//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: Queen of Blades // by Salacar //------------------------------// Queen of Blades Chapter Three The ancient forest of Everfree, long feared by ponies all across Equestria for its abundance of predators, as well as its extremely independent nature. One of the last untamed wilds of pony lands, the forest itself rejecting any attempts at being brought into the pony ecosystem. The deep, dark reaches of the wood was almost constantly awash in activity, its native inhabitants playing the deadly game of nature: that of hunter and prey. Truly you would not find a more dangerous place in all of Equestria, nor one that was as rarely visited by ponykind. A stir went through the forest floor, a multitude of small critters fleeing from the sudden disturbance, just as a form burst from the ground, sending a spray of dirt in all directions. No more than a moment later, the Queen of Blades had emerged from below, standing on her carapaced feet as she took in the forest around her, shrouded in late evening darkness. She had chosen this forest, one she had learned of from the minds of a few scholars back at the castle, for a number of reasons. Namely, it was out of the way, yet close enough to Ponyville to serve her purposes. Secondly, inside this very forest was one of the largest concentrations of non-sapient biomass in Equestria, an ideal place for creating a small base of operations. If she was to work effectively, she would need to amass at least a few minions, and a small larval gestation pool would do wonders to fulfill this goal. The chance to experiment on and add a number of new, alien creatures to her Swarm was just an added bonus really. One she relished nevertheless. Most important of all however, no ponies actually lived in the Everfree, none that the scholars had known of at least. From what she had seen of ponies already, she would have believed it unlikely that any of them had actually settled in those gloomy woods. They seemed the kind to enjoy bright colors and sunshine, not dank forests and dangerous predators. With a judging gaze she took in her surroundings, she could just barely spot the cliffside of what might have been a mountain through the treetops, and reasoned that it might contain a number of caves. Without any drones to do the actual work, she’d need to find something already established. A network of tunnels would have been preferable, but a single cave would have to do if she could find nothing else. For a moment she considered the situation, then she closed her eyes and stretched out with her mind, feeling for any and all sentient lifeforms. The impressions she received were promising, the forest seemed to have an abundance of usable bio material, and only a few of the creatures were sapient. ‘It seems I am not entirely alone out here after all, I will just have to take a close look at my potential neighbors then...’ One of the sapient mental signatures originated from the nearby mountain, perhaps something which lived in a cave of sorts. The other one was much closer, in fact she judged it to be no more than a ten minute walk. It also seemed to be further away from the center of the forest, and as such the one most likely to be non-native. With a new goal in mind she set out towards the closest of the sapient creatures, it would be rude to not introduce herself to her new neighbor. <>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<> Zecora had been busy for most of the day, gathering herbs and maintaining her various wards against predators. It was something of a habit of hers after all, and even though the wards themselves had nothing to do with actual magic, she enjoyed the many rituals involved in them nevertheless. The ponyfolk might see such things as witchcraft or superstitions, and she was certain that Twilight Sparkle would throw a fit if she knew, yet it was a strange sort of comfortable familiarity for her. This day had been no different, and she hummed a happy tune as she applied the necessary concoction to a gathering of trees, the lime green substance entirely odorless to most, yet repulsively disgusting to manticores. It was the last ward of the day, and even she did not wish to stay out in the wild Everfree after dark. With one more application of the substance, accompanied by a rhyme from her native lands, Zecora looked at her work with satisfaction. This was just one of the many secrets as to how she was able to survive in the Everfree, a place normally considered too dangerous to live, especially for a lone zebra. With a spring in her step she gathered up her basket of herbs, happily trotting back to her wooden cottage. Or rather, the dead tree she had repurposed into her cottage with a healthy use of anti-decaying oil. Truly there was very little her alchemy could not do, and she was certain that there were no dangers in the Everfree she could not overcome with her skills and experience. She came home to a bubbling cauldron, a salve already in its final stages. It was something Applejack had commissioned only the previous day, a remedy for her grandmother’s back pain in fact. Ever since she had been accepted, or at least not outright feared anymore, by Ponyville’s citizens, she had received numerous requests for many different sorts of potions, elixirs, salves, and even herbal teas. It made her happy really, to become a part of Ponyville, somepony they could all count on in their times of need. ‘Even if it is just to entertain and scare foals on Nightmare Night.’ She chuckled fondly at the memory. It had been a truly delightful evening, making use of her storytelling and illusionary dust to evoke wonder in the many young ponies. Indeed, it had been a very joyful celebration, and she hoped that Mayor Mare would request her presence once more the following year. The zebra suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine, and swiftly snapped her head to stare through one of the hut’s small windows. It had only been for a fleeting moment, yet she was certain that somepony, or something, had been observing her. Yet she could discern nothing through the deep gloom outside her home. Whatever it was, it could not have been native to the Everfree, considering all of the wards she had in place against such intrusion. Thus, it was most likely a pony. Though why said pony had not announced his, or her, presence, was puzzling to the zebra. Anypony who knew where she lived would certainly be familiar with her at least, and she could think of nopony who would want to spy on her. With a furrowed brow she quickly grabbed her nearby tribal staff, and within seconds she had opened the door and stepped outside into the cold evening air, scouting through the thick vegetation for her surprise visitor. Spotting nopony at all, she slammed the base of her staff into the ground with a large thud. “Show yourself, I care not for your stealth.” Her voice rang clear through the dense woods, yet nothing more than the sound of leaves rustled by the wind answered her call. The zebra narrowed her eyes, she still felt like she was being watched, and she had never been especially paranoid. It was not just her mind playing tricks, she knew something was wrong. “I will no longer play your game, now tell me your name!” The agitated zebra was still scanning her surroundings, trying to pick up any kind of movement which might have indicated the presence of another creature. Her senses were finely attuned to the forest around her, yet she was incapable of perceiving her supposed spy. She was so intent on finding the intruder, that she noticed too late that her eyes were growing heavy and her sight was dimming. Just as she lost strength in her legs and collapsed to the ground, she saw a blurry shape appear from empty air, its bipedal form towering over her with glowing eyes. As she started slipping into unconsciousness, it spoke to her in an obviously female voice, though it sounded as if it had several different voices, each speaking in unison with one another. “I am the Queen of Blades, little equine. And I do believe that you and I are going to become very well acquainted.” <>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<> Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic and personal prodigy of Princess Celestia, yawned as she fought away the last fuzziness of her sleep, stretching grandly in the comfortable bed. With tired eyes she glanced at her bedside watch, groaning in annoyance as she discovered that she’d be unable to spend any longer in bed. Truly it had been an uncomfortable night, riddled with nightmares and frequent awakenings. She was unsure as to the reason for this, the only strange thing she had experienced the previous day had been a slight migraine, accompanied by a weird sense of foreboding. It had eventually forced her to use a self-induced sleep spell on herself, otherwise she might never have been able to fall asleep. Today she felt none of that however, and with another yawn she managed to drag herself out of bed, shaking her tired body free of the last clutches of sleep. With a plan for the day already in mind, the young unicorn proceeded to the bedroom mirror, quickly picking up a nearby brush and getting started on the tiresome ordeal of working some manner of order into her unruly bed mane. The remaining part of the morning proceeded as it always did: according to her perfected routine. Fixing up the mane, water in her face, then down to eat breakfast with her assistant Spike, including a generous helping of pitch black coffee. ‘Mmmm... coffee, what would I do without you?’ Then she would promptly be brought out of her daze by Spike, informing her of the first order of business on her daily checklist. All as planned. A few hours after lunch they arrived at the best part of her checklist, the time she had allotted to spend with her five good friends. This one was a tradition, their semi-weekly picnic in fact. The others had a tendency to call it their weekly picnic, despite how often she informed them that, unless they assigned one constant day for the picnic, calling it as such was fundamentally wrong. They often had to change the planned day for the picnic, on account of conflicting schedules, thus it was in reality semi-weekly. That particular declaration had prompted a chorus of laughter from both Rainbow and Pinkie, and Twilight was once again reminded of why she normally kept such thoughts to herself. It wasn’t her fault that her friends couldn’t appreciate an orderly, structured mindset such as her own, though that didn’t stop her from blushing in embarrassment whenever one of them called her out on it. All of this was far from her mind however, as she looked around at her chatting friends. They had set up a picnic blanket on a small stretch of land close to Sweet Apple Acres, and with a blue sky above them, a gentle breeze on the wind, and the company of her five best friends, Twilight truly felt happy. On the blanket was a collection of various refreshments: Pinkie Pie had, to nopony’s surprise, baked a cake, Fluttershy had made tea, Rarity supplied the sandwiches, Applejack had brought a basket of apples, and Twilight had taken the time to bring cooled water from a nearby spring. Rainbow Dash... well, Rainbow Dash had brought along her appetite. They were all enjoying each others company, chatting casually about things both big and small. Rarity, who for the day had brought along a wide-brimmed summer-hat and pink scarf, had just made a comment about the wonderful weather they were having, when a wheezing Spike ran across the blanket, yelling Twilight's name in exhaustion. He then struggled to catch his breath, all of the assembled ponies looking at him with puzzled expressions, until he burped up a scroll in a burst of green flames. Leaving her panting assistant laying on the blanket, Twilight quickly took the scroll in her magical grasp, unrolling it and skimming the first few lines. ‘Wedding? What wedding?’ <>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<> Time had passed surprisingly swiftly for the Queen of Blades. After subduing the solitary zebra, she had brought her back inside the hut. She had then spent several hours going through her mind, picking up any interesting pieces of information she could find concerning the Everfree and Ponyville. Of particular interest was the zebra’s knowledge of the creatures native to the forest. ‘Timber wolves... manticores... cockatrice. Even dragons and great celestial beasts, this forest keeps getting more and more interesting. How I look forward to examining all it has to offer.’ She had also learned further of Ponyville and its inhabitants, of Twilight Sparkle and her five friends especially. The zebra had had previous experiences with them all, and she learned a great deal from her gracious host. It was on that note that, after making sure the zebra would remember nothing of their little encounter, the Queen of Blades retired for the night. Even if she was an ascended being she still needed some amount of rest, and it also served to help her go through the information she had obtained that day. So it was to no surprise that the Queen went to rest with a smile, thoughts of everything she had to do the next day almost keeping her from sleep. Yet eventually she closed herself off from the outside world, leaning against one of the walls of her sleeping host's home, closing her eyes and letting peaceful slumber take her. <>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<> The next morning went by in somewhat of a blur. After she had made sure that the zebra would remember nothing of what had transpired the previous night, the Queen of Blades set out from the hut. It would take her a while to get to Ponyville, though she had discovered that the zebra’s home wasn’t really that far away, if one knew the right paths to take. ‘And thanks to the kind Zecora, I now do.’ She chuckled internally, it had been a true stroke of luck, finding a lone zebra in the middle of the Everfree. Especially one as knowledgeable and experienced as Zecora, it was almost too good to be true, but she was never one to dismiss the work of fate. Eventually she reached the edge of the forest, and as she looked out over the rolling hills and grasslands surrounding Ponyville, the Queen felt a tingle of excited anticipation. Soon she would find Twilight Sparkle, and with the mind of this world’s greatest scholar in her grasp, she was certain that she’d be able to find a way back home. Already she could spot Ponyville in the distance, the quaint little village almost a colorful blight on the vibrant landscape. It still irked her how these ponies had chosen to live, everything was in stark contrast to the beautiful organic structures she was familiar with, even the metal monstrosities favored by the Terran would have been a welcome sight compared to this. With a barely distinguishable frown, the Queen of Blades set forth towards her destination, intent on getting to Twilight Sparkle as fast as possible. On her way there however, no more than a few minutes walk, the Queen stopped in her tracks as she came upon a cottage. It was a strange thing, to find a pony’s cottage so close to the Everfree. Especially one that looked as sickeningly idyllic as this one. It was basically a wonderland of animals and insects, the disgusting critters scurrying around the building as if it was a giant nest. She could feel a chaotic mass of mental energies, and she had no idea how many creatures actually called the place their home. Once she approached however, several of the closest animals froze in whatever actions they were in the middle of, their heads snapping swiftly to look in her direction. With a click of her tongue in annoyance, the Queen of Blades enveloped herself in her psionic cloak, turning invisible to all onlookers. Despite this however, most of the animals scurried away at her approach, fleeing from an invisible entity they could not perceive, yet felt wrong to them somehow. The Queen paid them no heed, it did not matter to her what they did, and she knew they’d be unable to convey their unease to any actual sapient creature which might live in the cottage. ‘Wait... I know this place. Or rather, Zecora does.’ Bits and pieces of the knowledge she had gained from Zecora was brought to her mind, it took only a moment for her to make sense of the place. It was the home of a pegasus, one called Fluttershy, who apparently took care of injured and homeless animals. She was supposedly a kind hearted and empathic pony, and therefore, by the Queen’s reasoning, sufficiently weak to take advantage of. If she could just make an initial connection, she might be capable of perceiving the world through the pony’s senses, making her an ideal spy. ‘Yes, this one will do nicely.’ <>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<> “Your brother’s getting married? Congratulations Twilight, that’s great news!” Applejack was understandably excited, all of her friends were really. Yet all Twilight could feel, was a slight tang of pain at the sudden revelation. What kind of brother tells his sister about his wedding through a letter? The purple unicorn rolled her eyes, trotting away in agitation. “Yeah, great news. That I just got from a wedding invitation! Not from my brother, but from a piece of paper!” At this point her friends were looking worriedly at her, but the only thing on her mind was annoyance and disappointment in her brother. They were supposed to be so close after all, how had they drifted apart so easily? With a flourish of magic she levitated a sandwich into the air, performing a masterful rendition of her brother’s idiocy. In her own opinion at least. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who in the hoof is that!?” She snorted, pawing the ground in frustration. An unsure Fluttershy approached the unicorn with a light basking of her wings, reaching a hoof to her distressed friend in a gesture of concern. “Uhm... Twilight, are you okay?” Twilight sighed at the question, turning from her friend as she started trotting in her confusion and exasperation. “Sorry, it’s just that-...” At this point she cut herself off, looking uncertainly at Fluttershy with a raised eyebrow. “Actually, I want to ask you that same question, are you okay? I think there’s something wrong with your eyes.” Fluttershy was surprised by the sudden question, she had never liked when somepony asked her something out of the blue, and the demure pegasus responded in the only way she knew. By hiding herself behind her mane and speaking in a low tone. “Uhm... I... I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my eyesight... Twilight.” She peeked out of her hiding place ever so slightly. “I’m sorry, did I not see something I was supposed to?” The purple unicorn narrowed her eyes at her friend, trying to figure out exactly what she had seen earlier. She could have sworn that her eyes had been glowing, just a little, but still very odd. “I’m sure that your eyes were... glowing.” The last word came out as almost a question, causing the rest of her friends to look at the shy pegasus with questioning gazes. This scrutinization only made the butter-yellow pony curl up even more, her discomfort with the situation prompting her to hide her muzzle entirely behind her pink mane. “I.. I don’t know, Twilight. Could you please stop staring at me?” The question was almost pleading, and with apologetic faces her friends turned from the uncomfortable pegasus to look at Twilight instead. “Darling, are you sure you’re just not seeing things? It is a very warm day after all, and I haven’t seen you drink anything since you got here,” Rarity asked with a slight air of concern. “Perhaps you should sit down and have a nice cold glass of water, we’ll figure this whole wedding thing out, I promise.” With a sigh the distressed unicorn sat back down on the blanket. “Sorry, Rarity. You’re probably right, I’m likely just experiencing some minor frustrations about this whole affair...” As always, Pinkie Pie was ready to cheer up a friend in need, and with a beaming smile she started bouncing in place. “Don’t worry, Twilight! I’m sure everything will turn out just fine! After all, there’s-...” The pink party pony promptly stopped in mid-air, her head swirling around at an almost unnatural angle before her front hooves followed suit, sending her careening in the opposite direction with a loud ‘Woah!’, and crashing to the ground with an audible thud. The assembled ponies all stared at her in baffled disbelief, and barely a second after, the pink earth pony suddenly started whirling in place, her head still staring directly in one direction. The whole thing looked absolutely bizarre, and her friends, while normally used to Pinkie’s oddities, were struck absolutely speechless by what was happening. It only lasted a few seconds, and when it ended Pinkie was more or less slung to the ground once more, her body twitching a final time before she became still. Then, without warning, the pink pony bounced back on her hooves, turning to her still motionless friends, all of them with mouths agape. She cocked her head and adapted a questioning expression. “Well... that was new.”