“Ah’m tellin’ ya, there was a strange pony in tha Everfree, an’ he was bein’ all creepy like when Ah went by on tha trail.”
Trixie Lulamoon, showmare extraordinaire, paused and casually leaned against the wall to listen in on the foals around the corner.
“Most ponies in the Everfree are a least a little spooky, AB,” a second filly replied, “You gotta admit, even Zecora can be a bit odd at times.”
“Well, yeah, but Zecora is all cool an’ mysterious kinda creepy, this stallion was the ‘Ah’m goin’ ta do awful thin’s ta ponies’ kinda creepy.”
“Maybe you should tell your sister?” suggested a third filly hesitantly.
“Like that ever helped with Diamond Tiara,” grumbled the second.
“What do you suggest Apple Bloom do, then?” the third filly challenged.
‘Time for the Great and Powerful Trixie to offer some guidance to the younger generation,’ the unicorn decided as she gently tossed a packet of flash powder just past the corner and ignited it with a quick spark of magical energy, “The Wise and Helpful Trixie comes to you with advice in your time of need!” the illusionist declared grandly as she stepped out of the resulting smoke cloud, “If you are truly concerned about this strange stallion in the Everfree, and you doubt your sibling's reaction, than you should take the matter to the Guard.” Now that she could see them, Trixie recognized the trio of fillies as the “Cutie Mark Crusaders”, local rapscallions and well-meaning menaces, and the sisters (by blood or honorary) of three of the Bearers of Harmony.
“Ah don’t know,” protested Apple Bloom, “Do ya think tha Guard will listen ta us?”
“Of course, they will,” Trixie assured the farmfilly, “Calming ponies’ fears and protecting ponies is why they are here, after all. Trixie could even accompany you, if you’d like?” she offered, seeing the fillies’ uncertainty.
Shortly, Trixie was standing before the local sergeant while Apple Bloom explained her worries to the grey-coated earth pony stallion.
“Did this earth pony say or do anything to threaten you?” asked Sergeant Stone Flare.
“Well … no.”
“And it was just the one pony?”
“No, he was jus’ tha only one Ah got a clear look at,” Apple Bloom clarified, “There was two others keepin’ back in tha trees who joined him when he left, real big ponies, like minotaurs or bison, maybe,” the filly looked up at the stallion hopefully, “Are ya goin’ ta go after him?”
The sergeant sighed, “You are aware that you three have a reputation for gossip and exaggeration, aren’t you? That being said,” he leaned over his desk and patted Apple Bloom on the shoulder, “I’ll have a guard check around town, maybe somepony has seen your mystery stallion, or knows something about him.”
“But aren’t you going to send anyone to investigate him?” Scootaloo protested.
“Send my guardsponies into the Everfree Forest? On the word of one concerned filly? Without any evidence of criminal or even questionable actions?” Stone shook his head, “I appreciate that you’re anxious, but I need more to go on before I can act.”
Looking at the crestfallen foals, Trixie made a hasty decision, “If this matter is not sufficiently dire for you to examine directly, then the Great and Powerful Trixie will take it upon herself to investigate.”
The sergeant reached up a hand to rub the bridge of his muzzle, “Ma’am, do you have any idea how dangerous the Everfree is?”
“Trixie is The Great and Powerful Trixie!” the showmare threw her arms wide as she posed dramatically (with a minor charm to make her cape flare and swirl appropriately), “Student of the demoness HellCaller! The Everfree is Trixie’s home and classroom! And Trixie will take it upon herself to investigate the dangers of this strange stallion who lurks within it!”
‘Oh Trixie, you alicorns damned idiot! Trixie doesn’t know anything about tracking, and even if Trixie does somehow find this mystery stallion, what is Trixie going to do? Ask him if he’s planning to do anything bad or illegal?’ the illusionist berated herself as she stood at the edge of Ponyville her eyes fixed on the looming mass of the Everfree, ‘And how is Trixie going to face those fillies again after Trixie screws this up? Trixie is supposed to inspire foals, but this will be the Ursa incident all over again!’
“Miss! Miss Trixie! Wait up!”
Turning around, the confused unicorn saw a pair of vaguely familiar guardsponies, a bright orange pegasus mare and a reddish-purple coated earth pony stallion, trotting up to her, “Yes? How can Trixie help you?”
“Are you really meaning to go into the Everfree on your own to have a look at this stallion the Crusaders are so worried about?” the mare asked.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie gave her word.”
“And do you have any experience at tracking or investigative work?” pressed the earth pony.
The showmare pulled herself up to deliver a haughty reply … only to deflate into a dejected slump, “No.”
The two guardsponies exchanged glances, “We’d like to come with you,” the earth pony offered.
Trixie blinked at the pair, “But the Sergeant said ….”
“That he couldn’t spare any ponies to investigate without more information,” the pegasus waved dismissively, “But Radish Greens here and I are on leave, so if we choose to help out on our own time, well that’s completely on us, isn’t it?” she held out her hand, “So, anyway, I’m Firefly, want to go on an ill-planned adventure?”
“And if it turns out to be nothing?” the illusionist asked as she hesitantly shook the mare’s hand.
Firefly shrugged, “Then we’ll know for sure, and we can calm the CMC’s fears and prevent another misunderstanding like what we had with Zecora.”
An hour later found the trio deep within the Everfree’s canopy, “Well, have you found anything?” Trixie asked impatiently as Radish carefully searched the ground for tracks or signs.
“Patience,” the earth pony rebuked the rash mare, “Finding a trail based purely on a foal’s description is not as easy as it sounds.” After several more minutes, he rose back to his hooves, “A foal did pass down this trail early in the morning, and another pony did observe from the side before retreating deeper into the woods.”
Firefly glanced over at her partner, “Any signs of the two bovines the filly mentioned?”
“No,” Radish shook his head, “But she did say they were well back among the trees. Only other thing is that there is a faint trace of an old road heading off that way,” he waved off into the forest, “But it looks like that trail hasn’t seen any heavy use in a long time, maybe even centuries.”
“Something for another time, maybe,” the pegasus shrugged, “Well, let’s go and have a look, shall we?”
Trixie grumbled to herself as she glared up at the darkening skies from beneath the brim of her hat, “Of course, now it is going to rain,” she sighed.
“No pony ever promised that all adventures would be happy frolics among the flowers,” Firefly shrugged.
Trixie started to reply, only to be pulled aside with an undignified squeal by Radish, as a massive, insectoid, horror covered in chitinous armor burst from the underbrush, its snapping mandibles just barely missing the surprised illusionist. Shoving Trixie behind them, the two guardsponies raised their shields, their swords rasping from their sheathes, while the creature reared up its centipede-like body and flailed at the ponies with six long, segmented legs.
Firefly and Radish stood their ground, relying on their heavy shields and panoply to protect them from the creature’s spear-like legs and tearing jaws, as they methodically hacked and stabbed away, but, though their blades were soon covered in yellow-green ichor, the insectoid’s strength showed no signs of flagging.
Scrambling back to her hooves from where she had tripped and fallen into the forest muck, the showmare’s magenta aura flared as she shot an icy blast at the horror, swiftly followed up by a bolt of searing light, causing it to rear and thrash about as if blinded. The guardsponies quickly struck at the momentarily debilitated creature, hewing great rents through its body, while an arrow flew out of the trees to embed in the insect’s head.
As the beast’s thrashing slowly died, Radish and Firefly remained on guard, gazing about intently as they searched for the hidden archer. After several minutes, just when Trixie’s patience was about to snap, a buck, clad in homespun, a light shirt of darkened mail and with a bow in hand, stepped out of the sylvan shadows, “So this is what you Equestrians send into the Everfree?” he sneered, “You don’t even have enough sense to have your bows out!”
“And just how exactly would having our bows drawn have helped against … whatever that thing is bursting out right next to us?” Radish demanded as he and Firefly bound up their injuries.
The buck didn’t reply, instead turning his derision on Trixie, “And you! You didn’t even draw your sword!”
Trixie blinked and glanced down at the rapier hanging at her side, “Trixie forgot Trixie had it,” she admitted sheepishly, eliciting a groan from Firefly.
The pegasus turned back to glare at the buck, “So do you have a point to make, or are you just here to be a jerk?”
The deer returned the guardspony’s glower, “My point is that the last thing needed is ponies traipsing around the Everfree and getting into trouble, which will only serve to bring even more ponies causing more problems, so I am here to lead you out, or at least back to the zebra, before something worse than a Forest Crawler finds you … even if you are consorting with the abomination’s minion.”
“Trixie is no pony’s ‘minion’,” the illusionist declared indignantly, “Trixie is HellCaller’s student!”
“And we have a job to do,” Radish asserted, “So you can either help if you’re so eager for us to leave, or you can be about your own business and leave us to ours,” the trio of ponies turned away, leaving the flabbergasted buck staring after them as they pressed on.
Shortly after, the muffled beat of hooves heralded the deer’s return, “If helping you complete this divine’s cursed ‘job’ is the only way to be rid of you, then I will do it,” he muttered, “What is this job, anyway?”
“There is a pony in the Everfree who might be up to no good, or may just be the victim of a misunderstanding,” Firefly replied, “We’re investigating the situation.”
Trixie glanced over at the deer, “Hey, if you are going to come with us, Trixie wants to know your name, because Trixie refuses to keep calling you ‘you’.”
“Varun,” the buck grumbled, “My name is Varun.”
The addition of Varun’s tracking skills allowed the group to move faster, eventually leading them into the outskirts of an ancient, overgrown city, much to Trixie’s astonishment, “Ponies used to live out here?”
“Of course they did,” Varun said, rolling his eyes at the showmare’s ignorance, “You ponies used to have a city here before the Sun-Pony and the Moon-Pony warred with each other. Even after Nature turned against you for your hubris, ponies would still defile the sanctity of the Everfree to settle the occasional town or village, not that any lasted for more than a century or two.”
Radish shook his head at the buck before raising a question, “So what’s got you deer in a fuss?” seeing Varun’s startled expression, he explained, “You lot usually can’t be bothered to interact with ponies, never mind actually escorting them anywhere, so there has to be something going on to make you so eager to get us out of the Everfree.”
Varun drew himself up to glare at the stallion, “The troubles of the deer, if there even were any, are no concern of ---"
“The Royal Guard has every right to be concerned with what happens in the Everfree,” Firefly interrupted the deer’s tirade, “Especially if it involves Equestrian citizens be kept out of Equestrian lands by a foreign group who are only on those lands because of the Princesses’ tolerance in the first place!”
“Enough!” Trixie threw up her hands as she stepped between the three, “This posturing is not helping anypony!” she pointed at the two guardsponies, “The Guard avoids the Everfree except in extreme situations, which is why we are here in the first place!” the illusionist turned her glare upon the buck, “And the deer have no claims of sovereignty or ownership over the Everfree Forest! Nor has Trixie forgotten how your people harass Trixie whenever Trixie enters the Forest unaccompanied by Trixie’s teacher!” she took a deep breath, “Now, Varun, is there anything, anything at all, happening in the Everfree that might have bearing on what we are doing?”
The deer refused to meet the ponies’ eyes for a time, before finally relenting, “Several of the graves in the pony ruins have been desecrated … and some deer have gone missing … but there were no signs of them being attack by manticores or other predators ….”
“But you have nothing to link these events with our mystery stallion?” Radish pressed.
“I never said I did!” Varun snapped, “We just don’t want ponies wandering about willy-nilly and causing more problems, especially now!”
“Stop it!” Trixie demanded, stomping her hoof, “No more pointless arguing! If we work together, the sooner we all get what we want!” The showmare’s fierce expression was quickly ruined as the clouds choose that moment to open up, “Wonderful, and now Trixie is wet.”