Chapter 1: Let It Begin

Ponyville Castle

"An Apprentice?" asked Spike as he watched Princess Twilight pace the floor. They had been chatting for over an hour before the alicorn of friendship had pinpointed the problem. It had been years since she had realised her purpose as a princess and the thought of helping some other pony the way Celestia did for her was one that filled her soul with joy. It filled Spike's head with confusion but Twilight would soon sort that.

"Why? How? Who?" The small dragon, though not as small as he once was, began pacing the room himself. His claws hardened, leaving marks in the floor. Spike had grown a bit, to the point where he was now eye level with the average adult pony. Another few years and his wings would actually be able to lift him off the ground.

Twilight levitated him up for a moment. He felt weightless whenever she did that

"Relax Spike." she smiled and Spike sighed, giving a faint smile back. "Why, it's simple really. Somewhere, somepony has the potential to achieve greatness but, like me a long time ago, he or she doesn't know it yet. Besides, I'm sure that another Princess would be a great help. Cadence has her family to look after, Luna might be in the process of finding one and Celestia is busy looking into some rumours about the Tartarus Gate."

By this point Spike was beginning to understand. He gestured down and with a chuckle of an apology, Twilight let him back down to the floor gently.

"How are you going to pick one then?" Spike asked, now curious about training a new princess

"That's where my faithful student comes in," Twilight replied.

Spike beamed with Pride.

"Your wish is my command your Highness," he said, giving a little bow "What do you want me to do?"

Twilight held her head up high. "I need you to scout around Ponyville for somepony that just needs the right push to show them that they can be great. Also-"

"You can count on me." Spike rushed out the castle, the fact that Twilight hadn't finished speaking went past the little dragon.

As she watched him from the balcony, she looked over the town that she had called home for so long. The town that housed such amazing memories, of enemies turned friends, of sister's returned and of so many super fun Pinkie Pie parties. She could almost hear the laughter ringing through her ears, almost smell the delicious cake that Pinkie had wiped up, see Pinkie's smiling face hovering in front of her by balloons.

"Hiya Twilight," said Pinkie Pie in her infectiously joyous voice.

"Morning Pinkie," Twilight replied, only somewhat surprised at this point.

"Where'd Spike go in such a hurry?" The look of thousands more questions was in her eyes.

"I asked him to scout for me." Twilight smiled and gestured towards the castle. "I'll tell you inside." Twilight made her way inside again.

"Okey dokie." Pinkie swam through the air like a dog through the ocean. Going by balloon wasn't the easiest method but her trampoline was at the shops. There was an incident with Cheese Sandwich, three melons and a party canon.

***

Ponyville Station

At the train station, two long time friends were saying goodbye. Packed and ready to go was an Earth Pony by the name of Silver Spoon. Her father's company was expanding and she was needed in Manehattan. She had this one last chance to say goodbye to Diamond Tiara. They may not have been the most conventional friends but the two did respect each other greatly.

"I'll come back and visit when I can," Silver Spoon reassured her "And you can come visit me whenever you want."

Diamond Tiara only nodded, trying to hold back her tears. She would never let any pony see her sad, sad was weak to her. Diamond Tiara - in her mind - was anything but weak. The train's whistle blew through the station. They had but one last minute

"Till next we meet." Silver Spoon hugged Diamond and was on her way. As the train left the station, she was seen waving back as long as they were in sight. Then she was gone. For a moment, for one rare moment, Diamond was silent. She was deep in thought. After a while she focused on the one she had clung to since she was a filly. You are stronger than them. Diamond raised her head high into the air and walked out of the station with the look of one of the finest ponies that ever lived. She reassured herself that she'd be writing her letters anyway so there was no need for tears.

As she strode through Ponyville back to her home, she was spotted by familiar, if somewhat round, face.

"Hi Diamond Tiara," it called out. This was the last thing she wanted now. A short brown unicorn walked up to her. The satchel on his back was full of fabrics and clothing tools. It was Snips, a pony who Diamond had long thought moved on from following her around. At first she ignored him. Kept going back to her home where she could be weak in peace. Snips followed beside her. He took a deep breath. Honestly, he still saw her as something of a celebrity among non-royal ponies so to him this was not something he thought of lightly.

"Listen, I heard about Silver Spoon moving..."

Before Snips could continue, the mare shot him her signature You will shut up look. It brought her a minute of silence before Snips gulped down the fear and remembered that he had grown a lot since his days with Snails -well in mind, height wise he was probably still the smallest for his age. In a burst of courage he ran in front of Diamond, stopping her in her tracks. She tried to go around him but he simply moved in front of her.

"Snips, move NOW!" she demanded.

"Look, just let me say this and I'll be on my way." Snips’ voice of was at least trying to be confident. That deserved some credit.

"...make it quick." Diamond wanted to get a move on as soon as possible.

"Thank you,” Snips said. He took a deep breath and began his attempt at talking to her like an equal. “I know you and Silver Spoon have been friends for a long time so her moving is going to make you upset-"

"I'm fine," she growled.

"If you say so, just... here." Out from his satchel, Snips gave Diamond a short soft scarf. Since their days in school, he had actually become a somewhat decent clothes maker. Not good enough to design masterpieces but good enough to design something you would call homey. Snips turned to be on his way. "Remember, if you need somepony to talk to I'm around," Off he went on his merry way, proud that he had done that. That he had managed to give her something he made. And relieved that he went before he could have heard the critiques of it.

"Thank you," Diamond called out to him, much to both party’s surprise. Just as she was about to go on her way as well, a streak of pink rushed past her. A bouncing Pinkie Pie was muttering something about "finding the right pony for the job".

***

Pinkie's streak zoomed through Ponyville at an astonishing speed. This was a mare on a mission, a mission that she had been given by a close friend of hers. It was time to gather the elements once more for a ‘super secret, top of the line, meeting of secret things’ (as the mare so very energetically put it). Pinkie's speed did not go unnoticed however. From above she was watched by a familiar Pegasus.

Strong. Tough. Wise. Yes, she was considered one the best flyers in Ponyville. Scootaloo lived up to all of these qualities and more. She watched Pinkie go from a streak to a simple bouncing ball of fun, on her way to her friends.

"Pinkie!" Scootaloo called out to her.

Pinkie stopped in her tracks, like something had paused her in mid walk. Scootaloo glided down to her. The pink earth pony was still frozen. Scootaloo gave Pinkie the gift of a confused glance (a gift Pinkie received often). She gave her a small poke, bringing her back to the moving world.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" enquired Scootaloo.

Swiftly, Pinkie grabbed her.

"Scootaloo," she said, and her voice dropped down to a whisper "Do you know where Dash is?"

Rainbow Dash, the pride of all Pegasi in Ponyville. Scootaloo knew her quite well: Dash had been her mentor when it came to flying. She had helped Scootaloo conquer her weaker wings and soar to great heights. Their days had been spent amongst the clouds, learning what they could from each other. When Scootaloo was a filly, Dash had decided to adopt her. She was already so much a part of Scootaloo's life that it felt natural to make it official. Even though she was under Dash's wing, Scootaloo had become very much her own pony. As the ratchet cutie mark of hers hinted, she had become the town's mechanic, fixing wagons, scooters and wheelchairs for all who asked.

"Yeah," Scootaloo nodded. "Dash is helping Fluttershy look after the bats in the reserve."

"TO THE RESERVE!" Pinkie declared before zooming off once more.

"Wait!" Scootaloo called out to her but she was already past her sight. She sighed, shaking her head that, maybe one day, she'll fully understand Pinkie. She decided to drop her question. As she turned she walked slap bang into the bouncing, smiling face of Pinkie Pie once more.

"Yes?" Pinkie asked.

Scootaloo looked to where she had been, then back to her, then to the path she travelled. By all logic she shouldn't have been in front of her. Then again, logic and Pinkie Pie had a somewhat mixed relationship so Scootaloo shrugged it off as continued.

"Why are you in such a rush?" She put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder to stop her bouncing, naturally it didn't work and she ended up bouncing as well.

"Well," her voice had returned her whisper to her for a moment before bursting into her normal cheer once more. "Twilight's looking for an apprentice so I'm off to get the others so she can tell them too. Plus," a dash of confusion came to her voice "Apparently there's something else she wanted to talk about but I have to get everypony first." When Pinkie finished she beamed with pride of the special mission she was given.

Something she hadn't noticed was that their conversation had been in the middle of town. Not even the wind made a sound for a moment after Pinkie had finished. Scootaloo gestured to her to look around. Pinkie did for a minute before zooming off once more to get Dash, leaving dust in her tracks and Scootaloo's eyes. When it cleared she could see just how many ponies had heard Pinkie's news. Their mouths hung wide open in shock.

An Apprentice?

Who?

A wave of gossiping ponies erupted from the crowd that had heard the conversation. They asked so many question. As Scootaloo journeyed, she heard a few of them.

"How long has she been planning this?" she heard a brown earth pony.

"Is there a date for her to pick by?" asked another pony.

"What will the apprentice have to do?" seemed to echo amongst the crowd the most.

Soon, the whole town was abuzz with excitement at the thought of Twilight looking for a student. Scootaloo herself decided to meet up with the CMC heads to tell them.

Next stop Applebloom's farm.

***

The Depths of the Everfree Forest

A crack in the skin of reality. A portal to the deepest, depths of the darkest domain. Through it, oozed out something conjured from pure evil. Only the length of a stallion managed to get through before the portal ceased to exist, cutting it off from its body. The scream that its five mouths let out terrified the creatures that heard it, turning their fur colourless. The blob of hatred, crawled across the forest floor. The trail it left caused the grass to decay.

This was a being that shouldn't have existed anymore. It was something unnatural; the story of its birth had been lost in the great chasm of time. Either that, or this thing was never born, it simply decided to be one day. It had been locked away long ago by two powerful beings of light and dark. The world it had come from had only known it as its only living being (and I use the word "living" cautiously).

In that diminished form it needed a better body to latch onto, a body that it could use as a temporary puppet to free the rest of itself. The body would have had to be more stable than its current mound of flesh like form. Ten separate eyes darted around its location. Nothing. The animals had been scared off by the screams of agony that it had let forth. It would need patience until it met a new host.

Sitting in silence, it saw its next target.

He was flying high in the air. A grey Pegasus with a list for a cutie mark was in its sight. All eyes focused on him. This unlucky stallion was known as Grey Fox, not that the thing without a form cared about names. It just needed him to be within reach. Luckily for it, ponies had always been rather curious. It let out a shriek, mimicking something in trouble while it moved behind a log to watch and wait for its prey to get near. Sure enough, Grey Fox flew down to try and find the pony that needed help. Poor fool

"Hello?" Grey Fox called out. He searched desperately for any sign of life.

The shrieking stopped.

Now Grey Fox's eyes were the ones darting about the forest. "Anypony?" his shout sounded cautious. Grey Fox realised where he was. Everfree forest was known to most ponies as a place that wasn't right. A place that operated by its own laws. Everfree forest was out of any being's control.

Grey Fox swiftly spread his wings for flight. He tried to take off but then it had him. Like webbing, it had shot its very body at Grey Fox to capture him.

"What in the name of Cel-?" before he could finished, the creature had covered his mouth. His mind faded away, pushed to the side in favour of a new intelligence. It clung to his body like a new layer of skin. The eyes and mouths were now scattered around its new torso. A blank, expressionless face would be what met any pony unfortunate enough to come across it. The last thing Grey Fox heard was the voice of his new master. The name of it echoed in his mind before letting him sleep. This new form of Grey Fox had kept the master's name.

Narl.

Author's Note

Horay for...things. This idea was buzzing in my brain for a while and, with the encouragement of http://royalpsycho.deviantart.com/ and https://www.fimfiction.net/user/Jed+R, I decided to actually write it.