Twilight and her entourage of ponies stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest, where a vast, seemingly endless expanse of twisted, moss-covered trees greeted them. Some of them, if one were to squint hard enough, even appeared to have nightmarish faces carved into their trunks. Whistling breezes and wolf cries were prevalent among the noises of the wood.
If there were ever a time for Twilight to have second thoughts about braving the forest’s dangers, now was that time. She glanced back to the five ponies that accompanied her: most of them wore stoic expressions, while a couple appeared to be lightly trembling. “It’s not too late to turn back, you know,” she said to them. “I’m fully prepared to head in there on my own. I won’t think any less of you or anything.”
Applejack shook her head. “Nice try, sugarcube, but ya ain’t gettin’ rid of us that easy. As much as you can try t’ convince yerself otherwise, you need us.”
“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie shouted, excitedly rearing up on her hind legs. “Come on, everypony! Time to save the day! Allons-y!” She trotted to the head of the herd.
The other four said nothing to Pinkie’s peculiar war cry and followed her into the forest’s maw.
As Twilight watched them amble away, a glint of light from her cutie mark produced the Academia. The cracks that lined its form were no closer to mending than they were before she’d left Ponyville. It felt as though something was preventing it from repairing itself – a block of some kind. Although whether this block was internal or external, she was unsure.
She looked back toward Ponyville. The lanterns and heat lamps illuminating it made it a beacon in the darkness. Somewhere in town, her brother Shining Armor was trying his hardest, giving it his all. If he was affected in any way by Princess Celestia’s banishment, he didn’t let it show. Rather, perhaps it was knowledge of that very incident that now motivated him. Of course it affected Twilight as well, but not as positively as she would like. Simply hearing about it made her go berserk. And because she did, her Keyblade – and Spike – paid the price.
She sighed yet again before dismissing the weapon and trotting ahead to catch up with the others. Maintain control. When the time came to fight Nightmare Moon again, which Twilight didn’t doubt it would, she wouldn’t lose control of her emotions like last time. For all she knew, it was the key to using the Elements of Harmony.
Princess Celestia… Spike… Wait for me, okay…?
My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship
~ Chapter 8: The Rustling Forest ~
Silence.
For a heart-pounding five (going on six) minutes, the six ponies walked in complete silence, no two sharing so much as a word.
Moreover, the ‘party members’ walked in pretty close quarters to one another, no doubt due to the ominous environment. Twilight would have voiced her objections if she weren’t just as nervous as the others were.
Her head craned repeatedly to the left and right. The Everfree Forest was just as creepy and bizarre as the stories that lent to its infamy told. Its trees were denser and more warped than those in Ponyville or Canterlot. Plants grew more wildly and in random patterns. There were species of flora and fungi that Twilight had never seen before. And every few seconds, something rustled in the bushes, crunched underfoot, or howled in the distance. Not helping matters was the fact that the path before her was practically pitch black.
There was something in the air as well. Something almost indistinguishable from everything else that made the Everfree Forest what it was, but it made Twilight’s nose wrinkle. Every time she took in a breath of air, she felt the urge to cough. Was the air in the forest always this stifling, or was it due to Nightmare Moon’s presence? She could ignore it well enough, but it was just another thing to check off on her mental list of ‘Reasons Why I Hate the Everfree Forest’.
When she felt something brush against her side, she leaps forward with a high-pitched yelp.
To her rear, Rarity lets out a small yelp of her own. “Oh! Pardon me, my dear!”
“Y-You scared me!” Twilight cried, unintentionally snapping at her fellow unicorn.
“An accident, I assure you. It’s so dark, I can barely see three feet in front of me.”
Realizing they were indeed in need of some illumination, Twilight focused power to her horn, causing a bright fuchsia light to flicker to life at its tip. The others sighed a little in relief at this, and Twilight chuckled a little at the thought of being the group’s light source. Their stroll continued, and Twilight decided conversation would best break the unnerving silence. “Sooooo,” she awkwardly began, “I take it none of you have been in here before?”
“No way!” Rainbow Dash blurted out. “I mean, just look at this place! It’s so creepy!”
“And spooky!” Pinkie added.
“And filthy!” Rarity shuddered. When this remark earned her raised brows from her companions, she quickly defended with, “Well, it is!”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Anyway, everypony in Ponyville knows to stay out of the Everfree Forest. They say anypony who comes in…” She then took on a low, shaky tone of voice. “…has never come out!”
“Um…actually…”
When Fluttershy finally spoke up in a near whisper, the others glanced back to her.
“…I’ve been in here before.”
“YOU HAVE?!”
Fluttershy shrank to the ground at their outburst. “I-I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”
“We’re not mad at you, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash explained to her closest friend, “it’s just… What reason could you possibly have for coming in here by yourself?”
The painfully timid Pegasus picked herself back up little by little. “Well…some of my animal friends live here, and whenever one of them gets really sick or they have a problem they can’t handle on their own, they come and get me. It’s part of why I live so close to the forest in the first place.”
Twilight hesitated to ask. “What…kind of animal friends?”
“Mostly birds…and a family of bears.”
A pony as delicate as Fluttershy being friends with bears? Twilight would believe it when she saw it. “…Oooookay,” was all she said before dropping the subject. Looking straight ahead, she concentrated on the dirt path at her hooves and on keeping the light her horn was giving off strong. There, at the very edge of where the light met the shadows, she saw something slinking away. She stopped for a moment. “Huh?”
“Somethin’ wrong, Twilight?” asked the cowpony Applejack.
“I thought I just…saw something move.” Twilight took a few tentative steps forward as the others watched her with concern. Once she’s moved toward the shadowy figure enough, she makes out what appears to be…a claw? Just then, she and the other ponies behind are hit by a hot breath of air. The foul, eye-watering odor causes them to plug their nostrils. “Ugh! What’s that awful smell?”
Applejack froze in place. “Ah know that stench… Ah’d recognize it anywhere…!”
A pair of green neon eyes glared out from the darkness, and a low growl was heard.
“Timberwolf!”
A creature stepped slowly into the light given off by Twilight’s horn and bared its fangs at the group as it snarled. It more or less resembled a regular wolf, but its body was comprised entirely of tree bark, branches, and leaves. Pieces of the forest given life – it looked so alien to Twilight’s eyes, much like the Heartless had at first.
As the others quivered behind her, Twilight stood her ground and prepared to summon the Keyblade, should the beast decide to pounce.
Just as it positioned itself to do so, however, the Timberwolf’s long, wooden ears perked up and it turned its head to the west. At that moment, three nebulous masses of black appeared out of the ground and surrounded it: a trio of Nightfoals. The Heartless advanced upon the Timberwolf, their golden eyes burning with malice, and the beast of timber flesh growled more angrily. As they grew ever closer, the Timberwolf sensed their intent and ran off, prompting the Heartless to give chase.
The six ponies stood dumbfounded for a moment. “…What was that?” asked Twilight to the others, as she was just as confused as they appeared to be.
“I’d call it a stroke of luck,” Rarity answered. “If the monsters of the Everfree wish to claw at each other instead of at us, I say ‘let sleeping Timberwolves—” She was momentarily cut short when something rushed past her face. “…lie’?”
Glancing straight ahead, the group noticed Fluttershy taking off by herself and vanishing into the cover of night.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash cried out to her friend as she and the other four quickly followed after. “Come back!”
Led by the light of Twilight’s horn, they raced down the stretch of dirt beneath their hooves until the grass obscured it. They galloped, desperate to catch up with their pink-maned companion before harm could come to her. When their gait saw them enter a small moonlit clearing, they found Fluttershy hovering a couple of feet off the ground, her eyes fixated on something nearby.
A lone Timberwolf was gnawing its teeth and clawing at the Heartless trio that chased it earlier. The forest native had them outmatched in terms of brute strength, and were it against any other animal of the same build, victory would be all but certain. But the Heartless had the advantage in both number and unnatural ability. They taunted the Timberwolf by getting back up each time they were knocked down. They slashed harshly at it with their clawed forelegs. And they hobbled from side to side, unfazed by its fearsome – yet progressively weaker – roars.
The leftmost Nightfoal raised a foreleg to strike…
…and was suddenly incinerated by a burst of orange flame.
The two Heartless still standing turned to see Twilight – more importantly, the Keyblade in her telekinetic grasp. In an instant, their priorities shifted, and they turned their backs on the Timberwolf to pounce on the weapon’s wielder. As it sped through the air, one Heartless watched as Twilight leapt to her side, and it proceeded to get its face bucked in, courtesy of Rarity. “Hah! Take that, you ruffian!” shouted Rarity to the Nightfoal as its body burst into dust.
Rainbow Dash had caught the last one by its foreleg and, with a dizzyingly fast twirl, hurled it away into a tree; the impact shattered it into nothing. “Aw, yeah!” she cheered, pumping a triumphant hoof.
The threat of Heartless now gone, Twilight turned the Academia on the downed Timberwolf, fearing its eventual attack. The beast snarled at her in response.
“Save yer magic, Twilight,” Applejack suggested to her. “No need t’ go wastin’ it on that overgrown twig. It cain’t bother us no more.” She nodded her head toward where the path continued and beckoned her friends over. “C’mon, y’all, let’s get movin’.” But in the corner of her eye, she spotted Fluttershy inching her way over to the weary wolf. Her eyes widened at this sight. “Fluttershy! What in tarnation are ya doin’ now?!”
The cream-coated mare blocked out all outside noises and focused solely on the animal in front of her. She slowly reached her hoof out to it. It snapped its jaw at the outstretched hoof, and she pulled away.
“Fluttershy, get away from it!” Twilight readied her weapon…
“Wait! It’s okay!”
…but stopped herself upon hearing Fluttershy’s opposing cry.
Fluttershy reached out to the Timberwolf a second time. It only growled at her this time. “Shhh… It’s okay…” she cooed to it with a warm smile. Sensing the affection in her eyes and tone, the Timberwolf stopped growling…and began whimpering like a puppy. Fluttershy walked around to its side; she gasped softly when she saw the gaping hole in the side of its torso. “Oh! You poor, poor thing! Can’t you regenerate?” The Timberwolf whimpered again. “You can’t? Hmm… Twilight!”
“Y-Yes?”
“Could you carve out a sheet of bark from one of the trees?”
“A sheet of… What? But—”
“Please!”
Twilight was at a loss for what Fluttershy could possibly be up to, and briefly entertained the notion that her fear of the forest was driving her mad. Running off on her own, walking up to a dangerous Timberwolf, and now this bizarre out-of-nowhere request? Twilight didn’t believe these to be the actions of a sane pony. All the more reason why she wanted to come here alone.
…And yet…there was something in Fluttershy’s eyes. Something that compelled Twilight to do as she asked. Mind control? No, Twilight was still very much in control of her free will. Hypnotic suggestion? Also unlikely; Twilight didn’t take Fluttershy as the ‘hypnotizing type’, and again, she didn’t feel like she was being coerced in any way. It felt more akin to…encouragement? It was difficult for the unicorn to properly define. Her heart guided her more than anything else. She faced the tree nearest her and sliced evenly into the bark, cutting out a thick but flexible sheet of coarse lumber. As the Keyblade then vanished into Twilight’s cutie mark, she projected her aura across the sheet on the ground and floated it over to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy nodded to Twilight in gratitude and took one end of the sheet in her mouth. She brought it over and used it to plug up the opening in the Timberwolf’s side. Whatever amount of magic the Timberwolf could conjure kept the sheet secure on top of the opening, and Fluttershy wrapped a bandage around it for good measure. “There we go,” she said aloud, satisfied with her work. “Once you get your strength back and you can regenerate more easily, we’ll take the bandage off, okay?”
The Timberwolf edged to its paws, finding it was able to stand upright more steadily. It met Fluttershy’s gaze.
She picked up on its facial cues in an instant and beamed. “You’re very welcome, Mr. Timberwolf!”
The wolf briefly nuzzled Fluttershy’s cheek – it was rough and a little splintery, but she didn’t mind – before turning away and departing for the darker regions of the forest. Fluttershy waved goodbye to it as Twilight walked up, once again finding herself at a loss for words. “You… H-How did…? Why would you…?”
“I had to,” Fluttershy answered, even though no coherent question left Twilight’s lips. “You heard Rarity and Applejack. No one in Ponyville would’ve given a hurt Timberwolf a second glance. But sometimes…a little kindness can go a long way.”
Twilight could feel a smile creeping its way onto her muzzle. As she trotted over to join her traveling companions at their side, she found she’d developed a newfound respect for this shy pony. To do what no one else in the group had the courage or decency to do was truly something.
Maybe this journey wouldn’t be as bad as she’d first thought…
…If there was anything maddeningly consistent about the past twenty-four hours, it was Twilight’s tendency to set herself up for crushing disappointment and suffering.
Why did I have to be cursed with such optimism?!
Twilight made the mistake of looking down again, and a chill shot up her spine. The only thing between her and a thousand-foot drop into a ravine was a wobbly, time-worn rope bridge. Had she been trembling any harder, the bridge would’ve likely shaken to the point of giving way. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked ahead, seeing that Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash had already made it across. She, Fluttershy, and Rarity were far from as eager.
“Come on, girls!” Twilight heard Pinkie Pie call out. “It’s just a little walk across a bridge!”
“That’s easy for you to say!” Twilight snapped back. Somehow she was convinced that, on top of everything else, the pink pony could defy gravity. Putting one hoof in front of the other, she very literally inched her way across the bridge, stepping as lightly as she could on the wooden planks that lined it. When the next thing she felt under her hoof was dirt, she skittered off the bridge and past Pinkie, letting out a great sigh of relief. She turned around and looked to Fluttershy and Rarity, halfway across but still having some difficulty (although it puzzled her as to why Fluttershy didn’t just fly over like Rainbow Dash had). “You’re almost there, girls!” she yelled to them. “It’s just a few more feet!”
Rarity’s pace wasn’t much better than Twilight’s. “B-Be right with you!”
“Just don’t look down, okay?!” Rainbow Dash said.
“Well, I should think that goes without saying!” Rarity said back with an unintended bite in her tone. In spite of the warning, however, she found her gaze being pulled downward against her better judgment, and upon seeing how far down the ravine stretched, she let out a small squeal of fright.
“Told ya not to look down…”
“Okay, easy, y’all,” said the cowpony Applejack. “The quicker we get over this hurdle, the quicker we’ll find the castle.”
Rarity stared long into the abyss, each moment spent doing so intensifying her fear. Just then…a glimmer caught her eye. She blinked. Did the altitude cause her to see things? No, there it was again, in the cliff wall. A red sparkle cut through the thin haze. Rarity was strangely drawn to the glow.
By this time, Fluttershy had caught up. “You okay, Rarity?”
“Hmm? Oh. Yes, yes, I’m alright. Say, Fluttershy, dear, do you see that sparkle down there on the side of the cliff?”
The timid Pegasus immediately hid her eyes behind her hair. “I-I’d rather not look down any more than I have to,” she shuddered.
“Hah. Yes, of course, I’m sorry. …Rainbow Dash! A moment of your time, if you please!”
…At the fashionista’s request, Rainbow Dash picked her up and carried her a few yards down the ravine toward the red glimmer. There, the two saw something smooth and glossy stand out from among the surrounding gravel and vines. “Is that…?” Rarity murmured to herself as she studied the object. Projecting her magical aura around it, she (with some mild exertion) plucked it out of the wall of rock and brought it close to her snout. At first glance, it seemed to be nothing more than a ruby. But as she regarded its odd shape and orange and yellow undertones, she went breathless. “Oh, my goodness!” she squeaked. “Is this what I think it is?!”
Rainbow Dash was, understandably, less enthusiastic about the discovery. “We came all the way down here for a dumb rock?”
“This, my uninformed friend, is more than just a ‘dumb rock’! It’s a Pyrestone!”
“Pie-what?”
“Pyrestone!” Rarity corrected her. “One of the rarest gems in all of Equestria, perhaps the whole world! Why, a dress made from this magnificent jewel would shoot me straight to the top of the Canterlot social ladder! I’d be a fashionista superstar!”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “That’s great, Rarity. Can we go now? I’m getting tired of holding you up like this.”
“What’s the holdup, you two?” Applejack’s voice echoed from above.
“Be right there!” Rarity called back. “Thank you, Rainbow, I’ve gotten what I came for. Let’s be on our—”
“Waaaaah! Waaaaah!”
“…Wait. Do you hear that?”
“Yeah. Sounds like…crying?”
The sound of high-pitched wails drew the two ponies further down the ravine where, on a small outcropping of rock, they spotted a nest of three bawling baby dragons. Their scales were a pale azure, and their stubby spines a bright teal. The broken egg shells around them suggested they only recently hatched.
Rarity’s heart melted at the sight of them. “Awww, what adorable little baby dragons! Hello there!”
Rainbow Dash set Rarity down on the ledge and watched as the unicorn proceeded to coddle the infants in the nest, which appeared to pacify them a little. She scanned her immediate vicinity. “Wonder where their parents are. …Do you think they…?”
“…It’s possible,” Rarity interjected, coming to the same grim conclusion Rainbow Dash presumably did. “The little darlings must be famished.” She took a step back when one of the infants reached its tiny arms out to her – more specifically, the gem tucked away in her mane. “Oh! W-What’s it doing?”
“I think it wants your Pyre thingy. Dragons eat gems, y’know.”
Rarity gasped softly. “No-no-no, little one. Hehehe. I’m afraid this gem’s not for, um…consumption.”
The little reptile became more agitated, as it seemed on the brink of crying again.
“Ohhh…” Rarity’s gaze shifted between the nest of newborns and her prized gem. It was true: a Pyrestone dress would be incomparable in the fashion world of Equestria, guaranteed to bring her the recognition she desired and then some. But then there were the baby dragons before her. Their parents were nowhere to be seen, and Rarity couldn’t ignore their cries of hunger. Rarity bit her lower lip. A few moments of deep thought later, she sighed heavily. “…Rainbow Dash. Take me up to the others please.”
“Say what? We’re just gonna leave them here?”
“Quite the contrary. I need Twilight’s Keyblade.”
Rainbow Dash asked nothing else as she picked Rarity up again and flew up to join Twilight and the others. Rarity hurriedly relayed to them the details and approached Twilight, explaining her need for the Academia. Once she accomplished this, the two of them teleported back down to the ledge alone.
Rarity held out the Pyrestone, which Twilight took in her telekinesis. “You’re sure about this, Rarity?” the purple unicorn pressed.
“It’s not even a difficult choice to make, Twilight,” Rarity answered. “Popularity should never come at the price of somepony’s well-being.”
With an affirming nod, Twilight readied the Keyblade and cut into the fire-colored gem multiple times at lightning speed, leaving tiny bite-sized marbles where once was a larger crystal. She brought the smaller stones over to the dragons’ nest, and they wasted no time in feeding. They were satisfied, and from the look on Rarity’s face, she too was satisfied.
Rarity spoke as she watched the babies eat. “I do hope their mother and father return for them soon.”
“…Me too, Rarity.”
…The six ponies’ trek through the Everfree Forest went on, much to everypony’s exhaustion; with no sun and an unmoving moon, Twilight had long since forgotten what time it was supposed to be.
Applejack was currently at the group’s head, and she walked a deal faster than the rest. For the first few minutes of walking since clearing the ravine, the others didn’t pay it any mind, but as time went on, she’d gotten progressively faster. Twilight and the others were practically cantering just to keep up with her.
“Hey, Applejack!” Pinkie Pie called out from the rear. “What’s the big hurry? We’re all going to the same place, aren’t we?”
“Sorry, sugarcube,” Applejack returned with, “but we wanna find th’ castle and them Elements of Harmony before Nightmare Moon does, don’t we? We cain’t let anythin’ else slow us down.”
“Yeah, but we don’t wanna run ourselves ragged on our way there,” Rainbow Dash countered.
“If ya cain’t hack it, ya shoulda stayed behind in town,” the cowpony said rather curtly.
“Hey!”
Twilight zipped to the head to the herd and cut Applejack off. “Come on, Applejack, there’s no need for that. We all want to stop Nightmare Moon as badly as you do.”
Applejack hung her head and heaved a sigh. “…Sorry, Twilight. You too, Rainbow. Ah just don’t like leavin’ mah family and farm fer very long without me there t’ protect it, ‘specially with them Heartless runnin’ about.”
Twilight smiled warmly at her. “It’s okay, Applejack. I know how much you care about your family. I saw as much when you…” She paused. Her smile faded.
“…Somethin’ wrong?”
“Uh…no, it’s nothing. Um… L-Like I said, I saw as much when you and Big Mac defended your east fields today.”
“Heh, yeah. Those varmints sure gave us a run for our money, didn’t they?”
Twilight paused again. “…Yeah… Good thing you had me and my Meteor spell to help out, huh…?”
“Boy, Ah’ll say! Never seen anythin’ like it!”
“…”
“But enough gabbin’ outta us, huh? We should get a move on.” Applejack moved to continue onward, but found herself cut off again when Twilight pressed a hoof to her chest. “Uh…beggin’ yer pardon there, Twilight. You’re…kinda in mah way. Heh.”
“No…” Twilight whispered. “…You’re in ours.”
Applejack’s eyes widened when the Academia materialized overhead, and she leapt out of its swing arc.
Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy gasped deep at the sight of Twilight attacking Applejack.
The startled cowpony hardened her stance and shrieked, “Twilight! Have you lost yer cotton-pickin’ mind?!”
Twilight’s body went still. “…I don’t sense it,” she cryptically muttered.
“Beg pardon?”
“I don’t know how I didn’t realize it sooner. I can’t sense any light in you. Well, actually, I can sense a tiny bit, but it’s definitely not hers. It’s not Applejack’s.” She shot an indignant glare at the mare in the Stetson hat. “You’re not Applejack!”
Applejack was dumbstruck by this accusation. “Wha… What are you talkin’ about?!”
“Drop the act. I can see right through you now. You may have duplicated her memories – though apparently not as well as you thought – but you can’t duplicate her light. It’s like a hoofprint: no two are alike. And a pony’s light is like their heart’s hoofprint.”
The other four remained silent. They looked to the orange-coated Earth pony with expressions of profound confusion and uncertainty.
“…Well now,” Applejack hissed in a voice that wasn’t her own. The black of her eyes became vertical slits. “…Aren’t we so very clever?”