As Scootaloo woke up in bed, she let out a tired groan. ' Man, that was some weird dream. I thought that Sweetie belle went to the forest and met up with a monster.' As she looked around, she noticed that she wasn't in the club house where she usually slept. ' Uh oh, this is bad.' As she started to panic, she heard hoof steps right beyond a simple wooden door. With a whimper, she hid underneath the bed and prayed to Celestia that the monster wouldn't find her.
The door creaked open and she heard a familiar voice. " Hey Scoots, you awake? I brought you some biscuits and grapes." She heard a faint smacking sound, like lips being wetted. " If you don't want them, I'll eat them." Scootaloo crawled out from under the bed and stared at her friend.
" Sweetie bell? What are you doing here?"
" Yeah, it's me, and as to why i'm here, that's a long story .Can you please come out from under the bed? I promise to explain everything."
As Scootaloo crawled out from under the bed, sweetie set the plate down and sighed. Sweetie started with " It was right after the manticore." As Sweetie told Scootaloo the rest of her tale, she noticed that her friend was being unusually quiet. When Sweetie bell finished, she tapped her friend who looked deep in thought.
Scootaloo said " Sorry Sweetie, just having to take a moment to take all of this in. I mean, from what you just told me, you can control vines, and are friends with a mare that killed Nightmare Moon, the demon who wanted to plunge Equestria into darkness. Did I forget to mention that said mare controls timber wolves!"
" Don't forget the mare can also wield vines." Suddenly,they heard the door opening, and Scootaloo saw the mare with one eye. Phoenix walked over to her slowly, and said with the best smile she could make " Hi. Scootaloo, right? Sweetie bells told me a lot about you. My name is phoenix, and the plan for today is dropping you two today. Personally, I wanted to drop you two off yesterday, but you were out cold."
Scootaloo then felt herself being picked up by magic, and was set on Phoenix's back. " Let's go. We aren't getting any younger." As they walked out the door, Phoenix called " Beta, your in charge while I'm gone."
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As Rarity sat calmly in a chair, Apple Jack was freaking out for here. " I don't get why you haven't gone to look for her Rares! I mean, she's your sister!"
Rarity drank a sip of tea, and said " I just need to wait. That Needle mare will bring her back in about a minute or two if she wandered into the Everfree. Do you remember the plan for when she comes?"
Apple Jack sighed and said " Yea, I remember. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash will follow her, and Needle will lead to Phoenix. I just can't see why she can't hurry up. I'm tired of all of this waiting."
As soon as the words had left Applejack's mouth, they heard a knock on the door. Rarity whisper yelled at Applejack " Remember the plan." She then said out loud "Come in." The door opened, and Sweetie Bell trotted in. "Oh, good morning Sweetie bell. Did you spend the night at ms needles?" She then looked behind sweetie, but did not see who she was looking for. " Sweetie bell, where is ms Needle? I wanted to talk to her about something."
Sweetie bell turned to her sister and said " She was just dropping me off. What's for breakfast?"
Rarity gave a look of determination to Applejack and said " Applejack, darling, will you please watch Sweetie bell for me? I want to personally give ms Needle my thanks for continuing to return my sister to me." She opened the door, and trotted out into the busy street. " I will be back as soon as I can. Ta-ta!"
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As Phoenix walked with Scootaloo in the market, Scootaloo turned towards towards the older mare, and asked " Can we get a hayburger? I'm starting to feel hungry." As if to punctuate her point, her stomach gave a mighty growl. They walked over to a restaurant, and placed their orders. Just as soon as they got some water, they heard a familiar voice.
"Mrs Needle, is that you?" Rarity trotted over. Once again, I must thank for making sure my sister is safe. You have been so kind lately, and I just wanted to thank you."
Phoenix put up a fake smile, and said through her teeth, " Thank you. I'mean glad to make sure she gets home safely. After all, a young lady shouldn't be in the Everfree ALONE, should she?"
Rarity caught the emphasis and gave a sheepish smile. " She shouldnt, but sometimes it's just so hard to keep her on a leash, you know? Besides, my friends Pinkie pie and Rainbow Dash wanted to throw you a party. It going to be on friday. You should really come. It wouldn't do for the guest of honor to not come to her own party."
Phoenix got up, and saw that while they were talking, Scootaloo had eaten her burger. " Come on Scootaloo." She then turned to Rarity, and said " I'll think about it."
With that, she walked away.
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After Scootaloo asked to be dropped off at her school, she left her there, confident her home wasn't far from there. She was walking on a path to the Everfree, minus her disguise, when Omega ran out of the treeline. " Alpha, we have a situation."
Phoenix groaned and said " Why is everybody coming in here these days!"
As she walked back to her cave, she saw that several other Timberwolves were having a stand off with something that looked like ponies. Upon closer inspection, they resembled insects, and had holes in their hooves. There was a big one standing calmly in the center of the creatures, just sipping something that looked like tea.
The moment it saw her, it set it down and walked over to her. It then extended a hoof, and said " Hello. I am Queen Chrysalis. Can you spare a minute of your time to have a little talk?"
Phoenix raised her hoof and said " Hello. I am Phoenix. What do you want?"
Chrysalis smiled. " Straight to the point. I like that. Before I ask, can we move somewhere more comfortable? I have been waiting outside for a while, and would like to sit down somewhere that isn't dirt."
Phoenix warily opened the door to her cave, and let the queen follow her inside. Phoenix walked over to her kitchen and put some tea on the kettle.
" So, you said your name is Chrysalis?"
" Yes. I am Queen of my little hive. The reason I came is to ask you if you wouldn't mind letting us live in this forest of yours."
Phoenix gave her a confused look, and said " This isn't my forest."
Chrysalis gave her a blank look,and said " You are the alpha of a Timber Wolf pack, you have a base," She waved a hoof around at the cave, " and the Zebra is an ally of yours, giving you pretty much full reign in this area you've made. As far as I am concerned, you are the boss of the forest."
She decided to walk around the cave, and saw a huge library. " That, is a lot of books."
Twilight stood in the doorway with a smirk, and said " It took me three years to get all of these. I will never part with one. I put too much effort into sneaking around, and making a new disguise each time."
Chrysalis shook her head, and said " Anyway, I'm getting off track. Do you mind us being neighbors. We would live in that old castle, the crumbling one with vines and plant life everywhere."
Twilight thought for a second, and siad with a shrug of her head " I don't care. Do what you will. Just don't attack ponyville. I really don't want to have to deal with a full investigation coming I here, and screwing up my life."
Chrysalis gave one of the rarest things she had on the planet, a genuine smile. " Thank you. It's relaxing knowing your not going to try to kill us."
" No problem." She led the changling queen out of her house, and said " Welcome to the Everfree. We hope you enjoy your stay." With that, the wolves walked into the house, and she shut the door.