So Too, Shall the Sun...
The days crept by, punctuated by visits from the little orange pegasus. I was a tad irritated that she hadn't told anyone about me yet, but I didn't let it show. This little filly just seemed like she might need a friend. During her visits, she would tell me all about a small burg known as Ponyville. She waxed adventurous about her “Crusades” and the exploits of “The most awesomely awesome pegasus since forever!” Her words, not mine. I might have scared her a bit when she mentioned that this 'Rainbow Dash' was the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty. At the mere mention of it, my eyes burned brightly for a moment. She fell off the rock she was using as a seat before calling it a day. It has almost been a week since I last heard from her and I was starting to worry that she might have forgotten about me or I had scared her off.
I awoke from my slumber when something had disturbed my forest. I could feel the familiar energy of the miniscule pegasus, what was her name? Scoolaboo? Scat-A-Shoe? Whatever. Shoo-be-doo was being followed by what felt like an immensely powerful unicorn, one of the most powerful that I had felt since I was bound in cold iron. I smiled inwardly (Kinda hard to smile outwardly when you don’t have much of a mouth) as Shooliefoo and the unicorn were walking along the path the forest made for them and right towards me.
All I have to say about the unicorn as they entered the glade was that she was purple. Dear sweet Yggdrasil, she was really, REALLY purple! Not to mention that she literally radiated magic. It would have been blinding if I wasn’t prepared for it. With this much power, she could easily break my bonds.
“Is this him?” Purple McPurpleyhorn asked Shuttergoo. What? You expect me to care about these ponies enough to remember their names? I have much better things to worry about.
Whooperjew looked up to Madam de Lavender and nodded. “Yeah, Twilight!” I cringed internally. “This is Trent! He might look scary, but he seems really nice!”
Actually, it is pronounced Treant. But I shan’t hold it against thee, Scootaloo. I turned to Twatlot and nodded as gracefully as a tree could. Which is to say, creakily. And who be it thou hast brought before me?
Scootaloo pawed at the grass. “Umm, I may have accidentally mentioned you to Twilight and she wanted to meet you… She gets kinda crazy when she gets a hold of a new thing.” Twilight chuckled nervously and took a step forward.
“Aheh, like Scootaloo said, my name is Twilight Sparkle...” Oh gods, just kill me now. “...and she mentioned that you rescued her when she was lost in the Everfree Forest.” She pulled out a notepad and quill with her magic. I could literally taste the magic coming from her. It felt… familiar. “I hope you don’t mind, but I would like to ask you a few questions.” Yes, I do mind, but it isn’t like I could stop you…
And what, pray tell, would these questions be?
“Well, for starters, I was wondering how old you are?” Of course she would ask my age first. I huffed in response. “Y-you don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to, that is… well…” I simply sighed.
I have been around for a very long time. I still remember the times when the fae creatures of the world danced in the moonlight, singing gay praises of ancient powers. I remember when ponies wandered the open plains under an open sky as one, not the three tribes of today.
“Wait, I thought ancient ponies were always like us. What happened?” Twilight quite rudely interrupted me.
As I was saying, thy ancestors once wandered the plains as nomads, as the Zebra do today. The change occurred when one of them found one of the Fae. ‘Twas a stormy day. the winds howled and the lightning crashed, causing the ponies to seek shelter amongst my forest’s boughs. Even then, the forest was a dark and mysterious place, frightening the ponies. It wasn’t until three youths ventured farther in...
Year 351 of the First Recorded Age
Winterdawn Forest
Stone was afraid. He and his two friends had gotten lost deep in the forest his clan was using for shelter. His friends, Jade and Cold Snap, were both entranced by the snow that seemed to fall constantly in the forest. They were busy making snowballs and tossing them at each other. Stone shivered, not because of the cold, but because he thought he saw something darm move amongst the glow of the moonlight against the snow.
Stone jumped into the air when a rather cold snowball smashed right into his muzzle. “AH! S-stop that! That is cold!” He shivered, this time from the cold.
“Well, it is snow. What did you expect?” Cold Snap chuckled, balling up another snowball.
“A-aren’t you two scared? What about the ghosts?” Stone asked, his eyes darting about in the moonlit darkness. He didn’t see Jade sneak up behind him and place a hoof on his withers. He leapt again, spinning around and snorting wildly.
“J-Jade! Stop that!”
Jade only laughed. “Oh Stone, are you really that superstitious? There are no such things as ghosts!”
“Yeah, Stone! Only foals still believe in ghosts! Or are you a foal?” Snap tossed the snowball at Stone, spreading half-melted snow across his back.
“Come on! This isn’t funny! You guys know the stories. Ponies go into the forests, and they don’t come back out…”
“That is just silly. Ponies don’t disappear…” All three froze in place, slowly turning towards the new voice. They all jumped back from the small, glowing creature. The little, dark green pony had wings like a see-through butterfly and a horn jutting out of its forehead. It was standing on a branch, no bigger than a twig, and smiling at the ponies as they stared.
“G-g-ghost!” Stone exclaimed, scrambling to hide behind Cold Snap. Jade sighed.
“Don’t you think ghosts would be a bit bigger?”
“She is right, you know.” The fairy said, blinking out of existence. “I’m not a ghost. The ghost is behind you…”
The three friends turned slowly, a low moaning coming from behind them. They laid eyes on the spectral form of a headless pony reaching out towards them. Stone tripped over Cold as he stumbled backwards, then Jade tripped over his prone form. They fell in a tangle of limbs and failed to get up in time to prevent the headless ghost from reaching them. The ghost got closer and closer, but before it touched them, it’s head popped out with a giggle.
“Gotcha!” It was then the fairy came back. Both it and the ghost tilted in the air, holding their sides in laughter. Jade was the first to recover.
“That wasn’t very funny… whatever you are.”
“It was to us!” the ghost replied. Jade only glared at them.
“Right, sorry.” The fairy sighed sadly. “There isn’t much fun to be had around here,” the fairy said, his head hung low apologetically.
“So, just what are you?” Jade asked, her friends finally starting to get up out of the snow.
The tiny fairy puffed out his chest. “My name is Forest Breeze, and I am a breezie! Specifically, a faerie.” He pointed to his spectral companion. “And that is actually a ghost. His name is Jimmy.”
“Jimmy?” Cold Snap asked, cocking his head slightly.
“Yeah, long story.” Breeze replied, shrugging his tiny shoulders. “Actually,” Breeze continued after a pregnant pause, “we faeries need your help.”
“Our help?” Stone asked.
“Yes. You see, our magic in this world is slowly dying and we need to leave this world to find more. The problem is that we need to keep a connection to this world, but we can’t without some sort of magic on this side. So, the faeries have decided to gift you ponies with a fragment of our magic to help keep this world saturated in magic while we are gone.”
“But why us? Don’t you think that would be unfair to the rest of the world?” Stone questioned.
“You are too kind for your own good sometimes, Stone.” Cold Snap sighed. “Why shouldn’t we keep the magic? It could help us with the griffon barbarians up north! We could easily protect ourselves then!”
“Well, I guess so.” Stone said thoughtfully. “I guess we could accept your magic. What do you think, Jade?”
Jade turned her head to Stone. “Really? You are asking me? That’s new.” She chuckled. “I think we should take it. Just imagine what ponies could do with it! Nothing would be out of our grasp.”
Breeze grinned. “So, you’ll do it?”
“Yeah, maybe we could make some good with it.” Stone replied with a nod.
“All right! Here we go!” Breeze’s horn began to glow a deep amber, engulfing the three in it’s glow.
”Spirits of the Sky, Spirits of the Land, and Spirits of the Mind; bless these three with the Magic of the Breeze!”
The three friends were lifted into the air, the wind and snow whipping about them in a fierce storm. Their eyes glowed bright, the magic coursing through their veins like fire. There was a flash and a loud pop, the three landing heavily against the snow. The breezie was panting hard, his color a little duller.
Stone was the first to recover this time around, weary, looking around. His eyes fell upon his companions, his eyes opening wide at their new changes. Jade now had an emerald horn protruding from her head. Even from here, Stone could feel the latent magic coming from it in waves. His eyes fell upon Cold Snap and his new, light blue wings. Stone was the only one left physically unchanged, but he could feel an immense strength coming from within him. Looking to his unconscious friends, he could only imagine what the future held in store…
Present Day
Everfree Forest
Twilight sat there with a pile of notes on one side of her. I easily recognized the studious fervor from the last pony who met me. That thirst for knowledge and the truth was truly insatiable. Scootaloo was asleep, curled up beside the lavender mare. I hate to admit it, but the way her ear twitched in her sleep was downright adorable.
“Wow,” Twilight said, the awe was apparent in her voice. “so it was those first three who started the three tribes?” She asked, quill poised to take notes.
Actually, they already belonged to different tribes. Only when they gained their magic did the segregation begin. It was the earth ponies who first settled down, growing crops instead of following the seasons. The pegasi defended them from the early griffons, while the unicorns set up a monarchy to guide them all. They all had separate cultures, but they still convened on important matters.
“Amazing,” Twilight said, “Much of the early history was lost when Discord showed up, so this will do wonders to fill in the gaps for the historians! On the note of Discord, what was that tim--” I cut her off with a ragged cough.
It would be wise to return home before the dark, true? The sun lingereth on the horizon and I shan’t leave here. Go home, rest, and return in the morn. I shall sate thy lust for knowledge as much as I can, but for now, the time is late.
Twilight looked a bit sheepish when she saw that it was indeed getting dark. Scootaloo had school tomorrow and she wouldn’t want her to be too tired to learn! She gathered up her notes and used her magic to place the sleeping filly on her back.
“Thank you. I’ll be sure to return tomorrow!” She turned and left the glade, disappearing from my physical sight. I watched her leave the forest itself and sighed to myself. She had yet to ask about my bindings. I had hoped she would offer to try and break them after befriending her, but she was lost to her notes and my story. Perhaps tomorrow would bring my freedom. After all, I have waited this long, I could wait a few more hours.