Chapter 3
Things That Go Bump
That night, there were no stars in the sky, and only a sliver of moonlight shone through the clouds like the eye of some watchful phantom.
Throughout Ponyvile, all the ponies had fallen fast asleep, save for three fillies who convened at the edge of the Everfree Forest on Sweet Apple Acres.
"Alright, did we get everything?" Apple Bloom started as she went down her checklist. "Lantern?"
"Check," Scootaloo answered as she displayed a lantern on her saddlebags.
"Map o' the forest?"
"Check," Sweetie confirmed with the map in her hooves.
"Rope?"
"Check," Scootaloo showed them the ropes that she had in the wagon, which was also on the supply list, and subsequently checked off.
"Ghost protection," Apple Bloom touched her hoof to her necklace, "Check."
"And I brought a box of matches. That way, if we meet any of those things from the dark, we can get away," Sweetie said, showing her friends the tiny box she brought along.
"We won't need to get away. We're gonna catch it, an' we're gonna send it back where it came from," Apple Bloom declared.
"Yeah! And we can get our cutie marks for monster hunting when we do," Scootaloo finished.
"Let's do--" Sweetie began shouting before her friends put their hooves over her mouth. She got the message and quieted down to a whisper, "Let's do this."
"Cutie Mark Crusaders, Monster Hunters," they all whispered before they stepped into the darkness beyond the trees.
It didn't take long for the fearful effects of the Everfree to happen. Shortly after arriving, the three fillies looked back to see how far they had gone, Already the trees appeared to close the path behind them like a curtain. The moon, the one watchful eye of Princess Luna, had been blotted out by the forest canopy, and left the Cutie Mark Crusaders completely on their own.
Any sign of movement was met with a jump, and Scootaloo pointed her lantern in the direction it was seen. Each time, it only proved to be something like a squirrel, or an owl, or the wind blowing.
The plan was simple: catch the ghost mare, subdue her with whatever power the necklace had, tie her up, and cart her away to be dealt with. Of course, none of the fillies had any idea how to deal with something like a ghost, but they had to try for the sake of everypony in Ponyville.
The minutes passed, and even though they hadn't gone very far, they felt as if they were in unfamiliar territory. Even though Sweetie Belle tried to follow the map she had, the trail seemed to turn different directions than how any of them remembered, and the trees looked like they had rearranged themselves to create a labyrinth where there was no escape.
Sweetie Belle flinched when she saw an arm sprout from a boulder and reach out for her. When Scootaloo shone her lantern on it, it was seen only to be a shadow from a plant growing on the ground.
In spite of the natural explanation, the dark markings on the boulder almost looked like the face of some demonic creature. Sweetie Belle gasped when the light from the lantern shifted, and the face appeared to turn to look at her, spurring her to the safe proximity of her friends.
They came to a crossroads that went five ways. This was a familiar landmark to them, as the path on the far left went to Zecora's hut. This was a lucky break for the fillies. Their zebra friend may have been able to help them with her magic potions. Perhaps she even knew a way to get rid of ghosts.
As the fillies started down the path toward their friend's home, the wind blew past them, carrying with it the rustling of leaves, and the whistling of the branches. To Apple Bloom, the wind carried a message with it.
"Beware...Beware...Beware..."
"Not that way!" Apple Bloom abruptly said.
"Why not? Zecora lives that way," Scootaloo said.
"I know. But somethin's tellin' me we shouldn't go there," Apple Bloom replied.
"Do you think it's the monsters trying to trick us? Like in your grandma's stories?" Sweetie asked.
"Maybe. So, we'd better be careful when we go to see Zecora," Scootaloo said as she walked down the path anyway.
"Wait! Come back," Apple Bloom protested.
She didn't know why only she could understand the warning she heard, but she wasn't about to let her friends get hurt by not heeding them. It did no good, since Sweetie Belle went after Scootaloo.
"It's okay. I've got matches, remember?" Sweetie Belle said.
Apple Bloom conceded to her friend's will and cautiously went after them.
So far, nothing happened to them on the trail, even though it felt like it went longer than it should have.
They quickened their pace to reach the hut faster, but Scootaloo stopped walking. Behind her, her two friends bumped into the wagon she was pulling.
"What gives, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo said nothing, but pointed off the trail. When the others looked, they saw something unnatural.
Off the side of the path, there was a blue light. A ghostly flame that danced about, beckoning all who gazed upon it to look more closely.
Apple Bloom's heart raced. The thing they saw wasn't the eyes of the ghost mare, but it was just as strange and unnatural. But in a different way. Instead of feeling like she should run away from it, she wanted to go closer and investigate it. An impulse that she obeyed. And she wasn't alone in her curiosity.
Scootaloo unhitched herself from the wagon, and she and Sweetie Belle followed their friend to get a closer look at the phenomenon.
As soon as they reached it, the phantom fire drifted further from them and stopped a few hooves away from where they were.
That wasn't fair! The fillies wanted to look at it more.
They followed it to where it stopped, only for it to drift further away again. It did so every time they got close, and even though they didn't realize it, they were being led further and further away from their intended destination.
Scootaloo got tired of reaching for it, but never catching it. She thought to herself: what would Rainbow Dash do?
She put down the lantern, then gained as much altitude as she could, just like Dash taught her, and dive bombed the wisp.
"Gotcha!" Scootaloo triumphantly shouted as she grabbed at the thing.
Her catch was quite confusing. Instead of something very small, she felt herself holding something quite large in her hooves. Not only that, but it felt furry, like a dog's body.
"Scootaloo! Get away from there!" Sweetie shuddered, as she and Apple Bloom slowly backed away.
Scootaloo looked up, and was face to face with the most horrifying creature she ever saw. It looked almost exactly like a timber wolf, but it was covered with grey fur and had yellow eyes. As she stared at it, she could feel its desire to devour her for being dumb enough to get that close to it.
It let out a huff, and Scootaloo slowly released its front leg and backed away, never once shifting her gaze from the monster.
As they all backed away, the thing stood up on two legs so that it was almost seven hooves tall, bringing to mind only one word to the fillies: werewolf.
The fillies sprinted back the opposite way, now without a light, and without a rope to catch the monster. They were completely helpless now.
Over the sound of their own hoofbeats, they could hear the heavy padding of the monster behind them. Even though they tried to return to the path, they had lost their way from chasing the mystery light.
On the path ahead of them, the mystery light appeared once more.
The closer they came to the light, the more that the could see that it was embedded in a darker shadow that was coming towards them.
Apple Bloom didn't need to see it to know what it was. It was the witch mare coming to get them, and take them away to her world.
With a frightened scream, the fillies veered to the side, and ran away in the hopes that they would find safety where they went.
They all screamed again when they had to dodge a tree, that they swore came alive and reached for them.
The ground beneath them disappeared, and they all went tumbling into a shallow ditch.
They shook the dizziness from their heads, and began scrambling out of the ditch.
From the shadows under the trees, a giant, yellow-eyed silhouette charged toward them.
The fillies dropped back into the ditch and followed its length toward a hole in the ground. One that was fortunately big enough for them to crawl into.
Once inside, they found it not to be simply a hole, but a tunnel. Something that was probably a burrow dug by some animal. It was lucky for them that it was so deep, since as soon as Scootaloo (who entered last) was a few hooves in, the werewolf stuck its head in the hole and shuffled it towards her.
Scootaloo yelped as she felt the monster's hot breath on her tail and shuffled ahead beyond its snout.
Glancing over her shoulder, Scootaloo saw the werewolf pull its head from the tunnel. But she wasn't out of danger.
The werewolf reached its arm in, took hold of Scootaloo's rear hoof and started pulling her towards it.
She screamed for help as she was dragged backwards.
Sweetie Belle, who was in front of her, to turn around and grab her hooves.
Apple Bloom did her part by grabbing Sweetie Belle's waist and pulling her.
It did no good as they felt their hooves sliding across the ground toward the monster outside.
Scootaloo began kicking the werewolf's hand with her free hoof, but the monster proved to be as strong as it looked. She kept up her kicking, knowing that if she did nothing, they would be dragged out and devoured.
Scootaloo looked back, and saw that her hoof was passing through the opening of the tunnel toward the monster. She began flailing and flapping her wings to aid her escape, which shook the werewolf's arm slightly.
She could feel her leg slipping every so gradually from its grip, and with a final strong kick, she loosed herself free. The Cutie Mark Crusaders scrambled back into the tunnel to escape, just as the monster reached in for them again.
They followed the tunnel through its labyrinthine twists and turns, with only the contours of the walls to guide them in the absence of light. Though they had no idea where they were going, they didn't dare turn back to the waiting jaws of the werewolf.
Silence surrounded them, and the smell of earth and old roots filled their noses, robbing them of any orientation they had.
In the pitch black of underground, none of them could see any signs of the tunnel ending. In front, Apple Bloom could feel the tunnel open up suddenly.
"Wait," she said to her friends behind her as she felt the edges of the tunnel they were in. She found that the whole thing opened into a larger chamber. "Sweetie Belle, do ya still have those matches?".
Sweetie Belle was one step ahead of Apple Bloom. No sooner did she finish talking than did she light one of the matches from the box she had brought with her and struck on, dimly illuminating the tunnel around them.
They all shuffled out of the cramped tunnel they were in, and found themselves in a larger chamber that was just big enough for them to stand up, with room enough for them to reach up and touch the ceiling.
More remarkable about the ceiling was that there were giant roots coming through it, indicating that they were somewhere below a tree, or some other large plant.
All around the walls of the room, there were more tunnels, which likely led to other parts of the underground.
But which one led outside?
They all thought that maybe the one that was slightly higher up than the others led to the surface, but Scootaloo was more curious about what could have dug these tunnels. Sure enough, the answer was moving towards them.
They all heard a quiet, croaking growl coming from somewhere very near them. From the darkness at the edge of the match's light, coming from one of the tunnels, they could see something moving towards them.
In the dim, light, they couldn't see what was coming. When it stepped into view, it was seen to resemble some kind of rodent. Not like any small, friendly rat or mouse like they knew. This...thing...was very large. Almost the size of one of them. It had longer legs than any rodent they saw before. They almost looked like dog's legs for how long they were. But, the feet were still rodent's paws.
Its face was its most terrifying feature, bearing no fur, and showing its withered, grey skin, and its jagged, oversized teeth.
The thing looked at the three intruders in its home, and let out another low growl to let them know that they were not welcome. When they didn't move, it rushed forward towards them to drive home its point.
Before it got any of them, the fillies ran toward the higher tunnel, and hastily filed into it, in the hopes it would take them to safety.
Scootaloo, who was in front this time, smelled fresh air ahead of her, which spurred her to scuttle her hooves even faster forward.
After a few more feet, she found herself popping out of the underground, and back into the dark forest. After her came Apple Bloom, and then Sweetie Belle.
Unfortunately, the rodent monster came with them.
The monster came out of the hole, snapping and flailing in the hopes of catching the fillies before they got away. It crawled out of its hole, and charged ferociously, only to be intercepted by something much larger.
The werewolf from earlier pounced on the monster, and the two began viciously battling, likely over which one of them would get to eat the fillies.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders watched in horror as the two beasts tore at each other with a brutality they had never seen before. It would have been a good idea to run away while they were busy fighting, but they were rooted to the spot, unable to take their eyes off the horrid spectacle.
With one last punch, the rat monster was sent sprawling backwards, and it retreated back into its hole to escape from its opponent.
Now that it was taken care of, the werewolf turned to face the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
That was enough to remind them to run away.
They ran through more of the forest, with the monster close behind them. Everything that was familiar to them; bushes, trees, rivers; came alive and produced more horrors like the thing behind them.
After what felt like forever, their escape was stopped when Apple Bloom screamed, and fell out of sight.
Her friends stopped running. In the dim light of the moon, they saw that they had come to the edge of a deep ravine, where Apple Bloom had just fallen over the edge.
About ten hooves down, Apple Bloom grabbed onto a small, rock outcropping, and desperately yelled for help as her friends tried to reach down for her.
Sweetie Belle took hold of Scootaloo's rear hooves and quickly lowered her down, keeping an ear turned to the monster behind them. They didn't have much time now, for how close the beast was.
Apple Bloom's hooves began to slip as Scootaloo reached down to her.
"Grab on!" Scootaloo called, when she was within her friend's reach.
She seemed so near, but Apple Bloom was scared that if she let go, she'd slip and fall from where she hung.
But, falling became the least of her worries, when she saw the side of the ravine next to her crack, and she and Scootaloo saw something come slithering out of it.
At first, they thought that it was some kind of snake, the way it writhed and wriggled. Only it was lined with a strange, black mist that surrounded its length, and there was no visible head. It moved its form closer to the fillies, and in the moonlight they could now see that it was a tree root, animated by some kind of evil magic.
There was no escape for Apple Bloom when the root started making its way toward her. She screamed, and let go of the outcropping as the root took hold of her, carried her up to the top of the ravine, and placed her on the ground next to Sweetie Belle.
High above, the moon went behind another cloud as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom pulled Scootaloo up.
The three turned to face the yellow-eyed silhouette of the werewolf, who was now stopped in front of them. Besides the monster was the blue-eyed shadow of the witch mare.
There was nowhere to run anymore. All they could do was sit, and wait to be done in by either one of them. Or even worse, be taken away to the darkness.
But, Sweetie Belle wasn't about to give up. She took a match and struck it, lighting the area in front of them. Instead of making the monsters go away, they only seemed more imposing now that they could be seen. The only thing that changed was that the witch mare's eyes stopped glowing in the presence of light.
The match had failed, and the only option now was to bluff their way out.
"I...I-I ain't afraid o' you," Apple Bloom said.
"I'm glad to hear it. So, if you don't mind: may I please have my necklace back," the ghostly mare requested, surprisingly politely, and with an accent that sounded like she was from Trottingham.
"Huh?"
"My necklace. The one you're wearing. I'd like to have it back," the mare asked again.
It was strange enough to be politely and reasonably addressed by some dark fiend, but it became stranger when Apple Bloom heard her tone of voice change from polite diplomacy to an earnest plea.
"Please. That necklace was a gift from my father, and it's all I have left to remember him," the mare said.
It turned out that Apple Bloom was right about the necklace holding fond memories, but it turned out not to be her's. She had no trouble empathizing with the mare, even if she was incredibly scary. The necklace she wanted was every bit like the hat Applejack wore to keep the memories of her beloved father close.
Without hesitation, Apple Bloom took off the necklace and offered it to the mare.
"Here...Sorry fer runnin' away earlier..." She apologized, half out of genuine remorse for withholding a treasured item, and half out of fear that if she upset the mare, she and her friends would be eaten by her enormous pet.
"It's alright. No harm done," the mare said.
Before she could retrieve her necklace, Sweetie Belle yelped quietly as the flame from the match burnt down to her hoof, and she snuffed it out quickly.
The mare heard how the fillies shuddered in the dark, and decided to rectify it with a little magic of her own.
At first, the Cutie Mark Crusaders saw a swirl of shadows between them and the other two figures. Then they saw a dim light begin to glow from within the patch of darkness.
From the glow, there sprouted a gleaming flower, that had a single, bell-shaped petal. The petal was colored with brilliant red, yellow and white, with black speckles around it, while the inside had a yellow, cone-shaped pulpit. The pulpit of the flower began to glow brighter and soon produced a small flame that illuminated the area around them all so they could see each other. Once the flame was present, the flower withered, and burst into embers, which snuffed themselves out.
"That's better. No sense fumbling around in the dark," the mare said as she worked more magic.
The fillies all recoiled backwards when suddenly the necklace was enveloped in black mist with sparks of red. Afterward, it floated over to the dark mare and fastened itself around her neck.
"There we are," she said as she fixed her mane. She turned to the werewolf next to her. "How do I look?"
The werewolf answered with a brief huff.
"Perfect."
Each of the fillies were frightened an unsettled by what they saw. This mare was clearly no unicorn, and yet there she was using magic.
"A-Are you a witch," Sweetie asked.
"If it helps for you to attach a label to me," the mare answered.
Even though she hadn't answered the question directly, the fillies didn't need a straight answer to know the truth.
"Regardless of what I am, you're lucky I was here, since anyone else would have failed to save you. Did you know that a colt your own age fell down this same ravine and died earlier today?" the witch asked.
The fillies all shuddered to think that they were standing where a classmate met his demise only a few hours before. Knowing that they almost met the same fate sent chills through them, and made them somewhat grateful that they were helped, even if it was by a witch, and her monster pet.
"How'd he fall in?" Apple Bloom asked. She heard second hoof that Red Sky was chasing a ghost, but had to be sure that their savior wasn't somehow involved.
"I wasn't there when it happened. But if I had to guess, he was following a fool's fire, which led him here," the witch mare answered.
"What's a fool's fire?" Sweetie Belle wondered aloud.
"You don't know? You were chasing after one only a few minutes ago, before you met with Bruce. And believe me, if he hadn't there to stop you from following it, you could have easily gotten yourselves killed. I even sent you all a warning before you walked down the path it was on. But, you acted like you didn't even hear it. Except for you," the witch said as she indicated Apple Bloom.
So, that whispering on the wind was from the witch. To warn them against finding something that was trying to kill them. Before, they were deathly afraid of her, but now she was turning out to be slightly less scary than they thought.
"I'm sorry to say, but you three are very danger prone. Bruce told me that you ran headlong into a cavio's den. And that when he tried to stop you, you kicked him," the witch continued.
The fillies didn't know what a 'cavio' was, but they felt they had a good idea.
"In any case, the danger is passed. Come along. Let's get you home before you get into anymore trouble. I have a friend who can take you there, while I prepare for my work tonight," the witch mare said.
"Yer not gonna destroy the rest of the apple orchard, are ya?" Apple Bloom fearfully asked.
"You've nothing to worry about. I'm going to keep your orchard safe tonight. But first, we need to get moving," came the witch's answer.
"But, what if there are more of those things out there?" Sweetie protested.
"I understand your fears. And they are well founded. If it will make you feel safer, you can ride on Bruce's back," the witch answered.
The werewolf lowered himself to all fours and motioned with his head toward his back.
Not one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was willing to ride the monstrous thing, but a rustling in the nearby bushes made them decide to take their chances with him.
They quickly scrambled to the beast's back, and held tightly as the witch levitated her magical flame ahead of them all. next to her. She gave a short 'come along' command, which made Bruce lumber after her.
The walk through the forest was uneventful, with only the fillies flinching every so often when they saw something watching them from the darkness beyond the light of the flame.
In the distance, Apple Bloom swore she could see the same light from the night before shining through the trees. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was definitely nothing familiar. Thankfully, the phantom music didn't accompany it this time, which would only have mounted her fears.
Eventually, the walk through the woods became more familiar to them, and they realized they were headed in the direction of Zecora's hut. Sure enough, they came to intersection of paths, and followed the one that led to the zebra's home.
When they arrived, the witch snuffed out her flame, and knocked on the door as the Cutie Mark Crusaders climbed off of Bruce's back.
"Please, dear visitor, do come in. I eagerly await the tale you'll spin," came the familiar rhyming speech from inside.
The witch entered the house with the fillies in tow, while Bruce struggled to fit his massive upper body through the door. Inside, they all saw Zecora standing with her back turned while she stirred a boiling cauldron. No doubt, some kind of potion.
"Hello, Zecora," the witch greeted her.
"Ah, dear Courtney, with the glowing eyes of blue. Do the ponies tonight have any need of you?"
"They do indeed. It happens that this young filly here has a problem with a visitor on her property," the witch answered.
Zecora's eyes widened with surprise when she turned around and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders in her home.
"My word. This is an unusual sight. What are you all doing out so late at night?" the zebra asked.
"We were trying to find the ghosts ponies have been talking about," Sweetie Bell meekly explained.
Her explanation got a light chuckle from the two older mares.
"Your courage is admirable, but you should leave that to the experts," Courtney said.
"There are expert ghost catchers?" Scootaloo inquired.
Courtney turned her gaze away from the fillies.
"Zecora, would you please take these fillies home? I'm going to need to get something to take care of the problem. From the back room," the witch said, doing her best to avoid looking at the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
To Apple Bloom, she was acting the same way that Applejack did when she let a secret slip. But, it was also somehow different. While her sister avoided talking out of a belief to always tell the truth, Courtney was more like a bad liar who was trying sound like a good liar. In a way, it made her seem less scary, and more ordinary.
"It's a simple enough request. By all means, go at your own behest," Zecora answered as she motioned Courtney into one of the other rooms in the house.
"With pleasure. Come along," Courtney called to her pet.
Bruce finally pulled himself through the door after digging his claws madly into the dirt floor.
The two disappeared into the dark of the room beyond while Zecora talked to the fillies.
"I must finish this potion before we leave, I fear. So, until that time, you three must remain here," she said before she walked away to search the shelves for the needed ingredients.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all watched as Bruce's tail disappeared behind the curtain that separated the two rooms. They were all glad that now the night's adventures were over, and they would be safe at home with their families. But, there were so many questions that gnawed at the minds of the fillies. Who was Courtney? Where did she really come from? How come they never saw anything like Bruce, or that rat thing before? What did Courtney mean when she said to leave ghost catching to experts?
It was Apple Bloom who took the initiative to investigate.
Her friends silently protested for her to come back, but as long as Zecora was busy, and unknowing of what was happening, she was determined to see it through.
Apple Bloom reached the curtain as her friends ran to her and tried to pull her back to them. But, they were stopped by what they saw.
In the back room, they saw Courtney's tail disappear into what looked like a tall, black patch of pure darkness, like a concentrated column of midnight. It spun and sent wisps of black out from its form, like a dust devil on Sweet Apple Acres.
Bruce sat next to the swirling mass, looking like some kind of monstrous guardian to the fillies. Even though he behaved like an unintelligent animal, they could have sworn that he was trying to tell them something in some silent, primal language as he stared at them. After staring at them for so long, he entered the black mass and disappeared into it.
Their minds were made up.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders approached the shadows, took each other's hooves, swallowed hard, and after a few seconds of psyching themselves up, they charged forward into the darkness.
At first, all they saw was blackness, but it soon gave way to an odd sight. They each opened their eyes, and looked to one another to see that their bodies had changed.
"What happened to your face?" Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle, whose face had grown longer, and more pointed like a stallion's. Her eyes had shrunk considerably, and had turned white, almost making her look spooky.
"What happened to your face?" Sweetie repeated.
Scootaloo felt her own face, and found that it had changed the same way as well.
"How am I standin' on these legs?" Apple Bloom wondered aloud, when she found that her legs had grown long and spindly, as opposed to the stubby appendages she was used to seeing.
They all looked down to see their legs had changed all changed into the same slender limbs. Despite their rickety appearance, they proved to be just as useful as their normal legs when they took the first steps through the new room.
They were no longer in Zecora's back room, but instead, they were in what looked like a library.
The walls were lined with shelves that were crammed full of books, like the Golden Oaks Library. After a scan of the shelves, they saw unfamiliar titles on each of the spines: The Lovers of Misery Mire, Lost Without Love, Roots of the Heart, and How to Find the Perfect Boyfriend.
On a nearby coffee table, which was placed next to an armchair, Scootaloo found a book titled, How to Write Your Perfect Romance Novel.
The fillies all giggled when they saw the titles, and wondered what kind of hopeless romantic would own books like that. But, they stopped when they realized that they weren't alone in the room.
When they looked over to the fireplace, which illuminated the room, they saw Bruce curled up in front of it, looking at them the way he did before he went through the dark vortex. Currently, he was holding a small box in his hands, and had a sprig of some kind of herb sticking out of his mouth. With a thump of his tail, he stood up on all fours, and approached the fillies.
They all slowly backed away from the lumbering monster, who even when all fours, was intimidating as anything.
Bruce stopped just in front of them, then laid his bulky form down on the floor.
Apple Bloom had seen this behavior before. It was the same way that Winona acted when she wanted attention. Hesitantly, the yellow filly approached Bruce, and gently rubbed his side.
The monster let out a low groan, which sounded to Apple Bloom like a moan of pleasure, prompting her to scratch him more confidently.
Seeing Bruce behave so docilely made the other two decide to try and approach the werewolf.
They did as Apple Bloom did and started rubbing his side, making the werewolf roll over so that his back faced them.
Sweetie Belle circled around him to face him and scratch his ears. She giggled quietly as Bruce started licking her forelegs. Her delight became surprised when the werewolf reached out and held her in his gigantic hands. Sweetie's giggling became quiet laughter when she felt Bruce's snout sifting through her mane.
Bruce stopped, when he saw Scootaloo enter his line of vision, and started licking her face.
Apple Bloom remained by Bruce's back, and continued to scratch him, making one of his back legs kick wildly with delight. It ended when Bruce rolled back over, and with a yelp, Apple Bloom disappeared under his furry body. After half a second, Bruce stood up to allow her to crawl out from under him. After Apple Bloom was free, he stood up on his hind legs.
Before, the fillies would have cowered at seeing him at such a height. Now, he turned out to be nothing more than a sweet, oversized puppy dog.
After the delightful scratching he'd been given, Bruce decided to return the favor. He reached down and started scratching the fillies each behind their ears. He was surprisingly gentle for something so big. Almost like he knew how big he was.
Sure, his teeth were threateningly sharp. Sure, his eyes had a predatory intelligence. Sure, his hands, which themselves were completely unnatural to a pony, had viciously curved claws at the ends of each finger. But even so, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were fast learning that he was the last thing they should be afraid of.
"Bruce? Can you sniff out the amaranth for me?" a familiar voice called from the open doorway.
Bruce answered with a booming bark.
"How can we be out? I swore I bought a whole box of it," the voice replied.
Bruce let out a low groan and swatted the empty box he had before into the fireplace, where it smoldered and burned to ashes.
"Alright. I guess that means we have to buy more," the voice said.
They all heard steps coming closer to them, but to the fillies, they were different than what they heard from any pony. These steps were unmistakably from a two-legged creature. But why would a two-legged creature have Courtney's voice? The answer showed itself, when the owner of the voice walked into the room.
"Come on, Bruce. We need to go into town--" The creature who came in hesitated when it saw the three fillies in the room. "What the bloody hell are three night mares doing in my house?"
The creature that was once a pitch black earth pony was now a six hoof, bipedal, monkey-like creature, with chalk white skin, and a mane atop its head that was the same dark color of the witch pony's coat. It was clothed in a very old-fashioned, black dress that reached down to its ankles, but the sleeves on such an old dress, were absent. Instead, its arms were covered by a pair of detached sleeves that went from the shoulder to the middle of its hands. Most striking of all was the familiar necklace fastened around her neck.
"We're sorry. We saw you go through the other side of the dark, and...well, we wanted to know what was there," Sweetie Belle apologized.
"You three!?" Courtney gasped when she suddenly recognized the fillies in her library, "How did you get past--Bruce! You let them in, didn't you!?"
The werewolf responded with an innocent shrug.
"Not a big deal!? Two words make this a big deal: witch hunts! Next thing you know, I'm screaming myself hoarse in the flaming innards of a wicker man, and you're a carpet in some bourgeois' lounge!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all couldn't help but start giggling at the witch's overreaction. They were sure that even if others discovered her, or her world, they would never bring any harm to her. They would have consoled her, but the way she was freaking out was too entertaining to stop.
A knock on the door sounded, and the witch's panic rocketed up past the sky.
"Oh, sweet darkness! Anything but that!" Courtney said.