//------------------------------// // Sighting // Story: Princess Everfree // by Skylar Dunn //------------------------------// Two thousand years after the Everfree Forest was created. As the princess awoke, a whisper of hope was all that she had. "What is this thing? Could it be..." A voice of a Zebra could be heard as the princess started to wake up. "Princess!" She yelled. "W-who are you? H-how did you get here?" I spoke, unable to stand and look her in the eye. The forest grumbled, reminding me what would happen if I ever stopped providing my magic to the forest. "Zecora. We must get you out of here princess... You must rise to power along side your sisters and the newest princesses. I will do whatever it takes to get you out for it matters not how I arrived here... It has been far too long since Equestria has seen you, Princess Everfree." "P-please..." Feeling my magic being drained more quickly, my head fell to the floor. "I have..." I wheezed out, "very little power left to give to this life destroying forest. P-please, get Celestia, Luna. Any Princess... You have to..." The zebra, what was her name again? Oh yeah, Zecora, bowed at the base of my cage and nodded. "Yes, your majesty. I will do whatever it takes to free you from this prison. Just hold on." That was all that was said as the strange zebra left the underground prison room. "I must get out of here... I have to save my forest." I looked up at the ground above me and sighed. I felt a burst of magic enter me and I stood up. "Why is there so much fear? What is making the ponies of Equestria fear? Is it that the forest is alive? That the myth of Princess Everfree is true?" My horn stopped glowing. "No! I just... I can't die! Only I can sustain this forest with my magic, wait... why has the forest not killed me yet?" "Princess... You still give us life..." The Forest spoke to me. No... It can't be alive... It can't speak. NO! This can not happen.. "Over the years, you were the one who gave us life, although you still do..." A tendril of earth circled me as the forest above me spoke in the language lost for thousands of years. "You can't speak... You are not alive. You are my forest and I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!" The tendril immediately stopped circling me. "As you wish... My Princess..." The ground above me started to rumble as the forest above me stopped draining my magic. "The forest shall die, and so will you Princess. This is a final goodbye, or take this as a warning." My horn started glowing again and I slumped down to the ground. "I can not die.. Not when I am this close... I shall keep you alive, forest, and in return my life will be spared, Am I correct? I know I am." I smiled to myself and stood up, "I am the light that shines in darkness, and you are the darkness that can not comprehended it." "The darkness cries this fateful hour At the heart of Friendship’s power Stand those with spirits all agreed The chosen Elements of Harmony One is born to laugh and sing and smile Another holds fast to truth without guile One will give and love with all her heart One shows devotion when all falls apart And one is made of kinder, gentler stuff But to save all that is, five won’t be enough A circle long broken must be mended Then shall this present darkness be ended." Another voice spoke. "Celestia, sister? Is that you? P-please let that be you." I spoke, almost pleading to the mysterious voice. "Please..." "Princess Everfree... It has been far too long. Is this how the forest has survived all these years? Oh, Excuse me for being like this... Elements, I wish for you to lay your eyes upon the seventh and most deadly element. Sister... What has this forest done to you..?" "This is my forest. If you wish to save me, you must kill the forest and I will not let that happen. My creation, speak to your princess." I looked up at the earth above me and my horn continued to glow, brighter and brighter. "I gain power from fear, and my god am I powerful right now. Tonight the world dies, under the rule of the last remaining princess, a new world will be born from the ashes." "Sister... We wish not to harm your creation, We can make The Everfree forest a better place. Where ponies of all can enjoy it, where they can live in peace, a world you once created. This is the end of silence..." A jolt of magic shot through my body. "You have the power to destroy the princesses of Equestria and the Elements of Harmony, yet you are hesitating." "Perhaps she will listen to me..." A blue body materialized next to me. "Free? Its me, Luna. If the same filly I grew up with is still there, then please listen. You are more powerful than us, as you understand. You are not useless, the forest is making you do this. You thought you had control of it, but now it controls you. If you can hear me, please... please sister, break from its trance. I believe in you. We can make this a place where no pony has to fear your forest, this is not you. Sister..." All I saw was magic. I could see the whole of time and space, everything that has ever tried to defy my kingdom. The forest, realizing what I was going to do, tried to stop me. I could feel all the living creatures that hurt and made my ponies fear. "This is my forest! And I am your creator. You will OBEY!" Every creature, living or not that ever did anything to ruin my empire, to destroy what I had worked so hard to create vanished, into the void between worlds. I stopped proving my magic to the forest and the prision started to break above me. Reaching for all the power I had left, I teleported every pony that was in the under ground caverns to the surface, right outside the forest. Speaking with magic in my voice I spoke. "You are not what I created. You are not what I..." The world started to blur as all the magic I held left me. "You are not mine." The world faded to black.