//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Everfree Quest // Story: Rise of the Equestrians // by Doodle Note //------------------------------// The gang went into the forest to start their journey to the castle of the Alliance. "And this forest is the Everfree Forest." Rainbow said. "The only path to the castle of the Alliance. But be careful. This place is crawling with creepy creatures that we've known for years. Timberwolves, Breezies, Serpents, Cockatrices, you name it. And if you spot a shiny blue flower, don't step on it or walk through a horde of them. We call it Poison Joke. Why? If you step on them, it'll do funny things with your body. We would know because we've been there. Twilight was blinded, my flying was disabled, Fluttershy's voice was deeper, Rarity's hair was everywhere, and Pinkie's tongue was puffy. But for Applejack, we forgot. So did Applejack." "What's a Breezie?" Jesse asked. "They look like fairies, but their wings are bigger and they have colorful hair." Fluttershy answered. "What about a Timberwolf?" Olivia asked. "They're wolves made out of wood." Applejack answered. "A Cockatrice?" Petra asked. "They look like chickens, but they have a tail of a snake and wings of a bat." Rarity answered. "They have sharp fangs and crimson red eyes." "A Serpent?" Axel asked. "Giant snakes that live underwater." Pinkie answered. "And this Poison Joke, is there a cure?" Lukas wanted to know. "Of course. It just takes an herbal bath." Twilight said. "A suggestion from an old friend of ours." "Her name is Zecora." Spike said. "She's amazing. The first time we met her, Pinkie thought she was an evil enchantress. She even made a song about her." "I still have the song in my head." Pinkie said. "But I can't sing it now." "Can I sing it?" Axel asked. "Sure." Pinkie pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to Axel. Then she jumped off the horse. "You can sing it now." "Avert your ears." Rainbow covered her ears. "Why?" Lukas asked. As Axel started reading the lyrics on the paper, Pinkie started dancing. She's an evil enchantress She does evil dances And if you look deep in her eyes She'll put you in trances Then what will she do? She'll mix up an evil brew Then she'll gobble you up In a big tasty stew Soooo...watch out Pinkie stopped dancing. The Order was now confused. "That didn't make any sense." Jesse said. Petra started laughing as the gang continued moving. Spike pulled out the raw steak and took another bite of it. "Good thing I have this with me. Thank you, Jesse." He said with his mouth full. "Enjoy that steak while it lasts, Spike." Jesse said. Coloratura turned to Olivia. "Hey, Olivia." Olivia turned. "Yes?" "Chicken-sized zombies. Why? I'm not scared." "Rara, what do you mean by chicken-sized zombies?" Applejack asked. "Olivia asked me this confusing, yet interesting question before we arrived Equestria." Coloratura explained. "And what is this question?" Applejack wanted to know. "Would you fight a hundred chicken-sized zombies or ten zombies-sized chickens?" Applejack was confused. "Say what?" "It's actually a good question if you ask me." Olivia said. Spike turned to Twilight after he finished his steak. "Hey, Twilight. Want to here something I learned from Jesse?" He whispered. "Um, okay." Twilight whispered. "Jesse had a pet pig once." "He did?" Spike nodded. "He had a pig? What is he? Crazy?" "I can hear you having a conversation." Jesse scolded. "Wow. He's good." Pinkie whispered to Axel. "Lukas, tell me." Rainbow said. "What's the deal with your so-called Ocelots? I understand that they never heard of us before, but just give me one reason what's up with them." "Well, they're just being jerks, that's all." Olivia answered for Lukas. "Um, what's an ocelot?" Fluttershy asked. "It's a type of cat." Petra answered. "Oh." Fluttershy took out a book titled 'Book of Cats' and flipped through it. "Okay, that's a tiger. That's a lynx. And..." One page caught her eye. "Oh. So that's what an ocelot looks like. A smaller version of leopards." She smiled. "Oh, they're so cute, I could look at it all day." Sunset turned to Jesse. "Fluttershy just loves animals. She even tamed the most dangerous ones." "I guess she's never seen a creeper before." Jesse said. "Or a ghast. Or a wither skeleton." "Trust me. None of us Equestrians even heard of those creatures. Except for zombies, skeletons, spiders or Endermen." "How come Equestrians even know what an Enderman is?" Jesse wanted to know. "I went to the End once." Fluttershy explained. "I was very curious about what an Enderman looked like. Then I tamed one with an act of kindness. Then I got attention from even more Endermen. And soon, they became my friends." "You befriended a horde of Endermen?" Lukas asked with a tone of shock. "Call me crazy, but yes." Hours have passed, and the gang were still moving at night still in the forest. "Ugh. My butt is soar from sitting all day on this horse." Rainbow whined. "Why must the castle be so far away?" Axel turned to the drowsy Pinkie. "You okay, Pinkie?" "I'm so tired. I can't seem to keep my eyes open." Pinkie yawned. Spike yawned. "Can't seem to keep my eyes open either. The only thing I could think about is sleep." Jesse looked at the night sky. "Well, we could use some rest for tomorrow." Applejack turned and saw one big space under a canopy of trees. "And I think I found one." The others turned to what Applejack was seeing. Olivia got off the horse. "Not bad. Not bad at all." Everyone then slept in the big space with a fire glowing in front of them. Then more hours passed. Sunset's dream... Sunset was walking in a dark castle hallway with a torch in her hands. "Wow. This place sure is dark. And creepy. And very strange if you walk alone." Sunset turned and saw Starlight wearing black, purple, blue and green armor and sighed in relief. "Starlight, you're okay. I can't believe it!" Starlight looked at Sunset, revealing that her sclera was now green and the color of her eyes were still blue with purple wisps waving out of her eyes. Sunset was shocked. "Starlight? Are you okay?" Starlight walked up to Sunset and took out a cyan sword. "Starlight, what's gone into you?!" Sunset yelled. Starlight held up her sword and slashed Sunset with it. End of dream Sunset gasped and woke up with a jolt. She saw everyone asleep. Applejack sleeping next to Coloratura and Olivia, Pinkie sleeping on top of Axel's back, Twilight cuddling with Spike, Fluttershy sleeping upside down like a bat, Rainbow and Lukas sleeping on a cloud, Jesse sleeping alone, and Rarity and Petra sleeping next to each other. Sunset sighed as she got up and walked away, not knowing Jesse woke up and saw Sunset walking away. Sunset walked to a cliff and knelt down as she looked at her hands. Flashback... Sunset's hands were in cuffs as she looked up at the guardians and Celestia, who now pulled out a gold sword. She closed her eyes, but she felt the chains get sliced as she opened her eyes and saw the cuffs broken. Sunset looked up at Celestia, who lent her hand to her. End of flashback A tear fell out of Sunset's eye. "Hey." A voice behind her said. Sunset turned and saw Jesse. "Jesse?" "You're up late." Jesse walked up to Sunset and sat next to her. "What's eating you?" Sunset sighed. "I just had another bad dream, that's all." "Want to talk about it?" "It's best not to." Sunset said. "You wouldn't understand." "Of course I would." Jesse replied. "You can tell me anything. I trust you." Sunset let out another sigh. "I was in a castle hallway walking by myself with a torch by my side. But then, I saw Starlight in front of me. She was corrupted by a leader of the Alliance. Then she walked to me and...killed me. Now I've been getting all these nightmares of me getting killed by them. I guess I should tell you about my past." Jesse nodded. "I'm very curious about you." "When I was a little girl, my parents disappeared under mysterious circumstances." Sunset told. "I searched everywhere for them. The forest, some attractions, everywhere. I started looking for them up a mountain, them I encountered the three leaders on the Alliance. Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, and Lord Tirek. They said my parent were killed by an unknown Equestrian and put me under their wing. I vowed one day that I will get revenge on that someone who killed my parents. Everyday, I trained hard enough for me to get my hands on that someone. I had friends while I was in that castle, and those were the Dazzlings. When I got older, I held Starlight hostage because I thought her parents killed mine. But that's when I met the guardians. The battle was fierce, and they used the gems on me just to put me to sleep. Then I woke up in a throne room of Canterlot Castle and met Celestia. Instead of putting me in jail or killing me, she spared my life and told me the truth about my parents' death." "What did she say?" Jesse asked. "My parents were killed by the leaders of the Alliance." Sunset answered. "I realized that all my life, I've been told lies and done terrible things. So I stayed in the castle, blamed myself and locked myself away so no one would be hurt by me ever again." She sighed. "I'm such a stupid idiot thinking that the stupid Alliance were telling the stupid truth." Jesse wrapped his arm around Sunset. "No, you're not. You were just manipulated and you didn't know that. All I know is that they're just evil manipulative jerks who were using you to do terrible things to people. But now, you're not that person anymore. You're a completely different person now. That's just how life is. People make mistakes sometimes. Just like an old friend of mine did. I know that I said that you were the weirdest person I've ever met, but now, I understand what you are now. It's not your fault, Sunset. You just didn't know until Celestia told you the truth about your parents." "But the Alliance called me a traitor when they saw me fighting along with the guardians. That's why they want me destroyed. They were right about me." "Well, you might have betrayed them doesn't mean you have to believe them. You betrayed them for a good cause. I mean, come on! I save you from a horde of monsters, you saved me from a horde of Changelings. Now we have each other's backs like we were meant to be friends or something. You don't have to blame yourself and lock yourself away because of what you did. That's all in the past." Sunset turned to Jesse. "You know what, Jesse? You're right." She smiled. "I guess you're a great friend." Jesse turned to Sunset with a surprised face and smiled. "You too." The two heard clapping behind them and turned seeing the others and Spike clapping. "Now that was something." Rainbow said with a smile. Rarity was sobbing with joy. "That was the sweetest thing I've seen in my entire life!" "How long were you guys standing there?" Sunset asked. "Long enough that we heard you from far away." Olivia answered. Jesse turned back to Sunset and saw a red aura on her chest. "Sunset, you're glowing!" Sunset looked at the glow on her chest. "Wait, that light. What does it mean?" Lukas wanted to know. "It's means you made a new friend." Pinkie answered. "I would know because that happened to me when Axel and I were on our way to Canterlot. Which means I made a new friend." "Well, it only happens to Equestrians every time they befriend someone." Coloratura said. The glow on Sunset's chest fades. "Wait, that also happened to me." Applejack added. "And me." Rainbow said. "It even happened to me after Petra and I arrived Canterlot." Rarity said. "And it's obvious that she noticed." "Everyday, we keep seeing things become even more weirder and weirder." Petra said. "And that was just one of them that I saw." "Trust me." Rainbow replied. "You humans will see even more weirder things. For example, the Supernova." "Whatever it looks like." Axel said. "Well, the Supernova, it looks like this!" Pinkie pulled out a picture, shocking the Order. "That looks even more worse than the Wither Storm!" Lukas exclaimed with shock. Coloratura turned and saw the sun going up. "Look's like day is coming for us." The others turned to the sunrise. "Whoa. Will you look at that." Axel said in awe. "It's like you're dreaming, but you're not sleeping." Olivia replied. "I know, right?" Applejack agreed. "The sunrise is always pretty in Equestria." "And it always calms me down every time I see it." Fluttershy added. "It must be Celestia." Twilight said. Axel turned to Twilight. "Celestia can move the sun?" Twilight looked at Axel and nodded. "And Luna can move the moon. They do that everyday. It's what they do." "I could look at it all day." Lukas said. Rainbow laughed sarcastically and pulled Lukas by the arm. "You don't want to do that." Jesse got up. "We should keep going." Sunset got up and nodded. As the sun went up, the gang packed everything up to continue they're journey to the castle of the Alliance. Twilight then noticed something. "Um, has anyone seen Spike?" Everyone stopped what they were doing. "Oh, not again!" Rainbow yelled. Everyone started looking for Spike. "Spike! Spike, where are you?!" Twilight called. "Spike!" Jesse yelled. "Here, Spike! Bark if you can here me!" Axel yelled. "Spike, can you hear me?" Olivia called. "Spike?" Rarity called. "Spike, where did you go?" Petra asked. "Guys! I found him!" Lukas called out. The others ran to where Lukas was as Lukas pointed. "He's just getting us some food." They turned and saw Spike pulling a fish out of a pond with his mouth and throw it into a chest. Spike wiped his brow. "Four down, sixteen to go." He turned to the pond. "Well, I don't think I can do this alone." Fluttershy walked up to Spike. "Need some help?" Spike turned to Fluttershy. "Oh, good morning. I could use some help." Fluttershy walked up to the pond and made a small pink butterfly fly to the pond and took out a fish. Then it flew to the chest and dropped the fish in it. Rainbow walked straight to the pond and snatched a fish out of the water. "Nailed it!" The others ran to get some fish. They already have 19 and needed one more. As Sunset got the last one and placed it into the chest with her magic, Jesse pushed Sunset into the pond. Sunset popped her head out of the water and looked up at Jesse, who was now laughing, and threw Jesse into the water with her magic. Pinkie jumped. "Cannonball!" She stopped and slowly moved into the water, putting Lukas in shock. "See. Pinkie broke the laws of physics." Rainbow pushed Lukas into the pond and jumped in. Spike jumped in. Then Applejack. Then Coloratura. Then Twilight. Then Olivia. Then Axel. Then Fluttershy. "Aw, come on, Rarity. What's wrong with water?" Petra asked. "I just don't want my hair to get ruined, that's all." Rarity answered. Petra looked over Rarity. "Look! A knight in shining armor!" Rarity smiled and turned around. "Where?" Petra pushed Rarity into the pond. As Rarity popped her head out of the water, her hair was now wet. "Made you look!" Petra jumped in. "Oh, wait until I get my hands on your human-y neck!" Rarity grumbled. Celestia and Gabriel were looking at the stained-glass window of the throne room. Celestia sighed. "Oh, Luna. If only you were here. Where are you, sister?" "I understand that your sister was everything to you." Gabriel said. "Luna and I did everything together when we were little." Celestia replied. "I can't even imagine us being apart. Until that Alliance of Darkness took her away." "Tell me. What was the battle like? Between Canterlot and the Alliance. What was it like?" Celestia sighed. "It started two years ago. Canterlot was under siege. I was there. Luna was there. The guardians were there. Even Sunset. The battle was rough. We fought it with the three leaders of the Alliance. Queen Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen, King Sombra, master of Dark Crystals, and Tirek, Lord of Destruction. We fought our way out of the battle. Then suddenly, the Dazzlings arrived in their siren forms and blew the guardians to the walls of the castle, which made them weaker. I had no choice, but to use my magic to send them to forbidden nations of Equestria where no one can find them, which also left their armor and weapons behind. Sunset tried to reason with the leaders of the Alliance, but they just turned on her. And just like that, Luna was gone. I regretted sending the guardians away and wanted to get them back to retrieve my sister, but after two years, and I gave up." "Celestia. I'm sorry for your sister." Gabriel said. "She was a great person." "I know. But at least we have them back all thanks to the Order. Now, I wonder how they are doing." "I believe they're doing okay." The gang now continued their journey in the Everfree after Rarity's hair dried up. "Best morning ever." Rainbow took a bite of her fish, which was now cooked. Olivia turned to Spike. "Hey, Spike. Do you usually eat your fish raw or cooked?" "To me, it doesn't matter." Spike said with his mouth full. Pinkie ate her fish in one bite, putting Axel in shock, and sighed. "That hit the spot." Fluttershy took out a carrot and took a bite. "Fluttershy doesn't eat meat." Rainbow explained to Lukas. "She says it sounds like torture to animals." "So, she's a vegan?" Lukas asked seeing Rainbow nod. "Huh." "Um, Pinkie, do you have any, I don't know, siblings?" Axel asked. Pinkie nodded. "Mm hmm. I have three sisters. The eldest is Maud Pie, the second was Limestone Pie, and the youngest was Marble Pie. We lived on a rock farm with our parents, Igneous Rock Pie and Cloudy Quartz, until I was given a letter saying that I was chosen to get to Canterlot. I still got to see them, but, I don't spend a lot of time with them. But I do write to them about how I'm doing." "You lived on a rock farm?" Petra asked. "Are your parents crazy or something?" Pinkie shrugged. "Just to let you know, Maud also has a pet rock named Boulder." "Who would keep a rock for a pet?" Lukas asked. "Why, Maud, of course!" Pinkie exclaimed with cheer. "Call me crazy, but it's true!" "So, how far is this castle of the Alliance?" Olivia asked. "It only takes two days to get there." Rainbow answered. "It's so far, you could get lost." "How come these horses know where the Alliance's castle is?" Jesse wanted to know. "They know where you want them to go." Sunset explained. "These are Equestrian Horses. They come in a million colors and four breeds. Earth, pegasus, unicorn and alicorn. Tell them where to go, and they'll take you there." "What's an alicorn?" "They look like unicorns, but with wings." Applejack said. "And they can be used for battle." "Oh." Aiden was walking down the streets of Canterlot and sighed. "Perfect. Now all I have to do is wait for Lukas to come back from all this Alliance of Darkness mumbo-jumbo. What am I suppose to do? Just sit down and do absolutely nothing?" As he looked down, he saw a note in front of him as he picked it up and read it carefully. Do you like rich girls? A) Yes B) Definitely C) Absolutely D) Duh Aiden was confused. "What?" A girl with long pink hair and purple eyes wearing a white, pink, and purple dress, a purple gem necklace and yellow flats was spying on Aiden. "I rigged it." Aiden turned around and saw nothing there as he shrugged and kept on walking. He slipped the note into his pocket. "I'll keep this for later." The girl poked her head seeing Aiden walk. "Hmm." Four hours later... "Are we there yet?" Axel asked in a tone of boredom. "I wish." Rainbow said impatiently. "All this sitting is killing me! Why can't the castle be not that far?!" "Patience, Rainbow." Rarity replied. "We'll be there soon. It's not the end of the world." "Not yet, it isn't!" Rainbow yelled with impatience. "The Alliance probably has 64 hearts from Equestrians already to raise the stupid Supernova!" "Oh, I hope those 64 Equestrians will be okay." Flutershy said with concern. "Zecora probably found them dying by now." "Don't forget Luna." Spike added. "She was taken away, remember?" "By the way, where's Starlight?" Twilight asked. Sunset stayed silent and wore a face of guilt. Applejack turned and saw the look on Sunset's face. "The Alliance took her, did they?" "I'm sorry, guys. She told us to leave her when we were on the Human Island to get the Order." "And none of you are going to believe this, but, do any of you know what the Nether is?" Coloratura asked. "The what now?" Applejack asked in confusion. "It's a place filled with lots of fire, lava, and other things that can burn you to death." Jesse explained. Petra yawned. "Wake me up when we're there." She fell asleep on Rarity's back. Axel was playing a harmonica while Pinkie was singing. We're stuck in the middle Of the Everfree Don't know how much longer Oh, I just can't see Asking are we there yet Isn't going to help Don't know how much longer Should we just wait as well? Rainbow joined in. Oh, all this sitting down Is killing me My patience is wearing thin And I can hardly see The path to our destination Why so far away? If only there Was another way! Applejack took out a banjo and started playing it. Spike started clapping to the rhythm. "Why is everyone breaking into song?" Lukas asked. "How am I suppose to know?" Jesse replied. Sunset joined in. It might only just take hours To get to the only place Where chaos and disharmony Is what they like to make And now, they chasing for revenge It's obviously why They want me to be destroyed And why they want humans to die! Four more hours later... Everyone but Petra (Because she was asleep) was now singing along. Why must our destination Be so far away? Why can't we only get there Only for one day? Spike was struggling to keep his eyes open. Tired of walking around Tired of walking in the dark Filled with boredom, lot's of it When will we stop walking? The horses stopped as everyone stopped singing. "Why did we stop?" Olivia asked. Sunset looked in front of her. "We're here." The others looked in front of each other as Rarity woke up Petra, who saw what the others were seeing, a dark castle surrounded by a dark cloud.