The ponies of Ponyville were now a mile outside of Ponyville. There was a crackling, then a gurgling. They all looked back and another piece of the glacier fell off.
"Keep going, everypony. We can't get distracted" Twilight said. They all continued on except Applejack who was still looking back at the glacier and Ponyville.
Rainbow Dash then noticed her and flew back to get her. "Hey, you okay, AJ?" Rainbow asked Applejack. Applejack snapped out of it. "Yeah, I am" Applejack replied.
"Well, come on, slowpoke. You don't want to get left behind or washed away in the flood?" Rainbow said "Yeah. Right." Applejack replied.
Rainbow flew back to the group. Applejack took one last look at Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres next to it before rejoining the group.
They finally came upon the Everfree Forest, which seemed more quiet then usual.
Everypony was a little nervous for they knew what lived in this wicked and mysterious forest, but they all knew they had to trudge on.
So without hesitation, they continued on. To their surprised, they didn't come across any timber wolves, cockatrices, or dragons.
There was a little creature here and there, but nothing dangerous. Half way through, the Mane 8 started having trouble.
Rarity had collapsed a few yards back, and now Applejack was carrying her. "You had to give up on walking" Applejack said to Rarity.
"You know I don't walk that far, Applejack" replied Rarity. "We took a hay of a journey beyond Equestria and you survived that" Applejack said.
"Well, this is different" Rarity replied. Applejack sighed in irritation. "Would you rather survive a flood or die in one?"
"In this condition, I'd rather die in the flood then walk to a boat." Applejack was shocked by this. "Are you kidding me!" Applejack shouted.
"Not so loud, Applejack" Rarity replied. "You'd rather die than walk to a boat!?" Applejack said. "It's my honest opinion, Applejack" Rarity replied.
Applejack sighed in even more irritation and anger, and then she shook her head. "You are really something, Rarity" Applejack said.
Meanwhile, a little ways ahead, Pinkie was enjoying herself. Then, something caught her attention. A sweet smell was in the air.
So, she decided to investigate. Applejack noticed Pinkie leaving the trail and group.
"Pinkie!" Applejack shouted after her, "You're not supposed to leave the trail or the group!" She threw Rarity off her back and chased after Pinkie.
Rarity got up and was mad. "Applejack! Get back here! You can't just leave your friend like this!" Rarity shouted after her. Rarity soon chased after Applejack.
Rainbow noticed the whole thing and let Twilight know right away. "Twilight! Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie left the trail!" Rainbow told her.
"What!? Why?" Twilight responded. "I think they chased after Pinkie because she was the first to leave" Rainbow said.
"We got to get them. Come on everypony" Twilight said to Fluttershy and Rainbow. Rainbow immediately chased after them and Fluttershy was right behind her.
Twilight was about to follow them until Spike and Starlight interrupted her. "Do we come too, Twilight?" Spike asked.
"No, Spike. You and Starlight must stay with the group while I'm gone." Twilight replied. "You'll come back soon, right?" Spike asked.
"Of course. You know I will." Twilight replied. They both engaged in a hug and Twilight took off after her friends.
Spike watched her as she flew away down the other trail.
"It will be okay, Spike. She specifically asked us to watch the group while they're gone." Starlight said trying to comfort Spike.
"Yeah, you're right" Spike said. So, they went back to the group and made sure they made it to the boat.
Meanwhile, Pinkie was following the sweet smell and Applejack was right behind her, with Rarity right behind Applejack. Rainbow Dash easily caught up.
Fluttershy and Twilight were a little ways behind, but they slowly were catching up. Pinkie then saw a 2 way ahead and sniffed the air again.
It was definitely coming from the left so she took a left and kept on going.
Applejack was right behind her and followed Pinkie, with Rarity right behind, followed by Rainbow. Pinkie finally stopped and came across the smell.
It was some sort of plant that looked edible. Pinkie went over and looked into the mouth of the plant. Inside was a brownish nectar that looked like syrup.
She was about to taste it but Applejack showed up, panting from her long run. "Pinkie!" Applejack said.
Pinkie turned around "Oh, hi Applejack. What's up?" "You wandered away from the group is what's up!" Applejack said.
"Relax. I just wanted to find where this sweet smell was coming from." Pinkie said.
"Well, we got to get back to the group. It's a matter of life and death situation right now. We don't have time to stop to follow smells or wander somewhere" Applejack finished.
"Well, I found the smell, so we can go back" Pinkie had a big smile across her face.
"Good, because we need to get back before..." Applejack turned and was about to go back but instead, was face to face with Rarity and almost bumped into her.
She was not happy. "You had to throw your friend off and leave me there in the dirt!?" Rarity exploded.
"I was going after Pinkie, Rarity. So, calm your horses!" Applejack said. This infuriated Rarity and they immediately started an argument.
Pinkie, meanwhile, went back to the flower and tried some of the nectar. She immediately was in love with it and she dove in.
Rainbow came soon after and saw Rarity and Applejack arguing and immediately intervened. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Now, what's going on here?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm just mad at AJ for leaving me by throwing me off and not coming back for me or anything! That's what a true friend would do." Rarity complained
"Rarity needs to understand that I was helping another friend and I wasn't gonna carry your flank to that dang boat." Applejack retaliated.
Rarity was offended and got even more mad. She almost got to the point of fighting Applejack.
Rainbow was supporting both of them, trying to make things better, but it was only making things worse.
Pinkie was just gorging herself on the flowers sweet nectar, ignoring the 3 of them.
Twilight and Fluttershy finally showed up and they couldn't believe what was going. They both decided enough is enough.
"Girls." Fluttershy said. "Girls" Twilight said. "Girls" Fluttershy said a little louder. "Girls" Twilight said louder, now getting annoyed and irritated.
"Girls!" Twilight and Fluttershy finally shouted at the same time. The 4 stopped what they were doing and looked at both of them.
"Now what seems to be the problem?" Twilight asked. Rarity and Applejack explained both their situations.
Twilight processed everything and came up with a solution. "Alright, just apologize to each other and you'll feel a lot better." Twilight suggested.
They thought about it for a second and realized, their bickering and arguing was over nothing.
"I'm sorry, Rarity. I just wanted to get Pinkie because she wandered away from the group."
"Yeah, I realize that now and I'm sorry too, Applejack. I kind of overreacted." They smiled at each other and engaged in a hug.
"Nice save there Twilight." Rainbow told Twilight. Then they realized something. "Guys, we need to go back to the group." Applejack said.
"Alright, let's go!" Rainbow said. "Wait, if we head back the way we came, they'll be far ahead of us by the time we reach the original trail" Twilight said.
Twilight then noticed the trail that Pinkie came on. It seemed to head in the same direction.
"If we follow this trail, we should still make it to the boat in time." Twilight said. "Alright, let's go everypony." Rainbow said. "Wait a second!" Pinkie shouted.
Rainbow groaned. "Now what!" Rainbow said. "Try this nectar" Pinkie said. Rainbow took a lap of it and her face was ignited with joy.
"Wow, Pinkie. That's some good nectar" Soon, they all tried it. "That was delicious, Pinkie" Fluttershy said. "Quite exquisite, darling" Rarity responded.
Pinkie felt good about herself. But, what Pinkie didn't realize is that a vine was slowly reaching towards Pinkie.
When she was about to go get some nectar to take with her, the vine struck. It lifted her up by the hooves. "What is that!?" Rarity shouted.
The plant grew teeth and more vines came out. It let out a thunderous roar. When Pinkie saw it, she screamed.
She was trying to get herself free and she was panicking. Twilight shot a laser at the vine and it let go of Pinkie. "Thanks, Twilight." Pinkie said gratefully.
The plant grew irritated and shot all vines out. Twilight shot at all of them. The plant screamed in pain and was now infuriated.
The vines struck again but avoided all Twilight's laser beams, except for a few. They rapped around the Mane 6 and they were drawn towards to the mouth.
Rarity screamed, Fluttershy and Pinkie were frightened while Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack tried to get free.
The plant let out another thunderous roar and was about to eat them, but Twilight quickly teleported them out of the plants grip.
They teleported a safe distance away from the plant. "Good saving, Twilight" Applejack said. The vines were coming for them again, the plant even more angry.
Twilight was about to fire another laser beam, but the plant vine stopped only a foot from her face. The plant's vines could only reach a certain distance.
They all sighed in relief. The plant roared in irritation, retracted the vines and just gave up. "What type of plant is that, Twilight?" Pinkie asked.
"I just figured out it's a Pony Eater." Twilight replied. "A Pony Eater?" Rainbow asked.
"Yes, it lures ponies in with it's sweet smell and then, when they're not paying attention to it, eats them." Twilight said.
"Well, now I know if I smell that smell and it leads to a plant like that, I know not to touch it or go near it." Pinkie said.
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Alright, girls. We should get going. We only have a few days before the glacier bursts open and Equestria gets flooded."
They all nodded in agreement and they continued on to the boat.