//------------------------------// // Leap of Faith // Story: Greene Fields under Red Lights // by Europa //------------------------------// Fluttershy It was really strange to be awake before Elizabeth. The Evolved was usually up before her, so finding her encased in a cocoon of red and white tentacles just outside her cottage was a real shock. Fluttershy could see through the shell that her arms were pinned next to her sides, and the cocoon left her eyes revealed to show they were closed. Her sleeping position didn't seem at all comfortable; standing up like that, but who was she to judge? Elizabeth had insisted she was comfortable and warm. "Um, Elizabeth?" she asked, not expecting her to wake up. She did, opening her eyes with a suddenness that made her jump, the cocoon sinking into her skin and suit. "Yes?" she asked. "Oh, I was just going to, um, ask you to wake up. But, you did, so, um..." She nervously adjusted her saddlebags. "Zecora?" Fluttershy smiled. She'd already had breakfast, and she'd had the presence of mind to set out food for the animals yesterday before going to sleep. "Yes, we're going to see Zecora today." "Zebra," she said. "Sokara was... Sokara was... hmm, odd." "Sokara?" Fluttershy asked. "Who's Sokara, if you don't mind me asking?" "Zebra ambassador," Elizabeth replied swiftly. Suddenly, as if remembering something, her eyes locked on Fluttershy. "Eaten? Fed animals?" Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, yes. Um, I can wait for you to get something to eat, if you want." "Not hungry. Zecora?" "Eager to see her?" Fluttershy asked with a smile. "Second zebra seen," Elizabeth replied. "Rare here." She giggled. "Alright, um, follow me. I know the way, and it's pretty safe." Her eyes widened. "N-Not I think that you couldn't handle yourself, I mean!" "Zecora?" she interrupted. Fluttershy blushed, instantly feeling awkward. Of course Elizabeth wouldn't think she thought that. She was very smart. "Right, um, this way," she said, heading into the Everfree forest. She couldn't stand the Everfree Forest. It was dark and scary, there were all sorts of poisonous plants just waiting for somepony to touch them, and the various animals were often less than friendly, especially the further in one went. To say nothing of the general sense of wrongness with the place, where her innate magic simply could not manipulate the weather. Not that she really did that, but just the idea of knowing she couldn't do that if she had to made her fur stand on end. Of course, the Everfree Forest seems a lot less dark and scary when you have a towering Evolved with you. Fluttershy followed the path with almost confidence, while Elizabeth just looked around, sniffing now and again. They hadn't gotten more than fifteen paces from where they couldn't see the outside world when a timberwolf leaped out of the brush. Fluttershy 'eeped' and hid behind Elizabeth, but the moment the timberwolf saw her it skidded to a halt. Elizabeth went rigid, sending waves of fury and mine-mine-mine through Fluttershy, angry red and white tendrils licking around her form. The wolf growled, and Elizabeth hissed at it, amplified by her naturally repeating voice. It yipped fearfully, and dove back into the bushes. Fluttershy could hear more than one timberwolf running away further on. She came out from under Elizabeth's legs and looked up at her, smiling slightly. "Um, t-thanks, Elizabeth." She was in awe. Clearly, the less friendly inhabitants of the Everfree had learned to fear her. That meant something, if she could leave an impression on them. "Hurt you, wanted to hurt you," she snarled. Suddenly Elizabeth knelt next to her, wrapping Fluttershy in a crushing hug. "My friend. Mine mine mine." She paused to loosen the hug when Fluttershy croaked once. "Mine," she chirped, standing back up. Fluttershy blushed. Did... did Elizabeth really care that much for her? Oh... "Um, uh. Z-Zecora's this way," she stammered, tracing the path again. Eventually, as they neared Zecora's, the smell of predator-warding potions filled the air. Elizabeth wrinkled her nose in a very adorable way. Oh, but don't tell her she thought that; she didn't think Elizabeth liked to be thought of as cute. "Bad smell," she muttered. "Those are the potions she uses to keep predators away." She sucked in a breath. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think they'd affect you too!" "Doesn't matter," she insisted, continuing to follow Fluttershy. "Only smell." She paused. "Only smell?" she asked. "Um, I think so, yes." "Keep going." "Okay." They arrived at Zecora's hut very quickly. Fluttershy thought the repellent potions smelled quite good actually. Then again, Zecora hadn't exactly made them to ward off ponies, had she? She hesitantly knocked on the door, Elizabeth standing a ways behind her and occasionally growling in a certain direction after a bush rustled there. After a moment when nopony answered the door Fluttershy tried again, just a little louder than last time. This time the door opened, revealing a smiling zebra. "Fluttershy my friend, so good to see you! Have you come for a - " Her eyes widened dramatically. "Get behind me, I'll protect! One of the monsters did not relent!" Before she could 'eep', Zecora leaped in front of her, facing Elizabeth. She rapidly grabbed a decorated stick from the immediate inside of her hut and balanced uneasily on her hind legs, brandishing it while at the same time using it to balance. Elizabeth hissed and began to warp with tendrils. Fluttershy's heart leaped into her throat, and she stepped in between them. "Zecora, Zecora please wait! That's not a monster, that's, um, Elizabeth. My, um, friend. Elizabeth, this is Zecora. Um, please don't hurt her!" she said, squeaking out the last sentence Zecora relaxed, and Elizabeth's flickering stopped. She placed her staff down. "Any friend of Fluttershy's is a friend of mine. Come inside, I'll trust you to be benign." Elizabeth stepped forward, walking past Zecora with an uneasy glance. Soon, all three of them were inside Zecora's home. "I'm afraid, Fluttershy, I won't have peace of mind until I know of your friend's kind." "Oh, um, Elizabeth's an Evolved," she said. "M-May I take a seat?" Zecora waved her on with a hoof, and Elizabeth zipped to stand next to her. Zecora just stood before both of them. "Thank you. Um, she's an Evolved. She's actually from, um, another world. We don't know how she got here but she's been a big help." "Not that big help," she insisted. Fluttershy briefly debated asking her not to be so humble, but that would make her seem like a hypocrite and she didn't want anypony to think that of her! "If you insist," she said. "Either way, um, Elizabeth's staying with me in Ponyville for a while before she goes to Cloudsdale and from there, um." She rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. "H-Have you decided where you're going after that, Elizabeth?" She shook her head. "Not yet." "Right." Zecora nodded. "So strange a circumstance this is. When did Elizabeth arrive on Equus?" "Just, um, about two weeks ago," Fluttershy said. "So you probably wouldn't have heard." Oh what was she saying? Of course she hadn't heard; she'd threatened to attack Elizabeth! "Correct," Zecora said before turning to Elizabeth and holding out a hoof. "I hope that, in regards to our meeting, I can make amends. Would you take me to your group of friends?" She seemed to ponder this, then extended her hand, grasping Zecora's fetlock. They shook on it, and then Elizabeth let go. "Thought Everfree animal, protect Fluttershy," she said as Zecora rubbed her foreleg, wincing. "Fluttershy needs something." Elizabeth glanced uneasily at the cauldron Zecora had gently simmering. It seemed to be just water at the moment. "Ah, of course Fluttershy. For coming to see me, thank you. Have you come to seek a special brew?" Fluttershy felt her cheeks heating up. Oh, in the heat of the moment she'd forgotten all about that. "Oh, right. Um, if it's not too much trouble, I was wondering i-if you had anything to help my animals with, um, hibernation? I mean, I know this is a very specific request, so if you don't have anything that's, um, fine." Zecora smiled, easing Fluttershy's fears. "I have just the thing to go to sleep. And for you, it'll be quite cheap." The zebra went over to one of her tables, rummaging through several vials before pulling out one filled with a milky, dark blue fluid, its surface reflecting the dim light like a mirror. "Place a drop on a cloth, and any beasts that scents it will be overcome with sloth," she explained, hoofing it over to her. She grasped it, placing it in her saddlebags. "Oh, um, thanks Zecora." She waved it off her compliment. Oh, was it... too much? "It is no problem, Fluttershy. It is nice to see you swing by. Please," she said, trotting over to her cauldron. Fluttershy looked closer. Oh. That wasn't water. "Have some tea. A gift for you, from me." Grabbing a wooden bowl in her mouth, Zecora carefully scooped some liquid from the cauldron and offered to Fluttershy. She hesitated a moment, then gently took it. "Um, thanks. Elizabeth, would you...?" "No no no," she insisted, backing up until she reached a wall. "Oh, alright," she said, taking a sip of Zecora's tea. It was really nice tea. She stayed a while, telling Zecora about how Elizabeth had come to Equus, and what she'd gone through since, leaving out what had happened to Elizabeth... before. Well, mostly Elizabeth did it. She knew the story better, after all. Zecora stayed silent through most of it, which she could understand, only asking for clarification on a few points. "A very interesting story, and it is good to know you did not seek to make Fluttershy your quarry." Elizabeth gasped, as if the very idea of hurting her offended her. Fluttershy blushed. Oh, she couldn't mean that much to her, could she? "Either way, I have enjoyed your company. Though I can't help but notice, Greene, that your gaze flickers hungrily." "Not hungry," she rasped. "Full." "Perhaps not in the literal sense, but you have lost something dear to your heart." Fluttershy stiffened. She had a good idea what that 'something dear' was. "I must ask you to be careful, before we part." Elizabeth grimaced, sitting down. "Family," she whispered, her echoes carrying it through the hut easily. "Children. Try... try again." Fluttershy's heart wrenched; her friend didn't need to be reminded of that. She approached Greene and placed a hoof on her back. "It's alright, Elizabeth," she said, before looking at Zecora. "Could we, um, please not bring that up? I-If it's alright with you?" Zecora nodded, regret in her eyes. "My apologies, I did not meant to nearly make you weep. I had no idea the wound went so deep." "Didn't know," Greene rasped softly. She turned her head to Fluttershy. "Back to Ponyville?" she asked. "Um, i-if you want." "Back to Ponyville," she repeated, standing. Fluttershy stumbled back, momentarily taken off guard by just how tall Elizabeth was. She almost came up to Princess Celestia's height, and she seemed even taller due to being bipedal and very slender. Without further pause, she patted Zecora on the head, who winced, and swept out the door. She sighed. "W-Well, it was nice seeing you again, Zecora. Um, stop by Ponyville some time?" "I will," the zebra said as Fluttershy stood, checking to make sure her vial was secure. "Goodbye, Fluttershy." "Bye, Zecora," she squeaked, waving her hoof and joining Elizabeth outside, heading back to Ponyville. The Everfree Forest was a lot less dark and scary when you have a towering Evolved with you. ***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-*** Applebloom "W-What?" she stammered, looking up at the older pony. "Ya heard me," Applejack said. "I know you want to play with your friends, but I mean it this time. Ya'll get into trouble more often than not, and if there's anypony who can keep you straight, oh ho, it'll be her." "But sis!" she complained. "We don't need no foalsitter. 'specially not an alien!" "Cutie Mark Crusader Monster Hunters," she deadpanned. "Aw, but... you 'n Mac'll be right out in the orchards! Right in earshot!" "We'll be busy buckin' apples, and ya know that." She smirked. "'sides, ya'll seemed to enjoy her company when she was huggin' ya." Applebloom scowled, but to be honest, she had liked it. Once the fear had faded into a general sense of comfort and all-is-right, being smothered by Elizabeth Greene wasn't really all that bad. The hot gray plastic all around her, whispering song-like alien words in her ear and kissing her forehead... She shook the memories off. They weren't her emotions, she had no right to be feeling that way around a creepy alien. "That was just cause she was messin' with ma head!" she insisted. "She's scary!" Big sister's eyes turned sad faster than they had any right to. "I know, I know, she can be a bit... unnerving when ya meet her. But 'bloom, trust me when I say she'll take care of ya and your friends." "But sis! I don't need no foalsitter!" she complained. "But nothin', Applebloom. She'll be here to keep an eye on ya, Sweetie and Scootaloo." "But - " Her eyes hardened. "Cutie Mark Crusader Matchmakers," she said, with just that extra bit of steel to let Applebloom know she was in full Stubborn Big Sister mode. She huffed, snorted air out of her nostrils, and looked down. "Fine," she pouted. Knock knock knock. Great, was that the alien now? Applejack opened the door, and two things that were definitely not aliens spilled in. "Girls!" she squealed in tune with their shout of 'Applebloom!', joining them in a hug. "How've you been?" Scootaloo asked. "I told my mom I couldn't wait to hang out with you and she let me go right away!" Sweetie all but shouted. "Now hold on ya'll!" Applejack interrupted. "I thought Greene would be here by now, so just sit your haunches right down - " A presence arrived. It was impossible not to notice. The air grew hot and vibrated ever so gently with excitement. "I'm here," whispered that torn-apart voice from her nightmares, making all four of them whip around with a yelp to face Elizabeth Greene, with an open window behind her that had certainly been closed before. The three of them yelped again and hid behind Applejack, who just sighed and stepped forward. "Sweet Celestia, Greene, don't do that!" To Applebloom's surprise, the alien cringed backwards. "Sorry." She looked at them, and Applebloom felt her fur stand right on end. "What held ya up?" she asked. "Mayor spoke with me." The alien's eyes narrowed. "Angry I defended myself. Set straight." Applebloom could feel Sweetie shiver, and she couldn't blame her. Set Mayor Mare straight? What did she mean by that? "Here now." Applejack nodded. "Right, let's go over here, I'll tell you what to expect." With that, her sister lead Greene over to the dining room, and began speaking quietly. Every now and then one of the alien's echoes reached her ears, but it wasn't anything more than glimpses of 'children', 'bits', and 'care'. "So Applebloom," Sweetie asked, rubbing her forelegs together nervously. "You didn't say the... the... alien's going to be here." "Sis just told me," she huffed. "She's our foalsitter." "What?!" Scootaloo shouted. "We don't need a foalsitter! We're big fillies, we can take care of ourselves!" "I don't know, Scoots," Sweetie said. "Let's face it, we can do some pretty dangerous things." "Pfft, and we're still here, so we're fine!" Neither Sweetie Belle nor Applebloom could argue with that logic. "Well, we're gonna have the alien as a foalsitter whether we want it or not," Applebloom said. "Any ideas for getting away from her?" she asked. "Why do we need to get away from her?" Scootaloo asked. "It's not like we can't look for our cutie marks in here, right?" "Right..." they both said at the same time, the gentle rasp of Greene's voice still scratching at their ears. "Still, I don't think she's gonna let us do much Crusadin'," Applebloom continued. "So we'd better come up with a way to give her the slip." "Give who the slip?" Applejack asked. She cringed, not looking towards the owner of the voice. "Um, uh..." "I expect ya'll to behave, ya hear me? Don't wake up Granny Smith, or you'll be hearing an earful from her." "Yes, Applejack," the three of them said in unison. "Good." Applejack looked at Elizabeth, and her tone softened. "Take care of them, alright?" "Protect children," Greene said, looking at the three of them with a blank face as Applejack trotted out, letting the door close itself behind her. "Hello," she said, suddenly right in front of them and on one knee, her face way too close for Applebloom's liking. She pulled back. "Activities?" They shared a look, before Sweetie Belle piped up. "Um..." Scootaloo opened her mouth. "Uh..." Applebloom laughed nervously. "Er..." Greene moved back, leaning against a wall and eyeing them intensely. "Activities. You decide, I protect." "I know!" Sweetie Belle said. "Let's play hide and seek!" "That's a great idea!" Scootaloo said. Applebloom had to agree. They could slip away from Greene, hide somewhere (The barn, maybe. Elizabeth didn't know the farm and she did) and then have fun. "What's hiding and seeking?" "It's a game!" she started to explain. "Ya'll stand in one spot and close your eyes, then count ta one hundred. Err, two hundred. Then ya try and find us after we hide while ya count!" "Builds intelligence, better spots to hide, better looking." She leaned further against the wall, snapping her eyes shut. "One, two..." "Come on!" she hissed to her friends. They darted out the door. "Follow me! I know where we can go!" Their sprint was made in silence and without incident, only stopping once they were safely inside the barn, panting with exertion. Sweetie Belle wavered back and forth, panting heavily. "Alright ya'll," Applebloom said once she'd caught her breath. "What's the plan for today?" "Well, I was thinking we could try getting our cutie marks in being soldiers!" "Don't you mean Royal Guards?" Sweetie Belle asked. Scootaloo shook her head, purple mane flying wildly. "No no, the Royal Guards are for Canterlot. Soldiers are in, like, every main city. Manehatten, Stalliongrad, those kinda places." "Then why haven't I seen them before?" the unicorn asked. Scootaloo gave her a deadpan look. "A thousand years of peace and prosperity." Applebloom let a smirk come across her face. "Dang Scoots, I didn't take ya for a bookworm." She groaned, tilting her head towards the ceiling. "My mom's a historian, alright? These things just rub off on you! Anyway, yeah, soldiers! I mean, how hard can it be? We find some ponies breaking the law and arrest them!" Applebloom lowered her brows and frowned. "That's... police." "Then should we try being police ponies?" "Yeah!" Sweetie exclaimed. "How hard can it be?" They took a breath. "Cutie Mark Crusader Police Ponies, yay!" they shouted to the heavens. "Police ponies?" came a voice, bouncing around the interior of the barn. "AHH!" they shouted, leaping into the air and turning around to face the Evolved. Scootaloo stammered out, "H-H-How did you find us?" "Smell," Greene rasped. "Followed trail." Absent mindedly, Applebloom lifted one of her forelegs and sniffed. She didn't smell anything. What was this alien going on about? Elizabeth tilted her head. "Police ponies? Mark crusaders? Don't understand." "W-We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders," Sweetie Belle stammered. "W-We're on a quest to find who... don't eat me!" "Won't... wouldn't..." Greene stammered, looking surprisingly hurt at Sweetie's not-unreasonable accusation. Applebloom may have been a filly, but everypony knew you couldn't trust aliens. It was a 'Universal Constant' as Miss Twilight would call it. "Would never... children the very thought is just so disgusting I'd never I promise honesty element never hurt you..." Elizabeth said, trailing off and launching herself at the cowering unicorn. Elizabeth wrapped herself around Sweetie Belle before her brain had even processed that she'd moved, whispering reassurances in that creepy voice of hers. Then Applebloom moved. "Sweetie!" "Get off of her you big - " "It's okay, really," Sweetie Belle said. "It's really not all that bad." Elizabeth cooed and gently ruffled Sweetie's mane, upsetting the curls. "She's really warm." Applebloom's eyes widened. "Sweetie, that ain't you thinking that! That's her thinking that, she can leak her emotions ta make ya feel what she feels! She did it to me!" "Wuh?" Sweetie murmured. At the same time, Elizabeth released her, returning to where she'd entered the barn as if nothing had happened. "Watch over. Activity? One of you count?" She shook her head. "Crusade, what's crusade?" "We don't have our cutie marks and we're trying to find them!" Scootaloo belted out. Greene tilted her head. "Important? Marks... important why?" "Well for one, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon keep giving us hay about it," Applebloom muttered, not caring about the language she used. Nopony around would blame her, not in regards to those two. "Diamond? Silver?" "They're big bullies," Sweetie pouted. "Always teasing us about being blank flanks." Greene's eyes narrowed. "Ages?" "Well, they're about as old as us." The alien tightened her fists, palpable anger settling over Applebloom. "Children... fight amongst... don't need my blessing to fix that." She relaxed. "Blank flank bad?" "Everypony else has their cutie marks," Scootaloo complained. "We can't know our special talents until we do!" "Why not?" "Well - " Applebloom said, then immediately cut herself off just in time for the alien to speak. "Griffons don't need marks, dragons don't need marks, I don't need mark," she rasped. "But we do!" Sweetie complained. "I mean, I don't know if I'm supposed to be good at sewing like big sister, or a carriage driver, or a cook - " "NO!" the two of them shouted. She shrank back. "See?" Greene tilted her head. "Hmm. How do you find marks?" "You find what you're good at! Twilight found her talent in magic by performing a lot of magic," Scootaloo explained. "Fluttershy discovered her talent by tending to animals for the first time." She puffed up her chest. "We're going to try everything until we discover our talents!" "Hasn't worked yet," Sweetie chimed in. "But we ain't gonna stop till it does! No matter what the adults say." "Say what?" the alien asked. Applebloom rolled her eyes. "That 'that's not how you find your talent' or 'ya'll just have to be patient' or 'you're gonna get yourselves hurt'." "Crusade to find marks dangerous?" she asked. "Adult ponies don't approve, protect children by prevention," she mused, seemingly to herself. "Thought I think same as them, hide..." Elizabeth nodded. "Will protect on crusade." They blinked. "You mean, you'll still let us crusade?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Finding talent important to ponies," she said simply. "Go on crusade, protect you." Scootaloo's face lit up. "Hey girls, we can finally go get that bungee jumping cutie mark!" "But what about the police pony cutie mark?" Applebloom asked. She shrugged. "That can wait for later, come on! Bungee jumping's gonna be so much fun! There's this ravine in the Everfree..." "I don't know," Sweetie Belle said. "Isn't it dangerous?" "Well, it is the Everfree," Applebloom mused, a hoof on her chin. "And let's face it, the rope snapping wouldn't be very good." "Where are we gonna get rope for that anyway? Or, ya know, a crank, a base pad, stuff like that?" Scootaloo asked. All three of them looked at Elizabeth, who gave them what Applebloom supposed passed as a 'warm smile'. "Protect children." She paused, smile melting into a frown. "What's bungee jumping?" ***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-*** "Well," Applebloom said nervously. "That's one way ta do it." They currently stood above Ghastly Gorge, staring into the ravine below. Emphasis on above. The alien had escorted them to the ravine, then knelt and placed one of her weird hands on the ground and then the weirdest thing had happened. She'd extended a giant web of red and white tentacles up to the lip of the Gorge and then over it, followed by forming long tendrils beneath it to the sides, creating a platform that lead to the middle of the tear in the ground. She pawed the hot ground with a hoof, the fleshy surface pulsing with an invisible heartbeat. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. They'd opted not to bring their capes for this, since they didn't want to accidentally lose them and explain to their families why they'd lost them. It'd taken a lot of reassurances from Greene to get her to lay hoof on the tendril mat, and Sweetie Belle had joined soon after her. Scootaloo, of course, had been the first one on. They'd all been apprehensive of the sturdiness of the thing, but when Elizabeth threw her weight at a nearby tree to break it, and then jumped impossibly high off the outcropping and landed without it so much as shaking, they were convinced. No, what Applebloom was surprised at now was the cord they were going to use to jump. "I don't know, Scoots," Sweetie said. "Are you sure?" The pegasus shrugged her wings outwards. "Well, you saw how strong this stuff is! I'm not really worried about it breaking, ya know?" As she said that, the alien kept attending her, moving her strange fingers over her coat and leaving a biological harness around her forelegs, withers, and hind legs. "Well, yeah," Applebloom said. "But doesn't bungee cord need ta, I don't know, stretch? If it didn't, ya'll will just snap back and it'd be the same as hitting the ground." Scootaloo's eyes went wide. She turned back to the Evolved. "Um, this cord will stretch, right?" "Whip design," she said, as if that explained everything. "Will extend, will stretch, smooth ride." With that, she closed her eyes and placed a hand on the harness going around Scootaloo's barrel. Before their eyes, a long, thick tendril grew out of where the harness went across Scootaloo's spine. Looking closer, Applebloom could see it was actually many smaller cords braided together in a tight design that she couldn't make heads or tails of. The cord extended, like a snake responding to a charmer's flute, and connected seamlessly to the edge of the platform. Greene opened her eyes and took her fingers away. "Ready," she rasped, gesturing for Scootaloo to approach the edge. The pegasus did so, looking down. She shook her head, as if clearing it. Elizabeth approached, sitting next to her and looking down, one hand on the cord where it joined the platform. "Go when ready." Scoots closed her eyes and gulped. "Alright, alright. I'm a big filly, I can do this." Applebloom rushed to join her, Sweetie by her side. "If ya'll don't think this is a good idea then don't do it," she hissed. She was worried. You couldn't trust Greene, just the way she played with their emotions like toys was proof of that. She didn't strike her as malicious enough to hurt Scootaloo, but... "Doesn't this cord seem kinda... short to anypony else?" Sweetie Belle asked. She was right, Applebloom realized. It was barely longer than Big Mac. No way it'd be enough to bungee jump with. Scootaloo looked down, and gulped. "She's right. Isn't this kinda... not long?" "Will extend," Elizabeth explained. "Safe. Wouldn't do this if it weren't." Scootaloo looked over it again, gulping. After a good minute of hesitation, she took a deep breath. "Geronimo!" shouted the orange pegasus, diving over the edge. They gasped as she plummeted, the cord extending like a coiled spring as she fell. Scootaloo screamed wildly as she approached the edge, and just before Applebloom was sure she'd hit the cord tightened, and Scootaloo slowed before bouncing roughly halfway back up. "Yeah! Woohoo! This is awesome!" She shouted at the apex of her return. She began to fall again. "Yeah! Ahahaha!" The process repeated several times until Scootaloo stopped wildly moving up and down, instead bouncing slightly, roughly halfway to the bottom of Ghastly Gorge. "Um, ahaha! Alright, can you pull me up?" she shouted, voice echoing as it bounced up the cliff face. Just as Applebloom was about to ask Greene how they were going to get her back up, the alien jumped. She fell down to the bottom, and she had no cord. She couldn't look. They both looked away... A moment later, there was a squishy thud on the platform, and she cracked open her eyes to see Elizabeth with a wide-eyed Scootaloo in her arms. "... put me down," she demanded, and Greene lowered her to the ground. She pressed a finger to the harness and it... melted around Scootaloo's frame. It was like it turned liquid, flowed off her, and once it was off turned solid again, all without losing form. "Next?" she asked. "I will!" Sweetie Belle shouted, astonishing her. Applebloom's eyes went wide. Of all ponies, she had not expected Sweetie Belle to volunteer to do... well, this! "Ya sure?" she asked. "Well, it looks pretty scary," she said, trailing off. "But Scootaloo was fine, and it looks pretty fun!" "Then why's she sweatin'?" "Um, because this stuff's really hot?" the pony in question responded, now on all fours, quipped. "It's great, girls! I think it's almost like what flying would be like." "Sweetie Belle next?" Elizabeth asked, holding the harness in one hand. The cord had contracted back to its shortened state. "Sure!" she said, trotting over. Elizabeth slipped the harness over her legs and body, it dissolving and reforming where needed, until it was snug over her. "So, I just jump down?" she asked, trotting over to the edge. "You jump, I control rest." "O-Oh," she said, as if suddenly realizing just how high up they were. "You sure this is safe?" "Protect children," she insisted. "Sweetie," Applebloom said, genuinely worried for her friend. "Ya'll don't have ta do it if ya don't want." "N-No, it's okay." She tensed her legs, then relaxed them. She took a little breath, tensed her legs again, and relaxed. She looked up at the Evolved. "Um, Elizabeth?" "Yes?" she asked. "Could you, um, I don't want to sound mean, throw me down?" she squeaked. Without further ado, Greene reached over with a lanky arm and shoved her over the edge. Applebloom cringed, Scootaloo and herself rushing towards the edge to watch the source of the ear-piercing screams. Like before, the cord extended to many times its original length, and then just before it looked like it was going to be too late, slowed Sweetie's descent and pulled her back up. Unlike Scootaloo, however, Sweetie's screams didn't turn to laughs, and she was practically begging to be pulled up by the time she was done. Then it was her turn. Applebloom gulped. She really didn't want to do this, but the others had already gone. She was not going to put up with Scootaloo teasing her about backing down when Sweetie didn't. When Elizabeth slipped the harness over her, she shivered. It was just like being back in the alien's embrace, chokingly warm as she twisted her feelings. She stepped towards the edge of the platform, and shivered. The bottom of Ghastly Gorge seemed to move away from her, the edges climbing up. It was... very high up. She wasn't sure she could go through with this. She looked at Elizabeth Greene; the alien's face was neutral, watching her with all the intensity of a predator. Applebloom took a deep breath. She wasn't supposed to be here. She was an earth pony, her place was on the - She jumped. "AAAAAAH!" The scream that tore from her throat was so loud she was certain she'd lost her voice for good. The cord connecting her to the platform above was limp, there was nothing slowing her down! She was going to die! Boulders tumbled in and out of her vision as she fell, seemingly in slow motion, towards the bottom. She was going to die, she was going to die, she was going to die - The cord on her back tightened, the harness squeezing her barrel and withers. She let out a strangled gasp as it pulled her back up, weightlessness taking her. Her scream cut off, replaced by a, "Whoa." The platform was above her, a perfect silhouette against the sky. She could see Elizabeth's form, as well as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's heads peering over the edge. Then she started falling again, but instead of a scream, a laugh burst forth in its place. It continued on her second trip up, and her third, and fourth. By the fifth cycle of up and down, she was starting to slow, and Applebloom took a moment to catch her breath. She could feel the cord of braided flesh trailing behind her, reaching up to the top. "That was fun!" she shouted to them. "Can I come up now?" A tall figure leaped and fell past her, landing on the bottom of the ravine. She looked down to see Greene there, just as she knelt and soared back up. She squeaked in fear as Greene wrapped her arms around her, momentum carrying her back to the rest of the girls, where the alien let her go. The other two ponies crowded around her as Elizabeth 'melted' the harness off her. "That... was... awesome!" "So," Sweetie Belle asked. "Did we get our cutie marks?" They all checked their flanks. Nothing. "Aww," came their collective sigh. Scootaloo immediately perked up. "Hey, maybe we didn't get our cutie marks, but that was still fun! Lets go again!" "I don't think that's a good idea, Scoots," Applebloom said. "We'd better get back to the farm, 'fore my sister finds we've come out here." Scootaloo frowned. "Yeah, guess so. Let's head on back then." They trotted off the platform of flesh Greene had put out. Once they were off, Elizabeth stopped by the edge and placed a foot onto it. The harness and cord melted into the main platform, which began to flow backwards into Greene's foot, until in a matter of seconds it was like they'd never even come to Ghastly Gorge. Elizabeth turned to them. "Head back. Stay in front of me, see you that way, protect you." They nodded as one, and that was what they did. Greene lead them back to Sweet Apple Acres, hopefully before anypony in her family realized where they'd gone. They had a very nice, broad path too, since the alien had taken to carving a path through the forest when they told her where Ghastly Gorge was. But the Everfree Forest was the Everfree Forest, and not long after they'd left the Gorge behind, Applebloom heard a beastly snarl from her left. "What was that?!" Sweetie shrieked, hugging both of them tightly. "I don't know!" she said, all three of them looking that way. "Get back," Elizabeth hissed, pushing them backwards and placing herself between them and the noise. Applebloom could see movement in the thick trees. "Manticores. Three. Four." Applebloom's throat tightened. They'd learned about manticores in school, had to with how close they were to the Everfree. They only ever hunted in groups of more than two when they were tracking very dangerous prey. Both of them scurried further back along the path Greene had smashed towards the Gorge, leaning fearfully against the bark of a tree. The four manticores erupted at the same time along the edge of the path, eyeing Greene almost nervously. The one center left growled lowly, and Greene returned it with a snarl, red and white tendrils briefly licking the air around her. Almost like they were seeking the animals. The manticore furthest to the left roared, stepping forward. Elizabeth hissed, and it backed up, only for the one center right to step forward. Greene growled, and spread her arms to the side. The air around Applebloom's shivering body - she noticed the others were doing the same - crackled, like there was a thunderstorm in the area. Two orbs of brilliant green formed on Elizabeth's hands, growing until they were twice the size of Applebloom herself. She pulled her hands down, and the orbs of electricity remained. The manticores looked even more reluctant at this display of power, but the ones left and right, as well as center, pounced. Without any prompting, the orbs flew out, connecting firmly with each of the side manticores. Applebloom winced, closing her eyes at the airy pop that they gave off. When she opened them, there were only two manticores left, stray energy making her coat stand on end. She knew this wasn't something somepony her age should watch, but it was like a carriage accident; she couldn't look away. The manticore to the left swung a paw at Greene, catching her in the side. She stumbled to her right, and her surprise reached Applebloom. She spun around before the other could hit her, foot snapping out at it, forcing the manticore to get back. But that wasn't enough to save it from the alien; she lunged after it, grabbing the manticore's head. She reached over to its neck... The other manticore hadn't ceased to exist. It sprung forward to defend its pridemate, sinking the barb of its scorpion tail into Greene's back. Elizabeth howled, stepping backwards as the poison sunk into her. Applebloom gasped. Oh no, this was bad. Really bad. This was... She grabbed the manticore that had stung her, wrapping her fingers in its mane, and tossed it sideways to crash into a tree. She turned her focus back onto the other manticore, which was surprised to find a web of tendrils pinning its paws to the ground. She formed another one of those crackling orbs and tossed it at the manticore. Its eyes widened as the sphere closed in. Applebloom stared, wide eyed, as the orb exploded in an emerald nova, and the beast simply vanished. No, Elizabeth wouldn't have trouble with manticore venom; nothing that could do that would. "Eep!" she heard Sweetie Belle exclaim. Her eyes snapped to the right, and she eeped as well. The other manticore was coming for them, prowling silently while Elizabeth was focused on obliterating its comrade. Her breath caught itself on an apple-sized lump in her throat. Oh Celestia, help... Help arrived. A thrown tree smashed into the manticore, sending it sprawling back. Greene was there in a moment, forming a triangle with herself, the Crusaders, and the beast. "Go for children," Elizabeth snarled. Applebloom tensed up, and she could feel Scootaloo and Sweetie do the same. "Behind my back to hurt children!" Applebloom bit her lip, furious at the manticore. "Pay for that!" The manticore scrambled back among the splinters of the tree, bleeding all over. Color faded away under the weight of Elizabeth Greene's hatred. Applebloom couldn't tell if Greene was pulling color in towards her, leaving only gray behind, or if the dullness emerged from her closed eyes. Either way, her heart clenched in fury in a dim world, gray and white tentacles angrily whipping around the alien's form in search of the source of her anger. One of them carved a groove through the dirt. The manticore's eyes went wide as Greene took a deep breath, arms raised above her head... Her eyes opened, and they were a radiant, golden yellow, standing out sharply in the colorless world. She lowered her arms and opened her mouth, color returning to the world in a brief flash of red-tinge. A terrible screeching, reverberating shriek erupted from her throat. The air in front of her warped as the air was displaced, a conical, crimson shockwave exploding from her mouth and catching the manticore full force. The scream drowned out the snapping and breaking of countless trees as the shockwave continued on for a hoof full of seconds before Elizabeth relaxed, cutting off the shockwave. She blinked, and her eyes were once again the same dull, pale green they were before, her tattered mane of red hair waving as much as it could in the resulting breeze. Applebloom's ears popped. At some point, she'd untangled herself from the other two crusaders. She tumbled over towards Elizabeth's side and looked at the destruction. Her jaw dropped. For starters, there was no more indication that there'd ever been a manticore, a thought that, in and of itself, was enough to churn her stomach. For the better part of the shockwave's area of effect, the trees had simply ceased to exist, though there was an awful lot of sawdust further back. The ground had been carved out by the shockwave, dirt and stone shorn cleanly through. Even the trees that had been on the edge of the blast had large circular chunks taken out of them, which dripped water and sap. Further back, trees lay in clumps and pieces, uprooted and dropped as if by a tornado. Even further back, they were bent backwards at immense angles, leaves and branches ripped from their trunks until even further back, finally, were trees with branches and, finally, with leaves as well. Applebloom gave out a startled whine, alerting Greene to her existence. The alien knelt next to her. "Alright? Uninjured?" She looked over her, but Applebloom didn't react. "Uninjured." She went over to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, checking them over as well. "Uninjured. Keep going?" Applebloom didn't get her voice working before Scootaloo. "You just... those manticores... where did they - " "Wanted to hurt you. Protect." "G-Girls," Sweetie stammered. "We should go. Before a-anything else decides to come." "Protect from them too." "Thanks, but i-it'd be better not to risk it, right girls?" "Uh huh," Scootaloo said. "Yeah," Applebloom breathed, still looking at the destruction Elizabeth had created, that she had created by shouting. All of a sudden she was terrified of the alien. She resolved never, ever, ever to make her mad. The rest of the trip back to Sweet Apple Acres went without event. Applebloom kept up with the girls in front of Elizabeth, who had acquired a tendency to snarl at the slightest rustle in the bushes. Once free of the Everfree, they galloped back to the farmhouse, Elizabeth keeping up with them in a gentle walk. They tumbled back into the farmhouse, panting. "Well girls," Applebloom said weakly. "That was fun." "I'll say," Scootaloo said. "Except for the part with the manticores." Her eyes lit up. "Oh, but the bungee jumping was incredible!" "Glad to help," Greene said joyously, a wide smile on her face. "Yeah, thanks," Applebloom said. She looked at the girls. "Maybe she can help us again later with our cutie marks?" "Hmm," Sweetie Belle said. "I don't know..." "Will help if children want," Elizabeth insisted. "Tell Applejack about achievements?" "No!" Applebloom shouted. "Sis'll be so mad at us if she learns we went ta the Everfree Forest! Please, you can't tell anypony where we went, ya hear me?" "Won't tell," she insisted. Applebloom smiled, exchanging the grins with the others. They weren't going to be busted. They'd gone on another Crusade, and while it hadn't been successful it'd sure been fun, they'd avoided getting covered in tree sap, and her (Ugh) foalsitter wasn't going to tell anypony. Maybe you could trust aliens.