In a time before much of recorded history, a unicorn mare runs for her life. She's painfully average by the standards of most ponies, with a baby blue coat and pink mane that clash just a bit too much with each other to be aesthetically pleasing. The first Hearth's Warming occurred about half a year ago, and she has been doing her best to get along with the other ponykinds in this new, untamed land, just like her peers.
Unfortunately, nopony said life in this "Equestria" would be easy. She sprints through the woods as fast as her legs can carry her, sweat covering her face and heavy breaths being heaved from her lungs, but she does not dare slow down. She hops over a log, and just as she does so, a slight pain shoots through her cheek. Time seems to slow as she notices an arrow whizzing by her, its pointed tip having just barely grazed her face. Her eyes wide, she continues to sprint, unable to do much more than that in this instant.
Looking upwards, she can see light peeking through the treeline up ahead. She's almost there. With one final push, she emerges from the woods and into a large plain. Sure, she doesn't have any cover out here, but just a couple hundred feet away, her village stands with large, practically impenetrable walls. Using the last of her energy, she clears the gap between the woods and the village. A guard standing atop the wall opens the gate just enough for her to enter, and she quickly dives through said gate before it slams shut behind her. Meanwhile, several guards up above begin shouting and casting spells into the plain at her pursuers, picking them off one by one. Trying to take a moment to catch her breath and calm her nerves, the unicorn nearly passes out.
All she wanted to do was harvest some brambleberries. Was that really too much to ask for?
She gathers herself as best she can and trudges further into the village, quickly being greeted by a bat pony mare about the same age as her. The bat pony has a swampy green coat and velvety mane. Her piercing red eyes match her hair well, and she gives the unicorn a worried grin.
"I see you made it back okay."
"I did indeed. For better or for worse."
The bat pony looks over her friend, noticing the several scrapes and bruises all over her person. Then, she notices the large cut going down her cheek.
"Solaria, you really need to stop venturing that far into the Everfree."
"You know as well as I do that food is getting scarcer and scarcer, even without the Windigos breathing down our necks."
"Pfft. That's only because the earth ponies can't do their jobs properly. Not within these walls, at least. There's not enough space to do that much farming."
"You know, when the three tribes united, I didn't expect us to immediately get plunged into another conflict."
"You wanna know the worst part? According to the elders, it might be because we united that this is even a problem at all."
"What do you mean?"
The two mares journey into a nearby tent belonging to Solaria. As the unicorn begins to unpack her belongings onto a small table, the bat pony, affectionately nicknamed "Ezzy" (though properly known as Esmarelda), takes a seat on the floor, upon which a handcrafted rug lies.
"Well, you know how the humans were super nice and stuff whenever we first arrived on this continent?"
"For the most part. I seem to recall a few stinkers in there, but we weren't at war at least."
"Right, but now they're all super violent and attack us on sight."
The unicorn chuckles.
"And I suppose you're about to tell me why?"
"Well, the elders think that it might be because their bodies just can't handle magic. It makes them go berserk and become all violent and stuff like that."
"Hm. And what does that have to do with the three tribes uniting?"
"According to the elders, the blast of magic caused by our unification and subsequent friendships never truly dissipated. They suggested that there might be a lot more magic in the atmosphere now than there was before we arrived."
"And the humans can't handle it?"
"That's what they're speculating, at least."
Solaria, having finished her unpacking, joins her friend on the floor and sprawls out on her back, completely exhausted from the day's journey.
"Then what are we supposed to do about that? The humans outnumber us a hundred to one, and that's just in this area."
"Well, they were here first."
"It's not like we're welcome back in Zebrat anymore. Where else were we supposed to go?"
"Hey, I'm not arguing with you!" Ezzy lies down as well, and the two mares just stare at the ceiling of the tent.
"...They killed them, didn't they?"
"Hm?"
"The humans that chased me, I mean."
"Oh, yeah. They followed you into the open plain. They're easy targets there. The guards would be idiots to not capitalize on the opportunity."
Solaria sighs.
"I wish we didn't have to hurt them."
"Ria, they've killed almost a third of our camp. Heck, they did so brutally. I mean, you saw what happened to-"
"Shut up!" Ezzy winces, realizing that she almost said a name she shouldn't have. "The image is burned into my mind, Ezzy. I don't need you reminding me."
"...Sorry, Ria."
Solaria sighs once again.
"It's fine." Sitting upright once again, Solaria starts to stretch. "Let me guess. Even though the elders think they know what happened to make the humans go wild, they don't know how to fix it?"
"They're working on it."
"Pfft. They've been saying that for months."
"Scoff all you want, unless you have a better idea, waiting for them is all we can do. Besides, didn't you just say you didn't want to hurt the humans?"
"I don't, but I still want all of this taken care of. And not just because I saw a guard get torn limb from limb last weekend, either." Solaria glances at the small pouch of berries she acquired, which might be enough to last about three days. "If we don't do something soon, we're going to starve."
"...Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that."
A few hours later, the sun begins to set thanks to the magic of the elders. Meanwhile, two teenage unicorn mares take turns blasting each other with magic in a corner of the settlement. One of the mares has a snow-white coat and a pink mane, while the other has a navy blue coat and light-blue mane. Neither have their cutie marks yet. As the former begins to form yellow magic around her horn, the latter puts up a shield of blue magic in front of her. Then, the white mare sends out a blast of magic towards the shield, which successfully protects the blue mare from the attack. After a few seconds, the assault stops, and the two mares take a moment to catch their breath.
"Sister, I think that's enough for today."
"I agree. You're getting better, though!"
"Same for you."
The two sisters walk together through the settlement towards their tent, waving at a few groups of ponies resting at a campfire here or there. Eventually, they arrive at their home.
"Hello mother," they say in unison.
Solaria perks up, a smile on her face as her daughters arrive.
"There you are. I was wondering what was keeping you out so late."
"We were just getting more practice in. We have to be ready for whenever we finally get to leave the village."
"With any luck, that day is far away."
The sisters hide their scowls as Solaria happily trots over to a nearby table.
"I found enough for us to eat for three days this time. Help yourselves."
"Ugh, brambleberries again?"
"Do not give me that, young lady! The fact that we have food at all is a blessing! Be happy you aren't living in one of the fringe colonies."
Without another word, the three mares eat their dinner in silence. When the meal finally concludes, the elder of the two teenagers looks up at her mother.
"Did you hear what the elders discovered?"
"I heard what they're theorizing."
"Still, that's more progress than we've made in months! Maybe we'll be able to use that to turn the tables on them! Get revenge for what they did to dad!"
"Stop." Solaria's words are cold and demanding, and it's enough to make both of her daughters wince. "We will not seek retribution in this household. Am I clear?" Her children nod fearfully, and Solaria lets out yet another sigh. "We cannot return violence with violence. You can feel however you wish about the humans, but that doesn't give you an excuse to act violently towards them."
"But what about the rest of the village? They have no issues with killing the humans."
"And we are not them." Solaria closes her eyes and tilts her head downwards. "If the elders are right, then that means there is a solution to this."
"And what's that?"
"We just wait it out."
"We... wait it out?"
"If the humans' bodies get used to the new level of magic in the air, they should calm down. Then they'll be right back to the friendly neighbors we once knew them as."
Solaria's daughters each have a slightly different reaction.
"I don't want to be friends with them again, not after all of this," the white one says.
"Besides, who knows how long that will take?"
"That's enough. Both of you." Solaria takes a deep breath and stands from the table before walking over to her bed. "We must have hope that they can get better. Until then, we will get by. Nothing more, nothing less."
The two teenage alicorns share a glance, but say nothing. This life isn't at all what they were expecting a year ago.
"Again!"
A few weeks later, the two sisters yet again practice their magic, shooting each other with magical blasts over and over again. As much as they'd love to learn more complex spells, all of the local wizards other than the elders have been killed. As such, they have to settle with the basics.
"Haha, I got you that... time?"
The two are interrupted by shouting near the village's front gate, followed by a loud crashing sound, followed again by screaming. They share a quick, worried glance before sprinting towards the commotion. They don't even get halfway through the village before they realize what's happened. Somehow, someway...
The humans have breached the gate.
"Wh-what do we do?!"
"I don't know! Where's mom?!"
"She was out finding food again!"
Another crashing sound. At that moment, the pair finally notice the swarm of humans flooding into the village through the new hole in the gate. The few dozen guards are doing everything they can to hold them off, but the mares gasp in horror as they watch one stallion meet a sudden and gruesome end, then another get impaled through the chest via a spear. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the elder of the sisters turns and begins to run.
"Come on! We have to tell the elders!"
"But what about mom?!"
"She'll be fine! We can't make it through that crowd anyway, so just follow me!"
The blue mare tries to turn, but her legs lock up. She trembles in place, too terrified to move.
"Dang it sister, this is NOT the time!"
Using all of her energy, the elder of the sisters picks up her sibling using telekinesis to get her moving. Thankfully it works, and they begin to sprint towards the elders' tent near the back of the settlement.
Before they can make it, however, they are suddenly cut off. A large male human blocks their path, his eyes glowing red and the veins in his limbs pulsating with what looks like magic. They both yelp in surprise, and their fight or flight response activates. The younger sister puts a shield up in front of her, and while the elder sister attempts to do the same, she finds that she is drained after her telekinesis spell. She gasps as the human pounces towards her, but her sister leaps in the way just in time. The thin magical shield successfully repels their attacker, but it won't last forever, especially as he continues to bash the shield with his supercharged arms.
"Duck!" She drops the shield just as the pair duck, and the human, who had been repeatedly slamming on the shield, falls forward over the top of them. "Mom said not to hurt them! Just run!"
Sure enough, the two continue to sprint away. One of the few advantages ponies have over humans physically is their speed, so they easily outrun their assailant.
About a minute of running later, they finally reach the elders' tent. Throwing the entrance flaps aside, they rush into the large, circular interior, where six old ponies sit. Four are very old mares, while two are stallions. They all have white or gray manes, and the wrinkles covering their bodies do a decent job at showing just how long they've been around. All but one look up at the sisters, their expressions completely emotionless.
"E-elders! The village has been breached!"
"Hush, child," one of the mares says. "We know."
"Wh-what are we going to do?"
"I said, hush. We've been working on a plan for months. We're just going to have to hope it works ahead of schedule."
The mare directs their attention towards the one stallion that has yet to acknowledge their presence. His eyes are closed, his hooves are held aloft, and his horn is glowing with a great deal of magic. On top of that, magic of all colors seems to be gathering from the air around him into his horn, and after a few seconds, the whole tent is glowing brightly thanks to whatever spell he is casting.
"What's he going to do?"
"For the last time, be quiet! Let him concentrate!"
The two sisters watch in tense silence as the stallion continues the spell. The younger sister risks a peek outside the tent and notices the human that had been pursuing them earlier rushing towards the tent. He will be there in just a few seconds.
"Uhh, we'd better hurry!"
"He's almost done. Sit still."
"We don't have time for this!"
"Trust him!"
"I don't think-"
"Quiet!"
"Ahh!"
The human finally reaches the tent and leaps towards the mare. However, just as he is in midair, he stops completely. The two sisters look at the human in awe. He is completely frozen in midair, the violent expression on his face stiff as a board. Then, just as quickly as he froze, his whole body begins to glow a bright blue color. Slowly, it seems to unravel like string. His body slowly morphs into pure, concentrated magic, and it flows into the tent. The two turn around to see the elder stallion sweating profusely. Before him, a bright blue octahedron floats in midair. The magic, which was once their attacker, gently drifts into the octahedron. As they watch in shock and wonder, more strings of bright blue magic float into the tent from behind them. Then more. Then more.
Then more.
The process speeds up. The next thing they know, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of magical strings are floating through the walls of the tent and into the octahedron. Then, just as quickly as it all started, silence.
The octahedron falls delicately to the ground, quickly caught by an elder mare sitting next to the stallion responsible for the spell. Said stallion immediately falls unconscious.
"What... what just happened?"
The elder mare, which had previously been berating their impatience, sighs and looks at them with relief evident on her face.
"We've sealed them away within a pocket dimension. They won't be hurting anyone anymore."
"S... sealed them away? What does that mean?"
"It means we've created a second Equestria, right there in that little object. We can shape it as we want, change whatever we want to change. We'll make it look a lot different than the Equestria we know, give the humans a world of their own. Heck, if we're right, we might be able to modify everything in there, the humans themselves included. Wouldn't it be nice to wipe their memories of Equestria entirely?"
The older of the sisters looks on incredulously.
"I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Then let me rephrase. Humans and ponies will never have to see or think about each other ever again. We can all live the rest of our lives in peace."
"So... that's it? They're just going to live forever in that... glow-y thing?"
"Unless they can discover some way to break free from its magic. However, we plan to make it so that they believe magic doesn't exist at all as a safety measure. So... you're correct, yes."
The sisters share a glance. The news sounds too good to be true. They turn around and look outside. Sure enough, the sounds of fighting have completely ceased. In fact, there seems to be quite a few excited cheers coming from the far side of the village. Now beaming at each other, they both rush out of the tent to see what's going on out there.
Of course, the elation of victory can only last so long. All of the humans are gone. And yet, their impact can't just disappear along with them, especially as dozens of corpses litter the grass. The excited cheers have quickly turned into a sorrowful mourning, and a few ponies begin moving the bodies with motions that are so well-performed, it's clear that they are tragically used to it.
The older of the sisters suddenly gasps and rushes into a nearby tent; THEIR tent. After a moment, she rushes back out.
"Where's mom?!"
They share a look of concern before rapidly looking through the crowd that has gathered. No matter where they look, they can't find her. Suddenly, the younger sister pushes through the crowd towards the hole in the gate, causing the other to follow closely behind her.
"Slow down!"
She makes it outside the gate as a few nearby stallions protest, unaware of what exactly just happened to the humans and voicing their concerns that more might still be outside. Her sister follows right behind her, but they both freeze in place as they look along the outside wall. Neither can say anything. Neither can move a muscle. All they can do is stand perfectly still as tears begin to flow down their cheeks.
There, lying side-by-side, are the bodies of Esmarelda and Solaria.
"..."
Anon faces the floor of the Castle of Friendship, a thousand-yard stare in his unfocused eyes. Twilight and Starlight share a glance, then look back at Anon, neither sure of exactly what to say.
"...N-Nonny?"
"..."
"Anon? Are you okay?"
"..."
"I... I think we should get you to a-"
Without a word, Anon brings himself to his feet. He slowly trudges towards a nearby bathroom and closes the door behind him. The two mares wince as they hear him violently begin to vomit.
Twilight slowly turns to face Starlight.
"Well... I guess we know where Anon came from now."
"So... because Anon is so resistant to magic, he just... broke out?"
"That's what it seems like. Completely on accident too, probably."
"But where is the pocket dimension? Why didn't Princess Celestia say anything? Why haven't we heard about any of this before?!"
"I don't know, I don't know, and... if I had to guess, I'd say it's for our own good. I mean, imagine if we all just had to live with the fact that there is an entire world of our own creation being used to contain an entire species that, if freed, would try to kill us all."
"But Anon isn't trying to kill us! Doesn't that mean something?!"
"I... I don't know, Starlight." Twilight glances at the bathroom door, sorrow evident on her face. "...But I do know that I don't care what's in that book. I'm not going to let anything happen to Anon."
"...Yeah." Starlight lets out a nervous sigh. "Me neither."
Anon finally emerges from the bathroom and looks at the pair with a completely unreadable expression. So many emotions are visible on his face at once, and it makes a chill run down the mares' spines.
"I think I'm going to go to bed."
"O-oh. Are you sure?"
Anon slowly trudges past them in the direction of his bedroom, never once turning to actually look at them.
"Yeah. I'm a bit tired."
"Well... okay. We'll talk in the morning, alright?"
"Mmm."
Without another word, Anon disappears down the hall, leaving Twilight and Starlight in a heavy silence.
"So, what now?"
"...I think I'm going to go to bed too. We have a lot to discuss tomorrow."
Starlight hesitates for a moment, but ultimately agrees.
"Well, alright. I'll see you in the morning, Twilight."
"Goodnight, Starlight."
The two mares go their separate ways as they retire to their bedrooms. All of Equestria falls silent as the moon hangs high in the sky, blissfully unaware of the absolute mayhem that the following day will bring.