Prologue
The breeze was cool and gentle that bright, new morning as the sun shone down on a quaint little town that was small enough to be missed with a magnifying glass, but big enough in personality to take over all of Equestria. Fluttershy trotted upon the dirt roads of such a town away from Twilight Sparkle's library home, with a brand new unread book in her possession. In her spare time, she loved reading, especially documentaries and guides usually based on animals or gardening, so she visited the library as she could. On this particular happy, sunny day, the yellow pegasus decided to go for something a bit different in terms of her usual selection of books on animal care and the like. She reached into her butterfly decorated saddlebag and retrieved the bound pages, just to admire the beautiful binding and care that was put into its creation. She had already fed the animals and done her other basic household chores for the day, so she had quite a bit of time off to relax.
"Tales of the Forgotten" rang the title. It was incredibly attractive, from it's dark green cover to it's gold-shining cover print. It did, however, lack an author to credit, but that didn't concern her much, as she barely noticed it. She tossed the book up into the almost cloudless blue sky, flipping it about, and catching it that she might read the back.
"Most ponies seem born with knowledge," the book began, legendarily. "Certain stories have been imprinted into our minds, as though no one taught them, but all had known them since the moment they were born. This very book contains information along the same lines, with the difference being that these tales are wholly unknown to the entire equine population. Amazement and shock are only the beginning…"
A small enthusiastic whisper echoed throughout the moderately crowded Ponyville streets, barely heard over the idle chatter of the citizens; "Oh my. That's one way to capture the reader's attention," and it was. Fluttershy, continuing down the plain dirt roads, made a right turn past SugarCube Corner while tucking the book away, back into her saddlebag. She went a bit slower as she passed by the larger bakery, keeping a close eye out to see if a certain pink mare would materialize and say hi, but she must have been busy baking cupcakes or other goodies. Fluttershy went along past it, and followed the long road that eventually led into rural Ponyville, near the Everfree forest, where her home lay in anxious wait for her return. The path had a light brown wooden fence running along the left of it, with a beautiful clear field in full bloom and lush with green and yellow grasses, and the dark, eerie yet beautiful Everfree forest not far off to it's right. It was a fantastically scenic route. She was about half way home when she heard something loud go flying away far above her, accompanied by a rainbow-colored blurr. A very speed distorted, "Hey Fluttershy!" followed soon after, and Fluttershy almost immediately recognized Rainbow Dash's voice.
"Hi Dash," she let out a tiny, yet audible response. Dash was undoubtedly within hearing range, or, as Dash liked to say, "Pranking range". She did love pranks.
"Where ya off to?" asked a very, VERY nearby voice. Fluttershy spun around to greet her more properly, and almost collided with the cyan pegasus. She jumped back up a few feet, and replied with a timid, "To my house. I just picked up the most interesting book from Twili-,"
"Cool," interrupted Dash, unintentionally. Fluttershy knew that that, after all, was just her personality. She began trotting slowly down the road again, ever toward her patiently waiting home, and Dash hovered next to her as she went, sending gentle drafts spiraling around her. "I was just gettin' rid of a few clouds that strayed into my turf. See how clear it is?" The rainbow-accented pegasus raised a hoof to the skies.
"Oh yes, Dash. It's very nice," replied the yellow pegasus, smiling as bright as the sky, which was now entirely clear.
"Ahh," breathed Rainbow, "I can feel a breeze coming in from the West. More clouds on the way. The more, the merrier, eh?" she laughed. "I'll catch you around."
"Ok. Bye Dash-" Fluttershy barely finished her sentence before Rainbow Dash bolted off into the skies, blending in with them, leaving the seven colors of white light as a trail in her wake.
By the time Dash was gone, Fluttershy was coming upon her humble cottage. The birds sang happily in the nearby Everfree forest as she approached the small, green entryway. As she reached it, she opened the latch that held the door closed, and entered home sweet home.
As she walked into her cozy living room, she took into consideration that she may not have completed all of her daily chores. She couldn't rest or relax until everything that needed to be done had been done, so she went over a mental list. "Laundry; done," her soft voice caressed the wooden walls of her home as she shut the door, gently, behind her. "Animals; fed. Plants; watered," she trotted over to her stairwell as the list was finished. "New book; to be read as soon as possible," she murmured happily, concluding the list. She was at the top of the stairwell at this point, advancing down the ornately decorated wooden corridor toward her bedroom. When she reached the familiar doorway, emblazoned with three pink colored yellow-outlined butterflies, she pushed ever-so-slightly. It opened, creaking in protest of the exertion.
Fluttershy placed her bag just to the left of the door that led into her room, but ensuring that it was relieved of its book-related contents first. Her room was small, but cozy, and she loved it. The floorboards of the room were of oak wood of a sturdy, light, soft brown, while the walls of were of a bright, soothing minty green, with a ceiling to match. The walls were rather undecorated, aside from the occasional photograph of herself and Angel, or herself and her friends. The room contained a single large window which was rather boxed, overlooking the quaint garden which hid itself within the shadow of the house. Luckily, the window was on the Eastern side of the house, so the sun's rays weren't blindingly bright at this time of day. The afternoon sun was setting, causing the nearby Everfree to cast long, dark shadows. Fluttershy never was a big fan of Everfree, but it helped keep the animals happy, and she loved her home, and had no intentions of moving.
Besides that which could not be relocated (easily), a bed of reasonable statue, whose ornately decorated backboard was made of an elegant dark wood, held its ground just to the left of the window (from the perspective of one who had just entered the room, like Fluttershy). To its left, a small nightstand made from the same type of wood as the bed's backboard quietly kept itself. Upon it rested another book in Fluttershy's temporary collection, "The Gardener's Guide To All Things Green", with a flower-decorated book mark protruding from the lower section, accompanied by a rather small but practical yellow-clear night lamp, designed with forest creatures and flowers.
Fluttershy had a bit of a galloping start as she leapt onto her bed, which creaked and squeaked in response. She made a bit of a mess, but it was nothing too noticeable. Her beautiful light-pink mane bounced with her on the plushy mattress. The book, which she had tossed onto her bed from the doorway, fell in beside her, bouncing in sync with her, and coming to a rest as she did. She tucked herself under her covers, and took the book in her hooves ,allowing it to fall open to the first page. Flipping through the formalities, copyrights, and so on, Fluttershy came upon the first chapter in, as she did not yet know, one of the most powerful and influential items she would ever come upon, from the point of it's initial retrieval to the end of time, itself.