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The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
Prologue: The pegasus who floated from the sky
As he walked in the crystal caves beneath Canterlot, his gold and white armour was upon his body, making the only noise in the caves loud enough to cover the sounds of his hooves.
He diverted from the dirt and stone covered path to another that had taken him many months to create from the stone. It wasn’t very long, just two seconds from the main path where the door to the room he had made too. The room was well lit with torches fueled by a negligible drain on his own inner magic, and a chair and table were all to be found within, the table covered by books and notes.
Princess Maakera was the ruler of the land of Equestria and the only one he, Captain Time Twister, answered to. She trusted him fully and had proven himself as such over her second choice for captain of the guard, Shining Armour. An attempt on Princess Maakera’s life had been carried out, the assassin had expected a shield spell, easily knocking Shining Armour out cold, but hadn’t expected a time freeze spell for which Time Twister was well known for. Had it not been for that one incident, Shining Armour could very well have been talked up to rank of Captain by his alicorn fiancée, Cadance. And yet, not once did she question him on anything he decided to do.
Time Twister stared at his notes, not really taking any in as he thought of his friend Shining Armour. Shining had been so disappointed to not be made Captain, and be left as a lieutenant. But perhaps, Time Twister pondered, maybe that should have been what happened. After all, all he had done was what any guard was trying to do in that moment, and protect the life of the sole ruler of Equestria. How did that suddenly make him better for the job?
He shook his head. These thoughts had bothered him for ten years, and nothing could change the past.
But the things he had learnt as a captain… Wonderful things, things Princess Maakera kept from the public, of news articles and old family stories that spoke of things that would cause such panic, chaos and anarchy if they were widely known that Equestria itself would be torn apart irreversibly. Such as the old fairy tale of Tirek, a powerful and evil creature that had only just been sealed into Tartarus, and finding the tale had been true. Or the tree of harmony, in which sat the fabled elements, she had shown this to him and how important it was the elements remained in the tree, lest the last trick of Discord surface from where it had somehow gotten underneath the tree.
But what really interested him? There were secrets even Princess Maakera herself was unwilling to tell him.
And one day, four years ago, she had slipped up for just a moment, mentioning her daughters. Everypony knew the tale, two sisters who controlled the sun and moon, but both became jealous that the other controlled one celestial object, and desired control over both, and even fought their own mother for control. Princess Maakera had let slip that her daughters were in other worlds, other realities, and wondered how they were. When he tried to press her for more information, Princess Maakera had realised what she had said and spoke no more on the matter. This made life tiring for him quite often.
And hence the room, every scrap of myths, legends and rumours to do with other realities, worlds and dimensions had found their way here. Four years, and no stone had been unturned.
He lit a fire and an illusion spell to make the dull stone seem more like the cozy inside of a sitting room. From the table, Time Twister took a book called The World Tree, sat on the only chair, and began to read.
Thirty five miles from Canterlot stood the town of Ponyville. Not a very large town, which was to be expected when it had been founded just a hundred years earlier. The town focused around the town hall, a circular building, which was the home of the current mayor.
Very few lights were on in the town, only street lights being lit in most places. The town had no active night life aside from some ponies who enjoyed a walk in the cool night air. A certain librarian, however, preferred this, and had set up her telescope on a balcony in the library she called home now. For years she had been a student under Princess Maakera herself, and had fallen in love with the idea she could restore a library to how she wished. And so she had moved here, restored the inside of the library to also include living areas for her, and had never looked back.
At Sugarcube corner, a perpetually happy pink mare hopped away, giggling softly to jokes she told in her head to an audience of what anyone could only hope numbered no more than one, heading towards her home. On one outskirts of the town, a blue pegasus mare with prismatic mane and tail waved goodbye to her yellow with pink mane pegasus friend, before flying as fast as she could to her cloud home.
And, not far away, the farmland of Sweet Apple Acres stood, the trees branches swaying in the wind and their leaves rustled in a relaxing way. A tall red stallion stood outside, eyes closed, listening as the apple trees let the wind blow through them, and all was right with the world.
“APPLEBLOOM!”
At least, it had been, he sighed to himself, turning to look at the farm house. An orange earth pony mare with a yellow mane and tail raced out the front door, closing it quickly behind her. Her green eyes had become like pinpricks and her face was of pure horror.
“Applejack?” Big Mac asked.
“Bloom gone up smashed one o’ Ma’s plates.” Applejack answered the question she knew her brother would ask.
Big Mac shivered, Applebloom was a goner this time for sure.
Inside the farmhouse, the yellow filly named Applebloom was looking rather sorry for herself, under the angry glare from a dusty yellow looking mare.
“Sorry Ma.” Applebloom apologized, sounding sorry.
“That you may be, but you're grounded for tonight,” her mother replied, “what made ya drop the plate?” she inquired.
“Just, bad day at school.” Applebloom answered.
“Diamond Tiara?” her mother asked, getting only a nod in reply.
Gently, she held a foreleg around her youngest daughter.
“I’ll have a word with her father tomorrow. For now, go to your room, do any homework, I’ll call ya when dinner is done.”
Slowly, Applebloom trotted towards the stairs and her room. She slowly worked on her homework, her mind weighing heavily on Diamond Tiara’s latest words, over her father’s death. Not even telling Diamond that it was wrong to talk ill of the dead could make her stop insulting Applebloom’s deceased father.
The first break from homework was for dinner as her mother promised. The talk at the table barely registered to Applebloom, as her sister, brother, mother and grandmother all talked about something on increases in the military.
Returning to her room half an hour later, Applebloom watched as the moon rose, its perfect white surface reminding her of snow. With a sigh, she sat at her desk and begun to work on her homework once more, passing a glance at a photo she kept nearby. In it, a younger Applebloom could be seen, a big grin on her face as she sat on the back on a soft pastel green earth pony wearing a stetson hat, her father. She couldn't recall what had become of him, aside from being told he had died when she was old enough to understand.
With a small smile on her mouth, she begun to work once more.
Two hours later, a drooling Applebloom awoke with a start. The farm house was quiet, but she could have sworn she had just heard the ringing of a small bell and a soft voice calling to any that could hear it. She rubbed her eyes and slowly wandered to her window, looking out at the night sky.
It was a very beautiful night, the moon shone brightly, but not enough to hide the stars, faint traces of nebulae and the galaxy itself. And among it all, a blue star that she hadn't seen before floated in the sky.
What knowledge she could recall from school had taught her that new stars formed all the time, but the light took so long to get to where the world was that the sky seemed to never change. She yawned, thinking to herself how amazing it was that school actually had uses besides giving bullies like Diamond Tiara a playground.
Opening her eyes only half way and realizing how tired she was, Applebloom decided on one more glance towards the night sky before bed. She looked, then turned to face her bed before her eyes opened wide and made herself do a double take.
The new blue star was actually getting bigger!
Or at the least, she observed as she watched it fall, it was getting closer, while staying the same size. Watching it fall for three more seconds, she quickly worked out that it would fall somewhere among the trees, close to the small tree house she now called her own. Without a thought to her safety or being heard by the rest of her family, Applebloom ran out of her room, down the stairs past Granny Smith, through the living room where Big Mac and Applejack were planning the next day’s activities on the farm, and out the kitchen into the farm.
She ran as fast as she could through the trees, watching all the while as the blue dot fell slowly. She arrived to the clearing in front of her tree house long before it had landed, and she watched in shocked awe at the sight before her.
The blue dot that was glowing was attached to the golden band on the front left leg of a pegasus pony, who was surrounded by the blue glow and floating slowly upside down toward the ground. In a minute, the blue glow from the gem on the band gently placed the orange pegasus filly with a purple mane and tail on the soft grass of the clearing. But Applebloom just stood there, her mind unable to fully register what she had seen happen. From somewhere high above, this pegasus had floated down, by some sort of magic in the leg bracelet she wore.
Behind her, Applejack ran into the clearing
“Landsakes Bloom! What got into,” Applejack paused in her shouting, when she saw the pegasus filly laying on the ground. Having not witnessed what her younger sibling had, she had assumed the pegasus had crashed to the ground, and Applebloom had witnessed it from her bedroom window. Applejack rushed past her sister and gently got the pegasus filly on to her back, “Get back to the house, tell Ma, Mac and Granny we found a pegasus that fell out the sky and I've taken her to the hospital!” She shouted, running towards Ponyville itself.
But Applebloom didn’t move. Instead, she slowly turned her head towards the starry sky, wondering where the pegasus could have come from on a cloudless night.
Author's Note
Finally finished editing this. I'm sorry the way I brought Scoots into this is similar to the start of Castle in the Sky, but honestly, I couldn't think of any other way that would have worked...
The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
Chapter One; Warm Summer Day
Applebloom awoke in her bed at the cockerel cry at dawn. Her night had been rather fuzzy and dreamlike after Applejack had gone to the hospital with that pegasus filly. She yawned as the first rays of the sun entered her room through the window, wondering if it had actually been a dream. She climbed out of bed and stretched, front legs then back legs, before deciding to get breakfast.
Two minutes later, she found herself in the kitchen, where only her older brother, Big Macintosh and her granny, Granny Smith, sat around a stacked plate of hay pancakes. Seeing her granddaughter awake, Granny stacked three on a plate, pushing them to her designated chair. Applebloom licked her lips and sat down, tucking in to her breakfast.
“So, quite a night last night huh?” Big Mac said to her, making Applebloom look up at him.
“What’d ya mean?” Applebloom asked him, raising an eyebrow.
“AJ and Ma running off to the hospital with that pegasus filly that fell from the clouds, did ya forget?” Granny’s face looked a little too serious.
“Oh, nah. I just couldn’t remember right away if it were a dream or not. They ain’t back yet?” Applebloom hoped there would be a simple reason for where the pegasus had come from and that would be the end of that.
“Nope,” was the only answer she got from her brother.
Without any further words, the three fell silent and continued to eat. All the while, Applebloom ran many thoughts through her head about the pegasus and her strange glowing leg bracelet.
‘Maybe she was trying to learn to fly, but became too tired? Nah, she’d have fallen closer to Cloudsdale. Oh, maybe somepony or griffon was trying to kidnap her, but something happened and they dropped her! But, then wouldn’t I have seen them too? Ah forget it, it’s too early in the morning.’
An hour later, while Applebloom was upstairs, attempting to finish her homework, Applejack and her mother returned, with the still sleeping pegasus filly. The four family members still downstairs looked at the orange filly as she lay on the couch.
“So nothing wrong with her eh?” Granny Smith asked.
“Nothing, the doctor said she’s strong, almost like a fully grown adult pegasus.” Applejack replied.
“Well, only one thing to do. You three,” Granny pointed at the others with a hoof, “head out and find a pegasus who’s heading to Cloudsdale and see if any fillies are missing. I’ll stay here with her.”
The three other Apple family members nodded their heads and left the house. Granny meanwhile found a blanket which she placed over the back of the sleeping pegasus, and sat down in the rocking chair across the room, where she too fell asleep.
Applebloom finished her homework and put it away ready to hand in roughly fifteen minutes later, and not realising that her sister and mother had been back, slowly made her way downstairs, coming up with plans for the day. The sounds of her hoofsteps echoing slowly awoke the orange pegasus, who blinked her eyes a few times to clear them, while following the yellow shape she could see moving.
Applebloom had gone to the kitchen, oblivious to the pegasus watching her, and poured herself a glass of water, which she drank in one go. She turned her head to look at the rocking chair where her Granny was sleeping, and did a double take when she saw the orange pegasus.
“Oh mah gosh, ya scared me!” Applebloom said, thankful that she hadn’t dropped the glass.
“I am ever so sorry, I did not mean to.” the pegasus replied, standing up off the couch and shaking the blanket from her back.
“I guess mah sister came home then, she ran off with you when you fell from the sky last night, took you to a doctor.”
“I see, I do not know how to respond to this.” the pegasus, deliberately walking around in circles around Applebloom, examining her.
“Uh, well it was just to make sure you were okay, what are you doing?” Applebloom, becoming a bit nervous.
“Oh, I am sorry, again, it’s just,” slowly and gently, the pegasus reached a hoof out and placed it gently to Applebloom’s shoulder, “I guess first of all, introductions are in order, my name is Scootaloo.”
“Okay, pleased ta meet you Scootaloo. My name is Applebloom, now can ya tell me why you were being weird and walking around me?” Applebloom asked.
“It’s just, you have such a nice well kept coat, your ears are a little strange though. You just have such a nice coat for someone so old.” Scootaloo answered, with a rather happy and pleasant smile.
“Someone so old?” Applebloom repeated, very confused.
“Why, yes! I mean, you look like you’re what, four hundred and fifty?”
“Hey! I’m not a fossil!” Applebloom puffed up her cheeks in annoyance.
“Oh no, you misunderstand, that really is a compliment!” Scootaloo waved a hoof in front of her, smiling a nervous smile.
“How is it a compliment to say I’m four hundred years old? Wait, why do you think ponies can even get that old?”
Scootaloo’s eyes widened, as she turned to face away from Applebloom. As Applebloom moved to face her again, she heard her mutter something about another world under her breath.
“Answer me Scootaloo, why did you think I’d even be four hundred years old?” Applebloom pressed, her nose touching that of Scootaloo’s
“Uh, could you tell me if there is a library nearby? I may need to look there first before I can answer any questions you might have.” Scootaloo answered, smiling in hopes to remove any hostility from Applebloom.
Applebloom for her part thought for a moment, really wanting to deny the request to look at books and to just answer her questions. But this seemed important to Scootaloo, and she sighed.
“Fine, I’ll take ya to the Golden Oaks library, it’s close to the other side of town though.” Applebloom stated.
“Good, lead the way to the library.” Scootaloo sighed in hope.
Time Twister stood outside the grand doors to the throne room, where Princess Maakera waited for him. It was just another part of his job, daily meetings with the princess, or summons such as this visit today. Each time it was something she wanted done that required him to get done fast, if she wanted something done slowly or never, she asked someone else.
Beside him, Lieutenant Shining Armor smiled. He always smiled. It annoyed Time Twister so much, where was the anger towards him from Shining Armor? Even when he had lost a certain promotion because of a lucky chance on Time Twister’s part, there was Shining, smiling. Shining was the very first to congratulate Time Twister on becoming captain of the guard, smiling as he did so.
Just once, Time Twister wished the smile would crack slightly, and show how Shining Armor really felt towards him.
“Come on now Time, you don’t want to keep her waiting, she sounded worried when she asked for you.” Shining stated, still smiling.
“Of course, she always does,” Time Twister replied, holding back what he really wanted to say about that damned smile, seriously, did Shining have surgery to change his mouth to always be smiling? It was like Shining was hiding something from him, some feeling he really wanted to get across, but didn’t because he worried of causing offence. He coughed, “but if I know her, it isn’t something to worry about, a minute or two more won’t hurt. I haven’t seen you for a few days, everything going alright?” Time Twister inquired.
“Yes thank you sir, Cadance and I are planning our wedding, I was thinking of asking you to be the best stallion.” Shining Armor replied, that smile never fading or revealing true hidden emotions underneath.
“Me? Why me?” Time Twister asked, a little surprised but he was sure he knew the reason.
“I’ll be marrying a princess. It’s going to be an event the whole country will be keeping watch of, and you think I wouldn’t ask my friend to be by my side as I marry the love of my life?” Shining posed to him.
TIme Twister blinked, he hadn’t expected that to be the reason. Shining wanted him there because of their friendship? It was touching, perhaps he was wrong about the guy, that the smile he held was because they were friends.
“And besides, I’d get a lot of abuse if the best stallion wasn’t the guy who saved Princess Maakera’s life and the Captain of the Guard.”
There it was, always with the public image for the royalty and nobles. Oh, how he wanted to hit Shining in his face and yell at him for thinking of a public image over what he really wished for, but it just wouldn’t be worth it, the damned fool would probably continue to smile and still ask him to be the best stallion.
“I see. Well, I better see what the princess wants, we can talk after.”
Shining simply nodded, as the doors opened and Time Twister entered the throne room.
And sat in the middle on a pure white chair under a pure white gazebo was Princess Maakera. She was taller than any pony in the land, being an alicorn and named after a princess of an old legend, her coat was a leaf green, in contrast, her mane and tail looked like the branches of willow trees, yet still were clearly hair.
“Good morning Time Twister, did you sleep well?” Princess Maakera asked, never looking up from a bird that had somehow found its way into the throne room, and sat on the table he had never seen in the room before.
“As well as can be expected when I could be required at any moment.” Time Twister replied, drawing closer. He didn’t question how she knew it was him, she never did court and had summoned him, to expect anyone else would have been foolish.
“Quite. Tell me, what do you make of this bird?” she asked.
He was about to answer, and ask if she wanted it removed, when he stopped. Most birds in Equestria were pretty standard, a head, beady black eyes, two wings, two legs with clawed feet and a tail. Even the exotic phoenixes followed this. But this bird had four wings and eyes that looked as though they had intelligence behind them instead of natural instinct.
“I,” he paused, shook his head and cleared his throat, “I do not understand your highness.”
“It is a most amusing little creature, in all of this world, I have never seen this bird, and none have ever mentioned it before, I wonder where it came from,” she raised her hoof and held still for a moment as the bird examined its surroundings, and then flew towards a sole open window on the north side of the throne room, “but to other matters I suppose.”
“Of course your highness.”
“What do you know of Ponyville?” she questioned, her eyes hiding any thought that may have been in her head.
“A backwater town founded by earth ponies, though home to a mix of all kinds, not far from Canterlot.” Time Twister answered.
“I had hoped you’d know where it was. I sensed strange magic that could be a threat to Equestria spark and fade from my senses last night. I want you and the guard that can be afforded to leave Canterlot to head there. It may be nothing, but better to check and be safe.”
Time Twister deflated a little. Typically she never asked him to do something, not directly. She simply suggested it in a way he knew really meant ‘Do this or you’ll find life suddenly unpleasant’. But she seemed a kind alicorn, and he rather hoped she wouldn't punish him by removing his rank, belongings and home at best, or his life at worst.
“As you wish your highness, I shall make arrangements and we can leave with a full force in a few hours, but as I prepare, I shall send word to the local guard to be on the look out.” he bowed and hastily made his way out of the room.
As the throne room doors closed behind him, he let out a sigh of relief. Oh sure, going to a backwater town wasn't an ideal thing, but this was far easier than his previous tasks, such as accompanying the princess’ own personal protegee and her strange friends to evict a dragon that had settled in the country.
Now he thought of it, it seemed rather strange that Princess Maakera had forgotten this wouldn't be his first trip to Ponyville. But what his mind fell on was the bird. As he hurried around to prepare, and then passed on the task to some of the guard so he could head to his hidden room, Time Twister couldn't help but wonder if his life obsession had finally gained some solid evidence.
Author's Note
Hope everyone had a good christmas and happy new years! My editor and I finally found time to clear edits required to this chapter, and soon I hope we can get the next one ready.
The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
Chapter Two: Mysterious Scootaloo
Author's Note
Please note: Yes this story is still alive, my editor and I have been under a lot of real life stuff keeping us mostly too busy from editing.UNEDITED , and with the knowledge of my one and ONLY editor (I've tried getting others but to no success, ever), it is currently submitted without edits to show the story is alive. When we have more time, a properly edited version will go up, but this could be anywhere from days away to half a year or more away.
Chapter Two: Mysterious Scootaloo
Time Twister sat in the room with all his books and other various mentions of other worlds. A new piece of parchment sat before him on which he had sketched the four winged bird, and a note stating nothing like it existed in Equestria. He let out a frustrated groan. The first solid evidence of other worlds had been before his very eyes, and yet he was no closer to solving anything, there was a missing piece or two somewhere.
Feeling he’d get nowhere, he stood up and left to see how preparations for the trip to Ponyville were going.
Arriving to the courtyard ten minutes later, Time Twister saw the forces that he was granted were waiting. They amounted into the hundreds easy, and as he approached Shining Armor, he felt taking a hundred stallions would be far too much.
“As you asked for sir, every available guard is here, ready to move out.” Shining parroted, the damned smile back on his face.
“That’s nice,” Time Twister responded drolly, “bit of an overkill. We’ll draw too much attention to look for what the princess wishes us to find.”
Shining spluttered and looked shocked. Time took a bit of joy in the fact his smile had left his face.
“So, what do, I mean, what are your orders sir?” Shining asked.
“Oh its simple, besides us, pick the best ten out of all of these who are good at recon among the populace without alerting them to any dire threat.”
Time Twister sighed and walked toward a bench, where he sat and looked up at the sky. His mind was still too much on the bird than what Princess Maakera had asked him to do. But the whole situation in the throne room, where he saw the bird. It seemed staged. Did she know of his obsession, of his true feelings? Was this just to taunt him? Who knew, but he was falling for it.
A couple of minutes seemed to pass, before he was being shaken awake by Shining Armor.
“Huh?” was all Time could ask as he awoke.
“Sorry it took so long sir, but I’ve found the best ten stallions for the job.” Shining stated, no longer smiling for some reason.
“Oh ok, good, job well done.” Time replied, rubbing his eyes.
“Are you alright sir?” Shining asked.
“Yes, I just don’t recall falling asleep,” he looked up, “though I suppose considering the day and the nights I’ve had recently.”
“Say no more sir, if you’d rather, I can do what the princess asked for, and you can go rest.” Shining offered.
Time Twister smiled. Shining for all the faults he had was a decent guy, always willing to put others before himself.
“No its alright, I want to see what has got the princess all worked up. To the chariots then, you’ll be with me Shining, I bet you can’t wait to see your sister before we head back to Canterlot.” Time said, walking to the city limits where the flying chariots were kept.
“What? You’ll allow me to go see her before we come home?” Shining asked, really surprised at this news.
“Of course, you haven’t seen her for a while now yes? You’ve earnt more than enough time off that you just don’t use, use a couple of minutes to tell her about your wedding.” Time answered.
“I don’t know, I don’t think its the right time to tell her I’m getting married, she may get mad at me.” Shining stated.
“Really? You think telling her a few days before the wedding through a scroll and conveniently late invitation would be a better way?” Time asked, rolling his eyes.
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea, thanks!” Shining replied, picking up his pace.
“I, what? No I didn’t,” Time spluttered, but it was too late, Shining was way ahead of him, “moron, oh well, his problem if his sister blows a fuse on him.”
Scootaloo looked around in wonder at the inside of the Golden Oaks library. A building made from a living tree had been fascinating enough in and of itself, but the inside seemed somehow bigger. Applebloom however seemed uninterested as she stood beside the orange pegasus, and the librarian, a purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle watched the awe struck Scootaloo with a smile and fond memories.
Soon, Scootaloo’s eyes met those of Twilight.
“Could I see a map of the world please?” she asked.
“Uh,” Twilight found this odd, every foal was shown the map of the world almost as soon as they began school, but it was her job to comply with requests, “sure.” she replied, using her magic to levitate a fold out map, and placed it on a table.
With the map of the world now before her, Scootaloo begun to run her eyes over all the words in the hopes of finding one that seemed familiar, while Applebloom waited impatiently beside her. Twilight however was curious as to what the little pegasus was looking for, but before she could ask, there was a knock at the door, and she quietly left to find who was knocking on the door of a public library.
“No, no, no, no matches so far.” Scootaloo mumbled.
“What’re you looking for?” Applebloom asked, raising an eyebrow at Scootaloo.
“I’ll know it if I see it, just give me time please.” Scootaloo replied, returning her full concentration to the map as she seemed to not find what she was looking for in the borders of Equestria.
Twilight chose that moment to return with another foal in tow, a mix of light blue and light grey coat, with a midnight blue mane and tail.
“Rumble came looking for you Applebloom.” Twilight said, walking away to tend to other matters.
“Hey Applebloom, who’s your new friend?” Rumble inquired, cheerfully.
“Hey Rumble, this is Scootaloo, she fell from the sky into the clearing near the clubhouse late last night, and now she’s trying to find something. How’d you find me anyway?” Applebloom asked back.
“Oh I saw you come in here, I was just on the way to the farm after grabbing a snack in Sugarcube corner.” Rumble replied, his eyes landing on Scootaloo.
The pair of them observed Scootaloo as she finished looking through several other countries for what she was trying to find, but still apparently failing. It didn’t seem important to her however, as she didn’t seem to become worried the longer it went without her finding anything.
Three minutes more was all it took for her to finish looking over the world map, and with a strangely calm and composed attitude, Scootaloo folded the map up, and thanked Twilight for the use of it as she headed to the door.
“Where do ya think you're going?” Applebloom asked, chasing after Scootaloo.
“Please, I want to go somewhere more private where we can speak, a public library is hardly the place for me to answer your questions little Applebloom.” Scootaloo answered, annoyance in her voice.
“Uh, alright, we’ll head to the clubhouse and can talk there, I’ll show ya the way.” Applebloom replied, walking ahead, the feeling in her head was one of a child having been scolded by her mother for doing something wrong.
The chariots carrying Time Twister, Shining Armor and the ten guard landed in the town square of Ponyville, catching some glances from the locals, first and foremost a certain bubblegum pink mare who hopped over to them.
“Hi there! Whatcha doing?” she asked.
“Ah, miss Pinkamena Pie, a pleasure to see you again.” Time Twister greeted her.
“Hey there Timey! So, what are you doing back here? Is there another dragon to fight against?” Pinkie pressed onward.
Time Twister flinched at the name she called him, he didn’t like it, but it was just how this mare was.
“No, no dragon today. I’ve been asked to do something for the princess, and no one else must know, are we understood?” Time replied, his tone starting friendly but throwing in the hint that Pinkie would do well to actually listen, or lose everything if she didn’t.
It was Pinkie’s turn to visibly flinch, as her mane seemed to slightly deflate from the way Time Twister had spoken to her.
“Oh, okay. I’ll stay out of your way.” Pinkie replied, slowly trotting away.
“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but the princess wouldn’t even tell me how dangerous the thing I am looking for is, I’d rather no one be hurt but myself should things go wrong. Tell you what, once I’ve found it, how about I treat you to something? Anything you like.” Time Twister said, catching Pinkie’s attention.
His words alone changed her attitude completely, as she smiled.
“Anything?” she almost squeaked.
“Within my budget of course, and as long as it doesn’t take too long, though I could arrange another trip here if it is something that will take long.” Time answered.
“Oki Doki Loki! Speak to you later Timezers!” Pinkie laughed, hopping away.
Time Twister flinched as behind him the guard laughed. He shot them a look that told them they would be running laps around Canterlot for a few hours when they returned, and then got on with the task at hand.
There were no signs of anything out of the ordinary, indeed, Ponyville looked like it always did. And the princess being vague on what he was to look for certainly didn’t help either.
“You know,” Shining spoke up, “Pinkie Pie is probably going to take you on a date right?”
“What? How could you possibly come up with that thought?” Time Twister asked, reading a spell the princess had been kind enough at least to provide him before the chariots left to locate anything unnatural.
“She has a bet with a certain Rainbow Dash for when you next came into the town, whoever gets to go on a date with you first owes the other ten ciders at the Apple family’s annual cider week.” Shining informed him.
Time Twister begun casting the spell that would show to him the location of whatever unnatural energy the princess was looking for. In seconds it took hold, and showed him a purple colour set of hoofprints which led towards the public library, then away towards the farm.
Scootaloo admired briefly the inside of the clubhouse that belonged to Applebloom. In a town where all seemed to live in buildings made of wood, it was a little funny to see a building made of wood had been built in a tree, as though it was a rather poor imitation of the library inside a living tree.
Before Applebloom could press on and find out what she meant, a pegasus royal guard burst in through one of the windows.
Up ahead, Applebloom took the chance to look back in the direction they had ran from.
Scootaloo was rather relaxed after the teleportation spell, in utter contrast to Applebloom and Rumble who looked rather ill, and fighting not to lose whatever food they had in their stomachs. More importantly, the pair were trying to recover and fast, while Scootaloo once again admired her surroundings.
The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
Chapter Three: The Town of Featherfall
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
Chapter Four: To Manehatten
It was not going to be a good morning for Time Twister. Two missing foals, both the cause of a far too enthusiastic guard, and on his watch no less, and it had somehow made the papers, right on the front page. Maakera had made it clear how angry she was in her message to him. Delivered by magic to his quarters, it had simply read;
She had never written a note so short before. Normally she wrote them like letters, but three words, the place, by himself and what time. To say he was in big trouble was probably an understatement, but, as he stood outside the doors at 8:59 am, the question now was how much in trouble was he?
Somewhere far away, clocks chimed and bells rang, sounding the arrival of 9 am. The doors before him glowed in Maakera’s golden magical glow, and opened. With a gulp, he entered.
His steps were shaky. The silence in the room only added to his dread, but slowly he approached. When he got to the gazebo, he didn’t even attempt to sit down.
“Two foals missing, scared into running away by the guard under your command,” Maakera stated, “and the only question I’ve been asked was how and why I let this happen. Explain yourself, Captain.”
He shivered. Maakera was always informal, she did call him Captain, but the cold commanding voice demanded answers for his mistakes.
“I used the spell you gave me to track what you said I should seek, it led us to a tree house. I can’t explain why my orders to approach with caution and not scare anyone went so horribly wrong, your highness. No sooner did I say that what we sought was inside, than the guard simply went charging in as if the tree house was filled with hardened criminals.”
“I see,” Maakera went silent for a second, “so the guard you took did not follow your direct command?”
“The magic I sensed was strong, it may have clouded their judgement. In response, I gave chase to catch the foals and explain the misunderstanding. But the magic itself was gone when I couldn’t get them and keep them from running into the Everfree forest.”
For the first time in the conversation, Maakera turned around, her initial glare softened.
“I can explain this as youthful guard acting too rash at a senior’s command. I take it the guard you took were fairly new?”
Time nodded.
“Most recently joined from the outlying edges of Equestria. Perhaps I should have taken a new recruit from Appleloosa, named Braeburn. He is a cousin to one of the missing foals, I could have sent him in, had him take the foals outside to safety.”
“Do not focus so much on the past, it will consume you,” Maakera sighed, using her magic to restart the water features and brought her table and tea set into the room. She offered Time a chance to sit as she boiled the teapot, “you have done the right thing at least, issuing missing foal posters. It won’t be long until they are safe.”
“I am just sorry I didn’t find what I was sent to get.” Time replied.
Maakera studied Time Twister as the pot reached a boil. She poured them two cups of her favourite herbal tea, and took a sip from her own cup.
“It doesn’t matter, but I believe the magic you sensed intrigues you? After all, is it not related to those books you had Twilight Sparkle help you find?”
Time slightly choked. He knew it was no big secret that he had researched other dimensions, but Maakera had never brought up his obsession before. Now suddenly she was being so blunt and open about it.
“Uh, I, indeed, how did?”
“How did I know? Come now Captain Time, is it not clear? The bird, the mysterious magic I sent you to find? Keep this a secret, other dimensions do exist, thousands, perhaps billions, all sitting like branches on a tree. But something is going wrong, the barriers between them are open, searching. Your obsession is going to help us here, because whatever is going wrong, it could threaten Equestria and a past I’d rather stay locked away.”
Maakera sipped more of her tea, looking directly at Time over the brim of the cup. It troubled him slightly she was now using his own desires to her benefit, but he couldn’t really argue. She was essentially giving him the missing piece of his jigsaw, it could lead to the world…
“It is already arriving to Canterlot. The airship I mean. Special guard trained for far distance travel and any enemy threats you may face. And you will be travelling further than anypony has ever travelled before.”
Rumble had told his parents he believed he knew where Applebloom was, and that he would find her in Manehatten and travel back with her to Ponyville. His father, proud of his son’s initiative, decided he could go alone. Applebloom would probably be more willing to return if it was just Rumble telling her to come back, than if his father and mother were there too.
He had just arrived to the street where Applebloom’s aunt and uncle Orange lived, to his surprise, Applebloom and Scootaloo were there, high up on a metal boardwalk outside the building, climbing in.
With a sigh, he approached the door and knocked. A mare who Rumble could only guess was Aunt Orange answered.
“Oh hello?” she said.
“Hi, I’m a friend of Applebloom’s.” Rumble replied with a smile.
“Oh, oh my yes, she’s gone missing thanks to those awful guard. How can I help?”
“Can I come in? Last I spoke to her before being found, she was trying to get here. I’ve been told to convince her to come home, it's safe now.”
Before Aunt Orange replied, there was a thud somewhere in the house on the upper floor. Aunt Orange turned around and walked towards the stairs, Rumble following after closing the front door behind him.
Up on the next floor when he climbed up, Aunt Orange and Applebloom were in a panic, a first aid kit had been hastily thrown to the floor and the pair were tending to the collapsed Scootaloo. Among blood on a towel was a shard of a bullet. Rumble could only watch as the pair stopped the bleeding and bandaged Scootaloo’s wing.
“Applebloom, what happened?” Rumble asked.
“We got jumped by mercenaries twenty miles back, he took a shot at us I think, she’s lucky it didn’t hit her body, just her wing, though I thought it had.” Applebloom answered.
“Look, what’s happened has happened, we can do nothing now. We just need to wait for her to wake up.”
The two friends sat down, Applebloom held Scootaloo up carefully at one point when Aunt Orange cleaned up and put clean towels under the pegasus, but otherwise, they both stayed silent. Unknown to them, Aunt Orange went downstairs and called the local Guard office, reporting the two missing foals had been found sneaking into her home, and one was seriously injured. It was a scandal, not only had the guard made them run away, but it had led to them being attacked by mercenaries. It’d be front page news again, and she could be in the story!
Rumble cleared his throat.
“Wait, drafted? What for? We’re not at war!” Applebloom stated, panic in her voice.
“A lot of stallions are being drafted recently, my dad would have been too, if he didn’t have a permanent injury. My brother got drafted last month.” Rumble sighed.
“I don’t like this. Equestria is gearing up for war, but why? And on top of it, mysterious Scootaloo. She claims to not be from here, she reacted to a fairy tale as if it were fact, and she keeps insisting I’m over four hundred.”
Silence fell between them again, as Scootaloo stirred. She seemed to know something was wrong, as she didn’t try to get up or speak. She lay there, looking at the friends.
“Your aunt has been downstairs for a while, could you ask if she has water for Scootaloo?” Rumble asked.
Applebloom sighed, and left the room. At the top of the stairs, she paused. There were voices downstairs, and her aunt’s was among them. Turning her head slightly, she listened.
“Yes, they came in through the window upstairs, Applebloom is a relative of mine from Ponyville, her friend, the pegasus, had a bullet fragment in her wing, she said they were attacked by mercenaries twenty miles from here.” Aunt Orange informed whoever she was speaking to.
“I see ma’am, we’ve had reports the mercenary band of High Wind arriving to Featherfall, that’s twenty miles away. If we may, we’d like to go upstairs and take the foals in to safety until their families can collect them?” one of the new voices said.
“Of course, upstairs, first door on the left.”
Applebloom hurried back into the room, Rumble looking at her confused.
“She called the guard! We got to go!”
“Really? Applebloom, I’m trying to get you home!” Rumble protested.
“But they’ll keep her until her family come get her, we may never see her again or get answers as to who or what she is! Please Rumble, help me!”
Rumble groaned and stood up.
“Fine, Scootaloo, we have to hurry out of here.”
Scootaloo simply nodded as Rumble and Applebloom worked to get her out the window. They managed to get out of sight just as the guard opened the door and spotted the open window.
The three foals meanwhile headed down an alley, and towards the city’s outskirts, trying not to be seen. Stopping many time the wait for Guard to disappear, they made it to a small forest by sunset.
“Thank you friends, I know you risk much.” Scootaloo said, slowly stumbling to a small flowing river and taking a drink.
“We’re only helping to get answers, I think after everything, we deserve them.” Applebloom stated.
“And you are correct. Why should you risk everything further if you do not know the truth? Sit, please, it may be difficult to take in.”
As they sat, hoofsteps filled the air around them. Looking around, the three foals saw they were surrounded by mercenaries, and High Wind among them.
“Your not be the only one seeking answers. Now, you three better come peacefully to my ship.”
Scootaloo looked at Applebloom and Rumble, dejected. The mercenaries had caught them, and now she would not be able to tell her new friends the truth.
Author's Note
Well look at that! I finally had time to finish self-editing a chapter that took over a year to do thanks to my job!
I finally caught up with season five of the show as well. I await to see season six, since I can't find all the episodes online. But I am at least a bit closer to catching up. And I intend to finally wrap this story up as soon as I possibly can.
Thank you all again to those of you who stuck around and waited for me to finally update. Better late than never right?
The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
Chapter Five: Aboard the Serpent's Revenge
Scootaloo had not slept during the night the strange mercenary and his crew had taken them aboard a flying ship. Across from the cell she was kept in were Rumble and Applebloom, both of whom had slept and now were slowly waking up.
Applebloom yawned, smacking her lips, she looked half asleep at Scootaloo.
The sound of slow moving hoofsteps filled the air. From around a corner, High Wind appeared, and slowly he walked towards the cell where Scootaloo was. He came to a stop and studied her.
Up on the deck of the Serpent’s Revenge, Applebloom and Scootaloo looked around as High Wind led them to the helm. Around, low lying clouds floated past, and the ground was far below that. Both fillies looked in awe at the sight. From the deck, they were indeed led to the helm, and looked around.
Time Twister stood on the unnamed ship, as it departed Canterlot. He looked like a foal in a candy store, as he stood on the command bridge. Just hours ago, Maakera had confirmed other worlds existed, and now he was getting to see the way there.
High Wind had fallen silent for a few hours, as they travelled. Scootaloo was annoyed by this, but soon, he cleared his throat.
The next few minutes were a blur for the trio of friends as they waited inside the safe room. Explosions could be heard outside, and some even hit just outside the room itself, but nothing ever blew into the room, just as High Wind had said.
Author's Note
Why yes, there is two chapters this week. Chapter five was partially written when I became too busy to continue due to real life work.
The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
The trio didn’t see much of this unnamed ship once they were brought aboard. Indeed, they saw there were a lot of soldiers, presumably drafted in. Applebloom was even sure at one point she had seen her cousin Braeburn, but she had barely seen a stallion she had seen that passed a resemblance, than he was out of sight once more.
Some unknown time later, they were led away from the brig, eventually outside. The ship had weighed anchor above a forest, and with a unicorn powering a device on a platform, they were brought to the ground, where a camp had been set before the largest tree any of the foals had ever seen.
The glowing lasted what felt like hours, and perhaps it was, Scootaloo never thought to ask. But when it ended, she stood taller than Applebloom and Rumble, and just below chin height of Time Twister and Shining Armor. Time Twister was grinning again, but the others, and soldiers gathered, stared in awe.
Scootaloo found she couldn’t sleep that night, the threat levelled to her friends by Time Twister hadn’t sat well. As they hovered in and out of sleep, she looked towards the tree, having worked out that it was the Yggdrasil.
The teleport took them to the city inside Yggdrasil itself. Scootaloo, Applebloom and Rumble stared in awe as they finally saw the sight, which should have been maddening, and yet it wasn’t. The inside of Yggdrasil were more branches, which reached towards the external ones, but disappeared in glowing discs. There were also ramps, naturally formed from Yggdrasil itself.
The walk in total took them an hour, each movement near the entrance was careful, so no one was seen by random soldiers, or worse, Time Twister. The branch indeed led to a different world, though like all others, what lay beyond was a mystery. The only hint was the sound of wind.
The first thing Applebloom noticed was the snow. If it hadn’t been for some Mercenaries having a quick think and putting tennis rackets to her hooves, she would be buried under six foot of snow. It was difficult for anyone to keep their head above it, and the unicorns quickly worked a modified cloudwalking spell for anyone too heavy to use the tennis rackets, so they could walk above the snow.
The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
Chapter Seven: The Frozen City of Oriel
Time Twister wasn’t bothered by the sudden absence of Shining Armor the next morning. It had been a ploy after all, he needed Shining to be true to himself, even if it meant working against Time. He still saw him as a friend, and the fact the mercenaries had faked their deaths likewise wasn’t shocking. He knew from reports they had done that at least once before.
The city, which Scootaloo had told them was called Oriel, was apparently a marvel of the world. Not only did the buildings look to be made of precious gems, reminicant of the Crystal Empire in Equestria, but apparently when the world was more lively, Oriel itself could take to the air. She never elaborated however why this was required for the city, in fact, aside from a few details, Scootaloo didn’t feel much like talking.
On and on Scootaloo led Applebloom and Rumble, as the mercenaries could be heard in the distance, making notes of the crystal locations. The last they had spoken to him, High Wind had decided this world was unsalvegable, and the logical choice, over an instant reward, was to honor his promise to his daughter. He was going to take the crystals back to Equestria and find a way to free the occupants, so they could be warm.
Time Twister smiled smuggly as the last mercenaries were rounded up, bound and gagged like the red. High Wind glared at him.
The search had ended badly, Applebloom was the first to locate Scootaloo’s parent’s bedroom. Inside was a letter, written in her native language, and Scootaloo had quickly dropped it, rushing to the garden a moment later. When Applebloom and Rumble joined her, they saw her sitting, looking at two graves where no snow formed, despite falling upon them.
Author's Note
Not long until the end now. I've almost written the ending as well.
The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
Chapter Eight: The Crying Goddess
Applebloom and Rumble quickly found the rounded up mercenaries, and the soldiers taking them and some crystals holding elven ponies away from the city. Realizing that Scootaloo was in danger, they quickly turned and ran back towards her home, hoping they could get to her before Time Twister could.
It didn’t take too long to follow where Time Twister had gone. He followed the path to the center of Oriel, and as Applebloom and Rumble arrived, he stood looking at what appeared to be a statue, with the unconcious Scootaloo beside him. Of course, they were heard as they drew closer, but he didn’t look at them.
Time Twister slowly walked around the statue, even as Scootaloo stirred. He wasn’t dumb, she would try to escape but found her bracelet was pinned to the ground.
Slowly the fragment was pushed back into place. The trio and Time Twister watched as the statue flashed. And then there was nothing.
Applebloom and Rumble soon made it to the city edge, just in time to see Princess Maakera arrive. The Princess stared down at them, not because it was her attitude, but such is the way of an adult looking at a child. Slowly, she lowered until she lay upon her barrel.
Time Twister and Scootaloo were just a single street away from the alicorn now, and the shaking of the city was getting worse. It was only Time Twister who looked around watching for any buildings falling. A rumble in the ground made him crawl to a stop.
The Crying Goddess was still there as the city of Oriel fell around her. Scootaloo dodged falling buildings and shards of glass as she ran closer. She thought for a moment, what could she do to save her home, even though there was no future? Her mind wandered back to what she had heard as she woke up, of course after Time Twister had knocked her out. He had been talking about friendship, and how it could be a magic as yet not understood. Slowly and calmly, Scootaloo took a breath, friendship. It was worth a try, she had nothing to lose after all. Once she drew close, Scootaloo held her, and the crying slowed.
Author's Note
Just one more chapter to go, then this story is finally finished.
The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
Chapter Nine: The Pony Who Returned Home
Scootaloo and Luna were still holding each other, as the mercenaries, Applebloom and Rumble found them. They were a little confused at first, at the sight. Scootaloo soon looked up and smiled.
Scootaloo at least, set about trying to clean up her home city. Even if she wouldn’t live there anymore, and the world had to stay empty from now on, it could at least look clean. Luna likewise was helping, though the mercenaries, Applebloom and Rumble just watched and talked.
“So, that’s all to it?” High Wind looked at Shining Armor. Several hours had passed since Maakera and Luna had reunited. Shining Armor nodded.
Time Twister’s body was found a few hours later, and buried in the ground near the world tree on Equestria’s side. Scootaloo had followed the Equestrians as they returned, retaining her true form this time.
Applejack had every right to be angry at Applebloom. She had run off into the unknown, and into danger, been taken by mercenaries and got into a lot of trouble. But she, Big Mac and Granny Smith didn’t ground her.
The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon
NOTE: This "chapter" doesn't contain any additional story, it was written simply to explain how this story came about and evolved.
So that's it, all done. The World Tree: World of the Frozen Moon is wrapped up. Real life got in the way at one point, leading to a long delay, and a lack of an editor means it was likely shorter than it could have been. So what's this bit about then? I've never really got to talk to anyone about all this, about my thoughts and why the story went like it did.
My editor was around when I came up with an early script for the story, back when the mercenaries were written as "pirates", and he drew parallels to the Studio Ghibli classic; Laputa Castle in the Sky. In a way, he was right, it was thanks to that very movie that I thought of something. Namely, most alternate world stories for MLP revolve around either a nightmare Celestia, a world when Nightmare Moon won, or something else. They don't stray too far from the norm honestly, that isn't to say they aren't interesting, when you find one that is, it is really worth reading.
How did I try to avoid this stories OCs falling into the Mary Sue category? I always kept in mind, for one good thing about them, balance it out with a flaw. Princess Maakera as an example is a great leader, she took control of Equestria to lead it out of troubled times into a thousand years of peace. But she is too controlling, she thinks of everyone as chess pieces, and this is seen with Time Twister. She is fully aware before he knows she is, that he is obsessed with finding other worlds. When it suits her, she drops a hint, then outright tells him what he has long sought. In the end, it works to her advantage, but as Luna also makes clear in her words, Maakera is a very bad parent. We don't see an awful lot of Maakera in the story aside from these interactions. As a note, Maakera is an Estonian word, and translated, means Earth. This of course was on purpose. Celestia is the Sun, Luna is the Moon, Maakera is the Earth, or Mother Earth.
The Other Stuff
Where will this story be going in future?
I do hope you all enjoyed the story very much, I will be working on my next story soon, and announcing it in a blog post when I have something more solid worked out.
