> Hollow Shades
>  by Dilos1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Angela beheld the large building in front of her with a greedy gleam in her eye.

Dressed in a black hooded jacked with a white paintball mask covering her face, her appearance, which would have been suspicious in any other situation, went unnoticed by the hundreds of other cosplayers that swarmed towards the convention like insects. Many of them were dressed in apparel that disguised them in much the same way, hiding their faces from the world behind the capes and masks of their favorite hero, villain, or creature. Angela had to admit that, as she looked around at them, some of them were actually pretty decent in terms of appearance. Some were even downright impressive to look at, Like that one guy's giant hydralisk costume that, were it not for the legs, Angela might have mistook for the real thing. 

And she was not sure, but Angela could not help but shake the feeling that the terran marine that was with him was a girl, and was thoroughly enjoying her role.

Other costumes, while not quite as eye catching, were still pretty neat in their own right. But unfortunately, Angela did not come here just to check out the best costume. Readjusting the backpack slung over her shoulders Angela proceeded to go inside, hidden by the mass of people already in the rented out building. From there she asked for directions to the largest room, where most of the souvenirs were at, and by extension most of the money. Along the way she passed by a Spider Man, a Darth Vader, Princesses Celestia and Luna, and multiple varieties of pokemon. The last group gave her a feeling of nostalgia.

She had not been your typical girl stereotype when she was younger.

Along the way she even got a few compliments for her own "costume" , which she accepted graciously. She may not have cared what they thought about her appearance, but there was no need to attract more attention to herself by being rude.

It was while Angela was walking down a long hallway filled to capacity with other people in costumes that she noticed something sticking out of the side pocket of a suitcase some distance away. She narrowed her eyes and grinned behind her mask when she saw that it was a wallet. And it looked like it had a lot of green stuff in it. And what luck that the teenage boy dressed in plastic golden armor currently tapping away on his phone had been nice enough to set it next to a bench by the woman's restroom.

He's probably waiting for his girlfriend or something. Angela thought.

Suddenly deciding that she needed to use the facilities herself, although for an entirely different reason than what they were probably intended for, Angela changed her direction slightly and made her way towards the restroom. Just as she was about to pass the boy with the suitcase Angela quickly checked to make sure that he was still distracted by his phone and no one else was looking before she stealthily stooped down just enough to pinch the wallet between her thumb and index finger. The boy did not even look up for a second as Angela casually strolled into the restroom with her prize. Stepping into one of the stalls Angela proceeded to empty all of its contents into her backpack. 

A wonderful start to a day at the convention! she thought gleefully.

Her spoils safely tucked away, Angela emerged from the restroom, surreptitiously replacing the wallet back into its place in the suitcase as she passed the boy, who's attention was still on his phone.

I can't help it if some people make it too easy. She mused as she resumed her journey towards the center of the convention, where even more riches were to be had, just ripe for the taking.





Unfortunately for Angela there was actually not a lot of great opportune moments for her to get much of anything, much to her chagrin. It was not that there was a shortage of wallets or open purses to swipe or dip her hand into, or even rare collectibles that would easily fit in her pocket, far from it. She could still recall the almost ecstatic joy she felt upon seeing a plethora of rare Kenner Star Wars action figures, some of them still in their original packaging. Had there not been a bunch of people around at the time that would have seen her she might have been able to make off with a few of them. And of course the guy showing them off had been adamant about not taking his eyes off of them for more than a second, which only made it that much more of a bust.

At least that one chubby nerd had been gullible enough to think that a girl would not be interested in casually sliding a few of his supposedly super rare pokemon cards into her open backpack while he checked beneath his desk for something. Those might get her a few dollars at least. Or maybe she would just keep them; she was a bit of a nerd herself after all.

During her "shopping spree" Angela had also managed to acquire more than a few dollars worth of other items and collectibles that would likely get her a large sum of money, not to mention her spoils from a bunch of open purses and carelessly placed wallets. All things considered, it had not been a bad day for the pickpocket, but it was still far from being the best, and Angela was beginning to get the feeling that she had better start becoming scarce before the people here finally caught on to her, if they haven't already.

Deciding to take just one last look around before leaving, Angela casually walked past various stands and tables, eyeing their wares with a critical gaze. Some of the items on them were tempting but not worth the risk, while others were under heavy scrutiny from their owners. Eventually Angela chose to just call it a day, and she began to make way towards the exit. 

Just then she noticed something a little odd. There, a short distance away, an old man sat behind a desk with wire racks at his back. On them were all sorts of different items from almost every conceivable genre and science fiction series that she could recall. Among the list was a shiny Yveltal plush doll, a large and wicked looking sword, multiple replica light sabers, capes and cowls of every size and color, and the list just kept going. She even saw something that looked suspiciously like the Alicorn Amulet.

Well someone sure is eclectic in his tastes. Angela thought as she looked at them.

It seemed that the man had everything from books to boots and everything in between. As for the man himself. . . Angela was not really sure what to make of him. He was old and wrinkled with tanned skin, and he wore a strange faded robe. Her curiosity getting the better of her Angela walked over to the stand before clearing her throat to speak.

"Excuse me," she said, her voice slightly muffled as she spoke through her mask, "but what's all this you got here?"

The man glanced up her, and Angela noticed offhandedly that there was a strange gleam in his dark eyes as he looked her up and down. Angela was not sure why, but she got the feeling that she was being judged. It was not necessarily off putting, but still she noticed it.

"This, young lady," the man said with an amount of flourish that seemed entirely unnecessary, "is a collection of all kinds of assorted items from only the rarest of sources." The man leaned in and said in a somewhat milder tone, "And, just between the two of us, everything that you see here, you can't get it anywhere else."

That piqued Angela's interest a great deal, and she started to thing that maybe, if she played her cards right, she might be able to get away with some of these so called uber rare items. That thing that looked like a dinosaur tooth or claw hanging from one of the upper shelves by a leather strap seemed pretty interesting at least. Appearance wise it reminded Angela of the times when her father would take her to the museum when she was younger, and she would gaze up in awe the bones of once mighty creatures. Those had been fond memories for her.

Had been.

"What about that ?" she asked while pointing up to it. "That doesn't look like something worth paying a lot of money for. It looks more like someone made it in their garage." 

At this the mans face became sour and his dark eyes narrowed. "Oh really? Now that is quite the thing to say, especially coming from a petty thief like yourself."

Angela's eyes widened in surprise and alarm, although her expression was hidden behind her mask, and she began to wonder with a slight amount of panic how he knew. Did he see her somehow? That did not make any sense, she was halfway across the large room when she was doing most of those things.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She said quietly, hoping he was bluffing.

"Oh, but I think you do miss," he answered with a smirk that made her feel all kinds of uncomfortable. 

Angela regarded him suspiciously for a moment before she asked him, "How did you know?"

"Some security guards came by asking if I had seen anyone walking around matching your description. And I must say it is rather hard to miss. In fact, I do believe that one of those fine gentleman is standing a little ways behind you right now."

It took all of Angela's self control to not turn around and draw more attention to herself. She settled for casually moving her head, as though she had only heard someone call her name, and indeed there was a security guard among the crowd of costumed people. It did not seem that he had spotted her just yet, but Angela knew that would change very soon if she did not leave right now. She figured that now was as good a time as any to do so, until the old man said, "Its too late for that now dear. They've got the whole place under their eyes. You wouldn't even make it to the front door." He then confused her by adding, "But there's no need to leave just yet. He has not noticed you after all."

Angela's confusion would have shown if not for her mask. Her voice however was incredulous when she said, "You're not going to give me away." It was statement rather than a question, and the old man shook his head in response. "Why?" she asked.

The smile still present on his wrinkled face the man said with a hint of smugness, "Because my dear I think that we can help each other. You see, I actually want to see you get away, and in spectacular fashion no less. I can help you do that. All you have to do is give me all of the things that you have, ahem, gained, and take this."

The man reached out his hand, and in it Angela saw the same bone necklace that she had pointed out earlier, now missing from its spot on the wire racks. This startled Angela slightly, as she had not even seen him stand up to get it. She now eyed the thing suspiciously as he held it in front of her.

"How does that help me? Actually, scratch that, how does that help you? They're going to wonder why you suddenly have all this stuff."

"Leave the minor details to me," he answered vaguely as he motioned for her to take it.

Again, Angela looked at the necklace, and wondered what she should do. On the one hand there might still be a chance that she could get away with all of the things in in her possession. But on the other hand, there was the phenomenally greater chance that she would not. Angela hated to think about what would happen if she were caught, but the more she did think about it, the more she realized how hopeless her situation was. And now here was this weird old guy offering her some form of help that had something to do with this bone necklace. Gradually Angela realized that she virtually no choice.

Begrudgingly she slipped the backpack off of her shoulders, and was about to make the trade when she said, "Hold on. You said this is going to help the both of us. How does this help you?"

The old man just smiled and said, "Oh, I have to keep some secrets."

Angela rolled her eyes and grumbled something under her breath before handing him the backpack over the counter and received the necklace without another word. Assuming that she was supposed to be wearing it Angela slipped it over her hooded head, the bone piece hanging in front of her chest.

"Okay. . . now what?" she asked.

Before the man could so much as lift a finger to answer her, they both heard a loud voice shout from behind, "Hey! You there! Don't move!"

Angela whirled around, and to her dismay the security guard she saw had spotted her and was now moving towards her at a brisk pace. She cursed under her breath and started to make a run for it. However she did not make it more than a few yards before she was suddenly afflicted by a feeling of lightheadedness. Her vision began to swim and fade, becoming blurry, and she swayed with every step as though she were drunk. Then, Angela fell to the ground with a thud, and all she saw was darkness.





The first thing Angela noticed when she finally awakened was how how much her head hurt. It was almost like someone had taken the liberty to pound on the inside of her skull with a sledgehammer. 

With great effort Angela cracked her eyes open to find herself surrounded on all sides by darkness. With even greater effort she rolled onto her stomach. And with the greatest effort of all Angela slowly positioned herself to sit on her knees. During the entire process her head throbbed violently, but at least now she was able to see where she was.

The second thing Angela noticed after she woke up was how utterly dark it was. 

The third were the trees. There was a great many of them, gnarled and twisted and surrounded her on all sides, the only illumination coming from the thin shafts of moonlight streaming in through the canopy, and Angela began to wonder how she had ended up here. And, more importantly, where here was.

"Hello?" she called out. "Is anyone there?"

She waited silently, hoping for an answer. But none was forthcoming, and Angela began to feel the first stages of panic begin to settle in like a stone in her gut as frantic thoughts raced through her mind.

Where was she? How did she get here? Why was no one answering her? And why did her head hurt so much?!

Almost desperately Angela tried to organize her thoughts as they threatened to consume her, and attempted to recall the last thing she could remember. 

She was at a convention. She had been. . . doing business. And then there was this old guy there. He said he could help her somehow. She had been caught. She had run. Everything else during and after that was just a blur.

Feeling it would be wiser to  get her bearings first before dwelling on the matter any further, Angela tried to stand up. However the moment she did a stabbing pain raced down her spine, causing her to fall to the ground and utter a soundless scream. It seemed like hours before it finally faded away, leaving her in a cold sweat on the forest floor. It suddenly became hard for her to breath, and she frantically hooked her fingers underneath her mask. Flinging it away she greedily sucked in great breaths of air. For a long while Angela simply lied there on the cold ground with her eyes clenched tightly, still shaking from the feeling she just experienced.

It was then she heard something growling at her. And judging from the tone and pitch, it was big.

Almost too afraid to do so, Angela opened her eyes to see a hulking black, white and yellow figure skulking towards her. Its body vaguely resembled a bear of some sort, but beyond that the similarities ended.

The thing before her had an extra pair of clawed arms, a set of insect like wings that buzzed occasionally on its back, and a large abdomen not unlike that of a bee or hornet. Its compound eyes glowed a bloody red as it came nearer, and it let another growl escape from its tooth filled maw. Angela tried to get up and run, but the best she could manage was a slow crawl backwards on her rear. The bear thing growled again but did not quicken its pace. It seemed to know as much as she did that her chances of escape were virtually nonexistent. It did not help that her path was cut off when she felt her back scrape against the trunk of a tree. She was trapped now, and the bug bear bared its fangs in sadistic glee.

"No. . . please no. . ." she whimpered.

Angela closed her eyes, not wanting to witness her inevitable fate.

She opened them again as searing agony suddenly filled her entire body, but it was not caused by an attack on the bear's part. Rather, it seemed to emanate from within her very being, growing and expanding until it felt as though she would be torn apart from the inside, and she screamed long and loud. The bear's ears folded back against its head, surprised by its preys unexpected outburst, and it became vaguely aware that something was wrong, and it stayed rooted to the spot as caution replaced blood lust.

Angela meanwhile was in a massive amount of pain and torment. She clutched her head in a vain attempt to make it go away. Then, unexpectedly, she heard the sound of tearing fabric. She looked down at her arms to see that the edges of her sleeves had begun to split, exposing her forearms, which appearing to be growing. She did not notice, but the bug bear had decided to back away, sensing that something was indeed very wrong here, and its eyes widened in surprise and fear.

As Angela stared at herself, shaking in agony, she became even more concerned to see large growths spread across her skin, and a viscous black fluid began to leak out of every pore, covering her body in slime. Similar sensations ripped across the rest her body, and Angela, fighting to ignore the pain, desperately tried to shake the stuff off and wipe it away. But the feeling became too unbearable for her to endure, and she could do nothing more than fall onto her side and writhe on the ground. 

As if that was not bad enough, these feelings were then followed by the sensation of every bone in her body breaking and moving within her her flesh. Her skull, shoulder blades, and the base of her spine in particular felt the brunt of it, and for a little while Angela just lied there, her rapidly growing form enveloped in a shroud of black slime, hoping desperately that she would just pass out. 

And then, everything stopped. The night air that had once been filled with the cries of agony were now deathly silent.

The bug bear, thinking that the gruesome display was finally over, slowly inched forward, sniffing the air. Then, the thing that was going to be its prey stirred, and the slime that covered it slid away to reveal smooth pale skin. It then began to stand, rising up and up and up until it now towered over the bug bear, which backed away in alarm and fright, suddenly wishing it had stayed in the upper levels of Tartarus. The thing that now stood above it looked like something from a foals nightmare, resembling the human it had once been in only the vaguest sense.

The pain was now over. Finally, blessedly, over, and Angela breathed a sigh of relief, staring upward at the sky. But something felt. . . different, somehow. She was not sure why, or if the feeling was even necessarily wrong, only that it was different. A sound interrupted the feeling, and Angela looked down to see that the bug bear was now cowering as it backed away, its compound eyes wide with fear as it stared at her. Did it get smaller somehow? Angela did not know, nor did she particularly care at the moment. She only remembered that she had been backed into a corner by the thing, and a flurry of emotions and feelings flooded her mind as a result. Fear was among them, yes; fear for her life. But it was smothered by the the feeling of anger and fury at it that it had tried to kill her.

And, oddly enough, hunger.

Oh the hunger. How it demanded that she satisfy it, to tear the beasts flesh off of its bones as it would have done to her and feed on the remains, to not even bother chewing but instead flay the thing alive with her will and inhale it.

Not really sure what was happening or where the feeling came from, Angela became a prisoner of her own instincts as she crouched low to the ground.

The bear, sensing what was about to happen, promptly turned to run in the opposite direction, and its wings buzzed furiously as it prepared to fly to safety.

Angela did not allow it to get far. Letting out an ear piercing shriek that shattered the night air, this time out of rage and fury, she pounced.





"Did you hear that?"

Roughshod's ears twitched in response to Star Mix's question, and he turned to regard the mare next him. The two ponies stood on top of a twenty foot high wall made of tree logs as they stared out at the tree line more than thirty yards away. High above them Luna's moon provided a considerable amount of light for them to see by. It was almost enough that they did not even need to use torches. However the forest of trees that ringed the town of Hollow Shades was as dark as ever.

"Yeah. I heard it," the earth pony stallion quietly answered as he scrutinized the tree line. They had both heard it; the sound of a predator of the night attacking its prey, followed by the unmistakable squeal of some hapless creature as it was killed.

"Do you think that was it? Do you think that was the bug bear?"

Roughshod shook his head before saying to the unicorn mare next to him, "No. I don't think so. This was different."

Just then something in the distance caught his attention. Star Mix noticed it too, and she brought up a telescope with her magic to see what it was as her single spiral horn glowed a faint emerald.

"It looks like something spooked a whole bunch of birds over in the the East," she said. Putting the telescope down she asked, "You want to head out there in the morning to check it out?"

The gray coated stallion briefly considered the proposal before he answered, saying, "I'll bring it up with the mayor when my shift ends. For now lets just keep an eye on things, make sure nothing gets the the jump on us."

"Alright," Star Mix answered, nodding her head. "I just hope that it turns out to be nothing. We already have enough on our plates with that bug bear running around, causing havoc in the orchard."





It had been over two weeks since the monster had been spotted by the ponies living in the Canterhorn mountain range, most notably around the little town of Hollow Shades, and she had received an anonymous letter in Ponyville informing her of the occurrence. It did not take much for the mare to guess that it came from the former head of the agency, and she had been almost ecstatic about the chance to recapture it. In less than a day she had everything she needed packed up and ready to go. Lyra of course had been a little upset by her sudden decision to go on a camping expedition in the mountains north of Canterlot, but thankfully the unicorn did not press her for an explanation.

Bon-Bon swore that one of these days she would no longer be able to stand the guilt of lying to her friend for so long about her past, and the truth would just come flying out. But that day was hopefully still far in the future. For now Bon-Bon just focused on the task at hoof.

She had been tracking the bug bear for almost two weeks now, yet during that time it seemed to have grown wise to her pursuing it, and was now keeping a low profile. Apparently it was not a low enough profile, because the ponies of Hollow Shades still spotted it lurking around orchards every once in a while. This helped Bon-Bon tremendously in tracking it, but so far she had yet to actually find the beast. 

But no matter what Bon-Bon would not let it get away, not this time. It was a matter of personal pride that she be the one to bring it down. As to how she would do that. . . she had a few tricks up her sleeve.

It was just then that Bon-Bon heard a cringe inducing shriek echo through the trees, and the mare was on full alert before she even recognized it as not belonging to the bug bear. She did not let her guard down though. Even if the bear was her top priority, she knew there were other predators, like wolves, that could do her in if she was not careful.

Still, not once had she ever heard a cry like that before, and it set Bon-Bon on edge that she was unable to identify it. She was probably letting her curiosity get the better of her, which was a dangerous thing to do given the situation, but she knew her mind would not let her rest until she found out what caused it. Changing her direction Bon-Bon angled herself to where the noise came from.

Not a minute later the screech was followed by the unmistakable sound of an all too familiar growl.

It was the bug bear! She had found it!

Adrenaline pumping, Bon-Bon took off at a gallop, not even bothering with stealth anymore. Presently she came across a small clearing in the trees, with the branches obscuring the light of Luna's moon, and skidded to a halt, eyes widening at what she was seeing.

She had found the bug bear, true. But what she also found filled the earth pony mare with horror and dread at what she was witnessing, and all she could mutter was, "Sweet Celestia. . ."

	
	
> Dawn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Bon-Bon raced through the dark woods as quickly and quietly as she could, glancing behind her every few seconds to make sure whatever that. . . thing was had not decided to follow her. It did not appear that it had, but she did not want to be caught unawares, and just the thought of what she witnessed back there made her redouble her pace as she tried to remember the quickest route to the little hidden cabin she had chosen as her headquarters.

She did not know what that creature was that she saw back there, but Bon-Bon knew that whatever could bisect the bug bear then proceed to feed by sucking up the remains in a violently erratic aura of red energy was most definitely not something she wanted to go up against with what she had on hoof. She had only come prepared to fight an ursa-vespidae, not whatever that nightmarish creature was. she could still picture it in her mind even as she galloped, the way the aura had illuminated the monsters head as it continued to feed. That would be giving her some sleepless nights in the near future.

Bon-Bon knew that she needed to get to her cabin as quickly as possible and get a message to the Princesses. Maybe they would have some insight on what it was that she saw. And Hollow Shades. . . they needed to be warned of what now lurked in the trees just outside their walls. With a course of action decided upon, Bon-Bon refocused her attention on the path in front of her.





It was another hour or so before another pair of ponies came by to take over the next watch shift for Roughshod and Star Mix, and the two were eager to be home in their own beds. Roughshod hoped his wife did not mind his dedication to his job too much. He had volunteered for the position after all, and Rose Flare had made it clear to him when he asked her that she in fact did not mind. Still, even with this in to ease his conscience, the earth pony stallion could not help but feel just a little guilty that his duties required him to spend so much time away from home. Despite her urging him not to, he had promised that he would make it up to her. Of course when that would happen depended greatly on whether or not this business with the bug bear would be resolved soon.

That was part of the reason why he was heading to Mayor Quarts' residence near the center of town as he had told Star Mix he would. The other part had much more to do with what he and Star had heard a short while ago. Roughshod could still remember it clearly; the telltale screech of a creature attacking its prey followed by the din of said prey being torn apart. It had sounded far away but it still gave the earth pony cause for concern. He knew that the sound did not belong to the bug bear, he would swear it on Celestia's mane. What he didn't know was what it did belong to, and that was why he was going to the mayor's house instead of home to his wife.

Presently the two story log home came into sight within a few minutes, the magic powered lanterns illuminating the decorative doorway. Trotting up to the door Roughshod knocked on it a few times with his hoof and waited. No answer came, and Roughshod knocked a second time. This time a muffled voice could be heard through the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" 

Shortly the door swung inward to reveal a ruby red pegasus mare with a disheveled mane and tail and feathers that looked like they would have to be preened in the morning. It was obvious that she had just woken up and was none too happy about it, as she squinted at her guest with a grimace on her muzzle.

"Roughshod?" she said in annoyance. "What are you doing waking me up at this Celestia forsaken hour?"

Roughshod rubbed the back of his neck guiltily and replied, "Sorry for the intrusion ma'am. But there's something that I think you should know."

Still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes Quartz addressed him in an impatient tone. "And what could be so important that it would justify waking me up?"

Deciding to skip the rest of the apology and just get right down to the matter, Roughshod cleared his throat to speak. 

"Ma'am, I think there might be something else in the forest besides the bug bear."

The moment he mentioned the name of the creature that had been terrorizing their village for the past couple of weeks all traces of weariness faded from Quartz's face, and he suddenly had her full attention. Anything that had to do with the bug bear took top priority in her mind.

"What do you mean? Did you see anything while you were on the wall?" she asked him with a hint of urgency.

Roughshod shook his head. "No, we didn't see anything. But both Star Mix and I heard something in the forest, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried."

"Of course not. Anypony would be worried with that thing on the loose. Did you know that I still have gotten no definite response from those bigwigs in Canterlot? The only reply that I've gotten is that they would bring it up with the Princess at her earliest convenience." Quartz scowled, and Roughshod mirrored her expression with one of his own. "More like their own convenience, the snobs. They've probably forgotten all about us." Quartz sighed after that. "Anyway, enough about that." she said, changing the subject. "You said you heard something in the woods, yes? Was it the bug bear?"

Again Roughshod shook his head and said, "I don't think so ma'am."

Quartz's eyebrows fell when she heard that, and she regarded him with a curious expression before saying, "Really? Then what, may I ask, is the reason behind your visit?"

Hesitantly Roughshod began to explain. "Well ma'am, I don't know what it was just yet, but as I've already said I think there might be something we don't know about hiding in there. And whatever it is, I don't think its too friendly."

Quartz brought a hoof to her forehead and she groaned impatiently. "Roughshod," she began, "you know I value your opinion and your will. That's partly why I allowed you to be up on the wall in the first place. But if you're telling me that there might, might, be another monster in those woods based on nothing more than a weird noise, then I might have to suggest that you take a break from it for a little while. We don't need you running off after every strange thing you hear. There's too few good ponies like you as it is."

Roughshod's ears drooped slightly at her admonishment, but his mind would not let the matter rest.

"I understand that ma'am," he said, "but this really has me concerned. "

"I don't know what you expect me to do about it then Roughshod," the mare answered, growing more impatient.

"All I ask," the stallion said carefully, hoping he would not rile up the pegasus more than she already was, "is that you let me take a few ponies out there to check it out, to make sure that there's nothing else going on out there that we should be worried about."

For a brief moment Quartz considered the request, obviously wanting to be doing something else right now. Like sleeping. Breathing a heavy sigh she looked him straight in the eye and asked, "Will it ease your mind if I say yes just so I can go to bed?"

"It would."

Quartz sighed again and said, "Fine. Do what you will Roughshod. Just watch your back out there alright? That monster's already taken one life. We don't need to lose anypony else."

Grimacing at the reminder, Roughshod nodded solemnly. With that the two bid each other goodnight and Roughshod headed home with the moon to guide him.





morning came several hours later in Hollow Shades, as Celestia's sun slowly ascended over the mountains on the Eastern horizon. There was a slight fog hanging in the air in both the local orchard and the town. The light did not immediately reach the collection of thirty some odd buildings due to the wall. The structure, which had been erected ever since the towns founding, wrapped its way around the hamlet in an ellipse. A short distance away a grain mill  sat on the bank of a river, its water wheel slowly turning as the water flowed past. 

Soon after the sun rose a rooster crowed loudly, signaling the start of a new day for the town residents, some of whom had already begun their chores. One of these ponies was Roughshod, who quietly walked about the kitchen as he prepared a breakfast of oats for himself and his wife. Even as he did this thoughts still plagued his mind about last night. And even though he had been the one to make the proposal to Mayor Quartz, he was almost dreading going out into the woods, and for good reason. Ever since the bug bear had been seen lurking around the orchard more than two weeks ago everypony had been almost too afraid to venture outside the walls for fear of it. 

They had all heard the tales told about it, how it had once been a prisoner of Tartarus until it was rumored to have escaped a number of years ago, but for some reason that information had never been made official public knowledge. To Roughshod it seemed that somepony in the upper ranks of the Canterlot elite was trying to keep it under wraps, despite the fact that the beast was now roaming the countryside unchecked, and the ponies of Hollow Shades now knew those rumors to be true.

Roughshod knew that a solution to their problem did not present itself soon, then whatever trade that kept his home town afloat would eventually dry up. Even pegasi would think twice about traveling by air for fear of being attacked by the abomination.

And if there was something else out there besides the bug bear, then times would only get harder. And in his wife's condition. . .

Roughshod knew that this was the right course of action, no matter what his fears. He would have to go into town later in the day to recruit a few other ponies to accompany him. From there they would be able to decide on what to do should they find anything out of the ordinary. 

Roughshod nodded to himself, his mind made up as he finished making breakfast. Rose Flare would waking up within a few minutes; no matter what she was always consistent about what time she got out of bed. His prediction proved to be true as he presently heard the creaking of hooves on the floorboards. Within a few moments a magenta coated unicorn mare strolled slowly into the kitchen area, revealing a distended belly that indicated how long she had been with the foal.

"Good morning sweetie," she greeted as Roughshod helped his pregnant wife to her seat.

"Morning yourself," he replied with a smile before sliding a bowl of oats towards her with his muzzle. Rose levitated a spoonful up to her mouth and took a bite before starting up a conversation.

"So, how was your night?" she asked sweetly as she continued to eat.

Roughshod shrugged in response and said, "Eh, nothing much. Just the usual stuff that goes on at night."

Rose Flare nodded and took another bite before she then asked, "Like what?"

For a brief moment Roughshod hesitated, unsure how to explain his current dilemma to his wife without making her worry. She already had a foal on the way, and Roughshod didn't want to add to her stress. Deciding to start with small details first he told her that he was going to go out into the forest with a few other ponies. Unfortunately his tact did not stop her expression from turning into one of worry. "What for?" she asked.

Deciding to just clear the air before it became an issue Roughshod proceeded to explain how he and Star Mix had both heard the sound of an unknown creature coming from within the trees. He told her everything, from his visit to the mayor's residence to his decision to go check it out later in the day. As he talked Rose's face became more and more pensive. Roughshod noticed this and attempted to dissuade her growing worry by adding, "I'm sure everything's alright though. I'm actually pretty sure it might have been nothing." He was lying when said that, but right now he just did not want his wife to worry. 

She did not appear to buy it however, as she said, "And what if it's not? What you if something happens out there, if not by the bug bear then what about everything else that's in those trees? I know that living here is always going to be a challenge, but ever since it showed up things have only gotten harder. And what if you come back hurt? What if you don't come me back at all?"

At this Rose's eyes began to glisten as unwelcome thoughts entered her head, her once cheerful attitude gone. Not knowing how else to comfort her Roughshod got up out of his chair and trotted over to her. Putting a hoof around her withers he gently whispered in her ear, "Don't you worry about that. I'm not going any where anytime soon. You hear me? I am never leaving you." He then added while gently nudging her growing midsection with a fetlock, "Either of you."

Rose Flare regarded her husband for a moment before a gentle smile found its way to her face, and Roughshod felt his heart lighten as she nuzzled him. Content, Roughshod went back to his breakfast and to planning the day ahead.





Angela did not know for how long she had been unconscious for, and she presently could not recall the reason why she was unconscious in the first place. The only thing she could definitively say as she awoke was that it was morning. Or at least it felt like it was morning. For some odd reason her sight was strangely blurry. She was not sure what the cause of it was but to Angela it felt as though her vision was. . . off somehow. She could not quite put her finger on it, but is was like her eyes were open but she could not feel them. Beyond that she was unable to explain.

As her senses returned to her Angela noticed that her whole body ached as well. It was like she had gone through ten rounds straight without a reprieve. That or she was back in middle school again.

Actually, come to think of it, Angela mused, there really hadn't been much of a difference for me.

Either way, she hurt everywhere. From her head to her feet Angela's entire body was sore all the way to the bones underneath her skin. Ignoring the sensation for the moment Angela tried to remember how she even wound up like this. She put a hand to her head, finding that it felt oddly clammy to the touch, as her memories slowly but gradually resurfaced in her mind.

She remembered waking up in the middle of a dark forest after passing out at a convention. She remembered it being dark, and cold. Angela also recalled experiencing excruciating pain as that bear thing-

Angela was suddenly fully alert as she looked all around for any sign of the strange animal, almost expecting it to be standing right there. Thankfully it did not seem to be in the vicinity, and Angela heaved a sigh of relief, which sounded strangely raspy in her ears. For a moment Angela considered the possibility that everything that she had been through had been nothing more than a particularly unpleasant nightmare. It would certainly explain the bug bear thingamajig which, now that she thought about it, was actually rather ridiculous in hindsight. She supposed the fact that it felt like her life was in danger made it appear to be more menacing than it actually looked. 

However the theory that it was all a dream did little to explain her aches and pains, which thankfully had stared to fade into numbness. The more she thought about it the more unlikely it seemed to Angela that everything she had experienced last night had been a dream. She remembered waking up in the forest. She remembered watching as the bear thing came closer to her. She remembered the feeling of her own body. . .changing. . .morphing. . .

Evolving.

An unpleasant suspicion wormed its way into Angela's mind, and she hesitantly brought up her forearms to see what became of them. The large growths that had accumulated on her skin were no longer present, which relieved her somewhat, but her relief was quickly tempered by the sight of her limbs when her vision finally began to clear enough for her see clearly. What she saw left her in a surprised stupor.

Somehow her skin had turned from its normal peach coloration to an extremely pale gray. In addition it seemed like her arms had gained a slightly scaly quality. And her hands. . . they were most definitely not the ones she was born with. For a little while Angela could only stare in confused shock at them. Gone were the the fingers she was familiar with, having been replaced by four fingered digits with long sickle like blackened claws at the ends. 

Snapping herself out of her trance Angela frantically checked herself to see what else had changed. While she found that her torso remained much the same in terms of shape, it too had gained a gray pallor. Angela brought up a clawed hand to what she assumed would be her face, feeling all around her head for anything that was even remotely familiar. What she felt with her hands made Angela decide that she needed to find a mirror. Right now.

Luckily she noticed a small pond nearby, reflecting the light of the morning sun into her face, and she tried to stand. However when she did she stumbled, suddenly feeling like her feet were too large for her own body, and she fell to the ground with a heavy sounding thud. Groaning from the impact Angela shook herself and glanced behind to see what the problem was. The problem was that while her thighs and shins retained their shape, her feet now extended into long tendrils a number of feet behind her, contributing to about half of her body length. She had also apparently grown a tail as well, which gradually tapered from the base of her spine to a sharp point a few feet longer than the two tendrils that had replaced her feet and-

Since when did I have another pair of arms?

Indeed Angela saw to her continued bewilderment that she had in fact grown another pair of limbs above her original appendages, but instead of hands these bore enormous dagger like claws as long as the forearms they were attached to that ended in wickedly sharp points that looked like they could pierce flesh as easily as any blade.

She really needed to get to that pond.

Fumbling with her new anatomical features Angela slowly made her way towards the pond, mostly by crawling on her hands and knees. Along the way she would catch herself subconsciously using her new set of arms for locomotion, and she was slightly perturbed by how natural it felt to use them. Putting the thought out of her mind for the moment Angela focused solely on just getting to the water, leaving little furrows in the ground with her claws in the process.

Finally Angela reached her destination, and looked at her reflection in the water, unintentionally scaring a trio of fish.

Holy crap. she thought as she looked at the thing staring back at her.

It had a smooth elongated head with two rows of stubby quills near the back. Its toothy lower jaw was split down the middle, giving her visage an almost insect like appearance. But perhaps the most disconcerting feature of her head was the fact that she no longer any eyes to speak of. To Angela this made no sense since she was seeing her own reflection right now. . . at least that's what it felt like. As a test Angela tried blinking, but nothing about her reflection changed other than her vision dimming and brightening.

What the hell is going on?

Still perturbed by the shape of her head and "face", Angela once more looked at herself and her new body, feeling that she resembled something of a mix between a viper and a xenomorph with a little bit of zerg thrown in.

I look. . .

Angela, transfixed by the uninvited change, sat herself on her knees and once more looked at her clawed hands.

I look. . .

Angela let her arms droop, letting them sag to the ground as she stared off at into empty space.

Then, she abruptly raised all four of her arms into the air and shrieked, startling a number of birds out of their nests.

I look awesome!

	
	

	


	
> Carcass
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Roughshod waited a few yards away from the large double gate, tapping his hoof on a table top impatiently as he had been doing for the past thirty minutes.

"Come on. Where are they?" he muttered as he glanced down the main street of Hollow Shades for the umpteenth time for any sign of the four other ponies he had recruited to join him. So far they had yet to appear as they should have done more than an hour ago., and he was beginning to suspect that they were skipping out on him. If that was the case then there was no way Roughshod was going into the woods today. He knew that no matter how well prepared he came, it would do absolutely nothing to keep him from being killed out there if he went by himself. 

So for the time being Roughshod waited, seated at a small cafe a short distance away from the towns entrance. To distract himself he studied the gates with the critical eye of a pony who had spent an extensive amount time around them. He remembered how, just a few short weeks ago, they would have granted entry to many a weary pony from places as far away as Manehatten. Now though, activity around it had been understandably lacking as of late, and it gave Roughshod a morose feeling at seeing what had become of his home. 

Just then the earth pony stallion heard the sound of galloping hooves clicking on the cobblestone streets, distracting him from his thoughts. He glanced down the street and caught sight of none than Star Mix racing towards him at a good clip, her back laden with saddle bags filled to capacity with supplies. It was almost comical the way she looked, and Roughshod felt his earlier mood lighten slightly.

He was still upset by the fact that she was late, and made sure to alert the mare to his displeasure when she was close enough to hear him.

"What took you so long?" he demanded as Star slowed to a stop, panting heavily.

"I'm sorry Roughshod, really I am." she apologized. "I had a heck of a time trying to get everything together at home. And you know Nano Breeze, right? That green mare with the swirl cutie mark?" she asked, to which Roughshod nodded uncertainly. "Yeah well, she caught sight of me trying to make up time and apparently she decided that then was the perfect opportunity to have a conversation, and I was only able to get away just a minute ago."

Roughshod raised a hoof to stop her tirade. "That's alright Star, just try to be more careful how you manage your schedule okay? I just hope the others at least have a reason for being as late as they are."

Star nodded to him before taking a seat across from him. "No food yet?" she questioned as she noticed the empty table top.

"Not open yet," Roughshod said simply as he resigned himself to continue waiting. Even if the others didn't show up, at least now he would not have to put off the trip until a later date. Star Mix may not have have looked like much at a glance, but there was a reason why the unicorn mare was up on the wall with him. She was one of the few ponies in town he would trust to watch his back when the situation called for it.

Roughshod glanced down the street again, but so far the only other ponies he saw were the ones getting their places of business ready for the day ahead. More often than not their days were slow and uneventful from the lack of visitors to the town, and it gave the whole community the subtle feeling that if anything else were to go wrong then that would be the end, and the majority of the populace would be forced to move away from their homes to other places in Equestria. Roughshod knew that those brave souls who still tended to the orchards despite the danger had family and kin in places like Ponyville and Appleloosa that would likely take them in a heartbeat, but for much of the rest of the town, the same could not be said. It was likely that many would become homeless.

And all because somepony couldn't keep the bug bear on a short enough leash. 

Roughshod sighed as he thought about what might become of his home, and more importantly his family. Star Mix noticed the action, and it did not take much for her to guess what he was thinking about, but she was at a loss as to what she could do about it. Just then, she got an idea. 

"So. . ." she said suddenly, hoping to distract him from his thoughts with idle conversation. "How was your day?"

Roughshod glanced at her briefly and answered in a bored sounding tone, "I'm doing alright, all things considered. . . you?"

"Eh, same old, same old," Star replied as she shrugged, and silence once again settled in between the two like the morning fog until Star spoke up again. 

"So tell me, how's Rose doing? You're taking care of my cousin right?"

Roughshod glanced at the mare as a very small grin found its way to his muzzle, and his expression softened a little. Ever since she and Rose were little fillies the two were almost inseparable, and Star had always felt it was her duty to watch over her younger cousin.

"Yeah. She's doing alright." Guessing what her next question was going to be Roughshod added, "As far we can tell the foal's pretty healthy." Even as he said that the stallion felt his grin widen as he thought about his growing family. 

Star's own smile grew when she saw that her strategy was working.

"So how far along is she?" she asked.

Roughshod considered the question briefly before he answered with a hint of pride in his voice, "About six months now." 

Star's eyebrows rose slightly when she heard that bit of information, and her own pride in her cousin grew. "Really? Getting close aren't we?" she said, to which Roughshod nodded. "Well, just make sure you take care of her you hear? I don't think I have to remind you what happened when she first introduced me to you."

Roughshod shook his head. "No, the scar you gave me does that job well enough."

After he said that he heard the sound of Star chuckling, and he almost reluctantly found himself laughing with her as they recalled those more pleasant times when there was no bug bear to worry about. Eventually their mirth died down as they settled back into their cushions.

"Thanks Star," he said as he glanced at the mare appreciatively, and Star regarded him for a moment before she dipped her head in acknowledgement. With that the two went back to waiting for the others to arrive. They did not have to wait for much longer, for they presently spotted three figures moving towards them at a brisk pace.

"Oy there!" called a loud and gruff voice that Roughshod had heard come from nopony else in his life, and it drew the attention of everypony on the street still not accustomed to the baritone voice of Mister Mortar, Hollow shades' local rock farmer.

"Mortar, for the last time there's no need for that kind of volume when their close enough to just talk to," said the slightly smaller blue stallion trotting next to him. Behind the two earth ponies a deep gray pegasus mare hovered in the air with a look that indicated that she had already become tired of their antics. All three bore saddle bags laden with various supplies, though perhaps not quite as excessively as Star's.

"Bah!" exclaimed the larger stallion. "No need for you to be stick in mud Harp. Is all in good taste."

When the trio finally reached Roughshod and Star, the stallion was of half a mind knock all three of them on their heads for being so late. He reigned himself in however and settled for just giving them a disapproving glare. Mortar's happy grin vanished from his muzzle, replaced with a guilty expression. Harp and Nightshade, the pegasus mare, wore similar looks on their faces.

"Eh, terribly sorry for our timing sir," said Harp apologetically, correctly guessing the reason for the look they were receiving. Roughshod only glanced at the young stallion for a brief moment, then shook his head in disappointment.

"I can always count on you three to take your sweet time wherever a deadline is involved," he said with a sigh. "If it weren't for the fact that I know you can do better I would've just taken Star with me."

None of the ponies responded, choosing instead to look at the ground beneath their hooves.

Roughshod sighed again before he finally said, "Well now that you have deemed it convenient to show up, we can go now."

With that Roughshod got up out of his seat and started to trot towards the town gate, motioning for the others to follow. In short order the group of five were now standing in front of it as they waited for a pair of ponies to pull them open. The doors slid inward, allowing them to see the tree line, which seemed almost menacing to any who looked at it, giving off an almost ominous feeling. Roughshod glanced at the ponies he had recruited, and he noticed that a few ponies behind them were visibly nervous at the sight of he open gates. They eyed the trees outside with wary expressions that had become far too common lately.

"Come on," Roughshod said. "Let's get going." 

With that, the two stallions and two mares fell in line behind him as they passed out of the safety of Hollow Shades, and the gates closed behind them with a dull thud, followed by the clank of a heavy lock falling into place. Roughshod did not need to look behind him to know the others were uncomfortable being out here, and it was a sentiment he shared with them. Too soon, they reached the trees, which loomed above them like unfriendly giants, and the group got the distinct feeling that they were not welcome here. 

The forest may have been no Everfree, but that did not mean it didn't come with its own set of monsters.





For what seemed like hours the group trotted along to the East, stopping occasionally to rest and eat whatever snacks they brought with them. It was a slow going process, on account of the uneven landscape, but before long Roughshod felt that they were nearing the area of the woods where Star Mix had spotted the frightened birds. The group kept quiet throughout most of their trek for fear of alerting the bug bear to their presence. The beast had so far been consistent about not attacking groups of ponies, but they were not willing to take that chance. 

After about an hour or so of traversing the woods the group became aware of something in the air. It was a pungent and putrid aroma, one that Roughshod had become familiar with when a pony that had gone missing was discovered just beyond the borders of the orchard.

It was the smell of rotting flesh. The scent hung in the air, and everypony present wrinkled their noses in disgust. The youngest among them, Harp, was trying and failing to keep his stomach contents where they belonged. The only pony among them who didn't seem to be as offended by the smell was Nightshade.

"Ugh. Where is that coming from?" Star questioned as she put a hoof over her mouth. It turned out to be Mortar who would answer her question, as he pointed a hoof somewhere to the left. 

"Somewhere over there I believe," he answered quickly before replacing the hoof over his nose.

"Should we go check it out?" Nightshade asked, speaking up for the first time since the group had left the town.

Roughshod considered the proposal for a moment, deciding that any clue they might be able to glean from the unseen carcass might prove useful in tracking down the bug bear. 

'We might as well," he said as he began to head in the direction the offensive smell seemed to be coming from. Before he went more than ten feet though he was interrupted by the sound of a pony ejecting his morning breakfast. He sighed and decided to also add, "After Harp gets a hold of himself."

Soon enough the group was on their way again, and the smell became stronger and stronger as they neared its source. Roughshod came across a break in the trees, revealing a small clearing. Angling himself towards it he emerged from the boughs, and what he spotted at the center of the clearing left the stallion standing in shock as his mind went blank. He was vaguely aware of Star Mix calling his name, but he did not answer as his brain tried to process the new information it was presented with.

"Roughshod!" Star called again as she trotted up beside him. "What are you. . . looking. . ."

Star faltered when she saw what was occupying Roughshod's attention, and she too found herself unable to do anything except stare in confusion at the sight. Shortly the rest of the group came up beside them, all wearing similar expressions of bewilderment at the bug bear.

What was left of it anyway.





Angela knew that she likely should have been furious with what happened to her, or at the very least thoroughly confused. After all, in the last twenty-four hours she had been knocked out, attacked by a wild animal, and been turned into something more fitting for a science fiction movie than a forest filled with pine trees. But, strangely enough, she wasn't.

Sure there was the fact that she had woken up in an unfamiliar location.

Sure she she had almost become a meal for something that looked like it belonged in the rejected pile of ideas for that Avatar cartoon.

And sure she had been forced to go through the excruciatingly painful process of having her entire body go through suffering and torment she had not experienced in her entire life, what with having her very bones reshaping themselves into completely different alignments.

Given everything she had endured, Angela should have been very angry, enough to the point where she would scream and rage at everything around her like a maniac. But she did not, and for one simple reason: there was nothing she could really do about it.

Sure she could cry and whine about being turned into a monster against her will, but she didn't. Angela was of a more practical mindset than most people her age, and knew that no amount of complaining about what happened to her would help in the slightest. 

This of course left the question of what she would do now that she was in who knows where in a body that she was still as of yet completely unfamiliar with. To Angela the answer to that question was simple: become familiar with herself. The process would of course involve lots of physical activity to become accustomed to her new form, like learning  to move around, figuring out how to eat, which bodily functions changed or stayed the same.

Wooooo-hooooo!

Or just have fun by diving off of the side of a cliff into a deep pool a hundred feet below. She would have given wording to her euphoria, but seeing as how she had lost the ability of speech during her transformation, the best she could manage out loud was a shrill cry of glee. With barely a splash her slender form disappeared under the water, and for a brief moment the only sound that could be heard was the dull roar of a nearby waterfall. Soon enough her sleek head poked out of the water and Angela exhaled the breath she had been holding, noting how she now sounded much like an enormous snake.

Yes, getting used to her new body would likely take some time, but Angela felt she might as well have some fun while she was at it. Swimming over to bank Angela pulled herself out of the water before resting underneath the branches of a tree, curling in on herself in a natural feeling position. While she rested Angela finally took the time to ponder herself.

She already knew what she had become. The wraith was just too unique of a creature for anyone familiar with the game not to recognize.

But why a wraith though? She thought as she inspected her clawed hands. I mean sure it kind of makes sense, seeing as how it's the only monster out of the four to be classified as a girl. . . but still, why be turned into a what's considered a killing machine?

The question perplexed her somewhat, and Angela tried reviewing her memories as far back as they would go for any hint of an explanation. The first time she had been exposed to the game was when a friend had invited her over after having not seen each other for years. It just so happened that he had Evolve for his PC and was more than willing to show it to her. Of course the moment he had figured out she was a thief he had kicked her to the curb. For weeks afterward Angela had all but forgotten about him and the game, although she did seem to recall seeing a few people dressed up as the hunters and monsters at the convention and-

Wait a minute. 

Angela's train of thought ground to halt, and she let out a sharp hiss as more memories resurfaced about the convention. Specifically those involving that old man. She remembered that he had given her something he claimed would help keep her from being arrested, right before she passed out and woke up in the forest.

He did this to me. she thought sourly, barely noticing how she was leaving long gashes in the soil with her claws as her anger finally began to rise. That jerk!

Angela snarled, a vicious sound that seemed to rattle the air around her, and she bared the teeth of her multi-jawed mouth in a terrifying display of primal rage. But before her fury could rise to dangerous levels, Angela dulled her senses, which she had discovered was the wraiths version of closing its eyes, and forced herself to calm down. She reminded herself that there was nothing she could do about it now, that rage would solve nothing in her current situation. Although she was successfully able to calm herself with the logic, it did not completely placate her. 

Deciding to try and sleep the rest of her anger away, Angela curled more tightly around herself with her multiple tails and dozed off.

It was not a minute later when her enhanced senses detected the sound of something dropping from the tree she was resting under. Rousing herself, Angela lifted her head to look around. Initially she did not see anything, and was about to just let the matter drop and go back to sleep when she spotted something moving in the distance. Angela focused her sight, and her vision telescoped onto the object. What she saw made her brain go into a sort of comatose state as it tried and failed to process what she was seeing run away from her.

When the gears were finally able to start turning again she was only able to think of one thing.

Oh crap.





Bon-Bon had no idea what she was even thinking when she decided to try monitoring the monster that had killed the bug bear while she waited for a response from the Princess. Earlier that morning when she had set out to track it down, the task had proved surprisingly easy. It was as though the creature was either not that experienced in the art of evasion or just didn't care. All Bon-Bon had to do was follow the scuffs on the ground and the gashes in the trees left in its wake. She even thought she had caught a few glimpses of it in the distance, and just the sight of it gave her a feeling of dread.

Everything seemed to be going well, until the mare had somehow lost the trail at a waterfall. It was while she was pacing about, wondering what she was supposed to do then, when a blood curdling shriek sounded from the top of a cliff, and Bon-Bon glanced up to see the nightmare plummeting towards the water before disappearing beneath the surface. Bon-Bon panicked, thinking that the monster had found her out, that it had known all along that she was tracking it and had lured her into a trap. Frantically Bon-Bon tried to think of anything she could do to keep from being killed by the thing, but the only solution that came to mind was to climb a tree. She initially had some trouble scaling the rough bark with her hooves, however the sight of the monster peeking its head out of the water was more than enough motivation for her to perform the task anyway.

And there she waited, hoping to Celestia that the thing would show no interest in her and just go away. Just her luck that it instead had chosen to reside directly beneath her hiding spot. Unsure what else she could Bon-Bon just sat there and waited. She supposed then would have been a good time to get the jump on it, but quickly decided to shove that idea out of her head until she was sure she could take it, so for the time being she just waited and observed.While she did she was able to see the monster more clearly from her position, and it only made her fear of it rise. 

It was just so terrifying, the way it looked. Everything about it frightened her, from the multiple arms and tails to the claws that looked tailor made for rending flesh from bone, not to mention it was the size of young dragon. Perhaps the most unsettling thing about it were its lack of eyes, which made Bon-Bon wonder how it was able to see. Maybe it used a form of echolocation? 

Whatever the case, Bon-Bon's thoughts on the matter were interrupted when, after a short period of nothing happening, the creature hissed suddenly, and the mare began to shake from fear. The hiss was soon followed by a ferocious snarl that made Bon-Bon decide that she needed to leave right now. As quietly as she could the mare worked her way down to the lower branches of the tree before dropping to the ground with as little noise as possible. It was not enough however, for the creature stirred and began to glance around with a sightless gaze, and Bon-Bon took off galloping in whatever direction she was facing. She did not even glance behind her to see if it had decided to pursue after her as she ran.

I should have stayed in my candy shop in Ponyville!

	

	

	
	


	
> Tracks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"I don't get it. I just don't  get it. The bug bear is, all things considered, nothing less than a monster. Hay, it was supposedly a prisoner of Tartarus at one point, and its taken the life of at least one pony already. And every time we've tried to capture or kill it, it's managed to give us the slip or fight us off. So what in the wide world of Equestria could have done this?"

Roughshod's question went unanswered as he stared at the decaying carcass of the bug bear, such as it was, while swarms of flies buzzed all around the body. The smell it radiated was so pungent and offensive that everypony present was forced to stand a good distance away from it. Harp had thrown up again of course when they had discovered it, and was currently standing as far away from it as he could while still keeping reasonably close to the rest of the group. At least he was wise enough to stay within sight.

It was almost unbelievable that the beast that had been a thorn in the side of Hollow Shades for weeks had been reduced to little more than food for maggots, and of that there was very little to be said about. It was as though the bug bear had been ripped apart and picked clean until there was naught but a bloody skeleton. The only reason Roughshod even recognized the pile of bones as belonging to the bug bear was the extra limbs and the wasp like abdomen, which apparently had been deemed to be inedible to whatever brought it down.

It was almost disappointing in a way.

Finally the silence was broken when Harp decided to speak up then.

"Well, I don't really see what the problem is," he said as he gestured at the corpse with a hoof. "I mean, this is a good thing right? The bug bear is dead now. We can finally rest easy now that it's gone, can't we?" 

Harp let the question hang in the air, but all he got in reply were a few deadpan looks from the other ponies. "What?"

Star Mix sighed and brought a hoof to her forehead, massaging the around her horn in attempt to ward off a building headache. "You just don't get it, do you?" she questioned, to which Harp gave the unicorn a confused glare.

"Get what?" he demanded. "What is there to get about this situation? The monster's dead. End of story. What's to stop us from going home now?"

Roughshod began to question why he brought the young stallion along in the first place, and he was the next to speak up as he addressed him.

"Harp, just stop and think about this for one moment. The bug bear is, by all rights, an apex predator in many places of the world, from Equestria to Griffonia. There is almost nothing alive that would even consider attacking it, especially not for food. And here it is now, torn limb from limb like a rag doll. What does that tell you?"

Harp paused to consider the question, until his eyes widened as dawning realization struck him regarding the implications of the scene.

"Ohhh. . ."

"That's right," said Roughshod with a slow nod. "It means that there's something even worse out there right now. And we don't even know what it even is."

For few moments a tense silence reigned over the group as the thought sunk in, and the group as whole suddenly found themselves to be gazing at the trees around them with a more wary eye. It now seemed to them that anything could hide and remain unseen rather easily among the trees. It was an off putting realization.

"So. . . what do we do then?" asked Nightshade as she glanced behind herself to make sure nothing was sneaking up on her. "Because I actually agree with Harp on one thing." Off to the side the mentioned pony wore an appreciative smile with a hint of smug pride. The smile vanished when Nightshade added, "I mean, there's nothing wrong in taking the cowards way out when we don't know what we're dealing with to at least reevaluate our situation." 

Harp rolled his eyes at Nightshades statement, which the pegasus ignored in favor of waiting for somepony to agree with her.

"I think so too," added Star. "I mean let's face the facts, we've come to a dead end as far as the bug bear is concerned."

Roughshod however shook his head. "Not yet," he said. "Not while there is still something to be found here. What we need to do first is look for clues about whatever this thing might be. Footprints, blood, anything." Roughshod received a few reluctant nods of agreement, to which he said, "Good then. Split off, start looking around but, and I swear to Celestia, stay in sight. For all we know this thing might still be in the area."

The ponies all nodded in affirmation, some more hesitantly than others, and began to fan out while staying in the vicinity. Mortar and Roughshod looked around the trees ringing the clearing while Nightshade inspected the ground around the corpse of the bug bear. Harp however was having trouble deciding what he could do to help as he glanced around uncertainly. Star noticed this, and drew his attention with a sharp whistle. She motioned with her head to follow her and the stallion obeyed, casting nervous glances at the surrounding forest as he trotted over to the unicorn mare. 

"Hey kid," she said with a raised eyebrow. "You doing alright? You seem kinda nervous."

Yeah," Harp replied. "I just really don't like being out here is all. . . . You know that pony that went missing? Silver Gala?" 

Star nodded as she began scanning the forest floor. "Yeah," she said. "What about her?"

Harp sighed as he proceeded to explain. "I was actually one of the first ponies to be there when they found her. Or at least what the bug bear left for us to find. And I remember feeling so afraid, that there was actually something like that so close to town. " Harp paused briefly. "It's just that I don't get how all of you can be so calm about this. I mean, we were out here looking for the bug bear, and we find out that there's something bigger that we don't know about. And all of you are acting like you're not even afraid. It's like your not scared at all, and here I am acting like a coward like Nightshade said. . . I just wish that I could be brave like all of you are."

Star took a moment to pause in her inspection and think about the young stallions words. Then she answered in a sympathetic tone, "Well Harp, that's just it. We are scared. Scared out of our minds. Maybe we don't necessarily act like it, but the truth is everypony here is afraid, not just you. Me. Mortar. Even Roughshod, and believe me when I say that he probably has the most reason out of all of us to be afraid."

"What do you mean?" Harp asked.

Star checked over a fallen log before proceeding to explain. "Well, if you take the fact that his home might be in danger from an unknown super-predator, he already has enough to be worried about. But he also has my cousin to think about, not to mention he's going to be having a foal with her soon. Sure Roughshod may be scared of the monster in the woods, we all are. But I've known him long enough to know that the thought of Rose or his kid being hurt absolutely terrifies him more than anything. That's why he's out here Harp. That's why we are out here. To make sure that nothing can hurt the ones we love, now or ever."

Star stayed silent for a few terse moments before she spoke up again. "You see Harp, this is something we have to do, no matter how much we might be afraid. And I know that I for one am not going to just sit around on my flank without at least finding out what did this. You see what I'm saying?"

Harp gave a slow nod to Star, his face a mix of different emotions that the mare could not quite place. "Yeah," he then said. "I see what you're saying."

Star Mix smiled lightly at him, glad that he understood, and returned her attention to the task at hoof. A few minutes later Harp saw fit to ask a question.

"So, how long have you known Roughshod?" he asked.

Star's ears twitched at the question, and she absentmindedly wondered why he would want to know that. "Mmh. . . about six years now. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason, just curious," he replied, after which he then asked, "So how did you meet him?"

"It was actually my cousin Rose Flare that introduced us. And I gotta admit, I immediately disliked him the moment I saw him. In fact, when Rose told me that she and him were an item I actually tried to skewer him with my horn." Star began to chuckle slightly as she recalled that particular memory, during which Harp started to eye the emerald unicorn with a certain amount of wariness. Star noticed this and quickly added, "Oh don't worry, he only came off with minor injuries. And of course since then I've come to know him as a decent guy. He takes good care of Rose at least."

Star trailed off as she recalled the day when she thought her younger cousin was being taken advantage of. She only saw after a brief moment of silence that Harp was now standing a noticeable distance away from her. "Oh come on," she exclaimed. "I was still young and overprotective back then. I'm much calmer nowadays."

"I think I'd rather not take my chances. Eh, no offense."

Star rolled her eyes and went back to scanning the environment for any clues when her eyes caught sight of something white laying on the ground a short distance away. Curious, she trotted over to inspect it with Harp following behind.

"Well, what have we here?" Star questioned out loud as she picked up the object in her magical grasp. Harp craned his head to see what she was looking at.

"What did you find?" he asked.

"Some sort of mask." Star answered as she floated it over for him to see. It was stark white in coloration, although it had become somewhat dirtied from however long it spent lying on the ground. Both ponies felt that it vaguely resembled a skull of some sort. "It hasn't been here long though I don't think," Star added as she turned it over. "It doesn't look like it would fit a pony either, since the muzzles too short. But the real question is what's it doing out here?"

Before either pony could come up with any kind of theory they both heard the rough voice of Mister Mortar call out to them. 

"Comrades! I believe I have found something!"

Storing the mask in her saddle bags for the time being Star Mix quickly began to make her way the rock farmer's location with Harp following behind. Shortly all five ponies were gathered at the base of a large tree, where Mortar was looking at something on the ground.

"What is it Mortar?" Roughshod asked, to which the larger stallion replied by pointing a thick foreleg at a layer of inky black material on the ground, a trace of revulsion evident on his muzzle. The stuff did not look too healthy to be around.

"What is this stuff?" Nightshade questioned out loud as she prodded the substance with a hoof. When she made contact it almost seemed to jiggle slightly in response, like it were an ichorous version of gelatin. "Ugh, it looks like something the Smooze would cough up," The mare said as pulled her hoof away in disgust.

"Does anypony have any idea what the hay it is?" Roughshod ventured,. Everypony present shook their heads in reply however, having never seen anything quite like it in their lives. Just then Harp noticed something sticking out from under the substance, and was quick to point it out. Since nopony else was willing to put their faces anywhere near the stuff to get it, they had to rely on Star to pull it out with her magic. It took some effort to extricate it from its prison, but when it was finally freed it was revealed to be a black cloth of some sort, but it was so torn and roughed up that its original purpose was unclear to anypony.

"Wonder what this was," Star mused. Then something seemed to dawn on Harp and he made a suggestion.

"Maybe it has something to do with that mask we found?"

"What is this mask?" Mortar asked. "Please show us." Star complied and retrieved the object from her saddle bags to show the others. When they all saw it they eyed it with a certain amount of suspicion.

"Well it's definitely not meant for a pony, that much I can tell," said Roughshod as he inspected it. "But if I had to guess I would say it might have belonged to a diamond dog."

"Diamond dogs?" Nightshade exclaimed. "But that doesn't make any sense. As far as I know the nearest gem deposit is somewhere near Ponyville, and that's all the way on the other side of Mount Canterhorn. Isn't that right Mortar?"

The stallion nodded in confirmation. "Is true," he said. "No jewels around these parts, and I would know."

Roughshod sighed as an aggravated look crossed his face. "This is making no sense at all. All we've got to go by is a carcass, some weird mask, and whatever this stuff is," he muttered. "Don't we have anything else? Anything?"

For a moment nopony answered, until Nightshade spied something out of the corner of her eye. "Well," she said, drawing out the word slightly, "there's that." The pegasus pointed with an outstretched wing at something a little above and behind Roughshod. The group as a whole turned to look, and saw a large chunk of bark had been removed from the side of a tree a number of yards away. It looked almost like something with massive talons had grabbed onto it. Behind that one more trees bore similar marks.

"Huh. . . well alright then."





Okay. It is official. I didn't want to believe it at first, but there's no use denying it. I am in pony land.

Angela thought this as she gazed at the grand marble white city hanging off of the side of a mountain like a decorative lamp, almost seeming to glow as the sun began to set. And for a long time all she could do was stare with her eyeless gaze at the capital of Equestria.

Well this doesn't complicate things at all now, does it? she mused sarcastically.

When Angela had first seen the little pony with the pink and indigo mane and tail racing away from her at top speed, the human-turned-wraith had initially been at a loss for words as a weird suspicion had begun to build up inside her. She didn't know what to say. she didn't know what to feel. She didn't even know what to think about the implications of being a multi-ton apex predator in a land populated primarily by sentient herbivores.

To tell the truth Angela did not even know that much about the rebooted cartoon show. That is not to say that she held anything against it. She actually rather enjoyed it whenever she was able to catch a rerun or two. She just didn't know that much about My Little Pony to be intimately familiar with it like some people she knew. The most she could remember now about it were the main characters, and even their names were hard for her to recall at the moment.

Before Angela could dwell on the matter any further her thoughts were interrupted by the creak and groan of branches supporting far too much weight that were about to give. The only thing the wraith could do upon realizing the danger was utter a surprised hiss before the limbs snapped and she fell down from the tree to the earth with a heavy thud onto her back. She was uninjured thanks to her resilient physiology, but the unscheduled landing hurt none-the-less.

I really need to figure out how this thing is supposed to float around, Angela thought sourly.

Groaning from the impact, Angela rolled herself onto her stomach and propped herself up with her extra set of mantis like limbs. She was gradually becoming more used to them, which was something of a highlight, but it did little to assuage her thoughts on the latest development to present itself. Shaking her head clear of the dizziness induced by her little tumble, Angela took a moment to gather herself and review what she did know about the show. She remembered clearly that aside from the main characters, who were national heroes of some kind, there was also a dragon and two princesses that controlled the sun and moon. Or were they queens?

It had been a while since Angela sort of drifted away from watching it, so other than that she could not remember much else. It was not because she disliked it, it was just that her priorities had. . . changed somewhat. She remembered that her life had been quite different before she had become a common thief.

Angela shook herself of the memories. That was all in the past, and the only thing that mattered to her now was what she was going to do after finding out she was in Equestria. The how and why of the matter were not as important to her; after all, she was already inhabiting the body of a monster from a video game, so the idea of being in a place populated by technicolored talking equines was not quite as far fetched. 

The only answer she could come up with for her dilemma was to start learning the ins and outs of being a wraith as quickly as possible. There was still the matter of that one pony Angela had seen galloping away from her. It was very likely that it would tell the others of its kind about Angela, but unfortunately there was nothing that could be done about that now, and the former human would just have to cross that bridge when she came to it. In the mean time, Angela felt it was high time that she start learning.

Angela remembered from her brief exposure to her friends game that the wraith was somehow able to float around a few feet above the ground, appearing to actually "slither" through the air. The question was how? How could Angela learn to do that in just a few hours, before any ponies came by to investigate? Maybe it had something to do with how she moved? Maybe she was supposed to try mimicking the wraiths movements on the ground first before she could become airborne?

It's worth a shot, Angela grumbled as she laid down and started to "slither". However nothing seemed to be happening other than her stomach and ridged chest becoming dirty and sore, not to mention she was already feeling rather silly about the whole thing. 

Okay, this isn't working! she mentally exclaimed, and she promptly ceased squirming on the ground and sat on her knees and dusted herself off. Alright, so that's not it. What now?

Angela thought some more, and was beginning to get frustrated with her efforts, until a new idea entered her thoughts. Maybe instead of just trying to move like a wraith, she had to also think like wraith. Perhaps it had as much to do with the state of her mind as much as it did with her technique.

Deciding that she didn't have any better ideas, Angela instead dulled her sense to everything around her, and focused solely on her desire to move, blotting out everything else. She also tried to make it so it did not feel like a conscious command, but more of a feeling, a want, a need to keep moving forward. For a time the only thing Angela was aware of was her repeated and unspoken order, until she risked opening her senses again, expecting to still be stuck on the ground. But strangely enough, she no longer felt the cool touch of the earth on her hands and knees. In fact, she did not feel the ground at all.

Angela slowly glanced down and, to her surprise and euphoria, found that she was no longer bound to the earth, but was instead hovering a number of feet above the ground with only the tips of her tails touching the soil.

Yes! Angela exclaimed joyfully, pumping her clawed fists in the air. However the moment she did that she began to wobble slightly, and she frantically refocused on just staying afloat. Despite the fact that she almost fell, Angela still felt a great sense of pride and accomplishment that she was able to figure at least something out.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all, she thought. 

It was not even one minute after she thought this before Angela was interrupted by a light grumbling sound originating from where her stomach was supposedly at. She was still figuring out where all of her organs were located, and had even found a few new ones.

But the sound that now assaulted Angela's senses was one that all creatures, whether they be large or small, predators or prey, were intimately familiar with.

Angela was hungry.

	

	

	

> Feed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Bon-Bon paced back and forth in the tiny kitchen area of her little cabin, her hooves echoing slightly in the cramped confines of her temporary headquarters. Once every few seconds she would glance expectantly at the dark glass bottle sitting on the counter next to the sink. Ever since she had sent another message to the Princess, this one regarding her brief but nerve wracking encounter with the creature, Bon-Bon had been waiting anxiously for a response to tell her what course of action should be taken to deal with it. She could have probably been a little more polite in her wording, but she felt the urgency of the situation called for it. So far though no response of any kind had come, and Bon-Bon was starting to become slightly worried if she would ever get one.

I knew I shouldn't have called her a cake flank, she thought as she completed another circuit, glancing at the still inactive bottle of enchanted dragon fire for the hundredth time. Relax Bonny, just be patient. The Princess probably just got sidetracked with something just as important.

All the same however, the cream colored mare was concerned, and it was beginning to show in her expression. Her ears were folded down against the back of her head, her eyebrows made little creases, and a frown seemed to be permanently etched onto her face. 

To distract herself from the wait Bon-Bon proceeded to review what she knew about the creature, or at least what she had seen it do. 

It was obviously an apex predator of some sort, and looked more fitting for the depths of Hades than any environment in Equestria. It was highly unlikely to be a native species either as far as she knew, and she knew a lot. But what really puzzled the mare however was the fact that she never even heard of anything fitting this creatures description. She even had a little booklet in her saddlebags that she had used as a reference guide to help identify it, but when she looked through it she found nothing. It was almost like it had simply showed up out of the blue for no apparent reason. Maybe it had been imported from another country and escaped?

Another thing that bothered Bon-Bon regarding it was its apparent nature as a predator. When she had first stumbled upon it while it fed on the bug bear,  Bon-Bon could not help but notice at how ruthlessly the ursa-vespidae had been ripped to pieces. And the way the monster fed, inhaling the disintegrating remains like a vacuum, gave Bon-Bon the impression that it was enjoying the practice. If it ever encountered a pony. . . she shuddered at the thought of what could happen.

But still, Bon-Bon was a practical mare, and even if she felt that the creature posed a clear and present threat, she knew that as long as it stayed in the depths of the forest, far away from any communities, then it was unlikely that any drastic action would need to be taken against it. Bon-Bon however felt that it was a problem that needed to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible, so that the creature never got a chance to cause harm. Maybe it could just be relocated to a more remote environment, like somewhere deep in the Everfree. Very deep.

Of course nothing effective could be done about it as long as the Princess put off responding.

Growing more impatient by the second, Bon-Bon finally exploded in a fit of nervous anger. Bringing her hooves up the mare slammed them on the counter, and shouted at the bottle, "Get off your big fat plot and answer already!"

No sooner than had she said this did the bottle immediately begin to glow a bright green, and the cork on top popped off, hitting Bon-Bon square in the eye.

"Gah!" she exclaimed as she brought up a hoof to rub her now sore pupil. Soon afterward a jet of green flame shot out of the bottles top, sparkling slightly. When the flame eventually dissipated it revealed a rolled up scroll that hovered in the air for a brief moment before it fell down to the counter.

"Finally," Bon-Bon muttered, temporarily forgetting her pain as she trotted over to it, taking notice of the royal seal. Breaking the seal with a hoof she rolled it open and began to read its contents.



Addressed to: Bon-Bon, formerly Agent Sweetie Drops of the A.M.D.

Sender: Princess Celestia of Equestria

Dear Bon-Bon, I must first begin by apologizing for the lateness of this message. But now that I have a free moment I can address this issue that you have presented us with. This creature and its nature that you describe are indeed worrying, especially since it was discovered to reside so near to Hollow Shades. The possible outcome of an encounter with such a beast, especially one that could so easily dispatch the bug bear, is unsettling to say the least. 

Hence, it is my and my co-ruler's opinion that something must be done to address this issue as you suggest. We have deemed it prudent to have a specialized division of royal guards on standby should it become evident that it is hostile. If the creature does anything that threatens the ponies of Hollow Shades, then you are instructed to contact me at the soonest opportunity, and the guards will be there in less than a day.

Until then, however, maintain observation of the creature and determine whether or not it indeed poses a threat. Do not provoke it. Only confront if absolutely necessary. 

Signed: Princess Celestia of Equestria



Bon-Bon sighed heavily before rolling the scroll back up and trotting over to the bedroom area. She reached underneath the little cot she slept on and pulled out a wooden trunk. Undoing the lock she flipped it open open to reveal a myriad of different supplies and equipment meant for the sole purpose of warding off large predators.

While Bon-Bon may have certain reservations about Celestia's order, she would do just as the Princess requested.

It did not however keep her from muttering the words "cake flank" under her breath as she organized her supplies.





It took Angela some time before she figured out exactly how she was supposed to move around while she was airborne. Positioning her body so that it was parallel to the ground helped quite a bit, but she did not learn immediately. She initially had started by simply pulling herself along by either grabbing onto nearby trees or by repeatedly skewering the ground with the two meter long claws of her extra arms. Both methods helped, but Angela knew that there would not always be trees around to assist her, and pulling herself along was surprisingly tiresome.

Angela knew that what she needed to do was learn how to move under her own power. Thankfully she discovered later on that it was not much harder than simply angling her tails in the correct way and just willing herself forward. It was hard for her to explain, but it was almost like a part of her brain was on autopilot, allowing her to move freely, independent of any outside assistance. She of course crashed into the side of a tree a number of times during the entire process, but now that she had figured it out, she was able to focus her mind on other matters.

Food, food, food. Where to find food, she sang in her head as her slender form wove between the trees like an exotic airborne serpent.

Angela had never been that much of a meat eater when she was still human, although she did partake of the occasional steak. . . whenever she was able to abscond with one, and each time it had been a luxury for her. But now that she was a wraith, Angela suspected that meat would be the only thing she could eat. She had decided to test this theory when she came across a patch of wild strawberries, but the moment she had snapped them up she instantly knew they would not do. It was not that they tasted any different than she remembered, but something within her was telling her that no matter how many she consumed it would never sate her growing hunger. Wraiths were, after all, exclusively predators if the game was to be believed.

This of course left Angela with the task of setting out and finding live prey, but so far the only animals she had seen were birds sitting high up in their nests. She had considered going after them, if only to eat any eggs she found, but she had found out early on that there was a limit to how high she could go just by levitating, as evidenced by the bruise on her chest. when floating did not work Angela thought about simply scaling the trees, but decided against it; it was too much effort for too little reward.

And so Angela was doomed to wander around the woods hoping to stumble on something. And she was only getting hungrier. 

It was barely noticeable, but Angela felt that her mind was beginning to slip, and if she did not get something to eat soon she would go crazy from hunger. But alas, it would seem that critters tend to avoid you when you are a large predator on the prowl, and she wasn't even that good at sneaking around to avoid detection yet. Angela solemnly wished she had payed more attention to those hunting tips when an uncle would see fit to take her out for a little while. 

She could really go for anything right now as well. Something satisfying, like a deer or even a pon-

Angela immediately cut that thought off before it could finish, shaking her head vigorously.

Stop it Angela! she mentally shouted at herself. Get a hold of yourself. You know what that would lead to here. Angela knew that the minute she would start to consider eating ponies, then there would be absolutely no going back. She reminded herself that she was in Equestria now, and such an action would lead to the equines hunting her down and killing her. After all, it was what happened to regular animals that killed humans.

Reinforcing her will over her instincts, Angela continued onward in search of non-sapient food. She would even consider taking up scavenging at this point. 

Just then a noise echoed though the trees, and Angela's enhanced senses picked up on it immediately. She tilted her head to listen, and was greeted by a grating squeal that didn't sound to be too far away. It sounded very much like an animal in distress. She felt her hunger rise at the notion of finally getting to eat something, but she kept herself in check. Her instincts told her to proceed slowly, so as not to scare off a potential meal.

Angela slowly crept forward in the general direction the squealing was coming from, hovering close to the ground so as to limit her profile as much as possible, occasionally using her clawed hands to creep along the forest floor. After a few minutes of this Angela came across a sight that was both pleasing and suspicious.

There, in the middle of a small clearing, a wild boar was tethered to a stake in the ground. It struggled to get free, squealing and grunting in its efforts to escape. The rope it was bound by was pulled tight, and the stake moved occasionally, but nether showed any sign of giving in anytime soon. She also smelled blood in the air, probably from the rope chafing around its ankle.

At that moment Angela would have loved nothing more than to put the boar out of its misery and eat to her hearts content, but something about the scene kept her from doing just that. There was no chance that the boar was simply caught in a trap. It had been purposefully put there by someone or somepony, though the reason for it was not readily apparent. 

Angela was at war with herself. Part of her was telling her simply move on and look for other sources of food. The other part was screaming for her to throw caution to the wind and just go down there and feast. So far that part was winning. 

Resolving to be quick about it, Angela slipped out from under the cover of the trees in the fading sunlight. The moment the boar saw her approach its dark eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets and it tried to bolt away from her, sensing that it was about to become a meal. The intensity of its squealing heightened to the point that Angela was getting a headache. Almost without even thinking about it, one of her mantis like arms jabbed forward, piercing the boars hide easily, coating the tip red. The squealing faltered but did not stop until she jabbed again, and the boar was silenced.

Angela was almost taken aback by how easy it was to commit the act, but did not have a chance to dwell on it as the scent of blood became stronger and her instincts took over. 

Angela opened her jaws wide as she leered at the boar, and a crimson aura began to glow from its carcass as it appeared to disintegrate before it was inhaled down her gullet, and she bobbed her head violently as she fed. Angela didn't know what to make of the feeling. It was like she was flaying the boar with only her will, and would have otherwise been disturbed by the method. But she was just so hungry, and all she wanted then was to keep feeding and devouring until she had her fill, no matter her feelings about it.

Too soon her meal was over, and all that was left of the boar was a skeleton. 

It wasn't enough. She needed more. Her hunger demanded it. It screamed at her to find more food and kill it and consume it and-

A deep growl brought her back to something only vaguely resembling a sane mind, and her head whipped around to locate the source of the noise. Her eyeless gaze settled on a large wolf, though it was unlike any wolf she had ever seen before. It had the same basic body shape, but its violet fur glimmered and shone like the night sky, and a star shaped symbol adorned its forehead. It was also substantially larger than the average lupine. Angela was briefly reminded of the ursa-minor and ursa-major, and wondered in the back of her mind if this thing was related somehow.

The wolf growled again, pulling Angela back to the present. She realized then that it was challenging her, that she had inadvertently stumbled into its territory. 

Two more wolves sidled up beside their companion. Make that their territory. 

All three began to growl at Angela. Feeling threatened, she did the only thing she could think of at the moment and responded with a growl of her own, splaying her jaws wide as she brandished her large claws. And it was so loud and vicious in comparison that the wolves immediately faltered, startled by the display. It was mainly just an attempt to scare them off, and it seemed to work, if only for a moment. Their ears folded back against their heads, before they overcame their trepidation and began to approach the noticeably larger predator more slowly. 

Two of them split off began to flank her on either side while the first one approached from the middle, and Angela felt her instincts begin to take over when she realized she was cornered, and she snarled again. The wolves paused but did not stop, and when she was properly surrounded the one to her left began to creep towards her. Distracted by its approach, Angela did not see as one of the other shiny wolves pounced, landing on her back and biting into her shoulder. Angela screeched in pain before grabbing the runt by the back of its head, leaving deep gashes in the process, and slamming into the ground with a tremendous amount of force. Before she finish it off with her scythe claws another wolf leaped at her, throwing her off balance. 

Angela snarled again as her instincts took complete control of her actions. She was in danger, and she was enraged that these runts, these prey animals, dared to attack her so. They were prey, everything was meant to be prey to her, and she would be the one to teach that to them.

When their companion recovered enough, the wolves began to advance a second time. Unlike before they all pounced at once, and unlike before Angela did not let them make contact. She swiftly dodged to the side, barely registering the trail of white streaks she was leaving in her wake, and she lashed out with her scythes, creating a massive wound in the one of the wolves flanks. Whimpering, it fell to the ground and the other two switched tactics to interpose themselves between her and it to protect their companion. 

With barely any effort Angela swatted them aside, and proceeded to impale the wolf into the ground. 

The last two looked on with what seemed to be shock in their luminous eyes as the life left their companion, and Angela shrieked her triumph into the fading light of day. 

This was how it was supposed to be. This was how she was supposed to act now. She was no longer a weak little human, subject to the whims of those who would take advantage her. No longer would she be oppressed and mistreated, no longer would she be forced to scrounge around for scraps in an alley just to survive.

She was better now. She was stronger now.

She was a monster. 

She was a wraith.

Glancing down at the last two wolves that dared to think themselves apex predators, Angela hissed as she leered at them threateningly. With their ears folded back against their heads, the wolves seemed to forget their shock in favor of avenging their fallen brother. They leaped at her again, and there was no technique or coordination to it this time. All they wanted was to kill her for what she had done. They were out for blood. 

The struggle that followed was violent but short lived, and two more dead wolves now laid on the ground. Angela, undeniably victorious, shrieked as the sun finally vanished beneath the horizon, and she proceeded to eat her fill.





"Okay, now I know I heard something that time!" Nightshade exclaimed as she glanced all around in an attempt to pinpoint where the sounds of screeching and shrieking were coming from. The pegasus mares feathery wings were half unfolded in the event she needed to take off, an instinctual response to perceived danger.

To tell the truth, everypony in the group had heard it. And it was setting them on edge, not knowing where the din was coming from as it echoed through the trees. They had been following the trail of damaged tree trunks for a number of hours now, not quite sure what they would come across when they found what made them. The popular belief then was that the culprit for the trail and the death of the bug bear was a dragon of some sort, possibly a wyvern. It was not beyond the realm of possibility. They were definitely big enough for the job, and they had been seen on occasion to fly around mount Canterhorn in search of food, though it was an extremely rare occurrence, as they typically stayed farther to the north. It was only when food was scarce in their native environment did they ever come so near pony populated areas. 

But the thing they were hearing now was most definitely not a wyvern. In fact it was unlike anything Roughshod had ever heard in his life. Many times it alternated between a piercing keen that would make a minotaur nervous and a warbling hiss that was completely alien to everypony in the group. It thankfully seemed to be far away yet, but that did little to set their minds at ease.

"Hey, Roughshod? Maybe we should pick this up again tomorrow," Star Mix suggested while eyeing the dark trees around them nervously. Roughshod was about to reply, when all of sudden a single shriek rang out, louder than the others by quite a bit, before falling silent. 

Everything was deathly quiet, and everypony seemed to be too afraid to say anything for fear of drawing unwanted attention to themselves. Not even the birds in the trees seemed willing to make so much as a peep.

"Roughshod, I really think we should go now," Star whispered urgently, and Roughshod was happy to comply with the "request". Nodding in agreement, Roughshod turned around and started to retrace their hoofsteps back to Hollow Shades, and everypony else followed suit.

It was then that the stallion noticed something on the ground that he had not seen before. He might have been too preoccupied glancing at the marks on the trees to see them, but now that his attention was more focused on the path ahead, it became obvious. He stopped, surprising everypony, and leaned down to inspect it. 

"Hey Star, come look at this," he said. Star obeyed and the other ponies in the group also came over to see what had caught his attention. 

As the unicorn mare inspected the ground, aided by a little ball of light on the end of her horn to see more clearly, her face gained a confused look when she saw what Roughshod told her to look at.

"I don't know what you want me to see Roughshod," she said. "All I see is our hoofprints."

"Look closer."

Star Mix rolled her eyes but did as he said anyway. Then her confused expression turned into one of surprise when realized what Roughshod wanted her to see.

"These aren't ours," she said. "These don't even belong to a pony."

"Wait, what?" Harp exclaimed, an incredulous look on his muzzle. "But who would be crazy enough to be out here with Celestia knows what out here?"

"Us?" Nightshade suggested with a raised eyebrow, to which Harp responded by giving her a deadpan expression.

"That's not what I meant," he muttered.

Mister Mortar sighed heavily at the two younger ponies bickering, while Roughshod and Star simply ignored them in favor of discussing the implications of the find. 

"So, who or what do think made this?" Star asked with a slight amount of concern. Roughshod pondered the question for a brief moment as he looked in the direction the tracks were heading, noticing that they were going in the same direction they had been until recently.

"I don't know," he answered. "But whoever they are, it would seem we weren't the only ones tracking this thing."

	

	
> Fear
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Mayor Quartz sighed heavily and readjusted her reading glasses as she sat at her maple wood desk in her office, safe behind the walls of her home, which was further protected by the walls surrounding Hollow Shades. Those walls had been there for as long as Quartz could remember from when she was still just a little filly. To her they had always been a symbol of safety for the town and its ponies, always keeping the dangers of the forest at bay.

"A fat lot of good that did us," she muttered as she inspected the latest draft she had penned to the Princess. It was another request of assistance in dealing with the bug bear. The latest of many, and likely the latest to be ignored by the so-called nobility who would never even consider sparing any resources in helping a little town on the other side of the mountain range.

Sighing a second time the middle-aged pegasus mare let her gaze drift to a window, and she looked outside at Luna's moon as it steadily rose over the horizon, bathing the tree tops in a wan light. At the moment however her thoughts were more focused on the group of ponies that set out earlier that morning. 

Now, several hours after the fact, they still had yet to return, and Quartz would be lying if she said she wasn't starting to worry about them. Quartz did mean what she had said to Roughshod the night before he left the relative safety of the town. She truly did believe that he was a great addition to the community, and Celestia strike her down if she didn't care for him and his family. She and Rose Flare were already good friends before she even met him, and Quartz felt that she had extended that friendship to Roughshod. 

But the fact remained that neither he nor the ponies he had brought with him had come back from the woods, and Quartz was beginning to fear the worst. Many different scenarios ran through her mind, some involving the bug bear. 

"Come on Roughshod," she said quietly as she stared at the distant tree tops. "If you don't get back soon Rose is going to have my hide."

Sighing again Quartz returned her attention to her desk and the stacks of paper neatly assembled on it. She eyed the draft meant to go to the princess with a certain amount of distaste, knowing she had already given up on that option days ago. Scowling as she did so, Quartz brushed the paper off of her desk with a wing into a waiting trash bin. 

She only hoped that her contingency plan was not so unreliable as those big wigs in Canterlot. Celestia knows how much she offered to pay him to take care of their problem. With luck it should be any day now that he would show up at her desk and declare a job well done, collect his fee, and be on his way. She had initially been a little worried about what would happen if Roughshod happened to encounter him while out in the forest, but then figured that the vast majority of Hollow Shades would be more than willing to forgive her for trying out different alternatives in ridding themselves of the bug bear.

As Mayor Quartz pondered how she would bring this up at the next town meeting, she became aware of some sort of commotion going on outside. Letting her curiosity get to her, Quartz stepped away from her desk and trotted over to push the window open with an outstretched wing. She poked her head outside, ears twitching as she tried to pinpoint the source of the din. It seemed to be coming from town gates.

Spotting a pony who seemed to be coming from that direction, a green pegasus mare by the name of Nano Breeze, Quartz called out to her and asked, "Excuse me but do you know what is going on by any chance?"

Nano Breeze nodded and replied, "Yeah, Roughshod just got back. They're getting ready to open the gates right now."

Quartz felt her excitement rise when she heard that. She quickly thanked the other mare for the information and began to make her way over to greet the returning ponies. She didn't even bother using the stairs, instead choosing to fly there from her window. In short order she was at the gates just as a pair of ponies were getting ready to open them to allow entry. With a creak and a groan the doors parted, exposing the interior to the outside. Quartz could just make out the silhouettes of four ponies trotting briskly back into the lantern light. But there was something off to Quartz for some reason, though at the moment she could not recall why. 

Soon everypony was past the gates, and doors were closed with a jarring thud. 

"Welcome back Roughshod," Quartz said in greeting. "It's about time that you showed up. How was your trip." 

Quartz's sarcasm was false, and everypony knew it. She truly was happy to see them back, she was just hiding her anxiety behind a mask of annoyed disappointment.

Roughshod chose not to comment on it and simply said, "Thanks for the welcome party Mayor. And you're not going to believe what we found out there."

Quartz's eyebrows rose in response, and she glanced at the rest of group. The feeling of something wrong returned, greater than before, but Quartz chose to ignore it in favor of hearing what Roughshod wanted to tell her. "Well?" she asked. "What is it then?"

"The bug bear is dead," he replied, to which everypony in earshot suddenly stopped what they were doing, and looked at the four ponies with surprised and disbelieving expressions, and they all began to clamor at once.

"Did he say the bug bear's dead?"

"Are you sure?"

"What did it look like?"

"Does this mean it's safe to go out now?"

Roughshod cleared his throat, and everypony quieted down to hear him speak. "Yes, the bug bear is dead. We all saw it with our own eyes."

At this all the ponies present had gone from disbelieving to relieved. Even Quartz felt a sense of joy pervade her being as the thought that there was no more bug bear to worry about, and she resolved to give her alternative solution a bonus when he came back. 

"But that's not all," Roughshod then said, and the expressions of relief faltered slightly. They then disappeared completely when they heard what he said next.

"The bug bear wasn't just killed. It was torn apart and picked clean by another predator. . . . We don't know what it is yet, but whatever it is, it is much bigger and much more dangerous than anything that lives out there right now."

Everypony fell silent, unable to say anything at the revelation that there was something even worse than the bug bear. Quartz chose that moment to speak up, addressing the ponies gathered around.

"Don't worry everypony. Just go home, get some rest. We'll have a town meeting in the morning to discuss this issue, when we're all rested and recovered." 

The ponies appeared to be unconvinced, but decided to go ahead and humor the mayor and started filing away back to their business. Some returned to chores they were performing when the group came back, while others simply went home. 

"I don't know what to say Roughshod," Quartz said as she watched them leave. "A part of me wants to thank you for telling me the bug bear's dead, while another part wants me to hit you for replacing it something that might be even worse. Are you sure what you're saying is true? Are you sure that it was another animal that killed it?"

Roughshod nodded. "I'm sure," he answered solemnly, to which Quartz sighed heavily as a headache began to accumulate. She rubbed her forehead with a hoof, and chose to distract herself by inspecting the rest of the ponies that had went with Roughshod. She still could not shake the feeling that there was something wrong with how many there were. Then, it clicked, and the red pegasus' eyes went wide with realization.

There were only four ponies that she could see in Roughshod's group.

"Roughshod? Wasn't there another pony with you?"

Roughshod glanced backward, and panic entered his voice when he too realized what, or more accurately, who was missing.

"Where's Harp?!"





"Star?! Nightshade! Roughshod?! Where are you guys?!" 

Harp was hopelessly lost as he wandered aimlessly through the dark forest, cursing his fortune and cursing the others for leaving him behind, even if it was unintentional. Harp himself had not even realized he had become separated from the rest of the group until nearly half an hour ago. He thought they had heard him notify them when nature made its call, but apparently he was mistaken on that front.

Harp was on the verge of panic as desperately tried to regain his bearings, as all he could think about was the fact that he was now all alone in the woods with Celestia knows how many things prowling around that would be all too willing to make a meal out of him. Wolves, lupis-minors, lupis-majors, mountain lions, maybe even a hydra or two. And that wasn't even counting the unknown predator that had killed the bug bear. Out of all of them that was the one Harp wanted to run into the least. At least he knew about the others and what they could do, but this new monster, whatever it was, was completely unknown to him, and that terrified the stallion more than anything.

"Mister Mortar?! Star! Come on you, just tell me where you are!"

The only reply that Harp received was his own panic stricken voice echoing through the trees. It almost seemed to be mocking him in a way, and he began to lose hope that anypony would find him, or even come back for him. It was far too late into the night now, and anypony that came out here to look for him would only be putting themselves at risk. And as much as Harp wanted to be rescued as quickly as possible, he knew that he would just have to hold out until morning until somepony came to find him. 

Assuming there was going to be anything left of him to find. Harp hated to think what could happen the brief span of hours until morning. 

He knew that the chances of him getting through the night unscathed were slim at best, but Harp was willing to take that chance. He needed to find a place to stay, to lay low until somepony could come for him. Unfortunately there did not seem to be any areas like that where he currently was, so Harp decided to peek around a bit and hope that he came across a tree with branches that were low enough for him too reach. Hopefully he would also not run into that monster, wherever it was. 





Angela was surrounded on all sides by darkness.

All that she could see in every direction was an inky blackness so deep and stifling that its presence threatened to crush her under its weight. No matter where she looked the only thing that could be seen was nothingness. Just sheer nothingness.

"Hello?" she called out into the dark, hoping for an answer. "Is anyone there?"

Silence. 

Beginning to feel nervous, Angela called out again. "Hello? hello, can anyone hear me?" Again, there was no reply to her plea, and Angela was starting to panic as she thought of a million different possibilities for why, none of them good. her breathing quickened as the darkness seemed to somehow become even more oppressive than it already was. She was alone. Alone and afraid.

Then suddenly, she did hear something, but it did not comfort in any way. It was not the consoling voice of a friend, nor was it the gentle shuffle of footsteps coming to greet her. It sounded more like something was lurking unseen in the darkness as it moved around her. 

Suddenly Angela the sound of something shriek behind her, and she whirled around to face its source, but all that she saw was the same pitch black landscape. The shriek came again, louder this time as it came echoing out of the void. Angela still could not see what was causing, and her breathing became difficult as fear built up inside of her. Feeling she had no other choice she bolted in the opposite direction the sound seemed to be coming from, her bare feet thudding against the ground as whatever was hiding in the dark gave chase.

Angela did not know what was pursuing her, nor did she want to know. All that she knew was that she just had to get away, to keep running until she escaped from its malevolent presence. But it seemed that no matter how hard or how fast she ran she could still feel that whatever was chasing her was steadily gaining on her.

Another shriek came, and Angela imagined that it was right behind her, and she began to cry out of desperation and terror.

"Please. . . please no," she pleaded tearfully. Just then something large and heavy slammed into her from behind, causing her to stumble and fall. She curled up on the ground and covered her head with her arms. She sobbed loudly, hoping desperately that it would just leave her alone. Her sobbing faded into soft crying as she expected her death to come at any moment.

Except it never came, and the screeching fell silent. Realizing that nothing was happening Angela tentatively opened her eyes, expecting to see some horror waiting for her to do just that so she could see it as it mauled her. But there was nothing. 

Even stranger, she was no longer surrounded by shadows. Instead she was now in a forest full of trees with white trunks and red leaves. But however happy she was to have somehow escaped, it was outmatched by how. . . off everything felt about the forest. Angela could not quite explain it, but there was something that was just wrong about the setting. it was a feeling that seemed to pervade the whole area like a harmful fog.

Uncurling from her fetal position, Angela slowly stood while glancing around nervously. She tried to simply ignore the feeling, but no matter what she could not shake the sense that there was in fact something profoundly deviant from the norm, especially around the trees themselves.

Taking a cautious step forward, Angela inspected the bark of one of the trees, and to her surprise and confusion she found the rough texture of its trunk formed lines that spelled a single word.

Liar.

Perturbed by the discovery, Angela walked over to another tree and found that it too had a single word scrawled onto its side.

Thief.

Everywhere Angela looked the only thing she could see were trees with those same two words on their trunks. Then it seemed that those words began to whisper in her ears repeatedly, growing louder and louder until she felt the need to clutch her head in an futile attempt to ward them off.

"Stop. . ." she whimpered. The words did not stop, but instead grew louder and louder until Angela was forced to her knees. Then , abruptly, another word rang out like the bell of death, silencing all the others.

Murderer. 

"No, please I. . . I didn't mean to. . ."

Angela looked up and saw that the word had now replaced the other two, and was scrawled onto every tree.

Murderer.

"No!" Angela screamed, and she quickly stood up to run. She did not know for how long she ran, as time seemed to both fly as fast as a hawk and move at snails pace simultaneously. She only knew that when she stopped she was in a wide open area. No monster in the darkness, no trees with the word murderer, not even grass, just flat empty ground as far as she could see.

Angela stepped forward, looking all around in fear, when suddenly she heard something crunch beneath her feet. Startled by the sound, she hesitantly looked down, and saw both to her confusion and disgust that she had stepped on the chalky white skeleton of a bird. 

And next to the bird was the body of a rat. After the rat came the skeletons of large wolves, each having a star shaped mark on their skulls. After them came the bug bear. And it did not end there, for she saw that piled on top of them were the bones of various creatures. Everything from ponies to hydras, all piled up in a massive and grotesque mountain of death. And sitting at the very top was the remains of a human skeleton, and even though there was no way to identify who it once was, Angela knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she recognized it.

Angela stumbled backwards in horror and fright, until another sound distracted her. And it seemed to be coming from within the pile. The bones began to shake and rattle as something moved underneath the the surface, just out of her sight. Then it burst from the top, throwing bones in all directions, and Angela was forced to shield her eyes. When she uncovered them she saw what had been lurking in the mound.

It was the wraith, in all its terrifying glory. It was coated in blood that dripped from its talons and jaws in streams of red, and when it exhaled Angela was left choking on the scent of death. The monster immediately took notice of her, and after a brief lull in activity it began to creep down towards her. 

Angela wanted to leave. She wanted nothing more than to run away as fast as she possibly could, to just get away from the wraith, away from the skeletons, from her past, from herself.

But she couldn't. Angela was rooted the spot, and all she could do was watch helplessly as the wraith drew nearer, until its tooth filled maw was only inches from her face.

"W-what are you?" she whimpered softly.

In response the wraith tilted its head quizzically, as though it had heard an odd sound. Then, it spoke to her in a perfect imitation of her voice.

"I am you."

The monstrous creature then reared backwards as it raised its two meter long claws threateningly.

"And you are mine."

The wraith lunged at her, and Angela screamed.





Angela snapped awake in less than a second as phantom sensations of claws ripping into her body assaulted her senses. She shrieked in alarm and fright, trying to fight off the attack. Seeing her multiple arms she temporarily forgot that they were her own as she flailed them around in an attempt to fend off the wraith of her nightmare. When she finally realized that she was not in any immediate danger Angela stopped, and she took a few deep raspy breaths to calm her racing hearts. 

It was dark, she noticed, and the moon was now high above in the starry sky. The cool night air washed over her pale skin like a blanket, and she felt her heart rate slow down, and she was able to think more clearly as a result. 

Relax Angela, she told herself. It was all just a dream. Just a nightmare.

Unfortunately her reasoning did very little to make her feel better, much less help her forget the details of the dream. Feeling strangely sick, Angela curled around herself with her tails. She glanced at her surroundings with a wary eye, almost expecting the wraith from her nightmare to be lurking in the shadows cast by the trees. As far as she could tell she was in a hidden grove with a substantial amount of underbrush, which did a pretty good job of hiding her from sight. She only wished it did as well in concealing her from her own thoughts.

She remembered everything with crystal clear clarity now, from her first moments as a wraith to the grave memories she had kept hidden and suppressed for years. 

Until now she had neglected to really ponder what had become of the bug bear when she had transformed into a wraith, as the little details of the encounter seemed to have slipped her mind. She had just assumed that it had been scared off by her presence, and chalked up the strange loss in memory to the stress of going under a complete change in species. But now she could remember it all, thanks to her scuffle with those wolf things. The fight with them had jogged her memory, allowing her to remember in near perfect detail that she had killed it, that she had torn it apart.

She remembered that, in the moment, she had even enjoyed it. And that thought alone terrified her more than anything. More than being hunted by the ponies or being eaten by some predator of the forest. Neither one of those fears could compare to the sheer terror that she had taken satisfaction in taking a life, even if it was in the defense of her own. She was afraid that she would take satisfaction in it again, whether it be with beast, pony. . . or man.

Please. I'm sorry. . . I didn't mean to, she whimpered, keening sorrowfully as one memory in particular that she had struggled to forget rose to the surface of her mind. 

She was telling the truth. Angela truly had not meant to take a life years ago that night. She had just been so afraid. She had let her fear for her life blind her to the situation. She may have been a thief, but Angela had never wanted to take life. But she had, and she done it again with the bug bear and those wolves. Her nightmare forced her to remember.

Coiling tighter around herself, Angela was almost disappointed that she no longer had eyes to shed any tears as she let out quiet and mournful keen. She tried to go back to sleep, but it would seem that she would find no more rest for a little while yet as her thoughts refused to quiet down and leave her be. Resigning herself to the fact that she would not be sleeping anymore tonight, Angela rose up from her little spot on the ground, choosing to wander aimlessly, hoping she would somehow be able to forget in the next few hours.





It had taken hours for him to finally track the beast down that had taken his original quarry from him, and now there it was, its pale gray form weaving between the trees at a slow pace like a wingless dragon. To the untrained eye it might have been missed as it moved under the light of Luna's moon, but Gerald was far from being a novice. He had been hunting all sorts of rare and dangerous animals in his line of work, and may the Princesses strike him dead if he was outwitted by a. . . by a. . . whatever this thing was. Truthfully the old griffon had never seen anything quite like before in his life, even during his expeditions in Zebrica. It was just so unnatural, even the tatzlworm looked tame in comparison, what with its lack of eyes, extra arms, and feet that morphed into tails.

Of course when he had come across the corpse of the bug bear, and discovered that something had gotten to it before him, Gerald had been furious at the prospect that he might not be payed. He couldn't go back to the mayor and say that he had failed, his pride was too great for that. He couldn't lie about it either, not only because of his pride but also because she had requested that he bring evidence of the kill, and he couldn't do that when there wasn't even enough left to bring back on a dinner plate. It did not help that he had already been trying to track the bug bear ever since he first heard of its escape from Tartarus, only to find that something else had beaten him to the punch.

Yes, Gerald had been beyond furious that not only would he not have the bug bears head mounted on his wall, he wouldn't even be getting paid for it either. 

That is until he realized something. If whatever had brought down the bug bear was still in the area, then there was a chance that he might be able to salvage his efforts. After all, whatever could maul the bug bear like that would no doubt make a suitable replacement to put in his trophy room.

With this in mind Gerald had set out to track down the beast, even going so far as to set a trap by using a wild boar, and it was not long until he had discovered the culprit. And he had not been disappointed in the slightest. Not only did he get to see that the creature was least as big as a house, he was even lucky enough to witness it wage a short but violent fight with a trio of lupis-minors and win.

At that moment he could not have cared less if the mayor of Hollow Shades paid him or not, all he wanted was the chance to bring it down. And if it kept going in the direction it was currently heading, he would get that chance. All the griffon had to do now was wait for it to set off one of the traps he had erected specifically for it, and the with any luck the beast would be dead before the night was over.
	
> Hunter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Angela wandered, without either a direction or a destination in mind as she hovered above the forest floor under the light of a full moon, moving between the trees at a slow pace. The wraith was in no hurry to be anywhere. It wasn't like she had anywhere to be, but she was fine with that. All she wanted then was a few moments to clear her head of the thoughts that plagued her. In contrast to her leisurely pace, Angela's mind was running along at a hundred miles an hour, mostly with thoughts concerning the recent nightmare.

Isn't one of the Princesses supposed to help with that? If so, then it would seem that someone's slacking off on the job, she thought bitterly as she pondered the details of her frightening vision. Angela normally wasn't one to put much stock in visions and prophetic dreams and other such nonsense, but she was already in a land populated by multi-colored tiny talking horses while in the body of a creature from a video game, so why shouldn't she be having visions on top of that? It wasn't like they could make her situation any more complicated than it already was. Not when the ponies might know about her existence or when she entered brief spats of vicious insanity whenever she got hungry. Compared to all that, bad dreams reminding her of her guilty past were just icing on the cake.

They certainly didn't help though, and Angela got the feeling that, whether she believed in those kinds of things or not, the dream was supposed to mean something. And it didn't take much thought to guess what it was.

When Angela had first awoken in the body of a wraith, she had of course been somewhat pleased by the change, even if she wasn't necessarily asked permission first. She would have obviously liked it if that old man back at the convention had bothered to mention some of the finer details of their arrangement, and she certainly could have done without the pain involved in the transformation, but she was willing to put that behind her. It at least kept her from being arrested. But that was not the only reason why Angela had initially been so ecstatic by the change. 

She had thought that finally, after years of bearing a tremendous amount of guilt and regret for what she had done, she had at last been able to escape from it all. She thought that she had finally found a way to live without her actions hanging over her head like a shadow. She would have even put up with the hunger spells and the ponies if it meant that she could have her peace of mind.

But it was apparently not to be. Like a black mark on her soul it had followed her across dimensions, breaking through to the front of her mind so that it was that she could think about, all that she could see.

Murderer.

Angela let her head sag as that single word rang in her mind again, and she felt as though she were carrying a sack of bricks over her shoulders.

I can't do this.

Angela slowed to a complete stop, hovering in place as she looked down at a little puddle of water that had accumulated on the ground. The wraith stared back at her in silence, and for a brief moment Angela just sat there watching her reflection. High above, a stray cloud drifted past, temporarily blotting out the moonlight as the former human remembered events from her previous life.

No one was meant to die that night.

The owner of the jewelry store was supposed to have been at home. He wasn't supposed to have forgotten his wallet on the counter.

He had tackled her to the ground, and a gun that had been hidden within the folds of his coat had slipped loose. 

She should have just given up. She should have just let the police take her away. At least that way he might have still been alive. 

I'm sorry. . . . I'm so sorry, she whispered quietly, her thoughts unheard in the night. But Angela knew that no matter how much she apologized, it would do absolutely nothing to fix her mistakes. Barely noticing, Angela drifted down to the ground, where she wept in the raspy voice of the wraith, not caring who or what happened to see. Angela simply laid there, her pale form heaving slightly with every stuttered breath.

She was afraid.

She was afraid of what she had been. She was afraid of what she was now. And she was afraid of what she might become in the future, of how much easier it would be to kill for something as simple as hunger. If she could not control herself, then she was a danger everything around her. 

Letting her gaze drift upward, Angela spotted the city on the mountain, finally remembering that it was called Canterlot, glowing like a beacon in the darkness. Tiny pinpricks of orange light reflected off its glistening white walls. And she imagined all of the little ponies going about their business, never even suspecting what was hiding in the forest a few dozen miles to their North. Never knowing of the danger she posed to them. And she would rather keep it that way.

She had to leave. She had go away, to find someplace so remote she wouldn't ever get the chance to cause serious harm to the ponies. The only question was in which direction she would go. The most that she knew regarding the land of Equestria was that Canterlot was right in the middle somewhere, with Ponyville just a train ride South. As far as she knew there was not much else to the North aside from the Crystal Empire, and that could be avoided easily enough. 

Her decision made, Angela picked herself up off of the ground, not even bothering to brush herself off, and angled herself away from the city on the mountain, and floated away in a straight line. She no longer cared where she ended up. All she cared about then was getting as far away as possible.





A short while into her journey of self imposed exile, Angela became aware of something in her gut telling that something was not quite right. She tried to simply ignore the feeling and continue on her way, but it quickly returned stronger than before. She was not sure why, but something was not quite right. She listened carefully as she moved along, before she realized what was out of place.

Everything was suddenly unnaturally quiet, and this time it wasn't because of her. Even when she was around there was always at least the chirping of birds and insects, but now there was nothing coming from them. Something in the woods was causing the whole area to fall utterly silent.

Angela slowed to a complete stop, and she felt the short spines on her back bristle slightly in anticipation of trouble. What that trouble was she could not tell, but whatever else was out there was setting her on edge. There was something weird going on here, and she did not like it one bit.

Tightening her focus, Angela attempted to utilize some of the more fine-tuned senses that she now possessed in a bid to locate what was causing the tense silence. She could not see or hear or smell anything that would give her a clue, but that only served to heighten her state of alertness. She may have been able to detect anything, mostly as a result of her inexperience, but she knew for a fact that her instincts were telling her that she was being watched by unfriendly eyes.

Deciding that she did not like the feeling in the slightest, Angela pondered going a different route. It was not a particularly hard decision, and Angela angled herself to move backward while still being able to keep a metaphorical eye out for any trouble in front of her. This action unfortunately kept her from seeing a small metallic object come whistling out of the darkened boughs of the tree straight towards her. The object bounced harmlessly off of her shoulder, before it it exploded in a deafening flash of blinding light.

Angela shrieked, although it was more out of surprise and confusion rather than pain, as the attack had done very little in the way of actually harming her. She was still startled by it however.

What the hell?! she exclaimed as she recovered from the attack, trying to locate where what she assumed was a flash grenade of some sort had come from. She crouched low to the ground, glancing all around in search of her aggressor. 

Several tense seconds passed before another grenade came flying at her out of the gloom. However this one came from a different area, and Angela was caught off guard again as it burst near her head. She hissed loudly as she felt her anger rise at the unprovoked attack, suspecting that those ponies might be behind it. The sound of her displeasure reverberated through the trees, alerting everything within earshot to her building fury.

Well isn't this is just great, she mused bitterly. I try to leave and now they decide to show up.

Her thought was interrupted as yet another grenade exploded, and Angela shrieked loudly. She tried to guess where her attacker was hiding, and struck at the branches of a nearby tree with her scythe-claws. The limbs of the tree snapped and leaves were sent tumbling down to the ground, and Angela felt that she had least scared off her attacker. Unfortunately she was incorrect in that assumption, as another grenade detonated at her back.

Leave me alone! she shouted in her mind as she let a fury filled screech escape her maw. She was starting to feel herself slip back into a state of mindless rage as a result of the disorienting flashes of sound and light, but she made sure to keep herself in check. It would not do to let herself be consumed by her anger. But that was proving be increasingly difficult as the explosions continued, and she felt that if it went on for much longer she would become both deaf and insane. She was extremely tempted to just start knocking down trees left and right, but she reigned herself in, knowing that would only aggravate her further. What she needed to do was wait for her aggressor to give itself away.

Begrudgingly Angela sat motionless, her senses straining to pick up even the slightest sound. Seconds passed that seemed like hours, but she was quickly rewarded when she detected the faint rustle of tree branches to her right. Wasting no time, Angela ignored the the grenade that was thrown at her, and dashed towards a tall pine tree, shrieking in anger and fury. She slammed into it with her shoulder, and with an audible crack the tree began to topple over. But just before it hit the ground Angela saw a small creature dive away from the falling pine at the last second, emitting a hawk like screech before landing a number of yards away from her.

Angela focused her vision to see what was so determined to destroy her hearing, and was taken somewhat by surprise when she saw that it was not a pony at all, but a griffon instead, with faded blue feathers and light gray fur. It seemed to be wearing a brown leather vest of some sort that looked custom made to fit around the bases of its wings. She also noticed the hilt of a large knife protruding from a sheath hanging over its flank, and Angela realized, both to her annoyance and amusement strangely enough, that the griffon was a hunter of some sort. 

She would have laughed at the sheer irony of the situation if not for the small thread of worry that wormed its way into her mind.

Okay. So now I'm being hunted by a griffon. Well that's just swell.

The griffon recovered from its unscheduled dive to escape the falling tree, before quickly realizing that it was at the receiving end of an eyeless glare from a predator as big as a dragon. It let out a surprised squawk before reaching into one of the many pockets on its vest with a clawed foreleg before procuring another grenade. At this point Angela wondered why it even bothered with that option anymore, as she had already found it out. She did not have very long to ponder it however when the griffon threw it at her. 

Angela was almost tempted to let it hit her to show that she knew it would do nothing to harm her. The griffon was probably counting on her being like every other semi-intelligent beast and be scared of it. But she then figured that she'd had enough of those damned things blowing up in her face, and swatted the grenade aside with the back of her clawed hand. It flew a considerable distance before it detonated, and a faint boom echoed through the pines.

When the griffon saw this, the feathers around its neck stood out on end from what Angela guessed was intimidation. She simply stared at the hybrid for a few tense moments, no doubt looking unamused to it, and for a brief span of seconds that felt more like minutes the two would be adversaries just gazed at each other, one out of intimidation, the other from annoyance. Then Angela decided to break the silence with a loud and threatening hiss, to which the griffon responded by taking a cautious step backward.

Angela's instincts were telling her to pursue it, to tear it apart for attacking her. She might have even been justified in seeking a little revenge, but she did not give in. She knew that once she started going down that road, it would be very hard to stop herself, provided she could even do at all.

Hissing at it again, Angela turned away and began to resume her previous course. Behind her the griffon gaped at the fact that it was being blown off by its own quarry.

"Oy! Get back here beastie!" he commanded, alerting Angela to his displeasure at being ignored after all that effort he had spent, but the wraith continued to float away. She even flicked one of her tails at him in an unmistakable display of disinterest. The griffon spluttered, completely flabbergasted by the way the way he was being treated. And he wasn't going to have any of it. Removing the large serrated knife from its sheath, the griffon took to the air and made a beeline straight for the wraith. Angela heard the attack coming but was unable to react in time as she felt the knife pierce the flesh around her neck, in the same spot where she was bitten by the lupis-minor. It was no worse than a bee sting, but it hurt none-the-less.

Angela shrieked, more out of anger than pain, and promptly shook the bird off. She was already furious that she had been attacked unprovoked, and she only became even more incensed by the fact that the little nuisance was not going to leave her alone anytime soon. 

That's it! she exclaimed angrily as she whirled around to face the griffon, and she snarled viciously while she crouched down. In her mind, the only way she was going to be rid of it was to chase it off. She would try to hold back a little, so she would not lose her already precarious hold on her sanity, but she could not guarantee that there would not be at least some injury involved.

The griffon saw her crouch, and promptly sheathed his knife before quickly flying away in the opposite direction.

Angela shrieked and gave chase, knocking over whatever happened to be in her way.





"You idiot!"

Even though they had moved their "conversation" into her office, Mayor Quartz shouting could be heard by anypony that happened to be trotting by her two story house.

"How could you have lost him?! Do you have any idea what could happen to him out there?! Seriously, do you have any clue?! How about I go ahead and remind you! Wolves. Mountain lions. Bears. Lupis-minors. Hydras. And that's just the stuff we know about! And now you come to tell me that there's not only something out there that might be even bigger and meaner than the bug bear ever could be, but that you left Harp out there all alone with it?!"

"How long has she been going on like this now?" Nightshade whispered as she leaned her head closer to Mortar.

"A good five minutes now," the large stallion answered in a similar tone.

"Shhh!" Star hissed between her teeth, silencing them as they continued to watch Roughshod receive the tongue lashing of a lifetime from Mayor Quartz. They would have stepped in to defend him, but none of them wanted her wrath to include them just yet. They would get their lecture in due time, so for the moment they stood behind Roughshod near the door to the office, like children awaiting punishment.

Quartz put a hoof to her forehead, appearing to calm down only slightly as she breathed a heavy sigh.

"Roughshod," she began again. "You are a good friend. And I know that you never intended for this to happen. I know that you must already be beating yourself up about it, but dammit Roughshod! You're better than this! We both know that!"

Roughshod said nothing, but continued to take the verbal punishment with a grim expression. And like the mayor said, everypony knew that despite his stoic outward appearance, he felt horribly guilty for failing to notice when Harp had gone missing. It was a feeling that everypony else shared with him.

"Well. . . what do we do?" Nightshade asked, speaking up for the first time since they returned. Quartz's hard glare settled on the dark pegasus briefly, causing her to shrink under the elder mares gaze.

"Right now?" she questioned. "Right now there is nothing we can do. Don't you make a mistake, any of you. There is almost nothing I would like more than to kick the lot of you outside the wall right now and not let you in until you find Harp." This earned Quartz more than a few nervous glances from the guilty ponies. "But as much as I would like to go ahead and do that, Harp is just going to have to hold out until morning before we can go get him. May Celestia watch over him in the mean time."

Quartz's glare had softened slightly as she said those words. However it hardened again when directed her attention back to the earth pony stallion currently standing in front of her desk. 

"What am I going to do with you Roughshod?" she questioned with a sigh as she rubbed her head with a hoof. Everypony present suspected that it was more of a rhetorical question than anything else and kept silent as they waited for the mayor to make her decision. A long minute passed with no further conversation until Quartz fixed Roughshod with a hard expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but then faltered as she seemed to have difficulty saying the words on her mind. 

She eventually was able to get a hold of herself and said in a stern voice, "Roughshod." 

Roughshod's jaw was slightly clenched as he replied. "Yes ma'am?"

Quartz paused to take a breath before saying, "I am afraid that this kind of negligence is not something that I can simply ignore. In light of this unfortunate event I am going to have to recommend that you no longer act as a guard for the wall until further notice. The same goes for the rest of you."

when they all heard the mayors verdict, everypony behind Roughshod gasped quietly. They all knew that they had screwed up, but they didn't think that Quartz would go so far as to ban them from the wall.

"But mayor," Star Mix exclaimed, speaking up for the first time since they returned. "You can't do that. there needs to be at least somepony on the wall to keep watch and-" 

"I am aware of that," Quartz interrupted. "Do note, this is not a permanent decision. I simply feel that a little time away from your regular duties will give you ample time to consider the consequences of your actions. I will still allow you to be part of the rescue party to go find Harp, but for now it might be for the best if you all just go home and take some time off."

Star was about to say something to the mayor, but was cut off again, this time by Roughshod as he raised a hoof, effectively silencing her.

"Ma'am," he said, his tone even and betraying no emotion. "I respect your decision, and I will abide by it." Turning his head to glance at the other ponies in the room he added, "We all will. I only hope that you will be willing to forgive us soon."

"I'm not the only one you are going to have to apologize to for this," Quartz answered. Everypony knew she was referring to Harp when she said, and their ears drooped slightly as they realized that it was unlikely he would survive the night. When it appeared that nopony else was willing to speak, Quartz sighed heavily, waved a hoof at them and said in a tired sounding voice, "You're dismissed. Go home, all of you."

Everypony shuffled their hooves, unsure who should be the first to leave, before they eventually filed out of the mayors office. In a few minutes they were all standing in front of her house, with only a few lanterns and the moon to illuminate their surroundings.

"Well I feel horrible," Nightshade proclaimed, to which nopony answered except to give a slow nod in agreement. "I don't know about the rest of you guys," she added, "but I'm gonna take the mayors suggestion and head home and have a drink. Maybe break into my stash of the hard stuff in Harp's memory."

This earned the mare more than a few disapproving glares from her companions. "What?" she said.

"How can you say that Nightshade, especially now of all times?" Star demanded. "He's not dead yet as far as we know."

"Exactly. As far as we know," Nightshade countered. "I mean for all we do know he might already be dead. He could be out there right now with his limbs torn off like the bug bear. For all we know his bones might already be being used as toothpicks!"

"That's enough Nightshade!" Roughshod ordered loudly, almost yelling his disapproval. "You're not the only one here who's torn up inside about all this, but you don't see us drowning ourselves in cider."

Nightshade ears drooped and she withered slightly under the stallions harsh glare, unable to make eye contact with him. "Sorry," she muttered under her breath. When she said that however everypony noticed that there was an undercurrent of of anguish and guilt in her voice, and her violet eyes betrayed her feeling as they began to glisten slightly. Mister Mortar stepped over to try and comfort the mare, and he was about to say something when Nightshade stopped with an outstretched hoof.

"Look," she said, "I just need some time to be alone alright? You don't need to worry about me. Just give me a little bit, and we'll just go back in the morning." Without waiting for an answer Nightshade turned around and spread her wings, and took off without another word. She flew low to the ground, hovering just above the cobblestone street.

"I'll make sure she gets home safe," Mortar announced before hurrying to catch up with her, leaving Roughshod and Star Mix standing alone in front of the mayors door, with only a few street lamps and the moon to illuminate their surrounding. Roughshod then turrned to walk away, presumably back home to Rose Flare. Star chose to follow beside him.

"Are you doing alright?" She asked after a few minutes of walking in silence. Her tone was inquisitive, yet there was an unmistakable trace of concern laced through it.

"I will be," Roughshod answered as he continued walking, the sound of his hooves clicking on the hard stone echoing among the buildings. The two were silent as they walked, neither one willing to speak up just yet. They were alone for the most part, as many ponies had chosen to turn in for the night. There were a few stragglers still milling about, either ushering young fillies and colts who were up too late back inside or just watching the night pass them by.

"So," Star said, her voice startlingly loud in the quiet of night. "What are we going to do now?"

Roughshod did not answer for a moment as he pondered just what he was going to do now he was temporarily no longer permitted to patrol the wall, but at the moment he was stumped. He supposed he could try asking Mister Mortar if he could help on the rock farm, or maybe see if the ponies that worked in the orchard needed assistance. However he doubted either one of those would give him the same satisfaction he got out of making sure that his home and his family was safe for another night.

"I'm not sure Star," he said, finally answering her question. "I gave up a lot of myself to be up there, and as much as I hope the mayor finds somepony to replace us, I don't think Quartz is going have an easy time doing so."

"What do you mean by that?" Star asked.

Roughshod sighed quietly before responding. "Star, you and I both know that almost nopony in this town is as willing to go up on the wall. You've seen how they act. They flinch every time somepony even mentions the bug bear, and now that we know that there is another monster out there, well, I wouldn't hold out much hope that Quartz is going to find somepony willing to patrol the wall anytime soon. She is putting the entire towns safety at risk just to teach us a lesson."

"Roughshod-" Star began to say, only to be cut off when the stallion stopped walking and turned to look at her directly. He then said in a slightly strained voice that was uncharacteristic for him, "And you know what Star? It's my fault. I didn't notice that Harp had gone missing until it was too late, and now he's out there wih who knows what prowling around, and it's all my fault."

"Roughshod, Just listen to yourself," Star interrupted, growing frustrated with the stallion. "Your piling all of this blame onto yourself, when the rest us could have just as easily been responsible, and for what? Because you were "in charge?" Because you were the one who wanted to go out there in the first place? Well guess what. We are the ones who chose to go with you, when none of us wanted to. We knew what we could be getting into. We knew that thee was going to be a risk involved, but we went anyway. And do you know why?"

Roughshod was not ale to reply when Star continued to speak. "Because we knew that in the long run, getting off of our plots and going out there to ensure the safety of our home was a lot better than just sitting at home in the so-called security behind the wall. You knew that. I knew that. Even Harp knew that. That's why we followed you Roughshod." 

Star paused to take a short breath, then said in a milder tone, "Roughshod, you can't keep doing this to yourself. You can't just decide that you should be the one to take all the blame, when we all know that everypony else is accountable." 

Roughshod did not answer. He was not sure how to after Star Mix's monologue. When it seemed to the mare that no reply was going to be forthcoming, Star turned on her hooves and said to him, "Now, I'm going to go home and star getting ready to head out. Harp will be waiting for us, and we want to be out at first light if we want to find him. I suggest you do the same."

The emerald unicorn started to trot away, but then stopped and called back to him over her shoulder, "And Roughshod? Just think about what I said, will you?"

Roughshod was silent for a moment as he contemplated her words. He was about to answer her, when suddenly his ears flicked in response to a noise in the distance. Star reacted to it in much the same way, and when she looked at him Roughshod saw something in her eyes that he had not seen ever since the first reports of the bug bear started coming in.

Fear.

They had both heard it. It was faint though, and the only reason they were even able to detect it was because it had been carried by the wind. But both ponies instantly recognized it as the sound of an anger filled shriek echoed throughout the town.




	

	

> Trap
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Angela was furious.

She could not at the moment recall how long she had been trying to catch the griffon, as it seemed that every time she even got close to him he would suddenly disappear without a trace, only to reappear a few seconds later in a different area before flying off again. To make things even more frustrating for her, the griffon would sometimes lob another grenade right in her face when it seemed that she had him, buying the hybrid a few precious moments to increase the distance between them while Angela recovered. And each time only served to enrage her further .

Angela did not quite realize it just yet, but she was slowly slipping further and further into a miasma of anger and fury due to the fact that she still had not been able to catch the griffon. At first she had only meant to catch him, rough him up a little, give him the scare of his life, then leave. Whether or not there would be any injury in the process was up for debate. But as time progressed Angela was finding it becoming exceedingly difficult to adhere to that choice.

Get back here! she mentally shouted as she let loose another enraged hiss while she continued to pursue him, knocking over saplings and pushing trees side as along the way. Birds and squirrels and many other creatures of the forest fled for safety away from the rampaging wraith. Angela ignored them however; her sights were set solely on the griffon that continued to elude her.

And then suddenly, he was gone. Angela came to halt, and glanced all around in an attempt to locate her quarry. She could not find him however, and she hissed angrily at the fact that she had lost him. Just then a sharp whistle caught her attention, and Angela looked to see the griffon standing about a hundred feet away, no longer flying. He didn't appear to be doing anything. He just stood there with his wings unfolded, as though he were preparing to take flight, and Angela had enough sense left to realize that something was not quite right with the scene. The griffon had stopped fleeing, but now instead it seemed that he was waiting for her.

What are you up to? she questioned as she approached, scenting the air as she went. There were of course the ever present odors of the forest; leaves and pine needles and dirt, but there was also something else too. A scent that reminded her of gun powder, but slightly different. It had an almost coppery tint it, like pennies. Angela came to a slow stop and looked more closely at the environment around the griffon.

He was standing in a small clearing of some kind, one that did not look to be natural to its surroundings. Tall pine trees grew in a rough circle around the clearing, and it looked like a considerable amount of branches had been suspiciously laid on the ground around him. It was then Angela realized that she had followed the griffon right to a trap he had set for her. She had played the part of the dumb animal, and felt foolish for not realizing it earlier.

As Angela was mentally kicking herself and the more sensible part of her mind returned to her, she came to the conclusion the griffon was just not worth the effort of chasing around, no matter how much of an annoyance to her he might make of himself.

"Well?!" the griffon shouted in a gruff and heavily accented voice. "What are ya waiting for?! Come to Gerald!"

Yeah, I'm not falling for that you mutant chickadee, Angela thought as she gave a short hiss in reply. At that Gerald began to taunt her. 

"What's the matter? Ya scared? Are ya a big chicken?" he called as he began swaying motions like he was trying to incite an attack. Angela was not fooled for a second by his taunts. She did not know exactly what kind of trap he had set for her, or if it would even do anything to harm her wraith body. But she knew that she was not going to play the role of a mindless beast for him any more and just float right into his talons. No matter how much he goaded her, Angela was not going to fall for his tricks any longer.

"Come on! Get your scaly arse over here!" Gerald shouted, almost sounding desperate. Angela would have blown raspberries if her jaws were still capable of such an action. As such, she had to settle for an extremely rude hand gesture. It was a little difficult since she only had four fingers on each hand, so as ironic as it would have been she could not flip him the bird, but she managed all the same. After that she turned to leave.

For the second time that night Gerald was taken aback by the way he was being treated by. Never before had any creature of any kind behaved in such a way, and shown such disrespect towards him. It was making him rather. . . irritable, and he'd had enough of it. He drew his knife and made to attack Angela like before. But unlike before she was ready for it.

Doesn't this dodo ever learn? she wondered as she listened for the flapping of his wings to draw closer before she reacted. When it seemed that he was close enough Angela whirled around and skillfully grabbed the hybrid right out of the air, holding him tightly in her talons. She was careful not to grip him hard enough to cause injury, though he proceeded to struggle in a vain attempt to get free.

Okay, she thought. Now that I've got you what should I- 

Her musings were cut off when the griffon used his knife to stab Angela's hand, causing her to yelp in surprise and fling him away. The wound was no worse than a paper cut, but Angela was still caught off guard by it, and she felt her frustration with the bird begin to rise again. The griffon flapped his wings to steady himself from the impromptu flight before leveling off and coming at her again. 

Alright, I've had enough, she thought as she snarled angrily at her adversary while he approached at high speed, aiming for her head this time. But just before he was about to make contact Angela darted off to the side, leaving bright streaks behind her. Gerald, surprised by the action, flapped his wings frantically to halt his advance and pull up. He was too late however as Angela had whipped around, and her tails collided with the hybrid, sending him soaring uncontrollably before a conveniently placed tree put a stop to his flight, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

He groaned in pain as he slowly stood, his right wing hanging limp. Angela was on him in a second, and before he could do anything to get away she already had her palm pressing down on his chest. He tried to reach for his knife, which had landed a few feet out of his reach, before Angela put a stop to his struggling by positioning one of her large dagger like claws to press against his feathered throat. She held it there for a moment, hissing angrily. Angela then raised the claw in preparation to put an end to this nuisance and-

It was coated in blood that dripped from its jaws and talons in streams of red, and when it exhaled Angela was left choking on the scent of death.

Slowly, Angela retracted the claw, but she still kept the griffon in place on the ground. He stared up at her in confusion, obviously not sure what she was up to as she held him in place. On the outside Angela's intentions could not be gleaned, but her mind was in turmoil as she realized just how close she had come to killing him out of anger. Something that she had no intention of ever doing, now or ever, and this griffon had almost made her do just that. She felt that it was extremely lucky for the both of them that she was able to reign herself in in time. 

But now that left the question of what she was going to do with him, and she debated on what course of action she would take now. He had been injured, so it was not like she could just leave him to fly away. Yes, he had attacked for likely no other reason than to have her head on a wall, but Angela supposed that, given what she looked like, she understood that to some degree. She could just leave him here, but Angela felt that would be just as bad as if she had went ahead and killed him. She had seen for herself what other creatures lurked in the forest, so doing that would likely just be a death sentence for him.

Angela sighed, a raspy exhale that ruffled Gerald's feathers a bit, and begrudgingly accepted that she would have to go out of her way to assist the very same thing that attacked her. Maybe she could just stick him in a tree, where he could still signal for help while being safe from any predators on the ground.

Angela was pulled out of her thoughts when the griffon, apparently having had enough of being pinned under her claws, attempted to push her off. 

"Get off o' me!" He grunted. His efforts were feeble at best, and Angela's hand showed no signs of budging. She was about to hiss at him to make the bird be quiet while she decided what to do with him, but she was interrupted yet again. But this time the interruption came in the form of a rustling in the branches of a tree immediately to her left. The disturbance was then followed by the sensation of something landing squarely onto her back with a feminine sounding grunt.

What? was all that she could come up with before she was suddenly wracked with pain along her back as she discovered just how sensitive her spines were when whatever it was began to kick them. Hard.

Get off! Angela mentally screamed with barely any coherence as she thrashed violently, releasing the griffon to reach over her shoulders to claw at her back and dislodge her passenger. He wisely scrambled away to avoid being crushed. During the struggle Angela unintentionally crashed into the side of a tree, sending it toppling over. Immediately after that the thing on her back leaped off, landing a few yards away from her. Feeling her frustration begin to take hold again, Angela shook her head to quickly clear it of the dark thoughts and looked to see her newest assailant. She was somewhat surprised to see that it was the very same pony mare that she had seen running away from her, only now it had a rope wrapped around her barrel and a pair of saddle bags that made an odd clinking sound whenever she moved.

Moving almost too quickly for Angela to track the pony launched herself at the wraith and struck with a swift buck to her wrist. Angela hissed when her joint was hit by the hard hooves. Reacting on instinct before she could stop herself Angela lashed with her claws at the pony. She even went so far as to snap her jaws at her. She was then taken by surprise when the mare expertly avoided both attacks by rolling out of the way and away from her.

At that moment Angela wanted nothing more than to pursue the pony and pound it into the ground and rip it apart, until she realized the direction her thoughts were taking promptly pushed them out of her mind, recognizing that the feeling was her instincts driving her to do so. Angela knew that no matter how aggravated she became she could not let herself be taken by her basest desires, as there would be dire consequences for all involved.

The little pony however was not aware of just how much Angela was struggling to keep herself from killing all of them, and she was certainly not helping by attacking her. Angela snarled at the mare, spreading her jaws wide in an intimidating display meant to get it to back off. The pony responded by reaching into her saddle bags with her snout and pulling out a pair of small items that to Angela looked like red gems with little hooks on their facets. 

She then tossed them up into the air before swiftly turning to pivot on her front hooves and kicking them Angela, who shielded herself with her two right arms. One of the gems struck the bone of her large scythe claw and fell harmlessly to the ground. The second one however stuck to Angela's forearm, its little hooks letting it firmly attach to her skin. The gem started to glow slightly before Angela's entire arm was numbed by a stinging sensation similar to that of ants crawling over skin.

Angela shook her arm, trying to dislodge it, but the gem remained stuck to her arm, and the feeling was only getting worse. Shrieking in anger Angela did the only thing she could think of and struck a nearby pine with with a mighty backhand blow. With a popping sound similar to that of a light bulb the gem was shattered, exploding  in a cloud of red dust. The tree did not fare much better, as the strike had effectively cut it in half, and the top part fell to the ground with a crash.

The feeling quickly vanished, and Angela redirected her attention back to the mare, who had taken the opportunity to quickly gallop to the griffon as he hid behind the trunk of a tree. She absentmindedly noticed that one of his feathery wings was slightly limp, indicating an injury.

"Oy! Miss Drops! Good to be seeing you."

"Shut up Gerald! What were you thinking?!" she snapped as she ran up to him. Angela paused, momentarily surprised that the two apparently knew each other. 

Gerald raised a claw to answer, but then faltered as he looked behind the mare apparently known as Miss Drops. She followed his line of sight and inhaled sharply when she saw that Angela was no longer occupied by the gem. The two smaller creatures gazed at the wraith with wide eyes as Angela glared at them with obvious disdain. She was rather incensed at the fact the mare had seen fit to expend so much effort in fighting Angela just to do the exact same thing that Angela was going to do in the first place. It was all completely unnecessary. All she had to do was wait until Angela left him, then help him out. Did she not see her spare his life? Was she so willing to believe that Angela was a monster at heart?

As she glared at them, Angela came to the conclusion that she would be seen as no more than a mindless beast in their eyes. She hissed at them, but she kept her frustration in check as she turned to leave. The pony and griffon breathed a sigh of relief, probably believing that they had driven her off. Just then all three individuals heard a gasp of shock, and they all turned their heads to see a young looking blue stallion standing a number of yards away from them. It seemed to Angela that he would have enjoyed a nice bath, for he was virtually covered in dirt and grime from a long night in the woods. Despite all of the attention he was receiving, the ponies eyes were focused solely on Angela. Her claws more specifically.

"Don't move!" the mare whispered loudly to him. "You might trigger a hunting response if you run."

Okay, now I'm just offended, Angela thought, and she alerted the mare to her displeasure at the comment with an annoyed growl. Despite being directed at the mare, the noise had a noticeably adverse effect on the young stallion, and he began shaking nervously in fear of what she might do to him. Realizing her mistake, Angela tried to get him to calm down by showing her palms. This proved to be another error on her part, as the stallion began to back away from her with his eyes glued to her talons. Angela sighed, deciding it would be better to just give up and leave. That is until she saw in which direction he was heading toward. 

Alarm flooded through her, and she reached out her arm on impulse to stop him from going any further. This of course had the exact opposite effect that she wanted, for the moment she moved the stallion turned tail and bolted away from her, galloping as fast as his hooves could carry over the uneven terrain, straight towards the trap the griffon had set for her.

"Stupid colt! Don't go that way!"  said griffon shouted after him, but the pony either did not hear him over the sound of his own frantic breathing or did not listen from fear of the wraith. The mare, realizing the danger, ignored her own advice and took off after him, but Angela knew that she would never be able to reach him in time. She had to do something or both ponies could end up seriously hurt, or worse.

Feeling she had no other choice on the matter, Angela darted after him, causing the mare to quickly dive out of the way as the wraith hovered as quickly as the trees would allow. She called after him, but that only served to make him redouble his pace while he occasionally glanced back with panic stricken eyes at what he thought was a monster intent on eating him.

Angela, almost starting to panic herself, began to just knock over any trees and saplings in her way, but doing only helped marginally, and the stallion was only getting further away. She had to think of something, anything, to get him back from what could possibly be his demise. Then, an idea popped into her head, one that Angela was not sure that she could pull off after only just starting to learn how her body worked in the last thirty hours. Seeing the stallion get closer and closer to the trap made her decide that it was worth a shot at the very least.

She slowed down just enough to settle her vision on the fleeing pony, focusing her thoughts on the action she wanted to perform. Time almost seemed to slow to a crawl as her sight centered in on him. The spines on her back bristled and her head began to emit a faint crimson glow. 

The mare noticed the change, sensing that something was about to happen. She followed the creatures gaze to the stallion, noticing how its attention seemed to be focused solely on him. Believing that it was preparing some kind of attack, which was actually not that far from the truth, she removed two more gems from her saddle bags and bucked them as hard as she could at Angela. Her aim was true, and they found purchase on the left side of her head and neck before Angela suddenly shot forward like a bullet, moving almost impossibly fast for something so large as she left streaks of red in her wake. But halfway through her trips the gems activated, and the resulting pain they caused promptly brought Angela crashing to the ground just out of reach of her target, which continued to gallop toward the trap meant for her.

Angela shrieked after him, trying desperately to ignore the discomfort. She attempted to hover the rest of the way, but the pain proved to be too much for her to concentrate. She could not stop to remove the gems or it would be too late for her to do anything. With no other options available to her, Angela began a frantic crawl on her hands and knees after him.

Just. . . a little. . . more, she thought as the distance between them gradually lessened, but she was not certain if she could reach him in time. The pony had almost reached the edge of the artificial clearing, and within seconds he would set off the trap. The pain in her head was also becoming almost too much for Angela to deal with, and she was having a massive amount of difficulty just thinking clearly. The only thought that was left was to get the stallion away from the clearing in whatever way possible. 

Struggling through the discomfort caused by the gems, Angela propelled herself forward with all four of her arms, her claws leaving deep furrows in the ground. She had almost reached him when he crossed the tree line, and was halfway across the clearing when loud click sounded that brought him to a halt.

"What?" was all he could think to say before Angela shrieked, bringing his attention back to her. He yelped in fright as he watched her pounce at him, and he shut his eyes in anticipation of his death. But instead of claws ripping into his flesh the stallion found himself knocked away with the back edge of Angela's large claw, and was sent tumbling out of the clearing before landing a short distance past the trees, leaving Angela sitting alone in the center. 

Another loud click sounded off, and before she could react, her senses were overloaded when a deafening boom thundered all around her, followed by the feeling of multiple heavy objects falling on top of her, and she slipped into unconsciousness.





Angela was in pain.

She was in pain, but she could not remember why  or how, only that the sensation was eating away at her, blotting out all else until all that was left was the deep and primal desire to escape it. 

She tried to run, to hide until the feeling passed, but it seemed that no matter what she did, Angela was forcibly subjected to an almost impossible amount of torment as the pain continued. It seemed to be coming from somewhere on her left, but other than that Angela could do little more than hope that it would eventually pass while she tried to remember what had happened to her.

Feeling dazed and confused while flitting between the realms of unconsciousness and sanity, Angela could only vaguely recall that she was in a forest of some kind. She had been attacked by something. Was that why she was in pain? No, that did not sound right. She was not certain why that was so, but it just seemed that was not the reason for her torment. So what was? 

While tried to remember the details of her fragmented memory, Angela became aware of something. Something else besides the pain, besides the pounding in her skull. It offered a welcome distraction from the feeling, and although Angela could not exactly tell what it was, if she had to guess it was almost like. . . a voice?

Angela strained, trying to listen through her own frantic thoughts, and was able to determine that it was indeed a voice. At the moment it was too faint for her to make out, but it sounded powerful and full of authority, yet at the same time it was also soothing and comforting. It seemed to beckon to Angela, calling her to come toward it.

Unsure what else to do, Angela called to it, asking who or what it was. A faint whisper answered her, and Angela called out again.

Again, all that she got in reply was a distant series of unintelligible words that seemed to echo a little when they reached her, but she found herself feeling comforted by its mere presence. She was not sure why, but Angela just knew that it meant her no harm. In fact, Angela was able to make out that it wanted to help her.

It was calling to her, telling her to come closer. Angela was slightly hesitant, but found herself unable to resist the voices comforting pull. She tried to find its source, and in the process it felt as though the pain in her head was pushed aside until it was little more than a mild annoyance. And as she got closer she could discern a few words as the voice spoke to her, but they were still too faint for her to make out completely. 

She had almost reached its source, and Angela could just barely see at the limit of her sight a dark misshapen form that seemed to waver slightly as though it were underwater, but grew in definition the closer she came to it.

Just then the pain returned, like a fly buzzing in her ear that refused to go away. Angela tried to ignore it and shut it out if her mind, but the feeling persisted. In fact it seemed to be growing beyond just being annoying to painful to excruciating in a few short seconds. It came to the point that the voice was starting to become blotted out. It called out frantically to her, pleading for her to focus on it. Angela desperately tried to do as it said, but the pain was only getting worse and worse. Eventually the voice disappeared entirely, leaving Angela alone in her torment, and all that she could do was wait and hope that it eventually went away.

And as she waited memories began to resurface, most of them unpleasant in one way or another. And suddenly she remembered what had happened to make her like this. She remembered that it was the pony and griffon that had hurt her, made her feel pain because they did not understand her intentions.

She was miserable because of her past, and they pursued her.

She had chosen to leave so that she would not pose a threat to them, and they attacked her.

She had saved one of them from a situation where even her survival was questionable, and they tried to kill her.

As Angela's memories flooded back into her mind, she was overcome with emotion, and she felt something in addition to the pain that continued to grow and fester until even her torment was blotted out. And she wanted to keep it that way. She never wanted to feel that kind of torment ever again, even if it meant losing control of herself for a little while. Just for a little while she told herself.

As Angela's fury grew to the point where even the agony in her head was nonexistent, she heard a voice in the back of her mind whispering to her. But it was not the same one from before, and its tone and pitch belonged to something that Angela was all but too familiar with.

I am you. 

And you are mine.





Bon-Bon almost couldn't believe it when she saw the creature disappear in temporary flash of light. She was even more astonished when the large pine trees ringing the interior of the clearing fell inwards, directly on top of the beast, burying it under a mountain of wood and pine needles. And then everything was still, and a silence followed that seemed out of place after how hectic things just were.

"What did you put in there?" she questioned Gerald as he sat on his haunches, addressing his injured wing.

He shrugged nonchalantly and replied vaguely, "I got good deal from mare in Ponyville."

Bon-Bon raised an eyebrow at that little bit of information, but before she could press the griffon for details on who this mare was she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the young stallion was trotting towards them at a brisk pace, occasionally glancing at the mound of timber resting on the creatures back. For the moment it was motionless, but he did not seem to want to take any chances. Bon-Bon let him cover most of the distance between them before she began to trot towards him with a scowl on her face.

"Did you guys see that thing?" he exclaimed. "I really thought I was a gon-"

That was as far as he got before Bon-Bon whirled around and gave the stallion a swift kick to his chest. She had been kind enough to limit the power of her blow so that he was not injured, but it was still strong enough to leave him gasping for breath as he fell to the ground. After a few minutes of writhing on the forest floor he was eventually able to stand, and when he had regained enough of ability to breathe he demanded, "What in Tartarus was that for?!"


Bon-Bon answered by getting right up into his face and shouting at the top of her lungs, "That was for being a rutting idiot and doing exactly what I told you not to do! Did you not hear me when I said not to run, or are you just stupid?! I'm going to guess the former, because you ran anyway and that thing chase you. What's more, you almost got yourself killed by running straight into that trap that this imbecile behind me set."

"Oy!" Gerald exclaimed indignantly while crossing his forelimbs, but Bon-Bon chose to ignore him for the moment.

"I don't know who you are or why your even out here in the first place," Bon-Bon began to say to which the stallion raised a hoof and began to explain.

"My name's Harp, and I got separated from m-"

"Did I not just say that I don't care, you plot for brains!" Bon-Bon shouted. Deciding that she'd had enough of his stupidity from him for the moment she turned her attention back to the griffon. "And you!" she said, practically seething with anger. "I don't know where you got the idea in your head that you could hunt that thing. Did you not see what it could do? What it's capable of? That thing took out the bug bear, and you thought it was a good idea to hunt it?! I am appalled by your idiocy Gerald."

"Oy! There's no need for bad language Miss Drops," Gerald replied. "Plan worked, did it not?"

"Only after this plot head almost got himself killed by setting off your trap! Tell me Gerald, was that part of your plan?" Bon-Bon demanded.

At this point Harp decided to cut in on their conversation. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You two know each other?"

"But of course," Gerald answered, sounding happy to have something else to talk about besides how much trouble he was in with the mare. "Myself and Miss Drops were, how you say, colleagues back when we were in-"

"Shut your beak!" Bon-Bon shouted, losing patience with both of them at an alarming rate. She breathed through her nose, closed her eyes and said, "I've told you once. I've told you a thousand times. You are not to refer to me as "Miss Drops" any longer. My name is Bon-Bon."

"Um, hey guys?" Harp spoke up again, trying to get their attention. However he was ignored as the mare and Griffon continued to argue.

"Bah! Not as good as Sweetie Drops if you ask me. Name change is not necessary as long as you are quiet about it. Besides, nobody cares about agency anymore. They do not know it even existed, so what is problem?"

"The problem is loose beaks like yours blabbing sensitive information wherever you happen to park your plot you halfwit! The only reason why nopony knows is because of precautions, like name changes, to keep them from ever finding out that they are not as safe as they might think when they sleep at night."

"Guys?"

"Bah! Who cares about little details like that? Knowing never hurt anybody."

"I care! And how can you claim that any of your methods were quiet in anyway, shape or form? I could have heard your stupid stunts all the way from Canterlot! And what are you even doing out here in the first place? Is this really what you did with years of training? Become a poacher?"

"Oy! I am no poacher! I am legitimate business bird, and I have papers to prove it."

"Guys!" Harp shouted, making both pony and griffon finally turn their attention to him.

"What?!" they exclaimed, and Harp pointed with a hoof at what was making him so nervous. They looked, and their mouths fell open when they saw what he was trying to alert them to.

"Great Guto's ghost," Gerald muttered as they watched the creature, which they had thought to be dead, attempt to pull itself out from underneath its wooden prison. It snarled and hissed ferociously in agitation and rage, appearing to have suffered no more than a few bruises, and Bon-Bon got the distinct feeling that if they did not leave right now then they would be hard pressed to survive the night.

"We'll finish this later," she stated. She then turned to Gerald and asked, "Can you fly at all?"

Gerald shook his head. "No. I have been through worse, but I won't be flying anytime soon I am afraid."

Bon-Bon cursed under her breath. She glanced at the creature while it continued in its efforts to escape as trees began to fall away. 

"We need to get going, right now," she stated, in which everypony was in agreement, and they all turned tail to run away. They had not made it more than ten feet before a different sound brought their attention back to it, and they glanced back to see that the creature skin almost seemed to be glowing in places, like its bones had suddenly turned a vibrant orange beneath its skin.

Then suddenly a loud and thunderous crack sounded off as the air around seemed to implode, and the trees that were keeping it down were practically disintegrated as they were thrown in all directions like twigs, with some of them flaming at the ends. The ponies and griffon rushed to take cover behind the trunks of trees that were standing as large splinters crashed all around them. Eventually the rain of debris ceased, and they cautiously poked their heads out to see what else was happening.

They looked on astonishment as they saw the monster hovering in place above a smoking crater of what was once its prison as it glared at them. Bon-Bon felt that, despite its lack of any actual eyes, it was quite expressive as it hissed at them.

Then something rather unexpected happened that caught all three of them off guard. 

The monster let loose a shriek that filled the entire area with a sense of dread and impending doom before it suddenly began to convulse, thrashing violently all about with its multiple arms and tails spasming erratically.

"What's it doing?" Harp questioned as he looked on, confusion and fear evident in his voice.

"No clue," Gerald answered in a similar tone. "Maybe it's dying?" he then suggested.

Bon-Bon had no answer for either of them, and before she could even begin to come up with a theory she noticed that large tumor like growths had suddenly sprouted up all over the monsters flesh, and it almost seemed to be in pain when a foul looking black substance began to leak out of every pore, even its mouth, until its entire form was coated in the material. Bon-Bon felt that she was going to be sick herself as the creature continued to convulse under the veil of of black slime.

Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped, and everything became silent as death, like the calm before a particularly bad storm.

"I don't know about you two," Harp said, obviously wanting to be anywhere but here, "but I have a really bad feeling about this."

Bon-Bon wholeheartedly agreed with him, and was about to suggest that they beat a hasty retreat when the ichorous black mass began to rise up, and it fell to the side like a nausea inducing waterfall. The tips of the monsters spines poked out of the top, their darkened tips appearing dangerously sharp. Then suddenly, the monster emerged out of the substance like some sort of hideous butterfly, revealing that it changed a substantial amount. Its claws were larger and sharper, the spines were taller, its tails were longer, and its skin seemed to have gone from a pale gray to a deep ashen color. Overall, it appeared that it had grown to almost twice it original size in the span of a few seconds.

The creature exhaled, and its breath seemed to somehow echo in their ears before it raised its head to the sky, parted its jaws, a let loose a powerful shriek that evoked a feeling of dread and hopelessness in the ponies and griffon as it filled their hearts with terror.

As she looked on with a mixture of fright and confusion, Bon-Bon said the only thing that she could think of.

"Run."
	


> Fury
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Everypony, please calm down!"

Mayor Quartz's voice was almost unheard in the frantic shouting and clamoring of the crowd in front of her. Standing on the stoop of her house, she had her hoof raised in an attempt to calm the ponies down. 

It had been almost a half hour after Quartz had sent Roughshod out of her office, and she had been sitting at her desk pondering what she was going to do now that he was no longer allowed to guard the wall. It had been difficult decision for her to make, but it was one that she felt was necessary to ensure that nothing like it ever happened again. It had not so much been to punish Roughshod than to set an example to the other ponies the consequences of carelessness. It was not something that she particularly enjoyed doing, but Quartz felt that it was not an issue that she could just overlook. 

To tell the truth, Quartz was actually doing Roughshod a favor. If the townsponies found out that one of their own had been left behind and there were no consequences for the ones responsible, they would not only turn on her, but Roughshod and the others as well. They would go easier on them if there was already a firm hoof dealing with the matter.

It didn't make the decision any less difficult to make though, and Quartz could already picture Rose Flare's face when she came in to demand that she rescind the order. That was not a conversation that she was looking forward to.

But all of that was pushed to the back of her mind as she attempted to calm the throng of ponies gathered before her as they demanded some sort of explanation for the sounds coming from the forest. The unnerving noises sounded far off yet, and Quartz hoped that they stayed that way. She already had enough to deal with.

Feeling swarmed by what seemed like half the population of Hollow Shades, Quartz's attention was dragged left and right as more and more ponies came to her for an answer to their questions.

"Miss Quartz! What's going on out there?!" a mare asked urgently.

"Is that monster coming here? What should we do ma'am?" a stallion questioned nervously.

"We need to call the princesses for help!" another mare declared in a frightened voice.

"Everypony, please," Quartz said, finally able to get a few words in edgewise, though she  was only barely heard over the constant chattering. "I don't have an answer for what's going on right now, but rest assured that everything will be alright."

Her short speech little to ease the tension that had been steadily building ever since Roughshod came back with news of the bug bears death. It certainly did not help when a particularly loud shriek rang out in the night air, drowning out the clamoring of the ponies and making them fall into a tense silence as they collectively turned their heads to the town gates. 

Even Quartz was unsure what to say as she felt the icy grip of fear clutch her heart. Then the unsettling quiet was broken by another shriek, this one sounding as though it was coming from something much larger, followed by the unmistakable sound of tree limbs snapping as the creature moved through the woods. And in that moment, Quartz had never been so afraid in her life.

All around her ponies began to fall into absolute panic as they rushed back to their homes, guiding curious fillies and colts that had come out to see the goings on back inside while insisting everything would be okay despite the obvious fear i their voices. Only a very few ponies stayed out to see if there was anything that could be done to protect their town, and Quartz thought she heard somepony ask where Roughshod was. Quartz tried to get everypony to calm down again, but found that her efforts were next to pointless as ponies continued to run about like chickens with their heads cut off.

It was then that she happened to catch sight of an familiar emerald unicorn mare galloping towards her, avoiding the ponies as she approached. Quartz was tempted to just fly over their heads to greet her but decided to just trot the rest of the way.

"Miss Star," Quartz called when she felt they were close enough to hear each other over the din. "I'm glad to see you. I find myself lacking of somepony sensible to talk to right now. Is Roughshod with you by any chance?"

Star shook her head in response before quickly saying, "No, he went home to make sure Rose was alright first. He said he'll meet up with us when he's done."

Quartz nodded, understanding Roughshod's reasons completely. She would have expected his wife's safety to come before anything else for him.

"Of course," she said with a nod of her head. "Now, is there something I can help you with? As you can see," she said while indicating the ponies fleeing to their homes with a sweeping gesture, "we seem to be in a bit of a crisis right now."

"That's actually what I'm here for ma'am," Star said in a grim sounding tone. "Roughshod sent me to speak with you while he's checking on Rose."

Quartz raised an eyebrow when Star said that, as it usually was not like the earth stallion to have others run any sort of errand for him. Although she supposed that given the circumstances she should have expected as much.

"Did he say what for?" she asked, and Star was about to respond when she was cut off by another unearthly screech. The sound seemed to reverberate across the landscape before fading, and the two mares waited with baited breath as a brief moment of silence followed. Then the noise resumed, and to everypony that heard it, it seemed that it was steadily getting closer, and the panic increased tenfold.

"Ma'am," Star said urgently, snapping Quartz out of her terrified trance. The mare started slightly at her voice before replying.

"Yes?" she asked in a worried tone. Quartz was trying and failing to conceal her building fear of the monster in the woods.

Sounding just as nervous, Star quickly said, "Roughshod wanted me to ask you if you still have that carriage of yours. The one that flies."

It took Quartz a moment to register what the unicorn was talking about before she remembered. Star was of course referring to her own private air carriage that she had for her personal use. She did not use very often due to her mayoral duties, and had been sitting in a barn collecting dust for weeks. It had been something of a prize when she was elected, but she personally never saw much use for it. So for Star to bring it up now threw her for a loop.

"Of course," she answered. "Why does Roughshod want to know?"

Star shrugged and said, "I don't know. Roughshod said he would explain later. But that's not the main reason why he sent me to find you."

Quartz motioned for Star to continued, and the unicorn obliged.

"He also wanted me to tell you that we need to organize ponies to defend the town. Get as many ponies on the wall and pegasi in the air with thunderclouds as possible. He thinks they might be able to at least drive off whatever's out there if it comes close to town."

It only took a moment for Quartz to ponder the proposal before she came to a decision. Giving a short nod she said, "Of course. That sounds like as good a plan as any. Can you help me round up ponies for it?"

Star nodded an affirmative before another shriek reached their ears, causing them flinch in response.

"I suggest that we hurry," Quartz stated. She then proceeded to fly up to a balcony on the second floor of her home before calling for everyponys attention as Star began going door to door. As Quartz called out in a loud voice and ponies began to reassemble before her, she wondered in the back of her mind if that mercenary she hired had anything to do with the situation out in the woods.





Gerald let out a squawk of surprise as another uprooted tree flew past them before it came crashing to the ground, its branches just barely missing them by a few inches. Bon-Bon was tempted to tease him about it, but at the moment she was preoccupied with the pounding of her heart as she galloped as fast as she possibly could to get away from the enraged monster as it pursued them. 

It was thoroughly incensed as it tore apart the forest to get at them. Nothing stood in its way. Full grown trees were either shoved aside or uprooted completely. Heavy boulders were picked up and thrown either out of its path or at its quarry. The only reason it had not caught them yet was because the forest was dense enough that they were able to stay just ahead of it as it pursued them. But that would not last, as the ponies and griffon were starting to become wore out from their exertions while the creature only seemed to grow even more determined as it steadily gained on them.

Bon-Bon knew that if something did not change in the next few minutes then their tired legs would be the least of their concerns.

"Um, excuse me, but Miss Drops?" Harp called to her as he galloped beside her with imminent death only a few hundred feet behind them. "But is there some sort of plan you happen to have that I don't know about, or are we just screwed? Because I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

"Just keep running!" Bon-Bon shouted. "And my name's Bon-Bon!" 

"Not the time for arguing!" Gerald called before all three had to take cover behind tree trunks to avoid being impaled by large splinters of wood when the creature caused another implosion. A great many trees had been cleared in the explosion, allowing it to gain quite a bit of ground on them. There was now reduced to a number of yards as they took off again, aiming for where the forest appeared to be thickest, hoping it would buy them some time.

"How is it doing that?!" Harp exclaimed when they resumed their flight.

"Don't know, don't care! Shut up and keep running!" 

As she said that Bon-Bon risked a quick glance behind her, then immediately regretted it when she saw just how close the monster was as it steadily caught up to them with each passing second. It was temporarily preoccupied with clearing a path through the dense forest, but  she guessed that they only had a few precious moments until it was upon them again, and then it would all be over. Bon-Bon was confident in her skills, but she found it to be highly unlikely that she would be able to hold it off for long when it eventually reached them. She needed to think of something, anything, that would help them live through the night. 

Then suddenly, an idea popped into her head as she glanced around at their surroundings. She recognized this particular spot in the woods when she was scouting for the bug bear, and she knew its layout like the back of her hoof. 

"Follow me." she commanded as she abruptly altered her course. Unsure what she was doing, both Harp and Gerald obeyed. They did not know what her plan was, but at the moment any plan was worth a try. The monster also changed its direction to pursue them, growing more and more violent in its efforts as it slashed and hacked at obstacles. 

In the back of her mind Bon-Bon wondered what was making it behave like this. The sort of anger the creature was displaying went beyond simple hunger or defending territory. Before it was like it seemed disinterested in actually fighting them, like it was limiting itself, which had confused Bon-Bon a little when she fought it. Now though it seemed that its only goal was to kill them with extreme prejudice. They had done something to anger to the point of murderous rage, and she was lost as to what that was.

She didn't have much longer to ponder it however when she spotted a shaft of moonlight a short distance away, peeking in through the trees. Steering towards it, she soon came out into small field of tall grass. A dozen yards away, the land dropped off suddenly, and Bon-Bon recognized it as a steep cliff more than three hundred above a shallow river. She quickly ran to the edge just as Harp and Gerald exited the tree line with the creature mere seconds behind them. 

"What are you doing?!" Harp demanded when he saw her standing at the edge. "Are you trying to get yourself killed!"

Bon-Bon turned her head to address them as they skidded to a stop beside her."No time to explain," she said. "Just do as I say and stay where you are."

"What?!" Gerald squawked, his voice barely rising above the creatures own angered screeches. "Miss Drops, I know what plan you have, and I trust you, but that is stupid plan! You will get us all killed!"

Without warning Bon-Bon turned on the griffon and struck him on his beak with a swift jab from her right forehoof. Gerald staggered backwards a few steps, clutching his beak in his talons.

"Ack! What was that for?!"

Bon-Bon spoke quickly, knowing they only had a few seconds before the creature reached. "If you want have a chance at surviving until morning then you're going to do as I say! That thing will catch us if all we do is run all night. We need to buy ourselves some time to get some distance between us and it. We just need to wait here for it."

"Are you crazy?! We'll be sitting ducks for that thing!" Harp exclaimed.

Before they could argue the point any further they were interrupted when the din of trees snapping in half like twigs drew their attention to the monstrous creature as it disposed of the final obstacle between it and its prey. Harp and Gerald looked like they were about to run again, until Bon-Bon put a stop to that by stepping on their tails. 

"Not yet!" she hissed through clenched teeth. Reluctantly the two obeyed, and stayed right where they were as they waited for the monster to make a move. It hissed viciously at them with its mandible like jaws quivering as it crouched low to the ground, its fifty foot body curling up slightly like a snake poised to strike. It stuck its two meter claws into the ground, and Bon-Bon tensed up, getting herself ready. Beside her Harp and Gerald fidgeted nervously under the monsters supposed eyesight. 

"Not yet," the mare said quietly, hoping there was a limit to how high it could float. Barely a second passed after she said that the creature pounced, propelling itself at them with its claws, its teeth and talons spread wide in anticipation of killing them. 

"Now!" Bon-Bon shouted as she dove to the side with all haste. Harp and Gerald wasted no time to copy her movement as they did the same. The creatures body thudded onto the ground where they just were, its claws creating deep furrows in the soil. Its momentum carried it close to the edge of the cliff. Having virtually no time to recover, it skidded over the side. It tried to halt its fall by clawing at the ground, and Bon-Bon just barely avoided being skewered as it slid over the edge.

And just like that, it was gone, and Bon-Bon felt herself collapse onto her belly as exhaustion took hold of her. A short distance away Harp did the same while Gerald sat on his haunches with his head sagging to the ground, clearly not used to having to run instead of fly. All three of them were breathing heavily from their exertions, but they all felt a sense of relief now that the creature was no longer on their tails.

That sense of relief went straight out the window when they heard the creature shrieking, sounding like it had not fallen as far as they were hoping. Picking himself up, Gerald cautiously made his way towards the edge. He peered over, half expecting the creature to be right under his beak. As he peered over the cliff Bon-Bon heard him mutter in a defeated tone, "Oh, come on."

Knowing she would regret it, she hesitantly got up and trotted up to stand beside him, with Harp joining them. They all peered down, and were disheartened to see that the creature was swiftly climbing its way back up to them. It was hissing hissing and snarling at them as it scuttled up the vertical cliff like some sort of cross between a snake and a spider. 

Out of the corner of her eye Bon-Bon noticed Gerald remove another flash grenade from his vest pocket before he dropped it directly on top of it. The object fell straight down onto its head before exploding, and for a moment the monster was hidden behind a cloud of dust.

"Did that work?" Harp asked nopony in particular as the dust began to clear. His question was answered when they saw that not only had it not worked, but the creature seemed to be angered even more by it, as it continued to pull itself up the cliff with all four arms at an increased rate. Gerald removed another grenade and was about to toss it before Bon-Bon smacked him upside the beak, causing him to drop it.

"Agh! What is with you and the hitting Miss Drops?" he demanded as he clutched his beak, still sore from the previous hit.

"Cut that out," she said. "You're only making it madder." 

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Bon-Bon pondered the question, knowing she only had at best a minute to come up with something before the creature had climbed the rest of the way up the cliff. Once that happened it would pretty much be all over for them. They were already so tired from just trying to stay ahead of it that she wasn't sure how much longer they could go on until it caught them, but she knew that they would never even get make it to Hollow Shades. 

Just then she got another idea. It was desperate, but it was all she could come with that would at help at least some of them survive. 

Feeling that she had little other choice, Bon-Bon turned to address them. "Alright, listen up. Here's what's going to happen: you two are going to go that way. . ." she said while motioning with her head to point South-West, "and back to Hollow Shades. You are not to stop for anything. I don't care what happens, just keep going until you reach town. Tell them what's going on."

"What are you talking about?" Harp asked, growing concerned at the way Bon-Bon was speaking. "You don't seriously expect us to just leave you alone with that thing?"

Adopting a stern expression, Bon-Bon said firmly, "That's exactly what I expect you to do. And here, take this with you." Bon-Bon reached into her left saddle bag and pulled out a dark glass bottle, gripping the neck of it between her teeth. Gerald took in his claws, eyeing it with recognition as Bon-Bon added, "You know what to do with it. Get a message to the Princesses, inform them of the situation."

"The princesses?" Harp exclaimed in surprise. "Just who are you two?"

"No time to explain, just go!" Bon-Bon ordered them. For a moment, neither pony nor griffon moved an inch, no doubt finding what she was requesting of them to be highly distasteful. Eventually Gerald stored the bottle in in a satchel and said to Bon-Bon in a strange tone that the former agent had only heard from him on the rarest of occasions, "I wish you good luck, Miss Drops." 

That was all he said before he turned around and started moving swiftly back into the trees. Harp lingered for a moment, regarding her with a look of worry before he did the same. He paused to cast one last concerned glance at her before he disappeared into the woods as he followed the griffon, leaving Bon-Bon alone by herself. 

Hearing the creature draw closer she quickly galloped away just as the monsters enormous dagger like claws impaled themselves into the soil, and it hoisted itself back onto level ground. Bon-Bon lingered just long enough to allow it to spot her before she took off, hopefully ensuring that it would follow her and not the others. The monster shrieked loudly and began the chase anew. Getting her second wind, Bon-Bon galloped as hard and as fast as she could through the trees, wondering if she would even be able to stay ahead of it for more than a few minutes.

In the back of her mind, Bon-Bon also found herself regretting not giving another instruction to Gerald. 

Lyra was certainly going to be missing her after all.

	

> Mercy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Everything seemed to pass by at high speed to Angela as she chased the little pony through the forest. Her thoughts were clouded, and a throbbing headache that refused to go away pounded on her skull from the inside. 

But she did not care about that right now. Angela did not care how much pain she was in. She did not stop to address the scrapes and bruises she had accumulated during her chase. Her skin itched and burned like fire, and in the back of her manic mind she guessed that it was  result of her wraith body having not been put through the process of performing any sort of attack before. The two warp blasts that she used had put a ton of stress onto her already unsound mind, and all Angela could think about was getting at the ones that had hurt her so.

She could just see the little pony running ahead of her, ducking and jumping over fallen trees with a surprising amount of acrobatic skill for a pony. Angela did not care though.

She did not care anymore that she was being consumed by her instincts.

She did not care that the reason she was in pain was born of a misunderstanding.

She did not care that the little pony was now running for her life from the monster that Angela had allowed herself to be.

She. Did. Not. Care.

The ponies and their allies had hurt her. They were the ones who could not leave well enough alone. They were the ones that mistook her for a monster and refused to see that she was anything but. 

How dare they attack her!  

How dare they try to kill her for the crime of existing!

Angela was now confident of only one thing anymore. There was only one course of action she could take. If the inhabitants of this realm were going to be so dead set on making sure that she was never going to be able to rest without the threat of being killed, either by traps or some other eldritch method of theirs, then she would give them a reason to never come near her ever again.

All she had to do was catch the little pony.





Bon-Bon was running and galloping for all she was worth through the forest, a feat that went unaided by the rough and uneven ground. She had to actively avoid rocks that jutted out of the ground and leap over logs that had fallen in her path. Yet, despite the adverse terrain, the mare kept going, knowing that if she slowed down for even a second she would never be able to regain the ground that she lost. 

And yet, in spite of her exertions, the monstrosity was easily keeping up with her, and was actually steadily gaining on the mare, despite her wisdom in choosing the thickest parts of the woods to go through. At the rate it was going, Bon-Bon guessed that she only had another minute or so before it was upon her. So she kept going, trying desperately to ignore how her legs begged for her to stop, how her lungs burned like fire and begged for her to stop and rest.

But Bon-Bon refused to give to the demands of her flesh, and she never once stopped or slowed down for even a second, knowing that doing so would result in her evisceration. The most she did other than run was cast quick glances behind her to check how close it was to catching her, and each time her heart sank a little more to see that the creature was coming ever closer to her by the second, and Bon-Bon found herself doing something she had rarely ever done, even in the safety of her own home.

Bon-Bon started to cry as she ran. It began a few quiet sobs that gradually grew into a full blown breakdown as she realized that the prospect of escaping was a hopeless one. She had been through so much in her life, had faced down adversaries, both magical and ordinary, and each time she had survived the worst of the situation through her sheer determination and resolve. Each time she had survived.

But Bon-Bon knew in the bottom of her heart that there would be no escape this time. There would be no close call to brag about to her teammates. Stubbornness would not save her on this venture. This monster was going to catch her. And it was going to kill her. She would not be coming home at the end of the day. She would not wake up to the early morning sounds of Ponyville.

She would never see Lyra again.

This realization only made Bon-Bon cry harder and push herself beyond her limits so that she could see the next sunrise, so that she could see Lyra one last time.

It was not to be however, as the monster had apparently decided to cut the chase short and use its  daggaerclaws to launch itself ahead of her. It landed in Bon-Bon's path with a thud before it whirled on her, its form moving like some sort of airborne serpent as it darted towards her. The mare skidded to a halt and tried to run to the side. But she was too slow however, and her aching muscles betrayed her as she felt the creatures talons close in around her, pinning her to the ground on her back. She desperately pushed against its massive hand with all of the strength she could muster, but it did absolutely nothing to aid her.

A hiss cut off her attempts, and Bon-Bon's attention was pulled to the monster as it hovered above her, its jaws mere inches from her face as it stared at her with its eyeless gaze, and its hot breath tousled her dual colored mane. Words could not describe the terror she felt under its hateful glare. And she noticed something odd as it glared at her. 

On the side of its head and neck she noticed two red spots on its skin, like sores or scabs that had not healed quite right. Bon-Bon then realized that the sores were the gems that she had bucked at it. They had been grown over when the creature underwent its transformation, and Bon-Bon instantly knew that they were factors in the creatures rage towards them. They were why it was so persistent in getting revenge. It must have been in an almost unimaginable amount of discomfort from the gems. Bon-Bon herself had once been on the receiving end of one during her training days, so she knew what they felt like just being on her skin. She could not even begin to imagine the kind of torment it must be going through right now, and Bon-Bon began to realize that she was partially responsible for this mess.

She did not have much longer to ponder her role however as she saw the creature raise both of its long blade like appendages. Again Bon-Bon struggled to get free. It was no use however, and Bon-Bon felt her tears return to her eyes.

"No. . . please no," she pleaded quietly as she clenched her eyes, not wanting to see her own death.

And then, something rather unexpected happened. 

She did not feel the sensation of huge claws digging into her flesh. She did not feel the monsters jaws ripping her apart.

Instead what Bon-Bon felt was the pressure of the creatures palm on her chest disappear entirely. She risked opening her eyes just the slightest bit. And what she saw took her off guard. The monster was just hovering there above her, its sixty foot length hanging almost motionless in the air. It was still looking at her, although Bon-Bon could not tell what its intentions were. Even though she was no longer being held down, she still felt pinned underneath its gaze, and Bon-Bon was not sure what she should do now. 

Should she run? She was hesitant to do so, as it might just be toying with her like a cat would a mouse; giving her the false hope of freedom before pouncing on her again. 

Before she could make a decision on what to do, the creature began to move backwards away from her, though it seemed to keep its attention on her the entire time. Unsure what else to do Bon-Bon cautiously got to her hooves, never once taking her eyes off of it. For a few seconds nothing happened, and Bon-Bon's mind was struggling to process what the creature was doing. 

By all rights she should be dead right now. She should have been ripped to pieces by the monster. It should have killed her, if not for food then at least out of revenge or defense of territory.

So why did it not? Why was she still alive?

What was this thing?

For the longest time she considered doing something that an experienced agent would never, ever do under any circumstances, normal or otherwise. Something that would have had her immediately expelled from the disbanded agency faster than she could blink, providing she even survived the mistake.

Going against all of her instincts and all of her years of advanced training, Bon-Bon slowly and cautiously began to approach the creature. And to her surprise it actually moved away from her, and she noticed that it was shaking quite a bit, like it was cold. She paused briefly in confusion before resuming her advance. She raised a hoof towards it and said quietly in a soothing tone, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you anymore." But when she was less then ten from the creature it suddenly lunged, snapping its jaws at her. Bon-Bon jumped backward, prepared to run. To her continued confusion however the creature did not pursue in its attack, and Bon-Bon realized that it currently had no intention of going after her.

Not yet anyway.

For a moment nothing else happened afterward, until the creature suddenly hissed loudly as it seemed to recoil in pain, and Bon-Bon noticed how the sores on its head appeared to glow ever so slightly. She immediately felt a certain amount of empathy for it. There was no doubt in her mind that the gems were causing it a severe amount of pain. 

Bon-Bon was at a loss at what to do now as the creature began to thrash around. She felt that she should do something to help it somehow, but in the state it was currently in there was no telling how it might react. If she tried to remove the gems by herself chances were that she would only make things worse for it, and by extension, herself. And of course Bon-Bon was actually somewhat hesitant to do anything, seeing as how it had attacked her and Gerald. 

But, looking back, Bon-Bon remembered that until the griffon had provoked it with his traps it had not actually done anything to hurt anypony. All the times it lashed out at them was caused by their own errors. 

She thought back to when it was chasing Harp. Why would it have done that? It obviously already knew that the trap was there, as it had refused to cave in to Gerald's goading. But when Harp ran into the trap the creature had intentionally put itself in danger to. . . 

Bon-Bon gasped when she realized just how serious an error she had made. This creature was no monster. It was not some some mindless beast. It was intelligent. 

She glanced back in the direction she had come from as she thought about the the glass bottle she had given to Gerald, and the instructions she told him to follow. Dread and regret filled her heart when she realized what would happen because of her mistake.

She glanced briefly at the creature before slowly backing away from it. It did absolutely nothing to pursue her. In fact, it seemed to have forgotten about her entirely as it hissed again from the pain caused by the gems, and it began scratching and clawing at the affected areas. Bon-Bon felt a pang of guilt at the situation she had put it in, and her eyes softened as she looked at it.

When she felt that she far enough to start moving without provoking it to start chasing her again, Bon-Bon turned around, and started galloping for Hollow Shades as quickly as her tired hooves could carry her, determined to fix her mistake.





Mayor Quartz surveyed the scene going on above her, and she found herself nodding her head in approval. 

I had taken some time for her and Star Mix to gather enough ponies that would would make an adequate defense of their town, as many had been holed up in their homes and unwilling to come out for any reason. It had actually took some convincing on Roughshod's part, who had returned after checking on his wife, to get them to come out. Quartz envied him in that regard, the way he was able to get ponies to see his way of things, and thanks to him there were now over two dozen pegasi were in the air with thunderclouds, and multiple ponies on the wall. Most of them were unicorns with some knowledge in a few self defense spells that might come in handy, but there was also a fair amount of earth ponies that Quartz knew could embed a stone into a tree at almost any range with a strong buck.

It seemed that the entire town was now dedicated to the defense their home, and Quartz could not help but feel a sense of pride in her fellow ponies. Out of the corner of her eye the mayor noticed that Roughshod was trotting up towards her. A smile gracing her features, she turned to speak with the stallion when he was close enough to hear her.

"Ah, Roughshod," she said. "I can't thank you enough for all of your help." Quartz's words brought a slight grin to his muzzle as he accepted her praise.

"Thank you ma'am," he replied. "I'm just doing what I can to help." Roughshod's smile fell when he added, "And to make up for my mistake."

Quartz felt her own pleased expression disappear when she heard that, and a deep sigh escaped from her nostrils. Of course there was still the matter of Harp's disappearance to take into account, and it was not something that she just overlook, even now. Still, she felt guilty for making him feel like this when there were other matters to be taken care of. 

Quartz glanced over at all of the ponies on the wall and in the air, each one keeping a vigilant eye out for anything out of the ordinary. The sounds of the forest being torn apart had long since fallen into silence, which was a relief to everypony, but nopony seemed willing to take the chance of letting their guard down, even for a second.

Turning back to Roughshod, Quartz sighed deeply and said, "Roughshod. . . you and I both know that what happened out there is something that can never be atoned for. If what you have said is true and there is a monster even worse than the bug bear, then I can only hope that he makes it through the night." Roughshods eyes went down to the cobblestone street beneath his hooves, and his ears laid flat against his head. 

"But in addition I know it was not entirely your fault Roughshod," Quartz added. In response the stallions eyebrows rose in mild surprise at her words. "And I think that I might be willing to shorten the duration of your punishment so that you and the others can be back on the wall by the end of the week." 

At this Roughshod hung slightly open in shock at her statement, and the grin from earlier returned to his face as he said, "Thank you ma'am. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Quartz simply nodded in acknowledgment of his gratitude and continued to survey the ponies as they milled about. A moment of silence passed between them, after which Roughshod cleared his throat to speak. Quartz felt her ear twitch at the sound and she looked at him again.

"Yes Roughshod?" she said expectantly as she waited for him to say what was on his mind. 

Clearing his throat again he began to say, "Ma'am? Did Star Mix tell you about my other request from before?"

Quartz had to review her memory for a moment to recall what he was talking about. "Do you mean about the carriage I have?" she ventured, to which Roughshod nodded.

"I was actually wondering if you would be willing to part with it for a little while." he said hesitantly, as though he was afraid that the mare would hit him over the head for even asking such a thing. 

"Whatever for?" Quartz asked, genuinely confused by the request. To her knowledge Roughshod was not the type of pony to be interested in fancy carriages, especially those with flying spells cast onto them. She also knew that usually when there was something he wanted, he worked his tail off to get it rather than ask somepony outright for it. So to hear the stallion asking for her to lend the carriage to him threw her for a loop.

"Well, as you probably already know, I care for Rose very much," Roughshod began to explain, apparently finding difficulty in speaking all of a sudden. Quartz only nodded as he continued. "I would do anything to keep her safe, no matter what. So. . . the reason why I am asking is because I want to send her some place where she will be safe until the situation is resolved."

Quartz almost did a double take when Roughshod finished explaining. It was not the fact that he wanted to send Rose Flare away from Hollow Shades that confused her, but that he was willing to let her out of his sight at all. Quartz had known the stallion for years, so the fact that he was even considering such a thing was a shock to her. 

"What did Rose have to say about it?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Just then Quartz noticed Roughshod flinch slightly when she asked the question. Narrowing her eyes she questioned, "You didn't tell her yet did you."

"No, I did," Roughshod replied quickly. "She uh. . . just didn't take it very well."

"Ohhh," Quartz said in understanding, knowing all too well how stubborn her foalhood friend could be at times, and her pregnancy had probably done little to help. She imagined that Rose Flare must have been on the verge of a complete mental panic when Roughshod told her his plan. She probably thought that she was never going to see him again. 

"And. . . ? What else happened?" Quartz asked, aware that she was treading on difficult ground. Just as Roughshod was about to answer however he was interrupted by shouting coming from the ponies on the wall. Alarmed, the two ponies forgot their conversation for the time being and began rushing to see what was going on, thoughts of the creature attacking their town filling their minds. When they arrived Quartz raised her voice to be heard over the shouting.

"What's going on?" she demanded. A earth pony mare looked leaned over the railing to reply.

"There's a pony and a griffon coming out of the woods! They want us to let them in!"

Quartz's eyes widened slightly when the mare mentioned there was a griffon, and she already suspected she knew his identity. Before she could dwell on it Roughshod shouted, "Well, don't just stand there! Let them in!"

Before long the gates were opened just enough to allow the two entry, and when everypony saw who one of them was they all felt a sense of relief.

"Harp!" Roughshod exclaimed, feeling a burden that had been weighing down his shoulders immediately disappear as he rushed to the young stallion. Both he and Quartz could tell that he had been through some serious action in the last few hours since they had lost him. He was virtually covered in dirt, mud, pine needles and everything else the woods had to offer, and looked like he would have appreciated a good long bath. 

"Hey Roughshod!" Harp called back, a relieved visible grin on his blue muzzle even from a distance. "Boy am I glad to see you. You are not going to believe what happened out there!"


> Dispute
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The nocturnal sounds of the forest rang out as various creatures of the night milled about, looking for food in the gloom. A family of possums scurried over a stream, using a fallen tree as a bridge to cross the stream of running water. Above in the trees, multiple owls hooted and called out to each other as their sharp eyes scanned the ground for any signs of mice. Then suddenly, the woods fell utterly silent as though a sound dampening spell had been cast around the area. The family of possums hurried to the safety of their den and the owls stopped their hooting. Every creature of the forest fell into a tense silence as they detected the presence of something coming their way.

Before long, the thing that had made the become as quiet as death arrived, panting and breathing heavily while it scratched at its neck with the blunt edges of its talons. 

Angela was having a very hard time concentrating at the moment, as needles of pain shot through her head and neck like railroad spikes. It was mind numbing in all but the most literal sense of the term, and all that the wraith could do to alleviate it in any way was to continue clawing and scraping at the areas in the hope that she would eventually neutralize whatever was causing her such discomfort. With how much Angela was going through she could not even form a coherent thought anymore, and all that she was left with was her emotions and impressions. Those mostly consisted of anxiety, fear, anger. . . and disappointment. 

As Angela continued to scratch, feeling her rough skin start to become raw as a result, Angela's muddled thoughts turned back to that pony. That very same pony that Angela had first seen since she had woken up in this place. The very same pony that had misunderstood Angela's intentions and fought against her. The very same pony that Angela had almost killed in cold blooded anger and hatred. 

Even in the state she was in, Angela could still even now picture very clearly the fear on the pony's face as Angela chased after her. The image of the mare pinned under her claws was vivid in her mind, as was the intention behind it. When Angela realized what she was doing just in the nick of time, she was both horrified and angry at the same time. She was angry with the pony of course for pushing her so far, but mostly she was angry at herself for letting her instincts get the better of her. 

Every moment was now horrifyingly clear in her memories of when she almost killed the pony. 

The terrible satisfaction of her prey being pinned under her claws. 

The feeling of her blade like arms rising upward in preparation to end her life.

And the sound of the pony's terrified crying as she clenched her eyes shut and whimpered just loud enough for Angela to hear, "No. . . please no. . ."

When Angela heard the pony's soft words, something happened inside of her that immediately made her realize just what she was about to do. They reminded her very much of another incident that happened not very long ago, when Angela first awoke and was confronted by the bug bear. The only difference then was that Angela was able to defend herself from the monster. But for the pony, there was nothing to defend her against the monster that Angela had allowed herself to become.

The former human was ashamed. So ashamed that she had let herself fall into her base desires and urges. So ashamed that she had all but proven the pony right in the claim that she was nothing but a monster. All because she couldn't take a little pain.

Okay so was not just a little pain. When it feels like hot needles are being driven into the side of your head and neck without pause, then perhaps it is a little understandable that she reacted the way she did. Still, in Angela's mind it did little to justify almost killing over it. And after she was already so distraught from the resurfacing memories of her previous life, Angela only felt all the more ashamed of her behavior.

That just left the question of what she was going to do now. She briefly considered staying here, and hope that she had at least scared the ponies enough to finally leave her alone for their own safety, but decided against that. She was simply too much of a risk if there was a town nearby. She could still leave, but now since she had let the pony go it was almost assured that she would be pursued. 

Angela simply did not know what to do, and the pain was certainly doing nothing to help matters, as she continued to scratch at the offending area. When that did not seem to work she resorted to rubbing against the trunk of a tree. This did little more than peel off the outer layer of bark, creating a wound in the tree that bled sap, and cause Angela's skin to become even more agitated. Eventually the pushing and shoving caused the tree to topple over, leaving Angela with nothing left but the hope that sleep would take her muddled thoughts away from it and allow her thoughts to clear enough to where sh could decide on what to do.

Deciding that this option was preferable to causing herself even more harm, Angela curled up around herself like snake would, and tried to focus on something, anything other than her discomfort. But every time she attempted to dull her senses to fall asleep the pain would flare up again, keeping her from her rest.

Angela hissed and snarled, this time out of anger and frustration that she could not even get a nights rest anymore. Eventually she became so frustrated to the point she lashed out at the nearest object with her blade like talons. The sound of something splintering and snapping quickly followed, and Angela did not even care that she had felled a fully grown pine twice as tall as she was in her anger.

Angela knew she needed to distract herself somehow, and it was not going to come from sleep, but nor did she want to resort to taking out her frustrations on the local flora. 

Heaving her sinewy form back into the air, Angela hoped that wandering  little through the forest would help take her mind off of her frustration and discomfort, and maybe even allow whatever was bothering her to go away, or at the very least fade enough for her to get a good night of sleep. 

For what felt like hours Angela wandered around without direction, only paying enough attention to avoid crashing into anything. After a little while she happened to notice that the sun was finally rising in the distance. The light allowed Angela to see with a bit more clarity where she was. 

She had wandered into a bog or swamp of some kind, with a vaporous cloud of white mist hanging just above the surface of the shallow pools, some of them a hundred feet across. Before Angela could contemplate her location further she felt another spike of pain assault her senses, causing her to emit a low keen as she clutched her head with her arms as she waited for it to pass. 

Her sounds of distress carried out across the bog, and Angela did not notice that something had reacted to them. 

A hundred yards away the water began to ripple as something unseen moved underneath its surface, closer and closer to Angela's location. When the discomfort finally ebbed away into a dull and throbbing ache, Angela breathed heavily in raspy breaths. It was then that she at last noticed what was going on. She peered at the ripples in the water warily as they continued to draw ever closer. Unsure what else to do Angela let out a violent hiss that rang out in the bog, an otherworldly sound that shook the very air. 

The ripples ceased as whatever was hiding under the water stopped, apparently reconsidering its next action. For a long time nothing happened, and Angela contemplated just leaving when something very big, perhaps even larger than her, started to rise up out of the murk. It had a huge hulking body with greenish brown scales. Two trunk like legs sprouted from the sides, and four heads reminiscent of vipers rose up above her, supported by long serpentine necks that were connected at their base. Each head eyed her suspiciously, obviously having never seen anything like her before.

With an emotion somewhat similar to the feeling of oh come on, Angela hissed as she cautiously backed away from the hydra. In response the hydra's heads snarled at her in a sound not too dissimilar from her own as it hauled its bulky form out of the muddy water. 

Deciding that she was not going to deal with this Angela turned to leave, keeping the hydra in her sight as she moved away. The moment she was far enough away where she felt it was okay to do so Angela turned away from it fully. No sooner had she done this however than did she feel one of the heads bite down on one of her tails. Angela snarled in surprise and anger as its fangs sank into her. Reacted on impulse Angela used her claws as a bludgeon as she gave the creature a swift hit on the head that bit her. 

The action had the desired effect, and the head promptly released her tail before it could be struck again. Hissing in agitation the head shook itself while the other three looked at her with something resembling anger. The creature was no doubt unhappy with her fighting back, but Angela could not have cared less. She already had enough problems on her plate, she did not need this thing causing more of them. 

She tried to leave again, only to feel another head bite on her tails. This one however let go before she could "persuade" it to leave her alone. Angered, Angela whirled around and snarled ferociously at her adversary, understanding now that the hydra ad, in the confines of its skulls, mistaken her for prey, and had no intention of just letting her leave. 

Angela could have just dashed away and be done with the whole situation, but something kept her rooted to the spot. Something inside her was somehow making even the thought of retreating nigh unthinkable. 

For a few brief moments the two mighty creatures stood off against each other, the silence broken by the occasional quiet hiss. The hydra's four heads were reared back, like snakes preparing to strike. Angela crouched down with her hands on the ground and her claws raised, while the spines on her back stood straight up as they bristled in anticipation.

Then, like a storm breaking from behind the clouds, Angela lunged, her multi-ton body flying threw the air as she shrieked. Her claws were extended fully as she prepared to tear into her adversary. 

The heads of the hydra reacted just as quickly, and they wrapped their jaws around Angela's limbs and tails just as the wraith plowed into the monstrosity, hacking and slashing at the beast with almost wild abandon. The hydra was having an extremely difficult time trying to keep Angela still with how much she was thrashing around, and just when it seemed it had her the wraith dashed away to a safe distance. 

Angela circled around the hydra, hoping to find a spot where she could do more damage to it. Her previous attack had bloodied it severely, but it was not going to be enough to put it out of action. Its thick scales limited the effect her claws had on it. She needed to find some sort of weak point, but its heads were doing a good job of keeping track of her every movement, and she could find no opening. The beast moved with a surprising amount of speed in the water as it kept itself facing Angela, not once letting her leave its sight.

Then suddenly the hydra lunged at her with two of its heads, but Angela quickly avoided the attack with a dash to the side. She then proceeded to ponce on the hydra's back, where she began to impale it repeatedly with her talons. The hydra in response started thrashing around violently in a desperate bid to get her off, and its heads snapped at her as they attempted to get their jaws around her limbs. 

One of the got lucky and sunk its fangs into the upper portion of her right mantis like arm. With no  small amount of effort it pulled Angela off, taking a few chunks of flesh in the process. The head did not let go however, and the remaining three quickly latched on to her on various parts of her limbs and tails. With her remaining free hand Angela swiped at the nearest head. The hydra ignored the injuries it was receiving and swung her into a nearby tree, dazing her momentarily.

Angela was not going to stand for this. Reaching as far as she could, she succeeded in wrapping her mandible like jaws around one of the creatures necks. Her teeth easily pierced the creatures scales and slipped into its flesh, filling her mouth with hot blood that tasted of copper. The smell and taste of it ignited her senses, prompting her to squeeze harder and harder. The head thrashed violently, even going so far as to release her as it tried to free itself. Angela would not let it go however, and with a twist of her head she was met with the sound of the neck snapping.

The pain of the injury carried over to the remaining three heads of the hydra, and they all screeched and roared as the fourth head hung limp in the water, and they released her. They recovered quickly however, and they lunged at her again as the main body barreled towards her. Angela did not meet it full on this time. She was strong, but the hydra must have outweighed her by at least a few metric tons, and she was not going to allow it to crush her under its girth. She looped around, almost too quick for its head to keep track of, and attacked it from the side.

It was just then however, that Angela felt another stab of pain shoot through her head, and she faltered in her assault as she clutched herself in agony. The hydra noticed its opponents hesitation, and wasted no time as each one of its heads bit onto various points of her spine, and the pain in her head was forgotten as their jaws squeezed. Reacting quickly Angela hooked her blade arm over the neck of the one attached to the base of her skull and pry it off. It was in vain however, as the head remained firmly latched on. 

The situation was only made worse when the hydra used all of its strength to push her under the water, trying to drown her. Angela thrashed around more violently then ever, but no matter what the hydra refused to let go. She had intruded on its territory and severely injured it as well. She was a threat that needed to be dealt with. 

The thrashing continued for several moments until, suddenly and inexplicably, Angela stopped. This confused the hydra somewhat, but it still kept its jaws around the wraith. It was forced to let go however when a massive shock wave ripped through the water, creating a cloud of mist as it was practically vaporized. The hydra felt its jaws be forced to open to lengths they were not meant to from the implosion. Massive pain shot through its broken jaw bones as it glanced all around for any sign of its adversary. 

No territorial dispute was worth this much trouble, and the hydra suddenly began to feel something it had not felt since it was but a one headed hatchling. For the first time in a hundred years the hydra was afraid as its three remaining heads, each one dazed and confused by the implosion, looked for any sign of the other creature. The mist however obstructed its vision, but every few seconds it caught fleeting glimpses of the wraiths form as it prowled around the edge of its vision before disappearing again. The hydra backed away, knowing that it lost this fight, hoping it could swim to safety and heal from its injuries. 

It was not to be however, as it witnessed the nightmarish creature come flying out of the mist.  And something was different about it it too. Its skin seemed to shimmer and glow with fiery white light, and it moved with an astonishing amount of speed that no other creature could match, much less the hydra. Its claws moved at blinding speed, so fast the movements could not be tracked as they struck the hydra again and again and again. 

The hydra simply could not hold up against the onslaught as its heads were repeatedly struck, and its body practically gushed blood as it was pierced. It knew it had no chance of victory now as injured as it was. If it could just get away it might be able to eventually recover, but not without sustaining lasting harm.

With one more powerful swing of her claws, Angela bludgeoned the hydra's left most head, sending the beast crashing into the murk with a splash of red stained water. The hydra wheezed and moaned from its injuries as it made a feeble attempt to right itself. Its attempts were halted when the wraith planted itself over it, holding it down with her claws. 

Angela snarled at her beaten foe, feeling an immense amount of satisfaction at being victorious. But at the same, she regretted that she had made the hydra suffer as much as much as it did. Was it really necessary to go so far just to get it to leave her alone? After all, it was only acting on its instincts. She was the one had intruded on its territory. It may have struck the first blow, but did Angela have to reciprocate with blows of her own, when she could have just as easily left? She could have left the hydra in the dust if she wanted. It had even started retreating away from her, but instead of letting get away, Angela had once again allowed her instincts to dictate her actions

It was just like the situation with the pony from earlier. 

Angela's muddled thoughts were interrupted when the hydra moved ever so slightly under her talons, each head gasping for breath. They wheezed and moaned as its life slipped away from it in great pools of red. 

As she looked at it holding on desperately to the last bits of consciousness, Angela felt her instincts calling her finish it off, to tear off its heads and feed on its remains. 

Angela did no such thing.

Gently picking herself up off of the shuddering body of the hydra, Angela silently floated over to its three remaining heads. They watched her with hazy yellow eyes, and they widened in fear as she approached and their breathing became more rapid. Its widened even more when, instead of piercing its flesh as it probably expected, Angela instead gently began to stroke them. The hydra continued to eye her warily, but Angela felt at least some satisfaction to see that it had calmed down enough. 

The pain in her head was inconsequential now. All that mattered to her at the moment was to comfort the hydra in its last minutes of life. 

Finally, after one last labored breath, the hydra's eyes closed forever, and the rising sun bore witness to Angela's joyless victory.

> Scribbles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"So let me see if I've got this straight," Quartz said as she rested her hooves against each other on her polished desk, looking at the ponies and griffon gathered before her with concealed worry in her eyes and an air of disbelief in her voice. "Your telling me that this "monster" is some sort of deformed dragon? You were attacked, and then you were saved by some sort of ninja mare? Because that's what it sounds like your trying say." 

To be completely honest Quartz was not entirely sure if either Harp or Gerald were entirely in their right minds when they described the creature that had attacked them. They were both worn out and exhausted when they had arrived at Hollow Shades gates, and the griffon had even been injured with a wing that looked bent at an awkward angle. The injury was one that Quartz could sympathize with, as she had once broken her wings when she was a little older than the average filly. She remembered how painful it had been, and wondered if Gerald was just putting on a show until it cold be addressed. She had tried to convince him to go see a doctor, but he had insisted that he and Harp speak with her first.

When he had finished his tale, with Harp offering the occasional comment, Quartz felt inclined to believe that perhaps they had imagined some of their ordeal. That was not to say however that she thought that they were outright making their story up; it was obvious that something had happened to them out there. She was simply under the impression that perhaps given the danger they were in, their subconscious minds had overblown the monster they had seen to impossible proportions. To hear them talk about how fearsome the creature supposedly was Quartz would have thought that they had been attacked by Tirek himself. She honestly did not know what part of their story to believe. Especially the part where this "Miss Drops" as Gerald called came in a saved them. 

To her it almost sounded more like the plot line for a campy horror movie.

"That is correct ma'am," Gerald replied, his thick accent causing Quartz's ears to lay back against her head. "It is a dangerous beast, a monster unlike any other. The only reason we are here now is because of Miss Drops."

"And where is this Miss Drops now?" Quartz questioned. "No one on the wall saw another pony with you. It was just you two."

At this, both Gerald's and Harp's faces fell slightly, and Quartz noticed that there was a look in their eyes that the mare knew meant something bad. Harp turned away, seemingly unable to look her in the eye. The griffon next to him was the only one able to speak.

"Miss Drops. . . she. . ." he said, a slight stutter in his voice. Taking a steadying breath he finally said, "The beast was too strong for mere traps to take down. Miss Drops saw that the only way to let us live was to draw it away on her own."

Quartz was not quite sure what to say to that. If she was being honest with herself she actually doubted the existence of Miss Drops. She knew of nopony that was able to do the things Gerald claimed, but the way Gerald spoke of her, like he had known this mysterious pony for most of his life, left her wondering about it. Either way, she was not about to start saying that Gerald may have been stretching the truth. Nor was she about to start doubting the fact that something had attacked them, or at least was provoked into attacking. 

"Alright," Quartz said as she brought out a piece of paper and a quill, setting both items on her desk. "Can you describe this creature to me again? In detail?"

"What for? We already told you what it looks like," Harp stated.

"Yes, but only a general description," Quartz replied, shooting the young stallion a reprimanding glare. "Since it seems that hiring hunters is not going to help any of us against this thing-" Gerald huffed slightly, but Quartz decided to ignore his injured pride and continued explaining. "As I was saying, I need something to send to Canterlot to see if there's anything in their archives that might match its description. From there we can figure out what it is and how to deal with it."

"A good plan!" Gerald exclaimed before he surprised Quartz by taking the the quill and parchment from her, and began scribbling something down on it. It looked like he was drawing. Very poorly she might add. When Quartz had asked them to describe the creature to her, she had actually meant for them to give her a list of features and traits, but she supposed this would work too. Leaning over, she tried to see what Gerald had drawn so far, only for the griffin to give her an odd look and block her view with a clawed foreleg. Quartz rolled her eyes and resigned herself to waiting. It would seem that she was in the presence of an artist after all, one who did not want show his work until it was finished. 

After a number of minutes had passed, Gerald was eventually done. Setting the quill down he proceeded to push the drawing towards her. Quartz thanked him, not sure why she was doing so, before looking down at the picture on the parchment. However when she saw it, he was not sure if the picture was upside down or if she had somehow missed the seizure that Gerald must have had as he was drawing. She tilted her head to see if it would help, but that only made the image look that much more convoluted. To her it almost looked like some sort of squid contortionist with a bad case of the trots. 

"Um, are you sure this is what you saw?" she asked as she presented the picture to him. Gerald nodded with a satisfied grin. Harp on the other hoof surprised them all by bursting into laughter the second he saw it, earning a glare from Gerald.

"Uh, I'm sorry you old bird," he said between breaths, "but I don't remember it looking quite like that."

"What do you mean?" Gerald questioned incredulously. "It is good picture!" 

Harp shook his head however as he stepped over. "May I have another piece of paper?" he asked the mayor. Quartz shrugged, not wanting to start an argument over paper as she hoofed him another parchment. Harp proceeded to take the tip of the quill in his teeth as he set to work. Almost immediately Quartz was able to tell that he was much better at it than Gerald, despite the griffin having opposable digits to aid him. Where Gerald's movements were jerky and sharp, Harp's were much smoother in comparison. After a short wait he was done, and he slid the parchment back to Quartz, which had been turned over to hide the image. She was not quite sure, but she could have sworn she saw a blush in his blue coat.

Putting it out of her mind for the moment Quartz proceeded to turn the parchment over and inspect the drawing. When she saw the creature that he had recreated, she honestly was not sure whether to praise Harp for his skill, or pale at the very sight of the thing she was looking at. Never in all her life had she ever seen, or even heard of something even remotely resembling the the creature on the parchment. It was completely alien to her, and was somehow both terrifying and, oddly enough, rather beautiful to look at. The fact that it had a rather feminine build, aside from the extra arms and sleek eyeless head, made Quartz wonder if Harp had taken some artistic license with the drawing. Whatever the case, looking at the picture almost made her want to see the creature herself.

Almost. It did not take very much imagination for Quartz to guess that it was what killed the bug bear, but still she remembered that it had also attacked ponies. And even if had been provoked into the act, the very existence of a creature willing to do so was enough for Quartz to want to find a way to deal with it. 

Looking up at the pony and griffon she said, "Alright then. I'll write up a letter and it along with this to Canterlot. I've lost a lot of faith in that place in the last couple of weeks, but hopefully somepony there will know what to do."

Quartz was just about to dismiss the two and pull out another parchment when Gerald held up a talon and said, "If I may ma'am, I believe that I have solution." After his statement the griffon reached into one of the many pockets before procuring a dark green bottle with some sort of liquid inside before placing it on her desk with a loud thunk. A satisfied smile crossed his beak, while Quartz and Harp only looked at the object incredulously.

"And. . . what exactly is this?" Quartz asked as she inspected the bottle, a quizzical look in her eye. "How does this help us?"

Rolling his eyes, Gerald proceeded to explain. "This is a very rare, and very expensive way to send letters. It belonged to Miss Drops, until she gave to us so that we could send a message for assistance straight to the Princesses."

"Okay," Quartz replied, nodding her head. "What is it?"

Gerald sighed. "It is bottle of dragon fire. Very hard to come by, but very useful to have. I can only guess as to how Miss Drops got her hooves on it, but right now it does not matter. With this we can send letter to Princess, and she will send reinforcements. And then, we can finally be done with this beast, and I can back home to Griffinstone." Sighing again, Gerald adopted a tired look in his eyes that Quartz felt she could relate to on some personal level. "I'm done with this monster business," he said. "Getting too old."

"Well then," Quartz replied as she brought the bottle over to herself and retrieving another parchment. "Let's get this over with. The sooner we get this message sent, the sooner we can all get back to our lives." 

Within a few minutes Quartz had the entire letter detailing the situation they were written up. She briefly went over it to spot any errors she might have made before she slid it over to Gerald, who proceeded to uncork the bottle. The minute the cork was off an acrid smell filled the office that reminded Quartz somewhat of burnt hair, causing her to gag slightly in response. Holding up the letter and Harps drawing in one claw, Gerald careful tilted the bottle over them, apparently trying to be very careful not to spill. Soon enough a small drop came out and splattered on the pages, and before long both began to burn up in a green flame. Gerald held onto the pages until the fire had almost reached his talons, at which point he quickly let go of them just as they were consumed. The papers were evaporated in a small of sparkling smoke, which twisted in the air for a moment before disappearing entirely from sight.

"So," Quartz said suddenly. "You say that will go directly to the Princesses? As in, it will appear right in front of one of them, not just sit on a pile to be addressed later?"

Gerald nodded and replied, "Messages sent by dragon fire are always top priority for the Princesses. Help will come, probably in a day or so."

Quartz sighed, unsure if it was from relief or worry. She sagged into her seat as she felt the events of the past few days begin to take their effect on her, and all she wanted to do at that moment was have a drink and go to sleep. However there were still things that needed to be done in the meantime. She looked at Gerald, and at the wing hanging at his side. She wondered how he was able to shrug off the pain that he was undoubtedly feeling.

"You should probably go and have that looked at," she stated. 

Gerald glanced at his injured appendage, giving it a gentle prod before wincing from the contact. "Right you are," he said as he turned around exited the room, leaving the two ponies alone. Appearing uncertain as to what he was supposed to do, Harp also began to make his departure, until the sound of Quartz clearing her throat stopped him.

"Harp," she said, an odd tone in her voice that was hard for the young stallion to miss, although he could not discern the meaning behind it. 

"Yes ma'am?" he replied, wondering what she wanted to say to him.

"I just wanted to ask you something." For a moment Quartz was silent as she mulled over her thoughts. Then, clearing her throat a second time she asked, "You've seen this creature up close, right? Saw what it was capable of?" Harp nodded. " But so far I have yet to hear what you think of it. You've told me what it looks like, and I have heard quite a bit from Gerald, but I want to know what you think of it?" 

For a moment Harp was silent as he considered how best to answer Quartz's question. "To be honest ma'am," he finally replied, "I don't know what to make of it. I mean, I get that this thing is dangerous and all. In fact I think a lot of ponies would go so far as to say it's even worse than the bug bear." 

Quartz felt herself stiffen when he said that. That was a lot coming from him, as he was one of the few ponies to have seen first hoof what the bug bear had done. This only made his next statement that much more surprising. 

"But if I'm telling the truth ma'am, I'm not entirely sure that's the case. I mean, as far as we know it had not done anything to harm ponies until we provoked it. After all, if something that strong has been living just a few miles away, wouldn't you think it would have already done something? In fact, if it's what killed the bug bear then it's actually helped us." Harp fell silent as gaze his gaze drifted to the wood flooring beneath his hooves. "And earlier, when I was telling you about how it started chasing me, I forgot to mention that it actually pushed me out of the way of a trap our griffon friend set up for it. Now, I don't know if it was intentional or not, but if hadn't done that, then I don't think I would even be here to tell you about it."

Quartz remained silent as she took in Harp's words, going over them in the confines of her skull. 

"That's my two bits anyway," Harp said in finality as he turned to exit her office, and this time Quartz did stop him. She watched as he left her sight, and the sound of her front opening and closing echoed throughout her household. And Quartz just sat there at her desk, wondering just what she was going to do when whatever help the Princesses sent finally arrived. 

Her thoughts were interrupted when a small spout of emerald flame erupted from the still open bottle that Gerald had left on her desk, startling her slightly. She calmed down when she saw the flames morph into a rolled up scroll, bound a seal indicating it was indeed from the Princess herself. Using her hoof to break the seal, Quartz careful rolled the scroll open and began to read its contents. 

Addressed to: Rose Quartz, Mayor of Hollow Shades

Sender: Princess Celestia of Equestria

Dear Mayor, your message has been received, and I have arranged for a division of Royal Guards to be dispatched to the town of Hollow Shades as soon as possible. They should arrive in no less than one day. Until then, I advise that you and the ponies living there stay in their homes until the situation has been resolved. 

I wish you the best of the luck.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia of Equestria

P.S.: Please thank the pony responsible for the drawing. Luna finds it quite lovely.

	 

> March
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The ground was wet and damp from the brief rainstorm the previous night. The storm itself had been localized over Hollow Shades and some of the surrounding area, after a number of the clouds brought in by the weather pegasi melded together, creating a light downpour that soaked everypony. Almost none of them bothered to go inside however to escape the deluge, choosing instead to brave the elements and wait for the errant storm to be cleared up. As a result everypony still outside felt chilled to the bone as the moisture sapped the heat away from them, and all they had to ward to ward off the cold was their fur. Even then however they remained vigilant, keeping their gazes fixed on the tree line just a few hundred yards away. 

All of this Rose Flare saw from within the perceived safety of the quaint little home which the magenta coated unicorn shared with her husband. She also spied through the window of their bedroom the suns rays reflecting on the moisture still hanging in the air, creating a rather brilliant rainbow over the town. It was quite the contrast thought; the general mood of the town with marvelous display of color hanging just above their heads. It was almost funny in a way.

Rose sighed as she closed the curtains, cutting off her view of the world outside, which only seemed to be growing more and more dismal each day ever the bug bear had first appeared and taken a life. The beast was dead now, and Rose knew better than to doubt the veracity of her husbands claim. But even with this piece of news, which should have been a cause for celebration, everypony still had fear in their hearts, for the bug bear had been replaced by something that was far worse, at least according to that old griffon she had seen lingering by the cafe from her window, speaking loud enough to wake the dead. Rose had noticed that his right wing had been wrapped in a set of bandages keeping it in place. She forgot how long she had listened to the griffon regale whatever pony that happened to pass by with his tale, but she knew that she had begun to tune him out when he started going on about the creature was like a large flying serpent with the power to make itself grow to ten times its size. The whole thing just sounded so far fetched to her. 

That was not to say that she was not concerned about the threat that this new creature, whatever it may be, presented. In fact she was downright terrified of the thought of some unknown horror coming into town and killing them all. And the thought of Roughshod putting himself between it and her in a noble effort to protect his wife and unborn foal. . . 

That thought alone scared her more than anything. 

Rose knew that Roughshod would not hesitate to do absolutely everything in his power to defend her. It was his devotion that had initially attracted her to him in the first place. But at the same time it was also one of his least appealing qualities at times. Sometimes Rose found herself wishing that Roughshod would not take so much responsibility on himself. She had supported his decision to patrol the wall at night because back then there had been nothing more serious than a small pack of lupis minors and the occasional mountain lion to worry about. But the moment she heard that the bug bear was lurking in the woods, she had attempted to convince him to give up the position to somepony else. And now there was something even worse than that.

She did not think that she would be so worried for him if he had only let her stay with him through this ordeal. But of course he had to make a good argument to her, saying that it would be far safer not only for her but also their child if they left, at least for the time being. Their conversation had been somewhat testy, which she blamed on how far along she was into her pregnancy, but eventually she had relented, and she could see that the decision was just as hard for him as it was for her. 

And now here she was, silently packing up various items into a bag to take on her trip to Canterlot, and from there to Ponyville. All the while she felt an uncomfortable weight pressing down on her heart, and she knew it was the fear that if she left, she might never hear from Roughshod again. 

But as he had already said, there was a vastly more important reason for her to leave. A reason that made itself known with a very light brush against her stomach.

Rose nearly jumped from the movement. She had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that it had startled her a little, but a soft smile soon found its way to her muzzle again as she glanced at her distended belly.

"It won't be long now," she said quietly, gently caressing her stomach with the tip of her snout. 

That was another reason she was hesitant to leave. Considering how far along she was, there was the possibility that the foal would be born without him. But the doctor had already told them the foal was not due for at least a few more weeks, so it was a necessary risk to take. And it was unlikely that t would take that long for the royal guards to deal with when they arrived. When Quartz had announced to the town that reinforcements were on their way from Canterlot, Rose had felt an odd mix of relief and worry. Relief that the creature would soon no longer be a problem, and worry that it had warranted such an aggressive response. It was hard to believe that any animal could.

Rose let out another sigh at the directions things had been going as of late, mourning for the days when Hollow Shades was not plagued by events such as these. But Rose was never one to mope over the present as she refocused on simply packing up what she needed to bring with her. 

Some warm wear was necessary, as Canterlot was often a cold place to be, what with it being built on the side of a mountain. Along with that she packed some extra bits, a few toiletries, and a small wooden frame with a photograph of her and Roughshod. To her that was essential. The sound of somepony knocking on the bedroom door interrupted her thoughts, which was followed by the voice of her husband.

"Are you alright in there?" Roughshod asked as he opened the and peeked inside. "You need any help with packing?" 

Rose shook her head as she closed the suitcase, the latch clicking into place and securing the contents. "No," she replied. "All taken care of." Rose tried to put on a smiling face for Roughshod, hoping that she was covering up the worried look that seemed to want to break through. But right away she could tell that Roughshod could see right through her false expression as he slowly trotted up to her, his grey hooves clicking on the hardwood floor. For a moment he simply looked her with a blank face. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, as though he were about to speak.

"Rose, I. . ." he manged to say before faltering. Apparently deciding to give up words altogether he gently pulled Rose Flare into a hug, one which she returned as she felt a thin stream of tears run down her cheeks. In that one simple embrace, Rose felt all of the love and care he had for her, setting her heart and mind and ease.

Eventually they parted, and Rose wiped the moisture from her eyes with a fetlock. "Well," she said. "We'd better get going."

Roughshod nodded before he gripped the handle of the suitcase in his mouth and followed her out of the house, making sure to keep a careful eye on her the entire time. The two ponies exited the house, and as Rose locked the door behind them she once again felt a sense of dread that she might never see this place again. Just then she felt the weight of a hoof press down on her shoulder, and she turned her head to see Roughshod giving her a reassuring smile. Rose smiled back as he led her down the street to Quartz's house.

As they trotted along at a gentle pace, a small sound reached Rose's ears, causing them to flick in response. It was an oddly familiar sound mixed with the far off clanging of metal. Roughshod and some of the other ponies on the street with them noticed it as well, and they glanced upward to where the disturbance was coming from, somewhere towards the Canterhon Mountains. At the edge of their sight they saw a gathering of small dark shapes heading steadily towards the town. And almost immediately Rose saw that they were in fact royal guards from Canterlot.

At first all they saw were pegasi, dressed in their distinctive golden armor, but as they drew closer she also saw that a good number of them were pulling floating carriages behind them, most of them laden with more ponies in golden armor. The rest bore weapons and other things that looked more suited for a battlefield rather than a hunting expedition. In addition there were two armored airships trailing behind, most likely to carry supplies.

It would seem that those reinforcements Quartz had spoken about had arrived a little earlier than expected. Rose would have stayed where she was to watch them land, but she could tell by the increasingly worried expression from Roughshod that he would rather get moving. She was about to resume her journey, but then she caught sight of something else amid the standard guards. 

Near the center of the gathering, a smaller contingent of ponies clad in dark indigo armor flew alongside their golden armored brethren, and as she looked more closely at them Rose noticed that opposed to feathers their wings more closely resembled those of a bat or dragon. Among their number two of the strange ponies pulled a decorated chariot. But it was what, or rather who was riding on the chariot that made Rose gasp quietly, although she was not sure if it was from wonder or worry.

"Well that's something you don't see every day," Roughshod commented beside her. Rose could only nod in agreement.





As the majority of the royal guard landed just outside the high walls of the town, the two thestrals pulling the enchanted chariot behind them circled around once to find a spot to land in the town. Before long they began to descend in a downward spiral before eventually coming to a stop before a large water fountain located in a circular plaza almost directly in the center of the town. When her gothic styled chariot came a stop, Princess Luna lightly stepped off of her transport, her silver clad hooves clicking on the cobblestone street and her glowing ethereal mane and tail trailing behind her. All around her, no less than a dozen ponies from her Lunar Guard landed beside her, forming a rough circle around their Princess.

Luna briefly surveyed her surroundings, noticing that many ponies had come out of their homes to see the spectacle. She even saw a magenta coated mare that seemed to be close to having a foal very soon and who she assumed to be her husband looking on with a mixture of awe and concern. Luna ruffled her wings a little, feeling that she could not blame them for their reaction,as she had arrived under some rather. . . unusual circumstances. An issue that Luna knew had to be dealt with, and one that she herself had a vested, personal interest in.

As the crowd of ponies continued to swell in number, the Lunar Princess that she should address them, as it seemed more than a few were starting to become a little anxious in her presence. She refrained from using the Royal Canterlot Voice however. The ponies were likely shaken up enough as it was already, she did not need to unsettle even more.

"Ponies of Hollow Shades," she said loudly. "We have received your plea for assistance, and you need not fear any longer. We have come to help you in your time of need." 

Her short speech seemed to have the desired affect, as many of the ponies began cheering and stamping their hooves on the ground in appreciation. A few even looked like they wanted to try and approach her, but they were held back by her guards. Smiling at the praise, Luna addressed them again.

"Now, where is the pony who sent the message?" she asked, wanting to get underway as soon as possible. "Where is the mare known as Rose Quartz, the mayor of this fine place?"

Luna was glad to see that she did not have to wait long for an answer, as a middle aged pegasus mare flew above the heads of the other ponies and raised a hoof while saying, "That would be me your highness."

Satisfied, Luna beckoned for the mare to come to her, and it seemed that she could not fly fast enough to reach the Princess. Immediately upon landing Rose bowed deeply before  Luna, sounding somewhat out of breath as she said, "Thank you very much for coming your highness. You grace us with your presence."

Luna felt compelled to roll her eyes at the statement, having already had more than enough of what her elder sister often referred to as "kissing up" from the nobles in Canterlot to last another thousand years. It was honestly quite tiresome at times, but Luna made sure to keep such thoughts to herself in front of the mayor. 

"Rise, mayor Quartz," Luna said, trying not to make it sound like a command. "There is no need for such pleasantries, especially given the situation you have called us to address."

Upon hearing this, Rose quickly stood up straight and dusted herself off. "My apologies your highness. It is just that I feel honored that you would come and help us personally in our time of need."

"And why would I not feel obligated to lend you assistance when it is needed?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow. "Should help only come after you have requested it?" 

Quartz began to blush profusely at Luna's question, and she quickly said, "I'm sorry! I meant no offense Princess! It's just that when Celestia responded she neglected to mention that you were going to be here as well. What I mean to say is that you just caught us a ll by surprise."

Luna nodded in understanding. "I see," she said thoughtfully. "Well then, it might actually interest you to know even my sister was not aware of my desire to come here." Luna saw the confused expression on Quartz's face. The mare opened her mouth to ask a question, but Luna cut her off with a raised hoof. "I do not think that right here is not the place to be having this discussion," she said while indicating the crowd of ponies around them. "Perhaps we can go somewhere where you can tell me all that there is to know about this creature that has lurking in the woods, and in return I will attempt to explain my meaning?"

In response Quartz quickly nodded in agreement. "Of course! Right this way," she said, leading the midnight blue alicorn through the throng, the thestral guards clearing the way for them. Before long the two ponies were sequestered in Quartz's office, with the mayor sitting behind her while Luna opted to stand despite Quartz's insistence. Two guards were stationed just outside the door in case they happened to be needed. 

In the privacy of her home Quartz proceeded to tell Luna about everything hat happened to Hollow Shades in the past few weeks, leaving nothing out. The Princess was especially surprised to hear that the bug bear had appeared. She remembered encountering that foul beast and others like it numerous times since before her thousand year absence, banishing them to Tartarus. Not long after her return she had learned that one had somehow managed to escape. 

Just the presence of such a beast was enough to cause a great deal of concern, and she wondered why nopony had seen fit to alert either her or Celestia sooner that it was stalking the woods of Hollow Shades. But her thoughts on the matter were supplanted by the revelation that not two days ago, the bloody remains of the beast had been discovered not too far from the town by a group of ponies investigating a disturbance.

"Are you certain it was the bug bear?" Luna asked in a serious tone. Quartz did not impress her as the type of pony to stretch the truth about such things, especially where ponies lives were concerned, but there was still the possibility that there might have been some confusion when the body was first found. 

Quart however shook her head and stated "Positive. I made sure to ask Roughshod when he came back. And with everything that has happened since then, I feel I must say that I am inclined to believe."

Luna nodded in understanding. "Yes, I recall your message explaining the creatures attack on ponies. However I believe that I would like to speak to the ponies that found the body myself to be certain." She sighed as she considered the information she had just been given. "And what of the others? The ones that saw the creature for themselves? Where are they now?"

"Well," Quartz replied, "the griffon, Gerald he calls himself, just got out of the local hospital a few hours ago from what I've heard. Harp went home last night, and I haven't seen him since. But the third pony, some mare by the name of Miss Drops that Gerald kept insisting was with them, has yet to appear. Gerald says that she led the creature away to let them escape, but if I'm being perfectly honest I'm not sure if I buy the notion of some freelancer pony fighting monsters for a living." Quartz chuckled lightly at her statement, until she saw the Princess's raised eyebrow. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked.

Luna simply let out a heavy sigh and said quietly, "Mayor Quartz, I feel that I must inform you that Miss Drops, or Bon-Bon as she has taken to calling herself, is very much as real as you or I. And if what this Gerald has said is true, then even the possibility of her death is a tragic one."

Quartz's shoulders sagged when she heard that. "I see." Looking up at the Princess she asked, "But what was she doing out there in the first place? Gerald mentioned something about some sort of agency when he told me what happened, and he and Miss Drops know each other from the way he spoke."

To Quartz's surprise Luna sighed angrily, closing her eyes and putting a hoof to her forehead just below her spiral horn. Unsure what exactly she said that was wrong, Quartz quickly began to apologize until the Princess cut her off with a wave of her hoof. 

"There is no need for you to apologize mayor. However I believe I am going to have to have a conversation with this Gerald in regards to his apparent tendency to speak before he thinks."

"What do you mean?" Quartz questioned, but rather than answering right away Luna simply regarded Quartz for a brief moment before her horn lit up in a blue aura for a few seconds until it dissipated. "What was that?"

"I have just ensured that no sound can leaves this room. I do not want anypony eaves dropping on our conversation. And Quartz?" 

"Y-yes, Princess?" Quartz replied, her voice suddenly sounding rather nervous in Luna's ears. 

"I am trusting you to not disclose what I am about to tell you to anypony outside this room without my express permission. Normally I would be against revealing such sensitive information considering how damaging it could be if it was ever public knowledge, but given how dire your situation is, not to mention how much Gerald has already told you in his foolishness, I feel that it is only right that you are made privy to what both he and Miss Drops were a part of."





Princess Luna and Quartz walked side by side together to the gates, the latter of which still attempting to process what she had just learned. Surrounding them in a rough circle were the thestral guards, numbering around a dozen or so, keeping a watchful eye on both her and the various ponies who had come to see the Lunar Princess. The alicorns horn glowed constantly, letting Quartz know that the spell meant to keep their conversation private was still in effect. 

"That's quite a bit to take in," Quartz said to the Princess, although she made sure to keep her voice low so other ponies would not hear her despite the precaution. "I mean, all this time and there was some sort of secret agency that monsters?"

"And not just monsters, I am afraid," Luna added. "You should know as well as I that in many cases, the worst creatures to pose a threat to Equestria as a whole are not as easy to spot as what you are dealing with. Foes such as Sombra or Chrysalis may have been dire enemies, but they are not very subtle. In actuality, the greatest challenge to the stability of Equestria came not from monsters or other such things, but from scheming ponies intent on enforcing their will on others through the subtlest means possible. The main task of these agents was to root them out and deal with them. That is actually part of the reason why Miss Drops was in Ponyville to begin with."

"Ponyville?" Quartz spoke up. "Isn't that where the Element Bearers live?"

"Precisely," Luna answered. "I'm sure you must know that after I returned and they were named heroes, that there would be certain forces at work to ensure that they were. . . dealt with?"

Quartz's eyes widened when she realized what the Princess was getting at. "But that doesn't make any sense!" she stated. "Without them, Equestria would have been up a creek a long time ago. Why would anypony want them gone when they are pretty much all that can even stand up to things like Discord and Sombra or whatever else?" 

"As of yet that answer remains largely unknown, although one could venture a guess that they would be seen as a threat to the plans of whoever might wish to do with Equestria as they will."

Quartz took a moment to ponder what she had just learned. She noticed that they were still some distance away from the gate, so she felt that she had enough time to ask another question. 

"So, why was this agency or whatever you call it disbanded? Why shutter the whole thing?"

Luna paused for a moment, apparently choosing how best to answer the mare, before she eventually responded.

"Well, my little pony, that is a question that my sister would be able to answer better than I, as she was Equestria's sole Princess at the time while I was. . . indisposed. Still, I have been informed on some of what happened, and will attempt to fill you in as best I can." Luna cleared her throat before continuing. Quartz could not help but notice that there was a look of contempt in her eyes as she spoke. 

"You see, fairly recently before my return, approximately ten years or so, certain ponies from an unknown group had heard rumors foretelling the arrival of a dark entity known as Nightmare Moon. But rather than find a way to fight this entity, they embraced it as something to be worshiped and praised, presumably believing that if they sided with it and helped it to overthrow my sister, they would be greatly rewarded. And so they began to scheme.

"Supposedly during the process they came up with the idea to use monsters, creatures from Tarturus to be precise, as beasts of war to aid them. And so they set out to free them from their prison. However as I understand it Celestia was alerted to their ploy before it could come to fruition, and they were stopped. But not before one of the prisoners got loose however."

"Let me guess," Quartz said. "The bug bear?"

"You are correct," Luna confirmed, her tone becoming noticeably somber in Quartz's ears. "It was considered by the agency to be their greatest failure. And they knew that once the bug bear began to make its presence known, ponies would begin to question why, and look for someone to blame. Celestia wanted to spare the ponies of the agency from this, so she ordered for the organization to be quietly disbanded, while the agents continued their work, protecting Equestria in secret. As I understand it from my sister, the very existence of the agency is little more than a conspiracy theory to Equestria at large. And she has been trying to rebuild it ever since."

Quartz fell silent at what she had just been told. It was all so much for her to take in. Just then another thought entered her head, one that was rather worrying to her.

"Um, Princess?" she asked, looking around at their surroundings. "Are you sure it's okay for me to know about all of this? Aren't you worried that I might become a liability to you if anypony found out what you told me?"

"No," Luna replied simply, barely casing a glance at Quartz. The mayor was caught off guard by the answer to say the least, and she wondered if maybe the Princess did not consider her to be too much of a target, or if there was something she was not telling her. She would have liked to ask, but did not have the nerve to question the Princess statement. 

She still had one more question left however, but she was not able to ask it quite yet, as they had just reached the gate. The large wooden doors began to part, and Quartz felt a small pang of worry take place in her mind as she beheld the sight before her.

Dozens of ponies, both mares and stallions alike, dressed in golden armor were marching back and forth as they unloaded the chariots. Everywhere she looked somepony was shouting orders. Ponies were carrying supplies ranging from food to spears where they belonged. Many tents had been erected as well, making it look  like a small city. Quartz also noticed that one of the airships had also landed while the other remained in the air, slowly circling above. On the bottom of its hull a metal and wood ramp extended down to the ground, where ponies were pulling huge contraptions that resembled giant crossbows with wheels on the bottom behind them. And behind them were wagons filled with their ammunition; enormous harpoons that one would imagine would be more suited for hunting sea monsters.

"Quite the operation here," Quartz observed. Luna simply nodded as she surveyed them going back forth. Quartz figured that now was as good a time as any to ask her question. 

"Princess?" she said, making Luna turn her head towards her. "You said earlier that you had your own reasons for coming here."

Luna nodded. "Yes, I did." The Princess sighed deeply before continuing. "As you know my little pony, I have the power to see into the dreams of others. This allows me to determine if they are also in pain. You see, a short while ago I felt a rather unsettling disturbance originating from this area."

"Somepony was having a nightmare?"

Luna nodded in confirmation. "A bad one as well. However I was unable to make contact whenever I reached out to them, and I don't know why. Whoever this individual is, it is like their mind has been closed to me, preventing me from helping them. And I believe that your creature may somehow be responsible for it."

"How so?"

Luna shook her head. "I don't know, and that is rather unsettling to me. And I have the distinct feeling that this creature is somehow responsible for it."

"So," Quartz said, sounding unsure if she really did not want to know the answer to her question, "what do you plan to do if you find it, Princess?"

"To be honest mayor, I am not quite sure," Luna replied. "I would like to avoid killing it if it can be helped. But your message has made it rather clear that it is hostile. If we can, we will at the very least try to subdue it. But if it fights and any ponies are injured in the process. . . I think you and I both know the eventual outcome."


	


> Fading
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	For what seemed to Angela like a small eternity she wandered aimlessly through the trees, barely putting any thought or effort into avoiding them as she floated along. She felt in the back of her addled brain that she had been doing that quite a lot lately; no direction or destination in mind, and no real idea of what to do, and no purpose except to go away and try to forget herself. 

The sun was now high in the sky, its rays shining down on the wayward wraith, highlighting the injuries she had sustained during her fight with that hydra, making them become plainly obvious on her pale leathery skin. She was covered with deep gashes and wounds inflicted by the creatures' teeth, most notably where it had bitten her along her spine. Her open wounds ached and throbbed, and they stung severely from being exposed to the open air. while they did not feel particularly life threatening to her, Angela at least had the sense of mind to worry about an infection occurring, wondering if the hydra might have been packing some sort of bacteria or venom in its mouths. Not that there was anything she could really do about it in her situation. She had little knowledge regarding medicinal plants, and she doubted any creature she came across would feel obligated to assist her. 

This left her the option to just go in a straight line and find a place to hopefully heal from her injuries. It was a painful and arduous process, with very movement sending a jolt of discomfort through her body. Her only comfort right now was that the agony that she had felt in the side of her head had finally died down, allowing her to regain something that at least resembled a coherent thought process. For the first time in what felt like forever, Angela could finally think again without the constant feeling of painful static in her head. It had unfortunately not disappeared completely, as it still remained as a dull throbbing sensation, but Angela felt it was something to be grateful for.

However it did not help that the first pangs of hunger began to make themselves known to her, coming in the form of a protesting midsection and quivering limbs. But despite her discomfort, Angela honestly did not think that she could stomach very much at the moment, if anything at all. In hindsight, maybe she should have stayed to at least clean up the mess she made. That would have at least stayed her hunger. But after everything that had happened, from the incident involving the ponies and griffon to the hydra, even the very thought of eating was made highly unappealing to her at the moment.

Angela was confident the feeling would eventually pass and fade away however. Her instinctual need to feed, much stronger given her wraith body, would take over again, and once more she would become a captive of her own body as it drove her onward to mindlessly kill again and again and again. . . 

The only thing Angela felt that was stronger than her hunger, for the time being anyway, or her self loathing was how tired she was. She felt exhausted, not just from running around all over the place and losing her mind, but from the sheer emotional turmoil she experienced in the last couple of days. She could barely keep herself airborne as her weariness continued to weigh down on her. She was less than a few feet off the ground, and her tails dragged behind her, creating shallow canyons in the soil in her wake. But still she kept moving forward, the only objective on her mind to find a quiet spot, isolated from everything that could potentially bother her to rest and heal from her injured body and mind.

And after that. . . 

Angela did not know. She could not think of anything that could help her. 

The ponies undoubtedly knew of her existence now, so it was pretty much pointless to travel to the North as she had originally planned. But she could not linger here either, or she would eventually be routed out, and she was not foolish enough to hold out the hope that the ponies would just leave her alone. She dreaded what might happen if there was another encounter between her and them. How  many times would she be able to snap herself out of her frenzies, which seemed to be becoming ever more frequent, before she eventually woke up to find that her talons were stained with a pony's blood?

Both she and they had been extremely lucky beyond measure that, so far anyway, the only creatures to suffer from her episodes were mere animals. But Angela knew that would not last. She knew that it was only a matter of time until that luck ran out. 

And the knowledge that she could be set off by nothing more than a little pain did little to ease her worries. 

She was stuck.

She was stuck in the body of a monster that could enter a bloodthirsty rage at a moments notice, with little to no options available to her that did not in some way involve bloodshed for either her or the ponies. If she ran, they would track her. If she hid they would find her. If she fought, it would only make things that much worse for all involved. And with no way to speak in a way that a pony could probably understand, she had virtually no way to explain herself. Given all of this she was more than stuck.

She was screwed.

But these were all things that would have to be dealt with and confronted at a later date. For now, all Angela wanted to do was find some place to lay low to recuperate from her ordeal and try not to think too much about them. 

Soon enough Angela came across a cave embedded in the side of a hill that at first glance seemed large enough for her to curl up in with little discomfort. A brief inspection confirmed this, with the only occupants being a group of bats that flew away the moment she stuck her head inside. It would have to do for now, but before settling in, Angela felt the need to make it at least a little more comfortable for her to rest in. 

Angela was basically running on fumes as she moved away from the cave and began uprooting any small brush that she happened to come across. Her claws made short work of snipping the roots embedded beneath the soil, and every bit of shrubbery was unceremoniously tossed over her should in to the cave. She went about this routine for a few minutes before deciding that she had enough foliage to make something that was hopefully slightly more comfortable than just hard stone. Practically dragging her slender form into the cave, Angela absentmindedly gathered a fair amount of the foliage beneath her before sinking to the floor. 

Before letting herself rest, Angela quickly checked the injuries along her spine to assess their severity, noticing that while they did not seem to be all that bad at a glance, the dark blood that slowly wept out of them had not ceased entirely. At best the rate of the flow had only slowed down. This could prove to be a problem to her if it did not stop any time soon, although honestly Angela could not care less about it at the moment. To her, it was just another thing to add onto the growing pile of problems she faced.

Deciding to let her wounds tend to themselves for he moment, Angela curled up around herself, and almost immediately she felt her vision begin to fade to darkness, and her last thought before slipping completely into unconsciousness was how she was going to find a solution to this mess that she had created for herself.





She was lost.

She was lost and she had nowhere to go. 

Angela did not know where she was. All she knew was that she was in a dark place, devoid of any light of any kind to guide her. With nowhere to go and no way to see, Angela stayed where she was, curled up in a fetal position with her arms hugging her legs tightly to her chest. 

And she was not alone in the dark. She knew this for a fact. She could feel it out there, lurking in the depths of the void.

Watching her. 

Waiting for her.

It made no sound as it moved, but Angela was not deceived. All she could do was keep her eyes closed and hope and pray that it left her alone and did not come any closer. That hope was dashed however when she felt something brush against her, stroking her back as a mother would a child. The touch was soft and gentle, belying the inherent nature of the monster that pretended to comfort her.

"I am you," a voice whispered into her ear, and Angela whimpered as felt its breath, hot and reeking with the scent of freshly spilled blood. And as its breath tousled her hair she felt a pool of dark liquid build up round her, rising gradually before enveloping her completely.

"And you are mine."





A small sound awakened Angela from her troubled sleep, so soft and muted that she would have been content to just ignore it and go back to sleep, no matter if she was still plagued by nightmares. But just as she was about to doze off the sound came again, slightly louder this time. To her it sounded like a shrill howl mixed with the chime of a bell, though she could not pinpoint where exactly it was coming from. The anonymity of whatever was causing the racket was beginning to frustrate her a little. 

She may not have been particularly eager to go back to sleep and subject herself to her dreams, but she still needed her rest, and that could not be attained as long as whatever was making that noise persisted in keeping her awake.

Another bell like howl came, no louder than a mouse's squeak, and Angela was beginning to suspect that she had unintentionally picked up a few vermin when she was preparing her bed of bushes. She was tempted to just toss the whole lot out and sleep on the stone floor, but that sounded even more unappealing to her. Besides, as far as she could tell there was only one pest to be rid of.

Angela picked up another howl, somewhat tinny in nature, which she used to hone in on its source with her heightened senses. Carefully she rooted through the shrubbery with the tips of her claws so she would not scare whatever it was into silence, until eventually she came across what was making all that noise. But it was not what she was expecting in the slightest. 

What Angela was thinking she would find was a mouse or some other variety of rodent. What she did not anticipate to find was a slug. A snail to be more accurate, although it was unlike any snail she had ever seen before. Whereas the typical snail was only a few centimeters in length, an inch at best, the one she was currently looking at must have been at least a foot long, although to her it might as well have been a little beetle. It had a brown conical shell ending in a dull point atop its back, while its body had shiny blue skin with black stripes. But what was really odd about the mollusk was that instead of eye stalks like a typical snail had, this one possessed a thin graceful neck that arched upward, ending in a narrow head resembling a dragons. Its eyes were a dull bronze in color, and protruding from the back of its head was a pair of curving horns like those of a ram.

Angela stared at the creature in befuddlement, wondering what in the world she was even looking at. As she did so the creature raised its head slightly and uttered a howl exactly like what she had been hearing. It almost sounded mournful to her. 

For a few moments Angela simply gazed at the strange little creature, unsure what to even call it. It slowly slid forward, leaving a little trail of transparent mucus behind it on the leaves of her makeshift mattress. Feeling slightly curious, Angela moved a little closer to the odd snail. It immediately took notice of her, and emitted a shrill hooting sound at her. Letting her curiosity take hold of her as a welcome distraction from her aches and pains, Angela carefully brought the tip of one of her claws close to it. In response the snail did something rather unexpected.

Rearing its head back slightly, it opened its mouth, and a small gout of flame as long as it was shot forward at her claw. Angela was taken by surprise by the action, although she noticed that the flame did nothing to harm her. At most, all the flame did was create an acrid smell and a small scorch mark on her talon. After a few seconds the flame was cut off, and the snail pulled its entire body into its shell. At first Angela was perplexed by this, until it dawned on her that to it she have appeared to have been a titanic monster as big as a mountain. 

This reaction from it affected Angela more than it probably should have, but it reminded her too much of her current predicament. In this instance the fire breathing sail and the ponies might as well have been the same. What else should she hope to expect after all, given what she had already done, and what she might do? In truth, Angela did not begrudge the snail or the ponies for their fear of her. The only thing she truly had to blame was herself.

These were Angela's thoughts as she once more curled in around herself, hoping to be able to go back to sleep and forget her troubles, for a little while anyway.

But just as she was about to fall back into her fitful slumber, the snail things howling gained her attention once more. She glanced over and, to her mild surprise, saw that the little creature had chosen to come out of its shell, and was now looking at her with its head tilted to the side in a convincing display of apparent confusion. It did nothing else except silently gaze at her with its tiny bronze eyes.

Angela tried to ignore it, but the snail howled a second time,  prompting a slight growl of annoyance from the wraith. This caused it to pull back into its shell, but only halfway this time. Its head was sticking out, still looking at her.

Unsure what it was doing, Angela once again brought the tip of her index claw near it. And she was surprised when, instead of retreating into its shell again as she expected, the snail seemed to regard her for a moment before slowly sticking its neck out, and appeared to sniff her. After a few moments of inactivity passed before the snail slid forward onto her claw, leaving a little wet trail on the bone.

Well aren't you a brave one, Angela thought as she brought it closer for her to examine. Of course it's easy to be brave when you figure out your safe. Even with me. 

Another series of howls reached her senses, although she noticed that the creature she was holding on the tip of her claw was not the source of it. Rather, it seemed to be coming from outside of the cave. The dragon snail, as Angela had decided to call it, turned its attention away from her and answered them with a call of its own. This went on for a few moments, with the calls going back and forth until Angela guessed that it wanted to go outside. If it would help her get to sleep any faster, than Angela felt obliged to help it out.

With the dragon snail still perched on her claw, Angela hovered out of the cave and traveled a short distance. She noticed that it was now much later in the afternoon according to the position of the sun. In the back of her mind she wondered if the pony that controlled its movement ever had any off days where she slept in occasionally. She imagined that such a thing would wreak potential havoc on the schedules of every living thing in this world. 

Whatever the case, Angela's musings were interrupted by another round of back and forth howling, and her attention was drawn to the same patch of bushes that she had used to make her bed. And gathered on and under their leaves she noticed an entire group of the dragon snails, numbering in what seemed to be the dozens at least. Their collective hoots and howls joined together to create a cacophony that sounded almost musical to her. Angela found it rather pleasant to listen to, like there was some sort of mystical quality to their unified voices that soothed her senses, allowing her to forget about her pain and her worries. She even caught herself humming along to the melody.

Hovering over to the bushes, Angela gently lowered her arm, allowing the dragon snail to slither off of her claw and onto a large leaf as a few others of its kind came out, appearing to greet their fellow with a series of calls that were slightly more high pitched than the others. As Angela watched the scene play out, she felt a strange sense of pride and satisfaction as they touched their snouts together. Then as one each of them looked at her and began hooting and howling at her, and she could not help but imagine that they were thanking her for reuniting them.

Angela merely hummed in contentment, thinking back to how only a few minutes ago that one of the had been afraid of her. If only it were that easy with the ponies.

That was when it dawned on Angela, that maybe it really could be that easy. Maybe all she had to do to convince them that she was not a threat, or at least did not mean to be a threat, was to actually show them. After all, the only side of her that they had seen so far was the one ruled by instinct, but if she showed them something else. . . 

Would they even listen? Angela wondered as she watched the dragon snails slither back under the cover of the foliage. I haven't exactly been very friendly. 

Neither had they to be honest, but that was all the result of misinterpretations from both sides, and a lack of any actual effort from her. Her main concern was whether or not she would even be given a chance after almost killing a number of them. . . multiple times. And even if that was not the main issue, there was still the matter of the language barrier between them. She no longer possessed the ability to speak, and she had serious doubts about creatures with hooves understanding sign language very well.

But still, even with such limitations, Angela felt it would at least be worth a shot to show that she truly did not mean any harm. And if by some stroke of absurd luck she did manage to convince them of it, then a conflict could be avoided altogether. But in the far more likely event that things went south and she failed, resulting in a fight. . . she honestly did not know. If it did come to blows, Angela knew that she would not simply lie down and let them do whatever they wanted to her, but neither did she want to have to fight her way out of a confrontation and risk losing her sanity in the process. Such an event would most assuredly have disastrous consequences.

But no matter what may happen, Angela knew that at the very least she had to try, if not for her sake then for theirs. 

Hard to believe I was ever a thief, Angela thought with grim amusement.

With a plan in mind, Angela began to look for some high ground, where she could hopefully spot a settlement of some sort in the distance. Those ponies and the griffon had to have come from somewhere after all, and the city on the mountain seemed to be too far for any of the walk, or even fly. 

However, in her search Angela became aware of another matter that needed tending to, making itself known in the form of a tightening sensation around her midsection, followed by a series of grumbles originating from the same area. Letting a raspy sigh escape her ganged jaws, Angela redirected her attention to finding a meal. 

She could be friendly after she ate.





Bon Bon's galloping had long since petered out to a slow trot, with her every hoofstep punctuated by a tired, wheezing breath. She was by no means out of shape, despite her assumed profession back in Ponyville, not to mention Lyras bad habit of bringing home copious amounts of junk food from the local hayburger establishment on a regular basis. The rituals that she had picked up in the agency made sure that she was always in peak physical condition at all times should the situation call for it. The events of the previous night certainly had. But after running for her life for most of the night and almost having a heart attack a few times over from how close she came to dying, Bon Bon wanted absolutely nothing more than to just fall down wherever she happened to be and sleep for the rest of the week.

She kept going however, struggling to ignore her screaming muscles and aching bones and just keep going until she eventually made it back to Hollow Shades.

She had long since given up on the hope of ever getting there in time to stop Gerald from sending a message to Celestia. She was confident that he had already sent it. For all of his flaws, Gerald was punctual. But still, maybe, just maybe, she might be able to meet up with the royal guard and inform them of the situation. She was concerned for the creature of course, but not as much as she was for the wellbeing of whoever confronted it. Considering what she had already seen the creature do, Bon Bon did not put too much faith in anypony's ability, even those of the royal guard, to fight the thing and come out unscathed. 

She knew that it would not matter how well armed they came, no amount of spears or swords would be enough to subdue it, much less kill it. But if Bon Bon kept going, a confrontation could hopefully be avoided entirely, and a new solution could be found.

She just hoped she could get there in time.


> Dusk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It did not take too long for Luna's guards to locate Gerald. They had apparently found the old griffon getting rather wasted in the local bar next to the cafe, and was busily shouting about his exploits to anypony he happened to be near. When her guards brought him to her as she waited in a tent, Gerald was swaying from side to side, looking like he would topple over at any moment. She was honestly quite surprised he was still coherent enough to recognize that he was in the presence of royalty. 

The two were now sitting on opposite sides of the tent, which felt entirely too small to the Princess as the smell of alcohol pervaded the entire place, and she wrinkled her muzzle in distaste. Looking at him now, at his bandaged wing and ruffled appearance, she was having a hard time believing that the griffon was some kind of professional monster hunter, much less a former member of the A.M.D.. 

"So, Gerald," Luna began, her tone of voice very business like. "Would I be correct in assuming that you had a brief encounter with the creature that supposedly killed the bug bear?" She asked, and she crossed her forelegs as she waited for his reply.

"That would be about right," Gerald replied with a very prominent slur in his already heavily accented voice, making him sound even more unintelligible. Luna had to fight back the urge to grimace as the smell his breath reached her nostrils. "Twash a beasht most fouler an' meaner than any I ever had the dishpleasure of meetin'. Pretty eager to take a bite outta my backshide if ya ask me."

"I did not," Luna replied. Surreptitiously she lit up her spiral horn and cast a quick spell to do away with the stench of rum and liquor that seemed to be coming off of the griffon in waves. Gerald hardly seemed to notice however, as his attention seemed to have become occupied by the plush pillow he was sitting on. Luna made a mental note to have the pillow burned later on. "I understand that, after your encounter with it, the creature was led away by Bon Bon, formerly known as Sweetie Drops when she was in the agency, correct?"

Upon hearing the question, Gerald seemed to sober up slightly as his shoulders slumped and his gaze became somewhat more focused."Aye," he said somberly. "Darn fool thing for a pony to do. She wash a good mare, when she wasn't hittin' me o'er the head all the time."

Luna nodded in agreement. While she was not personally aquainted with the mare, she was genuinely saddened by her potential death, and found herself hoping that she had somehow found a way to escape that terrible fate. But that was not what she had requested Gerald's presence for, as there were other matters that needed to be addressed before they set out. 

"Rest assured that we will do everything in our power to see to it that Miss Drops is brought back safely Gerald," Luna promised. "However, while I was conversing with the mayor of Hollow Shades, I happened to learn that she has come across some rather. . . delicate information. Information that could-" Luna stopped when she noticed that Gerald had started to nod off. Snorting in frustration, Luna lit up her horn once more, and within a few moments Gerald was awake and alert. 

"W-what? What happened? What was I just sayin'?" he questioned, right before he clutched his head in his talons and let out a pained groan. "Ack! What's goin' on here? Feels like my head's about to explode!" he exclaimed. Luna merely smiled as she levitated a pot of tea and a single cup over and began pouring herself a drink.

"I just helped you get over your problematic intoxication, since we obviously cannot have a coherent conversation in the state you were in." Another moan of agony answered her. "Although, while the spell returns one to their senses quicker, it unfortunately does very little to dispel of the hangover that immediately follows." Luna finished pouring her tea and set the kettle off to the side before taking a sip. "And now that you are at least somewhat more alert, we can continue."

Still rubbing the top of his feathered head, Gerald gave her a confused look and asked, "With what?"

"Oh, nothing serious. It only has to do with the fact that Mayor Quartz, a lovely mare by the way, is somehow in possession of knowledge regarding a certain organization that she should not have been aware of in the first place. Information that could prove harmful if it continues to be bandied about. Would you mind explaining to me how exactly she came across such information, Gerald?"

At this point, Gerald was now looking at the midnight blue alicorn with no small amount of fear and apprehension. The whites of his eyes could be seen as his pupils visibly shrank to the size of pinpricks, and he began to fidget nervously. The feathers on his neck were puffed out and his tail was swishing rapidly.

"Er, well, P-princess. . . ya see, I had just gotten back after bein' chased all night long by that foul beast, so I wasn't exactly in my right mind."

"Something tells me you were never in your "right mind" to begin with if what I heard about you is true, Gerald," Luna responded, her stoic expression morphing into a disapproving glare as she set her now empty cup next to the kettle, resulting in a sharp click of ceramic. Gerald flinched at the sound from a combination of the instant hangover and barely contained terror. "In fact, I am not sure if you are either incredibly brave, or incredibly foolish to even attempt to kill not only the bug bear, a monster in its own right, but the very thing that overpowered it."

Gerald began stutter, attempting to find some way to wriggle out of the mess that he had created for himself. Eventually he exclaimed, "Well what ya have me do Princess? Just let 'em roam free an' do whatever they wanted? Someone had to do something, and the mayor was willin' to pay me for my troubles. And you can't expect me to pass up an opportunity like this. I mean, can you imagine what it was like to see that thing for the first time, and then see it fend off a pack o' lupus minors? That right there to me was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I wasn't about to pass it up."

Luna had just about heard enough from the griffon, and was just about to dismiss him and call for her guards to take him away, until something he said stuck out to her, causing her to pause and question, "What did you say?"

"I said if it would've been any better to let 'em roam around an'-"

"No, not that," Luna interrupted, cutting him off with a wave of her hoof. "I mean what you said about the lupus minors. Nothing in the message we received said anything about them. You mean to tell me that this creature fought a group of them?"

Appearing to be surprised by the abrupt change in topic, Gerald hesitantly replied, "Aye?"

Luna put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Tell me what happened," she commanded. "Every single detail you can remember about that moment, and leave nothing out."

Gerald nodded, and proceeded to explain how he had used a wild boar as bait to draw in the creature that had taken his original quarry from him, if only to find out what he was dealing with. Luna listened attentively, taking in every word as he told her of when he first saw the creature come gliding out of the woods and consume the boar by using some form of magic he was not familiar with to actually inhale its flesh. Finally, Gerald proceeded to tell her of how the creature not only fought a trio of lupus minors, but actually managed to kill and consume them as well.

When his tale was finally done, Luna furrowed her brow and shook her head in disbelief. "That shouldn't be possible," she muttered. 

"What?" Gerald questioned, unsure what she meant. 

"I mean to say that it should not be possible for something, anything really, to be able to successfully kill a lupus minor, much less three."

Gerald raised an eyebrow and said, "Why not? Their just big sparkly wolves aren't they? I don't see how it couldn't happen."

Luna let out a heavy sigh, feeling the onset of a headache begin to plague her from how little the griffon actually knew, and she found herself wondering exactly how long he had spent in the former agency. 

"Allow me to explain then," Luna began. "Lupus minors are what are known as celestial beasts. They are essentially made of magic. While they may look like a common wolf, their appearance is the only similarity that they share with each other. They are many times more powerful than any feral animal. They are also nigh immune to any mundane means of attack, and can only be combated through arcane means. You of course recall the incident when an ursa minor was spotted in Ponyville, correct?"

"Course," Gerald replied. "Was all over the papers, it was."

"It was only due to the quick thinking of the towns resident librarian that the creature was stopped when she soothed it to sleep before any major destruction could be caused. If she had not done so however, it is likely that all of Ponyville would have been leveled."

"Alright," Gerald responded with a slow nod. "But I still don't see what that has to do with our monster."

"Don't you understand you stupid bird?!" Luna snapped, rising to all four hooves. Her visage was filled with anger and annoyance, and her wings were spread to their full length, occupying the interior of the tent. The fluid motions of her mane and tail became more erratic. Gerald attempted to scoot away from her, but found himself held in the grip of her magic as she continued to speak. "No living animal should ever have the ability to fight off, much less kill and devour a celestial beast of any kind! If what you say happens to be true and this creature is indeed capable of such a feat, then the situation is even more dire than we have been led to believe. If it felt inclined to do so, this creature could very well kill you, me, and every living thing in Hollow Shades! It is a threat that must be dealt with as soon as possible."

Releasing the griffon, Luna inhaled a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have urgent business to attend to." With that, the Princess trotted past him. Before she exited the tent she paused and called over her shoulder, "Oh, and don't believe for a moment that this means you are free to go. As of right now you are under arrest."

"What?!" Gerald shouted, his voice forming into a harsh squawk at the end. "But I didn't do nothing!"

"On the contrary, you willingly divulged sensitive information to a civilian without the express permission of a superior. Were you still in service to the agency, that would be cause for a number of lifetimes spent in a prison cell. However, given the current situation, you are just going to have to remain here until we figure out what should be done with you. You would do well to consider very carefully what you say and do in the very near future, Gerald." 

Leaving the griffon stuttering and struggling to find a response behind her, Luna stepped out of the tent and into a field in front of the town gates. The entire area was bustling with activity, with armored ponies running back and forth, carrying equipment, forming into neat ranks, and setting up the giant crossbows onto huge iron wheels. Addressing one of the two thestral ponies standing guard, she ordered, "Keep an eye on this one, and make sure he stays put. He is not to leave unless I permit it. Understood?"

"Yes Princess," he replied with a quick salute.

Nodding her approval, Luna turned to the other guard and said, "Go find Captain Stalwart. Inform him that we are marching within the hour. We have tarried here long enough as it is."

"Right away Princess," the thestral replied before spreading his bat like wings and taking to the sky. 





It had taken even less than an hour before most of the small army of armored ponies was ready to march. In short order they began a steady rank by rank walk forward towards the treeline, leaving behind them a city of tents that felt abandoned compared to the flurry of activity only a short while ago. A small contingent remained behind to protect Hollow Shades in their comrades absence, although Luna did not hold out much hope that they would be able to successfully fend the creature off should it choose to circumvent the main group and attack the town directly. The information that Gerald had told her regarding the beast still echoed in her mind, and she found herself feeling a certain amount of anxiety as the army neared the trees. 

As they departed, many of Hollow Shades' residents had come out to watch them from the top of the wooden wall surrounding their town. But there was no great sendoff, no shouts of praise for the ponies marching away to what might be their doom.  Instead they looked on with grim and worried expressions, like they were saying a final, silent farewell. It was nothing at all like the enthusiasm of when they had arrived to relieve them of their plight. 

But as Luna surveyed the scene from the air, with four of her guards hovering around her, she knew that she could not blame them. They had already been through so much in past few weeks.

Still, she could not help but feel that maybe they knew something that she did not, like she was making a mistake in going through with this. Not that their intentions were wrong, but that they may have potentially bitten off more than they could chew. But Luna had set herself on this path, and she was not the type of mare to change her mind once she has made her choice. 

Besides, there was still the matter of the nightmares that Luna had felt originate from within the woods. She had felt its presence earlier that day, but it was so faint that to try to make contact would have been a wasted effort. It always seemed to be just out of her reach, which frustrated Luna to no end, acting as another reason to move as soon as possible. She knew it was risky to do so when evening was only a few short hours away. It would not be long until she had to raise the moon. While she could leave the cycle of the heavens alone to aide her, Luna felt it would have been selfish to do so, leaving her the choice of putting the safety of her troops at even greater risk or waiting for the following morning. 

When she consulted Stalwart on the matter, he reasoned that as long as they the moon was full and there was a team of pegasi keeping an eye out for anything in front of them, then it would not be too much of a risk. While she was more than a little adverse towards endangering the guards on the ground, Luna supposed it was a sound strategy. But still she worried over what might happen if the creature chose to engage them, and she found herself seriously questioning whether or not this was a wise course of action. 

It was too late to back now however, as the first group of the royal guard trotted past the treeline, the only indication of their presence behind the branches being the metallic clank of their armor. Luna sighed, feeling a sense of dread as she moved to follow them. As she flew she spared a brief glance at one of the two airships that had accompanied them as it moved away to scout other sections of the forest per her command. She wanted to have as many eyes covering the area as possible to make sure they would not be caught by surprise.

Uttering a quick prayer for everypony under her breath, Luna resumed her self appointed task of watching over the ponies on the ground. 





Unsure exactly which direction she was heading in, Angela weaved between the tree trunks, trying and failing to avoid scraping against them. Each time she made contact resulted in coarse, aggravating sound as her skin ran up against the bark. 

She had not noticed it until now, but it felt as though everything around her had simultaneously shrunk in the last few hours, and the only reason she could guess as to why was that she had grown. It did not take much for her to realize that she had evolved. There was simply no other explanation for it. What made it odd however was that she had absolutely no recollection of the event. Aside from a few brief snapshots of a certain moments last night, she could not remember actually evolving.

Angela was not entirely sure how to feel about this, as she was genuinely curious to know what the overall experience felt like, but at the same time she was afraid it had been not at all different from her transition into actually becoming a wraith. She could remember that as a horrifically painful experience that she never wanted to go through again. Considering this, Angela supposed it might actually have been a blessing that she could not remember her most recent growth spurt. Maybe it was a result of her subconscious attempting to shield her from the agony of having her bones and flesh rearranged. From what she could recall from her brief exposure to the game, the process of evolving did not look to be very pleasant. It may have even been a factor in her most recent homicidal episode. 

Whatever the case had been, Angela's increase in size was making it rather difficult to move through the dense forest without making too much noise. She would honestly not be surprised if that was the reason why she had not found anything to eat yet. If she did not find a way to address this issue, and soon, she would once again go insane from the hunger. The last thing she wanted, especially now when she had decided to confront the ponies was to devolve into a mindless predator. She did not exactly put very much faith in herself to control her own urges. 

Focus Angela, she thought to herself, shaking her head in an attempt keep a hold of her faculties. Just keep your cool, and everything will work out.

She knew of course that was easier said than done, but Angela forced herself to ignore her urges for just a little while longer to come up with some sort of strategy to deal with how she would go about finding something to eat, preferably without having to chase it down and tearing apart half the woods in the process. Coming to a halt, Angela dulled her senses and attempted to clear her mind of all distractions as she thought. 

Her answer came in the form of a dull roaring sound not too far away from her current position. Angela immediately recognized it as the sound of a waterfall, and soon an idea began to form in her mind. 

Angling herself in the direction where the sound seemed to be coming, Angela got the distinct feeling that she recognized this place. The reason why became apparent as she eventually emerged from the trees, and she saw the familiar sight of the tall cliff that she had so enjoyed diving off of into the large pool of water a mere day ago. The same place where she first realized she was in Equestria. It honestly felt like it had been an eternity since that moment to Angela. 

She briefly wondered what had ever become of that one pony after she had let her go, the same one that she almost-

Angela quickly discarded the thought before she ended up going down that road. What had happened had happened, and there was nothing she could do to change the actions she took in the past. All that mattered was that Angela was able to stop herself before she took things too far. Maybe that would even help her when she eventually encountered the ponies again.

That would have to wait until later however. For now, Angela had to focus on figuring out how to get herself a meal. Hovering over to the waters edge, Angela discovered multiple sets of tracks, most notably ones that she immediately recognized as belonging to a whole herd of deer. It stood to reason that many animals would come to this place to get a drink. She was tempted to start looking around to see if any were still in the area, but she wrote that off as the quickest way to alert them to her presence if they were not aware of her already. Perhaps she had come away with something useful from her uncles hunting expeditions.

Moving over to the water, Angela gradually began to ease herself chest first into the pools depths until she felt the tips of her tails touch the surface before suddenly dipping into a shallow dive beneath the small waves. She found her movement in the water to be just as smooth and fluid as it was out of it, and she could not help but feel like some sort of great sea serpent. Angela was not sure how long she would be able to hold her breath as a wraith, so she found this to be both an experiment and a potentially effective hunting strategy, and seeing as how she did not experience any adverse effects right away, even after spending whole minutes underwater, she would wager that she could remain like this for quite a while. In fact, Angela found the cool liquid felt rather nice on her wounds, and the dull pounding of the waterfall in the distance was almost therapeutic in an odd sort of way. 

All she needed now was a full stomach, and as long as she was willing to be patient for a little longer, she would soon have that as well. Sticking close to the shoreline of the pool, Angela quickly checked that no part of her was visible that would give her away, and settled in for what she hoped would be a short wait. She did not even notice as she began to doze off, for once feeling some semblance of peace and satisfaction with herself.





Nothing but trees, trees, and even more trees as far the eyes could see in almost every conceivable direction. Occasionally there was the odd clearing or glade to break up the status quo, but for the most part all that could be seen from the airship was endless forest. While it could not even begin to hold a candle to the vastness that was the Everfree, the woods that surrounded Hollow Shades were rather large in their own right, and Crisp, the captain of the airship, could see why it was so easy for a creature that was apparently as big as a dragon to just disappear and hide. 

It had only been a few short hours since he and his crew had been ordered by Princess Luna to scout other portions of the woods while the rest of the Royal Guard marched on foot in a different direction, and already the aging cobalt blue pegasus was feeling the onset of monotonous boredom invade his mood, knowing that if whatever this thing was that they were looking for chose to hide, it would take ages to spot it even from the air. It did not help that it was fast approaching dusk, further limiting their visibility. They had spotlights of course, but Honey Crisp found himself wondering what the Princess had been thinking when she gave them their orders. 

Still, Crisp and his crew would perform their task to the best of their capabilities, no matter what the conditions might be. He just hoped that those poor sops on the ground did not run into this mysterious beast before he did. At least from here, safely suspended below the envelope of the metal clad airship in the large gondola, they had an advantage. In his humble but well aged opinion, it was always better to deal with dangerous situations like that from a distance.  Quick, clean and easy; that was how all problems should be handled. He got the feeling that Princess Luna favored more personal confrontations, but to each their own. He was not about to try to change her mind on the matter.

Briefly scanning the bridge of the airship, Crisp gazed upon the pleasing sight of no less than a dozen mares and stallions at their designated work stations, carefully monitoring the devices controlling the great beast of metal and air, maneuvering it through the sky like an airborne whale. The airships of the Royal Guard normally did not have so many crew members, or were even as large, but then this was no normal airship.

The cobalt pegasus could not help but feel a small amount of pride as he looked upward at the nose of the airship, confident that whatever had been causing so much trouble lately would find itself to be more than outmatched by the weapon it housed inside; it really was quite amazing what could be done with a few storm clouds and layers of containment spells designed specifically for the sole purpose of keeping them under control. He had heard some of the ponies in the upper branches of the Royal Guard refer to it as a literal "storm in a bottle", and Crisp was inclined to agree. 

The captains moment of appreciation was interrupted when one of the ponies, an orange coated mare by the name of Horizon, perked up suddenly as a soft buzzing sound erupted from the pair of gem powered earphones near her. Crisp watched with mild interest as she quickly donned it, and in a few moments Horizon said in a very business like manner, "Understood." Turning towards him she then said, "Sir, one of the spotters has caught sight of something sixty degrees to the North-East of our position."

Crisp shifted his wings in slight anticipation, wondering if they had found the creature already. He did not think they would have finished up so early, but he was never one to complain about good fortune. 

"Have they determined what it is Miss Horizon?" Crisp questioned. The mare repeated the question into the headset, and within moments she replied, "Yes sir. It's a pony, she seems to be trying to signal us."

"Really?" Crisped said in surprise. He put a hoof to his chin as he pondered the unexpected information until he finally said, "Well, then, by all mean bring us around and set us down. It would be rather rude to leave her out here after all."

"Right away sir."





Bon Bon felt a monumental amount of relief wash over her as her hooves touched on the metal ramp leading up to the interior of the gondola of the large airship, and she was pleased to be greeted by a pair of uniformed pegasi and a unicorn with a pair of medical bags slung over her back who rushed up towards her. Bon Bon had virtually no time to say anything as she suddenly found herself being bombarded with questions by the mare, mostly pertaining to her health, such as, "Are you hurt?" or "Do you feel woozy?"

Bon Bon quickly assured the mare that aside from a few scrapes and scratches, including a rather large bruise on her chest, she was largely unhurt. At the moment, her greatest complaint was a lack of any decent rest. The possibility of a bed located somewhere on board was so very enticing to her. But that would have to wait for a little while longer however; for she still had to tell somepony about her discovery. 

The memory of the creature was still fresh in her mind. The sight of it enduring what she knew must be an incredible amount of discomfort. It really was no wonder why it had been so aggressive, and Bon Bon felt more than a little guilty for misreading the entire situation. But now that she had been found, she had the opportunity to correct her mistake before any lasting damage could be done.

Feeling ready to fall asleep on her hooves, Bon Bon quickly followed the mare inside the airship as the ramp closed shut behind her with a dull clang, accompanied by the din of hissing steam and turning gears. The lighting was somewhat dim, and the scent of copper lingered in the air. 

"Thanks for picking me up," she said, putting the observation aside for the moment. All three ponies nodded before the medic continued in her examination of Bon Bon, looking for any sign of serious injury. "Is your captain available?" she then asked, not bothering to hide the urgency in her voice. "I need to talk with whoever's in charge here right away."

"Now hold on there ma'am," one of stallions said with a raised hoof. "We'd be happy to take ya to him, but only after we check to make sure you're not gonna pass out on us. No offense, but you look you've been through Tartarus and back."

"There's no time for that!" Bon Bon exclaimed. "Look, I can sleep later, but right now I really need to talk to your superior. I have vital information that could be very important."

The two pegasi glanced at each other, appearing to be unsure if she was telling them the truth. Eventually the one on the right said, "Alright then. I'll take you to the bridge. You can speak to Crisp there. Just don't go pushing yourself alright?" Bon Bon nodded, willing to do almost anything just to tell somepony about what was going on. As long as things kept going the way they were, this whole situation would be resolved in short order. She might even be back in Ponyville by the end of the week, where she could hopefully put this entire ordeal behind her. 

As she followed one of the stallions as he led her through a long metal corridor to a short staircase designed for ponies, Bon Bon felt a slight lurch, indicating that the airship was taking off again. Along the way to the bridge she took notice of some of the features of the airship, noticing the overall structure of the craft seemed quite a bit different than what she was familiar with, and she found herself wondering what kind it was. 

Whatever breed of airship it was, Bon Bon would have to figure it out later as she noticed the hallway open up to a wide command deck with multiple ponies milling about at their stations, occasionally pulling a lever of twisting a knob. Only a few bothered to spare a brief glance at their guest before returning to their work. A huge glass window offered an almost panoramic view of the world below as the airship steadily rose higher into the air. She wanted to ask her escort for some kind of explanation for the number of crew members, as there seemed to be than here than what was necessary to maintain it, but then she spotted what appeared to be the captain. He was old looking cobalt blue pegasus dressed in formal attire.

Deciding to file her questions away for later, Bon Bon trotted up behind cleared her throat before speaking.

"Excuse me sir," she said, "but are you the pony in command here?"

The stallion turned his head towards her, and she could not help but notice the gleam in his eye as he replied, "Yes I am miss." Turning to face her fully the stallion extended a hoof in greeting. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am captain Honey Crisp, but you don't have to refer to me as that." Bon Bon took the stallions hoof and gave it a firm shake. "Now then," he said, "If I may be so bold as to ask, who might you be?"  

Clearing her throat a second time, Bon Bon quickly introduced herself, although she chose to refrain from using her former designation so as to avoid any confusion. Maybe if she get him to agree to agree to speak with her in a more private setting she would fully disclose her identity, but she did not want to risk it with so many ponies around at the moment. 

"Sir," she began, "I can assume that you are here under the orders of the Princess, correct?"

Crisp raised his eyebrow slightly at her question, apparently not expecting her to have knowledge regarding the mission she knew he was a part of. 

"Yes," Crisp answered. "How could you know that?" he then asked.

Rather than answering in a way that would make it plainly obvious to everypony who she was, Bon Bon instead chose instead to say, "Word gets around at the home front." As she said this, Bon Bon casually flicked her left ear. To anypony watching, it would appear as nothing more than a brief, instinctual reaction to a distant sound, of which there plenty of on the ship. 

The captain noticed it right away, and his eyes widened very slightly as realization seemed to dawn on him. His betrayed nothing however as he said, "I see." A brief moment of inactivity passed, during which he seemed to be pondering his next course of action as though he had suddenly found himself in an elaborate game of chess. Eventually he added, "Well then, in that case how about I help you get settled in. I can certainly tell that you've been through quite the ordeal."

"You have no idea," Bon Bon responded with a slight chuckle. 

Addressing the pony standing behind her, Crisp said, "Weathervane, would you mind seeing to it that a spare bunk is prepared for our guest here?"

With a sharp salute, the pony known as Weathervane replied, "Yes sir," before he trotted away, the click of his hooves on te metal flooring gradually receding in the distance behind Bon Bon. 

Walking past her, Crisp said to her, "If you will follow me miss."

Bon Bon obliged him, and allowed himto lead out of the command deck to a separate section of the ship. His quarters were practically indistinguishable from any of the others, aside from the small name plate on the door indicating who it belonged to. In a few moments she and the captain were behind a locked door, and as he sat down at the little desk tucked into the corner of his quarters he gave her a curious look before asking, "So tell me, what exactly is a member of the A.MD. doing all the way out here?"

In short order Bon Bon related to the captain everything that had happened to her up until this point, from the anonymous message she had received in Ponyville regarding the bug bears presence to her discovery of the creature that killed it for her. She even told him of when she and the others had almost been run down by it. She had to abbreviate sections of her story so as not to waste time, but the captain seemed to be nonetheless impressed by her tale. He looked especially intrigued to hear how it underwent a sudden and massive growth spurt.

"And that's pretty much how I ended up here," Bon Bon stated, finishing her story.

For a long while Crisp was silent as let what she just told him sink in. "Well," he finally said, "that's quite a bit to take in miss."

Bon Bon nodded in agreement. "I know it's pretty hard to believe, but it's true."

"And this monster that you speak of certainly sounds like something to not be trifled with if what you are saying is in fact true. From your description this thing could pose a very serious threat to anypony that encountered it. I fear that if it is not dealt with soon there may be casualties if the ponies on the ground confront without any support."

"Actually sir," Bon Bon interrupted, but then stopped herself. She was unsure exactly how what she would say next would be received, and it suddenly occurred to her that it may just end up making her look sound like a crazy pony. In the end, she decided it was worth looking foolish if it meant avoiding any future misunderstandings. Summoning her resolve, she proceeded to say, "Sir, I don't think we should be so quick to try and kill this creature."

Crisp raised an eyebrow, and he readjusted his position in his seat as he said, "Oh really? And why not? You said it yourself that this monster attacked you, clearly demonstrating itself as a very credible threat, and all of a sudden you don't believe killing it would be an appropriate response?"

Bon Bon swallowed loudly, unsure why she was suddenly feeling nervous in front of this stallion. She decided to chalk it up to the difference in rank. She nodded in confirmation to his question.

"Do you mind explaining why?"

Clearing her throat once more, Bon Bon obliged, telling the captain of how she had been in the creatures clutches when she attempted to lead it away and give Gerald and the pony whose name she had forgotten time to escape. She even went back even further to explain how it prevented the pony from dying from a trap set for it. 

"Sir," she said once she had finished, "I really do not believe that this creature actually wants to fight us. So far the only times it has been aggressive is when it has been provoked. Given this, plus the fact that it purposefully saved a pony's life, I believe that we need to start considering a different plan that does not involve trying to kill it."

Her explanation finished, Bon Bon waited patiently for Crisp's answer, wondering how exactly he would react to her story. His face was completely unreadable as he looked her, and she was unable to discern his thoughts. He remained like this for several long and tense moments as he looked at her. Finally, after what felt like far too long for Bon Bin he finally opened his mouth to answer.

"Miss Bon Bon, are you sure of this?" he asked. Bon Bon was slightly confused by the question, but nodded anyway. What he said next was not what she wanted to hear.


"Miss Bon Bon, just how long have you been out in these woods?" Crisp asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What?!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry to say this, but do you really expect me to believe that this thing, no matter what its behavior may indicate, is anything more an animal? It's already hard enough for me to believe that it wields some unknown form of magic, but that it's actually capable of rational thought? Even you have to admit that's a pretty large pill to swallow."

"And why not?!" Bon Bon demanded angrily, almost yelling. "It saved a pony's life! It spared me!"

"And how do you know that it was not just following its instincts like every other animal? How do you know that it didn't just decide you were too small to eat?"

"Nine years hunting down actual monsters that have tried to eat me that's what! That's nine years of protecting your sorry ass from being chewed on by things that would not have even once hesitated to kill me or you!" Crisp began to say something, but Bon Bon cut him off. "I know what I saw sir. I made a mistake in thinking that this thing was no better than the bug bear." Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Bon Bon continued, " Sir, you have to listen to me on this. Because if you don't, then you are putting dozens of lives in danger. This creature is in pain, maybe even scared of us. And if you back into a corner where there is other option for it but to fight, then you are crossing a line that there's no coming back from." 

Her tirade finished, Bon Bon and Crisp stared each other down. He met her stern gaze with his own and neither one of them seemed willing to back down. Their standoff was only interrupted when a knock sounded from the door to his quarters. 

"Yes?" Crisp said loudly, not taking his gaze off of Bon Bon.

"Sir," a mares voice said through the door. "We've spotted something up ahead."

"And?" Crisp demanded. "What is it?"

". . . I really think you should come see for yourself sir."

A brief pause followed, after which Crisp finally said to Bon Bon in barely contained anger, "We will continue this later." With that, Crisp stomped past her with a scowl etched on his face and shoved the door open. Bon Bon reluctantly trailed behind. She was only coming just to see what had required his attention. Within moments they were all back on the command deck of the airship, where they found a number of ponies looking at something outside of the panoramic window. 

"Alright Horizon, what's the matter?"

"Come and see sir," an orange mare replied, apparently unable to look away from whatever was out there. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Bon Bon begrudgingly totted alongside the captain and peered out of the window, leaning over to try and discern what was beneath them. She noticed that the airship was hovering over what appeared to be  marsh or swamp of some kind, with trees suspended over the murky water on stilt like roots. At first she did not see anything that could have given them cause for alarm. As far as she could tell there was only trees, water, and an oddly shaped hill that-

It only took second for Bon Bon to realize what exactly she was looking at, and she found herself at a loss for words.

"Sweet Celestia," one of the ponies muttered, summing up her thoughts for her as they continued to look at the body of the mutilated body of the hydra. It was massive, not at all like the runt that frequented Froggy Bottom Bog near Ponyville. This one must have been at least a few centuries old, a living relic that had born witness to ages long past, and here it was, dead in the water with gaping wounds that even now continued to pour out blood. Crows and other carrion eaters swarmed around the carcass like flies.

Bon Bon was unable to tear her gaze away from the scene, having difficulty trying to process what her eyes were seeing. She knew without a shadow of a doubt what had done this, she just simply did not want to believe it. She did not want to believe that the same creature that had spared her only hours ago had done this, only to leave the hydras body to rot in the mud. The only explanation she could think of was that the creature had somehow felt threatened. Coupled with the pain inducing gems embedded into its neck, it added up to something akin to a ticking time bomb.

And right now, there was an entire army of ponies head straight for it.

"Oh buck." 



> Cornered
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Quartz was about ready to fall off of her hooves and just sleep on the floor at this point. Staying up all night worrying for the safety of her citizens had taken a severe toll on her. She was honestly quite surprised that she was even able to stay awake for the duration of the conversation she had with Princess Luna. All she wanted to do right now was go to her bed and pass out on the custom cloud mattress, and promptly forget about all of her troubles and worries for the next few hours as she slowly sank into the fluffy white substance. 

This luxury was denied to her however, as she was still expecting Roughshod and Rose Flare to arrive any minute now for her carriage. It was all she could do to keep herself from falling out of her office chair as she waited for them to finally show up. They seemed to be taking their time however for some reason, as they still had not yet shown, and Quartz was left to wonder what was taking them so long to get here. 

To pass the time Quartz occasionally gave a passing glance at the sea of tents in front of the town gates, with one of the two airships she had seen earlier hovering overhead, presumably to keep a look out for the Princess and her army of Royal Guards to return and to spot the creature should it choose to attack the town directly. It looked so empty now compared to the flurry of activity that had taken place earlier before the majority of them left. The idea of all those ponies showing up, and then just disappearing into the trees like that was somewhat unnerving, and Quartz could not help but feel an involuntary shiver run up her spine from the thought of them never returning. The rapidly fading light of day did not do much to help the mood.

She really hoped what Harp said about the monster was true, however unlikely it sounded, if only for the sake of the ponies going out to face it. 

The sound of somepony knocking at her door was a welcome distraction for Quartz, although it did cause her to jump slightly in her seat from surprise as the din echoed throughout her household before eventually fading into silence. Rubbing her tired eyes with an outstretched wing, Quartz quickly left her office and began to make her way downstairs. 

The knock came again, causing the mare to grumble loudly, "I'm coming, just hold on!" Finally arriving at her door Quartz undid the lock keeping it shut and opened it, where she found both Roughshod and Rose Flare waiting patiently on her front porch."There you are," she said. "I was beginning to worry that you weren't going to show up."

"Sorry we're late," Roughshod apologized. "Is the carriage ready for us?"

Still feeling slightly put off by the fact that they took so long to get here, Quartz nodded her head. "Of course. If you'll just follow me," she said as she exited her house, shutting the door behind her. From there she led the two around the perimeter of her home to a shed located behind it. Already there waiting for them was Nightshade, who Roughshod had requested be the one to transport his wife. The dark grey pegasus looked somewhat peeved at being forced to wait for so long for them to finally arrive.

"Well it's about time you bothered to show up" she exclaimed, not even bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice. "Took you guys long enough to get here. I was starting to get worried."

Sitting next to the mare was a rather ornate looking wooden roofed carriage held up by two large wheels. It looked somewhat worn from disuse, as most of the green and gold paint that once decorated it had long since peeled off, but aside from that it at least appeared to be serviceable. Nonetheless Quartz could see Roughshod appraising the craft with a critical eye, no doubt looking for any sort of flaw he could find that might indicate it as being a danger to its passenger.

"Sorry for the delay," Quartz apologized. "In any case is the carriage ready?"

"It was ready a while ago," Nightshade answered as she moved to strap the front end of the carriage around herself tightening it around her barrel while still allowing her feathered wings to be able to move freely. "It may look a little rusty, but as far as I can tell it should still be able to get off the ground at least." Looking at Quartz she asked, "Did you ever use this thing?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Quartz replied, "Once or twice. I'm always here, so I just never had that much use for it."

"Well if that's the case then the flight enchantment should still be working," Nightshade said. Quartz nodded in agreement, but Roughshod still did not appear to be entirely convinced however. Trotting over, he gave one of the wheels a light tap with his hoof.

"Are you sure?" he questioned. "Because I don't want Rose getting on that thing if it's not one hundred percent safe for her."

Quartz wanted to roll her eyes and tell the stallion that he was getting worked up over nothing, but decided against the action. Roughshod was only concerned for the well being of his wife and foal after all, and she was absolutely not going to fault him for that. Still, she at least wanted to put some of his concerns at ease. Before she could say anything however, Rose Flare chose that moment to speak up.

"It's okay sweetie," she said to Roughshod, walking over to stand beside him. Extending a hoof, she wrapped it around his foreleg, and the stallion seemed to relax slightly from the contact. "Everything will be fine. I'll only be gone for a little while, at least until the Princess and the Royal Guard finish up their business here. And then I'll be right back, okay?" Roughshod looked like he wanted to say something else, but an affectionate nuzzle from Rose cut him off. "It'll be okay," she added, and Quartz could not help but overhear the slight hitch in the mares voice. 

For a little while the two ponies remained like that, neither one wanting to leave the other, and Quartz felt a sense of longing as she watched them. Eventually they released each other, and Roughshod opened the carriage door before helping Rose up the step. As soon as she was inside and comfortably situated, Roughshod closed the door, making sure it was securely latched. With a wave of her hoof Rose beckoned for him to come a little closer. She looked like she wanted to say something to him, but could not find the appropriate words. Instead she settled for leaning out the carriage and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, which he returned. 

"Are you ready to go?" Nightshade asked gently, sounding hesitant to interrupt their moment. "I mean, it takes a little while to get to Canterlot, and we only got so much time before the Royal Guard changes their mind about letting us go." With eyes glistening and ears folded against the back of her head, Rose gave a short reply of "Yes" before pulling her head back inside. Nightshade waited until her passenger was comfortable before she gradually began to trot forwards, pulling the carriage behind her. With a few flaps of her wings the mare gradually started to climb into the air along with the carriage as the spell cast on it took hold, being sure not to make too steep of an incline as she rose higher and higher into the evening sky. All Roughshod could do was just stand there and watch while they receded into the distance in the direction of Canterlot. 

Barely making a sound, Quartz sidled up along beside him. She wanted to say something to him, something to ease his mind, which she knew was undoubtedly plagued with worry over his pregnant wife. But there was little she could say to help. Feeling that words would have been meaningless anyway, Quartz chose instead to sidle up alongside him, offering the comfort of her presence as she silently prayed for them.



 

"How much longer are we gonna be at this captain?" Willow questioned as he continued to follow his superior through the dense forest, his armor which felt at least one size too big for him making a little clanking noise with every step the young stallion took. 

Captain Stalwart, already tired from trekking through the woods without finding anything of note, replied in a tone that barely qualified as a whisper, "Button up Willow, and keep quiet or I'll tie it shut. We still don't know what we're dealin' with aside from what the Princess told us, so kindly shut your trap and keep moving. Please."

"Yes sir," Willow answered, falling back a few paces behind the captain to rejoin the rest of his fellow guards. There were around twenty of them total in their group, with similar numbers making up the others as each one scoured the forest. Luna had made it extremely clear to them in their briefing that they were not to venture away from their group or confront the creature, whatever in Tartarus it was, without assistance. Aside from the rather brief description the Princess had given them to identify it, Willow had next to no idea what exactly they were even trying to find. 

Spotting a pony he recognized under the armor, Willow came up along beside her and said to her in a hushed tone, "So Hammer, what do you think is gonna happen if we find this thing?"

"You really should follow the captains orders and stop talking," Hammer Hoof replied through clenched teeth. A moment later the earth pony mare added, "But if I had to hazard a guess, we'll probably just end up having to kill it. We wouldn't have brought such heavy equipment otherwise. If I'm being completely honest, I think it's just a wyvern that got a little too comfortable around ponies. I heard that their much more aggressive when their not in the cold up North. The ponies that saw it must have gotten the description mixed up, confused for something else."

"That's what I was thinking too," Willow responded as he stepped over a fallen log in his path while Hammer just went around it. "I mean, what else do you think could give all those ponies back there that big of a scare?"

Hammer Hoof snorted. "If you ask me, they've been hiding behind that wall of theirs a little too long. We're the Royal Guard, not foalsitters."

"I hear ya," Willow said, nodding his head in agreement. "So what do you think-"

"Did I not just say to stow it Willow?!" Stalwart said sharply, looking directly at the young stallion. Willow froze, like a deer caught in a light. "If I hear another word outta you, you're carrying me back to Canterlot on your back when we get done here! Do I make myself clear?"

Too afraid to respond with a "Yes sir" for fear of it going against the captain's order, Willow opted to give a fervent nod in reply. Stalwart growled deep in his throat as he resumed walking. Willow could hear the sound of some of the other members of the Royal Guard snickering at his misfortune, and he felt his face flush from embarrassment. This kind of behavior was nothing new among them, and Willow had become somewhat used to it despite the short amount of time since he was accepted into their ranks.

That did not mean that he had to like it however, and the sooner they were done with their job the better. Willow was just glad that the sky was as clear as it was, with only one little stray cloud to be seen, allowing the full moon to shine clearly down upon them through the tree branches in shafts of pearlescent white light, courtesy of Princess Luna. It might as well have been daytime, which was something Willow and the others were very grateful for as they continued to search the forest at a steady pace.

Every once in a little while Willow would glance upward to see if he could catch even so much as a fleeting glimpse of the Lunar Princess, hoping to witness her beautiful midnight blue form against the backdrop of the night sky, with the moons white light reflecting off of her regalia. So far however he had yet to catch sight of her, and each time his gaze would drift back downward in disappointment. No sooner had he done this however than did he feel somepony next to him nudge him in the side with a hoof, and he looked over to see Hammer giving a sly grin.

"Hoping to see something you like?" she questioned cheekily, her tone suggesting that she knew all too well the answer to the question already. Willow did not bother to dignify her with any sort of response, choosing instead to look away as he tried to not let her see the blush that was rapidly spreading across his muzzle. He could faintly hear the sound of Hammer chuckling quietly beside him.





The next hour was spent in relative silence as the group continued to march forward, each mare and stallion doing their absolute best to make as little noise as possible to preserve the element of surprise. Willow himself believed that whatever they were trying to find would have to be completely deaf to not hear them coming. The night air was filled with the snap of twigs beneath metal clad hooves and the rattle of armor. 

The spellcasters within their group were doing their best to mitigate the din with noise canceling spells, but there was only so much they could do to keep up. Most of their efforts were being put into making sure that the arbalests were completely silent as they were pulled along behind them over the rough and uneven terrain. They kept what would otherwise have been little more than giant noisemakers in their situation as quiet as a field mouse, which was something that Willow supposed he was grateful for. 

The only downside to this strategy was that the task of keeping the spell active was especially taxing on the unicorns maintaining it, which meant that they had to stop more often than they normally would have to allow them to recover their strength, leaving many of the Royal Guard with nothing better to do than sit on their haunches and twiddle their hooves until they were ready to move again.

Willow let out a heavy sigh as he sat down, awaiting the moment when Captain Stalwart would give the order. This stop seemed to be taking a bit longer than usual however, and Willow was beginning to feel the onset of boredom. Glancing around, he saw that many of the other members of the Royal Guard appeared to be just as anxious as he was. Not for the first time, Willow found himself wondering why they were all required to be here if all they were doing was hunting down some stray beast, or why they even needed arbalests for it. He imagined that they probably would have been done by now if they did not have to lug them around. 

Shaking his head at it all, Willow retrieved his water canteen from his saddlebags and held it up to his mouth to drink. He was slightly confused however when he found that it was practically empty, having only a few drops left to offer. Willow silently cursed his misfortune, as he was sure that he had remembered to refill it earlier. As luck would have it however, Willow's ears picked up what appeared to be the sound of running water not too far off. Since it looked like they would be here for a little while yet, the young stallion decided he had time enough to quickly go and refill his canteen. All he needed was somepony else to go with him. Thankfully it did not him long to locate Hammer Hoof a short distance away. As quietly as he could, Willow made his way towards her, where he found the mare with her front legs propped up on top of a rotten tree stump as she readjusted the straps holding her armor in place with her teeth.

Noticing his approach, she paused in her task to look at him curiously and ask, "Need something?"

"Ran out of water," Willow explained, showing her his empty container. "I think I hear a stream or something close by though."

Raising an eyebrow at him Hammer asked, "And you felt the need to tell me this. . . why?"

"You know the rule," Willow responded while trying not to roll his eyes. "Nopony goes anywhere by themselves. Buddy system and all. It should just be common sense."

Hammer Hoof just gave him a blank look for a few seconds before sighing and getting off of the stump. "Fine," she said. "Bu we'd better make it quick."

Feeling a little pleased with himself for getting her to agree to his request, Willow went about following his ears to where the sound of water seemed to be coming from, a disgruntled Hammer Hoof in tow behind. After letting one of the sentries know where they were going, Willow and Hammer stepped away from the main group and into the depths of the woods. After a few minutes of trotting through dense underbrush, stepping over fallen logs and the occasional rock in their path, the two ponies emerged out into the open, finding themselves standing before the shore of a large pool at the foot of a sheer cliff. A waterfall could be seen in the distance, the moons light reflect off of the liquid, making it appear like a curtain of falling silver within a cloud of stardust. Willow would have liked to have just sat there for moments just to take it all in. 

"Will you hurry it up?" Hammer said forcefully, causing Willow to glance behind him to see the mare looking around, appearing visibly nervous out in the open. "I don't want to be out here any longer than I have to."

"What's the matter?" Willow questioned in a teasing tone, unable to stop a smirk from spreading across his muzzle. "You're not scared of the monster are you? You think it's gonna come out and get you?"

Scowling at him, Hammer replied, "Oh don't you worry about me one bit. I'll make sure it's too busy chewing on your ass while I make my getaway. Of course, that'll only happen if you don't hurry it up."

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Willow chuckled in mild amusement at Hammer's skiddish behavior. She always had been a little nervous at night for some reason. Even so, Hammer still made a valid point, as Willow also wanted to get this done as quickly as possible. Hurrying over to the edge of the pool, he uncapped his canteen and dipped the open end beneath the surface, allowing it to gradually fill itself.





Angela was stirred from her rest by the distinct sound of something moving around at the water's edge, not too far off from where she was located at the bottom of the pool. Every little disturbance sent little vibrations through the water, causing her spines to twitch slightly in response. 

There was definitely something up there, some sort of animal coming to get a drink, that was completely unaware of her presence. Feeling her hunting instincts take over slightly from the thought of finally getting a meal, the wraith kept her profile as low as possible as she slowly glided forward along the bottom, barely disturbing the sand beneath her. Her spines laid flat against her back, further reducing her profile as she prepared herself to strike.





Hammer tapped her hoof impatiently on the ground as she waited for Willow to finish filling his canteen. He was already taking long enough as it was, and she did not want stick around this place, especially when the creature they were looking for could be potentially anywhere. Every few seconds she glance backward to make sure that nothing was sneaking up on her while she was not looking.

"Are you almost done?" she whispered loud enough for Willow to hear her.

"Yeah," he replied, sparing her quick glance over his shoulder. "It'll just be another second."

Hammer sighed, resuming tappig her hoof to keep herself distracted. Suddenly a faint splash, along with an exclamation of "Dammit!" drew her attention back to Willow, and she saw that he was now rooting through the water for something.

"What are you doing you idiot?!" she demanded, struggling not to yell.

"Slipped out of my hooves, just give me a sec'," he explained as he glanced at different places in the water, trying to locate his canteen by using his hooves to sift through the water. 

Hammer was absolutely livid at this point, as was about ready to buck the stallions sorry behind all the way back to Canterlot for wasting her time. With as much splashing as he was doing in trying to find his canteen, something was bound to hear him, which worried Hammer greatly. Before she could close the distance between them however, something in the corner of her vision caught her attention. A few yards away, on one of trees, she could see a miscolored spot on the bark. When she looked closer she saw that it was not actually miscolored, but the bark appeared to have been stripped off, creating a gaping wound in the tree that allowed her to see its pale flesh beneath as sap leaked out, listening in the moonlight. At first, she thought that it was a mark left by a bear establishing territory or something like that. However, the fact that the mark was more than a dozen feet off of the ground and covered almost the entire length of the tree told her otherwise.

From what she could make out, this was not the only tree. A few yards away, she could see other trees had been similarly marked. Some were even missing branches, and they were all leading into the forests depths like a trail. A trail created by something very big.

"Willow," she whispered, urgently, trying to gain the stallions attention. She could still hear him looking for his canteen, but she received no answer. "Willow!" she said more forcefully, trying not to shout as she kept a close eye on the trees, looking out for any sign of movement. 

"What?" he replied, finally looking at her.

"I really think we should-" Hammer began to say as she glanced over towards him, only to stop short when she noticed something behind him. It was so subtle that she had almost missed it, but Hammer could just barely make out what appeared to be a faint reddish glow just beneath the waters surface. And it was heading straight towards them. 

Hammer Hoof instantly went pale, and alarm shot through her body as she attempted to warn Willow, whose attention was turned away from it. 

"Loo-"

But that was as much as she was able to say before the water erupted before them, and a massive nightmarish creature as big as a dragon rocketed out of the depths, leaving bright red streaks in its wake as it headed towards them at speeds Hammer would not have thought possible for something so big, appearing as little more than a blur in her vision. Poor Willow did even have enough time to scream as he was scooped up in the creatures massive claws that could rend through a dragons scales, and Hammer could nothing more than watch as the monster, a huge sleek eyeless thing, pulled him back into the water as though it were being yanked by strings. 

And just like that it was over. The entire scene had only taken a second to play out, yet it left Hammer frozen to the spot in terror, looking at the spot Willow had once just been with her mouth agape. Eventually she was able to regain control of her legs and hooves, and she took off as quickly as her hooves could carry her.





Almost immediately after she had snatched up what she had assumed to be prey off the shore of the pool and pulled it back into the murky depths, all at the speed of a bullet, Angela felt that something was not quite right. In her hands, she felt not the soft flesh of a deer or some other forest animal. Instead she felt something more akin to the aluminum of a soda can. Angela was fairly certain that the last time she had checked, deer did not typically have anything hard on their bodies. 

As she held the creature in her claws, Angela prevented herself from just crushing it in her hands and devouring it as a nagging suspicion began to form at the back of her mind. It overrode her instincts for the moment, and Angela was beginning to feel a small amount of dread. Moving closer to the pools surface, Angela was able to more clearly see what she had caught.

'Oh shit.'

There, grasped in her clawed hand, was a pony. A stallion she thought by the look of his build, clad in golden armor. Angela just about had a heart attack the moment she saw him, fearing that she had killed him. Shocked by what she had just done, Angela released him as a wave of panic settled over her. 

However, her fears proved to be unfounded when she saw him move around a little bit, and she felt a huge amount of relief. He at least appeared to be conscious, although he had sustained multiple injuries. A cloud of red began to form around him, and when Angela looked closer she saw that his armor had been bent in various places, the edges cutting into his fur and skin, and his left foreleg was bent at an awkward angle. He was understandably more than a little dazed as he groped around with his good limb, his eyes fluttering open as he attempted to regain his focus and identify his surroundings. The moment his sight landed on her, his eyes flew open, becoming the size of dinner plates. He opened his mouth to scream, only to have his voice muffled when water flooded into his mouth, coming out as a plume of bubbles. He flailed around as he tried desperately to get away from her, making a break for the surface. 

Angela had no idea what to do. She wanted to help him, but she feared that she would only injure him even further. She also wanted to run away, thinking that she had effectively destroyed any chance she had of making peace with the ponies. She was caught in a moment of indecision as she watched the pony swim. Unfortunately it did not appear that he was making much headway. If anything it appeared that he was actually sinking lower, and she realized with a jolt that his armor was dragging him downward.

'I have to help him,' she thought, knowing he would die otherwise. However as she moved forward, the coppery scent of his blood in the water stopped her in her tracks, and the wraith was suddenly reminded of her hunger. She had forgotten it in her panic, but now it had returned with a vengeance. 

She knew it would have been wrong, but it would be so easy to end it right here and now. The little pony was all but powerless against her right now. She would not even have to do anything to him at all, not when she could just wait for him to sink to the bottom and perish there. It would be the water that had killed him, not her. 

It would not be her fault then. 

Would it?

Even now she could plainly see that the pony's efforts were weakening, and less bubbles were coming from him as he continued to struggle, desperately trying to reach the surface of the pool, only to watch it slip further and further away. Still he fought, and all Angela could do was watch, caught between her desire to help and her need to satisfy her hunger. She knew she should find the thought of eating him repulsive, but he was already so close to death anyway. He probably only had a minute left, if that, before he eventually succumbed, and then she could feast with a free conscience. 

Right?

At this point the pony's fight for survival had all but ceased entirely as he sank deeper and deeper, while Angela moved to follow him, finding herself waiting in eager anticipation for the moment when she could finally sate her hunger.

And then she saw his face, as it went from panicked desperation for life to complete hopelessness, and his desperate struggle ceased entirely. He stopped moving, and his eyes slid shut as he drifted downward. 

The sight of the pony seeming to accept his fate was enough to finally snap Angela out of her state of mind, forcing aside her instincts and allowing her to realize that allowing him to perish was no different than if she killed him herself. She quickly gathered him up, holding him close to her chest before rocketing towards the surface, erupting out of the water. As soon as she was above the water she made a beeline for the shore, where she set him down as gently as possible on ground, hoping desperately that it was not too late, not just for him but for her as well. To her alarm however she found that he was not moving at all anymore. He was not even breathing, and Angela realized that his lungs were probably full of water. 

Almost afraid to touch him for fear of making things worse, Angela hoped she was doing the right thing as she gently lifted him off the ground and tilted him forward slightly, allowing a stream of water to flow out of his mouth. When she was fairly confident that his lungs were clear, Angela set him down again.

He still was not breathing.

Angela's heart was pounding in her chest, and she was starting to hyperventilate as she frantically tried to think of a what to do. Acting on instinct, she carefully used her claws to snip away at the straps holding his armor in place before tossing it aside. She then began to press down a gently as she could on his side trying not to crush his ribs in the process. It felt very much like trying resuscitate a mouse, one wrong move and she end up killing him instead of saving him.

'Please,' she pleaded desperately, begging that she could be heard. 'Please wake up.'

But even after whole minutes with no results, Angela was beginning to feel that this was a fruitless endeavor, and was about to give up. But still kept trying, knowing she could not handle being responsible for another death. 

Her persistence was rewarded, and Angela felt a huge amount of relief descend upon her when the pony finally stirred, uttering a series of hacking coughs as he came to. Feeling ready to collapse at this point, Angela backed away a little to give him a little breathing room as he lifted his head, wincing a little from the motion. His eyes were clenched from the discomfort he was no doubt experiencing until he opened them a little, glancing around at his surroundings. 

"Wha. . . ?" he groaned uncertainly, apparently confused as to how he ended up here. "What happened?"

Then he noticed the huge shadow that Angela was casting over him, and he went completely stiff. Slowly, ever so slowly, he pony turned his head around, then gradually looked up at the wraith looming above him. 

Feeling more than a little sheepish, Angela gave him a hesitant little wave of her clawed hand, trying to replicate a grin with her jaws.

'H-hi.'

The pony proceeded to faint.

	



> Negotiations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	'Okay, gotta be honest here,' Angela thought as she gently poked at the pony in front of her. 'That was not quite the reaction that I was expecting to get.'

When the pony had fainted right in front of her, Angela had initially been alarmed by it, thinking that his injuries were more grievous than they appeared to be. That concern was quickly alleviated when she saw that he was still breathing, albeit a little unsteadily, signifying that he was thankfully not dead. He was just a pansy. In her opinion the least he could have done was stay awake long enough to see that she was not going to eat him.

Angela sighed as she shook her head in exasperation, resigning herself to the fact that if she was going to convince this pony that she she did not mean any harm, then she was going to have to wait until he eventually woke up again, whenever that would be. She hoped it would be soon, as she did not want to wait around in one place out in the open where she could be easily spotted. On top of that, she still had yet to acquire something to satisfy her ever growing hunger. It was becoming progressively harder to think straight as the minutes ticked by, and every part of her being was telling her to hunt and feed as soon as possible. Angela was able to ignore her urges, for the time being anyway, knowing that her best and possibly her only chance of convincing the ponies that she was more than just a mindless monster was sitting right here in front of her. 

In an effort to distract herself from her hunger, Angela took to examining a piece of the pony's armor, which she held between two of her claws as she laid down on the ground on her stomach with her tails still partially submerged in the pool, resting her head on her other hand. She imagined that this was hardly normal for a wraith to do, and would have made for quite the sight as she looked at the little golden helmet, turning it over occasionally to get a better look at it. She wondered if maybe this pony was some sort of hunter, like that griffin from earlier. She quickly discounted that as being very likely however, as he seemed woefully unprepared and unequipped to take much of anything down, much less something like her. As ineffective as they were the griffin seemed to have everything from smoke bombs to traps, while all this pony had was his horn and the armor on his back. 

Upon discarding that possibility, Angela was led to surmise that this pony was in fact part of a larger group somewhere nearby. She was able to vaguely recall from the few instances when she had seen the show occasionally seeing some ponies wearing armor that was either exactly the same or at least similar to what this pony was wearing. In most of those cases, at least one of their Princesses were present, leading Angela to assume that they might be in the area as well. Where they were, Angela did not know, and she did not recall seeing any other ponies with this one, although he may have just been a straggler that wandered off for some reason. The reason as to why they would be here was all too obvious to Angela, and she felt a certain amount of shame in herself that she had made herself seem dangerous enough to warrant such a response.

The fact that she still had yet to come up with a means to effectively communicate with them only made it even more of a dilemma for her to overcome, despite the issue constantly being on her mind. Right now she guessed that her best bet was to wait for the pony to wake up and then somehow try to convince him she meant no harm. 

'That shouldn't be too hard I guess,' Angela thought. 'I mean, all I would have to do is not attack him. . . again. That should get my point across.'

Unfortunately that required him to be conscious, which he was currently not doing a very good job at.

'Lazy bum. All I did was rough you up a little and scare you half to death.'

Shifting her body a little on the sandy shore to make herself more comfortable, Angela set the helmet on the ground before resting her head on her folded arms, scratching at that same bothered area on her neck with the side of one of her four meter long claws as it flared up again. The discomfort had thankfully gone down considerably in the last few hours or so, yet it still remained as a constant irritation that was just short of being a literal thorn in her side. No matter what she did to assuage it, it persisted, making Angela wonder what had even caused it in the first place. She though back to when it had first started, the earliest point being her first actual encounter with the griffin and those two ponies, right before her memories became somewhat muddled from evolving. 

Before she could dwell on the matter for very long however, Angela heard among the ever present roar of the waterfall and the rustle of leaves the distinct sound of a twig snapping, interrupting her thoughts. She briefly glanced at the pony in front of her, wondering if he was finally waking up. He was still unconscious however, and aside from his quiet breathing he made no noise to speak of, so it was not him who made it. As she looked at him Angela sharpened senses picked up a faint odor in the air. With a quick sniff she recognized it as belonging to a pony. Or rather a whole group of them. 

Angela's felt her spines stand up a little bit straighter in anxiousness upon this realization, and she began to survey the woods, on the lookout for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. 

Another snap came from somewhere to her left, and Angela was starting to feel more than a little on edge when she could not find anything that stood out among the trees and undergrowth. In contrast to this the scent seemed to be getting stronger, as though it were coming from all around her.

They were here. She knew they were here, yet she could not see them for some reason, even with the moons light shining down from above. She would have though that with their armor, considering just how bright it was, they would have stuck out in the foliage like a sore thumb. At the very least she should have heard the occasional clank of metal. Somehow, they were hidden from her sight as well as much of her hearing. The only reason she knew of their presence at all was their smell, which seemed to be growing steadily stronger with every second that passed, and Angela could not help but feel more than a little nervous at the implications of it. 

Then all of a sudden, a dozen or so small points of light appeared, bathing the area in a rainbow of color. Along with them multiple unicorns clad in regal golden armor appeared as well, seemingly fading into existence less than a dozen feet before her, and Angela suddenly realized that the reason she could sense but not see them was because they had somehow rendered themselves invisible to her sight. Angela snarled in surprise at their sudden appearance, but she made sure to keep herself in check so she did not attack them out of instinctual response. 

The unicorns however did not seem willing to extend that same courtesy to her as they each lowered their heads in unison, pointing their spiral horns straight at her, and within moments a volley of multicolored bolts of magic came hurtling towards her at high speed. Angela was barely able to bring up her two right arms to shield herself from the onslaught before it made contact.

'Hey! What are you doing! I'm not-' Angela stopped when she noticed that the bolts were actually doing very little to cause any harm to her. Their effects ranged from streams of fire to spears of ice to little bolts of electricity, and yet none of them seemed to be doing much more than mildly sting her. It was like someone were throwing thistles at her if Angela were to be completely honest. Realizing that she was not in any immediate danger, Angela lowered her arms, allowing the bolts to strike her square on her torso. Even then the bolts did very little in the way of any actual harm.

'Um. . . okay,' Angela thought, wondering if this was really all there was to the ponies plan to combat her. If so then what did she have to be concerned about, when they could barely scratch her? Evidently the ponies also saw how much, or rather how little, of an effect that their magic was having on her, and soon enough the barrage ceased entirely as silence once pervaded the area. Angela was unable to keep herself from chuckling a little when she saw them looking at her with wide eyes, each of them no doubt thinking that they had just screwed themselves, her laughter sounding like sandpaper scraping against itself. 

Her amusement was suddenly cut short however when she heard a shout from within the trees order, "Open fire!", and a loud 'ka-chunk' echoed through the woods which was immediately followed by a feeling of sharp pain in her left shoulder, catching her completely off guard as she shrieked and reeled backwards from the unexpected sensation. Glancing at the affected area, Angela found a metal rod a little shorter than the length of her forearm sticking out of her flesh. It felt very much like a hypodermic needle had been unceremoniously shoved into her skin. To make matters worse the unicorn had resumed firing spells at her, and while it was more of a distraction than anything else, Angela nevertheless felt herself becoming highly agitated by their aggression. 

Ignoring them for the moment to deal with the rod, Angela ripped it out of her with a quick yank, allowing a thin stream of dark blood to leak out of the fresh wound, causing her to utter a shrill cry loud enough to force the ponies to stop and cover their ears. Once it was finally out Angela glared at it for a split second, hissing with distaste upon seeing the barbed tip of the shaft coated in her own blood, before flinging it away, forcing a number of the ponies to dive out of the way to avoid the projectile. 

'What the hell is wrong with all of you?!' Angela thought, punctuating it with a snarl. 'Can't any of you see that I'm-' 

Angela was unable to finish her thought before a pony that was hidden from her sight yelled out, "Don't stop now! Keep firing! Bring that thing down!"

Not a moment later the armored unicorns shook off their momentary disorientation and resumed shooting spells at her. In addition three more metal spears came flying toward her from seemingly nowhere. One of them missed her by a number of feet as it soared past her head before plummeting harmlessly into the pool behind her. The other two met their mark however, and Angela hissed in pain as they buried themselves into her leg and torso. The one on her leg went deep enough that she felt its tip scrape against bone. This only served to further intensify the feeling of complete torture as Angela felt waves of agony shoot through her. 

The worst thing about the whole ordeal was that no matter how Angela wanted to fight back, to let her more feral side take over and direct her actions to force the ponies to stop hurting her, she knew that the second she did so she wold lose control. No matter what she could not let that happen. 

Angela clutched her head between her claws as she fought her own primal urges for dominance, struggling to remain in control of herself. The spells were inconsequential. The spears meant nothing. None of it really hurt she kept telling herself. None of it would ever be able to kill her. At this point in time that piece of logic was the only thing keeping Angela from losing herself to the wraith, the real wraith, and she hung onto it like a drowning man would hold onto a lifeline.

That lifeline was worn all the thinner when the unicorns started to fire exclusively lightning spells at her, and soon multiple arcs of white hot electricity erupted from their horns, each one of them drawn to the metal spears embedded in her side. Instantly pain unlike anything she had ever felt before surged through her veins like molten lead.

'Stop. . .'

Angela felt her limbs begin to tremble as the currents continued to pour into her ceaselessly. The torment was without end, and the war that Angela was waging within herself suddenly tipped very far out of her favor. The wraith was coming out, and if this kept up it would never be stopped.

'Stop. . .'

Her cries of pain and anguish morphed into ferocious snarls and hisses of rage and anger, and blood lust began to pervade her thoughts along with a desire to kill all those who had wronged her. Who had misunderstood her. Who had dared to tried to kill her, not knowing that they had brought their own doom upon them. 

"That's it! Keep it up, I think it's working!"

Angela opened her mouth wide, baring her rows of needle sharp teeth. She raised her saber like claws above her, like bony guillotines about to fall. She crouched low, and-

"CEASE!"

The voice seemed to have came from all around as it thundered through the trees, and immediately afterward a beam of incandescent blue light from above appeared between them, slicing through the bolts of lightning like a knife through string and carving a swath on the ground, finally allowing Angela to regain control before she lost herself. Her breathing was heavy and her limbs trembled as she struggled to keep herself from falling to the ground. When she had recovered enough her attention was drawn upward as she searched the starlit sky for what had helped her. She immediately caught sight of a large pony with midnight blue fur dressed in glistening silver regalia. Unlike the other ponies she possessed both wings and a horn which had an orb of brilliant white light at its tip, allowing everyone on the ground to see the grim expression on her muzzle. 

As Angela looked at her in a mixture of wonder and confusion, Angela got the distinct feeling that she had seen her before. Not from when she was still human, but much more recent. She remembered hearing that same voice not too long ago from somewhere. 

Suddenly the pony tucked in her wings slightly, and descended quickly in a tight spiral. Angela noticed that trailing behind her were six more ponies that were also clad in silver armor. She also saw that instead of feathers their wings more closely resembled those of a bat. With an audible thud the large pony's hooves met the ground, her entourage following suite. As soon as Angela saw her up close she was finally able to associate a name with her.

'Isn't that-'

"Princess Luna! You're here!" one pony exclaimed in surprise and relief. "For a little while we didn't think you would come and help-"

"Be silent!" the Princess ordered, her voice bellowing like a roll of thunder, startling even Angela a little. The pony she addressed quickly shut his mouth, faltering under the harsh gaze that she was casting at him and his fellows. Her wings remained unfurled, and she held her head high, giving her a rather intimidating presence as she stood between them like a wall of absolute authority. Then the Princess turned her head, and her gaze landed on Angela, who noticed that there was something distinctly different about the way she was looking at her. There was no anger or fear in her eyes. Instead Angela saw in them a sort of perplexed curiosity, like the Princess was not at all sure what to think of what she was seeing before her.

Without any warning the Princess took a single, cautious step towards Angela, as the light from her horn faded out of existence, once again bathing the area in the light of the moon. The moment she did almost every single pony behind her began to cry out in alarm, each of them yelling things like "Princess Luna, be careful!" and "Get away from that thing! It'll attack you!", as well as "Oh sweet Celestia I can't watch!". 

They were all rendered silent in an instant when Luna cast them a glare from over her shoulder. Angela could not help but feel impressed by the authority she so obviously possessed over them. When all was quiet once again Luna returned her attention to Angela, and for a few long moments the two just stared at each other, until Luna's horn ignited in a soft blue glow, and Angela felt a strange yet soothing sensation wash over her that she had difficulty describing. The closest comparison she could make was as if the world had adopted a surreal dream like quality. It only lasted a few short seconds until the feeling vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Angela perplexed as she shook her head slightly, wondering what had just happened.

"It was you," Luna said unexpectedly, her stern expression morphing int one of surprise, her eyes full of wonder and confusion. Angela was just confused, and she showed it with a slight tilt of her head.

'Huh?'

Stepping even closer to her, the Princess seemed to be at a complete loss for words as she opened and closed her mouth several times like she was about to speak, yet was unable to do so.

"Well this complicates things a bit," she finally said. 





As Princess Luna gazed upward at the creature that towered over her, she was busily trying to sort out her thoughts on what she had just discovered. A small part of her wanted to disregard the very notion of the idea as ludicrous, to call the mere possibility of it downright laughable. However the evidence that completely shattered that notion was standing, or rather floating right here in front of her, and eventually Luna came to accept the reality that the dreams, the horrific nightmares that had been echoing across the realm of dreams for the past few days were not being caused by the creature at all as she had originally suspected. Instead, it was the creature itself that was being plagued by them. 

It truly did complicate matters quite a bit, as she had just stated. Her obligation to deal with what could possibly be a serious threat to the ponies of Hollow Shades was met by her desire to lend assistance to it.

When Luna had first received the signal that the creature had been found and was actively being engaged via an information transference spell, she had immediately set off in the appropriate direction. When she first caught sight of the creature over the treetops, Luna found herself awestruck by it. It was so completely alien to anything else she had ever seen in Equestria. Even her brief excursions into the uncharted west had never yielded anything quite as exotic and deadly in appearance as this beast. Eventually her moment of awe soon passed, and Luna had resumed her course, ready to join the fray, expecting to find a one sided battle with the broken and mutilated bodies of multiple ponies littered around the creature.

What she had found instead was the creature surrounded on all sides, doing almost nothing as spells pelted its hide and spears launched by the hidden arbalists skewered into its leathery flesh. And as she had been watching the scene from above, wondering if her assistance was really needed, she had detected the unmistakable presence that was the source of the nightmares. Following her relief and finally finding the troubled soul was immediately replaced by utter confusion followed by alarm when she pinpointed where it was coming from. 

And now here she was, staring upward in barely contained bewilderment at the creature as it gazed at her in turn. At least she thought it was looking at her. It possessed no eyes to speak of, so all she had to determine that it was indeed looking at her was the direction in which its head was pointed. It was trembling slightly as it stared at her, and Luna took notice of the many injuries it had sustained, from the accumulated scratches and burns from the spells to the large metal spears that protruded from different areas of its body. The most impressive wounds that Luna saw were a trio of large bite marks along its spine. 

Luna concluded that whatever this creature was, it was a magnet for trouble.

Next to the creature Luna could not help but notice the immobile form of a pony laying down on the sand with most of his armor stripped off. When she saw it she felt her heart rate quicken a tiny bit, and she once again looked to the creature responsible. She knew she should have expected at least a few casualty when dealing with something that could kill celestial beasts, but it was still a blow to Luna to know that a pony had lost their life in the skirmish.

Apparently choosing to ignore her for the moment, the creature turned away and began to tend to its wounds, starting by removing the spears embedded into its flesh. Letting curiosity take a hold of her, Luna took a cautious step forward. The moment she did however, the creature turned its eyeless gaze back towards her and let out a low, feral hiss. It was an unmistakable demand to back off, one which Luna complied with as she slowly retreated as she lit up her horn.When the creature did not pursue after her she allowed her horn to dim again. The creature did not seem to care at the moment as it snorted once before resuming its task. The ponies behind her bristled at the sound, readying their weapons until Luna motioned for them to stop with a wave of her hoof.

Once she was in the company of the Royal Guard again, with what seemed to be a hundred ponies huddling around her, forming a barrier between her and the creature, Luna found herself confronted by none other than captain Stalwart, who kept glancing between her and the creature, as though he were unsure which one required his attention more.

"Your highness," he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he spoke, "May I be so bold as to ask what exactly your plan is here."

Luna refrained from answering the question right away, as she herself was at somewhat of a loss as to what their next course of action would be. She could tell what almost everypony else, Stalwart included, had in mind. Every unicorn had their horn alight in preparation to fire off an attack spell at the creature, and even though she was unable to see them due to a light filtering spell, something that she was fairly new to the concept of since her return, her ears detected the commotion of more ponies loading up the arbalists for another volley. 

The creature however seemed to be ignoring them for the most part, or at least it appeared to be trying to as it occasionally glanced at them while it continued to tend to its wounds. Luna just watched silently as it wrapped its enormous claws around one of the spears, pause, then swiftly pulled it out. It hissed loudly before casually tossing the spear into the pool next to it. 

"Princess Luna?" Stalwart said, growing more anxious by the second.

Finally Luna responded by asking a question of her own.

"Captain Stalwart," she said, her eyes still glued to the beast, "what was the creature doing when you found and proceeded to engage it?"

At first Stalwart was confused, as he obviously had not expected such a response from Luna. "Well," he began after gathering his thoughts, "we actually found it just sitting here on the bank doing nothing, right after Hammer Hoof came back and told us that she and Willow were caught off guard by it. It was the perfect opportunity to bring it down before it could do anymore harm."

"I see. . ." Luna answered, thinking over what she had just learned. "So instead of awaiting my arrival as you should have done, you saw fit to disobey that order and put even more ponies in danger by confronting the creature, even after what I had already told not only you but everypony else here what it might be capable of?"

"What?!" Stalwart exclaimed before he quickly lowered his voice, likely out of fear of unintentionally offending her as well as trying not to draw the creatures attention. "But you Highness! That thing already attacked one of our own without provocation! It killed Willow! How do you expect us to respond to something like that?"

Fixing a stern glare on the captain, Luna said in a warning tone, "I expect you to do as you have been instructed, Stalwart, lest you desire to have your current rank removed on the grounds of insubordination." Stalwart had his mouth agape as he struggled to articulate some sort of response or justification. 

Before Luna could go any further she noticed that a very large shadow had come over them, obstructing them from the light of the full moon. She turned her head and looked upward straight into the face of the creature as it peered at her. Eyes or no, it was looking a her specifically, and suddenly she felt very vulnerable. She ignited her horn, ready to defend herself from it if need be. Whether or not it was the being she was seeking to aid, the fact remained that it was still a dangerous creature that if given the chance could tear her head off like a cork from a wine bottle. Around her, she could see many ponies doing the same thing as they prepared themselves to defend their Princess. 

The attack never came however. Instead the creature extended one of its arms, showing that it had something resting in its gigantic palm. It was the dead Pony that Luna saw. Except there was an additional detail that she had missed when she had first seen him.

The pony was breathing. His sides were steadily rising and falling in a clear indication of vitality. Luna almost could not believe what she was seeing, and she felt a phenomenal amount of relief at knowing there had been no casualties. Stalwart, along with everypony present, seemed to be equally shocked when they saw and heard what they had presumed to be a fallen comrade taking in breath after breath. 

Slowly and gently, as though it were holding a newborn foal, the creature lowered the pony to the ground before Luna. It showed an amount of gentleness that Luna would have never expected from such a creature. When the pony was on the ground the creature uttered a quiet hiss before backing away a little bit. Then suddenly, appearing as little more than a whitish blur in the night, the creature swiftly turned around faster than anything its size should be able to. Caught off guard by the unexpected movement, the entirety of the Royal guard behind Luna opened fire upon it. However the creature was too swift, easily avoiding their attack as it dove head first into the pool in a great splash of water. 

"Stop this instant!" Luna bellowed at them. Immediately upon hearing her command, they all stopped, although Luna supposed it hardly mattered at this point. The creature was already gone anyway, the only indication it had ever been there being the slight rippling of the waters surface, until even that faded. Sighing heavily, Luna cast a scathing glare at the ponies before swiftly trotting over to inspect the unconscious pony.

Stooping down Luna examined the pony, she saw that he was a fairly young stallion. She also saw that he had sustained multiple injuries ranging from deep cuts created by his bent armor to a broken leg that would probably take weeks, maybe even a few months to heal completely. Aside from those however, he was alive. Looking towards one of her guards she quickly ordered, "This pony needs medical attention. Go find somepony here who can attend to him." She received a sharp salute before the thestral darted away on his errand. Not a minute had passed before he returned with a unicorn and a pegasus, both of them mares bearing armor decorated with emblems indicating their role as healers. The unicorn wasted no time as she lit up her horn and enveloped the injured pony in a veil of dark green magic. The points where his wounds seemed most grievous glowed slightly brighter. Upon seeing them the pegasus removed small oblong stones covered in circular markings from a satchel before placing them on the affected areas. Satisfied, the unicorn gently lifted him upward and began to carry him away with the pegasus following close behind. 

Satisfied that the pony was now in good hooves, Luna allowed herself a moment to gather her thoughts before returning her attention to the creature. It appeared to have not moved during the entire ordeal, and seemed to be waiting patiently for something. Piece by piece, Luna began to put together what was happening here, and she once again started to approach the waters edge. Before she could take more than a few steps she found her path blocked by Stalwart.

"Princess," he said, "I don't know what you are up to, but I cannot in good conscience allow you to go anywhere near that thing." 

Sighing heavily, Luna answered, "I do not intend to sound condescending captain, but if there is anypony here who is the most capable of defending themselves from this "thing" as you have so eloquently put it, then it would be me. Besides," she added, "I feel that this creature does not intend to do anypony harm. After all, it gave Willow back to us alive."

"Are you kidding me?" Stalwart replied. "I don't care if it took on Tirek, that thing is a monster, and it needs to be-"

"That is enough Stalwart," Luna interrupted him, giving him a warning look. "Perhaps you failed to take notice due to your apparent need to prove yourself a stallion, but that creature just returned one of our own to us." Stalwart opened his mouth to utter some sort of retort, but Luna silenced him with a raised hoof. "Captain," she said, "I understand that you are only trying to fulfill your duty, but right now I do not believe this situation will be resolved through fighting this creature." 

"Well then what do you propose we do then? Talk to it and hope its friendly?" Stalwart asked, sounding incredulous.

"Actually, yes," Luna answered in a matter of fact tone before she walked past him. Her guards made to follow until she said to them, "Nay, stay where you are. I believe I will be better received if I am by myself." Her guards quickly bowed in deference to her command. Stalwart sighed heavily and shook his head before trotting away. Luna saw him conversing with a few other ponies in a hushed tone. As much as she wanted to know what the nature of their conversation was, Luna felt it could wait until after she had dealt with the creature. 

Luna casually walked up to the pools edge. Despite her outward demeanor, she was actually quite nervous as she approached the edge of the pool. Even if it turned out that this creature did not intend any harm, the fact remained that it was still a potentially dangerous entity that could pull her head off of her body like a cork from a wine bottle if it felt so inclined. For that reason, Luna saw fit to quickly cast a barrier spell around herself to protect her from harm. 

Luna sincerely hoped it would never have to come to that as she came to a halt, her hooves mere inches away from the waters edge. The water itself was completely still, and gave no indication that a creature large enough to rival an adult dragon was hiding beneath the surface. Feeling slightly unsure of how exactly to proceed, Luna simply stood there for a little while as she contemplated what she was going to do. 

Finally, Luna decided to do the only thing she really could at the moment and cleared her throat to speak. Her voice fueled by magic, Luna spoke using the traditional royal Canterlot voice.

"Beast," she shouted, her voice ringing loud and clear into the night and across the waters surface. "I am Princess Luna of Equestria. I am here not to fight you, but to see if we can strike an accord of peace between us. I give you my word as a Princess that you will not be harmed any further should you choose to show yourself. What say you?"

Finished with her proposal, Luna allowed her magic to dissipate as it faded into silence. For what felt like a good long while, even though realistically it was actually a few minutes, Luna waited anxiously by the pool, wondering if the creature would even heed her. After a few more minutes she started to wonder if it was even able to understand her. She could faintly hear behind her back a few ponies conversing with each other. While she could not make out what exactly was said between them, she could tell that the general consensus was that her course of action was unlikely to work. 

Still, Luna waited. She would wait as long as she needed to if it meant even the smallest possibility that a life could be saved.





Hidden within the depths of the pool, suspended in mid-water like a phantom, Angela silently contemplated what she had just heard. The Princess's proposal was very tempting for the wraith to accept, and she wanted nothing more than come out of hiding and finally put an end to this nightmare. But there was one thing holding her back. Actually that was not entirely true. There were many things holding her back, most of them waiting up there, spells charged and spears ready to fire at her at the earliest opportunity. And Angela knew within herself that if she gave them even the slightest reason to mistrust her, they would not hesitate to try and bring her down. But what she was afraid of most was that she would bring them down with her.

She had already narrowly avoided losing herself to the wraith once. The only reason she was able to rein herself in was because Luna had intervened just in time. If it happened again, Angela knew that there would be nothing to stop her from falling this time. She knew that even the smallest provocation would send her over the edge, falling eternally into a pit of her own pain and anguish that she would be very hard pressed to climb out of again, if she even could.

Angela trusted the Princess. She trusted that Luna would not be the one to antagonize her. What she did not trust was herself and the army of ponies waiting for her.

However, Angela knew that this was now probably her only chance to make peace, if not with herself then at least with them. With this in mind, she slowly swam up to the surface. Gradually she rose up out of the depths, hovering over the water as her wet skin glistened in the moonlight. The ponies before, the Princess included, backed away slightly upon seeing her approach. Angela tried to make herself appear as nonthreatening as she possibly could as she drew near, but given the body she inhabited that was next to impossible for her to accomplish, and it showed as multiple ponies backed away. Fear and trepidation showed clearly in their eyes, and she could tell they were trying very hard not to disobey the order of the monarch and attack her out of fright. The only one who did not appear to be as afraid was Luna herself, and even she looked more than a little intimidated as she took a few cautious steps backward. 

Feeling that was close enough, Angela came to a stop in front of Luna, where she waited patiently for the other to do something, fully aware that she could be mere moments away from being attacked. The Princess seemed to be somewhat at a loss for words as she opened and closed her mouth several times, looking sort of like a fish gasping for oxygen as she struggled to find words. Eventually, after quietly clearing her throat multiple times she was able to speak.

"W-well. . . hello there," she said, clearly nervous with the wraith looming over her.

Unsure how else to respond, Angela replied with a short wave of her clawed hand. Movement caused more than a few ponies to begin charging their horns, until Luna quickly cut them off with a reprimanding look. One by on the ponies dimmed their horns, appearing reluctant to do so. 

"My apologies," Luna said, drawing Angela's attention back to her. "You really must forgive them, as my ponies can be quite jumpy in the presence of something as. . . different as you."

'Was that meant to be a compliment?' Angela thought. 

Once again clearing her throat, Luna began to speak in a soft tone. "Now then. . . I feel that it is only proper that we introduce ourselves properly. As I have already mentioned, I am Princess Luna. Can you tell who you are?"

'Highly agitated because I can't exactly talk even though you expect me to is what I am, thank you very much.' Angela punctuated her inner ramblings with a series of chittering grunts and hisses. Luna frowned when she heard them, having of course not understood one bit of it. 

Angela knew that this was going to be a problem from the very start. What she had yet to do however was come up with a way to overcome their language barrier, else they would remain at an indefinite impasse. She sighed heavily as she glanced at the army of ponies waiting behind Luna. Looking over them, her sight landed on the deep furrow in the soil created when Luna had intervened a short while ago. The ground was scorched as if by fire, and Angela could not help but wonder what it would have done to her had the Princess chosen to join the fray against her. It was not a particularly comforting thought. 

However, as she looked at it, Angela suddenly realized that there was something that she could do to communicate, and she mentally kicked herself for not thinking of it a long time, when in hindsight it should have been blatantly obvious to her. Reaching down, momentarily catching Luna off guard, until she saw what Angela was doing. Luna looked on with wonder in her eyes as Angela used her index claw to carve out a series of letters in the ground. She saw that the rest of the ponies seemed to be equally amazed by the sight of the wraith writing on the ground, and Angela felt her jaws form something only vaguely similar to a grin. 

After a few moments, Angela was finished, and she backed away slightly to allow Luna and a fair number of other ponies to view the message. 

It read simply as, "Sorry for almost killing you. Wanna be friends?"


> Intermission- The Price of Failure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A bitter cold wind blew unchallenged across the frigid northern wastes that made up the domain of the Crystal Empire, carrying with it a storm of snow and ice that sapped the heat out of anything and everything it touched. The heavy coat and scarf that Aegis Lash wore should have been enough to stay the cold, yet even it was having a hard time keeping up. He knew that if he stayed out here for much longer, then it was quite likely that he would freeze to death.

Yet even then it still would have been a preferable fate as opposed to what awaited him back at the Crystal Empire. He should know, as he had lived that life for close to three years now, and he would rather be frozen stiff and never have his body be found than go back to the fate he knew awaited him under Sombra's iron hoof. 

Standing on top of the crest of a snow covered hill, hopefully out of sight of the dark kings soldier's, Aegis Lash could just barely see the jagged black spire that occupied the center of the Empire, looming above everything around like a monolith. The stallion could still remember from his days as a foal when the crystal tower was a grand and resplendent thing to behold, gleaming and sparkling beautifully in the sunlight. Now however Aegis could barely recognize it, as it had been warped and twisted so much by Sombra's foul influence, like it had been covered in thorns. 

Aegis felt his brow crease in disgust at what happened to his home, once more wishing that the dark had never risen to power in the first place. There was very little he could do about it however. The only thing he could have done was escape to the lands in the south, hopefully finding sanctuary in the kingdom of the two alicorn sisters. And not just for himself, but also for Crimson Arrow, whom he had been able to free from the crystal mines during his own escape. 

However, despite their best efforts their ruse was discovered.

And now thanks to him, Crimson was once more a captive of Sombra. Just the thought of Crimson being held in some cell beneath the Empire, her hooves bound by iron shackles as she awaited punishment, was more than enough to set Aegis's blood boiling. No matter what, he would not leave this place without her.

Tearing his gaze away from the back spire, Aegis resumed his search through the snow, looking for anything out of the ordinary. If the rumors spread by the other ponies toiling away in the mines were to be believed, then Aegis should be able to find a secret entrance that led underneath the Crystal Empire somewhere around here supposedly created by the former rulers of the Empire until Sombra took over. Using it, he would be able to infiltrate the dungeon cells and free Crimson, finally allowing them to seek a new life in the south. He imagined that the royal pony sisters would also be quite interested in hearing about the secret entrance as well.

However, that required Aegis to actually find it, provided it even existed at all. For all he knew, the rumors about it were nothing more than wishful thinking, a futile grasp at hope created by the slaves to convince themselves that the next day was worth seeing. Aegis probably would have done it himself. 

But right now, Aegis needed it to be more than just a fantasy. He needed it to be real, if only so he could see Crimson one last time. 

Looking all around, Aegis's vision was almost entirely obscured by the snow that continued to billow around him. For what felt like hours he frantically searched the horizon for something, anything that could help him. 

And that was when he saw it. Off in the distance, Aegis spotted an outcropping of jagged black rock jutting up out of a snowbank like thorn. It was so out of place in the otherwise barren wasteland that it could no be anything else other than the secret entrance. Rushing over towards it, Aegis hooves crunched loudly in the snow as he approached. At first it appeared to have no real defining features about it that he could initially see, but as he skirted around the rock Aegis finally found what he was looking for. On the other side he could just barely make out a small recess in its side that led downward. 

Excitement overtook him as he started to rush in, until he stopped suddenly as he realized the possibility that Sombra might very well know about the passage. If so, then it was likely that the dark king had put multiple guards in place to ensure that that anypony with hopes of escaping were caught. And as much as Aegis wanted to rush in to save Crimson, he knew that doing so would end in his death or worse, his imprisonment. Sombra was not very forgiving of those that tried to leave his domain. If Aegis was caught, he would suffer endlessly until the dark king ceased to find him amusing. 

Which meant that Crimson was probably. . . 

Steeling his nerves, Aegis took a deep breath of the frigid air, and dove in head first into the opening.





Aegis Lash was familiar with darkness. He felt he had become well acquainted with it during the months he had spent toiling away in the crystal mines beneath the empire, risking his life every single day, whether it be from his lungs being shredded into ribbons by the diamond dust that lingered in the air, what little air there was down there to begin with, or from having his body smashed into a pulp by the gem crushers, all by the dim light of a tiny oil lantern. He had barely survived it, just as Crimson had, and he would rather die than to experience it again. 

That said, he would rather spend the rest of his life in utter darkness if it meant that Crimson was free. 

The darkness he now found himself inside of was different however. Aegis could not precisely say how, only that it was. . . different. In contrast to the mines, which were tight and constrictive, the area around Aegis felt more open, if more than a little uneven. In addition to that the atmosphere was not as cold as he expected it to be. If anything it was actually rather humid, which he felt  was an odd thing to encounter in the frozen north. In fact, it eventually became too much for Aegis to bear in his heavy coat, forcing him to carry it around on his back. 

As strange as it was though, Aegis payed it little mind as he trotted onward, his path illuminated by a small lantern he held in his mouth. All that mattered to him right now was finding Crimson. 

As he walked, Aegis began to notice an odd scent that hung in the air. At first it was hardly noticeable to his him, but over time it became difficult to ignore. Initially Aegis thought that he might finally be getting close to the dungeons where Crimson was likely being kept, but something did not feel right to him. It was like-

Something clicked on the stone ahead of him, sounding eerily like the scuttling of some many legged thing moving across the floor, just out of sight. Raising his lantern, Aegis peered into the inky black darkness in an effort to discern what it was that he had heard. 

He could see nothing of note, and Aegis dared not call out for fear of it being Sombra's soldiers. But even then the stallion could begin to feel his heart begin to beat just a little bit faster in his chest, and a nervous sweat started to soak through the fur on his brow. 

There was that smell again, and Aegis still found himself unable to identify it. It was acrid and sweet, laced with hints of rotting flesh. It was enough to make Aegis want to empty the contents of his stomach, but he kept himself in check for fear of giving himself away. There was something in here, whether it was Sombra's soldiers or not, and if it did not know he was here yet he would rather not alert it to his presence. With this in mind, Aegis dimmed his lantern a little bit, just enough to still let him see what was ahead but lessen the chances of him being spotted. Hopefully anyway.

Aegis began moving again, more slowly this time as his ears swiveled around in every direction as he strained to detect any disturbance in the silence.

After a few more minutes of what seemed like endless trotting, Aegis tripped over something on the floor. Upon finding his balance he stooped down to inspect what it was. At first he did not recognize it as being anything important, but they most certainly did not look to be natural either. With a jolt, he suddenly realized that he was looking at claw marks. Enormous gashes in the stone , each one more than a few inches deep. The only thing that Aegis could think that could make such marks was a dragon, but as far as he knew their kind were seldom found this far north. No, these marks were made by something else just as big. 

What that was, Aegis would rather not know. 

Cautiously Aegis began to walk forward, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that would lead him to the surface. He still had yet to come across  a path or stairwell or something that would lead him to the dungeons. As he walked though he began to notice that the marks he had seen were not just on the floor but on the walls as well. He also saw that they seemed to form some sort of language, as though whatever had made them were trying to write a message in the stone. What it said, he did not know, as it was written in a language he did not understand. The only thing he could say for certain was that it seemed to be saying the same thing over and over again, if the way the symbols seemed to be repeating were any clue.

Farther down the stone wall, the supposed writing began to change, until Aegis was not sure it was even writing anymore. It gradually faded from letters and characters that he did not understand into random scratches and gashes. It was as Aegis was studying the marks, wondering what they could possibly mean, that he saw a door. Forgetting about the marks for time being, he rushed over to it, thing he had finally found what he was looking for. When he was near it however, he felt the blood drain drain from his face when saw that it was actually a cell door. One that appeared to have been broken into, the metal crushed and crumpled like a piece of parchment. Perhaps the most disconcerting part however were the large dark stains that marked the inside of the cell.

And this was not the only one. There were more cells like this one, placed at seeming random intervals, each one with their doors either broken down or ripped off of their hinges completely. 

Suddenly Aegis saw something moving around in one of the cells. Fearing what he would find, he cautiously tip hooved towards it, noticing that the sickly sweet scent of rotting flesh had grown even more concentrated. Covering his mouth with a free hoof, Aegis peered with wide eyes at the thing in the cell.

He immediately wished he had not.

The pony inside was freshly dead, judging by the pool of blood that gathered around the body. Her mouth was still open in a soundless scream that would go unheard for eternity. But the worst part were the maggots, if one could even call them that. Huge, grotesque pulsating things, each one was about as big around as Aegis's leg. There must have dozens of them, all of them stuffed inside of what was left of the pony's hollowed out carcass as they continued to nibble away at what flesh remained. Their constant squirming caused the body to jerk around quite a bit, giving the impression that the pony was still alive even as she was devoured from the inside out.

Aegis was unable to contain himself anymore as he rushed away from the cell, fighting with himself to keep from vomiting on the floor. The lantern he held in his mouth clattered to the floor as he struggled to find breath, producing a harsh clanking sound that echoed throughout the cave. Eyes wide with fright, Aegis Lash picked up the lantern when he had recovered enough from his shock and proceeded to put as much distance between him and those. . . things as possible. 

He no longer cared about stealth anymore, he just wanted out of this place. As he ran, the ground in front of him suddenly exploded upward, sending a spray of rock and soil into his face as he staggered backward before falling onto his side. When he cleared the debris from his eyes he found himself confronted by something from a filly's nightmare. It looked somewhat like a spider, although it was far larger than any spider he had ever seen before. It was easily the size of a full grown pony, with a bulbous, oblong abdomen and long legs that ended in razor sharp points. It's chitinous shell seemed to glow with a sickly yellow light.

Aegis could not help but scream in terror as the spider reared up, letting out a shrill, high pitched screech of its own before it started scuttling towards him, its fanged jaws splayed impossibly wide as though it meant to swallow him whole. Scrambling to hooves Aegis ran, galloping as fast as he could away from the spider. He thankfully had enough forethought to remember to scoop up his lantern back up before doing so. It was his only source of illumination in whatever hellhole this was, and he would be damned if he left it behind.

To his immense relief the spider was apparently much slower than he was, and it quickly fell behind until the ominous glow it gave off faded from his sight completely. Mollified by this knowledge, Aegis allowed himself to slow to a stop before collapsing to his knees, taking in deep breaths to soothe his nerves. It did little to help however, as the images of the spider and the half eaten mare were still fresh in his mind. 

What in Equestria were those things?! Aegis had heard stories of giant spider's before, but nothing quite like that, and certainly nothing pertaining to those maggot things. Were those the spiders' young? He did not know, and he did not want to know. All he wanted was to get out of this place and run away as fast as his hooves could carry him. He was stuck in this place however, as he still had yet to find any trace of Crimson. He knew the body of the mare back there did not belong to her, so that at least gave him some hope that she was still alive at least. 

That still left the task of actually finding her however, which Aegis did not hold out much hope for at this point. He realized that during his escape from the spider, he had become hopelessly lost in the darkness, with no idea where he came from or where to go. His heart still hammering away in his chest, Aegis chose a random direction to go in, and started walking, constantly glancing all around him for any more surprises. 

Minutes passed by with no further complications, and Aegis began to wonder if maybe he was in the clear. Perhaps those creatures were the only things he had to deal in here. He certainly hoped so. After a long while of inactivity, this seemed to be the case, and Aegis felt a huge amount of relief, believing that the worst was behind. He was still hopelessly lost, but at least he did not have to contend with giant glowing spiders and maggots and-

A faint, raspy hiss reached his ears, and Aegis once more felt like his heart was about to burst from his chest as he whirled around, fully expecting the spider to be right behind him, ready to drag him off into some dark hole, never to be seen again. The space behind him was empty however, devoid of any large arachnids or other abominations. 

Nothing.

Something dropped onto the ground next to his hoof with a wet sounding smack. Looking down, he saw some sort of liquid, greenish yellow in coloration. Oddly enough, it was producing a small cloud of acrid smelling vapor as it seemed to sizzle and broil on the hard stone. Aegis tilted his head as he inspected it, wondering what it was.

Another droplet of the odd substance fell soon afterward, lightly grazing his muzzle. Even that brief moment of contact was enough to utter Aegis yelp in sheer agony as he frantically tried to wipe away the horrid stuff with his fetlock. When it was finally off Aegis was left with what felt like a severe burn on his skin, the fur having been melted away, exposing reddened flesh. More drops began to fall, forcing him to step out of their path. Looking up, he tried to see where they were coming from, but the light of his lantern was too dim for him to see much other than an odd formation of rock on the ceiling above. 

Taking a moment set the lantern down, Aegis adjusted it so that it shone at its brightest, and once more he lifted it upward to see what was up there.

What he saw next would give him the most horrible nightmares for the rest of his life, provided he even survived. Up on the ceiling, hanging upside down by four spindly looking legs with enormous clawed appendages at their ends, was something that could have only been conceived in the deepest, darkest depths of Tartarus, in places where light never reached.

The creature, the monstrous. . . thing, was unlike anything Aegis had ever seen nor heard of. It looked vaguely like some kind of massive spider or some other hideous insect, but with fewer limbs and a bald head that was connected to a bony torso by a thin neck. Sprouting from the things skeletal chest was a smaller pair of arms, each one sporting two fingers tipped with razor sharp black claws. 

Aegis was frozen to spot with sheer unfettered terror as he stared upward at the monstrosity, just as it stared back down at him with multiple tiny eyes that appeared to be asymmetrical to each other, each one reflecting the lanterns light. The only movement that Aegis could discern was the swarm of maggots that slithered across its spider like abdomen, darting in and out of large pores in its chitinous armor and flesh.

Unable to move for fear of provoking it to attack him, Aegis stayed absolutely still, although he was unable to keep himself from shaking in fear. Just when he thought that he might survive as long he refrained from moving, the thing tilted its head and opened its mouth slightly, exposing many misshapen teeth and a long tongue covered in saliva. A pair of mandibles on either side of its lower jaw splayed outward, making it look even more hideously deformed than it already was. 

As it moved, Aegis could not help but notice that something seemed to be glinting around its neck, and when he looked closer he saw that it was actually a necklace of of all things. It was tied around the creatures neck by a length of thin rope, and Aegis found himself wondering what in Equestria it was doing on this beast. He unfortunately did not have any more time time to wonder however when the creature suddenly released its grip on the ceiling, dropping straight down towards him, claws extended as it reached for him. Screaming, Aegis finally regained control of his limbs and bolted out of the way, just barely avoiding getting impaled by the things talons as it impacted on the floor with a heavy sounding thud. The monster seemed to be taking its time in pursuing him however, as though it knew he had nowhere to go. Keeping its body low to the ground, the monster slowly stalked towards him, mouth hanging slightly open as acidic drool dripped from its tongue.

Aegis ran for his life, often tripping over the uneven surface of rock. Every time he glanced behind him he could see the creatures hideous face looming behind him, just within sight of the lantern. No matter what he did to get away the creature was always there. Suddenly Aegis felt his front hooves meet open air, and he began to tumble down a steep incline, losing his grip on the lantern along the way. After a few seconds of falling, Aegis finally hit the bottom of the slope with a jarring thud. Struggling to get back on his hooves, he felt a sharp pain from his left hind leg, realizing that it was now broken. 

Crippled, Aegis desperately looked around, but could only find darkness. He was hopeless without his lantern, and he began searching for any trace of light, hoping to find. To his immense relief he spotted the lantern sitting a short distance away, laying on its side. Thankfully it had stayed lit. Breathing heavily, Aegis began a slow trek towards it, dragging his now injured leg behind him, wincing every time it shifted around.

Just when he was little more than a few feet away from lantern, Aegis froze when he saw something else enter its radius of light, though it was not the monster as he was expecting it to be. Instead, it was something that was considerably less threatening in appearance. 

It was a mare. 

At least, Aegis thought it was a mare. It. . . she retained the same overall shape of a pony, but there was something very strange about it. Her fur did not look like fur should. Instead, it appeared to have been woven from many small overlapping strands of silky thread. Even her eyes, which peered unblinkingly at what amount of illumination the lantern gave off, looked like this. 

Aegis gulped, unsure what to do. He took a cautious step backward, forgetting about his injured leg. He was quickly reminded of it however the moment he put weight on it, and he hissed in pain. Almost immediately the supposed mare's head snapped upward, looking straight at him. Aegis froze as his eyes met hers, knowing he had been caught. 

Deciding to take a chance with this odd pony as opposed to risking another encounter with that montser, Aegis cautiously resumed walking towards her.

"E-excuse me?" he said, his voice stuttering. "Please, you have to help me. I don't know where I am." The mare said nothing but continued to stare at him. "Please," Aegis continued. "You must know the way out. If you could just point me in the right direction I can-"

Aegis stopped, less than a few feet away from the mare now. On the mares fur, he saw a small hairline crack begin to form, slowly spreading across her torso. From the crack, small strings of some unknown material waved about, like tentacles looking to grab onto something. 

The mare stepped forward, her movements resembling those of a puppet being controlled by strings. More cracks started to form, splitting her face in half as she approached. Aegis frantically tried to get away from the mare, but his injured leg hindered his progress. He only covered a few feet before he fell, bruising his chest on the jagged floor. 

The mare quickened her pace, getting closer and closer with every shaky step. Aegis could do little more than wait and watch, until she was finally upon him. When she did, the cracks in her body were so numerous she hardly resembled a pony anymore. The mare stood there, looking at him with an almost curious expression on her, which continued to become ever more disfigured by the cracks. Then, raising a hoof, she lightly brushed Aegis on the side of his face as he continued to tremble in terror.

"Wha. . . what are you?" he asked shakily. 

The mare's only response was a soft, almost angelic smile, right before her whole body suddenly exploded, bathing Aegis in a downpour of burning liquid. The stallion screamed and thrashed as he felt his whole body being melted. 

A shrill cry from somewhere to his left was enough to momentarily distract him from it. He looked over, and the last thing he saw was a maw full of misshapen teeth heading towards him out of the darkness, just as the lantern's light finally gave out.



	


	
> Thunder, part one
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"I can walk by myself, thank you!" Bon-Bon shouted at the stallion before she proceeded to slam the door on him with her hind hoof. The heavy metal door shut behind Bon-Bon with a loud clang, followed by the harsh scrape of metal as she twisted the lock into place. The sound reverberated throughout the crew quarters of the airship before it eventually faded away. Bon-Bon let out a heavy sigh, feeling both tired and wound up at the same time. She needed to recover from what she had just seen, and being around Crisp and his crew was not going to help her in the slightest. 

Slowly trotting over to one of the many bunk beds. Bon-Bon hopped up onto the bottom bed, where she proceeded to plant her face on the thin piece of itchy fabric that tried to pass as an actual pillow. 

"What a mess," she groaned out loud, her voice muffled by the sheets as she buried her nose deeper into the bed. It felt like every bone in her body was on fire at that very moment as her exertions from earlier, which she had tried to ignore in favor of dealing with the situation, finally caught up with her. Somewhere deep inside the airship, the rhythmic hum of the engines that kept it moving forward acting as a sort of lullaby, drawing her to the very fringes of sleep. However, despite how much Bon-Bon wanted to just close her eyes and forget the past week, the mare found herself unable to fall asleep. Rolling onto her back, her brow furrowed into an expression of worry and contemplation as she clacked her front hooves together, trying to think. 

Ever since she, Crisp, and everypony else on the bridge of the airship had seen the hydra, still and lifeless as it sat in the murky water of the bog beneath them, the level of activity had increased dramatically. Ponies were galloping back and forth between their stations, each one possessing the unmistakable look of fear in their eyes. And why should they not be? If the monster they were supposed to find could mutilate a fully grown bull hydra like that, one could only imagine what it could do to a pony. 

To Bon-Bon, it seemed that she was the only voice of reason when she tried to convince Crisp to believe her, to at least consider what she said earlier in spite of the contradictory evidence that was practically right in front of them that was in the process of being casually picked apart by crows and other carrion eaters. Of course he did not listen to her in the slightest. In fact, he hardly seemed to notice she was even still on the bridge as he went about ordering his underlings to continue working at their stations and double their efforts to find the creature before it got the chance to do any more damage. It was only when Bon-Bon had actually yelled at him to shut up and listen to her that he finally took notice, only to have one his officers "escort" her to her chambers moments later. Knowing that fighting any longer would only make things worse, Bon-Bon reluctantly went along with it.

And now here she was, sitting alone on a thin, itchy mattress in the crew quarters with nothing to do except twiddle her hooves. She sighed heavily, wondering what was going on outside. Seeing that there was currently nothing she could really do to influence the situation, Bon-Bon resigned herself to just waiting silently for something to happen, whether it be Crisp finally wanting to actually listen to what she had to say or something else. She often felt her eyelids begin to droop, but no matter how much the mare would have welcomed it sleep continued to evade her, like water slipping out of her hooves. At the very best she was able to lightly doze, although it was hardly very restful, as each every far off clank and groan of metal kept her awake.

This continued for what felt to Bon-Bon like hours, although she was not exactly sure how much time had passed. There was no time piece available to tell her, and all of her equipment was in her saddlebags, which Crisp had ordered to be confiscated. Not for the last time, Bon-Bon muttered a particularly foul curse at him, even though he was not there to hear it.

Immediately afterward, a particularly loud groan echoed throughout the ship, and Bon-Bon bolted upright.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" she exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that she was still alone. Once she realized that she was still the only pony in the crew quarters she let herself relax slightly, and she realized that something was going on with the ship itself. After a moments thought, Bon-Bon realized that they it was turning around, which led to the question of what was going on to warrant it. Trotting up to the door, Bon-Bon undid the lock and poked her head outside, where she found the same stallion that escorted her standing off to the side, no doubt under orders to keep an eye on their guest.

"Hey, you," she said, getting his attention. "What's going on?"

Giving her a somewhat disinterested look, the stallion simply shrugged and replied, "Heck if I know."

Bon-Bon sighed through her nose, and was about to "politely" request that he let her talk to Crisp, when she saw another pony, the orange mare that she remembered as Horizon, quickly trotting by. She seemed extremely worried about something, although what that was Bon-Bon did not know. She hoped to find out.

"Excuse me," she called just as the mare was about to trot straight past. To her relief Horizon stopped.

"Yes? What do you want?" she questioned in a less than polite manner. She clearly seemed to have somewhere she needed to be, and did not seem interested in engaging in a conversation Bon-Bon. 

Choosing to ignore that for the moment Bon-Bon asked, "Can you tell me what's going on? This lunkhead," she said while gesturing to the stallion, "won't tell me anything."

"Look, I don't know if I should-" Horizon began to say, until she was cut off mid-sentence.

"Please," Bon-Bon pleaded, something she did not ever do normally. "Give me the gist of it, just don't keep me in the dark here."

For a long moment Horizon seemed to be contemplating what she should do, until finally she gave in and said, "Look, I don't know exactly what's going on, but for some reason we've been ordered to immediately turn around and head back to Hollow Shades. Apparently something big is going on, so I suggest that just try to keep your head down. I'm sorry but that's all I know."

Bon-Bon scrunched her face up in confusion. She did not need to be told that they were changing course. She had already figured that out for herself before she even asked. What threw her for a loop was that they going back to Hollow Shades, and she wondered if it might have had anything to do with the creature. That did seem to be the most likely reason. She wanted to question the mare further, but when Bon-Bon looked up she found that said mare had already left.

"Hey wait a minute, I want to-" she called out, but saw that it was too late as the mares auburn tail vanished around a corner. Bon-Bon tried to pursue her, but found herself stopped by the stallion as he stepped in front of her.

"Hold up right there, miss. I ain't letting you leave 'til the the captain says so," he stated. Bon-Bon opened her mouth, finding herself wanting to tell him exactly what he could do with the captain's orders. She bit her tongue however, knowing it would have only been a waste of time and energy. 

Letting out a breath through her nose, Bon-Bon smiled and said, "Alright then. I'll do that. And when captain flank-face finds out how much he's about to royally screw things up, you come and tell me. Sound good to you?" 

She did not even give him a second to utter any kind of response aside from a confused "Uhhh," before she slammed the door in his face for the second time that day. Going back to the bed, Bon-Bon resumed her fruitless quest for slumber, kept awake by the chaotic thoughts that persistently rolled through her head.





Angela waited with baited breath as Luna and a number of other ponies inspected what she had written. It was not her most delicate penmanship, as it was actually somewhat difficult to write anything when she had claws the size of large scythes. Nevertheless Angela could not help but feel a certain amount of satisfaction at having finally discovered a means to effectively communicate with the ponies. Hopefully now she would be able to tell Luna of her situation, and at last put this whole mess behind her.

She felt no small amount of anxiousness as she waited and watched while Luna read, likely contemplating what she was going to do now that it was officially made clear that Angela was sapient and able to communicate, albeit in a roundabout manner. 

Then Angela noticed Luna turn her head to a few of her underlings, appearing to ask them a question. She guessed that the Princess was getting their opinions on the matter, discussing what should be done with her in hushed voices. She saw a few of them shake their heads, which worried her somewhat. While Angela was fairly confident that Luna was not the type of pony that would do anything too rash, she could not really say the same for her entourage. Sparing a glance at them, she noted that more than a few of them were skittish in her presence, while the rest wore hardened expressions on their muzzles. 

After a few moments Angela noticed that Luna appeared to be finished speaking with her ponies and was once again approaching her. Angela felt herself straighten up a bit as she waited patiently for Luna to speak.

"Beast," the Princess said. While her voice still boomed with the undeniable authority that Angela had heard from before when she first arrived, the wraith could not help but notice that it contained a subtle trace of apprehension. Additionally, the fact that she used the word beast as opposed to something less discriminating irked Angela slightly, but she chose to overlook that for the time being. "I have a question, a number of questions actually, that I would like to pose to you, if you do not mind that is?" the Princess asked.

With a wave of her clawed hand, Angela motioned for Luna to continue. Although the movement made a number of nearby ponies move away, she did not particularly care what they did when the only one here that she needed to convince was Luna. 

Upon receiving her permission, Luna proceeded to clear her throat several times before speaking, and when she did the apprehension in her voice became that much more obvious to Angela. "Firstly, allow me to say that I in no way intend cause offense to you, as your particular style writing is quite lovely to look behold."

'Can we just cut to the chase please,' Angela thought with a snort as she crossed her first pair of arms. 'I fail to see what my style of writing has to do with our conversation.'

Luna continued, unaware of Angela's musings as she said, "However, I am afraid to say that there is a minor complication." As Luna said this, her brow started to furrow slightly, and the anxiety that Angela already felt nearly doubled as she frantically wondered what it is that was wrong, and what her writing had to. . . do with. . . 

'Oh no, please don't tell me,' Angela begged silently. 'Say it isn't so, please for the love of God say it isn't-'

"I am afraid to say that neither I nor anypony else here can read this. You would not happen to understand written Equestrian would you?" Angela's only response was to cover her face with both of her clawed hands, and let a loud groan. "I shall take that as a no then."

In that moment, there were a multitude of things that Angela wanted to do. She wanted to cry for discovering yet another roadblock to communicating. She wanted to laugh for the very same reason. Perhaps most of all she wanted to let fly every single curse and foul word that knew of, but was unable to do so since her anatomy prevented her from performing all three of these actions. All she was able to do was utter a growl of intense frustration, causing a number of ponies, Luna included, to cautiously back away.

'Of course,' Angela fumed, throwing all four of her arms up into the air as she veered back toward the pool, hovering just over its surface while she attempted to calm down. She was having very little success however, and her efforts were not at all aided by her wounds and hunger, the latter of which continued to gnaw at her incessantly. 'Of course this would happen. No matter what I do I just cannot catch a break. I don't know why I expected it to be any different.'

Glancing down at her reflection in the water, she saw her visage become warped and twisted by the rippling waves, yet they could not disguise the thing that was the source of all of her frustration. Momentarily letting her anger and hunger get the best of her, Angela slashed at the reflection. Her saber claws carved through the liquid with ease, sending up a plume of water.

Before she took it any further, Angela began to breathe deeply before she did something that she would end up regretting later on. She was already in hot water with the ponies as it was, she did not need to lower their opinion of her even further by losing her temper, especially right now. Turning around, she saw the need for her to have a level head become even more apparent, as everypony watched her carefully, ready to act at a moments notice. Even Luna's spiral horn was alight in preparation to use magic. 

Reminding herself of just how close she was to jeopardizing her chances of ever coming to an understanding with them, Angela took a few more calming breaths until she felt that she was as sedate as she was going to be, then hovered back over to the crowded shore and address the newest issue to present itself.

'Okay,' she thought. It's alright. I can salvage this, I just need to think. They obviously can't understand what I say, and the option of writing has gone out the window. So what can I do instead?' Angela hummed as she debated the question, a deep and yet oddly hypnotic thrum that reverberating throughout the area, echoing through the trees. The ponies mostly just stood there, anxiously watching and waiting for her to do something.

Suddenly Angela's spines stood erect on her back as a new idea popped into her head and she let out an excited chitter. She only had to consider the idea for a brief moment before she found it to her liking, knowing that right now it was her only means of reliable communication. Wiping away what she had written with a brush of her claws, she began to inscribe something else into the sand.





Luna watched with rapt attention as the creature scribbled away on the ground with the tip of one of its enormous claws after wiping away its foreign writing. While the meaning behind the words may have been lost to her and everypony else here, the Princess was still nevertheless very intrigued by the fact that it seemed to possess its own form of written language, and she found herself wondering what it had been trying to say. For all she knew it could have been a heartfelt poem or an invitation for her to become its betrothed. 

Luna doubted either one of those possibilities as being very likely, especially given their current setting, but she would never know, as it was written in a language that she had never seen in her entire life. And considering that she was centuries old and fluent in many multiple languages, some of them belonging to long dead civilizations, that was saying quite a lot, and she could not help but feel her fascination with the creature grow.

If only her underlings were willing to show at least half as much intrigue as she was. However they only seemed to be mildly interested in what the creature was doing. She could tell from the looks in their eyes and the way that their bodies were positioned that they were more concerned with the possibility of the creature suddenly deciding to pounce on them. She could hear them murmuring and talking anxiously amongst themselves in quiet voices, though Luna could hardly fault them for it however, and she would freely admit that she herself was more than a little apprehensive being so close to a creature that could fell celestial beasts with apparent ease. 

After a few more moments the creature withdrew its hand, signaling that it was finished with a sound that was something of a mix between a grunt and a hiss, apparently satisfied with its work as it dipped its head in a short nod. Letting her curiosity guide her actions, Luna stepped forward to get a better view of what it had created, ever mindful that the creature was gaze as it watched her. She was mildly disappointed to find that it was not more alien symbols and glyphs, but instead a simple and somewhat crude drawing that depicted the creature itself, and Luna realized that the since the creature now knew that she could not understand its written language, it would compromise using pictures and drawings. 

Pointing with a hoof at the drawing in the sand, Luna asked, "That is you?" The beast responded with a quick nod, and Luna got the distinct impression that it was excited, before it proceeded to draw something else. In moments it was done. At first Luna was slightly confused by what she was looking at, until she realized after a moments thought that it was pony standing next to the creature. 

The crunch of sand beneath armor clad hooves alerted Luna to Stalwarts approach. Standing next to her, he looked quizzically at the drawings before he asked aloud, "What do you suppose it's trying to say Princess?"

After gazing at the drawings and thinking it over, Luna felt she had arrived at an adequate conclusion. "I believe," she said while glancing up at the creature, "that this beast does not wish to be our enemy. In fact, I do think that it does not wish to fight us at all."

As soon as Luna said this the creature uttered a series of high pitched chitters and grunts, a display that all but confirmed what the Princess had said. Stalwart however was still less than convinced, which he made apparent by casting a worried glance between her and the creature he pulled her to the side and said to her in a hushed voice, "Princess Luna, may I be so bold as to have a moment of your time?"

Luna eyed the captain curiously, feeling that she already knew what he wanted to discuss with her. She briefly considered the option of saying no and dismissing him entirely so that she could continue her conversation with the creature, however one sided it may be, so that she could attempt to learn a little more about it. Still, Luna also knew that it would be remiss of her to do so without at least hearing what he had to say. Sighing through her nose she turned to him and said, "Very well captain. I will lend you my ear, but try it keep it as concise as you can." Looking back towards the creature she told it, "If you would excuse me for but a moment. I shall be back shortly."

The creature sighed heavily in response as it crossed one of its pairs of arms, alerting Luna to its displeasure at being ignored. Aside from that though, it made no objections as Luna allowed the captain to lead her away a good distance behind the first line of Royal Guard ponies, supposedly out of hearing distance of the creature.

"Princess Luna," Stalwart began, his voice firm yet hinted with a trace amount of trepidation, "I feel that, as is my duty as a captain of the Royal Guard, I must inform you that I believe that you are making a grave mistake in trusting anything that this monster has to say to you."

Luna raised an eyebrow at him, but otherwise her only reaction to his advice was for her to say, "Continue."

Clearing his throat, Stalwart obeyed. "What I am trying to say your highness is that I really would not trust what this says. . . or draws, or whatever. The point is I don't think this thing really wants to be friendly with us."

"Really?" Luna questioned, just managing to keep the skepticism from invading her voice. "Do you care to explain why exactly you believe that is the case here?"

"Why is it that nopony has ever seen anything like this thing before in all of recorded history? I mean, I'm no zoologist, but I'm pretty sure that nopony here has ever even heard of anything like it in their lives. I'd be willing to bet you haven't either."

Luna said nothing to him, yet her silence was answer enough.

"Exactly," Stalwart continued. "So why in the wide world of Equestria did this thing decide to show now of all times, right after reports of the bug bear started to come in? Not only that, but also, according to what you yourself said, this creature also has magic and abilities that no normal animal should ever be able to possess? I don't know about you Princess, but all of this is sounding very suspicious to me personally, and I can't help but feel that it has some sort of agenda."

And what agenda might that be captain?" Luna questioned. Her tone still retained a healthy amount of skepticism, yet even she could not deny that the captain did indeed make a valid point. Considering everything that they knew so far, or at least thought they knew, it did all sound rather incriminating when one stopped to think about it.

"I don't know Princess," came Stalwart's reply. "And to be completely honest, I'm not sure I want to give it the chance to reveal it. It's already proven that in it's capable of causing serious injury to a pony. Just look at what it did to Willow. That is why I personally advise that we do whatever we can before it can cause any lasting damage."

"Then what would you have me do captain?" Luna demanded, beginning to grow impatient with Stalwart and what he was proposing. Realizing that she was raising her voice, she quieted down slightly before continuing. "Please understand captain that I do believe that you make a valid point, but what else can I do other than talk to it and that is honest? Would you rather that I fought it and risked the lives of everypony here in doing so? Or perhaps I should just imprison it in stone for a thousand years for some insipid reason. Maybe times have changed, but imprisoning it without knowing its intentions first would be shortsighted and cruel. And I would rather at least try to avoid that, do I make myself clear?"

"But your highness, I-"

"Do I make myself clear?" Luna questioned a second time, her voice dripping with authority that she knew even a hard headed stallion like Stalwart would never go against.

After a few moments Stalwart dipped his head in a shallow nod, and he replied, "Yes Princess." When he said that, Luna felt herself relax somewhat, glad that he was finally willing to see things her way, albeit begrudgingly. 

"Good," Luna replied, allowing a strained smile to adorn her muzzle. "Now then, let us go see if we cannot put your worries to rest captain, and see what our new friend has to say."





'I wonder if they know that could hear everything they said,' Angela mused as she watched Luna approach, the stallion she was speaking with trailing just behind the alicorn. The latter of the two, Stalwart she remembered, had a slightly grim expression on his face as his eyes constantly between her and Luna. He was obviously on edge, which admitted was not without reason. Although she did not at all appreciate what he was suggesting should be done with her to the Princess, Angela did not exactly see herself acting any different if their roles were reversed. She was just glad that Luna was not afraid of her, or at least did not allow it to be seen, and was willing to give Angela a chance to prove herself. It was a chance that Angela was determined to not let go to waste. 

The Princess's head was raised high and her mouth was set in a firm line as she neared Angela, walking past her Royal Guard ponies. Angela would have preferred it if Luna ordered them to stand down and point their weapons and horns away from her, as they were doing little to help her already frayed nerves. Unfortunately she did not see that happening anytime soon however, and decided to just try to ignore it until this whole mess was sorted out.

Luna came to a stop before Angela, keeping a noticeable distance between her and the wraith, as Stalwart took his position behind her, keeping an ever watchful eye on them as Luna cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Beast," she began, causing Angela to flinch slightly, "if it is not too much of a bother to you, I would like to ask you some questions." Angela did not answer right away however. It was not the tone of her voice that bothered her, but the fact that still the Princess continued to call her beast, even after she had shown she was capable of understanding. She tried not to let it bother her too much, but still Angela found herself feeling a little disappointed. 

Still she did not see anything wrong with a few questions. Luna did not seem like the type of pony to ask loaded questions or put words in her mouth, so to speak. Stalwart and the other ponies should not be too much trouble either, so long as Luna kept them in line and they did nothing to antagonize her further. Finally, Angela replied with a short nod and a soft grunt. 

Satisfied with her answer, Luna proceeded to say, "Very well. In that case my first question is thus: what are you, exactly, and what are you doing here?"

When Luna began her interrogation, the real challenge presented made itself known to Angela, specifically how she was going to clearly communicate her thoughts using nothing but pictures on the ground. She fancied to be competent at doodling, but there was only so much she could do with stick figures. 

Deciding to start off simple, Angela erased her previous drawings, wiping them out with a brush of her claws, she drew a group of small human figures, one of which if she selected to give long hair to. Angela pointed back and forth between it and herself. Luna looked at the drawings curiously. 

"Excuse me," she said, "but if I am understanding correctly, you are saying that is yourself, correct?" Angela nodded, which made Luna's brow furrow in confusion. Realizing that the Princess probably was unfamiliar with humans, she went ahead in erasing all of the drawings except the one with long hair. Next to it, she scribbled in another stick figure wraith. Afterwards she erased the human stick figure before drawing it it once more inside the wraith, after which Angela once again gestured at it then herself. Luna's face was one of contemplation, as she she stroked the underside of her chin with a fetlock. Just when Angela thought that the alicorn was not going to understand, her face lit up in realization, and she said, "Ah, I think I see now." Angela nodded in approval, happy that Luna could see that she was-

"You are with child, aren't you?" Luna said. Wonder and surprise were plainly evident on her face as she gazed up at Angela. A similar reaction could be seen throughout the rest of the gathering of ponies, as a collective gasp echoed through the crowd. Angela however was less than pleased by the assumption, and she made it apparent by burying her face in her palm as her spines layed against her back in agitation. 

'No, that's not. . . that's not what I. . . just, no.'

Thankfully Angela's reaction to the statement was more than enough for Luna to realized that she had guessed incorrectly, and her cheeks flushed a dark blue in obvious embarrassment. "Oh. . . I see. My apologies, I did not mean to. . . . Let us move on," she said as she cleared throat. Once she recovered enough from her error she then asked, "Alright, um. . . why don't we forget about that for the time being and just start with what you intend to do here."

Glad for the change in topic, Angela smoothed out the ground, then drew in another pair of figures, this time of the wraith with a group of three ponies, before she traced a circle around them. 

'If that's not obvious enough I don't what is,' Angela thought as she watched Luna and Stalwart inspect it curiously, until the Princess ventured a guess. "Are you trying to say that you wish to become friends with ponies?" Beside her, Stalwart scoffed quietly, but aside from a disapproving glance from the Princess he was mostly ignored. Angela responded to the question with a nod. Before Luna could say anything else Angela scratched a line in the middle of the circle, separating the ponies and the wraith from each other. "Yet you also wish to remain separate from us as well." Angela nodded again, adding a soft grunt. Aside from the Princess' earlier assumption about her, she was pleased with how well the conversation seemed to be going.

"Well," began to say as she tapped her chin with a hoof, "I suppose that would be reasonable enough." Angela became even more pleased to hear that, and she felt her spines stand erect on her back. However, they quickly laid themselves flat again when Luna added, "However, I am afraid I have to tell you that may not be possible at this point."

Angela hissed and tilted her head in question at the statement. 'What do you mean by that?' she thought. Surely Luna could see the logic behind her desire. Whether she was friendly or not, Angela doubted that Luna would actually want to have a large predator with barely any control over her own urges to be in close proximity to her subjects. She had to know that such a thing was basically asking for trouble, so what reason could she have to tell her it was not possible for her to remain separate from them? Hoping for an explanation, Angela motioned for Luna to continue. 

Luna understood the action, but seemed hesitant to comply as she cleared her throat and said, "Well, I dislike having to say this, but. . . oh how do I put it lightly?"

It was at this point that Stalwart chose to speak for her as he stepped forward towards Angela and stated, "Put simply, beast, you are dangerous. Whether you are friendly or not, sapient or not, you have shown yourself to be a clear and present threat to everypony, both here and in Hollow Shades, that must be dealt with by any means necessary."

When the captain finished his little speech, silence hung over the area like a fog, and the tension was so thick it could have cut by a knife as everyone, both Angela and the ponies, stared at the captain as he glared at her with narrowed eyes. Every single pony behind him was staring with wide eyed shock at the captain, their eyes flicking back and forth between the two while the Princess glared daggers at the back of his head with enough intensity that it looked like she were trying to melt him. Finally, the silence was broken when Angela let loose a feral growl of anger at him as she flexed her claws. Her head was lowered as she bared her fangs, and her spines quivered violently. It was all that Angela could do to keep herself from pouncing on him and tearing his head off of his shoulders. 

Somehow, Luna looked even less pleased as she quickly came between them, putting a wing in front of Stalwart as she guided him backwards and away from Angela. "If you would excuse for but a moment," she said sweetly, flashing Angela a strained smile, but there was no hiding just how absolutely livid she was. Once they were a good distance away Angela watched as the Princess began to berate the captain in an intense yet quiet tone, just low enough that even Angela had a difficult time making what she was saying. 

Angela could not have cared less about that at the moment however as she thought what she had just learned from Stalwart.

She should have expected it. She just knew that she should seen it coming. Of course they would not just let her be on her way, where she at least would be less of a danger to those around her.

'What could they possibly hope to gain by keeping me around?!' she thought, growing angrier by the second. 'Why do they insist on being around me?! Do they want to put me on trial or something?! What would I do then, plead insanity?! Do community service?! It doesn't make any sense, whatsoever! It's just stupid!'

So engrossed was Angela in her internal outrage that she did not even notice Luna was approaching her until the alicorn was standing right in front of her. Glaring down at the Princess, Angela's agitation was on full display as she hissed loudly. To her credit, Luna did not back down, but the expression of worry and trepidation was not exactly hard to notice. 

"I apologize for Stalwart's less than subtle explanation of the situation," Luna said. Behind her, the stallion in question stood by, flanked by a pair of bat winged ponies in dark armor. His mouth was set in a grim line across his muzzle as he watched the proceedings from a distance. "Rest assured that he will not go unpunished for-"

A sharp and intense hiss cut her off mid sentence. Angela could not have cared less what became of Stalwart. What she wanted to know was Luna was not going to just let her be on her way, and she attempted to show by drawing another picture, this one depicting a wraith contained a cage with bars. She forcefully tapped it a few times to get her point across, to which Luna responded, "No, you are not being held prisoner, but you must understand that, given what you are and what you are capable of, we simply cannot allow you to roam Equestrian unsupervised. Please beast, you have to understand that-"

'I AM NOT AN ANIMAL!'

Angela roared at Luna, a harsh sound that shook the trees, knocking a few leaves loose. Her jaws stretched widely, fully displaying the set of needle sharp teeth as she slammed her palm down on the drawing with enough force to crack a boulder, obliterating it completely. The effect that her outburst had was almost instantaneous. With a flap of her great wings Luna was airborne and quickly putting a substantial distance between herself and the wraith. The moment she was on the ground again she was immediately surrounded by a wall of Royal Guard ponies, each one of them fully willing to risk their lives for their Princess. Even Luna looked prepared to fight, as her wings were still fully extended and her was enveloped in a blue aura that glinted brightly off of her silver regalia. Angela could tell by their expressions and postures that they fully expected her to pounce.

Instead of that however, Angela hissed angrily at them before she furiously began to scrawled her name onto the ground. She did not care that Luna could not read it, but she was so sick and tired of being called an animal, a beast meant to be caged. Snarling in barely contained rage, Angela thrust her index claw at her name, then at herself, making it abundantly clear what she was saying. 

Looking at the wraith with newfound wariness, Luna glanced at the writing, then back at Angela. After a moment, she slowly began to approach Angela again, and when she stopped the distance between them was noticeably larger than before. 

"You have a name," Luna said. It was not really a question, but a statement, an acknowledgement of fact that Angela confirmed with an aggravated hiss. A moment of tense silence passed, after which Luna added, "In that case, allow me to offer my sincerest apologies for believing otherwise." Angela huffed. She was still mad about it, but was at least willing to accept the apology. Luna could not have known that she had a name, but Angela would not stand for being referred to as a beast, however accurate the term may be. Luna continued, "But I am afraid that, until we can properly understand each other, it has little bearing at the moment." 

Angela shook her head, hissing once more before turning away, needing time to settle down from her outburst. She inhaled several deep breaths, but they only helped her marginally, and she still felt as though she could snap at any given moment from her hunger, her aches and pains, not to mention her frustration at being misunderstood. It would not take much to push her over the edge, and when that happened. . . it was hard not to think about.

She could hear Luna sigh loudly in disappointment as she began to mutter to herself, accompanied by the crunch of sand beneath her hooves, and Angela guessed that Luna was pacing back and forth.

"There must be an easier way to do this," Luna said loud enough for Angela to overhear her. Looking at the Princess, Angela could practically see the gears turning in her head as she thought hard. Suddenly Luna stopped pacing, and her eyes widened slightly as though she had just realized something. 

"Bea-" she began to say to Angela, until a sharp hiss cut her off. Heeding the warning, Luna appeared to swallow as he continued. "I believe that I possess a means that will allow us t speak directly to each other. A spell, if you will, that will let me link my mind to your own." 

Upon hearing that, Angela tilted her head in surprise. 'Can she really do that?' she wondered.

"However, before I cast the spell, I require your absolute trust for it to work while you are awake, otherwise it not be as effective. I swear on my honor as a Princess of Equestria that no harm will befoul you, from either myself or my subjects." Luna directed the last sentence at the ranks Royal Guard standing immediately behind her. Understanding what she meant, they simultaneously took a few steps back and lowered their weapons and dimmed their horns. Looking back at Angela, Luna asked, "Do I have your trust?"

Luna allowed the question to hang in the air while Angela considered it. The proposal did sound intriguing to her, not to mention promising. If Luna really could link their minds as she said she could, then it would give Angela a means to be clearly understood enough to the point where she could explain exactly why it was a bad idea for her to be around ponies for the time being, and hopefully negotiate some sort of agreement with Luna. 

However, just as much as the idea was tempting, Angela also found it to be very frightening to her. What if Luna could not only speak to her, but also see her thoughts as well. If she agreed then Luna could potentially find out about everything Angela was, and what she had done in the past. What would the Princess think of her then, knowing that she was not only a petty thief, but a murderer as well, however unintentional? Would she even be willing to give Angela a chance then? She did not know, and oddly enough the possibility of it frightened her even more than being consumed by her primal instincts.

All of her sins laid bare for Luna to see. . . the mere thought of it 

Angela looked down at her hands. Covered in leathery skin, with the blackened talons of a monster acting like a cage around her palm. They were not human, but to Angela they were still the same hands that had taken a mans life so long ago. 

After thinking on it long and hard, Angela finally reached her decision, and she gave Luna a short nod, giving the Princess permission to perform the spell. Luna nodded back, allowing a hint of silent approval to grace her muzzle. Then she closed her eyes in deep concentration, and within moments the spirals of her horn lit up in a ghostly white glow which gathered into a single a single point at the tip, and Angela felt a small amount of wonder as she saw it forming into a tiny orb no bigger than a tennis ball. From the orb, a small tendril of light snaked out and upward, waving around like a vine groping for purchase, before it suddenly began veering towards Angela. 

Angela moved back a little, suddenly having second thoughts about this. But she knew that it was too late to back out now, so she steeled herself and stayed as still as she could as the tendril came closer and closer, until it finally made contact with head, and her vision slowly faded into a stark white.





Bon-Bon had just started to doze off as her tired mind and body finally began to allow her to slip into a much needed sleep, when something startled her out of her half dead state. Her eyes instantly snapped open, and she stared at the metal ceiling of for at least a whole minute as she wondered what it was that had disturbed her, as she was not quite sure what it was. 

It could not have been the bed she was laid down on. She had been forced to sleep on much harder surfaces during her training in the A.M.D., and the spring coiled mattress that Lyra insisted that they purchase had been even worse. Compared to those the thin, itchy excuse for a bed that she occupied was like a cloud of silk. By all means she should be asleep and dreaming right now. 

But something was wrong however, and Bon-Bon still had no clue what it was. Staring at the ceiling obviously was not helping, so she begrudgingly hopped off of the mattress. Her hooves clicked on the floor as she glanced around for anything that seemed out of place to her weary eyes. Nothing stood out to her however, and she began to wonder if she was not just imagining things. She was the only pony here after all, and there was not a sound to be heard from the. . . 

"Wait a minute," Bon-Bon said quietly as she tilted her head, raising one of her ears higher than the other as she strained to detect any hint of sound.

Nothing. Absolute silence.

That was when Bon-Bon realized that was what was wrong. She could no longer hear the steady hum of the engines powering the propellers, and she felt her worry gradually increase as she considered the possibilities as to why that was the case. Had there been some sort of malfunction on board? She did not see that as likely, as she would have heard the sirens going off long ago. No, something else was going on, and Bon-Bon racked her mind as she tried to guess what it was.

"What in Celestia's name is going on up there?" she muttered, her ears swiveling in every direction, straining to detect something, anything, that might indicate what was happening.





The bridge was almost unbearably dark. The only source of light for anypony to even see their work stations was the steady crimson glow from a collection of flameless lanterns overhead. Everypony was utterly silent, not daring to make even the smallest sound as Crisp peered through a mounted telescope outside an opening in the panoramic window, awaiting his next order.

"There it is," Crisp said quietly, as though he were concerned that he would be heard by thing he was looking at. "There's our monster."

And what a monster it was. Although the darkness of night mixed with the shade of the trees made it a little difficult to discern, Crisp could tell that this beast that he was looking at would have made even the fiercest of manticores seem tame in comparison, so savage it was in appearance. The A.M.D. agents' description of it barely did the creature any justice, and Crisp could not help but find himself staring in awe at the creature as it stood, or rather floated, on the shore of a large pool located at the base of a cliff.

One of the crew members under his command eventually decide to speak up, her voice small and barely audible. "What are your orders sir?" she asked nervously. 

Crisped stepped away from the telescope, motioning for the stallion standing next to him to resume his post, briefly instructing him to keep an eye on their the creature. "For now," he finally answered, "we are going to stay put and maintain a visual on our friend down there until we receive further instructions from the Princess." Glancing around, Crisp noticed that something, or rather somepony, was currently missing from her station. "Where is Horizon? She should be back by now."

"Nopony's seen her since she left sir," the same mare answered before returning to her attention to her station. 

Crisp sighed. It had been almost ten minutes since Horizon had suddenly excused herself, just when they had been ordered to come to this location, and Crisp found himself wishing that he had asked what she was up to, as she still had yet to return even now. However, as much as he would have liked to continue pondering the matter, Crisp filed it away for later consideration. As of this moment, there were much more pressing things to be concerned about.

Turning to the pony at the telescope, Crisp asked, "Any changes cadet?"

"No sir," was the cadets' response as he kept his eye firmly trained on the creature. "So far it's just sitting there, doing nothing. Seems like it's looking at something on the ground but other than. . . hold on a second, is that. . ?"

Crisp watched with interest as the cadet's horn lit up and the settings on the telescope were adjusted slightly. Almost immdetiately Crisp saw his ears fall flat and a horrified expression cross his muzzle. "Gods above," he breathed out, his voice showing the first stages of complete and utter panic. "I-it's the Princess! She's down there with that thing!"

"Let me see," Crisp ordered, almost having to shove the cadet aside so he could look int the telescope and see for himself what was going on down there. To his surprise and horror Crisp found that what the cadet had said was true. Princess Luna was indeed down there, standing far closer than what he would ever consider to be a safe distance to the monster. Through the darkness, he could faintly see a thin strand of light form between them, seeming to originate from Luna. 

At that moment, Crisp felt the blood drain from his face and his wings fall limply at his sides as he suddenly remembered one of the details that the A.M.D. agent had told him that he had initially disregarded. 

Specifically how it fed.

"Captain!" Somepony shouted behind him, though Crisp barely heard it at all. "What's happening?! What's wrong?!"

Instead of answering, Crisp tore himself away from the optical instrument and immediately issued a single order.

"Prep' the weapon!"





After what seemed like an endless amount of silence, Bon-Bon began to wonder if she was not just getting herself worked up over nothing. If something was indeed wrong with the airship, she surely would have become aware of it by now. She was just getting ready to hop back into the small cot and try to reclaim sleep when the humming reached her ears, stopping her in her tracks.

At first it was barely detectable, but over time it gradually grew in intensity and volume until it reached  steady thrum, at which point Bon-Bon could feel her hooves buzzing on the floor and her teeth vibrating in her skull. With a gasp, Bon-Bon realized exactly what was going on, and her eyes shrank to the size of pinpricks as she rushed over to the door and started banging on it.

"Hey!" she called out. "I know you're out there! Open up!"

After a few agonizing seconds the creaked open to reveal the same stallion from before, an obvious look of annoyance on his face as he glared at her reproachfully. "What is it now?" he demanded. "Do you need the filly's room or somethin'?"

Ignoring the question, "Bon-Bon quickly said, "Listen to me. You hear the buzzing too, right? I know what that is, and I know what Crisp is planning to do with it, but trust me when I say that he cannot be allowed to go through with it! You have to let me go talk to him right bucking now before he does something stupid!"

In response the stallion rolled his eyes at her and said, "Right, sure you do. Listen lady, I didn't understand half of what you just said, but until the captain says otherwise I am not going to let you out, so why don't you just get back in there and wait until he calls for you, got it?"

For a long moment, Bon-Bon simply stared blankly at the stallion, her face devoid of any emotion. Then, her eyes slowly closed, she breathed out through her nose and said, "Sorry about this."

The stallion raised an eyebrow at that. "What are you tal-"

That was as far as he was able to get in his sentence before Bon-Bon's eyes suddenly snapped open and she whirled around faster than his eyes could track, pivoting her body on her forelegs, and gave the stallion a swift, hard buck to the chest. Caught completely off guard, he was launched backwards, impacting hard on the opposite wall. Dazed, the stallion groaned loudly as he slowly began to recover, seeing stars as he staggered to his hooves. By the time he was on all four legs again, Bon-Bon was already long gone.


> Thunder, part two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Angela felt as though she were floating freely through an infinite cloud of white mist, with little to bearing of where she was located. It was such a strange feeling for her to experience, like she was lost but at the same time knew exactly where she needed to go as she seemed to move steadily forward through the cloud. To her, it was in many ways like a dream, but at the same time it was every bit as lucid as reality.

"Hello?" she called out, wondering if she would receive an answer. She was met with silence however, as the blank scenery around her suddenly shifted, and she felt her bare feet touch what she assumed was solid ground. Gradually images and shapes began to take form around her, and Angela watched the transition with interest. At first they were hardly recognizable as anything she would find familiar, but after waiting a short while Angela began to see them as ordinary everyday objects from her home, ranging from a slightly worn telephone booth to a car parked on the side of a road to a newspaper box. Angela could only watch as she witnessed the world she was born and grew up in took shape around her. 

When it was finished, Angela found herself standing in the middle of a dilapidated street. On either side were tall buildings, most them with their windows shattered or their doors caved in. Flickering street lamps provided a wan yellow light to illuminate her surroundings. 

With a jolt, Angela realized that she knew this place, despite not having seen it in years. It was her old neighborhood where she grew up in, although it was admittedly far emptier than she recalled ever being, not to mention a bit more run down. Angela was confused by it all. She remembered Luna casting the spell on her, but why was she in her old neighborhood? It did not really hold any special memories for her. Most of the highlights regarding it were of her constant attempts to get away from it. Shrugging it off as some weird quirk in the spell, Angela glanced for any sign of life, finding none.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Angela called out again. This time she did receive an answer.

"Who are you?" 

Angela felt herself stiffen the moment she heard that voice, already knowing who it belonged to. It was difficult not to recognize the sound of her own voice after all. Turning around slowly, she beheld a creature that stood almost as tall as the buildings around them, as it peered down at her with it's eyeless gaze, towering above her like a monolith. Then slowly, the creature reached down and lifted Angela's chin with the tip of its claw. She felt the sharp point of the bone on her skin, threatening to draw blood with the slightest movement.

"You are what you make me."

Feeling her breath catch in her throat, Angela wanted to run away as fast as possible, but was unable to do so. She was frozen in place from the sheer terror she felt of the creature that loomed over her like a cloud of dread. Then suddenly, the monster retracted its claw and began to move away, vanishing down one of the many dark alleyways as though it had never been. The moment it was out of sight, Angela released a breath that she did not know that she had been holding within her, and she fell to her knees as her legs gave out from beneath her. For a long while she just sat there, trying to make sense of what she had just witnessed. In the end she chose to dismiss as a product of her imagination. It was merely an apparition, nothing more.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the distinct sound of metal clicking on stone behind her, causing her to turn around just in time to see a midnight blue alicorn gazing at her with obvious surprise and curiosity, and for a long moment neither one of them seemed sure what to say as they looked in each others eyes. 

Finally, Princess Luna broke the silence and said, "I feel that I must admit that you are not quite what I was expecting to see."

The moment Luna said those words, Angela felt the terror she had experienced just moments before vanish instantly, washed away by the knowledge that it had worked. Luna's spell had worked. Still looking at Luna, Angela began to chuckle, prompting the Princess to give her a confused look. 

"Excuse me for saying so, but I fail to see what is humorous about this," she stated.

Angela continued to chuckle however, and eventually her quiet laughter grew into a full blown cackle. She could not really explain why she was laughing, nor did she think she even knew the reason behind it. She just continued to laugh as tears began streaming out of her eyes, while all Luna could do was watch as she awkwardly shuffled her wings.

Eventually Angela came down from euphoric state and stood up, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "It's just. . . I almost can't believe it. . . can you really understand me now?"

Letting her expression soften into a delicate smile, Luna dipped her head in a short nod and replied, "Indeed I can. It would seem that the spell had the desired effect. Normally it works better if the one having the spell cast on them is asleep, but for the moment I believe we are free to discuss whatever we wish."

Upon hearing that Angela was unable to stop a wide smile from spreading across her face. She then surprised Luna by lunging at the pony, wrapping her arms around her neck. Not counting Luna's horn, Angela was slightly taller than the alicorn, so she had to bend down a little. She did not mind in the least however however as she said, "Thank you," repeatedly.

Luna, caught off guard by the sudden contact and unsure how to respond to it, resorted to simply patting Angela on the back with her right hoof. Nearly half a minute passed before Luna cleared her throat, signalling that it was time for her to let go. Angela took heed of the request and allowed the Princess to move away. 

"Sorry," Angela said. "I'm. . . you just have now idea how great it feels to finally be able to actually talk with someone."

"Oh, I believe I can imagine the feeling," Luna replied as she straightened her peytral with a casual flick of her magic. When she was done with that she began to examine Angela closely with a curious eye. "Forgive for saying so a second time, but you are not was I was expecting I would find here at all. You are indeed the creature that I cast the spell on, correct?"

"That's right," Angela replied. Understanding why Luna was more than likely confused by her appearance she added, "I know it's kind of hard to believe, but trust me. It's a pretty long story."

"I would think so. However, I believe that should wait for the time being. For now we have other matters to discuss." Luna paused before also saying, "I believe it is also only proper that I learn your actual name so that I know what I should call you."

"Oh right!" Angela exclaimed, berating herself for forgetting to introduce herself. "Well, if it's all the same to you, you can just call me Angela."

"Angela," Luna repeated, rolling the unfamiliar word around on her tongue. Luna had slightly mispronounced her name a little, but Angela did not care too much about it to correct her. She was just happy that Luna knew who she was now. "I see. Quite an unusual name I must admit, and one I have never heard before. Still," she added, "all the same it is quite lovely."

Angela shrugged off the compliment, although the praise did feel nice to her. Sighing, she let her shoulders droop, knowing that it was probably time to move on to the the reason why Luna was here in the first place, wherever exactly here was. Glancing around, she saw the environment from her world gradually become interspersed with Luna's, constantly shifting between city blocks and old pavement to vast green fields beneath a curtain of stars.

"So. . . what now?" she said, although she already knew the answer to the question. 

Raising her head a little, Luna replied, "I believe now is the time where you explain yourself, and your reason for being here. I am under the impression that you had no intention to do so, but you have been causing quite a commotion as of late. I am sure that I do not have to tell you that other ponies are inclined to believe that you are here to cause harm." Looking at Angela expectantly, Luna then asked, "So tell me Angela, why are you here?"

Rubbing the back of her neck, Angela sighed heavily as the gravity of the situation, caused by her own actions no less, fell upon her shoulders, and she responded somewhat timidly, "It's. . . kind of a long story. One that I'm not particularly proud of." Angela paused, unsure how exactly she was going to go about explaining to Princess Luna, currently the only pony who would even listen to her, who she really was, what she used to do with her life. "I'm. . ." she began to say hesitantly before pausing again, causing Luna to raise an eyebrow as she waited for a full answer. "I'm not exactly what you would call a saint, and it's. . . well it's really hard for me to control myself sometimes, considering what I am. But please believe me when I say that the last thing I want is to hurt anyone again."

"Again?" Luna questioned as she narrowed her eyes just a little. "What do you mean by that? Is there something that you are not telling me?" she asked in a serious tone. Immediately Angela regretted saying that, and she felt a shiver of fear crawl up her spine at the thought that she had just given herself away. 

"I don't want to talk about it," Angela said, a little too quickly as she turned away, hoping Luna would heed her wish and leave the matter to rest. Unfortunately however Luna did not seem to be willing to ignore it as she walked over to Angela until she was close enough that she could gently place a hoof on her arm. 

"Angela, listen to me," she commanded, though not harshly. "If there is something that you are hiding that could potentially be of harm, either to yourself or to my ponies for whom I am responsible, then you must tell me. Until then I cannot be allowed to trust that what you say is true, no matter how much I may wish to. And I do wish to trust you Angela. All I ask is that you trust me in turn."

Angela glanced at Luna, then down at the hoof on her arm. She then moved away from Luna, as the Princess placed her hoof back on the ground. 

"I'm dangerous," Angela stated simply. "I'm. . . I'm not safe for anyone to be around, not like this."

For a few long moments a tense silence ensued. Angela hugged herself, seemingly for warmth, as she looked away from Luna, unable to meet the Princess' eye. "I've done something. . . something terrible, a long time ago, and it just. . . eats away at me, all the time. It's like I'm dying on the inside, and no matter what I do I just can't forget it." Angela's voice had become shaky at this point, though she hardly noticed it as she desperately tried not to think about it. 	

The sound of hoofsteps echoed from behind her, and once more she felt a hoof be placed on her arm.

"Angela, I. . ." Luna began to say, before stopping to take a steadying breath. She then continued, her tone laced with sympathy "I know what it is like. I know better than anypony the feeling of regret for past actions. I too have committed deeds that I am not proud of. And even today, when everypony around me has forgiven me for those terrible acts, I still feel that pain at knowing that at least one point in my life, I failed." As Luna spoke, the ground beneath them turned into a chalky white dust that was bitter cold to the touch. Luna would pay it no heed however as she placing herself in front of Angela so that she was only thing the girl look at she added, "And that is why you must allow me to help you. You have to-"

"No!" Angela yelled suddenly, startling Luna from the sheer volume of her voice. "Don't you get it?! If I go off the deep end, everything around me dies! If I lose control for even a second it comes back, and it kills everything it sees! It's too much of a risk for anyone to be around me!"

"Angela-"

"The last thing I want is to hurt you, but the longer you stay around me the more likely that someone is going to get hurt! So why won't you just do what I want, and leave me the hell alone?!"

"Angela, stop!" The suddenness of Luna's shout snapped Angela out of her frantic state, making her realize that she was letting her emotions get the best of her yet again. She looked down at herself, and was horrified by what she saw. Her fingers had been transformed into sickle like claws, and her skin had been replaced by leathery grey flesh.

"I. . . I didn't want. . ." Angela stuttered as she stared at her now monstrous form, before covering her face with her hands and curling into a fetal position, blocking out the world around her. "Please," she whimpered pitifully, "I don't want it to happen again. I can't let it happen again." 

Angela remained silent afterward, clutching her head between her hands as she struggled to not think about that moment anymore. However the more she fought it the more it fought back until it was all that occupied her thoughts. Luna could do nothing more than stand by her and gently caress her with a hoof, offering what comfort she could.

As the Princess was doing this, she noticed that the scenery around them had changed, shifted suddenly from tall buildings interspersed with grassy fields to the interior of a small, dimly lit structure. Angela noticed it as well, causing her to stagger to her feet.

"Angela, what is this place?" Luna questioned as inspected their surroundings that were unfamiliar to her. She saw large boxes that appeared to be made of glass, each of them containing small objects that sparkled when she looked at them. Realizing that Angela had yet to answer her question, Luna asked again, "What is thi-"

"I didn't want to," Angela whispered quietly, cutting Luna off. Glancing at the concern in concern, Luna started to say something, but stopped when she noticed the odd look in Angela's eyes. They were vacant and glazed over, as though she were not really looking at anything in particular. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Luna just stared at Angela, at first in confusion, then in panic when she realized exactly what was going on. She immediately rushed over to her and reared up, placing both of her hooves on her shoulders as she attempted to shake her out of her trance. "Angela! Listen to me!" she commanded desperately, hoping that she could be heard. "Whatever happened to you, or whatever it is that you did in the past, it does not matter now, do you hear me? What you are seeing right now is not real, they are just memories. They have no hold over you unless you let them, do you understand?!"

But to Luna's ever increasing fear, Angela did not seem to even hear her, and paid no attention to the Princess whatsoever as she continued to stare straight ahead at seemingly nothing. Luna noticed out of the corner of her eye that she was holding something in her right hand that was not there before. It was a strange black object that was completely foreign to Luna but seemed designed to accommodate Angela's hand. In any other situation she could not guess what its functions was, but the blood the coated both of Angela's hands as she tightly gripped it gave her at least some idea of it purpose.

Behind Angela, Luna was able to discern a trail of crimson that led to single body laid face down in a pool of red. For a brief moment all Luna could do was stare blankly at it. She was startled out of her trance when she noticed that Angela begun to breathe heavily to the point where she was hyperventilating.

"Angela!" Luna pleaded. "You must stop! Don't let it consume you!" Her words were of little use, as a pitch black darkness began to swirl around them. Igniting her horn, Luna attempted to dispel it in a flash of blinding white light. It did nothing to stop the inky black void from consuming them both however, enveloping them completely. And before Luna could say or do anything else, it appeared, and Luna staggered backward away from it as terror unlike any other consumed her.

Its claws were like razors.

Its teeth glittered like diamonds in the depths. 

Its eyeless face was full of savage malice and hunger, staring intently into Luna's very being as it loomed over Angela possessively.

"I'm sorry. . . please forgive me," Angela whispered softly. Suddenly the crack of the weapon going off echoed in Luna's ears, and she felt herself being ripped away as the link was torn asunder and her vision faded to black. The last thing she heard was the creatures mournful keen echoing in her skull.





Luna reeled back and clutched her head in agony between her hooves as she was sent flying backwards by a massive shock wave. She felt her body tumble through the air before impacting on the hard ground, skipping like a stone on water until she finally came to a stop. Blinking rapidly, Luna's eyes stung severely as the scent of smoke filled her mouth and nostrils, accompanied by the horrible aroma of burnt hair and flesh. She tried to breathe, finding it difficult to do so from the now polluted air, and she coughed loudly as she attempted to get herself back on her hooves. 

When her vision finally cleared up enough, Luna was able to take in what had happened. 

Fire. It was all around her, clinging to the bark of scorched trees as what leaves they had left continued to burn, threatening to spread to others if left unchecked. The smoke they produced rose upward in great clouds of black, and through them her moon appeared as a  bloody red disc in the nightsky. What little grass remained in the vicinity crunched beneath her hooves as she took an unsteady step forward, and a short distance away she could see that a large part of the sandy shore that bordered the pool had been melted into brittle glass. Somepony was yelling. A lot of ponies were yelling actually, their voices overlapping to form a harsh mixture of panic and fright.

"Princess!" somepony shouted, calling for her just loud enough to be heard through the surrounding din, although for some reason it sounded very far away. It was then that she realized that one of her ears, the left one, was bleeding for some reason, as a trail of warm liquid slid down the side of her face, staining her fur a deep black.

Trying to ignore the discomfort, Luna glanced around in an effort to locate who had called for her. She soon found it in the form of none other than Stalwart as he and a small group of other ponies rushed towards her. She noticed that they were extremely haggard in appearance, as much of the armor covering them had somehow become burnt, and the plumes that normally decorated their helms was completely gone.

Still disoriented by whatever had just happened, Luna took a step towards them as they continued to approach. The moment her hoof met the ground it slipped out from under her, causing her to stumble to her knees, grimacing from the jarring thud that followed. Almost immediately after she felt herself being hoisted up by a pair of hooves, helping her t stand again.

"Princess! Are you alright?! Are you hurt at all!?" Stalwart asked rapidly. All Luna could do was offer a weak nod in reply as she coughed into her fetlock.

"What. . . what happened here captain?" she asked as her faculties slowly returned to her, until she was able to stand on her own again.

"To be honest Princess, I'm not really sure," Stalwart responded. "We were just sitting there, making sure nothing happened while you cast your spell on the animal when all of sudden this huge lightning bolt came out of nowhere and nearly killed everypony, including you. Right now we're trying to assess who's the most injured."

"Lightning?" Luna repeated as her brow furrowed in confusion. That did not make any sense to Luna, as there were hardly enough clouds in the sky to produce even a light drizzle. Even if an adequate amount of clouds could be gathered, it would have taken a whole army of pegasi to produce a bolt of the magnitude that Stalwart spoke of.

Unless. . . 

Looking up towards, Luna peered through the smoke as she scanned the night sky for anything that looked out of place. She soon found what she was looking for in the form of a void in the distance where stars should be, clearly outlining the silhouette of a large airship. Luna felt her heart sink at the implications of it's presence, and she mentally kicked herself for forgetting about it, especially after she had signaled for it to return. 

And in that moment, she felt anger. Luna felt ruthless hatred towards the airship and the ponies that directed it. Hr brow furrowed deeply and she grimaced in barely contained rage. What in Equestria were they thinking? Not only had they almost killed everypony here with their harebrained stunt, they had also cut off Luna's spell midway, which could have disastrous consequences on. . . 

"Oh no," Luna whispered quietly as her pupils shrank, all but forgetting about the airship. "Angela."

"What?" Stalwart asked in a confused tone. "Princess Luna, what are you talking about? What's an Angela?"

Luna payed him no heed however as she surged forward, leaving them behind as she frantically looked around for any sign of Angela, trying to see past the waves of smoke as grass and trees continued to smolder around her. Her throat burned horribly and her eyes stung, but she did not care about that. Occasionally she would pass by a Royal Guard pony in need of assistance and, obligated by her own morals, stopped to help them, whether it be to get those that had been injured to a safer place or to issue an order. She was loathe to leave them afterwards to resume her search, but Stalwart appeared to have things well in hoof.

Eventually she found who she was looking for amid the devastation, and despite the heat surrounding them, Luna felt her blood freeze in her veins the moment she laid eyes upon Angela's still, unbreathing form.

"Angela!" Luna shouted as she galloped with all haste towards the body. The closer she came, the more damage she could see that had been inflicted by the bolt, which surely had been meant for Angela to begin with. Her entire back, as well as the left side of her body was covered in a single, massive burn so severe looking one would think it had been caused by prolonged exposure to dragon fire. She was even charred in some places. The row of quills on the left side of her spine appeared to be shriveled and worn, and one of them had been snapped completely in half. The worst part of it all however was the way Angela's skin seemed to bubble and broil from the heat, and Luna wanted nothing more than to turn away in disgust as the smell of burning flesh became overwhelming.

Luna continued to look on however, at the one whom she had come save from her nightmares, who had been so afraid of herself that she would rather spend her life in isolation than to risk harming others, now broken and battered almost beyond recognition. As she inspected he body, Luna happened to notice something sticking out on the side of her neck due to the skin being burned off. Using her magic, Luna carefully removed the foreign objects, revealing them to be a pair of gems with little hooks attached to their facets. Luna recognized them for what they were instantly, and she scowled before crushing them into dust with a flick of her magic.

Turning a sympathetic eye to Angela, Luna tried to speak, finding it difficult to so. "Angela. . . I'm so sorry," she whispered as her voice caught in her throat. "You. . . you're. . ."

Luna shook her head. She would not accept it. She could not accept it. Lighting up her horn she began to craft a intricate healing spell, and soon everything within ten feet of her was bathed in a serene bluish green aura. Once the spell was sufficiently strong enough, at least Luna hoped it was considering how large the recipient was, she released it, and the spell washed over Angela's body like a wave. Not stopping there, Luna continued to cast the spell over and over again. She was vaguely aware of a gathering of ponies forming behind her to watch the spectacle, but ignored them in favor of trying to keep Angela alive. 





"Cadet, can you confirm that the target was destroyed?" Crisp questioned, trying himself to see if he could spot anything through the clouds of smoke that continued to billow upward towards the heavens, coloring the moon a bloody red. Almost everypony on the bridge, himself included, had their snouts practically pressed up against the glass to the result of the Storm Bottles handiwork. 

If Crisp were to be honest, even though he already knew the sheer power the airship contained within its hull, he could not help but be in absolute awe at the mere sight of a gargantuan blue bolt of electricity shooting from the nose of the airship, impacting on the monsters back with enough force to obliterate a castle. It was more than enough to make him believe that the creature had been all but blown apart by it. He was of slightly worried for Luna's safety of course, but given the circumstances he felt it was a necessary risk to take, and since the monster took the brunt of the attack, she should be fine. A little singed perhaps, but otherwise unhurt.

After entire minutes of waiting in anxious anticipation for the smoke to eventually clear up, the verdict finally came. 

"Getting a visual now sir, I think I can see it," the cadet stated.  few more seconds passed before he exclaimed loudly, "Confirmed! Target destroyed, it's not moving."

Upon hearing that the entire bridge erupted into a fit of ecstatic cheering. All around Crisp ponies congratulating and patting each other on the withers. He was fairly certain he even saw two of them kiss out of the corner of his eye. Crisp did not partake in the celebration however, though far be it from him to deny that he did not at least feel a great amount of satisfaction that not only had they neutralized a threat, but also prevented Luna's death in the process. 

Their revelry was interrupted when the the sound of the door being kicked inward, producing a harsh clang that reverberated throughout the interior, causing everypony's ears to flatten their ears against their skulls to protect their eardrums. 

"What the buck did you do?!" an extremely irritated sounding voice demanded loudly, somehow matching the door in volume. As one everypony turned their heads to see a mare with a cream colored coat and a pink and blue mane and tail. With nostrils flared and eyes brimming with absolute fury, Bon-Bon was the very picture of rage as she stared them down, though most of her attention was reserved for Crisp. Slowly, with her head dipped low and her shoulders hunched in a threatening posture, she began to stalk towards him.

Narrowing his eyes at the intimidating mare, Crisp tried not let his nervousness show as he said, "Miss Bon-Bon,  do not believe that I gave you permission to-"

"Can it flank face!" Bon-Bon shouted at him. Coming to a stop a mere three feet away from him, she demanded yet again in a low, dangerous tone, "What. Did. You. Do?"

"What do you think we did? Crisp retorted indignantly, unfurling his wings a little as an instinctual response to feeling threatened. "We just prevented the death of one of the Princesses at the claws of the beast that you spoke so highly of, eliminating a clear and present threat to Equestria. You may not realize it yet, Miss Bon-Bon, but we may have just saved countless lives." Gesturing towards the telescope he added, "If you don't believe me, see for yourself."

Scowling at him venomously, Bon-Bon obliged him as she shoved her way past, making no apparent effort avoid bumping into him along the way. Other than a harsh glare, Crisp let her continue her way as went over to the telescope. The cadet, knowing better than be in her way, quickly acquiesced his position to her and stood off to the side, allowing Bon-Bon to put her eye against the lens. After letting her have a moment to see what was down there, Crisp spoke up and stated, "As you can plainly see, Princess Luna was down there while that thing you claimed was not a monster was feeding on her. I'm sure even you can agree that we did what was only right in killing it before it could kill her."

For a long while Bon-Bon was completely silent as she swiveled the telescope a little bit, taking in more of the situation on the ground. When she finally spoke, it was in a level and emotionless tone that somehow sounded even more dangerous than when she was shouting.

"There are other ponies down there," she said simply.

Raising an eyebrow at the statement, Crisp was unsure what she was meaning to imply. "Excuse me?"

Stepping away from the telescope, Bon-Bon was visibly shaking. Her body language was belied by her all too calm voice as she repeated herself. "There are other ponies down there. A whole bunch of Royal Guard. A few of Luna's personal guard too."

"Excuse me if fail to see what that has to do with the current situation," Crisp responded. "Of course the Royal Guard would be down there. They must have come rushing to rescue their Princess when they heard the blast. A little late on the uptake perhaps, but otherwise an admirable effort on their part."

Shaking her head slowly, Bon-Bon narrowed her eyes at him and said, "I don't think so. If they did come rushing to help as you say, that would imply that they were not near her to begin with. And I think you I both know that under no circumstances would the Royal Guard ever allow anypony, one of the Princesses no less, to be left alone in a potentially dangerous situation." Crisp opened his mouth to object, but found he could not come up with a good retort. Stepping towards him, Bon-Bon continued to add, "Given that, the only reason any of the Royal Guard would be so close at hoof, and yet allow the creature to be close enough to Luna to supposedly feed on her long enough for you to open fire on it would be if they were under orders not to." 

"That's enough!" Crisp shouted angrily, refusing to believe that he was in the wrong here. Lowering his voice he said, "Now listen here. I don't care what you say, or what you think you believe about your pet out there, but let me tell you here and now that I will not stand to be subverted by a former member of an organization that doesn't even exist anymore," he stated, no longer caring about keeping her identity a secret. "No matter what you say or what excuse you come up with, that thing is a monster, and I will not let some sub-equine animal get the better of me because you think it has a heart!"

Crisp did not even see the hoof coming until it met the underside of his chin. Reeling backwards from the hit, he rubbed the rapidly growing bruise and looked at Bon-Bon with absolute fury, just as the majority of the crew rushed over and tackled her to the floor, pining her down. Still rubbing his chin, Crisp angrily ordered, "Take her back to the barracks, and keep her there." Speaking directly to Bon-Bon he added, "You can be sure that we'll let the Princess know about you. You'll wish then that you had-"

"Uh sir?"

"What is it cadet?!" Crisp snapped, whirling around to find the pony in question once more looking into the lens of the telescope. 

"I, uh. . . I think you may want to take another look at this."

Sighed loudly through gritted teeth Crisp stormed over. The moment he saw what was going on down there his furrowed in confusion. There, standing next to the massive corpse of the creature, was Luna. Gathered behind her were many members of the Royal Guard, all of them looking like they had just been through Tartarus judging by the state of their armor. While largely unharmed, it appeared that they had suffered some of the effects from Storm Bottle as well. What really caught him off guard however was the sight of Luna repeatedly casting some sort of spell on the creature. Even from the safety of the airship, he could plainly see that she was putting quite a bit of effort into it. 

"What does she think she's doing?" Crisp questioned aloud, wondering if he was seeing things correctly, although he already had a sneaking suspicion, one that refused to go away no matter how much he wanted to deny it. Crisp shook his head, looked, shook his head again, and looked again. But no matter what he did to convince himself that what he was seeing was not true, he could not refute it. Princess Luna was casting healing spells on the creature. She was trying to revive it. 

Bon-Bon was right.

Before he could say or do anything else however, he noticed that the beast began to move slightly.





Luna continued to pour as much energy as she could into spell after spell without rendering herself unconscious, as doing so would mean letting Angela potentially slip further away into the cold embrace of death, which Luna would not let happen as long as she drew breath. 

Luna could not necessarily explain why she was risking her own safety, with fires that, while having died down a little bit, continued to smolder around her, all for an alien being that she just met a short while ago. Perhaps it was the fact that, in a way, she felt a certain amount of kinship with Angela. Luna knew what it was like to have to fight to be accepted after committing acts that she felt were unforgivable. Or maybe it was because she could not bear the thought of Letting Angela perish simply for being misunderstood.

Whatever the case, Luna was wholly convinced that Angela was innocent in this situation, and harbored no ill intentions towards her ponies, if the vision that Luna had witnessed while their minds were connected was anything to judge by. This knowledge spurred Luna onward to keep the spell going, desperately trying to revive Angela. 

For minutes on end she remained like this, refusing to give up the fight. Yet even her great power was beginning to falter, and she was not sure how much longer she would be able to keep it up. Even alicorns had their limits after all, and Luna felt herself reaching hers. She was short of breath and her limbs felt like wet rags beneath her body as her legs wobbled and her wings hung limp at her sides. 

"Wake up," she pleaded quietly. "Please Angela. . . you must. . . wake up."

Just when Luna thought that her body was about to give up the battle, she felt something echoing across the spell. And it was coming from Angela. Cutting off the spell, Luna allowed herself a moment to recover a little bit as she breathed deeply, struggling to keep her limbs steady. When she thought that she might fall over Luna felt a hoof touch her side, keeping her upright. Glancing to her right, she saw Stalwart gazing at her with an odd look in his eye that she could not quite identify initially due to her fatigued state. Was it worry, perhaps?

"Princess," he said, sounding conflicted. "Just so you know, I still have my reservations about what you're doing here." Luna narrowed her eyes, and was about to tell the captain what she thought of his reservations. He cut her off by adding, "But for what it's worth, I hope you are right. I really do."

Luna sighed heavily, letting her irritation fade away a bit as she turned to address the captain, about to tell him that she would not be doing this if she did not believe wholeheartedly that it was indeed worth it, but was interrupted yet again. This time however, the interruption did not come from Stalwart or any of the other ponies gathered behind them. It came from Angela, as she inhaled a mighty breath. She then exhaled slowly, scattering a few remaining embers.

Every pony immediately became as tense as a bowstring as they watched Angela's chest rise and fall with each shaky breath, Luna included, and almost in unison they took a precautionary step backward, giving her a wide berth. One of Angela clawed hands, the one that had suffered the least amount of damage, flexed, her talons carving deep grooves into the soil as consciousness slowly returned to her. 

"Angela?" Luna said, raising her voice a little, though she was hesitant to disturb the girl. Behind her, a few of the Royal Guard glanced at each other in confusion upon hearing Luna address to the creature by the unfamiliar name. Luna hardly noticed as she watched Angela struggle to orient herself, using all four of her upper limbs to prop herself upright. 

"Angela, are you well?" Luna questioned in a concerned tone. She felt slightly foolish for asking however, as any pony could plainly see that Angela was anything but fine. One does not simply get up after taking such a hit without suffering some sort of damage. The mere fact that Angela was still alive, let alone conscious, after enduring so much misguided abuse was nothing less than astounding to Luna, and Luna felt hopeful at knowing that Angela would at least survive.

However, the severity of the damage that Angela had endured became all too apparent when she suddenly fell to her side, and screamed. It was such a horrible sound to Luna's ears, so alien and full of grief and pain that it caused the Princess to fall to her knees as she covered her ears with her wings to block the sound. Even then, Angela's shrill cry of agony penetrated deeply, cutting into Luna's eardrums like a blade. All around her, ponies were suffering similar effects from the cry. 

In front them, Angela began to thrash wildly as she clutched her left side with her right, knocking over trees and anything else that happened to be in her path. Fighting through the cacophony, Luna raised her voice, hoping that Angela could hear her. 

"Angela!" Luna yelled loudly, though Angela hardly seemed to notice as she continued to thrash about, scratching and clawing at her wounds in a futile effort to dispel what Luna knew what must be an incredible amount of pain. Her call went unnoticed as Angela moved forward blindly. Luna had to leap to the side as a massive hand impacted on the space she had just occupied. Angela made no move to pursue her however, making Luna realize that the girl probably did not even remember they were even there. The pain was just too much for her to concentrate on anything.

"Everypony get out of the way! Take cover now!" Luna ordered as she hovered in the air. Thankfully they heard her over the din, and quickly moved to obey her command as they ran for the cover of the trees as Angela continued to scream, swiping at anything that came too close. 

She was losing herself to the beast, Luna realized. Angela had warned her about it, and now she was witnessing it happen before her very eyes. The animal side of her was in control now, and would likely lash out at anything it perceived to be a threat in its wounded state. Luna frantically tried to think of a way to get Angela to calm down enough for her to cast a sleeping spell on her, something that would diminish the pain. In her frenzied state, such a spell would do absolutely nothing to Angela. 

Suddenly Luna was startled out of her thoughts when Angela's pained cries morphed into an enraged growl. Still clutching her side, Angela's head whipped back and forth, until she spotted the Royal Guard as they were hiding behind the trees. She then hissed loudly as the uninjured row of spines on her back stood straight up. Luna felt the blood drain from her face when she saw Angela crouch down in preparation to attack, no doubt perceiving them as a threat. 

Seeing that they were still in danger, the Royal Guard attempted to flee from her before she could attack, but were too late as she launched forward, knocking over multiple trees and sending the embers that even now continued to burn flying into the air before they stuck on other trees, igniting their branches. One pony that was trying to get away stumbled over a fallen branch, and Luna watched in horror as Angela spotted him while he struggled to get up. He was too late however, as Angela was on him in an instant, her large right saber claw raised high above her head, intending to skewer him. 

Before it could strike its target however, a band of blue suddenly appeared around the blade, and it seemed to be yanked backward just enough for it to narrowly miss the pony by mere inches. 

"Run! Flee now!" Luna shouted as she struggled to keep Angela from pursuing her quarry, the tip of her horn connected to the band by a thin light of magic. Angela screeched in rage as she pulled on it, dragging Luna a good distance. Heeding her command, the stallion quickly got back on his hooves and galloped away as fast as his hooves could carry him. 

"Angela!" Luna screamed while she fought a battle for control. A battle that she was rapidly losing. "You must listen! This is not you! You must stop this at once!" Luna grimaced as Angela suddenly grabbed hold of the line in her fanged maw and used it to swing her around like a rag doll attached to a piece of string. It was all the Princess could do to keep herself from being swung into a tree as she flapped her wings to avoid them. Knowing that she had next to no foothold in the air, Luna landed on the ground and used every ounce of strength she had left to pull Angela backward, clenching her eyes from the strain it was putting on her horn.

Suddenly the line went slack, giving Luna a quick moment of relief. The feeling soon vanished when she opened her eyes just long enough to see the back of a large clawed hand swat her away. 

She heard something crunch as she sailed backward, before she was suddenly enveloped in something cold and suffocating, and she lost consciousness. Just before she blacked out completely, Luna thought she could hear somepony calling for her name.





Stalwart could do nothing except look on in utter horror a the monster that Luna had tried to make peace with strike her with a mighty backhand swipe that would have cracked a dragons skull. He did not even see the beast cover the distance between them. It was as though one moment the two were separated by fifty feet of a line that had been conjured up by Luna to contain it, and the next it was just there. Luna had virtually no time to react before she was sent tumbling into the pool, her limp body creating a large splash before it sank beneath the surface. 

"Luna!" Stalwart screamed as he rushed forward, heedless of the monster still being nearby as it still thrashing around, blindly attacking anything it saw. He wasted no time in ripping off his armor with his teeth, snapping the straps holding it together before throwing them aside. 

Diving headfirst into the water, he frantically kicked and paddled his way to Luna, whom he could just barely see at the edge of his vision as she continued to sink, her ethereal mane billowing in the water. Refusing to let her drown, Stalwart surged towards her until he finally reached her. Wrapping a foreleg around her barrel, he then rapidly ascended to the surface. Once there he began to use his free limbs to make his way towards the shore, doing his best to keep Luna's head above water. 

At last he reached his destination. Dragging the unconscious alicorn onto the shore, he pressed his ear against her chest, dreading the prospect of hearing nothing but silence. 

"Oh thank Celestia!" he exclaimed when the familiar thudding of a heartbeat could be heard. It was faint, but Stalwart was mollified by the fact that she was alive at least. Quickly inspecting her for other injuries, he found that one of her wings and both of her back legs were bent at an awkward angle, and a massive bruise had formed on her chest. Stalwart would not be the least bit surprised if any of of her ribs were broken. Stalwart may not know that much about alicorns, but he did know that she needed medical attention right away. Unfortunately there was currently nopony else around to provide assistance. He was the only one who had disobeyed her order to flee, not wanting to leave her behind. Lucky how that turned out, all things considered.

A harsh screech not too far off in the distance drew his attention to the forest, where he saw a trail of destruction left in the monsters wake. Amid the monsters calls, he could also hear the frantic shouts and screams of ponies. 





Hammer Hoof galloped with all due haste . She and the rest of the Royal Guard had fallen back per Luna's order. Hammer would have liked to stay and help, but in the end she could not disobey a direct order from the Princess. 

They had positioned themselves behind the arbelists, hoping that if Luna could not contain the beast and it did come for them that they would at least be able to deter it. After all, Hammer remembered that they seemed to affect it before, so there was no reason why it should not work now. Despite this, Hammer still felt incredibly nervous as a bead of sweat ran down her brow as she waited anxiously, listening to the screams of the monster that was accompanied by the sound of trees being snapped in half, seeming to get closer with every moment that passed. 

"Get ready!" somepony shouted. Immediately every unicorn lowered their head in preparation to fire combat spells at the beast. The clank of the arbelists being loaded with heavy iron spears could be heard just behind them. Unsure what else she could do in this situation, Hammer Hoof had a spear clutched in her fetlocks, ready to throw it at a moments notice.

Her heart beat loudly in her chest, pounding in her ears. It skipped a beat when she spotted it, giving her fuel for nightmares to last her the rest of her life. Not too far off in the distance, Hammer could just barely see the warped and twisted black silhouette of the monster, standing out against the glowing orange backdrop of fire behind it. It was moving rapidly as it closed in on them, knocking over trees or ripping them out of the ground by their roots as it cleared a path directly to them. 

"Aim!" 

Trying desperately to steady her nerves, Hammer breathed deeply through her nose, filling her lungs with oxygen, then exhaled slowly. It did help as much as she hoped it would. 

Just when the creature seemed to be in range, the pony that seemed to be in charge at the moment raised his hoof, preparing to give the order to fire. Then suddenly, the creature stopped, seemingly frozen in place less than a dozen yards away from them. Hammer tilted her head in confusion. Surely it could see them by now, so why was it was it just floating there?

And why did it look like it was glowing?

Hammer Hoof soon had her answer to both questions when the creature suddenly shot towards them faster than she could blink, engulfed in a fiery orange aura. With little to no time to react she frantically shouted at the top of her lungs, "Take cover!" 

Her warning came just as the creature appeared right above their heads, catching them completely off guard before they they felt the air being sucked out of their lungs before they were suddenly thrown as a massive shock wave erupted from the creature. Ponies went flying in all directions before impacting on the hard ground or finding their flights cut short by a tree. 

Hammer was unfortunately among the latter of the two, and she felt the wind being knocked out of her completely before falling ten feet to the unforgiving ground below. Trying to stand, she gasped in pain before falling to her knees. Looking over, she saw that the armor covering her torso had a massive dent on the right side, and she realized that her ribs were broken. It could have been worse she supposed. She could have been impaled on a tree branch.

"Take it down!"

The screech of the beast was enough of a distraction from the pain for her to glance upward just in time to see it be hit by three iron spears. Immediately a group of unicorns, what were standing after the shock wave that is, began to channel streams of lightning into the spears from their horns. To their horrified surprise however the beast seemed to not be affected in the least as it swatted them away with a swipe of its tails, after which it proceeded to track down the arbelists and destroy them, either by ripping them apart or shattering  them with downward strikes from its saber claws. 

Hammer did not understand what she was seeing. The tactic had seemed worked earlier, so why was it not having as much of an effect now? A question to ponder later she decided. Right now she needed to get moving. Fighting through the pain, Hammer struggled to stand, though it was at least another minute before she was on her hooves again. Taking a step forward, she hissed through clenched teeth. All around her ponies were shouting frantically as they tried to regroup.

Of to the side she could still see the Royal Guard trying desperately to fight it off, to little success. Somepony even had to the bright idea to rush at it armed with nothing but a spear. "For Equestri-" That was as far as he was able to get before he was casually slammed to the side by the monsters tails. Having taken care of the nuisance the monster returned its attention to the others as they scrambled to get away. It pursued them them, and before long Hammer could hear them screaming.

"Kill it! Somepony kill it!"

"I can't even see it! It keeps moving!"

"Where the buck did it go?!"

Hammer staggered forward as the shouts and screams continued, occasionally drowned out by the monsters' own roaring as it tore into their ranks, practically unchallenged. Hammer was at a loss as to what to do. At this rate, they were going to need a miracle. That was when she noticed a shadow looming over her, and she turned her head to see that the monster was heading straight for her. Hammer screamed, knowing that there was nothing she could do to fight it in her injured state. Even if she were still able to fight, she could not imagine doing much. Falling on her back, Hammer could do little more than wave her hooves futilely at the creature as its massive hand came down. . . and missed her completely.

Thrusting its head down at her, Hammer felt its hot breath ruffle her mane a little as it hissed. The poor mare could do little more than whimper at being brought so close to so many needle sharp teeth. Letting out a short grunt, the monster proceeded to shriek loudly at her, causing Hammer to cover her ears with her hooves in a futile attempt to block the horrific sound, before it suddenly vanished in a flash of white light, reappearing a short distance away, where it ferociously tore  away at an arbelist.

Hammer was shaking like a leaf, barely able to keep from involuntarily relieving herself from being so close to death. She babbled incoherently for a few moments before she eventually passed out. The last thing she saw while conscious was the underside of a large airship.





"Is the weapon ready to fire?!" Crisp shouted, almost panicking as he watched the beast carve a path of destruction through the forest, close enough that he did not even need the telescope to watch it relentlessly pursue the Royal Guard. 

"It's still charging up sir!"

"Well hurry it up! Ponies could be dying down there!" Crisp ordered, unable to keep the fear he felt out of his voice, slightly warped by the static hum of the storm bottles signature weapon. It had been a long time since he had felt actual fear, especially from an animal. He was so used to things going exactly as he planned them to, with little deviation that the feeling was practically alien to him. And now he could not help but be consumed by it to know that not only had the monster survived being hit by a weapon that would have demolished a countryside, but had also shrugged it off as little more than an annoyance before it proceeded to dispatch Luna and began attacking the Royal Guard. And judging by the way the monster tore through the forest like a living buzz saw, the situation was grim for those on the ground. Crisp just hoped that they could hold out long enough for them to open fire and finally put an end to it once and for all.

Glancing to the side, Crisp caught sight of Bon-Bon looking down at the carnage below with a horrified expression. Despite Crisp's opinion of her at the moment, he could not help but feel  a small amount of pity for her. She truly did believe that the creature meant no harm. And maybe she was right, Crisp thought. Maybe they had just pushed the beast far enough to the point where it just did not care what got in its way anymore. 

Crisp looked away. He could not allow such thoughts to distract him right now. Right now they needed to focus on helping the ponies on the ground, still struggling to fight the monster off without success. 

It was at that moment that Crisp heard the call of, "Ready sir. Awaiting your order."

Off to the side, Crisp noticed out of the corner of his eye that Bon-Bon had turned away, not willing to watch. Crisp hesitated for just a moment before he said, "Zero in on it."

"Yes sir."

A few moments passed as the hulking airship altered its position slightly, until it was pointed directly at the monster. It did not seem to notice them yet thankfully, as it was too preoccupied with tearing apart everything in front of it. 

"Target acquired sir."

Crisp sighed heavily, wondering if he was going to regret this later on, then gave the order.

"Fire."

Seconds after Crisp gave the order, the static hum began to increase in intensity and volume as arcs of white hot electricity could be seen gathering around the nose of the airship as the reached its peak. Everypony braced themselves for what they knew was coming. Then a brief period of silence followed before a lightning bolt as big around as a train car shot forth from the airships conductive surface, emitting a thunderous roar that shook the entire ship.

The creature had no time to react as the bolt hit its target square in the back, and a cloud of dust and smoke was thrown up where it once stood, obscuring it from view. Despite Crisp thinking that even it could not survive two direct hits like that, he still lingered, wanting to make sure that it stayed down for good this time. When the dust settled and the smoke cleared up enough for him to see, Crisp narrowed his eyes, noticing that something was missing that should not be.

"Um. . . where did it go?" a pony questioned in a concerned tone, voicing his thoughts. 

"I don't know," Crisp replied, equally concerned. "I don't understand, we hit it dead center. Its body should still be there at least." 

For a few moments, everypony was on the verge of panic as they frantically searched the ground for any sign of the monster. Crisp noticed that Bon-Bon had joined, looking just as surprised and confused as they were to see that the creature had somehow gone missing. As she looked around, he saw her focus on something that was apparently directly beneath them. Gasping, she then pointed with a hoof and said, "There!"

Following her direction, Crisp peered down at whatever had caught her attention, but could not see anything that stood out to him. No matter how much he strained his eyes, he just could not see what she was pointing at. Sighing he began to say, "Miss Bon-Bon, this is no time for you to. . .to. . ."

Crisp faltered when he finally noticed what she was talking about. Almost directly below them, he could just barely make out slight distortions in the air that were moving very rapidly. Directly towards them. They were incredibly difficult to track, and Crisp found himself wondering if he was not just imagining things. That would not make sense however, as Bon-Bon had seen it as well. Then suddenly the distortions cleared up, and in their place was their missing monster. Crisp's eyes went wide with shock.

Shrieking at them loud enough they could hear even inside the airship, the monsters skin suddenly began to emit a bright orange glow, right before it shot up towards them like a vengeful meteor. 

"Back, back, back! Everypony get back now!"

Crisp was not quite sure what happened after that. One moment he was ushering ponies off of the bridge as fast as possible as the monster rapidly approach the airship wrapped in a halo of angry orange energy, the next he found himself being thrown like a rag doll towards the back of the bridge, leaving him dazed and rid of any sense of direction. The floor beneath him shook violently as he struggled to stand, yet for some reason his hooves were unwilling to cooperate. Managing to open his eyes, Crisp shook off the disorientaion and looked around trying to make sense of what was going on. 

The first thing he noticed was that the entire front half of the bridge seemed to be missing, the edges of which glowed a vibrant red from the metal being melted into slag. The second thing he noticed was that the monster was now occupying the hole as it gripped onto the airship with its claws, easily penetrating the metal as though it were tissue paper. Roaring in rage and anger, it tore away at the edges, heedless of the burning metal as it ripped off large chunks of metal with ease. It then reached in inside and attempted to grab Crisp. Crisp had no time to do much of anything except cover his himself with his hooves, until something yanked him backwards by the hem of his uniform. The monsters claws just barely missed him as they raked against the floor, causing sparks to fly and leaving large gashes. 

Turning his head, Crisp was surprised for multiple reasons to see somepony he was not expecting to. 

"Bon-Bon?!" he exclaimed as the mare pulled him backwards, the hem of his uniform gripped between her teeth. "Not that I'm not grateful or anything but what are you still doing here?! you should've left with the others!"

Letting go of his uniform she responded with, "I also should've let you die for being so stupid, but I didn't did I?"

To that, Crisp had no rebuttal to offer. 

Their attention was drawn back to the creature as it shrieked in rage. Apparently decided that they were not worth the effort, the monster began to scale upwards, impaling its saber claws into the ship as it hauled its itself upwards, until the tips of its tails disappeared from view. They were only allowed a brief moment to recover from the encounter before they noticed that the ship was now shaking violently, and was being steadily tilted downward towards the ground below. 

"That's our cue to leave," Bon-Bon stated as she galloped for the door. It was then that she noticed that Crisp was not following her, and she turned around to look back at him as he looked around for something among the wreckage. 

"What are you doing?!" she demanded. "In case you haven't realized it, the whole ship is going down!"

"I know that," Crisp replied as he rooted through the debris until he found what he was looked for, namely a panel on the floor about four feet across. Heaving it open, Crisp motioned for Bon-Bon to come over, he said to her, "Listen to me Bon-Bon, I need you to do me a favor. Do you see that big lever there?" The lever that he was indicating was painted bright red with a bunch of warning labels around it. Next to it was a small switch. Bon-Bon nodded, unsure what he was getting at. "In exactly two minutes, I want you to turn it. Twice clockwise, and once counter clockwise. That should be enough time for everypony on board to brace themselves."

"Brace themselves?! Brace themselves for what?!" Bon-Bon questioned. Rather than answering right away Crisp flicked at the switch, and almost immediately a siren began to blare through unseen speakers.

"For when you release the gondola from the main part of the airship," Crisp finally explained. "It would be better if we over water, but the emergency balloons should be enough to slow the fall and minimize damage."

"What?! Are you insane?!" Bon-Bon exclaimed in his ear, looking at Crisp like he had grown a second head. "What idiot put that in the design?!" 

"Bon-Bon! Listen to me!" Crisp shouted back. "There is an entire thunderstorm contained in the main hull above us. If that that thing breaches the containment spells while the gondola is still attached, everypony on board will die. That's why I need you to stay here and turn this lever in two minutes. Do you understand?"

Bon-Bon stuttered, not liking his plan at all, which Crisp supposed he could not blame her for. "B-but why me?! Can't you do it?! It's your ship after all!"

Spreading his feathery wings, Crisp trotted over to the hole, he shouted back at her over his shoulder, "Your right! And Celestia as my witness I'm gonna go down with it!"

Deciding to end their impromptu conversation there, Crisp leaped out into open air. Wind rushed past his face as he pulled up, directing his path to the top of the ship. He soon spotted the creature, busy tearing away at the hull like a shark would tear on a whale. Flames poured out of the great hole it had gouged out, producing a column of smoke that trailed behind. Taken aback by the sight, Crisp hesitated for just a moment before he dove headfirst at the monstrosity, aiming for its for its back. He needed to buy time for Everypony inside to get to safety, and the only way he was going to do that was to distract the beast for as long as possible. 

He did not particularly have much faith in his chances of surviving, but he was willing to live with it, so to speak. Who knows, maybe he would even get a statue or stained glass window made in honor of his heroic sacrifice. 

Unfortunately the creature spotted him long before Crisp made contact though, and took a swipe at him with one of its saber claws. Crisp quickly flapped his wings and halted his advance, narrowly avoiding getting sliced in two by the razor sharp bone. Hissing, the monster crouched low against the hull. Leaping towards him, it attempted to grab him and crush him in its grip. Tucking in his wings, Crisp dove under the attack as the beast sailed over his head. It landed with a heavy thud, keeping itself anchored to the hull with its claws. 

Hoping he sounded at least half as confident as he felt, which was was admittedly not much, Crisp began to taunt the beast. "Yeah that's right!" he jeered. "Just try and get me! You couldn't catch a snail if you wanted!" His taunting proved to be a wholly unwise decision the monster hissed at him angrily, and in a flash of white it was suddenly right in front of him, upon which it casually swatted him out of the air. Crisp felt a flash of agonizing pain and heard something snap as he slammed against the hull, skidding along the surface. He tried to flap his wings to keep himself from falling. He yelled the moment he moved them however. Glancing over he, saw that they were both snapped practically in half. Left with no other option, Crisp tried to grip the hull with his hooves, to absolutely no affect however as he slid down the side.

"No no no no no no!" he shouted frantically as his back hooves met open air, and he fell. 

Crisp screamed as he flailed about, only to find his fall cut short when he impacted on something. It constricted around him tightly for brief moment, threatening to crack his ribs, before he felt himself being flung to the side. He felt the wind be knocked out of his lungs, and when he opened his eyes he found that he was once more on top of the ship. Dazed and confused, his attention was drawn to the monster sitting close by as it. . . 

What was it doing?

The monster was thrashing wildly about now, clutching its head between its many arms as it let out a high pitched keen that was interrupted by growls of aggression. It seemed to be in pain as it shook its head back and forth, scratching and clawing at itself. Slamming its palms on the hull, the monster shrieked loudly as it convulsed, its jaws spread wide. 

Crisp had no idea what was going on with it, nor did he want to know as he cautiously scooted away, hoping to put as much distance between it and himself as would be allowed. 

Suddenly the whole ship seemed to lurch upward, almost causing Crisp to lose what little footing he had. Peering over the side, he saw the gondola falling away, as four large balloons inflated on the top, slowing its descent. He let out a sigh of relief, glad that Bon-Bon had at least enough sense in her to follow the instructions he gave her. 

A moment of gladness was cut short by a savage hiss, and when he looked he saw the monster had seemingly recovered from its bout of insanity, and was now creeping towards him. Realizing his fate, Crisp sighed heavily as he accepted it.

"Well?" he said. "What are you waiting for?"

Reaching towards him, Crisp closed his eyes, fully expecting to feel the life be crushed out of him. Instead, the creature picked him and rapidly moved towards the hole it had created in the ship. Clutching him tightly, it slipped inside the interior, just as the last remnants of the containment spells gave way, and the ship ruptured violently as the storm broke loose.





A thunderous boom strong enough to shake a mountain echoed across town, shaking the buildings to their foundations. Stalwart was startled so much by it that he leaped up from his spot on the floor just outside of the room Luna was staying in, unintentionally knocking over a flower stand. The whole building seemed to be shaking by its very foundation. Somewhere inside the hospital, somepony screamed, "It's the apocalypse! Grogar has come!"

Stalwart ignored the screaming mare as he rushed for the nearest door leading outside, dodging past other members of the Royal Guard, some of them sporting grievous injuries. He even saw that Hammer Hoof, a mare that he knew to be tough as nails on occasion, had been laid up, groaning in discomfort from her broken ribs. Nurses and doctors rushed back and forth as they did their best to keep up with the sudden influx of patients that had arrived less than an hour ago, even as more continued to pour in.

It was honestly a miracle that none of them had died, making Stalwart wonder what sort of providence had been watching over them.

Eventually Stalwart found a balcony. Leaning over the railing, he was just in time to witness a huge thundercloud cover the landscape. Lightning flashed as it continued to spread, growing larger and larger. Even Hollow Shades could not escape it, as the town suddenly found itself the victim of a torrential downpour. Ponies on the street ran for cover to escape the sudden deluge. Off in the distance, Stalwart could just see the glow of the fires that had been raging unchecked where their entire ordeal had started begin to fade as they were snuffed out by the heavy rain. 

Stalwart was soaked within seconds, his damp mane sticking to his forehead. He did not care about that as he looked on into the distance. He had no idea what it was that had happened. Until the rain settled and everypony's injuries had been tended to, they would find out. Until then Stalwart would wait until Luna was healed, or at least conscious.

He could do that at least.


> Recovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Luna awoke with a startled gasp as her eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright. Her wings instinctively flared to life in preparation for flight, sending a spike of pain through her spine that caused her to let out an involuntary yelp from the unexpected feeling. For some reason that she could not readily recall, her chest burned as though it were on fire, and if she breathed too deeply her lungs hurt as though they were constricted by a vice. Breathing through clenched teeth, Luna looked down to see that all of her regalia had been removed, replaced by multiple bandages both large and small that covered her barrel, giving her a somewhat mummy like appearance. She noticed that her lower body was concealed by white sheets.

For some reason her vision was distorted, and she was unable to really focus on anything for too long with out getting a headache. She swayed quite a bit as she sat, wondering what in Tartarus had happened that had reduced her to this state. Throwing aside the covers holding her down, Luna clumsily rolled off of the bed. Almost immediately she noticed that her back legs did not feel like they were supposed to when they met the floor. She glanced back with slightly glazed eyes, and saw that one of her wings was bound and both of her back legs had been encased by in some sort of stiff material that she felt she knew the name but could not remember.

Luna had no idea what was happening or what was going on. All she did know was that she was in an unfamiliar place and that her instincts were screaming at her to get moving right away. To where, she had no clue, but Luna was confident that it was important for some reason. Fighting through her disorientation, which clouded her senses and wrapped around her like a fog in her mind, Luna tried desperately to remember what it was that was important for her to do, sifting through her memories of what she had been doing before she woke up here. Just when she was about to give up, she suddenly recalled something. A name to be specific, both exotic and familiar. 

"Angela!" Luna exclaimed, although her voice was barely audible even to her own ears. It sounded odd, as though she were underwater. She decided to address it later as she staggered forward, not really knowing where she was supposed to go. Eventually she was able to locate what she assumed was a door. Seeing it as an escape, Luna grasped the lever with a hoof and pulled on it as hard as she could, to no avail however as the door refused to open. Refusing to let this obstacle stop her, Luna backed up a little bit before charging at the door with her shoulder, heedless of the resulting bruise which added to her already impressive collection of injuries. Fortunately it swung outward with much more ease than she expected. Unfortunately it also resulted in her crashing face first into a wall on the opposite side of a narrow hallway, which in turn startled a nearby mare as she was busily cleaning up a mess left by a broken flower pot.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed in surprise, unsure what to do as she watched Luna attempt to regain her balance, barely able to keep herself from falling over. 

Once she had recovered some of her senses Luna took notice of the mare, upon which she thrust a hoof at her and shouted, "Servant! Thou must reveal to us the whereabouts of thine masters castle gates!"

Rather than comply like a sensible pony would as Luna was hoping, the maid instead tilted her head to the side and gave the Princes a confused look. "Huh?"

Huffing in annoyance, Luna said, "Never mind thee! If thou shalt not assist us, we shalt find it ourselves!" With that, Luna began to trot away with as much dignity as she could with her movement being as restricted as it was. Still feeling less than right in the head, Luna often swayed from side to side as she moved forward, occasionally bumping into the wall. 

"W-wait a minute! Princess!" the mare called after her. "I really don't think that you should be-" 

Whatever she was about to say next, Luna did not hear as she bumped into another pony as he came around the corner. 

"Luna?!" he said in tone that was oddly familiar to the Princess, as jumbled and distorted his voice was. "What are you-"

Luna cut him off as she shouted into his face, "Release us from the bonds which thou hast placed upon us!" Seeing him give her the same dumb look as that mare, Luna resorted to striking him upside the head with a mighty blow to the jaw, sending him sprawling backwards as she added, "Thou shalt never hold us for thine pleasure foul villain!"

"What the buck?!" the stallion exclaimed as he massaged his jaw. Looking up at her in bewilderment he shouted, "Princess it's me! Stalwart! Captain Stalwart! I-" Luna did not allow him to finish as she charged forward, practically trampling him as she made her escape, looking for any sign of an exit. What she found instead were more ponies, most of them dressed in armor. 

"What the buck?! Princess?!" one of them said upon noticing her.

Suddenly the stallion that she had just floored shouted up at them, "Somepony stop her before she hurts herself!"

Luna stared down the group of armored ponies gathered in front of her. Her nostrils flared and her mane billowed erratically as she lowered her head, pointing her horn at he nearest one. "Come on then!" she bellowed. "Who among thee wishes to test thine selves against the Princess of the moon and stars?"

In response the ponies among the group glanced at each other in confusion. "Uh, Princess? Are you alright?" one asked.

Luna's only response was a war cry as she leaped at them, tackling two of them to the floor. 

Chaos ensued in he narrow confined space of the hallway as multiple ponies struggled against her onslaught, attempting to hold her down with causing her further harm. All the while they were shouting things like, "Can't any pony keep her still?!" as well as as, "Nurse! Nurse we need assistance here!" and also, "Oh sweet Celestia! Somepony please get her to stop biting me!"

As Luna fought valiantly for her freedom from her captors, she felt something prick her flank. Kicking out with her back leg, she felt it connect with somepony's face, shattering the plaster holding it in place and sending her assailant flying. However, before Luna could continue her struggle and take advantage of the confusion she suddenly began to feel even more disoriented than she already was, and before long she was on the floor. 

"Angela," she muttered as the last bits of consciousness left her completely. 

". . . Angela. . ."





Silence reigned in the hospital room as Princess Luna, fully lucid now that she had woken up from her drug induced state of bliss, sat on her bed, her lower body covered by sheets while her upper body remained exposed as she twiddled her hooves nervously. Off to the side, Stalwarts sat on a small chair donated from the staff, holding an ice pack to his bruised chin, looking like all he wanted to do was go home and take a nap. Luna felt much the same way, but at the same she was far too anxious to even think about rest. Luna knew she should say something, but had little to no idea what that should be as she pursed her lips and clicked her hooves together. A few times she turned to him as if to say something, but whenever she opened her mouth she found herself at a loss for words, and would direct her attention to something else. 

Eventually Luna decided to just grin and bear it as she looked at Stalwart and said hesitantly, "I. . . apologize captain for my. . . less than stellar behavior. . . . I am terribly sorry for striking you like that. It was entirely uncalled for. I can only hope you can forgive me for it."

In response, Stalwart merely shrugged as though it was not that big of a deal and said, "Eh, it's alright. The doctors' never treated an alicorn before, so they wouldn't know how much painkiller to give you anyway. I've taken worse things to my face, believe it or not." Stalwart winced slightly as he finished his sentence, upon which he placed the now melted ice pack on a little table next to her bed. "Still, that was a pretty good hit you got on me. I'm surprised I still have any of my teeth left."

Stalwart chuckled slightly at his own statement. Luna joined him, but quickly ceased when a throbbing sensation on her chest prevented her from continuing. She quickly made a mental note not to breathe too deeply until she was fully healed. Barring the use of magic which was not advisable, it could take a number of weeks. Stalwart took notice of her discomfort, and once again his face fell into an expression of concern.

"Of course," he said, "if I'm being honest your highness, your lucky just to be alive after that hit you took from that monster."

Luna frowned when she heard the captain say that. Forgetting her pain for a moment, she sighed as she laid her head down on the pillow, her mane rippling slowly at the edges of her vision.

"Angela," she said, keeping her gaze locked on the ceiling.

"I'm sorry?"

"That is her name. And she is anything but a monster, so I will not tolerate you or anypony else calling her as such." Stalwart opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to protest, but thought better of it when Luna cut him off with a scolding look. Satisfied that he would not try to contradict her, Luna settled back down into the bed as a flurry of questions raced to the front of her thoughts. "Stalwart," she said without actually looking at the stallion. "After I was. . . rendered unconscious. . . what happened? Did anything important occur?"

Stalwart was silent for a few moments as he exhaled slowly, clearly hesitant to speak. Luna already knew that she was not going to like what he was about to say as he began relating to her everything that had occurred after Angela had lost control over her aggression. Luna listened intently to everything he said, finding it difficult for herself to resist asking him to stop. After some time Stalwart was finally finished, concluding with, "I wasn't there when the airship went down, but I could definitely hear it. I was able to find somepony who was able to help me carry you back to town so you could be treated for your injuries. After that we sent a message to Canterlot about our situation They should arrive in a little bit. That was about an hour ago, just before you woke up."

"And what of the ponies that were on the airship?" Luna questioned. "What became of them after Ang-. . . after it was destroyed?"

Stalwart explained, "When we heard the explosion a bunch of ponies were sent to investigate, they found that everypony on board had survived. It seemed that just before the containment spells were compromised they were able to release the gondola. Injuries are minimal, and nopony seems to be hurt, but. . ." Stalwart paused, letting out a heavy sigh before adding, "At the moment the commander of the airship, Crisp I think his name was, is missing, along with one other mare named Horizon. We have a whole army of ponies from both the Royal Guard and in town looking for them, but so far they have yet to find any trace of them. We're hopeful that they somehow survived, but the general assumption is that they perished, either from the creature or explosion."

Luna was silent as she let Stalwart's words sink in as she thought them over. She was glad that there was no major loss of life as she had hoped, but it was not long before she realized that Stalwart had forgotten something important.

"You still have yet to tell me what became of Angela," she pointed out. "What happened to her?"

"Princess, I don't know if you should really concern yourself with-"

"What happened to her?" Luna asked again more forcefully as she narrowed her eyes at Stalwart. She needed to know if Angela was alive and well, at least as much as she could be, or if she had perished. Whether or not is was  for good or ill, she needed to know. She caught sight of Stalwart swallowing a lump in his throat before he finally answered her question.

"I. . . we. . . we don't know, Princess," Stalwart admitted as his ears fell flat and his gaze drifted to the floor, unable to meet her eyes.

Luna blinked at his admission, unsure if that was really the answer she was hoping for. "What?" she said quietly, her tone disbelieving. "But. . . but how? What do you mean you know?" At this point Luna was once again sitting upright in her bed, ignoring the flashes of discomfort that shot up her rib cage from the sudden movement.

Caught off guard by this, Stalwart attempted to prevent her from exciting herself as he held a hoof towards her and said in a calming tone of voice, "Princess, please. I must ask that you not get yourself worked up. We don't want you to exasperate your injuries. I really think you should just-"

"To Tartarus with that!" Luna exclaimed loudly, refusing to let the issue slide. "You will tell me what happened to Angela, Stalwart, or so help me I will pry the knowledge from you while you sleep!"

It was an idle threat, and Luna knew it. No matter what she would never do anything to root out knowledge from anypony without their express permission, but at the moment Stalwart did not need to know that, and she needed him to tell her everything that he knew. Unfortunately, Stalwart was unable to provide her the information that she desired as he responded, "I'm sorry Princess, but I don't know what else to tell you other than we have no clue where it went. It could here in town or halfway to the Crystal Empire for all we know."

Luna growled in frustration, and her brow furrowed deeply. "Fine then," she said angrily. "If you will not tell me, then I will find out for myself." With that, Luna rolled out of the bed, wincing as her back hooves met the floor with a jarring impact. Stalwart was instantly panicking as he rushed over to her, placing himself in her path. 

"Princess Luna!" he pleaded. "You really should not be moving around! You're still too-"

Luna cut him off when she ignited her horn, and the room was bathed in a bluish green glow. Casting the same spell that she had used on Angela upon herself, Luna felt pulse after pulse of healing energy wash over her body. Within moments, loud cracks could be heard as her legs, wing and ribs realigned themselves back to their proper places. During the whole process, Luna had to struggle to ignore the absolute agony that she was putting herself in as her bones shifted around under her skin and melded back together. The spell lasted no longer than a few seconds before it was complete, but it still felt far longer than Luna would have liked, and when it was finally over she was left gasping for breath. 

"Princess!" Stalwart exclaimed. "What in Equestria are you doing?!"

Luna did not bother to answer him as she quickly regained her composure and readied a second spell. Then, in a blinding flash of white light that was joined by a popping sound, Princess Luna disappeared from sight, leaving Stalwart alone, confused and concerned in the hospital room.





Bon-Bon surveyed the wreckage that had once been the main hull of the airship with a heavy heart. For lack of a better term, the ruptured hull look very much like a watermelon had exploded, sending shrapnel and debris flying for hundreds of feet before it fell to the earth below, plowing through the forest and creating a gigantic swath of of destruction in its wake, leaving pieces of warped and twisted metal to litter the deep furrow it carved into the ground. Bon-Bon imagined that it would very likely take days, possibly even weeks, before it could all be cleaned up. 

Bon-Bon sighed heavily, wondering how anypony, or anything for that matter, could have survived this. She glanced upward, gazing forlornly at that clouds that still remained above the crash site even hours after the airship had fallen. While they had thinned out considerably since then, nopony seemed to be too inclined to do anything about them just yet. The result of this was an almost constant drizzle that fell upon her and everypony else as they searched the wreckage for the two ponies that had yet to be accounted for. 

Carefully trotting around large pieces of metal that had become impaled in the ground, Bon-Bon watched her step so as to make sure she did not cut herself on a stray piece of debris as she kept an ever watchful eye for anything that stood out, yet there was still no sign that either Crisp, Horizon or the creature were among the wreckage. 

"You bucking idiot," Bon-Bon muttered, referring to the captain, although there was hardly any venom to her tone. Whatever her opinion of the stallion had been before all of this, it had recently changed somewhat. While she may not respect Crisp himself or some of his choices that led up to this, Bon-Bon could at least respect his willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of his crew. 

Now if only they could find him among this mess.

"Has anypony found anything yet?" a voice called out. Bon-Bon glanced to her left to see a group of ponies, mainly consisting of volunteers from Hollow Shades, sifting through the debris for the missing ponies. In response a chorus of "Nope"s and "Nothing yet"s answered back.

Throughout their search for Crisp, Bon-Bon also kept careful eye out for the one responsible for actual destruction of the airship, for she was eager to know if it had somehow survived as well. But just like Crisp, the there was little to no indication that the creature was here either, and Bon-Bon could not help but begin to wonder if the injuries that were inflicted upon it had finally taken their tole. She doubted that was the case though. It had already sustained a direct hit from weapon and lived, and even if the creature was dead as she feared, then they would have at least found a body. It would be quite hard to miss actually, even buried under a few metric tons of debris. Still, the thought that it had survived the explosion, only to drag itself off to die somewhere else remained a fixture in her mind, filling her with worry and apprehension.

"Excuse me, miss?" a voice said suddenly, startling Bon-Bon out of her anxious thoughts. When she looked she saw a dark grey earth pony stallion looking at her with an expression of mild concern in his eyes. "Sorry about that," he apologized upon seeing how much he surprised her with his sudden appearance. "I didn't mean to spook you, you just looked a little bit out of it for a moment there. Are you alright?"

For a brief moment Bon-Bon considered how she waned to answer him, wondering what he would say if she told him what was going on in her thoughts until she eventually just said, "I. . . . It's okay. I was just thinking about everything that happened is all." After that she resumed trotting around the crash site.

The stallion nodded in agreement as he joined her and replied, "Yeah, I see what you mean there. We've all been getting a lot to think about these past few days." A brief pause ensued after he made this statement, and when Bon-Bon looked she could plainly see that there was some deliberation going on in his head. He noticed her looking at him ad asked, "Excuse me for asking, but if you don't mind could you tell me who you are?"

"Bon-Bon," she replied quickly. "And you are. . . ?"

"Roughshod," he replied as he shook her hoof in greeting. "Sorry for asking out of the blue like that. I just don't remember seeing you around town, and I've been here a long time."

"I. . ." Bon-Bon began to say, unsure of how exactly she wanted to answer him, wanting to allay any suspicions he might develop if she did not say anything. Finally she said, "I'm. . . I was actually on a camping trip. In the woods a couple miles south of town. I just happened to be in the area when I heard all of the commotion, and decided to help out however I can."

Bon-Bon did not particularly see any value in telling this Roughshod the whole truth about her involvement. The less that he knew about how much she was a part of this whole mess, the better. Everything that she had just said was technically true from a certain viewpoint after all. She was camping in the woods for quite a while during her search for the bug bear before she discovered something far more impressive, and far less monstrous in spite of its appearance. 

"Really?" Roughshod questioned. He did not sound disbelieving to Bon-Bon's ear, but the way one of his eyebrows was raised had the mare worried that he would not accept the explanation that she had given. She was relieved when he simply shrugged and said, "Kind of a weird time to go camping if you ask me, but I'm not going to judge." Looking at her he then asked, "Did you happen to see the monster at all?"

"What?" Bon-Bon said, coming to a stop.

"You know, the monster. The big animal that ate the bug bear and Left half the Royal Guard in the hospital," Roughshod clarified, even though he really did not need to for Bon-Bon, for she knew exactly what he was talking about.

For a few long seconds Bon-Bon hesitated, not sure if she liked what he was implying. While indeed monstrous in appearance, the creature itself hardly acted that way. She knew it was only because it had been pushed and provoked into an instinctual rage that it had retaliated at all against them. If the Royal Guard had left it alone long enough to come up with better solution than simply trying to kill it, then perhaps all of this destruction could have been avoided entirely. At the same time however, Bon-Bon oddly found it difficult to use that as a solid defense for something that could so easily cause such a devastating amount of damage, even if it was provoked.

"Uh, Bon-Bon?" Roughshod questioned, waving a hoof in front of her face. "You're spacing out again. Are you sure that you're alright?"

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Bon-Bon swatted away the hoof and said a little more forcefully than she really meant to, "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine." She paused for just a moment before she added, "And, yes. . . yes I did see it."

Roughshod's eyes widened a little with interest at her answer, and he asked, "Really? What happened?"

Bon-Bon sighed as she wondered if she was not just making a mistake while she told Roughshod about each of her encounters with the creature, from when she first discovered it as it feasted on the corpse of the bug bear to when it chose not to simply end her life when she was at its mercy. Whether he believed her or not, Bon-Bon felt it was only right that at one pony know what happened. Talking as they walked around the wreckage, being careful to keep an eye out for Crisp, Bon-Bon withheld almost nothing as she told Roughshod everything. She of course kept certain aspects of her involvement, such as why she was there to begin with and her affiliation with Gerald and the Royal Guard, but aside from that she told him everything. 

She did not even stop to ask herself why she was telling all of this to some random pony she just met, when she finally finished her story, ending off with how Crisp had tasked her with detaching the bottom part of the airship. 

"And that's pretty much it," Bon-Bon stated. "I know it all sounds pretty hard to believe," she added, "And I wouldn't blame you if you didn't."

For a few long moments Roughshod simply looked at Bon-Bon like she had grown a second head. He finally said as he rubbed his neck, "Well. . . I wasn't going to say anything, but-"

Whatever Roughshod was about to say next was interrupted when a blinding flash of light appeared nearby, accompanied by a familiar popping sound that Bon-Bon instantly recognized as an effect of a teleportation spell being used. Everypony nearby instinctively shielded their eyes with their hooves to keep themselves from being blinded by the unexpected occurrence, but by then the spell was already over as the light vanished split second later. 

Blinking rapidly to clear away the spots that she was seeing, Bon-Bon looked to where the flash originated, and was almost rendered speechless to see a familiar looking midnight blue alicorn standing a short distance away.

"Princess Luna?!" Bon-Bon exclaimed in surprise, confused by the Princess' sudden appearance out of seemingly nowhere. Perhaps even more confusing was her lack of any regalia whatsoever, which was almost unimaginable to Bon-Bon. It was just difficult for her to picture the Princess without any sort of raiment or decorative garb, and yet here she was right now without so much as her crown. In fact, Bon-Bon was pretty sure that she had seen Luna be on the receiving end of the creatures wrath. Seeing her here now, looking only slightly worse for wear was somewhat disorienting.

Bon-Bon was not given very much time to contemplate her presence when Luna started glancing around rapidly at her surroundings, completely ignoring the group of ponies that was gathering around her. She seemed to be looking for something in particular, and Bon-Bon felt that she could make a safe bet what that was.

Unexpectedly, Luna suddenly called out an unfamiliar word. "Angela!" she shouted. 

"What did she say?" Roughshod questioned, apparently just as confused by the word as she was. Bon-Bon, having almost forgotten that the stallion was still standing next to her, simply shrugged before she moved to join the circle of ponies surrounding the Princess. 

Luna quickly spotted Bon-Bon amid the crowd as her eyes widened in recognition upon seeing the cream colored mare, and she swiftly trotted over to her. "Miss Drops," Luna exclaimed, appearing to be somewhat out of breath. When she heard her other name be used, Bon-Bon grimaced slightly as her ears fell back against her mane. Luna realized her error and quickly added, "My apologies. Bon-Bon, I need your assistance in a matter most dire."

Unsure what the Princess meant by that, or what help she could even provide her, Bon-Bon found herself feeling slightly nervous at how Luna was now drawing attention to her, fully aware of the way ponies were looking at her. Deciding to forget about it for the moment, Bon-Bon replied somewhat hesitantly, "O-of course Princess. What can I do to help?" 

Luna sighed heavily, and it was not until then that Bon-Bon noticed how haggard she really was. Parts of her dark blue fur were sticking up in places and her mane billowed wildly as though it directly reflected Luna's agitation. The Princess seemed to be struggling to maintain her balance as she swayed so slightly that Bon-Bon almost missed it entirely. Her limbs were shaking as though they were under a great amount of strain as well. Overall, Luna's appearance unsettled Bon-Bon greatly, but she was forced to hold off on contemplating it as Luna proceeded to explain her plight.

"It's Angela," Luna said. "I do not know where she is or where she may have gone, and I am beginning to fear the worst has happened. You must tell me everything that you know of her whereabouts so that I may be able to find her."

". . . Angela?" Bon-Bon repeated uncertainly. 

Luna huffed and stomped her hoof on the ground in frustration as she exclaimed, "Angela! The creature! The very thing at the center of this gigantic mess! The one that you told us about in your report not but a day ago?!"

Momentarily startled by the forceful tone that Luna was using, Bon-Bon finally realized what the Princess was talking about. "Oh! The creature! Yes, sorry, I didn't know what, er, who you were talking about." Once more Bon-Bon took notice of the crowd of ponies looking on with interest, wondering if they should really be discussing a topic such as this out in the open with so many listening. "Um, Princess?" she began somewhat timidly. "Perhaps it might be best if we go somewhere a little more-"

Bon-Bon never got to finish making her suggestion as Luna was in her face in an instant. Bon-Bon instinctively backed away from the taller mare, but Luna would not let her get away. Her wings were unfurled and an expression of furious impatience adorned her face as she stated very loudly, "No! You will tell me, right here and now, where Angela is! It is very likely that she is in an unimaginable amount of pain and turmoil right now, and every second of my time that you waste prattling on she slips further away, until I won't be able to help her! And your secrets and cover be damned, you will tell me!"

"I don't know!" Bon-Bon replied, genuinely afraid of what the Princess might do to her. "I-I wish I could tell you more Princess, but I just don't know!"

"Then what good are you?!" Luna accused before spreading her wings and, with a mighty flap, took to the air, leaving Bon-Bon alone on the ground as she recovered from the verbal lashing. Before long the Princess was out of sight as she disappeared into the cloud cover. Bon-Bon let out a shaky breath, unsure how she wanted to feel about what just happened. She did not know whether to feel let down by the fact that she had just been verbally reprimanded by the Princess, or that she she was unable to offer any sort of help. 

Out of the corner of her eye Bon-Bon noticed Roughshod, along with a few other ponies, looking at her with raised eyebrows. "I thought you said you were camping," Roughshod pointed out.

Bon-Bon let out a nervous laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck.





Soaring high among the remaining rain clouds hovering over the crash site, Princess Luna flew in a large circle as she scanned both the wreckage and the surrounding area for any trace of Angela. With every motion her muscles burned and the bones felt as though they could snap at any moment, an unfortunate side effect of using a healing spell such as the one she employed. Luna willed herself to ignore the sensation, wrestling it into submission until it could be dealt with later. There were far more pressing matters to be concerned about.

Within moments of her taking flight she had found herself surrounded by a small group of armored pegasi, each of them a member of the Royal Guard that happened to be in the area. Seeing as she had left her traditional thestral guards back in Hollow Shades, they had taken it upon themselves to protect her should anything occur. It was not long before they noticed her haggard state, and one of them asked if she would like them to escort back to Hollow Shades to recover. The scowl she had given as she flew off had been answer enough.

Luna knew that she should not be as gruff as she was, and even now she regretted what she had said to Bon-Bon not but a few minutes ago. It was not her fault that Angela was inexplicably missing, and she resolved to at least try to make amends with the mare. That would have to wait until later however until Angela was found, if she was even still in the area to be found that is.

As time went on and the minutes slowly turned into an hour with still no results to show for their efforts, Luna began to wonder if Angela would even want to be found at all. She had been subjected to so much pain and torment, some of it self inflicted, that Luna imagined that the poor girl would never want to have anything to do with anypony again. Just the memory of her scarred and burned body was reason enough to never trust another pony in her lifetime. It was Luna's hope, fragile as it was, that she could find Angela in time to convince her to accept her help.

But given the fact that the Princess had yet to see so much as a single hint to indicate that Angela was still here, that fragile hope was fading rapidly. Added on to this was the fact that Luna's fatigue was beginning to catch up to her. Her wings, particularly her left one, felt as though it were on fire as the bones underneath screamed at her to return to the ground. She refused to let up however even as beads of sweat dripped down her brow as she started to fly in a wider circle, expanding her search area. 

She was so focused on her efforts to locate Angela that she almost did not notice as one of her guards suddenly came to a halt and said, "Wait a minute! Everypony, I think I hear something!"

Slowing herself to a stop in midair, Luna turned to the mare and looked at her question, "What is it? What did you hear?" she asked, a hint of desperation creeping its way into her voice. 

Ears standing erect on the top of her head, the armored mare took to glancing around in an attempt to locate whatever had garnered her attention. "I don't really know," she answered after a few moments. "But I could've swore that I just heard something though. Didn't anypony hear anything?" The mare received a mixture of shrugs and head shakes to her question.

Luna, deciding to humor her for just a moment, took a moment to see if she could detect whatever the mare had supposedly heard as her ears flicked in all directions. She did this for several moments, and in that time was unable to pick up anything of note. She was about to say to the mare that she must have been mistaken when the wind suddenly picked up a bit, and carried with it the sound of somepony shouting in the distance. Her ears turned in the direction it seemed to be coming from, and Luna could tell that everypony else had picked it up as well as they mimicked her reaction. By unspoken agreement they all veered toward the source of the noise, and within moments they spotted what was causing it.

"That's the captain!" a pony exclaimed, pointing with a hoof at the pony who up until now had been missing. Following with her eyes to where he was pointing, Luna saw that down below was pony dangling from a tree branch that had been wedged underneath his coat, bobbing up and down as he flailed his limbs to get their attention. Peering down at him, Luna saw that it was indeed Crisp, the captain of the airship that had been destroyed.

The same pony who likely ordered the weapon that the airship housed to be used on Angela.

As Luna looked at the blue furred pegasus, she felt her eyes narrow in disdain as she flew down to his level. 

"Oh thank goodness!" Crisp exclaimed once they were close enough that he did not have to yell for their attention. "You all had me worried there for a moment. I was beginning to think that you didn't notice me. Now, could somepony please get me down from here? My wing's busted," he said, indicating the feathered appendage that hung limp at his side. Two of Luna's guards quickly moved to get him unstuck from his awkward position. 

"Wait," Luna suddenly ordered, raising a hoof. Both of the ponies immediately stopped what they were, and everypony looked at her in confusion. 

"What? Wait? What do you mean wait?" Crisp questioned as an unmistakably worried expression appeared on his muzzle. "No disrespect your highness, but I don't really see any reason to leave me here." The sound of creaking wood interrupted him, and he glanced up nervously. "Plus I'm not sure how much longer this branch will hold me, so if you don't mind could you please get me down?"

Moving closer to him, Luna's muzzle was inches from his as she stared at him with narrowed eyes. In response Crisp's ears fell flat against his head, clearly intimidated by the glare he was receiving, and in that moment in time there were many things Luna wanted to do, one of them being just leaving Crisp dangling from the tree for a while longer. She was sorely tempted to do it she would admit, and she could probably get away with it too. She could order her guards not to say anything. It was him after all that had not only almost killed Angela with the weapon, but also most of the Royal Guard under her command as well. 

Luna opened her mouth to speak, fully intending to give the captain the reprimanding of his life, to yell and shout at him for his complete and utter incompetence. She bit her tongue however, knowing that as much as she would have liked to do it, yelling at Crisp would do absolutely nothing to help her find Angela. Still, it would be quite therapeutic to strip him of his rank once everything else was settled. 

Sighing heavily, she looked up at the branch he hung from. "If you had fallen from that height you would have been dead right now," she stated in a matter of fact tone. Crisp paled at her observation. "And I doubt that you placed yourself there intentionally. So tell me , captain, how did you get there?"

For a few long moments Crisp stuttered as he struggled to come up with an adequate response to her question. Luna begrudgingly waited for the stallion to get a grip on himself, and when he eventually did all he said to her was, "I. . . can't really say Princess. The last thing I remember before I blacked out is that monster or whatever in Tartarus it was coming after me." Luna had to bite her tongue to keep herself from interrupting him with language that would have been very unprincess like of her to say. "The next thing I know I wake up hanging from this tree here."

"How long ago did you awaken?" Luna asked so she could guess how long ago Angela might have left the area. 

Pausing a moment to think, Crisp replied, "I think it might have been. . . about an hour? Maybe two? I don't exactly have a watch on me to to keep track of the time."

Two hours. 

Luna felt her heart clench upon hearing him say that. Even if it was just a guess on his part, it was still long before Luna had finally awoken from her unconscious state, and plenty of time for Angela to disappear completely to wherever she had chosen to go. She could be miles away by now, far outside of Luna's reach. 

Angela was gone.

Slowly Luna felt herself drift back down to the ground. The moment her hooves met the soil her wings went limp at her sides, the feathers brushing against the mossy forest floor. She heard her guards calling out to her in concern, but their voices sounded distant and far away to her ears as she stared ahead, seemingly at nothing. She clenched her eyes as her head dipped low, and her ethereal mane billowed slowly as it reflected her inner anguish. 

"Get him down," she said softly as she turned around and began walking. "And get him out of my sight once you do. . . I shall deal with him later," she said over her shoulder, casting a stern glance at Crisp before resuming her trek. Behind her, Luna could hear the snapping of twigs as her guards rushed to follow her command. And as she walked she was acutely aware of the sound of a pair metal clad hooves as two of them moved to follow her, flanking her on both sides. 

"Leave me," she told them without looking at them, wishing to be alone. "Now," she added when she did not hear their departure. 

A few long and tense moments passed before she finally received the solitude that she desired as the sound of flapping wings receded in the distance, leaving her alone in the forest as the rain continued to fall in a light drizzle upon her, having long since soaked through her fur. Once they were gone Luna felt her legs give out from underneath her body as she collapsed to the ground, no longer able to support her. Luna wept quietly while she thought about Angela, of how alone and scared she must be, possibly injured beyond any hope of recovery. For all the Princess knew Angela could be dead, her body having long since given in to her injuries. 

Her heart ached horribly at the thought, and Luna felt the last vestiges of whatever hope she had been holding on to begin to die off as she continued to weep for Angela, her tears mixing with the rain on her damp fur. 





She did not know for how long she had been there, nor did she particularly care to recall. It could have been several minutes or several hours for all that she knew. All she knew was that after she ceased crying as she sat alone at the base of a tree, her head hanging low in a display of solemness. 

She drowned out everything around her. The smell of the forest, the sound of falling rain, the warbling of various wildlife. It all mattered little to Luna as she cursed everything. She cursed her ponies for being too frightened to see Angela for the gentle and wounded soul that she was. She cursed Crisp for effectively destroying any chance Angela had to make peace with not only the residents of Hollow Shades but herself as well. And Luna cursed herself for failing to take immediate action the moment she first noticed the string of unusual nightmares taking place. 

If only she had acted sooner and done everything she could to help as opposed to waiting, then perhaps Angela would still be here.

The situation was made all the worse by the fact that Angela had trusted Luna. Trusted her to not let anything happen. Luna had given Angela her word, had sworn on her title as a Princess of Equestria. But in the end, she had failed to keep her promise. 

Luna felt a fresh wave of tears begin to well up in her eyes. 

Suddenly a high pitched, tinny whistle interrupted her morbid thoughts, startling her slightly. She looked to her left where the disturbance originated, and there, sitting not a few feet away from her, was a very large snail with the head of a dragon. The creature, gazed at her with large bronze eyes, its head tilted in apparent curiosity. Luna raised an eyebrow, slightly confused by the creatures sudden appearance. She scooted away a bit as the creature started to slither towards her on its singular foot. When it was close enough the snail sniffed at her, the tip of its snout brushing against her fur. It then uttered another whistle, sounding very much like a miniature train to her ears, before it started to slither off again, eventually disappearing in the underbrush. All Luna could do was stare in confusion at the where it had vanished. 	

She of course recognized what the creature was, but was still surprised by its presence. Dragon snails in general were a rather rare sight to see in this part of Equestria, and were typically wary of ponies, usually choosing to stay hidden from sight. She could only guess that something about her specifically had attracted this one, though what that was she did not know. Maybe it was the scent of something that she came into contact with rubbing off on her. 

Deciding to ponder it later when it was more convenient, Luna shook her head as she sighed, looking up at the sky as the rained finally ceased altogether, allowing a few rays of sunlight to stream through. 

Before long, Luna became aware of another presence approaching her, this time from the right. She did not even look to see who it was. She did not have to anyway, for all of her senses would have to be completely blind for her to not recognize the familiar warmth that her sister exuded like an aura. 

Luna said nothing as Celestia sat down on the ground next to her sister. Even in this position, the alabaster white alicorn practically towered over her younger sibling. Neither one of them spoke as silence reigned, settling between them like a fog. 

Eventually Luna chose to break the silence as she said, "So. . . you came."

"Of course," was Celestia's reply. "How could I not, knowing that you had been injured." A brief pause followed before Celestia added, "Of course, I can see that you are all better now. I can only hope that reports of your injuries were merely exaggerated, and that you had not used a healing spell on yourself to fix what should take longer to recover from." 

Luna had no reply to make to that. Instead she sighed and asked, "How much did you hear?"

". . . A great deal I must say. Ponies keep telling me about an unstoppable monstrosity that all but decimated the Royal Guard, and almost killed you. I admit that at first I was skeptical, but when I saw the remains of the airship. . . ." Celestia turned her head towards Luna, "and the report from the doctors that were caring for you I. . . I was afraid. I feared for your safety when I heard that you had run off."

Luna felt a scowl mar her face. "Please Celestia, do not treat me like a foal. I. . . ." Luna stopped, unsure where she was really going with what she was going with that. Eventually she gave up on it and instead asked, "How much of it do you believe, sister?"

Celestia tilted her head slightly in confusion at her sister's choice of words. "I'm sorry?"

"How much of what they say about her do you believe?" Luna asked again as she turned to look Celestia in the eye. She found herself momentarily blinded by the brilliance of her alabaster coat, and for a moment was unable to distinguish the ethereal mane which rippled like an aurora from her coat. "Do you believe them when they call her a monster to be hunted down and destroyed? Do you believe them when they tell you that she is a mindless animal that destroys for pleasure?"

For a little while Celestia said nothing as she put a gold clad hoof to her chin in thought. "Well," she finally said, "what do you say about her Luna?"

Luna blinked, slightly surprised by the answer her sister had chosen, although in hindsight she supposed she really should not considering who she was speaking to. Luna chuckled slightly, though it was hollow.

"Well," Luna began to explain, "her name is Angela. . ."

	


> Evolution
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A light fog had settled over the mountain city of Canterlot, seeping through the side streets and alleyways and obscuring much of the city itself, even some of the ornate towers, from view and giving the entire city an almost eerie quality. The mist itself was actually caused, somewhat accidentally, by a scheduled rainstorm earlier that morning, and if one looked closely they could see groups pegasi darting back and forth as they busily went about their task of clearing it away before it became too much of an inconvenience.

Personally, Rose Flare hoped that they took their sweet time in doing so. Considering that she was currently staying at her uncles house located on the very outskirts of Canterlot, it was likely that it would be some time before they would be able to take care of this portion of the city, if the fog had not already naturally dissipated by then. Rose Flare was perfectly fine with that however.

While most ponies would view the weather phenomenon as little more than a hindrance, made evident by just how quiet the city had fallen on account of many ponies taking the day off, Rose herself welcomed it completely, finding a certain tranquility in the fog. It reminded her very much of her home in Hollow Shades, just a short flight to the North-East of Canterlot. In Hollow Shades, weather such as this, along with rain and the occasional bit of frost, was actually a common occurrence whether it had been scheduled to happen or not. Sometimes there were days when it was so thick she and Roughshod would be forced to spend the entire day indoors to keep from getting lost just by walking around. 

Rose Flare sighed longingly, wondering when the time would come for her to return to her husband. It had been six days now since she had agreed to be sent away, and she was feeling more than a little homesick. She looked forward to the moment when she could give Roughshod the good news in person as opposed to through a letter.

A quiet murmuring interrupted her moment of longing, drawing her attention to a small bundle of blankets wrapped up in a basket sitting beside her. A small gap in cloths allowed her to see the face of a tiny orange unicorn foal as her little eyes peeked open a tiny bit before she shut them again, muttering a small cry of complaint. 

"Hey there," Rose said softly as she gently picked the foal up with her magic, bringing her over to her waiting forelegs. The filly squirmed a little under the blanket keeping her warm, voicing her displeasure at the world. "It's okay, momma's here," Rose soothed, cradling the infant in her forelegs as she sat down on her haunches. She felt a smile cross her face as she looked at her daughter, gently rocking her to sooth her back to sleep. Before long, the very young pony was gently snoozing away once more. "You know," Rose whispered quietly so as not disturb the child, "your daddy's not going to like that he missed you. He really wanted to be there for you when you came."

Rose imagined that Roughshod was probably going nuts back in Hollow Shades, assuming he got the letter that she had sent to update him on what had occurred, complete with a little photograph of her holding  their new daughter. She decided to make it up to him by letting him be the one to pick out a name for her. . . provided that it was not after any mares from his side of the family that were still alive. That was a given.

Suppressing a chuckle, Rose slightly readjusted herself so that both she and the as of yet unnamed foal were comfortable as she laid down on her stomach, still cradling the tiny filly in her forelegs. Once that was done, Rose sighed contentedly as she enjoyed the view of the fog from the wooden back porch of her uncles house, content in knowing that neither of them were likely to be disturbed. Her aging uncle was asleep as he should be after putting up more of a fuss than his great niece had, and Nightshade was currently somewhere in the city, likely galloping back and forth between different stores in search of foal supplies. Rose doubted that many of them were still open, but that was hardly a deterrent for Nightshade. She could still recall the frenzy the mare had worked herself into upon learning that as soon as they had set down in Canterlot that Rose's water had broke. 

She hoped that one pony was okay, especially after being physically dragged over to help. 

Suppressing another laugh, Rose closed her eyes, comforted by her foals presence as she sat in silence, looking forward to the moment when she could return home.

Somewhere within the cloud of white, Rose heard the muffled sound of a twig snapping. She opened her eyes, mildly startled by the unexpected noise but otherwise not letting herself become too alarmed by it. Her uncles' house was on the very fringes of of the mountain city after all, and was just a few dozen yards away from the trunks of tall pine trees. It was one of the reasons she came here after all, for it reminded her very much of her home. Small critters regularly migrated between the forest and and the garbage can, especially when her uncle forgot to retrieve it like he did last night. It would not surprise her in the least if she saw a raccoon or something scurrying between the trees. 

Deciding that that was probably all that she heard, Rose shrugged and closed her eyes again, listening to the sound of her breathing, her foals gentle snoring, and. . . 

Once more, Roses eyes flew open, this time in alarm. She could have sworn that she had just heard something out there. Something that was most definitely not a raccoon or any other creature she was familiar with, and instantly she became extremely tense as she considered the possibilities of what it could be that was lurking out there. She had no idea what she had just heard. The closest comparison she could make to even begin describing it was like a heavy and steady breathing of some large animal, and she instinctively pulled her daughter closer to her chest as she continued to look around, trying to see through the mist.

She wondered if maybe it was a mountain lion, or even a bear. Animals such as them had occasionally been seen wandering around the mountainside, sometimes venturing into the neighborhoods around Canterlot, and instances of ponies being mauled were not unheard of. With that thought crossing her mind, Rose Flare decided that the best thing to do was to simply go back inside where it was safe.

She was just about to do just that, when all of sudden another sound reached her ears, causing them to twitch in response as they pointed to her left. Looking at where the din seemed to be coming from, Rose felt her heart rate steadily climb when could clearly make out the distinct sound of multiple tree branches being snapped off, along with a heavy groan as the trees themselves were pushed aside by something very, very big. Upon this realization Rose's thoughts turned away from bears and mountain lions to things such as lupus minors and wyverns, both of which, while rare, had occasionally been seen on the mountainside in the past and posed a much greater threat.

Before long Rose could plainly see the tops of even the tallest pine trees swaying back and forth as something huge moved between them, causing a flock of birds to flee, screeching at whatever was beneath them in alarm. It was so close that she could hear its skin scraping against the bark of the trees. Deciding that she had stayed for far longer than was necessary, Rose picked up her daughter in her magic and slowly began to walk backwards, wanting to be inside before whatever was out there showed up.

She did not make it very far however as she stopped, and felt her heart skip a beat entirely when she saw a massive shadow take form in the mist, growing steadily larger with each passing second it came closer, until finally a sleek, eyeless head emerged out of the white cloud, followed by a slender, multi limbed body that wove through the air like a massive, airborne serpent. 

Rose's heart rate skyrocketed as she could do little more than watch as the unearthly creature hovered closer and closer to her, all while Rose fumbled with the doorknob with her hooves. Much to her frustration her hooves simply could not get a grip on the smooth metal, and she was beginning to panic when she realized that the monster was almost upon them. Shielding her foal behind her, Rose ignited her horn and was about to let loose with the most violent firework spell that she knew at the monster. 

To her utter confusion however the beast was not where she was expecting it to be. Glancing all around, she found that instead of making a beeline right for them as she feared, the creature instead had floated right past them, as though it had taken no notice of her whatsoever. As it passed by Rose could not help but notice the many scars indicative of past injuries that covered its body, ranging from large bite marks along its spine to puncture wounds that riddled its flesh. The most notable of its injuries was a massive discolored patch of flesh that seem to cover its entire left side. For a brief moment, Rose could not help but feel a certain amount of pity for the strange creature, as it had obviously been through much pain in its life. She could even hear it wheezing as it glided past.

The feeling quickly vanished when the creature paused momentarily to cast a single glance at Rose over its shoulder. Unable to keep a small yelp of fright from escaping her muzzle, Rose tightened her grip on her daughter as she stared at it. For a long and extremely nerve racking moment the creature met her stare with its own gaze, before it continued onward, vanishing like a specter in the mist as though it had never existed in the first place.

Not waiting around to see what else would happen, Rose finally remembered that she could simply use her magic on the door as she yanked it open and ran inside, and proceeded to securely lock it. She doubted it would do that much to prevent the creature from forcing its way in if it so chose, but it still helped to calm her down slightly as she sagged down to the floor, feeling her body go limp. Shivering, Rose wanted nothing more than to pass out from whatever had just happened. She glanced down at her daughter, seeing the foal was once more fast asleep, completely oblivious to the entire ordeal. Rose was almost jealous.

"Have I got a story to tell you when you're older," Rose commented. Gathering her composure, Rose set off to pack her things, wanting to be ready to leave for Hollow Shades the moment Nightshade returned.





Luna awoke from her dreams as her eyes creaked open, slightly crusted over as the rays of the afternoon sun filtered through the single large window of her chambers straight into her retinas, momentarily blinding her until she was able to adjust to it. Rolling over onto her side, she absentmindedly wondered if it would not be too far out of the question for her to sleep for just a little while longer. Rolling her eyes to look at the grandfather clock pushed up into a corner, she soon found all hope for that dashed in an instant when she saw that it was nearing the time when she would have to raise the moon and take over the court for her sister. Even now she could see that the sky was beginning to gradually fade into an orange twilight as the sun began its descent towards the distant horizon. 

Luna blinked her eyes blearily to clear away what little bit of sleep remained as she pushed away the blankets covering her with a flick of her magic. She sighed through her nostrils as she stared upward at the ceiling, decorated with an assortment of paintings meant to replicate the night sky. It was almost tacky. Would it have killed the painter to incorporate something a bit more welcoming?

Rolling out of her bed, Luna winced slightly as her back legs met the floor. They were still red in places, particularly where the bones underneath had been broken. They still had yet to fully recover from being forcibly repaired, even after an entire week had passed since. . .

Luna pushed away the thought in her mind before it could manifest itself into something unhealthy, knowing that it would not help her in any way right now. She fought with it, wrestled it into submission, and locked it away in a private place at the back of her mind where it would not be as distracting to her duty. But she could never completely make it go away however. No matter what she did to distract herself it refused to be omitted from her thoughts as it stubbornly remained like a persistent thorn in her side. 

A young girl, her eyes full of fear and regret as she looked at Luna, almost seeming to plead for help as the monster of her mind loomed behind her like a monolith, its fangs and claws glittering like diamonds in the pitch black darkness. . .

Luna stood in front of her mirror as she dressed herself in her familiar silver regalia, restored of the dents and scratches it had accumulated. She never would have guessed that it had once been struck by a blow that in all likelihood should have killed her if not for Stalwart's quick actions. Briefly, Luna checked to make sure that everything was as it should be, with no misaligned pieces or stray bits of her mane. Satisfied that she was at least presentable, Luna exited her room, not wanting to be late.

Although it was hardly noticeable, and if it was none of the guards she passed by said anything, there was a very subtle limp in Luna's stride as she trotted forward that she forced herself to ignore, even as her legs protested against her every step of the way. She wondered for how much longer her condition would persist. She hoped it was not too long, as she had duties that she needed to attend to. Anything to keep her from being stuck in her room as she recovered, leaving her to dwell on that had happened, and all that could have been.

"Luna?"

The familiar voice brought Luna to a halt. It sounded mildly surprised, though at the same time it was also laced with something that suggested that the voices owner knew exactly what she was doing. As always, Luna found it difficult to completely decipher everything that her sister said to her. Turning around, Luna's blue eyes met Celestia's violet ones as the elder of the two looked at her sister in concern. 

"Celestia," Luna said, raising her head slightly in acknowledgment of her sisters presence. Celestia was not quite as formal in her greeting however as she stepped over towards her younger sibling.

"What are you doing out of your chambers?" she asked, her voice laced with barely controlled worry. "You know that the doctor specifically told you not to move around for another week so you would not exasperate your injuries. What will I tell the Guard if you should happen to collapse right in front of them?"

Narrowing her eyes at Celestia, Luna responded, "I am well enough sister, no matter what that quack may say otherwise, I assure you. Do not presume me to be a helpless foal to be coddled."

Celestia recoiled slightly from her sisters stinging remark, and Luna realized then that she may have been a little bit more harsh than she meant to. Celestia meant nothing by it after all, she was only concerned for Luna's well being, and she could hardly fault her for that. However, she would not back down from her claim now, and for a few long moments the two alicorns simply stared into each others eyes, one in worry and the other in grim stubbornness. Eventually Celestia finally seemed to relent as her eyes softened and she said, "You are right Luna. I apologize. I should know by now that once you have your mind set on something, you are not one to give up easily."

"I should say the same thing about you sister," Luna replied, unable to suppress a small grin from adorning her muzzle. Celestia chuckled at her sisters prodding, but before long her mirth was replaced by the same worried frown that she had greeted Luna with. 

"Luna," she said softly. "You are not well."

Luna turned away, unable to meet her sisters eyes. "I am well enough, sister. I am more than capable of handling the Night Court, in spite of my injuries."

"That is not what I meant, and you know it," Celestia responded as she set a gold clad hoof on Luna's shoulder, the cold metal chilling her fur slightly. The younger alicorn was still unable to look her elder in the eye as Celestia continued. "Luna, I know what you are going through. I know better than anypony else what it is like, to feel as though you have failed." As Celestia spoke, Luna took a quick glance at her sister, and she see that her eyes seemed to have become glazed over, as though she were somewhere else entirely, and she herself was reminded of that fateful moment centuries ago. "I had hoped that you would never have to know what it was like, but. . ." Celestia faltered, unable to bring herself to finish the sentence. Eventually she said, "Please Luna. Do not dwell on what cannot be changed. You did everything that you could for Angela."

"But it still was not enough, was it?" Luna replied. Celestia opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, but instead was unable to think of anything that she could say that would console her sister. Eventually she seemed to give up on that as she closed her mouth and cast her eyes downward. Taking that as her cue to leave, Luna continued on her way. She was about to go around a corner when Celestia spoke up.

"Luna," she said. "You know that I cannot stand to see you like this. If there is anything that you want to talk about, then my door is always open for you."

Luna glanced at Celestia out of the corner of her eye. Their gazes held for few seconds until Luna nodded her head, a small appreciative smile on her face. "Thank you Celestia," she said, and then disappeared around the corner, leaving Celestia by herself.





Luna had forgotten how boring it could be at times to sit on the throne for potentially hours at a time as she listened to various ponies voice to her their nightly complaints. How she longed for the days when all she had to do was issue a royal decree and have the whole day and night to herself, and nopony would stop her under threat of capital punishment. But no, her sister just had to try using democracy, leaving the both of them to listen to whatever inane gripes were brought their way. 

She was of course more than glad to know that the general population no longer viewed her as something to be fearful of ever since her return, which by itself had turned the entire governmental structure on its head for a little while. It had helped that, despite Luna's insistence that she not do so, Celestia had taken it upon herself to sponsor Luna, always vouching for her little sister at almost every opportunity. Luna of course was never one to steer away praise, but there were times when their ponies attempts to placate her were rather trying to put up with on a nightly basis, if not blatantly obvious.

She would never say that out loud right now however, as Luna listened intently to the pony currently in front of her at the base of her throne. A group of well dressed mares and stallions whom she represented stood immediately behind her as the wiry, middle aged mare waxed eloquent about how some of their trade partners in the nobility had apparently found a loophole in their agreements to pad their accounts at the expense of Canterlot shop owners. Luna was not sure for how long the mare had been talking, only that when she was finally finished her legs had long since fallen asleep beneath her. 

"I see," Luna said thoughtfully, considering what she heard. "I do thank you for bringing this to our attention. However, without knowing exactly who is responsible for this extortion, there is very little we can actually do to stop them without conducting an investigation." Noticing the groups unanimous disappointment Luna added, "However, to help I can at least recommend a number of analyzers of the law to look over these agreements and help you decide what course of action you all should take until we learn who is responsible."

The mare nodded, grateful for the assistance as Luna gave them a list of names. "Thank you, your highness," she said, and with that both she and the other ponies filed out of the throne room, allowing the next pony to enter.

Luna was mildly surprised to see it was actually two ponies, a mare and a stallion, both of them earth ponies, and most likely farmers by their appearance. They had taken the time to clean themselves up so as not to be disrespectful, as evidenced by their brushed manes and freshly scrubbed coats, but Luna was not blind to the small amounts of soil that stubbornly clung to the bottoms of their hooves, which she could see with every step they took towards her. It helped that their marks were that of a stalk of wheat grass for the stallion and a sickle for the mare.

"Your highness," they both said in unison once they were close enough as they bowed deeply before her, already showing more respect and dignity than a good portion of the so called nobles that came before her with their trivial complaints. If these ponies were trying to placate her, it was working.

"Arise, my little ponies," Luna bade them with a wave of her hoof. "Do tell, what brings you here?"

They did as she commanded, and the stallion was clearly nervous as he cleared his throat and began to explain. "Well, ya see your highness, my family owns a plot of land down near the base of the Canterhorn mountain range. It's a pretty sizable one too, and we supply a good deal of the surrounding area, Canterlot included, with our fare."

"Go on," Luna acknowledged.

Tapping his hoof on the marble floor nervously, Luna had to resist asking him to stop as he continued to explain. "Well, the thing is your majesty, we don't just deal in produce. We also have a large stock of animal products, most of which is raised right on the farm. Meat products basically."

"Meat?" Luna questioned. She was not adverse to the idea of raising animals for either their meat or hide, but finding a place that openly sold animal products was an uncommon occurrence in Equestria, though not unheard of.

"Yeah, that's right. Chicken, pork, fish. You name it, we have it," the mare said. "The local griffons appreciate it. They can't live off of pony fare after all, and we don't mind the extra business they give us. Plus, the pigs are pretty good for waste disposal."

For a moment Luna considered what she had just heard, then said, "Am I to assume that the reason you are here has to do with your unconventional stock?"

"That would be correct your highness," the stallion confirmed with a nod of his head. "Ya see, not too long ago we. . . lost a large portion of our stock, and we were all just wondering if there was any way that something could be done about it."

"Well, that depends," Luna replied. "Namely on how much you lost, and how you lost it. You see, this is not really the place to come to ask for compensation for a few lost animals, especially if they died of natural causes. If they had been stolen, we may, and I stress may be able to help you recover, but for the most part this is not a particularly pressing concern for the crown. A few unaccounted for farm animals is not normally an issue to be brought before either myself or Celestia."

"We understand that your majesty," the stallion said. "But that's just it. Our pigs weren't stolen, and they didn't just up and die either. They were. . . well they were eaten."

Luna's eyes widened slightly upon hearing that, and she cocked her head to the side in interest. "Eaten?" she repeated. "Are you certain."

"Of course we're sure," the mare replied. "We have the bones littered all over the corrals to prove it too. That's mostly why we're here in the first place, hoping that maybe you could send somepony that can do something about it. We were thinking that. . ."

Luna had stopped paying attention to what the mare was saying, and she herself was silent as she considered the possible ramifications of what she had just heard, and a tiny seed of suspicion began to grow in her thoughts as she began to wonder. Was it even possible? She saw no reason to believe otherwise, but at the same time she was still somewhat skeptical of her own rising suspicions. She needed to learn more.

"Describe what happened," Luna commanded, interrupting the mare in the middle of her sentence. "Give me every detail that you can recall about what happened."

Momentarily caught off guard by her request, the stallion cleared his throat before explaining. "Well it started out as any other night. The work for the day was done, everypony was heading home while myself and a couple others stayed behind to make sure we would be ready for the next morning. Just a couple hours later we hear some sort of commotion going on in the pigs pens. We ran outside to see what was going on, but by then it was too late, and whatever it was that ate them was already long gone."

"We still don't know what it was that ate them," the mare interjected. "So far the best bet we can come up with is that it was a big pack of wolves, but their usually too skittish to even come close to the farm. We're worried that it might be something else, something that is brave enough around ponies to be a serious hazard."

"No," Luna said muttered, finding herself looking out of one the many stained glass windows out towards the treetops of a distance forest. "Could it be?"

"Uh, I'm sorry what did you say Princess?" the stallion asked. "We couldn't quite hear that."

Startled out of her thoughts Luna shook her herself slightly to clear her head before saying, "Er, um yes. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Now if you would be so kind as to excuse me." With that she lit up her horn, and in a brief flash of light vanished of the throne, leaving everypony in the throne room dazed and confused as to what had just happened. The stallion and the mare glanced at each other uncertainly, before they both shrugged and started to trot back towards the entrance. 

They did not make it five steps before another flash of light appeared right in front of them. They had just finished blinking away the spots in their eyes before they heard Princess Luna say, "Here, take this," right before she dropped two large burlap sacks laden with bits into their hooves. "It should be adequate for you to recover from your loss. Consider it a gift from my own personal savings." Before either pony could begin to question what was going on Luna once again teleported elsewhere, blinding them again.





Gerald had lost track of how long he had been cooped up in this prison cell, and a few times he found himself recounting the chalk marks he made on the wall opposite the bars to remind himself. He imagined that it was only about a week, give or take a few days, since Princess Luna had ordered him to be arrested, but still the days and nights dragged on to the point where the griffon was not even sure what exact hour it was, and he often had to ask the guards for the time.

Letting a tired sigh escape his beak, Gerald laid down on the thin mattress he had been provided, glad that his wing, encased in bandages, no longer pained him as much as before. At least the Princess Luna was not cruel enough to let him suffer, and allowed him to receive medical treatment. Still, he was quite morose at being kept inside of a cell, and made sure to alert anypony within earshot to his displeasure. 

Just when he was about to go to sleep, one of the few things he had left to pass the time, Gerald heard the sound of at least dozen pairs of armored hooves approaching, the din echoing down the corridors and keeping him from his rest. Grunting in frustration, Gerald attempted to block out the noise with a pillow over his head, which only helped marginally to keep the disturbance at bay as he waited for it to go away. It did not go away however, and before long Gerald heard someone clear their throat, sounding like they were standing right at the bars of his cell. 

"Bugger off!" Gerald exclaimed, his voice muffled by the pillow. His guests response was to forcefully remove the pillow as it became enveloped in an aura of blue magic, tossing it aside. "Hey!" Gerald sputtered. "Ya can't just-" Gerald stopped the moment he saw who it was that was standing at his cell, her icy blue eyes regarding him with an expression that clearly said she would rather be doing something else right now as several Royal Guard ponies bearing similar looks stood behind her.

"Gerald," Princess Luna said, her tone as cold as her expression. "I have a proposition for you."





Its breath was shallow and ragged as it forced itself to keep moving forward, and every time it inhaled it felt as though its lungs were rattling around inside of its chest. Its entire body ached in protest with every minute motion it made, and oftentimes it found itself paying less and less attention to where it was going as a result. In short, it hurt. It hurt a lot.

Only paying enough attention to its surroundings to make sure that it did not collide into anything such as a tree, the wraith had to struggle to stay conscious, as every second that passed by brought it closer and closer to simply falling to the ground beneath it in an unconscious heap, leaving its already scarred and mutilated body vulnerable to anything, or anyone, that wanted to do it harm. It knew that no matter what it had to stay awake, to keep moving forward so it would not be found.

It had to get away from them, from those that had wounded it so, because its instincts were telling it that if it did not, it would die, having learned from previous experiences. So it obeyed, following the will of the only thing that could keep it alive long enough for it to eventually recover from the injuries that the little equine creatures had inflicted upon it. 

It continued like this for a long while, trying to make as little sound as possible as it moved across the countryside, sticking to the cover of any patch of trees it could find, only going out in the open when no other choice was available. Doing this made it incredibly nervous, putting it on edge, for it knew that every moment that it spent out in the open was an opportunity for it to be spotted and pursued. 

Where it was going, it did not necessarily know. All it knew was that somewhere ahead of it was safety, a haven for creatures of its kind to hide and rest and never have to fear from interacting with the small equines ever again. 

It injuries made it difficult for it to concentrate however, and most of time its thoughts were muddied and unclear, all while flashes of moments in the past whirled through its head in a confusing and jumbled mess. Memories of pain, anger, fear, hunger, among many others, all of which were made fuzzy by its relentless desire to get away, to hide from them so that they could no longer torment it, where it could just simply forget. 

Even now the memories were gradually beginning to slip away, yielding to the thoughts and urges needed only for survival. They were the only ones that mattered at the moment. Everything else was unnecessary.

Some however, stubbornly remained a fixture in its mind. But they were not memories of pain. They were something else. Something different. But what were they? A sound? A sight? A voice? It did not know what they were exactly, so why did it refuse to forget them? Why did they continuously dance at the fringes of its thoughts, just out of reach? Why did it care enough about them not to forget, when it could not readily recall what they even were?

Did they even matter?

It could not decide if they were, and thinking about it only made its head hurt more than it already was. So it ignored the feeling, the sense that it was missing something important in favor of focusing solely on the unmarked path ahead of it, searching for a place to rest as it let itself be guided forward by its instincts. Eventually the sparse woodland it traveled through eventually faded into a dense forest full of tall trees with large, arching branches that loomed over its head, almost completely blocking the sky which had long since turned a dusky orange from view. The ground beneath it changed as well, as it was littered with fallen logs and dense underbrush. Many small animals fled at its arrival, chittering and squawking in protest at its presence as it floated past, mostly ignoring them in favor of finding a place to sleep for the night.

Yet even then the wraith was unable to completely ignore the uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong with what it was doing, something that it had forgotten about during journey over the mountains, something important. But no matter what it could not remember, and its weariness combined with the pain of its injuries were doing it no favors. Instead they continued to wear it down even further, to the point where its tails dragged along the ground and its pace slowed to a crawl.

Its breath became heavier and more labored than ever, and before long the wraith found itself on its hands and knees, barely keeping itself propped upright with its saber claws as it struggled to inhale, all while a thin stream of black fluid leaked from its jaws. Its limbs trembled violently, and soon enough its arms gave out completely as it fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

It was dying, it realized. The injuries it had sustained were simply too much for the wraith as they finally caught up with it. As consciousness began to slip away and its vision slowly faded into blackness, the wraith still struggled to stay awake, unwilling to give up just yet. And during its fight for life, it could finally recall a few of the things it had forgotten.

It remembered a time, during its earlier life. A time when everything was normal, without pain. It remembered when that normality was shattered in an instant by a single, ill fated decision. It remembered despair, and hopelessness at finding a way out of the pit it had dug for itself, at ever finding a way to remedy its actions. 

It wanted to keep going, to do something about them, but its once great strength was gone now. 

Everything was going cold as it laid on the ground, barely able to move.

And just before consciousness left it completely, the wraith heard someone calling her name.





"Angela!" Luna shouted, glancing all around in the hopes that she might catch even a fleeting glimpse of Angela through the dense forest as the sunlight continued to fade away, forcing her to rely on the light of her horn. It would not be long until she had to raise the moon, but at the moment that was the furthest thing from her mind as she desperately searched for Angela. Behind her trailed a small group of six Royal Guard that she had personally hoofpicked for this task, and among them was a single earth pony mare with a cream colored coat, and a griffon who was none too pleased with being here.

Gerald glanced around nervously, causing Bon-Bon to give him an odd look as she said, "What's the matter? Scared?" 

Giving her an annoyed expression, Gerald replied, "And why shouldn't I be, eh? After all, it's not like we're in one of the few places in Equestria where monsters still roam freely, and here I am with nothin' to defend m'self with." Somewhere nearby an owl hooted, causing Gerald to jump slightly as the birds call echoed through the forest. Even though they were only on the fringes of the Everfree Forest, there were still many things that would not turn their nose up at an easy meal.

"Relax, will you," Bon-Bon told him. "We're not in any danger."

"Yeah, so ya say Miss Drops. But given the fact that your glorious Princess over there is havin' us look for the same monster that almost did us both in, I'm findin' it hard to be reassured by that statement there."

"Gerald!" said Princess called over her shoulder, her tone laced with impatience. "Get up here and do what you are here for." 

Not wanting to test her patience any more than he already had, Gerald hurried up to Luna's side, trying not to let her hostile expression distract him too much as he surveyed both the ground and the trees. Even in the dim light of the fading sun, his avian eyes could still see clearly enough to make out small details in the shadows. Before long, he spotted what he was looking for, and walked over towards it to get a better look, as Luna and her entourage followed close behind.

"Here" he said, pointing with a claw. "See these branches here? Somethin' big passed by, and not too long ago either I'd bet. Could be your monster." Gerald glanced back at the Princess, noticing the stern look she was giving him. Realizing his error regarding his choice of words, Gerald cleared his throat as he added somewhat awkwardly while pointing forward, "Right, um, this way. The trail leads this way your highness." With that, he continued onward, leading the group of ponies deeper into the forest. As time passed, the trail became easier to read, even in the now near pitch black darkness cast by the branches overhead. 

Angela had definitely been here, Luna thought. She simply could not imagine it being anyone else that could have made a trail like this. The trees had been stripped of some of their bark, and the ground was mostly devoid of any normal set of tracks, indicating a creature such as Angela had passed by. The thought that she was now so close to finding her filled Luna with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. As much as she looked forward to finding Angela, she was also quite trepidatious as well, for she had no idea how the girl would react given what she had endured. Would Angela be receptive, or hostile?

Whatever state Angela was in, Luna knew she was going to find out soon enough as she continued to follow Gerald's lead through the Everfree Forest. As she trotted along, she noticed that Bon-Bon had sidled up along beside her, a question on her lips. "Um, Princess Luna?" the mare inquired timidly. "I know it's not my place to question your judgement, but why exactly am I here? Gerald I think I understand, but why me?" 

Keeping her gaze focused forward, Luna responded, "You were the first pony to actually make contact with Angela. Given this, it seemed only prudent to have you present when we find her. I feel that right now she may need both of us to be present, if only to provide a familiar face that she may yet recognize."

Bon-Bon opened her mouth to say something, but found herself unable to come up with a counter argument, as she did not really want to be in this forest any longer than she had to. Still, she supposed that Luna had a point, and decided to simply accept it as she fell back a little, following the Princess' lead. 

After a while Gerald stopped, as he bent down to take a closer look at the ground. "Hold up," he muttered. "Somethin' ain't right here."

"What is it? What do you see?" Luna questioned. Pointing at the ground, Gerald directed her sight to what had caught his attention, where Luna saw a series of impressions in the forest floor. They looked eerily reminiscent of a trail left behind by a trio of serpents, although much larger than any snake had any right to be. They wound through the trees, many of which had been stripped of their bark. 

Something was most definitely wrong here, and Luna did not like it in the least. Trotting past Gerald, her pace quickened considerably as she followed the trail. "Angela!" she called out. "Angela, are you there?!"

"Princess! Wait up!" her guards exclaimed at seeing her suddenly dart off as they moved to catch up to her. Luna slowed down for them, but only slightly as she kept glancing at the ground, not wanting to lose the trail for even a moment. It was not long before she could see something up ahead, something that was not a part of the forest. Something that Luna recognized.

"Angela!" Luna exclaimed as she surged forward, almost tripping a few times in her excitement as she came ever closer to Angela. But the closer she got, the more she could see that something was wrong. Angela did not appear to be moving. In fact, she was not moving at all as she laid down on her side, her tails limp and the spines on her back sagging downward. In addition, an odd shiny black fluid was leaking out of her fanged jaws, forming a small pool of the substance beneath her head. 

"Angela!" Luna shouted fearfully as she rushed to the girls side, heedless of the warnings that her guards were shouting at her as she went directly over to Angela's head. "Angela! Wake up, it's me! I'm here!" she proclaimed as she placed both of her front hooves on Angela's head, trying to shake her into wakefulness. However, she received no response of any kind from Angela. She did not even seem to be breathing, and Luna felt an icy spike of fear pierce her heart as a result, and her blood turned cold in her veins.

"No. . . no, Angela you. . . you can't. . ." Luna muttered weakly, unable to bring herself to finish the sentence. She felt a hoof hook around her leg, attempting to pull her away. 

"Princess, please," a voice, far off and distant said to her. "It's not safe for you to-"

"Unhoof me!" Luna bellowed, tearing herself away as she circled around Angela's body over to her chest. Placing her ear against the rough skin, she strained to hear even the slightest indication that Angela was not yet gone. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, hoping against hope that could hear something. 

"Princess," she heard Bon-Bon said quietly behind her, the mares tone laced with a hint of dread. "I. . . I don't think that-"

"Quiet!" Luna shouted forcefully, silencing the mare with a raised hoof as she waited and listened. Just when she thought that she would not hear anything, confirming her fear that she had found Angela too late, she felt a very subtle vibration echoing from within Angela's chest. The moment she heard the heart beat, Luna felt as though she were about to pass out from the sheer amount of relief. "She's alive! She's still alive!" 

No sooner had she said that however than did Angela's heart beat start to become ever more faint by the second, and Luna realized that she was not of the woods quite yet. Refusing to let her die, Luna began to charge her horn, summoning forth as much healing magic as she could before pointing it directly at Angela's chest. Once she felt the spell was sufficiently powerful enough, Luna let it flow out of her horn in a single concentrated wave. Unlike the spell she had previously used on Angela, which was simply meant to revive her, this one was much more direct in that it actively sought out the abnormalities inside of a body, upon which it would set out to correct them. The only downside to it was that the entire process required the user to supply their own strength to use it, and Angela was so large and her anatomy was so much more different that Luna was already beginning to feel lightheaded after only a few seconds. As time passed, Luna found it ever more difficult to stay on her hooves as she felt her magic run its course though Angela's body, healing the more serious internal injuries first before moving on to the smaller ones. The spell seemed to be working, but even after a full minute Luna could still sense that Angela was fading rapidly as her heart beat all but inaudible.

Unable to keep the spell going, Luna let out a exhausted gasp as her horn dimmed and the spell faded into nothingness. "I-I don't understand," she said as sweat dripped down her brow. "I'm doing everything that I can, but still it's not enough. What am I doing wrong?" Taking a brief moment to catch her breath, Luna looked over Angela's body to see if there was something that she was missing, wondering why Angela refused to wake up.

Breathing heavily, Luna's gaze drifted over to Angela's head, and she thought back to the moment when she had first encountered the girl within the realm of her thoughts, recalling how distraught she was. It was then that realization dawned upon Luna. 

"It. . . it's her," Luna whispered quietly. It was not just Angela's injuries that were killing her.

Luna looked back towards her entourage, hoping that there was something they could do to help, but instead saw that the majority of them were watching her with a mixture of expressions ranging from concern to outright perplexity at her behavior. There was nothing they could do to keep Angela from deaths door. Then she saw Bon-Bon, who instead was gazing at Angela's motionless body, her brow furrowed and her eyes filled with the same worry that Luna herself felt, and the Princess realized what she had to do.

"Bon-Bon," Luna said, gaining the mares attention. They held each others gaze for a brief moment before Luna added, "Keep watch over me for a moment." 

Bon-Bon blinked, unsure what the Princess was going to do, but chose not to question it as she nodded. Satisfied, Luna hurried over to Angela's face, whereupon she placed the tip of her horn on her leathery skin as the spirals began to emit a faint white light, and within moments, Luna's vision faded into a stark white.





The first thing that Luna noticed as she attempted to orient herself was how much different her surroundings were compared to when she had previously entered Angela's thoughts. There were no streets of cracked black stone, there were no vacant buildings made of red bricks, there were no tall iron lamps. Instead, in their place was an endless expanse of pure white mist that was so thick that Luna could barely see her own muzzle. She lit up her horn in an attempt to cut through the murk, but it was having only a marginal effect. 

"Angela?" Luna called out into the field of nothingness, noticing how her voice seemed to have become muffled. She trotted forward slowly, turning her head left and right in search of Angela. Her movements felt slow and sluggish, as though the fog was actively holding her back. It was almost suffocating in a way as Luna forced herself to move forward, her hooves barely making a sound.

"Angela, where are you?" Luna called again. But just like before she received no response. However, her voice did seem to have an effect as the mist suddenly began to shift, as if it were being parted by a gust of wind. 

Then she began to hear something. It sounded like. . . somepony talking. But instead of reassuring her that Angela was somewhere nearby, Luna found herself growing more and more unsettled the longer she listened to it. It was not just one voice either, but many voices, all of them speaking in tandem, whispering things that she did not understand. 

"Angela? Angela is that you?" Luna's question went unanswered aside from the whispering, the words of which she still could not understand aside from a few scattered phrases, their exact meaning lost to her. Then as suddenly as it came the whispering stopped, and once more Luna was surrounded on all sides by silence. However, instead of relief Luna felt as though she was in great danger for some reason. 

It was then that she saw a warped and twisted shadow looming over her. 

Whirling around, Luna found herself face to face with the creature that she had seen in Angela's thoughts as it looked down at her, trapping her in its sights.

"A-Angela? Is that you?" Luna stuttered, having to resist the urge to back away from the beasts imposing presence. It did not respond to her question. Instead it lowered its head down to her level so it could look her straight in the eye, so to speak. Cautiously, Luna attempted to see into its thoughts, hoping that if Angela was somewhere inside that she could be reached. What she found instead as her mind brushed against it was something completely different to what she was expecting. While Angela's thoughts had been somewhat strange during their first encounter, they were still structured similarly to that of the average pony's.

What Luna felt right now was something else entirely different, something that she could not even begin to describe. The best comparison she could come up with was that it was like an animal, but at the same not an animal. It was feral and lacking in precise structure but many times more complex in its reasoning, with strange wordless thoughts that were so different, so alien, to anything else that she had ever felt before. 

It was frightening.

"You. . . you are not Angela. . . are you," she said. It was not a question. The creatures spines bristled as its jaws flexed, its teeth clicking against themselves from the action, and it responded by speaking a single word to her.

"No."

Feeling as though her heart was about to explode from within her chest, Luna struggled to keep herself calm in the monsters' presence while it continued to stare down at her, and she wondered why she was so afraid of it. It was only an apparition, a ghost born of Angela's own fear that haunted her thoughts. There was nothing it could do against her, this was practically her domain after all. 

So what was this primal fear that Luna felt deep in her very soul? Why did it feel as though she were being sized up?

Fighting to ignore the terror that continued to well up inside of her, Luna gathered her resolve and proceeded to ask, "Where is Angela? What have you done with her?"

The monster hissed angrily, the harsh sound echoing in Luna's ears as it bared its teeth at her in a threatening display. "Why do you pretend to care?"

"I am not pretending!" Luna retorted. "What reason could I possibly have to pretend?"

"You lied to us," it replied accusingly, as its form grew larger and larger to the point where Luna felt she was going to be crushed by its presence alone. "You promised us we would not be harmed. You gave us your word, and they hurt us. They pierced us, burned us, tried to kill us. . . . You lied then, why should we believe you now? Why should we believe that you are not here to finish what they started?"

At this point Luna was seriously considering severing the connection as she backed away from the beast slowly, if only so she would not have to face its accusations. It was not just the monster itself that frightened her, but what it said as well. Its words cut into her like a knife. She had promised to keep Angela safe, but in the end had been unable to keep her promise. But she knew that if she did flee, it would make her look all the more guilty, and she could lose any chance she had left of reaching Angela, the real Angela.

"Please," Luna begged. "I realize that there is very little that I can do to make up for what happened. I cannot even begin to imagine the sort of torment that you were forced to endure, much less how to remedy it. But please, allow me to prove myself to you by helping Angela. I fear that she does not have much time left, and if I can't find her, she may very well perish."

Silence reigned between them for a long time after Luna said that as the creature gazed at her, and she hoped that it was at least considering her request. Enough time passed that Luna began to fear that it would refuse, until it finally spoke as it brought is jaws inches away from her muzzle. 

"She was always weak hearted," it said with no small amount of disdain in its tone. "I dislike being bound to her." A pause, then it added, "But if she dies, then so do I."

With that said, the creature began to move away, its monstrous form disappearing into the murk, leaving Luna alone and more than a little bit rattled at the encounter. The moment that it was out of sight she released a breath that she did not know that she had been holding in as her legs gave out from beneath her. Her heart was still racing within her chest, as though she had just galloped a hundred miles without stopping. She allowed herself a few short seconds to recover from her harrowing encounter before she resumed her search for Angela, calling out for her.

Just then she saw something else in the distance, and for a moment Luna thought that it was the monster again as it was in same direction it had disappeared to, coming back to finish her off. She quickly saw that it was not however, as it was much smaller in comparison. Cautiously Luna began to approach it, unsure what she would find. When she was close enough to see what it was she gasped, her feelings a strange mixture of relief and worry.

It was Angela, sitting on the ground with her back toward Luna. Her head hung low, her hair covering her head like a shroud as she hugged herself as though she were simply cold. Luna wanted to rush forward. She wanted nothing more than to run up to Angela to see if she was alright. 

But instead she hesitated. She was afraid, wondering if the girl would even bother to listen to her after what happened, as the monsters' words echoed in her ears, filling her with worry and self doubt. Deciding that simply standing in one place was not going to get her anywhere, Luna slowly walked forward, closing the distance between herself and Angela before coming to a stop a mere arms length away from her. Angela was completely still. She did not even seem to notice Luna's presence as the mare cautiously raised a hoof, intending to place it on her shoulder.

"I remember now," Angela said before the Luna could make contact. The Princess, caught off guard by the vague statement, lowered her hoof down to the floor, and simply waited. Angela still had her back towards the Princess, and her voice had a solemn tone to it as she added softly, "I forgot for a little while. . . not all, but most of it. Mostly the small things, like where I was, whether it was night or not. But the whole time I could remember that something had happened because of me. . . something bad." 

Luna furrowed her brow slightly, and opened her mouth to say that it was not Angela's fault that her ponies had refused to see her attempts at peace for what they were. Before she could utter a single word Angela interrupted her. "But now I remember. I remember losing control of myself. . . I hurt so many." Angela's voice started to break slightly, and her shoulders heaved. "And I hurt you."

Seeing Angela in such anguish, Luna instantly rushed forward and knelt down beside her, placing a comforting hoof on the girls back as she began to sob quietly. 

"I'm so sorry," she whimpered as tears fell from her eyes. "I didn't mean to, I just. . . I just couldn't stop myself. Everything was just hurting so much, and I was so angry at everything. And I tried so hard to come back, but I just couldn't." Angela said nothing else as she broke down completely, and Luna enveloped her in her feathery wings, offering what little comfort she could to the distraught girl. They remained like this for a long time, with neither one of them saying a single word.

After what felt like a small eternity, Angela's sobs died down, and she simply stared ahead at seemingly nothing. 

"She's right you know," she said, causing Luna to look at her in confusion. "What she told you earlier. About me being weak. It's true."

"And what makes you say that?" Luna questioned.

Sighing heavily, Angela answered, "Before this whole mess started, before I became. . . this, I was too afraid to take responsibility for what happened, for what I did. I was too afraid to accept what I had done." Looking away she added, "I wonder if this is some sort of punishment. It would serve me right."

Luna blinked, unsure what to say in response to that. She wanted to tell Angela that she was wrong, that she had done nothing to deserve the pain she went through, but could not refute that there may be some truth to what she said. She had done something terrible, and it was only right that she reap the consequences of her actions. But at the same, Luna knew that she could not really just allow her to continue like this, for the road that Angela was currently was a very dark one. She had to do something at least.

"Angela?" Luna said softly. Angela did not answer, but the subtle turn of her head was enough indication to let Luna know that she was listening. "Can I tell you a secret?" Again, she received no reply from the girl, but Luna continued anyway as she began to speak.  "The truth is Angela, that you are not alone in what you are feeling. I know perfectly well what you are going through, and how it feels. That coldness in your heart that refuses to leave you be, no matter how much we may try to forget it. It stays with us, the regret." Luna placed a hoof to her chest, remembering that fateful moment a thousand years ago. "The thought that if you had acted differently, then none of the hardships we have endured may come to pass. I. . . " Luna swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "When I returned from my exile, for a long time afterward I felt as though I still had yet to atone for my own sins." Luna cast her eyes downward at the ground. "I hated myself. . . and not a moment goes by when I don't feel the sting of regret for what I did."

"What did you do?" Angela asked, surprising Luna a little with her question, but the Princess was at least glad that she had gotten some sort of response out of her, and she continued to explain.

"Well, I finally realized that by doing this, I was not just harming myself but also the ones closest to my heart. They helped me to see that, while I cannot change what happened in the past, I still have much to look forward to in the future. A future where I don't have to believe that I am beyond forgiveness, both from others and myself."

At this Angela turned her head towards Luna, allowing the Princess to see her eyes, so full of fear and self loathing. But in them Luna saw something else. A small spark, a single solitary ray of hope amidst a sea of doubt. Seeing that she was making progress, Luna continued. 

"Angela," she said with a small hopeful smile. "I know what you are going through. As I said before, I understand better than anypony else. So please, believe me when I tell you that this is not the right path for you to take."

For a long while Angela said nothing as she held Luna's gaze. Then, turning away she said, "I. . . I don't know if I can do that. I don't have anyone to help me like you did."

"Then let me help you," Luna replied, rising up to her full height as she looked down at Angela, extending a hoof towards her. "Allow me to offer to you the same friendship that I was given, even when I felt it was undeserved. And I promise you that you will never again be alone."

Angela stared at the hoof in uncertainty. Luna saw and felt many things running rapidly through her head. Worry, fear, disbelief, anger, confusion, sadness. All these and much more were plainly visible in her eyes as she contemplated Luna's offer. Then, ever so slowly, she reached out with her right hand towards Luna, tentatively inching closer. She glanced up at the Princess uncertainly, as though she did not really believe what was happening. Luna simply nodded once, a gentle and caring smile adorning her muzzle. 

That was all that was needed for Angela to make her decision as she closed the distance between them and took hold of Luna's hoof, allowing herself to be gently pulled up off of the ground, and she let a small appreciative smile adorn her lips, mirroring Luna's own expression. A moment later she started to laugh, and another moment later her laughter devolved into a fit of crying as she fell onto her knees, overtaken by emotion as Luna once more embraced the girl in her wings.





Angela slowly yet steadily regained her senses as she awoke, uttering a slight groan of annoyance as she picked herself up off of the ground. She was still sore all over her body, and for some reason she had a phenomenal headache. She shook her head in a vain attempt to clear away the fuzziness of her mind, and briefly glanced around at her surroundings.

'How did I get here?' she wondered when she saw the large amount of trees that surrounded her on all sides. After a few moments her senses finally returned to her in full, and she finally recalled exactly how she got to this place. She sniffed the air, taking in the many scents of the forest, feeling like she ought to know the name of this place for some odd reason. 

The sound of shuffling hooves interrupted her moment of pondering, and she looked to her left to see a small group of ponies looking at her with expression of wonder and a slight amount of concern. The predominant members of them were grey ponies with bat like wings dressed in silver armor. And standing in front of them was none other than the Princess herself.

"Angela," Luna spoke softly, looking at her in concern."Are. . . are you well?"

'Sure,' Angela thought, even though Luna could not hear her thoughts anymore. 'My head hurts like it's been kicked a bunch and I feel like I just came out of a bar brawl but other than that I'm peachy.' As Angela thought this she grunted and gave Luna simple nod of her head. Luna sighed in apparent relief at the reply. 

Still finding herself too drained to stay up in the air for very long, Angela propped herself up on her knees, favoring her right side a little to ease the strain on her injuries. It was then that she noticed that aside from Luna and her guards there were two other individuals among their number. She recognized them both as the cream coated mare whom she had spared not a few days ago, and the other as a familiar looking griffon that she recognized only too well from their previous encounter. The moment she saw the griffon Angela let out a feral hiss in his direction, causing the hybrid to slowly back away, only to find his path blocked by the mare. 'What is he doing here?' Angela thought angrily, her displeasure made all too clear by her body language.

"Angela, be calm. I know what you are thinking," Luna stated, placing herself between the wraith and the griffon. "But believe me when I say that Gerald is not here to cause trouble. I made an agreement with him to help me find you in exchange for his freedom. I assure he is not here to cause you any more harm than he already has."

Angela stopped hissing, but even with Luna's reassurance she did not let the griffon out of her sights as she continued to stare at him. Then she began to slowly glide past Luna straight towards him. Luna did not object to this action, but she did look on in worry, and her guards became noticeably tense, anticipating Angela to suddenly attack him. The mare was smart enough to move away, putting as much distance between herself and Gerald as possible. As for Gerald himself, he could hardly move so much as an inch as Angela continued to approach until she was directly in front of him, with her fanged jaws a mere arms length away from biting him in two.

Gerald was shaking like a leaf and stuttering incoherently. He was absolutely helpless before her, and he knew it. A tense silence pervaded the area as Angela simply stared at him, with everypony watching in worry, waiting to see what she would do. Looking him over, Angela took notice of his injured wing, encased in bandages.

'I guess we're even anyway,' she thought with a snort before turning away, moving back towards Luna, and everypony relaxed slightly. As for Gerald, he was still rooted to the spot, too terrified to even move so much as an inch as his legs quivered underneath him while the mare looked at him in bemusement.

Placing herself in front of Luna, Angela settled down onto the forest floor, looking at the Princess expectantly. 'So what happens now?' she thought, punctuating it with a tilt of her head. Seeing the question on her mind, Luna sighed heavily as she looked down at the ground.

"I suppose you are wondering what our plan is now," she stated, to which Angela responded with a nod. "Well, the original plan was to have you brought back to Canterlot. There are still many things that have been left unexplained, and I'm sure you can agree that we cannot simply leave them be." In spite of her dislike of the idea of being forced to accompany Luna back to Canterlot, or any place where there was a high concentration of ponies, Angela supposed that Luna did have a point in that there certain things that she would have to answer for. 

Then Luna said something that she was not expecting to hear. "However," she continued, "given recent events, and your current condition, I now feel it is only best that the matter is. . . set aside for the time being."

Of all of the things that Angela expected Princess Luna to say, that was not one of them. She really had thought that she would have been brought in regardless, if only to be questioned about her origins. Yet even after everything that happened, everything that she did to earn whatever punishment that may come her way, Luna was just going to simply let her go? While preferable to being carted off to a dungeon or something like that, it still sounded rather odd to Angela. 

Before she could attempt to orchestrate a question to pose towards Luna, the mare beat her to it when she said, "Princess Luna, are you sure that's the right choice? I mean, I don't want to see the crea- er, Angela, locked up any more than you do, but ponies are going to wonder what happened in Hollow Shades, and they're going to want answers."

"I realize that Bon-Bon," Luna replied. "And that is exactly why I feel Angela should not come back with us, at least not yet." Upon hearing that, everyone present gave her a questioning look. Noticing their confusion, Luna explained, "As you have said Bon-Bon, many ponies in Canterlot are likely going to be looking into what occurred, and even with mine and Celestia's attempts to conceal it, they are going to find something out eventually, including information regarding Angela here." At this Luna began speaking to Angela directly. "If that were to happen so soon after the incident itself, it is very likely that ponies would be unwilling to see you as anything more than a savage beast to be rid of. For the time being, it would be best if you were to simply disappear until everything has calmed down, when ponies would be more willing to hear you out. Do you understand Angela?"

Angela did understand, but still it did not feel quite right for her to go free, even if it was only for a little while as Luna pointed out. Still, she could see the logic in Luna's statement, and could absolutely see the appeal in waiting until things were in her favor, more or less. Angela nodded slowly. Even if she did not want to be immediately subjected to the scrutiny of ponies that would likely rather see her rot in a hole, the idea of being by herself, alone with nothing to keep her from falling back into the same carnal insanity that she dreaded so much was not much more appealing.

She glanced forward, at the depths of the forest before her. It seemed almost endless. It would be all too easy to get lost in there, and given enough time she would eventually forget who she was, and become that which she feared the most. In truth, she was not just scared. She was terrified, and the terror paralyzed her, holding her in place and refusing to let her go, and she trembled because of it.

Suddenly she felt something touch her left wrist. She looked down to see what it was, and found Luna had flown up to place a comforting hoof on her, looking at her with warm blue eyes. "It's alright," she said softly. "You do not have to be afraid anymore. I am with you."

With those few simple words, Luna had somehow eased Angela's fright, replacing it with a calm serenity that she could not remember feeling before. It was as though everything that happened to bring her to this point did not matter anymore as she looked deep into Luna's eyes, knowing full well that she could trust the Princess.

Taking a deep breath, Angela felt her nerves relax slightly. Dipping her head towards Luna, she signaled that she was ready. Luna nodded in return, and retracted her hoof, alighting back to the forest floor with a few flaps of her wings. She was joined by both Bon-Bon and Gerald, the latter of which still regarded Angela with caution, but now it seemed to be accentuated by a certain amount of respect and wonder. 

Taking a deep breath, Angela picked herself up off of the ground, and glided forward, heading in a straight line for the innermost depths of the forest, aware of Luna watching her take her leave. She paused for a moment to glance back at the Princess. Luna eyes seemed to be glistening slightly, and she bade Angela a temporary farewell with a wave of her hoof.

Returning the wave with her clawed hand, Angela redirected her attention to the path before her. Silent as a ghost, she slipped into the dense forest, disappearing completely.




> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Horizon raised her hoof tentatively, hesitant to go through with with what she was about to do as anxiety kept her from knocking on the polished wood of the grand oaken door. Multiple times she came close to closing the gap, but each time her fear of what would happen should the news she had was not satisfactory kept her from knocking.

Finally, after taking one more deep breath to steady her nerves, she knocked on the door three times, wincing with every hollow thud it produced. Horizon waited for what seemed like an eternity, wondering if it was not too late to simply leave and come back later. Her hope for that was dashed however when a voice echoed from the other side of the door, slightly muffled behind the wood.

"Enter."

When she heard it, Horizon almost jumped as her heart rate increased slightly. Swallowing a large lump that had accumulated in her throat, the mare took another deep breath, she twisted the ornate knob with her magic before pushing the heavy door open, mindful of the deep groan the hinges produced. Nervously, like a foal about to receive punishment, she stepped inside. The door seemed to close behind her of its own accord with a dull boom that startled her more than she would care to admit.

The interior was dim, although there was just enough ambient light from the fixtures hanging above her head that she was able to make out the various objects that were neatly arranged about the long hallway she found herself in. Oil paintings spaced evenly apart hung from the walls, depicted various ponies, mares and stallions alike, that had been rendered to be so lifelike Horizon would have thought they were real as they stared at her judgmentally while she slowly trotted past them. Eventually the paintings were replaced by shelves ingrained into the walls on either side, although their contents hardly made her feel any more at ease. 

Placed on them were glass jars of various sizes, most of them filled with some sort of yellowish liquid, and each one sporting a label. And inside of them Horizon could see, even though she tried very hard not to, things that had once been living, now no more than decorations to regale the odd visitor with. It took all of her willpower not stare at them. Just looking at them made Horizon feel nauseous.

Eventually Horizon found herself entering a large round study, lined with shelves that were filled to the brim with books. The faint scent of leather hung in the air, adding to her unease. Glancing around the study, she soon caught sight of a solitary figure sitting on a high backed chair, appearing to be engrossed in a book. But when she tried to get a closer look at him, her eyes seemed to glaze over him, unable to focus on him enough to say what he really was. When her eyes actually focused on him she could see what color coat his fur was as well what race of pony he happened to be, but whenever she looked away the image slipped out of her head, and she was unable to remember so much as a single detail about him. Deciding to chalk it up to a mere trick of her own eyes, Horizon timidly approached, coming to a stop a short distance away from him, and waited.

For a long while she stood there, unwilling to move so much as an inch without permission as the thing that she assumed was a pony continued to read, as though her presence was not worth the effort of noticing. 

Finally he spoke, breaking the heavy and tense silence. "Report," he said. 

Feeling her spine quiver at the sound of his voice, Horizon cleared her throat before she answered. "I have finished my mission in Hollow Shades sir, just as you requested of me."

". . . And?"

"A-and I have something to report, regarding our. . . asset."

She heard the book close with a hard thump, making her heart leap into her throat at the sound, and she felt a hard and unwavering gaze rest upon her. 

"My asset, you mean."

Shivering violently, Horizon quickly nodded as she struggled to correct her error. "Y-yes sir. M-my apologies, I meant nothing by it." 

"Good. Now please, continue. Tell me what has transpired in Hollow Shades. I wish to know the condition of my bug bear."

Knowing that there was no other way to say it, and that it would simply be better to get it over with as soon as possible, Horizon proceeded to say, "A-actually sir, there is a slight. . . issue regarding the bug bear. You see, as it so happens, the bug bear is. . . dead. You see, when I-"

"You let them kill it," he said cutting Horizon off mid sentence, his voice adopting an almost unearthly quality. As he spoke Horizon could not help but feel as though something was looming over her just behind her back, poised and ready to strike, but still she could not see what it even was. "You were to keep the Royal Guard from killing my asset." 

Fighting through her terror Horizon hurried to say, "It wasn't the Royal Guard that did it I swear! It was something else, a-another creature! I saw it!"

". . . Go on." 

Relieved at the prospect of saving herself from punishment, Horizon quickly obeyed. "Your spies were misinformed sir. The Royal Guard was not being sent to take out the bug bear, but something else entirely. Some sort of monster, unlike anything we've ever seen before, and most certainly not in the record books. Nopony knows what it is, or where it came, but it was strong enough to fight off one of the Princesses and an entire division of Royal Guard before it escaped. From what I've seen sir, it's possible that it could still be alive."

A pause followed, during which Horizon felt a nervous sweat run down her brow as she waited for his eventual response. She knew that he was pleased with her report when the suffocating presence that permeated the room like a vengeful miasma seemed to disperse.

"I do believe that we can salvage this."