Ever since Twilight became an Alicorn, a bunch of strange new ponies have been appearing and Twilight and her friends don't know what to make of them. Hopefully, these new ponies will be willing enough to make friends with them.
"Where do all of these guys come from?" - Twilight Sparkle
Twilight, being the new alicorn princess, has a lot to deal with in her life right now. A stallion crash landing at Sweet Apple Acres, a sharp-shooting pegasus, a unicorn assassin that's able to control ice, and a strange and mysterious filly appearing at Fluttershy's cottage. To top it all off, the danger in Equestria has risen by ten. Twilight and her friends begin to wonder why Equestria has suddenly become more dangerous and why there are so many more ponies nowadays. Surely, there must be some connection between the danger and the mysterious new ponies.
Suspicious and confused, can Twilight and the others be for sure that these newcomers are actually ponies? This will be an adventure that they won't forget, no matter how hard they try.
Yes, this fic takes place in the middle of season 4. And here's a little opening song for the fic. Thanks to RemixHero for helping with the story, I really hope you like this new fic Hit the popular list 4/4/2015! Thank you all so much for liking it!
“You know, I’ve always wondered what happens at the end of a journey. When everything is said and done and the hero is no longer needed. What happens to them then?”
- Defiant Shield
It was another sunny and beautiful day down at Sweet Apple Acres. An apple farm with several apple trees as far as the eye can see and most famous for their, well, apple products. From apple cider to apple pies, the family that runs this farm makes it all. Applejack, and earth pony mare with an orange coat and blonde mane and tail; along with her iconic Stetson hat, was in the middle of her apple bucking. Her little sister, Applebloom, was helping out.
She was just a small filly with a yellow fur coat and red mane and tail, with a small red bow attached to the back of her mane. Applebloom wiped some sweat from her brow as she moved another filled basket of apples to the side.
“Whew, I’m beat,” she said with a sigh.
“You kidding? We’re just getting started, sis,” Applejack replied as she reared her back legs and gave a nearby tree a hard buck. Making all of the apples fall into the basket.
“Ah know that. I’m really excited for cider season!” Applebloom said with much excitement.
“Me too sis, just think about all of the customers we’ll have this year!”
“Just hope those good-for-nothing brothers don’t show up again.”
“Don’t you worry, if they ever show their faces here again I’ll-“
CRASH!
“What in tarnation?!” exclaimed Applejack.
Both sisters ran towards the source of the sudden noise, they ran all the way to the west field. When they arrived, they couldn’t believe what they saw, one of their biggest and tallest apple trees has been knocked down. It wasn’t chopped down by an ax, everything from the branches to the roots was ripped out of the ground and toppled over. Neither sisters could believe their eyes, they were both filled with shock and anger.
“W-who did this!?” yelled Applejack.
Applebloom trotted closer to the fallen tree to inspect it. She walked all around the tree until she found something lying behind it.
“Uh, sis,” called Applebloom. “You might want to look at this.”
AJ quickly trotted over to her sister behind the trunk of the tree. She let out a gasp and all of her anger vanished when she saw what caused the tree to fall. There, laying on the ground, behind the tree, was an unconscious earth pony stallion.
“Oh my stars,” she said with a gasp.
This stallion looked no older than Applejack herself, maybe younger. He had cream colored fur and a messy violet-blue mane that covered part of his eyes, covered his ears, and reached to the back of his neck, along with a long violet-blue tail. However, the strangest part that AJ discovered about him was his mark, or at least, where his mark should be. There were two small clothes stitched over on each side of his flank, normally where his cutiemarks should be.
Now, why would he have his cutiemark covered up? Applejack thought to herself.
She decided to push that thought aside for now and took notice at all of his injuries, he had bruises and cuts everywhere, there was even a little blood dripping from his mouth. Applejack decided to do the logical thing and bring this injured stallion in her house. She began lifting the body onto her back.
“What are you doing sis?” asked Applebloom.
“What’s it look like? This fella is injured and needs help. C’mon,” she ordered as she ran through the field with the stallion on her back.
Both of the sisters, and the unconscious stallion, made it out of the fields and towards their farmhouse.
“Applebloom go open the door!”
She did exactly what her sister asked, and opened the front door, leading in a rushing Applejack. She ran past the kitchen and past a confused Big Mac and Granny Smith. She ran straight up into her room and set the stallion on her bed. She took a step back and looked at the body, nervously. She covered her mouth with her hoof and didn’t know what to think next. Pretty soon her other family members entered her room with concerned faces.
“Sis, go get the first aid that’s in the barn,” AJ ordered.
“Sure thing!” with that, she ran off to the barn to find the kit.
“What you got there, AJ?” asked Granny Smith, an elderly green mare with a white mane and tail both tied in a bun.
“Me and Applebloom were out in the fields working, and we heard this loud crash and saw one of our trees knocked down!” she explained.
“What?” asked Big Mac, a bulk red stallion with a short orange mane and tail.
“Then we found this guy laying near the tree injured, so I decided to bring him in here. And what’s taking Applebloom so long?” she wondered. “Can you two go and see what she’s doing?”
“Eeyup,” answered Big Mac. With that, both ponies ran off to find AJ’s younger sister.
Applejack had her back turned at the unconscious stallion and started thinking to herself, and completely unware that the stallion was beginning to stir and slowing moving his head.
Just who in the hay is this stallion?! How did he crash into one of mah trees? Perhaps Twilight might know a thing or two. But what are the chances of her actually knowing who he is? Besides, I’m sure she’s busy with her new princess duties and wouldn’t want to be interrupted. And what am I going to say when he wakes u- Eep!
Applejack let out a small yelp as she felt something touch her flank. She turned her head around and noticed the stallions extended hoof was patting her cutiemark. She looked at his face and noticed that his eyes were only half-open and the blood from his mouth was starting to dry up. She was glad that he was somewhat awake, but was also irritated that he was still rubbing her flank with his hoof.
“Uh, do ya mind?” she asked in an annoyed tone.
“Not really,” he replied, having a very young and deep voice.
She quickly swerved around and swatted his hoof away, with a small blush forming on her face. The stallion then began to rise and sit up right.
“Whoa there, partner. Ya might wanna take it easy there,” assured Applejack as she went to stop him midway.
“W-what happened? Where am I?” he wondered, fully opening his eyes, revealing his pupils to be a blueberry type color.
“Well, you’re at Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville. And me and my sister just found you crashed landed into one of our trees,” she explained.
“Really? My bad,” he said calmly.
“It’s fine. I’ll admit, I was a little sore at first, thinking some ruffians might have cut down one of our beloved apple trees just for the fun of it. But then I realized it was just some accidental landing. It was an accident right?”
“Well, I didn’t intend to crash into an apple tree today, so I guess you could say it was an accident,” he replied rubbing his head. “Wait, you said Ponyville?”
“Ah sure did. Why you ask?”
“I think I’ve heard of it,” he pointed out.
“Really?”
“Yeah, this is the little town where a lot of disasters happen right?” he asked nonchalantly. Applejack was a little taken back at that comment. She knew that their little town was famous, but not for something like THAT.
“Uh, no,” she answered.
“No, this isn’t Ponyville?”
“NO, I mean ‘No’ as in, not a lot of trouble happens here,” she corrected him.
“Really? But didn’t the three-headed dog, Cerberus, invade this place?” he asked curiously.
“Well, only because he got out and such,” she said.
“And isn’t this also the place where a huge parasprite invasion happened?”
“Uhhh…”
“Come to think of it, isn’t this the village that Discord himself decided to screw with first?”
“Alright, I get it! A lot of strange stuff happens here,” she exclaimed, getting annoyed with this stallions questions. “Wait, how do you know about all of that stuff anyway?”
“My…..uh….mother, told us,” he hesitated.
“Your mother told you?” she asked.
“Y-yeah. She used to tell us all sorts of stories that took place in this little village. Quite the bedtime stories if you ask me,” he said with a chuckle.
“Oh. Hold on, you said ‘us’?”
“Yeah, I have a few brothers and sisters back at home.”
“I see, I have one more question.”
“Yes?”
“Why were you playing around with mah flank when you woke up?” she asked agitated.
“Oh that, I was just making sure I was in the real world and not in another one of my nightmares,” he explained with a sheepish grin. “But dreams can be tricky sometimes, maybe I should double-check,” he said as he gave a big smile and waved his hoof around.
“Ah think once is enough,” she hissed as she covered her flank with her tail and blushed. “Besides, you’ve already made decent impression on me,” she said sarcastically.
“Aw how nice…uh….what’s your name?” he asked.
“Oh yeah, mah name’s Applejack. Proud owner of Sweet Apple Acres, as you can already tell,” she proclaimed proudly. “By the way, what’s your name stranger?”
“My name’s Defiant Shield. But everyone just calls me Shield,” he introduced.
“Well then, Shield, other than that other moment, ya seem like a good pony.”
“Likewise. I should really thank you for taking me in and-“
ROAR!
“What was that?” the stallion named Shield asked.
“I dunno,” replied AJ. Pretty soon they both heard loud screams coming from outside. AJ became really worried and hoped that it wasn’t what she thought it was.
“That sounded like it was coming from the town,” AJ stated.
“Well, let’s go!” exclaimed Shield as he hopped out of bed and ran towards the door.
“Now hold on a minute there!” AJ called out, stopping Shield from leaving her room. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to have a tea party with King Sombra on the moon- where does it look like I’m going?” he asked sarcastically. “I want to go see what’s causing all that noise,” he finished sounding unnaturally excited.
“Oh no you don’t. Not with those injuries!” pointed out Applejack.
“What injuries?”
“The one’s one your-“
AJ was found dumbstruck when she noticed that there was no longer a single scratch on Shields body, apart from the stitched clothes covering his flanks.
“What? Ah swear, when I found ya, you were covered with scratches and bruises and blood dripping from your lip!”
“Well, they’re not there anymore.” With that, the stallion ran through the door and down the stairs with AJ following close behind.
“Wait!”
Meanwhile, the rest of the Apples were returning with all of the supplies that Applejack no longer needed.
“Hey, sis! We finally found the-“
ZOOM!
A cream colored blur zoomed right past them, as they noticed AJ running down the stairs.
“Applejack, what’s going on?” asked Applebloom.
She was inturrpted when she heard a loud roar coming from the town square in the distance.
“What’s going on it that there’s some kind danger happening in Ponyville, and our ‘guest’ for some reason wants to check it out. Ya’ll stay here now!” she told her sister and she ran after the stallion.
Shield looked behind and noticed that AJ was following suit. He then stopped and waited for the apple farmer to catch up.
“Oh, so you’re following me after all?” he asked surprised.
“If it means getting more answers out of ya, than yes,” she huffed.
“Cool, fine by me. C’mon, Apple bottom. Let’s go see what all the commotion is,” he said eagerly as he raced off into town.
“Alright, just wait for me,” she paused realizing something. “And mah name is Applejack!” She then ran after the mysterious stallion and hoping that nothing too bad was happening in Ponyville.
“Is this what it feels like to be wanted? I wouldn’t know.”
-Steel Shot
The sun shone bright across Ponyville and over Twilight’s home, Golden Oaks Library. A huge library house that looked more like a giant tree than an actual library. Twilight, a lavender alicorn with a purple mane and tail, that both had a pink streak in them, was in her room reading one of her novels and deep in thought. Her assistant, Spike, a tiny dragon with purple and green scales, entered the room to see that Twilight was reading on her bed again.
“Hey, Twilight.”
“Oh, hey Spike.”
“Whatcha doin today?”
“I’d just thought I’d read a few books and catch up on my studies today.”
“Again? You’re a new princess, Twi. You can do anything you want, ya know,” Spike informed her.
“I know that, but ever since I saved Ponyville and the Princesses from the Everfree forest, I’ve been constantly thinking about my new royal duties as a princess. Who knows what else could happen in Equestria when Celestia and Luna aren’t here? That’s why I need to keep-“
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Both Twilight and Spike’s ears perked up when they heard the sudden knocking at the door. Spike raced downstairs to see who was at the door. When he did, was a little surprised to see who it was.
“Uh, Twilight,” Spike called. “Could you come down here?”
Twilight put away her book and descended down the stairs. She was also surprised to see a couple of familiar colts at her door.
“Snips and Snails?” she asked.
The two town trouble makers were shaking with fear and had terrified expressions on their faces. Snips was a small, obese, green unicorn colt with an orange mane and tail. While Snails was a tall, lanky, yellow unicorn with a green mane and tail. Those two were most known for causing trouble and mischief.
“Princess Twilight! We got a serious problem!” panicked Snips.
“Why? What happened?” she asked.
“This time,” added Spike.
Snips did his best to explain the situation. “Me and S-s-snails were playing ball near the forest. And our ball bounced off into the woods, so we both went to g-g-g-get it. We went really deep into the forest to get it back. But when we found it, there wa-
ROAR!
All four of them turned their heads to see a shocking surprise. Five huge Timberwolves were roaming the streets of Ponyville and wreaking havoc. Knocking over stands, chasing ponies, and charging at anything that moves. Twilight looked down at the two colts with a disapproving look on her face.
“You attracted a pack of Timberwolves!?” she scolded.
“We’re sorry!” they both cried out. “Our ball was under one of the Timberwolves and we tried to be really careful to get it out. But when we grabbed the ball, they all woke up! Please help!”
Twilight let out a loud sigh and flew on out to the streets with Spike following her. She rubbing her head, trying to come up with an idea.
“What do we do Twilight?” asked Spike.
“Hold on, I’m thinking,” she said. She rubbed her head more in thought, trying to come up with a solution to try to stop these Timberwolves.
“Twilight!” shouted a meek voice.
Twilight turned her head to see a familiar pegasus mare.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight and Spike yelled.
“Twilight, what’s going? Why are there Timberwolves attacking Ponyville?” she asked as she approached the two.
“Take a wild guess,” Spike replied sarcastically, pointing to Snips and Snails, who both had a guilty expression.
“I see, what are we going to do Twilight?” Fluttershy asked again.
“I don’t know, I’m trying to think,” she replied.
As she was deep in thought, a lone Timberwolf landed right in front them. All three of them froze in complete fear as the beast got closer and closer to them. Twilight decided to take action and stepped forward. Her brow furrowed with confidence and her wings flared up, shielding Spike and Fluttershy. Her horn started to illuminate as the Timberwolf crept in closer and closer. Twilight didn't move a muscle as Fluttershy whimpered behind her, holding Spike in a tight embrace.
Just before the wolf beast could makes its first strike, a small and fast object came flying and smacked it right in its face. The wolf turned its head to see where the attack came from.
“Get away from them!” shouted a tomboyish voice. “If you mess with them, you mess with me!”
The wolf turned around to see a cyan pegasus mare floating in the air and holding a rock in her hoof.
“Rainbow Dash?” wondered Spike as he broke away from Fluttershy's scared hug. It was, indeed, their speedy hot-headed friend. They recognized her cyan fur and rainbow mane and tail anywhere.
The wolf turned around and started charging at Rainbow. However, before it could land a strike, she vanished. The confused Timberwolf looked all around for its cyan attacker. He was then met with a colliding hoof to the face, knocking some twigs off its head. The force was strong enough to leave the wolf wobbling. Rainbow was in a floating fighting stance and full of confidence. The wolf recovered from the punch and pounced at Rainbow.
However, she ducked and the wolf went right over her head. Once she found herself underneath the beast, she gave his wooden gut a hard buck. The wolf went flying and landed on its back. It got back up, shook off the pain, and charged once more. It swiped its branchy claw, but Rainbow dodged it and returned with a hook to the head. It was becoming a pattern; swipe and punch over and over. Every time Rainbow delivered a punch, the force made her float back, not that it mattered to her.
“Ha! Is that all you got?!” she gloated as she went to deliver another punch.
This time though, the wolf dodged it. It swerved to the right and left Rainbow wide open. After it dodged, it pounced again. The Beast grabbed Rainbow with its paws and slammed her into the earth, pinning her down. Rainbow was found pinned down on her back with the wolf about chomp down on her head. She began to lose all hope and grew a terrified expression. As the wolf raised its right paw, Rainbow closed her eyes for the final blow.
SHINK!
Rainbow opened up one eye to see what made the noise. She was surprised to see a silver arrow shot through the wolf’s paw. The wooden beast noticed this and screamed in agony. It scattered off Rainbow and began to whimper. However-
SHINK!
It’s whimpering came to a stop when another arrow was found lodged in its wooden skull. The beast then fell to the ground, crumbling into tiny little branches on impact.
“What in the?” exclaimed Rainbow.
Rainbow looked up in the sky to see who shot that arrow. Twilight shook out of her trance and also noticed the now deceased Timberwolf, she also looked up to see who killed the wolf. They were both surprised to see a lone Pegasus stallion floating in the air, several feet above the ground.
Is that who shot that arrow? Twilight thought.
This stallion had a very unfamiliar appearance to them. He had a muscular build, but he didn’t look as bulky or tough as Big Mac. He also had some very peculiar features that looked rather anomalous and strange. For one thing, this stallion had a light purple fur coat, along with a short mane and tail that were both fuchsia. The strangest thing, however, were his eyes. He had some pale, green, expressionless eyes that looked rather creepy and threatening. He also had two stitched pieces of cloth covering each side of his cutiemark. Other than his eyes, he looked pretty intimidating. The girls, and Spike, took noticed to the large silver bow he had in his hooves. The stallion looked down on the village and took notes in his head.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve fought Timberwolves,” he said stoically. “Might as well get some practice in.”
He was wearing a hoof gauntlet on his right hoof with a small hook at the end of it for grabbing and shooting arrows. He used his hooked gauntlet to grab an arrow from his pack and loaded it into his bow. He pulled back the bowstring and concentrated on the next target, a Timberwolf closing in on two mares; one of them being a pink earth pony mare with a fluffy mane and tail, and the other a white unicorn mare with a swirly purple mane and tail. He closed one of his eyes and aimed his bow. The hook on his hoof slowly released the string, firing the arrow downwards.
As it was descending, it started to glow a bright purple. Suddenly, the light flashed and the arrow broke into five separate arrows, shooting down at high speeds. The wolf down below was closing in on it’s targets as the mares held each other and shook in complete terror. Before the wolf could attack-
SHINK!
An arrow was shot right through it’s front right paw and pinned said paw into the ground. The wolf let out a yelp of pain as it tried to free it’s trapped limb from the arrow in the earth. Soon another arrow was shot through it’s other paw and into the dirt road, then it’s back feet. The giant wooden wolf was pitched down like a tent. It let out a loud roar of rage, but it was short lived when the last arrow landed right dead on top of it’s head.
The body then dropped and broke into several pieces, like the pile of sticks that it was. Both mares smiled in relief, knowing that they wouldn’t be something’s lunch today, and hugged each other again.
Up above, the stallion spotted the next wolf, which was chasing a blue unicorn mare, with a two toned blue mane and tail, down the street. He grabbed another arrow from his pack and loaded it into his silver bow. He pulled again, and let it fly downwards. The arrow landed right dead in the Timberwolf’s back left leg. Once it was lodged in, the arrow instantly caught on fire. The wolf looked back and noticed its back legs were on fire. It let out many whimpers and yelps as it ran around in a circle.
Pretty soon, the whole body was engulfed in flames. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike couldn’t believe what they were seeing, all they could do was watch on as this unfolded in front of them. Fluttershy looked especially terrified, seeing the wooden creature burn to death. The Timberwolf was now nothing more than a pile of ashes blowing in the wind. The stallion in the air scanned the area to make sure he didn’t miss any. It didn’t look like a lot of damage, on the village, but it did look like he managed to get all of them.
He then descended from the sky and landed safely on the ground. He put his bow on his back and started to look around the area. He then turned towards Twilight and the others, which caught them off guard. Despite his fuchsia mane and tail, they only took notice to his big expressionless eyes.
Those eyes, they look so cold and blank. Why are they like that? Twilight thought.
The stallion started to walk on over to where Twilight was. Her friends couldn’t help but notice, that every time he took a step, there was a strange ‘clicking’ sound to go with it. Every time he moved a joint in his body, there was a small click.
Is that clicking coming from him? Fluttershy thought to herself. The stallion then approached the small group of three.
“Is everypony alright? Anyone injured?” he asked calmly.
Oh wow, he’s got a deep voice, Twilight thought.
“Um-“
SLAM!
Before Twilight could answer, another Timberwolf came out of nowhere and tackled the mysterious stallion. They were all shocked to see him getting mauled by the beast.
What? Another one?! But I thought he got them all! thought Twilight.
The wolf had him by the neck and started bashing his body repeatedly into the ground. Thrashing his head side to side, hoping to tear him apart. Then, the stallion grabbed hold of the wolf’s neck and threw him off immediately, sending him flying. He was panting from the surprise attack and had several scrapes around his neck and legs. He was wobbling a little, but still managed to keep on standing.
“It seems… I’ve missed one,” he panted, cracking his neck. “How could I be so careless?” He then got into a fighting position ready to take on the wolf. It let out a huge roar. Then
BASH!
A hoof collided with the beasts face and set him flying once more. The beast kept on sliding until it hit a nearby boulder, smashing it completely. The fuchsia maned stallion was left confused, as well as Twilight and her friends.
“W-What?” stuttered the white mare.
“Rarity, Pinkie, are you two alright?” asked the worried Twilight.
“We’re fine, darling,” answered the white mare named Rarity. “But what about him!” she then pointed to the standing Pegasus stallion who still doesn’t have a clue what happened.
“What in the?” started the stallion, as he waited for the debris to clear.
“Aw yeah! That was awesome!” yelled a young voice.
Everyone waited for the debris to clear to see who was speaking. Once it cleared up, all they saw was a young stallion. Defiant Shield was standing there, shaking his right hoof, with a confident grin on his face.
“It’s been forever since I’ve fought a Timberwolf!” he exclaimed. “I’ve got a score to settle with you freaks of nature!”
Now who’s this guy? wondered Twilight.
“Shield?” asked the other stallion.
“Huh? Oh, hey Steel,” he greeted. “Looks like you’ve finally arrived. Did you crash land here too?”
“No, in fact-“
“Shield!” yelled a southern voice.
Both stallions turned around to see Applejack finally catching up and joined the rest of the group.
“Ah told you to wait, didn’t I!?” she yelled.
“Oh, sorry Apple Bottom,” he responded waving. The other mares just looked at the farmer mare while trying to hold in their laughter.
“I-It’s Applejack!” stuttered Applejack, who was trying to hide her embarrassed blush.
As Shield let out a small chuckle, he took notice to Steel’s neck and noticed it was all scraped up with teeth marks.
“Dang, looks you got all banged up there,” he said, pointing to the wound.
“Yeah, well one of the wolves got me by surprise,” Steel replied trying to wipe some of the blood off.
They all heard a loud rustling noise from the distance. They looked to find out that the last Timberwolf was slowing creeping out from behind the bolder and aimed it’s glowing green eyes at Shield; but all Shield did was smile.
“Back for one more round?” he asked.
The wolf just snarled at him as it was digging it’s paw into the ground, preparing to charge. With that, the wolf let out a roar and charged right for Shield. When it was charging, Shield reeled back his front right hoof and prepared to deliver the next blow. As soon as the wolf was just a few feet in front of him, he let loose.
BASH!
He gave the wolf a good hard right hook to the face, leaving the wolf staggering and stumbling. It shook its head to try to rid itself from the pain from Shields punch.
Now’s my chance! thought Shield as he charged head on towards the wobbling wolf. He leapt and reeled back his front left hoof to deliver a left hook this time.
However, this wolf was more vigilant and saw the attack coming. The Timberwolf turned and leapt towards Shield as well, but it dodged his oncoming hoof just in time. Just then, as the wolf dodged his attack, its branchy claws start to scrape the surface of Shields front left hoof, as it was passing by him in mid-leap. They both landed on the ground and Shield started to hold his arm, he also noticed the large gash that was given to him and the amount of blood he was losing. Several bloody rivers was streaming down his arm. The mares who were watching just gasped at the sight of it.
“Damn. I blew it.” Shield hissed.
The wolf then turned around and stared at the wounded Shield. The wolf pounced again. However, before he could reach him, a cyan blue blur collided with it’s face and sent it flying back. Shield noticed this and saw the cyan Pegasus mare floating in the air. The mare looked back at Shield and took notice to his bleeding arm. She then flew down and went to check up on him.
“Hey, guy. You alright?” she asked concerned.
“Just a little scrape,” he assured her.
“A scrape!? Dude, you barely survived a Timberwolf strike and your arm is covered with blood!” she exclaimed pointing to his wound.
“I think I’ll live,” he said.
Before she could retort, the beast immediately got back up and charged at the two with an open mouth.
SHINK!
An arrow was shot through its throat and caught on fire. The whole wolf was covered with flames and started to run around. It’s panicking came to a close when it ran straight into a wall and crumpled into little burned pieces. Every looked back and noticed the Pegasus stallion named Steel holding his bow again in the air. He landed on the ground and put his bow away as he watched the last Timberwolf burn.
“It is done,” he said.
Pretty soon, they all decided to re-group to talk about the situation. Shield was walking with a limp because of the wound and Steel was still holding onto his neck to add pressure to stop his wound from bleeding.
“Ok, I’ll be the first to say it,” started Spike. “What the hay just happened?!”
“I’m pretty sure what happened was that there was huge Timberwolf attack, for some reason, and we all just took them down!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash excitedly. “I mean, did you see me out there?”
“If you mean, watching you getting pinned down by a wolf made of sticks, then yes, I saw you.” replied Steel calmly. Rainbow just gave a small grunt at his response.
“Ha!” laughed Shield.
“Speaking of which,” Steel continued. “How did this happen?”
The group then eyed Snips and Snail, the two colts responsible, as they were trying to sneak away undetected, but it didn’t work. As they were caught, they both gave a guilty smile.
“Very well then.” spoke Steel. He then floated towards the two colts, who both had nervous expressions on their faces. What Steel did next shocked every pony around the area. He brought out his bow, loaded an arrow in it, and aimed it at the two colts. Everypony was taken back at this and looked absolutely horrified, jaws dropped and all. Before he could fire, Shield got in front of him and swatted his bow downwards.
“Whoa Whoa Whoa! What do you think you’re doing?!” stammered Shield.
“Eliminating the problem,” Steel replied flatly.
“What?!”
“Are they not the ones who caused those wolves to attack? It would be best to take ‘care of them’ before they cause another problem that could put everypony in danger.”
“Dude, are you listening to yourself?” butted in Rainbow. “You’re aiming your bow and arrow at two colts here!”
“They may have caused some ‘accidents’ in the past, but that’s just what it was all along: accidents. They’re just kids. I’m sure they didn’t mean anything by it,” added Twilight.
“I-I-It’s true. We didn’t mean anything by it!” stuttered Snips.
“Y-yeah, an accident,” added Snails.
“What am is supposed to do then?” asked Steel.
“What are you supposed to do? How ‘bout a simple wave of the hoof while saying, ‘don’t let this happen again’?!” suggested Shield. “Don’t you think that would be more fitting? I mean, shooting kids, really?! You and your inappropriate actions.”
“Oh you’re one to talk,” muttered Applejack.
“Fine, I’ll give it a try,” Steel said as he put away his bow and walked towards Snips and Snails, who were still shaking with fear.
Steel then raised his left hoof and started shaking it awkwardly. Then he stared down at the two. “Don’t…let this happen again,” he said flatly.
“Y-yeah, we won’t! Sorry! Gotta go now!” With that, Snips and Snails both ran as fast as they could until they were out of sight.
Steel then turned around to see the group of mares, the dragon, and Shield, still had surprised faces.
“Forgive me,” he said as he bowed.
“It’s fine, I guess,” Twilight replied. “By the way, I don’t think we got your names yet. Mind introducing yourselves?” she asked.
“Of course,” the Pegasus started as he got up from his bow. “My name is Steel Shot.”
“And I’m Defiant Shield,” finished Shield.
“Oh, well it’s a pleasure to meet you two. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight introduced. Then the whole group started introducing themselves and telling the two stallions all of their names. During introductions, Twilight couldn’t help but stare at the severe scratches and cuts around Steel’s neck.
“Oh my, those wounds look pretty bad,” pointed out Twilight. “Maybe we should take you to the hospital.”
“No need for that, I’ll be fine,” he informed her.
“Really? But your neck is covered with blood,” she retorted.
“I think a first aid kit will do fine. Do you have one?” he asked.
“Uh, sure. Spike, run in and grab the kit,” Twilight ordered.
“Sure thing.” he replied as he ran inside.
"Thank you both so much for saving our town," thanked Fluttershy.
"No problem," replied Shield. Out of nowhere, Pinkie started getting a wide grin on her face.
“Hold on! You just saved us from a dangerous Timberwolf attack and you’re both new in town. You know what this calls for?” she said excitedly. “A party!”
“Huh, what’s this about a party?” asked Spike as he walked out with the first aid kit. Steel then opened up the kit and took out a roll of bandage wraps and started to unravel it. He then proceeded to wrap the bandages around his wounded neck.
“Eh, I’m down for a party,” said Shield. “What do you think, Applejack?”
“For the last time! Mah name is Apple bot-” she paused. “Oh wait, you said it right, never mind.”
The whole group started chuckling and laughing, even though they had no idea what they were talking about. Steel finally finished wrapping the bandages around his neck.
“Perhaps some other time. I have to get going now.” Steel informed them.
“Aw, what?” moaned a disappointed Pinkie Pie. “C’mon, it’ll be fun! Think of it like our way of saying thank you. Pleeease say you’ll come?”
“Sorry, but I really have to go.” He then turned around and started walking away.
“Why, where do you have to be in such a hurry?” called out Rainbow. Steel then stopped his tracks and turned around to face them.
“I’m looking for someone.” he answered.
“Really? Who?” asked Rarity.
“Our sister. We all got separated on the way here, and now I can’t find her. She could be anywhere.”
“You still haven’t found her?” asked Shield as he approached him. “Maybe I should go with you to help find her.”
“No, I’m fine on my own. Besides, I think you should stay here,” Steel suggested. “You’ve got some healing to do, from the looks of your arm. Plus, we could cover more ground this way. I’ll go search for sis out there while you search in this town. For all we know, she could be just hiding.”
“Ok, fair point,” Shield responded.
“Hold on, I have one more question,” started Rainbow Dash. “How do you two know each other?”
“Yeah, I’d like to know that too,” added Applejack.
“Are you two like, best friends?” asked Pinkie.
“No, we’re not friends. We’re brothers,” admitted Shield.
The whole group grew eyes that were wide with shock. They couldn’t tell if they were lying or not. These two stallions were related?
“You’re brothers?!” they all exclaimed.
“Yeah, can’t you tell?” asked Shield as he pointed to himself and Steel.
“No, I don’t really see the resemblance,” spoke Rarity.
“Plus, how can you two be brothers? You’re an earth pony and Steel is a pegasus,” wondered Twilight.
“He’s adopted.” Steel responded nonchalantly. In return, Shield gave him a blank stare that said ‘Really?’
“Ohhh!” the whole group replied.
“That must be tough for you, Shield.” Fluttershy said.
“Meh,” responded Shield as he shrugged his shoulders. “No big deal.”
“Anyway, I really must go now.” spoke Steel.
“Wait!” yelled Pinkie. “I have an idea! Maybe when you find your sister, you can come back and we can have your big welcome party then! That way, you and your siblings can have a great fun party together.”
“Perhaps. I’ll think about it. Sayonara.”
With that, the pegasus stallion spread his wings and took off. Shield watched until he was out of sight. He then turned towards the rest of the ponies who had rather blank and confused expressions on their faces, especially Applejack’s.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“So, that was one of your siblings you mentioned earlier?” asked Applejack.
“Yep.”
“And you’re sister is out there, somewhere?”
“Yeah. Like I said, I have quite a few.” he replied.
“Hold on, how do you know Applejack?” asked Twilight.
“To take orders without question, to kill without mercy, to always do what I am told; that’s my only true purpose in life.”
-Icy Wish
Somewhere deep in the forest near the dragon lands, were three teenage dragons roaming about and snickering to each other. The leader, Garble, was an average sized teenage dragons with red and yellow scales with a nasty looking smile on his face.
Next to him were two other dragons: one skinny, purple scaled dragon and one overweight, brown scaled dragon. The trio were each carrying a small bag over their shoulders filled with glimmering gems. They just robbed a group of Diamond dogs and were walking back to their mountain while telling crude jokes.
“Man, did you see the looks on those dogs faces when he ambushed them?” laughed the purple dragon.
“Yeah, they were all ‘Aaaah! Don’t hurt us!’” snickered the brown dragon.
“And the way we burned down their little gem wagons was hilarious!” added the purple one.
“Ha. Diamond dogs are so pathetic!” sneered Garble. “Although it was nice of them to offer us their tasty gems.”
“Hehehe, yeah, ‘offer’” agreed the purple one as the trio began to laugh some more.
Eventually they unintentionally walked into a wide open area in the middle of the woods. As they were walking, they all stopped and took in a frightening sight. There, in the open area, laying on the ground, were many dragon corpses.
“What the?!” they all yelled in complete fear.
The trio dropped their gem bags and took in the horrible sight. Their fellow teenage dragons just laid there, completely motionless. They were all covered with blood, scratches, scars, de-winged, with their hearts extracted and eyes gouged out. They all saw one fellow dragon body lying right in front of them with its claws missing, while another was lying over a nearby boulder dripping blood, and another crucified on a tree trunk by its wings. Another dragon was found lying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood and another body with its decapitated head resting on it’s now dead claw.
Garble and his gang couldn’t believe what they were seeing, it was a complete massacre. The purple one started hyperventilating while the brown one ran over to a nearby tree stump to empty his stomach. Meanwhile Garble’s eyes just grew wider, with both fear and rage.
“What….who…did this?!” he seethed.
Just then, they all heard loud screaming coming from the distance. They all looked in front of them and saw a surviving teenage dragon running out of the woods. This one had white and pink scales and were covered with scars. He came rushing towards Garble’s gang.
“PLEASE HELP ME! PLEASE HELP-“
ZAP!
His cry was cut short when a blue beam had shot right through the young dragon’s chest and splattered blood over Garble’s face. He stepped back, startled, and wiped the blood off his face while throwing up a little in his mouth. He looked down and stared at the now dead dragon on the ground, with a bloody hole in its body. After he got a good glimpse of the corpse, he heard strange giggling coming from the distance. It sounded very feminine, girly even.
He looked up and noticed a figure started to walk out in the distance, towards him. The figure had that of a full grown mare, and was covered by a dark cloak. Garble couldn’t make out who it was, since the pony figure had it’s hood up.
“What?! A Wimpy little pony did this?!” he exclaimed.
As the pony figure was getting closer and closer to Garble he noticed something else. The pony had a long blue lance attached to its right side, and there was smoke coming from the tip of it. The pony figure then began to giggle.
“Hehehehehe, Tag, you’re it,” the figure giggled. Garble was sure now it was a mare, from the girly giggle. The pony looked up and noticed Garble. Even though nobody could see it, the pony formed a big grin on her face.
“Hello there!” she greeted innocently. “What’s your name?”
“None of your damn business!” retorted Garble. “Are you the one who did this?! What are you doing here?!”
The cloaked pony with the lance giggled some more at his straight forward question.
“Looking for a new playmate!” she answered as she raised her lance at him. The lance then fired a blue magical beam and was aiming right at Garble. Luckily, he flew out of the way just in time. The beam hit the tree behind him and blew up, sending burning tree bark flying everywhere. Garble hit the ground and his companions quickly came to his side.
“You alright?” asked the brown dragon.
“Yeah,” he answered as he got back up.
“Is that thing supposed to be a pony?” asked the purple one.
The cloaked figure started to walk closer towards the trio with it’s blue lance still at it’s side.
“Aw, why’d you move out of the way?” she whined. “You’re no fun!”
“Hey! Blaze Blade!” yelled another feminine voice. The dragons all looked to the left and noticed another cloaked pony, yanking out a sword out of another teenage dragon corpse. It turned around and started walking towards the other clocked pony, while levitating it’s sword with magic. Garble got the idea that this pony was a unicorn. There was a scarlet aura surrounding the handle, and it looked like a longsword with a five foot blade. The other pony figure whipped the blade to get the blood off as it was finally next to the lance pony.
“How many times have I told you? Stop playing around with your victims,” she scolded. “We’re here on an important mission, remember? We can’t afford any delays.”
“Aw C’mon, Crystal Cutter!” complained the lance pony named Blaze. “I was just having a little fun. And besides, it’s not like these dragons will be going anywhere anytime soon. They’re already dead, Haha!”
“Even so, we were given an order to carry out the first phase of the extermination process. If we stop even for a second, they could just multiply behind our backs. We need to get them while they’re still young and vulnerable,” reasoned the sword pony named Crystal.
As they were talking, Garble’s eyes began to fill with both rage and fear. He was livid that a couple of ponies were able to slaughter their fellow dragons, and afraid that these ponies might be able to do the same to them. He became really upset as he clenched his claws and gritted his teeth.
“Hey!” he finally yelled. “What the hell is going on here?!”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” giggled the lance pony.
“Grrrr! There’s no way we’re going to let a couple of pussy ponies intimidate us!” Garble growled.
“Yeah!” yelled his two companions.
“Whatever, it’s your funeral,” replied Crystal as she raised her sword with her magic.
All three of them started to grit their teeth with anger and narrowed their eyes on the cloaked strangers. They spread their wings and charged at the ponies with an intent to kill them.
“Shut it!” they all yelled.
Garble was the first to attack as he swiped his claw at them, but they both jumped back at the attack. Both ponies raised their weapons higher and were prepared for the fight.
“How lame,” hissed the cloaked unicorn.
Garble then flew into the air as a sudden idea came to his head. He took in a deep breath and exhaled fire that covered the entire area. Pretty soon, the whole place was engulfed in flames.
“Fire!?” exclaimed Blaze.
“This is bad!” spoke Crystal.
Garble let out a small laugh, thinking that they’ve won and avenged their fellow dragons. He noticed that the lance pony was suddenly caught on fire, which made him laugh even more. However, his laughter was brought to a halt when he noticed something unusual. A large snowy cloud appeared out of the forest and covered the open area and putting out the flames.
“What?!” all the dragons yelled in disbelief.
The cloud put out the dragons flame almost instantly, leaving some snow and ice crystals behind. Once the ice cloud died down, the two cloaked ponies looked up at the teenage dragons.
“What?!” exclaimed the purple dragon. “Where did that blizzard cloud come fr-“
ZAP!
The burnt lance pony shot a beam at the purple dragon’s right wing before he could finish his sentence and came plummeting down to the ground, screaming. He fell down with a thud and looked up at the cloaked figure, still unable to detect her face because of her hood, but saw that she had a flowing white mane. She looked down and aimed her lance at his face.
"Say Cheese!" she mocked.
“Why you-“started the fallen dragon.
SHINK!
The dragon let out a scream of agony as several icicles were suddenly shot and impaled his back legs. He looked back and noticed that the icicles was turning his legs into ice.
SHINK!
More icicles were shot and impaled into his back and his arms. Before he could say or do anything else, his entire body became encased in ice. The dragon was nothing more than lizard in an ice cube. The lance pony looked up and noticed, yet another, cloaked pony hiding in the trees and resting on a sturdy branch.
“Hey! No fair!” exclaimed Blaze. “I was supposed to get him, Icy!”
The mare in the tree pulled pack her hood, revealing her face to the latter. She had a sky blue fur coat with along with a long, flowing, mane. The azure blues, blacks and whites in her mane mixed together as her mane whipped in the wind. She also had big eyelashes and ruby red eyes. Her horn was covered by a blue aura as she looked down at the other cloaked mares.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized.
“Don’t be,” stepped Crystal. “It’s first come, first serve. Excellent save with that blizzard, might I add.”
Garble and the other dragon flew down the ground and looked at their now frozen friend. Fear and despair started to stir in their eyes. Not only was their friend’s wing severed, but now his entire body was encased in ice.
“What did you do!?” shouted Garble.
“Isn’t it obvious? Your friend has become a dragon Popsicle,” informed the sword pony. “But why should you care? It’s not like you dragons actually have hearts.”
“I’ll kill you!” growled the brown dragon as he charged right at the hooded mares.
At the same time, Crystal charged right for the brown dragon with her blade held straight with her magic and aimed right at him. The dragon threw a fist while Crystal held her blade in a blocking position. The dragon’s fist connected with the blade and the force sent the pony back, hitting a nearby boulder and cracking it. The pony got back up and held her sword again with her magic. The dragon suddenly got scared when he caught a glimpse of her piercing scarlet eyes.
“How dare you!” she yelled as she charged. The brown dragon did the same and charged towards her again. The two ran right past each other, but it was Crystal who stopped first. The brown dragon also stopped and grew confused. He turned around and noticed the sword pony. He was sure he was aiming right at her, so why did he miss, and why did he feel a sudden breeze while passing?
“What the heck happened?” he wondered. “Did we not hit each other?”
He then took notice at the sword pony’s blade, it was completely crimson and dripping. He let out a loud gasp and look down on his body. Before he could say or do anything else, his body burst and exploded with blood. Garble looked in horror as his friends body has been sliced and diced into the shape of a diamond. The pony looked back as she saw the dragons head flying from the attack.
“We did make contact. I just attacked faster,” she informed him as she whipped the blood off her blade.
Icy then leaped off her branch and formed a short sword made of ice. She then proceeded to slice at the dragons decapitated head while it was still in the air, flinging blood and ice everywhere. The head landed on the ground and was now in the shape of a bloody snowflake.
“My my. How crafty, Icy,” commented Crystal which made Icy blush a little.
Garble couldn’t take it anymore. He decided the best thing to do was to get out of there before he ends up like his friends, and who wouldn’t do that?
“I gotta get out of here!” he yelled as he spread his wings and attempted to fly away. Unfortunately, a huge wall made of ice formed and blocked Garbles exit out of the area. He turned around and noticed Icy’s horn still glowing and making the ice wall bigger.
SHINK! SHINK!
Garble let out a painful scream as his wings were pierced to the ice wall by Blaze’s lance and Crystal’s sword. He couldn’t move and couldn’t escape. All he could do was shiver in fear, and in coldness due to the ice wall he was attached to. A thought then struck his head. His wings may be no longer functional, but that doesn’t mean his breath wasn’t. He cracked a smiled and let out another breath of fire.
“Not again!” yelled Blaze as she jumped away.
This time, Crystal was too slow and the fire burned her hooves. She jumped back and dropped her sword. She then attempted to cool them off in some nearby ice. Garbles smile grew as he kept on breathing his infernal fire. Another ice cloud appeared and immediately put out the fire. Not only that, a chain made of ice shot right out of the cloud and wrapped itself around Garble’s throat, preventing him from breathing his fire breath, but still kept him breathing normally.
The fire was put out as he saw an angry Icy. She looked back at the other mares and noticed their burn marks. She turned back and glared at the trapped dragon. She shot two icicles out of her horn and impaled his palms. He let out another scream as the icy unicorn approached him.
“You’ll pay for what you did to my sisters!” she threatened.
“Hey, Icy!” yelled Blaze as she flew down, revealing that she was a pegasus. “Why don’t you try out that new trick you’ve been working on?”
“You really think so?” she asked as she stared back at Crystal for approval. Her hood nodded yes and Icy turned to face Garble.
“OK then,” she said as she formed a little marble made of ice in her front right hoof. She then leaned in towards Garble and forced his mouth opened with her magic.
“Don’t worry, this is no bigger than an average pill. So you should swallow it with ease,” she versed as she planted the ice marble on his tongue and closed his mouth. She released the ice chain around his neck and forced him to swallow the marble. They all heard a loud gulp and Garble’s eyes shrank with fear, not knowing what might happen next. Ten seconds had passed nothing happened, Icy was beginning to have her doubts, thinking that her new trick might not have worked. Garble then felt a cold sensation in his abdomen, like a blizzard forming inside of him.
SHINK! SHINK! SHINK! SHINK! SHINK! SHINK! SHINK!
Suddenly, several ice spikes came bursting out of his body. They came out in all sorts of directions, there were spikes coming out of his stomach, chest, arms, legs, tail, and even face. They were all covered with blood. As if it couldn’t get any worse, Garble’s body then began to freeze until he turned completely blue. He ended up like his other dragon friends, frozen and impaled from the inside.
“Huh, this is the first time it actually worked,” stated Icy. “Every time I tried this technique on a smaller creature, it would only freeze them halfway and only form three spikes. Perhaps it only works on larger beings?”
“Who cares? That was so cool!” proclaimed Blaze.
“Y-You mean it?” asked Icy as she turned around. She then remembered Crystal’s injury. “Ah, Crystal!” she yelled as she came to her aid. She put her hooves around her and applied some more ice to her injuries.
“Are you-“ Crystal then pressed the tip of her hoof to Icy’s lips, silencing her.
“Don’t worry, I’m alright. These might be more severe injuries than what I’m used to, but it’s nothing I can’t deal with,” Crystal responded. “Anyway, you did great on your second mission.”
Icy’s face began to fluster and a huge grin formed on her face. She felt so happy to hear her “sister” say that she’s done a good job. Without thinking twice, she wrapped her hooves around Crystal again in a big hug and began thanking her constantly.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she exclaimed as she smothered her. Crystal pushed her away with her hoof to get some space.
“Easy there, Icy Wish. You might’ve done well on this mission, but there’s still more to learn along the way. Plus, this extermination isn’t over yet. We can’t afford any delays, remember?” informed Crystal.
“Oh, right. Sorry,” Icy replied as she let go.
“Hey, lookie!” chirped Blaze. They looked to wear Blaze was pointing and saw another cloaked pony appear out of the forest and running towards them. This one was an earth pony stallion and had his hood down, unlike the other two mares.
He had an ash grey fur coat along with a short golden mane, he also wore a purple bandana that covered his muzzle. Crystal and Blaze decided to approach him while Icy went back to Garble’s frozen corpse to make sure he was dead.
“Hiya, Chance!” greeted Blaze.
“What’s the status report?” ordered Crystal, getting to the point.
The stallion named Chance pulled out a piece of paper from his cloak and handed it to Crystal. She levitated it with her magic and began to read it. Blaze hovered over her to read the message too. Both Crystal and Blaze’s eyes widen and let out a loud gasp as soon as they were done reading the letter.
“Thank you for getting this to us, Chance,” thanked Crystal. The stallion gave a simple nod and ran back into the forest.
“So, Mother finally managed to track them down,” Crystal said matter-of-factly.
“This is so exciting, what’re we going to do now?” chirped Blaze.
“We’ll take this message to the west mountain,” she answered. “Drill Down would want to see this. He’s probably done with his mission too.”
“Really?” wondered Blaze as she looked back Icy Wish who was examining Garble’s body. “OOOO! Idea!”
“What is it?” Crystal asked.
“Since Icy is still kinda new here, and seeing how she lacks experience.”
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t we send her to do the dirty deed!?” she suggested cheerfully.
“Blaze…”
“I bet she’d be SO HAPPY to go on her first hunt! I know I would.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Blaze,” doubted Crystal.
“C’mon, Crystal! Besides, Drilly’s got a lot on his mind and probably doesn’t want to be bothered. After all, he’s still trying cool down from that ‘incident’ a while back,” the lance pony suggested.
“I know he is. But he’s the one who wants to find them the most,” reminded Crystal.
“Really, why? After they betrayed us?”
“I don’t know why he wants them back. Believe me, I’ve asked him before. He just told me that I wouldn’t understand and that it’s personal. So that’s why we should take this message to him.”
“Awe, C’mon!” whined Blaze.
Crystal then began to tap her hoof to her chin and pondered for a bit, trying to think of a way to still give Icy an opportunity. An idea popped in her head.
“Then again, Chance could be just delivering the message to all the other squads. Who’s there to say that Drill hasn’t already gotten the message? I know how brutal and fearsome he can be. Plus, I really do want to help Icy,” she pondered. “Alright. Let’s talk to her.”
Both Blaze and Crystal approached Icy who was further freezing Garble for safe measures.
“Hey Icy!” called Blaze in a sing-song tone. “Come here!”
Icy gladly approached the two.
“What’s up?”
“We just got this message from Chance,” Crystal said she handed her the letter.
Icy read over the letter and let out a loud gasp when she finished. Blaze giggled a bit, seeing that she had the same reaction.
“S-s-she found them?” asked Icy nervously.
“I know, amazing right?” agreed Blaze.
“It appears that they’re located in a town called, ‘Ponyville’. And that’s many miles away from here,” informed the sword pony. “We have some cleaning up to do and you still lack experience. We’d figure that this would be the best way to further test your abilities and make you stronger. By having you bring in those traitors and delivering them the justice that they deserve.”
Icy began to cringe at that last part. She liked the idea of her first actual hunting mission, but she didn’t want to bring in the so called ‘traitors’ and execute them.
“I don’t know, Crystal. I mean, I really want to. But, I’ve gotten to know these ponies, in the past. And it didn’t sound like they wanted to betray us back then. Maybe they’re just understood?” wondered Icy.
Crystal felt like Icy wasn’t going to break and do the mission. She decided to break out her secret weapon. She slowly approached Icy and finally pulled back her hood. Icy was stunned to see Crystals face. Not only did she show her scarlet eyes, but also her pure white fur coat and a long, straight, violet mane. She also had luscious eyelashes with a pointed horn and sported a green beret on her head. Both Icy and Blaze, who still had her hood up, gasped at their comrade’s beauty as she approached Icy.
Crystal then formed a lustful smile and stared heavenly at Icy. She put her hoof underneath Icy’s chin and raised her head so that they would be looking at each other in the eyes. Icy’s face became paralyzed when she saw Crystals glimmering eyes.
“Don’t worry. I know you’re confused about this,” she cooed. “But we have to do what’s right. I didn’t want it to have to come to this, but what other choice do we have. I care about you Icy, I really do,” she continued as she stroked Icy’s mane behind her ear and got closer to her face. “I don’t want you to do this for us, I want you to do this for you. You are so much stronger and smarter than anypony else I know. Please, take advantage of that. I believe in you, Icy Wish.”
Icy blinked twice at that part. Does she really, have faith in me? She thought.
“My my. You’re awfully cold, Icy. Let me warm you up,” Crystal finished and wrapped her hooves around Icy’s body, locking her in a warm embrace. Icy just froze, she’d never seen Crystal so affectionate or loving before. Meanwhile Blaze grew an impressed grin, even though no one could see it, as she watched.
OOOOO! I’m so jealous! It’s so rare for Crystal to hug somepony! Just how powerful is this gift of hers?! Blaze thought.
Icy found herself hugging the seductive Crystal back as she closed her eyes and took advantage of this moment. Is she really holding me? This is so scarce. I don’t think I’ve ever been held or appreciated for this long. I really do want to become more powerful. But most of all, I really want Crystal to like me even more! She’s right, I have to take advantage of this! Icy thought to herself as she broke the hug. Crystal backed away with her hooves still on Icy’s shoulders. She just stared at the young ice mare with her seductive eyes.
“Feel warm now?” wondered Crystal.
“I’ll do it,” she muttered.
“Hmm?”
“I’ll bring them in. And I’ll become stronger!” Icy declared.
“Then what are you waiting for?” Crystal asked, still in her hushed voice.
Icy formed a gleaming smile and gave a simple nod. She then turned around, jumped up, and landed on the branch that she was on before. After that, she proceed to jump from branch to branch and disappear into the forest.
“Well, that takes care of that,” stated Crystal in her normal voice now.
“Did you really mean all the stuff you said to her?” wondered Blaze.
“Of course I did. My ability wouldn’t have worked if I lied,” admitted Crystal.
Icy Wish was hopping from branch to branch on her way to Ponyville. Her face was filled with determination to bring these ‘traitors’ in, to become stronger, and to win Crystal’s heart. As she was hopping, only one thought was in her head.
I’m coming for you, traitors! Especially you, Defiant Shield!
“After everything I’ve witnessed, I can’t tell what will happen now, not anymore. I’m so scared. It makes me wonder how I’ll die.”
-Bright Eyes
It was dusk in Ponyville and Fluttershy was trotting back to her cottage. During her stroll back, she couldn’t help but ponder about the events that happened recently. With the Timberwolf attacks, the two mysterious stallions, something about finding their sister, all of it. She and her friends spent the entire day cleaning up the mess from the Timberwolves, and they had to continue it tomorrow. Her ears drooped and her mane was a mess, even a boulder would sound comfortable to sleep on by this point.
Who were those stallions? Fluttershy thought to herself. They were really strong, they took on a pack of Timberwolves as if they’ve fought them before. But why were their cutiemarks covered up? Stitched right onto their flanks?
She could still picture the small drops of blood dripping down their legs, from the stitching. She couldn’t tell if they were fresh or old. Either way, she didn’t like the looks of it. She cringed and shivered every time she thought of it. Not only that, she could still see their wounds in her head. Steel’s bloodied neck and Shields messed up hoof, both were covered in red and could easily see some exposed muscle on Shield. At least, she thought it was muscle. Fluttershy’s body vibrated and a cold chill went down her spine at the mere memory of those injuries.
Steel seems….alright. She thought again. But Shield seems a little…..strange.
Fluttershy finally made it back to her cottage before the sun set. She walked into her cottage a prepared to get ready for bed after a long day of working. As Fluttershy stepped into her home, she couldn’t help but be watched by a pair of eyes. A sudden chill went down her spine as she looked out the window. The sun was about to set, so it was a little difficult to make out if there was anything out there.
Suddenly, a bunch of wild animals came running and flying out of the woods. Small critters running towards their burrows and birds to their bird houses. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief knowing it was only her animal’s friends getting ready for sleep too. Fluttershy trotted upstairs to her bathroom and prepared a shower. However, small weasels and chirping birds wasn’t the only thing to come out of those woods. Small hoof-steps could be heard, as well as the faint sound of sniffling and weeping.
At the edge of the forest, appearing out of the woods, was a small Pegasus filly. The filly wore a gothic pink and black dress that was torn almost everywhere. Her white fur coat was bruised up and covered with scratches, and her long emerald green mane and tail were a mess, hairs sticking out and covering her right eye. Her most notable feature, were her golden eyes. However, they were more red than golden, tears could be spotted flowing down her face. The dressed filly emerged out of the forest while wiping her tears away with her wing.
“Why? Why did this happen?” she wept to herself. “I never wanted this to happen!”
She looked up to see where she was, her teary eyes suddenly perked up when she spotted Fluttershy’s cottage. A Ray of hope shined over the filly upon seeing the cottage. She ran right out of the woods and towards the front door. Unfortunately, as she was running, she tripped over a nearby stone and fell face first into ground, receiving a mouthful of grass and dirt. After spitting it out, more tears began to stream down her face from the pain of the impact.
“As if I didn’t have enough pain to deal with!” she wept some more.
She covered her eyes with her hooves and cried a river. Some of the animals exchanged looks, wondering what to do. The filly reminded them of Fluttershy and they didn’t like it when she cried. They shrugged their shoulders and tilted their heads, unsure what to make of this. After sharing face exchanges, a lone fox decided to hop out of his den and approach the poor filly.
The filly felt a little nudge on her right, she looked down to see the fox nuzzling her hoof. She could feel the fox’s warm fur as it rubbed himself up and down on the filly’s hoof. The filly cracked a little smile and began petting the fox, stroking his fur gently. The filly was starting to feel glad to receive the small fox’s comfort. Pretty soon, all of the other animals started doing the same. The birds landed on a nearby branch and some mice rested next to her.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy just got out of the shower and had a towel wrapped around her mane. After she dried off, she decided to check up on the animals downstairs. She trotted downstairs humming to herself to check on her indoor bird houses. She refilled the bird feeders and dropped extra celery for some of the rodents. While doing that, she couldn’t help but hear a faint giggling.
Her ears perked up at the noise and looked out her window. An eyebrow raised and she decided to trot closer to the window. She looked through the glass to see if anyone was out there. After a few more minutes of scanning, something caught her eye. Her eyes locked on to what looked like a small filly outside, playing with some of her animals. Confused yet concerned, Fluttershy decided to go outside and inspect. She opened up her door and trotted outside. She noticed the small filly in the dress, petting one of her foxes. She slowly approached the filly, trying hard not to startle her.
“Um, excuse me.”
The filly’s ears perked up at her voice and stopped moving completely. She turned around to face Fluttershy, only for the latter to see the filly’s damp and red eyes. The filly looked at Fluttershy, blinking twice to get the full picture of her. She moved her head up and down, scanning her body. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, took notice of the filly’s teary eyes and gasped. She brought a hoof to her mouth. She could still see some tears escaping and slowly streaming down her left cheek.
Has this filly been crying? She thought.
In return, the filly set the fox down and quickly wiped her eyes. After that, the filly continued to stare at Fluttershy anxiously. She didn’t know if this mare was going to embrace her or simply tell her to get off of her property.
“Oh my, are you alright?” asked a concerned Fluttershy.
The filly didn’t answer, she just continued to stare at Fluttershy, unable to come up with a proper response. She had never seen a mare quite like her before. Her soft voice, her stunning appearance, she couldn’t tell what would happen next.
“Not really,” the filly finally answered.
“What happened?” asked Fluttershy.
The filly didn’t know if she wanted to answer that question. After all she’s been through, she didn’t feel ready to talk about it, and especially to somepony she just met. The filly looked down at some of the animals who were looking up at her. She really didn’t know what to say at a time like this.
“S-Sorry,” spoke the filly. “I didn’t know these were your animals. I-I’ll just leave now.”
The filly used what little strength she had to get back up and turned around. However, before she could leave-
“Wait!” Fluttershy called out. The filly turned around. “You don’t have to go. Are you hurt?” Fluttershy continued to stare at the little filly. Her red eyes, the scratches on her body, and her torn dress. All she could do was feel sorry for this filly.
“Why don’t you come inside, dear?”
The filly’s eyes beamed, she couldn’t believe that this random mare would actually want to help her. Was it because of her injuries or the fact that she was just a small filly? She had no idea.
“R-Really?” the filly stuttered. “I-I don’t want to be a bother or anything.”
“You’re not being a bother at all,” responded Fluttershy as she flew closer to her. “C’mon. It’s getting dark out.” She held out her hoof hoping the filly would take it.
The filly slowly reached for Fluttershy’s hoof and gladly accepted it. Upon contact, Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel how unusually cold her hoof was. It was unnatural. Fluttershy helped the filly inside her home, she was amazed at how nice and lovely her cottage was. There were even more animals indoors than out.
“Would you like some tea?” offered Fluttershy.
The filly was feeling awfully parched from all the running. She shook her head up and down desperately. Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle at the filly’s response.
“Alright. You can take a seat over there, and I’ll get it ready,” she said softly.
The filly turned and saw to where she was pointing, which was at a nice and soft looking couch. She trotted over and rested on the couch. As Fluttershy was preparing tea in the kitchen, the filly gazed all around her cottage. Amazed to see all kinds of bird houses and other little critters running about in her home. She then looked down at her torn dress, just the sight of it made her want to tear up again. She looked away instantly to avoid that. She continued to take in the amount of animals that lived with her in her cottage, including a certain white rabbit who was giving her dirty looks.
“Angel, it’s not nice to stare,” spoke Fluttershy.
The little rabbit quickly hopped away, still wearing that unsure look on his face. Fluttershy brought the cup of tea to the filly. She rested it on her wing and held it out for her.
“I hope you like dandelion tea,” she said. “If you don't, I can always make something else.”
“T-That’s Ok. Dandelion’s my favorite,” the filly replied. “Thank you.”
She reached out for the tea and gladly took it. She blew on the surface to cool it down. Once it was cooled down, she started taking little sips from the cup. The sweet flavor of dandelions poured down her throat and into her tummy. Then she started gulping down the tea like she hadn’t anything to drink in the past week. Thought surprised at her behavior, Fluttershy felt glad that this poor filly was starting to get her strength back. When she was done drinking, she looked back up at Fluttershy with her golden eyes.
“Thank you,” she squeaked.
“Oh, you’re welcome,” Fluttershy replied.
There were so many questions she wanted to ask this filly. She couldn’t help but smile at her. Fluttershy decided to break the ice and introduced herself.
“My name’s Fluttershy. What’s your name,” she started.
“I-I’m Bright Eyes,” she answered.
“Oh my, what a pretty name you have,” Fluttershy cooed.
“Thank you. Your name is even prettier.” Her eyes widened when she realized what her name was. “Wait, did you say your name was Fluttershy?”
“Um, yes. Why?”
The filly grew a big smile on her face. She wiped her eyes away in case there were any remaining tears.
“I’ve heard of you!”
“Y-you have?”
“Oh yes. My father used to tell me all kinds of stories about you,” she smiled.
“Really?” This made the mare very curious. She was intrigued at what this filly had to say. “What kind of stories?”
“He used to tell me the story about how a young, pretty mare gathered up her courage and helped her friends conquer a big and scary dragon.”
“You heard about that?” She asked nervously.
“Yeah. I've heard of all of the amazing stories about you. About how you defeated a nasty dragon with a single glare, the time where you stood up against a brute of a Minotaur for your friends, and how you were able to help the pegasai to create a huge hurricane. I admired those stories about you. About how a shy and pretty creature fought through tough obstacles and still came out fine in the end.”
Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel flattered and anxious at the same time. She felt good knowing that her accomplishments have been carried on to others, but a little nervous that others were finding out about her achievements. This made her blush.
“Oh my.”
“It’s strange though.”
“What is?”
“When I imagined a simple pony defeating something as scary as a dragon, I imagined them to be some kind of brutal warrior with a taste for blood with big scary devil horns,” she giggled. She placed both her hooves on her head to make it look like she had horns.
“Well, I assure you, I am nothing like that,” chuckled Fluttershy.
“I know,” Bright Eyes replied. “It got me thinking. If a shy mare could defy a dragon, then I guess anything is possible. I wanted to be just like you, brave and kind. Never backing down from a threat.”
“Oh, I had no idea I had a little fan. But let me be honest, it took me a lot of courage to stand up to those dangers. Thinking about them still scares me today. But, I had my friends by my side. And as I long as had them, I could do almost anything,” she mused.
“Those were the same lessons my father taught me. I guess you could say that I looked up to you,” she said with a smile.
Fluttershy was being attacked with flattery. Her adventures were moved on and told to others. She couldn’t believe it. However, she still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling of somepony actually knowing personal stories about her. She then noticed that the filly’s dress was all torn up, holes everywhere.
“Oh my, what happened to your dre-“ she paused.
Something about this filly caught her eye, something that she’s seen before. In one of the torn holes of her dress, she saw the filly’s small legs, and that’s when she spotted it. Two small pieces of cloth were stitched over both flanks, covering both of her marks. Just like Shield and Steel. Fluttershy could barely speak.
“Your flanks,” she muttered.
“Hmm?”
“W-why are they covered up?”
Bright Eyes noticed what she was staring at. She pulled up her dress to reveal her covered flanks, her cutiemarks were not found, only the stitched pieces of cloth on her legs.
“Horrible, isn’t it?” she said. That’s when Fluttershy remembered something important.
“I’m sorry, but you wouldn’t happen to have two brothers, would you?” she stammered.
“Two? I don’t know. I have a lot of siblings,” she admitted. “Could you be a little more specific?”
“Y-your brothers had THAT,” she said pointing to her covered mark. “Instead of cutiemarks!” The filly’s eyes beamed at that single detail.
“You mean Shield and Steel? You’ve met them?”
“Well, yes.”
"Where?"
Fluttershy then told her the whole story of how the Timberwolves invaded her town and how Steel and Shield popped out of nowhere just in time to help them. Of course, they both suffered great injuries and the town was now in a total mess, but Bright Eyes was still trying to get over the fact that she just missed them. By the end of the story, she started to laugh. Fluttershy was little surprised by this.
“That sounds like them alright,” she laughed.
“It’s hard to imagine that those stallions were your brothers.”
“How so?”
“Well, you’re so small and sweet. And they’re so, um,” she struggled to find the right words.
“Reckless?”
“Yeah. Oh, please don’t be mad,” she stammered.
“Why would I? I’m the one who said it, you just agreed with me.”
“True.”
“Are they still in Ponyville?”
“Well, Steel flew off earlier to go looking for you,” she explained.
“I see,” she replied. She looked down at the floor disappointed.
“Oh! But I heard that Shield is staying with my friend, Applejack, at Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Really? That’s great!”
The little filly hopped off the couch and made her way towards the door.
“Where are you going?” asked Fluttershy.
“I’m going to Sweet Apple Acres to find Shield. It’s really important I see him!”
“Oh. I understand you miss your brother. But it’s already dark out and it could be dangerous to go out.”
“Oh,” she sighed.
“But, we can go see him tomorrow. I promise.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Why don’t you spend the night and we’ll go first thing in the morning.”
Bright Eyes was taken back at this. Not only was this mare the same one she heard from her father’s stories, not only did she take her in and offered her tea, but now she was offering her shelter. She couldn’t believe there was so much kindness in this mare. She was speechless.
“I don’t know. I-I don’t want to be a bother,” she said.
“Like I said before, you’re not being a bother at all,” reassured Fluttershy.
“Really?”
Fluttershy gave a firm nod at the filly. She had to think about this. She knew she had no other place to sleep tonight. It was urgent for her to see her brothers as soon as possible. She didn’t see that many options.
“You promise we’ll go tomorrow?” she asked.
“I promise,” Fluttershy said with a smile.
There was a long silence. Despite this filly's innocent appearance, Fluttershy still couldn't help but feel something was a bit off. There was something about this filly that seemed different to her, but she didn't know what. Regardless, she decided that it would be best to still help her in her time of need. There really was no other way. With that, the filly stared into Fluttershy’s eyes and gave a simple answer.
