My Tale of Equestria

by LolianTriforce

Chapter 4

Lolian sat on her bed in the dark. The silver moon shone bright in the night sky. She wiped her wet eyes with her hoof to dry them. Scales had fallen asleep next to her. Lolian enjoyed the company the little dragon gave her. The gentle rise and fall of the little dragon’s chest made Lolian tire, and fall asleep.

Slowly, a shadow mist crept under the crack at the bottom of the door and seeped into the room. The yellow pegasus became tangible from the mist and approached the bed. He smiled in delight as he watched her. He had waited for years for somepony like her, one filled with fear.

Slowly, the Alicorn before him opened her eyes. Once she saw him, she froze in fear. This made him even more delighted. He moved closer to her, making her inch back.

“Who are you?” she asked, shaking.

“I am your worst nightmare, Princess Lolian,” he responded.

She started to hyperventilate, trying to get as far away as possible from the stranger. This only caused him to laugh. She picked up a pillow and tossed at him, but with a quick flick of his wing, he sent the pillow flying into the wall.

“It’s so good to see you again, Princess,” he smirked.

“But I’ve never seen you before,” she answered.

“No, not here, but in the previous world. I was the shadow that slunk beneath your feet, that sent you here instead of the world you belong in, and that’s keeping you from leaving.”

Her eyes widened in fright. He was the one who sabotaged the portal from before. She used her hoof to shake the little dragon awake, but she remained asleep. This caused the alicorn to laugh.

“Waking her will do no good,” he chuckled. “My presence exudes magic, which allows me to keep hidden from the others. You, however, are the only one who can see me.”

Lolian, shaking, quickly jumped off the bed and opened the window. She started to jump, but was pulled back by an invisible force. She landed on the floor hard, making her cringe in pain. He put his hoof on her stomach, pinning her to the floor.

“I can’t have you dying on me, Princess,” he said sternly. “Not yet. I need you alive. If you die now, all my plans become in vain.”

“What do you want from me?” she asked breathlessly.

“You were the most cowardly in the group, which is ironic since you embody the element of courage,” he answered. “I need to feed off that fear in order to restore my fading magic.”

“Why?”

“Because I am fear itself.”

With that, the alicorn faded back into mist and flew out the window. Lolian quickly shut the window behind him, waking Scales as a result. She looked up at her with a confused look, but Lolian shook her head and laid down beside her.

***

Lolian woke up late the next morning groaning in pain. She had bruises where she fell on the ground as well as on her stomach from the alicorn digging his hoof into it. Scales asked her about the bruises, but Lolian lied and told her she had fallen off the bed.

When she walked out of the house after breakfast, she found a flier taped to her door. It read:

In Three Days, Prepare for…
The Grand Galloping Gala!
Wear your absolute best and meet at the Canterlot Palace

The Grand Galloping Gala? Lolian had heard of it before, but she wasn’t exactly sure what it was. Attached to the paper, she found a gold ticket for the Gala. Lolian rolled her eyes, knowing it must had been put there by one of the ponies from yesterday. She tucked the ticket away and started to walk down the street.

She trotted to Rarity’s Boutique and walked inside. All around were mannequins with fancy dresses and suits adorning them. She found Rarity in the middle of the room, sewing away at a pink dress upon a female mannequin. She squinted through her glasses as she finished sewing the last ribbon on. Feeling the presence of someone watching her, she looked up from her work.

“Ah, Darling, so glad you could make it,” she smiled.

“So I suppose it was you who placed the ticket on my door?” Lolian asked.

“No, dear, that was Twilight. Celestia gave her eight tickets this year. I guess she wanted to invite you.”

Lolian sighed. A Gala didn’t sound like much fun, but she had to go. It was the polite thing to do.

“Anyways, darling,” Rarity continued, “If you’re going to go to the Gala, you will need a proper outfit, not… This…”

Using her magic, she pulled the green hat off her head. Lolian looked up at it and frowned. Rarity then attempted to pull the black eye mask off her face, but Lolian kept it on using her magic.

“You can take the hat,” Lolian started, “but not the mask.”

“Very well,” Rarity sighed.

She picked up a measuring tape and used her magic to measure her, while writing down the measurements in a notebook at the same time. Then began the long process of preparing the dress. She showed her different colored materials, but Lolian cringed at them all. She didn’t like dealing with clothes.

Rarity finally pulled out a dark blue piece of fabric with glimmering gold trim. Lolian’s eyes sparkled. Rarity smiled, and began to cut from it. She put each piece together and sewed them using a sewing machine. Then she placed finished pieces upon a mannequin.

“You can go now, darling,” she said after a while. “This most likely won’t be done until tomorrow.”

Lolian nodded, and stood to walk out. Just then, Sweetie Bell ran into the boutique, crying about some young colt being unfair. Lolian quickly took the opportunity to run outside.

She continued to trot down the road, until reaching Sugar Cube Corner. She saw two guard ponies standing guard outside the entrance. She looked through the window to see Celestia having tea with Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Pinkie was walking by the door when she spotted Lolian, and signaled her to come inside.

Cautiously, she approached the door. The guard ponies recognized she was an alicorn and graciously allowed her entrance. She looked at the guard on her right for a moment. His white fur and black mane shimmered with the gold armor he wore. His sapphire blue eyes were as deep as the ocean. He slightly smiled as he watched her face turn crimson. She quickly walked inside to avoid further embarrassment.

Lolian slowly walked over to Celestia, trying to calm herself down. Pinkie bounded over to them with a tray of different pieces of cake and a teapot. Setting the tray upon the table, the pink pony picked up the teapot and poured tea into their cups.

“Thank you, Pinkie,” Celestia smiled.

“No problem!” she replied.

Celestia picked up the cup with her magic and drank the tea. After finishing, she stood up. Thanking Mr. and Mrs. Cake for the tea, she began to walk towards the door. She glanced back only a moment to signal Lolian to follow. Both alicorns walked outside and away from Sugar Cube Corner, followed by the guards.

“I hope you slept well last night,” Celestia began.

“It was okay,” Lolian responded.
“Good.”

“... Is there a reason you wanted me to follow?”

“Of course. As I understand, you are coming to the Gala, are you not?”

“Well, Twilight did give me a ticket.”

“Excellent. I would like you to stand with me at the entrance of the Gala. We could use the time to talk to each other.”

“Alright.”

Within a short amount of time, they had already found themselves at Celestia’s carriage. She climbed on and her guards immediately took off for Canterlot.

Lolian sighed. She didn’t know what she would do before the Gala, but it was going to be a long, boring wait. She began to wander about the town, looking at all that surrounded her. Fillies and young colts pranced around in the summer sunshine. Flower shops were in full swing as flowers bloomed all around.

It wasn’t long before Lolian found herself just outside of town. The rolling green hills that surrounded the small town were lush. As the wind blew through it, the sun shimmered upon it. She took a deep breath of the warm breeze, filling her lungs with its sweet scent. She began to stroll along the meadows, feeling calm and bliss. Unfortunately, she did not walk cautiously, which allowed herself to walk into the Everfree Forest.

It was too late when she noticed her surroundings had changed drastically. The trees loomed towards her. Panicked, she started to run as fast as she can, looking for a way to escape. She saw shadows chasing after her in the corner of her eye. She looked back to see five ponies as black as night chasing her. She leapt over tree roots, trying to dodge her pursuers.

Quickly jumping behind a tree, she pressed herself up against the bark. She heard the sound of hooves beat past her and started to grow faint. She started to run another direction. She was exhausted, but the fear kept her running. She could hear the shadow ponies getting close to her. Where was the exit?

Suddenly, something grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. A hoof covered her mouth to keep her silent. She watched as the shadow ponies ran past her and disappeared. Lolian squirmed free from the grip of her captor. She turned around to find it was a zebra with a brown cloak over her head. Grabbing her hoof, the zebra led Lolian into a house built within a tree.

The zebra shoved her through the door, making Lolian fall forward. The mare closed the door behind her and drew the shades over the windows. She then walked over to her cauldron and quickly started the fire beneath it, lighting the room with gorgeous shades of orange and yellow. The contents of the cauldron began to boil furiously. Lolian sat up and looked at the strange marr. She opened her mouth to begin talking, but was hushed by the mare. She quickly shut her mouth.

“You won’t be here for long,” the mare cooed. “The shadow ponies’ presence remains strong.”

Lolian just stared at her. The rhyming. She remembered a character from the show that constantly spoke in rhyme. Zecora the zebra. She started to relax as she began to remember the kindness Zecora always hand in the show. Slowly, she laid her head down on the floor and closed her eyes. The roar of the fire soothed her and the heat was a comforter draped upon her back. She could feel the floor rumble with each step Zecora took. The lull of sleep quickly overtook her.