The fillies ran as fast as they could to the outskirts of town. When they all saw nopony was around, they all stopped to catch their breath. Sweetie Belle looked behind her and said, "I think the coast is clear girls." There was no response. Sweetie Belle turned around and saw her friends frozen yet visibly trembling. She walked over to them wondering what was the matter. She turned in the direction they were facing and she too froze in fear at the sight of the scariest place known to pony-kind.
The Everfree forest.
The fillies trembled as they reminisced of all the stories they had heard of this forest. One in particular was told of a mare who had wandered into this forest looking for food on a cold winter's day. She searched high and low for any scrape of sustenance she could find. Until she eventually came upon this one tree that held the biggest, smoothest, most radiant mangoes she had ever laid her eyes upon. She had never see anything like it. The fruit seemed to light up the grim, damp, dark areas surrounding it with a glow comparable to Celestia's Sun. She was in awe at the majesty of the tree and thanked Celestia for it's existence.
She counted her blessings too soon.
He mouth was watering as she advanced towards the tree. She was imagining all the varieties and possibilities of flavors she would encounter on her first bite. Maybe it tasted like a regular mango, maybe the juices within the fruit would gush into her mouth and fill her taste buds with the sensation of a flavor not yet known, or better yet, maybe the mangoes were a pastry filled with sweet cream or another rich filling. Oh the possibilities were endless. She finally arrived at the tree and took another moment to revel in it's majesty, when she finally came to terms with it's beauty she carefully plucked one of the fruit from a branch and sat down. She gazed upon the fruit with great desire as she licked her already soaked lips. She opened her mouth wide and slowly moved the mysterious, succulent fruit towards it. As soon as the fruit touched the very tip of her lip, suddenly there was a rhythmic quaking within the ground. The shaking caught her by surprise and the fruit fell out of her hands and rolled away. She immediately ran after it, eager to taste the mysteries of it's flavor. The rhythmic shaking of the ground made it near impossible to keep her balance, but she stayed tall and kept her pace, easily keeping up with the fruit for a half mile.
Suddenly, the quaking stopped, and so did the fruit. She immediately dove for it and wrapped it around her hooves, cuddling it with it. She began to open her mouth again when suddenly she heard a low groan from nearby. She assumed it was just her stomach and began to eat it again, but the groan was heard again, this time much louder. She looked in front of her and saw what looked to be orange gelatin. She looked up higher and figured out just how correct she was. What she beheld was, in fact, a giant, orange blob-like creature that stood 200ft tall with a pointed head. The creature looked down at her with a furious expression. The mare started to shake with great terror. She gave a loud shriek, dropped the fruit and ran as fast as she could away from the monster. The monster gave chase and caught up to her quite quickly. The monster put his large, blobby hand down on the mare's back, pinning her to the ground. The mare was helpless as she was dragged into the vines and trees deep within the Everfree forest,
Nopony has heard from her since.
The girls tremble as they wonder what happened to the mare, but they simultaneously return to their senses and look at one another.
"W-Well girls," Sweetie Belle started, "L-Lets go and find Zecora."
Scootaloo chuckled nervously "Y-Yeah. Ready to go Apple Bloom?"
Apple Boom took a big swallow and just nodded her head. In retrospect, she had no idea why she was there or even what they were doing, but she knew the dangers of The Everfree Forest all too well.
Sweetie Belle cautiously stepped to the front and and look behind her with a terrified look on her face. "F-F-Follow me girls."
The two fillies were hesitant, but cautiously followed their friend into forest. They were no more than 20ft in and they heard various creatures and strange sounds in every direction. There were even crimson eyes peeking at them from dark caves that suddenly gave them scary, pointed smiles. The girls did their best to keep their cool and kept walking into the forest.
Scootaloo was in the back of the line, but easily staying close due to great fear of what might happen if she should fall behind. Suddenly, she felt a light, hot breeze on her flank. She immediately looked behind her only to come face to face with a ferocious lion. Scootaloo's eyes opened wide, but she dared not shriek for fear of alerting the whole forest. She let out a high pitched whimper to alert the girls. The girls were a good bit ahead, but the sound caught their attention, their expression was the same as Scootaloo. There was stun silence for a long time until Apple Bloom finally let fear get the better of her and yelled out "RRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNN!" The Crusaders ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction of the lion as he gave chase. Sweetie Belles horn started to spark green as she ran. Great emotion filled the little filly's body, fear for the lion, sadness due to the event that's occurring at the moment, and anger and concern for the outcome of what could happen if one of them is caught. Sweetie Belle abruptly stopped and faced the lion; Her eyes lit bright green as she walked towards it. The other two looked back at their crazy friend.
"SWEETIE BELLE!" Scootaloo yelled, "WHAT THE FLANK ARE YOU DOING!?! RUUUN!"
Sweetie Belle ignored her friend's plea as she approached the lion. The lion gave a low growl at the filly, but she wasn't moved. Sweetie Belle's horn glowed bright as she spoke in her demonic voice: "You will not lay harm to this body or any others. Witness and experience the pain thy has wrought upon this land!"
Sweetie Belle's expression was intense as her horn sparked and she levitated into the air. She was soon surrounded by a bright glowing sphere that enclosed her within and began to morph into the form of a giant lion twice the size of the lion before her. Sweetie Belle was in full control of the shell around her, whatever she did, her new body copied with great power. The lion confident and scary expression was immediately wiped away as he witnessed what had just occurred. He started to slowly back away, but the little filly was in no mood for surrender. She picked up her giant paw and rested it atop the lion. The creature was helpless as it could provide no motion, taking away any chance of escape. Sweetie Belle chuckled sinisterly as she was very satisfied with what she was doing. "Now you see the pain you have wrought, NOW FEEL IT!" Sweetie Belle picked up her other paw and released it's spectral claws. She gave a quick whip of her arm and sliced up the lion's face, removing an eyeball & severing it's nose. The lion roared with unimaginable pain as his tormentor pushed down further onto his body crushing it's bones and flattening it's guts. The lion's eyeless socket immediately became a waterfall of blood. The bright green executioner was ready to deliver the final blow. She opened her mouth wide causing her spectral shell to open even wider and put it's jaws around it's head and closed them slowly. The lion gave one last, eardrum shattering holler to the sky before the teeth reached the sides of it's head. Sweetie Belle gave a forceful tug and the lion's head swiftly came off it's body. The body squirmed and jerked under her spectral paw for a few seconds more before finally laying motionless. She had a satisfied smirk on her face.
It was over, the lion would bring harm no more.
Sweetie Belle looked to her left and spat the head across the forest not caring where it landed. Her spectral body diminished and she slowly levitated toward the ground. The glow from her eyes and horn dissapeared. Sweetie Belle swayed for a moment before coming to her senses, looking around and seeing her friends with their mouths agape so wide they nearly touched the ground. Sweetie Belle walked towards them curious to the reason behind their expression.
"Uhh girls?" Sweetie Belle inquired, "Are you...
"That... was... AMAZING!" Scootaloo exclaimed, "Sweetie Belle how did you do that?"
Sweetie Belle looked confused, "Do what?"
"Th-That thing! You turned into a lion, b-but you had your body in it, a-and you squished the lion, and..."
Scootaloo continued to describe the events she just witnessed, but Sweetie Belle just looked at her friend concerningly.
"What are you talking about Scootaloo? If you're trying to describe impossible events with me included in it to make me more than confident enough to travel through these woods....." Sweetie Belle giggled "It worked."
"B-But Sweetie..."
"Come on Scootaloo, thanks for the confidence boost, I think we can get to Zecora's place now with no fear at all. Come on Apple Bloom"
"Sure thing Miss Superhero!"
Apple Bloom followed Sweetie into the forest. Scootaloo was dumbfounded that her friend could not recollect the astonishing events that just occurred. "Something is definitely wrong here, I hope Sweetie Belle is okay." and she advanced with her friends deeper into the forest.