A Man, A Pony And An Elf Enters The Inn

A Pony

It was a beautiful day and the sun was high in the sky; its shining rays filling the inhabitants of Ponyville with feelings of warmth and joy. The wind was calmly moving through the grass and the fallen leaves on the ground. Even though it was the middle of spring there was still a lot of work left over from the winter wrap up celebration after the accident with another contest of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Ponies went about their daily jobs as usual, but one in particular was staying in her house today.

She was a mailmare, called Derpy Hooves. It had been six months since she started working, so her boss had decided to give her a free day today. Lazily lying on the couch next to her chimney, she thought what she could do for today. She was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice that her daughter Dinky had come back home after school. Little filly had slowly approached her mom upon the sofa, and with a wide grin on her face, she started to tickle her mother.

"Dinky... S-stop! Hahah... Enoughhhaahaha!" Soon the filly stopped and jumped at the couch next to her mom, hugging her tightly.

"So mom, what are we gonna do today?"

"I still don't know... Maybe you have an idea?"

"I want to go to Everfree forest!" Derpy had been shocked, why would she want to do something so dangerous?

"No way! Why would you want to go there anyway? It's too dangerous even for your mommy, not even mentioning a little filly!"

"Because Scootaloo said at school that she went there today and there's nothing to be afraid of!" Oh, she greatly knew Scootaloo by now.

"And did she said something else about it?"

"Well... That she was with Rainbow Dash... This is why I wanted to go with you! I know you could protect me!"

"I'm sorry Dinky, but it is really dangerous. Dont forget that Rainbow Dash is an element bearer."

"Awww, okay... Maybe we could visit the library?"

"The library? You're interested in books?" Derpy slowly raised an eyebrow. She didnt liked to admit it, but her daughter wasn't... the brightest mind.

"Um, not really. I wanted to talk with Twilight!"

"Twilight Sparkle? Why?"

"Today some kind of a strange creature gave me a letter and told me to bring it to her! It was soooo huge and it didn't had hooves and it had clothing everywhere and it was hairless except for it's head, and, and..."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on there honey. A creature? Are you sure it wasnt your imagination?"

"Mom, it wasn't my imagination this time! Here, let me show you this letter!" She quickly searched through her school bag and pulled from it a letter addressed to Twilight Sparkle. Derpy couldn't help but notice how unusual it was. A strange seal with a letter "V" on it, nicely decoraded with small golden ornaments at the sides, and at the top of it a symbol of a crown. This is surely not just a casual letter... I wonder if it has something to do with the rumors of Twilight becoming a princess soon...

"Alright, we will visit Twilight."

Twilight slowly made her way through the town, heading towards her home. The sight of shops by her sides always made her wonder what she could need at the moment, and this time wasn't any different.

"Maybe I could get some... No, I already have a lot of it. Maybe some quills? From what i remember, Spike broke the last one I had, so I guess I could buy two or three more..." With that in mind, she turned left, to the Quills and Sofas shop. Probably the weirdest shop in Ponyville... But at least they have good quills!

She walked through the door, causing the little bell at the top of it to jiggle, which made both George and Wilson turn their heads in her direction. This shop was halfed - Left, bigger side of it was George's, where he was selling all kinds of sofas. He was an older pony, maybe just a bit younger than Applejack's grandma, grey coat and dark grey short mane and tail adored his view. His cutie mark showed a fine looking sofa.

At the right side was standing Wilson behind his desk, the pony who was selling high quality quills. Unlikely George, he was a young stallion, maybe a slightly older than Twilight. His coat was cream color, his dull brown short mane was slicked back and his cutie mark showed both sofa and quill. George was a father of Wilson, but there has been bad blood between them ever since they opened the shop. At the sight of Twilight, Wilson smiled while George turned his head away.

"Ah, my favourite costumer! What can i do for you Twilight?"

"Hey Wilson, I'll need three of your finest quills."

"All of my quills are finest!" He bowed down and brought three quills with him from under the counter. "That will be twenty bits."

"Twenty? That's less than usualy." Twilight quirked her eyebrow.

"For my regular customer? Not at all!" He leaned over the counter and whispered to Twilight "Of course... You can always whisper a word or two to your friends about some fine quills here, right?"

"I'll surely remember to do so... like always." She said with a little unease as she dropped twenty bits on the counter. He quickly counted them, then smiled and put them in a bag hidden in a small cupboard behind his counter. They said their goodbye's and Twilight left the shop. She could hear George mumble something to himself on her way out, but she ignored it.

Soon enough she saw her destination on the horizon - A library carved in a tree, which also served as her house. She couldn't even count how many jokes people made about it. While making her way to the front door, she noticed the Ponyville mailmare approaching her, Derpy if she remember correctly, accompanied by a little filly, probably her daughter. Soon enough, both of them were standing in front of the door to the library.

"Hey Twilight, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thanks. How about you Derpy?"

"It's been really boring lately... Anyway, my daughter here-" She pointed her hoof at the filly next to her "-have something for you."

"Oh? What is it?" Derpy's daughter slowly reached somewhere behind her and gave Twilight a really richly decorated letter, addressed to her.

"...A letter?"

"Yes, today this strange creature gave it to me, it was huge and~" Derpy shoved her hoof in Dinky's mouth, succesfully shushing her.

"Dinky got it today from someone, but i'm not really sure who was it..."

"I see... Thanks!" Twilight said with a smile. She nodded to her with a smile, and both Derpy and her daughter were on their way back, Dinky saying something to Derpy who looked slightly confused.

Twilight have made her way into the Library, looking at the letter she kept in her telekinesis. It's really splendid, maybe it's from Princess Celestia? But why wouldn't she just send it straight to me? Unless...

"Spike!" Silence. "Spike! Are you here?!" Still silence. Twilight could feel dread growing in her, where could have Spike went? She started looking for him through the house. Basement, kitchen, her room, he was nowhere to be found. Twilight gazed with fret at the letter levitating next to her. She quickly broke the seal with her magic and opened the letter, quickly scanning it's content.

Dear Twilight Sparkle

I got your purple lizard. If you do not wish for him to come to harm, you will do exacly as i say.

Meet me at the entrance of the Everfree forest, near the field of poison joke. Don't bring anyone with you. Take only a quill and a piece of paper. Do not try telling anyone about it. I'm watching you.

I expect you there at the sunset. Don't be late.

Regards
Stranger.

"...You are insane, this is just straight cruel."

"Yeah, well, you know. C'mon now, we don't want to be late, now do we? Not much time is left before sunset."

She sighed and grabbed a small, tied up lizard, putting him on her shoulder. I'm sorry little one, but i have no other choice at the moment.

Twilight left the Library in hurry, heading straight towards Everfree forest. Waiting for the right time to leave gave her a lot of time to think about what can happen. They told me to bring a piece of paper and a quill! That's ridiculous! Wouldn't they want a ransom for Spike or i don't know, maybe... Maybe it's a trap? With that in mind, she slowed down for a moment to cast few protective spells on herself, before going back into full gallop.

She made it to the Everfree entrance just before the sunset. Wind was really strong tonight, knocking off leaves from the trees and making generaly a lot of noise. Animals could be heard somewhere deep in the forest, and the thickness of it made it almost impossible to see anything within it.

To her left was a small field of teal-colored flowers, illuminated by the light of the slowly rising up moon, they stood out as the only visible thing in the forest at the moment. Each of them seemed harmless, but she knew exacly what they are. Poison joke, probably the biggest annoyance of this forest. She still remembers how she and her friends got poisoned by it. Good old times, she would say, if not for the fact these weren't good times, especially for Zecora. Poor Zebra, the way how ponies from Ponyville treated her...

Everything suddenly fell silent. Wind strangely calmed down, noises around her got quiet. Twilight could hear her own breathing now. This lasted for a short moment before suddenly Spike got thrown from her left side, seemingly out of nowhere. He was completely tied with rope and gagged with some sort of cloth.

"Spike! Spike, are you alright?!" He nodded, but seemed extremely panicked.

"Did you brought things i asked for?" A sudden female voice asked her calmly, her words strangely echoing around the field, seemingly coming from everywhere.

"...Yes, i did. Who are you?" She asked as she started to untie Spike.

"You're in no position to ask questions. Now, you'll write a letter to princess Celestia." Twilight felt shock grow within her as she slowly removed gag from Spike's mouth. As soon as she did it, his eyes instantly went wide.

"Twilight, don't listen to him! He's planning to~" Before he ended this sentce, an arrow flew right in front of him, barely missing his leg.

"Next time i wont miss." This caused Spike to hide behind Twilight. An arrow? These work only with bows, ponies can't use them! Who is that?

"Spike, you'll tell me later about this." Twilight wishpered to him silently.

"Oh, i dont think so. I want you to know that i'll watch you from now on. Spike, remember what i've done before you've arrived here?" Spike inhaled sharply, a look of pure terror on his face.

"What have you done to him?!"

"Don't worry Twilight, i haven't done anything to Spike that could hurt him. And i wont, as long as he won't say a word about what happend. Now, take a letter." Twilight groaned in annoyance, she's out of ideas at this point.

"...You know, i dont have an ink with me, you didnt asked me to take it with me."

"Yes, i know. You're going to use the juice from the poison joke's stalk." Twilight slowly turned her head to the field of poison joke. It's flowers looked like they were shinning through the night. Very slowly she approached them and took one of their stalks in her magic. A teal drops of juice loosely started to leak out of it as soon as she grabbed it. Twilight levitated a quill above it and let the juice sink in, then put the stalk aside and nodded in understanding that she's ready. This time, a different voice spoke.

"Dear princess Celestia..."

Princess Celestia was watching her beloved country from her balcony, the view of the moon slowly rising above the Equestria always brought a smile on her face, a reminder of the glorious day when her sister, princess Luna had finally returned. Sadly, she had to get some sleep, tommorow awaited her another day full of work, like always. She was slowly making her way to the bed when suddenly a letter arrived in front of her. She could recognize that it was from Twilight Sparkle, her loyal student, from the fading green flames, the sign that her dragon Spike had sent it. A smile reappeared at her face as she started reading the letter.

Dear Celestia

I can proudly say that today i've done something that neither you or Luna would have ever done.

I've summoned a creature from other dimension.

It is a huge succes for me, i've always wanted to learn more about culture of other species, and when i've finally learned everything about everyone in Equestria, i still felt the carving to learn more... Of course i do believe you knew that so far. Not so long ago, i've gathered enough energy for me to escape your little... "Prison". Learning how to jump from world to world, it was really usefull for my studies, untill i've met someone... Interesting. As you will see on your own soon, time often have a lot to do with dimensional travels. Anyway, i just wanted to inform you that this world had welcomed a new creature, and if i were to gues, you will have a lot of work soon. For this, i would like to apologize, i never considered you an enemy and it hurts me deeply to cause you such grief, but nonetheless, i will need to get back my righteous place in this world.

Regards
Your old friend.

Celestia couldn't take her eyes away from the letter for a long while. She knew exacly who was this old friend. Slowly, she levitated the letter with her and headed to her sister chambers. On her way she noticed Luna already walking through the corridor. When she noticed Celestia coming to her, she smiled calmly.

"Ah, good evening, sister. It is quite surprising that you're still awake, something had happened?" Without a word, Celestia gave her sister the letter, a look of worry on her face. Luna had started reading, and with each second her face get more and more horrified.

"...This can't be... Is it really... Him?"

"I do believe that is right. I don't know how did he managed to come back to Equestria, but this time i'll make sure that he won't come back."

"But what if that's not him? There's always this possibility."

"I haven't met anyone in a thousand years who could've called me an "old friend", except Starswirl and... him. And since Starswirl's transformation haven't succeeded, he's no longer with us... I'm almost sure that it must be from him."

"Very well, that's all i've asked for. You're now free to walk away... Also, i want to warn you. Soon, your beloved village will meet with a terrible fate, you should leave it as soon as you can. And you, Spike, i'll repeat myself - I'm watching you. Don't try to tell her anything."

"But... Why? What's about to happen?" There was no anserw.

And with that, suddenly everything once again became normal. Wind started moving around, creating a lot of noise, and a scowl of a timberwolf could be heard from away, a sign for rest of his pack that he found a target. Twilight slowly started retreating back to Ponyville, still thinking about what she had just sent to princess Celestia. An old friend? Does he really knows princess Celestia? And escaping "prison"... I really wish i could talk with someone about it, but i'm worried about Spike...

Within five minutes she was already in front of her home, a small light coming out the windows, a sing that the candles were still lit since she had left. This kinda surprised her, the candles should have already burned off a long time ago. She slowly opened the door to her house and looked around, Spike staying behind her.

"...Twilight, is someone here?"

"I don't know Spike, but if someone's there at this hour, this can mean only troubles..." Spike started slightly shaking as she made her way in.

A long while later, there was no one to be found in library. It was quite a mystery, since the candles looked like someone had just lit them up a few minutes ago. After additionaly checking whole home with a intruder-searching spell, she and Spike finally went to get some sleep. At least Spike did, Twilight didnt fell asleep this night. The feeling of something big coming was growing within her, and no matter how hard she tried, nothing made her forget about the letter she had wrote today. Today Equestria had welcomed a new creature...

Dinky suddenly opened her eyes, woken up by a sound of a knocking on the door. It's been a few calm days since the strange creature gave her the letter, but her mom always seemed to wonder about something since that day. She haven't seen this creature anymore, but it's view had sticked to her mind forever. Another series of knocks brought her back from her thoughts. Slowly she crawled out of her bed and sleepily made her way to the door. When she opened it, a blue pegasus stallion with long, orange mane and tail was standing in front of her.

"Oh, hey there little one. Is your mom home?"

"I don't know..." She murmured and took a quick look at the clock. It's 9am, mommy should be at work for now. "No, she's working now."

The stallion in front of her smiled sadly "No, she's not. You see, my boss sent me here to check on your mother, see why she havent came to work" Dinky was confused, her mom isn't at work? It had happened a few times that she had forgot she need to work on saturdays as well, but that was a long time ago.

"Uhm... I'll go get my mom then." She quickly made her way to her mommy's room. After a short moment she was already in her room, looking at her sleeping mom in front of her.

"Mom... Mom, wake up..." The filly shook her mom a little bit, but that didn't helped. She jumped on her bed and shook her again, this time harder. Still nothing. Suddenly the realization hit her. She's not breathing...

"Mom...?" She could feel tears slowly flowing through her cheecks. No... This can't be... How? "Mom! Mom please, dont die! You can't die!" The blue stallion quickly rushed to the room, and when he noticed her lying on the bed, he instantly approached her and checked her breathing.

"...No..." He started making my mom cardiac massage. "Filly, what's your name?!"

"...D-Dinky..."

"Dinky, go to the Ponyville's hospital and ask them for help, they will know what to do!" Without further thinking, she galloped outside and to the hospital.

Murphy never was in worse shit than this. Derpy often was late to work, but this?! He never asked for this! He continued the cardiac massage untill a realization hit him. Pulse! I haven't checked the pulse yet! Slowly he lifted his wing and put it at Derpy's throat. Wings are a lot more sensitive than a hoof, so pegasi were always choosen to check other's pulse. As soon as he touched it, he didn't had any doubts anymore. ...She's cold as stone... Oh no... He slowly backed away from her, when suddenly a group of doctors entered the room and quickly approached Derpy. Dinky entered the room shortly after them, terror clearly visible at her face. It wasn't even twenty seconds before the doctors sadly shaked their heads and one of them picked up from his backpack a body bag. One of doctors had came to him, a sad look on his face.

I'm sorry, but it looks like she had a heart attack at the middle of the night... Even if we could be there at the time she had it, there still would be a huge possibility that she wouldn't survive... I'm sorry..."

Murphy had closed his eyes and turned his head away, he could only hear through the shock doctors mumbling to one another, and a miserable crying and begging of Derpy's daughter.

Derpy has died.

It was a rainy, dark day. World seemed gray, lifeless as ponies slowly made their way to the graveyard, funeral of Derpy was soon about to start. Today, nopony went to work. Twilight was already at the graveyard when she noticed her best friends on their way here, each one of them were wearing a black dress. Pinkie Pie's had her mane and tail flat, Applejack had her hat taken off, Rarity from time to time had to wipe out some tears with a tissue, Rainbow Dash tried to stay tough, but i could hear her sniff from time to time and Fluttershy hiding behind her mane, though it was obvious she was crying quietly. When they noticed Twilight, a small smiled had appeared at their snouts for a moment.

"Hey girls... Nobody could have expected it, right?"

"Ah'm afraid no, sugarcube. Things like that just sometimes... Happen..."

"But why Derpy?! Out of all ponies, why her?! Couldn't it be~" A quick glare of disapproval from Applejack silenced Rainbow.

"...I think we should be going already, the funeral is about to start." Rarity said and everypony nodded, then started slowly walking to the visible crowd of ponies a small distance away. As soon as they approached it, Mayor Mare started the speech.

"Dear ladies and gentlecolts, today we meet together to bid farewells to our good friend, acquaintance, and a mother. Derpy Hooves, the Ponyville's mailmare, had left us at the night from friday to saturday last week. Starswirl the Bearded said once 'Death awaits everypony, but the most hurt will always be family and friends'. Let her poor soul rest in peace..." Twilight could hear growing sniffs and chokes of crying in the crowd, she herself could feel already tears coming to her eyes. She didn't knew Derpy that good, but death of someone you used to see everyday can't be just ignored.

Soon after the speech the crowd could approach Derpy's coffin to take a last look on her. Dinky had took it the worst way possible, ponies couldn't take her away from her mother for almost ten minutes. Now that she's dead, Dinky will probably end in orphanage, and the closest one is in Fillydelphia, almost two hundred kilometers away. Twilight could only wish the filly best of luck, and wish that somepony could help her in this situation. She could adopt her, but she couldn't handle a heart-broken depressed filly while also working at the library and taking care of Spike, not even mentioning eventual calls from princess Celestia.

Finally after a few hours, the funeral was over, and ponies slowly started making their way back to their homes. All ponies except one, who now was alone.

Princess Celestia made her way through the corridors and straight to her throne room. She had a lot of work to do, but the most important task still awaited her. On her way she noticed her sister going to her bedroom.

"Ah, good morning my dear sister."

"Good morning Tia. Did you slept well?"

"I wish i could... I've been thinking all this time about this letter i've recieved yesterday."

"I understand your worries... Something made me wonder about it. How did he managed to send you a letter? If i remember correctly, royal mail is private, only a few can use it." Celestia's eyes went wide as a realization hit her.

"It... It was send by Spike..."

"Twilight Sparkle's dragon? But that would mean..."

"...He have to know something about this." Celestia had ended for her sister. I'll need to pay my loyal student a visit...

It's been a week since Derpy's death. Ponies tried to live a normal life once again, but a few of them couldn't get through the fact that their friend had left them. Thankfully Pinkie Pie took Dinky after death of her mother untill ponies from the orphanage will come and take her, though a lot of ponies knew this will end badly. By now, the summer was slowly starting, sun shinning all over the Ponyville, like it was trying to give back happiness to all ponies that had lost it. Wind calmly moved betwen buildings, giving everypony who passed by a feeling of refreshment. Somewhere at the Ponyville park, three young fillies sat under the tree, lying in it's shadow and chatting with eachother. These fillies were known as Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, also knowed by whole Ponyville as "Cutie Mark Crusaders".

"What do you mean 'you're tired', Scootaloo? You're almost never tired!"

"I know, i just... I feel bad today."

"Maybe ya should get some rest today, Scootaloo? Ya really don't look too good."

"...I'm fine, i just need to stretch out a little bit." She slowly stood up and suddenly started coughing.

"See? Ah told you, you should get some rest, ah know that the best way to~" That was all that Applebloom could say before Scootaloo suddenly fell on the ground, unconscious. Sweetie Belle gasped and instantly stood up.

"Scootaloo? Scootaloo!" Applebloom stood up as well and picked Scootaloo up, then put her on her back.

"C'mon Sweetie Belle, we gotta get her to Applejack, she will know what to do!" She nodded and they both trotted to Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack slowly put Scootaloo on a bed in her room, while Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stayed outside. Little pegasus looked like she was in huge pain, sweating and tightly hugging a blanked. After she once again checked everything, Applejack went outside and slowly closed the door behind her.

"She have a really bad fever, but that's the only thing ah know... I'm goin' to get a doctor, can you watch over her meanwhile sugarcube?"

"Of course Applejack! Me and Sweetie Belle will make sure that Scootaloo is fine!" Applejack smiled softly and made her way outside. Just as she left, Cutie Mark Crusaders entered the room where their third member was now lying on the bed.

"What should we do, Applebloom?"

"...Ah have no idea... Ah think we should wait and see if she will wake up." Just as she said that, Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes.

"...C...Cold..." Both fillies heads turned in her direction.

"Scootaloo! You're alright?" Sweetie Belle asked as Applebloom reached for another blanket from Applejack's wardrobe.

"...Not really, everything hurts me..."

"Stay tough, soon mah sister will be back with a doctor, he's gonna take care of you." Applebloom said while puting a new blanket at Scootaloo's slightly shivering body.

Meanwhile Applejack had already entered the hospital, and was on her way to the receptionist. White walls at each side didn't really kept the noise of coughing and sniffing of the sick inside, so Applejack was thankfull when she had finally reached the desk of the nurse Redheart.

"Good morning nurse, we got a patient at our home that needs help!" She said in a hurry.

"Good morning Applejack... This isn't a cow this time, right?" Applejack groaned in annoyance.

"Of course not, nurse! it's Scootaloo!"

"Ah, this pegasus filly? She was there a few times before... What happened this time?"

"She's sick, have a really bad fewer! Mah sister told me she suddenly fainted when they were talking, so this can't be just a cold!" Nurse seemed worried by it.

"...She too?"

"What do ya mean, 'she too'?"

"It's already twentysixth patient today with these symptoms, some of them had even memory lapses and partial blindness... This is slowly becoming epidemic, we will need to warn citizens of Ponyville!"

"And what about Scootaloo?"

"Uhmm... Could you wait here for a second? I'll go get a doctor for her." Applejack nodded and nurse Redheart instantly made her way through one of the corridors.

"Uh huh... As i thought, this is surely this new epidemic disease that's spreading lately. We've send already samples to Canterlot's laboratories to work on a cure for it, for now i can only give her some vitamns. She needs now to sleep a lot, her body is tired."

"Thank you doctor." Applejack said, which caused him to nod with a small smile. Soon he left the room, and only Sweetie belle, Applebloom and her sister stayed with Scootaloo.

"We gotta tell her parents so they can take care of her, but for now she need to rest a little bit. Ah'll go tell them, meanwhile i want you Applebloom to look over her." And with that, she left as well. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were observing sleeping Scootaloo for a while untill a realization hit Applejack's sister.

"...Did the doctor said 'new epidemic disease'?"

"...Yeah, he did. Why?"

"...Well, it's epidemic, right?

"Yeah..."

"...Doesn't it mean we can catch it as well?"

"..."

Twilight was pacing from one side of the room to another, thinking about the warning nurse Redheart that today announced. A new kind of epidemic disease? This is really serious, i'll need to make sure Spike or me wont get it... While she was walking around the room, Spike was sitting on the couch, looking nervously around him. Suddenly a bright flash of light blinded everyone for a few seconds. Once they recovered, they noticed that a princess Celestia was standing at the middle of their room.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight said and instantly bowed, Spike jumping off the couch and doing the same.

"Good afternoon, my loyal student. I've came here to ask a few questions to your... assistant." Twilight could hear Spike gulp.

"...Is it about this letter Spike had send??" Celestia seemed a little bit surprised at that.

"You knew?"

"Yes, i've wrote that... Well, not me exacly, i've been just... It's a long story."

"I've made sure that i have a time for this, so let's just sit down and talk." Celestia said in calm voice, making Spike a little bit more relaxed at that point.

"We're getting out of beds!" Redheart screamed at the second half of the huge hall where they kept ponies sick at the new disease. Each doctor was wearing a masc to prevend from spreading the disease betwen them.

"Hold on, i gonna bring a few more from the corridor!" One of the doctors said and left the hall. Each pony lying on the bed was in critical state, some of them coughing with blood, some of them lost feeling in their back hooves, and some of them becoming blind. Suddenly a light yellow mare with twisted pink and dark purple mane and tail ran into the hall with teal unicorn mare with white and mint mane and tail, holding her in her front hooves.

"Please, help her! Help Lyra! She can't breathe!" Bon Bon cried as she ran into the hall. Instantly a group of doctors approached her and took care of the unicorn.

"Quickly, artificial respiration!"

"Someone prepare a oxygen mask!"

"Her pulse is fading!"

"LYRA, NO!"

"I see... I always knew that he was... insane, in his own way, but to kidnap someone?" Celestia sighed as Twilight was looking at her in a small confusion. Spike was sitting beside her, his gaze on the ground. "I really don't know what to think about it anymore..."

"Wait, you know him princess?" Twilight asked, which caused Spike to give her a short glance.

"I do, he was... Mine and my sister's old enemy." Twilight ans Spike gasped. "Yes, i know... These were dark times, before Discord was defeated, four entities ruled the Equestria. Me and my sister were two of these entities, although we didn't wanted it, for we both knew that with such great power comes great responsibility. We tried to stay in the shadow, but... We couldn't. Not after he tried to take the hold."

"He?" Twilight asked curious.

"Yes, he. His name is Eua'Regone. Just like Discord, he was a draconequus, and while he wasn't evil, he didn't cared for good as well. He wanted knowledge. Knowledge about every living creature. He wanted to use his status of a ruler to force inhabitants to share their knowledge with him... And he did. We tried to talk with him, to convince him that this is the wrong way to learn... but he didn't wanted to listen. If we wouldn't stop him in time, who knows how Equestria could end... but at the same time, we have sealed our destination as a rules of Equestria. We care for our country and we will not let it down."

"But... Why? Why did he wanted to know everything about all inhabitants of this world?"

"I'm afraid i don't know the answer for this question as well. After he was defeated, i've banished him to the sun, where he was supoused to spend rest of his life, but as you know already, he somehow managed to escape. This is why i wanted to talk with Spike." Spike once again looked at the princess, a look of hope on his face.

"I... I've seen him... And Twilight, i know what's causing this disease-" Celestia lifted an eyebrow at that" -but i've been warned that he's watching me... That he's going to kill me if i try to tell somepony..." Celestia's face hardened as she stood up.

"Spike, i'm going to cast a powerfull protection spell on you. Normaly that would be more than enough, but since your scales are magic resistant, this should work just fine." Spike slowly nodded his head and Celestia started to gather magic in her horn. A few seconds later a magic bolt went into Spike, giving him a little shine. "So, what exacly do you know? And what is about this disease you've mentioned earlier?"

"So, he~" Suddenly an arrow went through the window and was just about to hit Spike when it suddenly changed it's trajectory and hit the wall right next to Celestia. She seemed more than shocked at that, and Twilight instantly ran to her.

"Princess! Are you alright?"

"Yes, i am... Fine... An arrow? But... He should have no idea about bows... These have been invented a few months ago..."

"That's because it's not only him!" Spike quickly said. This time, there was no arrows coming.

"What do you mean Spike?" Twilight asked curiously while Celestia was still thinking.

"This Eua-something... Is working with this creature he's been talking about, this from other dimension!" Twilight eyes went wide while Celestia instantly turned her head his way.

"You've seen it?"

"Yes, it is large! Higher than you, princess! It wears clothes all over his body, mostly made out of... bushes and stuff... It reminds me a lot of minotaurs, but instead of hooves it have some kind of weird... things... and his face is like, the most disgusting~" Another arrow came through the window, this time it bounced off and hit a picture hanging at the wall, next to the window where the arrows are coming from. "...uhh... It looked strange." Twilight and Celestia were looking at each other, clearly stunned at what they heard.

"...And about this disease?" Celestia asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"It's... It would be better if i'd show you... But you will need something to protect yourself from this disease."

Twilight, Spike and Celestia were walking through the Everfree forest for almost thirty minutes before they could see already something big lying betwen the trees. While on their way, they haven't heard a single scowl, a single noise of any animal, like they have left the forest entirely.

"Spike... It's this thing over there that's causing the disease?" Twilight whispered to him, looking at her sides from time to time. She couldn't exacly see what is this since everything in this forest gets darker the deeper you go in, but one thing was sure - it was really big.

"Yes, it's it. Just... Try to stay calm."

Soon they were already in front of it. It was still almost impossible to see anything, so Twilight slowly started creating a small light ball. Once it was out, it showed the probably most unexpected thing they could've seen.

A dead body of an Ursa Minor.

Twilight had backed away a few steps, a terror slowly growing in her. Celestia's eyes went wide, and Spike shivered at this view.

"Is... Is it Ursa Minor?" Celestia slowly asked, not moving her gaze from a dead body.

"Yes, this... Creature from other dimension was fighting against it." Both Celestia's and Twilight's head turned his way.

"He was FIGHTING WITH IT?" Twilight asked, a look of pure horror on her face.

"Yes, i couldn't believe it myself when he said that. He said he used his 'special arrow' on it, and that it would soon destroy the whole ecosystem around it." He gulped after the words had left his lips. Celestia looked curiously around his body. There was indeed a one, single arrow sticking out of it's back, barely visible through the darkness.

"Wait, he? It's a male?" Twilight suddenly asked, which caused Celestia to look back at Spike.

"Yes, he said his name is... uh... Que... Quer... Uhm... Quertis, or something like that."

"Interesting..." A realization struck Twilight. "...Wait, you want to tell me that one arrow had killed Ursa Minor?! And it's supoused to be deadly for the environment? And this had caused the epidemic disease in Ponyville? I somewhat can't believe it Spike, i'm sure there must be something else causing that." Just as she had ended, Celestia pulled out this arrow and brought it closer to her. A black juice dripped slowly from it's arrowhead, each drop that fell on the ground was burning it, causing the small purple smoke escape in the air, she could feel the toxicity from it trying to get through her spell shield she had casted on Twilight and herself. This catched the gaze of both Twilight and Spike.

"...I do believe that this arrow can do it."

"Doctor Goldshrine, what's the state of the patients?" Nurse Redheart asked the brown pegasus with short golden mane and tail.

"We have for now about two hundred sick ponies to take care of, so far only two had died... Poor unicorn, i wish we could do something more for her."

"What about this mare that brought her here? Bon Bon, if i remember correctly."

"She's still at the corridor, crying... This world sometimes feels a lot more cruel than it should..."

"I know that feeling... What about this second death?"

"Let me see..." Doctor went through his list untill his eyes met the specific name. "Carrot top, age 34, died soon after Lyra."

"Poor ponies... Hope that professors from Canterlot will create a cure soon, i don't know how much more they can handle it here..."

"Are you sure princess?"

"I'm afraid that i have no choice." Twilight bit her lip before she continued.

"We could keep this arrow, we could learn how the poison was made, this way we could cure it faster!"

"If we will keep this arrow, the poison will soon kill us all. I can feel already it's toxicity getting through our spell, we need to destroy it." Twilight turned away her head as Celestia had used her magic to disintegrate it. Just as she had done it, the air instantly felt lighter.

"A lot better, isn't it?" Celestia asked with motherly voice.

"...Yes, it is indeed. So, what are we going to do now? Ponies in Ponyville are still sick."

"I want you to move to the Canterlot and help proffesors in making a cure. They will need everypony who can help. After that, i want you and other element bearers to help me find the Eua'Regone and stop him from whatever he is planning. Can you take on this quest?" Twilight looked at princess Celestia for a second before sighing and nodding.

"I'll do whatever it takes to help you princess."

"I'm really glad. Take the earliest train tommorow, i'll be already awaiting you at the Canterlot station. For now, farewell Twilight."

"Goodbye princess." And with another flash of light, Celestia was gone. Twilight slowly moved to the window and looked outside, the moon was already rising. Spike slowly followed her, looking through the window as well, before hugging her. She looked at him for a second before hugging him as well, a warm smile upon her face.

"Come on Spike, we gotta get some sleep, we're going too wake up early tommorow."

Dinky looked through the window of her room, she was living there with another filly called Pipsy Drop. After the orphanage caretakers had taken her from ponyville and brought her to this place, everything seemed to calm down. The orphanage at Fillydelpha was really nice, everyone were nice to her... I wonder if it's because of what had happened. She was watching the stars in the sky, wondering how far it must be from there to reach them. After a while, something caught her eye. A familiar figure, often showed in many historic books when she was going to school in Ponyville.

It was princess Luna, slowly floating through the sky.

Twilight slowly made her way to the train station, Spike behind her. Train was about to arrive in ten minutes, so after the bought tickets, she sit at the free chair. There was also a huge pony sitting a few chairs away from her. He was at least at the size of Applejack's brother, had orange fur and dark blue mane and tail, both of them in a mess. His green eyes were looking somewhere in front of him, from time to time he could cough lightly. Suddenly Spike had get her attention with his own coughing.

"Spike, are you alright? You weren't protected from this poison, are you sure this can't affect you?"

"I'm fine Twilight, dont worry about me. Even if it really was so powerfull, the worst it could do to me is to give me a light cold for a few days, that's all." Just as he had ended that sentence, a train became visible from far away, slowly approaching the station. As soon as it had finally reached the station, the orange stallion instantly jumped off his seat and rushed to the wagon.

"What's up with that guy?" Spike asked while standing up from his seat. Twilight shruged, stood up as well and after a while they were already in the train. Slowly they started to move along the trails again as the unicorn and her dragon had took a sit at the first avaible wagon. She's been seeing it a lot, but she will never get tired of the views outside the window. Spike was also looking from his seat in front of her, wonder on his face at the scenery of the forest. Before she could notice, he went to sleep, snorting lightly with a smile on his face. She felt tired herself, but she couldn't help but look at Spike for a little bit longer. My number one assistant...

Twilight suddenly woke up, and first thing that she felt was that someone was watching her. She looked outside the window, but there was nobody here. She could see that she was near the Fillydelphia already, leaving behind the forest and getting into the landscape of the wild fields. She moved a little bit to scretch out, when she felt suddenly something under her flank. As soon as she stood up, she noticed a letter at her seat. It had a golden crown drawed at the top of it, similar to the Eua'Regone's letter, but without other golden ornaments. With growing worry within her, she slowly opened it and started reading the really short letter.

Dear Twilight Sparkle

Meet me at the "Dirty Joe" Inn. I can help you.

With best wishes
A friend.

Twilight Slowly put the letter aside. They were now slowly approaching Fillydelphia, they'd be there within a moment. "Dirty Joe"... I've heard about that inn before...

Twilight blinked a few times before shaking Spike slightly.

"Hey Spike, we're getting out now."

"Hmmm... We're at Canterlot already?"

"No, i have something to do first."

Soon, the train stopped, and Twilight Sparkle and her assistant Spike had left the train. The dark clouds were slowly coming this way as they made their way to Fillydelphia.

"A wise pony once said "The one who promises the most often have little". This war is just about to start, but they don't know yet what terrible things will happen in it..."

Author's Note

Coming soon: A Man, A Pony And An Elf Enters The Inn - An Elf