Element of the Spiritby 42HerooftimeChaptersInto the forest, a broken wing, and the chase.Ten Years Later part-1:Summer Sun FestivalThe howl of a wolf/ MemoriesInto the forest, a broken wing, and the chase.I landed on the forest floor almost like a pony falling from a two story house. I had used my wings to help turn me to my backside to protect Lily from being flattened by me. I then heard a loud crack and instantly felt a sharp pain in my left wing when I hit the ground. I turned my head and looked to see my wing bent back at an unnatural angle. The way it was turned made getting up without damaging my wing further made things even more difficult. I placed Lily in my hat so she wouldn't inhibit my already limited movement. I couldn't sit up with the way my wing was, so I opted to try and roll over to my right side. My right wing had folded nicely behind me before the fall, so it was fine and didn't cause me any pain while I repositioned myself. Now, being on my stomach, I tried to get to the point that I could kneel. Pushing my torso up with my arms, I quickly tried to bring my knees to being directly under me. Keeping my left hand on the ground, I probed my wing with my right hand, trying to get a better understanding of what I would be dealing with. Thankfully the wound was not a compound fracture, nor was it jutting out of my wing in any place. But boy did it hurt. I don't know what magic that that spriggan had used that made him knock me back as far as he did with just a shove, but I never want to have it happen again. After gently checking the wing over one more time with my hand, I tried to stand. Getting halfway up, I took a second to take in my immediate surroundings. This was a small forest grove with four large hallowed trees laying down like the one I saw before being forced into the forest. Nothing was around me in the thick tree line, although I felt like I was being watched. Ignoring that feeling for the time being, I stood straight up. I immediately felt my side for my sword. It was thankfully still at my side, but it felt lighter for some weird reason. I drew it out of its scabbard and was shocked to see a sword about two feet long in place of my four and a half foot longsword. Sadly it seemed I was missing a great deal of the things I had made at Applejack's. My homemade slingshot and tinderbox were missing, along with four of my six glass bottles and bit bag was gone as well. I had my lantern, a compass, and a small wooden shield though. At least I could hold both the sword and my shield at the same time now. As I was figuring out how many things were missing, Lily flew out from out of my hat and landed on my shoulder. She let out a small yawn and began looking around as well. "Well, who are you? What happened to that spriggan with the black hair and pointy ears?" She asked me, still paying me very little attention while she looked around. "My name is Jonathan. That spriggan that your referring to just handed you to me and launched me into these woods." "Nice to meet you Jonathan," She replied with a smile. "My name is..." Her eyes widened and she started to panic over not being able to recall her name. Just like I had when I met Applejack at her farm. "Is your name Lily?"I asked her, wondering how I was going to explain to her how I knew her name as this was the first time we had officially met. She looked back at me with an incredulous look, almost as if the name had unlocked a part of her memories. "How did you know that? Have we met before?" "No, when John, that was the spriggan you had met, gave you to me, I was told I had to give you a name, and because your clothing was made of white flower petals, I called you Lily." I said, trying to help clear up the confusion. She fluttered beside my head for a moment and just shrugged. Lily looked around us and froze in place. She quickly flew into my hat and I gripped my sword tightly. "What's going on?" I whispered to Lily, trying to be as quiet as possible. 'Your being followed by large wooden creatures from the south. They're accompanied by multiple smaller creatures similar to you. They number just over fifty in total,' came Lily's voice inside my head. I grimaced at the thought of fighting fifty of these creatures with a handicap. Quickly pulling out my compass, I found which way was north, and then ran through the eastern hallow tree. I don't know why, nor do I care, but I felt drawn to the eastern tree; it was almost as if I could hear something or somepony playing mysterious melody. In the next clearing there was a picket fence that acted as a railing so nopony would fall off the side of the small cliff into a glade below. I just ran north, not caring about what was in that clearing. I could visit it some other time, like maybe when I'm not being chased by a pack of Celestia knows what. A large stone archway was in the next clearing. It was attached to a cobblestone path that seemed like it hadn't been used in a few centuries. A large castle loomed in the distance, maybe about a quarter mile down the path. I wanted to go down that path, but the clear road would have allowed my predators to easily catch up to me. I turned to the west and kept going. The area that I walked into this time was a dead end. Well, that was not entirely true; there was a hole in the north rock face of a marble cliff. Seeing no better option, I dove headfirst into the hole and began to crawl toward the light at the end of the long hole. I was greeted by a large spring of water in the large lawn that stumbled out into after running through that hole in the wall. A large marble semi-circle with six pillars encircled the back portion of the natural fountain. A pure white pure white slab of rock lay at the base of the fountain. I ran to the large slab with my second empty bottle in hand and plunged it quickly into the crystal clear depths of the fountain. A cry of laughter erupted from the cleared area and a large mare of a white coat and emerald green mane and tail burst out of the water. She had wings and a horn, and a cheerful smile was on her face. That is until she saw my broken wing. She looked at me in the eyes and began to fly toward my spot next to her little spring. "Child, why fore art thou injured so?" She cooed earnestly. "I fell and landed on my wing ma'am." I replied shyly, nervous about what would happen if I didn't start moving quickly again. "There art no reason for thou to worry; none of thy pursuers shall follow thee into our sacred fountain." The kind mare said, as if reading my very thoughts. "We are the Great Fairy of Magic, Farore protector of the Forsaken Wood, Guardian of the forest colts and fillies of the Solar Grove. Might we ask thy name, young hero?" "My lady, I am no hero; my name is Jonathan." "Jonathan, thy name is uncommon, yet we find it quite charming." Farore giggled, but changed to a serious tone after a few seconds. "Thou hast much to learn before thou might fulfill thy role in this world, but I, Farore, shall help guide thy path. Thy wing is broken, we think it would please greatly if, with your consent, thou would allow us to heal thy injury." Her voice pleaded. I simply nodded and tuned around to allow her to check my wing. She gently touched the wing and I immediately felt relief, the pain just seemed to vanish entirely. She let out a hearty laugh when I gasped when I felt her firmly grasp my wing not a second later. A nice and gentle warmth began to corse through my wing after a minute or so. Farore removed her hand from my wing and placed a gentle kiss on my longest primary feather. I gently flapped my wing and was happy to see both working in perfect sync again. I turned back around to thank Farore but was disappointed to see she had vanished. But her voice rang clear as fine crystal through the clearing. "When Battle hath made thee weary, our child, please visit us to heal thy wounds." "You can bet I'll be back!" I said with a grin, and with that I exited the hole again. The clearing from before had changed a little, there were glowing yellow eyes everywhere. I drew my sword and flew up a few feet. Several large wooden beasts that resembled wolves began to appear. Each had a small rider that was about the size of a seven year old colt or filly; they too seemed to be made of wood. "Hey! What do you think your doing in the Forsaken Woods!" Cried out one of the wooden fillies. "Yeah, its dangerous for normal ponies to enter these deep woods." Yelled a colt. One of the fillies jumped of her timberwolf, and just walked right ip to me. We almost stood eye to eye, myself being ever so slightly taller. "Hey mister, we're sorry if our doggies scared you, they're normally not as loud. Could you please come with us, you seem lonely and lost here." She said with an adorable smile. "Uh... sure, I don't see why not. I'm looking for the Solar Grove; maybe you all could help me find it." They filly giggled and just looked back at me. "That's funny, we were going to take you there anyway, thats where we live silly head." "Oh... well thank you miss..." "Leafy Breeze," she replied with mirth. "Well then, thank you Leafy Breeze, and I would be thrilled to follow you and your friends to the Solar Grove." "Wait, what's your name?" Leafy asked, getting a bunch of nods and the phrase 'What's your name' was repeated numerous time over. "My name is Jonathan." I stated simply. Ten Years Later part-1:Summer Sun FestivalDawn of the The Summer Sun Festival -24 hours remaining- I had woken up this morning with a feeling of dread, almost as if I could tell that today would be very rough on me. That or it was the sound of those cuccos in the distance. I quickly put on my white woven shirt, placed my chainmail over that, and covered it with my dark blue, cotton tunic. I searched my closet for my leather belt and sword scabbard, finding only my belt. I looked around my bedroom and spotted my sword and scabbard lying at the head of my handmade maple bed frame. Gathering up the sword, I walked out of my bedroom and into the living room/kitchen of my small two-room house. The room was not much, but it suited my needs just fine. A small sofa and coffee table sat in the center of the room, facing the eastern wall. Two chairs and a table lay against the north wall, directly in front of one of the two windows the room had. A woodstove lay in the northeast corner of the room, upon which I cooked my meals. I had tinkered with it and found that with the correct parts, I was able to add a small bread oven to the side of it. The smell of cooking bread filled the room; seems like Lily had decided to try and surprise me by making a few small loaves of bread. For a fairy of no more than five inches, she could actually lift an amazing amount of weight. Granted it helped that she could use magic to levitate most of the ingredients to make just about anything she wished to make. I really wanted to stay, but I had already slept in too long. I worked as one of the protectors of the town, due mainly to the increase in evil activity in the area surrounding Ponyville. I was one of about thirty mares and stallions appointed to the task by royal decree of the Princess herself. Yeah, I worked for the crown. I had received a letter yesterday from her majesty telling me that her personal student was to arrive some this morning, and that I was to act as her protector and guide for the day, just to help he get situated in the town. How I wonder sometimes why I even bother waking up in the morning. Oh wait, it’s that fear of cuccos getting back into my house; I would rather face the wrath of Princess Celestia than have to be locked in a house that attracted cuccos from miles around. I wrote a note and left it on the table explaining to Lily where I had gone. Then I grabbed my bit bag, placed it into my satchel, put on my hat, and walked out the door. Man was I going to get an earful from Lily later this evening, but with time she would forget about this morning, she always does. I walked down the six streets of my sector, as was my custom every day, to check to see if the skeletal colts had damaged anything beyond repair during the night. On Mane Street, a few windows had been broken, but thankfully that was the only damage in my sector. I’d have to check with Dash and AJ later to see if the Apple family farm was alright, but other than that, things seemed decent enough. I’ll have to get the windows for the houses tomorrow. I walked to the central fountain of my district. The plaza acted as the main meeting place for friends and family alike. Sugarcube Corner was one of the many buildings that surrounded this particular plaza. Seeing how I had rushed out my door without breakfast, I walked into the shop. I was immediately welcomed by the fragrance of baked goods, and Pinkie Pie, although the later was facing the wall opposite me. “Good morning Pinkie,” I said through a yawn. She twirled around faster than I could swing my sword. “Oh, hi Jonathan, I was just thinking about when you would get here. You know you really shouldn’t skip breakfast, so I already baked you a few banana nut bread muffins.” “Thanks…” I said while trying to ignore the fact that she knew I had skipped breakfast today. I pulled out my bit bag to pay her, but she just shook her head and giggled. “Don’t worry, they’re on the house. After all, today is the Summer Sun festival. Well, enjoy your muffins.” I froze when she said Summer Sun Festival. “Pinkie, have any of the other town guard come into the shop today?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t late to the morning meeting. She looked thoughtfully for a second and gave me a nod. I sighed, looks like I’ll have to check with Applejack after I find Celestia’s student. I turned around and left Sugarcube Corner, walking back outside. I took about three steps out the door before I ran into someone. Both of us fell down, and I instinctively apologized while hopping back to my hooves. “A thousand pardons. I should have been watching where I was…” I stopped abruptly when I looked over to see the pony I had run into. She was a purple coated unicorn. She wore a white button-up shirt with a light purple V-neck that went over the top of the button-up. She also had a simple pair of black jeans that went down about a foot above her hooves. “Sorry, here let me help you up,” I said, standing to the right of her. She grasped my outstretched hand and I pulled her back to her hooves. “I should have been paying better attention to where I was going. You seem new around here, I take it you just moved here?” I added. She seemed very nervous around me and just nodded. So much for first impressions, I already made this more awkward than it had to be. “Well, sorry that I ran into you, but I’m late. I have to meet up with a mare named Twilight Sparkle, the personal student of Celestia. Bye now.” I began to walk away but stopped when she called back to me. “Wait up!” The mare rushed over to me, followed by a baby dragon that had been hiding behind one of the garbage cans next Sugarcube Corner. “Are you Captain Jonathan?” “Yes,” and I visibly gulped. I must have been dumber than that box of rocks at my house; I was unable to put two and two together. ‘Oh gods in the stars above, I ran into Celestia’s student, didn’t I. I was going to be banished to the sun, or worse, sent to Canterlot as a guard.’ I thought to myself. “Oh forgive me, my lady. Had I known, I would have…” She cut me off. “Sorry, but I really need you to show me around town, so that I may check up on the preparations for the Summer Sun festival.” Twilight said earnestly. ‘Oh boy, this is going to be a very rough morning,’ I thought silently. Mid-Morning of Summer Sun Festival -18 hours remaining- I hobbled back to my house after helping Twilight with checking the preparations. I was weary also due to that fact that I knew I would have to act as one of the secret guards in the crowd when Celestia arrived for the festival. I opened the door and walked into the house. I turned, bolted the door and faced my living room. I paled when I saw Lily sitting on the back of a cucco, one of at least fifty. “Ok, I’ll bite, what in Celestia’s name are the cuccos doing in my house.” I yelled. “Well, somepony decided to just leave me a note on the table, left the house completely unattended, and let my bread burn. I saw all of these cuccos sitting around the house and invited them in for lunch.” Lily replied with a smirk. I unbolted the door and let all hell come at me at once. I stood my ground for a second, and then felt myself fly out of my house and into the street outside. I hopped to my feet, swore an oath to get even with Lily later and ran like I was being chased by Cerberus. I ran through the streets, weaving in and out of everypony on the streets, hoping that the cuccos were smart enough to not hit any of the innocent pedestrians. They were. I saw shadows fly past me and looked up to see the cuccos were flying to cut me off at the end of the street. If I was any other pony here in Ponyville, I most likely would have panicked even more than I already was. Well, I wasn’t going to be fooled by this tactic twice, or was this the third time they had tried this? I leaped into the air and began to fly above the town. I looked around in earnest, trying to think about which pony would most likely help me hide from those dreadful fowl. Suddenly I was knocked out of the sky by a blue blur. At first I thought it was Rainbow Dash again, but when I looked up, I saw Him. It was that blue cucco from ten years ago. I’m sure my eyes had become pinpricks when I saw that god forsaken bird, but not wasting any of my precious seconds, I ran into the nearest building and shut the door. It just so happens that that building was the Golden Oaks Library. I sighed as a book suddenly flew at my face, and didn’t flinch when it made contact with my nose. Better a book than a power-hungry cucco flying at my face. “Sorry,” Twilight exclaimed as she turned slightly pale after seeing who it was standing in her library. “Thought that you were a thief with the way your dressed and all.” “Well, with my dark clothing, my sword, and my shield, I don’t blame you.” I replied glumly, chancing a glance out the door’s window. I jerked back when I saw Him again. I swear that bird just never gives up. “Is something wrong?” Twilight asked suspiciously, eyeing the door behind me. “Umm, I guess it’s safe to tell you this. Ten years ago, I found a new species in the Everfree. I named them Cuccos. They look like your ordinary chicken, but are capable of flight, seem to have intelligence, and are very vengeful. There just so happens to be one such cucco is outside your door at this very moment.” As soon as I stopped speaking, the door was flung open and the blue cucco entered the room. It stared at me, I at it, and neither of us moved. It had that predatory look in its eyes that said ‘pay up or else.’ There was no way I was getting mugged again by this bird and his cronies, so I threw my brand new bit bag at Him, and watched as he took it in his beak and flew off and out of sight. “What was that about?” “That’s not important, but isn’t the Summer Sun Festival in about two hours?” I replied, quickly trying to change the subject. I swear that mare is faster than a cucco on Saturday’s batch of cider. “Hurry up! We can’t afford to be late,” Twilight said as she dragged me, a large book, and Spike the dragon out the door and to the Town Hall. I got a feeling of dread as we neared the Town Hall. This day was about to get very interesting, I knew it. Noon of The Summer Sun Festival -12 hours remaining- The howl of a wolf/ MemoriesHeight of the Summer Sun Festival -11 hours remain- Twilight and myself walked slowly through the large crowd of ponies inside the town hall. Twilight seemed very nervous about something, but she wouldn't tell me why. I could understand to a degree: she had just met me, and probably wasn't very comfortable with speaking to me about one of her problems. But then again, what if this was a matter that would affect all the ponies in this room, like the Nine Eleven chariot bombings of Manehattan's trade towers. The more I thought about it, the more concerned I got. While I was lost in thought, I lost track of Twilight in the crowded, which was sorta ironic considering that aside from Big Mac, I was the tallest pony in the room. She was my charge and I had lost her, and that would make me look bad. That didn't bode well with me. I set out into the crowd, looking for Twilight. It was not easy to navigate through the living labyrinth of ponies in the building. I would turn and walk a few paces and have to completely alter my course every few seconds. I swear, it was as if Discord himself were directing the crowd just to spite me. I eventually found myself at the front of the crowd, much to my dismay. I never liked being able to be seen by everypony, and being as tall as I was didn't help. It seemed like my arrival at the front was like a trigger for the event to start, simply because l got to the front just as the mayor began to announce Princess Celestia's arrival. All noise in the room stopped and everypony turned to face the balcony upon which Celestia would enter the room in all her glory. Now call it what you wish, but I had a bad feeling in my stomach as soon as the curtain raised. Celestia was not here, and a swirling darkness was beginning to form another alicorn. Now I couldn't place it at this time, but I think that I've seen her before. I knew upon gazing at this midnight black alicorn she was bad news. Just her aura alone was sickening and evil. Against my better judgement, I leapt into the air and drew my sword from its scabbard. As soon as I was airborne, the dark alicorn's gaze was on me, and she smirked! I couldn't believe it; she had the audacity to just look at me and think I was too weak to even bother with. If I had a cucco right now, she would be regretting everything about that choice. Acting like the idiot I was, I flew straight at her, and brought a vicious swing of my sword down on her head. Or at least I would have if she hadn't caught my sword with her left had and let me have a nice punch to my side. She then levitated me in front of her with her magic. Oh goddesses above, she was going to spin kick me. And spin kick me she did. Right in the same spot she punched me in. "Clever girl," I said as I was launched out of the Town Hall, all the way to my house, and into my bed, upon which a particular blue cucco was sitting on. Naturally I did the same thing that most flying objects do; I fell, and I landed right on top of the blue cucco. -meanwhile- Across Ponyville, Nightmare Moon was about to address the rest of the crowed gathered since she was rudely interrupted by a sword wielding moron. Suddenly a noise of the likes of which she hadn't heard since the time of her banishment. A terrible sound, striking fear into even Nightmare herself; a cucco caw, the offspring of the Demon Chicken and a cockatrice. Nightmare Moon suppressed a shudder and tried to continue addressing the crowd. -back at my house, or what was left of it- I had jumped down my stairs as soon as He let out that caw, or laugh (never could tell with him.) But I seriously need to come up with a better name for that cucco. Maybe I could sit him down one of these days, look him dead in those cold, soulless eyes, and ask him what he wants to be called. But if he's truly as evil as I think he is, then He will kill me and then that's that. He wasted no time following me, cawing (or laughing) all the way down the stairs. I got halfway to my front door before I heard something fall and break, and it sounded like one of my priceless rune cases. Runes, back in the days of Discord's rule, could be used by any species of creature attuned to any form of Equis' magic, and that crazy bird had broken one of the last collections of runes in existence. I could tolerate many things: being stuck on an Island in the middle of nowhere, retarded nobles, even everypony's misconceptions about Pinkie ( I swear to the Great fairy, she is the most sane and normal pony on this planet) but that was the final straw. I turned around and looked over to where the rune case had been, and sure enough, He had destroyed the display, and, surprisingly, had eaten all the rune stones. I found Him sitting next to the broken display just looking content as ever. That struck me as one of the oddest things in the world; He never messed with it before, and He always went past it when he came into my house uninvited. Could runes be used to calm down a raging cucco? If so I could try to learn how to make runes again. Then I could probably use cuccos as a special line of Ponyville's defense. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, but at least He was calmed down, at the price of my precious runes. With the blue menace calmed down to his normal self, or at least what seemed like it, I slowly exited my house. Night of Eternity -10 hours remaining- Once I was outside of my house, I drew my sword from its scabbard. Reading the inscription on the hilt ("In darkest need and gravest age, draw this blade and speak my name") and said "Arbiter come forth." A light began to emit from the sword and a shadowy figure began to take form on ground. The figure stood straight up and I caught the sight of a small grin. "You called, my lord," came the commanding voice of Arbiter. I swear I'll never get used to how his voice sounds. "Yes, old friend. I require your assistance in finding the mare known as Twilight Sparkle." "Sire, what you ask is much too simple; had you considered checking Golden Oaks, you would have found her." Arbiter stated with no trace of mirth in his voice. He started to disappear as quick as he came, but not before I called him a smart ass, to which I was whacked by the cane of an old donkey walking by at that precise moment. I probably deserved that. Holding my head, I flew over to Golden Oaks as fast as I could. -5 minutes later- As soon as I landed in front of the library door, I was caught behind the door as it flew open faster than any normal object of that door's size and shape should ever go, unless your door is a revolving door that has been recently oiled. As soon as the door closed, I fell, muzzle-first mind you, into the cobblestone street. Upon contact with the ground, I mumbled "Somepony get me the number of the cart that hit me," and felt myself get lifted into the air with magic. A few minutes and a bucket of cold water later, I stood in the company of six familiar mares. We stood in front of the Everfree, close to the place where I first entered the forest as a colt. "So, let me guess; that creepy mare that speaks just like I used to is at that abandoned castle fortress in the Everfree. You also want me to me you to the castle since I'm the only pony in Ponyville who would have any knowledge on how to navigate the forest safely." I stated bluntly. I only recived a few nods and a thumbs up from Rainbow and Applejack, but that was good enough for me. It took the seven of us nearly twenty minutes to reach the Sacred Path. We came across a few minor obstructions, such as old worn bridges, a bunch of trees that I found hilarious but creeped out the girls in ways I couldn't comprehend at the present time, and a manticore that had a thorn in one of its paws. But other than that, we had a very quiet walk in the woods. As we neared the edge of the Forsaken Woods, I heard timberwolves. A memory I had hidden in the deepest reaches of my mind returned, haunting me again for the first time in over seven years. I stood in the large clearing known only as the Solar Grove. It had been almost two years since I had arrived with Leafy Breeze and her friends in this comfortable little village. Since then, I had acquired a literal treehouse, a timberwolf pup, became one of the protectors of the village, and had even been invited by Leafy to see the monument of the sun and moon a few times. In a large clearing to the east there lies a small monument that was erected in honor of the alicorn sisters, although the monument for Luna was eroded and covered in moss. By contrast, Celestia's monument gleamed brilliantly, the marble polished with great care. As Leafy and I walked into the massive clearing today, I noticed for the first time that there was a second entrance to the clearing and decided to asked her about it. Leafy was silent for a few minutes, and I told her she didn't have to say anything about it if she didn't want to. "No, I don't mind; it's just weird to be asked about that. To understand this completely, you'll need to know a little more about our history. What you've lived in for the past two years is just half of the Solar Grove. A very long time ago the Children of the Night also found a home here in the Solar Grove, but it was called the Celestial Meadow back then. There was a long period of peace in the land; the three tribes were united under the Pony Sisters, and Discord was imprisoned. However, Princess Luna became envious of her sister due to a multitude of different conditions. Ultimately Luna became Nightmare Moon and fought Celestia for the right to rule over pony kind. Celestia, with the help of a Stallion of undying Spirit, defeated Nightmare Moon with the Elements of harmony. The stallion's body was destroyed, but his spirit took the form of a seventh element. This element lay resting in the Sacred Forest Meadow, waiting in a deep slumber for the return of Nightmare Moon." Leafy sighed and continued with her tale. "The other entrance that you noticed leads to the Forsaken Clearing. That was where the Children of the Moon used to live before they were banished to the moon along with Nightmare Moon. We don't go there unless we have to get an important nocturnal plant for a potion. But now that you mention it, we do need a few things from the village," she said to me, using the puppy eyes technique on me. I sighed deeply and followed Leafy to the entrance to the Forsaken Clearing. We walked for a few minutes before I heard the familiar flapping of leathery wings. That did not bode well with me at all. I instantly drew my sword and passed Leafy my slingshot. A large group of keese suddenly burst out of a nearby tree and thus the fight began. There were nearly twelve of them, three normal, three fiery, two ice, and a large one with a combination of all three. I took on the fire keese knowing all too well what they could do to Leafy's livingwood body. The keese started to dive at me like they normally do and then I went to work with my sword. Two were gone in a puff of black smoke before they knew what hit them. The last one fled but was hit by a well aimed shot from Leafy. The Ice keese were all gone thanks to Leafy's marksmareship. That left the normal keese and combination keese. All three of the normal keese started to circle me, so Leafy took the opportunity to hit every single one of the normal keese out of the air before they could close in on me. Furious at the loss of its kin, the large keese dived for Leafy, who bare jumped out of the way of its flaming wings. The keese quickly whipped around to catch her while she was still disoriented. Seeing her in danger, I threw my sword at the keese, slicing a good chunk of its wing off, and catching my sword as it returned like a boomerang. The large keese hit the ground like a rock and let out a blood curdling screech as it blew up into a large plume of black and green smoke. As soon as the smoke cleared, I walked over to where Leafy sat in the cold grass. Extending my hand, I lifted her up and dusted her green tunic off. I handed her a bottle of red healing potion, and watched as she downed a third of the bottle and placed the rest carefully into her magic pouch. "You need to be a little more careful, ok.You could have been seriously hurt." I said while tending to a tear in my own green tunic. "Are you sure you really think we need those herbs and materials? I'd hate for us to risk ourselves if there was no need for these materials." She looked at me and slowly nodded. "If they weren't needed I wouldn't have had you stand and fight those keese." "Ok, but if we find anymore keese, or anything more dangerous for that matter, then we leave with or without the stuff." We walked the path for about five more minutes before we came into a rundown village filled with all sorts of bioluminescent plants. The pale light of the foliage cast an eerie glow over the surrounding area. "Alright, lets be quick about this," I said earnestly. "This place is beginning to freak me out." "Ok, we just need to grab a few mushrooms, a sprig or two of guam leaf, and four pounds of marrentill. They all grow together so we don't need to go too far into the village." As Leafy and I walked to the place we could find the herbs, I noticed a thick mist had begun to settle over the village. Dark thunderclouds began to let out an occasional lightning strike in the distance and a decent amount of rain began to fall at a steady rate. We quickened our pace and found the herbs and mushrooms at the entrance to what looked like a shrine to Luna. Dark energies seemed to resonate from the statue out into the surroundings, casting an intricate web of darkness and despair outward into the village's decaying timbers. Gathering what we needed, we turned to leave when suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of us, knocking us off our feet. The impact sent us about ten feet back, but what really scared us was what stood before us. A large alicorn clad in lunar armor and wielding a blade of darkness stood rigidly at the base of the shrine. Its breathing was the only thing that gave any indication of it being alive, but what was scary was the predatory look in its eyes. She looked the pair of us over from head to hoof and shook her head. "Little foals should not be out taking a stroll in the Lost Woods after twilight. Thou may find more than thou bargained for hiding amongst the tree line." She said with venom, giving a deathly cold glare at Leafy. "Forestborn know better than to test the wills of the fates. Thy life was forfeit the moment thou entered into my realm, the realm of Nightmare Moon. Look long and hard at the face of your coltfriend, for it be the last you will see." With a swift lung, Nightmare Moon placed a good seven inches of pure hatred into the chest cavity of Leafy Breeze, extinguishing the light of her beautiful emerald green eyes. running frantically to my friend's side, I cradled her in my arms as she breathed her last, golden amber flowing like a river onto my tunic. Turning my head to face Nightmare Moon, I looked her dead in the eyes. "WHY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hearing my voice crack with a sob. "SILENCE! The filly was a sage, a keeper of our prison. Be grateful we do not end you in the same fashion. No, we are feeling generous tonight; we shall grant thou the burden of carrying the soul and conscious of this filly. Bear this curse as a reminder of who granted thou mercy this eve. Next time we meet thou might not be as lucky." She thrust her hand out and a dark blue aura surrounded Leafy's body and a light blue form rose from it and flew into me. I could immediately hear a thought that wasn't my own invade my mind. But my focus was on what was happening to Leafy's body. Her corpse was morphing into the shape of a timberwolf, but the eyes were a feral yellow instead of the natural green. I hurried to my hooves and began to run out of the village, hearing the howl of a feral timberwolf for the first time in my life. Nightmare Moon's cold laughter followed me out of the clearing, haunting me every step I took until I collapsed in the safety of my bed. Terrified, I closed my eyes and hid beneath a large woolen blanket until I could no longer hear the laughter of the devil in my fragile mind. I lurched forward off the ground as I came back to reality. I was breathing deeply and had my sword drawn, the action scaring the six mares that surrounded me with looks of concern. 'Shh, take it easy Jonathan; it was only a memory. I'm still here for you, just relax and focus on the task at hand.' "Thank you Leafy, I'll try everything within my power to return you to your body, just hang in there old friend," I mumbled to myself incoherently. "Alright," I said while jumping up from the ground and dusting my tunic off. "Who's ready to end this night?" I asked, getting a simple raise of hands from everypony. "Good, lets get started."
Into the forest, a broken wing, and the chase.I landed on the forest floor almost like a pony falling from a two story house. I had used my wings to help turn me to my backside to protect Lily from being flattened by me. I then heard a loud crack and instantly felt a sharp pain in my left wing when I hit the ground. I turned my head and looked to see my wing bent back at an unnatural angle. The way it was turned made getting up without damaging my wing further made things even more difficult. I placed Lily in my hat so she wouldn't inhibit my already limited movement. I couldn't sit up with the way my wing was, so I opted to try and roll over to my right side. My right wing had folded nicely behind me before the fall, so it was fine and didn't cause me any pain while I repositioned myself. Now, being on my stomach, I tried to get to the point that I could kneel. Pushing my torso up with my arms, I quickly tried to bring my knees to being directly under me. Keeping my left hand on the ground, I probed my wing with my right hand, trying to get a better understanding of what I would be dealing with. Thankfully the wound was not a compound fracture, nor was it jutting out of my wing in any place. But boy did it hurt. I don't know what magic that that spriggan had used that made him knock me back as far as he did with just a shove, but I never want to have it happen again. After gently checking the wing over one more time with my hand, I tried to stand. Getting halfway up, I took a second to take in my immediate surroundings. This was a small forest grove with four large hallowed trees laying down like the one I saw before being forced into the forest. Nothing was around me in the thick tree line, although I felt like I was being watched. Ignoring that feeling for the time being, I stood straight up. I immediately felt my side for my sword. It was thankfully still at my side, but it felt lighter for some weird reason. I drew it out of its scabbard and was shocked to see a sword about two feet long in place of my four and a half foot longsword. Sadly it seemed I was missing a great deal of the things I had made at Applejack's. My homemade slingshot and tinderbox were missing, along with four of my six glass bottles and bit bag was gone as well. I had my lantern, a compass, and a small wooden shield though. At least I could hold both the sword and my shield at the same time now. As I was figuring out how many things were missing, Lily flew out from out of my hat and landed on my shoulder. She let out a small yawn and began looking around as well. "Well, who are you? What happened to that spriggan with the black hair and pointy ears?" She asked me, still paying me very little attention while she looked around. "My name is Jonathan. That spriggan that your referring to just handed you to me and launched me into these woods." "Nice to meet you Jonathan," She replied with a smile. "My name is..." Her eyes widened and she started to panic over not being able to recall her name. Just like I had when I met Applejack at her farm. "Is your name Lily?"I asked her, wondering how I was going to explain to her how I knew her name as this was the first time we had officially met. She looked back at me with an incredulous look, almost as if the name had unlocked a part of her memories. "How did you know that? Have we met before?" "No, when John, that was the spriggan you had met, gave you to me, I was told I had to give you a name, and because your clothing was made of white flower petals, I called you Lily." I said, trying to help clear up the confusion. She fluttered beside my head for a moment and just shrugged. Lily looked around us and froze in place. She quickly flew into my hat and I gripped my sword tightly. "What's going on?" I whispered to Lily, trying to be as quiet as possible. 'Your being followed by large wooden creatures from the south. They're accompanied by multiple smaller creatures similar to you. They number just over fifty in total,' came Lily's voice inside my head. I grimaced at the thought of fighting fifty of these creatures with a handicap. Quickly pulling out my compass, I found which way was north, and then ran through the eastern hallow tree. I don't know why, nor do I care, but I felt drawn to the eastern tree; it was almost as if I could hear something or somepony playing mysterious melody. In the next clearing there was a picket fence that acted as a railing so nopony would fall off the side of the small cliff into a glade below. I just ran north, not caring about what was in that clearing. I could visit it some other time, like maybe when I'm not being chased by a pack of Celestia knows what. A large stone archway was in the next clearing. It was attached to a cobblestone path that seemed like it hadn't been used in a few centuries. A large castle loomed in the distance, maybe about a quarter mile down the path. I wanted to go down that path, but the clear road would have allowed my predators to easily catch up to me. I turned to the west and kept going. The area that I walked into this time was a dead end. Well, that was not entirely true; there was a hole in the north rock face of a marble cliff. Seeing no better option, I dove headfirst into the hole and began to crawl toward the light at the end of the long hole. I was greeted by a large spring of water in the large lawn that stumbled out into after running through that hole in the wall. A large marble semi-circle with six pillars encircled the back portion of the natural fountain. A pure white pure white slab of rock lay at the base of the fountain. I ran to the large slab with my second empty bottle in hand and plunged it quickly into the crystal clear depths of the fountain. A cry of laughter erupted from the cleared area and a large mare of a white coat and emerald green mane and tail burst out of the water. She had wings and a horn, and a cheerful smile was on her face. That is until she saw my broken wing. She looked at me in the eyes and began to fly toward my spot next to her little spring. "Child, why fore art thou injured so?" She cooed earnestly. "I fell and landed on my wing ma'am." I replied shyly, nervous about what would happen if I didn't start moving quickly again. "There art no reason for thou to worry; none of thy pursuers shall follow thee into our sacred fountain." The kind mare said, as if reading my very thoughts. "We are the Great Fairy of Magic, Farore protector of the Forsaken Wood, Guardian of the forest colts and fillies of the Solar Grove. Might we ask thy name, young hero?" "My lady, I am no hero; my name is Jonathan." "Jonathan, thy name is uncommon, yet we find it quite charming." Farore giggled, but changed to a serious tone after a few seconds. "Thou hast much to learn before thou might fulfill thy role in this world, but I, Farore, shall help guide thy path. Thy wing is broken, we think it would please greatly if, with your consent, thou would allow us to heal thy injury." Her voice pleaded. I simply nodded and tuned around to allow her to check my wing. She gently touched the wing and I immediately felt relief, the pain just seemed to vanish entirely. She let out a hearty laugh when I gasped when I felt her firmly grasp my wing not a second later. A nice and gentle warmth began to corse through my wing after a minute or so. Farore removed her hand from my wing and placed a gentle kiss on my longest primary feather. I gently flapped my wing and was happy to see both working in perfect sync again. I turned back around to thank Farore but was disappointed to see she had vanished. But her voice rang clear as fine crystal through the clearing. "When Battle hath made thee weary, our child, please visit us to heal thy wounds." "You can bet I'll be back!" I said with a grin, and with that I exited the hole again. The clearing from before had changed a little, there were glowing yellow eyes everywhere. I drew my sword and flew up a few feet. Several large wooden beasts that resembled wolves began to appear. Each had a small rider that was about the size of a seven year old colt or filly; they too seemed to be made of wood. "Hey! What do you think your doing in the Forsaken Woods!" Cried out one of the wooden fillies. "Yeah, its dangerous for normal ponies to enter these deep woods." Yelled a colt. One of the fillies jumped of her timberwolf, and just walked right ip to me. We almost stood eye to eye, myself being ever so slightly taller. "Hey mister, we're sorry if our doggies scared you, they're normally not as loud. Could you please come with us, you seem lonely and lost here." She said with an adorable smile. "Uh... sure, I don't see why not. I'm looking for the Solar Grove; maybe you all could help me find it." They filly giggled and just looked back at me. "That's funny, we were going to take you there anyway, thats where we live silly head." "Oh... well thank you miss..." "Leafy Breeze," she replied with mirth. "Well then, thank you Leafy Breeze, and I would be thrilled to follow you and your friends to the Solar Grove." "Wait, what's your name?" Leafy asked, getting a bunch of nods and the phrase 'What's your name' was repeated numerous time over. "My name is Jonathan." I stated simply.
Ten Years Later part-1:Summer Sun FestivalDawn of the The Summer Sun Festival -24 hours remaining- I had woken up this morning with a feeling of dread, almost as if I could tell that today would be very rough on me. That or it was the sound of those cuccos in the distance. I quickly put on my white woven shirt, placed my chainmail over that, and covered it with my dark blue, cotton tunic. I searched my closet for my leather belt and sword scabbard, finding only my belt. I looked around my bedroom and spotted my sword and scabbard lying at the head of my handmade maple bed frame. Gathering up the sword, I walked out of my bedroom and into the living room/kitchen of my small two-room house. The room was not much, but it suited my needs just fine. A small sofa and coffee table sat in the center of the room, facing the eastern wall. Two chairs and a table lay against the north wall, directly in front of one of the two windows the room had. A woodstove lay in the northeast corner of the room, upon which I cooked my meals. I had tinkered with it and found that with the correct parts, I was able to add a small bread oven to the side of it. The smell of cooking bread filled the room; seems like Lily had decided to try and surprise me by making a few small loaves of bread. For a fairy of no more than five inches, she could actually lift an amazing amount of weight. Granted it helped that she could use magic to levitate most of the ingredients to make just about anything she wished to make. I really wanted to stay, but I had already slept in too long. I worked as one of the protectors of the town, due mainly to the increase in evil activity in the area surrounding Ponyville. I was one of about thirty mares and stallions appointed to the task by royal decree of the Princess herself. Yeah, I worked for the crown. I had received a letter yesterday from her majesty telling me that her personal student was to arrive some this morning, and that I was to act as her protector and guide for the day, just to help he get situated in the town. How I wonder sometimes why I even bother waking up in the morning. Oh wait, it’s that fear of cuccos getting back into my house; I would rather face the wrath of Princess Celestia than have to be locked in a house that attracted cuccos from miles around. I wrote a note and left it on the table explaining to Lily where I had gone. Then I grabbed my bit bag, placed it into my satchel, put on my hat, and walked out the door. Man was I going to get an earful from Lily later this evening, but with time she would forget about this morning, she always does. I walked down the six streets of my sector, as was my custom every day, to check to see if the skeletal colts had damaged anything beyond repair during the night. On Mane Street, a few windows had been broken, but thankfully that was the only damage in my sector. I’d have to check with Dash and AJ later to see if the Apple family farm was alright, but other than that, things seemed decent enough. I’ll have to get the windows for the houses tomorrow. I walked to the central fountain of my district. The plaza acted as the main meeting place for friends and family alike. Sugarcube Corner was one of the many buildings that surrounded this particular plaza. Seeing how I had rushed out my door without breakfast, I walked into the shop. I was immediately welcomed by the fragrance of baked goods, and Pinkie Pie, although the later was facing the wall opposite me. “Good morning Pinkie,” I said through a yawn. She twirled around faster than I could swing my sword. “Oh, hi Jonathan, I was just thinking about when you would get here. You know you really shouldn’t skip breakfast, so I already baked you a few banana nut bread muffins.” “Thanks…” I said while trying to ignore the fact that she knew I had skipped breakfast today. I pulled out my bit bag to pay her, but she just shook her head and giggled. “Don’t worry, they’re on the house. After all, today is the Summer Sun festival. Well, enjoy your muffins.” I froze when she said Summer Sun Festival. “Pinkie, have any of the other town guard come into the shop today?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t late to the morning meeting. She looked thoughtfully for a second and gave me a nod. I sighed, looks like I’ll have to check with Applejack after I find Celestia’s student. I turned around and left Sugarcube Corner, walking back outside. I took about three steps out the door before I ran into someone. Both of us fell down, and I instinctively apologized while hopping back to my hooves. “A thousand pardons. I should have been watching where I was…” I stopped abruptly when I looked over to see the pony I had run into. She was a purple coated unicorn. She wore a white button-up shirt with a light purple V-neck that went over the top of the button-up. She also had a simple pair of black jeans that went down about a foot above her hooves. “Sorry, here let me help you up,” I said, standing to the right of her. She grasped my outstretched hand and I pulled her back to her hooves. “I should have been paying better attention to where I was going. You seem new around here, I take it you just moved here?” I added. She seemed very nervous around me and just nodded. So much for first impressions, I already made this more awkward than it had to be. “Well, sorry that I ran into you, but I’m late. I have to meet up with a mare named Twilight Sparkle, the personal student of Celestia. Bye now.” I began to walk away but stopped when she called back to me. “Wait up!” The mare rushed over to me, followed by a baby dragon that had been hiding behind one of the garbage cans next Sugarcube Corner. “Are you Captain Jonathan?” “Yes,” and I visibly gulped. I must have been dumber than that box of rocks at my house; I was unable to put two and two together. ‘Oh gods in the stars above, I ran into Celestia’s student, didn’t I. I was going to be banished to the sun, or worse, sent to Canterlot as a guard.’ I thought to myself. “Oh forgive me, my lady. Had I known, I would have…” She cut me off. “Sorry, but I really need you to show me around town, so that I may check up on the preparations for the Summer Sun festival.” Twilight said earnestly. ‘Oh boy, this is going to be a very rough morning,’ I thought silently. Mid-Morning of Summer Sun Festival -18 hours remaining- I hobbled back to my house after helping Twilight with checking the preparations. I was weary also due to that fact that I knew I would have to act as one of the secret guards in the crowd when Celestia arrived for the festival. I opened the door and walked into the house. I turned, bolted the door and faced my living room. I paled when I saw Lily sitting on the back of a cucco, one of at least fifty. “Ok, I’ll bite, what in Celestia’s name are the cuccos doing in my house.” I yelled. “Well, somepony decided to just leave me a note on the table, left the house completely unattended, and let my bread burn. I saw all of these cuccos sitting around the house and invited them in for lunch.” Lily replied with a smirk. I unbolted the door and let all hell come at me at once. I stood my ground for a second, and then felt myself fly out of my house and into the street outside. I hopped to my feet, swore an oath to get even with Lily later and ran like I was being chased by Cerberus. I ran through the streets, weaving in and out of everypony on the streets, hoping that the cuccos were smart enough to not hit any of the innocent pedestrians. They were. I saw shadows fly past me and looked up to see the cuccos were flying to cut me off at the end of the street. If I was any other pony here in Ponyville, I most likely would have panicked even more than I already was. Well, I wasn’t going to be fooled by this tactic twice, or was this the third time they had tried this? I leaped into the air and began to fly above the town. I looked around in earnest, trying to think about which pony would most likely help me hide from those dreadful fowl. Suddenly I was knocked out of the sky by a blue blur. At first I thought it was Rainbow Dash again, but when I looked up, I saw Him. It was that blue cucco from ten years ago. I’m sure my eyes had become pinpricks when I saw that god forsaken bird, but not wasting any of my precious seconds, I ran into the nearest building and shut the door. It just so happens that that building was the Golden Oaks Library. I sighed as a book suddenly flew at my face, and didn’t flinch when it made contact with my nose. Better a book than a power-hungry cucco flying at my face. “Sorry,” Twilight exclaimed as she turned slightly pale after seeing who it was standing in her library. “Thought that you were a thief with the way your dressed and all.” “Well, with my dark clothing, my sword, and my shield, I don’t blame you.” I replied glumly, chancing a glance out the door’s window. I jerked back when I saw Him again. I swear that bird just never gives up. “Is something wrong?” Twilight asked suspiciously, eyeing the door behind me. “Umm, I guess it’s safe to tell you this. Ten years ago, I found a new species in the Everfree. I named them Cuccos. They look like your ordinary chicken, but are capable of flight, seem to have intelligence, and are very vengeful. There just so happens to be one such cucco is outside your door at this very moment.” As soon as I stopped speaking, the door was flung open and the blue cucco entered the room. It stared at me, I at it, and neither of us moved. It had that predatory look in its eyes that said ‘pay up or else.’ There was no way I was getting mugged again by this bird and his cronies, so I threw my brand new bit bag at Him, and watched as he took it in his beak and flew off and out of sight. “What was that about?” “That’s not important, but isn’t the Summer Sun Festival in about two hours?” I replied, quickly trying to change the subject. I swear that mare is faster than a cucco on Saturday’s batch of cider. “Hurry up! We can’t afford to be late,” Twilight said as she dragged me, a large book, and Spike the dragon out the door and to the Town Hall. I got a feeling of dread as we neared the Town Hall. This day was about to get very interesting, I knew it. Noon of The Summer Sun Festival -12 hours remaining-
The howl of a wolf/ MemoriesHeight of the Summer Sun Festival -11 hours remain- Twilight and myself walked slowly through the large crowd of ponies inside the town hall. Twilight seemed very nervous about something, but she wouldn't tell me why. I could understand to a degree: she had just met me, and probably wasn't very comfortable with speaking to me about one of her problems. But then again, what if this was a matter that would affect all the ponies in this room, like the Nine Eleven chariot bombings of Manehattan's trade towers. The more I thought about it, the more concerned I got. While I was lost in thought, I lost track of Twilight in the crowded, which was sorta ironic considering that aside from Big Mac, I was the tallest pony in the room. She was my charge and I had lost her, and that would make me look bad. That didn't bode well with me. I set out into the crowd, looking for Twilight. It was not easy to navigate through the living labyrinth of ponies in the building. I would turn and walk a few paces and have to completely alter my course every few seconds. I swear, it was as if Discord himself were directing the crowd just to spite me. I eventually found myself at the front of the crowd, much to my dismay. I never liked being able to be seen by everypony, and being as tall as I was didn't help. It seemed like my arrival at the front was like a trigger for the event to start, simply because l got to the front just as the mayor began to announce Princess Celestia's arrival. All noise in the room stopped and everypony turned to face the balcony upon which Celestia would enter the room in all her glory. Now call it what you wish, but I had a bad feeling in my stomach as soon as the curtain raised. Celestia was not here, and a swirling darkness was beginning to form another alicorn. Now I couldn't place it at this time, but I think that I've seen her before. I knew upon gazing at this midnight black alicorn she was bad news. Just her aura alone was sickening and evil. Against my better judgement, I leapt into the air and drew my sword from its scabbard. As soon as I was airborne, the dark alicorn's gaze was on me, and she smirked! I couldn't believe it; she had the audacity to just look at me and think I was too weak to even bother with. If I had a cucco right now, she would be regretting everything about that choice. Acting like the idiot I was, I flew straight at her, and brought a vicious swing of my sword down on her head. Or at least I would have if she hadn't caught my sword with her left had and let me have a nice punch to my side. She then levitated me in front of her with her magic. Oh goddesses above, she was going to spin kick me. And spin kick me she did. Right in the same spot she punched me in. "Clever girl," I said as I was launched out of the Town Hall, all the way to my house, and into my bed, upon which a particular blue cucco was sitting on. Naturally I did the same thing that most flying objects do; I fell, and I landed right on top of the blue cucco. -meanwhile- Across Ponyville, Nightmare Moon was about to address the rest of the crowed gathered since she was rudely interrupted by a sword wielding moron. Suddenly a noise of the likes of which she hadn't heard since the time of her banishment. A terrible sound, striking fear into even Nightmare herself; a cucco caw, the offspring of the Demon Chicken and a cockatrice. Nightmare Moon suppressed a shudder and tried to continue addressing the crowd. -back at my house, or what was left of it- I had jumped down my stairs as soon as He let out that caw, or laugh (never could tell with him.) But I seriously need to come up with a better name for that cucco. Maybe I could sit him down one of these days, look him dead in those cold, soulless eyes, and ask him what he wants to be called. But if he's truly as evil as I think he is, then He will kill me and then that's that. He wasted no time following me, cawing (or laughing) all the way down the stairs. I got halfway to my front door before I heard something fall and break, and it sounded like one of my priceless rune cases. Runes, back in the days of Discord's rule, could be used by any species of creature attuned to any form of Equis' magic, and that crazy bird had broken one of the last collections of runes in existence. I could tolerate many things: being stuck on an Island in the middle of nowhere, retarded nobles, even everypony's misconceptions about Pinkie ( I swear to the Great fairy, she is the most sane and normal pony on this planet) but that was the final straw. I turned around and looked over to where the rune case had been, and sure enough, He had destroyed the display, and, surprisingly, had eaten all the rune stones. I found Him sitting next to the broken display just looking content as ever. That struck me as one of the oddest things in the world; He never messed with it before, and He always went past it when he came into my house uninvited. Could runes be used to calm down a raging cucco? If so I could try to learn how to make runes again. Then I could probably use cuccos as a special line of Ponyville's defense. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, but at least He was calmed down, at the price of my precious runes. With the blue menace calmed down to his normal self, or at least what seemed like it, I slowly exited my house. Night of Eternity -10 hours remaining- Once I was outside of my house, I drew my sword from its scabbard. Reading the inscription on the hilt ("In darkest need and gravest age, draw this blade and speak my name") and said "Arbiter come forth." A light began to emit from the sword and a shadowy figure began to take form on ground. The figure stood straight up and I caught the sight of a small grin. "You called, my lord," came the commanding voice of Arbiter. I swear I'll never get used to how his voice sounds. "Yes, old friend. I require your assistance in finding the mare known as Twilight Sparkle." "Sire, what you ask is much too simple; had you considered checking Golden Oaks, you would have found her." Arbiter stated with no trace of mirth in his voice. He started to disappear as quick as he came, but not before I called him a smart ass, to which I was whacked by the cane of an old donkey walking by at that precise moment. I probably deserved that. Holding my head, I flew over to Golden Oaks as fast as I could. -5 minutes later- As soon as I landed in front of the library door, I was caught behind the door as it flew open faster than any normal object of that door's size and shape should ever go, unless your door is a revolving door that has been recently oiled. As soon as the door closed, I fell, muzzle-first mind you, into the cobblestone street. Upon contact with the ground, I mumbled "Somepony get me the number of the cart that hit me," and felt myself get lifted into the air with magic. A few minutes and a bucket of cold water later, I stood in the company of six familiar mares. We stood in front of the Everfree, close to the place where I first entered the forest as a colt. "So, let me guess; that creepy mare that speaks just like I used to is at that abandoned castle fortress in the Everfree. You also want me to me you to the castle since I'm the only pony in Ponyville who would have any knowledge on how to navigate the forest safely." I stated bluntly. I only recived a few nods and a thumbs up from Rainbow and Applejack, but that was good enough for me. It took the seven of us nearly twenty minutes to reach the Sacred Path. We came across a few minor obstructions, such as old worn bridges, a bunch of trees that I found hilarious but creeped out the girls in ways I couldn't comprehend at the present time, and a manticore that had a thorn in one of its paws. But other than that, we had a very quiet walk in the woods. As we neared the edge of the Forsaken Woods, I heard timberwolves. A memory I had hidden in the deepest reaches of my mind returned, haunting me again for the first time in over seven years. I stood in the large clearing known only as the Solar Grove. It had been almost two years since I had arrived with Leafy Breeze and her friends in this comfortable little village. Since then, I had acquired a literal treehouse, a timberwolf pup, became one of the protectors of the village, and had even been invited by Leafy to see the monument of the sun and moon a few times. In a large clearing to the east there lies a small monument that was erected in honor of the alicorn sisters, although the monument for Luna was eroded and covered in moss. By contrast, Celestia's monument gleamed brilliantly, the marble polished with great care. As Leafy and I walked into the massive clearing today, I noticed for the first time that there was a second entrance to the clearing and decided to asked her about it. Leafy was silent for a few minutes, and I told her she didn't have to say anything about it if she didn't want to. "No, I don't mind; it's just weird to be asked about that. To understand this completely, you'll need to know a little more about our history. What you've lived in for the past two years is just half of the Solar Grove. A very long time ago the Children of the Night also found a home here in the Solar Grove, but it was called the Celestial Meadow back then. There was a long period of peace in the land; the three tribes were united under the Pony Sisters, and Discord was imprisoned. However, Princess Luna became envious of her sister due to a multitude of different conditions. Ultimately Luna became Nightmare Moon and fought Celestia for the right to rule over pony kind. Celestia, with the help of a Stallion of undying Spirit, defeated Nightmare Moon with the Elements of harmony. The stallion's body was destroyed, but his spirit took the form of a seventh element. This element lay resting in the Sacred Forest Meadow, waiting in a deep slumber for the return of Nightmare Moon." Leafy sighed and continued with her tale. "The other entrance that you noticed leads to the Forsaken Clearing. That was where the Children of the Moon used to live before they were banished to the moon along with Nightmare Moon. We don't go there unless we have to get an important nocturnal plant for a potion. But now that you mention it, we do need a few things from the village," she said to me, using the puppy eyes technique on me. I sighed deeply and followed Leafy to the entrance to the Forsaken Clearing. We walked for a few minutes before I heard the familiar flapping of leathery wings. That did not bode well with me at all. I instantly drew my sword and passed Leafy my slingshot. A large group of keese suddenly burst out of a nearby tree and thus the fight began. There were nearly twelve of them, three normal, three fiery, two ice, and a large one with a combination of all three. I took on the fire keese knowing all too well what they could do to Leafy's livingwood body. The keese started to dive at me like they normally do and then I went to work with my sword. Two were gone in a puff of black smoke before they knew what hit them. The last one fled but was hit by a well aimed shot from Leafy. The Ice keese were all gone thanks to Leafy's marksmareship. That left the normal keese and combination keese. All three of the normal keese started to circle me, so Leafy took the opportunity to hit every single one of the normal keese out of the air before they could close in on me. Furious at the loss of its kin, the large keese dived for Leafy, who bare jumped out of the way of its flaming wings. The keese quickly whipped around to catch her while she was still disoriented. Seeing her in danger, I threw my sword at the keese, slicing a good chunk of its wing off, and catching my sword as it returned like a boomerang. The large keese hit the ground like a rock and let out a blood curdling screech as it blew up into a large plume of black and green smoke. As soon as the smoke cleared, I walked over to where Leafy sat in the cold grass. Extending my hand, I lifted her up and dusted her green tunic off. I handed her a bottle of red healing potion, and watched as she downed a third of the bottle and placed the rest carefully into her magic pouch. "You need to be a little more careful, ok.You could have been seriously hurt." I said while tending to a tear in my own green tunic. "Are you sure you really think we need those herbs and materials? I'd hate for us to risk ourselves if there was no need for these materials." She looked at me and slowly nodded. "If they weren't needed I wouldn't have had you stand and fight those keese." "Ok, but if we find anymore keese, or anything more dangerous for that matter, then we leave with or without the stuff." We walked the path for about five more minutes before we came into a rundown village filled with all sorts of bioluminescent plants. The pale light of the foliage cast an eerie glow over the surrounding area. "Alright, lets be quick about this," I said earnestly. "This place is beginning to freak me out." "Ok, we just need to grab a few mushrooms, a sprig or two of guam leaf, and four pounds of marrentill. They all grow together so we don't need to go too far into the village." As Leafy and I walked to the place we could find the herbs, I noticed a thick mist had begun to settle over the village. Dark thunderclouds began to let out an occasional lightning strike in the distance and a decent amount of rain began to fall at a steady rate. We quickened our pace and found the herbs and mushrooms at the entrance to what looked like a shrine to Luna. Dark energies seemed to resonate from the statue out into the surroundings, casting an intricate web of darkness and despair outward into the village's decaying timbers. Gathering what we needed, we turned to leave when suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of us, knocking us off our feet. The impact sent us about ten feet back, but what really scared us was what stood before us. A large alicorn clad in lunar armor and wielding a blade of darkness stood rigidly at the base of the shrine. Its breathing was the only thing that gave any indication of it being alive, but what was scary was the predatory look in its eyes. She looked the pair of us over from head to hoof and shook her head. "Little foals should not be out taking a stroll in the Lost Woods after twilight. Thou may find more than thou bargained for hiding amongst the tree line." She said with venom, giving a deathly cold glare at Leafy. "Forestborn know better than to test the wills of the fates. Thy life was forfeit the moment thou entered into my realm, the realm of Nightmare Moon. Look long and hard at the face of your coltfriend, for it be the last you will see." With a swift lung, Nightmare Moon placed a good seven inches of pure hatred into the chest cavity of Leafy Breeze, extinguishing the light of her beautiful emerald green eyes. running frantically to my friend's side, I cradled her in my arms as she breathed her last, golden amber flowing like a river onto my tunic. Turning my head to face Nightmare Moon, I looked her dead in the eyes. "WHY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hearing my voice crack with a sob. "SILENCE! The filly was a sage, a keeper of our prison. Be grateful we do not end you in the same fashion. No, we are feeling generous tonight; we shall grant thou the burden of carrying the soul and conscious of this filly. Bear this curse as a reminder of who granted thou mercy this eve. Next time we meet thou might not be as lucky." She thrust her hand out and a dark blue aura surrounded Leafy's body and a light blue form rose from it and flew into me. I could immediately hear a thought that wasn't my own invade my mind. But my focus was on what was happening to Leafy's body. Her corpse was morphing into the shape of a timberwolf, but the eyes were a feral yellow instead of the natural green. I hurried to my hooves and began to run out of the village, hearing the howl of a feral timberwolf for the first time in my life. Nightmare Moon's cold laughter followed me out of the clearing, haunting me every step I took until I collapsed in the safety of my bed. Terrified, I closed my eyes and hid beneath a large woolen blanket until I could no longer hear the laughter of the devil in my fragile mind. I lurched forward off the ground as I came back to reality. I was breathing deeply and had my sword drawn, the action scaring the six mares that surrounded me with looks of concern. 'Shh, take it easy Jonathan; it was only a memory. I'm still here for you, just relax and focus on the task at hand.' "Thank you Leafy, I'll try everything within my power to return you to your body, just hang in there old friend," I mumbled to myself incoherently. "Alright," I said while jumping up from the ground and dusting my tunic off. "Who's ready to end this night?" I asked, getting a simple raise of hands from everypony. "Good, lets get started."
