Author's Note

Now updated, so no more old-speaking language!

Chapter 1: A Dream Made Real.

Chapter 1

A Dream Made Real.

The sun slowly begins to sneak in, along with the ones who wake in the premature hours of the day. The foals of this small village known as Clydesdale begin their usual morning routine by going to class. Each day they would learn something new, and sometimes take trips to discover the land around them, and the nature that continues to thrive every single passing week. This day, however, is slightly different, for today, the younglings will be learning something that their elders always mention to them.

"Are you joking? Alicorns are just an old pony's tale. No one has ever seen one, besides, they are just stories told by our parents. “A young colt scalds another while waiting for classes to start. The topic about Alicorns seems to take the fillies and colts interest, as they would constantly hear those stories from their peers, or by their parents at bedtime. In truth, no one knows if Alicorns exist or not, mostly because no one has ever seen any in their lifetime, nor heard of anyone ever encountering one.

Behind a group of fillies discussing magic and so forth, against a tree lays a small, quiet Pegasus with a book to the left of her. She always carries her diary with her since, to her disappointment, she has no friends to talk to. The diary's front leather cover bears the name of Quest, which is the Pegasus's name. Quest's light yellow coat shines under the rousing sun, and her long baby blue mane and tail sway in the direction of the wind as she turns the pages, the wind blowing them as much to her dismay. The calm breeze had reminded her of something, so she stops on a page with a sketch of pint-sized creatures in the shape of teeny tiny ponies with transparent wings. Apparently, she had a dream of how these mystical creatures seem to flow with the wind in large packs to migrate. Her classmates thought of that as ridiculous, and far-fetched. Because of their constant teasing, Quest decided to keep everything to herself, and only tell her parents of her experiences.

Speaking of dreams, Quest has been having a lot of them, strange ones at that. For example, she once had a dream of ponies that shined like crystals, and in the center of their city was a gleaming crystal in the shape of a heart. Another was a very disturbing one, not at all a nightmare, but about creatures with the limbs of other known animals like a Lion’s paw, or the horns of Elks with elongated bodies. Dreams like these she would remember, and most of the time she'd sketch them, and tell her parents about them.

Her parents were the only ones', other than the older ponies in her village, that listen, and call her 'gifted.' This is what makes Quest happy, the constant attention of the elders, her parents, and the fact that she could care less about having friends her age.

The teacher finally arrives and motions the fillies and colts to head on in. Quest lifts her head and puts her diary into her bag. She walks with the rest of her class into the building and sits in her seat, which is in the front of the classroom. Once she is fully seated, she takes her diary out once again, eager to now write something that's been on her mind. As Quest begins to press her pencil onto the thick sheet of paper, a group of fillies walks in front of her desk. Putting her pencil down in an annoyed manner, mostly because she had already forgotten what she was going to write, she considers the eyes of the fillies who tease her, mainly out of pure jealousy. The fillies didn't like how Quest was the center of attention every day, and how she's always being praised by other parents, and their teacher, whom always calls on her to answer a question, or to read a passage in a book. So, to get revenge on her, they pick on her, calling her inaccurate names like 'blank flank,' and always throwing her diary down on the ground anytime they get the chance to grab it.

"Why do you always carry that little book of yours? Is that your only friend?" A filly in the group ask.

"She probably thinks it is. For sure she does! " Another one answers while laughing. The 'leader' of the group of fillies was just standing there, glaring at Quest with pure jealousy, and intents of either hitting her or just sprouting colorful words to her. Quest only stared back, not caring what the other filly thought of her, in fact, she didn't care at all what other ponies thought of her if they were negative. None of it dawned on her, it just annoyed her down to the bone. Finally, after minutes of staring, the jealous filly finally speaks.

"So, I wonder what you will write in that dirty book this time. Oh, what, let me guess, something about how the grass is green? Or, what You have learned in class today? I have an idea, write about how you still don't have a cutie mark you... Blank flank!" The three laugh together. Quest was about to get up and knock some sense into her but remains seated when the teacher comes.

"That is enough out of you three, go sit back in your seats and stop teasing her, and Quest, put that book away, you will not need it for today’s lesson." explains the teacher. The three fillies quietly return to their seats, while Quest places her diary into her bag, and onto the floor next to her chair. She sits patiently for the teacher to begin, but couldn't help but notice that most of her classmates have cutie marks, but not her. She felt like the odd ball out, even though she knew that someday her destiny would come and go full on... She was getting sick of waiting, though... She turns to face the window next to her, looking past the ponies walking, past her small village, and into the distance, where she can easily see the foggy mountains and distant trees. Scenery like this can easily distract her, and before she knew it, the teacher was starting class, telling everybody to hush and to sit in their seats.

"Settle down class. Today we will be discussing the topic of Alicorns, or simply put, ponies with both wings and horn. There are many theories surrounding these mystical entities. Most ponies believe that they created the world that we live in, and controlled the elements in nature, like the weather, and... " The teacher starts, and everyone picks their pencils up, copying the teacher’s words.

Every pony runs out of the class as the day ends. Quest is the last to leave the building, walking slowly in the direction of her house. The group of fillies who were teasing her walked passed and made mocking faces, with Quest simply rolling her eyes. When they finally leave, Quest follows a long path to a small neighborhood where she lives, and usually when she arrives at the right time, she helps her father in carrying logs back home for the fireplace, since, even in summer nights, it can get cold to the point snow falls.

Speaking of arriving at the right time, Quest spots her father gathering logs and runs towards him. "Hello, father! Can I help you carry the logs again?" Her father looks up confusingly from a log and onto his daughter, then smiles.

"Oh, good evening Quest. Time passes by very fast, it was just morning. How was class? Did you learn anything interesting?" She picks up a couple of logs and wraps them around her with a cloth that she uses to carry them. The two start to walk alongside each other back home.

"It was fine father. We were talking about the mysterious Alicorns, and what they are. . . And I think that is it. " Quest says her last sentence quietly. Her dad then smirks.

"Are you sure? That must have been a short class." She laughs embarrassingly at his comment, trying to find what to say.

"Well, I was daydreaming again, and when our teacher began her lecture, I had doodles all over my paper, so I couldn't write properly." Quest's dad laughs a hardy laugh and stops to catch his breath. "That is not funny! I was distracted again by my own melancholy thoughts, and because of them I missed half of the lecture!" The father regains his composure, taking a deep breath, and beginning to speak.

"Sure, it was bad that you missed some info, but that is not always a bad thing, for some distractions can show your true desires and feelings." Quest groans, thinking that he was going to go on another one of his little speeches again, but was caught off when she heard him ask, "So, do you know what you doodled? Could you tell me about them?"

"The drawing? Well, it was just an Alicorn, a pink one with long hair and purple eyes that I made up. I was actually going to create a story with her, something about her and finding love and spreading it around, but I didn't get around to doing it because it was time to leave. . . "

The conversation lasted way until they reached their home. They walk inside of their house, placing some of the logs in the fireplace where supper is being made. The mother comes from downstairs and greets them. "Welcome back you two. How was your lesson Quest?"

"It was fine as usual mother. Are you getting along well with your health? How do you feel?" Quest says, placing her bag next to one of the legs of the table. She sits, taking in the aroma of food, waiting eagerly for supper. Waiting for her mother to respond, she opens her bag back up and getting her diary out. Reaching into her bag again she grabs the picture of the Alicorn that she doodled in class, and places it into the book. She hears her mother moving away from the pot and looks up to her smiling.

"I am glad you ask. Ay dear, I am fine, doing better, to say the least. " She places a plate and a spoon next to Quest, signaling that it's finally time for supper. "I am lucky to have a daughter who would sacrifice precious time, and who pays attention to their mother's health. Because of that, I am already better." Quest smiles widely and gets cleaned up for dinner...

Later at bedtime...

Wrapping the blankets around her, Quest lights a little candle and lays in her bed. She gets her diary from her bed-side drawer and begins to write in it. "Dearest diary... Today I have learned..." She stops and thinks. What had she learned today? She can't remember any of the information in class because of how much of a scatterbrain she is by completely tuning out the teacher's lectures. She looks back at the drawing she made of the Alicorn and thought of just writing about that, but that would be it. She could finally write the Alicorn's story that she planned on doing, but she didn't see that as something useful. Thinking even more, she couldn't help but get tired, after all, it is very late. She blows out her candle and lays down, quickly drifting to sleep, forgetting that her diary was still on her bed next to her.

Quest awakes with sounds coming from downstairs. She couldn't quite make out whether if it was her mom or dad, but she knew that she had to at least see what they were up too. Creeping downstairs, she sees light coming from the living area, but strangely enough, that light isn't coming from the fireplace. They sometimes let it burn overnight until it eventually burns out. Coming to a stop, she sees before her two floating entities, one light, and one dark, spinning in a circular motion around an orb of some sort. They appear to have both wings and a horn, and they were both very tall to be ponies at all.

Quest walks slowly towards them with a daze, surprised that a phenomenon like this is happening in her house. She notices that they are in front of her diary, just staring at it as the book starts to glow the more Quest walked closer. Strange, she didn't remember leaving it on the table, and she was sure that it was in her room. How did it end up here? Unless...

The diary's pages begin to turn and tear out of the book, making Quest agape in shock, and looking up at the floating pages when she sees pictures of the creatures that she drew from all her dreams. The ones that flow with the wind, the ponies made of crystal, the creatures with different animal limbs, and the doodle of that pink Alicorn. "Hello...?" She speaks out quietly. "Who are you two...?" The entities don't respond, instead, everything comes to a halt. The pages all flying around Quest as the two entities begin to float towards her. She tries to back up, but grows tired and weak, her eyes getting heavier as the two entities stop, looking down at Quest. Before blacking out, she remembers seeing the pages come falling slowly next to her, and the entities saying these fainted words...

"We are the ancient ones who come for you. Your story begins now. . . "

Quest awakes with a small yelp, breathing heavily. "What kind of dream was that? Never in my life, I had a dream that felt so real, yet, they said something about my. . . Story?" She stares at her bed, quickly noticing that her diary is not next to her. She jumps out of her bed, quietly walking down the stairs towards the table. There, her diary was laying, opened, and with pages everywhere. She picks them up quickly. Then... It clicked in her mind. She remembered what her father had said and repeats it, "... Some distractions can who my true desires and feelings."

She smiles the biggest smile, and picks up the rest of the pages, drops some, but picks them up in a hurried manner. She returns to her room and closes the door, not wanted to disturb her parents when she lights a candle. She opens her diary to a blank page and starts to write. "Dear diary, today I learned that my destiny is right around the corner. . . My true feelings and desires I now know. There is a reason why I get distracted by my thoughts of the outside world beyond my home, there is a reason why I have these life-like dreams of creatures that I have yet to discover, and there is a reason why those two 'Ancient Alicorns' appeared before me. That was no dream I had, it was oh so real. I need to find what I must do, I don't know what, but when I figure it out, it will probably change this world for the better. . . But what will that cost me? "

After looking over it, and making some changes and corrections, Quest turns the page to the back and draws what the light and dark Alicorns were doing. She draws them circling around and orb, then messing around and putting fancy designs all over. She doesn't know why they would appear to her out of everyone, but it's meant to show a sign of something to come, and Quest, after finishing the drawing, puts her diary back in her drawer, blows out her candle, and quickly drifts off to sleep, anticipating the next days to come...