a young pony was in the wrong place in the wrong time
when the young and curious unicorn Glitter Harmony has crossed paths with the odd Solem Sentinel inside the Everfree forest, all sorts of things begin to happen to and around her.
A large pony bound through the Everfree forest. He has a dark grey coat with a black mane. His horn has three points on the end of it. He had two more horns hidden by his mane. Along with the horns, he had crimson draconic wings and tail. His cutie mark was a twelve pointed star with an eclipsed moon in the center, the symbols for fire, water, earth, frost, and energy, each on one of the star's points. He had a bandage over his left eye, his other was dilated and blue without a pupil, black on the outer half of the eye and white on the other side. He wore an emotionless expression on his face as he walked onwards. The Everfree is the one place where this pony, who goes by the name Solem Sentinel, was able to do some of his may hobbies and abilities without causing himself to be noticed by others, other than the timberwolves, manticores, and other creatures that reside in the Everfree, though not the zebra. At least not that he knew of. He let out a sigh as he sat down next to a tree, leaning on it.
MEANWHILE
A small and young unicorn known as Glitter Harmony trotted out of her house silently. She knew that she wasn't allowed to leave the house this late. Her light lavender coat shimmered lightly in the dim moonlight. She could see Everfree Forest, one of the places that her parents told her to never go to alone. She was awoken from her sleep by the strange noises coming from the shadows of the forest. She had to see what was in inside the forest.
Glitter Harmony raced down the cobblestone porch and took off, her curly teal and pink mane and tail flowing behind her. She came to a sharp stop as she stared into the gloomy shadows. It almost seemed like the dark blue night sky with very few stars grew darker. Trees loomed over the path, casting eerie shadows. Nervousness began to well inside of Glitter Harmony. Small critters crawled among the path, disregarding Harmony's presence. Shadows of large creatures leaped quickly across the path from time to time.
Don't worry. Glitter Harmony thought to herself. If any monsters come out, I'm sure they'll be nice. Besides, I'll probably be able to become friends with them.
Glitter Harmony glanced at her peace sign cutie mark. She had always been a peace maker and it was always easy for her make friends with odd creatures.
She peered through the darkness with her bright blue eyes. A wave of excitement washed over her. With a new found curiosity and excitment, Glitter Harmony sprinted into Everfree Forest.
Glitter Harmony trotted cheerfully through the forest, eager to find any new ponies or different creatures. Maybe she could meet a dragon... or a griffin... perhaps a centaur...
She froze.
A strange feeling arose in her. There was something walking towards her. No... someone.
Harmony waited silently and started to slowly back away. She did not know what it was but she wanted to know what it was.
Her heart thumped and she let out a sharp yelp of fear when she saw a shadow figure of a large pony trot from the shadows.
Harmony looked up at the large pony, who chuckled softly with an amused look on his face. Harmony frowned at the pony. He had three horns instead of one and large wings. His mane was like the color of charcoal.
"You should leave," he said in a calm voice.
"What are you?" Glitter Harmony asked curiously. "You don't look like the other unicorns but you look cool!"
The pony just stared at her then scowled and stamped his hoof down.
"That is none of your concern right now. Right now you need to leave this place or other things meaner than me will come," he grumbled. Harmony looked at him in confusion. "You don't tell me what to do, your not my-" Suddenly there was the smell of smoke and the cracking of something above her. The pony pushed her and a large flaming branch fell where she once was.
"Now leave kid!" He yelled as his horn and eyes glowed pure white.
Harmony nodded quickly without another word. She didn't have enough time to thank him but she ran as quickly as her hooves could carry her, out of Everfree Forest. The sounds of loud foot steps were coming from behind and next to her. Other creatures were frightened by what was happening.
Two titans were clashing, and it wasn't going to end well for many of the creatures there.
Solem looked at his challenger, magic firing up. Behind the cracking flames he heard a laugh. He frowned.
"What's wrong Solem. Don't you miss me," a raspy, firm voice said, acting hurt.
"I do not. Whenever your around, it means everyone else is here. And you know what happens then," Solem said.
"Let me guess. We have to fight now?"
"Yes, Arson,"
"Very well then," then a grey dragon hits Solem to the side. Solem gets to his feet and begins to transform into a giant timber wolf with a flaming green mane. He roars and charges at Arson, who shoots flame at him. Solem just snaps at Arson, who teleports out of the way and sends Solem flying. Arson calculated the flight to land nearby the one pony that was running away with the rest of the creatures of the Everfree. Solem lands with a large crash almost right next to the pony.
(Meanwhile with Harmony)
Harmony stopped shortly when the large wolf crashed right next to her. The wolf struggled to get up. He muttered words under his breath
Harmony gasped when she saw the flames burning through the forest. A huge, gray dragon was advancing on the timber wolf. Harmony's eyes were wide with fear as she slowly backed away.
"Who are you?" she askesd, lowering her body. The dragon looked at her with a vicious grin.
"You can call me Arson child, now remember it, cause this will most likely the last thing you will see," he said a he raised his hand, which was set aflame. He brought his hand back to throw it when the timber wolf jumped at him.
"Your fight is with me Arson!" He yelled as he slashed at the surprised dragon.
Harmony couldn't bare to watch the two enemies. She turned and continued running. She was heartbroken that she had disobeyed her parents. Now she knew why they told her not to enter the forest alone. Soon, the sound of fighting stopped. It ended with a wine from the timber and a roar of victory from the dragon, then it all just stopped. The fires even stopped.
Harmony halted and slowly turned around. The fires were motionless. The dragon was laughing in triumph. He looked at her and grinned.
"Looks like your end will come at a later date child," Arson said then teleported away. The timber was injured badly and was unconscious. His mane was no longer flaring up as much as it was when he was fighting.
Harmony knew what she had to do. Carefully and gently, Harmony dragged the injured timber wolf off to her village, murmuring soft words of encouragement: "It's going to be ok. You'll be healed soon..."
Glitter Harmony continued dragging the timber wolf, straight to the small village's best doctor and healer.
The Unknown Village wasn't that big. It was west of Ponyville, one of the most popular places in Equestria.
As Harmony reached Cinder Wood's house, the wolf began to stir. Harmony quickly knocked on the door with her hoof.
She heard Cinder Wood's heavy steps trot to the door. The door swung open and there stood the light gray earth pony. His white mane was tossed slightly to the left and his deep green eyes were full of sleepiness. His cutie mark was a herb, proving his specialty in healing.
He took one glance at the timber wolf and his eyes widend.
"Solem..." he whispered. Solem began to move a little, wood creaking and groaning. His mane began to flare alittle more and he began to murmur something.
Harmony watched quietly, not knowing what to do. She hoped that timber wolf would be ok. He had risked his own life, just to save Harmony's while he could've let her die from the gray dragon, Arson. The timber wolfs head suddenly shot up and he jumped to his feet, yelling.
"Arson, where is he!? I have to stop him! Stop them! They'll destroy everything!" He yelled as he stumbled around, trying to collect his bearings. He hit some stuff before collapsing on the ground, trying to get back up.
Cinder Wood spoke gently to Solem. "Calm down, there is nothing to worry about. You need to rest. You are injured."
"No! I can't rest now! If Arson's here, it is likely that they all are, I gotta stop them!" Solem said frantically as he managed to get up a little. He began to try and walk away.
Cinder Wood stepped in front of Solem, preventing him to leave. "Solem, look at yourself! You are injured! You need to be healed! You cannot fight in the condition you are in!" Solem looked at Cinder Wood.
"I've done it before, I can and will do it again," he said as he went to push past Cinder Wood.
The silver pony was about to chase Solem but he stopped. "He has potential. If he wants to fight, I will not stop him."
He turned to Harmony. "Your parents will be very upset, child. I will tell them everything that happened, now come with me."
Harmony lowered her head in guilt as she followed Cinder to her house.
Solem Sentinel made his way slowly to the Everfree. He felt pain ripple through his body, but it was nothing to him. He had felt greater pain before, just not physically. Normally his healing would happen quickly, now it was just being slow. Then there was an echoing laughter. He spun around, trying to find the source, but to no avail.
"Is the mighty 'Solem' finally hurt beyond regeneration? Hahahahaha," Came the echo.
"Stop playing games Golden. I know you are here,"
Another round of laughter. Solem was not liking this.
"Actually, I'm not and I'm also not here to cause any harm to anything. Swear on my life," said Golden with a small cackle.
"I'm just here to warn you about some things dealing with theothers.You see, I want to help you and your friend. I know that Ursaus has something planed for the both of you, I just want to see what it's like to switch the sides. What do you say? Don't take too long to answer, I'm already talking to your little friends," he said. Solem knew that this would be beneficial to him. He nodded.
"Pleasure doing bisness with you,"
(Meanwhile with Harmony)
The door opened quickly right after Cinder knocked. There stood Harmony's mother, Dawn, a light blue pegasus with a chocolate brown mane. Her cutie mark was a feather, symbolizing her love for flight.
"Where have you been?" she asked Harmony. Her normally calm tone was filled with worry.
Harmony was about to speak but Cinder interrupted her. "She was out at Everfree Forest."
A muscular pegasus named Thunder Heart with a white coat and dark blue tail trotted to the door. "Everfree?" he said in shock.
"Glitter Harmony, you were in Everfree Forest?!" Dawn exclaimed.
Harmony lowered her head, full of guilt and shame. "I'm sorry."
"Why would you do that? You could've gotten hurt!" Dawn said.
"I heard noises coming from the forest and I wanted to see what it was!"
Thunder Heart clomped his hoof down. "Harmony, go to your room. No more forest exploring. No going to the park. You will study your magic. You'll help your brother clean the house. Now go."
Harmony stared at him. "But, Dad-"
"Go!"
Harmony angrily ran past her parents and made her way to her room. She collapsed on her bed and laid there. Bolt, her older brother, always teased her. They were never going to be able to clean the house without getting in a fight.
"Why don't they ever let me explore!" she cried to herself. "It's not fair! Bolt always gets to explore! Why can't I?!"
"Oh yes, that is how it seems, but you should know that they are just trying to make sure that your inevitable demise doesn't come sooner than it should," said a voice. Shadows danced across the room. The lights dimmed to the point where you can't even tell that they were on.
"Hello child, forgive me for not introducing myself, I am Golden," the voice said.
Harmony popped up. "What? Where... Where are you?" She had too many questions to get out. "Turn the lights back on, it's too d-dark!"
She shook lightly as she pressed herself into the wall. She had always been scared of the dark. Darkness was something she hated. She didn't like that she couldn't see anything. She relied on her eyes the most.
"Don't be scared of the dark. You are speaking to it now. As for where I am, I am right next to you," He said as his eyes gave off a gold glow.
Harmony turned and faced the pair of eyes. "Why are you here?" She swatted at the eyes, trying to make it go away. He chuckled.
"I'm here to make a deal, I guess. You see I know you saw Arson and the one who calls himself 'Solem Sentinel' in the Everfree today," he said amused at the child's antics. "You see, Arson is going to come back and bring more friends, more powerful friends. And you and your village are going to end up in the middle of six titans fighting, and I'm making a gamble that you don't want that,"
Harmony frowned. "I don't want that! I've been in this village for my whole life!"
"Well then, I need your help making it so that way people don't come close to the Everfree and don't start running like headless chickens, so basically, keep the peace,"
"Ok! I'll help! I will do anything to keep this village peaceful!"
"Good. Now I gotta go and get someone," Golden responded as he goes to the window.
Harmony flicked her tail proudly, glad that someone had wanted her help. She yawned sleepily and climbed into her bed. She pulled the blanket up and snuggled under the warmth. Golden looked back at her and chuckled a bit, then he went out the window.
Harmony focused her thoughts into what she might do to help. She might go on a quest. She could explore an unknown forest. With that happy thought, she fell into a deep sleep.
Arson walked triumphantly into a large chamber. A dusty colored windigo ghosted to him, an angered expression on his face.
"What did you think you were doing? Causing a fire like that and fighting him. That was stupidily reckless of you!" He said as he flew around Arson.
"Oh, there was no real harm done to too many things, Zypher. Just Solem. You should have seen what happened. He barley did anything. He was so outa shape when I was done with him. He couldn't even regenerate" he said. Zypher's eyes widened.
"You beat him past regen!? We need him to get Khan back, and Solem needs to be alive and well, not half alive and injured!" He yelled. Arson just shrugged it off. Then another dragon came in. He was several shades of blue and his tail was fined. He had rows of spines running down his back and curved teeth sticking out of both his jaws. He saw what was going on and turned immediately around, not wanting to be part of they're little talk. This dragon's name is Azure. He never really gets angry a lot. When he was, it was when he and Arson were at each other's throats, even then he'd worn his way out of the conflict. Zypher is as predictable as wind. He is always changing moods and, whenever Ursaus was around, he would go and act extremely aggressive around everyone. Arson is roudy, but helpful when you do certain things correctly. He prefers to fight rather than talk.
Azure made his way to where everyone thought Golden should be. The normally dark and spine tingling cavern seemed a bit less dark and creepy. Azure looked around.
"Golden! Golden, where are you? Stop being your creepy self and help me separate the other two," he said. When he didn't get an answer, he left.
Solem heads towards the village in pony form. He hid the anomalies nobody else had, so extra horns, draconic wings and tail, his unbandaged eye's color, were all changed into normal things for ponies or hidden away. He didn't like attention, and he knew his size was going to attract some. So he made himself a unicorn. He walked through the village looking around, wondering where Golden was. Golden said he would meet him somewhere near the village's entrance. Solem sighed and continued looking. It was going to be awhile.
(Meanwhile with Harmony)
Harmony ran through the darkness, trusting her instincts on where to go. The whispers kept distracting her, making her run into trees and other plants.
"You can't run... can't hide... can't save them..." the voices chanted over and over.
"Leave me alone!" Harmony yelled in frustration.
"Too late... you're dead..."
Harmony stumbled and fell. She tumbled through the vines and dirt, grunting as she rolled down. She suddenly flew into the air and started falling. She then realized that she had fallen off a cliff. She stared up at the dark night sky. Tears streamed down her face.
Before she hit the ground, she saw a pair of glowing golden eyes looking down at her with a sly smirk on its face. There was the sound of footsteps behind her.
"Child, what's wrong?" Came a voice.
Harmony trembled, unable to speak. She struggled to roll over and tried to stand on her hooves. "I fell," she grunted.
"Here, let me help," he said as he helped her up.
She almost doubled over from the dizziness. Leaning on the pony, Harmony spoke quietly. "Thank you, mister. Where are we...?"
"The dreamscape,"he said, "Also, don't call me mister, it's not needed here,"
"The dreamscape?" Harmony repeated in confusion. "What's that?"
"It is the place where you dream. It exists in everyone's mind," he said with a hearty chuckle.
"Ok," Harmony said as she looked up at the pony. "Then what's your name? I'm Glitter Harmony."
"Call me Goldencoat," he said. And he looked just that. His fur was golden while his mane and tail were black. He had gold eyes. He was also an alicorn.
Harmony nodded. "Nice to meet you, Goldencoat." She shifted on her hooves nervously. "Um, how do we get out of here?"
"Its simple child, just wake up," Goldencoat said.
"Just a bad dream," she murmured to herself. She glanced out the window and saw that it was already morning.
"At least its not the weekend," she said, climbing out of bed. "School is better than cleaning up the house with mean old Bolt."
She began getting ready for school. As she brushed her hair, she thought more about the dream she had. Why had it felt so real? Was Goldencoat a real pony? Her thoughts wandered to the pony who had saved her life in the forest, and then to Arson the dragon. His vicious smile and killer eyes gave Harmony the shivers.
She shook her head from the thought and set the brush down using her unicorn magic. Harmony trotted out of her room and walked past her brother who made a snarky comment. "What's up, Glitter Trouble? Hope you have fun cleaning up the house with me when we get home!"
Harmony ignored him and continued walking to the kitchen. There sat her mother and father, talking quietly among themselves. They suddenly stopped when they saw Harmony and gave her an emotionless look.
"Good morning, Harmony." Thunder Heart said.
"Hello." Harmony answered quietly.
She sat at the table with her parents and began eating her bowlful of hay. Harmony quickly finished her food and leaped off the chair. Before she could walk out the house, her mother called out to her.
"Bolt will be walking with you to the schoolhouse for now on."
Harmony was about to protest but she kept silent. Bolt gave Harmony a smirk as he trotted up next to her. Harmony rolled her eyes as she turned away from her brother.
"Have a good day at school," their mother and father said.
"Thank you!" Bolt said in a cheery tone.
Harmony said nothing and walked out the house. Bolt quickly caught up with her and together the two ponies made their way to the schoolhouse.
Unknowingly to them, somebody was watching them both. He was a dark grey, near black, griffin with jagged gold beak wearing a brown vest and a bit of armor on the top of his wings along with pure black eyes with yellow slits. He followed close behind them, unnoticed.
When they arrived at the schoolhouse, Bolt ran into the building to meet up with his friends. Harmony sighed sadly. She did not have any friends at all. She was one of six unicorns in her school. The rest were either earth ponies or pegasi. The six unicorns were the most popular ponies in the entire school, along with a few pegasi. They treated her like dung; bulling, teasing, and always leaving her out.
Harmony dipped her head and continued walking the building slowly.
The griffin looked at Harmony and shook his head. Bullies, while they can provide plenty of negative energy for his abilities, are some of the most pitiful things in existence. He knew that due to his one of his hosts that, while he was one of the biggest people to roam the place, was hurt in certain ways that even he could feel, so he could sympathize. He followed Harmony but hid from everyone else.
Glitter Harmony walked nervously in her classroom. She walked past Cupcake Sparkle who leaped in her way, acting as if Harmony bumped into her. "Hey, unicorn! Watch where you're going!"
Harmony sheepishly lowered her head and backed to her desk. "S-Sorry."
"Yeah, you better be sorry." Cupcake spat, flashing her large wings. "You smell like horse dung!"
The whole class giggled in amusement.
Glitter Harmony turned away. Before she could reach her seat, one of the ponies slid out his hoof and Harmony stumbled over and fell face-first. Her head smacked on the floor and the whole class laughed louder.
Harmony said nothing but only stood up and sped-walked to her desk which was in the back of the classroom. Harmony hid her face with her hair and lowered her head, embarrassed and sad at the same time.
The griffin growled. He hated these kids already. He wanted to really teach them a lesson. He knew that he would just have to wait until they were out of the classroom to do anything. So he waited eagerly.
Class started shortly after. The teacher, Miss Blossom was teaching about different jobs the ponies could get but Harmony was hardly paying attention. She kept getting rude remarks about her falling on the ground. Recess eventually was called and Harmony was ready to go. She was the last to leave the classroom. She made her way straight to the door with her head low, shielding her face from the other ponies in the hallway. Even though she was unable to see in front of her, she kept walking.
The griffin was standing outside. He had a few bones to pick with some of the children. He watched Harmony, knowing that she would most likely be bullied here then anywhere else.
Almost instantly, a pegasus bounded her way to Harmony and slammed her against the wall. The pegasus snickered as she ran away, acting as if she did nothing. Harmony winced as she slowly rose. Before she could walk again, she felt another blow on her left leg, causing her to buckle and fall over.
She had no idea why these sudden blows were happening to her but she was scared. Not knowing what to do, she pressed herself against the wall and curled up, covering herself from the kicks and tramples she was getting.
The griffin walked up behind the children and cleared his thoat, making himself know.
"Hello kids," he said.
The group ponies turned to face the griffin. They were either trembling in fear or frowning in confusion.
"She started it!" one of them shouted. The group snickered as they took of down the hallway.
Harmony continued lying there, quivering and shaking in terror. She was luckily not injured; rather feeling sore and pain on her leg.
"Little brats," he snarled, then he kneeled down by Harmony.
"Are you ok child?" He asked.
She nodded slowly but said nothing. This griffin was somewhat scary to her but his kind eyes made her feel a bit better. She got up and faced the griffin. "Thank you," she said in a small voice.
"You're welcome child. Anything for a small deal," he said, smiling.
"I... I have to get to recess. Thank you again. My name is Glitter Harmony."
"I know. Call me Golden," he said.
"Golden?!" Harmony shouted in surprise. "Like... Like the one in my room last night?!"
"Yes child," he chuckled. "You wouldn't be acting so surprised if you knew my original form,"
Harmony nodded quickly. "Oh, ok. Well, see you later."
"Good bye," Golden said. Then he appeared to disappear.
Solem continued to look for Golden. If it wasn't for the fact that he was in public in the day, he would have turned into a timber wolf right then and there and start sniffing around. But he was and so he just wondered around like a lost puppy.
(Meanwhile with Harmony)
Glitter Harmony's nervousness quickly came back and she made her way to the small corner in the playground. She watched the other ponies quietly. Most of them were in groups, playing with each other. Harmony began looking into the deep forest which was on the side of the playground.
The ponies weren't allowed to go into the forest but Harmony walked closer to it. The forest seemed to have this aura, making her want to explore the forest. The wind began blowing strong and hard. The ground began to shake suddenly.
Harmony turned around and saw that the teachers were gathering all the ponies back inside but over the debris, they couldn't see her. Harmony tried running to the schoolhouse but the wind kept pushing and blowing her back.
She couldn't fly into the air like the pegasi to escape from the shaking ground. She turned to the forest and ran as fast as she could. Cracks began to grow through the earth. Skeletons of several creatures, ponies, dragons, manticore, chimeras,etc, began to climb out of the cracks and walk out.
Harmony's heart thumped in her chest as she took small glances at the creatures. She didn't know what they were and why they were there but she kept running.
She then found a small hole at the base of a tree and squeezed inside. She pressed herself against the back of the trunk and breathed heavily. Panic shone in her eyes as she watched the creatures walk past.
They all walked around, not caring what was in they're way. Everything that couldn't get out of they're way was smashed and pummeled. The wind had slowed by now. There came some growling from behind the tree Harmony was in.
Of course, Harmony hadn't noticed the growling. Her own heartbeat was the only thing that she could hear. She shut her eyes tightly as waited.
A large timberwolf walked out from behind the tree. This one was made with not just wood, but vines and stone too. He charged at the undead creatures and began to tear them all apart. But for every one he destroyed, two popped up in it's place. Soon the timber became overcome with the skeletons. The wind stopped suddenly and the ground stopped quaking.
Harmony slowly opened her eyes and waited. There was no sound. She slowly trotted out of the trunk, still halfway inside. She stared in horror at the skeleton creatures. There was a timber wolf pacing restlessly. Harmony let out the smallest yelp before scrambling back into the tree. The skeletons tackled the timberwolf and began to hold him to the ground. He struggled but couldn't get out of the dog pile. A larger figure in a giant suit of dark grey armor walked up to the fallen timber. Steam hissed with every step. He looked at the timber then began chuckling.
" This is it? This. This is nothing but acircus act and this is all the trouble I get? He sent an idiotic animal that seems too stupid to even sit correctly fight his fight? That pathetic," he said in a echoed techy sort of voice. He laughed and stepped right infront of the timberwolf's face. Then the timberwolf tried to bite him, but he anticipated this and hit the timber right in between the eyes.
Harmony peeked out and saw the timber wolf. The same one that had saved her. She couldn't just watch him get hurt. Without even thinking, she let out the loudest yell she could muster.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Leave him alone!" The figure turned towards her and began to walk to Harmony.
"What? Do you think you can stop me? Hahaha, you ponies are so naive," he chuckled darkly. " This wolf is part of something that you will never understand. And I intend to make sure that this one doesn't live to fight another day through his own will." He said as one of the bigger skeletons went and began to tear off the timbers head. He wined and howled and tried to fight back at it, but he was exhausted.
"Don't move, it will only make it worse for you," he said.
Harmony whimpered in fear but stayed in the same spot. "P-Please... don't hurt him anymore! It's not fair! He did nothing wrong!"
"Oh no! He didn't!? Whatever shall I do!? Stop hurting him!" He said in a mock tone. Then he looked down at Harmony, cackling. "You really are a naive child. You want to know something? I don't care anymore," he said as the boneheads continue to harm the timber. Then the griffin walks up to the figure.
"Hello again Golden, what was your hold up?" He asked.
Harmony glared at large figure angrily. She had never used her Unicorn Magic before in fighting but she just couldn't stand what was happening. She stomped down on her hoof angrily and sent arrows of sticks and thorns hurling towards the skeletons and the figure in front of her. The sticks and thorns got caught inside the joints of the figures armor or was repelled off of it. The skeletons were too busy to notice. Golden's eyes flash gold and he teleports somewhere. The figure whipped around to look at Harmony.
"So. You really want to die huh? Well, lets see what you really can do against stuff like this," he said as energy began crackling off of his armor. He shot a bolt at Harmony.
Harmony didn't have time to react. Instead of staying in the same spot and doing nothing, she lowered her head a bright pink light blasted from her horn. It smashed right into the bolt, causing an explosion of smoke. The figure jumped through the smoke at the pony and gave he an uppercut in the jaw.
Harmony flew into the air and came back down again. She slammed onto the ground, sprawled out. She shakily stood up and backed away. Her jaw throbbed painfully.
"W-What do you want?" Harmony whimpered. "W-Why are h-hurting us?"
"I needed to get something but then they didn't agree with what I needed, so I got newer friends that did. Then then the others took one away. Now I'm getting him back," he said as he pointed to the timber. "This was not one of the ones we were looking for."
"But revenge doesn't solve things!" Harmony cried. "It only makes things worse! What did you want!"
"Umm, wellll, oh no. What was it? Something about a star and a shadow? Oh whatever. I can't have them anymore now that my condition has worsened! And I have them to thank for that!" He announced. He charged up an electrical blast in his palm. Then a fire ball hit him in the back.
"What the hell?"
She held back a laugh when she saw his expression. Harmony tried to see what had caused the fire ball. "What was that?"
"That was me," a horse voice said. The figure turned and looked at it.
"You!"
A chimera was standing behind him. He had a ram head, panther head and body, and a spitting cobra for a tail.
"Yeah, it's me," the heads said in union.
Harmony didn't know why but she felt completely amazed at the chimera. She had always wanted to see one, it was in one of her favorite books.
"Who are you?" she asked curiously but still cautiously.
"Give me a bit and you will know," he said as he went and pounced towards figure, clamping down in his arm. He cried out and began to charge up energy all over his arm, which only annoyed the chimera, who attacked with it's tail next, which constricted around the figures chest and attacked the faceplate. The ram was butting it's head around. The figure had enough of this and had commanded the skeletons to stop messing with the timberwolf and get over to the chimera. They all went and did as told, but then half of them all fell apart as a black wispy substance flew through they're chests. The figure saw this and relized that something wasn't on his side.
" Retreat!" He yelled. As he loosed himself out of the chimera's grip and got away.
"Hahaha, classic bonehead," the chimera said as it turned away.
"Th-Thank you," Harmony announced to the chimera.
"Your welcome kid. Though now that I'm thinking of it, what are you? A demon magnet? Cause this is the second time I had to get rid of a situation like this for you," he said.
She lowered her head apologeticly. "I-I'm a unicorn. Sorry if I caused you any t-trouble." The chimera's tone softened.
"No kid. It's not that. I just say that when I see someone get into trouble with guys like that,"
"Oh," Harmony murmured. "Uh, who exactly are you?"
"Right here is not the place for talking about that. Also if you see a griffin can you tell him that his friend has been looking all over for him?"
Harmony nodded. "He helped me earlier in school. He made the bullies go away. He's really nice." The chimera's eyes widened. Then he just nodded and walked away.
Solem was walking through the forest when he stumbled upon a cave. There was something off about it. He just couldn't place what though. He entered it, curious. Glitter Harmony trotted bordily around the village, longing for an adventure. There was nothing she could do without complaining of being bored. Her parents told her to never set a hoof into Everfree because of what happened before.
I don't want to get in trouble again. She thought to herself. But it was so fun in there... So much adventure. Besides, that creepy dragon is probably gone now. And no one is watching...
She slowly crept towards the entrance of the forest. Eagerness grew in her stomach more than ever. She took a deep breath, and trotted into Everfree.
Elsewhere, a fight had broken out, leveling entire mountains, forests, and villages to the ground as two beings dueled each other.
But Harmony trotted along, humming mindlessly to herself.
"Adventure, adventure, adventure!" she hummed loudly. She heard a soft scutter of paws but kept humming, louder and louder with each trot. Happiness swelled through her body as she went deeper into the forest.
She finally couldn't suppress her happiness any longer and yelled, "ADVENTURE, HERE I COME!"
Suddenly, a loud crack rang through the forest as roaring winds began to rise up out of no where. Snow began to fall, a crevice began to open through the earth, spewing molten rock up from below. Rock formations began to rise from the ground.
Harmony fell silent. She stood there, wincing at the loud sound. She looked up at the sky. Snow! Where was this coming from? And the rocks.. How did they get here? She took off and raced to the nearest shelter she could find.
What am I doing? I shouldn't be here! What if that creepy dragon comes again!
She ran behind a tall jagged rock and stayed parked behind it. She panted heavily and crouched down, hopping she could stop the noise and wind as much as she had started it.
A bipedal figure came walking through everything. It seemed unaffected by the events going on around it, but as it walked past Harmony, a choked breath was coming from it. It had a severe limp and basically dragged itself across the ground. It was hard to see through the wind and snow that was coming down.
Poor thing! Look at it! Its limping! Harmony wasn't even worried if it was dangerous or not. She was just worried if it was in pain. She rushed over to the creature but still careful not to scare it.
"Hello? Are you o-ok?" she asked nervously to the creature.
It whipped around to look in her direction and began to come to her.
"Uhhh... uhh?" she lowered her body to a crouching position. "I'm not going to hurt you...! Don't eat me..." She gulped at slowly backed away.
The figure came closer, and she could see it had a third arm and three heads and a tail that slowly swayed. As it aproched, she could also hear its raspy, choking, whispering breath.
She opened her mouth to scream but it only came out as a weak squeak of terror. She stumbled backwards and yelped, "I'm sorry!! I didn't mean to bother you or make you mad!!"
Soon she could see that its actually some creatures basically melted together into one form. There seems to be two creatures per arm and head. Its center head is a wolf with a jagged bird beak on the left side of its head, a stone bear creature on the right head with a tan dragon on the left side of it, and on the last head, a alligator fused with a silver burning fox. Its tail was the combination of a dragon's melted into a silver fire fox's.
She froze and stopped yelling with a mixture of fear and amazement in her eyes. The creatures were cool but scary all at the same time.
"Hey, you're actually pretty cool. I like those animals. They're pretty cool." She held out a single hoof in greeting. It came closer and stopped. It growls. It wore a pair of jeans and a white shirt and a black hoodie with torn sleeves. Its glowing gold eyes boar into hers. The other two heads head red eyes.
She drew her hoof back slowly. "Ok, I'll let you make the first move." She fixed herself in a simple non-threatening position. "I like your jacket," she added quietly. "Can you talk?"
It opens its mouth save for the slits that were teeth that melted together and makes a garbled static noise.
"No? Ok. Well, I guess you can use nods and shake your head. I saw you limping when you walked past. Are you ok? It looked like something hurt you."
It motions to its legs and Harmony could see that they were partially melted onto the ground, leaving a trail behind it with every step it took.
Harmony nodded. "That must hurt. I'm sorry that happened. Can I teach you how to speak? It might be useful one day."
It shook its center head. It makes some motions that she couldn't understand.
She tilted her head in confusion. "I don't understand. So where did you come from? Did you come from a different universe?"
Nods.
"Then how did you get here? Did someone bring you or did you teleport?"
More motions. Then it hears something. It starts beckoning for Harmony to leave.
"What's the matter? Is something scaring you?" She looked around franticly, tying to figure out what was bothering him. She looked at the creature. "I don't see anything. I think its ok."
Then, there was a whistling noise as a large arrow pierces through the creatures shoulder. Its heads roar in union and push Harmony away. The wind begins to pick up and the earth begins to act up more. snow falls quickly.
Harmony gasped and shrieked, "No!" She tried rushing over to the creature to help him but the wind kept blowing her backwards. She could hardly see as the snow fell down harder. She stumbled around blindly, trying to find the three-headed creature.
"Where are you..." she murmured. The monster runs past and grabs Harmony as it goes. More projectiles rain down around them as it flees.
"Wait where are we going?" she yelled over the wind. "What's happening?!"
The monster doesn't speak as it navigates the terrain at high speeds, the right and left heads growling, the center whimpering. More projectiles fly past, but fewer and it begins to slow down.
The creature stops and hides behind something, it's breathing heavy and fast.
Harmony waits a few moments before asking the creature if it is ok. She sighs feeling guilty for what she did. What will my family say to this? She thought to herself. The creature nods the center head, sighing.
"I'm sorry..." she whispers. "I shouldn't have came in here. I always get myself into trouble..." She lowered her head feeling shameful. It shakes it's head and does more paw things and smiles. It began to look around, checking for the unknown pursuer. All seemed clear, so spoke in a weird and garbled language, like a ton of people began to talk at once in many languages and styles and accents.The wind and snow began to fade and the ground returned to it's normal state.
Harmony blinked. "Hey, what happened? Why'd it all go away?" She looked around, questioning if she was imagining what had just happened. Half of It's main head smiled and pointed to itself. Part of the main head scowled.
Harmony looked at the head that smiled. "You made it go all away?" she gasped.
It nods and grumbles something.
"H-How did you do that?!" she stammered. "I didn't know you had powers!!!"
A red gas seeps out of it's middle left jaw, which the opposite hand respons with a quick flick to the head and growling.
Harmony blinked, having no idea what it meant. "Umm, okay....!!" She nodded and attempted to look like she understood. The creatures right head muttered something that sounded like disaproval.
She frowned. "It's not my fault I can't understand your mystery language!" she protested to the right head. "Can you at least try to make a normal word??" The far right head began to grunt and struggle. The other head looked at it worried and confused.
"I'm sorry!! I shouldn't have said that! Your language is completely fine!!" she said quickly. The head kept trying and straining, the left head was trying to stop it, the center head brightened up a bit, even chuckling a little.
Harmony reached out her hoof slowly and patted the right head nervously. “You can stop now... I’m sorry if I upset you.” she said in a low voice. The creature stops after a bit.
She gulps and nervously smiles. “Uh. I-I think I’m going to head back home. I don’t want to cause anymore trouble.”
One head nods.
She dips her head sheepishly and mumbles, "Thanks for helping me. Y-You're really nice. I won't come back here again. All I do is cause trouble."
The head that tried to talk whimpers. It began to speak to the other heads.
Tilting her head sideways she asked, “Do you want me to stay with you here? Or do you want to come back with me??”
It stands to it's full hight and holds up two claws.
“Uh. Hmm.... Okay, if you want me to stay nod your right head. If you want me to leave nod you middle head. If you want to come with me nod your left head.” She didn’t know if this would work but it was worth trying. The right head looked like it was having a wierd sezure, the middle stood still and the left nodded.
”Alright! Well since the left head nodded... you’re coming with me! My village isn’t very far from here. The ponies might be a little freaked out to see you but it’s okay...” She went on talking as she lead the creature back to her village. It followed in an almost dog-like fashion, tail wagging gleefully and grinning, knuckles dragging on the ground.
When she reached the village all heads turned and stared at her, jaws open wide.
One pony screamed and yelled, “What is that thing?!!” In less than a second, ponies were running around in a flurry of panic. It sat, crosslegged as it's waiting.
Glitter Harmony gulped. “Come on...” she said nervously. “I’m sure my parents and brother w-won’t mind...” She slowly trotted over to her house. The creature got up and followed Harmony, leaving a trail of weird muck as it went.
She knocked nervously on the door. “Mother, May I come in?” She glances at the creature behind her. “If she freaks out, don’t go a rampage, okay?” It nodded understandably and waited for Harmony.
The door swung open, and her mother stood in the doorway. When she noticed the creature she let out a scream, which was cut short when she passed out.
”Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea...” Harmony mumbled. The creature walked over to her mother and picked her up. It looked at Harmony with a questioning look.
”I guess you can bring her into the house?” suggested Harmony. “My dad is out of town for the month and my brother is more than likely asleep.” She stepped to the side to let it in the house. The creature nodded and walked in, ducking under the door frame.
”This way,” she whispered. She lead it over to the couch. “Put her on this but do it quietly so my brother doesn’t wake up.” It sets Harmony's mother down on the couch and sits on the ground.
”I’ll be right back! I’m gonna go get my toys and then we can play!” She began to run up the stairs, then halted. “Don’t touch anything, okay?” The center nods, then flicks the other heads, which causes them to nod.
The pony trotted quietly up the stairs and entered her room. She grabbed toys and a notebook and began to make her way downstairs.
“Harmony...?” A sleepy voice mumbled. “Is that you?”
”Ah! Go back to sleep, Bolt!” she yelped to her brother. She heard his hooves clomp on the floor as he proceeded to the stairs.
”Why did I hear a scream??” he asked drowsily.
The creature heard Bolt's hooves as it was waiting for Harmony and moved out of the main room. Harmony darted downstairs and looked for the creature.
“Where’d you go?!” she whisper-shouted. Bolts hooves got louder as he clipped noisily down the stairs.
”Harmonyyyyy... Where’s mom?” he mumbled. The creature had hidden itself as a multicolor vase. It began to tremble as it could not hold its form.
Harmony watched in horror as her brother stepped down the stairs. He was blinking sleepily but he was staring right at his mother.
”Did she fall asleep?” he asked.
Harmony nodded quickly and then gave her brother a shove.
“Go back to sleep! I have one of my friends over.” She casted a glance at the vase, then frowned. Can that thing seriously turn into a vase? Part of it began to melt and become undone and began to tremble more.
Bolt noticed the vase and scowled. “What the...? What’s that?!” He stared at it in terror and then turned back to Harmony.
“What the heck?! What’s going on?!” He began to walk to the creature. The creature regained its form and fell on it's back, dazed and tired.
Bolt’s eyes opened wide in shock. He stumbled back, knocking over a chair.
“W-What are you? G-Get out o-of m-m-my house!” he stammered.
Harmony trotted up to him. “Relax! It won’t hurt you. It’s pretty nice.” It feels so weird calling the thing “it”! She thought to herself. I’m just gonna refer to him as a “he”. It sat up and rubbed it's center head, groaning. It's arm that was holding it up began to melt into the floor.
”Don’t melt away!” Harmony gasped. She ran over to the creature. “It’s alright! No one is going to hurt you! Don’t leave!” It made a shushing sound and patted her head, leaving some weird goop in her mane. It's arm began to reform back into a solid state and gave out a garbled, but relaxed, sigh. And then a weird yawn as it fell back and rest it's eyes.
Harmony turned back to Bolt, who was standing there frozen in shock.
“He doesn’t have a name yet but he’s nice. Now go upstairs and leave me and my friend alone.” Without waiting for a reply, she shoved her brother towards the stairs. The stallion made a weird whimper sound and scampered upstairs. The creatures left head was up and running. It heard Harmony about the name and had gotten an idea.
She turned back to the creature. “What’s wrong now?” She tried her best not to sound annoyed but it didn’t work. “Are you ok?” It raised a thumb up then began to use it's index claw to dig into it's arm.
”Don’t do that!” She pushes its hand away and frowned. “You’ll hurt yourself!” It ignored her and continued, scratching out a word in it's arm and showing it to her. It said EXOSTALKINGTON.