Má was running swiftly through the chilly upper forests while vicious wolves were following him in a furious chase. He laughed at the slow wolves, with which he toyed with. Má was one of the swiftest runners of the land and enjoyed every thrill it brought to his life. He ran and ran with them until it became tedious to him. Then he rushed out of their sight, leaving them in the dust.
He returned to his home of Cavioyoki, which was at the foot of the great mountain. It was a simple village made up out of numerous simple huts which stood upon the plain’s green grass. It also had the mountain’s river running trough it.
When he came in, his fellow deer were playing cheerfully. Some were resting in their hut. There was only one who did different. This was Cocco-Satto, who was hard at work, harvesting tasty crops. Má passed him.
‘Hey, Má, care to help out,’ asked Cocco-Satto with a geniune smile.
Má didn’t participate in this ,for him, trillless activity and continued walking towards his cosy hut. When he arrived at his hut he could see Ielma, his long-time friend standing before it. He was awaiting him. ‘Oh, Má, you're back,’ he said with pleasant surprise, ‘come, there’s something you just need to see!’ ‘Well alright, lead the way.’ Ilma nodded and swiftly flew away. Má quickly rushed after him.
They travelled to one of the most outer edges of the land. It took them just a few minutes to get there. Ielma was one of the fastest flyers of the land, after all. When they arrived they saw a gigantic and eye pleasingly well crafted bridge.
Although it was still being build its beauty could already be seen.
Má stood there, speechless. The bridge was big enough to allow, at least, a group twenty to stand next to each other without cramming.
‘Um, This looks amazing and all but, why are they building this?’ asked Má to Ielma.
‘Well, they are building this giant to reach Equestria an{d}-.’
‘Equestria, does that place actually exist?’
Ielma shrugged.
There were many tales that told about the land of Equestria among the deer of this land. The most famous was the one wherein the folk of this land would meet up with the Equestrians upon something called the sea. There was no sea at the edges of this land -you could imagine it as a floating island, but with nothing below, above or next to it-. Má walked towards one of the many busy builders and asked him: ‘When will it be done?’
‘It depends on how far away it is, which is still unknown,’ said the builder.
The two walked back home after taking their time, admiring the enormous amount of detail of the sculptures in the supporting arches.
On their way home the two deer talk about how Equestria would look like. Má quickly outtalked Ielma with his many words of windy mountains, deep forests, endless plains. He even talked about smelly marshes, which was to Ielma less pleasent. Má went further, talking about how a sea would look like. He went even further talking about more things he had never seen, like the stars or the night and day.
He talked about this, and he talked about that and tal{ked}-. Ielma’s hoof was now upon Má’s mouth. They have arrived back at Má’s hut.
‘We’ll just have to wait and see,’ said Ielma with a bit of a laugh, ‘Well, We’ll see each other later,’ said Ielma and flew back to his home on top of the mountain.
Má dreamed of an, to him, unknown and beautiful land wherein he ran freely. The grass was the greenest and the sky was the bluest he had ever seen. He ran and ran through this land of colourful wonder. Eventually he came across a bridge.
The bridge looked exactly like the one they were building in his homeland. He looked at it for quite a while before he ran over it. The bridge was long. For miles upon miles he ran over until finally the shining horizon of the end came in si{ght}-.
Suddenly he awoke from this pleasant slumber. Slowly he got out of the comfort of his warm bed and left the hut. Outside he starts to take a walk. No, not a walk, he took a run. He travelled through the land from edge to edge. In the land between he also came.
But, despite his grand search, he couldn’t find this beautiful land. He knew now for sure that his dream has been about Equestria. He now also knew that it wasn’t reachable by foot. This made him wanting to reach it with all his heart. He adventured with Ielma for three times more. Those adventures were boring and trillless to him. His Head was still filled with wonderful thoughts about the beautiful land of Equestria.
After that he couldn’t take the waiting anymore and decided what to do. He wrote Ielma a small note and left it in his hut.
He then travelled to an edge. This one was the one opposite to the one with the bridge. He got into a starting position and blasted off. he ran as fast as he possibly could, hoping it would be fast enough to reach Equestria. The busy workers saw him coming out of nowhere and were shocked to see him shot off of the still unfinished bridge.
Má disappeared out of sight.
A little later, Ielma visited Má's hut. It was empty. There was only a note, laying on the bed. On it was written:
Dear Ielma.
I’m now most likely (or hopefully) in the land of Equestria.
Your friend Má.
‘That STORMHEADED CLOUDCHASER!,’ yelled Ielma out loudly at Má, making those nearby look at the hut in curiosity.
Ielma left the hut and flew towards the bridge with highest concern. At the bridge he quickly asked the workers if they had seen Má. They told him of his bizarre antics. Ielma’s heart sank deeply, for he feared the worst for his dear friend.
Quickly he made up his mind. He decided to go after him in a attempt to safely return him. He walked onto the bridge and stood upon the furthest support-bar.
After taking in a deep breath of air he flew off, following the trail of Má. Ielma flew far and flew further in hope of finding his friend. But after quite a while, he became more and more tired until he ultimately lost consciousness while he fell into the beyond.
Chapter: II: The Canterlot Surprise
Má awoke in shock. A weird warmth was upon him. He opened his eyes and saw that he was laying on some kind of yellow sand. It was more yellow then anything he had ever seen. He looked around and saw the greener grass in the distance and the bluer sky above and a big brigh-{t}-. ‘AGH!,’ he screamed after looking directly into the great lantern known to us as the sun. He fell on his back in pain. When he reopened his eyes he saw a great lake. ‘Mh, I could use some water by now,’ he thought to himself. He began drink from it, but quickly found it to be very, very salty. ‘What kind of horrifying place is this,’ he said out loud. He looked around frantically and ran towards the only thing he still trusted, the plains of green.
Many miles he ran until he came to a halt. That happened when he found a mountain. He looked at it. The mountain just stood there, all tall and powerful. ‘From there I'll be able to see just where I am,’ he thought to himself . Má began climbing it. It took quite a time for him to climb up. It was because it become colder and colder as he came closer to the top. Cold. That was quite a weird feeling, one he’s never had before.
It slowed him down severely. As did the freezingly cold white stuff that lay upon the upper mountain.
Eventually he arrived at the ice-cold snowy top. From there he could see the whole land. No, not the whole land.
The land stretched out very far. Even so far, that a part of it was out of his viewing. He looked around and found something resting upon the side of the mountain. It was golden, white and purple. It was the weirdest kind of rock formation he had ever seen. Especially the golden part, for most of it was on top. One of these pillars was the furthest away. In this he saw a challenge.
Jumping there would be quite a thrill. He stepped back a few hoofsteps and ran towards it. At the last moment he jumped. He flew. The wind even tried to slow him down. But it fail in doing so. He landed on the pillar.
He was just standing there, looking at the distance he jumped, when three guards appeared, clothed in shining plates. ‘Sir, why are you here upon the roof, you are disturbing the peace,’ said one of the guards. ‘This is a roof?,’ asked Má. ‘Yes it is,’ said another, ‘don’t act like you don’t know such a thing.’ ‘Now speak up,’ said the first, ‘why are you here?’ ‘I’m here because I wanted to be here,’ said Má proudly, thinking it was a question of wondering rather than an interrogation. ‘HWAAAH. I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS,’ yelled the first guard, ‘ARREST HIM!’ The guards all quickly approached Má. He quickly ran off. Jumping from pillar to pillar with the guard giving furious chase. Má continued to run and ran through the closing gate. He made a slide underneath the big iron door and escaped that strange and yet at the same time majestic place.
He continued galloping along the path downwards. The guards had stopped chasing him. He had clearly outran them and they returned to their posts in defeat. He laughed at their defeat as he looked back at the cas-{tle}-.
He ran into a rather big creature. ‘Are you alright,’ asked the creature with a fair voice. It was non other than Princess Celestia. She helped him up. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘This one seams to be friendlier than the ones from before,’ he thought. ‘um, may I ask you what this place is called?’
‘Why of course. This is the royal capital of Canterlot.’
‘Capital. The capital of what,’ he asked nervously, for he had never heard of that place.
‘I see, you aren’t from around here, are you.’
‘N-no, I’m not.’
‘Who are you,’ she asked him.
‘I’m named Má,’ he said proudly.
‘And I’m Celestia, nice to meet you.’
‘Celestia, could you tell me in what direction the land of Equestria lays.’
‘I can do even better.’
‘How so.’
‘Just follow me and you’ll see,’ said Celestia as she began walking towards the castle. Má followed, even though he didn’t wish to see those guards again.
Especially that really grumpy one.
They arrived in the castle and went towards the archives. Before it stood two of the royal guard. They recognised Má. In a instance they pointed their spears forward towards the deer.
‘What is the meaning of this?!,’ said Celestia.
‘Princess,’ said the right guard, ‘this rascal has, just moments ago, disturbed the peace of Canterlot.’
‘Then take him into custody,’ said Celestia, ‘and then come tell me what exactly had happened.’
Thus he was taken by the two guards, away from the archives and his chance to find Equestria. They took him deep underground. While going down it became darker and darker and it quickly became to dark to see. The horns of the guards suddenly began shining. They went even deeper until they arrived in an old abandoned dungeon. There they locked Má locked in one of the chambers and left him behind. Now he was there, in darkness. In time his eyes began to see more, although not as much as he would have hoped.
It was not long until the brilliant idea of escape came to him. He searched his imprisonment for something to execute this plan with. There was absolutely nothing in his cell. He looked at the door and felt it. It had some very rusty hinges. This gave him the genius idea to furiously kick the hinges repeatedly. He kicked it. The door was still standing. He kicked it again.
The door was still standing. He kicked for a third time. It broke! His plan had succeeded! The door fell down with a very loud clatter. Quickly he found his way to the stairs. But upon the stair hoofsteps could be heard. It was Celestia, who had almost reached the dungeons. Luckily Má, in his moment of panic, did not forget he about his gifted speed. He rushed up the stairs and past the Princess.
But suddenly, he didn’t proceed upon the stairs as there was a yellowish glow around him. It was Celestia’s magic!
He was being floated back! Má feared the unfair judgement he would just about to receive.
‘All is well,’ said Celestia to him, ‘Hasta was under a lot of stress when he found you. His mare is just about to have a foal.
So I’ve given him the day off of duty.’
Má was set back on the ground. There was no judgement.
‘Well, the archives await,’ she said happily.
When they finally arrived in the archives, Princess Celestia found him an old withered scroll. By unrolling, it showed that it was a map.
Má took a gaze upon it. There were numerous place upon it. Canterlot was quickly found. He used Canterlot and the mountain as points to find the waters from which he had drunken. He pointed at the waters and asked ‘Why does the water here taste so … repulsive?’
‘Repulsive? ... oh, you mean salty.’
‘Quite possibly, yes.’
‘That’s because it’s the sea.’
‘That’s the sea?,’ he asked in denial, ‘the sea is just a giant pool, filled with bad tasting water?
And not the unbordered plain, from which life comes?’
‘Where do you come from,’ asked Celestia on a concerned and slightly demanding tone.
‘I come from the land we only know as land. It has no sea nor day, night or stars.’
‘But, how did you get here.’
‘I, ran off of the land,’ he said in embarrassment.
‘Ha, you’re quite a bright one, aren’t you?,’ she joked, ‘so that’s how you came to Equestria?’
‘Oh, so this is Equestria?,’ he said excited, ‘tell me of the day, the night and the stars!’
‘I shall,’ she said while looking outside, ‘or you’ll see yourself.’
The sky had darkened since he ‘arrived’ in Canterlot. Má was suddenly overwhelmed wih the feeling of sleep. He heard celestia talk but he couldn’t understand her. Eventually he didn’t even hear her, nor see her. He was asleep.
Má awoke in his hut. ‘That’s weird,’ he thought to himself as got out of his bed, ‘How did I get here’. There was no mistaking, this was his hut. He stretched his legs for a bit before trotted outside. When he opened the door he couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing him. Everywhere were fires, burning the woods and huts. The Great Mountain was crumbling down into just a pathetic pile of pebbles. The ground began to shake as a figure appeared upon the bridge. It was big and menacing.
It said its name was Tooömmio and that this land will crumble into the abyss. Which it spontaneously did. It crumbled like a cookie would. The landcrumbs fell into a lightless abyss. The abyss of forgotten worlds. It was filled with creatures of horribly miss-made design. Eye-draining smells were floating about. Má became scared by all of this. So scared that he woke up in a lovely guestroom within Canterlot castle.
He got out of bed and exited the room. He searched around the castle for Celestia, looking into all the rooms he came across. He found Guestrooms, storage rooms, toilet rooms, the main hall and the guardroom. In the guardroom were a couple of guards playing some sort of card game. When they saw Má they invited him to play along. ‘No, thanks,’ he said, ‘I’m actually in a hurry. I’m looking for Celestia. Has any of you seen her?’ ‘Sadly for you,’ said the guard with most of the cards, ‘the princess has left for royal duties. She’ll be back in about three days, so that wouldn’t be too long.’ Má didn’t know what or how long a day was, let alone three. But he trusted his word on the length. Má took a seat on one of the empty cushion next to the table.
‘So,’ he asked, ‘how is this game played?’
Chapter: IIB: The Woods under the Sky
‘Where am I’: Thought Ielma to himself while waking up in one of the many forest bushes. He got up and trotted around for a bit. The forest was dark and sinister. The thought of staying there much longer frightened Ielma. So he started searching for a path leading out. What he ultimately found was a hut, just there, in the distance. He trotted over and knocked on the door. ‘Who is there at my door,’ said a voice as the door opened, ‘Where do you come here for.’
Now there was a creature standing before him. It’s coat was coloured black and white and it was wearing golden rings, around both the neck and a foreleg.
‘I’m lost and I’d like to know where I am,’ answered Ielma.
‘Well, come on in, And let the explaining begin.’
The zebra told him about the Everfree forest and Ponyville. She told all of it in rime, which surprisingly didn’t take much thinking time. He then told her of his friend, asking her if she could help him in his search.
‘Go to Ponyville’s mayor mare. Search in numbers she with you will share.’
‘Alright,’ said Ielma, ‘could you show me the way.’
She took him outside and pointed him in the direction of Ponyville. She then told him were to find this so called mayor mare. Ielma thanked Zecora for her time and went on his way to Ponyville.
