Six ponies and a dragon walked through the forest. Trees around were really gigantic. In fact, the road they were on was not a road, but a huge vine. Ponies could even hardly see the ground in the darkness and vapors below.
“Where does this creepy place end?” asked Rarity no one in particular. “By the looks of it, this forest extends for days of traversing. We already spent hours on the road and I’m already exhausted.”
“We are walking through these woods less than half an hour.” corrected her Twilight.
“And before that, we made through the most of Equestria by train,” added Applejack. “By the way, haven’t you called this forest “A wonder of charm and beauty”?”
“Yes, all this exotic flora and giant mushrooms create a truly marvelous landscape. And those luminous things are very charming,” answered Rarity. “But that giant centipede that we had only just drove off was neither cute nor friendly.”
“I think that we just crossed its territory or something,” replied Twilight. “By all accounts, centipedes are not eating ponies.”
“Yeah, unless they are bigger than a cart.” gave a voice Rainbow Dash. “I probably fly up now and look around.”
And without even waiting for a reply she soared upwards.
“I’m still not used to so many animals I’m unable to connect with,” said Fluttershy as a giant dragonfly flew by.
“But at least your stare worked on that centipede,” answered Pinkie and continued to look around. A hollow in the tree looked promising.
“Hey, guys!” it was Rainbow Dash, who already returned from the top of the forest. “I couldn’t see the south border of the forest, but there are some glowing and sparks not far from here. That way.”
She pointed with her hoof in a south-west direction.
“Maybe we could investigate.”
“Yes, what if somepony uses magic there, they could help us.” agreed Rarity. “Or at least give some directions. And it wouldn’t hurt to make a slight detour.”
After another half-hour, they were at the spot. There was indeed a pulsating glow that was even more bright and coming from below. With caution, ponies proceeded.
When they descended enough, rocks appeared out of the vapors. And those were not natural rocks. They were some kind of obelisks, rising from the borders of a circle. And the glow was coming from the middle of it.
“What do you think it is?” asked Applejack.
“Obviously it’s some magical structure,” answered Twilight. “But I’ve never heard or read about something built here. In fact, the only pony, who was in these parts was Star Swirl the Bearded. But he never mentioned something like this.”
Meanwhile, ponies went all the way down to the surface. It was practically no ground down there, only water and just a few tussocks that none of them would consider trustworthy. Luckily there was a stone platform between the obelisks and a branch they were going along was passing near enough to jump there.
“Hey, look!” exclaimed Rainbow Dasy, who already flew through the circle and found a pile of crates and sacks. “It’s a message here. “Property of South Forest Expedition. For any information contact Star Swirl the Bearded.” Looks like he was indeed exploring these parts.”
“Yeah. Too bad there is no way to call him and ask,” said Applejack just before she jumped from the branch to the stone platform.
“Or maybe there is,” exclaimed Twilight. “Because this is megascope.”
She pointed at an intricate construct of metal strings with a large gem in the middle. And that gem was exactly the source of the glowing they saw. And it gave all it’s light up, like some sort of beacon.
“And what is this megascope do?”
“Exactly that. It allows to communicate through magic over great distances,” answered Twilight, who already started to check the contraption. “It requires a lot of energy and controlling the projection is not an easy fit. But I think I could manage this.”
She touched the megascope and suddenly an image appeared just among the metal ribs of the device. To everypony surprise, it was Princess Celestia.
“Hello? Star Swirl, are you there? I know that you said something about undertaking that you and other Pillars have to do in private, but it’s ten days since Luna and I heard of you. We are starting to worry. I don’t know if you went to your research site in South Forest or somewhere else. Anyway if you get this message, please tell us if you are all right or need any help.”
The image vanished and the glowing of the megascope stopped.
“Ok,” said Rarity breaking the silence. “Apparently we just stumbled upon Star Swirl’s video mail.”
“Yeah,” added Rainbow Dash. “Like thousand years old mail. But can we contact him now? By the way, since he has returned from Limbo with all the Pillars folk they could definitely help us to fight the Storm King.”
Twilight was walking around the megascope waving her horn.
“I’m trying, but the description in the book was a bit sketchy. I can’t find how to establish a direct connection. Oh, wait!”
An image appeared again. This time however it was rather hazy.
“And a jar of pickles please.” a voice was coming from the device. “What a? A-A-A!”
Everypony jumped on hearing that scream.
“Hey!” that was the voice again. “Is it… Is someone messing with my megascope?”
“Mister Star Swirl. It’s us! Twilight Sparkle. And my friends.”
“Wait a second.” a voice muffled, then the image of Star Swirl the Bearded became clear. “What are you doing with my megascope?”
“We had to flee Canterlot,” said Pinkie Pie. “After an army of Storm King’s creatures attacked us and Tempest Shadow turned all princesses except Twilight into obsidian statues. But before that Celestia said that we should search for Queen of Hyppos in the lands south of Equestria.”
Star Swirl the Bearded stood with his jaw dropped for a few second.
“I think that we need someplace private,” he said and his image went out of focus.
“Private?” asked Rainbow Dash looking around.
“I was at the grocery when you’ve contacted me,” explained Starswirl and his image returned to normal. “Ok, now I’ve teleported to my room. So, you were saying that Canterlot had been captured?”
“Yes. And we are going to the lands south of Equestria to find that Queen, Celestia mentioned,” explained Twilight. “Can you help us find some means of transportation?”
“And meanwhile,” added Ranibow Dash. “You could assemble Pillars so they can help us fight Storm King’s army.”
“Of course,” answered Star Swirl. “But it will take time. I mean gathering the Pillars. We went to different ends of Equestria. You know, being trapped in Limbo for millennium we have a lot of catching up to do.”
“And what about going through this forest?” suddenly Twilight became very concerned. “Now, that I think about it, those Storm King’s creatures heard what Celestia said. They could already organize pursuit party. Can you think of something that will allow us to travel fast.”
“I don’t know. Being here, I just can’t give you anything. Even if I had built some contraption...” Star Swirl lapsed into silence. “Wait! You can use the megascope!”
“How? It’s just a communication device.”
“Well, it still used to connect two points over distance. And I actually made a spell that would allow it to transport physical objects.”
“That’s great!”
“Only I never tested it. It could be dangerous.”
“Oh, I’m sure that spell, made by you is reliable enough,” being excited Twilight completely forgot the circumstances of her becoming a princess. “And with those Storm King’s creatures on our tail, we have to take the risk.”
After half an hour of tweaking and scribbling (Star Swirl was unable to recall some details, so Twilight had to “fill the blanks”) the megascope was tuned for transportation.
“If I remember the map of Equestria correctly we should land near the border of the Cloud Sea,” explained Twilight. “There a lot of trade routes there and we should easily find someone who at least heard about any Queen who lives in those parts.”
“We are ready!” cried Rainbow Dash, who was standing in the magic circle as all other ponies.
“Energizing!” announced Twilight and magical light embraced her and her friends.
There were two seconds of dizziness and suddenly all of them were in the air.
“A-A-A! Uhm!” luckily they were only a few meters above the ground and sand dune soften the fall.
“Sorry, I think I miscalculated adjustment to altitude,” said Twilight.
“Well, better to appear above the ground than below.” replied Applejack.
“Where are we anyway?”
“I think it’s the desert near the Cloud Sea. We just need to go south. I’m sure that it’s no more than half hour walk.”