Twilight Sparkle slammed the book closed forcefully, letting out an annoyed and irritated huff. "Sheesh, Twi'," her friend Rainbow Dash, who was re-reading the first book of the Daring Do series for the third time that day, asked. "What's your problem?"
Twilight grunted. "It's this book. It keeps saying that there a whole lot more to Equestria's history than what most ponies know.."
"I still don't see the problem," Rainbow replied nonchalantly, her face still buried in the book.
"Don't you see? It says there's more, but it never says just what else there is!" Twilight snorted in frustration. She hated when she was led on like that: to be given hints about things over and over, and when the moment of truth came, a giant sign reading "gullible" with an arrow pointed to her would appear.
"Look, Twi'," Rainbow said comfortingly, putting the book down for a second. "You gotta take this like these Daring Do books. Some of the things in here are spread out over some of the other books. Look around and see if you can't find another book that maybe has what you're looking for." Rainbow rested a hoof on her friend's shoulder for a moment, before taking it away. "If that don't work," she said, picking the book back up. "I'm sure some of the other ponies might know."
"Who, though? Who would even have a chance at knowing what these historians apparently don't?" Twilight asked, softly but desperately.
"Well, for starters," Rainbow said, taking the term "Facebook" to a whole new level. "Zecora might know. She seems like the egghead type. Even if she's a little weird."
"Good idea, Rainbow. And hey," Twilight scolded. "I thought we'd gotten over her being different than us."
"Oh, I am," Rainbow defended herself hotly. "That doesn't mean she can't seem weird to me."
Twilight shook her head in defeat. If Rainbow didn't want to see logic, then she just wouldn't see logic. Sighing, she looked up at the numerous bookshelves lining her library home. Looking for a certain book herself was pretty tough. With Spike at a sleepover with the Cutie Mark Crusaders at Carousel Boutique, as Rarity was generous enough to watch over them for the night, Twilight had to do every bit of work she normally assigned to Spike herself. Even Owlowicious was out for the night, probably sleeping in a tree somewhere.
She skimmed through every book that looked promising, even some that could only forcefully be made to be relevant with her topic, from books titled "The Complete History of Equestria" to "H1ST0RY G33K5 4R3 DUMB", all in an attempt to at least garner some kind of information pertaining to what she was specifically looking for. She didn't care if the information was wrong at the moment; she just wanted some kind of information to be there, period! Unsuccessful, to say the least, Twilight's search was called off.
"Rainbow, I'm heading over to Zecora's home. I need you to leave, please," Twilight spoke to her friend.
"Aw," Rainbow Dash moaned. "Can I take this book with me?"
Twilight chuckled. "Sure, go ahead. Just remember to bring it back."
"Remember who you're talking to, Twi'!" The Element of Loyalty sped out the front door, leaving Twilight to pack her saddlebags with her detailed, albeit minimal, notes. She packed a daisy and hay sandwich for the trip, and left, locking up her library home behind her. Placing the "Closed" sign on the door, she began her trek to Zecora's forest hut. As it was not yet dark, she had no problem finding the path through the Everfree forest that would take her directly to her zebra friend.
Unfortunately, she had underestimated, or simply forgotten, just how dark it could get underneath the canopies of the Forest. She poured a bit of magic through her horn to give a bit of light, but she did so just a bit too late. She tripped over a rock that sat in the middle of the path, and she fell face first into a ditch on the side of the path with an "oof!"
Standing, she rubbed her head. Twilight shook her head to clear the minor dizziness that had crept in from the tumble, and looked down at the ground. Her gasp could be heard for several feet. At her feet was what appeared to be a book, bound in simple leather. Holding it up to her face with telekinesis, she used the light provided by her horn to read the cover. The words on the cover itself looked very similar to what Equestrians used, but with slight differences in presentation and style. Nevertheless, she could read what it said, and the words on the cover read, "Diary of Private Edwin Gee."
She flipped it open to a random page, noticing that many of the pages were torn or ripped. "December 26," she read aloud. "Christmas just passed. Nothing much separated it from any other day, except the artillery stopped for the day. I guess Jerry's still gotta make their troops happy, too. Went over the top yesterday, found some sausages. I picked those up. In return I set down some sausages of my own, and a pack of Woodbines. Seemed fair. Today is mostly resting. It's freezing; Robert Doyle froze in his sleep, poor sod. I dread tomorrow, though. There's a lot of death to catch up with."
Twilight closed the book in shock. Where had this come from? She didn't recognize any of the proper nouns. Christmas, Jerry, Woodbines, Robert Doyle... nothing made sense. This couldn't possibly be a diary; there was nothing in Equestria like this. And at the end of the entry, the author wrote death. "A lot of death to catch up with," Twilight repeated. "What could the author have meant by that?" She looked at the cover again. "What could prompt Private Edwin Gee," she shook her head with the unfamiliarity of the name. "To speak of death as if it were something to deal with at the breakfast table?"
Twilight shook her head, the extremity in question only swimming with even more questions. What astonished her was the ratio of answers to questions; so far, Twilight had enough of a chance of finding an answer in her head as she did seeing a pony on the moon unaided. She continued on the road to Zecora, hoping that the zebra enchantress would know some of the things she wanted to know. She increased the light output of her horn dramatically, so as to not be as easily tripped up as she was last time.
The hut eventually appeared before Twilight, though the only reason she could see it in the first place was because the lights in the windows were shining through. She knocked on the door, and almost immediately Zecora the zebra answered. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle, how good of you to visit. Please, come in and sit."
"Thank you, Zecora. It's good of you to have me," Twilight responded, taking a seat on a pillow that sat on the floor.
"Please, you are my guest," Zecora scolded lightly. "Sit in my chair; for you, the best."
"Thank you," Twilight accepted, moving to the comfortable chair in the corner. Meanwhile, Zecora sat on the pillow.
"Would you like some refreshment, my dear? Would you prefer something dark, or something clear?"
"Oh, no thank you, Zecora. I actually came to ask you a few questions."
"And what would my guest like to know? I'm sure I can give a few answers or so."
Twilight fidgeted in the chair. "Well, as far as I can tell..." she gulped. "It's not exactly a pleasant topic," she said nervously, pulling out the diary from her saddlebags. She magicked it over to Zecora.
Zecora took one look at the title before exclaiming, "Oh my, this intrigues me! We have something special on our hooves, don't we?"
"I'm worried, though, Zecora. It talks about... death inside. It mentions death so... casually."
"Mm," Zecora acknowledged. She flipped through a few pages before closing it. "I have seen a few things similar. Every time, they fall into my disfavour."
"Is there any other reason, aside from the casual take on death?"
"Much more." Zecora looked around before continuing. "You'll be surprised at what I have in store." She moved to a bookshelf that was placed on the back wall. She searched for a certain book, and pulled it out. It was an unassuming book, with a black cover. She brought it over for Twilight to see. The title read, "Dark Secrets of Magic." "This dark tome will take you back," she intoned. "It will give you flashbacks. You will be there, but cannot interfere."
"Oh... thanks, I think." Twilight said, confused. "But I thought you couldn't travel through time for any long time."
"You are not traveling time, Twilight. It is more like an interactive highlight."
That put Twilight's worries to ease slightly. "Thank you Zecora. This will help me understand what this book is, I'm sure of it." Twilight's face lit up. "Actually, could I have something to eat, if it isn't too much trouble?"
"No, no, no, my dear. If you wish to do this, your stomach must be clear."
"Oh," Twilight said. "Okay. Well, thanks anyway, Zecora." Twilight left the zebra's hut, and made her way back to her library home. It took over forty five minutes to reach it in the dark, but that was because Twilight was being more careful about tripping over snags and rocks this time around. Not bothering to remove the "Closed" sign, Twilight unlocked the door and went inside, closing and locking it again behind her.
Spike would be gone until late the next day, so Twilight thought that beginning now would be a good idea. In truth, it wasn't a bad idea. She set both the diary and the spell book on the table before mentally preparing herself. Opening the spell book, she looked through the table of contents to find the spell that Zecora spoke of. It was rather easy to find, since it was named exactly after what it did. The spell, "Shadow Spell," would not be all that difficult for Twilight to cast, as its recommended power usage was less than that of what she used to lift the Ursa Minor.
Twilight took one long breath and read, silently, the spell and how to operate. She learned that you did have to state a name of something, living or no, for the spell to work. Nodding, she began to cast the spell, saying softly, "Follow Private Edwin Gee." The room began to shift and distort itself, slowly at first but picking up speed as it went along. Soon, Twilight found herself in a place she never would have guessed existed. She gasped, but nothing heard her, as according to the real world, she didn't technically exist in the time she went to.
She never would have thought what she saw could even begin to exist or be real.
Chapter 1 - Thunder Struck
Immediately upon arriving in the place the supposed Private Edwin Gee, Twilight's ears were bombarded with loud... incredibly loud, booms. Flashes played across her eyes, blinding light refusing to allow her to see for more than two seconds at a time, sometimes less. "Proivate Gee, git over here!" Twilight turned to face the speaker, but she realised that she was not the one controlling her actions. She also saw that she was not in her normal form, as her view was much higher off the ground. "Gee, git down in the trenches 'fore Jerry blows your head off!"
Twilight felt herself moving with only two of her limbs, and when she saw who was shouting to Edwin, she understood why. Apparently, Edwin belonged to a race of bipedal creatures, whose legs ranged from short and stocky to long and spindly. "Sorry, Sir," she heard Edwin say. As she entered the "trench," which was, what appeared to her, a large line dug into the ground and made with stone that traveled as far as she could see, she noticed that these creatures had hands and fingers similar to Spike's when Edwin used one to grip the wall as he ran down the steps. Just then, a terrifying explosion, much, much louder than the previous ones, sounded behind her, and she felt herself thrown to her stomach.
"Gee!" she heard the other creature shout. She felt more hands help her to her feet. "Are you alroight, Proivate?"
Twilight felt Edwin shake his head. "Yeh. Just a little knocked around, should be foine in a sec'." She saw the second creature nod.
"You're lucky that shell hit in a crater, Proivate. If it had hit on level ground, you'd probably not be standin' here now."
Edwin nodded. "Thanks, Sir." Twilight felt her host start moving to the wall he was facing upon entering the trench.
"Gee," she heard a voice to her right.
Edwin turned to see another creature with two long sticks in its hands. "Sir?" The creature gave Edwin one of the sticks. "My rifle?"
"Yes, Private."
Edwin spoke. "American?"
To Twilight, the question was stranger than any she'd heard. The word "American" did not strike a memory in her mind at all. The word was about as unfamiliar to her as this place and time. Apparently, though, these creatures understood it. "Yes, Private. Volunteered about two months ago."
"Two months and already a Sergeant?"
The "American" grinned. "Yes, Private. Sergeant Robert Portland, at your service." Robert bowed at a pivot where his legs met his torso. "So, how are you liking-" Twilight couldn't hear what Robert was going to say, because he stopped to listen to a sound in the distance. It sounded like a whistle, several whistles, were blowing far away. "Shit." Robert stepped onto a piece of wood, crouching as he mounted it so that his head did not come over the lip of the trench. "Come on up, Gee. Don't let your head get over the edge, 'less you want it taken off by Jerry's snipers."
Edwin press himself against the wall, gripping his "rifle" tightly. "Jerry's comin', lads! Ready your rifles! Remember: make every bullet count!" Twilight could hear a voice cry out farther down the trench. Edwin laid his rifle on the lip of the trench when he saw Robert do so, and looked out on the battlefield before him. "Keep it together, lads... hold it steady..." Twilight heard the same voice say. She could see multiple figures far off in the distance that also appeared to be bipedal approaching her location.
And that was when the voice gave the order to fire.
"Fire!"
At that moment, Twilight heard dozens of loud reports from behind her, as if dozens of hammers were hitting one right after the other. She also heard what seemed like hundreds of very slightly softer barks to her left and right, and when she felt Edwin pull one of his fingers back, she understood where the noise was coming from. She felt something impact her shoulder, and she realised that it was the "rifle."
Looking out across the field, Twilight could see scores of the approaching figures falling to the onslaught. It took a few seconds for Twilight to make the connection. 'These... "rifles" must be some kind of weapon to incapacitate these... creatures! Do they hurt?'
Her question was answered as a shout of pain was barely heard over the din of the rifles, to her left. Edwin turned his head to look, and Twilight saw one of the creatures on the ground, screaming, clutching his hand to his left shoulder. Another creature ran over to the fallen one, slipped his arms underneath, and moved as fast as it could back to somewhere else. Edwin turned his attention back to the field in front of him, so Twilight couldn't tell where the wounded creature was being taken.
From what she could see, the advancing party was defeated, so they started running back to where they came from. Down the line, she heard some creatures give the order to cease fire. Edwin lifted his rifle away from the parapet, working the sliding metal piece on the side. A smoking metal cylinder flew out, landing on the soft, muddy ground with virtually no sound. "That ought to teach Jerry a lesson," Robert said from Edwin's right. "Try as they might, they aren't gettin' past us."
"Yeh," Twilight heard Edwin mutter. "We sure sent them packing."
"Alright, chaps," Edwin turned to see who was speaking and when he did Twilight could see another one of the creatures with what appeared to be a uniform, much like the others', but incredibly more splendid. "You've all got twenty minutes to foind the next rat and eat it. I've no doubt Jerry will try again today."
Twilight shuddered. These creatures ate rats?! Of all thing?! She knew about carni- and omnivores, but of all the animals in the world, these creatures decided to eat rats. Purely disgusting, always slithering in dirt and muck... Twilight involuntarily shuddered once again. However, she was forced to watch as Edwin strode toward a hole in the ground, about as tall as he was. She would never admit it, but Twilight was terrified of the thought of getting a first pony view of an animal hunting.
When Edwin ducked behind a door, she was astonished, to put it mildly. Gas lamps were spaced evenly and methodically throughout the clearly dirt-carved room. While large, almost cavernous, Twilight still had a feeling of being caged in and of being confined to a small area. Her host walked to the far end of the room, to a counter lit with a few of the lamps. He grabbed a tray, and Twilight wondered if that was what these creatures would eat their... kill from.
Instead of a dead rat, however, one of the creatures raised a large spoon and slopped a portioned size of what Twilight could only describe as vomit. Through Edwin, she smelled the glop, and thought that it could perhaps be vaguely edible. As Edwin moved down the line, a biscuit that even Twilight could tell had hardened with age, a packet labeled 'tea ration', and an apple were placed on the tray. Edwin, having finished receiving his 'food', moved over to a relatively empty table.
All throughout his time with which he was supposed to be eating, Edwin picked at his tray with his metal fork. The only thing on his plate he ate any real quantity of was the apple, and even then bits of it stuck to his throat. He did try a bit of the green goop on the tray, and when it touched his tongue, the taste buds transferred their response to Twilight. She felt like she had thrown up, but was helpless to see whether or not that was true.
"Alroight, everyone, back to your stations now! Move it!" Edwin, still mulling over something only he could see, didn't respond immediately. As such, the creature the voice belonged to moved over right in front of him. "Are you still hungry, soldier?!" Edwin shook his head no and moved to get up. "Tonoight, your gettin' the special treatment, Proivate Corliss. Make no mistake. This ain't Piccadilly Square no more, got it?" Edwin nodded.
With Edwin following, the two of them left the cave. Twilight heard Edwin mutter under his breath so the other creature wouldn't hear him, "Oi'm so gonna catch hell for this. Oi knew this was a bad ideh from the start."
And then the cacaphony began anew, once more sending Edwin to the ground for the second time that day. Twilight would have been able to get an accurate description of Edwin's soil had she been a geologist, what with all the time she was spending with her face in the dirt.
