dark The Hidden Horrors of Equestria

[Sphinx-Ara 3,516]

Chapter 1

"It is said that once you find The Foundation, you leave your family and friends behind, and your colleagues become your new friends and family." The single thought made circles around the young, ten year old filly's mind as she begun the track from her family's ranch towards the large city of Manehattan. The path she trudged along was cold and she had trouble finding her footing every now and then, as the ground was covered with fresh snow from the snowfall the last few nights.

"What if you have no family nor friends to leave behind?" She says to herself under her breath, "And how will they receive me? A ten year old orphan with a story that not even she believes", the filly would say to herself once more, sighing and shifting the packs full of the few belongings she could find before fleeing the brutal scene she had witnessed.

The young filly had been born and raised on her family's ranch on the outskirts of Manehattan. It was peaceful and they had always been comfortable and content there. The ranch had been in her family for generations, and she had heard many a tale of creatures that haunt the woods and forests, but she only thought them as that, just tales. She had caught glimpses of something odd every now and then, but played it off as a trick of her eyes or imagination. That was, until that night, when her family was out herding their cattle and other farm animals into the barns for the coming winter. Everyone on the ranch helped out, even herself, who was making hot cocoa and dinner for her family.

She had just put the kettle on when she heard shouting and her father burst through the door. "Evelyn, hide! Something is stalking us" he tells her as he went to grab his gun. Hearing the seriousness in her father's tone, Evelyn went and hid in a cabinet. Her father had only just gotten back to the door when the others rushed in, firing at what only they could see. But their bullets did little to nothing to what they were firing at, as the creature, a big mass of dark grey matted fur, and dark shadows simply leapt into the house and killed everyone in sight, leaving a horrific sight of carnage, before sniffing the air and bounding out of the house.

As she witnessed the scene unfold, Evelyn did everything she could to stifle her cries of fear. But a bit after the creature left, she ran to her dying father. "FATHER!" she exclaims as she begins to try to bandage his wounds, but her father just shook his head, looking at her with a sad look on his face "Evelyn, my sweet, sweet daughter. Get your grandfather's trunk, take his journals, cloak and insignia to Manehattan." He says with all seriousness, as he had all but forbidden her to go near the trunk in the past, "look for the same symbol as the insignia, tell them your Kerrigan's granddaughter, tell them what happened. Now grab what else you can, get your handgun and rifle.. now..go" he'd say to her.

"Father.." she begun to protest but it was too late, his eyes had closed and his breathing stopped. He had joined the rest of the family, leaving Evelyn by herself. Evelyn did as her father told her, she gathered her grandfather's belongings, her firearms along with ammunition as well some clean clothes, warm blankets and food. She then fled from the house.

Evelyn shook the memories from her mind and continued walking to the city. However, the exhaustion from both her fear and sorrow had overwhelmed her and she lost her footing again, simply falling into the snow, curling up and wrapping a blanket around her before falling asleep in the bitter cold.