It was the middle of Winter, and an earth pony mare with a magenta coat was waiting at a train station for her sister in northern Equestria. The sun had just risen, casting an orange glow over the sky.
After a few minutes, a train pulled up. A few ponies got off and greeted family and friends. The mare approached another earth pony mare who had a teal coat. “Dawn!” the mare yelled as she embraced her with a hug.
“Robin!” Dawn yelled back as she returned the hug. “How have you been?’ she asked as she broke away from the hug.
“I’ve been better,” Robin said as she walked out of the train station. “How about you Miss. ‘Big City’?” She asked with a smirk.
“Oh, I’ve been great,” Dawn said as she followed her sister. “Life in Manehattan is great. Though the noise can sometimes be too much. Especially when you’re trying to do homework.”
As the two made small talk along the way to Robin’s house, something caught Dawn’s eye.
“What’s with the royal guard outpost?” She asked.
“A few ponies have gone missing. A lot of the townsfolk blame it on this weird bipedal creature that has been seen from the forest,” Robin said. “It has a lot of us on edge.” Robin moved a doormat and grabbed a key to unlock her front door. “Including me.”
Dawn followed her sister into her house. The walls were a light blue, and there were a few stacked boxes in the living room. “So let me guess, that’s why you invited me here?” She asked as she walked down the hall, into the living room.
“Not entirely,” Robin said as she walked up to a box. “I’m also moving. So I wanted somepony to
help me pack my things.”
“And you couldn’t tell me this in that letter you sent me, why?’ Dawn asked with a half-smile.
“This was after I sent the letter,” Robin said. “This was after ponies began to disappear. I don’t want to risk being next!”
“Okay, calm down, sis.” Dawn walked to her sister and gave her a hug. “Look, why don’t we start packing?”
Robin nodded. “I’ll head upstairs. You bring one of those boxes up.”
Dawn nodded back and the two sisters got to work.
---
After most of Robin’s things had been packed, which had done a good deal for her nerves, the two sisters sat sipping some tea and watching the now alarmingly steady snowfall. “Care for a game of Monopoly?” Dawn offered, hoping to keep her sister at ease. Robin nodded, and the two quickly set up the board.
“Decisions, decisions,” Dawn said as she looked at her piece options. She put her hoof up to her chin and tapped it. After a few seconds, she picked her piece; a coffee mug.
“Took you long enough,” Robin said with a chuckle. She looked over the pieces and picked hers; a hat.
Dawn rolled her eyes and took her turn. As Robin took hers, though, she noticed some stiffness to her movements. “So, this creature,” she said as she moved her piece. “Would you like to tell me about it?”
Robin put a hoof up to her chin. “Well, one friend who’s seen it said it was taller than Princess Celestia,” she said. “Another said it had huge claws, the size of an Alicorn’s horn.”
“That’s... certainly interesting,” Dawn said as she scratched the back of her neck. “Is there a documented history of the creature?”
“No,” Robin said. “About a week and a half ago, it just started appearing.” Robin grabbed the dice and rolled. “Shortly after, ponies started to disappear during the night. Oddly, though, we’ve noticed that none were ever Unicorns.”
“And that’s when the royal guard was called in?” Dawn asked.
“Yep.” Robin moved her piece and passed the dice to Dawn. “So far, they’ve found nothing.”
“What do you think it is?” Dawn asked as she took her turn.
Robin simply shrugged.
“Aren’t you insightful?”
“Hey, I haven’t seen it, thank Celestia,” Robin said as she rolled the dice. She moved her piece and sighed. “Dang it. Jail.”
After hours of playing, Robin finally emerged victorious. “Aw yeah!” She cheered, a smile plastered on her face.
Dawn gave a mock clap, but couldn’t suppress a smile of her own. “What time is it?” She asked with a yawn.
Robin looked behind her at a small clock. “Eleven-thirty,” she said. “Want me to get you a sleeping bag?”
Dawn simply nodded. “I’ll put this away, you get the sleeping bags,” she said.
As Robin trotted up the stairs, Dawn glanced at a nearby window. The snowfall had slowed down slightly. Shaking her head, Dawn got to work on placing the pieces to the board game back into the box.
After a few minutes of tedious cleanup, she’d finished placing the pieces away. Robin, meanwhile, had brought a pair of sleeping bags down. Dawn crawled into one and yawned.
“Goodnight, Robin,” she said as she stared at the ceiling.
Robin pulled a blanket over herself. “Goodnight, Dawn,” she said.
---
Meanwhile, four members of the royal guard lay on a hill near the forest.
“They should’ve just sent the elements of harmony here,” one guard, named Sharp Horn, said with a scowl. “This would be solved in less than a day.”
“Quit your whining,” a second, named Brightmane, replied as he looked out at the nearby forest. “Besides, they’re off doing something else.”
“Hey, at least you aren’t having to deal with Changelings,” a third, named Greenhorn, chimed in. “Right?”
“I’d rather deal with another Changeling invasion!” Sharp Horn yelled as he shivered. “At least I wasn’t freezing then!”
“Quiet you three,” the leader of the squad, named Doven, said as he peered through a pair of binoculars. “I think I see something.”
Through the heavy snowfall, a bipedal figure with dark, yellow skin, no hair, and misty eyes. In the place of fingers, it had five sharp claws, and it walked with a slight hunch.
Doven placed the binoculars down. “Alright, stallions,” he began. “Our orders are to kill this thing. We have evidence to suggest it hasn’t simply been taking ponies, but killing them and using them as a source of food. Let’s make this quick.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” The three guards said as they saluted.
With that, the guardstallions picked up their spears and quickly made their way towards the creature.
Sharp Horn charged his horn and fired off a blast, grazing the creature’s right leg.
The creature let out a hiss, spun around, and faced the four unicorns. It let out a loud shriek, causing them to cover their ears, and charged towards them.
While the guards were stunned, the creature grabbed Sharp Horn by the throat and crushed his neck. It dropped his lifeless body and turned around to face the other three.
The remaining guards recovered from the ringing in their ears and looked at the creature, which loomed over Sharp Horn’s body. Brightmane charged up his horn, but the creature lifted Sharp Horn’s corpse up and hurled it towards the guards, knocking them down. It sprinted over and leaped on top of Brightmane.
Before Brightmane could react, the creature slammed its claws into his stomach. It raised its arm and hurled his corpse towards the remaining two guards, who were still down on the ground.
Doven slowly got up. “Greenhorn,” he said, “go back to the outpost and alert the messenger there. Tell him to send an evacuation notice to the princesses.”
Greenhorn saluted and ran off, getting the creature’s attention.
Doven fired off a powerful blast of magic at the creature, but missed. He noticed the creature raise an arm at Greenhorn. “Watch out!” He shouted.
Greenhorn turned around and ducked just in time as the creature swipes at him. Jumped out the way and tried to buck it with every ounce of strength, but the creature seemed unfazed by his blow. He gulped and turned around to run away, but felt the creature grab his tail and yank him back.
The creature loomed over Greenhorn and raised its claws, but just as it was about to deliver the killing blow, Doven fired off a powerful magic bolt, striking its left arm, and leaving him exhausted.
The creature let out a cry of pain. It let go of Greenhorn, who ran away as quickly as he could. Its gaze shifted to Doven, who glared daggers at the biped.
Letting it another shriek, it darted towards him.
Doven, using what little energy he had left inside of himself, fired one final blast of magic at the creature, striking its chest. The creature let out a screech of pain before driving its claws into Doven’s skull.
As Doven’s body fell limp, the creature turned its gaze to the town. It grabbed Doven’s body and made its way towards the nearest house.
---
Dawn lay awake, a look of annoyance on her face. ”Curse being a poor sleeper,” she thought as she listened to the wind howl and Robin snore. With a frustrated sigh, she stood up and walked into the kitchen for a cup of water.
“Okay, where’s the cabinet?” Dawn asked herself as she felt her way around the dark kitchen.
“Ah, here we go.” She opened up a cabinet and grabbed a green coffee mug. She trotted over the sink and turned it on. While the mug filled, and looked out the window. To her horror, she saw a bipedal creature walking towards the house as it dragged a Guardstallion’s body with it.
Dawn resisted the urge to scream. Panic coursed through her. She shut the sink off and ran back to her sister.
In the living room, Robin was sound asleep, a small smile on her face. Dawn ran over to her side and tried to shake her sister awake.
Robin mumbled something incomprehensible and rolled over.
Dawn’s left eye twitched. “Robin!” She said in a harsh whisper as she shook her sister more aggressively.
Robin opened her eyes and looked at Dawn. “W-What?” Robin asked sleepily. “Was I snoring?” She asked as she sat up.
CRASH!
Before Dawn could speak, the front door was busted open, sending a blast of cold air into the house. The body of Doven landed in the hallway. In the doorway stood the creature. It eyed the two sisters, let out a shrill shriek, and ran towards them.
“Run!” Robin yelled as she darted up a nearby staircase. Dawn followed closely behind. Downstairs she could hear the creature run down the hallway.
Robin ran into her room, Dawn following right behind her. Robin slammed the door behind her and pushed a dresser drawer up against it. “Okay, this is bad,” she said with a panic filled voice. She turned around and looked around. “Hide in the closet,” she ordered.
Dawn nodded and ran in. Robin followed and shut the closet door. “If it opens this door, headbutt it and run. Don’t stop.” She whispered.
Dawn nodded again as she shook with fear. ”Please, Celestia, let there be guards alive,” she thought to herself; tears rolling down her face. She turned to look at Robin, who was crying into her forelegs. She walked over and laid down next to her.
Robin nudged Dawn gently. “Dawn,” She said through her sobs, her calm facade broken. “I’m scared. I don’t want to die here.”
Dawn wiped her tears away and hugged her sister. “Calm down,” she said, trying not to burst into tears herself. “I’m sure the royal guard is hunting for this thing and will save us,” she said as reassuringly as she could.
From within the closet, the two sisters could hear the creature in the hallway. Against her better judgement, Dawn peered out of the closet. She noticed the door move slightly. From behind it came an animal-like growl. Fearful, she stopped looking and quietly closed the closet door.
Suddenly, an ear piercing shriek filled the air. The two sisters heard what sounded like wood being cut through, followed by a loud crashing sound, and a loud thud. Another animal-like growl
came from outside.
Dawn and Robin both bit down on a hoof as they listened to the creature search Robin’s room. Sweat dripped from their heads as they heard it tear the room apart.
Robin put her other forehoof up to her mouth as she shook from fear. Dawn wrapped her free
forehoof around her and gently nuzzled her.
Suddenly, the closet door shook. “Get ready,” Robin weakly said.
The door swung open and the creature looked down at the two sisters. They both leaped up and charged at the creature, headbutting it, which caused the creature to recoil in surprise.
Dawn swiftly ran out of the room and down the stairs. Robin followed closely behind. “Where do we go?” Robin asked as she ran into the hallway.
“The outpost!” Dawn yelled as she ran out the broken front door, the cold of the snow and air making her wince.
Behind them, they could hear a familiar shriek. “Don’t look back!” Dawn yelled to her sister.
Fear and anxiety filled Robin’s mind. Her heart raced. She could barely hear her sister’s words over the howl of the wind or the grunting of the monster behind her.
Suddenly, she felt herself get yanked back. She looked up and saw the creature as it loomed over her. “Dawn!” She yelled at the top of her lungs.
Dawn spun around and saw just in time as the creature brought its claws down onto her sister’s throat. The snow around her slowly became red. “Robin!” She shrieked
The creature removed its claws and stared at her. It grabbed Robin’s body and started to walk away, a trail of blood being painted behind it.
Dawn fell to her haunches as she watched the creature walk away. Sorrow filled her as the creature faded from sight, followed quickly by confusion. She got back on her hooves and made her way towards the outpost.
A few minutes later, she arrived to find a pair of guards conversing. “Hey!” Dawn called out.
One of the guards nodded to the other, who walked away. The first guard then looked at Dawn. “Officer Greenhorn at your service, need something, Ma’am?” Greenhorn asked as he approached her.
“My sister was killed by... that thing!” Dawn wailed as she broke down into tears again. “Why her?!”
Greenhorn grimaced and walked over to wrap a foreleg around her. “I’m so sorry, ma’am,” he said softly.
After a few minutes, Dawn stopped sobbing and looked at Greenhorn.
“Feel better?” He asked.
Dawn shook her head. “But I think I can ignore it for now”.
“Good,” he replied. “Listen, we’re evacuating the whole town tomorrow.”
Dawn looked up at him. “Why?” She asked.
“We have reason to believe that unicorn magic is like a toxin to it.” Greenhorn said. “So, we’re going to bait out that creature with unicorn magic and poison it. We don’t want anypony to possibly be affected by the amount of magic, though.”
“Is that why it took away my sister?” Dawn asked, tears welling. “And not that guard that’s in her home?”
Greenhouse nodded. “Possibly.”
Dawn started to cry again. “It’s not fair!” She wailed.
Greenhorn let out a sigh. “Listen,” he said, “would you like a bedroom?”
“Y-Yes,” Dawn replied.
Greenhorn lead her to a spare bedroom. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll come get you,” he said. “You’ll be able to come back here within a few days.”
“I don’t live here.”
“Oh.” Greenhorn shuffled his hooves awkwardly. “Where do you live?”
“Manehattan.”
“Well, maybe I can see if you can get a return trip there,” he said. “Don’t worry about your belongings. We’ll retrieve them.”
Dawn simply nodded and buried her face into a pillow.
As Greenhorn closed the door, he could hear Dawn start to wail. A tear fell from his face as he walked away.