//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: And Darkness Turn To Light // by RoyalBardofCanterlot //------------------------------// Twilight happily trotted up to the edge of the wood. The sky was bright blue, the sun having only arisen at Celestia's command a few hours before. The day was cool in a pleasant way, a breeze lifting the strands of her mane. High above her, Dash flew and landed at her side, her back laden with nearly overflowing saddlebags. Twilight's own supplies-blankets, food provisions, water bottles-all floated in her magical aura. Dash greeted her and immediately went back to hovering in the air. Next to arrive was Pinkie, bouncing down the lane, her own supplies neatly packed in bright pink bags that nearly blended into her fur. She joined the herd that was standing at the edge of the deep wood of oak and beech trees that were just now being touched by Autumn, the whole forest alive in shades of orange. Pinkie Pie just couldn't seem to stop bouncing. Twilight smiled at her friend's exuberance and floated a checklist from out of her saddlebag as she saw Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy also trot up . "Alright, does everypony have their sleeping bags?" "Yep!" Pinkie bounced up and down and the others murmured agreement. Twilight marked that one off on her list. "Food supplies?" Another murmur of agreement. Dash zipped in midair. "We got everything; I wanna go!" "Okay, Dash, but don't rush me, I want to check everything off." Twilight checked off the last items, put the scroll away and started to trot. The others followed after her into the woods. Twilight and Rarity kept to a casual pace, the two Unicorns chatting with each other about nothing much at all, taking in the serenity of the forest. High above them the ancient branches, grown strong and powerful by weathering centuries' worth of storms, intertwined. The leaves shook in the wind which raked at Rarity's mane. She frowned. "Lovely surroundings, but perhaps I should've bought a ribbon. Oh! How is Spike? Will he not be joining us?" Twilight shook her head. "He wanted Big Mac to take him to the hoofball game." Rarity slowed her pace, gazing at a patch of pink wildflowers. "I see. Maybe next time." She lit up her horn and pulled up the flowers, threading them through her mane, ideas for floral-themed clothing already going through her mind. Pinkie hopped on ahead down the dirt road that cut through the lines of trees. She marveled at the bright yellow dandelions and gentle, purple puffs of thistle that popped up on the road and was interspersed among the woods. A sheet of grape vines fell down the trunks, the tendrils of the jagged plants embracing them. She hummed a happy tune to herself which joined the chorus of early morning bird song, the birds singing from among the canopy of orangeing and browning leaves that completely enveloped the herd. Dash floated, letting the currents of of wind lift her up, push her along. Growing impatient, she darted ahead, dodging a low-hanging branch in her way and nearly slamming into another one. She zipped between two branches growing close together, sticks and twigs clawing at her mane and eliciting a yelp that she would deny until the rest of her days. Shaking out her mane sent the twigs and sticks falling to the ground for her companions to dodge. Fluttershy frowned and looked up at her. "Dash, maybe it' be best if you'd come down before you hurt yourself." She spread out her wings and jumped away just as she felt the snap of Pinkie's jaws. "Pinkie! What are you doing?" Pinkie jumped up again. "I'm playing Catch The Pegasus! It's Pound Cake's favorite game!" Dash snorted, smirked and darted out of the way. "You're not gonna catch me-whoa!" She quickly spun around a tree, but not quick enough to avoid barreling through the leafy limbs. The limbs snapped upon her crashing into them and she whirled around several times, making the world spin around her. Blushing, she returned to the ground and shook out her wings, sending out a spray of sticks down to the ground, sending the rest of the herd scrambling. Blushing, she floated back down and landed next to Applejack. Fluttershy ran up to her and Dash, for a few moments, tolerated, her looking over her for any injuries. After a few moments, they began moving again. While only the barest shafts of sunlight made their way down to sprinkle onto the forest floor, that light was beginning to be obscured as dark clouds moved in. Twilight looked up, consulted her map. "According to the map King Aspen gave Fluttershy, the Emerald Lake is about half a mile from here. We need to make camp soon, I don't like the look of those clouds." Dash picked up her pace. "Hey, AJ, you wanna practice for the running of the leaves?" Applejack playfully bumped her flank. "Sure I do, but are you feelin' alright though? You seem more hyper than a cat with a ball o'yarn." Dash shrugged. "I'm fine. I've just been bored lately. We've had nice, clear weather lately so not much to do. No...storms..." She looked up, blinked. "Huh. Must've rolled in from the Everfree. Ah, it'll blow itself out." "If you say so." Applejack hoofed at the ground. "Let's get that race on. I've been awful cooped up myself." With a burst of speed, the two athletes took off, pounding the ground beneath their hooves. Dash took the lead, though she kept her wings carefully tucked to her sides. She blasted past Applejack, but Applejack rushed to keep up with her. The land beneath their hooves shifted, sometimes almost imperceptibly lifting up. Applejack felt the contours of the land as she rushed by, leaping over rocks in her way. Her rival attempted to do the same, but was not as in tune with the land. As she rushed ahead, the land dropped by a few inches and she flared out her wings to keep from falling. That was all the time that was needed for Applejack to gallop past her. The wind snapped up the leaves and a brown leaf slapped across Applejack's face though it didn't even slow her down. She pushed her back legs like a spring, galloping forward. Dash grumbled to herself and sprinted to keep up, her front hooves pounding the ground and giving her enough of a burst to speed to rush up to Applejack's side. Applejack picked up the pace, but Dash lept over a rock. A few droplets of rain started to fall, but they paid it no mind, their legs drumming in tune with each other, their hooves a mere few inches away from each other. Dash surged ahead, pushing her front legs out, slamming down on the ground and leaving a cloud of dust to burst into Applejack's face. She coughed and brought down her back legs hard, rocketing past her rival. Dash let her, keeping a steady pace while Applejack surged past her. Dash rushed, quickly drumming her legs in quick bursts that pushed her to just barely keep up with Applejack. Applejack took the lead again and Dash had to pick up speed just to fall a few inches behind her. Applejack's legs, hardened by hours of labor, were just stronger. She had no problem outrunning the lightweight Pegasus. Dash broke into a canter, taking a long jump without even spreading her wings. She sailed past Applejack, turned to stick out her tongue. Applejack paid no mind to Dash's antics, focusing solely on the rush of the wind. In fact, the wind seemed to be picking up quite a bit and it wasn't just her running. The gentle drizzling of the rain on the forest floor was growing harder. While Dash and Applejack raced, the rest of the herd started to huddle close together. Suddenly, both racers were interrupted by a pink blur who gave both a sharp, but painless, blow on the shoulder and gleefully shouted "Tag!" Dash and Applejack exchanged a look, smirked at their friend's antics and then took off after her. Pinkie pie giggled and pranced, her hooves kicking up leaves that they had to dodge as they pursued her. Dash reached out to tag her, but slipped on the now wet soil, crashing into Applejack's side though she just bounced off against her muscles and took off galloping again, her tail lashing the air in the excitement of the chase. Up above, sheets of rain fell down, the water falling down the leaves and tapping the earth. Their hooves crunched the leaves. With a clap of thunder, the heavens burst open, soaking the Ponies below. Squealing, Pinkie ran back to Twilight and the others, Applejack and Dash following her. Twilight summoned a shield that surrounded them and they stepped close together, their fur brushing and tails intertwining they stood so close, instinctively seeking safety and comfort in the herd as crackling lightning and angry bursts of wind shook the trees. Twilight looked down at the map. "There should be a cave network around here somewhere." Fluttershy's wings trembled. "A-a cave?" Twilight nodded. "There's no way I could keep this shield up indefinitely." The wind shrieked through the branches, throwing up the leaves. One massive limb waved back and forth before snapping away from the tree and flying away, slamming into Twilight's shield. The shield visibly shook. The sheets of rain struck the land, turning the dirt to mud which they had to trudge through. Fluttershy trembled. "M-maybe we should go back." Twilight looked up. "Are you sure? We've come this far and King Aspen said there's a very rare bird living at Emerald Lake. I thought you might like to see it." Fluttershy got her trembling under control. "Yes, I would like to see it, but this looks like a bad storm-" Just then, a blast tore a young oak, ripped it from the ground, sent it flying. Twilight yelped and poured more power into the shield as the oak splintered into it. She gulped. "Let's just keep going. I also have a map of the cave network as I figured we might need it." The wind was a constant roar that drowned out anything else she might've said. As the rain beat the leaf-strewn forest floor, the wind whipped it, drenching the trees. Sticks and twigs and leaves raked at her shield and Rarity added her own power to Twilight's, repairing the little cracks that appeared in the energy bubble. The forest grew thicker the further they walked into it, the main road vanishing away, hedges jutting up and blocking their way. Twilight smiled. "Alright, there's the bushes. The cave must be getting closer." The trees grew closer, the branches intertwining. These trees were older, grey moss hanging down their brown arms. There was now a lull in the storm, though the wind continued to howl, tearing at the moss and yanking it from their place, sending them flying through the air. The furious puffs of wind sent the leaves dancing, a chaotic waltz of oranges and browns, the leaves sashaying to the rhythm of the gale, surrounding the herd and making it impossible for Twilight to see where she was going. Leaves and dirt, twigs and sticks, that was all Twilight and the others could see. All they could hear was the shouting of the gale and the steady drumbeat of the tempest falling on the shield. The ancient oaks had already been twisted by the storms that had come by in centuries past and they were not shaken by this one anymore than they had been by the storms that had come here long ago. Their heavy branches had been shaped by those storms and twisted in strange shapes. Twilight occasionally continued to look up from the map, but she did not speak to her companions so silence prevailed. The oak branches bent down over them. Little by little, the land was lifting up. Not quite hills, more small rises. Their legs slightly burned with the effort of ascending the miniature hills. The trunks of the oaks grew wider, their arms twisting out to embrace one another. As the cairn came into view, Applejack's eyes widened. It was not a natural hill, it was too perfectly round for that. Grass grew along it and an opening far too large for a Pony led inside of it. "Uh, Sugarcube? Is that a burial cairn?" She spoke in a shocked tone, the idea of camping in a resting place for the long departed members of her tribe too much for her. Twilight shook her head. "Earth Ponies may have taken their ideas for burial cairns from whatever civilization used to inhabit the White Tail Woods. There's a massive network of tunnels. Nopony knows why it was built, but there's never been any bodies discovered though, other, similar pre-Pony cairns have been found with bodies inside." Applejack nodded. "I-I see." Fluttershy shivered, caught between her fear of the still raging storm and her fear of the darkness. Pinkie threw a foreleg around her. "It'll be okay, Fluttershy! Just gotta giggle at the ghosties, remember." Twilight frowned. "There are no ghosts here. Whatever purpose it served, it wasn't for burials." Her shield wavered for only a second and the rain drenched them. Twilight quickly put it back up and they barreled into the darkness.