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Prologue: In the Everfree Forest1,774 words
Chapter 1. The Flying Earth Pony2,264 words
Chapter 2. The Scorched Mare1,715 words

Chapter 2. The Scorched Mare

The sun crept slowly above the trees as Pinkie trotted happily behind her mother and Twilight. Luna was teaching the young unicorn some complicated spell that involved tree seedlings, the Everfree Forest, and an abandoned well; and Pinkie (who knew her mother and Twilight well enough to guess that they had no plans to stop until Twilight had mastered the spell) elected to go along so that she could make sure they took a lunch break.

And a snack break, and a tea break, and a dinner break if they need to! Thought Pinkie happily as she bounced along. She loved the castle more than anything, but her second favorite place had to be the Everfree forest and the little town that sat on the edge of it's borders. Most ponies would only dare to get travel to the castle by the protected path that Luna had constructed, but Pinkie and Twilight had been exploring the forest (under Luna's watchful eye) for years without any bad encounters.

They came to the spot of the abandoned well- really just a pile of crumbling rocks, in Pinkie's opinion, and the three ponies dropped their saddle bags happily on the ground. They were standing in a small clearing filled with bright blue wildflowers.

"When the moon rises, these flowers glow brightly in the moonlight," explained Luna. She stroked the petals of the nearest flower with her hoof, "When I was a filly, these used to mark the safest paths through the forest. We called them 'moon charms'." She smiled, "But enough about the past. Pinkie, will you be alright here while Twilight and I go find a seedling? You'll be perfectly safe, we are too close to Ponyville for there to be any real danger."

Puffing her chest out with pride, Pinkie smiled, "I can handle anything that comes my way."

Twilight cocked her head to the side, "Are you sure you won't get bored, Pinkie?"

"Pfft! Me, bored?! Never!" Pinkie bounced in place, "Besides, Honey told me that her relatives live nearby, just beyond those trees-" she shook her tail over towards the opposite end of the clearing, "and that they have the best apples in Equestria! She said if I asked really nicely they'd probably give us some of their apples for our picnic. Can I ask Mother, please? PLEASE!?" She gazed imploringly up at the alicorn.

With a little laugh, Luna swished her sparkly mane over Pinkie's face. "Of course you may. I trust Honey's judgment implicitly. But make sure that you go straight there, and come straight back. And take this-" there was a flash of dark blue magic, and a little silver whistle appeared on a ribbon around Pinkie's neck. "If you get into any trouble, any at all, Mena I expect you to sound this whistle. It will summon me immediately."

"Okie dokie lokie!"

As Luna and Twilight began their lesson, Pinkie sprang through the forest. She sang happily to herself as the moss-covered ground passed beneath her hooves. There were very few moments where she was permitted to be alone, and she enjoyed the space to be as undignified as she wanted, without the well-meaning, but judgmental stares of the courtiers.

A splash of red appeared through the trees, and Pinkie grinned brightly as she came to the edge of the forest.

Everpony had heard of Sweet Apple Acres- the delightful family farm that provided the castle's apples. She was especially happy to see the two fillies that stood nearby.

"I told you, Applejack, it was an accident!" shouted the blue pegasus filly. Pinkie felt a twitch of delight as she took in her rainbow-colored mane and tail. The filly's hair was spiky, and rumpled, as if she did not quite know how to work a comb yet, and her voice was just a little bit squeaky.

"Granny Smith trusted me to watch the farm while she went to town. What am I supposed to tell her when she finds her favorite tree burnt to a crisp?!" Shot the orange earth pony filly in a heavy accent. She was tall and a tad bit gangly, as if she had just gone through a growth spurt.

The rainbow-haired filly shrugged, "That an accidental lightning bolt-"

"Aw, forget it! That's the last time I ask you for a favor, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash suddenly looked sorry, "Listen, AJ- Hey, who're you?"

Having been spotted, Pinkie froze. "Hi! I'm-"

"Princess Pinkamena!" Applejack ducked into a low bow, and shot a warning look at Rainbow Dash, "What an honor to have you visit our farm!"

Rainbow Dash, whose mouth had dropped the moment the word 'Princess' was uttered, dropped into a bow as well.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," said Pinkie cheerfully. "And you can call me Pinkie. Everypony does. Well, not every pony, most ponies call me 'Your Highness' but the ponies that I've decided to be friends with do- except of mother of course, she calls me 'Mena' or "Pinkamena' when she's mad at me. But anyway, I think the three of us can be friends, don't you? I'm really good at guessing people's characters, and I can tell that you're the type of fillies I'd like to be friends with! Want to be my friends?"

She broke off, panting a little from the force of her speech. The two ponies stared wide-eyed at her.

"You sure do like to talk, don't you?" Asked Applejack good-naturedly. "Sure, I'll be your friend. A pony can never have too many-"

The other filly seemed to finally get over her shock. "Friends with a Princess? That'd be totally AWESOME!" She leapt into the air and raced around the other two, her wings beating so fast that Pinkie could hardly see them.

"Great!" chirped Pinkie. "Although I can't stay too long, I'm here to get some apples for lunch."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, "They sent the Princess all the way through the Everfree Forest to get her own lunch?"

There was a peal of giggles as Pinkie thought about that. "No, silly! Mother and Twily are having their lesson in the forest today, so I'm in charge of the picnic! Plus, I wanted to meet Honey's"

"Apples for the Princess Luna!" Applejack turned and ran towards the nearest tree, "I'll buck the sweetest, juiciest, yummiest apples y'all have ever tasted." She let out a whoop, and hollered something about being lucky enough to help both princesses on the same day.

"I thought I'd never find anyone as excitable as me," said Pinkie brightly to an amused Rainbow Dash.

"Well, she's not usually so, er... enthusiastic." Said Rainbow Dash, rubbing the back of her head, "But today is special. We've never met a Princess before. What's it like?"

"Like being me, I guess," said Pinkie. "I've never been anyone else, so I guess I don't really know how to answer that."

Rainbow Dash laughed, "I guess that makes sense. But what's Princess Luna like? Is she regally awesome? Does she make everyone cower in awe and respect as she walks by?"

"Uh, sort of? Most ponies are very respectful, but no pony has ever cowered before. Not in front of me, at least."

Rainbow Dash was not listening, she seemed to be stuck in a daydream of Luna's awesomeness, "I bet she spends all of her time saving Equestria from disaster-"

"Not reall-"

"And making sure she's prepared in case the Scorched Mare comes back!"

Pinkie's ears swiveled towards the blue filly, "Who?"

There was a distant yell of "He-yaw!" and the sound of apples falling into a bucket. Rainbow's eyes bulged out of her head, "You've never heard of the Scorched Mare? But that was Princess Luna's biggest defeat in history!"

Pinke sat down, sensing that her new friend was about to answer her unasked question.

"Long ago, before Ponyville even existed, Princess Luna ruled the nights, while another alicorn ruled the day. Everything was peaceful, but then one day a horrific mare killed the other alicorn, and began to take over parts of Equestria. Whenever a town resisted," Rainbow Dash brandished two blue hooves in front of her, as if fending off an invisible assailant, "she burnt it to the ground."

Something heavy settled in the pit of Pinkie's stomach. She both wanted Rainbow Dash to finish the story, and to stop speaking immediately.

"Princess Luna asked the Scorched Mare to stop burning Equestria, but all that did was arouse the Mare's anger. She raised an army of fiery salamanders and turned on Princess Luna's old castle. It used to be the center of a beautiful capitol city- but the Scorched Mare destroyed everything. The only thing that survived was the ruins of the old castle. There was an epic battle, in which the Salamanders were destroyed, and Princess Luna returned the Scorched mare to the sun. But ever pony knows that any day she could return to seek vengeance!"

Applejack returned with the apples, and Pinkie thanked both of the fillies for their help, and made them promise to write her sometime. But she walked back through the forest with small, even steps. Her thoughts were consumed with the story of the Scorched Mare. All throughout the story her chin had been quivering. And when her chin quivered, she knew that something was off. Who was the Scorched Mare? What had really happened? But most importantly-

Why hadn't her mother told her?

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