A strange event is occurring upon the world when cases of caused disasters and unexplained suicides are being reported. This all started when "They" came, the disturbance.
(A Crossover with the Manga series I all so love, Alive: The Final Evolution. I do not own the cover image by the way.)
When a strange disturbance in the air is felt by many unicorns and alicorns, strange events have been occurring without any possible explanation to their causes. Now, cases of other creatures of various kinds are committing these disasters, while other ponies none would expect, are committing suicide without any reason. What could be the cause of all of this? Is there a sign? Has an omen been brought upon the world? What can be cause of this sudden enigma?
(My Little Pony and Alive The Final Evolution are copyrighted to their rightful owners along with the characters shown and mentioned within this fic. I take no credit whatsoever and give my thanks and proudness to the two owners of their characters for bringing such beauty and greatness into the world. Enjoy.)
I.
‘We were all still alive here on this world...and then they arrived.’
The air was heavy as the sky was cloudy. Pegasi had been working hard on preparing the winter and have been scheduled to do so all over the Northern Region near the Gryphon Kingdom. Unicorns assisted alongside Earth ponies which were all so peaceful until the day when unicorns and the two rulers within a castle located in the city of Canterlot felt a disturbance in the air. A landslide had happened far in the north that wiped out an entire village, causing many crowds to gasp and mourn for the loss of so many lives. A forest fire, spotted further down in the Southern Borders had purged away a village clean from any inhabitants causing ponies to become alarm and question these strange epidemics.
It took two weeks for the rulers of Equestria to stand up from their thrones and investigate the strange natural disasters as well as the disturbance in the air. Eventually, to their dismay of horror, reports of bodies torn apart or mutilated in unnatural ways not familiar to that of any weapon but more of some nature used element caught their attention. They investigated for days, until they finally, on the end of the week, discovered the source to the disturbance and the strange natural disasters. These disasters were caused by the disturbance with intentions from the one who cast it from the start.
It confused the princesses to figure out who was the disturber, but when more reports came in, they were baffled to find out it had been from multiple creatures; ponies, gryphons, diamond dogs, manticores, dragons, and even chimeras. These reports both frightened and induced curiosity into the princesses as they began seeking out sources to lead them to these causers of havoc. None would realize yet, that those causers of havoc are not the only ones affected by the strange disturbance in the air, for there were also others right her under her nose that had the same potential skills to cause even more destruction than the others.
“TWILIGHT, DID YOU HEAR?!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she burst into Twilight’s room. Rainbow Dash was a pegasus with a baby blue coat, rainbow mane and tail, and had the cutie mark of a rainbow bolt striking down from a white cloud. The pegasus’ also had purple eyes that went along with her tomboyish sportsman attitude.
Twilight, a purple alicorn with a dark mane with pink highlights that led down in the middle and matched with her black tail stared at her friend startled from her abrupt entrance from the ceiling inside her home. Her cutie mark was a shining star that sparkled while her eyes were, too, purple. The alicorn shook her head and gave her friend and angry stare, causing the pegasus to realize her mistake of entrance and chuckled in embarrassment.
“Now,” she sighed, “what happened today?”
The pegasus did not waited to explain. “Rose Luck committed suicide!”
Twilight stared at her friend in disbelief. “W-what, but why would she do that?” She asked.
“I don’t know, Lily told me that the mare simply smiled and plunged her own weed cutters into her throat.” Rainbow Dash explained.
“That’s terrible,” Twilight began with a tone of shock, “her life was so perfect; she had a colt and husband for Celestia sake, what drove her to just…kill herself?”
Rainbow Dash could see the confusion spread across the young new princess’ face as she struggled taking in the strange loss of a neighborhood friend. “Look, it’s best to not worry about that,” she reassured, “you got other things to worry about, like getting ready for that meeting with Celestia.”
A memory clicked in as the lavender mare gasped and rushed into her closet near the steps that led towards her bedroom. “I almost forgot, thank you for reminding me, Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders, but expected her friend to be alright once she handled important matters with her teacher, Celestia.
“Hey, I’m gonna leave you alone to do whatever it is you gotta do, okay?” Rainbow Dash called out.
“Yeah, yeah, I will talk to you later; have a great day, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled as she continued to scramble around books and papers from her closet.
Rumors of Rose Bud’s death had spread like a swarm of locust in the rural town of Ponyville. Ponies mourn the death of an old friend, but many also questioned the strange happening to this. Pinkie Pie, however, did not feel the slightest level of gloom and continued to cheer ponies up from the sudden loss. She sent pastry gifts to the son of Rose Bud and her husband named Gentle Thorn. While preparing gifts time by time or every once an hour a day, the pink, cotton candy mane and tail puffy, mare with blue eyes and balloons for a cutie mark continued throwing parties to assist ponies to get rid of their grief and move on.
This worked, however, not with Rose Bud’s family. A few days passed and Gentle Thorn went into a deep depression. He had been spotted leaving his young son home alone and going into bars, drinking until he passed out and was carried off to his house by co-workers from his job or friends. Many of the town’s folks pitied the man and were astonished to see his son focusing on his studies and assisting on ridding his dad’s troubles. It was heart-aching to many to see such tragedy be brought upon the family for it was not normal for a pony to kill themselves in town, but normal for a pony to die of old age. Rose Bud was still a mare not even close to her olden years.
The shy mare within the cottage stared blankly into her wall as her wings were bruised and her mane was ruffled with scratches that matched the ones on her coat. Her name was Fluttershy, a timid mare that had a strong heart to protect her friends when needed the most and animals that she so admired. She was a pegasus, but mostly bound to the earth which she preferred better than the high sky where her race resided the most in. Her mane and tail was pink, her eyes were blue, and her coat was yellow. Her cutie mark was fluttering butterflies which went well for her name she was very proud of.
Angel, a white small rabbit snuggled up next to her, attempting to bring her attention to him from her traumatic experience with the untold horrors she encountered in the Everfree. It all began on an errand in retrieving a potion for a sick bird from Zecora, a zebra alchemist, but ended in drastic results when she came across a pony. It was no ordinary pony, but there was a manticore behind it that charged at her without hesitation.
She flew as fast as she could away from it, going through bushes and leaves on the branches, but the thing persisted on her tail without daring to stop and give up. It took her long to finally become exhausted and begin slowing down. The manticore took this as an advantage and struck her hard with the side of its scorpion tail that sent her flying into the bushes, crying out in pain.
Then, she felt that pulse in the ground that caused her to freeze up and black out. The next second passed and she had awoken into the grotesque scene before her. The manticore had been crushed into the ground with chunks of the ground that split from both sides and pressed into its back. She did not stay to observe the corpse and quickly escaped the area and back into her home. That was the reason why she stared at the wall. The strange thing, however, that had her question a few times before remaining silent…how did her wounds that obviously were bad, healed so quickly?
“Finally, everything is set up and ready to go. It took many days to prepare and retrieve the results I needed, but in the end, it will all pay off.” Twilight said as she levitated folders into her saddle bag that was strapped to her back.
When she took a step forward, she quickly paused and glanced back spotting a small baby purple dragon with green eyes and green spikes on his head leading down to his back and tail fetching stuff in the fridge. She made an annoyed facial expression before levitating him onto her back, causing him to stare at her confuse and surprise.
“Come on, Spike,” she said, “we have to leave today to Celestia’s castle, you can eat over there.”
“But Twilight, it’s going to take long.” Spike complained, folding his arms.
“Don’t worry, I will just fly us to the train station and we can take a ride there, there will be no need to hassle over about anything.” She said, her tone being reassuring and gentle.
Spike took a moment to think before shrugging his shoulders. “Okay, do you have everything you need?” He asked.
“Yeah, all I need is to make a good impression on my first meeting. The Gryphon king is visiting and is curious to my skills in meetings, Princess Celestia informed me to do my very best and speak about climate control problems. The gryphons, as you know, love snow, but since the planet’s north and south poles are changing, they are getting more heat than cold winds and snow, and so on.”
“It seems pretty simple to me since you had over a week to research this topic.” Spike said.
“I just hope everything works out in the way I want it, for now, let’s just get there and hope for the best I do great.” She said, opening the door. When she opened the door, though, her eyes slowly wandered onto the figure that descended from the sky smiling at her softly. She smiled back, but had no time to avoid the plummeting horror that befell from the sky.
Everything became silent as Twilight stared down at the body in front of her. Her eyes became widened with shock as her mouth gaped open. Tears began to stream down her quivering face as her body started trembling. What rest on the ground dead in front of her…was her.
“Twilight?” Spike called, causing her to snap out of her gaze as she found that she was not on the ground. She turned to Spike, staring at him confused before glancing around. “Twilight, are you okay?” Spike asked.
“I,” she paused before beginning in a frightened tone hidden behind her calm exterior, “am alright, just tired, that’s all, there’s nothing to worry about.” She started to walk, but kept her awareness high. Whatever that was did not happen on short notice or by coincidence. Something had to be the cause of that, perhaps, hallucination or illusion.
Strange events on the paper had continued leaving Twilight shock and cautious to her surroundings. On the newspaper she had bought along the way to Canterlot, many reports of suicides have been reported with unexplainable causes. It frightened the mare as she began questioning why Celestia had not stepped in yet to resolve the problem. She was at least at ease when she had founded out in one article of the newspaper that Cadence, her foalsitter, and her brother Shining Armor, had taken action to solving this strange, depressing case.
Spike, who had been walking alongside Twilight was too busy reading a comic book named “Golden Dragon” while Twilight read and walked at the same time. She soon stopped and tucked the newspaper that was held by her magic, into her saddle bag and lifted her assistant onto her back, quickly running down the bridge where the Castle resided beyond.
She eventually stopped once she came across royal guards, being commanded by Flash Sentry blocking her path into the kingdom. He was an orange pegasus with a blue mane that cut through his helmet due to its length, and tail that was neatly trimmed. His blues caused the purple mare to blush lightly as they fitted perfectly with his beaming smile.
“Twilight, I’m glad to see you back in Canterlot, the princess has been waiting for you, along with the Gryphon King Tidus.” He said, stopping in front of the mare.
“Thank you, Flash Sentry, I will be sure to hurry up to them as soon as possible, but may I ask why you are guarding the road to the castle?” She asked, curious to blockade.
“Just like the Changeling invasion, we are preparing ourselves for any threats from these “Disturbers” the princess warned us about. Apparently, throughout the pass week on these questionable natural disasters, reports came in on these figures using some strange type of magic only a pony with magic can use. A gryphon was spotted near a forest in the Northern Regions burning away a platoon of gryphon and pony soldiers that were making their way to the Festival being hosted in the great city of Talos.”
Twilight was relieved for hearing the information that the princess had taken action into this sort of trouble, but horrified by the death of many proud soldiers. She began questioning this, finding a gryphon capable of using Pyro-magic so swiftly on a platoon of soldiers unbelievable.
“That’s terrible, I can see why now that you are stationed here.” She said, looking around. The lavender mare soon caught a glimpse of light down an alley before it vanished into the darkness. Looking back at the pegasus guard before her, she gently smiled. “I wish we can talk more, but I don’t want the princess and king to be waiting for too long.”
Flash Sentry chuckled, “I agree, you should go now. Stay safe, okay?”
Twilight nodded her head as he gave passage for her to go through.
“Oh, and Spike, wait till you read Issue 9, it is going to be crazier than the epic battle in Issue 5!” Flash yelled, causing Spike to become even more excited as he began reading faster with anticipation to hurry off to the next issue.
“What are you trying to say, sister? Does thou not believe we are suitable for scouting through the Gryphon borders?” Luna asked, becoming angry at her alabaster coated sister. They were both alicorns that differ in size and appearance; Luna was smaller by three to four feet than Celestia. She had a dark blue coat with a moon cutie mark that had dark spots. Her eyes were dark blue along with her flowing mane and tail that glimmer.
“It is not that, Luna, it is your safety that I am worry about.” Celestia said in a concerned tone. Her mane was rainbow, along with her tail, and they both flowed just like Luna’s. Celestia’s eyes were purple and her cutie mark was that of a sun, matching her role in the lands in bringing day to her subjects while her sister brought night.
The two were alicorns, siblings, and rulers of the massive land. They had been through strife before, but as years coursed by when the Mane Six came around, their connection grew strong. While their connection grew strong, relationships shared across the lands had, too. Ponies and gryphons had not been the fondest groups together in many years, but when peace came around and understanding one another had grew, each species grew to respect their fellow neighbors.
Celestia and Luna had been arguing on a Scouting Mission which Luna had devised to investigate further into the strange crimes being caused by “Disturbers”, but her sister disagree, finding this sort of mission dangerous. It was still unclear how dangerous and what were these “Disturbers” goal was. She found it best for her to stick by her side in running the kingdom while her kin handled the rest. The two had stopped in front of the meeting room, aware that the Gryphon King Tidus was waiting for them patiently.
“Look, Luna, you must understand that I need you here by my side so that we can maintain the lands. Whatever happens outside of Equestria is of none of our face-to-face concern. We have more important matters to deal with.” Celestia said.
“And what does thou believe is important that she cannot cometh to sending her blood to scout and report back her progress?” Luna questioned, growing irritable at her sister’s dis-agreement with allowing her to fly off and add in some type of support to those in need.
“Luna, I am not going to argue with you about this any time soon now, I have a meeting to appoint to and if you do not wish to stay, return to your quarters.” Celestia said, her tone becoming stern and direct, causing Luna to grumbled and turned around. She stomped off angrily, disappointed of her sister, but Celestia knew it was the best to disagree with such ideas in order to keep her safe.
The alabaster alicorn pushed open the doors and was greeted to see a young looking gryphon sitting in chair resting his talons on the large round table. He looked up at her and gently smiled. Standing beside the gray, yellow eyes gryphon, was a larger gryphon. He looked older and had purple eyes that bore holes into somepony’s head the longer they stared at them. This gryphon was wearing an officer’s hat and also wielded a sword sheathed in a black scabbard strapped to his back.
Celestia felt a bit threatened by the weapon, but decided to pass it off realizing that the gryphon was the king’s guard. Pulling back a chair after closing the door with her magic, the princess, gently sat down and smiled at the young king.
“King Tidus, forgive me for the wait, I had some stuff to attend to quickly, before coming here.” Celestia said in a calm pleasant tone.
“There is no need to apologize,” Tidus said, “I am a patient one, unlike my father.”
“I am sorry to hear of your father’s passing, he did not finish his last expedition to the great ruins of El Pon’rado.” Celestia said, but the gryphon simply brushed off his passing and rested back against the chair.
“Don’t worry, that old man’s legacy has not died with him. He passed it on to me and so I must continue his search and find this city. It is quite tiresome since I used to tell him many times the city did not exist, but he never took my word for granted. He will usually laugh, pat me on the head, and then say, “You’re too young to understand what a king like I will tend to see in his olden years.” The gryphon stated, finding his father’s last will boring by the lack of his tone.
“Must seem quite trite?” Celestia questioned, causing him to chuckle a little with her.
“Yes, but, to be honest, I think it might get me going somewhere. I am tired being in that castle, I would not mind getting out once and a while and exploring the farther lands like he used to, instead I got the worse thing any ruler despises.”
“Paperwork.” The two rulers both said in unison, chuckling again.
The two became silent before their eyes narrowed. Quietly, the three scanned the area without moving, making sure there were no unnecessary ears eavesdropping. When the coast was clear, Tidus leaned forward and folded his talons together.
“You know as much as I that it is not normal for a gryphon to have magic. What happened to the platoon back in the mountains was completely uncalled for and confusing. I assume you gained any information on that gryphon and the rest of those like him?”
Celestia eyes became laced with concern before she nodded her head. “You see, because of that, my sister insisted on me letting her go on a scouting mission around your borders to investigate these “Disturbers”, but I denied such a dangerous request. I do not know what these types of ponies or creatures are capable of, but they are dangerous and can surely not be taken care of with ease.”
“I agree with you,” he added, but his tone became concerning, “Though, I would say she would not be bad in scouting. What about that student of yours, Twilight was it, “No, under any circumstance, she must not leave the country or take in any part of this situation we are going through.” The princess interrupted him.
“You must really care a lot about her, huh?” Tidus asked, lifting a brow.
“Yes, you know already that she is one of the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. To lose her might endanger all of Equestria.” Celestia said.
“That would seem very wise of you to do that, but what if she did not listen and left on her own, will you be able to stop her?” Tidus asked, his tone growing grim.
“What are you implying?” The princess asked, her tone matching his as she felt threatened.
“What I am implying is that you can’t always keep a pony like her down in her place from danger. Especially, your sister, she will surely leave without your consent and endanger herself. It would be best to allow Twilight some freedom but also appoint her escorts if she ever planned on leaving the country.”
“I cannot risk her life so easily for her own personal gain. There are times a ruler needs to step down on something, even if it means being cruel. If it is for the sake of saving her country and protecting millions of her subjects, by my mother, I will surely do so.” Celestia stated proudly.
Tidus gave her a calm nod before backing away to his seat, tapping his talons on the wooden surface. “I understand clearly, Celestia. By the way, where is your student, Twilight?”
“I’m sorry I’m late!” Twilight burst through the door, only to duck down grabbing Spike quickly off her back with her right wing when a sword nearly impaled her. The purple mare and baby dragon trembled in horror when they looked up at Tidus’ guard glaring at them. It took a moment for Celestia to gather her wits and informed him that they were invited.
“They are not enemies, sir; do not frighten them even more.” Celestia said, causing the gryphon guard to look back at her before pulling out his blade from the door and sheathing it into its scabbard.
“I apologize,” he said, “for frightening you two.”
He soon returned by his king’s side and stood still, standing guard.
“I apologize for Raijin’s quick attacks, you pretty much startled him. You must be Twilight Sparkle, right?” Tidus asked, gently smiling at her as she cautiously walked by Celestia’s side with Spike sticking behind her frightened.
“Y-yes, and who are you?” She asked.
“I am the Gryphon Kingdom’s king, Tidus of Maximus. I rule the great kingdom in which was founded by the God of Gryphons, Talos.” He said proudly.
“T-Tidus, wait, you’re the new gryphon king!” Twilight shouted, becoming shocked.
“Yeah…I just said that.” Tidus said, becoming confused by her tone of excitement.
“I’ve come to talk about the shifting climates within your country!”
“Oh, that…I find it boring and wish to not hear about it.” He stated causing Twilight to pause and stare at him in a loss of words. Celestia frowned, seeing how her student struggled to set up for this and looked at Tidus in being consenting, allowing her to give a basis in what she learned. However, the gryphon king only smirked as he looked away.
“Wait…but don’t you want to know about your shifting climates?” Twilight asked.
“No, not really, to be honest…not every gryphon, or most, cares about it. They can easily adapt too many types of weather. The reason why we picked such a place where it is always cold is because it has a great viewpoint where we can see the moon so well and clearly as it is shining over us.”
“I…worked for so long on this. Wasted time on researching everything I can possibly find and creating many methods on ways to solve it. You mean to tell me that all that I have been doing…was meant for nothing?” Twilight asked as she sat on the ground, staring at the table shocked.
“Pretty much, Twilight Sparkle,” Tidus answered, “don’t be too sad, I really did not want you to waste a breath on something so…boring. Instead, I wanted to see you for something else.”
Celestia and Twilight both stared at him confused.
“You wanted to see me for something else?” Twilight repeated as Spike watched her stand up.
“How would you like to become my advisor?” He asked, causing Celestia to glare at him angrily, picking up his plan. She knew she could not allow Twilight leave the kingdom, but also not deny her freedom to choose where she wanted to go.
“Advisor, but why me?” Twilight asked.
“From what Celestia told me, you saved this country many times and have a brain that I would not mind seeing at work, assisting me on my travels in searching for the lost city of El Pon’rado.” Tidus said, causing the mare to blush in embarrassment from the praise.
She soon gasped, “EL PON’RADO?!”
“That’s right, the lost city of dreams, gold, and so much more.” He stated in a poetic tone, enjoying the venomous glare Celestia was giving him as he persuaded the mare to become his advisor. “What do you say?”
“I…” She soon paused and felt something off. She glanced around and froze in fear. What she saw ahead of her, pass over the shoulders of Tidus was that glimpse of light in the dark corner of the room. Something about the light before it vanished had struck fear into her body and made the hairs stand up. She felt the disturbance in the air with the flow of magic and became seriously confused. Celestia noticed her student’s absent response to the king’s order and took action quickly to bring her back into reality.
“Twilight,” Celestia spoke, “Did you feel that disturbance?” Celestia asked, causing Tidus to stare at her confused. The princess gave him a challenging smirk as she added on. “There is something lurking on the lands that many creatures of many species walk on. It is a threat that we are unsure of or incapable of knowing how to stop. Right now, I am sure you heard from rumors that reports of strange suicides and caused disasters have been going on lately and I will tell you that those reports are so very true.”
“They are?” The mare asked as Spike remained confused to what they were talking about.
“Yes, they are. If you decide to go, there will be no telling what might happen to this country since you are an important key to the elements of harmony and student that I can claim as my own granddaughter, losing you might be vital to your friends, country, and me.” She said, causing the lavender mare to look down in deep thought.
‘Smart mare, using words to persuade your student. I now can see why my father told me to be careful around you. You tend to have the words that of a silver tongue devil, exclude the devil part.’ Tidus thought, finding Celestia’s tactics of persuasion remarkable.
“You’re right, Princess Celestia, staying here would be more important than being an advisor.” Twilight said, smiling at her teacher before looking at Tidus. “I apologize, King Tidus, but I must decline the offer in being your advisor. I do hope to visit your kingdom someday, though, and assist on your exploration to the ancient city.”
“Thank you and do not worry, when given the chance, you will be the first to invite.” The young gryphon king said, smiling at the lavender mare. “Now…how about you give me that show and tell lesson of yours with my country’s climate change?” He asked, causing the mare to brightly smile at him as she rushed through her saddle bag, setting everything up. Spike, on the other hand, went back to reading his comic.
‘Our hearts will take us to places we would never imagine going to.’
Rarity had been heavily busy the past weekend, working harder than she had before when a large amount of orders came in from Canterlot and Manehatten. It was tiresome for the mare, but she did not fail to finish each cloth. This was a chance in plunging her business into a golden age in which she will bathe in wealth and joy. She did feel lonely at times since she had sent Sweetie Belle to sleepover at Applejack’s farm and had not visit her to see if she was enjoying her time.
When she had finished the last of her orders and packaged each accordingly into their boxes, she decided that it today would be a good day to visit her sister and escape from the boutique that put her through tooth and needle to finish, though she did not lose a tooth in the process.
Rarity had been aware of the terrible news of the suicides and caused disasters, but paid not too much mind to such dread as she wanted her weekend to be free from horrid news as much as possible. When she made her way to Applejack’s farm, the marshmallow coated unicorn with a purple curled mane and tail that fit perfectly with her high-class Equine accent and blue eyes that shined brighter than the color of her diamond cutie mark, she hasted to her friend’s front door and calmly knocked on it.
When the door opened, she was greeted by Applebloom, a small filly with a yellow coat and red mane and tail. The brown eyes on the small filly were too adorable to admire as well as the special ribbon tied to her mane.
“Applebloom, dear, it how pleasant in seeing you, is Sweetie Belle here?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah, come on in, I will get her for you!” Applebloom said, opening the door wide for the unicorn to enter. When Rarity entered, the filly closed the door and quickly ran upstairs, fetching Sweetie Belle.
“Hello there, Rarity, here to pick up Sweetie Belle?” Applejack called, trotting into the living room. Applejack had green eyes, a blond pony-tail mane and tail, and an orange coat. Her cutie mark was red apples fitting to her name. Just like Pinkie Pie, Applejack’s entire family was earth ponies and owned a farm. Except, they owned an apple farm and Pinkie’s parents owned a rock farm.
“Hello there, Applejack, yes, I am here to pick up Sweetie Belle.” Rarity answered, pleasantly smiling at her friend.
“She’ll be down here soon; do you wanna talk for a sec?” Applejack asked.
“Sure, I do not mind spending some time here, chatting with you, darling. Lead the way!” Rarity said. Applejack nodded her head and walked into the kitchen, being followed by the marshmallow mare.
When they got into the kitchen and calmly took a seat in front of the table, Applejack cheerful expression became mixed with concern. Rarity soon realized the dense in the room’s climate. Something felt off, as well as the disturbance in the air. Her smile faded away and was replaced with a concern expression.
“Granny Smith is gone and Applebloom wasn’t told ‘bout it.” Applejack said causing Rarity to gasp in horror.
“My goodness, dear, I am so sorry to hear about that. Why have you not told her yet?” Rarity asked.
“She wouldn’t be able to coop with it. Poor gal probably trying to ignore that traumatizin’.”
“Wait,” Rarity said, “what happened?”
“How should I explain this? The two found a dead body.” She said, her tone being low enough for only her to hear.
“That’s revolting; did you report this to the police?” Rarity asked.
Applejack nodded her head, but her concerning expression did not change causing Rarity to question this.
“Did something else happen?” She asked.
“Yeah…Big Mac almost got kill by the one responsible for killin’ that pony. That pony was one of our races and was able to do things only a unicorn could do.” She said.
“An earth pony capable of doing things unicorns can do? To be honest, that sounds too strange to honestly believe if you ask me.” Rarity stated.
Applejack agreed with her friend, but facing the event personally had made all reasons to finding this absurd and too unreal to be true unsupportable. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom eventually ran into the kitchen with excited expressions, standing next to their sisters.
Sweetie Belle was a small white filly with a light purple and pink highlighted puffy mane and tail unicorn. Her eyes were light violet. “Hi, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle said.
“Hello, Sweetie Belle! Are you packed up and ready to leave?” Rarity asked, calmly smiling at her little sister, but still wary of the dreaded grotesque horror the young girls and her friend had experienced when they were gone.
“Yep, I’m ready to go when you are!” Sweetie Belle said. Rarity felt like the best the two fillies could do by themselves was by forcing themselves to forget whatever horrors they saw. It was necessary to not remind them or mention anything involving the traumatic event.
“That is great to here, well, it is nice chatting with you Applejack, and I hope you and the others have a marvelous day.” Her tone was faked from being pleasant as Applejack picked up the sadness. She gave her a fake smile, in replying of her actual message and tilted her Stetson hat.
Fluttershy continued to stare at the surface of her wall aimlessly again after taking care of her animals quietly. Her change of character had been too much to bear for Angel as he went off to search for anypony in the town that knew her very well. However, he could not succeed in anypony since Pinkie Pie went off somewhere, Twilight left to the royal city, Rainbow Dash was busy in Cloudsdale, and Rarity was gone. His last source was Applejack, but the poor rabbit felt that travelling there would be pointless since he had no clue where she lived at.
The rabbit did the best he could, without quitting for the mare that raised him. Eventually, he soon found a stranger new to town. A stallion that worn square shaped small glances and know a lot about Fluttershy that made the rabbit both hesitant and desperate to trust him. So, he led him to her, to his shock, the stallion that was in his mild age, managed to get her out of her trance. He had a gray short cut mane with a nicely long grayish tail. His coat was a bit light brown, but what surprised the rabbit was that the blue eye stallion had no cutie mark. It was rare for ponies like this earth one to not have a cutie mark.
“Fluttershy,” the man spoke, “do you remember the manticore that attacked you?”
She looked at him nervously and softly nodded her head, remaining silent.
“What if I told you the reasons for its death?” He asked.
She remained silent, but her silence only risen suspense into the air.
“What happened to that manticore was thanks to your fantastic gift.”
“Gift?” She softly muttered.
“Yes,” He agreed, “the gift that we have and were granted thanks to the “Disturbance”.” He said in a pleasant calm tone.
“Disturbance, b-but what kind of gift kills a poor manticore?!” She asked, her timid tone taking its role.
“A gift that only we can understand, my dear; this gift protects us, leads us, and explains to us things that we cannot comprehend in understanding.” He said.
“This gift protected me?” She asked, her tone softening even more as she felt a speck of relief wash over her.
“Yes, it did and it will always do so whenever your life is endanger. I, however, can teach you how to use it wisely so that it can benefit more to you than saving your life.” He said, smiling gently at the shocked mare.
“You can, that would be very nice.” She said, staring at him.
“It would be, but it would also mean one thing I’m sure you will disagree with.”
She became curious to what he meant and stared at him with a questioning gaze. The stallion picked this up and chuckled lightly, adjusting his glasses that were slightly tilted.
“In order for me to teach you would mean taking you away from all your friends and any other contact within this country.”
Fluttershy became silent before shaking her head. “I-I can’t do that, I just can’t leave all the poor animals that require my care, especially my friends!”
“Your friends would never accept you for who you are with a gift like that.” The stallion said resting his hoof on her right shoulder. “To stay here would mean that you will be unable to conceal your gift. Ponies will look down at you with contempt. They will want you probably dead like the rest of us if they found out a mere pegasus or earth pony like I, could do many things that unicorns are capable of. Our gift is dangerous if misused by an untrained mind, but beautiful to maintain if taught wisely how to use it. Fluttershy, what I am offering you only comes once in a lifetime. I only seek to help you from being targeted as what they call us, “Disturbers,” instead of gifted ponies.”
The mare stared at him beginning to rethink her decision.
“Fluttershy, if you come with me, you might be able to see your friends once again, but with control over your gift. Nopony will classify you as a monster, but a strong talented individual. Do you want to abandon such opportunities that would prepare you for the future when others will soon see your gift; because like all of us, we are bound to make mistakes am I not correct?”
She frowned before nodding her head. “I…want to go then.” She said.
“That’s the spirit. We leave today.” He said, lowering his hoof and calmly walking towards the door.
“But should I tell my friends, “No, they must not know of your departure.” He said, glaring at her with a cold gaze that shrunk her into fear. His smile was not replaced though, instead, it remained there in its calm glory.
Angel did not trust the man and stared at Fluttershy in concern.
Fluttershy noticed her rabbit’s concerning gaze and gently smiled at him, reassuring that she was going to be alright. “Who are you by the way?” Fluttershy asked, staring at the stallion at the door.
“My name is Coup D’état, but you can simply call me Silver Tongue.”
‘We are cautious of danger, but oblivious to its point of existence.’
Shimmering Lion was a quiet and calm young colt four years older than Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, as well as Applebloom. He had a peach color coat and a neatly trimmed mane with a long tail that had a white strap tied at the end of the tip. The colt also had blue eyes, but no cutie mark. He had been struggling in moving on with his mother’s passing, but also struggled with the point of his father’s drunkard state. The stallion did not become sober in a whole week and his support in keeping the bills running and the stallion at work was not doing so great.
The fact that the colt had been outside often was because he was kicked out of the house most of the time. Nopony was aware of this for they were too distracted on the fact that the colt and stallion had lost someone dear to them in their family. He never bothered telling them, nor actually cared for their pity. All that matter was living his life and keeping his special talent secret. A talent he called a curse that caused his father to blame him for Rose Bud’s death. Secretly, deep down in the colt, he believed it was because of this special curse he was given that his mother killed herself in attempt to escape from him.
Who would accept an earth pony that can do things unicorns can? It was not remarkable and since he believed that it was his fault, he believed that he had no right in hating his father or denying the judgment he had casted upon him. The colt, just like his father, was in depression, but never bothered to show it for it will break his character. This town was full of gossip, for everypony knew everypony, therefore, privacy was impossible.
The colt had slept only for a little time whenever he snuck into his house at night, but attempted not to in order to save his mind from the brutal nightmares of his mother blaming him for her suicide. It was intentional, he knew that, but there was nothing else around him to blame or find reasons to figure why. The only thing that was left was him and his curse.
Pinkie Pie eventually came by in her happy demeanor, which he founded annoying and unavoidable, and greeted him. Her voice was irritating: “HELLO SHIMMERING, how are you?! Did you like the gifts I gave you and your dad?! Were they tasty?!” As if he did not hear her the first time. The colt did not answer and continued walking down the cobblestone street. He had no place to go, but he did not want to stay in the area where the party mare would continuously annoy him. He had lost his mother and been kicked out the house again, sleep was deprived due to nightmares, thus making him go into an insomniac mood, and the last he wanted was have her talk to him. Eventually, the party mare stopped and stared at him confused as he continued off.
Finally, when he got away from her as far as possible, he found himself standing in front of the Mayor’s building. This town was annoying to him, but at least safe to live in. Safe…was not the right word he would imagine it in its full glory, but he believed that it was the best to provide for him than being in the blasted cities. He was not deaf from the folks he pasted by along the way, for he heard of the devastating reports of caused disasters by others that were called “Disturbers” and were gifted like him. Or maybe cursed and are trying to survive from the horrible persecution their own kind has casted upon them.
The colt turned around, getting a good view of the many thoroughfares of the small rural town as he sat down on the wooden stairs. He did not care much for this town, but it was beautiful to look at once in a while. When he glanced up at the sky, he noticed how dawn was approaching, therefore, Celestia was about to lower the sun and Luna was about take her role in watching over the country.
]i\‘Would it not be fun in killing somepony with this power like those Disturbers?’
He shook his head, ridding away that dark thought. Killing was wrong; he would never want to take another pony’s life. But then it struck him hard, for thoughts transcribed into his head. He had already done and it was his mother’s life that he took. When she plunged those sharp blades into her throat, she smiled at him, as if mocking him that she was never going to kill her by his own hooves. He never planned to, or wanted to as well.
His began spiraling out in control when confusion had boiled into him harder than he could imagine. He did not want to kill again, that was for sure, but did it really matter. The colt was smart enough to know that it would be a matter of time before his curse become the spotlight central within the small town. Others would consider him a monster or even those “Disturbers”, but he was none of that. But if he told them, it would not matter, they would not care.
The colt was beginning to lose it in this quandary. Until, a soft hoof rested on his right shoulder. His eyes became widened as his body ceased trembling. He turned to his right and saw Pinkie Pie smiling softly at him.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, sitting down next to him.
He did not know how to answer her as he remained silent.
He looked away to the side, biting his lower lip in sadness and fear. Was she not aware of him being a monster? Of course, she did not know his curse. The curse that had his mother killed. The pink mare tapped his shoulder again and spoke up.
“Now don’t do that, you might hurt yourself. If I bothered you in anyway, I’m sorry for doing so. I was just wondering if you were feeling any better after Rose Bud’s passing.” She said, softly smiling at him.
“Obviously, you should have known that I haven’t been.” He said in a cold tone, glaring at her angrily, but the pink mare did not faze. Her smile still contained that beaming soft smile that managed to ease his anger down and stare at the ground frowning.
“True, I should have, but when I noticed your look over here, it struck me with clarity that you were still frowning like a frowning pants! So, how about I make that frown go upside-down?” She asked.
The colt took a second to think about before shrugging his shoulders. He sighed and got up from the wooden base boards of the porch and nodded his head at the mare, remaining calm. Pinkie Pie giggled and hopped off.
“Come on; let’s go to Sugar Cube Corners!”
The hot water rained down on the blue coated pegasus as he struggled taking in deep breaths. His dark blue mane was wet and flat on his neck and forehead as his wings were covered in scratches. Soarin’, was his name, had blue eyes and a cutie mark with two wings opened wide as a thunderbolt was in the middle of them. He closed his eyes and looked up as the water washed away the dirt on his coat. Eventually, after a few more minutes of cleaning himself, he turned off the water and exited out of the shower. Drying himself off with a towel, and putting on his goggles that stood on his forehead, the pegasus trotted out the bathroom.
He soon stopped in the living room and glanced around. When the coast was clear he smirked and flew onto the blue couch facing the large HDTV screen. The stallion released a pleasant sigh of relief before looking around on the table for the remote. Sadly, he could find it and grumbled to himself.
“Time to do this,” he muttered, “with a touch…of…lightning.” He glared at the T.V. pointing his right hoof. Nothing happened, causing the pegasus to blankly stare at the black screen. He started waving his hoof up and down, but again nothing happened. Eventually, he got up from the couch and jumped on top of the table, standing on his hind-legs performing random karate stances.
“This darn screen thinks it can stay off from my mighty powers? Well, let’s see if you survive, “What are you doing?” Spitfire’s voice cut the stallion off as he started panicking. He lost balance on the table and fell back on the couch, panting in relief that it saved his fall. He peeked over the ledge of the couch, glaring at captain and teammate with a cautious gaze.
“If I told you, I will have to kill you.” He said, causing the mare to roll her eyes finding his antics stupid.
Spitfire had a yellow coat with a yellow and orange blazing mane and tail. Though it was not on fire, most ponies around could confuse it to look like it. The pegasus eyes were amber and her cutie mark was a fire bird (I honestly believe that is what it looks like as seen from the wiki pics). Compare to her and Soarin’, the two were clearly opposites. Soarin’ was an easy-going pegasus that was pretty much lay back and foalish most of the time while she was practically the mature version of him. She was serious, but had control in her temper and moods, allowing chances to be given to anypony that might step out of line.
“Have you seen, Rainbow Dash lately?” She asked.
“Nope,” he answered, “I haven’t seen her in quite a while. I just got out of the shower.”
She noticed his flat mane that would usually go back to its combed up style like he usually liked it. Walking towards the TV, she clicked a button on the side and watched it turned on to the news channel.
“Do you know where the remote is?” Soarin’ asked, looking around.
“Beats me, the last time I seen it, you crushed it after playing on the table again with those hooves of yours.” Spitfire said, looking back at him. Soarin’ blinked twice before rubbing the back of his head lightly, chuckling in guilt.
“Oh yeah, I remembered that.”
“I do remember getting a new one, so whatever happened to it, we got to wait a week before I get a new one if we can find this one.” She said.
“Today, a giant split in the canyon had been spotted near the town of Applepolosa after an earthquake happened. The towns nearby did not feel anything earthquake strangely even after it had shook down a few buildings and devastated some of the native lands belonging to the Buffalos. The residents of Applepolosa had promised to help any native and fellow townsmen anyway they could in order to get through the traumatizing event.”
Spitfire and Soarin’ both stared at the TV screen in shock as they showed footage of a massive split in the canyon that stretched miles ahead. Within the great split was only darkness that led down to abysmal lengths.
Soarin’ whistled in astonishment as he started chuckling lightly. “Dang, that has be stretching down into the core of the earth, huh?”
“This is not the time to be joking, Soarin’.” Spitfire said, glaring at him. “I bet a lot of innocent ponies or natives had to be either killed or severely hurt from that earthquake. It’s the first time an earthquake like that happened in the canyons.
Soarin’ lifted his hooves, surrendering. “Hey, I’m just commenting on that giant long hole. I do hope a lot of those natives and any traveler or inhabitant within that area survived. It’d really suck if they didn’t.” He said in a sincere tone, staring at the screen nervously.
“What do you think could have caused that?” Spitfire asked.
“Beats me, probably a rock in the earth slipped?”
“Maybe.” Spitfire muttered.
“That mare said that nopony in any city outside of the canyon felt it, that has to be crazy.” Soarin’ said, his tone becoming serious.
“You know…I am finding that stranger than the earthquake. If it was some natural earthquake, it would have affected the towns nearby. Now I know we are in Cloudsdale, but we would be the first to be call to help anypony in need by the princesses.”
“What are you trying to get at?” Soarin’ asked.
“I don’t think this was natural, I think that this was intentional.”
“Intentional, you mean just like those strange suicides with no clear explanations to why they happened?” He asked staring at his captain of the Wonderbolts confused.
“Yeah, it might have been one of those “Disturbers” and if so, why would they targeted anypony in the canyon. Applepolosa is not much of a fighting town or heavily populated area. It’s more of a pit stop for any traveler coming by. The natives are peaceful and have no intention to fighting unless you start one with them first. Like, come on, Soarin’ it has to be clearly intentionally caused by a “Disturber”.”
Soarin’ took a second to think over Spitfire’s theory before looking at her with a serious expression. “This has to be something we need to report to the princess.”
“There will be no need of that.”
The two pegasi turned their heads to the exit of their home and saw before them their ruler of the night, Princess Luna.
“Hereby where our ears are perked, thou shall order you to work with us.”
“What?” Soarin’ asked, tilting his head right.
“Thou will work with us!” Luna repeated.
“Say what again?” Soarin’ questioned, causing Luna to become irritated.
“Does thou not know what we are saying or clearly speak the equine-psuedo-modern language?”
“I’m sorry, say what-ugh!” Soarin’ was cut off after Spitfire rammed her right hoof into his stomach, causing him to collapse onto the floor, groaning in pain.
“Please, Princess Luna, forgive his foolishness, but we cannot understand you if you are talking in second person and using that kind of language or words of choice. Do you think you can talk like us?” Spitfire asked, smiling nervously after feeling a wave of embarrassment from Soarin’s behavior. She felt sad for hitting him though, knowing that he really could not understand her.
“What I…wished to say is that I have ordered you two to…work for me.” She took her time pausing, making sure her directed words were in first person and clearly modern than pseudo or old.
“For what, might I ask?” Spitfire asked, becoming shocked.
“To hunt down these “Distubers”. We will be known for now on as the Lunar Recon Squad.” She answered.
‘Tragedy is what makes us mourn. Happiness is what makes us rejoice.’
“UGLY! JUST SIMPLY UGLY! YOU ARE ALL UGLY!” A black mare yelled standing on top of a lamp pole, pointing at all the ponies in the Canterlot streets. The ponies stared at her in fright as the mare was a batpony with golden slit eyes that stared straight into the frightened and baffled individuals. They all looked at her in shock as she continued to insult them. Her mane was purple, her black leather like wings of skin were also black, and she had no cutie mark which made her a blank flank.
“You, you, and you, are oblivious to the fact that you are pure gross and revolting to look at!” She yelled with a strong upper-class accent. She soon stopped, spotting Twilight and Spike walking down the road. “EXCEPT YOU!”
The two stopped and stared at her in confusion. It was the second time they were startled, first being the gryphon guard back at the castle before Twilight had finished her presentation. The batpony flew down to them and wrapped her right foreleg around the mare’s neck, pointing at all the confused noble class folks.
“Look at all of them, pathetic and purely soaked in appalling filth. How can one stand looking at such a mess?”
“Excuse me?” Twilight questioned the mare, breaking free from her grip.
“You have to know what I mean, sister; we both can see how much filth they are since they are not like us!” She said, beginning to grin.
“We have nothing in common, I don’t even know you.” Twilight stated, backing away from the bat mare.
“Of course we don’t, but we do, too. We are the same, sister, we are gifted ponies!” She said proudly, placing her right hoof against her chest. Her sharp pointy ears twitched as she glanced back and spotted guards approaching along with a few ponies angered by her disruptive behavior.
“Look, I have to go, I don’t have time to-woo!” Twilight was cut off as Spike held on tight to her after the batpony grabbed her by the hoof and taken her into an alley.
“Truly you have not seen such ugliness, sister!” She said, looking back at her. The two soon stopped at a dead end, staring at a brick wall that blocked their path. “Good, a dead end.” She said in a cheerful tone.
“What are you talking about, why did you take us here?” Twilight asked, getting the batpony’s hoof of her, backing away. Spike stared at the mare and began looking around nervously.
“Sister, the time is approaching; our advent victory shall triumph over the world!”
“Halt!” One of the guards ordered, causing the three to look at them. “We are taking you into questioning for disrupting the peace.”
“Wait, I am not, “Shh, sister.” The bat mare cut Twilight off, grinning at her before she turned her attention to the guards.
“I will not allow dirty hooves from trash like you to take me in for questioning, I shall erase all trash.” She said as her wings opened wide. The guards found this threatening and were preparing to use force if needed to in order to halt any action committed by her.
“Look, we are not responsible for anything she has done to you or the public; she just took us into this alley speaking all this crazy stuff. None of you have to fight!” Twilight yelled, trying to convince both the batpony and guards.
“Do not worry, Ms. Sparkle, we know you are not responsible, but the public have reported this mare insulting them and see that she is arrested for disturbing the peace.” The commander of the squad said, causing her to sigh in relief, but remain worry of both the mare’s safety and there’s.
“But none of you have to fight!” She stated.
“We really don’t wa-*POP*” He was cut off when a massive circular hole had appeared in the center of his forehead. The guards, civilians, and even Twilight stared in silent horror as the guard fell to the floor dead.
“W-what the…what in the Tartarus just happened?” A lower-rank guard questioned, staring at the grinning bat mare in horror.
“Just washing away the trash, that’s what, happened.” She stated as her eyes started glowing. The guards’ metal armor began vibrating, wiping away time for them to react as their eyes blew out and pieces of their bodies went along with them. Blood covered the ground as the dead guards remained still from the strange sorcery committed by the batpony. The civilians had no time to run away as they too went along with the guards. The jewelry on them shook and soon exploded either tearing away chunks of theirs flew or blowing their organs to bits on the inside. No matter what way it was, they were dead with the guards.
Twilight remained silent as Spike became frozen in shock. The batpony started laughing as she turned to the purple mare. “Sister, my name is Titanium Flower.”
“YOU KILLED THEM!” Twilight yelled in terror as her wings opened wide, grabbing Spike tightly and flying off. The batpony only stared aimlessly at the spot she was last on and sighed.
“So loud, really?” She muttered before taking off, chasing her.
Twilight looked at Spike and called out his name, but the baby dragon remained still, petrified at the sight before him. This was too much for him to bear. Seeing Flash Sentry and his squad guarding the passage to the castle, she quickly flew down, nearly crashing.
“Twilight, are you okay?” Flash Sentry asked, looking at her with concern.
“S-s-s-s-sshe killed them! T-that batpony murdered innocent ponies!” She cried out, trying to find sense to her words, but they were all scramble by her fear.
“Woo, calm down, Twilight. Can you tell me what happened? Who killed innocent ponies?” He asked as the guards behind him took noticed to her state of fear.
“T-that batpony, s-she killed the guards after they tried taking her in for questioning just because she was disturbing the peace. All she had to do was listen…she did not…she did not have to kill them.” She said, finding her mind stuck in a fear of spiral. Then it struck her, she remembered the mare chasing her and knew that she was perhaps planning on killing Flash Sentry and the others.
“We will handle, “NO! YOU HAVE TO RUN! AND GET AWAY FROM HER!” She yelled, interrupting the pegasus.
“Sister, why have you fled from me?” Titanium asked, landing on top of a lamp pole. Twilight’s heart sank as she stared back in terror.
“You, you’re coming with us!” Flash Sentry yelled.
Titanium glanced at the stallion and smirked. “Well, you led me to brother, so perhaps you did not flee from me after all.”
“You have to run, she will kill you all!” Twilight yelled.
“What’s this…more trash?” She muttered, glaring in disgust at the guards standing side by side next to Flash Sentry, prepared to defend him and apprehend the mare. Flash Sentry eyes widened when he heard the sound of bones shattering and flesh tearing, causing him to turn around quickly and see his guards in mutilated bits.
“W-w-what the…what the…what happened to them?” He muttered.
“No, no, not again, why, why are you doing this?” Twilight muttered, staring at Titanium in shock.
“Come, brother and sister, come with me and I shall lead you to paradise!” She yelled happily.
“You…you…you are one of those “Disturbers”.” Flash said, causing Titanium to frown and narrow her eyes at him angrily.
“So, the trash out here managed to influence you into believing that and sure did a damn good job at it.” She said. “Don’t worry though, brother, I will get your head back together.”
“Twilight, get out of here with Spike and report this to the princess quickly.” Flash said, glaring angrily at Titanium.
“B-but she will kill you!” Twilight protested.
“Who’s life is important, mine or Spike’s?” He asked.
Twilight frowned before nodding her head. Her wings opened as she began taking off. Flash Sentry watched as Twilight left and put his attention on Titanium who grinned at him sardonically.
“What is it that you want with Twilight and why are you killing innocent ponies?” He asked.
“You should know why I am after her, brother. That’s because we are the same. Those ponies that are not like us are simply trash and must be purge out of existence once and for all.” She stated as she slowly fluttered down to the street.
“To be honest, you just sound insane.” Flash said. “One, we are not related, two, we are not the same, and three…I will take you down for what you did.”
“Hmm…you know what…never mind. I will have to leave this trashy town and go off in search for more of our siblings. Ta-ta!” She yelled, opening her wings and flying away.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Flash yelled, chasing her, but he did not expect the mare to look at him with her left hoof pointing at the lamp pole he was flying by. The metal pole shook before exploding, sending the stallion into a pile of trash bags. Flash groaned in pain, watching the mare get away while becoming shocked from her strange ability. When he looked down at the side of his stomach, his eyes became widened when he saw a large portion of his body severely burnt. Pain travelled across his body, but soon faded away when he noticed the burnt skin beginning to heal quickly and the fur grow at a full rate.
Flash remained silent and shocked. When Celestia, Twilight, and a few royal guards came to his aid, they looked at the gruesome remains of his squad in horror before looking at him worried as he continued looking at the side of his stomach.
“Flash, are you okay?!” Twilight called, causing him to snap back into attention.
“Yeah, she got away.” He said, before looking at the sky.
“I can’t believe one managed to sneak into this country.” One guard muttered.
“No…she was living here the entire time.” Flash said, causing the ponies to remain quiet and look at him.
“So, we’re going on a scouting mission with the princess of the night…what’s in it for us?” Soarin’ asked, nudging Luna playfully, only to back away quickly next to Spitfire when the alicorn glared at him.
“I’ll have you know, your reward will come in large quantities of bits if that’s what you are into instead of honoring title. We have to get into the Gryphon border by passing through the Sequoia forest of Atlas.” Luna said, finding her change of speech quite easy and more understandable than her old royal voice.
“Does Princess Celestia know about this?” Spitfire asked.
“No, that is why we are going through that forest right after we get through the Everfree.” Luna said, causing the two Wonderbolts to look at one another confused.
“So…this is a mission that not even your sister is aware of, being told from that…I think we should be paid B1,000,000.” Soarin was soon smacked in the back of his head by Spitfire who returned a shocked glance to Luna that stopped in the middle of the dirt road.
“Princess Luna, are you telling me that you went behind Princess Celestia’s back? That’s dangerous.” Spitfire said.
“I know it is, but she must understand that this is for the good of our country and we must do anything we can to see it safe. If scout out the area in the gryphon kingdom where most crimes are being committed, we might be able to find ourselves one of those “Disturbers”.” Luna said, looking at Spitfire with a concerned look. “Doing this will perhaps save more than just us and the country, but many others outside of it if we figure out where the core lies in this situation.”
“So…there’s no way we will get out of this, huh?” Soarin’ asked through his painful breath.
“I guess not, since I am already assuming that going back into town would mark us something bad, huh?” Spitfire asked her eyes narrowed at the princess of the night who gave each of them a smirk.
“True, if you leave, I will declare you both defectors of this country and will lock you up in the dungeon.” She said, causing Soarin’ to freeze in fear and Spitfire to chuckle. “So, let’s continue now, shall we?”
“Sure, I’m up for a thrilling adventure.” Spitfire responded, following the princess. She took a quick glance behind her finding Soarin’ quivering in free. “Hey, are you coming or what?”
Soarin’ shook his head and nodded his head. “O-okay!” He said, quickly following the pegasus. ‘I’m gonna die.’ He thought.
“Fluttershy, are you home, you left your door wide open!?” Rainbow Dash called as she flew in front of the pegasus’ cottage. Dash glanced left and right before entering into the small home. The place was empty of critters and the only thing left behind were empty bowls of food. “I guess she went off to give her pets some exercise.” She said, rubbing the back of her mane calmly.
When she turned around, she yelled in fright after being startled by Angel standing at the doorway. Rainbow Dash calmed down and glared at the rabbit before noticing his worried expression. Fluttershy was not around him like she always was, thus, making the mare realize something happened to her. “Angel, something wrong, where’s Fluttershy?!” She asked.
The rabbit pointed straight at the Everfree Forest, stomping his feet. Without a second to waste, Angel was swept up by Rainbow Dash and taken into the dark forest. He held onto her coat tightly, finding her way of transportation new and uncomfortable since Fluttershy was always flying slow and smooth.
“Don’t worry, Angel, we’ll go find Fluttershy if she is endanger!” Rainbow Dash said, smiling down at the white rabbit before looking ahead with a look of concern and determination.
The rabbit wished he spoke her language or understood him so he could warn her about the dangers of the stallion she was with and the strange ability she obtained. He hoped Dash would succeed or escape unscathed.
'Sympathy is not so easy showing when you do not care.'
After the terrifying event with the batpony Titanium Flower, Spike remained quiet and unresponsive to Twilight as she kept him by her side. She, along with Flash Sentry was in a briefing room where Celestia and a few guards, including Shining Armor stood in the center of a round table which a map of Equestria was laid out.
Shining Armor was Twilight’s older brother. He had a white coat, was a unicorn, blue eyes, and blue mane with light blue highlights. His cutie mark was a shining shield, fitting his name perfectly along with his loyalty and noble heart.
Flash Sentry remained quiet among the discussion, staring straight at his hooves as he sat against the wall next to the nervous Twilight. Thoughts continue to go on in his head as he struggle to figure out how he healed so fast. What did Titanium Flower meant about being her brother? He figured that it had to do with his strange regeneration. No pony could have survive from such a burnt mark.
“So, they are in this country that’s what we are all aware of now, how we are going to get rid of them is the important is the question.” Shining Armor said, but Celestia shook her head in disagreement.
“That question is why they are attacking innocent ponies. If they seek something like acceptance or tolerance, then why not ask. It makes no sense why they decided to simply lash out on innocent lives.” Celestia said. The thought of ridding such a kind weaken Celestia’s heart. She did not wish to get rid of ponies or creatures with remarkable abilities because they were out of the order. She only wished there was a possible way to establish a fine peace than a cleansing.
“Forgive my objection towards this, your highness, but you see clearly the carnage that “Disturber” caused.” Shining Armor said, feeling pity for the lost lives against the mad thestral.
“I understand why you are saying this Shining Armor, but you must understand that if she managed to get under our noses, there’s bound to be more like her. I believe it is best we capture one of them and question them what they really want,” Celestia said, placing her right hoof on the map, “This spot is the only way anypony can get through into the country. Since there is a gate guarding our border from the others, something bound to have happened for this mare to get through.”
“Unless…” Flash spoke up, “she was living here her entire life.”
The room went quiet. Shining Armor and Celestia went into deep though, finding this possibly true and useful to assist their search on the “Disturbers”.
“You have a point, Corporal,” Shining Armor stated, “The first reported “Disturber” was spotted in the gryphon regions and was of a gryphon descent. Seeing how this thestral managed to remain under our radar for so long must mean that she never came from out of the country but instead lived here. So…how…how did she gain those abilities?”
“There are too many things we have no clue of and must figure out at the time being. I am thinking of sending Luna and a few guards off to the thestral homeland to ask the king if there had been any strange reports of his kind performing strange abilities normally found in unicorn’s magic.” Celestia said.
Flash Sentry shivered at the thought of heading into the thestral homeland, but a hoof rested on his shoulder calming him down quickly. When he glanced at the pony’s hoof, it belonged to Twilight smiling softly at him.
“I…I’m sure there will be some way in stopping this. That mare will be stopped and justice shall prevail,” Twilight turned her head to her mentor and brother, “Right?”
Celestia nodded her head along with Shining Armor.
“Wait, if I am not mistaken, didn’t you give permission to Luna in going on that mission to the Gryphon Border?” Shining Armor asked, causing Celestia to stare at him in shock. The unicorn flinched at her stare as she became angry.
“I did no such thing. I specifically told her not to.” Celestia said, beginning to panic.
“I’m sorry, your highness, if I had known, “No, it’s not your fault Shining Armor, but we must see fit to retrieve Luna before anything bad happens.” Celestia said, looking at the map. “If I know Luna’s ways in getting into the Gryphon Border easily, she probably went through the Sequoia forest of Atlas.”
“But why would she even disobey you?” Twilight asked.
“She wants to help us in taking care of these “Disturbers” and she believes that the best place to go is the Gryphon Border since that was the first place where most of them were reported living there,” Celestia explained, “We need to find her now.”
“But what about the “Disturbers”?” Shining Armor asked.
“My sister’s life means more to me than them.” Celestia stated. Shining Armor knew what she meant and nodded his head.
“Do not worry your highness; I will go to the Gryphon Border and get her back.” Shining Armor said.
“Thank you, Shining Armor. Take Flash Sentry with you along with a few trained guards. Be careful, there’s no telling what you might encounter out there.” Celestia said.
“Yes, ma’am!” Shining Armor saluted. Flash did the same, hiding back the frightened expression on his face.
“Where is she, Angel?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around as they two walked down a wooden bridge. Off in the distance was the old castle Celestia and Luna had resided in. Angel pointed at it, motioning the pegasus that Fluttershy was in there. Quickly picking up, she flew towards the castle’s entrance, taking a few minutes to get there.
“What would she be doing here in the first place?” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she entered into the castle.
Soon, she made it to the throne room and stopped in center. Looking left and right, ignoring the cracked walls and dreary scenery the old castle obtained, Rainbow Dash spotted no trace of her lost timid friend. But soon she was startled by the sound of glass shattering from down the long dark hall. Angel buried his head in her coat, frighten when she took careful steps towards the sound of the shattered object.
When Dash stopped, she looked down seeing pieces of a broken vase, but she also blood on the ground. Dash looked up ahead and saw only darkness where the blood led. She gulped, beginning to feel the cold air brushing against her fur each time she moved forward. Thoughts rushed through her head, each one involved Fluttershy. Was she alright? The origin where these thoughts came from once Dash finally saw light up ahead.
When Dash came through the end of the hall, her eyes widened before her. White lilies surrounded Fluttershy who stood in the center sleeping against a dead tree. Relief washed through Dash as she smiled happily and flew towards the sleeping pegasus, but was stopped by a soft chuckle. She stood still and began looking around, searching for the voice and saw Silver Tongue looking at her from a distance where the white lilies brushed against his legs.
“Who are you?” Rainbow Dash asked, keeping her distance from the stallion while glancing around the area. She was in a garden area where a large circular hole hovered over the tree where the moon shined down. The mare found this beautiful, but had to focus on the strange stallion ahead of her.
“I’m no one important to you, yet.” He said calmly, adjusting his glasses.
“What do you mean “yet”, what the heck are you doing here and why’s Fluttershy here too?” Dash asked.
“I would like you to lower your tune; Fluttershy must be one with the planet before she departs.” He said.
“What do you mean? Look, I don’t care who you are or what you are doing here, but I am taking Fluttershy out of here.” She said before flying towards her.
“How bothersome.” He muttered in annoyance.
A large blast of fire shot down from above, startling Rainbow Dash. She quickly stopped dead in her tracks as the blue blast of fire nearly struck her. Looking at the blue flames, she stared up and spotted a gryphon with black feathers and red eyes. It was a female gryphon and had a bored look that made Dash uneasy. While being uneasy, she was also stuck in confusion to how a gryphon fired a blast of fire.
“You nearly got her, Silence, almost.” Silver said, rubbing his forehead in disappointment.
“She moved out of the way in time, the next attack won’t miss.” She said, landing on the ground.
“W-wait a minute, what’s going on here?!” Rainbow Dash cried out, backing away frighteningly as Silence pointed her right talon.
“You’ve seen too much, now you must die.” Silence said sending a large blast of blue fire towards Dash that scorched through the ground. She quickly flew up and through the hole, luckily dodging the blast of fire. Silence glanced at Silver Tongue that motioned her to chase the pegasus and without saying a word back, she opened her wings and took off after the mare.
Dash looked back and spotted the gryphon picking up speed already close to being in her sights. She flew down, using the trees as obstacles to stall the gryphon as she went off to get help. If the gryphon did not have those strange powers, she would have fought to get Fluttershy back, but understanding the fact she was powerless against some bird like that, was best to run and get help than handle it on their own. For now, she had to lose the gryphon any way she could.
When she looked back, Silence was not on her tail, but fear dawn upon her again when saw a large dark shadow covering most of the light in the sky. She panicked and flew straight out of the forest as a blue fire ball crashed down into the woods scorching the trees. Silence was not too easy to lose. Staring straight ahead, Dash saw a ravine and quickly took action, flying into it. Silence did not stall too much as she flew down, too, and continued her chase.
Growing irritated, Silence launched another fire ball at Dash, but the pegasus was too fast to get hit by it as she dodged and flew up revealing a large waterfall before her. Silence’s eyes grew wide as she flew up, just inches from touching the water. Sighing in relief, she glared angrily up, only to stare at the dark cloudy sky where Dash was nowhere in sight.
The gryphon became confused, scanning around the area trying to spot something out of the ordinary. She did not know that Dash was hiding above the cloud, keeping quiet and still. She kept in mind that the gryphon stopped herself from touching the waterfall and assumed that since she controlled fire, touching water would have affected that, but she might have been wrong and did not want to find out which was true. For now, she remained completely silent.
“It seems that mare can get away faster than I can imagine.” Silence muttered before looking up at the clouds. She narrowed her eyes before pointing both palms up at the cloud above her. Dash heard the sound of fire being shot and quickly panicked. When the blast of blue fire that burn hotter than ordinary fire separated the puff cloud, all that was behind it was nothing more but the night sky. The gryphon grumbled before flying back towards the castle.
As Silence flew by, Dash peeked through the sheets of clouds, scanning the area before coming out of her hiding spot. She glanced at the flying gryphon that was distance away from her and sighed in relief. She had to warn Twilight and the others about the strange encounter. She feared for Fluttershy’s life, not sure what the stallion was planning to do with her or what importance she carried. As she flew away, heading towards the town, she questioned to herself: “What did he meant about something not being important to me yet?”
