The cool breeze of an autumn dawn twirled and danced its way through the trees of the Everfree. The soft welcoming light peeled back the darkness of the old day as it brought forth a new one. The ponies of Ponyville were starting to stir. Near the edge of the thriving village stood a castle of known renown within which slept the pride of Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Within the peaceful atmosphere dwelled a strange and foreign magic. To the average unicorn it would have felt like any other kind of magic native to the land. There was, however, one object located in the castle itself that knew better. It was there in the room with the great round table that the map was activated, furious at the unwelcomed magic.
An hour passed before the slumbering alicorn awoke. Tired yet refreshed and eager to start the day, Twilight started her usual morning routine. She had a fixed plan for the day as she had for every other day. Today was mostly to be spent in her library. Most of her friends were gone for a week or two save for one. Twilight herself debated about taking a trip thinking that it had been a while since last she visited her brother and sister-in-law in the Crystal Empire, or her own parents for that matter.
The high rush of energetic magic and a not so subtle boom stole Twilight from her thoughts. She rushed down to where she had heard the source and found herself standing outside the doors to the map room. Or at the very least where the two great doors were for they had been ripped off the walls and were lying down before her. The map room itself was in utter chaos. The table was letting lose high amounts of magic in no organized fashion. One bolt of highly concentrated energy almost hit Twilight before she was able to put up a shield. Twilight knew she needed to act fast but simply did not know what to do. It didn’t help that she also didn’t know the cause of what was making the map acting erratic. Twilight decided that she needed to get close to the map to see if she could either divert or diminish the magic the map was giving off.
Pushing off with her back hooves Twilight jumped into the air and took wing. She barely avoided another bolt as she started diving towards the center of the entire ruckus. Two more bolts hit Twilight’s shield as she neared the table. Once she got to the table a third shot reflected off the wall and tore through her shield hitting her back which caused her to stumble and fall in a fit of agony. She tried to stand back up but shakenly fell back down. Watching the continual rampage of the map her blood turned cold at the thought of what might happen if she couldn't stop it. Twilight used the concern for the town to focus her magic and reached out toward the map. The moment Twilight made contact with the map’s magic the map sent overwhelming magic to course through Twilight’s body. Twilight started to breathe heavily in shock as she realized that she had no more control over her body. She watched in what felt like an out of body experience as her head slowly tilted upwards. Her horn started to glow as a spell that Twilight did not call upon activated.
The room was filled with a bright flash as the spell spread in all directions. Twilight watched as part of the air seemed to contort and bend before finally being burned away in some form of black looking magic. Finally the map ceased its rampage and deactivated. All that remained was a slight draft that flowed through the room. After the spell was released Twilight found herself expended. She half wondered if she would pass out from exhaustion. After a few minutes passed Twilight became more stable. Twilight turned her attention to the map itself. In all her years in Equestria she had never known any sort of magic to behave erratically by itself as she had seen the map do.
Twilight tried and succeeded to stand back up, though on very shaky hooves. She cautiously tried to activate the map again to see if it would reveal any sort of answers yet she had no luck. The map was basically dead, drained of all its magic. She went over the scene in her head, trying to piece together any sort of clues that could lead to a conclusion of what happen. Through her analysis she could only think of one clue, the air that was burned away. She limped her way to where she had seen the strange occurrence. Every step brought about labored breathes through gritted teeth due to the pain from her back where the had third bolt hit.
Once she reached the spot at the edge of the room she reached out with her magic. What she found was something she never would have expected. In the air she could feel a strange magic. It was very subtle, though with her powers and her knowledge of magic itself she could just make it out. The very feel of it sent shudders down her spine though she did not know why. Something about the magic just felt… wrong. It seemed out of place with the land of Equestria itself. She tried to reason that it may have just been magic from a faraway land that she never visited, but the theory just wouldn’t stick to her. If it was from a faraway land how did it end up her? Why did the map react so harshly against it? Why did it feel like it was completely foreign and even hostile compared to the magic around her?
Twilight was at a lost. For once she just did not have any theories about what this magic was, nor did she have a lead. In pain and at a loss of thought Twilight did the only thing she thought she could do at the moment. She hobbled into the next room, took out a pen and some parchment, and started to write about the events that had transpired this morning.
Celestia swept over the room once more in an attempt to fish out any last details that she may not have noticed the previous times. When she was satisfied that nothing remained hidden she backed out of the room and headed towards the castle’s library. It was there where Twilight was currently rushing through her books in an effort to find anything which may point in the direction of what had occurred. A short, purple, and wingless dragon by the name of Spike was keeping watch over Twilight. He paced back and forth within the room constantly gazing back at alicorn while thinking of anything else he could do to help her feel better. With a tired sigh Twilight dropped her book and looked at Spike.
“Honestly Spike I’m fine, you don’t need to keep worrying over me.” She said.
“I know I know, but are you absolutely sure you don’t need anything else? I mean, I know about burns, being a dragon and all, and that one is about the worst I’ve ever seen.” Spike said.
Twilight glanced at where the bolt of energy had hit her earlier. The bolt seared Twilight’s skin underneath her fur on her back, just to the right of her spine, leaving behind a sinister black mark. She briefly thought about what would have happened if the bolt had hit her spine. she shook her head clear of the thought and diverted her attention back to her anxious assistant whose ascending amount of worry about her as well as his actions to treat the affected alicorn caused her to appreciate and admire the young drake.
“Yes I’m absolutely sure. Now will you stop your fidgeting, it’s very distracting.” Twilight said.
Despite the reassurance the little dragon could not help himself. It wasn’t long before he started pacing across the floor once again. Slightly annoyed at the returning habit, Twilight watched the dragon that she had raised over the years. The annoyed look in her eye slowly melted and gave way to a softer hearted, gentle gaze. She motioned with her hoof for the young dragon to come over to her. When he got near enough Twilight cast a wing over him and pulled him into an encouraging hug.
“I’m okay Spike, I really am. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. I promise.” Twilight said.
“Okay, but if you need anyth-“ Spike said.
An emerging growl from Twilight stomach put a halt to Spike’s words. It was the first reminder for Twilight that she had not eaten yet. She let out a short giggle as she sheepishly turned to her assistant.
“Well if you really want t-.” Twilight said
“I’m on it!” Spike exclaimed, interjecting before Twilight could finish her sentence. He shuffled out of Twilight’s embrace and ran toward the kitchen. It was about this time that Celestia found her way into the room.
“How are you feeling Twilight?” Celestia asked. Her gaze settled over the menacing looking spot on Twilight’s back.
Twilight took note of the concerning look of her mentor and shifted on her hooves in attempt to hide the mark that distracted Celestia. She already had one over concerned presence within the castle. The last thing Twilight wanted was for her mentor to worry over what she considered to be nothing.
“I am feeling great princess, never better.” Twilight said. She let out a nervous chuckle when the cream colored princess with a multi-colored searched her with a sweeping and unconvinced eye. “So, did you find out what exactly caused the map to go all crazy like?” Twilight asked. A shake from Celestia’s head diminished any last hope Twilight had for discovering where the strange magic had come from.
“I’m afraid that in all my years I have never encountered a magic such as this one.” Celestia said. “In fact, when I first felt it, it seemed wrong. Almost as if it was-“
“Out of place?” Twilight finished. Celestia nodded her head.
“I hate to add more to the mystery, but there is no trace of where it even came from.”
Celestia and Twilight turned their attention to the entrance of the library where a midnight blue alicorn with a starry mane stood.
“No luck sister?” Celestia asked.
The starry maned princess shook her head. “Whatever this magic is, it does not leave a trail.” She said.
Without any lead to go on the three princesses were simply stumped. The library descended into silence. Only the occasional wild noise from the kitchen could be heard as each princess reflected on the details they knew. They searched their minds for something, anything, which could turn up a lead. Eventually, Spike returned to the library with Twilight’s breakfast which she accepted with thanks. With seeming nothing else to do and noticing the trance that the princesses were in, Spike started to clean the castle. About 2 hours of meditation, discussions, and searching through Twilight’s books passed before they caught a break. Twilight’s cutie mark started to flash, signaling her to return to the map room. Curiosity gleamed from the eyes of the three princesses as they cautiously made their way back to the great room. Curiosity turned to astonishment when they found that the map, which moments before appeared completely drained of magic, was active. Yet on the table where normally there would have been a map of Equestria, appeared two distinct images; one of a celestial sun, and another of a crescent moon.
Inquisitively the two princesses which bore the cutie marks of those on the table approached the images. Once the map sensed that both Celestia and the dark blue alicorn, whose name was Luna, were near the table it let out a soft flowing light directed at the royal mares. Upon reaching contact the two images moved to opposite side of the table. The map of Equestria finally revealed itself on the table. The light directed at the two princesses then reversed flow and shot out towards the map revealing a single location in the Northwest, very close to the tundra of the North. Once the location was revealed the map then zoomed in on the location. The image of Twilight’s cutie mark then appeared over the location. Twilight studied the area the map had revealed. Though the location was far north towards the tundra the area was still temperate in appearance. In the middle of the map stood a great wooden structure by the likes Twilight had never seen before. If her scaling was correct, the structure was about the same size as Canterlot Castle.
The building’s architecture was circular in appearance. The center itself was a circle with a large diameter with three floors above it, each floor decreased in diameter. Extending from the east side of the structure were two wedges that connected to and curved around the center ending at the north point and south point of the structure. Each wedge of the building had two floors. On the west side of the building was a fenced off area with what looked like orchard trees and farm plants. Beyond the fenced off area was empty grasslands. The thing that caught everyone’s eye, however, was northeast of the structure where a forest was placed. At least that’s what they assumed it was for the air around it was contorted and as a result the image was blurred, something which Twilight found eerily familiar. Whatever magic had invaded Twilight’s home earlier; this appeared to be the source of it. It was twilight who broke the silence when she noticed it was just her mark above the location.
“If the map needed both of you to find this location, why is it only sending me?” Twilight asked.
“It looks as if that will be a question you must discover for yourself my dear Twilight.” Celestia said.
Rising anxiety started to form and flow through Twilight as she thought about having to go on a quest by herself. She could barely remember the last time she went on an adventure without somepony, especially one without even one of her friends. In fact, Twilight started to entertain the idea of asking her one remaining friend in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie, to tag along with her. As she stared back at the lone mark hanging above the map she sighed in defeat. She knew that the map decided based on who was right for the quest and was never wrong before. Whatever was out there it looked like it would be up to her to find the answers.
Both Celestia and Luna noticed the crushed look on Twilight’s face and brought her into a group hug. Relief flooded Twilight as the action of the two princesses reminded her that she wouldn’t be truly alone on the journey. The support and love of the princesses and Twilight’s friends, though not physically present, would be there with her in spirit, carried by her heart. Standing in the doorway, watching the group hug from a distance, was Spike. He had walked by the door and spied the act taking place. Stealing a glance at the map, Spike saw the familiar looking cutie mark suspended above the map and knew what that meant. Hardening his grip on the broom he held, he glared longingly at the purple alicorn, frustrated at the fact that once again he would be left behind again. At the same time he was very concerned for this time he knew that Twilight would be heading towards danger and there was nothing he could do. The broom in his hand shattered into many splinters.
Voiced concern over silent pleas
Twilight levitated another log into the small campfire. Sparks raced and danced with joy over the gift though Twilight hardly took notice. Instead her focus was on a small journal that she had taken with her. Twilight wrote about the day of traveling she had done as well as her thoughts on the current situation which at this point was astonishingly filled with more positive than negative. Twilight enjoyed the journey so far. She saw amazing sights from graciously falling waterfalls, enormous cliffs and rocks long eroded by the wind creating massive sculptures of nature, and trees that seemed to stretch across the far reaches of Equestria only to be interrupted by lakes that reflected the essence of the forests. Even now Twilight was gazing from an edge of a cliff to a lake whose water was so still it reflected the stars of the night sky to the point where it was nigh impossible to tell where the sky ended and the water started. Twilight also wrote about how disappointed she felt when she had to travel alone, the concern she had for the safety of Equestria, how guilty she felt over Spike’s long stare and brisk goodbye, and about how frustrating long the journey was taking.
Twilight misjudged the time it would take her to reach the great structure from the map. She predicted that it would take her at most only one day; however, she had judged this based on a straight line from her castle to the location on the map. The journey towards the complex ended up being less of a straight line and more of a zig zag which resulted with her now having to make camp. A firefly landed on top of the page that Twilight was writing on and caused her to pause. Carefully she reached out a hoof in a successful attempt to pick up the firefly. The firefly flashed its light with contempt as it started to climb Twilight’s leg. While watching the lightning bug’s climb, Twilight started to reflect other places she had visited with her friends. She regretted that her friends were not with her now. They were a part of the reason why Twilight brought along a journal so she could share everything with them when she returned. The firefly let out one final light before taking wing and headed to the lake. Twilight wrapped up her final thoughts and turned in for the night.
The vast reaches of trees gave way to grasslands which signaled to Twilight that her journey was coming to a close. Just a few minutes after flying above the grasslands Twilight spotted the great structure in the distance. The three story flat-roofed, pony-made structure abruptly stood apart from flow of the landscape making it impossible to miss. Right outside the building, on the opposite side of the main road, Twilight spied the forest.
Twilight landed near the building about 15 minute after locating the complex. Twilight had seen the structure on the map in her castle, yet nothing was like standing outside it in person. It was enormous, a lot bigger than Twilight had imagined. She stood at the entrance which was located where both wedges met and connected to the circular center. The wedges themselves had a large tilted overhang extending from the building and supported by columns of logs. Giant sized windows nearly 20 feet in length and 10 feet in height covered the wedges from top to bottom while square windows of 10 feet appeared on the main structure. The windows where spaced about 15 feet apart. Twilight counted 20 windows on each wedge on the first floor alone. The need of such a structure confused Twilight who stood dumbfounded by the seemingly unnecessary size of the building. She approached the two massive doors of the complex and entered inside.
Twilight found herself inside an open area. To her right was a chest high counter with a door that led to a back room. In front of her was a common area with dozens of seats and couches. In the center was a large fire pit that had a chimney for the smoke to escape the building. Several columns of carved wood descended from the ceiling with various designs. One appeared to represent a sunrise while another resembled a ship sailing into the horizon. Elegant rugs of all sizes covered the hard wooden floor. The back left portion of the wall curved which Twilight assumed was part of the circular structure she had seen outside while the right portion had glass doors leading to a patio area. To the left and right sides of the room were larger wooden doors which Twilight suspected lead to other areas of the wedges.
Twilight focused her attention to the desk sprawling with papers in an organized mess. On top of all the mess sat a small bell. Looking around the area Twilight found the place completely empty and pondered if anypony was even in the complex at all. She trotted to the counter and rang the bell.
“What? Ahh!” The unmistakable sound of objects crashing to the ground followed by a startled voice of a pony shook any doubt Twilight had of the complex being abandoned.
“On my way. Whoa!”
A light blue and young stallion with golden eyes and an orange mane tumbled out of the back room and landed face first on the ground. Before Twilight could ask if the pony was alright he bounded back up staring intently at a piece of paper in front of him. Not once did he look at Twilight while he started to energetically read from the paper.
“Right. Welcome to The Great Timberwolf Lodge, gateway to a whole other world. Whether you came here for work or to escape from it, a researcher and slash or explorer, or you just happen to be in the area, Equestria’s biggest inn has all you need and more. From natural springs to guided tours The Great Timberwolf Lodge is your escape from the busy and stressful life found in the cities to a place of peace and serenity. Note that all guided tours of Serenity Forest has been suspended and if you wish to explore the forest you must have approval and attend a briefing by the owner, Red Oak, or his wife, Honey Oak. Now, what is it that I, Clutterbug, can do for you today?”
For the first time the pony glanced at Twilight whom had been standing patiently for the pony to finish. Twilight swore she saw all the color drain from his fur as his once enthusiastic eyes shrank into stupefied ones. Twilight figured that the pony recognized her, but decided to introduce herself anyways in order to break the ice.
“Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle. How are you today? Clutterbug was it?” Twilight asked.
The pony for his part continued to stare as if he still didn’t believe who was standing just a few feet in front of him. Twilight held in a sigh at the thought of dealing with yet another star struck pony. It was a feeling and look she could never get used to. She half wondered how Celestia managed to deal with it for over a thousand years when the stallion in front of her finally got a hold of himself.
“Red, you may want to come out for this one.” The pony said. Directing his comment past Twilight to an office she had not notice before. His voice was shaky; however, Twilight saw something else reflect in the pony’s eyes. Was that hope?
Twilight then heard loud chattering coming from beyond the great doors to the left which started to open. A group of around 30 ponies, and even gryphons, entered the room. They continued chatting among themselves until one of them finally noticed Twilight standing at the main entrance and started gesturing to others towards her. A quiet hush filled the room creating an uneasy silence which, once again, made Twilight uncomfortable. Before she could do anything to change the atmosphere the door behind Twilight opened and out stepped a slightly dark red stallion with bark brown eyes and mane. He had a cold hard stare that he directed to Clutterbug as if to say “what is it this time” until he noticed the purple alicorn princess in the room. Twilight saw a dance of emotion display on the older pony’s face ranging from astonishment, to questioning, and even…was that concern? The red pony’s face finally rested on that of pure joy as he quickly bowed to the princess.
“Greetings Princess Twilight, hero of Equestria, and welcome to The Great Timberwolf Lodge. Honestly I must say that we were not expecting somepony with such renown as you, however, my staff and I are ready to assist you in any way possible.” The pony said.
Twilight swiftly told the red pony to stand on his hooves while asking to speak in private wanting to leave the questioning gazes of the lobby. The red pony smiled while gesturing to his office. The office was very small. Only a desk, two chairs, and a few cabinets were in the room. Nothing adorned the bare walls and only a few papers were on the desk.
“Welcome to my humble abode. My name is Red Oak and if you would forgive my bluntness princess I would like to know what you are doing here?” Red Oak asked.
Twilight’s brain had to take a double take. Just moments ago Red Oak had welcomed her here warmly. Now here he was, staring down Twilight so intensely it could knock down a wall. The fact that he challenged Twilight of all pony’s merely left her stunned. It was so out of the blue that Twilight seemed to recoil back a bit with hint of worry before she managed to compose herself. Suspicious feelings started to materialize in Twilight’s mind. The guarded look of the pony screamed at Twilight that he may have had something to do with the foreign magic. In fact, now that she thought about it, she could feel that very same presence all around her, mixed in with the magic of the land. Twilight returned the glare along with a challenge from herself.
“Why is it so important to know why I am here?” Twilight asked.
“I’m not the smartest pony around but I do know how to put two and two together. I wished to have heard it from you first to confirm, but instead allow me to take a stab in the dark. This lodge is a very popular destination for both vacationers and researchers alike. Any and all stays here must be booked in advanced which I know for a fact you did not. If you had, preparations would have been made and our guest, staffs, and permanent stayers would have been informed. The fact that you are here now either means that you stumbled here spontaneously, or more likely, you are here for official business. Did I hit the nail on the head? It’s not that I don’t appreciate you coming princess, I do. I just don’t want another pony to go missing, let alone a princess. I beg you princess, don’t go into that forest. Though I can’t solve and bring back home the ponies that went missing, I have prevented another soul from being taken.” Red Oak said.
“What do you mean by not wanting another pony to go missing?” Twilight asked.
“Have you not heard?” Red Oak asked.
Twilight gaze had completely softened while Red’s flooded with confusion. Instead of elaborating on what he had said earlier he instead motioned for Twilight to follow him. He led Twilight out of the office to the common room again. The large group that was there had moved to the patio outside. Red trotted to the other side of the room and pointed towards a board hanging on the wall with several images. Above the images was a simple phrase that said help me find my way home.
“Over the last year or so we had about 20 ponies go missing within Serenity Forest.” Red Oak said.
Sadness filled Twilight’s heart as she looked over the pictures of the missing ponies. She could accept not hearing about a missing case of a pony or two in one area. 20 ponies in one area however, nearly shattered her hear. How could she, Princess Twilight Sparkle, a guardian of Equestria, let a case of 20 missing ponies slide under her nose? She instantly thought of the foreign magic that invaded her home. She knew that there must be a connection between the missing ponies and the magic.
“Did you ever notify anypony about this? Why did you never send any detectives?” Twilight asked.
“We did. Half of those you see missing are ponies who went out searching for them. Everypony who enters those woods and don’t follow the trail end up missing.” Red said. “It came to a point where we all agreed to stop sending for help. We didn’t want anypony else to disappear.”
“Surely you must know something, anything that can hint about what happen to them.” Twilight said.
Red shook his head. “I’m sorry princess, but the time for seeking answers is long over. All we can do now is hope for the best and prevent anyone else from going in the forest, including you. I must ask again princess that you not enter those woods.” Red said.
Twilight knew that she couldn’t leave now. She had to go into those woods and find out what happen to those ponies. She wasn’t the only one to think so as she discovered. Looking at Red Oak she found something contradicting in his eyes. Though he pleaded for Twilight to leave she saw within Red a hint of hope; a silent plea in the dark directed at Twilight to ignore him and find out whom or what was causing the disappearances. And to find the ponies and bring them home.
“At the very least, will you please think about this over a complementary meal and a nights rest?” Red Oak asked.
“I will.” Twilight said. Though her mind was already made up.
