//------------------------------// // Everfree Forest // Story: Echoes of Harmony // by Scyphi //------------------------------// They arrived at Ghastly Gorge early in the morning of the final day until Nightmare Moon’s predicted return. Once there, Spike pulled through on his side of the deal and set up the Apple siblings to meet with the diamond dog leaders presiding over a whole city existing within a network of caves immediately adjacent to the gorge. This seemed to go very well, with the diamond dogs proving very interested in becoming the parrot family’s newest customers, especially after Applejack gave them free samples like she had for Spike. It seemed like a trade deal would be struck before the day was out, but as much as they wanted to help see it through with the Apples, Twilight was unwilling to wait given how little time remained. Applejack was very understanding. “Ah git it,” she assured the changeling when she cautiously came to explain this. “Ya got far bigger things ta be worryin’ about than this, and Ah don’t blame ya fer that.” She waved them on. “So go on, go do whatcha need t’do.” “Thank you for your help getting us here, Applejack,” Twilight nonetheless thanked the parrot. “I promise we’ll find a way to repay you somehow.” “Ah, it weren’t nothin’,” Applejack said, giving the changeling a pat. “As Ah see it, between this trade deal with the diamond dogs and ya workin’ ta make sure we all ain’t captured by a mad alicorn from myth…Ah figure we’re square. Heck, Ah know Ah said Ah wouldn’t before, but Ah’d try and come along with ya if Ah didn’t have family and this trade deal t’see to.” “Speaking of,” Spike chose to pipe in from where he was standing next to Applejack, “As much as I want to come help too, I’m going to have to stay here, since I was the diamond dog that started the negotiations and the one with the most insider knowledge. My pack wants me close at paw so to keep getting my insight until it’s all signed and done.” He shrugged, averting his gaze. “So…sorry I won’t be coming either. If only we had more time…” “That is perfectly okay, Spike, we understand you having your own concerns to see to as well,” Rarity assured, reaching past Twilight so to give the young diamond dog a friendly pat on the head. “You’ve already done plenty to help yourself.” “I just wish I could do more,” Spike said with a sigh. “But I’m glad I helped as much as I did.” He grinned at the others. “It’s…been great getting to meet all of you, really.” “Likewise,” Applejack pitched in, gazing over what remained of the group. “Can’t say Ah’ve ever met a bunch quite like you lot before, but Ah’m glad Ah did.” She then turned serious. “Ah just hope it won’t be for the last time…so y’all come back when yer done in ‘em woods, y’hear?” “Oh don’t worry, we’re going to do everything in our power to get out of that forest alive,” Rainbow vowed, the griffon clearly not interested in meeting her end there. “Just…get in touch with the zebras before you go in like we planned,” Spike said. “I promise you, they know that forest better than all of us combined, so…they should be able to greatly improve your odds.” He then winced and added, “Or at least I’m sure hoping they will.” He shook his head. “If they show any hesitation about you girls, tell them Spike sent you. Hopefully that’ll get them to listen to what you have to say.” Accepting his advice and bidding a few final farewells, they parted ways with Spike and the Apples and proceeded towards the Everfree Forest looming in the distance, following Spike’s directions towards the zebra settlement. They skirted around the edges of the forest as they went, partly at Rainbow’s insistence so they could get an idea of what they would be facing. The gloomy forest didn’t look any more welcoming up close than it had from afar. Fluttershy cowered as they walked past it, trying not to tremble. “I don’t like this place, girls,” she admitted aloud. “It is rather unsightly, isn’t it?” Rarity agreed, the dragoness even appearing to be greatly intimidated by the place. “Don’t let it scare you though,” Rainbow advised. “If we go in there already terrified of it, then we’re already setting ourselves up to fail.” “Rainbow’s right,” Twilight agreed. “It’s a common rule of thumb back in the Changeling Kingdom that showing fear is showing weakness, a weakness those that’d harm will exploit to do harm.” Rainbow nodded, glad the changeling was on the same page as her. “So if you don’t want to be harmed, then you don’t want to be afraid,” she summed up. “Easier said than done,” Fluttershy murmured, not very reassured. Fortunately, they weren’t going into the forest just yet. Instead, they eventually arrived at a small village of wooden huts all bunched together and hugging the side of the forest so closely, it technically overlapped its border. Inside it were a herd of zebras, exactly as Spike said, but they all gave the four creatures a wary eye and kept their distance. They particularly gave Twilight some hard stares, despite her having taken the form of a generic unicorn well before entering their village, in hopes this would be less likely to scare them away. “Hello,” Twilight said, attempting to start up conversation with one of the zebras. “We’re sorry to intrude like this, but we would like to ask your help with…” she trailed off when the zebra simply turned and walked off, ignoring her. Wincing and finding this didn’t bode well, Twilight tried again, approaching two zebras, a mare and stallion, conversing nearby. “Hi, we’re looking for help and advice on how to safely travel within…” “You will be gone from us, foe,” the stallion told her in a lyrical voice as they also turned away. “And a curse for the truths you do not show.” The strange encounter gave the group momentary pause. “Well that rhymed,” Rainbow deadpanned aloud. “Let me try,” Fluttershy offered to Twilight and approached another set of zebra. “Excuse me,” the hippogriff said with her trademark gentleness. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we were sent by Spike in hopes…” she trailed off when she got the same response as Twilight had. “Spike,” Rainbow repeated, flying in the path of some zebra to try and force a conversation. “You know, the diamond dog? About this tall? Said he’s traded with you guys before?” The zebra just walked around her without acknowledging her. But then finally a response to their queries echoed out. “Did somebody say Spike?” a cheery voice called before a zebra mare came zooming up to them, apparently having none of the apprehension her fellows bore. She had all of the usual traits of a zebra, complete with the trademark stripes (though partially hidden under a cloak she wore over her back), but what should’ve been white stripes in her tail and mohawk-like mane were instead pink. Eagerly, she took in the sight of all five of them, talking faster than any of them could respond to. “Ooh, you all know Spike? And he sent you here! Ooh! Ooh! You must’ve gotten along great with him, which means we’ll get along great, which means new creatures to talk with! Oh, that’ll be great once we meet up with Spike again later! Yay!” Rarity’s brow furrowed. “But what makes you think we’ll meet up with him…?” “So!” Pinkie interrupted, leaning forward and blinking hopefully at them. “What’re your names?” “Uh…well, I’m Twilight,” Twilight said, motioning to herself then to each of the others in turn. “And that’s Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity.” She looked back at the oddly bubbly zebra, uncertain what to say. “Ah…what’s your name?” “Pinkie!” the zebra declared immediately. Rainbow blinked, having expected a more zebra-sounding name. “Really?” she repeated. “That’s your actual name?” “Well, no, it’s not my real name,” Pinkie admitted, “but my real name is long and complicated to say and a lot of creatures have trouble saying it without getting all tongue-tied, so everybody just calls me Pinkie instead. Because, you know, I like pink.” She motioned to the pink-colored stripes in her mane which must’ve been dyed that color. “Of course, I once tried to get everybody to start calling me Pinkie Pie, because I’d thought that sounded even more fun, but, eh, nobody was biting. So just Pinkie it is!” “Talkative one, isn’t she?” Rarity murmured to Fluttershy, who nodded her head in silent agreement. “So anyway, what brings you all here, strangers?” Pinkie went on to ask. “Well, actually,” Twilight began, “we could use…” “Ooh, ooh, you need some of our trademark zebra mystism?” Pinkie interrupted, in an attempt to guess what Twilight was about to say. “Because we can do some pretty good magic stuff!” “No, no, we need…” “Or maybe you’re looking for potions? Because we’ve got lots of those too! We’ve got invisible potions, vegetarian potions…” “That’s very nice, but no, we need you to…” “Oh, I know! You need me to tell you your fortune!” Without waiting for a response, Pinkie grabbed Twilight’s hoof and proceeded to drag her across the village with unexpected speed and strength. Surprised, the others hurried after them. Fortunately, they didn’t have far to go before Pinkie lead them to a humble hut, presumably hers, where a mysterious-looking purple tent was erected beside it. Inside, Pinkie planted Twilight down on a seat in front of a round table before swiftly taking her spot on the other side while the others all hesitantly filed in. “Come!” Pinkie said with comically forced gravitas. “Enter the chamber of Madam Pinkie! For the answers you seek, let us consult the mystical orb of fate’s destiny!” She then motioned to the crystal ball she had set out on the center of the table. “Do you like my mystical orb of fate’s destiny? It’s cool, right?” “Uh…yeah, sure,” Twilight replied hesitantly, uncertain as to where any of this was going anymore. “Is she for real right now?” Rainbow hissed behind her. “Well now, hold on, I’d like to see how this goes,” Fluttershy whispered back, curious. Pinkie, meanwhile, had begun to spookily wave her hooves around the crystal ball. “Look deep into the crystal ball, for soon it will reveal all!” She declared dramatically, before pointing at Twilight. “I see a vision of the future! A future where you will make lots of new friends, get a really cool birthday gift next year, and one day become the new ruler of…” “Pinkie!” Twilight interrupted then gently placed her hoof over the crystal ball, getting the zebra’s attention back on her. “This is all very interesting, but none of it is why we’re here. We just need someone who can guide us safely through the Everfree Forest.” “Oh!” Pinkie said, swiping the crystal ball off of the table and hiding it underneath, completely unperturbed. “Why didn’t you just say so? Where in Everfree do you need to go?” Twilight smiled, feeling like she was finally getting somewhere. “Well, you see, we need to get to…” “You will do no such thing,” a new voice suddenly interrupted, and they turned in time to see an older zebra enter the tent, giving them all a stern gaze. “Not until we know what you bring.” “Oh hey, Zecora!” Pinkie greeted happily, waving a hoof at her. It was ignored as Zecora pushed her way straight to Twilight, who warily leaned back at the zebra’s imposing gaze. “I was just showing the newcomers my mystical orb of fate’s destiny when…” “I must ask that you be silent, Pinkie,” Zecora again interrupted while pulling out a container from within her own cloak, dipping her hoof tip into it. “While I prove to all this mare is hinky.” She then proceeded to smear the green substance onto Twilight, who flinched away. It tingled with magic against her body. “Whoa, hey, what are you…uh-oh…” Twilight cringed to herself, squeezing her eyes shut as if straining to hold something before with a flicker and then a flash, her disguise involuntarily collapsed, reverting back to her natural form. Surprisingly though, neither Zecora nor Pinkie really reacted to this. “Your tricks to hide and deceive will not work here, changeling,” Zecora explained sternly, putting the container away again—the gel apparently worked as a counteragent to changeling disguises. “We zebra know how to shield from that which is endangering.” Twilight, confused, looked her natural body over then at the zebra still looming over her. “But…how did you know?” “Honestly?” Pinkie pitched in here. “Your whole aura was just screaming changeling. I’d figured you wanted us all to know what you are.” “What is more important here,” Zecora interrupted, “is why you’ve come is clear.” “All right, all right,” Rainbow said, seeing where this was going. “Guess this means we’re going to have to give the usual explanation. See, there’s this bad gal that’s supposed to be coming tomorrow called Nightmare Moon, and…” They were again surprised when Pinkie suddenly gasped, realizing what Rainbow was saying. “You’re all here to stop Nightmare Moon!” She thumped Zecora on the shoulder. “You see, Zecora? I told you some creature would be coming about that!” “Be that as it may, that they’re odd is clear as day,” Zecora retorted to the other zebra, motioning to Twilight and her friends. “They are all different and mish-mashed, as such I fear our hopes for help are dashed.” “Oh, don’t be like that!” Pinkie argued back. “Just because we all had our own ideas about who’d bear the Elements of Harmony…” “Wait, you know about the Elements of Harmony?!” Twilight declared, jumping to her hooves in shock before immediately transitioning to joy. “Then you can help us, because we’re here to get them! All we need is someone who can guide is to the Castle of the Two Sisters so we can…” “What you ask simply cannot be done!” Zecora interrupted hotly. “For those who go, that which return is none!” “Wh-what are you saying?” Fluttershy asked with a fearful tremble. “Well, it’s true that we zebra know a thing or two about the Everfree Forest,” Pinkie explained, clarifying Zecora’s words into something more straightforward. “But even we’ve got limits. And the castle you want to get to is in there deep, where all the really nasty critters like to live.” She shrugged sadly. “And unfortunately, it’s not really safe for even us to get there and back safely.” “So do not even try,” Zecora decreed gravely to the group, “Or you must say goodbye. I am sorry for I know that is not what you wish to hear. But you must leave or risk losing all that you hold very dear.” And with that solemn decree, she turned and left again. “Well, wasn’t she just a bundle of sunshine and happiness,” Rarity observed with a frown. Rainbow was thinking about other things though. “Hey, how come you don’t do the whole rhyming thing?” she asked Pinkie. “Eh, I’m just the odd one out, I guess,” Pinkie replied with a shrug. “You don’t say,” the griffon deadpanned back. “Anyway, don’t mind Zecora, she’s just been a little stressed out about things,” Pinkie went on to assure with the wave of her hoof. “She’s not usually like this. And she doesn’t mean it personally either. If anything, she’s just trying to look out for everyone’s safety.” “But no one will be safe if we let Nightmare Moon return!” Twilight objected. “And we’re running out of time to do something, anything, to try and stop it!” “Well then, I guess we just gotta hope you aren’t right about her returning tomorrow, Twilight,” Rainbow reasoned with a helpless shrug, not having anything better to suggest. “But she will return tomorrow!” Pinkie promised with absolute, albeit cheery, certainty. “First thing at sunrise, in fact. Assuming there is a sunrise of course…but that part’s all wibbly-wobbily still.” “Look,” Twilight suddenly interjected, laying down her argument in frustration. “Dangerous or not, we need to get to that castle. I cannot and will not just stand here and do nothing when I can be doing something to try and prevent this disaster!” “And I get that!” Pinkie assured, completely unfazed by the changeling’s intensity. She then shrugged. “But I really can’t help you there. Ask me to take you just about anywhere else in Everfree Forest and I can probably do it. But to the Castle of the Two Sisters? Nuh-uh, that’s a big no-no. I’d probably just get you in more danger.” “There must be someone here who can guide us there,” Rarity pleaded. Pinkie gave the matter some thought, twirling her hoof in a small curl on the front of her mane. “Well, there is one creature who could do it…but good luck convincing her to.” She then escorted them across the village to where a lone hut sat at the edge, isolated from all of the others. “She likes to be alone,” Pinkie explained as she led them right up to the door, “even though she’s been living here with the rest of us for as long as I can remember.” “Why is she here then if she wants to be left alone?” Rainbow asked. “Don’t really know,” Pinkie admitted with a shrug. “She’s…not really part of us zebras, so no clue why she’s staying here either, but like I said, she’s been doing it for a good long while. Apparently she just appeared here one day and…never left. You can try asking her yourselves while you’re at it, but I think she won’t want to explain herself. But then today will be just full of surprises…never know.” She then gave the hut’s door a happy knock. “Hey Creamy!” “Go away, Pinkie” a female voice called from within. “I’m sorry, but I’m not in the mood.” “Aw, but I’ve got some visitors here!” Pinkie went on. “And they’re a real diverse bunch, too. We’ve got a hippogriff, a dragon…” “And I’m sure they’re very interesting creatures, but I don’t need to meet them, thank you,” the voice called again, cutting the zebra short. “Oh, but they’d really like to talk to you, Creamy!” Pinkie persisted. “There’s something I think you need to help them with, and they could really use that help!” “Whatever it is, Pinkie, it can’t be so important that I need to be—” “We’re trying to stop Nightmare Moon!” Twilight interrupted to shout. There was a moment of silence. Then, suddenly, the door opened to reveal the occupant inside. Surprisingly, she was not a zebra but a simple pegasus mare colored a creamy white and bearing a long blonde mane with faint blue highlights that was braided partway down her neck. Her only other adorning feature was a gold-colored amulet worn about her neck. She stood in the doorway for a second, studying the curious group of creatures gathered at her door. “What do you know about Nightmare Moon?” she asked, as if presenting a challenge. “Enough to know that she’s about to return and try again to bring about her eternal night,” Twilight answered, stepping forward as she likewise examined the mare. “Can we come in to talk about it?” Creamy sighed, looking reluctant, but ultimately she relented. “Fine,” she said, motioning them to follow her. “But I don’t know if it’ll do you much good.” They all filed into her homey hut. Unlike how the other zebra huts were typically decorated with trademark items of their culture, Creamy’s was decorated with various items more typically associated with ponies, though Twilight noted most of them seemed fairly archaic. “Are you a collector of antiques, by any chance?” the changeling asked as they made themselves comfortable inside the hut’s only room. Creamy only snorted and didn’t answer the question. “I suppose I should be a good host and offer something to drink,” she remarked with a small sigh, approaching a stone-slab stove in the corner. “Will tea suffice?” “Ooh, what kind of tea?” Fluttershy asked, intrigued. “Oolong? Earl Grey? Chamomile?” “Black,” Creamy replied flatly, pulling out enough cups for all of them (even though not all of them matched or were even proper teacups) and began pouring. “This isn’t a tea shop, after all.” “…black will be fine,” Fluttershy assured after a beat, the hippogriff cowering slightly at Creamy’s tone. Creamy then passed out the cups to everyone and they silently proceeded to sample the drink with differing mannerisms. Twilight and Fluttershy, for example, held their cups with the proper grips but Rarity (surprisingly) more just cupped hers in her palm, while Rainbow slurped her tea and Pinkie chugged hers down all in one go. Twilight couldn’t help but notice that Creamy held her tea more exquisitely and properly than all of them though, suggesting she was well practiced at it. “So,” Rarity began finally so to try and break the awkward silence, “If I may ask, why is a pony living out here anyway?” “Yeah, I thought all of you ponies left ages ago so to immigrate further west,” Rainbow added. “That is private,” Creamy replied sternly, thrusting her cup down with a thump. It was clearly a touchy subject for her. “And you aren’t here to talk about that anyway, so please get to the point.” The others exchanged glances for a moment before Twilight decided to take the lead. “We’re looking for the Elements of Harmony,” she summarized. “We have reason to believe they’re at the Castle of Two Sisters deep within the forest, but it’d be too dangerous for us to try and venture there without a guide. Pinkie indicated you could possibly do it.” “Could,” Creamy agreed pointedly, “but I won’t.” She didn’t even try to explain herself. “Was that all you needed, then?” “…please, though?” Fluttershy tried gently. “Um, not to put too fine of a point on it, but…you seem to be our only hope.” “I assume you’re fully aware, like the zebra, that Nightmare Moon is about to return and likely bring ruin with her, right?” Twilight added. “Oh, of course I’m aware,” Creamy said, rolling her eyes in frustration. “The zebra have been making predictions about that for ages, whether I wanted to hear them or not. But none of the predictions in the world will ultimately change how that can only go down.” “Yeah, but if we can just…” Rainbow began to object. “You can’t stop her,” Creamy interrupted, speaking over the griffoness. “At most you can only banish her again, just to have her come back again later and have this all repeat. And it’ll keep happening until finally the cycle is broken and she’s allowed to have what she wants. Either way, she wins.” She slumped back in her seat. “Honestly, a part of me just wants to get it over with already. There’s no point fighting it.” “Uh, I’d like to think there’re a lot of reasons to fight it,” Rainbow objected. “I don’t know about you, lady, but I’m not interested in being enslaved by some crazy evil mare of the night. So long as there’s still a way to fight, then I say we fight.” “And who’s to say the cycle can’t be broken in other ways, Creamy?” Pinkie added in a more reassuring tone. “It just might surprise you in the end.” Creamy snorted again. “I lost faith in that a long time ago, Pinkie.” “Then…why are you here?” Twilight challenged. “If you really have no faith in it working out, then why stick around on the very doorstep of it all happening? If we all really are doomed, then will it matter where we’re at when it does happen?” Creamy didn’t reply to that for a long moment, staring deeply into her cup of tea. “Do you even know who it is you want to fight?” she asked softly. She seemed genuinely curious in finding out. The others exchanged confused glances. “Well,” Fluttershy began, “according to legend, she’s an alicorn corrupted by dark magic and hungry for power, so…” “She’s not just any alicorn,” Creamy clarified. “She was once a ruler over this land, back when it was still Equestria.” Twilight perked up at that. “Of course,” she mumbled, “One of the two ruling sisters.” Creamy nodded. “She had once ruled with her sibling in peace…but eventually grew jealous of her through neglect and so decided to try and take it all for herself. She then lost herself to the darkness during the course of her fall.” She bowed her head, her gaze faraway. “In the end, the only thing to do was to banish her someplace and hope she couldn’t do more harm.” She then raised her gaze, resolute once more. “But as I said, it’s only delaying the inevitable.” “…are you saying she’s beyond recovery, then?” Fluttershy asked, concerned. “I fear that is the case, yes,” Creamy replied with a nod. “I have seen no evidence to the contrary, at least. She’s just…too lost, too far gone.” Rarity narrowed her eyes slightly. “…how do you know all of this?” she asked. “Look, I’ve given you your answer,” Creamy said, abruptly rising. “So now I think it’s time you all left.” “Now hold on,” Twilight said despite the others all rising from their seats too. “There must be something we can try, some new way to approach the problem.” “Yeah, like, what about the other sister?” Rainbow asked. “Could she maybe help with all this? Whatever happened to her, anyway?” “I imagine she’s long gone by now, Rainbow,” Rarity pointed out gently. “It’s been a thousand years after all. Surely someone would know of her whereabouts, otherwise.” “But what if she’s, like, hiding or something?” Rainbow began to suggest. “It doesn’t matter,” Creamy stressed, thumping the table to bring attention back onto her. She gazed at all of them in annoyance. “What does it matter to all of you, anyway?” She flung a hoof at Twilight. “Why would a changeling even care about something like this, for that matter?” Twilight frowned. “We live on this world too, you know,” she reminded. “Yes, but this hasn’t ever been an affair the changelings have concerned themselves with,” Creamy stressed, staring Twilight down. “You are the first changeling I’ve even seen in ages!” She gazed back at all of them once more, more critically this time. “So why do you all care? Is it just for your own gain, to selfishly preserve your own selves?” “It’s because it’s the right thing to do,” Twilight replied resolutely. “We weren’t asked to come here. We came here because we all chose to. And we’ve all given up quite a lot doing so, putting our own well-beings on the line. Some of us aren’t even sure we’ll be able to go home even if we do succeed…and yet here we are. We most definitely aren’t doing this for ourselves, we’re doing this so to spare others the suffering, regardless of who or what they are.” Creamy glared at her for a moment. “Well, I’m afraid you sacrificed for nothing then.” A heavy and long silence fell within the hut after that. Then Twilight turned for the door. “Creamy’s right, girls,” she said. “It’s time for us to leave. We’re clearly wasting our time here anyway.” “But…but what about getting to the castle?” Pinkie started to object as they reluctantly started filing out. “We’ll find another way,” Twilight promised, gently nudging the zebra out the door with the others. “But it doesn’t look like it’ll be with Creamy. I suspect she’s lost too much to care.” She then leveled one last glance at the pegasus mare before exiting too. “But we still care.” Finally, left alone once again, Creamy slowly lowered herself back into her seat and proceeded to stare sadly into her cooling tea, lost and distant in thought on matters she long wanted to put behind her. With Pinkie’s help, Twilight attempted to comb the zebra village for all the records she could find in hopes of learning anything more about Nightmare Moon, the Elements of Harmony, the castle they were hidden in, or even the Everfree Forest itself. Unfortunately, the zebras were more into keeping their history oral rather than written, and most of the zebras didn’t trust Twilight enough to want to tell her anything. And those who did, still didn’t tell her anything for her own protection, trying to keep her from doing anything they felt would be foolish. What written records she did find unfortunately didn’t tell her anything she hadn’t already learned about either Nightmare Moon or the elements, nothing useful about the Castle of the Two Sisters beyond a rough approximation of where it lay within the Everfree Forest, and anything she gleaned about the forest itself stopped being applicable after a certain distance inside. If it concerned anything too deep within, useful information started getting replaced with warnings of “abandon hope all who enter here” and so forth. While she and Pinkie were working on that though, the rest were also combing the village for anyone who could serve as their guide in Creamy’s stead. But it was swiftly clear there was no one daring enough, let alone confident they could safely navigate all the dangers that deep into the forest. Finally, by the time dusk was starting to fall, having wasted most of their last day on these goals, they all gathered together again so to admit the obvious. “We just can’t find anybody willing to do it,” Rainbow reported as they sat at the edges of the village, peering into the depths of the forest lying ahead of them. “Most anyone we ask just look at us as if we’re stupid.” “Perhaps we are, to a certain degree,” Rarity conceded before shrugging. “But what else can we do at this point?” She looked to Twilight. “Did you find any useful information in your studies?” “No,” Twilight admitted, before gazing into the sky, watching as the stars started to appear and foretelling just how little time they had left. “And at this point there’s not much point in continuing to try, because we’re out of time.” “I guess I’m the best guide you’re going to get then,” Pinkie reasoned in an attempt to be optimistic. “And I can probably get you all pretty close, but…I can’t promise anything after that point, as much as I want to.” She shrugged. “I mean, maybe it won’t matter? I am kinda getting the feeling that maybe all the nasty critters in there aren’t the thing we should be worrying about, so…maybe that means I can manage guiding you after all?” “That’ll have to be enough because we’re just going to have to take the risk,” Twilight concluded with a sigh before turning to Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. “Look, starting this quest was all me originally and Pinkie is the only mare willing to try and guide me the rest of the way there. So we have to do this, but the rest of you do not. I can’t ask any of you to go any further.” But none of the three went anywhere. “Twilight,” Fluttershy began with a knowing grin, having already decided she wouldn’t leave and acting like it was already decided. “We’re losing precious time.” Rainbow didn’t even acknowledge Twilight’s statement, glancing at Pinkie. “So what path are we taking, Pinkie?” she asked. Twilight couldn’t help but grin a little at their support. “And Rarity?” she asked, already suspecting the dragon’s answer. “I’d be grateful, Twilight, if you’d give the word for us to proceed,” Rarity said with a knowing grin of her own. Twilight glanced at Pinkie, who was likewise grinning in support, before taking a deep breath. “All right then,” she said, inwardly thankful for the company. “But like Pinkie said, I can’t guarantee anything at this point, so I won’t lie—this might not end well for any of us.” “Then how about I ensure that it doesn’t?” a new voice interjected, and they turned to see Creamy walking up to them. Her arrival was a surprise to all. Rainbow squinted her eyes at the pegasus. “I thought you said you weren’t going to help us?” “I did,” Creamy relented as she joined the group. She looked Twilight in the eye. “But clearly…I care more than I thought I did.” Twilight made a small grin at that confession. Creamy averted her gaze though, embarrassed. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she pressed ahead, taking the lead of the group. “Well, c’mon then, let’s get going before I talk myself out of this again.” The group hurried after her. “Good idea,” Twilight remarked as she took the spot immediately behind Creamy. “I suspect we’ve got a lot of distance to cover and not a lot of time to do it in.”