Spike was resistant toward putting off the inspection any longer, but Twilight Sparkle was able to convince him that she was in a time loop, in order to explain her behavior and intentions. It had been tough without the convenience of being able to demonstrate an ability to predict events, but it was also a relief because that meant she wouldn't need to predict anything in the "future" — all she would need to do was refine how she convinced him.
Shortly thereafter they stood before an entrance into the Everfree forest. The path inward narrowed until the undergrowth obscured it from view, hinting that it wasn't a well-traversed one. Something about the forest made Twilight Sparkle a little uneasy, but she chalked that up to being unfamiliar with the forest and much of the flora that she could see. Which wasn't surprising, considering the fact that she had spent most of her life on a mountain and hadn't been interested in plants that had no magical significance or application.
"So," Spike began, as he peered around Twilight Sparkle's neck, "any idea where this ancient castle is?"
"Nope!" Came the unconcerned reply, as Twilight Sparkle moved forward. "But if I can't find it this time, I can always try again."
Spike sighed and mumbled, "I can think of a ton of things I'd rather do if I were in a time loop."
"I know," Twilight Sparkle absently responded, as she reached the obscured part of the path and carefully pushed her way through.
Spike was about to ask how she knew, but it occurred to him before he could. Instead, since his mind was on the subject, he asked, "How many times have you looped, anyway?"
"If we don't count the day it started," Twilight Sparkle replied, as she used her magic to raise and push branches out of the way, "then this is the second loop."
"Only the second?" Spike replied, sounding disappointed.
Twilight Sparkle shook her head at his reaction. Before she could remark on it, though, she heard a bush rustle ahead of them. Not thinking anything of it, since it was probably a common, non-dangerous creature that could be found in many a pony-managed forest, she continued moving. That is, until she saw a chicken poke its head out of a bush.
Stopping at the unexpected sight, she rhetorically asked, "What's a chicken doing out here?"
After getting a look of it himself, Spike suggested, "Maybe it's lost."
The subject of their attention began to rise above the bush, its serpentine body revealing that it wasn't a chicken at all. Between the fright and shock of seeing a cockatrice, as it rose to an intimidating height and unleashed a monstrous squawk, it didn't immediately occur to Twilight Sparkle that she should turn her gaze away or bolt.
"Wh-wh-what's that?" Spike managed to get out, as he clung to Twilight Sparkle's mane.
The fear in his voice broke Twilight Sparkle out of her stupor, who panicked as she shouted, "Oh no! It's a cockatrice! Whatever you do, don't loo—"
Twilight Sparkle felt confused and disoriented as she stared down at the sky. "What happened?"
She remembered going into the Everfree forest, and pushing through the overgrown path, but her memory eventually became too hazy to recall anything specific. Considering how she had no memory of the rest of the day, she could only assume that something had happened by that point, something that had incapacitated her or... done something far worse.
She shuddered at the thought that she might have died, even though she didn't know if the time loop would have continued if she had.
Regardless, it didn't make any sense for the forest to be that unsafe. Out in the frontier towns, like Dodge Junction and Appleloosa, she wouldn't have been surprised if ponies hadn't completely secured the outskirts of their property, but a town within the shadow of Canterlot? It was a mystery that she would have to solve, considering how reaching the ancient castle, to search for the Elements of Harmony, depended on her traversing the forest successfully.
Pinkie Pie's face suddenly invaded the entirety of her vision. "Whatcha doing?"
She yelped in surprise and shot up into the air, somehow avoiding Pinkie Pie's head along the way, then landed on her back with a pained grunt. When she opened her eyes and saw Pinkie Pie still standing beside her, looking as if nothing in particular had happened, she released a sigh of annoyance and rolled onto her hooves. "I was thinking."
"About what?" Pinkie Pie inquired.
Twilight Sparkle eyed her for a second, not exactly in a mood to talk to her after the scare, but decided that it wouldn't hurt to ask, "This town manages the Everfree forest, right?"
"Nope!" Came the chipper, unconcerned response.
Twilight Sparkle's mouth hung open for a few seconds in disbelief before she exclaimed, "It doesn't!? Why not!?"
Unaffected by her response, Pinkie Pie casually answered, "Because of the zap apples, of course."
Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to ask what zap apples had to do with it, then shut it because it was unimportant and she didn't want to go off on a tangent. Instead, she collected herself and said, "Okay. Can you tell me what kind of dangerous creatures inhabit the forest?"
"Sure!" Pinkie Pie happily replied. "There's manticores, sea serpents, parasprites, cockatrices, cragadiles, hydras, timberwolves, ursa minors — and majors..."
Once again Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped, as Pinkie Pie continued to name the dangerous residents of the Everfree forest as if she were reading off of a grocery list. Eventually, though, the amount rose to such a number that she couldn't believe it; there was simply no way that so many dangerous creatures would be allowed a home so close to one of their towns. Certainly some of the named creatures actually resided in the forest, which would explain whatever had happened to her, but she couldn't imagine so many in one place, let alone so near to the capital.
"There's no way that can be right," she interjected.
Pinkie Pie simply shrugged her shoulders at the interruption and assertion and said, "Eh; it's no whip cream off my nose," before merrily pronking away. After a few pronks she tossed over her shoulder, "Have fun storming the castle!"
Staring after the departing mare with a questioning look, Twilight Sparkle wondered if her parting remark had meant anything. It must have been a coincidence, though, because who else knew that she was trying to reach a castle? She had decided that in a previous loop, and hadn't had the time to make her intentions known in the current one. Then her attention turned to one of suspicion, when she recalled how Pinkie Pie had known where she would stay while she was in town.
Once the subject of her gaze was out of sight, she decided that she could look into the matter later: she had more important things to prioritize. One such thing was how she was going to prepare for her next venture into the Everfree forest without reliably knowing the specifics of what dangers to prepare for. Hopefully she would have no trouble availing herself of the library again, although she couldn't recall seeing a book that would definitely have something substantial to say about the forest.
Upon noticing Spike's approach, who was still trying to rub one of his eyes clear, she put those thoughts aside — for the moment — and tried to formulate a quicker way to convince him that she was in a time loop.