In the Time Before

They had just entered the forest. The canopy of green leaves covered the twilight sky and shielded them from its light. However, the forest was still bright enough to see. It was rather overgrown with roots and rocks littering the ground. Vines hung from the branches like clothes on a drying rack. The temperature wasn’t too hot nor too cold while the two ponies trotted through the thicket.

“How long have you been in the forest?” Twinkle asked with mild fear in her voice. No pony went into the forest unless you needed to chop wood or gather food. Generally, the forest was dangerous.

“As long as I can remember.” He spoke while he trotted effortlessly through the forest’s thick undergrowth and uneven paths. He had lived in the forest all his life so it was only natural for him to know how to travel through it.

Twinkle, however, was struggling through the thicket and stones when she said, “Exactly how long is that?”

Seeing her struggle, he turned around and came to her side. She tripped but he was able to arrive in time to put his hoof under her and save her face from falling flat in the dirt.

“I don’t know…years maybe.” He said while still holding her up.

For the first time in Twinkles life, her mind grinded to a halt. Her face blushed a deep crimson red. She couldn’t decide if it was from the embarrassment of almost falling or the fact that he was holding her. She was looking up at him trying to find words. “I uhm uh…” She got her hooves under her.

“Why don’t you follow me? I know how to travel the forest. I guess you could say I’m repaying the favor.”

“Uhhh sure.” Twinkle said through her blush.

The green pony’s movements were slow but deliberate. She found it hard to follow his exact movements but it was still easier to follow him than go her own way. While Twinkle was following him, it dawned on her that he said he lived in the forest for years and he never drank water? Shouldn’t he be dead? She decided not to ask him why he wasn’t dead because she figured he wouldn’t know that either.

It became hard to follow the pony in front of her as they went deeper into the forest. His green coat blended with the leaves and his navy blue mane melted into the shadows. It almost looked like he was the forest itself.

“Can you use magic?” She asked

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be able to?” he responded curiously.

“Well you have wings and I have never seen a pony who can fly and use magic.”

“You want to see me try?” he asked her.

“Uh sure” she responded with a little hesitation.

The pony started flapping his wings and rose from the ground. At the same time, his horn cast a green light that illuminated the dark forest.

“Now you can say that you have seen a pony use magic and fly.” He said with confidence.

Suddenly a Manticore sprang out from the bushes and gave a huge roar. Twinkle shouted in fear and ran. She quickly hid behind a tree. She looked over to see the Manticore roaring at the green pony. Twinkle thought about going to his side, but she found herself too afraid to move.

The pony trotted over to the tree Twinkle was hiding behind and said “Why are you hiding and why did you run away?”

“I ran from that pony-eating Manticore.” She said in a fearful voice.

“He was just protecting the area. We talked it over and he won’t hurt you.”

“TALKED?!” She almost yelled in a disbelief.

“Well yeah.” He said calmly “How else are you supposed to communicate with a Manticore.”

“You don’t.” she didn’t move from her original position. “It’s a beast! You can’t communicate with it.”

“Well how did I get it to calm down over there?” He pointed to the Manticore. She looked around the tree and saw it. It was waving one of its hands and had an apologetic look on its face.

“Welllll…” she said feeling embarrassed. She came out from behind the tree and trotted slowly toward the beast with the green pony at her side. He spoke softly to her.

“It’s alright. He won’t hurt you.” His voice was almost a whisper in her ear. It was calm and soothing to her. He continued reassuring her. She soon forgot all about the Manticore and just paid attention to the pony’s soothing voice. She didn’t realize she had closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was in the arms of the Manticore several feet off the ground. It was licking her with its big tongue and soaking her mane with saliva.

The green pony had flown up to meet her. “It’s apologizing for yelling at you.”

She looked at the beast and said, “Apology accepted.”

The two embraced each other in a close hug and then the Manticore put her down. The three of them waved good bye as the two ponies continued their trot through the forest. They didn’t look at each other.

The green pony started talking. “So…why did you run away from him?”

“Well because I thought he was trying to eat me.” She said calmly.

“No, No. What I mean is, why didn’t you fight it? Why didn’t you help?”

“Well I…” she paused for a little bit trying to figure out that question for herself. “I couldn’t help. There was nothing I could do. Everyone says that I’m useless. Perhaps I am.”

“Well I…I…” the words were like lead in his mouth “…I think you’re useful.” They both blushed.

“You’re…you’re just saying that.” Twinkle said.

“N…No. I mean it. Your smart, kind and…”

“Stop it.” She said as her cheeks grew an even deeper shade of crimson. “You’re making me blush.” She punched him in the side. His blush deepened to match hers.

They continued down their path with their cheeks glowing. After that, neither of them wanted to break the silence that fell upon them. A few minutes past, but it felt like hours for them. They could see an opening in the forest.

The green pony broke the silence “We’re almost there.”

She looked up and saw the clearing ahead. “Let race.” Before he could do anything, she started galloping. He quickly followed behind her and was able to catch up.

“Hey, no fair.” He said while panting.

She started to gallop faster. In response, he did the same.

The two were neck and neck in full gallop. They both jumped and flew through the air out into the clearing at the same time. It was a tie. When they landed, they were all jumbled together and laughing. Twinkle was the first to unwrap herself from the tangled mess they had formed. He got up a little later than her. By the time he looked up, Twinkle was gazing at the spectacle in the center of the small clearing.

“Wow” she said staring with wonder at the tree in the middle of the clearing. “It’s so pretty. What is it?”

“It’s the Tree of Harmony. You wanted to know the last thing I remember? Well, it was right here…” He went over to the spot he last remembered at the base of the tree. “I woke up and all I saw was what you see now.”

Twinkle was still mesmerized by the Tree’s beauty. Then she looked at his Cutie Mark and back at the tree, and at his mark, and the Tree. “Your, your…” she was speechless in astonishment. “Your Cutie Mark and that tree are identical!”

“Well the top part of the Tree anyway.”

“You mean you knew all this time!”

“Well yes. What’s the problem?”

Twinkle was extremely confused. How could this pony’s special talent be the tree before her? It didn’t make any sense.

He said “I don’t know if this helps, but I said I didn’t have parents in the town. I kind of…lied because I didn’t want the other ponies to think I was weird because my parent is a, uhhh…tree.”

It did help her. She was no longer confused at this pony’s past. Now she was confused about his very existence! “Well…uhm…Why are you here then.”

Before the pony could respond, a large deep power penetrated both their minds. The green pony seemed relatively unfazed by the intrusion but Twinkle had a rough time.

A deep voice spoke in Twinkle’s mind “I created him to be my protector.” Twinkle looked around frantically to figure out who was speaking to her.

The green pony stepped in her view and said “It’s telepathy. The Tree is talking to us.”

“T…T…Tree!” she looked up at the mystical tree that stood before her.

“This doesn’t mean I am not still mad at you.” The green pony looked up at the Tree angrily.

“What happened?” Twinkle asked.

“He bosses me around like he owns me. I got sick of it and left.” The pony said still in an angered state.

The Tree spoke, “I created you…”

He cut the tree off. “Yeah so what? It doesn’t mean you own me and I am not coming back until you realize that.”

He grabbed Twinkle’s hoof and spoke in her ear very calmly in a voice almost filled with sadness. Almost. “Let’s go.”

They trotted out into the forest leaving the tree behind. The Tree didn’t respond. It fell dormant. It had the power to force the two ponies back to it, but just like the first time he left, it decided to let them go. The Tree had made a choice when it added sentient creatures to the world, it wouldn’t force any sentient creature to do anything it didn’t want to do. It could only guide them. That is why he created the pony in the first place. To protect him from other creatures.

The two ponies trotted in the forest not saying a word to each other. Neither of them could bear the silence that had fallen between them.

Twinkle gave way first “So y…you had a fight?”

“Yeah.” The pony said in a weary voice “We have those often.” He seemed to slump down further into his own depression.

Twinkle tried to cheer him up “Well…it’s not like you’re the only one with parent issues.”

The green pony looked up in confusion.

“You saw my parents. It’s not exactly like I am…happy with them.” Twinkle took a long breath and let it out at once “It’s been a long day. Why don’t we sleep?”

Sleeping wasn’t something that had a set time since there was no day or night. Ponies would sleep whenever they felt like it. Most of the time that was whenever the ponies had just finished a big task and felt tired.

The green pony never needed to sleep. His body would constantly regenerate but he still slept when he could for the refreshed feeling he had when he woke up.

“Let’s sleep here in the forest.” The green pony said.

“Well…I’m not going home for a while and you certainly aren’t going back to that tree so…why not?”

“Ok.” He said with some enthusiasm.

The two ponies started making their beds. Twinkle’s bed had a perfect assortment of leaves covered with an equally prefect leaf blanket brought together with her silver magic.

On the other hand, the green pony pushed up a mound of dirt and made a little plateau. He then proceeded to grab branches from the local trees and place them down with great care onto the plateau. Then he piled leaves on top of the two.

After he made his bed, he took other branches from trees and with his magic plunged them into the ground facing the forest. He did this on all 4 sides and added one to the middle going straight up and extending farther up than the rest. Then he used his magic to quilt a cover out of leaves. Then he gently placed the quilt over the two ponies’ beds and all the sticks that stuck out from the ground. He had made a house of leaves.

Twinkle asked him with a little worry in her voice “What is all this for?”

“I have slept in this forest before and I know that the winds can be brutal. Not to mention the storms that magically appear.”

“And the bed?” she said with more question than worry.

“Living in the dirt for years isn’t…comfortable. I experimented a little and found that this is the best way to make a bed in the forest.” He pointed to his bed that now looked like a pile of leaves.

Twinkle said in hesitation “Um…okay.”

They both climbed into their beds they had made and, under the canopy of leaves that protected them, they fell into a deep slumber.

A drop of water accumulated on a leaf. The drop that accumulated became too heavy for the leaf to support it. The leaf bent, the water flowed to the tip and fell. The drop of water descended through the canopy and struck the snout of a green pony who slept under the leaves. His snout twitched and scrunched up at the water drop’s invasive contact on his snout. The pony groaned. He sat up and opened his eyes. He noticed it was raining. The canopy worked because there was barely any water on the ground and he could tell it had been raining for a while. However, it was only made of leaves so some water got through its’ protective barrier. He looked over at the orange and purple pony that lay beside him. She was still sleeping. Made sense to him. He was always a light sleeper. He thought that it was because he never needed sleep in the first place that he could wake so easily when he was disturbed.

He got out of his bed without making a sound so as not to wake her. He grabbed a section of the canopy, removed it and looked out at the forest. The rain was pounding the ground with an intense amount of force. Other than that, everything was unchanged.

He closed the canopy and went back inside the insulated tent-like structure. He sat on his bed looking at Twinkle’s calmly sleeping body. He was ashamed to be looking at her when she didn’t know that he was. He looked down at the ground and cleared a couple leaves revealing dirt. He focused on the dirt and his horn started glowing. He put a tremendous amount of effort into his spell and when he was finished he was really tired. He laid down and fell back asleep.

The purple and orange pony rose from her deep slumber. She opened her eyes and got up. She went to look outside the canopy. The sky was gray and the ground was wet. However, it wasn’t raining. She could tell that a rain storm had come and gone in her sleep. She closed the opening that she made in the leaf canopy and looked over to see the pony that had built it. Then she saw something odd.

Right in front of the pony, perfectly in-between their two beds, there were four white daises and a plate with two eggs on it. The plate had a green aura around it to keep the heat in and anything else out. Coincidentally, it also kept in the smell so the scent of eggs didn’t wake her.

She was extraordinarily confused about how these things got here. She looked up and was going to wake the green pony to ask, where this stuff came from. However, when her eyes met his body she froze and couldn’t do anything but stare at him. His body made a perfect oval with his head tucked in and his black tail covering most of his legs. His face, however, was what Twinkle focused on most. His navy blue mane was covering the half of his face that was closest to the ground. She watched his nostrils enlarge and shrink with every breath he took. She stared at the single closed eye that she could see. She went and laid in her bed facing him. Her eyes were still fixed on his one closed eye.

She thought to herself: “I don’t know what to call him. I know a lot about him but I don’t even know what to call him. Perhaps I should come up with a name for him. Hmm…he is the first pony to have wings and a horn so…uni…peg? No that’s terrible. Peg…acorn? That’s just as bad but…I like that ending. Hmm…he probably has the power of an earth pony as well so…ear…corn? That just sounds gross. E…a…ar…ali…HEY that’s it! Alicorn. That sounds perfect. Alicorn.” She purposely didn’t think about a last name because the last name defines the family you’re from. In the unconscious part of Twinkle’s brain, she didn’t want to give him a last name so he could have hers.

She quickly snapped out of the trance she found herself in. She looked down at her hooves and she uttered the name. “Alicorn.” It was a word that had never been uttered before. The sound woke the green pony from sleep. He opened his one eye and looked at Twinkle who was still staring at her hooves.

He didn’t move or make a sound. He just laid there looking at her in silence.

The moment Twinkle looked up she saw his piercing gaze and froze. She felt like he was intruding into her very thoughts with that one, unmoving eye.

“Stop staring at me like that.” She blushed at the same time she said it.

“Oh I…I’m sorry.” He quickly looked down and blushed.

She blushed more at the regret in his voice.

He spoke, still looking down as if waiting for approval to look up. “I just…I made us breakfast.” He looked up a little to meet her eyes.

She had almost forgotten about the flowers and eggs that sat in the middle of the two ponies. “That reminds me…” Twinkle said “where did this stuff come from?”

“Well…I made it with my magic.” He said

“But…magic can’t do that. Magic is useless.” Twinkle said in disbelief.

“No, magic can do this. It’s just really hard. I will show you the extent of magic after breakfast. Only if you want to, that is.” He said the last part hastily.

Twinkle responded “Uhm…sure let’s do that.”

The green pony removed the magic aura that covered the eggs. When the appetizing aroma reached their nostrils, they both realized how hungry they were. The pony held out his hoof and focused his magic on it. A plate appeared out of nowhere. Twinkle was stunned and confused at this sudden appearance of a plate but she said nothing. He lifted one egg with his magic and placed it on one plate. He uprooted the daises and placed two on each plate. He then handed her one of the plates. She took it and they both started eating.

*****

BAM. A magical spell hit a tree with such force it left burn marks.

“Uhhhhgggg.” Twinkle said in a long frustrated sigh. “I will never get the hang of this stupid magic.”

The green pony trotted over and sat next to her “It’s not like you’re going to get it in three tries.” He said with some humor in his voice.

“You make it look so easy.” She sat down next to him.

“Yeah but I have been training nonstop for years.”

“Maybe I am not cut out for this magic thing. After all, it serves no use in the town. I mean, my father collects wood for fires and buildings. My mom records all the town hall meetings and the inventory of the town. What do I do?” sigh “Use useless magic.” She looked down.

“Magic isn’t useless.” The pony said trying to cheer her up.

“Then maybe I am the useless one. That’s what every pony says.” She fell deeper into her own sadness.

“I…never said you were useless.”

“Yeah but every pony else thinks otherwise.”

“What do they matter?” His words made Twinkle look up in confusion.

“What do you mean?” she said almost accusingly

“Well…” He searched carefully for his answer. “I think you’re wonderful and very useful. Do you really need them to tell you that you’re useful?”

“Well…I…” Twinkle was caught off guard with this answer.

“Do you need them?” he pressed his question.

“Uhm…well…no.”

“Then why is it that when they say you are useless, you believe them?”

“Well…uh…” Tears started to form in Twinkle’s eyes.

“You are not useless. You are as useful as any pony else in that village and don’t let any pony tell you otherwise. Even me.”

Twinkle couldn’t control herself. She fell into his hooves, crying. He embraced her and neither of them let go. It took some time after Twinkle stopped crying for her to form legible sentences. “Let’s continue practicing.” They released each other and their horns started to glow.

Several hours passed before either of the two ponies talked about anything that wasn’t related to practicing magic. They took a break under the shade of a tree and sat down.

Twinkle, with her newly formed self-confidence, spoke. “You know, I have been thinking about a name for you.”

“Oh really?” He said with some uneasiness.

“Yeah. I’m not too sure about it. I think it’s kind of cheesy.”

“Well…let’s hear it.”

“Well…” Twinkle said with color coming up in her cheeks. “Since you are a Unicorn, a Pegasus and an Earth pony all in one, I thought maybe…” Her voice trailed off. She spoke softly “Maybe…Alicorn?”

“What was that?” he felt a little ashamed of asking but she talked so softly he could barely hear her.

“Alicorn. I…I…I…thought you might like it.” She was extremely timid right now and he didn’t know exactly how to respond.

“I really like that name.”

“YOU DO!” she sprang up in a mix of excitement and glee.

“Yeah…” He was caught off guard with the sudden and rapid mood swing. “Alicorn. I…really do like that name.” He said trying to hide his checks that had started to glow a deep crimson.

“I thought you might.”

“Yeah like you were totally confident that I would like it.” He said with sarcasm.

They both giggled.

Alicorn spoke “Now I have a name, but what do I do with it?”

“You use it to identify yourself silly.” Twinkle chuckled into her hoof.

“No that’s not what I mean. What I mean is, what am I supposed to do in this world?"

“You are here to teach me magic.” Alicorn looked at Twinkle with frustration. Twinkle giggled.

“I’m serious.” He said in a firm voice.

“So am I.” Alicorn was startled again at her response. “Just take life as it comes to you. Don’t try to question your existence. It will just give you a headache. At least it did with me. You don’t need to know the answer to those questions because you will probably fulfill those things without even realizing it. Just have fun in the moment.” Twinkle’s words had hit him hard.

For several minutes he was lost in deep thought.

Twinkle got up from the ground she was sitting on and said, “Let’s get back to practicing. Like you said, you have been training for years so I need all the practice I can get…Teacher.” She said the last word in a teasing tone. Alicorn smiled, got up and they both started casting magic.