The Lunar Harvest

Mirage galloped through Ponyville, a very angry mob following closely behind her. Panting with exhaustion, the mare ran into Everfree. Turns out it was a good choice, since immediately the crowd stopped. They were afraid. But now they didn't need to catch her. Only a crazed pony would think they would survive in such a forest- especially this night.

The moon hung onto the dark sky, casting its sinister light against the foreboding forest. The white mare galloped through the thick greenery, her white dress and long, black wig flowing behind her. Adrenaline urged her exhausted body to keep running, in fear of being caught by a brave authority. It took her a while to notice that the crowd was no longer following her, but she continued. Everfree was not safe. Especially at night. She had to find a place to hide.

The disguised mare finally stopped, leaning against a large tree. Clear drops of sweat rolled off her forehead as she gasped for breath. Her long, black wig clung to her head, making her state even more uncomfortable. With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed the wig and threw it away, allowing her white mane to flow freely. She brushed away some of the strands from her face with a hoof, revealing her eyes. Instead of a dull yellow, they were a piercing blood red because of the contacts she wore.

"I can't... Believe... They would react so much... Over a little prank..." She said between breaths, looking around the area. She was far, far from the path now. Lost. And thanks to her paranormal research, she deduced that today was supposed to be the day of ' The Lunar Harvest', a day where spirits were known to wander. Now, Mirage wasn't entirely knowledgeable of Everfree's history, but she knew there'd been a number of ponies buried here. Being a paranormalist, she was conflicted with either being giddy or being utterly terrified. Oh the woes of loving the paranormal.

Azure lazily strolled through the forest that sprawled out endlessly in either direction around him. The lush greenery making up a majority of the dark floor was the center of his attention. His eyes occasional shifted; head pivoted back, and he'd take a long look up at the nigh empty heavens above. The moon had shone as brightly now as ever, in fact, it seemed even more so this fine, chilly evening. The stallion inhaled deeply, a lips curling into a contented smile. The Everfree was dangerous, that was for sure; but, he'd grown up here, in the dense wildlife that was so feared by most others.

He'd seen his fair share of ghastly things, though it had never dissuaded him from coming back time and time again. Tonight was one of those nights which he cherished so: a reverie from going out and about into Ponyville, miles away from his home. Yes, it was true, this splotchy blue stallion's house was situated some distance within the terrifying clutches of the Everfree, of the shunned wilderness.

It had been little more than an hour since he'd begun walking through the familiar terrain when he stopped. From where he stood, he accurately judged there to be a small clearing not two-hundred paces due north. However, this was not what had initially brought him to a halt. Somepony else? He squinted under the dim light, which was blocked rather effectively by the canopy above. Without a doubt, this was another pony--a unicorn from the looks of it.

He wasn't sure if they were terrified or not, the excessive distance between them didn't exactly permit that sort of observation.

"Hello?" he called out earnestly, slowly beginning to close the gap which lay between him and this stranger, whom captivated his interest so. "What're you doing so far out here?"

Mirage waited a few minutes, gathering her breath. She finally stood up, deciding to find a way out of this forest. As much as she'd love to meet a ghost, this day was not a day for antics. Sure, spirits were usually peaceful as she'd heard, but a day called 'The Lunar Harvest'? Yeah, not even she would want to witness it.

The white mare walked cautiously through the forest, careful not to make much sound. Who knew what lurked in the shadows, and making a ruckus would be asking for her to get eaten or something equally terrible. One step after another, she continued to navigate. Her long white dress was dragged behind her as she continued through, getting tattered and frayed at the ends due to the rocks and sharp wildlife it had come in contact with.

SNAP! Mirage's ears perked up at the sound. Her red pupils frantically scanned the around around her, attempting to locate the source of the snapping twig. "Wh-Who's there?"

Giggling. She could hear the faint sound of giggling. It was as high pitched and cheery as any normal filly's, yet somehow... It felt off. Mirage tried to call again, thinking it may have been a lost filly. Well, she hoped it was. But her hopes were crushed at the sound of eerie singing.

The Lunar Harvest, a day to see
Let's all run away to Everfree
Lost you are, once you come
No one leaves 'till we all go numb~!

The white mare let out a shriek of terror, turning and galloping. The sound of foalish giggling and singing grew faint as she continued farther and farther through the forest, refusing to stop or look behind her.

As she continued, she could see a faint light in the distance. She stopped, hesitating to approach it. Could it be a ghost? Another pony? She couldn't decipher from the distance and the darkness that surrounded the area. She stayed put, waiting behind some shrubbery to see whether or not this light could be trusted.

Azure cocked a brow as the silhouette of what he thought was a lost individual vanish into thin air. Well, that's something you don't see every day. He heard a scream somewhere off in the distance. It sounded pretty close, actually. Deciding to investigate, and deciding that moonlight was pretty unreliable given the conditions, the stallion decided to forge onward, towards the clearing he had thought about a few moments before.

The scream that assaulted his ears moments after was something that urged him to get a move on. They sounded like they were somewhere in the general direction of that place absent of foliage and undergrowth. Whomever might be the owner of that voice, he'd do himself wonders to find them. Fast. The last thing he needed resting on his unconscious was a pony being driven mad by something they knew not.

"Hello?" he called out, and significantly louder this time. His voice boomed over the other sounds which called the Everfree home, and would be surprised if his voice wasn't carried far enough to be heard by the pony he could only assume to be frightened out of their minds. "Is anypony out there?" Sweet Celestia, this was getting him absolutely nowhere.

"Maybe I should just sit down and wait for a while," he mused to himself, under the reasoning that they would eventually find their way to him without assistance. A risk, but it was very possible he'd been heard, and moving now might only mitigate his chances of helping a lost individual. He hated being in this kind of situation, it was a gamble no matter how you looked at it, and it drove him mad.

He sighed, decided on more or less a compromise. "I'll wait for them in the clearing."

A better choice of the two others he'd given himself; moving closer to the location of the mystery pony, as well as getting somewhere it wouldn't be difficult to spot him in. A few minutes later, the trees fell away to a vast, open field of grass, bathing under the soothing light of the moon. Despite the horrid reputation of a place such as this, the Everfree did have some natural beauty to it. Azure situated himself farther into the glade, and took a seat.

Now we play the waiting game.

Mirage could hear yelling. The light she had spotted in the distance blew out. This only drove her to panic even more, and with hooves trembling, she galloped out of the shrubbery she had hidden in. The white dress she wore tore and tattered, leaving remnants of white silk behind her. It seemed as though the forest kept growing darker and darker, with only small rays of sunlight peeking in from the gaps in the roof of leaves that hung above the mare. Its beauty was shrouded by the terror of its unknown, even the plantlife began to seem menacing as it blocked and bruised the frightened mare.

Thorns and vines continued to hinder Mirage's attempts of running, bruising and holding her hooves down. She trampled them as hard as she could, paying no mind to the pain the thorns gave her. All she wanted to do was escape now. And once she did, she was definitely not returning to this forest for a while. A long, long, while. Or at least until all these paranormal dangers would cease.

She ran deeper and deeper into the forest, running in what could only be assumed as circles. Before she knew it, the ground under her hooves collapsed, and she was met with an ungraceful fall. Down, down she went, into the darkness. She couldn't tell whether she would be met with solid ground or a creature's fangs, for she shut her eyes closed- not wanting to see what would cause her possible demise.

The last thing she heard was the sound of giggling.

[Nah, she ain't dead. :3]

Azure started upon seeing a panicked individual crumple on the ground like a piece of tissue paper unable to support its own weight. They--she, had just bursted through the thick of the forest before collapsing within the clearing passed out. He wasted no time, closing any and all distance that lay between the two. She seemed exhausted, and overly warm; but, otherwise okay for the most part. He considered hoisting her over his back to carry the mare to a place more safe, i.e. his home, but perhaps that'd not be the best idea. She might awake startled, and try to kill him or destroy his house if she thought he was a ghost or something. That wouldn't be very good.

A hoof gently tapped against her cheek as he leaned down over the mare. While he tried to rouse her, another hoof was busy checking vital signs where it could to confirm his earlier suspicions that she was in fact fine. Closer examinations revealed nothing more than a developing bruise or two.

"Hmm," the stallion hummed in mild frustration to himself. He should have known better than to think he could wake somepony up who'd just collapsed out of exhaustion. Though, there was the question as to why, or how they were so exhausted to begin with. Sure, Everfree was a place that really drained you of energy, but... he wasn't aware it was capable of doing that so fast.

For the time being, he worked on pulling up soft tufts of grass that made up a majority of the ground, placing them together for a makeshift place to rest. A few careful movements later, and the fiery orange unicorn was situated on top. Good enough.

"That should do," he said to himself in between a small yawn. Azure cleared his throat, and once more sat down.

Thus, the waiting game continued.

Suddenly, a wonderful alicorn appeared. She wore silver bracelets upon her navy-blue hooves. Her bright-green eyes were bright in the moonlight. She had bright blue hair that flowed with eretheality. She looked to Azure and said, "We art the Princess Moonglow.'

"Oh," Moonglow said, "let us be more clear. We art Princess Luna's assistant. We raised the stars thou sees tonight. What brings thou here?" Moonglow looks upon Azure with a questioning glance and says, "Well? Doth not keep us waiting!"

Moonglow then hears a rustle behind her and turns to find a black cat. She walks over and rustles the fur on it's head. She smiles as she sees a glowing moon symbol on the forehead. The cat then leaps onto Moonglow's back, and tucks under her wing. "Ah, Shadica," Moonglow says, "thou art so sweet."

Moonglow then turns back to Azure and says, "This is Shadica, our cat. She controls the brightness of the stars and moon." Suddenly, Shadica's moon-symbol glowed brightly, and the moon shone brightly down on the clearing.

Moonglow's horn began to glow as she struggled to pull a wishing star down for Azure. As she finally got it down, Shadica began purring. Moonglow looked back at Shadica, raising an eyebrow. "Shadica, dear," Moonglow said, "art thou okay?" Shadica nodded a reply, and went on purring.

Moonglow flew into the air and turned to Azure and said, "May the moon shine bright upon this clearing, make a wish, dear, and see it come true." Moonglow then fell to the ground, catching herself just before she hit. The wishing star shone brightly, waiting for Azure to wish upon it.

Moonglow's horn glows with a shining blue aura, and she disappears with a crack of lightning. She leaves Azure to make a wish upon the star.