Twilight thought something was wrong. I spotted her eyes wandering around the square, tracking over various objects with a look that was somewhere between confused and skeptical.

I tagged along as she trotted at a brisk pace into town. Nothing was any different. She visited the plaza, the town hall, Sweet Apple Acres, her castle, the fountain, the statue of herself on top of the fountain, the school—

There was a pause. Twilight slowly retraced her steps.

The school, the statue on top of the fountain, the fount—

Much like a mechanical puppet, her eyes slowly traced back to the source of confusion. I watched with mild curiosity as they widened slowly. Blinking at her, I wondered what the crazy mare was up to.

“Owlowiscious…” She finally spoke. “Do you see that?”

“See what?”

Twilight raised a shaking hoof. “That!”

“Oh… it’s the fountain, isn’t it?”

“No, no, no… on top of the fountain!”

“… Water?”

Her wide eyes narrowed to slits.

I sent her my best ‘who me?’ look.

She tossed her head as if frustrated that I was messing with her, or something.

Okay, maybe I was messing with her a bit.

Twilight flicked out a hoof to stop a passerby.

“Carrot Top… what is that?”

“My… what a beautiful statue of Princess Twilight, don’t you agree?” Carrot Top looked back at Twilight and stumbled back. “Oh, Princess!” She scurried to bow before her. “Oh, sorry, I-I mean, Princess Prophet!”

“What?” Twilight shot back around and grabbed Carrot Top by the chest fluff. I winced as Carrot Top’s eyes widened to the point that tears were beading at the corners of her eyes. Be a little more gentle, Twilight. Also, judging by the state of things, it looked like she hadn’t learned from last time. I had a feeling that this was going to turn out like—

“Erm, Your Most Royal Excellent Princess Prophet?”

I knew it.

Twilight tightened her grip on the poor pony.

“What?!”

“F-Forgive me, Exalted Excellent Princess Prophet! I-I thought you weren’t into titles, s-so I didn’t add so many at first but then—erk! I’m getting dizzy!”

Whilst a stuffed animal could only take so many shakes before tearing, I could only imagine what was happening to Carrot Top’s spine. To be honest, I was amazed at how it was holding up under the pressure of repeated flexing—

Creak.

Ah yes, there it was: the theoretical universal spinal limit. It’s said that no pony should ever exceed this cosmic speed. Stop now, or I think she’ll need a hospital visit, Twilight.

Crack. Flop.

Oh, too late.

“Oh! I’m sorry Carrot Top!”

Whispers broke out of the crowd.

“Divine retribution!” one yelled out. The bowing feverishly increased by a reverent order of magnitude.

“No, no, it isn’t!” Twilight started, but was cut off when Filthy Rich threw some coins.

“Accept the tribute, oh wise Princess!”

“Daaad!” Diamond Tiara glared at her father.

“Hush now, honey, we must follow the trends of power.”

Following his exemplary lead, the rest mimicked his actions. Bits started trickling in, before outright raining down. I’d be a bit more excited if bits weren’t so hard. I drew my wings over my head in an impromptu canopy as sparkling bits bounced off my wings. Ah, much better.

“Oh for pony’s sake! Please stop!” Twilight yelled desperately. The bits slowed, but didn’t really stop. How many of these things did ponies keep on them anyway?

Carrot Top suddenly popped back up. “Ow…”

“Oh thank Celestia she’s alright,” Twilight mumbled, then louder, “I mean, see? She’s fine!”

“The tributes are working! She spared Carrot Top!”

“Resurrection!”

“She didn’t die!” Twilight yelled angrily.

“Bless us, Prodigious Pearlescent Princess Prophet!”

Bits started raining in again.

“You know, I think you can forego their taxes… for a few years.”

“Owlowiscious, now is not the time!” she impressed upon me through gritted teeth and flared nostrils. I shrunk back on her shoulder and, erm, swept up a few bits. Don’t ask me where it goes, you might not like the answer.

Just as Twilight was about to lose it, Carrot Top interrupted the crowd.

“Twilight was just…” Carrot Top started, then felt around her neck. “My neck pain, it’s gone!”

“A healing miracle!” Somepony in the back yelled.

“Oh for pony’s sa—”

More bits rained down. Twilight took off, muttering something venomous under her breath. I personally thought it was a waste of bits, but I didn’t say anything, because her seething look could roast a dragon. I gripped her mane instinctively as she bolted, realising that she was beelining to the source of the problem: the Whos.

The Whos were situated outside the town limits, which surprised me a little. We landed on the outskirts of the camp, trotting into a bustling scene full of fanatical followers flitting around with fixtures bearing feather features of a certain flirtatious persona. Which was me. They were carrying poles and relief carvings of me. Oh, and Twilight.

“Owlowiscious, do you see what I’m seeing?”

I turned to the flustered princess asking me the question. “That’s… pretty impressive.”

We were hovering just outside the line of sight of the main camp, so we weren’t noticed. They seemed to have ditched most of the ‘sentries’ in the encampment, which led me to believe that the Whos weren’t professional travellers, like they were gathered here recently… Just as I was going to continue that train of thought, Twilight cleared her throat. Oh right, she wasn’t referring to the encampment, she was talking about the carvings, which featured me and, to a lesser extent, her.

After a long period of silence, I finally spoke. “Looks like art.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Amazing art. It looks very lifelike, like one of them could fly out of the carving at any second.”

Twilight’s eyebrows drawing down reminded me of a pegasus forgetting it was thunderstorm day and making a hasty last-minute adjustment.

“They have pretty good taste.”

Her resultant glare could shock a changeling into their true form.

But you know me, I’m persistent.

“I’m surprised they could do such a great carving so quick, there must be a pony with talent for that around here.”

“Owlowiscious!”

I threw up my wings in frustration. “What, so you expect me to do about it? They can’t hear me! Just go talk to Griselda and have her stop it instead.”

“Oh, right.” Twilight shot me a sheepish glance as she swooped down towards Griselda. The griffon in question was directing a ceremonial-like carving to be situated under a very eye-catching statue of a certain purple princess poised to take flight. It had to be said that it also featured me, being several times bigger than her, shrouding her generously with my wings. A very pleasant sight, if a little unsettling that they managed to complete such an exaggerated piece of art in such a small time frame.

I wasn’t complaining, mind you. Excellent taste.

“Who Griselda, would you please ask your followers to stop placing statues of me and Owlowiscious all over Ponyville?!”

Griselda blinked at Twilight and then turned her querying gaze to me. I shrugged and gestured to the statues making a ‘knocking down’ motion.

Griselda looked uncomfortable with the suggestion and it was the first time I’ve seen her unwilling to follow orders… intentionally.

“Your Exultant Excellency—”

“Just Twilight!”

Griselda widened her eyes, paused briefly, then bowed.

“—ah, yes, Geneva mentioned before… Your Exultant Excellency, Fair and Just, Wise and Powerful Perpetual Princess Prophet—”

What little resistance Twilight had was finally crushed. Geneva sure acted fast. Twilight gave in and let Griselda continue without interrupting this time.

“—Twilight, our followers take great pleasure in exulting the Great Owl. It would… not sit well with the followers if we took them down.”

“I’m not comfortable with the attention—” Twilight replied flatly.

“They have spared a bit of effort, however, your word is Law.” Griselda bowed, her reluctance almost gelatinous with how thick it was in the air. “By your command, Princess Prophet…”

“—but,” Twilight interrupted with a resigned tone, “I suppose there’s no harm in it. I am in stained glass windows… I guess a few statues aren’t going to be much different.”

Griselda perked up. “Thank you for your generosity, Princess Prophet.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but didn’t push it any further. “But I really would like all this worshipping to stop. I don’t want to be a pony that is worshipped unconditionally. I think you should focus on yourself and your followers and not worry about deifying me. I’m not what you think I am.”

Griselda looked confused. “But… Princess Prophet… wouldn’t you like to make your mark on history?”

Twilight had a slight lopsided smile that put off Griselda, forcing the griffon to take a couple of steps back. “Who Griselda, I don’t decide whether I make my mark on history. History is not decided by me. Others will judge me and create history. They decide whether or not I am worthy enough to make a mark.”

Griselda considered the statement carefully, and then bowed lower. “Indeed that is wisely said, Princess Prophet.”

———————

“Woof!”

I turned around in shock to see Winona wagging her bushy tail at me. What shocked me more was Streak clutching onto Winona’s fur. She looked a little green, as if she had an unpleasant ride on Winona’s back. I felt sympathy for the little Bite. I’ve experienced that before. Clearing my throat, I engaged Winona while I gave Streak some time to recover.

“Oh, hey Winona, why are you here? Why are you with Streak?”

“It’s Streakimilidiliowlinia!”

Looks like she’s fine, though.

I ignored the fledgling Bite, not intentionally, Winona was talking.

“Woof, woof, woof!” She jumped up happily. She panted happily with her tongue out. “Woof! Woof!”

“Ah, right, and?”

“Woof!”

“So they’re over there and safe?”

“Woof, woof!”

“You didn’t run into any trouble on the way?”

“Grr. Woof.”

“Good, we’ll go explore the forest and get to the bottom of this.”

“What did she say?” Twilight asked with a mortally confused look.

“Don’t you speak dog?” I teased.

I quickly explained it before she could roll her eyes.

Streak and the rest were debating about the Bites, when Streak mentioned they came from the forest and that her mother was probably worried. She didn’t know much about why the Bites were here or why they were in this particular forest, only that something bad had been chasing them all the way to this foreign land. To add to this, Gummy and Winona didn’t know much about Bites because they didn’t pay much attention to history, but Angel had heard that the Bites had disappeared since the temple was built during Queen Griselda’s reign.

Which begged the question, where did the Bites suddenly come from?

“So, we should go into the forest and investigate. They have to have come from somewhere…” Twilight rubbed a hoof along her chin, deep in thought. “Maybe we should head to the Tree?”

“The Tree of Harmony? Do you think that’s involved?”

“Well… yes and no.” Twilight sighed. “But it’s the best lead we’ve got.”

Streak wanted to tag along with us. We reluctantly agreed. Although she was injured, the splinter could be easily removed and the Bites were intelligent enough to handle it without our help. Besides, her mother would have been worried sick.

“Does Fluttershy know you’ve gone off?”

Streak shrunk and looked away guiltily.

“No… I just want to go home.”

I glanced at Winona, but she just cocked her head in the way dogs do and wagged her tail happily. “Woof!”

“You’re a fat load of help,” I muttered.

“Woof!” Winona bit my wing insistently.

“Ow! Alright, we’ll take her, what’s gotten into you?”

“Woof!”

I tugged Twilight. “We should probably take her back. I don’t know what Winona’s up to, but she has a sense for these things…”

Twilight considered it for a bit and then nodded. “Alright, we’ll take Streak.”

“Streakimilidiliowlinia!”

“Streak, get on my back,” Twilight answered wryly.

Pouting, but not really in the mood to argue, Streak did what she asked and clambered onto her back.

Just as we were about to take off, a voice reached out to us.

“Princess Prophet!”

It was Geneva and Griselda.

“We would both like to come with you,” Griselda plead.

Twilight took a look at the both of them before answering. “Do you know something we don’t?”

Griselda coughed. “On interviewing some of the Whos who were scouting, they mentioned they were attacked.”

“Attacked?” Twilight frowned. “By what?”

“By the Bites,” Geneva replied accompanied by an uncomfortable flick of her ear. Then she finally noticed Streak. “By the feather! You have one on your back! Geneva—!”

“Don’t move!” Twilight yelled sternly. Geneva and Griselda both stiffened, then bowed with reticence. “She was hurt by an animal trap!”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

“Did you do anything to them?” I asked. Twilight relayed my question.

Geneva and Griselda hastily bowed. “No, no, we are generally very peaceful! We didn’t destroy the foliage or chop down any trees, let alone set any traps!”

Twilight glanced towards the camp, regarding the wooden statues and carvings.

“It’s all driftwood or bought lumber, we didn’t chop any trees down or venture further than the clearing you found us in. The rest of the Whos were waiting at the border! Please believe us, oh Great Owl!” Griselda added quickly under our skeptical gazes.

I could feel my feathers ruffling, a restive sensation was creeping up my spine. Sinking my beak down, I pondered her words. This didn’t make any sense. If the Whos didn’t place the traps, who did? Who were the real culprits?

“So you were attacked first?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

“Yes!” Geneva and Griselda both answered, bowing.

I stopped dissecting them with my eyes and fell into thought. “They don’t seem like they are lying. But why would Bites attack out of nowhere? They’re usually peaceful from what I’ve seen and Streak and the Bites seem intelligent enough to converse, so they must be aware of their intent…”

Twilight chewed on her lip for a bit and then cleared her throat. “We’ll go investigate, stay here.”

Geneva and Griselda shared a look. “Princess Prophet, we would like to go—”

“No,” Twilight shot back simply and then took off, leaving the two behind.

———————

I caught sight of them when I glanced back.

“They’re following us,” I commented wryly.

Twilight let out an annoyed grunt and pushed harder. Her flying wasn’t really up to standard compared to the trailing griffons, but she used the raw power of an alicorn to lose them. Meanwhile I clutched at her mane, trying my hardest not to be thrown off from the speed.

We tilted towards the Everfree, peeling towards the centre of the forest, dropping just behind the Castle of the Two Sisters. Twilight started trotting.

I pecked her on the back of her neck. “Aren’t you running away from them too quickly? Maybe they have something important to tell you?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and irritably shot back, “They’re probably just want to be near you.”

I shrugged and perched on her back as she led the way deeper into the forest, along familiar paths and tracks leading to the legendary Tree of Harmony. We crested the edge and had to paused slightly. I think it has to be said that this was one of the most beautiful sights I could imagine. Shining lustrous branches bearing brilliant gems of dazzling depths all twinkling in solemn majesty. It would have been breathtaking, but our chests froze for an entirely different reason.

Under the branches was a glowing circle showing the shimmering, but frosted, vista of an unknown landscape. It was a portal.

Though pooled in the area below were Bites.

A lot of Bites.

———————

Twilight shivered and crept back from the edge, trying to make as little noise as possible.

“Now we know how the Bites got here, all we need to do is figure out how!”

I hopped from her back and glanced towards the Tree. This not being good would be an understatement. Just as we were about to turn back to discuss what to do next, out of nowhere, Griselda and Geneva showed up.

Oh no.

Predictably, the Bites were aware of the movement and immediately spotted the two griffons, charging towards them as they settled on the other side of the raised edge surrounding the Tree. I immediately took flight and headed over with Twilight as Geneva and Griselda, startled at the sudden charge of Bites, panicked and immediately tried to flee backwards.

“Fly!” Twilight yelled.

Geneva and Griselda hesitated for a moment before launching themselves into the air, narrowly avoiding a lunging Bite’s snapping jaw. It crashed through a tree instead, the trunk exploding into splinters that rained down in a frightening display of power. The Bites were undoubtedly strong, and I was there during their extinction, how in the world did Queen Griselda eradicate them?

Not willing to dwell on it any longer, we chased the Bites as they relentlessly pursued them. Twilight galloped as I took off, trying to cut them off. Twilight quickly conjured a barrier, but the Bites deftly dodged the magical defence and avoided us. Enraged at our interference, they rounded on us, however before we could do anything, one of them registered us and stopped in its tracks. Before we could wonder at the cause of this unexpected stalemate, a delighted voice called out from Twilight’s back.

“Mother!”

The Bite growled, rumbling softly in its throat as it towered over us. Now that I saw it, this Bite was the second-biggest of the whole group, second only to a towering figure behind it. Bites were black with white streaks along their bodies, which varied in pattern, but the largest Bite had greying hair and that looked more like white streaks through spotted black and grey.

Streak’s mother growled something, causing Streak to scramble from Twilight’s back and flop towards the ground. Gently, Twilight caught Streak and set her in front of the hulking Bite. I swallowed back my rising fear and regarded the massive beasts with a sense of awe and caution.

Twilight dipped her head and with a hesitant voice, called out.

“Good afternoon, I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Streak’s mother’s response was a deep growl.

“Mom, they’re nice!”

Streak’s mother considered Streak for a second before snorting. She then tilted her head and let out a resounding roar. The Bites that were circling around us to pursue the griffons stopped.

A deep womanly voice resounded through the forest. Its power was magnetic. Its tone was absolute.

“I am Streakimilidiliowlinia’s mother, Alacanithiuminus.”

I almost choked on my own spit. What’s with their long names? How are they communicating with us?

“You can speak?” I blurted.

Alacanithiuminus swung her massive head and regarded me with a scornful eye.

“As can you,” she replied with poorly concealed impatience. “I am… grateful that you returned my daughter, but you must let us at those griffons.”

“Mrs. Alacanithiuminus,” Twilight interjected lightly, “Griselda and Geneva were not at—”

Before she could get any further, the rest of the Bites let loose a chilling roar as Alacanithiuminus’ eyes shone brilliantly with murderous rage.

“THAT WAS GRISELDA? I SHALL RENDER HER ASUNDER!”

“WAIT!” Twilight shouted, punctuating her remark with a bright spark from her horn.

“Ugh!” The Bites stumbled back at the sudden burst of light.

Alacanithiuminus teetered on her paws and then regarded Twilight with something close to caution and respect.

“That light,” Alacanithiuminus said slowly. “What is it? It feels familiar… Do you have something to do with the Holy Tree?”

“Holy Tree?” Twilight glanced at the Tree behind the Bites. “Do you mean the Tree of Harmony?”

“Yes… is that what you call it?” Alacanithiuminus glanced back at the Tree. “It is the lifeblood of the free forests and the sanctum of life for our species.”

I cleared my throat. “Maybe you should pause for a second and let us explain everything, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

————————

Though the Bites were considerably less riled after Streak was reunited with the rest of her kind, the Bites were restless. According to Alacanithiuminus, the Bites were hunted in their forest and were chased by innumerable griffons. The forests were laced with deadly traps and although most were trivial compared to main bulk of the Bites, some, mostly young Bites, were caught and seriously injured. This resulted in many of them crippled and injured as they tried to defend their young and escape.

Some… some didn’t make it.

Alacanithiuminus and the rest of the Bites were being pushed further and further into the forest. The Bites were usually peaceful and curious creatures, but turned wild after losing more and more of their young and territory. Amongst the onslaught on the swarming griffons, the Bites were whittled down as they were pushed to the centre of the forest. Near the end, they met the centre of the sacred forest, a tree of crystal, much like this one but much smaller. They were backed against it and had nowhere to go and once they touched the tree, it sent them here.

Thousands of years into the future.

“Dear Celestia…” Twilight muttered softly.

For once, I had nothing to say.

Author's Notes:

I haven't been around for a while! Lookit that, a new chapter!

More to come in the following weeks!

An extra special awesome thanks to Word Worthy for editing my hot mess.

Next Chapter: Animals and animated apparels, oh my!

As always, my anticipating readers, thanks for reading!