//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Forgotten Tale // by Wind Storm //------------------------------// On one rainy morning, Morning Star, a unicorn mare with a silver mane and a golden coat, was sifting through the various scrolls and books in the Canterlot Archives with his friends Lightning Cloud and Wind Storm, both stallions, the former being an earth pony with a silver mane and a dark blue coat, and the latter being a pegasus with a sky blue coat with white streaks and a black mane. The trio wanted to kill some time because of the delayed Wonderbolts performance, which Rainbow Dash had hyped up and was broadcasted to the citizens of Ponyville via strategically placed posters. It was rumored that a mysterious cult called the Menukar had threatened the show group. “Hey, Wind Storm,” Lightning Cloud called out. “What is it, nerdie?” Wind Storm asked, slightly upset due to the call-off. “Well, I was wondering if you were related to Rainbow Dash, because your rainbow-colored tail suggests family resemblance, yet there’s probably about a ten percent chance it was a coincidental coloring or a one percent chance you dye your-” “Ha! Me, dye my tail?!” Wind Storm laughed. “Leave that to Rarity! Anyway, I’m actually Rainbow’s cousin. Still can’t pull off a sonic rainboom, though.” Morning Star pulled a random book out of the crystal shelf and looked at it.The words Classified Cooking for Magical Ponies were set deeply into the book. “Eh, boring,” Morning Star moaned, as he shoved the book back in the shelf. “Come on, there has to be something interesting in here!” Wind Storm whined, as he pulled out the favorite book of many young unicorns, Conjuration for the Weak and Meek, and immediately put it back, making a small gagging sound as he did. Morning Star took another book out of the shelf, Dating Spells for That Special Pony You Love. “Why do they have a dating book in the Canterlot Archives?” exclaimed Morning Star as she looked at the book. “Huh... this could turn out to be useful..” “Look, I’m not going to sit here and watch you try to get somepony to like you. I mean, even Lightning Cloud has a marefriend!” Wind Storm said, as Morning Star put the book back. “Well, I might have one. So what?” Morning Star glared at Wind Storm. Wind Storm shrugged. “Just saying.” “Hey, look what else I found!” yelled Morning Star, as she took a golden book, Teleportation, Time-Warping, and Time Fusion, from a shelf and set it on a wooden table. Wind Storm flew over to see the book, while Lightning Cloud pranced over. “This could be really fun. I really want to try some of these, like this first one, Blink Teleportation," Morning Star announced. “Well, let's try it out!” exclaimed Wind Storm. “Wait, wait, guys, we don’t know what the requirements are. We don’t even know what it does!” Lightning Cloud cautioned. “Alright, then let's read the first spell!” Wind Storm yelled, slowly becoming more and more annoyed. The three ponies read the first spell, Blink Teleportation. “Have you ever wanted to teleport short distances without tiring yourself? Well, you only need to be a unicorn--” “But Morning Star is the only unicorn here,” Wind Storm whined. “I guess we need to go onto the next one,” Lightning Cloud replied as Morning Star magically turned the dusty worn page. “Ugh, showoff,” Wind Storm grunted. “Hey, shut up! Anyway, here’s the next spell.” Event Fusion, read the page. “Have you wanted to temporarily move past events into the future or present? Have you ever wanted to cause mass confusion?” On the bottom, in small footnotes, it read, “For a good success rate, you need about 120 unicorns. Please note that side effects may include: Change in present time, death, hysteria, planar clearing...” “Cool! That seems fun!” Wind Storm exclaimed, obviously not seeing the last part of the page. “Umm, Wind Storm... that would be pretty tragic, considering the likely deaths. Also, it would mess up the 4th dimension and possibly create another dimension. Finally, good luck finding 120 insane unicorns to do that,” Lightning Cloud droned, which was surprising considering that he looked like he was about to explode. “Fine,” sighed Wind Storm, turning to the next page. “Time Portal,” Lightning Cloud read. “Have you wanted to create a portal to a random place in time? Well, if so, this is for you! Note, however, that you may only have 3 ponies enter and those three are the only ones who can use the portal to return to the future/past. Usually, many Unicorns are required, but skill, not quantity, is the deciding factor here.” “Hey, what’s that written on the page?” Morning Star asked. “It says, ‘Egnguvkckpvtqwdngjgnr’,” Lightning Cloud answered. “Must be some type of code! I bet I can solve it... Wait, why are all the letters in one word? That’s not a code. That's just some random junk.. I think," Wind Storm observed. "Hm... This is a tricky one. What do you think, Lightning?" proclaimed Morning Star. "Well, it looks like... Aha!" shouted Lightning Cloud. "Hmm.... Oh, no!" "Come out with it, Lightning," Morning Star insisted. "It says...Celestia is in trouble, help!" “What?!" yelled Morning Star, “Are you serious? Well, we should make it as soon as possible!” “We should definitely do it! We would also solve the Celestia/Luna birth controversy! This could be a breakthrough!” proposed Lightning Cloud. “Wow, Lightning Cloud.” Wind Storm snickered. “I didn’t know you were such a history nerd!” Lightning Cloud swiftly tackled him, causing a loud thud to echo through the Archives. “Hey! Get off me! It was just a joke!” “Oh yea, we should probably make it near the Everfree Forest, because then nopony would be disturbed!” Morning Star said as the other two ended their tackle. “I think I can teleport us back to Ponyville!” “Okay, let’s go. But what do we need to do, Morning Star?” Lightning Cloud asked, “Don’t you also need the star alignment to be: Proxima Centauri at 56’ on its orbit, Alpha Centauri A at 32’ on its orbit, Toliman at 96’ on its orbit, Barnard’s Star at 22’...” “Oh, just shut up and try it,” Wind Storm scolded. “Okay, but if the EZ Aquarii Trinary system isn’t in alignment, then, well, we’d be teleported anywhere within a 1.12565 mile range of the target location,” mumbled Lightning. “So what?” asked Wind Storm. “That’s pretty far...” “Maybe for you guys, but pegasi have wings! It’s easy to fly a mile! Anyway, we just need to stand around Morning Star and perform the spell.” Under Wind Storm’s command, the trio got in a circle. Sparks started flying out of Morning Star’s horn, and with a boom and a flash of golden light, they were on the edge of Ponyville. “Told you we wouldn’t be needing your star alignment mumbo-jumbo! By the way, does anyone else notice that smell too?” Wind Storm remarked. “That burning smell? Me too..” continued Morning Star as she sniffed the air. “Well, it looks like I wasn’t wrong about the star alignment. Our manes were burnt because EZ Aquarii A was off alignment by 3.345 miles,” announced Lightning Cloud. “Whatever. We can get Rarity to fix it up for us, so let’s get trotting! I’m already bored!” Morning Star revealed. “Do I have to walk with you guys?” Wind Storm whined. “It would be a ton easier if I could just leave you guys...” He looked down at the dirt path. “You know... In the dust?” “Hilarious,” Morning Star sarcastically spoke. “That was so funny, I even forgot to laugh. Now let’s get moving!” “Does that mean I can use my wings?” Lightning Cloud nodded at Morning Star. “May I do the honors?” “Go ahead,” Morning Star replied with a nod and a smirk. “Gathering oxygen...” Lightning Cloud whispered. “NO!!!!” The scream startled Wind Storm so much that he fell backward, raising a large plume of watery red-brown dirt. The three laughed until they realized it was beginning to rain and they would be late to the Wonderbolts show, which they could just barely see in the distance. “Oh no! We’re going to miss the show!” Wind Storm moaned. “We have more important things to do than watch the Wonderbolts,” firmly said Morning Star. “Why don’t we just open that portal right now?” Lightning Cloud asked. “ We’re near the Everfree Forest, and I don’t want to go back to town.” “Sorry,” Morning Star apologized, “but we have to gather all the unicorns, and you have to help.” “Guys? I’m gonna go try and get some pegasi to clear the clouds up.” Wind Storm said. “Sounds good,” Morning Star replied. “We’ll go home and prepare for the trip.” So the three friends went their separate ways, Morning Star and Lightning Cloud heading back to Ponyville, while Wind Storm flew up to Cloudsdale.