Prince of the Everfree

by Golden Flare

Chapter 2: Customize

I ducked back down into the forest and stuck to areas with a lot foliage to camouflage myself from anyone before those guards came back with reinforcements. Once I made sure I was safe, I opened the pause menu again and took stock of my Command Deck: Afterimage, Flame Burst, Jumping Blizzaga, Dark Thundaga, Eruption, and Blizzaga. I took out Blizzaga, Jumping Blizzaga, and Dark Thundaga, and replaced them with Curaga, Esuna, and Dark Haze. All the skills and spells are at level one, so if I remember correctly, I need to collect Command Points, or CP for short, to make them stronger.

Now for the Action Commands, I have High Jump, Thunder Roll, Ice Slide, Reversal, Superglide, Renewal Block, Counter Rush, and Aerial Recovery set. They all look fine, so I just left those alone. Now the Shotlock, Dark Cannon is selected, so I left it at that, might as well stick to what I know for now before I go trying new things. After I finish, I delve deep into the forest, not only hiding myself from the Royal Guard, but to find the abandoned Castle of the Two Sisters.

Celestia just finished her time in Day Court and was thoroughly exhausted, she sluggishly made her way to her bedchambers, glad that nopony was able to see her this way. She entered her room and slumped onto the bed, immediately passing out...

...

A series of knocks a few hours later roused the tired princess from her sleep.

"Princess Celestia! Please! This is an emergency!"

She groaned and pulled herself out of bed, reluctantly going to answer the door. She opens it and sees two panicked pegasi guards.

"...What is it?" she grumpily asked.

"In the Everfree Forest!" one of them spoke.

"A new creature!" the other speaks.

"Possesses dark magic!"

Coffee had nothing on the eye-opener Celestia just had.

After wandering the forest for hours, I finally found the castle, and good thing, too; it was getting dark and I didn't want to be out and about in the woods at night. I entered the ruined building and looked around, it was exactly how it was depicted in the show: half intact, half destroyed, with vines and stray plants growing here and there. I scoured the entire castle, looking for an old bedchamber of some sort, and eventually I found one, plopping on the bed, which was just a huge cushion, with no ceremony whatsoever.

I was so exhausted from walking through the forest that I immediately fell asleep...

I awoke to hearing Applejack's rooster in the distance, I sat up and stretched my arms as I yawned, having going to bed a little more early than I was used to. But then again, this is survival of the fittest in the Everfree, so I'll need all the strength I can get, I can't rely on my spells all the time, even if I turned into a fictional character. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I see a feather falling in front me; it was half red, half blue, and it didn't look like it belonged to any Equestrian creature.

Out of raw curiosity, I reached over and picked it up, then I heard a voice:

This shocked and confused me, how did I hear a voice from a feather? Could it be one of the people who disappeared because of that merchant?

"Too many questions with no answers." I said, then sighed, "I'll try this thing out later, right now I need breakfast."

With that, I got up, took the weird feather with me, and headed out in search of food.

Once Celestia heard about a new dark magic wielding creature, she sucked down as much coffee as she could and got her battalion of Royal Guards ready for battle. The unicorns, like the princess, were in chariots drawn by the pegasi, and the pegasi guards are self explanatory, of course. Several scenarios wracked Celestia's mind; has King Sombra been reincarnated in a new form? Had any remnant of Nightmare Moon build a new body to live on without Luna? Or had Queen Chrysalis created some kind of super warrior with the love magic she stole? For Celestia, there were too many questions and no answers, hopefully the creature wouldn't attack them on sight and they can talk peacefully.

"Sister?"

Celestia pulled herself out of her thoughts as she heard Luna's voice.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Celestia answered, "just...nervous."

"We're all nervous. I mean, a new creature with dark magic? Anypony would be nervous."

"I know, I know, it's just..." she sighed, "I can't help but think that one of our old enemies had something to do with it."

"Don't worry, we'll go into the Everfree Forest, find this creature, and if it is peaceful, we'll spare him, and if it is not, we'll end it." Luna puts a hoof on Celestia's shoulder, "Together."

Celestia smiled, glad to see Luna having the answers she herself can't find. Internally, she was happy to have her sister back from the nightmare that claimed her that fateful day.

That was then, this is now, Celestia thought, and now, we're going to hunt down a possibly dangerous creature. I hope it had a good reason for attacking my guards...

I returned to the castle after I had gotten my breakfast, which was some fruit hanging off some random trees, I actually started seeing hallucinations after eating a bad fruit and immediately cast Esuna, making it all disappear, so I began to keep track of what fruit I can eat and what fruit I shouldn't eat. Once I made it to the Throne Room, I pulled out the feather I found earlier and figured now was a good time as any to see what this is. But before I did, I double checked my Command Deck just in case this guy was hostile and after seeing everything as it is, I close the menu and hold the feather in my hand. I heard the voice again, repeating what it said before and I spoke:

"Delsin Rowe, I don't know who you are or what's going on, but I call to you...come forth!"

Then, a portal opened up in front of me, it looked like an eternal void of some sort. Soon enough, I see a figure emerging from it.