Chapter 1: Grand Appearance
It was another boring day in Equestria. It’s a beautiful day outside, birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were off trying to get their cutie mark in animal catching. Last time they tried catching insects, but that resulted in their coats covered in honey and a few stings by the creators of that said honey. The reason why they were searching for more bigger animals in mainly cause the smart one of the group made a statement on how insects and mammals are two completely different types of creatures.
“I mean, their are animal catching cutie marks, and insect catching cutie marks. They are two different marks completely.”
And it seemed that she was still going on about it.
“Alright, Sweetie Belle. We get it!” One of the other two finally said as they were getting annoyed. She was an orange pegasus with matching purple mane, tail and eyes.
“Yeah. We’re already tryin’ ta get our cutie mark in animal catchin’. There’s no need to continue.” The last of the three added. She was a yellow earth pony with a red mane and tail and her orange eyes that showed a hint of annoyance. The one thing that made her stand out was the giant pink bow on the back of her mane.
“Oh, sorry.” She said with a pink blush of embarrassment. The one that was going on was a white unicorn with curly pink and purple mane and tail. Her light green eyes looking over at her other two friends.
The three of them were, at this moment, in a small field of a forest called the Whitetail Woods. They decided to be in a more safer forest then the dreaded Everfree. But of course, one wasn’t as excited as the other two.
“Why are we even in this forest? If we want to get awesome cutie marks, then let’s search in the Everfree. I bet there’s something in that forest worth catching.” The orange pegasus said.
“Can't you remember when Fluttershy made us have our sleepover at her cottage, Scootaloo? We almost got turned into stone. Unless one of our sister is with us, we aren’t allowed to go in that forest at all.” The yellow earth filly answered.
“Apple Bloom’s right. We don’t want to meet anything that’s worse than that.” Sweetie Belle added.
All Scootaloo did was turned her head to the side and huffed. But her upset attitude changed as she saw something in the woods. She started walking towards the unknown item hidden within the trees. The other two crusaders saw her.
“Where are ya’ll going?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I think I see something hidden in the woods. What if we get cutie marks in discovering hidden things?” Scootaloo said. She didn’t wait for a reply as she quickly said, “Come on!” before she started galloping to the unknown thing.
The other two only looked at each other for a moment before they too started galloping to the thing, going off the trail and through the trees.
~
The three of them looked up in awe to see a large abandoned house. Some of the windows were broken, the paint on the home was fading and the forest itself was growing around and on the walls of the outside. The house had a old porch, a chimney and a certain part of the house was in a cylinder-like shape. It wasn’t surprising that all three of them were looking at it in awe.
“Where did this even come from?” Sweetie Belle was the first to ask.
“I have no idea.” The other two said at the same time.
Scootaloo unfurled her tiny wings as she had a determined look on her face. She then started to make her way to the front stairs of the old house.
“Scootaloo! What are you doing?” Apple Bloom asked.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going to check this place out.” Scootaloo said as she slowly walked up the stairs, the wooden platforms making the sound of creaking on the old wood. Scootaloo took her time going up the small stairs. She was shortly on the front porch and saw that even the porch looked as if it would break any moment. “It’s okay. I think this can hold two more fillies.”
At that, the other two came on. They went up the stairs one at a time since they weren’t taking any chances on breaking the only stairs they could climb on to the entrance. Once Scootaloo saw her two friends were right behind her, she slowly lifted up a hoof and pushed the slightly opened door, hearing the creaking of it’s hinges being used after some time. Scootaloo still had a brave face on, while Apple Bloom was more curious, and Sweetie was fearful.
Once the door was fully opened, they saw that the interior wasn’t any better. Some roots were growing through the broken old windows, the wallpaper was either peeling off or bare of any sign of paint. Some parts of the floor was missing and they only saw the planks that were meant to support the missing floor. Apple Bloom noticed the fireplace that had old piles of ashes and even some wild flowers that were growing in the fireplace itself. There were random sheets of paper on the floor. Sweetie was brave enough to pick up a paper that was pinned to a small rock. She couldn’t read what was on it cause the words were smudged or faded due to the sunlight shining on it for who knows how long.
After some time of searching, they already saw the many rooms of the house. There was only one bedroom that had an old bed that was big enough to hold both Celestia and Luna on it. Many other rooms were empty and void of anything. They also found the kitchen, which was much different than any kitchen they’ve seen. They could obviously tell that their was some shelves, counters, a large fridge and oven. But they were wondering why everything in there looked as if it would be fit for a much larger pony.
The last room they found was what looked like a study room of some sort. One of the walls was covered in bookshelves and many old books at that. But surprisingly, there was a glass casing that kept the books preserved and they looked as if the three fillies could still read it to this day. Of course, some books were left on a large desk or even on the floor, them obviously being ruined by the weather or some stray animal that used it as their chew toy. The books in the glass shelves were too high to open them and check out the preserved books.
The three were soon back in the large room where the fireplace was in and didn’t know what else to do. Apple Bloom was looking around and soon spotted another door that seemed to be another entrance into the house. But what really caught her attention was something that seemed to be in the back yard.
Apple Bloom tugged the pegasus filly’s tail before she tilted her head to the door, making the orange crusader see the back door as well. They looked at each other for a moment before they nodded and started making their way to the door. Sweetie Belle soon saw the two leaving her behind and she quickly caught up. It may be an old house, but she knew she didn’t want to be alone.
The three were now in front of the back door. This time, Apple Bloom was the one who opened the door wider, hearing the old hinges being used once more. Once the door was fully opened, the three fillies were shocked to see an old statue. They didn’t know why exactly, but it reminded them of when they went to the Canterlot Gardens to see the many statues that resided in the area. It mostly reminded them of Discord’s statue.
The statue was of a creature they’ve never seen before, just like Discord’s. It also stood on two legs, just like Discord as well. But instead, the gray statue had its arms shielding its face as if it was being attacked. But the strangest thing, was that at the right angle, they could spot a creepy and evil-looking smirk. After some time, Sweetie Belle was the first to get closer to the statue and saw a rusty old plaque on the stone platform the statue was on. Slowly lifting a small hoof, she cleaned off the small dust and dirt that was collecting and cleaned her hoof as well before she read what was on it.
Scarlet Hyde
Once - G--- ------, -ow - -u----s- V----in
The other two crusaders read the plaque as they went closer as well. They then looked back up at the creature. The being itself was wearing a old-looking gown what looks like long socks on its legs, and a small hat atop of it’s head. There were decorative ribbons attached to the hat and it seemed they were frozen in the wind, as was the creature’s mane that was short and only reached its arms. The gown also reminded them of the old history books they read when mares and fillies used to dress a lot like this creature.
“What do you think it is?” Scootaloo was the first to speak.
The other two only shrugged as an answer.
“What should we even do with it?” Apple Bloom was the next one to ask.
Sweetie Belle actually had an answer to that. “We should probably tell Twilight about this.” She said.
“What do you even think she would do with this?” Apple Bloom asked another question.
“I think she’ll most likely want to check it out before sending a letter to Princess Celestia.” Sweetie Belle answered again.
The three then went back to staring at the statue.
“Do you think it’s a creature that was also hot with the elements?” Scootaloo asked. “I mean, we don’t know what it is and it stands on two legs. Just like when we saw Discord’s statue.”
“It might be. But we can’t be for sure. I mean, maybe it’s an old statue that Celestia forgot to bring with her to her new castle.” Apple Bloom said.
“But shouldn’t it be in the Everfree Forest near the old castle?” Sweetie Belle asked.
The two stayed silent as they realized that it shouldve been in the old castle.
“Ya know what? Forget ‘bout it being a frozen creature.” Apple Bloom said. “We shouldn’t argue around it. It might make it break free from its cage.”
The two nodded in agreement.
“Fer now, let’s just tell Twilight ‘bout this house ‘n statue.” Apple Bloom continued as she stood up. “Get go, girls.” She then decided to run around the house, the other two quickly following behind. But what they didn’t know, was that something within the house gave the unknown creature enough power to break free of its prison.
Inside the house, a wild cat was chasing a mouse and the mouse was close enough to its hole so the hungry feline wouldn’t catch the poor creature. But it wasn’t fast enough as the cat made a strong leap to the mouse and caught it in it paws. Without a second to lose, the cat sank it’s sharp fangs into the mouse, making the tiny animal squirm less in its grip. It seemed that she had more pleasure it tearing its meal apart, and it did as it desired, tearing skin, breaking bone, and eating the raw meat that was hiding behind the cheap cover and wrapped around the tiny bones.
Soon, the mouse was nothing but a bloody mess on the old house floor. The cat was still enjoying his desired meal as the blood of it’s victim was trailing on the floor and soon touched one of the four walls of the room, touching the overgrown roots on the floor and wall, them being connected to the one outside that was wrapped around the statue itself. Within the roots of the plant, some of the mouse’s blood was being carried to the vessels of the plant. Then, it reached a small leaf on the statue that was covering one of the statue’s eyes. But when a calm breeze came by and moved the leaf, the eye was glowing a fiery red, as the sound of evil laughter was coming from it.
‘So? Some little fillies are going to show me to this “Twilight" gal? Hmm… Maybe staying this way a little longer won’t hurt until the time is absolutely right. This’ll be fun.’ A voice was heard as it seemed it was female and talking to itself. The red eye soon faded back to its plain gray state and now the statue was patiently waiting for the three fillies and this ‘Twilight’ to arrive.
~
It had taken a day for Twilight to follow the fillies to the abandoned house. Since they arrived when the moon was rising. At first, Twilight was skeptical as she heard about the strange statue, but by how detailed they explained the stone artifact, she had no other choice but to trust them and go into the woods to see what it was in the first place. She brought two books. One to help identify the creature, and another to see if the statue represented something like the many others in the Canterlot gardens.
The three fillies and one alicorn walked through the Whitetail Woods as they were soon in the familiar clearing they were in before Scootaloo saw the house hidden in the trees. It took a bit longer than last time, but Sweetie Belle was the one to spot the house instead as she took the lead while the other three followed close by. In no time at all, they were in front of the abandoned house, the purple alicorn a bit shocked, but mostly confused.
‘What is this house doing here? I never heard of a pony living in the forest except Zecora, but she’s a Zebra. Well, whoever lived here is long gone by how the house looks.’ Twilight thought as she approached the house. She was about to place a hoof on the stair, but felt that it would break on her. So, unfurling her wings, she decided to fly a bit off the floor like Rainbow always does instead of walking. She went over the stairs and into the opened front door the three fillies left open. The three crusaders followed right behind the purple princess as they went up the stairs one at a time and was inside the house with Twilight. All four of them were greeted with dust flying everywhere as Twilight’s wings produce some wind as the dirty floor released dust in the air as all four of them started to cough. Twilight stopped hovering as she placed her hooves on the floor and tried swatting the dirty air away from her muzzle. Soon the dust went away and they could breath properly again.
Twilight was, at the moment, looking around as she saw the trash, filth, and a small patch of something that wasn’t mud or dirt that seemed to be flowing to connect to a root of the overgrown plants within the house. She shook off the thought of something being harmed in the old house as she started walking to a different room. The purple pony was surprised as she walked into what looked like an old study room. She was more surprised at the untouched books that were behind a glass case bookshelf that covered them from the dust, overgrown roots, and even animals who might’ve gone through the building.
‘How are these books even intact? Wouldn’t the weather or the animals who live here might’ve broken this years ago?’ Twilight thought as she wiped the dust off of the glass. She saw more books and some empty spaces that were out in the open. She peered in to see that not even a speck of dust was inside the glass bookshelf. ‘Impossible! The only way this could’ve survive is by magic, and I haven’t felt any form of magic yet.’ Twilight then tried to use her own magic to see if she could find any residue of magic in the house. Twilight was surprised when she sensed a small amount on the second floor. Without telling the Crusaders, she started making her way to the stairs, seeing they looked just as weak as the ones outside.
Twilight decided to take her chances and started to slowly walk up the stairs. She saw that their were railings that were too high to reach unless she could walk properly on her hind legs. ‘Perhaps the owner was a minotaur. But if that was true, then why do I sense a magic residue? Only unicorns and alicorns can leave magic residue.’ Twilight thought as she was soon at the top of the stairs. She looked around to see a small hallway with many doors to different rooms or closets. She walked down the hallway to where she felt the small trace of magic. But she could feel the trace starting to grow the closer she got to the last door in the hallway.
The three fillies were also following Twilight. They were still going up the stairs as they were curious on where the alicorn was going. They each went up one at a time, and when they were all on the second floor, Twilight was in front of the last door in the hallway. They silently caught up as they didn’t want to surprise the purple pony. Twilight noticed that the crusaders were right behind her and she was a bit thankful that she wasn’t going to find the source of magic on her own. With a small gulp of saliva in her mouth, she opened the old door.
Surprisingly, the door didn’t creak by how old the hinges and opened wide without a problem. When the door was fully opened, she saw what looked like a bedroom. The first thing she noticed was another dresser that had a large mirror on the wall above it. The mirror was broken and dusty, as if somepony tried to hit it with their front hooves. She could even see a speck of brown liquid that she most likely dried blood. Twilight looked on what was on the dresser, in which they were picture frames and old perfumes that the liquid inside was either yellow in color or didn’t have anything inside it. After the small inspection of the items on the dresser, she wanted to know what was in the dresser as well. Using her magic, she slowly opened one of the dressers to be greeted by dirtied and ruined articles of clothings. She had a hunch that maybe moths or other types of bugs found a way inside the dresser and had a feast with the abandoned clothes.
Twilight then closed the door as she saw that there was nothing of good use to take with her. She turned her head to see a large bed and she was a bit surprise on how big it was. ‘This bed could hold both Celestia and Luna and it would still have room for others!’ She thought as she lightly placed her hoof on the bed, feeling what could only be springs within the dusty bed. The quilt was partially on the bed as there were two pillows as well. Just by looking at the quilt and pillows, they too were old. After some time, she saw that most of the things in the bedroom was either too old or too broken to use. She thought that the magic signal was just a dud until she realized that the signal wasn’t coming from the room itself. It came from something that was in the old closet she didn’t open yet.
The crusader’s decide to wait downstairs as they seemed that they weren’t needed in the small room with Twilight. They were secretly discussing on what Twilight would do once she sees the statue. Back to where Twilight was, she let out a calm breath as she looked at the old door. Using her magic, she slowly opened the door, hearing the hinges of the closet door creak as she opened them. There were ruined dresses and hoodies that were either hung on a hanger or on the floor as they suffered the same fate as the clothes in the dresser. But what really shocked her was to see a perfectly good guitar leaning against one of the sides of the closet. It was a plain silver color with designs that seemed to represent flames. She tried levitating it over, but her horn started to burn and she quickly dropped it.
“Ow! My horn.” She rubbed her horn with her hoof as she looked at the guitar. “Maybe that’s the magic, a spell in which only the caster can hold the object. But why a guitar?” She said out loud. She tried picking it up again, but this time with her hooves. She was met with the same outcome as she tried to cool down her burning hooves. ‘So not even pegasi or earth ponies can hold the guitar. Maybe Celestia can undo the spell after I inform her about this statue the the CMC told me about.’ She thought as she started making her way out the room and back downstairs.
“Sorry girls. I just found a magic signal within the house and wanted to see what it was. It seemed to have been a guitar that was enchanted for only the unicorn who casted it to be able to hold it.” Twilight explained as she walked towards the three fillies who were waiting for her.
“It alright Twilight. We don’t mind.” Apple Bloom said as the other two fillies nodded.
“Alright. Now that that’s out of the way, where is this statue you three told me about?” Twilight asked as she looked around to see if maybe she walked by it.
“It’s outside.” Sweetie Belle said as she pointed to the open back door.
Twilight didn’t say anything else as she started making her way to the door. She easily opened it as she didn’t even need to step out the house to see the statue. She was surprised on why a statue like that was even in the middle of a forest. She walked up to the statue and read the plaque as she couldn’t decipher most of the words.
“What is it, Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked as the three crusaders followed Twilight towards the statue.
Twilight wasn’t sure whether or not to tell the crusaders, but she didn’t want to keep them in the dark about this.
She let out a small sigh before she answered. “It’s a human.”
All three of the fillies were confused.
“A what?” Scootaloo asked.
“A human. I know about this because I was one once before.” She then started explaining to the crusaders about what happened not even a month ago: about how an old student of Princess Celestia stole her crown and went to a whole new dimension through a mirror, and how she had to win a contest to get her crown back and even show the old student of Celesta how the magic of friendship is much powerful then she would imagine.
After she told the three fillies everything, they CMC could understand more on what the now called human statue was.
“… But this human seems a bit different.” Twilight finally said.
“Different?” Sweetie Belle repeated in a questionative tone.
“One things for sure, her clothes aren’t like the ones that Canterlot High wear.” Twilight said as she started examining the statue more. “Also her eyes are smaller, her hips wider and even her legs are shorter.” Her eyes widen at the realization. “Wait! If she came through the portal, wouldn’t she be a pony instead? She might me a whole new human. Maybe from another planet, galaxy or universe!” Twilight was now smiling as she looked up at the stone-trapped human.
“Do ya think she’s a trapped creature like Discord was?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Well… she might be, but I don’t think anypony would actually make a statue that looks like a human. I should contact Princess Celestia about this. She might know where she came from or why she was even turned into stone.”
Within the mind of the trapped human, she wasn’t much of a happy camper after Twilight was talking about one of the co-rulers of Equestria.
‘So! Celestia is still here and I bet her little sister is here as well. Once I get my full power, old sunbutt will get the beating of a lifetime!’ She thought as she started losing her concentration on staying as a statue. Her eye started to glow a bloody read as cracks started to form.
“What’s going on?” Twilight asked as she saw the statue start to break.
“Why is it cracking?” Sweetie Belle asked the obvious.
“TAKE COVER!!!” Scootaloo said as she pulled the other two crusaders behind a bush and Twilight was left in front of the glowing statue that was also forming cracks all over.
Twilight quickly used her magic to make a shield for herself, but the long awaited explosion of the release of the human broke the shield and Twilight was left tumbling back a little and was on the floor. After the bright light faded and all went silent, the Crusaders peeked their head out to see that Twilight was on the floor.
“Twilight!” All three fillies said as they quickly surrounded the alicorn and saw her open her eyes.
“Twilight. Are you okay?” Apple Bloom asked.
Twilight didn’t answer as she slowly got up on her hooves. She looked up to only see the pedestal the statue was on. She got scared as she looked around to see if maybe the freed human was nearby. She quickly turned to the three Crusaders with a bit of an angry look.
“What did you three do?” She sounded angry, but also scared.
“W-we didn’t do anything. We p-pinkie promise.” Sweetie Belle stuttered as she was a bit scared.
Once Twilight saw how scared the three fillies looked, she calmed down by letting out a small sigh. “I’m sorry girls. I just assumed that you three did something.” Twilight admitted.
“It’s alright Twilight. We don’t blame ya.” Apple Bloom said.
Twilight only nodded as she looked around again. She walked up to the pedestal again and looked to see if maybe the human was still around. She thought of going back to Ponyville and sending a letter to Celestia about the escaped human.
That is, until she heard the sound of sniffling.
All four of the pony’s ears perked up at the sound and tried to find the source. Twilight felt like an idiot as the sound was coming from the one place she didn’t check.
Behind the pedestal.
Twilight made a gesture to tell the CMC to stay quiet and to also stay put as she slowly crawled around the statue. Her horn started getting ready to cast a magical blast just in case the creature fought back. Twilight pounced in front of whatever was crying and was a bit surprise to see it was the freed human.
The human quickly snapped her head to the purple alicorn with a fearful look in her eyes. Before Twilight could utter out a single word, the human let out a shrill scream as she quickly backed away.
“P-Please don’t hurt me!” She quickly shouted as she covered her face.
