//------------------------------// // Ch.1 - Prologue // Story: The Equestrian Flower Garden // by RoyalStar709 //------------------------------// *Crunch* Lyra’s head shot back towards the source of the noise, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. She shut her eyes tightly, hoping beyond hope that it was just a passing tree branch or a maybe a just a one of the more harmless animals in the island. She hesitantly opened one eye, squinting, allowing only a fine line of vision to remain among the surrounding blindness. She wished she could use one of her hooves to shield her vision, and further diminishing the chances of seeing one of things they were running from. But she couldn’t. She was the only one left after what happened at the camp. The captain, the doctor, everypony, all gone. She had been running for hours, at least that’s what it felt like, the ache in her hooves, the tightening of her chest with every breath, the burning thirst. Every single fiber of her body pleading her to stop. But she couldn’t stop, not right now. Perhaps not ever. Lyra mostly worried about the others that made it out. She wondered how they were holding out as the day grew closer to an end. She knew though that they must’ve been tired as well. But that was alright, she kept telling herself over and over again. As long as they were still alive, and make it out of this island, then everything is alright. It didn’t matter if they lost someponies in this trip, as long as the research was still legible and some pony made it, then they’ll never have to come back here again. And everything will be alright. *Crunch* Her head snapped towards the source, cursing herself for her bad luck. She saw something wobbling out of the bushes. Bracing herself for whatever creature came out of there, she visibly relaxed when she saw the creature coming out. The creature reminded her of a loaf of bread, it had two small legs, and two small beady eyes. It was just a Breadbug. The Breadbug sniffed the area around it, it’s head snapped up towards the sky. Lyra followed the creature’s gaze and stiffened in fear. The sun was setting. The creature howled, wobbling back towards it’s nest. Lyra shook, she almost collapsed under her own weight. “No. No. No. Not now, please!” Sadly her pleas fell on deaf ears. She cursed Celestia’s name for a brief second. Turning back, she ran as quickly as possible, already seeing some of the more harmless creatures retreating back to their nest. Tears threaten to escape, as she heard a loud yawn, followed by a thunderous footsteps. She shut her eyes tightly, whimpering. She continued to run, despite having her eyes closed. Suddenly she tripped over something, hearing a small whine. Shaking her head, she looked back and stared at the thing she tripped over. The creature was small, it had a long pointy nose, the shape of the body reminded her of a carrot. The red carrot like creature tilted it’s head at her. Suddenly it let out a small whine, pointing at something under her. Lyra stood up, looking at what it was pointing at, the object was a large red shaped pellet, it was almost as big as her! Strangely, it also had a the number one on it. She picked up the object with her magic and presented it to the creature. “Is this what you wanted?” The red creature nodded. Grabbing the large pellet and making a run for it when it remembered the time of day. Lyra stared at the spot the creature was at before, suddenly it occurred to her. The creature nodded at her! It understood her! It even made attempts to communicate with her. It was sentient! It must have a home! And if it has a home, then she can hide there until the night ends! One problem though… the being was running, running farther away as she continued to just sit there. “HEY! WAIT UP!” She yelled, running after it. After a long while of running, the carrot like creature stopped running in front of a large tree trunk, the thing was even bigger than a building! She watched the tree in amazement. She noticed that there was a small hole in it, too small for her to fit through, she watched in fear as her only hope slipped through the hole. “HEY! WAIT PLEASE!” She yelled, diving into the hole, only for her to crash into it, not being able to fit through. Her pleas were ignored, and the stomping grew nearer and nearer. Lyra panicked, she looked around the area, trying to find the best possible hiding place. “*Growl*” She stiffened hearing the hungry growl, she slowly turned behind her and paled. “*Growl*” “AAAAHHHH!!!!!” Celestia stood at her window, looking over to the direction of the land and the place where she sent her little ponies. Each passing day she worries more and more about their faiths and if she was the cause of the end of their lives. “Your majesty.” A guard’s voice interrupted her train of thought, “It has been a week, and the the expedition team is overdue for their weekly report.” She sighed, “Yes, I’m well aware of their tardiness.” She looked back, seeing Luna raising her moon. The guard shifted nervously, “Your highness, perhaps something happened to the research team on the island?” Celestia stern expression cracked, “Although as much as I dread to believe that, we cannot afford to rule out that possibility.” She walked towards the balcony, watching the full moon rise. For some reason seeing the moon brought a sense of unease. “Captain, I need you to contact Twilight, I’m afraid that the we might be in need of her services once again.” Twilight hums quietly as her eyes scan and memorized the contents of the book she is reading. Her horn glowed as she flipped the pages of the book. “Hmm….interesting.” She sighed closing the book, she looked back towards the center of the room, eyeing the large crystal map. She huffed, using her horn to place the book back onto the pile of books she already read. It had been weeks since the map had last activated and it had yet to inform them of any other friendship quest they needed to make, so far everypony but her had been called up to perform in a friendship quest, and she was starting to get impatient. Twilight paced around the map, eyeing it to see if it would activate. “Come on!” She whined, “You sent everypony but me on a adventure! When is it going to be my turn!” She yelled at the map, glaring at it. After a few seconds of nothing happening, she groaned and trotted back towards the pile of books, picking one up and starting to read it. “TWILIGHT!” The alicorn’s head snapped towards the direction of the screaming. “Yes?” She asked, excitement in her eyes as she saw her assistant running towards her. Not giving him a time to breath, Twilight scooped up the small drake, “Is it finally my turn?! Did the map finally choose me for something?!” The small purple drake stood there awkwardly, “Umm, no…” He saw Twilight visibly deflate at the news, causing him to laugh nervously, “But you did get this letter!” Spike said, holding up the scroll in an attempt to cheer her up. “It’s from….. Princess Celestia!” “It is?” She asked, tilting her head and taking the scroll with her magic. “It’s been awhile since I’ve received a letter from her….” She unrolled the scroll. “Dear ‘Princess’ Twilight….” She read through the scroll silently, her expression changing from confusion to surprise, and finally to shock. “SPIKE! GO GET THE REST OF THE GIRLS!”