A Distant Light, A Close Calling

A Shocking Discovery

            “Starstride, we’re back!” Twilight called as she entered the cottage.

            “Wonderful, give me a minute.” Starstride replied from upstairs.

            Starstride trotted downstairs quickly, sat down in one of the armchairs, sighed briefly and gazed her eyes on the seven that were before her.

            “So, did you retrieve the tome?”

            “No, unfortunately we didn’t, it crumbled into dust immediately after I picked it up.” Twilight sighed, turning her head away from Starstride, and glancing at her, then to the floor.

            “Oh, I am disappointed to hear that, I was expecting it to be here.” Starstride said meagerly.

            “Well, I am going to go do some chores I have to finish, could you all do me a favor?” She added.

            “Of course, what is it darling?” Rarity asked nicely.

            “Can you all go into the forest that is east of here? I need you all to pick some blueberries; I need them for a recipe I want to make. The forest is called the Everglade Forest, I would be cautious too; you all are being hunted by the SDEH, so keep your guard up.” Starstride said in a serious tone.

            “That shouldn’t be too hard; the forest is close to your cottage, at least, from the looks of it.” Sunspeed said, a bit unsure.

            “Alright, we’ll be back in an hour or so Starstride.” Applejack said, and then grabbed a basket with her teeth.

            The seven ponies got outside on the porch, opened the fence gate, and started making their way to the Everglade Forest. They all walked in silence, taking in the fresh air, and beautiful sight of the fields that were before them. Cotton was blowing through the air; a soft, yet chilly breeze was blowing in from the North. The birds were humming tunes to one another in the distance.

            “Wow, it is a beautiful day, and just look at all the cute birds!” Fluttershy squeaked with glee.

            “Ah know, why, ah’d be out Apple Bucking right now, it’s a perfect day fer that!” Applejack said, turning to Fluttershy.

            “It’s a perfect day to try out a new flying technique of mine, I made it up myself.” Dash boasted, grinning and pointed at herself confidently.

            “Dash, ya’ always say that, Ah don’t see too many flying techniques!” AJ snorted.

            “What the hay is that supposed to mean?"

            “Ah think ya’ll are a bit too overconfident at times, Dash, and boastful. Ya’ll need to give it a break at times, sugarcube.” AJ sympathized.

            “Ehh, maybe your right, but I don’t know… it’s kind of my thing.” Dash said softly, hovering in mid-flight.

            “Well it looks like we have some rainclouds along the way tonight.” Sunspeed interrupted, changing the subject.

            “I think they are. Too bad that I haven’t heard any news about the weather from the weather patrol; I bet we have a scheduled rain.” Dash replied looking over her shoulder.

            Rarity trotted up to Twilight. Twilight faced Rarity, and Rarity returned the gesture with a smile. She smiled and faced forward again.

            “So Twilight dear, how are you holding up after that other vision you had a few nights ago, hmm?” Rarity asked. A bit of concern was in her tone of voice.

            Twilight held her mouth open, closed it, and raised an eyebrow, confounded a bit by the sudden question. I could come up with a response sooner, but Rainbow and the others are distracting me a bit with their chatter. She thought.

            “I actually haven’t given it much thought lately, but it still scares me quite a lot. I am having trouble putting those horrifying pictures I saw out of my mind.” Twilight responded, after a minute of walking.

            “Well at least you’re holding up alright, if you need anyone to talk to, I can help, I hope you know that.” Rarity said with a comforting tone.

            “Thank you Rarity, I am glad to have you as a close friend.”

            “As am I.” Rarity answered.

            After about two hours of walking, they finally made it to the entrance of the Everglade Forest. Before entering, they all agreed on sticking near one another, so no one gets lost. Upon entering, immediately the air became denser, and the sunlight that was shining over them left their bodies immediately. The forest was thick; the trees seemed to close in around them. A musty smell seemed to reside in the forest itself.

            After slowly scanning the area, they found a mid-sized area, blueberries were scattered around, and they began picking them. They kept picking, keeping to themselves until AJ stopped and said abruptly:

            “Wow, Ah told Starstride that we’d be back in an hour! Ah was so wrong!”

            “Yes, time has a way with that.” Twilight jumped in, as she continued picking.

            “I love picking blueberries…but this forest…is dark and...scary.” Fluttershy said timidly.

            “Yeah, I agree Fluttershy. Man, all this talk about blueberries makes me want some blueberry pancakes or something!” Pinkie exclaimed, holding her stomach.

            “Pinkie, you have such a wild imagination.” Sunspeed said, rolling her eyes.

            “Well, what did you expect? It’s Pinkie Pie!” Rarity said coolly, glancing at Pinkie.

            They finished picking the last of the berries in the vicinity, and continued deeper into the forest to scavenge some more. As they continued walking, Fluttershy stumbled upon something.

            “Umm…hold on girls, I found something.” Fluttershy said urgently, pointing to the ground with one of her hoofs.

            The seven stopped and gathered around the object.

            “What is that?” Twilight asked curiously.

            “It looks like, a tattered cloak.” Dash said slowly, examining the object.

            “A cloak? Why is something like that doing here?” Rarity pondered.

            “I don’t know, but maybe we should take this back to Starstride, it could prove of some use, you never know.” Sunspeed jumped in.

            “Sounds like somepony is up to no good! A certain somepony that is!? Maybe he’s a spy; maybe he’s invisible, maybe he’s-“Pinkie said, jumping up on a tree stump that was a few feet from her.

            “I hardly doubt that Pinkie Pie!” Dash giggled.

            “Anything’s possible Dashie!”

            Nodding in acknowledgement, Rainbow Dash turned her head to face the direction they were once travelling, she squinted, and her mouth was agape slightly as she was focusing on something. Suddenly, she gasped, and took off running.

            “Rainbow Dash! Where are you going?!” Twilight said, turning her head to Dash and ran after her.

            “I found something, just follow me, come on!”

            The other five ponies hesitated for a second, and then ran after Twilight and Rainbow. When they finally caught up, they all gasped in shock of what they saw.

            Before them, was a desecrated outpost. Ripped and tattered tents littered the ground, some were still standing, and some were lying crumpled on the ground. Broken tables, chairs, mugs, and cider bottles were sprawled across the campsite, Black ashes littered the place, and fallen logs and barricades, were either smashed completely, had sharp wood fragments lying around, or burnt to a crisp black.

            In the back of the campsite, was a chest, which was intact, but was severely burnt. There was one table still standing, near the chest. The seven walked around the site, examining the place. Dash trotted up to the chest, and she saw in the corner of her eye, a note, sitting on the table.

            Dash picked it up, a rip sat in the center, a diamond shaped tear. She noticed writing was on it, it was faded and hard to recognize. She sighed, and began to read it silently. As she was reading, she heard the others talking in the background, and after she finished reading it, her eyes widened with fear.

            ‘Uh…umm…Twilight, you might want to…see this.” Dash stuttered, in shock.

            Twilight trotted up to Dash, and levitated the note out of her hoof into the air. The others gathered around curiously. Twilight cleared her throat, studied the words and tried to recognize them, and then began to read aloud.

            “…Day28..: The Lieutenant said that we were going to stay at this camp for a couple more days, until we find the Elements; we have been looking for them for a month. Some of the guards filled me in on why we want the Elements. Apparently, the Boss wants to revive an ancient demon called Actatrax, heh, what kind of name is that? So, this demon, is supposed to be the most devastating thing known in Equestria, few have dared to utter those words. These buddies tell me that in order to revive him, we need to kill the seven Elements, and use their blood to revive him. I remember the Lieutenant told me that the Elements reside in the blood and soul of its bearer, so we just have to kill them. I hope I get a raise from the Boss if I kill one of the Elements, it would be very useful to me. The Sarge is giving me a hard time, he thinks I want to steal his money, and I’d say he needs to-……."

-Jarrick, Corporal 1st class,

Society...o…Decieving…Eleme-…Harmonics.

            Twilight looked up, and turned to the others, her eyes lit up in horror. Her whole body trembled, and she barely managed to whisper to the others:

            “This is worse than what I thought.”