//------------------------------// // The Everfree Forest // Story: Madison: An Archaeologist's HIE Tale // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// The young woman walked slowly through the halls, flashlight in her left hand. She wore tan cargo shorts and a dirty tan button shirt, and kept her long brown hair neatly tied into a ponytail under her wide-brimmed leather hat. A worn leather satchel hung at her right hip, the strap wrapping around her torso to her left shoulder. She rather liked looking like her movie-star hero Indiana Jones. Her name was Madison Reynolds, and she had a fascination for the ancient unknown. She typically found ruined sites for others to excavate or items for them to bring back home, but that was fine with her. As long as Madison got paid, she'd give others the spotlight. She was exploring her most recent find: a castle in a forest rumored to be magical. Nobody who entered these woods ever came out, and Madison could see why, as she herself barely made it this far alive. One of her comrades wasn't so lucky, being devoured by what the rumors called Timberwolves within minutes of entering the forest. The second of the two suffered the same fate an hour later, and she had to put a precious bullet from one of her three clips in his head to spare herself the screams - and him the pain as he was dragged away. She was almost caught herself, but fired off the rest of the clip into the howling pack of wood monsters. She’d quickly reloaded, but the Timberwolves were gone, so she picked the dropped clip back of the ground and stuffed it in her satchel. Madison whirled around and whipped her pistol out of its holster as she heard a loud crashing sound in the ruin behind her, only to see one of the hallway’s great arches collapse to the floor. “Well, can't go back that way,” she whispered to herself. She holstered the old, battered 1911 Colt - her grandfather’s - and continued on. Madison walked up to one of the great double doors to the main throne room and was unable to resist the urge to look up. It was enormous, with an arched roof one hundred feet up, huge stone columns to support it, and a wide staircase leading to the thrones. Behind each throne hung a tapestry, torn from a thousand years of age. The stained glass window between the tapestries was shattered, fallen pieces scattered on the floor. The cold stone flooring was being overgrown with grass, moss, and a few large vines that creeped up the columns. A single massive hole in the roof let the soft, silvery moonlight into the chamber, reflecting off the shattered glass to make twinkling stars on the floor. All Madison could do was stare in wonder. How old is this place? Must be 700 years, minimum, she thought. And it's not even on the map. Hell, this godforsaken forest isn't on the map, either, but here I am. Madison continued through the castle. It wasn't long before she came across the castle library. Its bookshelves were filled to the brim, surprisingly, and a purple creature inside was reading, which was even weirder. Madison could clearly see that it was alone, which in itself was a relief. Her flashlight beam wandered into the library as she continued to observe the… pony indulging itself in ancient literature. Looks like some kind of unicorn-pegasus mix of a mare, but in a color I've never seen. What pony would be purple? And it's with - a dragon? Suddenly, Madison  hid behind the wall and froze as she heard the pony talk. She aimed her flashlight back down the hall she came, ready to run. “Spike, did you see that?” “No, Twilight. What was it?” “It looked like a beam of light, sharp and concentrated.” The pony got up and walked over to the open library door. “Hello? I'm not going to hurt you.” Madison quickly turned her flashlight off and backed slowly towards the throne room. She stepped on a loose rock and lost her balance as it shot out from under her, falling onto her back with a thud. The impact made her lose consciousness, and Madison was out cold. The violet pony, hearing Madison fall, galloped to the door and cast an illumination spell. She saw the unconscious woman, and used a levitation spell to carry her to the table. When Madison woke, she saw sat up and looked around. The library windows told her it was morning, and she noticed the floor a few feet below her. She turned to the side, swinging her legs over the side of the table. Her first relief was that she wasn’t tied up. “Oh, God. That hurt.” She checked herself and was pleased to be in one piece. “Uh, excuse me. I was wondering who you were,” said the pony. “I'm Madison, an archeologist from Kansas. I came to explore the forest,” she instantly responded. “What species are you?” “Human. Why?” Madison turned her head to look at the pony. “Whoa, what are you?!” “If you calm down, I can explain-” “Who the hell are you?!” “I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is my assistant, Spike.” She gestured with her hoof. “I heard you fall last night.” “Well, thanks for taking care of me.” Madison said as kindly as she could while she brushed some dust off her shoulders. She said asked her original question again. “What are you, exactly?” “I'm an alicorn. But, why were you out here in the Everfree forest at midnight? It's extremely dangerous.” “I was doing my job. I might ask you the same thing.” “Peace and quiet. Being well known can get too crazy for relaxation without being alone for a while.” “Amen to that.” Madison stood up and walked around slowly. “Where are we, exactly?” After Twilight’s explanation as to what she and her friend were, Madison had relaxed. “The safest place in the Forest. This is the Castle of the Two Sisters.” Twilight replied.       “Mm-hmm.” The archeologist looked at her GPS. It showed the “no signal” screen. It was also at twenty percent battery left, but she didn’t notice. “Satellites aren't picking me up. That's strange.” “Come on. I'll take you to Ponyville.” “Anything to get out of this forest. My friends - both of them - were eaten by some kind of wooden wolf.” “Timberwolves? They killed your friends?” “Yes. I’d rather not talk about it.” Madison’s face turned a dark anger very rarely seen on such a young woman. Twilight shrunk away, afraid of the woman’s expression and a possible rage. Then Madison’s face cleared, and Twilight bounded back to her normal curious self. The three walked out of the castle and through the forest. The whole way, they talked about differences in their societies, mostly for Madison’s benefit. When they arrived in town, a certain pink pony practically ran them over. “Hiya, Twilight! Who's your friend?” “Madison, this is my friend Pinkie Pie. Pinkie, this is Madison. She's an archeologist. Madison, Pinkie. Pinkie, Madison.” “You know, Twilight, my Pinkie Sense went off while you were gone. After that, we learned the news from your brother, who, by the way, is reeeaaaally nervous about you. It's really bad.” A few other ponies saw them and galloped over. Twilight introduced them as the unicorn Rarity, the pegasi Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and the earth pony Applejack. “Oh, Twilight. Thank goodness you're alright! The other princesses apparently boarded their respective trains to come for a visit. But that's not the bad part.” Applejack exclaimed, not even noticing the peach-colored human. “What's the bad part?” the alicorn asked. The orangish Earth pony looked at the others, hoping for a volunteer. Rarity did the same, as did Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Finally, Rainbow Dash said it. “The trains hit some kind of rift and now Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence have all disappeared. Right off the map.” She exaggerated with her hooves as she talked. Twilight gasped. She rapidly looked between each of her friends. Her attempts to calm down failed, and she began hyperventilating. After a minute, she fainted as she realized that it was up to her to run all of Equestria.