Harmonic Convergence

First Strike

Another peaceful day in Equestria. The sun is shining brightly upon the land, washing all that step outside in a warmth that's much needed in the early Spring. The sky is all clear, save for a few small clouds, allowing the sun to embrace the land unimpeded.

Although, the absence of any heavy clouds makes the high-intensity lightning strike in the middle of the Everfree all the more concerning. The Everfree's weather had always been unpredictable, but this falls beyond that. That strike would be considered unnatural.

Of course, none of the commonfolk from Ponyville wanted to investigate, no matter how peculiar it may be, and so the Mane six stand at the edge of the Everfree, making final checks before they move on in.

"Alright, food, check. Water, check." Twilight is marking off a list of what everypony is set to bring, in case they're in the forest for longer than they may think. Fluttershy interjects as soon as there's a pause.

"Uhm... Twilight? Do we really need all of this?" She shifts a bit, the filled saddlebags weighing her down heavily. "We've gone through the Everfree a lot... I think we can find our way around by now..."

Twilight stops her pacing, looking at Fluttershy while she slowly ticks off the last box on the list.

"Weeeeeeeeell..." She looks up to avoid eye contact, a little bashful at the fact that she may have overdone the planning. "Just in case, y'know? Who can say what might happen?"

"Oh come on, nothing's gonna happen!" Rainbow Dash speaks up, thumping a hoof to the ground. "Worst case, it's just a weird undiscovered weather anomaly, i'm sure it's nothing serious."

"Ooh! Ooh! What if it's a big scary lightning monster!" Pinkie Pie hops on the spot excitedly. "It's been a long time since i've seen a big monster!"

"Ah think we shouldn't just jump to conclusions." Applejack comments, keeping a calm demeanour to try and avoid escalating the situation. "Whatever's going on, we can't say for sure what it may be. So let's just... Be careful."

"Agreed, Darling. Perhaps we could find where the lightning hit, and work it out from there." Rarity turns to point into the tree line. "I don't believe it struck too far in, according to what I have overheard, we may even return before the sun sets."

Twilight sighs and looks away from the rest of the mares. If they just sit here discussing the possibilities, then any track of the cause of this anomaly will go cold. It may have already, even.

"Alright- Girls, let's go. In and out, as soon as we find what caused that strike in the first place." Twilight steps ahead of the group, leading them into the depths of the Everfree.
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Traversing the Everfree provided not too much of a challenge, these six having trekked through this treacherous forest many times over the years. The group happens upon a small open area, where the sun can actually shone through, albeit barely.

The ground is scorched, some of the stones retaining a static charge. There's no doubt this is where the lightning strike took place. Notably, charred wood could be found across the strike zone.

"Interesting..." Twilight takes out a notebook from her saddlebag using her magic, jotting down the information she could see with a quill. "Let's search for some clues. There has to be something here."

The mares disperse across the strike zone, searching top to bottom for any sign of a catalyst to this event. There really isn't much to go on, as the surrounding trees appear to be completely untouched.

It's not until Applejack strays a bit from the zone that she finds something of note. Oddly shaped prints. They're ovaloid, but with flat sides and no sign of extremity prints.