Equestria and the world it is a part of holds a rich modern culture. Fire breathing dragons, majestic yet greedy griffons, shapeshifting changelings, magical ponies, and much, much more. However, as rich of a culture it has, most it’s history is a great unknown. This is because a period of time before the time considered ancient by most. Only stories of this time frame survived.
In that time, there were great beasts known as Behemoths that roamed the land, terrorizing the people that lived there. These Behemoths held a power that made them impossible to beat on the field of battle. For generations of unknown amounts of time, the people could only live in fear of their lives from day to day.
That is not to say that the Behemoths lived in Harmony with each other. Every day, each one had to constantly compete with others for food and for the raw magic that literally seeped from the ground. Territory was a must as well. It is because of those conflicts, that someone found a means to fight back.
A man, who’s name is forgotten, ended up stumbling on the site of such a territory fight between Behemoths. One of them still lived, but barely. All around it was a large gathering of corpses that easily hinted it’s overexertion. Despite the fear he felt, the man reached forth and began to tend to the beast’s wounds.
As he aided the beast in its recovery, a bond between them began to form. The man’s care generated a type of gratitude from the beast that seemed to give it purpose and a drive to live. At the rough time of its recovery, another Behemoth came to challenge for territory and raw magic. It’s newfound purpose and drive to live led to a swift victory for the beast in honor of its healer.
However, despite the true bond between the two, the man saw an opportunity to harness this power for the benefit of his species. He taught the various villages of his tribe on how to tame these behemoths and he even traveled abroad to teach the other tribes and their villages how, all in preparation for a 100-year purge.
From there, a century of bloodshed occurred, Purging the land of the Behemoths. When peace was established, the Behemoths were wiped from the land and the beasts that were on the side of our ancestors died having fulfilled a life-changing purpose. As they died, their very essences eventually became part of their handlers, allowing each tribe to be able to wield magic in their own varied ways.
“The magic from the beasts changed our ancestors into the various creatures and ponies we know of today,” Sunburst read aloud while seated in his disorderly office in the Crystal Empire. The unicorn was deeply into the history that Starswirl the Bearded hypothesized came before many known ancient events (both by the perspective of modern ponies and the perspective of those ancient ponies). He turned the page and continued reading. “The many ponies I questioned on these stories and events all told variations of what I have written, but among all tellings, one thing was common. A call to be vigilant for the return of the Behemoths, but also to look forward to when many would be able to wield their power, both in size and strength. Eventual research into this will be needed to further understand this supposed foretelling of the future.” Sunburst saw that the journal ended there.
“That was a very good read,” he muttered to himself in deep contemplation. “It seems that Starswirl had doubts about a potential prophecy and I can see why. No actual written records of it.” Sunburst stood up from his chair and began pacing around the room with a hand on his chin. “But the idea of an ancient form of magic sounds interesting. The only place I can think of that would have that kind of magic would be the Everfree Forest near Ponyville.”
“But said forest didn’t really exist during the time of Starswirl...unless the magic began to seep from the ground there,” he began to hypothesize, his pace of pacing and his excitement growing with each step. “It makes sense. Most Unicorn Scholars guess that the Everfree is a font of wild magic that keeps itself from failing like the Badlands without pony care. It’s like an oil lamp, but the flame is the forest and the oil is the magic!”
Starburst then grabbed a suitcase and began packing, excited the whole time. “I do hope I have the bits for this, because this could be the find of a lifetime!”
Author's Note
I got the idea for this from some pictures. Silly pictures.
Chapter 1: Path to Awakening
After packing up what stuff he needed for a trip into the Everfree, he then drafted two letters. One going to the friend of his friend, Trixie Lulamoon, while the other would go to Princess Twilight.
In his letter to Trixie, he explained that he was going to be doing some magical exploration in the Everfree Forest. She would be assigned to haul a small supply wagon. He also explained in his letter that he wished to talk with her about some private problems, which was the primary reason for requesting her.
In his letter to Twilight, he explained things similar to what he wrote in Trixie’s letter, but placed a bit of an emphasis on a guide and maybe an ‘adventurer’ or two to protect him and Trixie.
He sent the letters and left (and locked) his home, heading to the Crystal Empire Train Station. Just as he finished purchasing a ticket and got himself seated, he received a reply to both letters. Trixie was willing to come and help, considering she was in Ponyville at the time and she could delay part of her Magic Show tour. Twilight had granted the guide and aide, provided he helps transport a recently acquired magic artifact to Zecora the zebra (who will be the guide in question).
Sunburst smiled and bounced a little in his seat in excitement. This was going to be an excellent trip.
Shortly after the three-hour train ride, Sunburst got to Twilight’s Crystal Tree Castle. With a brief moment of hesitation, he knocked on the entrance door and waited. Within a few seconds, the door opened revealing Spike, wearing is semi-casual get up of blue jeans and a polo shirt.
“Hello, Sir Spike,” Sunburst began nervously.
“Dude, calm down,” Spike said. “Starlight’s off visiting Our Town, so you can speak more freely.”
With a sigh of relief, Sunburst walked in, Spike moving to guide him to the castle’s meeting room. “Thank goodness. Both of us aren’t really aware of other’s emotions, but she can pick out nervousness a mile away.”
“Then it’s a good thing she is several miles away,” Spike attempted to joke, but with no real laughter, he cleared his throat and continued, “Anyway, in all seriousness, you need to stop with your cold hooves and just ask her.”
“Yeah, well...you weren’t exactly the one who upset her when she was just a filly, leading to her doing what she did!” Sunburst almost shouted. “To further fan the flames, I never wrote to her to start with. A few strokes of a pen and most of what happened probably wouldn’t have.”
Spike shook his head in bewilderment. “I...just...urgh...nevermind. Not my place to put the blame,” he said and opened the meeting room door. “Twilight, Trixie, Daring, he’s here.”
Entering the room, Sunburst saw Twilight, Trixie, and someone dressed like Daring Do sitting at the meeting table. Twilight stood up and spoke. “Sunburst, I have gotten your letter and your guide is to be Zecora the Zebra from the Everfree.”
“Okay, but I don’t see a zebra here, not to sound racist,” Sunburst said as respectfully as he could. “And why do you have a pony at the table dressed as Darring Do?”
“That is Daring Do,” Trixie said casually.
“Uh, no,” he responded. “She’s a fictional character in a book.”
“You both are half right,” the adventure dressed pegasus said. She stood up and continued, “Legally, I’m known as A.K. Yearling, but to my closest friends, I am Daring Do.”
“Wait, Really!?” Sunburst asked in shock. Daring nodded and Sunburst had to sit down. “So all those stories you wrote...you actually did them?”
“Yeah, but it would be best if most ponies didn’t know,” she answered. “The idea of it being fiction gives me a fair bit of anonymity when I do both of my jobs. No one suspects A.K. Yearling of being an adventurer, and thugs don’t think of speaking to Daring Do’s writer.”
Sunburst gave her a thumbs up, understanding her unspoken request. “Anyway, why are you here and not writing or doing an adventure of some kind?”
“She was showing me an artifact that the crown had requested she look into and find when your letter arrived,” Twilight explained. “Your timing was very convenient, as I was just discussing taking it to Zecora for safekeeping and possible deconstruction.”
“And what you wrote caught my attention, so I’ve decided to come along,” Daring said. “I can fill the adventurer role you asked about while taking the artifact to Zecora.”
“Got it. I’ll leave you and Twilight to figure out any supplies we may need and have them loaded up,” he told Daring. “I need to talk with Trixie about...things.”
Twilight and Daring nodded and left the meeting room. Sunburst then turned to Trixie with an anxious look. “Thank Celestia they’re gone,” he practically wheezed out.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m just so conflicted!” He almost shouted. “I want to marry Starlight Glimmer, but the fact that I ‘ignored’ her for most of our lives after I left for Canterlot could give her a reason to say no...and I don’t want to have a broken heart!”
“Calm down,” Trixie tried to quiet him down. “I’ve been one of her first few friends, and I can safely assure you that she would be just as anxious as you are on the proposal.”
Her words got him to stop panicking. “Wait, she would?”
“Yes,” Trixie simply said. “Hay, she would assume you wouldn’t want to be with her based on her attempt to change the past, thus ruining the present.”
“But technically, I started the snowball down the snowy mountain,” Sunburst rebutted.
“And from there, you’d both get into an argument on who’s more at fault until you forget why you argued in the first place,” Trixie said, getting Sunburst to fume a bit in embarrassment.
“I...w-well...let’s get outside and ready for the trip,” He said, wanting to get away from the conversation. The two ponies stood up and left the castle, ready to leave.
It was only an hour before they had the supplies they needed for their venture into the Everfree Forest. The group, consisting of Sunburst, Trixie, and Daring Do, were then were on a wagon trail that was made to allow ponies to visit Zecora safely and not get lost.
“So, I’m kinda curious,” Sunburst said, breaking whatever silence the forest had around the group. “What’s the artifact you found and we’re working on transporting?”
“It’s a bit of a confusing story, to be honest,” Daring said as they walked. “You know that most of my adventures are documented in my books, right?” Sunburst and Trixie nodded, prompting Daring to continue. “The finding of this artifact was rather dull. I read an ancient pony stone carving depicting what is known as the Orb of Ruine.” She pulled out a baseball-sized gold orb that had a few runes that lightly glowed with energy. “The carving made this thing seem like a weapon of mass destruction, but when I let Twilight examine it, it’s just a chunk of gold-plated quartz that is charged with magic. Nothing destructive about it.”
“Quite a letdown,” Sunburst said in slight disappointment. “Did the carving say anything more?”
“Only a riddle that neither Twilight nor I could make sense of,” she said. “When Truths are revealed, and a bond is healed; an accidental punch thrown true, will change land’s lifeblood from red to blue.”
The group walked in silence, mulling the riddle/rhyme in their heads. “That was confusing, but it’s catchy,” Trixie commented.
“My thoughts exactly,” Daring agreed. The group arrived at a small split in the path, one that leads to the Castle of the Two Sisters, while the other leads to Zecora’s hut. They followed the path to the hut and when they arrived, Daring heard some talking through the window that caught her attention.
“This isn’t a time for debate, Ms. Zecora!” A heavily accented voice said. “I need to know where she is! I need to tell her directly so that damnable dog-thing doesn’t kill her directly! Daring gestured for Sunburst and Trixie to hang back and be quiet while she snuck to one of the windows and took a peek in. Inside, she saw Caballeron interrogating the zebra occupant of the hut...but was doing it in a rather civil manner than what Daring was used to.
“I see the urgency in your eyes,” the zebra began. “But once again, you need to apologize.”
Daring pulled away from the window and rushed back to the two waiting unicorns. “What was it?” Sunburst asked.
“Caballeron,” Daring answered with a bit of frustration. “Of all the times he has to tail me, it has to be on some personal free time.”
“So, adventuring into a forest in search of an ancient magic ‘leak’, is personal free time?” Trixie asked incredulously.
“Yeah? So?”
“Not trying to sound judgemental, I’m just surprised,” Trixie quickly clarified.
“So, should we just wait for him to leave or risk searching the forest without her?” Sunburst asked in slight fear.
“We head down the path to the Castle,” Daring planned out loud for the two unicorns to hear. “When we get to the bridge, we use the path and the castle ravine as reference points and search carefully.”
The unicorns nodded and turned to leave, only to be met with padded, but heavy bludgeons to their faces, knocking them out instantly. Daring barley heard the strikes and before she could even look, another bludgeon took her down. The perpetrators revealed themselves to be what seemed to be a trio of cultists. With no words exchanged between them, they bound the wings, limbs, and magic of the three and carried them off.
Unbeknownst to them, they had been spotted by the hut’s current occupants.
Author's Note
If you want to see the pictures that inspired me, just ask in the comments and I'll see to a link placed in the relevant chapter so you can see the artist's work.