//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Black and Mechanical 
// by Ashley Hale 
//------------------------------//

	Another peaceful day is about to bloom in the land of Equestria. The ruler of the land, Princess Celestia, performs her routine duty of raising the sun. She focuses magical power toward her horn, and a bright yellow star arises, liting the sky from a pre-dawn violet to a daytime blue. It continues to go higher and higher until it reaches its peak. The ponies who watch this occasion on a daily basis are always struck with awe as they look at the princess spread her wings in the midst of the sunlight, creating a silhouette. The day in Equestria has begun. 
Celestia sits on her regal throne in the city of Canterlot. Everypony has some form of business to conduct from day to day. For Celestia, that is governing her land with a just mind and monitoring her star student, Twilight Sparkle, in her studies of friendship. Now the middle of the day, Celestia seems ready to  recieve a letter from her pupil. All of a sudden, one of Celestia's guards gallops frantically towards her. He still maintains his sanity and does his usual gesture; this time, he is covered in sweat and anxiety. 
"What is it?" asked the princess.
"We've... found... something... in the... Everfree... Forest..." panted the guard as he tried to take deep breaths to relieve himself. The princess, calm while trying to make out what is going on, asked the guard, "Go on."
"A fugure cloaked in brown that entered the forest, and not long before that happened, there was a strange portal..."
Just then, another guard runs to Celestia in the same fashion as the first, panic-stricken. From the look on the guard's face, he has a lot more to worry about. Like the first guard, he presents himself to the princess just as he would any other day. 
"You too?" asked the princess. She begins to worry.
"Bad news princess, while patroling the skies of Manehattan, something huge and black just swooped passed me!" said the guard as he begins catching his breath after that statement.
Celestia pondered a bit about the mysterious figure in the forest and the black haze that left one of her guards frightened.
"How did this black thing enter?" the princess inquired the second guard.
He immidiately responded, "I don't know. All that I do know is that it just flew by me in a blur."
Celestia responded to that with another question, "Did you see a portal of sorts?" The guard remembered seeing something abnormal in the sky. 
"Yes I have," said the guard finally recollecting everything from the event. The first guard thrusted his head up in a realization. 
"What was the color of the portal?" asked the first guard with uncertainty and a bit of denial in his voice.
"It was... It was yellow... with a touch of pink swirl," answered the second.
The first guard backed away. Celestia, noticing this asked, "Is something the matter?"
The first guard responded promptly, "Yes. That's a problem. That is the same color combination as the portal I've found near the Everfree Forest: Yellow and Pink." 
The second guard was astonished. "This can't be coincedence that another portal and the black thing are conected somehow. What came out of that portal?"
The first guard replied, "A mysterious man-"
As he was about to finish that very sentence, a third guard runs in just as nervous as the second. Celestia begins to notice something wrong. 
"What is the matter?" Asked the worried princess.
Desperately panting, the third guard spoke with an exhausted mouth, "Something... over... Appleloosa... while... patroling... skies... big... mechanical..."
"Big and mechanical?" Asked the second guard. Now frightened, the second guard realized something. "Did it come from a yellow and pink portal?" the guard inquired in a terrified almost yelping voice.
"I didn't see where it came from," said the third guard finally calming down. "It just swooped over, and boom! It crashed just outside the town. I flew back here as fast as I can and-"
"Enough," interrupted the princess in a stern voice. She looked at the three guards, and she thought about the figure in the forest, the black thing, and the machine. The first thing Celestia always assumed about foreign beings coming from phenomenon such as wormholes is that they are dangerous unless it is a human; but then again, the nature and properties of Equestria require humans to become the ponykind. What kind of pony they become and what cutie mark they recieve is dependent on their personality and skill back in the human world of Earth. She has seen many humans come and go in Equestria. Yet, there are those that aren't affected by Equestria's rules. Those beings are the ones Celestia finds dangerous.
"You three may leave," said the princess. "I will handle the situation."
The three guards promptly obey and depart. Celestia becomes uneasy. By this time, she has gotten used to foreigners, especially humans, visiting Equestria. She thinks hard on the machinical figure that has landed near Appleloosa. Then, questions barrage the princess. Are they connected someway? Did they come from the human world? Why would humans send something black and mechanical to Equestria? Are they dangerous? If so, what harm are they capable of doing? Can she really handle something like this all by herself? Can she avert danger so nopony gets hurt? Being ruler of a vast land can be difficult at times. 
Alone in her throne, she decides to write an urgent letter to her pupil, Twilight. Celestia isn't the type of pony to take chances when events of this magnitude occur, especially one that could jeopardize the wellbeing of Equestria. She quicly manipulates the pen with her magic. Finally finishing the letter, she hurriedly ignites the paper in a green flame before dissipating into ashes. "I fear for Equestria," said the princess in a dark, alarming tone as if startled by a haunting premonition.

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The Everfree Forest: a place of mystery and wonder. Always stagnant during day and night, it keeps its secrets well hidden under its thick, green groves and its enigmatic trees, almost to the point that sunlight doesn't even reach the ground. Everything about this place makes it stand out from the rest of Equestria. Almost devoid of pony interaction, it keeps itself alive and healthy by making everything care for themselves. Just about everywhere else in Equestria is dependent on pony interaction, but not this place. Even the clouds that overlook the forest do not need any pony help. They can move themselves just fine that is until they are beyond the reaches of the forest; then they need the help of ponies to move. 
Deep in this forest, a mysterious figure, fully composed, looks closely at every detail around. Judging from its stance, one could say it is almost human-like. That's because it is human-like. The figure rushes to another area of the forest as if on a lookout for something. The figure looks further and further into the forest, until he sees the edge. Now running to the outskirts of the forest on the other side in which it entered, the figure sees a small town, and high above the town, perched on a slope, is Canterlot. The figure has travelled all the way across the Everfree Forest and has now reached Ponyville. 
Even in broad daylight, it is difficult to make out this figure's face. All that can bee seen is the mouth. The gray hood covers much of everything about this figure's face. The figure looked at the town of Ponyville and its residents, tiny and unidentifiable in its point of view. The figure uttered something soft with a masculine voice, "No. You two aren't here. Or else this place would've been leveled by now. Where are you two?"
The figure veered off in another direction hoping not to make contact with anypony. Its sense of direction is unknown. All that is known right now is that this figure is on the lookout for something, but no one knows what it's looking for.