“Magic is in all ponies, be they unicorn, Earth pony or pegasus. It is how the magic manifests itself that defines them. Unicorns are the only ponies who can properly use magic, as their horn acts as a focusing lens for the magical energy. In Earth ponies, the magic manifests itself as a symbiosis with the Earth, an affinity for animals and growing things. Magic allows pegasi to fly, control the weather and walk on clouds.
“Alicorns, being the purest and Original strain of pony, are a perfect blend of the three types. They fly, can walk on clouds, are able to manipulate magical energy and are bonded to the elements. Perhaps this overreaching is why their civilisation fell.” from Magic! Or How Everypony is Special by Starswirl the Bearded
“In conclusion, the Everfree Forest while dangerous is still a valuable place to get information on the new natural world. I believe we can learn much from the creatures and plant life that live there, and can apply them to many aspects of our current lives. Thank you for attending and I am now open for questions.” Twilight Sparkle looked up at the crowd from her notes, feeling sweat drip down her back. She had spoken before crowds before but not one as big, nor as intelligent as this one.
It was the yearly Magic Conference, and the current Minister of Magic had invited Twilight to speak on her adventures in the Everfree Forest. She had accepted – naturally – and had begun writing her lecture and spent more time visiting with Zecora than she had with her friends. Her time with the zebra witch doctor had given her an appreciation for the holistic methods of the zebras, and she had changed her tack from creatures of Everfree to the hidden treasures of Everfree.
She knew it wasn’t exactly what the Minister had expected, but she hoped that everypony had enjoyed it and found it informative. Sweeping her eyes over the crowd, she was delighted to see her friends in the third row. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash looked a little bored – Dash was far more bored than Pinkie – but the fact that they were there was enough to loosen the nervous knot in her stomach.
Continuing her scan of the crowd, she saw a hoof raised. “Yes? You back there, what’s your question,” she asked, pointing at him.
The asker was a unicorn who looked to be a high-ranking magician, if you went by the dark cape he wore. “Ms Sparkle, while it’s nice that you have such lofty ambitions for the Everfree Forest, some of the things you propose to harvest… How would we get them? Hydra’s blood… Manticore tears… Poison joke root… Gargoyle wing membrane… Cockatrice feathers… This reads more like a fantastical shopping list than a feasible list of resources we can use.”
“It may seem that way,” Twilight said, forcing that ball of nervousness down, “but once you observe the fauna of the Everfree Forest, you learn that there are certain things they don’t react to, or times they are sleeping and unaware. Gargoyles for example are purely nocturnal and will not rise until the sun is completely down. In addition, a very small sampling of gargoyle wing membrane can be used for many different things. As an alchemical ingredient, the membrane is very potent.
“In fact, many of the fauna of Everfree are nocturnal, and any harvesting can take place during the day while they sleep.”
The wizard nodded and sat back down. Twilight saw another pony with her hoof up and turned the floor to her. “You’ve made a good case for the fauna, but what about the flora? Poison joke is no joke at all.”
“Having been affected by poison joke before, I am aware of its detrimental effects. But one pony in a sealed suit with a separate air supply can harvest a small poison joke field in a few hours with no harm done to him.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw a guard coming up the aisle to the stage. She frowned slightly, puzzled at his appearance. “One moment please,” she said, stepping away from the microphone to meet the guard. The armoured pegasus trotted up the few steps and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“The princess realises you’re in the middle of something, but she and the Minister of Intelligence require your presence as soon as possible.”
Twilight nodded, and the guard trotted back down the steps and down the long aisle to the exit. More than a few ponies watched the guard leave. The unicorn mare returned to the podium, forcing a smile. “If there are no more questions, I’m afraid I have an important meeting to go to.” Blinking, she looked out at the crowd again, waiting. When she saw no further hooves raised, she said her goodbyes and trotted offstage. She didn’t know if they were truly out of questions or just holding them back out of politeness.
There was a guard waiting for her backstage, a white pegasus. He led her through the long hallways of the Castle Canterlot, up the stairs to the Princess’s solar. The sheer scope and beauty of the ancient castle never failed to amaze Twilight. The castle had been built long ago, and stood through many disasters and several wars. That such an old, battered thing could still be beautiful just astounded her. There wasn’t a part of her that didn’t want to do anything but stay in the castle for the rest of her life and just explore.
The door to the solar swung open, a sparkle of golden light enveloping it. Twilight entered the room, and her guard stepped to the side, waiting patiently outside. She saw the Princess, sitting at a table enjoying a cup of tea. The sun shone in behind her, making her glow with a radiant white light. The light dazzled the mare, but not enough that she failed to notice another pony in the room, a unicorn. He was a shade of pastel blue, wearing a pinstripe suit that quite matched his coat. His silver mane was daringly styled, as was his bushy mustache. It took her a moment, but she recognised him as Doctor Trotson, the Minister of Intelligence.
“Good afternoon, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia’s serene, lovely voice rang out. “Sorry to have interrupted your lecture.”
“I was finished anyway,” Twilight replied with a bow. “Is this Doctor Trotson?” she asked, looking at the unicorn.
“Indeed it is,” Trotson said, pecking her lightly on the cheek. “Wonderful to finally meet the famous Twilight Sparkle. If it weren’t for you, our kingdom would be gone thrice over. For that you have my thanks.” He slipped a small piece of paper to her with a wink. “And my number.”
“Err… thanks,” Twilight said, trying to find a way to dispose of the paper without the minister noticing. “May I ask why I’ve been called here?”
“Doctor Trotson has uncovered something disturbing,” Celestia said as she sipped her tea.
Trotson nodded. “Indeed I have! Are you familiar with druids, Ms Sparkle?”
“Only in books. They’re wizards who worship demons, right?”
“Partially. They worship nature – Gaea, the Earth. Gan, the Turtle. Shardik, the Great Bear. Things of that character. But yes, druids do worship demons occasionally. But these druids are different, madam. You are an educated mare; after all you are the Princess’s gifted student are you not?” Before she could answer, he picked up again. “Then you should be aware of what Starswirl says in his classic ‘Magic! Or How Everypony is Special’ about how magic manifests itself in the different subspecies of pony.”
Twilight frowned. She didn’t remember the specific passage, but she knew Starswirl’s theories by heart. “Unicorns and alicorns are the only ponies who can use magic proper because their horn acts as a focal point to dissolve impurities and focus magic, right?”
“Head of the class, Ms Sparkle! No wonder Celestia picked you! Yes, that’s right. Since earth ponies and pegasi lack this wondrous horn of ours, what then would happen should they be able to use magic proper?”
“An impurity build-up,” Twilight answered, mouth moving in autopilot. “Magical pollution.”
“Top marks! Yes, impurities; yes, pollution! And what, pray tell, happens when there is a build-up of impurities, pollution of the magical nature?”
“The veil between Reality and Unreality becomes weak. Demons can escape from the warp of Tartarus, come through to our side without having to pass by Cerberus. Rampant magical energy could also cause freak storms, giant fires.”
“Marvelous, simply marvelous!” Trotson crowed. “I see now the Princess was right in suggesting you! You are quite the brilliant mare.” He coughed and his light expression fell to one of grimness, a seriousness that told her to listen very carefully to his next words. “Druids live in the Hinterlands. You know where that is? Of course you do, never mind.
“These druids, we felt were harmless. But now, one of my agents in the Hinterlands gave a disturbing report recently. The druids in the Hinterlands are Earth ponies and pegasi, using magic proper. No horns, no focusing. No removal of impurities. Celestia knows – oh, pardon me milady – Nopony knows how long they’ve been at it. We could be looking at a very polluted area.
“So what I need from you,” Trotson said, levitating his pipe from his coat pocket to his mouth, “is assistance. My agent has devised a plan, but one pony cannot accomplish it alone. I require the services of a powerful magician – namely you, my dear. I need you to travel to the Hinterlands and assist my agent in… removing these druids from power, however you can.”
Twilight was about to say something when Celestia interrupted, her violet eyes shining with an emotion normally alien to her: Fear. “Twilight, it is of grave importance you accept this mission. The Veil may already be wearing thin. If demons should come through to our side…” The regal alicorn shuddered. “I… the results will not be… pleasant. Please, Twilight. Say yes.”
The unicorn found she couldn’t speak for a long while, her purple eyes travelling from the princess to the now-smoking, patient-faced Trotson. Finally, she found her voice. “Of course. Anything to safeguard the future of Equestria.”
“Your enthusiasm is appreciated, though possibly unfounded,” Trotson said through a thick cloud of smoke. He was puffing away like a regular dragon. “You may have to do things of an… unsavory nature to accomplish your goal.”
“Doctor, I am concerned about Twilight’s safety. Do you not think she should be accompanied by somepony?” Celestia winked at Twilight.
“Hm? Oh, yes. Perhaps. I know a stallion by the name of Strongheart–”
“Maybe Twilight knows somepony who would want to help her,” Celestia interrupted, winking again. Twilight caught on to what the princess was inferring lickety-split.
Her mind raced for a moment. Fluttershy would be too afraid to travel to the Hinterlands, and there likely wasn’t enough time to convince her to go. Rarity was impossibly busy with her work and Twilight didn’t want to interfere with her budding business. Pinkie Pie was… Pinkie Pie. As long as Twilight was unable to figure out her secrets, there was no way of telling what might happen if she was brought along to a place of magical imbalance. That left Rainbow Dash and Applejack. As far as she knew, they had nothing going on. They were perfect.
“Oh, yes! I’m sure Rainbow Dash or Applejack wouldn’t mind.” She paused, a thought occurring to her. “Shouldn’t you or Princess Luna accompany us? They could be powerful magicians, after all.”
Celestia shook her head. “We couldn’t possibly leave now, Twilight, given the state of things. Canterlot is still troubled by the changeling invasion, and the griffins have decided to start posturing again. If one of us were to leave now, it’d be a sign of weakness in their eyes
“If you are so sure these friends of yours would be helpful, then by all means invite them. Just warn them of the dangers.”
“They are well-used to dangers, Doctor. They are the same friends who helped vanquish Nightmare Moon. They braved a dragon. They imprisoned Discord again. They fought their way through the streets of Canterlot during the changeling invasion.”
Trotson nodded, puffing out more smoke from his mouth. “Yes, yes. Very well. I honestly don’t care how this gets done, just that it gets done and my one true love is safe from harm. I am of course referring to the beautiful nation of Equestria that we live in, and not her highness. Although,” he said with a grin and waggling of eyebrows in the princess’s direction, “perhaps one day we could change that.”
“Perhaps,” Celestia said flatly. “But more than likely not.”
“Yes, well, just a thought,” Trotson muttered morosely, moving his pipe from one side of his mouth to the other.
“Keep it a thought, why don’t you.” Celestia took a sip of tea to hide her smile and glanced back up at her student. “Well, Twilight Sparkle? Why are you still standing here? The last train to the Hinterlands leaves tonight. Hurry if you don’t want to wait for a week for the next one.”
“Haste! Haste is the key to our salvation, Ms Sparkle! Go!” Trotson shouted through forceful puffs of his pipe.
“I done told ya, ya couldn’t beat me,” Applejack was saying.
Rainbow Dash looked at her woozily, a cup of half-empty cider in her hoof. “Best two outta three,” she replied, but what came out was “Bweftfoouhfee” and a trickle of cider from the corners of her mouth. She swallowed the rest of the cider and repeated her challenge.
“You that eager t’ get beat again, Rainbow? Awright, I’ll humour ya.” Applejack rapped her hoof on the bartop. “More cider f’r me an’ my friend here!”
The bartender pony rolled his eyes and poured two more mugs of frothy gold cider. He pushed the mugs towards the slightly giddy mares, who almost failed to catch them in time. He sighed as they began to down the cider as quickly as possible.
Rainbow tilted her head back just a tad too far and lost her balance, falling backwards off her stool. Applejack slammed her mug down in triumph.
“I win again! Ya may be the fastest flyer in all’a Equestria, but ya sure ain’t the fast drinker in all’a Equestria, no siree. That title there belongs to mah brother, Big Mac.”
Rainbow picked herself off the ground, shaking to clear the cider that had spilled on her chest. She rubbed the back of her head. “You mean to tell me there’s somepony who can drink even faster than you?”
“Dern straight there is. Why, Big Mac once drank an entire stock tank full’a water in under three minutes.”
“Really?” A look of pure amazement crossed Rainbow’s face and her magenta eyes widened.
“Nah, I’m jus’ playin’, sugarcube. Big Mac’s jus’ an ordinary pony, like you or me. ’Sceptin’ I’m obviously much better at drinkin’ than you.” Applejack punctuated this last remark with a wink. Rainbow muttered something under her breath. “What was that, darlin’? Fraid I didn’t quite hear ya there.”
“I said maybe your cutie mark should be swallowing,” Rainbow said, sarcasm biting her words. Applejack swatted her playfully with a hoof.
“There you are! Am I glad I found you girls!” Twilight came trotting up to the two mares.
“Why if it ain’t Twi!” Applejack got a sly look on her face. “Hey, you wanna see if you c’n drink faster than me?”
“Uh, maybe later Applejack. Listen, girls, I have something important to tell you. Princess Celestia’s given me a secret mission and I need your help. It’s going to be dangerous and I need somepony to be my bodyguard.”
“Well, shoot, Twi. You know me an’ Rainbow’ll be more’n happy t’ go with ya. Eh, where ya goin’ to, anyhows?”
“The Hinterlands,” Twilight replied. When she was met with blank looks, she added, “It’s up in the North. Sparsely populated.”
“It ain’t quite harvest time an’ the sheep behave themselves around Apple Bloom, so I’m free.”
“I’ve got Derpy and Flitter covering my shifts until I get back. They won’t mind. I don’t even think they’d notice me being gone longer than I said I would be.”
Twilight nodded. “Fine. I guess you can both go if you really want. I can’t guarantee that it’ll be very exciting though.”
“Anything’s more exciting than weather duty. All we’re doing for the next three weeks is cloud-moving and the occasional rain shower. Bo-or-ring. Where’s the thunderstorms? The excitement?” Dash had a distinctly disgusted look on her face when she finished. She was a passionate mare, and right now her passions were inflamed by all the cider she drank.
“Riiiight,” Twilight said flatly. “Where’s Spike? I need to tell him where we’re going. You two need to get packed and don’t tell anypony where you’re going. This is a secret mission, okay?”
The two mares nodded their acknowledgement and Applejack added, “I think Spike’s over at th’ other bar, Twi.” With that, the Earth pony and the pegasus mare trotted off for their rooms. Twilight scanned the room for the other bar, and spotting it started towards it.
The lounge was full of ponies, talking and generally having a good time. She overheard more than a few discuss her lecture. It made her warm inside to hear somepony who had delighted to hear her speech.
Spike was drinking from a tall mug when Twilight walked up. “Spike, you aren’t old enough to drink.”
“It’s non-alcoholic, mom,” the baby dragon retorted. “What’s up, Twilight?”
“The Princess is sending me, Rainbow Dash and Applejack on a secret mission to the Hinterlands. Secret, Spike. Don’t tell anypony – especially not Pinkie. You know how she gets after a couple mugs of cider.”
“Uh, yeah. Okay. Have fun, Twilight. I guess I’ll get a ride home with Rarity.”
Twilight ruffled Spike’s frills. “There’s my Spike. Be good. Don’t let Rarity boss you around.”
“I won’t,” Spike said with a sigh.
“Don’t tell anypony!”
“Geez, I won’t! Don’t you have a secret mission to go on?”