The ride back to Ponyville went much smoother than from. With Flash on her side, Twilight felt much more at ease with her worries. They rode back in silence, but the sounds remained soft and pleasant instead of the screeching they were before. The outside scenery was no longer sickening. The trees and fields modeling in the perfect mix of night and day. Twilight stared at the waving plants as they passed by. Towering trees, growing grass, and vicious vines…
“What,” Twilight suddenly jumped to the booth’s window.
“What’s wrong, Twilight,” Flash asked, looking over her shoulder.
“Those plants… I’ve never seen anything like them before,” Twilight watched closely as an invasion of dark, spiky vines weeded their way into the fields.
“Whoa,” Spike gaped at the infesting intruders which seemed to sap the life from the plants nearby. Wilting and converting them into more nature of darkness. Spike glanced up into the sky and saw slow moving clouds gathering together to create a giant dark cloud of thorns, “Uh, that’s some pretty strange weather.”
“This must be the result of whatever magical imbalance Princess Celestia spoke of,” Twilight sat back down into her seat, looking over to Flash worriedly, “And I don’t like the looks of it.”
“I admit, it is a little unnerving,” Flash said, smiling towards Twilight, “But we can fix it. All we need to do is remain calm and focus.”
“Right,” Whinny said, leaning back into her seat, “Us guards never give up. You can count on that, Twilight.”
“Call it brave,” Sloth chuckled, “ Or stupidity. Either way, we are pretty stubborn.”
“Some more than others,” Whinny snickered at Sloth when he turned to her with an irritated glance.
The others could not help but titter at the two. It help liven up the booth again up until the train pulled into the station. Departing onto the platform, the group was dumbfounded by the capture of Ponyville. The streets were filled with the evil vegetation. Some were assaulting the ponies while others were overrunning buildings.
“Twilight! Look,” Spike pointed towards Ponyville’s town hall where an exhausted Rainbow Dash was trying her best to keep self moving clouds off of the building.
“Spike, head back to library and try to lay low,” Twilight said. The dragon nodded and scampered off, heading to the library without detection. The other headed for town hall.
When they arrived, Twilight’s best friends were attempting to stop the invasion anyway they could. Cutting, blasting, and pulling with their best effort only to unsuccessfully weed the vines.
“What’s going on,” Twilight shouted over the sounds of tired grunts and heavy breathing.
“We don’t know,” Applejack replied, trying to stomp at a small vine growing towards her, “These plants just started growing out of the Everfree Forest and spreading into Ponyville. Ah!”
Applejack was lifted by her hooves and into the air as the vine wrapped around her legs. Twilight aimed at the neck of the creature, forcing it to let go with a quick beam.
“I just started seeing them,” Fluttershy peeped and scuttled away from the crawling plants, “My animals all ran away in fear the moment they appeared.”
“We’ve been trying to hold them off until everypony found a safe place,” Rainbow panted, landing onto the ground and wiping her brow, “But they refuse to stop. They’ll cover half of Equestria by tomorrow if this continues.”
“It’s like magic or something,” Pinkie chortled, the only one still smiling as she zoomed by on a unicycle, “Look!”
She ran over one, slicing the arm off of the vine. The arm wilted and withered away, but the remaining stub grew a new one just as quick as it lost it.
“Stop that! You meanie,” Pinkie growled, running back and forward over it multiple times only for the same outcome, “STOP!”
The vine grew annoyed and scrunched back. It caught Pinkie as the unicycle rolled off without her, she chuckled nervously as she looked down at her captor, “Uh… I mean, you’re not a meanie, Mr. Plant Vine Thing. This is… f-fun?”
The vine was not amused, tossing her across the road and into a pile of trash bags. Pinkie grumbled and climbed her way out of it, raising her hoof in a discombobulating manner, “It’s alright, Pinkie! Everyok is pony!”
She slumped back down, face first into the ground. Rarity came over, raising Pinkie back to her hooves.
“Twilight, we will not be able to keep these things off any longer. It’s lucky we were able to keep them back long enough for an evacuation, but they won’t stop,” Rarity said, helping Pinkie find the correct way to the group, walking around the Sentry siblings as they continue to defend in the others’ place, “Please tell us you know what is going on.”
Twilight’s dejected look was not the answer Rarity was hoping for. Twilight turned to the Sentrys, “You three can stop. Everypony is out of the town hall.”
“If you say so,” Whinny said, following her brothers into the air and just out of reach of the vines. The group watched as the vines slithered their way up the town hall, encasing it in a corrupted grip.
After a moment, Twilight’s friends looked to her, Applejack speaking first, “So what now, Twilight?”
“We have to find the source of this problem. If it started from the Everfree, there might be somepony we know who can help.”
“Oh! Oh Oh! Zecora,” Pinkie was jumping up and down and shouting out an answer.
“Exactly.”
“No! There she is, pulling the cart.”
The group looked to where Pinkie was facing and saw a striped zebra hauling an assortment of powders and brews. Rushing to her aid, the girls helped Zecora move her belongings into a safer area away from all the mayhem.
“Thank you, friends, for the assistance,” Zecora felt her body relax as she slumped down to rest on the side of the wooden cart, “The weight was wearing down my resistance.”
“We’re just glad you are ok, Zecora,” Applejack said, “With these things coming out of the forest, we thought you might have gotten attacked.”
“You are not wrong, Applejack. Everfree is on a dangerous track. But I am not ignorant of what made this world so wrong. If you seek answers, I might have clues to why it is dusk and dawn.”
“Clues? Are they Blue’s?! Did yous steal them,” Pinkie brought out a magnifying glass from her mane staring down at her with a huge eye.
“No, Pinkie, she means she might have an idea on how to figure out what is going on,” Rarity chuckled, pulling PInkie away from Zecora.
“But you are right, my pink friend, my clue is in fact blue,” Zecora reached up and pulled out a glass flask, “If you are willing to accept it, I have an unfinished brew.”
“An unfinished brew,” Twilight levitated the flask in front of her, watching the blue potion swirl around inside, “How do we use it?”
“In order to complete it, two tasks are must be done. First, I need a flower called Fluttering Fun.”
“We have to go flower picking,” Rainbow groaned, slamming her face into her hoof, “Where do we even find these things, I’ve never heard of them.”
“I have,” Twilight said, setting the potion down into the cart, “They had it in abundance in the Castle of the Two Sisters. I wanted to learn all about the Castle before I went there. We might find a few growing inside.”
“The Castle of the Two Sister,” Sloth’s voice was trembling when he spoke, “But… that’s where it lives.”
“That’s just a foal’s tale, Sloth, to keep young ones from going there,” Flash said.
“You wouldn’t happen to be talking about the Pony of Shadows, would you,” Twilight asked.
“He is,” Flash said, smiling to Twilight, “But I’ve visited the Castle a million times myself. Trust me, the only thing you might have to worry about is a spider bite.”
“Or the occasional vine monster,” Pinkie added, zooming around the two on her unicycle.
“That too, I suppose,” Flash chuckled when he watched the hyper pony wheel off.
“Well, then we better head over there and find this flower quickly before Equestria gets overrun with weeds,” Rainbow said, flying into the air, “Lets go. I’ll scout ahead.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Applejack said, following the multi-color tail.
“Good luck, brave ones, and fix what’s wrong,” Zecora waved farewell as they went on their journey, “I hope to see you before long.”
The group nodded, waving back and starting their journey in hopes of saving Equestria and the Princesses from this chaos to bring harmony back, once again.
(To Be Continued…)