The Tale of the Two Horned Pony- Chapter 1

[superspyro3000 34]

For context, this story takes place at the beginning of the 8th season of Friendship is Magic. I am posting this story chapter by chapter, so stay tuned for updates. Other than that, I hope

that this years in the making story brings as much joy for you as it does for me!

 

Chapter 1- The Raid

The pitch black outskirts of the Everfree Forest were always bustling with the sounds of mysterious and fearsome creatures, and tonight was no different. The continuous chirps, hollers, and screeches just about polluted the dank landscape. It was some three hours before dawn when the noises that normally filled the dark forest were suddenly silenced. A figure was walking across, unphased by the darkness, or by the creatures lurking inside. If anything, the creatures this figure walked past ran off, hid from far away, or stopped making sounds. The figure wore a raven-colored hood, which covered his head, but the pony was most likely a unicorn from the way the hood stuck out. 
    The hood also included two sleeves for the pony’s upper legs, and a large pocket upon their chest. In the pocket was what looked like a nestled bundle. The bundle seemed to be a book, with jewels glowing a dim scarlet, and a symbol shaped like the letter “I”. The book was glowing bright enough to light the way in front of this pony. Along their travels, the pony would hunch over, whispering to the book, and listening back to it, as if the book could speak back to them. “This place no longer exists, boy…” the voice droned in the pony’s head. “What you’re looking for was destroyed a long time ago. There is nothing left to find.” The pony scoffed, continuing his way. “You’re only saying that because you’re scared of being caught…” he whispered back to the book. 

    The book’s scarlet light went out as quick as a candle. Now there was no light left to guide him. “I told you there is nothing here. Now go back!” the voice in his head commanded. The pony looked at the book with a raised eyebrow, and lifted part of his hood, and it was clear that this was no typical pony. He had two horns on his head, one horn on each side! With a smirk, he summoned a branch, and brought it to his left horn, lighting it on fire. The two continued on the path.”Geez, you are such a killjoy…” he spoke back, a little louder than he meant. 
    What this pony was looking for was later revealed as the trees became fewer and farther between, and what faced him next was a rickety bridge, leading to the ruins of a large castle, deep in the forest itself. “There it is! A little beaten up, but standing. What did I tell you?” The pony gave another smirk, as he crossed the bridge. The voice in his head roared, “I am not asking you, I am commanding you. Leave this place!” The pony ignored the voice as he kept going. “Oh come on! Don’t be a baby! What’s the big deal about this place anyway? You don’t usually get this worked up over abandoned property…” The pony asked the book cockily. 

    “This is the Castle of the Two Sisters… Surely you know of the two sisters in question?” The voice waited for an answer from the pony, but he said nothing. “Boy! I’m looking in your head, so you best not hide your answer from me!” The voice roared again. The pony looked down at the book and retorted, “I don’t know a thing about these two sisters! But whatever they left behind could be enlightening. Maybe some priceless paintings can be salvaged, or perhaps it could be revamped and we could make that our new home! You always told me you used to live in a castle before you were cursed!” The voice could not convince the pony to turn around, but he spoon fed the ignorant dimwit the origins of the castle and its owners. “The two sisters are princesses of day and night. The Princess of the night was jealous of the reputation of her sister, and with the use of dark magic, she tried to plunge the world to an eternal night. If you explore the abandoned remains, boy, you may find yourself in line with other thieves and plunderers who will try to take me…”
    The voice in this pony’s head was adamant to keep him from waltzing about this place, but he didn’t care. The two entered the ruins, finding a large foyer, illuminated by the night sky. The pony looked around, both for something to take home, and to take in the atmosphere. “There must have been an epic battle here long ago… This place is really beaten out of shape… Guess remodeling it will take some more effort.” The pony continued whispering to the book. The book glowed a dim scarlet once again, this time, it seemed to be looking around using the symbol as an eye. “Long ago? The last battle faced here must have been very recent. This place is under watched eyes, boy! Trespassing here will put us in more trouble than it’s worth!” The pony rolled his eyes, and with a glow of his aura, he was creating mental images of the foyer. “Hey, what are you doing, boy?!” The voice flared. “Can’t I keep a few mental images of this place?” The pony asked back. “Much of whatever was in this foyer has been snatched anyway…” The pony was looking at the platform that once carried the elements of harmony. It was this centerpiece that further convinced the voice in the pony’s head that this place was foraged before, likely more than once. 

    The hooded pony and his book wandered all throughout this castle, and before it was time to go, he found a way to the castle’s library. Amazingly, there were books on the shelves that survived whatever had taken place long ago. He had hit the motherload. “Were the mental images not enough for you, boy? Must you resort to robbing this place too?!” The voice kept going, almost yelling at this point, but the pony shrugged. “Look, it isn’t stealing if nobody is around to own it. There could be all sorts of diamonds in this rough, and you can’t convince me otherwise!” He found one book without a title on the spine, and he tried to take it from the shelf, but as it got out partway, it jammed. No amount of force, physical or magical, was budging this book any further. “Ach! This one’s stuck… Hey, be a pal and help me out with this one!” He winced at his book, his magic not enough to pull the book out. “You are a complete buffoon if you think I will follow your command after all the ones I told you not to do that you ignored!” The voice argued back, the both of them not even noticing an entire pathway opening up beside them. They kept at it until the pony finally gave up, leaving the book and the secret tunnel behind as it closed back up. “Fine, whatever this book has, the world may never know!” He huffed, using his magic to gather the books he wanted. “But if it has a guide to ancient powers older than yours, it’s your fault I couldn’t take it…”

    The pony lifted his hood back over his face as he left the rubbled remains of the castle. He continued down the path and back into the dark forest, disappearing into the pitch black undergrowth, a trail of books following him tightly. Within the blink of an eye, he was gone. The creatures of the forest stayed put, hiding in case the hooded pony returned. One group of creatures, however, did not heed the subtle warnings of the timberwolves and insects to go away. The Diamond Dogs were following the trail set by the cowering wildlife. The group had caught a glimpse of the gems that adorned the book being carried, and they had set out to take it! Those jewels were rare enough to them that they were willing to absorb whatever risks or consequences that followed. 
“There he is!” Exclaimed Spot, one of the leaders of the Diamond Dogs. Rover, the second leader, interjected. “Did you see under his hood?” “Nah, who cares what’s under that?” Said Spot, hurriedly. “I just care about those Pyre Crystals! That book’s decorated with the rarest jewels in the world!” Rover followed along, but he was thinking to himself. Did that pony really have two horns? What if they were caught? Fido was not afraid of that possibility. “If he catches us, we could fold him like his book. He does not look that tough!” Spot was blinded, intoxicated by the prospects of having the world’s rarest gems in his hands. If this pony knew where Pyre Crystals were, his group could make him mine all the crystals they could ever want! They kept going, vanishing in the mist as they kept close to the floating books that trailed behind the hooded pony. 
 

Edited June 21, 2023 by superspyro3000
Found a way to disable the bold font ^^;

[They call me Loyalty 1,948]

That was very intriguing. I'm excited to discover more about the nature of these crystals and the strange pony with horns. Also, pretty awesome to add an illustration. The image of your chimerical character immediately reminded me of the armor used by a certain faction in another mlp fanfiction. Speaking of which. I hope you can also post this over fimfiction, so it can reach more people.

Edited February 5, 2023 by They call me Loyalty

[superspyro3000 34]

7 minutes ago, They call me Loyalty said:

That was very intriguing. I'm excited to discover more about the nature of these crystals and the strange pony with horns. Also, pretty awesome to add an illustration. The image of your chimerical character immediately reminded me of the armor used by a certain faction in another mlp fanfiction. Speaking of which. I hope you can also post this over fimfiction, so it can reach more people.

I appreciate the love! I don't have a fimfiction account yet, but absolutely! I'll post this story there as well! Thank you!