Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye Soarin spotted something! Something that filled his heart with dread. "Uh, guys, don't look now but I think we've got yet another problem on our hooves."
"What do you mea-" Fancy Pants began only to be cut off as he and the other stallions saw a sight they had seen only once before! Thick vines were extending out from the Everfree Forest and rapidly closing in on Ponyville!
Shining let out a gasp! "Of course! With the Tree of Harmony gone there's nothing to hold back the Everfree Forest! It's out of control again!"
Thunderlane nervously turned to Shining. "Well what are we supposed to do now? Last time it took the Elements of Harmony being put back on the Tree of Harmony to fix this. And we don't have either of those anymore."
Shining stomped a hoof down on the ground. "We'll just have to improvise! It won't do us any good to stop Sombra if the Everfree Forest takes up half of Equestria!"
"But Sombra's on his way to Canterlot!" Fancy Pants gasped in horror!
"Celestia and Luna will hold the line!" Shining firmly declared. "Army or not, Sombra will have a hard time just taking over. We need to at least hold back the Everfree Forest until we're sure it won't be a problem. Then after Sombra's defeatd we'll figure out how to tame it again."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Soarin declared and hurriedly swooped over to a nearby stand, bringing back axes, hoes, shovels, sheers and all sorts of other gardening tools. "Looks like it's time for a little gardening!"
Fancy Pants picked up a pair of sheers. "I hate to have to dirty my suit like this, Fleur will surely kill me when she sees it torn yet again. But the safety of Ponyville and all of Equestria comes first!"
"For our homes!" Braeburn shouted.
"For our families!" Big Macintosh joined in.
"For Equestria!" The six stallions all yelled together! Then they all picked up the first gardening tool they could lay eyes on and charged towards the oncoming vines!
Twilight stood back, watching the assault on the encroaching vines. "They're in way over their head!" She thought to herself! "They're gonna need back-up, and I think I know just the ponies who can help!"
The stallions managed to drive the vines out of Ponyville, but as they reached the entrance to the Everfree Forest they seemed to slow down and become exhausted. They were sweaty, sore, and very dirty. But it seemed like for every vine they cut off, snipped, chopped, or otherwise destroyed three more sprang up!
"This ain't workin'!" Big Macintosh panted while wielding an ax. "We ain't makin' much headway like this!"
Soarin shouted back! "We can't stop now! That forest is gonna run out of vines sooner or later!"
"I don't know if we can hold out that long!" Thunderlane protested as he whacked a vine with a hoe. "I think we bit off more than we could chew this time!"
"Indeed you did!" A familiar, elderly voice called out, soon revealing itself as a bearded unicorn stallion! And accompanying him was a set of six very familiar ponies! It was Starswirl the Bearded and the pillars, including Stygian!
Rockhoof chopped off several vines with his shovel as he charged toward the stallions. "You lads really should've given us a heads up. We've been itching for action!"
Mistmane nodded her head. "Do not forget that plants and nature are my specialty."
Starswirl the Bearded then approached the stallions. "We received a distress signal from Twilight. Though she needn't have bothered. I could sense that the balance of harmony has been disrupted."
"Then you know about the tree? About Cozy Glow?" Shining questioned Starswirl.
The old wizard nodded his head as he lowered it slowly. "I could feel it in my bones when it happened. As a part of me simply ceased to exist. I promptly contacted Stygian and he in turn alerted the other pillars!"
Stygian promptly puffed out his chest. "It feels just like old times! And this time I'm actually helping! Though I must say, this is an experience I don't think any books could've prepared me for." He proceeded to use an ax to chop off several vines.
"You six are needed elsewhere," Meadowbrook informed the stallions. "You leave this out of control forest to us."
"Ya sure you're up to the task? We'd hate to leave y'all behind like this." Braeburn remarked with concern.
Starswirl just flashed a smile. "Come now, the Tree of Harmony didn't spring up overnight after we planted its seed. And who do you think kept the Everfree Forest under control while the tree was growing?"
Somnambula eagerly replied! "We would not have left for Ponhenge to prepare the banishing spell if we'd had any doubts that the Everfree Forest would grow out of control in our absence."
"We fended it off once before and we'll gladly do it again!" Flash Magnus spoke up! "You guys better get to Canterlot and back up the princesses! Even with all that training I gave them I doubt the royal guards will last long against a threat like Sombra."
But at that moment, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna appeared as they used their magic to vaporize several vines all at once. "I'm afraid they lasted even shorter than we'd hoped." Luna spoke up.
Shining gasped as he approached the princesses! "But... if you're here... who's defending Canterlot?!"
Celestia shook her head. "Canterlot is lost to us. With our own subjects under Sombra's control he holds all the cards," She somberly informed the group. "His demands were simple: Surrender, or he would throw as many brainwashed servants at us as possible until we collapsed."
"We could've taken him, but my sister decided not to call his bluff," Luna reluctantly added. "He'll be expecting you."
Shining just sighed. "Well, expected or not we can't let him get away with what he's done! He must be stopped no matter the cost!"
"Then it looks like it's off to Canterlot for us!" Soarin declared, before he reluctantly added. "Does this mean we're gonna have to fight our friends and families?"
The prince only vaguely replied. "Hopefully it won't come to that, but I can't rule anything out."