Chapter 1: The Gray Phantom
Chapter 1: The Gray Phantom
Carrea - Hanju Province - Some Years Ago
The night sky was clear and brushed with a shining tapestry of stars, joined by a half-moon that still managed to throw a silver sheen upon the quiet valley town. Pinpoints of yellow light from lanterns marked the town’s streets, but few of its inhabitants, kirin or pony, ventured outside their cozy homes.
So none took immediate note of the faint, angry orange glow to the northeast, nestled deep inside the thick forest that carpeted the hills outside the town. None saw the band of inky smoke bleeding into the night sky. It wasn’t until some time, in fact, that a young kirin gate guard, who’d been half-napping, sniffed the air and picked up the faint scent of burning wood. It was several more minutes before his eyes blearily blinked and took note of the growing glow of wild firelight in the distant forest, and minutes more before his sleep beleaguered brain realized that it was coming from the direction of the old temple.
Raising the alarm took even more time, and it was nearly an hour before a party of volunteer townsfolk and guards ventured out to investigate what had happened.
What they found was an inferno.
The ancient Yon family temple, which had had so much recent work gone into its renovation from the family’s bright young scion, was now a pillar of roaring fire that soared into the heavens.
Yet the burning temple was not the worst thing witnessed by the townsfolk, but rather the ghastly sight of Cho Yon himself, heir to the Yon family’s long heritage of shamanic priests, laying in a broken heap upon the steps of the temple, blood trickling down the ancient stones from a wound piercing the dead kirin’s heart. A black crossbow quarrel stood like a tombstone from his chest, leaving no doubt as to what had taken the young scion’s life.
And holding his body was a soot streaked, disheveled kirin mare, her deep jade coat and dark mane blending in with the shadows cast by the inferno’s flames. It took many of the townsfolk several seconds to even recognize Ki Seong, the daughter of one of the town’s most prominent families, and there were none who hadn’t heard the happy news of her engagement to Cho Yon.
Yet the crossbow that lay discarded on the steps was hers. Many of the local guards knew Ki Seong’s family taught their children the old arts of hunting the evil spirits and demons that often threatened the realm. Ki Seong’s marksmanship was the stuff of stories among the guards.
She never missed her target.
Seeing Ki Seong’s fiancee’s corpse stricken by one of her own bolts left the guards and other townsfolk with countless questions. Yet for many hours after they pried Ki Seong from the body of Cho Yon, there was only one word they could get out of her delirious state, a word she repeated with ever greater venom and hatred, like an unending mantra of revenge.
”Jeog.”
----------
Equestria - Whitetail Woods - Present Day
”Jeog.”
The word echoed across the cavernous, twisted bends of memory and made the vulpine creature shudder, as it always did. She didn’t sleep the way mortal things did, but inaction drew out memory like the rising bubbles from a bog, reliving events in a state not unlike dreams.
Dreams she’d spent many long years trying to bury. Nothing but pain and fear in those bending tunnels of thought. Whatever good memories she had were inevitably tied with the terror and pain of the night of fire; the night the Hunter had begun to chase her.
She huffed out yip as she padded around her lair, seeking distraction from memory. The lair was little more than an old cabin, long abandoned by whatever mortal flesh had build it. The modest space was filled with collected trinkets she’d snatched over the years she’d called these woods her hidden home. While fear bound her to this place, hidden from prying eyes, alone and as safe as she could manage, boredom pressed in on her like a growing weight.
Scratch marks adorned the walls of the cabin, some in swirling patterns, others in harsh, jagged lines, all attempts to relieve boredom. Piles of trinkets stolen from farms and unattended market stalls filled the cabin’s corners, almost all gathered during the night hours. To venture into the mortal warrens and lairs in daylight was to invite the Hunter to pick up her trail once more.
The Hunter... she was still out there. Jeog knew this, as firmly as she knew ‘Jeog’ was her name, and not the other name that she’d been given long ago. The Hunter would never stop. Even if it had been years since she had scented any hint of the Hunter’s presence, she didn’t fool herself into thinking she was entirely safe. Only being hidden, and not approaching mortals, would act as a final shield against the Hunter’s relentless pursuit.
She’d made the mistake too many times of involving mortals with her. The Hunter always hurt them, come the end. The chase never truly ended.
If only that special mortal from long ago had never gone to the Hunter. Why had he gone to the Hunter? He’d spoken strange words back then, words Jeog still struggled to grasp. She thought maybe she’d understood them once, but they flitted from her mind like mist from a mountain valley.
”It’ll be fine. Ki Seong will understand. Despite her family’s teachings, there are things that go deeper than old grudges and hatreds, you’ll see.”
“What things? Tell me of these things.”
“Oh, well, things like love. That can surpass any barrier of hatred. And while I think Seong and I are still learning to love each other, it’ll come, with time. As will her understanding of you.”
“Love. I have heard this word. It isn’t edible. Or touchable. I can’t smell it. I still wonder if it is real, or something you funny mortals keep telling me of as a joke.”
“Hah, it is very real. My family has had you with us for so long, but I don’t know if anyone has really tried to show you what it means. I’ll do my best to show you, and Ki Seong both. Trust me, Chi-”
Jeog growled in deep throated denial, claws ripping into the wooden floor of her cabin lair. She bristled and threw away the broken memories. Especially that name. That name didn’t belong to her anymore. Only Jeog. Cho Yon was gone, and the Hunter was all that remained for her. The Hunter, and the infinite boredom of her solitary existence in these woods. They were called the Whitetail Woods, she had gleaned that much from eavesdropping on the mortals, though the name made no sense to her. There were no tails here, white or otherwise. Tasty rabbits in abundance, however, so it wasn’t all bad.
Once she was done adding a few more claw marks upon the limited unmarred space within her lair, she ventured outside, wincing at the brightness of the sun. She sniffed the air, just to see if there was anything different. Rather expectedly, there wasn’t. Just the same verdant, cloying mix of forest scents. Nine tails, in a swirl of gray fluff, twitched behind her as the fox-like creature pawed in agitated circles around the front of the old cabin.
As always the same debate took place. Hunt food here in the Whitetail? She wasn’t hungry, and the rabbits were boring prey anyways. Go to the nearby, larger forest to the west? She went there often to play games with the many creatures that infested that deeper, darker forest, but had long ago exhausted all of the games that were any fun. Chasing the barking, wood dogs was sometimes amusing, even delightfully dangerous. She’d once led a huge cat scorpion on a merry chase as well, yet most of those creatures had wised up to Jeog’s games and didn’t chase her anymore. She’d found a large mortal ruin, a castle, once, and had enjoyed exploring it for a time until she’d found all the secret places and traps it had to offer, and hadn’t returned since. Perhaps she could go to the swampy place, with the many headed dragon that regrew its own flesh? It had been briefly fun to play with that one, but also perhaps too dangerous. She’d ended up in its jaws briefly before a bit of foxfire had got her free, and fun or not, bored or not, Jeog wasn’t eager to repeat such a close call with becoming another’s food.
What to do, what to do?
The thought slipped into her mind like an unwelcome fly buzzing in her ear, making their tapered gray forms dance about in twitching annoyance.
She could always explore the nearby warren of mortals. She’d seen the collection of many, thatch roofed lairs, teeming with the colorful ones, their hooves always bouncing with that imperceptible emotion the mortals called ‘happiness’. The town had an alluring quality to it, like the warm smell of something delicious. During her less cautious moments she even ventured near enough to hear the colored ones, the ponies, talk and laugh. Jeog licked her lips, thinking of what it would be like to walk among them. What games could she play? What fun might it be just to talk and be talked to again?
NO! The Hunter! Remember the Hunter!
Jeog snarled and shook her vulpine head. She could never risk being close to the ponies, or any other mortal. She might as well crawl to the highest peak and howl into the sky until the Hunter found her, then...
...Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. The chase had been so long, and she’d been hidden nearly as long. Would it be wrong to just let the Hunter end it?
She shoved aside those dark thoughts even harder than her fears. Survival instinct was stronger than what ennui had nestled inside her, and so Jeog settled to return to the big, deep dark forest that day. Called Everfree, by the mortals. Perhaps today she’d find something new there, some new game to play...
But she doubted it. At least she didn’t have to worry about encountering any ponies there. Ponies never went into the Everfree Forest.
----------
“You want to go into the Everfree Forest!?” Silver Spoon nearly shouted as she and Diamond Tiara exited the schoolhouse.
Diamond Tiara quickly put a hoof to her friends mouth, gently whispering, “Shh! Not so loud. I don’t want anypony else knowing.”
Foals rushed out onto the street on either side of the two fillies, all so eager to get out and play for the day now that school was out that none of them seemed to have heard Silver Spoon’s words, for which Diamond Tiara let out a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was word of what she was planning reaching her parents. She looked to her best friend with a conspiratorial wink and said, “But yes, that’s the plan. I have a brilliant idea to make some bits for our families, and I think you’ll agree it's amazing once I give you the details.”
“That might be one word to describe it. Or crazy, I’d say that’s accurate too.” Silver Spoon muttered, eyeing her friend with cautious worry. Not that this came as a surprise to Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon had always been vocal about any time she had issues with one of Diamond’s plans, which was one of the reasons she liked having Silver Spoon as a friend. Constructive criticism was always welcome. Even if Diamond Tiara was pretty sure her friend’s worries were entirely unfounded in this case.
The pair of fillies trotted through Ponyville’s busy streets, filled with folk going about their daily business or just out to enjoy the fine weather of a pleasantly warm afternoon. The market adjacent to the town square was so bustling that the small pink earth pony and her gray coated companion had trouble weaving their way through the colorful mass of other ponies trotting about.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were greeted warmly by more than a few of the passing ponies and stall owners, and given narrow eyed looks by almost as many others. The numerous times the pair had volunteered to help out around the community spoke for the former, and more than a few of Diamond Tiara’s dubious money making schemes attributed the later. It was a small source of embarrassment for her, but she maintained that with nothing ventured, nothing was obtained. The occasional disaster like a runaway pudding stand was a small price to pay for the sake of securing her family’s financial future, no matter how impossible those pudding stains were to get out. Really, those mares shouldn’t have even been wearing those dresses in public if they didn’t want to risk them getting dirty.
Across the town square the two fillies hung a left and made their way up a street that had several rows of smaller houses, among the smallest in Ponyville. They were cozy affairs for their low price, though barely large enough to be comfortable for a single pony, let alone a family with foals. Equestria was a nation with a potent economy, to be sure, but there were still ponies who weren’t nearly as well off, for one reason or another, as some families were. There was little fear of ending up homeless, for the wise Duchess Chrysalis’ laws forbade overcharging on the housing market, but low cost homes were still a common sight in many towns.
Diamond Tiara’s home was a modest single story affair near the edge of the town proper, with a brightly painted pink front door that led right into the combination living room and kitchen that took up much of the front of the house.
“Hi mom!” Diamond Tiara called just as Silver Spoon also said, “Hello Mrs. Rich.”
As always, whether she liked it or not, there was an involuntary twitch in Diamond Tiara’s ears every time she heard her family name. It seemed a cruel joke of fate that the ‘Rich’ family was anything but. Not that this seemed to ever dampen her parent’s moods for long. As always her mother turned from her typewriter, plopped upon her knees with a half finished page, and all but flung herself at the two fillies. Catching them in a big hug, Spoiled Rich cooed, “Welcome home! Did you both have a good day at school?”
“Y-yeah mom,” Diamond managed to sputter out past the fierce, motherly hug of undiluted yet deadly affection. Silver Spoon, in similar straits of struggling for breath, choked out, “S-Swell Mrs. Rich.”
The middle-aged mare, who shared Diamond Tiara’s pink coat, albeit at a darker shade, let them go from her death hug and beamed at the fillies. “Good! And speaking of good, I’m nearly done with my next story! I have a good feeling about this one.”
Diamond put on an encouraging smile for her other, despite having a sinking feeling as to where things were going. “That’s great to hear, mom. What’s this one about?”
“Oh it's a deep rooted tragedy about the eternal failings of mortality brought about by the inevitable heat death of the universe!” Spoiled Rich said with the brightest and most cheerful tone of voice imaginable, all but bouncing back to the couch up against the wall where she’d left her typewriter, “The main character faces many existential crisis, and a rubber duck, which is very metaphorical, before achieving peace at the end of time!”
“Sounds... great.” Diamond Tiara said, smile still in place, “Sure the publishers will be all over this one.”
“Oh I hope so!” her mother said, cheerful still, but Diamond Tiara could detect that faint, strained note in her mother’s voice. Her mother had been writing for years. Diamond Tiara could count the number of her mother’s manuscripts had been actually bought by publishers before she ran out of hooves. It wasn’t that her mother was a bad writer, either. Diamond had been a test reader plenty of times, and by the straight prose, Spoiled Rich had talent.
She just had the weirdest ideas for stories. Not exactly the kind that sold. Not that Spoiled Rich was alone in having odd ideas that didn’t exactly sell...
On cue there was a faint explosion from behind a big oak door in the hallway beyond the living room, followed by a string of muffled curses. The house, despite its small size, was blessed with a functional basement, and Diamond Tiara’s father had long since claimed it as his own.
“Dad been working all day?” she asked.
“Oh, he’s been up for air once or twice.” Spoiled Rich said with a happy laugh, “He’s been wrestling with that automatic window cleaner for weeks now. Convinced it’ll sell like gangbusters in big cities like Manhattan.”
“It would.” Daimond Tiara agreed, not adding the unspoken; If Dad can get it to work.
Her mother had chosen the written word as her creative outlet turned dubious method of occasional bread winning. Her father on the other hoof had turned his mind towards invention. The incredibly inaptly named Filthy Rich had originally inherited his father’s general goods store, once upon a time, but his passion was for inventing new ideas to improve the quality of life for the ponies of Equestria. He'd sold the general store and used the bits from it to fund his inventing passion. However much like the mare he fell in love with and married, his ideas were often... odd, and not exactly best sellers.
“Well, if dad’s busy I won’t bother him. Me and Spoon were going to head out and play, but needed to grab a few things from my room first.”
Already back on the couch, typewriter in her lap, eyes glued to the page as she pecked at the keys in jarring strokes, Spoiled Rich smiled and waved a hoof. “Of course honey, you and Silver Spoon go enjoy the day. It's so lovely outside you should leave the door open as you go. Have fun you two!”
Heading down the house’s one hall, past the door to the basement, there was a quick turn to the only two other doors in the house, both bedrooms; her parent’s and Diamond Tiara’s. Her room was a small and modest affair, with a bed tucked into a corner, a small writing desk, and a dresser right beside it. The desk was littered with notes concerning her various ideas to make money for the family, and with more than a few books on economics and business management borrowed from the local library. Diamond Tiara was a determined filly, with every intention of becoming a successful businesspony.
Snatching one of the books off her desk, Diamond Tiara tossed it onto her bed, then just as swiftly pulled a small pair of saddlebags from underneath the bed and put it beside the book. Silver Spoon watched her with one of her pale eyebrows raised, and adjusted the glasses perched on her snout. “So, my completely valid worries aside, what is your plan?”
“Here,” Diamond Tiara said, flipping open the book, which lacked a title on its spine. “Came across this a week ago at the library. A history book on Ponyville’s early development. Included some surveys and journal notes from prospectors who combed the region for valuable ore and gem veins.”
She opened to a two page spread with rather thorough cliff notes along the bottom that showed a surprisingly detailed map of the area Ponyville occupied, including a decent portion of the nearby forests. Whoever had drawn the map had possessed quite the eye for detail, and artistic expression, given the stylized hydra rising from Froggy Bottom Bog, or the vicious looking Timberwolves shown prowling the Everfree Forest.
What Diamond Tiara cared about, however, were the markings next to colorful depictions of several caves glittering with gems. “They apparently found at least three or four natural caves in the Everfree that were just bursting with gems. Yet in all the years since Ponyville’s founding nopony has ever actually set up any mining in the Everfree Forest, so those caves should be practically untouched.”
“Gee,” said Silver Spoon, pointing at the picture of Timberwolves, “I wonder why that could be?”
Diamond Tiara snorted and waved her hoof dismissively, “Oh c’mon Spoon, you know how much old legends get exaggerated. Ponies spook too easily. Sure the Everfree is large, dark, imposing, but I’m pretty used to dealing with large, dark, and imposing.”
“I don’t think making friends with somepony who can turn into a castle sized monster qualifies you for wandering into a Timberwolf infested forest.” Spoon said dryly. “And I’m pretty sure if Lady Destroyah were here, she’d sit on you before letting you put yourself in danger.”
Diamond Tiara glanced away, frowning. “What danger? There’s no danger. All those stories are just that; stories. I’m sure there’s a few Timberwolves here and there, but they probably stick to the deeper forest, and we’re going here.” she pointed to the cave nearest to the edge of the Everfree. “I’m sure the most dangerous things we’ll run into is thorn bushes and a few spiders.”
She smiled at Silver Spoon, sliding up to her friend and putting a hoof around the other filly’s shoulders, her tone honey tinted. “All we have to do is take a couple hours walk, fill our saddlebags with shiny, valuable gems, and trot on back! Why I bet we can even lay claim to the cave, and use the gems to invest in starting up a full mining operation.” Diamond Tiara’s eyes nearly turned gem-like themselves with how much they shined with the dream she was painting. “Just think of it. Diamond & Spoon Mining Inc.! Has a good ring to it, and I can finally take care of my family!”
“We’re twelve.” muttered Spoon. “Diamond, couldn’t we, I don’t know... do something normal? Like go play at the lake? Or get ice cream?”
“With what money?” Diamond asked.
“Hey, I can spot you some bits from my allowance.” Silver Spoon offered, but Diamond visibly winced at the words.
“Don’t like mooching off you, Spoon. For once I’d like to be able to pay for my own things.” Diamond Tiara sighed and shoved the book into her saddlebags. “Look, we can play any day, and I promise tomorrow we can do whatever ‘normal’ thing you want. I’ll be all over it. But I’m going to find myself a gem cave today, Spoon. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
Silver Spoon growled out a heavy sigh, “Don’t even start with your reverse whatchamacallit.”
“Psychology.”
“That. Reverse that. I’ll come along. You know I will. Without me around you’ll probably get lost on the way there.” Silver Spoon poked Diamond Tiara in the chest, “Besides we both know I’m the muscle in this pairing. How many gems could you even carry, five?”
“H-hey, it's not my fault i’m a bit... dainty.” Diamond Tiara said, then smiled and quickly gave her friend a hug, “Thanks though. I owe you one.”
“You owe me, like, twenty or thirty at this point. But who's counting?” Silver Spoon said, grinning in the manner of one who was long since used to being owed, and was content enough with it. “Anyway if we’re going to do this, we’d better get going. I don’t want to be caught out there in the dark. I need to stop by my house to get my own saddlebags, plus some food and water.”
“Great, I’ll meet you at the bridge then!” said Diamond Tiara, referring to the old wood bridge across the stream on the south side of town.
----------
For a forest that was reputedly filled with deadly creatures Diamond Tiara reflected it was remarkably easy to just walk in without anypony trying to stop her. You’d think the city planners might’ve decided to put up a fence or something. There wasn’t even one of those big, bright yellow ‘Keep Out’ signs posted anywhere.
“You see Spoon, it's this lack of planning that’s left Equestria so vulnerable.” Diamond Tiara said as they trotted along a grassy game trail, following the map in her book. “I bet if I was in charge, we’d have contingencies for things like, say, interdimensional invasions by hundred meter tall kaiju.”
Silver Spoon hung her head, muttering, “Who makes plans for things like that? I don’t think you can blame Duchess Chrysalis for not waking up on any given day and thinking ‘You know what Equestria needs? An action plan for if we’re ever attacked by gigantic monsters!’”
“Hey, there’s dragons. It's not like giant creatures are new to us.” Diamond Tiara said defensively, “I’ just saying we’re lucky that Sir Xenilla and Lady Destroyah happened to be on our side, otherwise that oversized dinosaur reject would’ve flattened Manehattan.”
“Wasn’t it a whole new kaiju that saved Manehattan?” asked Silver Spoon, “Big, blue, kind of looked like what’d happen if an alligator got together with a blender and a lightning rod?”
Diamond Tiara nearly started skipping. “Right! Lady Raiga! I haven’t met her yet but I wrote Destroyah about her and am really hoping we can get introduced. Have you seen those pictures in the Equestria Daily!? She straight up decked that Godzilla jerk in the face, heheh!”
“It was a pretty good shot.” Silver Spoon admitted, “Really wondering how the photographer managed to get that good an angle...”
“Looking for a photography cutie mark?” Diamond Tiara asked, and Silver Spoon shrugged.
“At this point I’d be happy with just about anything, even if it was just a spoon.”
Diamond Tiara giggled, “Aw, I bet it’ll be something cooler than that. I mean, what would a spoon cutie mark even mean?”
“Don’t know, but I’ll take it over staying blank flanked.” Silver Spoon said, then glanced at her friend, “Doesn’t it ever bother you?”
Diamond Tiara looked back at her own flank, as equally blank as her friend’s. She frowned slightly, then shrugged and resumed walking. “I don’t have time to worry about a picture on my butt. I’ve got bits to make.”
Further conversation trickled to little more than occasionally stopping to consult the map, and pausing to munch down some cheese and crackers Spoon had brought along. So far Diamond Tiara wasn’t sure what the big deal about the Everfree Forest was. Aside from the fact that the thicker trees led to a forest canopy that reduced the light a lot more than the Whitetail Woods, the Everfree didn’t feel all that threatening. With every step she started to feel more and more confident.
“Okay, so if this rock formation is the same as what’s drawn here...” Diamond Tiara murmured as she carefully examined the map in her book. She pointed off to her right, past a trio of large boulders. “Then our cave ought to be that way, and pretty close.”
Silver Spoon looked up at the little patch of sky that could be seen through the thick branches and hanging vines from the trees. “We’re losing light.”
“No worries, Spoon, once we hit the cave this won’t take long at all. C’mon! We’re almost there!” Diamond Tiara said, happily trotting along, near breaking out into a light canter.
Silver Spoon followed along, keeping pace with her friend, but glancing around with quick, nervous looks. She couldn’t shake a growing sense of unease, like a prickling cold on the back of her neck.
----------
There was nothing new to find or play with in the Everfree Forest, but Jeog kept running along the many twisting forest paths anyway. Even though water was anathema to her she barely felt any thrill when leaping over streams, and scrambling up cliffs alongside waterfalls. There was a brief and fleeting sense of freedom that came with just rushing along the underbrush, or climbing up trees to leap from branch to branch, but as always the feeling left quickly.
There weren’t even many other creatures out and about yet, with night still hours away. She was nearly to the point of giving up and returning to the lair when her ears twitched at a distant noise. She paused, head tilting, listening. Seconds passed, and she heard the sound again, closer, more distinct.
Voices.
What was being said was unclear, but that didn’t matter. Ponies were in the Everfree, and Jeog was frozen in place. Fear kept her rooted until she realized the voices speaking didn’t sound remotely like the deadly tones of the Hunter. However she remained skittish. She’d been doing nothing but avoid mortals for years, and if she broke that streak now she’d just be inviting the Hunter to track her down. But at the same time the unrelenting boredom of how she’d been living made it oh so tempting to see who those voices belonged to. To have someone, anyone new to play with.
Indecision kept her anxiously pawing in circles for a minute, then her nose twitched as it caught scent of the ponies. They weren’t far, she realized. And at the same time her ears flicked as she heard another set of sounds echoing amid the forest boughs. Only her sharp hearing, far beyond what a pony’s natural hearing would be, let her pick up on the distant growling and panting of the pack of wood dogs. It was early in the day for them to be out and about, but the pack must have heard and scented the ponies around the same time Jeog had and had begun their hunt.
Knowing the wood dogs’ hunting habits well, she understood they’d shadow the ponies for a time, wait until the pack could spread around and surround their prey, and only when they were sure of a kill would they attack. The ponies, by their fresh scents, smelled young too. They wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving.
A soft growl escaped Jeog’s throat, though she didn’t fully understand why. It wasn’t any of her business if two young ponies fell victim to forest predators. They shouldn’t have been wandering from their pony lairs in the first place! She should just return to her own lair and allow nature to run its course here. Back to her lair... empty, quiet, dark, and alone...
Her nine tails thrashed about in pure agitation as Jeog growled again and made her decision.
----------
“Gotta be close...” Diamond Tiara gasped as she labored for breath, the long trek finally starting to take a toll on her stamina. Errant branches scratched at her mane and face, while brambly bushes snagged at her tail. The trail was barely even a path any more, instead just a bush and root clogged mess with only the barest hint of a way through. Yet Diamond Tiara pressed on, determined. She could see the cave in her mind’s eye, old and untouched, filled to the brim with shining gems.
Bits all but blazed in her eyes, although her thoughts of wealth were entirely wrapped up in the notion that she could make life easier for her parents. No more nights walking to the little filly’s room to find her father sitting at the kitchen counter, staring at piles bills with that haunted look in his eyes. No more watching her mother cringe every time she opened the pantry only to find them more empty than they should be. Just one stroke of good luck was all she needed to turn things around, be useful to her family.
Finally the path ahead seemed to thin out and Diamond Tiara felt an excited surge of energy as she picked up her pace, despite the sweat beading her brow. “There! It should be in this clearing right up here! Hurry Spoon!”
Silver Spoon, weathering the trek much better than Diamond, being by far the more athletic of the pair, just let out a slightly winded chuckle at Diamond’s enthusiasm and picked up her own pace to keep up with her friend.
“I’m telling you Spoon, this is it, I feel it! We get some big, pure gems back home and we’ll-” Diamond Tiara’s words cut off in her throat as she skidded to a shocked halt in the clearing the trail led out into. Silver Spoon came up beside her, her previous chuckle now drying up in her throat as she looked bleakly at the sight before them.
There indeed had been a cave. Situated in the side of a tall grassy hillock, it was easy to see where the entrance would have been, years or decades past. Now, however, the cave mouth was collapsed, filled with a long, lonely pile of fallen rocks, some long coated with moss.
“It...” Diamond Tiara’s voice cracked with the tone of a dream crushed like so much glass. “It was here...”
Her ears drawn down in a mirror of her friend’s expression, Silver Spoon put a comforting hoof around Diamond Tiara. “I’m sorry. It was a good idea, and you were right about where the cave was.”
“Maybe we can still find a gem or two laying around.” Diamond Tiara said morosely, “Will you help me look?”
“Of course I will.” Silver Spoon said, “And hey, might be we can get some shovels to dig this place up?”
Diamond Tiara let out a long sigh, “It's a nice thought, Spoon, but we’d need grown ponies to help us move those rocks, and anypony big enough to help us would probably stop us from coming out here in the first place. Remember the Timberwolves?”
“I seem to recall being the one to warn you about them, but I haven’t seen any...” Silver Spoon said, but her sentence trailed off into a chilled silence as both she and Diamond Tiara heard a sound emanating over the clearing.
A series of deep, rumbling growls.
Both fillies turned slowly to see the dark bushes surrounding the clearing now filled with near a dozen sets of baleful glowing eyes. Both young ponies went pale as sheets, backing up towards the collapsed cave.
“S-Spoon...feel free to slap me the next time I ignore your warnings.” Diamond Tiara said in a terrified whisper.
“If there is a next time I’ll try to remember that.” Silver Spoon said, eyes wide as plates as the Timberwolves emerged from the forest.
The beasts bore some resemblance to the wolves of their namesakes, yet their bodies were formed from a tight collection of bound branches, twigs, roots, and vines. The wood formed the shape of well muscled legs tipped with ferocious claws, and snarling maws filled with fangs that dripped sap like saliva. Their shining eyes were like looking into pitless pools of hungry light. And they had the two fillies all but surrounded.
Diamond Tiara tried to remember anything she knew about Timberwolves, hoping to recall some weakness, but her brain was too clogged with fear to recall much. She didn’t even know from where Timberwolves came or why they hungered after living flesh. Did things like this even have stomachs?
“What do we do?” Silver Spoon asked, clearly just as terrified as Diamond, but also just as unwilling to give up. Seeing the way her friend was swallowing her fear, Diamond Tiara could only try to do the same. Glancing behind her, she looked up the slope of fallen rocks at the collapsed cave entrance, and realized it reached up to the top of the hillock.
“Go up, Spoon! Climb!” she shouted.
The pair started to scramble up the pile of rocks. While tiny, the fillies were both nimble, and by the time the Timberwolves snarled and charged, both ponies had gained a decent distance up the rock pile. However the Timberwolves themselves were no less nimble, despite the much larger size and bulk in comparison to their intended prey. Only a few of the pack could fit on the rock slide, chasing after the fillies that were desperately scrambling ahead of their deadly jaws.
Within moments Diamond Tiara was huffing and puffing in breaths, barely able to keep ahead of the Timberwolves nipping at her hooves. Silver Spoon had pulled ahead, but seeing Diamond flagging behind, paused, turning to kick one of the loser rocks down at the Timberwolves.
“Back off you stupid kindling piles! You’re all lucky I don’t have my daddy’s fire axe with me!”
The kicked rock bounced off the snout of one Timberwolf, making it lose its balance and slide down a few paces, tripping up one of its fellows in the process, but that only bought Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon a matter of seconds, with one Timberwolf still hot on their tails while the rest of the pack stalked about and howled below, awaiting their prey to be pulled down.
Up the fillies climbed, until the top of the hillock was just out of reach. Silver Spoon paused, lowering herself so she could boost Diamond up. For a second Diamond Tiara wanted to argue, to tell Silver Spoon to go up first, but she knew her friend wouldn’t hear any of it, and they’d waste precious seconds having the brief debate. So instead Diamond just nodded fearful thanks and hopped up on Silver Spoon’s back, clambering up to the top of the steep hillock...
Only to come face to face with something large, vaguely vulpine in shape, and covered in grayish blue fur. She barely had a moment to even blink as the shape catapulted itself over her and Silver Spoon’s head, emitting a high pitched snarl that froze the air. There was a burst of blue phantom light, and suddenly the lead Timberwolf was engulfed in a halo of flickering blue fire.
The Timberwolf howled, not in hunger but shocked fear and pain, as pale gray paws gripped it and tore it from the rock face and threw it bodily down amid its fellows in a burst of burning wood shards. The next two Timberwolves were bowled off by the darting gray form, moving in quick, bounding leaps that took it down amid the pack waiting below.
The Timberwolf pack, taken utterly off guard, spent a second or two hesitating. That was a second or two more than the gray phantom needed, as it proceeded to shred into the Timberwolves with wild and reckless abandoned.
All Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon could do was stare in completely wide-eyed shock. Diamond couldn’t even get a clear look at what this strange creature was, it was moving too fast. More than that, its form seemed blurred, as if air and light were blending around it as it moved. Flickers of pale blue fire flew from it in deadly little spheres impacting among the Timberwovles and sending them into panic even as the gray phantom tore into their wooden forms.
It wasn’t even a contest. The Timberwolf pack was reduced to half its original size within the span of a few eyeblinks, the fallen half broken apart or burned to char. The remaining pack turned tail and fled. Timberwolves would stand and fight against many foes, but fire of any kind was one of their few banes, even the strange blue flames wielded by this sudden and terribly swift foe.
The fight was gutted right out of the pack, and so it fled. The blueish gray creature pursued, so quick that Diamond Tiara still couldn’t get a glimpse of it beyond a vague sense of a fox-like shape, and swirling, fluffy tails.
Within a minute the frightful howls of the Timberwolf pack dissipated into the distance, leaving the two fillies just shaking and catching their breaths. After a moment Silver Spoon finished climbing atop the hillock beside Diamond Tiara, fear still shining in her eyes.
“What... what was that?”
Diamond Tiara’s eyes remained staring into the forest where the gray phantom had vanished in pursuit of the Timberwolves.
“I have no idea.” Diamond Tiara said, then a smile of wonderment plastered itself across her face.
“But it was awesome!”
“Huh?” Silver Spoon cocked her head, “Diamond, are you feeling right in the head. That was horrifying!”
“Well, yeah, but also cool! Did you see how it moved!? I’ve never seen anything that fast!”
“Yeah, and when it's done chewing on Timberwovles, it might come back for us!” said Silver Spoon firmly, tugging at her friend with a hoof, “C’mon, let's get out of here before it gets done chasing those twig piles!”
Diamond Tiara glanced at Silver Spoon, saw the clear fear still swimming in her friend’s eyes, and gave an understanding nod. “Okay, okay! You’re right. Let’s get out of here before something else tries to eat us.”
The back of the hillock was too overgrown to find a way down that way, so they were forced to climb back down the rock slide, but that only took a few moments. There were still a few faint howls of frightened Timberwolves echoing across the forest boughs, but the two fillies ignored them and quickly made their way back down the trail they’d followed. It was evening by now, and the light was starting to fade, but true twilight was still hours away. Even so, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon moved at a quick pace, Silver Spoon constantly looking over her shoulder with fear and Diamond Tiara... less with fear and more just curiosity.
What had that gray phantom been? Some strange creature of the Everfree? She’d never heard any story that spoke of such a thing.
“Whew... home free.” Silver Spoon sighed, visibly relaxing as they finally reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. A wide field of tall grass was all that separated them now from the bridge over the creak that’d lead back to Ponyville. The homey thatch roofs were their curls of smoke from evening fires in hearths were in sight, and even Diamond Tiara had to admit that all she wanted now was a warm bath and a comfy couch.
As the pair trotted out into the field, Diamond Tiara heard the faintest of rustles behind her. Silver Spoon heard it to, spinning around in fear, but Diamond felt oddly calm as she turned around.
It was perched up in the trees, largely obscured by the shifting branches that swayed under a warm breeze. Fur a strange mix of blue and gray, pale and luminous, reminding Diamond Tiara of a cloud at dusk. Two eyes, bright, deep, and icy blue. She couldn’t see its form fully, but it was large, and for some reason Diamond Tiara thought it had a feminine grace about it. The phantom stared at her and Silver Spoon, and while her friend tensed to run, all Diamond Tiara could think to do was smile and offer a friendly wave.
“Thanks for saving us. We owe you one.”
“Diamond...” Silver Spoon whispered fearfully, but Diamond Tiara just kept going.
“Anyway, my name’s Diamond Tiara. What’s your-”
Before she could finish the question, the phantom vanished. It was as if one moment it was there, staring at her, and the next, with a simple sway of the branches, it was gone.
“-yours?” Diamond Tiara finished, then blinked. “Well, okay, guess she’s shy.”
“Shy!?” Silver Spoon groaned, “Let’s just count ourselves lucky it wasn’t hungry. Diamond, come on, let’s go home already.”
Silver Spoon was all but dragging her along by the tail at that point, and Diamond Tiara sighed, allowing herself to be lead back towards Ponyville by her understandably unnerved friend. It wasn’t as if Diamond Tiara hadn’t been scarred too, at least a little. But that fear was overcome by the same kind of accepting curiosity that had also once driven her to make friends with a transformed giant from another world. She hadn’t been afraid of Destroyah either, and strangely, she wasn’t afraid of this gray phantom.
Whoever or whatever they were.
----------
Jeog fled. She wasn’t even certain why she’d felt the need to follow the two tiny ponies. It certainly wasn’t to ensure that they got out of the forest safely! Nope, she didn’t care about that. At least that was what she repeated to herself as she rushed along the tree branches, making her way back towards the Whitetail Woods.
It was foolish of her to reveal herself to the ponies. Foolish, foolish, foolish! What if they told other, bigger ponies what they saw? And then those ponies would tell more ponies, and those more, the way mortals jabbered on! Then, somewhere out there in the world... the Hunter would hear.
The Hunter would hear, and then come. She’d come with fire and iron, with all the deadly things that hurt and slayed. And there would be no more hiding.
She continued admonishing herself all the way back to her cabin lair, growling and scraping at the door, and pacing about inside with twitching frustration.
Why had she done that!? Why had she saved the tiny ponies!?
As much as she tore at herself with those questions, the answer was as simple as it was obvious. Because it had felt good to hear voices again. Voices besides her own thoughts.
”My name is Diamond Tiara.”
Jeog pawed around her bed of piled straw and blankets, laying down and placing her head upon her folded paws. In her mind’s eye she saw the tiny pink pony, the little mortal as she stared at Jeog... unafraid.
”Thanks for saving us. We owe you one.”
Slowly her growls turned to contented yips. The danger of the Hunter was a distant thing, from many years ago, and Jeog was so very, very bored of being alone.
Perhaps this time it would be different. Perhaps this time it was safe.
----------
Elsewhere, in Equestria...
Night had fallen over the mountain pass, not far from the northern coastline. Few dared travel the old pass in daylight, let alone in the growing dark of night. Yet it had been one of the only ways to reach some of the northern fishing villages, and she refused to accept that her quarry had left no trace somewhere for her to follow.
Up and down the coast she’d travel, until she found the scent again.
She wore a dark brown cloak that covered most of her form, making her little more than a bulky shadow moving with smooth grace down the rocky pass. Only the tip of her green snout, tipped with fine white scales, and the gleam of her gold eyes could be seen from the shadows of her cloak’s drawn hood. Her eyes focused ahead, filled with burning, unrelenting anger and hate.
No matter where her prey ran, no matter where that thing hid itself, she would find it.
Amid the tall boulders lining the side of the pass a form arose, huge and menacing. The manticore was of a mountain born variety near twice the size of its forest bound cousins. Dark bat wings spread over a thickly muscled lion’s body. A black carapace of a scorpion tail rose above the manticore’s head as it let out an ear bleeding roar and hungrily dove upon its intended target.
The cloaked figure halted as the manticore descended, and she turned her head just enough to fix one rage filled eye upon the beast. The manticore sensed a moment too late that the prey it had chosen was no helpless traveler at all, but a beast far more savage than even itself.
Less than a minute later the mangled remains of the manticore were left where they lay in the center of the road, and the cloaked figure continued on her path, eyes forward and unblinking as she walked on, tireless, relentless... a Hunter.
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
980 users online
1,827,750 hits today, 2,454,720 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 haven't read those stories or that comic arc, but the confusion wasn't that bad.
You definitely have my interest. I'll keep reading for sure!
(Also, you're so lucky you're such a prolific writer.
)
Did Ki Seong think Cho Yun was cheating on her with Jeog?
In Sound of Thunder, Diamond Tiara's mother was named Spoiled Sweet, and it was implied her family was rich. But I understand that this is your own spin on it. This story is cool. I'll read more later.
8894311
*nod* When I was going over things with Tarb he did mention this, but told me the concept of the family being poor instead of rich worked in this case. As for the name, I could change it if necessary. My thought that was, much like Spoiled Milk changed her name to Spoiled Rich in the Mainverse, that Spoiled Sweet did the same here.
Not a bad first chapter at all, in my opinion.
Kind of sad, that Diamond got a mother who's not a total bitch at the cost of her fortune.
I thought the evil kaiju were living in Everfree? Or did they move out?
8894311
I think what happened is Ki tried to kill Jeog because she's from a family of monster hunters, and Cho died trying to protect her. Ki naturally blames Jeog for everything.
Nicely done my friend, I like where you went with Jeog.