"There it is," Fluttershy said, eyes wide and mouth open in awe. The others joined her, looking at it in fascination.
The castle stood before them, mostly in one piece. Portions of the wall were missing, but the towers still stood. At the top of the tallest tower, a clock faced out toward them. As they watched, the minute hand moved.
"Wow," Twilight said. "It still works, even after nearly a thousand years. That's incredible. Either there was some incredible work put into that thing, or some powerful magic." She began to walk forward. "Now all we need to-"
Twilight let out a shriek as she stepped over the edge of the cliff. There was a burst of pain as her tail was yanked, pulling her back from falling over. The mare collapsed onto the ground once she was safe from the edge.
"You should really pay more attention to where you're going," Rarity said as she spit bits of hair out of her mouth. Twilight just let out an embarrassed chuckle.
"I think I see a bridge hanging from the other side," Fluttershy stated. "I'll see if we can tie it back together over here."
With that she flew across the short chasm and over to the other side. She moved close to the bridge, studying it. After nearly a minute she came back, shaking her head.
"It's too badly broken to fix. I'm sorry."
"Well we have two choices then," Rainbow Dash said. "Either Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and I can fly across carrying Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack, or we can try to find another way to get across."
"Good news on that part," Applejack called out. "Looks like somepony carved steps into the side of the cliff over here."
The other five moved to join her and look. Sure enough, there was a staircase carved into the side of the cliff.
"It looks like it's just wide enough for one pony at a time," Rainbow Dash said. "I'll take the lead. Rarity, stay close so I can see what's down there." With that, she started her way down. She was shortly followed by Rarity as the group started lining up.
"Hey, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "Are you okay?"
"I..." Fluttershy shifted. "I just haven't felt very useful this trip. That's all."
"Well I don't have my magic so I'm not really able to help either."
"But you knew where to go and what to look for. Even if you did nothing else, you at least got us all going to begin with. None of this would have happened with you."
"Or you. If you hadn't helped, I probably would have been locked up in the castle prison for trying to break in or something. If you hadn't stepped in, none of this would have happened to begin with."
"I guess. Still, I feel like I should do more."
Fluttershy sighed and shook her head.
"Nevermind," she continued. "Let's just go. Sooner we finish this, sooner we can all be home safe and sound." She and Twilight then moved to join the others and started the climb down.
"Well I can't say much about the scenery," Rarity stated with a smirk, "but I must say that I do enjoy the view." She grinned as she let her gaze shift to the back of the pony ahead of her.
Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide as her wings gave a flutter, her face taking a pinkish tinge.
"Eyes front, soldier!" she snapped, glancing back from the corner of her eye.
"Oh, trust me," Rarity replied. "They are."
Rainbow Dash let out a huff of annoyance as the other let out faint snickers. The rest of the trip was silent as the six ponies made their way to the bottom of the chasm.
"Now we just need to..."
On the other side was a shallow cave. In the cave was what looked like a tree in the broadest sense of the term. There were no leaves, and the entire form looked like it was made out of crystal. Still, it had the basic shape. There were branches, and roots. Icicle like figures hung from the branches, with some ending in large jewel disks. Five of the branches had massive spots that held gaps, like something was missing from the tree. A sixth gap was at the top of the trunk. Further down was an hourglass shaped carving.
"What is it?" Pinkie Pie asked, staring.
"I don't know," Twilight admitted. "I've never seen or read about anything like this. I mean, it looks like some sort of crystal tree, but other than that..." she shrugged. "Pinkie, what are you-"
Pinkie Pie licked the tree. Her eyes went wide.
"Wow. Whatever this is, it's full of positive energy. It tastes like there's a lot of love and hope in it."
"Did you just lick the strange crystal tree?" Twilight asked. "A crystal tree we found in a cave? A cave in the middle of The Everfree Forest?"
"Well clearly it's magical," Pinkie Pie stated, "and some magical things have emotional energy in them. I was trying to get a taste to see if this did."
"By licking it?"
"Yes. And... I may have hoped it would be rock candy."
"Well at least we know something about it." Fluttershy offered.
"I suppose," Twilight conceded. "Still, licking random magical items does not seem like a good idea."
"Hey!" Dash called out. "If you three are done, we found the other set of stairs."
"Coming," Pinkie Pie called out, hopping away.
"Once more into the breach," Twilight mumbled as she started to walk.
Fluttershy stayed where she was a moment, staring up at the tree. It was only when her name was called again did she leave it to join the others.