It happens rarely, but it does happen. Every so often, perhaps once or twice in a generation, a pony is born with the intent of destruction for their very purpose in life. Such a pony, even in childhood, tests the thresholds of friendship and seeks out its weaknesses, without even meaning to. Evil? Not at all. They are merely the only natural predator.

Emerald Zap was one such destined. At the beginning of this tale, nobody knew it, not even herself. She hadn't even gotten her cutie mark yet—her pale green flank was bare as Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard. She didn't mind it, though. She had other things to worry about besides the things that time would fix, such as her family suddenly deciding to move to Ponyville. Well, maybe deciding was the wrong word. It was strongly suggested that they vacate the premises after a brief misunderstanding with her father's trademark talent and the mayor of Hoofton's bronze statue of himself. Daddy had only wanted to prove that it was only a bronze-coated copper shell, while the mayor maintained that it was solid brass. A quick flash of the horn later, Mummy and Daddy were hurrying to pack as many of their belongings into satchels as they could before the mob arrived.

So it was that Razor Beam, Quickshot, and Emerald Zap arrived in the town square of Equestria's most famous tiny village. They were exhausted and dirty from their flight from Hoofton, hungry after three days of eating nothing but grass on the side of the road, and lost as to where to begin their new life.

"But dear, why Ponyville?" murmured Mummy. "Everyone knows Princess Celestia visits here regularly, and we're—well, you're—rather a wanted gentlecolt. We are just going to pass through, aren't we?"

"No, Quickshot, we aren't. We are going to stay here, even with the Princess. Who would look for us here? It's the perfect hiding place, precisely because it's a terrible hiding place. Also, I heard they have a great school system." Mummy nuzzled him on his metallic crossed-swords cutie mark, their special kiss. She trusted him.

Emerald Zap wasn't so sure. Her family had a tendency to…well, they happened to be nearby when accidents happened. A lot of the time they got blamed for them, and a lot of the time they deserved the blame, but they always made it right again, when they could.

Trying to fit in didn't make it easy, though. And it looked like Ponyville had more animals living in it than Hoofton did, which was bad for her. Animals didn't like Emerald Zap. Cats in particular did their best to make her unwelcome. She sighed internally as they walked through the town, mentally checking off places she wouldn't be able to go because of the wildlife. Apple orchards, nope, too many sheep and cows and things. She could hear someone calling a dog's name in the distance, something like Olive. That was the real clincher, a dog that would try to bite her ankles and probably ran faster than she did.

They passed a dress shop, and she heard the tinkling laughter of at least two mares inside, but crouched in the window was a fat white cat, a jeweled collar around its neck. Cats were even worse than dogs, because five of their six ends were pointy, and they carried a grudge.

She looked up at a thupthupthup sound, and canceled out finding a way into the local cloud city on account of tortoises with helicopter attachments. What sick person would put that on a…oh, never mind.

Dark trees swayed ominously at the edge of town. Emerald Zap's heart sank as she realized they were her father's destination. The forest was dark, it was scary, and the town abruptly ended right about the point where you could smell the trees, which meant they all avoided it. Of course Daddy would want to build their new house there. He had zero idea of what was a good way to fit into a new location. Their last three times moving had been evidence of that. They never spoke to anyone, but went right into that scary dark wood, and began to shape the trees into shelter.

From the town's perspective, trouble had just come and gone. Three strange unicorns, one white with crossed swords and silver mane, one lavender with white mane and a loaded crossbow on her flank, and a spring green filly with no mark at all wordlessly passed through, went into the Everfree Forest, and did not come out again. Whispers spread hotly, and before sundown, everyone had a theory as to what this odd family was doing here. The rumors grew, until everyone was more or less convinced that they were criminals on the run from the law, and would surely rain destruction upon them. That was all right so long as they stayed in the Everfree. Zuccora could take care of herself, and frankly, nobody would mind if a little destruction came to that forest. It was unnatural, scary. Even if the old Temple of Harmony was in it, there was nothing that could make the place less suspicious. It was sad that the family had been swallowed up by it, but there was nothing to do about that but wonder.

So when the filly turned up at the schoolhouse a week later, looking shy and disheveled but clean, nobody knew what to think. The filly, Emerald Zap as she called herself (at low volume while standing before the class, because that is how Miss Cheerilee introduces one), looked like she had groomed herself without a mirror, and didn't intend to make friends.

And really, she didn't. She'd learned that after the second move, that friends were just things to break your heart when you missed them, and weren't allowed to write because it was too big a risk if anyone knew where you had gone. She took her seat and tried to pay attention, determined to get an education if nothing else. The other kids were turning around in their chairs to look at her, and she ignored them. It was just as easy not to make enemies as to not make friends. A note slid onto her desk. When Miss C's back was turned, she opened it.

Hey Blank Flank! What happened, you lose your hairbrush? Go back to the cave and do it right!

Love and Kisses, (picture of a tiara)

Emerald Zap scanned the bums in front of her, picking out the one that matched the signature, noting that the filly who owned it also worse a matching tiara on her head. She quickly wrote back.

Thanks for the tip, but I'll not be accepting the grooming advice of someone who wears their bum as a hat. Why not also wear a name tag, are you that forgettable?

Best Friends Forever, (significant absence)

The note was snatched from her hoof before it could be flicked in the decked-out filly's direction. Miss C frowned at her. "We do not pass notes in this class, Emerald Zap. Go to the front and read it."

"But—"

"You heard me. If you've got something to say that can't wait until recess, you should say it, don't you think?" There was some muted laughter, and Emerald Zap clenched her teeth together, kicking herself. She hadn't wanted to look this stupid on the first day. It could have waited until, say, tomorrow. She trudged up to the front, and read the note in its entirety. Miss Cheerilee frowned again, threw the note in the waste bin, and continued the lesson, indicating that both guilty parties should see her after class. Diamond Tiara glared at Zap, a promise of pain everlasting in those purple eyes. Whatever.

Surprising was the other set of eyes that turned to her, the ones belonging to an earth pony wearing a big red bow. That one smiled broadly, and whispered to the two sitting beside her. All three turned to smile at her, and Zap felt a deep terror. Was she going to she jumped after school? What was the punishment for fighting, was it expulsion? What if she won? She probably could, especially if it was only one-on-one, or even two-on-one. Three would be harder. The rest of the lesson passed without incident, and at the bell, she approached the desk alongside the other filly.

"Now Emerald Zap, it's your first day, so I'll be a little easier on you, but I do not accept rudeness, and I do not accept note-passing. If you can't be nice, kindly refrain from doing anything, yes?"

"Yes, ma'am." Diamond Tiara snickered. Miss Cheerilee rounded on her.

"And you, Diamond Tiara. Don't think it escaped my notice that you passed the note first, and were just as rude. I expect you to be welcoming to newcomers, and I must say, you were a long shot from that. Now apologize." Diamond Tiara growled something that might have been "Sorry," and bolted.

Zap followed more slowly. The sky was clouding up; it looked like rain later tonight. There was a smell of ozone in the air, so it would be a bad one. She hoped the roof her family had worked so hard to build wouldn't leak.

She almost walked straight into the filly with the bow. "Hey there! Got a sec?" she said, her voice dusted with a country-style drawl. Zap lowered her eyes. "I don't have any money. Please leave me alone." She tried to push past, but found herself surrounded by the other two from class, a white unicorn and an orange Pegasus. She hadn't even heard them approach. Oh no.

"Here now, what kinda talk is that? We don't want money, we wanna be your friends!"

"Yeah! Anyone who stands up to Diamond Tiara is all right in my book," said the Pegasus.

"You were really eloquent," finished the unicorn. Everyone stared at her, Zap included. Exasperated, the unicorn said "That means clever with your words." They all went, ohhh.

"Anyhow, we'd like you to join our club," said Red Bow. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and our mission is individuality through teamwork! What do ya say?" They all displayed their blanks, three tabula rasas in a line. "I'm Apple Bloom, this here's Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. What's your name?"

"You already heard my name in class."

"Yeah, but you oughta tell it!"

"Oh. Um. I'm Emerald Zap. I don't think I can join your club, but thanks for asking. I…don't know how long I'll be here." She might have said more, but a strong wet wind picked up, bringing with it the first few drops of the storm. "I have to go! Bye!" she hollered, and galloped off towards the forest. The last thing she wanted was to get lost in the storm, especially in a town she didn't know too well. The Crusaders stared after her.

"What an oddball," remarked Scootaloo.

"Makes you wonder what her old town was like," said Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom said nothing. She was noting the direction Zap had run to, and thinking.

"Ah don't care what she said to that snooty stuck-up filly, Ah don't want you talkin' to that new kid anymore!"

"But siiiiis!" whined Apple Bloom, passing the biscuits. "She ain't got any friends! And yer always tellin' me I gotta see people for who they really are!"

"And now Ah'm tellin' you that girl's trouble! You ain't been in the town, you don't know what people been sayin'! Her pappy's a real bad nut, he is, and who knows how much of him wound up in her!"

"But didn't everyone say the same things about Zuccora a year ag—"

"Apple Bloom, you hush your mouth or Ah will hush it for you. Now pass the butter."

"But—"

"Ah do hate to say it twahse! Hush up and let's not have any more of this crazy-talk at the table!"

Apple Bloom hushed. Outside, the storm howled.

At least the roof was holding. That was good. The walls and front door, not so much. Razor Beam was leaning all his weight on the main support beam of the house, trying to be stronger than the wind for just a little longer, as long as it would take for Quickshot to hammer in more pegs. Whatever her talent ended up being used for, it was mighty handy when you needed something blasted into a slot. The purple glow of her horn went from one peg to another, pounding and blasting as quick as her name. Zap stayed out of the way, trying to plug up holes in the walls with clay. Daddy was swearing, and that meant any minute now he would vent some frustration. Zap did her best to be small and silent, so at least she's have a chance of avoiding the fallout. Mummy was fast, she could dodge anything, but Zap didn't even have a useful horn yet.

There was a massive creak, and the whole tiny house shook as the wind pushed the walls until they slanted. "Blast this storm!" growled Razor Beam. "Zap, we're going to need more wood if we're going to keep this place standing!"

"But Daddy, what if I—"

"I didn't ask for your opinion you little brat, I said go get more wood!"

"Go on, Zap, better do as he says," said Quickshot, attention divided. She still found time to lean close and say in a whisper just audible over the wind, "Go find help. Stay there until this is over, we'll be ok." Zap hesitated, then nodded once and dashed out into the rain.

It was cold, and so fast it stung her face when she turned towards the town. She didn't know where to go, but it was looking like anywhere would be better than here. She did her best to gallop off, the path illuminated by lightning every thirty seconds.

The problem was, the Everfree Forest has physics that work differently than anywhere else. Light behaves differently, and had she known it, Emerald Zap might have trusted her instincts more than her eyes. As it happens, she took exactly the wrong path, and ran off at full tilt into the heart of the forest.

Zuccora was having her own trouble with the storm ravaging her house, but not, thankfully, structural trouble. Bottles were crashing together and her wooden wind chimes sounded about to shatter, and it was all she could do to untie things and get them inside. Her lantern wouldn't stay lit for more than a minute or two at a time, so she had to rely on memory of where things were, and the occasional flashes of electric light. Quickly nosing a shutter closed, she happened to look into the trees as lightning turned everything stark black and white. She almost didn't believe it, but there was no mistaking the silhouetted form of a young unicorn, running against the wind. "Little one, come quick to me!" shouted Zuccora, hoping the child could hear her. "The storm is worst over Everfree!" The shadow stopped running, looking for her. She shouted again. "Hurry, quickly move your feet! The weather soon will have us beat!" The child began to run again, straight for her house, thank goodness.

Just as she crested the last little hill, lightning struck closer than Zuccora had ever seen, through the trees and straight onto the child's horn as she reared up for the final charge. Zuccora screamed, thinking she had just seen someone killed, but just as quickly as the light had come, then came the thunder. The very air shook, impacting her ears hard enough to drive her to her knees. Everything went white, then, oddly, bright green.

There was no thunder the second time. Zuccora peeked from where she knelt on the ground, hoping she wouldn't see a crater where the filly had stood.

There was no crater, but there was a ring of scorched earth around the unicorn, illuminated by her iridescent, brightly green horn. The child hovered nearly a foot off the ground, eyes white and shining just as brilliantly as her horn, apparently unaware of her surroundings. Zuccora had only seen anything like this once, when the magic of the unicorns had seized Twilight Sparkle and directed her movements in a time of great need. The green glow strengthened, until she couldn't look at it any more. There was a thick buzzing, the smell of hot metal, and an explosion that collapsed a full-grown pine tree behind the filly.

Though it was hard to see around the radiant streaks burned into her eyes, Zuccora could still tell that had the tree not exploded, it would have fallen first onto the child, then onto her house. In a way, she had saved them both.

But now the poor thing sank to the ground in an exhausted faint, and the storm still raged. Zuccora dashed over the remaining distance and grabbed the filly, slung her over her back, and galloped back to the house. Forget the stupid bottles, this was something far more magical and precious!