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ET: Ch. 1 It Started with a Migraine

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                                 The Equestrian Tales

                                       Chapter 1


Episode 0: It Started with a Migraine

My slumber was interrupted with the throbbing pain of my head. The pain ebbed and flowed with each heartbeat. The taste of bile was on my tongue. Waking up with a migraine was not a good way to start the day. The shaking of my bed was not helping my stomach either. That was strange. My bed doesn’t move. I struggled to open my eyes. I saw only white at first. The light only increased my pain. I fought through the pain to focus my eyes. Soon shapes took forms. I found myself laying on the floor. There were rows of benches on either side of me. The world zipped by in multiple windows around the benches. My mind began to process what I saw, heard, and felt. I was in the last car of a train.

The fast moving images outside only increased my nausea. I could feel vomit building up. I looked around for a bin to put the nasty substance about to erupt from my body, but I saw nothing. The pressure continued to build. I knew there was no stopping it. I scrambled to the nearest window and threw it open. As I thrust my head out the window, the flood gates burst open as a stream of vile liquid flowed from my mouth like a snake. The putrid serpent slithered along the side of the car before scattering to the wind. After a few more heaves, my stomach was empty.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. That was when my next surprise hit me. I closed my eyes and breathed deeper. The air was so fresh and clean. There were so many fragrances in the air it was intoxicating. As I opened my eyes, I truly saw my world for the first time. Green fields and blue skies stretched out before me in vibrant colors too beautiful for words. My vision trailed back the way I had come. A giant mountain rose up before my eyes. A gleaming white and gold castle jutted out along the mountain face. The castle looked familiar, but I could not place where. Where was I? For that matter, who was I?

I rubbed my chin pondering these questions, but nothing came to mind. While my mind stirred for answers, I noticed the thing rubbing my chin was a blue hoof. Drawing back into the car, I traced the fur leading back to me. In fact, there was not one but four hooves connected to me. I then noticed my ears were coming out of the top of my head and the end of my spine was sticking out of my rear coated in pure white hairs. I was a horse of some kind, but that wasn’t right. I scratched my head wondering what it was supposed to be. As I continued to look myself over, I noticed blue feathers blended in with the fur. Wondering how to move them, a pair of wings unfolded a little from my back. I was a horse with wings. That made me a pegasus.

As I examined the wings, something green caught my eye. Replying to sub concuss thoughts, my wings opened up to let me have a better look. On the outside of my hind leg was a black flame lined in green. Within the flame was a green ring with a bar attached to the opposite ends of the ring. Within the ring was a long white skull stretching from one bar to the other. It was a strange mark, yet it seemed familiar. As I finished taking stock, I began to wonder how I was supposed to move.

“Well quadrupeds and bipeds have the same kind of bones that move relatively in the same way,” I told myself aloud. “Wait. How do I know that, but not my own name?” I added scratching my head. Taking my own words into account, I took a few steps around the car. This came relatively easy once I got started. Even in a body that was clearly not my own, I seemed to have a good sense of balance. As I finished a circuit around the car, the sound of screeching metal assaulted my ears. I braced myself to no avail and stumbled forward. I landed with my face on the floor and my rear in the air. This was definitely not one of my more graceful moments.

I picked myself up and headed to the next car to get off. I was about to get off when someone called to me from behind.

“Wait, sir,” the voice said. I turned around to see a light blue pony in a navy blue hat and vest. He looked like he was working with his white collar and red tie. The fact that he had a long black mustache wrapping around his head looked a little strange to me. “You almost forgot your bag,” he said motioning to a blue suitcase with a black flame on it. I checked my hind quarter to confirm it was the same mark.

“Oh, right,” I answered a little embarrassed. I walked over to the suitcase and wondered how I was supposed to pick it up. I ended up trying to pick it up with my mouth. I was unsure of how heavy the suitcase was or how strong my neck was, so I used a lot of my strength and jerked it up. I managed to hold onto it as it flew up which caused me to stumble back. I managed to also maintain my footing even when the suitcase came back down and smacked me in the chest.

“Are you okay, sir?” The stallion asked with a curious look.

“I’m fine,” I nervously muffled through the handle. “Thanks,” I called back as I exited the train.

As I stepped off the train, I once again took stock of my surroundings. I saw multiple ponies on and off the platform bustling about. There were ponies with wings, with horns, and some with neither horns nor wings. There were ponies with coats and manes of many different colors and many different mane styles. Most of the ponies had marks on their flanks in a variety of symbols. Many of the young ones did not have a mark.

I then took note of what I didn’t see. Nobody was approaching me, and no one appeared to be looking for someone. This told me two things. Either this was not my stop, or no one was expecting me. With the train pulling away, I hoped the first possibility was wrong.

I walked up to the window on the platform to look at my reflection. I set my bag down and stared at the pony starring back at me. The horse face in the mirror did not stir any memories. The emerald eyes looked right, but something was still off. The spiky pure white mane flowing back looked right, and yet at the same time it didn’t look right.

As I examined my reflection, I noticed a blue horn peeking through my mane. I had a horn and wings. I was an alicorn. Alicorns were rare. I needed to hide that horn. I brushed a hoof through my mane, and the horn seemed to vanish. Wait. How did I know that, but still did not remember my own name.

I shook my head in frustration and moved off the platform with my suitcase back in my mouth. I needed information about what I was and where I was. If I knew that, it might give me a clue as to who I really was and where I came from. A library would have helped. The conductor had announced this was Ponyville. Ponyville had a tree library. I shook my head in frustration. Once again I knew something small and obsolete but I still couldn’t remember my own name. It was really starting to get on my nerves.

Despite my frustration, the random data did give me something to look for. As I began my search, a high pitched scream pierced my ears. The scream wasn’t from a pony, but I did recognize that sound from somewhere. I set my bag down and strained my ears searching for the source. It kept changing pitch and volume. It was air, fast moving air. Where was it coming from, and what was making it? My search was interrupted by an actual scream. I turned my head in time to see a blue blur before it smashed into me. My world tumbled end over end before turning to black.

For the second time today, I was in pain. It didn’t really hurt when my suitcase hit me, but I had to admit whatever had just hit me that really hurt. I groaned as I struggled to open my eyes. My vision was filled by a rainbow of colors. My eyes focused to reveal that it was hair, hair in six different colors. A feminine moan alerted me to the weight on top of me. The alto voice told me it was female, and the direction it was coming from told me that it was her tail in my face. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I cleared my throat and asked calmly,

“Whoever is on top of me, would you be so kind as to get off?”

“Oops,” she nervously laughed as the weight was lifted from my back. “Sorry about that,” she added. I stretched my front legs until I heard a couple of satisfying pops in my back. My wings also stretched out to give me a couple more pops. As I relaxed and my wings folded back, I ran a hoof through my mane to make sure my horn was still hidden.

I then turned to where the sound of the sorry came from. To my surprise, it was above me. That was when I got my next surprise. My eyes beheld a beautiful pegasus mare. Her coat glistened and was blue like the color of the clear sky. Her rainbow colored mane sparkled from the sunlight shining behind it. The mark on her flank was that of a cloud with a single multi-colored lightning bolt coming out of it. Her powerful wings moved in a steady rhythm to keep her aloft. Her reddish purple eyes and smug smile spoke of her great strength and confidence. I didn’t know what I really was, but it wasn’t an alicorn or anything close. In spite of that, I was captivated by her.

“You okay?” She asked. I shook my head violently to shake the stupor out of me. I cleared my throat and regained my composure.

“I’m fine,” I said casually as I moved back over to my bag. “So, do you crash into everypony like that, or am I just lucky?”

“Sorry about that,” she apologized with a laugh as she flew over to join me while remaining in the air. “I was practicing one of my new moves that didn’t really work.”

“Right,” I commented unimpressed.

“I got tickets to the Wonder Bolt derby next week, and I’m going to show them my stuff,” she bragged.

“So you’re going to interrupt one of their events to show them up. I’m sure they’ll take that well.”

“Well maybe not during, but they will see it. They even might make me a Wonder Bolt right there.”

“Ah ha,” I muttered still unimpressed. “You got a name to go with that ego?”

“Excuse me?” She asked a little annoyed.

“I’m just sayin’ that’s a pretty big ego for such a small pony,” I added emphasizing the small part by hovering one of my hooves a few inches off the ground.

“Hey!” She screamed getting into my face while staying in the air. “The name is Rainbow Dash, and I’m the fastest flyer in Equestria.”

“More like Rainbow Smash,” I coolly shot back.

“Who do you think you are?” She asked getting closer. Because I hadn’t backed down or up for that matter, we were nose to nose.

“No one special,” I simply answered.

“Really, because I say you’re…wait. What?” Dash asked moving back. My answer had caught her a little by surprise.

“Look. I’m new in town, and I’m looking for the library. You wouldn’t happen to know where that is?”

“Yeah, it’s in that big tree around the corner. It’s kind of hard to miss. What are you, some kind of egghead?”

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” I replied with a sly grin.

“Oh, I see now,” she said landing in front of me on the other side of my suitcase. “I know that attitude. You’re the best flyer from your home town and don’t think anypony can beat you. Let’s have a race, and I’ll show you why I’m the best.”

“Yeah, no thanks,” I said uninterested.

“Alright,” she said flying up, “we’ll make three loops around town. Wait. What?”

“No thanks,” I repeated. “I’m not interested.”

“Oh, I get it,” she said landing again. “You think because I’m a mare, I couldn’t keep up.”

“Actually, I just don’t care,” I corrected.

“Huh?” She tilted her head at me confused.

“You could be better than me,” I clarified. “I could be better than you. It makes no difference to me.” As I finished, I picked up my bag and began to walk away.

“Oh, okay,” Dash said a little sad with her wings drooping. When I looked back at her, she seemed sad. Scratch that. She was sad. I could actually feel her sorrow. It was interesting how I could feel the emotions of others around me. Of course I could. I was an empath, and that was what empaths do. Again, what was with the random data, but never the important facts? With a sigh, I set my bag back down and asked,

“You really wanted to race, didn’t you?”

“It’s kind of what I do,” she answered still a little glum. I flexed my wings a little deciding on my next move.

“Look,” I started, “my wings are a little stiff right now, so I doubt I could give you a good race. Give me a couple of days to work them out, and then we can have a race.”

“Yeah!” She screamed instantly cheering up and taking to the sky, “you are going to eat my dust.”

“Again, don’t care,” I reminded her.

“Who are you?” She asked with a laugh moving closer.

“No one special,” I simply answered.

“Yeah. Yeah. I heard that, but what’s your name?” She asked moving even closer.

“My name,” I repeated. I sat down to think about it. Glancing over at the symbol on my suitcase, two words immediately came to mind. They would have to do for now. “Just call me Storm Rider.”

“Okay, Storm Rider,” she said turning around quick and smacking me in the nose with her rainbow colored tail, “I’ll see you around. By the way, my name is Rainbow Dash,” she said over her shoulder before taking off at high speed. An actual rainbow trailed behind her. I whistled impressed.

“Rainbow Dash,” I repeated. “It fits. Now where is that library?” I asked myself as I picked up my bag and continued on. As I rounded the corner, I beheld a large tree in the middle of town with windows and a door. “She was right,” I muffled through the handle. “That was hard to miss.” I made a bee line for the library. However before I could reach the door, I became unable to move forward, although it wasn’t me that was frozen. After multiple attempts in different directions, I let go of my bag only to have it remain suspended in the air. I sat down and began examining my bag. My bag wasn’t touching anything. There was no reason for it not to move. I did notice a faint light blue glow around my suitcase. As I was examining my bag, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Excuse me, Darling,” a mature feminine voice spoke to me. I turned to see a beautiful white unicorn mare. Her coat sparkled in the sunlight. Her purple mane swirled around itself on one side of her face, and her tail had a similar twist to it. Her eye lids were a light blue that complemented her darker blue eyes. Her long eye lashes fluttered as she addressed me.

“Can I help you?”

“As a matter of fact, do you see those bags over there?” She asked motioning to a couple of stallions trying to move a lot of seemingly heavy bags into a pair of carts. I then noticed a faint glow around her horn that matched the glow around my bag.

“Is this your doing?” I asked motioning to my suitcase.

“Well yes. I couldn’t seem to get your attention any other way. Now if you could just…,” the mare started.

“Could you put it down?” I asked cutting her off.

“Of course, Dear,” she said as my bag lowered to the ground, and the glow faded from my suitcase and her horn. “Now it you would be so kind as to help move those bags, I would so appreciate it.” I glanced back at the struggling stallions before I answered,

“Yeah, no thanks.”

“But I’m sure it would be no trouble for a big strong stallion like yourself,” she swooned while batting her long eye lashes. She was a pretty mare, but her emotions told me she wasn’t that attracted to me. She was just trying to charm me into doing work for her.

“Look. I’m a little busy right now. Maybe some other time,” I replied picking my bag back up. She immediately dropped to her stomach and wrapped her front legs around one of my hind legs. Tears filled her eyes.

“But I really need your help,” she whimpered. Once again her emotions told me it was another attempt to charm me.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work on me,” I muffled slipping my hoof out of her grasp. I entered the tree library and shut the door behind me leaving the mare sitting there mouth agape.

I set my bag down after shutting the door. I didn’t know who that mare was, but I didn’t feel like being manipulated. I found a light switch along the wall and flipped it on. As the room brightened, I surveyed my surroundings. It seemed to be bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. The walls were filled with books on shelves carved out of the walls themselves. In fact, almost everything except the books were made of wood and or carved out of the tree itself. Stairs led to rooms in the branches and down into the roots. There were even more rooms in the back of the main room.  The main room had a round table, reading podium, and a pedestal with a horse head on it.

I checked the loft in the branches. It was an enclosed room with a fireplace and a bed. I found it a little strange to have a fire place in a tree. I felt like it belonged to someone, but the room clearly had not been used by anyone for some time. This room had a desk and more books lining the walls. I continued my exploration in to the roots. I found a large room buried beneath the tree. The door was placed near the ceiling of the room with steps leading to the bottom of the room. Compared to the rest of the tree, there weren’t too many books in this room. This would have made a good laboratory. Why did I think that?

Continuing my search in the roots, I found another bedroom. This one was simpler than the one in the loft. There was a desk in this one too while it was lined with more books. The bed was embedded into the wall. This was definitely a library. Although I did find it a little strange to have bed rooms, and yet it seemed right.

I returned to the main room to begin my research. I decided this was also a good time to try using magic. That mare had a glow around her horn that matched the glow around my bag. I figured the horn was being used as a focal point. I focused on one book and imaged it lifting up. I felt a power within me. I tried to channel the power through the horn and to the book. I thought about it coming to me. The book lifted off the shelf and drifted to me. I found this kind of magic did not require a lot of effort, but it did require concentration and visualization. I walked over to the podium with the book in tow. My magic did falter for a second, but I recovered right away.

I set the book down on the podium and used my hoof to open the book. I began my studying. The language did not look familiar, but I still understood what was written. So I did not have trouble reading it, but I did have trouble turning the pages with my hoof. After about the tenth page of having trouble turning the page, I decided to try turning the page with magic. Focusing the power within me through the horn, I easily turned the page. As I began to read the page, I kept feeling like I had already read it. I figured it was caused because of the previous bad page turning and ignored the feeling. However by the time I got half was through the book, the feeling had only gotten stronger. I then realized I was speed reading the pages as I turned the pages with magic. The feeling wasn’t there if I used my hoof or nose to turn the page, but it was there every time I used my magic to turn the page.

I picked the book up with my magic and quickly flipped through the remaining pages. I closed my eyes to assets the new knowledge. This was a book about ice spells. I flipped through the book again a little slower this time. I felt like I understood the spells in the book. I concentrated and tried to use one of them. I felt the power flow from my horn and formed a small ice crystal.

“Well that will certainly make this go faster,” I commented to myself. I set the book back down on the podium and put the ice crystal on the table. I moved to the center of the room and pulled a random book from the shelf to me. I used my magic to flip through the pages. It was another spell book. This time it was cleaning spells. “Those might come in handy,” I muttered as I flipped through it again slowly to really get the spells. As I finished the book, I let it drop to my hooves before grabbing another book to flip through it. Hours pasted as I poured through book after book. The sky began to grow dark as weariness started to overtake me. I was tired mentally from speed reading so many books and physically from the constant use of magic. I fought the drowsiness, but the world still faded to black in the end.
Here is the first chapter to the Equestrian Tales. The episode numbers are to help tell where it would fit in the series. Enjoy.

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Storm Rider (c) angelicdeomonslayer.deivaintart.com
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RandomChibiGirl's avatar
coolz! :happybounce: finally got a chance to read this and I really like it Neko Emoji-32 (Clap) [V2] love the details you put in here and meeting rainbow dash was pretty funny lol RD-trot-(free-icon)  
Nice job! I have to make more time to read the rest lol Clapping Pony Icon - Complete Mane Six Clap