• Published 24th Oct 2012
  • 1,597 Views, 46 Comments

Music of the Night - CharlieOist



Princess Luna's birthday is coming up,and a mysteriuos musician shows up and complicates things.

  • ...
9
 46
 1,597

A Perilous Journey

“Tw-Twilight? I don’t like this…” The pink- maned pegasus glanced around. They had been traveling through the Everfree Forest for hours, and hadn’t seen hide nor hair of any creatures, dangerous or otherwise.

"Ah’m with Fluttershy on this one. Ah don’t like how quiet it is out here.” Applejack, normally fearless, was glancing around, her eyes wide with fear, as though the trees themselves were after her.

“You guys are just scaredy cats.” Rainbow Dash said, not feeling the confidence that was in her tone. She was, in truth, just as scared as the rest of them, recalling what had happened last time they had been in the forest, during the Nightmare Moon incident. She recalled when she had almost abandoned her friends just for a chance to be in the Shadowbolts. She had felt disgusted for even considering it afterwards, but consider it she had, and she couldn’t change that.

Out of all of them, it seemed, it was Pinkie Pie who was the least affected. She bounced at the front of the group beside Nightsong, the red-maned unicorn who they had agreed to take to the castle where they had last seen Nightmare Moon, chattering away as only Pinkie Pie could.

Eventually, though, even Pinkie ran out of things to say, and it was Nightsong himself who lightened the mood, levitating a flute out of his saddlebags. He had two more bags and a cello case strapped to his back, but didn’t seem to mind it. He put the flute to his lips, still held in his magic, and Twilight winced. Magic could cause serious damage, even a simple telekinesis spell, and at that range, if the spell went wrong… It didn’t bear thinking about. She had seen magical mishaps first hand in Celestia’s Magic School.

The unicorn stallion began to play, and all at once the forest came alive. Wind rustled the trees, and the sound of creatures scuttling through the underbrush became apparent. The ponies all became entranced within the melody, a fast tune resembling birds tweeting. Coupled with the sounds from the forest, it was impossible to tell it differently from one of Fluttershy’s compositions with her bird choir, and for a moment each of the Elements looked around for the little creatures to be following them.

The song seemed to banish the darkness of the forest, and for a moment, everyone forgot they were in the Everfree, looking around and taking in the dark beauty of their surroundings. The trees overhead blocked out most sunlight, but here and there along the path rays of bright light penetrated the deep shadows, revealing the forest’s glory. The year was getting on towards autumn, and here in the Everfree, the trees were already losing their leaves in the unnatural way of the forest. Flowers that normally only bloomed at night grew on the sides of the path, illuminating the shadows in a pale, moonlight blue. Poison joke, as well as other plants known to grow on in the infamous Everfree, dappled the landscape in pale colors of blues, reds, and purples. Every now and then, eyes could be seen staring at them from the shadows. The music stopped for a moment. “I bet this forest is beautiful at night,” breathed the black unicorn. He examined the forest with open curiosity for a moment, before putting the flute back to his lips and playing a different tune, one much slower and calmer, which brought to mind the forest in a more moonlit scene.

Crack!

Everypony froze. The music stopped, its echoes fading as the notes did. There was a rustling in the trees, and growl made the hairs of everypony’s coats stand on end. “Tw-Twilight…” the yellow pegasus whimpered.

“Everypony run. Now.” Twilight’s face was a mask of concentration as she put up a shield around herself and the others.

With that, the stillness that had seemed to taken hold over the forest from the moment they had entered broke, and as they ran, the forest came to life. Howls and squeals broke out as a giant manticore burst from the trees, snarling and swiping its giant claws at them only to have the deadly weapons bounce off Twilight’s shield. It sat, stunned for a moment, as the pony’s ran off down the path to the castle. Then, with a roar, it took off after them, its size hindering it more than helping it in the small pathway made by and for ponies. As hindered as it was, however, it still managed to keep them in sight, and actually gained on them a little, as it chased them through the forest.

“Fluttershy! Can’t you do something?” Twilight yelled as they raced through the forest. She had long since dropped the shield; since they had all managed to get farther from her then she was willing to extend her it. She was loath to waste too much magic, as she knew it may come in handy later, and if she were to waste her stores now, she may not be able to recharge it when they got to their destination.

“Sorry, Twilight! This is a territory thing! That’s a mother! I’m not sure she would listen to me, even if I could get close enough to communicate.” Fluttershy had stopped and used her wings to hover as she waited for Twilight so that she could be heard over the noises that now filled the forest.

They had only been an hour’s walk away from the castle when the manticore had attacked, and running effectively quartered that time, so that fifteen minutes later, they were approaching the bridge that marked the crossover to the island on which the castle had once stood, the manticore hot on their hooves.

Rainbow Dash, having already crossed to make sure the rope bridge was secured (and to be ready to unsecure it should the need arise), was motioning them across. Applejack, the fastest of them, was already halfway across. The rest of them arrived just moments afterwards.

Fluttershy, already in the air, flew across the chasm, leaving Pinkie Pie, Nightsong, Rarity, and Twilight to decide who went first. The bridge was only stable enough to handle them one at a time, and the manticore was fast approaching. Twilight made a split-second decision. “Pinkie! You go across first. Rarity, help Nightsong and I keep the manticore at bay, then you go across! I’ll-“

“Follow right after them.” Nightsong interrupted.” I shall go last. I did not pay for protection. I needed an escort. Now that I’m here, your job is done until we begin the return trip.”

Twilight glared at the stallion before her. “We’re in this together. I’ll stay on this side. I’ve got more magical power.”

“Ah, but can you use it correctly? I’ve had years of practice. Confusing a manticore shouldn’t be a problem… Or… there IS another solution. I’ll cross the bridge at the same time as you teleport over.”

Twilight’s surprise must have shown on her face, because Nightsong smile. “I do my research on ponies before I meet them. Especially those who could destroy me in a single blast. Now, get ready!”

The manticore reached them just as Rarity started across. Twilight threw a bolt of magical energy at it, which the beast dodged easily, before teleporting behind it.

Nightsong, leaning towards more traditional style, seemed to pull the shadows from around him, creating two copies of himself, then pulled out a short sword from his ever-present cloak while the manticore was distracted. Creating a shroud of shadows around himself, he vanished; only to reappear moments later in on the manticore’s left side, stabbing at it with the sword. The manticore roared, rearing back to strike at the new threat.

Twilight chose this moment to strike. Summoning a large amount of magical energy, she teleported the manticore away, then, riding the same magic buildup, teleported herself across the chasm, where she collapsed, having tired herself during the assault.

Finding himself no longer in a melee with a large, carnivorous beast, Nightsong shoved his sword back beneath his cloak, then raced off towards the bridge. The manticore, momentarily confused, roared and leapt after him, landing only a few feet behind him as he began his frantic flight across the bridge.

Glancing back to find his foe only feet behind him, Nightsong put on an extra burst of speed. The manticore roared once more, finding its prey already halfway across the bridge. Examining the bridge before it, it let out another frustrated roar, before turning and stomping off into the forest.

The seven ponies sat, huffing and puffing from their exertions. Finally, Nightsong spoke up. “Good work everyone. Let’s *huff* never do that again.”

The others laughed, releasing the nervousness the attack had brought on.

Author's Note:

Well, I'm sorry to have kept you ponies waiting! I was originally going to make this one chapter, but, when I saw how long it was taking, I decided to chop it up! The next chapter should be up soon. Until then, keep calm and be strong, everyone!