The Long Way Down The Road

The Awakening

The crew rested in peace, with not a care in the world. If they were even in the right world.

Ikaros awoke, with alerted ears. She heard a snap of a fallen branch. She stood up, and heard another snap, which woke up Hari.

"You heard that too?" She whispered.

Hari nodded, and stood up as well.

The snapping of the branches became incalculable.

Ikaros trotted over to the direction of the noise. It was still raining, Hari followed close behind her, scared.

She felt his trembling." Don't be afraid..."

Hari nodded and followed her through some bushes. She walked stealthily through, as Hari acted in a very clumsy way.

They made it to a little hut. Darkness surrounded it, and it made Hari tremble more.

"Don't be afraid..." Ikaros repeated frightened herself.

They walked closer, and heard the snap behind them. They turned around, but nothing but a broken stick was there.

They turned back around, and Hari screamed like a little filly.

A dark figure stood in front of them. It spoke in a very fake voice.

"Don't you know how to greet someone new?" It questioned.

It held out a hoof, dripping with water.

Ikaros swore she saw the figure chuckled, but nothing was funny.

Hari shivered in coldness, the rain on his face looked like tears.

Ikaros turned and picked up the stick, and held it at the figures neck.

"Reveal yourself!" She muffled.

The figure walked closer and Ikaros and Hari stepped back.

It was Dans.

Dans fell to the ground, laughing at how easy it was to scare them.

"Why- you!"

Dans looked at her, his eyes a greenish color.

Hari touched Ikaros's mane as he looked behind him.

There were multiples of dark figures, that looked like Dans.

"Oh my Celastia..." Hari mumbled.

The Dans in front of them turned into black gloop on the ground, and came up as an ugly black gloopy figure. It's face was dripping, and it's mouth was opened as if it was screaming.

"It's time to die!" It screeched.

"Run!" Ikaros yelled bucking it back.

Hari trotted as fast as he could. Ikaros followed behind him.

They flew over the herd of black monsters, getting black muck on their hooves.

They flew to where X was snoring, and Crafty was breathing softly.

They landed, getting the black stuff in them.

Their fur was stuck up, and their ears on alert.

Hari started to breath like normal again.

"Oh Celastia..."

Ikaros put her head down and breathed deeply.

"L-let's just fall asleep." Hari said dozing off already.

The two fell asleep, still on alert for the creature, or creatures.

---

Morning came quicker than they expected. Crafty woke up first, as usual to put her animal away.

She tried to stretch out her wings, but she didn't feel anything.

She looked back.

Their was nothing there.

"Aghhhh!" X jolted up as he heard Crafty scream.

He looked at her, and saw her wings were gone, and instead she had a horn.

X got up, and tried to fly to her, but ended up falling on his face.

He was wearing...a dress!?

He had wings, but touched the top of his head. No horn. His hooves felt much skinnier.

"What the?" His voice sounded like a mare.

"AHH!" X screamed as a mare.

Crafty and X went on their screaming fit, until Ikaros woke up.

Crafty looked at Ikaros and screamed even more.

"What?", she said looking at herself." Aghhh!"

Ikaros felt she had four eyes, and when she looked down, she had eight hooves.

Hari woke up to their screaming fits.

"What the Equestria!?" He yelled staring at them.

He walked over to them; his eyes were a bit dense without his glasses, which were lost in the twister.

"A-a-" Hari stuttered looking at them.

He tried running over to Crafty, but felt himself flying, and bumping into a tree.

"WTC HARI!" Ikaros screamed pointing to him.

Hari was a Alicorn wearing a crown and glitters. He was a crystal pony princess, or prince in this matter.

"Oh-" Hari fainted on the dirt.

"Oh my-" Crafty stopped when she realized she sounded like a stallion.

Her tiny hooves her a bit bigger, and her snout a bit bigger.

Crafty fainted where she was laying. X stopped screaming long enough to help up Hari, and wake Crafty.

"Mmmmm..." They heard Dans say.

He came out of a clearing of trees.

Everypony screamed as loud as they could.

Dans was a black figure, with black dripping wings. His whole body was dropped with the stuff.

"Y-you!" Ikaros said stumbling over to him.

"Yeah, it's m-me." Dans croaked looking at himself.

"Explain..."

"What, can't a stallion go to the bathroom in peace?" He said rolling his "eyes".

Ikaros sighed, and shook Hari awake, for he had fainted again.

Everypony took a deep breath. They took a while to study themselves.

"This...is just plain creepy." Ikaros said blinking her eyes.

"This is dumb." Hari though.

"Oh cool, I can read your thoughts. And yes Hari, this is dumb." Ikaros said twisting her hoof.

X thought of something, which gave Ikaros a twisted face.

"You sick monster." She spat.

"Well, let's go." Hari said, helping Crafty on his back.

"That's it then, we're not gonna worry anymore." Dans said.

"Oh we are.", explained Hari." We're getting to the bottom of this."