Time passes, and the winds of change leave almost everything behind. Old structures fall apart, ancient history is lost to our books. There is only one constant in Equestria: Princess Twilight Sparkle and the other alicorns.
Gambit Hay seeks to explore Equestria's wildest forest, the Everfree Forest. For centuries, it has remained mostly a mystery, the inhabitants having a reputation for being wild beasts that attacked those who neared. However, as Equestria's foremost adventurer and researcher, he wants a challenge. While doing so, he sends letters back to his partner, hoping that if he never made it back, the work he did would at least be useful.
All's well and said until he finds a lone cottage on the edge of the forest.
Enclosed above is an artist's impression of the cottage in its prime.
Written for Bicyclette's The Twilight Files contest. See the other entries here!
Art is by Baron Engel, go check them out!
Me in the first half of this story: Oh wow! My horror senses are tingling.
Me after finishing the story:
Hello my name is Baron Engel and I am creator of the image you're using for this story. Here's a link to posting DA Link. I've read the story and I am willing to let you use it so long as credit is given to me. If that is not possible then please remove the image.
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I believe if you hover over the picture there's a button that says source I already uplinked it when I first uploaded, I hate not giving artists credit
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True. However I do prefer my name being in text part of the posting. If in the future you decide to use any of my pieces please contact me first. Thank you
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Sorry, I'll add your name in once I get home into the description.
That was a good story.
Was not expecting a "haunting"! Very interesting!
aww way to drive home just how far into the future we are!
fascinating to think of the Everfree as falling that far into the mists of the past, considering how much we see of it in canon
oof!
oh hey that's America of the present day.
yes i would think this! though i could see reasons for the Princess to make sure that it is not so
aww, Pinkie Pie's ovens!
well that certainly has me intrigued...
ooh a magically preserved boutique, like a ghost of the past! that is a neat idea
aww Twilight really is keeping up those traditions!
so many more questions!
i mean do the cats even ever know it's their birthday?
oof, that certainly brings Discord to mind.
aww but i liked that about Equestrian tech
the Everfree Forest just ain't natural, don't work the same as Equestria, after all!
oh no, a very modern society sentence!
oof, that is ominous!
aww, this is what i had been thinking was going on!
augh, way to break my heart!
the little clues throughout the story came together really well, with the reveal being a very satisfactory explanation for all of them; that's not the easiest thing to pull off! and it really is fascinating to think about how in canon Equestria's future, what we think of now as the bright and happy present would become eerie places haunted by the past. i enjoyed this story greatly, thank you for it!