Celestia was a mare, a pony, no matter what any other foal, colt, filly, stallion, or mare said about her. She needed to eat, she needed to sleep, she needed time to think, but, most mortal of all, she had emotions within her mind.

She would feel her heart mourn as ponies grew old, feel her chest lift when new life was announced, her eyes widen and jaw drop when she was surprised, but, most mundane of all, she felt her teeth grit when stress became too much for her.

This was one of those times.

“And you are sure of this?” she spoke the words with the kindness she was known for, but with an authority she rarely adored in using. But when details such as the ones presented to her were made evident, patience was lost. The pony she addressed nodded vigorously at her words.

“Y-yes, your highness,” the grey stallion spoke after swallowing a ball in his throat. “The numbers were thoroughly checked and adjusted with recalibrations made to the measuring tools involving Ley Line path and power fluxes taking into account variable errors and reasons for…”

“Please, Iron Wit,” Celestia said calmly, holding up her hoof as she did so. “I trust you took every precaution necessary before bringing me such a… phenomenal discovery.”

“T-that’s just it! I-It’s not a discovery!” The pony took several breaths to calm himself. The guards were tense around him, held back only by their diarch’s command. “We’ve known about the Ley Lines for a while. Forever, actually. This… Th-This is just me seeing how they’ve… changed.”

“Yes, observing data that is already known, but being able to find new things within it,” Celestia slowly blinked, letting a calm faux smile wash over her lips. “You should be proud for discovering something like this.”

“I’d be proud if I wasn’t so terrified.” Celestia only had enough time to register what Iron said before he reached his head into a bag by his side.

His muzzle dug into the satchel. Filled to the brim with wrapped scrolls and measuring tools, the bag was a mess for his searching snout to navigate. The further he dug into it, the more his notes and gizmos began to fall out. They clattered to the stone floor, rolling or lightly bouncing until they came to a stand still. Iron Wit paid them little attention.

He lifted his head from the pouch, holding two scrolls of differing sizes in his maw . One was long and tightly wound, resembling a large twig to the princess of the sun. The other was much thicker, though not nearly as long. If the first scroll was a twig, this was a log. He deposited both on the floor, his hooves quickly unwrapping the thinner of the two.

When it was fully unwrapped, Celestia saw the familiar map of Equestria. She would have felt nostalgic if she wasn’t looking at a map of some sort every day in court.

“This,” Iron Wit began, “is what Equestria’s Ley Lines have been measured to represent for the past few millennia. It was first recorded by unicorns far before the founding of Equestria, and has since been used to establish the most fruitful locations for towns and homes. This is so that magic can be used in a needed fashion to support populations and allow proper nutrition to reach the soil for-”

“Yes, Iron Wit, yes,” Celestia impatiently interrupted, nodding her head as she spoke. “I am more than familiar with these things. I was around for most of them.” The hot blush that ran across his gray coat gave an odd sort of joy to the white princess. Familiar, but still odd. Teasing did have its moments, especially during stressful times.

“Yes, of course. M-my apologies.” Despite receiving no signal from the Princess to continue, he did so anyway.

Picking up the other scroll, he placed it over the opened map of Equestria. Though the color was a shade darker, indicating a newer print, there were harsh, hastily scrawled quill markings over the varying sections. Markings over a map did not trouble Celestia, as they changed as often to her as the way her mane billowed.

What concerned her was where those lines were drawn.

For every new piece of parchment Iron Wit laid out over the map of Equestria, a Ley Line altered. Some were moved, some were reversed, but regardless, a great many of them had changed. For not the first time, but certainly the first in a long time, Celestia felt her throat go dry.

“This,” the stallion muttered, tapping on the paper with his hoof. “This is what I’ve found while remeasuring the Ley Lines.” Though the pause between his sentences was great, Celestia was too stunned to speak. The Royal Guards were in much the same condition, sending nervous glances to one another.

“From what I can tell, something has occurred around the Everfree Forest to greatly distort the natural flow of magic throughout Equestria. I-I don’t know how or why, but in some cases there is a complete reversal of the magical properties the Ley Lines usually produce.” His hoof raised itself into the air, scratching at the back of his grey mane before waving in the air.

“I-I had a colleague, a unicorn colleague, cast basic magical spells around the areas that presented the most obvious changes. When he did, he--the unicorn, not me-- noted a twenty five percent gain in magical reach with his levitation spells and nearly forty percent growth in shield densities. Speaking frankly-- I shouldn’t, but I am--” Iron Wit coughed regardless. “I-I think that near this area,” his hoof roughly ran over Ponyville, near the border between the forest and the town. “He could be on par with the Prince of the Crystal Kingdom for shield spells.”

The muttering that came from the guards was audible, something that almost never occurred between the silent guardians. It only grew worse when Celestia felt her wings fall to her sides, unfolding without her command. She felt very mortal at the knowledge.

“And as you’ve said, you have no reasoning for this.” Iron Wit looked up at Celestia only to confirm she was done speaking before he continued.

“Nothing conclusive. No, nothing. A hundred and one ideas, but no solid facts. A-All I can do is just use basic academic level induction to note that these changes are real and they are likely going to stay.” He swallowed heavily on something when he was done. His chest was slowly heaving.

Now Celestia understood him a bit more. Even she would be frantic with this knowledge.

The problem was, though she was shocked, awed, and a bit terrified by the implications, she could not show even a sign. She was who she was, despite what she felt, and she had to be wise even in the times of great change. That was when wisdom mattered the most.

“Surely you have at least one idea that you cannot ignore,” the diarch cautiously supplied. “An idea that pushes at your mind. A whisper of a thought, no matter how small or incoherent, that you cannot erase.” By the swift shifting of his eyes and refusal to meet her gaze, Celestia knew she was right. “Please, tell me.”

There was a very loud and very audible echo of a ball being swallowed throughout the hall before Iron Wit spoke again.

“W-Well, all these changes, they occur within a league’s distance of the Everfree forest, not including the few outliers.” His hoof shook at the few dark pieces of parchment lying over the map. “A-And even though there are a great many of theories involving Ley Lines, from their production, continued magical output, creation, manipulation-”

“Iron Wit.” The stallion nearly bucked himself before he continued.

“There’s one, o-only one theory that directly correlates with a centralized number of changes, in a copious amount of course.” Celestia nodded towards him, beckoning him to continue.

“The Ley Lines, in theory,” Iron Wit clarified before he began, “Have their properties created and managed by magical artifacts, either buried deep beneath the earth, hidden by the magic they produce, or obscured by some other yet to be determined method. The point is, these objects, or things, or creatures, are solid and, therefore, can be moved. If they can be moved, or, in this case, are moved-”

“Then the Ley Lines will change to correlated to this altering of power,” Celestia finished for him, nodding as she let her mind roll with the political fallout and intercontinental consequences of such knowledge.

“Precisely. But that’s not what I think happened.” The diarch and her not-so-motionless guards paused.

“If you think this theory is false, why present it to me?” For once, the stallion was not humbled or made nervous by the princess’s direct question. Rather to the contrary, he was excited.

“I think one was added.” A sharp intake of breath reverberated through the hall. It was neither from Celestia nor Iron Wit.

“Created?” The white alicorn slowly spoke, attempting to fathom the implications of such a thing twice over.

“Yes! Yes! I have nothing to prove it, or back it up, or even suggest I’m right, but!” He pointed to his map again, his hoof slowly circling choice parts of the map, following the aged Ley Lines to his newer alterations.

“These Ley Lines are not diverging or altering their paths, and none have been erased. If, in theory only of course, a source of power was removed, these lines would cease to exist. There’d be no power to continue their supply.” Celestia nodded at the words. His intelligence and reasoning were sound. “Instead of doing these things, however, the Ley Lines actually are growing, moving towards a new source of power within the Everfree Forest. Where, I have no idea. I didn’t have the supplies, group or means to conduct a proper investigation into the woods, let alone a prospective study of the increased strength in unicorns or even pegasi flight around these areas, but-”

“Iron Wit.” Celestia’s voice was cold as stone as she spoke. Her mask slipped to do so, showing the intellectual earth pony the hard inner core of his leader. “Please, what does this mean? For the remaining Ley Lines.”

Iron Wit was silent for a moment, perhaps considering the question, perhaps considering the princess currently sitting on the throne. Celestia was only concerned with the former, and cared very little for the latter.

“For the remaining lines,” he began cautiously, most likely thinking as he spoke. “Those further than two point three leagues away will grow in their magical output, most likely to a ten percent degree. Further than that will see a linear decrease in magical effect. Closer to the origin point, however, the magical effects will likely increase in a near exponential rate. I would be scarcely surprised if a unicorn’s magical output increased well over one hundred percent.” He swallowed. To Celestia, it looked as if he was just beginning to digest his own information.

“Additionally, though no Ley Lines will be severed, as no sources were removed, new branches may be created within the coming weeks to months. Additionally, as we’ve already seen, some of the Ley Line paths have been reversed. For ponies attempting to operate in this area, it is high likely that the magical output will need to be drastically remeasured and tools recalibrated. It is likely, theoretically still, that new crops may be able to be grown in these areas. Here, for example,” He spoke as he hand ghosted over an area Celestia was familiar with. Her favorite apples grew there.

“It is likely that their crops will grow at a phenomenally faster rate, because the Ley Line running beneath the land has been nearly doubled in strength of output. Here, however,” Iron Wit’s hoof moved far across the page, ending at a small settlement on the opposite side of the Everfree Forest.

“The crops here will likely be unable to sustain themselves. The nutrients they need from the Ley Lines to grow at swift, reproducible rates will be nearly robbed completely. If they grew, say, oranges here, then it is likely that apples would have a better chance, or vice-versa, or versa-vice.”

Celestia sat down on her throne.

She wasn’t aware of when she started to stand, but it was most likely near the time Iron Wit proved the changes in the magical Ley Lines. Now, with the information presented to her, a chair wasn’t enough to rest her weary mind. She needed a bed.

But the need of the country mattered more, and that necessity required her mind, aged finely with great wisdom and knowledge.

“What can I do?” She muttered quietly to herself, unsuspecting of any party answering her question. “Even if I gained leave to address this issue, what could I possibly do to alter these Ley Lines? Time would be of the essence, and it is the one thing I possess little of.” She snorted at the irony. An immortal without time to spare. Hilarious.

She likely would not have time to aid her country by hoof and horn, as it doubtlessly would need her more for voice and mind. But there was also a group of ponies beyond the political walls of Canterlot to help her. The smile that reached her lips was almost foreign to her now.

“There is only so much I can do from here, and only so long a time I can leave these walls without a plan in my wake.” Celestia stared out of a stained-glass window, looking beyond the blue of the Crystal Empire detailed in the frame. “It is why I am so fortunate to have so many willing ponies far across this land willing to help me.”

“Your majesty?” Iron Wit’s questioning voice earned the attention of the diarch, who looked at him with wise, patient eyes. “I… I don’t understand. You’ll do nothing, then?”

“Of course not, Iron Wit. I would never even dream of ignoring my duties. And, as you have pointed out, the shifting of old Ley Lines and appearance of new ones is nothing to be ignored.” She took the few trots necessary to reach the earth pony, who was still fidgeting with a nervousness Celestia was quite used to seeing.

“As I said, there are ponies who believe in me that are not tied to chores and politics. These are ponies I trust with my horn and my wings, and I will trust them with this task as well.” The words, complete with their compassion-filled tone, did much good for the trembling grey stallion.

“A-And…” He stuttered out before swallowing, attempting to start again. “A-And you can believe they are capable of analyzing the alternating currents within the Ley Lines power and projecting the outflow capacity in relation to a-”

“Please, Iron Wit, have faith in my decisions.” He bowed his head like she had slapped him. She detested that expression, no matter the circumstances. She lowered her head, waiting until he looked into her eyes, letting him see her kind gaze.

“Among those ponies is my faithful student, and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony,” Celestia took great appreciation in the look of surprise that crossed the grey pony’s face. Even with his nervous traits, the dilation of his eyes and expansion of his chest were still obvious to her well-trained gaze.

“If there are any group of ponies prepared for the impossible, it is them.”

“I… I’m aware of Twilight Sparkle. Top of her class, your personal student, theoretical and metaphysical genius in the fields of magical application…” The stallion shook his head, mostly likely to derail his speeding train. “Sh-She would definitely be able to analyze the Ley Lines, as per my inductive calculations and reasoning. Mrs. Sparkle has a very good chance of developing a reason or hypothesis for these changes through a deductive method. But,” Celestia watched as Iron Wit’s eyes squinted, a note of curiosity drifting through his gaze. “What of the rest of her friends? I-I have just… I’ve never met the other Bearers of Harmony.”

“Do not worry yourself,” Once more Celestia spoke with that calm tone and peaceful demeanor. A calming influence on her subjects was one of the most valuable things in a time of crisis.

Though now at this point, it was much more of a mask than a representation of her mind. Inside, her teeth gritted with having to explain so much to a pony as brilliant as Iron Wit. It was only one more example in her ever-growing record that intelligence did not coincide with common sense.

“I have complete faith, trust, and belief in the Elements of Harmony. They have been through more in this world and experienced more of the unknown that any pony I know.” As soon as Iron Wit licked his lips, she knew what was coming. Fortunately, that meant she knew how to stop it.

“But-” Celestia held up her gold adorned hoof, silencing grey stallion. She took in a breath of air slowly, hoping the increase in time would dampen her tiring patience. Even her spectral mane seemed to slowly still as she controlled herself.

“Believe me. There are no ponies better suited to this than those six. After re-discovery of the Everfree Castle and prevention of the Changeling invasion, what could possibly happen to frighten them?”

“Whoa!” Rainbow cried in shock. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Her hooves rapidly beat against the wood, her wings doing much the same to the air. It was only colliding with a far wall that stopped her. “What is that!? What is that thing?! What in the name of Celestia is that!?”

Aisling, the white haired nymph, took the words as heavy threats.

Her already crouched form reached lower for the forest floor, her clothed chest ghosting over the floor. Her white hair fell around her like a blanket, hiding the patches of her bare skin beneath its long length. Except for her green eyes, of course. Those emerald irises stared at the pegasus with a vicious glare. The snarl that came from her fanged teeth did not help the situation.

“Did it just growl? It growled! Holy Celestia it growled at me!” The pegasus proceeded to drag her body up the wall, wings beating furiously in order to do so.

“Be calm Rainbow Dash! There is no reason to be rash!” Zecora spoke to the cyan pegasus, her voice loud but tone calm in volume. She wisely did not yell, as the pegasus was doing. Her eyes focused on the startled mare, momentarily ignoring the unmistakable growl of a predator coming from the nymph.

“Rash? Rash!? I think this is the absolute perfect time to be rash!” The pegasus shouted in argument, her wide eyes never leaving the long haired nymph. It slowly stalked closer to her, teeth bared in a snarl as a low rumble came from its throat. “Look at that! I bet my wings it’s gonna attack us!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight screamed up at the mare, earning the pegasus’s attention. It earned Dash’s attention, but also made Aisling pause in her stalk. A tense moment of silence passed as the unicorn and pegasus locked eyes, staring at one another. Then, without any indication to the avian horse, Twilight turned to face the white haired creature.

“I apologize for my friend’s behavior,” she began speaking, a practiced and poised smile over her lips. “We just weren’t expecting… company, I guess.”

Quick as the wind, the pale figure stood up, easily matching Twilight’s height. Her green eyes twisted as she stared at the unicorn, mostly likely in silent judgment. This was something that Twilight had become far too accustomed to in the halls of Canterlot.

“It’s alright,” she spoke, voice high with an accent Twilight couldn’t place. “She is new to my forest, and she is wise to be afraid of me.” The fanged grin the nymph gave sent a quick chill down the unicorn’s spine.

“Apple Bloom,” Applejack whispered to her younger kin. “Best be gettin’ behind me. We’ll make tracks first chance we get.” The words that were returned to her were not what the farm pony was expecting, nor from the pony she was anticipating.

“Please, all present, be at peace,” Zecora spoke with a louder tone, trotting in between the two groups of ponies. “Let us first explain our piece.” The zebra did not wait for the trio of mares to speak otherwise. Raising her hoof, she motioned towards the white haired creature, unmistakably lowering herself as she spoke.

BEGIN

“Aisling is this wise creature’s name. She is able to make the woods tame.” Her striped hoof then slowly swung towards the small filly in the group, her eyes only filled with joy and excitement. “It was within these woods that Apple Bloom became lost, yet Aisling returned her to me without exhaust.”

“So…” Applejack began slowly, motioning her hoof towards the white haired creature as if trying to poke the odd figure from afar. “Ya saved mah sister?”

“She was lost in my woods,” Aisling spoke easily, a small shrug of her shoulders accompanying her words. “And she didn’t belong here.”

“Don’t be modest Ash-ling!” Apple Bloom blurted out as she trotted closer to the nymph. The mispronunciation of the creature’s name was left unaddressed. “Ya showed me so much in yer woods. Ah got ta see just about everything!”

“Not everything,” the nymph spoke with a small, mischievous grin. “My woods are vast and filled with life. It will take quite a while to show you everything.” The two shared a giggle together.

“Oh my head,” Rainbow suddenly complained from the ceiling. It took only a glance to see that her form was slowly drifting to the ground, her wing beats slowing in pace. When her hooves finally touched down, she immediately fell to her rump, a forehoof rubbing her head.

“Dash? What’s wrong?” Twilight’s question of concern was met with a minor bark of laughter from the pegasus.

“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong, just messed up in a way Discord would be grinning at.” The words came from the pegasus in rough tone, one that immediately put the mare on the offensive. “Fog thicker than the weather team and I coulda created, getting lost in the woods, songs singing through my head, chasing ghost cats through the forest, and finally finding who knows what in Zecora’s hut. Yeah, this is just another peachy day.”

“You can leave, then,” Aisling spoke up, earning the immediate attention of the ponies, Dash included. The pegasus had only a second to take in a breath before finding it frozen in her throat.

Aisling, in manner of time or speed, appeared at breath’s length from the muzzle of the pegasus.

Her green eyes glared at the Rainbow like a predator would a rival cub.

“This is my forest. I only let you in because Apple Bloom said I could trust you-- Zecora as well. But, if you if want to leave, you can.” The nymph leaned back from the pegasus, her long white hair wrapping around her as she did so. But from beneath the long mess of hair, a slim pale arm appeared, pointing towards the entrance to the hut. “Just don’t try coming back. I won’t help you twice.”

“Wait,” Twilight spoke up, earning a twist of Aisling’s head. The unicorn quickly trotted between the two.

“Look, I apologize for my friend. She…” Twilight turned to look at Dash, who looked back to her with an unsure gaze. “She has problems adjusting to new things.” The unicorn ignored the scoff that came from behind her. “I think the reason why she is so hesitant to… well, trust you is because we’re not exactly sure how you helped us.”

“You did hear my singing,” Aisling spoke matter-of-factly, crossing her arms and raising her head towards the unicorn. She carried an air Twilight recognized, if only in a small amount. It reminded her greatly of the nobles of Canterlot; proud and sure of what they owned. “Your friend said you did.”

“Hold the apple for a sec,” Applejack spoke up, trotting towards the trio. “That was yer voice singing for us?” The earth pony wisely, and strongly, held her ground as the white haired nymph grew a sharp fanged grin across her lips.

“Yes, that was me.” One of her arms unfolded from her chest, only to turn back with a thumb at herself. “I asked the forest to lead you to us, and it did.”

“Even I have to agree,” Zecora began, her golden eyes glinting with fascination as she watched the nymph. “Your powers more than impress me.” Aisling grinned at the comment, nodding her head towards the zebra.

“Okay…” Twilight began tentatively, nodding as she licked her lips. Her eyes were going dry from watching Aisling for so long. “That was you singing, I can understand that. But then what about the cat? While it’s entirely possible for it to be its own living entity, as the windigoes are, we all saw it disappear into here.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Instead of answering the unicorn with words, however, Aisling jumped into the air. Twilight felt her legs lock in momentary shock, watching the creature so easily jump to a height that Applejack would have only dreamed to be able to reach.

The unicorn was only able to follow the creature’s deft movements by the long mane of white that trailed behind her. She twisted and curled around branches and roots that hung from Zecora’s ceiling, weaving through the few statues and mask with all the force of a passing breeze. Then, as smoothly as her climbing and speech, Aisling settled on a branch that twisted from and around the ceiling.

“The forest made it to guide you.” The creature spoke easily, her thin linen-covered legs swinging under the branch she sat on. Her long white mane fell further than her limbs. It swayed with every light kick she made.

“Wh-Wha… Huh?” Applejack may have been the pony to voice her confusion, but she was not the only pony who expressed it. Twilight’s eyes were squinted in puzzlement, unsure of what the nymph was speaking of. Dash’s jaw remained unmoved and her head untwisted from before, the former still slack and the latter still knotted.

“I sang to find you,” she spoke again. “The forest helps me when I ask it to, but I have to ask in the right way. The cat was a friend of the forest long ago. He likes to help me now and then, but only if I ask him to.” Her fanged smile was evidence that she believed her explanation to be sufficient, but it did little more than twist the trio’s already frazzled minds.

“She is capable of things I have never seen,” Zecora spoke up, earning the attention of the zebra’s three new guests. “Not from any princess, creature, or thing in-between. As one who’s lived many days, I dare to guess she is a Fae.” The title drew a collective look from the unicorn and pegasus.

“Zecora,” Twilight began, her disbelief far beyond suspended, now drifting to where it might never be found again. “You know what the Fae are?”

“Child, I have lived in the wild all my life. I think it impossible to not hear tales of their strife. Though I confess, one before I have never seen,” the zebra’s golden eyes looked to Aisling, marveling not for the first time at the sight of the foreign creature to a foreign pony. “She is nothing but new to me.”

A tense silence took residence in the home, leaving the three new mares in the hut staring at the white haired creature. Their minds barely kept track of the paths they took, eyes wide and disbelieving. Aisling and Apple Bloom, however, were blissfully ignorant of the attention, the latter giggling up to the creature hanging from a branch.

The nymph smiled before she flipped backwards off the branch, spinning through the air majestically. Her form was lost beneath her long white mane, wrapping around her as she continued to flip through the air. However, her feet landed on the ground with a surprisingly soft thud, her body unwrapping and standing to its tallest again. She gave a fanged smile to the filly beneath her. The only thing that kept Applejack from charging the thing was the joyful laughter her sister gave.

“That’s… incredible…” Twilight spoke breathlessly as she approached the creature once more. Aisling offered the unicorn her attention with a noise of curiosity. Her emerald eyes widened in minor fright, however, as the intellectual mare stood just barely a breath away. “You have a level of agility that’s almost unfounded for most Equestrian mammals, a-and an ability to cast spells that I’ve never seen! Tell me, do you any affiliation with an occult cult, or are you self-studying a new method for spell conjuration?”

Aisling blinked as she looked at the unicorn, shaking from what could only be attributed as excitement. Leaning in a bit closer to the unicorn, until all the other could see was the eyes of the creature opposite of them, the forest nymph spoke four simple words.

“You’re an odd one.”

The words came so suddenly and so bluntly, Twilight didn’t know what to say. Rainbow Dash and Applejack, however, knew exactly what to do. Their laughter collected in a resounding chorus. It earned a pleasant twist of the nymph’s lips. Twilight only needed to glance to see that Apple Bloom and Zecora were holding their laughter back with only mild success.

“I-I’m not odd.” She weakly defended, looking at the creature as her own head slowly sank. “I-I… I’ve just never… met something like you before.”

“And you never will again.” Aisling spoke with not-so-hidden pride. Her hands placed themselves on her hips, her chest puffing outwards. By sight alone, she looked frail and lost, a creature misplaced in time. But by actions, words, and testimony, she was amongst the most frightening and mysterious things Twilight had ever seen. Applejack and Dash only thought of her as the former, not even a hint of the latter.

“Why not?” Twilight questioned, though a visible drop in her optimism was noted. “Are you an outsider or an ostracized member of your culture? That would explain the apparent lack of evidence towards your… well, existence, to be frank.” Before answering, Aisling twisted her head, looking at the unicorn with another expression of minor confusion.

“No silly,” the nymph replied before deftly spinning on her heel. Her hair twisted around her, forming a spiral of ghostly white beauty. “I’m alone now. That is all.”

Those words hung themselves in the air for a moment. None of the mares fully willing to accept what they quiet meant.

“You’re the last of… your kind?” Dash began, much to the surprised of Twilight, with a tone of sincerity. Either her fear was forgotten or simply buried. “Like… no friends, family, or queen?”

“My family is gone, they left long ago.” Twilight wasn’t quite sure if she should be sad or nervous from the almost passive response to the question, especially given the answer. Judging by the way Applejack tucked Apple Bloom behind her hoof, the unicorn was sure where her farming friend’s mind was. “The forest belonged to my mother and father before. When they left, it became my forest, and it is my forest.”

“The woes of your past is a tale I know well,” Zecora’s rhythmic voice began to speak, her golden eyes looking with pity and sympathy to the white haired nymph. “It is a dark tale that I loathe to dwell.”

“It’s alright now though, my friend helped me long ago.” The sincerity and join in her tone were not missed by the most astute of the most honest pony in the group.

“Must have been a heck of a friend.” Applejack testingly spoke, a false smile curled about her lips. She kept her sister behind hoof. “How’d the mare help ya’ll out?”

“He wasn’t a mare,” Aisling spoke easily, earning a quick blush along the farm pony’s muzzle, one her sister saw and eagerly began giggling at. “And he was not equine either. He was far too brave.”

“Too brave?” Twilight held back a sigh. She should have seen it coming, at least the moment Aisling spoke something like she had. “Hey, I’ll take a joke, but are you calling us cowardly?” The pegasus trotted towards the ghost haired Fae as she spoke, her brows furrowed in challenge. “Cuase I’ll have you know that we are some of the bravest ponies in all of Equestria.”

“You yelped like a new-born pup then attempted flee like a startled doe.” The bluntness of the metaphor hit Dash hard, causing her to twitch at the words. Twilight felt herself wince as her perked ears heard Applejack give a low whistle. The low giggling from Zecora and Apple Bloom was not missed, and definitely not ignored.

“H-Hey, don’t give me that,” Rainbow challenged back. “There’s no way I could have been prepared for… you.” She motioned at Aisling with her hoof, swaying up and down the length of the pale creature’s form. The Fae, however, took the words as a compliment, nodding in appreciation. “Besides, we’ve saved our land at least half a dozen times now. It’s a pretty big deal you know.”

“And Brendan saved me.”

The words created an eerie silence through the hut.

Aisling continued to stare at the pegasus, her green eyes hard and piercing, made all the more vivid by the pale backdrop of her hair and skin. The mare she stared at was left blinking in mild confusion, left wondering what she should say next. Fortunately, there was more than one pony in the room willing to speak for her.

“Brendan?” The youngest of the ponies spoke, trotting forward with light hoof steps over the wood. “Is that yer friend from before?”

The pale nymph turned to Apple Bloom, blinking before she did so. In that quick action, her gaze seemed to instantly soften from the piercing glare to a calm gaze. It was instantaneous, and far more disturbing, completely natural for her.

“Yes,” Aisling spoke, smiling lightly as she did so. “He came into my forest long ago, much like you actually.” Another giggle was shared between the pair. Twilight, however, was far too curious to let childish amusement derail her thinking.

“How did he save you?” the unicorn instantly questioned. “Did he help defend against a monstrous beast, or was he able to conjure a spell that guided you to your home, or was he bound to a different tree than you were?” From the trio of questions, one stuck out like a miscolored hoof.

“Bound to what now?” Applejack questioned her friend, twisting her head till her hat nearly fell from it. “Twi, Ah know we aren’t exactly standin’ on common ground here, but you feelin’ alright?”

“Yes, of course,” Twilight instantly answered. “It’s just that members of the Fae, like Aisling here, are commonly bound to a tree or other natural creations. It was only a proper question that he may have been bound a tree far away from hers and had to do something in order to save hers, perhaps drastically on top of it.”

“He wasn’t like me,” the nymph spoke up, earning an almost painfully quick turn of the unicorn and earth pony’s head. “And I’m not bound to any tree. I have seen every tree in these woods grow from a young sapling. That’s why it’s my forest.” Her slender fingers fell on her chest, the same proud fanged smile hanging from between her lips.

The statement appeared to rock Twilight. Her lips instantly began to move as her head turned from the white creature, her mind racing with thoughts and questions she hoped to justify before she spoke. Aisling watched her, her long white hair shifting lightly as her crooked itself.

“She is an odd one.” The nymph spoke again. It earned a light chuckle from the orange mare near her.

“She’s got a good head on her shoulders,” Applejack spoke easily, warm even. “It ain’t that odd for her thoughts ta out pace her sometimes. Ya get used to it, Ah have at least.” The with a slight sigh, her face grew stern. “But ‘fore she starts ramblin’ off the questions again, Ah gotta tell ya something.”

The farm pony trotted the short distance between the two, Apple Bloom moving out of the way for her elder sister. Zecora and Rainbow Dash watched as the apple farmer gazed with a tight vision at the forest nymph, one that Aisling returned in kind.

Then, Applejack extended her hoof.

“Ah wanted ta thank ya.” Her words hung in the air, given no response from any member of their party, so she spoke on. “Cordin’ to both you, Zecora, and mah sis, you saved the life of one of mah kin. Fer that, Ah owe ya a lot.” The farm pony lightly shook her leg in the air, hoping to make her action a bit more known.

“So… thanks.”

Aisling stared at the hoof, her vision growing narrow and eyes harder the longer she did so. It didn’t take much time after that for her straight and proud posture to begin to hunch, her legs lightly tracing backwards into a predatory position. Her pale fingers lightly scratched at the ground as her lips began to snarl. Applejack, much like Zecora, was too stunned to speak or act.

Rainbow, however, wasn’t.

“Hey, what gives?” The athletic pegasus spoke up, taking once more to the air. “She offers to thank you and you act like you’re about to take her head off? What’s that all about?”

“If she means to thank me,” Aisling began, her gaze never even ghosting to the cyan mare. “Then why does she hold to me a tool of pain?”

Applejack didn’t know if she should laugh or shout.

Wisely, she chose neither.

“Pain?” the mare questioned, twisting her hoof until her eyes gazed down at the bare end of her leg, save for a horseshoe for working her farm day in and day out. “What are ya talkin’ about? Ah got nothin’ here but-”

“Iron!” The sudden shout earned a light jump from Applejack and Rainbow. It earned a deep growl from Aisling. Twilight, however, thought little of any of them.

“You’re shoe, Applejack.” The unicorn pointed towards the farm pony’s hoof as she spoke. “It’s made of iron, a material that’s hazardous to members of the Fae. Its meant to act like a deterrent for them. It was supposedly one of the many theories as to why iron was chosen as the material for horseshoes over more common materials we have available to us.”

“Wait, you can’t touch iron?” Dash pointed towards Aisling with her hoof. Before the nymph could answer, the pegasus twisted her leg until she was pointing at the zebra instead. “Then where did your cauldron go?”

“Like any good pot or pan, I put it away when I can.” The huff of annoyance was not lost on the pegasus. Zecora however, turned towards Aisling instead. “But now I must ask you, my most honored guest, about the life you lived before with your friend, whom you’ve now lain to rest.”

“I can tell you,” Aisling spoke easily to Zecora, her carefree smile once more upon her lips, fang still as prominent as ever. “He did teach me the importance of tales. I taught him more though.” Her giggle of satisfaction would have been cute if it had not been vain.

“Wait, he taught you about tales?” Twilight asked the pale creature. Before she could respond, the unicorn continued to speak on. “That means that he had stories, or liked to tell them. He may have even written a few. What kind of stories did he tea- no wait, how did he teach you the importance of stories.”

END

BEGIN

Aisling, for her part, was patient with the unicorn’s frantic words. Then again, watching an entire forest grow meant that she had some level of patience in her bones, or so Apple Bloom thought. The forest Fae lifted a slender finger to the back of her hand, tracing the bare white skin as her eyes looked at nothing. Silence was taking residence in the air, and was heavier than the earth.

“When I met Brendan,” Aisling began. “He was looking for bitter grapes. He told me it was to help him write a book, a book that was meant to help change the ways of all of his people.”

“Wait, his people?” Oddly enough, it was Rainbow Dash who interrupted. Not oddly at all, actually. “I thought he was like… well, you?” Her hoof motioned up and down the pale creature once more. And, just like before, Aisling only laughed in response, her bright fanged teeth prominent.

“No, I was alone then, like now. He was too, though.” The nymph spun on her heel, turning until she was facing away from the five ponies in the room. She walked a short distance before spinning again, one of her hands extended and catching a branch along one of the walls. “No mother, no family.”

“It was one of his friends who wanted the grapes, and he was brave enough to enter my forest to find them, though the elder of his people forbad it.” With what looked to be the lightest of pulls, Aisling spun herself up and over the branch, landing on it until she was lying across it, looking down the ponies with her crossed beneath her head. “He did that often after we met, but I did bring him more bitter grapes.”

“Why… did he need the grapes… to write a book?” Twilight spoke slowly, perhaps to calm her still racing mind, but more than likely, to not seem threatening to the creature she spoke to. Aisling, for her part, only smiled down at the unicorn.

“For the green.” The lithe creature rolled over the branch until she sat near the end, the small bit of wood sticking out from beneath her tattered gray gown. “It made the most vibrant green. He showed me it to prove it. But the grapes eventually weren’t enough. Not for what he needed to do.” A low, perhaps pained, sigh left the Fae’s lips. No spoke a word.

“Eventually, what he needed was something I couldn’t give. Something that was taken by a thing that took everything.” The shiver that ran through her form was not unseen, by any pony. Apple Bloom trotted closer to the pale creature in the branch, the worry in her youthful eyes apparent and sympathetic. Aisling, however spoke on.

“He needed the eye of a monster, the… the thing that took my people, that took my mother.” That was when the first gasp was uttered.

“My dear Aisling of the Fae,” Zecora spoke, worry as evident her voice as the chills along the creature’s bare skin. “Please tell me it is not as you say. He challenged the god of old? Crom Crauch, the dragon with a heart unfeeling cold?”

The slow nod was all the zebra needed to see before averted her gaze, perhaps to catch her breath. The rest of the ponies, however, needed more.

“Ah’m sorry, but who’s this Crom guy?” Applejack questioned, adjusting her hat as she scratched at the back of her mane. “Was he just big, or thick, or just bucket of lard?”

“It was a thing nothing could hope to match.” Aisling spoke lowly, her breaths quickening. Even now, the memory of the long past creature haunting her. “It fed on my people, taking them from me until only I remained. It took my kingdom, my people, my mother. It took everything and continued to yearn for more. It always needed more.” The swallow of a breath that verberated through the room wasn’t from Aisling. Dash was quick scratch at her neck.

“Made of many things, formed by nothing, and searching for everything.” Aisling continued to list the haunting description of the creature. “Crom Crauch, a monster that saw everything, for it was nothing. Nothing but darkness… searching for light. And like all dark things, it was larger than anything else.”

A low whistle blew from between Applejack’s lips, her mind impressed by the tale, and more than a little proud of a being with nothing special doing the impossible. Those were the kind of stories her mother had told her as a foal. The same stories she told Apple Bloom. The filly, just as the elder mare anticipated, was wide eyed and slack jawed at the tale.

“That sounds one heck of a beast.” Rainbow spoke, unsure if her complimenting words were the right thing to say, what with Zecora still breathless and Aisling just getting over her shivers.

“Crom Cruach was the monster of many tales,” the zebra spoke up, as if to answer Dash. “Often hailed as the beast for death, or means to make foals wail. He holds no love in his heart, for his desires only to rend things apart.”

“But Brendan killed it.”

The declaration may as well have been that the sky was falling. It earned a similar reaction.

“How? How did he beat that thing by himself?” Twilight questioned the nymph still sitting above her. “Did he use the Elements of Harmony, or maybe a complex algorithm that found the object meant to turning the nothingness of Cruach back on himself.”

“No, Brendan killed it without a spell or chant.” With a sudden deft flip, the pale haired Fae fell from the small branch, landing on her feet with her white hair soon following behind her. “Without the aid of iron, steel, shield, or another’s will, he ventured into its lair.”

“Whoa! Then how’d Brendan kill it?” Applejack did her best to ignore the absolute excitement she heard pour out of her little sister’s words. Aisling, however, leaned down and eagerly told the filly the answer.

“Brendan beat The Dark One by taking from it the one thing Brendan needed.” Her grin was closed lipped, unfanged. The silence was only a guest, for Aisling started to speak again. But not before she slowly raised one of her slender arms, lightly tapping on one of her closed emerald eyes.

“He took The Eye of Crom from the beast, and left blinded in its own darkness.”

“He did that… by himself?” Dash spoke up, her grin a bit more than eager, her perked ears little different.

“Yes,” Aisling spoke proudly, happy with a memory just as old as the haunting creature. “He took Crom’s eye, turning the place of darkness into one of light.”

END

“That was quite the tale there,” Applejack complimented with a slow nod of her head. “Reckin’ that’ll be one for the Apple Family ta keep on sharin. Ya agree Apple Bloom?”

“Course Ah do!” The young filly eagerly replied

“And… what was the book?” Twilight was on the edge of her hooves with anticipation. “What did he need Crom’s eye for? Was it a piece for the cover, or an alchemy ingredient to find another rare shade of color?”

When Aisling spoke again, she did not disappoint.

“Brendan needed the eye to see everything.” She spoke with an unconcealed smile. “To see the soft flutter of a fly’s wings, to see the life in a single leaf from a tree, and to paint a picture that would turn Brendan’s book into the greatest book of all.”

“That sounds incredible?” Dash spoke, nodding as she spoke. “What was the book called? I bet Twilight would want a copy for her library.” With a slight grin, Aisling answered the eager pegasus.

The pale haired Fae spoke with an air of serene mystery. Then, holding her hands into the air, she spoke her soft answer.

“The Book of Kells. The book… that turned darkness… into light.”

Next Chapter: Remaining Mysteries Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 44 Minutes