Twilight's journey goes off with a bang, a hop in her hooves, a song in her heart, and determination held tightly on her very first adventure away from her home.
That quickly came to a stop when she ran into an someone.
Dear Reader, the library is closed d ue to unforeseen circumstances;
I, Twilight Sparkle, am going on a trip that will save the world.I will return soon after my quest is done. Signed - Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight Sparkle nailed the letter onto her front door in the early hours of the morning after making the last-minute preparations on her journey; a few books, an aged map of Equestria, journal with an ink pen in its spine, rations, water, a sword in its sheath and a compass packed in her backpacks on each side of her body and organized and ready to be use. Quiet as possible to nail it on her door not to only raise suspicion but she is very thoughtful of her neighbors as sweat flowed down her head as she finished up. She swiped her hoof to wipe away the bodily water from her forehead. Satisficed with herself.
She looked up at her library once more, taking it in one more time if she was going to die soon. She remembered that she had bought this from an aging colt who was desperate for gold and she, being fresh and new into her academy, bought off his hooves for a home to stay. He was very grateful on that day. And soon, an undetermined time has past after she graduated with high honors; it became her own little paradise of facts, stories of fiction and non-fiction with science, learning and reason for everypony to come and take out a book to read.
She was almost brought to tears at thought.
But she has to go.
She turned away from the building as she looked up at the path before her as the sky is slowly began to change from a dark black with white stars to a swirl of pink, yellow and orange swirls, the daylight will announce itself onto the city of Olympus and then began to walk away from her home. No self-doubts, no turning back. She needs to keep her head held high for this quest to save the kingdom and the world as she trotted down the road with no end. She trotted upstairs and overhead of the usual busy train that was getting ready for another day of transporting Equestrian citizens to where they want to go and back to where they started in the beginning of the day. She trotted down the stairs with care as the worker of the station was coming up and noticed her. "Mornin' Twilight!" He greeted, looking happy yet concerned a little. "Do you need help there?" as he was going to her but she shrugged him off lightly as her tail twitched a little
"No, I'm fine, thank you anyway." she refused as she continued onto her way, not looking at him and a little absent.
She trotted past her usual spot of the café, the library from her foalhood, the gossiping street corner, a school and a park as she reached the gate that's being guard with soldiers with armor of gold, helmets resembles roman with their on atop of helmets acting as crests and holding spears by their hooves as they stood stoic and static like statues. She knew this from her brother well enough when he was trying to be a soldier in this war. She knows that every stallion soldier are station at every exit out of Olympus to prevent anything going in and anypony from going out unless they are royalty.
But she knew this spot all too well; why is that? Because that there's a grate leading out of the wall and it is well away from their eyes. She had accidentally discovered it when she was a foal when she was so ecstatic, so imaginative and when she told her babysitter about she had imprisoned a cruel dragon behind a metal bars with her sword. A little too imaginative if she says so herself when she looked back on it. So, she decided to take this route if she wants to avoid being thrown into a cell as she trotted over to the bushes and trees, to everyone; they will assume that she was there to set up a picnic but she did not intend to obviously.
She carefully trotted through the bushes as fallen leaves crunched under her as she looked around for the grate quickly and quickly she did as her ears had perked up, her tail whipped with joy. She found it, her ticket out of here, the grate as it was somewhat submerged into a puddle. She galloped over to it with anticipation and then peered through it as her hooves entered the muddy water, the pipe extends a little bit but on an 5 feet radius, there was the outside world- waiting to be explored by the first mare to ever dare to do so.
She smiled, eyes gleaming with pride before she took a few steps back as her horn ignites with magical glow of magenta, focusing all of her energy in this as the grate was covered in its aura and then rattled before it was ripped off, surprising her a lot. She had intended on melting the bars when she starts using her horn. She was worried that anyone would've heard it so she had to enter the entrance, placing the grate back in its place in doing so like it never happened.
She trotted slowly backwards with fret, waiting for hooves to come over to see what was wrong but she turned away and heading towards the other side of the drainage pipe fast if she wanted to avoid the dungeon for doing this as she leaped out of the pipe, its end lacking a grate of its end and onto the dirt with front hooves and galloping fast into the forest line, a surge of adrenaline pumping through her veins were something that is she can describe is exciting to her. For the first in a forever in ponykind, she is the first one EVER to left Olympus into the outside lands as she was panting. She's out... She can't believe it; she's out! She's free! She feels alive!
"So... This is the outside...!" She breathed as she galloped more across the trees as she taking in the surroundings as memories of her foalhood are flooding back to her. Thoughts on what the world outside were like, if ponies had been outside in the ongoing war and what dangerous yet reclaiming adventures could be had as she began to slow down once her legs are tiring out and lungs almost out of air as she skidded into a stop and turned her head to see if she had been followed. She's not.
No time to celebrate that too. She had just got out, and she needs to take it in her surroundings and make a plan before jumping into other run as she breathed in and out a little. She then turned her head away from where she was looking at and then walked ahead of the forgotten road paved in dirt in the past but grass had been regrown since the foundation of Olympus as birds chirped from the branches of the trees over her head as she looked around.
She hummed to herself as she took in the surroundings as she turned towards the boulder in her way but she wasn't too annoyed by it so instead she crouched down, jumped up high and reached the top like a well-trained cat and then drop down with such grace of a fox before she happily trotted off with closed eyes with her lion tail waggled joyful. An causal dragon fly flies by as she stopped in place to look at it with such interest and a smile as she stood still for a few moments as it came back. Its four wings beating faster as hummingbird's wings as it zipped on the left a little and soon zagged on the right before its small legs came to touch the surface as its wings slowed and soon lazily came to rest on the tip of her horn with its wings stopping all together. She studied the bug for a moment as her ear twitched a little bit, recalling a book on dragonflies and other bugs as she sighed softly before its wings regained their flight and soon flew away in a speed of light as she watched.
Clouds danced in the skies as she trotted near the edge of a ditch, following the river below as the pebbles were kicked over and fell down into the water as she moved with no issues before her head looked up and saw a blue sky with the sun shining down across the land as she kept trotting on. She came across an old bridge long changed in time, mother nature was already at work to reclaimed the project of stone and wood with moss, vines and flowers covering it as she stopped to look at the bridge before she took caution and very very slowly walked across. Taking note on each board squeak and rock falling down into the fast-moving water below her hooves but thankfully, she made it to the other side without the aging bridge collapsing as she sighed with relief. She turned towards the bridge once again and then closed her eyes and takes in a breath and lets it go as she turned and continued on her way towards her goal. Hours ticked by and the sun was already began to set over the horizon as the orange began to dye the blue out of the sky as she looked up, and then towards to where she came from, she can't find the wall of Olympus and wondered if everyone had realized that she had gone and the answer came quickly in a form of a faint bang from the distance. A canon shot from the Kingdom of Olympus.
Well, now she knows that they know. She was worried, no doubt that the search party will be sent out to find her as she turned and ran with her tail flowing in the winds. The atmosphere had changed from a lot of rays of light from the trees to a very few of them as she galloped further deeper into the Everfree Forest as she looked around for a place to hide until she skidded into a halt upon seeing something that will grant her salvation; an cabin... A cabin made out of candy? How is it made from gingerbread with icing to keep it together, with pieces of candy sized as buckets on them, either used as nails or decorations but... That didn't matter now, she has to hide and maybe- Just maybe. Just maybe a pony would let her sleep here as she turned towards another boom was heard from afar.
She turned her tail and ran towards the house and then looked behind her as she placed her hoof on the handle made from a gumdrop for a minute and turned it and runs inside quickly and closed behind her. She lets out a sigh in relief as she furrowed her brows and lento slid down the door. She lifted up her forehoof and wiped her forehead to remove the drops rolling down her face.
She's alone in the house as she looked around, scanning her surroundings right away with no incident. The cabin looked like any other bakery home minus the some of the furniture is also made from candy but the rest is somewhat remained normal in her eyes.
A counter with a viewing glass for the baked goods but none at the moment and it had a bed (strangely the bed was made from hay, feathers and sticks with only a pillow and blanket in it. A nest is much more obvious to put it that way) behind it in the left corner, a few tables with chairs on them by seats as if the settlement was closed for the night, A stove and a pot over a fireplace placed inside the kitchen behind the counter as she looked around the place with her ear twitching for a minute. She looked at her left and then to her right as she slowly trotted quietly towards the counter as a thought that ponies might've used to run a bakery here outside her home and imagine what it was like before it was in this current state with little dust and debris here and there as she turned her head towards the door.
A pony that could be an excellent baker that could be young or old, maybe a former soldier that had participated in the Ever War? He must've learned each treat that is so delicious that they will make a filly or colt sell their sole to the Devil himself to get more of it. In fact judging the tables and chairs here; it must've been a famous traveling spot for wanderers to sit back, relax and enjoy a plate of brownies with hay or a bowl of chocolate volcano with white frosting at the bottom. They must've shared stories of their days wandering and traveling across the unknown.
Possibility, a lot.
She smiled a little at the thought as she turned back to the counter as she placed her hoof on top of it and blinked and she could've swore she saw a shadow peaking and immediately ducking behind the stove very quickly. She was a bit startled but she shook it off as her hallucination as she chuckled to herself-
"SUPRISE!"
Twilight lets out a shocked shout as a face of an pink, puffy, smiling owl lounged out with wings flared up as she was thrown back onto the floor with a thump. Eyes widened upon seeing what she was facing. An head of an owl on a body of a lady but her arms are wings with digit claws on them with hot pink and candy blue colored makeshift clothes, one for her chest and one in her lower half, an wrapping for chest and seroual at knee-length with hot pink slash keeping it up, all made from linen and cotton. Her skin was light pink of cotton candy while her hair is an French fuchsia with twirling streak of vanilla yellow in her feather-hair as she stared the stunned unicorn with baby blue eyes and the corners of her beak is curling a smile like she was happy to see her.
"Oooh, you are a pony!" The Sirin hooted happily as Twilight was beginning to hyperventilating as she was scrambling to get back on her hooves but the pink Sirin jumped over the counter and picked the panicking unicorn up and then turned her upside down, her rear facing the face of a creature that she believed that she will eat her but she didn't as her focus is on her flank, looking at her cutie mark with interest. "And you even had that butt marks to prove it!" She squealed, lightly poking at the flank that made the uncomfortable filly before she lets out a long gasp as she lets her go, she grunts as she hits the floor and then the Sirin turned to Twilight once again.
"I couldn't believe it!" She said, excitement in her voice. "A pony had invaded my home! Since when did that happen? There's finally-finally-FINALLY a visitor!" She squealed with her claws clenched and shook them. "Where are you from? Are there more of you? What's with the lion tail you have? Can you do magic with that horn! What is your reason for breaking and entering my cabin?! What is your name?"
Absolute silence finally fell onto them both, a Sirin breathing in and out fastily as if she was fueled by sugar and Twilight's mouth was gapping slightly as if her voice was put on mute.
Twilight finally replied to the Sirin.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
She finally had found her voice to lets out a scream as she stared at the Sirin who is still smiling.
"Oh," She began to speak again, unfazed. "Good to meet you, Mrs. AAAAAAH." She closed her eyes and grinned, a squee was heard from somewhere.
Twilight was breathing heavily as she stared at the Sirin as she scrambles to get back on her hooves. "P-Please don't eat me..." as she stared at her with fear. "I would never!" Sirin finally frowned at this accusation, her claw on her chest offended. "Since when do Sirins eat ponies? It is so, so, so yucky and gross! Its Griffons and other creatures you have to worry about because they are big meanies and have nothing to do but bully others! You are lucky that you ran into me after you broke in my home and they didn't find you or otherwise they will and can beat you senseless like a boxing bag and other horrible things that I heard about! My people had been bullied alot since the war began, mostly by Griffons because we are not true griffons or even owls. What makes you think that because that I am a Sirin, I can bully you too, Mrs. AAAAAH? I would, never bully you! Ever!" She finally stopped to take a breath, stunning her further.
"...What?" She finally spoke up, having calmed down a little but stunned still.
"I said I am not going to eat you. Duh." The Sirin rolled her eyes, placing her claws on her hips. "What made you think that I would do such a thing to a pony like you? Is it because I-"
"I am sorry that I had intrude your home." Twilight politely interrupted. "I was on a quest and I sorta..." She shifted nervously as she looked at somewhere, wanted to look elsewhere besides this Sirin that she heard from books that is much like Sirens and this one turns out to be... Overwhelmingly friendly and too social. "I sorta snuck out of the wall that kept us safe from the rest of Equestria for years. I am on a mission."
"Oh, it's fine." Sirin breathed out, removing her claw to rub the back of her neck, awkwardness began to settle in between them both. "I was so mopesy-dopesy that I had to move out of my home to pursue a dream of throwing big parties. I was so alone here for a year and twenty-four days since I last seen an actual person, I was beginning to be all sad but today you came in and-" She grabbed Twilight's front hooves and with all of her strength, swings her as she held on her as the unicorn yelped with widen eyes. "Uppsie daisy! I am so, so happy an real pony had visited me finally!" before giving her a hug, a tight one that squeezed the air out of Twilight Sparkle's lungs
"After they committed a crime of breaking and entering?" Twilight asked as she placed her hooves on this bird humanoid's chest and tries to pry herself out of her hold, "I can see a lot of problems with you..." She paused, looking at this pink Sirin. Wondering if this bird even had a name to be called. "I had never got your name, who are you?"
"Oh!" The Sirin finally removed the filly away from her chest and held her in the air with her claws holding her like a cat, her wings excitingly ruffled. "I'm sorry!" She apologized as she brought Twilight back to her chest, holding her in one arm as she used her free one to take her hoof and shakes it. "Hi! I am Risa Bea! A party-planner, a baker and quite a joy to be around!" she introduced herself finally before stopping and then puts Twilight down on the floor. Her mane was roughed during the whole interaction as she shook her head. "It's good to meet you, Mrs. Aaaaah!" she added as she clasped her claws together, smile on her beak is still present.
"It's good to meet you to, Risa Bea." She said, as she looked at the Sirin before her, she noted that Risa Bea is about taller than Twilight, in fact, a Sirin like her is taller than her pony race's height, quite a fact for a mythical hybrid of an Owl and Human is quite amazing since she had just met one. Let alone, a social butterfly of a Sirin.
"And by the way, you can stop calling me "Mrs. Aaaaah," Risa Bea, I only screamed at you out of blind panic, its not my name so, let's start over;" She said before clearing her throat and sat on her rear, her hoof on her chest before extended it out to her, smiled as she opened her eyes to look at her politely. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, the Unicorn of Olympus, I am on a very important mission."
Risa Bea tilted her head to the right, the way she done it is just like an owl as she reached her claw out and patted Twilight on the head. Her eyes closed and ears tucked away before her head when this Sirin does so. "Oh, okay, I like your real name better, Twilie!"
"It's Twilight Sparkle." She corrected her, "I preferred to be addressed like that."
"Okay, Twilight." Risa nodded.
Twilight sighed before she turned to look at the door and worried that a search party could be out here by now, she turned to Risa Bea and asked "Hey, if it's not too much trouble for you, Risa Bea, can I stay here for the night? Not because I am looking to be roommates but to hide because if I had to make an educated guess that Olympus had sent out a search party after finding out that I had left. I can't afford to be brought back there. Okay? I just..." She sighed, "This quest is so important to me."
"Okay." She answered, accepting her request much to Twilight's puzzlement and suspicion. The suspicion part is that whatever Risa Bea was planning on doing to her overnight. Best to be on her guard tonight.
The evening that eventually came was rather... Interesting.
Risa Bea had been ordered that as long as Twilight is facing towards her when she was asked to hand over the ingredients to make tonight's dinner, she will not- Twilight repeated WILL NOT, underline those words, slip something in the pot that was boiling over the fire that will make her pass out, kill her or worse. Risa Bea is on her best behavior throughout the time they spent together. Well, minus the talking like a parrot the whole time as Twilight chopped, cooked and stir the soup as the Sirin's voice reverberated the walls of the gingerbread cabin in the woods.
Twilight listened to what Risa Bea's story is.
She is from the land named Iriy where most of her Sirin kind resides as it was famous for where birds to go for the winter and legend has it; Where the deceased of your loved ones would go after death so from Risa Bea's perspective of this legend; she would occasionally see spirits of all different species from time to time but her uncle was one of the group of special Sirins who called themselves "Psychopomps" who were the ones in charge to escorting the souls to the afterlife realm version of Iriy or Tartarus if they did horrible or good things in their lives when they are given the final judgement and time left to confess what they can confess from their mouths. The myth of them being an exception of eternal joy and heavenly happiness is somewhat comforting to their Siren counterparts. They sung their songs for good, giving cheer and bless to others instead of sucking their anger and hate out of them, and somewhat positive on all the above.
Twilight listened more to Risa Bea's story and her dream prior to their meeting.
She was raised on a rock farm, a farm that could only farm rocks out of all things that someone could farm when a rain had suddenly vanished when a impossibly strongest gust of wind had blown the clouds away to make way for a "happy" skies with a rainbow for her to see. In fact, her feather-hair wasn't always that poofy when that wind had shown up without warning as she giggled away about she had thrown her very first party for her family and first smiles had drawn on their faces. Her first moment of eternal joy she experienced on that day.
Twilight briefly wondered for a moment if a Sirin's first moment of such heavenly rejoice might be like a cutie mark when it comes to having special talents at such a young age or old when she gotten to the part that she moved out of Iriy to start a dream business after getting just enough .
"...And that's how I made this cabin for travelers and waited for a whole year and 24 days, it's veeery surprising how dedicated keeping track on a long period of time when after you set everything up for parties!" She finished finally as Twilight sipped her bowl with her eyes closed like it was fine tea. "It was a very interesting story you have, Risa Bea," Twilight commented lightly with a smile as she lowered her bowl to look at her. "And that's very interesting on you have kept track of time, how did you managed that?"
Risa Bea said nothing except standing up and then walked over to the right side of the room, kneeled down and then grabbed something that was bolted to the floor and pulled it upwards and soon climbs down yet the height of the cellar only reached her waist and then ducked into the hole in the ground with Twilight watching with unsettled wonder as Sirin's striped tail-feathers wiggled about before a voice came from her declared happily "Found it!" and soon her head pops out of the hole in the hatch with a smile and holding a small rounded suitcase after pulling it out from such a cramped space of a cellar before placing it on the ground floor in front of her and then pulled herself out of it with her claws and then closed it lightly before soon bounced back over to her with her case in claw. She saw back down with her rounded suitcase on her lap and having it face towards the unicorn as she steeled herself ready to whatever is about to be presented to her as she used her index digits pushed down the clamps and opened it up like presented money to a dealer.
Except, instead of money, she was presented with a clothes of similar colors to Sirin's and an aged piece of paper that has a number of days writing on it, they were in a form of four lines with one crossing them out like how prison inmates would do. True to her word, she had marked each day of her life on that paper just waiting for someone to come in and visit. "Wow, uh..." Twilight trying to find words to comment this, worried that she will hurt her feelings. "That is quite the dedication and patience, Risa Bea."
"Thanks, Twilight!" She replied happily with closed eyes, "That is the nicest thing to say!" She then slurped up her soup and then hummed pleasantly.
"Well, why are you leaving your home?" Risa Bea questioned her, "You said earlier that it kept you and everypony safe there so why leaving it?"
"Risa Bea, I said this before," Twilight said with more intent to explain her reason more, "I am on a very important mission but the mission is to saving the world from a horrible 'bully' of all. I am looking for the Elements of Harmony in the remains of an ancient civilization." as she lifted her hoof up a little to make things clear further, the Sirin listened intently but not with the same smile but worry on what this pony is telling her. "As you can see, the horrible 'meanie' I was talking about is going to escape and we are an unknown countdown that will set off something that we can't stop. The elements are our only hope in stopping it before we all freeze to death. Which why that in the morning; I will be leaving right away after spending the night."
"Oh, okay." Risa Bea tilted her head to the right, downed by what the conversation had gone to, "Is it okay if... Uh..."
"If what?" Twilight questioned her.
"If I could join you on the adventure, Twilight?" She asked, tilted her head back upright, "I could be a big help."
Twilight sighed, placing her bowl down and thinking that this Sirin is a bit too clingy. "I'm sorry but I can't risk getting anyone hurt," She refused, looking at her bowl with little regret of the day's events. "and I can't risk being called a 'traitor' by the three pony races and potentially be executed because you were by my side. I have to do this alone but I promise that I will come and visit you time to time after all of this is over." she finally looked up to see Risa Bea looking sad, like real sad; eyes widen with sorrow, a frown pointed straight away towards the north she was going to and looking at her with those big, puppy eyes. "Okay, Twilight," She accepted at first as she sat her empty bowl down with disappointment. "I can't stop you leaving, I am sorry that I am-" Her feather-hair deflated a little and her color faded a little, making Twilight surprised a little by this change of behavior. "Very different than a pony. I'll... I'll be here." she said further as she stood up with such dejection and slowly began to go over to her nest. Gloomy has replaced that malarkey of a Sirin she had met.
Twilight felt somewhat bad for this but a part of her is saying that it is for the best but another, much smaller part of her is convincing her to do something to make her feel better so she wouldn't have potential travelers feel unsafe by her and this will be on her head if she doesn't do so. If a violin can be heard, it will be played by air as her ears droop a little before a defeated sigh came out of her mouth, deciding to take the smaller voice of reason's side over the other. "Risa Bea," She started to say, "if you really want to come with me, you can come along with me in the morning-" before she knew it, she was lifted up from the floor, her bowl spilled over and she was swung around by the suddenly-happy-go-lucky Risa Bea and pulled into a bear hug as she half-yelled with delight.
"This is so exciting! Thanks Twilie! Just two friends out on an adventure as the world is against us at every turn and-" She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked at a clearly vexed Twilight Sparkle with an unapproving stare, Risa Bea, now realizing what she did and the look made her realize that she is on a VERY short leash if more crap is cause because of her unable to control herself. She smiled sheepishly and settled the unicorn filly down with such gentleness of a parent. "I'm glad you've changed your mind, Twilight Sparkle." She spoke in an indoor voice, a shy smile and furrowed brows pointed up at the ceiling.
Twilight internally rolled her eyes.
"But there are rules that I need to lay down if you want to come along," She said again, a little bit of authority in her tone, "You will not speak unless I called your name, and no touching me or other creatures or items. Or else anything that will have consequences on you and me." she pointed at Risa Bea with her hoof as if she has a claw of her own and was pointing a finger at her to think it over. Risa Bea nodded quickly understandably. "No touching," She spoke up before her left claw on the corner of her beak lips, her index digit and thumb grabbing an invisible zipper's slider and then pulls it across her beak before hanks it of and throwing it somewhere in the cabin. "And no talking!" she said as she uses her claw to cross her heart with one held up like she swears an oath. "Those will be my biggest no-no rules ever, you will not regret this and if I broke 'em, I will give you an hundred percent refund and redeemed it within five seconds."
Twilight somewhat had to force a smile on her face as she looked at her. Regret is such a word of feeling that she is getting already. "I think I will." She answered sarcastically to the oblivious Sirin who is not paying attention and was celebrating as she hopped around her.
An uncharted meeting leading up to an unlikely alliance of an Unicorn pony and a Sirin to find the lost city of the North. This is going to be a long quest a part of her said.