Chapter 2: Lost, yet Found
In 3rd person POV
We now move over to a familiar tree in Ponyville, inhabited by a purple unicorn and a baby dragon. Their day was just going about as usual, the dragon sleeping and the unicorn sorting her books. It is now 8:53 AM.
A piece of the watch lands on the window in the top floor, smashing it into smithereens. This loud noise woke the baby dragon. The unicorn stopped her sorting.
"Spike, everything alright upstairs?" Twilight asked. Spike slowly stood up, clearly not completely awake.
"Huh...? I think so..." Spike walked over to the mess near the worktable. "I think you gotta see this." He then proceed to shout down the stairs.
Twilight quickly arranged the remaining books and ran upstairs to check on the situation. She saw that the window facing the Everfree forest was broken and the shards of glass were on the floor, spread a ways away from the frame of said window. Among it was a piece of foreign machinery that looked like it was powered by clockwork mechanisms. Slowly, she used a telekinesis spell to lift up the mechanism, then brought it towards herself to examine it.
"Was this here before?" Twilight asked the purple dragon, who sat there still trying to absorb what just happened. He replied with a shrug, which left Twilight an even bigger question. Where did it come from?
Twilight, ever the curious mare, then brought it to her basement to take it apart to try and find out what it was made of. If I could reverse engineer it, she thought, it would be a revolutionary breakthrough in technology. She then proceeds to open the casing. But, no matter how hard she pulls, the casing would not budge. Twilight then tried other methods of opening the mechanism. Cutting did not work, smashing obviously yields no result, magic seems to cause it to close tighter and simply hammering the casing out proved to be ineffective as well.
Every time a method did not work, Twilight would rage a little bit before thinking of another way to open. Eventually she had tried all methods, known or unknown. It just would not open! She got frustrated at what was thrown at her. But at that moment, a smile dawned on her face. What if, she thought, just what if, I go back upstairs and measure how much force was used in smashing the window, and I calculate the trajectory of the object to find its source? Then I can asked the pony who made this to share his or her secrets!
Immediately she ran back upstairs and told Spike to not clear the mess on the floor unless she said so. She then took out several rulers and tried to measure out the distance the glass was away from the window. Then using some physics and maths, she calculated the path of motion of the mechanism, which marks its beginning point at... the Everfree!
"Wait. Nopony lives in the Everfree besides Zecora." Spike said. "This is ridiculous."
"No, but what if this is her's?" Twilight interjected, even though she knows that the idea was ridiculous. Zecora only played about with potions and plants, not highly advanced clockwork doohickeys that did not even have a known purpose. "I'm going to find who it belongs to no matter what. It's not ours to begin with. What if its really important?"
"But its cold outside!"
"And if I leave you on your own, wouldn't you get cold faster?"
"Point taken... I'll get the others, then we'll set off."
~scene change~
In Pyro's POV
Ughh. Second time I've been unconscious today. At least this time I'm on top of the snow. Now the watch exploded. Where did they fly to? I try to locate myself in this forest. I still have a headache.
I spot something shine in the snow a fair distance away. Is that...? It is! Its the casing of my watch. At least the bronze casing was not scratched. One down, 9 others to go. At least, I think it was 9 pieces. The watch split into 10 different directions, didn't it? I hope the temporal engine did not kick in during the blast and travel through the t-axis.
I carefully place the piece into my bag and continue trying to find a way out. Looks like I am stuck here for a while.
About 20 minutes later I find a clearing in the woods. This is strange, because everywhere else in the forest was dense and full of greens, while this patch of land is void of trees, and you could clearly see trees around this area. I look up into the sky. Abundance of clouds, sun still hovering above dawn. From where I am at, I make it to about 9 AM. I wonder if the time here corresponds to the time on my planet.
Suddenly, out of nowhere a seemingly large manticore came out. It tackled me on the left side, making me lose my balance. I genuinely wasn't scared, although I was shocked at the sudden movement. I cannot really tell if it is angry; they look angry all the time. Maybe its hungry?
I stood up and dusted myself off. It just kept pushing me over, even though I did not care for the first few times it did. But after a few minutes, it eventually got fast enough to push me over and climb on top of me.
I wanted to push it off. However, if I use too much force, I would send it flying. Survival first, I suppose. With some force, I push the manticore with my right hoof. Its body flew through the air, landing with a thud near some trees. Slowly it got up and ran away whimpering. Probably injured.
Checking my mental clock, 28 minutes has passed. I picked up my bag and started wondering if I can get out of this place. Alive, no less.
~scene change, time skip: 20 minutes~
In 3rd person POV
"Are you sure the piece came from here?" Asked a skeptical Rainbow Dash.
"Of course. I have calculations to back it up." Twilight responded as they all entered the forest.
"Ah trust ya, but who in tarnation would wander off into the Everfree forest?" Applejack asked. "An' even if we know the pony's not alone, why would they conduct an experiment here?"
"See, that's what we don't know. The pony may be good or bad. We'll decide whether to return this when we meet them."
So they walked along a path in a clearing. The trees looked eerie, the plants looked carnivorous and the air seem to have dropped to freezing temperatures way below the wintry level that it used to be. But friendship could negate that, right? The seven of them huddled together as closely as they could to keep warm. Together they move through the forest, passing by each tree with subtle fear of what was going to happen.
Whilst trekking deeper into the Everfree, a manticore bumped into them. It looked very scared, even though it was bigger than the average pony. It has abrasions all over its back, probably from a tussle. Upon noticing the ponies, it scurried away without hesitation. Fluttershy, standing in the middle of the group, was shocked looking at the injured manticore.
"It's injured!" She squeaked. However she could not do anything; the manticore ran away too quickly. Her ears drooped, her spirits dampened. That did not put her down completely though. She pressed on with her friends.
Halfway to Zecora's hut, they came across a clearing in the forest. The ceiling was devoid of leaves so they could see into the sky above. Treading across the snow, they entered the clearing.
~scene change, time skip: -2 minutes~
In Pyro's POV
I hear a rustling in the woods. The manticore has come back? Nah, I don't think so. It's too weak. Wind? I do feel colder all of a sudden. But then again, I don't think wind can penetrate the treetops. Enough thinking, try to see what is coming.
I focus my attention on the rustling, trying to deduce what was coming. Hmm, sounds? Voices? Is this place populated? Wait... yes, I do hear voices. All of them female and they seem to be chatting. Hm. Oh, I hear a male voice, quite distinctly young. I wonder what they are doing in this forest; its too dangerous, with the manticore and all. And they seem to be heading... this way? Perhaps to another location via this one, I must not be a disturbance to them. Slowly, I decided to trek away from this place, maybe find an exit. Time to mov-
~scene change~
In 3rd person POV
Pyro walked toward the north-western direction before being struck by a small rock on the head, knocking him out cold. His body flopped onto the floor in an uncomfortable position, before repositioning itself so that the entire body came into contact with the cold ground.
As the group neared the clearing, they chatted to lighten the ambiance.
"Who do you think this belongs to?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know, but I hope that pony likes parties!" Pinkie replied to the rhetorical question.
"I hope so. Maybe that pony likes presents. Hearths-Warming is right around the corner." Spike said as they entered the clearing.
Rainbow flew upwards to locate the hut, just in case they forgot the way. However, she noticed a pony lying on the floor.
"Uhh... guys? Who's that?" Rainbow asked upon gaining their attention, pointing to the unconscious red pony.
A/N: Writing this chapter was fun. And annoying. When this chapter goes live there will be another story going live at the same time. Also do take note that the character Pyro will also be in that story, however both ponies are different. They are of a different universe and timeline and should not be mixed up.
Also sorry in advance if I had confused you with the time skips.
TL:DR wifi had problems so this chapter came out later than it should.
Next Chapter: Pyro is brought somewhere to recover from his concussion, and although he is here for the first time, Twilight claims to have met him somewhere before. But how?