//------------------------------// // Entering The Everfree // Story: My Little Pony: Magic is Everywhere // by ayh //------------------------------// Applejack didn't have the luxury of being shocked as she watched her grandmother, and matriarch of the family, fly away in the hooves of a stranger. Stumbling back a few steps, she clenched her jaw and forced herself into action. Stomping a hoof, she turned her head to take stock of the situation and fight off every urge to blindly gallop off in full pursuit of the assailant. Sadly the sudden noise of her hoof seemed to shake the rest of the roof from their stupor and soon ponies were screaming and shouting, rushing into the lift with a few now throwing open the guard rail to the fire exit and rushing down the exterior stairs. Putting a hoof on Big Mac’s shoulder Applejack just shook her head as he attempted to restore order once more. She knew the others were scared, but once the others had run far enough they’d burn off that panicked energy and begin to calm down, helping to corral any others. As for her, she needed Big Mac with her right now; they had a family member to rescue. “Go downstairs, get me a pair of saddle bags, some rope, lanterns, a first aid kit, repellent, and anything else you think I’ll need. I’ll round up a search party and head out after Granny.” Shaking his head, the big red stallion locked gazes with her. “Nope, I’m coming too.” “Mac,” Applejack began, her voice taking on a heavy tone, a tone of one forced to bare a burden far too soon in life, “it’s a good thing that AppleBloom is out with Cheerilee tonight so she didn’t have to see this. But if I don’t make it back, Mackie,” she paused as the weight of what she knew she had to say only began to settle within herself as well, “she’s going to need family with her, and you’ll be the only one left, you hear?” “But our cousins-“ Cutting him off Applejack shook her head. “She’s going to need more, you know that. Now go downstairs and gather my things. I promise I’ll be back with Granny before sun-up, you’ll see.” His chest tightening, Big Mac slowly began backing away from his sister, burning the image of her standing tall among the lantern lights that were illuminating the night sky, silently committing it to memory should it be his last of her, before turning to gallop towards the lift. Looking around the now much clearer roof top, Applejack checked to see which ponies hadn’t immediately run. They’d be good in forming her rescue party, though from the look of it, the choices were rather slim. Arrayed around her were Golden Harvest (Carrot Top to her friends), Tree Hugger, Bon-Bon, Lyra, and the librarian and her assistant. And with the way Bon-Bon was cradling Lyra’s front forehooves it seemed that Starlight’s magic attack had done more than just break a few lyre strings. Out-classed or not, having any unicorn on her side would have been a boon. “Carrot, Tree, Bon-Bon, I know that I have no right to ask this of you but-“ A nudge by her side stopped her as Golden Harvest gave a small smile. “You don’t need to say any more Applejack, I’d be proud to help you out.” “Heeey AJ, we’ve got your back.” Her eyes misting from the tears of relief starting to form, Applejack wiped them away as she accepted the help from the two ponies around her. “I’m so sorry Applejack, I-I tried what I could, I tried but she was a Blessed, she was—was- was a Bleeehsed!” Lyra began to sob as Bon-Bon swept her up in a hug and rocked her back and forth. “Shhh shhh, no pony is blaming you sweetie.” Nodding her head in agreement Applejack walked up to the pair, Lyra still sobbing in Bon-Bon’s hooves. “I’m not blaming you Lyra, but what can you tell me about the unicorn that ponynapped my granny? What’s a blessed?” “Blessed is a nick-name unicorns give to other unicorns whose special talent is magic itself,” the librarian of Golden Oaks said as she walked in from the side. “But she’s a unicorn, aren't they all magic?” Applejack said in a somewhat confused tone. Shaking her head the lavender librarian explained, “Most unicorns can only do about a dozen or so spells, all mostly related to their cutie mark in some way. Lyra here has a lyre cutie mark, a musical instrument normally carried by bards and story tellers. So she has spells associated with story telling and music. But for unicorns whose cutie marks are related to magic itself, they have access to practically every spell out there and continue to pick up new spells all the time. Such unicorns quickly get placed in high positions of influence and power and are the upper echelon of unicorn society. Getting a magic-related cutie mark makes you practically ensured to a blessed life, hence the nick name.” A slow burning anger began to form in Applejack’s gut as things began to take shape in her mind. “So this Starlight is a unicorn noble? So the rest of the unicorn government is supporting this? What sort of game is Unitopia playing at here, taking my Granny into the Everfree Forest!?” Shaking her head, it’s was Ms. Sparkle's turn to look confused. “That’s the strange thing, I’ve never heard of a Starlight Glimmer before. Have you Lyra?" Shaking her head no, Lyra also began to look confused as she thought about it. “Lyra and I have been in Ponyville for a little over a year now, so it’s possible that a new Blessed showed up, but this Starlight looked too old to be a new-comer, and all of the Blessed are treated like celebrities. Everypony in Unitopia can name you every Blessed there is; it’s not like there are a lot to begin with.” Blinking at this new information, Applejack decided that it was a mystery for another time and dropped it, she had a grandmother to save and turned to Bon-Bon. “What do you say Bon-Bon? I could use every hoof I can get.” “I can’t; Lyra here is hurt,” the cream-coated mare began before a mint muzzle pressed against her. “It’s okay Bonnie,” Lyra said nuzzling into her fur. “Please, I can tell you want to go; don’t let me hold you back. If only I could have done more; if only I had brought another lyre or something I could have-“ “Don’t, IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT.” Bon-Bon shushed her good friend. Gazing longingly at the platonic love of her life, Bon-Bon looked into her eyes to see the pain and shame put in there by the unicorn Starlight Glimmer. Pulling Lyra close to her one last time, Bon-Bon kissed her friend upon her brow, near the base of her horn to seal the silent promise to her best friend of her return. “Applejack, could your brother take Lyra to the hospital? I’ll be more than eager to pay that Starlight back for hurting her like this.” “Won’t even be a problem,” Applejack replied. “Alright everypony, gather your things together, we’ll meet at the edge of the Everfree in half an ho-“ “Um, excuse me,” an exasperated voice asked to her side. “Aren’t you going to ask if Spike and I want to go?” Looking over at the librarian, Applejack took stock of the other mare. Applejack had always been rather tall even among earth ponies while the librarian was down-right tiny. But tonight, seeing her next to Lyra, she had been struck at just how tiny. Unicorns were a good half a head shorter than earth ponies if Lyra was any indication, but Ms. Sparkle was shorter than even that. Standing before her, she barely came up to the base of her neck. And while she had always tried to teach her little sister to look for the good in everypony, the librarian’s reclusive nature had secretly bothered her. With everything that had happened that night, she just wasn’t certain she could handle looking after the pint-sized earth pony and her assistant. Heaving a big sigh, Applejack shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry Ms. Sparkle, you probably don’t know this but these woods are dangerous and-“ “And that’s where you’re wrong!” Stamping her hoof on the ground the purple mare looked up directly into Applejack’s eyes, her gaze burning with an inner fire. “I’ve read up on the Everfree and its environment, as well as the creatures that live with in it, and everything any pony in Ponyville has ever written about it. Next to Granny Smith, I’m probably the next most knowledgeable pony of the Everfree Forest. I CAN help!” Startled at the vitriol of her tone Applejack nearly stumbled back. Looking over the other mare once more and seeing her resolve Applejack mused over her options before reluctantly nodding. “Alright Ms. Sparkle, get your things. We’re going to the Everfree.” Rushing through the door of the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight Sparkle set Spike down before gathering things she would need for the journey. “Alright, I give. Who are you and what have you done with the real Twilight Sparkle?” Spike sarcastically asked as he slowly moved towards the kitchen. “What are you talking about Spike? We really don’t have time to paly around if we’re going to make the deadline of half an hour to meet with the rest of the group.” Emptying her saddle bags of her equipment and notes that she had prepared for the night, Twilight began to organize everything and then started planning out what sort of list she would use to organize the supplies she would need for the trip through the Everfree. Perhaps a trusty old scroll, or should she go with a binder this time? “That, that right there. The Twilight I know doesn’t go meeting other ponies or talk about joining groups. Why’d you even volunteer to go? And why’d you have to volunteer me?” “Hmm?” Twilight paused, confused to the last part of the question. “Of course you’d be coming with me; what else would I have you do?” Missing the momentary hurt look on her assistant’s face, Spike blew a puff of steam to calm himself from Twilight’s casual dismissal of his independence and started grabbing food from the pantry, muttering to himself as he did. “I swear we will have words Sparkle and go over what’s ‘fair’ and what that even means.” The next few minutes were spent in actual packing done by Spike with independent planning done by Twilight. Having calmed down enough, Spike broached the subject again. “You still didn’t tell me why you’re suddenly chomping at the bit to join that Applejack pony and her friends. You suddenly decide you’re some sort of hero or something?” Twilight, holding her quill in one hoof while inspecting a test tube with her other, set down her implements as she turned to face her roommate and huffed, “Well, it was just plain insulting of that Applejack to just dismiss the two of us right out-of-hoof don’t you think? I mean, rude much? Of course I’d want to prove her wrong in underestimating me.” “Uh huh, try pulling the other one. It’s got bells on.” “Well, loosing Granny Smith would represent an irreplaceable loss of knowledge and cultural practices and I couldn't just idly stand by and watch.” “Still don’t see how that means we’ve got to get involved.” “A chance to explore the Everfree is a unique opportunity and I couldn’t pass up a chance to study the environment up close. Who knows when another opportunity could arise?” “Yeah right, try again.” “… going out to help some pony else is the right thing to do?” “Hurray, it only took you three tries before you got around to how this is the right thing to do. Too bad I’m still not buying it.” Sighing, Twilight’s head sank as she stared blankly at the partially completed list before her. Reaching up to rub her temples she tried desperately to organize her thoughts and steel her resolve before all of her doubts had a chance to take hold and convince her on how crazy of an idea this all was. Spike was right in that regard, this really wasn’t something she’d do. She’d just met these ponies, she had no stake in this. But that wasn’t exactly right, wasn’t it? “I don’t know how to explain it Spike, but something about this whole thing just doesn’t add up and that’s been gnawing at me this whole time. How can there be an unknown Blessed? What did she want in the ruins in the Everfree? What are the ruins in the Everfree? If she is a Blessed then is Unitopia really somehow involved despite what I said?” Idly rolling the sealed test tube on the table in front of her, she mulled over all that had happened that night but still came up with nothing but a unsettling fear that something was going on, something that could lead back to a place and ponies that she knew well. “What if Unitopia is somehow involved? What would that mean for dad and mom; for Shining?” “Awww, so this whole thing is just to make sure the folks back home are safe and not part of some secret plot to pony-nap random old mares.” Spike jokingly gushed. “Spike! This could be serious,” Twilight exclaimed, offended at the dragon’s mocking. “Hey now, just kidding you know,” Spike said as he raised his claws in a placating gesture. “I think it’s great that despite all the ‘I don’t care about anypony else’ facade you still love your family. It must be great to have a nice family like that; some of us aren’t so lucky.” Wincing a bit, Twilight awkwardly picked the test tube back up and went back to examining it. “Uh, well yes, I didn’t mean to, well… I’m really glad that you’re here now Spike, so, thank you for all your hard work and effort.” Twilight finished lamely as she internally groaned at her awkward attempt to comfort Spike. Feeling a bit better about going now, Spike walked over to the earth pony and patted her on the back. “Heh, don’t strain yourself, I get what you’re trying to say. Alright then, so why don’t you tell me what you’ve got so far and I’ll go grab it.” Plucking the vial from her hoof, Spike took one glance at it and tisked. “By the way, this is way past its expiration date,” he noted before swallowing it whole, the magical liquid consumed by his dragon flame in an instant. Relieved at the change of subject, Twilight quickly got to work with Spike as the two prepared for their first real excursion out into the Everfree. Twenty-eight minutes later, Applejack, Bon-Bon, Tree Hugger, and Carrot Top stood in front of the intimidating Everfree Forest. Even at the best of times the forest was a dark abode of dangerous plants, ferocious beasts, and wild magical weather. And that was not counting the times the chaotic magical tempests surrounding the earth pony lands invaded, mutating it further and driving its inhabitants into a maddening frenzy, leaving them riled and violent for weeks after the tempests had been fought off. Now looking at those same woods at night, Applejack could only find herself grateful that the last tempest had been months ago so the inhabitants of the forest would be only violent and aggressive rather than murderously berserk. Raising a foreleg to her jaw, she adjusted the power output to her hoof greave, the heavy bronze leg and hoof armor extending three-quarters up her leg. Each greave was a testament to earth pony know-how and ingenuity; etched lines of power glowed as solid constructs built into each armor piece quietly hummed away, their tiny hydraulics and pistons idling for now. On her back she carried two full saddle bags filled with supplies, courtesy of her brother. She would need to thank him later, she thought, looking at the greaves upon her hooves. They had been passed down and maintained for generations in the Apple family and it had been Big Mac who had brought them down, reminding her that the precious heirlooms were built to protect the family and not just as a decorative piece of Apple Stable history. “Do you think something happened to that Spike and that librarian?” Bon-Bon asked as she looked down the road leading back to Ponyville. Turing her chamfron-covered head was a bit difficult in the full body plate barding that she was wearing. The massive sonic war hammer slung to her side was balanced by an equally large battle axe with two tubes perforated with holes attached to the axe-head on her other side. Applejack noticed that, for a candy maker, Bon-Bon must've had an impressive amount of raw strength, even by earth pony standards, to carry so much steel. And speaking of steel, her weaponry was rather impressive as well; she’d need to remember to ask her about that later. "What was her name again?” Applejack shook her head. “I think I heard Lyra mention it, but I was a bit busy trying to corral all the other guests. Didn’t really catch it.” Tree Hugger laid peacefully on the grass, giving no indication that she was the least bit worried about the tangle of trees and carnivorous beasts lurking just yards away in the forest. Her half lidded eyes stared at nothing in particular as she swayed her red-patterned bandana-covered head to a melody only she was privy too. “Think she said it was Twiggy,” she breathed as she adjusted the boxy saddle panniers at her sides. “I’m pretty sure it was something else. Maybe Twin Light I think?” Carrot Top pondered as she tapped her hoof to her chin. Of the three others, Applejack was the most concerned for Carrot Top when she had seen her trot up with pillows tied around her, an iron pot for a helmet, and two saddle bags full of nothing but carrots. The large repeating crossbow on her back made her re-evaluate the orange-maned mare though. Her choice of ‘armor’ aside, Applejack welcomed the firepower, though again she made a mental note to talk to the carrot farmer about the obviously well-used mechanical crossbow later as, apparently, she didn’t know her neighbors as well as she had thought she had. “Well she knew we were supposed to be here in half-an-hour, and I can’t sit here waiting for her when my granny is in danger at the hooves of that –“ Applejack started before her ear flicked to the side, pointing towards town. Cocking her head, she listened to the wind as the other mares took notice and began to listen as well. Soon all of them picked up the sound. A long high pitched wail of some sort heading towards them if they weren’t mistaken. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Galloping at full tilt, burdened with one pint sized chubby dragon and two bulging saddle bags spilling beakers and metal gizmos to the side, the last pony member of the party barreled straight into the group. “nottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardynottardy-” Frothing at the mouth, her eyes unfocused as she babbled her mantra between gasps of breath, the town librarian spasmed on the ground as her legs had given out the moment she had reached the group. “Sorry about that, she’s not really used to the whole physical exertion thing,” Spike apologized as he got off the mare’s back and began to fan the exhausted pony. “We couldn’t decide on what to bring and then we noticed what time it was and ended up having to sprint all the way here because we didn’t want to be tardy and well…” Waving vaguely towards his companion he let her current condition fill in the rest of the explanation. “But the library is right over there,” Carrot Top pointed out incredulously as she gestured to the tall oak tree just over the hill leading up to the Everfree. While not exactly on the door step of the forest, it was built in the older section of Ponyville, back when the settlers had first arrived in the lands and regularly ventured to the edges of the forest for lumber. “It’s a brisk gallop but this…” Carrot gestured to the sweat soaked and collapsed form in front of them that was currently doing its best impression of a fish on dry land. “Yeah, she’s not really built for endurance, you know?” Spike hemmed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “But... she’s an earth pony.” Wincing a bit Spike just looked towards the rest of the group as he continued to fan Ms. Sparkle. “I don’t suppose any of you could carry her until she gets her second wind?” Groaning as she face-hoofed, Applejack silently marched up and, biting down on the limp mare by the scruff of her neck, picked her up and threw her over her back. Not even waiting for permission, she similarly grabbed Spike, with a startled yelp erupting from his lips, and deposited him onto Tree Hugger’s back. Turning back to the rest of the group Applejack gave a curt nod, “Let’s get going.” Lighting her horn, Starlight shot a spell towards her target. Seeing one of the more dangerous creatures of the Everfree, a cockatrice, imprisoned in a block of ice with so little effort un-nerved Granny Smith. “Heh, this isn’t nearly half as bad as everypony kept making it out to be. But I guess this place would be a death trap to an earth pony,” she snorted as she walked right past the frozen monster, her hostage in tow. “Alright old nag, which way now?” Starlight demanded as she looked around the area. “Just straight ahead, it’s not too much further now,” the elderly mare grumbled as she pointed past a patch of blue flowers, a bramble of woody vines covered in dripping thorns lining the flowers on either side. “Right,” Starlight nodded before she flicked her horn forward, Granny Smith suddenly finding herself flying towards the path she had pointed out. Yelping in shock at the sudden movement, she twisted her body to try to avoid the danger ahead, only to suddenly stop in midair. “Hmm, interesting. You twisted towards the thorns, or should I say, away from the flowers. Cute, old mare, but I’m not in the mood for games.” Sighing as she was floated back towards her captor, Granny Smith tiredly pointed to some trees to the right of them. Trotting through the trees, Starlight grinned as she spotted the ancient remains of a gravel path. “There now, isn’t it so much better to just play along?” “Yah!” Bucking her hind legs, Applejack’s armored hoof greaves amplified her strike so much that, despite her target dodging to the side to avoid it, the tree behind the creature exploded in a shower of splinters and shrapnel. Growling in anger, the lion-headed, scorpion-tailed, bat-winged manticore leapt back towards the orange mare, who quickly rolled to the side as well to avoid the flurry of swipes. Holding her crossbow ready, Carrot Top tried to take aim, but the constant movement of the two combatants caused her to hesitate as she did not want to risk harming Applejack. To her side, Bon-Bon patiently watched the ebb and flow of the fight with singular focus as she waited for the right opportunity to strike. “Look out for the tail! A manticore’s poison can kill a full-grown pony by disrupting your respiratory system and then attacking your nerves. It also is full of acids that attack your cells, producing a slurry of –“ “The details on how it’ll kill me are NOT helping! If you have time to go over all of that stuff, then tell me something I can use right now to stop this thing!” Applejack cried out as she jumped away from another claw swipe. As soon as she was clear of the beast, Bon-Bon rushed it, practically tackling the creature and swinging the massive war hammer. A high-pitched whine built up quickly in the implement before she brought it down. Moving aside, the manticore was able to dodge again but was unprepared for the head of the hammer hitting the ground, releasing with it a deafening explosive sound and pushing all the combatants away from each other. Keeping back, the librarian and Spike looked through their saddle bags for something that could be of use for dealing with an angered beast three times the size of even a large earth pony like Applejack. Looking back towards the creature, she thought through about what she had read about it. Peering at the lion-head of it for a moment, inspiration finally struck as she turned towards the final member of the group. “Tree Hippy,” she began only to be corrected. “Tree Hugger, little one.” “Right, whatever, do you have any Nepeta cataria?” “???” “She means cat nip!” Spike yelled as he winced, watching the manticore land a grazing blow on Applejacks side. “Oh! Yeah, I’ve got a stash,” Tree Hugger replied as she pulled out a small pouch from one of her panniers. “Good, now Spike, throw it towards the manticore.” Grabbing the little pouch, the short dragon threw it with all his might into the center of the fight between the manticore and the duo of Applejack and Bon-Bon. Spilling its contents the entire way, the pouch landed with a lack luster plop, but the herbal scent of the bag’s contents hit the manticore like a run-away wagon. Staggering back, it held it’s nose as it was assaulted by the aroma, before the creature’s eyes began to lose focus and its body began to sway. Seeing their opportunity, Applejack and Bon-Bon reared their respective weapons back and delivered a mighty blow to the beast, sending it flying out of sight into the murky depths of the Everfree Forest. Moving quickly to Applejack’s side, Carrot Top looked over the shallow wound near the other mare’s belly. “Here, chomp down on this,” Carrot Top said as she shoved a carrot into AJ’s mouth. Chewing on the end of the carrot, Applejack felt a rush of coolness flow through her body as her wound began to slow it’s bleeding. While not healing entirely, it began to look better than it had just moments ago. Inspecting the wound, Carrot Top nodded her head before digging around in her saddle bags again. Though all of her carrots looked identical, she seemed to pass over several before grabbing one. Biting down and chewing on it herself, she stopped short of shallowing and instead smeared the pulverized mush against the length of the wound with her tongue; eliciting a gagging choke from Spike and a look of fascination from Ms. Sparkle. “There, that should sterilize it as well. Does anypony have any bandages?” Nodding their heads, Ms. Sparkle, Bon-Bon, and Tree Hugger began digging through their respective bags but were stopped by Applejack’s raised hoof. “Don’t worry girls, I’ve got my own as well. Dipped in some pretty strong healing tonic Granny whipped up a while ago.” Munching on the last bit of carrot, Applejack turned her head and pulled out a gauze roll. Tree Hugger and Bon-Bon wordlessly stepped forward to take the gauze roll from Applejack and begin applying it but were stopped again as Applejack quickly nipped the end of the roll and unfurled it around her midsection and began quickly wrapping it around herself. “Don’t worry girls, did a bit of work in the care center. Got pretty good at dressing little cuts like this.” In short order the claw wound was patched up and the group continued forward. Flame blasted against the rocky hide of the cragadile, doing little to slow down the beast as the stone monster charged forward. But while the flame did little harm, it did obscure its vision enough that it failed to see its prey move out of the way while it continued to plow ahead, slamming its head against the boulder that had been behind the two ponies. Smirking, Starlight levitated the stunned beast and began straining as she held the now immobile cragadile, as well as Granny Smith. With a grunt and a crack of stone, Starlight ripped the legs off the beast, the cragadile rearing its head back as it bellowed out in pain and rage. Dropping the crippled monster, Starlight turned back towards her captive. “If we keep encountering things like this because of you, I swear that your suffering will be the stuff of local legends.” Casting a pitying look at the wounded creature before them, Granny Smith simply shook her head. “Nopony’s been to the ruins for years, and the woods haven’t been maintained for centuries before even I was born. What’d you expect? Some ancient magical path that somehow survived multiple incursions of the tempests after all this time?” Gritting her teeth, Starlight didn’t want to admit that she had been hoping for something like that. Instead, she cast another look at the cragadile as it began trashing ineffectively on the ground. But around it, various stones began to glow and slowly move towards the stumps of its limbs. “Oh no you don’t,” Starlight admonished as she lifted the beast in her magic again, this time tossing the entire creature far above the tree line. “We had better be close. I’ve got a lot to do and I don’t want to be stuck for long in this backwater land.” Rubbing her chin, Granny Smith pondered their location as she look back and forth, not looking to be in any rush in her decision. Her face twisting into a look of anger, Starlight then relaxed and let out a deep breath before smiling towards her hostage. “You know, I’m actually glad we’re taking our time on this little journey.” “Eh, well, I’m glad you think so too deary,” Granny Smith replied, trying to figure out the younger mare’s sudden change in attitude. “Oh course, the longer we take, the more likely someone rescue party from Ponyville will show up. Maybe it’ll even have somepony you know, like that grandson of yours.” Starlight sing-songed as she circled the matriarch. “You’ve seen what I did to that cragadile, can you imagine what I could do to that big hunk of a stallion?” Schooling her expression, the Apple family matriarch forced herself not to give her captor the satisfaction of seeing the horror she felt internally show up upon her face, but the tightening of her expression and the sudden stiffening of her posture was all Starlight needed. “So you see, it’s really in both of our interests that we get this done as fast as possible. The sooner I get what I want, the sooner I leave Ponyville, the earth pony lands, and your family. I think that’s something we all want, isn’t it?” Deep within her, Granny Smith knew that it wouldn’t be that simple. The ruins within the Everfree had laid abandoned for generations. But the mare in front of her wanted something from that place, and Granny would bet her home that helping out the mad mare would only bring misfortune upon somepony else. No good would come from Starlight getting what she wanted. But seeing the magic of the unicorn in front of her, and knowing that her family wouldn’t sit idly by while she was taken away, she knew that she couldn’t stall any longer. Heaving a heavy sigh, Granny Smith bowed her head and pointed towards a grove of trees. “Through there then to the left, there’ll be a bridge that’ll take you straight to the ruins. I suppose this’ll be the part where you don’t need me any more isn’t it?” Chuckling, Starlight simply trotted on, carrying the aged mare behind her. “Believe it or not, this’ll all turn out for the better in the end. I’m not the bad mare here.” Seeing her captive snort and turn away, Starlight just shrugged and pressed on. “I know I may seem a little extreme, but I’m really doing this to give everypony a chance. Aren’t you earth ponies tired of being so plain compared to everypony else? Haven’t you ever wanted to do something but couldn’t because it wasn’t something your cutie mark said you could do? Don’t you think it’s unfair that somepony can lord over you just because of some mark on their flank?” Truly confused, Granny Smith cocked her head to the side. “No, what in the hay are you talking about?” “Ugh,” Starlight grunted, exacerbated by the elder’s lack of understanding. “Knew it would be pointless to try to convince you ponies here. Just trust me, after I’m done every pony in every land will be equals.” Sniffing the ground, Spike and Tree Hugger lead the group to a small grove of trees, the duo stopping to take a look at their surroundings. “You sure they came this way?” Applejack asked as she tried to make out any more hoof prints. At least the mare who took her granny hadn’t seemed to bother covering her tracks. But the deep underbrush of the forest and various rocky areas had made some parts of the pursuit difficult. Luckily, dragons could apparently track by scent, and Tree Hugger as well. Though she had claimed that she was simply following the ‘negative vibes left behind by that unicorn's bottled up harshness’. “Yeah, I’m sure that at least somepony came through here. I never really got a lead on that Starlight chick when she was at your granny’s demonstration, but I was next to your granny for almost the entire time. So unless there’s some other pony wandering around the forest in the middle of the night carrying something that smells like muscle cream and apple pie, I’m sure it has to be her. Nodding her head, Tree Hugger pointed in the same direction as Spike. “Yeah AJ, that unicorn gives off a smokey trail of anger and bad karma wherever she goes. She went this way alright.” Behind them Carrot Top and Ms. Sparkle were engaged in conversation, or more accurately the tiny librarian was eagerly asking questions about the various carrots the orange-maned pony grew and Carrot Top was only too happy to talk about her livelihood. Bringing up the rear was Bon-Bon as she kept watch for anything following them. “Doesn’t look too bad in there,” Applejack remarked as she tried to see through to the end of the grove. “I’m actually surprised we haven’t met up with more critters.” Her ears perking at Applejack’s statement, Ms. Sparkle turned her head away from Carrot Top. “You know, that is strange. All accounts I’ve read of the Everfree painted the forest as much more dangerous. Not that I’m complaining, but do you think it’s because Starlight simply cleared the way for us?” Shaking her head, Applejack took another look around the woods they were in. “That might explain some, but well …,” shivering a bit, her eyes wandered over the greenery. “You getting a bad feeling about all of this?” Looking to Bon-Bon for any indication, the armored mare shook her head while Carrot Top shrugged. “I'm not really picking up anything. Are you, Ms. Sparkle?” Shaking her head as well, the little librarian indicated that she had not. “I do; there’s something weird in the air,” Spike muttered as he glared at the woods around them. “I can’t put my claw on it, but it’s like… it’s like-“ “The forest is waiting,” Tree Hugger finished. “Yeah! That’s what it feels like. Like everything’s waiting for something.” Spike snapped has claws as he was finally able to place the strange feeling. Looking through a break in the canopy, Applejack saw a ridge rising from the forest floor, the stony outcropping bathed in pale moonlight. Upon the ridge, she spied dozens of timber wolves gazing up into the sky. A cold trickle of fear chilled her heart as she gauged the distance between themselves and the ridge, and not liking the answer. As if alerted to their presence by Applejack’s focus on it, the timber wolves turned as one to look at the small group of warm-blooded and tasty intruders into their territory. But rather than rush towards them, the predators simply turned back to look towards the moon. Sitting patiently and silently in the night. “Waiting for what?” Applejack quietly asked as she backed away form the scene. Walking towards a beam of moon light breaking through another section of canopy, Twilight looked up towards the sky. “You think this has anything to do with that Starlight character?” Applejack asked as she joined her, trying to make out what had caught the wolves' attention. Up in the night sky, the moon presided over the night sky, the stars arrayed around it as glimmering servants. “No, but… does something look off to you?” the other mare asked as the rest of the group joined them. Applejack had done a stint as a tour guide at the planetarium once, but she was far from an expert on the night sky. But despite this, gazing up at the moon she couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling of wrongness that began to creep into her. “Let’s just keep moving and get out of- “ Her words were cut off by a gasp. Twisting around to look back at the night sky her eyes widened as she beheld four dark spots, like dark stars, move across the bright white surface of the moon. “Beware, the dark stars shall aid in her escape and the world will be cast in eternal night,” the small mare beside her intoned. “What?” Continuing to look up at the night sky, the librarian replied, “It’s something I read a long time ago in one of my books. An old myth about alicorns and the world before the tempests.” “There actually was a time ‘before’ the tempests?” Bon-Bon asked in disbelief. As far back in recorded history, there had always been the tempests. Nodding her head, the smallest pony of the group tore her eyes away from the night sky. “I think we should get your grandmother back and get back to town. I’m going to need to do a lot of reading.” “You won’t get any arguments from me. The sooner we get granny back, the sooner we can leave these creepy woods and their crazy night sky.” Facing the grove of trees once more, the group went in. Once inside, the light of the sky was now completely cut off, but Applejack and Ms. Sparkle quickly produced lanterns, and a small flame from Spike quickly had both of them lit. Long shadows were cast from the light of the two lanterns as the group made their way through the grove. The occasional groan from the ancient woods and the memory of the moving stars sapped their courage as they huddled closer together. “Don’t worry about a thing, as long as we’re together we can get through this. Earth ponies are always stronger together,” Applejack reassured the rest, even as she tried to hide her own nervousness. Quickening their pace, the small group marched on, following Spike and Tree Hugger’s directions, trusting in the two to guide them as their tiny bubble of light made it’s way through the engulfing darkness, the omnipresent pitch black blotting out the rest of the trees and giving the illusion of a vast emptiness surrounding them. They continued in silence as minutes stretched on, all glancing around in search of some landmark or break in the ominous atmosphere. It was Carrot Top that cried out first, a short shout of hope as she spotted the glowing bluish light ahead of them. Heartened by something else piercing the darkness, the ponies began to run forward only to stop as the light in front of them also stopped and then turned to face them. Before them stood Starlight Glimmer, with Granny Smith suspended in the air by a cyan glow of magic. No words were spoken as Starlight shot a beam of magic at the trees around them and then galloped off, Granny still in tow. “Granny!” Applejack shouted as she began to charge forward only for a massive wooden limb to smash right into her, knocking her back to the rest of the group. With a tremendous roar, the earth shook and the air around them seemed to scream as massive roots began to pull themselves out of the ground. The trees around them began lifting themselves out of the forest floor, knotted limbs swinging wildly as the foliage began to advance upon them with violent intent. “She used an animation spell in conjunction with an ill-intent cantrip at the same time; amazing!” Twilight gasped as she watched the foliage around them rise up. “Not the time!” Spike yelled as he bopped the mare on the head, breaking her out of her appreciation of the spell-craft before them and back to the immediate danger. Charging forward, Applejack and Bon-Bon sprang into action. Applejack’s hoof greaves cycled up in power before she lashed out with both hind legs, catching a smaller tree dead center and blasting it apart into a shower of splinters. Hefting her axe, Bon-Bon swung and hacked away at a smaller tree, breaking it into kindling before backing off as another, much larger, specimen swiped at her. Behind them, Tree Hugger stood paralyzed at the corruption of the woods around them, while Carrot Top pulled out her cross bow and loaded a carrot. But before she could shoot, Bon-Bon swung her axe towards a small rock peaking out of the forest floor, the blade of her axe scrapping horizontally across the surface of the rock and causing a shower of sparks to erupt, hundreds of tiny embers trailing the blade's flight path and pelting the perforated tubes attached to each side of the axe. The volatile chemicals in each tube ignited as the sparks found their way within each tube and soon the rockets roared to life as Bon-Bon twisted her head and slammed the axe down upon another arbor opponent before hefting the it up once more, swinging it around herself, and raising up on her hind legs as she began spinning like a top, the thrust of the rockets adding to her momentum as she moved faster and faster, becoming a whirling dervish of destruction shattering all life around her. Seeing that Bon-Bon was thinning their opponents drastically, Applejack slammed her greaves into the ground, launching herself into the air and coming down like a meteor upon another tree, knocking it down. Jumping back, she saw the last member of their group pull out a metal disk from her saddle bags and toss it at the wooden opponent as it struggled to get back up. Immediately, steel wires sprang from the device and wrapped around the tree, trapping its limbs as her assistant breathed a short burst of dragon fire upon it. Soon the entire being was awash in flames as the steel cables held against the heat of the burning wood and kept the plant from lashing out as it turned to ash. Turning to the last tree, they saw a massive old oak that had towered above the rest, but proved to also be the slowest to pull itself free from the ground. The group jumped back as it tore the ground beneath them with its roots and charged forward. Cycling up her greaves once more, Applejack bucked it hard, blasting away a good section of its trunk. But the old oak did not display any indication that it felt any pain as it merely slid back a few feet before lumbering forward once again. Reaching back into her bags, Sparkle pulled out several orbs with her teeth and flung them at the wooden golem. Tiny rotors popped out the top of each orb as they quickly began to spin and fly around the massive opponent. Their tiny propellers did little to damage the ancient oak, but they did seem to confuse it as it swung it’s many limbs at the darting little flyers, giving Bon-Bon time to rush forward and slam her rocket axe directly into the massive tree, taking out more of it’s trunk. Pulling out a cylinder, Sparkle tossed it to Spike and ran towards Applejack. “Once Spike drops that canister in front of the tree, wait for it to step on it. Once it does, I need you to buck it as hard as you can!” Nodding, Applejack watched as the small dragon raced up and dropped the cylinder on the ground and shoot a harassing flame near the tree to get its attention without setting it and the forest around them on fire. “I’ve bumped into bookshelves tougher than you! Why can’t you hit anything? Too dumb to actually aim?” Blasting another short burst of flame at the tree Spike ran back as his wooden opponent began stomping after him. As soon as the ancient oak stepped on the cylinder, the ends of the jack began extending, catching the underside of the tree and pressing upwards with all of its might. Racing forward, Applejack planted both forehooves upon the ground and with a deep grunt, kicked out with all of her might. The power lines of her greaves shined a bright yellow as her legs hit the oak. Tipping backwards, the oak tilted further than it could compensate for and, with a thunderous groan, toppled back, snapping branches and limbs as it hit the ground with an earth-shaking crash. Despite being on its side, the old tree still had some fight within it as it shook and trembled, trying to right itself once more. Running forward, Carrot Top placed a hoof upon the old arbor as Tree Hugger moved in and pressed herself against the damaged and dying tree. “Shhhh, that’s enough old one,” Tree Hugger whispered, her tears falling upon the rough moss-covered bark of the flailing tree as she nuzzled and stroked it. “Let that hate go, it doesn’t belong to you,” she murmured as her earth pony magic entered the wood, pushing away the invading and unwelcome unicorn magic. To her side Carrot Top concentrated harder as she supported the other earth pony. Softly speaking to the tree, Tree Hugger wept as she reached down through the earth and poured her magic and that of the land itself into the twisted tree in front of them. Its struggles slowed down, thrashing limbs calming as bit by bit it returned to its natural state. Soon the entire tree laid still and Carrot Top stepped away from it, though Tree Hugger did not, her face still pressed up against the ancient wood. From their spot, Sparkle and Spike watched the other equines move in to comfort the other mare, nuzzling her and gently stroking her neck and back as she continued to mourn for the fallen tree. With a sad look in her eyes, Applejack bowed her head and gently nudged Tree Hugger with a soft nicker. Wiping her eyes, Tree Hugger stepped back and nodded back to Applejack, acknowledging that the group needed to continue moving. With one last look towards the tree, Tree Hugger turned away from it, only to see the town librarian in her path. With a sheepish blush and a timid tilt of her head, Sparkle placed a tiny acorn in front of the other mare. “Uh, it fell off of the tree in the fight, so I thought maybe you’d like it?” She mumbled as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head, avoiding eye contact and so as to avoid further connecting emotionally to the grieving mare. Tree Hugger would not have any of that though as she swept the smaller pony up in a massive hug. Picking up the acorn with the reverence of a holy artifact, she carefully placed it within her pannier. “Thank you.” Eager to move past the embarrassing moment, Sparkle nodded and quickly turned back to Applejack, and the group began moving again. Soon enough, they found themselves leaving the grove of trees and looking upon a mist-covered chasm, the broken remnants of a bridge rotting away at either end, with the broken and crumbling remains of a castle just beyond. Though it must have been an impressive sight back it it’s heyday, it now stood as a silent sentinel within the middle of the forest, nature reclaiming it bit by bit despite the ancient wards that still seemed to hang about it. Looking back at her companions, a silent communication seemed to pass between Applejack and the rest of the party. Well, for everypony except for Sparkle and Spike, who just looked confused at the sight of the rest of the ponies glancing at each other and nodding their heads. Reaching into her saddle bags, Applejack pulled out a rope and with a flick of her head, tossed one end towards Bon-Bon who soon had it tied around a sturdy tree. Cycling up her greaves again, the orange mare backed up several paces before sprinting forward. Kicking hard off of the ground, she launched herself across the chasm and landed with a heavy thud on the other side, her hooves digging deeply into the ground beneath her, the other end of the rope still secure within her mouth. Plucking a few saplings from her pannier, Tree Hugger dug a small depression in the soil and planted them lovingly. “Come on little dudes, you can do it. Grow up big and strong. Life is so great out here, the air is cool and damp, and there’s so much yummy water and minerals in this soil.” Twitching at her voice, the saplings soon began to grow, reaching the hanging line of rope that stretched out across the chasm. They began to grow across the rope, growing ever thicker and more robust as they approached Applejack. Setting her end of the rope to the ground and holding it in place with her hoof, Applejack directed the other end of the mass of vines towards the ground again where they dug once more into the soil. Digging deep into the earth the vine bridge continued to grow and strengthen until it was thick enough for two ponies to cross side by side. Spike watched with his jaw dropped, while Sparkle’s eyes drank in the entire scene, giddy excitement bubbling up within her as she catalogued more earth pony magic performed before her. Soon she, Spike, and Carrot Top had crossed the bridge, with Bon-Bon choosing to go last due to her heavier armor. Once the last member of their party had joined them, they were able to see the ruins of the castle in all of its broken glory. Approaching the entrance to the structure, Applejack turned to her companions. “I can’t thank you enough from the very bottom of my heart at what all of you have done so far. Really, I can’t be prouder of each and every one of you. I know that with all of you by my side we can beat anything that Starlight can throw at us and rescue my Granny."