Hollow Shades

by Dilos1

First published 8th of October, 2015

Something new lurks within the wilds of Equestria. Something monstrous.

Angela was just a petty thief at a convention. All she wanted was to grab a few things, leave, and make a few bucks off of them. She had no idea just how complicated her situation would become because of it. And now, the ponies inhabiting the town of Hollow Shades will find themselves at odds with what many would call a living nightmare.

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First attempt at a displaced fic, featuring a blend of the game Evolve and My Little Pony.
If you don't like that sort of thing, then don't read.

Tags may be added later on. Gore tag for mild gore, nothing too overt.

Featured 4/25/16

Prologue

Angela beheld the large building in front of her with a greedy gleam in her eye.

Dressed in a black hooded jacked with a white paintball mask covering her face, her appearance, which would have been suspicious in any other situation, went unnoticed by the hundreds of other cosplayers that swarmed towards the convention like insects. Many of them were dressed in apparel that disguised them in much the same way, hiding their faces from the world behind the capes and masks of their favorite hero, villain, or creature. Angela had to admit that, as she looked around at them, some of them were actually pretty decent in terms of appearance. Some were even downright impressive to look at, Like that one guy's giant hydralisk costume that, were it not for the legs, Angela might have mistook for the real thing.

And she was not sure, but Angela could not help but shake the feeling that the terran marine that was with him was a girl, and was thoroughly enjoying her role.

Other costumes, while not quite as eye catching, were still pretty neat in their own right. But unfortunately, Angela did not come here just to check out the best costume. Readjusting the backpack slung over her shoulders Angela proceeded to go inside, hidden by the mass of people already in the rented out building. From there she asked for directions to the largest room, where most of the souvenirs were at, and by extension most of the money. Along the way she passed by a Spider Man, a Darth Vader, Princesses Celestia and Luna, and multiple varieties of pokemon. The last group gave her a feeling of nostalgia.

She had not been your typical girl stereotype when she was younger.

Along the way she even got a few compliments for her own "costume" , which she accepted graciously. She may not have cared what they thought about her appearance, but there was no need to attract more attention to herself by being rude.

It was while Angela was walking down a long hallway filled to capacity with other people in costumes that she noticed something sticking out of the side pocket of a suitcase some distance away. She narrowed her eyes and grinned behind her mask when she saw that it was a wallet. And it looked like it had a lot of green stuff in it. And what luck that the teenage boy dressed in plastic golden armor currently tapping away on his phone had been nice enough to set it next to a bench by the woman's restroom.

He's probably waiting for his girlfriend or something. Angela thought.

Suddenly deciding that she needed to use the facilities herself, although for an entirely different reason than what they were probably intended for, Angela changed her direction slightly and made her way towards the restroom. Just as she was about to pass the boy with the suitcase Angela quickly checked to make sure that he was still distracted by his phone and no one else was looking before she stealthily stooped down just enough to pinch the wallet between her thumb and index finger. The boy did not even look up for a second as Angela casually strolled into the restroom with her prize. Stepping into one of the stalls Angela proceeded to empty all of its contents into her backpack.

A wonderful start to a day at the convention! she thought gleefully.

Her spoils safely tucked away, Angela emerged from the restroom, surreptitiously replacing the wallet back into its place in the suitcase as she passed the boy, who's attention was still on his phone.

I can't help it if some people make it too easy. She mused as she resumed her journey towards the center of the convention, where even more riches were to be had, just ripe for the taking.

Unfortunately for Angela there was actually not a lot of great opportune moments for her to get much of anything, much to her chagrin. It was not that there was a shortage of wallets or open purses to swipe or dip her hand into, or even rare collectibles that would easily fit in her pocket, far from it. She could still recall the almost ecstatic joy she felt upon seeing a plethora of rare Kenner Star Wars action figures, some of them still in their original packaging. Had there not been a bunch of people around at the time that would have seen her she might have been able to make off with a few of them. And of course the guy showing them off had been adamant about not taking his eyes off of them for more than a second, which only made it that much more of a bust.

At least that one chubby nerd had been gullible enough to think that a girl would not be interested in casually sliding a few of his supposedly super rare pokemon cards into her open backpack while he checked beneath his desk for something. Those might get her a few dollars at least. Or maybe she would just keep them; she was a bit of a nerd herself after all.

During her "shopping spree" Angela had also managed to acquire more than a few dollars worth of other items and collectibles that would likely get her a large sum of money, not to mention her spoils from a bunch of open purses and carelessly placed wallets. All things considered, it had not been a bad day for the pickpocket, but it was still far from being the best, and Angela was beginning to get the feeling that she had better start becoming scarce before the people here finally caught on to her, if they haven't already.

Deciding to take just one last look around before leaving, Angela casually walked past various stands and tables, eyeing their wares with a critical gaze. Some of the items on them were tempting but not worth the risk, while others were under heavy scrutiny from their owners. Eventually Angela chose to just call it a day, and she began to make way towards the exit.

Just then she noticed something a little odd. There, a short distance away, an old man sat behind a desk with wire racks at his back. On them were all sorts of different items from almost every conceivable genre and science fiction series that she could recall. Among the list was a shiny Yveltal plush doll, a large and wicked looking sword, multiple replica light sabers, capes and cowls of every size and color, and the list just kept going. She even saw something that looked suspiciously like the Alicorn Amulet.

Well someone sure is eclectic in his tastes. Angela thought as she looked at them.

It seemed that the man had everything from books to boots and everything in between. As for the man himself. . . Angela was not really sure what to make of him. He was old and wrinkled with tanned skin, and he wore a strange faded robe. Her curiosity getting the better of her Angela walked over to the stand before clearing her throat to speak.

"Excuse me," she said, her voice slightly muffled as she spoke through her mask, "but what's all this you got here?"

The man glanced up her, and Angela noticed offhandedly that there was a strange gleam in his dark eyes as he looked her up and down. Angela was not sure why, but she got the feeling that she was being judged. It was not necessarily off putting, but still she noticed it.

"This, young lady," the man said with an amount of flourish that seemed entirely unnecessary, "is a collection of all kinds of assorted items from only the rarest of sources." The man leaned in and said in a somewhat milder tone, "And, just between the two of us, everything that you see here, you can't get it anywhere else."

That piqued Angela's interest a great deal, and she started to thing that maybe, if she played her cards right, she might be able to get away with some of these so called uber rare items. That thing that looked like a dinosaur tooth or claw hanging from one of the upper shelves by a leather strap seemed pretty interesting at least. Appearance wise it reminded Angela of the times when her father would take her to the museum when she was younger, and she would gaze up in awe the bones of once mighty creatures. Those had been fond memories for her.

Had been.

"What about that ?" she asked while pointing up to it. "That doesn't look like something worth paying a lot of money for. It looks more like someone made it in their garage."

At this the mans face became sour and his dark eyes narrowed. "Oh really? Now that is quite the thing to say, especially coming from a petty thief like yourself."

Angela's eyes widened in surprise and alarm, although her expression was hidden behind her mask, and she began to wonder with a slight amount of panic how he knew. Did he see her somehow? That did not make any sense, she was halfway across the large room when she was doing most of those things.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She said quietly, hoping he was bluffing.

"Oh, but I think you do miss," he answered with a smirk that made her feel all kinds of uncomfortable.

Angela regarded him suspiciously for a moment before she asked him, "How did you know?"

"Some security guards came by asking if I had seen anyone walking around matching your description. And I must say it is rather hard to miss. In fact, I do believe that one of those fine gentleman is standing a little ways behind you right now."

It took all of Angela's self control to not turn around and draw more attention to herself. She settled for casually moving her head, as though she had only heard someone call her name, and indeed there was a security guard among the crowd of costumed people. It did not seem that he had spotted her just yet, but Angela knew that would change very soon if she did not leave right now. She figured that now was as good a time as any to do so, until the old man said, "Its too late for that now dear. They've got the whole place under their eyes. You wouldn't even make it to the front door." He then confused her by adding, "But there's no need to leave just yet. He has not noticed you after all."

Angela's confusion would have shown if not for her mask. Her voice however was incredulous when she said, "You're not going to give me away." It was statement rather than a question, and the old man shook his head in response. "Why?" she asked.

The smile still present on his wrinkled face the man said with a hint of smugness, "Because my dear I think that we can help each other. You see, I actually want to see you get away, and in spectacular fashion no less. I can help you do that. All you have to do is give me all of the things that you have, ahem, gained, and take this."

The man reached out his hand, and in it Angela saw the same bone necklace that she had pointed out earlier, now missing from its spot on the wire racks. This startled Angela slightly, as she had not even seen him stand up to get it. She now eyed the thing suspiciously as he held it in front of her.

"How does that help me? Actually, scratch that, how does that help you? They're going to wonder why you suddenly have all this stuff."

"Leave the minor details to me," he answered vaguely as he motioned for her to take it.

Again, Angela looked at the necklace, and wondered what she should do. On the one hand there might still be a chance that she could get away with all of the things in in her possession. But on the other hand, there was the phenomenally greater chance that she would not. Angela hated to think about what would happen if she were caught, but the more she did think about it, the more she realized how hopeless her situation was. And now here was this weird old guy offering her some form of help that had something to do with this bone necklace. Gradually Angela realized that she virtually no choice.

Begrudgingly she slipped the backpack off of her shoulders, and was about to make the trade when she said, "Hold on. You said this is going to help the both of us. How does this help you?"

The old man just smiled and said, "Oh, I have to keep some secrets."

Angela rolled her eyes and grumbled something under her breath before handing him the backpack over the counter and received the necklace without another word. Assuming that she was supposed to be wearing it Angela slipped it over her hooded head, the bone piece hanging in front of her chest.

"Okay. . . now what?" she asked.

Before the man could so much as lift a finger to answer her, they both heard a loud voice shout from behind, "Hey! You there! Don't move!"

Angela whirled around, and to her dismay the security guard she saw had spotted her and was now moving towards her at a brisk pace. She cursed under her breath and started to make a run for it. However she did not make it more than a few yards before she was suddenly afflicted by a feeling of lightheadedness. Her vision began to swim and fade, becoming blurry, and she swayed with every step as though she were drunk. Then, Angela fell to the ground with a thud, and all she saw was darkness.

The first thing Angela noticed when she finally awakened was how how much her head hurt. It was almost like someone had taken the liberty to pound on the inside of her skull with a sledgehammer.

With great effort Angela cracked her eyes open to find herself surrounded on all sides by darkness. With even greater effort she rolled onto her stomach. And with the greatest effort of all Angela slowly positioned herself to sit on her knees. During the entire process her head throbbed violently, but at least now she was able to see where she was.

The second thing Angela noticed after she woke up was how utterly dark it was.

The third were the trees. There was a great many of them, gnarled and twisted and surrounded her on all sides, the only illumination coming from the thin shafts of moonlight streaming in through the canopy, and Angela began to wonder how she had ended up here. And, more importantly, where here was.

"Hello?" she called out. "Is anyone there?"

She waited silently, hoping for an answer. But none was forthcoming, and Angela began to feel the first stages of panic begin to settle in like a stone in her gut as frantic thoughts raced through her mind.

Where was she? How did she get here? Why was no one answering her? And why did her head hurt so much?!

Almost desperately Angela tried to organize her thoughts as they threatened to consume her, and attempted to recall the last thing she could remember.

She was at a convention. She had been. . . doing business. And then there was this old guy there. He said he could help her somehow. She had been caught. She had run. Everything else during and after that was just a blur.

Feeling it would be wiser to get her bearings first before dwelling on the matter any further, Angela tried to stand up. However the moment she did a stabbing pain raced down her spine, causing her to fall to the ground and utter a soundless scream. It seemed like hours before it finally faded away, leaving her in a cold sweat on the forest floor. It suddenly became hard for her to breath, and she frantically hooked her fingers underneath her mask. Flinging it away she greedily sucked in great breaths of air. For a long while Angela simply lied there on the cold ground with her eyes clenched tightly, still shaking from the feeling she just experienced.

It was then she heard something growling at her. And judging from the tone and pitch, it was big.

Almost too afraid to do so, Angela opened her eyes to see a hulking black, white and yellow figure skulking towards her. Its body vaguely resembled a bear of some sort, but beyond that the similarities ended.

The thing before her had an extra pair of clawed arms, a set of insect like wings that buzzed occasionally on its back, and a large abdomen not unlike that of a bee or hornet. Its compound eyes glowed a bloody red as it came nearer, and it let another growl escape from its tooth filled maw. Angela tried to get up and run, but the best she could manage was a slow crawl backwards on her rear. The bear thing growled again but did not quicken its pace. It seemed to know as much as she did that her chances of escape were virtually nonexistent. It did not help that her path was cut off when she felt her back scrape against the trunk of a tree. She was trapped now, and the bug bear bared its fangs in sadistic glee.

"No. . . please no. . ." she whimpered.

Angela closed her eyes, not wanting to witness her inevitable fate.

She opened them again as searing agony suddenly filled her entire body, but it was not caused by an attack on the bear's part. Rather, it seemed to emanate from within her very being, growing and expanding until it felt as though she would be torn apart from the inside, and she screamed long and loud. The bear's ears folded back against its head, surprised by its preys unexpected outburst, and it became vaguely aware that something was wrong, and it stayed rooted to the spot as caution replaced blood lust.

Angela meanwhile was in a massive amount of pain and torment. She clutched her head in a vain attempt to make it go away. Then, unexpectedly, she heard the sound of tearing fabric. She looked down at her arms to see that the edges of her sleeves had begun to split, exposing her forearms, which appearing to be growing. She did not notice, but the bug bear had decided to back away, sensing that something was indeed very wrong here, and its eyes widened in surprise and fear.

As Angela stared at herself, shaking in agony, she became even more concerned to see large growths spread across her skin, and a viscous black fluid began to leak out of every pore, covering her body in slime. Similar sensations ripped across the rest her body, and Angela, fighting to ignore the pain, desperately tried to shake the stuff off and wipe it away. But the feeling became too unbearable for her to endure, and she could do nothing more than fall onto her side and writhe on the ground.

As if that was not bad enough, these feelings were then followed by the sensation of every bone in her body breaking and moving within her her flesh. Her skull, shoulder blades, and the base of her spine in particular felt the brunt of it, and for a little while Angela just lied there, her rapidly growing form enveloped in a shroud of black slime, hoping desperately that she would just pass out.

And then, everything stopped. The night air that had once been filled with the cries of agony were now deathly silent.

The bug bear, thinking that the gruesome display was finally over, slowly inched forward, sniffing the air. Then, the thing that was going to be its prey stirred, and the slime that covered it slid away to reveal smooth pale skin. It then began to stand, rising up and up and up until it now towered over the bug bear, which backed away in alarm and fright, suddenly wishing it had stayed in the upper levels of Tartarus. The thing that now stood above it looked like something from a foals nightmare, resembling the human it had once been in only the vaguest sense.

The pain was now over. Finally, blessedly, over, and Angela breathed a sigh of relief, staring upward at the sky. But something felt. . . different, somehow. She was not sure why, or if the feeling was even necessarily wrong, only that it was different. A sound interrupted the feeling, and Angela looked down to see that the bug bear was now cowering as it backed away, its compound eyes wide with fear as it stared at her. Did it get smaller somehow? Angela did not know, nor did she particularly care at the moment. She only remembered that she had been backed into a corner by the thing, and a flurry of emotions and feelings flooded her mind as a result. Fear was among them, yes; fear for her life. But it was smothered by the the feeling of anger and fury at it that it had tried to kill her.

And, oddly enough, hunger.

Oh the hunger. How it demanded that she satisfy it, to tear the beasts flesh off of its bones as it would have done to her and feed on the remains, to not even bother chewing but instead flay the thing alive with her will and inhale it.

Not really sure what was happening or where the feeling came from, Angela became a prisoner of her own instincts as she crouched low to the ground.

The bear, sensing what was about to happen, promptly turned to run in the opposite direction, and its wings buzzed furiously as it prepared to fly to safety.

Angela did not allow it to get far. Letting out an ear piercing shriek that shattered the night air, this time out of rage and fury, she pounced.

"Did you hear that?"

Roughshod's ears twitched in response to Star Mix's question, and he turned to regard the mare next him. The two ponies stood on top of a twenty foot high wall made of tree logs as they stared out at the tree line more than thirty yards away. High above them Luna's moon provided a considerable amount of light for them to see by. It was almost enough that they did not even need to use torches. However the forest of trees that ringed the town of Hollow Shades was as dark as ever.

"Yeah. I heard it," the earth pony stallion quietly answered as he scrutinized the tree line. They had both heard it; the sound of a predator of the night attacking its prey, followed by the unmistakable squeal of some hapless creature as it was killed.

"Do you think that was it? Do you think that was the bug bear?"

Roughshod shook his head before saying to the unicorn mare next to him, "No. I don't think so. This was different."

Just then something in the distance caught his attention. Star Mix noticed it too, and she brought up a telescope with her magic to see what it was as her single spiral horn glowed a faint emerald.

"It looks like something spooked a whole bunch of birds over in the the East," she said. Putting the telescope down she asked, "You want to head out there in the morning to check it out?"

The gray coated stallion briefly considered the proposal before he answered, saying, "I'll bring it up with the mayor when my shift ends. For now lets just keep an eye on things, make sure nothing gets the the jump on us."

"Alright," Star Mix answered, nodding her head. "I just hope that it turns out to be nothing. We already have enough on our plates with that bug bear running around, causing havoc in the orchard."

It had been over two weeks since the monster had been spotted by the ponies living in the Canterhorn mountain range, most notably around the little town of Hollow Shades, and she had received an anonymous letter in Ponyville informing her of the occurrence. It did not take much for the mare to guess that it came from the former head of the agency, and she had been almost ecstatic about the chance to recapture it. In less than a day she had everything she needed packed up and ready to go. Lyra of course had been a little upset by her sudden decision to go on a camping expedition in the mountains north of Canterlot, but thankfully the unicorn did not press her for an explanation.

Bon-Bon swore that one of these days she would no longer be able to stand the guilt of lying to her friend for so long about her past, and the truth would just come flying out. But that day was hopefully still far in the future. For now Bon-Bon just focused on the task at hoof.

She had been tracking the bug bear for almost two weeks now, yet during that time it seemed to have grown wise to her pursuing it, and was now keeping a low profile. Apparently it was not a low enough profile, because the ponies of Hollow Shades still spotted it lurking around orchards every once in a while. This helped Bon-Bon tremendously in tracking it, but so far she had yet to actually find the beast.

But no matter what Bon-Bon would not let it get away, not this time. It was a matter of personal pride that she be the one to bring it down. As to how she would do that. . . she had a few tricks up her sleeve.

It was just then that Bon-Bon heard a cringe inducing shriek echo through the trees, and the mare was on full alert before she even recognized it as not belonging to the bug bear. She did not let her guard down though. Even if the bear was her top priority, she knew there were other predators, like wolves, that could do her in if she was not careful.

Still, not once had she ever heard a cry like that before, and it set Bon-Bon on edge that she was unable to identify it. She was probably letting her curiosity get the better of her, which was a dangerous thing to do given the situation, but she knew her mind would not let her rest until she found out what caused it. Changing her direction Bon-Bon angled herself to where the noise came from.

Not a minute later the screech was followed by the unmistakable sound of an all too familiar growl.

It was the bug bear! She had found it!

Adrenaline pumping, Bon-Bon took off at a gallop, not even bothering with stealth anymore. Presently she came across a small clearing in the trees, with the branches obscuring the light of Luna's moon, and skidded to a halt, eyes widening at what she was seeing.

She had found the bug bear, true. But what she also found filled the earth pony mare with horror and dread at what she was witnessing, and all she could mutter was, "Sweet Celestia. . ."

Author's Notes:

One upon a time, I went my cousins house, and he showed me this great game called Evolve. Needless-to-say I immediately began to think of a way of incorporating one of games' terrifyingly awesome monsters into a My Little Pony fic.
I have a strange mind, don't I? Not the strangest, not by a long shot, but strange.
Of course any who have played the game should be able to guess pretty accurately which monster Angela turned into. To those people I respectfully ask that you not give anything away in the comments, or to at least use the spoilers when you comment. Much appreciated.
Also, feel free to check out my other story, Disease of the Soul, and tell me what you think of it.

As always, let me know in the comments if you see any errors.

Dawn

Bon-Bon raced through the dark woods as quickly and quietly as she could, glancing behind her every few seconds to make sure whatever that. . . thing was had not decided to follow her. It did not appear that it had, but she did not want to be caught unawares, and just the thought of what she witnessed back there made her redouble her pace as she tried to remember the quickest route to the little hidden cabin she had chosen as her headquarters.

She did not know what that creature was that she saw back there, but Bon-Bon knew that whatever could bisect the bug bear then proceed to feed by sucking up the remains in a violently erratic aura of red energy was most definitely not something she wanted to go up against with what she had on hoof. She had only come prepared to fight an ursa-vespidae, not whatever that nightmarish creature was. she could still picture it in her mind even as she galloped, the way the aura had illuminated the monsters head as it continued to feed. That would be giving her some sleepless nights in the near future.

Bon-Bon knew that she needed to get to her cabin as quickly as possible and get a message to the Princesses. Maybe they would have some insight on what it was that she saw. And Hollow Shades. . . they needed to be warned of what now lurked in the trees just outside their walls. With a course of action decided upon, Bon-Bon refocused her attention on the path in front of her.

It was another hour or so before another pair of ponies came by to take over the next watch shift for Roughshod and Star Mix, and the two were eager to be home in their own beds. Roughshod hoped his wife did not mind his dedication to his job too much. He had volunteered for the position after all, and Rose Flare had made it clear to him when he asked her that she in fact did not mind. Still, even with this in to ease his conscience, the earth pony stallion could not help but feel just a little guilty that his duties required him to spend so much time away from home. Despite her urging him not to, he had promised that he would make it up to her. Of course when that would happen depended greatly on whether or not this business with the bug bear would be resolved soon.

That was part of the reason why he was heading to Mayor Quarts' residence near the center of town as he had told Star Mix he would. The other part had much more to do with what he and Star had heard a short while ago. Roughshod could still remember it clearly; the telltale screech of a creature attacking its prey followed by the din of said prey being torn apart. It had sounded far away but it still gave the earth pony cause for concern. He knew that the sound did not belong to the bug bear, he would swear it on Celestia's mane. What he didn't know was what it did belong to, and that was why he was going to the mayor's house instead of home to his wife.

Presently the two story log home came into sight within a few minutes, the magic powered lanterns illuminating the decorative doorway. Trotting up to the door Roughshod knocked on it a few times with his hoof and waited. No answer came, and Roughshod knocked a second time. This time a muffled voice could be heard through the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Shortly the door swung inward to reveal a ruby red pegasus mare with a disheveled mane and tail and feathers that looked like they would have to be preened in the morning. It was obvious that she had just woken up and was none too happy about it, as she squinted at her guest with a grimace on her muzzle.

"Roughshod?" she said in annoyance. "What are you doing waking me up at this Celestia forsaken hour?"

Roughshod rubbed the back of his neck guiltily and replied, "Sorry for the intrusion ma'am. But there's something that I think you should know."

Still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes Quartz addressed him in an impatient tone. "And what could be so important that it would justify waking me up?"

Deciding to skip the rest of the apology and just get right down to the matter, Roughshod cleared his throat to speak.

"Ma'am, I think there might be something else in the forest besides the bug bear."

The moment he mentioned the name of the creature that had been terrorizing their village for the past couple of weeks all traces of weariness faded from Quartz's face, and he suddenly had her full attention. Anything that had to do with the bug bear took top priority in her mind.

"What do you mean? Did you see anything while you were on the wall?" she asked him with a hint of urgency.

Roughshod shook his head. "No, we didn't see anything. But both Star Mix and I heard something in the forest, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried."

"Of course not. Anypony would be worried with that thing on the loose. Did you know that I still have gotten no definite response from those bigwigs in Canterlot? The only reply that I've gotten is that they would bring it up with the Princess at her earliest convenience." Quartz scowled, and Roughshod mirrored her expression with one of his own. "More like their own convenience, the snobs. They've probably forgotten all about us." Quartz sighed after that. "Anyway, enough about that." she said, changing the subject. "You said you heard something in the woods, yes? Was it the bug bear?"

Again Roughshod shook his head and said, "I don't think so ma'am."

Quartz's eyebrows fell when she heard that, and she regarded him with a curious expression before saying, "Really? Then what, may I ask, is the reason behind your visit?"

Hesitantly Roughshod began to explain. "Well ma'am, I don't know what it was just yet, but as I've already said I think there might be something we don't know about hiding in there. And whatever it is, I don't think its too friendly."

Quartz brought a hoof to her forehead and she groaned impatiently. "Roughshod," she began, "you know I value your opinion and your will. That's partly why I allowed you to be up on the wall in the first place. But if you're telling me that there might, might, be another monster in those woods based on nothing more than a weird noise, then I might have to suggest that you take a break from it for a little while. We don't need you running off after every strange thing you hear. There's too few good ponies like you as it is."

Roughshod's ears drooped slightly at her admonishment, but his mind would not let the matter rest.

"I understand that ma'am," he said, "but this really has me concerned. "

"I don't know what you expect me to do about it then Roughshod," the mare answered, growing more impatient.

"All I ask," the stallion said carefully, hoping he would not rile up the pegasus more than she already was, "is that you let me take a few ponies out there to check it out, to make sure that there's nothing else going on out there that we should be worried about."

For a brief moment Quartz considered the request, obviously wanting to be doing something else right now. Like sleeping. Breathing a heavy sigh she looked him straight in the eye and asked, "Will it ease your mind if I say yes just so I can go to bed?"

"It would."

Quartz sighed again and said, "Fine. Do what you will Roughshod. Just watch your back out there alright? That monster's already taken one life. We don't need to lose anypony else."

Grimacing at the reminder, Roughshod nodded solemnly. With that the two bid each other goodnight and Roughshod headed home with the moon to guide him.

morning came several hours later in Hollow Shades, as Celestia's sun slowly ascended over the mountains on the Eastern horizon. There was a slight fog hanging in the air in both the local orchard and the town. The light did not immediately reach the collection of thirty some odd buildings due to the wall. The structure, which had been erected ever since the towns founding, wrapped its way around the hamlet in an ellipse. A short distance away a grain mill sat on the bank of a river, its water wheel slowly turning as the water flowed past.

Soon after the sun rose a rooster crowed loudly, signaling the start of a new day for the town residents, some of whom had already begun their chores. One of these ponies was Roughshod, who quietly walked about the kitchen as he prepared a breakfast of oats for himself and his wife. Even as he did this thoughts still plagued his mind about last night. And even though he had been the one to make the proposal to Mayor Quartz, he was almost dreading going out into the woods, and for good reason. Ever since the bug bear had been seen lurking around the orchard more than two weeks ago everypony had been almost too afraid to venture outside the walls for fear of it.

They had all heard the tales told about it, how it had once been a prisoner of Tartarus until it was rumored to have escaped a number of years ago, but for some reason that information had never been made official public knowledge. To Roughshod it seemed that somepony in the upper ranks of the Canterlot elite was trying to keep it under wraps, despite the fact that the beast was now roaming the countryside unchecked, and the ponies of Hollow Shades now knew those rumors to be true.

Roughshod knew that a solution to their problem did not present itself soon, then whatever trade that kept his home town afloat would eventually dry up. Even pegasi would think twice about traveling by air for fear of being attacked by the abomination.

And if there was something else out there besides the bug bear, then times would only get harder. And in his wife's condition. . .

Roughshod knew that this was the right course of action, no matter what his fears. He would have to go into town later in the day to recruit a few other ponies to accompany him. From there they would be able to decide on what to do should they find anything out of the ordinary.

Roughshod nodded to himself, his mind made up as he finished making breakfast. Rose Flare would waking up within a few minutes; no matter what she was always consistent about what time she got out of bed. His prediction proved to be true as he presently heard the creaking of hooves on the floorboards. Within a few moments a magenta coated unicorn mare strolled slowly into the kitchen area, revealing a distended belly that indicated how long she had been with the foal.

"Good morning sweetie," she greeted as Roughshod helped his pregnant wife to her seat.

"Morning yourself," he replied with a smile before sliding a bowl of oats towards her with his muzzle. Rose levitated a spoonful up to her mouth and took a bite before starting up a conversation.

"So, how was your night?" she asked sweetly as she continued to eat.

Roughshod shrugged in response and said, "Eh, nothing much. Just the usual stuff that goes on at night."

Rose Flare nodded and took another bite before she then asked, "Like what?"

For a brief moment Roughshod hesitated, unsure how to explain his current dilemma to his wife without making her worry. She already had a foal on the way, and Roughshod didn't want to add to her stress. Deciding to start with small details first he told her that he was going to go out into the forest with a few other ponies. Unfortunately his tact did not stop her expression from turning into one of worry. "What for?" she asked.

Deciding to just clear the air before it became an issue Roughshod proceeded to explain how he and Star Mix had both heard the sound of an unknown creature coming from within the trees. He told her everything, from his visit to the mayor's residence to his decision to go check it out later in the day. As he talked Rose's face became more and more pensive. Roughshod noticed this and attempted to dissuade her growing worry by adding, "I'm sure everything's alright though. I'm actually pretty sure it might have been nothing." He was lying when said that, but right now he just did not want his wife to worry.

She did not appear to buy it however, as she said, "And what if it's not? What you if something happens out there, if not by the bug bear then what about everything else that's in those trees? I know that living here is always going to be a challenge, but ever since it showed up things have only gotten harder. And what if you come back hurt? What if you don't come me back at all?"

At this Rose's eyes began to glisten as unwelcome thoughts entered her head, her once cheerful attitude gone. Not knowing how else to comfort her Roughshod got up out of his chair and trotted over to her. Putting a hoof around her withers he gently whispered in her ear, "Don't you worry about that. I'm not going any where anytime soon. You hear me? I am never leaving you." He then added while gently nudging her growing midsection with a fetlock, "Either of you."

Rose Flare regarded her husband for a moment before a gentle smile found its way to her face, and Roughshod felt his heart lighten as she nuzzled him. Content, Roughshod went back to his breakfast and to planning the day ahead.

Angela did not know for how long she had been unconscious for, and she presently could not recall the reason why she was unconscious in the first place. The only thing she could definitively say as she awoke was that it was morning. Or at least it felt like it was morning. For some odd reason her sight was strangely blurry. She was not sure what the cause of it was but to Angela it felt as though her vision was. . . off somehow. She could not quite put her finger on it, but is was like her eyes were open but she could not feel them. Beyond that she was unable to explain.

As her senses returned to her Angela noticed that her whole body ached as well. It was like she had gone through ten rounds straight without a reprieve. That or she was back in middle school again.

Actually, come to think of it, Angela mused, there really hadn't been much of a difference for me.

Either way, she hurt everywhere. From her head to her feet Angela's entire body was sore all the way to the bones underneath her skin. Ignoring the sensation for the moment Angela tried to remember how she even wound up like this. She put a hand to her head, finding that it felt oddly clammy to the touch, as her memories slowly but gradually resurfaced in her mind.

She remembered waking up in the middle of a dark forest after passing out at a convention. She remembered it being dark, and cold. Angela also recalled experiencing excruciating pain as that bear thing-

Angela was suddenly fully alert as she looked all around for any sign of the strange animal, almost expecting it to be standing right there. Thankfully it did not seem to be in the vicinity, and Angela heaved a sigh of relief, which sounded strangely raspy in her ears. For a moment Angela considered the possibility that everything that she had been through had been nothing more than a particularly unpleasant nightmare. It would certainly explain the bug bear thingamajig which, now that she thought about it, was actually rather ridiculous in hindsight. She supposed the fact that it felt like her life was in danger made it appear to be more menacing than it actually looked.

However the theory that it was all a dream did little to explain her aches and pains, which thankfully had stared to fade into numbness. The more she thought about it the more unlikely it seemed to Angela that everything she had experienced last night had been a dream. She remembered waking up in the forest. She remembered watching as the bear thing came closer to her. She remembered the feeling of her own body. . .changing. . .morphing. . .

Evolving.

An unpleasant suspicion wormed its way into Angela's mind, and she hesitantly brought up her forearms to see what became of them. The large growths that had accumulated on her skin were no longer present, which relieved her somewhat, but her relief was quickly tempered by the sight of her limbs when her vision finally began to clear enough for her see clearly. What she saw left her in a surprised stupor.

Somehow her skin had turned from its normal peach coloration to an extremely pale gray. In addition it seemed like her arms had gained a slightly scaly quality. And her hands. . . they were most definitely not the ones she was born with. For a little while Angela could only stare in confused shock at them. Gone were the the fingers she was familiar with, having been replaced by four fingered digits with long sickle like blackened claws at the ends.

Snapping herself out of her trance Angela frantically checked herself to see what else had changed. While she found that her torso remained much the same in terms of shape, it too had gained a gray pallor. Angela brought up a clawed hand to what she assumed would be her face, feeling all around her head for anything that was even remotely familiar. What she felt with her hands made Angela decide that she needed to find a mirror. Right now.

Luckily she noticed a small pond nearby, reflecting the light of the morning sun into her face, and she tried to stand. However when she did she stumbled, suddenly feeling like her feet were too large for her own body, and she fell to the ground with a heavy sounding thud. Groaning from the impact Angela shook herself and glanced behind to see what the problem was. The problem was that while her thighs and shins retained their shape, her feet now extended into long tendrils a number of feet behind her, contributing to about half of her body length. She had also apparently grown a tail as well, which gradually tapered from the base of her spine to a sharp point a few feet longer than the two tendrils that had replaced her feet and-

Since when did I have another pair of arms?

Indeed Angela saw to her continued bewilderment that she had in fact grown another pair of limbs above her original appendages, but instead of hands these bore enormous dagger like claws as long as the forearms they were attached to that ended in wickedly sharp points that looked like they could pierce flesh as easily as any blade.

She really needed to get to that pond.

Fumbling with her new anatomical features Angela slowly made her way towards the pond, mostly by crawling on her hands and knees. Along the way she would catch herself subconsciously using her new set of arms for locomotion, and she was slightly perturbed by how natural it felt to use them. Putting the thought out of her mind for the moment Angela focused solely on just getting to the water, leaving little furrows in the ground with her claws in the process.

Finally Angela reached her destination, and looked at her reflection in the water, unintentionally scaring a trio of fish.

Holy crap. she thought as she looked at the thing staring back at her.

It had a smooth elongated head with two rows of stubby quills near the back. Its toothy lower jaw was split down the middle, giving her visage an almost insect like appearance. But perhaps the most disconcerting feature of her head was the fact that she no longer any eyes to speak of. To Angela this made no sense since she was seeing her own reflection right now. . . at least that's what it felt like. As a test Angela tried blinking, but nothing about her reflection changed other than her vision dimming and brightening.

What the hell is going on?

Still perturbed by the shape of her head and "face", Angela once more looked at herself and her new body, feeling that she resembled something of a mix between a viper and a xenomorph with a little bit of zerg thrown in.

I look. . .

Angela, transfixed by the uninvited change, sat herself on her knees and once more looked at her clawed hands.

I look. . .

Angela let her arms droop, letting them sag to the ground as she stared off at into empty space.

Then, she abruptly raised all four of her arms into the air and shrieked, startling a number of birds out of their nests.

I look awesome!

Author's Notes:

Quick question to anyone who is reading this, does anyone here know how to upload pictures into the authors notes? I would like to post a picture of the creature Angela turned into to give any who haven't played the game a better idea of what she looks like. I think I did okay in describing her new body, but still.

Anyway I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has added this story to their list of favorites and gave it a like. Means a lot that you are enjoying it that much. On that note, if there are any out there who are not enjoying this story and decide dislike it, I respectfully ask that you explain why in the comments as opposed to just anonymously clicking the thumbs-down icon.

As always, let me know if any of you see any errors while reading so that I may correct them.

Carcass

Roughshod waited a few yards away from the large double gate, tapping his hoof on a table top impatiently as he had been doing for the past thirty minutes.

"Come on. Where are they?" he muttered as he glanced down the main street of Hollow Shades for the umpteenth time for any sign of the four other ponies he had recruited to join him. So far they had yet to appear as they should have done more than an hour ago., and he was beginning to suspect that they were skipping out on him. If that was the case then there was no way Roughshod was going into the woods today. He knew that no matter how well prepared he came, it would do absolutely nothing to keep him from being killed out there if he went by himself.

So for the time being Roughshod waited, seated at a small cafe a short distance away from the towns entrance. To distract himself he studied the gates with the critical eye of a pony who had spent an extensive amount time around them. He remembered how, just a few short weeks ago, they would have granted entry to many a weary pony from places as far away as Manehatten. Now though, activity around it had been understandably lacking as of late, and it gave Roughshod a morose feeling at seeing what had become of his home.

Just then the earth pony stallion heard the sound of galloping hooves clicking on the cobblestone streets, distracting him from his thoughts. He glanced down the street and caught sight of none than Star Mix racing towards him at a good clip, her back laden with saddle bags filled to capacity with supplies. It was almost comical the way she looked, and Roughshod felt his earlier mood lighten slightly.

He was still upset by the fact that she was late, and made sure to alert the mare to his displeasure when she was close enough to hear him.

"What took you so long?" he demanded as Star slowed to a stop, panting heavily.

"I'm sorry Roughshod, really I am." she apologized. "I had a heck of a time trying to get everything together at home. And you know Nano Breeze, right? That green mare with the swirl cutie mark?" she asked, to which Roughshod nodded uncertainly. "Yeah well, she caught sight of me trying to make up time and apparently she decided that then was the perfect opportunity to have a conversation, and I was only able to get away just a minute ago."

Roughshod raised a hoof to stop her tirade. "That's alright Star, just try to be more careful how you manage your schedule okay? I just hope the others at least have a reason for being as late as they are."

Star nodded to him before taking a seat across from him. "No food yet?" she questioned as she noticed the empty table top.

"Not open yet," Roughshod said simply as he resigned himself to continue waiting. Even if the others didn't show up, at least now he would not have to put off the trip until a later date. Star Mix may not have have looked like much at a glance, but there was a reason why the unicorn mare was up on the wall with him. She was one of the few ponies in town he would trust to watch his back when the situation called for it.

Roughshod glanced down the street again, but so far the only other ponies he saw were the ones getting their places of business ready for the day ahead. More often than not their days were slow and uneventful from the lack of visitors to the town, and it gave the whole community the subtle feeling that if anything else were to go wrong then that would be the end, and the majority of the populace would be forced to move away from their homes to other places in Equestria. Roughshod knew that those brave souls who still tended to the orchards despite the danger had family and kin in places like Ponyville and Appleloosa that would likely take them in a heartbeat, but for much of the rest of the town, the same could not be said. It was likely that many would become homeless.

And all because somepony couldn't keep the bug bear on a short enough leash.

Roughshod sighed as he thought about what might become of his home, and more importantly his family. Star Mix noticed the action, and it did not take much for her to guess what he was thinking about, but she was at a loss as to what she could do about it. Just then, she got an idea.

"So. . ." she said suddenly, hoping to distract him from his thoughts with idle conversation. "How was your day?"

Roughshod glanced at her briefly and answered in a bored sounding tone, "I'm doing alright, all things considered. . . you?"

"Eh, same old, same old," Star replied as she shrugged, and silence once again settled in between the two like the morning fog until Star spoke up again.

"So tell me, how's Rose doing? You're taking care of my cousin right?"

Roughshod glanced at the mare as a very small grin found its way to his muzzle, and his expression softened a little. Ever since she and Rose were little fillies the two were almost inseparable, and Star had always felt it was her duty to watch over her younger cousin.

"Yeah. She's doing alright." Guessing what her next question was going to be Roughshod added, "As far we can tell the foal's pretty healthy." Even as he said that the stallion felt his grin widen as he thought about his growing family.

Star's own smile grew when she saw that her strategy was working.

"So how far along is she?" she asked.

Roughshod considered the question briefly before he answered with a hint of pride in his voice, "About six months now."

Star's eyebrows rose slightly when she heard that bit of information, and her own pride in her cousin grew. "Really? Getting close aren't we?" she said, to which Roughshod nodded. "Well, just make sure you take care of her you hear? I don't think I have to remind you what happened when she first introduced me to you."

Roughshod shook his head. "No, the scar you gave me does that job well enough."

After he said that he heard the sound of Star chuckling, and he almost reluctantly found himself laughing with her as they recalled those more pleasant times when there was no bug bear to worry about. Eventually their mirth died down as they settled back into their cushions.

"Thanks Star," he said as he glanced at the mare appreciatively, and Star regarded him for a moment before she dipped her head in acknowledgement. With that the two went back to waiting for the others to arrive. They did not have to wait for much longer, for they presently spotted three figures moving towards them at a brisk pace.

"Oy there!" called a loud and gruff voice that Roughshod had heard come from nopony else in his life, and it drew the attention of everypony on the street still not accustomed to the baritone voice of Mister Mortar, Hollow shades' local rock farmer.

"Mortar, for the last time there's no need for that kind of volume when their close enough to just talk to," said the slightly smaller blue stallion trotting next to him. Behind the two earth ponies a deep gray pegasus mare hovered in the air with a look that indicated that she had already become tired of their antics. All three bore saddle bags laden with various supplies, though perhaps not quite as excessively as Star's.

"Bah!" exclaimed the larger stallion. "No need for you to be stick in mud Harp. Is all in good taste."

When the trio finally reached Roughshod and Star, the stallion was of half a mind knock all three of them on their heads for being so late. He reigned himself in however and settled for just giving them a disapproving glare. Mortar's happy grin vanished from his muzzle, replaced with a guilty expression. Harp and Nightshade, the pegasus mare, wore similar looks on their faces.

"Eh, terribly sorry for our timing sir," said Harp apologetically, correctly guessing the reason for the look they were receiving. Roughshod only glanced at the young stallion for a brief moment, then shook his head in disappointment.

"I can always count on you three to take your sweet time wherever a deadline is involved," he said with a sigh. "If it weren't for the fact that I know you can do better I would've just taken Star with me."

None of the ponies responded, choosing instead to look at the ground beneath their hooves.

Roughshod sighed again before he finally said, "Well now that you have deemed it convenient to show up, we can go now."

With that Roughshod got up out of his seat and started to trot towards the town gate, motioning for the others to follow. In short order the group of five were now standing in front of it as they waited for a pair of ponies to pull them open. The doors slid inward, allowing them to see the tree line, which seemed almost menacing to any who looked at it, giving off an almost ominous feeling. Roughshod glanced at the ponies he had recruited, and he noticed that a few ponies behind them were visibly nervous at the sight of he open gates. They eyed the trees outside with wary expressions that had become far too common lately.

"Come on," Roughshod said. "Let's get going."

With that, the two stallions and two mares fell in line behind him as they passed out of the safety of Hollow Shades, and the gates closed behind them with a dull thud, followed by the clank of a heavy lock falling into place. Roughshod did not need to look behind him to know the others were uncomfortable being out here, and it was a sentiment he shared with them. Too soon, they reached the trees, which loomed above them like unfriendly giants, and the group got the distinct feeling that they were not welcome here.

The forest may have been no Everfree, but that did not mean it didn't come with its own set of monsters.

For what seemed like hours the group trotted along to the East, stopping occasionally to rest and eat whatever snacks they brought with them. It was a slow going process, on account of the uneven landscape, but before long Roughshod felt that they were nearing the area of the woods where Star Mix had spotted the frightened birds. The group kept quiet throughout most of their trek for fear of alerting the bug bear to their presence. The beast had so far been consistent about not attacking groups of ponies, but they were not willing to take that chance.

After about an hour or so of traversing the woods the group became aware of something in the air. It was a pungent and putrid aroma, one that Roughshod had become familiar with when a pony that had gone missing was discovered just beyond the borders of the orchard.

It was the smell of rotting flesh. The scent hung in the air, and everypony present wrinkled their noses in disgust. The youngest among them, Harp, was trying and failing to keep his stomach contents where they belonged. The only pony among them who didn't seem to be as offended by the smell was Nightshade.

"Ugh. Where is that coming from?" Star questioned as she put a hoof over her mouth. It turned out to be Mortar who would answer her question, as he pointed a hoof somewhere to the left.

"Somewhere over there I believe," he answered quickly before replacing the hoof over his nose.

"Should we go check it out?" Nightshade asked, speaking up for the first time since the group had left the town.

Roughshod considered the proposal for a moment, deciding that any clue they might be able to glean from the unseen carcass might prove useful in tracking down the bug bear.

'We might as well," he said as he began to head in the direction the offensive smell seemed to be coming from. Before he went more than ten feet though he was interrupted by the sound of a pony ejecting his morning breakfast. He sighed and decided to also add, "After Harp gets a hold of himself."

Soon enough the group was on their way again, and the smell became stronger and stronger as they neared its source. Roughshod came across a break in the trees, revealing a small clearing. Angling himself towards it he emerged from the boughs, and what he spotted at the center of the clearing left the stallion standing in shock as his mind went blank. He was vaguely aware of Star Mix calling his name, but he did not answer as his brain tried to process the new information it was presented with.

"Roughshod!" Star called again as she trotted up beside him. "What are you. . . looking. . ."

Star faltered when she saw what was occupying Roughshod's attention, and she too found herself unable to do anything except stare in confusion at the sight. Shortly the rest of the group came up beside them, all wearing similar expressions of bewilderment at the bug bear.

What was left of it anyway.

Angela knew that she likely should have been furious with what happened to her, or at the very least thoroughly confused. After all, in the last twenty-four hours she had been knocked out, attacked by a wild animal, and been turned into something more fitting for a science fiction movie than a forest filled with pine trees. But, strangely enough, she wasn't.

Sure there was the fact that she had woken up in an unfamiliar location.

Sure she she had almost become a meal for something that looked like it belonged in the rejected pile of ideas for that Avatar cartoon.

And sure she had been forced to go through the excruciatingly painful process of having her entire body go through suffering and torment she had not experienced in her entire life, what with having her very bones reshaping themselves into completely different alignments.

Given everything she had endured, Angela should have been very angry, enough to the point where she would scream and rage at everything around her like a maniac. But she did not, and for one simple reason: there was nothing she could really do about it.

Sure she could cry and whine about being turned into a monster against her will, but she didn't. Angela was of a more practical mindset than most people her age, and knew that no amount of complaining about what happened to her would help in the slightest.

This of course left the question of what she would do now that she was in who knows where in a body that she was still as of yet completely unfamiliar with. To Angela the answer to that question was simple: become familiar with herself. The process would of course involve lots of physical activity to become accustomed to her new form, like learning to move around, figuring out how to eat, which bodily functions changed or stayed the same.

Wooooo-hooooo!

Or just have fun by diving off of the side of a cliff into a deep pool a hundred feet below. She would have given wording to her euphoria, but seeing as how she had lost the ability of speech during her transformation, the best she could manage out loud was a shrill cry of glee. With barely a splash her slender form disappeared under the water, and for a brief moment the only sound that could be heard was the dull roar of a nearby waterfall. Soon enough her sleek head poked out of the water and Angela exhaled the breath she had been holding, noting how she now sounded much like an enormous snake.

Yes, getting used to her new body would likely take some time, but Angela felt she might as well have some fun while she was at it. Swimming over to bank Angela pulled herself out of the water before resting underneath the branches of a tree, curling in on herself in a natural feeling position. While she rested Angela finally took the time to ponder herself.

She already knew what she had become. The wraith was just too unique of a creature for anyone familiar with the game not to recognize.

But why a wraith though? She thought as she inspected her clawed hands. I mean sure it kind of makes sense, seeing as how it's the only monster out of the four to be classified as a girl. . . but still, why be turned into a what's considered a killing machine?

The question perplexed her somewhat, and Angela tried reviewing her memories as far back as they would go for any hint of an explanation. The first time she had been exposed to the game was when a friend had invited her over after having not seen each other for years. It just so happened that he had Evolve for his PC and was more than willing to show it to her. Of course the moment he had figured out she was a thief he had kicked her to the curb. For weeks afterward Angela had all but forgotten about him and the game, although she did seem to recall seeing a few people dressed up as the hunters and monsters at the convention and-

Wait a minute.

Angela's train of thought ground to halt, and she let out a sharp hiss as more memories resurfaced about the convention. Specifically those involving that old man. She remembered that he had given her something he claimed would help keep her from being arrested, right before she passed out and woke up in the forest.

He did this to me. she thought sourly, barely noticing how she was leaving long gashes in the soil with her claws as her anger finally began to rise. That jerk!

Angela snarled, a vicious sound that seemed to rattle the air around her, and she bared the teeth of her multi-jawed mouth in a terrifying display of primal rage. But before her fury could rise to dangerous levels, Angela dulled her senses, which she had discovered was the wraiths version of closing its eyes, and forced herself to calm down. She reminded herself that there was nothing she could do about it now, that rage would solve nothing in her current situation. Although she was successfully able to calm herself with the logic, it did not completely placate her.

Deciding to try and sleep the rest of her anger away, Angela curled more tightly around herself with her multiple tails and dozed off.

It was not a minute later when her enhanced senses detected the sound of something dropping from the tree she was resting under. Rousing herself, Angela lifted her head to look around. Initially she did not see anything, and was about to just let the matter drop and go back to sleep when she spotted something moving in the distance. Angela focused her sight, and her vision telescoped onto the object. What she saw made her brain go into a sort of comatose state as it tried and failed to process what she was seeing run away from her.

When the gears were finally able to start turning again she was only able to think of one thing.

Oh crap.

Bon-Bon had no idea what she was even thinking when she decided to try monitoring the monster that had killed the bug bear while she waited for a response from the Princess. Earlier that morning when she had set out to track it down, the task had proved surprisingly easy. It was as though the creature was either not that experienced in the art of evasion or just didn't care. All Bon-Bon had to do was follow the scuffs on the ground and the gashes in the trees left in its wake. She even thought she had caught a few glimpses of it in the distance, and just the sight of it gave her a feeling of dread.

Everything seemed to be going well, until the mare had somehow lost the trail at a waterfall. It was while she was pacing about, wondering what she was supposed to do then, when a blood curdling shriek sounded from the top of a cliff, and Bon-Bon glanced up to see the nightmare plummeting towards the water before disappearing beneath the surface. Bon-Bon panicked, thinking that the monster had found her out, that it had known all along that she was tracking it and had lured her into a trap. Frantically Bon-Bon tried to think of anything she could do to keep from being killed by the thing, but the only solution that came to mind was to climb a tree. She initially had some trouble scaling the rough bark with her hooves, however the sight of the monster peeking its head out of the water was more than enough motivation for her to perform the task anyway.

And there she waited, hoping to Celestia that the thing would show no interest in her and just go away. Just her luck that it instead had chosen to reside directly beneath her hiding spot. Unsure what else she could Bon-Bon just sat there and waited. She supposed then would have been a good time to get the jump on it, but quickly decided to shove that idea out of her head until she was sure she could take it, so for the time being she just waited and observed.While she did she was able to see the monster more clearly from her position, and it only made her fear of it rise.

It was just so terrifying, the way it looked. Everything about it frightened her, from the multiple arms and tails to the claws that looked tailor made for rending flesh from bone, not to mention it was the size of young dragon. Perhaps the most unsettling thing about it were its lack of eyes, which made Bon-Bon wonder how it was able to see. Maybe it used a form of echolocation?

Whatever the case, Bon-Bon's thoughts on the matter were interrupted when, after a short period of nothing happening, the creature hissed suddenly, and the mare began to shake from fear. The hiss was soon followed by a ferocious snarl that made Bon-Bon decide that she needed to leave right now. As quietly as she could the mare worked her way down to the lower branches of the tree before dropping to the ground with as little noise as possible. It was not enough however, for the creature stirred and began to glance around with a sightless gaze, and Bon-Bon took off galloping in whatever direction she was facing. She did not even glance behind her to see if it had decided to pursue after her as she ran.

I should have stayed in my candy shop in Ponyville!

Author's Notes:

Greetings all, and thanks for sticking around for another installment of Hollow Shades. It means a lot that you are all enjoying it this much, and I hope I continue to please.
On that note I have a few questions for any willing to answer. What do all think of the other characters I created for this tale? Are they good? Bad? Mediocre? Dilos1 demands your opinion!
Also, I want to hear some of your theories on what you think is going to take place during the course of this story.

As always, alert me to any errors within the story in the comments section so that I may correct them.Thanks!

Tracks

"I don't get it. I just don't get it. The bug bear is, all things considered, nothing less than a monster. Hay, it was supposedly a prisoner of Tartarus at one point, and its taken the life of at least one pony already. And every time we've tried to capture or kill it, it's managed to give us the slip or fight us off. So what in the wide world of Equestria could have done this?"

Roughshod's question went unanswered as he stared at the decaying carcass of the bug bear, such as it was, while swarms of flies buzzed all around the body. The smell it radiated was so pungent and offensive that everypony present was forced to stand a good distance away from it. Harp had thrown up again of course when they had discovered it, and was currently standing as far away from it as he could while still keeping reasonably close to the rest of the group. At least he was wise enough to stay within sight.

It was almost unbelievable that the beast that had been a thorn in the side of Hollow Shades for weeks had been reduced to little more than food for maggots, and of that there was very little to be said about. It was as though the bug bear had been ripped apart and picked clean until there was naught but a bloody skeleton. The only reason Roughshod even recognized the pile of bones as belonging to the bug bear was the extra limbs and the wasp like abdomen, which apparently had been deemed to be inedible to whatever brought it down.

It was almost disappointing in a way.

Finally the silence was broken when Harp decided to speak up then.

"Well, I don't really see what the problem is," he said as he gestured at the corpse with a hoof. "I mean, this is a good thing right? The bug bear is dead now. We can finally rest easy now that it's gone, can't we?"

Harp let the question hang in the air, but all he got in reply were a few deadpan looks from the other ponies. "What?"

Star Mix sighed and brought a hoof to her forehead, massaging the around her horn in attempt to ward off a building headache. "You just don't get it, do you?" she questioned, to which Harp gave the unicorn a confused glare.

"Get what?" he demanded. "What is there to get about this situation? The monster's dead. End of story. What's to stop us from going home now?"

Roughshod began to question why he brought the young stallion along in the first place, and he was the next to speak up as he addressed him.

"Harp, just stop and think about this for one moment. The bug bear is, by all rights, an apex predator in many places of the world, from Equestria to Griffonia. There is almost nothing alive that would even consider attacking it, especially not for food. And here it is now, torn limb from limb like a rag doll. What does that tell you?"

Harp paused to consider the question, until his eyes widened as dawning realization struck him regarding the implications of the scene.

"Ohhh. . ."

"That's right," said Roughshod with a slow nod. "It means that there's something even worse out there right now. And we don't even know what it even is."

For few moments a tense silence reigned over the group as the thought sunk in, and the group as whole suddenly found themselves to be gazing at the trees around them with a more wary eye. It now seemed to them that anything could hide and remain unseen rather easily among the trees. It was an off putting realization.

"So. . . what do we do then?" asked Nightshade as she glanced behind herself to make sure nothing was sneaking up on her. "Because I actually agree with Harp on one thing." Off to the side the mentioned pony wore an appreciative smile with a hint of smug pride. The smile vanished when Nightshade added, "I mean, there's nothing wrong in taking the cowards way out when we don't know what we're dealing with to at least reevaluate our situation."

Harp rolled his eyes at Nightshades statement, which the pegasus ignored in favor of waiting for somepony to agree with her.

"I think so too," added Star. "I mean let's face the facts, we've come to a dead end as far as the bug bear is concerned."

Roughshod however shook his head. "Not yet," he said. "Not while there is still something to be found here. What we need to do first is look for clues about whatever this thing might be. Footprints, blood, anything." Roughshod received a few reluctant nods of agreement, to which he said, "Good then. Split off, start looking around but, and I swear to Celestia, stay in sight. For all we know this thing might still be in the area."

The ponies all nodded in affirmation, some more hesitantly than others, and began to fan out while staying in the vicinity. Mortar and Roughshod looked around the trees ringing the clearing while Nightshade inspected the ground around the corpse of the bug bear. Harp however was having trouble deciding what he could do to help as he glanced around uncertainly. Star noticed this, and drew his attention with a sharp whistle. She motioned with her head to follow her and the stallion obeyed, casting nervous glances at the surrounding forest as he trotted over to the unicorn mare.

"Hey kid," she said with a raised eyebrow. "You doing alright? You seem kinda nervous."

Yeah," Harp replied. "I just really don't like being out here is all. . . . You know that pony that went missing? Silver Gala?"

Star nodded as she began scanning the forest floor. "Yeah," she said. "What about her?"

Harp sighed as he proceeded to explain. "I was actually one of the first ponies to be there when they found her. Or at least what the bug bear left for us to find. And I remember feeling so afraid, that there was actually something like that so close to town. " Harp paused briefly. "It's just that I don't get how all of you can be so calm about this. I mean, we were out here looking for the bug bear, and we find out that there's something bigger that we don't know about. And all of you are acting like you're not even afraid. It's like your not scared at all, and here I am acting like a coward like Nightshade said. . . I just wish that I could be brave like all of you are."

Star took a moment to pause in her inspection and think about the young stallions words. Then she answered in a sympathetic tone, "Well Harp, that's just it. We are scared. Scared out of our minds. Maybe we don't necessarily act like it, but the truth is everypony here is afraid, not just you. Me. Mortar. Even Roughshod, and believe me when I say that he probably has the most reason out of all of us to be afraid."

"What do you mean?" Harp asked.

Star checked over a fallen log before proceeding to explain. "Well, if you take the fact that his home might be in danger from an unknown super-predator, he already has enough to be worried about. But he also has my cousin to think about, not to mention he's going to be having a foal with her soon. Sure Roughshod may be scared of the monster in the woods, we all are. But I've known him long enough to know that the thought of Rose or his kid being hurt absolutely terrifies him more than anything. That's why he's out here Harp. That's why we are out here. To make sure that nothing can hurt the ones we love, now or ever."

Star stayed silent for a few terse moments before she spoke up again. "You see Harp, this is something we have to do, no matter how much we might be afraid. And I know that I for one am not going to just sit around on my flank without at least finding out what did this. You see what I'm saying?"

Harp gave a slow nod to Star, his face a mix of different emotions that the mare could not quite place. "Yeah," he then said. "I see what you're saying."

Star Mix smiled lightly at him, glad that he understood, and returned her attention to the task at hoof. A few minutes later Harp saw fit to ask a question.

"So, how long have you known Roughshod?" he asked.

Star's ears twitched at the question, and she absentmindedly wondered why he would want to know that. "Mmh. . . about six years now. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason, just curious," he replied, after which he then asked, "So how did you meet him?"

"It was actually my cousin Rose Flare that introduced us. And I gotta admit, I immediately disliked him the moment I saw him. In fact, when Rose told me that she and him were an item I actually tried to skewer him with my horn." Star began to chuckle slightly as she recalled that particular memory, during which Harp started to eye the emerald unicorn with a certain amount of wariness. Star noticed this and quickly added, "Oh don't worry, he only came off with minor injuries. And of course since then I've come to know him as a decent guy. He takes good care of Rose at least."

Star trailed off as she recalled the day when she thought her younger cousin was being taken advantage of. She only saw after a brief moment of silence that Harp was now standing a noticeable distance away from her. "Oh come on," she exclaimed. "I was still young and overprotective back then. I'm much calmer nowadays."

"I think I'd rather not take my chances. Eh, no offense."

Star rolled her eyes and went back to scanning the environment for any clues when her eyes caught sight of something white laying on the ground a short distance away. Curious, she trotted over to inspect it with Harp following behind.

"Well, what have we here?" Star questioned out loud as she picked up the object in her magical grasp. Harp craned his head to see what she was looking at.

"What did you find?" he asked.

"Some sort of mask." Star answered as she floated it over for him to see. It was stark white in coloration, although it had become somewhat dirtied from however long it spent lying on the ground. Both ponies felt that it vaguely resembled a skull of some sort. "It hasn't been here long though I don't think," Star added as she turned it over. "It doesn't look like it would fit a pony either, since the muzzles too short. But the real question is what's it doing out here?"

Before either pony could come up with any kind of theory they both heard the rough voice of Mister Mortar call out to them.

"Comrades! I believe I have found something!"

Storing the mask in her saddle bags for the time being Star Mix quickly began to make her way the rock farmer's location with Harp following behind. Shortly all five ponies were gathered at the base of a large tree, where Mortar was looking at something on the ground.

"What is it Mortar?" Roughshod asked, to which the larger stallion replied by pointing a thick foreleg at a layer of inky black material on the ground, a trace of revulsion evident on his muzzle. The stuff did not look too healthy to be around.

"What is this stuff?" Nightshade questioned out loud as she prodded the substance with a hoof. When she made contact it almost seemed to jiggle slightly in response, like it were an ichorous version of gelatin. "Ugh, it looks like something the Smooze would cough up," The mare said as pulled her hoof away in disgust.

"Does anypony have any idea what the hay it is?" Roughshod ventured,. Everypony present shook their heads in reply however, having never seen anything quite like it in their lives. Just then Harp noticed something sticking out from under the substance, and was quick to point it out. Since nopony else was willing to put their faces anywhere near the stuff to get it, they had to rely on Star to pull it out with her magic. It took some effort to extricate it from its prison, but when it was finally freed it was revealed to be a black cloth of some sort, but it was so torn and roughed up that its original purpose was unclear to anypony.

"Wonder what this was," Star mused. Then something seemed to dawn on Harp and he made a suggestion.

"Maybe it has something to do with that mask we found?"

"What is this mask?" Mortar asked. "Please show us." Star complied and retrieved the object from her saddle bags to show the others. When they all saw it they eyed it with a certain amount of suspicion.

"Well it's definitely not meant for a pony, that much I can tell," said Roughshod as he inspected it. "But if I had to guess I would say it might have belonged to a diamond dog."

"Diamond dogs?" Nightshade exclaimed. "But that doesn't make any sense. As far as I know the nearest gem deposit is somewhere near Ponyville, and that's all the way on the other side of Mount Canterhorn. Isn't that right Mortar?"

The stallion nodded in confirmation. "Is true," he said. "No jewels around these parts, and I would know."

Roughshod sighed as an aggravated look crossed his face. "This is making no sense at all. All we've got to go by is a carcass, some weird mask, and whatever this stuff is," he muttered. "Don't we have anything else? Anything?"

For a moment nopony answered, until Nightshade spied something out of the corner of her eye. "Well," she said, drawing out the word slightly, "there's that." The pegasus pointed with an outstretched wing at something a little above and behind Roughshod. The group as a whole turned to look, and saw a large chunk of bark had been removed from the side of a tree a number of yards away. It looked almost like something with massive talons had grabbed onto it. Behind that one more trees bore similar marks.

"Huh. . . well alright then."

Okay. It is official. I didn't want to believe it at first, but there's no use denying it. I am in pony land.

Angela thought this as she gazed at the grand marble white city hanging off of the side of a mountain like a decorative lamp, almost seeming to glow as the sun began to set. And for a long time all she could do was stare with her eyeless gaze at the capital of Equestria.

Well this doesn't complicate things at all now, does it? she mused sarcastically.

When Angela had first seen the little pony with the pink and indigo mane and tail racing away from her at top speed, the human-turned-wraith had initially been at a loss for words as a weird suspicion had begun to build up inside her. She didn't know what to say. she didn't know what to feel. She didn't even know what to think about the implications of being a multi-ton apex predator in a land populated primarily by sentient herbivores.

To tell the truth Angela did not even know that much about the rebooted cartoon show. That is not to say that she held anything against it. She actually rather enjoyed it whenever she was able to catch a rerun or two. She just didn't know that much about My Little Pony to be intimately familiar with it like some people she knew. The most she could remember now about it were the main characters, and even their names were hard for her to recall at the moment.

Before Angela could dwell on the matter any further her thoughts were interrupted by the creak and groan of branches supporting far too much weight that were about to give. The only thing the wraith could do upon realizing the danger was utter a surprised hiss before the limbs snapped and she fell down from the tree to the earth with a heavy thud onto her back. She was uninjured thanks to her resilient physiology, but the unscheduled landing hurt none-the-less.

I really need to figure out how this thing is supposed to float around, Angela thought sourly.

Groaning from the impact, Angela rolled herself onto her stomach and propped herself up with her extra set of mantis like limbs. She was gradually becoming more used to them, which was something of a highlight, but it did little to assuage her thoughts on the latest development to present itself. Shaking her head clear of the dizziness induced by her little tumble, Angela took a moment to gather herself and review what she did know about the show. She remembered clearly that aside from the main characters, who were national heroes of some kind, there was also a dragon and two princesses that controlled the sun and moon. Or were they queens?

It had been a while since Angela sort of drifted away from watching it, so other than that she could not remember much else. It was not because she disliked it, it was just that her priorities had. . . changed somewhat. She remembered that her life had been quite different before she had become a common thief.

Angela shook herself of the memories. That was all in the past, and the only thing that mattered to her now was what she was going to do after finding out she was in Equestria. The how and why of the matter were not as important to her; after all, she was already inhabiting the body of a monster from a video game, so the idea of being in a place populated by technicolored talking equines was not quite as far fetched.

The only answer she could come up with for her dilemma was to start learning the ins and outs of being a wraith as quickly as possible. There was still the matter of that one pony Angela had seen galloping away from her. It was very likely that it would tell the others of its kind about Angela, but unfortunately there was nothing that could be done about that now, and the former human would just have to cross that bridge when she came to it. In the mean time, Angela felt it was high time that she start learning.

Angela remembered from her brief exposure to her friends game that the wraith was somehow able to float around a few feet above the ground, appearing to actually "slither" through the air. The question was how? How could Angela learn to do that in just a few hours, before any ponies came by to investigate? Maybe it had something to do with how she moved? Maybe she was supposed to try mimicking the wraiths movements on the ground first before she could become airborne?

It's worth a shot, Angela grumbled as she laid down and started to "slither". However nothing seemed to be happening other than her stomach and ridged chest becoming dirty and sore, not to mention she was already feeling rather silly about the whole thing.

Okay, this isn't working! she mentally exclaimed, and she promptly ceased squirming on the ground and sat on her knees and dusted herself off. Alright, so that's not it. What now?

Angela thought some more, and was beginning to get frustrated with her efforts, until a new idea entered her thoughts. Maybe instead of just trying to move like a wraith, she had to also think like wraith. Perhaps it had as much to do with the state of her mind as much as it did with her technique.

Deciding that she didn't have any better ideas, Angela instead dulled her sense to everything around her, and focused solely on her desire to move, blotting out everything else. She also tried to make it so it did not feel like a conscious command, but more of a feeling, a want, a need to keep moving forward. For a time the only thing Angela was aware of was her repeated and unspoken order, until she risked opening her senses again, expecting to still be stuck on the ground. But strangely enough, she no longer felt the cool touch of the earth on her hands and knees. In fact, she did not feel the ground at all.

Angela slowly glanced down and, to her surprise and euphoria, found that she was no longer bound to the earth, but was instead hovering a number of feet above the ground with only the tips of her tails touching the soil.

Yes! Angela exclaimed joyfully, pumping her clawed fists in the air. However the moment she did that she began to wobble slightly, and she frantically refocused on just staying afloat. Despite the fact that she almost fell, Angela still felt a great sense of pride and accomplishment that she was able to figure at least something out.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all, she thought.

It was not even one minute after she thought this before Angela was interrupted by a light grumbling sound originating from where her stomach was supposedly at. She was still figuring out where all of her organs were located, and had even found a few new ones.

But the sound that now assaulted Angela's senses was one that all creatures, whether they be large or small, predators or prey, were intimately familiar with.

Angela was hungry.

Author's Notes:

Greetings fellow authors and readers, and welcome to a new chapter of Hollow Shades.
Before I begin with the usual pleasantries I just wanted to ask how your stories get feature in groups. I clicked on the feature groups automatically icon when I first published this, but niether this nor my other story Disease of the Soul have as of yet been featured in any groups. Is there a step that I am missing?

Anyway, enough about hearing me complain, it's time for a fun fact!
Interestingly enough, I had originally planned to have Angela be transported to Equestria as a variant of Tsumugi from Knights of Sidonia.

As always, let me know in the comments if you see any errors that my tired eyes may have missed. And now, to bed with my sorry butt!

Feed

Bon-Bon paced back and forth in the tiny kitchen area of her little cabin, her hooves echoing slightly in the cramped confines of her temporary headquarters. Once every few seconds she would glance expectantly at the dark glass bottle sitting on the counter next to the sink. Ever since she had sent another message to the Princess, this one regarding her brief but nerve wracking encounter with the creature, Bon-Bon had been waiting anxiously for a response to tell her what course of action should be taken to deal with it. She could have probably been a little more polite in her wording, but she felt the urgency of the situation called for it. So far though no response of any kind had come, and Bon-Bon was starting to become slightly worried if she would ever get one.

I knew I shouldn't have called her a cake flank, she thought as she completed another circuit, glancing at the still inactive bottle of enchanted dragon fire for the hundredth time. Relax Bonny, just be patient. The Princess probably just got sidetracked with something just as important.

All the same however, the cream colored mare was concerned, and it was beginning to show in her expression. Her ears were folded down against the back of her head, her eyebrows made little creases, and a frown seemed to be permanently etched onto her face.

To distract herself from the wait Bon-Bon proceeded to review what she knew about the creature, or at least what she had seen it do.

It was obviously an apex predator of some sort, and looked more fitting for the depths of Hades than any environment in Equestria. It was highly unlikely to be a native species either as far as she knew, and she knew a lot. But what really puzzled the mare however was the fact that she never even heard of anything fitting this creatures description. She even had a little booklet in her saddlebags that she had used as a reference guide to help identify it, but when she looked through it she found nothing. It was almost like it had simply showed up out of the blue for no apparent reason. Maybe it had been imported from another country and escaped?

Another thing that bothered Bon-Bon regarding it was its apparent nature as a predator. When she had first stumbled upon it while it fed on the bug bear, Bon-Bon could not help but notice at how ruthlessly the ursa-vespidae had been ripped to pieces. And the way the monster fed, inhaling the disintegrating remains like a vacuum, gave Bon-Bon the impression that it was enjoying the practice. If it ever encountered a pony. . . she shuddered at the thought of what could happen.

But still, Bon-Bon was a practical mare, and even if she felt that the creature posed a clear and present threat, she knew that as long as it stayed in the depths of the forest, far away from any communities, then it was unlikely that any drastic action would need to be taken against it. Bon-Bon however felt that it was a problem that needed to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible, so that the creature never got a chance to cause harm. Maybe it could just be relocated to a more remote environment, like somewhere deep in the Everfree. Very deep.

Of course nothing effective could be done about it as long as the Princess put off responding.

Growing more impatient by the second, Bon-Bon finally exploded in a fit of nervous anger. Bringing her hooves up the mare slammed them on the counter, and shouted at the bottle, "Get off your big fat plot and answer already!"

No sooner than had she said this did the bottle immediately begin to glow a bright green, and the cork on top popped off, hitting Bon-Bon square in the eye.

"Gah!" she exclaimed as she brought up a hoof to rub her now sore pupil. Soon afterward a jet of green flame shot out of the bottles top, sparkling slightly. When the flame eventually dissipated it revealed a rolled up scroll that hovered in the air for a brief moment before it fell down to the counter.

"Finally," Bon-Bon muttered, temporarily forgetting her pain as she trotted over to it, taking notice of the royal seal. Breaking the seal with a hoof she rolled it open and began to read its contents.

Addressed to: Bon-Bon, formerly Agent Sweetie Drops of the A.M.D.

Sender: Princess Celestia of Equestria

Dear Bon-Bon, I must first begin by apologizing for the lateness of this message. But now that I have a free moment I can address this issue that you have presented us with. This creature and its nature that you describe are indeed worrying, especially since it was discovered to reside so near to Hollow Shades. The possible outcome of an encounter with such a beast, especially one that could so easily dispatch the bug bear, is unsettling to say the least.

Hence, it is my and my co-ruler's opinion that something must be done to address this issue as you suggest. We have deemed it prudent to have a specialized division of royal guards on standby should it become evident that it is hostile. If the creature does anything that threatens the ponies of Hollow Shades, then you are instructed to contact me at the soonest opportunity, and the guards will be there in less than a day.

Until then, however, maintain observation of the creature and determine whether or not it indeed poses a threat. Do not provoke it. Only confront if absolutely necessary.

Signed: Princess Celestia of Equestria

Bon-Bon sighed heavily before rolling the scroll back up and trotting over to the bedroom area. She reached underneath the little cot she slept on and pulled out a wooden trunk. Undoing the lock she flipped it open open to reveal a myriad of different supplies and equipment meant for the sole purpose of warding off large predators.

While Bon-Bon may have certain reservations about Celestia's order, she would do just as the Princess requested.

It did not however keep her from muttering the words "cake flank" under her breath as she organized her supplies.

It took Angela some time before she figured out exactly how she was supposed to move around while she was airborne. Positioning her body so that it was parallel to the ground helped quite a bit, but she did not learn immediately. She initially had started by simply pulling herself along by either grabbing onto nearby trees or by repeatedly skewering the ground with the two meter long claws of her extra arms. Both methods helped, but Angela knew that there would not always be trees around to assist her, and pulling herself along was surprisingly tiresome.

Angela knew that what she needed to do was learn how to move under her own power. Thankfully she discovered later on that it was not much harder than simply angling her tails in the correct way and just willing herself forward. It was hard for her to explain, but it was almost like a part of her brain was on autopilot, allowing her to move freely, independent of any outside assistance. She of course crashed into the side of a tree a number of times during the entire process, but now that she had figured it out, she was able to focus her mind on other matters.

Food, food, food. Where to find food, she sang in her head as her slender form wove between the trees like an exotic airborne serpent.

Angela had never been that much of a meat eater when she was still human, although she did partake of the occasional steak. . . whenever she was able to abscond with one, and each time it had been a luxury for her. But now that she was a wraith, Angela suspected that meat would be the only thing she could eat. She had decided to test this theory when she came across a patch of wild strawberries, but the moment she had snapped them up she instantly knew they would not do. It was not that they tasted any different than she remembered, but something within her was telling her that no matter how many she consumed it would never sate her growing hunger. Wraiths were, after all, exclusively predators if the game was to be believed.

This of course left Angela with the task of setting out and finding live prey, but so far the only animals she had seen were birds sitting high up in their nests. She had considered going after them, if only to eat any eggs she found, but she had found out early on that there was a limit to how high she could go just by levitating, as evidenced by the bruise on her chest. when floating did not work Angela thought about simply scaling the trees, but decided against it; it was too much effort for too little reward.

And so Angela was doomed to wander around the woods hoping to stumble on something. And she was only getting hungrier.

It was barely noticeable, but Angela felt that her mind was beginning to slip, and if she did not get something to eat soon she would go crazy from hunger. But alas, it would seem that critters tend to avoid you when you are a large predator on the prowl, and she wasn't even that good at sneaking around to avoid detection yet. Angela solemnly wished she had payed more attention to those hunting tips when an uncle would see fit to take her out for a little while.

She could really go for anything right now as well. Something satisfying, like a deer or even a pon-

Angela immediately cut that thought off before it could finish, shaking her head vigorously.

Stop it Angela! she mentally shouted at herself. Get a hold of yourself. You know what that would lead to here. Angela knew that the minute she would start to consider eating ponies, then there would be absolutely no going back. She reminded herself that she was in Equestria now, and such an action would lead to the equines hunting her down and killing her. After all, it was what happened to regular animals that killed humans.

Reinforcing her will over her instincts, Angela continued onward in search of non-sapient food. She would even consider taking up scavenging at this point.

Just then a noise echoed though the trees, and Angela's enhanced senses picked up on it immediately. She tilted her head to listen, and was greeted by a grating squeal that didn't sound to be too far away. It sounded very much like an animal in distress. She felt her hunger rise at the notion of finally getting to eat something, but she kept herself in check. Her instincts told her to proceed slowly, so as not to scare off a potential meal.

Angela slowly crept forward in the general direction the squealing was coming from, hovering close to the ground so as to limit her profile as much as possible, occasionally using her clawed hands to creep along the forest floor. After a few minutes of this Angela came across a sight that was both pleasing and suspicious.

There, in the middle of a small clearing, a wild boar was tethered to a stake in the ground. It struggled to get free, squealing and grunting in its efforts to escape. The rope it was bound by was pulled tight, and the stake moved occasionally, but nether showed any sign of giving in anytime soon. She also smelled blood in the air, probably from the rope chafing around its ankle.

At that moment Angela would have loved nothing more than to put the boar out of its misery and eat to her hearts content, but something about the scene kept her from doing just that. There was no chance that the boar was simply caught in a trap. It had been purposefully put there by someone or somepony, though the reason for it was not readily apparent.

Angela was at war with herself. Part of her was telling her simply move on and look for other sources of food. The other part was screaming for her to throw caution to the wind and just go down there and feast. So far that part was winning.

Resolving to be quick about it, Angela slipped out from under the cover of the trees in the fading sunlight. The moment the boar saw her approach its dark eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets and it tried to bolt away from her, sensing that it was about to become a meal. The intensity of its squealing heightened to the point that Angela was getting a headache. Almost without even thinking about it, one of her mantis like arms jabbed forward, piercing the boars hide easily, coating the tip red. The squealing faltered but did not stop until she jabbed again, and the boar was silenced.

Angela was almost taken aback by how easy it was to commit the act, but did not have a chance to dwell on it as the scent of blood became stronger and her instincts took over.

Angela opened her jaws wide as she leered at the boar, and a crimson aura began to glow from its carcass as it appeared to disintegrate before it was inhaled down her gullet, and she bobbed her head violently as she fed. Angela didn't know what to make of the feeling. It was like she was flaying the boar with only her will, and would have otherwise been disturbed by the method. But she was just so hungry, and all she wanted then was to keep feeding and devouring until she had her fill, no matter her feelings about it.

Too soon her meal was over, and all that was left of the boar was a skeleton.

It wasn't enough. She needed more. Her hunger demanded it. It screamed at her to find more food and kill it and consume it and-

A deep growl brought her back to something only vaguely resembling a sane mind, and her head whipped around to locate the source of the noise. Her eyeless gaze settled on a large wolf, though it was unlike any wolf she had ever seen before. It had the same basic body shape, but its violet fur glimmered and shone like the night sky, and a star shaped symbol adorned its forehead. It was also substantially larger than the average lupine. Angela was briefly reminded of the ursa-minor and ursa-major, and wondered in the back of her mind if this thing was related somehow.

The wolf growled again, pulling Angela back to the present. She realized then that it was challenging her, that she had inadvertently stumbled into its territory.

Two more wolves sidled up beside their companion. Make that their territory.

All three began to growl at Angela. Feeling threatened, she did the only thing she could think of at the moment and responded with a growl of her own, splaying her jaws wide as she brandished her large claws. And it was so loud and vicious in comparison that the wolves immediately faltered, startled by the display. It was mainly just an attempt to scare them off, and it seemed to work, if only for a moment. Their ears folded back against their heads, before they overcame their trepidation and began to approach the noticeably larger predator more slowly.

Two of them split off began to flank her on either side while the first one approached from the middle, and Angela felt her instincts begin to take over when she realized she was cornered, and she snarled again. The wolves paused but did not stop, and when she was properly surrounded the one to her left began to creep towards her. Distracted by its approach, Angela did not see as one of the other shiny wolves pounced, landing on her back and biting into her shoulder. Angela screeched in pain before grabbing the runt by the back of its head, leaving deep gashes in the process, and slamming into the ground with a tremendous amount of force. Before she finish it off with her scythe claws another wolf leaped at her, throwing her off balance.

Angela snarled again as her instincts took complete control of her actions. She was in danger, and she was enraged that these runts, these prey animals, dared to attack her so. They were prey, everything was meant to be prey to her, and she would be the one to teach that to them.

When their companion recovered enough, the wolves began to advance a second time. Unlike before they all pounced at once, and unlike before Angela did not let them make contact. She swiftly dodged to the side, barely registering the trail of white streaks she was leaving in her wake, and she lashed out with her scythes, creating a massive wound in the one of the wolves flanks. Whimpering, it fell to the ground and the other two switched tactics to interpose themselves between her and it to protect their companion.

With barely any effort Angela swatted them aside, and proceeded to impale the wolf into the ground.

The last two looked on with what seemed to be shock in their luminous eyes as the life left their companion, and Angela shrieked her triumph into the fading light of day.

This was how it was supposed to be. This was how she was supposed to act now. She was no longer a weak little human, subject to the whims of those who would take advantage her. No longer would she be oppressed and mistreated, no longer would she be forced to scrounge around for scraps in an alley just to survive.

She was better now. She was stronger now.

She was a monster.

She was a wraith.

Glancing down at the last two wolves that dared to think themselves apex predators, Angela hissed as she leered at them threateningly. With their ears folded back against their heads, the wolves seemed to forget their shock in favor of avenging their fallen brother. They leaped at her again, and there was no technique or coordination to it this time. All they wanted was to kill her for what she had done. They were out for blood.

The struggle that followed was violent but short lived, and two more dead wolves now laid on the ground. Angela, undeniably victorious, shrieked as the sun finally vanished beneath the horizon, and she proceeded to eat her fill.

"Okay, now I know I heard something that time!" Nightshade exclaimed as she glanced all around in an attempt to pinpoint where the sounds of screeching and shrieking were coming from. The pegasus mares feathery wings were half unfolded in the event she needed to take off, an instinctual response to perceived danger.

To tell the truth, everypony in the group had heard it. And it was setting them on edge, not knowing where the din was coming from as it echoed through the trees. They had been following the trail of damaged tree trunks for a number of hours now, not quite sure what they would come across when they found what made them. The popular belief then was that the culprit for the trail and the death of the bug bear was a dragon of some sort, possibly a wyvern. It was not beyond the realm of possibility. They were definitely big enough for the job, and they had been seen on occasion to fly around mount Canterhorn in search of food, though it was an extremely rare occurrence, as they typically stayed farther to the north. It was only when food was scarce in their native environment did they ever come so near pony populated areas.

But the thing they were hearing now was most definitely not a wyvern. In fact it was unlike anything Roughshod had ever heard in his life. Many times it alternated between a piercing keen that would make a minotaur nervous and a warbling hiss that was completely alien to everypony in the group. It thankfully seemed to be far away yet, but that did little to set their minds at ease.

"Hey, Roughshod? Maybe we should pick this up again tomorrow," Star Mix suggested while eyeing the dark trees around them nervously. Roughshod was about to reply, when all of sudden a single shriek rang out, louder than the others by quite a bit, before falling silent.

Everything was deathly quiet, and everypony seemed to be too afraid to say anything for fear of drawing unwanted attention to themselves. Not even the birds in the trees seemed willing to make so much as a peep.

"Roughshod, I really think we should go now," Star whispered urgently, and Roughshod was happy to comply with the "request". Nodding in agreement, Roughshod turned around and started to retrace their hoofsteps back to Hollow Shades, and everypony else followed suit.

It was then that the stallion noticed something on the ground that he had not seen before. He might have been too preoccupied glancing at the marks on the trees to see them, but now that his attention was more focused on the path ahead, it became obvious. He stopped, surprising everypony, and leaned down to inspect it.

"Hey Star, come look at this," he said. Star obeyed and the other ponies in the group also came over to see what had caught his attention.

As the unicorn mare inspected the ground, aided by a little ball of light on the end of her horn to see more clearly, her face gained a confused look when she saw what Roughshod told her to look at.

"I don't know what you want me to see Roughshod," she said. "All I see is our hoofprints."

"Look closer."

Star Mix rolled her eyes but did as he said anyway. Then her confused expression turned into one of surprise when realized what Roughshod wanted her to see.

"These aren't ours," she said. "These don't even belong to a pony."

"Wait, what?" Harp exclaimed, an incredulous look on his muzzle. "But who would be crazy enough to be out here with Celestia knows what out here?"

"Us?" Nightshade suggested with a raised eyebrow, to which Harp responded by giving her a deadpan expression.

"That's not what I meant," he muttered.

Mister Mortar sighed heavily at the two younger ponies bickering, while Roughshod and Star simply ignored them in favor of discussing the implications of the find.

"So, who or what do think made this?" Star asked with a slight amount of concern. Roughshod pondered the question for a brief moment as he looked in the direction the tracks were heading, noticing that they were going in the same direction they had been until recently.

"I don't know," he answered. "But whoever they are, it would seem we weren't the only ones tracking this thing."

Author's Notes:

Oooh, drama. Greetings everpony, be ye big or small, boy or girl, and welcome to another chapter of Hollow Shades. I just wanted to say a quick thank you for sticking around for as long as you have, and for giving my story a chance. And now for the heart of the matter, it would seem that Angela is starting to become more and more like a wraith, although she has yet to meet any ponies yet, which may be good thing. Not to worry though, they will encounter each other soon enough. Also just a quick heads up, the next chapter might take a little longer to get out than the others because of. . . reasons, but I promise this story will not be abandoned to sit uncompleted for years on end like so many other great works on this site.

Okay time for a quick poll!
If you were to choose a monster that Angela would be sent to Equestria as besides the wraith, which one would it be? Supply your answer below in the comments.

And as always, alert me to any errors in the story so that I may correct them at a later date. Thanks!

Fear

Mayor Quartz sighed heavily and readjusted her reading glasses as she sat at her maple wood desk in her office, safe behind the walls of her home, which was further protected by the walls surrounding Hollow Shades. Those walls had been there for as long as Quartz could remember from when she was still just a little filly. To her they had always been a symbol of safety for the town and its ponies, always keeping the dangers of the forest at bay.

"A fat lot of good that did us," she muttered as she inspected the latest draft she had penned to the Princess. It was another request of assistance in dealing with the bug bear. The latest of many, and likely the latest to be ignored by the so-called nobility who would never even consider sparing any resources in helping a little town on the other side of the mountain range.

Sighing a second time the middle-aged pegasus mare let her gaze drift to a window, and she looked outside at Luna's moon as it steadily rose over the horizon, bathing the tree tops in a wan light. At the moment however her thoughts were more focused on the group of ponies that set out earlier that morning.

Now, several hours after the fact, they still had yet to return, and Quartz would be lying if she said she wasn't starting to worry about them. Quartz did mean what she had said to Roughshod the night before he left the relative safety of the town. She truly did believe that he was a great addition to the community, and Celestia strike her down if she didn't care for him and his family. She and Rose Flare were already good friends before she even met him, and Quartz felt that she had extended that friendship to Roughshod.

But the fact remained that neither he nor the ponies he had brought with him had come back from the woods, and Quartz was beginning to fear the worst. Many different scenarios ran through her mind, some involving the bug bear.

"Come on Roughshod," she said quietly as she stared at the distant tree tops. "If you don't get back soon Rose is going to have my hide."

Sighing again Quartz returned her attention to her desk and the stacks of paper neatly assembled on it. She eyed the draft meant to go to the princess with a certain amount of distaste, knowing she had already given up on that option days ago. Scowling as she did so, Quartz brushed the paper off of her desk with a wing into a waiting trash bin.

She only hoped that her contingency plan was not so unreliable as those big wigs in Canterlot. Celestia knows how much she offered to pay him to take care of their problem. With luck it should be any day now that he would show up at her desk and declare a job well done, collect his fee, and be on his way. She had initially been a little worried about what would happen if Roughshod happened to encounter him while out in the forest, but then figured that the vast majority of Hollow Shades would be more than willing to forgive her for trying out different alternatives in ridding themselves of the bug bear.

As Mayor Quartz pondered how she would bring this up at the next town meeting, she became aware of some sort of commotion going on outside. Letting her curiosity get to her, Quartz stepped away from her desk and trotted over to push the window open with an outstretched wing. She poked her head outside, ears twitching as she tried to pinpoint the source of the din. It seemed to be coming from town gates.

Spotting a pony who seemed to be coming from that direction, a green pegasus mare by the name of Nano Breeze, Quartz called out to her and asked, "Excuse me but do you know what is going on by any chance?"

Nano Breeze nodded and replied, "Yeah, Roughshod just got back. They're getting ready to open the gates right now."

Quartz felt her excitement rise when she heard that. She quickly thanked the other mare for the information and began to make her way over to greet the returning ponies. She didn't even bother using the stairs, instead choosing to fly there from her window. In short order she was at the gates just as a pair of ponies were getting ready to open them to allow entry. With a creak and a groan the doors parted, exposing the interior to the outside. Quartz could just make out the silhouettes of four ponies trotting briskly back into the lantern light. But there was something off to Quartz for some reason, though at the moment she could not recall why.

Soon everypony was past the gates, and doors were closed with a jarring thud.

"Welcome back Roughshod," Quartz said in greeting. "It's about time that you showed up. How was your trip."

Quartz's sarcasm was false, and everypony knew it. She truly was happy to see them back, she was just hiding her anxiety behind a mask of annoyed disappointment.

Roughshod chose not to comment on it and simply said, "Thanks for the welcome party Mayor. And you're not going to believe what we found out there."

Quartz's eyebrows rose in response, and she glanced at the rest of group. The feeling of something wrong returned, greater than before, but Quartz chose to ignore it in favor of hearing what Roughshod wanted to tell her. "Well?" she asked. "What is it then?"

"The bug bear is dead," he replied, to which everypony in earshot suddenly stopped what they were doing, and looked at the four ponies with surprised and disbelieving expressions, and they all began to clamor at once.

"Did he say the bug bear's dead?"

"Are you sure?"

"What did it look like?"

"Does this mean it's safe to go out now?"

Roughshod cleared his throat, and everypony quieted down to hear him speak. "Yes, the bug bear is dead. We all saw it with our own eyes."

At this all the ponies present had gone from disbelieving to relieved. Even Quartz felt a sense of joy pervade her being as the thought that there was no more bug bear to worry about, and she resolved to give her alternative solution a bonus when he came back.

"But that's not all," Roughshod then said, and the expressions of relief faltered slightly. They then disappeared completely when they heard what he said next.

"The bug bear wasn't just killed. It was torn apart and picked clean by another predator. . . . We don't know what it is yet, but whatever it is, it is much bigger and much more dangerous than anything that lives out there right now."

Everypony fell silent, unable to say anything at the revelation that there was something even worse than the bug bear. Quartz chose that moment to speak up, addressing the ponies gathered around.

"Don't worry everypony. Just go home, get some rest. We'll have a town meeting in the morning to discuss this issue, when we're all rested and recovered."

The ponies appeared to be unconvinced, but decided to go ahead and humor the mayor and started filing away back to their business. Some returned to chores they were performing when the group came back, while others simply went home.

"I don't know what to say Roughshod," Quartz said as she watched them leave. "A part of me wants to thank you for telling me the bug bear's dead, while another part wants me to hit you for replacing it something that might be even worse. Are you sure what you're saying is true? Are you sure that it was another animal that killed it?"

Roughshod nodded. "I'm sure," he answered solemnly, to which Quartz sighed heavily as a headache began to accumulate. She rubbed her forehead with a hoof, and chose to distract herself by inspecting the rest of the ponies that had went with Roughshod. She still could not shake the feeling that there was something wrong with how many there were. Then, it clicked, and the red pegasus' eyes went wide with realization.

There were only four ponies that she could see in Roughshod's group.

"Roughshod? Wasn't there another pony with you?"

Roughshod glanced backward, and panic entered his voice when he too realized what, or more accurately, who was missing.

"Where's Harp?!"

"Star?! Nightshade! Roughshod?! Where are you guys?!"

Harp was hopelessly lost as he wandered aimlessly through the dark forest, cursing his fortune and cursing the others for leaving him behind, even if it was unintentional. Harp himself had not even realized he had become separated from the rest of the group until nearly half an hour ago. He thought they had heard him notify them when nature made its call, but apparently he was mistaken on that front.

Harp was on the verge of panic as desperately tried to regain his bearings, as all he could think about was the fact that he was now all alone in the woods with Celestia knows how many things prowling around that would be all too willing to make a meal out of him. Wolves, lupis-minors, lupis-majors, mountain lions, maybe even a hydra or two. And that wasn't even counting the unknown predator that had killed the bug bear. Out of all of them that was the one Harp wanted to run into the least. At least he knew about the others and what they could do, but this new monster, whatever it was, was completely unknown to him, and that terrified the stallion more than anything.

"Mister Mortar?! Star! Come on you, just tell me where you are!"

The only reply that Harp received was his own panic stricken voice echoing through the trees. It almost seemed to be mocking him in a way, and he began to lose hope that anypony would find him, or even come back for him. It was far too late into the night now, and anypony that came out here to look for him would only be putting themselves at risk. And as much as Harp wanted to be rescued as quickly as possible, he knew that he would just have to hold out until morning until somepony came to find him.

Assuming there was going to be anything left of him to find. Harp hated to think what could happen the brief span of hours until morning.

He knew that the chances of him getting through the night unscathed were slim at best, but Harp was willing to take that chance. He needed to find a place to stay, to lay low until somepony could come for him. Unfortunately there did not seem to be any areas like that where he currently was, so Harp decided to peek around a bit and hope that he came across a tree with branches that were low enough for him too reach. Hopefully he would also not run into that monster, wherever it was.

Angela was surrounded on all sides by darkness.

All that she could see in every direction was an inky blackness so deep and stifling that its presence threatened to crush her under its weight. No matter where she looked the only thing that could be seen was nothingness. Just sheer nothingness.

"Hello?" she called out into the dark, hoping for an answer. "Is anyone there?"

Silence.

Beginning to feel nervous, Angela called out again. "Hello? hello, can anyone hear me?" Again, there was no reply to her plea, and Angela was starting to panic as she thought of a million different possibilities for why, none of them good. her breathing quickened as the darkness seemed to somehow become even more oppressive than it already was. She was alone. Alone and afraid.

Then suddenly, she did hear something, but it did not comfort in any way. It was not the consoling voice of a friend, nor was it the gentle shuffle of footsteps coming to greet her. It sounded more like something was lurking unseen in the darkness as it moved around her.

Suddenly Angela the sound of something shriek behind her, and she whirled around to face its source, but all that she saw was the same pitch black landscape. The shriek came again, louder this time as it came echoing out of the void. Angela still could not see what was causing, and her breathing became difficult as fear built up inside of her. Feeling she had no other choice she bolted in the opposite direction the sound seemed to be coming from, her bare feet thudding against the ground as whatever was hiding in the dark gave chase.

Angela did not know what was pursuing her, nor did she want to know. All that she knew was that she just had to get away, to keep running until she escaped from its malevolent presence. But it seemed that no matter how hard or how fast she ran she could still feel that whatever was chasing her was steadily gaining on her.

Another shriek came, and Angela imagined that it was right behind her, and she began to cry out of desperation and terror.

"Please. . . please no," she pleaded tearfully. Just then something large and heavy slammed into her from behind, causing her to stumble and fall. She curled up on the ground and covered her head with her arms. She sobbed loudly, hoping desperately that it would just leave her alone. Her sobbing faded into soft crying as she expected her death to come at any moment.

Except it never came, and the screeching fell silent. Realizing that nothing was happening Angela tentatively opened her eyes, expecting to see some horror waiting for her to do just that so she could see it as it mauled her. But there was nothing.

Even stranger, she was no longer surrounded by shadows. Instead she was now in a forest full of trees with white trunks and red leaves. But however happy she was to have somehow escaped, it was outmatched by how. . . off everything felt about the forest. Angela could not quite explain it, but there was something that was just wrong about the setting. it was a feeling that seemed to pervade the whole area like a harmful fog.

Uncurling from her fetal position, Angela slowly stood while glancing around nervously. She tried to simply ignore the feeling, but no matter what she could not shake the sense that there was in fact something profoundly deviant from the norm, especially around the trees themselves.

Taking a cautious step forward, Angela inspected the bark of one of the trees, and to her surprise and confusion she found the rough texture of its trunk formed lines that spelled a single word.

Liar.

Perturbed by the discovery, Angela walked over to another tree and found that it too had a single word scrawled onto its side.

Thief.

Everywhere Angela looked the only thing she could see were trees with those same two words on their trunks. Then it seemed that those words began to whisper in her ears repeatedly, growing louder and louder until she felt the need to clutch her head in an futile attempt to ward them off.

"Stop. . ." she whimpered. The words did not stop, but instead grew louder and louder until Angela was forced to her knees. Then , abruptly, another word rang out like the bell of death, silencing all the others.

Murderer.

"No, please I. . . I didn't mean to. . ."

Angela looked up and saw that the word had now replaced the other two, and was scrawled onto every tree.

Murderer.

"No!" Angela screamed, and she quickly stood up to run. She did not know for how long she ran, as time seemed to both fly as fast as a hawk and move at snails pace simultaneously. She only knew that when she stopped she was in a wide open area. No monster in the darkness, no trees with the word murderer, not even grass, just flat empty ground as far as she could see.

Angela stepped forward, looking all around in fear, when suddenly she heard something crunch beneath her feet. Startled by the sound, she hesitantly looked down, and saw both to her confusion and disgust that she had stepped on the chalky white skeleton of a bird.

And next to the bird was the body of a rat. After the rat came the skeletons of large wolves, each having a star shaped mark on their skulls. After them came the bug bear. And it did not end there, for she saw that piled on top of them were the bones of various creatures. Everything from ponies to hydras, all piled up in a massive and grotesque mountain of death. And sitting at the very top was the remains of a human skeleton, and even though there was no way to identify who it once was, Angela knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she recognized it.

Angela stumbled backwards in horror and fright, until another sound distracted her. And it seemed to be coming from within the pile. The bones began to shake and rattle as something moved underneath the the surface, just out of her sight. Then it burst from the top, throwing bones in all directions, and Angela was forced to shield her eyes. When she uncovered them she saw what had been lurking in the mound.

It was the wraith, in all its terrifying glory. It was coated in blood that dripped from its talons and jaws in streams of red, and when it exhaled Angela was left choking on the scent of death. The monster immediately took notice of her, and after a brief lull in activity it began to creep down towards her.

Angela wanted to leave. She wanted nothing more than to run away as fast as she possibly could, to just get away from the wraith, away from the skeletons, from her past, from herself.

But she couldn't. Angela was rooted the spot, and all she could do was watch helplessly as the wraith drew nearer, until its tooth filled maw was only inches from her face.

"W-what are you?" she whimpered softly.

In response the wraith tilted its head quizzically, as though it had heard an odd sound. Then, it spoke to her in a perfect imitation of her voice.

"I am you."

The monstrous creature then reared backwards as it raised its two meter long claws threateningly.

"And you are mine."

The wraith lunged at her, and Angela screamed.

Angela snapped awake in less than a second as phantom sensations of claws ripping into her body assaulted her senses. She shrieked in alarm and fright, trying to fight off the attack. Seeing her multiple arms she temporarily forgot that they were her own as she flailed them around in an attempt to fend off the wraith of her nightmare. When she finally realized that she was not in any immediate danger Angela stopped, and she took a few deep raspy breaths to calm her racing hearts.

It was dark, she noticed, and the moon was now high above in the starry sky. The cool night air washed over her pale skin like a blanket, and she felt her heart rate slow down, and she was able to think more clearly as a result.

Relax Angela, she told herself. It was all just a dream. Just a nightmare.

Unfortunately her reasoning did very little to make her feel better, much less help her forget the details of the dream. Feeling strangely sick, Angela curled around herself with her tails. She glanced at her surroundings with a wary eye, almost expecting the wraith from her nightmare to be lurking in the shadows cast by the trees. As far as she could tell she was in a hidden grove with a substantial amount of underbrush, which did a pretty good job of hiding her from sight. She only wished it did as well in concealing her from her own thoughts.

She remembered everything with crystal clear clarity now, from her first moments as a wraith to the grave memories she had kept hidden and suppressed for years.

Until now she had neglected to really ponder what had become of the bug bear when she had transformed into a wraith, as the little details of the encounter seemed to have slipped her mind. She had just assumed that it had been scared off by her presence, and chalked up the strange loss in memory to the stress of going under a complete change in species. But now she could remember it all, thanks to her scuffle with those wolf things. The fight with them had jogged her memory, allowing her to remember in near perfect detail that she had killed it, that she had torn it apart.

She remembered that, in the moment, she had even enjoyed it. And that thought alone terrified her more than anything. More than being hunted by the ponies or being eaten by some predator of the forest. Neither one of those fears could compare to the sheer terror that she had taken satisfaction in taking a life, even if it was in the defense of her own. She was afraid that she would take satisfaction in it again, whether it be with beast, pony. . . or man.

Please. I'm sorry. . . I didn't mean to, she whimpered, keening sorrowfully as one memory in particular that she had struggled to forget rose to the surface of her mind.

She was telling the truth. Angela truly had not meant to take a life years ago that night. She had just been so afraid. She had let her fear for her life blind her to the situation. She may have been a thief, but Angela had never wanted to take life. But she had, and she done it again with the bug bear and those wolves. Her nightmare forced her to remember.

Coiling tighter around herself, Angela was almost disappointed that she no longer had eyes to shed any tears as she let out quiet and mournful keen. She tried to go back to sleep, but it would seem that she would find no more rest for a little while yet as her thoughts refused to quiet down and leave her be. Resigning herself to the fact that she would not be sleeping anymore tonight, Angela rose up from her little spot on the ground, choosing to wander aimlessly, hoping she would somehow be able to forget in the next few hours.

It had taken hours for him to finally track the beast down that had taken his original quarry from him, and now there it was, its pale gray form weaving between the trees at a slow pace like a wingless dragon. To the untrained eye it might have been missed as it moved under the light of Luna's moon, but Gerald was far from being a novice. He had been hunting all sorts of rare and dangerous animals in his line of work, and may the Princesses strike him dead if he was outwitted by a. . . by a. . . whatever this thing was. Truthfully the old griffon had never seen anything quite like before in his life, even during his expeditions in Zebrica. It was just so unnatural, even the tatzlworm looked tame in comparison, what with its lack of eyes, extra arms, and feet that morphed into tails.

Of course when he had come across the corpse of the bug bear, and discovered that something had gotten to it before him, Gerald had been furious at the prospect that he might not be payed. He couldn't go back to the mayor and say that he had failed, his pride was too great for that. He couldn't lie about it either, not only because of his pride but also because she had requested that he bring evidence of the kill, and he couldn't do that when there wasn't even enough left to bring back on a dinner plate. It did not help that he had already been trying to track the bug bear ever since he first heard of its escape from Tartarus, only to find that something else had beaten him to the punch.

Yes, Gerald had been beyond furious that not only would he not have the bug bears head mounted on his wall, he wouldn't even be getting paid for it either.

That is until he realized something. If whatever had brought down the bug bear was still in the area, then there was a chance that he might be able to salvage his efforts. After all, whatever could maul the bug bear like that would no doubt make a suitable replacement to put in his trophy room.

With this in mind Gerald had set out to track down the beast, even going so far as to set a trap by using a wild boar, and it was not long until he had discovered the culprit. And he had not been disappointed in the slightest. Not only did he get to see that the creature was least as big as a house, he was even lucky enough to witness it wage a short but violent fight with a trio of lupis-minors and win.

At that moment he could not have cared less if the mayor of Hollow Shades paid him or not, all he wanted was the chance to bring it down. And if it kept going in the direction it was currently heading, he would get that chance. All the griffon had to do now was wait for it to set off one of the traps he had erected specifically for it, and the with any luck the beast would be dead before the night was over.

Author's Notes:

Sweet Celestia! Things are starting to get complicated!

Unfortunately I don't have any questions or polls or any of my other nonsense to bore you with and. . . ah who am I kidding? Of course I have a question!
I was thinking that maybe the fight scene that I wrote with Angela and the lupis-minors was a tad short, and could have gone on for a bit longer. You know, more violence and stuff like that. So I am putting it up to a vote. Do you think I should? Supply your answer in the comments below.
As a side question, what do think is going to happen with our protagonist?

As awlays, arelt me to ayn erers in the conents.
Thanks!

Hunter

Angela wandered, without either a direction or a destination in mind as she hovered above the forest floor under the light of a full moon, moving between the trees at a slow pace. The wraith was in no hurry to be anywhere. It wasn't like she had anywhere to be, but she was fine with that. All she wanted then was a few moments to clear her head of the thoughts that plagued her. In contrast to her leisurely pace, Angela's mind was running along at a hundred miles an hour, mostly with thoughts concerning the recent nightmare.

Isn't one of the Princesses supposed to help with that? If so, then it would seem that someone's slacking off on the job, she thought bitterly as she pondered the details of her frightening vision. Angela normally wasn't one to put much stock in visions and prophetic dreams and other such nonsense, but she was already in a land populated by multi-colored tiny talking horses while in the body of a creature from a video game, so why shouldn't she be having visions on top of that? It wasn't like they could make her situation any more complicated than it already was. Not when the ponies might know about her existence or when she entered brief spats of vicious insanity whenever she got hungry. Compared to all that, bad dreams reminding her of her guilty past were just icing on the cake.

They certainly didn't help though, and Angela got the feeling that, whether she believed in those kinds of things or not, the dream was supposed to mean something. And it didn't take much thought to guess what it was.

When Angela had first awoken in the body of a wraith, she had of course been somewhat pleased by the change, even if she wasn't necessarily asked permission first. She would have obviously liked it if that old man back at the convention had bothered to mention some of the finer details of their arrangement, and she certainly could have done without the pain involved in the transformation, but she was willing to put that behind her. It at least kept her from being arrested. But that was not the only reason why Angela had initially been so ecstatic by the change.

She had thought that finally, after years of bearing a tremendous amount of guilt and regret for what she had done, she had at last been able to escape from it all. She thought that she had finally found a way to live without her actions hanging over her head like a shadow. She would have even put up with the hunger spells and the ponies if it meant that she could have her peace of mind.

But it was apparently not to be. Like a black mark on her soul it had followed her across dimensions, breaking through to the front of her mind so that it was that she could think about, all that she could see.

Murderer.

Angela let her head sag as that single word rang in her mind again, and she felt as though she were carrying a sack of bricks over her shoulders.

I can't do this.

Angela slowed to a complete stop, hovering in place as she looked down at a little puddle of water that had accumulated on the ground. The wraith stared back at her in silence, and for a brief moment Angela just sat there watching her reflection. High above, a stray cloud drifted past, temporarily blotting out the moonlight as the former human remembered events from her previous life.

No one was meant to die that night.

The owner of the jewelry store was supposed to have been at home. He wasn't supposed to have forgotten his wallet on the counter.

He had tackled her to the ground, and a gun that had been hidden within the folds of his coat had slipped loose.

She should have just given up. She should have just let the police take her away. At least that way he might have still been alive.

I'm sorry. . . . I'm so sorry, she whispered quietly, her thoughts unheard in the night. But Angela knew that no matter how much she apologized, it would do absolutely nothing to fix her mistakes. Barely noticing, Angela drifted down to the ground, where she wept in the raspy voice of the wraith, not caring who or what happened to see. Angela simply laid there, her pale form heaving slightly with every stuttered breath.

She was afraid.

She was afraid of what she had been. She was afraid of what she was now. And she was afraid of what she might become in the future, of how much easier it would be to kill for something as simple as hunger. If she could not control herself, then she was a danger everything around her.

Letting her gaze drift upward, Angela spotted the city on the mountain, finally remembering that it was called Canterlot, glowing like a beacon in the darkness. Tiny pinpricks of orange light reflected off its glistening white walls. And she imagined all of the little ponies going about their business, never even suspecting what was hiding in the forest a few dozen miles to their North. Never knowing of the danger she posed to them. And she would rather keep it that way.

She had to leave. She had go away, to find someplace so remote she wouldn't ever get the chance to cause serious harm to the ponies. The only question was in which direction she would go. The most that she knew regarding the land of Equestria was that Canterlot was right in the middle somewhere, with Ponyville just a train ride South. As far as she knew there was not much else to the North aside from the Crystal Empire, and that could be avoided easily enough.

Her decision made, Angela picked herself up off of the ground, not even bothering to brush herself off, and angled herself away from the city on the mountain, and floated away in a straight line. She no longer cared where she ended up. All she cared about then was getting as far away as possible.

A short while into her journey of self imposed exile, Angela became aware of something in her gut telling that something was not quite right. She tried to simply ignore the feeling and continue on her way, but it quickly returned stronger than before. She was not sure why, but something was not quite right. She listened carefully as she moved along, before she realized what was out of place.

Everything was suddenly unnaturally quiet, and this time it wasn't because of her. Even when she was around there was always at least the chirping of birds and insects, but now there was nothing coming from them. Something in the woods was causing the whole area to fall utterly silent.

Angela slowed to a complete stop, and she felt the short spines on her back bristle slightly in anticipation of trouble. What that trouble was she could not tell, but whatever else was out there was setting her on edge. There was something weird going on here, and she did not like it one bit.

Tightening her focus, Angela attempted to utilize some of the more fine-tuned senses that she now possessed in a bid to locate what was causing the tense silence. She could not see or hear or smell anything that would give her a clue, but that only served to heighten her state of alertness. She may have been able to detect anything, mostly as a result of her inexperience, but she knew for a fact that her instincts were telling her that she was being watched by unfriendly eyes.

Deciding that she did not like the feeling in the slightest, Angela pondered going a different route. It was not a particularly hard decision, and Angela angled herself to move backward while still being able to keep a metaphorical eye out for any trouble in front of her. This action unfortunately kept her from seeing a small metallic object come whistling out of the darkened boughs of the tree straight towards her. The object bounced harmlessly off of her shoulder, before it it exploded in a deafening flash of blinding light.

Angela shrieked, although it was more out of surprise and confusion rather than pain, as the attack had done very little in the way of actually harming her. She was still startled by it however.

What the hell?! she exclaimed as she recovered from the attack, trying to locate where what she assumed was a flash grenade of some sort had come from. She crouched low to the ground, glancing all around in search of her aggressor.

Several tense seconds passed before another grenade came flying at her out of the gloom. However this one came from a different area, and Angela was caught off guard again as it burst near her head. She hissed loudly as she felt her anger rise at the unprovoked attack, suspecting that those ponies might be behind it. The sound of her displeasure reverberated through the trees, alerting everything within earshot to her building fury.

Well isn't this is just great, she mused bitterly. I try to leave and now they decide to show up.

Her thought was interrupted as yet another grenade exploded, and Angela shrieked loudly. She tried to guess where her attacker was hiding, and struck at the branches of a nearby tree with her scythe-claws. The limbs of the tree snapped and leaves were sent tumbling down to the ground, and Angela felt that she had least scared off her attacker. Unfortunately she was incorrect in that assumption, as another grenade detonated at her back.

Leave me alone! she shouted in her mind as she let a fury filled screech escape her maw. She was starting to feel herself slip back into a state of mindless rage as a result of the disorienting flashes of sound and light, but she made sure to keep herself in check. It would not do to let herself be consumed by her anger. But that was proving be increasingly difficult as the explosions continued, and she felt that if it went on for much longer she would become both deaf and insane. She was extremely tempted to just start knocking down trees left and right, but she reigned herself in, knowing that would only aggravate her further. What she needed to do was wait for her aggressor to give itself away.

Begrudgingly Angela sat motionless, her senses straining to pick up even the slightest sound. Seconds passed that seemed like hours, but she was quickly rewarded when she detected the faint rustle of tree branches to her right. Wasting no time, Angela ignored the the grenade that was thrown at her, and dashed towards a tall pine tree, shrieking in anger and fury. She slammed into it with her shoulder, and with an audible crack the tree began to topple over. But just before it hit the ground Angela saw a small creature dive away from the falling pine at the last second, emitting a hawk like screech before landing a number of yards away from her.

Angela focused her vision to see what was so determined to destroy her hearing, and was taken somewhat by surprise when she saw that it was not a pony at all, but a griffon instead, with faded blue feathers and light gray fur. It seemed to be wearing a brown leather vest of some sort that looked custom made to fit around the bases of its wings. She also noticed the hilt of a large knife protruding from a sheath hanging over its flank, and Angela realized, both to her annoyance and amusement strangely enough, that the griffon was a hunter of some sort.

She would have laughed at the sheer irony of the situation if not for the small thread of worry that wormed its way into her mind.

Okay. So now I'm being hunted by a griffon. Well that's just swell.

The griffon recovered from its unscheduled dive to escape the falling tree, before quickly realizing that it was at the receiving end of an eyeless glare from a predator as big as a dragon. It let out a surprised squawk before reaching into one of the many pockets on its vest with a clawed foreleg before procuring another grenade. At this point Angela wondered why it even bothered with that option anymore, as she had already found it out. She did not have very long to ponder it however when the griffon threw it at her.

Angela was almost tempted to let it hit her to show that she knew it would do nothing to harm her. The griffon was probably counting on her being like every other semi-intelligent beast and be scared of it. But she then figured that she'd had enough of those damned things blowing up in her face, and swatted the grenade aside with the back of her clawed hand. It flew a considerable distance before it detonated, and a faint boom echoed through the pines.

When the griffon saw this, the feathers around its neck stood out on end from what Angela guessed was intimidation. She simply stared at the hybrid for a few tense moments, no doubt looking unamused to it, and for a brief span of seconds that felt more like minutes the two would be adversaries just gazed at each other, one out of intimidation, the other from annoyance. Then Angela decided to break the silence with a loud and threatening hiss, to which the griffon responded by taking a cautious step backward.

Angela's instincts were telling her to pursue it, to tear it apart for attacking her. She might have even been justified in seeking a little revenge, but she did not give in. She knew that once she started going down that road, it would be very hard to stop herself, provided she could even do at all.

Hissing at it again, Angela turned away and began to resume her previous course. Behind her the griffon gaped at the fact that it was being blown off by its own quarry.

"Oy! Get back here beastie!" he commanded, alerting Angela to his displeasure at being ignored after all that effort he had spent, but the wraith continued to float away. She even flicked one of her tails at him in an unmistakable display of disinterest. The griffon spluttered, completely flabbergasted by the way the way he was being treated. And he wasn't going to have any of it. Removing the large serrated knife from its sheath, the griffon took to the air and made a beeline straight for the wraith. Angela heard the attack coming but was unable to react in time as she felt the knife pierce the flesh around her neck, in the same spot where she was bitten by the lupis-minor. It was no worse than a bee sting, but it hurt none-the-less.

Angela shrieked, more out of anger than pain, and promptly shook the bird off. She was already furious that she had been attacked unprovoked, and she only became even more incensed by the fact that the little nuisance was not going to leave her alone anytime soon.

That's it! she exclaimed angrily as she whirled around to face the griffon, and she snarled viciously while she crouched down. In her mind, the only way she was going to be rid of it was to chase it off. She would try to hold back a little, so she would not lose her already precarious hold on her sanity, but she could not guarantee that there would not be at least some injury involved.

The griffon saw her crouch, and promptly sheathed his knife before quickly flying away in the opposite direction.

Angela shrieked and gave chase, knocking over whatever happened to be in her way.

"You idiot!"

Even though they had moved their "conversation" into her office, Mayor Quartz shouting could be heard by anypony that happened to be trotting by her two story house.

"How could you have lost him?! Do you have any idea what could happen to him out there?! Seriously, do you have any clue?! How about I go ahead and remind you! Wolves. Mountain lions. Bears. Lupis-minors. Hydras. And that's just the stuff we know about! And now you come to tell me that there's not only something out there that might be even bigger and meaner than the bug bear ever could be, but that you left Harp out there all alone with it?!"

"How long has she been going on like this now?" Nightshade whispered as she leaned her head closer to Mortar.

"A good five minutes now," the large stallion answered in a similar tone.

"Shhh!" Star hissed between her teeth, silencing them as they continued to watch Roughshod receive the tongue lashing of a lifetime from Mayor Quartz. They would have stepped in to defend him, but none of them wanted her wrath to include them just yet. They would get their lecture in due time, so for the moment they stood behind Roughshod near the door to the office, like children awaiting punishment.

Quartz put a hoof to her forehead, appearing to calm down only slightly as she breathed a heavy sigh.

"Roughshod," she began again. "You are a good friend. And I know that you never intended for this to happen. I know that you must already be beating yourself up about it, but dammit Roughshod! You're better than this! We both know that!"

Roughshod said nothing, but continued to take the verbal punishment with a grim expression. And like the mayor said, everypony knew that despite his stoic outward appearance, he felt horribly guilty for failing to notice when Harp had gone missing. It was a feeling that everypony else shared with him.

"Well. . . what do we do?" Nightshade asked, speaking up for the first time since they returned. Quartz's hard glare settled on the dark pegasus briefly, causing her to shrink under the elder mares gaze.

"Right now?" she questioned. "Right now there is nothing we can do. Don't you make a mistake, any of you. There is almost nothing I would like more than to kick the lot of you outside the wall right now and not let you in until you find Harp." This earned Quartz more than a few nervous glances from the guilty ponies. "But as much as I would like to go ahead and do that, Harp is just going to have to hold out until morning before we can go get him. May Celestia watch over him in the mean time."

Quartz's glare had softened slightly as she said those words. However it hardened again when directed her attention back to the earth pony stallion currently standing in front of her desk.

"What am I going to do with you Roughshod?" she questioned with a sigh as she rubbed her head with a hoof. Everypony present suspected that it was more of a rhetorical question than anything else and kept silent as they waited for the mayor to make her decision. A long minute passed with no further conversation until Quartz fixed Roughshod with a hard expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but then faltered as she seemed to have difficulty saying the words on her mind.

She eventually was able to get a hold of herself and said in a stern voice, "Roughshod."

Roughshod's jaw was slightly clenched as he replied. "Yes ma'am?"

Quartz paused to take a breath before saying, "I am afraid that this kind of negligence is not something that I can simply ignore. In light of this unfortunate event I am going to have to recommend that you no longer act as a guard for the wall until further notice. The same goes for the rest of you."

when they all heard the mayors verdict, everypony behind Roughshod gasped quietly. They all knew that they had screwed up, but they didn't think that Quartz would go so far as to ban them from the wall.

"But mayor," Star Mix exclaimed, speaking up for the first time since they returned. "You can't do that. there needs to be at least somepony on the wall to keep watch and-"

"I am aware of that," Quartz interrupted. "Do note, this is not a permanent decision. I simply feel that a little time away from your regular duties will give you ample time to consider the consequences of your actions. I will still allow you to be part of the rescue party to go find Harp, but for now it might be for the best if you all just go home and take some time off."

Star was about to say something to the mayor, but was cut off again, this time by Roughshod as he raised a hoof, effectively silencing her.

"Ma'am," he said, his tone even and betraying no emotion. "I respect your decision, and I will abide by it." Turning his head to glance at the other ponies in the room he added, "We all will. I only hope that you will be willing to forgive us soon."

"I'm not the only one you are going to have to apologize to for this," Quartz answered. Everypony knew she was referring to Harp when she said, and their ears drooped slightly as they realized that it was unlikely he would survive the night. When it appeared that nopony else was willing to speak, Quartz sighed heavily, waved a hoof at them and said in a tired sounding voice, "You're dismissed. Go home, all of you."

Everypony shuffled their hooves, unsure who should be the first to leave, before they eventually filed out of the mayors office. In a few minutes they were all standing in front of her house, with only a few lanterns and the moon to illuminate their surroundings.

"Well I feel horrible," Nightshade proclaimed, to which nopony answered except to give a slow nod in agreement. "I don't know about the rest of you guys," she added, "but I'm gonna take the mayors suggestion and head home and have a drink. Maybe break into my stash of the hard stuff in Harp's memory."

This earned the mare more than a few disapproving glares from her companions. "What?" she said.

"How can you say that Nightshade, especially now of all times?" Star demanded. "He's not dead yet as far as we know."

"Exactly. As far as we know," Nightshade countered. "I mean for all we do know he might already be dead. He could be out there right now with his limbs torn off like the bug bear. For all we know his bones might already be being used as toothpicks!"

"That's enough Nightshade!" Roughshod ordered loudly, almost yelling his disapproval. "You're not the only one here who's torn up inside about all this, but you don't see us drowning ourselves in cider."

Nightshade ears drooped and she withered slightly under the stallions harsh glare, unable to make eye contact with him. "Sorry," she muttered under her breath. When she said that however everypony noticed that there was an undercurrent of of anguish and guilt in her voice, and her violet eyes betrayed her feeling as they began to glisten slightly. Mister Mortar stepped over to try and comfort the mare, and he was about to say something when Nightshade stopped with an outstretched hoof.

"Look," she said, "I just need some time to be alone alright? You don't need to worry about me. Just give me a little bit, and we'll just go back in the morning." Without waiting for an answer Nightshade turned around and spread her wings, and took off without another word. She flew low to the ground, hovering just above the cobblestone street.

"I'll make sure she gets home safe," Mortar announced before hurrying to catch up with her, leaving Roughshod and Star Mix standing alone in front of the mayors door, with only a few street lamps and the moon to illuminate their surrounding. Roughshod then turrned to walk away, presumably back home to Rose Flare. Star chose to follow beside him.

"Are you doing alright?" She asked after a few minutes of walking in silence. Her tone was inquisitive, yet there was an unmistakable trace of concern laced through it.

"I will be," Roughshod answered as he continued walking, the sound of his hooves clicking on the hard stone echoing among the buildings. The two were silent as they walked, neither one willing to speak up just yet. They were alone for the most part, as many ponies had chosen to turn in for the night. There were a few stragglers still milling about, either ushering young fillies and colts who were up too late back inside or just watching the night pass them by.

"So," Star said, her voice startlingly loud in the quiet of night. "What are we going to do now?"

Roughshod did not answer for a moment as he pondered just what he was going to do now he was temporarily no longer permitted to patrol the wall, but at the moment he was stumped. He supposed he could try asking Mister Mortar if he could help on the rock farm, or maybe see if the ponies that worked in the orchard needed assistance. However he doubted either one of those would give him the same satisfaction he got out of making sure that his home and his family was safe for another night.

"I'm not sure Star," he said, finally answering her question. "I gave up a lot of myself to be up there, and as much as I hope the mayor finds somepony to replace us, I don't think Quartz is going have an easy time doing so."

"What do you mean by that?" Star asked.

Roughshod sighed quietly before responding. "Star, you and I both know that almost nopony in this town is as willing to go up on the wall. You've seen how they act. They flinch every time somepony even mentions the bug bear, and now that we know that there is another monster out there, well, I wouldn't hold out much hope that Quartz is going to find somepony willing to patrol the wall anytime soon. She is putting the entire towns safety at risk just to teach us a lesson."

"Roughshod-" Star began to say, only to be cut off when the stallion stopped walking and turned to look at her directly. He then said in a slightly strained voice that was uncharacteristic for him, "And you know what Star? It's my fault. I didn't notice that Harp had gone missing until it was too late, and now he's out there wih who knows what prowling around, and it's all my fault."

"Roughshod, Just listen to yourself," Star interrupted, growing frustrated with the stallion. "Your piling all of this blame onto yourself, when the rest us could have just as easily been responsible, and for what? Because you were "in charge?" Because you were the one who wanted to go out there in the first place? Well guess what. We are the ones who chose to go with you, when none of us wanted to. We knew what we could be getting into. We knew that thee was going to be a risk involved, but we went anyway. And do you know why?"

Roughshod was not ale to reply when Star continued to speak. "Because we knew that in the long run, getting off of our plots and going out there to ensure the safety of our home was a lot better than just sitting at home in the so-called security behind the wall. You knew that. I knew that. Even Harp knew that. That's why we followed you Roughshod."

Star paused to take a short breath, then said in a milder tone, "Roughshod, you can't keep doing this to yourself. You can't just decide that you should be the one to take all the blame, when we all know that everypony else is accountable."

Roughshod did not answer. He was not sure how to after Star Mix's monologue. When it seemed to the mare that no reply was going to be forthcoming, Star turned on her hooves and said to him, "Now, I'm going to go home and star getting ready to head out. Harp will be waiting for us, and we want to be out at first light if we want to find him. I suggest you do the same."

The emerald unicorn started to trot away, but then stopped and called back to him over her shoulder, "And Roughshod? Just think about what I said, will you?"

Roughshod was silent for a moment as he contemplated her words. He was about to answer her, when suddenly his ears flicked in response to a noise in the distance. Star reacted to it in much the same way, and when she looked at him Roughshod saw something in her eyes that he had not seen ever since the first reports of the bug bear started coming in.

Fear.

They had both heard it. It was faint though, and the only reason they were even able to detect it was because it had been carried by the wind. But both ponies instantly recognized it as the sound of an anger filled shriek echoed throughout the town.

Author's Notes:

I've just noticed that, as I was writing this, Star Mix seems to be a pretty big voice of reason for the other ponies. I wonder how she would help Angela with her issues?

And another thing I thought of while writing this chapter is that I have yet to have any sort of actual confrontation between Angela and the ponies, and got worried that you all might be getting bored with how slowly things seem to be progressing. My only explanation is that I like to take the time to get to actually know my characters a little bit before I have them start going for each others throats. I hope you all don't mind, it's just the way I write.
That said, things are going to heat up a bit in the next chapter.

As always, alert me to ay mistakes and errors in the comments. It really helps a lot.

Trap

Angela was furious.

She could not at the moment recall how long she had been trying to catch the griffon, as it seemed that every time she even got close to him he would suddenly disappear without a trace, only to reappear a few seconds later in a different area before flying off again. To make things even more frustrating for her, the griffon would sometimes lob another grenade right in her face when it seemed that she had him, buying the hybrid a few precious moments to increase the distance between them while Angela recovered. And each time only served to enrage her further .

Angela did not quite realize it just yet, but she was slowly slipping further and further into a miasma of anger and fury due to the fact that she still had not been able to catch the griffon. At first she had only meant to catch him, rough him up a little, give him the scare of his life, then leave. Whether or not there would be any injury in the process was up for debate. But as time progressed Angela was finding it becoming exceedingly difficult to adhere to that choice.

Get back here! she mentally shouted as she let loose another enraged hiss while she continued to pursue him, knocking over saplings and pushing trees side as along the way. Birds and squirrels and many other creatures of the forest fled for safety away from the rampaging wraith. Angela ignored them however; her sights were set solely on the griffon that continued to elude her.

And then suddenly, he was gone. Angela came to halt, and glanced all around in an attempt to locate her quarry. She could not find him however, and she hissed angrily at the fact that she had lost him. Just then a sharp whistle caught her attention, and Angela looked to see the griffon standing about a hundred feet away, no longer flying. He didn't appear to be doing anything. He just stood there with his wings unfolded, as though he were preparing to take flight, and Angela had enough sense left to realize that something was not quite right with the scene. The griffon had stopped fleeing, but now instead it seemed that he was waiting for her.

What are you up to? she questioned as she approached, scenting the air as she went. There were of course the ever present odors of the forest; leaves and pine needles and dirt, but there was also something else too. A scent that reminded her of gun powder, but slightly different. It had an almost coppery tint it, like pennies. Angela came to a slow stop and looked more closely at the environment around the griffon.

He was standing in a small clearing of some kind, one that did not look to be natural to its surroundings. Tall pine trees grew in a rough circle around the clearing, and it looked like a considerable amount of branches had been suspiciously laid on the ground around him. It was then Angela realized that she had followed the griffon right to a trap he had set for her. She had played the part of the dumb animal, and felt foolish for not realizing it earlier.

As Angela was mentally kicking herself and the more sensible part of her mind returned to her, she came to the conclusion the griffon was just not worth the effort of chasing around, no matter how much of an annoyance to her he might make of himself.

"Well?!" the griffon shouted in a gruff and heavily accented voice. "What are ya waiting for?! Come to Gerald!"

Yeah, I'm not falling for that you mutant chickadee, Angela thought as she gave a short hiss in reply. At that Gerald began to taunt her.

"What's the matter? Ya scared? Are ya a big chicken?" he called as he began swaying motions like he was trying to incite an attack. Angela was not fooled for a second by his taunts. She did not know exactly what kind of trap he had set for her, or if it would even do anything to harm her wraith body. But she knew that she was not going to play the role of a mindless beast for him any more and just float right into his talons. No matter how much he goaded her, Angela was not going to fall for his tricks any longer.

"Come on! Get your scaly arse over here!" Gerald shouted, almost sounding desperate. Angela would have blown raspberries if her jaws were still capable of such an action. As such, she had to settle for an extremely rude hand gesture. It was a little difficult since she only had four fingers on each hand, so as ironic as it would have been she could not flip him the bird, but she managed all the same. After that she turned to leave.

For the second time that night Gerald was taken aback by the way he was being treated by. Never before had any creature of any kind behaved in such a way, and shown such disrespect towards him. It was making him rather. . . irritable, and he'd had enough of it. He drew his knife and made to attack Angela like before. But unlike before she was ready for it.

Doesn't this dodo ever learn? she wondered as she listened for the flapping of his wings to draw closer before she reacted. When it seemed that he was close enough Angela whirled around and skillfully grabbed the hybrid right out of the air, holding him tightly in her talons. She was careful not to grip him hard enough to cause injury, though he proceeded to struggle in a vain attempt to get free.

Okay, she thought. Now that I've got you what should I-

Her musings were cut off when the griffon used his knife to stab Angela's hand, causing her to yelp in surprise and fling him away. The wound was no worse than a paper cut, but Angela was still caught off guard by it, and she felt her frustration with the bird begin to rise again. The griffon flapped his wings to steady himself from the impromptu flight before leveling off and coming at her again.

Alright, I've had enough, she thought as she snarled angrily at her adversary while he approached at high speed, aiming for her head this time. But just before he was about to make contact Angela darted off to the side, leaving bright streaks behind her. Gerald, surprised by the action, flapped his wings frantically to halt his advance and pull up. He was too late however as Angela had whipped around, and her tails collided with the hybrid, sending him soaring uncontrollably before a conveniently placed tree put a stop to his flight, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

He groaned in pain as he slowly stood, his right wing hanging limp. Angela was on him in a second, and before he could do anything to get away she already had her palm pressing down on his chest. He tried to reach for his knife, which had landed a few feet out of his reach, before Angela put a stop to his struggling by positioning one of her large dagger like claws to press against his feathered throat. She held it there for a moment, hissing angrily. Angela then raised the claw in preparation to put an end to this nuisance and-

It was coated in blood that dripped from its jaws and talons in streams of red, and when it exhaled Angela was left choking on the scent of death.

Slowly, Angela retracted the claw, but she still kept the griffon in place on the ground. He stared up at her in confusion, obviously not sure what she was up to as she held him in place. On the outside Angela's intentions could not be gleaned, but her mind was in turmoil as she realized just how close she had come to killing him out of anger. Something that she had no intention of ever doing, now or ever, and this griffon had almost made her do just that. She felt that it was extremely lucky for the both of them that she was able to reign herself in in time.

But now that left the question of what she was going to do with him, and she debated on what course of action she would take now. He had been injured, so it was not like she could just leave him to fly away. Yes, he had attacked for likely no other reason than to have her head on a wall, but Angela supposed that, given what she looked like, she understood that to some degree. She could just leave him here, but Angela felt that would be just as bad as if she had went ahead and killed him. She had seen for herself what other creatures lurked in the forest, so doing that would likely just be a death sentence for him.

Angela sighed, a raspy exhale that ruffled Gerald's feathers a bit, and begrudgingly accepted that she would have to go out of her way to assist the very same thing that attacked her. Maybe she could just stick him in a tree, where he could still signal for help while being safe from any predators on the ground.

Angela was pulled out of her thoughts when the griffon, apparently having had enough of being pinned under her claws, attempted to push her off.

"Get off o' me!" He grunted. His efforts were feeble at best, and Angela's hand showed no signs of budging. She was about to hiss at him to make the bird be quiet while she decided what to do with him, but she was interrupted yet again. But this time the interruption came in the form of a rustling in the branches of a tree immediately to her left. The disturbance was then followed by the sensation of something landing squarely onto her back with a feminine sounding grunt.

What? was all that she could come up with before she was suddenly wracked with pain along her back as she discovered just how sensitive her spines were when whatever it was began to kick them. Hard.

Get off! Angela mentally screamed with barely any coherence as she thrashed violently, releasing the griffon to reach over her shoulders to claw at her back and dislodge her passenger. He wisely scrambled away to avoid being crushed. During the struggle Angela unintentionally crashed into the side of a tree, sending it toppling over. Immediately after that the thing on her back leaped off, landing a few yards away from her. Feeling her frustration begin to take hold again, Angela shook her head to quickly clear it of the dark thoughts and looked to see her newest assailant. She was somewhat surprised to see that it was the very same pony mare that she had seen running away from her, only now it had a rope wrapped around her barrel and a pair of saddle bags that made an odd clinking sound whenever she moved.

Moving almost too quickly for Angela to track the pony launched herself at the wraith and struck with a swift buck to her wrist. Angela hissed when her joint was hit by the hard hooves. Reacting on instinct before she could stop herself Angela lashed with her claws at the pony. She even went so far as to snap her jaws at her. She was then taken by surprise when the mare expertly avoided both attacks by rolling out of the way and away from her.

At that moment Angela wanted nothing more than to pursue the pony and pound it into the ground and rip it apart, until she realized the direction her thoughts were taking promptly pushed them out of her mind, recognizing that the feeling was her instincts driving her to do so. Angela knew that no matter how aggravated she became she could not let herself be taken by her basest desires, as there would be dire consequences for all involved.

The little pony however was not aware of just how much Angela was struggling to keep herself from killing all of them, and she was certainly not helping by attacking her. Angela snarled at the mare, spreading her jaws wide in an intimidating display meant to get it to back off. The pony responded by reaching into her saddle bags with her snout and pulling out a pair of small items that to Angela looked like red gems with little hooks on their facets.

She then tossed them up into the air before swiftly turning to pivot on her front hooves and kicking them Angela, who shielded herself with her two right arms. One of the gems struck the bone of her large scythe claw and fell harmlessly to the ground. The second one however stuck to Angela's forearm, its little hooks letting it firmly attach to her skin. The gem started to glow slightly before Angela's entire arm was numbed by a stinging sensation similar to that of ants crawling over skin.

Angela shook her arm, trying to dislodge it, but the gem remained stuck to her arm, and the feeling was only getting worse. Shrieking in anger Angela did the only thing she could think of and struck a nearby pine with with a mighty backhand blow. With a popping sound similar to that of a light bulb the gem was shattered, exploding in a cloud of red dust. The tree did not fare much better, as the strike had effectively cut it in half, and the top part fell to the ground with a crash.

The feeling quickly vanished, and Angela redirected her attention back to the mare, who had taken the opportunity to quickly gallop to the griffon as he hid behind the trunk of a tree. She absentmindedly noticed that one of his feathery wings was slightly limp, indicating an injury.

"Oy! Miss Drops! Good to be seeing you."

"Shut up Gerald! What were you thinking?!" she snapped as she ran up to him. Angela paused, momentarily surprised that the two apparently knew each other.

Gerald raised a claw to answer, but then faltered as he looked behind the mare apparently known as Miss Drops. She followed his line of sight and inhaled sharply when she saw that Angela was no longer occupied by the gem. The two smaller creatures gazed at the wraith with wide eyes as Angela glared at them with obvious disdain. She was rather incensed at the fact the mare had seen fit to expend so much effort in fighting Angela just to do the exact same thing that Angela was going to do in the first place. It was all completely unnecessary. All she had to do was wait until Angela left him, then help him out. Did she not see her spare his life? Was she so willing to believe that Angela was a monster at heart?

As she glared at them, Angela came to the conclusion that she would be seen as no more than a mindless beast in their eyes. She hissed at them, but she kept her frustration in check as she turned to leave. The pony and griffon breathed a sigh of relief, probably believing that they had driven her off. Just then all three individuals heard a gasp of shock, and they all turned their heads to see a young looking blue stallion standing a number of yards away from them. It seemed to Angela that he would have enjoyed a nice bath, for he was virtually covered in dirt and grime from a long night in the woods. Despite all of the attention he was receiving, the ponies eyes were focused solely on Angela. Her claws more specifically.

"Don't move!" the mare whispered loudly to him. "You might trigger a hunting response if you run."

Okay, now I'm just offended, Angela thought, and she alerted the mare to her displeasure at the comment with an annoyed growl. Despite being directed at the mare, the noise had a noticeably adverse effect on the young stallion, and he began shaking nervously in fear of what she might do to him. Realizing her mistake, Angela tried to get him to calm down by showing her palms. This proved to be another error on her part, as the stallion began to back away from her with his eyes glued to her talons. Angela sighed, deciding it would be better to just give up and leave. That is until she saw in which direction he was heading toward.

Alarm flooded through her, and she reached out her arm on impulse to stop him from going any further. This of course had the exact opposite effect that she wanted, for the moment she moved the stallion turned tail and bolted away from her, galloping as fast as his hooves could carry over the uneven terrain, straight towards the trap the griffon had set for her.

"Stupid colt! Don't go that way!" said griffon shouted after him, but the pony either did not hear him over the sound of his own frantic breathing or did not listen from fear of the wraith. The mare, realizing the danger, ignored her own advice and took off after him, but Angela knew that she would never be able to reach him in time. She had to do something or both ponies could end up seriously hurt, or worse.

Feeling she had no other choice on the matter, Angela darted after him, causing the mare to quickly dive out of the way as the wraith hovered as quickly as the trees would allow. She called after him, but that only served to make him redouble his pace while he occasionally glanced back with panic stricken eyes at what he thought was a monster intent on eating him.

Angela, almost starting to panic herself, began to just knock over any trees and saplings in her way, but doing only helped marginally, and the stallion was only getting further away. She had to think of something, anything, to get him back from what could possibly be his demise. Then, an idea popped into her head, one that Angela was not sure that she could pull off after only just starting to learn how her body worked in the last thirty hours. Seeing the stallion get closer and closer to the trap made her decide that it was worth a shot at the very least.

She slowed down just enough to settle her vision on the fleeing pony, focusing her thoughts on the action she wanted to perform. Time almost seemed to slow to a crawl as her sight centered in on him. The spines on her back bristled and her head began to emit a faint crimson glow.

The mare noticed the change, sensing that something was about to happen. She followed the creatures gaze to the stallion, noticing how its attention seemed to be focused solely on him. Believing that it was preparing some kind of attack, which was actually not that far from the truth, she removed two more gems from her saddle bags and bucked them as hard as she could at Angela. Her aim was true, and they found purchase on the left side of her head and neck before Angela suddenly shot forward like a bullet, moving almost impossibly fast for something so large as she left streaks of red in her wake. But halfway through her trips the gems activated, and the resulting pain they caused promptly brought Angela crashing to the ground just out of reach of her target, which continued to gallop toward the trap meant for her.

Angela shrieked after him, trying desperately to ignore the discomfort. She attempted to hover the rest of the way, but the pain proved to be too much for her to concentrate. She could not stop to remove the gems or it would be too late for her to do anything. With no other options available to her, Angela began a frantic crawl on her hands and knees after him.

Just. . . a little. . . more, she thought as the distance between them gradually lessened, but she was not certain if she could reach him in time. The pony had almost reached the edge of the artificial clearing, and within seconds he would set off the trap. The pain in her head was also becoming almost too much for Angela to deal with, and she was having a massive amount of difficulty just thinking clearly. The only thought that was left was to get the stallion away from the clearing in whatever way possible.

Struggling through the discomfort caused by the gems, Angela propelled herself forward with all four of her arms, her claws leaving deep furrows in the ground. She had almost reached him when he crossed the tree line, and was halfway across the clearing when loud click sounded that brought him to a halt.

"What?" was all he could think to say before Angela shrieked, bringing his attention back to her. He yelped in fright as he watched her pounce at him, and he shut his eyes in anticipation of his death. But instead of claws ripping into his flesh the stallion found himself knocked away with the back edge of Angela's large claw, and was sent tumbling out of the clearing before landing a short distance past the trees, leaving Angela sitting alone in the center.

Another loud click sounded off, and before she could react, her senses were overloaded when a deafening boom thundered all around her, followed by the feeling of multiple heavy objects falling on top of her, and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Angela was in pain.

She was in pain, but she could not remember why or how, only that the sensation was eating away at her, blotting out all else until all that was left was the deep and primal desire to escape it.

She tried to run, to hide until the feeling passed, but it seemed that no matter what she did, Angela was forcibly subjected to an almost impossible amount of torment as the pain continued. It seemed to be coming from somewhere on her left, but other than that Angela could do little more than hope that it would eventually pass while she tried to remember what had happened to her.

Feeling dazed and confused while flitting between the realms of unconsciousness and sanity, Angela could only vaguely recall that she was in a forest of some kind. She had been attacked by something. Was that why she was in pain? No, that did not sound right. She was not certain why that was so, but it just seemed that was not the reason for her torment. So what was?

While tried to remember the details of her fragmented memory, Angela became aware of something. Something else besides the pain, besides the pounding in her skull. It offered a welcome distraction from the feeling, and although Angela could not exactly tell what it was, if she had to guess it was almost like. . . a voice?

Angela strained, trying to listen through her own frantic thoughts, and was able to determine that it was indeed a voice. At the moment it was too faint for her to make out, but it sounded powerful and full of authority, yet at the same time it was also soothing and comforting. It seemed to beckon to Angela, calling her to come toward it.

Unsure what else to do, Angela called to it, asking who or what it was. A faint whisper answered her, and Angela called out again.

Again, all that she got in reply was a distant series of unintelligible words that seemed to echo a little when they reached her, but she found herself feeling comforted by its mere presence. She was not sure why, but Angela just knew that it meant her no harm. In fact, Angela was able to make out that it wanted to help her.

It was calling to her, telling her to come closer. Angela was slightly hesitant, but found herself unable to resist the voices comforting pull. She tried to find its source, and in the process it felt as though the pain in her head was pushed aside until it was little more than a mild annoyance. And as she got closer she could discern a few words as the voice spoke to her, but they were still too faint for her to make out completely.

She had almost reached its source, and Angela could just barely see at the limit of her sight a dark misshapen form that seemed to waver slightly as though it were underwater, but grew in definition the closer she came to it.

Just then the pain returned, like a fly buzzing in her ear that refused to go away. Angela tried to ignore it and shut it out if her mind, but the feeling persisted. In fact it seemed to be growing beyond just being annoying to painful to excruciating in a few short seconds. It came to the point that the voice was starting to become blotted out. It called out frantically to her, pleading for her to focus on it. Angela desperately tried to do as it said, but the pain was only getting worse and worse. Eventually the voice disappeared entirely, leaving Angela alone in her torment, and all that she could do was wait and hope that it eventually went away.

And as she waited memories began to resurface, most of them unpleasant in one way or another. And suddenly she remembered what had happened to make her like this. She remembered that it was the pony and griffon that had hurt her, made her feel pain because they did not understand her intentions.

She was miserable because of her past, and they pursued her.

She had chosen to leave so that she would not pose a threat to them, and they attacked her.

She had saved one of them from a situation where even her survival was questionable, and they tried to kill her.

As Angela's memories flooded back into her mind, she was overcome with emotion, and she felt something in addition to the pain that continued to grow and fester until even her torment was blotted out. And she wanted to keep it that way. She never wanted to feel that kind of torment ever again, even if it meant losing control of herself for a little while. Just for a little while she told herself.

As Angela's fury grew to the point where even the agony in her head was nonexistent, she heard a voice in the back of her mind whispering to her. But it was not the same one from before, and its tone and pitch belonged to something that Angela was all but too familiar with.

I am you.

And you are mine.

Bon-Bon almost couldn't believe it when she saw the creature disappear in temporary flash of light. She was even more astonished when the large pine trees ringing the interior of the clearing fell inwards, directly on top of the beast, burying it under a mountain of wood and pine needles. And then everything was still, and a silence followed that seemed out of place after how hectic things just were.

"What did you put in there?" she questioned Gerald as he sat on his haunches, addressing his injured wing.

He shrugged nonchalantly and replied vaguely, "I got good deal from mare in Ponyville."

Bon-Bon raised an eyebrow at that little bit of information, but before she could press the griffon for details on who this mare was she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the young stallion was trotting towards them at a brisk pace, occasionally glancing at the mound of timber resting on the creatures back. For the moment it was motionless, but he did not seem to want to take any chances. Bon-Bon let him cover most of the distance between them before she began to trot towards him with a scowl on her face.

"Did you guys see that thing?" he exclaimed. "I really thought I was a gon-"

That was as far as he got before Bon-Bon whirled around and gave the stallion a swift kick to his chest. She had been kind enough to limit the power of her blow so that he was not injured, but it was still strong enough to leave him gasping for breath as he fell to the ground. After a few minutes of writhing on the forest floor he was eventually able to stand, and when he had regained enough of ability to breathe he demanded, "What in Tartarus was that for?!"

Bon-Bon answered by getting right up into his face and shouting at the top of her lungs, "That was for being a rutting idiot and doing exactly what I told you not to do! Did you not hear me when I said not to run, or are you just stupid?! I'm going to guess the former, because you ran anyway and that thing chase you. What's more, you almost got yourself killed by running straight into that trap that this imbecile behind me set."

"Oy!" Gerald exclaimed indignantly while crossing his forelimbs, but Bon-Bon chose to ignore him for the moment.

"I don't know who you are or why your even out here in the first place," Bon-Bon began to say to which the stallion raised a hoof and began to explain.

"My name's Harp, and I got separated from m-"

"Did I not just say that I don't care, you plot for brains!" Bon-Bon shouted. Deciding that she'd had enough of his stupidity from him for the moment she turned her attention back to the griffon. "And you!" she said, practically seething with anger. "I don't know where you got the idea in your head that you could hunt that thing. Did you not see what it could do? What it's capable of? That thing took out the bug bear, and you thought it was a good idea to hunt it?! I am appalled by your idiocy Gerald."

"Oy! There's no need for bad language Miss Drops," Gerald replied. "Plan worked, did it not?"

"Only after this plot head almost got himself killed by setting off your trap! Tell me Gerald, was that part of your plan?" Bon-Bon demanded.

At this point Harp decided to cut in on their conversation. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You two know each other?"

"But of course," Gerald answered, sounding happy to have something else to talk about besides how much trouble he was in with the mare. "Myself and Miss Drops were, how you say, colleagues back when we were in-"

"Shut your beak!" Bon-Bon shouted, losing patience with both of them at an alarming rate. She breathed through her nose, closed her eyes and said, "I've told you once. I've told you a thousand times. You are not to refer to me as "Miss Drops" any longer. My name is Bon-Bon."

"Um, hey guys?" Harp spoke up again, trying to get their attention. However he was ignored as the mare and Griffon continued to argue.

"Bah! Not as good as Sweetie Drops if you ask me. Name change is not necessary as long as you are quiet about it. Besides, nobody cares about agency anymore. They do not know it even existed, so what is problem?"

"The problem is loose beaks like yours blabbing sensitive information wherever you happen to park your plot you halfwit! The only reason why nopony knows is because of precautions, like name changes, to keep them from ever finding out that they are not as safe as they might think when they sleep at night."

"Guys?"

"Bah! Who cares about little details like that? Knowing never hurt anybody."

"I care! And how can you claim that any of your methods were quiet in anyway, shape or form? I could have heard your stupid stunts all the way from Canterlot! And what are you even doing out here in the first place? Is this really what you did with years of training? Become a poacher?"

"Oy! I am no poacher! I am legitimate business bird, and I have papers to prove it."

"Guys!" Harp shouted, making both pony and griffon finally turn their attention to him.

"What?!" they exclaimed, and Harp pointed with a hoof at what was making him so nervous. They looked, and their mouths fell open when they saw what he was trying to alert them to.

"Great Guto's ghost," Gerald muttered as they watched the creature, which they had thought to be dead, attempt to pull itself out from underneath its wooden prison. It snarled and hissed ferociously in agitation and rage, appearing to have suffered no more than a few bruises, and Bon-Bon got the distinct feeling that if they did not leave right now then they would be hard pressed to survive the night.

"We'll finish this later," she stated. She then turned to Gerald and asked, "Can you fly at all?"

Gerald shook his head. "No. I have been through worse, but I won't be flying anytime soon I am afraid."

Bon-Bon cursed under her breath. She glanced at the creature while it continued in its efforts to escape as trees began to fall away.

"We need to get going, right now," she stated, in which everypony was in agreement, and they all turned tail to run away. They had not made it more than ten feet before a different sound brought their attention back to it, and they glanced back to see that the creature skin almost seemed to be glowing in places, like its bones had suddenly turned a vibrant orange beneath its skin.

Then suddenly a loud and thunderous crack sounded off as the air around seemed to implode, and the trees that were keeping it down were practically disintegrated as they were thrown in all directions like twigs, with some of them flaming at the ends. The ponies and griffon rushed to take cover behind the trunks of trees that were standing as large splinters crashed all around them. Eventually the rain of debris ceased, and they cautiously poked their heads out to see what else was happening.

They looked on astonishment as they saw the monster hovering in place above a smoking crater of what was once its prison as it glared at them. Bon-Bon felt that, despite its lack of any actual eyes, it was quite expressive as it hissed at them.

Then something rather unexpected happened that caught all three of them off guard.

The monster let loose a shriek that filled the entire area with a sense of dread and impending doom before it suddenly began to convulse, thrashing violently all about with its multiple arms and tails spasming erratically.

"What's it doing?" Harp questioned as he looked on, confusion and fear evident in his voice.

"No clue," Gerald answered in a similar tone. "Maybe it's dying?" he then suggested.

Bon-Bon had no answer for either of them, and before she could even begin to come up with a theory she noticed that large tumor like growths had suddenly sprouted up all over the monsters flesh, and it almost seemed to be in pain when a foul looking black substance began to leak out of every pore, even its mouth, until its entire form was coated in the material. Bon-Bon felt that she was going to be sick herself as the creature continued to convulse under the veil of of black slime.

Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped, and everything became silent as death, like the calm before a particularly bad storm.

"I don't know about you two," Harp said, obviously wanting to be anywhere but here, "but I have a really bad feeling about this."

Bon-Bon wholeheartedly agreed with him, and was about to suggest that they beat a hasty retreat when the ichorous black mass began to rise up, and it fell to the side like a nausea inducing waterfall. The tips of the monsters spines poked out of the top, their darkened tips appearing dangerously sharp. Then suddenly, the monster emerged out of the substance like some sort of hideous butterfly, revealing that it changed a substantial amount. Its claws were larger and sharper, the spines were taller, its tails were longer, and its skin seemed to have gone from a pale gray to a deep ashen color. Overall, it appeared that it had grown to almost twice it original size in the span of a few seconds.

The creature exhaled, and its breath seemed to somehow echo in their ears before it raised its head to the sky, parted its jaws, a let loose a powerful shriek that evoked a feeling of dread and hopelessness in the ponies and griffon as it filled their hearts with terror.

As she looked on with a mixture of fright and confusion, Bon-Bon said the only thing that she could think of.

"Run."

Author's Notes:

Happy Halloween everypony! I hope you having a good time, going door to door, begging old geezers for sticks of gum and the occasional solitary tootsie roll, all while walking around in the freezing cold of night in the dark, just hoping that Fredbear doesn't find you when you go to sleep, hiding in your closet, watching you with his glitchy eyes, needle sharp teeth bared, just waiting until you're not looking so he and his friends can help you out of that pesky layer of skin and into a nice and damp animitronic suit.
They're such a nice bunch that way.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you will enjoy the next one just as much.

As always, alert me to any mistakes in the comments section.

Fury

"Everypony, please calm down!"

Mayor Quartz's voice was almost unheard in the frantic shouting and clamoring of the crowd in front of her. Standing on the stoop of her house, she had her hoof raised in an attempt to calm the ponies down.

It had been almost a half hour after Quartz had sent Roughshod out of her office, and she had been sitting at her desk pondering what she was going to do now that he was no longer allowed to guard the wall. It had been difficult decision for her to make, but it was one that she felt was necessary to ensure that nothing like it ever happened again. It had not so much been to punish Roughshod than to set an example to the other ponies the consequences of carelessness. It was not something that she particularly enjoyed doing, but Quartz felt that it was not an issue that she could just overlook.

To tell the truth, Quartz was actually doing Roughshod a favor. If the townsponies found out that one of their own had been left behind and there were no consequences for the ones responsible, they would not only turn on her, but Roughshod and the others as well. They would go easier on them if there was already a firm hoof dealing with the matter.

It didn't make the decision any less difficult to make though, and Quartz could already picture Rose Flare's face when she came in to demand that she rescind the order. That was not a conversation that she was looking forward to.

But all of that was pushed to the back of her mind as she attempted to calm the throng of ponies gathered before her as they demanded some sort of explanation for the sounds coming from the forest. The unnerving noises sounded far off yet, and Quartz hoped that they stayed that way. She already had enough to deal with.

Feeling swarmed by what seemed like half the population of Hollow Shades, Quartz's attention was dragged left and right as more and more ponies came to her for an answer to their questions.

"Miss Quartz! What's going on out there?!" a mare asked urgently.

"Is that monster coming here? What should we do ma'am?" a stallion questioned nervously.

"We need to call the princesses for help!" another mare declared in a frightened voice.

"Everypony, please," Quartz said, finally able to get a few words in edgewise, though she was only barely heard over the constant chattering. "I don't have an answer for what's going on right now, but rest assured that everything will be alright."

Her short speech little to ease the tension that had been steadily building ever since Roughshod came back with news of the bug bears death. It certainly did not help when a particularly loud shriek rang out in the night air, drowning out the clamoring of the ponies and making them fall into a tense silence as they collectively turned their heads to the town gates.

Even Quartz was unsure what to say as she felt the icy grip of fear clutch her heart. Then the unsettling quiet was broken by another shriek, this one sounding as though it was coming from something much larger, followed by the unmistakable sound of tree limbs snapping as the creature moved through the woods. And in that moment, Quartz had never been so afraid in her life.

All around her ponies began to fall into absolute panic as they rushed back to their homes, guiding curious fillies and colts that had come out to see the goings on back inside while insisting everything would be okay despite the obvious fear i their voices. Only a very few ponies stayed out to see if there was anything that could be done to protect their town, and Quartz thought she heard somepony ask where Roughshod was. Quartz tried to get everypony to calm down again, but found that her efforts were next to pointless as ponies continued to run about like chickens with their heads cut off.

It was then that she happened to catch sight of an familiar emerald unicorn mare galloping towards her, avoiding the ponies as she approached. Quartz was tempted to just fly over their heads to greet her but decided to just trot the rest of the way.

"Miss Star," Quartz called when she felt they were close enough to hear each other over the din. "I'm glad to see you. I find myself lacking of somepony sensible to talk to right now. Is Roughshod with you by any chance?"

Star shook her head in response before quickly saying, "No, he went home to make sure Rose was alright first. He said he'll meet up with us when he's done."

Quartz nodded, understanding Roughshod's reasons completely. She would have expected his wife's safety to come before anything else for him.

"Of course," she said with a nod of her head. "Now, is there something I can help you with? As you can see," she said while indicating the ponies fleeing to their homes with a sweeping gesture, "we seem to be in a bit of a crisis right now."

"That's actually what I'm here for ma'am," Star said in a grim sounding tone. "Roughshod sent me to speak with you while he's checking on Rose."

Quartz raised an eyebrow when Star said that, as it usually was not like the earth stallion to have others run any sort of errand for him. Although she supposed that given the circumstances she should have expected as much.

"Did he say what for?" she asked, and Star was about to respond when she was cut off by another unearthly screech. The sound seemed to reverberate across the landscape before fading, and the two mares waited with baited breath as a brief moment of silence followed. Then the noise resumed, and to everypony that heard it, it seemed that it was steadily getting closer, and the panic increased tenfold.

"Ma'am," Star said urgently, snapping Quartz out of her terrified trance. The mare started slightly at her voice before replying.

"Yes?" she asked in a worried tone. Quartz was trying and failing to conceal her building fear of the monster in the woods.

Sounding just as nervous, Star quickly said, "Roughshod wanted me to ask you if you still have that carriage of yours. The one that flies."

It took Quartz a moment to register what the unicorn was talking about before she remembered. Star was of course referring to her own private air carriage that she had for her personal use. She did not use very often due to her mayoral duties, and had been sitting in a barn collecting dust for weeks. It had been something of a prize when she was elected, but she personally never saw much use for it. So for Star to bring it up now threw her for a loop.

"Of course," she answered. "Why does Roughshod want to know?"

Star shrugged and said, "I don't know. Roughshod said he would explain later. But that's not the main reason why he sent me to find you."

Quartz motioned for Star to continued, and the unicorn obliged.

"He also wanted me to tell you that we need to organize ponies to defend the town. Get as many ponies on the wall and pegasi in the air with thunderclouds as possible. He thinks they might be able to at least drive off whatever's out there if it comes close to town."

It only took a moment for Quartz to ponder the proposal before she came to a decision. Giving a short nod she said, "Of course. That sounds like as good a plan as any. Can you help me round up ponies for it?"

Star nodded an affirmative before another shriek reached their ears, causing them flinch in response.

"I suggest that we hurry," Quartz stated. She then proceeded to fly up to a balcony on the second floor of her home before calling for everyponys attention as Star began going door to door. As Quartz called out in a loud voice and ponies began to reassemble before her, she wondered in the back of her mind if that mercenary she hired had anything to do with the situation out in the woods.

Gerald let out a squawk of surprise as another uprooted tree flew past them before it came crashing to the ground, its branches just barely missing them by a few inches. Bon-Bon was tempted to tease him about it, but at the moment she was preoccupied with the pounding of her heart as she galloped as fast as she possibly could to get away from the enraged monster as it pursued them.

It was thoroughly incensed as it tore apart the forest to get at them. Nothing stood in its way. Full grown trees were either shoved aside or uprooted completely. Heavy boulders were picked up and thrown either out of its path or at its quarry. The only reason it had not caught them yet was because the forest was dense enough that they were able to stay just ahead of it as it pursued them. But that would not last, as the ponies and griffon were starting to become wore out from their exertions while the creature only seemed to grow even more determined as it steadily gained on them.

Bon-Bon knew that if something did not change in the next few minutes then their tired legs would be the least of their concerns.

"Um, excuse me, but Miss Drops?" Harp called to her as he galloped beside her with imminent death only a few hundred feet behind them. "But is there some sort of plan you happen to have that I don't know about, or are we just screwed? Because I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

"Just keep running!" Bon-Bon shouted. "And my name's Bon-Bon!"

"Not the time for arguing!" Gerald called before all three had to take cover behind tree trunks to avoid being impaled by large splinters of wood when the creature caused another implosion. A great many trees had been cleared in the explosion, allowing it to gain quite a bit of ground on them. There was now reduced to a number of yards as they took off again, aiming for where the forest appeared to be thickest, hoping it would buy them some time.

"How is it doing that?!" Harp exclaimed when they resumed their flight.

"Don't know, don't care! Shut up and keep running!"

As she said that Bon-Bon risked a quick glance behind her, then immediately regretted it when she saw just how close the monster was as it steadily caught up to them with each passing second. It was temporarily preoccupied with clearing a path through the dense forest, but she guessed that they only had a few precious moments until it was upon them again, and then it would all be over. Bon-Bon was confident in her skills, but she found it to be highly unlikely that she would be able to hold it off for long when it eventually reached them. She needed to think of something, anything, that would help them live through the night.

Then suddenly, an idea popped into her head as she glanced around at their surroundings. She recognized this particular spot in the woods when she was scouting for the bug bear, and she knew its layout like the back of her hoof.

"Follow me." she commanded as she abruptly altered her course. Unsure what she was doing, both Harp and Gerald obeyed. They did not know what her plan was, but at the moment any plan was worth a try. The monster also changed its direction to pursue them, growing more and more violent in its efforts as it slashed and hacked at obstacles.

In the back of her mind Bon-Bon wondered what was making it behave like this. The sort of anger the creature was displaying went beyond simple hunger or defending territory. Before it was like it seemed disinterested in actually fighting them, like it was limiting itself, which had confused Bon-Bon a little when she fought it. Now though it seemed that its only goal was to kill them with extreme prejudice. They had done something to anger to the point of murderous rage, and she was lost as to what that was.

She didn't have much longer to ponder it however when she spotted a shaft of moonlight a short distance away, peeking in through the trees. Steering towards it, she soon came out into small field of tall grass. A dozen yards away, the land dropped off suddenly, and Bon-Bon recognized it as a steep cliff more than three hundred above a shallow river. She quickly ran to the edge just as Harp and Gerald exited the tree line with the creature mere seconds behind them.

"What are you doing?!" Harp demanded when he saw her standing at the edge. "Are you trying to get yourself killed!"

Bon-Bon turned her head to address them as they skidded to a stop beside her."No time to explain," she said. "Just do as I say and stay where you are."

"What?!" Gerald squawked, his voice barely rising above the creatures own angered screeches. "Miss Drops, I know what plan you have, and I trust you, but that is stupid plan! You will get us all killed!"

Without warning Bon-Bon turned on the griffon and struck him on his beak with a swift jab from her right forehoof. Gerald staggered backwards a few steps, clutching his beak in his talons.

"Ack! What was that for?!"

Bon-Bon spoke quickly, knowing they only had a few seconds before the creature reached. "If you want have a chance at surviving until morning then you're going to do as I say! That thing will catch us if all we do is run all night. We need to buy ourselves some time to get some distance between us and it. We just need to wait here for it."

"Are you crazy?! We'll be sitting ducks for that thing!" Harp exclaimed.

Before they could argue the point any further they were interrupted when the din of trees snapping in half like twigs drew their attention to the monstrous creature as it disposed of the final obstacle between it and its prey. Harp and Gerald looked like they were about to run again, until Bon-Bon put a stop to that by stepping on their tails.

"Not yet!" she hissed through clenched teeth. Reluctantly the two obeyed, and stayed right where they were as they waited for the monster to make a move. It hissed viciously at them with its mandible like jaws quivering as it crouched low to the ground, its fifty foot body curling up slightly like a snake poised to strike. It stuck its two meter claws into the ground, and Bon-Bon tensed up, getting herself ready. Beside her Harp and Gerald fidgeted nervously under the monsters supposed eyesight.

"Not yet," the mare said quietly, hoping there was a limit to how high it could float. Barely a second passed after she said that the creature pounced, propelling itself at them with its claws, its teeth and talons spread wide in anticipation of killing them.

"Now!" Bon-Bon shouted as she dove to the side with all haste. Harp and Gerald wasted no time to copy her movement as they did the same. The creatures body thudded onto the ground where they just were, its claws creating deep furrows in the soil. Its momentum carried it close to the edge of the cliff. Having virtually no time to recover, it skidded over the side. It tried to halt its fall by clawing at the ground, and Bon-Bon just barely avoided being skewered as it slid over the edge.

And just like that, it was gone, and Bon-Bon felt herself collapse onto her belly as exhaustion took hold of her. A short distance away Harp did the same while Gerald sat on his haunches with his head sagging to the ground, clearly not used to having to run instead of fly. All three of them were breathing heavily from their exertions, but they all felt a sense of relief now that the creature was no longer on their tails.

That sense of relief went straight out the window when they heard the creature shrieking, sounding like it had not fallen as far as they were hoping. Picking himself up, Gerald cautiously made his way towards the edge. He peered over, half expecting the creature to be right under his beak. As he peered over the cliff Bon-Bon heard him mutter in a defeated tone, "Oh, come on."

Knowing she would regret it, she hesitantly got up and trotted up to stand beside him, with Harp joining them. They all peered down, and were disheartened to see that the creature was swiftly climbing its way back up to them. It was hissing hissing and snarling at them as it scuttled up the vertical cliff like some sort of cross between a snake and a spider.

Out of the corner of her eye Bon-Bon noticed Gerald remove another flash grenade from his vest pocket before he dropped it directly on top of it. The object fell straight down onto its head before exploding, and for a moment the monster was hidden behind a cloud of dust.

"Did that work?" Harp asked nopony in particular as the dust began to clear. His question was answered when they saw that not only had it not worked, but the creature seemed to be angered even more by it, as it continued to pull itself up the cliff with all four arms at an increased rate. Gerald removed another grenade and was about to toss it before Bon-Bon smacked him upside the beak, causing him to drop it.

"Agh! What is with you and the hitting Miss Drops?" he demanded as he clutched his beak, still sore from the previous hit.

"Cut that out," she said. "You're only making it madder."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Bon-Bon pondered the question, knowing she only had at best a minute to come up with something before the creature had climbed the rest of the way up the cliff. Once that happened it would pretty much be all over for them. They were already so tired from just trying to stay ahead of it that she wasn't sure how much longer they could go on until it caught them, but she knew that they would never even get make it to Hollow Shades.

Just then she got another idea. It was desperate, but it was all she could come with that would at help at least some of them survive.

Feeling that she had little other choice, Bon-Bon turned to address them. "Alright, listen up. Here's what's going to happen: you two are going to go that way. . ." she said while motioning with her head to point South-West, "and back to Hollow Shades. You are not to stop for anything. I don't care what happens, just keep going until you reach town. Tell them what's going on."

"What are you talking about?" Harp asked, growing concerned at the way Bon-Bon was speaking. "You don't seriously expect us to just leave you alone with that thing?"

Adopting a stern expression, Bon-Bon said firmly, "That's exactly what I expect you to do. And here, take this with you." Bon-Bon reached into her left saddle bag and pulled out a dark glass bottle, gripping the neck of it between her teeth. Gerald took in his claws, eyeing it with recognition as Bon-Bon added, "You know what to do with it. Get a message to the Princesses, inform them of the situation."

"The princesses?" Harp exclaimed in surprise. "Just who are you two?"

"No time to explain, just go!" Bon-Bon ordered them. For a moment, neither pony nor griffon moved an inch, no doubt finding what she was requesting of them to be highly distasteful. Eventually Gerald stored the bottle in in a satchel and said to Bon-Bon in a strange tone that the former agent had only heard from him on the rarest of occasions, "I wish you good luck, Miss Drops."

That was all he said before he turned around and started moving swiftly back into the trees. Harp lingered for a moment, regarding her with a look of worry before he did the same. He paused to cast one last concerned glance at her before he disappeared into the woods as he followed the griffon, leaving Bon-Bon alone by herself.

Hearing the creature draw closer she quickly galloped away just as the monsters enormous dagger like claws impaled themselves into the soil, and it hoisted itself back onto level ground. Bon-Bon lingered just long enough to allow it to spot her before she took off, hopefully ensuring that it would follow her and not the others. The monster shrieked loudly and began the chase anew. Getting her second wind, Bon-Bon galloped as hard and as fast as she could through the trees, wondering if she would even be able to stay ahead of it for more than a few minutes.

In the back of her mind, Bon-Bon also found herself regretting not giving another instruction to Gerald.

Lyra was certainly going to be missing her after all.

Author's Notes:

Oh boy, things are not looking good for either protagonist or pony.
What will become of Bon-Bon? Will Angela regain her sanity? Will Gerald and Harp be able to get a message to the princesses? Will I stop asking questions that I already know the answer to?
Stay tuned and find out in the next chapter.

And because I don't say this nearly enough, alert me to any errors in the comments section below.

Mercy

Everything seemed to pass by at high speed to Angela as she chased the little pony through the forest. Her thoughts were clouded, and a throbbing headache that refused to go away pounded on her skull from the inside.

But she did not care about that right now. Angela did not care how much pain she was in. She did not stop to address the scrapes and bruises she had accumulated during her chase. Her skin itched and burned like fire, and in the back of her manic mind she guessed that it was result of her wraith body having not been put through the process of performing any sort of attack before. The two warp blasts that she used had put a ton of stress onto her already unsound mind, and all Angela could think about was getting at the ones that had hurt her so.

She could just see the little pony running ahead of her, ducking and jumping over fallen trees with a surprising amount of acrobatic skill for a pony. Angela did not care though.

She did not care anymore that she was being consumed by her instincts.

She did not care that the reason she was in pain was born of a misunderstanding.

She did not care that the little pony was now running for her life from the monster that Angela had allowed herself to be.

She. Did. Not. Care.

The ponies and their allies had hurt her. They were the ones who could not leave well enough alone. They were the ones that mistook her for a monster and refused to see that she was anything but.

How dare they attack her!

How dare they try to kill her for the crime of existing!

Angela was now confident of only one thing anymore. There was only one course of action she could take. If the inhabitants of this realm were going to be so dead set on making sure that she was never going to be able to rest without the threat of being killed, either by traps or some other eldritch method of theirs, then she would give them a reason to never come near her ever again.

All she had to do was catch the little pony.

Bon-Bon was running and galloping for all she was worth through the forest, a feat that went unaided by the rough and uneven ground. She had to actively avoid rocks that jutted out of the ground and leap over logs that had fallen in her path. Yet, despite the adverse terrain, the mare kept going, knowing that if she slowed down for even a second she would never be able to regain the ground that she lost.

And yet, in spite of her exertions, the monstrosity was easily keeping up with her, and was actually steadily gaining on the mare, despite her wisdom in choosing the thickest parts of the woods to go through. At the rate it was going, Bon-Bon guessed that she only had another minute or so before it was upon her. So she kept going, trying desperately to ignore how her legs begged for her to stop, how her lungs burned like fire and begged for her to stop and rest.

But Bon-Bon refused to give to the demands of her flesh, and she never once stopped or slowed down for even a second, knowing that doing so would result in her evisceration. The most she did other than run was cast quick glances behind her to check how close it was to catching her, and each time her heart sank a little more to see that the creature was coming ever closer to her by the second, and Bon-Bon found herself doing something she had rarely ever done, even in the safety of her own home.

Bon-Bon started to cry as she ran. It began a few quiet sobs that gradually grew into a full blown breakdown as she realized that the prospect of escaping was a hopeless one. She had been through so much in her life, had faced down adversaries, both magical and ordinary, and each time she had survived the worst of the situation through her sheer determination and resolve. Each time she had survived.

But Bon-Bon knew in the bottom of her heart that there would be no escape this time. There would be no close call to brag about to her teammates. Stubbornness would not save her on this venture. This monster was going to catch her. And it was going to kill her. She would not be coming home at the end of the day. She would not wake up to the early morning sounds of Ponyville.

She would never see Lyra again.

This realization only made Bon-Bon cry harder and push herself beyond her limits so that she could see the next sunrise, so that she could see Lyra one last time.

It was not to be however, as the monster had apparently decided to cut the chase short and use its daggaerclaws to launch itself ahead of her. It landed in Bon-Bon's path with a thud before it whirled on her, its form moving like some sort of airborne serpent as it darted towards her. The mare skidded to a halt and tried to run to the side. But she was too slow however, and her aching muscles betrayed her as she felt the creatures talons close in around her, pinning her to the ground on her back. She desperately pushed against its massive hand with all of the strength she could muster, but it did absolutely nothing to aid her.

A hiss cut off her attempts, and Bon-Bon's attention was pulled to the monster as it hovered above her, its jaws mere inches from her face as it stared at her with its eyeless gaze, and its hot breath tousled her dual colored mane. Words could not describe the terror she felt under its hateful glare. And she noticed something odd as it glared at her.

On the side of its head and neck she noticed two red spots on its skin, like sores or scabs that had not healed quite right. Bon-Bon then realized that the sores were the gems that she had bucked at it. They had been grown over when the creature underwent its transformation, and Bon-Bon instantly knew that they were factors in the creatures rage towards them. They were why it was so persistent in getting revenge. It must have been in an almost unimaginable amount of discomfort from the gems. Bon-Bon herself had once been on the receiving end of one during her training days, so she knew what they felt like just being on her skin. She could not even begin to imagine the kind of torment it must be going through right now, and Bon-Bon began to realize that she was partially responsible for this mess.

She did not have much longer to ponder her role however as she saw the creature raise both of its long blade like appendages. Again Bon-Bon struggled to get free. It was no use however, and Bon-Bon felt her tears return to her eyes.

"No. . . please no," she pleaded quietly as she clenched her eyes, not wanting to see her own death.

And then, something rather unexpected happened.

She did not feel the sensation of huge claws digging into her flesh. She did not feel the monsters jaws ripping her apart.

Instead what Bon-Bon felt was the pressure of the creatures palm on her chest disappear entirely. She risked opening her eyes just the slightest bit. And what she saw took her off guard. The monster was just hovering there above her, its sixty foot length hanging almost motionless in the air. It was still looking at her, although Bon-Bon could not tell what its intentions were. Even though she was no longer being held down, she still felt pinned underneath its gaze, and Bon-Bon was not sure what she should do now.

Should she run? She was hesitant to do so, as it might just be toying with her like a cat would a mouse; giving her the false hope of freedom before pouncing on her again.

Before she could make a decision on what to do, the creature began to move backwards away from her, though it seemed to keep its attention on her the entire time. Unsure what else to do Bon-Bon cautiously got to her hooves, never once taking her eyes off of it. For a few seconds nothing happened, and Bon-Bon's mind was struggling to process what the creature was doing.

By all rights she should be dead right now. She should have been ripped to pieces by the monster. It should have killed her, if not for food then at least out of revenge or defense of territory.

So why did it not? Why was she still alive?

What was this thing?

For the longest time she considered doing something that an experienced agent would never, ever do under any circumstances, normal or otherwise. Something that would have had her immediately expelled from the disbanded agency faster than she could blink, providing she even survived the mistake.

Going against all of her instincts and all of her years of advanced training, Bon-Bon slowly and cautiously began to approach the creature. And to her surprise it actually moved away from her, and she noticed that it was shaking quite a bit, like it was cold. She paused briefly in confusion before resuming her advance. She raised a hoof towards it and said quietly in a soothing tone, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you anymore." But when she was less then ten from the creature it suddenly lunged, snapping its jaws at her. Bon-Bon jumped backward, prepared to run. To her continued confusion however the creature did not pursue in its attack, and Bon-Bon realized that it currently had no intention of going after her.

Not yet anyway.

For a moment nothing else happened afterward, until the creature suddenly hissed loudly as it seemed to recoil in pain, and Bon-Bon noticed how the sores on its head appeared to glow ever so slightly. She immediately felt a certain amount of empathy for it. There was no doubt in her mind that the gems were causing it a severe amount of pain.

Bon-Bon was at a loss at what to do now as the creature began to thrash around. She felt that she should do something to help it somehow, but in the state it was currently in there was no telling how it might react. If she tried to remove the gems by herself chances were that she would only make things worse for it, and by extension, herself. And of course Bon-Bon was actually somewhat hesitant to do anything, seeing as how it had attacked her and Gerald.

But, looking back, Bon-Bon remembered that until the griffon had provoked it with his traps it had not actually done anything to hurt anypony. All the times it lashed out at them was caused by their own errors.

She thought back to when it was chasing Harp. Why would it have done that? It obviously already knew that the trap was there, as it had refused to cave in to Gerald's goading. But when Harp ran into the trap the creature had intentionally put itself in danger to. . .

Bon-Bon gasped when she realized just how serious an error she had made. This creature was no monster. It was not some some mindless beast. It was intelligent.

She glanced back in the direction she had come from as she thought about the the glass bottle she had given to Gerald, and the instructions she told him to follow. Dread and regret filled her heart when she realized what would happen because of her mistake.

She glanced briefly at the creature before slowly backing away from it. It did absolutely nothing to pursue her. In fact, it seemed to have forgotten about her entirely as it hissed again from the pain caused by the gems, and it began scratching and clawing at the affected areas. Bon-Bon felt a pang of guilt at the situation she had put it in, and her eyes softened as she looked at it.

When she felt that she far enough to start moving without provoking it to start chasing her again, Bon-Bon turned around, and started galloping for Hollow Shades as quickly as her tired hooves could carry her, determined to fix her mistake.

Mayor Quartz surveyed the scene going on above her, and she found herself nodding her head in approval.

I had taken some time for her and Star Mix to gather enough ponies that would would make an adequate defense of their town, as many had been holed up in their homes and unwilling to come out for any reason. It had actually took some convincing on Roughshod's part, who had returned after checking on his wife, to get them to come out. Quartz envied him in that regard, the way he was able to get ponies to see his way of things, and thanks to him there were now over two dozen pegasi were in the air with thunderclouds, and multiple ponies on the wall. Most of them were unicorns with some knowledge in a few self defense spells that might come in handy, but there was also a fair amount of earth ponies that Quartz knew could embed a stone into a tree at almost any range with a strong buck.

It seemed that the entire town was now dedicated to the defense their home, and Quartz could not help but feel a sense of pride in her fellow ponies. Out of the corner of her eye the mayor noticed that Roughshod was trotting up towards her. A smile gracing her features, she turned to speak with the stallion when he was close enough to hear her.

"Ah, Roughshod," she said. "I can't thank you enough for all of your help." Quartz's words brought a slight grin to his muzzle as he accepted her praise.

"Thank you ma'am," he replied. "I'm just doing what I can to help." Roughshod's smile fell when he added, "And to make up for my mistake."

Quartz felt her own pleased expression disappear when she heard that, and a deep sigh escaped from her nostrils. Of course there was still the matter of Harp's disappearance to take into account, and it was not something that she just overlook, even now. Still, she felt guilty for making him feel like this when there were other matters to be taken care of.

Quartz glanced over at all of the ponies on the wall and in the air, each one keeping a vigilant eye out for anything out of the ordinary. The sounds of the forest being torn apart had long since fallen into silence, which was a relief to everypony, but nopony seemed willing to take the chance of letting their guard down, even for a second.

Turning back to Roughshod, Quartz sighed deeply and said, "Roughshod. . . you and I both know that what happened out there is something that can never be atoned for. If what you have said is true and there is a monster even worse than the bug bear, then I can only hope that he makes it through the night." Roughshods eyes went down to the cobblestone street beneath his hooves, and his ears laid flat against his head.

"But in addition I know it was not entirely your fault Roughshod," Quartz added. In response the stallions eyebrows rose in mild surprise at her words. "And I think that I might be willing to shorten the duration of your punishment so that you and the others can be back on the wall by the end of the week."

At this Roughshod hung slightly open in shock at her statement, and the grin from earlier returned to his face as he said, "Thank you ma'am. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Quartz simply nodded in acknowledgment of his gratitude and continued to survey the ponies as they milled about. A moment of silence passed between them, after which Roughshod cleared his throat to speak. Quartz felt her ear twitch at the sound and she looked at him again.

"Yes Roughshod?" she said expectantly as she waited for him to say what was on his mind.

Clearing his throat again he began to say, "Ma'am? Did Star Mix tell you about my other request from before?"

Quartz had to review her memory for a moment to recall what he was talking about. "Do you mean about the carriage I have?" she ventured, to which Roughshod nodded.

"I was actually wondering if you would be willing to part with it for a little while." he said hesitantly, as though he was afraid that the mare would hit him over the head for even asking such a thing.

"Whatever for?" Quartz asked, genuinely confused by the request. To her knowledge Roughshod was not the type of pony to be interested in fancy carriages, especially those with flying spells cast onto them. She also knew that usually when there was something he wanted, he worked his tail off to get it rather than ask somepony outright for it. So to hear the stallion asking for her to lend the carriage to him threw her for a loop.

"Well, as you probably already know, I care for Rose very much," Roughshod began to explain, apparently finding difficulty in speaking all of a sudden. Quartz only nodded as he continued. "I would do anything to keep her safe, no matter what. So. . . the reason why I am asking is because I want to send her some place where she will be safe until the situation is resolved."

Quartz almost did a double take when Roughshod finished explaining. It was not the fact that he wanted to send Rose Flare away from Hollow Shades that confused her, but that he was willing to let her out of his sight at all. Quartz had known the stallion for years, so the fact that he was even considering such a thing was a shock to her.

"What did Rose have to say about it?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Just then Quartz noticed Roughshod flinch slightly when she asked the question. Narrowing her eyes she questioned, "You didn't tell her yet did you."

"No, I did," Roughshod replied quickly. "She uh. . . just didn't take it very well."

"Ohhh," Quartz said in understanding, knowing all too well how stubborn her foalhood friend could be at times, and her pregnancy had probably done little to help. She imagined that Rose Flare must have been on the verge of a complete mental panic when Roughshod told her his plan. She probably thought that she was never going to see him again.

"And. . . ? What else happened?" Quartz asked, aware that she was treading on difficult ground. Just as Roughshod was about to answer however he was interrupted by shouting coming from the ponies on the wall. Alarmed, the two ponies forgot their conversation for the time being and began rushing to see what was going on, thoughts of the creature attacking their town filling their minds. When they arrived Quartz raised her voice to be heard over the shouting.

"What's going on?" she demanded. A earth pony mare looked leaned over the railing to reply.

"There's a pony and a griffon coming out of the woods! They want us to let them in!"

Quartz's eyes widened slightly when the mare mentioned there was a griffon, and she already suspected she knew his identity. Before she could dwell on it Roughshod shouted, "Well, don't just stand there! Let them in!"

Before long the gates were opened just enough to allow the two entry, and when everypony saw who one of them was they all felt a sense of relief.

"Harp!" Roughshod exclaimed, feeling a burden that had been weighing down his shoulders immediately disappear as he rushed to the young stallion. Both he and Quartz could tell that he had been through some serious action in the last few hours since they had lost him. He was virtually covered in dirt, mud, pine needles and everything else the woods had to offer, and looked like he would have appreciated a good long bath.

"Hey Roughshod!" Harp called back, a relieved visible grin on his blue muzzle even from a distance. "Boy am I glad to see you. You are not going to believe what happened out there!"

Author's Notes:

And here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, because I sure as sugar am enjoying writing this story!
On that note, I just wanted to let you all know that I am going to be taking a break from Hollow Shades for a little to recharge the creative juices and work on my other stories, Disease of the Soul, and Disharmonious Synchronization. Feel free to check those out and give me your opinion on them.
Rest assured though, I will be getting back to this story as soon as I can, and hope that you all enjoy what I have planned.

And now for a quick poll. If you find yourself listening to music as you write, what kind you prefer. I found myself listening to a lot of Skillet and Evanescence while I was writing this. What kind of music gets you in the writing mood?

And as always, alert me to any errors in the comments section below.

Dispute

The nocturnal sounds of the forest rang out as various creatures of the night milled about, looking for food in the gloom. A family of possums scurried over a stream, using a fallen tree as a bridge to cross the stream of running water. Above in the trees, multiple owls hooted and called out to each other as their sharp eyes scanned the ground for any signs of mice. Then suddenly, the woods fell utterly silent as though a sound dampening spell had been cast around the area. The family of possums hurried to the safety of their den and the owls stopped their hooting. Every creature of the forest fell into a tense silence as they detected the presence of something coming their way.

Before long, the thing that had made the become as quiet as death arrived, panting and breathing heavily while it scratched at its neck with the blunt edges of its talons.

Angela was having a very hard time concentrating at the moment, as needles of pain shot through her head and neck like railroad spikes. It was mind numbing in all but the most literal sense of the term, and all that the wraith could do to alleviate it in any way was to continue clawing and scraping at the areas in the hope that she would eventually neutralize whatever was causing her such discomfort. With how much Angela was going through she could not even form a coherent thought anymore, and all that she was left with was her emotions and impressions. Those mostly consisted of anxiety, fear, anger. . . and disappointment.

As Angela continued to scratch, feeling her rough skin start to become raw as a result, Angela's muddled thoughts turned back to that pony. That very same pony that Angela had first seen since she had woken up in this place. The very same pony that had misunderstood Angela's intentions and fought against her. The very same pony that Angela had almost killed in cold blooded anger and hatred.

Even in the state she was in, Angela could still even now picture very clearly the fear on the pony's face as Angela chased after her. The image of the mare pinned under her claws was vivid in her mind, as was the intention behind it. When Angela realized what she was doing just in the nick of time, she was both horrified and angry at the same time. She was angry with the pony of course for pushing her so far, but mostly she was angry at herself for letting her instincts get the better of her.

Every moment was now horrifyingly clear in her memories of when she almost killed the pony.

The terrible satisfaction of her prey being pinned under her claws.

The feeling of her blade like arms rising upward in preparation to end her life.

And the sound of the pony's terrified crying as she clenched her eyes shut and whimpered just loud enough for Angela to hear, "No. . . please no. . ."

When Angela heard the pony's soft words, something happened inside of her that immediately made her realize just what she was about to do. They reminded her very much of another incident that happened not very long ago, when Angela first awoke and was confronted by the bug bear. The only difference then was that Angela was able to defend herself from the monster. But for the pony, there was nothing to defend her against the monster that Angela had allowed herself to become.

The former human was ashamed. So ashamed that she had let herself fall into her base desires and urges. So ashamed that she had all but proven the pony right in the claim that she was nothing but a monster. All because she couldn't take a little pain.

Okay so was not just a little pain. When it feels like hot needles are being driven into the side of your head and neck without pause, then perhaps it is a little understandable that she reacted the way she did. Still, in Angela's mind it did little to justify almost killing over it. And after she was already so distraught from the resurfacing memories of her previous life, Angela only felt all the more ashamed of her behavior.

That just left the question of what she was going to do now. She briefly considered staying here, and hope that she had at least scared the ponies enough to finally leave her alone for their own safety, but decided against that. She was simply too much of a risk if there was a town nearby. She could still leave, but now since she had let the pony go it was almost assured that she would be pursued.

Angela simply did not know what to do, and the pain was certainly doing nothing to help matters, as she continued to scratch at the offending area. When that did not seem to work she resorted to rubbing against the trunk of a tree. This did little more than peel off the outer layer of bark, creating a wound in the tree that bled sap, and cause Angela's skin to become even more agitated. Eventually the pushing and shoving caused the tree to topple over, leaving Angela with nothing left but the hope that sleep would take her muddled thoughts away from it and allow her thoughts to clear enough to where sh could decide on what to do.

Deciding that this option was preferable to causing herself even more harm, Angela curled up around herself like snake would, and tried to focus on something, anything other than her discomfort. But every time she attempted to dull her senses to fall asleep the pain would flare up again, keeping her from her rest.

Angela hissed and snarled, this time out of anger and frustration that she could not even get a nights rest anymore. Eventually she became so frustrated to the point she lashed out at the nearest object with her blade like talons. The sound of something splintering and snapping quickly followed, and Angela did not even care that she had felled a fully grown pine twice as tall as she was in her anger.

Angela knew she needed to distract herself somehow, and it was not going to come from sleep, but nor did she want to resort to taking out her frustrations on the local flora.

Heaving her sinewy form back into the air, Angela hoped that wandering little through the forest would help take her mind off of her frustration and discomfort, and maybe even allow whatever was bothering her to go away, or at the very least fade enough for her to get a good night of sleep.

For what felt like hours Angela wandered around without direction, only paying enough attention to avoid crashing into anything. After a little while she happened to notice that the sun was finally rising in the distance. The light allowed Angela to see with a bit more clarity where she was.

She had wandered into a bog or swamp of some kind, with a vaporous cloud of white mist hanging just above the surface of the shallow pools, some of them a hundred feet across. Before Angela could contemplate her location further she felt another spike of pain assault her senses, causing her to emit a low keen as she clutched her head with her arms as she waited for it to pass.

Her sounds of distress carried out across the bog, and Angela did not notice that something had reacted to them.

A hundred yards away the water began to ripple as something unseen moved underneath its surface, closer and closer to Angela's location. When the discomfort finally ebbed away into a dull and throbbing ache, Angela breathed heavily in raspy breaths. It was then that she at last noticed what was going on. She peered at the ripples in the water warily as they continued to draw ever closer. Unsure what else to do Angela let out a violent hiss that rang out in the bog, an otherworldly sound that shook the very air.

The ripples ceased as whatever was hiding under the water stopped, apparently reconsidering its next action. For a long time nothing happened, and Angela contemplated just leaving when something very big, perhaps even larger than her, started to rise up out of the murk. It had a huge hulking body with greenish brown scales. Two trunk like legs sprouted from the sides, and four heads reminiscent of vipers rose up above her, supported by long serpentine necks that were connected at their base. Each head eyed her suspiciously, obviously having never seen anything like her before.

With an emotion somewhat similar to the feeling of oh come on, Angela hissed as she cautiously backed away from the hydra. In response the hydra's heads snarled at her in a sound not too dissimilar from her own as it hauled its bulky form out of the muddy water.

Deciding that she was not going to deal with this Angela turned to leave, keeping the hydra in her sight as she moved away. The moment she was far enough away where she felt it was okay to do so Angela turned away from it fully. No sooner had she done this however than did she feel one of the heads bite down on one of her tails. Angela snarled in surprise and anger as its fangs sank into her. Reacted on impulse Angela used her claws as a bludgeon as she gave the creature a swift hit on the head that bit her.

The action had the desired effect, and the head promptly released her tail before it could be struck again. Hissing in agitation the head shook itself while the other three looked at her with something resembling anger. The creature was no doubt unhappy with her fighting back, but Angela could not have cared less. She already had enough problems on her plate, she did not need this thing causing more of them.

She tried to leave again, only to feel another head bite on her tails. This one however let go before she could "persuade" it to leave her alone. Angered, Angela whirled around and snarled ferociously at her adversary, understanding now that the hydra ad, in the confines of its skulls, mistaken her for prey, and had no intention of just letting her leave.

Angela could have just dashed away and be done with the whole situation, but something kept her rooted to the spot. Something inside her was somehow making even the thought of retreating nigh unthinkable.

For a few brief moments the two mighty creatures stood off against each other, the silence broken by the occasional quiet hiss. The hydra's four heads were reared back, like snakes preparing to strike. Angela crouched down with her hands on the ground and her claws raised, while the spines on her back stood straight up as they bristled in anticipation.

Then, like a storm breaking from behind the clouds, Angela lunged, her multi-ton body flying threw the air as she shrieked. Her claws were extended fully as she prepared to tear into her adversary.

The heads of the hydra reacted just as quickly, and they wrapped their jaws around Angela's limbs and tails just as the wraith plowed into the monstrosity, hacking and slashing at the beast with almost wild abandon. The hydra was having an extremely difficult time trying to keep Angela still with how much she was thrashing around, and just when it seemed it had her the wraith dashed away to a safe distance.

Angela circled around the hydra, hoping to find a spot where she could do more damage to it. Her previous attack had bloodied it severely, but it was not going to be enough to put it out of action. Its thick scales limited the effect her claws had on it. She needed to find some sort of weak point, but its heads were doing a good job of keeping track of her every movement, and she could find no opening. The beast moved with a surprising amount of speed in the water as it kept itself facing Angela, not once letting her leave its sight.

Then suddenly the hydra lunged at her with two of its heads, but Angela quickly avoided the attack with a dash to the side. She then proceeded to ponce on the hydra's back, where she began to impale it repeatedly with her talons. The hydra in response started thrashing around violently in a desperate bid to get her off, and its heads snapped at her as they attempted to get their jaws around her limbs.

One of the got lucky and sunk its fangs into the upper portion of her right mantis like arm. With no small amount of effort it pulled Angela off, taking a few chunks of flesh in the process. The head did not let go however, and the remaining three quickly latched on to her on various parts of her limbs and tails. With her remaining free hand Angela swiped at the nearest head. The hydra ignored the injuries it was receiving and swung her into a nearby tree, dazing her momentarily.

Angela was not going to stand for this. Reaching as far as she could, she succeeded in wrapping her mandible like jaws around one of the creatures necks. Her teeth easily pierced the creatures scales and slipped into its flesh, filling her mouth with hot blood that tasted of copper. The smell and taste of it ignited her senses, prompting her to squeeze harder and harder. The head thrashed violently, even going so far as to release her as it tried to free itself. Angela would not let it go however, and with a twist of her head she was met with the sound of the neck snapping.

The pain of the injury carried over to the remaining three heads of the hydra, and they all screeched and roared as the fourth head hung limp in the water, and they released her. They recovered quickly however, and they lunged at her again as the main body barreled towards her. Angela did not meet it full on this time. She was strong, but the hydra must have outweighed her by at least a few metric tons, and she was not going to allow it to crush her under its girth. She looped around, almost too quick for its head to keep track of, and attacked it from the side.

It was just then however, that Angela felt another stab of pain shoot through her head, and she faltered in her assault as she clutched herself in agony. The hydra noticed its opponents hesitation, and wasted no time as each one of its heads bit onto various points of her spine, and the pain in her head was forgotten as their jaws squeezed. Reacting quickly Angela hooked her blade arm over the neck of the one attached to the base of her skull and pry it off. It was in vain however, as the head remained firmly latched on.

The situation was only made worse when the hydra used all of its strength to push her under the water, trying to drown her. Angela thrashed around more violently then ever, but no matter what the hydra refused to let go. She had intruded on its territory and severely injured it as well. She was a threat that needed to be dealt with.

The thrashing continued for several moments until, suddenly and inexplicably, Angela stopped. This confused the hydra somewhat, but it still kept its jaws around the wraith. It was forced to let go however when a massive shock wave ripped through the water, creating a cloud of mist as it was practically vaporized. The hydra felt its jaws be forced to open to lengths they were not meant to from the implosion. Massive pain shot through its broken jaw bones as it glanced all around for any sign of its adversary.

No territorial dispute was worth this much trouble, and the hydra suddenly began to feel something it had not felt since it was but a one headed hatchling. For the first time in a hundred years the hydra was afraid as its three remaining heads, each one dazed and confused by the implosion, looked for any sign of the other creature. The mist however obstructed its vision, but every few seconds it caught fleeting glimpses of the wraiths form as it prowled around the edge of its vision before disappearing again. The hydra backed away, knowing that it lost this fight, hoping it could swim to safety and heal from its injuries.

It was not to be however, as it witnessed the nightmarish creature come flying out of the mist. And something was different about it it too. Its skin seemed to shimmer and glow with fiery white light, and it moved with an astonishing amount of speed that no other creature could match, much less the hydra. Its claws moved at blinding speed, so fast the movements could not be tracked as they struck the hydra again and again and again.

The hydra simply could not hold up against the onslaught as its heads were repeatedly struck, and its body practically gushed blood as it was pierced. It knew it had no chance of victory now as injured as it was. If it could just get away it might be able to eventually recover, but not without sustaining lasting harm.

With one more powerful swing of her claws, Angela bludgeoned the hydra's left most head, sending the beast crashing into the murk with a splash of red stained water. The hydra wheezed and moaned from its injuries as it made a feeble attempt to right itself. Its attempts were halted when the wraith planted itself over it, holding it down with her claws.

Angela snarled at her beaten foe, feeling an immense amount of satisfaction at being victorious. But at the same, she regretted that she had made the hydra suffer as much as much as it did. Was it really necessary to go so far just to get it to leave her alone? After all, it was only acting on its instincts. She was the one had intruded on its territory. It may have struck the first blow, but did Angela have to reciprocate with blows of her own, when she could have just as easily left? She could have left the hydra in the dust if she wanted. It had even started retreating away from her, but instead of letting get away, Angela had once again allowed her instincts to dictate her actions

It was just like the situation with the pony from earlier.

Angela's muddled thoughts were interrupted when the hydra moved ever so slightly under her talons, each head gasping for breath. They wheezed and moaned as its life slipped away from it in great pools of red.

As she looked at it holding on desperately to the last bits of consciousness, Angela felt her instincts calling her finish it off, to tear off its heads and feed on its remains.

Angela did no such thing.

Gently picking herself up off of the shuddering body of the hydra, Angela silently floated over to its three remaining heads. They watched her with hazy yellow eyes, and they widened in fear as she approached and their breathing became more rapid. Its widened even more when, instead of piercing its flesh as it probably expected, Angela instead gently began to stroke them. The hydra continued to eye her warily, but Angela felt at least some satisfaction to see that it had calmed down enough.

The pain in her head was inconsequential now. All that mattered to her at the moment was to comfort the hydra in its last minutes of life.

Finally, after one last labored breath, the hydra's eyes closed forever, and the rising sun bore witness to Angela's joyless victory.

Author's Notes:

Because what's a story with giant monsters if there isn't at least one monster fight, right? I suppose there was the scuffle with the lupis-minors, but that felt a little short in my opinion, so I decided to channel some of that into this chapter.
I actually drew a lot of inspiration for the hydra fight from the scene in Jurassic World where the T-rex takes on the Indominous. The movie was actually playing right in the next room as I was typing this up, so it was easy to channel my inner monster-fight lover.
Now, I realize some of you were probably hoping to see what became of Bon-Bon, and what Gerald did with the bottle she gave him, but I've been kinda itching to write a chapter like this for a little while now, so I figured I might as well get it out of my system while also giving a little insight to Angela's thoughts. I hope you all enjoyed it.

As always, alert me to any mistakes in the comments section.

Scribbles

"So let me see if I've got this straight," Quartz said as she rested her hooves against each other on her polished desk, looking at the ponies and griffon gathered before her with concealed worry in her eyes and an air of disbelief in her voice. "Your telling me that this "monster" is some sort of deformed dragon? You were attacked, and then you were saved by some sort of ninja mare? Because that's what it sounds like your trying say."

To be completely honest Quartz was not entirely sure if either Harp or Gerald were entirely in their right minds when they described the creature that had attacked them. They were both worn out and exhausted when they had arrived at Hollow Shades gates, and the griffon had even been injured with a wing that looked bent at an awkward angle. The injury was one that Quartz could sympathize with, as she had once broken her wings when she was a little older than the average filly. She remembered how painful it had been, and wondered if Gerald was just putting on a show until it cold be addressed. She had tried to convince him to go see a doctor, but he had insisted that he and Harp speak with her first.

When he had finished his tale, with Harp offering the occasional comment, Quartz felt inclined to believe that perhaps they had imagined some of their ordeal. That was not to say however that she thought that they were outright making their story up; it was obvious that something had happened to them out there. She was simply under the impression that perhaps given the danger they were in, their subconscious minds had overblown the monster they had seen to impossible proportions. To hear them talk about how fearsome the creature supposedly was Quartz would have thought that they had been attacked by Tirek himself. She honestly did not know what part of their story to believe. Especially the part where this "Miss Drops" as Gerald called came in a saved them.

To her it almost sounded more like the plot line for a campy horror movie.

"That is correct ma'am," Gerald replied, his thick accent causing Quartz's ears to lay back against her head. "It is a dangerous beast, a monster unlike any other. The only reason we are here now is because of Miss Drops."

"And where is this Miss Drops now?" Quartz questioned. "No one on the wall saw another pony with you. It was just you two."

At this, both Gerald's and Harp's faces fell slightly, and Quartz noticed that there was a look in their eyes that the mare knew meant something bad. Harp turned away, seemingly unable to look her in the eye. The griffon next to him was the only one able to speak.

"Miss Drops. . . she. . ." he said, a slight stutter in his voice. Taking a steadying breath he finally said, "The beast was too strong for mere traps to take down. Miss Drops saw that the only way to let us live was to draw it away on her own."

Quartz was not quite sure what to say to that. If she was being honest with herself she actually doubted the existence of Miss Drops. She knew of nopony that was able to do the things Gerald claimed, but the way Gerald spoke of her, like he had known this mysterious pony for most of his life, left her wondering about it. Either way, she was not about to start saying that Gerald may have been stretching the truth. Nor was she about to start doubting the fact that something had attacked them, or at least was provoked into attacking.

"Alright," Quartz said as she brought out a piece of paper and a quill, setting both items on her desk. "Can you describe this creature to me again? In detail?"

"What for? We already told you what it looks like," Harp stated.

"Yes, but only a general description," Quartz replied, shooting the young stallion a reprimanding glare. "Since it seems that hiring hunters is not going to help any of us against this thing-" Gerald huffed slightly, but Quartz decided to ignore his injured pride and continued explaining. "As I was saying, I need something to send to Canterlot to see if there's anything in their archives that might match its description. From there we can figure out what it is and how to deal with it."

"A good plan!" Gerald exclaimed before he surprised Quartz by taking the the quill and parchment from her, and began scribbling something down on it. It looked like he was drawing. Very poorly she might add. When Quartz had asked them to describe the creature to her, she had actually meant for them to give her a list of features and traits, but she supposed this would work too. Leaning over, she tried to see what Gerald had drawn so far, only for the griffin to give her an odd look and block her view with a clawed foreleg. Quartz rolled her eyes and resigned herself to waiting. It would seem that she was in the presence of an artist after all, one who did not want show his work until it was finished.

After a number of minutes had passed, Gerald was eventually done. Setting the quill down he proceeded to push the drawing towards her. Quartz thanked him, not sure why she was doing so, before looking down at the picture on the parchment. However when she saw it, he was not sure if the picture was upside down or if she had somehow missed the seizure that Gerald must have had as he was drawing. She tilted her head to see if it would help, but that only made the image look that much more convoluted. To her it almost looked like some sort of squid contortionist with a bad case of the trots.

"Um, are you sure this is what you saw?" she asked as she presented the picture to him. Gerald nodded with a satisfied grin. Harp on the other hoof surprised them all by bursting into laughter the second he saw it, earning a glare from Gerald.

"Uh, I'm sorry you old bird," he said between breaths, "but I don't remember it looking quite like that."

"What do you mean?" Gerald questioned incredulously. "It is good picture!"

Harp shook his head however as he stepped over. "May I have another piece of paper?" he asked the mayor. Quartz shrugged, not wanting to start an argument over paper as she hoofed him another parchment. Harp proceeded to take the tip of the quill in his teeth as he set to work. Almost immediately Quartz was able to tell that he was much better at it than Gerald, despite the griffin having opposable digits to aid him. Where Gerald's movements were jerky and sharp, Harp's were much smoother in comparison. After a short wait he was done, and he slid the parchment back to Quartz, which had been turned over to hide the image. She was not quite sure, but she could have sworn she saw a blush in his blue coat.

Putting it out of her mind for the moment Quartz proceeded to turn the parchment over and inspect the drawing. When she saw the creature that he had recreated, she honestly was not sure whether to praise Harp for his skill, or pale at the very sight of the thing she was looking at. Never in all her life had she ever seen, or even heard of something even remotely resembling the the creature on the parchment. It was completely alien to her, and was somehow both terrifying and, oddly enough, rather beautiful to look at. The fact that it had a rather feminine build, aside from the extra arms and sleek eyeless head, made Quartz wonder if Harp had taken some artistic license with the drawing. Whatever the case, looking at the picture almost made her want to see the creature herself.

Almost. It did not take very much imagination for Quartz to guess that it was what killed the bug bear, but still she remembered that it had also attacked ponies. And even if had been provoked into the act, the very existence of a creature willing to do so was enough for Quartz to want to find a way to deal with it.

Looking up at the pony and griffon she said, "Alright then. I'll write up a letter and it along with this to Canterlot. I've lost a lot of faith in that place in the last couple of weeks, but hopefully somepony there will know what to do."

Quartz was just about to dismiss the two and pull out another parchment when Gerald held up a talon and said, "If I may ma'am, I believe that I have solution." After his statement the griffon reached into one of the many pockets before procuring a dark green bottle with some sort of liquid inside before placing it on her desk with a loud thunk. A satisfied smile crossed his beak, while Quartz and Harp only looked at the object incredulously.

"And. . . what exactly is this?" Quartz asked as she inspected the bottle, a quizzical look in her eye. "How does this help us?"

Rolling his eyes, Gerald proceeded to explain. "This is a very rare, and very expensive way to send letters. It belonged to Miss Drops, until she gave to us so that we could send a message for assistance straight to the Princesses."

"Okay," Quartz replied, nodding her head. "What is it?"

Gerald sighed. "It is bottle of dragon fire. Very hard to come by, but very useful to have. I can only guess as to how Miss Drops got her hooves on it, but right now it does not matter. With this we can send letter to Princess, and she will send reinforcements. And then, we can finally be done with this beast, and I can back home to Griffinstone." Sighing again, Gerald adopted a tired look in his eyes that Quartz felt she could relate to on some personal level. "I'm done with this monster business," he said. "Getting too old."

"Well then," Quartz replied as she brought the bottle over to herself and retrieving another parchment. "Let's get this over with. The sooner we get this message sent, the sooner we can all get back to our lives."

Within a few minutes Quartz had the entire letter detailing the situation they were written up. She briefly went over it to spot any errors she might have made before she slid it over to Gerald, who proceeded to uncork the bottle. The minute the cork was off an acrid smell filled the office that reminded Quartz somewhat of burnt hair, causing her to gag slightly in response. Holding up the letter and Harps drawing in one claw, Gerald careful tilted the bottle over them, apparently trying to be very careful not to spill. Soon enough a small drop came out and splattered on the pages, and before long both began to burn up in a green flame. Gerald held onto the pages until the fire had almost reached his talons, at which point he quickly let go of them just as they were consumed. The papers were evaporated in a small of sparkling smoke, which twisted in the air for a moment before disappearing entirely from sight.

"So," Quartz said suddenly. "You say that will go directly to the Princesses? As in, it will appear right in front of one of them, not just sit on a pile to be addressed later?"

Gerald nodded and replied, "Messages sent by dragon fire are always top priority for the Princesses. Help will come, probably in a day or so."

Quartz sighed, unsure if it was from relief or worry. She sagged into her seat as she felt the events of the past few days begin to take their effect on her, and all she wanted to do at that moment was have a drink and go to sleep. However there were still things that needed to be done in the meantime. She looked at Gerald, and at the wing hanging at his side. She wondered how he was able to shrug off the pain that he was undoubtedly feeling.

"You should probably go and have that looked at," she stated.

Gerald glanced at his injured appendage, giving it a gentle prod before wincing from the contact. "Right you are," he said as he turned around exited the room, leaving the two ponies alone. Appearing uncertain as to what he was supposed to do, Harp also began to make his departure, until the sound of Quartz clearing her throat stopped him.

"Harp," she said, an odd tone in her voice that was hard for the young stallion to miss, although he could not discern the meaning behind it.

"Yes ma'am?" he replied, wondering what she wanted to say to him.

"I just wanted to ask you something." For a moment Quartz was silent as she mulled over her thoughts. Then, clearing her throat a second time she asked, "You've seen this creature up close, right? Saw what it was capable of?" Harp nodded. " But so far I have yet to hear what you think of it. You've told me what it looks like, and I have heard quite a bit from Gerald, but I want to know what you think of it?"

For a moment Harp was silent as he considered how best to answer Quartz's question. "To be honest ma'am," he finally replied, "I don't know what to make of it. I mean, I get that this thing is dangerous and all. In fact I think a lot of ponies would go so far as to say it's even worse than the bug bear."

Quartz felt herself stiffen when he said that. That was a lot coming from him, as he was one of the few ponies to have seen first hoof what the bug bear had done. This only made his next statement that much more surprising.

"But if I'm telling the truth ma'am, I'm not entirely sure that's the case. I mean, as far as we know it had not done anything to harm ponies until we provoked it. After all, if something that strong has been living just a few miles away, wouldn't you think it would have already done something? In fact, if it's what killed the bug bear then it's actually helped us." Harp fell silent as gaze his gaze drifted to the wood flooring beneath his hooves. "And earlier, when I was telling you about how it started chasing me, I forgot to mention that it actually pushed me out of the way of a trap our griffon friend set up for it. Now, I don't know if it was intentional or not, but if hadn't done that, then I don't think I would even be here to tell you about it."

Quartz remained silent as she took in Harp's words, going over them in the confines of her skull.

"That's my two bits anyway," Harp said in finality as he turned to exit her office, and this time Quartz did stop him. She watched as he left her sight, and the sound of her front opening and closing echoed throughout her household. And Quartz just sat there at her desk, wondering just what she was going to do when whatever help the Princesses sent finally arrived.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a small spout of emerald flame erupted from the still open bottle that Gerald had left on her desk, startling her slightly. She calmed down when she saw the flames morph into a rolled up scroll, bound a seal indicating it was indeed from the Princess herself. Using her hoof to break the seal, Quartz careful rolled the scroll open and began to read its contents.

Addressed to: Rose Quartz, Mayor of Hollow Shades

Sender: Princess Celestia of Equestria

Dear Mayor, your message has been received, and I have arranged for a division of Royal Guards to be dispatched to the town of Hollow Shades as soon as possible. They should arrive in no less than one day. Until then, I advise that you and the ponies living there stay in their homes until the situation has been resolved.

I wish you the best of the luck.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia of Equestria

P.S.: Please thank the pony responsible for the drawing. Luna finds it quite lovely.

Author's Notes:

Before I start, I feel that I must apologize for making you all wait so long for another chapter, and for how short it is compared to the others. I cannot begin to tell how many times I felt the need to rewrite it, as many of my previous attempts simply did not sit well with me, and I had to go back multiple times before I was content.
Now, I know many of you were probably hoping for more of Angela, but it is my personal opinion that, at the moment anyway, there's really not much that I can do with her in the state she is in until other things start moving along. But don't worry too much. There will be plenty of her to come in later chapters. All I ask is that you be patient with me.

As always, alert me to any mistakes in the comment section below.

March

The ground was wet and damp from the brief rainstorm the previous night. The storm itself had been localized over Hollow Shades and some of the surrounding area, after a number of the clouds brought in by the weather pegasi melded together, creating a light downpour that soaked everypony. Almost none of them bothered to go inside however to escape the deluge, choosing instead to brave the elements and wait for the errant storm to be cleared up. As a result everypony still outside felt chilled to the bone as the moisture sapped the heat away from them, and all they had to ward to ward off the cold was their fur. Even then however they remained vigilant, keeping their gazes fixed on the tree line just a few hundred yards away.

All of this Rose Flare saw from within the perceived safety of the quaint little home which the magenta coated unicorn shared with her husband. She also spied through the window of their bedroom the suns rays reflecting on the moisture still hanging in the air, creating a rather brilliant rainbow over the town. It was quite the contrast thought; the general mood of the town with marvelous display of color hanging just above their heads. It was almost funny in a way.

Rose sighed as she closed the curtains, cutting off her view of the world outside, which only seemed to be growing more and more dismal each day ever the bug bear had first appeared and taken a life. The beast was dead now, and Rose knew better than to doubt the veracity of her husbands claim. But even with this piece of news, which should have been a cause for celebration, everypony still had fear in their hearts, for the bug bear had been replaced by something that was far worse, at least according to that old griffon she had seen lingering by the cafe from her window, speaking loud enough to wake the dead. Rose had noticed that his right wing had been wrapped in a set of bandages keeping it in place. She forgot how long she had listened to the griffon regale whatever pony that happened to pass by with his tale, but she knew that she had begun to tune him out when he started going on about the creature was like a large flying serpent with the power to make itself grow to ten times its size. The whole thing just sounded so far fetched to her.

That was not to say that she was not concerned about the threat that this new creature, whatever it may be, presented. In fact she was downright terrified of the thought of some unknown horror coming into town and killing them all. And the thought of Roughshod putting himself between it and her in a noble effort to protect his wife and unborn foal. . .

That thought alone scared her more than anything.

Rose knew that Roughshod would not hesitate to do absolutely everything in his power to defend her. It was his devotion that had initially attracted her to him in the first place. But at the same time it was also one of his least appealing qualities at times. Sometimes Rose found herself wishing that Roughshod would not take so much responsibility on himself. She had supported his decision to patrol the wall at night because back then there had been nothing more serious than a small pack of lupis minors and the occasional mountain lion to worry about. But the moment she heard that the bug bear was lurking in the woods, she had attempted to convince him to give up the position to somepony else. And now there was something even worse than that.

She did not think that she would be so worried for him if he had only let her stay with him through this ordeal. But of course he had to make a good argument to her, saying that it would be far safer not only for her but also their child if they left, at least for the time being. Their conversation had been somewhat testy, which she blamed on how far along she was into her pregnancy, but eventually she had relented, and she could see that the decision was just as hard for him as it was for her.

And now here she was, silently packing up various items into a bag to take on her trip to Canterlot, and from there to Ponyville. All the while she felt an uncomfortable weight pressing down on her heart, and she knew it was the fear that if she left, she might never hear from Roughshod again.

But as he had already said, there was a vastly more important reason for her to leave. A reason that made itself known with a very light brush against her stomach.

Rose nearly jumped from the movement. She had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that it had startled her a little, but a soft smile soon found its way to her muzzle again as she glanced at her distended belly.

"It won't be long now," she said quietly, gently caressing her stomach with the tip of her snout.

That was another reason she was hesitant to leave. Considering how far along she was, there was the possibility that the foal would be born without him. But the doctor had already told them the foal was not due for at least a few more weeks, so it was a necessary risk to take. And it was unlikely that t would take that long for the royal guards to deal with when they arrived. When Quartz had announced to the town that reinforcements were on their way from Canterlot, Rose had felt an odd mix of relief and worry. Relief that the creature would soon no longer be a problem, and worry that it had warranted such an aggressive response. It was hard to believe that any animal could.

Rose let out another sigh at the directions things had been going as of late, mourning for the days when Hollow Shades was not plagued by events such as these. But Rose was never one to mope over the present as she refocused on simply packing up what she needed to bring with her.

Some warm wear was necessary, as Canterlot was often a cold place to be, what with it being built on the side of a mountain. Along with that she packed some extra bits, a few toiletries, and a small wooden frame with a photograph of her and Roughshod. To her that was essential. The sound of somepony knocking on the bedroom door interrupted her thoughts, which was followed by the voice of her husband.

"Are you alright in there?" Roughshod asked as he opened the and peeked inside. "You need any help with packing?"

Rose shook her head as she closed the suitcase, the latch clicking into place and securing the contents. "No," she replied. "All taken care of." Rose tried to put on a smiling face for Roughshod, hoping that she was covering up the worried look that seemed to want to break through. But right away she could tell that Roughshod could see right through her false expression as he slowly trotted up to her, his grey hooves clicking on the hardwood floor. For a moment he simply looked her with a blank face. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, as though he were about to speak.

"Rose, I. . ." he manged to say before faltering. Apparently deciding to give up words altogether he gently pulled Rose Flare into a hug, one which she returned as she felt a thin stream of tears run down her cheeks. In that one simple embrace, Rose felt all of the love and care he had for her, setting her heart and mind and ease.

Eventually they parted, and Rose wiped the moisture from her eyes with a fetlock. "Well," she said. "We'd better get going."

Roughshod nodded before he gripped the handle of the suitcase in his mouth and followed her out of the house, making sure to keep a careful eye on her the entire time. The two ponies exited the house, and as Rose locked the door behind them she once again felt a sense of dread that she might never see this place again. Just then she felt the weight of a hoof press down on her shoulder, and she turned her head to see Roughshod giving her a reassuring smile. Rose smiled back as he led her down the street to Quartz's house.

As they trotted along at a gentle pace, a small sound reached Rose's ears, causing them to flick in response. It was an oddly familiar sound mixed with the far off clanging of metal. Roughshod and some of the other ponies on the street with them noticed it as well, and they glanced upward to where the disturbance was coming from, somewhere towards the Canterhon Mountains. At the edge of their sight they saw a gathering of small dark shapes heading steadily towards the town. And almost immediately Rose saw that they were in fact royal guards from Canterlot.

At first all they saw were pegasi, dressed in their distinctive golden armor, but as they drew closer she also saw that a good number of them were pulling floating carriages behind them, most of them laden with more ponies in golden armor. The rest bore weapons and other things that looked more suited for a battlefield rather than a hunting expedition. In addition there were two armored airships trailing behind, most likely to carry supplies.

It would seem that those reinforcements Quartz had spoken about had arrived a little earlier than expected. Rose would have stayed where she was to watch them land, but she could tell by the increasingly worried expression from Roughshod that he would rather get moving. She was about to resume her journey, but then she caught sight of something else amid the standard guards.

Near the center of the gathering, a smaller contingent of ponies clad in dark indigo armor flew alongside their golden armored brethren, and as she looked more closely at them Rose noticed that opposed to feathers their wings more closely resembled those of a bat or dragon. Among their number two of the strange ponies pulled a decorated chariot. But it was what, or rather who was riding on the chariot that made Rose gasp quietly, although she was not sure if it was from wonder or worry.

"Well that's something you don't see every day," Roughshod commented beside her. Rose could only nod in agreement.

As the majority of the royal guard landed just outside the high walls of the town, the two thestrals pulling the enchanted chariot behind them circled around once to find a spot to land in the town. Before long they began to descend in a downward spiral before eventually coming to a stop before a large water fountain located in a circular plaza almost directly in the center of the town. When her gothic styled chariot came a stop, Princess Luna lightly stepped off of her transport, her silver clad hooves clicking on the cobblestone street and her glowing ethereal mane and tail trailing behind her. All around her, no less than a dozen ponies from her Lunar Guard landed beside her, forming a rough circle around their Princess.

Luna briefly surveyed her surroundings, noticing that many ponies had come out of their homes to see the spectacle. She even saw a magenta coated mare that seemed to be close to having a foal very soon and who she assumed to be her husband looking on with a mixture of awe and concern. Luna ruffled her wings a little, feeling that she could not blame them for their reaction,as she had arrived under some rather. . . unusual circumstances. An issue that Luna knew had to be dealt with, and one that she herself had a vested, personal interest in.

As the crowd of ponies continued to swell in number, the Lunar Princess that she should address them, as it seemed more than a few were starting to become a little anxious in her presence. She refrained from using the Royal Canterlot Voice however. The ponies were likely shaken up enough as it was already, she did not need to unsettle even more.

"Ponies of Hollow Shades," she said loudly. "We have received your plea for assistance, and you need not fear any longer. We have come to help you in your time of need."

Her short speech seemed to have the desired affect, as many of the ponies began cheering and stamping their hooves on the ground in appreciation. A few even looked like they wanted to try and approach her, but they were held back by her guards. Smiling at the praise, Luna addressed them again.

"Now, where is the pony who sent the message?" she asked, wanting to get underway as soon as possible. "Where is the mare known as Rose Quartz, the mayor of this fine place?"

Luna was glad to see that she did not have to wait long for an answer, as a middle aged pegasus mare flew above the heads of the other ponies and raised a hoof while saying, "That would be me your highness."

Satisfied, Luna beckoned for the mare to come to her, and it seemed that she could not fly fast enough to reach the Princess. Immediately upon landing Rose bowed deeply before Luna, sounding somewhat out of breath as she said, "Thank you very much for coming your highness. You grace us with your presence."

Luna felt compelled to roll her eyes at the statement, having already had more than enough of what her elder sister often referred to as "kissing up" from the nobles in Canterlot to last another thousand years. It was honestly quite tiresome at times, but Luna made sure to keep such thoughts to herself in front of the mayor.

"Rise, mayor Quartz," Luna said, trying not to make it sound like a command. "There is no need for such pleasantries, especially given the situation you have called us to address."

Upon hearing this, Rose quickly stood up straight and dusted herself off. "My apologies your highness. It is just that I feel honored that you would come and help us personally in our time of need."

"And why would I not feel obligated to lend you assistance when it is needed?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow. "Should help only come after you have requested it?"

Quartz began to blush profusely at Luna's question, and she quickly said, "I'm sorry! I meant no offense Princess! It's just that when Celestia responded she neglected to mention that you were going to be here as well. What I mean to say is that you just caught us a ll by surprise."

Luna nodded in understanding. "I see," she said thoughtfully. "Well then, it might actually interest you to know even my sister was not aware of my desire to come here." Luna saw the confused expression on Quartz's face. The mare opened her mouth to ask a question, but Luna cut her off with a raised hoof. "I do not think that right here is not the place to be having this discussion," she said while indicating the crowd of ponies around them. "Perhaps we can go somewhere where you can tell me all that there is to know about this creature that has lurking in the woods, and in return I will attempt to explain my meaning?"

In response Quartz quickly nodded in agreement. "Of course! Right this way," she said, leading the midnight blue alicorn through the throng, the thestral guards clearing the way for them. Before long the two ponies were sequestered in Quartz's office, with the mayor sitting behind her while Luna opted to stand despite Quartz's insistence. Two guards were stationed just outside the door in case they happened to be needed.

In the privacy of her home Quartz proceeded to tell Luna about everything hat happened to Hollow Shades in the past few weeks, leaving nothing out. The Princess was especially surprised to hear that the bug bear had appeared. She remembered encountering that foul beast and others like it numerous times since before her thousand year absence, banishing them to Tartarus. Not long after her return she had learned that one had somehow managed to escape.

Just the presence of such a beast was enough to cause a great deal of concern, and she wondered why nopony had seen fit to alert either her or Celestia sooner that it was stalking the woods of Hollow Shades. But her thoughts on the matter were supplanted by the revelation that not two days ago, the bloody remains of the beast had been discovered not too far from the town by a group of ponies investigating a disturbance.

"Are you certain it was the bug bear?" Luna asked in a serious tone. Quartz did not impress her as the type of pony to stretch the truth about such things, especially where ponies lives were concerned, but there was still the possibility that there might have been some confusion when the body was first found.

Quart however shook her head and stated "Positive. I made sure to ask Roughshod when he came back. And with everything that has happened since then, I feel I must say that I am inclined to believe."

Luna nodded in understanding. "Yes, I recall your message explaining the creatures attack on ponies. However I believe that I would like to speak to the ponies that found the body myself to be certain." She sighed as she considered the information she had just been given. "And what of the others? The ones that saw the creature for themselves? Where are they now?"

"Well," Quartz replied, "the griffon, Gerald he calls himself, just got out of the local hospital a few hours ago from what I've heard. Harp went home last night, and I haven't seen him since. But the third pony, some mare by the name of Miss Drops that Gerald kept insisting was with them, has yet to appear. Gerald says that she led the creature away to let them escape, but if I'm being perfectly honest I'm not sure if I buy the notion of some freelancer pony fighting monsters for a living." Quartz chuckled lightly at her statement, until she saw the Princess's raised eyebrow. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked.

Luna simply let out a heavy sigh and said quietly, "Mayor Quartz, I feel that I must inform you that Miss Drops, or Bon-Bon as she has taken to calling herself, is very much as real as you or I. And if what this Gerald has said is true, then even the possibility of her death is a tragic one."

Quartz's shoulders sagged when she heard that. "I see." Looking up at the Princess she asked, "But what was she doing out there in the first place? Gerald mentioned something about some sort of agency when he told me what happened, and he and Miss Drops know each other from the way he spoke."

To Quartz's surprise Luna sighed angrily, closing her eyes and putting a hoof to her forehead just below her spiral horn. Unsure what exactly she said that was wrong, Quartz quickly began to apologize until the Princess cut her off with a wave of her hoof.

"There is no need for you to apologize mayor. However I believe I am going to have to have a conversation with this Gerald in regards to his apparent tendency to speak before he thinks."

"What do you mean?" Quartz questioned, but rather than answering right away Luna simply regarded Quartz for a brief moment before her horn lit up in a blue aura for a few seconds until it dissipated. "What was that?"

"I have just ensured that no sound can leaves this room. I do not want anypony eaves dropping on our conversation. And Quartz?"

"Y-yes, Princess?" Quartz replied, her voice suddenly sounding rather nervous in Luna's ears.

"I am trusting you to not disclose what I am about to tell you to anypony outside this room without my express permission. Normally I would be against revealing such sensitive information considering how damaging it could be if it was ever public knowledge, but given how dire your situation is, not to mention how much Gerald has already told you in his foolishness, I feel that it is only right that you are made privy to what both he and Miss Drops were a part of."

Princess Luna and Quartz walked side by side together to the gates, the latter of which still attempting to process what she had just learned. Surrounding them in a rough circle were the thestral guards, numbering around a dozen or so, keeping a watchful eye on both her and the various ponies who had come to see the Lunar Princess. The alicorns horn glowed constantly, letting Quartz know that the spell meant to keep their conversation private was still in effect.

"That's quite a bit to take in," Quartz said to the Princess, although she made sure to keep her voice low so other ponies would not hear her despite the precaution. "I mean, all this time and there was some sort of secret agency that monsters?"

"And not just monsters, I am afraid," Luna added. "You should know as well as I that in many cases, the worst creatures to pose a threat to Equestria as a whole are not as easy to spot as what you are dealing with. Foes such as Sombra or Chrysalis may have been dire enemies, but they are not very subtle. In actuality, the greatest challenge to the stability of Equestria came not from monsters or other such things, but from scheming ponies intent on enforcing their will on others through the subtlest means possible. The main task of these agents was to root them out and deal with them. That is actually part of the reason why Miss Drops was in Ponyville to begin with."

"Ponyville?" Quartz spoke up. "Isn't that where the Element Bearers live?"

"Precisely," Luna answered. "I'm sure you must know that after I returned and they were named heroes, that there would be certain forces at work to ensure that they were. . . dealt with?"

Quartz's eyes widened when she realized what the Princess was getting at. "But that doesn't make any sense!" she stated. "Without them, Equestria would have been up a creek a long time ago. Why would anypony want them gone when they are pretty much all that can even stand up to things like Discord and Sombra or whatever else?"

"As of yet that answer remains largely unknown, although one could venture a guess that they would be seen as a threat to the plans of whoever might wish to do with Equestria as they will."

Quartz took a moment to ponder what she had just learned. She noticed that they were still some distance away from the gate, so she felt that she had enough time to ask another question.

"So, why was this agency or whatever you call it disbanded? Why shutter the whole thing?"

Luna paused for a moment, apparently choosing how best to answer the mare, before she eventually responded.

"Well, my little pony, that is a question that my sister would be able to answer better than I, as she was Equestria's sole Princess at the time while I was. . . indisposed. Still, I have been informed on some of what happened, and will attempt to fill you in as best I can." Luna cleared her throat before continuing. Quartz could not help but notice that there was a look of contempt in her eyes as she spoke.

"You see, fairly recently before my return, approximately ten years or so, certain ponies from an unknown group had heard rumors foretelling the arrival of a dark entity known as Nightmare Moon. But rather than find a way to fight this entity, they embraced it as something to be worshiped and praised, presumably believing that if they sided with it and helped it to overthrow my sister, they would be greatly rewarded. And so they began to scheme.

"Supposedly during the process they came up with the idea to use monsters, creatures from Tarturus to be precise, as beasts of war to aid them. And so they set out to free them from their prison. However as I understand it Celestia was alerted to their ploy before it could come to fruition, and they were stopped. But not before one of the prisoners got loose however."

"Let me guess," Quartz said. "The bug bear?"

"You are correct," Luna confirmed, her tone becoming noticeably somber in Quartz's ears. "It was considered by the agency to be their greatest failure. And they knew that once the bug bear began to make its presence known, ponies would begin to question why, and look for someone to blame. Celestia wanted to spare the ponies of the agency from this, so she ordered for the organization to be quietly disbanded, while the agents continued their work, protecting Equestria in secret. As I understand it from my sister, the very existence of the agency is little more than a conspiracy theory to Equestria at large. And she has been trying to rebuild it ever since."

Quartz fell silent at what she had just been told. It was all so much for her to take in. Just then another thought entered her head, one that was rather worrying to her.

"Um, Princess?" she asked, looking around at their surroundings. "Are you sure it's okay for me to know about all of this? Aren't you worried that I might become a liability to you if anypony found out what you told me?"

"No," Luna replied simply, barely casing a glance at Quartz. The mayor was caught off guard by the answer to say the least, and she wondered if maybe the Princess did not consider her to be too much of a target, or if there was something she was not telling her. She would have liked to ask, but did not have the nerve to question the Princess statement.

She still had one more question left however, but she was not able to ask it quite yet, as they had just reached the gate. The large wooden doors began to part, and Quartz felt a small pang of worry take place in her mind as she beheld the sight before her.

Dozens of ponies, both mares and stallions alike, dressed in golden armor were marching back and forth as they unloaded the chariots. Everywhere she looked somepony was shouting orders. Ponies were carrying supplies ranging from food to spears where they belonged. Many tents had been erected as well, making it look like a small city. Quartz also noticed that one of the airships had also landed while the other remained in the air, slowly circling above. On the bottom of its hull a metal and wood ramp extended down to the ground, where ponies were pulling huge contraptions that resembled giant crossbows with wheels on the bottom behind them. And behind them were wagons filled with their ammunition; enormous harpoons that one would imagine would be more suited for hunting sea monsters.

"Quite the operation here," Quartz observed. Luna simply nodded as she surveyed them going back forth. Quartz figured that now was as good a time as any to ask her question.

"Princess?" she said, making Luna turn her head towards her. "You said earlier that you had your own reasons for coming here."

Luna nodded. "Yes, I did." The Princess sighed deeply before continuing. "As you know my little pony, I have the power to see into the dreams of others. This allows me to determine if they are also in pain. You see, a short while ago I felt a rather unsettling disturbance originating from this area."

"Somepony was having a nightmare?"

Luna nodded in confirmation. "A bad one as well. However I was unable to make contact whenever I reached out to them, and I don't know why. Whoever this individual is, it is like their mind has been closed to me, preventing me from helping them. And I believe that your creature may somehow be responsible for it."

"How so?"

Luna shook her head. "I don't know, and that is rather unsettling to me. And I have the distinct feeling that this creature is somehow responsible for it."

"So," Quartz said, sounding unsure if she really did not want to know the answer to her question, "what do you plan to do if you find it, Princess?"

"To be honest mayor, I am not quite sure," Luna replied. "I would like to avoid killing it if it can be helped. But your message has made it rather clear that it is hostile. If we can, we will at the very least try to subdue it. But if it fights and any ponies are injured in the process. . . I think you and I both know the eventual outcome."

Author's Notes:

Whew! That took a little longer than I expected it to.
So, one of the Princesses has chosen to become involved in the situation, but does she realize just how complicated it truly is? You will just have to wait and see.
Next chapter will have Angela in it. It's about time we got to see how our favorite psychotic wraith is doing.

As always, alert me to any mistakes so that may correct them.