//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: An Earth Pony's Tale // by thebiscuitbrigade //------------------------------// If the citizens of Ponyville had learnt one thing whilst living in the sleepy little village, it was that the Everfree Forest ‘just ain’t natural’. So much weirdness had emerged from the untameable woodlands throughout the village’s history that nearly everypony made an effort to keep well away if at all possible - especially at night. Twilight Sparkle, however, was not an ordinary citizen of Ponyville, and tonight she was making an exception. Just outside the forest entrance, and beside the dirt path, the unicorn was setting up a base camp. Various pieces of equipment filled the area, along with several books and a large collection of personal notes she had made during her time in Ponyville. In the centre of it all, she made a few last minute adjustments to a particularly imposing piece of technology. “…so if this operates at a 5% threshold, for a general overview,” she recited to herself, before glancing over at a smaller machine on her right. “…I can set this one down to 2% for the finer details. Now, all I need is…” “Twilight?” “Ah!” She jumped, before jerking her head around and coming face to face with the source of the interruption. “Spike, you startled me!” The baby dragon, who had managed to unintentionally sneak up on her whilst she was engrossed in her planning, shuffled back slightly. “He-heh… sorry?” Twilight frowned for a moment, before letting out a deep sigh. “Did you bring my energy deviation matrix?” “Um…” said Spike, floundering slightly. “I brought the widgety thing with the four orange lights Ditzy delivered this morning, if that’s what you mean. It’s just over there.” He pointed towards the pathway. Twilight made a quick glance over, and spotted a small cone shaped contraption standing on the grass. She made her way over to the device, smiling slightly as she approached. “Perfect. Once I’ve got the EDM set up, that’ll be everything set up optimally.” She beamed. “With any luck I should be able to make real progress tonight.” Spike looked bemused. “Remind me again, Twi; what exactly are you up to with…” - he gestured around him - “all this?” Twilight’s grin faded, and she glared back at Spike. “All this is part of my localised geo-magical inference exercise on the Everfree Forest.” “Huh?” “I’m doing some research to see if I can find out what makes the Forest so… unusual.” she clarified. “My hypothesis is that the Forest somehow generates its own magic somehow, and I want to see if I can find out how it does it. That’s what this equipment is all for - monitoring magical energy.” “But why so much of it?” “The Everfree Forest is a big place - I’ll need plenty of equipment for full coverage. Plus, at this stage I’m still not sure what I’m looking for, so I’m monitoring several things before on focusing on whatever seems promising after that.” “OK, fine,” said Spike, still looking unsure about the whole operation. “Next question - why are you doing all this? I thought you were supposed to be studying the magic of friendship.” “I can have more than one area of study, Spike,” replied Twilight, a slight annoyance creeping into her voice. “Besides, this has all been arranged with the Princesses. I’ll be presenting the findings to them once they get back from their visit to the Griffin Lands.” Spike sighed. “You know, when most teachers take a vacation, the students try to do less work, not more.” Twilight chuckled. “You know, you’re free to help out tonight. I’ll be sure to put your name down as a research assistant in the final paper.” Spike snorted. “No thanks. I’m not giving up a night’s sleep to try and work out why the Everfree Forest’s so creepy. I’m going home.” He turned around, heading back towards Ponyville. As he reached the pathway, Twilight called out suddenly. “Spike!” He groaned. “What now?” Twilight hesitated. “…thanks for your help tonight.” Surprised, Spike came to a halt, and glanced over his shoulder. Twilight stood a few feet away, looking slightly awkward amongst the machinery. “I really appreciate it.” Spike floundered slightly. “Uh… no problem, Twi. I mean, that what number one assistants do, right?” Twilight smiled. “Right. Go on, get to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” Spike wasted no time setting off again. As he made his way over the small hill that lead back to the library, Twilight stood still, alone in the night. She picked up the newly delivered device with her magic, and slowly moved it into the one remaining patch of ground left uninhabited in her campsite. After a brief pause, she closed her eyes, focusing on her activation spell, and as her horn glowed with the power of her magic, the devices slowly came to life around her. Lights began to blink on and off, meters shifted backwards and forwards, and a low hum descended across the camp as the machines began their monitoring. As the final piece of equipment was switched on, Twilight opened her eyes, and grinned. Taking a notepad and quill from her saddlebag, she began making her readings. Twilight had planned eighteen different magical tests for this evening, each of them with a slightly different focus. Some were looking for a particular energy type, so were looking for patterns and rhythms in the magic flow. The most important test, however, was being performed by her brand new EDM device. Twilight knew from her time at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that the average level of background magic at any point in Equestria was approximately 1 Faust. Ponyville itself was slightly higher at 1.2 Fausts, which Twilight had hypothesized was due to its proximity to the Everfree. A higher reading tonight would certainly lend the idea credence, although there’d still be a lot of work to do in determining why the forest had such high magical activity. Making sure not to disturb any of her other equipment, she made her way over to the device and took a glance at the meter, which was now calmly displaying a reading of - 2.8 Fausts. Twilight was in shock. That was more than double the reading in Ponyville, and a significant breakthrough into the nature of the forest. She grabbed her quill and quickly scribbled down the result in her notebook, as if the result would disappear if she spent too long looking at it. 2.8 - that would have to be among the highest level of background magic anywhere in Equestria! She tried to contain her excitement. It was only the first reading, after all, and she’d needed to wait until more results came in to make sure it wasn’t simply a spike. Still, it was turning into a very successful experiment - she couldn’t wait to tell her friends about it tomorrow. It was at that moment that Twilight began to wish she’d asked her friends if they wanted to come along tonight. She knew that her friends were not as interested in her research as she was, and had avoided telling them about tonight’s excursion thinking that they would react in the same way Spike had. She’d told herself it was better this way at the time, but it seemed a shame that she couldn’t share her discovery with them as it happened. Even if her friends weren’t as scientifically minded, they were still her friends, and she was sure that they would have come out to support her if she’d given them the chance. Twilight sighed slightly. Was that another lesson she’d learnt about friendship? At least this one hadn’t been accompanied with a parasprite attack or a changeling invasion. As her equipment buzzed and whirred around her, Twilight’s mind began to drift, and she began to imagine a scene where she and her friends were sitting around in excitement waiting for the next new finding. It would probably be messier, she thought, particularly if Pinkie Pie decided to throw a spontaneous Twilight Made A New Discovery party (Twilight was sure the pink pony could generate 2.8 Fausts all by herself), but it would have been preferable to a night alone with only the loud blaring alarms of her machinery… …wait… what?! Twilight’s attention snapped back towards the EDM. She’d hadn’t set any alarms on the machinery herself, so the only way the alarm would be activated would be if there was an incredibly high amount of magic in the area, but this was simply a background check! There was no possible way that the matrix could possibly be picking up a reading of that magnitude - was there? Twilight stared at the meter, and froze. 9 Fausts… no, 9.5, no, 10 Fausts, and rising. For a brief moment she thought something must be wrong with the system, but that possibility was quickly eliminated as around the camp several pieces of equipment started to malfunction, unable to cope with the sudden influx of magical energy. She stepped backwards, her expression a mix of panic and horror as the meter crept upwards to 15 Fausts, showing no signs of stopping. The only things she knew that could possibly generate that level of magical energy were the Elements of Harmony, and they were sealed in the Royal Vaults. The Everfree Forest had been always been abnormal, but this was beyond anything she’d ever seen before. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the flashes. Twilight looked up, and gasped. Out in the distance, the forest was full of lightning. It couldn’t be a storm, there were no clouds to be seen anywhere - and yet, there was lightning, striking out with such incredible frequency that the forest was completely engulfed in its eerie white light. She stood rooted to the spot, confused, terrified and transfixed by what was happening, unable to even attempt to understand it. As the lighting kept striking down, she barely noticed that her meter was now climbing up to 20 Fausts. Suddenly, there was an explosion of magic. A bubble of white energy expanded from the forest, passing through the trees towards the base camp and up into the night sky. Even though it had almost faded by the time it reached Twilight, it was still powerful enough to knock her to the floor before disappearing completely. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over, silence falling over the forest and the remains of the base camp. Slowly, Twilight clambered back to her feet, her mind in a daze. For the longest time she simply stared at the forest, as if waiting for something to appear to even begin to explain what she had just witnessed. The forest, however was failing to provide. Twilight knew firsthoof the forest was dangerous, more so than anypony in Ponyville, and she was well aware that the safe thing to do was to simply walk away. And yet, at that moment in time, she was placing one hoof in front of the other, slowly but surely making her way into the Everfree Forest in the middle of the night, because what she had just seen was impossible, and she needed to know right now just what had happened. Casting a light spell as she entered the forest, she proceeded in a straight line towards the centre of the outburst. What she was hoping to find, she was unsure of, but she was desperate to find something, if only to prove to herself she hadn’t imagined it all. As she climbed over a tree root, Twilight suddenly noticed how quiet everything was. The Forest was usually full of noises usually coming from the various beasts that roamed the area, but now, nothing. It was as if the forest had been struck dumb by what had just happened within its borders. Twilight’s pace slowed as she drew closer to the epicentre of the explosion. What was she doing? She knew that finding anything at this time would be near impossible, not to mention the extreme danger she was putting herself in. Calm down, Twilight, she thought to herself, quivering slightly. Think with your head, not with your hooves - there's no point running around like a madmare. She kept wandering forwards, slowly making her way into a small glade she’d never encountered before. As she kept moving, she was so caught up in working out exactly what research she’d need to do when she got back to the library that she almost didn’t notice the steep cliff in front of her. Letting out a small scream, she skidded to a halt, barely keeping her balance as she came to the edge. Slowly and carefully, she made her way backwards. That settled it - she needed to get home, right now. She turned around, trying to focus on the way back to Pony- WHAM! Twilight didn’t see what hit her, but she certainly felt it. She fell instantly, her attacker following her down before rolling over onto the ground behind her. Instinctively, Twilight leapt back upwards, rounding on her assailant in a matter of seconds. For the second time that evening, she was rendered speechless. Lying five feet away, and struggling to get back to her feet, was an earth pony. Twilight moved forwards, utterly perplexed. For the most part, the stranger looked perfectly ordinary, with a cream coat and a brown shoulder length mane and tail. In any other circumstances Twilight would have simply identified her as a Ponyville native who’d got lost in the forest and taken a bit of a tumble. Given what she’d just witnessed, however, Twilight knew that something was very wrong with this situation. She moved closer to the still struggling pony, who looked as if she barely had the energy to open her eyes, let alone stand on her own four hooves. As she approached the newcomer, she let out a gasp - the stranger’s flank was completely bare, with no trace of a cutie mark. Twilight’s initial reaction of disbelief, however, quickly turned into one of concern. The pony, whoever she was, was clearly in trouble - she was quaking with the effort of bringing herself up from the floor, and tears were beginning to form in her still closed eyes. Twilight paused, and then slowly began to speak. “Hello?” She didn’t respond, but a small flick of the ears told Twilight the earth pony had heard her. Twilight spoke again, trying to be as clear and as calm as possible in the bizarre setting she had found herself in. “My name is Twilight,” she began, crouching down on the ground in front of the stranger. “I’m going to pull you back up, but I’ll need your help.” Slowly, the stranger nodded, stretching her front legs out in front of her. Twilight carefully wrapped her hooves around the earth pony’s, preparing herself. “OK then, on three. One… two… THREE!” She pulled with every ounce of strength she had, gradually pulling the shivering pony back upwards. Keeping hold as the stranger’s back hooves connected with the ground, she slowly lowered her front hooves back down and let go. Taking a quick breath, Twilight looked back upwards at the newcomer - she was still shaking, but she was now at least stable. As Twilight moved back into a standing position herself, she couldn’t help noticing the small gold locket around her new companion’s neck before she snapped back to focus on the matter at hand. “OK…” she continued, with slightly more confidence. “Can you open your eyes for me?” With a visible effort, the stranger opened her eyes. “Allright. Now I need you to…” Twilight’s words faded as she saw the expression on the stranger’s face - an expression of utter terror. She was now stumbling backwards, her legs nearly collapsing as she frantically backed away from Twilight. “Wait! Don’t be scared!” “P-p-please…” stuttered the earth pony, as if every syllable were causing her pain. “…please don’t hurt me.” Twilight faltered. “I’m not… I wouldn’t…” The stranger was now staring at her legs in disbelief, as if she hadn’t seen them before. Spinning her head around, she caught sight of her tail, which seemed to terrify her even more. Twilight, meanwhile, was utterly mystified. “W-w-what’s happening?” said the cream pony, her tearful blue eyes now focusing on Twilight. “W-w-where am I? Why am I a p-p-p…” The last word died on her lips, and she fell backwards onto her rear, quietly sobbing. After a moment, Twilight found her voice again. “Please…” The stranger squeaked in fear and began edging backwards again. “Please, stop! I’m not going to hurt you! I just want to help!” “B-But you’re a u-u-uni…” And then suddenly, the cream coated, brown maned earth pony slipped over the cliff behind her. Twilight leapt forward, casting a levitation spell just before her front hoof disappeared entirely. By this point she was drawing on all her energy reserves, but somehow she was able to pull the pony back over. The stranger, however, had slipped into unconsciousness, and was now hanging limply in the air. Twilight slowly laid the pony onto her back, trying to work out what to do next. This pony needed help - that much was certain. She needed to get back to the library now, and try and find out what the hay was going on. She turned her head to look at her unexpected companion. Draped over her back you could be forgiven for thinking she was merely sleeping - however, the tear stains around her eyes told a different story. As she began to make her way back towards the forest entrance, Twilight whispered a question to the unconscious pony. “What happened to you?”