//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: First Confrontation // Story: The Curse Of The Mini-Were Mare // by Night-Moon-12 //------------------------------// "Okay; that should be everything." Mr. Sparkle said as he gave the last of what they need to Twilight's friends. "You girls should be set." "Right; we y'all got some Demon Pony butt 'ta kick." Applejack remarks with a grin. "But you sure that you girls wanted to do this; That Demon Pony thing caused a lot of destruction last night. This isn't like what happened years ago." "Fine, we will be fine. It's just a tracking and hunting mission." Rainbow assures Twilight's parents with a sigh. Just what she doesn't need: worried parents. "Nyx and her friends should be upstairs with Spike." The Mane Five's group quickly took their leave on finding the Demon Pony and the Mini-Were Mare. Mrs. Sparkle sighs while saying, "I just hope that this tracking this Demon Pony and Mini-Were Mare thing didn't end badly for our daughter's friends." "I know, especially since how Twilight was effected when confronting that thing the last time." Mr. Sparkle mumbles in agreement. ------------- "Ah still find it unfair 'dat we have 'ta stayed here instead o' helping." Apple Bloom pouts as she and her friends saw the Mane Six heading out of the place. They want to at least help out in capturing that Demon Pony. Spike was in another room getting some books for the girls to read to keep them out of trouble. Sweetie sighs while saying, "Yeah. I mean, how can we find our cutie marks and help find Ben if we can't get involved?" "Well, we don't wanna get into trouble by upsetting mommy and her friends now." Nyx groans a bit while sitting on her mommy's bed. "But anyway, what could we do?" "Stay out of trouble, I guess." "No!" Apple Bloom exclaims with a frown. "If mah sis an' her friends git into trouble, we wouldn't forgive ourselves if we ain't there 'ta help! After y'all, every bit helps!" "She's right, why Rainbow Dash wouldn't be able to fight that thing alone!" Scootaloo exclaims with a smirk of agreement. "I say we go out there and help!" "But Spike is watching us." Nyx points out with a frown. "And I doubt what I did to mommy's owl before I sneak out to see the place would work." "Awww, leave it to me." Sweetie said with a smirk. "I know how to get through to our Spikey-Wikey as Rarity would call him." ----------- "Okay, it should be sunset." Rarity said as she saw the sun now setting. "Princess Luna should put the moon up any moment now. Now we will head to different parts of Canterlot. We will have to report in at certain times or if we find anything." "Right; I hope we can get this done. I still need dresses for us to wear to the festival." Rarity said with a sigh. After all, what's the point in going to a festival if there aren't any dresses for her and her friends to wear? "Rarity, unless we stop this thing, finding a dress will be the least of our worries." "Oh, right. That's true too." "Wait!" A familiar voice booms out. The girls saw Shining and the guards approaching, making Rainbow groans a bit. Their appearance is no coincidence. "Shining, Twilight told the princess and made it clear that we can find the Demon Pony and Mini-Were Mare on our own." Rainbow said to Shining sternly. "I know, I know, but Princess Celestia insisted." Shining explains a bit concerned. "She appears to be wanting this Demon Pony and Mini-Were Mare captured as you are. I don't know why. She has been a bit... determined as you are to get it." The sisters look puzzled. Celestia wants the Demon Pony and the Mini-Were Mare taken down like Twilight does? Why the sudden interest? Perhaps it's because that the monster spirited off one of her subjects from years ago? "Still, can't you trust us to do this?" Rainbow asks Shining with a sigh. She thought that Twilight's brother would trust his sister again after the incident with the Changelings. Let alone her friends. "At least let some of my guards go with each of you're her friends." Shining insists. "After all, the more, the merrier and not to be overprotective, but I feel concerned for you right now." "Well, it does right feel right if we got some help." Rarity said with a sigh. Rainbow notes how her friends agree with Shining's suggestion before sighing and looking down. No point in trying to convince anypony else otherwise. "Fine, fine, but if anypony sees these things, be careful. Magic can't harm them in anyway." Rainbow warns the others. "This isn't your normal fight in Canterlot or anywhere else." Shining nods as he begins assigning guards to each of the Mane Six, the brother chose to be the one helping his sister. Hopefully this assignment will end up turning out good tonight and not in a bad way. ------------------- "Wow, good idea, Sweetie," Apple Bloom exclaims as she and her friends, wearing their CMC capes, rush through Canterlot in hopes to catch up with Twilight's group. "I didn't know that Spike went out like that." "It's a tactic that I saw my sister do." Sweetie said playfully. "Tempts Spike with some jewels... but added some sleeping powder from Twilight's stuff for this one. That little guy went out like a light!" "Shucks, didn't know 'dat dragons could fall just like 'dat." "Hey, isn't that Derpy?" Scootaloo ask curiously. She and the others saw Derpy carrying a huge bag as if about to make a delivery. One of them is marked to 'Zecora'. "Zecora; Perhaps she knows about the Demon Pony." Nyx said thoughtfully. After all, Zecora has been known about everything dark, spooky and magical. If anything, she could tell the girls about the Demon Pony or the Mini-Were Mare and where they live. "Come on." "But we would be leaving Canterlot! And what about my sister and the others," Sweetie ask Nyx in concern. After all, isn't it the idea to follow Twilight's group? "They can take care of themselves. Come on, before Derpy leaves." Quickly, the fillies sneak into the big bag without Derpy knowing. They held on tightly as the goofy Pegasi flies into the air with some uninvited passengers.. -------------- It was nighttime as Rainbow and some of the guards look through a part of Canterlot, glancing around. The Pegasis poke into her headset, "Rainbow 5 to Rares, no sign of monsters here over." "Rainbow Dash, you can just use our names, you know." Rarity's voice spoke in irritation to Rainbow. "Come on! What's wrong with using call names? They make us look so important and cool!" "Ugh, at least just use our favorite names and just report anything unusual." "Yes, darling." Rainbow mocks Rarity while turning off her headset. Some of the guards chuckle a bit at this. ------------------- "All righty, games ruiner," Pinkie growls as she crawls forward like a pony commando, "No one destroy games and ruin fun for everypony and gets away with it; Time for Pinkie Pie to show you why it's never wise to get on her bad side." The guards look at Pinkie skeptically. They hate to see what 'bad side' that the Earth pony is referring to. --------------- "Rarity, this is Applejack, do you see anything?" Applejack calls Rarity over her own headset while Shining and some of the guards with the unicorns watch. "None yet, Darling; I did see some jewelry in a local store." Rarity's voice answers on the headset. "Is it all right that tomorrow that I do some shopping and..." "Focus, Rarity, focus! If you see the Demon Pony, don't try to fight it. Call for help. And if you must do so, then fight with extreme precaution." "You must be very determined to deal with this guy, Rares." Shining said to Rarity in observation. "Not much like the princess does. I have never seen any royalty get so uptight over one big monster or two." "You know why I am determined, Shining! It is destroying a very important day in Equestria and is threatening the ponies of Equestria!" Twilight explains to her brother in frustration. "I won't let it do so again!" "It's about Ben Mare, does it? When he disappeared?" "...yes." Shining sighs, patting Twilight on the back while saying, "I know how you feel, sis. I miss him too. I sometimes wonder what would happened if he wasn't taken by that Demon Pony that night years ago. He's like a little brother that... we..." Twilight sniffs a bit while nodding to Shining, saying, "Yes, yes, I know..." "Look, don't let vengeance run your life, Twily. Otherwise, the Demon Pony or the Mini-Were Mare could conquer you easily." "I promise that I won't." "I better check in with AJ, Pinkie and Fluttershy. See if those three has seen anything left." Rarity said after that conversation crossed her mind. ----------------------- "Wow, is it just me or is this bag more heavy than usual?" Derpy ask confused, knowing how heavy that the bag is getting. The cross eye Pegasi is having more difficulty than ever carrying the mail away from Canterlot. "Sorry, we didn't mean to." A familiar voice spoke out, making Derpy a bit spooked and almost made her drop the bag. "Argh; who is it? Who's there?" The three fillies poke their heads out, Apple Bloom grinning while saying, "Sorry about 'dat, Derpy. We were done hitching a ride." "Oh, hi girls," Derpy said in surprise. What are the CMCs doing in her mail bag? "What are you doing in there?" "We saw that one of the mail is being delivered to Zecora." Nyx said to Derpy with a hopeful look. "Can you let us go with you to see the zebra? She may tell us about the whole Demon Pony and Mini-Were Mare conflict." "Don't know if that's a good idea. I mean, I could get into trouble for something happening that wasn't partly mine to blame." Derpy saw the four fillies give her 'puppy-dog pouts. That's enough for her to reconsider, "But why not? I will need to watch over you to make sure that you don't get into trouble without adult supervision." "Yeah," The fillies cheers as they hang onto the bag to continue their ride. The CMC are on their way to see Zecora! Perhaps now, the mystery of the Demon Pony and Mini-Were Mare will be solved a lot faster! -------- "Oh, be careful, dear." Fluttershy said to a little rat as she helps it on its way. Some of the guards are with her. "No need to get trot down." Fluttershy's group turn a corner... and the yellow Pegasus pony gasps as she saw something chewing on a chain nearby; It's the Mini-Were Mare! The monster broke the chain, causing a cart to fall over. "Uh, Rarity," Fluttershy spoke into her headset nervously. "I found the Mini-Were Mare." "Really," Rarity's voice spoke in surprise. "Don't make any sudden moves. What is it doing?" "It just broke a chain...now the creature is looking over here." Sure enough, the Demon Pony turns and saw Fluttershy and the guards. "Oh dear, I don't know what to do." "Do not try to confront that monster, repeat, don't confront it! Tell us where you are and we will get over there!" Before Fluttershy would give out the coordinates, the guards took their weapons out which one of them yelling, "Halt! Don't move!" "No!" Fluttershy exclaims in horror. The guards charge at the Mini-Were Mare, preparing to attack. The monster snarls as she knocks him aside with one swipe of her clawed hoof then howls into the night sky. Fluttershy gasps as the Mini-Were Mare is heading towards her now. "Please don't eat me!" Fluttershy cried as she braced herself for her doom. The monster glances at Fluttershy... then jumps over her, rushing away. The Pegasus pony shivers in both surprise and fear. Apparently, it wasn't going to eat her or something. She sighed in relief as she recovered. ------------- "Did you get any word from Fluttershy?" Rarity asks as most of the girls reunite and head over to a part of Canterlot where Fluttershy should be at. "I don't know. We got cut off before she could tell me!" Rainbow explains. "I think that monster has gotten to her." "No way, we would've heard Fluttershy's unmistakingly screams or whining." Pinkie adds while on air (running in air). "Boys, prepare yourselves. We don't know what we're getting into here." Shining ordered his guards sternly. It didn't take the groups long enough to find the Mini-Were Mare. It smashed right out of a window nearby, landing right in front of them. Rarity's group gasps as the white unicorn gulps in concern. This is like Twilight had described, what happened years ago on the night that Ben was taken! "I'll get her!" Pinkie said in determination as she brings out, from out of nowhere, her Party Cannon. "Where did yew put 'dat thing?" Applejack asks Pinkie puzzled. Her Earth pony friend appears to have brought that thing from out of thin air. "None of your dang business, AJ," Pinkie answers Applejack while aiming her Party Cannon at the Mini-Were Mare who looks at it funny. "Now eat party, party ruiner!" BAM! The Mini-Were Mare was hit in the chest by the blast of Pinkie's Party Cannon, much to her own surprise. "Nice work, Pinkie." Rarity comments as the Mini-Were Mare got back up, "Looks like she's not done yet." "Marco!" Pinkie exclaims as she fires her Party Cannon a few times, some shots hit the Mini-Were Mare, some didn't. Of course, the monster didn't bother to say 'Polo' right back. She questions the creature by saying, "Gee, you must not know the game. You need to say Polo when I say Marco." "How can I? I haven't even played a game like that before!" The Mini-Were Mare growled to Pinkie Pie in annoyance. "Hey, it can talk!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, impressed. "I thought it was one monster that can growl and stuff." "Then I bet you don't play this game either!" Rainbow shouted towards the Mini-Were Mare before she flew into the air in fast speed. The Pegasus flew downward quickly at her opponent. The Mini-Were Mare jumps out of the way, dodging Rainbow who flew back into the air. She glanced at the Pegasus who flew back into the air. "What are you doing?" The Mini-Were Mare asked Rainbow in disbelief. "Are you trying to be a pony missile or something?" "Yeah, maybe I am and I just found my target: one crushed Mini-Were Mare!" Rainbow taunted as she dives at the Mini-Were Mare. The Mini-Were Mare, of course, stepped out of the way, causing Rainbow to miss her and hit a hollow tree. The blue Pegasus pony cringed as she fell backwards to the ground. "Oh, watch out for that tree, George." The Mini-Were Mare chuckled to Rainbow who looks upward in a daze. "All right, you beast; Now it's my turn!" Rarity shouted as she charged towards the Mini-Were Mare. The Mini-Were Mare quickly dodges any punches that Rarity is giving her way. Once she stops, she roars right in her face, causing her mane to go flying back a bit. Once the Mini-Were Mare has stopped, Rarity's mane is one huge mess. "Aaaah, my mane," Rarity cried out in shock and horror. "Look, I don't want to hurt anypony!" The Mini-Were Mare snarls as he backs away from the group. "So leave me alone! I won't guarantee that any of you will live if you try to fight me!" "Not if we tie y'all up, ya varmint!" Applejack shouted before she grabs her rope lasso and starts spinning it. The Mini-Were Mare looks astounded and confused. Why doesn't she want to fight these mares? They were her friends... The monster begins knocking down some trash cans as she prepares to run off. Applejack throws the rope and caught her. "Hee-haw," Applejack laughs as she rushes at the Mini-Were Mare and slows her down. She tackles the creature and hogties her. "Now 'dat's how yew hogtie a critter." "Well, nice work, Applejack." Rarity groans while combing her hair with a brush, "Though I wish that you stepped in earlier! I got a big mess of a mane to work on." "Eh, yew an' 'dat hair o' yers." Applejack remarks with a chuckle. "So ..." The Mini-Were Mare growls in anger, breaks free from the rope and stood up. Applejack turns and yelps a bit before the creature knocks her aside with one paw, knocking the Earth pony to the ground in a daze. The Mini-Were Mare raised her head, letting lose a loud, bone rattling, ear bursting, howl. Suddenly, as by magic there came a howl that was a bit louder then the Mini-Were Mare's own. The ponies stood stalk still, when howl's source jumped, or rather landed into view standing defensively in front of the Mini-Were Mare, more specifically in a combat crouch. Unknown to the group, a familiar Pegasus pony is arriving on the scene with four fillies on their back. They came back from visiting Zecora, who promised to come to Canterlot soon when they saw the fight. "Uncle Shiny needs help." Nyx said in concern. "Derpy, can you..." "No problem!" Derpy exclaimed as she dive-bombs towards the Mini-Were Mare to tackle her as a last-minute rescue. However, the Demon Pony seems to have good ears as he tackles the Mini-Were Mare out of the way, causing them to miss and crash while scattering across the ground, looking dizzy and moaning from the impact. "Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Nyx?" Fluttershy asked in shock and surprise. "What are you doing here? You are supposed to be at Twilight's home!" Rarity protested to the fillies. The Mini-Were Mare sighed a bit then saw her brother crawling away from them. At least he's safe, now the Mini-Were Mare is face-to-face with a friend turned nightmare from her past. The Demon Pony turns as the Mini-Were Mare leans down, ready to pounce. The two appears to be at some sort of standoff, ready to make the first move of attack. Of course, the Demon Pony stops and looks a bit surprised. The Mini-Were Mare notes how the Demon Pony is reacting to facing her. Does he recognize her from last night; most likely; this creature would go after her now. Yet... the dark lavender coated mare turned monster feels like she shouldn't do anything... why is that? Nyx, recovers, notes how the Mini-Were Mare is just standing there as if frozen on the spot. The little filly looks at the eyes on the she-demon, they held all the feeling as her adopted mother, that's then it made sense to Nyx. "Mommy?" The Demon Pony reacts to that in both surprise and disbelief. The Mini-Were Mare of course didn't move or respond. She just stares at the Demon Pony, the same one who took Ben Mare years ago... yet something about him makes her want to not want to attack the creature... Suddenly a shot is heard as a bullet almost hit the Demon Pony and the Mini-Were Mare. The two snaps out of whatever trances they got. Nyx gasps and saw Boris shooting at the monsters. Boxco, who is with Dum-Dum watching this, cheers on, "Yeah, boss; you got them trapped like monkeys!" "Trapped like rats, you moron!" Boris snaps as he opens fire at the Demon Pony and the Mini-Were Mare. The monsters growls as they jump. One of them jumps forward, and the other jumps backwards in back-flip to dodge the next bullet, the Demon Pony lands onto a table, and the Mini-Were Mare lands in the shadow of the tree that Rainbow Dash crashed into earlier. The Demon Pony dodges the next shot by the hunting unicorn in time. In his next pounce, the Demon Pony unknowingly knocks into the Mini-Were Mare, who had leapt in front of Nyx in case Boris wanted to take aim at her. The Mini-Were Mare screams as she fell right into a huge hole nearby. The Demon Pony, seeing this, gasps in horror of the error he had made. "Twilya!" ---------- Twilight lands in some sort of sewer. The unicorn groans as she got up and looks around. Yuck, what a stinky place! No wonder the ponies of Canterlot hate coming down here! Twilight looks around, glancing upward. There doesn't appear to be any other way out of here. Twilight then heard a noise, turning and gasping in terror as she saw a bunch of slithering objects heading to her. The Mini-Were Mare reacted like saying this... "AHHH; SNAKES; SNAKES," Twilight screams in terror as she backs herself against a wall. Yes, there are snakes in the sewers of Canterlot and unlike the tame ones back in Ponyville, these guys are monsters! The little filly remembers falling in a hole years ago that has a lot of snakes! Scarred her for life! If it weren't for Shining, poor Twilight would've more than just scared! The snakes hiss as they surround Twilight, too tired and scared to use magic to escape or fight back. It looks like the she-demon has seen her last fight or adventure. How humiliating that her next celebration of the founding will end up with her being snake food! But then something unexpected happened: as a snake lunges at the scared Twilight, a familiar monster lands in front of it and grabs the creature. The Demon Pony roars in its face and toss the snake away. Twilight gasps as the Demon Pony stood in front of her as if protecting her from trouble. The snake hisses as they attack the one trying to get in the way of their meal. The Demon Pony knocks the creatures aside quickly, hitting any that tries to get by him and to get to Twilight. "Get out of here, there's an opening to the side! Move," The Demon Pony growls to Twilight as he kept fighting off the snakes. The Mini-Were Mare stood here, looking unsure. "JUST GO!" Twilight nods as she quickly runs off. Sure enough, there's an opening nearby to the side alright. The Mini-Were Mare got in it then stops to look at the Demon Pony who kept fighting off the snakes. Some bit him but luckily they aren't poisonous. After knocking the last snake down, the threats hiss in pain and slitters off quickly. Soon only the Demon Pony is the one last standing. The Demon Pony groans a bit. Twilight looks dumbstruck but decides to take her leave. Hopefully this opening can take her out of this sewer and away from anymore snakes... of course, the mare's mind is on how the nightmare from her past has just saved her. ------------- "What are you thinking?" Rainbow screams in Boris's face back on the surface. The guards are searching the hole that Twilight fell into a few minutes ago but there's no sight of her. "You almost hit the Mini-Were Mare, you maniac!" "And I thought the princesses made it clear that Twilight and her friends are doing this!" Shining snaps to Boris in annoyance. "Come now, you think I want to hit the Mini-Were Mare? I was merely helping. That Demon Pony would've killed her if I haven't have acted!" Boris insists to the upset Rainbow and Shining. "Besides, from the look of things, I doubt you, your friends and those Earth pony filth were able to handle that thing." "First, watch it with the remark towards my sister's Earth pony friends! Second, if the Mini-Were Mare's dead..." The Mini-Were Mare, aka Twilight Sparkle, hesitates, wondering if she should tell her friends in the morning. That the mare was surrounded by snakes and how the Demon Pony... has saved her. Would they believe her? The guards, seeing that it is safe, called off the search of the hole. One of them trots to Shining while saying seriously, "Sir, I'm afraid that the Demon Pony and the Mini-Were Mare are gone." "Oh great, the Demon Pony is loose." Shining groans in annoyance before glaring at Boris. "Do you realize that thanks to you and your two idiots, that monster is still on the loose?" "Hey, come on! At least we tried to help!" Dum-Dum protests to Shining innocently. "Right, after all, you aren't the only ones who want that monster taken down!" Boris insists while checking his gun some more. "That Demon Pony scratched my face years ago. This is both payback and a way to save Canterlot!" "All we know is that you almost hit my sister!" Shining exclaims to Boris angrily. "From now on, unless the princess said otherwise, you are not to interfere with the search. Otherwise, I will have you arrested for interfering with the law!" "Come now, all because of one little mistake?" "Make that a huge one!" "Sweetie Belle, you and your friends were supposed to stay at Twilight's house." Rarity snaps to the guilty looking four fillies as the other mares glare at them. "What were you thinking disobeying us like this?" "We were tryin' 'ta help." Apple Bloom explains to the Mane Six. "We just came back fro' visiting Zecora..." "Wait, Zecora?" Pinkie asks in surprise. "What did you want to visit her?" "We figured 'dat she knows something about 'de Demon Pony and the Mini-Were Mare. Zecora said 'dat she would come 'ta Canterlot soon." "Well, come on." Applejack groans a bit as she glances at the damage on the scene, "Looks like we ain't going 'ta make any progress tonight. But when we git back 'ta Twilight's house, yew girls are in for a lot o' trouble!" "Awww," Nyx and her friends groans as they and the Mane Five head on home. Looks like the first attempt to capture that creature didn't go very well indeed. Twilight's mind is on what happened in the sewers. Why did the Demon Pony saved her life? It's supposed to be a vicious monster! This doesn't make sense... --------- "Blast it all, why do I bother trying?" Boris growls angrily as he and his minions head on home. Shining told them that he will inform Celestia about what happened tonight, especially the stallion's reckless action. "That monster..." "Boss, who was that pony you were talking to earlier?" Dum-Dum asks Boris puzzled. He and Boxco saw the stallion talking to the cloaked figure before earlier. "Okay, 1. He didn't give me his name, and 2, that was not a pony, you dope! Ponies don't walk on two feet and have claws. No, that was a... monster; A monster with magic skills." "A THING; HOW DARE YOU!" A figure appears in a burst of green flames, shocking Boxco and Dum-Dum. "You, Boris, should be grateful that I gave you advice, you waste of creation," The scar over his green eyes glow in his rage. "AHHH," Boxco and Dum-Dum scream in terror. "Please forgive me: I was frustrated." Boris said to the figure with a sigh. "I didn't have much luck in killing that Demon Pony tonight. After the grief he gave me years ago..." "Well, try again, try a new tactic if need be!" The figure snaps to Boris sternly. "Do whatever it takes if you want Twilight for yourself! Just don't insult me this way again!" The figure disappears in a burst of green flames, Boris glares at where he was as his minions almost fainted. Looks like the villain will need a new tactic if he wants to kill the Demon Pony, the Mini-Were Mare and get Twilight to himself for good…