This was going to be a good harvest.
Applejack was looking over the orchard, looking at this years ripe and red apple trees. Wondering to herself wether or not the price on apples would rise or drop before she and mack could get bucking 'em
Her stream of thoughts were abruptly ended as she spotted applebloom, scootaloo, and sweetie belle wavering through the trees, scootaloo having the two others in a small wagon behind her scooter.
"C'mon girls, hav'nt i told y'all i didn't wantcha to ride the scooter through the orchard? You might get seriously hurt."
She didn't even have time to react to what happened next, there was a huge burst of wind, and a sound of paper being torn, although much louder. The Cmc were knocked off their hooves as they held onto any nearby trees. It was almost like dash's sonic rainboom.
And just to complete the freaky image, a wave of dark purple light washed over the hillside, running through the trees but not damaging them.
Applejack got to her hooves once the storm had laid down, nothing seemed to have happened, the apples were still on the trees, the Cmc were still safe thanks celestia. But what had caused this.
As far as she knew, rainbow and twillight was off on flight training, so magic involving purple from her was out of the question.
"I guess i should probably get twi." She told herself as she ran off towards the hills.
"Cmon twillight, you have to fly faster."
Twillight had been absolutely overjoyed when rainbow had offered to help her with flight training. Finally she could get to use those big feather dusters for something useful. And, and she had so gleefully thought on her way to the fields, rainbow was -or so she claimed- the greatest flier in all of equestria.
But being a professional did not equal being a good teacher. Rainbow had first wanted twillight to fly through some hoops, which had resulted in more than a few bruises. The words rainbow used were completely alien to twillight (what the hay was quivisical wing capacity supposed to mean?) and when she didn't use the words of a wonderbolt she relied on twillight to just fly without further instruction.
So when applejack came over to interrupt the training, twillight was more than happy to take a break to speak with her friend.
What was more unfortunate was the news.
"Sup Aj, whats wrong?" Rainbow asked casually.
Applejack was wheezing and coughing, she had obviously been running the entire way from sweet apple acres, an impressive feat in itself.
"Big wave of air, purple wave of light, big explosion, sweet apple acres, celestia." She quickly gasped before going to sleepy town.
Twillight looked up at rainbow who quickly nodded. She flew off in the direction of ponyville, or more specifically the library at which twillight lived. She burst through the door, finding spike in the middle of sleeping.
She poked him slightly, he first glipped with his eyes a few times before the real reaction came.
"WAAH. Im worry twillight, i overslept, dont worry, ill work extra hard i- oh, its you dash."
"Yeah, twillight is in need of you spike, she has to send a message."
"Yeah, yeah. Let me grab the quill and paper."
Spike waddled sleepily towards the table, hitting his head on the edge. Although he didn't even seem to notice. Dragon scales are harder than i thought, rainbow thought to herself.
"Ive got the things, ill get going."
"Nope."
"What do you mean nope rainbow? I have to find twillight."
As if that was her cue rainbow dropped down and grabbed him, placed him on her back and zoomed off. Spike had to hold his grip tightly not to fall off. At one point his claw found grip, although the fact that he had gripped onto rainbows mane made his pilot quite angry.
"Spike, thats my mane for luna's sake."
"I know, but its the only place i can hold onto."
Soon after they landed outside sweet apple acres. Both twillight and a sleeping applejack were standing in front of the main building, twillight was pathetically waving at them to land. Dash landed in front of them kicking up some dust and pebbles. Most of it landing on applejack who was still drooling onto the ground.
"Is she okay?" Spike asked as he jumped off rainbow's back, walking over and placing a claw were her pulse could be felt.
"Yes spike, shes apparently just tired."
As if applejack had been programmed to react to words, her eyelids slid open in a matter of heartbeats. She jumped off the ground and looked wildly around. Finally her eyes locked on twillight.
"Twi, its good ah found'cha, theres some mumbo jumbo magic going on behind our barn, we gotta ....... Get.......... There!"
Applejack finally took some time to survey her surroundings, and decided that slapping herself in the face was a good idea afterwards.
"Relax applejack, whats wrong?"
"Well, ya see twi, i was standin' in m'ah own thoughts when suddenly some wave of purple light washed over m'ah apple trees. Luckily none of em got damaged, but it was scary beyond belief."
Twillight had grown increasingly worried as applejack went on, it didn't seem like natural unicorn magic to her. Nor like anything either discord or sombra could have created.
"Wouldnt an idea be to check were this...... Light, came from?" Spike cued in.
"Good idea spike, jump up."
"No thank you twillight, ive had more than enough flying for today, thank you very much rainbow."
Rainbow just coughed once spike started his accusation, although the word coward was very easily heard beneath said cough.
They started walking towards the hills overlooking sweet apple acres. The orchard itself going up one of those hills. Like the apple trees had become sentient and decided to climb a mountain.
Although what the three mares found was unexpected and not at all welcome.
It seemed to be a giant scar in the scenery. It looked like a piece of torn paper, except the hole showed nothing except total blackness. There was nothing there except a torrent of darkness, seemingly trying to swallow the entire scenery.
Except when a hoof stepped through the torrent.
At first the three were calmed by the sight of familiar anatomy, but that changed when the rest of the creature stepped through. The thing whose hoof had stepped through the "portal" mere seconds ago was the size of princess celestia if not taller, but the similarities ended there. It wore armor with an eerie contrast of black and dark purple, a helmet with a curved horn adorned its head, although twillight suspected, it was not meant for magic, but for something more gruesome. But the worst was its eyes, glowing a sickly green colour that shifted constantly.
But its master looked possibly even more threatening.
He wore the same colour armor, although his had outlines of darkened orange. The armor had runes carved into it that glowed the same colour orange that the outlines did. But the weirdest part was his head.
Or rather the lack there of.
His head was not atop his shoulders like it should be, but rather the stranger was carrying a grinning pumpkin under his.... What were those even called? Spike had chosen to name his forelegs "arms," and these looked alike enough to be the same deal. The pumpkin head however, like the rest or the stranger, remained completely immobilized, as if an electric current had zapped all his nerve endings.
At last applejack decided she needed answers. "Hey, who're you, and what're you doing here on apple family property.
Suddenly the strangers body twitched and he let the pumpkin go. It rolled merrily down the hill and landed in a small ditch at the bottom. And that would have been fine and dandy, if the head hadn't suddenly started levitating. It was glowing now, just like the runes had, and was floating towards the fillies and their dragon companion. It eyed each of them searchingly, and soon it just floated in midair.
Seemingly, this was the cue for the body of this duo, because the horse kicked into a leap and landed right next to the floating head, the strangers hand grabbed the pumpkin and inserted it onto the place where his neck should have been. As he did, a loud noise that sounded like someone snapped a bone filled the entire hillside.
As he let go of his supposed head he let go of a sigh. "Ahh, it has been so long since i have last been at full power."
The stranger's voice sounded heavy and droning, as if he hadn't used it in years.
He eyed the three fillies and the dragon with an ever growing amusement in his hollow and fiery eyes.
"Tell me, unicorns, where are we? I do not recognize this part of Terraria.
"Wh-who are you?" Twillight managed to croak before her voice cracked.
His display of misunderstanding would have been amusing, if not for the situation they were currently in.
"Do not play me for a fool unicorns, you know exactly who i am. Now speak up, or swift death by the hands of the twins shall be wrought upon you."
Twillight tensed at his words. He certainly looked like a killer, although he also carried himself with the attitude of a royal. Making twillight wonder if he had ever fought before.
Dash though, was the first to speak up, being offended by the strangers lack of knowledge of pony anatomy.
"Me and Aj aren't unicorns, twillight isn't even entirely a unicorn anymore, so you can go to tartarus you walking halloween decoration."
The stranger didnt look pleased at her words, he drew his right hand behind his back, and pulled as far as twillight could tell, a gigantic orange broadsword out of thin air. He brought the huge sword up to the throat of rainbow and held it in place, firmly rested between the bottom of her jawbone lines.
"Well tell me, if you are not a unicorn. What, are, you?
Rainbow was sweating, visibly sweating. Although she was courageous and a daredevil, having a sword pressed against your throat wasn't exactly her idea of a holiday maker.
"I-i-im a pegasus," she said as she swallowed the lump in throat making the tip of the sword glide carefully over her throat, not drawing blood, but being pretty close to.
He nodded carefully before the sword was shifted to the throat of applejack.
"And now you, what is this world called?"
Applejack was more relaxed than rainbow, but she was still scared.
"Its called e-equestria." She stammered with no small amount of fear in her voice.
The pumpkin nodded carefully, he looked around surveying the landscape, until his fiery irises locked onto the everfree forest. The holes that was his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He took the sword away from the throat of applejack and pointed it towards the tress.
As if on a whim, pumpkins, smaller than the ones on his head but still an impressive size, erupted from the tip of the sword. They started zooming towards the trees, and every single one got absorbed by the old oak giants.
The trees began to darken, becoming an incredibly dark purple, almost to the point of being obsidian. Holes started appearing in the trees, once again glowing the dark orange of his armor. A twisted smile appeared along with the eyes on the trees. Their roots started rising from the mould and suddenly they started dragging the trees forward, as if they were legs.
And twillight suddenly understood. He controlled them, and by the looks of him, he wasn't gonna let them get recruited into the royal guard.
"Who are you?" Twillight asked again.
The rider looked down at her with a perverse glee, like a child looking at an insect they wished to squash.
"I, am the dark rider of the bloodmoon, commander of all terrarias evil, lord of the corruption, master of the eclipse. I am the headless horseman."
Twillight had never heard of a 'man' before. But the way he addressed himself didn't comfort her the least.
"What do you plan on doing?"
He looked at her as if he had just asked her what a pony was.
"Why, annihilate your entire population and reign as supreme ruler of course."
As if she should have suspected anything else, twillight said to herself. She raised her horn at him and let the magic flow through, preparing to use her most powerful spell, she gathered the energy, channeling it into a single point at the tip of her horn. The lavender spear slammed into his chest, sending him flying off his horse. He landed with an audible thud, and the sound or metal cracking. Yet when he stood up he had a look of amusement in his eyes.
"My my, an admirable adversary it would seem, but you cant even hope to match me."
He once again drew his hand behind his back, the sword disappeared in the same spot it had appeared at first. In stead he pulled out a wand with a raven on the tip.
He pointed the wand towards twillight, but this time, no pumpkins came flying out. Instead, ravens came flying in flocks above the trees of everfree. They plummeted towards twillight, pecking an scratching at her wings and coat.
Twillight was desperately trying to get away from the black predators, she was stumbling straight into her friends. And yet the everfree trees got closer and closer. Increasing their pace and dragging themselves towards the mares.
But then, the ravens departed.
Although twillight knew it was now of their own doing hen she once again looked up at the headless horseman, the scepter was held high and the ravens formed around it, awaiting further instructions.
"So then, my little ponies." He spat the words as if it disgusted him to even say it. "What do you plan on doing now?"
In truth, twillight had no idea. The trees had created an indestructible barrier between them and the direction to ponyville. The only way out......
....was through the portal.
Twillight looked to her three friends. Spike was sitting on applejacks back, clinging on for dear life with his eyes closed, awaiting the inevitable. She wanted to comfort him, but at this moment she had no energy left to spare. She looked at both Aj and rainbow, trying to get eye contact with them, yet they were both focused on the horsemand.
So twillight resorted to the only thing she could think of.
"Into the portal!" She yelled loudly as she kicked from the ground and stayed in her aerial position.
Suddenly the horseman looked completely taken aback, and twillight saw him grasp the handle on the wand a little harder.
"A wingbearer." He said with fear and concern in his voice before he frowned, at least it looked like he frowned. "Minions, kill her before she escapes."
The trees sifted slightly and pointed their branches at her. Suddenly needles erupted from the twigs and zoomed past twillight, none of them hitting her, but get pretty darn close.
Both applejack, spike, and rainbow had run through the portal once twillight had distracted the horseman, so now only twillight remained. Yet she couldn't get away when she was under merciless fire.
She channeled magIc into her horn once again, although his time the magic was fast and colorful instead of sharp and deadly. A flash of vibrant purple light shot out from her horn. Blinding her adversaries as she zoomed through the portal.
The horseman eventually regained his sight, but once he did, he noticed that the Wingbearer had disappeared. He growled to himself, cursing his minions for their weak aim.
"Curses." He muttered under his breath. "If this place has wingbearers, then im going to need a little help."
Twillight was floating in void, she could not feel anything, it felt like she was dead. Yet she could breathe think and move. It almost felt like back when she was in the alicorn realm, only much darker.
But suddenly she felt something pulling her, as if a lasso had caught onto her and started dragging her towards her destination. The question was just this.
What was her destination?