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Acceptance Part 7

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Walking over the bridge to Ponyville, I immediately felt a change of air. It was as though I had stepped into a freezer. The air chilled me to the bone, and I partially felt like reconsidering this crazy endeavor.

And then I looked over the bridge. Lyra followed closely behind, looking around quickly to see if anything would emerge from the misty acrid fog that had descended on this once bright town. I remembered what Lyra said only a few minutes prior, and I felt the same way. I would not be able to forgive myself if I let some of my only friends suffer under the wrath of this black cloud.

This in mind, I stepped forward, even more determined than before. This must've also strengthened Lyra's resolve, as she quickly followed behind, taking quicker strides, and even passed me, forcing me to follow her instead.

"C'mon!" Heartstrings called, "they're probably still at Bonbon's!" She raced ahead, darting between houses. Soon I found it impossible to keep up, and she disappeared into the mist.

"Lyra! Wait up!" I yelled, but it was in vain. My voice echoed slightly down the path, further accentuating the fact that I was alone.

I started to look around. I tried to see if I could recognize where Bonbon's house was from surroundings, but I didn't see anything familiar. The black mist almost seemed to transform the houses into different shapes, twisting and dementing structures slightly to make them seem more frightening. A howling face consisting of two windows for eyes and a door for a mouth roared silently at me. I picked up the pace, determined to keep away from that house. Glancing at trees, I noticed many of the leaves were turning a strange purple color, and hollows and cracks seemed to emerge on the trunks, creating masks of terror, anger, and fury.



"AH!!!!" I screamed. Falling to the ground, I scrambled to get up as a chimney glared at me with evil intent. A two story house stared with wooden hatred, and even the flowers' expressions were those of grief and sorrow. It was impossible to ignore, and soon, I found myself surrounded by dozens of faces. They started to gnash their teeth terribly, and I tried to find a way out. My heart pounded, and I started to pant.

Just as the nearest face was about to clamp down on my neck, a voice rang out from behind.

"Get away, you freaks!" a voice shouted from behind. Jumping out with a bright torch in her mouth, a single pony swung the flaming branch at the face. They screamed silently, and retreated.

As I looked to my savior in appreciation, I realized she was strange-looking. Her seemingly bleached hair glowed in the torchlight, as well as her face, and I could even see metal rings embedded into her ears, nose, mouth, and eyes. I tried to imagine the pain involved in piercings, and shook my head. She now moved closer to me. Her black coat was barely visible in the fog, and she almost blended in with the faces. Her mane covered her left side, and the other side of her mane was a bluish hue, creating a strange color blend, with the blonde side more prominent.

"Sorry, dude, you kept running after I yelled for you to stop," she said. I remembered the screaming, and flushed pink. "Oh, that was you..."

Her voice was harsh, but compassionate. "Dude. We have to get out of here, it's not safe..."

"What's going on?" I asked, as she led me away. "Why aren't there any ponies?"

"Well, you must've been out of town or something, but this mist isn't safe. Dude, I thought I told Golden Harvest to mark off the entrances of the town with warning signs..." Her blue irises shifted around, as if looking out for something, and began to speak in low tones. "Something is kidnapping everypony it sees, and taking them deeper into the town."

"What?" I stopped. I looked around as well, and realized that there were no more faces to be seen, which only made the atmosphere more eerie. "Ponies... kidnapped?"

"I don't know," she huffed, and grabbed my foreleg, and pulling me along. "In any case, you can't stay here, dude. We've evacuated everypony we could, you managed to catch the last patrol of the day."

"Wait! Stop!" she stopped, and groaned. "What, dude?" she asked impatiently.

"My friend is all alone, looking for some friends of hers," I replied, "I can't leave her alone!"

She grabbed me by my hoof. "I'm not sure you understand," she looked me in the eyes, alarmed. "you might die in there, dude."

I looked at her again. Her face was weary, and probably had seen worse than I could imagine. She seemed to be almost begging me to reconsider. But then I looked down the road, and remembered Lyra.

"I'm going in. I can't leave my friends." Determined, I broke from her grasp, and began to walk alone. Leaving the torchlight, I looked around, noticing everything suddenly looked much more intimidating. I closed my eyes for a second, and continued forward.

I heard a trotting noise behind me, and suddenly, the volunteer rescuer was beside me again.

"Hey," she panted, "Dude, I haven't let anypony die yet, I'm not going to now."

I grinned slightly, and pushed ahead, her flame revealing the next few paces forward. "What's your name, dude?" She asked.

"Leafwing," I replied, "what's yours?"

"Highlight. Highlight Silver."

We walked in silence for several minutes afterwards. The whole while, I thought about the pony trotting next to me. She had saved me, but she was also a little disturbing. On a world where most of the ponies were brightly colored, she seemed rather placid, almost dull. That might've explained the piercings, to help her stand out, but I was not sure. And her voice... also seemingly caring, she held a mostly emotionless monotone feel. Especially with the constant usage of the word dude, which was getting on my nerves.

Glancing towards her, I noticed the strong eyeshadow on her eyelids. Her left eye was concealed by her mane, but her right eye was constantly darting around to check the darkness. The only pony that I had seen with makeup as prominent was the Rarity pony from two... three days ago? I suddenly realized that I had spent almost three days on this strange place, and I had more friends than on Earth.

I noticed that my surroundings had changed dramatically from the last time I had paid any attention. Looking around, I found something rather strange about each house. All of the doors were open or destroyed, leaving an air of abandonment. It was as though a massive catastrophe had caused the residents on the street to vacate quickly without the decency of closing the door. Or, perhaps, something found them...

"The houses are empty, dude," Highlight broke the silence. "We searched all of them. We think the thing got them."

"What is this thing, dude?" I quipped under my breath.

"Definitely something neither of us want to meet." And we resumed silence.

After what seemed like hours of fruitless searching, I spotted a dim light in the distance, slightly illuminating everything around it. A single mare with a teal mane and coat stood around the light.

"It's Lyra!" I said excitedly, and with a burst of energy from my wings, I took off, leaving Highlight in the dust. "Dude!" the volunteer rescuer tried to keep up, but I managed to get to the unicorn in a second, almost knocking her off her feet.

"Hey!" Lyra said, relieved, "Leafie! I'm glad you made it, I thought I lost you! And who's this... pony?"

"A friend," I quickly breathed. "Her name's Highlight."

"Oh, her..." Lyra muttered.

"You!" Highlight growled. "Dude, not this dude..."

"You know each other?" I asked, surprised.

"Well, that's kinda in the past now," Lyra brushed the topic away, but I could feel slightly hostile emotions radiating from her. She didn't feel too good about Highlight.

"I guess," I murmured. "Now, some things were chasing me earlier, and they didn't seem too happy. Highlight was lucky enough to find me with her torch. Let's get a move on."

"Good idea," she agreed. 'Look! We're almost there!"

A row of houses stood on the corner of the road. One stood out slightly from the others. I wasn't sure exactly why, but it was as though the fog was slightly lifted from the area around the house, making a strange ominous sphere.

Then a low, rumbling, guttural noise rose from behind me, and I turned to see the source of the sound. A dark figure was quickly rising from the mist, and it did not look like a pony. A light flickered, and I realized that Highlight's torch had wisped out.

"Dude," Highlight whispered solemnly, "it's here."

"LET'S GO!" I screamed, and Lyra and I dashed for the house. Lyra turned off her light, probably to focus on running, but it made it nearly impossible to where I was going. Tripping on something, I hit the ground with a loud thud. Highlight pulled me off the ground, and we kept running. Making the last few bounds, I had to catch my breath as Heartstrings pounded on the door.

"Let us in!" she shouted in despair, and I thought I could see teeth glinting from the darkness.

"Dude," Highlight said worriedly.

"Lyra," I moaned, leaning on the door, "it's getting closer-"

The door swung open with a bang, and I toppled in. Lyra ran in, and grabbed me off the floor.

"The door!" I pointed to the creature, not fifteen feet away from entering the house.

Lyra shone her horn, and the door slammed shut. A loud thud shook the house as the creature hit the obstruction. A screeching roar echoed as it attempted to claw its way through. The sound of scraping wood entered my ears, and I put my hooves up in an attempt to block out the terrible noise.

"Help!" Lyra screamed, putting all her weight against the door. "Somepony help!"

Highlight quickly ran to help Lyra block the door. I glanced around the room. There had to be something to use to barricade the door. A kitchen counter stood on the side, and a couch was positioned across from it. It would have to do. Quickly galloping over to the couch, I pushed against it, trying to move it. But I was already too tired from constantly running, and it wouldn't budge.

"HELP!" Lyra screamed again, tears coming to her eyes.

"Lyra," I crawled back over to her, and tried to help block the door. "It's no use, they're not here, we have to get out."

"No," Lyra cried softly, "they're here, I know it."

"Lyra!" I yelled, "we have to leave, this is crazy!"

"Yeah, this isn't cool, dude," Highlight added.

A large gash appeared through the door, and mist streamed into the house.

"It's breaking through!" I tried to think of a way to make it leave. I went back to the monster faces chasing me around in the streets. That's it!

"Lyra, use your light!" I urged. She closed her eyes, and a dim light gleamed from her horn. Another screeching growl emanated from behind the door. "More! We need more!" I said desperately.

"I...can't..." Lyra faltered, and the light winked out. "I'm so scared, I can't focus..."

"Highlight, your torch..." I turned to look at Highlight, but she had mysteriously disappeared.

A cackling noise rang out from the creature, and it sounded like laughter. Another large gash slashed through the door, and then everything was silent.

"Did it leave?" Heartstrings coughed nervously.

A final bang shook the house again. The door, unable to take any more stress, exploded open. Lyra and I flew back. I hit the kitchen countertop, flipping over it. Smacking against a cupboard, my body finally hit the floor, and I felt all the air in my lungs leave me. I gasped for air, and tried to clamber back on to my hooves.

As I lifted myself onto the countertop, I watched a trail of mist follow the creature as it slowly made its way towards Lyra, who had landed on the couch. The creature seemed to have grown bigger as it entered, as it was now larger than the doorway. She was cowering against the pillows, and the creature had a claw up in the air, ready to stab Lyra...

"NO!!!!" A voice shrieked, and Highlight, appearing behind the couch, leapt, in a single prance, towards the creature. Hitting it in the back, it lost its footing, and both collapsed against the ground. I quickly got up, and watched as she barreled against the strange creature again.

Only that she went through it, and soon found herself flying at a wall. Highlight tried to slow herself down. It was too late, however, and she smacked against the wooden paneling. By the time she had gotten up, the creature had knocked her to the floor again.

It gibbered gleefully, and raised a claw to finish her off. I cantered towards the creature, but I knew I wouldn't make it in time...

"Hold it right here!"

A unicorn quickly cantered down the steps across from the door. A light illuminated from its horn, and it revealed itself.

It was Vinyl Scratch. "Run!" she yelled. She clenched her jaw, and thrusted her horn forward, brightening the room with the light and forcing the mist from the doorway to retreat slightly.

The monster screamed out in pain as the light grew brighter and brighter, lashing out with the claw. As the blade like appendage slashed towards me, I rolled to the side and got back up onto my hooves. As the monster trailed towards me again, a pony smacked into the side of the creature, knocking it to the side, where another pony kicked it.

The creature shrieked loudly, and flew through the wall, vanishing. As the light from Vinyl's horn increased in intensity, I could see that the two ponies were, in fact, Octavia and Bonbon.

"You came back for us!" Vinyl exclaimed. Before I could say anything, Lyra bounded off the couch, and tackled Bonbon to the floor. "BONBON!" she cried. "YOU'RE OK! I KNEW YOU WERE HERE!" She hugged her intensely, putting her face in Bonbon's coat, and Bonbon attempted to push her off. "What happened-"

I looked around again to see who was present. Vinyl was busy holding onto her light, and Lyra was on top of Bonbon, Octavia was near the sofa... where was Highlight?

Bonbon interrupted my observations. "We're glad you're here," Bonbon said quietly, "But we gotta leave while we can. This place is too dangerous."

"Where'd Highlight go?" I glanced around again.

"Who's Highlight?" Vinyl asked.

"The pony that just saved Lyra, where is she?" I asked again.

"Right here."

She again rose from the shadows. I now understood why it was so difficult to see her. Her coat, a sheen of black, hid her in the shadows, and as she appeared, Octavia and Bonbon yelped in surprise.

"Its... her!" Octavia shrieked.

"What about me, dude?" Highlight said dismissively.

"She's a ruffian in the town, Leafie," Bonbon explained.

"Not to mention she's spooky, just like those... things out there!" Lyra cried.

"Dude, that's not very nice," Highlight retorted passively.

"I agree," I backed her, "you can't just judge her by her looks!"

"I think Highlight worked at that toy shop around the corner," Vinyl added, "and I'm sure I've seen her at all my raves, although she doesn't get down on the floor like Pinkie. I'm sure we can trust her."

"I don't," Octavia pouted. "She's an utter annoyance!"

"Yeah!" Lyra added, "she once took my daisy sandwich off my plate and ate it in front of me!" Reminiscing the supposed memory, she began to sob louder.

"It took me two hours to get her stop crying," Bonbon explained, comforting Lyra with a hoof to her back.

"Well, enough about her. Why are you guys still here?" I asked, still confused.

"Yeah, why didn't you leave like me?" Lyra repeated, edging closer to Bonbon.

"Well, we were trapped by that thing," Octavia muttered, "which scared us all to stay in the house all this time!"

"But when we looked out the window," Bonbon explained, "we saw the monster staying out of the range of the light. Once Lyra stopped shining the light to run, it began to chase again. I figured it was scared of light, so we came up with a plan to help you guys out."

"Lamps, though, seem to burn out when the thing is around," Octavia remarked.

"Uh, guys?" All of us turned to look at Vinyl. The unicorn had a look of fatigue on her face. "I'm... getting tired over here..." the lights emanating from her horns started to flicker, and she seemed ready to fall down in defeat.

"Don't give up!" Bonbon urged. "The light is the only thing that's preventing that monster from coming in!"

"Lyra..." Looking at Lyra, I noticed she was still clinging to Bonbon. "Lyra! We don't have time for this! Use your horn!" Lyra shook her head.

"Ugh..." Vinyl collapsed to the floor, and the light winked out. A few seconds later, an evil laugh echoed throughout the house. Octavia and Bonbon lifted their hooves again.

The monster reappeared through the doorway, and smiled wickedly. The lack of light increased the tension in the room as ponies stumbled to their feet.

"We will hold it off!" Octavia shouted. "You and Lyra leave!"

I turned to Lyra. "We have to get out!" I whispered to her.

"N-no!" she wailed, and I saw the creature look at her with interest.

"Hey!" I focused my attention on the monster again. "Get at me! You want me, right? This is all my fault, isn't it?"

The creature eyed me, and its smile widened.

"That's right," I called him out, "it was my fault. You want me, don't you?"

It began to grin awfully, and my stomach became queasy.

"Well, the silent type," I growled, "who would've thought?" I tried to sound calm, but inside, I was frightened out of my wits. My tail was trembling like a blade of grass on a windy day, and it was all I could do to sound angry and irritated at the creature. I stared back at it, indignant. I wouldn't let it get its pleasure. If I was going to die, I wasn't going to go without a fight.

The creature's grin faded, and it began to frown, baring its sharp teeth. Another claw sliced at my body, and I barely dodged it, jumping back a few paces. Checking my body, I noticed a small gash on my chest.

"Leafwing!" Vinyl yelled, but I shrugged the blow off. Infuriated, I started to flap my wings, not realizing it until I started to stare him down.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to this town," I said furiously. "You and all those other things."

"SILENCE!" it yelled, and swung another blade at me. I deftly flew to the side, and the blade produced nothing but air.

"So you're not mute!" I found myself giggling. "I was so sure you weren't gonna say anything!"

"YOU LITTLE BUG! YOU'RE RUINING EVERYTHING!" it howled. "STAND STILL AND LET FEAR PIERCE YOUR HEART!"

"Fear, huh?" I lifted my hooves again in a boxer stance. "Well, my whole life I ran from my fears. It's time I faced them." I pointed a hoof at the monster, "Starting with you."

"I WILL BE RID OF YOU!" the creature flew into the air, becoming level with me, and I watched in shock as spikes grew out from the creature's back. Each silvery, dark appendage slid out slowly, and on each end, a blade was brandished. As soon as the now six arms had fully extended, the monster swooped towards me, swinging all of the sharp arms towards my torso.

I found my wings paralyzed with fear, and I dropped like a rock. The creature flew right overhead, disappearing through the wall. As I hopped onto my feet, I watched as it passed through the wall again into view.

"You can try and get me all you want," I yelled back. "But no one lays a hoof on my friends. No one."

"DIE, PUNY MORTAL!" the creature roared, and charged again ferociously. It was moving too fast, I wouldn't have time to move. I closed my eyes in fright-

A blinding flash of light pierced through my eyelids, and I rubbed my eyes to view the spectacle. The light slammed into the creature, assailing it, and tearing at the blackness of its skin. Its appendages scrambled across its hard outer shell, and it squirmed against the light, and grunted. Cracks of light began to form and lace across its chest, and it almost seemed as if it were about to explode...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Once again, I couldn't keep my eyes open, but even with them shut, the sheer amount of light flooded towards me caused me to see bright blazing blue through my eyelids. The creature's screams echoed, even though the room was small, and a small gust had picked up. The light peaked, and suddenly, my eyelids went opaque, There was no wind, no voices, nothing.



Silence.



"Is... everypony ok?" Vinyl whispered.

"Yeah." "Uh huh." A murmur of assent and confusion spread throughout the room.

"Dude, dude. Dude..." "What happened?" "Are you ok, everypony?" "What did you do?"

I opened my eyes, and looked down at my friends. They all lay on the floor with shocked expressions. I suddenly felt a weightless sensation, and as I hovered down, I realized I was floating, but my wings were not flapping.

As I flailed my arms, Lyra and Octavia ran over to let me down. I breathed a sigh of relief as my hooves touched the ground.

"What kind of sorcery did you commit there?" Octavia asked.

"Octavia! That was rude!" Bonbon scoffed. She turned to me. "But that was... quite a sight."

"Yeah," I said shakily. I realized I was breathing heavily, and I took a seat where I was. "I didn't know how that... thing exploded!"

"We were talking about you," Lyra corrected, with a sense of awe. "You... were amazing!"

"It was light show, that's what it was," Vinyl smiled. "How did you not notice when your eyes were bugging out?"

"And those birds?" Lyra added. "They looked like... they were on fire!"

"Bugging out?" Eyes?" I was now more confused than before. "Birds?"

"Dudes, I don't think she saw it..." Highlight looked like she had witnessed an act of a higher being, as she was in a trance like state.

"I saw the... monster explode!" I tried to explain. "That's all! I swear!"

"Well, she didn't see the..." Bonbon whispered to Lyra. Lyra's eyes widened. She whispered to Octavia, and she appeared shocked. Octavia waved to Vinyl, who picked herself off the ground to get to her. As they conversed in private, Lyra looked to me, obviously as confused as I was.

"Wait, when did the lights turn back on?" I asked. Bonbon's house was now clearly visible. All the damage done to the furniture and doors were gone. It was as if everything had returned to... normal.

"The birds flew out the door, I think they did it..." Lyra thought aloud.

"Are you sure you're not secretly a unicorn in disguise?" Bonbon asked.

I found myself giggling. Lyra joined in, and Bonbon had to smile. "Of course not!" I tried to say, stifling snorts and giggles between words. "I'm definitely a pegasus!"

"What's that, dude?" Highlight pointed to something in the center of the room. I turned to look. A smoldering pile of ashes lay in the center of the room, where the monster exploded. As I observed the pile of ashes, it began to move, shaking slightly.

"AHHH!!!" Octavia, Lyra, and Bonbon screamed.

"It's not gone?!?" Vinyl yelled.

As it shook, clumps of soot and debris fell from the outside, and it began to look more like a pony. As it shook more, a thick dust cloud rose from the ashes. I could now clearly make out a mane and tail, which was curly, and elegantly trimmed... why would its mane be elegant after being struck by... whatever caused it to explode?

"It doesn't look like the monster..." I said slowly, trotting closer to it.

Lyra put her hoof on my back. "Don't do it, it looks dangerous..." I ignored her, and continued.

A unicorn horn pierced through the ashes, and I heard coughing. Rushing over to help the pony, I pulled her from the ash cloud. As the cloud cleared, I recognized the cloud-white coat, and dark royal-magenta coloring of her luxurious mane...

"RARITY?" Everypony in the room screamed.
After a long hiatus, Part 7, everypony!

Title (contents): [link]
Previously: [link]
Next:[link]


I really advise you to read on Fimfiction, because the links work, and they really do add a depth into the story that I can't manage on DeviantArt, unfortunately, so here's the link: [link]



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MelodyTranquil's avatar
New character, more story development, Leafwing becoming more confusing to understand by the minute, I mean second....

I love it!

The ending had me rolling with shock. Many MANY questions going through my head right now.
Keep it up. Oh and the only problems I see are some grammatical errors.
But those are easy to fix!