A quick adventure to find their cutie marks... and nothing more. That was all this was... right?
Trailblazing. That would be an interesting cutie mark, right? Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom thought so! And what better place than in the Everfree Forest? Little did they know though, that within the dark forest is a gateway. A gateway to a world so unlike their own and so terrifying, that nary a soul will speak its name. Nor the name of those who reside within... Ancient forces of primeval and infinite power within their domain. They have been watching for generations. Unbeknownst to the citizens of Equus. Never seen... but always watching. Always meddling.
***
Set in the universe of Storms of Change though, reading the prior is not required.
It was a beautiful, spring day in Ponyville. The kind of day that you just couldn’t waste away indoors. And for three young fillies, it was the perfect day to search for their special talents.
“Okay girls, listen up! Today is the day! We’re going to finally find our cutie marks!”
“You said that last time.”
“Quiet, Sweetie. This time I’m sure of it!”
“Well ah’m up for anything at this point. What you got fer us, Scoots?”
“I told you to stop calling me that! Ahem, right. So here we go. The Everfree Forest! I think we can beat it!”
“We’ve already tried that. Several times.”
Three foals were planning on how their day would go, and were making plans to find their special talents. As was their almost ritualistic behavior at this point. Still, the three girls always managed to find their way through by each other’s side.
At least, that’s what they believed.
“I know…”
The young, orange pegasus said.
“But this time we’re going in with a plan by me! And we all know that I’ve never planned an excursion there! Besides, we’re not doing much of anything. Just something called trailblazing.”
“We’re going to burn down the Everfree Forest?”
Came the squeaky voice of a unicorn.
“No, silly. Trailblazin’ is when ponies go out and make their own trails within a wild area. Granny Smith is always sayin’ that Ma and Pa loved to do it together… back before Ah was even a thought in their minds… Somethin’ about ‘secret rendezvous?’ Ah didn’t really understand it.”
“Ooooooh! That makes more sense!”
“Exactly!”
Scootaloo proclaimed proudly.
“So whaddaya say girls?”
Scootaloo put her hoof out, waiting for her friends to reciprocate. Applebloom was the first to react by shrugging.
“Couldn’t hurt. Ah’m in. Gotta keep you two from gettin’ in trouble after all!”
Applebloom snickered, before putting her hoof against Scootaloo’s
“Hey! We always come out okay, don’t we?”
Scootaloo sounded indignant.
“Well, I’m not one to miss out doing something with you two. I’m in!”
Sweetie Belle eagerly shoved her hoof in, a little too forcefully, causing Scootaloo to wince at the contact.
“Glad to see you eager Sweetie… but careful with the hooves! That hurt!”
Sweetie Belle looked down at the ground, and scuffed her hooves.
“Sorry…”
Scootaloo felt her irritation melting away.
“Ah, don’t worry about it Sweetie. I know you didn’t mean to!”
Sweetie brightened at that, and shot Scootaloo an absolutely radiant smile.
Applebloom coughed.
“So, trailblazin’ hmm… We’re going to need some equipment. We have a storage shed by th’ farm. Might be a good place to start, and Ah can go and get my first aid supplies!”
Scootaloo blinked at Applebloom.
“What exactly do you think we’re going to be doing?”
Applebloom rolled her eyes.
“This is you we’re talkin’ about here.”
Scootaloo bristled.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Applebloom stuck her tongue out at Scootaloo, and blew a raspberry.
“Better safe than sorry, Ah say.”
“Where did you even learn first aid?”
Sweetie Belle asked in awe.
“Started practicin’ after that one incident with the cockatrice. Even though it wouldn’t have helped particularly well there… Ah figured it still wouldn’t hurt to know.”
“She says it so casually…”
Scootaloo whispered to Sweetie Belle, who then giggled.
“Ah’m now certified through the Ponyville General Hospital’s course!
Applebloom stated proudly.
“That’s awesome, Bloom!”
Scootaloo said in genuine happiness.
“Awe shucks, thanks Scoots.”
Scootaloo frowned.
“I still don’t want to be called that…”
“Did my ears deceive me though!?”
Sweetie Belle asked with a cheeky grin.
“What’re you going on about?”
Scootaloo asked, and Applebloom echoed.
“Ah’m with Scootaloo here.”
“It sounded to me like Scoots was impressed by you!”
“Why do you gotta call me that… and I can be impressed!”
Applebloom chuckled.
“Heck of a good job showin’ it.”
Scootaloo crossed her forehooves, but decidedly did not pout. She was too cool for something like that. Yeah, too cool. And nopony would tell her otherwise! "Whatever you two... let's get ready."
***
Scootaloo would never admit it, but the Everfree Forest gave her the creeps! Just something about it seemed ominous… malevolent… unnatural. She could feel herself shivering, just at the edge of it.
“Awwwww, is somepony scared?”
Sweetie Belle teased.
“I’m not scared! It’s just cold here. Yeah, that’s it!”
Scootaloo turned around to take in her companions. Applebloom had two saddlebags with big red crosses on them on either side of her body. She also had a canteen on a chord strapped across her chest. On her back, she carried a small backpack that she claimed contained camping supplies in case they got lost.
Scootaloo didn’t know where they’d be without their resourceful friend at this point. It used to be so much simpler before… but the three of them were growing up. About to graduate from primary school. Scootaloo still couldn’t fly per say… but she managed to hover at times. Her primary mode of transportation was still her scooter, but she was making progress!
Sweetie Belle looked determined and ready for anything. Upon Applebloom’s insistence, all three of them had taken canteens of water. And Sweetie had managed to procure flameless torches, a portable light spell, Applebloom had said, for all of them too. Sweetie Belle had the canteen strapped across her chest, and the torch in her magical grasp. She too, had a small backpack, and saddlebags full of trail mixes and other items useful while hiking.
Sweetie Belle… Sweetie Belle was always cute. Even Scootaloo had to admit that. But that child-like cuteness was gradually turning into something else, Scootaloo could see Sweetie turning into a truly beautiful mare. Scootaloo wasn’t sure how to feel about that. And she was graceful, dancing lessons with her sister and a private tutor making sure of that.
Applebloom was showing more and more interest in learning about how the world worked. Her newly acquired skills in first aid showed that. On top of that, the way she was always prepared… Scootaloo had to respect that. Applebloom was smart, Scootaloo always knew that. It was just coalescing more and more into a mechanic’s eye of sorts. She had a natural skill for looking at something, and figuring out how it worked.
As for Scootaloo herself… She still wasn’t sure. She kept herself fit, going on runs, practicing her limited flight, even swimming some. But beyond that? She sighed. She had no idea what she wanted to do. Her friends were all finding things they were interested in. Sweetie Belle was learning more about Canterlot High Culture, the art of dancing, and even learning about what it meant to be a lady of refinement. Rarity couldn’t be prouder.
Applebloom was becoming a jack of all trades, with a speciality in equipment maintenance and repair. But Scootaloo? She just had her silly plans for their cutie marks. She felt a warm hoof on her shoulder. She jumped a little, being brought back into reality. The smiling face of Sweetie Belle greeted her. Another warm hoof found her other side, she turned to look at Applebloom, who looked worried.
“I’m fine girls…”
“No offense, Scootaloo, but Ah don’t believe you. If you don’t want to talk about it though, Ah understand.”
“Yeah! Whatever happens, it’ll always be us three, right?”
Sweetie Belle said in her smiling voice. Scootaloo felt a lump in her throat. Yeah. Everything would be okay. Just so long as they had each other. Scootaloo’s two friends pulled her into a hug. One of their old group hugs, with Scootaloo in the middle. Scootaloo couldn’t have asked for better friends.
“Right…”
She said after a while, before wiping her eyes clean of entirely nonexistent tears.
“Let’s get going. No time to waste.”
As she led them into the forest, eyes as ancient as existence, and older than known reality were watching them. And those eyes flashed once, before fading into the darkness of the forest.
The true purpose of fairytales, many argue, is to teach us, especially children, a lesson.
She couldn’t feel anything at first. Then her head smacked smartly against a root, or a rock or something. It didn’t really matter. What did matter was finding out why she was being dragged, and who was dragging her. She bit back a cry of pain as she felt thorns stabbing into her. Pulling off her coat. The first thing she knew she needed to do was figure out how she’d even gotten into this position.
I was… in a forest. I had… one? No… two? Two. Two companions. They’re my… friends. I feel like they’re my friends but… what were their names? Sweetie and… Bloom and… She couldn’t remember anything else. She felt she should but she couldn’t.
Forest, friends… and now I’m here? Her head was pounding. That would explain the abrupt shift from exploring a shack they’d never seen before, and to now. She couldn't see the sky, all around her were hedgerows. Another thorn pierced her coat, she couldn’t hold back the cry of pain this time. She heard some kind of a grunt, before she felt something hit her on the head. But that was hardly a concern for her. In the short instance before her brain winked into unconsciousness, she realized two very important things.
Her name. She couldn’t remember her name. And instead of two ponies she was friends with, she now could only remember the face of one, and the names of neither.
***
When she opened her eyes next, she was no longer being dragged. She checked herself over. Wings, small. Fur… a reddish yellow? Orange. That was the color. Her mane was purple, she could remember that at least, and she could see streaks of missing fur where her skin was exposed in strips.
As if I had been dragged through thorns.
The next thing she noticed was that it was eerily quiet, and she was alone. Her wounds stung, but they seemed to be healing. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but she seemed to recall being able to heal quickly from scrapes and cuts while adventuring. How she knew this was beyond her, because she couldn’t remember the adventures, just that she’d gone on them.
Well… if nothing’s happening, do something and make something happen.
She opened her mouth to call out a simple ‘hello?’ but no sound came out. She paused for a second. She tried again. Her mouth was definitely moving, and she could hear the words in her head… but no sound was coming out. She tapped on her throat, confused, nothing seemed off… but she was far from a medical pony.
She was in a courtyard, the sky looked like broken glass. She wasn’t sure, but she was fairly certain the sky wasn’t supposed to look like broken glass. Shapes spun slowly in the air, distorting light as it shined from everywhere and nowhere. Despite that, she couldn’t see anything more than that. She couldn’t even see that she was in a courtyard she just… knew. It was too dark to make out any shapes, despite the light shining overhead.
She heard a clicking noise, like one of the old clocks in antique stores, and suddenly she could see with the light that was shining. The courtyard was plain. No fountain, no bridge across a small river, but it was still a courtyard. She heard more of the ticking and clicking sounds behind her, and she felt a creeping sense of dread slowly crawl across her body, moving from her spine through her wings, and to her head. She shivered, but still could not utter a sound. In fact, she found that she couldn’t move, not to even see whatever was moving around behind her. A set of armor was placed in front of her, but she couldn’t see any limbs or magical aura around it, yet it was intentionally placed within eyesight of her by something she couldn’t see.
She knew she would fit in the armor; she didn’t know how she knew, but she knew it was hers. The armor was ornate, an engraving of a willow tree taking the centermost position, where her chest would be. The armor had slots that her wings could fit through, vine engravings circling down and away from the wing slots, curling around the willow tree’s trunk and largest branches. The pattern was strangely beautiful. There was no helm, but a scabbard was laying in front of the armor, the hilt of a weapon was just visible. A crucifix was engraved upon the scabbard, and it was fastened to a belt of leather.
And then she was moving. Moving towards the armor. The uneasy, creeping feeling never leaving her.
Like waking up at three in the morning, and finding your front door swinging gently open in the breeze, even though you knew you closed it the night before.
It was then that she realized she was fastening the armor on herself. Securing straps, putting segments together. It was heavy, heavier than she felt she should have been able to lift, yet she continued securing the segmented armor in place. Piece by piece. The scabbard fell neatly to her side, not touching the ground, and not getting in the way of movement. The last pieces she secured to her body were the chest pieces. Once the willow tree was made whole, she could hear it creaking as she moved in the armor. She didn’t feel its weight, it was almost as if it was a second layer of skin over her patchy fur. Once she’d secured the segments of armor upon herself, she then knew she was free to move. The creeping feeling receded– slightly though, not fully. The first thing she did was turn around to see what was behind her.
But she saw nothing. Nothing but… smoke, and mists. The smoke and mists slowly faded, but not entirely, revealing a double doorway. The same willow tree that adorned her armor was engraved in the oak, almost as if burned into it. Half the tree on one door, half the tree on the other. The doors slowly swung inwards in eerie attunement.
She knew she had to move through the doors. There was no reasoning, just an innate knowledge that she had to move through. She started to march towards the looming doors before. As she approached, the doors warped, and bulged over and around her, stretching until they were her entire world. And then she was through them.
A hallway she couldn’t see before was suddenly there. And she kept marching. Mirrors lined both sides, and she could see herself marching tenfold. Smoke curled around and over the mirrors, distorting some of the reflections.
Smoke and mirrors.
Music sprung up around her, reed pipes, whistles and accordions could be heard harmonizing with each other. She was joined by one, then two, then four and onwards until a whole company of armored creatures flanked her on all sides, with her at the head. Each had similar armor to her own, but her armor was the only one made of gold.
She didn’t know her armor was gold until she walked through the doors. And she saw the others in silver. Subordinates.
The word drifted through her mind. She moved to the position she knew she was assigned to, and stamped her left hoof once, then turned about. Her subordinates all stamped in sync, but did not turn about. She silently stared over them, not focusing on any creature, looking towards the hallway she had marched through which now didn’t exist. In its place were three double doors.
One, made of oak, had the willow tree. To its left was a door made of spruce. Vines crawled across it like they would the ground. And to the center door’s right was one of mahogany. A crucifix was engraved on this one. She silently waited. For what? She wasn’t certain. She just knew it would be made known to her when it was time. And in the background, weaving through the notes of the pipes, whistles and accordions, that ticking sound from earlier was always present. Always watching. The cold, eerie feeling started to slowly crawl across her body once more. But she stood rigid, expecting her subordinates to do the same no matter what.
She stamped her left hoof twice, and the company stamped their right hooves, then turned about as one unit, just as the doors opened in perfect sync. Through the Willow Tree door, smoke and mist poured through, moving in a lifelike fashion. Through the door of Vines, emerged a great beast. Four meters in height, and impossibly large for the door it had just moved through, it walked beside the lifelike smoke. The door of the Crucifix revealed a clockwork being, ticking to a different tune than what she was already hearing. The three figures glided, lumbered and clattered across the floor. Her company parted as one to make three rows within their ranks. Three thrones, decorated according to their corresponding doors, shimmered into existence behind her, but she did not move, nor acknowledge them.
She would later wonder how she knew what to do, and why she was front and center of the company.
Once the three figures had set upon their respective thrones, the music swelled and became more intense. Simple single doors started materializing throughout the room, bringing in creatures of all shapes and sizes, before disappearing from reality as easily as they had appeared. There were bipedal creatures, quadrupedal creatures, apes, wolves, ape-like wolves, sentient birds, serpents of all sizes and anything in between.
Guests.
Again, the word drifted through her mind like smoke. She stamped her right hoof once, and her company sank into the crowd, murmuring and speaking amongst the guests. She lifted her hoof to join them, then froze.
Stay. Guard. Observe.
She planted her hoof down, and stood up straight. Her eyes drifted over the crowd, and she knew she could speak once more.
Silence.
She clamped her mouth shut. Even if she could now speak, she was not permitted to. She was to be used as the room’s sole surveyor. Her keen eyes were to not miss a single thing. And she would act only if it were in defense of the three behind her.
And all around her, that ticking continued. A timer, a clock perhaps. She didn’t know. She didn’t need to know. It wasn’t her place to know.
