~I’m a Swordsmare?~
In the next few hours, the mare had awoken to a curious feeling. The soft caress of warm bed sheets could be felt by her, not the cold road she passed out on. Glancing around, she spotted her tunic laying on a nearby table, dry and neatly folded. Shrugging, she put on the article of clothing (as it was the only thing she knew was hers for sure) and walked out of the room. Voices could be heard from down the stairs to her left, and she followed them to a large room full of ponies.
Many were eating and drinking, laughing and sharing in the comfort of friends. Unsure of what to do, the lavender mare sat down at a random table, not expecting another mare to approach her almost instantly. She was blue in coat color, with a pink mane styled to look like the icing on a cupcake. “…Goodness, life is just full of surprises. To think that somepony would wind up collapsed in a heap, in the middle of a city like this!”
“Thank you for helping me…” The mare managed to say, her voice still sounding a little shaky. The blue mare smiled.
“Well, fortunately I think we have a few spare rooms, dearie. My name is Cup Cake, and it was no trouble at all to help out a poor soul like yourself. My husband and I should be able to give you somewhere to rest your head, at least.” She laughed a little, getting a laugh from the mare as well. “Take it easy for a while. That was a nasty spill out there, and I’d sure hate to see it happen again!” with that, the mare walked off.
It wasn’t long before another voice reached her ears. “Twilight? Is that you over there?” turning her head, the mare saw an orange-coated earth pony walk into the room, headed her way. On her head was a leathery brown Stetson, and her flank carried a mark of three apples. A blue shirt covered her chest, and she proceeded to slam a hoof down on the table. The mare noticed it, like her other three, had a steel-plated shoe on it. “There you are! Ah finally found you. It’s me, your old pal Applejack!”
She chuckled. “Ah thought Ah told you to let me know if y’all made it back alive!” the mare simply sat silent for several seconds, before asking:
“Who’s Twilight?”
“Mare, that’s really not funny.” Applejack said, shaking her head. “It’s you alright! Twilight Sparkle!” She slid into the chair opposite of the lavender mare, continuing her conversation. “But never mind all that. Ah can’t believe you went into the Everfree Forest of all places and came out alive! They say that when you set foot in that place, you lose your sense of where y’all are and never come out again.”
The mare simply sat and listened, not sure of what to do. “There’s supposedly lots of gold in those parts, but since everypony tends to keep their distance, there’s no map for it. Ah tried to stop you, but once you set hoof out of that there front gate, Ah thought you were a goner…” She brightened up her mood immensely, though. “But here y’all are, proving me wrong! Y’all are mah favorite source of bits- I mean, mah dearest friend!”
The mare could feel a large sweatdrop fall off the back of her head. “Now, however, straight to buisness. No offense intended if Ah cut to the chase, but Ah am an information dealer after all.” She placed her hooves on the table, folded under her muzzle. “Ah want all the info you got about the Everfree, and don’t you dare skimp on the details.”
“Listen, Applejack…” the mare said. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about. My mind’s blank, I’ve lost my memories. I don’t even know who I am.”
“…Wha..?” Applejack wondered. “Come again?” after another three times repeating, The message seemed to get across. “Y’all gotta be kidding me… So y’all don’t remember who Ah am? Or who you are, for that matter?” The mare simply nodded. “What in Tartarus happened to y’all in there? ..Actually, forget Ah asked at all. This conversation never happened.”
The mare tilted her head, confused. “Mah instincts are telling me you got yourself into some big ol’ trouble in the Everfree, and Ah’m sorry, but Ah want no part of it.” Applejack got up to leave, and turned back. “Sorry, Twilight. Don’t take it personally, but Ah know a bad idea when Ah hear one.” She was interrupted when a gruff looking stallion barged into the tavern.
“Huff… Hahh…” he panted, before looking up. “W-We’ve got a problem!” He yelled. “The mine… there are monsters in the mine!” Everypony in the room gasped. A small crowd, the mare (who figured it was best to say her name was Twilight) and Applejack among them, formed near the miner.
“So monsters just showed up in that newly-dug tunnel?” A customer asked.
“It does lead to some old ruins.” Another responded. “I’d be surprised if there weren’t monsters in a place like that.”
A third spoke up. “But… it’s times like this that we have the Romun Army here to help us, right?” several cheers of confirmation rose from the crowd. “Where’s Commander Sentry?”
The miner spoke up. “He’s not here right now. He said he’s off doing a military training exercise. Even worse, the soldiers still here are only panicking like fillies near the Everfree.”
“Seriously? They really are useless. They finally get the chance to do something, and they freak out!”
“Did everypony get out safely?” Twilight asked.
“I… I don’t know… it was every stallion for himself in there… nopony really paid much attention…” the miner said.
“Not much to do about that, y’all.” Applejack said. “But there’s no time to lose. Let’s get to the mine!” Everypony ran out of the tavern immediately, heading to the southern part of town. Twilight saw little choice but to follow, seeing nothing but gathered soldiers panicking.
“What is taking so long?” A blond, alabaster stallion yelled. “Get those who are wounded out of there!”
“Yes, sir!” a few soldiers yelled back.
The stallion turned to the few miners huddles outside the mineshaft. “The safety of your fellow miners is our highest priority. Make certain everypony is accounted for!” The miners nodded and started a head count.
“So… who’s that stallion?” Applejack asked nopony in particular.
“That’s Governor General Blueblood. He just got here recently. Seems Commander Sentry is away on buisness, so he was assigned here instead.”
“Are you the last?” Blueblood asked a miner who just emerged from the cave.
“N-No… the head miner… and a few others… they got trapped in the room the monsters came out of…” he was almost doubled over from exhaustion and injury. “Please… please help them…”
“Do not worry. We will see to it that they are rescued.”
Suddenly, the world seemed to be more distant, as if a hazy film were laid over it. Twilight was looking around, curious. She spotted a strange orb of light near the mine entrance, but nopony else seems to have noticed it. Curious, she walked up to it, reached out with a hoof, and touched the orb.
Voices flowed through her head, but she did not know whose. “I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard that you knocked one of sis’s knives out of the air with just your sword! She never misses!” A mare’s voice said.
A second one replied, “Yeah, she may not look like much, but her skill with the sword is amazing. You’ll have to fight me one-on-one sometime!”
‘Sword…? Was I a swordsmare?’ Twilight thought. ‘I have to get involved… I have to help them!’ Without much more thought, She ran into the mine’s entrance. Little did she know, that her decision would lead to the start of one of the world’s greatest adventures…