//------------------------------// // Ch III: Past Prologue // Story: Legacy: The New Adventure // by nx9100 //------------------------------// ...BOOTING SOFTWARE ...ACCESSING DATATRACKS ...EXISTING FILE FOUND ...DO YOU WISH TO OPEN?    Y_ ...LOADING ...READY...BEGIN RECORDING...                      So, here we are, in the middle of the forest, and what do we find?  A spooky, empty, village!  Bunch of old buildings rotting away.  But that’s not the strangest thing!  Star says he had a dream about this place the other night, and that he saw the pony who lived in that old, hollow tree.  Strange, huh?                      He wants to go check it out, but I wanna look at the house just past it.  There’s something familiar about it… ...END RECORD_ ...SAVE FILE_ ...SAVE COMPLETED ...POWERING OFF...   Finally breaking free from his shock, Star started to head towards the tree house.  He didn’t know why, he just had to go inside.  The door was slightly ajar, with the wood starting to rot away from years of neglect.  Broken glass windows on the trunk reflected the sunlight, making it appear as if the whole tree was glowing.  Or, maybe, it was just a trick of his mind.  As they approached, the breeze blew past them again, catching the door, and blowing it open. “I guess something really wants you to go in there,” laughed Melody. “It’s just the wind,” he replied.  But privately, he was wondering the same thing.  Looking past the open door, they could see piles of old books, all scattered around the floor.  The rays of light from the broken windows lit up the main room, casting shadows all around. They entered slowly, trying not to step on and damage the books any more then nature already had. “Sure are a lot of books here,” Melody said.  “I guess who ever lived in this tree loved to read.” “I think this was a library,” replied Star, and he studied the room.  Bookshelves carved into the walls were covered with rotting books, while more books and scattered papers were all over the floor.  Not sure what he was looking for, he moved further inside, hoping for some sort of sign or something. “Wow!” exclaimed Melody, “Look at that!”   She pointed ahead, to a picture mounted above the fireplace, showing a group of 6 ponies all posing together.   Star recognized the one from his dream in the middle. “I wonder who they were,” said Melody. “I’m not sure,” he replied.  “Friends of the pony who lived here, I’d guess.”  While his sister studied the picture, he moved around the room, looking at the various books.  Most seemed to be about magic and science, but others had even stranger titles: SLEEPOVERS: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO HAVING FUN! PINKIE’S 101 CUPCAKE RECIPIES THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO EQUESTIA THE PERFECT STORM He shook his head.  There had to be a book for just about everything in here!  They could spend days, and still not have read nearly a quarter of them.  I wonder if I can find one with our herd’s history. Just then, a loud swoosh came from above.  As they both looked up, the old owl flew in from an open window above them.  It circled the room, and then landed on top of a cracked bookcase, watching the two below. “Hey!  He’s back!” Melody said.  “Do you think he’s friendly?” “I don’t know,” Star said.  The owl looked friendly enough.  It wasn’t attacking them, at least.  Bur somehow he had the impression that it lead them here. “Was it in your dream too?”  Melody was moving forward, fascinated by their new friend, and finally able to get close to him. “No, I don’t remember him,” said Star, “just the purple pony and this house.” At the mention of the dream pony, the owl perked up, and took off into the air.  Star and Melody ducked as he swooped over them, seemingly excited about something.  Then suddenly, it came to a stop, hovering in front of Gaze. “What does he want?” Melody was hiding behind Star, watching the owl as it studied her brother.  Star kept still, as the owl stared into his eyes.  Then, apparently satisfied, it waved a wing at them, and flew up the stairs to the second floor. “Should we follow it?” asked Melody. “Well, I guess we could,” he agreed, and led the way up the stairs, trying not to slip on any books or papers lying around.  When they reached the top, the owl was waiting for them, sitting on the back of an old bed, whose mattress has rotted away. “Whoo!” They approached, as the owl watched them.  Not quite sure why, Star moved over to the bed, and leaned down to peer underneath. “What are you looking for?” Melody asked, a puzzled look on her face as she watched her brother. “Don’t know,” he replied, “probably nothing-” he broke off, spotting a small box pushed off to one side.  Reaching out, he was able to pull it from under the bed. “Let me see!” demanded Melody, pushing around him to look inside.  There wasn’t much to look at, just a small bottle and a rolled up scroll. “Whoo!” said the Owl, as it pointed a wing at the bottle, then at Star. “I think he wants you to drink it,” she said.  Star picked up the bottle, watched the white liquid inside slosh around.  I’ve got to be crazy!, he thought, as he pulled the cork off with his teeth.  Then, after a shrug, he drank it down. “Well?” asked Melody, “does it taste good?” “Not much taste,” he said, “I wonder what it was for-”.  But before he could finish, his body went rigid, eyes glowing white. “Star!” cried Melody, “Star!” Her voice faded away into darkness, and when the light cleared, he looked around, but Melody was nowhere to be seen.  Neither was the Owl.  In fact, the whole place seemed to be different somehow.  The mess of books and papers was gone, and everything appeared to be in place.  Even the windows were back to normal.  Like how it might have looked back when the other pony still lived there… Voices came from the main floor.  He turned to look over the railing, and saw the purple pony again, pacing around the room.  Another pony was there, standing just inside the door, wearing golden-white armor, shining in the sunlight from the quite intact windows. “It’s finished Twilight,” he said.  “The cave has been sealed.” She paused in her pacing, turning to face him.  “And the visitor?” she asked. “Gone,” was the sullen reply, “he passed in the night.  According to his wishes, we buried him in a quiet corner of the cave.” “Such a sad ending,” she said, lowering her head with a sigh, “to think, being trapped so far away from one’s home, without any friends to comfort you.” The armor-clad pony moved up to put a hoof over her shoulder.  “There was nothing more you could have done for him.  He made his choice.” “I know,” she replied, “but it still doesn’t make any of this easy.  My first big job as a princess and it’s something like this!”  She pulled away from him, and started pacing again.  “I mean, shouldn’t Celestia have been in charge?  This was something nopony has ever seen before!” “That’s why she asked you to handle it,” he said.  “You have a knack for handling the unknown.  Isn’t that how you became a princess in the first place?” She paused, turning to him with a smile.  “You’re right.  And I guess I’ll just have to deal with it now.”  Another sigh.  “You’re sure the cave is sealed?” “I moved the last rocks myself,” he answered.  “And put an alarm enchantment on it.  Nopony is getting in there without my knowledge of it.” “Good,” she said, and visibly appeared to calm down.  “I’ll send Princess Celestia a message in the morning; let her know everything is under control.” “I still think we should have studied it more,” he replied, “what about if the ones that were chasing him come here looking for it?  We could use it against them!” “That wasn’t what I promised the Visitor!” she snapped.  “We keep it hidden, and that’s final!” “Fine.  But at least leave a note or something.  If they ever come looking for him, future ponies may need her.” Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax.  “Good point.  I’ll have Spike make a map of the location, and keep it here at the library.  Just in case.” “Alright.”  He reached out and gave her a hug, which she returned.  “I’ve got to get back to the Crystal Empire.  Cadance is starting to worry about what’s going on.” “I understand.  See you soon!” “Take care little sister!”  And with the goodbye, he turned and left the library. She stood there, watching the door close behind him.  “At least this part is over with,” she said to herself.  “I just hope that Shining Armor is wrong, and that keeping the Star Princess sealed away is the right choice.  Because if he’s right,” she looked up, and Star could have sworn she was looking at him, “she could be Equestria’s only hope…” Suddenly, everything faded to white… ... And when it cleared, he was back where he started, standing in the remains of Twilight’s library once again. “You’re alright!” Melody said, jumping up to give him a big hug.  “I was worried something happened to you!” He hugged her back, and shook his head to clear his mind.  “How long was I out?”  He looked around, and saw the mess that once again covered the floor. “Oh, just a few minutes,” she replied.   “But I was still scared!” “Sorry.” He paused, looking at the scroll still sitting in the box.  Didn’t she mention something about a map?, he thought, while picking it up and moving over to one of the broken windows for more light.  Pulling the string off, he unrolled the scroll. “It is the map!” he cried out, making Melody jump. “What map?” she asked.  “What are you talking about?” “This,” he showed her, spreading it out on the floor.  “Look, here is where we are,” he pointed to a spot labeled ‘Ponyville’.  “And here’s the river we were walking along.  And here,” he followed a line that led to an area labeled ‘Crystal Mountains’. “Here what?” she asked, confused. “I don’t know,” he said, not sure how to tell her about his vision.  He had never heard of anypony experiencing something like that, getting a look at the past.  That’s what he had seen, wasn’t it? A sudden noise nearly made him jump.  “HaHaHaHaHa!”  Melody was laughing, as the owl flew circles around her, swooping down and around her head, while she jumped up, trying to catch him.  As Star watched, his thoughts keep going back to what he had seen.   “I wonder who the Star Princess is?” he said out loud. Suddenly, the owl stopped circling Melody, and flew over to Star.  It landed on the floor next to the map, watching Star with its eyes. “Whoo,” it said, “Whoo!” “What is it?” Melody asked, watching the owl. “I don’t know,” Star replied.  The owl was staring at him, and he could feel its eyes, almost like they were looking straight into his mind.  Then, a thought occurred. “Do we need to go there?” he asked, pointing to the end of the line on the map.  “Is that what you’re saying?” “Whoo!” it replied. “Why?  What’s there?” he asked the owl.  It didn’t answer, just kept staring at him. “Star …” Melody pressed her hoof against his side.  “You ok?  What’s going on?” He looked away from the owl, back to the map.  If his guess was right, the mountains were a long trek away.  But why should he go?  Who was the Star Princess? And, if Twilight was right, how could she help them? “Come here,” he said, grabbing the map and placing it into Melody’s bag.  “Hold onto that for me, ok?”  Then he turned to head back outside. “Where are we going?” she asked, looking back at the owl while following him outside, into the warm sunlight.  “Don’t you want to look around the library anymore?” “I don’t know,” he admitted.  “Let’s just walk around here a bit.  I need to think.”  As they walked away from the old library, he kept thinking about the owl, the map, and his vision.  He knew that they were all important, but didn’t know what he should do next.  If his parents were here, he would ask them.  Or one of his grandparents.  Or- “Hey, what’s that?”  Melody asked, breaking his concentration.  He turned back, to see her pointing a hoof at a nearby house.  Like the others, it was slowly falling apart, with a collapsed roof, broken windows, and crumbling walls.  He didn’t understand why it caught her attention. “It’s just an empty house Mel,” Star replied. “I know that!” she pointed again at the roof.  “But what’s THAT?” He followed her gaze, and finally saw what she was pointing at.  Where the roofline ended at one side of the house, a decorative pole was mounted, slightly bent to one side.  And sitting on top of the pole was what looked like a fancy wind vane.  His eyes traced its outline, trying to remember where he’d seen the design before.  It looked like a pair of music notes connected to a trouble clef… “It looks like Grammy Scratch’s cutie mark!” cried Melody.  “And Grammy Tavi’s too!”  She was hopping up and down with excitement, and Star had to admit it was a remarkable match.  He thought back to the pictures of his grandmothers back home, and remembered them telling stories about the town they used to live in, back before the lizards came. “Watchya think Star?” Melody asked, “Doesn’t it?” “Yeah,” he agreed, “It does.”  He studied the house, trying to recall the stories his grandmothers had told him as a little colt.  “Hey Mel,” he turned, and placed a hoof on her shoulder, “do you remember the stories that Grandma Tavi used to tell us?  About when she and Grandma Scratch were younger?” “Not really,” Melody admitted, while they walked together towards the house, avoiding a pile of broken carts as they went.  Both her grandmothers died when she was younger, and her memories of them were patchy.  If not for the pictures her mother had, she wouldn’t have recognized their cutie marks on the house. “Well,” said Star, as they approached the front steps of the house, “they lived in a town called Ponyville, which I guess is where we are now.”  They walked up the steps, and he pulled open the door.  Creaking on its rusty hinges, the door slowly swung open, revealing a front room covered in dust, dirt, and weeds.  Sunlight shown down, through were the ceiling had caved in. “Ponyville?” asked Melody “Isn’t that where our Herd is from?” “I see somepony really WAS paying attention is school,” laughed Star.  “And yes, back during what Grammy Scratch called ‘the good ‘ol days’.  When Equestria was filled with harmony, and everything was peaceful.” “So what happened?  Why did they leave?” Star looked at his sister confused.  “I thought you knew the story?” “Our teacher hasn’t gotten that far in class,” she explained, “History was going to be next week.  Or this week I mean, if we didn’t leave.”  She looked down, eyes starting to water… “It’s ok,” he said, with a comforting hug, “Not many ponies like to talk about what happened.  About sixty or seventy years ago, Equestria was attacked by creatures from the sky.  They came in bigger versions of the flying ships that we see today.” “You mean the ones looking for us?” “Yes.  They came down from the sky by the dozens, each one carrying a thousand lizard soldiers inside.”  He paused, trying to remember the whole story as his grandmothers had told him, while attempting to leave out certain details, so as not to scare Melody. “The creatures attacked everypony, and drove them out of their homes.  That’s when all the unicorns disappeared.” “Where did they go?” she asked, her tears forgotten as she listened. “Nopony knows.  Some say the princesses combined all their magic and teleported them away somewhere.” “Why just them?” “Because the Vectin were hunting them.  The story says that magic energy was our only defense, so the lizards decided to get rid of all the magic users.  The unicorns.  After that, they took over all of Equestria, and supposedly, everyplace else too.  That’s when the survivors of Ponyville banded together in the forest, and formed our Herd.   They’ve been moving around ever since, to keep from being captured by the lizards.” “Moving?” she asked, “I don’t remember moving.” “You’re too young.  The last time the Herd moved was just after you were born.  The elder ponies say the lizards finally decided to leave us alone, but” he looked towards the sky, “I guess they changed their minds.  Come on.” They entered slowly, looking around and wondering about their grandmothers, and what their lives had been like.  Had they really lived here?  The house was filled with dust and old, broken furniture.   A few sheets of paper were scattered around, each one covered in barley readable music notes.  They moved in slowly, nervous in the strange quiet of the place. “Star,” whispered Melody, looking around the room, “this is weird.” “Tell me about it,” he replied, having moved over to a mantel, and lifted the broken picture frame that was laying there.  “Check this out!” He turned to face Melody, holding out the frame.  Inside, was an old photograph of two young mares, posing on a blanket in a meadow.  One was a very pale yellow, almost white, with a punk-style blue-turquoise mane (almost identical to his black-grey one), with purple glasses hiding her eyes.  The other almost looked like an older version of Melody, but with a grey coat, and a beautifully brushed dark mane, and a familiar pink bowtie around her neck. “Wow!” said Melody, leaning in for a better look, “they look beautiful!  Is that really Grandma Tavi and Grandma Scratch?”   “Yeah, I think so,” he answered.  “Back when they were younger.”  He passed the picture to her, and wandered into the next room.  From the dust-covered table, sink, and counter, he figured it was the kitchen.  Nothing too out of the ordinary, except for the giant speaker mounted on the side of the dishwasher.  Wait, what the- he thought, doing a double-take.  Who uses noise to clean dishes?  Then he remembered something his grandmother once said, how his other grandmother used music to clean, along with almost everything else.  No, not music, what did she call them? he thought.  Dubs… no, Wubs!  He shook his head with a smile, wishing he could have known Grandma Scratch back in her prime.  She even claimed she used to have something called a ‘Bass Canon’.  She must have been on heck of a roommate, he thought.  Turning to head back to the front room, his eye caught a stained, white cloth lying in the corner.  Pulling it out, he realized it was a kitchen apron, with the works ‘Wub the cook’ printed on it.  Smirking to himself, Star put it on the table, and went back to find Melody.  She was looking at a framed record still hanging on the wall. “Look at this!” she said.  “It’s one of Grammy Scratch’s albums!” “Are you sure?” he asked, stepping over for a look. “Well, it’s signed by her,” Melody answered, matter-of-factly.  “Who else’s could it be?” Reaching up, Star wiped the dust off the label on the bottom of the frame.  “SELF AWARE” he read.  Then, looking at the hand written note across the record, “To my best friend – love Vinyl.” “Awe, that’s so cute, “said Melody.  “Can we take it back home with us?” Suddenly, a familiar high-pitched whine came from overhead.  Melody dropped the picture frame she was still holding, as Star suddenly darted to the closest window.  Looking out, he saw the spiked-wedge ship floating past the house. Meanwhile, Melody had picked up the broken frame, and removed the picture from it.  This was something she wanted to take with her.  Reaching back, she slid the picture into her bag, next to the datapad and her brother’s map, while he continued watching the ship. Dammit!  Not here, he thought, while trying to decide what to do.  Not now!  As he watched, to his horror, the spiked-wedge ship descended to land on the ground just down the street from the house.  A door on its side opened, and two large lizard creatures appeared.  Unlike the ponies, they moved on only two legs, with scales covering their bodies from snout to tale.  Each one was holding some sort of long, greenish-brown staff, while smooth black-green armor covered their torsos. “What are they?” asked Melody, and Star just realized she had crawled over by him to also look out the window.  “They’re the ones hunting us,” he replied, “the ones who attacked our home during the night forcing us to run away.”        He turned back to the creatures. “They’re called the Vectin…”