Chapter 3
I had been walking for for what I guess-timated was about an hour when I suddenly heard the sound of something very big and very angry roaring. I had never heard anything like it before. The closest thing to it sounded like a mix of a lion and the t-rex from that dinosaur movie that had made a park for prehistoric creatures. Curious (and perhaps stupid), I headed in the direction of the roaring and came near to the edge of the forest. That was when I heard the screaming and ran the rest of the way and out into open light again. And of course, I was blinded by it again and blinked furiously to adjust. When I did, what I saw made my mouth drop. If It had not been attached to my jaw, it would have fallen to the ground. It was a huge, blue green and yellow, four stories tall, and, oh yeah: a frikking Dragon! Fire breathing and all! I froze in place, staring at the monstrosity a few hundred feet away as it chased three small forms. Every few seconds it spewed fire at the figures and they would just barely escape being roasted alive. It was from these three figures that the screaming came from. They sound like people! Maybe they're the locals. I wonder what they did to tick it off? That's when I noticed something rather important: they were heading directly for me.
“Oh Shoo-hoo-hoo-hoot!” I exclaimed loudly and and began running along the treeline away from them. “I should never have left!” Unfortunately, whoever it was that was being chased was, they saw or heard me, and changed their course and made a beeline for me. “NO! Don't follow me! Go the other way!!!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “I don't want to be roasted!”
“Neither do we!” Yelled one of the figures when it became close enough that I could hear their- hoof-steps? I turned my head around and saw that the three figures were very young horses. Well, maybe horses. I suppose that they could have been ponies or that I could have been hallucinating.
The dragon, seeing another figure (me) jetted out another gout of flame. This time I felt the heat and couldn’t help myself and screamed like a little girl. When I finished the pony-things had caught up and ran alongside me. One had a strawberry-colored mane and tail and its body was yellowish like butter. The second was orange, had wings, and a hot pink mane and tail. The third had a white body, a light purple mane and tail, and also had a horn on her head. A Unicorn! I guess I made it and I'm not crazy after all!
The three looked me up and down with curiosity and fear written on their faces.
“What are you?” The yellow-bodied one asked bluntly.
“I'm...a Human.” I answered in between breaths. The three looked at one another.
“Where did you come from?” The orange one asked.
“Another...world!”
“How-” the white one began before I interrupted.
“Can we just...focus on getting away...right now?!” I yelled before lunging back into the forest. The three followed and then outpaced me as the dragon belched up more fire. They quickly disappeared into the forest ahead of me and I was left behind. Hoping the dragon would keep following them I changed my direction at a ninety degree angle and ran to the right Unfortunately the dragon did not realize that I was not who it had been originally chasing and kept following me. “SONAVA!!” I gasped. My legs were tiring again, my lungs felt like they could never be filled, and I was tired already from healing myself back on Earth. What I wouldn't give for a dirt bike! I thought as I hopped a large stone. I briefly considered ditching my pack and water to lighten myself, but decided against it. If I dropped my things I'd probably never find them again.
I was temporarily distracted by the sound of thunder. I looked up, and through a brief gap in the trees I saw thunderclouds moving across the sky. Suddenly having a wild idea, I changed direction at the first sign of the edge of the forest again and headed out into the open. The Dragon dipped its head down to get a better look at me, realized I wasn't what it was chasing, and decided to eat me instead of roast me. It opened its mouth and darted its head forward. I dove to the ground and it missed me by inches. I scrambled out from under its head and got to my feet as it darted its hot wet and barbed tongue at me. I managed to break into a sprint (though where I got the energy to do so I'll never know) and headed for the thunderclouds. Again, thunder boomed, and this time lightning stabbed towards the ground. The dragon hesitated, and that gave me the edge I needed.
“Heed my call! Lightning! FALL!” I shouted at the cloud and spun to face the Dragon, open hand raised to the sky, and the hand holding the horn aimed at the Dragon. The horn's cracks glowed and light shone from them like a flash-bang grenade exploding in slow motion. When the bolt of lightning that lanced down from the cloud struck my outstretched arm I felt as if I had licked a car battery. I smelled something burning (probably me) and spots filled my vision. My body felt as if it were going to explode and my body began to convulse. Somehow I still managed to keep the image of the lightning bolt jumping from me to the Dragon, and like a huge Tesla bolt the lightning slammed into it. The Dragon roared in shock, anger and pain. The monster convulsed, its eyes charred and turned black, steam poured out of every opening in its head and both its tail and lower legs tore great rents in the ground around and beneath it. Boiling saliva foamed at the corners of its mouth while it roared and then screamed.
The bolt of lightning spent, as well as the last of my own strength, I didn't see whether or not I successfully slew the dragon. Mind numbed, I turned a dulled gaze on the horn. More cracks formed on and in it and the glow faded. Then it just fell apart like an old cobweb. As the dust fell from my hand, I could have sworn I saw the figure of a Unicorn take shape for half a second, but that could just have been my imagination. My vision shifted. Or rather dropped lower as I collapsed to the ground. My vision blurred, and then darkened to black. My horn is gone, my strength is gone, and I have no idea where I am. Mom, Dad, I'm sorry.
__ __ __ __ __
Not far from where Jacob fell after killing the dragon, A rainbow maned and tailed Pegasus and her two helpers that were assisting with the moving of the thunderstorm away from their home stared at the scene before them.
They had been minding their own business when they first saw the dragon chasing something on the ground through the Everfree Forest, but there was no way to know what it was until it ran out of the trees and headed right for them. Not that they knew what it was even after it was visible. Nearly everything they'd encountered in their world possessed four legs unless some injury caused the loss of a limb.
“Rainbow Dash, do you think we should help whatever that two-legged thing is escape?” One of the flying ponies asked the rainbow maned and tailed Pegasus. Rainbow Dash never had the chance to answer. From the ground, they heard one of the two figures yell:
“Heed my call! Lightning! FALL!”
Their thundercloud, without warning discharged a bolt of lightning at the smaller creature. The creature caught it and hurled it at the Dragon pursuing it. The dragon roared twice in pain, then fell over backwards. A few seconds later, the smaller creature also collapsed.
“Do you think they're both dead?” the same Pegasus asked.
“Only one way to find out!” Rainbow Dash declared before flying down to the two fallen figures.
She landed with a thud on the grass and approached first the Dragon to ensure that it was in fact dead. It smelled...well, like a dragon which had been struck by lightning. It did not seem to be breathing, so she trotted over to the two legged creature. He looked strange. It had almost no hair and was a little over six feet long from head to- whatever its walking parts were called. Its skin was almost white, and wore several articles of clothing that were torn in places (Probably from it running through the forest.) as well as a bag of some kind on its back and footwear that said very plainly that this thing did not have hooves. What hair it did possess on its head of brown. It also had another set of limbs close to its head with appendages on the ends that looked like like they'd be good for picking objects up.
Rainbow Dash lowered her head down to the creature's chest and listened for a heartbeat. She found one, but it was odd. It would beat rapidly for a few seconds, then slow to almost nothing for the next few, then stop and start up again. Rainbow Dash raised her head up from the creature and flew up to her companions.
“The Dragon is dead, but the other thing is still alive. For now, anyway, his heartbeat isn't normal. I think we should get him to an infirmary as quickly as possible!” The other Pegasi looked at each other and then back at Rainbow Dash.
“But what about the storm cloud?”
“We should have pushed it out far enough that it won't be a problem now. Come on, I don't know how heavy it is. I might need help!” The two hesitated for another few seconds, but then nodded and followed Rainbow Dash back to the ground.
Elsewhere the three ponies that Jacob met directly had made their way back to their town safely.
“Well girls, I guess we aren't treasure hunters!” the yellow one stated.
“Nope.” The orange one agreed “And we aren't Dragon tamers either!”
“Maybe we're discoverers of new life?” The white one suggested. The three of them looked back at their flanks and sighed. Still blank.
“Oh my gosh!” the orange one exclaimed, remembering the two-leg. “I hope that Hu-hu-”
“Human.” The white one finished.
“Thanks. I hope that Human got away! He did lead it away from us, after all!”
“Maybe our cutie marks are related to us getting into trouble and others taking the heat for it.” The yellow one said quietly, her eyes downcast. “It seems like every time we get into a mess someone else needs to come to our rescue. Maybe...maybe this time it carried too far.” The other two stared at her, horror written on their faces as their imaginations painted several grizzly fates for the two-leg.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The first of my senses to return to me since I passed out was feeling. I felt...warm. Warm, and the most relaxed that I had ever felt in my life. It was very nice. Save one problem: I had to use the bathroom. The next sense to return was hearing. I could hear wind blowing through the room from somewhere. Probably a window. I opened my eyes to- nothing. Wherever I was (if I wasn't blind) the room was pitch-black. I flexed my fingers. They were stiff. I then began trying each of my limbs. Right arm. Left arm. Left leg. Right leg. Toes. They all worked, but they were all also stiff. But that was fine.
I felt the surface beneath me. Soft. Smooth. The surface was constant and felt artificial. Cloth? But I was lying on grass before, wasn't I? I felt next to my head. What I touched gave way with some pressure, and then rose again when I relaxed pressure. I explored a bit more and found it to be a pillow. Not just the 'stuff something under your head' type pillow. A full blown, feather-stuffed pillow. (I knew it had feathers stuffing it because I pulled one that was poking through a little out of the pillowcase.) So I'm on a bed. Maybe that was all just a weird dream. It wouldn't be the first time I could swear a dream was actually happening. Still, if it's a dream, why do I feel stiff everywhere? Either way, I need to pee. I sat up, turned my body so that my legs would hand over the edge of the bed, and found that they reached the floor. And that floor was freaking cold!
“Yeek!” I lifted my feet back up even though I was only prolonging the inevitable if I wanted to stand up again. Slowly, I lowered my feet again and once again suffered a chill to my feet. Though without 'yeek' ing.
Unfortunately I was apparently louder than I thought I was, and a light from the next room switched on. I looked around, hoping for someplace to hide. I saw nothing close by, so instead I did the only thing I could think of and I got back on the bed and laid still. Rather than footsteps I head what sounded like an equine entering the room. Sure enough, a few seconds later a white pony with the red cross symbol tattooed or maybe dyed on her flank came into view and approached the bed. I said nothing and pretended to be asleep.
“Nightmares again, sleeper?” the voice of a woman asked. “What could you have seen, I wonder, before that dragon chased you that could make you cry out in your sleep four times in one night?” The pony shook her head, then backed out of the room and shut the door and turned the light out. I waited a few minutes, then sat up again and got out of the bed. I lost my balance for a bit and nearly fell, but grabbed the side of the bed and managed not to fall. I lowered myself to the floor so I would not fall again, and began to explore.
When the pony-lady had turned on the light I had seen a pile of clothing and a backpack. I assumed it had to be mine and decided to recover it as the only thing I was wearing were my black boxers and some bandages that wrapped around both of my arms and part of my chest and I had no intention of going outside when it was still cold out. With little difficulty I gathered my belongings and got dressed. Now I just needed find the window. If there really was one. There was always the door the pony had come in through, but the risk of being caught was too much. Most equines were stronger than Humans. If I had to fight my way free after having been struck by lightning, it would probably be a very short fight, and I'd only succeed in hurting myself.
For some reason it suddenly became a little brighter in the room. Then I saw the reason: moonlight. A cloud must have been covering it for the time that it was dark, but now being able seeing where to go was a different story.
There were several windows but most of them had beds or various pieces of equipment blocking access to them. There was one, however, on the other side of the room. Moving as quietly as possible, I crossed the room to the window and stuck my arm through it. As I expected there was a insect screen, but that would probably not be a problem. What would be were the bars on the other side. Apparently they'd had issues with patients escaping before.
“Well, crap.” I muttered and backed away from the window. This window being barred probably meant the others were too. Which left only the door unless I wanted to announce that I was awake. Which might do that anyway. But what other choice is there? I don't know if I can trust the locals. Those young ones didn't know what I was, but that does not mean that someone else won't. If someone does know about Humans, they might also know why the connection between our world was severed and won't be so friendly. The door it is. But first I need to pee. Feeling embarrassed I urinated out of the window, then turned back to the door. The door had been shut, but it was not locked. This was not very surprising given that there was no doorknob. There was a simple metal latch like on a fence's gate, but both it and the hinges were well oiled and did not squeak at all when I opened them.
The floor outside of the- whatever-it-was-called room that I had been placed in was (thankfully) much warmer. The air wasn't much better, though. As for the lighting, it was still dim, but at least I could still see enough that I'd not crash into anything. Not that there was much to crash into. There was one couch, a desk that I assumed was for a receptionist, a small round table with a potted plant on top of it, a sign hanging from the ceiling (that was probably high for the locals, but I'd slap my face into it if I didn't duck or hold it up with a hand) and lastly, a staircase that went both up and down, which at the moment did not interest me. The walls were white- Typical hospital-place. Always the ever-present and boring white. and the floor was tiled robin egg blue. The windows here were not barred, but there was no need for windows when door was practically right in front of me.
I approached the door and tried to open it. Click.
“Locked. Of course its locked. It's night time here now. Which explains why I'm wide awake. Our times of day must be opposite here.” Which left me with three options: I could go back to bed, or go upstairs, or downstairs. I chose to go downstairs.
It grew very cool very quickly as I descended into the basement. There were six long steps down, then a turn-around, and then six more long steps. At the landing there were four slippers. For whoever that was upstairs. Burr! It's freezing down here! Why? Are they storing dead bodies down- Indeed they were. On all the walls were the familiar (from TV shows, that is) metal doors with the simple latch with paper tags stating names, age, and race. Most of these has no tag and were probably empty. A handful did have tags, and curious, I approached the 'meat lockers' and read the information on them. The first was labeled: Earth Pony. Male. Kite Bolt. Thirteen.
The second read: Earth Pony. Female. Umbra Oldblood. Twenty nine.
The third read: Pegasus. Female. Name Unknown. Fifteen.
The last read: Unicorn. Male. Name Unknown. Seventeen.
There was a side note paper clipped to the tag. It read that he had died as a result of being burned alive. Probably from a Dragon given that no fires had been reported over the last five months from current date. The only odd thing noted was that his horn had been broken off his skull. This had happened in several other Dragon-killed ponies in the past.
His horn was broken off... I had to wonder if it was someone who used magic like I could or if it was done as a hate-killing. There had been a gang that I'd heard of back home that was in New York City that cut the right hand off of everyone they thought was of Irish descent whether they actually were or not and then left them to bleed.
“Oh! You're awake!” I looked up from the paper and turned my head to see who'd spoken. It was the pony from before. She looked surprised and a little edgy as if I made her nervous. Maybe I did. I was a bit bigger than she was, and certainly looked very different.
“May I assume that you are the one who bandaged my arms and chest and kept an eye on me while I slept?” I asked, letting the paper fall to rest against the locker again. She nodded. I smiled, and said “Thank you. I feel a lot better.” My smile seemed to relax her and she stepped into the slippers and walked to where I stood.
“You shouldn't be out of bed, you know. You just survived being struck by lightning a few days ago.”
“A few days?!” I looked at myself. Other than the bandages on my arms which probably were covering burns I looked and felt fine. Then it hit me: the horn. It must have shielded me from most of the shock.
The pony nodded.
“You're extremely lucky. Most of your injuries were superficial. The only thing that worried me were your irregular heartbeats. Fortunately it returned to normal after our resident librarian paid us a visit. She is very good with magic.”
“A Unicorn?”
“Of course.” I was quiet for a moment.
“Doctor, may I-”
“Nurse.”
“Nurse?” She nodded.
“Nurse Heart Blood.” She raised a front hoof. “And please, no jokes. I've heard them all already.” She extended the hoof towards me. I extended my right arm and took it.
“Jacob P. Lighthand. The Ninth.” She gave me a strange look.
“Light-hand?” she repeated as she lowered her leg. I raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. Why, something wrong?” she shook her head.
“No. Not wrong, just strange.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Oh, it's probably just coincidence. Never mind.” There was a brief awkward silence as we tried to think of another subject. Then Nurse Heart blood broke the silence with a question. “If you don't mind me asking, Jacob, what are you?” I laughed.
“You know, you're the second person to ask me that. I'm a Human. In answer to your next question, I'm from another world. That's why you've never seen me before.”
“What brought you here?”
“Magic.”
“No, no. I mean, why did you come here?”
“That's a bit of a story. You sure you want to hear it all?”
“I can't get to sleep and clearly you can't either. Why not?” I nodded, and began to relate to her all that had happened and led up to this point while taking care to leave out that I got my power from a Unicorn's horn. When I finished she was speechless.
“And so, here I am now with you.”
“So then...when you were reading that paper-” she indicated the report on the dead Unicorn. “what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking it reminded me of a hate crime. Most stories of good Dragons that I've heard or read of state that they don't waste food and kill only at need. I don't see something that's not even a fourth its size being a threat to something like a Dragon even with magical abilities.”
“What about you? You slew a Dragon with magic.” I shook my head.
“I'm not a factor in this equation. How many dead ponies have you received that were burnt or abused like this?”
“Recently, or over my entire career?”
Recently.”
“Only this one. But our population here is only a few hundred. We're one of the smaller towns, really.”
“I see. Well then, nurse Heart Blood, when do you think I'll be healthy enough to leave?”
“What? Oh.” the sudden change of subject threw her off. “Being as I've never treated one of your people before, I have no idea. You seem ready to leave now, but I'd like to check your injuries first to make sure the skin is fully healed. You may feel fine, but experience has taught me that looks can be deceiving.”
“Well, you're the expert. I'll trust your judgment.”
Nurse Heart Blood guided me back to the bed that I had been sitting on before and had me removed all the clothing on my upper body. She carefully unwrapped all of the bandaging that she'd put on my arms earlier and had me hold my arms out so she could examine them. After a few minutes she nodded.
“You should be fine now. Your kind heals remarkably fast!” I shook my head.
“No, just my family. We've always recovered from mild illnesses and injuries quickly, and you did say that I was healed earlier. Maybe she was just really thorough.” lowered my arms and began putting my clothes back on again.
“So what will you do now?” she asked when I finished.
“I don't know. To be honest I really didn't have much of a plan when I came through the gateway. I guess I'll visit that library you mentioned and see if I can dig up any information on my ancestors. According to the journal and to the illusion left behind by Mace at least two of them came here at one time. Maybe there was a record of them.”
“For events that happened that long ago you would probably need to go to the royal library. Most of the books we have here were printed on within the last two hundred years. At least, according to Twilight Sparkle.”
“Is she the librarian?” Nurse Heart Blood nodded.
“Yes. But I'm afraid that you'll probably have to wait until morning. She studies her books late, but not usually this late.”
“What time is it?”
“Nearly three o'clock in the morning. You can try if you like, but nearly everypony else is asleep right now.”
“I think I will try anyway. But thanks for the advice.”
“I will leave the door unlocked until I go to bed for the night. If she is asleep then you may sleep here tonight.”
“Thanks.” I smiled again, and stood up and walked out of the- patient room. (Yeah. Let's call it that.) Nurse Heart Blood followed me to the door and opened it. Before I left, I had to ask her one last question.
“Ms. Heart Blood, what season is it right now?”
“It is late spring. It has been cold due to frequent rain storms, but they should stop soon. Why do you ask?”
“Because our world is setting into late autumn in my country. But then, the Gateway was almost halfway across the planet. Thanks again!” I waved and started down the street to the building in town which Nurse Heart Blood said was their library. It looks like a giant tree, huh? Well, then it should be easy to spot. This area is pretty open.
__ __ __ __ __
Up in the sky, Princess Luna was observing her sleeping Kingdom. Though it was mildly depressing that precious few ponies spent any of that time being out and about to appreciate the quiet and beauty of the nighttime sky, it still needed to be done, and it was better than the alternative of sitting around at home with nothing to do other than paperwork. She had nearly completed her flight over Ponyville when something out of the ordinary caught her eye. Down on the ground somepony was still awake! Luna deviated from her course to greet her subject, but ceased to get closer when she saw that what was walking was not a pony at all.
“It cannot be! Be-ist that a Human?!” she whispered. Humans had not been seen in Equestria for nearly a thousand years. While she hovered in midair, beating wings making barely a sound the Human looked from one side to another as if looking for something. Or perhaps it was trying to avoid being seen. Either way this was important news. But should I greet him myself, or should I go inform my sister first? The Human abruptly stopped in the middle of the street and looked around again. This time he did it slower as if he thought he was being followed. My sister told me about this once. Humans can sense when they're being watched. I wonder if- The Human spun around and looked directly at her. He was tall. Perhaps taller than she was and his hair was brown. He was also strangely attired. One of his eyebrows was raised and he turned his face to the side a little, looking at her intently.
“What do you want? Why are you watching me?” he asked, his tone not hostile, but wary.
“We are merely observing you. It has been quite some time even in our reckoning since one of you walked this kingdom. Tell me Human, what is your purpose here?”
“Why should I tell you? I don't even know your name.”
“Nor do I know yours. Nor were you invited here by myself or mine sister. Yet here you are nonetheless. If you would remain, then we would know your name and reason for being here and how you came to be here.”
“I came to your world by using an ancient magical portal. I came here mostly to learn about my ancestors. My name is Jacob P. Lighthand the ninth.”
“Lighthand?! Luna gasped. She knew that name, and knew it well. If not for the Lighthand family, there was a very good chance that her and her sister would never have been born, and Equestria would have been named Draconia instead.
“Yeah. Lighthand. What, is that significant?” He asked, sounding annoyed.
“Very much so. I must go. We may send for you in the future.” With that Luna turned and launched herself into the air and headed back home with all possible speed. Every time a Lighthand has appeared something dire happened shortly after. I must inform Celestia immediately!
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
I watched her go, confused as heck. She didn't even tell me what her name was. How rude. Oh well. I briefly looked around again and then caught sight of the giant tree and started walking towards it again. When I arrived at the door, I saw a light in several window but it was not like the light given off by a light bulb. The light dimmed and brightened continuously like the light given off by a candle. I guess someone is awake in there. I reached a hand up, knuckled a fist, and knocked. I heard someone- correction, somepony coming, and then the door opened inward to reveal a young purple Unicorn with an equally purple horn. A candle floated near her with a strange glowing purple light surrounding it.
An owl fluttered through the door and landed on a low branch. It studied me then said:
“Who?”
“No, Owlicious, I think the better question is 'what?'”
“To answer both your questions, though I'm getting tired of telling everyone my name over and over, I'm Jacob P. Lighthand the ninth, and I am a Human. Nurse Heartblood said that this was the local library. Is this true? Are you Twilight Sparkle?”
“Uh...yeah.”
“Alright. Listen uh,” I shuffled my feet a bit. “I know it's more than a bit late, but would you mind if I used your library for some research? Your day is my night in terms of when I sleep, so I'd probably be working all night. If that's a problem then I could come back in a few hours.”
“No. I mean no, that's fine. Come on in.” She sounded flustered. Not that I'd hold it against her. I obviously wasn't something you saw everyday. She backed up a ways and I bent over to followed her in. It was nice. The roof was a bit low for me at first, but nice. The entire house was made up of the tree that it looked like and seemed, in fact, to be. The walls and floor was sanded smooth and polished enough that that one single candle, when placed in the right place had the potential to light up the entire main room. Not well, mind you, but enough that you'd not trip over something at this time of night. Most of the room's walls were lined with shelves that held many, many books.
“Are they alphabetized?” I asked. She had been staring at me, and my question took a minute to sink in. When it did she nodded.
“Mostly. Occasionally the local ponies borrow a few books and then just put them back on the shelves. It's a little bothersome but at least they get returned.”
Alright. Are there sections for each topic such as fiction and non-fiction? Or is it all one big mix?”
“Follow me. Which would you like?” Twilight Sparkle said as she trotted forward.
“Non-fiction. I need to do some historical research.”
“How far back?”
“Well, since I don't know how many days are in your years-”
“Three hundred and sixty five.”
“The same as mine. Okay, good. That makes it much simpler. Then let's say about...eight hundred years ago.” Starting off with Mace's permanent departure from Earth seemed as good a starting point as any.
Twilight Sparkle gave me a funny look.
“Eight hundred years ago? Why then?”
“One of my ancestors came to your world sometime near then. I don't know much about him and would like the chance to learn more. Why, did something happen?”
“Eight hundred years ago the magic in the Everfree forest suddenly became chaotic and twisted everything inside it. Some creatures were fused together while others mutated into dangerous bloodthirsty monsters, including the ponies that lived inside. Even the trees became unfriendly. Here, it's all in this book!” Twilight Sparkle looked up at a book on the third shelf from the top. The book was black with red bindings. The title read: Equestria's Past Disaster Masters. Equestria. That must be the name of this world. Or at least this nation. How fitting. It was only a single inch thick, but the pages were made of fine paper. On the cover was the image of a cliff breaking apart and a tree falling past it. The same aura that had surrounded the candle now covered the book as it lowered down to Twilight Sparkle's eye level. The front cover opened and multiple pages flapped by until she found the spot she was searching for. “Page one hundred and three! There! 'Everfree forest darkens!'” The book had a date but unfortunately the year in Equestria was much different from the year back on Earth by roughly one thousand and two hundred years. Twilight Sparkle brought the candle closer to the book and began to read it to me.
“The Everfree forest. Once the crown jewel of forest lands in our world, though sadly no more. On the two hundredth anniversary of Princess Luna's banishment an event that resembled an illusory conjured lightning storm swept through the Everfree forest and changed both its appearance and denizens forever. During this event the 'Hydra' and the 'Manticor' were created, and for a time the various creatures wreaked havoc on all surrounding areas.
"Just when our nation seemed doomed our benevolent ruler's uncle and a two-legged companion that claimed to be from another world-" Twilight Sparkle stopped reading and stared at me again. "How did you come to be in our world?"
"In my own world there was pile of stones on the grounds of a forest that one of my ancestors with the help of an orange Unicorn with wings destroyed along with the physical frame of the doorway I walked through. When I passed through the doorway I found myself in a creepy forest. Probably that Everfree forest this book is talking about."
"An orange Alicorn...why did they destroy the forest?"
"I'm not certain, but probably to keep your people safe from us. There have been multiple persecutions throughout our history against people and animals that were thought to have either used magic, or were magical in nature."
"Can you use magic?" she then shook her head a few times. "What am I saying? Of course you can. You used it to kill the Dragon."
"About that...who was it that brought me here? The only living things I ran into besides plants when I first got here were three little ponies and the Dragon that was chasing them, and later chased me." Twililght Sparkle face-palmed. Or rather, since she didn't have a palm, face-hooved.
"Were those three ponies orange, white, and butter-yellow?" I nodded.
"You know them? Are they alright?"
"Yes I know them, and they're fine. They call themselves the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' and are always getting themselves into one scrape after another. Their names are Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell. Good fillies, but a handful. As for who brought you in, it was a friend of mine named Rainbow Dash and two other Pegasi. They witnessed you calling down a lightning bolt from a cloud they were moving to one of your-" she pointed at my hands. "and then using the other to launch it at the Dragon. What are those body parts called, anyway?"
"Hands. We use them for picking things up, swimming, climbing, playing musical instruments, and alot of other things."
"Useful." Twilight Sparkle yawned suddenly. "I'm sorry Jacob. I've been busy all day and I've got alot of things to do tomorrow too. I don't mind if you keep doing research for awhile, but put back the book or books when you're done and lock the door when you leave."
"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. Good night."
"Just 'Twilight' is fine." She yawned again and started walking away. "Good night."
When she left the room I walked to the desk she'd set the book and candle on and picked up where she left off.
"-claimed to be from another world appeared from forest itself and cast a mighty enchantment that drew all the creatures back to the forest. When the two-legged being collapsed from exhaustion Thanatos placed his companion on his back and ran back into the forest, leading behind him all the forcefully returned creatures whom were shrieking in rage." I tapped page with a finger. Mace was too worn out from destroying the forest on Earth to handle another big spell so soon. Wait...he left his horn behind on Earth...how did he use magic when he no longer had a horn to use? Is it possible that he gripped Thanatos' horn directly while it was still attached to him? Could I do that too? I'd rather not have to kill someone just for a little power that I did well enough without before having it. I kept reading. There was not much more. "As soon as the last of the creatures entered the forest a bright wall of light surrounded the forest for ten seconds, and then disappeared as suddenly as it came. Though the magic of Everfree forest has never returned to its normal state, the monsters contained within can no longer leave to wreak havoc as they once did. Sadly, neither Thanatos nor his companion ever returned from the forest either, and it is anypony's guess what happened to them in the end."
So that was it. Mace and Thanatos made it seem that the Stone Arch Gateway on the Earthen side had been destroyed so no Humans would discover and butcher this world, and then they died. But where had the 'chaos cloud' (or illusion-storm) come from? Unless...Unless maybe our two worlds are not so much other worlds as mirror images of one another. If some great cataclysm were to happen on one side, something similar would happen here too, which would explain what happened to Everfree. When the spell of destruction was cast on Earth, it was direct destruction. The flip-side to that would be indirect, which would kill nothing directly. Or maybe it's much simpler and some sort of magical backlash came through the gate when they left it open during the conjured lightning storm. I frowned. Either way, it would seem that the two of them didn't know the effect that their efforts on Earth would have here until it was too late, and they paid for it with their lives. I will need to be cautious and more experienced before I try anything like that lightning attack again. A conjured snowstorm here might bring about an ice age on Earth! But in order to perform any magic at all I would need a new Unicorn horn, and I wasn't going to take it from the living. Then I remembered the dead Unicorn in the basement of the infirmary. His horn had been broken off...No. I would not steal from the dead unless absolutely necessary, and right now not it was not. For now I would continue looking through this book to see if there was anything else of interest.