//------------------------------// // Introductions // Story: Hidden by Shadows // by Authora97 //------------------------------// The sun had risen hours ago, she would need this light if she would able to investigate properly. Spike hung onto Twilight’s back like his life depended on it. She was running so fast she could almost beat Rainbow Dash or Applejack. Almost Twilight had just barely escaped her friends. She cared about them, but she knew they would make this whole thing longer than it needed to be. Pinkie would be probably be bouncing along and making a song about this, Rainbow would fly around trying to find something to hit, and Rarity wouldn’t do anything but lie under some parasol and worry about her coat getting dirty. Fluttershy would freak whenever they arrived, thinking some giant monster had showed up and Applejack... Can’t think of what she would do. It saddened Twilight to think like that but her friends antics did lead to more trouble than it was worth. She needed to figure out what caused the surge so she could write a letter to Princess Celestia. Twilight was starting to feel the magical essence about a hundred feet from where she is certain the blast took place. Her view of the area was being blocked by a patch of the Everfree Forest so, not wanting to risk Timber Wolves, she walked around it. Spike however, was more looking forward towards the new ponies and the party. There was no party like a Pinkie Pie Party, especially a Welcome to Ponyville. But, do to his loyalty to Twilight, he had to make sure she didn’t get herself killed. Of course he would much rather be asleep. Maybe he could close his eyes for just a second... I mean Twilight would want him to be at his best right? Yeah, she would... Three seconds after Spike fell asleep. The fore of the stop catapulted Spike of Twilight’s back. He landed about two feet ahead of her. “Are we there already?” Spike asked, slowly waking up. “Spike...do you see that?” Twilight asked, motioning father ahead of them both. “See what...? Oh, that.” Against the bright green grass was ash. It went out as if someone had blown something up over that exact area. The marks went out at least 25 feet. Twilight could sense the magic there as if it was freshly used. This is what she already knew, or at least thought she knew. 1) A very powerful spell was used by a being powerful enough to do this and live. 2) It would be pretty big and mostly likely dangerous. 3) It could be watching her right now. 4) Maybe she should run just in case it was hiding inside the Everfree... The Everfree Whatever caused this must’ve run into the Everfree Forest as a means of hiding until it could unfold it’s master plan. “Twilight... you sure this was a good idea?” Her purple and green assistant asked. “Of course, whatever did this probably ran into the Everfree Forest. That place is so chaotic that it might be stuck in there for a while. We should be fine.” Twilight assured. She too was scared, but her search for knowledge overrides that. “Spike, take a letter.” Twilight commanded. An hour ago Abigail couldn’t believe her luck. Even thought she had lost her voice thanks to a certain little unicorn she still made it to Ponyville with her sisters. This would be the fresh start they all needed. In this town they wouldn’t be chased because of their dark past or how none of them looked like sisters. It was true no matter how strange it sounded. They were in town for five minutes when they assaulted by what had to be the color pink as an earth pony. Who just took one look at them and gasped. “OH MY GOSH you ponies must be new because I know every pony in Ponyville and I don’t know you that must mean you guys don’t have any friends here! That makes me your first friend here, wow three new ponies that sure is strange but that means we get to have a Super-Ultra-Mega-Welcome to Ponyville Party!” The color pink said. Abigail was just about to introduce herself and her sisters when she stopped. Her voice was gone. She could never hear it again. Or least not the way she wanted to. Thankfully her sister Skylar filled in for her. “Yeah, but um who are you?” Skylar lied. She knew very well who this girl-er pony was but for their cover to work they needed to keep appearances. “My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, but everypony just calls me Pinkie!” She beamed. Skylar was shocked so much energy could come from a pony just a few years older than her sister. “Uh, yeah, wonder why.” Skylar mumbled. This is it. This is the moment Sky either kills us or saves our skins Abigail thought. “My name is Flutterwing, this is my older sister Authora and this cute little filly is...” The deep violet pegasus began Don't do it Sky! “Pipsqueak.” Skylar finished. Megan, the bright green filly to the left of Skylar, turned to her sister with a look that said ‘I swear I will kill you right here right now, screw witnesses.’ Abigail wanted to scream. Sky had just set off a timer that in a VERY short time would involve a fight that she was powerless to stop. It was one of those times she knew losing her voice would bite her in the flank. “Great, now we can start the party planning and once the party starts then you can meet all the new people and make newer friends and you can meet my best friends!” Pinkie suddenly stopped in her tracks. “Pinkie, are you alright?” Skylar asked. “My friends are going with Twilight to do some super-secret stuff! That means they won’t be here for the party and you won’t get to meet them!” Pinkie cried, tears preparing to come from her eyes. Abigail quickly reacted. She began patting the all pink pony on the back, slowly calming her down with her soothing touch. It was something Abigail did with her sister’s all the time to keep them from killing each other. It was her special form of magic... Skylar called it ‘A Mother’s Touch’ After another second or two of this the tears were no longer coming down her face. Pinkie looked up at the dark pink mare. “Thanks, I don’t know what came over me for a second.” Pinkie quickly apologized. Abigail was about to reply when she remember her predicament so see just gave a friendly smile. Megan decided to butt in. “Something wrong Thora? Cat got your tongue?” She teased. Abigail never felt like killing anypony, til now. “Pip, shut it!” Skyla scolded. Pinkie stared her bright ocean blue eyes at Abigail, who here was known as Authora. “Yeah, you seem so quiet. You must be shy, one of my best friends is shy too so I understand if you don’t like to talk but maybe after the party you could be less shy!” Pinkie beamed, back to her old self. Abigail looked down solemnly. “Pinkie, that’s the thing. Thora can’t talk at all. No thanks to Pip over here.” Skylar accused her younger sister. “It was a power surge Stutter!” Megan spat. “How was I supposed to stop it?” “Maybe by growing up, you hadn’t had a surge in years and you decided to have one out of the blue and look what it did to Thora!” Skylar yelled in her younger sister’s face. Perfect, fifteen minutes in town and already they're fighting like a married couple Abigail thought. She quickly got the attention of Pinkie. Holding up her hoof and loudly crashing it on the dirt. The purple pegasus and bright green unicorn turned to look at their older sister. Knowing what would come next if they didn’t shut it. “Sorry Authora. Sorry Pinkie Pie.” Both girls said. This wasn’t the first time they fought and certainly wouldn’t be the last. By the time they finished, they had noticed Pinkie running off, saying something about finding the others. Much to her dismay, Abigail turned to her sisters giving them the evil eye. “She started it!” Megan accused. “She gave me that stupid name when we specifically agreed to call me Acorn Tree, or Acorn for short.” “I thought Pipsqueak would be a better name, Pip for short. Plus, in later years you might get a squirrel on fire so in the grand scheme my idea works better. Nothing gets you madder than being called Pipsqueak Meg!” Skylar laughed. Abigail’s stare, closely matching Fluttershy’s, quickly silenced them. She remembered a spell she discovered years back to push your thoughts into others and began yelling at her sisters. Never have I been more disappointed in you two. Meg, there are times when I love you more than life and others were I want to kill you were you stand, this was one of those times. Sky, what you did was immature and stupid! If we want to last a day in this town then you'll need to stop fighting and start caring! How can we hide from him when you girls give us up simply by fighting? Abigail yelled at her sister's. They were shocked at first to hear Abigail's voice inside their heads, but less so when they noticed a cloud white glow around her horn. None of them wanted to go back, no, none of them COULD go back for it would be certain death for them both and a life of hell for Abigail. They needed to blend in. Skylar and Megan quickly lowered their heads in shame. Good, now let's go find Sugarcube Corner. If we know Pinkie then she's throwing our party there and will meet us there. Also, if anyone spots Dandie and refuses to tell me then I will turn her into a quill and give you to Twilight. Both sisters quickly became terrified. Twilight worked with her quills ALL THE TIME, they would probably only get a few minutes of break time. Abigail knew what buttons to push when need be, but the rest of the time she was full of joy and happiness. All the panic started again when Applejack mentioned Authora's voice. Present Time Mouths of all four multi-colored ponies were dropped. They couldn’t believe their ears. Lost her voice? How does a unicorn lose her voice and not have the magic to bring it back? How did she lose it? Was she alright? Pinkie however, sat on her flank, smiling as if nothing had happened, looking at her friends with questionable eyes. “Why are your mouths open guys? You should close them before a fly flies into them.” Pinkie reminded. She then got on a long winded sentence about how it was weird for a fly to be called a fly. Rarity was the first to come back from her shock. True it wasn’t shocking, but to lose your voice so soon and then move into a new town where everypony would be asking you questions every thirty seconds was hard. Dash, AJ and Fluttershy followed. “We should go check on her, make sure she ain’t too traumatized.” Applejack offered. “That poor thing...it must be hard to lose...your voice.” Fluttershy mumbled. The group quickly ran after the sisters, worried. But Pinkie simply bounced right to where they were. They were hiding in an alleyway. The raspberry shaded pony had her face her hooves crying her eyes out. A pegasus was trying to get her to calm down while a bright green unicorn was simple arguing with her older sister making in all worse. “Hey girls, I found them!” Pinkie yelled. The two non-crying ponies turned to the pink party pony. “How did you...?” Flutterwing asked. “I could hear Authora. She’s seemed so sad so we followed you out here but my friends we silly, calling out for you so I guess they didn’t see Pipsqueak running here but I did so I followed you and now that I’ve found you we can cheer Authora up so she can be happy for the party!” Pinkie cheered all in one long breath and sentence. Flutter and Pipsqueak just stared. Pinkie was then joined by the others quickly. "Sorry bout your voice Sugarcube, we didn' know." Applejack said quickly. Flutterwing flew up to her, letting Pipsqueak have a try at calming her. "It's alright Applejack. It's just a sore spot for Authora, her whole life was centered around her voice and she gets like this when someone asks about it." Flutterwing explained. "But we can get her out of it in a flash." The mares looked on at the scene, still a little shaken up from, Authora running of at SCC. They could just barely hear the kind words offered by Flutterwing. "Authora, please just calm down. We can find a way to get your voice back I promise. Pip feels just as bad as I do about this. How about we go have a little party, huh? I know this girl who can throw the best parties in all of Equestria? Flutter tried. Her sister laughed slightly, enough to stop crying. The seven mares and one filly got back together on the street by the alley. They all began apologizing. Rainbow Dash went first. "We didn't know about your voice Authora." Rainbow Dash apologized sincerely. Authora shook her head. "She doesn't hold any hard feelings towards you. It's just a touchy subject." Flutterwing translated. Next went Applejack and Rarity. "I'm sorry bout that. Thought you were kinda shy and needed a pony ta talk to." Applejack explained. "It's a shame we are unable to hear your voice.I'm sure it was angelic." Rarity told her. Authora blushed. Pinkie and Fluttershy came last. "I totally forgot to tell them about it. If I had remembered then you wouldn't have run off crying and we would be starting the party. Maybe we could make an extra special-er party." Pinkie exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. I should've asked you before." Fluttershy muttered, barely above a whisper. Authora shook her head and slowly turned to each of them mares, giving each a forgiving smile. Flutterwing once again translated. "She isn't one to hold a grudge. If I know Authora, she would say that as long as you mares didn't do it out of hate then all is forgiven. She doesn't blame Pinkie for forgetting, she doesn't blame Applejack for asking, she doesn't blame Rarity or Rainbow Dash for wanting to know with Applejack, and she most certainly doesn't blame Fluttershy for anything. Everyone feel better now?" Flutter asked. All of them nodded, tears barely showing in their eyes. "Perfect, now let's go plan a party!" Flutter said while dashing up into the sky with excitement. This caused the group to cheer up. They couldn't wait for this party.