Equestria Legends Online

by Shadowflame

May 8th (Hunted in the Forest)

I lay on my back on the wooden floor of the hut, just next to the table where I had been chained and tortured by the end of Ezekiel’s blade. My vision was starting to clear somewhat of my tears, but my whole body was aching in every place where a red coded scar remained. For a moment, I wanted to do nothing except lay there, waiting for either my friends to find me, or for Ezekiel to come back and kill me. If anything, the latter was the more probable of the two.

I cringed as I realized that my chances of dying were higher than ever now. If I stayed in here, I was dead. The only chance of survival, though it was a very small one, was to get away from this hut. I groaned as I willed my muscles to pull myself up, even when they were screaming for me to just lay back down.

With enough effort, I managed to stand up. My hooves were shaking though, as if I were just learning to walk on them. I blinked my eyes to see the open door in front of me, with the outdoors just behind it. From what I could see, it was night time, but then I remembered that Ezekiel had already mentioned that.

The memory of Ezekiel’s last exchange with him came back to mind, "I'm gonna give you a head start." Crap... He's probably waiting now.... "I'll give you 20 minutes to run. But don't think that you can outrun me. While I clipped your wings, I still have mine."

I felt helpless as I tried to move my nonexistent wings, finding no comfort in their abscene, I have to get out of here... How long has it been since Ezekiel left? How long do I have before he comes after me again?

I winced as I tried to walk forward, for not only were my legs sore, but they were also stiff from being chained to a table for so long. But I continued towards the door, breathing hard as I went, “I-I need to get out… Urgh, I need t-to make the most of this… H-head start.”

I finally crossed the threshold of the hut, finding that the stiffness of my muscles was fading slightly as I walked. I entered into the cold and quiet night, finding that I was situated in the middle of a forest. Everything was too dark to see at my level, but looking up I could make out the tops of the trees against the night sky. I could faintly make out the ground around me because of the dim light from the scars covering my body.

I glanced around for any other light source, anything to help light my way through the darkness. But as I looked, I suddenly spotted a giant beacon of light, glowing from beyond the trees, past the edge of the forest. I squinted my eyes as I then realized that the light was coming from a city in the distance. Wait! That was my city! Canterlot.

Seeing my home in the distance made feel a small pang of relief. All I wanted to do was to run to the city gate and hide myself inside there. I wanted to run away from this nightmare I was in. I was about to start galloping, even though my muscles still screamed for me to not do it, but I stopped before I had ran five steps.

In the back of my mind, Ezekiel's voice echoed, Beside the edge of this forest are the fields outside of Canterlot. You can try your luck and see if you can make it to the city, but I can't say that you'll make it there before I come after you. Out on the fields, you'll stick out like a sore thumb; I'll spot you from a mile away, and then I'll crush you... That is, unless the monsters out there get you first.

I groaned in frustration and anguish as I looked at the city in the distance. It was so close, yet so far, almost like that one piece of candy that was held just out of your reach by a taunting hand. I knew, if I tried to make a break for Canterlot, I wouldn't get very far, and with Ezekiel in the skies and my body glowing red with scars, it wouldn't take long for him to reach me.

"And then kill me..." I added to the thought. Sighing to myself, I turned around and ran in the opposite direction from the city, heading deeper into the forest. And just as I began my painful run, I heard thunder in the distance. A storm was coming, which meant that I might be running through the pouring rain as well. I began to wonder, Is it possible to die of hypothermia here?

Little did I know that somepony was watching me as I ran into the forest. Ezekiel sat on the roof of the hut, smirking to himself.

"Well, I thought you'd never come out of there, Shadow." He spoke quietly, snickering a bit, "It took you five minutes just to get outside. I hope you can make up for lost time." His hoof wrapped itself around the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it, "Because honestly, I haven't had a good hunt in weeks. I hope you'll make this more enjoyable than any other hunts in the forest I've done."

Keeping a hoof on his sword, Ezekiel began his wait on the top of the roof. It would be a long 15 minutes before he could seek out that injured pony like a bloodhound.

Sky followed Comet through the growing darkness as she continued to track Shadow. They had been walking on the ground for a fairly long amount of time, staying silent in case there was someone nearby, or more specifically, Shadow's captor.

"I see something up ahead." Comet whispered.

Sky looked forward as well to see a small hut made of wood. He noticed that the front door of the hut was wide open, as if someone had been there recently.

Comet piped up again, "Shadow's tracks lead into the hut, but..." As they neared the hut, Comet stopped and began looking all over the forest floor around the hut, "It seems he came back out."

Sky frowned, "So, he wasn't kidnapped? I mean, why would somebody release someone they captured?"

Comet frowned, "I don't know. But it's kind of strange. After Shadow came out of the hut, he went this way." She showed Sky by stepping in the places where Shadow had been before, "He walked this way, but then stopped."

"Wait..." Sky peered into the distance past Comet, "That's Canterlot over there. Did he go that way?"

Comet shook her head, "No, in fact, he started going the other way, away from the city and back into the forest."

"But why would Shadow run away from the city? Knowing him, that'd be the first place he'd go." Sky scratched his head, "We're missing something here."

Comet nodded, "Yeah, something must've happened inside that hut that made Shadow go in the other direction. But I can't guess what."

Sky turned and trotted over to the doorway of the hut, peering inside the darkened space. All he could see was an empty room, with a wooden table in the middle of it. But then, his eyes caught sight of something small and gray. Using his ability to see in the dark, Sky walked inside and picked up the object.

His eyes widened as he recognized what it was. He had seen this small gray object often, though it was usually attached to his friend's forehead. It was Shadow's horn. "Comet, come here." He quickly said, holding out the horn in his hoof.

Comet frowned, "What is it? I can barely see in this darkness."

Sky smiled sheepishly, "Oops, sorry. My player ability gives me night vision. I wasn't thinking about you. Hold on a sec." His horn began to glow and it illuminated the inside of the hut. He held out the horn again, "It's Shadow's horn."

Comet blinked in surprise, "Wait, what? That's his horn?!"

Sky nodded, "Whoever captured him must have broken it off his head, probably to keep him from using his magic against them."

Comet frowned as she then looked at the table in the room, "It's strange. It looks like Shadow was on this table here." Her eyes fell to the chains on the floor, and realization hit her, "No, he was bound to the table. From the tracks I see, it looks like he was flailing about a lot. It's almost as if he was..."

"Tortured." Sky spoke grimly, "And if his horn was broken off, then we can assume that his wings were cut off as well. That could explain why he ran into the forest, rather than flying away."

Comet shook her head in disbelief, "So, Shadow was captured, but we don't know by who. He was brought here, tortured, as well as amputated, and now he's running through the woods with probably little to no health left."

Sky nodded, "And I'm guessing whoever captured him is already on his tail now. We need to hurry and catch up to him before he gets killed by them or a monster out here."

Comet nodded, "Let's go!" She ran out of the hut, with Sky following behind.

Meanwhile, Sky pulled up his player menu as he ran, accessing the messaging program. As quickly as he could, he updated the rest of the group on the search, telling them to search the forest quickly.

I ran through the forest, trying my best to keep from tripping over the underbrush that zoomed past me. It still hurt to run somewhat, but after moving the stiffness out of my system, the pain seemed more tolerable. I breathed hard as my hooves trampled over vegetation covering the forest floor.

I don't know how long I was running for. It could have been 5 minutes, but then again, at least thirty could have passed by, which meant that Ezekiel was hunting for me. But I didn't stop, with the fear of my pursuer driving me forward.

Only one thought passed through my mind, RUN, HIDE, SURVIVE. All I had to do was find a place to hide and regenerate my health. I spared a glance towards my health bar to find that my health had slowly crept back into the yellow zone in the time I had been running. A small flicker of hope came to my mind.

Panting hard, If I can hide out here long enough, I might be able to regenerate enough health to help me survive an encounter, whether it be Ezekiel or a monster. But I found myself frowning, Come to think of it, I haven't seen any monsters yet. Maybe my luck here is just getting better?

Suddenly, my front hoof caught onto a tree root, tripping me hard into a roll forward. I stopped moving as my face slammed into dirt.

I groaned as I spat out a small bit of saliva moistened mud, "Apparently not." I shook my head and tried to stand up again, but I couldn't seem to bring my body to do it.

I had been thinking that I needed to keep running, but who was I kidding? My muscles were burning. I needed a rest.

I winced, "No, I can't stop. Ezekiel will only find my faster if I take a break."

Another part of my mind argued, If I hide, then I'll be able to rest without Ezekiel being able to find me so easily.

Suddenly, thunder boomed above me and a flash of lightning lit the sky. I looked up to see that the storm clouds I had seen earlier were now above me. A sudden drop of wetness on my back told me that it was beginning to rain. But not ten seconds later, it was instantly pouring down the rain. Within a few seconds, the fur on my body was soaked.

I groaned, "Ugh, screw video game physics. I need to find shelter and a hiding spot." I stood up on my unsteady hooves and quickly looked around for a dry place to hide.

I then spotted a tall tree, with a large cluster of bushes growing around its base. It wasn't the best hiding place, but it served what I needed. I jumped into the bushes and into the dry spot between it and the tree.

Surprisingly like a dog, I shook off the rain water that soaked my fur until I was dry from my mane to my tail. Now that I was dry, I laid my back against the tree trunk as I tried to catch my breath.

Now that I was taking a break, I decided that I needed to plan a strategy in case Ezekiel did find me.

I frowned as i began making a plan, Hm... Well I'm obviously not gonna stay here if Ezekiel finds me. If anything, I'll have to book it out of here.... But as a pegasus, he's gonna naturally be fast. And with my wings out of commission, I doubt I'll have any chance of out running him. I sighed, I guess if I can't flee, I'll have to fight if I want to survive. That won't be easy either. It's just that,... Ezekiel's sword... I rubbed my arms where I had been stabbed before, That'll be hard to fight against. If I even get scratched, it's not like the same pain I usually feel when I fight. If I get hurt by it, the pain might be too much for me. Even if I did get my hooves on a weapon, it'll still be difficult.

I suddenly gasped, Ugh, Idiot! I have health potions in my inventory! I can use those to regenerate my health. I quickly opened my player menu, and tapped on my inventory button. But as I did, a small window opened in front of it,

What the... What is this Embargo? Did Ezekiel do this to me as well?

But then, my blood ran cold as I heard a sound: The sound of wing beats. I quickly closed my player menu and listened closer to the area around me. From what I could hear, they were approaching fast. I quickly ducked my body into the bushes to hide myself from anybody looking from above.

Under the cover of the leaves, I glanced up. For only a split moment, I spotted an orange blur that flew past me at top speed. My scars instantly began to ache as I recognized him, Ezekiel.

As if I had a brush with death, I skin went cold and my breathing quickened, If he's this close, it'll be hard to get out of here. One wrong move, and he'll be able to see my scars in the dark from a mile away, even if I hide in the plants.

The other part of my mind piped up, What if Ezekiel has already seen me? What if he's simply toying with me. Just tormenting me until I break under the pressure and come out?

The idea seemed just as likely of a reason why he just flew past. I couldn't help but feel a single tear drip out from my eye.

More tears followed, I don't know what to be sure of anymore. Is Ezekiel toying with me? Am I ever going to get out of here alive. I felt so weak as I unsuccessfully tried to hold back a sob, Where are my friends? I need them now, but do they know where I am? Will Ezekiel get me before they find me?

The rain continued to pour from the sky, and my eyes watered in the same fashion, Please! Somebody! Anybody! Take me out of this nightmare!

Swift watched from the deck of the airship at the ground below, down where the anchor to the ship kept the vessel from drifting away in the storm's gale. The flickers of wind patterns danced wildly through his vision, but his eyes were trained on the things below the ship.

There were dozens of monsters surrounding the anchor of the ship. Over the past half hour or so, Swift had watched as monsters of all sizes, Timber wolves, manticores, and minotaurs, as well as other monsters alike, all crowded up beneath the airship. If Swift didn't know any better, it was as if they were drawn to the ship itself.

Swift shook his head, "I'm not sure why this is happening, but at least that should keep the others from running into any monsters, seeing as they're all here." He glanced out to the forest, where the rest of the group was searching for Shadow, "You all better hurry up and find him, for Shadow's sake."

Comet ran ahead of Sky as fast as she could. Sky kept up with her easily enough, but running in the rain wasn't the best thing when it came to visibility.

Sky called to Comet, "How much farther?"

"Not much." She replied, "From Shadow's trail, it looks like he's been injured to much to run at full speed. His tracks are closer together than ours, which means he's been going slower. We must be close, so it's only a matter of time before we find him."

Suddenly, a male's scream pierced the rainy night.

Sky's eyes widened, "That's Shadow!"

"It came from up ahead!"

"Comet, fly ahead and help Shadow. I'll catch up!"

But Comet already had spread her wings and she flew forward at an unmatched speed of a pegasus.

"C-crap!" I fell hard against the muddy ground as I was thrown from my hiding place, "I didn't think to look behind me."

Another scar had appeared in my mid section, the place where I had been stabbed by a familiar sword. I looked up to find the hunter that had been searching for me.

Ezekiel was grinning wildly as if he had found the best game of the hunt, his sword and shield drawn, "Hiding, are we? I had hoped for more from you, Shadow."

His mouth curved into a sneer, "It's such a disappointment. I was expecting this to be more fun."

I spat at him, "You murderer! I won't let you take pleasure from killing me!"

Ezekiel merely grinned as he raised his sword, "Too late! My fun is only drawing to a close with you."

I held up a hoof as I anticipated the final blow, the one that would end my life...

But the sword only stabbed into the ground beside me. A trickle of sweat beaded down my face. Ezekiel then leaned in closer to my face, a sneer on his face,

"I would kill you now, but I would like to tell you a little secret of mine. You'll be dying soon anyways, so I don't care if you know it."

The Hater pulled his mane back, showing the back of his left ear. My eyes widened as I saw that a pony's skull was tattooed on it. "It's the mark of the Hater's Guild. Every member has this tattoo put on their ear when they join our guild." He laughed evilly as he pulled his head away and picked up his sword again, "Now, wouldn't that have helped to know a while ago? You could have weeded out all of the spies within your ranks just by simply checking behind their left ear."

I frowned, "W-why are you telling me this?"

Ezekiel paused, "Didn't I just tell you? It doesn't matter, because this hunter is going to slaughter his prey!" He raised his sword to strike, and I knew that he wasn't going to miss this time. I cringed as I looked away, preparing for the end.

Suddenly, I heard Ezekiel grunt hard as something struck him from the side. I opened my eyes to see Comet standing in front of me, knives drawn in her hooves as faced off Ezekiel towards the side. I also spotted two red coded scars on Ezekiel's body, the places where Comet had stabbed him.

Comet glared daggers at the Hater, "You come after one of my allies, treating him as if he were prey. You think of yourself as a hunter, don't you?"

Ezekiel's expression turned into one of rage, "Yes, I like to hunt my victims down. It doesn't matter if they're your ally, girly. I'll just kill you for getting in my way."

Comet wasn't fazed, raising her daggers higher into an offensive position, "I'll show you how a true hunter works."

Quicker than a flash, her wings propelled her forward to her target. Ezekiel raised his shield just in time to deflect Comet's daggers. With a counter swipe of his sword, the Hater sliced the air where Comet had stood before. The she-pegasus had flown into the air above him, and took a quick swipe at his cheek. Red code appeared from the scratch, and the pissed off Hater knocked away his opponent with his shield. Comet quickly regained her balance, and instantly jumped back into the fight, quicker than the eye could see.

As I watched the two pegasi fight each other at top speeds, I heard more hoof steps behind me. I turned around to see Sky running up from behind.

Sky gave me a small smile, "It looks like we got here just in time. Wow, you look like a mess."

I touched a hoof to my ear that had been split in half, "No kidding."

Sky glanced back to Comet, drawing both of his swords, "Alright, let's take this guy down! Time for payback, ten fold!"

Ezekiel paused as glanced towards his two opponents in the rain. But then he sighed, "I admit, it's been a while, hasn't it, Sky? Are you tired of taking orders from this wreck yet?" He pointed towards me, slumped down on the forest floor.

Sky glared at him, "He's my friend, and I don't take orders from him. I fight alongside him and help give out the orders."

Ezekiel let out a faint chuckle, "So, you are not at all jealous of his wings?"

To my surprise, Sky said nothing. The Hater before us continued, "You of all people know that envy is there in all humans. As a pegasus, I use my wings to fly all of the time, and now it's something that has become rather boring. Recently, I've been wondering how it'd be like to have magic to use... Now, Sky, doesn't the same apply to you? You have been taking your magic for granted, and do you wonder what it'd be like to have wings? Do you wish to fly through these skies?"

"Shut up!", Sky snapped, "You're just wasting our time. Who knows? You might have a bunch of lackeys waiting to surround us."

Ezekiel shook his head, "Sorry, but I've abandoned the Hater's Guild. I'm completely solo, just how I like it."

Comet frowned, "Why would you do that. I can understand how it feels to want to go solo, but abandoning your guild?"

The Hater only smirked, "You can get the details from Shadow over there. But Sky,... it doesn't seem like you've discovered what Chess Queen meant by you being the Bishop." Before Sky had time to ask why, Ezekiel pulled a small crystal out of his armor, "But I don't have time to stay and chat. This crystal will transport me to the last city I've been in. You'll never be able to find me in time before I'm long gone."

"On no you don't!" Comet threw one of her knives towards Ezekiel. But the weapon pierced the empty air as Ezekiel disappeared in a blue flash of light.

Sky gritted his teeth and swore, "F-f-f-farm! He got away."

Comet ground her teeth as she retrieved her knife, "I'll send a message to Cloudsdale and have them search the city there for that guy.... Who is he again? It seems like you guys know him."

I nodded, "Yeah, we know him." I groaned as I felt my body ache, "But for now, before I explain what happened, let's get out of here."

"WHAT?!?!"

Everyone stared at me in disbelief as I finished recounting the night's events. Our entire group sat in the mess hall of Westfalia, and I laid slumped on one of the benches. After everything that had happened, including the trip back to the airship, I was too tired to sit up. Thankfully, my gear had been recovered and now my cloak was equipped comfortably around my shoulders.

Comet blinked in surprise, "So, let me get this straight; This guy Ezekiel was a Hater, and your team was attacked by him near the beginning of the game. You escaped being killed, and he developed a grudge. He's kept this grudge all the way up to now, and he tailed you to satisfy it. He then caught, tortured, and then released you into the forest so he could hunt you down, all so he could take your alicorn ability. And he was actually a serial killer in the real world. Is that about right?"

"Ding-ding-ding!" Cross clapped his hooves, "That is correct. 200 points!"

Cloud chuckled a bit from where he sat on Cross' back, taking off his sunglasses, "Well, if you think about this situation, you might say," His sunglasses instantly snapped back onto his dragon snout, "That escalated quickly."

"Yeeeeeaaaaaahhh!!" The two jokers shouted, proceeding to drop to the floor laughing.

Siren rolled her eyes off to the side, though it was evident she was holding back a smile, "Come on, guys. Focus. This isn't a time to be joking." She gestured to where I sat.

I chuckled weakly, "No, it's okay. Honestly, I really need a few laughs here and there." I sat up on my bench, though I had to use my wings to help me up, due to the weakness in my arms.

Sky had provided me with a health potion as he, Comet, and I made our way back to the airship. Thanks to the healing effects, my wings and horn had grown back, and the scars that had covered my body were gone. But that didn't mean the aches in my muscles were gone.

"But, Shadow, was Ezekiel's sword really that painful?" Soul asked, "I didn't think anything in this game could imitate real life pain."

Violet quickly answered for me, "Yeah, it can imitate real pain." We all turned to him to see that he had a message open in his player menu, "When you first told us about Ezekiel's sword, Shadow, I was a bit intrigued. Being a blacksmith, I've studied how to make hundreds of swords, but I've never heard of anything like this. So, I just messaged Jupiter about it, and check out what he wrote."

He cleared his throat, "Violet Runner, I am pleased to hear that Shadow has been found and rescued. However, the question you ask about the sword this Ezekiel fellow had has bewildered me somewhat. The description of the blade you've provided has led me to believe that it is a nameless blade, one of which I thought I had banned from the code of this game. Before ELO had been released, one of my admins had come forward with it in the program, but considering its damaging uses, such as real life pain and the prevention of item usage by the player it injures, all of the other admins voted it to ban it. I don't know how a Hater came to find this sword, but I hope you will share this info with the rest of the group and see what you can make of it. Please return swiftly and safely, -Jupiter."

"Prevention of item usage?" I blinked in surprise, "So, that might be why I wasn't able to use any potions to heal myself. That's strange..."

Dylan frowned to himself, "I work with a lot of code back home, and from my experience, the only way that Ezekiel's sword could exist here is if the weapon's code was still in the game's program somewhere. It could've been hidden, or inactive, which could be why all of the admins thought it was no longer in the game. But then again, this isn't the first time we've seen bits of program implemented that weren't meant to be here."

"Yeah," Lexus nodded, "After all, Cloud's dragon form was an incomplete part of the game code, yet Discord used that code to turn him into a dragon."

I shook my head, "Well, yeah, I know that. But there's something else that seems strange."

Sky raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Well, Ezekiel said that the sword had been given to him by the king of the Haters' Guild. And if that were to be true, then that means that their king has found some loophole in Discord's no-hacking rule."

Everyone paused as realization dawned on them.

Eclipse was the first to speak, "If they know how to bypass the hacking rule... Then it's possible for them to control the whole game. But if we find the same method of bypass..."

"Then we'll be able to stop Discord!" Neon giggled, "We'll be able to get home without finding all of the elements!"

Everyone cheered as they suddenly found a new hope. They might be able to get home without another player dying.

I smiled faintly as I felt my fatigue reach its peak, "Swift, hoist anchor and take us back to Canterlot. We need to tell this to Jupiter in person."

Swift nodded and quickly galloped up to the deck. I smiled brightly as I watched him go, "Take us home..."

With that, I felt my eyes shut and I fell backwards off of my stool and onto the floor. Everyone jumped at my sudden fall, but then they relaxed a bit as I began to snore. And so, they left me on the floor in deep sleep for the entire flight home. (Yeah, great team mates, right? You think they would've cared enough to put me on a softer place than the floor!)

(WE SAID WE WERE SORRY!)

(Alright, alright, don't get your tails in a twist.)