The wood had never looked so dark and menacing.
The six ponies and one dragon stood at the edge of the trees, on the road that lead from the deserted facsimile of Ponyville. The trail ran on - disappearing through the dark shadows cast by the tall trunks and thick canopy of leaves that blotted out the light of the moon, and even hid the hills and mountains in the distance beyond.
At least it wasn't the Everfree Forest.
“It sure look like Whitetail Wood, but it don' feel like it. Ah don' trust this place none y'all...”
Applejack looked cautiously up at the overhanging branches.
“Indeed Applejack, I sense much darkness and fear in this forest...” Luna stared hard into the trees, as if she was seeing much more than what was visible.
Fluttershy grew nervous. “Ooh....I-I hope that there's nothing scary hiding in there...”
“Fluttershy dear, whoever heard of anything like THAT in Whitetail wood? It's in Equestria, it's not like the Everfree forest.” Rarity was doing her best to reassure Fluttershy, despite her own misgivings.
“Aww c'mon you guys! We can totally take ANYTHING this place can dish out. We totally showed Discord didn't we? Rainbow Dash hovered confidently above them, her forehooves on her hips.
“No, Discord decided not ta do anythin' Dash.” Applejack retorted sternly. “Wil' ya quit braggin' already?”
“Beware my little ponies.” Luna quickly interrupted before the two rivals could start arguing again. “Remember well, that this is not the world - nor the Whitetail wood - that you know. Here, even the most peaceful place in Equestria could hide something as dangerous as anything in the Everfree.”
Fluttershy squeaked and tried to hide her head in a rabbit hole as Luna lit her horn up and marched steadily down the road into the forest.
“C'mon y'all. Keep ya eyes open.” Applejack summoned up her courage and followed behind the Mare of the Moon. Rainbow Dash flew down and tried to tug Fluttershy out of the hole by her tail.
“Let's go Fluttershy!” The timid pegasus jerked free with a pop. “…and remember what Applejack said ok? Eyes open...”
Fluttershy cringed and squeaked as her winged friend strained to push her along the ground, her hooves scouring deep trenches along the way. Pinkie Pie skipped happily past, bouncing off all four hooves.
“Wee! C'mon Fluttershy, turn that frown around! And anyway, if anything reeeeaaaally scary's going to happen, my Pinkie Sense'll soon tell us.” Pinkie hopped ahead of the rest of the ponies, cheerfully humming a rendition of her 'Giggle at the Ghostie' song all the way.
“R-really?” Fluttershy quaked.
“Sure, If my knee gets pinchy, that's my Pinkie sense telling me something scary's going to happen!”
The pink earth pony ducked under a low branch, totally oblivious to the snake which suddenly dangled out of the tree and hissed at her.
“Of course... I always laugh at scary things so I never get scared, and because I never get scared I never get any pinchy knee warnings from my Pinkie sense because I don't get scared...”
Pinkie's ramblings didn't even pause, despite the open mouthed expressions of terror on her friends' faces – even as something that looked like a gnarled tree with a creepy face made a grab for her and missed.
“...which is kind of silly really because the reason I never get scared is because I have my Pinkie sense to tell me if something scary's going to happen, so I should get scared all the time but I don't because I have my Pinkie Sense...”
Pinkie's voice was suddenly silenced when a giant foot emerged from the bushes and landed on top of her, followed by the rest of the Hydra it was attached to. Her friends gasped but then a boulder nearby wobbled and Pinkie Pie emerged - totally unscathed, seemingly oblivious and still chattering.
“And I said 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?' and then I...golly - that was a sudden holey...So wait, what was I saying? ...Oh Yeah! So I can't get scared even though my Pinkie sense doesn't warn me about scary things, because I have my Pinkie sense which doesn't warn me about scary things...”
The other ponies were now desperately resorting to semaphore signals and improvised sign language, to try and attract the earth pony's attention without attracting the attention of the by now very confused Hydra - which took another stab at swallowing it's unusual prey, and ended up with a face full of branch that had sprung back with some force after Pinkie pushed it aside. Unfortunately, their gestures were wasted, as Pinkie was strolling along with her eyes shut.
“...and that's how I make cupcakes, no matter what some ponies might say...Maybe next time I'll tell you why I don't get scared or why I don't get any warning from my Pinkie sense about scary things because I don't get scared, but it's really confusing because...”
Applejack hid her face in her hat as a Cockatrice slithered out of the undergrowth and glared at the party pony, who simply wandered past with her eyes still shut as if nothing was going on. It stared up at the Hydra in confusion, who returned the look before promptly turning to stone.
“...so anyway, are we nearly there yet? This is just so fun-fun-funerific! I can't wait to see the moon... course it isn't really the moon but I'm sure it'll still taste nice...oops - twitchy tail...must be a leaf or something falling...” Pinkie stepped to one side as her tail twitched, just as a large assortment of household items appeared from nowhere and crashed heavily into a pile on top of the Cockatrice, which had lunged into range. The mysterious cascade was quickly followed by the thoroughly stoned Hydra, which had toppled over.
“...maybe Luna will let me make another MMM...but that'll only work if it's Mascapone and if I can find some eggs for the Meringue...hey, you guys coming already? The hills are just over here!” Pinkie Pie turned and looked back at her friends, seemingly unsurprised at the sight of the pile of crushed, concussed and petrified monsters.
“Err...what...just happened?” Rainbow Dash eventually asked to nopony in particular.
“Ah know better th'n to ask questions like that RD...” commented Applejack soberly.
The remaining six collected their jaws from where they'd fallen and ventured past the wreckage caused by Pinkie Pie's randomness. Rainbow Dash pulled at her multicoloured mane.
“But...she...How?...w-why??...” That was all the pegasus could get out. Pinkie Pie's head suddenly popped out of a hollow tree beside her with a big cheery smile.
“'Cause it's FUNNY silly!” The earth pony giggled and vanished back into the tree.
“Ugghh....AHHHHH!” Rainbow Dash clutched at her head and tried to stop her brain from exploding twice. Ahead, the trees thinned out as the ground began the long slope up to the high ridge they were aiming for.
As they left the wood Luna stopped and looked back at the carnage behind them. Rarity, with Spike lounging on her back strolled past her as the princess surveyed the scene in complete confusion. “How...DOES she do that?”
Spike merely shrugged. “She's just being Pinkie Pie.”
------------------------------
Beyond the wood, the road petered out into open grassy meadows that seemed to run all the way up to the sky. The rescue team quickened their pace as they attacked the long climb up to the top, their goal now very near.
“C'mon now y'all, we' almost made it...” Applejack puffed. Rainbow Dash cruised above them, at one point gliding down to pick a few apples from a nearby tree.
“Ooohh...I do...so...despise...hiking!” complained Rarity.
Much later, the night cloaked vision of the land Equestria stretched before their hooves as they arrived, puffing and snorting, at the top.
Rainbow Dash looked about her at the distant, moonlit fields and darkened towns before staring up at the moon.
“OK...now we're here... does anypony know how being here helps us to get way up there?”
She gestured impatiently up at the silver orb glowing brightly above them, still very small and high up in the sky.
The midnight figure of Princess Luna silently stepped forward, the polished silver shoes on her hooves shining bright in the moonlight. She stood tall and magnificent on the hilltop, the diamonds in her jet-black obsidian necklace and tiara sparkling almost as much as the stars in her ever flowing mane and tail, which seemed even larger and more alive than ever.
Focusing her gaze up to her heavenly dominion, the Architect of the Night closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated. Her horn began to glow brightly, and when her eyes flew open again they were filled with blazing white light. Above them the moon suddenly appeared to move, getting larger as it set lower and lower. The six friends watched in awe as the moon descended smoothly towards them until it almost filled the sky before them. The glow faded from Luna's horn and the Lunar orb stopped, hanging dead still in the sky.
“Wow...I totally forgot she could do that...” commented Rainbow Dash to Applejack. “Uhh...” The pegasus stiffened suddenly and gulped, her eyes going wide in momentary panic as she slowly glanced over to Luna, who gave her a disapproving look.
“Eh heh...” Raindow Dash grinned nervously. “Sorry Princess...it really was awesome though.” The pegasus went red and fidgeted uncomfortably, but the Princess merely rolled her eyes in frustration as Applejack, Spike and Rarity glared at Rainbow Dash.
“Way ta go Princess.” Applejack quickly broke the uncomfortable silence, making a genuinely respectful bow which Luna returned with a regal nod. As they all looked up at the moon before them Rarity spoke up.
“Hmmm...It certainly seems reachable to those of us with wings, but I don't see how us earthbound ponies can get to it...”
“Indeed Rarity, I had not given thought to this. Although it would be a simple matter to carry you or use my magic to levitate you with us, it is not enough to pass through the gateway simply by approaching it. Our thoughts must pass through with us as well. Should one of you fail to enter with your companion, that would be most...unfortunate." Luna thought for a moment. ”T'would have been easier if we all had wings...” she mused
“Our thoughts must what now?” asked Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow.
“I dunno...I think she means that you have to think about passing through it to actually do it or something.” explained Spike.
“It's a magic thing Rainbow Dash.” Rarity put in loftily, flicking her mane with a toss of her head.
“Ah don' understand it either...but Luna's right - 's a long way down if somethin' goes screwy. There jus' gotta be a way...” Applejack peered over crest of the hill at the fields far below, then looked up at the moon again.
“I know! I know! How about a Reeeeeeaaaaaaaaalllllly long ladder?!” suggested Pinkie.
“Arrrghh...this is so dumb!” Rainbow Dash had finally lost patience, throwing an apple she'd picked off the tree earlier at the moon in her temper. The missile sailed upwards, on a steep trajectory through the night sky.
Until it suddenly bounced off the moon.
“Wha...?” Applejack's mouth fell open as the apple tumbled downwards into the darkness below. “How in the HAY tha' happen?!”
“Remember Applejack - this is all in Twilight's dream, and in dreams not everything is as it appears to be.” Luna was looking up at where the apple had struck the moon with a thoughtful expression.
“But why'd it...Hey, hold up a sec...” An idea had suddenly leapt into Applejack's mind. Reaching under her hat, she pulled out her trusty lasso.
“Back up everypony, I gotta try somethin'...” The orange cowpony swung the noose of her lasso above her head and let fly. The loop soared through the sky towards the moon, getting further and further away until it lost altitude and began to fall.
“Darn it! Ah could a' sworn tha'd work...”
Applejack spun round as a silver hoof suddenly rested on her shoulder, to find Luna close by.
“Applejack. Your element is Honesty, and that is what you must use to give you the power to overcome this obstacle.”
“Mah element? I don' understan' Princess...”
Luna smiled “You must use your honesty Applejack, focus on remembering the truth of what this moon really is...”
“Tha' truth?...wait...” Applejack blinked up at the moon as if realising something, then pulled in her lasso and got ready to throw again. Her expression turned into one of deep concentration, fixing her gaze on her target as she swung the noose round above her head once more. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“There is no moon...” she whispered to herself.
The lasso flew from the Earth pony's grip, sailing high into the air almost as if it was moving in slow motion - before neatly dropping over the shining disc of the moon. With a quick tug on the rope, the farm mare closed the noose tight to cheers from the others. Applejack let out a huge sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off her brow, before assuming her victory pose with a celebratory cry of “Yeehaa!”
For the next few minutes everypony was busy. Spike, Fluttershy and Pinkie collected wood and branches, which were brought up to the top of the hill. Rarity then set to work, making an improvised rope bridge which Applejack and Rainbow Dash managed to rig to the lasso rope. At last the bridge was finished, leading up from the ground to stop directly in front of the face of the impossible moon.
“Wee!” Pinkie Pie raced up the bridge. The face of the moon seemed to be directly in front of her, close enough to touch. “Now what?”
Luna flew up beside the bridge as the other ponies cautiously made their way up the rickety bridge. She beat the air with her wings for a moment, then wordlessly pressed forward towards the glowing wall and disappeared in a flash of light.
As the Night Princess winked out of sight, Applejack came up beside Pinkie and pushed at the moon experimentally with one hoof. The earth pony's foreleg immediately sank through, the shimmering wall seemingly having the consistency of water. Applejack pulled her hoof back, then with a minor adjustment of her hat she strode forward and vanished in another flash of light. Close behind came Pinkie, and one by one the ponies faded out of sight.
Rainbow Dash hovered by the face of the moon as the last of her friends passed through. Pausing for a moment, she turned and took one last look round. Behind her the silent, shadowy world of Twilight's dreams stretched to the horizon, empty and lifeless. With a final glance at the ghostly Ponyville in the distance, the weathermare wheeled round and vanished into moonlight.