//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 Awakening // Story: Forgotten Time // by Drattaarcana //------------------------------// It was a sunny day in Equestria. In the Unicorn Range, just north of the Smokey Mountains. laid a forest almost completely unexplored by ponykind.  Knowledge of this region was scarce, yet that didn’t stop the occasional traveler or uninformed pony from wandering in.  It was around this time that Flight Hoof, a pegasus with a light green coat, light brown mane and tail found himself trekking through  the woods, a saddlebag with various fruits and vegetables strapped to his back. He was searching for ingredients for food and some medicine, among the wilds of the Unicorn Range. He and his wife preferred the solitude over the social society of regular ponies.  As his search for medicinal plants continued, he noticed that many of the herbs had not grown back from last year. Flight Hoof started thinking of his wife Silky Sky, a beautiful mare  with a light sapphire coat,light green mane and tail with a pink highlight; who had come down with a cold she got at Princess Twilight Sparkle’s coronation in Canterlot. He was looking for herbs to help build immune response. Normally, he wouldn’t travel this far into the Unicorn Range, as he was quite far from his home by this point, but you do things you must for those you love.   He was starting to worry he would not locate any herbs to help his wife and was considering just heading home.  As if by thought alone there by a tree was some echinacea which is what he was searching for as the herb was known for its immune-boosting properties. As Flight Hoof began picking the herbs he noticed something was not right.  He felt a cold chill in the air. On such a warm day, a chill in the air was unnatural for this time of year.  He decided to investigate as it was clear it was magic. He started moving in the direction of the mild chill. Flight Hoof proceeded wearily as he never really understood magic, but knew to be careful. He eventually came across a creek with a bend.  He moved around the bend of this small creek as he pressed though a few Conifers and a few shrubs. He came across a clearing. In this clearing there looked to be a weird phenomenon.  The air had a visual presence and was warping around in a kind a swirling pattern, it had tendrils all coming from a circle of air on the grass.  The air did not feel right and something was off. Flight Hoof knew magic could be dangerous so he was cautious of it, but something drew him towards the phenomenon. Was it curiosity or magic?  The temptation to solve this mystery started overwhelming him. Flight Hoof always had an unquenchable curiosity being a scientist, his cutie mark was a single butterfly over a dandelion marking him as a wildlife biologist, which is the main reason he lived in the Unicorn Range.  This magic still felt out of place and soon he walked up to it. He placed his hoof into the air.   The air parted and it felt like his hoof entered another dimension, he pulled his hoof pack suddenly in absolute shock and fear. This was a rift of some kind, he was sure.  Just then a sudden blinding light flashed from the rift blinding him for a few minutes. When he was finally able to see, the rift had vanished and in its place was an unconscious pony; at least Flight Hoof assumed it was a pony.  This pony had a silver coat with white fur around the hooves. On the ponies front two hooves there looked to be two bracelets with a sapphire gem in each and what looked like a silver band with a majestic weaving pattern.   This pony had two wings each silver like the coat, with gold tips on the feathers.  The mane and tail were white with a sky blue stripe in the middle it shimmered magically like they were made of starlight.  As Flight Hoof continued to examine this pony he noticed a horn that started straight and curved up at the last second, but the most intriguing thing about this pony’s horn was that it was shattered in two places along its length, the pony looked to be in its early thirties. The ponies cutie mark was a silver and blue star with three stars encircling it one green, one yellow, and one red.  Flight Hoof did not know what to do at first, he decided he should try and wake this pony. He started shaking him and asked “hey are you okay?”   Arcana felt himself being shaken and heard some creature speaking a strange foreign language, it sounded like a type of ponish, but it did not make any sense, he thought he heard something like “neigh ol hay nigh.”  When he opened his eyes he saw a pegasus with a light green coat with a light brown mane and tail.  When Arcana finally got his bearings, he saw he was in a forest he became confused as this was not the castle grounds of the great castle Alicorn Peak in the great city of Alicornia.  He knew he had cast his time stopping spell, it seemed he had become stuck in time for many moons, but it felt he been gone for only mere seconds.   Arcana tried to ask the pony who woke him up “when am I and where are we?”  the pony replied and all Arcana heard was “Hay no Solusi Frino.” It was obvious to Arcana he did not speak the same language as this pony and thought to himself I cannot understand this pony and I am drained of all my magic power so I am defenseless, I hope this land is peaceful otherwise all this will have been for naught.  Feeling extremely drained Arcana felt himself drifting into a deep sleep.   Flight Hoof unsure of how to communicate with this pony who spoke in a very obscure tongue, decided that he should bring this pony back to his wife Silky Sky, she was a medical pony and would know what to do.  Flight Hoof seeing the pony fall back to sleep, then realizing that he would need to carry this pony back to the house. After a few hours carrying this pony who was extremely heavy on his back he arrived at home.   A very modest home with a simple wood triangular roof and four walls and a nice wooden deck. Silky Sky was outside she gave a slight sneeze, when she perked her head up she saw Flight Hoof and was very happy to see her husband return so soon before she could ask if he found an immunity boosting plant she saw the strange pony.  Being a medical pony and despite her cold she jumped into action. She rushed over to help her husband bring the pony inside, they laid the pony on the bed in the extra bedroom to sleep.   When Arcana awoke from his sleep he was in a comfortable bed, it felt much nicer than his bed at the great castle, though the room was definitely not in the same quality or size. The room was much smaller with only the bed and a chair for furniture. He heard two voices from the next room, but was unable to make them out, there was a cloth on his head right under his horn and he felt he had been sweating.  He was able to deduce that he had a fever that finally receded. He still did not have any magic power, and his bracelets were still on his hooves, which was good because he did not want to drain magic power from any pony, least he incidentally harm those who were kind enough to let him sleep in their bed.   He tried to get out of bed, but was unable to move his body, his limbs refused to obey his mind. Coming to the realization he was still too weak from the spell, he had regained his consciousness and yet he did not have the strength to move.  Arcana concluded it would be a very long time to regain his former strength.   He was not able to determine the time of day, but he knew one thing unless he learned to communicate with these ponies he was going to have issues, it was clear the language he knew would be of no use to him.   He thought to himself how much time has passed since I cast my spell for the language to have changed this much I’ll need to master this new language.  The question became how to communicate that to these new ponies. That was something he did not know how to do.  It was then that a female pegasus entered his room she pulled over a chair with a book that had strange writing. Arcana did not understand the writing on the cover. Arcana was very knowledgeable in language and reading. He had learned nearly every spell, and was an exceptionally quick study.  Knowing it was important to be able to communicate with this fine mare he tried to use his horn to try and move the book a little to signal that he wanted to look at it. He was barely able to activate his horn. It took an enormous amount of focus and mental strength. He strained his mind as hard as he could and managed to move the book in the direction of his nose. The mare looked shocked as the book moved toward his nose.   She called out in that strange tongue and said something through the door, another voice answered, which Arcana still did not understand. Arcana tried again to move the book becoming frustrated.  The book moved slightly toward his nose. The pony finally got the hint and showed him the book. it looked like an herbal book with images of flowers.   The words were written in a foreign language that Arcana was unable to read, but he was determined to learn this language.  With much mental energy he tried to say the first word on the page, it was a strange word from the book and through force of will he managed to say “Floral.” The female looked absolutely ecstatic that he was able to quickly grasp a word she could understand.  That is how in his crippled state he started learning modern ponish with Silky Sky.