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Silverponies

by Scribblestick

Chapter 1: Monsters

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In hindsight, she should have seen them coming.

"A-Applejack?" She couldn't be sure which of the fillies had spoken, as she was more focused on the pony-ish forms circling just outside the clearing. Their rubbery limbs stretched impossibly far with each step, and even in the dim light, she could tell their mouths were hanging open, black ooze running over their lips, waiting to attack.

"Just stay close, girls," she said, bracing her back hooves against the ground and stomping. She narrowed her eyes, bared her teeth, lowered her head, and tuned out the pounding of her heart. "Ah hope you're ready to run."


"You wanted to see me, Twilight?"

The mid-morning light shone through the castle windows, casting a long shadow in Applejack's direction. Several unopened books lay on the table that stood in the center of the room. Twilight was alone, seated in front of the table. Applejack presumed she'd been picking which book to begin reading. A few chests rested against the walls. Most contained maps and other documents relating to Twilight's new duties as a princess.

"Yes," Twilight said, standing from her throne. "There's something I need you to do for me."

"Sure," Applejack said. "What is it?"

Twilight began to pace, as usual. "I've just received a letter from Princess Celestia," she began. "Apparently, some ponies have reported strange creatures in the Everfree Forest."

"Strange creatures, huh?" Applejack repeated. "Doesn't sound like anything out of the ordinary for that place."

"They describe these creatures as"—she paused to pick up a scroll—"'stretchy,' 'gray,' 'faceless,' 'poisonous,' 'amorphous,' 'weightless,' and 'creepy.'"

Applejack considered the description. "Doesn't sound like anything Ah've ever encountered," she said. The thought of a mystery creature lurking near her farm was a little worrisome, but surely Twilight already had a plan to deal with it.

"Nor I, nor anypony else, except for these witnesses," Twilight said, rolling the scroll up and placing it on a table. "I'm asking you to go into the forest and investigate."

Applejack tilted her head. "Pardon?"

"It's clear this matter must be looked into," Twilight said, turning her back to Applejack as she continued pacing. "Though we have received only a few reports, something very real is frightening these ponies. As Equestria's leaders, the princesses have decided to send you to resolve the matter."

"Sure, but shouldn't we be discussing this a bit more?" Applejack asked. The thought of hunting these things alone without knowing what they could do made her uncomfortable. "Maybe we could get a team together?"

"Applejack, we must all make sacrifices for the good of Equestria," Twilight said, coming to a halt at the far end of the throne room.

"Ah guess," Applejack agreed, though the admission did little to loosen the knot in her stomach. A chill passed through her body.

"Good. You will leave immediately. Report to me your findings when you return."

Applejack frowned. She wasn't sure if Twilight's aloof attitude or curt demeanor grated her nerves more. "That's it?"

Twilight's head twitched a little. Sunlight was beginning to fill the room. "What do you mean?"

"It ain't like you to charge into something dangerous like this," Applejack said. She was beginning to feel sick, and not just from apprehension. "And it's definitely not like you to sit back and let others do the dirty work."

A tremor rippled down Twilight's body as light touched her rear hooves. "I apologize for my behavior. I simply have a lot on my mind."

Her cold tone suggested otherwise. "What's gotten into you?" Applejack asked, stepping toward her friend. "Ah don't appreciate being sent alone on dangerous missions like this."

"Do not come any closer," the princess said. "I can hear you perfectly well from a distance."

Applejack glared. Her intestinal ball of worry was turning angry. "Ain't you supposed to be the princess of friendship?"

Light drained from the room. Twilight turned around. Her face had half-melted into a grayish blob. Applejack stumbled back with a cry. "You should have left when you had the chance," Twilight said, though her voice grew more gravelly with each word and echoed more in Applejack's head than in her ears.

Applejack crouched. Fear and confusion writhed in her gut. "What in the name of Celestia are you, and where's my friend?"

Not-Twilight's mouth broke into a grin that stretched halfway around its head. Its eyes had melted shut, yet somehow it was still walking toward her. "You could have joined her in the forest," it said. Its legs and body lost their purple color and turned the same dull gray as its face. Its limbs stretched like rubber with each step it took.

"Y-You stay away," Applejack said, taking a couple steps back herself. The castle wall prevented her from taking any more.

The thing's grin widened. Its sorry excuse for a face was inches away. "Aren't you supposed to be my friend?"

"Nope!" Applejack spun on her front hooves and kicked the creature like it was a particularly stubborn apple tree. Not-Twilight flew across the throne room and slammed into the far wall. Its body squished against the pristine crystal wall and left a kind of black ooze as it sank to the floor.

Applejack waited a moment for it to retaliate. Her breathing was heavy, despite how little work she'd done. The creature just lay there, gently leaking a small puddle of ooze. A similar sticky substance coated Applejack's rear hooves. She approached slowly, muscles tight in case she needed to kick it a second time. The creature didn't look too interested in going another round, though, and after a minute Applejack was close enough to wrinkle her nose at the toxic stench creeping off its body.

"Stretchy, gray, faceless, and creepy," she muttered, poking the creature with a hoof. It didn't respond. She let out a long, slow lungful of air. "Mystery solved."


The Silverpony lunged. Applejack dodged. The fillies screamed as they dove behind her. The Silverpony recovered its balance and turned to snarl at her, only to find Applejack's rear hooves punting it across the clearing. "Run!" Applejack yelled, charging for the hole left by the recently pummeled Silverpony. Three little sets of hooves followed close behind.

The trees pressed in around her as she led her companions through the forest. Panic pressed in as well, but she forced that out of her mind. She needed to find a path. "Y'all still there?" she asked, risking a glance behind her. Three small voices squeaked in reply.

The sound of rustling leaves to her right almost made her jump. She glanced sideways and spied a gray blur hurtling through the trees beside her. "So they're fast," she muttered. It took half a moment to drive the terror from her head. Then, she yelled, "Follow me, girls! It's about to get rough!"


It was a strange sensation, knowing everypony around her could be a monster in disguise. She tried to act like nothing was wrong, but she'd never been a good liar at the best of times, and she couldn't help but feel like everypony was staring at her. She greeted them with a smile even she knew looked forced, but it was the best she could manage with her knotted-up stomach. Whether her fellow ponies were just concerned about the gunk on her hooves or waiting to bite her face off was anypony's guess.

Questions competed for her attention as she made her way through town. Twilight had been replaced by that... thing, whatever it was. It wanted her to go to the forest. But why? It said she could have joined Twilight there. Was that where Twilight was hiding? Was she trapped? Or was it some kind of trick? All these unanswered questions only filled her with worry. Spike hadn't had any answers; he'd only been able to gibber a few words before he passed out in shock. She couldn't blame him. She probably would have done the same if she'd walked in on somepony stuffing a gray blob monster into a trunk.

Applejack still didn't have any answers when she got out of town, but her stomach knot did begin to unwind itself without any potential not-ponies around her. It was midday before she got back to Sweet Apple Acres. She saw Big Mac bucking some apples and made her way to the house. Granny Smith was dozing in her rocker, as usual. "Apple Bloom!" she called as she began her search of the house.

"Wha?" Granny Smith awoke with a start. "Wha's tha' yammerin'?"

"Granny, where's Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked. She hoped her inner turmoil wasn't seeping too much into her tone.

Granny Smith scratched her chin. "I, ah, think she went into that there forest to visit Zecora," she answered.

The knot tightened itself, worse than before. "Consarnit," Applejack muttered.

"Watch yer language, young filly," Granny snapped.

Applejack sighed. It was an angrier sigh than she intended. "Sorry, Granny. Ah gotta go find Apple Bloom. Just — stay here, okay?"

"What?"

Applejack didn't repeat herself. She couldn't spare the seconds.


Applejack veered left, and the fillies followed. The brambles and bushes were thick here, and it was difficult to make headway, but she hoped the Silverponies would loose her in the tangle. She needed a chance to breathe, truly reign in her emotions and navigate a course to safety. Just a little farther, she told herself, and then —

"Applejack!"

A creature slithered its way through the branches and wrapped itself around Applejack's body. Panic compressed her chest. Do not run, it hissed in that strange, only-in-your-mind voice. Stay with us.

Applejack screamed and slammed her body into the thicket around her. The creature's grip began to go slack. Through the fear and adrenaline, a slim ray of hope shone. At least they couldn't take much of a beating.


The Everfree Forest was ominous almost by definition, but it felt especially intimidating today. In addition to all its usual dangers, Applejack kept constant vigilance on her surroundings, wary of any gray monsters jumping out of the trees. She stuck to the path, her ears flicking back and forth, sweeping the for any unusual sound. Her eyes strained against the shadows, searching for anything that didn't seem right. Once or twice she had to force her limbs to stop trembling and drive the memory of Not-Twilight's twisted form from her mind. As long as she kept a level head, she'd find Apple Bloom soon enough and be home in time to barricade the doors. Hopefully.

The trees leaned closer as the sun fell toward the horizon. Applejack breathed a sigh of relief when Zecora's hut came into view, and despite how alert she'd been all day, she was genuinely caught off-guard when her back hooves stumbled on something.

"What in the..." Applejack turned to look, but there was nothing for her hooves to be caught on. Nevertheless, when she tried to move forward, some unseen force kept them from complying. "Hey! Apple Bloom! Zecora!"

At the sound of her voice, three tiny heads popped out of the hut. "Applejack!" Apple Bloom called. "What're you doing here?"

"Ah'm looking for you!" Applejack called back. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exited the hut and galloped toward her. "Just what do you think you're doing out here?"

"Hiding from the Silverponies," Sweetie Belle answered.

Applejack stopped trying to pull her hooves forward. "What'd you say?"

"The Silverponies, Applejack," said a deep, melodic voice. Applejack looked past the three fillies to see Zecora walking toward her. "We do not wish to be attacked."

"These Silverponies," Applejack said. "They wouldn't happen to be stretchy, gray, faceless, and creepy, by any chance?"

"And weightless, poisonous, and amorphous," Sweetie Belle added. "How'd you know?"

Applejack's heart beat faster while her stomach tightened its self-imposed knot, and the image of a gray-skinned nightmare flashed in her head. "Let's just say Ah had a run-in with one and leave it at that."

"That I can see from the state of your hooves," Zecora observed. She turned to Apple Bloom and said, "Fetch me that potion we brewed in the woods."

While Apple Bloom ran to Zecora's hut for the potion, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo did their best to explain what was happening. "Basically, they kidnap ponies and then disguise themselves as the ponies they kidnap," Scootaloo said.

"Zecora said they all disappeared a long time ago, and nopony knows where they went," Sweetie Belle added.

"So they do have Twilight," Applejack muttered. It looked like her quest was far from over. "Care to explain whatever's keeping me out?"

"A warding circle of ancient make," Zecora explained. "Our foes cannot its borders break."

"So the Silverponies can't get in," Applejack summarized. Apple Bloom returned and passed a potion to Zecora. "What's that got to do with my back hooves?"

"They're covered in Silverpony slime," Apple Bloom said as Zecora dumped the potion's contents on Applejack's hooves. In a moment, the black goo had been washed off, and her legs moved forward freely.

"Ah see." She walked forward until she felt confident she was within Zecora's magic circle. Tempting as it was to stay, she knew that wasn't an option. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and clear her mind. "Listen, you girls stay here. Ah've gotta go find Twilight."


The Silverpony loosened its grip around her body and slithered in front of her, letting out a mind-splitting scream. Applejack pressed her hooves against her head as drops of ooze pelted her face. "That's it!" she yelled, and charged with a surge of adrenaline and anger. "Ah've had enough of you creatures!"

Applejack's head hit the Silverpony square in the jaw, and the two tumbled out of the thicket. She pummeled the creature with her front hooves a few times to make sure it stayed down. "Y'all all right?" she called, turning her head back the way she came. She was panting, but her violent outburst left her feeling strangely relaxed. Three frightened fillies nodded, their bodies still somehow untouched by the Silverpony ooze.

Applejack looked around, scanning the trees for any sign of their attackers. Seeing none, she motioned for the fillies to follow, and for a moment, she dared to hope the Silverpony nightmare was behind them. Then she shook her head and focused. Literally or figuratively, they weren't out of the woods yet.


Applejack knew Twilight Sparkle to be a pony of utmost caution, especially when traveling dangerous paths. Sure, there was the time the cockatrice caught her by surprise, or those strange poison gas creatures when those black vines tried to take over Equestria, but besides that, one would be hard-pressed to catch her off-guard, much less overpower her, in almost any situation.

So, really, there was only one place she could have been captured: a library. And as far as Applejack knew, there was only one of those in the Everfree Forest.

"Twilight?" Applejack's voice was caught between calling and whispering, leaning toward the latter. She stepped carefully through the castle's halls, hoping she remembered the way to the library. Jittery as she was, she was able to move with near silence. Her ears lay flat against her head, as though making herself smaller would make her task easier. "Twilight, where are you?"

A few grunts and groans echoed their way through the hall, and Applejack followed. Sure enough, she found a purple alicorn fighting to free herself from sticky black ooze. Her face was lined with fatigue, but she looked unharmed. "Twilight!"

"Applejack?" Twilight turned her head in Applejack's direction. "What are you doing here? It's not safe to —" Twilight's reprimand was cut short as Applejack threw a potion in her face. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Making sure you're not a Silverpony," Applejack answered. Her heart soared with the knowledge this wasn't another Silverpony trap. She removed several more flasks from her bags and relished in the thought that this nightmare adventure would be over soon. "Hold on. Ah'll have you outa this mess in a second."

Applejack heard more than saw Twilight's head jerking left and right while she poured Zecora's potion on Twilight's hooves. "They'll be coming out soon," she said. "It's getting late, and they can't stay disguised for long in sunlight."

"Well, then, we'd better hurry." Applejack poured her last vial over Twilight's last hoof. The two wasted no time bolting for the nearest exit. "We can spend the night at Zecora's place. Ah'm sure you can figure out some kind of spell to keep them away."

"I used a lot of energy trying to get myself out. My magic doesn't affect them," Twilight replied between breaths. "Besides, I need to get back to Ponyville. Princess Celestia must be informed of this immediately."

The two dashed across the drawbridge and came to a stop. On the one hoof, having a princess by her side made Applejack feel a hundred times more confident she'd make it home in once piece, but on the other, Twilight's obvious fatigue was a liability, and the princesses did need to know what was going on. She made a snap decision before doubt could creep in. "Then go," Applejack said. "Ah can find my way back to Zecora's, and it'll be easier to avoid the Silverponies if there's only one of us."

Twilight's eyes darted from the sky to Applejack's face to the forest. "We can both go," she said. Her face strained, and she gasped as her horn began to glow. "I think I have the strength to teleport us back."

"You look like you're about to faint," Applejack said.

"I can't leave you here," Twilight insisted.

"We ain't got time to argue," Applejack insisted right back. The sun was dipping below the treeline. "Ah can distract them while you get home. Ah can handle them." She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.

Twilight hesitated a moment, then gave her a quick hug. "Be careful. I'll send help as soon as I can."

"Ah'll see you in the morning," Applejack promised. Twilight spread her wings and flapped, rising unsteadily into the sky and out of sight. Applejack trotted toward the forest and suddenly tripped over three small shapes hiding in the shrubbery.

"Ahh!" Applejack leaped to her hooves and rounded on — three fillies. "What in tarnation?"

"Sorry!" Sweetie Belle squeaked.

"We sort of followed you here," Scootaloo added.

"You're not mad, are you?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Are y'all out of yer minds?" Applejack shouted. "Ah told you to stay with Zecora!"

The three fillies sighed. "We know."

Applejack covered her face with a hoof and took several deep breaths. This was a liability she didn't need, but it would do no good to get worked up over it now. "Let's just get back to Zecora's hut, and we'll discuss this then."

It was only when she heard the rustling around them and noticed the sun missing from the sky that her heart began to pound.

"A-Applejack?" She couldn't be sure which of the fillies had spoken, as she was more focused on the Silverponies circling them, rubbery limbs stretching as they snarled and growled.

"Just stay close, girls," she said, preparing to charge. "Ah hope you're ready to run."


Every rustling leaf and cracking twig sent Applejack's heart rate skyrocketing as she led the fillies toward what she hoped was Zecora's hut. She felt herself begin to relax as she caught glimpses of torchlight through the trees, and she forced herself to stay on edge. For all she knew, the Silverponies were closing in right now, and even a split-second would make all the difference in Equestria.

"There it is," she told the fillies as the four of them stepped onto the path that led to the hut. "Run along and tell Zecora I'm waiting."

"You're not coming with us?" Scootaloo asked.

"Ah'm covered in Silverpony slime," Applejack answered. "Y'all need to clean me off with some of Zecora's potion before Ah can get past the magic circle."

"So, you can't get in?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"No, Ah can't," Applejack snapped. "Now hurry up and get some of Zecora's potion."

The fillies exchanged glances before fixing her with eerie grins. "No."

Applejack glared at them, her mind refusing to process that word. "'Scuse me?"

"Sounds like you're exactly where we want you to be," Apple Bloom said as the fillies began to creep closer. Their grins grew wider, impossibly wide, and their faces began to melt. Behind her, Applejack heard the real Apple Bloom screaming. Applejack didn't realize she was backing up until she collided with an invisible wall.

Don't worry, Applejack, the not-fillies 'said' in unison, black ooze dripping from their mouths. Applejack's vision blurred, and it was all she could do to slow her breathing enough to stay awake. You'll be safe with us.

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