Warm summer winds blew through the branches of Everfree Forest. Even after all that's happened over the few months this place still left ponies trembling in fear. Ponies of Equestria have always been taking care of the balance of nature on their own and that is exactly what scared them about this forest; it wasn't maintained by anyone, but an unseen force, which kept the flora growing, least to say some of it was "supernatural". And if the wild plants weren't scary enough, than it was the beasts living in it. And not just the typical lions, tigers and bears, but mystical creatures, such as manticores, ursas, cockatrice and...
"Timber wolfs?" a certain zebra replied at the howling, "At this time and place? Something doesn't quite make sense."
Despite all the frightening hype that ponies of Ponyville had been making about it, Zecora has lived in the forest for a very long time, though she never bothered explaining why she had moved away from her native lands in the south, but main explanation has always been basically, because of her art of mysticism and love of making special magical brews. To this point, she knew every little corner of Everfree Forest. She has learned the pattern of beasts living there and how to ward herself from them. Zecora knew that timber wolfs were magical in nature and if they were acting abnormally, it meant something was clearly wrong. As she walked deeper into the forest, trying to avoid unwanted attention, she suddenly felt unexpected change in atmosphere as the air felt heavy and the gloom of the forest became even thicker, especially during this time of day. But what disturbed her the most was that there was no sound of animals anywhere. It was dead silent. It was only than that her attention was taken by something stuck on her leg, as she passed through one of the bushes.
"Oh no..." she said in a tone which was unlike her and for a good reason.
The leaf that was stuck on her leg wasn't just dried out; it was turned black with tiny gray specks. She quickened her pace deeper into the woods, where she saw an ever greater damage being done to the flora. The once blooming trees were now turning depressingly gray and instead of bright tree sap flowing from them, all that was in its place was sticky dark pus. At this point, Zecora didn't bother taking precautions any longer and galloped off toward increasing gloominess. She finally reached the place where the shadow was the thickest and the forest surprisingly ended. The sight she saw, horrified her.
In the center of what was a small clearing, stood a great, thick, deformed, black tree. Its leafless branches stretching high in the sky, with a pair of claw-shaped ones, twisted aground the trunk, as if it was trying to block the sunlight, at its center, a great opened scar, shaped like a maniacal grin and knotholes, from which strange ghostly light flashed every now and then. From those same holes, a strange gray substance was oozing and flowed down the trunk and into the small pool surrounding the tree.
"So vile, cruel and beyond belief, what sort of evil would corrupt the forest Everfree?!" Zecora cringed, as she watched the horrid site.
She suddenly heard the bushes rustle nearby and in the last moment jumped away, as a beast leaped out and nearly pounced on her.
It was a bear, but there was something wrong with him. He was bigger than an ordinary one and the color of his fur was much darker tone. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to ponder as the beast jumped at her again, leaving Zecora with no other choice, but to run for her life. She galloped as fast as she could away from the dark place, yet as the gloom finally begun to disappear, it did not slow down the rampaging bear, which was still on her heels. At this point, there was only one place she could find some refuge. Her hut.
The moment Zecora reached her house, she slammed the door behind in the exact moment when the bear's jaw was about to reach her, hitting him in the face. For that one brief moment, the zebra took a deep breath of relief and exhaustion. She was finally safe... or so she thought. The bear suddenly begun to slam his giant claws at the door and it soon became apparent that it's only the matter of time before they give in under his might. Zecora's own home suddenly turned into a death trap. She tried to collect herself, as in situation like this, the worst it could happen was to lose one’s head. Something greatly bothered her. She had her fair share of bear encounters in the forest and if they did give her a chase, it was only because she was in their territory. What disturbed her most about this one however wasn't that he was much bigger and different colored fur, but the sheer ferocity he was displaying, as if he was driven by empty and uncontrollable anger...
Anger...
The moment she thought of that word, she hurried to the cupboard on her wall and opened it. In it, sat many different masks, relics from her homeland, yet there were different compare to the ones she put inside and outside her house, which were just big decorations. These particular ones were carved into much smaller piece of wood, painted with several colors and with tiny accessories attached to them, giving them many different expressions. From the collection she picked the one with a rather angry expression and begun to chant a spell in her native tongue; the mask begun to glow green, until it levitated in the air.
In that moment however, the door finally gave in as the bear beat them down, yet unfortunately due to his size, he was only able to squeeze in up to his gut through the narrow door of zebra's house, only giving him room to swing his giant claws aground and roar on top of his lungs.
"I see now who and what you are," Zecora said as she turned to face the beast, with the mask floating near her, "but I assure you, you will not get far. And if you are the sign of things to come, than “they” will stop your terrible wroth; but for now, I will make you cease - giza!"
And with that Zecora charged at the monstrous bear, while it, at that precise moment swung his claws at her.
"Wake up, Twilight!" a voice of a too familiar baby dragon called across the dark room.
As he pulled away the curtains, letting in the morning light, until it enveloped the entire room, causing a certain owl, which sat on the perch by the study desk to turn its head for 180 degrees.
"Spike... please, for the love of Equestria, don’t tell me its morning already." the new alicorn princess said, as she covered her eyes.
"Oh... well, it's not morning already." Spike replied, to which Twilight reacted with a groan at her companion’s answer of a simpleton.
It's been several weeks since Twilight moved back to Canterlot, to learn more about her new responsibilities. Ponyville could only help her get so far, but the task learning how to lead and govern, was something only the more experienced ponies could provide. Celestia and Luna have been doing it for centuries, so they would be the most likely candidates to help her. This meant however that she would require full time dedication, so moving to Canterlot castle was the only choice. Not to mention that the task of ruling Equastria might someday fall upon her shoulders.
"Right..." she said as she rolled out of her bed, shaking her head to get rid of what little was still trying to hold her to sleep, “Spike, bring the checklist, please."
"Ready!" her dragon companion enthusiastically replied.
With the busy schedule she had every day, Twilight was forced to make several copies of the same list in advance, not mentioning how big of a toll it took on Spike's little claws. And while she was excited to learn more about holding the mantle of ruler-ship, after several weeks later, it all became a routine. Every day, everything was the same. After taking the morning shower, the princess returned to her room, grooming her mane, preparing for her daily duties, her eyes wondered across her table. It was filled with inks and parchments, a particular box which she has recovered from the Tree of Harmony a long time ago; yet her eyes locked on to the far left, where sitting in a corner, was a single photo.
"Well, that checks the morning bathing. Next on the list is- Twilight?" Spike stopped with the checklist as he noticed Twilight dropping her brush and picking up the photo.
He joined her side and soon noticed somber expression on her face. The photo she was holding was the one from her early days in Ponyville, the one she took with her very best friends. She saw her former self at the center, surrounded by five mares, very special to her; Pinkie Pie, a pony who's cheerfulness was second to none, Rainbow Dash, the most loyal athlete one could ever have, Rarity, the most generous unicorn that ever lived, Fluttershy, the timid yet kindest pegasus in Equestria and finally, Applejack, the most honorable workhorse she ever met. Looking back on all they experienced together, all their adventures and hardships they had overcome brought a single tear to Twilight's eye.
"You miss them, don't you?" Spike said as he stood by her side.
"Of course I miss them." Twilight said as she wiped the tear from her eye, "They're my best friends; I haven't seen them in weeks. I've been so preoccupied with royal duties, that I didn't even have a chance to write to them back."
She rested her head on the table, as she continued to look at the picture:
"I just wish I could see them. If only for just a moment, so I could see how they're doing."
Spike sighed as he pat her on the back:
"I know... I miss them too. Especially…" he paused for a moment and sighed again, "Rarity... But with our schedule being full day after day, what can we do? We can't just go and leave as we please."
"I know." Twilight lifted her head, "But I just have this weird feeling that I must see them immediately, or something bad might happen. What if-"
Suddenly, her expression turned worried.
"What if they think I've forgotten about them? What if they think that my royal duties are too important to me to be worth their time, that I've give up on our friendship and that they'll have to find somepony else to fill their empty lives? What if because of that, they suddenly lose sight of who they were?! What if-" she was unable to finish the sentence, as in her hysteria, her wings begun to act by themselves, causing her to fly up and hit the sealing.
The little dragon ran, helping her back on her feet:
"Chill, Twilight. You expect that your best friends forgot about you, just because you didn't have time to reply back to them? You're taking this way too serious if you ask me.”
"And just what would you do if Rarity had forgotten all about you?" Twilight attempted to push Spike's buttons, in which, she succeeded.
The quill snapped in his claws and a disturbed cringe appeared on Spike's face, before he jumped at Twilight's face and started pulling her mane:
"No! Don't say it! Oh no! Oh no no no no no no no! Forget the checklist; forget the schedule! We have to go to Ponyville! NOW!"
"Well... It's good that you see things from my perspective." the alicorn said as she struggled to push the dragon off her face.
"Okay, we have about thirty minutes before the next activity on our schedule. That should be enough to get to Ponyville and back, right? Nobody would notice we were gone." said Twilight as she picked up the check list to examine it.
"I... think so." Spike replied rather unenthusiastically, "But if that's the case, the Canterlot train is out of the question; not to mention we wouldn't be able to sneak past all the guards to the train unnoticed."
"Flying there is out of the question as well." Twilight lowered her head in disappointment, "And these things on my back aren't nearly as good as those of Rainbow Dash to get us there and back in ten seconds."
Silence fell over the room. Their hopes to finally see their friends again fell into water. There was no other way out of Canterlot except by air or train.
Spike scratched his chin for a moment, when he suddenly got an idea:
"Hey wait! Why don't you just your teleportation spell to zap ups down to Ponyville lickity-split? I mean you've done it countless time before, so I don't see what's stopping you."
"It's not that easy, Spike." the alicorn sighed, "The teleportation spell has a maximum range. I can only teleport a few feet away. To use a teleportation spell of magnitude you speak of, I'd either have to temporarily amplify my magic power or use a more powerful teleportation spell; which unfortunately I neither have one, nor know the other."
"Oh... sorry." the dragon sulked.
All of a sudden, Twilight's dangly ears instantly straitened and a smile of realization appeared on her face.
"Wait! That's it! I may not know of any spell, but “he” definitely did!" she said with a cheerful grin, as she picked up Spike with her mouth and tossed him on her back, before charging out of her room "Come on, Spike!"
"Twilight wait!" Spike screamed as he tried to hold on to the princess.
Twilight galloped down the corridors of Canterlot castle with great haste. She watched as the morning sun shined upon the roofs of the capitol, blessing it with the light, which reflected all the way to the castle windows. As she continued to run, she noticed a single figure on top of the tallest western tower. It was Princess Celestia, who not so long ago raised the sun and continued to do so, meaning that it's only the matter of time before she would go looking for the former student/now equal.
"TWILIGHT!" the little dragon finally yelled into her ear to get to her.
"Ow! What, Spike?!" she turned her head with a glare.
"Where are we going? Why are we going down the corridor that leads to the library? I thought you wanted to see your friends again, not waste your time there." Spike said, still trying to hold on to her tightly.
"That's what I'm trying to do. There is only one unicorn I know who would posses vast knowledge and discovered spells so powerful that would put any other unicorn in Equestria to shame." a grin appeared on Twilight's face as the spoke the name, "Star Swirl the Bearded."
At the speed they were going, it didn't take long before they arrived to the library wing of the castle. Yet as soon as they did, Twilight almost immediately stopped, causing Spike to butt his head with hers. She begun to tiptoe down the rather darkened hall, looking left and right at every crossroad they came to.
"Emm, Twilight?" Spike asked, to which the alicorn shushed him, "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" she replied as she sneaked alongside the wall, peeking aground the corner, "I'm trying to get to Star Swirl's library wing and I don't want the guards to find out."
"Twilight, don't you think you're taking this a bit far? I mean do you remember what-" the baby dragon was unable to finish his sentence as the princess put her hoof on his mouth to shut him, as she peeked around the corner again.
Twilight recognized it immediately. There stood a giant iron bared gate with a lock, and over it, a giant green stone, with Star Swirl's signature three-star mark. The princess tiptoed over to it, making sure nopony was aground, before stopping at the locked door. While she examined it, Spike jumped off her back and looked around the corridor. He noticed a window just opposite to the library wing, and he soon recalled memories of a hilarious event that took place here a long time ago.
"He he he, Twilight, do you remember last time, how us two and Pinkie Pie tried to sneak into this same wing, because you were afraid that something terrible was going to happen and then sent yourself back in time to warn your past self and in turn only caused those same events to happen?" the little dragon giggled.
"Oh ha ha ha. How could I possibly forget." the princess replied to her companion in a sarcastic tone, "Now be quite, I need to think how we can open this."
"If you didn't forget, you do remember what happened at-" Spike tried to speak only to get cut off again.
"Spike, please. Not now." she gave him a quick glare as she returned her attention to the lock, "Hmm.... I don't know what type of lock this was supposed to be."
"Emm… Twilight." he urged her.
"We can't just break it down, or guards will think somepony was trying to rob it out." Twilight began talking to herself, not paying attention to Spike.
"Twilight." the baby dragon began poking at his mare companion.
"And I can't risk using wrong magic to open it either or it might set off the alarm-" continued to ignore the baby dragon despite his constant prodding.
"TWILIGHT!" Spike finally yelled out at alicorn’s ear.
"What?!” Twilight Sparkle gave the little dragon a frustrated look.
"Good morning, Princess Twilight." a familiar voice came out behind them.
Twilight's hair turned strait out of fear and she slowly turned her head to check who it was. The guard, a gray unicorn stallion, wearing night guard armor, stood next to them. Yet to alicorn’s surprise she knew him. It was that same guard she met a few months ago when she was trying to sneak into Star Swirl's library wing for the first time, the same guard who incautiously opened the bared gates to her.
"Having trouble getting in again, are we?" the unicorn guard casually replied "Let me help you with that."
And the unicorn used his magic to turn the lock on the door and instantly opened it.
"Well, back to my duties. Have a pleasant day, your highness." the stallion replied as he returned back to his routine.
The princess was left standing there with her mouth hanging open out of shock, until she noticed her dragon companion standing by her side, with his arms crossed and tapping his foot.
"I was trying to tell you that last time we tried to break in, THIS exactly what happened." he gave her an annoyed glare.
Twilight couldn't help but giggle to hide her embarrassment. Even though Twilight was here before, she was again, as always in awe. Star Swirl the Bearded library wing was one of the, if not the oldest part of castle. The shelves were stacked with books and scroll of time long since forgotten by Equestria, mountains of untold knowledge just sitting there, yet not in hundreds of years there has never been an attempt to rob it. And within the center of the room, stood a giant hourglass, whose sand was slowly passing through; since she was here last time, the amount of sand in it slipping through has hardly changed. She could've just stood there and admire the work of her idol, were it not for a small detail.
Twilight suddenly noticed the morning sun reaching across some of the book shelves:
"ACK! We just spent five minutes getting here?!"
"You know that could've been avoided if you weren't doing all that unnecessary sneaking aground." Spike said as he pulled out one of the books from the shelf.
"Well we can't lose any more time with bickering either! Start looking, Spike! We only have twenty-five minutes left!" the alicorn panicked.
And the two jumped to it. They skimped shelve after shelve, book after book, trying to find a spell they could use to get to Ponyville and back in a snap. Yet, it all seemed in vain. The wing was huge and they didn't even clear a quarter of it and by that time, ten minutes had already passed.
"It's no use, Twilight." Spike sighed as he put one of the books away "There's only fifteen minutes left. Maybe we should just quit and try again tomorrow--"
"No! No no no no no! I'm not about to give up, when we're so close I can feel it." the princess said as she grabbed one of the scrolls in haste on one of the top shelves "Keep looking. Even if it's going to be for only 10 minutes, I must see them."
Not paying attention at that moment, Twilight pulled out a scroll, which was sitting on a pile of books, unbalancing it, causing them all to fall out of the shelve like and avalanche, burying the alicorn underneath them. She popped her head out of the pile, coughing at the amount of dust that came with all the old books, only to have one of the falling scrolls spread open all over her face. Brushing it off to the side, she climbed out of the pile and continued looking. Meanwhile, Spike climbed down from one of the shelves and noticed the opened scroll that his friend just put aside, and curiously picked it up to examine it.
"What about this one, Twilight?" the baby dragon said, waving the scroll at her.
The alicorn princess turned to face him, taking up the scroll and reading through it:
"The Star Flash spell?"
"Yeah, it says that a unicorn can use the same magic as the ability to teleport, but with proper setting, it can than travel for miles instead of a few feet, and all its required of him is to know the location of the place he or she wants to go." Spikes spoke excitedly.
"That "proper setting", Spike, is precisely why this spell might not work." Twilight replied in a concerned tone, "This spell requires great concentration when at least one star still sits in the sky, and it's sun rise right now."
"Well, what about that?" the dragon pointed past the princess, making her to turn her head.
Through the skylight in the library's roof, they could see the morning sun beginning spread across the sky, removing the darkness of the night; yet on the farthest horizon, there sat a single star in the distance, not yet obscured by the light.
"It's there! One last star! Oh thank you, my number one assistant!" she jumped with excitement, giving Spike a quick hug, before tossing him on her back "Now hold on tight Spike, and whatever you do, don't let go."
The baby dragon tightly clenched on to her companion, while Twilight positioned herself in the center of the room, taking a look at the scroll one last time, before tossing it away, closing her eyes and begun to concentrate. Her horn, which would normally begin to glow pink while casting a spell, turned snow white. She slowly began to levitate, as a strong wind begun to circle around her. The dragon companion soon noticed that she was beginning to struggle channeling the spell.
"Concentrate, Twilight." he urged her, "Think of the best place you know to get to. And whatever you do, don't think about Applejack's pigsty, or Sugarcube Corner's taffy puller, or-"
"Spike you're not help-!" she was suddenly cut off.
Alicorn's eyes shot open with bright light, before a white explosion enveloped them both and when it disappeared, only star dust was left in their place.
They were gone.
