//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: How Hard Can It Be? // Story: Initial D: First Equestria Stage // by SixShooterOutlaw //------------------------------// A few days later, Twilight had gotten a letter from her sister-in-law Princess Cadence, reminding her that she and Shining Armor were going to visit Canterlot for the weekend and that Twilight said she and her friends were going to babysit Flurry Heart, so Twilight was busy packing her suitcase to take with her, she later helped Spike pack, Spike said he could do it himself but he wasn't using Twilight's method of proper suitcase packing. A few hours later Twilight, Spike and the rest had their suitcases packed and were ready to head down to the train station. The four guys and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were going to see them off when Rarity remembered something. "Oh no, I just remembered we didn't ask anypony if they'd watch the girls while we were gone" Rarity announced. "Our train arrives in ten minutes, who are we going to get to watch them?" Rainbow asked. "We could watch them" Iketani volunteered. "Are you sure about that?" Applejack questioned "They can be quite a hoofful". "Oh come on, they're just three little fillies" Itsuki replied "I mean, how hard can it be?". "Don't say that!" Kenji told him. "I think we can handle this" Takumi assured them. "If you think you can, then okay" Twilight said, then the train pulled into the station "It's time to go, see you guys in few days". The seven of them boarded the train, leaving the guys and fillies at the station. "What do we do now?" Kenji asked. "How about we had back to the castle and go from there?" Iketani suggested. "Let's do that" Scootaloo agreed "I think we should have lunch when we get there, I don't know about you guys but I'm a little hungry". When they got to the castle and had lunch, they were all sitting in the living area, trying to think of what to do next. "I'm bored" Scootaloo groaned as she looked around the room and noticed that everyone also looked bored. So she tried to come up with an idea, then one popped into her head. "Hey, have you guys gotten a tour of Ponyville yet?". "No, we haven't" Kenji answered "We've only been to the bakery and me and Itsuki went to the park". "I've been to Sweet Apple Acres" Takumi told them. "I've only been to the bakery" Iketani said sounding sad. "Would you like a tour of our awesome town?" Scootaloo asked. The guys looked at each other and Iketani replied "Sure, sounds fun". "Well then, let's go!" Sweetie Belle added enthusiastically. And the seven of them left the castle and headed into town. Once they were in town, the Crusaders gave them the grand tour of Ponyville. "Over there is the ice cream parlor" Scootaloo told them pointing a building with an ice cream on top, she then pointed at a different building "And that's the pizzeria". "That's my sister's dress shop" Sweetie Belle said pointing towards Carousel Boutique. "That's really nice on the inside" Kenji commented. "How would you know?" asked Itsuki "I might have been to visit Rarity while you were getting in some extra practice with Rainbow, It's no big deal" He replied sheepishly "It kinda sounds like it is, dude" replied Takumi "What did you do while you were there that's got you so worked up?" Iketani asked "It's nothing, I was just helping Rarity with one of her outfits, it's no big deal" Kenji replied "Did you like, play dress up or something?" Itsuki asked trying not to laugh "It was not dress up, it was modeling" Kenji snapped Itsuki, Iketani and Takumi looked at each other, then burst out laughing. "You guys suck" muttered Kenji "Anyway. That's Town Hall" Apple Bloom added gesturing towards the big building in the center of town, ignoring the uproarious laughter. "This is a nice little town" Takumi said, wiping tears from his eyes. "We may not live in a big city like Canterlot, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but Ponyville" Apple Bloom told them " I mean, my family helped found this town!". "Really?" Itsuki asked curiously. "It's true" Apple Bloom answered "I can tell y'all the story if you want". "Sure, it sounds interesting" Kenji replied. Apple Bloom proceeded to tell them the story of Ponyville's founding as they walked through the town. She told them about how her Grandma found the magical Zap Apple Trees that helped the settler ponies get through the winter and how that was the start of the little village that would become Ponyville. After she finished her story, they had walked out of town and were close to the Everfree Forest. "Let's go back into town" Apple Bloom said to them "Don't know about you guys, but I really don't want to go into the forest right now". "Oh come on! Don't be such a scaredy pony" Scootaloo told Apple Bloom "We wanted to give them a tour of our town, right? We just have to show them at least a small part of the forest". "I'm not so sure about that, Scootaloo" Iketani responded "Twilight has told me about the Everfree Forest, it's not the nicest place in Equestria". "It can't be that bad" Itsuki said "It might be cool to adventure into the unknown forest". "I think I'm with Iketani and Apple Bloom, let's just go home" Kenji replied. "I agree" Sweetie Belle added. "You guys are no fun" Scootaloo said pouting a little, then she got a determined look on her face and turned to Itsuki "Do you want to go with me into the forest?". "Sure, I'm up for a little adventure" Itsuki answered, they started to walk towards the forest entrance and then they looked back. "Are you sure you guys don't want to join us on an awesome adventure?" Scootaloo asked. "I think we're all sure" Apple Bloom answered. "Alright, we'll tell you all about what you missed when we get back" Scootaloo informed them "Let's go Itsuki" Scootaloo said, then they both headed into the forest. "Do you think we should follow them?" Kenji asked. "I don't think it will be a problem" Sweetie Belle told him. "Why is that?" Iketani inquired. "Scootaloo will want to come back after they walked a few yards" Apple Bloom explained. "And besides, when has Itsuki been the adventurous type?" Takumi pointed out. "You have a point there" Kenji responded. "I'm sure they'll be back in an hour or so" Apple Bloom said "Let's go back to the castle and wait for them". They all agreed and headed back to the castle to wait for their friends. A few hours later, they had been playing some games while they waited for their friends to come back. It had been almost four hours since they went into the forest, so they all decided to go and look for them. It didn't take too long to get to the beginning of the forest and once they were there, they took a moment to think about what they were going to do. "How far into the forest do you think they could be?" Iketani asked. "It's been awhile, they could be right at the front or somewhere in the middle" Apple Bloom answered "The Everfree Forest can be very confusing, believe me I know". "What do you think we should do?" Kenji asked her. "I think we should look for them" Sweetie Belle replied. "Well of course, we're gonna look for 'em" Apple Bloom responded "I think he was asking how". "Yeah, I was" Kenji told her "So, how do we do this? Do we go in pairs? Or by ourselves?". "NO!" Apple Bloom shouted "Never, ever, go into the Everfree Forest alone". "Alright, so do we split up into pairs or just stay as a group?" Takumi asked. "I think we should stay as a group" Apple Bloom told him "Much safer that way". "Got it" Kenji replied "Ready to go in?". "Yup" Apple Bloom said to him. They all slowly walked towards the forest, keeping an eye on their surroundings. They had already been searching for awhile and realized it was getting late. "We better hurry and find them before it gets dark" Apple Bloom urged "We don't want to be in the Everfree Forest at night". They quickened their pace to a trot and kept their eyes and ears open, when suddenly they heard a scream, then a howl. "Oh no" Apple Bloom said clearly worried "That sounded like a timberwolf!". "A what?" Kenji asked. "It's a wolf made of tree bark, leaves and vines" Apple Bloom explained "They try to eat ponies and anything else that wanders into Everfree". "Then let's hurry and find them" Iketani said and the group broke into a gallop, going towards the source of the scream. When they got there, they saw Scootaloo and Itsuki backed into a corner by a pack of timberwolves. "We have to get there attention!" Sweetie Belle told them. "We need a distraction" Apple Bloom added then turned and looked at the guys "Kenji do you think you could fly by them and take their attention away from Scootaloo and Itsuki?". "Sure" Kenji answered then he took off, flying low, he managed to buzz the timberwolves and make them turn towards him. "Hey timberwolves, come get me!". The timberwolves growled and ran towards him, Kenji took off to the sky and made the timberwolves look up at him. "Alright Takumi, I've seen you applebuck, do you think you could take out some of the timberwolves?". "On it" Takumi told her, then he ran, full gallop at the pack of timberwolves, one turned towards him and he bucked it in the head, making it collapse. The others charged him, but met similar fates, as more and more timberwolves showed up, Takumi took them done soon after. Kenji got into the fight by doing a nose dive and landing on top of two of them. Iketani noticed one charging at Scootaloo, so he ran towards it then used his magic to pick it up and threw it at a nearby rock. Soon all that remained was little piles of broken twigs and leaves. They went over to check on their frightened friends. "Are you okay, Scootaloo?" Iketani asked her. "Y-yeah" Scootaloo said nervously, she then looked up at him "Thank you for saving me Iketani" she then galloped over to him and attempted to wrap her hooves around him, Iketani then wrapped a hoof around her and pulled her close. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes "I don't want to go into Everfree like this again, I thought we were going to die". "I know" Itsuki added clearly shaken "It's terrifying out here!". All of a sudden, a glow formed over the piles of sticks and started to rebuild the timberwolves! Then with a howl, the newly formed timberwolves started running at them. Iketani used his magic to place a now shaking Scootaloo on his back then he and the rest of the group began running through the forest. "How are we going to lose them?!" Itsuki asked panicking "They're already gaining on us!". "We just have to keep moving" Apple Bloom told them. "But what if we get deeper into the forest and get lost?" Kenji asked. "I don't know" Apple Bloom answered. Then Iketani got an idea, he wasn't sure it would work but he had to try. He focused his magic like Twilight explained in one of her many magic lectures. His horn lit up in a brighter blue than usual and he and the group disappeared in a flash of light. They reappeared just outside of the forest, everyone of them out of breath, Iketani most exhausted due to the extreme amount of magic he just used. Scootaloo jumped off of the back of her rescuer and looked at him, "I didn't know any Unicorn could do that, the only one I know of is Twilight". "She...says..its..a..hard..spell..to do" Iketani explained to her, sounding very tired and slightly dazed "So...most Unicorns..avoid..using..it" he then looked about ready to collapse. "I think we should head back to the castle before Iketani falls over" Kenji told everyone. Everypony agreed and the headed off to the castle.