//------------------------------// // Prologue and Ch.1 (edited for hopefully the last time) // Story: Harmony's Chosen Guardian in Training // by ShimmeringMist //------------------------------// Prologue and ch. 1 There are many myths and legends concerning the EverFree forest. Some say there's a witch living there, wild and dangerous. Others say a siren, whose haunting voice lures many to their death, and a rare few say that the forest has a guardian who governs all the creatures of the forest. Despite the conflicting details, all revolve around the mysterious figure living in the Ever Free Forest, yet none really touch the truth... The truth of a little filly who had a flare so powerful that its magic echoed through time itself and woke up an entity. An entity that tried to help what it considered a young little mortal thing full of surprising magic and potential.... An entity with only a vague sense of constant awareness, enough to know that the silly short-lived mortals who think itself only a concept, need a guide and peacemaker that won't be dust the next time it fully comes to awareness... It was the day before the 1,000th Summer Sun Celebration, and as Ponyville was chosen for this years festival, the town was bustling with preparations. On the edge of the forest, near a small cottage, a strange lavender coated cat appeared carrying a purple kitten by its scruff;both with unique colorful markings on their fur; stepped out from the forest under growth, looking around. The lavender feline's ear twitched, and she(for indeed the cat was a she) turned and saw the cottage the cat has heard about from the murmurings of the forest. With a brisk walk, she set off to the KindOne's cottage, rolling her eyes and ignoring the squirming of the kitten being carried by the scruff.Hopefully the KindOne will watch over him and keep him safe while I go settle a dispute between several Beings, check the forest boundary, do a census on the Timber Wolves to make sure that I'm keeping their numbers in check, and finally conduct a meeting with the many Being representatives of the forest. Just another day in thousands... As she neared the little bridge to the cottage, a few birds sang a distinctive tune that seemed composed and learned, especially when the bird singing out of tune was glared at by the apparent leader of the group. The feline sat down to wait after crossing the bridge, the kitten still protesting being at carried by the scruff. She didn't have to wait long as a mare of soft yellow stepped out and looked around; it wasn't until a particularly loud mew of protest from a certain purple kitten, that the mare saw them. "Oh you poor thing; your mother not letting you play.... Don't worry you can play here, that is, if that is okay with you mama cat?" The feline nodded as she deposited her charge on the ground and ended up having to immediately reprimand him with a gentle swat when he made a dash for freedom. "Oh my," the pony gasped,"you must have your h-paws full with him, I'll put him in a safer place, is that okay?" The cat followed the mare as her kitten was placed in an enclosed area, jumping onto a post to see it better. "So, if I may ask, why did you bring your little one here,um... I mean..., do you need help?" How do I explain this? Hmmmm.... Oh! I know! The feline jumped down to a patch of bare earth, pressed a paw in the dirt , previously hidden runic designs on her fur glowing, and lifted it, revealing an ancient symbol unrecognizable to the mare and moved her paw to another spot, repeating the process many times until the bare patch of earth had many different symbols surrounding a plain area. The mare looked on in awed confusion as the cat drew harsh markings between the symbols and then drew a six pointed star with smaller stars around it, in the plain area, continuing the drawing with calmer markings around it. The feline looked up with pride in her eyes as she waited for comprehension to dawn. "I'm sorry... I don't understand..." She huffed at the mare and pointed a paw at the collective symbols, exaggeratedly pointed to the forest, then pointed a claw to the drawn stars tapped that claw against herself, mimed talking and then started pointing out scars and the symbols of the beings that made those scars............. "Oh you poor thing!", the mare cried as she scooped up a startled lavender feline," having to be peace maker between dangerous animals and getting hurt for it! I'll keep you safe..." Wait...What...No.No.NO!...It's the first time in two years that I'm able to work uninterrupted! I'll not be kept from my sworn duty!!!Runic designs glowed back to life on lavender fur, and the soft butter-yellow mare gasped in startlement as the cat disappeared with a flash. Within a large, lived in cave, a lavender feline appeared with a flash of light and a soft pop only audible because of the room's silence. Once more, the runic designs started to glow, this time brightening until the light completely overtook her shape. Slowly, the brightly glowing shape grew and changed to a definite equine shape when the light started fading. "Ugh... Transforming is amazing but, I hate that my mane and tail gets undone in the process...," the tall and elegant mare smiled at the flecks of different colors among her magenta hued magic and focused on braiding her extremely long mane in a complicated pattern, twisting it into a bun, and doing the same to her tail as well. As she told herself many times before, "I really need to take the time to write out a spell to do this," and not for the first time she promptly forgot, after all it wasn't written on a list, so it couldn't have been that important. The mare checked herself in a bit of polished crystal cave wall, double checked her saddlebags and headed off to start her rounds... Meanwhile....the KindOne, known to other ponies as Flutter Shy, was ensuring all her animals were okay with the strangely colored kitten staying in the cottage, while she went to research both the unusual cats and the images that the mama cat somehow made , which Flutter Shy later took pictures of....