Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, put the ponderous tome back on the small stack of journals, maps, letters and diaries with a satisfied nod. With a contemplative, if proud, smile she leaned back and surveyed the last weeks’ work in front of her. On a large piece of paper she had written out twelve headlines and then filled in the space under them with abilities, appearance, tribe and everything else she had been able to gather about Sombra’s twelve acolytes.
Since she returned from her adventure in the Crystal Empire and the birth of Flurry Heart, she had practically never left her reading room in the Castle of Friendship, expect for a few days when she had gone out with her friends. Her old self would never had taken that time, but Twilight could only admit that she worked better with these small breaks to collect herself and refocus when the harsh tales from the Old Crystal War became too grim.
Now, however, she would not need any more breaks. Her research was finally done. She had read everything that provided a first-hoof source of a war that, due to the much more studied schism between Celestia and Luna, had largely been forgotten by history.
The knowledge contained in the sources coupled with Sombra’s journal, or the ”special source” as she referred to it around other ponies, had given her a deep insight in King Sombra and his twelve acolytes. What Equestrian historians blamed on misfortune, poor sanitation and cold weather was revealed in Sombra’s journal to, more often than not, be the work of his acolytes. Everything from the rampant diseases to the violent blizzards could be attributed to them.
Put shortly, Twilight had managed to wash out information that not even Celestia or Luna should know about. The next morning she was off to Canterlot again. Now that she knew all there was to know about Sombra and his acolytes, it was time to go on the offensive. While the insane plague-doctor Golden Heart was caught, eleven of them were still out there, plotting the return of their king. It was up to her, as Princess of Equestria, to stop them. She would present all she had learnt tomorrow, and figure out where the cultists might have gone together with Celestia and Luna.
Then she would hunt them down and put them away. Twilight nodded to herself.
*****
”Then there is Sombra’s royal assassin,” Twilight continued. ”Again, I have no name, but I think I met him. He attacked Shining Armor and me in the library, and he seems to have been the one behind the disappearance of the generals Gleaming Shield and Clashing Swords too. I think he is a unicorn with gray eyes.”
Celestia shook her head solemnly. ”I knew Sombra was evil, but I had never thought he was responsible for all this. Thousands, tens of thousands dead in his wake…” Twilight had never seen Celestia like this. It suddenly became so very apparent just how ancient she was. Both Celestia and Luna remembered fondly some of the ponies Twilight spoke of. Ponies who were but names in history books to her were dear friends and trusted advisors to them. The details she described about the war were real memories to them.
Luna sat stiff on her throne, looking as cold and aloof as the moon itself. ”You have done well to discover so much, Twilight Sparkle, though it pains us to revisit these memories. However.” Luna emphasized the last word. ”We must not let this pain weaken our resolve. There is undeniable proof that Sombra is attempting to again defile to our beautiful land, and as its sovereigns, we shall stand ready to defend our little ponies.”
”Twilight?” Celestia asked, her voice soft as silk. ”Are you absolutely certain you want to join us in this? You have already seen the horrible powers the Pale Knights possess. I will not ask you to join in this campaign. Cadence herself has wished not to, as she wish to be with her newborn.”
”Just say the word!” Twilight said resolutely. She was surprised a grim task like this would fill her with such zeal, but here she was, longing to act. After what she had seen in the Crystal Empire, she wanted to have a hoof in stopping this. This time she would play her part, do more than any other, to stop Sombra again.
She was not content with smiling and waving anymore. This time she would fight for the pony who had given her everything and for the land that had raised her.
”My sister and I respect your choice and we welcome your aid, young Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, slightly warmer. ”It is good to know you will be with us in this task.”
”When can we start?” Twilight asked, her hooves practically itching to chase maniacal cultists.
”We can start now,” Celestia said. Her voice was changed from saddened and tender to the hard, direct tone of a leader. Twilight reflexively straightened herself and puffed her chest out slightly. ”During the Crystal War, we already suspected there was something amiss at the western border of Equestria.”
”Come with me,” Luna said and led the other two alicorns from the vacant throne room and into a nearby study. On a large table in the middle of the room laid a detailed map of Equestria. Luna swept with her hoof over the table. ”At this time, most food in Equestria was grown over the hills now known as Unicorn Range. Deep within Equestria, it should not be threatened by Sombra, who was on the defense in his empire to the North.”
Luna motioned over the enigmatic neck of land that sprawled out from Equestria’s western coast, dividing the North and South Luna ocean. Explorers called that region ”Undiscovered West”. From what little Twilight knew of it, it was covered in a dense forest, many times larger than the Everfree. ”But soon farms and villages started to disappear in this region. We still do not know what caused this, but the phenomenon spread out from this forest.” She motioned to a particularly green region just between the two oceans.
”And you think one of the cultists might have a hideaway there?” Twilight asked.
”If any acolyte was acting in Equestria during the war, then that is one of the best hiding places. The forest is unexplored and teeming with untamed magic and beasts alike,” Celestia said. ”The reports from the war said that the villages were attacked by wolves. While that forest is the only place in Equestria where there are still wolves, my sister and I have never seen them near the forest edge before or since. For them to attack a village… I would say it was impossible if not for these reports.”
”There are Timber Wolves in Everfree,” Twilight pointed out. ”They come close to Ponyville sometimes.”
”These are not Timber Wolves, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna corrected. ”They are their living cousins, the creatures whose spirits now forms the essence of the Timber Wolves. They are stronger, hungrier, slyer.”
”If you are willing, Twilight, we would want you to go there and investigate the forest.” Celestia went on. ”My sister and I cannot leave Canterlot for such a thing ourselves, but you can, and you are the only pony powerful enough to capture Sombra’s acolyte if you find him or her.”
”My sister and I will do our best to find the rest of the acolytes in the meantime,” Luna said. ”With your research we know what to look for.”
”I will go, Princess,” Twilight said. ”After what happened to Cadence and Flurry Heart, I must be part of this, I just have to.”
”Before you leave, Twilight,” Celestia held up a hoof. ”Do your friends know what happened in the Crystal Empire?”
”Well… yes,” Twilight answered. ”I told my friends on the way home from Flurry’s crystalling. Not Starlight Glimmer though; she is still in the Empire reconnecting with Sunburst, and… well, it was not the right time to talk about this when they were so happy to see each other again.”
”I see,” Celestia said. ”It is good that your friends know. If they want, we would welcome their aid on this quest. After all, your friendship has helped Equestria greatly before, and I have no doubt it will again. However, I ask that you do not tell anypony else about this or about what happened in the Empire. Ponies will be terrified to no avail.”
”I understand, princess,” Twilight said. ”I won’t tell anypony else, and I will make sure my friends wont either.”
The three ponies silenced. Luna ruffled her wings and spoke up.
”Then we wish you all luck, Twilight Sparkle. Just so you know, the forest is named The Ulvenweald, or just ’the Weald’, for short.”
*****
Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
Twilight’s ears picked up. She had never been very good with birds, having living most of her life away from forests, but that particular call she knew. Her parents always made such a big deal of the cuckoo coming for spring. Twilight was more fond of cuckoo clocks herself, as she had used one to track her study times when she was a filly.
”Oh, my!” Fluttershy said mirthfully. ”It’s the first one I hear this year! Hello!? Little birdie, where are you? Won’t you please come out?”
Sure enough, the cuckoo came flying from a bush and landed gently on Fluttershy’s head, making the shy pegasus giggle.
This was, without comparison, the most beautiful forest Twilight had seen. It was the exact opposite to Everfree Forest. This place was bright, with sunlight scattering in the spring-green beech leaves to form beautiful, gold green patches over the forest floor. The trees were thick and mighty, but the undergrowth was strangely thin, making walking easy and enjoyable.
For all of Luna’s and Celestia’s worries, Twilight could not see anything bad about this forest if she tried. Granted, they were not in the Ulvenweald proper yet. They were now making their way through the outskirts of White-Tail Woods, a large, sparse forest dominated by birches, hence the name. Still, the official border to The Weald was just hours of swift trotting away, so it couldn’t be that different.
And, as indicated by the cuckoo, even the wildlife was friendly. Not a wolf as far as the eye could see.
”Okay, here you go,” Fluttershy smiled and picked out some breadcrumbs form a pouch she had brought for that exact reason. The cuckoo gave a happy hoot and picked up its spoils, observed by two smiling ponies.
”Oh, Twilight, this forest is truly beautiful, isn’t it?” Fluttershy asked as they continued on their way, small birds chirping around them. ”I don’t think there can be anything bad here; the animals would never live in a place where they did not feel safe.”
”No, but this is not our final destination,” Twilight reminded her lightly. Not even she could be wary of their mission in a place like this. ”The map says we will arrive at a small village soon, by the name of Hollow Canopy. It is the last real Equestrian outpost before we come to the Weald. A bat-pony town, apparently.”
”Oh, I have never really met a bat-pony,” Fluttershy said, shrinking back slightly as she was prone to do whenever she was uncertain about anything. She felled her hears and tucked her tail close. ”And Luna’s guard are a bit… scary.”
”They are kind,” Twilight reassured her friend. ”This town has their own mayor and everything; it’s a town like any other in Equestria. Princess Luna has relayed information that we are coming, so they will have everything ready for our continued journey into the Weald.”
”Ehm, I don’t mean to be rude, but, um, do you actually know where to go? In the Weald, I mean? On your map it looked pretty large, and we can’t really search the whole forest after Sombra’s acolyte, can we?” Fluttershy asked.
”Well, no,” Twilight admitted. ”But there is a village in the middle of the Weald. Though they are formally a part of Equestria, they are too isolated to bother engaging in anything. There is not even a name for the town on my map. Either way, that’s where we are headed. We will continue to search the forest from there, maybe with the villagers’ help. They must know the forest.”
EEEEEEEEEEE!
Twilight and Fluttershy both stopped and picked their ears up. The sound was almost to high-pitched to make out, but it was definitely there. A consistent, drawn out squeak.
EEEEEEEEEE!
With a rustle of wings, the sound suddenly stopped. Twilight looked up, just as the two ponies above her looked down. ”Hey! We finally found you!” one of them called down with a piercing squeak. It was clearly a mare. The two bat-ponies descended gracefully, coming face to face with Twilight and Fluttershy. Both parties took an involuntary moment to study the other.
It took Twilight eight point seven picoseconds to conclude that bat-ponies were cute. The first thing she observed on the smaller-than-usual ponies were the bat-like wings, of course. She had always thought they were leathery and dry, like those of a bat, but now she saw that they were, in fact, covered in a short, silk-smooth hairs. Their ears seemed larger than normal, thought maybe it was because they were endowed with long, fuzzy tassels, giving them a watchful and at the same time cheerful look. The upper jaw also sported short, gleaming fangs. ”You are an alicorn, just like Luna,” the bat pony mare stated and pointed at Twilight. Her voice was still nearly to high-pitched to make out. ”And your friend is a pegasus. I have never seen one of them before.”
”I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said and looked down on her hooves.
”Princess,” the other one pony said calmly, a great contrast to his companion’s loud squeak. ”My name is Waxing Moon, and this is my sister, Waning Moon. We are the scouts of our Hollow, and we were tasked to find and guide you to our watchpoint.”
”Watchpoint? That is a small guard post, right? Why are we going there?” Twilight asked. She thought they were going to the town, not just a small guard post.
”I understand you are in a hurry, yes?” Waxing asked in turn. Twilight nodded. ”Then you will save time not entering Hollow Canopy itself. Better to stay in our little forest watchpoint and go on once the sun rises tomorrow. Worry not, my sister and I will make sure you have all provisions needed for an excursion through the Weald. Princess Luna herself has ordered that no expense shall be spared. Whatever you need will be provided.”
”I thank you, Waxing and Waning,” Twilight said formally with a small bow to the both of them. ”I ask that you give my thanks to your Hollow’s mayor too, on behalf of the Equestrian crown. As for provisions, I am afraid I will have to ask for your advice. I have never been to the Ulvenweald before, so I don’t know what is needed to traverse it.”
”I will see to it,” Waxing said quickly.
”Oh, and maybe we could have some breadcrumbs too? For the birds?” Fluttershy said so silently Twilight hardly caught it.
”Kay!” Waning squeaked. ”Breadcrumbs!” Twilight was surprised for a moment before she understood that the bat-ponies probably had a very keen sense of hearing, just like their lesser cousins. ”Come on! Waxing and I will guide you to the watchpoint now! We can talk more there!” The two bat ponies flew up again.
Twilight would have liked to ask some quick things about bat-pony culture, physiology, history, anatomy, language, magic tradition, mathematical advancements, engineering, cuisine, where they had been when Luna was on the moon, their current population, socio-economical situation in present day Equestria and simple things like that, but sadly the flight was swift and efficient, leaving minimal room for talking.
”Now, up here,” Waxing said suddenly and shifted his course towards a dense cluster of birches. ”We bat-ponies live in the canopies.” He and his sister all but disappeared into the thick foliage. Twilight met Fluttershy’s look and shrugged. Together they too flew into the tangle of leaves and would have collided face first with a door if Waning Moon had not held it open for them.
Twilight and Fluttershy, once they had oriented themselves, were greeted by a set table with four chairs around in a small room. ”Welcome,” Waning said jubilantly.
”My sister and I are tired,” Waxing continued. ”So we will go to sleep now. Feel free to help yourself to anything you find in the pantry. We will escort you the rest of the way tomorrow morning, and share a traditional meal tonight.”
”Hope you enjoy that!” Waning squeaked, though her smirk seemed too mischievous to be entirely sincere. Twilight filed it away as inexperience with reading bat-pony expressions. The fangs really threw her off.
*****
Hours later, the four ponies sat around the table. The two bat ponies both had a wide assortment of fruit in front of them, laid up neatly on carved wood plates. Fluttershy and Twilight had two empty bowls instead. They had not gotten anything to eat yet.
”Should be ready now!” Waning chirped, flapped her wings and sailed over her two guests to a small fireplace where she picked out a teapot. She bit around the handle and went up between Twilight and Fluttershy. With a cloth around her hoof, she tipped the teapot and poured up a generous amount of what Twilight approximated to be some kind of soup, though it did not look like any she had eaten before.
It was strangely runny despite being completely opaque. The color looked a bit like blueberry leaves; a fresh, inviting green. She bent forward and sniffed it slightly, more out of reflex than anything else. All ponies would do that when confronted with unfamiliar food. The smell was thin for such a powerfully colored broth. All she felt was a faint, crisp sourness that really did not make her any wiser.
”Try some,” Waxing said as he took a bite from a wild pear. ”It is a traditional bat-pony course offered to all our guests.”
”I am honored,” Twilight said with her princess voice. She carefully picked the bowl up (with her hooves, as her bat-pony hosts would do) and drank two gulps. ”Thank you. That was truly-”
She silenced abruptly. Waning Moon had brought up her hooves to her mouth and giggled like a madmare, but Twilight hardly noticed. She felt like she had gotten her mouth full of bitter almonds. All moisture on her tongue instantly disappeared and left only a horribly, encompassing bitter taste in her whole mouth. ”GLLLLARGHH!” She screamed and looked around for water. She nearly knocked the now wheezing and teary eyed Waning Moon away to get the pitcher, but she could not care less. She turned it upside down and swallowed down mouthful after mouthful of clean liquid.
Once the pitcher was empty, Twilight laid put her head down on the table, feeling at once bloated and parched. A faint acrid taste still haunted her throat.
”That was not funny!” Fluttershy said pointedly to Waning, who only now stood up, clutching her belly. ”I thought it looked like a bitterroot decoction, but I’d never think you would do this! It must taste terrible!”
”It does,” Waxing said. He too sounded much to satisfied for Twilight’s liking. ”You are right in that it’s bitterroot, but you are wrong in assuming this was some prank on our part.”
”Yea, for real,” Waning went on. ”It is a tradition. When a bat-pony goes into an unexplored forest, she is given bitterroot the night before. That is to make her less tasty for the things in the forest. We have always done that.”
”Well, you ftill could have warneth ud,” Twilight said, though her throat once again felt as dry as a mixing bowl after Pinkie had licked it. She looked around for more water.
”But what fun would that be?” Waning asked happily. ”But really, you should drink the bitterroot. Even of you don’t think monsters will eat you, it is still healthy and filling. Besides, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something that tried to eat you in the Weald. That place gives me the creeps.”
”Oh, it can’t be that bad,” Fluttershy said and sipped from her bowl. Twilight could see her shiver slightly as the powerful taste hit her. ”I’m sure no animal will try to hurt us. And even if there are some mean cockatrice or something, I’m sure we can find some mice or squirrels to show us another path.”
”Don’t count on that,” Waning said. ”The wildlife in the Weald is very different from here.”
”Different how exactly?” Twilight asked and took a minuscule sip from her bowl. It was really not that bad when she drunk it gently.
”Spiders,” Waxing said dryly. ”Biggest, strangest ones you’ve ever seen. Be really careful, because my sister and I sometimes see bird skeletons in their webs. I don’t really know what would happen if a pony got stuck in them.”
”No wolves?” Twilight asked. ”I heard the Weald was quite infamous for them.”
”They are in there, but not anywhere close to us,” Waning said. ”They live further in, beyond The Scar. I’m sorry to say I don’t know much about them. There are some foxes though, but they are not very common.”
”The Scar?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.
”Some hours of walking into the Weald you will come to a gorge,” Waxing answered. ”Very, very deep. We call that place The Scar. I have never been beyond it. Just so you know, you can’t fly over it; the winds are curious around that place.”
Twilight nodded and magicked up her map to look.
”Foxes and spiders,” Fluttershy said, for the first time ever with more confidence than Twilight felt. ”I don’t think we have to worry about them; I’m sure if we just ask nicely they will let us pass.”
Twilight looked out through a nearby window. The sun was going down, casting long shadows over the ground. Somehow, the forest looked very dark in the direction of the Weald, like the trees were already trying to keep them away.