The Collar

by Kentavritsa

Prologue 1

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Twilight Sparkle is burning the midnight-oil, in one of her more frenzied sessions of study. She is currently lying on her belly, on a Dragon-horde style pile of books.

She had had a dream that had got her all worked up, pushing her over the threshold; leaving her restlessly going over the more obscure and rare tomes in the back of the library in her castle’s restricted section. The school may satisfy the initial urge, but now she had thought; she had stumbled upon something on a deeper issue, in the larger picture. She just could not see, exactly where it came from, or how to solve the issue at hoof.

Her relentless studies in breakneck speed is worrying Spike, her No. one assistant and now first librarian; to the point where he is providing her with food and drink, to sunset. Now he renews his effort, in making her take a break for the night; on the grounds that he fears for her health and sanity.

When she finally do break of, and goes to bed; she finds a mysterious seed-pod, from the Tree of Harmony.

Exhausted, she finds a restless slumber; that takes her through the night. The night is riddled with surreal dreams; filling her head with outlandish notions, instructing her in how to deliver the seed-pod from the beloved Tree of Harmony.

“I must go!” Twilight realizes; not yet knowing, where she is going.

Without breakfast, she gallops over to the throne-room, and approaches the table-map, in the middle of the circle of the six thrones of friendship.

No pony is in the room, due to the fact they had no reason to believe they were needed there. Later, Spike will find her bed empty, on the count of her galloping out on the errand to wherever not even Celestia knows about.

“Maybe Pinkie Pie may know, but if she does not know; I am on my own, until Twilight chooses to return!” Spike ponders, worrying as to where his friend had galloped of to.

“I hope; she found what she was looking for, the other night!” Spike mumbles; as he considers his options, and what he will have to do next.

---

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Meanwhile, Twilight is taking the map out for a spin, to where the dream had instructed her to go. She had picked up the seed-pod, before she stepped through; trotting into the vortex of magic, provided by the map.

At first, everything is unfamiliar; nothing looks, as she had been expecting.

The ground is covered with a bright white desert-sand. Then a brisk breeze is picking up, turning frisky and oddly playful. The breeze, picking at her mane and tail; almost, as if it had tried to tell her something.

“This is no good location, to plant a seed-pod!” She mumbles; to the seed-pod, as her only companion.

“Of course not, silly!” she hears on the wind, as if it had tried to tell her something.

“Wait?!” she exclaims; “What?” she continues; “Am I hearing voices?” she ponders; “That is never a good sign!” she knows.

“Of course not!” the voice returns.

Twilight is turning her head this way and that, in search for the voice she thought she had heard. There is no one, and nothing to be seen. After a moment, the vision is clearing; something is seen behind her, the path she had just taken into this world.

“Okay!” she mumbles; “At least, now I know where I came from!” she continues.

“Look closer!” the voice offers; “Look closer!” it is urging her.

While she is still seeing the path she had entered this world, she soon see another trail on her right and left.

“Which trail do I choose?” she inquires, in the hopes the voice will give her the answer.

With nothing but a vast and dry desert of sand behind her; this path is all there is, and all she has. Maybe this is a better company, than the seed-pod in her saddle-bag? Even is she knows; the tree is alive, and quite sentient.

“Right, or left?” the voice inquires; “Twilight, you know what is right!” the voice responds, mocking her indecision and insecurity.

“Oh, right!” she exclaims; “Why do I expect an answer, from a faceless voice without a Pony to it?” she adds, sarcastically.

“Of course, I have always trusted Spike, and he is a Dragon of all Species!” she ponders; “I trust Zecora, who is a Zebra; and Cranky and Matilda, who are both Donkeys!” she continues.

Thankfully, the voice is not originating from either the seed-pod, or the one behind the message instructing her to carry and deliver the seed-pod. It would have been embarrassing, if that had been the case; wouldn’t it?

“Guess I should go right, then!” she ponders; as she is following the trail, she had eventually ended up choosing.

What the sand of the desert is intended to represent, who knows? Yet, it had been a clear sign; that the direction is taking her away, from where she is going. The fact that there is no desert, is utterly irrelevant; but she could not go in that direction.

Behind the entry-point; she can see a few scattered trees, standing in spread formations. The entry-point itself, is merely a large rock; with smaller rocks lining up the entry itself. The larger rock is a deep black, and semi-glossy; while the smaller rocks are mate and gloomy gray.

Further behind the entry-point, there appears an open clearing. Short, green grasses are coating the ground of the clearing, in luscious stands.

Twilight is approaching the clearing, watching up into the sky in awe. Not quite knowing the reason, but cannot help herself. The sky looks eerily like that of her hometown of Ponyville, on a day when her friend Rainbow Dash had just finished clearing it for the day.

“What is the event, the sky has been cleared for?” she questions; as if expecting there to be an event, requiring the sky cleared.

However, no answer is forthcoming. Maybe she had not spoken loud enough; or she may have forgotten to pronounce the words, altogether?

While the answer to her question, had been unanswered; there is a response, to a very different question. The one question; she should have been asking, in the first place.

“This is the place, where you need to plant your Seed-pod, of the Tree of Harmony!” the voice points out; applying a purple cross, on the ground before her.

The cross is the colour of Twilight Sparkle, with a hair-cross in the colour of the purple crystal making up the castle in which she is living. The castle of friendship, sprung forth in the outskirts of Ponyville.

Twilight is trotting towards the cross, on the ground; finding it flashing, faster the closer she is getting.

“Curious!” she mumbles.

“Seems, I forgot to bring a shovel!” she ponder; “Good thing that I am a Unicorn, I can dig without that shovel!” she continues.

After a moment of trotting, Twilight is finally reaching the spot that had been marked. She unfasten the strap on the saddle-bag and opens the flap; exposing the seed-pod and prepares to lift it up and out of her saddle-bag. She is lighting her horn. The glow starts at the very tip of her horn, the orb of her magic light slowly expanding; then flowing down the entire length of her horn, like an avalanche. At this point, she is focusing; lifting up the seed-pod with the power of her now glowing magic, before she is moving the item towards the cross on the ground.

“Oh!” she exclaims, as she is noticing that the ground is slowly opening up, the closer the seed-pod is getting to the intended spot on the ground.

Or, rather in the ground. As the seed-pod is directly over the excavated cavity, the hole is large enough, to swallow the seed-pod with ease.

“Should I just drop the seed-pod here, in the hole?” Twilight inquires.

“Yes, please; this is, exactly where it needs to be!” the voice responds.

“Thank you!” Twilight responds; as she is lowering the seed-pod, into the ground.

A moment later, the ground is swallowing the seed-pod hole; before the holes slowly closes up, with a distinct squeaking noise.

In disbelief, Twilight is looking at the ground; where the seed-pod had just been swallowed up, whole. Just a moment after the seed-pod had disappeared into the ground, there is no visible sign, of the seed-pod ever being there, just a smooth surface on the ground as if nothing ever happened.

“That was anticlimactic!” Twilight mutters, in vague disappointment.

Nothing really happened, but she had to be dragged all the way to the middle of what appears to be nowhere. For what? A show, with absolutely no point? What had it been for, and what was the purpose?

For a moment longer, she is staring at the ground; where her seed-pod had just vanished, for no apparent reason.

There is a purpose, and that had never been to drag Twilight out of bed; go on a god-forsaken quest.

A small, pink cloud is approaching the spot; from a spot far up in the sky, where Twilight had failed to notice it. Now the cloud is stopping, just a foot above the ground.

“A pink cloud? Is this one of Discords pranks?” she ponders.

The Tree of Harmony had never been known for playing pranks. Not just not in bad taste, it had simply never happened. No, this was not one of Discord’s pranks, though he was having a reputation of pulling pranks. Mostly bad, at that. Though he had been cutting down on these, lately. Mainly thanks to Fluttershy, and her influences upon him.

If it is not Discord, behind a pointless prank; why is the cloud pink? The only case of pink clouds I know of, are the once Discord included in his old pranks. I never heard of any other pink clouds; because I had never seen them, or had the reason to know of them.

For now, I will leave Discord out of this, assuming he has nothing to do with what I am seeing. At least, I do see no chocolate-milk rain; so maybe, there is a very different culprit behind what I see. All assuming, this is no natural phenomenon; where I am at, right now. Who’s to say?

For a moment, comparatively brief; nothing happens, as I am waiting and watching. Nothing. Then again, what had I been waiting for? Maybe a short burst of rain? I have a cloud; and clouds are known to be responsible for rain, after all.

Okay, no chocolate, or chocolate rain; or anything as silly and outlandish. For a moment, the cloud merely hovers over the ground.

The air is still, perfectly still; yet nothing persists to happen. The next moment, there is a flash; the lightning is hitting the ground around the spot over the seed-pod I had just planted, before the rain starts to fall. A gentle rain, now watering my seed-pod.

“Oh! At least something, is happening!” I ponder.

The rain is lasting, for several minutes; before it is slowly ebbing, and finally stopping entirely. At this point; the cloud is spirited away, the way it had come. For a moment, the ground is still wet; before it is slowly drying up, and the buried seed is able to grow.

Nothing happens, for several minutes, while Twilight Sparkle is watching; overseeing the events, following the planting of the seed-pod. At least, on the surface, nothing is happening, as the seed-pod is developing under the ground. If it is not seen, you think nothing is happening. Don’t you? Well, why not?

Under the surface, however; something is happening, the seed is sprouting roots. The roots are growing, developing; then the plant is slowly growing up, towards the surface. A tree is growing finally breaking the surface of the ground, sprouting leaves and harvesting the light of the sun, over-head.

“Is that, what I carried all the way; a seed-pod, of a tree for?” Twilight ponders; somewhat disappointed, all over again.

Of course, this is not just another regular tree; it had grown from a seed-pod, from the Tree of Harmony. This is an offspring, of the Tree of Harmony; but with a different flavour of the local Magic, the tree is bound to develop differently.

Just like the Castle of Friendship; this is also an offspring, of the same mother-tree. The ground is different, and the purpose is different; this makes for a very different tree.

For some untold reason; the tree slowly takes a form, similar to that of the Golden Oak Library. It may be smaller, now; but it is still growing; showing the potential, of what it could become, with just a little bit of effort.

“Wait, what?” Twilight exclaims; “Why does it feel, as if I recognize this tree?” she ponders.

The tree continues to grow and develop; looking more and more, like her old home in Ponyville. Only now, she had not quite connected the dots. Once she did, the sting of pain hit her; squarely, in the gut. She felt like looking away, knowing this loss would not let go of her, just because she was looking away.

In the end, she refused to turn her head away. This is a new beginning, for a new world. No Ponies, but a new people will enjoy the fruits, this tree was going to yield. A gift, from one world, to another. From one Pony, to the Human about to take up residence within.

Who she was to be, Twilight did not know. Though she expected her to be a good guardian of the tree and the library housed within. How much more could she possibly ask, or wish for?

An hour after the cloud had disappeared, it returns, once again; once more showering the tree with the much needed water. Just as before, the cloud is spirited away. It had left a puddle of moist, under the tree.

For a moment longer; Twilight is watching the tree grow. The tree grows, and develops further as she is watching. The first signs of the original purpose now revealed.

“Oh!” Twilight exclaims.

“Exactly!” the voice returns.

“This is, a replica of my old home, in Ponyville?” Twilight inquires.

“That is the purpose!” the voice responds, “Another generation, of inquisitive librarian; she will move in, shortly!” the voice points out.

“She will?” Twilight inquires.

“Just like you did, if you recall?” the voice answers; “She will be calling this her home, while she is studying her friendship-magic; just as you did, so many years ago!” the voice points out.

“She has an adventure, ahead of her; with friends to make, and challenges to explore!” the voice explains.

“Oh!” Twilight gasps, as she is hit by the revelation she had been reminded of.

“This is her adventure, for her to enjoy!” the voice points out; “Now it is time, for you to withdraw; so that she can live her life!” the voice points out.

“I am envious of her, for everything she has ahead of her!” Twilight puts forth.

“She will be challenged, and she will have doubts; but in the end, she may succeed, just as you have!” the voice points out.

“Who is she, and who will she become?” Twilight ponders.

“Unfortunately, I can not answer all your questions!” the voice points out; “This is one of these!” it then concludes.

The library is easily recognizable; but what is to come next, who is to say? Adventures, challenges, lessons to be learned. A girl will have friends, and build up her community. This will not be another Ponyville, and not just because of the apparent lack of Ponies. A new village, with new people, and new friends.

Twilight is considering, imagining possibility by possibility; for those who is to come after her here, once she has left this world. She slowly follows the trail, on which she had come. She finds her way back; to the place, where she had entered this world.

The place is looking, much as it had; when she arrived, and very little had changed.

She is entering the portal, back to her world; to the Ponyville of Equestria, she had so recently left.

Pinkie Pie is standing in the throne-room, waiting.

“Hiya!” Pinkie exclaims, excitedly; bouncing up and down, like an out-crazed rubber-ball on speed.

“Hi, Pinkie!” Twilight responds; “Nice to see you, but you would not believe, what just happened!” she adds.

“You just planted a seed-pod, in another world; then a pink cloud watered it, and it grew into a replica of your old home in the Golden Oak Library?” Pinkie blurts out.

“I will have to learn, that Pinkie Pie already knew everything; one of these days, or it will drive me crazy!” Twilight ponders.

---

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Just as Twilight Sparkle is talking to Pinkie Pie; a girl is finding the tree, resulted by the seed-pod Twilight had just planted. She is approaching the door. Once at the door, she is opening and steps right in.

“Oh, what a lovely home!” she exclaims; “I could live here, and enjoy all the books!” she then continues.

“What in the name of Celestia?” the girl exclaims, as she continues to walk farther into her new home.

“Books, books, books; so many books, I love this!” she exclaims, in obvious excitement.

She walks up the stairs, only to find her bed-room; the bed made, with lavender bed-linen. Magic had it; this was mostly decorated in the style, the original library had been decorated in. The main difference, this is adjusted for a Human, just like her to live here. She can read, and understand all the books, too, of course. Convenient, but still.

“The guide, to the Twilight Hotel!” she had read, on the cover of one of these books.

“I can read that book, later!” she points out.

“So many books, I can’t decide which I want to read first!” she mumbles; “Maybe I should see, if there is anything I could eat; then I could make up my mind, once I have had a decent meal!” she ponders.

While it will take her several years, to read through all these books, she will finally find the time to read this one book too; just as she is bound to read through more books, than she had expected to read in a lifetime.

Books about adventures, and fun; books of Science and Magic, like. However, in the end, she will make the time; to make friends, and have adventures with them as well. All in the spirit, the library is intended to propagate. For the girl, the village; as well as everyone else, in the surroundings.

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Author's Note:

Next chapter: Entry
Word-count: 3425
Published at: 20-01-03