Chapter Seven: A New Threat

Augury’s eyes slowly opened as a small wave of water gently brushed against his head, carrying his medium-long mane outwards to the lake the as the small wave receded from the lake shore. Light spread across the outskirts of Equestria, the sun just barely hiding behind the mountains far in the distance. A few clouds scattered themselves throughout the blue sky, slowly floating in no particular direction with the wind. Augury yawned and rolled onto his back, lifting his hooves to his eyes and rubbing them gently. The changeling let his hooves fall flat by his sides, staring up at the sky as a single stray cloud passed over the lake.

“Morning already?” Augury thought to himself as he rolled onto his stomach. Augury stretched his hooves out in front of him, making two small streaks in the sand he laid on with his hooves. The changeling smacked his lips quietly and stood up onto his legs, fixing his mane as he came to an upright position. Squinting slightly, Augury turned his head to the mountains in distance, the snow capped tips and a portion of the rocky and steep bases visible over the forest canopy.

“Good morning, Augury. Sleep well?” Chrysalis’s voice said loudly.

Augury turned himself around to see Chrysalis walking across the clearing next to the lake, her eyes fixed on the changeling at the edge of the water. “Have you been waiting for me to get up?” Augury asked.

“No, I just happened to see you just waking up when I returned from my little stroll through the woods. Did you know there’s a water fall that pours into another lake not too far down there?” Chrysalis asked, pointing her hoof to the small river that flowed out of the lake Augury stood next to across from the stream that flowed into the lake. “Spectacular, really. There’s a quite large cave underneath it, as well. You have to see it. Well, maybe some other time. You still have another mission to do today.”

Augury sat down and brushed the sand off his coat as Chrysalis stopped a few feet away from him. “How long do I have for this one?”

“Same as last time, three days.”

“Let me guess, starting now?”

“Getting sharper every day. I’ll be awaiting your return with another of your targets. Good luck.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Augury said, and with a quick swoop of his wings downwards, launched off of the lake’s shore. Chrysalis kept her eyes on Augury as he soared through the air, heading in the direction of Ponyville on hoof for a second time.

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A small magical poof broke the silence of the mountains on the outskirts of Ponyville, Augury stumbling from the exit of his teleportation spell and landing straight on his face. The changeling laid on the ground sprawled out on his stomach, his eyes wide open and panting heavily.

“I... didn’t think it would take that... much energy for a teleportation spell that far...” Augury wheezed. The tired changeling stayed where he was for a second, relaxing his eyes and staring out at Ponyville in the plains below. The sun still staggered behind the mountains on the horizon, this morning the same as the sunrise when Augury had left Chrysalis in the forest.

“That teleportation spell saved a lot of time, didn’t it?” Augury spoke to himself as he stood up, regaining his strength. “Looks like Ponyville is just waking up. Maybe I could slip in before anypony notices. Should I... yeah, I think Serenity would be a fine form for today. I don’t think the ponies would have any suspicion of her yet.” Augury closed his eyes and quickly changed forms, the pale pink mare that had taken Rarity standing before Ponyville once more.

“Alright, let’s hope this one doesn’t tire me out as much as the last one.” Serenity said. Her horn glowed with a dark blue aura and the mare disappeared from the mountain side, another magical poof down in Ponyville bringing Serenity into the town.

Serenity stumbled from the exit of her teleportation spell again, the pale pink mare only panting slightly. “Well, that wasn’t too bad.” Serenity spoke quietly, lifting her eyes from the ground up to the area in front of her. She had appeared somewhere in a smaller field within the town of ponies, a bench resting on the grass beside the disguised changeling. Serenity looked around the field for a second, taking a moment to see if anypony had noticed her entrance. Sure enough, somepony did.

“Serenity! Hey!” A voice called out from the edge of the field. The pale pink mare turned her head to the origin of the voice, finding a lavender unicorn standing in the open doorway of her home, motioning her hoof for the pony in the field to come to her.

“Twilight Sparkle? One of the six mares already? I wonder what she could want.” Serenity thought to herself as she began to walk towards the pony waving to her.

Twilight smiled as Serenity came to a stop in front of her. “Good morning!” The lavender unicorn spoke. “Nice to see you again. Enjoying Ponyville so far?”

“Uh... yeah, it’s okay. Hey, listen I have to-” Augury started to say as he remembered what Chrysalis had said about Twilight, but found himself cut off.

“Oh! I just remembered! Pinkie Pie had a little treat for you down in Sugar cube Corner yesterday, but she couldn’t find you. I told her you would be back today, and here you are! Pinkie’s probably waiting down at Sugar Cube Corner, you should go! I would come, but I have a lot of work stocked up right now.”

“Okay, that sounds nice. I’ll make sure to stop by Sugar Cube soon. Have... uh, good luck with your work.”

“Thanks. See you later!” Slam. Serenity stared at the closed doorway for a second, the fake smile on her face disappearing as fast as the door had closed in front of her.

“Damn it.” Serenity thought to herself as she walked away from the large tree and began walking further into Ponyville. “I was planning on taking a day or two off by myself since I can get here and back to Chrysalis faster now. Oh well, what can you do? I am fairly hungry, maybe that treat that Twilight was talking about will fill me up. I doubt Chrysalis gave me any food while I was in the cocoon. Would I even need food? I am a changeling after all... but not completely. Am I going to have to feed off of love? Well, I think that’s covered by Tranquility. Oh, that sounded bad. I mean... gah, screw it. The faster I get these mares the faster Tranquility and I can go home. I wonder who Chrysalis has for me after I get-” Serenity came to a halt as she rammed into the side of a building face first, her thoughts keeping her attention rather than her sight.

“Ow...” Serenity said quietly and she backed up from the building, looking up at the structure she had ran into. The building, its design similar to those of the other Ponyville houses, was decorated vibrantly, a mix of different shades of brown, pink, and yellow. On the edges of the roof, which seemed to be some sort of chocolate, was seemingly fluffy white icing, decoratively put into loops in various places. In the middle of the building stood a tower, a pink cupcake with three candles sticking out of the top making the tip of the tower.

“Here already?” Serenity thought to herself, gently rubbing her face. “There doesn’t seem to be any lights on inside. Are they even open?” Serenity shrugged slightly and walked to the front of the shop, standing on the pink platform in front of the door for a second. The pale pink mare pushed open the door, and a small ‘ching’ rung throughout Sugar Cube Corner as the door came fully open. The inside of the shop lingered with darkness, sheets over the windows and the lights off.

Serenity swallowed a small lump in her throat as she stepped through the doorway. “H- Hello?”

“Surprise!” A large group of voices shouted all at once. Serenity jumped in place and almost lost the grip on the spell keeping her form, a small spark of fiery dark blue magic falling weakly from her coat. Luckily, nopony had notices, as they were all coming completely out of their hiding spots.

“A... welcome party?” Serenity said quietly to herself.

“Well duh!” A voice chimed in Serenity’s ear. In an instant, Serenity knew who was standing next to her.

“Pinkie, this wasn’t necess-” Serenity start to say.

“Of course it was necessary! You’re new in town! Do you know how many new ponies we get in town lately!?” Pinkie cheered as she bounced around, coming to a stop in front of Serenity and staring at her with a grin that looked as if Pinkie had thrown her best party ever. The two pink ponies came to a small standstill, Serenity scanning her eyes around the room for a second.

Serenity sighed and rolled her eyes. “How ma-?”

Before Serenity could even finish her sentence, Pinkie interrupted as happily as ever. “None! You’re the first pony to stay in Ponyville since, like, ever! That’s why I threw this party for you! Do you like it? Huh?” Serenity had leaned backwards subconsciously, and at the same time, Pinkie had leaned forward to where Serenity’s head had been. Once more, Sugar Cube Corner fell into an eery silence, Serenity shifting her eyes around the room again. The ponies in the room seemed to peer directly into her soul with grins almost as large as Pinkie’s, Serenity beginning to wonder if this was the same town she had left as a pony.

Serenity swallowed another small lump in her throat. “I... I like it?” The partially feigned smile on Serenity’s face turned into teeth clenching out of pain. Loud cheers broke out through Sugar Cube Corner, Serenity’s ears folding down and her eyes opening slightly wider.

“Taking this one might be a little harder than I thought...” Serenity thought to herself.

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Serenity nodded with a nervous smile at the group of ponies she had left and walked over to the table at the edge of the room, letting out a small sigh and letting her brow fall horizontally. The party had been going on for almost half an hour, Serenity already fed up with the attention and constant calls to her about being welcome to Ponyville. Despite Serenity’s hidden annoyance with the party, she continued to let it continue, as she feared if she left, Pinkie would be heartbroken. Serenity shook her head and looked down at the table in front of her. A small grumble broke her little concentration on the punch bowl resting on the table, Serenity beginning to feel hunger take over any other feeling in her.

“A little hungry, huh? Not to sound rude, but that was kinda loud.” A deep voice said from Serenity’s left.

“Well, thanks for making me feel selfconsc-” Serenity said as she turned her head to look at the owner of the voice, but stopped with surprise. The stallion standing next to her stood about the average size of a stallion, his stature a little under average, however. His dark blue mane hung a medium length from his head and pushed off to his right, his tail hanging about the same length as his mane. His bright orange eyes complemented his icy blue coat, the small and puffy strand of hair attached to his chin adding to his charm even further. A horn jutted out from his mane and into the air, just a little higher than his height. On his flank sat three crystals of ice, one standing vertical and two others angled so their sharp tips pointed to the center crystal. Serenity continued to stare at the stallion in surprise, speech seeming to escape her for a the moment.

The stallion cleared his throat and tilted his head downwards a little. “You alright? You’re... uh, staring at me.”

Serenity shook her head again and relaxed, laughing nervously. “Yeah... yeah, I’m fine. I’m Serenity if you haven’t gotten it yet.”

“Well, it’s always nice to see a fresh face in Ponyville. My name is Frost. May I ask where you moved to Ponyville from?”

“Uh... Trottingham.”

“Trottingham? I have a friend that was visiting there. What’s it like in Trottingham, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“No, it’s fine. Trottingham is a nice town. The ponies there are nice too, not as friendly as the ponies here, though.”

“Yeah, Ponyville tends to be a little overwhelming at some times.”

“Can I... can I ask who your friend is? The one who is visiting Trottingham?” Serenity asked, trying to be as innocent as possible.

“Salvation. Left about four weeks ago with his marefriend on a sort of ‘escape’.”

“Well, you don’t seem to mind my privacy, do you Frost?” Serenity mumbled.

“What was that?” Frost asked.

“Nothing, nothing. What is Salvation like? I think I might have heard his name come up before I left.”

“Stallion, average height, light grey coat, red-orange eyes, black mane, wouldn’t say he’s thin, but he’s... smaller.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Serenity asked sternly, a slightly angry expression forming on her face.

Frost’s eyes opened partially wider and he leaned backwards slightly. “Uh... nothing, nothing at all.”

Serenity squinted slightly and calmed herself down. “Anyways, continue?”

“Uh... s- sure. His cutie mark is three crosses, each one of them smaller than the other. Honestly, I would have thought it would have been something with magic or so, but I guess his caring for others fits too.”

“Magic? Why’s that?”

“He was always pretty good with magic. I can’t really give any examples, but his talent with magic seems to go quite a ways. But, let’s change the subject. I don’t want to go telling his personal life to anypony I see.”

“What? You don’t trust me?”

“Wait, no, I didn’t-”

“I’m just joking. I understand.”

Without any type of warning, Frost suddenly jolted off to the side as Pinkie hopped into the spot where he stood, another grin spread across her face.

“How’s the party coming along? Don’t you just love parties?” Pinkie asked.

Serenity watched as Frost got up, the icy blue stallion motioning his hoof to Pinkie as he walked away. “Yeah, the party is going along great.” Serenity said, turning her head to the pink pony in front of her. “You really didn’t have to do this for me. Honestly, I would have been fine, but thank you. I appreciate the act of kindness.”

“Oh, it’s no big deal. I throw parties almost every week! I just wish Rarity could have made it to this one. She was the one who introduced us you to, anyway.”

Serenity suddenly felt nervousness surge through her. “Oh, uh, why couldn’t she make it? Did something happen?”

The cheery tone in Pinkie’s voice faded as she continued. “Well, the day when you came to Ponyville, Rarity said that she was going out into the Everfree forest the next day to look for gems. When she didn’t come to brunch the next day, we all thought she had just left in the morning before anypony got up. Even Sweetie Belle didn’t know she left. Rarity hasn’t been seen by anypony since yesterday morning, we think something may have happened. We’re going out on a little search for her tonight, just in case.”

“Oh... I’m terribly sorry. I- I would come with you... but I have some things I need to work out with the hotel later.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s just fine. She probably just got lost. Maybe Zecora can help us!” With a sudden revitalization of her happiness, or what appeared to be, Pinkie Pie bounced off further into the Sugar Cube Corner. Serenity felt an overwhelming sensation come over her and she stumbled against the table beside her, a small splash of punch spilling onto the tablecloth.

“Oh dear sweet Celestia, I can’t do this. She looked heartbroken.” Serenity thought to herself as she regained her composure. “...but I’m gong to have to. Tonight, Everfree. It’s probably the easiest route to capturing the next target.” Serenity looked up from the table and turned to the crowd of ponies in the middle of Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie was no where to be seen.

“I’m sorry, Pinkie.” Serenity said quietly.

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“Rarity? Are you out here? Rarity?” The group of ponies called out as they wandered aimlessly through the dense and dark forest. A full moon hung in the star sprinkled sky above, letting enough light to allow the group of ponies searching for their friend to barely see beyond the light of their lanterns. Pinkie led in front of the small group along with Fluttershy, a mare and two stallions following behind them closely as they continued through the forest.

“P- Pinkie, do you think we should have stayed with the others? The forest is dangerous...” Fluttershy said quietly, her head slightly ducked down.

“Oh don’t worry. Rainbow, Twilight, and Applejack will be fine, silly!” Pinkie said cheerily.

“I... I kind of meant us...”

“We’ll be fine too. Whatever comes at us we’ll just fend off!” Pinkie laughed nervously from the end of her sentence, the smile on her face disappearing slowly. The five ponies continued on through the Everfree forest, the path they trotted along echoing quietly with their hoofsteps. Almost complete darkness occupied the dense forest on each side of the path, anything beyond the small sphere of light that radiated from the group of ponies’ lanterns barely visible. Despite the lingering feeling of slight paranoia, the five ponies continued slowly down the path, occasionally calling out Rarity’s name cautiously. To their knowledge, everything would turn out fine during their search. However, hopes aren’t something to rely on when there is something lurking in the darkness.

“Did you hear that?” One of the stallions asked out loud, coming to a stop and looking into the dark of the forest. The other ponies of the group stopped as well, Fluttershy letting out a small squeak.

“Hear what?” The other stallion asked.

“Movement. Zap-apples aren’t in season, are they?”

“I don’t think zap-apple season defines the timberwolve’s personalities. They’ll be just as hostile as they would during zap-apple season. Come on, it looks like it was just in your head. We still have a mare to find. If she is lost, that is.”

“No no, I definitely heard something.”

“Look, you’re just hearing things. Everfree can play tricks on-” In an instant, the stallion disappeared from the path, the other four ponies’ eyes opening wide and backing away from where the stallion stood.

“Where... where did he go?” The mare asked as she scooted her way over to Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“It looked like... something flew down and took him! Alright, everypony, keep your eyes out. That didn’t look like any sort of bird or-” With another sound of wind rushing from above, the stallion standing away from the mares quickly vanished from the group, the light of his lantern soaring off into the sky.

“What’s happening!?” The mare next to Pinkie and Fluttershy shouted. She received no answer from the two mares beside her, as Fluttershy had her head to the ground, her hooves covering her face, and Pinkie stared in awe at where the stallion had flown off into the sky. Soon enough, another quick rush of air blew past the group of ponies, and the mare beside Pinkie and Fluttershy was no where to be seen, her lantern rolling around on the dirt path. Pinkie and Fluttershy were left cowering in the middle of the path in Everfree, Fluttershy mumbling quietly and Pinkie looking around the area as fast as she could turn her head.

“Stuck out here alone with each other, now are we?” A voice spoke out behind the two mares. Pinkie whipped around as fast as she could, Fluttershy preoccupied with fear as she continued to cover her head.

“Who are you!? What did you do with the others!?” Pinkie Pie shouted, trying her best to sound as intimidating as possible.

“Don’t recognize me? That’s funny, it seemed only this morning that you were throwing me a surprise welcome party.” Pinkie froze as she recognized the voice, and even more confusion pierced into her head as the owner of the voice stepped into the light of her lantern.

“You... wha... huh!?” Pinkie yelled, lifting a hoof up to her head and scratching it vigorously.

Serenity stared at Pinkie with a small smirk on her face. “Something the matter?”

“But- how- were you- others-!” Pinkie Pie stuttered.

“Calm down. The other ponies that you were with are fine.” Serenity said. She shifted her eyes to Fluttershy, the pale yellow mare still mumbling into the dirt. “I wasn’t expecting to have two of you here. This might be hard to only take one of you...”

“Wait, what do you mean take one of you!?” Pinkie’s eyes opened wide and she gasped loudly. “You’re the one who took Rarity, aren’t you!?”

“A pony shows up in Ponyville one day and your friend disappears the next day, along with the pony that showed up. I was surprised you weren’t suspicious of me.”

“Well, we thought she had just left...”

“You should have thought about it harder. Now that you see it, it kind of makes sense, does it not?”

“It does, but I’m not going to let you take any more ponies!” Pinkie straightened her legs and stood in a heroic pose. “Where is Rarity!?”

“This is just wasting my time.” Serenity’s horn glowed with a dark blue aura and a small beam of magic shot from her horn, making a direct path to Pinkie. The dark blue beam of magic collided with Pinkie’s head and sunk into the pink pony, Pinkie Pie standing in slight surprise. She was unharmed, but felt massively tired a few seconds after the beam of magic had made contact with her. Pinkie felt her legs fall limp from under her and she toppled over gently on her side, her tongue hanging partially out of her mouth. Serenity walked over to Pinkie and inspected Pinkie, the pink pony already fast asleep.

“That was quick.” Serenity said quietly, turning her head to Fluttershy slowly. The pale yellow pony didn’t seem to notice the commotion that had taken place right next to her, Fluttershy still covering her ears and whispering quietly with her eyes closed.

“Poor thing.” Serenity thought to herself. “I can’t just leave her out here alone. Chrysalis might get upset... but it looks like I’m going to have to take them both.” Serenity sighed and walked over in front of Fluttershy, the mare on the ground opening her eyes slightly as the noise of Serenity’s hoof steps managed to make it through her ears.

“Seren... Serenity? What...?” Fluttershy said as she let her front hooves back onto the ground, lifting her head up.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, everything’s going to be alright.” Serenity spoke softly, a reassuring smile on her face. “I was able to hold back whatever was taking the ponies away. Pinkie got knocked on the head, but she’s going to be fine. Here, let me help you up.” Fluttershy and Serenity’s horn glowed with a dark blue aura, Fluttershy lifting up and standing on her hooves.

Fluttershy turned her head to her right, Pinkie snoring quietly on the ground. “What happened? What attacked us? Where are the other ponies? Are they alright?” Fluttershy asked frantically, returning her gaze back to the mare in front of her.

Serenity giggled lightly. “It was just a teenage dragon prank. I managed to fend them off and they flew away. The other ponies are on their way back to Ponyville, don’t worry about them. Here, help me get Pinkie up.” Fluttershy nodded and walked over to Pinkie, flapping her wings to keep herself up as she reached out to grab the sleeping mare. Fluttershy felt a hoof touch her neck, and a sudden tingling sensation ran through her body.

“Sorry, Fluttershy, but you’re going with her.” Serenity said gently. Fluttershy’s eyes rolled back in her head and she fell forward onto Pinkie Pie, falling asleep along with the mare under her.

Serenity sighed and stared at Pinkie and Fluttershy. “You’ll have to excuse me, girls. I really wish this didn’t have to happen.” Serenity said as she changed back to her changeling form. Augury stepped forward and lifted Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie into the air with a levitation spell, floating the two mares over him and setting them down on his back. The dark blue aura around them stayed, Augury making sure that they didn’t fall off of him.

“Hey! What are you doing!?” A voice yelled from further down the path. Augury’s eyes snapped open wide and he turned his head to look where the voce had come from. A group of five ponies ran towards him intently, the lavender unicorn at the front charging a spell within her horn. As quick as he could, Augury cast a teleportation spell, the two mares on his back disappearing along with him. The group of ponies in the forest slid to a stop where Augury had been standing, Twilight Sparkle stomping on the ground with her hoof in frustration as the spell in her horn died down.

“What was that all about? Who was that?” Applejack asked, walking forward and looking at the hoofprints in the dirt.

“I don’t know, I didn’t get a clear picture of who that was, but whoever is was, he or she took Pinkie and Fluttershy.” Twilight said, staring at the area where Augury was.

“Took Pinkie and Fluttershy!? Whoever did this doesn’t know who they’re messing with! I’ll make sure they never forget my name once I’m done with them!” Rainbow Dash shouted, lifting into the air and pounding her hooves together.

“And with this situation, I don’t think Rarity is lost. Rarity was taken.” Twilight spoke.

“Well, what do we do? We don’t know who that was, and we sure as hay don’t know where they could’ve taken Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. Where’re the other ponies that were with ‘em?” Applejack asked.

“Over here!” One of other mares in the group called out from off the path. She stood next to two stallions and one mare, each of them sleeping heavily.

“That’s strange... you’d think whoever took Pinkie and Fluttershy would have taken them, too.” Twilight Sparkle muttered, rubbing her chin.

“What are you saying?” Rainbow Dash asked as she lowered herself back to the ground.

“I’m not saying anything, but I have a theory. There might be something deeper to this than what we think. We’ll have to put Ponyville on full alert and make sure that nopony goes into Everfree anymore. We’ve got a foalnapper on the loose. Get those other three ponies and bring them back to Ponyville. Maybe they know something about who took our friends.” Twilight Sparkle said.

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DOUBLE CHAPTER UPLOAD ALL ACROSS ADVENT CHRYSALIS!! YEAH, YE-E-A-A-H, SO INTENSE!!

Sorry about that, couldn't help it. Anyways, I had to split this chapter and the previous chapter (One On One) into two parts, since they were a little long as one full chapter combined. I usually don't like my chapters to be too long, but I will occasionally upload a longer chapter. Just a little heads-up so I don't blindside you with a ten thousand (not saying there will be one that lengthy, just a possibility) word long chapter. Next Chapter: [8] Requests Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 32 Minutes