The next morning, many miles away from the Crystal Empire, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were walking through the forest. It was still very early in the morning and yet the foggy mist still covered the view of their path, making it even harder for them to find their way. Far behind of the traveling ponies was Twilight Sparkle, who was walking by herself with her head lowering down in shame. All of her friends haven't said a single word to her since last night, after she told them the truth, and they're still not saying anything to her even now. Twilight couldn't take it anymore, she wanted to be forgiven, but staying quiet and feeling guilty won't solve anything. She quickly rushed ahead and walked beside her angry friends.
Twilight nervously signed. "Is everypony still mad at me?" Twilight finally spoke out first, but there's still no response. Everypony just ignored her and kept on walking.
Twilight frowned a little and tried to speak out again. "Please, I know what I've done was wrong. I've really messed up everything. But please, say something. Anything?"
But her friends still didn't say a single word to her at all, they just kept on walking; Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash just completely ignored her with mad frowns on their faces, while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are still too shocked and too disappointed to look at her.
Twilight signed in hopelessness, knowing that there was no other way to make this right. "I understand. I wouldn't say anything to me either. Especially after what I've done." Twilight began to shed tears in her eyes. "But I just want you all to know is that I am truly very sorry. So please, if you wish to do anything or say anything to make me feel even worse, then please do, I deserve it."
Finally with no warning, Rainbow Dash swooped in and laid a hard flying tackle on Twilight, both crash landed into a small bush.
Twilight braced herself, thinking that Rainbow Dash would hurt her. But instead, Rainbow Dash just came up behind her and covered Twilight's mouth with her hoof, forcing her to not to make a sound.
Twilight was confused what Rainbow Dash was doing, she looked over to her other friends and noticed that they are all doing the same thing; they are all hiding in the bushes and behind the trees. Twilight was wondering what was going on, but then she looked up and finally realized….
In the sky, four Nightwalkers are flying over them; it would have seemed that the Nightwalkers are still patrolling the area, maybe trying to find Twilight and her friends. They are securing the area, but unfortunately for them the fog was to shift; it was preventing them to get a clear view of the area below. When the Nightwalkers are gone from sight, everypony came out of hiding.
"They're gone." Applejack looking at the sky, making sure that they are fully cleared.
"These are the last guys I wanted to see today." Rainbow Dash said.
"This is the fifth time we saw those monsters this morning and I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing more of them soon." Rarity signed in relieved.
"What do we do now?! They're everywhere!" Fluttershy shrieked.
"They must know…. They know about us. They must know that we are trying to go to Imperiacus. They probably took over the Crystal Empire. Which means, they probably captured Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, too." Rainbow Dash said.
When those words spoke out, Twilight gasped to herself as her eyes appeared to be glassy, as if her feeling were shattered.
"They must be very desperate. They probably won't stop until they find us or kill us." Applejack said.
"Maybe because the eclipse is coming in two days. I think this time they want to make sure that they have all of Equestria." Pinkie Pie said with this time, no smiles.
Applejack nodded. "We're runnin' out of time! We need to get to Mortarn as soon as possible."
"Are we even going the right way? It seemed like we have been walking in circles. Are you sure that you know where you are going?" Pinkie Pie scratching her head.
Applejack surveyed the area. "That's the only way to Mortarn..."
"But, we have been walking since last night. We should've been there by now." Rainbow Dash groaned.
"Rainbow Dash is right. How long is it going to take to get there? My hooves are getting tired and exhausted. I don't think I could walk anymore." Rarity complained in pain.
As bad as it is, Applejack though to herself that maybe Rainbow Dash and Rarity was right, they been walking for hours and they should have been there by now. Applejack frowned nervousness. "This doesn't look good. Maybe we are lost…. Maybe…"
And then they heard the most gut-wrenching, spine-tingling, teeth shattering roar ever. Pure primeval. Like no sound or animal or thing they've ever heard before. Coming from straight within the path.
"What was that?!" Fluttershy screamed as she and everypony hid in the bushes.
But as for Applejack, she slowly walked forward and looked ahead, quietly and cautious. More strange noises are heard from multiple unknown species. She began to push away the leaves and branches that are blocking her path and finally got a clear view of what's in front of her. Revealing more of a creepy-looking land. Nearly the whole land was visible as the fog slowly cleared away.
Reaching the edge of a rise, they saw in the distance…. Mortarn. Applejack stared directly below; every other pony came behind her with shock in their faces. Looking down over them, they all saw a disturbing sight of the cursed unholy land.
It was exactly what they expected. It was large ban wasteland jungle. It was covered with dead trees, volcanic rivers, grounds covered with sand, craggy mountains, and dark storms hovering in the sky as sparks of lightning flashing inside the clouds. What everypony just saw was maybe the scariest-looking place in all of Equestria.
"We're here….." Applejack snapped out of it and focus.
"….Mortarn!" Everypony said at the same time.
"This must be it. This must be the creepy looking place that Shining Armor was talking about. WE FOUND IT! WE FINALLY FOUND IT!" Pinkie Pie screamed while jumping up and down in joy.
"Ewwww… It's even worse that I imagined." Rarity disgusted at the view of the land.
"Let's go, then!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she started into a flying charge to the land.
But Applejack grabbed tail in teeth to stop her. "Whoa there, Nelly! First things first!"
"Come on! Let's hurry up and go!" Rainbow Dash said very anxious.
Applejack halted the rainbow pegasus and gave everypony a little advice before heading out. "We must stick together. Remember y'all, Mortarn is a very dangerous place. Bad things can happen at any time. So watch out, keep your eyes open, stick together, and don't get separated, got it?"
Everypony nodded in agreement and finally all galloped off into the jungle, as for Twilight, the purple unicorn found herself alone again, with the other five already on their way into the jungle. She sighed resignedly and started in after them. After growling wind and mushy sounds growing in each passing mile.
A while later, their sides ache, stopped for a second to catch their breaths, but still not wasting anymore time. They shake it off and resumed their journey.
Miles later, they are now walking across a sand forest where every ground was literally covered in sand, with only few dead trees, and many rock and boulders.
Their heavy breathing and tired legs kept on going. As for Twilight, she was far from tired, way behind from the others as they continued off without her. Knowing that she can't catch up, she paused to lean against a dead tree to catch her breath. Then she noticed a large stabbed mark on the side of the tree. She grew suspicious and noticed a small piece of rock was shaking beneath the ground. Then she heard a strange sound. A soft growling sound.
She looked around with fear as she kept walking slowly and cautious. But the strange sounds are keeping Twilight from catching up with the others. Twilight heard a louder noises coming from behind. She turned around frighten and saw nothing. Then she heard it again from her other side and rapidly turned to the front. She still saw nothing. Twilight was scared and confused. She began took a few stepped back with her horn glowing as a weapon.
Then without warning, a giant crab-like monster emerged from the swallow sand behind her. Twilight glanced to shock after examining the monster. It was a giant shell crab that was the size of a house, with three yellow eyes, sharp claws, four sharp legs, and a jaw with huge razor sharp teeth. Back to the other ponies, they also heard the loud sound coming from behind and looked back to witness Twilight facing the giant crab monster.
"TWILIGHT, LOOK OUT!" Applejack screamed.
Twilight jumped out of the way just in time before the claws strike into the ground. Twilight has spotted a huge boulder next to her and beside to hide from the monster. The crab looked around and noticed that its prey was nowhere in sight, it crawled around with its four legs, searching while Twilight stared at the background.
"This is getting me nowhere! I have to stop this monster! But how?" Twilight whispered to herself.
As huge footsteps shook the ground, the crab charged in and slammed the boulder behind her. Twilight ran for more cover, just avoiding the beast's swoops. She reached a dead end and aimed her horn towards the beast. As the crab strike first, Twilight fired her magic horn and got an opportunity to blast at the beast's claw. But unfortunately, the magic spell cannot handle the tough protection on the beast's shell.
Twilight gulped. "Oh, no!"
The beast made another strike, but this time it knocked Twilight flying halfway of the sandy ground.
Everypony was shocked in terror. "TWILIGHT!"
As soon as Twilight hit the ground, she got up in pain and realized she was cornered. Twilight looked up from the ground to show a large black shadow getting closer. Now it settled onto a sand ground and hold a look of nervous breakdown on Twilight's face for a moment. The beast zoomed in, after which it spread its sharp claws striking directly towards Twilight. Twilight was so frightened she cannot move, she then looked to her left and spotted a large piece of tree bark. She used her magic horn to levitate the tree bark and placed it in front of her, blocking the path of the crab's claw. The claw has stabbed through the tree bark with only an inch directly to Twilight's face. Twilight made a break for it, while the beast angrily tried to remove the tree bark of its claws. Twilight saw a pathway to safety and tried to escape the crab. When she reached halfway, the crab has already removed the tree bark from its claws and went back after her. She was almost there, but it was too late, the crab grabbed her with its claw.
Twilight was being struggle against the monster's grip, she cannot break free. Twilight was a goner. The beast stared at Twilight with its three big yellow eyes and held her directly towards its mouth. Twilight cried a frighten scream as she was about to be eaten.
Then all of a sudden, the creature got hit in the head with a small rock. It looked around to see where it came from and spotted Applejack.
Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to get the crab's full attention. "Over here, you beast!"
Twilight was surprised what was happening, her friends are attempting to save her, knowing that in her heart they are still friends no matter what. Twilight was happy that her friends are here. With the crab occupied on Applejack, Rainbow Dash flew around it to also get its attention.
"HEY, OVER HERE YOU GIANT LOBSTER!" Rainbow Dash flew down in a high speed towards the beast's face. Rainbow Dash raised the stakes by making a string of goofy faces at it, mocking it. Finally, the beast roared in frustration. The beast aimed a punch its claws up in the air trying to catch the speeding pegasus, but she dodged it and light into it. The Crab swatted at her but not fast enough to catch up to her; she also dodged its swipes easily. Now Rainbow Dash dart around the beast like a pesky mosquito as it tried to knock her down, repeatedly missing her. The crab was so distracted trying to catch the rainbow pegasus, it dropped Twilight from its grip. Twilight screamed while falling, only to stop in midair with no warning. Twilight revealed that Rainbow Dash has caught her and soured her back to the ground.
With the monster occupied and Twilight safe, everypony has the opportunity to strike.
Rarity used her magic horn to send the rock flying across the area into the beast's face. "Eat this, you filthy creature!"
Applejack jumped onto the creature's head, riding it like a bull. "Yee-haa! Giddy up, little doggie!"
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy retrieve the torn section of a vine rope, and then ran ahead at full speed with opposite ends clamped in their teeth. They carefully sneaked underneath the beast and tied the vine around its legs. When they surround the rope around its four legs, they each went opposite directions and stretched the rope like a rubber band. The vine rope tied together the Crab's legs and lost its balance and fell down halfway to the ground.
When the beast was now vulnerable and cannot move, Twilight then got the opportunity to fire her horn's magic while every other pony stay out of its reach. She continually fired her blast all over its body: legs, claws, and body shell. Twilight repeatedly continued; blowing tons of burst of fire at it, causing the beast to scream in ultimate pain. One by one, blast after blast, impact after impact, the beast cannot handle anymore. The beast got weaker and the smoking remained of the shell covered with soot.
Twilight backed up and charged. She fired one last blast at the beast, causing a huge explosion on the beast's shell. The huge explosion formed a huge cloud that covered the entire area. The ponies coughed and tried to see if it's over. Back to Twilight, she laid exhaustively on the land in the swallow sand, they watched as the smoking cloud started to clear. They see the beast all weaken and injured, but still alive. The beast got up slowly and stared at it enemies. It saw them in a battle position, ready to fight again. But the beast doesn't, the beast screamed in fear and jumped into the sand ground and escaped from its enemy. The battle was over, Twilight and her friends are victorious.
Twilight walked to Rainbow Dash and wanted to thank her for rescuing her. "Thanks, I…"
But, Rainbow Dash cut her off with her hoof on Twilight's face. "Don't come near me! Before you get us into more trouble again."
Rainbow Dash flew off, leaving Twilight unhappy and depressed again. She knew her friends still care about her, but they still haven't forgiven her yet.
Applejack looked at the everypony. "Everypony okay?"
Fluttershy began looking around the group. "Where's Pinkie Pie?!"
Everypony noticed that Pinkie Pie was missing. They search panicky around the area, trying to find her. Everypony searched around until they heard a soft muffling sound under them. They realized they were standing on top of her; Pinkie Pie was buried in the sand.
"Pinkie Pie!" Everypony quickly gather around her to see if she's not hurt.
"We're sorry! You okay, dear?" Rarity worried.
"That was kind of fun! Let's do it again!" Pinkie Pie shouted with joy. Everypony groaned in relieve, knowing Pinkie Pie was better than okay.
Pinkie Pie realized that she was still buried in that sand and giggled nervously. "Um, a little help here."
They helped Pinkie Pie out of the sand then take in the exotic jungle environment. They hear more sorts of exotic animal sounds.
"Shining Armor was right, this place is dangerous." Applejack said.
Rainbow Dash signed sadly. "We only been here for a few minutes and we encountered with a dangerous monster already."
Fluttershy shivered. "There's no telling what other dangers that wait for us if we continue on."
Applejack gave them all an invigorating look. "We cannot waste anymore time. Those Nightwalkers will be here shortly. We have to make it towards the ocean before it's too late." Applejack pointed but got no response. She shrugged, sets off with everypony in that direction. Twilight looked around at the desolate world and the all of her friends receding ahead of her. After a beat, she followed.
About a half hour later, they safely came up to the next part of Mortarn. Applejack led them in the direction of a primitive forest, ignoring the sounds of the annoying apology from Twilight.
"BE QUIET!" Everypony screamed in unison.
The purple unicorn quieted down, though she continued to give herself a depressed look. As they traveled down the forest, they noticed that the forest was dead.
"This is really not a safe place to be. Even for me." Pinkie Pie whimpered unhappy.
"Better stick together, y'all. There's no tellin' what will happen." Applejack scanning the surroundings.
"I still can't believe that this place used to the Nightwalker's home." Rainbow Dash muttered. "I wonder why anypony never heard of this place."
"Probably better off. I mean, what kind of ruffian wants to come to this place anyway?" Rarity disgusted.
Fluttershy looked around nervously. "Are we almost there? I really don't like it here!"
"What's the deal, Fluttershy? You've been through many forests before." Pinkie Pie asked while jumping up and down.
"Yes, but this is the forest of Mortarn…... It's Bloodfang's forest." Fluttershy whimpered.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy. We're almost there. It'll be another few minutes, before we're out of this forest." Applejack replied.
"Another few minutes?! But I'm really scared of this place!" Fluttershy snapped.
"Maybe ….we should find a… shortcut?" Twilight softly replied, trying to help out.
But all of her friends did not answer back. They just stopped and starred angrily at her, thinking to themselves why was she talking to them after what she just put them through. Twilight nervously chuckled as her friends just groaned and continued on.
"Whatever!" Rainbow Dash rolling her eyes.
Twilight signed miserably. She was starting to get annoyed about this. She knew what she done was wrong, she thought telling the truth will make everything better, but instead it just got worse and worse. She cannot let this keep on happening, she wanted to be forgiven. She took a strong emotion and decided to go for it right now. She walked faster until she caught up with the group.
Twilight took a deep breath. "Please just listen to me; I know what I've done was….."
But then, Twilight was again cut off, when Applejack covered Twilight's mouth with her hoof. Twilight suddenly stopped talking when she too heard a distant sound of approaching footsteps through the dead jungle. With a little curiosity, they all started walking towards the sound.
They slowly turned towards the sound, which are now very close. Suddenly, they saw the source of the sounding footsteps; a giant Tiger Creature with gorilla arms and a tail of a rattle snake was in the open before them.
Realizing that they made a bad idea for coming there, they quietly turned back, making sure that they are not seen. But moving carefully could even make the sound of a small twig snapping to catch the tiger creature's attention. The tiger creature paused, knowing it sensed something. It's ears twitched, nose sniffing the air, and shaking his rattling tail. The ponies quickly ducked behind an old wide tree just in time.
They peered behind the tree, trying to lose the sight of it. They remain quiet and walked slowly towards the other direction. As soon as they move slightly away, the tree that the ponies were hiding behind was pulled from the roots and out of the ground. The tiger creature found them. It snared at them and pounced at them.
But the ponies leaped away and start running before the creature chased after them. Twilight and everypony ran as fast as they can, but the tiger creature was gaining on them. The huge jaws of the huge beast opened inches from their heads, but just in time they head the other direction and lost track of the creature.
They thought they were home free, but then stopped and realized that there was a huge rock cliff blocking their path, it's a dead end.
Rainbow Dash quickly think for a second and got an plan. "Okay, I got an idea. Fluttershy and I will carry you guys up one at a time!"
Applejack then heard the tiger creature getting closer and closer. "I don't think we have the time!"
The tiger creature slashed through the forest and found its preys cornered. The creature crouched down and charged at them for the kill. The ponies all hold together, closed their eyes shut, and screamed at the top of their lungs. But then, the tiger creature shrieked with a weep, turned around, trumpeting in fear, and ran away into the other direction. The ponies slowly opened their eyes and realized that the creature ran off. Their minds went blank and confused at the it's behavior.
But Rainbow Dash on the other hand, she cheered amazed to herself. "OH YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT! RUN! RUN, YOU CHICKEN!"
"What just happened?" Fluttershy confused.
"I think we scared it off?" Rarity said while scratching her head.
Applejack was not fully convinced about this. "I don't know about that. But something did scare off that monster."
As Rainbow Dash kept cheering to herself, something was rising up behind them. On the top of the cliff, a giant-sized anaconda with an armored head and massive distensible jaws slowly slide down behind the unsuspected ponies.
"RAINBOW DASH! RAINBOW DASH!" Rainbow Dash kept chanting to herself, unaware of the anaconda behind her. "YOU THINK YOU COULD SCARE RAINBOW DASH!? NOBODY COULD SCARE ME! NOBODY!"
Then, a monstrous snarl came behind them, getting Rainbow Dash and the other ponies' attention. They slowly turned around in time to see why the tiger creature ran away. Now, they are more scared than ever. The anaconda launched over them, landing between the ponies and the cliff. It twisted on itself, turning its face towards the ponies, and bared its sharp teeth with an aggressive hiss.
Rainbow Dash whimpering in fear. "…..Okay, now I'm scared."
"RUN! EVERYPONY RUN!" Applejack shouted.
The anaconda reacted to the ponies' sudden movements and snapped its sharp teeth at them. They screamed and barely dived out of reach. Everypony ran the other way as the anaconda squirm after them. They launched themselves between two large trees, forcing the beast to bite its way around to the side.
Twilight and everypony scrambled around the woods. The anaconda still on pursue, snapping and springing from ground to trees. They raced through the jungle, dodging trees, leaping over fallen logs, smashing through bushes, but the anaconda got even closer in pursuit. Everypony continued running, until Twilight accidentally tripped on a small rock and hit the ground hard and was knocked out cold.
Applejack looked back and noticed Twilight was left behind. "Twilight!"
Applejack turned around and ran to Twilight. Everypony else wanted to run, but they couldn't leave her behind, so they followed Applejack to help out Twilight. They reached the unconscious unicorn and helped her up on Applejack's back. By the time, they got a chance to run, it was too late. The anaconda began to circle them, surrounding the ponies into a ring of the serpent's body.
The anaconda looked down at the face of its prey, knowing that they'll be its next meal. But then, a small canister of a glowing ball landed at the base of the trees, immediately spraying out a thick cloud of oily fog. It's the first of five canisters that land in the area, creating a thick cloud. As the clouds hit the anaconda , it immediately recoiled, shrieking in pain. Losing its focus and start aching on the ground. With the chance like this, everypony jumped out from the walls of the serpent's body with the unconscious unicorn being carried off on Applejack's back.
But even the gas was not good for ponies either. Their eyes immediately burn from the vapor and tried to make it out through the fog.
Then, a mysterious figure at the edge of the smoke ran up to the ponies. "What are you waiting for?!"
The figure head out first, leading the ponies a way out, rushing through the heaviest of the smoke. Leaving behind a pain-aching anaconda , dangling around itself in the smoke.
Through the far side of the jungle, the ponies' eyes were swollen from the gas. But Applejack stumbled, barely able to see the mysterious figure leading out. She can only identify their rescuer as a rhino, wearing a brown hood with written African ritual symbols and pearls wrapped around its horn and hooves.
On the far side of a craven tree-house, the rhino pull opened the door and let the ponies in
The place was dirty and dark, with a couch and chair in the center, and several little African artifact areas. Everypony walked in from the doors. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie laid flat down on the floor panting while Applejack helped Twilight on the couch.
The mysterious rhino closed the doors, tight, and put a thick stick into the lock to keep it sealed. The rhino came rushing down to Applejack and the others.
"Are you ponies alright?" The rhino spoke with an African accent.
Applejack looked up at the mysterious rhino. "Who are you?"
The rhino grabbed a lantern and light it up with a match, lighting up room, making it bright enough to see everything and everypony, including the rhino's face.
Applejack concentrated on the rhino's face and gasped in shock. She knew who this mysterious rhino was. "You're Makara… you're the Prince Eclipso's Gatekeeper."
The rhino tried to think of a way to respond, but only smiled and nodded. "Yes, I am."
Meanwhile, back at the sand forest, a large group of Nightwalkers were souring through the sky. They all made a landing on the sandy ground. One of them was General Darkclaw, returning from the Crystal Empire and off on a hunting spree.
"Ah, Mortarn. Our old sweet home." Darkclaw chuckled as he examined the area, looking for any new evidence that could lead them to what they were looking for. Until one of the Nightwalker Guards spotted something. "Sir!"
Darkclaw flew over to the area and saw the spot on the sandy ground that the guard was pointing at. It was a trail of horse-shoe tracks.
"They were here alright." Darkclaw growled.
The Nightwalker Guard crouched down and studied the sandy foot imprints. "The tracks are still fresh. They couldn't have gone far."
Darkclaw signed relieved. "Good. We must be getting close. The unicorn named Twilight Sparkle and her stupid pony friends should be nearby."
"What makes you think they are still here? Mortarn is a dangerous place, we should know. They could be dead before they reached the ocean." The Nightwalker Guard questioned.
"No, they're alive. If they can get passed by us, I sure they'll get pass through the dangers of our old home." Darkclaw answered.
The Nightwalker Guard bowed before him. "Permission to capture them, sir."
"No! No more captures or prisoners. These ponies have done enough trouble for me. When we find them, we will finish them off." Darkclaw growled.
Nightwalker Guard surprised. "But Lord Bloodfang gave us orders to…."
Darkclaw interrupted. "They know too much, we can't afford to let them live. Lord Bloodfang must never know about this. My life depends on it. This time, we will find them and kill them."
"Then permission to feast on their leftovers?" The Nightwalker Guard said while drooling viciously.
Darkclaw smiled. "Permission granted."
All the Nightwalkers cheered in excitement and cruelly. Then suddenly behind them, the same crab monster that attacked Twilight and the others emerged out from the sand and gazed upon Darkclaw and the Nightwalkers with a big roar.
The General did not show any fear from the monster, only chuckled in annoyance. "Oh, please. We don't have time to deal with you."
The crab monster charged at the General, but he rocket into the sky and gained into tremendous speed. The wind buffeted him as he targeted the monster with supersonic speed. Darkclaw took a deep breath and blasted a huge red beam from his mouth and fire directly at the giant crab.
"KABLAM!"
The blast created a huge explosion, blowing up the crab monster into millions of pieces. Darkclaw showed no mercy. The Nightwalkers shield themselves from the dust and body pieces from the fallen monster.
Darkclaw returned to the ground and faced his Nightwalker Army. "No more distractions. We will kill anything that stands in our way. We will find these ponies and destroy them immediately."
All the Nightwalkers nodded and soured to the sky and head out to the direction where Twilight and the other have gone. They are coming for them.