//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Magic of Psychedelics // by ConfusedBrony //------------------------------// Prologue The Everfree Forest. It’s a dangerous and mysterious place. Nopony dares enter it and as a result, little is known about it. There is just so much to discover beyond the treeline. Unexplored architecture, interesting animals, exotic plants, these are just a few things waiting to be documented. A place like this is irresistible for certain lavender pony. “Spike!” shouted the pony. A purple dragon rushed down the stairs and stood in front of his master. “Yes Twilight?” “I need you to give me every book you can find on the Everfree Forest.” Twilight scribbled a few notes on some parchment. “I’m planning an expedition soon and I need to know as much as I can before going in.” Spike scanned through the books as he conversed with his master. “Uhh, you sure about this Twilight? The Everfree Forest is kind of dangerous.” “That’s why I need to study up on everything, and I mean everything about the Everfree.” Twilight’s eyes followed the words on her checklist. “Okay... Well, here you go.” Spike brought over a small pile of books related to the Everfree and put it down next to Twilight. “Is this really all that you can find?” Twilight let out a frustrated grunt. “It’ll have to do for now, thanks Spike.” A purple aura formed around the book on the top of the stack. It glided down smoothly and landed in front of her. The book opened up to the first page and Twilight began reading. “A Dummy’s Guide to the Everfree: 25 tips that will save your life...” 2 WEEKS LATER Twilight approached the edge of the forest. A brown saddle bag was slung over her back. A few sheets of parchment and quills were hanging out of it. She looked into the forest with a mix of fear and excitement. Twilight has already been in the forest several times before. However, she has never actually gone in for the sake of exploration alone. Twilight gulped. None of friends were able to make it. Applejack had farm business, Rainbow Dash was managing an upcoming storm, Fluttershy had to count rabbits.... again, Rarity was busy making dresses as usual, and Pinkie Pie, well, she’s being Pinkie. When Twilight asked Pinkie to accompany her on her expedition, Pinkie gasped loudly, threw a cupcake in her face, and ran off. Even Zecora was busy. She returned back to her homeland for the month to attend a family tradition. Twilight had already planned this trip in advance two weeks beforehand and she wasn’t going to change her plans anytime soon. Nothing stood between her and the Everfree. Twilight took one deep breath and started walking onto the beaten trail. It was only 12 o’clock A.M, but the dense canopy of the forest blocked out most of the light. Twilight heard some rustling in the bushes and she froze in her tracks. She looked over into the bushes. “It’s nothing,” she told herself. She regained focus on her task: document the Everfree. Twilight approached blood red mushroom growing out of the side of a tree. It secreted a corrosive liquid from it’s cap when she got too close. Twilight backed away and pulled out her parchment and quill. Entry 1: Blood Red Mushroom -Secretes corrosive acid. -Grows on trees. She rolled up the parchment and placed it back in her saddlebag. Twilight levitated the mushroom and placed it into a plastic bag. She sealed it shut and put it in a tin cylinder. The bushes rustled again but this time, Twilight took a defensive stance and pointed her horn in the direction of the noise. The bushes rustled more and Twilight clenched her teeth. She began focusing her magical energy into her horn. She was ready to incapacitate whatever was about to attack her. The bushes rustled more and more. A cute and furry creature emerged, It had a slender body with long and pointed ears. It looked at Twilight with it’s large eyes and let out an adorable squeak. Twilight released a sigh of release and dropped her defensive position. Entry 2: Not everything in the Everfree is out to kill me. Discovered a relatively cute Twilight dropped her quill and parchment mid-sentence when the creature almost knocked her over with a deafening roar. It’s eyes began glowing red, it grew to the size of a large bear, claws emerged from it’s paws, and it was just about ready to tear the unicorn apart. Twilight picked levitated the quill and paper quickly. Entry 3: Disregard entry 2, everything IS trying to kill me. TRUST NOTHING! Twilight bagged the materials and ran as fast as she could. She heard what sounded like a strong wind and an intense heat singed her tail slightly. “Fire? FIRE?! That’s just not fair!!” Twilight screamed and ran faster than before. She disappeared suddenly in a flash of magical energy and reappeared about a hundred feet from her original spot. She was now out of the creature’s line of sight. “Just stay calm, don’t make any noise, and you’ll be fine,” Twilight thought. Surely enough, the creature lost interest and wandered off back into the forest. Twilight stood back up slowly and made sure the creature was gone. She looked down at her hooves and shrieked. She hopped out of her cover and examined the vegetation she was standing in. At first, she thought that she had just taken cover in poison joke, but upon closer inspection, the plant turned out to be something else. It had a different shade of blue and the structure of the flower was different. Twilight began writing again. Entry 4: Dark Blue Flower - No immediate effects after being exposed - Smells like... roses. - Looks surprisingly appetizing. Twilight considered what she was about to do. She opened her mouth and was about to put it in but stopped. She casted some sort of spell on it that let her know the chemical composition of the flower. She detected nothing deadly. “Here goes nothing!” she said before putting the plant into her mouth. As she munched on the plant, sweet juices filled her mouth. It was surprisingly flavorful! The texture was like that of any other flower but the flavor really was something. It was a bit tangy, sweet, slightly spicy and sour all at the same time. “Mmm!” Twilight smiled and swallowed it. “I should tell Pinkie to put these in her cupcakes.” Twilight wrote that down on her parchment then paused. The forest suddenly looked brighter and more vibrant. The colors of the world began to pour out and accumulate in rainbow puddles on the floor. The trees waved and twisted into all sorts of interesting shapes. The flowers that she had eaten were now opening and closing at random intervals. Twilight shook her head side to side to get rid of the visions. It didn’t work, if anything, it made it worse. “This isn’t good...”