SkyFly awoke to find himself alive and somewhere he didn't recognize. He looked up in front of him, and conveniently enough there was wooden sign saying 'Welcome to PonyLand'. He made it. He was here in PonyLand. SkyFly stood up and brushed some dust off of himself. He looked around for any signs of civilization. Off to the East he saw a castle, a glistening castle as tall as Canterlot Mountain.Off to the west he saw a forest as far as the eye could see. North he saw a rather large town. And to the south he saw the sky covered in dark black clouds over a light forest. He decided to venture to the northern town to find somepony to help him.
As he ventured into a forested area he heard foals giggling. It sounded distant enough to not be a bother for him. Soon he heard the giggling coming closer. Then closer....then closer.
"Wh-who's there! Show yourself!", Sky said as he stopped and looked around frantically.
Then the giggling stopped.
"Is, is somepony there? H-hello?", He asked nervously.
Then a grey earthpony appeared out of nowhere. "Why Hello there!", The pony said.
SkyFly screamed and fell onto the ground in fear, "NO! P-please don't hurt me!"
The earthpony looked at him curiously, "Hurt you? Why dear colt would think that?", the earthpony said.
"I-I don't know. I just thought-"
"Well then don't always assume somepony means you harm.", the pony said interupting Sky.
"O-ok but wh-who are you?". Sky asked the earthpony.
"Oh! How terribly rude of me I'm Guide!," He extended his hoof out to Sky," Nice to meet you!"
SkyFly shook his hoof,"You too."
"So my dear colt where is it that you are headed? Hhmm?", Guide asked.
"Well I was on my way to the town north of here.", said as he pointed toward the large town.
Guide looked towards the town and gave a sigh,"I don't think that the best idea."
Sky looked at him confused,"Well why? It looks peaceful enough."
Guide gave him a saddened look, "Because my dear colt, Hoofshire is home to the Diamond.", he said as he shuddered.
"The who?", Sky asked.
Guide gave him a serious look and ushered him to sit down.
"Let me tell you dear colt of a story. A Story many in Ponyland know, but choose to forget. The 'Alice Curse'.", He said in a grim tone.
"The Alice what?", Sky asked confused even more.
"The 'Alice Curse' is a curse that befalls a certain few ponies every 100 years. The 'Alice curse' takes the most spirited ponies and turns them dark and corrupt.", He said getting more and more serious by the second. "The curse usually only last for 80 years and then disappears. But this time, it's been around for more than two hundred years. Nopony knows why it's still around but the 'Alices' are still alive two hundred years after they were corrupted.", He said taking another breather. "The curse this time around has struck down four no, five ponies this time. The first was Mare of the Spade, the warriors of Ponyland. This mare was the fiercest of the Spades, she killed and conquered all who apposed the Spade.
"But one day when she was alone by herself in the dark forest, she was snatched by the corruption. She was eventually corrupted and returned back to the Spades guild. But when she returned she killed every single Spade in the guild. The screams could be heard all the way at the palace. When the screams stopped, the Mare of the Spade fled into the forest, leaving a trail of blood as she fled. To this day if you see a trail of fresh blood, run. Run away and go home, and pray the Spade does not find you.", He said a hint of dread and warning in his voice.
"Wow. That's-", Sky said at a loss for words. What was he supposed to say? Sorry?
"I know.", Guide said.
"There are still three more houses that too have have had one of their own cursed.", He said clearing his throat.
"The next pony to be corrupted was a Stallion of the Diamond. He had originally sang songs for the royal courts of PonyLand. But one day while he was performing his sweet sweet melody, he sang a lie. A lie that cost him his job. He was thrown out of the courts and told to never sing in the presence of royals again. So he ventured to Hoofshire and opened his own theater with what money he had saved up. He would perform every night, singing his heart out. But soon the theater had less and less ponies coming,
"Diamond was confused at this but, assumed it was but a fluke and continued performing. one night a fan of his came to him after a show,
"Why hello. Are but fans of me?", Diamond said as he turned in his seat. "We were until you told a horrible lie about our family!", The mare said to him angrily. "Lies? I do not sing about lies! Only the truth!", He said defensively. "Oh really? Why do you think everypony in HoofShire has stopped coming to your shows hm? Do you think that they stopped liking you? no. They were tired of your lies!", The mare explained. Diamond did not know what to think. The mare left angrily knowing talking to Diamond was a lost cause.
"A month had passed and eventually nopony was showing up to his theater. So he shut down the theater and it crushed him. One night while he was walking by his closed theater, somepoony with a gun went up to Diamond and shot him in the throat, so that his lies would cease.
"Nopony showed up for his funeral. But one day his voice was heard coming from the closed theater. When a crowd of ponies barged into the theater to see the lying Diamond they saw him standing in the middle of the stage signing. The crowd in disbelief tried to kill him once again. But his songs were hypnotizing. He now rules HoofShire with an iron voice."
Guide gave himself another moment to recall what came next.
"The next 'Alice' was a Princess. She is not like the royal pony sisters but she was a pegasus princess. She lived in the Palace you see to the east. She was a fair maiden and probably the least corrupted of the 'Alices'. She would be able to have the commonfolk come at the beckoning of her will. Eventually her mother the Queen of PonyLand died. As the oldest of her siblings she came to be the Queen. one night however, she had a horrible nightmare. She dreampt of her death and what would happen to the kingdom if she died. The rivers would run red with peasent blood, the sky would blacken and the sun would would not show, and the kingdom would be torn apart by natural disasters. When she awoke she became paranoid. She didn't want to eat with utensils, she didn't want to go outside. She was afraid of anything and everything that could cause her harm.
"Eventually she locked herself up in her chamber, and never comes out. She watches Ponyland from her window, waiting. Waiting to see when PonyLand will fall. But, that day has yet to come. Fortunately for her.", Guide said waiting a moment for all the info to sink in.
SkyFly was utterly amazed at how devastating the curse was. But he knew there was more. Guide had mentioned four Alice's but he just described three. Who could be the fourth?
Guide looked at SkyFly and saw that the young colt was indeed interested to hear of the final 'Alice'.
"The Final 'Alice' is a sibling duo. One day the young siblings a brother, sister duo, were out in the forest near the town having a picnic. While they were enjoying themselves, they received a letter from a royal consort. They had been invited to the Palace for a luncheon with the Queen! Then the consort pulled out a paper with a yellow heart printed into it. He told the duo to bring this to the palace gate to gain entrance.
"Soon they were on their way to the palace. they wandered all over PonyLand in curiosity. One day they came upon the red path. What they did not know was the significance of the red path.
"Look brother! A red path!", The young filly said as she pointed to the path.
"I see sister! But this looks very peculiar.", the brother said.
This sibling duo was odd, the older sister was more brash and stubborn, while the younger brother was more collected and smarter.
Crack.
"What was that?", asked the sister.
Crack.
""I hear it too.", the brother said.
Crunch.
Crunch.
"Hello my little ponies.", the voice said.
The siblings turned around to find Spade standing behind them with her scythe on her back.
"Wh-wh-who are you?", the sister asked Spade.
"Oh I'm just a traveler. Wandering here and there.", She lied.
The siblings calmed down a little and were now more warm towards this stranger.
"What's with the scythe?", asked the smart brother. Clearly seeing something wrong with this encounter.
"Oh this?", She asked pulling it off her back to show the young ponies.
"Why it's my tool of the trade! I use it to cut things.", She said. Grinding her teeth when she said 'cut'.
"What kind of things do you cut?", Asked the sister.
"Oh why don't I show you two then?", She said happily.
"Ok.", The siblings said at the same time.
"Hmhm, Fools.", Spade said as she raised her scythe high and slashed both of the siblings necks.
Blood came rushing out of their wounds as they soon fell to the ground limp and dead.
"Then they soon woke up. They found themselves alive. But they couldn't remember what they were doing. The found on the path a paper with a yellow heart on it. Unfortunately the paper was torn in half. Each sibling took one half and they wandered. Cursed to never reach their destination.", Guide finished.
"Now you know of the 'Alice curse'. A curse so dreadful it ruins lives, not just you but those around you. So be warned, Stay away from the southern forest. Stay away from Hoofshire, and stay away from the red path.", Guide finished standing up.
Sky just looked at the older earthpony in shock and amazment. "How, how do you know all this?", Sky asked.
Guide gave him a smile and spoke once more, "I am Guide, I have met those five ponies and tried to warn them of the curse. But, they didn't listen.", He said solemnly.
Guide started to walk away into the forest.
"Wa-wait! Where do I go then?", Sky worriedly asked.
"Oh if you want a safe place to be in, go to the Palace. They will be sure to welcome you with open arms! Tell them 'Guide sent you' alright?", He said coming back over to me.
"Oh uh alright. Will I ever see you again?", Sky asked the older pony.
"You may or may not. But, in time you will need me, and you will not need me but want me. Goodbye young colt and be safe.", Guide said as he nodded to me and walked away into the forest.
SkyFly decided the best thing to do was go to the palace. So he set off for the magnificent structure to the east. Soon Skyfly reached the gravel path that lead to the Palace.
But soon just at the edge of the forest, he saw a pair of glowing red eyes. Sky stopped, with a wave of horror washing over him. The eyes soon got closer and closer. Sky didn't know what to do, he couldn't do anything! He was so scared that his legs refused to listen to his brain. But, soon the eyes came into the light and what Sky could see now was a beautiful grey coated, white maned, pegasus mare. She had a golden crown adorning her head with different colored jewels for each house, Emerald Club was the center jewel, Sapphire Diamond was the next closest one on the right, Ruby Spade was the next closest one on the left, and finally an amber heart split in two pieces had one half each adorning the end of the crown.
"Who? Who goes there? Somepony to help? Somepony who wants me DEAD? Or is it another cursed like me? Spade? Diamond? Heart twins? No, no you aren't any of them! So who are you? Hm?", the mare asked appearing to be talking to herself.
"No my-my name is SkyFly, I can assume you are the queen?", I asked cautiously.
"OH! A new visitor! how nice! Well then yes! I am the Queen of Ponyland! Welcome! Welcome new stranger!", She said lightening up her mood.
Sky became less tense but was still weary.
"Come come! To the Palace we go! Maybe the chefs will make us some nice delicious soup! Oh! And maybe some cake for desert!", The queen said enthusiastically.
Sky decided to follow the queen to the palace. "So if I may ask, why were you outside the palace your majesty?", I asked curious as to why she wasn't inside the palace instead.
"Oh I was just taking a stroll, when I saw you there and I thought 'oh it's somepony new! I must go greet them!'", She said happily. "Ah! here we are! The royal Club Palace!", The queen said.
Looks like the Palace is safe after all. Or is it?