Chapter 4: Sounds in the Night
"Hey!" whispered the voice of Apple Bloom in surprise.
"What?" replied the whisper of her two friends, barely audible out of fear.
There was a creaking noise very near to them, but it ended quickly. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, who had been gripping each other in search of comfort, both tightened their grasps.
"Apple Bloom?" Cried Sweetie Belle in a whispered, yet panicked voice.
"I'm fine!" whispered Apple Bloom quickly. "It's just that... the door isn't actually locked. At all."
"What?" Scootaloo shout-whispered. "Then why are we still here? Let's get out of here before the shadow pony comes back!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" replied Apple Bloom. "Come toward me. Ah can actually see a bit of moonlight in the door outta here."
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo released their grips on each other and moved toward where Apple Bloom's voice had come from. They found the wall first, but followed it until the wall suddenly was gone. Once they moved through the doorway, they were able to see the door that Apple Bloom referred to. Apple Bloom herself was standing in front of it and silently waited until her friends had all gathered with her.
Taking the lead, Apple Bloom tried the door handle, which thankfully was also not locked. This revealed a large hallway with windows on one side that let in plenty of moonlight. They approached the first window and looked out.
They were greeted with a view of a large square area outside that was surrounded on all sides by ruined stone walls, a garden of some sort, or a courtyard.
"Where are we?" whispered Scootaloo.
"I don't know!" replied Sweetie Belle.
Ah don't know either!" replied Apple Bloom. "But ah really don't trust that shadowy pony thing! Let's keep movin'!"
The fillies slowly started proceeding forward, either looking forward or turning their heads to look out the windows as they passed by.
Until Scootaloo happened to look toward the opposite wall and stop in her tracks. "Wait!" she said nervously.
Her companions stopped and turned to look at her fearfully.
"Um," began Scootaloo as she turned her head back toward the wall. "Is that what... I think it is?"
The other fillies looked toward the wall and froze. There was a shadow of a large pony on the wall and nothing obvious around them to be casting it. It appeared to be looking at them, but did not move.
None of the fillies dared to move or even make a sound, certain that the shadow would spring to life the moment they did.
Without warning, there was noise in the distance, although it was clear that it was the sound of clattering. It reminded the fillies of the sound of numerous metal pots being dropped on the floor simultaneously. Immediately, the shadow turned its head away from the fillies and in the direction that the noise had come from. It lasted for a couple of seconds before dying down below hearing volume. The shadow wasted no time and began to gallop toward the direction that the noise had come from.
It never left the surface of the wall as it ran, and when it reached the door at the other side, it seemed to simply slide between the crack of the doors, leaving no trace.
"So..." said Apple Bloom, no longer whispering. "Ah wasn't the only one who saw that?"
"You weren't the only one," replied Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo didn't offer a reply. She continued to stare at the door, dumbstruck.
Shadow Shroud was currently in a long room lined with ancient guard's armor, all propped up along the walls as though participating in a ceremony. The only exception was one that had noisily clattered to the floor after Shadow Shroud had discovered that they were a little more fragile than they looked. He was now residing in the rafters of the room, cursing his clumsiness and stupidity, which only added to the frustration of having somehow lost track of the figurines. While he didn't actually notice them vanish, he suspected that they had disappeared on their own initiative.
Nothing further happened for a while, but just when he was about to decide that there had been nopony around to hear, he noticed a black blob moving across the floor. At first he identified it as a shadow and tried to locate its source, but when he failed to find one, he remembered that it should be impossible to see shadows while the night-vision spell was active.
The not-shadow stopped in front of the mess of armor. It took nearly all of Shadow Shroud's willpower to not gasp when a dark aura seemed to rise from it, which solidified into the form of a pony, although lacking any specific features.
The pony turned and began to look around. It started taking steps and investigating every corner of the room and even behind other suits of armor. Shadow Shroud's heart would have skipped a beat when the dark creature eventually began looking up and looked straight at him while searching the ceiling. However, it quickly carried on searching the ceiling further on while Shadow Shroud silently thanked his cloak for preforming its job.
Eventually the dark pony gave up its search and returned to look at the fallen armor. It paused in front of the armor for at least a full minute, as though considering.
And then it turned into a shadowy mist and drifted into the armor. It trembled, and then magically rose to its original posture. But it did not stop moving. the armor stepped away from its post and began walking toward the other end of the room.
"What is this thing?" Shadow Shroud wondered to himself. "This creature is far more powerful than any dark spirit I have ever encountered!"
Just when the armor had reached the double doors at the opposite end of the room and had raised a hoof to open them, a sharp cry pierced the night. Shadow Shroud looked away from the possessed armor and toward the unmistakable sound. It was the cry of a filly. What was most concerning however was the fact that the cry had only lasted a about half a second.
Slowly, Shadow Shroud turned to look back to the shadowy creature possessing the armor, taking care not to attract attention from swift movement. It too was looking toward the source of the noise. However, it turned back around only a moment later and proceeded with the task of opening the door and stepping through.
As soon as the doors had swung closed again, Shadow Shroud teleported to the floor and hurried through the door that the shadow creature had come from.
Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo emerged from another door and found themselves exposed to the outside. They were standing on a section of ramparts on the edge of the castle. Scootaloo gasped and hurried toward the outer edge before pointing with a hoof toward the forest.
"I knew it!" she said.
"Wha'?" asked Apple Bloom, confused.
"This is the Everfree Forest!"
"You knew that we were in the Everfree Forest?" asked Apple Bloom, suprised.
"No, I knew that we were in the old castle of the sisters, whatever its called. That's why that shadow pony is here!"
"Why?" asked Sweetie Belle, who was just as confused as Apple Bloom.
"Because," replied Scootaloo, annoyed that she was having to explain, "She's the pony from that one scary old mare's tale! She's the pony of shadows!"
Some of the color drained out of the faces of the other two fillies.
"But, its an old mare's tale!" said Apple Bloom. "It ain't real, is it?"
"Well, I didn't think so at first," replied Scootaloo, "but it looks like it was telling the truth after all!"
Apple Bloom looked toward Sweetie Belle, seeking assurance. "What do you think? Could it really be the pony of shadows?"
"I don't... I don't know," said Sweetie Belle as she turned away. Nopony said anything for several seconds.
"Wait a minute," Sweetie Belle said. "What's that?" She dashed off across the rampart.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom quickly shared a look, silently acknowledging to each other that Sweetie's attention had dramatically shifted, before running after her.
"It is!" cried Sweetie Belle, coming to a stop. "How did that get there?"
Sitting in front of another door that lead back into the castle was the box of chocolates that Sweetie had swiped.
"Maybe..." began Scootaloo, but she hesitated.
"Maybe what?" asked Sweetie Belle, who was happy for any logical explanation.
"Maybe we brought it with us? And we don't remember it?"
The other two looked at Scootaloo doubtfully.
"Ah don't think so," said Apple Bloom. "It's kinda obvious that the shadow pony put us to sleep. Maybe she brought it? For- some reason..."
"But what if," said Scootaloo as her eyes grew wide, "she didn't knock us out? What if she used her evil magic powers to control our brains and forced us to come into the forest and we brought it with us but we didn't remember because of the evil spell?"
There was a moment of silence.
"That sounds far-fetched," began Apple Bloom. "Although, maybe not. Still, why would the pony of shadows release control of us and let us walk free?"
"Maybe," said Scootaloo, even more excited, "She already used us for her evil plans but we don't remember it and now she has no more use for us!"
"Will you two stop?" snapped Sweetie Belle. "Those ideas are all wrong. It actually doesn't matter how it got up here anyway. If I don't bring this back, Rarity is going to kill me."
Sweetie Belle stepped forward to grab the box. A moment later, she found herself under a bucket of water that had inexplicably fallen from above.
"YEAGGGGHHHH!" she screeched.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom simply stared dumbfounded at their drenched friend.
"Cold, cold, cold!"
"I knew it was a trap!" cried Scootaloo.
"No you didn't!" replied a very annoyed Sweetie Belle. She began to shake herself in an effort to get water out of her coat.
"Hey!" cried Scootaloo as she backed away from the bombarding drops of water coming from Sweetie Belle.
"Um," said Apple Bloom uncertainly. "Isn't that our bucket?"
If any of the fillies had considered looking where the bucket had come from, they might have seen three figurines on the roof above them, each with a hoof over their face.
Sweetie Belle's screech resounded throughout the surrounding forest and reached the ears of four nearby ponies.
"Sweetie Belle!" shouted Rarity, looking toward the sound in panic.
"They're at the castle!" cried Twilight. "Sound's like we had better hurry!"
The door near Sweetie Belle suddenly swung open and the three fillies yelped as they turned to behold the dark figure behind it.
The figure pulled down his hood.
"It's you!" shouted the fillies excitedly.
"Shh!" urged Shadow Shroud. "I'm really glad to see you too," he whispered. "But you must be quiet! There's a strange creature in this castle who-"
"You mean the pony of shadows?" whispered Apple Bloom. "We've met her. She's not very nice."
"The pony of shadows?" whispered Shadow Shroud. "How did you get away from her? No, never mind," he said immediately. "Tell me later, when everpony is safe." He noticed that Sweetie Belle was holding something. "What's that?" he asked. It was at this moment that he noticed the state of Sweetie Belle. "What happened to you?" he asked in shock. He started casting a magic spell and within seconds Sweetie Belle had a much drier coat.
"I don't really know!" whispered Sweetie Belle. "A bucket of water just landed on my head out of nowhere!"
"Out of nowhere?" asked Shadow Shroud in confusion.
"Yeah! Right out of the sky! Thank you, by the way. I already feel much better."
"I think it was a trap set up by the pony of shadows!" added Scootaloo.
"Probably so," said Shadow Shroud, who had decided to dismiss the case. "But we should get out of here before she finds us. Okay?"
"Okay," whispered the fillies in sync.
"Okay," said Shadow Shroud. "I'm going to check the next room for trouble, and when I say its okay, follow me inside."
The room turned out to be as lifeless as when he had left it only a minute ago, so he returned to the door and indicated for the fillies to follow with a hoof.
This procedure was repeated several times and, to their relief, nothing surprised them in all the time it took to find the exit of the castle, which they found quickly since Shadow Shroud remembered the way.
"Oh, thank goodness," whispered the skeleton pony. "Keep following. We're almost safe."
They all let out a sigh of relief as they stepped beyond the tree line and into the forest.
Shadow Shroud began to cast a light spell for the benefit of the fillies. Nopony spoke as they walked.
Eventually he found himself emerging into a clearing and beholding the dark castle once again.
"What in the..." Shadow Shroud looked down to his smaller companions, who were giving him an odd look. "I swear I was going the right way."
He indicated for them to turn around and they headed back into the forest.
A few minutes later, they were back at the castle again.
"This isn't just a mistake," whispered Shadow Shroud, a wave of dread hitting him as the realization sunk in. "This is magic."
"Magic?" asked Apple Bloom, suddenly terrified. "What do you mean?"
"That shadow mare creature isn't letting us leave the castle."
Suddenly another strange sound pierced the night. It was very loud and sounded as though it could not have possibly come from the throat of any healthy creature as it sounded with a drawn out 'BLAT'.
Immediately Shadow Shroud realized his mistake and extinguished his magic light as he caught a sudden movement in his eyes. The possessed armor was running toward the noise from a point not much further along the edge of the forest.
"What was that?" asked Rarity fearfully, froze in mid hoofstep in the middle of a large castle room.
"Ah dunno," replied Applejack, looking at one of the walls. "But it sounded horrible. And really close!"
"What was that?" asked Shadow Shroud.
"If I didn't know better..." began Sweetie Belle.
Shadow Shroud turned to look at the filly in surprise, having not expected anypony present to answer his question. The filly gave Apple Bloom an embarrassed look.
"It sounded like when you tried playing that trumpet for us."
Apple Bloom was too nervous to give a reply. Shadow Shroud stared before dropping his head and shaking it. "Come with me," he said. "Let's find somewhere safe to wait while I figure out how we can get out of here."
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
767 users online
903,266 hits today, 2,139,894 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.®
This took me much longer than it was supposed to to write, partially because I'm sick and I feel like I'm constantly cold. When I put on a coat I feel sweaty and still cold. It's miserable. I wish I had magic to quickly solve the problem like Sweetie Belle did. The other reason is that no matter how hard I try to remember, I can't get this to look quite like the original and now lost forever version of this chapter that I did months ago, and that drives me kind of crazy. Hopefully this version is just as good.
Really digging this story so far. I'm glad I spotted it in the 'updated stories' row in time.
Always a treat to see undead characters on the side of the heroes, for once. Never quite got why only the 'photogenic' undead get to be good-guys, even when their Hearts and Minds are intact.
This story is awesome! I'm a big fan of necromancy and this story is on of the better ones I've read.
It's probably better! Usually when you do something a second time, you're unconsciously polishing it up even if you try to just write the same thing.
But not perfect:
I don't think "stone brick" is a thing; "stone block", or "stone", or "brick", or "stone and brick"
Probably so
This has a very interesting start. I'll track it for now just to see where you'll go with it.
5697377 Fixed both. To be honest, the stone brick thing is probably minecraft terminology corrupting my vocabulary (lol...), but if you think that it is wrong then I will take your word for it.
5698264 It's been a while since I played Minecraft. I remember stone, and I remember brick, but ... stone brick? Do you call the cubes bricks? I think I called them blocks. I can see why people might call them bricks, though, if they do a lot of construction, as in "thing I use to build stuff with".
Technically speaking, brick is a more specific term.
5698405 They have existed for quite a long time by now. They are textured so that the "bricks" are half a block tall and a full block wide, much larger than ordinary bricks. If you were to call them stone blocks, people would confuse them with regular cubes of stone.
5698542 I see. (30 seconds of Internet research later) I haven't played it much since before Strongholds were released, if I remember correctly, so that explains why I had no idea what you were talking about. Thank you!
(I was wrongly thinking you were using "brick" as a generic term for "block".)
No Pinkie Pie in this chapter or accompanying the rest of the Mane 6 in the last chapter. I'm beginning to wonder if this is her pulling a meanie meanie-pants elaborate prank to scare the hell out of the Crusaders for some reason or another, and/or set up Shadow Shroud for the most biggest 'Welcome to Ponyville' party possible along with making up for two THOUSAND missed birthday parties.