Howls to the Future Teaser and a Request · 6:30pm Apr 29th, 2013
Hey there, he's a small portion of the second draft of Howls to the Future, taking place in the first chapter, 'Absent Moon'. Be sure to read my comments after you read a bit of the story. I have a good feeling about this one!
Across frozen fields of snow and ice, the figure in black made haste.
The Elements of Harmony pursued.
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, her wings flapping through howling winds as she flew above her friends. "Common! He's getting away! Faster!"
Ghostly, heavy breaths of air cascaded into the winds.
Applejack's snout blew steam, her hooves making frantic tracks below. A shadow of the blue pegasus moved slightly ahead of her.
"Ugh, goin' as fast as I can without wings, sugar!" she grunted. "Can't even go on a darn' nature walk without something crazy happenin' to us?!"
"M-Maybe someone should go and warn the Crystal Empire... to get help," Fluttershy squeaked. "I'll volunteer..."
"Ugh, we don't need any help!" Rainbow growled. "It'll just be a waste of time. We'll have this guy hogtied before their soldiers get armor on!"
A confident smirk appeared on Applejack's face. "Darn straight."
"How can we be sure it's a stallion?" Twilight said, a hint of worry overtaking her tone. "It might be a mare... it's voice was weird; I suppose it doesn't matter, though..."
She then glanced forward. Two hundred feet away, a black cloak flickered in the wind as its owner cascaded across the tundra like a spirit of winter itself.
Rarity glanced at him as well, panting heavily.
She gave a shiver despite the warm coat wrapped firmly around her.
"Whoever he is, p-please tell me he's not going to-"
Suddenly, the figure in black disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing with another puff nearly two hundred feet ahead of his previous position. His relentless pace did not halt an inch.
"Ugh!" Rarity spat. "If I weren't galloping so fast I'd be freezing to death right now! The next time we go on some arctic tour I'm triple layering!"
Rainbow Dash put on a wicked grin. "Don't worry Rarity, I've got this!" She cast a spiteful glare forward. "Let's see you teleport away from this, you cardio-obsessed freak!"
Twilight squinted in thought...
As she did, Rainbow was already rocketing towards the figure. And just as she grew close, Twilight's eyes widened in horror.
"Rainbow, wait!" she gasped. "It's a-"
A black half-bubble of sorts flickered to life around the figure.
"OH CRAAAAP- ACK!"
"Trap," Twilight winced.
Rainbow form practically bounced off it as if it were a trampoline, sending her sailing away from him. Her eyes rolled in random directions as a confused, disoriented expression crossed her face. And at that, her wings stopped flapping as she catapulted into the snow at the speeds made her practically untraceable to the eye.
"R-Rainbow!" Fluttershy squeaked, halting herself as she glanced back at the fallen mare. "You guys go ahead! I need to help her!"
"Rainbow's crashed into worse at higher speeds," Applejack yelled, her tracks quickly darting away from the yellow pegasus. "Come on Fluttershy! This guy's pretty tough!"
"She's right," Twilight said. "I hate to leave Rainbow but we might need someone else in the air!" She then winced at her newly received she glanced at her newly-received wings. "And I'm a terrible flier!"
"No!" Fluttershy snapped, her assertive side apparantly showing itself in full. "I'm not leaving her-"
Suddenly, as Fluttershy gasped, Rainbow turned her head towards her, smiling slightly, before saying in a hoarse, slow tone:
"Go on ahead... Applejack's right... I've hit worse."
Fluttershy gulped. "Y-You're sure you'll be alright?"
Rainbow gave a weak nod.
"P-Princess Cadence is depending on you. Go!"
At that, Fluttershy closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and only a second later, those same eyes narrowed in determination as she gave a stern nod. Then, as if seeing her friend hurt had only given her resolve... and perhaps, anger, she practically roared into the sky. Soon, she was sailing above the rest of her friends once again.
"She'll be alright, dearest!" Rarity called upward.
Fluttershy remained silent.
Applejack grunted, lowering an eyebrow. "Was it just me, or did this guy seem like he was expecting that!?"
"That's why I called out to her," Twilight said. "Remember when he deflected my attack before? He knows exactly what I use whenever I get into trouble. He knows about our capabilities! It's like he's studied us..."
"Oooo, so it is a trap, huh?!" Pinkie blurted out, somehow bouncing at the speed the rest of her friends were running. "Twilight, you soooo need to meet this fish pony I know called Ackbar! You'd totally get along!"
Twilight blinked. "What?"
"THE ADMIRAL OF THE SEAS!" she squealed.
Applejack rolled her eyes. "And she's done it," she muttered to herself. "She can no longer get any more random."
"Common girls, focus!" Twilight growled. "Start thinking. We've tried magic against him, Rainbow tried to use speed against him. What else can we possibly do?"
"I don't know!" Pinkie squeaked. "I'd have thought his shields would be no match for your kind of magic-power!"
Twilight shook her head.
"There are different types of shields and attacks you can create with arcane magic through various techniques, mainly through summoning specific emotions. I usually attack using positive emotion, a feeling of righteousness in this particular case, which is much better than anger. It can usually break through anything, and not to brag, but considering I'm an alicorn now... it should have cut right through, but it didn't. It's like he's using a different type of magic I'm not used to going up against ...but what other kinds are there besides arcane, dark, harmony and chaos?"
"Wait, so you pretty much shoot bolts of happiness?!" Pinkie beams.
"Righteousness," Twilight corrected, before continuing with, "And then how he deflected Rainbow like that. He knew it was coming and created another shield. Yet... she should have broken through as well! You really have to work to make a shield that can repel her..."
"Mmm, like the one you make every time she's doing stunt practice?" Applejack smirked.
Twilight grunted in annoyance. "The holes in my roof were getting tedious to repair."
"So, what kind of magic do you think he's using, darling?" Rarity asked.
"And we still don't know if it's a 'he'," Applejack muttered.
"I don't know... it's not dark, chaos, or harmony... I'd be able to feel it. Whatever it is... it's something else. Unknown..." Her eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Just like the crystals in the caverns..."
"S-So, what do we do to catch him i-if he's luring us somewhere..."
Rarity nodded forward.
"Mmmm, and it looks like we're getting very near..." she said. "Look!"
In the distance stretched a massive, thick forest, one of beautiful pine-like trees that shimmered with multi-colored crystals coating their trunks.
"The Shimmering Woods!" Twilight gasped. "How did we get this far?! It's over thirty miles from the Crystal City!"
"Time flies when you're runnin', I spose," Applejack shrugged, still panting heavily.
Rarity glanced at her with a look of extreme fatigue, before letting out in an exhausted sounding gasp, "And I'm afraid that running much longer may not be an option for me."
"And if this is some sort of trap..."
"We have to keep moving, anyway!" Twilight grunted. "It doesn't matter where he's taking us! We have to find out what he did to Cadance!"
Hope you enjoyed! Expect the full chapter up sometime before the heat death of the universe. Remember, this is only a second draft, and a small portion of it. If you have any comments and criticism please feel free to give them to me.
Also, I'm looking for an editor if anyone is up for it. Hopefully my crappy grammar won't drive you insane, though.
What else to expect from the story?
- More quirky references from Pinky.
- Angst.
- Drama mixed with humor.
- Rainbow Dash being Rainbow Dash, as in, awesome.
- Lots of wolf stuff, including five transformed's stress over whether or not to give in their impulses to hunt, even if evidence suggests its a good thing.
- A long journey.
- A villain who thinks he or she is in the right.
wouldn't it be more like...
otherwise, pretty good story. Very nicely shaped, much potential.
Can't wait to read it.
- A villain who thinks he or she is in the right.
So. . . Every villain ever?
Also if you want, I could be an editor, there were a few errors I noticed, the common being come on one of them. Although I wouldn't be able to edit on any form of regularity so… yeeaahh….
I WILL EDIT! I WILL EDIT!!!!