And A New Friend
“Of all the ideas…” Sweetie Belle grumbled.
“Oh, quiet, you. You could’ve stayed home,” Scootaloo chastised, rolling her eyes.
“And I didn’t because I care about you both. I don’t want either of you to be hurt,” Sweetie Belle said.
“We’d be fine. We’ve survived way worse,” Scootaloo boasted.
“Does that really make it better?” Sweetie Belle complained.
“Will you two quit yer yappin’?” Apple Bloom retorted, narrowing her eyes as she scanned the dim and dank Everfree Forest.
This idea was really dumb, she had to admit. Travelling into one of the most dangerous areas in all of Equestria, in the dead of night no less. Nothing could’ve been more frightening than the idea of a sneaky Cockatrice turning them to stone or a starving Manticore jumping them and eating them whole. Well, other than the thought of their elder siblings finding out about their little excursion and lecturing them for hours.
Even with all of these fears in mind, Apple Bloom trudged on with her loyal friends.
“Explain to us why we’re even here again?” Sweetie Belle said, her horn expelling a bright lime-colored light to illuminate the dark woods.
“The Moonlit Rose,” Apple Bloom started, slowing her pace. “It’s a flower that only appears once every full moon,” she gazed up at the sky, smiling warmly at the bright white orb in the sky. “Ah need it fer a special potion Ah intend on makin’. If we succeed, the productivity of Sweet Apple Acres will skyrocket for a short time!”
“And what is it supposed to do?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Accordin’ to the recipe, it’s a potion that causes the drinker ta’ well up with energy. Ah was plannin’ on givin’ it to mah sis so she could work tirelessly on the farm.”
“And you haven’t thought of the side effects that it could bring? Or what happens when it wears off?” Sweetie Belle mentioned, her face contorting in disbelief.
“Oh, when it wears off, the exhaustion will set in.” Apple Bloom shrugged and picked up her pace again. “It’ll be a very productive couple o’ days, but boy, will she be tired.”
“Don’t you think that’s, ya know, a bit of a health risk?” Sweetie Belle speculated.
Scootaloo was having none of this pointless conversation. She trotted in the back, purposefully going slightly slower than the two fighting fillies in front of her.
“Risks were meant ta’ be taken for the sake of experimentation,” Apple Bloom preached.
“Whoever said that quote most likely meant themselves, Apple Bloom, not other ponies,” Sweetie scoffed, her mouth practically hitting the ground.
The two fillies’ voices bounced about the trees, reverberating into a loud echo causing birds to scatter out of the leaves. Even then, Scootaloo somehow managed to tune out their bickering and focused on how beautiful the forest actually was. Thanks to the light coming from Sweetie Belle’s horn, she could actually admire the sights of the tree-covered land.
What little shine the thick leaves allowed in worked with the bright luminescence that emanated from the magical filly, amplifying the vibrance of the darkened woods. Far in the black shadows lit up a few fireflies in reaction to the presence of the three fillies. Not enough light to see where they occupied, but enough to know that they were there.
The trees shook gently in the faint wind, occasionally losing one of their leaves to the natural force. The breeze soared through the crevices in the bark, both big and small, creating an ambient moaning and groaning sound. Small patches of blue mushrooms grew upon the trunks of a few of the trees, giving off their own faint glow.
Sweetie Belle suddenly sneezed loudly as they passed the fungi, her cry reverberating through the forest. “Ugh!” She blew a raspberry in disgust, before letting off another expulsion. “W-What’s going on with me?!”
“It’s the spores,” Apple Bloom pointed out, gazing over at the pretty flora. Tiny blue spores sprayed out of the mushroom into Sweetie Belle’s face, eliciting another sneeze.
“W-Well, let’s get away from it then!” Sweetie Bell yelped in a hurry, scooting away swiftly.
“Just a lil’ sneeze! Nothin’ ta’ worry ‘bout,” Apple Bloom replied, sprinting back to the front of the group.
“What if it alerts something in the forest, though?” the pale unicorn warned, holding back another sneeze as her eyes narrowed.
“Oh, come on. If your constant bickering with Apple Bloom hasn’t triggered anything, I don’t see why a little sneeze would do what that couldn’t.” Scootaloo slapped her friend on the back playfully.
“B-but--” Sweetie Belle stuttered before feeling another itch in her muzzle. She arched her head back and then, “ACHOO!”
The cry practically shook the leaves off the trees. Even a few seconds after it had finished, its echo could still be heard in the distance. Everything was suddenly quiet afterwards. The three fillies, Sweetie Belle being the most fearful, huddled up back to back in wait for whatever terrifying monster would come out from the darkness.
Nothing came up, however. Sweetie’s fears were all for naught as her bow-wearing friend let out a gentle sigh of relief.
“See? Ah told ya we’d be fine,” Apple Bloom reiterated, a goofy validated smile plastered on her face. With a proud trot, she continued deeper into the labyrinth, with Scootaloo following close behind. Sweetie looked behind her cautiously, as if something was staring at her. Staring right into her soul; piercing it. “Ya comin’?!” she called out. This snapped the unicorn out of her trance, desperately galloping back to the group.
Sweetie Belle was practically burning a hole through both of their heads with her fiery stare. All she wanted to do was go home, was that too much to ask?
In her rumination, she failed to realize that the very two ponies she was furious at had stopped, colliding with the orange pegasus in front of her with a gentle thud and a stagger, landing right on her flanks.
“What’s the hold up?” Sweetie Belle whined as she stood back up and dusted herself off gently.
“We… we found it!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, her amber eyes alight with joy and excitement as she grappled onto her friends’ hooves and rushed over to her destination. The two dragged ponies yelped and bellowed in shock as they were taken by the hoof forcefully.
Apple Bloom screeched to a halt right behind a dark green bush, admiring what she had found.
In the middle of a small clearing in the forest was a field of the flowers she was looking for. Most of the plants in the area were completely dead, however, their essence having been drained, leaving them grey and wilted. One singular rose, however, was still alive. In the corner of the field it stood pridefully, radiating a bright teal light.
“The Moonlit Rose… it’s beautiful!” Apple Bloom stated. “Finally, it’ll all be worth it!”
“Not really…” Sweetie Belle muttered in response as her buddy broke through the rough thick foliage.
Apple Bloom unintentionally trampled the carcasses of the other Moonlit Rose’s as she made her way over to her prize; her reward. All the bickering and arguing will finally be worth it, she thought. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo watched from the sidelines; the former silently pleading for Apple Bloom to hurry, and the latter waiting patiently.
She hadn’t made it halfway through the floral graveyard before a shadowy cloaked figure dashed into action suddenly. They darted in front of her, blocking her view of the flower. They moved out of the way quickly, and the flower was gone. And in the hidden blob’s cloak pocket contained the flower, easily identified by the glow it gave off.
Apple Bloom’s amber eyes lit up with anger as the thief ducked into the darkness. She let out a rage-filled shout and started to pursue the perpetrator.
“Apple Bloom, don’t!” Sweetie Belle cried as she pushed through the bush and into the direction her friend went. Scootaloo followed suit, her previous confidence shifting into worry and concern as she galloped next to the unicorn deeper into the forest.
“Git back here, ya ruffian!” Apple Bloom shouted, her words laced with fiery venom as she continued to chase down the scoundrel. They didn’t give a reply, only continued to speed up as they ducked and jumped over the obstacles in their path. Apple Bloom struggled with these barricades, but made it through them with little time lost.
Her heart raced, and her vision blurred everything except for her cloaked target. Getting that flower back was the only thing that really mattered to her at this very moment, and she’d do anything to get it back. Even if it meant taking pebbles to the face, thanks to the back hooves of the target kicking them her way.
The chase continued on, Apple Bloom gaining and losing distance at varying intervals. The landscape seemed to only get more and more desolate yet dangerous. Whoever the thief was clearly knew how to navigate this terrain. They looked back at the chasing filly for a split second, giving her a good glimpse of their face. They seemed to be a young colt, his shining purple eyes staring her down with confusion and fright.
The event came to a head as he suddenly grabbed onto a leafy vine hanging off of one of the passing branches, zooming up into the air as he climbed the green rope. She screeched to a halt just before slamming into a rock boulder just ahead of her. She stared up at the spot he disappeared to, but only heard the slight rustling of leaves slowly get quieter and quieter as the culprit got away. She huffed in frustration as she witnessed her friends catching up to her with tired breaths.
“What’d you go and do that for?! We don’t even know where we are now!” Sweetie Belle stammered, her chest rising and lowering frantically. Scootaloo wasn’t much better, her eyes watery from the long run.
“That varmint stole mah flower!” Apple Bloom grumbled, listening out for more rustling above her. Sadly for her, the noise had completely dissipated, leaving the trio only in silence.
“Who cares about the flower!?” Scootaloo guffawed, grappling onto her friend and shaking her. “We’re lost in the Everfree and have no way home!”
“Maybe that thing you were chasing knows? Did you ever find out who they were?” Sweetie suggested, before getting a dirty look from Apple Bloom.
“No, Ah really didn’t. All Ah saw was his face. And we aren’t askin’ ‘im for help! He’s done enough by stealin’ that flower!” she retorted, staring at the loose vine that he climbed.
“For the love of Celestia, could you stop caring about the flower for two seconds and focus on the issue that we’re
” Sweetie Belle scolded harshly, her voice going into octaves not thought possible by normal means. Her face burned a deep red in seething annoyance, her pupils shrunken to tiny dots.
Apple Bloom staggered back at the sudden outburst of rage. Never had she seen such a boiling pot of temper boil over from her like this. It was only then that the curtain shielding her eyes from the true problem parted ways. Salty anguished tears formed at the bottom of her eyes as she stared somberly at the friends she thoughtlessly dragged into this mess.
“Yer… yer right…” she admitted, letting out a sigh.
“I am?” Sweetie Belle faltered, her anger immediately quenched like a candle light to a soft breath.
“I’m confused too; she is?” Scootaloo joined in.
“Yeah…” Apple Bloom whimpered, her pink bow drooping down slightly. “Ah shouldn’t have risked our lives like that… and now we’re gonna die in the middle o’ nowhere, all fer some dumb flower that don’t even matter…”
“Well, we still have a chance to get out, you know!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“How?” Apple Bloom sniffled, wiping away the droplets sliding down her cheeks.
“Yeah! The thief!” Sweetie Belle stated matter-of-factly.
“Y-Ya sure he’d be willin’ ta’ help us? Especially after what just happened?” Apple Bloom faltered, feeling a tiny uncomfortable pressure in her chest.
“It’s better than wandering for hours until we’re eaten, right?” Sweetie Belle replied.
“I agree!” Scootaloo chimed in, raising her hoof in the air. “Now let’s get going before we become manticore food! Which way did he go?”
“Uhm…” Apple Bloom trotted around the small perimeter, before finding a trail of fallen leaves starting from the vine. “This way, Ah think! He escaped by climbin’ this vine into the trees, then hopped across the branches!”
“Let’s go then! We’ve got no time to lose!” Sweetie bellowed, strolling across the leafy path, crunching with every step. Scootaloo stared at her somber friend with hopeful eyes before they followed behind her.
The intensity in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Despite the dispelling of Sweetie Belle’s anger, her nerves were shot. Her eyes were locked onto the path they were taking, not even daring to look at Apple Bloom in risk of sparking that anger once more. Apple Bloom slinked away to the back of the line, a far cry from the brave leader she was moments ago.
Scootaloo was only a spectator in this feud, standing in the middle of the trio. Being placed between the tension was extremely stressful, like balancing on a tightrope that’s about to snap. Her mouth gaped open to speak to the contestants of the relatively silent fight, but no words escaped.
The next few minutes were taken quietly, the stress distributed between the three rarely fluctuating. Under the light of the moon, many more creatures prowled. Chickatrice in small families crossed the filly’s paths from time to time, keeping their distance from the foals. The cries of presumably bunnies quickly followed as the creatures disappeared into the bushes. Despite the calls for help, they trudged on.
CRASH!
Scootaloo jumped, her ears standing straight up. “W-What was that?!” In the short distance another sound rang, glass shattering a little ways away.
“This way!” Sweetie Belle declared, sprinting into the bushes.
“Wait up!” the other two whined and leaped after her.
Sweetie Belle stood just before a makeshift wooden barricade of stakes and shoddy barbed wire circling around a large tree without any leaves. At the slightly dulled points of the wood grew mold, while others had moss on their length. The prickly wire weaved and wrapped arounds the barrier, dipping and sagging in certain spots. A couple of stakes were split in two, their top half laying flat on the ground.
Apple Bloom sniffed the air, and immediately her muzzle scrunched up. “Eugh!” She blocked her nose. “Smells like the barn when one of our animals pass on!”
“You sure this is where the noise came from?” Scootaloo asked, shaking off a few leaves from her tail and mane.
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure!” Sweetie Belle reassured.
“What’s the other one percent?” Apple Bloom wondered, her voice nasally and monotone.
“That we went the wrong way, or we imagined it.” Sweetie Belle stated.
“So we all imagined the exact same noise at the exact same time?” Scootaloo scoffed.
“Got any better ideas?” Sweetie Belle retorted.
“Y’all, be quiet! Ah think Ah hear somethin’...” Apple Bloom shushed, her ears perking up.
“... work… finally… serum…”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle gave each other odd looks before staring at Apple Bloom with an eyebrow raised.
“I don’t hear anything…” Scootaloo grunted.
BANG!
Once more, Scootaloo leapt at the interruption before turning her attention to the ground. “I-It’s below us!” she stated, dropping to the dirt as she put an ear up to the soil. Her friends fell just as quickly, joining her in the act.
“Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy…” the voice spoke once more, followed by quiet clops of hooves travelling across the underground bunker.
“There’s somepony under there…” Sweetie Belle whispered, “though it must be deep. I can barely hear them.”
“More the reason to find a way in!” Scootaloo exclaimed before pointing over to the tree. “Whoever it is must be protecting that tree for some important reason!” She slinkied under the defenses with her friends following close behind.
The floor bobbed up and down with small red muddy ditches that the Crusaders struggled to travel across, their hooves occasionally sticking in the goopy puddles. Contained within a couple of the holes were dried out corpses of the small wildlife, like bunnies and a fox on one occasion. The decomposed bodies had black bugs crawling all over them. Sweetie Belle shivered as her hoof touched the mushy remains.
“Ew ew ew ew ewwwwww…” She whimpered as she shook off the mud and bugs.
“Explains the smell,” Scootaloo said, pushing a wooden stub out of the way.
“Will ya keep quiet? They’ll hear us.” Apple Bloom grunted as she pulled her bow out from in between a couple of barbed wires. A tiny piece of the accessory was torn, eliciting a sad moan from the wearer. “Aw, come on…”
One by one they crawled out of the graveyard, shaking themselves of grime and muck like puppies. Sweetie Belle’s mane shifted instantly as she shook, the curls rolling out into straight lines. Its bouncy structural form was replaced with a shaggy blend of purple and pink. Before Apple Bloom could escape, the wire caught onto her bow once again, tearing the accessory off her mane.
“M-Mah bow!” she yelped as she snatched it from the wire.
“W-Who’s there?!”
“Shoot! Hide!” Scootaloo cried.
“Where?!” Apple Bloom retorted.
“U-Uhm… I don’t know!” Scootaloo snapped.
“Wait… what about a spell!? Sweetie Belle, do ya have any invisibility spells or somethin’?!” Apple Bloom begged. Her amber eyes shrunk as she heard hooves trotting closer and closer to the trio from below.
“I haven’t practiced it though!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
“Better time than ever ta’ practice then!”
Sweetie Belle gulped as she charged her horn, power surging through her entire form as an unearthly aura formed around the three. A few seconds later, they disappeared entirely, save for a very faint outline of their shapes. They huddled next to the tree in a tight circle, slowing their breaths to a crawl.
On the other side of their hiding spot the bark of the tree opened like a paper thin flap, and out came a dark hidden figure. Apple Bloom gasped before clasping her hooves on her muzzle.
The colt raised up a blackened stick in his right wing, an orange powder in his hoof. He blew the substance onto the torch’s tip, and a bright flame enveloped the wood. He waved the light around steadily, the bugs crawling over the corpses scattering in response.
He carefully trotted along the perimeter of the fenced area, illuminating every corner, nook, and cranny of darkness. Little critters hiding and living in the flora escaped from the light in terror with squeaks and high-pitched whines. The colt growled as he came across a small pink piece of fabric, his eyes narrowing as he kneeled near it. Apple Bloom clutched the torn bow in her hooves as she watched him grip the cloth in his hoof.
He let out a sudden raspy snarl as he threw the fabric to the side, frantically pointing the torch in all directions. “I know you’re out there!” he called out, his voice deep and heavy in contrast to his small stature. “Show yourself!”
The colt’s muzzle suddenly scrunched up, and he turned around in the fillies’ direction. His eyes, previously a dark purple, had shifted into a beastly bright yellow. His pupils were pitch black and small like beads, a soul-sucking stare locked onto the Crusaders. He sniffed the air before bending to the ground, his nose hovering just above the soaked dirt. A faint trio of hoofprints were imprinted in the ground.
The flesh on his face stretched across his skull as he steadily followed the trail towards the tree. The fillies held each other with bated breath as he drew near. As his face stood inches away from Sweetie’s hind hoof, he suddenly recoiled backwards with a shriek of agony. His eyes clenched as he bared his teeth, which sharpened into fangs painfully slow right before their eyes. Dark red blood seeped from his gums, tainting the grass beneath him. As the horrifying sight came to a close, he panted heavily.
“N-No time left...now or never…” He sighed in defeat, his voice drastically higher-pitched than it was a few moments ago. Torch in wing, he returned to his humble abode and folded the bark behind him. As the clacks of his hooves slowly disappeared, Sweetie Belle’s spell faded away, rendering the crusaders visible once more. The color had drained from their faces. Their mouths hung wide open as they let out a stored breath of relief.
“A-Ah think…” Apple Bloom began, “Ah would’ve preferred to be eaten by a-a manticore…”
“Agreed…” Scootaloo added, her small wings sagging downwards.
“W-Well…” Sweetie Belle stammered, stumbling onto her trembling hooves. “L-Let’s go ask for some help, huh?”
“Wh-Are ya nuts?!” Apple Bloom howled, mere centimeters from strangling the unicorn. “We coulda’ died there, and ya still want ta’ ask fer help from him?!”
“We have no other choice. It’s either that or we starve or get eaten alive,” Sweetie Belle replied, reaching for the hollow bark before Apple Bloom grabbed her hoof.
“He. Grew. Fangs. Right in front of us! Don’t ya’ think that’s a lil’ scary?”
“I gotta side with Sweetie Belle on this one,” Scootaloo interrupted, pulling the livid farmer away. “Besides, I’d much prefer dying to a pony than some sort of monster in the forest, if he’s dangerous, that is.”
“You two are insane…” Apple Bloom commented as she was dragged away.
Sweetie peeled the door open with a loud creak. The light from his torch slowly dissipated, replaced by a never ending darkness accompanied by a few stone stairs plunging into the black, littered with scratch marks. The blemishes travelled all over the steps and the stone walls too, ending just below the small dirt layer at the top.
With a wave of her horn it glowed, granting slight visibility as she tip-hoofed down the steps.
“A-Ah’ll stay back here and keep guard!” Apple Bloom stated as she stood stone-still right next to the entrance. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes as she resumed her trek, Scootaloo on her heels.
The air thickened and chilled as the duo descended down the dank stairwell. Water dripped out of the crevices in the stony walls with a faint plop to the ground. The tiny puddles splashed as the two’s hooves trampled through them.
Scootaloo started to sweat as the air began to heat up, the temperature continuing to rise as they encountered a wooden door with a chain window at the top. Sweetie Belle spied through the window with one eye carefully.
A tattered blanket lay flat on the ground in the back of the stone room. Next to the blanket was a large bookshelf, filled to the brim with books and stories of various sizes. She could make out one of the titles, ‘Rare and Ancient Brews’. Rusted lanterns hung from the ceiling in each of the four corners, bathing the area a dim light. In the center was a long wooden table covered with test tube holders and flasks. Bits of broken glass shimmered under the table. Even more claw marks covered the walls compared to the corridor. A Meeker burner was lit on the table with a small holster floating just above it. A flask with a dark blue liquid contained inside stood on it, beginning to bubble upward.
The unicorn gasped quietly as the resident of the home came into view, his cloak noticeably missing from his previous attire. The tip of his right wing had a burn mark darkening its grey color. His coat and mane were severely unkempt, big strands of red and grey hair sticking up on their own as if he was charged with static. His topaz eyes shined brightly in the dim room like a flashlight. His sharp fangs stuck out like a sore hoof, pointy enough to poke a hole in a balloon with one small touch.
Sweetie Belle held her breath as she observed him. He slowly killed the heat on the burner and grasped the flask with his left wing. He brought it over to the other side of the table, pouring its contents into six separate vials in a test tube rack. Droplets of sweat slid down his face as he emptied the last of the fluid. His movements slowed as he reached for a few droppers filled with a red substance, varying in shades of dark and light.
He squeezed the nozzle of the droppers, the gooey crimson sap falling into the vials with a gentle plip. As it blended with the blue formula, it reacted in various ways. The first two combinations, containing the darkest shade of red, fizzed over the rim and spilled down the glass like an avalanche. The next three, with a lighter shade, produced light green smoke upon contact. It spewed for a couple of seconds before winding down, revealing a yellow-orange tinted serum.
His eyes looked down slightly as he frowned and scribbled into a big journal next to the rack. As he punctuated the entry, he prepared the final sample, which was the lightest shade. He squinted as he attentively watched the last sample mix with the mysterious potion.
A few moments passed before the effects started to take place. The liquid began to dye a bright yellow. He gave a toothy grin as he marked down in the notes swiftly before taking the vial and pouring it into a beaker.
“One chance…” he muttered breathlessly as he swished the formula in the container before chugging it down in one fell swoop. Sweetie gawked at the sudden action.
“What’s going on up there?” Scootaloo asked, standing just below the window.
“He just drank a… potion? I think?” Sweetie Belle replied. She suddenly got knocked out of the way by Scootaloo, who hogged all of the space next to the window.
“It looks really gross!” She gagged. As he drank the last drop of the serum and slammed the beaker onto the table, he recoiled backwards and stuck his tongue out.
“Never gets any better,” he murmured, his eye twitching once before he flopped onto his back, convulsing on the floor before upchucking the drink with a gargle. The two spies’ stomachs turned at the sight, both fillies taking a moment to settle their aching bellies before continuing to observe.
“No...No!” he shrieked as he shoved all of the lab equipment off the table. The vials split into tiny little pieces on the dusty floor, their contents fusing together into an amalgamation of various ingredients. His rampage continued as he slammed his hooves against the table. “I waited so long just for that flower to bloom! For
” He howled. Sweetie gulped as she backed away from the door, giving Scootaloo the chance to take her spot.
“What the heck is going on with him?” Scootaloo questioned as his rage-filled destruction continued on. He tossed the books on the shelf to the wall, striking the barrier with a loud bang. The first impact shook her, sending her to the ground on her back. Many more smacks exploded in their ears, before a boisterous agonizing wail replaced it. Sweetie Belle hopped up to the window with a frightened gawk.
He clutched his head tightly and clenched his fangs, stumbling across the perimeter of the room and knocking more and more things over. His eyes shut tight like window blinds as he dropped to the floor behind the table, his grunts and cries of pain the only trace of him left.
Sweetie yelped as his hoof grasped onto the tabletop forcefully. It tensed up as his appendage began to spread apart and grow, resembling more of a paw. His coat that surrounded the leg grew out as well, becoming more messy and more dark by the second. His bones audibly cracked and shifted all over his body. He pulled himself up with his other leg, having gone through the same transformation as its neighbor.
His muzzle extended outwards into a wet snout, ear-piercing whines deafening all but the snaps of his skeleton. His size nearly tripled as four sharp claws poked out of the nubs in his newly formed paws. His mane and tail faded into a pure black, lengthening out in all directions. Scootaloo nudged Sweetie Belle’s paralyzed body out of the way as she peered in, just in time to see his wings extend out, then sink into his body. She cringed at the sight.
His tormented whimpers became distorted and deeper, as his vocal cords shifted around along with his physical changes. The horrifying sight came to a close as his eyelids parted open, revealing the same soulless, beastly yellow eyes that unknowingly stared them down not too long ago. The lab had been destroyed; the experiment a failure, and the mysterious colt had been replaced by a feral, ferocious creature not unlike the residents of the Everfree.
The newly formed monster took in his surroundings, absorbing as much info as his primitive mind could handle. His sharp pupils slowly swayed from left to right as he took one small step forward, landing him into the gloopy mess on the floor. It bubbled up on contact with the beast, He leapt back as the liquid dissipated into smoke. On the tips of his toes spread burn marks, stopping just at the start of his claw. With a frightful snarl he slashed at the table legs, splitting them in two as it leaned onto the puddle with a loud crash. The mixture dissolved the table rapidly, leaving only the two stable legs and the other half of the top.
Scootaloo’s mouth hung wide open as her back legs trembled, clasping onto the chain window with her front hooves for stability.
Sweetie finally recovered from her fear-induced stun, just in time to watch her friend’s eyes become dots. Scootaloo’s chest rose and fell frantically as she let go of the window and moved back.
“What is it?!” Sweetie Belle stuttered. Scootaloo gulped as the beast prowled up to the door, his face just an inch away from the window. He glared at the pegasus, the color from her face draining.
“Run!” Scootaloo cried as she dashed up the steps as fast as her little legs could muster. The wolf howled out in pure gravelly fury, throwing himself at the barred door. The rusty hinges creaked at the force, and the irritating noise grew in volume as he continued his attacks. Sweetie Belle yowled at the first attack, backing away slowly up the stairway before their eyes met. His hungry topaz eyes locked the poor filly into place, sealing her fate as one of the hinges gave away, falling to the ground with a clank.
Just as the second and final hinge shattered and the door fell to the ground like a large tree, she found the strength to flee from the monster.. As she ran, her pursuer lunged a claw, barely missing Sweetie’s hind leg, but slicing her tail in two. The strands of hair fell to the ground, trampled by the carnivorous monstrosity in pursuit.
The ruin of her tail was a passing thought as she bolted out the door with Scootaloo just ahead. Apple Bloom, who was taking a nap next to the tree, suddenly shot up with baggy eyes.
“W-What’s goin’ on?!” she sputtered, watching as her friends flew out of the door right over the barbed wire and stakes.
“Get out of there! There’s a monster after us!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“What?!” She peeked down the stairwell, a pair of canine eyes staring back at her. And they were catching up. Fast.
“Nope!”
She leapt over the barriers in a hurry, just before the beast reared his ugly head. The Crusaders’ blood pumped, and their hearts raced as he ascended from the lab. His raspy breathing was accompanied by a ghostly emotionless grin. Drool poured out of his mouth like a waterfall as he leered at the fillies, licking his lips creepily.
The girls’ adrenaline rush went into overdrive as they ran away as fast as they could on their toothpick legs. He let out a frightful roar as he jumped over the defenses like a racehorse jumping a fence, giving chase.
The prey raced across the hoofprints subtly imprinted into the ground, twisting and turning in every direction in hopes of gaining more time. The predator was hot on their tails despite their efforts in thwarting him. His large form eclipsed the moonlight that slipped between the grooves in the leaves, blanketing the path in front of them in his shadow.
The event came to a head as the fillies screeched to a halt just a hair away from a large gorge. At the bottom of the gorge was a large river that nearly extended the entire length of the ravine, and took up the entire width as well. The clear blue water rushed down the stream with no signs of stopping.
“We’re stuck!” Apple Bloom stated, her eyes widening as a low growl reached their ears. Reluctantly they turned around to find the hulking monster cutting off their only way out. He crept forwards menacingly, stamping the ground with a large paw print every step. The frightened foals backed away in rhythm with him, until they reached the very edge of the cliff. A tiny bit of the ground crumbled behind them, being swept into the current after a few seconds.
“What do we do?!” Scootaloo snivelled. Sweetie gazed down at the long fall behind them, then back at the beast, who was taking his sweet time. Her face filled with determination as she grabbed her friends’ hooves.
“What’re ya doin’?!” Apple Bloom questioned. Sweetie Belle said nothing, only jumping backwards off the cliff, taking her friends’ down with her. They all shrieked for a few moments before landing deep in the raging water. In unison they rose up to the surface.
“Woohoo!” Sweetie Belle cheered, floating on her back.
“How’d ya know we’d survive?” Apple Bloom wondered, breathing heavily.
“I didn’t! But if we didn’t jump, we’d be dog chow!”
“Looked more like a wolf to me!” Scootaloo commented.
“Same difference.” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.
“Uh, guys? What’s that noise?” Apple Bloom asked, frantically looking around her. They looked at her in confusion before they noticed the anomaly too.
At first the sound was faint, like a running faucet. Though as they were carried away by the river, it grew louder and louder. As the waterway curved to the left, it seemed to cut off a little ways away. Scootaloo yelped as she realized what was at the end.
A waterfall. And they were approaching it. Fast.
Immediately they jumped into swimming mode, their front legs rotating like a water wheel during a hurricane. The water pushing against them prevailed in the fight, however, racing towards the pit at breakneck speed. Sweetie Belle even tried to use her magic, but nothing she could do worked.
With one last gasp from each of them, they were thrown off to the pit of water below. Their screams of terror were muted by the falling water around them. Soon enough they were submerged within a thick veil of blue, splashing one after another. They reached the bottom of the floor, colliding with many bits of debris and sharp objects, marking their bodies. Sweetie Belle panicked not a second too late, peeking her head out of the surface. Her friends soon followed. Multiple scrapes, cuts, and bruises began to show themselves as they trudged out of the expansive body of water and onto a sandy surface.
Scootaloo was the first to collapse onto the ground, burying her face in the sand. Sweetie Belle rushed to her aid, only to find the filly unresponsive and barely breathing. Apple Bloom was the next to go, falling onto her back and dirtying up the remnants of her bow.
“N-No! Wake up!” Sweetie Belle begged, shaking the pegasus. She then felt her eyes become heavy, the dripping water weighing down on her body as she joined her friends on the floor. Her breathing slowed steadily as she relaxed on the sand, struggling to keep her eyes open.
“N-No… can’t… sleep…” she whispered. The last thing she saw before entering a deep slumber was the faint shadow of a wolf in the far distance, standing on a high cliff as he howled at the moon.
The usually dark and dreary Everfree Forest had its first shed of light as the sun stood in the center of the bright blue sky. The more docile creatures of the woods emerged from their hiding spots, eyes big and small searching for predators before branching out to forage for food. A thin, dark wisp of smoke patiently rose from the colt’s home. A small fire pit had been lit in front of the door, thwarting off any animals that made it through the barbed wire.
Scootaloo jolted up suddenly, coughing out a few raspy breaths before lying back down onto her back. Her left eye throbbed like sin, most likely due to a black eye. She cringed instantly as she collided with the cold stone floor, knocking the air from her lungs. After catching her breath, she once more rose up. Upon closer inspection of her surroundings, she gulped.
She was back in that colt’s lab, or what was left of it. The medley of different serums had been cleaned up, though left a damp splotch in the floor. The destroyed table was missing. The few things that weren’t broken, like a couple of lucky vials and a book or two, were stored in the corner of the room. On the wall was his cloak, hung up by a rusty nail. The only source of light in the room was a couple of crudely made wooden lanterns, sparsely positioned in seemingly random places.
Her heart skipped a beat as she turned to her side. Lined up next to her were Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The latter had bandages littering her entire body, along with a soaked rag placed on her forehead. The adjacent filly wasn’t in such good condition. Dark purple bruises displaced her usual bright yellow color around her hooves. Cuts deep and shallow crawled up her neck to her cheek. Blood smears stained her coat around the gashes.
She averted her eyes from the painful sight, only to find a similar one staring her right in the face. Her own form was in disrepair as well. Her right wing throbbed, a couple of feathers noticeably missing.. A few cuts were placed here and there on her stomach. A distinctly metal-like taste made contact with her taste buds, and upon investigating the strange taste, found that the inside of her cheek had been bleeding. It was a wonder how her entire mouth hadn’t been flooded with the red fluid.
Her ears perked up as the pitter-patter of hoofsteps launched her onto her own hooves. Her legs trembled, and her teeth chattered in fear as the noise drew nearer and nearer. In reflex, she returned to her previous position, focusing on slowing her breathing. Her eyes slowly closed just before the source of the sound entered the room.
She very slightly opened her right eye, just enough to see their captor. It was none other than the colt, who she witnessed transform into an abomination Celestia knows how long ago. Wrapped around his waist were two small saddlebags, clinking slightly with every movement he made. He knelt down next to Apple Bloom and reached into the sack, then carefully pulled out a roll of homemade cloth bandages.
With haste he wrapped some of the fabric around each of her cuts and scrapes, biting off the loose end before moving onto the next. With one last knot he reached into the other bag, this time grabbing a small rag and an equally sized vial of water. He soaked the washcloth before placing it on Apple Bloom’s head softly. Droplets from the rag slid down the side of her head.
He let out a gentle sigh before moving on to Scootaloo, who nervously closed her prying eye just before he crouched down. Just as his hoof made contact with a scrape on her left foreleg, a dreadful whimper escaped her lips. He jumped up, backing away from the pegasus quickly. She sat up once more and glared at him.
“What are you doing!?” she scolded, hopping onto her hooves with a whimper, smoke practically pouring out of her nostrils.
“I-I’m trying to help!” he whined, raising his front hooves in front of him. “Honest!”
“Fat chance!” she retorted, marching up to the shaky colt. “You were the one who got us into this mess! You chased us halfway around the Everfree and got us falling down a waterfall!”
“P-Please, if you just let me explain--”
“You have us begging for our lives, leaving us hurt, and you took that stupid flower that Apple Bloom wanted so bad! That’s what caused all of this in the first place! If you hadn’t--”
“If you hadn’t been snooping around my lab, you wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place!” He suddenly wailed, knocking Scootaloo off her hooves. He recoiled backwards, a faint red blush appearing on his face as he covered his muzzle. “I-I didn’t mean to…”
“You… knew?” Scootaloo questioned, breathing erratically.
“Not… immediately,” he began, unwrapping the saddlebags around his waist. They fell to the floor with a plop, a small map rolling out of one of the sacks. “The day after every full moon, I get visions; visions of the terrible things that… thing did.” He choked on his words for a moment, before continuing, “It’s involuntary. I can’t even sedate myself before I transform. My body rejects it like the plague, as you probably had seen.” He motioned to the damp stain on the floor.
“R-Right…” she muttered, gingerly standing back up with an eye glued to him. “So you
want to hurt us?”
“Of course not. I never wanted to hurt anypony.” He cringed as he watched blood start to drip down Scootaloo’s leg from a reopened cut. “Can you just lie down so I can tend to your wounds? We can continue this conversation during that.”
“Fine fine.” She carefully lay down on her back, right next to Apple Bloom. He kneeled down. “What were you saying now?”
“Right,” he said as he grabbed another roll of bandages, “I never wanted to hurt anypony. Every full moon I change into something monstrous. Something that I have always wanted to rid myself of. I have made no progress in the full year that I’ve been cursed. Anytime I think I’ve made a breakthrough, I’m knocked back down to square one.”
“Wow… I’m really sorry--Yow!” She heaved as he tightened the bandage around her leg.
“It’ll be okay… I hope.” He bit off the last of the medical wrap as he twirled it around her ear.
“Why help us though? We basically broke into your home and endangered ourselves in the process,” she queried, sitting up slowly.
“I… feel guilty,” he stated, storing the used roll of bandages into his bag. “If you hadn’t ran when you did, I could’ve bit one of you. I wouldn’t wish this curse on my worst enemy.”
“It’s that bad, huh?” Scootaloo wondered.
“Really is. Well--” he began, before being cut off by a groan from the previously resting fillies. Not long after, they stirred awake, taking a long gasp of air as if they were submerged in water.
“You!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. He chucked a cracked vial of water from his bag in reflex as she pounced. The bottle hit the floor, the substance exploding in all directions. It splashed onto the attacker as she fell into the puddle spread out on the floor like a rug, spitting out a small bit of water that swished its way into her mouth. His hooves clasped over his muzzle as Scootaloo rushed to her friend’s aid.
“Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo called, patting Apple Bloom dry.
“S-She lunged at me! What else was I supposed to do!?” he growled in reply.
“With all due respect, you attacked us first!” Sweetie Belle piped up, hopping onto her hooves with a raspy cough.
“Ya coulda killed us!” Apple Bloom accused, accepting Scootaloo’s helping hoof as she stood up.
“Apple Bloom, he didn’t want to hurt us. It’s a long story,” Scootaloo soothed, carefully pushing away shards of glass from the soaked filly. The colt assisted her, flinching with every sudden movement Apple Bloom made.
“Well, give us the short version of it!” she commanded, crossing her forelegs as he silently swept the crystalline fragments into a small cloth before setting it down in an empty corner.
“Every full moon he transforms into that beast, and the day after he gets visions of what he had done, which is why he knows what he did to us,” Scootaloo began, disposing of her own bundle of glass. “He’s been looking for a cure, and we just so happened to stumble upon his lab on a full moon.”
“Right…” Sweetie Belle muttered, strolling over to him. “We’re really sorry about all of this, mister… uh… What’s your name?” He sat there in thought for a few short moments before finally answering.
“...Fullmoon. Although that isn’t my birth name. I… don’t recall what it was,” he replied, holding out his hoof in front of him. She gladly accepted the hoofshake.
“Sweetie Belle. That’s Scootaloo,” she pointed at the orange pegasus, “and the pouting one is Apple Bloom.”
“H-Hey!” Apple Bloom stammered, her cheeks flushing a bright pink.
“I wish we had met in a better way than this. I deeply apologize about everything.” Fullmoon bowed his head gingerly, his lips wavy.
“It’s fine!” Scootaloo smiled brightly.
“No, it’s not! He coulda killed us!” Apple Bloom retorted.
“Think about it this way, Apple Bloom.” Sweetie Belle turned to her. “That wasn’t him that attacked us. That was a different side of him that he wants to destroy. And we could help him with that! Maybe even help get his cutie mark in the process!” She pointed at his pure gray flank. “I just came up with that explanation on the spot! Sweet!” she exclaimed proudly.
“Ah guess that makes sense… Ah’m sorry ‘bout that.”
“Y-You’re fine. If anypony understands your frustration and worry, it’s me.” Fullmoon held a hoof out to the farmer. She accepted it with a warm smile as she was hoisted onto her hooves, then quickly let go of him. His eyes suddenly went wide as he stared at the trio. “W-Wait… you want to
me!?”
“Yeah! Well, at least I do!” Sweetie Belle turned her back to him as she faced her friends. “What say you guys?”
“I’m in!” Scootaloo concurred, raising her hoof to the air with determination. The two fillies faced Apple Bloom expectantly. It took a moment for her to process what they wanted.
“Ah mean… well, the Cutie Mark Crusaders never back down from a challenge, right?”
“Precisely!” Sweetie Belle agreed..
“And this quest is going to be some challenge, huh?” Scootaloo commented. Her friends stared with disapproval, an awkward chuckle following as she turned to Fullmoon. “Ehehe… n-no offense!”
“None taken,” He replied, looking away with a quiet whimper.
“Ah guess Ah’m all fer it then, if he’s okay with it?”
“I dunno…” he mumbled, twiddling his hooves. “I nearly killed you three last night. Why do you feel so compelled to help me all of a sudden?”
“Because we don’t like seeing ponies in pain!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “And not only would we be helping you, we’d be helping all of Ponyville too! It would be one less thing to worry about attacking them!”
“Ponyville? Is that where you three live?”
“Yup!” Scootaloo confirmed. “We were actually trying to get back home last night before everything happened. We were gonna ask you for directions or some help, but you really gave us a scare!”
“Right…” A pathetic whimper escaped his lips, “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“Nope!” The three cheered in unison, high-pitched giggles bouncing off the walls.
“Guess I can’t say no. On one condition though,” he began, “if any of you get badly hurt trying to help me, whether it be by my ho--paws, or something unrelated, you will stop your mission.”
“Cross our hearts and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eyes!” they said, doing the motions to the song.
“Uh…” Fullmoon faltered, flabbergasted.
“That’s a Pinkie Promise!” Scootaloo explained.
“Basically we’re saying that we will hold up to that promise one-hundred percent. No matter what,” Sweetie Belle continued.
“Good. You three should be heading home before it gets dark again. Not because of me, but because of everything else that comes out at night.”
“Oh… yeah, ‘bout that.” Apple Bloom chuckled nervously. “We don’t know how ta’ get home.” Fullmoon let out a frustrated sigh.
“There’s a hidden path straight to Ponyville I made for supply runs whenever needed. It’s just a short trot away, you can use that to bring you home,” he stated.
“Why don’t you come with us?” Scootaloo suggested. “It’ll be better than living in this trash heap.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think that’ll work too well, unless you can get me a house to live in. I don’t think any of your families would allow a stranger like me to suddenly enter their lives.”
“You could live in our clubhouse!” Sweetie Belle added, her eyes lighting up at the idea. “We can set up the attic as a bedroom! Give you a little doggy bowl and buy you treats!”
“I’m… not a dog.”
“But Scootaloo said--”
“That’s not what I meant. Imagine those,” Scootaloo gagged, “‘hunky’ and muscular wolf creatures in your weird romance novels but, like, not good.” Sweetie’s white cheeks turned a deep red.
“O-Oh… right. Sorry…” She chuckled awkwardly, sheepishly rubbing the back of her mane.
“Considering the lack of knowledge on wolfponies, I’m not too surprised. Don’t hold it against yourself,” Fullmoon replied.
“Livin’ in the clubhouse is a good idea though!” Apple Bloom piped up, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “We go there practically every day, so ya wouldn’t have ta’ worry about not knowin’ where we are; not ta’ mention we’ve been needin’ ta’ clean up that attic anyways, so it’s good motivation!”
“I suppose that’s a good enough reason to go, if it means I don’t have to live in this dump.” He donned his saddlebags and cloak, putting away anything he could salvage from the remnants of his lab. “When the moon is full, however, I must run to the Everfree for the night. That isn’t negotiable.”
“Deal!” Scootaloo shook his hoof forcefully, causing a stagger from the poor colt. With one final preparation: putting away a small journal unscathed by the wreckage, he trotted to the stairway.
“I can only lead you as far as the path takes us. Afterwards, you will have to lead,” Fullmoon warned. They gave a nod of affirmation before following him out of the lab, unwary of the adventures and challenges that are in their future.