//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Future Worth Saving // by Flashgen //------------------------------// The acrid scent of rot and decay. That was the first scent to fill Twilight’s nostrils as her eyes fluttered open slowly, hooves trying to quickly cover her nose as she adjusted to the lack of light. After a few moments of her eyes darting around she stood up slowly, the scent weakening from its original intensity as it was replaced by grogginess and the onset of a headache. As she let out a groan, rubbing her forehead lightly, she heard similar sounds behind her. She turned around and closed her eyes to focus past the headache, a bright light forming from the tip of her horn. Its glow illuminated her friends who were slowly standing up and adjusting to the sudden light and awakening themselves. Rainbow Dash hovered up off of the ground, hooves shielding her eyes. “Not so bright, you’re gonna make this headache worse.” The light dimmed as the six ponies were still illuminated, standing in what seemed like a pool of mud and dirt within a rotting tree. The interior walls were overgrown with vines and weeds and it seemed like the tree would collapse without them. Rarity was quick to begin fidgeting, trying to get caked bits of mud out of her mane and coat as she hoped to suppress a panic attack. “Yuck! Of all of the disgusting places for some spell to take us. It’ll take me forever to get my mane back to pristine condition. It’s like I’ve been tossing and turning in the stuff for days!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack simply rolled their eyes as they moved over to Twilight, who seemed just confused as the rest of them. Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie tried their best to calm Rarity down, despite how impossible a task it seemed. Applejack looked down at Twilight, who appeared focused on looking for her own answers as she stared into the mud. “You... do know where it took us, don’tcha Twilight? I mean, we couldn’t be too far from Ponyville, right?” Applejack tried to keep a smile as she spoke, though it was a bit difficult considering the situation they were in. Twilight looked up at Applejack, nervously smiling back to her. “Not... exactly. But, I’m not talented enough to take us all that far. We’re probably just... somewhere in the Everfree Forest. I mean it is wild enough to be.” Twilight turned around with the tree, focusing the light on the walls as she saw a torn section of bark leading out of the decrepit tree. She looked back to the others, noting that Rarity had at least calmed down a little, though she was still tugging at parts of her mane every few moments. The others were gathered around her, waiting for Twilight to the lead the way. As they stepped through the hole, Twilight’s horn illuminated the forest, moonlight shining weakly through the canopy. There wasn’t any way to see the night sky clearly, and so Twilight decided that they should at least find a clearing nearby to get a sense of their location. The six trotted along slowly through the thick woods, trying to search for a break in the treeline. Fluttershy shook nervously near the back of the pack. “S-should we really be going off in some random direction? What if there’s something dangerous out here?” Applejack looked back at her, slowing down to get to her side, “We have to find someway outta here. Besides, we’ve handled ourselves just fine here before, so don’t you go frettin’ Fluttershy. Once Twi finds out where we are we’ll be out lickity split.” Rainbow Dash hovered over the others as she looked up at the rough canopy, her wings flapping idly. “Or I can just fly up now and find out for us. It’s not like it wouldn’t take me a minute.” Twilight slowed down, looking back at the pegasus. “No, if something happened to you we’d have no way to know about it. Just wait until we find a clearing and then you can fly around all you want.” The pegasus landed back on the ground, sighing heavily, “Fine... I still don’t know why you had to have us with you to try that spell in the first place.” “You would have preferred if I vanished without a trace and ended up here on my own?” Twilight responded, rather smugly. “... Good point.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seemed like hours passed by before they managed to see stronger beams of light shining through the trees ahead. As the group entered the small clearing, they could see the night sky clearly and Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to jet up into the air. The others took a chance to rest their hooves for a moment as Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash. “What do you see Rainbow Dash?!” she called out from the ground below. It took a few moments before Rainbow Dash flew back down to the ground, looking a bit worried, “I-I don’t know. There’s forest in every direction, and a few mountains, but I saw smoke in the distance. Maybe somepony is out camping?” she proposed with a slight grin. Pinkie jumped up between the two. “Oh yay, we can throw them a camping party then! I mean I don’t have any balloons or streamers or cake or anything but maybe I can whip up something with some sticks and leaves and berries.” Twilight seemed a bit amused as she dismissed the comments from Pinkie Pie, looking at Dash. “I guess it’s the only thing we have to go on. Point the way Dash, we’re right behind you.” Rarity sighed as the group marched on, “I’ll never get a chance to clean this mess up at this rate.” “S-shouldn’t you be a bit more worried about finding our way home Rarity?” Fluttershy asked meekly, lowering her voice, “Or maybe finding food and water if we’re stuck here?” “I suppose so, but a girl still has to have her standards. Oh! And water would mean a chance for a bath. We’ll have to make sure to keep our eyes out for that then,” Rarity said gaining an air of confidence at the thought. “That’s... not exactly what I meant.” Applejack moved up beside Twilight, “Supposin’ it is somepony that’s causin’ that smoke. What exactly are we gonna do? We can’t ask some stranger to give six ponies food and shelter for nothin’ in return.” “I’m sure whoever it is will be more than willing to help us. Even if it’s only directions on how to get out of here.” She looked up at the sky. “Besides, the Princess will want a report on her spe- Ah!” Twilight was cut off as she felt a splitting headache, images of her home and the strange book she had read the spell from flashing in her head. She had received it from the Princess... hadn’t she? She could barely seem to remember. “Are you alright sugarcube?” Applejack asked, placing a hoof on Twilight’s back sympathetically. “Y-yes... just a headache, that’s all. It’ll be good to take some time and relax once we get home to Ponyville. The spell must have just... taken more out of me than I thought.” The pounding seemed to subside quickly as Twilight brought her thoughts back to the present, though she still felt troubled by the sudden pain. After a few more minutes of walking, they could finally see the smoke clearly from under the canopy. It wasn’t long before they felt a slight rumble in the ground, as if there were some kind of stampede off in the distance, and it only seemed to get stronger as they got closer to the smoke. None of them seemed fully certain in their course now, but given that they didn’t know where they were, it was the only thing they could do. “What if it’s something dangerous? What if it attacks us, or tries to eat us?” Fluttershy said hiding behind the others as they kept moving. “I told ya already Fluttershy, we ain’t gonna let nothing bad happen to us. Maybe the Princess just... sent some ponies out to look for us, that’s all,” Applejack said trying to comfort the pegasus, and quell her own doubts at the same time. “... Do you hear that?” Rainbow Dash said as the rumbling was getting louder. She flew up a few feet ahead of the rest. “It sounds like, I don’t know, some kind of machine.” The others looked confused as the rumbling and faint sounds in the distance were replaced with the crash of falling trees. Despite their better judgements they picked up the pace and charged forward. The rumbling grew stronger, and the sound of destruction and machinery filled their ears with each hurried step forward. It wasn’t long before they saw blinding lights coming from beyond a set of trees. A behemoth of metal was on the other side, a series of sharp claws and teeth at its front, cutting through the dense trees in its path as it bellowed dark smoke into the sky above. The six ponies did their best to hide, finding a set of heavy bushes close to the treeline. Whatever this monstrosity was built for, it seemed to be doing its job well as it progressed deeper into the dense forest, crushing whatever its gaping jaw did not swallow whole under a set of thick treads. However, it wasn’t the wanton destruction that had the six friends worried as they kept hidden, it was that there were a group of what looked like ponies following the monster at its side and rear, and they were wearing armor and helmets. It was almost like they were prepared to go war in the wilds they were cutting through, or at least prepared for a sudden fight. “Who the hay are these guys? They’re gonna tear apart this whole forest at this rate,” Rainbow Dash muttered quietly, barely managing to keep herself from charging headlong into the unknown to demand answers. “All of those poor critters and their homes... We can’t let them do this,” Fluttershy said strongly, gaining a bit of courage in her voice. “What are we supposed to do about it darling? It’s not like we can just waltz up to some soldiers and demand they stop doing... whatever it is they’re doing. Maybe they have to accomplish something important,” Rarity responded with a sigh. “We can’t just sit around and do nothin’, ain’t that right Twilight?” Applejack asked to the unicorn. “I-I don’t know... maybe we should just wait here until they leave an-.” Twilight was cut off as the large machine stopped, several of the armored ponies pressing a button on their suits, a pair of oddly shaped metal rods extending at their sides. Silence overtook the woods as the rumbling of the machine began to die down to a faint hum, and the rustling of leaves in the wind was the only thing that could be heard over it. They were looking around nervously as one of the soldiers stepped forward, a set of pins on the chest of his armor, though he was too far away for any of the six to tell what they were for. “It looks like a false alarm men. Now get moving. We don’t have any time to waste. We have to find what Her Highness wants and get out of here befo-” As he turned back to the other soldiers a spear flew through the air, grazing the side of his armor. It easily cut a section of his flank, crimson staining his armor. The rough sound of metal on metal cut the silence quickly as he glared at the trees. “Quickly! Take positions around the crusher! Spread fire in all directions! No prisoners!” The rest of the soldiers moved around the iron behemoth as they aimed the metal tubes at the seemingly empty wilds, a mix of thunder and fire filling the air as the leaves and branches of trees were torn-apart in seconds. A few of the girls let out a screech as Applejack jumped up. “We have to get outta here now!” It didn’t take much more than that for the rest of them to scurry out of the bush, trying to stay low as the forest was torn apart by shrapnel around them. Through either some stroke of luck or skill, none of them managed to be injured by whatever was being shot at them. Only the sounds of thunder and screams of agony echoed through the woods behind them as they kept running. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seemed like an eternity passed as they kept running, even once the sounds of battle were silent in the distance. The six ponies managed to stumble into a clearing next to a waterfall, taking a moment of relief in their luck. All of them took another chance to rest their hooves, and to get something to drink. Rarity was especially enjoying the fact she had a chance to clean her mane, even if it was just to get the mud and leaves out. Rainbow Dash sighed as she kicked a rock into a nearby tree, “Great, so now we still have no idea where we are, and there’s some crazy psycho ponies out there trying to kill us?! Not to mention we don’t have any food at all! Can’t you just zap us out of here or something Twilight?” Twilight had been sitting on a nearby rock, trying to go over the predicament they had found themselves stuck in. They had no way back home, no idea where they were, and somepony out there was willing to destroy half the forest looking for... something. She looked up at the irritated pegasus, letting out a sigh. “No, I can’t. I don’t know which way Ponyville is, and even if I did, I’m too exhausted to get us there in the blink of an eye. Besides, I don’t think they were trying to kill us specifically.” “What the hay is that supposed to mean? They tore apart half the forest in our general direction.” Applejack stood up, walking over to Rainbow Dash. “Because something attacked ‘em. They had no idea we were even watchin’ them. But I reckon after our escape somepony had to notice us. Maybe they’ll come lookin’ for us.” “It stopped,” Pinkie Pie stated calmly as she looked up at the sky, the others looking confused at her for a second. “The smoke, it stopped,” she continued as she pointed in the direction they had ran from. Sure enough, the last bit of black smoke in the sky was fading into thin air as the six watched from the safety of the clearing. “D-do you think they got e-eaten by something?” Fluttershy asked, shivering. “That hunk o’ metal is probably done for at least. I don’t reckon whatever it was coulda done in that many soldiers though,” Applejack said rubbing her hoof idly along the ground. “We shouldn’t worry about that now,” Twilight said as she stood up on the rock, “We should try and get some rest here, and once morning comes we can probably walk around a lot easier.” The others nodded in agreement as they found a section of grass close to the waterfall, the sounds of rushing water fading as one by one they drifted off to sleep. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight’s dreams were not peaceful to say the least. Images befitting nightmares and horror stories were all that seemed to fill her thoughts as her mind kept trying to find its way back into the past, searching for some, any kind of answer. Each image flashing into her mind for only a moment, mixed within chaotic gibberish. The library she called home in Ponyville. “Are ya sure you should be tryin’ this Twilight?” A strange dark book filled with runes and scribbles. “Of course, the Princess wouldn’t send me a book to study if I couldn’t handle what was inside.” A picture of herself and her teacher, Princess Celestia, being burnt. “What’s happening?!” The ruins of the castle in the Everfree Forest. “I-I can’t feel anything... it’s getting so cold!” A solar eclipse. “Tw-twilight! What’s going on?! Stop it!” Darkness. “... I can’t.” A grin, staring at her from the shadows. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight leapt up from the ground in shock, gasping for air as sweat fell down her brow. She looked around as she began to calm down. “It... must have been a bad dream.” She held her head as the headache started to form again, a rustle in the trees catching her attention. Slowly, Twilight stood up, moving towards the forest’s edge, calling out into its empty confines, “H-hello? Who’s there?” There was no response as she lowered her head, sighing. “Right, just the wind... I should try and get back to sleep.” She turned around, face to face with a masked earth pony, a smooth facade of painted wood starring at her, cold eyes piercing through small holes. She jumped back, letting out a shriek in response, “W-who are you?!” She pointed her horn in the pony’s direction, trying to at least seem threatening. “I could ask you the same.” The voice was a colt’s, rough and aged. His coat was dark blue, an odd match to his brown mane of hair. Twilight could barely make out his cutie mark through the patches of armor on his body: an eagle. Her attention was pulled away from him as she noticed other masked ponies coming from the treeline, some of them with crude weapons attached to their sides. Her friends were just beginning to wake as Rainbow Dash and Applejack were quick to jump to their hooves, trying to get between the strangers and their path to the others. It was obvious that they were outnumbered, but they weren’t about to go down without a fight. There was a sharp whistle that cut through the air as the masked ponies began to back off. The one facing Twilight looked past her to the treeline, “Aqua? I thought you said that anypony left behind after the attack was to be taken out. We can’t let her-” An unmasked unicorn stepped out from the treeline with a light blue coat and white mane. Her appearance seemed unnaturally graceful considering the companions she was traveling with, adorned with a simple silver gown. She looked more like she belonged at a gala than the ragged wilds which surrounded her as she cleared her throat. “I am aware of my words, Breeze, but it seems the conditions have changed. You heard them talking before the attack, didn’t you? What they were searching for.” She walked up to Twilight, standing before the confused unicorn, looking back to her companions. “I think we have found them. The only thing she fears coming back to haunt her.” Twilight stood firm, horn still pointed at the masked pony. “W-what are you talking about?” Her friends moved up behind Aqua and Breeze, looking cautiously at the other masked ponies and the weapons they carried. A smile grew on Aqua’s face, one of sincerity and relief as she replied to Twilight’s question calmly, “You six... you’re the Elements of Harmony aren’t you? From the Legends of the Sun.”