree..." Veiled Mare finally answered her with the raspiest voice. "I'm sorry... but I know the difference." She cracked open the core and revealed diamond-shaped seeds. "These are Diamond Zap Apples!" Leaning down to Strawberry and unveiling her throat, she showed the pegasus the thousands of shredded tissue. "They were bred by an alicorn, Emerald Teal, over ten thousand years ago... And as such have unique healing potential."

"How do you know that?" She winced as Veiled Mare took a bite.

"Because..." Her voice strained as blood poured forth. "This host had a beloved pony that once raised zap apples. As such, the mare had intense knowledge... on the differences between the two... And trust my host with that." She placed her other hand on the emblem of the tyrant. It glowed and stopped the bleeding.

The rasping in her voice faded ever so slightly until full sentences could form. Her body stood with more regal and elegance. "This body is not the best, nor is our King's body." Stepping forward, she gestured the smoke soldiers to move the timberwolves' bodies and any other dead they could toward the tree. "Just look how this tree reacts to death and decay." Pointing Strawberry's face toward the scene, she admired them pouring the blood over the tree. It twisting its rainbow color into variations of white, gray, and black.

"Is that all you are after..." Strawberry's eyes wandered over her other fruits. "Please, don't harm my fruits or the other trees." Tears pooled in her eyes. "You only need one tree, right?"

"No..." Veiled Mare's voice cracked and creased as the spell of the emblem faded just as quickly as it appeared. "According to Sir Night... We need three diamond zap apple trees, soaking in the blood of the dead. Once they had matured in that damned liquid the fruit produced shall serve a far greater purpose." She kneeled down in front of Strawberry. "And you are going to help us find those other two."

"No--" Strawberry was stopped as Veiled Mare climbed on top her.

Taking another bite of the zap apple in her hand to get better strength, the evil mare turned Strawberry over. "Oh yes, you will."

"Stop!" Strawberry tried to fight it as Veiled Mare's hand reached her face. "I won't speak a word--"

"Speaking won't be needed at all." Veiled Mare leaned in and whispered into her ear. "No, you'll be screaming every possible detail..."

With that, the pegasus's eyes blackened and her breath got so much worse. She started to struggle so violently that the thrashing tore up her flesh against the ground. She screamed so hard that her cheeks ripped open and coughed up blood. The pegasus hyperventilated, in between each scream, so out of control that her lungs could barely keep up. Her vocal cords cracked and her throat stretched from the force. Tears poured from her eyes and the rest of her body convulsed.

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