A blur in the darkness--revered by some, loathed by others--and one that seems to have taken Ponyville into its excessive and unnecessary protection . . . and no one can figure who, what, where, when, why, or how.
When several ponies find themselves taken far out of harm's way, when they would have been severely harmed or even dead otherwise,—and when other, more secretive and suspect ponies are found eviscerated, or go missing, it becomes evident that something strange and otherwordly has its watchful eye perched on Ponyville and the surrounding areas. . . .
And no one has the slightest clue who, what, where, when, why or how.
- - -
Note(s): This story was started a while ago and many things have changed. Some aspects of the story are hindered because of this; broken images, changes in formatting, etc. Let me know if you see anything and I will work to change it.
Also: no, he is not me, he is not Zee Captain, and he is most certainly not the Pyro.
The curling fingers of orange and red flames licked at the walls, attaching themselves to the wood, and spreading, lighting up the night air as they did so. Their consumption of wood, straw, and the very oxygen in the air did not satiate its hunger, no, just the opposite. The inferno grew larger, demanding more fuel to satisfy its needs, until it finally burned itself out, having devoured all that it could. This town would suffice. Unless, of course, it were to be put out...
The yellow-helmeted fireponies continually hurled bucket after bucket of ice-cold water into the flames, but to virtually no effect, save, perhaps, and some hissing and some steam. The unicorns took to using magic, both to make the water colder, the flames smaller, and to help rescue ponies trapped inside. Five buildings were aflame by this point, and each one was being paid heavy attention to. A cerulean blur, the famous pegasus Rainbow Dash, shot inside and out of the roaring wreckages, each time returning with a panicked pony, and darting back in to repeat, until each and every soul was saved.
The flames had reached seven houses, and many more ponies were trapped inside. Rainbow Dash knew it, and the Fireponies knew it: they were not going to save anyone, even with all of the help that they were getting. But that didn't stop them from trying. Maybe with the assistance of a Princess...
*Pop!*
There was a blinding flash of white and purple that contrasted the roaring flames, if only for a second, and standing there was a tall, purple-maned Alicorn.
"Oh my goodness . . . "
Princess Celestia had sent her to help deal with a fire, but Twilight doubted that Celestia knew about the pure mass of it, otherwise she would have some herself.
"Princess! Princess Twilight! Thank Celestia you're here; we need help!" shouted a Firepony as he came near her, panic and fatigue in his voice.
The Princess, frowned in concentration, thinking rapidly. Her eyes lit up and she spoke, "How many buildings still have ponies in them?"
The heavy-set, mustached Firepony gestured to the end of the row of burning buildings, which was now up to nine.
"The first six have been completely evacuated!"
"Are you sure? Absolutely?"
The stallion nodded and called back, "You can trust me and my stallions."
"Alright," Twilight said to herself. She lowered her head and clenched her eyes shut. Her aura activated and spread across her horn. I just a few seconds, a series of purple forcefields appeared over each of the empty buildings.
"What are you doing?!" the Firepony shouted, alarmed.
"Calm down; these shields will block the oxygen and proceed starve the flames."
The Firepony's mouth formed an 'o' and he turned back, watching the flames with wonder.
"Now go! Work on stopping the spreading of the flames! They're almost at the town hall!"
The large stallion jerked in the realization and bolted off, calling for much of the other Fireponies to accompany him.
Many of them did, but enough stayed to help evacuate the trapped villainous ponies inside each of the unattended buildings. Far off, the flames had seemed to halt their deadly advance, at least for now, and Twilight bolted forward, ready to use her magic to help more of the ponies in distress. She succeeded in levitating three, two young mares and an older stallion from the next building and she dropped them next to her. All three were Earth Ponies.
"Is there anyone else inside?"
The three ponies all shook thier heads in unison, looking up from the ground at her wide-eyed.
"Go! Help the Fireponies! Now!"
The three bolted off without a word to comply, or to cower somewhere else, and the Princess repeated her process until she reached the last building. Using magic and a hastily-dug trench, the brave Fireponies had managed to halt the flames. The bonfire lept and crackled, whipping around like an enraged serpent, and hissed in a similar manner whenever it reached the water, angry at that is would be starved.
There was only one more house to go, and Twilight pulled out a mare, while the Fireponies went in with helmets and axes, to retrieve other ponies and perhaps some of the owner's material objects.
The mare that Twilight had saved, a pastel-green Earth Pony mare with a lighter-colored, curly mane and tail immediately hopped from the dusty ground where she was dropped and cried out to Twilight.
"My filly! She's still in there!"
The lavender Princess turned back towards the raging inferno and steeled herself. The foal was visible, from a collapsed section of wall, but she was surrounded on all sides with flames and rubble: not even Rainbow Dash could get to her, as the beams above her alight with flames.
A bead of sweat formed on Twilight's brow and trickled downwards as she concentrated on moving a few black, smoldering planks, her eyes closed once more.
"Momma!"
Twilight startled and opened her eyes, and, to her surprise, saw the little filly whom she was just attempting to rescue right in front of her.
The little filly was glad to see her mother, and hurried as fast as her little legs could over to her Mother, who stared off into the distance, a zombified look on her face.
"What...? Did you...? How did she...?"
The mare only gaped and slowly shook her head as she stroked her terrified child's mane.
"I don't know....she was there and I saw a blur of some sort...now she..she's here...."
Twilight frowned for a moment, but wrote it off to the mother's fear and distress.
But that doesn't explain how the filly got outside...
- - -
The dawn came quickly, and, frankly, everyone was in shock. The flames had just recently been extinguished, thanks to Twilight's quick thinking and the efforts of both the Fireponies and of everyone in Ponyville. Unfortunately, exactly eleven houses had been completely destroyed, and nothing remained but piles of smoldering wood, shattered glass, and still-hot stone.
No-one knew how many ponies had been killed yet, but Twilight felt in her gut that there had at least been a few. She tried to ignore the feeling, but it kept coming back, like some relentless form of cancer.
So much chaos, in the middle of the night, and so many houses....was it possible that they had missed somepony?
Twilight gasped and a hoof darted to her muzzle.
Maybe her shields had stopped somepony from escaping! But the Firepony, whom of which, Twilight found out, was the father of Sweetie Belle and Rarity, and the Chief of the Fireponies, said that he and his workers could be trusted....
But everypony makes mistakes...
Twilight shook her head. She supposed that she would see...
Twilight went off in search of anyone who needed help, as the Fireponies searched the wreckage for anything that had survived. And for bodies. Again, Twilight shook her head and continued onward.
"Hello! Is there anything I can do?"
"Not unless you can bring my house back, not really...," the slumped Stallion answered quietly.
"And, that's exactly what the we, that is, the Princesses will be working on! Probably for a while..."
The stallion looked up from the ground and at Twilight. He looked her in the eye for a moment, and then smiled.
"Thank you," he said with a raspy voice.
Twilight smiled herself and continued on. She spoke to a few more victims, calmed some of them, and made promises that she wasn't sure that she could keep. All to stall the inevitable announcement.
"Hey!"
Twilight turned and saw a Firepony running towards her, a massive smile on his face.
How can he be so happy at a moment like this?
Nevertheless, Twilight halted, curious to see what this stallion was so happy about.
"Princess! Fantastic news!" he called as he finally reached her. Both of his eyes were wide and glistening, and his grin would go unmatched by all but Pinkie Pie for years to come.
"What? What is it?"
"Everypony escaped! Everyone made it out alive! Not even a single body!"
Twilight froze.
Is it true? After all of that?
The Princess sighed and shook her head.
"I want to beleive you, but...that just isn't possible."
"Oh but it is! We combed the entire area, several times! Not a single body was found! By anyone!"
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked, still unsure.
"Princess, would I really risk making such a positive announcement, and then have it all be a lie in the end?"
"I suppose not..."
"Then come see for yourself!"
And she did. Twilight followed the ecstatic Firepony down to the site and she spent the next two and a half hours searching, hoping to confirm things for herself. Finally, when she went to move on to the next building, she almost walked directly into a ditch, residue of water still sinking into the dirt.
They had been right....
"Yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyes!"
All nearby eyes turned toward the excited Princess in surprise, but they soon lapsed into happiness; they too were in a similar mood.
When Twilight had finished celebrating, and being embarrassed towards her inability to control that particular outburst, she returned to the other ponies, who were being treated by the hospital staff for minor injuries and shock. The space that had been chosen had been directly in front of the Town Hall, mostly because it was the largest in Ponyville.
She walked up to the balcony, she would have to do without a podium, and proceeded to magically amplify her voice.
"Everypony! I have fantastic news!"
Fantastic news? Now? They doubted that, but they each gave the purple Princess their attention anyway.
"Not a single casualty has been found! Everyone survived!"
There was but a moment in silence, and then everyone broke into cheers. This was good news, to everyone, but Twilight couldn't help but wonder at it. That had been nearly impossible. And that little filly...
He stood on a thick tree branch, his hand grasping a similar branch above him as he watched the town through his dirty lenses. He startled a bit when an explosion of cheering boomed from amid the buildings, but he recovered easily enough; that just meant that he did his job.
He smiled under his mask and swung around the trunk, and into the Everfree Forest once more. He would returne when they needed him again. He promised.
Shady had had a bad life. Who would like a pony whose special talent was stealing? No one, that's who. Except, maybe other thieves. Shady did not have any friends, save Pinkie Pie, he couldn't escape her, and that hurt him, but he drowned it out by doing what he does best: steal. He was quiet, light on his hooves, and a quick-thinker. All of this made him an amazing thief. The massive fire a couple days ago helped: ponies were distracted, and, thanks to the re-building efforts, they went to bed quickly, and fell asleep even faster.
He knew this, and decided to strike that night. He had spent his most of his jewel stash on things, illegal things, to help him build defenses for his hangout. He needed more.
His hideout was a cave in the Whitetail Woods, a forest above Ponyville and below Canterlot; perfect for stealing from both cities. But the disaster was in Ponyville, and thus he would hit there.
Shady stood outside of the place that he had called home for the past twenty years, the cold breeze sweeping up from the vast, empty darkness behind him. He stood on a rock ledge that was three feet above the ground, where the forest began and stretched for a few miles, before reaching Ponyville. Above him was Canterlot: literally.
His cave was in the mountain that Canterlot was built into, and the city literally was above his head. The waterfalls all trickled into a peaceful pond right next to his cave. Such a beautiful home for such a despicable pony.
Shady waited patiently as Celestia's sun retired down the horizon and as Luna's moon crept up into the sky. The air grew chillier, the sky darker. It was time. The thief had made this trip many times, and knew it well, so it only took him half and hour to cross several miles, Ponyville drawing closer with each bound.
At last, he reached the outskirts, and he stopped, hiding behind a large boulder. The dead leaves under his hooves crackled softly was he moved.
He reached up with a hoof and drew the black scarf that lay around his neck upwards and over his gray muzzle. He checked to make sure that he was clothed almost entirely in black, and therefore unrecognizable. Yes, he was.
The thief waited for a few more minutes, and made his move, bounding to the closest building that he possibly could, and hid behind it, pressing himself into the shadows. All was still. Shady looked up, his one eye searching for an window. He got lucky; there was a window that was both open and close to the ground, easily reachable. Shady couldn't beleive his luck as he smothered a cackle and easily slipped inside. Once more he paused. It was dark and quiet.
Alright, what's in here?
Shady noticed that he had slipped through a living room window, but nothing but a couple sofas and a coffee table was there. There were some photos on the walls, but the frames were wood, and none of them were good enough to sell.
So he moved on. There was an open doorway that led to a narrow kitchen, and another door near the window that Shady slipped in from. The sneaky pony crept over to it and silently opened it without a creak. A closet, almost as bare as the living room. Well, the kitchen next.
Shady silently hurried over and peeked inside, still sticking close to the wall. The other side was too dark to see to, but there may be something in the cupboards. Besides valuables, Shady also stole his food most of the time.
Damn, this place is practically empty.
Shady decided to grab the silverware, you never know, and the only thing he had found: chewing tobacco and celery.
As Shady's head began to pan, his gray eye searching for other things, he heard a noise. Shady froze. This was not a single noise, but a continuous one. It sounded like breathing, only it was hollow, muffled even.
What...?
Shady whirled around and gave a loud cry of surprise. Standing in the other side of the kitchen was a tall, slender, and dark figure. Its face was covered with a strange mask with large, shiny lenses and a protruding circular part that stuck out to the left of its covered face. There was a long, shiny crowbar in its grasp. It stood near the stairwell that led upstairs.
It looked at Shady with a cocked head, the lenses of its mask gleaming from the moonlight that streamed inside from another window.
Shady yelled again, not caring if he woke the inhabitants. He may have been a thief, but he was not some selfish coward who would leave a family of ponies to be killed by strange, otherworldly creatures. He stood up on both legs and leaned against the counter in a defensive position. He opened his mouth to shout again, but he couldn't. Come to think of it, he couldn't breath either.
Shady looked down and then tried to scream again, but this time in horror. From his gut protruded the crowbar that the monster was supposed to have in his hand. Shady looked back up but saw that the tall creature was gone.
"G-g...ahh..ugh.."
The crowbar was wrenched from his gut, and a spray of thick, ropy blood followed, spattering the black and white tiled floor of the kitchen.
The thief fell down on all fours again and gasped as the side of his head was cracked with the blunt end of the crowbar, splitting it open. Shady fell to the ground, bleeding heavily from both wounds. The monster was over him again, his weapon and clothes bloodied. He was looking at him with the same cocked head, only toward the opposite direction.
The pony's temple was struck with a boot and it slammed into a cupboard door, putting a hole in it.
Shady's eyes followed the monster's hand as he went to open a drawer. Without breaking its gaze away from Shady, the monster fumbled around until he drew a knife.
"Ga-h! N-no...!"
And suddenly Shady's vision was filled with the cold lenses of the creature's mask. Frozen, lifeless, empty, they seemed. Again, Shady gasped, only this time when he felt the cold steel being viciously stabbed into his gut, just above the crowbar's wound. It wrenched upwards, down, and then out again with another spray of blood. Shady was losing all senses, so no pain was felt with the next stab. Nor the next, and neither the next. Finally, he was gone.
Sketch's eyes fluttered open when she heard a loud crash come from downstairs. Sketch, without even the thought that it was a burglar, but maybe one of her friends about to pull a prank on her, grumbled and slipped out from under her covers.
She was about to open the door when she was stopped by a peculiar sound. Sketch didn't recognize it, but it sounded most like the rending of wet cloth. That just meant that this prank would involve water. Those evil mares.
A smirk on her face, the mare hurried through her hall and down the stairs. He was laughing as she turned into the kitchen and began to say, "Lily, I got you now...."
She trailed off. What? Was that...? Sketch shook her head. It...was. Sketch only giggled maniacally as she fainted, hitting her head on the banister, and lay near the stairs, bleeding herself.
The sky was a clear blue, deep and majestic. Every mile or so sported a large, white and beautiful cloud. The breeze was just perfect, in both terms of temperature and speed. A perfect day for flying.
There was once a time when Rainbow Dash would fly as fast as she could, catching air and doing complex tricks in the deep blue sky that stretched infinitely. But not any more. Rainbow Dash flew slowly, gently. Not because she was unhappy, no, quite the opposite.
Why? Because she was carrying something, something delicate. Not a material object, but a foal. An extremely young, pegasus foul. His mane and tail were a deep, deep blue, and his coat a lighter blue. His name was Breeze, and Rainbow Dash was his mother.
So, indeed, Rainbow Dash was not flying slowly out of sadness, rather, out of consideration for her young son. She may have been brash and somewhat at one point in her lifetime, but even the talented pegasus knew how to care for a foal properly. Most of the time.
As the cyan pegasus gazed lovingly at her young foal, he yawned cutely and opened his eyes, proceeding to smile brightly towards the gentle, caring face of his mother. Rainbow Dash, the most talented flyer in Equestria, infamous for being a massive tomboy, shed a single tear of joy at the sight. This experience had changed her. It had been difficult so far, but it had been worth it.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash felt a bit colder. Shivering, the pegasus looked around in an attempt to source the chill, but to no avail. It was beginning to get dark, and Rainbow needed to get home soon.
Then, just as suddenly as the chill, Rainbow Dash felt a raindrop spatter across the back of her head. Alarmed, she looked up. Her vision was filled with an angry storm cloud.
"Oh-"
But it was too late. Breeze began to weep, and Rainbow Dash was swept up in a storm that she had failed to noticed. That's when it happened. Rainbow's most prized position was torn from her grasp as the merciless gale assaulted her. He was gone, lost in the wind.
"No!"
Rainbow sat up as quickly as she could and began to whip her head around, searching for her lost son. When reality sank in, the cyan pegasus went limp and began to sob.
"Dash...did you have that dream again?" asked a soft, masculine voice, hidden in the shadows and under the covers.
No answer came save for more hopeless sobs. The blankets were pushed aside and a stallion was revealed. He scooted over to the weeping pony and hugged her from behind, whispering encouraging thoughts into her ear.
"Shhh, shhh Dashie, it's all right. It wasn't your fault.... It wasn't your fault..."
Even the Princess of the Sun herfelf had been up for only a bit now. Ah, of course, it was Twilight.
The tall white Alicorn turned around with a smile on her face, fully expecting Twilight to be in a similar mood. But, as soon as she saw Twilight's face, she knew that something was up.
"Celestia!" Twilight called out breathlessly once more as she finally reached the other Alicorn.
"What is it Twilight? Is something wrong?" Celestia's eyes widened, "Oh no, was there actually a body in the fire after all?"
"Oh no, no, no, no, nopony in Ponyville was killed by the fire."
Celestia visibly relaxed. That was close. She cared very much for each and every one of her subjects regardless of who or what they were.
"Then...what is the problem?"
"Princess Celestia...I left something out about the fire..I thought that it was unimportant at the time, or perhaps just delusions on my part, but I now beleive that it is connected to something else."
Celestia was confused.
"Well, Twilight, it seems that we have much to talk about, and here in the hall, standing, is not the place to do it. Come with me to my chambers, and we shall speak there."
Twilight nodded and they started on their way. It was silent, but not uncomfortably so. It had been almost a decade since Twilight had become and Alicorn, and even before that her and Celestia had been relatively...chummy.
After a few short minutes, they reached Celestia's room where the two Alicorns each lay down on the comfortable cushions aside the magically ever-burning flames.
"Alright, Twilight, what is it?"
The purple Alicorn took a deep breath and said, "Well, when I was helping the civilians in Ponyville, I saw something. It was when I saw working on the last house, and there was a filly trapped upstairs. There was no way for the Fireponies or Rainbow Dash to get in, so I collapsed a section of wall and was about to levitate her out when...I don't know. I had my eyes closed. When I sent out my magic it couldn't grab anything. Then I opened my eyes and the filly was right there, in front of my eyes."
Celestia frowned. How odd indeed.
"The mother of the filly, who was standing next to me, had a bit of a... disbelieving look on her face. I asked her what she saw and she responded that she only saw a blur, her filly vanished, and then she was there. I talked to many of the other ponies and a few of them had similar things to report."
"That is odd indeed. What does that have to do with...whatever 'dilemma' came up."
Twilight looked down and bit her lip.
"You know that... thief whom we could never catch?"
Celestia's ears piqued.
"Shady?"
"Yes...that's the one. Well, I guess he attempted a thievery last night, it seems, but...oh my goodness..."
Celestia frowned even deeper.
"What is is, Twilight?"
Twilight looked up, a disturbed look in her eyes and said, "He was...discovered in another pony's house, Sketch was her name. He was dead."
"...Oh..."
"But that's not all. He wasn't just dead, he had been... eviscerated by something. There was blood everywhere..."
"What?"
Twilight nodded solemnly.
"How could this have happened?"
"I don't know, Princess. I thought that maybe those two things could be connected somehow. Maybe it was the same...thing."
"Twilight Sparkle, there is something very strange going on here in Equestria. I am sad to say that I have no idea what it is. We can only hope that the deaths of more ponies can be avoided."
"But...I've heard some pretty bad things about it."
"Meh, it can do weird things to ya, but it's usually all worth it in the end."
"I'm...I'm not sure, Bright."
"Come on, Lens, it's fun."
Lens sighed in defeat and answered, "Okay, fine. But just a little bit."
The other pony, Bright, chuckled and said, "Yeah, sure. Just a bit."
With Bright Mist leading the way, the two teenage ponies rounded a corner into a dark(er) alleyway and began to approach a dark figure. Bright had a confident gait in his stride, where his bespectacled friend who followed was obviously much more nervous, falling behind, watching the ground.
It was past midnight in Canterlot city, and the only ponies who were up were either partying, studying, zombies, or up to no good. In this case, to get a little high.
"What do you want?" asked the dark, cloaked stallion with a harsh, gruff voice.
"Just a little...substance."
"What kind?"
Lens watched as Bright shot him a smirk and leaned forward. He whispered something to the invisible figure under the hood, who gave a grunt and reached with a filthy hoof into his cloak. A few seconds later, he pulled out a vial.
It glowed slightly of green and it came with two syringes.
"Now you two be careful; this stuff is strong."
And with that he was gone. He turned and hurried outside of the alley and went off somewhere else.
Bright turned and smiled somewhat evilly toward Lens.
"Ready?"
"You have to...inject it?"
"Uh, duh. If you drink it it'll mess up your stomach."
"Then how is injecting it any better?"
"I...I don't know. It just is."
"I think I changed my mind..."
"Come on. I've done this a couple times before, it's awesome."
"..."
"Come one, comeoncomeoncomeon."
"Argh, alright. Gimme that," Lens said as he snatched the vial from his supposed friend's hoof.
But still he stared at the syringe. It was sharp. Bright, at this point, had gotten to himself and was about to inject his own filled syringe when something came whirling out of the dark and slammed into the brick wall right next to Bright's head.
"Woah!" exclaimed Bright as he dropped his needle, it shattering on the ground. He and lens both looked up. It was a crowbar. And it had been embedded in the solid brick, halfway through, less than and inch from Bright's head. Whoever, or whatever, had thrown it had either really good aim, or really bad aim.
It didn't matter, for, from where Lens and Bright had come from, a figure appeared. It was tall, dressed in black. It wore a backpack full of things, neither ponies had any idea what, and it wore a giant mask.
In its hand was something that...lens had never seen before. It was angled, and had what was obviously some sort of grip. At the end of it, though, was a round opening. Bright was trying to figure this out, but he would never get the chance. The figure, who had been at the end of the alleyway, was now directly in front of the druggie.
"Ah!" both of ponies in the alleyway exclaimed in surprise.
The figure raised its device and pointed it directly between Bright's eyes. Lens watched as something exploded, and a spray of blood covered the wall behind Bright. Lens's eyes widened even more as he watched his buddy slump to the ground, leaving a trail of blood and bits of meat smattered on the wall. The figure just stood there. For what seemed like ages. But then, slowly, its head rotated, the lenses of its mask reflecting Lens's terrified face.
He began to approach Lens, slowly. Lens tried to scramble away, but he couldn't gain his footing, so he scooted away, propelling himself with his back legs. But he was too slow. The figure was upon him. But, surprisingly, he didn't make any move to harm Lens. The figure slowly reached down and picked Lens up, much like a caring father would a child.
Then, slowly, the creature pressed Lens up against the brick wall opposite of Bright's corpse, and pinned him gently to it.
"Who...what..."
The creature let go of Lens's hoof, but it didn't crop. Lens looked up and saw that there was a sort of magic aura holding it to the wall, kind of like a unicorn's. But this creature was no unicorn.
The figure then raised its free hand and did something completely unexpected; it waggled its index finger in a scolding no, no gesture. Lens then heard a peculiar noise, like a dull knife being dragged across a piece of rough cloth. Then the figure moved, and Lens shouted in fear when he saw that the strange being held another crowbar in his hand. It came down and lens screamed. It did not pierce his gut, nor his head or throat. It was rammed through one of his front hooves and into the wall. Lens screamed in pain some more, and even more so when the figure let him go. His back hooves couldn't tough the ground. The only thing keeping him from dangling completely from the crowbar embedded in his bone was the strange aura binding his other hoof.
But then it was gone. Lens screamed in agony as his entire weight tore his wound open even more. Why didn't the creature just kill him? Lens would never get his answer, at least not from whatever it was had wounded him. as the being was gone suddenly.
"Huh...? Wha...?" Lens asked, bewildered, the intense pain in his hoof forgotten. Ah. He had been spared because he didn't take the drug, Lens figured. But Lens began to cry, both from his pain, the shock, and the death of his stupid but loyal friend. It was not long before he was discovered.
Dinky happily hopped and skipped along the pathway down to her house, a smile on her face and the scent of spring in her nose, as well as a small layer of smoke due to the recent, uh, mishap.
It was saturday and that only served to improve her mood more, and the fact that she ran into Applebloom on the way helped even more. The tiny unicorn couldn't help but notice that the youngest member of the Apple family seemed a bit down, with her head low, her shoulders slouched, and her legs dragging a bit as she walked.
Now what could be the problem?
"Hey Applebloom! Wait up!"
Applebloom looked back with slight surprise on her face, but relaxed when she saw Dinky.
"Oh, it's just you, Dinky," Applebloom said when Dinky caught up with her, a spring still in her step.
"Hello! I just wanted to ask what was wrong!"
"Huh? Oh, it's just that Sweetie Belle's on vacation somewhere and Scootaloo's sick today; I've got nopony to play with."
"That's not true," Dinky said, abruptly stopping.
Applebloom stopped herself and looked at Dinky, a confused look on her face.
"What do ya mean 'that's not true'?"
"You've got me!"
"Huh. Never thought about that..."
"Soooo, what'cha doin'?"
"Well, wanna play ball?"
"Sure!"
Applebloom smiled. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo may be her best friends but that doesn't mean she couldn't hang out with Dinky.
Her mood picked up considerably, Applebloom traveled along with Derpy.
"Won't your mom get worried about'cha if you don't get home soon?"
"Oh, she actually told me to make some friends today, and gave me some time to do it."
"You mean you don't have any friends?"
"Well now I have one!"
"You're sayin' that you've never had friends 'aside me before?"
"Um...no..."
"Well, I guess you'll have to meet Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle when they get back!"
"Yay!"
As soon as Dinky had finished her exclamation, they were halted by a thunderous cracking noise that came from their left.
Gasping, the two fillies looked over in the direction of the noise, and gaped as they saw the trunk of a large tree come crashing down towards them.
Applebloom suddenly felt the wind get knocked out of her, and her stomach met her heart as her vision turned into a blur.
She felt herself get deposited on the ground and then Dinky was there next to her. The massive tree-trunk smashed into the path with a massive *crash* and the two little fillies covered their ears.
"Applebloom! Dinky!"
"Applejack?"
Applebloom's sister hurried up the trail and hurried to check and see if the fillies were hurt.
"Dear Celestia, what happened?"
"Ah don't know, Dinky and ah were just on the way to th' farm when that big 'ole tree came crashing down on us... Ah thought for sure we were gonna get crushed, but then somethin' moved me, ah guess..."
Dinky only nodded, confirming that her story was identical.
"What do ya mean 'something moved ya'?"
"Well I felt all funny like, like ah was goin' real fast, and then I was over here instead of under the tree."
Dinky nodded again as she watched the ground.
"Well at least your safe. Come on, let's get you fillies home and cleaned up. Then ah can talk to somepony about that tree..."
Applebloom and Dinky beamed at Applejack as she helped them up. She wore a smile, but underneath it she was thinking about that dark blur. The one that had picked up Applebloom and her friend and moved them out of harm's way.
Princess Twilight held her head down in solemnity. The guards had just found another dead pony and another one viciously pinned to the wall with a crowbar. Both were in their youth, and the live one was in shock. Intoxicating substances had also been found in the area, as well as some sort a brass casing that smelled like smoke and sulfur.
Twilight had come when she heard about it from one of the guards, and had almost vomited when she saw what had happened to the poor colts. Celestia and Luna had been notified as well.
Twilight sighed as she entered her chambers. She was going to have to have a long talk with a lot of ponies tomorrow, and she knew it. Just what was going on?
- - -
It had since been quite long since that dark night, but Rainbow Dash still suffered nightmares on a regular basis. Visits to the counselor had helped, but...I suppose it's understandable how the cyan pegasus might be suffering.
And then this new creature. There had been rumors, as there always were, but, as they always were, none were very accurate. She heard of tentacles ended in massive scythes, needle-like teeth, among many other things, but she had no idea.
Rainbow Dash stopped and frowned. She had been walking down a dirt road, this time adjacent to the Everfree Forest. She had been doing this for a while.
The Ponyville Weather service had been kind enough to let her go for a little while so she could gather her bearings after the incident, and she typically spent her days wandering, on the ground no less, thinking about any and all things.
But that monster-thingie. Ever since that grisly murder a few nights ago, everyone had been on edge. Fortunately, it had been confirmed that the victim was a thief, and the incident at Canterlot also happened to "ruffians" but everyone couldn't help but feel that it was a bit overboard. This creature obviously meant good, but...were the Princesses going to try and stop it?
Rainbow Dash gave an amused snort. Maybe it could be in like in the Japenieghs comic book "Death Note," you know?
Rainbow shook her head away from the thought and returned back to the monster. What could it possibly looked like? Just then, she heard a rustle to her left. Rainbow suddenly jumped and landed in a defense stance a few feet away from the forest, glaring with intense eyes into the undergrowth.
Her stature fell and her jaw widened. There, poking from the bushes, was a face. Maybe.
It had two wide, perfectly circular eyes, and something else, similarly circular, jutting out from the bottom. Slowly, it stood, and It was tall.
It took a long, graceful step from the forest and showed off in all of its glory.
It was dressed completely in black, stained here and there with blood, and was grasping a long crowbar. It cocked its head curiously at the pegasus who looked up in its "eyes," veins filled with fear.
She was a long way from town...could she make it?
Her thoughts were interrupted when the creature squatted down, leveling its "eyes" with Rainbow's. It lifted up one of its limbs and put up a claw. Finger. Whatever.
The finger wagged.
Rainbow caught a blur from her side and braced herself for impact. It came, but...well, it didn't hurt.
He had smacked her upside the head, almost playfully.
The creature suddenly sprung up, launching himself a good two feet in the air, and darted away, laughing maniacally.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? My parents get really angry when I break curfew..."
"Bah! Don't worry, it'll be fun!"
Pleasant Tone's voice was just that: pleasant. She was adorable, a small unicorn filly with a pristine white coat, green eyes, and a light purple mane and tail.
Her companion, however, was not adorable.
He was big, losing hair, and his eyes were yellowed. His vision twitched from side to side, as if searching for something.
"Alright, but if either of us get in trouble..."
"I'll think of an excuse," the stallion barked, somewhat harshly.
Pleasant was really beginning to question her parent's in selecting a babysitter for her, but she complied, just wanting to get it over with and go home.
The brown-colored earth pony held open the door to the weepy apartment complex and led her to his home.
Pleasant shook her head and took a few steps inside. It was dark. The light rain that had started a few minutes ago was quickly escalating, and a crack of lightning and following thunder started the little filly.
"Ditch? What did you want to show-"
Pleasant gave out a tiny shriek as she was tackled to the ground. Her babysitter turned her over on her back and clamped a hoof over her muzzle.
He wore an unnerving smile, baring his yellow teeth.
Pleasant was really questioning her parent's choice of babysitter now!
"Sh, sh. It'll all be over soon. Just...just lemme..."
Pleasant's eyes widened as Ditch began to reach down between her legs. What was he doing?
Before the intrusive hoof could reach its destination, however, Pleasant heard a crack and the weight vanished from her chest and stomach.
The lights flicked on to reveal a filthy apartment, strewn with old socks and oily articles of clothing. But that's not what caught Pleasant's attention.
It was...
What was it?
It looked at Pleasant and stared at her unnervingly for a few seconds. Then when Ditch groaned and began to climb to his feet, it gave Pleasant a thumbs-up and vanished.
No, not vanished, moved moved really, really fast.
There was a heavy thud and Ditch gave a cry of surprise. The tall creature carried the struggling pony over his shoulder to the window, opened it, and jumped out.
Pleasant lay on the oily carpet, breathing heavily. What happened?
"What the hell are you doing, what are you, put me down!"
The beast hauling Ditch over his shoulder gave no answer, and didn't respond to any of the earth pony's kicks or shoutings.
He had been being carried for a long time, when Ditch finally pushed it.
He gave another kick and the beast suddenly stopped.
"Huh, what?"
Ditch's vision tumulted as he was swung from his spot on his kidnapper's shoulder, rather roughly, and landed on the ground.
He was in a forest. Not the Everfree; there were snow mountains in the distance, and the pine trees were rather normal.
"Okay, sir, whatever you are-"
Ditch was interrupted as the thing cleared his throat rather loudly and obnoxiously. Ditch frowed.
"Anyway, what-"
It happened again.
"Will you just-!"
The creature suddenly turned around - he had been looking at the scenery, apparently - and cocked its head.
"...what...?"
The thing lifted its hand, lifted a finger, and wagged it.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, there was a blur of movement, and all was black.
- - -
Ditch, after clawing his way to the waking world, found himself in what appeared to be . . . . a cave. It was a good-sized dome-shaped area, with a majority of the center being taken up by a smooth underground lake. Ditch looked up and found a beam of light protruding through the ceiling, hitting the water and reflecting, therefore lighting the area up relatively effectively.
Most surprisingly, the entire cavern was littered with piles of bits and other forms of currency, as well as other trinkets and what-not.
Suddenly, the dirty pony remember that hideous creature that had probably carried him there in the first place. Did it even speak Equestrian?
"Hello?" Ditch called. The only answer was that of his own voice, reverberating around the dome, echoing loudly.
Ditch stood up and dusted himself off, mumbling. He began to search for a way out, but one wasn't apparent. Except that hole in the top...
Suddenly, it was dark, and Ditch looked up to the hole. There was that beast.
It began to tremble with excitement and made a noise that could only be describe as a muffled "squee."
"Huh?"
The creature darted away and, a few seconds later, startled Ditch by popping up through the water.
Ditch took a step back as the thing climbed from the pond, sopping wet, and began to approach him.
"St-stay back, you."
The creature did something that Ditch found surprisingly familiar; it cocked its head to the side.
Then it plopped down on the floor and crossed its legs.
Ditch was quite put off by the whole display.
"Um, hello?"
The thing raised its hand and waved it as if Ditch were miles away, even though he was simply a foot or so away. Ditch blinked water from his eyes as the waving flung some of the water on the creature's sleeve onto his face.
"What...what's going on here? What are you gonna do to me?"
The black-clad alien cocked his head yet again, the opposite way, this time, and stared at Ditch, holding his position.
Ditch let out an exasperated sigh.
"Come on-!"
There was a blur and Ditch was hit in the side of his head. He tumbled to the floor, scattering a small pile of bits, stars dancing in his vision.
The creature opened up his hand, fingers splayed, and gestured toward the pained Earth Pony. Suddenly, all four of his limbs felt as if they were lead and wouldn't be moved.
"Bwah-?"
The thing swung what appeared to be some sort of saddlebag of its back and began to dig around. It took a while, but finally the alien snapped his fingers and withdrew a bundle of white cloth. There was a sort of jangle of metal from inside.
Ditch remained silent, more confused than afraid. That was about to change.
The creature rolled upon the cloth and Ditch's eyes widened as he saw a rather sizable collection of knives appear in front of him.
"Wh-what are you doing? You leave me alone, you monster!"
The beast ignored him...but he didn't grab a knife and start cutting him up either, he simply stood on his knees, looking down at the blades.
Eventually, it shrugged and swept the weapons out of the way. Ditch let out a sigh of relief. The thing dug around in its bag some more and withdrew a small case, which he set on the ground and opened up. Ditch heard the thing laugh rather manically from under its mask, if that's what it was. Ditch had assumed that it was its face, at first, but if it was it was quite an expressionless one.
Ditch couldn't see what was in the case, but his fear was creeping up on him again nonetheless.
"Wh-why are you doing this?"
The creature looked up from his work and began rummaging around in his bag again.
This time, he pulled out a stack of papers. From it, he withdrew a picture. It was of Pleasant Tone, the foal he was going to...
"Th-that's none of your business."
The creature shrugged and pulled another image from the stack. And then another. And another. Ditch's veins began to fill with fear, more and more, each time the alien showed him an image. They were all his victims. Each and every one of them.
Lastly, the creature withdrew a newspaper clipping.
"Canterlot Child Molester Strikes Again..." Ditch mumbled, reading to himself
The alien mumbled something that sounded like an "uh-huh!" nodding its head as well.
"What? Are you gonna punish me?"
Again, the alien nodded.
"H...how?"
The creature cocked its head and laughed a bit. Then it reached behind itself and brought the case forward, showing its contents to Ditch.
Suddenly, it was as if an icicle from the deepest reaches of the Frozen North had replaced his insides. Inside was a massive assortment of blades. Twisted, toothed, electric, hand-operated, it was all there.
"B-b-b-but what about those other knives!?"
The creature, once more, cocked its head. Then it shrugged, almost as if to say "okay" and he brought the other blades forward.
"N-no! That's not what I meant!" Ditch felt his bladder empty onto the smooth gravel underneath him. He looked down between his legs and looked at the alien.
The alien's attention stayed on the trail of urine, however, which was slowly beginning to leak into the pool. The thing slowly turned its head to Ditch. Equally as slowly, deliberately, he raised his hand...then his finger... And then it wagged.
In a blur, the monster snatched a small, electric saw from the bag, flipped it on, and slammed the blade into Ditch's right hind leg.
Ditch cried out in pain and tears began to leak from his eyes as he saw a small spray of his own blood being misted into the air and patting on the rocks.
But the alien stopped. The little surgical saw had inflicted a relatively small wound, but it still bled heavily.
"I'm sorry! Ya hear me? Sorry!"
Ditch's torturer again cocked his head. In one smooth motion, he produced a pad and pen from his hoodie, and scrawled a few words down on it. Ditch couldn't help but notice that he was using a really nice pen...
The alien showed Ditch what he had written, and his stomach sank.
You will be.
"Why don't you at least talk to me!?"
The alien only shrugged and reached inside his case. From it, it produced a hand-operated woodsaw, which it put on the side of Ditch's neck. Ditch looked up at the monster, his eyes begging for mercy. The alien seemed to be deep in thought.
Suddenly, and to Ditch's great relief, the beast's weapon left his neck and was placed back into its case. But Ditch began to whimper in fear as the monster, sitting cross-legged next to Ditch almost the entire time, reached over to the array of knives on the cloth and selected a massive butcher's knife.
The monster let the tip rest on Ditch's stomach for quite a long time...but, again, Ditch's life was spared, if only for a little while longer.
This time, the creature reached inside his bag and Ditch emptied his bladder again as the masked vigilante pulled out a massive pair of razor-sharp, curved scissors. This time, there was no hesitation.
Ditch's tormentor placed his lower right hoof, the same leg that had been gouged earlier, between the massive blades and leaned forward, putting all of his weight on the handles.
Ditch seized up and screamed. Those must have been really sharp, as, soon, Ditch's hoof was gone. The Earth Pony stallion felt himself fading away, but was re-awoken as the beast hit him on the side of the head.
"No! Stop! Please! I-I-I'll pay you! I don't have much, but-AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!"
Soon, Ditch's other hoof was removed, and blood was flowing freely, lots of it getting into the monster's lake. The mentioned monster looked over at the now-stained water and sighed, exasperated.
He took out his pad, flipped the page, and wrote another message.
Don't bleed in my pool.
"RAAAAAAH! SOMEPONY, PLEASE HELP ME!"
The alien face-hoofed, if it was the same thing, and shook his head.
He then raised his finger, showed it to Ditch, and wagged it.
The Earth Pony began to cry heavily.
The alien sighed; he was going to have a long night, too.
Again, Rainbow Dash found herself asleep in the grasp of her mate, Tempest, and again dreaming. As her subconscious replayed the tragic events of many years past. Rainbow's front-and-center consciousness grit her teeth, preparing for that horrible moment, the moment when her son would be torn from her grasp and thrown down upon the ground. But it never happened. Suddenly, the nightmare cut itself off and Rainbow found herself in the middle of a vast, green field. Surprised, shocked even, Rainbow examined where she found herself. To her front-right, several meters away, was a shallow hill, upon which was a single, green tree.
Rainbow looked up and gaped. The sky was blue, day, but three massive celestial bodies, all of them more different than the last, stood strong and monolithic and beautiful in the sky.
An odd whoosing noise brought Rainbow's attention back to ground level, and she startled. There . . . that creature. The tall beast stood, twenty some-odd feet away, and he was surrounded by an odd aura. A halo of bright light, mixed with tendrils of darkness that wagged about him like tongues of flame.
He began to approach Rainbow with determined, striding steps, the grass parting for him. Despite the creature's oddity, Rainbow didn't feel the need to flee, but rather she was content, comfortable.
The creature stopped abruptly, almost too close for comfort, and his head jolted down toward the Pegasus. Rainbow, in return, looked up and smiled.
The creature cocked its head to the right. Suddenly, with a showman's flourish, the alien raised its hands and a blue mist sprung from both of them. Then, slowly, among the blue, a small bundle faded into existence. Rainbow's eyes became wider, and wider, and soon tears swam among them. Her son . . . .
Golden Mind bid his close friend, Filthy Rich, a fond farewell and left, his own home the newest objective set in his sights. Golden smirked to himself. Both he and Filthy were relatively wealthy, but the two of them each gained their profit in very different ways. Filthy, despite his first name, was a far more . . . honest stallion. Golden was not. It's not like he killed ponies or utterly devastated their lives or anything, but he was still lacking in the "moral" section.
The green-coated and golden-maned unicorn eventually reached his manor outside of Ponyville, its yard protruding slightly into the Everfree Forest.
Most unicorns, especially rich ones, were appalled at the idea of living in such a town. Aside from the Elements of Harmony and the new Princess, the town was't very . . . desirable in the minds of most nobles. Golden, however, didn't care. He liked the solitude, and the ponies here were far more . . . vulnerable.
Again, Golden smirked at his most recent grab for money ('How clever it was!) - and he entered his dark lobby. Another thing a bit odd about Golden was that, despite his wealth, his race, his greed, and his large manor, he was a relatively humble pony. Bragging was not something that he was oft found doing. He didn't even have any servants. In fact, Golden had the entire manor to himself, and that's the way he liked it; quiet.
Golden hummed happily to himself, a pleased grin pulling at the corners of his mouth as he hung his coat and trotted into his kitchen, an afternoon tea on his mind. He then stopped and gasped.
The kitchen was clean, just as he had left it. Not pots or pans were out of place, no stains on the floor, and no rodents were to be seen anywhere, just as he had left it. The only difference was that on the far end of the cooking room and above the sink, three massive, sloppily painted "I"s dripped in red paint. They appeared to be the roman numeral for "three."
Golden closed his mouth, scolding himself for his gaping, and began to look around the kitchen, a stern look on his face.
"Alright, who's there? Anyone?"
No. No one.
Golden had never had something like this happen before. No one had ever vandalized his home, inside or out, and he knew not how this vandal had gotten inside in the first place; only Golden had the key, the windows were high and the front door thick. There really was no way someone could have gotten inside his dwelling.
Golden froze. Was it . . . that monster? The one that everypony had been speaking of, some praising, others slandering? If it was, then this was new. The monster had only ever attacked those about to commit a more serious crime. Golden Mind was guilty only of minor extortion. And also, the marks above the sink, what could they possibly mean?
Golden eventually pulled himself from his thoughts and cast a spell to see if he could find another set of heartbeats. None. Whoever, whatever had invaded Golden's home, it had gone now. Golden Mind was both relieved and unnerved.
The unicorn decided to try and sleep on it, to decide what the best course of action to take in the morning.
As he trotted upstairs to his quarters, however, a figure in the shadows crawled from its spot, silent. The glint of two lenses shone briefly in the light, and then it was gone.
- - -
"Are you sure about this, Rainbow?"
"Yes. It's been way too long, and . . . and I've got to move on . . . ."
Rainbow's mate simply sat on his haunches and stared off into the distance for a while. Eventually he took in a breath and sighed.
"Alright. You're right, Rainbow. We both have to move on. I'll go see if I can get my job back, too. See you in a bit?"
Rainbow's face lifted in an expression of happiness and she swiftly kissed her stallion and then dashed out of an open window.
Still, Tempest sat on the floor, pondering. The incident had occurred a rather long time ago, considering, but . . . he wouldn't have blamed Rainbow if she never went anywhere ever again. But she pulled herself out of it. It was going to be a long time, Tempest knew, before Rainbow would be entirely guilt-free, if ever, but progress was being made.
Tempest smiled to himself, proud of his wife, and finally dragged himself to his hooves; he had a job position to reclaim!
- - -
Several miles away, up the steep slope of a tall, lonely mountain, and amid a city, one that seemed carved from the very stone of the peak, Princess Twilight Sparkle did something quite similar. She pondered.
This new creature . . . he was very, very difficult to figure out. It was clear that he meant to do good, but his methods were far too drastic. The death penalty hadn't been executed for decades in Equestria, mostly because there was no need. Yes, there was crime, but very rarely did it escalate to something worth too much attention.
This visitor, however . . . what he did was disgusting. These ponies were not innocent, but they did not, by any means, deserve what had been brought to them.
But then there were the rescues. Yes, all about the Ponyville/Canterlot area, potentially fatal accidents had been averted simply because of this strange being's interventions. This creature had to be stopped, but the question was how? It was blindingly fast, thus far seemed immune to most magics, and was an expert at hiding.
Twilight was pulled from her thoughts as a guard stuck his head inside of her personal study and said something about Princess Luna needing her for . . . something. Twilight only sighed and shook the thoughts from her head. The thing needed to be caught, yes, but, as of now, it could wait.
- - -
Rarity hummed a tune that even she could not remember the origin of as she finished up her work hours. Today was Friday, and that meant that she only worked 'till noon!
Rarity giggled in positive anticipation at all of the fun and interesting things that she had planned. Who knows, maybe she would even get into a little bit of trouble . . . .
But it was all ruined as the Element of Generosity opened up her spare wardrobe, a work-in-progress hanging, suspended in the air with her magic to her side, and the strange figure was revealed.
The thing barely fit into the wardrobe, and it stood, hunched rather awkwardly, it's glass eyes looking straight at Rarity. If she had known any better, Rarity would have said that it looked a bit guilty.
Instead, she screamed, all of the rumors coming flooding into her mind.
"Get back!" she exclaimed, hastily levitating a broom for use as an impromptu weapon, "I'm innocent, I made it up to her, remember, remember?" The creature had exited the small wardrobe and was now avoiding the swipes coming from Rarity. Finally, it grabbed the broom, wrenched it from her grasp, and threw it across the room. Then it held up both of its hooves, or whatever those things were, and lowered itself in a gesture of peace.
Rarity, who had been searched for another weapon, lowered the dinner plate gently back onto the table from whence it came and stared, wearily and curiously at the strange beast. It was not attacking her, but what else did it do? Rarity recalled the beast messing around with Rainbow Dash.
"Well, what are you here for? What do you want?"
In response, the beast waved awkwardly, then stood up straight, gesturing to his dark hoodie. It was filthy. It was caked in mud, what Rarity realized with a shiver was blood, and an all manner of other stains, not to mention the fact that it was tattered and torn in many places.
Rarity's pupils grew suddenly. Did this strange alien want her to make something for it?
"Do you . . . do you want a new jacket?"
The beast's demeanor went from cautious to happy and it began to nod excitedly. Before she could stop herself, Rarity asked,
"What's your budget?"
Uh-oh. She had literally just asking a psycho-murdering alien thing how much money it had.
But much to Rarity's surprise, the beast slung its bag around to its front and began to rummage through it. A couple of blades, some old cloth, an empty soda bottle or two, and an old pornographic magazine were all hucked out and onto Rarity's floor. Eventually, the beast withdrew a pouch. A jingly pouch.
Rarity pursed her lips.
"Can . . . will you let me take your measurements?"
The alien gave Rarity a thumbs-up and then trotted over to the mirrors in the main room and stood atop the elevated platform, spreading its arms and freezing.
Rarity went into auto-pilot and took out her measuring tape.
"Now, you're obviously not a pony, so this may take some . . . time."
The creature, who now sat cross-legged on the floor of her boutique, cocked its head at Rarity. She found it rather cute, actually.
"And . . . I might need something to go off of."
The creature cocked its head to the other side.
"Is that an inquisitive look?"
The creature nodded.
Rarity sighed and said: "Your sweater. I need it."
The creature immediately stood up and, in one fluid motion, pulled its grimy hoodie off and over its head, and then discarded it onto the floor in front of his hostess.
Rarity goggled when she saw that the creature wasn't wearing anything underneath. The beast was rather . . . fit.
"A . . . are you a stallion or a mare?"
Another head-cock.
"Uh . . . you know . . . male or female?"
The creature, believe it or not, seemed to think about it for a second. Then it promptly held up a single index finger.
"Does that mean the first one?"
Nod.
"Male?"
Another nod.
"Interesting . . . "
And there they were, silent, the strange beast staring at Rarity. Needless to say, to Rarity at least, it was a tad awkward.
"Well . . . like I said, making some new barding will take a while, so . . . off you go?"
And then he was gone.
Rarity only shook her head in wonderment and, taking the old sweater with her, she went back to her work room. Somehow, this was preferable to everything else that she had planned.
[/hr]
Tempest entered the Royal Guard recruitment center feeling both nervous and excited. How long had it been? Two months? Unfortunately, before he could remember, Tempest heard his name being called out in gusto.
"Tempest!" said the voice, exceptionally deep and masculine.
The dark Pegasus whom of which that name belonged too smiled sheepishly as Technical Sergeant Boulder burst into the room from behind the recruitment desk, the secretary baffled as to what exactly was going on, and drew him into a hearty embrace.
"You're back, Airman!" suddenly, the large Pegasus's demeanor changed, going from joyous to complete seriousness.
"Is the wife okay? You okay?"
"Well, good enough to start work again, at least."
"Good, good, glad to hear it. Now. Do you remember your locker number, soldier?"
[/hr]
It took literally minutes after Rainbow Dash walked in until she was flying again, clearing the skies of the scant clouds. It may have been an arduous task before, but Dash was glad to get back to work, without the pressing memories and guilt attacking her mercilessly.
Yes, she did have to fight those memories back more than once whilst on her first day back, but, overall, she was happy to be flying again.
[/hr]
Golden Mind entered his manor and stretched, having just returned from a business trip in Canterlot and, once again, hung his accessories. This particular meeting had proved quite fruitful, and Golden had just bought another business, though small it may have been.
As a matter of fact, the good luck had left him in such a positive mood, that he had all but forgotten about the strange marks in his kitchen. That, sadly, did not last as Golden entered the room and flicked on the light. Golden recoiled at the sight, but not because of the fact that it was still there, but because . . . well, because rather than three "I"s, there were only two.
Golden dashed forward and stared at the wall. There were no signs of removal, none, no signs of an extra layer of paint; it was as if the first of the three marks had simply vanished. And what could it mean?
That was it, Golden was hiring a guard, now.
The unicorn trotted hastily back to the door and snatched his cape and hat, and then leaving his home in darkness.
[/hr]
The heavy wooden door to Zecora's door thudded heavily as it swung shut, the sound marking a beginning to the zebra's day outside. She had spent the first quarter or so reading some ancient texts and preparing herself for her next project. Which, by the way, was a Manticore repellant.
Now that she had all of the knowledge required, Zecora simply needed the actual, physical ingredients.
Zecora knew the Everfree forest well enough, seeing as she had lived there for quite some time, but everyone makes mistakes.
Somewhere on her way to gather the seeds of a Leopard Vine, Zecora had been talking quietly to herself when she found herself straying from the path.
Zecora caught her mistake and simply turned around, her muzzle still buried in an old map. That was when a resounding thump quaked the ground and threw Zecora a good half-foot into the air. Finally, she looked up from her map just in time to see a Manticore, a very large one at that, rear up and roar.
It took less then a second before Zecora was off. How could she have been so foolish? But it didn't matter; what was done was done. If she could get back to her hut, some of her short-range wards could . . .
But then there was another noise, something zipping across the leaves, and a shout that came from neither Zecora nor the Manticore in pursuit of her.
Zecora skidded to a stop and jumped behind a tree, heaving and trying to catch her breath. Then she peeked just in time to see a creature, one that Zecora had never seen or heard of or read of anywhere in her entire life raise some sort of weapon.
There was a long series of loud pops and cracks and flashes of light and Zecora ducked back down into her spot, too terrified to move.
Where they fighting over her? The newcomer seemed to have, well, technology, unlike the Manticore, so that must mean that it is somewhat civilized, but not necessarily . . . .
All was silent. Zecora opted to look once more, only to get a muzzle-full of alien. Once more, Zecora found herself to frightened to move. She sent the commands to her limbs, but none of them obeyed.
The creature was tall and mostly dressed in very dark clothing, save for its torso. It appeared to have on some sort of mask and . . . and it was not attacking her. It was simply staring down at her.
Zecora began to smell a slight scent of burning flesh, and leaned to the left a bit, just to see what had happened to the predator that had been chasing her just moments ago. It was dead. A lot.
Zecora returned her attention to her impromptu savior, only to see that it, despite the fact that it had literally been right in front of her, had vanished.
Zecora could not stop herself from shaking, and she opted simply to go back to her hut, and try this another day.
[/hr]
Much like his mate, Rainbow Dash, at one time or another, Tempest had found his job to be arduous at times. And, also like his mate, Tempest was glad to be back. Heck, even the boring prospect of guarding a local unicorn's manor seemed at least relatively exciting!
And so Tempest couldn't stop humming a tune to himself as he followed Golden Mind back to his home.
"Now, Senior Airman Tempest, was it?"
"Yes."
"I know this may not be a job for you to enjoy much, but . . . "
"It's not my job to enjoy jobs, simply to do them."
"Ah, yes, serve and protect and all of that."
"Indeed."
"Continuing, Airman Tempest, this may be a task a bit below your skill set, but I believe it necessary. You see, I don't really fear for my life or anything, but there appears to be a vandal or two about my house. They have somehow been managing to get into my house and out without any trace, and are only leaving Roman Numerals above my kitchen sink."
Tempest frowned. That was certainly odd. He voiced this, and Golden Mind, agreed, just as they reached the entrance to his manor.
"Now, kind sir, I would simply like for you to stand guard here for the night. Until then, would you like a cup of tea?"
Tempest grinned. "Got any ale?"
[/hr]
"So how does one go about summoning a strange alien when you are finished making their clothes for them? . . . " Rarity mused. One had to admit, it was a perplexing question.
And so she simply opted to wait. it - he - would probably come back soon.
To fill that time, Rarity decided to write a letter to Twilight; she, Twilight, that is, had been looking for evidence regarding the creature. And so Rarity did just that, secretly hoping that this wouldn't mean that she couldn't finish her job.
It was a rather lengthy letter that spoke of her fear, the creature's strange innocence and odd adorableness, and how it did indeed have a sense of fashion. Rarity, as anyone would, found the whole situation rather perplexing as she stamped the envelope and set it aside for later.
Just then, Rarity felt a breeze and she was suddenly overwhelmed with a shadow.
"Ah, back just in time."
She turned around and saw the beast hopping up and down in excitement.
"Oh? Excited, are we?"
The creature nodded as he jumped eagerly.
"Well, I hope you don't mind, but I did a little extra than what you asked for!"
Rarity pointed to the set of clothing and eagerly awaited the beast's response. He stood, frozen in mid-jump, oddly enough, and drew in a long gasp.
And then squee'd.
He dashed over and pulled the dress shirt, suit coat, tie, and thick trench coat on, and donned the dark trilby. He turned around and gave Rarity a double thumbs-up and couldn't seem to stop nodding.
"And no extra charge!"
The beast punched the air, and then withdrew the pouch and handed it to Rarity. And then, unsurprisingly, he was gone.
Rarity smiled and then opened the pouch. Her smile froze. And then fell.
Tempest stood still at the door of Golden's home, his expression stoic and his body tense. It had been a very long time, but all of his training had returned like nothing, as if it were always there, simply waiting to be used again.
The night was warm, thankfully, and everything silent. Golden Mind had retreated to bed, but the lights of Ponyville still glowed off in the distance as most of the other ponies were just beginning to wrap up their busy days. Golden's bedtime, it seemed, was rather early.
Fortunately, Tempest would not have to stand guard all night. Golden had only commissioned a certain stretch of time, but Tempest planned on doing his job no matter what.
But thoughts of that creature still unnerved him . . . .
*clank*
Tempest's muscles tightened and he whirled around, his body entering battle stance. And there it stayed.
The creature looked a bit guilty, amusingly enough, as it stood, hunched slightly with its hand on the doorknob. It raised a gloved hand and waved shyly. Tempest narrowed his eyes. This was most definitely the creature that had been meandering about - what else could it be? - but wasn't it supposed to be more . . . vicious?
Tempest flinched as the creature moved, but the guard did not find himself dead on the ground, or even unconscious. The creature had simply . . . . tapped him on the nose.
Suddenly, the alien reared up and began to hoot and cackle loudly, manically. Tempest, to say the least, was confused. But it didn't matter; he had a job to do, and he knew that this thing probably did not mean good will toward the slumbering unicorn inside.
"Hey!"
The creature stopped abruptly and gave its full attention to Tempest.
"You're coming with-!" *Boop!*
"Wha-?"
Tempest shook his head. Had that really just happened?
"No! Stop! Stand do-!" [i*]Boop!*
"Stop that!"
. . .
*Boop.*
"Now listen here, you, I don't . . . ."
But the creature was gone, the door wide open.
Tempest paused.
"Oh no."
He sped inside, calling out Golden's name. He turned a corner and skidded to a halt. In the kitchen, just above the sink, the single mark glowed and throbbed with a red light, growing and shrinking. Tempest was entranced by the strangeness of it. Soon, however, the mark's glowing slowed and, finally, stopped completely. The mark was gone.
Tempest's head jerked around until he saw the creature on the staircase, one of its hands grasping the railing as it looked at him for a few moments. Finally, it gave him a salute, and it sped up the stairs in an unbelievable blur.
"Oh no you don't!" Tempest growled as he followed the blur upwards. He turned the corner just in time to see the creature get hit in the head with a frying pan. The monster swayed about for a moment, but then fell to the intricately-carpeted floor with a heavy thud.
"Huh? Golden, was that you?"
There was a moment of silence, but the unicorn soon poked his head into view and smiled.
"Oh thank Celestia!" Tempest said, "I thought I'd failed."
"Well, good thing you two made enough of a ruckus to rouse me."
Tempest began to approach the bedroom door as Golden said, "Now, what to do with this thing? . . . "
Tempest was just about to answer when he heard a creak behind him. He was unable to react in time before his own head was bashed with something rather hard and heavy. There was an explosion of pain, but it all dulled, along with Tempest's other senses, as he toppled to the floor.
"No! What are you? What do you want?" he heard Golden yelling frantically. Tempest saw the foot of the creature step just in front of his muzzle. The downed Pegasus found the body of the other creature with his eyes. It was still there.
The other creature stalked into the room, ignoring the beating from Golden, and the door swung shut. Tempest felt blood begin to leak from his eyes and he finally drifted into the void.
The single candle flickered about, throwing and entire cast of dancing shadows about the bookcases and the wooden walls. A small dragon sat at a desk, scribbling with a battered quill on an old piece of parchment.
As it was night outside, Spike was tired. But, alas, he still had a few more tasks to do before he would be allowed to retire.
The dragon's eyelids sagged, and his posture slumped deeper and deeper as time passed. Eventually, however, he finished his documentation and smiled weakly. He left his stool and turned to his bed, glad for the recent move from his basket. The thing was getting a bit cramped. Finally growing a bit was fun, but, as Twilight said often, "With age comes responsibilities," or something like that.
Oh well, life couldn't be perfect.
Spike lifted a claw and was about to draw back his blue covers when the candle that he had apparently forgotten to put out flicked heavily, almost going out.
"Huh?" Spike said as he turned his head about. It had almost seemed like something had, well, ran across the room.
Spike worked his jaw in thought and eventually decided to leave it alone. He slithered into his bed and closed his eyes, grateful for the sleep.
- - -
"What!? Another month!?" Rarity gasped, eyes wide and hair frazzling.
Twilight looked at her friend from across the counter with a concerned look. "Well, yeah. He released the statement this morning."
"I, I don't know if I can take it anymore!" Rarity cried before she slumped down onto the wooden floor, close to tears.
Twilight felt for her friend; she and Rainbow had had similar experiences before with the Daring Do series, but there was not much for her to do. Twilight told her friend so, and Rarity, sniffing, assured her that it was all right.
Rarity left Twilight's library and shuffled home. Trender Hoof may have been her favorite traveling writing, but the eccentric Astrus was by far her favorite novelist. And his story had been pushed back!
"It's okay, Rarity," she assured herself as she crossed her boutique's threshold, "You've been through this before. Remember when Breigndon Saddleson delayed the Stormlight Archive? Yes, that was bad . . . that was bad . . . ." Rarity mumbled to herself.
Rarity wasn't looker where she was going. Soon, she bumped into something. Something that felt . . . rather familiar.
The disheveled mare looked up and, without a hint of surprise or fear, said: "Oh. It's you."
The lensed creature, as it always did, cocked its head at Rarity.
"Oh, it doesn't matter. It's just. my favorite book got delayed a month, and . . . ."
Rarity never finished. The creature immediately swooped down and scooped her into his grasp. Rarity gave a cry of surprise, but let him stroke her.
After a while, he set her down, and, again, swung his bag from his shoulder. He began to dig through it, and Rarity braced herself for the onslaught of junk. It never came. The creature retrieved a tome, an old and tattered one.
The creature nodded earnestly. He then made a series of movements with his hands including writing, reading, and a big explosion.
"Did . . .something happen that stopped you? From getting the next one?"
The creature, again, nodded, this time very quickly.
Rarity sat and pondered that for a moment. She had to wait a month. The alien . . . he would never get his next book.
"I . . . I'm so sorry."
The creature reached over and stroked Rarity's mane. The two settled down onto the floor, not sure what else to do. Then, out of the blue, the creature stood, dumping Rarity onto the floor.
Rarity looked up at his masked face, startled. He had his finger up, as it to say "idea!" or, "I just remember!"
And then he promptly withdrew a frying pan and swung it at rarity's skull.
- - -
Mandolins are amazing instruments. They are held like a violin, yet played like a guitar. They have both four strings and eight, and they have an entirely unique sound. Not to mention that they have been used by many cultures in many different ways, from the vast, marching armies of the Equestrian Conquerors to the simple country folk in Appleoosa.
That is, they're interesting instruments is one played them correctly.
Rarity was drawn from her slumber by a hideous-sounding twanging. An area near her horn ached and throbbed, and the entire side of her body was being pressed into by a sheet of gravel.
The twang sounded again, followed by another. Rarity groaned, and the noise stopped. Rarity froze. Her memories slowly crept back and her bloodshot eye bolted open.
He waved at her.
Rarity quickly scrambled to her hooves and took a defensive position. She knew she should've never trusted the alien creature. Hay, he was wearing a mask, how could she have ever known his true intentions?
The creature reached out to Rarity, but she shrunk back. The creature lifted held his hands in the air and the two stared one another down. At least, Rarity stared the alien down. No one ever really knew what the alien was doing. Ever.
Again, the creature waved. Needles to say, Rarity was a bit confused. He was acting as friendly as ever, but he had still knocked her out with a frying pan and dragged her out to . . . to . . . .
Rarity's mouth fell open.
She was in a cave, one with a bright, pool in the center. And, from the floor to the wall, were piles of treasure. Gold, silver, brass, jewels, as well as ornate chairs and several handheld mirrors.
"Wha . . . what?"
Rarity whirled back around to her forced host.
"Did you . . . did you steal all of this?" she asked.
The creature's hand flew to his chin and his stroked it for a few moments, before waddling his other from side-to-side in a "so-so" gesture.
"What do you mean, 'kind of'?"
The creature pointed to a part of the cavern that Rarity had not noticed. She followed his finger and, once again, her mouth fell open. There, amid the jewels and the treasure, was the skeleton of a dragon, picked clean.
"You . . . killed a dragon?"
The creature nodded. And then, in his trademark randomness, withdrew a notepad from his pocket. Using a rather nice-looking fountain pen, he scribbled on it and then showed Rarity.
Wait here, I have business to attend to, it read.
Rarity frowned. "Business?"
The creature nodded and then spun around. He dashed off into one of the many offshoots and all was silent for a few moments. Then the screaming started.
Rarity's eyes widened and she backed away from the smaller cave. They sounded like they belonged to a stallion, and they were very pained. Rarity was horrified, but she knew. She knew what this creature did to thieves and criminals. And now that it was taking place so close to her . . . it was unnerving, to say the least.
Rarity, knowing that the monster liked her and was likely to forgive her, turned around to leave. But then, for the third time in the past week, something rather solid stopped her.
She looked up. The other creature cocked his head.
- - -
Golden Mind panted heavily. Tears slid down his face, but he no longer had the energy to weep. The pain was dulling, which he was thankful for, but his fear returned when the monster, his tormenter, turned to him, a syringe in one hand, a hoofheld drill in the other.
But then someone, someone that was not Golden, screamed. The monster's head lifted from Golden who lay, tied an old dining table.
And then he was gone.
A vast range of delusional hope surged into Golden's head. Maybe the creature was gone forever, maybe he could somehow escape while . . . but then Golden remember that his hoof had been crushed.
Suddenly, he found the energy to weep once more.
- - -
Rarity backed into a stone pillar, beholding the new monster. It was similar to the other alien, thous different in its own ways. This new creature was taller, more solid and muscular than the first. This new creature wore a tan jacket, filled with pockets, old camouflage cargo pants, and a hood, also camouflaged, but green.
The most interesting part, however, were his hands. This creature's gloves were fingerless, unlike those of the first monster, and this meant that Rarity was able to see some of the alien's flesh. It was pale and hairless.
None of this made Rarity any less confused.
Suddenly, the first alien returned. He froze and stared at the second, who stood stoically, arms crossed.
The first took a few quick steps forward and stopped in front of the second. Neither of them moved.
Slowly, ever slowly Rarity backed out of the main cavern area, until she found the exit, which she graciously took.
Mandolins are amazing instruments. They are held like a violin, yet played like a guitar. They have both four strings and eight, and they have an entirely unique sound. Not to mention that they have been used by many cultures in many different ways, from the vast, marching armies of the Equestrian Conquerors to the simple country folk in Appleoosa.
That is, they're interesting instruments is one played them correctly.
Rarity was drawn from her slumber by a hideous-sounding twanging. An area near her horn ached and throbbed, and the entire side of her body was being pressed into by a sheet of gravel.
The twang sounded again, followed by another. Rarity groaned, and the noise stopped. Rarity froze. Her memories slowly crept back and her bloodshot eye bolted open.
He waved at her.
Rarity quickly scrambled to her hooves and took a defensive position. She knew she should've never trusted the alien creature. Hay, he was wearing a mask, how could she have ever known his true intentions?
The creature reached out to Rarity, but she shrunk back. The creature lifted held his hands in the air and the two stared one another down. At least, Rarity stared the alien down. No one ever really knew what the alien was doing. Ever.
Again, the creature waved. Needles to say, Rarity was a bit confused. He was acting as friendly as ever, but he had still knocked her out with a frying pan and dragged her out to . . . to . . . .
Rarity's mouth fell open.
She was in a cave, one with a bright, pool in the center. And, from the floor to the wall, were piles of treasure. Gold, silver, brass, jewels, as well as ornate chairs and several handheld mirrors.
"Wha . . . what?"
Rarity whirled back around to her forced host.
"Did you . . . did you steal all of this?" she asked.
The creature's hand flew to his chin and his stroked it for a few moments, before waddling his other from side-to-side in a "so-so" gesture.
"What do you mean, 'kind of'?"
The creature pointed to a part of the cavern that Rarity had not noticed. She followed his finger and, once again, her mouth fell open. There, amid the jewels and the treasure, was the skeleton of a dragon, picked clean.
"You . . . killed a dragon?"
The creature nodded. And then, in his trademark randomness, withdrew a notepad from his pocket. Using a rather nice-looking fountain pen, he scribbled on it and then showed Rarity.
Wait here, I have business to attend to, it read.
Rarity frowned. "Business?"
The creature nodded and then spun around. He dashed off into one of the many offshoots and all was silent for a few moments. Then the screaming started.
Rarity's eyes widened and she backed away from the smaller cave. They sounded like they belonged to a stallion, and they were very pained. Rarity was horrified, but she knew. She knew what this creature did to thieves and criminals. And now that it was taking place so close to her . . . it was unnerving, to say the least.
Rarity, knowing that the monster liked her and was likely to forgive her, turned around to leave. But then, for the third time in the past week, something rather solid stopped her.
She looked up. The other creature cocked his head.ts
- - -
Golden Mind panted heavily. Tears slid down his face, but he no longer had the energy to weep. The pain was dulling, which he was thankful for, but his fear returned when the monster, his tormenter, turned to him, a syringe in one hand, a hoofheld drill in the other.
But then someone, someone that was not Golden, screamed. The monster's head lifted from Golden who lay, tied an old dining table.
And then he was gone.
A vast range of delusional hope surged into Golden's head. Maybe the creature was gone forever, maybe he could somehow escape while . . . but then Golden remember that his hoof had been crushed.
Suddenly, he found the energy to weep once more.
- - -
Rarity backed into a stone pillar, beholding the new monster. It was similar to the other alien, thous different in its own ways. This new creature was taller, more solid and muscular than the first. This new creature wore a tan jacket, filled with pockets, old camouflage cargo pants, and a hood, also camouflaged, but green.
The most interesting part, however, were his hands. This creature's gloves were fingerless, unlike those of the first monster, and this meant that Rarity was able to see some of the alien's flesh. It was pale and hairless.
None of this made Rarity any less confused.
Suddenly, the first alien returned. He froze and stared at the second, who stood stoically, arms crossed.
The first took a few quick steps forward and stopped in front of the second. Neither of them moved.
Slowly, ever slowly Rarity backed out of the main cavern area, until she found the exit, which she graciously took.
- - -
Golden Mind made no effort to move. He was completely drained of energy and, most likely, blood. But, while his body forsook any attempts movement, his mind raced.
This creature . . . how could it have possibly come to Equis? What exactly was it doing here?
Golden looked at his mangled hoof, and then smirked. Well, that was one thing . . .
Golden's ears perked as he heard his torturer reenter the dark chamber, but he did not feel fear. He found no point in crying and begging.
"Come back, eh? Where'd you go?" Golden called.
There was no reply. Not a word nor even the sound of a footstep in the gravel. Suddenly, a face popped into Golden's view, and he jumped.
"What?" he said, confused, brow furrowed.
The face was not that of his tormenter; it was entirely new.
"Who are you?" Golden asked, his fear returning, unbidden.
The new monster didn't answer. It instead eyed Golden from underneath its mask, examining him. Eventually, it made a sound that sounded like a grunt, and vanished from Golden's line of sight.
Golden struggled to lift his head, suddenly feeling very afraid, despite his previous thoughts.
But, instead of a blade slicing into his flesh, Golden felt . . . relief. He strained his neck and saw the new creature at his hoof. It was . . . using magic . . . to heal him.
It wasn't unicorn magic. Golden didn't know how it worked, or even if it was really magic, but Golden did know that his hoof was somehow . . . rebuilding itself.
When his hoof had been thoroughly mended, the new creature circled around Golden, using the same, blue, pulsing magic to heal the more minor cuts and bruises. Golden, needles to say, was confused, but glad.
"Uh . . thank you . . . whoever you are," Golden said to the creature, not really knowing what else to say.
Again, the creature regarded him and again, the creature grunted. It vanished into the dark, but Golden was no longer worried. He did wonder about the original creature, though. Had the new one killed it? Subdued it?
Golden also wondered why his rescuer hadn't let him go . . . .
Golden suddenly saw a orange glow crawl into the light and the new creature returned, boots heavy in the gravel.
"No . . .wait, no!" he shouted.
The new creature clutched a long, curved blade, one glowing red with heat.
"What's going on!" Golden shouted, now more angry than afraid, "You can't do that! You sick monster!"
Golden's shouts only grew louder and more frantic and the monster approached. It wasted no time in slamming its blade up Golden's newly-healed hoof and into his leg.
While the unicorn screamed louder than he had in his entire life, the first "monster" stood, hiding in the shadows. Its face was covered, but it still somehow conveyed a definite feeling of . . . worry.
- - -
Tempest burst into the building, panting.
"Sir! Something happened!," he shouted, startling the the secretary even more.
The portly pegasus Sergeant trotted into the room.
"What is it? What's going on, Tempest?"
"The Creature! It got Golden! I couldn't stop him!"
Tempest's senior quickly approached him and spoke, low and fast.
"Tell me, boy, what did you see?"
"Not much, sir, it was dark and I was hurt, but I know that Golden was not killed immediately; we could still find him."
The larger pegasus's eyes widened and he reared around.
"To arms!" he bellowed.
- - -
Rarity huffed, exasperated. Perhaps leaving was not the most top rate of ideas. She had assumed that the thing's lair had not been to incredibly far from Ponyville. She had not been entirely correct.
When she had first left, she had marveled at the fact that the cave had been located directly beneath the shadow of Canterlot. You could look up and see the rocky bottom of much of the city.
But Rarity, though amazed, had still wanted to go home. And now she was lost in what she believed to be Whitetail Woods.
"Oh why didn't I just follow the road up to Canterlot? I'm an Element of Harmony, I'm sure that the Princess would've let me see her!" she cried.
Rarity slumped down onto the ground and moaned.
She lifted a hoof and tapped her chin in consideration. "Oh, fine," she said, "I'll go back . . ."
Rarity stood up and brushed herself off, grumbling as she turned around.
Many ponies found the rain to be relaxing, soothing, therapeutic even. Most ponies just found it normal and mostly ignored it. Wisp, however, found it nothing but grindingly irritating. Nothing but an assault of noise and water, cold, usually; he didn't understand why anyone would find it enjoyable. But it was not his place to complain; he had a job to do.
He donned his heavy coat and his cap, placed his pipe into his mouth, and left the darkness of the alleyways into the rainy streets, his teeth grinding on the pipe's stem.
It was a few minutes before he was able to spot his "victim," a very obvious mare, looking lost and afraid. Wisp looked around him, then promptly drew his blade and hurried up to the lightly-colored mare.
She squeaked and dashed, intentionally, into a dead-end alleyway, where she began to make a rather loud and badly-acted fuss.
You'd think that the Princesses of Equestrian would be able to hire better actors, he thought, but he continued on with his own role.
"You know the drill. Drop the purse and walk away. Don't go callin' no guards either unless you want to feel pain."
The mare nodded and dropped her bag, full of pebbles, onto the ground, splashing into a small puddle. Wisp suppressed a cruse.
And all was silent.
Wisp was tense, ready to move, ready to dart, and the other actor looked slightly confused. But apparently it was enough.
Wisp saw a shift in the shadows, almost invisible, and dashed away, just in time. A crowbar, the infamous crowbar, came down hard enough to crack the pavement and send a small spark or two twirling into the air.
He sensed another movement and ducked as his cap was taken just off of his head and into the wall by another swipe.
Wisp was keeping up, but barely.
Come on, come on!
Finally, after the fourth dodge, there was a burst of purple magic. Wisp stopped, breathing heavily. He turned around and then gave a cry of surprise.
There, stuck inside a field of miasma-like purple magic was the Beast.
It was tall, even taller than Princess Celestia. It walked on two legs and was completely covered in cloth. It wore a mask with a tube leading to somewhere inside of its long, dark coat and it sported, surprisingly, a trilby.
Wisp regarded the alien with awe. He had never seen it before; most never had. But there it was, finally caught, unable to move.
Wisp was tossed aside by several armored guards who all lowered their spears and pointed them at the frozen beast.
Princess Twilight Sparkle emerged from the shadows, her horn lit with the very same aura in which the creature was ensnared.
"Good work Wisp, Pearl," she said, addressing the two actors, never taking her eyes off of her target.
Rarity trudged along, head down, exhausted and ashamed. Every now and then she cast a glance up at this new beast, but the very air around it was hostile enough to cause her to avert her eyes immediately.
This new alien was not inherently evil, but neither was he as nice as the first. Any and all attempts made by Rarity to converse were completely ignored. But, she thought, I should be glad that I'm getting home.
It took a very long time, and soon Rarity was covered in grime and seat, but she was too tired to even care. She had even forgotten what day it was. She simply needed rest.
Rarity's head ran into something solid.
"Ooh!" she exclaimed, rubbing her horn.
Rarity examined what she had rammed into and was surprised to find out that it was her dwelling, the Carousel Boutique.
Rarity cast a confused glance about her; everything looked to be in place.
"How? . . . When? . . ."
The beast was not even looking at her.
Rarity's ears drooped. "Oh," she said, "that's right. You don't talk, either."
"Well all righty then," she said, swinging open her door and entering her home, nothing but her bed entering her mind.
- - -
"Oh my . . . ."
It was a rare thing, getting Princess Celestia to lapse in her almost-constant stature and prose. But it had been done.
The morning light was bright in the throne room, illuminating the large throne at the end, but the center of attention was not Celestia's envied seat, but a cage in the center. In this cage was a monster. It did not prowl, snarl at its captors, swipe at them or anything of the sort. In fact, it didn't do anything but gaze at its aforementioned captors with what was seemed to be a fascinated and even curious look, its head cocked in an admittedly slightly slightly adorable fashion.
Some may have even found it hard to believe that this was the creature responsible for all of those heinous killings, if it were not for the fact that it was covered in dried blood and that it had several weapons in its possession.
A pair of the guards hoofed through these weapons, pausing and looking in awe at the ones hailing from the alien's world. They were not blades or anything of the sort, but they sure looked scary.
But when the two guards heard Celestia utter her words, straightened up and saluted. Celestia paid them no heed.
"So this is then infamous 'Eye'?" Celestia muttered mostly to herself.
"Yes," Twilight answered, proud.
The creature waved timidly from inside the cage.
"Can it . . . can it understand us?" Celestia asked, eyes still on the alien.
"From what we can tell, yes, but for some reason it never vocally communicates. We've only gotten a couple of written notes . . . . " Twilight explained.
Celestia frowned and said: "Let me see them."
Twilight's magic summed the two pieces of grubby paper and Celestia examined them.
Herro!
Celestia glanced at Twilight.
"I think that's just an intentional twisting of the word 'hello,'" she said quickly.
Fords are terrible; buy yourself a Chevy.
"That, I'm not sure. But most of it seems to be Equestrian."
Celestia returned the notes to her junior companion and gazed at the creature, who simply gazed right back.
"Just what are we going to do with you?"
- - -
The figure sat, bored, on a boulder. The golden-colored unicorn on the table had finally bled out. He died rather well, compared to, well, other things, in the end.
The unicorn had stared him down, using all of his energy to glare into the figure's eyes.
But it didn't matter how well the unicorn was, what mattered was now that the unicorn was dead, the figure was bored.
He didn't have the same senses that his companion did, and no criminal-ponies were actually in sight, and so nothing to do.
Until the figure sensed something. He searched through his feelings, trying to identify the signal. He stopped.
That was what happened.
Suddenly, the cave was empty, the only sound being that of the deceased unicorn's blood, dripping onto the stone floor.
- - -
Swift Eye always found night assignments the most interesting. Yes all guard-duties were quite boring, but at night, the darkness replaced the world that you knew, and allowed you to substitute your own reality. Every night was different, sometimes there was a massive battle, a wide forest, rolling, snowy mountains, or perhaps a vast, distant city.
Tonight, however, he could not imagine such things, for he was one of the four guards tasked with guarding the creature until the Princesses could decide what to do with it.
Swift didn't really know himself.
"Hey Wisp," he said, "what do you think's gonna happen?'
"I don't really know," the other guard replied, "They can't really just execute hit; I've seen how fast it can be. Maybe they'll just lock him up. Maybe Sombra could be his roommate . . . ." Wisp mused.
Swift smiled. He was about to respond with something about how Sombra was probably very thoroughly dead when, true to his name, he caught something with his eye.
Wisp had noticed, too--this is why they were on the job--and the other two noticed their interest in that single dark corner. Soon, all four sets of eyes were riveted onto the shadows, spears lowered and voices ready to sound the alarm.
But nothing happened.
"Well . . . we both saw that . . ." Wisp said.
Swift whispered something back and they began a debate.
What none of the four guards, two conversing and two still slightly panicky, noticed was another movement, behind them and the cage this time.
It was small . . . green.
Inside of the cage, the creature had its head cocked into the darkness.
A quiet click sounded and the cage door swung open soundlessly. The creature, without hesitation, stepped from its confinements.
A green aura lifted the creature's crowbar from its spot and into the creature's hand.
Then, suddenly, a flurry, muffled voices, a cry of surprise, and a few clanks, and none of the guards were left standing.
The creature stood menacingly, watching the rising and the lowering of each guard's breath while fresh blood dripped down his weapon of choice.
- - -
He came upon his destination. The doors were large, so he opened them slowly. He did not do so all of the way, but instead he provided himself means by which he could peek inside. He saw nor heard nothing.
Slowly, he raised his weapon. He tensed and then he let out a battle cry, smashing the doors open, ready to fight.
But he slumped when he was what was on the other side.
Four unconscious bodies, wounded but alive, lay strewn about the marble floor. But he had his attention elsewhere; farther into the throne room was a cage, and sitting a top that cage was the one he was looking for. And sitting right next to him was a mint-green unicorn, clad in dark clothing.
Lyra smiled as she chomped down upon the maple ring of deliciousness. She levitated it to the human and it tore off a piece, and stuffed it under his mask.
The other human simply just stood there, awestruck.
Lyra waved, and then suddenly it waved frantically at the human sitting beside her. Lyra frowned, curious. The other human gestured wildly again, almost like a mare scolding her foal.
The human sitting beside Lyra slumped, disappointed, and slid off the cage. Lyra gasped.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
Both humans pointed out of the throne room and turned. Lyra slid off as well and made to follow them. The first human watched her but as soon as she came close enough, the other stopped abruptly and turned around, warding her off.
"But I wanna-"
The other human made a slashing movement with his hand and then went off at a quicker pace.
Lyra sat, pouting just outside of the throne room while the first human looked at her over his shoulder until he vanished into the darkness.
Then Lyra stood back up and advanced silently in pursuit of her precious humans.
- - -
Hours later, Lyra gaped. The two creatures had made a home in Drake's Cavern! The cave had been shut off years ago due to lack of interest, but . . .
Lyra crept forward. She was tired from the long journey down the mountain, and she could barely keep up with her humans, but she was still desperate to learn more. Unfortunately, she could no longer see them as they both melted away into the shadows, and Lyra, despite her intense interest and desperation, did not have the courage to follow them.
She still did not know whether it was safe. The two humans had not seemed particularly hostile, especially not the one she had freed, but she had not idea about their culture or their customs. Perhaps by intruding upon their residence she would set off a rage. She had already risked much by following them.
Now it was time to collect her payment.
- - -
Rarity sat at her kitchen table, a candle illuminating the area around her, pondering. Things had been odd, but not really a bad odd. She really would have thought her encounter with the aliens to change her in some way, but, surprisingly, things were still normal.
She had not changed at all.
Well, perhaps a little bit.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Rarity jolted and then looked at the clock. It could only be one pony at this hour.
Rarity hurried over to her front door. She looked through the peephole and then eagerly opened the door.
"Did you do it," she said immediately, "is he free?"
If there's one thing Compass knew, it was that something was wrong with his grandfather. Yes, he was a perfectly kind and loveable old stallion, almost to a fault, but he wasn't always exactly . . . right in the head. And it wasn't his age, either--he wasn't really that old. It was definitely something else.
But it never meant any harm, so it never was quite a big deal.
Until now.
Compass heard a distant squeak and then a thud and, lightning-quick, sat up in his bad, throwing his quilt back. That sounded like the door.
The young stallion crept from his room and hurried down the rickety wooden stairs.
His grandfather was always a bit off, but he had never simply left in the middle of the night. Unless he already had left and was already returning. Compass hoped he wasn't in trouble.
But no, Compass's previous fear was true, as the empty bedroom revealed; Sage Brush, the nice old stallion from 2nd Street, was gone.
Compass went down the second flight of stairs and peered out the window. There was nothing moving outside, but there was a definite set of hoofsteps in the frosty ground. Compass hurriedly levitated a cloak off a nearby hook, as well as a lantern, which hi promptly lit, and opened the green-painted door, stepping outside into the crispy, midnight air.
Compass was not mad or irritated--on the contrary--he found the entire situation almost amusing. Sage had always been funny, even when he did not mean to be.
And so Compass ventured forth, tracking his guardian across town, holding down shivers. This year's winter was closing in fast; he would need to go out and get firewood soon.
Slowly, Compass's amusement began to vanish when he realized that Sage was still nowhere in sight. The old goat, he couldn't move that fast, could he? Apparently so.
Compass ground to a halt.
"Uh-oh," he said. Sage's set of hoofprints was leading directly into the Whitetail woods.
Now Compass was beginning to feel a bit irritated.
- - -
Celestia stood, frowning down at the wounded guards while Twilight spoke with each of them. None of them remembered much, just loud noises, blurs, and then darkness. Not even any pain, apparently.
"What could this mean?" Twilight finally asked.
Princess Celestia did not immediately answer. "I do not know," she eventually said, "But I beleive that the Eye may have outside help."
This, of course, had already occurred to Twilight. "What do you think? A rouge pony or two?"
"Perhaps," Celestia answered, nodding thoughtfully. "Or perhaps the Eye is not alone."
"Are you . . . suggesting that there is another alien about?" Twilight asked, a nervous feeling returning.
"Yes. That is certainly possible. is it not?"
"Well . . . " Twilight said, "Based off of everything so far, anything is possible."
Celestia nodded again. "Well then," she said, "I suppose we need to prepare to catch two monsters."
"Uh, yes, Celestia. I'll work on it," Twilight said.
Everyone parted, the guards to their homes, Twilight to her chambers to begin working on a new plan, and Celestia to the balcony.
Perhaps Luna had seen something.
- - -
Wisp and all of his fellow wounded guards, including Swift Eye, were sent home early. This he did not understand; his head throbbed and his leg was broken, nothing major at all.
He sighed but left the Palace and went on his way home after leaving his armor at the armory. He limped through the busy streets of Canterlot, nodding greetings at those he knew--which turned out to be a lot--and he weaved through the streets. He then pondered renting an apartment somewhere closer to the Palace.
Wisp ground his teeth a bit, but then decided to take the shortcut home. He ducked into a dark alleyway and suddenly found himself in a entirely different world.
Everything was a shade darker, the noises outside muffled, and the smell was considerably worse. Wisp went onward, eyes searching the shadows, looking out for potential thieves That may or may not have been an unnecessary precaution; crime rates were low in Canterlot, Equestria as a whole before the Eye, but now they were bordering on virtually nonexistant. There was one thing the alien did good.
The alien . . .
"Alien!" Wisp shouted as he came face to face with a pair of dark, circular lenses.
Oh no, not now, not now! Not with his wounded leg!
The alien took a step forward and raised his arm, grasping not a crowbar, surprisingly, but a warhammer. Wisp did not have time to reflect upon this, however, as he was bracing himself to dodge.
But then another alien appendage came out of the darkness and placed itself upon the other's shoulder. Wisp noticed that the one in front of him looked different than the one he had captured.
"Goddesses above," he muttered, "There are two of them . . . ."
The creature looked behind itself, then back at Wisp, and then lowered its weapon. Soon, Wisp was left alone in the darkness again, panting and sweating.
Compass huffed, his spent breath misting in the ashen air. The forest trees stood tall, foreboding, like a monolith whose shadow oppressed any feelings of hopes or dreams in those beneath it. The beauty of the night sky was obscured by a thin layer of gray clouds, and the light of the moon failed the effectively pierce the veil.
All of this was apparently enough to unnerve a stallion of the age of twenty-four, but Compass pressed forward regardless. He could not leave his grandfather in such a cold. It would not bode well.
Compass suddenly entered a clearing and was surprised to see, well, his grandfather. Compass was relieved; he had been beginning to think the night was going to be a lot longer.
"Gramps?" Compass called, bu he received no response. Compass furrowed his brow and trotted into the clearing, his grandfather staring up at the misty sky all along.
"Grandpa, come on, it's late," Compass said.
Compass's grandpa lowered his head and got up off his haunches, thankfully obeying Compass's instructions.
"That sky," the old stallion said suddenly, "It doesn't like me. I'd like to burn it."
Compass ignored that sentence, but subconsciously took note of it.
The night grew colder and darker, but finally, Compass and his wandering grandfather were home. Compass locked his grandpa's room--he hated doing that--and retired to bed himself.
Wisp was not in Canterlot. He was not in Equestria, either, nor anywhere on the entirety of Equis. He was somewhere else entirely. He was in some abyss, moving slowly. He was not crawling, walking, running or flying, yet he was moving, half voluntarily, half involuntarily. The sights around him should have driven him mad, but instead he stared in wonder.
Below him was an incomprehensibly black void, with demented and twisted shapes jutting out of the blackness, odd shapes, shapes never before seen by pony. Eye level with him, though far in the distance, a sheet of indescribable colors danced and ran about, touching the sky, or whatever it was, above him. Three massive rings of fire, all different hues and on different levels, burned far above him.
Sometimes things moved, shifted, scratched in the blackness, and Wisp got the chilling sense more then once that he was being followed, watched. But before definite answers could be formed, he always awoke, like now.
Wisp did not bolt up in a cold sweat like he had had a nightmare, but rather he simply opened his eyes, his face stuck in a scowl. He had been having those odd dreams ever since the incident in with the creature in the alleyway, and he had long since grown used to them. He didn't know of they had implanted something into him, or were trying to frighten him with otherworldly visions, but whatever they did, Wisp had actually grown rather indifferent to it.
And so he crawled out of bed and checked the time. Seven in the morning. Good; not too early, not too late. It was a Saturday, but Wisp still had things to do sometime during the day, and he aimed to not let any alien visions stop him.
- - -
Luna had known even less than Celestia had, unfortunately, but all of the princesses were growing increasingly concerned, and the more worried they became, the more indecisive they became as well. Would the creature fall for the same trap again? What about the alleged second creature? These and many other questions buzzed about in Twilight's head as she wrote a letter to Cadence, the only princess unaware of the odd happenings in Canterlot.
The North was a place far separated from the rest of Equestria, and it held many secrets, some of which Cadence had grown familiar with; perhaps somehow there was a relation. Twilight wasn't sure, but she was growing desperate.
It was just when she finished her letter that a guard poked his head into her door and cleared his throat.
"Princess Celestia would like to speak with you," he said, his voice oddly trembling.
Twilight sighed and gave her quill one last stroke, and then rolled the paper up, leaving it for Spike to send whenever he stumbled upon it. He was a busy dragon, busy with many things, but he still considered himself Twilight's assistant.
Twilight exited the chamber and the guard escorted her not too far away. Twilight turned the corner and halted. There, across the marble wall, was something that was most certainly not there the day before.
Twilight was immediately seized with a sense of unease, but cautiously urged herself forward regardless. Celestia stood staring at the thing, silently, not visibly acknowledging Twilight's arrival.
Eventually, Twilight spoke up, saying, "Celestia? What is that? Who put it there?"
Celestia worked her jaw in though but eventually said, "I do not know. But I am most certainly doubling the number of guards around here."
There, upon the wall, was a massive, twisted symbol, its angles weird and its purpose unknown. A circle, a star, two writhing lines. Some sort of hellish sigil from a world beyond.
As far as Twilight could tell, her stomach and all of her insides had all been swallowed up, deep inside a bottomless pit of frigid blackness. She hadn't the slightest clue why, but that symbol, that thing whose genesis resided in some arctic pit on some dark planet hitherto unbeknownst to ponykind, made her feel very uneasy. And Celestia's stolid stoicism, her overall lack of movement, save of course her ever-flowing mane, was not helping the issue.
Twilight turned away, ripping her attention off of the eccentric sigil and fixing it instead on the solid marble ground. She wanted to flee, but managed to hold her ground.
"Celestia?" she managed meekly, "What is that thing?"
Princess Celestia, her brow furrowed, said in a reserved voice, "I am afraid that I do not know, Twilight. But I most certainly do not like it."
With that, Celestia suddenly turned about, startling a nearby guard whom she ordered: "I want that symbol gone, and as soon as possible."
The soldier only nodded smally and Celestia went off. Twilight lifted her hoof, paused, and looked back and forth between the receding Celestia and the symbol on the wall, finally opting to stand there and gaze upon the symbol, studying it. Her initial terror had subsided to recede to a tolerable level. Still, there was something about the thing . . . yes; it needed to be gone as soon as possible.
- - -
It was Saturday. Saturday, damn it! Wisp knew what he was getting into when he signed up for his work, but even when duty called when he wished it didn't, it had the tendency to be annoying.
Wisp left the bookstore, only the second establishment on his list, and managed to reach his home rather quickly, discarding his new books and his food for next week or so.
He hurried over the the guard station and quickly outfitted his armor. As he was fastening on his helmet, he frowned. There were a lot more stallions at the station than there were when an emergency was usually called. Must be a big one.
Wisp followed the stallions--trying to stay out of their notice--into the briefing room where they all sat on their haunches and awaited the talk. Counting them, Wisp concluded that there was approximately twenty, including himself, whereas most weekend emergencies required two or three squads--three stallions in each --at the most. Yes, definitely a "big one."
The captain, Captain Aurora he was, stood at the front and began to speak, saying, "Gentlecolts, there appear to be reports coming from the residents of Appleloosa of some . . . disturbing activity up near Ghastly Gorge. Nothing too definite yet, but reports contain information referring to chanting, yelling, and smoke. When we get there, keep your eyes and ears open, and watch each other's backs. There have been scouts sent by Appleoosians, but they have so far failed to return. Exact locations and details will be provided en route, beginning now."
Ugly roots and malignant hanging nooses of moss beset the line of armored ponies, and now and then a pile of dank stones or fragments of rotting wall intensified by its hint of morbid habitation, a depression which every malfored free and every bit of fungus combined to create.
Everyone was silent. They got a guide, and they glided through the forest, everyone feeling rather uneasy. Something was most definitely wrong. Even in the Everfree forest, this new, inky darkness was fridged and unnerving.
Only madness could do justice to the sounds and noises, coming up. Shrieks and calls, chanting, shouting, the crackling of fire, the unharmonic beating of drums. Soon the cancerous, lingering feeling of fear and met with that of disgust.
There are vocal qualities peculiar to ponies, and vocal qualities peculiar to other creatures. It is terrible to hear the one when the source—should be the other.
As the armored ponies approached, the less organized ululation of the frantic howling began to fade, echoing through those black woods like pestilential tempests from the gulfs of Tartarus. A chant began:
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh—
Then, Captain Aurora shouted, fear, haste, desperation all in her voice: "Go!"
The armored ponies fell upon the strange ritual, interrupting the deep-voiced call. Their fear manifested itself as they subdued the mad ponies with belligerent force.
All the while, Wisp felt as if he were going to vomit.
Something was very deeply wrong, something profoundly evil. And it had all been brought about by that thing. That masked creature from beyond.
- - -
He set up the stolen ping-pong table and offered the paddle to his companion. Said companion gruffly shook his head once, his masks's lenses gleaming in the firelight.
The room with the pool had become their main living space. The water, though calm, actually had an entrance to a underground river just at the very bottom. It was good for disposing of things.
Other than that, there was a hole in the roof, where the moon and sun could shine through and where the smoke of night fires could escape. Not to mention the size of it. Not huge, but nice enough.
The human then offered his paddle to the tied up pony in the corner. She was crying, and the gag was put on so tight the corners of her lips bled.
The second human shook his head, exapserated, and stood up and took the paddle. They both got in ping-pong stance.
Then the first human realized that he forgot to steal and ping-pong balls.
- - -
The message came swiftly. Celestia, of course, had felt that something was wrong. Tonight, however, it was a profound sense of darkness. Luna and Twilight came without being called.
Apparently, there had been some sort of . . . ritual going on in the Everfree Forest. Bonfires, dancing, chanting, and . . . even the sacraficing of animals, it appeared.
This, of course, was the limit. That thing had to be caught. Caught, held, and put into a cell deep below the castle, chained and left to rot.
Theives get killed relatively quickly, kids who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time are made a quick example of in the streets, and so on.
However, the ones that take advantage of the weakest, the youngest, the ones that deliberately and directly do harm to those undeserving . . . they go spelunking.
This equine creature is the one who runs the biggest underground meat business for gryphons.
Pony meat, to be exact.
She gets her victims from all over; the slums of Manehattan, the sewers of Canterlot, sometimes even from small villages.
She herself, however, lives in Fillydelphia.
Wait.
Attatch past tenses to everything just said.
The creature pulled the gag away. Then he cocked his head.
Usually, they whimper or cry or scream or start asking questions. This one was silent. She quivered and kept her eyes averted, as if her being as still as possible would keep her safe.
This was not the case, of course.
It shrugged and grabbed the ropes binding her and brought her out from the darkness, dragging her through the uncomfortable shards of stone. Then, it dropped her and began pacing. The second simply watched from the shadows, still.
The first then halted, dug around in its coat, and withdrew a newspaper and tossed it near the mare on the sloped ground.
Effective communication for a thing that does not speak.
The mare craned her head to see, and read the headline:
SEVENTH PONY THIS YEAR VANISHED—THE ALIEN IS TO BLAME!
She looked at the image of the mentioned pony, and knew that the creatures imprisoning her were not the ones responsible.
Tears began to flow again.
What use was begging? She knew of these creatures, and she knew where she was. She thought she was safe, thought she was careful and clever, covert enough to avoid them.
Of course, what remained of her bodyguards back in Canterlot told the truth.
As the mare began to accept her fate, she stopped her mental blubbering as she saw the second, less mad alien fade into the darkness.
She did not like that one bit.
The first alien circled around and did its oddly adorable head-cocking again.
The mare worked her bottom jaw.
Just do it, she thought.
Suddenly, the first alien squatted down, startling the mare. Then, with a leather-clad appendage, it began tracing its fingers around her; circling her ears, going up and down her belly and her abdomen, tracing the muscles in her legs. It ended between her eyes.
Something behind the alien was moving in the shadows, dragging in the shale.
The alien stood and went behind her, vanishing.
The second alien came into view once more, pushing . . . a crate.
The pony's eyes widened, and she felt her stomach sink.
That crate . . . it was from the western storehouses; the ones that dealt with the Gryphon Empire . . . the sort of crate she shipped her meat in.
The mare whimpered.
She felt a tapping on her shoulder. She craned her neck again and eyed upwards.
The silhouette of the alien, the moon in the hole of the roof above her, appeared. It held an odd device, with a cord and a handle and buttons. The mare did, however, recognize on part of it, a metal sawblade concealed behind a plastic shield.
The mare held her breath when she heard the alien begin to cackle. Then, firmly, it drew back the plastic shield and the blade came to live in loud, grating awakening. The second alien appeared, twirling a billyclub.
Then she screamed.
- - -
Ponies didn't know what to think.
Many were terrified, many were disturbed, many were happy, and a surprising number were relatively indifferent.
An alien had come to Equestria, and it was delevering its own form of justice to those it deemed necessary.
Of course, it was doing it with, well, "extreme prejudice," and without the law of trial that was guaranteed every Equestrian.
So again: mixed feelings.
The Princesses, however, knew it had to be stopped.
It meant well, it seemed, but its mere presence . . . it was doing a number on the very walls of reality. Things were beginning to leak through that not even Twilight's books knew the answer to.
At least, not any of the books that she had.
"Bag are packed, Twilight," Spike said, tired, "We'll be there in a few hours, just so long as we get on now."
Twilight was uncomfortable with the entire situation. She hadn't been permitted to tell her firneds, let alone bring them. However, the library of the Crystal Kingdom held some rather . . . old tomes. She had to check the knowledge hidden there.
"Now," Spike said. "Please?"
"All right," Twilight said. "I'm just not feeling very well about this whole thing."
"None of us are. But the quicker we solve this, the quicker we can catch the thing and lock it away. And so: let's go. Please."
Twilight nodded and looked back a minute at the palace she was leaving behind. Then, with a sigh, she borded the train and set of North.
- - -
Lyra's eyes were wide. Her gut was in turmoil.
She was perched outside the cave, on a ledge, peering down at the mouth across a small clearing.
And she heard everything.
Buzzes, clicks, thuds, screams . . . it all echoed into the night sky.
And yet, despite it all, she was still there.
The sort of lust to see the aliens more that possessed her was disturbing. She wondered if it had something to do with the aliens and their being there. They couldn't be healthy for the natural way of things, she knew.
But she remained. Listening, watching. She simply desire to know more.
Of course, all she had to do was remain careful, and she wouldn't violate any privacies or cultures and thus activate and alien rage. . .
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