The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon

by Artaelian

Chapter Two: Mysterious Scootaloo

Author's Note:

Please note: Yes this story is still alive, my editor and I have been under a lot of real life stuff keeping us mostly too busy from editing.
This chapter is currently UNEDITED, and with the knowledge of my one and ONLY editor (I've tried getting others but to no success, ever), it is currently submitted without edits to show the story is alive. When we have more time, a properly edited version will go up, but this could be anywhere from days away to half a year or more away.

Time Twister sat in the room with all his books and other various mentions of other worlds. A new piece of parchment sat before him on which he had sketched the four winged bird, and a note stating nothing like it existed in Equestria. He let out a frustrated groan. The first solid evidence of other worlds had been before his very eyes, and yet he was no closer to solving anything, there was a missing piece or two somewhere.

Feeling he’d get nowhere, he stood up and left to see how preparations for the trip to Ponyville were going.

Arriving to the courtyard ten minutes later, Time Twister saw the forces that he was granted were waiting. They amounted into the hundreds easy, and as he approached Shining Armor, he felt taking a hundred stallions would be far too much.

“As you asked for sir, every available guard is here, ready to move out.” Shining parroted, the damned smile back on his face.

“That’s nice,” Time Twister responded drolly, “bit of an overkill. We’ll draw too much attention to look for what the princess wishes us to find.”

Shining spluttered and looked shocked. Time took a bit of joy in the fact his smile had left his face.

“So, what do, I mean, what are your orders sir?” Shining asked.

“Oh its simple, besides us, pick the best ten out of all of these who are good at recon among the populace without alerting them to any dire threat.”

Time Twister sighed and walked toward a bench, where he sat and looked up at the sky. His mind was still too much on the bird than what Princess Maakera had asked him to do. But the whole situation in the throne room, where he saw the bird. It seemed staged. Did she know of his obsession, of his true feelings? Was this just to taunt him? Who knew, but he was falling for it.

A couple of minutes seemed to pass, before he was being shaken awake by Shining Armor.

“Huh?” was all Time could ask as he awoke.

“Sorry it took so long sir, but I’ve found the best ten stallions for the job.” Shining stated, no longer smiling for some reason.

“Oh ok, good, job well done.” Time replied, rubbing his eyes.

“Are you alright sir?” Shining asked.

“Yes, I just don’t recall falling asleep,” he looked up, “though I suppose considering the day and the nights I’ve had recently.”

“Say no more sir, if you’d rather, I can do what the princess asked for, and you can go rest.” Shining offered.

Time Twister smiled. Shining for all the faults he had was a decent guy, always willing to put others before himself.

“No its alright, I want to see what has got the princess all worked up. To the chariots then, you’ll be with me Shining, I bet you can’t wait to see your sister before we head back to Canterlot.” Time said, walking to the city limits where the flying chariots were kept.

“What? You’ll allow me to go see her before we come home?” Shining asked, really surprised at this news.

“Of course, you haven’t seen her for a while now yes? You’ve earnt more than enough time off that you just don’t use, use a couple of minutes to tell her about your wedding.” Time answered.

“I don’t know, I don’t think its the right time to tell her I’m getting married, she may get mad at me.” Shining stated.

“Really? You think telling her a few days before the wedding through a scroll and conveniently late invitation would be a better way?” Time asked, rolling his eyes.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea, thanks!” Shining replied, picking up his pace.

“I, what? No I didn’t,” Time spluttered, but it was too late, Shining was way ahead of him, “moron, oh well, his problem if his sister blows a fuse on him.”

Scootaloo looked around in wonder at the inside of the Golden Oaks library. A building made from a living tree had been fascinating enough in and of itself, but the inside seemed somehow bigger. Applebloom however seemed uninterested as she stood beside the orange pegasus, and the librarian, a purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle watched the awe struck Scootaloo with a smile and fond memories.

Soon, Scootaloo’s eyes met those of Twilight.

“Could I see a map of the world please?” she asked.

“Uh,” Twilight found this odd, every foal was shown the map of the world almost as soon as they began school, but it was her job to comply with requests, “sure.” she replied, using her magic to levitate a fold out map, and placed it on a table.

With the map of the world now before her, Scootaloo begun to run her eyes over all the words in the hopes of finding one that seemed familiar, while Applebloom waited impatiently beside her. Twilight however was curious as to what the little pegasus was looking for, but before she could ask, there was a knock at the door, and she quietly left to find who was knocking on the door of a public library.

“No, no, no, no matches so far.” Scootaloo mumbled.

“What’re you looking for?” Applebloom asked, raising an eyebrow at Scootaloo.

“I’ll know it if I see it, just give me time please.” Scootaloo replied, returning her full concentration to the map as she seemed to not find what she was looking for in the borders of Equestria.

Twilight chose that moment to return with another foal in tow, a mix of light blue and light grey coat, with a midnight blue mane and tail.

“Rumble came looking for you Applebloom.” Twilight said, walking away to tend to other matters.

“Hey Applebloom, who’s your new friend?” Rumble inquired, cheerfully.

“Hey Rumble, this is Scootaloo, she fell from the sky into the clearing near the clubhouse late last night, and now she’s trying to find something. How’d you find me anyway?” Applebloom asked back.

“Oh I saw you come in here, I was just on the way to the farm after grabbing a snack in Sugarcube corner.” Rumble replied, his eyes landing on Scootaloo.

The pair of them observed Scootaloo as she finished looking through several other countries for what she was trying to find, but still apparently failing. It didn’t seem important to her however, as she didn’t seem to become worried the longer it went without her finding anything.

Three minutes more was all it took for her to finish looking over the world map, and with a strangely calm and composed attitude, Scootaloo folded the map up, and thanked Twilight for the use of it as she headed to the door.

“Where do ya think you're going?” Applebloom asked, chasing after Scootaloo.

“Please, I want to go somewhere more private where we can speak, a public library is hardly the place for me to answer your questions little Applebloom.” Scootaloo answered, annoyance in her voice.

“Uh, alright, we’ll head to the clubhouse and can talk there, I’ll show ya the way.” Applebloom replied, walking ahead, the feeling in her head was one of a child having been scolded by her mother for doing something wrong.

The chariots carrying Time Twister, Shining Armor and the ten guard landed in the town square of Ponyville, catching some glances from the locals, first and foremost a certain bubblegum pink mare who hopped over to them.

“Hi there! Whatcha doing?” she asked.

“Ah, miss Pinkamena Pie, a pleasure to see you again.” Time Twister greeted her.

“Hey there Timey! So, what are you doing back here? Is there another dragon to fight against?” Pinkie pressed onward.

Time Twister flinched at the name she called him, he didn’t like it, but it was just how this mare was.

“No, no dragon today. I’ve been asked to do something for the princess, and no one else must know, are we understood?” Time replied, his tone starting friendly but throwing in the hint that Pinkie would do well to actually listen, or lose everything if she didn’t.

It was Pinkie’s turn to visibly flinch, as her mane seemed to slightly deflate from the way Time Twister had spoken to her.

“Oh, okay. I’ll stay out of your way.” Pinkie replied, slowly trotting away.

“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but the princess wouldn’t even tell me how dangerous the thing I am looking for is, I’d rather no one be hurt but myself should things go wrong. Tell you what, once I’ve found it, how about I treat you to something? Anything you like.” Time Twister said, catching Pinkie’s attention.

His words alone changed her attitude completely, as she smiled.

“Anything?” she almost squeaked.

“Within my budget of course, and as long as it doesn’t take too long, though I could arrange another trip here if it is something that will take long.” Time answered.

“Oki Doki Loki! Speak to you later Timezers!” Pinkie laughed, hopping away.

Time Twister flinched as behind him the guard laughed. He shot them a look that told them they would be running laps around Canterlot for a few hours when they returned, and then got on with the task at hand.

There were no signs of anything out of the ordinary, indeed, Ponyville looked like it always did. And the princess being vague on what he was to look for certainly didn’t help either.

“You know,” Shining spoke up, “Pinkie Pie is probably going to take you on a date right?”

“What? How could you possibly come up with that thought?” Time Twister asked, reading a spell the princess had been kind enough at least to provide him before the chariots left to locate anything unnatural.

“She has a bet with a certain Rainbow Dash for when you next came into the town, whoever gets to go on a date with you first owes the other ten ciders at the Apple family’s annual cider week.” Shining informed him.
“Oh, well if its for a bet, then that’s fine. I was worried then she would ask for such a shallow reason.” Time responded, halfway through reading the spell.
“And going on a date to win a bet and get ten ciders isn’t shallow?”
“Not as shallow as arranging a date with me just to get the media’s attention to how she’s dating the Captain of the royal guard and the stallion that saved Princess Maakera from assassination.” Time answered, folding the parchment up.
“Wait, has that happened to you?” Shining asked.
“Yes actually. Though Fleur De Lis is now pretty happy with that Fancy Pants guy. You should meet him sometime, always willing to help anyone. He’s just like you, except rich.”

Time Twister begun casting the spell that would show to him the location of whatever unnatural energy the princess was looking for. In seconds it took hold, and showed him a purple colour set of hoofprints which led towards the public library, then away towards the farm.
“Did the spell work sir?” Shining asked.
“It did, Shining Armor, I would recommend you check on your sister. Whatever it is we’re after was in the library, and its now heading towards the local farm. I’ll take the others and meet with you after. Under no circumstances should you give away what we’re up to, though your sister is smart, I’m sure she’ll work it out.”
And that was that, as Shining ran towards the library, meeting a very shocked little sister at the door, and Time Twister and the ten guard marched towards the farm.

Scootaloo admired briefly the inside of the clubhouse that belonged to Applebloom. In a town where all seemed to live in buildings made of wood, it was a little funny to see a building made of wood had been built in a tree, as though it was a rather poor imitation of the library inside a living tree.
But it had now become time to explain herself to Applebloom and her friend Rumble, who both watched her carefully, waiting for her to start speaking.
“So, where do you want me to start?” Scootaloo asked, sitting on her haunches.
“How about starting with how old you think I am?” Applebloom asked back, the issue still clearly sore.
“Oh right, well you're only just older than me, how can you not be four hundred and fifty years old?” Scootaloo inquired. This earned a laugh from Rumble, who was shot a glare by Applebloom.
“Then how old do you think you are, and how old do you think Rumble here is?”
“I’m only three hundred and seventy-nine, and he looks to be on the verge of four hundred himself.” Scootaloo answered.
“Now see, I’m only nine, and Rumble here is also nine. We’re not hundreds of years old, we’ll be lucky to even reach a hundred.” Applebloom stated.
Scootaloo looked shocked and spluttered as she tried to make sense of what Applebloom had told her.
“How can that be? You have to be lying!” Scootaloo protested.
“We ain’t lying, those are our actual ages.” Applebloom stated again.
“Then with the map earlier and now this, I can only conclude I’m not even in my world.” Scootaloo said dejectedly.

Before Applebloom could press on and find out what she meant, a pegasus royal guard burst in through one of the windows.
“Stay where you are, nopony move!” he yelled.
This however had the opposite effect on the three foals, who were now scared and bolted to the door, Rumble reaching it first. His head impacted the stomach of another royal guard who fell backwards, knocking several others down.
Standing nearby, Time Twister rolled his eyes. Always the same, tell them to go get whatever, and they had to make a big show of it and scare foals. As they ran past him, he began to walk to the clubhouse to safely retrieve the unnatural, only to stop as he looked at the floor. The spell was now showing him whatever had walked inside had just left in a hurry past him.
His head snapped around to look at the foals in the distance, and the spell activated once more, highlighting the orange pegasus as what he was looking for.
With a low growl of annoyance, he gave chase after them.

Up ahead, Applebloom took the chance to look back in the direction they had ran from.
“Their leader is gaining on us!” She cried out.
“Applebloom, Rumble, do you both trust me?” Scootaloo shouted.
“Yes!” the other two replied.
“Then get beside me and try not to be sick!” Scootaloo told them. In seconds, Applebloom was beside Scootaloo on the left, and Rumble to her right.
Concentrating hard, the small gem in the ankle bracelet glowed, and the trio vanished just as Time Twister lept at Scootaloo. His face impacted the ground and he was rather glad that no one else was around to see him bury his face in the dirt.
As he stood up and look at the ground where the three foals had been just a second before, he knew right away that the princess really was toying with him today. First the bird and now a pegasus that could do unicorn magic, Princess Maakera was hiding the most important piece of the puzzle he had long sought, and he was now sure she was tempting him to make a move.
He yawned. Several sleepless nights were catching up to him. He could pursue the three foals without moving anyway, he thought as he stood up and headed to see if the other guard had woken up yet. After all, what was a couple of wanted posters? Especially for lost foals that were desperately missed by their families? And more importantly, getting the orange pegasus and the strange magic she held, the power would probably be enough to revolutionize the whole of the world.

Scootaloo was rather relaxed after the teleportation spell, in utter contrast to Applebloom and Rumble who looked rather ill, and fighting not to lose whatever food they had in their stomachs. More importantly, the pair were trying to recover and fast, while Scootaloo once again admired her surroundings.
She shouldn’t have been so relaxed, with the twisted and frightening trees all around, and the sounds of predatory animals lurking somewhere in the distance, but clearly she was just as unaware of the perils of the Everfree Forest as she had been of the layout of Ponyville.
“We need to get movin’” Applebloom stated, heading in a direction away from Ponyville.
“Woah, wait, why away from Ponyville?” Rumble protested.
“Because they’re after her,” Applebloom pointed a hoof at Scootaloo, “and they’ll just wait for us in Ponyville.”
“Oh come on, don’t tell me you believe her crap! Saying we’re over a few hundred years old, that she isn’t from this world? Its clear they’re just trying to capture an escaped mental patient and we just helped her get away!” Rumble tried to yell, without actually yelling.
“You saw that bracelet of her’s! If that don’t make her story believable so far, then nothin’ will.” Applebloom replied, trying her best to stay calm.
“Okay, whatever, I don’t believe any of it. I’m going home, later Applebloom.” Rumble snapped, trotting away at a brisk pace.
“Fine, be like that.” Applebloom muttered, walking over to Scootaloo.
“I am sorry for causing you to have a fight with your friend.” Scootaloo said softly.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it, ain’t a real friend if he ditches the first sign of danger anyway. C’mon, this forest is dangerous, we better get to the other side fast.” Applebloom said sadly, leading the way.
Scootaloo thought for a moment about making Applebloom go with her friend, about going to the strange ponies that attacked them and finding what they really wanted, but decided against it, since Applebloom seemed too upset to convince to do any other action. Together, the pair wandered through the Everfree, being careful for any dangerous creatures that lived inside it.

Comments

[Flame Heart]

IT'S ALIVE IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!

[Artaelian]

5743020
Indeed it is, my editor and I have been slammed since the last update by work or other things going on. This trend in both our lives also shows no sign of letting up any time soon either, so a properly edited chapter two would have still been a long time off.
I'm hoping things slow enough with my job (or at least not have to be called in to work in the evenings every day after working every day too), to even finish an unedited draft of all planned chapters, as it is, the uploaded chapters is only three behind where I'm currently writing the story.

[krazykidfannumber2]

More!

[Artaelian]

6351062
More will be coming, I've been struggling to contact my editor but its pretty clear he has become far too busy to ever help edit in the near future (and possibly ever again).
New chapter will be coming just as soon as my boss stops piling tons of work on me that takes up every single hour of every single day... yeah my boss doesn't believe in "time off".

[krazykidfannumber2]

Ok