//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 "walking through the Everfree" // Story: Nightmares Coming to Life // by Spore Harvest //------------------------------// With their lunch finished and their bellies full our friends now find ourselves on the road towards the Everfree forest. In that time Derpy has managed to figure out what her element was able to do and speaking of the element I didn't describe it to you yet. Well, it had the same golden necklace with the only difference being the gem in the centre. It was basically her cutie mark only that it was made out of crystal. Now with the description out of the way let me tell you what Derpy learned about it. First thig's first its name was Muffin as per Derpy's suggestion and its power was to make a portal to anywhere that Derpy remembered or saw. That is the reason why our friends are now almost in front of the foreboding forest. "And right after I finished the remix all of a sudden this guy jumps down from the rafters and face plants right onto my DJ table. Thankfully the guy was okay but he still managed to break some of my records and that is why I had my table enchanted to produce a forcefield should anything like that happen again." When Vinyl finished her story Octavia said. "Oh, so that was why you said that time that you were taking a break from working for a while." "Yup pretty much, but you should be surprised how many times pegasi go up to the rafters and repeat what that guy did. So yeah very glad that I paid for that enchantment." She said in a relieved tone. "Hey, Doc how do you think how could ponies stop this from happening." She asked him, but he was so lost in thought that she managed to startle him. When he managed to gather his composure he asked. "Oh, sorry Vinyl I was thinking about something could you repeat the question?" Vinyl then repeated the question and then he gave her his answer. "Well either they should wall of the rafters or put spikes up there, but the other alternative is to you know not let them fly if they are drunk in the first place. So yeah those are my two bits on the matter, but enough about that we are here." And sure enough they were in front of the forest, but to their surprise, the forest looked completely the same. The same foreboding feeling, the same fauna and the same flora. "Is it just me or did I expect to see this place looking completely different from the rest?" Asked Lyra. "Yeah, I did as well. I at least expected there to be a wall around the forest, but then again the only known castle in this place is the castle of the two sisters which is at the centre of the forest." Said the Doctor while checking the map. "Okay, then guys let's get this over with and get that artefact because standing around here is not doing anything to save Equestria." With that, they entered the scary forest and started their search for the second to last relic." *** The walk inside The Everfree didn't even last five minutes before shit hit the proverbial fan. What went wrong? You may be asking yourself and I know that you do because I can read your mind, but that's beside the point. You see when they entered the forest they were immediately followed by a pack of timber wolves and one manticore as their leader. They were biding their time, but our six heroes shore knew that they were either being watched or followed and Bon Bon made sure to voice that little titbit. "Um, guys does anyone of you feel like they are being watched?" "Yeah, but that's normal in any forest the only difference with this one is that the animals here are allot more dangerous." And after that, a single spear embedded itself into a tree millimeters away from the Doctors face. Then they all slowly turned their heads towards the general direction where the spear came from and what they saw at the same time shocked and made them laugh. In that direction, they saw a bunch of woodland creatures everything from bears to bunnies to birds and all of them were dressed like they were ready to fight a war. At the front of them, all was one lone snow white rabbit wearing face paint, gloves, a jacket and a black helmet with a single spike on it. After that everypony there realised who it was and for that matter who the rest of the animals were. That was Angel and the rest of Fluttershy's animal friends and when they made that realisation they all charged at them. Our six heroes prepared for a fight, but then they noticed that they weren't charging at them, but instead at something behind them. And that is when they noticed the manticore and the timber wolves. "Okay, then that's the weirdest thing that I have ever seen." "Do you think we should help?" Asked Derpy. The animals were still engaging the timber wolves. After giving it some thought he pulled out the spear from the tree and said. "Yes. Yes, we should." With that, they all charged up their magic or picked up a weapon and got straight into the battle. Derpy opened up two portals one below and one above one of the timber wolves making him start to fall in an infinite loop. After he got enough momentum she dispelled the bottom portal making him smash int the floor turning the timber wolves into toothpicks. While this was going on Octavia grabbed another timber wolf holding him still while Vinyl materialised another record and making it spin after that she launched it into the wooden wolf slicing him in half. Then Octavia picked up the two pieces of the wolf and launched them at the manticore knocking him out for the moment. Lyra was turned into her human form and was now up close and personal with three of the wolves. She was having the time of her life. She was punching the wolves that came too close to her and was roundhouse kicking the ones that lunged at her from afar, but after one of them clamped its jaws around one of her arms. That is when she got completely furious making her astral body burn like the sun turning the wolf to ash. And while this was going on the Doctor and Bon Bon were helping the animals fight off the last few wolves. The Doctor was preparing a magic blast while Bon Bon was crouched low to the ground and ready to strike with the spear in her mouth, but when the wolves were about to strike they all heard a roar come from the manticore who apparently woke up. After that, all the rest of the timber wolves left leaving all of them alone. "Man this was the most awesome thing that has happened in my life." Vinyl shouted while pumping her hooves in the air. "I thought that the most awesome thing in your life was the time that you saw Neon Lights concert in Neigpan." Said, Octavia, while having a sly grin. "Okay second best, but it was very close." After that, the Doctor called them over because Angel was telling them to follow and since they were clearly there to help our six protagonists followed them without question. ***Random island*** "Well, that was definitely interesting." Said, Celestia. She and the other princesses are now currently sitting in a sort of cinema studio watching what is happening to the Doctor and company on a giant screen. "Yeah, it most certainly is I especially liked Derpy's use of the portal it is a most practical and useful power that Muffin has given to her." Said, Luna, while munching on some popcorn. When she finished her bite she continued. "These elements that Discord created are definitely useful in combat I would dare to say that they are even more useful than the original elements of harmony." "While that is true, but you have to see that the elements are far stronger power wise since they are able to send a person to the moon or turn them to stone. Those are spells that in the past would require some magic runes and an incantation to accomplish." Added Cadance. "At least that is what the books in the Crystal empire say." "Yeah, those were very different times." Said, Celestia. After a moment of silence, she asked. "Want to see what the boys are up to?" The other princesses nodded and then they left the cinema and started walking towards a tent that was set up in the middle of the beach. When they entered the tent they saw Discord, Spike in his nightmare mode, Shining and Bigmac playing dungeons and dragons and it looked like Spike was the dungeon master. "You enter the room inside you find three goblins protecting a treasure chest what do you do next?" Asked spike in a slightly spooky voice. "I use the longbow and use it to shoot three consecutive headshots one for each goblin." Said Discord. After that Spike rolled the twenty-sided dice and it landed on ten. "You managed to kill two of the goblins but the final one got to you and pinned you against the wall." Then Spike moved the required pieces and after that Shining spoke up. "I then use my staff to shoot a fire spell at the final goblin freeing him from a painful death." Spike then rolled the dice again. When it stopped he continued. "The spell is successful, but it doesn't kill the goblin. Knowing that he didn't stand a chance he escaped back to his master. What is your next move BIgmac?" "I loot the bodies and try to open the chest using one of my lock picks." Spike again moves the required pieces and roles the dice. "You got three magic potions, two goblin eyes and five rusted daggers." After he managed to write everything down the princesses decided to make their presence known. "Hey boys what are you playing?" Asked Cadance. All the boys turned to the princesses and then Spike spoke up. "Oh hello there princesses. We are playing dungeons and dragons do you perhaps want to join it's a really fun game." "Sure I would love to try and see what all the hubbub's about." Cadence said the other princesses also voiced their agreements and then spike passed them some character sheets explaining to them how to create a character and when they were finally finished they joined the game and played until they beat the dungeon master who of course was a giant necromantic dragon. ***Everfree forest*** The woodland creatures lead the six friends to a clearing, but it looked more like a military boot camp. The animals there were training, running laps, lifting weights and punching dummies that looked like Fluttershy in her nightmare form. "Wow, you guys seem to be organised pretty well. What are you preparing for?" Asked the Doctor and when he did Angel led them to a tent in which there was a map of the Everfree. Angel then stepped on top of the table and showed them what they were planning. After looking over everything Lyra said. "Oh, so you are going to attack the castle and save Discord from Fluttershy's evil grasp." Angel Then nodded and then mimicked tying something up. "And you are going to tie her up." He again nodded and then the Doctor said. "Okay angel this looks like a solid plan, so what can we do to help out?" Angel then pointed at the artefacts and mimed using them to fight and distract Fluttershy while they dealt with her armies. And when they were finished with that would back them up, knock her out ant tie her up so that she doesn't do any more damage. He also mimed them that they should be careful about her stare since she could paralyse you if she gazed at you. "Okay then we get the plan, but when do we execute it?" Asked Vinyl. Then he pulled out a watch and pointed to the eight. "Oh so at night gotcha strike from the shadow and during that confusion we sneak in. Okay, little guy. Now, what do we do until then?" The rabbit just shrugged and after that shooed them out of the tent. "Okay, we have the entire afternoon to prepare so I suggest we get ready for the upcoming fight." Said the doctor. "Eh, you do that I'm gonna take this chance and relax for a bit because that fight really tired me out." Said Bon Bon with the rest soon following her example. "Well, I guess I'm also tired. Well then let's get some shuteye because we have a long night in front of us." And with that, the Doctor promptly fell forward unconscious. The rest of his friends simply let out a short laugh and left for an empty tent where they dragged their unconscious friend and then they all fell asleep. ***Castle of the two sisters*** The little woodland army was now stalking through the night towards the castle making sure that they weren't seen until they were at their positions and while they were doing that the Doctor and company were sneaking into the castle to find Discord and the relic. How are they going to accomplish this? Well, they are going to use the tried and tested method of using a cardboard box as a disguise and as before it was super effective. Once they snuck past the timber wolves, manticores and cockatrice they were inside the castle. "Okay, now we are inside. So what do we do?" Asked Octavia while taking off her box. "I suggest we find the dungeons in this place and save Discord then he can help us find the relic and with it, we go to Fluttershy and take her down." Answered Derpy. After that, they all took their boxes off, discarded them and started to search for the dungeon. After around twenty minutes of searching following signs and avoiding guards, they finally arrived at the place that they thought was the dungeon. When they made sure that they weren't being followed they opened the door and stepped inside and what they found inside surprised them. Inside they found a freaking petting zoo with pens and the whole shebang and at the end, they saw Discord with a spiky collar around his neck drinking out of a hamster style water bottle. When they snapped out of their shocked stupor they went to his cage and knocked on it and when they did Discord finally spotted them. "Oh, finally my rescue team has arrived. Please help me out quick before Fluttershy arrives the keys are located in her ro..." But he didn't get to finish because Lyra simply formed her human hand and melted the lock away. "...om. Or you could do that." Then he stepped out of the cage and took off his collar. "Thank you guys we may not be close friends but I hope this starts something between us." "No problem Discord. Now could you perhaps give us the second to last relic so that we can set the rest of the plan into action." At that, he looked a bit surprised but he still obliged by snapping his fingers and making the next element appear around Bon Bon's neck. "Well here you go now could I perhaps get in on this plan." Then they all filled him in on the plan and right when they finished a devious smile appeared on his face. "Oh that is a most delicious plan, but sadly I can't help you with it because she has some sort of field around her that destabilizes my natural chaos magic." "Oh okay then. Could you at least help the woodland creatures outside?" Asked Derpy. "Sure I can do that, but I'm surprised that you are not asking me to give you the last relic." Derpy then simply smiled and asked. "Why would we, because we know that you wouldn't since you are the spirit of chaos." At first, he looked surprised, but then he smiled. "Eh you're right I wouldn't there is just too much chaos that there is in Equestria at the moment and I am planning on enjoying it for as long as I can. With that, I leave you be." Then he snapped his fingers and they were all teleported. ***In front of the castle throne room*** When the world stopped spinning and the colour returned to the world the Doctor said. "Okay remind me to newer ask Discord to send me anywhere ever." Every one of his friends agreed to that and when they all got back their bearings he continued. "Alright then where did he teleport us." And right after that, the doors flew open and a voice that they all very much dreaded to hear spoke up. "Oh look at what we have here six little ponies standing in front of my throne room. Now, what can I do to help you." After she finished they all turned around sure enough there she was Fluttershy. She had the same black coloured coat as all the rest and wearing a set of golden armour with her hair whipping around like they had a mind of their own. After they all calmed down the Doctor got a very stupid idea. "Um, we got here for a spot of tea and maybe some biscuits. If that, of course, is not too much trouble." He was shooting in the dark here but he was really hoping that this would work. The rest of his friends were hiding behind him hoping that this would work as well. "Oh, why didn't you say so. Sure just let me set the table and get the tea ready." While she was saying this her hair stopped whipping about and turned back to her normal hair style. "You just make yourselves at home I'll be right back." With that, she led them to a dining room and left them there while she went and prepared a pot of tea. At first, they were all slightly scared but after some time they all relaxed and enjoyed their tea time. After some time of getting to know each other Derpy accidentally told her about the plan. She was furious but instead of attacking them she flew away leaving them alone. Then Discord arrived with Fluttershy's animals following behind him. "What happened here?" he asked in a confused tone. Then the Doctor took a sip of his tea and when he finished he answered. "Derpy accidentally told her about the plan and she just flew off towards Canterlot." Then he took another sip and continued. "Would you like some tea and biscuits?" After giving it some thought Discord sat down and answered. "Sure why not." Then they all enjoyed some tea and biscuits inclouding the animals. Well, almost all Angel had a small tantrum, but when they managed to calm him down he also sat and enjoyed a carrot cake.