Just One Wish

The beginning of every story is just like being given a new born baby.

Lots of whining, fussing, and a lot of mistakes left behind that you didn’t notice at first.

******

Do you ever get one of those days where you could trace back all your problems to one single event?

That one exact moment that ended up ruining your whole life as you just wish you could go back in time and tell yourself to simply take a left turn before you ran into that mess?

On second thought scratch that! Wishing was what got me into this mess in the first place as now I’m being chased by crazy ponies, twisted monsters, and trying to piece together what had happened before some crazy pony unleashes a metal golem to kill me. The only comforting fact I can take now is that I’m stuck in a cell freezing my tail off in hope that they are not about to kill me because they stuffed me in a cell!

I guess I should start at the beginning… My name is Swift Lotus and well… I’m an earth pony. I was born in ponyville and wasn’t anyone special… really. The only meaning my name had was the fact I was skilled at growing flowers quickly… I was just a glorified botanist as I just helped my parents run the store for Celestia’s sake!

I’m not even the only pony with the name Lotus… so everyone just calls me Swift. If that doesn’t tell you how unimportant I am I don’t know what will.

Then one day it all changed and if I knew what I know now I would never have written down that wish, but then again no one else knew the danger that lurked in that pony… I mean person. I’m still having to get used to the new terminology. This is my story of how I got myself stuck in this situation. Even if I’m the only one who’s going to hear it.

*****

I pulled out my brush as I combed my mane. Mother always said I was blessed to have such a vibrant color. Honestly what’s so great about having white fur and a pinkish mane. So it’s more of a light pink… well lighter than Pinkie Pie’s fur pink. After I had finished brushing my mane I had raced down the stairs ready to go on my little adventure.

It wasn’t really anything big as I was just supposed to deliver a few flowers around town and to that one zebra, but I had big dreams about it. Just like Daring Doo in those novels running off to do something nopony has ever done before! I just felt that this would be my day in the spot light. I quickly grabbed the saddle full of flowers ready to race out the door until mom stopped me… By Celestia if I knew that would be the last time I ever saw her I’m not sure I would have found the strength to leave the door as I certainly wouldn’t have left so quickly.

She smiled to me and said “Now just because your name is Swift it doesn’t mean you get to leave the house without eating breakfast.”

The table was set out as I dashed over and nearly scarfed down my food whole. To me this was just one minor obstacle before my grand adventure set out before me. Already I could hear the crowd cheering outside as Rainbow Dash just did something awesome. In my mind I could hear them cheering for me after my own daring adventure that I was about to embark on.

“All finished!” I shouted with joy racing out the door before I was lifted up into the air by dad’s magic.

He shook his head as he said “Did you remember your map?”

“I don’t need one for Ponyville and you already showed me how to get to Zibcora’s house.” I said in annoyance.

“It’s Zecora. You should really pay attention to other pony’s names,” Mom practically scolded me in that cheerfully way mothers are always so good at. “You know things are different in the evergreen forest.”

I simply nodded in agreement as it was the main reason why I was so excited about this delivery job. I would be able to go through the evergreen forest! Sure a couple of ponies were still scared of it, but a zebra was living peacefully in the forest so it couldn’t be that dangerous. So what if the town was scared of her? She placed an order and by Celestia I was going to deliver that order! It was time for my own tale to begin!

“Zecora. Got it!” I said as I dashed towards the door again only for dad to catch me again with his magic “I got everything set already. I had everything prepared last night and packed into the saddle. The flowers are safe. I ate breakfast and have everything set!” I wined as I just wanted to go.

Mom simply smiled at me as she said “You forgot one little thing.”

I blushed as I sheepishly said “Sorry. Bye Mom! Bye Dad! I love you too very much and I promise to come right back after my delivery!”

They smiled as I dashed out of the doorway to start my own adventure. I had a feeling that they both knew why I wanted to leave so quickly… I’m just glad I got to say goodbye before I left. I’m not sure I would have been able to sleep now if I didn’t. I just wish I was able to keep my promise.

*****

Two hours later I was done with most of the delivers and racing towards Zecora’s house ready for my adventure only to bump into somebody. It wasn’t a graceful crash as I spun into the air and crashed into a tree. A few papers floated in the air of the other pony recites as my bits fell out onto the ground and spun around into the only pile of mud nearby.

I shook my head and started to collect my fallen items until I noticed that I had ran into someone instead of tripping over a rock like I thought. So I raced over trying to apologize as I tried to help them back up. This was possibly the biggest mistake of my life. The pon... person wore black cloth over their body and stood up like a diamond dog. Black feathers stuck out of the robes as he brushed off the dirt before noticing my presence.

I know what you are thinking right now. Guy dressed in black and you can’t even see their face. Obviously a bad guy and somepony you should quickly run away from. This was before I knew who he was… and Ponyville wasn’t made without some brave pony taking a risk. So not wanting to cause another misunderstanding or judging them before I knew who they really were I decided to help out and it was my fault for running into him.

“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” I franticly chanted “I wasn’t watching where I was running.”

He chuckled as his wispy voice and said “No it’s my fault. I didn’t think anyone would be using this road. Nobody had used it in a long time.”

I looked at him in surprise and shouted “You came from the evergreen forest!”

He shook his head and pulled out a brown book saying “A little bit further from there you could say. Mostly I wanted to check up on an old plant. Sadly that tree is still there and it’s a bit of a nuisance.”

I frowned as something sounded off about this person “Are you trying to get rid of it?”

“No! Of course not…” He rubbed the back of his head as he looked away before whispering “Actually it’s allergies. I can’t stop sneezing when it’s in full bloom. What’s your reason for heading towards that forest? It’s a dangerous place after all… or so says the rumors.”

I practically beamed as I said “One patch of flowers to Miss Zecora! Don’t know if she needs them for something or just trying to spruce up the place, but she lives in the evergreen forest! I just have to watch out for some sort of blue flower... and whatever else lurks in the forest.”

The figure nodded in interest as those feathery hands went into the cowl rubbing his chin I suppose. After he was down marking down what I had just said he simply watched me recovering my belongings.

“So you’re planning to go on an adventure. While the evergreen forest was an interesting place once… It has lost some of its flare… so to speak.” He added quickly. “The last time I saw a pony venture in was a long time ago.”

I smiled as I quickly replied “Well I’m going to be the first one in a long time!”

That should have been my first clue that something was wrong. He spoke in a really odd way… like your parents describing how the town used to be before it changed into what it is now.

I nervously fidgeted about my outburst and ranted “Well hopefully I won’t get lost and actually make it to the zebra’s house. Most of the town is… kind of nervous about someone actually living in the EverFree forest.”

“And what about you?” He said as his practically towered over my head “What is it that you wish for?”

“Me?” I practically shouted “I’m no one really. Well I have everything I want and I’m about to go on an adventure… to deliver a package and go back home really.”

“No regrets?” He said as he practically hovered over me “Not even a Nevermore weighing down on your soul?”

Tall creepy guy wearing all black who is saying strange words in ominous tones. That really should have made me run in any direction that was away from him. That was the second warning I shot down as I thought about it… not the running part. The question he asked.

“Well…” I said hesitantly “Nothing is going to happen. Well something always happens in Ponyville, but nothing really... interesting.”

Like Daring Doo or those lovely stories in the library. Kings and queens. Thrilling tales of adventures and lost treasure. Being sent on a quest by even Celestia herself... and I was just stuck delivering flowers. Nothing special.

“But you do have a wish on your heart.” He whispered in my ear “Something you want to know. Something you want to see with your own two eyes.”

I chuckled nervously as I said “It’s not like anything will ever happen. I’ll just always be in the background of somepony else’s story. I don’t even know what the future holds for me besides delivering flowers.” I couldn’t help but shiver “What is your name by the way?”

The figure seemed to quickly reposition himself in just a second as he coughed into a sleeve near his face “Raven… Raven Nevermore at your service my esteem lady. I just travel around collecting stories and keeping a small list of people’s wishes.” A large black beak appeared as it grinned “I keep a small book on hand that was told to grant wishes.”

I shook my head and said humorously “Then why haven’t you used it already?”

“Who’s to say I haven’t?” He replied as the leather book with black strings holding it together was pulled out of his robes “I wanted to travel around and now I can. I get to see so many stories and get a better idea on some people.” He grinned as he said “Besides what’s the harm of writing something down in a small book?”

The third warning that said get out of there you idiot! If anyone asks “What’s the harm” you know it’s going to end badly. Just like saying “What’s the harm in playing ball inside the house?” only to have a broken window and a very angry mother shouting at you or “What’s the harm in opening up a door” just for some ancient evil to be unleashed! It was that moment where you screamed at the idiot who was about to do something very stupid.

He pulled out a black raven feather from one of his sleeves and dipped it in some ink hidden in his robes as he handed it to me. The old book was opened as dozens of names were written down along with various wishes. Some were tiny ones like wanting to find some object they lost or trying to get to work on time. (Writing it down in a stranger’s book properly doesn’t help)

The part that struck me were the bigger wishes as you could feel the hope written into each letter. Some were a little crazy like wishing they were a griffin or being a Unicorn, but a few wishes didn’t make much sense without context like “I wish for hope” which is kind of strange, but you could feel the sorrow written into the page as you couldn’t help, but think the book was just a little bit magical in a sense.

So I took the quill and placed it on the page scratching it as I tried to get a handle on it as I drew a few doodles with the small batch in the corner before turning the page. The next page was blank except for someone else’s wish. I slowly wrote down my own wish as I read over it and froze when I had finished writing as I noticed the second wish.

The wish said “I wish my sister would notice me.”

My heart stopped as a deep chill ran down my spine. This was written very long ago as a part of me tried to think up an explanation to it all. Part of my mind screamed how crazy it was, but that small nagging bit that saw something strange? It finally reached the front of my brain screaming in panic.

Raven smiled as he said “Luna was an interesting pony. Last time I saw her was after the fall of the Crystal Empire. We talked a little, but I doubt she would even notice me and I had changed since then.”

I took a few steps back in fear as my paranoia ran wild. The raven seemed to have grown as he towered over me with that twisted grin. I couldn’t see his face, but I could see the two beads of light glowing under the hood from the reflection of the sun and his smile… The type of smile you see a cat has before pouncing on a mouse.

Raven drew one of his feathered fingers near his beak and he licked it before placing it on the page “You wish for an adventure. To see the world and do something that no pony from Equestria has ever done before.” He chuckled at the comment “That can easily be arranged.”

The words I had written down began to glow blue as I couldn’t move. The world started to black out around me as the last thing I heard was his laughter.

He snapped the book shut and happily said “And now I have a plan B... just to be safe of course.”

I shouted as my voice couldn’t break through. The world went dark as I was unable to warn anyone about the villain I had just ran into. I was unable to tell anyone what had just happened to me… I was unable to keep my promise or even finish my delivery as Zecora’s package rested on the wooden fence. Hopefully someone would notice me missing.

*****

My eyes slowly opened as strange noises surrounded me. My ears rang in pain as my head felt like it had just been dunked underwater. My first thoughts were that I hit that tree a little bit too hard and I had wasted half the day accidently knocking myself out.

I rubbed my aching head thinking I was in for a migraine only to see a couple of armored ponies charging at each other. It was a little unusual, but a few of the princess’s guards had armor similar looking ones and I had seen two ponies joust or others play pretend battles… but none of them ever drew blood.

I gasped as I slowly recoiled away as I saw the blood and sweat hitting the ground. Something hit my back as I turned around and nearly screamed if my voice hadn’t already died in my mouth. A brown earth pony laid on the ground behind me with his mouth wide open as his face had been brutally hacked apart. Small creatures were nibbling on his exposed flesh and none of them held that cute or harmless look that the animals around Fluttershy had. These beasts had the eyes of ticked off timber wolves and blood soaked claws as bits of flesh dripped from their teeth!

One of them leaped at me as I lost my lunch right on top of the little monster. I know that it was not exactly the best time, but I had never seen something like that before… and the sprawled out intestines from the dead pony that my hooves were tangled up in didn’t help my stomach out much either. Thankfully this frightened the creatures away as the one covered in my vomit fled in annoyance.

After regaining my composure and stopped kicking my hooves wildly freeing myself. I tried to move myself away from the corpse as possible until I started to realize my situation.

Snow covered the ground as I could see mountains in the distance and having lived most of my life in Ponyville I could tell that I was nowhere near my home. All I could tell was that two sides were fighting and killing each other right now. Not tying each other up or knocking somepony over the head… cutting, slashing, and killing.

I could make out the image of ponies in the distance wearing red armor. They were mostly unicorns and earth ponies as large dragons seemed to be fighting with them. Well not dragon large, but bigger than a pony and smaller than a house large.

The other army was composed of black bug like ponies in red armor, but while the pony armor looked like really heavy suits of armor. The bug pony armor was more curved and pointed… and a few bug ponies as large as the dragons.

I had never seen these creatures before! I had never seen ponies try to kill some other pony before! Did it make it alright since the other creatures weren’t ponies? Did it matter that I was on a battlefield full of ponies and bug ponies trying to kill each other!

“Just find a safe spot to hide” I said to myself as I tried not to panic “Running around screaming at the top of your lungs will only get you in more trouble and properly freeze to death as a bonus.”

I shivered from both my fear and the harsh cold wind that grew stronger. All I had was my saddle bag without any winter clothing and this storm was much worse than any winter I had experienced before. So I crawled in the snow despite the ice shattering cold feeling that ran down my hoofs as I tried to get closer to the battle and hopefully wave down a pegasi to whisk me away to safety. Not really a great plan, but I was working with frost bite, and almost full fledge panic so my mind wasn’t working out all the minor details like how I would wave down a pegasi in a battle while it was snowing or how the bug ponies with weapons might see me as a potential target.

Then again they don’t say “Fear is the mind killer” for nothing! Yes… if I survive I promise to read less cheesy sci-fi books.

*****

I had managed to crawl over three dead bodies without throwing up… but that could have been possibly because I didn’t have anything left in my stomach. I had also just found out that what I thought were dragons were really large metal props like the ones used during Nightmare Night, but these could actually hurt ponies as one had torn apart a bug pony in half with its bare claws. None of them looked like the cute picture of baby dragons in the books unless someone tried to think up possibly how horrifying a dragon could grow up to be and on a separate note I just remembered I still had a late library book in me saddle!

I hid behind one of the larger fallen metal dragons as the sounds of battle were really loud now. Before I could hear metal clashing against metal and a few voices, but mostly I could now hear blade cutting flesh and ponies screaming right before they were killed. Any lingering thoughts that this was all some mistake or strange dream went away as I could feel the fresh damp red snow that drifted onto my hooves as a mutilated and bloody body was tossed over my cover. The crimson tide of blood splashed all over my body as the freezing wind cut straight into my bones.

Apparently I was wrong about my stomach… so very wrong as it had managed to find something left to hurl out of my body. I felt so far out of it I didn’t even seemed to be fazed by the dead pony’s head staring at me without the rest of his body. Of course that didn’t stop me from kicking the head out of my sight and trying to focus on anything else besides where the rest of the body fell.

The earth ponies and unicorns were big. Apple Mac big as I didn’t even know a unicorn could grow that big or that buff. One of the unicorns stood was alone as a large hydra was attacking him. In fact a lot of wild monsters were attacking with the bug ponies. I pushed the thought away and focused on the bigger issue. One lone pony wasn’t doing that good against the hydra and some of the bug ponies were starting to notice. I closed my eyes and tried to think what would Daring Doo would do!

She would do something with her whip… or fly… or… I really needed an option that I knew how to do. I rubbed my aching head trying to find some sort of trick that would work.

Just then an idea raced through my head as I dug through my saddle as I remembered one of the old adventure stories. I didn’t have to fight, but just find some way around the hydra. I thanked my good fortune as I pulled out the strange looking powder. There’s a hydra in evergreen forest and the one time it went near ponyville it left after sneezing a whole lot from some funny looking flowers! (Which was a really, really, long shot that it would work again, but this was a large killer pony eating monster! Any idea was a good idea at the moment!)

I looked back at the hydra and hid again as I was just realized the vital flaw in my plan. Having a bag that could deal with it and actually being close enough to throw it were two very big things! I looked back at the metal dragon trying to come up with a plan until I saw the exposed workings of the machine. I had fixed a cart before and saw how some of the clocks worked, but this easily put all them were put to shame as the various gears, wires, and things I didn’t even know moved about.

Peaked out from my cover and saw one of the metal dragons going hoof to hoof with a large snake like creature. If one of these fake dragons could do that then it surely could buy me a few moments against a hydra! I looked back at the inner workings and focused on the parts I knew how to fix… which were the gears and the little bits of metal that connected some of the pieces but seemed to be stuck.

All right I didn’t know how they worked, but I could tell which pieces were supposed to be hooked up to which! It was just a matter of getting it all out and praying I was fixing it instead of randomly ripping out important parts. Hopefully it would be just like fixing that old grandfather clock… well the second grandfather clock.

So I worked out a little hum to get my mind off the death around me and searched the boxes near the metal dragons. Why were there boxes near them? Because somepony had tried fixing them as one pony even had a full set of tools… and missing all his legs. The important thing was that the parts worked as the metal dragon’s eyes shinned wide open and rose up.

I slowly sunk back into the snow as it turned towards me with those big glowing eyes as if I just kicked it in the back while it was in the middle of a nap. I looked past the metal dragon and saw a unicorn wasn’t doing to well as a bug pony as big as Celestia seemed to be hurling spells at him while the hydra was still attacking everypony nearby and protecting big scary big pony!

I pointed my hoof out as I shivered in fear and said “Get the Hydra!”

It turned around and roared catching they Hydra’s attention. Without a second thought I jumped on the metal dragon and hugged his leg as he charged after the Hydra who was just as surprised as I was. The mechanical claw smashed into one of the hydra’s heads sending both the head and myself flying away from him as I crashed into the snow near the unicorn. Two of the Hydra heads rushed towards me as I struggled to get up. I shut my eyes in fear as couldn’t get up in time as I heard them crash into something hard. I slowly opened my eyes and saw metal dragon standing over me as it was keeping the hydra heads off me.

“Thanks big!” I shouted before I heard him growl “I mean Brig!”

I know it sounds foolish giving him a name, but he did save my life and Big Red Intelligent Guy or BRIG isn’t that bad of a name. Besides I don’t want to insult the big guy after saving my life and I certainly did not want an angry two ton metal dragon mad at me for calling him an “it” after seeing him punch out a few of the Hyrda’s teeth with one punch.

I quickly grabbed the small bag and threw it at one of the open hydra heads as the bag tore open covering the head in the dull gray mist. I laughed in triumph only for one of the heads to crash into my side. Pain erupted across my entire body as the breath had been knocked out of my lungs as I crashed into the ground again.

The Hydra prepared to finish me off only for one of their heads to start sneezing. I couldn’t help but chuckle despite the pain it caused as all of their heads started an uncontrollable sneezing fit. The Hydra stumbled backwards as it kept sneezing wildly letting the unicorn charge after the large bug pony who seemed to be staring at the scene in disbelief which didn’t last too long.

My stomach tightened as I saw the bug pony’s head hit the ground as the unicorn snorted in triumph as the bug pony body hit the ground. I turned my eyes away from the scene only to see Brig beating up the Hydra. He was missing one of his arms, but that didn’t seem to bother him as he kept punching the hydra over and over until it collapsed to the ground.

“Please stop for a moment.” I muttered under my breath as Brig turned towards me.

He slowly limped towards my position as I couldn’t help but smirk. My body felt lousy and had nearly died a few moments ago, but I felt happy that I managed to save someone’s life. I had finally had my big adventure moment. I rolled around in the snow and saw another unicorn standing next to a different metal dragon.

The unicorn muttered “Lights out.”

The metal dragon punched me in the face as I started to black out again. Last thing I heard was Brig’s roar as he leapt at the metal dragon that punched me before I blacked out.