Hi everypony, and welcome back to another chapter of my classic story.

I'm very sorry about the long delay, I've been busy with other things, but I kept taking time to write some of this. But I wouldn't expect the next one to come out for a while, I'll try my hardest to do it quick, but I can't make promises.

I know most of you were expecting a new chapter of my Skylanders story, but I hit a plot-block, so I decided to skip it until I knew how to continue.

So, there's not much more to say, sorry for keeping you waiting so long and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

The lyrics of the song I used in this chapter have been changed to match the story. It'll work as a background song, so just imagine it playing in the background while Twilight and Luna are stalking Zelga through town.

Chapter 57: Dance with the Devil

It's been a week and 3 days since Nightmare Night and let me tell you, the hangover I had the next day was just plain evil, as if the devil himself sent it upon me.

Speaking of which, that's who I've been reading up on lately, the Jersey Devil. I've waited and studied long enough of this guy, I'm now ready to confront him and get some answers.

Like Moleyair told me, he knows basically everything that goes on in Equestria, if anyone knows who the Element Crook is and where they are, it'll be Jersey.

In my last lesson with him, Moleyair gave me a map that would show me where I would find Jersey and a book explaining more about him.

According to the book, not many ponies have seen him up close, they've only seen a shadowy figure matching his description roaming around the swamp near their town.

With everything it said, I started to question if he was even real, but Moleyair insured me that he was because he's met Jersey before. He describes him as a rude, brutal and skilful creature with a really short temper.

So far, I was loving the idea of hunting this creature down and demanding answers from him...I would say sarcastically!

Library

I was in the study room reading up on a book Moleyair gave me on Jersey Devil, I was looking for anything that would help me defend myself if things went South between us.

From what I could gather, his weakest points are his antlers and behind the knees, he also feels pain if someone hits the left side of his body, he apparently got bit there once by some sort of wild cat and it still hurts him.

After I finished reading the page I was on, I turned to the next and it had a picture of a dark figure in a forest. The figure had a dear head with antlers, a large pair of bat-wings, and it walked like a man. I stared at the picture closely, imagining what this thing might look like in person.

"What's the Jersey Devil?" a deep voice asked; making me jump.

I looked up in the direction the voice came from and saw Jeff sitting on top of the bookcase looking down at me. I stood up and turned around to face him properly. "Jeff, how many times have I told you to stop doing that?" I said with a slightly annoyed tone.

"A few, I just like doin' it." Jeff said with an amused smile before he glided down to me and landed on the floor in front of me. "So to repeat my question, what or who is the Jersey Devil?" he asked as he looked in the book.

"He's some sort of creature who knows a lot about everything that goes on in Equestria." I said before I read a paragraph to give him an example.

"No matter how far the distance, no matter how quiet the whisper, the Jersey Devil will always claim what he believes is his to have, every scrap of detail ever spoken throughout Equestria."

Jeff quivered a bit. "Oooh, ok, I got chills." He said before he looked up to me. "So why are ya readin' about him?" he asked curiously.

I then closed the book with my hoof. "I need to find out where the Elements are and who's taking them, Moleyair says if there's anyone who'll know, it's Jersey." I said before I stood up and made my way towards the door that led to the front-room.

Jeff quickly caught on to what I was up to. He shot up behind me and grabbed my left hind-leg with his wings. "Whow dude, you're not actually thinkin' of goin' to find this thing, are ya?" he asked in a worried tone.

I stopped and turned my head around to look down at him. "Jeff, the longer we wait, the more chance that crook is gonna try and steal another Element, we've already lost two, we can't afford to lose anymore." I said before I shook my leg to make him release it; which he did.

With Jeff off my leg, I continued to walk over to the door only to be stopped by something pulling back on my mane. Jeff was in the air with his talons gripping my hair. "Matt, I can't just let ya go after it. I'm usually the cool one in all this, but I'm tellin' ya right now, this is a bad idea." He said.

I then tugged my head forward to try and get him to release, but instead it yanked him towards me and smacked into the back of my head. He fell down in a daze onto my back.

I turned my head around again to face him. "Sorry about that." I apologised. "But my mind's made up, Jeff, I'm gonna find Jersey Devil and get some answers." I stated strongly.

Jeff got back up. "Matt, just think about this for a sec. What if he's deadly, he'll rip you apart, dude!" he said.

"Jeff…I fought and killed an insane Alicorn with Luna's powers mixed with his own. I think I can handle some creep that lives in a swamp." I said before I walked out of the room and made my way towards the front-door.

But before I could, Jeff dropped down in front of me. "Wait a sec…does Twilight even know you're doing this?" he said with a suspicious look as he crossed his wings.

My ears lowered slightly because I actually haven't told Twi about Jersey. I've been meaning to, but I couldn't find the right time to tell her. "Well…not really." I admitted.

"And if she notices you're gone, what then?" Jeff asked.

I then tried to think of something to cover that. "Urr…tell her…tell her I've been called up to Canterlot for something involving the Missing Element Case…and that it'll probably take a few hours." I said, coming up with the best plan I could.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Not your best excuse, but it might work. Well if you're really set on doin' this, then I'm not stoppin' ya." He said in a huff before he walked away from the door. "Just try not to die." He said.

I watched him walk away. "I was gonna try not to anyway." I said before I stepped over to the door and opened it.

I walked outside until I was a short distance away from the Library. I then spread my wings and took off into the sky and flew away to find the Swamp where Jersey lived. I took enough time to read the map to Jersey's home multiple times, let's hope it was enough.

Meanwhile, Jeff closed the door to the Library and turned around to go about his own business, but Twilight came into the room and saw him. "Jeff, did you close the door just then?" she asked curiously.

Jeff froze where he was and tried to think of an alibi. "Urr…yeah, I closed it after Matt left…he went to investigate something, you know, about the Missing Elements case." He said with a nervous smile, hoping she'd buy it.

Twilight gave him a confused look. "He left? Without telling me? That's not like him." she stated.

"Well…he was kinda in a hurry. He wanted to tell ya, but he couldn't find ya anywhere. Hard to believe, right?" Jeff said still smiling nervously.

"A little, seeing is how I was up in our bedroom." Twilight said with a raised eye-brow.

Jeff paused for a moment before he spoke. "Well, what can I tell ya?" he said before he tried to think of something to get him out of this situation. "Whow, is that the time? I need to get goin'. A lot of…bird stuff to do." he said.

Before Twilight, could respond, Jeff took off into the air and flew away into the next room. Twilight was silent for a moment before she decided to leave it. "I'll just wait for Matt to come back. But for now, I have another matter to deal with." she said to herself before she made her way towards the stairs that led up to our room.

Once she was there, she went up the small set of stairs that led to bedroom and went over to the telescope. She used her magic to point it down into Ponyville and looked through the eye-piece.

Through it, she saw Zelga in the market looking at some fruit. The pony behind the counter couldn't keep his eyes off her, he just sat there with a dreamily look in his eyes. Zelga smiled as she put an apple in her left-saddle bag and placed 2 bits on the counter. After that, she just walked away.

"She's been acting strange since the day I met her, I don't know what she's up to, but I'm not gonna wait around to find out anymore. I'm gonna find out what she does in her privacy, and for her sake, I better not find anything I don't like." Twilight said herself firmly before she stepped away and got her saddle-bag ready.

When she did, she went down stairs into the living-room and left the Library.

At that moment, Spike came in from the kitchen wearing a pink apron with a yellow smiley-face on it. "Twilight? Is that you?" he asked as he looked around the room. "Where'd you go?"

He didn't get a response. "Huh, must of left." He said to himself before he smirked. "Guess that means I'm in charge for a while, good for me." he said before he went back into the kitchen.

Meanwhile: Ponyville streets

While everypony was walking through the streets of town, a shadowy figure moved in any shadow it could get to. It moved quickly, like a dash so no-one could see it properly.

It finally came to a stop behind a cottage near the market. The figure then poked it's head around to corner to reveal itself as Luna. "Where is she?" she asked herself as she searched the area.

Eventually, she found her target, Zelga. "There you are, you snake in the grass. I will expose you to Matthew and the other ponies, even if I must follow you in this village all day." she said to herself before she slipped back into the darkness.

A moment later, she dashed from one shadow to the next until she was behind a stall that Zelga was standing in front of. That stall sold antic rocks like diamonds and crystals. "Excuse me, do you have any flawless sapphires? Just one would do." Zelga asked nicely.

The pony behind the counter rubbed under her chin with her hoof. "Hmm, I could've sworn I saw some here the other day." she said before she looked under the counter. "Ah, here's some." She said as she grabbed a small box with her hooves and placed it on the counter.

Zelga looked into the box and saw 3 sapphire gems.

"I'm afraid I only have three." The mare said.

Zelga smiled at her. "That'll be fine, I'll take them." She said before she reached her head into her left-saddlebag and pulled out a small bag of bits and placed it on the counter. "Keep the change." She said before she grabbed the box with her mouth and dropped the gems into her right-saddlebag.

Zelga gave the empty box back to the mare before she walked away to continue her shopping.

Luna watched her leave from behind the stall. "Now what would she want with flawless sapphires? I must investigate further and learn as much as I can." She said before she continued to stalk Zelga.

A few minutes later

Zelga was standing in front of a flower stall speaking to the mare behind the counter.

All the while, Twilight was on the other side of the market wearing her cream dress Rarity made for her birthday, a sun hat and a pair of black sunglasses. She turned her head around to look over to Zelga before she used her magic to lower her sunglasses.

She saw the mare give Zelga a bunch of brown weeds. Zelga picked them up in her mouth before she dropped them into her right-saddlebag and pained the mare. She then walked away.

As she did, Zelga felt something was a bit off and she looked over to where Twilight was, but only saw a pair of sunglasses and a sun hat on the grass. Zelga just shrugged before she continued walking.

Once she was gone, Twilight poked her head from behind a stall before she used her magic to pull out a pad and quill from her saddlebag. "She seems to be buying a lot of wired items, if she's planning and using them for cooking, I don't want to be the one who eats whatever she makes with those." She said before she wrote down what she saw.

"Or maybe she's planning something else with them." Twilight said to herself as she thought about it for a bit, but couldn't think of any explanation for it. "I should keep following her, she's bound to give me something more to go on." she said.

Twilight then started following Zelga as stealthily as she could, unaware that she wasn't the only one watching her in the shadows.

Luna: "I can see the things you doing and you think that I'm naïve, but when I get the goods on you, they'll finally believe."

Twilight: "He says it's all just drama, but every bubble's got to pop

He's gonna see just what you're goin', and then you're finally gonna have to STOP!

Both: "Don't think you're gonna win this time, 'cause you better believe I'm gonna drop a dime on you

I'll get cha! (yeah) I'll get cha!

And when I do you're gonna be busted! (Busted)

I don't wanna put the hurt on you

But you better believe me when I tell you that I've finally got the dirt on you

You're busted! (Busted)

Yeah, he's finally gonna see a light

This is how it's gonna be when he finds out that I was always right

You're busted!

There's a new cop on the beat, and I'm bringing down the heat

My eyes are wise to all your lies 'cause you're not that discreet

And I don't care what you've heard, 'cause there's one six letter word."

Luna: "It's gonna set me free."

Twilight: "Gonna set me free."

Luna: "It starts with a B."

Twilight: "Starts with a B."

Both: "It goes B-U-S-T-E-D

You are busted! (Busted)

I don't wanna put the hurt on you

But you better believe me when I tell you that I've finally got the dirt on you (I'll get ya)

You're Busted! (Don't think you're gonna win this time)

Yeah, he's finally gonna see a light (Drop a dime on you)

This is how it's gonna be when he finds out that I was always right (I'll get ya! I'll get ya!)

You're busted!"

All through the day, Twilight and Luna followed Zelga everywhere she went and watched every move she made. Neither of them knew they were both doing the same thing, wherever one of them were, the other wasn't far behind. They both were willing to do this no matter how long it would take, just as long as they get something to prove to everyone what they already knew.

Meanwhile: Swampville

After flying for what felt like hours, I finally reached the village outside the Jersey's swamp. I landed in the middle of the village and looked around to see…well, nothing. It was completely deserted, the windows were boarded pup, and the grass and plants were as dead as they could get.

I walked slowly down the street, searching for any inhabitants. "Hello?! Anypony here? If so, I'm not here to hurt any of you, I just want to talk." I called out.

I kept hearing creaking and whispers from everywhere, I could've sworn I saw a dark figure run past the cottages a few times.

I was started to become nervous, like something would jump out in front of me at any moment. I then noticed a cottage that didn't look as dull as the others, it was boarded, but it looked recently done. I walked over to the house and looked through the window between the boards.

I saw only a dark room, but I noticed a few dark figures inside. They were all huddled up together. I walked over to the door and knocked on it. "Hello? Is anyone home?" I asked, hoping for a response, but got silence.

"Look, you don't have to be afraid of me, I'm not here to hurt you, I just need to ask some questions and then I'll leave." I called.

I got only silence again, but not for long, I heard a click on the door before it slowly creaked open. Through the gap, I saw a young mare peeping at me. "W-What do you want?" she asked in a quiet frightened voice.

"I just want to ask you something, nothing more. Is that alright?" I asked, trying not to frighten her.

"…Why us? Why can't you ask someone your questions?" She asked nervously.

I looked around the empty street before I looked at her again. "Not really anyone else to ask." I stated.

The mare looked at me for a second before she sighed. "Alright, I'll let you in, but please…don't hurt us." she said with a bit of a begging voice.

I smiled at her. "It's alright, sweetheart, I'm not going to." I said gently.

She then slowly opened the door before I walked inside the house. Once inside, she closed the door and locked it, I don't know why she did, but it's probably for the same reason for why she's so scared.

I went into the living room and noticed a small colt in the corner, he looked frightened. "Mommy, there's a strange Pony in the house." He said in a scared tone.

The mare walked over to him and lied down beside him. "It's alright, sweetie, he says he's not gonna hurt us." she said before she looked over to me. "Sorry about this, we've…had it rough for the last few months." She said.

I sat down on the floor in front of them. "What on Earth happened here? Why is this town so…so…" I said, trying to think of a word for it.

"Ghostly?" The mare spoke. "It's been like that for a long time, before it never came to the village, now it comes every once in a while wanting food, namely ours. We're just lucky it rarely eats Ponies." She said.

"What does?" I asked curiously.

The mare looked at me with fright in her eyes. "…The Devil…"

When she said it, it sparked my interest. "As in…the Jersey Devil?" I asked.

The mare nodded. "Yes…when it first came into town, we didn't know what to think, most of us couldn't believe it, none of us had ever seen the Jersey Devil so close. But then…it started attacking, it destroyed carts, cottages, stole a large among of our food and flew back into the swamp. A group of stallions went into the swamp to get our food back, but they didn't return. A little while later, Jersey came back and did the same thing again and again until we were reduced to…this." She said as she looked around her home.

I looked down at her Cutie Mark and saw that it was 3 daisy flowers. "What's your name?" I asked curiously.

She looked at me again. "Daisy Shine." She said before she looked down at her son. "And this is my son, Grace Glide." She then looked back up to me. "I used to grown and sell daisies here, but with Jersey always attacking, I…just couldn't see the point anymore, just like how all the other ponies couldn't see the point in their jobs anymore." She stated.

"Is there anyone else in your family?" I asked, almost afraid to.

Daisy nodded. "Yeah, my husband Harden Stone, but…he was one of the few who went after Jersey, I haven't seen him in days." said stated as she looked down at the floor in sadness.

I couldn't help but fell a wave of sorrow for her. "I'm…I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked." I said with my ears low.

Daisy looked back up at me. "It's alright, I'm just worried about what might've happened to him…some say that Jersey keeps Ponies prisoner, maybe Harden is among them, I can only hope." She said.

I was almost afraid to ask her another question, but I had to if I was going to find Jersey. "I know Jersey Devil is inside the swamp, but I need to know where abouts. Do you know?" I asked.

Daisy thought about it for a moment before she answered. "I think Harden mentioned something about him being in the centre of the swamp." she said before she looked at me with curiosity. "Why do you want to know?" she asked.

I responded by standing up onto my hooves and looked down at them with a serious face. "Daisy, Grace, I'm gonna make you two promises. One, I'm going to find Jersey, get the answers I need from him, and give him a hard lesson about what happens when he messes with innocent Ponies. And two, if I find Harden there, I'll send him and any other prisoners back here. And if Jersey tries to stop me, I'll keep him busy while they get away." I said.

They both looked at me with slight shock and wonder. "You're gonna go after Jersey Devil? But…he's a monster, he'll rip you to shreds." Daisy said.

"I've dealt with a monster before, and compared to him, Jersey's nothing." I said before I began to turn around to leave. "Stay safe you two, and if I don't come back afterwards, I'll be sure to mention what's happening here to Princess Celestia." I said.

"You know the Princess?" Grace asked with slight awe.

I nodded. "Yeah, and she'll help you keep this place safe from Jersey." I said before I began to walk over to the from door to leave.

As I approached the door, Daisy stood up. "Wait…who are you?" she asked with a raised eye-brow.

I looked over to her and smirked. "I'm Matthew, and I'm gonna help your town." I said before I unlocked the door, opened it and left.

Daisy stood there in silence. Grace stood up and walked up beside here. "Is that Pony gonna get rid of the Devil?" he asked.

Daisy looked down at him and gave him a warm smile. "I don't know, Grace, but even if he doesn't, I have a strange feeling things might get a little better here." she said as she wrapped her arm around Grace and pulled him closer to her.

After leaving the home, I looked down the street and saw the misty swamp outside it. "Alright Jersey, time to talk." I said in a low voice before I took off into the air and flew towards the swamp.

A few minutes later: Near the heart of the swamp

As I flew closer towards the centre of the swamp, I kept looking down at the land below me. From a sky-view, the swamp looked all foggy and dark, I couldn't see the ground beneath it all, which made it very difficult to find a place to land.

But soon enough, I saw a bright orange glow up ahead within the fog, it moved in a wavy faction. I figured it must've been fire, and when there's fire, there's someone using it for something.

I dove down towards it and entered the fog. The fog covered my path until I saw the ground coming up fast. This startled me and I quickly pulled up to avoid crashing, but my flight-patter was ruined and I struggled to control it. Eventually, this ended with me crashing into the mud and before falling into a dirty pond.

I quickly burst up from the water and swam towards land, I dragged myself out of the water and shook it all off, along with some Duckweed and a Lilly-pad. After that, I looked around the area I was in.

The fog made it hard to see anything in the distance, the trees were all dead & crooked, and there was a feeling like I was being watched.

I kept looking around until I saw the glow again not far from me. I started making my way towards it, keeping a watchful eye out for anything that moves.

Once I reached where the glow was, I saw that it was a large camp fire near a gloomy cave. The area looked like a camp site. Dead fish and raw meat on a large wooden table, a Grindstone, a stump with an axe on it, and a large stone table in the centre.

By the looks of it, no-one was there. I took this chance to go in for a closer look. I stepped lightly until I was in the camp, and let me tell ya, the place absolutely stunk.

I ignored the smell and went back to doing what I came here to do. As I walked towards the cave, I soon noticed something, a large square thing under a giant sheet. From what I've seen so far, I was afraid to find out what was under it, but I had to know.

I walked up to the object and slowly reached out to the sheet. I then grabbed it with my hoof before I pulled it off, I was shocked by what I saw.

It was a bunch of wooded cages, I counted 9, all piled on top of each other. And inside each of these cages was a Pony, they were all beaten and weak, barely awake. I felt a lump in my throat at the sight of this before I raised my hoof up and slammed it down on one of the cage locks; breaking it off.

I then opened the cage door and helped the stallion out of the cage. He was dark grey, his mane & tail were white, and his Cutie Mark was a stone in the shape of a diamond.

"Hey, hey buddy, are you alright?" I said, trying to get an answer out of him.

Soon enough, I got a response, but he mumbled it. I leaned my head closer to his mouth. "What was that?" I asked.

"Wa-…Water…" He said weakly.

I nodded and quickly rushed around the camp to find water. Luckily, I found a barrel full of water, I saw a jug next to it and grabbed it with my hooves. I dipped it into the water and filled it up. Once it was full, I brought it back to the stallion and helped him drink it.

He drank a lot of it before he placed his hoof on it and lowered it away from his mouth. "Thank you…thank you…" he said between breaths.

I placed the jug down beside him before I looked at him. "What happened to you? Who are all of you? Why were you in that cage?" I asked.

The stallion looked at me. "We…we were trying to find him and keep him away from our town…but he found us instead, attack us and then finally captured us. He threw us in these cages and made us watch as he feasted upon the prey he caught. He called us Livestock, I don't have to be a genius to know that means." He explained.

"I take it when you say 'He' you mean the Jersey Devil?" I said.

He nodded. "Yeah, he had taken his abuse for too long, we need to fight back, give him a reason to stay out of our town." He said strongly.

I nodded to say I understood. "Right….what's your name, mate?" I asked.

"Harden Stone, why?" He answered.

I gave him a small smile. "Your wife and child are very worried about you." I said.

Harden looked at me with worry. "Daisy? Is she alright? How's my boy? Did Jersey do anything to them?" he asked with slight panic.

I put my hoof up. "They're both fine, they're just worried about you and scared. I need you to help me break everyone else out of these cages and make your way back to your town. Don't look back, just keep going and stay there, lead everyone home." I said in a clear voice.

"But what about Jersey, he won't leave us alone, he'll come back." Harden said.

I gave him a firm look. "You leave him to me, I'll get the message through his head." I said.

Harden gave me a shocked look. "You're gonna go up against Jersey? By yourself? We were a whole group and he stepped on us like bugs, what makes you think he's not gonna do the same to you?" He said.

"You may not have heard of me, but I saved the Princesses and Canterlot from an evil Alicorn a few months back. So basically, I've dealt with worse than someone like Jersey." I stated.

Harden stared at me in silence. "That…that was you?...huh, I pictured you bigger." He said as he looked at my body.

"Yeah, that one of the things I get a lot." I said with a small amused smile.

"Then of course there's your name, Matthew, that sounds a bit weird to most of us." Harden stated.

My amused smile went away. "And there's another one." I said.

Harden then put his hoof up. "Anyway, yeah, I have of you. And if you're serious about going up against Jersey, let's hope you've still got those fighting skills of yours." He said.

"Same here." I said before I looked at the other ponies in the cages. "C'mon, help get these guys out of those cages." I said before we started breaking the locks off the cages and freeing the trapped ponies.

After that, Harden told everyone to head back to town and as he started following them, he turned his head around to look at me. "Do me a favour, will ya…if things go South with Jersey, give him a good buck for me." he said before he continued to follow his people.

"I'll do my best." I said out-loud before I turned to face the camp.

I walked over to the large stone table and sat down near it and waited for Jersey to show up.

A few minutes later

Minutes passed and I had actually fallen asleep sat-up waiting for Jersey. Suddenly, there was a faint thud, which was enough to snap me awake. I looked around quickly, but saw no-one, I then heard it again, then again.

I listened to the thuds carefully, they sounded like footsteps, that's when I realized that they were. Each thud got louder every time, meaning whoever was making them was getting closer. I knew it was Jersey and quickly went under the stone table.

I listened to the thuds until I finally saw something enter the camp, it had long bony legs with grey skin, I looked at its feet and saw two long toes with claws. It walked up to the table and stopped in front of it.

"Chicken yesterday, chicken today, and slap me in the face if it isn't gonna be chicken tomorrow." It said in a New Yorker accent before it dropped a few dead chickens onto the ground.

I looked at them and almost threw-up over the smell.

"When am I gonna catch somethin' with a bit more meat on it? Like a goat or somethin'?" it said before I watched it walk over to where the cages were.

I had put the sheet back over them so I would raise Jersey's suspicion. I moved up a little and saw him from behind, I knew it was Jersey, he had a bony grey body with a large pair of bat wings and large antlers on his head.

"Maybe one of these ponies with satisfy me, it's been a while since I've had one." He said before he grabbed the sheet with his 4 fingered claw. "Now, time to choose who's lucky…and unlucky."

He then pulled the sheet off and saw the empty cages. "What the?! My livestock! It's gone!" he said as he threw down the sheet and grabbed one of the cages, he yelled in rage and threw the cage across the camp. "When I found out who let them go, I'm gonna rip the flesh from their bones!"

At that moment, I shot up from under the table and landed on top of it. "Then why don't ya?" I said loudly.

Jersey then turned around to reveal his face to me. The front of his body was as bony as his back and he had grey skin going all the way up to the back of his head, where it stops, from there he had no skin at all. His entire deer-like head was a complete flesh-less skull with a single eye-ball in the right socket.

(He looked like the Jersey Devil from the video game The Wolf Among Us, only with wings and a single eye-ball)

"You have a lot of nerve coming here and freeing my livestock. The last guy who tried to do that ended up as my main course." Jersey said as he slowly made his way over to the table.

"Well I'm not the last guy, am I?" I responded with a raised eye-brow.

I couldn't make it out properly, but it looked like Jersey smirked. "That's just you, isn't it? Tough to the end, same as always, right Matthew?" he asked.

I immediately noticed that he said my name, even though I hadn't told him it. "How do you know my-"

"I know many things, Matt. I know Moleyair was the one who told you to come here, I know you live in Ponyville with your wife and friends, and I especially know why you're here. But here's the one thing I don't know…what makes you think I'll tell you anything about the guy who's been stealing the Elements?" Jersey asked.

I took a step forward. "Because if you don't, innocent ponies will get hurt, dark forces will attack the lands and we'll be powerless to stop them." I stated in a strong tone.

"Am I supposed to care? I don't take sides and I don't care who's in-charge, Thorn can come back and take over for all I care, just as long as everyone stays out of my swamp." Jersey said before he picked up his dead chickens and made his way round to the butchering table.

I watched him as he walked around me. "Whoever stealing the Elements is breaking into my friend's homes. My friend Rarity was sleeping in her bed when they did, they could've killed her in her sleep if they wanted to." I said strongly.

"Not my problem." Jersey said before he slapped the dead chickens onto the butcher table.

I growled lightly. "You're gonna tell me who's doing this or else I'll be your problem!" I snapped.

Jersey stopped what he was doing before he grabbed the handle of the rusty home-made blade he had stuck into the table. "Those are fighting words, punk. Didn't Moleyair ever tell ya not to pick fights you can't win?" he said, still facing away from me.

"What makes you think I'm gonna lose?" I said, quoting the same answer he gave me before, but with different words.

Jersey growled before he spun around and threw the blade directly at me.

I quickly dropped down on the table and the blade flew over me. I turned my head around and saw the blade fall on the ground before I noticed a shadow covering me, I turned back around and saw Jersey standing in front of me with his fists up.

He then threw them both down towards me, I managed to roll off the table before his fists slammed down onto it; cracking it slightly. Jersey watched me stand up and roared at me.

He then came closer to me and threw his fist down art me again, I moved out of the way fast as he punched into the ground. He then swung the same fist up off the ground and struck me right in the face; sending me flying across the camp and crashing into the dirt.

I slowly lifted myself up and heard another roar. I looked back over to Jersey and saw him leap towards me with his claws out and his mouth open wide.

Meanwhile: Ponyville/Zelga's cottage

After a long day of shopping, Zelga finally returned to her cottage with her saddlebags full of strange ingredients.

What she didn't know was Twilight and Luna were still stalking her, trying to catch her in any sort of wicked act that could expose her to everyone. Twilight was hiding in a nearby bush facing the front of Zelga's cottage and Luna was hiding in a tree behind her cottage.

After Zelga entered her home, they both came out of their hiding spot and snuck up to the windows of the cottage.

When Twilight looked through the window to the living-room, she saw Zelga taking her saddlebag into the kitchen. She groaned in frustration and left the window to find another one where she could get a better view.

Meanwhile, Luna looked through the kitchen window and watched Zelga place her saddlebag on the kitchen counter with a large pan on top of the oven. She took out a few of the ingredients and dropped them into the pot.

The steam from the pan of boiling water filled the room's ceiling and it was starting to make Zelga sweat. "It's getting a bit stuffy in here, better open a window." She said before she made her way over to the window.

When Luna saw this, she quickly ducked down out of sight and hoped Zelga wouldn't spot her. Zelga opened the window wide to let some of the steam out before she returned to her pot. Once she was gone, Luna peeked back through the window and continued to watch Zelga.

Zelga grabbed a long wooden-spoon with her mouth and started stirring the water in the pot. After a minute or so, she pulled the spoon out and placed it on the counter before she grabbed a bottle of liquid and purred some into the pot.

Luna watched in wonder and she continued to tend to her pot. "What is she doing? This does not seem like something a pony like her would do." she said to herself.

Meanwhile, Twilight had actually snuck into the cottage and watched Zelga from outside the kitchen. Twi was well hidden behind Zelga's couch so she wouldn't spot her.

As Zelga kept cooking, Twilight leaned forward more and more to see what she was doing better. But suddenly, the amount of weight she was putting on her front-hooves made the floorboards creek slightly, which Zelga heard.

Twilight quickly hid behind the couch as Zelga turned around to look into the room. Curious, Zelga left her pot and made her way to the living-room to see what the noise was.

Luna took this opportunity to sneak through the window and have a look at what Zelga was making.

Meanwhile, Zelga entered the living-room and looked around, but didn't see anything. Twilight stayed very still behind the couch, she listened for any sounds that would indicate Zelga was getting closer or going away. Unfortunately, her hoof-steps were getting louder, meaning she was coming over to the couch.

Twi needed to think fast, she needed an escape. If Zelga found her in her, she'd freak, she might even report it to Princess Celestia, Twi couldn't bear the thought of what she might do if she ever found out she did something like this.

All the while, Luna looked into the pot in the kitchen, the steam and thick water made it hard to see what she was cooking. She didn't have long to examine the pot before the wooden-spoon on the counter suddenly fell off and hit the floor.

Hearing this, Zelga looked back over to the entrance of the kitchen and made her way back over to it. Twilight exhaled in relief at this before she snuck over to the stairs.

Back in the kitchen, Luna knew what just happened and quickly leaped out of the window just before Zelga re-entered the kitchen. She saw the wooden-spoon on the floor and wondered how it got down there, she then just shrugged it off and picked it back up with her mouth.

She placed it back on the counter before she went back to cooking.

With neither of them giving up this witch-hunt, they both made their way to the next floor of the cottage. Luna flew up to one of the top open windows while Twilight went up the stairs.

Once up there, Twilight went to the hall and saw 3 doors, one on each side of the hall and one at the very end. Without even thinking, Twi went down to the end door and went through it. She looked around and saw that it was a quest room with 2 beds, she closed the door and started looking around.

Meanwhile, Luna went through the window that led to Zelga's bedroom, where she saw everything you'd expect a normal mare to have in her room. A large plushy bed, a make-up desk by the wall with a square mirror hanging above it, a large chest on the floor in front of the bed, everything.

Luna didn't waste time and went to the chest, she figured it would have to contain something that could expose Zelga. She opened it with her magic and dug her hooves around inside it.

It was full of books and scrolls, Luna needed to find something that would prove to everyone what Zelga really was. But the books were about nature, history and fictional stories. Even the scrolls proved useless, they were just letters from friends outside Ponyville, no-one even knew she had friends outside Ponyville.

Luan then found a scrapbook and figured it might contain pictures of herself in her true form. But when she opened it, she found nothing like that, just Zelga as a Pegasus in different cities and towns. Luna continued to flick through the pages and found nothing of use, eventually she got frustrated and threw the book back into the chest before closing it.

"There must be something here, there has to be." Luna said to herself before she continued her search.

Meanwhile, Twilight had torn the room apart and found nothing that could help her expose Zelga. After putting everything back to make it look like she was never there, she left the guest room and went towards one of the other doors, but it was just the bathroom, nothing in there.

With both rooms useless, Twilight went over to the last room, which was Zelga's bedroom. She used her magic to grab the knob and slowly turn it.

Inside the room, Luna heard this and saw the knob turning. Thinking it was Zelga, she went inside the wardrobe and hit inside it, there she remained very still and tried not to move any part of her body.

At that moment, Twilight came into the room and quietly closed the door behind her. She then started searching the room high and low, she searched the desk and everything.

Luna couldn't see who was in the room, she could only see a shadow under the wardrobe door moving back and forth. She could hear things being moved around, but she didn't know what they were doing. Luna waited in the wardrobe patiently for the pony in the room to leave so she could escape.

A few minutes later

Twilight search the entire room but found nothing of value to help her in her. Just then, she looked over to the wardrobe and began to wonder what could be inside, she started making her way towards it.

Luna could hear the pony's hoof-steps getting louder and knew it was coming towards the wardrobe. She didn't know what to do, she had to think of something fast.

But just before Twilight could reach the wardrobe, the floorboard creaked and Twi froze in place. She listened for any sounds that would tell her Zelga was coming up the stairs to investigate the noise, but heard nothing. Not wanting to push her luck, Twilight backed off and left the room.

With the click of the door closing, this was Luna's cue to leave the wardrobe and get away. She leaped out of the wardrobe and went to the window, once there, she slipped out and glided down to the nearest bush.

Meanwhile, Twilight snuck down stairs and looked in the kitchen to see Zelga was still there cooking. This was her chance to go, she crept to the front-door and quietly opened it with her magic. With the door open enough, she slipped out and closed the door behind her.

Once outside, Twilight ran back towards town as fast as her hooves could manage.

At the back of the house, Luna stared at Zelga through a window from behind a bush. "I will expose you, Zelga, I will not let you commit the same carnage your brother did." She said before she backed off into the darkness of the forest behind her, where she disappeared to parts unknown.

Meanwhile, Zelga took a test-taste of the stuff she was cooking. "Mmm, this soup is gonna be great, I think I deserve a good meal after a long day." she said before she walked out of the kitchen and went to the staircase.

She stopped behind it before she looked left and right suspiciously. Once she saw there was no-one in sight, her horn appeared on her head in a small bolt of purple flames. She then pointed it at the wall under the stairs, then a small hole appeared on the wall and she stuck her horn through it.

Zelga's horn glowed before the entire wall began to glow. When she pulled her horn out, the wall vanished and revealed a stone stairway going down. She went down them and entered a room full of potions, armour and a large cauldron in the centre of the room.

Zelga had brought her saddlebag with her, which contained the real ingredients she bought today at the market, the others were just for actual cooking. She stopped in front of the cauldron and placed the saddlebag down beside her.

Zelga used her magic to pick up a large staff and used it to stir the glowing purple liquid inside it. As she did, she used her magic to get some of the ingredients and dropped them into the water.

Zelga grinned evilly as she watched her creation being made. "If they think my power over fear is bad now…just wait…hahaha." She chuckled darkly as she continued to stir her mysterious potion.

Meanwhile: Jersey's swamp

Jersey and I had been fighting for a few minutes now, for someone so skinny and bony, he was incredibly strong, he got a few good hits at me and I got my own at him, but it didn't seem to hurt him much.

Beaten and bruised, I crashed into the mud and slid along the ground after Jersey had another good hit. Jersey leaped forward and landed on his feet near me, he chuckled as he watched me slowly get back up. "C'mon, you little shrimp, gimme your best shot!" he called.

I looked at him and growled in anger before I shot towards him with my wings flapping hard. As I made contact with Jersey, I threw my hoof out hard and struck his chest, which sent him flying and crashed to the ground.

In a twisty disgusting way, Jersey picked himself back up and charged towards me.

As he did, I saw a broken branch on the ground, I flew down and picked it up with my front-hooves. I held it like a bat as Jersey got closer, once close enough, I swung it at his head.

However, Jersey was fast to grab it with his claw, before snapping it before I could blink. "Oh shiza." I said to myself before smacked me away with his other arm.

I hit a tree hard, but I managed to keep myself in the air. I soon noticed Jersey coming at me with his claws ready to slash at me, when he did, I moved out of the way and his claws ended up sticking into the tree I crashed into.

As he tried to pull them out, I saw this as my chance to attack. I grabbed his skull head with my front hooves and slammed my knee into his face, which made his stumble back hard enough to pry his claw loose.

Suddenly, Jersey grabbed one of my hide-legs with his claw and started slamming me into a lot of things like trees, the ground and some rocks before finally throwing me down hard onto the ground.

As I tried to recover from the brutal beating, Jersey placed his foot on my chest and pushed down on it. I started struggling and tried to move his foot, but he wouldn't budge. "What cha gonna do now, ya lousy horse?"

I wasn't giving up, I quickly scooped up some sloppy mud in my hoof and threw it up into Jersey's face, which covered his only eye. He yelled in shock and stepped back as he tried to wipe off the mud.

I quickly got back up and thought of a move fast. I spun around and bucked one of my hide-legs out, it struck his knee and he yelped in pain as he kneeled down. With his this low, I quickly spun back around and threw my hoof up under his head; sticking his jaw hard and making him fall back on his back.

Jersey groaned on the ground as I walked up beside him. "Now…*pant*…you're gonna tell me who's been stealing the Elements so I don't have to stay here and knock you on your ass all night, get me?" I said firmly.

Jersey looked at me in silence before he suddenly grabbed me by the neck with his claw. I struggled to get him off, but he was too strong. "I told ya, I ain't tellin' ya nothin'." He said as he stood up before he threw me high into the sky.

I soon got control of my flight and hovered in mid-air. I looked down to the swamp, but Jersey was gone. I looked around for him, for I couldn't him.

I began to think he flew the coop before, suddenly, his large claws grabbed me from behind. He turned me around to see his was flying with his giant bat-wings, he laughed. "The skies over the swamp are mine! You're in my playground, punk." He said before he punched me in the head.

While in a daze, Jersey released me before he did a flip in the air and stuck the top of my head with his foot, which sent me falling, but I got my control back.

I looked up to see Jersey diving down to me, but I moved out of the way when he got close, As he past me, I grabbed his leg with my hooves and threw him back up above me, after that, I shot up and struck his stomach.

I get delivering hits, not giving him a chance to strike me. I wanted to end this stupid flight battle, so I grabbed his arm and threw him down towards the swamp. Of course, he got control of his flight before he could crash, so I needed to help him with that.

I shot down towards him and struck into him, sending us both crashing down into one of the swamp's ponds. At first, I was stunned by the sudden impact, but I recovered and swam back up to the surface.

Once I reach it, I swam to land and crawled out of the pond. I laid on the ground trying to catch my breath, but that was shortened when something slammed down on my back and gripped me.

It picked me up and I turned around to see Jersey had me in his grasp, even though he didn't have a face to show it, he was pretty pissed. He said nothing as he threw me down hard onto the ground and kicked me in the stomach.

I was sent through the air before tumbling into the ground, I tried to get up, but Jersey would always come along and strike me back down before I could.

I coughed roughly as I tried to get back up, but like I just said, Jersey stopped me. He picked me up and held me tightly his hands, then with his jaw open wide, he bit my body hard.

I yelled in pain before he removed his me from his bite and threw me across the area. I landed not far from Jersey's camp and weakly opened my eyes to see the blade Jersey threw at me before, if I could just reach me, maybe I had another chance.

I slowly picked my head up and started crawling towards it. I heard footsteps behind me, I knew Jersey was there, but he didn't do anything. "Look at ya, beaten to a bloody pulp, but ya still go for it. Ya got spunk, kid, I'll give ya that, but like everyone who has spunk, it doesn't take much to make 'em lose it." he said.

I just ignored him and kept going towards me goal.

"Ya know, ya can give up any time ya want, I won't care what happens, I won't care if ya die or ya leave, just as long as you're gone. But I know you, it's not your style, is it? But you can always beg, begging's always an option." Jersey said as he followed me.

Again, I ignored him as I kept crawling towards the blade. "Hmm, guess not." Jersey said before he kicked me in the stomach again.

I grunted in pain and rolled over onto my back holding my stomach. Jersey kneeled down to me and placed his claw on my throat. "Say goodnight, Matt, you're lights are about to go out." He said as he raised his fist up above me.

As I prepared for his strike, there was a flash of light in front of Jersey as something knocked him away and sent him crashing to the ground. We both looked to see it was Moleyair with his staff, he was standing in a fighting position. "That's enough, Jersey!" he said firmly.

Jersey stood back up. "This has nothin' to do with ya, old mole! Leave now! Don't make me beat the stuffin' out of a blind guy." He growled.

"This 'blind guy' has more tricks than you give credit for, Jersey, you of all creatures should know that by now." Moleyair said.

"I'll show ya tricks!" Jersey said before she charged towards Moleyair roaring loudly.

Within a second, Moleyair shot towards Jersey and tripped him up with his staff. With Jersey on the ground, Moleyair stuck the crystal on top of his staff into Jersey's back and there was a weird 'bong' noise.

Jersey's body shined blue and it looked like he couldn't move. His eye shifted, but the rest of his body was frozen.

Moleyair calmly walked back over me to me and placed his claw on me. "It's alright, Matthew, you'll be fine." He said before he held his staff up and it began to glow.

We began to glow blue before we disappeared completely. When we did, the spell that kept Jersey at bay broke and he was free to move. As he got back up, he looked at the spot we were in and growled angrily.

An hour later: Ponyville hospital

After Moleyair's magic returned us to Ponyville, he didn't waste time in rushing me to the hospital where I was tended to immediately.

I lied in the hospital bed, looking out the window as the rain drizzled down the glass. I was thinking about how much I've failed today. I didn't get any info from Jersey and I got my ass kicked in, I'd be dead by now if Moleyair hadn't come and got me out of there.

Moleyair sat beside the bed on a chair, gripping his staff and staying silent. It wasn't long before he broke it. "You're probably wondering how I knew you were in trouble." He said.

I didn't turn to face his as I answered. "You had one of your visions?" I asked.

"…Yes…I saw you and Jersey fighting, you were losing. You're probably a bit shook up, thinking how close you came to death today, but you shoulder. You weren't going to die today, I was going to be there one way or another to save you, I saw it myself." Moleyair stated.

I then turned my head to face him. "It was all a waste, Moleyair, I got nothing from Jersey. I'm no closer to finding the guy stealing the Elements as I was when I left to find Jersey, all I got was many bruises and possible broken bones." I said.

"A waste, was it? You call saving trapped ponies and discovering a terrorised town a waste? If it wasn't for this 'waste', those ponies would still be trapped by Jersey and would be sentenced for a worse fate." Moleyair said.

I understood what he meant. "Yeah, you're right, Moleyair. I need to tell Princess Celestia about that town, they need help." I said as I looked out the window again.

"You can ask Twilight to send her a letter about it when you return home to the Library. Speaking of which, she should be coming through the door just about….now." Moleyair said.

Then on cue, Twilight came through the door with a worried look on her face. She saw me on the bed and rushed over to me. "Matt! Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" she said as she stopped beside the bed.

Twilight stood up on her hind-legs and placed one of her front-hooves on the bed while she hugged me with the other. It didn't make my wounds hurt much, so I let her do it. "I'm alright, Twi, I'll live."

After Twilight broke the hug and placed both her front-hooves back on the floor, I looked her in the eyes. "How did you know I was here?" I asked curiously.

"I had one of the nurses sent to find her." Moleyair answered for her.

Twilight nodded. "What he said." She said before she changed the subject. "Matt, what's this about you going to find the Jersey Devil? Did he do this to you?" she asked in concern.

I nodded. "Yeah, he has information on the guy stealing the Elements, I had to try and get it. I was trying to reason with him, but he didn't want to cooperate, so one thing led to another and…well…you know." I explained.

"Matt…the Jersey Devil isn't like other creatures, he's a monster! He is very viscous and has unbelievable strength, that's why no-one goes into his territory. What were you thinking going after him like that?" Twilight asked.

"I wanted it to be over, Twi…I didn't want any of the other Elements to be stolen, I don't want this guy braking into our homes while we sleep and robbing us blind. Jersey knows who it is, I know he does!" I stated.

Before Twilight could respond, Moleyair spoke up. "Actually, if anyone is to blame for what's happened today, it should be me. I'm the one who informed Matthew on Jersey's knowledge and I told him to interrogate him. When I did, I failed to tell him about Jersey's abilities. Matthew's injuries are basically my doing." he said humbly.

I leaned up. "Moleyair, no, you don't have to-"

Moleyair raised his claw up. "I'm sorry Matthew, but there is no proof that says I didn't tell you to look for Jersey. Spike was there when I told you, if you require a witness." He said.

Twilight looked at him with simple eyes. "Moleyair, I'm…I'm not wanting to blame anyone, especially someone like you, I just…I just worry about what he gets himself into, a lot of bad things have been happening lately and I don't want to lose him." she stated.

"I know Twilight, but right now your concern should be focused on Matthew's current state, anything else isn't important at the moment. Stay with him, help him recover…I have a strong feeling we may need him at his strongest soon." He said before he turned and walked towards the door.

As we watched him leave, Moleyair continued to speak. "You two have a lot of things to do, but the most important is to stay together, stay safe, stay strong continue to fight through whatever troubles you, the same goes to your friends." He said before he looked back at us. "Whatever happens, the brave will always cast out the fear." He said before he left.

Twilight and I were silent for a moment before we looked at each other. "Ok, besides from the obvious, did you get any of that?" she asked with a raised eye-brow.

"Beats me, I don't know what the bloody-hell he's on about half the time." I said before I looked up to the ceiling.

Twilight sat down beside the bed and placed her hoof on my head. "Matt, I know you want to find this guy, but you shouldn't go trying to get yourself killed over it." she said as she rubbed my head gently.

"What was I supposed to do? Wait until he comes back for the other Elements?" I said without taking my eyes off the ceiling.

"No, of course not, but there has to be a better way to find this guy without interrogating a vicious monster." Twilight stated before she sighed. "We'll find a way, Matt, we always do. Remember what Moleyair just said, we need to stay together and stay strong. As long as we do exactly that, we will always win over times like this." She said with a small confident smile.

I then looked at her, a smile didn't appear, but I understood what she meant. "I suppose so, Twi." I said before I remembered the village outside Jersey's swamp. "Oh, I nearly forgot, we need to send a message to Princess Celestia." I said as I leaned up slightly.

"Why?" Twilight asked curiously.

"There's a village near Jersey's swamp, they need help and protection badly, otherwise Jersey's gonna keep attacking them until there's no-one left. I promised a mare and her child there that I'd help them, I told them I could help them stay safe." I explained.

Twilight nodded. "Alright Matt, as soon as your able to leave the hospital, we'll send her a letter to her. I'm sure she'll be more than willing to help them." she said.

I smiled at her. "Thanks Twi." I said. Suddenly, I felt a strong pain in my side, it was obviously from Jersey's nasty bite. "Gahh!...Damn!" I said as I laid back down.

Twilight gave me a look of concern. "Matt, it's ok…just take it easy. The doctor said your injuries are really bad, it'll take some time to heal." She stated.

"Got it." I said with my body tense from the pain.

After a moment, the pain went away and I started to relax on the bed. For the rest of the day, Twilight stayed by my side in the hospital and took care of me when the doctor wasn't around. The pain would come back at some points, sometimes even agonizing, but the doctor would give me something to ease the pain.

But all the while, I couldn't help but feel like I failed at my mission. I got nothing from Jersey, so I'm not any closer to finding the guy stealing the Elements. I can't just wait for him to come back and steal another Element, I need to do something.

I need to find out more about this guy, I need to revisit the crime scenes and see if I missed anything, try to find a link or something. One way or another, I will find him and the Elements, even if I have to face Jersey again.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Well Season 5's off to a good start. I thought Starlight Glimmer was a decent villain and I have a feeling we'll see her again eventually? Why do I think this? Because I knew what type of evil she is, and that type of evil never gives up so easily.

I hope the 7th episode will be revealed soon. It may be the one with the Smooze, a bolt-type creature that was in the G1 series. Also, prepare to see Discord in the Grand Galloping Gala, at least I think it's the Gala, certainly looks like it.

Will one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally get their Cutie Mark? Find out in the new episode this Saturday.

The song I used in this chapter is called 'Busted', from the 'Phineas and Ferb' series. I don't own anything.

Please remember to review and PM

The next chapter will be up as soon as possible.