A New Evil

by A-A-Ron

Prologue

“We should turn back now,” Crystal Glow urged as they dwelled in the entrance of the cave. “These skeletons are unnerving.”

“It is quite unsettling,” Thunder Mistral agreed with questioning eyes.

Crystal Glow hoped that the corpses would be enough for them to go back to Canterlot. He had his time in the Royal Guards and was one of the oldest members of the Guards. “I wonder what happened to these ponies.”

“But we must keep going,” Thunder Mistral insisted.

“And why is that?” Crystal Glow asked. “Clashfoot, what do you think?”

Clashfoot was waiting for Crystal Glow to include him in the conversation for better or worse. He too had second thoughts of traveling onwards. “Princess Celestia’s orders were to find anything unusual. This is very unusual to me.”

“Ponies die in caves, Clashfoot. It is very unfortunate but not unusual. These poor ponies might have starved or froze to death,” Thunder Mistral inquired with his voice echoing off the cave walls. “We press forward.”

“We’ve been on our hooves for hours now and it is getting dark. We must rest,” Crystal Glow pleaded.

Thunder Mistral glanced around the cave with Crystal Glow’s thoughts. “I’m sorry to disappoint you but I want to get this charade over with and we are almost done. Might as well finish our instructions quickly.”

Clashfoot could see Crystal Glow’s blood run cold. Clashfoot knows that Crystal Glow has had a number of years in the Royal Guards under his belt and had seen a plethora amount of things in his years and would not been easily disgruntled. This made Clashfoot’s stomach twist and turn at the thought. The two guards shook underneath there extra cloaks but it wasn’t from the cold. There was a nervous tension among the caves and Thunder Mistral was oblivious to it.

Clashfoot looked into Cyrstal Glow’s eyes, as to tell him that he understood the uneasiness that he shared with him. He had been a part of the Royal Guards for only a few years now and most of his duties was to keep watch around the castle in Canterlot. Ever since Princess Celestia had told him that he would venture into the Frozen North, he’d been suffering from a sick gut. Princess Celestia telling them that that no pony was to know about it made him even more nervous. Once he and the other two started their journey, the sickness resided.

Until tonight.

They had already ventured into three caves to find anything queer and nothing was out of the normal for a cave. There was something about this cave’s darkness that made his coat tingle underneath. They had spent about a week travelling across the Frozen North, avoiding the hostile Minotaurs that inhabited the area. The cold winds pierced their eyes and muzzles throughout their journey and the thick snow made it troublesome to trot for the traveling ponies. The further they dwelled into the Frozen North, the further they were away from Celestia’s realm and the reality did not settle well for Clashfoot or Crystal Glow. The two ponies would love to turn back to Celestia’s protection, however, when the commander is stubborn to get the job done no matter what, the two ponies would not get what they want.

And this was a very stubborn commander.

Thunder Mistral meant well and was good-natured but pride was his only vice. He was an ambitious new commander of the Royal Guards and was eager to do his first assignment as a new commander. His appearance was more impressive than Crystal Glow and Clashfoot, with a sleek white coat and a flowing orange mane and also boasted a muscular frame compared to his other two companions. He was a promising young colt among the Royal Guards and had won favor of Princess Celestia, which is why she trusted him to such an important task and he dutifully accepted the request. Even if the orders were vague. They were never told what they were looking for, just to report anything unusual in the Frozen North.

“Celestia said to report anything that was unusual and we have come across something that is very much indeed unusual if not downright disturbing,” Crystal Glow said. “If we turn back now, the Princess will understand our reason. She is an understanding pony sir. We shouldn’t bring any more trouble on us.”

Thunder Mistral was not paying attention to him as he studied the interior of the cave. Clashfoot watched his commander in interest. “I do not want to come across as a coward Crystal Glow. And I definitely do not want to waste Celestia’s time which we will be doing if we turn back with nothing important report.”

“This is important enough to be reported,” Crystal Glow argued.

“Then we have different definitions of important then,” Thunder Mistral countered. “And last time I checked, I’m the one who is in charge.”

Crystal Glow did not dare challenge his leader as he grew in frustration. Thunder Mistral snorted in the small victory. Thunder gave a quick glance to Clashfoot. “What do you think of the bodies?”

“They are rotted and old. Seven total. All of them are stallions, no mares. No blood that I can see. If some creature killed them, I doubt it is still here. These ponies most likely died of natural causes but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”

“Agreed, but these ponies death should not scare us. These poor ponies most likely got lost and in a last desperation, they trotted to this cave. And this is where they met their demise.” Thunder kept his gaze on Clashfoot. “What do you think killed them?”

Clashfoot searched for a reasonable answer in his head. “The cold killed them,” uncertainty filled his words. “I have no doubt about it. My only question is what the ponies were doing here. Ponies never enter the Frozen North unless dire need or in our case, strict instructions from the Princess herself. I don’t think these ponies were just travelling along, especially in such perilous conditions. They were looking for something. Something that cost their lives. I guess that is what we are doing.”

“Except our lives won’t be lost,” Thunder assured.

Clashfoot gave Thunder a weak smile. “Let’s hope not sir.”

The two ponies turned to Crystal Glow who was shivering vigorously. His eyes were staring blankly at nothing. Clashfoot trotted by his side. “You must keep warm, Crystal. You’ll never survive the trip if you shiver like that.” Crystal Glow did not reciprocate the statement, in fact, he did not give any indication that the stallion had spoken to him. “Crystal?” Nothing.

“Speak colt!” Thunder Mistral ordered. Crystal Glow finally budged as he slowly turned his head to a worried face of Clashfoot. He turned his muzzle back to Thunder Mistral as if he was a great annoyance to him. “What’s wrong with you?” Thunder pushed, but Crystal did not answer. “Enough of this nonsense. Let’s keep going.”

Clashfoot nodded. “I agree. I want to get out of this forsaken cave as quickly as possible.” The two ponies started to make their way into the cave. Crystal Glow continued his sedated state of mind.

Thunder Mistral quickly noticed this. “Crystal. I said let’s go.” Slowly but surely, the ever growing dense pony complied very hesitantly. Thunder Mistral gave Clashfoot a non-assuring glance. Clashfoot knew something was taking a hold of the pony. He wanted to turn back more than ever, but there was no convincing Thunder Mistral otherwise. “Clashfoot, lead us.”

Clashfoot went in front, the shimmer on his armoring slowly faded away as the darkness deepened. He carried the lantern with his muzzle, the light showing off the cave walls and the stalagmites growing from the ground and stalactites hanging from the cave ceilings. Thunder kept muttering things to himself but Clashfoot could not hear him, and he did not care to know.

Clashfoot slowed his pace for he thought his ears deceived him. He only heard the hooves of two ponies, including himself. He turned around to face Thunder Mistral.

“Why are we stopping?”

“We lost Crystal Glow,” Clashfoot asked himself. Fear at this point made him trembled. “Where did he go?”

Thunder Mistral turned around to see the other pony not there.

Somewhere in the distance in the cave, something growled.

Clashfoot pulled out his sword from his sheath. “Did you hear that, Thunder?”

Thunder paused for a moment, staring in the shadows of the caves, his face stern. Something dark wrapped around Thunder’s senses. Whatever Clashfoot and Crystal Glow felt, he now felt it. He could not explain it but he felt it. “There is something wrong here,” Thunder muttered.

Clashfoot gave Thunder a wary look.

“Can you feel it?” Thunder asked.

Clashfoot could feel it. Never in his life has he met so much fear. “We should turn back,” Clashfoot suggested. “We have to look for Crystal Glow.” For the first time, Thunder agreed with the pony.

“I’ll give the commands here,” he says disdainfully as he looked into Clashfoot’s skittish eyes. The look on the stallion’s eyes troubled Thunder. The fear was genuine. “Let’s turn back. We will tell the Princess what we have experienced here.”

“Agreed. Lead on, captain.”

The two ponies quickly made haste to the entrance of the cave. Both of them were filled with fear. Even the self-proclaimed fearless leader felt his bones chilled. The tunnels were the same, but to them, it interior felt different. Clashfoot was convinced that they were going the wrong way but followed his leader anyway. The light from outside started to shine through the cave. Thunder stopped in his tracks with Clashfoot stopping in front of him.

The blood from Thunder’s face ran cold immediately. With a few confusing moments passed, Clashfoot finally realized what had Thunder startled. His heart stopped as he lost in breath in his discovery. The light from outside shined on the cave grounds to show everything was exactly how it had been. Except for one thing.

The corpses were gone. All of them.

“Where are the bodies?” Clashfoot barely breathed out.

“Something is wrong here. We have to get out of here, now.”

“What about Crystal?” Clashfoot bellowed.

“Do you want to go after him?” All Clashfoot could do was stare his leader in the eyes discontent. Clashfoot damned his cowardice. Thunder knew he wouldn’t go after him. Not in that cave. Clashfoot looked down in defeat. Thunder held his muzzle high in victory. “We will now leave.”

Clashfoot reluctantly obeyed.

Thunder looked at him with disapproval. “It is unfortunate that we lost Crystal Glow but we must make it back to Canterlot and I will not risk our lives rescuing an old pony that was not suited for this journey in the first place.”

Clashfoot turned away with nothing to say. There was no need to argue with Thunder Mistral. The stallion was right. They needed to make it back to Princess Celestia. The cold winds blasted onto them, nearly knocked them over. Clashfoot almost forgot how thick the snow was on the ground as his hooves shuffled in it.

Clashfoot thought he heard a voice in the distance. “Crystal, is that you?” There was no answer.

Thunder gave it a try. “Crystal?” Nothing.

Thunder saw movement in the corner of his eyes. There was something gliding along the shadows. There was a silhouette of a pony, it quickly shifted away. Noises of something scurrying along the snow was heard. Clashfoot tried to call out for Crystal Glow again or warn Thunder Mistral about the thing he saw in the shadows.

“Crystal, where are you?” Thunder Mistral broke the deathly silence. Thunder and Crystal faced away from each other and started to circle worryingly in the snow. “Answer me!” Clashfoot steps became weak and unsteady.

A shadow emerged from the snow and stood in front of Thunder Mistral. It was one of the corpse that laid in the entrance of the cave. The undead body was somehow taller than the commander. The smell confirmed for Thunder Mistral that this pony standing in front of him was indeed dead. “What do you want?” Thunder Mistral barely squealed. Clashfoot heard Thunder, never hearing such fear come from his voice. The carcass slightly slid to his left, glaring at Thunder. The wind had stopped. The carcass slowly pulled out his own dilapidated sword. A small chuckled escaped Thunder as he saw the sword. In the back of his mind, he knew that his broken down sword was still deadly. Thunder lifted his weapon above his head. Both of their swords met in the air.

Clashfoot watched in admiration for his captain. Thunder pushed off the living corpse off of him. The dead stopped. The other corpses stepped into sight to meet Clashfoot’s gaze. All seven of them circled Clashfoot and Thunder Mistral. Any confidence that Thunder had was now swept away with hopelessness. Both ponies raised their swords and met with the enemies weapons. Thunder held his ground boldly. Clashfoot held on for a few blows but then fell on the ground. One of the corpse’s blade came down upon Clashfoot but he defended the blow with his trusty sword. He bucked the corpse away and quickly stumbled to his feet.

Thunder Mistral defended blow by blow and fell back.

Clashfoot sword kept meeting with the dead’s blows. Clashfoot wanted to run but he couldn’t leave his commander behind.

Thunder was now panting, becoming exhausted in his efforts. His visible breath was rapidly escaping his mouth. Thunder raised his sword again but he miscalculated the corpse’s move. The corpse struck his hoof. The young commander yelled in anguish. A stream of blood started to make its way out of his hoof. All four of the commander’s legs knelt to the ground. In one last effort, he raised his sword to the corpse. The carcass lazily knocked it out of his hooves. Thunder looked above him, his eyes knowing what was going to happen next. The living dead raised his sword above Thunder. Clashfoot dared not to look and continued his own fight against the dead. He knew his commander’s fate.

Clashfoot’s courage failed him. He fled. He had to hurry to make it out alive. Clashfoot clumsily tripped over his hooves and fell in the snow. Clashfoot quickly got to his hooves.

Clashfoot looked above him. Crystal Glow stood over him.

His appearance was exactly the same as it was early. Crystal blankly stared into Clashfoot’s eyes with no emotion. He held a knife in his hooves, pointed right at Clashfoot.

Teary-eyed, the ill-fated pony closed his eyes and knew there was nothing he could do. He gave up. He would not get out of this alive.

Author's Note:

This is my first My Little Pony fic so please read and review!

I also know the absurdity of ponies using swords, but if Rainbow Dash can use her hooves to read a book than a pony can use a sword.

Comments

[Magthere]

I'm getting a case of White Walker / Others / that opening for A Game of Thrones de javu...

[A-A-Ron]

The prologue is based off of A Game of Thrones but they are not White Walkers or Others.