//------------------------------// // Something new arrives. // Story: Hunters of the forest. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// _____*Unknown location 8:41 PM*_____ The night was quiet, the wind was soft, the ground was calm, this land was of a rocky wasteland and deep in a canyon, was a camp, this camp was filled with tall creatures that walked upright on two feet, these creatures were known as humans. The humans patrolled the camp as if expecting an attack or intruders, they wielded torches and swords as they walked through the camp, but unknown to them a dark figure slowly but surely made its way through the camp. The dark figure silently approached a nearby human watchman and slit his throat with a dagger before proceeding to advance towards a large tent with an insignia. One of the human watchmen walked passed the tent and surveyed the area for intruders, once he was convinced that no one was there he continued his route. The dark figure made a mental note about that guards route and continued to the tent, it examined the area for a moment and went inside, inside the tent was a sleeping man, the dark figure approached the man silently and raised a dagger then plunged it deep in the man's heart. The sleeping man gasped before dying, the dark figure quickly exited the tent and rushed silently to the nearest tent. The dark figure silently moved through the camp and soon came upon a small group of guards. "Hmm, I'll need to get rid of them." The figure thought. The dark figure silently approached the group and drew a dagger, in a flurry of motion the figure threw the dagger and grabbed two swords and proceeded to attack the remaining guards with the swords. In barely an instant after the battle started it was over, the figure put its weapons away and continued moving towards the exit. The figure moved silently through the camp and found the exit of the camp, the exit was guarded by four guards, three with swords and torches, the last had a poleaxe. The figure muttered something and charged the guards, the figure drew its swords and killed the guard with the poleaxe then proceeded to attack the other guards. One of the guards backed away and raised a horn, he blew the horn sending a loud sound through the camp, the guard then lunged at the figure who was now revealed. The figure was blue with long legs that were bent with two large toes, the figure also had two long tusks that were shaped downwards, the figure had long arms and three fingers and had short dark red hair, the figure was known as a troll. The troll quickly slashed two of the guards with its swords and quickly threw a dagger into the last guards skull, then the troll retrieved its dagger and ran away from the camp quickly. "I have to get away." The troll said quietly. A large group of humans ran up to the slain guards and examined them, one of the men kneeled down to the dead guards. "I recognize these wounds, these men were slain by a troll." The man said. Another man kneeled next to the one. "What do we do now sergeant?" He asked. The sergeant looked at the other man and sighed. "For now we gather the dead, tomorrow we strike." He replied. All of the men saluted and proceeded to get to work gathering the dead. The sergeant clinched his fist and gritted his teeth. "Every night more are dead, we must strike soon before we are to late." He said mentally. The troll however was far away by now, and was hidden for the night. "One more strike for tha Darkspear." The troll said quietly. _____*Equestria, Ponyville 3:17 PM*____ Fluttershy walked through the town of Ponyville along with her friend Twilight. "I'm just soo excited about the meteor shower that's coming up!" Twilight said happily. Fluttershy smiled softly. "I-uh-I'm not so sure about the animals though, they'll probably be scared because of it." She replied quietly. Twilight looked at her friend as they walked. "Don't worry it'll be fine, tell you what, if you want I can go with you to help calm them down." She offered. Fluttershy nodded. "Thanks, so when is it?" She asked. Twilight looked at the town hall's clock and saw the time. "Eight o' clock, I think." She replied. Fluttershy looked around and noticed something odd. "Um, Twilight?" She asked quietly. Twilight was rambling about some mystical properties that the meteors had. Fluttershy gulped and started to poke Twilight. "Twilight, you might want to see this." She said quietly. Twiliight looked at her friend who was pointing at the sky. "What in the name of Celestia!" She swore as she saw the sky. The sky was a faded red and what looked like fireballs were raining down from it, Twilight knew what it was in an instant. "The meteor shower, but its too early." She said almost out of breath. Fluttershy looked at her friend. "How dangerous are these?" She asked. Twilight laughed nervously. "Very, but only if they hit you, just keep an eye out for any that may be coming." She replied calmly. Fluttershy looked up and gasped. "MOVE!" She ordered in a booming voice. One of the meteors flew right towards them and Fluttershy pushed Twilight down quickly as the meteor flew right above them and towards the Everfree forest. Fluttershy and Twilight raised their heads and looked in the direction the meteor flew in. "That was close." Twilight said. "Yea, if you hadn't moved that meteor it would have killed us." Fluttershy said in relief. Twilight looked at Fluttershy. "That wasn't me Fluttershy." She replied. The two mares shared a look of curiosity before standing and heading in the direction the meteor flew in. ______*Somewhere in the Everfree forest two minutes later*_______ "SCOOTALOO WHERE ARE YOU?" Asked a voice. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Asked another. A dark figure walked up to the crash site of the meteor and looked down to see an injured Pegasus filly. "Well this isn't good." The figure said before grabbing the filly and walking off. The meteor had crashed near a lake in the forest and had set many of the wild animals amok, soon two filly's ran up to the crash site. "Do you see her?" One of the filly's asked. "Ah don't see her." The other replied. One of the filly's was a unicorn and the other was an earth pony, the unicorn had a white coat and light purple and pink mane, she also had green eyes. the earth pony had a yellow coat and red mane, she also had amber eyes. The unicorn was called Sweetie Belle and the earth pony was called Apple Bloom. "We have to find her! what if she was hurt?" Sweetie Belle said in a panicked tone. "Ah know!" Apple Bloom replied in a hurt tone. The two searched the site but found no trace of their friend, eventually however Apple Bloom found a set of hoof tracks. "Look hoof tracks! maybe they'll lead us to Scootaloo." Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle hurried over to the tracks and began to follow them along with Apple Bloom. The tracks lead deeper into the forest but the two filly's were determined to find their friend, they soon came across a strange pole, the pole had four skulls around it, two at the top and two at the middle, it also had some odd masks around it giving it an eerie feel. "What now?" Sweetie Belle asked. Apple Bloom looked around for more tracks but found none, all that she could find was a small puddle of blood but no trail. "Ah don't know, it seems like something happened to make the trail go cold." She replied. Sweetie Belle had tears falling out of her eyes. "But- we can't just leave her!" She shouted. Apple Bloom looked at Sweetie Belle with a pained expression. "Ah know but we can't do anything without help, we should go get some help then come back, how do you think her mom feels right now?" She asked. Sweetie Belle gasped and covered her mouth with her hoof as she started sobbing. "I-I didn't think about that, I'm sorry." She said between sobs. Apple Bloom put her hoof on her friends shoulder, come on, lets get back to Ponyville, at least we can tell everypony what happened. Sweetie Belle reluctantly nodded after a few moments and she looked at the puddle of blood. "I'm sorry Scootaloo." She said before walking towards the town. Apple Bloom let a tear out and she followed her friend. ______*Outskirts of the Everfree ten minutes later*_______ Fluttershy and Twilight arrived at the outskirts of the Everfree and stopped as they approached the forest. "Um-Twilight are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked. Twilight nodded. "Yes, we need to make sure nopony was hurt by the meteor." She replied. Fluttershy nervously gulped and watched as Twilight approached the forest, she reluctantly followed her friend. Twilight's ear twitched as she heard something coming towards them. "Fluttershy, do you hear that?" She asked. Fluttershy listened closely for a few moments before looking at her friend. "Yea I do, why does It sound like running?" She asked. Twilight looked at the edge of the forest for a moment before she saw what looked like filly's running towards them. Fluttershy looked at the filly's and immediately recognized them. "Sweetie Belle? Apple Bloom?" She asked. The two filly's stopped and sat down while breathing heavily. "We-couldn't-Scootaloo-searched-never." Sweetie Belle replied. Twilight and Fluttershy walked up to the filly's and kneeled down. "Slow down, where's Scootaloo?" Twilight asked. Apple Bloom calmed down and looked at Fluttershy. "We were exploring the forest along the safe paths that Zecora told us about, we heard something behind us and saw this HUGE fireball flying straight at us, we moved out of the way but Scootaloo got stuck on a root, she-she got hit by the fireball, we couldn't find her." She said sadly. Fluttershy gasped in shock and collapsed to the ground and began sobbing heavily. Twilight seemed to be in shock, she looked at the two with a serious face. "Go home, get your sisters, we need to find Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle nodded and sniffled before heading to her sisters shop. Apple Bloom nodded and walked off towards the farm. Twilight started to walk towards the forest. "Stay here Fluttershy, I'll find Scootaloo." She said blankly. Fluttershy said nothing as she cried. Twilight let a tear out before heading into the forest. "I'll find Scootaloo, you can count on it Fluttershy" She said silently.