//------------------------------// // Beginning the run to catch up/story's in the night. // Story: A New Tale In Equestria. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// ______*the Everfree forest 11:42 AM*_____ Fang felt hungry.....again, ever since he arrived in Equestria he had hunger issues, or it just the fact that he skipped breakfast. He tried walking it off one time but Gwen had explained to him that wasn't doing anything....much to his annoyance. "Come on guys I want to get back quickly!" He shouted. No reply. Fang looked behind him to see that his four other companions were walking and talking. "Oh you have got to be kidding me." He complained. And so Fang slowly continued his walk through the forest in almost complete silence, if not for his enhanced hearing he would be in complete silence as of now. "I'm telling you, I've got ten bits that Trapper either fell into a hole or sprung a trap, it's a scientific impossibility for him NOT to fall into one of those!" Stated Firefly. "And I'm telling YOU that it's Dust your thinking about." Replied Gwen. Fang sighed and tried to drown out the conversation to no avail. "Damnit." He swore as he kicked a rock. Fang felt the urge to just grab one of them and run towards the camp or group depending if they left, but decided against it since he knew Roxanne would most likely kill him. "Hurry up!" He shouted. "Bite me!" Roxanne countered. Fang groaned and turned around, he walked up to the group and started to walk alongside them when a familiar growling was heard. Roxanne stifled a laugh and shook her head instead. "Hungry wolf boy?" She teased. Fang rolled his eyes and looked at her. "You still got that heart?" He asked hopefully. Gwen sighed while Firefly and Darkestlight raised an eyebrow. "Why would you have a heart?" Firefly asked. "You don't seem to be into voodoo anyway." Darkestlight added. Fang shrugged. "What? I was going to eat it." He said with confusion. Gwen shook her head and continued walking. "It's in Roxanne's stomach." She said simply. Fang whimpered and walked slowly beside Gwen. "I'm gonna die!" He screamed dramatically. Roxanne walked up to Fang and put a claw on his shoulder, and then proceeded to slap him across the back of his face repeatedly. "Snap, out, of, IT!" She shouted between slaps. Firefly broke into laughter while Darkestlight raised an eyebrow. "Is this....normal?" She asked with concern. Gwen nodded. "Pretty much." She replied casually. Roxanne released Fang who proceeded to rub his cheeks. "Why is it always me?" He asked. Firefly shrugged. "Because your a socially awkward male?" She suggested. "Emotionally ignorant nut job?" Roxanne added. "Carnivorous newbie organic?" Gwen added. Fang raised an eyebrow at the last one. "What the?....what does that even mean?" He asked in confusion as he stood up. Gwen shrugged. "I don't know." She said simply. Firefly sighed and started walking. "Come on, we need to get going if we're going to catch up to the others." She stated. Fang nodded and got down on all fours and ran forward. "Follow me!" He ordered. Roxanne groaned and chased after her partner along with the others. "Fang you idiot wait up!" She snapped. _____*previous campsite ten minutes later*_____ Fang walked across the now empty hill and facepalmed. "Typical, the one time I think that everyone will ignore my suggestion and stay here." He sighed and turned around to see two exhausted pegasi, one exhausted unicorn, and one pissed off fox that was marching towards him. "Uh oh." He said in concern for himself. Roxanne grabbed Fang by the throat and growled. "Next time DONT leave us behind!" She snapped. Fang nodded furiously as he felt the air drain from his lungs. Roxanne's expression softened and she set Fang down. "Good." She replied happily. Fang didn't know what to think, he could either be happy that his partner was so physically well, or be scared of her sudden change in personality, he chose the former. Roxanne faced the others. "Alright everyone, let's stop for lunch." She said. Firefly fell backwards on the ground and her breathing slowed to a more steady pace. "Yea, food sounds good." She said. "Well then get up and help or you don't get any." Roxanne threatened. That comment had Firefly jump up and look at Roxanne. "How can I help?" She said quickly. Roxanne pointed at a nearby line of trees. "Get us some wood, Fang go with." She ordered. Fang did a mock salute. "Yes ma'am." He replied sarcastically. Firefly and Fang walked over to the tree line and Roxanne looked at the others. "Alright then, Gwen go with your friend and get us some more food and water, we'll need it." She said. Gwen nodded and walked off towards another tree line with Darkestlight in tow. Roxanne then ran towards yet another tree line and grabbed some stones and a long stick. "This will be an interesting lunch." She mused. _____*twenty minutes (of boring gathering scenes that you likely don't want to see) later*_____ ____(ok I lied there is one scene)____ Fang grabbed a thick branch and stacked it onto his arms while Firefly put another there. "Really?" He asked. Firefly shrugged. "Well I can't Carry them all." She said. Fang sighed and silently allowed Firefly to stack more and more until she had to many. "Hey Firefly!...I can't see!" He shouted. Firefly chuckled. "You'll be fine." She replied. Fang groaned and started walking back to the hill blindly. "Just let me know if I'm about to hit something." He said. Firefly nodded and the two went through the forest without fail, mostly. When the two finally arrived at the hill Fang was straining. "No more! Maximo Maximo!" He shouted as he dropped the wood and fell to the ground. Firefly sighed and sat down on the ground with a sigh of relief while waiting for the others to get back. Fang rolled over so his back was on the ground. "So uh Firefly, what's Vulture like?" He asked. Firefly was obviously caught off guard by the sudden question but sighed and shook her head. "He was, quiet, to say the least, he probably got into the least amount of trouble because of it, he was a good guy, can't say anything about him now though....so why did you ask?" She asked. Fang shrugged. "Just curious, considering he's the reason we're all out here." He replied calmly. Firefly mimicked the gesture and looked up at the sky. "Fang, you ever wonder why your sentient?" She asked. Fang raised an eyebrow. "Was that an insult?" He asked in a calm voice. Firefly shook her head. "That's not what I meant, what I meant was do you ever wonder why you have a more developed mind?" She replied. Fang shook his head in response. "No use wondering why, I 'know' how I'm sentient." He said. Firefly shrugged. "I guess.....wait what?" She asked in shock. Fang chuckled. "Yep I am fully aware of how I'm sentient, just dont ask me anything to deep." He requested. Firefly nodded. "Alright wise guy, 'how' are you sentient?" She asked. Fang sighed and sat up. "You want the short version or the long version? He replied. "Short, long version later." She replied. Fang looked up at the sky. "Most would believe I'm a ghost possessing a body, nope, long story short, I'm an artificial intelligence that was literally jammed into a robot." He replied. Firefly raised an eyebrow. "Um ok?......but how do you have thought and free will and all that stuff?, I thought AI's had programing?" She asked. Fang shrugged. "Eh I grew up, turns out a electrocution can go a long way." He joked. "So you have all of this because you got electrocuted?" She asked in a near laughing voice. Fang nodded. "Eyuup." He replied. ______*end of memory, sequence two complete*______ Roxanne walked up to Fang and Firefly and cleared her throat. Fang nearly fell over while Firefly mearly shrugged. "What kept ya?" Firefly asked. Roxanne shrugged. "Nothing, now come on help me get this set up." She said pointing to the rocks then the wood. Fang nodded and stood up while Firefly flew up to a low hover. "Lets get this over with." Fang said. _____*Gwen and Darkestlight's location.*_____ Gwen walked through the trees on the way back to the hill. "Hey uh, Darkestlight?" She said. Darkestlight looked at Gwen. "Yea?" She replied. Gwen looked at her once she was sure she was not heading towards a tree. "Do you mind if I just call you Dark?" She asked. Darkestlight shrugged. "Sure, I doubt it'll stick though." She replied calmly. "Trust me, it'll stick." Gwen said. Dark sighed. "Go ahead then." She replied. Gwen nodded. "Alright let's head back, don't want the others to eat without us." She said. Dark chuckled. "They can't, we have the food remember?" She teased. Gwen gave out a short laugh. "Yea your probably right, although they do have two carnivorous animals and a speed flyer with them." She mused. Dark nodded and then looked at Gwen curiously. "Speaking of which, why does Roxanne have a robotic laugh?" She asked. Gwen paused for a moment before continuing. "Honestly?.....I couldn't tell you." She said. Dark raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" She asked. Gwen shrugged. "I don't know, ever since we got back she's been, different, she used to have a normal laugh, but now....." She sighed. "Her breathing sounds robotic and so does her laugh and cough, the only part of her lungs that doesn't sound robotic is her voice." She said. Dark nodded and had a look that said that she went deep into thought. Gwen continued walking towards the hill when a thought entered her mind. "Hey Dark, what were you doing in that cave?" She asked. Dark shrugged. "I live there, why?" She asked. Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to live in a cave?" She deadpanned. Dark sighed sadly. "In truth?, I was banished from Canterlot, Ponyville and pretty much any city under Celestia's rule." She replied. Gwen's eyes widened. "Why?" She asked. Dark shook her head. "Because I did something that your not supposed to do." She replied simply. Gwen sighed and continued walking. "Alright then, I take it that it was something very very bad?" She asked uncertainly. Dark nodded. "For a citizen? yes." She said. "So what was it?" She asked. Dark looked around with a look of caution before signing in relief. "Well, I sort of uh.....stole from the royal library." She said quickly. Gwen deadpanned and Dark laughed nervously. "Heh heh yea, that was intense." She replied. "That has got to be the stupidest reason for banishment ever." She replied in a blank voice. Dark grinned. "Tell me about it, it was completely." She was about to continue but was cut off. "My friend Twilight used to break into that place all of the time and she never got banished, heck the guards were so used to it they practically 'let' her in!" Gwen snapped. Dark's grin became a scowl. "You can't be serious." She deadpanned. Gwen shook her head. "Nope, I'm not joking." She replied. Dark let out a growl. "And why is it that SHE never got banished but I did." She said in a dangerously calm voice. Gwen sighed. "For all I know?, it's because she was Celestia's student or whatever." She replied. Dark grumbled under her breath. "Let's just get back." She replied. ______*Twenty minutes (achievements) later*_____ Fang stood on his hands while balancing a small log on his feet while the others remained silent. "See, I told you this was easy." He stated. Firefly huffed. "Yea, for you." She countered. Roxanne chuckled. "Alright Fang you win, you can stop now." She said. Fang dropped the log to the ground and did a backflip to stand back up. "Who knew that standing around for over four years could build some strength." He pondered. Roxanne rolled her eyes. "Or....you still have the strength of an animatronic." She suggested. Fang shrugged. "Who knows, maybe I'm just naturally strong." He said. Firefly let out a small chuckle at the two partner's antics. "You guys are a riot." She said happily. Fang looked at Firefly with a blank face. "Beep." He said blankly. Roxanne and Firefly reacted appropriately.....they burst into laughter. "Hey guys!" Shouted a familiar voice. Fang turned around and saw Gwen and Darkestlight walking toward them. "What kept ya?" Asked Firefly. Gwen grinned. "We couldn't find the stream, so we found the pond." She replied. Fang facepalmed. Roxanne rolled her eyes. "Yea yea, come on guys lets get this done so we can eat." She said. _____*eight hours later*_____ Firefly nibbled at her food with disinterest, something was clearly bothering her as she zoned out. Fang took noticed of this and gave Firefly a gentle nudge. "You still with us?" He asked. Firefly shook her head rapidly and looked at Fang. "Huh?, oh yea, yea I'm fine." She replied with a fake smile. Fang nodded and went back to eating his dinner , which was basically an assortment of greens. Roxanne stared into the fire they had started with a feeling of unease, she looked up at the night sky for a moment but ended up staring into the fire. Gwen looked around and noticed a lot of depressed faces, she put on a grin and stood up getting everyone's attention. "Alright everyone, we need something to lighten the mood, or at least kill the silence." She stated. Everyone nodded in agreement. Roxanne looked up at the sky. "Why not a ghost story?" She suggested. Some murmurs went around the fire and after a time they settled on that. "Ok, but who tells it?" Firefly asked. Fang looked around and saw no volunteers, he sighed and raised his hand. "I have one." He said. Everyone sat down and looked at Fang. Fang cleared his throat. "Alright everyone, listen closely because I don't like telling this story." He warned. Fang stood up and looked around the campfire noting that each member had a expectant face on. "Very well then, now." He paused. "This is the story of the crying child." he began his tale ominously. _____*day one*_____ Long ago in a town lived a boy. This boy was in his home, a two story building that was plain as day. The boy was in his room, but the door was locked, inside the room were five plushy's, one was brown bear named Freddy, one was a yellow chicken named Chica, another was a purple bunny named Bonnie, the fourth was a red pirate fox called Foxy, and the last was a golden bear named Fredbear. The boy was crying, he cried as he walked around the room, he cried as he tried to open the door to no avail, and eventually, he just fell to the ground crying heavily, the boy had cried himself to sleep after hearing the Fredbear plushy speak. "Tomorrow is another day." It had said. That night, the boy had a nightmare, not a normal nightmare where you aren't aware of what's happening, but one where he was in complete control, to an extent, he was in his room which had a double door closet, one door on the left and one on the right, and the bed behind him. The boy had a flashlight with him and he quickly moved forward to one of the doors and heard a deep breathing, he closed the door, once he heard footsteps, he ran to the other door. No breathing came from this door so he turned on the flashlight only to see a dark figure slink away to the left, the boy heard the closet creak and he immediately ran towards it, he activated his light only to be scared by a nightmarish looking animatronic fox scream at him, he closed the door and when he opened them again to check the light, only a plushy remained. The boy ran to his bed a clicked the light to reveal three small animatronic brown bears scream and zoom off. The night continued like this for a long time until it reached six AM, then the boy awoke. Five nights later the boy went to Fredbear's family diner and eventually sometime throughout the night he ended up on the floor crying in front of four teenagers, one was the boy's brother and the others were his friends. the teenagers talked amongst themselves and eventually they grabbed the boy and brought him to the stage where Fredbear and Springtrap resided, they put the boy's head into Fredbear's mouth and laughed, and laughed, only when Fredbear bit down into the boy's head did the teenagers stop laughing. The boy awoke again however in a dark room, with all of his plushy's there, and there the Fredbear plushy spoke to him, and as the plushy finished its sentences the others faded out if existence' until finally the whole world, went black. _____*end of tale*_____ "And that....is the tale of the crying child." Fang finished. Fang was now sitting down with the others around the fire in silence until Gwen broke it. "Why would they do that to the kid?" She asked. Fang sighed. "They weren't thinking, at least I don't think they were." He replied. Roxanne decided to continue. "How on earth do plushy's talk?" She asked. Fang facepalmed. "The boy was imagining it, from what I can guess, that was his way of coping." He replied. Firefly chimed in. "Why does that sound fake on so many levels?" She asked mockingly. Fang gave Firefly a death stare. "Firefly, that did actually happen." He replied calmly. Firefly instantly shut up. Because of this comment the rest of the night was silent, until Fang stood up and let about a howl to signify the night.