Dark Days
Iron Shod jumped down from the caboose as the train pulled into Appleoosa, firing up a spotlight spell on his horn. It was his job to check the train when they arrived in station to see if any cargo had shifted or become loose. Tonight, as he worked in near darkness, he was worried.
Ever since they had left Ponyville that morning, the train had strange little groans and shifts, little shadows and creaks that usually meant a stowaway. But he had checked every nook and cranny along the cargo cars from caboose to the first passenger car, and found nothing.
Now that everything was stopped, he knelt, checking under the cars for lose chains or, worse, some poor animal caught in the wheels.
He heard the scratching sounds, and looked up. And froze. Something knelt above him, clinging to the side of the train car like a spider. Its eyes glowed green in the darkness, and the light from his horn showed two claws reaching towards him. The first was shining steel, the other like bleached bone and dark crystals.
He screamed.
Two weeks.
Two long, exhausting weeks. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to drive off the weariness. Twist had been attacked by that monster, that book thief, and in two weeks since her shield had not been touched once.
The guards that she had asked her brother for were now needed elsewhere. Reports had come in that the creature had been sighted in Appleoosa and the outskirts of Fillydelphia. There had been reports of break ins, brown outs, and theft of everything from lumber to food. There had even been a report of a train pony fainting when "a dark figure with long arms and claws of steel and bone" reached out for him on a late night run. All available information pointed to the creature having moved on to other towns.
Not that such information had been readily available to Twilight. She had to resort to sneaking into the guard captain's office while he was out and copying reports. She didn't understand why she had to resort to such crude tactics. It was HER monster! She had uncovered it, and it had stolen HER books! She was the personal student to THE Princess Celestia! How could the guards just- just shut her out?
Twilight looked around her room upstairs, at the notes pinned and taped to the walls and ceiling with red string forming a web of connections. Every action, every step, even just the suspected sightings she had traced and tracked. She knew the thing had been working out of the Everfree, but now.
Now it had been weeks. Before barely a day went past without something happening related to that THING. Sometimes it was just a sighting at the shield's edge. Sometimes it was an incursion. But it was always something! Now the creature was just missing. Gone.
Twilight sighed, exhausted from the strain of keeping up such a complex shield for so long. "Spike!" she called out.
Her baby dragon assistant waddled out of the lower library levels. "What is it Twilight?! Did your shield get a signal?"
"No Spike, I think the creature has really moved on. Go inform the Mayor and the guard that I am taking the shield down." Spike saluted and hurried off, and Twilight began to pull the pins and notes down. When she was finished she concentrated for a moment, and the shield slipped away. She crawled into her bed and closed her eyes, praying for a dreamless sleep.
Sky Hoops trotted into his home and kicked the door closed. It had been a good day hanging out with his crew, though he didn't look forward to work in the morning. His special talent of dodging and weaving aerial obstacle had to be for something better than in town courier, but it paid the bills. He smirked as he though about how it was still better than being a simple mail pony. Especially a certain wall eyed mail pony, though it was hard to mess with her now that she had lost her job.
Sky wandered upstairs to bed, glad to see the sky it's normal color outside his window. That dumb mare at the library had that silly shield up for far too long. She should have let the guards do their job and stuck to her books and kitchen. Now at least he could sleep easy with the right kind of star light pouring in through his skylight.
Sleep tugging at his eyes, he crawled into bed and turned off the lights. He grunted at the cold sheets, thinking he would have to get a new mare to help warm them. The last was too stupid to appreciate what he gave her and had run off. Probably with another mare, the bucking dyke. He smirked at the memory of the school teacher, offering her "private lessons". Still couldn't see what she saw in that dumb buck Big Macintire, especially since the idiotic farm pony was too shy to hit that sunflower stamped flank. Sky made a mental note to show the teacher what a REAL stallion could do sometime.
Rolling over, he looked up at the constellations through the skylight, letting his eyes slowly adjust to the dim light. He didn't know constellations by name, never bothered with them, but he knew the forms and connections.
There was the pegasus, and the treasure chest, and the apple, and the warrior. He squinted, the Ursa was off slightly. he could see the two bright stars that formed it's back, but the rest were dim. I squinted in the darkness, trying to make them out, when something else caught his attention. The edge of his skylight was between these two stars and all the others.
His eyes widened, and he began to see the thing hanging on his ceiling in the gloom. It had dark, segmented armor and four long limbs with wicked claws. It's long hair flowed out from a dark blue helm, swirling and floating on an ethereal wind. Its eyes, the two stars, glowed with a vicious blue light. It was worse than an Ursa Major, worse than a Changeling, it was some terrible monster. One that had evaded the best guards just to come wait for him here in his own home.
Sky Hoops lay paralyzed with fear, even his voice stolen as the thing began to lower itself toward him. Some part of his mind gave him the small reassurance that the thing currently dropping toward him could not possibly get any scarier.
He was wrong.
It smiled.
Bounty hunting is the kind of work you get into when you have a certain set of skills and have burned a certain number of bridges. Elna had torched those spans long ago, and since found a great deal of success in her work. Usually it involved running down minor thieves or deadbeat debtors. Sometimes, when normal work became scarce, she would have to go looking for harder targets.
A gryphon raised on the edge of pony society, Elna always found the best use of her more predatory nature and skills. Right now she was tracking a completely alien creature through one of the most dangerous places in Equestria. The thing had attacked the nearby town on a number of occasions, causing a variety of chaos. A day of tracking had traced it's faint trail. Now it was hiding somewhere in the Everfree, and potentially gaining command of the monsters that dwell there.
She paused under a large tree and sniffed the air. Something had been moving around in the forest of late, something strong. A number of clearings that she had passed through showed signs of combat, but no blood or body parts. Elna turned and continued to walk cautiously after her prey.
She cleared a thick patch of underbrush and found herself looking at a crumbling castle ruin. The stone and wood structure stood out against the moonlight, and a thin trail of smoke rose from a far tower. Elna frowned. She had caught the scent of smoke hours ago, but had ignored it as being too diffuse to track. Now she understood why, the high tower placed most of the thin cloud above what she would have scented.
She carefully stalked across the rope bridge, noting the few places where new wood and vine had patched holes. The castle itself was a shadow of it's former glory, but Elna was no archaeologist and could only marvel at the buildings age. Her claws tapped loudly on the stone for a moment, before she remembered her shoes in her backpack. She wound her way towards that distant tower, finally finding her destination.
And her target. The thing was sitting, wrapped in a cloak for warmth, facing a crackling fire built in an old fireplace. Elna watched it for a moment, considering her options.
On the one had, the thing was fast. It had outrun the guard on at least three separate occasions. It was strong, she knew that from the scenes of carnage in the forest. It could disguise itself, and possibly teleport, so it knew magic. It could potentially control the creatures of the forest, not that she had seen any really threatening ones on the way in.
It all finally came down to too many unknowns. With its strength, speed, power, skill, allies, and even magic all only guessed at, there was little choice. A corpse was worth little, but it was still better than nothing.
Elna silently readied herself, tensing her muscles, stretching her claws. In an instantaneous blur of motion she pounced. Her fore talons clamped onto its shoulders, piercing the flesh. Her cat like claws tore great shreds in the cloak and the body beneath it. Her sharp beak reached around under the head and tore out the throat as the creature beneath her slammed to the floor.
She stood, looking down at the corpse, a dark fluid pooling beneath it. Something was wrong. She smacked her beak and tasted not the sharp tang of blood, but the sticky thickness of sap.
Something hit her from the side, large and heavy and fast. They rolled on the floor and Elna found herself pinned. Something held both wings and all four of her legs and was even pressing down on her neck. She stared up into a flat face with a wide, mad grin and glowing white eyes. A dark blue helm framed the features, with a ghostly mane streaming out of it. That mane held her neck and limbs, save for her wings which were grasped by two terrible claws.
“Well.” Its voice seemed to echo inside her head. “An assassin. Have I become so lax that now gryphons are taking swings at me? Were they not content to let me sit on my ruined throne?”
Elna could not speak, fear crept in and stole what voice she had.
“No matter. Everything is nearly ready, and only the Elements themselves could stop me now. You will have to learn, little creature, the price for daring to cross me.”
The pressure on Elna's right wing increased. The creature was bending and squeezing it, the pain becoming unbearable.
CRACK
Elna felt her wing break, felt the spurs of bone push through the flesh.
She started to scream, and the creature just smiled wider.
“Now for the other wing.”
Twilight groaned and stretched. She hadn't been sleeping well. A runner had woken her up way too early in the morning because somepony was in the hospital and she had asked, politely, to be informed of anything that might relate to the creature.
It was bad enough that the very night she took the shield down she got a half dozen reports of "sightings", though almost all could be dismissed as nightmares and fears. One pegasus stallion had even hurt his wing when he fell out of bed over such a nightmare. She had the connections web about half rebuilt, but with only rumors and hearsay it was hard to expand on it. At least, not without being really paranoid.
Twi plodded down the road towards the hospital, Luna's moon still lighting the early morning. Celestia had yet to raise the sun, but it's glowing promise of a bright day sat just on the horizon. There was a small twinge of fear, like something might jump out at her in the dim morning light, but she reassured herself that she could handle anything. She had taken care of an Ursa Minor all by herself after all.
“Ah, good morning miss Twilight.” The doctor greater her as she came into the hospital. “I assume you are here for our newest patient?”
"Your runner didn't give me much information. Only that the new patient might be involved with the creature."
The doctor frowned. "Not might be, the poor girl definitely ran into it. And she's been asking for you by name." He lead Twilight back into the ICU.
Twilight cringed away from the pegasus. It's wings and body were almost completely wrapped in bandages, but it still looked horribly deformed. It took her a moment to realize that it wasn't a pegasus, but a gryphon who lay on the bed.
"What happened to her?" Twilight asked, shocked at the sight.
"We aren't entirely sure." The doctor said, waving a hoof at the sleeping gryphon. "She has two broken wings, each with six or seven separate breaks, a broken leg, numerous cuts and scratches, and possibly a concussion." He glanced at the chart at the end of the bed and frowned again. "She was unconscious when she was brought her in, and only woke up for a few moments while we were treating her. She said something about a monster at the castle."
"She asked for me?"
"Something about a bounty."
Twilight narrowed her eyes in thought. She had put out an offer of reward for information about the monster. This gryphon had either misheard or misinterpreted and saw it as a bounty. Still, that the monster could do this to something as strong and predatory as a gryphon was disturbing.
Elna opened her eyes for a moment, half waking from a disturbing dream.
"Elements. She fears the Elements. Only hope. Must....tell...."
She drifted back to sleep, and Twilight worried about what the gryphon had seen that it even haunted her dreams.
I stalked through the castle, checking on doors here, a magical seal there. I had been preparing for the Elements for some time, and everything would have to be perfect.
Someone is here
Someone strong
Somepony familiar
Nightmare's voice inside my head was new and still slightly disorienting. It was definitely the Nightmare spirit, but it didn't sound quite the same. There was a quiet, almost seductive tone to it.
I turned, facing the dark form before it fully materialized. “Princess Luna. Your highness, it is an honor to receive you at this time.” I bowed low before the midnight blue alicorn, enjoying the look of confusion that spread across her face. “Would you like something to eat or drink? We have tea, and I can do cookies or the most delightful pancakes.”
Luna pointed an armored hoof at me. “Thou art possessed creature, by the terrible Nightmare! Surrender, that we might save thee from it's clutches.”
“Why would I do that?” I smiled and walked on, leading the princess further into the castle. “It is in everyponies interests that I hold onto the Nightmare, at least for a while longer. You see,” I put on a sad tone, “I'm not long for this world.” A frown pulled at my mouth before twisting into a manic grin, and I whispered conspiratorially. “The Elements of Harmony are coming. I saw the armored chariot pass overhead a while ago, and I know that the bearers are in the forest as we speak. Soon they will arrive, and I shall be removed from Equestria, and the Nightmare with me.”
Luna would have none of it though. “Doubtless thy hath laid traps and ambushes throughout the castle, if not the whole Everfree Forest. Our friends and Element Bearers are in danger as long as thou art free.” She spread her wings menacingly.
“Have you the means to remove the Nightmare from me Princess?” I asked. Her wings wilted slightly at that. “Even your sister needed the Elements to handle the Nightmare. I'll admit, it now only has access to my power, not yours. Still,” I grinned, menacing and mad, “Are you willing to try?”
I could see the internal conflict in Luna's eyes. Had I been reluctantly under Nightmare's control I could be saved. If I was mad with power she might have had a plan. As it was, I was an unknown, and I knew how some might choose to deal with an unknown.
“How about a truce? A deal?” I asked quickly. She eyed me suspiciously. “Nothing I have planned or set is dangerous to the Bearers. Sit with me and watch their approach. If at any point it seems like they are going to be seriously hurt-”
“We shall impale thee upon the highest tower and rain down fire and lightning until thou art reduced to cinders.” Luna glared at me, her horn glowing slightly.
“Agreed.” I smiled, and lifted a small wooden cup. “Tea?”
Stats
Page generated in 0.073 seconds
Total duration
1,009 users online
1,760,002 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I'm... I'm actually happy with this... Is that wrong?
2926181
No, I've worked hard to make that the outcome.
Sarah has been weak, and all her efforts have blown up in her face when she tried to be nice or unobtrusive.
Now she is simply taking what she needs, and appearing as the vicious monster that everypony thinks she is. Things seem to be finally working for her now that she has become evil and wicked.
But, as always, there is more behind the scenes.
Out of curiosity, do you think I made Sky Hoops a big enough misogynistic asshole or should I try and kick it up one more notch?
2928229 I pretty sure you have, but for my and others amusement, please do!
I like to say a good chapter. It look like she has it under control for the time being. Is there a rezon why she could not still power from the timber wolfs? they are a form of Magic. Her computer wood take Magic from all Magic sore sis why not the wolfs? Now that Nightmare moon is a part of her, will in make her go mad? Was Nightmare moon evil or just a reflection of Luna win they where one person? is Sarah going to use the elements to power her Magic to Dimension Jumping? I do hope you write more to the story. Keep up the good work.
2930821
OK, so in this version there is active magic and passive magic. Active magic is anything like the glowing shields or most Unicorn spells. Passive are things like an Earth Pony's ability to grow things, or a Pegasus ability to walk on clouds. D can draw on active spells, but not passive magic.
As for the rest, you'll just have to keep reading.
hey is it wrong if i hope Sarah does keep the nightmare with her? i don't think she that horrible i kind of like her honestly despite the dark personality is that horrible?
2935052
I like Nightmare and her influence on Sarah too. We will see just how long that lasts.
2936578 ooo so she gonna go soon when you said "We will see just how long that lasts." felt like a answer to that but i might be jumping the line to soon. well i just wait and see nice work your putting into this by the way i enjoy it
Insanity is fun.