Chapter 1
“We had no idea where we were, what would happen to us, or how to get back. But somehow, despite the incredible dangers we faced, we all made it back home.”
-Twilight Sparkle, On Extra-Galactic Voyages, p. 597
Blue light spilled out from Rarity's horn as her magic flowed from the tip to the vortex in the middle of the floor. It cast long shadows all over the library's main atrium, spreading them over Rarity's friends, who stood by and observed the casting. Rarity looked up just long enough to glance at Twilight Sparkle. “Not bad, wouldn't you say, Darling?”
Twilight merely raised an eyebrow at her friend. “Are you sure you know how to do this, Rarity? It's a very difficult spell. Even higher level unicorns have trouble getting the forces balanced.”
“I've practiced this spell for days, Twilight,” said Rarity, a slight scowl crossing her face. “I should think I have the technique down well enough to perform it for royalty.” She looked behind her at the princesses, who were sitting calmly behind her.
Twilight also glanced in their direction. Princess Celestia was her normal, placid self, her lips curled up in a Pony Lisa smile. A teacup hovered in front of her, suspended in a golden aura. Next to her sat Princess Luna. Her eyes were narrowed, her brow set into a frown. Twilight couldn't tell if the princess was feeling put upon, or if she was concerned with the experiment.
“What's so special about this spell, anyway?” asked Rainbow Dash as she hovered above the group.
“I think it's a time-viewing spell,” said Fluttershy. “Rarity said she wanted to show us old fashions so we could see the dresses she plans on making us.”
“Well, Ah don't see what the big deal is,” said Applejack as she leaned against the wooden horsehead statue in the center of the room. “It's not like we're really needed in this.”
Pinkie Pie said, “Aw, c'mon, Applejack! This could be fun! I've never seen the past before!” She bounced in place, her constant movement making Twilight a bit unsettled. What if the frizzy-maned pony distracted Rarity at a critical moment and disrupted the spell? Or worse, knocked one of them into the spell's event horizon? Or maybe she was just being too nervous.
“Well, Ah suppose you're right,” said Applejack. “Ah guess it would be sort of interesting to see what ponies wore in the olden days. Still, Ah thought this wasn't gonna take too long. Ah need to meet Big Mac in fifteen minutes to help him unload his cart.”
“Just a few moments, Darling,” said Rarity, her voice tense in concentration.
Twilight sighed, trying to put her mind off how she felt about this. Rarity could do this. She was certain. Maybe.
The spinning mass of energy in the center of the room coalesced into a tunnel that seemed to be at one a thousand miles long and a millimeter deep. Multicolored hues swirled about the hole that was now torn in reality, and the ponies peered into it. They gasped as they saw one of the street corners of Canterlot, only the style of clothes the ponies on the sidewalks were wearing was something nopony had laid eyes on in a hundred years.
“Isn't it marvelous?” said Rarity as she pumped more energy into the spell to zoom in. “You can see that they once had... uh...” She frowned as the sides of the tunnel started to bend and warp. The distortions were subtle at first, but then they started to build in intensity and escape the vortex. Lightning began to erupt from the edges of the cyclone. The ponies started to scream as tendrils of energy snaked out of the energy whirlpool and ensnared their hooves. Twilight, Celestia and Luna blasted at them with their magic; Rainbow and Fluttershy beat their wings as fast as they could; and Applejack and Pinkie Pie were grasping at anything they could grab hold of with their hooves.
At that moment, Spike walked out of the kitchen with a tray of tea and cookies. “Hey, guys. What's going...” He gasped as he saw Twilight struggling to get out of the magical trap. “Twilight!”
“Spike!” said Twilight as she grunted and groaned against the magic. “Run! Now!”
But she was too late. The magic had already snaked around Spike's legs and jerked him hard enough to make him lose hold of the tray.
Tea and cookies flew into the air, and when they landed all that remained of the carnage was a burned stain on the rug.
-----
A shout of energy echoes through the nether. It awakens the awareness of the entity, unbalancing him. He gathers himself, composes his essence. His awareness sublimes in the nether, searching, trying to discover why the disturbance occurs.
He is at the source of the disturbance. The disturbance is such that he is not able to examine it directly, but he can feel its power. Feel the thrumming energy within it. The sheer magnitude of its breadth.
Time stops at a moment. He wills it so.
Energy from within the disturbance catches his attention. It flows through him, wrapping him in its power. A burst of life that envelops him in a surge of essence.
He feels the other entities.
His curiosity is aroused, and he extends himself into the maelstrom. He can feel their energies pulsing, modulating. Their own essences are projecting throughout the nether, which surprises him. Creatures that come from elsewhere that somehow can connect to the netherworld?
He is particularly surprised by the fact that one of the more diminutive members of the group seems to have an even stronger connection to the nether than the rest. It is most curious.
Most curious indeed.
-----
Deep in the forest, a lump of fur was sprawled on the loam and brush. The pale yellow and pink contrasted sharply with the dark greens and browns, almost as though a weaver had been carrying a basket of bright yarn and had dropped a few bundles. The forest was still, the winds not reaching this deep into the trees. Small animals were gathering, but as the bundle of fur stirred, they darted back into the darkness. Fluttershy's eyes then shot open, and began to dart back and forth.
Her breathing, which was calm and even only a few moments before, suddenly quickened. She stood up and shrank as she looked about her. “Oh no... the... the Everfree Forest.” Her voice came out as a choked squeak.
She put a tentative hoof in front of her, hesitant to take even one step. Unconsciously, she swallowed the lump of fear that was building up in her throat as she took the step. Then another. Each step sent a wave of pain as achiness began to filter through her senses.
Why am I achy? she wondered to herself. She thought back to the moments before she woke up. Blackness. Cold and hot existing together. The distinct feeling that she had been torn apart to the smallest level and scattered across the universe, only to be put back together a few feet off the ground. A shiver passed up and down her back and she shoved the idea out of her mind.
Sighing, Fluttershy started to walk through the trees. She thought about flying to the canopy, but when she looked up into the trees she got the feeling that not just creatures in the boughs, but the trees themselves were staring back at her. Better stay on the ground for now. She looked around, trying to find something familiar.
The forest, however, was not something she was familiar with. Her fear of the Everfree, or any forest for that matter, usually kept her well outside the bounds of the treeline, and any critters she managed to find from the Everfree were usually found outside of that depressing gloom. Fear crept into her mind as she realized that nothing at all was recognizable to her. Even the small creatures she was seeing were completely alien to her.
The fear began to manifest itself into panic. Her pulse quickened, her walking become erratic, and her throat was suddenly very dry. Her eyes darted about, and –
A prick to her backside from a low-hanging tree branch was like an explosion in her head, and she let out a piercing scream. She continued to shriek as her legs pumped faster and faster, carrying her past trees, moss, and detritus. She wasn't thinking, her body operating on pure instinct and adrenaline. Soon her meager energy gave out and she slowed to a crawl and flopped on the moss.
“Oh, get ahold of yourself, Fluttershy,” she muttered. “If you want to get out of this mess alive and see your friends again, then you need to quit being such a scaredy pony.” She sighed and laid on the grass for quite some time, thinking about her friends. A quick pang of anger flared at Rarity. Why did she have to cast that spell and send herself and her friends who knows where? She assumed that she was in the Everfree Forest, but she realized that she could be any number of places in Equestria. Or Equii... She hoped that she wasn't trapped in the Dragon Lands, though she guessed that that awful place didn't have many standing forests, if any.
The anger she felt at Rarity gave way to panic as she considered the possibility that she wasn't just in a new place, but a new time as well. Another shudder rippled down her back.
“Oh dear...” She stood up and started to walk again, her aches and pains worsened because of the moment of panic she'd experienced. “I hope the others have been sent here, too.”
Thoughts of her friends being dumped in this place drifted through her mind. She saw Twilight being chased by some nightmarish creature. Rarity cowering under a bush in the rain and sobbing. Rainbow Dash pinned in some ravine. “No!” she said, shaking her head to clear those horrible fantasies from her mind. “They're okay. They're all okay.” She kept telling herself this as she walked, despite a little voice in her head telling her that they weren't. That they were all hurt or dying. She ignored the voice. Her friends were competent and brave. They'd make it.
A low rumble sounded in the forest from her stomach, and Fluttershy felt a pang of hunger. She hadn't eaten for several hours now. Her eyes darted about as she looked for a sign of something to eat. Suddenly she spied a plant with thick, juicy-looking leaves. It might be safe to eat. She leaned her head down and sniffed it, then took a bite.
She was rewarded for her impropriety by a sting on her tongue that felt like someone had set her tongue on fire. “Bleh!” Quickly she spat out the plant and started to brush her tongue off with her hooves.
“Okay, that one won't do.”
Fluttershy walked through the forest, trying to find something that she could satisfy her growing hunger with. She tried several varieties of plants. Each one was a new torture on her tongue: nettles, bitter leaves, acidic roots... Each was more unpleasant than the last.
She had almost given up hope when she found a rather unassuming plant nestled in a cluster at the base of a tree. She didn't want to try it. Her tongue was protesting any more tortures. But her stomach had also cast a vote, and at the moment her stomach had majority rule. She leaned down and bit the plant.
Immediately a flood of mint and salt washed over her tongue. It was a mundane flavor, but at the moment it might as well have been a royal banquet in the halls of Canterlot Castle. She snapped up each leaf with a moan of pleasure. The meal itself was small, but it still left Fluttershy with a smile on her face.
After licking her lips, Fluttershy started to walk again. She made a mental note to walk in the same direction. She knew that no matter how big the forest was, she had to keep going in the same direction. Eventually she would hit the other side of the forest and then make her way back to Ponyville. She hoped. Her memory of the geography of the Everfree Forest was limited to her cottage and the surrounding area, plus the secluded path to Zecora's hut. But she figured that eventually, if she just followed the edge of the forest, she would encounter some sign of civilization, even if it was a town she wasn't familiar with. Even if this wasn't the Everfree, she'd still find something, surely.
As she walked, she noticed herself getting more and more exhausted. The light from the trees was getting more and more dim, and she couldn't tell whether it was because the canopy was getting more dense or if it was getting closer to nightfall. She suspected the latter.
Sighing, she decided that the best course of action would be to get some rest and then pick up her journey in the morning. She looked around until she saw a relatively flat area of the forest floor, then she laid down on the soft loam and moss covering it. With a sigh, she curled up her body to preserve her warmth, then she drifted off into a rough, nearly dreamless sleep.
-----
Rarity.... no, don't!
Take my hoof, Fluttershy!
Can't... make it!
No!
Fluttershy's eyes shot open as she fought to get her breathing under control. “Oh my... what a nightmare!” she said. “I sure am glad...” Then she got a better look at her surroundings. It was still the early hours of dawn, but she could tell that she was still in the scary forest that she had found herself in yesterday.
She sighed and stood up, a whimper escaping her lips as she felt her stiff, cold muscles protesting every move. Her belly growled, and she began to hunt for more of those leaves she had eaten the previous evening. Slowly she walked through the forest, acutely aware that there were many pairs of eyes looking over her. She hoped none of them were connected to a hungry wolf or bear.
The dark blue-green of the early morning forest was making it difficult to find some breakfast, but she eventually found a small clump of the delicious leaves she had found before. Quickly she snapped them up and ate them, giving a little sigh and a delicate burp as she finished her meal. Then she spread her wings and took off from the forest floor.
As she rose toward the canopy, she could feel her anxiety building up at the thought of the creatures that lived in the boughs of the trees. They might be friendly. But then again, they may not be. Her mind's eye painted a picture of a massive black hand reaching out and grasping her around the barrel to deliver her to a gaping maw full of razor sharp teeth. She let out a little scream at that, then for a moment fought to regain composure. As soon as she banished the negative thoughts from her head, she resumed flying through the upper tree branches, and soon burst through the canopy.
She gasped.
There was nothing below her but an unending forest.