A Letter and Preparation

Wulo grunted as he adjusted his grip on the sack he was carrying between his claws. The griff lived at the base of the Crystal Mountains. He preferred it really. While it was bitter and cold, it was quiet and on occasion he’d help guide those wishing to visit the mountain and climb it.

He’d just returned from a trip to Manehattan to gather supplies for the next few months. This winter was to be the worse that has been seen in a couple of decades. The sack of magically preserved meats would last him long enough as he beat his powerful wings, cutting through the mild wind.

His home came into view a moment later. A large, heavy lantern sat atop it, lit brightly in the darkening sky as the princesses’ began to lower the sun, and raise the moon. The lantern was placed there by a unicorn a few years back. The magic placed upon it allowed the light to cut through even the harshest of blizzards to light his way back to his home if he was caught. While he knew the way to his small cabin he sometimes needed the help. It also doubled as a way for any stranded or lost travelers to find shelter, which he always willingly gave as he couldn’t fathom allowing one to freeze to death in this unforgiving part of Equestria.

As he landed he looked towards the door, surprised to see it was open. Had a traveler come by? He wouldn’t be surprised. It hadn’t been the first time it had happened.

Cautiously he made his way to the door and peeked his head in, glancing around slowly with a frown on his face. He could hear something in his kitchen. Wet slurping noises and growling floated through the air. Wulo gently laid the sack of food on the floor, taking care to make sure it didn’t bump the end table to the left of the door.

With hesitant steps he crept forward until he reached his fire place and grabbed one of the pokers, gripping it in his beak for the moment. He had to be mindful of the couch and desk as he made his way between them. After navigating the area he went into his kitchen which was a few feet away from the couch, and if you were standing at the door, a little to the left, leaving the interior of the kitchen just out of view.

Peeking his head around the corner he gripped the poker in his claws, grimacing as he watched the shadowed figure shudder and growl again. He just needed to get a bit closer, almost there.

Then he froze as his wing bumped a chair near the table. The lamp he usually used to light the kitchen was currently out, but he could see his invader freeze in its motions. “H-hey… who are you? What’re you doing in my home?” Wulo said with less conviction in his voice than he had hoped.

For a moment the… thing, whatever it was. Didn’t move, but just as Wulo shifted his weight to his left to start moving in that direction something came his way. His eyes closed as he suddenly felt something against his face. He couldn’t mistake the tickle of the feathers. But these seemed dirty, un-preened and rough! Then he felt something hit the side of his face. It wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t soft either, and it seemed to be flat.

His head spun as he was lifted off the ground by the hit, momentum carrying his body for a few feet before he landed with a thud and slid into one of the cabinets. A moment later he felt his breath leave him as he was hit in the gut.

“Huuughhhh!” He gasped for air, his vision starry and blurred.

As he tried to catch his breath, he heard movement. His invader turned assailant rushed toward the door with unsteady, shaky movements until the door was flung open and then, oddly enough, closed.

Wulo laid on the ground for nearly 20 minutes, listening to the sounds around him. His stomach hurt, as did the side of his face and beak. He’d finally managed to catch his breath when he sat up. No other sounds came from the cabin. So he got to his feet unsteadily and made his way to the lamp, lighting it with a quick click of flint and steel.

Slowly he turned, observing his kitchen. The refrigerator which held his food had been opened, the door nearly torn off its hinges. The meat he kept thawed but cooled so as to avoid food poisoning, was laying across the ground, mostly eaten with blood smeared across the ground.

There were prints on the ground from the home invader and he looked at them. They were hard to make out, the motions from earlier having smudged them though it appeared to be two different types of shapes.

The first was sort of circular, not symmetric but close enough, almost like a hoof but not quite. The other shape was around a foot and a half behind it, give or take. It appeared to be wider than the circle but more oval. As far as that though, he couldn’t tell if it had been a pony, another griffon, or even a young, scared dragon. Sighing he began to clean up, his thoughts wandering to the touch on his face before the hit. Feathers…. the only creatures he knew who had feathers were pegasi and griffin. Pegasi didn’t eat meat. So that ruled that out, but from the brief look he had gotten of it. It didn’t appear to be another griff either, so what the heck was it?

Three days

THREE days since she’d felt that wave of energy.

The explorers that had gone to the Crystal mountains had returned, with a young stallion that had apparently been reduced to a babbling mess. Both Celestia and Luna gone down to try and talk to the stallion at the Canterlot hospital.

What they had gotten was a pony who could do little more than dart his eyes around, jerking away from any shadows that moved, shoved away the nurses who tried to help and screamed at the top of his lungs in fear of the creature as he called it.

Those actions alone concerned the sisters. And caused Celestia to focus her energy to enter the mind of the mentally distraught stallion, Ice Breaker.

She had to first shove aside the past, his childhood, years at school, marriage and apparent adultery. That alone caused Celestia to blanch slightly and sigh. She never understood why spouses would do that to each other. But that was not her concern right now.

After thirty minutes she came to the memory she wanted to view, and watched what happened.

Luna quietly paced behind her sister, avoiding the billowing tail as best she could so as not to break her concentration. Poor Ice Breaker was standing still as a statue, a look of terror on his face. She’d never seen a pony with such a fearful gaze. When her sister finally came out of her trance she watched her turn.

“Well?” She asked, her hooves tapping lightly in agitation and anxiety.

Celestia nodded to her to confirm her thoughts. “So it’s-”

Celestia cut her off with a motion of her hoof. What she saw, gave her hope, and happiness. But it also gave her a bit of fear. She knew that eventually that cave system would be found, she had just hoped that it would be much longer.

“What is it sister?” Luna asked, concern in her voice.

She was quiet for a moment before letting out a soft sigh, sitting back on her haunches and looking at her. “The taint is still there. I could not only see it, but even in a memory I could feel it.” Luna looked down, ears plastered to her head with a sigh.

“So then-” Celestia stopped her with a hoof on her shoulder before smiling.

“But-” she withdrew her hoof, “-there is another side, that is keeping that taint in check and slowly taking it over if not reforming it so to speak.” She saw the hope in her eyes and smiled. “I think it may have worked. But only time will tell, my dear Luna. For now, we need to send a letter to Princess Twilight and her friends. I want them to go to the Crystal Empire, and then towards the Crystal Mountains.”

With a slow nod, Luna glanced at her with a small smile. “I believe it worked.”

So much hope, so much need. It caused Celestia to wrap her hooves around her sister and nuzzle her cheek to her own. “I as well my dear sister. But-” She let go of her and turned, “-let’s get the Element Bearers on their way first. And, if you can, get this stallion the best help he can get. There was no magical, or physical damage done to him. He is merely in a deep state of shock from seeing something he has never seen before in such a… gruesome visage.”

She focused, closing her eyes and picturing her study in her mind. Her energy channeled to her horn. With slow, deep breaths she calmed her body. With a soft pop and gentle sound of air rushing in to take the void she had left, she teleported to her study.

Turning she made her way to her desk, and wrote out a letter to her former student. The problem was, she didn’t know what to write. Eventually she opted to be as vague as possible with the task. Still easier said than done but twenty minutes later it was accomplished as she rolled the parchment up and sent it off to Spike. She just hoped that Twilight would be able to handle it.

“No no no!” Twilight said with despair as she kept looking over the books as she pulled them out, only to immediately toss them over her shoulder with a flick of her head. “Where is it!”

Spike rubbed his head with a soft groan as another book she had tossed conked him in the head. “Hey, watch it Twilight! What’re you looking for anyways?” He wasn’t pleased with the lack of care with which the books were currently being handled, but he also knew that when Twilight got like his, there was very little he could do to stop her, save for hitting her over the head with something solid to get her to snap out of it.

“There’s a movement of constellations tonight! Princess Luna only does it once every ten years!” She hopped in place as she said this, the anxiety and desperation on her face making Spike cringe.

He decided the best thing to do to calm her down would be to help her. But just as he got up he felt a pressure in his head and reached up to place a clawed hand to his temple.

“Hurrk!” With that a blast of green flame erupted from his mouth and a scroll appeared in before them both. “Huh… a letter from the Princess.” He said as he grabbed it out of the air and opened it up. “Dear Twilight, I have need of your assistance once more. Past the Crystal Empire, within the Crystal mountains some explorers had found quite the discovery. I would ask of you to please head in that direction at your earliest convenience. What lies there could be incredibly important, but also dangerous. Please be careful on this trip and report to me your findings. Your’s truely, Princess Celestia. Huh, well, what do you think, Twilight?” He asked after reading the scroll.

“Uh… Twilight?” He glanced around, looking for her. He jumped slightly when he heard stumbling above him and glanced up, then to the stairs as a loud omph came from them, followed shortly by a saddle bag and then one Princess Twilight Sparkle, who seemed incapable of getting her hooves under her let alone keep her wings from unbalancing her.

Eventually she did make it down with some choice curses that Spike barely registered as he tried to contain his amusement.

“Let the Princess know that I will gladly accept. I can’t possibly turn down the chance to discover something new!” She squee’d before tossing the saddle bag onto her back, adjusting it so her wings would be comfortable.

“Will do, and uh, you know Twilight you’re going to have to eventually learn how to control those things right?” Spike inquired with a perked eye ridge.

Twilight rolled her eyes and snorted. “I’ll learn… eventually.” She scuffed her hoof on the ground as she said this, eyes cast to the ground while a pink tint coated her muzzle and cheeks. Rainbow Dash had been trying to teach her how to fly, but it was difficult. Learning how to control a new set of limbs wasn’t as easy as one made out, and Dashie was starting to get agitated as it seemed Twilight wasn’t making it easy.

Clearing her throat she threw her head up. “Well, I’m off, Spike, keep an eye on the library while I’m away. Also Fluttershy will be going with us so please watch her animals while you’re gone, and don’t get into any trouble, understood.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement punctuated by a hoof poking Spike’s chest gently. He reached up to rub the spot and nodded. “I got it Twilight don’t worry.”

Satisfied, she nodded and trotted out the door, using her magic to open, and close it behind her. Now she just needed to gather the girls.

The first pony she approached was Rarity. As she approached her friends home she heard a loud bang and something crashing to the ground. Confused, Twilight hesitated at the door before lifting her hoof to knock on it. She jerked away when it was flung open and out rushed Sweetie Belle, bolting down the street with a loud squeal and giggle as Rarity came to the door, a frown on her face.

“Honestly Sweetie Belle!” She shouted after her retreating sister.

Twilight couldn’t help but lift a hoof to her muzzle and laugh. “W-well, Rarity, seems you’ve been busy.” She said with a bright smile.

Rarity backed away from the door with a grumble as Twilight moved into the Carousel Boutique and sat down in the show room, her head moving this way and that to see some of the new fashions that were being made.

“Hello darling what brings you here this day?” She said, humming to herself as she sat across from Twilight.

Twilight was brought from her thoughts at the question and glanced over at Rarity. This trip would take a few days, hopefully she could come with her. “Well,” she said. “I received a letter from Princess Celestia a short while ago. She requested that we head up towards the Crystal Mountains to check out a dig site.”

Rarity tilted her head to the side. “Oh my, I don’t know. I have an awful lot to do.”

Twilight hesitated, “We shouldn’t be too long Rarity. Besides the Princess asked us to do this.”

For a moment Rarity looked down in thought, her tail swaying back and forth, one of her forehooves scuffing the ground. Eventually she sighed and nodded her head. “On one condition though!” She stated, sitting a bit straighter now.

“If we are going up to those chilly mountains I MUST make a coat for everypony to keep us warm! It will take at least a day to make sure everypony’s sizes are correct. I refuse to go that far north without something to stay warm.” Her hoof lightly stomped on the floor to emphesize her point.

Twilight knew it was pointless to argue. So instead she nodded and lifted herself into a standing position. “No problem Rarity, I’ll let the rest of the girls know so they can get ready, then we’ll come by tomorrow to pick them up.”

Nodding, Rarity stood as well and walked Twilight to the door, letting her out before stating she was going to get right to work. Well, at least she didn’t ask for a lot to be convinced.

Next up was the sugar fiend of the group, Pinkie Pie. Twilight had a feeling that it would be relatively easy to get her to join up. And as she walked into Sugarcube Corner she sniffed the air, catching the scent of fresh baked pastries and cakes.

If anything Pinkie Pie was a master culinist. It was extremely rare that she ever made anything Twilight or the others would turn away.

“Pinkie!” Twilight called out, ears twitching and listening for her friend. But she got no response. That was strange, usually she would answer right away to her name. “Pinkie are you there?”

Again, nothing. Perhaps she was out? Sighing Twilight turned only to be greeted by the smiling face of her friend.

“HEYA TWILIGHT!” Pinkie shouted, causing Twilight to stumble back in surprise.

“Pinkie! I called for you twice. How come you didn’t answer?” Twilight said as she regained her composure.

Before she could reply, Twilight put a hoof into her mouth. “Nevermind I don’t want to know.” She said, though her eyebrow shot up as she heard the muffled voice and felt the vibration going up her foreleg. Curious she brought her hoof away.

“-and then I was in this dark room, surrounded by all th-” Twilight put her hoof back into her mouth to silence her with a sigh. Eventually Pinkie got the hint and tilted her head for a moment before reaching up and pulling Twilight’s hoof from her mouth.

“So what did ya want?” She asked with a bright, dazzling smile.

“Well Pinkie I got a letter from Princess Celestia recently. She asked me to get you and the others together to take a trip up to the Crystal Mountains! Apparently there was some kind of expedition up there that made a discovery and she wants us to further investigate!” She replied, a smile on her face while she awaited Pinkie’s response.

“Oh an adventure! I’d be happy to go on an adventure Twilight!” Pinkie bounced in place as she said this, circling Twilight.

Pinkie Pie, always enthusiastic, had no issue letting the Cakes know about their ‘adventure’ as she called it and was out the door before Twilight could blink. “Well that was easy.” Twilight muttered as she followed her out.

Next was Applejack, and it took a bit more convincing to get her on the train so to speak.

“But, there’s way too much left ta do Twi!” She said with a nervous shifting movement. Planting her fore-hooves on the ground with a soft, almost rapid click clack sound.

“This is an important task A.J. The Princess needs us to head to the Crystal Mountains and investigate a dig discovery. We need you in case something happens.” Twilight pleaded, “Please A.J.?” She stuck out her bottom lip. Pinkie Pie mimicking the motion though it was mostly because she was playing around as opposed to wanting to accomplish anything.

Looking between the two Applejack sighed and adjusted her stetson atop her head, pushing it up so that she could scratch at her head with her hoof. “Ah’lright,” she said with a soft sigh. “Lemme tell Big Mac and Ah’ll meet ya by the train station.”

Pinkie Pie hopped in place with a happy squee while Twilight thanked her with a smile and trotted off towards the Everfree.

Fluttershy was next, and was going to be the hardest to convince. But Twilight had expected that. Her timid friend was hardly willing to actually part from her animals in any situation, let alone for a trip that was most likely going to take them away from Ponyville for at least a week.

When Twilight made it to Fluttershy’s cottage, she gently knocked on the door with a hoof and waited patiently. Sometimes she would answer almost instantly, other times it would take her a moment as she may be tending to an animal of her’s.

It seemed this time it was the former as almost immediately the door cracked open to reveal a pink mane with a single Aqua colored eye peeking out from behind. “Y-yes?” She asked in a soft voice before recognizing Twilight. “Oh, hello Twilight! What brings you and Pinkie here today?”

She moved away from the door, opening it more to allow them both in. Twilight wasn’t sue why Pinkie continued to follow her. She figured she would be back at Sugarcube Corner to get her things packed. But then again, knowing how she works, it was already done somehow.

Twilight went into explaining once more about the letter she received from Celestia, and the need for them to head up to the Crystal Mountains. Fluttershy’s smile disappeared, replaced by a furrowed brow and concerned look.

“O-oh.. I don’t think I can Twilight. I need to keep an eye on the animals, and Angel as well.” She hid behind her mane again, eyes cast to the floor. That’s exactly the response Twilight had expected.

“Spike will keep an eye on them Fluttershy, you know they’ll be in good hands.” She said, bringing a hoof onto her shoulder and smiling at her.

For a moment she said nothing, her gaze remaining on the ground before she slowly lifted her head and looked up at Twilight. She searched her eyes for a moment with her own before sighing. “I don’t know Twilight. What if something were to happen to one of my little friends? What if one of them got injured! And I couldn’t be here to help them!”

Now she was starting to get herself worked up, starting to panic needlessly. It took nearly a half hour at that point to get her to calm down enough to listen to her after that.

“Fluttershy I promise that Spike will take good care of Angel and the others. We’ll only be gone about a week. All we’re doing is going up to take a look at the area that the expedition group had come across, and see if there is anything worth mentioning to Celestia.” She put on her best reassuring smile and watched as Fluttershy had an inner battle with herself, her eyes daring back and forth between her and the rest of her home.

Eventually she sighed, and hung her head. “Okay, if you promise that Spike is going to take care of my animals then I’ll come.” Twilight hugged her, and then glanced around. She’d only just noticed how quiet it had been. Where was Pinkie at?

“ADVENTURE!”

Fluttershy jumped up into the air and shot under her desk as Pinkie Pie stood beside the space the poor pegasus had just occupied.

“Pinkie!” Twilight scolded before looking under the table and gently nudging the scared pony.

It took a few minutes but eventually Twilight was able to coax her out of the hiding spot, with Pinkie apologizing for scaring her so badly. Twilight told her that they would be leaving tomorrow once Rarity got back with her about the coats. With that they left, heading out to find the last of their group.

Admittedly the hardest to find was Rainbow Dash. Due to her being a pegasus she was always busy taking care of the clouds that happened to wander towards Ponyville on an almost daily basis.

They first checked her house, with Twilight attempting to fly up at first, only to fail from her lack of control with her wings. Eventually she gave up and simply teleported up to the front door to knock on it a few times and call out for her friend. When there was no answer after a near 20 minute wait she glanced around. Then looked down and saw she was already talking to Pinkie Pie.

“Of course, when I look for her she’s not here, but I turn around and bam she’s come to us.” Sighing Twilight jumped off the cloud and felt her wings snap open. She could at least glide, and while she was nervous she wasn’t scared.

With a less than graceful meeting of the ground she stumbled over to Rainbow Dash with a smile. “Are you kidding me?” She heard her friend say, “Of course I’d go, this will be AWESOME!” She shouted.

It seems as if Pinkie had already done the talking. Good because Twilight was getting worn out and tired of repeating the same thing over and over.

“We’ll be taking the train to the Crystal Empire tomorrow as soon as Rarity finishes the coats for the cold weather at the mountain. So be ready, I’ll have Fluttershy come get you when we’re ready to go.” Twilight said with a mock salute from Rainbow Dash.

With a powerful pump of her wings she took off into the air and towards her home to prepare. Well at least that was done with.

“Well Pinkie looks l-” Twilight stopped mid-sentence, glancing around for Pinkie Pie. “-Uh Pinkie? Where are you?” After getting no response she sighed. That mare was so random sometimes it gave her a headache. Most likely she had bolted off to her home to get ready. That was fine with Twilight. She needed to get ready herself, so much to do, so little time!

She didn’t know what would await her and the others but she was far too excited to think too much on it right now. With that, she turned from the field and towards Ponyville, trotting quickly towards the Library.

This was going to be fun!

Author's Note

And there ya have it, chapter two! Hope you all enjoy! And a big thanks to Zephyr for being an awesome proof reader!