Of Gods and Ponies: Chapter 1

By Wrath of Mane

It was another wonderful day in Ponyville as Twilight Sparkle woke up, her hair a mess as usual first thing in the morning. The birds outside the window sounded wonderful as she slowly prised her eyes open. She turns her head, looking out the window as the sun crests the hills on the horizon, the light streaming through the circular window of her bedroom. After a few minutes lying there, trying to wake herself up, Twilight finally manages to pull herself out of bed, yawning wide as she made her way over to the mirror on her desk at the side of her bed. She peers bleary eyed at the image in front of her, giving a slight gasp at her appearance.

As usual, her hair was a mess. She smirks slightly, a giggle escaping her muzzle as she brushes her hair, a faint glow surrounding her horn as she does so. Today was a big day for the town as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would be arriving in a few days’ time for a visit and Twilight was in charge of organising the celebrations. She had a lot to do and very little time to do it. She was, of course, leaving it late again. She didn’t work well under pressure, but thankfully her friends were there to help her out.

Finishing her mane she trotted down the stairs into the library where Spike was already awake and chatting with Rarity who, it seems, had just arrived a few moments ago.

“Oh…Twilight! Good morning my dear.” Rarity was beaming as she saw Twilight enter the room.

“Good morning Rarity. I’m sorry; I didn’t hear you come in. Just woke up.” She smiles, walking over to where Spike and Rarity were sat.

Spike looked up to Twilight. “I’m sorry, I was about to come and wake you up, but, I heard you moving around and figured you would be down soon.”

“It’s alright Spike. So, we have a busy and full day ahead of us.” Twilight smiles at the two of them, heading over to the lectern where she had made one of her famous, or infamous, lists the night before. It was a great deal more than just a day’s work. “It’s the first time that both Celestia and Luna have visited anywhere together and it all has to be perfect.”

Rarity quirked a brow and walked over to Twilight. “It will be dear, but, just remember that you don’t respond very well under pressure.”

Twilight frowned a little, gritting her teeth. “I know…don’t remind me.”

Rarity tried to put on a brave face for her friend, nudging her slightly. “Don’t worry Twilight, with your friends helping you, this is going to be the best, brightest and biggest party Equestria has ever seen.”

Twilight looked to Rarity, then to Spike, before looking back to Rarity again. She nods her head enthusiastically, smiling from ear to ear. “That it will. And it’s not just you and the others; the whole town is helping out and pitching in.” Twilight blinks for a moment. “Oh, and I just remembered, the Wonderbolts are arriving today to help out.”

Rarity looked a little worried at that. “Oh dear. We cannot let Rainbow Dash find out about that. We will lose her for the next few days.”

Twilight and Spike both chuckle at that as Twilight gets her pack on, looking back to her friend. “I wouldn’t worry. I’ve arranged it so the work Rainbow is doing will have her and the Wonderbolts working together. Should make her happy.” Twilight makes her way to the door, only to be stopped by Rarity.

“And just what do you think you are doing?” The stern look on the white mares face put Twilight in no doubt that something hadn’t met with her approval.

“Uhhh…I’m going out to get everything organised? No?” Twilight put on one of those broad and tall grins of hers.

Rarity just shook her head. “Oh no, not on an empty stomach you aren’t. To the kitchen…now.”

Twilight stood there for a moment, blinking as Rarity walked off in the direction of the kitchen, walking through the door. “NOW!” Rarity’s voice almost ripped through the wooden door of the kitchen, spurring Twilight into movement, her and Spike disappearing through the door for something to eat.

On the outskirts of Ponyville, three fillies make their way into the Everfree forest. They prefer to call themselves the Crusaders, but the rest of the town knows them as a trio of very, very high spirited young ponies…at best. The three of them, over the past year or so, had become very good friends with Zecora and liked to visit her as often as they could. The path leading to the zebra’s house was safe, when compared to the rest of the forest that is.

“I really hope Zecora is going to come to the party, it won’t be the same if she doesn’t.” Applebloom had probably become the friendliest with Zecora, having spent so much time with her.

“I’m sure she’ll come. And I bet she makes something awesome to eat!” Scootaloo was pottering alongside the other two on her now trademarked scooter, little wings flapping ten to the dozen to propel her along the path towards Zecora’s hut. “Besides, Twilight wants her to be there. All the ponies from around Ponyville are coming, so she has to come too. Right?”

The three of them shrugged as they made their way deeper into the forest, remembering to keep the noise down as low as possible, just as Zecora had taught them. It keeps them from attracting too much attention to themselves from the various creatures that live there. After a half hour or so of walking, they finally come to a familiar sight, the clearing that leads to Zecora’s hut. But, something was wrong.

“Is it me, or is the forest unusually quiet today?” Sweetie Belle looked at the other two, slightly concerned. Scootaloo and Applebloom took a look around the clearing.

“Yeah, it is quiet. I can’t even hear a single bird tweeting.” Applebloom wandered further into the clearing, heading over to Zecora’s hut. She stops short, her expression changing, her face dropping. “Uhh…something is very wrong!”

The other two rushed over to where Applebloom was stood, gasping as they looked at the scene. The door to Zecora’s hut was hanging from its top hinge, the wood scorched and burned black. The trio looked at each other, fear slowly starting to creep up inside of them as they slowly walked towards the door. Scootaloo poked her head through the doorway, taking a look around. The main room was wrecked. All of Zecora’s decorations smashed or destroyed, piles of broken furniture scattered about the floor.

“Z…Zecora?” Scootaloo spoke as loudly as she dared, walking into the hut slowly, followed closely by Sweetie Belle and then Applebloom.

“May…maybe we should go and get someone? This isn’t right.” Applebloom was scared, worried, but concern for Zecora kept her from running back to Ponyville.

Scootaloo looked back at Applebloom. “We can’t just leave, Zecora might need help.”

The other two did not look so sure about staying. There was a light smoke still hanging in the air, far more than could have been produced by the now extinguished fire at the centre of Zecora’s main room. Whatever had happened, Zecora hadn’t left of her own accord, as all of her stuff was still here, albeit smashed to bits and scattered all over the floor. Her small library was burned almost completely to ashes as Sweetie Belle poked her head through the door.

“I found summit!!” Appleblooms voice ricochets through the hut and the other two came running to where she was stood. She was simply staring at a dark patch on the floor in Zecora’s bedroom. It was a dark red blotch. The three fillies looked at each other and then back to the stain on the floor. Much quieter this time, Scootaloo looked around, calling out Zecora’s name, tears of fear and worry starting to well up in her eyes.

Sweetie Belle looked at the other two and then at the door to the hut. “We…we should go and get help. Something bad happened here. Uhhh…we should go tell my sister…she’ll know what to do.”

Scootaloo and Applebloom both nodded their heads and all three rushed out of the door and back into town. Unknown to them, a dark figure, large and imposing watched from the shadows of the forest, two red eyes, glowing in the dark. As soon as the Crusaders were out of sight, the figure vanished into the gloom of the undergrowth.

Back in Ponyville the preparations had begun in earnest. The whole town was out in force, cleaning, painting, primping and preening the town to ensure that it looked its best when Princess Luna and Celestia arrived. Twilight was running around, with her list, ensuring that each item on it was being attended to by someone. Poor Spike was getting out of breath running around behind her all day. One of the most important parts of the celebration was ensuring that the weather would be fine for the event. Twilight made her way to where the Wonderbolts and RD were in the process of planning for and preparing the weather control of the big day.

“Alright, this is gonna be cool. Can’t afford to have a single cloud in the sky so we need to practice this until we get it right.” Rainbow Dashes voice carried quite a distance from where the weather control team were planning and Twilight stopped a short distance away, watching as RD and the Wonderbolts worked.

“Don’t worry Rainbow Dash, it’s all planned out. Besides, how can it go wrong when there is you and us on the case?” Spitfire was just as confident in her own abilities as Rainbow Dash, even if she was a little more understated in that confidence.

“I know, but, I just don’t want anything to go wrong. We need to be able to react instantly the moment one of us spots a cloud…or two.” Rainbow Dash looked up at the sky, furrowing her brow. They had spent so much time practicing, that there weren’t any more clouds left in the sky to practice with.

“We will, there is you, us and…” Spitfire gives a sideways glance to Derpy, who was busy watching a butterfly on a flower not too far from them, her eyes almost crossed. If she got any closer, her nose would replace the flower. But the bright smiles on her face kind of made up for the fact that…she wasn’t always the most helpful of ponies.

Twilight finally cleared her throat, as audibly as she could, before making her way over to the group. “Good Morning everyone. How is everything going here?”

“It’s going good, real good.” Rainbow Dash nods her head emphatically as the group turns to face Twilight.

Spitfire smiled a little. “Twilight, isn’t it?” The fire coloured mare made her way over to where Twilight stood. “It’s going well I think. We will be ready for when the princesses arrive. Don’t you worry about that.”

Twilight looked around the clearing that had been made official weather HQ for the event. There were Pegasi of all colours, shapes and sizes that had volunteered to help. A small army of weather control specialists. But, no Fluttershy. Fluttershy was busy making sure that the musical accoutrements would be ready for the show. Twilight had already made a note to go and make sure that that was going well. She also needed to make sure that Fluttershy didn’t need any help.

“Well, it looks like everything is under control here. You got plenty of ponies and plenty of experience. Tick it off Spike.” Twilight turned her head towards him, giving a little nod. Spike already had quill and paper out, ticking off the items on the list as each one was complete.

Rainbow Dash smiled and looked to Spitfire, who was heading back to continue working with the other Pegasi. She leans over and giggled like a school pony. “I can’t thank you enough putting me to work with the Wonderbolts!! It’s so awesome!”

Twilight chuckled a little and nodded her head. “I thought you might approve, just remember, we have a lot of hard work ahead of us.” She looked around, before turning back to Rainbow. “Well, I have to go and check up on Fluttershy. Hopefully things are going well. I know the music will sound great though.”

Rainbow laughed a little. “Heh, brings back memories of when you first arrived huh?”

Twilight frowned slightly. “Don’t remind me. As I recall, I was more than a little wet behind the ears, especially after meeting you.”

Rainbow Dash tried her best, but just could not help herself. She burst out laughing. “Yeah…I’m…still sorry about that.”

Twilight managed to let a smile crack across her features. “Yeah, I know. At least Rarity sorted it out for me…even if she was more than a little enthusiastic about it.” Twilight looked off in the direction of Fluttershys place. “Okay, I better go. Its nearly afternoon and I need to complete everything on my list.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes a little. “Jeez, you and you list’s. I bet you have a list for making lists.”

Twilight blinks, then smiled. “Of course not…that would be silly. Kay, bye!” And with that, the purple pony headed off in towards the edge of town, with a smaller, purple dragon in tow.

The walk to Fluttershys place was pleasant, taking them out to the very edge of town, right on the outskirts of the Everfree forest. Twilight never really understood how someone so timid could stand living so close to such a creepy place. She supposed it was to do with her ability with animals that kept her out so close to the wild places of Equestria. As she walked, she rolled through a number of thoughts in her mind. The food for the party, the entertainment. Pinkie and the Cakes were going to be providing the food, along with the Apple Family, who would also be providing some special batches of their famous cider for the event.

As Twilight rounded the corner of a hill, bringing her in sight of her friend’s house, she stopped. Something was wrong, but Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on it. She took a moment to look around, everything seemed normal. The sun was up, it was a warm summer’s day and Fluttershy was panicking in her garden about something. Yup, a perfectly normal day. Twilight just smiled, heading over to where Fluttershy was stood. Though, as she got closer, she realised what was wrong. Fluttershy was supposed to be getting the music ready for the event, but there wasn’t a bird in sight.

Twilight ran over to Fluttershy who was running back and forth, looking up at the sky. “Oh dear. Where are all of you? Was it something I said? Something I did? Please, we don’t have long to practice.” On one of her back and fourth’s she collided with Twilight, landing flat on her flank. “Oh, Twilight. Hi.”

“Fluttershy? Where are the birds? We only have a couple of days till the Princesses arrive.” Twilight looked around, half expecting to see the animals arriving from the nearby forest to practice, but, there wasn’t a sign of a single one. Even the animals that Fluttershy normally took care of at her house were conspicuously absent.

“I…I know Twilight, but, I don’t know where they are. They just, didn’t show up this morning.” Fluttershy was agitated. Very much so, more than usual.

“Well, let’s just go and see if we can find them? I’m sure they are just in the forest.” Twilight turned back to her friend, who was shaking her head. She really was worried about something.

“No, no, no. Twilight, it’s not that simple. Listen.” Fluttershy planted her hoof on Twilights muzzle and the two of them listened.

“Mrrmmphh.” Twilight tried to speak after a few moments, but Fluttershys hoof was in the way. She lifted her own hoof and moved Fluttershys. “I mean, I don’t hear anything Fluttershy.”

“Exactly. No birds, no…no anything. There isn’t even any wind. Not even a light breeze.” Fluttershy trotted around in a circle about her yard. “And all my friends are hiding in their homes. Angel hasn’t eaten anything today and won’t come out from under the bed. Twilight, something’s wrong.”

Twilight still wasn’t entirely convinced that Fluttershy wasn’t overreacting. “Well, let’s go and see if we can find them on the edge of the forest.” And with that, the purple mare headed in the direction of the forest, just before being stopped by Fluttershy, who seemed to be getting more and more annoyed with Twilights dismissiveness.

“Twilight, I really need you to listen to and believe be right now. Something is VERY wrong! Take a look over at the trees of the forest, there isn’t even any wind in the forest and that place is just strange. No one controls the weather there, why isn’t there a breeze?” Fluttershys gaze was locked on the edge of the forest. And as Twilight turned her gaze in its direction, a shiver ran through her body. There was something…different about the forest today. It looked, closer, darker and it was still and quiet. Far more…threatening and ominous than usual.

Barely daring to raise her voice, she leaned a little closer to Fluttershy. “Uhhh, so, what do you think is wrong? Some sort of monster in the forest scaring off all the animals?”

Fluttershy shook her head, turning to look at Twilight. “No, this is something, something different. I’ve been out here most of the morning and sometimes, it felt like the forest was watching me. This is something that’s unnatural even to the Everfree Forest.” Fluttershy looked back to the forest as the two of them stood there, Twilight swallowed audibly as she looked at her friend.

“Well, we better go and take a look I guess. I can’t afford to have something ruin the party of the year.” She smiled and nodded to Fluttershy. “Don’t worry, it will be okay. If anything happens, I’ll get us out of there with a spell.”

Fluttershy did not want to go anywhere near the forest at the moment. Not that she wanted to any other time either, but today, that forest was just…terrifying to her. “Uh, oh, okay.” She said it almost to herself, following along behind Twilight as they set off towards the edge of the treeline.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to get there, though it was longer than normal as the two of them took their time. The hair on the back of Twilights neck was standing up on end. She now had to agree with Fluttershy, something wasn’t right. There was no wind, no sound, no noise at all coming from the forest, not even birds or insects. Just deadly silence. Twilight looked into the gloom of the forest for a moment, before turning back to Fluttershy. “I…I don’t like it here.” She half whispered as she continued walking along the edge.

“I told you there was something wrong. Oh, I do hope all the birds are okay.” Fluttershy whimpered slightly, keeping close to Twilight as the two of them walked the edge of the forest.

Suddenly, just ahead of the two of them, slightly into the forests edge, a bush moved, ever so slightly. Twilight stopped dead, only to be rear-ended by Fluttershy. “Oh...sorry.” Twilight kept her eyes on the bush, narrowing her eyes a little, swallowing again as she made her way forwards. She looked over her shoulder to Fluttershy. “Shhh…there’s something in that bush up there.” This time, it was a whisper. Fluttershy leaned a little to the side, looking for the aforementioned bush. After a few moments, the bush moved again, the rustling noise breaking the dead, still silence.

Never taking their eyes of the bush, they moved closer. Twilight really needed a drink all of a sudden, her mouth becoming dry as they proceed. After a few minutes, the two ponies found themselves but a few feet from the moving foliage. They looked at each other, before Twilight took a step forward, craning her neck towards the bush. Fluttershy was having none of that. She would be there to support her friend, from the rear. Peering over Twilights shoulder Fluttershy lent moral support.

Twilight could just make out something moving inside of the bush, her eyes narrowing as she moved a little closer. The bush shook, startling the purple mare slightly causing her to jump back. After a moment, she moved back in, closer this time, that dark shape in the bush just barely visible. Suddenly, something lunges out of the bush at her. Twilight couldn’t help but shriek out. But, just before she could cast whatever spell it was to get Fluttershy and herself out of there, a very familiar voice erupted from the bush.

“Twilight!” Sweetie Belle came tumbling out, clinging to Twilights leg. The figure that had lunged out of the bush was Applebloom, who was latched on to Twilights neck…shaking like a leaf. Trying to look casual, Scootaloo wandered out of the bush last, but, she was clearly shaken up too. “Twilight, its Zecora!”

“Wait, come on now. Climb down. Calm down.” Twilight did her best to get the girls off of her, setting them down on the ground. They didn’t want to. They didn’t want to be anywhere near the forest.

“Can, can we go to Fluttershys? I don’t want to be near this forest right now…please?” To everyone’s surprise, it was Scootaloo that asked to get away from the Everfree Forest. Twilight looked to Fluttershy, who’s eyes were locked on the treeline. She simply nodded her head, leading them all back to her home.

While Fluttershy tried to calm the three fillies down, Twilight went to get the others. And when they got back, it took all six of them another hour or so to finally reassure the fillies enough for them to feel safe. They got some food from Pinkie and Fluttershy which seemed to help a great deal. And finally, all of them sat down in Fluttershys main room. There was a lot of nervous energy in that room, but, they didn’t really know what was going on. Applejack was on the verge of being annoyed at her little sister, again. Rarity was a little more concerned that Sweetie Belle was going into the forest at all.

“Okay girls, so start from the beginning.” Twilight smiled a little, sat not too far away from the Crusaders, who had been bundled up onto the sofa, wrapped in blankets and still nibbling on the food Pinkie and Fluttershy had given them.

“Well, we was gonna invite Zecora to the party and all.” Applebloom started, only to be interrupted by Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah and we have walked to Zecora’s hundreds of times. Never had any problems.” She gave a curt nod of her head as if to emphasize that point to all present.

“As I was saying, we was gonna invite Zecora in person, but, when we got there.” Appleblooms face lost almost all of its colour as she looked up at Twilight. “She’s gone.”

Applejack moved forwards and shook her head. “Now hold on a minute. What do you mean she’s gone? She probably went out.”

Applebloom frowned up at her big sister and snapped back. “That is NOT what’s happened. We got there and her hut was wrecked. Her entire library has been burned down and everything in her hut is all smashed up.”

“Yeah and, we found, uhhh, blood. We think.” Scootaloo curled up a little under the blanket the three of them were sharing.

That caught all 6 of the others completely off guard. “Blood?” Applejack raised a brow. Now she was starting to get concerned. “Well, then that settles it. We gotta go in there and find out what happened to Zecora.”

“NO!” All three of the fillies shrieked it out in unison, stopping Applejack dead. They looked at each other and then Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“There’s something…wrong in there.” The little unicorn pulled the blanket up a little higher…almost hiding behind it.

“Well of course there is, it’s the Everfree Forest. What were you expecting?” Rainbow Dash crossed her front and back legs, leaning up against the wall.

The three fillies, Twilight and Fluttershy all shook their heads with Twilight speaking up. “No, they’re right. There is something out of place. More so than usual. And I don’t know what. But, you are right Applejack. If Zecora is in trouble, then we need to go and help her.”

The Crusaders try to protest again, speaking up at the same time in an incoherent ramble. Twilight just put her hoof down. “Come on now…we have been through worse. Discord, Nightmare Moon. We even took on a dragon. I’m sure whatever is in there, we can manage it. But, we can’t all go. We have the Princesses turning up in a couple of days and I need some of you to stay here and continue with the preparations.”

Twilight turned away from the Crusaders as they settled back down in the blanket. She let out a little sigh. “Okay, me, Rainbow and Applejack will go and look to see if Zecora is okay, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy, you will stay here. Fluttershy, you look after the girls. Rarity, take my list and make sure everything is ticked off on it, Pinkie, uhhh, keep baking those cakes.”

“You got it Twilight.” Pinkie gave a little salute, before bounding out the door and back into town.

The Crusaders make one last attempt at a protest, frightened, almost terrified that they might not see anyone who goes into that forest again. After some more reassurance however, Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack set off into the Forest, leaving Fluttershy and the Crusaders behind. They stopped for a moment at the edge of the forest, looking quietly at the treeline. It’s only at this point that both Rainbow Dash and Applejack realise just how close and quiet the forest felt.

“W…where are the birds and animals?” Rainbow Dash looked over to Twilight, who had a very worried look on her face.

“I don’t know Rainbow. I just don’t know.” With that, Twilight strode off into the forest, down the path, followed by Rainbow Dash. Applejack hesitated for a moment, looking back at Fluttershys house, before turning around to look at the forest again.

“I got a bad feeling about this.” With that, she too wandered into the forest, the forms of the three ponies finally disappearing into the gloom.