It was suppose to be one of the biggest nights of the year. I was busy for most of the day taking care of my little friends who lived in the river. One of my catfish friends, Coral, was really eager to meet Princess Celestia when she arrived for the Summer Sun Celebration. Ponyville isn't close to the sea, so I am in charge of taking care of the rivers instead. One day I hope to visit the sea again, I haven't been there since I was a little filly.
Later that day, Pinkie Pie was throwing a surprise party for a new unicorn who had arrived in Ponyville. Her name was Twilight Sparkle; who knew she'd end up saving us all later? Anyway, the party was a lot of fun and that's when Raindrops accidentally bummed into me and knocked my punch over.
"Oh, I'm really sorry!" said Raindrops, trying desperately to clean up her mess.
I wanted to be mad, but something about her stopped me and it wasn't like she meant to do it. At least nopony had noticed. I smiled at her and said "It's alright, I know you didn't mean to." I knelt down and helped to pick up the broken glass. "Let's just hope Mrs. Cake won't miss her cup."
Raindrops giggled "Yeah hopefully not. My name's Raindrops, and you are?" I had seen her around before but never really talked to her. She was one of the Pegasus ponies who took care of the rain clouds.
"I'm Sea Swirl." It was getting close to time for Celestia to show up and I wanted to hurry up and check on my river friends again before she arrived. I said goodbye to Raindrops, then left the party and went to the nearest bridge. Coral was there and as peppy as ever and so was Morning Dew the frog.
"Alright guys, you be on your best behaviors when she gets here." Morning Dew nodded at me. "I'm sure she's going to walk this way, so be ready when she does." I turned around and almost ran right into a pony.
"What are you doing?" she asked curiously. It was Apple Fritter, one of Applejacks cousins. I had heard they were having a reunion today but completely forgot about it.
"Um..." I blushed a little. "I'm talking to my friends." I gestured to the river and Morning Dew waved.
Apple Fritter looked at him and then smiled at me. "Oh that's cool. You're gonna have to hurry though, the celebration is starting."
I looked at Town Hall, sure enough there was a huge crowd now. "I must have lost track of time, thanks."
"No problem." We both started walking back to Town Hall. "I'm Apple Fritter, by the way."
"I've heard of you, one of Applejack's cousins right?" She nodded and then we got separated by the crowd.
The whole town was here tonight, all waiting for Celestia. I was so excited that I didn't even listen to Mayor Mare give her speech. I was zoning out, thinking of how happy Coral was going to be when he saw Celestia. I was brought back to reality when the mayor announced Celestia and instead somepony else walked out. It was Nightmare Moon, I still can't believe it. She said she would bring eternal night and then everyone went into a panic. I immediately wanted to see my river friends to make sure they were okay so I bolted for the door. However, I didn't make it to the door because Raindrops fell on top of me.
"Oh..." she blushed. "I'm sorry Sea Swirl."
"Really?" I looked up at her, annoyed. "How many times are you going to run into me today?"
Raindrops thought for a moment, "At least a couple more times, probably." she giggled. That's when Apple Fritter ran over.
"Are you two okay?" she asked, concerned.
"Oh hey Apple Fritter, I'm alright I just have a clumsy Pegasus on my back."
"Hey, it's not my fault Derpy knocked me over!"
"Oh sure, blame it on Derpy."
"But it was-"
"Hey!" yelled Apple Fritter. "Would y'all quit bickerin' for just one second?"
"Sorry Apple Fritter." we both said in unison. Raindrops stood up and helped me up. Most of the other ponies had left Town Hall by now.
Raindrops looked at Apple Fritter and I. "Guys, what are we gonna do?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Nightmare Moon has returned! We need to stop her!" replied Raindrops.
"And how do you suppose we do that, Clumsyhoof?" said Apple Fritter.
"My name is Raindrops!" she frowned.
I looked back up at the balcony where Nightmare Moon had stood. The Town Hall was so full and happy only a few minutes ago. Now it seemed like such a sad place.
"...don't you think so Sea Swirl?"
I shook my head and looked around. "What?"
"Don't you think we should do something?" asked Raindrops.
"Yeah but what can we do?" I asked.
"I bet Applejack will know what to do." said Apple Fritter. "Maybe we should go talk to her."
"Yeah that's a great idea!" added Raindrops. So we all went outside to look for Apple Fritter's cousin. Ponyville was quiet that night. Raindrops stopped one pony, I think it was Bon Bon, and asked if she saw where Applejack went. She said she saw her and her friends heading towards Everfree Forest. I gulped when I heard that.
"Well we tried-"
"Let's go after them!" Raindrops said over top of me.
I sighed, "I had a feeling you'd say that."
So that's why we ended up venturing into the Everfree Forest that night. It was such a dark and creepy place, and the trees were so dense. It made me long for the wide open ocean I once knew. Apple Fritter walked close to me and Raindrops trailed a bit ahead of us.
"How'd I get roped into this?" I asked softly.
Apple Fritter smiled at me. "Think of it as an adventure. It makes it less scary."
"I just hope this adventure doesn't end badly." I replied.
Raindrops heard me and flew back to me. "We'll be alright, Swirly." She grinned at me and then flew back ahead of us. I looked at Apple Fritter and mouthed 'Swirly?', she just shrugged and continued onward.
"Hey Raindrops!" I yelled a bit later.
She turned around. "Wha-" THUD! Raindrops had flew straight into a low branch.
"Um.." I ran over to see if she was alright. I giggled a little, "I was gonna say, lookout for that branch."
"Of course you were." she glared at me for a moment, and then busted out laughing. We both sat there laughing for a bit before Apple Fritter shushed us.
"Shh... guys I here something." She was looking out into a particularly dark part of the forest.
"It's probably nothing." replied Raindrops. "Come on, Fritster, let's keep looking for your cousin."
"Wait. Just for a second." That's when I heard the rustling in the leaves.
"Did you guys hear that?" I asked. Just then a timberwolf jumped out of the brush and all three of us screamed in unison. We all bolted for the opposite direction. I had never ran so fast in my entire life. I just kept running and running as fast as I could until I was completely sure I had lost the timberwolf. The only problem was that when I finally stopped and looked around I had also lost Raindrops and Apple Fritter. I was now completely alone and lost in the Everfree Forest.
"Um... guys?" I started to walk back towards where I had come from. "Raindrops? A-apple Fritter?" I was so scared that night, my legs were shaking as I walked. "Guys where are you?" I called out a bit louder. What if the timberwolf got them? Raindrops could probably fly away, but Apple Fritter was an Earth Pony. How could I have been so foolish and run off without them?
As I walked along the trees I heard the strangest sounds. The trees groaned and creaked, almost as though they were speaking. The night made every crack and crevice look so terrifying it made me want to cover my head, close my eyes, and pretend I was back home. An owl whoed which made me jump and yelp. I went running again, blindly through the trees, yelling for my friends with tears in my eyes. "Raindrops! Apple Fritter! Please I ne-"
That's when I plowed into Raindrops, knocking us both to the ground. She just said "Hey that was your fault this time!"
"Raindrops!" I yelled happily and hugged her tightly. "I thought I'd be alone forever!"
"Woah there, Swirly." she smiled at me.
"Sorry.." I blushed and got off of her. "I was just..."
"Apple Fritter isn't with you?" she replied.
"What?" I looked around. "I thought she was with you!"
"No we got separated." Then there was a loud scream. We both looked at each other. "That sounded like..."
"Apple Fritter!" I finished for her. The two of us rushed towards the direction of the scream. The forest opened up to a very steep cliff. Apple Fritter was standing on an outcrop that was too far down for her to climb back up. Down below her was the timberwolf we saw earlier, and it was trying to claw its way up to Apple Fritter.
"How'd you get down there?" asked Raindrops.
"I- I fell!" replied Apple Fritter. She looked down at the timberwolf and then back up at us. "I could sure use some help here!"
Raindrops flew down to help her. "Be careful!" I shouted to them."
"We'll be fine." said Raindrops as she grabbed hold of Apple Fritter. As she stepped onto the outcrop, the rocks gave way and the two started to tumble down towards the timberwolf. Raindrops recovered and was back in the air but Apple Fritter was still tumbling down. I panicked and with all my strength I used my telekinesis to pick up Apple Fritter. I set her down next to me and then fell over, exhausted.
Apple Fritter ran over to me. "Are you okay?"
I looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah... I'm just not used to carrying anything bigger than a fish or a frog."
"Uh Fritster..." We both looked at Raindrops. She was giggling. "Your uh... look at your hair."
We both looked at her hair and she gasped. "Ah! What happened to my hair!" Her green hair was now as brown as the pastries on her cutie mark. "Sea Swirl, what did you do!?!"
I stood up and giggled a little. "I... I think that was a side effect from when I carried you."
"Is my hair going to be like this forever!?" she exclaimed.
"It should go back to normal in a few days." I smiled at her. "It looks kind of cute."
"Yeah now you have hair that matches your cutie mark!" Raindrops said, giggling.
"I look more like a rotten apple." said Apple Fritter, looking down.
Raindrops got right up in her face and said "Hey! No sad faces on this adventure!" She grinned.
I giggled. "Come on guys, let's go find Applejack and her friends." We continued walking for a while until we reached a river running through the forest. I gleefully ran up to it and looked at all the fish inside. "Hello little friends!"
Raindrops giggled. "You sure do like fish don't you?"
"Oh I love them!" I said with a big smile. "They're so cute with their little fins and googly eyes."
Apple Fritter walked up behind us. "Hey Raindrops, bet you can't make that jump." She pointed to a part of the river where there was a single stone in the middle.
"That?" Raindrops grinned. "That's nothing!"
"Even without your wings?" asked Apple Fritter.
Raindrops put her hoof around Apple Fritter. "Fritster, I'm the best jumper this side of Foal Mountain!" She got up and walked over to the edge of the river. Raindrops crouched down and then jumped into the air, but as she landed on the rock she lost her footing and went crashing into the river. Apple Fritter giggled and I jumped into the river with Raindrops. The water was nice and cool and it wasn't all that deep. Raindrops stood up in the water and frowned as Apple Fritter jumped onto the rock gracefully and with ease.
"I reckon I'm the best jumper this side of Foal Mountain." she said and grinned at Raindrops.
"Oh that's it, come here Fudgehead!" Raindrops tackled Apple Fritter into the water.
"Fudgehead!? why you little-" they wrestled around in the water for a bit. I giggled and then swam around with a school of minnows that was passing by.
"You know," I said as I came back up to the surface. "I would have never guessed earlier today that I'd be out here swimming in a river with you guys."
They both stopped wrestling and swam over to me. "Yeah me neither." said Raindrops.
"It's not bad though, is it?" asked Apple Fritter.
"Not at all." I replied. "This is one of the best nights I had in a long time." They both nodded and we all looked up at the moon in the sky.
"Hey guys." Raindrops smiled softly. "No matter what happens, even if it really is night forever, let's agree to always stay friends."
"Deal." said Apple Fritter.
I looked at them both and smiled brightly. "Deal."