//------------------------------// // Everfree Forest // Story: Kingdom of Harmony // by Stegi //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer entered the Everfree Forest. Both ponies had a lot of respect for these woods. Even though the sun was high in the sky, it was dark inside the Forest. The trees grew so thick that neither sunlight or moonlight could penetrate it, however the winds picked up again and was coming through. “This strange weather doesn’t make the trip more pleasant.” Sunset grunted. “Yeah, I've never seen the weather so out of balance in Equestria. I wonder if it has anything to do with Twilight's disappearance.” Starlight said. “So, Starlight what happened earlier?” The yellow Unicorn asked. “I was jealous of you. You just showed up and seemed to be accepted by all of them. You talk to them like you have been friends since forever. I felt threatened. If Twilight would have been there, I’m sure it wouldn't have come that far.” The purple Unicorn replied. “Oh. Not that. Sorry, I know why you reacted the way you did and trust me I would have done the same a while ago when I just started to have friends… I meant what happened to me in the castle? I have no memory of it.” Sunset was curious. “Oh. Phew. Well I’m not quite sure. You got lifted up in the air, grew some magical wings and your eyes glowed white. You spun slowly around and then landed on the ground. For a second there I thought you turned into an Alicorn.” Starlight Glimmer explained. “First Princess Luna asked why I was not an Alicorn, now this. On top of that, I had this weird feeling in Twilight’s Castle. I wonder if this trip can get any weirder.” The yellow Unicorn was thinking out loud. “Hey, I got an idea. How about we start all over again? Hi, my name is Starlight Glimmer, Apprentice of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and a pretty magical unicorn if I may say so myself.” Starlight grinned. “Great idea. Hi, my name is Sunset Shimmer, former protégé to Princess Celestia, and second best student at Canterlot High.” Sunset grinned as well. “Canterlot High?” The purple Unicorn asked. “Hehe I knew you'd fall for it. I spent many moons in the human world. I wanted to learn all I could, so I decided to go to one of their schools. I lost my crown for being the best student when Twi joined us from Crystal Prep.” The yellow Unicorn said. “That Twi must be pretty smart.” “Yes. Twilight Sparkle is the smartest human I know.” Sunset knew Starlight did not know she was talking about Twilight Sparkle, so she had to spell it out. “Twilight, so she is not just smart here in Equestria, but also in the human world, interesting.” Starlight Glimmer seemed fascinated. “Honestly though, I think that human Twilight is a lot smarter than pony Twilight. Don’t tell the Princess I said so. Princess Twilight is one of the most powerful magical ponies I have ever seen and that includes Celestia.” Sunset said. “Are you sure Sunset? I mean Twilight is pretty magical, but she had a hard time keeping up with me.” Starlight didn’t agree with the yellow Unicorn. “I heard you are a pretty powerful Unicorn. Twilight’s problem is that she is holding back because she is afraid of what might happen when she goes all in. I assume she didn’t use her Alicorn magic on you.” Sunset explained. “I never saw it from that perspective. Hmm. She didn’t use her Alicorn magic, I wonder why that is.” The purple Unicorn wondered. “See, that is another difference between human and pony Twi. Human Twilight goes all in every time she does a science experiment. She just wants to test the limits. It also shows the difference between science and magic. Magic if you go all in, you could easily kill somebody, and science well there are usually parameters in place to prevent that from happening.” Sunset smiled when she spoke about human Twilight. Howling noises took the ponies attention away from their conversation. “Timberwolves!” Starlight powered up her horn. “You are right. The question is how many?” Sunset followed the purple Unicorns example and powered up her horn as well. The two ponies could see bright green, shining eyes further up the way behind some bushes. First there were two, then four, then eight pairs of eyes, at the end it looked like it was a pack of at least twenty Timberwolves. Starlight got into an attack stance; she was ready to take them on. The purple Unicorn knew they were too deep in the forest to out run them. Sunset Shimmer, on the other hand, felt no excitement at all. She should have been scared but she wasn’t. “Are you ok, Sunset?” Starlight noticed how carefree the yellow Unicorn was. “Yeah, no worries here.” Sunset said. “I can see that. That’s what worries me.” Starlight eyes seem to grow larger. Now they could see the whole pack on the walkway. It was actually a pack of thirty-four Timberwolves. The ponies were clearly outnumbered. The wolves seemed to want an early dinner. The pack slowly moved toward the ponies. Growling and howling got louder and louder the closer they got. Starlight was shocked when she saw Sunset Shimmer walking straight up to the wolf pack. The wolves got aggressively loud when they noticed the yellow Unicorn coming up to them. “Sunset, are you crazy! What are you doing?” Starlight’s voice sounded scared. Sunset Shimmer did not answer the purple Unicorn; she kept on walking towards the wolves. The yellow Unicorn was almost upon them when one of the wolves charged at her. “Sunset, watch out!” Starlight Glimmer yelled out of her lungs to the pony in front of her. The purple Unicorn didn’t have a clear line of sight for a shot. Starlight assumed the worst would happen, but the outcome was different than she thought. The magical wolf, made out of tree limbs and logs, stopped his attack just inches in front of Sunset Shimmer. Sunset’s eyes were glowing white and all the wolves seemed to give her their undivided attention. “You will leave us now and go on with your business elsewhere.” Sunset ordered the wolves with some sort of telepathy, talking to them from mind to mind. The pack then broke up their attack and disappeared in the depths of the Everfree Forest. Starlight Glimmer was speechless. She didn’t understand what happened, but her mouth was open and her muzzle nearly reached the ground. “What did you just do?” The purple Unicorn was impressed and frightened at the same time. “I think I just told them to move along.” Sunset not quite sure about what happened herself. “You are kidding right! There is no pony who can talk to the Timberwolves, no pony, not even the Princesses.” Starlight had a hard time dealing with the situation. “I have no idea how to explain this to you. It’s new to me too. All I know is, I wasn’t afraid of the wolves. The why is still a mystery I have to figure out.” The yellow Unicorn had always been afraid of the Timberwolves. The stories she heard when she was a filly were horrifying. A lot of ponies lost their lives when meeting these mystical creatures. In the end, the ponies wanted them gone. Princess Celestia explained there was no way to get rid of them and that every creature in Equestria had it's purpose, no matter if it was good or bad. The forest grew darker and darker. Far ahead of the ponies was a light which seemed to come off a very large tree. This large tree had been remodeled in to a house. The two ponies wondered who would live in the Everfree Forest. Their curiosity got the better of them and they headed straight for the lights from the tree. They knocked on the door when they got there. “You pony-folk come on in, it’s been a while, where have you been?” Said an inviting voice from inside the tree house. Both ponies entered the structure. The Unicorns saw a very strange room. Weird masks, artifacts, books, and a huge pot with shining green goo was standing on the floor in the middle of the room. Then they glimpsed a rather weird looking pony. “I expected Princess Twilight and her friends to arrive here, but please stay and do not fear.” The grey pony with dark grey stripes wore gold jewelry around her neck, legs, even had golden earrings. “You are Zecora the zebra right?” Sunset Shimmer asked. She remembered Princess Twilight telling her about Zecora living in the Everfree forest. Zecora had been mistaken for a pony a lot of times, but she was actually a Zebra. “You know my name, my Goo shines dimmer. You must be Starlight and you Sunset Shimmer.” Zecora pointed at them when spoke out their names. “How do you know our names?” Starlight Glimmer asked. “You are friends of Princess Twilight are you not? You do not have to expect a plot. Stories from her friends, she tells me every time, some bitter sweet as lemon and lime. Where is our Princess at? I have her potions, they soon go bad. She said she’d get them nine days ago, but have I seen her since? The answer is no.” The zebra always spoke in rimes and riddles. “You don’t know? Princess Twilight has been missing for eight days. Nopony knows where she is.” Starlight replied with a sad voice. “She and Spike disappeared without a trace, and Princess Celestia has been missing since yesterday too.” Sunset Shimmer added. “Hmm, a potion already used in the past, but surely this is not my last. It is this potion who can tell, if combined with a powerful spell. If Princess Twilight’s fate has been tragic, but be aware, it only responds to Alicorn magic. Only an Alicorn Princess can turn this potion from purple to white, and the darkness will vanish under its powerful light.” Zecora gave the ponies a purple potion. Many moons back, when Twilight Sparkle had recently become an Alicorn Princess, the Evergreen Forest ran wild and invaded Ponyville. Zecora gave this potion to the Princess, which she turned from purple to white, and after a sip she got clues to what had occurred. In the end it turned out it was Discord’s fault. In order to save Equestria, Princess Twilight and her friends had to return the elements of harmony to the tree of harmony. “Thank you Zecora. I will bring this potion to Princess Luna once I’m done with my mission.” The yellow Unicorn said. “Do not forget, this potion has powerful magic. If you try it yourself the result will be tragic.” The zebra warned before seeing the two Unicorns off on their way. Starlight and Sunset were talking about Zecora after they left. They both agreed that the zebra was unique and mysterious. Both ponies made it their goal to befriend her when they had the chance. The weather eased up a bit and the wind wasn’t as strong anymore. It had been very cold and the temperature didn’t seem to warm up. The castle of the two sisters was still far ahead of them. The two Unicorns had to go deeper and deeper into the forest. Cracking branches and rattling in the bushes kept them on guard. They were prepared to defend themselves in a moment's notice if they had to. “Sunset, may I ask you a rather personal question?” Starlight asked. “Sure. What is it?” Sunset became curious. “You have been Princess Celestia’s student. Do you regret not finishing your studies with her?” “Oh, you picked a hard one eh?” The yellow Unicorn smiled. “Where to begin… hm… yes and no.” “What do you mean yes and no?” The purple Unicorn wondered. “Well, yes because of the way we parted and how I left things undone. Of course, now I know it wasn’t entirely my own fault but I shouldn't have been so easy to manipulate.” Sunset Shimmer gave herself a few seconds. “No, because I had the best time of life in the human world. I got to experience so much. Sure, at the beginning it wasn’t all that great but when Twilight turned me around, let’s just say I wouldn’t want to trade it for anything in the world.” “What is it like to be human?” Starlight wanted to know. “That is very hard to explain and better if experienced. For one, being human means you can’t use your magic. Sure the magic of friendship can be used by only a few, since I stole Twilights crown, but in general humans don’t have magic. They have technology and science.” Sunset amused herself trying to explain the difference between the two worlds. “So you are saying if I was to go through the portal, I couldn’t use my magic on the other side?” The purple Unicorn was fascinated. Princess Twilight spoke a lot about the human world, but not in detail like Sunset Shimmer did. “That is correct. In the human world everybody tries to stay connected with their friends and families using technology to communicate over great distances…“ The yellow Unicorn kept telling Starlight about the human world, who seemed to get more amused and fascinated. She kept asking questions, and Sunset Shimmer tried to answer all of them. It was obvious to Starlight that the yellow Unicorn missed the human world. The human world used to be home for Sunset Shimmer. Now she had no idea where her home was. Her allegiance to Equestria had always been there but was it stronger than her connection to the human world? As they continued on, the trees grew thinner and the world around them brightened with warm sunlight. The two Unicorns were able to see the two towers of the castle. “We are almost there Sunset.” Starlight Glimmer said. “Finally. I had no idea the castle was that far away.” Sunset Shimmer replied. “I know I haven’t been called by the cutie map, but I would like to help if that’s ok?” The purple Unicorn glanced at Sunset. “Hey, it’s fine by me. I had no idea about the whole cutie map, but it can’t hurt to have some extra hooves around. I have the feeling it’s not a friendship problem I have to fix.” Sunset acknowledged the purple Unicorns need to help. “It must be hard for you. Being part of a group, but not part of the group activities.” The yellow Unicorn added. “You are not wrong there. I have watched the girls get deployed on missions over and over, but I was not included. I don’t blame them but I just don’t understand why the map never chose me.” Starlight explained with a rather sad voice. “I’m glad you came along Starlight. It is really great to get to know you. Meeting some pony who actually had a similar messed up past like me, priceless. I hope we become good friends.” Sunset Shimmer smiled at Starlight again. “It really feels like we are two pieces of the same puzzle. I’m sorry again that I was so hostile towards you earlier. It would make me very happy if we became friends.” The purple Unicorn apologized again. “Hey, if you want to be my friend there is one condition.” The yellow Unicorn said. “And what condition would that be?” Starlight Glimmer was worried. “You have to stop apologizing to me.” Sunset Shimmer started laughing. “Hehe… deal. Hehehe.” The purple Unicorn agreed and both ponies were laughing. The two Unicorns were close to the castle. A canyon separated the castle from the Everfree forest. “Woah. That is pretty deep.” Sunset looked down the canyon. “There has to be a bridge somewhere.” Starlight started to look around for the bridge. “How are your teleporting skills?” The yellow Unicorn asked. “I can’t teleport. But I can fly.” The purple Unicorn answered. “Then let’s do this.” Sunset Shimmer disappeared into thin air and appeared back on the other side of the canyon. Starlight Glimmer powered up her horn and a magic aura surrounded her whole body. From mane to muzzle, from hooves to tail, everything was covered. It was like a magical bubble around her. She started to hover over to the other side of the canyon. “You've got to teach me how to fly.” Sunset said. “Sure thing Sunset, but you have to teach me how to teleport.” Starlight hadn’t mastered teleportation yet. “You got yourself a deal.” The yellow Unicorn smiled. “This castle is in total ruins, what happened here?” Starlight Glimmer said when she saw what was left of the castle. “I have no clue. But it might explain why Princess Celestia moved to Canterlot ages ago.” Sunset replied. Both Unicorns kept speculating about what happened to the building while they were walking up to it. The ruins, once known as the castle of the two sisters, were covered with moss and other wild plants. Even though the castle was broken, it appeared alive. Starlight and Sunset reached their destination and were standing in front of the main entrance to the castle. The winds, which had been so uncomfortable when they entered the Everfree forest, almost completely died off.