“You can’t go in there!” Derpy shouted. After the Doctor verified the location of the forest, he ran out of the TARDIS and toward his destination. The other ponies had followed him out of concern.
“If I don’t, Nightmare Moon will create eternal night,” he pointed out. “One can only imagine the damage that would do to the entire planet.”
“But that forest isn’t natural!” Derpy argued.
The Doctor looked at the entrance to the forest. “Looks natural enough,” he said. “Trees, moss, I’m sure I can hear maybe a bird or two. Or is that a bat? What with it being night and all, that wouldn’t surprise me.”
“That’s not what she means,” Octavia said. “The Everfree Forest defies the laws of nature.”
The Doctor paused for a second. “In what way?”
“The wildlife,” Bon Bon started, “plants and animals alike. They grow, feed, and live on their own, without anypony to help.”
“And the weather,” Derpy added. “Clouds move on their own, it rains whenever it wants, and pegasi can’t do anything about it.”
The Doctor just stared at them for several seconds. Suddenly, he burst out into laughter. “Really? That’s all?” he said, trying to stifle his laughter.
“Whaddaya mean, ‘That’s all’?” Vinyl said. Her voice still had that suspicious tone from before.
“It’s just,” the Doctor explained, still trying to prevent himself from bursting again, “I’ve been to several planets in my life—and trust me, that’s a very long life—and everything you’ve described is completely natural for those planets. In fact, yours might be the only planet that counts as the exception.” He finally managed to pull himself together. “I can assure you all, I’ve seen and done things much more dangerous than a little wild weather.” He turned back toward the forest. “Besides, any danger, real or imagined, can only pale in comparison to Nightmare Moon’s reign.”
“Then I’m going with you,” Derpy suddenly stated. Everyone turned to her. “I am not letting a friend of mine go in that forest alone.”
“I must agree with her,” Octavia said. “This mission, or whatever it is you’re planning, would best be done with a group.”
The Doctor sighed. “Ladies, I’m sorry, but I cannot allow this. Nightmare Moon may be thinking the exact same thing I am. She may be there waiting for somepony foalish enough to make a bid for the Elements.”
“All the more reason to come with you,” Lyra said.
“No! I cannot and will not allow you to put your lives in danger for the sake of a pony you barely trust!”
“You ask me,” Vinyl said, “I’m the only one with trust issues. And I’m going too.”
“Well, that settles it, then,” Bon Bon finished. “If Vinyl’s going, we’re all going.” All five mares stood in a line with determined looks on their faces.
“Oh, fine,” the Doctor said resignedly. “But, if on the off-chance there is something in there, when I say, ‘I told you so,’ don’t blame me.” With the Doctor taking the lead, the six ponies walked into the forest.
The trees were so thick, the forest was actually starting to become darker than before as the ponies walked through it. Vinyl and Lyra cast low-level illumination spells to allow everyone to see.
“This isn’t so bad,” the Doctor said when they were well into the forest. “A little gloomy, perhaps, but that’s to be expected at night.”
“Wait till we get to the animals, Doc,” Vinyl said. “You’ll change your tune.”
“I assure you,” the Doctor replied, “I’ve faced scarier things than a wild animal.”
“Even so, don’t get cocky,” Bon Bon cautioned. “I’ve heard plenty of stories of ponies who’ve come in here but never came back out.”
The Doctor was still uncertain of the others’ fear of the forest, but he decided against arguing further; it just led nowhere and, though he didn’t want to admit it, there might have been some credence to these fears.
Everyone continued to look around for any sign of the Castle. However, it was hard to see anything over the thick canopy. It was a miracle they were able to see the sky. Their journey was made more difficult by a sudden fork in the path.
“Now what?” Derpy asked. “We don’t know where the castle even is. How are we supposed to choose which way to go?”
“I say we pick the path that has the highest chance in aiding us on our quest,” the Doctor said.
“And how do we do that?” Octavia replied.
“Both paths have an equal risk inherent in them,” the Doctor explained. “No matter which path we choose, we don’t know if it will lead us to the castle or not. In cases such as this, we assess what we know about both paths and make a decision based on that. And what we know is simple: the path on the left seems to incline and… uh, could one of you ladies shine your lights this way?” The Doctor pointed to the left path. Lyra turned toward that direction and concentrated her light into a beam. She led the light through the trees. “The incline does seem to be constant,” the Doctor continued, “so we can assume it leads to higher ground. And, if I’m not mistaken, just by a quick estimation of trees per square decameter, this path becomes clearer as it goes on.”
“So what does all that mean, exactly?” Vinyl asked.
“The combination of a higher vantage point and significant lack of foliage should give us a hint as to where the castle might be. Go up there, and we may spot it more easily.”
“Well, we don’t have any better options,” Lyra said. She started walking up the left path while everyone followed.
The group had walked for several minutes. No one had said much until the Doctor heard a small cough; it sounded like someone was trying to get his attention. He turned to find Bon Bon beside him.
“Hey, um, Doctor?” she started. “I never got the chance to ask you earlier. How was that candy?”
“I’m sorry?” the Doctor replied.
“From this afternoon?” Bon Bon reminded him. “When you came to Sugar Cube Corner?”
“Oh, yes, that. Is this really the best time?”
“Probably not,” Bon Bon admitted, “but I need something to think about besides the possibility of never seeing the sun again.”
“Good point.” The Doctor thought for a bit. “Well, I’m not sure what you were going for exactly, but the flavors you described seemed to clash a bit. I could taste both the sweet and minty flavors, but the sweetness overpowered the mint by a lot.”
“Oh, okay,” Bon Bon replied. If she was disappointed by his response, the Doctor couldn’t tell.
By now, everyone had reached a clear spot on the hill. Like the Doctor surmised, the trees had diminished significantly. The hill had become a rocky terrace, and the ponies were standing on a ledge that was fortunately wide enough to hold more than just them.
“Wow,” Derpy said in awe. “You can see the whole forest from here.”
“Anypony see a castle?” Lyra asked.
“I think that might be it!” Octavia said. Everyone huddled around her and looked into the distance. It was hard to tell, since it was so dark, but there was a silhouette in the distance that looked taller than the trees. It just might have been a tower of the castle.
“Okay,” Bon Bon said, “we have a direction. Now what?” But before anyone could answer, a loud cracking sound was heard. Most of the mares looked up at the rocky wall above them to see if there was an imminent rock slide. The Doctor, however, was looking elsewhere. The sound seemed to come from the side. He noticed Octavia was looking with him as well.
“Girls, Doctor,” she said, “I suggest we move back slowly and make no sudden movements.” There was a silent agreement among all as they did as Octavia said.
But before they could even take one step, the ledge completely crumbled away, taking five ponies with it. Derpy was the only one not falling, thanks to her wings, but she followed after the others. She grabbed Octavia and started floating towards the ground, slowly though, so as not to accidentally hurt her.
Meanwhile, Lyra and Vinyl were trying to keep their hooves on the ground trying to slow their fall. “Hey, Ly!” Vinyl shouted. “Remember that dance we choreographed?”
“What about it?” Lyra asked.
“Maneuver four, now!” Vinyl’s horn started glowing. Lyra got the message and activated her horn as well. They waited until they reached the edge of the newly formed cliff and activated their spells just as they were about to go over. Lyra was caught in a glowing blue aura and Vinyl in a golden one. They kept their levitation spells going and slowly landed back on solid ground.
Bon Bon was on her back when she fell and was sliding out of control. It would have been worse if she had not caught sight of a stray root in the rocky hillside. She grasped it with her mouth and held on tight. Then she noticed the Doctor being nowhere near as fortunate; he was on his stomach and was almost spinning as he slid down. He finally came to a stop when his forelegs grasped the edge of the cliff.
Bon Bon let go of the branch and positioned herself so that she was on her stomach and facing him. Because she started falling from a lower position, she fell just fast enough to slow down as she reached out for him and grabbed his hooves.
“Just hang on, Doctor,” she said.
“I don’t know if I can hold it much longer,” he replied.
“Derpy will be here soon,” she reassured. “She’ll get you out of this.” She looked down and saw that Derpy was almost on the ground with Octavia.
The Doctor held on as best he could, but hooves weren’t as ideal for holding things as he would have liked. Why did I have to be an earth pony? he thought. I’m always an earth pony. He could feel himself slipping further and further as he tried to grip onto Bon Bon’s hooves.
“I don’t think I can make it,” he said at last. “By my calculations, I’ll fall long before Derpy can get here.”
“There’s gotta be something,” Bon Bon said. There was a pause. “Doctor,” she said at last, her voice almost pensive, “I’m going to tell you to do something, and I don’t want you to overreact.” The Doctor didn’t respond. “Let go of my hooves.”
“Are you insane?” he shouted.
“Doctor, think,” she replied. “What possible reason could I have for wanting to hurt you?” The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but Bon Bon interrupted, “And don’t say because you criticized the candy. I wanted some honest criticism. You were honest with me, so trust that I’m being honest with you. Let go, and you’ll be safe.”
The Doctor didn’t know what Bon Bon had planned, but he was running out of time and had already run out of options. He sighed, slackened his grip on her hooves, and closed his eyes. “Allon-syyyyyyyyyyyy!” he shouted, almost like a spirit cry, as he fell.
Gravity was pulling on him, causing him to fall faster and faster. Soon, though, his speed began to decrease. He opened his eyes and saw that he was covered in an aura of magic, like a mixture of blue and gold. He looked down and saw Lyra and Vinyl with both horns glowing.
The unicorns lowered the Doctor down to the ground. As soon as he was safe, he looked up and saw Derpy carrying Bon Bon. Everyone waited until both ponies were on solid ground.
The Doctor walked up to Bon Bon and said, “Thanks.”
“Thanks for trusting me,” she replied.
“Okay, we survived that,” Vinyl said.
“But how did that happen?” Derpy asked. “It felt sturdy enough.”
“Let me check it out,” the Doctor said. He walked up to one of the fallen rocks. He reached a hoof to his flank and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He put it to the rock and it started making whirring sounds.
“This was no mere collapse,” he said at last. “Something infiltrated the rock structure and broke it apart mineral by mineral allowing it to affect the rest of the wall and cave in on itself. The question is what or who was able to pull this off?” He turned back to the mares, but most of them had shocked looks on their faces; Vinyl even looked like she was suppressing the urge to throw up. “Um, is something wrong?”
“What was that?” Octavia asked, fear evident in her voice.
“Oh, um, this is my sonic screwdriver,” he said. “It allows me to scan objects with a sonic resonance, unlock doors, access computer files, and…”
“I think she means what happened to your flank,” Lyra said.
“My… Oh, I see,” the Doctor replied. “Keep forgetting to bring that up. Nothing to worry about, girls, that was just my pocket. Perfectly normal.” The looks on their faces didn’t change. “Well, normal for a Time Lord, anyway.” They still didn’t change. “Don’t we have more pressing matters? We just survived an avalanche that, if I’m not mistaken, was intentional. And I have only one hunch as to who caused it: Nightmare Moon. She knows we’re here and she just tried to kill us!” There was another pause, although this time, it wasn’t caused by the Doctor’s pocket.
“Ladies, I’m afraid I cannot stress this enough,” he continued: “get out while you still can. Now that we know Nightmare Moon is out there, I cannot let you continue to risk your lives. Besides, if every one of you gets wigged out by Time Lord physiology, then you probably shouldn’t be here at all.”
There was another pause before Derpy finally spoke up. “I’m still going.” The Doctor stared at her, unable to believe that she had denied him a second time, and after a life-threatening situation no less. “We all agreed to see this through,” Derpy continued. “I know we nearly died and all, but we just proved that if we stick together, nothing can take us down that easily.” The other mares nodded. They all looked a little shaken, but they still had that confidence they brought with them when they entered the forest.
“If that’s what you want,” the Doctor said. “If my memory isn’t too juggled, the castle should be that way.” He pointed off to the side. Lyra and Vinyl lit up the area once again and took the lead.