Chapter 1
“When a traveller journeys for long enough, she may find some things beyond that of this world. True luck is accepting this fate and smiling.”
The night was black. A wanderer hastily left a dark, gloomy bar and began trotting along the road. She had to leave this town. They thought she was dishonest.
Fortuna, that was her name. A blue Earth Pony with a Cutie Mark of Dice. Sure, sometimes she was lucky, sometimes she was not.
Turns out that lady luck had forsaken her this night. She had just lost 250 Bits.
Again.
At this rate, she would have to return home and never experience freedom again.
She sighed.
She looked back at the town. Some ponies were yelling at her never to return. But apart from that, it was silent. She wished she could be happier... But she was alone.
An hour passed, Fortune grew hungry. She had a strawberry sundae an hour before but... That didn't quite quench the desire.
She veered off the path, her instinct guiding her to a small pond. Mum told her never to go near these at night. She did not care.
She gazed across this pond and she saw what appeared to be a pony, like her.
Fortune could not believe it, a pony out in the Equestrian wilderness other than herself? And this mare was not as ragged as Fortune knew she was. Travelling for days on end gets to you.
"Hello miss, what are you doing out here?" Fortune enquired. She looked closer at the peach mare. A cutie mark of a magnifying glass? This pony was probably a detective.
"Ohh, a visitor. What are you doing here?" There was something... Ethereal about her voice...
"I was guided to this place by the strings of destiny, may I perchance ask you the same?" There were times that Fortune hated her posh upbringing. This was one of these times.
"I am not here." The mare replied bluntly.
"But... I can see you..." Fortune was confused... As usual. Maybe all this drinking and travelling was getting to her.
"I am nothing but a mirage." The mare walked across the water as if it were grass. "I am nowhere but in your mind."
Fortune stepped back. Her mind often played tricks on her, this seemed to be one of the weirder ones.
"Note to self, cut down on sugar." She wouldn't do that. Ever. "Am I the only one that can see you?"
The mirage chuckled. "No, I have spoken with many. I talk to those who are drawn to me. That is my destiny."
Fortune smiled, she had read about this in a poem. "...And when the voices call, do not fall. You must guide them to this world."
"What does that mean?" The mare seemed surprised.
"Lets just say... I've got an idea. It looks like this is your lucky day." She looked around, spotting a campfire in the distance. "Follow me, we will have a fun time."
"Okay..." The mirage was taken aback by this proposal. "Who are you?"
"I am Fortuna, a traveller. And you are?"
"I am Sen, a mirage."
And together, they trotted towards the light in the distance.
Who brings books on a camping trip? Twilight Sparkle. Why? Because she had read about this spot, and she wanted to read about it while she was there.
"Err... Twilight?"
The purple unicorn looked up from Magical Mysteries and smiled at her colt companion.
"Yes, Pi?"
The brown colt donning glasses blushed, he was too shy to admit his feelings for his friend.
"Why did you bring me here and nopony else?" One wrong word and... His life would be ruined.
"Because you're the only pony who would appreciated this place for it's beauty. Also... I..." She stopped there.
"...You what?" He grew embarrassed but moved towards her, the fire warming him more than his heart was.
"I lov..."
"Hey! What's going on over here?"
The campers were shocked. They turned and faced what appeared to be two Earth Ponies. Fortuna was waving from the top of the hill.
"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" Fortuna blushed but stayed strong. If they were at this spot then maybe...
The purple unicorn looked at Pi and then turned back to Fortune. "No, nothing. What are you doing out here?"
Pi sighed, Sen sighed. It was obvious that these two were... Connected.
"Me and my friend here are on a quest!"
"A quest?" Sen looked at Fortune with shock.
"Yes, a quest. A quest for the fountain of..."
Twilight perked up. "The fountain of Pony Spirits?"
Pi seemed to remember that name but not the origin.
"What is this fountain?" Pi looked at the two excited fillies, bewildered.
"Well Pi, it's an old tale of a fountain that bridges the gap between our world and the spirit world. This very spot is where the journey for it first began." She pulled a book out from the pile. "It's in this poetry book."
Sen was shocked. "Such a thing exists? I had no idea?"
"I'm a little more surprised that somepony likes you know classic poetry, miss?"
"Fortune." Miss Fortune, that always cracked her up. "My mother forced me to learn this stuff. It's the one common interest we share."
Pi opened the book, turned to the right page and read the poem:
"The Fountain of Pony Spirits. When you travel off the path, you shall soon see. A pony locked by destiny. They are there but never here, and they hold the world quite dear. The are a mirage, a ghost in time. To unlock them, remember this rhyme: Through lifetimes gone and soon unfurled. And when the voices call, do not fall. You must guide them to this world. For the fountain starts at the strike of one, remember this for everyone. You must travel and face challenges three, one for every destiny. And when the light dons the sky, you must drink, or at least try."
Fortune smiled, one of her favourite authors. "Not a long story, and quite vague. But... I think us four can do this."
Sen, Twilight and Pi gasped. "Us four?" They proclaimed together.
"It is time for an adventure. Lets go!"
They introduced themselves, packed up the equipment and trotted off.
And so, the journey began.
"...And then she said: Oatmeal? Are you CRAZY!"
The four ponies were travelling. Pi checked his watch. 2:35am. To think, were it not for Fortune he could have... No. He shook his head. Nothing would have happened... Right?
"Err... Where are we going?" Sen was confused. She wanted to confuse Fortune but that seemed to have backfired.
"We're going to the Fountain of Pony Spirits, of course!" Fortune and Twilight declared.
"No... I mean, why are we going this way?"
The two chuckling ponies stopped.
"Err..."
"Well..."
"Because..."
Fortune then smiled.
"Lady luck is guiding us, silly!"
Pi and Sen sighed. Was it going to be like this? Travelling with a filly guided by luck. Twilight was more curious about it though.
"Lady Luck?"
Fortune smiled. "I am guided by lady luck herself. Sometimes something good happens... Sometimes..." A snake bit her on the leg, having trodden too near to the den. "Ouch!"
"Are you okay?" Fortune was writhing in pain. Twilight was frantically trying to think of a spell. "Err... Try this!"
The horn glowed the same purple as the unicorn's eyes. Fortune's bleeding leg followed suit. The wound began to close.
"Thank you Twilight. Your powers will definitely come in handy later." She smiled and trotted on, still hurting from the pain.
The foursome continued along. They reached a cave at the base of a mountain.
"Err... Twilight?" Pi was scared.
"Yes Pi?" Twilight looked into the dark, gloomy cave, studying it.
"Do we have to go in there?" He gulped.
"Well, we need a big, strong colt to help us poor, defenceless fillies in that cave." Twilight smiled. When this was over, she would have a fun time writing about this adventure to the princess.
Pi straightened himself out and tried to make himself as bold as possible. "For you, I shall journey into the abyss!" His yellow hair swaying in the breeze.
Sen could see an aura being emitted from the cave.
"Err... This is the place. Definitely."
Fortune smiled. "Let's go!"
And so, the four ponies wandered into the darkness. Is that stupidity? Or is it courage? Who knows.
Due to the darkness outside, our intrepid explorers were blinded.
"Well... What now?" Pi asked. There was no way they could find anything in this darkness.
"Well... Twilight, can you use your magic to brighten up this cave?" Sen asked meekly. This was scaring her but... She could see ahead.
"What a great idea!" Twilight's horn glowed, causing the cave to brighten.
The cave was not as big as they expected, less than a few meters in, they saw a wall with a weird inscription on it. There was a dial of numbers, 4 in fact. Each containing the digits from zero to nine.
"Err... What does this mean?" Asked the bewildered Fortuna.
The inscription read: “Add up every number between 1 and 100, and I shall open.
“1,3,6,10,15... This’ll take forever!” Fortune sighed, it was almost dawn...
"If only I studied Maths more! I should have focused on more than just magic." Twilight sighed...
Pi smiled. "It's 5050."
Fortune twisted the dial and upon the final digit aligning, the wall opened.
The foursome gasped. There was a room, open at the top, with a massive fountain taking up most of the pace in the room. Inscriptions lined the walls, a heaven for those interested in tales of the old.
"I cannot believe it, the legends were true!" Twilight proclaimed as she entered the room. "This is... Magic!"
Pi was stunned but began to read some of the inscriptions. "The first is to find your way to this cave, the second is to bypass fear and the third is to be gifted with knowledge most dear."
Fortune, who had stumbled and fallen into the water, smiled. "The three challenges." She climbed out and shook herself dry. "The water feels... Nice."
Sen was scared. The fountain was emitting a bizarre aura. "What... Is that?"
Twilight and Pi seemed too engrossed in the reading of the walls to listen. "This is the Fountain of Pony Spirits, the bridge between your world and ours."
Sen walked through the wet filly. "Why are we here?" The fear was overwhelming.
The blue mare stood at her side. "To give you form."
The pink pony shrieked. "But... What if I don't want to have form?" She began to cry.
"Don't worry, it's great!" She smiled, trying to reassure Sen.
"But... I..." Sen broke into tears. The scholars ran up to upon hearing this.
"Listen, no matter how scared you are, you will regret not doing this later." Twilight said, smiling.
"But... It's scary!" Sen announced.
"There are things in this world we must experience physically, mentally and spiritually is not enough!" Pi declared, trying to reassure Sen.
"But... I want..."
"Listen! There is something that you cannot do now that I want you to do. Go through with it and it will be enough of a reward for anypony. I'll be here for you."
Sen stopped crying. She stood up and faced the fountain. "I'll try. But only because you guys seem to care enough about me to come all this way..."
The sun began to rise and Sen rushed towards the fountain and began to drink.
The pure water trickled down her throat.
She had never experienced anything quite so wonderful, then again... She had never experienced this kind of thing at all.
She had a form.
Suddenly, she felt two hooves wrap around her. Fortune was look at her and smiling.
"Well done Sen. You deserve this hug."
While two fillies were occupied, Twilight grabbed Pi and gave him a hug too.
"Why should we be left out?" She announced, beaming with joy.
Pi was encased by an enigma of happiness, embraced by his crush. Such a wonderful day.
The foursome left the cave and set up camp outside. They sung and they laughed until Celestia's great orb flew high in the sky.