//------------------------------// // The Cloaked Mare // Story: Soren the Alicorn Part 3: A True Hero? // by KingNyroc15 //------------------------------// Dear Princess Celestia, Untampered rage...that's how I am going to begin this letter. I thought I knew Soren; we all did. Rainbow Dash, Spike, and I saw a side of Soren that we didn't think was possible. We saw his anger take over. You and I both know what happens to a unicorn's magic when emotions overwhelm logical thinking. Soren...lost himself, to put it simply. He started to become the discorded Doctor. I somehow got through to him and stopped him from taking drastic measures against the Master. Princess Celestia, we...I...fear for his safety...and his mentality. He can't keep going like this. At some point, he will snap. I just hope you and Luna will be available in case we have no choice but to... Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle -------------- 1 week before Winter Wrap Up Weeks after the Planet Zero incident, Soren received his wish of relaxation. His friends spent a lot of time with him to keep his mind off of certain things. To help Soren relax, Twilight and her friends did many activities with him. Applejack and Rainbow Dash raced with him now and again; Pinkie Pie threw him, Twilight, Rainbow, and Spike a party as soon as they returned; Fluttershy and Soren played with and cared for many different animals; and Rarity created appropriate winter attire for him. When one week remained before Winter Wrap Up, Soren and his friends began preparing for the up-and-coming holiday. One night, in order to celebrate the arriving holiday, Pinkie Pie decided to throw a "one week before Winter Wrap Up" party in the fields next to Ponyville. Everypony was invited, so it was a very big and loud party. The celebration had everything: food, music, decorations, entertainment, and games. Twilight, Soren, Rainbow Dash, and a new arrival to Ponyville (an earth pony by the stage name of MC Stall) were the main singers for this party. By midnight, the party was at its peak. Ponies were dancing, laughing, and having a blast. At a certain point of the night, Soren was no longer singing; instead he was dancing with Rainbow. The couple, along with Twilight and MC, decided to let other ponies sing or play music for the crowd. While a group of random ponies were performing, Soren and Rainbow Dash sat at a table after tiring themselves out from dancing. "Pinkie Pie always knows how to throw one heck of a party," Rainbow Dash commented. "Definitely," Soren responded. "We can always count on her to throw a party for random reasons. How long do you think this will last?" "All night if everypony keeps going." Soren and Rainbow saw two mares and two stallions step offstage as MC trotted back on. The blue-coated, black-haired earth pony grabbed the microphone and wanted everypony's attention. "All right, everypony!" MC shouted. "Quiet down just for a sec. I wanna do something special before you all get crazier." The audience quieted down and looked towards the stage. "This party that my new friend Pinkie Pie started is awesome, but let's make it even more awesome, shall we?" The audience cheered. "Alright then. Soren..." Soren's ears perked. "...care to join me onstage?" Soren looked at Rainbow Dash. They exchanged nods and Soren walked towards the stage. MC continued to talk as Soren arrived onstage. "Everypony, me and Soren have a special song that we came up with just for a big party like this." Soren now stood beside MC. "Hope you all enjoy it." The music started so the audience became silent. Soren was the first to start singing, then MC Stall soon joined in. The two singers sounded great together. It was obvious that both of them spent a lot of time on this song. When the duo started singing the second half of their song, the audience was already dancing. If one thought the party was in full swing before, then this would seem out of control. Some ponies looked like they were having too much fun. The song was almost over, but the crowd continued to go crazy, even Twilight and her friends were having a blast. Soren knew the finale of the song would have been amazing, but he didn't know there would be a slight interruption. During the second half of the song, a cloaked mare made her way through the crowd towards the stage. Everypony she passed stopped what they were doing to look at her. Since the mare was hidden underneath her cloak, the ponies had a bad feeling about her, or they were simply curious to what she was doing. Eventually, the two singers onstage noticed the mare and the effect she had on the entire crowd, so they stopped singing. As she walked slowly towards the stage, the cloaked mare seemed to be staring straight at Soren. As Soren and the mare locked eyes, Twilight and her friends began walking closer to the stage. The mare quickly noticed and snapped her head in their direction. The six mares stopped in their tracks, unsure of what to do. The cloaked mare looked at Soren once again as she stood in front of the stage. She lifted a hoof, pointed it at him, and only uttered one sentence. "It's your fault." After saying the sentence, the mare walked away from the party and into the Everfree Forest. The crowd was silent until Stall encouraged them to continue the party. As the party picked up, Soren was just standing there. 'What does she mean by my fault?' Soren walked over to his friends, who also had faces of confusion and concern. "Who was that?" Twilight asked Soren. He shrugged. "Whoever that mare was," Rainbow Dash started, "she better watch herself next time I see her." Rainbow punched her hooves together. "Calm down, Rainbow," Applejack said. "Ah'm sure whoever that gal was will think twice before messin' with anypony." "I hope you're right, AJ," Soren finally spoke. "I hope you're right." The ponies of the party seemed to have already forgotten about the mysterious mare by the end of the night. The only ponies that seemed to remember were Soren, Spike, Twilight and her friends, and MC Stall. All of them hoped that this cloaked mare wouldn't cause any trouble for Ponyville. -------------- 1 day before Winter Wrap Up In an unknown cave in the Everfree Forest, a plan was being made to free Ponyville from evil and villains. A mare stood alone in her cave, preparing for tomorrow. Removing her hood, she began to carve strange symbols within a circle on the ground. Once the symbols were completed, a picture started to form. It showed Ponyville and its inhabitants going about their business, prepping for Winter Wrap Up. The mare chuckled to herself. "They always seem happy even though danger is cursed upon them. That alicorn caused evil to favor this town, but tomorrow will be the day that no villain, monster, or spirit will harm this town ever again. On the day of the eclipse, my friends will come, and they will guard this town with their lives." The mare continued to watch the citizens of Ponyville. While she was doing this, shadowy figures slowly appeared on the rocky wall behind her. The shadows grew in size, but no details, except for their grins and different eye colors, could be seen. The shadows smiled as they also looked upon the town of Ponyville. ---------------- The sun was setting as nine ponies and a dragon sat around a table in Club Vinyl and were conversing about Winter Wrap Up. Everypony there seemed very enthusiastic about their jobs for the holiday, especially Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle. "So your job is to organize all of Winter Wrap Up?" Soren asked, amazed. "Yep," Twilight Sparkle responded. "Ever since my first Winter Wrap Up, I've been designated the organizer for the holiday. Do the rest of you have your same jobs?" she asked, looking at her friends. Each of her best friends nodded. "I have to clear some snow around town then get the southern birds again," Rainbow Dash answered. "Same as always." "I have my same job," Fluttershy said. "As do I," Rarity answered, "but I thoroughly enjoy it." "I get to ice skate again!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily. "This year's gonna be the fastest clean up yet," Applejack commented. The mares nodded in agreement. Soren turned towards Vinyl and Octavia. "What jobs do you two have?" he asked them. Vinyl rubbed the back of her head as she grinned embarrassingly. Octavia sighed and answered her brother. "Vinyl isn't allowed to work on Winter Wrap Up anymore," she said. "As for me, I simply help to clean up all the snow in town." "So what did Vinyl do to get kicked out of Winter Wrap Up?" Soren asked. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie started giggling. Octavia chose to explain the event. "Last year, Vinyl's job was the same as mine: to clean up the snow. I was shoveling snow from the park while Vinyl was to help haul the snow that was cleared off of the roofs. Simply enough, yes? However, Vinyl had...other plans. She wanted to help clear the roofs as well using her strongest speakers. In hind sight, it just an experiment and the logic was valid enough, but it went horribly wrong. She blasted her speakers at max volume, and the vibrations were so strong that they shook all of the nearby houses. Most of the snow fell...but at the same time, pieces of the roofs fell as well. The damage Vinyl had caused was enough to ban her from this year's Winter Wrap Up." Soren understood the story, and Spike decided to comment. "Nice going Vinyl," he said sarcastically. "Did you at least help clean up the mess?" "I would have if they didn't refuse my offer," the DJ pouted with her fore-legs crossed. "Maybe they would have accepted if you weren't the pony that caused the mess in the first place," Octavia retorted. Vinyl simply said 'Yeah, yeah' in response. "Well is there anything else I should know about tomorrow?" Soren asked. "It will technically be my first time cleaning." "Ooh, ooh, there's an eclipse happening tomorrow," Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "The moon will be all red and shiny during the night!" Soren chuckled at his hyper friend. After the girls told Soren more about tomorrow's holiday, all of them left the club to get their rest for Winter Wrap Up.