//------------------------------// // The Artifact’s Great Secret // Story: Friendship is herrrrreeeeeee!!! // by Unlimited Harmony Xtreme //------------------------------// Hello everybody, this is my first attempt at a MLP: FIM fic. I had lots of ideas for my first dive into bronydom (this fic itself can be considered a much lighter and softer version of another fic I was planning to do). This is not going to be your typical HiE story, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. Also, quick heads up; this takes place long before A Canterlot Wedding. So without further ado, I present to you: Friendship is herrrrreeeeeee!!! Chapter 1: The Artifact’s Great Secret Twilight Sparkle was one of the brightest unicorns in Equestria, having been taught by princess Celestia herself. She was a straight A student, could pick up on complicated concepts that most ponies never understood with ease, and to top it all off; she had the raw magic power of a baby alicorn. So why was this one artifact giving her so much trouble!? “Nothing, nothing, nothing!” Twilight screamed into the night from her lab in the basement if her library tree home. The mare shot daggers at the small object setting before her, how it dare mock her! What with its gold color, rectangular prism shape, small triangle on top connected by a smaller pole, with an out of place plate of black plastic on what she assumed to be its front “I’ve ran every test I can think of, and still nothing!” Unable to sleep, her baby dragon assistant Spike, opted to watch “I’m telling you Twi; there’s a reason why you can push that little triangle” he commented Twilight applied a small amount of pressure to the triangle and it tilted to the front of the artifact accompanied by a click and a light shining from the front “I know that Spike, but it doesn’t seem to do anything” she took her hoof back and the triangle shifted back. Twilight sighed “I just have to figure out the secret behind this thing, the princess is counting on me. I’m even starting to think that this thing is merely a small illumination device” Spike simply rolled his eyes, wisely opting to not say anything about that. A yawn reminded him of something rather important “look, it’s late. You need to get some sleep. We both do. What if you fell asleep early during the slumber party tomorrow?” Twilight’s body slumped and her eyes closed “I guess you’re right Spike. I just really don’t want to let the princess down. She rarely asks anything of me” leaving the strange object on a table, she slowly walked up out of the lab and to her room with Spike close behind -------- It was a typical day in Ponyvile; the sun was shining, the weather was beautiful, nature itself just seemed happy in general. Inside a familiar tree, a baby dragon was sitting down on the staircase while rereading a letter “‘-so I’m sending it to you to see if you can find out what it is. Princess Celestia’” he put it down with a sigh “that’s what I thought; Twilight is just over reacting again. This letter doesn’t seem urgent. She really needs to learn how to chill out” His musings were cut short by a call from upstairs “Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike! Have you seen my checklist for today!?” “You put it under your bed so you wouldn’t forget it!” he replied He waited a few seconds for her reply “found it, thanks” Spike started making his way towards the kitchen to make breakfast “geez” he started mumbling “she’s a grown mare; I shouldn’t have to remember where everything is” When he got to the kitchen he was greeted by a familiar and somewhat unwelcome sight “hi Spike” a pink earth pony that had more energy than should be physically possible greeted him “AHHHH!” he yelped in surprise, jumping up and falling on his butt “Pinkie Pie! What are you doing here!?” Pinkie giggled, the sound seemed to ooze sugar “silly Spike, I’m here for the party” no longer able to stand still, she began bouncing in place “I’m just so excited!” The sudden sound of hoof steps alerted Spike to Twilight’s presence “Spike! What happened!?” The second she entered the kitchen and saw Pinkie, her expression changed from worry to relief “oh Pinkie, it’s just you. For a minute there, I was worried something awful happened” Suddenly the fact that Pinkie Pie was in her house hit her “wait. What are you doing here Pinkie?” Pinkie let out another giggle “oh Twilight you silly willy filly. I’m here for the party. It funny, Spike had to ask me that too” “Um Pinkie, we’re having a slumber party. You know, a night party” Twilight explained “Well duh” Pinkie exclaimed getting too close to Twilight’s face “that’s why I’m here; to help set up. I brought streamer” she made a little hop and confetti flew out of her mane “woops, that was the confetti” Not wanting to hurt her feeling, Twilight put on an uneasy smile and said “Pinkie, I’m pretty sure that slumber parties don’t have decorations” immediately after saying that, she remembered he own inexperience “…or do they?” she took off in search of a book to give her the information she needed “Well that’s just great” Spike huffed “Twilight’s goanna be busy for a while” Pinkie however didn’t seem fazed by this in the least “That’s ok. I can get started without her” she pulled out her party cannon from…somewhere, and wheeled out of the kitchen and into the library where she proceeded to launch party decorations all over the hall of books. Twilight, who was still looking for the right book, didn’t notice. In only a matter of seconds, the library was decked out in decorations. “That was fun!” Pinkie chirped, satisfied with her work thus far she scanned for somewhere else to decorate when she spied a familiar door “ah ha, Twilight’s lab! That could use some partyfying” party cannon in tow, she made her way to Twilight’s lab “Pinkie Pie, wait!” Spike hurried to catch up with her “be careful down there” “Oh don’t worry Spike, I’m a wiz with the party cannon” she reassured the baby dragon before opening the door and going down. Now inside the lab, Pinkie dragged her party cannon to the bottom of the stairs and left it there “now what should I shoot?” she wondered. As she sized up the room, her eyes came upon a small golden object “hey, what’s this?” picking it up with her hoof she examined it “I wonder what happens if I do this?” she asked herself as she applied pressure on the triangle. When nothing happened she tried pushing it forward, she was rewarded with a flash of light and a ‘click’. A silly smile wormed its way onto her face as she decided to show Twilight. Running back up the stairs with her find in her mouth, she stopped in front of Twilight, dropped it into her hoof, and poked the unicorn to get her attention “Twilight, Twilight! Look what I found!” Gazing up from her book on slumber parties, Twilight’s eyes widen when she saw what Pinkie had “Pinkie! Be careful with that! It’s an ancient artifact with some unknown purpose” Patting Twilight on the head, Pinkie attempted to calm her down by saying “aww, it’s ok Twilight. I just want to make it flash” bouncing on her flank and spinning in place, she kept flickering the light on and off. “This is fun” Concerned for the wellbeing of the item that Pinkie was mercilessly flickering, Twilight froze her in place with telekinesis, Pinkie Pie was now facing the door to the lab “Pinkie” Twilight said the name of the hyper mare, annoyance in her voice Pinkie Pie’s head drooped “I’m sorry Twilight” giving her friend a sheepish smile, she asked “one more?” Twilight sighed “fine, one more” “Yay”! Pinkie cheered. Planning to make the most of it, she got ready for one last flick. She slid her hoof into the triangle on top and flicked it, giving off a flash of light. Letting go of the small object, Twilight grabbed it with telekinesis and walked towards her lab door. Before opening it however, she turned back to Pinkie and said “listen Pinkie…I’m sorry for snapping like that. It’s just that the princess sent this to me. I’d hate for it to break under my care” “I’m sorry too Twilight” she replied Satisfied that everything was cool again, Twilight opened the door. What she saw was not her lab “AH!” leaping back in surprise, she lost her concentration and dropped the artifact “where did my lab go!?” on the other side of the door, there was a room of endless whiteness, with traces of other light colors, that almost seemed to be made of energy “Ohh, that’s really neat Twilight! I didn’t know you could do that” Pinkie gasped “Pinkie this wasn’t me” Twilight said “what could have…” then it hit her “the artifact…it did this! It makes strange portals in doors” suddenly remembering where Pinkie’s last flash was aimed at, she ran up to the mare and gave her the biggest hug she could muster “Oh Pinkie, you’re a genius!” releasing her from the hug, Twilight’s natural curiosity took over “come on! Let’s see where it goes” with that, she ran off into the strange gateway making sure to grab the artifact again, with Spike and Pinkie Pie close behind. “Wow, this place is amazing!” Spike commented in awe “YEP, it’s really pretty” Pinkie agreed as she hopped along “but it needs more colors…oh, maybe some pink!” After only a few seconds of walking, they stopped when they came across a strange rectangular white wall; unlike everything else, it looked solid, it was also really small for a wall “this can’t be it” Twilight said. She continued towards it, but after her first step the wall split in half and slid left and right, disappearing. It was then that Twilight realized something; that wasn’t a wall, it was a door “…a magic door?” on the other side was a dark room “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s explore!” Pinkie Pie declared as she ran in “Pinkie, wait! We need to be careful” Twilight warned As Pinkie took her first step into the strange room, she was lifted into the air and flew into a wall on the other side before slowly falling back down “ouch!” “Did Pinkie just fly!?” Spike yelped Suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding, Twilight mumbled to herself “just what is this place?” carefully walking inside she instantly felt 6 times lighter, Twilight used the light from the artifact to get a better look at the room; from what she could see, it was circular and nearly all white, in the middle was a table (also circular) with seats attached to it by metal bars. There were 3 doors that she could see; the one she came through, one to the far right of that one, and one on the other side. On the wall in-between the first two doors, there was a strange machine with all kinds of buttons and switches. Right by the entrance there was a lever and a strange tube, under the lever were the words ‘Gravity Control’ “What!? How can anything control gravity?” reaching out with her magic, she pushed the lever up. When nothing happened she pushed it back down “yeah, that’s what I though” she said to herself, feeling silly for having believed that sigh, how dare it lie to her! Meanwhile Pinkie was busy bouncing around in the low gravity “WEEEEEEEE, this is fun! You two should try it” “Pinkie, we still don’t know just what this place is…or even where it is” Twilight protested Mere seconds after Twilight spoke, Pinkie bumped into a glowing half circle button near the strange tube “ouch!” the impact sent her flying to the other side Carefully traversing the low gravity room, Twilight and Spike walked over to check on her “Pinkie, please be careful. I don’t want you to hurt yourself” Twilight voiced her concerns for her hyper companion Before Pinkie could respond however; a strange female voice spoke “cryostasis chamber: depressurizing” “AH! Who said that!?” Spike panicked “It’s coming from everywhere!” Twilight screamed The voice began talking again “non-vital systems: online” immediately after the voice spoke, the lights came on and the gravity changed to match earth’s “I’m scared Twilight” Spike said as he grabbed Twilight’s leg “Me too Spike” Twilight admitted “Unlocking cryostasis chamber” the tube cracked open just like the door, and a strange white gas that fell to the ground came seeping out, after a few seconds it opened full…and a strange biped came tumbling out. The three friends were now huddled together as they watched the biped struggle to get to its feet, much like a newborn. It used one of the seats of the table to help itself up, and once it did the three of them got a good look at it; it was pale, seeming devoid of fur except for its short brown mane. Had a lanky form, one that seemed to be a cross between a diamond dog and a monkey. On its torso was a strange white cloth piece of clothing completely covering it along with half of its upper limbs. Bellow it was another piece of clothing, this one however was blue and made of a strange material that none of them recognized, that covered all of its lower body except its feet, which were different from its arms, being black with strange string on them tied into bows. Twilight’s heart was racing ‘this is bad! Just what did we free!?’ the strange creature, finally standing on its own, made a strange grumbling sound and slowly opened its eyes. Her panic having risen to uncontrollable levels, Twilight did the only thing she could think have in her state; scream “ah, monster!” Her voice seemed to shock the slumber right out of the creature. Its eyes shot open as it jumped in surprise. The creature just stood there for a while, watching them ‘This is the end’ Twilight lamented. As the creature slowly lowered itself to the floor, Twilight began to shake in fear. As she mentally prepared herself for death (or at least tried to) the creature did something unexpected; it ran out the door. Stunned, the three of them just sat there for a few seconds before Twilight realized the implications of what just happened “oh no! It’s heading to Ponyvile! We have to stop it!” Quickly jumping to their feet, the three of them ran out the door, hoping they could catch it in time. When they got to the end of the strange hallway, they saw the door to Twilight’s lab open. After returning to the library they heard a shrill cry of terror “EEEEKKKKKK!!!” “Oh no, that’s Fluttershy!” Spike realized Filled with worry, the three of them ran out of the library and headed in the direction of Fluttershy’s voice. Getting the better of her, Twilight’s paranoia started running wild “what if it hurt her…or worse” Giving her a gentle sideways head-butt, Pinkie Pie said “snap out of it Twilight! She’s just fine...I know it” her voice betraying her words Near the edge of town, they saw three familiar forms huddled around something “Applejack! Rarity! Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called out to her other friends The three mares turned to face them “Oh darlings it’s simply dreadful! Poor Fluttershy just saw a monster leaving Ponyvile! How did it even get in without anypony seeing it?” Rarity told them “Is Fluttershy alright?” asked Twilight “She’ll be ok, just a bit shaken up” Applejack answered. Sure enough, the butter yellow pegasus on the ground was a quivering, but unharmed, mess “Well that monster won’t be when I get my hoofs on it!” Rainbow Dash declared “nopony scares Fluttershy like that and gets away from it” “Quick Fluttershy, which way did it go?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy’s answer sounded like a cross between a squeak and a sob “um…could you repeat that please?” Leaning in closer, Rarity was able to pick up what she said “the Everfree forest!” “Ah ha! Trying to slink back to its den no doubt. You can’t escape me monster, you hear!” she yelled at the forest Twilight sighed, she knew she couldn’t keep this a secret “everypony…I have a confession to make; that monster came out of a portal in my house” The three mares standing gasped “I’ll tell you the whole story later, but right now we need to inform the princess. She needs to know that there’s a monster loose in Equestria” her words caused a hush to spread over them Finally breaking the silence, Pinkie asked “does this mean the party’s canceled?” It was a typical day in Ponyvile; the sun was shining, the weather was beautiful, nature itself just seemed happy in general, and a strange creature had just been released from its, who know how long, slumber. Just another normal day I’ll be honest, even after all the work I put into trying to make the first chapter good, I still don’t feel like it’s right, although it ended up twice as long as I thought it would be, so that’s a plus. I just can’t think of anything else to do that wouldn’t interfere with the plot. If anyone has some constructive criticism I’d love to hear it. I can only hope that it doesn’t suck completely.