Again all my thanks goes to: Quicksear and Selkowitz

The Ones Before
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The sound of birdsong was interrupted by the dry turning of a page as Twilight flipped through her book. She looked up from her book to take a moment away from studying. She eyed the bookcases lining the walls of the library in calm contentment. The afternoon light peered through the branches and leaves of the tree house and through the window across Twilight’s lavender visage. The warmth of the sun radiated throughout Twilight’s home and the town, spreading like warm happiness in a pony’s heart. Twilight sighed to herself, thinking about all the joyful...

CRASH

“Spike!” she yelled. “I’ve told you countless times not to hold that many books at once!”

She brought her hoof to her forehead. Sighing, she got up from her comfortable studying position and lifted the books off of the small purple dragon. He got up and shook his head swiftly, still in a daze.

“Sorry, Twilight. I thought I could handle more. I guess I’m not that strong of a dragon,” he looked down at his feet ashamedly.

“Aww, Spike, it’s not that. You’re very strong for a baby dragon. It’s just not even I can carry that many books at one time.”

“I just want to be able to do more for you.”

“You do a lot of things for me, Spike, and I appre-”

A loud knock on the door interrupted Twilight, making her and Spike both jump.

Twilight walked over to the door and opened it with a flash of her horn. The yellow, pink-manned pegasus stood there.

“Oh, hi, Fluttershy. Is everything okay? Your knocking seemed frantic.”

“Oh... sorry... did I interrupt you?” The timid mare hid herself behind her mane.

“No, not at all. It just startled us. What’s wrong?”

“I was... in the Everfree Forest, looking for Angel Bunny after he ran off... He didn’t like the salad I made him... While I was looking for him, I saw this strange structure... I was so scared, I just had to come back and get help!”

“What kind of structure?” Twilight asked, concerned.

“Well... I don’t know... I was too scared to get a good look at it. Please... you have to help me find my Angel Bunny.” Tears appeared in the pegasus’ eyes.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’m sure I can help you find him. But...what was this you said about a ‘structure’? Oh, never mind, you can tell me on the way. You lead on.”

“Okay...” Fluttershy meekly wove her way through the town buildings, towards the dark forest on the other side.

“Hey guys!” they heard from above them. Looking up, they saw the prismatic mane of Rainbow Dash. “Where are you guys going in such a hurry?” she asked as she leapt from her cloud and landed in their path, a curious tilt to her head.

“Well, Fluttershy is looking for her Angel Bunny. He ran off into the Everfree.” The look on Rainbow’s face remained unchanged. Almost as an afterthought, Twilight added, “Oh, and she mentioned some weird, unexplained structure hidden in the woods. We’re going to find the bunny.”

“Did you say ‘unexplained structure’?” Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up. She stood, spreading her forehooves dramatically. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you think I’m just gonna let my friends wander into the forest alone to investigate some awesome - I mean dangerous building out there? No way, I’m coming!”

Twilight shrugged. “Okay, I was going to ask-”

“No way, Twi, I’m coming and that’s final!” Rainbow Dash fell into step with them, stubbornly resisting the non-existent protestation.

“Well, since you are coming... do you think the others would like to come too?” Fluttershy timidly asked.

“Great idea, Fluttershy. The more ponies, the quicker we can find that bunny.”

“Hi everypony!” The pink mare jumped out of a flower pot and in front of them, making them all jump. Fluttershy hid behind some pansies in fright.

“Pinkie... for Celestia’s sake...” Twilight mumbled, putting her hoof to her chest, panting.

“Sorry for scaring you. I want to help find Angel and see the building too! Can I come!? Can I? Can I? Can I?” Pinkie bounced in front of them.

“How do you kno- Never mind,” Twilight started to say then realized: it’s Pinkie Pie.

“I wonder where Rarity and Applejack are. I bet they would love to see this!” Pinkie exclaimed.

In one of the great mysteries of the world, both mares trotted up side by side, as if on cue. “Howdy, everypony.” The orange farmpony tipped her hat to the group.

“Good evening.” The majestic, white unicorn flipped her curly purple mane. “How is everyone this glorious afternoon?” she asked.

“Well, we are doing fine, but Fluttershy found something within the Everfree and she wants to show us,” Twilight explained.

“The... Everfree? Eugh... That place is horrid. But to help a friend, I will endure.”

“I ain’t afraid of no Everfree. I’ll come also.” Applejack looked pointedly at Rarity.

“I’m not scared; I just think the place is absolutely disgusting.”

“You think everything’s disgusting, Rarity...” Rainbow added with a giggle.

“Everypony, stop. Let’s just go to the Everfree, find the bunny, check out the building, and be home before night, okay?”

“Fine. Let us depart then,” Rarity said as she looked at Rainbow Dash, who stuck her tongue out cheekily.

The entrance of the Everfree Forest stood before them. The eeriness from the forest made their coats stand on end. Even though there was daylight around them, the shadow caused by the forest canopy made it look night-like, making it even eerier.

“So, how far in is the structure?” Twilight turned her head to the yellow pegasus, who had a look of terror on her face.

“Um... not too far in... Oh, I hope Angel is okay.”

“Angel’s in there?” Rarity asked. Fluttershy nodded her head slowly as she stared into the dark forest.

“Okay, let’s not stand here and stare at the forest all day. Lead on, Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she steps back, the others stepping back with her.

The shy pegasus looked back at them with worry, then back at the forest. “For Angel Bunny...” she said softly and galloped into the forest. The rest looked at each other for a brief second then cantered after her.

“Fluttershy! Slow down!” Twilight yelled. The timid mare never ran this fast before. She was so worried about that small bunny. Fluttershy hopped over large roots that stuck up from the ground and increased her speed. Her wings fluttered open, and she flew over a wall of brambles.

Before her, looming over the undergrowth, stood the silent structure that held her pet and her fears. She fell silent.

The other ponies caught up after fighting through the bramble thicket and stood next to her, staring at the dark building. Vines clung to its bleached facade. Instead of windows, there were iron bars. The building itself was made of damaged stone. Parts of it rotted away with age, showing the metal framework. The only part of the structure that looked undamaged was the unblemished steel door.

“So, this is the structure you were talking about?” Twilight turned to the shy mare who looked scared out of her wits. Fluttershy nodded and cowered a little.

“Well, we should get in there and see if we can find that bunny.” Rainbow said.

“But how do we get in? I doubt anypony can break down this metal door.”

“Ahem,” Applejack cleared her throat and trotted up to the door. She turned herself and lifted her hind legs, bucking the door. A loud clang sounded across the forest, causing silence around them. Next thing they heard was Applejack yell in pain. “Ow! That’s never happened ta me before... Ah’m usually able to bust down any door...” She starts to walk around a bit, her hind legs crumple a bit under the weight. “Well, looks like Ah won’t be walking right for a few days...” she sighed.

They looked at the door and saw the slight dent Applejack made. “You know all of the forest creatures just heard that, right?” Rainbow said just as they heard growling coming from around them. Glowing eyes surrounded them. “We need to get out of here! And fa-”

“Ooh, what’s this pretty light, over here!?” Pinkie exclaims. “There’s some strange sketchy thingies on it!”

“Pinkie! We don’t have time to worry about some strange light right now! We need to get out of here!” Twilight yelled.

The snarling got louder and closer. Out of the trees came the worst creatures in the Everfree. Timberwolves. Wooden, magical wolves, worse than any normal wolf. The smell of their horrid breath filled their nostrils, causing them to cough. They leaned against the door in fear.

“Well, only one way to go!” Pinkie claimed randomly slamming her snout into the glowing panel.

“Pinkie! Don’t tou-”

They heard a light beeping sound coming from the strange glowing panel as Pinkie slammed her face into it. The door behind them shifted and moved upward swiftly, making them fall backwards inside. Pinkie hopped in behind them, and the door closed once more, leaving them in a musty, dimly lit room.

Considering the sounds of the Timberwolves snarling and scratching against the door, being inside seemed preferable.

“Everypony here?” Twilight asked aloud.

“I’m here!” They all yelled in unison.

“Eugh... What is that horrible smell?” Rarity commented. The odor smelled worse than anything they have ever smelled before in their life.

“I have no idea, but it’s about to make me throw up.” Twilight put her hoof to her nose.

“We need some light. Twilight, can y’all do somethin’ with that horn and light this place up?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Twilight facehoofed herself for not realizing that. As she lit up her horn, the whole room was illuminated with a dim white light, but it didn’t come from her horn. It came from the ceiling. Slowly, more lights came on as clicks emanated from the ceiling. Soon, the whole room was filled with light.

“What is this pl-” Twilight said aloud, but was cut off by a shriek. “What’s wrong?!”

“I don’t know, but whatever this is, it i- ugh...” Rarity started to say, then turned her head to the side, retching.

Each of them turned their head to where Rarity stood, and their eyes widened. In front of them lay a bipedal skeleton. Whatever it was, it had been there for quite a long time. It wore a strange uniform with more strange characters on it. It was a faded and moth-eaten color green wrapped about its bony limbs. The skull of the deceased creature was cracked and charred. It looked as if it was burned. Parts of the bone were dissolving from the age. They all were silent as they blankly stared at the long-dead creature. Even Pinkie Pie was stunned to silence as she stood, frozen.

They had never seen any creature like this before. Not even Twilight had...

“What...” Twilight said, dumbfounded by all that has happened. “What is this thing...? I think we should just find Angel and get out of here, quickly,” Twilight said as she stared at the dead creature.

Everypony else just nodded their head and started calling out the small, white rabbit’s name.

“What about down there?” Rainbow pointed down some stairs that led to a slightly opened door.

“Let’s go check it out, everypony.” Twilight started down the stairs first. She opened the door fully and saw screens and... bodies. Some without limbs, some without heads. They heard sounds of gagging from Rarity once more.

The leaden silence was broken by a piercing squeal

“ANGEL!” Fluttershy yelled with glee. It was the loudest she had ever yelled. The small bunny hopped to his pegasus owner and clung to her. Even he was frightened. Angel was usually not terrified of anything, but the sight of him clutched to his owner’s leg in a hug made his terror almost palpable.

“Oh, we finally found you. I was so worried! Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked the bunny. He just nodded his head and continued to hold his owner’s leg in his tiny arms.

Twilight started to look around the room, her curiosity piqued. “I wonder what this place is...” She starts to walk around, looking at each screen, seeing the strange characters... “What language is that?”

“Ooh, what’s this button do?!” They heard the party mare exclaim while she stood in front of a larger, blank screen, her hoof over a large red button with a piece of paper with more strange characters.

“PINKIE!” Twilight screamed as the hyper, pink mare pushed the button. The unicorn expected the place to explode into fire, collapse in on them, or worse, but none of that happened. The lights dimmed, and the screen flickered on.

The first thing they saw were streets and strange carriages lined up along the sidewalk, all in ruin. The ponies watched closely as bipedal creatures ran down the street. They wore the same attire as the skeletons lying about the room did. They held strange devices in their claws, some creatures waving the contraptions behind them, letting loose bright flashes and violent cracking sounds. They heard everything going on, even the sound of screaming. Some of the creatures looked massively injured, blood coating not only their bodies, but the ground as well.

They began to hear the creatures yelling, and the incongruously familiar words reached through the screen.

“Come on men! We are not going to let the enemy take us down! Let’s give them all we got!” one of them commanded. They all picked up their strange devices, now clearly weapons, and started to fire once more down the street. They saw other creatures down the street fall to the ground, dead and dying.

“Fire in the hole!” another one yelled as they fumbled with a strange object, yanking out a pin and throwing the remaining orb out into the oncoming horde of creatures that resolved into clarity, showing them to be wearing different uniforms to the nearer creatures.

A few seconds went by with nothing happening, the other creatures rushing up regardless. Suddenly, a blast rocked the street, throwing dozens of bodies flying through the air and halting the rushing advance for a few moments. Some of the creatures had blood pouring from their ears and noses, even their eye sockets. The ones closer to the blast had limbs torn off arbitrarily. The streets ran red.

The ponies sat there and watched, tears in their dilated eyes, as they watched the poor creatures die. “I-I can’t watch anymore...” Twilight choked out. As she tried to look away, a loud explosion came from the video, but her morbid curiosity locked her eyes to the scene: the final thing that ended them. The mushroom cloud. The view whirled crazily, and then the world was tilted on its side, recording as the creatures ran in the opposite direction. The ground shook and all of the glass in the windows shattered as a shockwave easily ran the remaining creatures into the ground. Then the screen cut to black

The six friends looked at each other in shock, tears pouring from their eyes. Suddenly, the screen came back on, and they saw something familiar walk down the same street. Actually, somepony. A younger somepony. Somepony they knew.

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight’s mouth dropped.

As the white coated princess got closer, it became more visible that she was crying. She then spoke, her voice laden with sorrow. “Those... fools... I wish I could have stopped them, shown them the way to a better world, but...it’s too late now...” She walked up to one of the dead creatures and sighed. She looked down at her hoof and picked up something lying on the ground. It looked like a necklace of some sorts, stained with blood from the slaughter. Another tear glistened in her eye as she put the necklace around her neck, the blood marring her perfect white coat.

She opened her wings and hovered as her horn glowed. “I must do it right this time...” she whispered before the screen went black again, and the lights buzzed back to full brightness.

They stood silently, looking at each other, each one of them stunned in disbelief. They all knew what they must do. “We need to talk to Princess Celestia about this,” Twilight said, breaking the silence among them.

They walked back upstairs to the metal door and another panel beside it. “Pinkie, will you do the honors?” Twilight asked.

“Sure thing,” she said as she slammed her face into the panel. The door opened for them, allowing in the night air as the shadows of the forest stared back at them.

A cloudless night was around them as they walked out, shock still on their face from what they have just witnessed: those poor creatures dying over and over. They could still hear the screams in their ears.

Why was the Princess there? Twilight thought to herself. All of it was so confusing to her. She and the others needed to get to Canterlot and talk to Celestia right away and figure it all out.

“Girls, I know this is sudden, but...we need to take the soonest train to Canterlot,” Twilight muttered as they trotted back to Ponyville. In the light of what they had seen, nopony disagreed. As they went through town to the train station, everypony stared at them, some even asking if they were okay.

The six were oblivious until each of them noticed the others: they all looked horrible. Their manes were messed up, and their eyes were red from crying.

“Urm, maybe we should go home and tidy ourselves up a bit first before we go. Besides, it would be best to talk to Princess Celestia in the morning,” Rarity suggested.

“We can meet at Sugarcube Corner in the morning! I’ll make some muffins for us!” Pinkie said in a forced-cheery tone, despite all that had happened.

“That’s a good idea...” Twilight said, not fully there, her mind still messed up from what she saw.

They stood there for a moment, silence overcoming each of them, including Pinkie Pie. Finally, Twilight spoke out. “Alright... well... good night, everypony...” she said as she turned and walked toward the tree library. The others unwillingly followed suit, going to their homes.

Twilight walked with her head down, her mind filled with the images of those bipedal creatures and the bloodshed. Celestia being there made her even more confused. Why was she there? Why did she say what she said?

As Twilight walked into the library, she is greeted by her dragon assistant. “Hey Twilight, how’d it go in the Everfree?” Twilight didn’t seem to notice Spike as she walked past him. Her mind was only set on what she saw. “Twilight? You okay?” he asked as he finally looked at the unicorn, noticing her unkempt mane and the mud all over her coat.

Twilight mumbled something incoherent. All Spike got from it was something about Celestia. “Twilight? Talk to me, please.”

“Why was she there...?” she questioned softly.

“Twilight!” he yelled, startling the unicorn. The lavender mare turned around, seeing the concern in the baby dragon’s eyes. “Finally got your attention. What’s wrong?”

Twilight sighed and tears started to well up in her eyes. Next thing the purple dragon knew, he was picked up and hugged. He could hear her crying. After a moment, she let him go and he sat down on the wooden floor across from her. “So what happened?”

Twilight sat along with him and sighed again. “Alright,” she said and began explaining to him. He listened to every horrifying detail.

As Spike listened to Twilight, his face slowly fell. He even came close to tears when she told him about the creatures dying over and over. However, his face changed when he heard Princess Celestia was there in the aftermath.

“So, Celestia was there? With all those creatures? That’s weird... How old is Celestia?” he asked.

“Nopony really knows. More than a thousand years, I’m sure. I should get a shower and get some sleep, if that’s even possible...” Twilight said with a sigh.

The night was not good for Twilight as the visions of the bipedal creatures dying over and over played in her mind. Whenever she did sleep, she would have nightmares where she was in the middle of the battle herself. She could only watch as the creatures around her died. The dream always ended with Celestia coming in, looking at Twilight with mournful eyes and sighing.

Fluttershy ran as fast as she could back to her home. Angel held onto her mane as tight as he could so he wouldn’t get left behind.

When they finally arrived at the cottage, Fluttershy ran to the bathroom and took a shower, trying to wash away whatever was on her physically and mentally. Afterward, she went over to her couch in the main room, lay down on it, and started to cry. She has never seen anything so sad before in her life.

Her animal friends came over to her and tried to cheer her up. They only helped a little bit, enough to make her smile slightly, though the movie of the creatures continued to play in her mind over and over.

She looked over at Angel and said, “Angel... please... never run away again...”

The bunny nodded his head. He didn’t want to deal with anything like that ever again. Angel jumped up on the couch, climbing over every other animal, and snuggled up close to Fluttershy to show that he would never leave her like that again.

After everypony else departed off to their homes, Rainbow Dash darted as fast as she could back to her cloud home. She rarely ever cried, and when she did, it was very little. This time, she couldn’t stop. Those images played over and over in her mind, causing her to cry more and more to the point of needing to drink some water to calm her throat.

She decided that maybe a shower will help her calm down a bit. She went into the bathroom and kicked the shower-cloud, water pouring down over her. It didn’t help. She began to cry again, tears getting mixed with the cloud water. She kicked the cloud again, causing the water to shut off.

Darn it, why am I all sappy... I’ve never been this sad before in my life. Why should I be that upset about something that’s not even a pony?

She sighed and jumped on her cloud bed, grabbed one of her pillows and held it close to her as her eyes started watering again. No... no more... As hard as she tried holding back the tears, she failed. Moments later, her pillow was utterly soaked. Eventually, she cried herself to a fitful sleep.

“Everythin’ alright, Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked as her big sister walked in, looking like a mess.

“Not really, sugarcube. Ah just seen the worst thing ever. Ah would tell ya, but it’d be too much for ya. Ah’m just gonna go get a shower and hit the hay. Ah gotta meet the others in the morning.”

“Okay, Applejack. G’night,” she said as she looked at her big sisters eyes and noticed that they were red from crying. She knew something was wrong and she had to know.

“G’night, Apple Bloom. Besides, ain’t it your bedtime too?” she said.

“Yeah, but Ah was worried about you. When you didn’t come to dinner, Ah begged to stay up and wait for ya.”

“Alright, well Ah’m home now, so don’t worry.” She hugged her younger sibling and started up the stairs.

As she climbed upstairs, she passed by her brother. “Howdy, sis. Y’all alright?”

Applejack sighed. “Not really...”

“Well, what’s wrong? You know you can tell me anything,” he said.

“Alright...” she said with another sigh. She began explaining to her big brother about everything that had happened in the Everfree. Every detail.

Unknowing to both of them, there was a filly listening in. Apple Bloom had her ears out, listening to Applejack’s every word, and every single one of those words terrified her. She eventually couldn’t listen anymore and took off down the hall past Applejack and Big Mac and into her room.

“Do ya think she was listening?” Big Mac asked with a bit of a scared tone. Even he was shaken up a bit by the story. He is usually fine with any Everfree stories.

“Ah think she was. Maybe we should talk to her,” she suggested. Big Mac nodded and followed Applejack to their younger sibling’s room. They listened and heard her mumbling to herself.

They opened the door and saw Apple Bloom curled up on the bed, talking to herself about something.

“Apple Bloom? Y'all alright?” Applejack asked as she sat on the bed next to her.

The young filly jumped up and said, “Yeah, Ah’m fine.”

“Ya listened in on our conversation, didn’t ya?”

The filly nodded, trembling as she burrowed into her blanket.

Applejack fumbled for the words, looking for anything to help her quaking sister. “Oh, Apple Bloom... Don’t you worry none about that stuff in the Everfree. Ya know Big Mac and Ah won’t let anythin’ from there or anywhere get at ya. What Ah told him was somethin’ that happened a long time ago, even before Granny Smith was born. Y’all don’t have nothin’ to worry about.”

Big Mac smiled and nodded. “Eeyup.”

Apple Bloom snuggled into her sister’s side. “But if Celestia was there, why didn’t she save ‘em? What if that... happens ta us?”

Applejack hugged the little filly resolutely, her eyes hardening. “It won’t, ya hear? We’re goin’ to talk to the Princess tomorrow, and this’ll all be sorted right out. Just try to get some sleep, sis.”

Apple Bloom sniffed but nodded. “Okay,” she said. Applejack got up and headed to the door, followed by Big Mac.

“G’night, Apple Bloom,” Applejack cooed.

Big Mac stood in the door way and nodded to his sister. “Ah’m gonna stay here a mite. You go on and get some sleep. Ya look like ya need it.”

He started to close the door, but AJ stopped it with a hoof. “Well... G’night, Big Mac. Thanks for listening.”

“Eeyup. G’night,” he smiled.

Applejack did something she hadn’t done since she was a filly: she hugged her brother. He hugged back tightly before they parted, and he wordlessly closed the door.

Applejack wound her way to her own room and snuck under the covers. Her mind was filled with the image of blood and violence, but with the strength her family lent her, she finally felt she could deal with it. One step at a time...

Rarity hurried off home as fast as she could. The sight of the dead body reappearing in her mind over and over again made her nauseous.

As soon as she entered Carousel Boutique, she made a beeline for the bathroom, emptying whatever contents remained in her stomach into the toilet. Afterward, she hopped into the shower to make herself smell like a lady once more. As she was showering, she heard a knock at the bathroom door.

“Rarity? Are you okay?” a squeaky voice came from the other side.

“Yes... well... no... I don’t know...”

“Um... do you want to talk about it? That’s what sisters are for, right?”

“Well, Sweetie Belle, I’m not too sure if you should know this or not. It’s a bit too much for your mind to handle. It would scare you.”

“I can handle it. I’m not a baby...”

Rarity pondered for a moment, trying to come up with something less gruesome than what really happened so she doesn’t scare her little sister.

“Well... When I was in the Everfree with everypon-”

“So that’s where you were?! I was getting worried that something happened to you!”

“Oh, don’t worry. I am okay,” she reassured her as she finished her shower and came out of the room to see the filly looking up at her curiously.

“So did something bad happen in the Everfree?

“Well, we were attacked by Timberwolves, as per usual to anypony who goes in there. Pretty much it,” she explained as she dried herself off.

“But why were you there?”

“Uh, we were helping Fluttershy, the poor dear, find her pet, Angel.” She started up the stairs to her room, rolling her eyes at the fact her sister is asking her tons of questions.

“That’s it?”

“Pretty much. That little rascal was a hard find, but we finally got him.”

“Where was he?”

“My, you are full of questions tonight, aren’t you? I don’t have time to answer them all. Just know that we were in the Everfree looking for Angel, and we found him, so everything is good now,” Rarity smiled falsely. The images still played in her mind. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get to bed, and you should too. It’s late.”

Sweetie just sighed. “Alright. Good night, sis,” she said and went to her room.

Rarity felt bad for not telling her the full story, but she didn’t want to scare the poor filly.

The unicorn made her way to her room and flopped on the bed, not even caring about the covers. Just as she closed her eyes, she heard something in the room. She looked up and saw a white filly staring at her.

“I know there is more to your story, sis. Why won’t you tell me?”

Rarity smiled tersely at her sister. “I told you everything that there... was n-nothing... wrong...”

Tears began to pour from Rarity’s eyes, the images of the creatures dying over and over played in her mind and the one creature that laid on the floor in the building.

“Rarity?”

The alabaster mare started to wail loudly. “Those poor...” She then flipped over and just continued crying into the pillow, leaving Sweetie Belle standing there, confused.

The filly then walked up to the side of the bed and climbed up next to her sister and snuggled up to her since that was the only thing she could think of to do at that moment.

Rarity’s crying quieted a bit as she looked over to her sister and smiled softly.

“I just need some sleep, Sweetie. I should be better in the morning,” was the last thing Rarity said before she fell asleep almost instantly.

Pinkie bounced her way home as usual. The dark memories of those creatures still played on in her mind, but she wasn’t going to let that get to her too much. She had to take care of everypony else. That’s how it had always been and will be.

The smell of baked goods still lingered in the air as the party mare reached the door of Sugarcube Corner. She opened the door and hopped inside, greeting Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

“Hey Pin- OH!” Mrs. Cake gasped as the pink, bouncy mare hopped in, spots of dirt covering her coat and mane. “Are you alright, dear?”

“Have you been... crying?” Mr. Cake asked, noticing the redness under her eyes.

Pinkie stopped her bouncing and sighed. “We got into a bit of trouble in the Everfree but we are all okay now.” She smiled her famous smile at them, though they didn’t buy it.

“Pinkie, we know something is wrong. Why don’t you tell us? It would make you feel better.”

“It’s... nothing... I just don’t really want to talk about it... Lots of crazy things, but don’t worry. I will be a-okay!” She smiled at them once more, a smile almost wide enough to hide the ghosts in her eyes.

“Alright, dear, if you don’t wish to tell us right now, that’s fine, but if you need somepony to talk to, you know where to find us,” Mrs. Cake smiled at her. “Oh! I just remembered. I saved you a cupcake since you missed dinner. I thought you would be hungry.” She reached out from under the counter and pulled out a way-too-large cupcake.

Pinkie’s eyes and smile grew at the sight as she bounced over to the counter and gazed upon the sugary treat. Next thing they knew, Pinkie slammed her face into the counter and over the confection, devouring it whole.

The Cakes glanced at each other and shrugged, not really phased by Pinkie’s actions.

“Thank you sooo much for the cupcake. You guys are the bestest best!” Pinkie said as she wrapped her hooves around both of them pulling them into an awkward bear hug.

“No pr-problem, uh... Pinkie... can’t... breathe,” Mr. Cake whimpered.

“Oh. Sorry about that,” she smiled at them. “Well, I should go get a bath and get to bed.” She yawned. “Tomorrow, Twilight and the rest of our friends are coming over for breakfast before we go see Princess Celestia about what happened in the Everfree.”

“The thing you won’t tell us about?” Mr. Cake asked.

“Yepperooni!” She giggled and hopped up the stairs. “Thanks again for the awesome cupcake! That thing was super-duper-totally delicious! Good night!”

“Good night, Pinkie,” the Cakes said and watched her go upstairs.

As Pinkie walked through the hall toward the bathroom, the images tried to infiltrate her mind once more. Pinkie Pie never had to deal with haunting images, and ghosts never bothered her. In all her days, she never feared them, but now, they stalked her from within her own memory. And so she did the only thing she knew to do.

She giggled with tears in her eyes.

Morning arose over Ponyville, and everypony was at Sugarcube Corner, just as planned. Each pony looked dreadfully tired. As promised, Pinkie Pie came out of the kitchen with a tray of muffins of different types.

“So, how was your night, everypony?” Pinkie said happily as she grabbed a muffin and scarfed it down.

Twilight stared at her, trying to figure out how Pinkie was still herself after everything that happened last night. The images started to appear back into her mind, and she immediately tried to think of a topic to prevent the images from returning. “Well, I had no sleep at all, practically. When I did sleep, all I had were nightmares.”

The others except Pinkie nodded their heads. “When should we go see Celestia?” Rainbow asked as she grabbed a muffin and bit into it.

“After we finish eating, we should catch the next train to Canterlot.”

“Shouldn’t we send her a letter stating that we are going to visit?” Rarity asked.

“Already taken care of. I sent one when I woke up. She replied before I left and said it was fine.”

“Oh. Alright.”

The group finished their meal in silence and headed for the train station, all in wonder of what the Princess might explain to them.

“All aboard!” the conductor yelled. The six hopped aboard and found their seats.

“I’m going to go check the buffet car. Maybe they have some awesome tasty sweets!” Pinkie exclaimed and took off down the aisle toward the next car.

“How could she be so happy after all that has happened?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, you do know that she is Pinkie Pie,” Rarity explained.

“Good point.”

The train ride was quiet on the way to Canterlot. Twilight tried to bring up conversation, but everypony else didn’t hear her over their own thoughts.

I wonder what they are thinking about... Probably the same thing I am. What will Celestia tell us? I have this awful feeling she will just send us away if we bring up the building.

“Well, here we are. Let’s get to the castle and fast. Where’s Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked as they stepped off the train.

“Right here!” she said behind Twilight which made her jump.

“Pinkie...” Twilight chuckled. “Alright, let’s go.”

They trotted down the path in silence once more, except Pinkie, who was bouncing and commenting on everything and greeting the Canterlot folk. Some stuck their nose up, while some waved back.

Finally, the castle gates stood upon their path. The guard recognized them and motioned for another guard to open the gate. “Elements of Harmony, welcome to Canterlot. I will take you to the Princess. She is expecting you.”

“Thank you, sir.” Twilight smiled as the gate opened, and the guard made his way into the castle.

“Oooh, it sure has been a while since we have been in Canterlot Castle. Everything is so pretty,” Pinkie said as she bounced alongside them.

Twilight smiled. “It sure has been a while. And yes, it is very nice.”

“Yes, the architecture is quite exquisite,” Rarity commented.

“Say, I know what we can do while we walk to the Princess. Let’s play I Spy!”

“Um... Okay Pinkie.” Rainbow said as she shrugged her shoulders.

“I spy something... gold,” Pinkie giggled.

“Boy, there sure is a lot of that around here,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes.

“The vase?” Rarity asked.

“Nope,” Pinkie grinned.

“Tha curtain rod?” Applejack asked.

“Good eyes, but nope that’s not it.”

“My armor?” the guard asked.

The others stare at him. “Yep! You got it!” Pinkie laughed, joined by the others and the guard. It felt good to laugh.

“The Princess is inside. Go on ahead.” The guard opened the doors to the royal hall.

“Thank you, sir.” Twilight said.

The golden doors swung open to reveal the vast throne room and, at its far end, in a glimmering ray of sunshine, the elder Princess of Equestria. The Princess smiles at the six as they enter the chamber. She sat upon her throne, wearing her regalia more regally than any mortal could. “Ah, the Elements of Harmony. Good to see you. Twilight has informed me you found something and you wish to talk to me about it?”

Twilight gulped and paced forward. “It’s about the Everfree.”

Celestia’s visage did not change, but her eyes hardened. “What about it?”

“Well, we found something in there and well, how do I say this. We found a building.”

“You mean the old castle ruins?”

Twilight stopped and focused on her memories of the place for the first time, not without pain. “No. It was... smaller than that. It had windows, very small ones, enough for a small creature to fit through, which was the reason we were there: Angel was in there. The whole thing was overgrown and flaking, abandoned. We were able to get inside when Pinkie smashed her face against some type of glowing panel I have never seen before in my life.”

Celestia’s expression changed from hardened to sadness. “You found the Bunker.”

“The what?”

The Princess sighed, “I was hoping no one would be able to break their seal, or find the secrets buried there. They aren’t for pony eyes, Twilight-”

“We also saw you there. On one of the screens.”

“What?” Celestia’s eyes widened.

Twilight gulped but forged ahead. “What were those creatures, Celestia... and why did they die?”

Celestia sighed into her breastpiece. “The humans... how foolish they were...” She looked up regally at her subjects, commanding. “Follow me,” she said and got up from her throne and started up the stairs behind the dais.

They climbed the staircase silently, though they could hear Celestia mumbling to herself about something, but they couldn’t quite comprehend her. Finally, they came upon a balcony, high over Canterlot. Spread beneath them was the entire shimmering city and beyond its walls, across the sunny fields of Equestria, sat the dark Everfree. A storm front rolled across the treetops, uncontrolled, drifting into the distance, and casting long shadows across the dense forest.

“I suppose you often wonder why everything there is independent of Equestria. The clouds moving on their own, the creatures inside able to take care of themselves.”

“Folks have said it doesn’t work the same as Equestria,” Applejack chipped in.

“And they are right. The reason that is, is because it’s not even part of the same world.”

“What?!” Six very confused friends said in unison.

Celestia stared at the distant forest. “The Everfree is the part of their world I kept from the remolding, in remembrance of them. They were a wonderful race. I was proud to have them as my followers.”

Twilight frowned. “Followers? What do you mean?”

Celestia looked over at the forest with a sigh. “I don’t know fully why, or what spurred me, other than vague recollections of the Time Before, but... I created them.”

Celestia turned and looked at the six gathered ponies. “What you will hear has rarely ever been heard to mortal ears, and I must ask you, if you would not carry the secrets of eons, to not stay in this place.” Nopony moved. Frozen by fortitude or shock, none would ever know.

Celestia continued, her eyes growing misty as the memories came to her mind. “It was the Beginning. So far back, I barely recall the true Creation; I was only aware of space, a hole in the heart of existence that was mine to fill, just as Luna saw the space around be as her canvas. While she spread the corners of great existence further than even we could ever see and painted it with galaxies and constellations, the like of which were never seen again, I was enamored with my own creation: everything that could exist in that place, I forged out of my own will, a constant, ever-changing world that should never have been.”

The great alicorn twisted to the sunset lowering over the world and stared at it with heavy eyes. “In my youth, I made them. Their wills were their own, and disparate, and their own intellect grew, year by year, though they were much smarter and more advanced than I anticipated. Some few still believed in me, but I shied away from them, left them in the mire of their brethren. They spun in on themselves, out of control. Then... as you saw in the video, the war came, the needless strife, and the explosion that ended them all.” Tears appeared in her eyes.

“Pr-Princess... ” Twilight felt tears appear in her eyes. “We had no idea. We are deeply sorry to bring up bad memories.”

“No, it is well. It’s good you told me about that place. It is the last true work of their effort left. I used to visit it often, but over the years...Luna created creatures to guard those last reminders from pony eyes, but Twilight, you were strong enough to convince Luna’s greatest beast to leave its cave. The Ursor Cave, that never truly was there. It was an illusion, as the beasts are: constructs with conscience but no mass, mere ghosts to deter seekers. And so, the memories had all but faded from my mind. It is good to be reminded of past mistakes so that we may never repeat them. Two thousand years... has it been that long already?”

Twilight furrowed her brow in thought, “Well...then, where did we come from? Ponies I mean.”

Celestia smiled wryly at her student. “After the destruction of their world, I decided to make a new world from the ashes. Luna and I had watched the old burn into itself, but we would not allow the same to happen again. We fell back in on our realm, and forged Equestria with ourselves as part of the tapestry we had woven ourselves out of before. We joined with the three mortal races of equine: unicorn, pegasus, and earth. The only exception would be alicorn, the name we took for ourselves, and those strong enough to join us”

The six ponies shared nervous glances. In this, Rarity took it upon herself to speak; “Is... Is there a chance of what happened to them... ever happening to us?”

Celestia shook her head. “Do not worry. It won’t. As you can see, there is little conflict, and it has been that way for a long time. I know every now and then we have our troubles, but, with the power of love, friendship, and kindness, all is overcome in time. You yourselves are living embodiments of this very fact. As long as we have the strength we can give each other left to give in the world, we have nothing to worry about.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “It’s all in the past, right? Let’s live for now, not live in the past. Nopony wants to be sad, even if we should be. We can be happy now.” Pinkie Pie said.

“That would be a fault, Pinkie Pie,” Celestia intoned. “It is the lessons of that very past that I must remember, so that you may never have to fear such a terrible future, if not for yourselves, but all of ponykind. But this is not your weight to bear: you have done a good deed to remind me of this, but it should not weigh you down. This memory needn’t be yours: I am willing to free you of it, remove it from your recollection, and make it as it was before. Your lives will be unaffected by that which never should have tainted them in the first place.”

The gathered ponies frowned. Applejack was the first to speak up. “But Ah’ve already told mah brother and mah little sister, well she listened in, but still.”

“It is simple. The Ursor Cave that never was there now will never have vanished at all. Your families will remember the story of how you narrowly escaped its claws, as will you.” Celestia reassured the farm pony.

“That easy, huh?” Applejack smiled grimly.

Celestia nodded.

“Well... what do we, do, Princess?” Rainbow Dash asked, unusually cowed by the vast information she had learned.

“Sleep now,” Celestia cooed. “Lay your heads, and all will be well.”

And so, one by one, each pony nervously assented and laid their heads on the warm stone, lulled to sleep by the calm day. Rainbow Dash lay in the open, Fluttershy curled against her, shy even in sleep. Rarity choose the shade, where her eyes closed with a sigh as Pinkie and Applejack both unwillingly drifted off, laying near enough to be together, but far apart enough to be alone.

And Twilight watched them.

Celestia waited for her student to join her friends, to forget the troubles she had learned, but the unicorn didn’t. Instead, Twilight turned up to face her mentor with a question. “This has happened before, hasn’t it? Not only to other ponies...but to us?”

Celestia slowly nodded sadly. “Yes, Twilight. And each time, you chose to forget, as did almost all who went before you. I know it may be upsetting, but-”

“It’s fine.”

Celestia blinked as her student shook herself and steeled her mind. When Twilight looked up, her eyes were filled with determination. “I understand that it was my choice, that you did what was best for Equestria, but now...I want to learn, I want to know. I don’t want you and Luna to bear it alone.”

Celestia smiled. “Twilight, you have learned so much. If Equestria had more ponies like you, it would be a perfect world. Your friends will learn this as well soon enough: the true knowledge of the world is not something you shall have to bear alone either. I feel, Twilight, that the world has gained a great thing today.

“In you, there is hope for an endless future of peace.”

Twilight looked at her sleeping friends for a moment, wondering how the next chapter of her life would play out, before shrugging it off. “I know. I trust them.” And with that, she turned to her mentor’s side to watch the sun setting on her old version of the world, already bathed in the light of truth. Celestia watched with pride as the last light’s rays bade farewell to her old worries as well, thinking:

May the world soon see you for what you will be, my most faithful student.

Author's Note

This was a long story for me to write. I had a lot of trouble with it. But thanks to Quicksear and Selkowitz I was able to get this through.

I really hope everyone likes it.

-Moon