//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: New Path, New Friends // Story: The Nightguard: Legacy of Star Swirl the Bearded // by BigKlingy //------------------------------// We had been walking for quite some time, the forest becoming darker with every minute, when I finally felt the urge to ask: “There’s… no chance either of you know how to get to the gates of Tartarus?” “Well…”, Lilly Blossom began “there was this scary story I heard at a slumber party once. It was about three ponies on a journey to Tartarus.” I sensed potential hope, but didn’t hold my breath. “And?” “None of them made it there, though.” “Oh. Thanks, that was very reassuring.” Oh well, I thought. Nothing to do but keep going. I mean, this road was bound to lead somewhere, as long as we keep following it it’s bound to lead us… “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I stopped. Ahead of me was a small clearing of twisted trees… And a fork in the path. Great, just what we needed. “Shh”, I heard Lilly Blossom whisper, “not so loud. Who knows what kinds of creatures inhabit this part of the forest.” “B-b-but” I started, distraught, “wh-what do we do now? Which way leads to Tartarus? We’re stuck!” As I was too busy panicking, it took me a while to notice the third member of our company was… humming? I thought I was hearing things at first, but when I looked up, I saw her. Bumblesweet was almost prancing through the clearing, sniffing the flowers along its edges. She seemed to be enjoying herself, but I felt the need to remind her now clearly wasn’t the time. “Come on dear, you shouldn’t be so stressed”, was her response. “It’s important one take time out to relax, stop and smell the flowers.” For a moment, I could hardly believe this was the same overworking pony I’d seen earlier that night. And she chooses now of all times to take a break? Just my luck, I thought. But the whole time, Bumblesweet kept mumbling to herself, as if she was deep in thought. “Hmm… Thimbleberry… usually grows on trails or at the edge of forests. Well, we’re certainly not near the edge, and we already know we’re on a trail. Nothing new there… Wait… is that, Bleeding Heart? Relatively rare, incredibly fragile, dies quickly if trodden on. This concentration would mean… ponies don’t often venture into this part of the woods. Great, another fact we already know…” Her mood had changed; she was now pacing up and down by the forked trail, and looked more frustrated than relaxed. Could she be trying to… “Mmm… hmmm… sniff… sniff… there’s a subtle difference in the scents of the flowers here, but I can’t quite put my hoof on it.” At this, she turned to face us and triumphantly declared: “I need a second opinion!” She then made a… noise that… I’m sorry, but I just can’t describe it in words. I’ve never heard such a sound come from a pony’s mouth. Or was it her mouth. It did sound kind of nasal… ugh, I’m getting headaches just thinking about it. But before I could even think ‘how the hay does she even make that sound?’, the clearing was filled with another. But this one’s nature was more obvious. It was a swarm of bees. It must have only been a few seconds, but in that moment I saw the cloud envelop Bumblesweet, who seemed to whisper something to them. At that, the cloud divided itself in two, each half flying down one of the road’s branches. More seconds passed, and each returned. “Aaah, I see. Thank you, dearies.” she said, and dismissed them with a casual wave of her hoof. “Bumblesweet?”, asked Lilly Blossom, “did you… find anything out?” “My friends say”, she began, “the flowers on the left branch feel… sorrowful, cold, lonely. The others… show signs of being near water. I’m no expert, but I have a hunch the former is our path to Tartarus.” I stood in stunned silence for a few minutes. “Wow. That was… wow. I’m… glad you’re with us.” “Oh don’t thank me, dear, thank my little friends.”, was her reply. As we set off down the left branch of the path, I wondered to myself. Sometimes a pony’s talents can prove useful in the most unlikely of situations. ***************************************************************************************************************************************************** Onward down the path we went, desperately hoping we were actually getting somewhere. Before long, we did… The sea of trees had parted, and we stood in another clearing. Though this one was far larger, in fact, I wondered for a moment if we had actually left the forest. The ground was cold, hard and grey, and an eerie silence hung in the air. All around stood a maze of stone walls, clearly remnants of… something that once stood here. Was this an ancient city that time had long forgotten? I’d heard of ruins within the Everfree Forest, but I never would have imagined them being on this scale. But my sense of wonderment soon gave way to more important manners. “So”, I asked, “which way now?” Bumblesweet answered surprisingly quickly. “Well, my bee friends told me the scent continues in… this direction.” She pointed her hoof to the west. Funny, when I squinted, I could have sworn I saw a chasm over there… “Eep, a giant chasm!”, yelled Lilly Blossom as we arrived. I sighed. Must this forest throw every foreseeable obstacle at us? Apart from a strange iron pillar, our side was bare, not a bridge in sight. “Whatever shall we do?”, said Bumblesweet, “You know Star Swirl and I can’t fly.” I had one idea, but I could already tell it was doomed to failure… “Lilly Blossom, you couldn’t…” As I predicted, shot down immediately. “Oh no! Even empty crates are a struggle for Lilly Blossom to carry. She could never support our weight.” “It’s true”, Lilly Blossom replied, “I think I have freakishly light bones or something. Of course, it helps my dancing, but…” Knowing this had the potential to go on for a while, I intervened. “Okay, scratch that. Anypony else have any bright ideas?” “Well, you might wanna check that console there, for starters.” That voice belonged to neither me nor my two companions. But I recognised it… I had heard it earlier that night. The lemon-coated unicorm mare trotted towards me and said. “It’s Electric Sky, by the way.” “W-w-what?” utterly flummoxed, my voice could barely manage a whimper. “My name. You asked me before, remember. Or is your head still hurting from our little ‘meeting’.” “W-w-what? H-h-how? W-w-why?” Seeing me looking as if I was petrified, my new friends came to my rescue. “Star Swirl, dear, is this mare a friend of yours?” “NO!”, I suddenly exploded. “Sorry, I mean, we just met earlier tonight.”, I turned back to the unicorn, “So… how did you…? She stared for a moment, her eyes giving that distinct “I am just about to be brilliant” look. “You might wanna sit down, this is going to take a while.” She took a deep breath. So did we. “The moment I bumped into you, I noticed you were in a hurry to leave. The natural conclusion being you had to be somewhere that night. Judging by the direction you kept glancing in, it was obvious you were headed to the Everfree Forest. But why would somepony go there at this time of night? Perhaps you were meeting with somepony, in secret, I thought, though it was only a hypothesis. But suddenly, I remembered, I had evidence that not only confirmed it, but revealed to me the very identity of who you were meeting! I love being efficient! Ahem, anyway, what I had noticed was the tiny smear of red wax on your lips. Clearly from the seal on an envelope. But I knew I had seen that wax before… I pondered long, for about a whole minute, before, eureka! There it was, the Royal Canterlot Seal!” She stopped. My brain seemed to be running on overdrive keeping up with that, but it suddenly screeched to a halt. “And… that proves?” She gave me that very same, ‘isn’t it obvious’ look I was starting to grow tired of. “Don’t you see! That narrows it down to only one possibility. You see, Princess Celestia hasn’t used the Royal Canterlot Seal in over a thousand years! She moved to abolish formalities a long time ago. So who, then, would use it? It’s simple: a royal who’s been absent from society for exactly that length of time! PRINCESS LUNA! And with that, I had it! You were going to the Everfree Forest to meet Princess Luna. Knowing that, the meeting location naturally followed: Nightmare Moon’s keep. And I just happened to know the way there so… here I am!” Silence fell for what felt like an hour. But one mystery still remained. “Wait”, I asked, “then how did you find us here? It’s been ages since we left the keep.” “Oh, that. It’s simple, really.” I braced myself for another barrage… “I followed your hoofprints.” “Oh, right. That was obvious. So…” I knew this situation was… surreal, to put it mildly, but I thought I may as well make the most of it. “You said you could help us?” “Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” She put on the goggles hanging around her neck and galloped towards the metal pillar with barely controlled glee. “Right, let’s see what we have here… Oh wow, just look at you! My my, you have seen better days, haven’t you? Shh, everything’s going to be alright now, you’re in good hands. Yes you are…” Bumblesweet turned to me and whispered “is it just me, or is she talking to a machine?” The yellow unicorn didn’t take any notice. She was clearly busy. After a few minutes, she managed to drag her head away from the device for a moment to give us the info. “Yeah, I see what your problem is. What you’ve got here is ancient unicorn tech. Standard four gear system, I recon I can fix this.”, her gaze had left us again, “All it takes is a little magic… And a drop of oil. OIL!” The three of us jumped with a start. That shout was almost on the level of Luna’s Royal Centerlot Voice. Almost. After a few seconds of silence, she turned towards us again. “Oh, sorry. I’m not used to… not having my lab assistants around.” Lab assistants? Just what kind of work did she do? “Could one of you please get the oil from my saddle bags? It should be in the small glass vial.” Lilly Blossom had already volunteered herself, and produced just such a vial. “Is this the one?”, she asked. Electric Sky turned again. “Woah, no! Not that one, that’s my stash of dragon perspiration.” And at that, the pegasus let out a squeal and dropped the bottle. The unicorn eyes widened in panic for a second as she magically snatched it out of the air. “Hey, hey, hey! You wanna burn the whole forest down! Be careful with that!” She took off her saddle bag, clearly she’s realised it would be safer to fetch the oil herself. As she tinkered with the rusted gears, I felt another pressing question I needed to ask, though I felt I would regret it. “If you don’t mind me asking, why exactly are you carrying a vial of… dragon sweat.” She turned again, obviously annoyed this time. “Let’s just hope”, she said, “you never have to find out. Aha!” Her attention shifted and there was an audible ‘clunk’. “There we go! All better now.” “Again, excuse me for asking”, I began, “but how exactly is fixing this… thing going to solve our problems?” She ignored me. “Sometimes all it takes…” she placed her horn in a small cavity at the top of the machine, “Is a little spark.” A flash of blue leapt from its tip, and light soon danced about the machine. The gears whirred to life, and the trio of glass globes at its top (which I had noticed resembled the devices depicted on the mare’s Cutie Mark) flicked for a second, then began to glow. The noise grew louder and louder until… Nothing. “Well, that was anticlima…” “Shh!” Electric Sky silenced Lilly Blossom and prodded a now-glowing red button on the device. The noise continued, then grew louder… and louder… until with was replaced with another, even louder sound. The earth beneath us shook. Lilly Blossom dived behind Bumblesweet. There was a deafening screech of metal, and… The next we knew, there stood a bridge before us, ready to cross. “Wow, that was… thank you.”, I said, still a little overwhelmed by all this. “But, why are you helping us?” “Well, if you really wanna know”, she replied, “your situation… intrigued me. I understood the who and what, but as for the why… my curiosity got the better of me. But hey, it’s a good thing it did! Whatever you’re all doing, you wouldn’t have been able to do without me. Maybe it was fate that I bumped into you tonight, Star Swirl. What do you say? Mind if I join your little party?” I wasn’t sure what to say. An extra hoof would be useful, but then again, it was another life I was placing in danger. “Well… I…” But somepony else answered for me. “Ooh! A new friend! Great! I’m Lilly Blossom, and this is Bumblesweet…” “Delighted to meet you.”, Bumblesweet added. “Great!”, replied Electric Sky, enthused, but her mood changed the moment Lilly Blossom offered her a hoof-shake. “Woah, mind the hoof, delicate equipment, you see.” “Wait a minute”, I butted in, “you don’t even know where we’re going yet…”, I trailed off for a moment as I realized, “you already know, don’t you?” Electric Sky glanced back at me. “I think I’m well on my way to finding out. I don’t really mind where, actually. As long as it doesn’t involve water. Water and this thing”, she lifted the same foreleg from before, “don’t mix, you know what I mean?” I reassured her that we weren’t. To my knowledge. We were about to set off once again, when our newest addition stopped. “Oh shoot! I just remembered I left something important back at Canterlot. Would there be any time for me to go back…” “No”, I said, “we can’t turn back, not this far in. And going back to Canterlot would take days.” “B-but it’s…” “We can’t. We have to move on.” Electric Sky sighed and followed after us. ************************************************************************************************************************************************* “That’s amazing! I had no idea ovens worked like that! I always assumed it was just magic.” “Well, technically speaking that’s all it is. The Gem Circuits are just there to focus and amplify its power.” “And you actually invented those?” “Oh no, they’ve been in use for a long, long time. But I did have a hoof in the new systems. I can’t believe nopony before me realized using Sapphire-Sapphire-Ruby-Emerald-Garnet-Amethyst instead of Emerald-Ruby-Sapphire-Amethyst-Sapphire-Garnet cuts down energy wastage by 2% and gives you a little more power to boot.” “Is 2% really that big a change? I mean, it’d look a lot more impressive with an extra zero…” “Of course it is! That equates to a full weeks worth of extra time before you need to recharge. For non-unicorn families who have to get others in to do the top up, that’s pretty significant.” “But everypony I know uses that new oven. My word dear, the royalties you must be getting…” “Come on, you think I could demand payment for such a tiny tweak? Knowing my ideas are making life easier for all those ponies is reward enough.” “But you did say you lived in Canterlot, right?” “What, you think everypony there has to be filthy rich?” “Since when were we talking about Diamond Tiara’s father?” “Since when do you know Diamond Tiara’s father, Lilly Blossom?” “Oh, I heard about him the day I came to the school to help you with your beekeeping talk, remember?” “Hey, ah, Lilly Blossom, was it? Speaking of the school, has anyone noticed that, if you ignore her colouring, Bumblesweet looks almost exactly like Che…” “Oh it’s been remarked upon. She doesn’t talk much about it, but apparently they’re distantly related. Very distantly. Come to think of it, I’ve had cases of mistaken identity too. There was this one time when I wore my mane short, and this delivery pony came up to me and yelled about me dropping a shipment of anvils or something. But then he took one look at my eyes, realized he had the wrong pony and apologised. It was… weird.” “I know exactly how you feel. You see there’s this fiddle-playing pony who’s got my exact mane and coat colouring. Course’ she’s an Apple so I’m pretty sure we’re not related, else I would’ve been invited to their reunions.” “Oh so that’s it! I knew you reminded me of somepony! But I’m well acquainted with her and I can tell you…” “Girls”, I reminded them all, “I know you’ve got a lot to talk about, but remember we’re on a mission here.” We’d got to talking ever since the four of us crossed that bridge. It was almost like we were old friends already. But beneath the aura of friendliness, I could sense everypony’s anxiety. Perhaps this conversation was a way of taking our minds off things. The path had become oddly less twisted at this point, so I guessed now was the perfect time. But I wondered what we would all do if we ran into an Ursa, or a Manticore, or a… “La la la la…” Singing pony? “La la la la la…” “Hey, girls”, I stopped then, but remembered to keep my voice down, “do you hear that?” “All the roads we have travelled…” “Yeah, I hear it”, confirmed Electric Sky. “It sounds like… another pony?” said Lilly Blossom. “Right, but one this deep in the forest, let alone a singing one, is a near impossibility.” stated the unicorn with the air of a true scientist. “Our true hearts they unravel…” Whoever it was sounded female, and upon listening closer each line they sang seemed to be punctuated by quill strokes on paper. There looked to be a clearing up ahead, perhaps this was where the sound was coming from. We entered and… “Ah, dears, it looks to me like there’s nopony here.” “Oh my… it’s true then, these woods are haunted!” Lilly Blossom looked around desperately for somewhere to hide. “Relax Lilly, everypony knows ghosts are, logically speaking…” A black shadow darted over us. “Eep!” “Ah Cosmos, must you always mock me so?”, said Electric Sky, her voice simply dripping with sarcasm the likes of which I’d never heard. “La la la la…” “Oh merciful Celestia, it’s still singing!” “Now now Lilly Blossom, you know it’s rude to call somepony ‘it’.”, lectured Bumblesweet. “B-but it’s not a somepony! It’s… it’s… ahhh! I heard there are these evil spirits that use song to steal the souls of unsuspecting ponies! So it must be one of… eep! I’m still doing it! Oh great soul-sucking spirit, please forgive my rudeness. Surely we can work this out without… somepony… losing their… soul…” It was clear to me Lilly Blossom either had a very overactive imagination or read one too many horror stories as a filly. But even I couldn’t deny the creepiness of the situation. Something in that singing voice was a little too happy… The shadow darted again. “And new friends we will find… WOAH! Talk about a freaky coincidence!” “W-what was that?”, I whispered. “Hey, up here!” Suddenly I felt like a total idiot. Why hadn’t it occurred to any of us to look up? Well, we soon did and sure enough, there was our ‘guest’. It was a pegasus mare, her coat a muted green colour, like dried leaves. Her mane and tail were short but curled, not to mention very unkempt, almost as if she hadn’t washed in days. And her cutie mark… I couldn’t get a good look, but it seemed like a…square of parchment marked with a cross, a quill imposed over the top. Looking again, I noticed that also described what she was carrying: except that the parchment in her hooves was absolutely massive. Though it seemed she could still see us just fine. “Helooooooo? Why are you all spaced out like that? Haven’t you ever seen a pegasus before? Oh, that can’t be it, there’s one right there with you. Silly me. Okay, so why are you acting so weird then?” “We’re sorry, we thought you were a soul-s…” Bumblesweet thankfully stopped Lilly Blossom’s mouth with her hoof. “We mean, we’ve been walking in the forest for Celestia knows how long, and we’re keeping on the lookout for monsters. Sorry, it’s just not every day you see another pony this deep in the woods.” “I believe that’s my line”, said the pegasus. “Just what are you ponies doing here? The map says you’d have to be pretty crazy to go this way.” “What map?”, I asked. “Why… this map of course!”, the pegasus thrusting her parchment in my face caught me off guard, to say the least. “See, look.”, she pointed out an area that looked remarkably like the clearing we were in. “Three skulls. Three. Skulls. And you know what that means… oh, of course, you don’t know. Sorry, sometimes I forget I haven’t published my maps yet.” This night just kept getting stranger and stranger. “Uhh… excuse me if I seem rude but… just who are you?”, I asked. “Ooooooooh! Sorry, sorry. Introduction time~!”, she said almost in sing-song. “I’m Levee Scales, pegasus cartographer nonpareil!” “Non-par what?” “Nonpareil! That’s exactly the reason… ARRRGH! Great, now they’re rubbing off on me. I’d heard of their reputation, really, I just… I needed ink, and they happened to be selling it and their song was so catchy I just… couldn’t help myself. They said it was the very kind Celestia used, how was I supposed to know it would vanish after a few hours, don’t judge me, okay!!!” Everypony in the clearing went quiet. Clearly nopony was judging her for something that made absolutely no sense to them. I sighed, why were we becoming a magnet for eccentric ponies? “Um, heloooooooo~? You gals didn’t answer my question! What are you…” “You first”, Electric Sky butted in, bluntly. “Apologies, but we’re gonna need to know if we can trust you before we tell you why we’re here. That okay?” “Didn’t I just tell you? I’m a cartographer. It’s my job to map out every corner of Equestria! Actually it’s more of a hobby. Though I don’t really have a job anyhow, and some publications do pay me so technically…” I had to stop her again. “Let me get this straight: you’re mapping out the Everfree Forest.” “Yeah.” “At this time of night.” “Yeah.” “In an area you yourself have marked as dangerous.” “I don’t see where you’re going with this.” I couldn’t take it anymore. I exploded. “ARE YOU INSANE!!!!!” The pegasus chuckled. “Well duh! I gave up my sanity looooooong ago when I mapped out the entire San Palomino Desert.” Oh great, I thought, a pony who willingly admits to being insane. Just what we needed. “I like her, she seems nice.”, said Lilly Blossom. “Could I see that map for a second?”, Electric Sky had already began to ask. “Sure.”, replied the clearly eccentric Pegasus. The parchment was so huge the yellow unicorn had to spread it on the ground just to get a good look. She mused to herself as her eyes darted back and fourth across its length. “I… I don’t believe this. This is… this is… SHEER GENIUS! Look here: here’s the ruins we just passed. She’s got the exact number of buildings down, in their exact orientations. She’s marked every type of tree individually. She’s indicated which bridges are intact and which aren’t. And it’s all to scale? Not even my design sketches can measure up to this! How do you do this?” “Aww, it’s nothing, really. Everypony’s got their special talent, right?”, was the mapmaker’s response. Electric Sky smiled, and her horn gave off a brief glow. “Everypony, huddle, now.” Bumblesweet and Lilly Blossom immediately complied. I was somewhat more reluctant, as I had an idea of what was coming. “I’ll just put this briefly: we need her.” “B-but Electric Sky”, I began, “are you sure that’s a good…” “I agree”, said Bumblesweet, “a map would be a most useful thing to have right now. We won’t always be able to rely on my friends for navigation.” “And she really does seem very nice.”, added Lilly Blossom. I admit, they did have a point. That map would certainly be useful. But I worried having a… personality like this around might complicate things. Then again, we already had a workaholic beekeeper, a totally-not-ninja and a borderline mad scientist with us. And I, being a descendant of an all-powerful sorcerer on a quest to undo a centuries-old curse, was hardly one to talk. We all turned to our soon-to-be new companion. “After much deliberation, we have decided… to offer you to join us.” “Umm… yay, I guess. But you still haven’t told me…” “Where are the gates of Tartarus on this map?” “Lilly Blossom!”, scolded Bumblesweet. “Wait… don’t tell me… you’re going there?”, said Levee. “That… that’s, INSANE…ly awesome! You see, that’s the one part of the forest I haven’t mapped out yet!” “Sooooo, your map isn’t going to help us?”, I said, disheartened. “Weeeeeeel~, that depends on your definition of ‘help’.”, she replied. “My map won’t help you know where you want to go, but it makes it pretty clear where you don’t want to go.” “Come again?” Why did I feel like everypony I met tonight operated on their own unique brand of logic? “Look at it this way: if you’re going to the one area I haven’t mapped out… than you obviously don’t want to go here. Or here. Or here or here or here or basically, anywhere I’ve drawn on. Which just leaves…” “North!” Electric Sky was still studying the map. “Of course, that makes sense. Wait…”, her gaze was drawn to something else. “What exactly does this skull mean?” “Oh, that. That’s just a little system I devised. Now where’s my legend…”, she rummaged in a saddle bag, and eventually drew out a small scroll, which she unfurled. “Ah, here it is.” She cleared her throat and recited, again in sing-song: “Danger: extreme risk of serious injury and/or death.” “And,” Electric Sky added, “what do two skulls mean?” “Same thing, just without the ‘or’.” “Three skulls?” “Same again, but drop the ‘or’ and add the word ‘painful’ before ‘death’.” I gave the map another look. I noticed there were areas marked with as many as five skulls, but I thought it wise not to even ask about that. “Well then, if we know where we’re headed, shall we get a move on.”, Bumblesweet said with a hint of urgency in her voice. “Yes, let’s.”, said Lilly Blossom in agreement. “Hey Levee, you could fly alongside me. It’s been ages since I’ve talked to another pegasus.” “Thanks, but I prefer to fly above the trees, I can survey the area better from there. I’m still mapping this place, you know. But we can still talk, I might have to shout back, but I can hear you from up here.” And with that, our new ally started singing again. “On this road that will lead us… To the gates of Tartarus…” Electric Sky suddenly stopped her. “Okay, I know you have to make liberties sometimes to fit the rhythm of the song but, that’s not how you pronounce Tartarus.” “Really?”, Lilly Blossom joined in the conversation, “I’ve always said it that way: Tar-TAR-us. Yeah, that sounds right to me.” “No no no! Clearly it’s Tart-uh-ros.” “Look dears, I don’t want to be one to escalate an argument”, added Bumblesweet, “but I have to side with Miss Sky here.” I groaned. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. “Who care’s how it’s pronounced, what’s important is how many skulls I give it!” **************************************************************************************************************************************************** The night seemed to be going on forever. By now I was getting tired, and my legs felt heavy. I looked back at my quickly growing party to see how they were doing. Lilly Blossom seemed fine, still chatting away to her fellow pegasus above. So did Bumblesweet, but then again, she was used to pulling night shifts. I could see tiredness in Electric Sky’s face, but it certainly didn’t show in her legs, in fact it was almost as if that right foreleg didn’t even get tired. I reminded myself to ask her for the full story on that later. As for Levee, she was… acting normally. By her standards. She was still singing (I was amazed it hadn’t attracted any monsters so far), stopping mid verse to yell out directions. At least she seemed to know what she was doing, none could fault her mapmaking skill. We continued on for a while longer, and I could tell most of us were having a very hard time fighting our urge to ask ‘are we there yet?’ Just as I was about to recommend a quick snack break, our ‘eye in the sky’ said something… I wasn’t expecting. “Dragon!” “W-what?” “Oh wait, false alarm. That’s not a dragon. Silly me. It’s just a very green pony.” “Oh, right, that’s more…WHAT??” “Oh, look! Now the trees are swaying! Wait a minute… if there’s no wind at the moment, that means… Ooooooh! Did I just discover living trees! This is so going in my… Hold on, there could be another explanation. It could just mean something really big is coming through the forest. Personally I like the living trees idea though. I wonder if they talk…” I’d kinda tuned out the moment I heard ‘something really big’. I knew it was a violation of common sense, but I found myself running ahead. Somepony could be in danger. “Hey, wait for us Star Swirl!”, I heard Lilly Blossom yell. Next thing I knew, she was flying beside me… which took me a while to realize seeing as she made almost no noise. What I could hear was the sound of the others galloping to catch up… And a voice, that sounded like a pony. Though this one sounded male… and desperate. “L-l-look… I can explain! Really! W-we can t-talk this over!” The next we heard was a roar. That couldn’t be good. I ran faster. “N-n-n-no this can’t be… P-please! Have mercy! PLEASE!” The trees flashing past me parted, and I sped into the clearing. I immediately noticed an emerald green stallion curled up and shivering at its edge. Next thing I knew, I was standing in front of him, assuming my best imitation of a defensive posture. “Stay back”, I told him, “we’ll handle this.” But there was nothing to handle. Whatever it was that had him so scared had retreated back into the woods the moment we arrived. I was a little relieved; after all, I wouldn’t know what to do in a fight. As the others entered the clearing, I turned to the stallion whose life I had seemingly saved. He recoiled. “Aaaagh! D-d-don’t c-come any closer!”, it seemed his panic hadn’t left. “Relax”, I assured him, “the beast is gone, you’re safe now.” “H-how do I know y-you’re not…” He stopped. All of a sudden, he looked up and scanned me with his eyes. His gaze seemed fixated one one…particular area, and I saw fit to strike him for it, until I realized he was staring at my Cutie Mark. “You… you’re… it can’t be. Good miss, would you kindly inform me of your name?” His first coherent sentence was… certainly not what I was expecting. Not only was his manner of speech incredibly stiff and formal, but the sentence itself was very awkwardly worded. It was almost as if he didn’t speak pony often, but how could that possibly be true… “I’m Star Swirl.”, I answered. “I thought as much. You are the inheritor of the great Star Swirl the Bearded, is that not true?” “’Inheritor’… don’t you mean ‘descendant’… wait, you actually know my ancestor!?” I couldn’t believe it, this was the first time in my entire life somepony outside of my family seemed to recognise my mark, and know of my heritage. But it was strange, this stallion was no unicorn, nor did he seem an avid historian. He was an Earth Pony, as far as I could tell. Just what kind of earth pony would know of the greatest figure in magical history? I was already dying to ask him more. “Hey Star Swil.” I jumped with a start. I had no idea Lilly Blossom was standing right behind me. I was starting to wonder if she really was a ninja. “Who’s the stallion?” “I…” I began, but realised I couldn’t even answer that. I redirected the question. “I… don’t think I know your name.” The stallion seemed to recoil in panic once again. Was it the extra company or… Finally, he spoke. “Em… em…” “I’m sorry”, I said, “I can’t hear you.” “Em… Emerald… Ray…” “Emerald Ray?”, echoed Lilly Blossom. “That’s a very interesting name.” “Oh, umm… and… you… who… are…” The stallion’s voice was unusually quiet for somepony of his size, I’m sure he was trying to say more but those were the only words I could make out. “Sorry”, I said again, “I didn’t quite catch that.” “M-my… apologies. Sincerest apologies. Was I speaking Deer again? Sometimes it just… slips out. I barely even notice. You must… remind me when I do, so I can… correct myself.” “No”, I reassured him, “you weren’t speaking Deer… wait, what??” Come to think of it, I had no idea what Deer sounded like. I wasn’t even aware they had their own language. But why would a pony be speaking Deer anyway? “It’s obvious.”, came Electric Sky’s voice as she joined us. It was almost as if she read my mind. “Pony clearly isn’t your first language, is it?” “N-not… really…” Emerald Ray’s voice seemed to grow softer with every other pony who approached him. “But”, I interjected, “that doesn’t make sense. Look at him, he is a pony. We may have different accents, but we all share the same language. Why would a pony not know how to speak pony?” Electric Sky smiled again. It seemed she already knew the answer. “Well, judging by his meek demeanour and clearly poor communication skills, I’d say he was… actually, no, I won’t. It’s probably a touchy subject for him, best to stay away.” I thought I’d do him and everypony a favour and change the subject. “So, Emerald Ray, what are you doing here so deep in the Everfree Forest?” “Yeah”, came a voice from above. Our eye in the sky had finally decided to join us. “I mean, the areas surrounding here have a grand total of 30 skulls between them. Not the place for a casual moonlight stroll.” “Well, truth be told… I… I am… lost.” I could tell everyone mentally facehoofed at that. Except one… “Wow! Looks like you came to the right pony then!”, our new pegasus friend shoved her map in the stallion’s face. “See ponies, this is why we need maps! Ooooookay… so if we’re…aha! Here… and I presume you want to get out of the forest, right? I mean, it’s not like you came out of Tartarus or anything. Hey, you know we’re going to Tartarus? Personally I think everypony’s crazy, but I’m just in this for my map, so what do I care~! Oh, I got sidetracked, didn’t I? I tend to do that often, just tell me if I’m doing it. Or if I’m annoying you. Am I annoying you? Oops, did it again… ah! There we go. Okay, so if you want to get out of the forest, the quickest way would beeeeeeeee…” She took a deep breath. “Back through the scary trees across the raging river of doom through the cave that may or may not be home to an Ursa down the perilous cliffs over the ravine through the hydra’s bog over the bridge-that-could-fall-down-any-second through the clearing where somepony got murdered past Zecora’s hut across the Poison Joke fields and you’re free!” Levee was panting heavily after all that, though she still seemed cheerful. Of course, our more… pragmatic friend had to butt in here. “Ah, Levee, you wouldn’t happen to know a… better path, would you?” “Well maaaaaaybe~, but this one’s a little dangerous…” We all sighed. I knew I’d hate to be in Emerald Ray’s position right now, but he was taking it surprisingly well. “You all are making a journey to the gates of Tartarus, yes?” I laughed nervously. “Yeah, you got us. My… new allies don’t exactly do a good job of keeping secrets, sorry. But hey, it’s not like you’re interested, right?” I really shouldn’t have said that. “Actually…” Lilly Blossom had already jumped to conclusions. “Ooh! Another new friend! Isn’t this, like, the best night ever?” “Hey, he never said anything about”, I began to remind her, until the stallion finished my sentence. “How shall I say this… it is… not Tartarus itself that interests me. It is… you, Miss Star Swirl.” “M…me?” “Forgive my rudeness, but I would like… to talk to you for just a moment. I never once thought I would meet the great Star Swirl the Bearded’s legacy. Please, tell me what you know of him. I have a great interest in matters historical.” This was certainly unexpected. Somepony wanting to talk to me, personally? And he knew, he knew who I was. As much as I didn’t want to endanger him, there was no way I was passing up this offer. I’d finally found somepony, besides my mother, who I could talk about my heritage with. “Everypony”, I said, “mind if we take a quick breather? We’re long overdue for a snack break anyway. Let’s all just rest here for the moment.” “Mind if I go off and map some plac…” “No!”, I yelled almost reflexively. “Safety in numbers ponies, we have to stick together.” In truth though, I was afraid Levee’s singing would attract unwanted company. Once I could see her sit down with the others, I turned to the emerald stallion. “Now we can talk. But could we do it… actually, let’s stay with the others, I get the feeling they’re going to need to know this stuff anyway.” “A-as you wish, Miss Star Swirl.” “No need for formality, just call me Star Swirl.”, I told him, but he seemed oddly startled. “F-forgive me, it’s just that nopony has ever said that to me before.” I was intrigued. “Just how many ponies have you met anyway?” “N-not many. They are mostly… scholars and academics.” That probably explained why he knew about my ancestor. And the stiff speech. Growing up around those stuffy Canterlot institutions will do that to you. “So… you know my ancestor?” I tried to begin the conversation the only way I could, though when I heard my voice I could tell I sounded awkward. “Y-yes… I… know of his life… and work…” “Look”, I put the topic on hold for a moment, “you don’t have to be so quiet.” “Oh… f-forgive me. This… is not my strong point.” “Well, it isn’t really mine either”, I confessed. “I know… 150 of his 200 spells, by both name and effect.” I gasped. “Wow, I don’t even know that many! Hey, you know the amniomorphic spell?” “Of course.” “Do you know what it does?”, I eagerly asked. “N…no.” “Well, that makes two of us.” We both laughed. We talked on about… just about everything I knew about my ancestor and my family. And a few things I didn’t. Did you know he practiced pottery? Anyway, we eventually got to the curse. He didn’t know, of course: Luna did tell me that part wasn’t in the history books. I knew it was strange telling something so important to a total stranger but something about him… I just felt could trust him, you know? I couldn’t really explain then, and I still can’t now. But something happened then that made me glad I brought up the topic. “To be honest”, I was saying, “I don’t really know how to go about breaking the curse. Princess Luna told me I needed to find the one who did it, Midnight Lance, I think it was. But what then? I doubt he would just end the curse willingly…” “He can’t.” Emerald Ray’s reply was short and abrupt. “What?” “A curse that powerful… so long lasting… will not just end of its own will.” “Then you mean it’s impossible?” I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I can’t have come so far for nothing. “No, there might be one way.”, he said. “And that is?” “Scholars say a unicorn’s horn is the source of all their powers.” His reply felt a little underwhelming at first. “Well duh! Everypony knows that. Look, see? I don’t have one, and that’s why I’m in this mess.” “I was not finished. Recent findings say that may not be the case. Magic exists, to some extent, within all ponies, even non-unicorns. The horn acts merely as a device through which it is channelled. A connection, in a manner of speaking, between the magic within and the world without.” “Keep talking.” This was getting a little confusing, but I could see it was going somewhere. “And if that connection were to… cease to be, that unicorn’s magic would be totally confined within, as in the case of you, no offence intended. In other words, any magic they wrought on the world would suddenly cease, vanish, fade… am I making myself clear.” “You just said the same thing three times”, I reminded him, “but I think I get it.” “Apologies. Some of your words still confuse me. In brief, what I am trying to say is…” By now, I was able to finish that sentence. “You’re saying if I break his horn, his magic will lose its power?” “In a word… yes. You said it better than I could.” I was afraid it would come to something like this. What was now asked of me wasn’t exactly murder, but it was close. No matter how evil they were, nopony deserved to be permanently crippled like that, to have a part of what made them… them, taken away. Of course there was a twisted irony to this: that’s exactly what he did to me, and my family. Perhaps it was a fitting payback. No. The very thought of it sickened me. ‘A horn for a horn’ is not a philosophy we ponies are comfortable with. A dragon or a gryphon might consider it, but never a pony. (Disclaimer: I am in no way intending to imply dragons or gryphons are inferior species. They just think differently to us, and there’s nothing wrong with that.) But did I even have a choice? Was it my duty to walk the dark path to save my family’s future? Was I willing to sacrifice myself? No, a worse thought hung on my mind: was I willing to sacrifice another? I snapped myself back into reality. That conversation went on longer than I thought it would, and it was about time to get going. Turning around, I saw my allies were talking various steps to alleviate their boredom. Bumblesweet was smelling flowers again, Lilly Blossom seemed to be practicing a dance routine, Electric Sky had a stick and was drawing… what looked like the plans of an airship turbine in the dirt and Levee… seemed to be talking to her quill. I could tell I was never going to understand that one. “Girls!”, I called everypony to order. “Break’s over. We need to get moving.” “We certainly do!”, I heard Electric Sky yell back, “I just realized Canterlot’s airships run 3% slower than Baltimare’s while still using more energy! This is an outrage! Somepony needs to get over there now and tell them.” “I’ll do it!”, replied Levee with enthusiasm. “No, no , no! We need to get going! To Tartarus! You’ll all have plenty of time to do… whatever you need to do… After! We! Get! There!” I realized everypony was staring at me. “Look, there’s no need to shout dear.”, said Bumblesweet. “If there’s anypony who knows how to keep a schedule, it’s me, and I can tell by the moon we are still on schedule. So relax, no need to panic.” I had a sudden flashback to my fillyhood. When the other kids and I all lined up to get some of Bumblesweet’s home-made honey, she was just like this. No matter how loud we got, she never lost her cool, and always managed to calm us down. I had to admit, for a self professed workaholic she had a knack for staying calm even in the most stressful of times. I thanked Celestia we had her with us. “Well then, shall we?”, said Lilly Blossom. “Yipee! Map time again, map time again!” And Levee had already flown ahead. I’d have to gallop to keep up. But first, I turned to the stallion I had just met. “I’m sorry we can’t help you out of the forest, we’re kinda going the other way. Look, just follow those directions and I’m sure…” He stopped me. “No need. I shall accompany you on your… quest.” “Oh no, you really don’t have to…”, I said, but I didn’t mean it. Truth was I’d never found somepony I could talk to like this before, and I didn’t want our time to end. There was so much more we hadn’t spoken about. “Come on”, I spoke my mind this time, “we need to hurry and catch up with the others.” He nodded, and we headed off. Well, he did, because just as we were leaving, Electric Sky stopped me. “Listen, about your new friend, there’s something I need to tell you.” “You’re going to tell me what you found out before, aren’t you?”, I guessed. “You’re getting good at this. Okay… come closer so he doesn’t hear. Difficulty communicating, unfamiliarity with our language, it all points to one thing. Parental abandonment.” When I thought about it for a moment, that did make some kind of sense. It didn’t seem like he’d had much experience socializing. But just what sort of parent would do that to their foal? Whatever childhood he had, it can’t have been good. I must admit I was a little curious about his past. “If you’re getting curious”, said Electric Sky, “don’t. I told you, this is probably a touchy subject for him. You don’t just go up to somepony and say ‘hey, I heard your parents abandoned you!’” “I know, I just…” “But hey”, she abruptly changed the subject, “at least you’ve got somepony to talk to. I haven’t heard a conversation like that in ages. You two should stick together.” She paused for a moment, then dramatically shifted her tone. “Uh-oh! Better get going. We don’t want Levee to get to Tartarus first and start”, she shuddered, “mapping the place.” I agreed, and we both galloped on. But all the while, my thoughts were somewhere else. I kept thinking about the stallion I met, the conversation we had, and what Electric Sky had told me. Emerald Ray… he was certainly somepony I wished to learn more about. *************************************************************************************************************************************************** It seemed like we were passing the same sets of trees and clearings again and again. Levee assured us, though, that we were going the right way. Or at least, we weren’t going the wrong way. Did those mean the same thing? I could never tell with this one… And so, onward we went; Lilly Blossom, Bumblesweet, Electric Sky, Levee Scales, Emerald Ray, and myself. Now, the astute among you will have noticed our company now numbered six, just like the legendary heroes on their quest to defeat Nightmare Moon. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I suppose it was a strange coincidence. Or did Luna plan the whole thing? No, she couldn’t have. Look, just let me get to the next part. We were walking, when Bumblesweet suddenly stopped cold and began sniffing the air. “I can’t… I can’t smell the trees. It’s as if… all the life in them is gone. Could that mean…?” “YES!!”, cried another voice that totally clashed with the first, “We’re cloooose~! Come on, last one to Tartarus is a feather-brain!” “And the first one gets mauled by Cerberus.”, added Electric Sky dryly. “Come on, let’s get after her.” As we did so, I noticed the trees flashing past were changing. Each one seemed to have fewer leaves than the last. Before long, they had become cold, dead, withered. I knew the Everfree Forest was an inhospitable place, at least to us ponies. But this was worse, much worse. I could feel an unsettling chill grip my body. But I had to go on. Soon, the trees parted for what felt like the hundredth time and… What lay before us was a sight none of us would soon forget. It seemed like we’d stepped out into another world. The earth felt cold and desolate, tinged a subtle shade of red. Save for the dead ones behind us, not a single tree could be seen. A thick, gloomy fog hung in the air, we could barely see a few feet in front of our faces. But what was directly ahead of us; that was clear as day. A steep grey cliff face stretched up into the sky, seemingly without end. At its feet was a gaping hole in the earth, within it I could barely make out stairs leading down… down into the depths. The gateway was framed by two ancient-looking stone pillars, each bearing an ethereal blue flame. Three guesses as to where we were. The first two don’t count. An unsettling silence had befallen us. I realized most of my companions had been rendered speechless. And honestly, who wouldn’t be. “Wooooooooow~! This is so cooooool!” Well, her, I guess. Our cartographer friend had already began plotting out the intricate positions of even the tiniest stone in the area. The rest of us let her be for the moment. I trotted towards the hole in the ground and gazed down. Those stairs seemed to go on forever. I gulped, and turned to face the others. I knew this moment was coming, I knew I had to go it alone from here. But somehow, I felt sad. I’d found a group of friends, and now I had to leave them. Even still, I reminded myself, I certainly didn’t want any of them risking Tartarus for me. But why? Why couldn’t I say it? “Listen, girls, I really appreciate your help so far, but from here on, it’s too dangerous. I have to… I have to…” I was mentally kicking myself. Come on, just say it! “Alone… go… must…” “No.” That voice. One of them had stopped me. But I could hardly believe which one. The emerald stallion I had just recently met stepped forward. “Even if the others will not, I shall accompany you.” “B…but Emerald Ray, why?”, I asked. He lowered his head and placed one hoof on his heart, as if in some kind of gesture. Whatever it was, I didn’t’ recognise it. He spoke again. “You… Miss Star Swirl, you saved my life. In my… culture, that is an action not forgotten. My customs decree I owe a dept to you, and I am obliged to honour it.” A dept? Honour? Just what was this culture he came from anyway? It didn’t matter. I got what I wished. I wouldn’t be doing this alone. But it didn’t stop there. “If he’s going, I may as well go too.” Electric Sky had stepped forward to join the two of us. There was another moment of silence, and then… “Count me in.”, said Bumblesweet. “Me too.”, added Lilly Blossom. “You guys…” I was a little overwhelmed at first, and the rational part of my mind demanded I fight back. “But you do realize where we’re going. Tartarus. There’s a very good chance we’ll face horrors in there the likes of which nopony has ever seen.” “Exactly!”, yelled the yellow unicorn, as if that was a good thing. “Who knows what new scientific discoveries await us down there! Why, this’ll do wonders for my research.” “And”, said Bumblesweet, “I could really use a break from work.” “And”, added Lilly Blossom, “I could really use a break from you having to work.” “We are your friends, Star Swirl”, said Emerald Ray, “and we are all with you, to the very…” “Da da da DA da DA da da da dee dee dee DAAAAAAH DA! DA da da da!” The abrupt interrupting jerked our heads violently. It seemed the last member of our party had begun a sort of aerial victory dance. From what I remember, it involved a couple of twirls, a backflip, then a short flight straight upwards with her quill held high above her head. She held the pose for a moment and said: “Everfree Forest map: 100% complete!” We all stared slack-jawed for about a minute. “What? Doesn’t that deserve a victory fanfare?” We were still silent. “Oh and I’m totally in on that Tartarus thing too, just so you know. I couldn’t pass up on an opportunity to map a legendary place like that!” We all laughed, even though we knew she was being perfectly serious. It wasn’t her, really. I guess were all just happy our time together didn’t have to end just yet. Either that or we’d finally snapped. Your guess is as good as mine. “Well then”, I began, “shall we go?” As one, the five ponies behind be replied: “Let’s go.”