The Forgotten Past

by iAmSiNnEr

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 2541

A pony discovers a old and ruined cottage on the edges of Equestria's wildest forest.

Time passes, and the winds of change leave almost everything behind. Old structures fall apart, ancient history is lost to our books. There is only one constant in Equestria: Princess Twilight Sparkle and the other alicorns.

Gambit Hay seeks to explore Equestria's wildest forest, the Everfree Forest. For centuries, it has remained mostly a mystery, the inhabitants having a reputation for being wild beasts that attacked those who neared. However, as Equestria's foremost adventurer and researcher, he wants a challenge. While doing so, he sends letters back to his partner, hoping that if he never made it back, the work he did would at least be useful.

All's well and said until he finds a lone cottage on the edge of the forest.

Enclosed above is an artist's impression of the cottage in its prime.

Written for Bicyclette's The Twilight Files contest. See the other entries here!

Art is by Baron Engel, go check them out!

Published 2022-08-06 16:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-08-06 16:00:01 UTC

Dear...

Dear Arcane,

It has been seven days since I set out on my journey. Seven days. A week! Along the way, I have met many new ponies, ponies who advise against me traveling to the Everfree Forest. But I am determined, and I will make it there. An entire unexplored forest! I mean, I know the Princess has banned anyone from entering because of the possibility of a monster attack, but I am confident I'll be able to avoid the monsters. I have my asbestos for the chimeras, some food if I encounter a manticore, or the teleport gem if I meet anything I can't handle. I'll be fine!

The locals of Trottingham told me that there used to be a town near the forest. A little place called Ponyville? Wasn't that the town the old Elements of Harmony we see every day in Canterlot? You know, those tall statues of 'em in the main square? What were their names, again? Jacky, Itty, Dasher, or something along those lines? Eh. No matter. They're ancient history we actually have stories about. The forest, on the other hoof, is entirely uncategorized! So. Much. Information. That I could gather!

I'll be sending this through dragon fire, so you should receive my letters almost immediately. Very useful, dragon fire. Wish I had more than just ten bottles, but ten letters should be enough to categorize and record all my adventures. Below I will be enclosing the stories I've heard our fellow ponies tell of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Should I not make it back, please publish these letters in honor of me. That'd be just perfect.

Yours, Gambit Hay.
P.S. Save the cookies for me when I get back, you greedy flank!
P.P.S. Yes, I know they won't be fresh anymore. I'm messing with you as usual. And please don't take the greedy flank joke too seriously, I know how you are with your weight.

Dear Arcane,

It has been seven days since my last letter to you, and I am nearing the Everfree Forest. True to the words of Trottingham's locals, there is a town here! There's even what used to be a train station. After exploring a little, it looks like it was abandoned due to changing times. This place's a farming town, and the industrialization of the world must have seen more and more of them move away to the cities until none were left. And then it was just forgotten. You'd think the old home of the Elements of Harmony would be a great tourist attraction.

Although, the sign that sits at the train station probably plays a role. Apparently, the Princess doesn't want anyone coming here because monsters have been sighted in the abandoned town before. A little disappointing that nobody wants to muster up some hooves and protect the place or something, but hey, who's gonna argue with the giant sign saying 'KEEP OUT, MONSTERS NEARBY'? I mean, I know I'm here already, but that official-looking seal at the bottom of that sign probably keeps most ponies away.

Anyways, onto Ponyville. The place looks pretty good for being abandoned! Matter of fact, the old cake shop looks like its ovens still work as long as some coal was available. I explored the place shortly after having a small breakfast(biscuits and tea, if you're wondering), and as the sun rose, I trotted amongst the ancient homes. I mean, probably not that ancient. Maybe a couple of decades? More? I have no clue.

I found the town hall. Now, this building looks like it needs repairs. Celestia knows the old file rooms could use some dusting or cleaning, the beams could use some replacing, and maybe the structure overall could get an upgrade. I cast a spell to filter out the dust and rifled through the files in the cabinets. Was a little yuck with all the spiderwebs and some of the files were basically nothing but decomposed paper, but I got some pictures of foal records, newspapers, and what looks to be a rather old projector.

Once I left the town hall, I chanced upon a boutique. I think some ponies have been around, because the boutique looks almost brand new, compared to the town hall. Hell, I swear someone's been here recently, there's barely any dust. I took a look around but didn't find much other than some dresses and one of those old sewing machines from years ago. Took a picture, though! Also might snag one of these dresses later for you. They'd look nice after a few touch-ups.

The rest of the town was the same as the town hall. Derelict, old, crumbling. A far cry from the boutique, but hey, maybe the old owner of said boutique had some preservation spell that's still going! No clue on how those work, though. Princess Twilight's School for Gifted Unicorns is too high of a bar for me. I'd prefer to adventure any other day.

I eventually found an apple farm outside the town. As with the boutique and cake shop, it looks almost brand new. Except for the fact that the architecture is old. A wooden barn? Musty cellars? Sneezed a lot in that one, by the way. Fun fact, there were still a couple of barrels of apple cider left behind. Didn't dare to taste 'em, though. Might have gotten some bugs over the years they were left. There was a hoofprint on one of them, though. Someone has definitely been around.

I sorta want to run into this pony. See what they think of the place, and ask if they were the one maintaining these old places of business. Maybe they're an official from the Equestrian government getting the place ready for tourism? Heh, wouldn't that be the day? On the other hoof, if it's somepony official, I'd rather not get arrested for trespassing on these lands. The fines I'd get...

Anyways, it's getting late as I write this letter, and I need my sleep. Tomorrow, it's Everfree Forest time! Woooo! They ain't ready for my flank!

Yours,
Gambit Hay.
P.S. Tell Tipper hello for me, would you? If I recall, it's their cat's birthday, and I've always sent 'em a gift. A little sorry I couldn't be there, though! (Adventuring takes priority over a cat's birthday, truth be told. Don't tell them that.)
P.P.S. When I get to the Forest, there's going to be so much I want to say, I'll probably do a few recordings and use a transcribing spell to write the letters. Remembering everything and then writing it down later is a little unreliable.

Dear Arcane,

Below is the transcript of the day I had. It's been...something. The transcribing spell did a really good job.

Starting the spell now. This is working, right? Oh, yeah, I see the words on the paper now. Good. I forgot to set it up as I entered, but there wasn't really anything to talk about. Forest was just a creepy, gloomy place. Didn't really see anything of note, and I didn't see a single monster. Not a manticore, not a chimera, not even the odd sea serpent! A lot of swamps, though.

Now, however, as I left the forest a little disappointed in a different direction, I found something else. Right in front of me is a cottage. A very pretty cottage, truth be told. There's more life here than in the forest, and it's not even inhabited! I think. I see bears, and birds, and there even seems to be a crocodile in the lake running near it. I think I won't go there for now. The bears might take great offense to my presence.

I'll wait till nightfall. Then I'll head in. Pausing the spell now...

Spell has resumed, I think. It's nighttime. And the animals are mostly asleep or gone. Torch...check!

I have entered. I see...

Someone's been here, Arcane. The tea set's fresh. There are books that were written during this time. I see things that weren't from decades ago. There's a lot—

They're still here. I'm scarpering. Whatever's with me, they're not normal!

I CAN FEEL THEM!

...yeah. That's where I ended the spell. I'm officially creeped out now. I felt something poking around in my mind, Arcane. Whatever it was, it's powerful enough to poke in there.

Or I'm just being paranoid, and there was nothing there but shadows. Either way, I'm not going into that cottage in the dark ever again. I'm going to return in the morning with everything I have to look at the cottage. Adventurers are brave, but we have to watch out for our own lives too.

Wish me luck.

Yours,
Gambit Hay.

Dear Arcane,

Okay, I went back inside the cottage. The same things were there. The books, the tea set, there's even a quill and inkpot. Who even uses those anymore?

There were letters. I didn't read them. If someone actually lived there, I feel like they'd be more pissed off at me for reading their personal letters than poking around the cottage. The animals wandering around gave me a wide berth or just watched me closely. I found that weird. Normally, wild animals would run away from ponies. Not the case here, apparently.

I've enclosed below all my observations in a more suitable way. For now, I'd like to just note that this place is weird. The Equestrian government said that the town was abandoned and that no one was to enter. I've found signs that there's somepony living here. I've felt some kind of presence. And I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

No, I'm not gonna say the line about doing it even if it's the last thing I'll do. I'd like to survive this, thank you very much.

I think Ponyville is at the center of this. And I'm going to investigate Ponyville as much as I can. See what I can find.

Yours, Gambit Hay.
P.S. Fourth letter, now. Six more bottles of dragon fire before I run out.

Dear Arcane,

I am back in the cottage. I could find nothing in Ponyville, so I went back to the cottage in a huff. At least there was a couch and beds here, even if they probably belong to somepony else. The quill and ink pot are gone. So are the letters. Somepony's definitely around here. I swear I'm not insane.

I've enclosed below everything I saw in Ponyville, and whatever observations I made. Arcane, I think the government is lying to us. There's something here. It probably eats ponies. Probably. And the government's trying to hide it from us and feeds it adventurers to appease its appetite. Well, I won't have it. I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

Yours, Gambit Hay.
P.S. Fifth letter. And I hope the enclosed sections are coming along, I haven't received a reply from you to confirm. If they didn't send, that's over fifty pages worth of stuff missing.

Dear Arcane,

I'm being stalked. I'm sure of it. I saw a shadow while I was settling to sleep in my tent. It loomed over my tent and I saw some shadow of some weird creature with two goat horns.

And then I blinked and the shadow was gone. If it's trying to scare me, it ain't working. If anything, I'm more motivated to check it out and confirm my suspicions. Right now, I'm writing this letter as I trot to the cottage. It's time to search it from top to bottom.

Wait. Are those...lights in the windows?

An invisibility spell has been cast, and I'm sneaking up to the window. I gotta see this.

...

Yours, Gambit Hay.

Dear Arcane,

I accidentally sent the last letter in a panic. But I need to ask you a favor. Remember all those letters and enclosed observations I sent you? Burn them. Burn them all. This is important. I swear it's for a good reason. And this is my hoofwriting, so you know it's me. Please, Arcane. I need you to burn everything. There is a pony here, actually two, but I need those letters to be burnt. In proper flames.

Ponyville's true secret cannot be revealed to the public. Not by us, at least.

I...I'm gonna let the pony here write to you the situation properly.

Yours, Gambit Hay.

Dear Arcane,

I apologize for the scare I gave your partner. And for Discord. He hasn't interacted with ponies ever since his first friend...passed. I mean, there's me, but I hardly count now, do I? Or any of the other alicorns. I promise you that nothing untoward is going on in the Everfree Forest, nor is there anything in Ponyville either. Discord and I...we just needed our private place to remember our friends. Sometimes, the old princesses check-in. Celestia and Luna drop by occasionally for a cup or two of tea. And then once a year, Cadance checks in on Discord. Flurry still adamantly refuses to come by Ponyville, quoting she has an Empire to run. I suspect she just is lazy to make the trip. She sends letters to Discord, though.

Discord is currently the caretaker of Ponyville, and he's ensured the homes of our old friends are well maintained. In their memory, I'm sure you can understand. Rarity would hate to see her boutique crumble. Applejack would be furious to see her apple orchard abandoned because of the industrial boom that Equestria experienced. And Pinkie would be so depressed to find out her pride and joy couldn't bake anything anymore.

He's especially taken good care of the cottage. The cottage Gambit probably mentioned in his letters. Again, I apologize on Discord's behalf. He's not too taken with ponies at the moment.

If you have any Kindness or Generosity in you, I plead you to burn the letters. Discord and I use Ponyville and Fluttershy's cottage as a getaway from it all, to remember our friends. Every other pony who's come by, we've told them the same thing. To warn others off because there were monsters nearby. In truth, the monsters migrated to better places. Some went to Tartarus. May have been banished there by me.

If you do burn the letters, come by the Canterlot Castle someday and ask for me. I'll grant you any request. A single request, anything you like. I would be ever grateful to you, and thus I will grant you the request if you do wish it. Ponyville was my home, once. And it was my home more than Canterlot would ever be, even though I live there most of the time. Please excuse this old mare's ramblings, it's just been...a long few centuries without my friends. Of course, I've moved on, and they would want me to, but there's some part of me that will always remember them. I suspect Discord is the same with Fluttershy, although he claims otherwise. So, if there's any Kindness in you...I plead you to burn those letters. If you do...thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Yours Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle,
Herald of the Stars,
Keeper of Knowledge,
Raiser of the Sun and Moon,
Princess of Equestria.