Ch.1 Everfree Entry

Cold. Darkness. Fear. These things mattered little to her at the moment. She was hunting. Not for any animal. Not for any prize. She was hunting for the truth. And their was only one place she was going to find it. There was only one being in this land that knew. She needed answers and only one being could give them to her.

She stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest. She peered into the depths of the unnatural place. Trees that grew up from the ground to be twisted and rotten. Their branches reaching out to find and snare any unsuspecting prey . They trunks dark and withered and yet somehow still alive. Vines and leaves that made up the canopy. They absorbed all the light that the sun gave, leaving the whole place to suffer under a shroud of near complete darkness. Everything here had to live in shadow. The animals that live within. More like monsters. More beast than anything else. Especially now. Ever since. . .

Ah! She forced the thought out of her mind. She couldn't think about it anymore. If she got caught with so much thinking she would never move. And she had to find the truth. She had to. This was more to her than some mere quest. This was a mission. A goal. This was her life. As as she stood there, peering into Everfree abyss a pony came up to her. Tall colt. Red coat. She recognized him. He was the brother.

“Why are you over here,” Big Mac asked.

She didn't answer him. Not right away. She just turned her head to look at him. She had heard the stories. Every pony had, from the time they were fillies. His sister was legend. But she had also heard about him. How strong he was. How much he cared about his family. His deep voice. And now she had finally met him. And he wasn't anything like that. He was just an old, tired pony.

“I won't ask again. Why are you over here,” Big Mac asked with growing irritation.

“Mah brother asked you a question.”

A new voice, and yet one that brought memories to the surface. A familiar, yet very different voice. She was standing next to Big Macintosh. Tall now, with a red mane and sad eyes. Her own yellow coat stood out against Big Mac's. This was Apple Bloom.

She looked at both of them. Both of these ponies, that have lost so much. She looked into their eyes. She saw nothing. Nothing but a deep sadness, a pain that still lingered near the surface. She was only making it worse. She turned her head away so she did not have to see their eyes anymore.

“I seek the truth,” She said to the two siblings.

That was it. It was said. She gave her answer and moved on. She bolted for the edge of the Everfree Forest. No pony tried to stop her. Some stopped and stared as she ventured into the tangled mess that was the Forest. She followed the path that took her deeper. She knew where she needed to go first. The first step.

She had been running for a few minutes before she stopped. She was tired. She had barely slept at all the past few days. Ha, more like the past few weeks. She felt so drained all the time. And she could tell when she walked right up to the one place no pony has been to in over twenty years.

Zecora's hut was dark, but alive. A dim light, barely even perceptible against the wall of her hut shone inside. Shadows filled every crack and crevice around it. But she was in there. The zebra was inside. She could feel it. And so this pony walked up to front door of this darkened hut. And she knocked. The door swung open and wide with barely a push against it. An eerie creak of time went through cold air. In the darkness of the hut a silhouette could be seen. A zebra, perhaps. She was about to step inside when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Long have I waited. A pony of both light and dark shall arrive at my door,” Zecora said, “This pony, born of both dark and light shall be a seeker, and more. What this pony seeks more than anything is words that are true. So tell me, pony who stands at my door. . . Is that you?”

The pony walked into the hut. Zecora was sitting in the middle of her hut. All the stories said she had a big cauldron that sat there, but now it was nowhere to be seen. Zecora was messing with something. Glow worms. That was the dim light she saw. She walked around to face Zecora, and look her in the eyes.

“'A pony born of both dark and light',” She repeated, “My name is Dawn Seeker, and I seek the truth.”

Zecora looked up at Dawn for the first time. Dawn was stunned. This zebra, who was in many of the stories she had heard growing up, was in front of her. That she could handle. But when she actually saw her face. She had not aged a day! Dawn knew that by now she should look like how she imagined Granny Smith to look. Yet, she wasn't old. She still looked young. And she still acted young.

Zecora got up from her little pile of glowing worms. She moved over to a shelf on the far wall. It was nearly impossible to see her in just the dim light the worms gave off. Dawn focused her eyes a little bit more. Zecora body came more into focus. It was a little trick Dawn had learned she could do when she was young. She watched as Zecora reached up onto a high shelf and grabbed something. She came back over and gave it to dawn. It was a scroll. Very old, and very important looking.

“A map to the one you seek. The teller of the truth you wish told,” Zecora said, “Start at the creek, and be warned: None may ever know of what did unfold.”

Nice. Dawn took the map and left the hut of the zebra. She followed the path past the hut. That would take her to the creek. And that would be where the real adventure began. And yet, Dawn couldn't help but be a little bothered by the zebra's last words. Her warning. 'None my ever know what unfolds.'

What did she mean by that? Was no pony ever going to be told about this? Was she supposed to die here in the Everfree Forest, among the trees, and the animals, and the secrets? Or was she going to find the truth she searched for, and not a single pony would believe her if she did tell? Those and a dozen more possibilities rattled around in her skull as she walked.

She walked until she felt a cold overtake her hooves. An coldness flowed around her hooves like a chilling wind. But it was not wind. It was water. Dawn was standing in the creek. The creek that was to be the starting point. It would all start here. This is where the real story begins.