Once in a lifetimeby EcholocationChaptersChapter one - The prophecy.Chapter two - The Letter and the creation of a new speciesChapter four - The disappearance of animalsChapter five - Metamorphism Chapter six - DevelopmentChapter three - Problems concerning the cleanliness of the waterChapter one - The prophecy.Celestia sipped her tea thoughtfully while gazing to the setting sun. Such a long and adventurous day for the ponies of Equestria, and yet, once again they had made it though. Thanks to Twilight and her friends, her kingdom was safe once more from the evil lord of chaos. She called for a servant to take away her empty cup and started to walk down the halls to the Royal chambers for some well-earned rest. As Celestia snuggled under the silk covers, she started dreaming about cute little creatures with fluffy butterfly wings and three eyes. A small smile appeared on her face as she descended into a deeper sleep. In another part of the castle Luna jolted awake. She wiped the sleep from her eyes as she tried to forget the nightmare that wouldn't be banished. Huge carnivorous mouths filled with rows of pointy teeth, spitting poison at her fellow ponies... Luna shivered at the thought. She checked the time and went out over the balcony to watch over the night, shifting the stars into place to make beautiful creations that were spread across the night sky. However, there were maybe two dozen stars that simply refused to move. Was she losing control of her power? Uncontrolled dreams and stubborn stars, maybe she was. With a sigh, Luna padded out from her royal chambers to prepare for the Luna court. She was sure there would be a lot of questions tonight. Luna sent the last noble off for the night and sank into the fluffy pillows that donned her throne. A servant scurried up to her with a slice of moon pie, specially decorated with the constellations of tonight's sky. She encased the plate with her magic before exiting the throne room and heading to the Royal chambers, where she would lower the moon and wake up her sister. Luna took another bite out of the rich moon pie before looking up at the stars. They were still in their proper place, except for the two dozen or so that simply refused her power. They had formed a constellation all by themselves. It looked nothing like an animal or pony, but a point with eight lines of stars trailing into a solar-system like shape. Needless to say the anomaly deeply unsettled her. It meant that somepony on Equs was controlling those stars, some pony, with probably millions of years experience in magic. She had to tell her sister. Celestia cuddled a cute blue creature with a big pink flower on it's head and long ostrich legs as it's babies pranced around her, playing with each other. A pack of large bird-like creatures flew over head and graciously landed on the nearest hill as the sun started to set and three moons were brought out. This was paradise. Suddenly, the sky opened up, and she heard her sister's voice call in an urgent tone: "Celly, please wake up!" Celestia sighed to herself as she was pulled out of the dream world my Lulu's magic. Celestia hoped this was good, as her mental clock said wasn't time for her raise the sun. "Luuuunnaaa... This better be good, I was having the best of dreams tonight." "Thou shalt see what we have discovered while thou was sleeping all that cake off." Celestia scowled at Luna's accusation, but dragged herself out of bed anyway. She slipped on her Royal regalia and trotted out of the chambers and into the hallway. Luna continued while they were walking; "you see sister, while we were moving the stars about tonight, I couldn't seem to grab ahold of them in the night sky. And so, passing this off as a casual power slip, I continued with the Luna court. "When we came back to our balcony however, the two dozen stars had formed a constellation that pony kind had never seen before." The sisters went up to Luna's balcony and gazed up at the night sky. Luna pointed her hoof at the out of place constellation. "You see sister, the stars have moved, not on their own, but by another magic user!" Celestia hmmm'd for a moment before speaking. "Luna we must make an important decision. We can either take it as a prophecy to be interpreted, sent from mother Faust herself, or a piece of slow chaos magic from discord sent to confuse us." Luna thought for a bit. "Maybe we should not leave this decision entirely to ourselves." "What do you mean?" "Maybe the bearers of the elements of harmony can help us with our troubles." Celestia looked at Luna. "Surly not sister, can you imagine the burden which will be placed upon them?" Luna looked back with an equal stare. "Surly you can imagine the way you students face will light up when she hears about the news?" Celestia's eyes widened and she looked down. "That was so underhanded Luna." Luna nodded, though she looked down shamefully. "I did what had to be done to get your mind working." Celestia poked her head outside of the door and alerted a Royal Guard to her needs. She brought out six scrolls and began writing on them till her request was met. There was a knock at the door and Luna opened it with her magic, and revealed a Pegasus mare with two carrier bags strapped to her sides. A Royal guard followed. "Your highnesses, your request for a mailmare has been met." Celestia dismissed him with a nod and proceeded to turn to the mailmare. "Please send these six copies to the bearers of the elements of harmony." Celestia said as she slipped six scrolls into the saddle bags. The mare just nodded and took off their balcony, toward ponyville. "Let us hope that Twilight does not take this the wrong way." "Indeed sister, indeed." And for a rare moment, there was nothing but peace in the world. Chapter two - The Letter and the creation of a new speciesSpike was not one to like waking up early, and after all the drama that he and Twilight and her friends had been through they all needed their sleep even more then ever. And yet, somepony was knocking on the door, even after ten minutes of being ignored by the purple dragon. Seriously, did these ponies ever stop? It was giving him a bad headache, being the nearest to the door. He crawled out of the cave of majestic blanketed warmth, the words 'I'm coming' being muttered under his breath. He slowly creaked open the door to find a lanky mailmare shivering on the door stop in the early spring cold. She held up her hoof as if to stop the door from slamming on her face. "Princess Celestia told me to deliver this to miss Twilight and her friends. Is this where miss Twilight is currently?" Spike just deadpanned at the mare. He was used to this. Constant fan-mail coming in from people who claimed to be Princess Celestia. Every pony should know that the official mail only are delivered by dragon fire. But, for now maybe he could toy with the mare. Make sure she or any more of her fan mares would never come back to their residence again. "And what might be in this letter sent by Princess Celestia?" Now spike had her. She was probably going to start gushing about some new threat to Equestria and that the elements of harmony should meet at a 'secret location' to be informed about the 'information that could save Equestria'. And with the girls still sleeping to regain some energy from the battle with discord, he hoped that the fanmare would leave them alone. The last thing he and the girls needed was being dragged off to some abandoned orphanage in the middle of nowhere, then tied up and given 'free hugs'... Spike shivered at the thought. "I'm sorry but the matter is entirely confidential to Twilight and her friends, the Princesses strictly ordered me to keep my eyes away from the text on those scrolls." Spike lifted an eyebrow. Well he wasn't expecting that for sure. Maybe this was genuine after all. "Yes, Twilight and her friends are having a celebratory sleepover here, so if I could just take those scrolls then when they will wake up, they will have breakfast and that letter." The mare thanked him and flew away. Spike huffed and chucked the fan mail onto the table carelessly and started to make breakfast. Eggs and fried daisies were his favourite and he knew that Twilight liked them too. He started the to hum to him self as the fumes swirled around him and into the bedroom where the girls were sleeping. Instantly he heard the girls moaning in the next room and even heard a small *thump* in there. He served a fair amount to every pony and they were still sizzling when the girls came in. Twilight yawned. "Morning Spike, nice breakfast you have here." "Thanks, oh, and some mail came before you got up for each of you, it's on the table." Spike told the six. Rainbow Dash was the first to get there, wolfing down her eggs and daisies before flattening out the scroll on the floor. It read: Dear Rainbow Dash, Last night, there was a strange anomaly in the stars. We do not know weather it was a remnant of Discord's magic or a prophecy, and that is where you and your friends come in. We need help deciphering the signs that the stars have given us. With your help we could understand this message and make Equestria a safe place once more. The rest of your friends will get their own letters and I advise you do not let them see your's or let them show you theirs. With luck, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna Co-rulers of Equestria The mane-six's reaction in general were: Twilight freaking out about her missing an astronamal anomaly, Rarity suddenly getting some insparation on a dress but then remembered what she was meant to be doing, Rainbow Dash started punching imaginary Nighmare Moons and aliens, Fluttershy started hugging a passing bird for comfort, Pinkie Pie started planning intergalactic space parties and Applejack just stood there, thinking down to earth. Far, far away, in a place that no being in their right mind would call home, there was a planet. Next to it was a black hole, and that planet was being sucked in. From the planet, a huge rock, slightly bigger then the size of Equs's moon shot out of the side of the planet. From there it split as it made its way across the universe landing on both habited and inhabited planets. All of the rocks landed on their new home planet. All but one. As that lone rock sailed across the night sky, it knocked some other meteors off course effectively knocking everything in a large spiral pattern across the current Galaxy it was in. For that small space of time, it seemed that all was lost for the little rock, that it would drift in space for all eternity, never to meet a welcoming planet. However, on the very outer ring of the Galaxy, there was a quaint little planet covered with swirling clouds and luscious green fields, with pools of water that were the perfect shade of light blue. It was the perfect planet. As the meteorite hurtled toward one of the oceans on the perfect planet, Luna and Celestia felt an uncomfortable nudge in the backs of their necks. Like something was breaking an entry. Indeed it was. As the meteorite made contact with the Celestial sea, the rocks that made up most of the meteorite started dissolving, releasing hundreds and thousands of microscopic cells into the once-peaceful ocean. Most of them were swallowed by the local fish before even getting a chance to open their eyes. Others simply died of the temperature difference, too hot and too cold. Others were still encased in the heart of the rock, waiting till it split itself open with the force of the ocean floor. Of course, they did not know that, for they had no brains. But, for what they lacked for in intelligence, they made up for in special abilities. Lightning fast evolution, the ability to pick up genetic traits from deceased animals, complex body morphing, and the list goes on. Who knows, maybe in a few days they'll be able to walk on land... Chapter four - The disappearance of animalsTwilight sat at her desk. Yet another image of last nights stars to aid her investigation. After she had received the letter from princess Celestia, her and the girls had been working very hard to decipher the meaning behind the mysterious star pattern. It was nearing midnight and they still hadn't had a breakthrough in the pattern. Spike was the only one keeping Twilight company while the girls slept in their beds after a stressful day of work. However, Twilight was not going to give up on the princesses any time soon, no matter what her friends would say about the importance of sleep. Suddenly, Spike came in to the study room, holding two claws over his mouth and looking extremely uncomfortable. He looked like he was choking on something and as Twilight started to hit his scaly dragon back an enormous amount of lime green dragon fire spewed out of his mouth in waves. As the flame settled Twilight could see a large box labeled 'fragile' with a letter neatly stuck on the top. She barely had time to catch it with her magic before it hit the floor with the sickening sound of smashed glass ringing in their ears. Twilight and the surrounding area were coated with whatever had been contained within the box, and shards of glass stuck into the aged wooden boards at all angles. Spike stood in the epicenter in shock, dripping with what looked like water. As quickly as she could, Twilight wrapped her magic around the dragon's scaly body and lifted him away from the mess. Twilight only registered the actual spillage of the contents of the box when the precious few fluids started seeping through the floorboards. "No!" she screeched as she dived toward the remaining few puddles that were steadily getting smaller. Fluids were far harder to manipulate or grasp in magic, and as she fumbled for control against the shifting particles, she felt something. A heartbeat. Something's alive in there. In the Celestial sea, two eyes opened. Blue. Blue, hungry? Hungry, hungry, hungry, run! The thing squirmed, not used to having the ability to think. The world was no longer dark for the being, instead the alien sun filtered through the waves that would eventually crash onto the nearest shoreline. The thing sensed others, the kin, floating around in suspension, attempting to gain control of the new thoughts that plagued their body. They were the biggest, they were. They had sharp mandibles and piecing spikes, waving tendrils and frilly fins. Truly, they were the top of the chain, cream of the crop, lords of the sea. However, the fire of ambition grew inside of their little heads, filling it with thoughts of land, eat, grow, spread. Slowly, they felt their smooth scaled undersides give way to large points of skin and bone, their body adapting to the new appendages like they were born with them. Clawed toes flexed into the sand at the bottom of the shallow beach, sending what would eventually be called shivers of delight through their membrane as their newly adapted lungs flexed in the salty air. The beings- no, the creatures fought against the waves valiantly, and all though some were unmercifully drowned by the shifting expanse, the majority of the creatures lived to see the dry sand, plants and trees. Ahead of them, there was a break in the treeline, a sandy hollow sheltered by it's steep walls and arching palm fronds. The creatures eagerly stumbled or rolled into the shelter, not entirely used to the wind battling their sides, and the sun actively attempting to turn them into steaming hunks of flesh. With only a handful of kin left, they dug holes and carried foliage into the center of the hollow, forming a ring of sticks, with leaves in various stages of decay padding the inside. When the creatures had finalized the nest, a familiar feeling overtook their stomachs. Hunt, eat, eat, hunt. With new murderous intent, a pack of the creatures set off deep into the forest, previously drooping tendrils thrashing with aggression. The first unfortunate prey of many was found in the form of a flock of Equestrian birds, basking in the sunlight and reveling in the peace that Equestria seemed to always have an infinite supply of. ...Well until now that was. Claws scraping the ground impatiently were the only warning these unfortunate avians got before five creatures jumped out of the surrounding bushes, snapping their fragile necks without a second thought, only taking time before eating to harvest the unfamiliar genetics. They would share the wings and feathers with pack, yes they would. The ability to fly would be theirs, along with sharper, harder beaks and sturdier legs. They would dominate, grow, spread through the ecosystem. In an ideal world, they would rise unchallanged, paving the path to the stars. This, however, was not an ideal world. There were sentient life forms, a civilisation in the way, an obstacle on the road to glory. This civilisation must be destroyed. Twilight fired up her state-of-the art microscope, peering into the recovered droplets. The letter she received with the package was soggy and was too mushy to make out the letters. At first glance, the water seemed mundane, however, at a deeper and more calculated glance there were thousands of cell like creatures, that seemed to be growing at an accelerated rate that was only dreamed about. Already, what had been the size of a speck of dust was now the size of her hoof, tiny beady eyes gazing back at her, tendrils frantically trying to get a grip on the smooth glass of the container. Frankly, it was incredibly unnerving. She watched others of it's kind with horrid facination, as they consumed the algae growths that had formed around the inside. It was frantically sucking up the plant matter, seemingly in a race against the other various life forms for total domination of the container. Some of the creatures were attacked and killed by others, their flesh either being consumed within a heartbeat or left for the scavengers. The most dominant being proppeled itself in short bursts of speed, it's pores sending out an unidentifiable purple sludge that seemed to extinguish all life that remained in it. Despite these murderous tactics, it was almost entirely a herbivore, preferring the flora to the red trail in it's wake. Twilight could almost relate. Though one question still rang out in her mind, above all the others. Why had Celestia sent this? It was obviously from the princess, being sent by dragonfire, but why? The letter attached had been soaked beyond repair, withholding the knowledge Twilight desperately needed. Was she meant to study the life forms? Raise them? Transmutate them into something else? Were they a threat to Equestria? Or was it a test? With that worrying train of thought she settled down with some parchment and a quill, and wrote to the monarchy of Equestria, making sure to watch the beings through her magic. Now they had moved inland, further and further. The pack had spread, gleefully taking the genetics of all they gorged on, allowing the pack to evolve, grow and spread past the forests that lined Fillydelphia and Baltimare. The trail of death eventually halted at a quaint village named Ponyville. They had accidentally managed to steer clear of any traces of civilization, until now. The first noticed death of any life came in the form of a high-pitched wail as a buttercup coloured Pegasus mare discovered one of her bear friends lying face down in a pile of clawed earth as a pool of sticky liquid slowly spread out from gashes that littered the poor beast's body, turning the dirt into crimson sludge. The mare had seen many deaths before; this was not the first, nor would it ever be the last. However the death was so brutal, she had to wander what had caused it. Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of the White-tail woods, the pack licked their wounds and bared their teeth as the new, unfamiliar genes rushed through their body, turning their paws into claws, and increasing the stature and strength of the pack. As one creature wiped the blood off it's maw, a newborn beast cried out. They would rule over all. Chapter five - Metamorphism Chapter five - Metamorphism After an hour of pacing around the library, Twilight Sparkle's relief was found in the form of a scroll with the Royal seal. Upon reading it, the purple mare found that these strange cells were recovered north of Fillydelphia in the Celestial sea. The princess did not actually state her theories on where they came from, only setting out Twilight's task. She was to record the changes to the miniature ecosystem day by day, as well as nurturing the dominant species even further, prompting the possibility of new growth and an expanded insight into evolution. After careful calculation into the temperature and humidity at which these things could survive at, Twilight successfully transported all life from a cramped container into a proper habitat, where the beings could thrive and grow in a proper monitored containment. She was just finishing off some of her calculations when Twilight heard a sort of- dragging sound. She spun around, ears perked up warily. A murky green blob that Twilight recognized as the dominant species was thrashing in the artificial shallows she had built. However, instead of trying to get back into the cool water, the thing was trying to drag it’s boneless body up the sand with great heaves, being propelled by… it’s leg? Well, that’s new.” Twilight thought, strangely unbothered about this particular happening. The dragging was quickly replaced by the ear-twisting sound of bones cracking and reforming, flesh tearing and a sickening ‘pop’ as a mound of tissue grew longer, and the end split into two. It now had two legs, which it used to resume the dragging sound, only with twice the amount of efficiency. Twilight turned away and rubbed her eyes as it topped into a makeshift tree line off the beach, followed by faint annoyed chirping. Twilight looked into the observation hole, and saw the creature staring at her carefully; almost if it had developed intelligence in the hours she had taken to prepare the sanctuary. But that was impossible, right? Fluttershy’s mind was cloudy as she rested in her bed, nursing a light headache. Something about the way Mr. Bear had, well, died just wouldn’t stop bugging her and kept making her relieve the moment when she found Mr. Bear lying face down in the dirt. Not even some of that expensive herbal tea that Rarity had imported from Saddle Arabia could quiet her worried thoughts. The marks on the body reminded her of Mr. Bear himself, when she found him he was scared and lashed out at the wild animals that lived in the forest. With some gentle persuasion however, the Pegasus mare convinced him to calm down and let her dress his bandages. Fluttershy smiled at the memory, and then it hit her. Who’s to say that the animal that killed Mr. Bear wasn’t also scared, alone and hurt? What if they were suffering right now, while she was lying here in her soft bed? Oh, how selfish it was of her to be relaxing in comfort while the poor thing was probably dying out there? With a slightly harder resolve, the mare clipped a lantern to her saddlebag and took a deep breath before walking into the forest that bordered her house, ignoring how the rays of the dying sun cast crimson beams of light into the shadowy depths, shining a few meters into the forest before being swallowed by the darkness. White-tail woods were surprisingly dark for this time of the evening, and the first stars were hard to make out underneath the birch branches. The wind had dropped so you could hear every hoofstep making the leaves crackle underneath. The trees seemed to stretch out forever, and the light of the sun had long since left her behind to wander. Utter silence unnerved Fluttershy as much as deafening noise did. It made the fur on her body stick up, and her ears had unwillingly flattened against her head, while her wings were in fight or flight mode, either stretching out to make themselves look more threatening, or curling in on themselves. The light from her lantern barely broke the blackness, and once or twice she stumbled over a twisted root or a stray branch, the noise echoing throughout the emptiness. Fluttershy sighed. This expedition was turning out to be a lot harder than she thought. While she didn’t expect to find the creature right away, she expected to find some kind of life within the usually teeming forest. It was like the entire place had been robbed of its spirit, its life. With that unsettling thought, Fluttershy quickened her pace and resolved to find this creature as fast as possible. Tf'kt's nostril's flared as she picked up a new, unfamiliar scent. The scent of living things was good, after some overly enthusiastic hatchlings set off on their first hunting party. Although the heavy hunks of meat hanging from their mandibles would feed the pack for a while, the meat was gathering flies, even in the deepest corner of the food hole. She was the only one awake, keeping watch over the young and old of the pack. Although Tf'kt was not meant to leave watch, the enticing scent of unfamiliar genetics called her away, promising power for the pack. With a flutter of undeveloped wings, she hopped from tree to tree, easily seeing though the forest with special eyes taken from a type of flying food. Tf'kt quickly honed down on the scent, and found it in the form of a strange creature radiating light like the sun. It had four legs and pink growths coming out from it's backside and head. There were also a pair of large flying food wings pearched on it's back, though Tf'kt wondered if they could even fly at all with the size. There was something... different however, about this creature. There seemed to be a well of power resting deep within itself, something Tf'kt and most likely the rest of her species had never even seen before. The feeling of it was overwhelming and intoxicating for the inexperienced creature, and she found herself lusting for the power that rested deep within that creatures soul. This went far beyond genetics, she realised. This could make her the most powerful in the pack. And with that, she lunged. The creature and Twilight held a staring contest for a very long time. A tendril waved uncertainly while Twilight's eye merely twitched. She was sure of it now, sure of the fact that within this ridiculously short time span, this anomaly had gained intelligence. It was simply taking her brain a while to filter through this new knowledge into something that might make sense.She turned away. She looked back. The creature was still lying there, shyly waving a tendril. Her eye twitched again. The creature chirped happily. Chapter six - DevelopmentTwilight was pacing again. Quite an unhealthy habit, sure, but old habits die hard. After a few rushed tests, now even science had proved that yes- it was sentient, and yes- there was a small possibility that it was, or would become at this rate, sapient. It could almost understand her at this point, sensing her increasing frustration like a common domesticated pet would. Another detail Twilight couldn't have missed if she had tried is that it had grown a few inches, and it's skeleton had hardened enough to it could stay upright. Yet another anomaly or loophole in the rules of all she had been taught as a little filly in Celestia's school. The room had gone silent for a few minutes, before a loud excited burbling echoed throughout the room. Wasn't it chirping before? The creature was gesturing to something on her head with one of it's tendrils, and patting it's head with another. Twilight lifted her hoof and raised it to the point where the creature was now wildly gesturing to her. Her hoof brushed the top of her horn, causing a few violet sparks to spurt from the point of contact. It had stopped flailing now, instead performing an action that could be only described as jumping for joy. Twilight pointed at her horn. "You want... my horn?" Her sentence was cut short by a mix of burbles and squarks in an excited tone. Well... this thing seemed friendly enough? Her calculating side got the better of her, therefore she set up a few anti-drain wards just in case 'Chirper' tried anything nasty. You could never be too careful. With some hesitation, Twilight lowered her head into the sanctuary and her horn scraped a scar into the sand. She could hear Chirper's hoofsteps- footsteps? Move towards her, and braced herself for the worst as the little creature rubbed against her horn. Nothing seemed to happen, for one minutes, two minutes and then Chirper was done with whatever they had been doing. Twilight rose out of the sanctuary and pulled up a mirror with her levitation to check if any physical damage had been inflicted on her. Nothing, not even scratches from where the claws might've dug into the bone. As Twilight got lost in thought thinking about what in Celestia's mane Chirper had done, a new sound arouse from containment. It wasn't the Shrill cry of a bird nor the murmuring of a bubbling pot, instead it sounded distinctly pony-like. Twilight cautiously peered over the rim of the constructed environment to witness Chirper forming a forth leg, the tissue stretching out and reforming to accommodate the new appendage. The ends of each foot were still two toed, however sparse lilac fur covered the entirety of it's body barring the feet. She watched it grow, from a reasonable 2 inches to 8 within a matter of minutes, bones slowly cracking and reforming, and yet the creature showed no hint of pain on it's face, only enthusiasm. With this new, and, uh, unique development, Twilight made the executive decision to write a fairly worried letter to the Princess, trying to finish it before Celestia settled down to sleep. Tf'kt could only feel a sense of pride in her stalking abilities when she had pinned the yellow creature to the ground in hopes of taking the energies that sat snugly within it's chest that promised intellect and power for her. The creature was shaking violently under her five-toed paw and making vague squeaking noises whenever Tf'kt pressed a sensitive point. Somehow Tf'kt knew that if she extinguished this creature's life, then the light within it would be snuffed as well. No, she had to be careful with this extraction. The most power was leaking from the base of the wings in large amounts as it flapped violently. Tf'kt leaned down and lightly scraped it's teeth along the joint between the body and the wings. Almost instantaneously she felt a surge of energy fly through her nerves as she sapped the creature's energy from the easiest source. The world snapped into focus and the world became more vibrant as her brain evolved to take in colors never seen before. Tf'kt straightened up as newer, sturdier bones crept into her wings, providing a solid wingspan that could hold her up in flight. Out of all of those changes, none shocked her more than the well of energy pooling within her, making her head buzz and wings flap wildy. Through her blurry gaze she saw the creature flung off to one side against a tree, fur strangely grey, the light from before put out, cowering pathetically. Just as she went to move in for the final blow, an unfamiliar voice rang out in her head: Why should we kill the creature? It has given us power beyond our wildest dreams. We should leave it here, and let the wildlife pick it off. It would be the least we could do to show our gratitude. Tf'kt reluctantly agreed and proceeded to move back to the pack's resting grounds. What awaited her was not the picture of what she had left behind, the orange sunrise shining into the Alpha's furious eyes. Alpha turned his ears back and gestured to the rest of the resting grounds. It felt weird to read body language now. {How dare you leave your pack unguarded for a stupid youngling adventure!} {I am sorry Alpha.} {Sorry will not do! You are hereby exiled from this pack!} Tf'kt's Yellow eyes flashed as she filled her paw with concentrated energy from within and brought it down on the Alpha's head with lightning fast speed. Before he could get up, she snapped his spinal cord with her hardened jaws. The rest of the pack watched on in shocked horror as a pack member only so much older than a hatchling decimated the previous steadfast leader. {I now control this pack!} {Any opponents will meet the same fate as R'thl, should you dare challenge me!} She howled, using the previous Alpha's birth name. {I will not settle for an endless cycle! We will expand, and grow stronger and smarter! Soon, we will rule the planet!} Tf'kt straightened her back and let out a wordless howl, and eventually others joined in to the orchestra of voices that rang across the woods. Another tear escaped from Fluttershy's eye as she curled up in a ball, her magic and energy drained from her, so much that she couldn't stand. She started to shake in fear when loud animal howls spread to each corner of the forest, wary that even in the sunlight, one of those things could be hiding in every bush, behind every tree, around every corner. She barely noticed when a flurry of leaves swept past her as her vision faded into darkness. Into a sleep that she might never wake up from. Goodnight, Fluttershy. Author's Note And this my friends, was an introduction to passive evolution/stage advancing and aggressive stage advancing. If you haven't picked it up in this chapter: Magical energy gives the life-forms the boost that they need to get up from creature to tribal. It takes less of the pony's energy when the creatures gets it passively (like Twilight and Chirper.) but it has to be given willingly. Aggressive draining can scar their magical regeneration abilities for life, or at least drain all the magic within them. (Tf'kt and Fluttershy.) Chapter three - Problems concerning the cleanliness of the waterClean pipe was a hard working stallion who kept station day and night at the control system for the flow of the Celestial seawater into central Equestria. They checked the water regularly and cleaned it, making sure no ponies came into contact with the creatures of the deep. There had not been an epidemic for more than two centuries, with ponies gathering up their immune system, it was almost like they weren't needed anymore to help steady the flow. Suddenly crimson warning lights flashed at his desk. He asked as calmly as possible what in Equestria was happening and all he got was an uncertain explanation and a "sir, y-you might want to see this." From purification site B. Clean Pipe hopped out of his chair and walked toward the elevator with an annoyed expression on his face. As soon as the elevator bell went off he started to show a more worried trot as her got closer to purification site B. What could've happened? Maybe there was a new dangerous virus that was slowly turning his employment in to zom- Clean Pipe gave himself a light slap to the face as he remembered where he was. He burst through the doors at met the worried face of Water Circuit. "Sir I am glad you came. There is an unknown creature jamming the filters and we want you to see it first hoof." "Very well Water, lead the way." They came across a large trough filled with boiling seawater from the Celestial Sea, with many different fans and fine grills keeping the larger stuff from clogging up virus removal site B. Water Circuit picked up a jar in his magic and gave it to Clean Pipe. Once Clean pushed his eyes up to the jar he could see hundreds- no, maybe thousands of microscopic creatures swimming about, fighting, eating, growing and- wait, evolving? But the insanity seemed to go on as Water Circuit slipped some gloves on his hoof and picked up- well he didn't know what to call it. It was about the size of his hoof, and looked like a small purple inflatable ball. There were spikes all around the side and large snapping jaws that kept trying to bite Water's hoof with vigour. Clean Pipe tried to stop himself from cringing in disgust as it's miniature eyes glared at him from below. "I think we should get an audience from princess Celestia to show her this creature" "Definitely Clean, then we might gain a name among the nobles and scholars of Canterlot!" It was yet another day of court for the princess of the sun. Tax evasions, petty crime, building plans, yadda, yadda yadda. She checked her timetable. An audience with the boss of Celestial seawater filtering and co. Something about discovering a new species? Now this ought to be interesting from the usual moaning nobles, something interesting to end the day. "Mr Clean Pipe and Mr Water Circuit, you have called an audience for the discovery of a new species in Equestria. Please present your evidence to the court." They two stallions stepped forward and bowed, before Clean Pipe spoke up: "your highness, while we were filtering water into Equestria, we noticed several unknown entities in the water. After throughly checking the archives for note of these species, there was no immediate evidence of the species ever existing in Equestria." Celestia motioned with her head. "Go on." "After looking at boat security footage, at approximately 8 am this morning a small meteor crashed 50 miles off shore. They were about the size of your sister, forgive me, and we suspect that many of them broke off and dissolved in the water. Four and a half hours later, we picked up these creatures." Clean pipe held up a near-transparent bottle, that to the normal eye, looked like it was constantly spinning around. However, to Celestia, it was clear that there were hundreds of little beings making a living in that very jar. "And," Water Circuit began, "we have a dominant species of that jar, slightly smaller than the size of stallion's hoof. Water then brought out what could only be described by Celestia's shocked mind as a squishy purple spiky thing. "Well, your highness?" She could barely say a thing as the implications of the stars lay right before her. "Please half the jar, one shall go to the Canterlot research facility, and the other will stay with me and my sister." The duo nodded and let the princess take the jar. "And yes, you will get paid." She quipped, before motioning her adviser to give them each a large bag of bits. Their faces lit up in delight. She sighed, before saying: "This court session is now over." It was the end of the day anyway, she was allowed to look a little exhausted. She went up to Luna's bedchamber to wake her up, a little payback for yesterday's rude awakening. She creeped into her bedchamber, leaned in oh so very closely aaand... "LUNAAA WAKE UP!" Luna shot up from bed and disintegrated the bed table and the lamp and lit up her horn as bright as the sun. Celestia quickly plugged her ears with magic before shouting "SHOW YOURSELF, PETTY WHELP!" Her only answer was Celestia snickering behind her hoof. Luna turned off the Royal Canterlot voice and whisper-shouted "Sister, what is the meaning of this abnormal disturbance in my sleep? It better be good, or we shall raise the moon late today." Celestia responded "One, to get you back for disturbing my dream, no matter how important those stars were, and two, to show you this." Celestia held up the jar of creatures to Luna as she studied it. "Yes, and?" Luna was getting impatient. "Well, these creatures are from a meteorite that crashed around 8am this morning!" "You mean that horrid pushing sensation we got around that time?" "Yes, and I was planning to send half the jar to the girls, and half to the Canterlot research facility" "That is a wise choice sister. Let us send the package by dragon fire this time, as spike is already awake." "Let's"
Chapter one - The prophecy.Celestia sipped her tea thoughtfully while gazing to the setting sun. Such a long and adventurous day for the ponies of Equestria, and yet, once again they had made it though. Thanks to Twilight and her friends, her kingdom was safe once more from the evil lord of chaos. She called for a servant to take away her empty cup and started to walk down the halls to the Royal chambers for some well-earned rest. As Celestia snuggled under the silk covers, she started dreaming about cute little creatures with fluffy butterfly wings and three eyes. A small smile appeared on her face as she descended into a deeper sleep. In another part of the castle Luna jolted awake. She wiped the sleep from her eyes as she tried to forget the nightmare that wouldn't be banished. Huge carnivorous mouths filled with rows of pointy teeth, spitting poison at her fellow ponies... Luna shivered at the thought. She checked the time and went out over the balcony to watch over the night, shifting the stars into place to make beautiful creations that were spread across the night sky. However, there were maybe two dozen stars that simply refused to move. Was she losing control of her power? Uncontrolled dreams and stubborn stars, maybe she was. With a sigh, Luna padded out from her royal chambers to prepare for the Luna court. She was sure there would be a lot of questions tonight. Luna sent the last noble off for the night and sank into the fluffy pillows that donned her throne. A servant scurried up to her with a slice of moon pie, specially decorated with the constellations of tonight's sky. She encased the plate with her magic before exiting the throne room and heading to the Royal chambers, where she would lower the moon and wake up her sister. Luna took another bite out of the rich moon pie before looking up at the stars. They were still in their proper place, except for the two dozen or so that simply refused her power. They had formed a constellation all by themselves. It looked nothing like an animal or pony, but a point with eight lines of stars trailing into a solar-system like shape. Needless to say the anomaly deeply unsettled her. It meant that somepony on Equs was controlling those stars, some pony, with probably millions of years experience in magic. She had to tell her sister. Celestia cuddled a cute blue creature with a big pink flower on it's head and long ostrich legs as it's babies pranced around her, playing with each other. A pack of large bird-like creatures flew over head and graciously landed on the nearest hill as the sun started to set and three moons were brought out. This was paradise. Suddenly, the sky opened up, and she heard her sister's voice call in an urgent tone: "Celly, please wake up!" Celestia sighed to herself as she was pulled out of the dream world my Lulu's magic. Celestia hoped this was good, as her mental clock said wasn't time for her raise the sun. "Luuuunnaaa... This better be good, I was having the best of dreams tonight." "Thou shalt see what we have discovered while thou was sleeping all that cake off." Celestia scowled at Luna's accusation, but dragged herself out of bed anyway. She slipped on her Royal regalia and trotted out of the chambers and into the hallway. Luna continued while they were walking; "you see sister, while we were moving the stars about tonight, I couldn't seem to grab ahold of them in the night sky. And so, passing this off as a casual power slip, I continued with the Luna court. "When we came back to our balcony however, the two dozen stars had formed a constellation that pony kind had never seen before." The sisters went up to Luna's balcony and gazed up at the night sky. Luna pointed her hoof at the out of place constellation. "You see sister, the stars have moved, not on their own, but by another magic user!" Celestia hmmm'd for a moment before speaking. "Luna we must make an important decision. We can either take it as a prophecy to be interpreted, sent from mother Faust herself, or a piece of slow chaos magic from discord sent to confuse us." Luna thought for a bit. "Maybe we should not leave this decision entirely to ourselves." "What do you mean?" "Maybe the bearers of the elements of harmony can help us with our troubles." Celestia looked at Luna. "Surly not sister, can you imagine the burden which will be placed upon them?" Luna looked back with an equal stare. "Surly you can imagine the way you students face will light up when she hears about the news?" Celestia's eyes widened and she looked down. "That was so underhanded Luna." Luna nodded, though she looked down shamefully. "I did what had to be done to get your mind working." Celestia poked her head outside of the door and alerted a Royal Guard to her needs. She brought out six scrolls and began writing on them till her request was met. There was a knock at the door and Luna opened it with her magic, and revealed a Pegasus mare with two carrier bags strapped to her sides. A Royal guard followed. "Your highnesses, your request for a mailmare has been met." Celestia dismissed him with a nod and proceeded to turn to the mailmare. "Please send these six copies to the bearers of the elements of harmony." Celestia said as she slipped six scrolls into the saddle bags. The mare just nodded and took off their balcony, toward ponyville. "Let us hope that Twilight does not take this the wrong way." "Indeed sister, indeed." And for a rare moment, there was nothing but peace in the world.
Chapter two - The Letter and the creation of a new speciesSpike was not one to like waking up early, and after all the drama that he and Twilight and her friends had been through they all needed their sleep even more then ever. And yet, somepony was knocking on the door, even after ten minutes of being ignored by the purple dragon. Seriously, did these ponies ever stop? It was giving him a bad headache, being the nearest to the door. He crawled out of the cave of majestic blanketed warmth, the words 'I'm coming' being muttered under his breath. He slowly creaked open the door to find a lanky mailmare shivering on the door stop in the early spring cold. She held up her hoof as if to stop the door from slamming on her face. "Princess Celestia told me to deliver this to miss Twilight and her friends. Is this where miss Twilight is currently?" Spike just deadpanned at the mare. He was used to this. Constant fan-mail coming in from people who claimed to be Princess Celestia. Every pony should know that the official mail only are delivered by dragon fire. But, for now maybe he could toy with the mare. Make sure she or any more of her fan mares would never come back to their residence again. "And what might be in this letter sent by Princess Celestia?" Now spike had her. She was probably going to start gushing about some new threat to Equestria and that the elements of harmony should meet at a 'secret location' to be informed about the 'information that could save Equestria'. And with the girls still sleeping to regain some energy from the battle with discord, he hoped that the fanmare would leave them alone. The last thing he and the girls needed was being dragged off to some abandoned orphanage in the middle of nowhere, then tied up and given 'free hugs'... Spike shivered at the thought. "I'm sorry but the matter is entirely confidential to Twilight and her friends, the Princesses strictly ordered me to keep my eyes away from the text on those scrolls." Spike lifted an eyebrow. Well he wasn't expecting that for sure. Maybe this was genuine after all. "Yes, Twilight and her friends are having a celebratory sleepover here, so if I could just take those scrolls then when they will wake up, they will have breakfast and that letter." The mare thanked him and flew away. Spike huffed and chucked the fan mail onto the table carelessly and started to make breakfast. Eggs and fried daisies were his favourite and he knew that Twilight liked them too. He started the to hum to him self as the fumes swirled around him and into the bedroom where the girls were sleeping. Instantly he heard the girls moaning in the next room and even heard a small *thump* in there. He served a fair amount to every pony and they were still sizzling when the girls came in. Twilight yawned. "Morning Spike, nice breakfast you have here." "Thanks, oh, and some mail came before you got up for each of you, it's on the table." Spike told the six. Rainbow Dash was the first to get there, wolfing down her eggs and daisies before flattening out the scroll on the floor. It read: Dear Rainbow Dash, Last night, there was a strange anomaly in the stars. We do not know weather it was a remnant of Discord's magic or a prophecy, and that is where you and your friends come in. We need help deciphering the signs that the stars have given us. With your help we could understand this message and make Equestria a safe place once more. The rest of your friends will get their own letters and I advise you do not let them see your's or let them show you theirs. With luck, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna Co-rulers of Equestria The mane-six's reaction in general were: Twilight freaking out about her missing an astronamal anomaly, Rarity suddenly getting some insparation on a dress but then remembered what she was meant to be doing, Rainbow Dash started punching imaginary Nighmare Moons and aliens, Fluttershy started hugging a passing bird for comfort, Pinkie Pie started planning intergalactic space parties and Applejack just stood there, thinking down to earth. Far, far away, in a place that no being in their right mind would call home, there was a planet. Next to it was a black hole, and that planet was being sucked in. From the planet, a huge rock, slightly bigger then the size of Equs's moon shot out of the side of the planet. From there it split as it made its way across the universe landing on both habited and inhabited planets. All of the rocks landed on their new home planet. All but one. As that lone rock sailed across the night sky, it knocked some other meteors off course effectively knocking everything in a large spiral pattern across the current Galaxy it was in. For that small space of time, it seemed that all was lost for the little rock, that it would drift in space for all eternity, never to meet a welcoming planet. However, on the very outer ring of the Galaxy, there was a quaint little planet covered with swirling clouds and luscious green fields, with pools of water that were the perfect shade of light blue. It was the perfect planet. As the meteorite hurtled toward one of the oceans on the perfect planet, Luna and Celestia felt an uncomfortable nudge in the backs of their necks. Like something was breaking an entry. Indeed it was. As the meteorite made contact with the Celestial sea, the rocks that made up most of the meteorite started dissolving, releasing hundreds and thousands of microscopic cells into the once-peaceful ocean. Most of them were swallowed by the local fish before even getting a chance to open their eyes. Others simply died of the temperature difference, too hot and too cold. Others were still encased in the heart of the rock, waiting till it split itself open with the force of the ocean floor. Of course, they did not know that, for they had no brains. But, for what they lacked for in intelligence, they made up for in special abilities. Lightning fast evolution, the ability to pick up genetic traits from deceased animals, complex body morphing, and the list goes on. Who knows, maybe in a few days they'll be able to walk on land...
Chapter four - The disappearance of animalsTwilight sat at her desk. Yet another image of last nights stars to aid her investigation. After she had received the letter from princess Celestia, her and the girls had been working very hard to decipher the meaning behind the mysterious star pattern. It was nearing midnight and they still hadn't had a breakthrough in the pattern. Spike was the only one keeping Twilight company while the girls slept in their beds after a stressful day of work. However, Twilight was not going to give up on the princesses any time soon, no matter what her friends would say about the importance of sleep. Suddenly, Spike came in to the study room, holding two claws over his mouth and looking extremely uncomfortable. He looked like he was choking on something and as Twilight started to hit his scaly dragon back an enormous amount of lime green dragon fire spewed out of his mouth in waves. As the flame settled Twilight could see a large box labeled 'fragile' with a letter neatly stuck on the top. She barely had time to catch it with her magic before it hit the floor with the sickening sound of smashed glass ringing in their ears. Twilight and the surrounding area were coated with whatever had been contained within the box, and shards of glass stuck into the aged wooden boards at all angles. Spike stood in the epicenter in shock, dripping with what looked like water. As quickly as she could, Twilight wrapped her magic around the dragon's scaly body and lifted him away from the mess. Twilight only registered the actual spillage of the contents of the box when the precious few fluids started seeping through the floorboards. "No!" she screeched as she dived toward the remaining few puddles that were steadily getting smaller. Fluids were far harder to manipulate or grasp in magic, and as she fumbled for control against the shifting particles, she felt something. A heartbeat. Something's alive in there. In the Celestial sea, two eyes opened. Blue. Blue, hungry? Hungry, hungry, hungry, run! The thing squirmed, not used to having the ability to think. The world was no longer dark for the being, instead the alien sun filtered through the waves that would eventually crash onto the nearest shoreline. The thing sensed others, the kin, floating around in suspension, attempting to gain control of the new thoughts that plagued their body. They were the biggest, they were. They had sharp mandibles and piecing spikes, waving tendrils and frilly fins. Truly, they were the top of the chain, cream of the crop, lords of the sea. However, the fire of ambition grew inside of their little heads, filling it with thoughts of land, eat, grow, spread. Slowly, they felt their smooth scaled undersides give way to large points of skin and bone, their body adapting to the new appendages like they were born with them. Clawed toes flexed into the sand at the bottom of the shallow beach, sending what would eventually be called shivers of delight through their membrane as their newly adapted lungs flexed in the salty air. The beings- no, the creatures fought against the waves valiantly, and all though some were unmercifully drowned by the shifting expanse, the majority of the creatures lived to see the dry sand, plants and trees. Ahead of them, there was a break in the treeline, a sandy hollow sheltered by it's steep walls and arching palm fronds. The creatures eagerly stumbled or rolled into the shelter, not entirely used to the wind battling their sides, and the sun actively attempting to turn them into steaming hunks of flesh. With only a handful of kin left, they dug holes and carried foliage into the center of the hollow, forming a ring of sticks, with leaves in various stages of decay padding the inside. When the creatures had finalized the nest, a familiar feeling overtook their stomachs. Hunt, eat, eat, hunt. With new murderous intent, a pack of the creatures set off deep into the forest, previously drooping tendrils thrashing with aggression. The first unfortunate prey of many was found in the form of a flock of Equestrian birds, basking in the sunlight and reveling in the peace that Equestria seemed to always have an infinite supply of. ...Well until now that was. Claws scraping the ground impatiently were the only warning these unfortunate avians got before five creatures jumped out of the surrounding bushes, snapping their fragile necks without a second thought, only taking time before eating to harvest the unfamiliar genetics. They would share the wings and feathers with pack, yes they would. The ability to fly would be theirs, along with sharper, harder beaks and sturdier legs. They would dominate, grow, spread through the ecosystem. In an ideal world, they would rise unchallanged, paving the path to the stars. This, however, was not an ideal world. There were sentient life forms, a civilisation in the way, an obstacle on the road to glory. This civilisation must be destroyed. Twilight fired up her state-of-the art microscope, peering into the recovered droplets. The letter she received with the package was soggy and was too mushy to make out the letters. At first glance, the water seemed mundane, however, at a deeper and more calculated glance there were thousands of cell like creatures, that seemed to be growing at an accelerated rate that was only dreamed about. Already, what had been the size of a speck of dust was now the size of her hoof, tiny beady eyes gazing back at her, tendrils frantically trying to get a grip on the smooth glass of the container. Frankly, it was incredibly unnerving. She watched others of it's kind with horrid facination, as they consumed the algae growths that had formed around the inside. It was frantically sucking up the plant matter, seemingly in a race against the other various life forms for total domination of the container. Some of the creatures were attacked and killed by others, their flesh either being consumed within a heartbeat or left for the scavengers. The most dominant being proppeled itself in short bursts of speed, it's pores sending out an unidentifiable purple sludge that seemed to extinguish all life that remained in it. Despite these murderous tactics, it was almost entirely a herbivore, preferring the flora to the red trail in it's wake. Twilight could almost relate. Though one question still rang out in her mind, above all the others. Why had Celestia sent this? It was obviously from the princess, being sent by dragonfire, but why? The letter attached had been soaked beyond repair, withholding the knowledge Twilight desperately needed. Was she meant to study the life forms? Raise them? Transmutate them into something else? Were they a threat to Equestria? Or was it a test? With that worrying train of thought she settled down with some parchment and a quill, and wrote to the monarchy of Equestria, making sure to watch the beings through her magic. Now they had moved inland, further and further. The pack had spread, gleefully taking the genetics of all they gorged on, allowing the pack to evolve, grow and spread past the forests that lined Fillydelphia and Baltimare. The trail of death eventually halted at a quaint village named Ponyville. They had accidentally managed to steer clear of any traces of civilization, until now. The first noticed death of any life came in the form of a high-pitched wail as a buttercup coloured Pegasus mare discovered one of her bear friends lying face down in a pile of clawed earth as a pool of sticky liquid slowly spread out from gashes that littered the poor beast's body, turning the dirt into crimson sludge. The mare had seen many deaths before; this was not the first, nor would it ever be the last. However the death was so brutal, she had to wander what had caused it. Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of the White-tail woods, the pack licked their wounds and bared their teeth as the new, unfamiliar genes rushed through their body, turning their paws into claws, and increasing the stature and strength of the pack. As one creature wiped the blood off it's maw, a newborn beast cried out. They would rule over all.
Chapter five - Metamorphism Chapter five - Metamorphism After an hour of pacing around the library, Twilight Sparkle's relief was found in the form of a scroll with the Royal seal. Upon reading it, the purple mare found that these strange cells were recovered north of Fillydelphia in the Celestial sea. The princess did not actually state her theories on where they came from, only setting out Twilight's task. She was to record the changes to the miniature ecosystem day by day, as well as nurturing the dominant species even further, prompting the possibility of new growth and an expanded insight into evolution. After careful calculation into the temperature and humidity at which these things could survive at, Twilight successfully transported all life from a cramped container into a proper habitat, where the beings could thrive and grow in a proper monitored containment. She was just finishing off some of her calculations when Twilight heard a sort of- dragging sound. She spun around, ears perked up warily. A murky green blob that Twilight recognized as the dominant species was thrashing in the artificial shallows she had built. However, instead of trying to get back into the cool water, the thing was trying to drag it’s boneless body up the sand with great heaves, being propelled by… it’s leg? Well, that’s new.” Twilight thought, strangely unbothered about this particular happening. The dragging was quickly replaced by the ear-twisting sound of bones cracking and reforming, flesh tearing and a sickening ‘pop’ as a mound of tissue grew longer, and the end split into two. It now had two legs, which it used to resume the dragging sound, only with twice the amount of efficiency. Twilight turned away and rubbed her eyes as it topped into a makeshift tree line off the beach, followed by faint annoyed chirping. Twilight looked into the observation hole, and saw the creature staring at her carefully; almost if it had developed intelligence in the hours she had taken to prepare the sanctuary. But that was impossible, right? Fluttershy’s mind was cloudy as she rested in her bed, nursing a light headache. Something about the way Mr. Bear had, well, died just wouldn’t stop bugging her and kept making her relieve the moment when she found Mr. Bear lying face down in the dirt. Not even some of that expensive herbal tea that Rarity had imported from Saddle Arabia could quiet her worried thoughts. The marks on the body reminded her of Mr. Bear himself, when she found him he was scared and lashed out at the wild animals that lived in the forest. With some gentle persuasion however, the Pegasus mare convinced him to calm down and let her dress his bandages. Fluttershy smiled at the memory, and then it hit her. Who’s to say that the animal that killed Mr. Bear wasn’t also scared, alone and hurt? What if they were suffering right now, while she was lying here in her soft bed? Oh, how selfish it was of her to be relaxing in comfort while the poor thing was probably dying out there? With a slightly harder resolve, the mare clipped a lantern to her saddlebag and took a deep breath before walking into the forest that bordered her house, ignoring how the rays of the dying sun cast crimson beams of light into the shadowy depths, shining a few meters into the forest before being swallowed by the darkness. White-tail woods were surprisingly dark for this time of the evening, and the first stars were hard to make out underneath the birch branches. The wind had dropped so you could hear every hoofstep making the leaves crackle underneath. The trees seemed to stretch out forever, and the light of the sun had long since left her behind to wander. Utter silence unnerved Fluttershy as much as deafening noise did. It made the fur on her body stick up, and her ears had unwillingly flattened against her head, while her wings were in fight or flight mode, either stretching out to make themselves look more threatening, or curling in on themselves. The light from her lantern barely broke the blackness, and once or twice she stumbled over a twisted root or a stray branch, the noise echoing throughout the emptiness. Fluttershy sighed. This expedition was turning out to be a lot harder than she thought. While she didn’t expect to find the creature right away, she expected to find some kind of life within the usually teeming forest. It was like the entire place had been robbed of its spirit, its life. With that unsettling thought, Fluttershy quickened her pace and resolved to find this creature as fast as possible. Tf'kt's nostril's flared as she picked up a new, unfamiliar scent. The scent of living things was good, after some overly enthusiastic hatchlings set off on their first hunting party. Although the heavy hunks of meat hanging from their mandibles would feed the pack for a while, the meat was gathering flies, even in the deepest corner of the food hole. She was the only one awake, keeping watch over the young and old of the pack. Although Tf'kt was not meant to leave watch, the enticing scent of unfamiliar genetics called her away, promising power for the pack. With a flutter of undeveloped wings, she hopped from tree to tree, easily seeing though the forest with special eyes taken from a type of flying food. Tf'kt quickly honed down on the scent, and found it in the form of a strange creature radiating light like the sun. It had four legs and pink growths coming out from it's backside and head. There were also a pair of large flying food wings pearched on it's back, though Tf'kt wondered if they could even fly at all with the size. There was something... different however, about this creature. There seemed to be a well of power resting deep within itself, something Tf'kt and most likely the rest of her species had never even seen before. The feeling of it was overwhelming and intoxicating for the inexperienced creature, and she found herself lusting for the power that rested deep within that creatures soul. This went far beyond genetics, she realised. This could make her the most powerful in the pack. And with that, she lunged. The creature and Twilight held a staring contest for a very long time. A tendril waved uncertainly while Twilight's eye merely twitched. She was sure of it now, sure of the fact that within this ridiculously short time span, this anomaly had gained intelligence. It was simply taking her brain a while to filter through this new knowledge into something that might make sense.She turned away. She looked back. The creature was still lying there, shyly waving a tendril. Her eye twitched again. The creature chirped happily.
Chapter six - DevelopmentTwilight was pacing again. Quite an unhealthy habit, sure, but old habits die hard. After a few rushed tests, now even science had proved that yes- it was sentient, and yes- there was a small possibility that it was, or would become at this rate, sapient. It could almost understand her at this point, sensing her increasing frustration like a common domesticated pet would. Another detail Twilight couldn't have missed if she had tried is that it had grown a few inches, and it's skeleton had hardened enough to it could stay upright. Yet another anomaly or loophole in the rules of all she had been taught as a little filly in Celestia's school. The room had gone silent for a few minutes, before a loud excited burbling echoed throughout the room. Wasn't it chirping before? The creature was gesturing to something on her head with one of it's tendrils, and patting it's head with another. Twilight lifted her hoof and raised it to the point where the creature was now wildly gesturing to her. Her hoof brushed the top of her horn, causing a few violet sparks to spurt from the point of contact. It had stopped flailing now, instead performing an action that could be only described as jumping for joy. Twilight pointed at her horn. "You want... my horn?" Her sentence was cut short by a mix of burbles and squarks in an excited tone. Well... this thing seemed friendly enough? Her calculating side got the better of her, therefore she set up a few anti-drain wards just in case 'Chirper' tried anything nasty. You could never be too careful. With some hesitation, Twilight lowered her head into the sanctuary and her horn scraped a scar into the sand. She could hear Chirper's hoofsteps- footsteps? Move towards her, and braced herself for the worst as the little creature rubbed against her horn. Nothing seemed to happen, for one minutes, two minutes and then Chirper was done with whatever they had been doing. Twilight rose out of the sanctuary and pulled up a mirror with her levitation to check if any physical damage had been inflicted on her. Nothing, not even scratches from where the claws might've dug into the bone. As Twilight got lost in thought thinking about what in Celestia's mane Chirper had done, a new sound arouse from containment. It wasn't the Shrill cry of a bird nor the murmuring of a bubbling pot, instead it sounded distinctly pony-like. Twilight cautiously peered over the rim of the constructed environment to witness Chirper forming a forth leg, the tissue stretching out and reforming to accommodate the new appendage. The ends of each foot were still two toed, however sparse lilac fur covered the entirety of it's body barring the feet. She watched it grow, from a reasonable 2 inches to 8 within a matter of minutes, bones slowly cracking and reforming, and yet the creature showed no hint of pain on it's face, only enthusiasm. With this new, and, uh, unique development, Twilight made the executive decision to write a fairly worried letter to the Princess, trying to finish it before Celestia settled down to sleep. Tf'kt could only feel a sense of pride in her stalking abilities when she had pinned the yellow creature to the ground in hopes of taking the energies that sat snugly within it's chest that promised intellect and power for her. The creature was shaking violently under her five-toed paw and making vague squeaking noises whenever Tf'kt pressed a sensitive point. Somehow Tf'kt knew that if she extinguished this creature's life, then the light within it would be snuffed as well. No, she had to be careful with this extraction. The most power was leaking from the base of the wings in large amounts as it flapped violently. Tf'kt leaned down and lightly scraped it's teeth along the joint between the body and the wings. Almost instantaneously she felt a surge of energy fly through her nerves as she sapped the creature's energy from the easiest source. The world snapped into focus and the world became more vibrant as her brain evolved to take in colors never seen before. Tf'kt straightened up as newer, sturdier bones crept into her wings, providing a solid wingspan that could hold her up in flight. Out of all of those changes, none shocked her more than the well of energy pooling within her, making her head buzz and wings flap wildy. Through her blurry gaze she saw the creature flung off to one side against a tree, fur strangely grey, the light from before put out, cowering pathetically. Just as she went to move in for the final blow, an unfamiliar voice rang out in her head: Why should we kill the creature? It has given us power beyond our wildest dreams. We should leave it here, and let the wildlife pick it off. It would be the least we could do to show our gratitude. Tf'kt reluctantly agreed and proceeded to move back to the pack's resting grounds. What awaited her was not the picture of what she had left behind, the orange sunrise shining into the Alpha's furious eyes. Alpha turned his ears back and gestured to the rest of the resting grounds. It felt weird to read body language now. {How dare you leave your pack unguarded for a stupid youngling adventure!} {I am sorry Alpha.} {Sorry will not do! You are hereby exiled from this pack!} Tf'kt's Yellow eyes flashed as she filled her paw with concentrated energy from within and brought it down on the Alpha's head with lightning fast speed. Before he could get up, she snapped his spinal cord with her hardened jaws. The rest of the pack watched on in shocked horror as a pack member only so much older than a hatchling decimated the previous steadfast leader. {I now control this pack!} {Any opponents will meet the same fate as R'thl, should you dare challenge me!} She howled, using the previous Alpha's birth name. {I will not settle for an endless cycle! We will expand, and grow stronger and smarter! Soon, we will rule the planet!} Tf'kt straightened her back and let out a wordless howl, and eventually others joined in to the orchestra of voices that rang across the woods. Another tear escaped from Fluttershy's eye as she curled up in a ball, her magic and energy drained from her, so much that she couldn't stand. She started to shake in fear when loud animal howls spread to each corner of the forest, wary that even in the sunlight, one of those things could be hiding in every bush, behind every tree, around every corner. She barely noticed when a flurry of leaves swept past her as her vision faded into darkness. Into a sleep that she might never wake up from. Goodnight, Fluttershy. Author's Note And this my friends, was an introduction to passive evolution/stage advancing and aggressive stage advancing. If you haven't picked it up in this chapter: Magical energy gives the life-forms the boost that they need to get up from creature to tribal. It takes less of the pony's energy when the creatures gets it passively (like Twilight and Chirper.) but it has to be given willingly. Aggressive draining can scar their magical regeneration abilities for life, or at least drain all the magic within them. (Tf'kt and Fluttershy.)
Chapter three - Problems concerning the cleanliness of the waterClean pipe was a hard working stallion who kept station day and night at the control system for the flow of the Celestial seawater into central Equestria. They checked the water regularly and cleaned it, making sure no ponies came into contact with the creatures of the deep. There had not been an epidemic for more than two centuries, with ponies gathering up their immune system, it was almost like they weren't needed anymore to help steady the flow. Suddenly crimson warning lights flashed at his desk. He asked as calmly as possible what in Equestria was happening and all he got was an uncertain explanation and a "sir, y-you might want to see this." From purification site B. Clean Pipe hopped out of his chair and walked toward the elevator with an annoyed expression on his face. As soon as the elevator bell went off he started to show a more worried trot as her got closer to purification site B. What could've happened? Maybe there was a new dangerous virus that was slowly turning his employment in to zom- Clean Pipe gave himself a light slap to the face as he remembered where he was. He burst through the doors at met the worried face of Water Circuit. "Sir I am glad you came. There is an unknown creature jamming the filters and we want you to see it first hoof." "Very well Water, lead the way." They came across a large trough filled with boiling seawater from the Celestial Sea, with many different fans and fine grills keeping the larger stuff from clogging up virus removal site B. Water Circuit picked up a jar in his magic and gave it to Clean Pipe. Once Clean pushed his eyes up to the jar he could see hundreds- no, maybe thousands of microscopic creatures swimming about, fighting, eating, growing and- wait, evolving? But the insanity seemed to go on as Water Circuit slipped some gloves on his hoof and picked up- well he didn't know what to call it. It was about the size of his hoof, and looked like a small purple inflatable ball. There were spikes all around the side and large snapping jaws that kept trying to bite Water's hoof with vigour. Clean Pipe tried to stop himself from cringing in disgust as it's miniature eyes glared at him from below. "I think we should get an audience from princess Celestia to show her this creature" "Definitely Clean, then we might gain a name among the nobles and scholars of Canterlot!" It was yet another day of court for the princess of the sun. Tax evasions, petty crime, building plans, yadda, yadda yadda. She checked her timetable. An audience with the boss of Celestial seawater filtering and co. Something about discovering a new species? Now this ought to be interesting from the usual moaning nobles, something interesting to end the day. "Mr Clean Pipe and Mr Water Circuit, you have called an audience for the discovery of a new species in Equestria. Please present your evidence to the court." They two stallions stepped forward and bowed, before Clean Pipe spoke up: "your highness, while we were filtering water into Equestria, we noticed several unknown entities in the water. After throughly checking the archives for note of these species, there was no immediate evidence of the species ever existing in Equestria." Celestia motioned with her head. "Go on." "After looking at boat security footage, at approximately 8 am this morning a small meteor crashed 50 miles off shore. They were about the size of your sister, forgive me, and we suspect that many of them broke off and dissolved in the water. Four and a half hours later, we picked up these creatures." Clean pipe held up a near-transparent bottle, that to the normal eye, looked like it was constantly spinning around. However, to Celestia, it was clear that there were hundreds of little beings making a living in that very jar. "And," Water Circuit began, "we have a dominant species of that jar, slightly smaller than the size of stallion's hoof. Water then brought out what could only be described by Celestia's shocked mind as a squishy purple spiky thing. "Well, your highness?" She could barely say a thing as the implications of the stars lay right before her. "Please half the jar, one shall go to the Canterlot research facility, and the other will stay with me and my sister." The duo nodded and let the princess take the jar. "And yes, you will get paid." She quipped, before motioning her adviser to give them each a large bag of bits. Their faces lit up in delight. She sighed, before saying: "This court session is now over." It was the end of the day anyway, she was allowed to look a little exhausted. She went up to Luna's bedchamber to wake her up, a little payback for yesterday's rude awakening. She creeped into her bedchamber, leaned in oh so very closely aaand... "LUNAAA WAKE UP!" Luna shot up from bed and disintegrated the bed table and the lamp and lit up her horn as bright as the sun. Celestia quickly plugged her ears with magic before shouting "SHOW YOURSELF, PETTY WHELP!" Her only answer was Celestia snickering behind her hoof. Luna turned off the Royal Canterlot voice and whisper-shouted "Sister, what is the meaning of this abnormal disturbance in my sleep? It better be good, or we shall raise the moon late today." Celestia responded "One, to get you back for disturbing my dream, no matter how important those stars were, and two, to show you this." Celestia held up the jar of creatures to Luna as she studied it. "Yes, and?" Luna was getting impatient. "Well, these creatures are from a meteorite that crashed around 8am this morning!" "You mean that horrid pushing sensation we got around that time?" "Yes, and I was planning to send half the jar to the girls, and half to the Canterlot research facility" "That is a wise choice sister. Let us send the package by dragon fire this time, as spike is already awake." "Let's"
