is there hope for those destined to darkness? is there hope for me? please. I just want out.
Alternate universe because this takes place directly before discord's reforming.
When Apple bloom meets a stranger in the woods, she finds that not all is what it seems, and that the scariest of things might actually be friends. After she learns this, she is thrust into a world of prejudice against her new friend. It will take all she has to prove the power of friendship extends even through darkness.
I was walking to school, contemplating the stuff I liked to contemplate, when it happened. I noticed a blood trail on the forest side of the sidewalk. I took out my phone to call the cops. After all, it could have been serious. But then I realized we were trained in the medical profession. So I had the oh-so-smart idea to follow the blood. On my way to the end of the trail, I heard a snapping twig behind me. And another. And another. I looked back, and saw someone duck behind a tree. I ran, stopping naught for the body I had been looking for, which was of a man stabbed to death. I ran so hard, I did not notice the cliff. At least, not until I ran off it. I plummeted, and hit the earth hard, feeling a white pain envelop me. And then I was dead.
Or at least, I thought I was. Until my eyes opened. The light above me was blocked by a shadowy figure. As the figure came into focus, I was astounded to see a pony. A FUCKING PONY! It looked down on me. It spoke. Was I dead?
"Rejoice, Followers! We have perfected necromancy!" I heard screams of rejoice. I opened my eyes further, and stood. I looked at the ponies below. They were all manners of grey, Red, and black. "Now men! Shackle the beast!" Yelled the first pony. I looked at them, and down at my hands. They were claws, with very little bloodstains on them. I wanted more. I looked at the first pony, and proceeded to walk up to him. I reached out and touched his cheek. "huh... I think it is weak. maybe not on the perfected part, but we can still-" that is when I swiped my claw across the pony's face. The ponies ran, screaming. However, being tall, I had no trouble taking long strides over to finish my massacre. I exited the clearing, grinning. That was when I saw the puddle. my reflection was of a man missing half his head, and my arms were freakishly elongated. I looked rather like a monster called the rake, from my favorite scary story website, except my mouth was a perfect circle, and my body was skeletal.
"No... what am I? what have I become?..." I was not dead, but by the laws of nature, I should be.
TWO YEARS LATER
The CMC were in their clubhouse, debating possible jobs.
"ah know what we could be!" said apple bloom. "How about we try demon hunting!" the other CMCs looked at apple bloom like she was crazy, and after what she said, it was very debatable. "ah mean, do you know the legend of Bloodrick?" She asked. The other CMC burst out laughing.
"you mean the forest demon?" scootaloo said through her giggles. "He is just an old mare's tale" she laughed again.
"yeah!" agreed sweetie belle "If you think he is real, go ahead and look, but we know he isn't so we aren't going!" Apple bloom picked up her saddlebag.
"fine then. bye!" she shut the door on her way out.
"Should we follow her?" asked sweetie belle.
"Nah, knowing apple bloom, she will come home. C'mon, let's get snacks."
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SNACK MAKERS!! GO!!"
My prey trudged through the woods. She was at the my clearing. The clearing of Bloodrick.
"Ah, C'mon... where are ya?" she looked in the trees, and in the bushes, but there was no sign of the monster that was me. "I guess they were right.." The prey sighed. at that moment, a breath was felt on her ear. she turned around, and saw the horrifying monster that I was. "B-Bloodrick!" The prey ran for it's precious little life. It tripped and fell, and I loomed over. I longed to feel the bloodlust, but for some reason I felt.. conflicted. The pony beneath me was young. A child, even. The filly squirmed beneath me. "Please, no! Just end it!" Just end it was my favorite phrase. So I reached my claw down... and I could not do it. my last massacre was against necromancers, and arguably in self-defense. The rest were demon hunters. I stroked the scared filly. She squeaked in fear at my touch, and pulled away. I grabbed the filly, and picked her up. "Oh no.. this is it..." she closed her eyes, and waited for her death. I wanted to tell her it was ok, but all I could do was give an inhuman rasp, as I had lost speech long ago. She cried. I wanted so badly to help her. But I did not want to leave my only lifeline to the world. I took her to a Bush, and picked some berries, the filly slung over my shoulder. I set her down. "Am.. Am ah dead yet?" She opened her eyes,and saw me. She quickly shut them. Three minutes later, she opened her eyes again. She saw the berries I was offering."uh.. no thanks. Granny says those berries ahre tainted."
I looked down at them, and crushed them. Little worms were inside. I dropped them in disgust, and rubbed my claw on the filly. "Eww... stahp with the worms.. ah hate worms. They eat all our ahpples." Said the filly. I nodded. "Wait... you can undahstand me?" Asked the filly. I nodded again in response. The filly stood, shocked. "Can ah... go now?" I nodded once more. "Can ah... visit yah again?" I nodded a final time. "Oh. Thanks. Y'know, you're not like the legends say you ahre. Bye now. Oh, and my name is Apple bloom." She left the clearing. And for the first time in two years, I felt happy.
The door to the CMC's clubhouse smashed open, revealing the CMC making a snack out of Apples, cakes, and a wheel. "Ah think we should try something else..." Said Apple bloom, who had just come back.
"Nah Apple bloom. Look! It's working!" Said scootaloo. They opened the oven to a burnt mess and a wheel. "Ah think we broke it." Reported Apple bloom. "Bah the way, I think ah forgot to close the door" She was walking over to close it, when she noticed it was stained. "Huh?" she closed the door, and as it squeaked closed, heard a filly's scream from behind her. she turned around, and saw bloodrick crawling in the window.
"IT'S GONNA EAT USSS!!!!" cried sweetie belle. scootaloo was holding her scooter at the ready.
"I have a scooter and I am NOT afraid to use it you.... you... DEMON!!" sweetie belle covered her mouth, but scootaloo had decided she was going to win this fight. she picked up her scooter, and threw it at bloodrick...
the scooter hurtled towards me, about to hit me in the face. I reached up and plucked it out of the sky. I was about to hurl it, when the door slammed open. An orange pony walked in, her yellow mane flapping in the night wind. she lassoed me, and pulled to the ground. I would have screamed cusses, but my throat was dead, and the filly was here. The orange pony stood on top of me, ready to deliver the final blow...
...as apple bloom watched in horror. apple bloom ran at her big sister, and tried to push her off of rick. she was impacted slightly, but still enough for rick to get up. he reached out, and patted me in the spot that rarity showed me at the spa. it, just like when the masseuse did it, felt great. I squirmed a bit, but settled, as it reminded me of rarity. applejack was pretty much dumbfounded.
"Sis... what is that thing doing to you?" her jaw was nearly on the floor, so I gave an explanation.
"massahge. rarity-ah! yeah right there...- showed me how great they are. ah met Mr. rick in dah forest, in that ol' clearing, right where the legend says. he was really-OOH!- nice."
applejack was basically freaking out as I went on. "YOU WENT TO THE FOREST!? sis, you know that place is dangerous. I mean, look what happened to derpy, for cryin' out loud." she said with a sigh. "I'm just glad you're ok. Now.. umm.. mr... rick. could you please stop petting my sister? It's demeaning!"
Rick stopped petting me, and stood up, only to bonk his head. he fell unconscious, with a bit of blood.
I watched as the creature stood up, and cringed when it fell. poor thing. It seemed perfectly nice, and had the intelligence of at least a basic pony. It would probably be judged all the way to tartarus, because of its features. even as I slowly got used to its presence in the room, it seemed off. unnatural. I decided I would call twilight in, because this was not good news. scootaloo, who had been watching from the other side of the room, inched over to me.
"are you sure that thing is not evil? because It looks pretty scary." I had to admit I agreed, but apple bloom had a knack for finding bad ponies. And If she could find bad, why would she not find any here?
"I can't be sure. It looks horrifying, and seems unnatural, but acts like a normal pony. sweetie belle, would you go get twilight? I have a bad feeling about this..."
I stood, staring down at the monstrous creature. Funny, the breathing was raspy, and not in a good monster way. I leaned closer, and looked at it's neck. Then I realized some of the vocal cords were as weak as a string. This thing looked dead. But it seemed alive last time I checked. Only one explanation for that...
"undead..." I whispered, inching back from the being. It seemed to barely be alive at all. I wondered how long It would be. How long before what was left wilted away.
I woke up to a blanket. more ponies had arrived. one, a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, was looking at me with clear distrust.
Another Pegasus, this one yellow with pink hair, was giving me a sympathetic look. There was also a crowd of many others, but these two were closest, and all the crowd was doing was muttering amongst itself. I tried to stand up, but I was tied down. I wanted to cry, to feel better, but my tear ducts dried long ago. So I sat there, wallowing in misery. A lavender unicorn walked up, her indigo hair holding a streak of pink. I wish I knew these ponies, for they seemed most important. The Orange pony walked up, holding Apple bloom to her side. I missed the uncomplicated times.
"Girls? Where is pinkie pie?" Asked the lavender unicorn. An all pink pony, presumably pinkie pie, walked up. She gasped.
"Ohimsoexcitedareyouexcitedcuzimexcitedimeanreallynewponywhichisnotreallyanewponybut-" The lavender one clamped a hoof over pinkie pie's mouth.
"Shush. This thing is made of necromancy. Black magic pinkie, black magic." I realized what they were going to do. I struggled, but for no use. They had me bound tightly. I tried very hard, but only succeeded in a fart, I tried harder, and managed to cry blood. Not my day. A white unicorn with purple curly hair was dragged in.
"NO, YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!" It cried. "THAT THING SOUNDS HORRIBLY UNFASHIONABLE!" She was slowly dragged up to me, and eventually turned around to do something. I soon found out what. They all put on necklaces, except for the lavender one, who put on a tiara. She began to call out names.
"Fluttershy?" The yellow one nodded
"Pinkie?" She nodded
"Rarity?" The white one nodded, determined
"Rainbow?" The rainbow maned one nodded and growled
"Applejack?" The Orange one nodded, and spoke.
"Sorry sis, but your new friend is dangerous, and has been known for murder." A rainbow of colors came out of the jewelry. At first it tickled me but then it hurt. I cried in pain as I began to fade.
"Murder of who?" Asked a voice. "Because last time ah checked, legends don't make it true!"
I began to fall, a light below me.
"Or did yah forget about zecora?"
The pain stopped, but I drifted off. Sleep seeped into every piece of me, and soon I was unconscious.
Hatred consumes in a slew Never knowing what it has bourne anew.
The Questioning Awake. Prey must be nearby. Prey always wakes me up. I opened my eyes to a few ponies arguing. Oh wait.. the earlier fight, if you could call it that. the yellow one -fluttershy, that's it- was speaking with the pink one. pinkie pie, I think it was. what a creative name. I looked at... I think... applejack, yes, applejack. she was arguing with apple bloom. the purple maned one, rarity, was fainted dead away near me. The rainbow maned one, rainbow dash was arguing with the tiara one near me. oh jeez... rainbow dash! That one hates me! I whined and struggled a bit, and a pony next to me, the tiara one, spoke.
"girls, it's awake!" said the tiara one. everyone stopped moving. "can.... you.... hear me?" She asked. I nodded, thinking of my clearing. It was nice there. it had rabbits and birds, and even a few- "good. we are going to give you a test, a special one, and I want you to answer truthfully, or the element of honesty will blast you to pieces" she said, pointing her hoof to applejack. I did not know if they were bluffing, but they sounded serious. "one. why are you here?" she asked, only to be interrupted by Pinkie pie.
"uh.. twilight, I don't think it can speak. look at it's vocal things!" Pinkie pie pointed out.
the recently Identified twilight started. "oh.. uh.... Aha!" her horn glowed. I had seen this before. it was in the woods, when some monster hunters tried to shoot me. they were using that glow to pick up their bows. Twilight's glow was the color of her hair stripe; pink. she did something only describable as magic. I had no Idea what it did. after all, I'm not a magic horse. I was jolted out of my thoughts by a poke. "You can speak now right?" Twilight said. "Because this spell may not work, after all, it is from the discount bin."
I decided to try out speech "uhh.." I fumbled for something to say. "I think your tiara is sideways.." the unicorn started, and moved her tiara to the right spot on your head. "If you want, I could tell you how I got here"
"That would be good"
Ok, so what might be about 100 years ago, things called humans ran this planet"
"We have been on equus for thousands of years"
"Yeah, well, I don't know how long I was out. Anyways, I died by being chased off a cliff, and I was ressurected by necromancers"
"But the legend says-"
"Let me finish, please. Anyways, I was resurrected by necromancers, who wants to use me for god knows what"
"You mean celestia"
I grumbled, tired of the interruptions, but continued anyways. "Well, I killed them, and then I saw myself in a puddle. Seeing how horrible I was, I did not leave. And here I am, many hunters, and immeasurable time later, right before you. I came to Apple bloom expecting a hunter, and I get six"
Twilight spoke "Hmm.. you do not seem to have any bad intentions, though you seem a bit senile. however, I could hardly call myself an element of harmony if I wasn't harmonious. You are free to go"
"but if I catch you being mean, it's lights out!" Threatened rainbow dash.
I nodded and they magikced away my ropes. I looked at Apple bloom. "Thanks" I smiled weakly, though it probably looked like nightmare fuel. She nodded, unsure of what to do now. I couldn't blame her.
"Wait a minute..." said Applejack. "How did yah know mah sister's name in the story.." she looked at me suspiciously, and Apple bloom gave a bad poker face. I have would lied for her sake, but then realized that applejack was apparently the element of honesty, and whatever that meant probably was not good for liars. But how would they react to me tattling on her sister? Thankfully, Apple bloom stepped in.
"That was me" she proclaimed, as if sensing my dilemma. Applejack looked at her...
...And spoke. "Sis, you know better than to talk to strangers" I couldn't believe it. My sister not only brought this poor guy here to be judged, she told a stranger her name! So much for letting her stay home alone... no way am I letting this happen again. "Sis, you are grounded" Apple bloom looked hurt.
"But applejack.."
"No buts. I can't believe you. Poor guy mighta been killed..." I sat down, thinking about...
...what they were saying. Why would I be dead? That did not sound nice. I wondered why I was suddenly energetic. Well, I did just wake up. Yet somehow, I felt more alive. I decided to ask twilight.
"Umm.. what do you think extra energy means?" Twilight looked up from reprimanding Apple bloom.
"I don't know, need some tests run as an apology?" I nodded. Science might help. Twilight stood up, and suddenly, in a flash of pink, I was in a wooden library. The drapes were down, and calculations labeled "undoing necromancy" were everywhere. She put on my head one of those science-y monitor hats. she left for the back room, to check notes or something
A few minutes later, twilight came out of the back room again. her face was pale "I am so sorry..." I was going to ask what the heck she was talking about, but kept calm. "your necromancy was wilted by the elements of harmony... we cannot save your eternal life spell..." she sighed. "I suppose that's good though... oh, and you are free to go around town with me, if you feel ready" I nodded. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
