Under A Luminous Sky
by
Jake The Army Guy
Prologue: Dance of Death
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ponies sat at their bar stools in rapt attention, their drinks all but forgotten as they listened to the drunk mare before them. Berry Punch took a large swig from her mug before speaking again. “So I said, ‘Rectum? Damn near killed ‘im!’”
Peals of laughter filled the small bar as ponies fell off of their stools, gasping for breath. Berry gave a wide smile. The humble pub was a second home, a weekend getaway from the troubles of the work week. The other patrons were like family; friendly faces to share her problems with over numerous rounds of hard cider.
A gray earth pony stood behind the polished bar shaking his head. He slid a full mug of cider to a mare across the bar before turning back to Berry. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“No Tap, but I kiss your mother with it,” she slurred.
Tap merely rolled his eyes as another wave of laughter filled the bar. “Okay, Berry, I think it’s time you headed home. I doubt the sheriff wants to deal with you again.”
“Aw, but the karaoke contest starts in twenty minutes!"
“Yeah, let her stay, Tap,” said a unicorn from the other end of the bar, pointing an orange hoof at a clock on the wall. “It’s barely midnight!”
“Yeah, the night is young!”
“Have a heart, Tap!”
The orange unicorn stumbled next to Berry and place his foreleg over her shoulder. “Come on, Tap. I’ll even buy her next round.”
He shook his head, his shoulder-length blonde mane swinging back and forth. “And are you going to pay to bail her out if she gets thrown in the drunk tank again?” He turned back to Berry with a small smile. “Sorry Berry, but I’m cutting you off. It’s for your own good.”
Berry rolled her eyes and blew him a loud raspberry. “You’re no fun,” she said as she turned to face her friends. “Sorry, everypony. Dad says I gotta go.”
Following a loud chorus of goodbyes, Tap led the stumbling mare to the door. “Never a dull moment with you, eh Berry?”
“Ah, you’re just jealous. You know I’d win that karaoke contest,” she said with a lopsided grin.
“Yeah, you’re right. You win every week. We just want to give somepony else a chance. Ain’t that right, Brick?”
The bouncer grunted as he opened the door for her, his rippling muscles bulging underneath his black t-shirt.
Berry turned to face the two stallions. “Winter wrap-up, winter-wrap up! Let’s... uh, something, something, de, de dah, cheer!”
Tap chuckled. “Okay, okay, enough! You gonna be able to make it home alright?”
“Are you kidding?” she said, puffing out her chest, “I know this town like the back of my hoof!”
She turned and stumbled away, leaving the two stallions shaking their heads.
Brick turned to Tap. “Ain’t like you to turn away a paying customer like dat.”
Tap just watched Berry stagger away, a warm smile on his face. “Hey, I may be a businesspony, but I’m a friend first.”
* * *
Something inside Berry didn’t want the night to end. Going home so early wouldn’t have been a fitting close to such a fun evening, so instead she stumbled through the quiet streets of Ponyville. The thatch-roofed homes that lined the cobblestone roads swayed gently in her vision while she looked around her.
I love this town, she thought with a lopsided smirk. Sure, it didn’t have all the razzle-dazzle of bigger cities like Manehattan, but even after all these years its quaint, rustic charm still made her smile. Her juice business did well enough to keep her content, and there was her beloved bar. She wasn’t an alcoholic by any means; she simply enjoyed drinking with her friends.
Berry walked past the town square, rambling and enjoying the bright moonlight, gazing up at the stars. She caught a few ponies giving her sideways glances, but she didn't mind. Gossip shared between ponies she didn't know never fazed her; her friends knew she wasn't a worthless drunk, and that was all that mattered to her.
It was about an hour later that Berry found herself on the outskirts of the Everfree forest. Grinning widely, she stepped between the line of trees and left the dirt road.
The thick smell of vegetation filled her nostrils as she entered the woods. Heavy vines covered the trunks of trees, and brown, wilting tendrils of ivy reached for the canopy. The bushes surrounded her rustled with life; the glowing eyes of unknown animals peered at her as she stumbled through their territory. Berry was amazed that everypony was so scared of this place. The sights and sounds of nature were a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of Ponyville.
Berry stumbled through the thick trees, her soft humming sometimes interrupted by a drunken hiccup while she took in the beauty around her. Small slivers of moonlight illuminated her path, granting an ethereal grace to the lonely woods, accentuated by the gentle swaying of her vision. Getting lost in the Everfree was a very easy thing to do, but she didn’t care. In fact, she didn’t really even care if she made it home at all. The cool mid-autumn air made the outdoors a very appealing place to lay her head. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d passed out someplace strange.
The sharp crack of a twig snapping nearby cut off her thoughts. She turned her head towards the noise, straining to see in the darkness. After a few moments, she shook her head and continued on. “Darn critters..."
A breeze cooled her alcohol-warmed face as she paused in a beam of moonlight that shone through a break in the canopy. Gazing upwards, she looked through half-closed eyes at the moon, smiling softly. “You sure outdid yourself tonight, Pri—”
Berry’s words turned into a quiet yelp when a shadow jumped through her peripheral vision. She whipped her head towards the movement. Once more, she stared intently into the shadows, her slightly bloodshot eyes scanning the darkness.
“Wh-Who’s there?”
Leaves gently swayed in the breeze, and the shadows seemed to pulsate. Shuffling on her back hooves, Berry started walking again. The calming effect of the woods had begun to melt away, a sense of unease settling in her mind. Shivering slightly, she picked up her pace, glancing over her shoulder as she trotted on. Nothing moved in the darkness, but she kept eyeing the nearby brush.
She bit her lip and pressed on, peering behind trees and shrubs every few steps. Her back legs twitched involuntarily as she trotted. She would have been running, but the undergrowth was too thick. Large brown tree trunks dotted the path all around her, barring her from attempting anything above a canter.
Berry finally came to a halt in a small clearing. Trotting around in a panic with no clue where she was going was not helping.
"Stay calm, Berry," she said to herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening her eyes once more, she glanced back and forth, searching for an escape from the darkness that surrounded her.
She shuffled back and forth on her hooves when she realized something that had eluded her before. Now that her hooffalls had died off, only the faint rustle of the wind between the leaves sounded around her. The buzzing of life in the deep wood was gone, leaving an eerie calm. “Celestia, get me out of here, and I swear I will never drink ag—”
A rustling sound came from behind a nearby bush. Berry whipped around towards the noise, her heart now pounding. She stood scanning the woods with wide eyes, sweat beginning to drip down her face. The muscles in her legs began to tense as adrenaline worked its way through her blood. Berry narrowed her eyes and peered into the blackness, her vision still swaying slightly. Then, she heard it: a heavy, snuffling sound, like somepony breathing hard after a long run. Berry took a few steps backwards, almost tripping over her own hooves.
“Okay, s-show yourself!” she cried. “I know you’re there! Wh-What do you want?”
For a moment, the only sound in the clearing was the gentle blow of the breeze. Then, a gentle whisper wove through the leaves: “You.”
The bush exploded towards Berry, leaves and twigs smacking her in the face as something lunged from the darkness, tackling her onto the ground. The creature rolled on top of her and pinned her forelegs to the ground, one of its limbs holding a large knife that glimmered brightly in the moonlight. Berry’s shrill cry echoed through the trees as they wrestled, her hooves flailing at her attacker. The thing on top of her brought the knife to bear, aiming it for Berry’s chest.
“Ugh!”
Berry’s hoof connected with soft flesh, and her attacker fell backwards. At a speed that belied her drunken state, she stood up and stumbled away, the world spinning violently around her. Vines and leaves whipped her muzzle as she ran through the cluttered forest, her legs pumping with a strength born of fear and panic.
“Help! Somepony help me!” she cried, bobbing and weaving through the trees. She could hear her attacker nearing over her heavy hoofbeats and ragged breathing. Sparks seemed to dance inside her adrenaline-fueled muscles, urging her tired legs to continue.
She turned to avoid a dead tree when her hooves slipped on a patch of wet leaves. Crying out, Berry fell and skidded across the forest floor. She scrambled to her hooves when a heavy weight fell on her back, pinning her back down. A loud gasp came as her breath was crushed out of her. The attacker grunted in frustration and wrapped a hoof around her foreleg. Berry shrieked and twisted her body violently. She wrested her leg free and stumbled back to her hooves.
The forest only seemed to grow thicker as she galloped. Her lungs burned and her legs ached, but she kept going. The heavy breathing from behind was growing louder, the hoofbeats of her pursuer now echoing loudly in her mind. Every nerve in her body was screaming; it felt as if an electric current was jolting through her muscles.
She cried out again, her voice breathy and hoarse as she struggled to stay on her hooves. “Please! Somepony, anypo—”
Her cry turned into a loud grunt as her back hoof caught onto an exposed root. She tumbled head over hoof before hitting a tree with a loud thud. The sharp pain of the impact had only just registered when the world fell away, the darkness consuming her.
When her mind finally returned, a loud ringing filled her ears and her head throbbed painfully. Berry groaned and slowly opened her eyes, stars dancing wildly in her vision. As she gathered herself, she felt something against her back. Somepony was laying next to her, one foreleg wrapped around her midsection as a hoof softly stroked her mane. She tried to jerk away, but the stranger’s foreleg held her gently in place.
“Shh, shh. It’s okay,” a voice said soothingly into her ear.
Berry began to blubber to the unknown pony. “P-please help. Somepony was chasing me.” She bit her lip, trying to hold back her tears. “They... they tried to hurt me.”
The stranger’s hoof continued to gently stroke her mane, while the other left her chest. “I know,” the voice whispered.
“You know? But, then why—”
She felt a sharp point press against her chest. Berry froze and looked down. A very large, curved blade pressed into her chest. Strange drawings covered the hilt from the tip to the ring that attached it to the pony’s hoof, and the blade reflected the moonlight into her eyes. She tried to move, to run, to scream, anything, but her body refused to obey. Once more, tears flowed down her face, mixing with the small trail of blood from her forehead.
“Please,” she sobbed, “Pl-please don’t do this.”
The hoof stroking her mane stopped its ministrations. “I’m sorry,” the stranger said, the voice colder than the mid-autumn air as the knife began to press down. “But you serve a higher purpose now.”
Far away, in the quiet town of Ponyville, nopony could hear the screams.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------