> Stallion of the Everfree > by Wolfoftheforest > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fear, the collection of nerves when tingled the right way creates a spark. A spark that sends a shiver down the spine, making the blood run cold and causes most to freeze in place. This fear is what I’m facing as I am riding on the back of a creature that I have never seen before. It looked like a horse, but it was completely different in a way. Instead of having a brown mane like ours, its mane was blue. Instead of a brown, black, grey, or white coat like ours, its body color was red. The biggest difference was the fact that it had feathery wings sticking out of its side. I’m currently lying curled upon its’ back atop a pair of straps. The straps were connected to a pair of beige pockets on its side. As it bolted through the warm forest I call home, a loud hungry growl was heard, sending another spike of fear from a beast I have yet to see. Telling by the deepness of the growl, it was a humongous beast. The horse-like creature picked up its’ speed as the trees went whizzing by. Craning my head to look behind me I saw the beast I hope I would never have seen. It was a behemoth. Standing at least twice the size of the horse-like I was riding on. It had beady red eyes which gleamed like a fire stone. It had patches of brown mud caked fur all over its body. The parts that were bare was jet black. Its’ mouth was giant. Two fangs protruded from its bottom jaw. ‘Of all creatures in this forest it has to be this one. It had to be the King of Beasts.’ I thought as I cowered closer to the horse-like creature. The horse-like creature said something, I could only assume was something reassuring, as I couldn’t understand her. The sound of her voice definitely told me that she was female. She had jumped through a small hole in a great oak tree. The beast had tried to follow her only to become momentarily stuck, due to its large frame. The horse took its opportunity to ditch me as she reached a bramble with a small opening in the bottom. She lifted me with her hoofs, and planted a kiss on my head. I saw a few tears escaping her magenta eyes and streaking down her fur. She pushed me into the gap as far as she could before taking off. ‘Don’t leave me here to be killed by the king. Come back and save me!’ The sound of splintering wood told me that the king had escaped from its wooden prison. I held my breath and pushed myself backwards as the sounds of breaking twigs told me the beast was running towards me. The sounds of paws passed the bush and kept going as I began to breathe again. All was silent as a loud ladylike scream of terror sounded. An Earth shake had started up around me as I slipped into an eerie blackness. I opened my eyes as I was being shaken. A dim brightness illuminated my otherwise darkened room. “Oh good you’re awake,” said a rough voice coming from the direction of light. Looking towards the nearly blinding light emanating from the water crystal hanging around his neck was neck. I saw my brother standing there through squinted eyes. “Xanther, why, why did you wake me up so early?” I asked irritated of being shaken awake, and the bright light now nearly blinding me. “Early? It’s the time of the rising sun already. What were you going to sleep all day? Besides Squirt, mother says I have to get you ready for your celebration and training.” With a smile adorning his face, he turned, and trotted back through the crystal crafted doorway. He Closed the door behind him, and left me in a daze of confusion. It took a moment for his parting words to make sense of his words. ‘Celebration… Training? What does he mean,’ I pondered, rubbing the sleepiness from my eyes with my hoof. ‘What training.’ Looking at the calendar, I notice that it was the 13th. ‘Yes, I can’t believe I’m finally old enough to start my water defensive training.’ I quickly rolled out of my grass bed, and cantered after my brother. I left the darkness of my room, and blinking stepped into the light of the great circle. My nose was assaulted with the sweet scent of warmed Apple Porridge. Following my mud caked muzzle into the kitchen, I see my brother, scooping two big helpings of porridge into the bowls on the stony table. “Where’s mom? Isn’t she usually the one cooking breakfast?” I asked moving towards the bowls. Xanther glanced over at me, “She went to the clearing where the bright circle shines brightest to get your crystal for the ceremony little bro.” He hoofed me a bowl. “Here’s your bowl, eat it fast, because we don’t have a lot of time to get you ready for your ceremony.” I quickly devoured the rainbow concoction. After eating, we immediately left for the traditional clearing. The great circle was shining through a small hole in the treetop canopy, illuminating the small field in the otherwise darkened forest. The field was fairly close to home, which is the main reason why it was the traditional field used to teach basic defense in. I heard the sounds of various animals scampering around, and the fast water nearby. I returned my attention back to my black dirt covered body as a few fish splashed the surface. As I stared, a whip of water hit my cheek. "Oww, what was that for?" I ask, rubbing my now stinging cheek, and turning back to face my brother. "That's for not paying attention," he said. "Hey, I was paying attention." "Ohh? then what was I talking about?" he asked, even though his eyes told me he already knew that I wasn't paying attention. "Uhh..." I started trying to come up with an answer. I can't believe how boring this is. "You said water is the symbol of new life and tranquility but, can be swift like the river or as fierce as the wet season. For me to control it I need to be calm, their breathing and body stance reflect that. You must also visualize it. Hoping I got it right and wasn't daydreaming too long. I watched as his face went from stoic to surprised. "That was five minutes ago." He huffed, binging a hoof to the small, shiny water crystal around his neck. Having come from the Selene temple, it was shaped like the moon. "If you were paying attention, you would've heard me say the necklaces are connected to the crystal in the temple of Selene, and how they help us control large amounts of water." "If they help to control the water, then why can't I have mine yet?" "For one, you need to show you can do this," he said gesturing towards the water. "Before you can use this," pointing to the necklace. "For two, you're going to get yours tonight during the ceremony." “Can’t I use yours please?” I tried to convincing him using foal eyes and trembling lip method. “No, that isn’t going to work. If you remember, these are connected to our very being,” he said tapping the necklace, “Moving on, lets see how you do.” Looking away from him, I stare back into the fast water. The suns reflection caused me to go blind. Clenching them shut, I waited for the pain to subside. When I reopened my eyes my black dirt-covered reflection greeted me. I started to focus harder on the fast water in front of me and started moving through the various steps that I have learned. step 1: breath slowly and focus on the water. step 2: raise front hooves towards the great circle. step 3: lunge one hind leg downward. step 4: drop hooves back towards ground and push hooves towards water. step 5: raise hooves towards the great circle once more. I opened my eyes a few seconds later to see my progress. The stupid water hasn’t even began to ripple. “What in the name of Gaia, how could the stupid water not even ripple! Why the heck can everyone else do this and I can’t!?" I was cut off by a brown hoof holding my mouth shut. Barely being able to see over my brothers' massive hoof, I see that most of the animals have run into the nearest bush or tree. “Seriously?” Xanther said disbelievingly. “Haven’t you learned that you need to be quiet when we’re not at home? You could attract a Wooden Wolf or a Lion Scorpion, and then we’d be in some really deep trouble. Now I'm going to let go of your mouth, and you’re going to be quiet, alright?” I nodded and he let go. He started to swivel his ears . “Umm, what are you doing?” I said as I cocked my head slightly. “Making sure you didn’t just screw us over, now be quiet.” The seriousness of the situation, caused me to shut my mouth immediately as my brother listened for signs of the aforementioned beasts. “I think we’re safe. Now as to your questions, from what I've seen, you did everything right, except you’re still breathing far too hard. Don’t worry about it, you’ll get it eventually. All it takes is practice. You did well for your first try. A tip is to think of a happy thought, it's what I do every now and then," he said as he hit me in the face with another smack of water. "Will you quit doing that, it's starting to get really old." I used my hoof to get the water from my face. "Now, what kind of thoughts do you think about?" “I usually only focus on the first time I saw you. You were so small and helpless. I still remember holding you in my hooves. You were no bigger than a water rock, and as annoying as a ground prickly. ” I thought he was going soft for a moment, before he grabbed me and put me in a headlock and my dirty mane. I tried to fight back by hitting his sides and pushing away from it. “It seems that Gaia and Selene are on my side little bro. You’ve got to try harder than that if you want to escape.” He goaded me as he continued his assault. I finally broke away with a hoof to his side. I quickly rebalanced from the fall to the ground and tried to tackle him. Of course with him being much bigger than me, it looked more like a rabbit trying to tackle a Lion Scorpion. As I collided with him, we both fell to the ground. All hail the mighty rabbits. We rolled around trying to prove who’s stronger by pinning the other. He had me pinned under his massive hoof in under a minute. “Ha, I win. Now say it,” He demanded. “No.” He began to press downward with his hoof. “Say it.” “No.” The pressure started to become too much, and it started to hurt. “Ahh, alright. You’re better than me in every way under the great circle in the sky. You’ll always be better than me. Now let me up please. It’s starting to hurt” And like that, he moved his big hoof off of me. “Heh, sorry, forgot that you have a bad back.” Xanther looked up to see that the Great Circle starting to descend. "We need to get going for you ceremony little bro." He started to walk back towards the kingdom. We were walking for a good five minutes when Xanther stopped by a worn dirt path. "What's wrong?" I asked, catching up to my brother. Once I stopped I heard it, the sounds of rustling leaves and twigs breaking. We immediately took cover ducking under a fir tree. The sounds came closer and closer. The creature showed itself. It was like a horse but was much smaller by about half of the height. It was as if this creature came directly from my Sleep story. The only difference was it was stripped black and white. On its flank was a symbol that looked like the great circle. It had rings around its neck and hanging from its ears. Its hair seemed to stand up as if scared by a crack of thunder or brightness of lightning. What the heck? These things exist. I looked over to my brother, only to notice the fear in his eyes. Whatever this thing is, it's scary enough to scare Xanther. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As she trotted out of sight, into the shadowy horizon, I could see Xanther start to calm. I decided I needed a few questions answered. “Xanther,” I said. He whipped his head in my direction. “What was that, and why were you so scared?” That seemed to get him, as he stood up again. “First off, I wasn’t scared. I’m not scared of anything.” He said, trying to act like the fear in his eyes wasn’t there a few seconds ago. “Secondly, that was an ancient, evil, beast known as a pony.” I tilted my head in confusion. “But, how are they evil, they look a lot like us?” Xanther released a sigh, “They may seem friendly at first, but that is just to lull you into a false sense of security. The moment you trust them, they will hurt you. They are nothing more than backstabbing, murderous, outsiders.” “But what have they done that’s all that bad?” Xanther opened his mouth to say something, when a snapping twig was heard near them, a foul stench was wafting through the air. Xanther immediately snatched me up, and threw me onto his back. Before he galloped back towards the Kingdom, a wooden wolf leapt out of the nearby shrubbery at where I was just located. Running through the forest I heard my brother give out a yelp and slight stumble, it wasn’t very noticeable, but it was there. “Ackycha,” Xanther called up to me. “Yes,” “When we get back, don’t mention the pony or the wooden wolf to mother. We don’t want to frighten horses, do we?” Xanther questioned. “No, I guess not.” I replied, as we entered the densest portion of the forest where the entrance to the kingdom was hidden. The darkness of the area would have made it impossible to find the entrance, but as we ventured into the darkness, Xanthers necklace illuminated the area. Xanther immediately located the entrance in the corner. The entrance was marked with three stones pushed together. Two of them were large as boulders and had the markings of the goddesses of the bright and night circle. The third had a keyhole as big as one of our necklaces. It was connected to the doorway mechanism, which when triggered caused the two boulders to shift apart, showing a clear dirt path passing through rows of trees and vines. Xanther pulled his necklace of and plunged it into the keyhole. A low rumbling resounded around the area, as the doorway was shown. As Xanther trotted through the doorway, he grabbed his necklace. A louder rumbling resounded as the boulders slipped back into place with much more haste. As we entered the thicket, a faint drumming was heard and Xanther stopped. “Alright Ackycha, you’ve gotten a free ride long enough. Time to get off.” He said as he reared back sending me off his back. I landed with a thud on my hindquarters. Locking eyes with him I said, “You didn’t have to do that I could have easily jumped off you know.” Xanther didn’t respond as we continued on our way. As we got closer to the kingdom a wild flickering was seen through the woods, as the drumming got louder and louder. We reached the empire a few moments later. The fire seemed to be in front of the giant, grey, stone made palace. Off to the right was a small temple built for the bright circle goddess Owlwen, was constructed using yellow thunder rock. To the left of the castle was a temple stretching higher and built more lavishly, was the temple for the night circle goddess Selene. It was constructed using only the finest water stones we could find. Above the entrance was of obsidian rock in the form of a croissant moon. The drumming seemed to be coming from in front of the castle indicating that we were nearly late for the ceremony. Rushing off to join the ranks of my brothers and friends of various colors, we made it just in time for mother to start walking towards the fire. She was dressed in her most beautiful of dresses. It was a navy blue that complimented her black coat beautifully. Her mane was done up in the ceremonial style with many colored water stones here and there. “When each of us comes of a certain age, the goddesses of the bright circle and the night circle, bestow upon us a gift. A gift of a crystal, that help us through our daily struggles. Some of us use these rocks for strength, some of use them for knowledge, and others beauty.” Mother says as she hoofs her mane. She then looks my way. “Ackycha, you have finally reached that age. I have been to the clearing where the circles shine the brightest, and the goddesses have bestowed upon me your crystal.” She picks up a package that was near the fire. “Welcome to the age of Stallion-hood Ackycha.” With that she opened that pack, seemingly for the first time, as she was having trouble unwrapping it. She finally got it, and started to unbound the package. I lowered my head down ready to receive my stone necklace. “This isn’t possible,” she muttered softly. ‘That doesn’t sound good’ I thought as I looked up. I saw her staring in shock of what she had in her hooves. Instead of the normal water crystal, there lying in the brown blanket laid a crystal of fire. The outside was an orange, while the inside danced with what looked like a live fire. ‘Is this some kind of trick?’ She snapped out of the shock of the fire stone and continued with the ceremony. “It seems that the goddess of the bright circle have graced young Ackycha with a stone of frozen fire.” Mother said as she held the necklace for all to see. Placing it around my neck I felt a strange sensation. I started when my insides started to warm.It started as if I was sitting in warm water. As the sensation kept going, the heat gradually increased. “Ackycha, you must connect your soul to the stone or it will overtake you.” Mother whispered into my ears. I fell to the ground in writhing pain, as the heat became too much. I felt darkness enter my vision as I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes the darkness was gone, so was the world I knew. I was now in a world of snow white colored light. As I turned around I saw a raging fire emanating from the firestone. As I trotted closer to it I could feel the heat. The heat from the fire seemed to double in intensity as I trotted closer. It felt as if I was in a fire pit. As I went to grab for the necklace, the flames increased in size. I was hesitant when I went to grab for the necklace again. I reached in as the fires flame engulfed my hoof. As I touched the necklace, my vision once again turned black. Blinking, I saw that I have returned to the world I knew once more. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I opened my eyes to darkness, and the feeling of grass underneath me. ‘I’m home? What happened to the celebration?’ As I made to get up from my grass made bed, I overheard whispering from the other side of the door. “Mother you do not mean that. Tell me you are kidding with me.” That sounded a lot like Xanther, but why is he pleading with mother to not do that. And what is that? Were some of the questions now plagued my mind. “Xanther, you know that we must do whatever it takes to rid this empire of the dark one. You know the saying, fight fire with fire.” A sinking feeling hit me as I heard those words. ‘Fight fire with fire?’ I continued listening as I grabbed hold of the fire crystal now hanging around my neck. The frozen fire in the crystal started glowing a light blue. “But mother, sending him away, isn’t that harsh. Just because he got the fire stone doesn’t mean he is going to be strong enough to handle the dark one. You’d be sending him into a slaughter. Not to mention that he didn’t even receive any training for fire. Who’s going to train him, all the fire wielders died when the dark one came to power?” “I’ll have to take him to the Chimera’s. Trust me I don’t want to do this either, But think of it this way; the dark one killed his real mother, don’t you think he’s going to want revenge?” ‘Real Mother?’ I felt a sharp pain in my chest, as if my heart were nearly ripped out. I felt a cold chill in my body. It was very cold, as if being frozen in a block of ice. The whispers died away from me as I resorted to lying on my grass bed staring at the ceiling. The night circle dimly shown through the small holes in the rocky roof. I was brought back to reality by the sounds of hooves coming to the door. I quickly closed my eyes, and pretended to snore to look as if I were asleep. I heard the hooved enter my room regardless. A few seconds later the door closed again. A slight pressure pushed upon my grass bed and someone lye down next to me. The head nestled itself into my mane. ’what the heck?’ I was about to move when I heard the stranger speak. “I won’t… can’t let her do this to you brother.” The now identified Xanther said, but it sounded strange. It sounded as if his nose was runny and his voice was raspy. ’Was he crying? He never cries.’ I decided to stay in bed to comfort my brother until he fell asleep. I fell asleep as a familiar, yet strange sleep story cast its spell over me. I was in a field of dandelions as the bright circle shone brightly overhead. A few white sky puffies, hung here and there amongst the otherwise clear blue sky. As I was running the pollen flew off and into the air. A gentle breeze blew against my fur, and caused the pollen to dance amongst its invisible waves. As the wind blew I felt as if a part of me wanted to join the floating pollen. I closed my eyes as the wind blew and imagined myself soaring high above the ground. As the wind died down, the sensation I was feeling had died down. I continued playing with the flowers. As I tried to make a turn, my hoof got caught on a stump, and I tripped. I came crashing down upon a dead spot full of rocks and dirt. The sharp rocks cut deep into my front right leg, as I let out a piercing scream of agony. In the distance, a soft thumping of hooves upon grass met my sobbing ears. Over the hill came the same “pony” from the other sleep story. I hold my hooves up, as she approached. ’Why the heck am I doing this, is this a sleep story? Why can’t I control myself?’ She observed my injury and planted a kiss upon my leg. For some reason the pain had dissipated. She wiped away the remaining tears sliding down my check with her hoof. She then wrapped me up in her fore hooves and gave me a hug. ‘Why is this not freaking me out? Who the hay is this “pony”.’ I woke with a start to realize that I was no longer in my room. In my surroundings there was orange fog, and it was harder to breathe than normal. The trees nearby appeared to be dead. The ground was barren of any grass. I was lying on the floor of a wooden carriage. The one pulling the carriage looked like the captain of the guard, Night Fury. Night fury was the strongest and most witty stallion in mother’s army. He was a tough stallion sooner beat your face in with a shield, than pick you up. With him it’s either keep moving, or give up, and giving up was never an option. His coat was darker than dark. If it were the middle of the night, you’d never be able to see him. His mane was black, with just a hint of silver, showing his age. If it weren’t for the silver in his mane, you would never be able to tell he was near sixty-seven years old. “Hey Night Fury, where are we?” “Ah Young Ackyacha, you’re awake.” Night said glancing back at me. “We are in the fields of fire. Your mother told me to bring you here for training. You are to be trained by the only resident of this fiery place.” “Who…i” I was interrupted by a blast of fire flow into the sky. The blast had caused me to jump back and huddle into myself as the blast lasted. It caused the surrounding area to get a lot hotter than before. I could feel beads of sweat start to run down my muzzle. “Where is Xanther?” I nearly cried. “He had to train the troops today, otherwise he would likely be here with us.” We stopped in an open area clear of any blasts. In the distance was a shadowy figure walking towards us. “Who goes there?” said a male’s voice that emanated from the creature. “It is I, Night Fury and Ackyacha, from the Horse clan of Forestry. We have come to ask for your assistance in training Young Ackayacha in the power of fire.” answered “What’s in it for us.” Said the shadow. “In return for your assistance we offer you hunting rights in the forests near our home.” “Very well, Night Fury, return for the foal in two months.” “Wait two, two months without seeing my family?” I cried out. “This is for your own good.” Is all Night Fury said, as he turned and left. The shadow has moved into view to reveal a three headed beast. Its first was that of a Tiger, which mended into the body of a goat. The second was the goat head with wickedly cool looking horns. Attached to its butt was the head of a snake. It looked as big as Xanther and looked menacing. Little did I know it, but I was going to be in hell for two months. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanthor View Night approached the Everfree Forest as Xanthor had finished training the troops, ‘it’s complete manure that I had to spend my entire day training the troops, that’s not the bad part. They already know everything. All because mom had to walk into the barracks, while they were entertaining themselves, even that’s not the bad part. No the bad part is that she had to go and bucking get General Silverhoof in there. The fact that she took Ackayacha to the Chimera while selling me out, now that buckin hurt.’ Walking into his secret paradise, few knew about, he took a look around. The sound of the waterfall splashing into the lake beneath, started to calm him. The open space around the oasis was a lit by the fireflies casting their luminescent light. Xanthor took a seat upon the giant rock that rested upon a hill overlooking the scenery. Xanthor was lost in his musings, that he didn’t even notice the voices coming closer. It wasn’t until they were about fifty feet away that he was snapped out of his thoughts. Xanthor looked for a place to hide. He glanced at the forest. No that’s where their coming from. The sides of the field were too far away, they’d spot him for sure. Glancing back at the lake he made a dash towards the water. Using his necklace he made a hole, big enough for him to jump without making too much noise. He held his breathe, hoping that they would be gone soon enough. To his dismay, a small hooves punctured the water. damn, how am I supposed to get out now? Xanthor thought as he was watching the hooves swiftly move through the water. He was quickly running out of oxygen and would need to resurface soon. damn it. Xanthor resurfaced and the sounds of screaming mares hurt his ears. Before his eyes could readjust, he was bucked unconscious. A few minutes later he had woken up to five faces. Very pony like faces Crap they captured me He noticed that their colors were purple, white, blue, yellow, and pink. The purple faced pony said something that had just come off as gibberish. Before they could do anything, Xanthor used his power to build the water into a giant wave. The five turned their heads towards the wave of water, giving Xanthor enough time to get up. Before they could make a grab for him, Xanthor bolted back to the forest. Even running into a thick branch hard enough to break it off the tree. Ackayacha View The days were long, but the months seemed to pass by fairly quickly. The training started with, what they called breaking the shell of the innocent.' They knocked out what they out the crutches, but I called sleep and hunger. After asking why, they told me that to get my body ready for war they must gauge how I do under sleepy conditions. Besides the no sleep I have gotten, they had me performing nothing but exercise. A month and a half went by in training when I was finally able to sleep. They led me into a field with a very thin piece of land in between four fire geysers. I could already feel the sweat pouring down my face. I awoke when the smell of apples wafted into my nose. As my eyes opened I saw something i never thought I'd see again. Apples. My stomach growled louder than a pack of wild wood wolves. Looking for the chimera to ask permission to eat, and not seeing her, I quickly chowder down. They tasted like muddy soup in my mouth, but I was starving too much to give a damn. I could hear chimera off in the distance, and went to find them. I approached the fire pit we used as a training ring. Standing in the ring was a little yellow creature I was having trouble remembering the name of. I think my brother used the name "pony" so long ago. Anyway she was hauling a big box on wheels, which was topped with a bouncy cylinder. Her mane was a short reddish hue and her coat was a butter yellow. Her eyes showcased fear as she backed away from Chimera. Chimera spoke in a language I couldn't understand, but I knew the tone. The tone meant this pony was in big trouble. 'Don't go against you trainer, you'll never win. But if I don't do something she'll die. She's a pony, and according to Chimera, they can't be trusted. She's an innocent, she deserves to live.' I quickly argued with myself. Knowing which side was right I jumped in front of the filly and stared down my instructors. "What do you think your doing ackayacha? Move, I'm going to eat." "No, I won't allow you to kill her." I said planting my hooves. "If that is how it is, then so be it," Tigress growled out as she approached me. Moving back, while keeping the filly between me and them, I sent off a warning fireball from my hoof. They dodge to the left and lunged at me. She was now on top of me growling into my face. She rose her claw up, prepared to strike. Before that massive hit struck, I used my legs to toss her off of me and in the direction of the filly. Chimera landed back on her feet and took off after the retreating filly. 'Damn it'. Running to catch up to to them, I caught up to them as they approached my sleeping area. I jumped onto the back of Chimera and put the lion head into a sleeper hold. Funny thing about chimeras they have three heads. You'd think I'd remember that being how I spent every night sleeping next to them. I was immediately bitten by both viper, which punctured me with its sharp fangs, and Nann bit my shoulder, her sharp teeth cutting through my skin like razors. As she pulled I could feel a hot ripping sensation as the muscle was torn from my skin. I released my hold and fell to the ground clutching what was left of my shoulder. Darkness started to show in my vision,as I I heard a different voice sound out. Craning my neck the best I could, I saw an orange pony with a hat. That was all I saw before darkness slipping into the shadowy darkness. A slight breeze tickled my nose as it startled me awake. I opened my eyes to a clear sky, and a few sky puffies here and there. The sound of sniffling broke the silence. Sitting up I saw an orange filly. Great another dream, or are these memories of a past life I don't remember? Her blonde mane was a complete mess, as she stared down at a greyish stone. The hat that was upon her head was resting on an angle upon the right side of the stone. I walked towards her, startling her as she looked back at me. I grabbed her into a hug, which she tried to fight at first, but eventually fell into it, and returned the hug. She said something I couldn't understand. 'Come on Goddesses, if you're going to put me through this, at least give me comprehension of their speech. I rubbed her back as she cried into my neck. I decided it was a good idea to grab her hat and put it upon her head. As she felt the hat touch her head she pushed me away from her, and yelled something at me with the shining tears in her eyes. 'Nevermind this is good I felt her push me again and this time I tripped over a tree stump and fell upon my back. I slipped back into the darkness. > Chapter 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am floating in complete darkness with nothing to keep me entertained. I don't know how long I've been alone, or why i'm alone, but I also feel as if i'm being watched. A clash of thunder crashed in my mind, as I saw a light in the distance. Running towards the light I enter the forest once more. I am once again hiding underneath a bush full of thorns, a massive paw is reaching for me with its blood stained claws. As I try to find an exit from the bush, I felt a yank upon my tail. Looking back I see the beast had pinned my tail down. I tried to scramble away from the paw, but I soon came face to face with the dark one. His fangs were dripping blood from the pony that he had just massacred. His breathe smelt as if it were from the land fill from the horse manure. He growled something I could barely understand, but the hungry growl from his stomach sounded my reasoning that he was going to eat me. I wiggled out of his tight grip and landed on the ground. He growled as he tried to make another grab at me. I bolted faster than I ever had. The Dark One had kept up with me and was starting to gain on me. Running into a clearing I was trapped between him and three gigantic boulders. My breathing hitched as he started to inch his way towards me. My heart seemed to be beating itself out of my chest, as I press myself as much as I could against the boulders. The moon shown brightly in the background. A shadow has appeared upon the moon. It appeared to be horse or pony shaped as it were, except this one had a horn on its head. "Goddess of the moon help me!!" I screamed out as loud as I could. Suddenly the shadows eyes shown bright and a voice rang out, causing the Dark One to completely disappear. In its' place stood a being of royal blue, upon its head was a crown. Her mane sparkled like the stars of the night. Her mane moved as if it were constantly blown by a nonexistent breeze. On her chest was the symbol of the moon, that I have gotten used to seeing around the village. She approached as I continued to cower. "Leave me alone." I yelled afraid she would hurt me. The Mare was taken aback and put a hoof up to her chin as if in contemplation. "Fear not little colt, we will not harm thee." She reassured. Finally contemplation, now I have someone to talk to of these crazy dreams. "Who are you?" "I am Princess Luna, Ruler of the night." "Thank you Princess, but why are you here goddess? Is it to help with these crazy dreams?" I ask tilting my head slightly. "They are not dreams young foal, but memories of your life." "What do you mean of my life, I never knew anything about these crazy ponies before a few days ago." "Funny you should say that." She says, motioning her hoof to the left. Suddenly, the darkness was attacked by a plethora of colors. Myriad colors collected to a fixed point. They all seemed to have their place within the picture they were creating. It was a picture of that mare that kept recurring in my dreams. The points started changing colors as the picture began to move. "Tell us, what do you know of this mare?" I looked at the moving picture and watched as it went. it seemed to go from a wooden house where she was visiting the orange pony with the hat, to one where I tripped on the stump. The picture changed to a third this one has me lying in a very soft looking bed. the window nearby showed it had been raining. A sudden roll of thunder had caused me to bolt upright in bed. I let out a scream as tears started running down my face. The door opened and in walked the same mare. Who the heck is she and why is she in most of my dremories? "Well I know she's very kind, loving, motherly type figure. Like the one that would do anything for the safety of her colt. Almost like Mother. Why do you ask, and why is she in most of my dremories?" "What are dremories?" Luna asked. "As I cannot tell if these are memories or dreams, I have come to call them dremories." "These dremories as you call them, are memories of a life you seem to not remember. As for the mare, the reason she shows up, is she is your mother." I burst out with laughter. I started laughing so hard my ribs started to hurt. "Hahaha, yeah. they never told me you were so funny goddess." But then again, Mother did say real mother, so maybe she is telling the truth. "Please just refer to me as Luna. As for this," she said motioning to the scene of "mother" rubbing my back, "is very real." "Since you seem to be able to understand them, can you translate what she's saying please?" Luna started singing word for word, what "mother" was saying. Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. If that mockingbird won't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring. If that diamond ring turns brass, Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass. If that looking glass gets broke, Tears started to pour down my face as i look upon the scene of "mother" rocking a smaller me to sleep in her hooves. The lyrics from Luna had made my emotions for this scene even stronger. You'll still be the sweetest baby in town. Hush, little baby, don't you cry, Daddy loves you, so do I Hush, little baby, don't you cry, Daddy loves you, so do I I sit there staring at the scene, seemingly frozen, as a knot formed in my stomach. I need to find out if this is the truth, and why mother has been lying about it all this time. I didn't even notice Luna take her leave. The only thing that seemed to snap me back, was an intense heat coming from my stomach. Once again, it felt as if a fire had started in my stomach. I blinked my eyes as the void seemed to disappear. Applejack and Applebloom were sitting in the hospital in the city of Ponyville awaiting the mysterious pony that saved Applebloom to wake up. A thick coating of bandages had been wrapped around his shoulders. Applejack had been present when they scraped and washed all of the dirt off of his wings. As Applejack looked at this pony she. Couldn't place it, but for some reason she felt like she knew this pony. 'Where have ah seen I'm before?' 'Who is this guy and why did he fight a chimera for my little sister.' Applejack felt herself being shaken from her thought. "Do you think he'll be alright." Applebloom asked, her eyes never leaving the mysterious pony. "Applebloom ah'm sure," before Applejack could finish, a knock was heard from the door. "Come in," Applejack called out. In walked a doctor with an orange coat and brown mane. He was wearing the normal medical scrubs. "Miss Applejack Apple." He called "Jus Applejack is fine." She said "Applejack I have some good news, and some bad news, which would you like to hear first?" "Ah guess the good news." "The good news is you got him here just in time for us to fight the severe malnutrition. " Applejack was kind of like relieved that she was able to save the pony that saved her little sister from that monster. It is then that she remembered the doctor had some bad news. "And the bad news," Applejack asked hesitantly. The doctor released a sigh of discontent, "The bad new is, the mud we had to scrape off of his wings seems to have caused severe damage to the Patagium." "Patawhat?" Applebloom asked. "Patagium," the doctor said, pulling the sheet off and pointing his hoof at the top part of his wing. "It is the part that allows pegasi to flap their wings, But with the damage, he may never be able to fly again." Neither of them could believe what they just heard. A Pegasus not being able to fly. Both knew how important flying was to a pegasus. Memories of Scootaloo trying her best to fly for the Equestria Games Flag bearer contest sprung into Appleblooms' head. Applejack remembered how Rainbow Dash became restless when she crashed into the ground and broke her wing. "There is one more test we have to run." The doctor said as he wheeled in yet another machine. It had a giant hole large enough for a pony to fit into. "It's to test if he'll have full mobility of his leg after he heals. Now if you girls could leave the room please." Alone with the patient the doctor proceeded to set everything up, he noticed the necklace the stallion was wearing. As the doctor made to grab for the necklace, he pulled his hoof back. The tiniest touch had caused the necklace to singe his fur. The doctor was at a lost, if he wanted to get accurate readings, he'd need to take the necklace off. Looking around he noticed nothing he could use. Patting his white lab jacket, it hit him. He used his jacket to pull the necklace off the stallion. I'm gonna have to have Forensics look at this. As the string the stone was connected to, left the stallion, the machines started beeping rapidly. The stallions temperature was increasing at a dangerous rate. 101, 101.5, 102.3, 103 The doctor put the necklace back around the stallions neck. Without the necklace the poor stallion would die. What kind of rock is this? I definitely need someone to look at it. The stallions temperature returned to normal, just as fast as it had risen. A few seconds later the stallion awoke. > Chapter 6 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanthor woke up very excited. "Today's the day." He said to no one in particular, as he got out of bed. I've been waiting to long too see my brother he thought, as he rushed into the kitchen to grab an apple. As he finished, he quickly ran outside, as the horn was sounded for his return. As he got there he noticed something crucial, Ackayacha was no where to be found. Had he misunderstood the horn? "Where's Ackayacha?" He asked Shield "I'm sorry Prince Xanthor." Shield said, unable to look Xanthor in the eyes. "What do you mean you're sorry? Where is he?" "When we got there, he was nowhere to be seen. Chimera said that some ponies came. When she came back to her senses, he was gone." Xanthor was at a loss for words. He knew he shouldn't have let him go. For all he knew Ackayacha could be dead right now. "You may go now, I must have word with mother about this." Xanthor took off straight towards the palace. Upon entering the single room palace, he noticed that he wasn't alone. There were literally a hundred others wanting to ask for favors. On the far end of the throne room, upon the stone crafted throne, sat mother. Passing by some of the horsian artwork he made his way to mother. Taking notice of him Mother started her own approach. "Xanthor I'd never thought I'd see you in here. How are y," mother started asking, but looking into his eyes showed a mix of concern and anger. "What is it what's wrong?" She asked taking another step towards him. "When Night Fury made his return, guess what?" "What?" "No Ackayacha." Mother was taken aback. "What, what do you mean? Where could he have gone? What did Chimera do to him?" She asked in a harsh whisper. "Apparently their were ponies there, Chimera blacked and when they came to their senses, Ackayacha was gone. It's all you fault." The statement had made mother angry. Her eyes scrunched. "What the hay do you mean it's my fault. I'm not one of those dirty, disgusting, evil, dirty-dealing, son of a whorse. How is it my fault? Please enlighten me." "I told you not to force him to go, but no you claimed he needed training." "If he's going to fight the dark one he needs to be trained. That still doesn't mean I can see into the future and see what's going to bucking happen." "You claim to love him, but do you do anything sensible, for his own good? No. Everything he does has to be useful to your plan. You claim to be his mother, but you're willing to send him to his death. What kind of mother are you? Do you even care about him at all?" Xanthor turned his back on her and started walking out. "Where the buck, do you think you're going mister!" She yelled after him. "I'm going to do what you'd never do. I'm going to save Ackayacha!" He yelled back before slamming the door. He took off towards the Chimera territory, knowing full well that he might need to skin a cat. I have been captured. My attempt to escape, halted. For now they seem Adamant on healing me. I am now strapped down by my hooves on the pretty soft bed. I tried wiggling out of the restraints, but only succeeded in causing another sharp pain to course to the half missing shoulder. I did everything ii knew how to do to free myself. I tried burning through the restraints, but with the lack of fire or sunlight, I had nothing to pull the heat from. my mind drifted to the dream I had of selene, or rather Luna as she told me she wanted to be called. "Fear not, we shall not harm thee." "Who are you?" "We are Princess Luna. Ruler of the night. It brought a few questions to mind about her. 'Why did she change her name to princess? I mean surely goddess is a much better title. Why did she visit me, when so many of us are starving? What was with the horn and wings get up?' Then it hit me. The only creatures I've seen with wings like those were ponies. 'Damnit, why didn't I pay attention to what she called herself' silently cursing my behavior with the goddess. Why wasn't I paying more attention to her words. My mind has been corrupted. how did she get into my dreams? I bet she planted all those dreams of me being a pony, to cause me to second guess my mother. But what if she's right? What if that pony really is our real mother? A knock on the door brought me from my internal debate. As the door opened a purple, horned, winged pony walked in. Everything about her was purple. it seems the only exception was the single pink streak through her mane. On her back was a smaller, two-legged lizard. It too was purple, but had green scales running from the top of it's head to the tip of it's tail. Normally I would freak, but being bound to the bed with no hope of escape, what would be the point. "liddj sj seilghef spkrih." she spoke in that same confusing pony language that seemed to accompany them. She stood there looking at me, as if waiting for me to say something. "Hello Horned pony." She tilted her head in confusion, while the two legged lizard wrote something down. She seemed to contemplate what to do. She tapped her chest and said, "Twifhdskf spajrhfj." She spoke that same jumbled mess of a language. If only you were your princess of the night. At least I could understand and talk to you. I copied her gesture of chest tapping. "Ackayacha." Once again she tilted her head in confusion. She then told the lizard something, which he wrote. Walking to the window, the lizard proceeded to set the paper on fire. 'Yes fire. Now I can escape.' I focused on the fire as my crystal started to illuminate. the Fire came back into the room to my hoof. Princess purple was shocked to see the crystal illuminate and the fire, that she barely had time to react when the fire came back. Using the fire I set flame to the brown binds. They quickly burned as I sat up and started getting back into bed. A familiar feeling came over me. Looking at my hoof, I see it had been punctured by a glass container with a clear liquid. As the liquid disappeared, I started to feel really really calm. Like I don't care if you cut my hoof off calm. After awakening, I quickly disposed of the strange pony, by slamming him against a wall of thin clear rock. I hobbled out of the room and into the spookily empty hallway. Upon entering a crossroads, more ponies > Chapter 6 part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 6 part 2 As I lie in the calm state I watched as this princess's pet belched up some paper, which she eagerly took in her weird floaty grasp. Along with the paper came a book. It was brown with golden binding. Watching her eyes dart back and forth from page to page, I had thought she had forgotten about me. I was going to try escaping again, but once again I found myself bound to a bed. Instead of the brown restraints, these ones were made of metal and were heavy. The kind that would take forever to burn through, even with the heat of the sun. Princess purple closed the book and placed it on the side table. Before reading from what she had written. "Hello, Twilight Are Sparkle. Hearing you help." She said. I could barely understand her speech, because the brokenness made it difficult to understand. "What?" She wrote down what I had spoken. She opened the book once more, flipping from page to page, writing down another line, before answering. "Horse be yes you?" 'This is going to get severely irritating really fast. Using my head I motioned for her to come closer to the bed. She cautiously took a few steps closer. The look in her eyes told me she was very skeptical after my little fire show. I motioned to her script, which she placed down on me. I looked at her script and saw two lines of text the first I saw was in her crazy pony language. The second was in my language but the words were so strewn around in the sentence. I motioned for her bird feather, which she gave me. I had made the appropriate corrections. 'Hopefully this will help ease the already growing head pains I was getting from her. She read over the corrections and restated her question. "You horse right?" To ease her confusion and to avoid having her write it down, which was also starting to get annoying, I shook me head. I told a half truth. Gotta love those technicalities, after all moth and their princess both told me the same. I mean come on, if you were in my position, would you do anything different. Being stuck with an evil degenerate creature of darkness who wants nothing more than to consume my soul. I gave a sigh, as I watched her write something and translate it. "Horse you not, how know language? It dead four thousand years?" She asked tilting her head. 'Dang caught in a trap. How do I respond? I can't tell her the truth. Heck she stabbed me when I tried to escape.' A knocking came from the door and a heat filled the room. As the door opened a giant, winged, horned, white pony walked into the room. As she entered the heat increased. Almost as if I were back in the fire pits with Chimera. I tried to take some of that heat to escape, but I was still too weak. 'This must be the ultimate ruler of their land.' "Hello my little pony. My name is Princess Celestia." She spoke horsian. 'Does she think I'm a pony or a horse. I know she called me a pony, but she's speaking horsian. Am I safe?' It took a while to get to Chimeras' Fire fields. It was hard walking around here, what with the fire geysers popping up every few seconds. The fog wasn't making helping either. 'Is this the type of torture mother sentenced Ackayacha to?' Xanthor asked himself knowing full well he wouldn't be able to stay here for more than a month. As I took another step a geyser blew up in my face. Blasting me with hot steam. I began to hear voices. "Yes I found them." I followed said voices to a cave. Hiding behind some nearby bushes, I peaked over the hedge. I saw Chimera talking to the very last one I expected to even be here; mother. By the looks of it, it looked like she had just beaten me here. "Chimera, what happened to my son?" "As we already told you, some ponies came!" Chimera snapped back. "Where'd they take him?" "There's a village not far from here. Maybe they took him there?" Chimera offered. "Where is this village, show me." "What's in it for us?" Viper hissed. "You do remember our deal right? You live amongst us in the village for you training Ackayacha. Well until I'm convinced he's been trained, you won't leave this place." "Yeah and what if we don't want to live with you." Tigress sent a smart remark back at Mother. "I won't rip your mismatched body to pieces. How's that for motivation?" Mother said looking directly into Tigress's eyes. They all gulped knowing full well mother could do as stated. "Go. Good enough." Trailing them was extremely difficult, due to mothers' already growing anxiety of seeing, and possibly destroying a pony village. It seems that with every step she swiveled her ears, trying to detect any sound. I almost got caught as I stepped on a twig causing it to snap, but luckily a small ground runner ran into view dispelling mothers growing worry. The confident grace she would carry herself in was gone as her steps became more cautious. The trees seemed to be thinning as we started getting to a clearing with a single cave and rock walls along the sides. "Where the buck are we Chimera? I thought you said we were going to their village?" "I'm sorry, but he wanted me to bring you here." Viper hissed. "Who wanted me here? Why?" Mother demanded her voice growing with dread. "My, My, My. So many questions from you." Called an ominously deep growl from inside the cave. It may have taken a little bit, but the ground started shaking every few seconds. Out of the cave's darkness walked the Dark One. His face had looked like someone tried digging tiny holes into them, as the muscle underneath became visible. His teeth looked more jagged than when I last saw him. Mother back peddled away from him. "Chimera, you've done well into bringing this foal to me." Mother shot a look over at Chimera, "You, backstabbing bitch." Mother tried to keep her distance away from both Chimera and the Dark One. She was being backed against the rocks that made up the eight foot wall. "Enough of this horsing around." the Dark One said as he lunged at Mother. Tackling her to the ground. I made my move, and got into the fight. > Chapter 6 part 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I stared down at the Dark One, I felt a strange feeling. It was almost as if my blood were being heated to a boiling point. My knees buckled as I struggled to keep standing. With a single kick the Dark One had sent me flying into the rock wall. The collision knocked the wind out of me. My vision blurred slightly, as i shook my head trying to regain my senses. I started to regain my senses, when I was blasted against the wall again, by a strong blast of water. It was getting increasingly more difficult to breathe as I was repeatedly getting pummeled by wave after wave of water. I couldn't even deflect any of it, and use my water spells, as the water kept me pinned against the wall. Suddenly the water stopped. Looking through my stinging eyes, I see or think I see mother pinning down the Dark One. Strike after strike rained down upon him. It seemed as if she stopped fighting Chimera to protect me from the Dark Ones ongoing assault. Looking around I see that Chimera was just getting to her paws, and shot a glare at Mother. Knowing the look in her eyes, I immediately bolt and try to tackle her. Before I could collide, she blasted a strong heat wave towards Mother before collapsing back onto the ground. "Mother, Look Out!" I yelled over to her, hoping she'd get out of the way in time. "Huh," Mother looked towards me only to get blasted in her side. She was sent rolling to the ground, as the sent of singed fur filled the air. The Dark One was struggling to get up, but managed, and started advancing towards Mother. I galloped towards him, only to get a blast of fire lodged towards me. I dodged rolling to the left and continued my advance. Another blast was sent towards me, and once again I dodged. I felt myself get lifted off of the ground. Looking for the reason, I see the Dark One's crystals glowing brightly. I start flailing my legs trying to get out of whatever hold I was in. I felt the wind against my coat as I was sent flying. Tossed like a rag doll, rolling onto the ground mere feet away from Mother. I could hear her to struggle for air. Each gasp of air seemed to cause her pain. "Xanthor. I. I need you. to run. Save Your brother." She said in between each gasp. "No mom, i'm not leaving you to die." "I'm going to. give you enough time. to escape." She said closing her eyes tightly. Her crystal started to illuminating brighter than I have ever seen. I turned towards the attackers, trying to give her enough time for her crazy scheme. As the attackers started getting close I blasted Chimera with a powerful wave of water. I cemented my hooves into the ground, ready for the defense. I felt a very strong chill run through the air, freezing everything in the immediate vicinity. I turned and looked at a frozen hoof and backed up a few feet. The hoof belonged to the Dark One. He was frozen solid, while the chimera was frozen on her side to the ground. deceiving bitch got what she deserved. Turning towards mother I see her crystal starting to flash black. Her eyes were closed, and for the first time in forever, she looked at peace. "Mother?" I said shaking her. To my pleasant surprise, she opened her eyes, and gazed into mine. "Xanthor, I'm sorry. For everything. I was a terrible. Mother." She said in between gasps as the crystals' flashing became more rapid. "I was too. I put my hoof over her mouth. "Mother, please don't say it." I carefully put her onto my back and continued into the setting bright circle. "Promise me, you'll. Protect Ackayacha. I tried to. Do my best with you." We continue walking as the bright circle was nearing its end. The treeline came into view. I could barely hear mother's breathe anymore. I put her on the ground, causing her to wince. I looked into my mother's eyes, as she slowly rose her hoof, and grabbed onto mine. "I'm sorry. Promise me, you'll. Take care. of the family." The crystal around her neck had begun to stay black longer. There were no words to describe the pain I felt, as I watched her pass. I was powerless to do anything, but sit by her side. Her crystal had turned black and she started to fade away. Speck by black speck, I watched. She was joining the ancestors. My own crystal flashed black, as a stabbing sensation was felt in my heart. I didn't feel like moving, i could move, just sit there in painful silence. The only thing that was left to remember mother by, was her power crystal. I slowly grabbed it and held it to my chest. A few tears hit the ground below me. I fell to the ground as my legs gave out. i didn't feel like getting up. I just lay where she once was. Eventually crying myself asleep. The bright circle was high in the sky, when I awoke. I fight to get my feet under me. I walk to the nearest cliff and look down. It would be so easy. (You made a promise to Mother.) I don't like the pain. (She died thinking you'd take care of everyone.) I look down at the bottom of the cliff side again. I notice a small village. The houses all looked similarly built. I watched as the ponies down below went on with their daily lives. Might as well try looking for Ackayacha there. > Chapter 7 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playing stupid with their god-queen for a few hours had probably been one of my most fun ideas. As soon as she walked in I felt I needed to play stupid with her knowing Horsian and everything. With the questions that she had asked of me, I was able to easily manipulate them, using technicalities. As the time went by the pseudo smile that she was baring was slowly turning into a frown. After a long boring talk with the sun goddess Celestia. I learned of this land named Equestria, and that it was four thousand years since the horses were last seen. That the ponies had become more accepting towards all. The old kingdom had disappeared, due to a crazy evil pony. That only proved that they hadn’t changed from what I learned from Xanther. I learned that the goddesses personally took care of that Tarkove. While all I gave her were lies, of how we destroy all things we live. Mainly that we had become owners of all of the forest. That we controlled what happened in the forest, and that nothing happens without our okay. Which was a really good idea, due to the fact that it interested the sun goddess, and as soon as she translated to this purple thing, purple became really curious. Now all I need is for them to want to see it in action, and then I can make my escape towards home. The only truthful thing that I had given to purple was the significance of the necklace and that it was what bonded me to my family. Then it flashed black and I felt a cold feeling right in my core, as I felt someone pass away. Someone very close to my heart. Mother. Tears going through my heart as if a thousand bees were flying straight into it. My eyes were starting to tear up as I felt a hoof started rubbing mine. Celestia said something, but I was in too much shock that I just laid there and blocked out everything. I felt numb. Almost as numb as when the winter frost came. When I came to, it was dark. A single light had been turned on. I took a quick look around the room to see that Purple was still here shuffling through some papers. It seemed that Celestia had left while I was asleep. After shuffling trying to escape once again, I could feel that the locks had become looser than I had remembered. After a minute I had been able to escape. I quietly got out of the bed and snuck towards the door. Taking one last look she seemed far too distracted to even pay attention to her surroundings. I opened and shut the door. Once again into the eerily empty hallway. Only this time I wasn’t stabbed by a metal stick. I’m not going to fall asleep like before. Now to find the exit to this horrid place and get home. I took a right and started trotting until I found a sign that looked like steps. Taking that as my queue I took it to an even smaller corridor of steps. I silently cheered my victory and the fact that I would be home in an hour at best. I found another clear crystal wall and took it. My stomach dropped at the sound of an alarm going off somewhere. I bolted it to the right away from the town. As I got further away from the town I felt as if I was getting closer to the kingdom. It felt as if someone was leading me by the hoof. A warm presence had come over me. I began running and reached the edge of town. In the distance I could see a giant gated forest. The closer I got to the gated forest, I felt as if I had been here before, but quickly dismissed it because, up till now I had never been outside of our home. The feeling felt burning hot as I approached an opening in the gateway. I might as well rest in the forest until morning. It is gated, so it must belong to someone right? Trotting through the gates I went into the forest and found a hole in one of the tree bottoms and got myself comfortable. I will be with you tomorrow Xanthor I thought before going to bed. Xanther After getting down to the city I immediately hid in the shadows to do some scouting. I see ponies everywhere. They all have these freaky deaky creepy smiles on them. They all seem to have the same mark on their backside. Taking another look around he sees that a light blue unicorn with a brown had noticed him. Said unicorn had gained an even bigger smile, that seemed impossible for any being to have. Need to hide, need to hide. I thought as I ran towards the other edge of the town. I found some caves and ran into them. Hoping that the creepy pony had stayed there until the night circle was at its highest.