Hello, readers, this is Twilight Sparkle. Now, after all that I've been through, I'm surprised I can even remember how to write. But, I do, and I remember the events leading to this.. very clearly. What do I mean by 'this', you ask? Laying in some ruins with blood streaming from my body and my every bone feeling shattered, writing only through the power of my horn and my other.. powers. But, before I give you the full story on my current condition, I want to show you the story of how I got here in the first place. Of course, it all started in Equestria, in Canterlot, with me and my friends attending an audience with Princess Celestia...
We stood in front of Princess Celestia, bowing the front half of our bodies to respect her, but Rarity was kind of squealing a little bit the whole time, probably due to the beauty of the surrounding room.
"Twilight," Celestia began, and I rose to my full height, "I wouldn't normally ask my student to perform a task that any other pony could do, but I need you to investigate a strange source of energy that I believe is connected with recent goings-on in Equestria."
Pinkie Pie, to my right, bounced back onto her hooves as she heard this, hopping up and down, ecstatically asking, "Ooh, ooh! What, what?! Some sort of.. cupcake theft, maybe? Or.. did somepony forget to put away their trash?!"
But Princess Celestia shook her head, smiling slightly. "No, Pinkie Pie, that is not the case today. Something.. rather more troublesome." Celestia said, now frowning and shifting her tone down slightly, forcing us to lean in a bit. "I have heard claims that some sort of cult of ponies that walk on their hind legs is behind many mysterious disappearances lately."
Appearing to be a little unsettled, Applejack, on my left, asked, "What do ya mean, Princess Celestia? Surely there ain't a reason to kidnap anypony, right?" But Princess Celestia seemed to shrug at the question, not knowing the answer herself.
"I don't see any reason for them to, but perhaps there is more than meets the eye with these mysterious marauders. If they even exist at all." Celestia concluded, turning her flank to us. "I have set up a team of other ponies that will join you six, just in case the worst comes to worst." With that, a few ponies stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the regal room. There was Shining Armor - my brother - Big Mac, some brown pegasus in an adventuring suit, and even Ms. Cheerilee. Rainbow Dash, beside Applejack, nearly screamed for some reason, but right now I was too busy trying to think why we needed so many extra people. Was it really that dangerous..?
"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!!" Rainbow Dash squealed, interrupting my thoughts, "Daring Do?!" With that, I quickly glanced up and stared at the odd pegasus. Rainbow Dash was right - it looked exactly like Daring Do had been described. Startled, I looked at Princess Celestia, who smiled and shrugged again. This couldn't be.. Daring Do's stories are fiction!... Aren't they? And, if not, why would she come along with us? My mind hurt from thinking about any sort of situation where we'd need the help of a legendary adventurer.
After all salutations and hugs were exchanged, along with Rainbow Dash nearly drooling over Daring Do, we all left immediately. The Princess had given us an extra map, with a location just outside of Ponyville marked with a big red X. The area seemed fine, and smelled the same to me. Along the way, though, I saw a curious creature. It was weird, looking like a pony on its.. hind legs!! Before I warned the others about its existence, I noted the details of its body. It had a pink head that kind of looked like a pig's, a pink suit, and some sort of things on its hooves that were black and shaped oddly. I also noted that the back legs of this pony were straight, instead of bent like they should be. I whispered a warning to the others to stop, but Rainbow Dash had already seen the creature. Probably trying to impress her idol, Rainbow Dash flew at the odd pony with a battle cry, but it ran pretty fast for something on its hind legs!
Ponies in Ponyville stopped their daily business to watch a rainbow pegasus chase an odd type of animal they'd never seen before. Despite Rainbow Dash's speed, she couldn't seem to catch up with the quick creature. Me, my brother, and Rarity all tried to pick it up with magic, but it seemed to resist it somehow. Finally, Daring Do pulled out a whip from a bag she had brought along, and snapped the whip around the thing's legs. With impossible reflexes, its head snapped in the direction of the whip, and in its front hooves was an oddly-shaped item. A whrrr'ing noise was heard, and then a huge, gaping hole was at where the middle of the whip had been. Daring Do raised the handle of the whip to her face with horror and astonishment, and I groaned. The creature was running away! It had raised itself off the ground and galloped away with speed like the Wonderbolts themselves!
We ran after it, following it into a wooded area. I realized, suddenly, that we were heading for the spot on the map. Trotting or flying along as fast as we could, we tried to keep the pink pony in sight at all times while avoiding branches and tree roots. Suddenly, a big, rotted-looking house loomed over us, and we heard a door shut. The weird-looking pony had gone inside! We hesitated a bit, because we knew it could be a trap, but then we remembered the ponies that were mysteriously nowhere to be found and we continued onwards, our large party entering into the broken door one at a time.
The inside of the house was creepy - dark, the wooden walls and flooring were looking close to breaking down, and the smell particularly nasty.. almost like the kind of smell you got from a cemetery. The front door had led into a tight hallway, forcing us to go single file inside of the building, my brother right behind me. Rarity sneezed from somewhere farther behind me, the odd noise easily recognizable.
"Ugh, there's so much dust in here! They really should clean up their hideout once in a while.." she muttered. The rest of us trotted down the corridor in silence, with the exception of Pinkie - who was never quiet. Daring Do pushed past me and ran forward - though I didn't know why, and Rainbow Dash followed quickly after. Myself and the others still behind me - my brother, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Cheerilee and Big Macintosh, all in that order - following behind as swiftly as we could, trying to remain silent even through Big Mac's bulk and the noise that Rainbow Dash and Daring Do made.
"Hey!! Twilight, are we almost there yet?!" Pinkie's voice broke the pressing silence, with an annoyed tone. I couldn't really answer, so I just didn't. Of course, I should have known better than to ignore Pinkie - she popped right in front of me and made me scream loudly. Even the two pegasi ahead had stopped moving at the shrill noise, leaving the hallway even more quiet, dust motes flying around in every direction as I panted, eyes wide open. Pinkie Pie reached over to me with a hoof and bopped me on the nose.
"Boop!" she said, before turning around and trotting further into the dark hall, bouncing happily. Sometimes.. I really didn't understand that pony. Setting my face into a frown, we continued on until there was some sort of white light ahead.
"Well, I'll be!" Applejack exclaimed, tossing her mussed hair out of her face, "Are we 'bout ready to find out what's been goin' on here, Twi?"
"Probably.. I should hope, since these hallways aren't really doing much for my mood." I replied. Then, there was a turn in the hallway, so I turned right - and stopped immediately, mouth hanging open, with Daring Do and Rainbow Dash closely in front of me. I felt one, two, seven ponies hit me in a pile from behind, but I didn't care. The hallway had opened up into a cold room lined with steel and various odd technologies I had never seen. The wooden tables in the middle of the room caught most of my attention though, lining my throat with terror. Pinkie Pie was poking one in the face with a confused expression - the dead remnant of a green pegasus on its back, with one eye viciously ripped out and replaced with some sort of red orb. Surrounding the orb were metallic parts, seeming to dive into the pony's skin with wires and string. There were more helpless victims surrounding that one, all dead.
Retching, I turned away and told the other ponies behind me to wait as I shivered against the wall. Shining Armor tried to comfort me, but he hadn't yet seen the terrible crime that I had. And.. I didn't want him to. But.. I still led them into the room, where each pony had a similar reaction - except Rarity, Applejack and my brother. Rarity fainted, Applejack got into a rage, yelling all sorts of threats to whoever did this, and Shining Armor stomped through the room, looking for the perpetrator. There weren't any, though. All that was left in the room was some kind of mirror in the corner.
Going against my better judgment, I approached the mirror. It was very regal, framed with gold and dusted off finely. It seemed to be winking at me, but darkness can play tricks on the mind. Applejack came up beside me and growled at it. "Twi, do ya think they used magic or somethin' to escape?! Is this mirror right here some sorta magical doohickey?"
I shook my head. "Applejack, I don't think that's poss-" But Applejack had already turned and reared her legs back, then bucked at the mirror, intending to shatter it. She seemed to disappear immediately as soon as her hooves touched the surface, the mirror left whole and nothing but air where she had been before. I was gaping again - and looked around the room. Everypony seemed to be staring at our direction, further surprised by the development. Big Macintosh ran up to the mirror and looked at it with an expression on his face other than his usual bored gaze - his eyes were frantic and searching and his teeth were bared.
"Where the heck's she gone now, dang it?!" Big Mac roared, his voice raising and turning kind of frenzied. Miss Cheerilee hurried up beside him and offered a few kind words that I couldn't hear over his cursing, but Big Mac didn't take them into account. He reached out a hoof, touching the mirror and ignoring my cry of warning, he disappeared as well. There was another silence as we decided what to do. Finally, I came up with a plan and proposed it to them.
"Rainbow Dash, fly as fast as you can to Canterlot and tell Princess Celestia what's going on! While you're gone, we'll check out the area past this mirror, and you come back as soon as you've told her!" I ordered, seeing Rainbow Dash obey without a word. This situation was a serious one - something we might require more help for.
When I turned around, I felt my temper rising. Pinkie Pie was checking her teeth in the reflection on the red orb of an eye that the green pegasus had. Daring Do stepped up to the mirror and fearlessly stuck out a hoof, still not saying a single thing as she was transported away. It was still odd - one moment they were there, and one moment they weren't. The rest lined up to go, hesitating unlike Daring Do, but nevertheless taking the plunge; I had to carry Rarity with me, though, as I touched the mirror last.
