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 Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 3:58 pm
Chapter 1 -- Discovery of an Old world
Twilight finds an old map in the Two Sister's Library connecting the Breezie's portal to a long lost city.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:00 pm
“Hey Twilight?”
A curious voice broke the young princess’ concentration, one ear twitched towards the sound, her gaze following suit. She smiled to see the curious eyes of a young filly who had been working at a new potion for some time that day. “Yes Applebloom? Twilight answered gently, smiling endearing towards Applejack’s younger sister.
“I was wonderin’… Well, why is it that the love potion turned into a love poison?” Her brows knitted in concern, half fearing that she should have already known the answer.
Twilight, however, showed nothing but warm smiles, giving a curious thought. “Hmm, I don’t know. It could be a number of things, really!” She glanced upwards, as if she could see into her own mind, as she slowly cantered towards the full shelves. “There are so many confounding variables that could interfere with a proper potion. Poor weather conditions, changes in humidity, altitude… But then when you three tried it, the effects were much of the same. That leads me to believe that the recipe was all wrong. That’s what happens when you don’t gather proper empirical data before using something new…”
Twilight trailed off as she reached the shelf she intended to look at, glancing over her shoulder to see a rather confused little filly behind her. Applebloom bit her lip, and then promptly forced a wide smile— yet her worried eyes said the truth. Twilight laughed softly, “Oh, Applebloom! The first thing you have to learn about learning is… well, there are always things to learn!” She stated calmly, her horn glowing a soft violet as she drew the old book from the shelves, the very same book that the cutie crusaders had already been through back on hearts and hooves day.
Applebloom promptly frowned and tipped her head to one side. “Say what now?” it sounded an awful lot like her older sister, surely the mare she’d picked it up from.
The book levitated back to the table, with the young princess following short behind. She continued to speak as she flipped through the pages. “That is to say… If you don’t understand something, just ask! There’s no such thing as stupid questions, so long as the questions are seeking answers! Asking questions is the key to learning. And learning is hardly stupid, you see?” She ended her small explanation with a wide smile, ever so excited to discuss the powers of education, and it was taking everything she had not to go into further details about advanced education and straight into theology. Know your audience Twilight, she reminded herself quickly as she held her smile.
Applebloom laughed a little this time. “Gosh you’re really somethin’ Twilight... But I guess that’s true. Oh so what’s uuh… that… peering data then?”
“Empirical.” Twilight corrected gently, with a soft giggle. “It means based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic…” she paused a moment, realizing she’d lost Applebloom again. “In other words it means you test a potion, and see how it works BEFORE you go and use it on yourself! Or whatever your intended target is. Like that choking plant you grew; imagine if you had used it on one of your Granny’s trees instead of that little plant?”
Now that questions seemed to click something in the filly’s mind, and she gave a laugh. “Oh gosh Granny’d have a fit! Applejack would have my hide in a heartbeat, for sure! I’d be in an awful lotta’ trouble!”
Twilight nodded, trying to contain her own joy and enthusiasm for the world of research. “Yes exactly!” She gave a firm nod. “So that’s why we get empirical data, we test our potions and test again until we’re sure we’ve got it right.” She paused then, wondering if she should offer some sort of physical gesture of affection. A pat on the back, a ruffle of the hair…? She settled on asking her next question in the most cheerful manner possible. “What brought up the love poison anyway?”
“Well since we were learnin’ bout potions I was just curious… I don’t wanna make no plant poison or nothin’. Don’t worry though I’m not gonna try to make another love potion.“ Applebloom shuddered at the thought.
“Well good! I think you’ve managed to learn a wonderful thing today. “
“The Importance of testing? And um… Emperor data…?”
“Empirical.”
“Yeah! That’s it, eeem’pirikcal dayta!” The harder she tried to get the word right, the more her accent seemed to filter in. “Well, thankya kindly again miss twilight for lettin’ me come over. I gotta get back to the farm, Big Mac is gonna’ show me how he uses the plow today! I might get my cutiemark in plowin’!” The excited little filly carefully returned her own books to their proper spots on the shelves before she turned tail to burn some of that youthful energy galloping back towards the farm.
Twilight was left alone, feeling rather good about how her ‘Twilight time’ had helped advance the young fillies mind. There was something magical about working with younger ponies, their bright minds were always so eager to learn and accomplish… They were so desperate to get their cutie mark, but the truth was once someponies had it they stopped trying new things. With a small sigh of contentment she drew her gaze back to the book in-front of her, eyes moving as she skimmed through the pages.
It was a tragic story, truly. The prince only wanted the princess’ love, but surely he could have won her heart all on his own. It was sad to think he had so little confidence to seek her. If only Cadence had been there, then… she could have amplified what was already in their hearts and they could have lived ‘happily ever after’. Frowning a little she read the last line of the story, that the two had neglected their responsibilities of their kingdom, Tir neigh nOg…
Twilight’s ears drew back at the name. Tir neigh nog… it reminded her of the way the flutterponies spoke, but more importantly she’d remembered a book from the Two Sister’s library that spoke of a kingdom with the same name. “Spike!” she called out, struck with a moment of passion and curiosity. She needed to know their connected, and she needed to know now. “Spike did we bring that book?” She asked abruptly.
The young dragon glanced up from his dusting duty, raising a brow with the most sardonic of expressions. “Yeah, that’s descriptive.”
Twilight laughed at her companion’s sarcasm, realizing her own mistake. “It’s the one with the old map of the kingdoms? Ponyville wasn’t even on it yet...” she peered through the shelves, floating various books out of her way in her search. Spike was barely able to set his feather duster down before twilight was excitedly singing “Here it isss!”
Spike still came to curiously climb up onto the stool at Twilights side, peeking over her shoulder as she flipped through the pages. “Tir neigh nOg… Once home of a beautiful princess who held a magic like no other… She dictated her kingdom with love and kindness, known across the lands for her gentle manner and grace.” Twilight smiled at the thought, she sounded like a wonderful princess! “It says here she… oh my gosh! She was princess of the breezies! She was in charge of making the breeze that they traveled on back then! She’d escort them all the way across Equestria.”
Twlights body trembled with newfound excitement, tapping her hooves in joy, she could hardly stay still enough to read the next part. “She was a… a flutter pony? Her wings were fragile, resembling that of a dragonfly… they created a gentle breeze with every delicate flap… ” She fell silent again for a good few minutes, her wide eyes roving over the pages one after the other, soaking up every last drop of information it offered.
The alicorn’s expression slowly fell, brows now knitting in fret and alarm. It spoke of the prince and the princess and the cities decline into disarray. A great and powerful dragon had attacked the flutter ponies, and the death of the prince.
Spike took the moment to chime in, frowning a bit at her expression. “What is it Twilight?”
“It says here… that when the prince died, the princess’ heart died with him. She was consumed by a great hunger and began to draw her energy off her subjects love, darkening them one by one.” She took a moment’s pause to read ahead on the grim tale. “The kingdom tried to rise up against her, but their world was torn from ours by a powerful curse.”
A puzzled expression found its way onto the pony’s face, her horn glowing once more as she flipped through the pages towards the map. “Spike do you know what this means? The breezies, the portal? Foal mountain?!”
“Uh… no?”
“It MEANS that the city is trying to come back, the portal was just the door! It was locked but its unlocked now! And if there’s a lock, there must be a key!”
“Still not following.”
Twilight gave a frustrated huff, sending an annoyed look towards the dragon. She thought she was speaking so clearly, too! “Uughh Spike! Pay attention. Right here!” she tapped her hoof on the page. “There’s a town here, Hollow shades! I’ve never heard of that town in all my life! There’s a portal there, and maybe we can get it to open? Can you imagine what kind of lost treasures and knowledge there must be? The magic!” She nearly squealed in excitement. “We have to get the others!”
“I’ll get Rarity!” spike jumped at the opportunity, literally jumped—he hopped right off of the stool and rushed out the door to fetch his own princess.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:02 pm
Chapter 2 -- Journey to Flutter Forest
The gang travels to uncover the secrets of the portal into another world. Their search uncovers a mysterious ring of mushrooms in the middle of the forest.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:03 pm
Gathering together was an easy feat, Spike got rarity, the two then found pinkiepie, who found Rainbowdash and applejack, until all six ponies and one dragon wound up at Fluttershy’s place. Twilight had gone there first and foremost, eager to talk to her friend who was so invested in the Breezies; there was at least one pony who would be just as excited as she was.
Fluttershy’s excitement was there, though subtle… even the small smile on her lips told of a great joy. “Oh my, that’s wonderful news… You really think you can open the portal for good? Then no breezies would have to be stuck here in Equestria…” Twilight nodded, and fluttershy gave a small swallow. “And then they can come and visit whenever they like… oh… that is exciting.” Though her voice was soft and her tone had hardly changed, Twilight knew those words where honest and heartfelt.
The others came up one by one, pinkiepie was first to give an excited scream “SO CUTE.” The loud burst of energy caused many of the little animals within Fluttershy’s cottage to run and hide, and it looked briefly as though the shy pegasus might run and hide herself.
Rarity laughed warmly. “Darling, do try to contain yourself, I recall those breezies needing a very delicate touch.”
“I know!” Pinkie pie’s voice seemed to be elevated, and she gave a gleeful bound “That’s why I’m yelling now!! AND THEN I WON’T HAVE ANY MORE YELLS LEFT.”
Fluttershy flinched, raising her hoof to rub at her ear with a laugh. “I… I suppose that’s… Uh… smart?” She offered half a smile, not too sure if Pinkiepie could ever actually “run out of yells”…
Rainbow dash gave a roll of her eyes, growing impatient with their “Come on then what are we waiting for?! Let’s get over there already and rip that portal wide open!”
“You can’t rip a portal Rainbowdash. You have to expand its circumference!” Twilight chimed, as if she were talking to a young filly who had just said the silliest of things.
“I know that!” Or… wait, she had no idea. Rainbow’s ears flattened against her head, “Whatever, it’s just an expression.” She defended quickly, crossing her hooves as she spun around. Her wings kept her suspended in the air, moving towards the direction Foal mountain was in to try and hurry the others along.
Applejack finally spoke up, “Well whatcha waitin’ for?” she grinned towards Twilight. “I’m sure you’re itchin’ to get your horn on that portal!”
Foal Mountain was a quick train-ride north, stopping at Canterlot to continue the trek on hoof. The vast mountain range grew closer, until finally the falls were within sight. The light mist floating on the breeze away from the roaring water was refreshing. Fluttershy was the first to lift her nose, eyes falling shut as she took in a deep breath of the clean, clear air.
“It’s gorgeous isn’t it?” Rarity commented on the subtle gesture, smiling knowingly as Fluttershy gave her a nod in response. “I barely had a chance to even glance at the structure in the Breezie’s village; it was all so magical though… au naturel!”
“Yeah you gotta admit those little mushroom houses were pretty sweet!” Rainbow Dash interjected.
The idle chatter faded as they approached the cliff face that had held the portal. There was a touch of magic resonating there, and Twilights horn began to glow in reaction to it, similar to the way Rarity’s reacted when there were precious gems near. “Hmm.” She mused aloud, narrowing her eyes as she inspected the otherwise blank rock.
“There’s something here but… it’s not the source of the magic?” she lifted her head, giving a puzzled look. “I don’t know where its coming from.” She admitted with a frown. “Rainbowdash, Fluttershy… do you think you could fly over and see if there’s anything out in the forest?” She gestured with her hoof, “The city was supposed to be somewhere in there.
“Of course!” Dash grinned, already taking flight. “Come on Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy hesitated, however, ears falling back against her head. “Oh… I don’t know… um, are you sure the forest is safe? I mean the Everfree Forest is pretty dangerous…” she fretted, biting her lower lip.
“Fluttershy! Geez, we’ve been through the Everfree Forest DOZENS of times! What’s the worst that could happen?” Rainbow dash began to fly forward, giving no choice but for Fluttershy to follow her or let her fly off on her own.
Fluttershy frowned, slowly rising up off the ground. She gave a pleading look over her shoulder.
“Don’t worry Fluttershy, you’re just scouting. If anything looks dangerous just come back.” Twilight assured rationally, giving her a reassuring smile.
With a sigh the hesitant pegasus took after her rather fellow winged friend, eyes scanning the forest beneath them. The forest trees were thick and richly colored. Bright greens and mosses, in some places it even looked nearly blue. The vegetation seemed to go on forever, all the way to the neighboring mountains that landmarked the railroads to Manehattan, and to the other side the hills of Fillydelphia.
For a moment it seemed their search would be fruitless, until Rainbow Dash spotted a small part in the brush below. “Hey! I see something!” She rushed down, fearless towards the mysterious ring of mushrooms. Landing she trotted around it, while Fluttershy flew down slow and cautious, looking around the trees rapidly. “Rainbow Dash… please be careful…” She worried aloud.
Calm down, it’s just a bunch of mushrooms.” Dash scoffed, nudging one of the many toadstools with her hoof. “No danger here.” She sighed, a little disappointed by the lack of any climax to their little adventure.
Fluttershy’s curiosity piqued, stepping closer to peer at the tiny fungi. They were arranged in an odd way, a seemingly perfect circle.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:15 pm
Chapter 3 -- The Dragon of Tir neigh nOg
A frightful foe emerges from the forest!
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:15 pm
A sudden sound interrupted their peaceful observations of the ring, a sharp snap of wood breaking. Fluttershy’s heart was in her chest, hammering heavily against her ribs, her eyes widened just as far as they could, glancing around the woods. “What was that?” She whispered quickly, with urgency in her tone. Her wings unfurling to stand straight, she stood ready to fly up and away towards safety.
Rainbow Dash felt a small shudder run up her spine at the sound, her brows knitting in concern as she stood straighter, laughing a bit. “Oh… haha, must be… a bird or something, right Fluttershy?” Oh please be a bird, she begged inwardly.
As it turned out there was a small bird that came to land, chirping and tweeting. It seemed to relax the animal-enthusiast pony, who stepped closer to it. “What was that little guy?” she chimed sweetly, trying to hear him better. The bird flapped its wings while holding tightly to the branch, squawking loudly before it flew off. “Wait, don’t go…!” Fluttershy begged softly, frowning as he flew out of sight. “What did you mean a lizard…?” She muttered, already the bird was too far to hear her soft voice, so it turned into a rhetorical question.
“A… lizard?” Rainbowdash interjected, tipping her head in confusion. “What kind of giant lizard makes…” Now it was her turn to widen her eyes, jaw going slack with shock. “D-d-d-d-d-!” she stammered, drawing Fluttershy’s curiosity. “Dragon!”
“Well yes I suppose that could be thought of as a giant lizard…” she blinked a few extra times.
“No, DRAGON.” Dash insisted now, taking off into the air.
Fluttershy cautiouned a glance over her shoulder, coming eye to eye… well, eyes to eye, with the large scaley beast. “Oh.” She mumbled, “You meant…” ears drooping, “A dragon… was behind me.” She swallowed thickly, mind going blank for that brief moment of panic.
The large reptilian beast opened its mouth to give a warning roar. It unfurled its wings, mindless of the trees all around it. The branches cracked and splintered to make room for the sudden wingspan, leaves rustled as they were torn from the trees, taking off in to flight.
Fluttershy’s scream could be heard all the way back to the rocky face that the rest of their group had been left on, startling them all at once.
“What in tarnation?!” Applejack stood, hurrying to hop up the few rocks that lead to the scenic view of the forest. What she saw was rather shocking. “Jumping june-bugs on a trampoline!” She exclaimed, jaw dropping.
“A dragon!?” Rarity’s voice pitched, in awe and shock. “Oh my goodness, Rainbow Dash!” her heart felt as though it had plummeted at the scene before them.
Rainbow Dash was flapping as hard as she could, hooves out straight ahead to reduce the windresistance as she shot away from the forest like a bullet. The dragon wasn’t fast, but each flap of its massive wingspan drew it closer to the pegasus. A group gasp came as the dragon bit and gnashed its teeth together, desperate to snap the little pony up in one bite.
“We have to help her!” Twilight chimed quickly, though she found herself at a distinct loss for ideas. If Fluttershy couldn’t stop the dragon, who could…? Furthermore, was Fluttershy even okay? She couldn’t see her anywhere. But Rainbow Dash was a far more pressing matter, “Pinkiepie! Try to shout as loud as you can and get the dragon off of Rainbow Dash’s tail! Rarity! Tie your scarves together and attach them to those two trees so we can trip him. Applejack, try to lasso it by the mouth, we need to give Rainbow Dash enough time to get away from it. I have a spell that can reduce its size, but we need it to stay still!”
The three ponies nodded firmly, getting to work without question. Each and every one of them trusted Twilights quick wit and tactical mind. Rarity set to pulling each scarf and swatch of fabric from her saddle-bags with a soft glow of her magic. Applejack drew her trusty rope, slinging it into the air with a swish and a swosh as it spun in circles above her head, giving a nod towards pinkiepie.
Pinkie pie was up the rockface in no time, possessing a strange amount of unnatural ability to defy all physics, she merely bounded up and into the dragons view. “Yoooo hooooo!! Mister pumice breath! Over heeee~re!” The dragons head turned, growling faintly under his breath, smoke rising from his nostrils. Who knew if the beast could understand pony language, but he seemed to take offince to the name he was called. “Yeah that’s right! Yo’ mama was a skink!” Pinkiepie chimed with a giggle, quickly bounding off the rock just before the dragon’s talons struck it.
The boulders crashed and rumbled, falling down the slope of the cliff. Applejack saw her opportunity, flinging the rope around the dragons muzzle and giving it a firm tug. Yet the dragon was undeterred, circling up ahead, growling and grumbling as the rope provided no more than a minor nuisance. Applejack soon lost her grip on the rope, giving a short cry as she barely caught herself. “Shoot!”
“Its okay!” Twilight assured quickly, while rainbowdash swooped down to join them. She landed, heaving for breath, but her concern was elsewhere. “Where’s Fluttershy??” Her heart sank to see that her friend hadn’t followed her, which meant… she abandoned her? “No, no she’s here right? Tell me she’s here.”
Twilight could only swallow, avoiding the question. “Dash you and Pinkie Pie need to get him to land so Applejack can grab the rope again.”
Rainbow Dash’s heartbreak was easy to read on her face, torn between helping her friends and returning to her lost comrade. Either way her loyalty was split. “No, no I need to know that Fluttershy is okay!” She begged, but Twilight shook her head.
“None of us will be okay if we don’t stop this dragon! You have to focus!”
With a snort of frustration Rainbow Dash relented to the orders, offering the dragon a prompt glare. . “Alright ugly!” She goaded it, using that fear and frustration she took off to the skies again. With newfound determination she zoomed in to land on his snout, jumping off from it with a kick of her hooves, drawing its attention long enough to swoop back beside pinkie pie.
The bounding pink pony took off in the opposite direction, shouting and hollering all the while.
“Scarves at the ready dear!” Rarity called out, wondering precisely what Twilight had planned.
“Alright, get him to land!” Twilight prompted quickly, biting her lip as she readied her spell.
Rainbow Dash had taken off on the baton passing of the dragon, sweeping in close to the ground the dragon had no choice but to land. It roared in frustration, forcing the rocks around them to shudder and quake.
It gave Applejack the opportunity to grab the rope again, snapping his mouth shut with a mighty yank. The dragon’s tail flipped and slammed into the ground in dismay, slowly backing away from applejack, forcing her to drag her hooves against the dirt.
“Good, good!” Twilight exclaimed, through Applejack seemed to have her doubts as to how it was ‘good’ that she was being dragged around like one of Winona’s chewtoys.
The ploy was successful, however, and everypony would soon see why. The dragon backed up enough to catch his back claws on the scarves, stumbling enough for Applejack to pull him off balance and fall. Twilight’s horn glowed, shutting her eyes tight as she focused all her energy onto the enraged beast.
There was only so long a tripped dragon would stay on the ground, the massive creature soon managed to right himself, glaring bitterly at the ponies before him. “Almost… there, just… a little more!” Twilight managed to grunt out, strain in her voice from the effort in her spell.
“I can’t hold him—“ Applejack warned.
“Hold it right there mister!” A soft yet stern voice interrupted, drawing the dragons attention. “You think you’re so tough! Flapping your wings all over so carelessly destroying little bird’s nests!”
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash was quick to heave a shout of relief, thanking Celestia that her friend was alright and unharmed.
Fluttershy’s focus was undeterred, landing with a slight huff, she stomped straight up to the dragon, giving it the glare to end all glares. “And then you have the nerve to try and eat my friends! Oooh! You’re in for such a time out!” Slowly the dragon began to shrink back, while simultaneously literally shrinking. “You’re nothing more than a big.” She stomped her hoof, growing ever closer “Mean.” Another stomp, “Bully!” finally the dragon was no more than a small gecko, and in his newfound state of vulnerability he gave a small squeak.
Fluttershy fixed her gaze on him, pausing a moment for effect… she finally relented after a few long moments of staring into his eyes. “Are you sorry?” He nodded; “Really sorry?” the nod grew more enthusiastic, as the now tiny creature curled his tail around his body, raising it up to hide his face behind. “Alright, then.” Fluttershy finally smiled, leaning down to nudge her nose under the dragon. “We forgive you.” She stated firmly.
“Nice job Fluttershy!” Twilight chimed in “You kept him still long enough for the spell to work!”
“And did you SEE Applejacks lasso? She was like WHAM!” Pinkiepie gave a swipe of her hoof into the air. “Bam!” another one, “SHAZAM!” finally a buck into the air to conclude her enthusiastic demonstration.
“Aw shucks, that’s nothin’ compared to Rarity’s scarves, I never woulda been able to keep that rascal on the ground if it weren’t for her. Those things are tougher than they look!”
Rarity laughed “Oh well I do double back triple stitch them… Oh but that’s beside the point. Rainbow Dash, you were so dexterous! My, I mean the way you ran circles around him…”
Rainbow laughed, “Yeah it was pretty awesome.” She boasted pridefully. “Bus so was Pinkie Pie…! She was just as fast on the ground as I was in the air, and that’s saying something!” Trotting over to Fluttershy’s side she gave her fellow pegasi a soft nudge of her shoulder. “I’m sorry I left you back there… I thought you were right behind me. Man, am I glad you’re okay.”
Fluttershy shook her head, gazing at the dragon with crossed eyes. “Oh… yes, I’m so sorry for worrying you… When he took off like that he knocked this cute little robin’s nest straight out of the tree… I had to help those sweet little birds put it back…! Oh yes… Um, Twilight?”
“Yes Fluttershy?”
“Well um… you see, we found something interesting…. Oh I don’t know if it’s what you were looking for but, it was rather curious sight…”
“Oh yeah that’s right!” Rainbow perked up. “There’s like this circle of mushrooms or something out there, and that’s where the dragon was. Like… kinda like well… he was guarding it or something.”
"Really?!" Twilight gasped, excitment spreading across her face.
"That mean something to you?" Rainbow Dash quirked a brow, tipping her head to the side in confusion.
"Oh my gosh!" Twilight squeaked, doing an excited little hop. "Do you think its a fairy ring? Well what else could it be? That must be where the magic is coming from! I've only read about them! Fae use an entirely different kind of magic than unicorns do...!" The excitement was practically bubbling out of the giddy alicorn.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:11 pm
Chapter 4 -- Fairy Ring
Twilight and gang discover a portal to another world!
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:35 pm
The entourage of ponies soon found themselves in the heart of the forest, surrounded by floating orbs of light that left a tingles of magic on the pony’s coats.
“You sure this is it?” Applejack remained skeptical, eyeing the ring of mushrooms. “I mean I get these things on the farm all the time…. Never thought nuttin’ was special ‘bout ‘em.” She tipped her head, hoping to see the value Twilight saw from another angle. But no, they were still just mushrooms.
Twilight, however, shook her head. “Oh these aren’t any ordinary mushrooms.”
“They aint…?”
“Nope! Lets see… if I just, mhmn…” she muttered to herself, trotting around the ring carefully, “And then… yes…” finally she stood in the middle, shutting her eyes as a faint glow of blue overcame her body from horn to hoof. “That should do it.”
With not another word of warning she vanished, leaving her friends bewildered and confused.
“I guess we follow her?” Applejack guessed, slowly and cautiously stepping into the circle to where Twilight had stood, the same glow encasing her form before she too vanished.
One by one they made their way into this strange portal, appearing again to find twilight staring in awe at mushrooms tall as trees, little lanterns lit the pathways and small windows and doors could be seen carved and built into the structure of the fungi.
“Woah…” Rainbow dash was the first to speak up, jaw dropping in awe.
“Oh my heavens, this place is gorgeous…” Rarity eyed the cobblestone roads and dim blue lights floating on the soft wind like cotton seeds. At the end of the trail there stood another pony, much like them, yet with the translucent wings of a butterfly. The stranger seemed as shocked as they did, glancing around… she quickly darted off towards the heart of the village.
As the ponies followed the path into the heart of these lands, more and more butterfly winged and dragonfly winged ponies started to gather, creating quite a commotion. Mutters came hushed here and there, whispering to one another at the strange new mares to enter their home.
Finally a pony stepped forward. A beautiful royal purple coat and gold flecked hair, his body was as slender as a mare’s but he stood as tall as a stallion. His voice, when he spoke, was rich and deep. “Forgive us strange travelers… but we have not seen nor heard tale of a pony of your kind in centuries. Where do you hail from?”
The strange accent caused a few strange looks to be shared between the 6 friends, before twilight stepped forward to speak on the behalf of her group. It was only then that the ponies noticed her horn and wings, the word ‘princess’ flaring up between them and spreading like a wildfire. “Well… We, uh… hail from ponyville.” This brought a befuddled look upon the stallions face. “Uh… near canterlot.”
Another wave of whispers surged before each pony fell silent again. The flutter stallion glanced about his people, giving a small nod. “Yes I have heard stories of Canterlot, and the two princesses. Are you one of them?”
“Me?” Twilight laughed suddenly, cheeks flushing. “Oh no, I’m not, I mean I’m a princess but I’m not…” she chuckled hard enough to give a little snort, which only made the blush rise. She quickly cleared her throat, more than embarrassed. “I’m not Celestia or Luna!” Her laughter died down, and her ears lowered as she tried to recompose herself.
Taking another deep breath she regained herself, speaking up once more! “I… It’s been a long time since anypony has heard of you either. Where have you all been?”
The unnamed stallion’s expression softened a little, nodding as he looked to his right, then to his left, checking to see if his kin all held the same thoughts. “We are the remaining of Princess Chrysalis kingdom. We sought refuge in this land to be free of her tormented heart…”
Twilight gave a nod of understanding, glancing back to the dragon curled up in Fluttershy’s mane. “The dragon then… the stories are true! The Prince was killed by dragon and the princess went….wait.” She stopped suddenly, quirking a brow high. “Princess… Chrysalis?”
“Yes, she was a kind and benevolent ruler before she became betrothed and found herself a queen.”
"Ohmigosh! Chrysalis? That crazy pony that was like “om nom nom love”, and then princess Cadence was like pew pew with her love and swoosh she was like “There aint enough room in this town for two of us” and then she fought and she won and and the changelings were all banished to the badlands and she and shining armor lived—“ Finally Pinkie Pie had to slow down enough to take a deep breath, wheezing as her chest expanded again with newfound air. “Happily ever after?!”
Twilight frowned at her friend’s lack of tact, sighing a little. “What she means to say is… well, we’ve met Queen Chrysalis. So that must mean… she was once a flutter pony.” Twilight assumed, to which the stallion nodded. “That’s so sad… But I thought her subjects were the changelings?”
Faerie fire nodded to that as well, giving a deep sigh. “I’m afraid that not all of our kind remained strong in the face of such animosity. The dragon reigned over our kingdom, and Queen Chrysalis grew hungrier and hungrier. Some of us were consumed by hunger too, desperate for the ponies that they lost… or so the tale goes. To protect our new home I have maintained the portal for some time, a task that has been passed down for generations. Which goes to say… how did you arrive here?”
Twilight chuckled at that, “Well… like Pinkie Pie said, Chrysalis was banished from our lands. I guess without her near your magic knows that… well, it’s safe. And with the dragon defeated, you can come visit equestrian any time you like. I know there’s so much I’d like to learn about your magic.”
“And how fast you can fly with those little things!” Rainbow Dash added, taking a step forward to flap her ever so impressive wings!
“And how in tarnation did you get your mushrooms to grow so dang high?” Applejack added, curious about the agriculture here.
“Oh I would be hard pressed to know of your decorating skills, these little homes are just so quaint. Oh, I feel so inspired.” Rarity added.
Pinkie Pie jumped for joy, “And WHAT ARE YOUR NAMES?!” she practically vibrated with pent up energy. “Oh I gotta know I gotta know! What are your birthdays?! I gotta read your horoscopes!”
“Um… if it… wouldn’t be too difficult… I would love to learn more about the Breezies. I studied them for a little bit… but so little is known…” Fluttershy added, rubbing one hoof against her leg, bowing her head a bit.
Faerie fire looked over the group, smiling warmly as he nodded. “There are ponies here who would be thrilled to teach you.” He gestured over the crowd, the many different flutterponies gathering closer and segmenting into groups. “Twilight was it… If you wish to follow me I’d be happy to tell you more about the magic used to maintain Hollow Shades…”
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:51 pm
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