"So close yet so far." He thought, "I must make it before the sun sets or was it after, um oh I don’t know, ill just hope for the best. I hope she's in the mood for a guest this evening. Oh NO YOU DONT MIND, DONT YOU EVEN DARE GO THERE. BAD MIND BAD. Stay out of the gutter."
The unicorn jogged down the road, passing by house that were in a desperate need of a good paint job or some trim work, hoping to find the one house that he had been told about for many years. The house that took the shape of a tree and yet wasn’t. The tree, whose leaves never died or changed with the seasons, this was the tree he wanted to find.
"Um excuse me miss?" He asked a grey pegasus
"Ditzy, I’m called Ditzy although some ponies call me Derpy" she replied,” Wow you must be new; I’ve never seen you before."
"Ditzy?"
"Where did you come from, Are you a traveling pony? Oh my Celestia that is so amazing, I've always wanted to travel"
"Ditzy."
"But I can’t because I have to take care of my Little Muffin until she is a little older, plus my eyes make it hard to see straight."
"DITZY!"
"Um yes?"
"I need you to focus..."
"I’m focusing"
"For just minute or maybe just 56.8 seconds, but either way I need you to help me"
Ditzy just hung her head to the side, her bright yellow mane flowing down her neck; she wore a look of confusion. “Me help you? No one ever asks for my help."
She started to turn away but the stallion walked up to her and gently placed his hoof on her shoulder. The moment he rested his hoof against her soft fur she twisted around and tackled him to the ground in a hug that a bear wouldn’t have been able to escape. Dazed and a little confused, the unicorn tried to pry the vice grip loose but Ditzy only hugged tighter.
"Ditzy, ugh I need “gasp " you to let" GASP" go," he gasped in between short breaths.
With that she let him go and stood back, small tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
"I’m sorry, it’s just that nopony ever asks me for help." She happily said, " Most ponies think I’m an idiot or that I’m slow, but IM not. I was born with eyes like this."
"Ditzy, I’m sorry for the way they treated you but right now I really need to find a house that looks like a tree,"
"Oh you must mean the Library, it’s just around that corner, go three house down, turn left and it’s at the end of the street on your right" She proudly said.
"Ok so take a skip down the way, turn to that cloud, and follow it till you come to the living wood, got it," He said out loud,” Thanks Ditzy"
"Oh you got to go now, oh ok, bye mister," She said disappointed," STOP BY FOR MUFFINS SOMETIME!"
"She was kind of cute" He thought as he galloped down the road, his mind thinking of her long blond hair and gold eyes, "Yeah she was really cute."
The sun was starting to set, gold and blue hues stretching across the sky while the birds fluttered back to their nests to rest. The air becoming more humid as the clouds rolled over the sky. The voices started to ebb away with final farewells and goodbyes as the citizens headed home. Doors shut, curtains closed, and porch lights turned on. Peace and quiet fell upon the town with the exception of hoofbeats galloping down a street. Past the refurbished carousel and the fruit market, the sound echoed through the streets. The giant gingerbread house caused him no distraction as he continued his pace through the streets, now vacant of ponies except him.
"Even if I bump right into her, I still have no idea what she looks like. I have to warn her of the danger she is in. Great, why not just run around and find every mare and tell them hey you're in danger. I bet that would go over swell with the locals." He thought to himself.
Turning left the unicorn sighed with relief when he saw the tall oak tree, that Ditzy had said was the library, was only a few blocks down the road. Slowing his pace to allow his heart to stop racing, he noticed how quite the area was becoming. The door was shut to the library and the lights were extinguished. Not a sound was coming from inside. He walked up to the door and knocked several times, hoping that the owner wasn’t asleep. To his surprise the door swung open, revealing an empty room. Cautiously he pushed open the door and creped in. Looking around the place, it was clear that the place was well kept but the owner seemed to be out for the night.
"Okay, this will be easy. Get the target and get out before anypony sees me.
He took a deep breath and released it slowly. The power flowed through him instantly this time, his horn reacting faster than it had in the river.
"Focus, every living creature has water in them. Focus on the area where there is the highest concentration."
His horn started radiating a dim green and blue aura which pulsed slowly gently lighting the area around him.
"Come on, it’s here. I can feel it. The silence here is too great for them to not be anywhere else but here. Just a bit more..."
SLAM
"ALRIGHT, WHO THE BUCK IS IN MY HOUSE!!!"
The stallion fell to the floor is shock. His concentration lost with the sudden explosion of noise. Hearing footsteps downstairs, he looked for an exit; a window, a balcony, even a crack in the baseboard where a mouse lived. Spying a window, he climbed up to it. His hoof stepped on something that felt much harder than stone and the realization of what it was sent a new surge of terror down his spine.
"IF YOU DONT SHOW YOURSELF I SWEAR I WILL CONVINCE THE PRINCESS TO BANISH YOU TO THE PRISM!!!" The mare’s voice bellowed through the library.
The unicorn was thrown to the floor by the thing he stepped on with a bone shattering crash. Grunting in pain, he rolled off the loft and fell to the floor.
"AAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHO THE BUCK ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!!!" the mare screams as he fell behind her making her jump.
Standing up with the most pleasant smile he could muster with what felt like a bruised rib, the stallion saw that she, a unicorn with violet fur, was terrified.
"Hello there and may I ask what is your name?" He asked politely.
"Um, Twilight Sparkle."
"It's very nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle", He said with a smile, "You should run."
Twilight stood still, either frozen with terror or anger, her mouth just hung open in disbelief. The stallion didn’t wait for a response, summoning his magic; he lifted her off the floor. The door was embedded in the wall already so there was no need to open it. He smiled and with a great thrust of power, Twilight Sparkle was soaring through the air.
"HEY YOU CANT THROW ME FROM MY HOUSE," She screamed," WHO DO YOU THI...UMPH" she grunted as she crashed into a bale of hay while a pink pony joyfully bounced away from the spot.
Now that she was safe from harm, the stallion turned back to the thing upstairs. The void of noise, the darkness in the light, and the absence of water confirm his fears.
"No, not here. It’s not right but everything adds up to it. I hoped I would never have to fight another one."
Dropping his saddle bags and throwing his cloak off, he pulled a white and blue bladeless hilt off his hip. Holding it in his mouth, the unicorn focused on the humidity level outside. The tiny particles of water in the air weren’t enough yet. A crash upstairs caused him to lose his focus. Spinning around and out of the tree, he looked desperately for a larger source of water. The clouds overhead rolled silently above him as he saw the town water fountain. Turning towards it, he started to sprint...
CRACK......KABOOM
The world around him spun, burning wood chips seared his flesh, and his ears were deafened by the shriek of the thing in the darkness. His body was sent crashing into the nearby house, cracking the wood siding. The ground slammed into him that knocked the breath from his lungs. Gasping for air he stumbled to his hoofs, swaying his head left and right looking for his hilt. A leg, harder than stone and wider than a birch tree, kicked into his gut sending him into a pile of boxes across the street.
Blood ran from his mouth, wood pierced his hind leg, his ears rang viciously, and his vision blurred. He laughed painfully, his ribs bruised or broken, as he rolled over to look at his attacker but it was gone. Pushing the broken box frames off him he collapsed in pain. His head spinning from the pain, he felt a cross under his shoulder.
His hilt. Picking it up, he focused on the water fountain once more. Ripping the water from its restful state it flew over the roads, whipping and slashing the air around it. His horns aura shifted from green to white and the water circled around him before crashing into the center of the hilt, right where the blade would sit. The water hardened as the air shifted to a frigid chill. A shriek behind him caused him to push his magic harder. The water froze solid and the edges sharpened as the shriek came again, this time much closer than before. Lifting the sword in his mouth, he waited. The shriek came again making his fur stand, but it was almost right behind him.
He stood still with his ears shifting in all direction, trying to hear any betrayal of silence from the creature. A groan of wood to his right, a crack of thunder far to his left, the sound of a pebble being kicked directly behind him. Swinging his sword around as powerful as he could, the stallion felt the impact of ice against flesh. The creature howled in pain as its brown blood flowed from its severed limb. The buildings shuddered as the foul being collapsed onto its side.
"I can see you," He spoke with death, "I will make you suffer for what you have done. I will seek your whole species out and destroy them, slowly, carefully and when there is just one of you left I will savor the moment when I finally scourge your pathetic species from existence. YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"
The creature’s six legs thrashed around wildly as it tried to gain its footing. Howls of pain escaped its oozing mouth, its pincers clicking rapidly. Its wings, sharper than a honed blade, flapped madly through the air, limbs slicing into the building walls with ease. Brown blood poured out of the severed limb and on to the road, staining the old cobblestone. The thing’s black eyes, all four of them, focused on stallion approaching it slowly.
It started lightly at first, the rain, but soon the drops fell with gusto. He stood there looming over the creature that had attacked him, its shroud vanishing into dark mist. The rain washed over his body as he lifted his sword. With a mighty throw he hurled his sword at the creature. The blade piercing through its leg, while the other four flailing around madly, and into the wall behind it. The creature shrieked in fright as the unicorn advanced on it. His horn glowing bright, the aura spanning farther than usual, the rain started to slow as the air steadily dropped in temperature. The stallion grunted and the rain consolidated into dozens of thin spears, all hovering in the air above the combatants. The creature struggled madly to free itself but it was to no avail. With a satisfied smirk, the unicorn's eyes focused on the creature and he sent the spears to their destination. And they fell in waves.
The thing howled in agony as each spear pierced into its body, each one missing a vital organ on purpose. Again and again the ice spears cut through its shell and ripped into its flesh. The creature's mandibles clicked slowly as its life slowly drifted away.
"Oh no you don’t, you’re not allowed to die just yet." He snapped," I have a message for the rest of your kind. You see I know that you are part of a hive mind so that anything you see your queen sees. So let me just make this clear your royal piece of shit. Someday, I will find you, all of you, and I will laugh as I watch your rotting corpses be devoured by the maggots that you feast on. I will personally hunt you all down and bring your species to extinction."
Pulling his sword from the creature, he shook the blood off of the blade. Looking back at the thing, he drove his blade through one of its eyes. The organ burst open as the blade sank deep into the creature’s brain. It shrieked once more, flailing its head around before it fell to the ground, then silence.