Fragments

by ShadowDusk

Chapter Three - Eyes in the Sky, Eyes in the Dark

Credit to jsonic5000, who was this chapter’s editor.
Your help is always appreciated!
-ShadowDusk

Chapter Three

Eyes in the Sky, Eyes in the Dark

Spike wobbled as he gently slid the book into its place on the shelf. Twilight had asked him to pick up a few books that were lying out, and it happened to be his luck that they were not only large books, but all belonged in high shelves. So now Spike stood on a tall ladder, balancing four books in one hand and balancing himself with the other.

This would be a lot easier if Twilight would put her own books away... Spike thought as he steadied himself, slowly reaching over to grab another book. But before he could get the book to the shelf, Spike began to feel a familiar pressure building in his stomach...

Twilight was sitting in her room reading when a loud crash echoed from the library.

“Spike, what happened?” she asked as she dashed into the room. The ladder lay on its side, and a few books lay scattered on the ground. Spike lay on his back close to the ladder, but what caught Twilight’s eye was the wax-sealed scroll that lay by Spike’s feet.

“Oh! A letter from the Princess!” Twilight exclaimed. Her horn glowed as the scroll floated towards Twilight, who opened it and began to read.

To my faithful student, Twilight,

I received your letter about the magical "flare" which you experienced yesterday. You are not alone; my sister, Luna, and I both sensed a disturbance as well. We do not know what caused it, but I was able to locate it within the Everfree Forest. However, our current duties require us to remain in Canterlot for the time being. So, I ask that you fly your balloon over the Everfree to try to find the source of the magical flux. I am sending you a spell you can use to trace magical aura; the flux was strong, so the aura should still be lingering, making it easy to find. Once you find the flux's source, return to Ponyville and send me a letter on what you find. Do not interact with the source if possible; we neither know what is nor what it can do.

Be careful!
Princess Celestia

P.S.- Take your friends with you, just in case.

Twilight set the letter down on a nearby table as Spike, who had gotten up from the floor, coughed up a second scroll.

“That must be the spell Celestia mentioned...” Twilight said to herself as she picked up the scroll.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” asked Spike, who watched as Twilight grabbed her saddlebag and slipped the scroll into it.

“No time to explain, Spike,” Twilight replied. “We need to get the others together. Something caused a disturbance in the Everfree Forest, and we’re going to find it!”

A dark figure silently moved through the vines and branches of the overgrown forest. He stopped and perked his ears, listening for anything out of the ordinary. Alas, he heard nothing.

The figure crouched down, turning to his left at the same time. Some five feet away, he could see the forest path he had been moving alongside of. His eyes constantly looked along the path, up and down, like a hunter searching for his prey. Anyone on the road wouldn’t have seen this person, this hunter, patiently lying in wait; he would only appear to be a shadow created by light shining through the tangled mess of trees. He was invisible.

The hunter, satisfied with his hiding spot, looked down the path, a single thought in his mind: Where was his prey? His question was quickly answered by the sounds of distant footsteps. Just on down the path, the hunter could see his prey approaching. There were three of them; two were human, and the third was an equine. Strangely, this equine was intelligent and capable of speech, something the hunter had never witnessed the species do before. However, he determined it as just a minor complication.

The hunter watched as the small group got almost in front of his hiding spot, when suddenly the taller human stopped.

"Hold up, you two," the human said with a country drawl. "I still can't make sense outta all this..."

"Sam, we've been through this twice already!" exclaimed the second human. "Zecora is taking us to Ponyville to see someone who might know how we got here."

"Yeah, I know that," replied the human called Sam, "But in case you ain't noticed, James, this ain't exactly 'familiar territory'. I mean, Ponyville? Equestria? Princesses that raise the sun and moon? How come none of this confuses you? And if we're the only humans here, what makes ya'll think we can just waltz into a town of talkin' ponies unnoticed? I tell yah, it just don't-"

Snap!

The forest immediately fell silent. The hunter, so focused in his prey, had stepped on a small twig while moving closer to the path. Now he stood completely still, watching the now-aware trio talk in low voices. The taller human, Sam, slowly began to walk towards the hunter's spot. He stopped halfway across the path, reaching into his duster jacket and pulling out a .357 six-shot revolver. Sam then continued towards the path's edge, each footstep becoming slower than the last. The human stopped at the edge the thick vegetation, not five feet from the hunter. The human was so close, in fact, that the hunter could smell him. The scent was familiar to the hunter, for he had smelled it from all of his prey.

It was fear.

Without a moment's hesitation, the hunter pounced, tackling the startled Sam back onto the forest path. The revolver fired with a sharp crack, and silent birds in the trees now flew away in fright. Sam dropped the gun, using the free hand to punch his attacker in the face. The attacker swiped at Sam, who felt a sharp pain on his chest quickly growing. Looking at his shirt, he found three shreds, each with a jagged, bleeding gash underneath to match. Sam, in pain and anger, lunged at the mysterious assailant, but the figure quickly moved into the concealment of the forest.

"God damn it all!" Sam cursed, his wounds beginning to burn with pain. "Zecora, I thought you said these woods were safe durin' the day!"

"The forest is safe for travel by day, for Celestia's sun frightens evil creatures away." Zecora responded in rhyme. "What this thing is, I haven't a clue; though it does appear to be built similar to you two."

"Maybe it's another person who got sent here...?" James thought aloud.

"Look here, I can tell y'all both now that thing ain't human. A human doesn't have claws, for on thing. Nor can a human move that fast. Only thing 'human' 'bout it is that it fights like a coward." Sam remarked. "Ya hear that, you in there?" he shouted at the trees. "You don't scare me! In fact, I think your the one who's scared! Show your face like a man, why don't ya? Or are ya too yellow?"

From the shadows of the forest, someone was chuckling softly.

"You speak confidently for an animal about to die." spoke a low voice from the darkness, sounding almost like a growl. "Especially a wounded animal like you. I almost admire that. And for that, I'll give you your final request."
Ten feet away from the group, the dark figure of the attacker stepped out of the forest and into the light. There was a collective gasp from the humans and zebra.

“Sweet Mary mother of God..." Sam whispered as he beheld the creature before him.

Zecora had been right; the figure stood like a human, about as tall as Sam. The head was that of a panthers, with two bright yellow eyes. It wore what appeared to James as light body armor on his chest and legs, like a policeman's Kevlar vest. The exposed arms and hands were covered in jet black fur, and each finger held an exposed claw. Behind the creature, a long black tail swished back and forth.

"You seem at loss for words,” the creature mocked. “What’s the matter; cat got your tongue? Or is it that he has your gun?”

The creature chuckled again as he picked up Sam’s revolver. He twirled it a few times, then tossed the gun to Sam, who caught it. Sam looked at the gun, somewhat confused, then looked up at the creature.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” the creature asked. “You have your gun, and I’d think you know how to use it. Show me that brilliant ‘confidence’ of yours and shoot me.” Sam looked at his gun again, then back to the creature. Then in a single fluent motion, Sam grabbed the revolver, cocked the hammer, and aimed straight at the creature. It didn’t so much as flinch.

“What’s wrong? I’m standing right here,” it mocked. “Shoot me.”

Sam just stood there, still pointing the gun.

“What do you find so hard about this? Shoot me!”

Still no response. The creature growled, getting frustrated.

“Are you deaf, or just stupid? I said shoot me, you dumb bastard!”

Sam’s patience broke. He grabbed the revolver with both hands and fired. The creature, however, saw the movement and dodged the shot. It then charged Sam, tackling him once more. The revolver skittered across the ground, stopping three feet away from James and Zecora. In a moment of either stupidity or boldness, James moved to grab it. The creature was on top of Sam, ready to rip him to pieces when it saw James go for the gun. It dashed on all fours at James with incredible speed and pounced, claws extended, teeth bared, when suddenly a large purple flash hit James and the creature. James immediately felt weak and toppled over, his vision beginning to fade. The last thing he saw was a large purple balloon descending towards them.

Comments

[Gytrash]

Wait what?
Imma track this to find out what's happening.
Pretty engaging overall though.

[Mobius of the Moon]

Quite interesting. I'll track to see where this goes. Few to no errors, too. Good read altogether.

[psykoticSLY54]

Nicely done, SD, very well written, I can't wait for ch 4.

[HarbingerOfMe]

Can't wait for the next part!