And Then There Were Ponies

by YetAnotherBrony

Of Ponies and Men

Deep within Everfree Forest, a metallic being ceased trying to transmit audio. With it’s silver digits, it flung closed the nearby book on theoretical magic. Its trans-dimensional transmission spell was a failure.

It had not expected success, yet if there was some way it could relay a message to a world full of beings who would no doubt reclaim their world from these sappy anthropomorphic horses, it had to try.

It had known for over sixteen years that not being a unicorn was a severe handicap when dealing with magic. Yet, the weather, zap apples, and other such phenomena had shown it that magic was a property of the world it was in, and not limited to any one race.

With this in mind, it had forged some excess steel (from one of the countless others like it that did not survive being transported) into roughly the shape of a unicorn’s horn. With the horn as a focus, it had managed to produce electricity shortly before its battery ran out.

With its capacity for logic, it could do unheard of feats with magic, but it first needed a unicorn. But not just any unicorn would do. It had to be one of the most powerful, yet naive enough to be manipulated. The unicorn had to be the one it had indirectly been manipulating for years. It had to be Twilight Sparkle.

Luring Twilight into the Everfree Forest and manipulating her would prove difficult, for it had only found one copy of the book that provided the needed context. When it was nearly caught smuggling the book out of the Canterlot Archives, the book inadvertently ended up in Luna’s possession. It had learned the hard way that Wonderbolts don’t have access to the archives, and aroused suspicion in the process.

If Twilight would only find out the contents of that book, she surely would search the entire forest, but how could it ensure she would? Luna had likely read the book as she had searched the forest a few times, but the two didn’t talk much.

The being then received microphone feed that said, “Twilight look. The Princess sent you six tickets to the gala again.”

The gala, of course! It was a long shot but, what choice did it have. Despite being at the Princess’ beck and call a wonderbolt could not approach a princess without being asked. Getting too chummy with Twilight, or pretending to deliver a message from Luna would seem suspicious. The longshot was the best plan.

Thankfully, it had noticed a particularly useful footnote in that magical theory book that could cause a conversation with Luna. The plan could work if Rainbow Dash behaves the way it hoped, and if Celestia will be as busy as she will undoubtedly be. But then, there was no guarantee they would talk about the right thing. The plan almost seemed too indirect, but there was no hurry, so if this plan failed as many before it had, it would simply move on to the next one. The key was to not arouse suspicion.

While it was made for battle, and thus not equipped for stealth, there was one other thing it had learned to do with the crude metallic horn. It had tried to conceal itself with the forms of various ponies and animals, but only one had ever worked. With a single flick the metallic humanoid vanished and in its place stood a pony with a blazing orange and red mane and a yellow coat.

~~~

Twilight was unsure why she had bothered to show up after how things went last time. Perhaps not ruining the gala this time would make it as though the previous time never happened. No, more than likely it was that she did not want to refuse tickets that Princess Celestia had given her, and that anypony should be grateful to have. She tried to set aside that thought though, because that reason seemed stupid compared to the reasons almost any other pony would likely have for going. At least she was with her friends.

Fluttershy felt a familiar pit in her stomach. Last year she had been scary, and lately she had been having nightmares about the scary version of herself switching places with the real her. In these dreams everyone liked the scary her better than the weak, helpless her. She knew better, but she still felt this urge to ask her friends anyway if they preferred her the way she was. She suppressed this urge though, as she often did with many urges, for she was sure her friends were preoccupied thinking about more important things, and she didn't want to bother them.

Spike, who had insisted last year that everypony stick together, was instead at a meeting for his Rarity fan club. Spike had wanted an identity outside of just being Twilight's assistant, so naturally Twilight advised him to play to his strengths, but starting a Rarity fan club wasn't exactly what Twilight had in mind. No doubt he would have just moved the meeting to a different night, if his first real member wasn't scheduled to show up at this meeting.

Since everypony agreed it would be better to stick together this year, yet they each had separate interests, Twilight had taken the liberty of planning out when each pony would get her turn. First on Twilight's master schedule was to visit the garden and view what wildlife they could while there. Naturally, Fluttershy had volunteered to be last, but since she was always last, Twilight decided it would be a good idea to make her first for a change. Twilight couldn't decide if this was a reward for her kindness, or a way of showing her that going first is okay.

Twilight's thoughts had been interrupted by a soft voice calling out, “It's okay animals, don't be shy. Actually, there is nothing wrong with being shy but could we please see you anyway? You have nothing to fear. We just want to help.” The bushes on either side of them rustled a little but Fluttershy's call had gone largely ignored. “Please come out. You don't even have to come near me. We just want to see you so we can talk. Or we could all play the silent game if you'd prefer,” pleaded Fluttershy, but this time not even so much as a leaf fell off a tree or bush.

“What if these animals aren’t from around here, and don’t know english?” Pinkie Pie said in her usually jubilant manner while bouncing forward. Pinkie Pie proceeded to bounce around to various bushes and greeted each with a “Woof woof.”

“I hate to tell an expert that she is taking the wrong approach to something in their expertise, but Pinkie Pie is right. Well she was before she started...” began Twilight while looking over at Pinkie Pie's who was now hissing at a tree. “...being Pinkie Pie,” finished Twilight after a brief Pause.

“Why don't these animals like me? Why are they so different from the animals around Ponyville?” sighed Fluttershy.

“You haven’t grown up around these animals like the ones in Ponyville. You have an innate talent for working with animals, but you still have to make a good first impression to gain their trust. What did you do when you first befriended the animals of Ponyville?” said Twilight.

Fluttershy unleashed her wings and shouted with excitement, “Of course!” Fluttershy withdrew wings back and continued in her usual whisper, “I mean, yes, of course. When I befriended the animals of Ponyville I was scared and alone. I didn't try to make friends; it just sort of happened. I bet if I just wait patiently they'll come out.”

Fluttershy looked to Pinkie Pie who was now switching between chirping, barking, and at one point she could have sworn she heard her clucking. “Then again, maybe not,” sighed Fluttershy.

“Don't worry Shy, I'm on it,” said Rainbow Dash's afterimage. She had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when she was dragging Pinkie Pie away from the animals. Rainbow Dash grumbled, “Come on Pinkie Pie, you can't actually think that is going to work.”

“Of course it isn't. But it sure is fun! This is a giant party!” replied Pinkie Pie.

“Fluttershy isn’t having fun,” said Rainbow Dash.

After hearing not and fun in the same sentence, Pinky immediately scanned her friends for frowns and spotted one on Fluttershy’s face. Pinky apologized, “I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I didn't mean to scare away the animals.”

“I'm sorry too,” responded Fluttershy.

“For what?” asked Twilight.

“I don't know. I guess I'm just used to apologizing for things,” said Fluttershy.

They waited for thirty more minutes for animals to show up, and while Fluttershy couldn't even get near any of them, they did see a few exotic creatures, including a buzzard that really buzzed. Fluttershy didn't see or get as close to the animals as she would have liked, but she couldn't help but be pleased with the way things turned out. She had matured, and not lost her mind just because some animals didn't love her yet. What a silly nightmare she had had.

If Twilight had been thinking about it, she would have put Applejack on the schedule second anyway, to be sure the gala was still crowded when they were trying to make sales, but by sheer luck of the draw, Applejack turned up second anyway.

Applejack handed all the ponies a bag of treats and said, “Now remember, the apple fritters are 3 bits, and the apple pies are 5 bits. Everything else is 2 bits.”

Rainbow Dash interjected, “So if we aren't going to be spreading out, what is the point of all of us selling stuff again?”

“It's psychology, Dash. The more ponies a pony sees selling a product, the more likely that pony is to view the products being sold as trustworthy,” blurted out Twilight who was happy to have an excuse to recite an interesting fact she had learned in her studies. Her studies focused primarily on magic, but on occasion she found it beneficial to look into miscellaneous topics like running and psychology.

Applejack replied, “Right, what she said. More to the point you are a good friend and I'd appreciate the help. So you willing to give it or not? ’Cuz I don't want the help of no half-hearted ponies.”

“Did you forget who you are talking to, AJ? Am I even capable of giving less than my best? Probably not, but I wouldn't know. I've never tried,” said Rainbow Dash.

There was a brief silence that allowed the words of Pinkie Pie to reach the ears of the other ponies. “Well no, I'm not selling any cotton candy, but having this bag of food with me makes me wish I did, and that's why I was talking about it. Just think of how cool it would be if we were selling cotton candy,” said Pinkie Pie to a now thoroughly uninterested pony who was walking away.

“Pinkie, if you're going to talk to potential customers about food, could you please at least talk about food that we are actually selling?” sighed Applejack while removing the hoof she had just put to her forehead.

Pinkie Pie replied, “I was just trying to make some people hungry so that they would want to buy food. And think about it: which makes your mouth water more? Plain old apple products, or cotton candy? Oh, or better still, chocolate rain! Wait, most ponies have never had chocolate rain, so they wouldn't know. Those poor ponies! I know I could help them by selling chocolate rain instead of boring apple...” Pinkie Pie trailed off, just realizing she probably shouldn't finish that sentence.

But then Applejack let out a laugh and said, “Yeah, I have to admit that next to chocolate rain, apple products do seem a little boring, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. I don't think I'd want my products to be quite that ‘interestin’.”

Ultimately, Applejack had far better sales than at her previous gala appearance, or at least she did percentage-wise. It was a 200% increase in sales, but it still was only a total of six sales. Most ponies present looked down on the products AJ was selling, but there were a few ponies who managed to slip through the cracks without having such a regal pallet.

Each of them had appealed to customers in different ways, and each of them had managed to find precisely one pony who their style worked best on. Even Fluttershy, who had difficulty even mentioning she was selling something, had a customer who bought something from her because, “It is refreshing to see a sales pony who isn't trying to shove her product down my throat.”

While they still hadn't managed to sell much, it was impressive considering the crowd. Friendship was powerful and could accomplish things nopony could do alone, but like all things in life, it did have its limits. Even friendship couldn't give a pony good taste.

Rarity spoke concisely with a commanding voice, “Alright, Ladies. We have nice clothes, so now it is a matter of presentation, and presentation is everything. Keep your heads up high. Let us trot with dignity. By the time we are through, the prince will want all six of us, but he will know that his rudeness has ruined his chance with all of us.”

Rarity had barely finished speaking when she rushed over to Applejack and began again, “No no, darling, not like that. You aren't trying to pull some heavy anchor with your neck. This isn't a matter of power, but dignity.” It took Rarity a few minutes to get Applejack's posture the way she wanted it, which normally would have frustrated AJ, but it wasn't often Rarity got to go to an event this fancy, and though it felt like hours, it really was only a few minutes. After spending a couple of minutes correcting the posture of her other friends, she reached Fluttershy.

“No no no, Fluttershy. Where is your sense of self worth?” demanded Rarity.

Fluttershy replied meekly, “But I'm weak and helpless and not worth very much. Is there anything in particular I am doing wrong?”

Rarity sighed and responded, “If only it were that simple. No, from a technique perspective you are doing everything right, but your self-doubt just seeps through your posture. One cannot excel at fabulosity without knowing how fabulous one is. Hasn't there ever been a time where you were proud of yourself?”

“Is being proud of yourself the same thing as not being disappointed in yourself? Because I have felt that... occasionally,” mumbled Fluttershy.

Rarity slammed a hoof into her forehead. “Sadly, you have deeper confidence issues than we can solve in just one night. Just try to focus on one of those times when you weren't disappointed in yourself and that will have to do. Fluttershy, I know you the best of anypony and, I look up to you in many ways.”

As Fluttershy blushed, Rarity trotted to the front middle of her friends, as if preparing to lead her troops into battle. Upon getting there she hung her head and said, “I can’t do this.”

“I thought you wanted to get back at Prince Blueblood,” said Fluttershy, slowly approaching her friend.

“I did, but now that I am here, I just can’t. Spite isn’t ladylike,” said Rarity.

“He is a boy dragon, after all,” interjected Pinky Pie.

After a brief shared giggle Fluttershy asked, “What will you do with the rest of your time?”

“You have all proven you are willing to put up with my overbearing criticisms about the most minute details of posture to help me. That’s all I needed,” said Rarity.

“Then let’s go see the wonderbolts!” squealed Rainbow Dash who just realized she was not really sure where the Wonderbolts would be. She had just sorta bumped into them last time and they weren't in that same place this time. The ponies wandered around the gala looking for them, until they saw a large crowd gathered, and in the middle were the Wonderbolts performing a show.

She had always thought the gala was more the sort of event where one got to talk to the Bolts and get their autograph, but a live performance that her friends were with her to see was more than Dash's brain knew what to do with.

She knew that being in the Wonderbolts was about speed and technique, but now she realized, it was also about synchronization. The way they all performed their moves at exactly the right time in relation to one another added a layer of awesomeness she could not have grasped without having seen it for herself. She had always thought that once she joined the Wonderbolts she would fit right in, but she now understood there would be months of training at the least, to teach her to breathe at the exact moment everypony else was breathing. Despite what a humbling realization this was, it somehow made her want to join that much more.

Apparently they had arrived later than Rainbow Dash thought as the show only lasted for another fifteen minutes. During which her jaw remained so low she had to fight drool back from dripping down her mouth. Afterwards, Dash figured her friends would catch up, and she couldn't waste any time she could spend talking to the Wonderbolts, so she took to the sky and flew toward them as quickly as she could. Rainbow Dash came to a halt right in front of Spitfire.

“Rainbow Dash, isn't it? Just the pony I was looking to see,” said Spitfire.

“You wanted to see me?” said Rainbow Dash blankly.

There was silence for a while; then Spitfire swallowed hard and blurted out, “Don't join the Wonderbolts.”

“What?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Look, kid, I've seen enough of you to know you have the skill for it. But I see myself at your age when I look at you, and I ask for your own sake that you don't join,” said Spitfire.

Rainbow Dash could not digest any of this. She had a hard enough time getting past the fact that one of her idols knew her name. Going from that to being praised by said idol for her skill, was too much excitement. Then the crushing weight of being told not to join, failed to cancel out the excitement of the first two, but instead made her confused, and gave her brain so much to process that it reached a grinding halt. She didn't know whether to celebrate or cry. “I don't understand,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, I wouldn't have either, and sadly no matter what I say you still won't, but I'll try to clarify. I owe you that much. I've been meaning to tell you this for awhile. In fact, I was planning to tell you last time I saw you at the Gala, but it’s difficult to say.

“The first year or so on the Wonderbolts you learn more about flying than you ever thought possible, but after that, well, you become so recognized, that ponies applaud no matter what you do. I used to be like you and think there was no such thing as fast enough, but now the speed at which everyone else goes is the speed at which I go. Not only is there such a thing as fast enough, suddenly there is such a thing as too fast.

“If you put on that suit and become one of us, then flying will be about whatever pleases the audience. If you don't, flying will remain about whatever pleases you and, no pony like us is ever pleased with her performance. So the question is, do you want to be known as the best flyer in Equestria, or do you want to be the best flyer in Equestria?”

Rainbow Dash wanted to dumbly repeat “What???” but even in her cloud of confusion she was vaguely aware that this would sound less than awesome, so instead she continued staring blankly. This explanation had done little to set Rainbow Dash's mind at ease. Was she seriously supposed to just give up on her lifelong dream just like that? But at the same time, after hearing all that from someone who lived the dream, something about her dream seemed hollow.

She had a headache, and she wanted to throw up, but nothing would come. She had been so excited about the Wonderbolts she hadn't eaten anything all day, and now for the first time in her life, the Wonderbolts were the last ponies she wanted to see. She felt like taking off into the sky and not stopping for several hours, just to be far enough away from them, but she couldn't even move her wings.

Just when she most wanted to be alone, Rainbow Dash's friends finally caught up with her. Somehow they knew instantly something was wrong.

“Why are you crying?” asked Twilight.

Rainbow Dash noticed that from her eyes to the bottom of her face did feel warmer than usual. She wiped at both her eyes, and sure enough her hoof was wet. Rainbow Dash hadn't cried in so long she had forgotten what it was like.

“Oh dear! Even when I knew her as a young philly back in Cloudsdale, I never saw her cry. Something must really be wrong. Please, Rainbow Dash, tell us,” pleaded Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked so desperate, and there was no point in hiding it. Sooner or later they'd wonder why mentioning the Wonderbolts would make her cry instead of bring her excitement. Rainbow Dash said coolly, or as much so as is possible for somepony who is crying, “The Wonderbolts said that I should never join their team.”

For a few seconds there was silence. None of them knew where to begin to console a hurt like this. Then Fluttershy went over and nuzzled rainbow dash a few times, and then stood beside her and wept. Her other friends decided to follow her lead.

“Come on, we'll walk you home,” said Twilight Sparkle.

She did at some point want to talk this out with her friends, and lean on them for support, but now was not that time. All she wanted to do was go home as Twilight suggested, except she would actually have preferred to do it without her friends. But this was the Gala, and her friends did not get to go very often. If she left now, even if her friends stayed, no doubt they would just be thinking about her the rest of the night. No, as much as she wanted to, now was not the time to leave.

“We can deal with my problems later. Right now we have a gala to finish,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Look Dash, we don't want to continue the Gala if you're not going to be having any fun,” said Twilight Sparkle.

“Applejack, do you feel like leaving the gala?” inquired Rainbow Dash.

“I agree with Twilight.” said Applejack.

“That isn't what I asked. Do you feel like leaving the gala?” replied Rainbow Dash.

Applejack began to sweat bullets, which was exactly why Rainbow Dash asked her. “It's just some stupid fancy thing, and us country folk don't have any appreciation for fancy things anyway, right?” muttered Applejack unconvincingly. Rarity managed to suppress being offended, but only because AJ was so clearly lying.

“Look, please. While I appreciate what all of you are doing, there have been enough tears for one night. Let's just have some fun,” pleaded Rainbow Dash. It felt weird making a case for exactly the opposite of what she wanted to do.

Twilight sighed and said, “Well alright then, but we are going to talk about this as soon as you feel ready.”

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash started to glow. It was a bright enough glow that a crowd of starring ponies were beginning to form around her, but not bright enough to hurt anypony's eyes. Then her lightning bolt necklace appeared around her neck.

“I've never heard of anything like that happening in my research. We should take you to see Princess Celestia,” said Twilight.

“It doesn't hurt or anything so Princess Celestia can wait. Besides, it is Pinkie Pie's turn to decide what we do,” insisted Rainbow Dash.

Pinky Pie took one look at the snooty ponies listening to dull music, and declared, “Nah, I’ll pass. Finding out about your glowing rump will be way more interesting!”

They went over to where Princess Celestia was. This time the room was far more crowded than before, as the line to see her filled the entire room. It made Twilight feel selfish but Rainbow Dash glowing seemed like the perfect excuse to cut in front of everypony, and indeed nopony stopped them, but that likely had something to do with their dropped jaws and vacant stares.

Before Twilight and her friends stopped moving Princess Celestia said to them, “Hello Prized Pupil and friends. I take it you wish to know why you are glowing?”

Rainbow Dash was glad to hear the Princess seemed to know what was going on, as she was curious. “Yeah,” she blurted out.

“Well, sadly, I am a little busy at the moment but if you could just wait here until the end of the Gala, I would be glad to explain it, “ said Celestia turning back to the long line of ponies.

Rainbow Dash hated waiting, but thought it might be rude to excuse herself to stretch her wings for a bit. Manners weren’t her strong suit, but she knew how important it was to Twilight to never even hint at disrespecting the princess. But Rainbow Dash appeared to be in luck as after a greeting a few more visitors Celestia turned her head toward them.

“Come to think of it, my sister has been in need of some friends. Twilight you got along with her so well on Nightmare Night, why don’t you girls ask her?” said Celestia.

“Where is Princess Luna?” inquired Twilight.

“I’m not sure,” frowned Celestia. She continued,“She was supposed to be here with me to greet our subjects, but she has had some trouble fitting in. She is probably in the library.”

It took awhile to navigate through the crowd, but they managed to squeeze into one of the few nearby rooms with no one in it, and from there proceeded to the library, where it was just them and the princess.

“Princess Luna, why aren't you greeting guests with your sister? You are just as much a princess as she is,” asked Twilight.

Princess Luna replied in a voice that was thankfully much quieter than the royal Canterlot voice, “We appreciate thy help, but one night a year where I am popular with fillies and colts doesn’t change anything. They have never liked us and they never shall.”

“It’s easy to assume ponies don’t like you or care about you, but if you go out there and make friends, you will find some that do,” said Twilight.

“We confide in Celestia. She is enough,” said Luna.

“Everypony needs friends!” interjected Pinky.

“I have my big brother, but my friends are still invaluable.” said Twilight.

“Very well, Twilight, we shall give having a friend a try. Come back here tomorrow night at eight o'clock. That is, unless you are already busy,” said Princess Luna turning away from her books and looking at the six ponies who had entered her library.

Twilight couldn't believe a princess, especially one who was at least a thousand years older than her, could want to be friends with her. She wanted to ask Princess Luna if she was sure, but she thought this might sound too much like Twilight didn't want to be her friend. Twilight stammered, “Errr... Sure, that works well.”

“Does Rainbow Dash normally glow like that?” asked Luna.

“We were hoping you could explain that.” said Twilight.

“The Elements of Harmony have not been well studied, as you are only the second set of ponies to ever bear them. This glowing has been observed once before on our flank. We are unsure why but it is believed that we were more strongly exemplifying one of our elements at the time” replied Princess Luna.

“That makes sense. Did you notice any side effects aside from glowing?” inquired Twilight.

“Only that our magic was more powerful than normal” said Princess Luna.

“So it has no effect on ponies who can’t use magic?” asked Twilight.

“Who can't use magic? She has used magic at least twice. Though you should know that better than I as all six of you were involved in said magic. Like the time you cast that memory spell on me for example,” said Luna.

“Memory Spell? Didn’t we hit you with pure awesome causing the evil in your heart to melt away?” interjected Rainbow Dash.

Twilight would have been ashamed to admit it, as she realized how foolish her understanding of events sounded out loud, but she had been thinking the same thing.

“No. It was a particularly strong memory spell, as was necessary given the strength of Discord's influence. You reminded us of all the good times we had with our sister,” said Princess Luna.

“As in chocolate rain Discord?” inquired Pinkie Pie.

“We are not sure what you mean by that, but if memory serves, the only Discord we know of does have a fondness for chocolate rain,” responded Luna.

“So you were just under Discord's spell just like we were?” asked Applejack.

“Our will is stronger than yours, so he had to do a lot of manipulation for it to work. But in time, I began to resent my sister,” said Luna.

“But I thought you two banished Discord together, well before you became Nightmare Moon,” said Twilight

“Oh, did we not mention that the bit of Discord that was coaxing us was internal. We reached Discord a few seconds before our sister. Discord knew immediately that we were a threat, so he hit us with a surprise attack, in which he put a small part of himself in us, just as he did to you.,” said Luna.

“If Nightmare Moon was Discord and Discord was Discord, has Equestria ever had an enemy who isn’t Discord?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Now you are asking a very interesting question ‒ one that I have spent much time researching – and the answer is yes, but back in those days it was called Earth,” said Luna. She warned, “I haven't been able to figure out everything, but I have been able to piece together a lot, so it's kind of a long story. Would you like to hear it?”

Twilight looked toward her friends to gauge their interest. Pinky Pie seemed excited. Rarity did as well, but that might have had more to do with having an audience with the princess than anything else. Fluttershy was shaking seemingly still unconvinced that Luna had changed, and Applejack seemed curious. Twilight thought more exposure to Princess Luna would probably help Fluttershy get over her fear. That just left Rainbow Dash, who seeing the eagerness in Twilight’s eyes, caught herself nodding in approval before she even realized she was doing it.

“Yes, please!” chirped Twilight.

Luna said, “Long ago, the predominant intelligent life on this planet were creatures known as humans. But then one day, strange pony-like creatures appeared. They were beings of complete illogic though, so their origins made no sense, and neither did their language. They were able to communicate and get things done, yet there was no correlation to what they did or said to what they meant or accomplished.

“This was completely different from the humans, who while capable of appreciating what they didn’t understand, could not go without questioning it. Magic was the sort of thing that many of them wanted to believe in, but the way it disappeared whenever analyzed irked them. They saw beauty in understanding instead of the incomprehensible so they created their own form of magic, and called it science. This science would manifest itself in various devices known as technology.”

“Technology?” stammered a befuddled Twilight.

“Our trains are a perfect example of something that is believed to have been inspired by their technology, but their trains actually ran by themselves, with the power of physics, instead of using pony power.

“For reasons unknown the humans and ponies gradually became more alike. In time, ponies started developing some amount of logic and confined their illogic to spells. Eventually, even our magic started to develop logical outcomes and predictable results, but it was still never as pure as their science. Likewise, the humans’ science became less like science and began to border on magic. Over thousands of years, a completely in between state was formed, the humanoid pony. These ponies had the general body structure of ponies, but the facial structure and a few other characteristics of humans.

“However there were humans and ponies alike who were dissatisfied with this compromise. Those ponies ended up fusing into one being of complete illogic and disharmony known as Discord. The humans, on the other hoof, formed a single large army known as Logos. They both wanted to destroy any contact ponies and humans had, and especially the humanoid ponies. However, the two beings were so opposite in every other way that they first sought to destroy each other. Logos imprisoned Discord in something rumored to be called a black hole. I haven't been able to find much information on that, so it’s hard to say for sure.

“Discord would, of course, later abuse the fact that he is a being of pure illogic to escape from said object of science, but something about time compression and faster than light travel caused him to be several thousand years in the future. When Discord came back to rule Earth, he found that it was now a place composed entirely of humanoid ponies who had long since banished Logos, and it was known as Equestria. It is unknown how, when, or who banished Logos, but it is believed by numerous scholars that Everfree Forest was sacrificed to be forever governed by their logic in order to banish them to some alternate dimension. Some ponies think that Everfree Forest remains the connection between our world and theirs to this day.”

“How many times has the Everfree forest been searched for such a connection?” asked Twilight.

“To our knowledge, only the few times we have done so personally. Celestia believes that it is an old pony’s tale started by Discord to create panic. However I did once find something while searching the forest.” said Luna pulling a stone slab off a nearby shelf.

“I believe this tablet was somehow sent by them, but no matter how much I study it, I cannot figure out what it means,” said Luna.

They looked at the cracking slab with moss growing over it, and Twilight’s eyes shifted over it as though she were reading it aloud, “We are Logos. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

“You can read that?” questioned Luna.

“Yes. I'm not sure why, but I am positive that is what it says,” replied Twilight.

For a moment everypony gaped at Twilight, yet they all knew Twilight wouldn't lie to them about this. There were many questions that filled their minds, but they were sure Twilight didn't know either. Luna was the first to interrupt the silence.

“Then it is as I feared, they are seeking to reclaim their Earth, and they sent this hundreds of years ago as a threat. They cannot get people or technology over to our world yet, it would seem, but given how long it has been and that they did get this message through, it could well be soon. I'll tell my sister, but there is little we can do,” sighed Luna.