Chapter 3
Everything that is familiar and welcoming to me has suddenly become a ghost town. The streets are barren and empty, everything lifeless when only yesterday ponies milled about full of life and laughter. Mares, stallions, colts, fillies, those that had families and jobs and passions, they are all gone as if vanished into thin air. Time itself seems to have sped up at an alarming rate, turning everything into aged disuse in only the blink of an eye. The shops lined up and down the street have fallen into disrepair, their windows broken as if shattered by a multitude of large objects, signs now hang lopsided from storefronts with half the paint faded and unreadable, and, upon peering through the busted windows, cobwebs and dust blanket the insides like an otherworldly, snow covered land.
Things were no better in the other sections of town as well. Houses lie in shambles with their roofs caved in, their doors resting haphazardly on their hinges as is if they had been forced open against the owners’ wishes by some cruel intruder. Looking at it all causes my stomach to twist into knots of severe worry.
What troubles me the most about all of this is that I have no idea what could have happened here. It is as if my memory has been stolen from me, wiped clean without leaving the slightest bit of a hint on how I might could get it back. There are still some things I can remember if I try hard enough, though. I go through the small list once more in my head to make sure that I still even have that.
My name is Skylar. I still can’t fly. I’m pretty decent at magic. I live in the Canterlot Castle. My parents are Terra and Firma. I like a pony named Ophelia. There’s a pony I hate named Flynn. I will be a leader one day. I...
I pause and stare at the ground blankly. That’s as far as I can remember, my mind going cloudy if I try to concentrate any harder. I try again, but I can feel a sharp pain beginning to grow at the front of my head and I stop before it gets any worse. I sigh and stamp at the ground in frustration. Maybe if I search more throughout the city I’ll find the answers I need. There has to be something here I’m missing.
I look up at the house I have stopped in front of and take in it’s dilapidated state. It is no different than any of the other houses around it, decaying, discarded, lifeless. However, I have to start somewhere, might as well be here.
I slowly take the few steps up to the front door and cautiously move my head past the door frame to peer inside. The damage inside is too much to have been done by just any petty, random thief. Most, if not all, of the furniture has been knocked over and completely ripped to shreds in places. The couch cushions have their stuffing ripped out and strewn all about the floor while the chairs in the dining area lie on their sides and are covered with what seems to be... teeth marks? What in hell could have left those kinds of markings? Suddenly, being in here alone doesn’t sound like the best idea anymore.
I walk back out of the dining room and am about to leave when I hear a small crash come from upstairs. There is a noise of scampering that dies down almost as soon as it started. I feel a chill run down my spine and wonder if maybe somepony is still here after all.
“H-hello? Is anypony there?” unsurprisingly I receive no answer in return. By now I want to turn around and run, run back to the safety of the castle and into the arms of my mother and father who are sure to protect me with all their strength. The only problem is, what if whatever happened here got them too? This thought causes me to break out into a cold sweat. My head is screaming to my legs to get them to move, to get them to start running to the castle to know if my parents are ok or not. They will not budge though. Instead, they begin taking me up the stairs toward the source of the noise. It’s as if I no longer have control over my own body.
I take each stair one step at a time and pause once I’m at the very top. There is a hallway stretched out before me, yet there are only a few rooms at the very end, probably a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom. One of the doors, the one at the very end, is slightly ajar while the others are closed. Is that where the noise came from? I hesitantly move towards the end of the hallway, finding there is nothing forcing my feet this time. I suppose as long as I’m moving in the right direction I can keep at least some sense of control. That means somepony is here though, most likely a unicorn, there magic is the only thing I can think of that would be able to make my feet move on their own.
I finally make it to the end of the hall and pause at the edge of the slightly open door. I have to be careful. Whoever is in there could very well likely be the one who destroyed this house, and I doubt they would be averse to ripping me to pieces if given the chance. I turn one of my ears towards the door, but I hear nothing coming from inside.
That can’t be though. I know for a fact I heard a loud crash coming from up here, and they don’t just happen on their own. Somepony is here, but I should at least be able to hear something coming from that room; walking, breathing, anything. I’ve been met with silence, though. By now, my heart is beating at such a rate that if there was somepony in there I would have definitely been heard. I lean my head farther out, just far enough that I can peek through the door crack and try to chance a possibility of seeing something. Even this, though, is met with bizarre results. From the small area of the room I can see there is nopony in there. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be anything in the room at all; no furniture, nothing.
At this point I’m beyond confused. Gathering my nerves about me, I take a deep breath and burst through the door only to have my suspicions confirmed. The room before me is completely empty, not even a window that could allow somepony to escape just before I came in. But then, what made that crashing noise? Who was using magic on me?
I run back out of the room and use my magic to open the door to the next room. Empty. The third and last room. Empty. What the hell is going on?
I come down the stairs back to the first floor living room at a gallop but stop when I notice that something is different. There is what appears to be... hair scattered all over the floor that definitely wasn’t here when I first came in. I pick up a strand with my magic and bring it closer to get a better look. It seems thick, much too thick to come from the mane of a stallion or mare. So then what could it have come from? And how did it get in here in the first place? Furthermore, what was the point of leaving it here at all? It had to have been placed here while I was upstairs, yet they chose not to confront me and instead decided to just leave. This whole ordeal just becomes more bewildering by the second.
Out of fear of being enclosed in that house any longer, I head back outside where I at least have a better sense of surveillance in case whatever left that fur decides to come back. I turn my head left and right to survey up and down the street and find myself alone, the street empty for the most part besides a wandering piece of trash being blown by the wind here and there.
I’m just about to begin walking back down the street from where I came when, suddenly, I hear what sounds like the scampering of feet coming from behind me. I quickly turn around but find that there is nothing there. I look up and down the alleyways of several of the houses around me and find them clear of anypony or anything as well. Did I just imagine it then? I pause briefly to try and consider all the possibilities when out of nowhere I hear a low growl that seems to come from everywhere at once and this time I know I’m not imagining it.
I take off at a full gallop down the street, but whatever seems to be making that noise appears to be following me as it’s only getting louder and louder in my ears. I make it to the end and round the corner only to find myself coming face to face with the pavement, I’ve tripped over something in my haste to escape. I feel my nose slam into the ground hard but there’s no time to inspect it now. I jump to my feet as the growling in my ears reaches and I close my eyes to prepare my horn in case I’m about to have to fight for my life. That moment never comes, though, as the noise stops just as randomly as it started.
Every muscle in my body screams at me not to relax, to keep myself tense in case this is all just a trick, but after another few minutes of silence I know something is up. I open my eyes to peer back down the road I just came from to find that, like everything else in this city, is empty.
I’m starting to come to the conclusion that maybe I’m starting to lose my sanity from too many failed flying attempt hits to the head when I turn around to get view of the new street, and that’s when finally see it. There is blood everywhere. It runs in multiple thick streams down the road giving off a sickening stench. It’s splattered across the outside of almost every building here, yet there’s something more to it. In many places the blood has been formed into what seem like strange, archaic markings, ones that I have never seen before and have absolutely no idea how to read. What really grabs my attention, however, sends chills down my spine and causes me to almost vomit out of fear. At the end of the street stands a figure, a tall, tannish-brown wolf lifted up on its hind legs staring directly at me, it’s fangs bared in what appears to be a warning sign. Then, out of nowhere, he starts to race towards me.
I don’t even have time to process one coherent thought before I’m off in a flash. My hooves slam onto the concrete with full force as I gallop as fast as I can away from the wolf, having no idea where I could possibly hide. I turn another corner and there before looms the castle just a short distance away. Of course! If I can just make it there in time I can try to find my parents and have them expel the intruder from the city.
I’m almost to the bridge that leads to the entrance of the castle grounds. My heart is beating wildly in my chest, my body completely drenched in sweat, but I can’t slow down now, I’ve come too far and for all I know that wolf could be right behind me. I just have to make it to the castle and everything will be fine...
Within seconds, I hear the clops of my hooves hitting the wooden bridge and already I feel that much safer. Finally, I make it across and, in a final burst of speed, I charge through the doors of the castle’s main entrance and then collapse in a heap onto the floor of the lobby. I can finally afford a sliver a rest, my parents’ magic that envelopes the castle should offer me some protection, at least for now.
I frantically lift up my head and look back towards the open doors. As far as I can tell there is no one out there. Did he just give up? I scramble to my feet and allow myself another moment to catch my breath before I start heading up towards the stairs towards the throne room. My parents are usually there at this time of the day and I have to know if they’re ok.
I slow down my pace once I make it to the hallway just outside their room. Even though it’s a normal occurrence for me to not see anyone on the way up here, this time it only seems to add to my already heightened sense of fear and worry. I’m just about to the door when something out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. I look out of the window overlooking the city and the sight before me almost brings me to my knees. There among the ruins of Canterlot stands the wolf that I saw earlier, but this time he has friends. They are placed randomly along multiple rooftops, waiting, watching me. It is more than I can handle. I race through the door into the throne room where I find my father standing at the far end on the balcony.
“Father!” I cry as I run up to meet him, the anxiety dripping heavily from my voice. “What are you doing! Cannot see our city is being destroyed right-” I pause look out over the balcony railing in complete and utter disbelief. There before my sprawls the city of Canterlot, completely unharmed and with ponies milling about as if all is right with the world.
“I, I don’t understand any of this. Just moments ago I saw-” I am cut off by my father as he motions for me to be silent.
“Skylar, how do you plan to be the ruling prince one day when you can’t even overcome your own insecurities and fears?” he asks without even looking at me.
“Wh-what are you talking about dad? Did you not see the-”
“You know a mother bird always tosses out its young from the nest to force them into learning how to fly. Pity for those that aren’t ready for the task, it’s quite a long drop to the bottom,” my father finishes ominously.
“Father you’re absolutely making no sense I-” suddenly, I feel one of my fathers muscled arms place itself under my stomach in a tight grip. I look up at my father in confusion and find him staring back at me, his eyes shining cruelly as the warmth I’m used to seems to have disappeared.
“So Skylar, let’s see if you’re ready to leave the nest,” my father states as coolly as if he had just made a comment on the weather. Before I can scream in protest, I feel myself being lifted up by his arm and thrown over the railing. Time appears to freeze as my mind is unable to comprehend what just happened. I try to cry out, but my mouth produces no noise. I fall faster and faster towards the ground below as I try to force my wings to flap to no avail. My heart feels as if it’s about to explode and my mind has gone completely numb. I am about to die. I scream at my wings to work and they keep flapping and flapping and the ground keeps moving closer and closer but nothing’s working and I try and try and in the last few seconds I close my eyes and embrace for impact and almost at the ground and-
I shoot up in my bed. I’m covered in what feels like a sea of cold sweat, my sheets completely soaked. I’m breathing heavily, the imprint of the last few moments of the dream still fresh in my mind. It made absolutely no sense though. Why was Canterlot destroyed and my father acting like that? More importantly, out of anything I could have seen in my dreams why a wolf? Wolves haven’t been seen here in a few centuries, to have dreamt of not just one but several seems very odd.
Once I’ve finally calmed down, I hop out of bed and move to my room’s window that overlooks the courtyard. It’s still dark outside, but the light tints of color on the horizon indicate that the sun is close to rising. I yawn and turn my attention to the mirror next to me. My cloud white mane is still a bit messy and there are still small damp patches of sweat scattered here and there on my sky blue fur, but overall I’m at least somewhat presentable and it won’t take too long to make myself more so for the mayor later today. I’m still skeptical on this whole undertaking to Ponyville, but I know once my dad has already made his mind up on something there’s no way I’ll be able to get out of it.
After bathing and checking to see if I have everything ready in my pack, I head down to the main dining hall to catch a quick bite of breakfast. The room is empty when I arrive, and after a few minutes of searching I settle on a couple of apples and a few wheat muffins.
I’m almost finished eating when I hear the sound of opening doors coming from behind me. I turn my head to see Ophelia and I immediately turn my head back around in such an overly dramatic way that she had to have noticed. I’m such a dork sometimes...
“Well I see you’re all packed and ready to be off,” she says, beginning the conversation as she slides into the seat across from me with an apple in her own hoof. “I take it you’re excited to go?”
“N-not really,” I reply, trying to hide a blush. “It’s just I don’t want to be coming back home as it starts to get dark so I figure it’s just best to leave kinda early. Plus this is something that was pretty much forced upon me.”
“You had to start doing stuff like this eventually. You’re going to be a leader one day and it’s just time that you start living up to that,” she remarks rather coolly.
“Sheesh I know, I know. Believe me you’re not the first pony to be telling me that on repeat,” I reply back kind of irritated.
“I figured, but it’s just that everypony wants what’s best for you and the kingdom. We’re all going to have to start growing up soon, you more so than others,” she finishes as she takes the first bite of her apple. She chews for a bit before starting up again, “Sorry I can’t make it to your birthday celebration next week. I was really looking forward to it but unfortunately my family and I are going to be out of town by then.”
“What??” I blurt out, a few pieces of my wheat muffin fly out of my mouth and land on the table to which she gives a slightly judgmental stare. I give a sheepish smile and clean it off before going back to badgering her. “You suddenly decide to tell me you’re not coming right as I’m about to leave and think I’m not going to be bothered?” I ask to which she only replies with a noncommittal shrug.
“There’s nothing I can do about it. My father is having a business meeting with some ponies out in the Crystal Empire and thought he would make it a family vacation at the same time. I tried to talk him into letting me stay but he just wouldn’t go for it,” she says and I can tell that she honestly is a bit sorry.
I sigh and finish off my last muffin, “When do you all leave?”
“Shortly after you do. My father wants to be there around noon as today is the start of their weeklong holiday, Crystatinzia. We probably aren’t going to be back until a couple of days after your party... Once again I really am sorry about this,” she replies. She stands up out of her chair and begins heading out of the room, “I’m going to go get ready. I’ll make sure to bring you back something from the festivities. Don’t forget to take care of yourself when traveling today!” and with that she’s gone. I send a small smile her way even though she can’t see it and I start moving to leave the room myself. It’s almost seven and I need to start heading off. I’m about to use my magic to open the dining hall door when, to my surprise, it swings open on its own before I get the chance.
That’s when I notice certain pony making their way into the room, their trademark obnoxious crying out, “Well if it isn’t Skylie about to head out all by his wittle self.” Great, Flynn.
“What are you doing up this early?” I ask, already feeling my amount of brain cells starting to drop just from us being in the same room, “and shouldn’t you have a couple of ponies surgically attached to your hip?”
“Who, Swift Wing and Flare Feet? I can actually function without needing to have those two morons constantly trailing me. Can’t say the same for you with always having to have Ophelia come and bail you out of crap,” he snidely adds.
I ignore the jab and roll my eyes, “So if you just see them as nothing but morons, why keep them around?”
He shrugs with a small, cocky grin and moves past me to pick up a bagel off of one of the dining tables, “They’re good for a few laughs every now and then and basically just doing whatever I ask, nothing more than that. Though they’re two of the most annoying ponies I’ve ever met, including you of course, having them to boss around probably won’t get boring for quite awhile, and once it does I’ll simply just find some other ponies who are just as idiotic.
“And to answer your earlier question, the reason I’m up so early is that I want to enjoy every possible minute of your absence. I’m sure having you gone for a day will be a breath of fresh air to the castle as someone who actually deserves to command it will still be here,” he says with an arrogant gesture towards himself, “now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get that day started.” He walks past me, making sure to “accidentally” bump into me as he goes.
I feel myself start to get a bit angry. “Good luck trying to command anything when you’re on your knees scrubbing the dungeons,” I mumble under my breath.
“What did you say, Crylar?” he asks as he turns his head back to me with a glare.
“Oh, n-nothing,” I quickly reply, “just that I hope you have fun with your day. I’m sure with your leadership you could turn this city into the Canterlot of my dreams.”
He fixes me with a blank stare, “I knew you backed down easily but, sheesh, now it’s just getting embarrassing.” He finally exits the room and leaves me, thankfully, to my own plans. Jackass.
I carefully leave the dining hall, making sure I don’t step on any inflated ego Flynn might have dropped on the way out, and head towards the castle’s entrance. There I find my mother and father patiently waiting for me with kind, warm smiles.
“I see you’re ready to go,” my mother, a leaf green pony with a slightly darker mane and an oak tree for a cutie mark, calmly remarks.
“Well I suppose I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” I reply rather frankly. I walk up to both of my parents and give them each a hug. I’m honestly still a bit frightened at the thought of doing this by myself, but something about the way my parents watch me makes me feel just a bit more reassured in myself.
My father playfully bumps my shoulder with his hoof, “Don’t forget you’re to meet the mayor at Ponyville’s city hall around noon where she’ll take you out to lunch where you’ll both simply discuss some trivial matters. Afterwards, take a tour of the city if you like. Your mother and I are both confident that you’ll be able to handle yourself and make it back here this evening safely. We both love you very much and hope that you learn something from today.”
I give them both a sincere nod, “I promise I will do my absolute best.” I position the pack so as to be more comfortable and head out of the large double doors to the outside world.
* * *
“Did you have a strange dream last night?” Princess Terra asked, turning to her husband now that their son could no longer be seen.
“As it turns out, I did. I take it you had one as well?” Prince Firma asked in return, receiving his wife’s nod as an answer. “Something must be happening out there, something big. If so, we need to be ready. Go and alert the guards discreetly to just begin keeping their eyes open for anything. I’ll consult Comet Flash and see what he thinks about this.”
Both the prince and princess ran off hastily in their different directions to perform their assigned tasks. Unfortunately for them, however, the events that would change the fate of Equestria had already been set into motion, leaving behind any hope they could possibly have of stopping them.
* * *
I’ve been on the path to Ponyville for a couple of hours now. The forest trail is peaceful in the warm, morning sun and at the rate I’m going I should be there within the next hour and a half. I lift my water bottle with my magic in order to take a drink and decide to take a moment of rest.
I place myself in the shade of the trees that line the edge of the path and begin to take out one of the apples I saved from breakfast from my satchel. I take a bite out of it and, for some reason, my thoughts begin to drift back to the dream I had last night. It all still seems so vivid to me, and, honestly, it’s its quality of realness that makes it that much scarier. This one felt more personal than any other dream I’ve ever had, as if I had actually, physically gone through the experience in real life.
Even now I feel as if I’m falling back into the dream. I can recreate it all in my head as clear as glass, the sights, the smells, the wolf’s growling, the growling that seems to be growing louder with each passing second, the growling that I feel is no longer coming from my head.
I whip my head around only to find myself face to face with a timberwolf. He sits there, poised to attack yet waiting. My body goes numb with fear, and in that second I lose my ability to think properly. We’ve been warned against it time and time again in class by multiple teachers, but I can’t help myself; I run. I jump to my feet and take off in a full blown gallop. I make it back onto the path and travel about a few yards when out of nowhere three more timberwolves appear before me and block my path. I cry out at the sight of them and turn in hopes of escaping from where I came, but it is too late. Another three have already started creeping towards me from that direction so as to eliminate any chance I have of escaping.
Out of instinct, I go on the defensive, attempting to use my magic in hopes that one of my spells could help me break free. No matter what I try, though, nothing happens; I’m far too scared to clear my mind and focus on my magic.
The timberwolves continue to move closer towards me, and I begin to feel their hot, rank breath hit my fur. Though my mind is still frantically trying to produce magic, part of me has already accepted the fact that this might truly be the end. That is, until I hear the sound of someone snapping their fingers from somewhere in the trees.
The timberwolves prick up their ears and let out a soft whine. I’m no longer the focus their attention, they have stopped moving towards me and they perk up as if they’re standing at attention.
“Strange, isn’t it?” a new, rough voice calls out from seemingly nowhere. I turn my head to see if I can find where the voice came from, but I see no one. I turn back around only to see a new wolf standing outside the circle of timberwolves. This, however, is an actual, furry wolf like the one from my dreams. He has a shaggy brown-blond coat with a lighter fur patch on his left arm in the shape of a crescent moon; His presence sends a fresh wave of panic through me. “You ponies found a way to tame dragons and used to have them as pets, yet you all still nearly pass out at the sight of Timberwolves. Did the memory of your princess’s fate really scar your image of all wolves that badly?”
For a moment, I am taken aback by his sheer bluntness, “What exactly are you doing here? Princess Cadence banished your kind from this land right after the assassination of Princess Celestia by one of your people. W-what do you want with me anyway? Why use a pack of Timberwolves?”
“To get your attention, of course. It’s not everyday that I happen upon the son of the current prince and princess of Equestria all alone in the woods. Tell me, are enjoying your little trip to Ponyville so far?” he asks.
“H-how the heck do you know where I’m going?”
“I know quite a lot of things, Prince Skylar. For example,” he snapped his fingers once more. Out of the woods two more timberwolves appeared, dragging with them was the sleeping form of a royal guard. “I found this one about fifteen minutes ago trailing you by about five hundred yards. Didn’t your father and mother specifically tell you they completely trusted you to embark on this little excursion alone? Well,” he gestures towards the passed out guard with his head, “I guess your parents aren’t too sure of you after all.”
I’m at a complete loss of words as to how this absolute stranger in just five minutes managed to take down a guard, snare me in a timberwolf trap, and succeeded in chipping away a small piece of the once pristine image I had of my parents.
“How did you know that about my parents? Furthermore, how did you manage to take down one of our trained sentries?” I ask, seeming to only find more questions than answers each time this stranger talks.
The wolf pulls from his pack a small, purple bag and reaches inside. He pulls out a small pawful of a strange, golden dust, points it at one of the timberwolves, and blows the dust into its face. Immediately, the wolf begins to sway as if in a drunken haze and then collapses to the ground, dead asleep.
“There is more magic in this world besides the kind that comes from your horn, prince. Kinds of magic that you will never know or be able to understand. As for your parents, you should know the answer already. The royal family has lived by this rule for years, ‘you are always being watched.’ Remember that word, always. I think both I and this guard have given enough proof of this. Always be on your guard, you never know who is hidden in the shadows,” the wolf finishes with an air of mystery.
This wonderland of events this past half hour has left me dazed and unsure of a lot of things. It hurts me to know that my parents, two of the very few people who I believed had full faith in me, had gone behind my back and asked a guard to trail me out of worry. I understand it was most likely for my own protection (apparently needed considering the situation I’m in,) but something about the whole ordeal completely crushes me. My own parent don’t believe in my ability to handle myself. I look up to the wolf, trying hard not to cry.
“Who are you?”
He gives me a final smile, “I’m merely the spectator.” With that, he reaches back into his pack and pulls out a new object, a small colorful ball. He slams it to the ground where it explodes with a loud bang, sending a choking wave of smog up into the air, blinding me. It clears away within seconds, and with it the wolf and the timberwolves, leaving behind only the sleeping guard and me. I give him a hard look of discontent and head on towards ponyville without him. I’m not supposed to know he’s here and honestly, for now I feel like being alone.
The last words of the wolf still echo in my mind, but for now I’m angry at him too. I continue down the path, blocking him from my thoughts and wondering if this day could possibly get any worse.