Prologue: Leak
By: Timetraveling Pony
The Everfree Forest had a reputation in Ponyville for being nothing but trouble. Herbalists would import plants from somewhere else, despite the fact that the plant originates from the Everfree, Archeologists would choose to chase the Legends of the Sea Ponies and remnants of the fabled Dream Valley rather than visit the ruins of the Ancient Pony Sisters. The Everfree held a reputation of legend and mystery, something that should have attracted scores of ponies to the forest to mine its resources that layed right outside of the capital...And yet....
Not a single attempt had been made by ponies to explore, investigate, or construct anything within a five mile radius. Extensive roads would be constructed around the forest, an unwritten rule to avoid the forest at all cost no matter the material cost for the extra materials. All in all, the Everfree Forest was the one place in Equestria that was untouched by ponies for one thousand years.
...
...
Well...
Nearly untouched.
The first abnormal thing Fluttershy noticed when she entered the forest this trip was the change in bird song. She paused, tilting her head slightly to the left as she listened to it.
The Birds around Ponyville would sing light hearted songs, trying to prompt the ponies to share crumbs and bits of their meals as they moved throughout the day. As opposed to White Tail Wood’s birds who would use their bird song to alert the other wildlife of the presence of ponies or other unusual events. Then there was the Everfree Birds. The birds of the Everfree did not freely converse with one another, they did not talk to the other wildlife or try to entertain with their melodies. Instead clear sharp notes would echo through the trees, sending instructions and warnings to others of its kind.
Today's melody carried four notes repeated in succession, composing a haunting melody that sent a shiver along her spine.
Fluttershy straightened up, re-adjusted her saddle bags, and continued down the path that led further into the forest. Her eyes observing the path ahead. Despite the odd bird song and the knarred tree branches that blocked most of the sunlight, Fluttershy found most of the inhabitance of the forest to be friendly once they were assured she was not a threat... or prey. She might struggle with the occasional magical creature, but for the most part, her special connection with animals kept her safe during her excursions into the forest.
It was for that very reason that she was here now, walking through the woods carrying files and packages that were to make their way to the Everfree's one Equine resident, Zecora. Under normal circumstances, Zecora would visit twice a week to pick up her supplies, chat with the locals, and maybe drop off some more of the Poison Joke Remedy for the Spa Sisters to use before heading back to her hut to...to...
In all honesty, Fluttershy was not quite sure what Zecora did in the Everfree. She knew the Zebra's talent in herbology and sometimes she would send packages at Ponyville's Post-Office but most of her everyday life was shrouded in mystery.
This realization led Fluttershy to pause and contemplate the fact. Ever since Zecora had become accepted by the Ponyville community, Fluttershy herself would make sure to travel out to Zecora's hut for tea. And yet not once had they actually discussed what Zecora did in her free time.
Huh.
Another sharp bird cry snapped Fluttershy out of her thoughts and back to the forest path.
She would need to ask Zecora after she dropped off her supplies. She started walking again, a slightly faster pace than before, eager to help her friend and also hopefully get to know her friend a bit better.
As Fluttershy entered the clearing that the hut was situated in, the eerie bird song of the Everfree was violently interrupted by a sound of intense pain, misery, and mucus.
'ACHOOOO!"
A sneeze.
Fluttershy hurried to the front door, only to stop indecisively at the front door. Should she go straight in? But that could be considered rude. But if Zecora was still bedridden, she might not be able to answer the door. If she had gotten worse, she might not even hear the door. But if she was better, then it'd be horribly rude to just barge into her home...
Fluttershy bit her lower lip, her indecisive monologue ended by another sneeze. It didn't matter, being slightly rude was better than denying Zecora's immediate access to her supplies that she needed.
"Zecora? A-are you awake?" Fluttershy asked as she slowly opened the door, the light shining on the contents of the room. The room had not been cleaned in a while, pots and jars of dried herbs sat strewn about the place, the lids removed, exposing the herbs to the air filling it with a dense spicy scent that filled Fluttershy's nostrils. And in the middle of the room sat a bubbling pot with blue steam rightly wafting from the pot. Behind the cauldron, propped up on some pillows was Zecora.
Zecora did not look well, the sickness had taken its toll on her and it was beginning to show. Despite the flushed face, sweat, unkempt hair and faded stripes, Zecora's eyes remained bright and darted to Fluttershy's form as she entered the hut.
"Is this Fluttershy I see with my eyes, come to deliver my supplies?" she croaked out, as she slipped a ladle into her cauldron and began to gently stir the brew.
"Oh yes Zecora, I tried to come as quick as I could, but I was held up a little bit by the post office," Fluttershy replied as she removed her saddlebags in the corner to unload them, "Apparently there was a buildup of letters and packages and they needed someone to deliver them to you."
"While I would love to see what those packages have in store, do you have what I asked for before?" Asked Zecora as she stopped her stirring to hobble over to where Fluttershy was taking out packages of a different sizes and shapes.
"Oh yes," said Fluttershy, as she stopped pulling out one large package to reach into a side pocket, pulling out a little sack, "One cup of sea salt just liked you asked, I hope its ok..."
Quickly, Zecora snatched the bag of salt and tossed the entire bag into the cauldron. Smoke began to spew from the top as the color rapidly shifted to a bright orange, tinting the sunlight that was shining in through the windows. As Fluttershy scrambled back to avoid breathing in the foul smelling fumes, Zecora sprang into action. Darting and staggering around the hut, she'd reach into different jars and jugs and toss seemingly random herbs into her cauldron, rapidly changing the color of the smoke.
With a small cry of surprise, Fluttershy retreated to below a bench, pulling herself and her saddlebags out of the way of the Zebra's erratic movements. However, just as quickly as the zebra had sprung into action, Zecora stopped,
Fluttershy peaked out from under the bench to see the Zebra spooling out what appeared to be oatmeal into a mug. Cautiously, she approached the cauldron to peer into it. Instead of some multicolored concoction, a normal white blend of what appeared to be oats and onions in a white broth sat at the bottom of the container.
"Um...." said Fluttershy, as she looked up at Zecora, "What exactly did you make?"
Zecora lifted her mug and took a large mouthful of the substance, speaking around her mouthful she replied, "A rice pudding with an herbal blend, come to bring this sickness to an end." She brought the mug back put to her mouth.
With a small "O" of understanding, Fluttershy dragged out her saddle bags from under the table and began unloading the other items she brought with her. Tea blends, replacement jars, and cooking ingredients steadily filled up the available space on the work bench the silence only broken by the diminishing sniffles of Zecora and the intermittent slurping of the rice pudding.
"I got most of what you asked for," Fluttershy said, pulling out the last package and turning to Zecora, "Quills and Sofas was running low on quills so I only got two sets instead of five like you wanted."
Zecora sent Fluttershy a smile, the color returning rapidly to her face, "That is perfectly ok, I highly doubt I will be doing writing today."
"Oh...ok then," Fluttershy replied, "Also you received five letters and three packages from the post-office. Apparently they arrived last week with a mail order rush. Apparently they came in from all over the-" Suddenly Fluttershy found her vision clouded by stripes, "-world?"
"Which parcels had arrived? It's imperative that I see inside!"
"Um... These ones are the letters, and those packages they're sitting on top of..." Fluttershy nervously pointed out. She had seen the Zebra upset before, but this urgency was brand new to her. There was that onetime when Rainbow Dash crashed into the hut, but even then that was more anxiety over making sure that her stocks weren't ruined.
Fluttershy's musings were interrupted as a small flurry of packaging and envelope blew over her getting trapped in her mane and covering her eyes. Once she had gotten most of it out of her mane and off her face she turned back to see Zecora intensely reading the letters, her eyes darting over.
Fluttershy's ear twitched.
"Um...is everything o-," Fluttershy started before being interrupted as Zecora tore into a different package and removed one of the quills Fluttershy had picked up.
Fluttershy's ear twitched again.
"Um...Excused me bu-" Fluttershy tried again, only to be interrupted again as Zecora quickly moved to the other side of the hut to grab a piece of parchment and began writing furiously.
Fluttershy's ear began to twitch furiously.
"Zecora!" Fluttershy stated firmly, coming up to stand behind Zecora.
Zecora jumped slightly, parchment and quill in her mouth falling to the ground, before bringing her eyes to focus on Fluttershy.
"Oh! I'm so sorry for being so forceful! I was just so worried, you were really focused on that letter. I-is everything alright?" Fluttershy asked, heat rising to her face.
"My apologies for being not paying attention, but those letters held an important message they had mentioned. If you could grant me one more favor, I promise to make it up to you later."
"Oh...um...ok..." Said Fluttershy still mortified over her loss of control earlier.
"Thank you my good friend, now you'll need to deliver this letter past Spinners End...."
Fluttershy stood in front of a quaint little cottage located right in the heart of Ponyville. It was a nice little two story house Fluttershy thought, with the friendly mailbox next to the white picket fence and the budding flower bushes by the patio. But she wasn't here to look at the aesthetics, even though they were really nice and she was thinking about maybe adding some tulips in front of her ow-
No. Now is not the time for thoughts like that. She came here for a reason.
She nervously shifted her weight from her left side to the right and back again. When Zecora had given her the letter she had seemed frantic, could it have possible been a side effect from her remedy? A lot of ingredients went into that cauldron......
"It doesn't matter," Fluttershy said to herself, "You were rude to Zecora and this is important to her. You owe it to her to do this."
With her mind made up, she stepped forward and knocked on the door with a hoof.
She waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Just when she was about to knock again, the door flung open, startling Fluttershy sending rolling down the steps of the front porch. From her spot on the ground, Fluttershy could make out the out the silhouette of an earth pony.
With a quick, "Oh my goodness!" The silhouette quickly moved to help straighten Fluttershy upright. When she was properly centered, she found herself looking at a earth pony with a blue and pink hair who seemed to be trying to set the record for the most apologies per minute.
"-AndIknewyouwereouttherebutIhadtofinishicingthecupcakeand I am soo sorry!" finished the mare as she brushed off the dust from Fluttershy's coat.
" Umm, its ok. I just came by to drop off a letter. " whispered Fluttershy. She winced internally, she hadn't spoken this softly in months. She had hoped she'd finally have grown out of it, but it looks like the fall sent her back. And she was working so well at being for confident too. She needed to change this.
" The letter is for somepony named, Lyra Heartstrings, do you know her? "
"Oh, is that what this is about?" Said the earth pony mare, her attention turning to Fluttershy's saddlebags, the corner of the envelope poking out, she turned around to shout into the house, "Lyra! Another letter from Zecora!"
"She'll be right out," the mare informed Fluttershy as she trotted back into the house, "Would you like some cupcakes while you wait?"
Fluttershy cleared her throat, she needed to be assertive! This was her chance to turn it around and properly talk to....to....Oh dear. She didn't know the earth pony’s name.
"Um...yes please... and I'm so sorry but I think I forgot your..." replied Fluttershy as she reached into her saddle bag to with draw the letter.
When Fluttershy turned back, the mare was back with a plate of green frosted cupcakes, each top decorated as a tiny little tree or shrub.
"Oh um...thank you..." said Fluttershy, taking one for herself, it was decorated like a pine tree, "but it’s very important that I deliver this letter, it’s from Zecor-"
"Oh, yes yes, another letter from Zecora, you've already mentioned that bit." the mare said, cutting Fluttershy off, "I was wondering why she didn't stop by this month. How has she been?"
"Oh, um...she's doing better. She was sick for a few weeks but she put together thi-"
"I'm here!" A green blur interrupted as it shot forward, filling Fluttershy's field of view, "Hi Fluttershy! Where is the letter? Is that it?"
Before Fluttershy could even register the mare in front of her, a smaller green blur rushed towards her, one dropped cupcake later and there was a green mare standing before her, already reading the letter, her eyes scanning the page with a sharp intensity. This must have been Lyra Heartstrings. Now if only she could learn the name of the earth pony...
"Lyra!" The still nameless Earth Pony exclaimed, "You just dropped Fluttershy's cupcake! I am so sorry!"
She handed Fluttershy another one, this one styled to resemble an oak tree, while giving Lyra a reproachful look, "I am so sorry for my roommate’s terrible behavior! She normally acts much better than this, it’s only when she's on one of her little conspire-"
"They're not conspiracies!" Lyra said dropping the first page of the letter to look at the second page, "all my findings now are backed up by scientific proof!"
Fluttershy shifted from one hoof to another, she should say something, and it was her fault for dropping the cupcake...if only if she could remember the mare’s name. She glanced at the mare’s cutiemark, three candies, in the hope that it might jog her memory.
It didn't.
"Yeah, and that's what you also said when you 'discovered humans' too! And what did you do? You trapped some poor motivational speaker from out of the country!" the earth pony snapped back, “If he wasn't so forgiving the guard-"
The earth pony’s rant was cut off by a sharp gasp from Lyra, her magic winking out letting the second half of the letter to fall to the ground next to the dropped cupcake. Before the second half of the letter touched the ground, the mare had disappeared back into the house, the door slammed shut.
"Lyra!" the earth pony called after her, opening the door and cantering in back into the house, "You can't just shut the door in Fluttershy's face! And I wasn't done talking to you! Do you have any idea how rude your being to Flut-"
The door shut, leaving Fluttershy facing the empty porch muffled yelling could be heard further into the house.
Fluttershy glanced down at the letter, whatever it was must have been pretty important to shock Lyra...
"No Fluttershy, it’s her mail and you have no right snooping in other ponies business." Fluttershy told herself sternly as she fixed her eyes forward.
She would not read the letter. It wasn't any of her business about what shocked Lyra like that. It didn't even matter if Zecora wrote down the earth ponies name that Fluttershy had forgotten. Reading other ponies mail was wrong and she should respect boundaries and-
Fluttershy picked up the letter.
Only to drop it seconds later in shock after getting through the first two sentences.
Lyra
I just received a letter from my college in Saddle Arabia, he reports the same thing, a definitive change in soil composition creating a gradual sliding system that'll make the land inhospitable to current wild life. I still need to check the samples that he and the others have sent along but for now I think we should start moving ahead and assume your theories confirmed,
Magic is toxic...
That...couldn't be right. That can't be right. She must had read it wrong.
Magic being poisonous?
Fluttershy stood rooted in the same place before exclaiming quietly, "Sweetie Droops! I knew I could remember her name!"
Author's Note
Welcome to my first story. Let's hope that, if I do crash it, I'll at least be able to profit from the insurance money. I try to update once a month minimum. Buckle up for some science and activism in the land of Equestria! Populated with talking ponies! And....magic.... and....a monarch that controls the sun...... Erm....
Yeah.... I have not thought this fic through...
I'm honestly just throwing stuff I like into a blender and seeing how it tastes....
Next Chapter: A thing happens to a pony who did a thing.
Feedback and Criticism welcomed. In need of an editor and 1-3 pre-readers.
Also warning, this chapter might kill you. Seriously. My original pre-reader hasn't been online since...
