It was mid-afternoon when the final bell chimed at Ponyville’s Schoolhouse, signaling the end of the school day. Colts and fillies rushed out of the classroom with smiles on their faces and heavy saddlebags doing very little to weigh them down as they scrambled out of the school yard. At least, that’s what most of the young ponies were doing.
Three fillies slowly trudged out the front door of the schoolhouse, their cherry colored teacher just behind them with a stern look on her face.
“You girls should know better than to bring a bee’s nest into class! Or anywhere at all for that matter!” she scolded them.
One of three fillies, a pegasus, fluttered her tiny wings in agitation.
“But Miss Cherilee! It wasn’t our fault that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon got stung! They were poking the nest!”
Cherilee leveled a stern gaze at the filly, “Scootaloo that is beside the point. There should not have been a hive there for them to poke in the first place.”
Scootaloo sagged, “But we were trying to get our beekeeping Cutie Marks!”
Cherilee raised a questioning brow, and Scootaloo gave her a wide smile in response. Thinking quickly, Scootaloo not so gently used a hoof to elbow the unicorn filly next to her, whispering, “Back me up Sweetie Belle!”
Sweetie Belle smiled wide as well, “We didn’t mean for anypony to get stung, honest!”
Cherilee looked between the two fillies with a suspicious glare, but quickly relented with a sigh, “Alright, but please girls, try to keep the crusading out of the classroom next time?”
The three fillies nodded firmly, saying in unison, “We will Miss Cherilee!”
Shaking her head, Cherilee gently ushered them towards the front gate, “Okay girls, I’ll see you all tomorrow then.”
“See you tomorrow!” the three echoed as they quickly trotted down the dirt road that led to the rest of Ponyville.
They walked in silence for a few minutes before the only earth pony of their party let out a sigh, “Ah can’t believe ya two yahoos got away with that fib.”
Scootaloo simply rolled her eyes and fluttered herself forward, turning around backwards to look at her friend as they walked, “Oh come on Applebloom! That was an awesome prank! It was pretty much on the same level as one of Rainbow Dash’s pranks if I do say so myself.”
Applebloom shook her head good-naturedly, “Yeah well, those two fillies may be rotten, but a beehive in the desk? Seems just a bit mean if ya ask me.”
Sweetie Belle shrugged, “I don’t know. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are always so mean to everypony anyway. Maybe they’ll think twice next time before they call somepony names?”
“Yeah right, I bet those two are just gonna be meaner,” said Scootaloo, as she continued to expertly walk backwards directly into somepony.
Bouncing of the ponies behind, Scootaloo let out a startled whinny and fell face first onto the ground. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom hid their giggling as Scootaloo sat up and rubbed her sore muzzle.
“Hey! What’s the big idea?” she said, annoyed at the strange stallion.
The pony before them quickly turned around, revealing a large contraption that made his head look suspiciously like a large mechanical spider with monocles on the tips of its legs.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth and sucked in a large breath, only for Applebloom to shut her mouth with a hoof before she could start screaming. A muffled sound very much like a filly screaming into her pillow emanated from Sweetie Belle for several seconds.
Applebloom wore a nonplussed look as she kept her hoof firmly clamped over her friend’s mouth and addressed the strange pony, “Sorry fer bumpin’ into ya mister. What is that yer wearin’? Some kind of hat?”
The strange pony nodded exuberantly as one of the mechanical tendrils on his head shot forward to peer directly at Applebloom. The magnifying glass at its end carried the image of its user’s eye as he looked her over and spoke, “Why yes! It’s an invention of mine you see! Oh, but never mind that, I must ask, what are you fillies doing so close to the Everfree forest? It’s very dangerous around here!”
Applebloom shared a confused glace with Scootaloo, to which the pegasus simply shrugged.
“Uh, mister? The Everfree forest is over that way…” she said, pointing a hoof to her side at the looming forest in the distance, “We were walkin’ home from school, but yer kinda blockin’ the road.”
The stallion frowned, following her hoof to the forest and then to the soft dirt path that he stood on. The mechanical arms on his head moved back and forth in front of his eyes as he observed the ground.
“Hmm… peculiar. I must have miscalculated my distance to the forest due to the increased magnification of my I.M.S.” he walked around in a circle before accidently stumbling off the road and into the grass where he lay belly-up with a hoof to his chin, “Very peculiar indeed.”
Scootaloo stifled her giggling as Applebloom gently removed her hoof from Sweetie Belle’s mouth. Sweetie Belle glared at her.
“You good now?” asked Applebloom, ignoring the glare.
Sweetie Belle wore a disappointed frown as she spoke, “Yeah, I guess. I never get to scream in terror anymore…”
Applebloom rolled her eyes before approaching the downed stallion.
“Mister? You okay? You took a bit of a tumble there…”
The stallion popped up just as quickly as he had fallen, “Ah yes! I am indeed! It takes more than a few falls to keep Doctor Discovery down!”
“Yeah I bet…” whispered Scootaloo under her breath. Sweetie Belle held in a giggle.
“Yer a doctor?” asked Applebloom curiously.
“Indeed I am little filly! Well uh… mostly. Technically speaking that is,” he said in his slightly nasally sounding voice.
Before Applebloom could question his strange response Scootaloo jumped in front of her, “What’s that thing on your head?”
Doctor Discovery brightened instantly, “Curious are you? Well then, let me elucidate the origins of the I.M.S.!”
Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her chin, “What’s the Imiss?”
Doctor Discovery shook his head quickly, “No, the I.M.S.! It’s an acronym for one of my inventions! The Investigative Magnification Spectacles or I.M.S. for short lets me analyze things that are too small or too far away while keeping my hooves free!”
The doctor sighed as one of the mechanical appendages on his hat suddenly broke off and fell to the ground.
“Although… It would seem that my fall has rendered it rather… defective.”
“It looks broken to me,” said Scootaloo with a frown.
“That’s what defective… Oh never mind,” he said sadly, “I suppose it’s just fate giving me another sign that I’m wrong about this whole venture.”
Applebloom raised a questioning brow, “What adventure? And what were you doin’ out here anyway?”
Doctor Discovery let out a long sigh, “Oh well, I suppose I might as well tell you,” he said, straightening up and clearing his throat as if he were about to give a presentation, “Two days ago my instruments outside the Everfree forest detected some kind of strange magical phenomena that carried the same thaumatological energy signature as Princess Celestia. Naturally, I, Doctor Discovery, had to investigate! So I packed up my things in Canterlot and took the first train to Ponyville!”
The doctor let out a heavy sigh then, “But it seems that my colleagues back at the Magical Science Center were right. It’s been two days and I’ve found nothing. Not even a trace of the signature! Maybe they were right… maybe I am a laughing stock…”
It was then that Doctor Discovery broke down into tears. Scootaloo had long since tuned out Doctor Discovery, and was currently balancing the fallen mechanical arm on her muzzle while Sweetie Belle smelled a flower by the side of the road.
Applebloom face hoofed, “Girls! We’ve got a cryin’ stallion on our hooves and yer smellin’ flowers?”
Sweetie Belle had a sheepish look on her face. Scootaloo quickly tossed the mechanical appendage back to where she found it, “Uh, smelling flowers. Right, that’s what I was doing.”
Applebloom sighed before turning back to the sobbing doctor.
“So uh… Doctor Discovery was it? Yer not gonna let a few bullies back at the Magic Scientifics Center get ya down are ya? Ah’m sure that the uh…”
“S-Signature…” said Doctor Discovery miserably.
“Yeah that!” said Applebloom happily, before correcting herself and going back to her reassuring voice, “Ah’m sure that the signature thingy is out there somewhere. And even if it ain’t, it’s not like yer go home a complete failure.”
Scootaloo nodded, “Yeah, you’ll be fine. It’s not like those egghead ponies would kick you out because you wasted their time with something completely ridiculous.”
Sweetie Belle joined in, “Yep! I mean, at least you don’t always go off on wild goose chases that only waste everypony’s time right?”
Doctor Discovery looked up at the three fillies briefly, and they all smiled wide at him. He immediately broke down into heavier sobs.
“Y-You’re r-r-right! I’m a failure! All I do is waste the Center’s time and m-m-money-y-y on these ridiculous goose chases! I’m going to be kicked out of the Center for sure!” he bawled, flopping to the ground in tears.
Applebloom turned to her fellow crusaders, “Ah uh… Ah don’t think we helped him.”
“You think?” said Scootaloo.
“Was it something we said?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Applebloom sighed, “Alright girls. Let’s come up with a plan B; huddle up.”
The three fillies quickly huddled together and started hastily exchanging ideas while Doctor Discovery sobbed behind them.
After a few seconds and several very loud whispers, the crusaders separated and trotted up to the doctor.
He wiped a few tears away as they approached him, “I am terribly sorry about that, but the stresses of a scientist such as I do occasionally get the better of me,” picking up his ruined invention and its pieces he said, “I should go.”
“Now hold on a minute doc!” yelled Applebloom, jumping to stand in his way, “Ah may not know anythin’ about yer signatures and important adventures,”
Doctor Discovery frowned, “But I just told you…”
“But Ah do know that if anypony can help ya find yer magic signature it’d be Twilight!” she finished, pointing in the direction of Ponyville’s resident librarian and Princess.
“Yeah! Twilight knows all kinds of stuff, I bet she can fix your freaky hat too!” agreed Scootaloo, fluttering to Applebloom’s side.
Doctor Discovery’s eyes bulged, “T-Twilight? You mean the Twilight Sparkle? The Princess!?”
Sweetie Belle hopped up from behind the doctor, “Yep! That’s her! She helps us learn new stuff all the time! I bet she’d be happy to help you find whatever it was you were looking for!”
Doctor Discovery wheezed, “Oh… Oh my… You three fillies can actually get me a meeting with Princess Twilight!?”
The Crusaders nodded in unison.
“That’s… absolutely the best thing ever!” yelled Doctor Discovery happily as he scooped up the three fillies and gave them a bone-crushing hug.
“Ugh, yer welcome doc… Now can ya put us down?” croaked Applebloom.
The doctor quickly released the three fillies from the hug, “Ha! Terribly sorry! But I’m just so excited! To think, I’m actually going to meet Princess Twilight!”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes and started walking, “Yeah, yeah you’re excited we get it, sheesh!”
Sweetie Belle giggled as she followed close behind Scootaloo. Applebloom waved the doctor to follow them, “Come on doc! Ponyville loves meetin’ new ponies.”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo broke into snickers at Applebloom’s words, but the doctor paid them no mind. Simply nodding, he happily followed them towards the local library.
Unbeknownst to them, was that a small, near imperceptible light had emerged from the trees not too far away. And ever so slowly, that light was beginning to grow…
***
In the Ponyville Schoolhouse, Miss Cherilee sat at her desk idly munching on a daisy sandwich while she looked over her students assignments for the day. She scanned each page with a delicate eye, looking for any mistakes.
“Hmm… Let’s see… Oh, Blossom’s doing well,” she muttered, happily inscribing an ‘A’ on the filly’s paper. Humming tunelessly, Cherilee began the slow going process of grading.
“A… A… Oh, a C? I’ll have to speak to Button about that…” said Cherilee, taking a bite of her sandwich and moving to the next paper.
Cherilee clucked her tongue in distaste as she looked over the next paper in the stack, “Oh Diamond… What am I going to do with you?”
Sighing, she expertly printed a D plus on the filly’s paper and moved on quickly. She never took joy in giving one of her students a low grade, but no matter how hard she tried some students just didn’t put in the effort she wished they would.
Her sour mood was quickly forgotten though as she came upon the next paper in her stack, or papers seeing as how the three assignments were stuck together. She let a little smile cross her face as she looked over Applebloom’s, Scootaloo’s, and Sweetie Belle’s papers, carefully minding the sticky honey that marred them.
“Beekeepers… how do you girls come up with these ideas?” she said, marking down the girls respective grades.
Cherilee sighed good-naturedly and moved on to the next paper, and the next, and the next after that. Before long, she had finished her sandwich and made a sizable dent in the number of papers she had left to grade.
As she looked over the next assignment though, she found her mind starting to wander. As much as she loved teaching, the end of the day was by far her least favorite. She found herself thinking about home, and how a hot cup of tea and a good book sounded particularly appealing at that moment.
Focusing back on the paper, she realized she’d been reading the same paragraph for the last few minutes. Frowning, she let out yawn and glanced at the clock and then at the remaining papers in her turn-in basket.
“Mm… Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt if I didn’t finish today,” she let out small chuckle, “And I suppose no homework tomorrow would be welcome surprise for everypony.”
Decision made, Cherilee packed up her things into her saddlebag and made for the door. After all, what harm was there in leaving the rest of the work for tomorrow? The papers weren’t going anywhere.
Stepping out into the late afternoon sun, Cherilee smiled as a gentle breeze blew past her. It was refreshing; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten home before the sun had already set.
Smiling contently, she locked the schoolhouse door behind her and was about to make for home, when something strange caught her eye.
It was just a glimmer really, but she turned all the same to see what it was. Squinting, she could just barely make out a light coming from the trees across the field from the schoolhouse. It was hardly noticeable, especially in the late afternoon. But there was something about it…
Cherilee took a few steps forward and stopped at the edge of the tall grass field that separated the schoolhouse from the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.
“What is that…?” she muttered under her breath, wondering silently if perhaps she’d spotted some kind of far off campsite.
She watched the light, and after a moment, realized what was so strange about it. It was moving.
Cherilee stood still, simply watching the light as it danced among the trees in the distance. She wasn’t a stranger to weird occurrences in the town of Ponyville, but this seemed different somehow. More subtle, like a little mystery spectacle just for her.
Suddenly, the light stopped moving. It remained still, hovering in the air like a little miniature sun.
Cherilee turned her head to the side slightly, wondering why the light had stopped. The way it was hovering now, completely still, just looking at her.
A shiver ran up her spine without warning, and the fur on the back of her neck stood on end. But for the life of her she couldn’t understand why, and then the light began to move again.
Cherilee watched, entranced, as the light began to grow larger, brighter, and closer. It felt eerily quiet, and yet at the same time she was never more aware of the sounds around her. The autumn winds blowing through the grass, the trees, even her own mane. She recognized her heightened awareness as adrenaline, but couldn’t understand why she was feeling the way she did. What she did know, however, was that she no longer wanted to be near the light.
She took a step back, and the light tree line.
All at once, she was paralyzed and blinded as the light expanded outward. She blinked as fast as she could, trying to clear the dark spots from her vision to see what was happening.
The trees and grass nearest the light began to sag and wilt, turning from yellow to brown to black in seconds and spreading ever outwards. Cherilee was left unawares, her distorted vision preventing her from seeing the great white winged figure that had emerged from the forest enwreathed in light and flame.
She caught glimpses only, of the grass beneath her wilted into blackened ash, of the light that encompassed everything in front of her, but not the figure drawing closer.
Cherilee felt heat on her coat and buried her eyes in the crux of her front leg, blinking rapidly and trying to restore her vision. The moment she felt she could see well enough to run, she brought her head up, but when she looked forward again, she saw only a hand reach out to meet her.
It clasped around her neck before she could let out a scream. She fought to keep breathing as she was lifted into the air, kicking her hooves at whatever had grabbed her. She kept her eyes shut tight; the overwhelming light in front of her threatening to blind her if she stared at it for too long. The sting of flames bit at her hooves and she quickly relented in her efforts to break free. It was then that her captor spoke.
“Well, now that is a surprise. You look so familiar and yet…”
Cherilee opened her eyes against her better judgment, and what she saw was a creature unlike any she had ever seen before. Its mane billowed in all directions and was of every color, wisps of flame danced around its horn like a firecracker, and its gigantic white wings more than doubled her length. All this was prevalent in Cherilee’s mind, but what feature stood out most were two sunken magenta eyes that peered at her with something akin to indifference or perhaps something else entirely.
“What…” Cherilee sputtered, trying to speak through the iron grip the creature held her in.
Before she could speak anymore, the grip around her throat tightened, and the creature looked at her with annoyance.
“Do not interrupt me.”
Cherilee sputtered, and closed her eyes once more. She was unable to continue looking at the blinding creature that held her any longer.
“And yet… I can’t help but feel disappointed. Don’t you recognize me my little pony?”
It clicked then, in Cherilee’s mind. She recognized the voice, even if she’d only heard it on precious few occasions, she could never forget the voice of Princess Celestia herself.
Suddenly the grip around her throat loosened, and Cherilee fell to the ground in a heap gasping for breath. The creature moved past her, walking on only two legs. Cherilee curled her own legs closer to herself, the heinous burn marks on them causing her to cry.
“Oh, don’t fret my little one. Your burns will heal; consider them… for now, a reminder. A Princess is not to be interrupted, such is a lesson I think many will be learning soon.”
Cherilee found the strength to look at the creature again, only to watch as a fire surged from its horn and followed the direction it threw its hand.
“No!” she screamed as the flames met the schoolhouse, encompassing it entirely in fire.
Cherilee stumbled forward, falling short as the pain in her legs became unbearable. She lifted her head from the ground, and could only watch in silence as the schoolhouse burned.
“A fitting punishment, I should think. There is something cleansing about fire isn’t there? How it can wipe away the old with only the tiniest of sparks,” the creature said, without remorse.
It turned to her, and Cherilee could not find the words to describe her terror. And then, just as quickly, it turned away from her and began to walk back towards Ponyville.
Cherilee watched it go from her place on the ground, unable to find words. For all the pain she felt though, as she watched it walk towards Ponyville she couldn’t help but cry out after it.
“No! No, please! Don’t hurt them! No! No… please… don’t hurt them…”
Her cries fell on deaf ears, and finally Cherilee lapsed into blissful unconsciousness.