//------------------------------//
// Dreams and a Warning 
// Story: The Legend of the Arachnapony 
// by RaijingtheClockworkPony 
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 	Bronze Hoof made his way through the streets of the capital city of Canterlot. He looked at the passing ponies, seeing them smile and wave to him as he passed. He managed to catch a lot of eyes, but that was normal. He was in full Night Legion armor, the polished silver shining proudly on his chest and head. His jet black coat made the armor stand out all the more, making him a striking and intimidating figure. He returned the smiles with his own as he made his way to a small mansion. He stopped and inspected the new plaque on the small wall forming the border of the grounds.

The Silver Family. He passed the plaque as his smile started growing larger. The mansion located on the grounds was new, still under construction, but the family was rather old. This current generation was the twelfth in the line. He walked through the construction searching for a certain mare.

He came upon the small garden in the back and spotted the unicorn. He called out to her and watched as her deep blue mane bounced as she walked to him. He was entranced by the sight as the midday sun played off her mane. She planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.

Her voice was like silk. "I missed you. I'll miss you when you go." She moved close to him and placed her head on his shoulder. "Please don't go. I've heard the stories and..."

She trailed off as she hugged him. He returned the hug tightly and removed his helmet. His bronze colored mane fell free from the helmet and he looked down at the mare.

He placed a kiss on her forehead and wiped her teary sapphire eyes. "You know I can't stay. I made an oath to defend all of Equestria and that means you as well. I promise I'll come back."

She looked up and wiped her bright green coat free of any stray tears. "I know but I still want you to stay."

He kissed her on the lips. "I love you. I'll come back unharmed, the same as always."

She pulled away from Bronze Hoof and her loving gaze became one of terror. She backed away and started to scream but he never heard her. He looked down saw that his coat was becoming longer and from his chest protruded small claws. He felt a sudden pulling on his chest and back as he was slowly being dragged backwards. He reached for the mare that only a moment ago was holding him close but saw that she was smiling sadistically and gathering energy into her horn. The next thing he knew he was hit square in the chest by a searing blue ball of energy and was tossed into the black void.

                                                                                                                                                                                       

Guardian awoke from his slumber and rubbed his eyes. He paused for a moment and looked at his claws. Same as every other night then... He opened the cocoon and watched a small shower of spider fall to the webs below. He dismantled the cocoon and landed on the webbed floor. He walked around the web until he found the thinnest part. He placed the now blanket like webs down on the floor and wove the strands together. He glanced up to the hanging branches and spotted other cocoons hanging from the tree. Each of them had their own occupant, creatures that he had captured but hadn't the time nor appetite to consume them at the moment of their demise. He looked back to his work and focused on it for now. Not like they won't be there when I get back. I'm thinking I’ll try the Timberwolf for dinner tonight.

Satisfied with his work he climbed up the trees until he reached the top. He glanced to the sky and spotted Celestia's sun close to the noon position. He knew he was going to have a long day ahead of him. He sighed and went down into the tree. He turned and leaped through the trees. He came to a stop ,after moving through the trees for roughly ten minutes, above a large web very similar to his own nest. It was one of the many traps he had set throughout the forest.

He lowered himself down onto the webs and inspected the trap for any worthwhile catches. A few smaller birds were tangled in the webs but the larger of the spiders that had turned this webbing into their homes had already turned them into meals.

What caught his attention was a rather large crow that was struggling in the webs at the moment. He approached it and looked at it for a moment, a look of boredom passing over his otherwise passive face. Another crow for breakfast? I was hoping for something... juicer. His motion was a blur as he quickly bit the crow and injected it with his venom. The bird struggled for a moment then grew limp. Guardian licked his lips. Still, only the first part of today's meals. He bared his fangs and began his meal.

Guardian spat out a small bone as he leaped up to the trees. He had plenty of other traps to check and he had a feeling he was going to need his energy when he went to the Apple farm.

                                                                                                                                                                                       

The purple dragon watched with a mixture of amusement and worry as his friend paced back and forth inside the library. She had been doing this for the past hour and he was starting to think that she was going to ruin the floor again. She had been doing this since she had returned home from a small visit with Mayor Mare about the Nightmare Night festival that was quickly coming up.

"Why hasn't she responded yet? This has to be at least somewhat important. I mean a creature that attacks ponies could be very dangerous and needs to be dealt with quickly." She stopped pacing and glanced over to Spike. "What could be keeping her?"

Spike tapped his chin with his claw for a moment. "Well... maybe she's busy. I do remember you said something about Germaney and Equestria having meetings. Maybe that's what she's doing." He gave her a shaky smile. "Besides, it's only been a day. She's probably working on a solu—"*BUUURP*

A small puff of green flame erupted from the young dragon’s mouth and formed a sealed scroll. The scroll hung in the air for a moment before Twilight grabbed it with her telekinesis. She opened it in an instant and started reading it.

My dearest Twilight,

It is with the deepest regret that I have to tell you that I am unable to help your friend at this time. With the political talks with Germaney and Saddle Arabia in full swing I am unable to address this issue in person and with the Royal Guard busy with the Nightmare Night preparations I will be unable to send any of them to Ponyville to investigate. However I will be able to assist Zecora after the holiday ends. Until that time I must ask that you act with extreme caution as this creature sounds very dangerous and may be something ancient. I'm sending a tome for you to study in case my fears are correct. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful than this. Please stay safe.

Your mentor and friend,

Princess Celestia

Twilight re-read the letter and flipped it over. "What tome?" A belch louder that the one that produced the scroll in front of her answered her question. A loud *Thump* came from behind her. She turned around and spotted a massive tome materializing on the floor in front of the dragon. "Oh... that's where it is. Well I guess I better get reading."

Spike gave a small groan and pointed to the letter. "What's that for?"

Twilight gave him the letter to read as she read the title of the book but stopped for a moment as she realized that it wasn't in Equestrian. She tapped her hoof on her chin for a moment as she tried to recall where she had seen the strange runes on the tome. Her attention returned to the dragon as he finished reading the scroll.

He glanced up at Twilight then to the tome in front of him. "I think you should tell the others about this before you start reading that. We both know how you get absorbed into your studying."

Twilight nodded. "Agreed. Besides after a quick talk with the others I can crack into this book and see what it is that Celestia was worried about."

Spike gave her a small smile. "Alright. Well we better get going then."

Twilight shook her head and pointed to a nearby book case. "I need you to stay here and gather all the books we have on rune translation." She noticed the grimace on Spikes face as he started walking over to the bookcase. She walked over to him and gave him a quick nuzzle. "This is for Zecora. She needs us to help her."

He sighed. "I know. The sooner we figure this out the sooner things can go back to normal, well as normal as things get around here."

They shared a small round of giggles as Twilight gathered the scroll from Celestia and left the library. Spike watched the door close and turned to the large bookcase. "Well... I guess I should start."

                                                                                                                                                                                       

Twilight was walking along the road towards Sweet Apple Acres. She had just finished telling all of her friends of what happened to Zecora, except Applejack, and now she was on her way there. The reactions of her friends so far were pretty much what she could have expected. Rainbow Dash had wanted to go into the forest and hunt the creature down, Rarity told her that she hoped that Celestia would resolve the issue immediately after Nightmare Night, Pinkie... well she was Pinkie. She had been bouncing around the Sugarcube Corner, cooking and humming as she did, while Twilight tried her best to talk to her. Fluttershy's reaction was just as expected as well.

"Maybe it was frightened. Frightened animals always lash out." She had said. Twilight could understand that but she was still going to stay cautious just in case the creature was aggressive. When she had made that point to Fluttershy she had responded with a question she hadn't thought of. "If it's a dangerous monster of some kind then why didn't it harm Zecora?"

Twilight thought about that question and she couldn't come up with an answer for it. If it was dangerous and could potentially harm ponies then why didn't it harm Zecora? Maybe it was just scared and Zecora startled it... but nothing that has ever lived in that forest has ever looked anything like what Zecora described. She let out a small sigh and pushed the question out of her mind. She had better things to do than waste her time thinking about why it had spared Zecora when she didn't even know what the creature was.

She reached the edge of the Apple orchard and headed into the trees, listening for the sound of any apple bucking or other farm work that was being carried out by her friend. She turned when she heard the unmistakable sound of hooves hitting trunk. She headed towards the sound and found her friend Applejack hard at work.

Applejack noticed her in the middle of a kick. The farm pony's hooves hit the tree with a powerful *Whump* as she smiled at Twilight. "Well, howdy there Twilight. What brings you all the way out here to the farm?"

"Well I'm here because of something that happened to Zecora."

The farmpony looked at her with a worried look. "Is she alright?"

Twilight nodded and told Applejack the full story that Zecora had told her. As she told the story she noticed that Applejack's face paled. She finished talking as Applejack took a step backwards towards the tree. "And Celestia says we need to be cautious if we go near or in the forest. Zecora will be staying with me until we can figure out what it was that attacked her." She paused for a moment as Applejack looked towards the forest with a deeply disturbed look. "Are you okay?"

Applejack bit her lip as she tried to think of what to say. Telling Twilight about Guardian could lead to trouble and that could cause him to never see Apple Bloom. If Apple Bloom ever found out then she would become very angry with her, or worse it could permanently damage their relationship. Also if what Apple Bloom had told her of what Guardian could do was true, then nothing short of the alicorn sisters could protect her if he became angry. But if he's hurting ponies I can't just stay silent.

Applejack swallowed as she came to a decision. "What if Ah told ya that Ah might happen to know the creature in question... possibly."

Twilight's confused tilting of her head was all Applejack got in response. Applejack pressed on. "What Ah meant is that Ah know a creature that sounds very similar to the one you described to me."

Twilight took a step forward excitement and eagerness showing on her face. "Really? Could you bring me to it so I can find out what it is?" Her voice gained a more studious tone. "Whatever this creature is it must be huge and have a massive diet..."

She trailed off once she noticed the still worried look on the farmers face. Applejack bit her lip again and took a deep breath. "Ah can show you what he," She caught herself just in time. "Uh... it looks like. Just... come back here at sunset and Ah can show you but Ah need you to promise to listen to me and do whatever Ah tell you, okay?"

Twilight nodded. "Anything to get to the bottom of this. We will be safe right?"

Applejack nodded. "We'll be safe. Now run along now, you have some readin' you need to do."

Twilight gave another nod and started trotting back towards the road leaving Applejack alone with her thoughts. Ah hope this works out or this will go south so fast. She gave the forest another look and let out a worried sigh.