//------------------------------// // Chapter 22 - PonyVille Diaries - Fifth of Many // Story: The Adventures Of Henry Hoof In Equestria // by destinedjagold //------------------------------// Outside the quiet and peaceful town of Ponyville lies the most feared and creepy forest, where everything -- the trees, the forest animals, and even the weather -- are wild, unpredictable and untamed. So many scholars have tried to research and understand the forest, only to achieve failure. So many pegasi have tried to control and manipulate the weather above the forest, but only to achieve failure as well. Worst case scenario, if any of the said ponies would die. The ponies who tried to understand the forest, have concluded that it was best to leave it alone, and the forest will leave anypony alone as well. However, ponies who are young and always seek adventure will not be stopped by simple words alone. Those type of ponies need to experience the stories before they'll believe it, unfortunately... "All right everypony!" Shouted a white unicorn scholar as he turned to face the mouth of the cave which was surrounded by thick trees and thin mist. With his horn, he casted a white light to illuminate his gloomy surroundings. From the cave came four other unicorn scholars with saddlebags. Some of them were enjoying a little chat as they trot. "Come on, now! No time to waste!" announced the white unicorn as he turned to the narrow earthy path. "Daylight is almost over, and I don't want to spend the night in this dreadful forest!" "What's the rush?" asked a brown unicorn with a grin, "And here I thought you're the explorer type." He earned a glare from the white unicorn, and a few chuckles from the other unicorns. "If this forest wasn't feared by the ponyfolks in Ponyville," the white unicorn began as he turned to face his comrade, "then I would have sent a letter to the academy to extend our research. But alas, I value my---our!---lives more!" "Relax," said a gray unicorn mare in a calm manner, "we haven't ran into any of the said monsters on our way here now, have we?" "No," the white unicorn replied as they began walking towards the path, "but that does not grant us freedom to explore or to shove the dangers away of this place. We should be..." he trailed off after he saw a faint purple glow from the brown unicorn's saddlebag. "...cautious..." He walked and stopped in front of the brown unicorn, glaring at him. "What in Equestria---!?" The brown unicorn blinked as the others stopped. "W-what?" "Don't 'what' me!" The white unicorn snarled as he pointed a hoof at his comrade's saddlebag. "I told you not to take things from that cave!" With his levitation spell, he grabbed and levitated a large stone from inside the brown unicorn's saddlebag. The stone was almost the same size of an average adult pony's head. It was purple, and was faintly glowing as it faintly radiant strange mana energy. "Er..." the brown unicorn gulped, "h-hey, how did that get there...?" He earned glares from his comrades. He coughed awkwardly. "Aw, com'on! I couldn't just leave it inside! That thing might be something worth to be researched! By us! Who knows!? We could be able to provide something in the magic academy!" "This is a mana stone," the white unicorn sighed. "Though rare for it's color, mana stones are common in different areas of the world." "Yes, rare!" The brown unicorn exclaimed, failing to notice the other unicorns' attention were on the cave now. "Mana stones have different uses! I know each of their functions, but never did I saw a purple one before! Com'on, at least let us see what it truly does, and then we can return it back inside!" The white unicorn placed the stone on the ground. "No," he replied, "I am not going back in this dreadful place!" "Uh, guys...?" one of the unicorns said, but failed to catch the two stallions' attentions. "Return it inside, and then we'll leave!" Demanded the white unicorn. The brown unicorn angrily stared at him. "Yeah? Who are you to order me, huh?" "Guys..." "I'm the team's leader," the white unicorn hissed, "and I am also part of grading my members' researching abilities!" The brown unicorn glared at him, and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted. "Guys!" Finally, the two stallions looked at their comrades, who were staring fearfully at the cave. They turned, and saw no cave, but a waving darkness which was slowly crawling its way towards them. The unicorns took a few steps back. The white unicorn casted an illumination spell, however, the white light was not able to go through the darkness. It was as if the darkness was a black waving wall, slowly working its way towards them. "Do you see the trouble you created!?" hissed the white unicorn. "Me?" the brown unicorn turned to him. "What did I do!?" He earned a glare from the others. "Oh..." he turned over his shoulder, and his sight landed on the purple glowing stone, "...right..." The brown unicorn summoned his magic and levitated the stone to try and give it back to the darkness, however, as the stone floated in midair, ghostly whispers started to echo all around them as the darkness' ripples worsen. The unicorns took a few steps back, and the darkness crept closer in a faster pace, and the whispers grew louder and scarier. Out of fear, two unicorns shouted and ran on the earthy path, making the darkness silently explode and expand its rays of blackness all around. The other remaining ponies took this as their cue to run away, with the purple stone in tow. ---------- Chapter 22 - Ponyville Diaries - Fifth of Many ---------- The Everfree Darkness ---------- A zebra was humming to herself with a smile as she makes her way around the forest. She has been living in the forest for a few months now, and she has learned first hoof about the unnatural forest's behavior. She has found the plants to be extremely dangerous if not careful. She has learned that the forest animals do not know reason. However, despite all these things, she was still walking around with a smile, collecting her needed plants for her brew back inside her hut that she built with the help of a blue earth pony. She has been walking in this forest for months now. During that time, she has cleared her usual path for it to be a little bit safer and easier to walk on. She flattened the path and removed the thorny weeds crawling on the earthy path. Living in South Zebrica, she has learned to brew a few potions to ward off predators, and she was proud to learn that those were also effective to the weird and massive creatures in the Everfree. Manticores, Timber Wolves, Cockatrices, and even very large Hydras and Dragons! She could ward them off, but her ingredients are running low. As she turned her head to the tree's branches, she stopped on her tracks after she saw one of the ingredients that she needed: a hanging blue vine. Touching its green small silk-like leaves could leave a living creature having a very nasty itch that would last for a few days. Spotting a long stick nearby, she took it with her mouth and used it to pull the vine down. After a few seconds of struggle, a small portion of the vine fell on the ground in front of her. She smiled. It was long enough to last for a week or two. Taking a small knife out of her saddlebag, she carefully removed the small leaves before putting the blue vine inside her saddlebag. A bright flash of light blinded her for a blink of a second, and thunder roared and echoed in the forest. She looked up and noticed the heavy black clouds swirling like a whirlpool. She shrugged, for it was a usual sign that it might rain soon. She returned her gaze to the surface, but noticed something different: her surroundings became darker than a few seconds before. The wind was cold and still, and carries a strange feeling that made her shiver. Another roar of thunder. She decided that it would be best to head back to her hut for shelter. Whatever the forest is brewing, it didn't look like she wanted to find out. She turned around and began her trot back to her hut, but her eyes are starting to lose the faintest of light available to help her see her path. That, or the forest is really getting darker by the second. Spotting a thick stick nearby, she took it with her mouth as she grabbed a vile from her saddlebag with her hoof. Removing the cork on the vile, she poured a small amount of transparent liquid on one end of the stick, and instantly, she had fire on the stick. She returned the vile, and using the lit stick as a torch, she continued her trot. Her torch provided her enough light to see a small diameter of her surroundings, but as the seconds pass by, even though her torch was still alive, the shadows of darkness crept closer, as if the fire on her torch was getting smaller. Thunder roared. She looked up, to at least give her a few seconds to forget her worry about her surroundings, but she could no longer see the sky. All she saw was black, and it seemed to be getting closer. She blinked as she turned her gaze ahead, around, behind. The shadows were getting nearer and nearer. If her heart was not doing its best to make her deaf, she could have heard the quiet ghostly whisers being carried in the stagnant cool air. She no longer knew which direction to take. She turned and turned, trying to see a path -- any path -- that could get her away from this place. The shadows were inches away from her now, and she began to sweat. Something grabbed her fire's light. Turning an eye, she saw the fire on her torch was consumed in the darkness. In panic, she spat the stick and dropped herself, praying for mercy as she covered her eyes with her hooves. Her body shook as her eyes were tightly shut close. Her breathing became very fast and shallow, as her heart was beating like crazy. Daring to open an eye, she saw...the forest. Opening both her eyes as she removed her hooves on her head, she slightly lifted her head and scanned her surroundings. A flash of white from a lightning bolt danced through the dark and thick clouds above. She blinked to recover her sight. Was she seeing things? She saw the forest around her. She saw her torch a few hooves from her. The fire was out, leaving torched grass on its resting place as thin gray smoke danced up before it faded with the air. Thunder echoed in the forest as she got back to her hooves. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves before trotting back to her hut. Just when she was convinced that things came back to normal, the wind started to get strong, making the leaves dance and rustle. A few seconds, and the wind became violently strong, blowing the zebra back to the opposite direction. She grunted as she stood her ground, only to pull herself forward and making her fall towards the ground as the wind suddenly came to a full stop. One of the forest's weird weather, she thought to herself. Grunting, she stood up and dusted the dirt off of her coat and muzzle before continuing her trot. After a few minutes of silence, her hut was finally in view. She smiled as she continued making her way towards her home in a faster pace than her usual. Her hut was built right underneath the large cave-like hollow of a massive Everfree tree. Reaching the wooden door, she lifted a hoof and pulled the door wide open. Her smile became wide, seeing her belongings were still in one place, dimly lit by a number of candles. Around the hut's semi-circular interior were wooden tables filled with jars, small chests, viles, plates and many other things. Hanging from her ceiling were vines and tree roots. A small bed with a thin dark-brown matress on a corner, which was hidden behind a thin hanging semi-transparent curtain. In the center of her hut was a large cauldron on top of large rocks that surrounded lighted coal, wood and dried leaves. The cauldron had a bubbling purple liquid of some sort. Removing her saddlebag and settling it on a wooden chair near the door's frame, she turned to close the door, reaching a hoof on the door, only to stop after seeing a black blob figure a few hooves from her door's stair-like steps. The figure was...nothing more but black. Rubbing her eyes and blinking a few times, she's convinced that she's not seeing things. Seconds felt like forever, until she noticed the figure moved forward. Without warning, the figure quickly sprang itself towards her. Fear suddenly stole her breath as she suddenly slammed her door shut just before the figure reached her. --- "...and then the headless pony pulled her outta the table!" The library was then filled with screams and screaches from the fillies and colts as they squirmed inside their sleeping bags. As they screamed and scrambled inside, Aurora could not help but chuckle at the sight. The library was dimly lit by a candle on the nearby table on the first floor. A quick glance on the wallclock startled the orange pegasus filly a bit. "Oh my! It's getting late!" She exclaimed as she turned to the number of sleeping bags with pony heads poking out. "Time for bed, everypony!" she smiled as she stood and went towards the candle. She turned and saw the frightened looks from the young ponies. "Come on, everypony," she said with a weak smile, "it was just a story." She shrugged as she faced the candle, "There's nothing to worry about." She glanced to her left, and saw her big brother, a yellow unicorn named Daybreak, who laid asleep on the couch with his back facing them. Small cotton puffs were stuffed on his ears as he let out quiet snores. Beside him was his marefriend, a white unicorn named Snow Flake, also fast asleep with cotton puffs on her ears. One of the young ponies yawned, and it quickly spread to the other young ponies. Agreeing that it was time to sleep, they said their goodnights before Aurora blew the candle's fire out. Blinking a few times to adjust to the moonlit library, she trotted towards her sleeping bag beside her little brother, who was yawning. Squirming inside, the siblings said their goodnights before going to sleep. --- A powerplant located on the outskirts of Ponyville was busy with repairs. A number of unicorns chanted a light spell from their horns to provide enough light for work ponies to see what they're doing. A whistle rang through the sounds of sparks and metal, silencing any other sounds and making the ponies turn to the source. "Okay everypony," shouted a middle-aged unicorn pony, "that's enough for taday! Rest up and resume the repairs tamarrow!" With that, the ponies began collecting their equipment and said their goodbyes and goodnights to each other as they walked back to Ponyville. The middle-aged pony turned to the generators. He sighed for they failed to finish their maintenance on time. As he turned around to walk back to Ponyville, he convinced himself that the town will just have to deal with a night without electricity. He satisfied himself with the thought that this was not the first time Ponyville will be sleeping without power. And after all, the ponies are very understanding. As he walked on the earthy path, he noticed that the moonlight was dimming. Curious, he looked up and saw a large black cloud covering the sky. There must be a storm scheduled this night. With a shrug, he fasten his pace towards home. --- Unbeknowst to those who aren't weather pegasi, the clouds covering the evening sky are not clouds at all. Sonic Wave, who just arrived home from the factory, looked up and noticed the strange weather clouds covering the sky. Narrowing his eyes as he stretched his wings, he noticed that the black clouds were waving like the calm ocean, for some strange reason. He flapped his wings and brought himself above the height of the houses, and noticed that the edge of town was also slowly being covered by the darkness, further darkening the quiet and sleeping town. He noticed one part of the town has lights, probably from the unicorns who just arrived from the factory. --- A very loud series of knocks came pounding on the zebra's wooden door. Her heart was pounding fast as fear took over her, however, after hearing the cries of ponies on the other side, she quickly trotted to her door, unlocked the locks, and the door bursts open, throwing the zebra back as unicorns quickly ran inside and immediately closed the door. --- Henry woke up after hearing murmors and whispers from a group of ponies outside his home. He removed his embrace from Pearl as he sat on the bed, rubbing his eyes. Noticing that lights were coming through the window, he changed his disguise as he walked out of bed and sleepily trotted to the door. Outside, he saw the group of factory-working ponies whispering to each other as they looked around the town. Wondering what was the commotion all about, he quietly closed the door and took a few steps forward as he looked around, only to notice how dark the town was tonight. Sonic Wave landed a few hooves in front of the green pony, where a few factory ponies went to him, and began asking if he knew anything about the phenomenon. "This isn't a weather condition." Sonic said, making Henry turn and walk towards him. "I don't know what's going on either..." he replied to one of the questions of the ponies around him. Henry walked through the crowd, and Sonic noticed him. "What's going on?" he asked, but Sonic only shook his head. Then, the whispers died in silence after everypony heard ghostly whispers echoing all around town, making them shiver as they turn and look around. --- "Uh...?" A pink filly woke up after she felt a weird sensation. Crawling out of her bed, she sleepily walked towards the window, pushed it open, and saw the illuminated area of the town from her room on the second floor of Sugarcube Corner. After a yawn, she turned to her wallclock. "Huh... A party this early?" Suddenly feeling awake, she took a look back on the group of ponies again. "But... It's so quiet. A party should be loud and fun!" She giggled, and then gasped after a thought hit her. "I know! They must be waiting for me there!" She said excitedly as she went towards her drawer and pulled out her party cannon. "Nopony can have a party without Pinkie!" As she hid her party cannon in her pink poofy mane, she hopped towards her room's door, grabbed the handle, twisted it, pulled the door open, and saw waving darkness on the other side. --- Rainbow Dash groaned and shivered from the cold air that surrounded her. With an angry growl, she kicked herself into a sitting position on her cloud bed. Stretching her limbs as she yawned, she looked around and found her cloud still floating above the market place. She noticed the illuminated area near Henry's place, and wondered what was going on. She spreads her wings wide open to fly, but stopped after hearing her name from an annoying filly down below. She didn't want to go down and meet her, but after another shiver from the cold, she flapped and glided down the market place and landed a few respectable hooves in front of a white filly, who was clearly very sleepy. "What?" "Uh..." Rarity yawned, which affected the rainbow-maned pegasus. "S-so sorry to wake you, Rainbow Dash, is just that..." she tapped her chin with her hoof as she turned around. "Could you and your pegasi friends remove this chilly weather please?" Rainbow tilted her head on one side, clearly not understanding what the filly wants from her. Rarity turned to her with a sleepy smile. "If it's not too much trouble, that is. The weather schedule in town hall says that tonight's supposed to be a clear warm evening." She shivered as she finished her sentence. Rainbow shook her head. "We didn't do any of this weird weather stuff..." she turned around and noticed the weird darkness rippling. "...whatever this weird stuff is..." --- The library's door swung open and an orange coated pegasus filly came out as she rubbed her sleepy eyes with a hoof. Other residents of the town also came out from their homes with candles and glowing horns. "Whu-what's going on?" asked a pale-yellow unicorn colt as he came out from the library and stopped beside his elder sister. Aurora shook her head. "I'm not really sure," she replied as she looked around, and noticed the rippling darkness. --- A yellow pegasus filly woke up after soft white paws violently shook her sleeping head awake. COnvinced that the filly's awake, albeit startled, the white rabbit hopped and hopped on the bed, with his paws pointed outside the filly's door. Wondering what her bunny was trying to say, she crawled out of her bed and walked out of her room as the rabbit hopped on her back. "What is it, Angel?" the filly asked without removing her gaze on her living room, where her little animal friends were looking at each other with worried and scared faces. "What's wrong, everyone?" Angel Bunny jumped off of her back and hopped towards the front door of her cottage. He jumped and jumped, trying to reach the handle to open the door. Fluttershy got the idea, and went towards the door and opened it. She gasped. In front of her cottage was the dreadful Everfree Forest, and she noticed above the sea of leaves of the said forest has a strange rippling black stream-like thing was flowing from the trees, and headed towards the nearby town. She gasped once again, for Ponyville was completely covered by the darkness. "Oh-oh my! What's going on!?" she exclaimed in her usual low voice. --- "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A very loud scream of a filly echoed all around town, making the wall of darkness ripple violently. The ghostly whispers became louder as a pink earth filly jumped out from her room's window, and landed in front of Sugarcube Corner without any clear signs of hurt. Soon, the loud ghostly whispers became screeches as rays of darkness stretched towards the town, and some even tried consuming the fleeing and panicking ponies. Pinkie Pie jumped to the side on time to avoid a fast ray of darkness that tried to take her. She dared a look, and saw the ground where she was exploded on the darkness' impact. Her eyes grew wide and her pupils shrunk from fear. She screamed as she started to flee away, dodging both ponies and darkness. --- Henry casted a small brown barrier that surrounded him, Sonic and a few factory ponies, while those who weren't reached by the alicorn's barrier either ran away or casted their own barriers. A loud crash echoed in the area. Looking around, Henry saw a ray of darkness came inside his home through the roof. "Pearl!" he shouted as his mare cried in shock. --- Young as he might be, but he was able to cast a powerful barrier that surrounded him and his elder sister, protecting them both from the rays of darkness that tried to...whatever it'll do to them. --- As Rarity jumped left and right to avoid the rays of darkness, Rainbow Dash expertly dodged the rays as she took the air, and even managing to deliver an uppercut to an incoming ray. She dodged and punched a few more times before a realization hit her: the darkness can be physically touched. Thinking that it might be a useful information, she tried her best to fly low and yelled to anypony about the darkness being physical. --- A brown beam exploded on impact, cutting the ray of darkness and freeing Pearl from its grip. With Henry's magic, he caught the falling blue earth pony and sets her down gently. She hugged him, but immediately pushed him away and jumped back before a ray of darkness landed on the two of them. Henry ran beside her and casted a protective barrier around them as a rainbow-maned filly flew past them, yelling something. --- Rarity and Pinkie Pie met up and ran together and turned inside an alleyway, which was a dead-end. Shocked, they quickly turned around and noticed a ray of darkness heading towards them. They hugged each other and screamed, only to expect nothing to happen. Daring their eyes open, they saw two adult unicorn ponies hammering the ray with wood and metal on their magical grip. "Those..." Rarity spoke quietly, "those..." Pinkie Pie, immediately catching what her companion was trying to say, grinned. "Oh..." She said, narrowing her eyes confidently, "nopony messes with my home town!" The pink filly galloped through the alley with her pink cannon in tow, making the white unicorn wonder where that even came from. Shaking her head to dismiss the question, she focused her magic on her horn and found something nearby, under the ground. "Interrupting my beauty sleep, are we?" she asked coldly with a grin. --- Sonic Wave flew and dodged the rays as he flew straight to the wall. He had an idea he wanted to test, and after he's within reach, he dove towards the wall with speed, his front hooves extended in front of his face. And as the filly yelled, the darkness really was physical. He hit the wall, creating a circular violent tide from the impact as it let out a loud screech. Thinking that it cried from pain, SOnic punched and bucked the wall until a ray grabbed him and pushed him towards a roof hard, and even pushing him through to the floor. --- The group of unicorns led their zebra companion to where they found the purple stone after a lot of convincing from the zebra. On the way, they met a large Manticore, which seemed to be scared and decided to ignore them as it continued to find itself a safe place to hide. As they continued on their gallop, Zecora explained to the unicorn scholars that the stone they took was the very same stone she offered to the forest when she first arrived and decided to live in the forest. Though it made her wonder how and why the stone was found inside the cave, and not on her small altar that she made under a tree which was a bit far from her home. They found the cave, where a stream of darkness was coming out and flying above the treetops. What really caught their attention was a small yellow pegasus filly standing near the cave's entrance with a small white rabbit. Surprised and worried, the white unicorn, despite the danger, ran and pulled the filly away from the cave. --- Rays of darkness came through the library, and grabbing the ponies inside. Seeing his mare pulled away from him, Daybreak enveloped the ray with yellow magic, and sent massive amounts of psychic energy, dropping him back on the ground outside the library. Without thinking, he grabbed a piece of wood and flung it towards the ray that took the white unicorn mare. Cutting through, Snow Flake fell towards the earth, only to be caught by Daybreak's yellow magic. As Snow Flake got back on her hooves, a ray of darkness consumed the yellow unicorn's head and pulled the pony upward. Crying in surprise, Snow Flake grabbed her stallion's hind hooves with her front hooves, and tried her best to pull him back down. --- After delivering an uppercut, a ray of darkness hit the rainbow-maned pegasus on her back, and pushed her towards the ground hard. Gasping, she squirmed to try and escape. The ray quickly pulled itself back, carrying the filly with it. As she cried for help, a loud explosion sound shut her ears down as she felt the ground. Lifting herself up, she saw the pink earth pony firing party materials on rays. She would thank her if only her rescuer didn't deafen her... --- A very fast ray of darkness destroyed Henry's barrier, and consumed his entire head as the ray pulled him up. Pearl was about to try and rescue him when she felt something grabbed her hind hooves. Before she could react, the ray pulled her up. A large green gemstone flew through the ray of darkness. Pearl landed on the ground, still a bit stunned to process what just happened. Wasting no time, Rarity's gem flew back to her like a boomerang, and as soon as it returned, it quickly flung towards another ray, losing its grip on Henry. --- A fierce yellow ray pass through the ray of darkness, losing its grip on Daybreak. Snow Flake quickly hugged him, and quickly broke the hug as another ray of darkness flew towards them. --- A very small and very smooth and very fluffy white paw punched the stars out of the unicorn's head, losing his grip on the yellow pegasus filly. As the unicorn landed on his back, they saw the end of the dark stream came out, leaving the cave safe to enter. The yellow pegasus suddenly found herself hiding behind her mane in shame from what her bunny did to the unicorn. Angel jumped and landed on her back and reminded her of the task at hoof. As the unicorns helped their comrade get back on his hooves, Zecora quickly trotted and stopped in front of the pegasus filly. "Whatever you are doing, my dear, please stop, and leave from here." "Oh, but I must..." Fluttershy whispered as she hid her face behind her mane. "M-my friends... I need to help them..." Zecora shook her head as the unicorns stood before the mouth of the cave along with the stone enveloped with magic. She turned to them, and with a nod, the unicorns entered the cave. "You don't understand!" Fluttershy whined, "You're going to anger him! Please stop!" But her words were easily dismissed by the unicorns as they entered and illuminated the cave with their magic. Zecora however, arched an eyebrow as she turned to the shivering filly. "'Him', my child? Whoever ar---" She was cut off after loud screams echoed out from the cave, making the pegasus filly jump and flap her wings and quickly flew inside the cave. --- Darkness grabbed the white unicorn filly, and began pulling her up. As she screamed from fear, she lost her magical grip on her gemstone. Henry charged his horn with magic, and was about to fire to save the filly when a ray of darkness pushed him to the side and immediately pulled him as another ray consumed his entire head. With an iron bar on her mouth, Pearl jumped and waved her weaponry, cutting the two rays in the process and dropping her stallion back on the ground. Before she could land, the two rays she attacked did not retract, but instead, pulled itself and grabbed the blue earth mare up. Shaking the darkness off of his face, he locked his gaze on his mare and...two more rays of darkness grabbed him. --- Unable to get through the colt's magical barrier, rays of darkness wrapped themselves around the barrier and began carrying the two foals up. Aurora panicked as Time tried to think of ways to escape. He could not perform two magic spells at once... --- Purple and brown lights flashed inside the dark cave as unicorns were enveloped with black aura. The mysterious black magic disables their ability to either move or cast magic to save themselves. A large black creature stood on the center of the circular part of the cave. It's height could almost reach the eight-meter height of the cave. It has front limbs resembling that of an ape, and hind limbs resembling that of a frog. It's large, transparent, crystal-blue dragonfly-like wings are extended left and right. It's serpent-like head has purple-glowing eyes as it concentrate it's magic on the unicorns, and also probably on the nearby town. Zecora lost all words as she stood before the creature, completely frozen in fear. She snapped back to her senses when she saw the small filly...talking...to it in a gentle voice. What even made her disbelieve what she is seeing is that the creature directed its gaze on her, somehow, paying attention. "T-the stone...!" One of the unicorn stallions managed to whisper, making the zebra turn and face him. He tried his best to point his hoof at where the stone was dropped. Following the hoof's direction, Zecora found the purple stone behind a large boulder. --- Seeing his little brother and little sister being carried by the darkness, he enchanted his horn and was about to envelop the darkness with his magic when rays upon rays of darkness quickly flew towards him in every direction. --- Pinkie Pie fired party items at a ray which was pulling Rainbow Dash up. After rescuing her again, a ray of darkness flew and grabbed the pink cannon. The pink filly was about to save her beloved cannon when another ray grabbed her hind hooves and pulled her on the opposite direction. Hearing the pink filly's cry for help, Rainbow Dash viciously shook the darkness off of her and flapped her wings hard and kicked the ray. Not enough to cut it, she spun and...a ray consumed her entire body. --- Picking the stone up, she slowly walked towards the filly as the eyes of the massive creature turned its attention on the zebra. Seeing the stone, the creature let out a growl, making the zebra stop on her tracks. Curious, Fluttershy turned and saw the zebra with a purple stone on her hooves. She then felt her white rabbit jumping in place on her back. Turning over her shoulder, she saw Angel excitedly pointing his paws at the zebra. Groaning that his mistress did not understand him -- again -- he jumped off of her back and hopped towards the zebra. He then jumped and pointed a paw on the stone she was carrying. "Oh!" Fluttershy exclaimed, making Angel sigh in relief that she finally understood. The yellow filly turned to the creature once again with a gentle smile. "Is that the special rock that was stolen from you?" "I didn't steal it!" the brown unicorn stallion exclaimed as the creature nodded it's serpentine head. "I found it lying ar---" "Zip it or I'll report you to the instructor!" Hissed the white unicorn as he glared daggers at his companion. "You're the cause of all this, if you need me to remind you!" Fluttershy turned to the zebra with a warm smile. "He wants it back. He said that it's special to him, saying that a...zebra..." she let out a quiet gasp, earning confused looks from Zecora, her bunny Angel, and the unicorns. "Y-you gave him that stone?" Zecora blinked, and smiled as she nodded. "Indeed it was I, my dearest." She then faced the creature. "It was a gift I offered to the forest." The creature slowly extends one of its hands at the uncertain zebra, as the unicorns were slowly lowered back on the ground. Opening its palms, Zecora placed the stone on it with a smile. --- The darkness stopped in the small town of Ponyville, making the ponies stop and wonder what is going to happen next. Soon, gentle whispers echoed around the town as the rays lowered their catch back on the ground. And as the darkness began to retreat, soft rays of the rising sun began to bath the quiet, peaceful, and a bit destroyed town of Ponyville. --- Big Macintosh and Applejack happily pulled a wooden wagon filled with grapes and Zap Apple Jam as they walk on the earthy path from their farm to Ponyville. But as they got closer, their usual happy smiles faded and replaced with confusion as they saw rooftops smashed, wood splinters on the ground, weakened ponies lying around, and a dizzy pink earth filly leaning on her party cannon, where inside the mouth of the cannon was Rainbow Dash's head poking out. "Um... Pinkie Pie..." Applejack said, catching the pink filly's attention. "Ya might wanna turn your party skills down a bit." She smiled awkwardly as she let her eyes wander around once again. "If you keep this up, there won't be a town left." Big Macintosh nodded in agreement, "Eeyup." Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash looked at each other lazily, and groaned.