Chapter 1: Small Beginnings
Lightning flashed, illuminating the room for a split second and revealing an orange farm pony, only to return to the darkness that consumed the night. The rain drops splashed dully on the roof, creating an endless, yet methodical, noise that kept silence from entering the night. When nobody dared to speak, the raindrops spoke, creating their own silence. Adding to the dissonant symphony of nature, the wind moaned as it was shaped by the obstacles that it passed, bending the trees to its whims and singing the song of a dead man. Although nature relentlessly down poured upon Equestria, all other forms of life stood still.
The shades of all the windows were pulled up tight, and not a pony was found wandering the streets. Any structure without support suffered from the unremitting wind as it ripped through the land, tearing up fences and signs in its wake. Almost nothing could be seen through the darkness with the black clouds blanketing the skies and stifling all the light of the moon. It was truly one of the worst storms that Equestria had ever seen, and nothing could be done about it.
The pegasi were too busy with other matters to stop the storm. The town was in havoc, with every shop ransacked and ravaged. None of the trees bore their apples, and Sweet Apple Acres could be considered dead tree land. Applejack stood idly in the room, no longer startled when thunder came roaring along. She stared softly out the window, deep in thought, wondering how this had happened. She closed her eyes, reluctant to relive the events that had lead to this.
Seven months before, Equestria was alive and well and everything was at peace. A normal day was what everypony could observe, but the start of something that would cause the ultimate downfall of Equestria was lurking in the background. A sudden fight broke out in the town central of Ponyville. Three grayish earth ponies, selling their grown goods, had accused a group of unicorns of using their magic to steal some apples. The quarrel attracted the attention of the townspeople, and tensions rose as the earth ponies and the unicorns supported their sides. Twilight Sparkle came quickly out of her library home to settle the brawl, but was only welcomed by angry shouts and bickering. Princess Celestia, notified about the quarrel, came to break it up. The ponies went their separate ways after being scolded by the princess, but tensions remained. Slowly, over the next month, different problems arose all over Equestria involving quarrels that seemed to start for no reason.
Then, the day came that broke almost all the chains holding harmony together in Equestria. Parasprites were lead into all the different cities of Equestria by an unknown cause. Crops and food supplies of the earth ponies were destroyed, and the cause of the swarm of parasprites invading the land became a blaming game. Parasprites did not simply swarm the land whenever they felt like it; something had to have brought them to the cities.
The land was on the brink of civil war with Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie in the middle trying to resolve the issues between the different groups of ponies. Days before civil war would have broken out Princess Celestia decided to take action.
The sun did not rise for the next week, and Celestia refused to bring it up until the conflicts of the three pony groups were resolved. Revolutionary ideas came across the ponies and spread like wildfire, ousting any sense that six friends tried to put into the population. These ideas came to be from what seemed to be thin air. A rumor spread that Celestia was helping to feed the unicorns because she sided with them. The source of the rumor was never found, it had almost been as if a whispering voice was carrying messages through the wind. Chaos consumed the land, and before long food had run out.
With nopony to raise the sun, the unicorns were forced to do it, but the pegasi refused to move the clouds blocking the sun unless they received food. However, the earth ponies refused to grow any food until Celestia stepped down from power for corruption. All sense seemed to have been knocked out of the ponies. Slowly but surely the food was running out, and famine hit Equestria. Without any food, everypony was surely to die.
Information came from an unidentified source that large amounts of food were stored in the Canterlot castle, and that Celestia was hording it. Once again the murmuring whispers of the wind had carried another message that would create chaos. The ponies marched on Canterlot and arrived at the castle. Seeing the impending danger, the princess, in a last ditch effort to save Equestria and herself while keeping the other ponies safe, attempted to replenish the land with food and put an end to all the bickering. A blast of light consumed the land as the spell was cast, and the ponies marching upon the castle stood back in fear. When the blast was over, Celestia had disappeared.
The spell wasn’t totally ineffective though, creating small trees bearing apples and other food. Greed engulfed the ponies, and soon it became everypony for themselves in a game of survival. Surviving was the only priority left in the minds of the ponies. The greed that took over the population kept anypony from planting new food, in fear that it would be stolen. The pegasi became too busy with collecting food for themselves that they didn’t have time to control the weather, and it was left to nature’s own devices. Eventually the food supplies diminished, and ponies had to fight over what remained. There were only six ponies that remained loyal to each other in order to survive, at least for now.
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A sudden flash of light snapped Applejack back to reality. Once again, the rain consumed the night with its soft sound, only to be broken by a knock on the door.
“It’s open,” yelled Applejack absentmindedly. In came a sopping wet Rainbow dash.
“I came as soon as I could, what’s going on?” inquired Rainbow Dash as she shook off water as a dog would.
“Something big, just sit tight while we wait on the others.”
As the rain continued, Applejack and Rainbow Dash sat patiently as the other four friends trotted into the barn. Twilight came in mostly dry, bragging that she had been dying to try out the “keep dry” spell she had just learned. With her she brought a light source, using her horn to provide a dull source of illumination in what was pitch black darkness. Rarity was next, trotting in mostly dry, wearing a stylish purple umbrella on her back that obviously wasn’t made to be worn in windy conditions.
“Even in times of chaos and hunger”, she explained, “Fashion is still important.”
Pinkie pie came in next, bouncing into the room talking about how much she loved the rain and getting wet and playing in it. Then she proceeded to bounce around the room until most of the water had come off her, giggling all the while. Minutes passed and there was still no sign of the animal loving pegasus.
“Where’s Fluttershy?” inquired Rainbow Dash, obviously becoming impatient.
“Probably curled up in the corner of her house. Poor Fluttershy must be so scared of all this thunder and lightning,” replied Applejack.
“Well I can’t wait all day for her.”
With that Rainbow Dash zipped out of the room flying toward Fluttershy’s house, only having her memory as a guide in the darkness and rain. A few minutes later, Rainbow dash returned, carrying a reluctant Fluttershy. When they entered the room and Rainbow let go of the scared pegasus, a flash of lightning illuminated the room and the thunder scared Fluttershy, causing her to jump into the corner where she laid down, shivering with her eyes closed.
“I hate thunderstorms,” squeaked Fluttershy from the corner.
“I couldn’t tell,” replied Rainbow Dash sarcastically while rolling her eyes.
“Enough,” commanded Applejack, “I didn’t ask you all to come here so we could make jokes. I have some important news.” There was a long pause. All the ponies stared at Applejack, awaiting this news that was so important. Applejack looked at each one of them directly before speaking.
“I overheard that the last source of food is on Bedlam Island.” Each word was said delicately, as if to be sure that nothing broke inside any of her friends when she said it. For a moment the only thing that could be heard was the rain and the wind. Finally, somepony decided to speak up.
“Bedlam Island? You mean the place off of the coast of Equestria? How are we supposed to get there?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
“Well, you and Fluttershy can fly over the water. Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and myself can use the hot air balloon.”
“Wait, where exactly is this Bedlam Island?” inquired Rarity, “I always thought it was just an old mare’s tale.”
“Well,” began the intelligent librarian unicorn, obviously having read books about it, “Bedlam Island is located off the coast of Equestria, west of Manehattan. It’s known for its mountainous terrain, yet large amounts of wildlife and vegetation and odd geography. It is actually rumored to be where Discord was born, which is why it is named that.”
“Wait, Discord might have been born there? There is no way I’m going,” whimpered Fluttershy from the corner, “I had enough of him last time.”
“Look sugar cube, it’s either come on this trip or die of starvation.” Applejack said grimly.
Fluttershy gazed sadly into Applejack’s eyes and sighed, knowing she had no choice. She closed her eyes once more and laid her head on the ground, frowning.
Almost all the ponies agreed that they were going to set off tomorrow for the island, and it was just assumed that the whimpering pegasus in the corner was coming, too. The lightning flashed once again, and they all agreed it would be best to stay the night at the barn, especially Fluttershy who jumped every time there was thunder and refused to go outside in the darkness. Twilight halted the dull glow of her horn, and the inside of the barn was quiet and dark. Eventually, all the ponies were asleep, and the only sound that could be heard was the mournful wind and the dull pitter-patter of the rain.
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More thunder. The weather hadn’t let up, and the ponies were struggling to set up the balloon that was going to bring them to Bedlam Island. Under the protection of the tree that housed the studious librarian of Ponyville, the loyal friends made their preparations. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were connected to the balloon with cables that were found lying around the farm. After being properly harnessed, the balloon was readied for flight and tethered to the ground using a stake. Twilight tested out her “stay dry” spell, making sure that it would keep both the balloon and the fliers dry while they were airborne. She then spent a good deal of time teaching Rarity the spell, too, so that she wouldn’t have to take the burden of casting the spell for the entire flight by herself. After a while the less magically inclined unicorn finally got the hang of it, and while Twilight rested she would take the responsibility of keeping the crew and their balloon dry.
Spike was to stay home, as he had no problem finding gems to eat in this time of famine. All the ponies brought something with them for the trip. Rarity brought a stylish hat, made from straw, to go with the coastal setting she expected from the island. Twilight brought a book that contained everything that ponies knew about the unexplored island. Applejack brought two apples which were the last of the food that they had stored and what they were going to live off of for the next few days. Pinkie pie brought balloons and confetti, as everypony scornfully expected.
“How can confetti possibly be useful?” inquired Rainbow Dash.
“I don’t know, maybe there will be some sort of party disaster and my party supplies will come to the rescue!” giggled the famed partier.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were unable to bring anything with them, as they would be the ones flying.
For a moment everypony was still, scared to embark on what might be their last trip together. One last look around and the ponies began to silently enter the balloon.
Wings spread, body leaned, one hoof forward, and eyes firm, the pegasi stood ready for lift off. The houses were deserted, the market carts were turned over, and the fences were ruined from the wind. Not an animal could be seen anywhere, and the ground stood muddy underneath the feet of the winged ponies. All the grass was either dead or gone, leaving puddles everywhere.
With one last teary eyed look at the land they had once called home, there was a delicate snap, stifled by the noise of the rain, and the ascent began. The wind was blowing hard enough to make a mess of one’s mane, but not strong enough to be called a violent gale. Slow vertical movement was accompanied by westward pushes from the wind. The balloon was aglow with purple light from the spell the bookish unicorn kept on. It was almost as dark as the night before, and it was almost impossible to see too far ahead of yourself with the rain and the darkness muddying the vision of the ponies.
Finally, the wind had a friend: the gentle beating of feathered wings. With nothing to fight against, it was an easy feat to move forward in the stillness of what had once been a storm. It was no longer a storm however, the rain had become usual and was now just a placeholder for when the weather strayed from only rain.
“So how do we know where we’re supposed to go?” asked Rainbow Dash from in front.
“I’ve done some observations,” replied Twilight, “And the wind is blowing in the same direction that Bedlam Island is in. As long as we continue to follow the wind and the direction never changes, we should be on our way.”
“Well would you look at that,” exclaimed Applejack happily, “The wind is blowing our way, things finally seem to be taking a turn for the better!”
“Let’s just hope they stay that way,” replied the unicorn gravely.
“So, what is this island like?” inquired a curious pink pony.
“Well, I’ve been doing some reading,” started the purplish bookworm, preparing to give a long lecture about her findings, “And I’ve found out that the island was never really attempted to be explored. Celestia forbid the island from exploration for unknown reasons long ago, and it has never been explored officially since. Of course, we aren’t going to be the first to set foot upon the island. Multiple explorers came to the island in search of treasure, but came back to Equestria unable to remember what had happened on the island. The only information we have on the island was of an explorer who flew above the island and wrote what he saw.”
“Well, what did he see?” inquired the interested, cheerful pony.
“It says here in the book that he saw one of the oddest landmasses known to ponies. In the center stood a largely mountainous terrain surrounded by almost random geographic characteristics. On one side of the island was a tropical beach, on another was a forest of odd-looking trees, and on the other was a snowy landscape. That was about all that he could write down as he couldn’t fly any lower to get a closer look. He did note that the island had to have some sort of magical properties in order to harbor all the drastically different types of terrain. He also noted that the middle of the island had some sort of flat space where everything went inward, but didn’t go on to describe it. All he really said was that there were signs of vegetation.”
“Well that clears it up. Do you think we can go to the beach?” asked Pinkie, tilting her head to the side and smiling.
The unicorn rolled her eyes and ignored Pinkie’s comment. She turned toward Rarity and gave the responsibility of keeping the balloon and the ponies dry to her.
Time passed slowly as the six friends flew slowly through the biting wind of the dark storm. Progress was being made, but without a clear view of what was in front of them it was difficult to tell exactly how much progress was being made and how much more would be needed. Each of the four ponies in the basket looked out of a different side. Twilight stared at the invisible trail their balloon left behind, thinking about what was to come and if they would ever make it out. With her head resting lazily on the side of the basket, a small bead of water rolled softly down her cheek.
The other unicorn gazed grimly out of the side at the clouds and the rain, concentrating on keeping the balloon dry while thinking about how Sweetie Belle was faring with her parents. She sat upright and managed to maintain a straight face, but her eyes looked longingly out into the darkness with both hope and misery.
Applejack stared out the other way, thinking of her family and how they were doing. After Sweet Apple Acres had stopped producing any food the rest of the family headed out for Appleloosa in search of more food. Only Applejack stood by her beloved apple trees.
Pinkie stared forward at the two flying pegasi, admiring their flapping wings and the way Rainbow Dash’s mane looked in the wind. Of course it was only Pinkie that didn’t have a grave outlook in such conditions. Leave it to her to be the only one that wasn’t worried about anything.
As they slowly moved through the stormy air, the travelers became increasingly hungry. Deciding it would be best to eat one of the apples that had been brought along now, and save the other for the rest of the trip, the ponies delved into one of the last pleasures they had. Cutting up the apple six ways with her horn, the white designer unicorn handed out four evenly divided pieces to the ponies. Two pieces were saved for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, working hard in the front to keep the balloon moving swiftly through the sky. The ponies ate carefully, acting as though every last bite counted toward how much of the apple they actually ate. Slowly and cautiously, the pieces of one of the last pieces of food disappeared.
The day had turned to night, but no change in the lighting could be seen. The gloominess and darkness of night had permeated over into daytime with this storm, leaving no traces of sunlight or warmth for the morning hours.
Ambition had turned into weariness, and hope had turned into anxiety. Frowns and depressed eyes took over the faces of the once happy adventurers. Nothing could be seen through the darkness and the rain except for the vague outline of what looked like a mountain.
“Wait, I think I see something!” cried out the rainbow pegasus from out front.
“Yah, I think I see it too! It looks like a mountain!” exclaimed Applejack.
“We’re almost there! I knew we were going to make it!” chirped an excited purple unicorn.
The ponies celebrated with their new found hope. The pegasi flew twice as fast, now reassured that their goal was tangible. After the celebrations had settled down, the curious librarian needed information.
“What exactly are we going to do when we get on the island? Where exactly is the food we’re looking for?” she asked, intending the question to be for Applejack, but said in a manner so that anypony could answer.
“Well,” replied the intended orange-furred recipient, “From what I heard the food is located somewhere in the middle of the Island, but there’s no way we could make a safe landing anywhere on those mountains, so we’re going to have to go from the outside in. I’m not exactly sure what kind of food we’re going to find, but any food is good at this point.”
“Can we please please please land on the beach side? I just love the beach!” exclaimed a cheerful Pinkie Pie.
“We can try our best but we’re not flying over the entire island to get to the beach side, it’s quite a big island you know.”
Pinkie frowned for a moment, but happiness sparked once again in her heart, filling her with joy as she thought about all the fun things she would do at the beach. She complained about how angry she was that she hadn’t brought a beach ball as if it was the only problem she had.
As the outline of the island became clearer, the ponies began to stare longingly for the end of their miserable journey away from their comfortable homes in Ponyville. They knew, however, that hard times were ahead of them. Navigating the island and finding the food would be no easy task, and they knew that. Although they prepared to face any danger that would come, an obvious sense of fear overcame the travelers. All except for Pinkie Pie, who beamed cheerfully at the island and all its undiscovered wonders that would bring new fun.
Soon enough, the outline of the huge island could be easily made out, and the storm seemed as though it was letting up. All was well for the adventurers as they were bringing the first of many journeys they saw before them to a close.
It happened swiftly. A sudden bolt of electricity struck the balloon. Any noise made by the pop was muted by the deafening thunder. Unheard screams rang out through the sky as the plummet to the ground began. With any energy left, the two pegasi desperately pulled to keep the basket airborne. The extreme force the racer pegasus exerted upon the makeshift cables was enough to cause a rupture. The disconnection from the falling basket caused an immediate reaction, flinging the pegasi forward. A cable had whipped forward and hit the wing of the sky blue pegasus. Fluttershy screamed helplessly, too frightened to spread her wings. Falling to their certain doom, the screams of both pegasi could be heard slowly fading away.
The basket fell at dangerous speeds, accelerating toward assured death. In panic, the hard working farm pony leaped from the basket, ripping the torn balloon from the basket and attempting to use it as a parachute. Rarity, unable to think straight, followed the orange pony and jumped reluctantly from the freefalling basket. Flying through the air for what seemed like eternity, it looked as though the white unicorn wasn’t going to make it. Opening her mouth, she managed to grab the hoof of the parachuting earth pony, but the extra weight caused a faster fall. The wind pushed the parachuting pair far away from basket, where only two ponies remained. Slowly but surely, the wind pushed harder and harder until the parachute was rendered useless, but by that time the two ponies were out of sight.
Twilight, frantically moving about the basket trying to find a way out, was met by a panicking pink pony. The basket fell through the biting cold wind, plummeting at deathly speeds. With one last look at the island that was clearly outlined in the near distance, a flash of light was seen and the basket was empty.
A dull plop was heard as the vacant basket hit the water. The night lay still and the sky stood empty. The wind blew softly through the cold darkness. All that could be heard was the silence of the rain.