“There has to be some way out of here!” Nick panted, as he ran down another path. Behind him he could hear the footsteps of his pursuer. That is to say pursuers, there were three of them at least.
“Why are these things chasing me?” he gasped, trying now to weave in-between the trees, hoping to create more distance between him and the following threat. As if this day could get any weirder.
He knew something was off when he first woke up. The night before he was lying in his bed, nice and comfy. Now he had woken up on the ground, in the middle of a forest.
“How the heck did I get here,” he puzzled, trying to get up.
He stretched out his arms and yawned, before trying to sit up, which resulted in him flopping back down. Wait what? He looked at his “arm” again and saw that it was covered in black fur and ended in the shape of a white wolf paw. Looking down he saw he had two hind legs and a tail with a white tip.
“Ok,” he said trying to calm himself down, “I must be dreaming.”
He reached his paw over to pinch himself on the arm. Unfortunately, this was no dream. His fingernails were replaced with sharp claws, and when he pinched himself, he ended up drawing blood.
“Oww!” he yelped. Well, so much for that.
“What’s happened to me?!” he shouted, trying to recall the events of the day before.
It was Saturday morning, with a beautiful day in the forecast. Since his job always had him cooped up in his laboratory, he decided that it would be nice to take a stroll to the neighborhood park, maybe find a place to sit and read a book. After getting dressed, packing a snack and grabbing some reading material, Nick was off.
He had about a ten-minute walk to the park, which would give him some time to reflect on the previous week. While he loved his job and was living comfortably, he still felt like there was something missing in his life. He didn’t have any friends. The only people he ever talked to were his coworkers and boss, and since he had nothing really in common with them, he only had a professional relationship with them. Not that he minded, he was pretty content on keeping to himself. He was also single, and not really lucky in the romance department, even though he was an average looking guy. He had no confidence, believing that no woman would find anything great about him, and that they were always judging everything he did. Overall, when it came to dealing with people, he’d rather be alone.
As he continued to think about his sad existence, he realized he had reached his destination. The park was a beautiful place to be, with some grassy hills encircling a pond and a fountain in the middle. Off to the side there was a playground for the neighborhood kids, and further into the park there was a cluster of nature trails that wound through a small forest.
I think I’ll walk through the forest first, Nick decided, following the path leading to one of the trails. It should be refreshing and build up my appetite.
The first part of the trip was uneventful. There were songbirds singing their tunes in the trees, and squirrels running along the ground. It was the middle of spring and everything was alive. The trees were in bloom, and Nick could smell the aroma of the flowers along the path.
“Nature’s beauty certainly has no bounds,” he noted, taking in everything around him.
After he reached the halfway point of the trail, he saw something flashing in the sunlight that was peeking through the trees.
“Ugh, probably someone’s trash,” he muttered, going over to inspect the item.
When he reached where the object was, he was shocked. It wasn’t a piece of trash, but a small green gem on the ground. It didn’t look like it belonged to a piece of jewelry, as the edges were crooked and there was nothing to hold it in.
Hmm, I wonder if anyone lost this? he thought, picking the gem up and dusting it off.
There was something odd about this gem, for when Nick picked it up, he could’ve sworn he felt something radiating from it. He placed the gem in his bag, deciding that he’d ask people if they had lost a piece of jewelry.
When he emerged from the forest, he saw a woman who had a very worried expression on her face.
I wonder if this is hers, he thought, grabbing the gem out of his bag and started walking toward the woman.
As he approached her, Nick took account of her appearance, and with her outfit and hair, she definitely would be hard to forget. She had sun kissed skin and amethyst colored eyes. Her hair ran down to her waist, and it was dyed with every color of the rainbow. She had a pure white dress that covered her knees, with a giant sun on the side, below the waist. She wore golden bangles on her wrists and had a golden necklace with a purple diamond in the center.
Yep, pretty sure this is hers, Nick concluded, as he finished appraising the woman. “Excuse me miss, is this yours by any chance?” he said as he held out his hand. The woman’s face changed from one of worry to relief as she saw the gem in Nick’s hand.
“Yes, yes that is!” she exclaimed, in a very melodious voice, which caught Nick way off guard. “I’ve been looking everywhere for this. Where did you find it?” she asked grabbing the gem from Nick’s hand and looking it over.
“Oh just along the trail as I was walking,” Nick replied, still stunned by her voice, how it sounded motherly but very regal. He never heard a voice like hers before.
“Thank you so much for finding it and returning it to me, it’s very special and important to me,” the woman said, smiling one of the warmest smiles Nick had ever seen.
“No problem, glad I could return it to its owner” he smiled back, her smile was very contagious.
Glad that he was able to return the gem, he bid the woman farewell.
“Have a good day,” Nick said, walking by her until she spoke up.
“Wait! I didn’t catch your name,” the woman asked, lightly grabbing Nick’s arm before he could head off.
I dunno if I should tell this woman that. I don’t even know her.
As he pondered what to do, he looked at her face and into her eyes. There was a friendly look in her eye that eased his apprehension.
What’s the harm that could come from it? Famous last words there.
“My name is Nick,” he said. “Nick” the woman repeated to herself, as if she were considering something.
“That’s a very nice, strong name,” she said after thinking about his name for a bit. “I am Celeste.” she added, reaching out her hand for Nick to shake.
Celeste, he thought to himself, That’s quite an exotic name. But it would fit her appearance.
“That’s a beautiful name,” he replied shaking her hand, gently. “Why thank you,” Celeste replied, a tinge of blush appeared on her cheeks.
They stood there for a while, awkwardly waiting for the other to say something. Wanting to continue with his day, Nick again tried to dismiss himself.
“It was nice meeting you Celeste. I suggest you put that gem in a safe place. Have a good day,”
Again as he was about to walk away, Celeste called after him “Wait, Nick.”
What could this woman want from me? He sighed; turning around to see Celeste was almost in his face.
“Um,” she chuckled, embarrassed that she had gotten a little too close, “Would you mind if I had lunch with you? I was planning on meeting a friend here but they never showed up and I packed a picnic lunch.”
As she mentioned lunch Nick’s stomach growled, making him realize that the walk had really made him hungry. “Sure,” he replied, thinking to himself that it wouldn’t hurt having a free lunch and company. With that Celeste smiled and they went to one of the grassy hills and set up their lunch.
After they got settled, Celeste brought out the lunch, which comprised of two salads, two apples, some baby carrots and a jug of apple cider.
She must be a vegan, Nick noted as none of the dishes she brought out had meat, and even the salad had only vegetables. Still, it all does look tasty.
As they began eating, Nick asked Celeste about herself, as he had never seen her around before and like he noted, she’d be a hard person to miss.
“Well, I’m not from around here,” she started, taking a bite of her salad. “I live in another country, and came here to visit my friend. Sadly she had to cancel, so I decided I might as well take a look around. That’s when I lost the gem that you found.”
“Hmm,” Nick replied, also taking a bite of his salad. They continued eating their lunch, one asking about the other until the food was gone and they were running out of things to say. It was getting pretty late in the afternoon and Nick decided that it would be best to head back home. Although this day didn’t go as planned, he enjoyed having company for once, and Celeste was a nice person.
“Well thanks for lunch,” Nick said, helping Celeste clean up.
“Thank you for finding my gem,” she replied. “In fact, as a thank you gift, I want to give it to you,” she continued pulling the gem out and handing it to him.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t take it, like you said, it was important and special to you,” Nick declined, finding it a little odd that after worrying about the gem, she was now willing to relinquish it to him.
“No, it’s ok,” she insisted “I’d rather you have it than I losing it again” she chuckled, stretching out her hand to give Nick the gem.
“Well, if you’re sure,” Nick said, warily taking the gem from her. He felt that same radiance from it, almost like it was emitting heat.
“I’m positive, think of it as a memento of our meeting,” she nodded, starting to stand up. “Well, it was nice meeting you Nick, I wish you the best. And thank you for spending your afternoon with me.”
“The pleasure was mine,” he said, getting up as well. “I hope you have a safe journey back home.”
“Thank you” she said, shaking his hand again and headed off to the parking lot. “Good bye.”
Well today was a strange day, Nick thought to himself. Placing the gem in his pocket, he headed home.
When he got home, the first thing he did was go to his bedroom and emptied out his bag. He placed the gem on his desk and decided to get dinner ready. Spaghetti sounded good, so he got a pot of water and turned on the heat. Since he had to wait for the water to boil, he went back to his room and turned on his computer. While he was waiting for the computer to boot up, he grabbed the gem.
This looks like an emerald, but I’ve never known a gem to radiate heat, he puzzled, inspecting the gem further. He got an idea to make the gem into a necklace and reached over to his box of supplies. He loved tinkering with things, especially making costumes and doing DIY projects. Finding his pliers, some golden wire and a piece of rope, he easily fashioned a sturdy necklace that fit the gem nicely.
“This would look great with my wizard costume,” he bragged, admiring his handiwork
Placing the necklace around his neck, he returned to his pot, which had just started to boil and placed the spaghetti in. In a few minutes his dinner was ready. Placing his food on the table, he began to devour the tasty dish. After he finished dinner, he grabbed a pear for dessert and headed back to his room. It was getting darker, so he decided to turn on the lights. To his surprise as he turned on the light, his gem had changed color! Instead of the dark emerald green, it was now almost a ruby red.
“What happened?!” he said in dismay, thinking that by tinkering with the gem, he had made it change color.
He looked up what would make an emerald change color, hoping that it was reversible. As he browsed down the page the word alexandrite caught his eye. What he learned was that it was normally referred as the “emerald by day, ruby by night” gem due to its chemical structure. Thinking back he did recall that it was only when he turned on the lights that it had changed color. Reading more about the gem he found out that it was also his birthstone.
That’s a really weird coincidence. I find this gem in the woods, and it happens to be a rare gem that’s my birthstone, he realized, “I don’t know if Celeste knew what she was giving as a gift.”
After spending a few more hours looking up the gem, it was 11:00. After such a busy day, Nick was ready to hit the sack. He took off the necklace and proceeded to the shower. As the warm water hit his skin he felt all his stress and worries melt away. He dried off, getting into a tank top and some shorts, brushed his teeth and returned to his bedroom. He decided to put the necklace back on and climbed into bed. The gem still felt warm against his chest, which was the last thing he could remember before he fell asleep.
Now here he was. Transformed into a wolf, in the middle of a forest. The only thing that he had with him was that same gem. As he thought it over, a ridiculous notion came to mind.
No. No. No no no no no. There’s no way this gem could have teleported me to this place. I mean that sounds like magic, which isn’t real, right? He shook his head, like such a thing could be possible.
He was cut short of trying to figure out what happened when he heard a growl behind him. He quickly turned around to see one of the strangest sights imaginable. Before him was a wolf, yet that’s not what was odd. This wolf was made entirely out of wood. Its eyes were bright green and there was a green aura surrounding its body.
“Uh…um, nice wolf?” Nick stammered, slowly backing up. Great, just what I needed, a pack of magical wood wolves to come attack me.
Not waiting for them to make their first move, Nick took off running, hoping that his new body wouldn’t be a hindrance to his escape. As he took his first steps, he was relieved that not only was it like running on his two legs, but he was actually faster on his four legs. At first he stayed on the path hoping that he wouldn’t get even deeper into the forest. After seeing that the wolves weren’t giving up he decided to head into the forest, hoping to lose them through the trees or he’d find a break in the tree line and they’d give up.
As he weaved in and out of the trees, he saw his opportunity. Straight in front of him was a low tree branch.
If I can grab onto that branch and hoist myself off, they may run past me, he hoped, preparing to jump.
When he got close enough, he literally took his leap of faith. He landed with a thud, gripping onto the limb for dear life.
Great now to hoist myself up higher. I sure hope they don’t have the sense of smell like a wolf.
Using his claws he was able to climb up to a higher branch, big enough for him to catch his breath and wait for the wolves to pass. The sound of footfalls got louder and soon he saw the pack run past the tree he was in. He watched them run further into the forest, apparently unaware that they had lost their prey.
After a few minutes of recovering, Nick decided to climb down and find a way out of there.
I sure hope I didn’t go too deep in the forest, otherwise who knows how long it’ll take me to get out of here.
As he wandered through the forest, he was able to get a better idea of his surroundings. This forest had a creepy air about it, like nature had no bounds here and there was an evil energy flowing through it. The trees were all twisted, there were vines growing around the trunks, and the soil was very loamy. He knew the sooner he got out of these woods the better.
When he was about to give up hope of ever leaving this forest, that’s when he saw it. There was a bright light glowing through the tree trunks.
That must be my way out, he thought, rushing towards the light.
It was a way out of the forest, but not quite what he was hoping for. He had reached a clearing, but it was still within the forest. In front of him was a illuminated cave, probably where the source of light he s. Up on the hill, a little farther back he spotted a castle, well at least the ruins of one.
“Should I inspect the cave with the strange light, or go to a creepy, rotting castle?” Nick thought aloud, weighing both of his options. Well I guess since I’m here might as well check out the cave, who knows how long it’ll take to get to the castle. It was still pretty early, maybe 8 am based on the sun’s position, so at least he knew that if the cave was inhabited, he’d have time to find shelter in the castle.
As he reached the mouth of the cave, he could feel the same feeling he had when he held the gem in his hand. He looked down and to his surprise, the alexandrite started glowing, changing from the emerald green to the ruby red.
“Well maybe this is all your fault after all,” he conceded, thinking that whatever this gem was, it had teleported him here to bring him to this cave. “Well, here goes nothing,” he sighed, and started into the cave.
After a few steps in, he saw what was the source of the light. His jaw dropped as he took in the view. Standing before him was a tree, one made out of pure white crystal. In its branches it had several gems, a different color of the rainbow. In the middle there was a star, and on its trunk a sun and a moon. Wait a minute, that sun looked very familiar. Upon racking his brain, he realized why it looked so familiar.
“That’s the same design as the sun on Celeste’s dress” he gasped, finally making the connection. I knew there was something odd about her, but why would she give me a gem that would teleport me here?
As if to answer his question he heard a voice, similar to Celeste’s but fuller.
“Come closer, Warrior of Hope.”
“Wh, who’s there?” Nick stuttered, looking around the tree and behind him. He was dismayed, seeing that there was no one around. Again the voice spoke.
“Do not be afraid my child, I will not harm you.”
Looking ahead, another preposterous idea came to mind. “Is this tree talking to me?” he asked aloud, walking closer to the tree.
Upon his approach, the tree continued.
“It is I who summoned you to this land. I am the Tree of Harmony, and you are now in Equestria.”
“Tree of Harmony? Equestria? What?” Nick pondered, he’d never heard of these things before.
“Allow me to show you, my child. Close your eyes and I will explain what these things are and why you are here.”
Following the tree’s orders, he closed his eyes and felt a surge of energy pass through him. Startled, he quickly opened his eyes to discover he was no longer in the cave but up in the sky looking down on the land.
“The forest you were in is known as the Everfree Forest. There the wildlife and flora grow with a mind of their own. It is my job to keep this growth under control or else Equestria would be overrun,” the tree explained. “The gems on my branches are the Elements of Harmony; they give me the power to control the forest’s growth. Along with the physical gems, there are also those that carry their power.”
As she said this they moved to a small town full of horses. Nick loved horses ever since he was a kid. They were beautiful creatures, elegant and kind. He had always wanted to have a horse of his own, but with his work schedule, he wouldn’t have the time to care for it properly or enjoy riding with it.
“These are the inhabitants of Equestria. There are pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies,” the tree continued showing an example of each race. “The pegasi are great flyers and control the weather. The unicorns are magical horses, able to manipulate objects to their will. Finally the earth ponies are the strongest of the three, able to work the land and grow crops. Together they help keep the world running smoothly, just like how you humans delegate tasks in your world.”
“Wow, so this must be some alternate universe,” Nick said, amazed that such a society could exist. They moved to a castle that modeled the tree.
“The rulers of this land are all princesses. This is Princess Twilight’s home, she’s the Element of Magic.” They zoomed in and saw a purple unicorn, pegasi mix, busy reading a book and taking notes.
“What type of pony is she?” Nick asked, fascinated by the pony he was looking at.
“She is an alicorn, all three races together. To become one, a pony must do a great deed and learn a very important lesson. Alicorns are usually destined from the day they are born to become this, but there are a few exceptions. Now let me show you the other elements of harmony.”
They zoomed in on a cottage just outside of the Everfree Forest. “The Element of Kindness lives here. Her name is Fluttershy.” As they entered the house, Nick saw a yellow pegasi with a pink mane and a butterfly mark on her flank.
It must be a sort of brand they get, Nick thought examining the mark further. The princess had had the star mark that he saw on the tree.
Continuing on, they reached a farm. Reading the sign, it said, “Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres”. There were rows upon rows of apple trees all over the farm. Down one of the rows, he noticed an orange earth pony with kicking a tree, causing the apples to fall. She had her mane braided and a straw Stetson on her head.
“This is the Element of Honesty, Applejack.”
Looking at her flank, he noticed she had three apples.
Another unique mark, he noted.
As if reading his mind the tree explained, “That mark on her flank is called a cutie mark. All ponies are born without one, and when they discover what they are meant to do they receive their mark.”
“Sure, why not,” Nick shrugged, accepting the explanation. After being chased by wood wolves and having a tree talk to him, a pony getting a magical mark representing what they were good at was no big deal.
They continued along, now heading into town. They stopped outside what looked like a clothing store. Once inside, Nick saw one of the most beautiful sights he’d ever seen. She was pristine white, with a lavender mane, curled perfectly. She had light blue eye shadow and a beautiful pair of sapphire eyes. Her cutie mark was three diamonds.
“Wow!” Nick gasped, “Is she the Element of Beauty?”
“No. This is Rarity, the Element of Generosity,” the tree replied.
Leaving the boutique they headed to what looked like a café. All Nick saw was a blur of pink, rushing around the restaurant. When the blur stopped, he was finally able to get a good look at the next pony. Her mane was all over the place. She had giant baby blue eyes and some party balloons on her flank.
“This is Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter.”
Finally they reached the last home of the elements. Which was on a cloud.
“Ponies can live on the clouds?” Nick quirked. There were fountains of rainbows shooting off the clouds and it looked like a miniature palace.
“Only those with wings,” the tree answered.
They didn’t need to go inside, as right then they saw a flash of cyan followed by streak of rainbow. It circled around the house, so fast that Nick’s eyes could barely keep up. After a minute or two the blur slowed down revealing a cyan colored pegasus with a spiky mane, colored rainbow.
“And last but certainly not least, this is Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty.”
I’d hate to have to race her, Nick thought, seeing how her name was definitely appropriate.
“Now that you know who the Elements of Harmony are, I suppose you want to know why I brought you here,” the tree finally said, bringing them back to the cave.
“Well it would have been nice if you told me first, but I guess it’s better than you making me figure it out for myself,” Nick said, trying to use a less annoyed tone, as to avoid upsetting this all-magical tree.
“I summoned you here because there is a growing darkness that threatens to engulf all of Equestria. The Elements of Harmony have been able to prevent this darkness from spreading, but they have not been able to completely destroy it. There are three sources of this darkness, all of whom were defeated by the Elements, but they still pose a threat to this land. There is Tirek, an ancient threat that plans on stealing Equestrian magic. Then there is Queen Chrysalis, queen of changelings that need to feed on the love of ponies. And finally there is King Sombra, a tyrant who ruled over the crystal kingdom, enslaving his subjects and preparing war on Equestria. He is the weakest of the three, as thanks to the Elements only his horn survived. As long as it is allowed to recover his magic, he will gain strength.”
As the tree described each of the enemies, Nick was able to see their image and began to feel uneasy. These were powerful creatures, and yet with all the power from the tree, they were simply defeated. How was he even going to destroy them?
“That doesn’t sound good, but what could I do about it,” he asked in a dismayed voice. “I’m just an ordinary human…err wolf,” he finished remembering that he had been transformed. “Why did you turn me into a wolf, by the way?”
“That wasn’t my doing,” the tree explained, “This is your true form here. You have the mentality and spirit of a wolf, able to live in solitude or lead a pack. That gem you have also gives you more power than you think. It will allow you to use magic, and the more time you spend with it, the stronger your magic will become. Here, I’ll show you how to use your magic.”
With that a straw scarecrow appeared from under the ground. Shrugging it off, Nick got into a fighting stance and prepared to follow the tree’s instructions.
“To use magic, all you have to do is focus your thoughts on what you want to do. Imagine creating a ball of fire to fire at this scarecrow, for instance.”
Well, it’s worth a try, Nick thought, closing his eyes and imagining floating a ball of fire in his paw. As he did this, he felt a wave of energy flow from the gem into his body. The wave ran up his arm and he heard a small pop. Opening his eyes, he couldn’t believe he actually did it. With that, he raised his paw and hurled the fireball at the scarecrow. It landed with a thud and he saw that it only singed the scarecrow a bit.
“That’s pretty awesome,” he said to himself looking at his paw, thinking that whatever he imagined, he could conjure up.
“Good. With practice and some studying of spells, you will be able to finally defeat the darkness and bring eternal peace to Equestria. However, it will come at a grave cost.“
Hearing this phrase, Nick spun around, a look of worry on his face. “What cost would that be?”
“In order for the darkness to be defeated, it will require a sacrifice. The gem you possess will be able to capture the essences of the enemies you defeat, allowing you to use their powers. Once all of them are collected, you must destroy the gem. However, with that much energy stored inside it, along with it’s spiritual connection to you, you will die. I know that this is selfish of me to ask this of you, but it was the gem that chose you. Only one of pure heart and mind could use the gem’s magic."
After hearing this, Nick’s heart sunk a little. I guess I won’t be going back, he thought, thinking about whether he should accept this quest. I can’t forsake them though, especially since I’m the only one that can help them. It wouldn’t be right.
After contemplating for a bit, Nick sighed and spoke. “Ok, I’ll do it. I wish there was another way, but if it means saving Equestria from this darkness, then I can’t let that happen, no matter what my fate is.”
“Thank you, Warrior of Hope. I will now teleport you to Canterlot to meet with the Princess. She will guide you on your way. Good luck!”
Before Nick could react, he was engulfed in an orb of light. “W…wait, I still don’t understand how I’ll fight the darkness!”
Everything went black.