I stood before the entrance to the Everfree Forest, the group of five ponies at my side, and for the first time since reading about the forest, I began to regret my decision to come here.
“Well, here we are,” Applejack said, breaking the silence that had settled upon our group the moment the forest came into sight.
“Indeed,” Rarity said, eyeing the muddy trail warily.
“So,” Applejack said, turning to look at me, “what were ya able ta turn up at the library?”
“Well,” I said, pulling a scroll out of my bags with my still unfamiliar magic, “according to what I found, the castle itself is only a few miles into the forest. In fact, surprisingly enough, from what I read this is one of the old trading routes from when the castle was occupied and should lead us straight there.”
“Just a straight shot to the castle, then?” Rainbow Dash asked, smirking confidently. “This should be easy.”
“It’s still the Everfree forest,” I said. “If everything everypony told me about it is true, we’re still going to need to be careful.”
“Whatever,” Rainbow Scoffed. “Let’s just get moving, the longer we wait, the longer this will take.”
“She’s got a point,” Applejack said, stepping up beside Rainbow. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner the sun comes back. If we take too long ta do this we’re gonna have ta start diggin’ inta the food stores, n’ those’re supposed ta be fer tha winter.”
Nodding in agreement, the rest of the group stepped forward and we began our trek into the forest. Despite our wariness, we passed through the forest unmolested for a time, until the group slowed as we came to a ledge.
“Looks like the path continues down and around,” Applejack said, tracing the path down with her eyes. “It ain’t steep, but the trail looks narrow.”
“Too bad you aren’t all pegasi,” Rainbow Dash said, standing on the ledge, “it’s only a short glide down.”
Kicking a small rock off the ledge, she turned to face the group.
“Why don’t you all go down first, and I’ll stay at the back,” Rainbow suggested. “That way I can keep an eye out, in case anypony slips.”
“Sounds like a plan, Dash,” Applejack said. With a flick of her head, she signaled the others to follow her, before she began the trek into the ravine. “Y’all make sure ya stay behind me, Ah see a few weak spots up ahead.”
We continued down the path without any issues, sidestepping completely plain sections of dirt that Applejack insisted would collapse under the weight of a pony. The only excitement occurred when Rainbow Dash, skeptical of Applejack’s ability to see weak sections of the path, decided to step on one and ended up gliding the rest of the way down.
“Everypony alright?” Applejack asked when we reached the bottom of the ravine.
“Twisted my hoof a little when I slipped,” Rainbow Dash said, rolling said hoof around, “but it’s nothin’ I can’t walk off.”
“Looks like we’re all fine, darling,” Rarity said, before turning to face me. “Any idea where we’re supposed to go next?”
Looking up ahead I noticed the trail split, with one path following the ravine and the other scaling the opposite wall. Lighting my horn, I pulled my scroll of notes from my bag and read it over.
“According to what I found in the library, we need to take the path that follows the ravine,” I said. “The other path is supposed to be another trading route.”
“And how would you know that?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, it was a bit outdated,” I responded, turning the scroll around so the others could see it, “but I found an old map of the forest in one of the books I looked through.”
“You’ve had a map this entire time?” Applejack asked, taking the offered map. “Why didn’t ya say nothin’ sooner?”
“Well, it is a pretty old map,” I admitted, rubbing my forelegs together bashfully, “and a lot of the paths we should have crossed have been completely overgrown, so I wasn’t sure how accurate it was.”
“It’s still better’n then anythin’ we had to go on before,” Applejack said, rubbing her chin with a forehoof as she looked the map over. “She’s right, though. It looks like we gotta follow tha ravine until it splits again, then we gotta go through some swamp lookin’ area.”
“Oh, that’s the Froggy Bottom Bog,” Fluttershy said, moving to stand behind Applejack so she could see the map. “I’ve been there before to help some of the lost little froggies get home, but I usually go the long way around the Everfree.”
“Ughh, sounds dreadful,” Rarity groaned, scrunching her face up in disgust. “It’s bad enough we have to walk through this vile forest, but now you're telling me we have to go tromping through a swamp as well?”
“Cheer up, Rarity,” Pinkie cheered as she began bouncing in circles around the mare, “it’s just a quick trip through the bog, then we’ll be well on our way to bringing the sunshine and smiles back!”
Any retort she might have had was cut off by the sound of a commotion further up the path. Sharing a look of confusion with the rest of the group, I proceeded up the path as quickly and quietly as I could. The sounds of growling and yipping grew louder as I crept down the trail, only for it to fall silent as I reached a bend in the path. My line of sight was blocked by the wall of the ravine. I carefully but cautiously poked my head around the corner, only to throw myself back behind cover with my forehooves over my mouth to prevent a squeal of fear from escaping. Hearing the sound of the rest of the girls trotting up the path behind me, I turned and motioned for them to tread lightly.
“Is somethin’ wrong, Twi?” Applejack whispered.
“There’s a manticore up ahead,” I whispered back, wincing at the poorly contained gasps that emanated from the group in response. “It looks like he’s fighting something, we may need to find another way around.”
“Oh, dear,” Fluttershy gasped, glancing worriedly down the path, “I hope he’s ok.”
“Who cares,” Rainbow Dash said. “If he wasn’t fighting with whatever he is now, he’d probably be hunting us instead.”
“I care,” Fluttershy said, giving Dash a firm stare, “and I know for a fact that he wouldn’t be hunting us. Manticores only attack when their young or their territory is threatened, otherwise, they are quite docile.”
“Uh, girls,” I whispered, trying to quiet them, “I think you’re starting to get a little loud.”
“Docile my tail,” Dash retorted, completely ignoring me. “You know as well as I do that those things would sooner eat you than look at you.”
“Those things are living, breathing, creatures, and they only attack when they feel threatened.” Fluttershy pushed back, now hovering to look Dash directly in the eye.
“Girls?” I said again, slightly louder this time.
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to retort once more but was cut off by a strained snarling from around the corner. Fluttershy, in response, was around the corner before anypony could react.
“Fluttershy, wait!” Rainbow Dash called out, following Fluttershy around the corner.
Sharing a glance, the rest of us were quick to follow her around the corner, only to freeze in place at what we saw. In the middle of the path, directly ahead of us, lay a battered and bleeding manticore. On the ground surrounding him was what looked like the scattered remains of the forest come to life, with large chunks of wood and vines littering the clearing. He was turned to face us, the hair on his back sticking straight up and his tail ready to strike, despite the fact that he was clearly favoring one of his legs. Directly in front of him was Fluttershy, a kind look in her eye as she lay on the ground and waited for him to become comfortable with her presence.
“It’s ok,” Fluttershy cooed, “I’m just here to help.”
“Flutters, what are you doing?” Rainbow Dash whispered loudly. “We gotta get outta here.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Fluttershy said firmly, not even blinking as the manticore took a tentative step towards her while sniffing. “This poor little guy is hurt, and he needs my help.”
“That ‘little guy’ could eat you whole, and still have room for thirds.” Rainbow Dash responded, causing the manticore to flinch and growl.
Fearing the situation was getting out of hoof, I looked to the rest of our group for a signal to step in, but the rest of the group seemed satisfied with letting the situation play out.
“He would not eat me, he’s not even hungry,” Fluttershy asserted. “The poor little guy is just scared.”
Taking another step forward, the manticore sniffed at the air once more before slinking slowly towards Fluttershy. When the manticore finally reached her my horn lit up as I prepared to intervene in some way, but my magic fizzled out as my caution was replaced with surprise when the manticore laid down before Fluttershy and rolled over so his belly was exposed.
Smiling sweetly at the manticores show of submission, Fluttershy slowly stood up and approached him to inspect his wounds.
“Oh, dear, it looks like you got into a fight with a few nasty little timberwolves, didn't you?” Fluttershy cooed gently.
Yowling pathetically in response, the manticore began motioning to the debris surrounding them.
“Aww, I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Fluttershy said sweetly, “but you go ahead and sit back and I’ll make you all better.”
Sliding her saddlebags off, Fluttershy began digging through them. Pulling out multiple small jars of ointment, as well as a few rolls of gauze she set to work disinfecting and treating the manticores wounds.
“Ah’m all fer helpin’ an injured critter out,” Applejack spoke up from the group, “but are ya sure ya should be usin’ our supplies like that?”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got plenty to go around,” Fluttershy responded. “I made sure to pack extra, just in case we ran into a little bunny or something that needed help.”
“That’s one hay of a little bunny,” Rainbow Dash grumbled.
“Oh, but he is just like a cute little bunny,” Fluttershy said, patting the manticore on the head and getting a purr in response. “Just look at that cute little face, how can you be afraid of that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, it could be the large pony-eating fangs,” Rainbow Dash retorted. “I mean seriously, I don’t see why we have to stop and help this thing, we’ve got more important things to be worrying about.”
Ignoring Dash’s response, Fluttershy continued to treat the manticores wounds, nodding and making sounds of understanding as the manticore growled and groaned at her. A short while later Fluttershy was tying off the last of the bandages, giving the manticore a gentle pat on the head to let it know she was finished.
“There ya go, little guy,” Fluttershy cooed, scratching behind his ears. “You make sure you go and find somewhere safe to rest and let the antibiotics do their work. Timberwolf scratches are known for getting infected.”
Giving a friendly yowl in response, the manticore gave Fluttershy’s face a giant lick before limping off into the forest.
“Well, that takes care of that,” Fluttershy said. Packing her bag back up, she slung it over her back and turned to face the group. “Sorry for the wait everypony. Are we ready to continue?”
“Just waitin’ on you,” Rainbow Dash said, hovering impatiently in place.
“Now Rainbow Dash, do try to be understanding of dear Fluttershy,” Rarity scolded. “You know she can ignore an injured creature about as well as you can pass up an opportunity to show off.”
“And by that she means not at all,” Applejack chuckled, taking an easy shot at the pegasus.
“Yeah, well, you know what?” Rainbow Dash stammered. “Shut up.”
“Now that we’ve got that detour out of the way,” I said, attempting to rein the girls in, “we should get moving again. I don’t like staying in the same place for so long in this forest.”
“She’s got a point,” Applejack said. “Why don’t we take another look-see at that map, and make sure we know where we’re goin’ before we start movin’ again.”
Already ahead of her, I turned the map sideways and motioned for her to join me so that we could both look it over. After checking and double checking our route we set off once more, and it wasn’t long before the firm soil of the of the forest gave way to the slick, slimy muck of the bog.