Hùndùn

by LoZLttP13


I-IV. The Everfree Forest

Rainbow dashed towards Nightmare Moon, attempting to punch her face. With only a sideways glance at her, Nightmare lifted a hand and caught Rainbow’s fist. Rainbow immediately shouted and swung her leg, attempting to kick her, but Nightmare simply lifted her knee and blocked this, as well.

With great speed, Rainbow directed several strikes at Nightmare’s vital areas, only for Nightmare to almost lazily parry away each of them. When Rainbow tried to clap Nightmare’s ears, Nightmare pushed her arms away and struck her palm against Rainbow’s forehead, sending her flying backwards with a pained grunt. However, Rainbow recovered quickly; she expertly allowed the blow to send her into a graceful backwards flip, and upon touching back to the ground she leapt towards Nightmare, screaming as she directed a kick at her head.

Nightmare ducked away, then when Rainbow landed again Nightmare jumped up and landed a roundhouse kick into her belly. Rainbow was sent skidding backwards, wrapping her arms around her abdomen, doubling over, and crying out in agony.

“Ready your arms, men!” the captain of the guards shouted, and they all drew their swords. “Charge!” he cried, and they rushed at Nightmare Moon from all directions.

Nightmare sneered. “Stand back, you fools!” she growled, and her Marks and eyes glowed blue for an instant before she spun in place, swinging her arms in a circle around her. A wave of force emanated from her hands, pulsing outwards and sending the guards sprawling to the ground.

By this time, Twilight’s wits had returned. She turned and ran towards Spike, who was now some distance away from her. “Spike!” she shouted, gathering up her Chi.

“Girls, grab me!” Spike shouted, and his five new friends all placed their hands on his shoulders. Twilight’s hands and eyes glowed purple with Ether for a moment, then she reached forward and grasped Spike’s outstretched hand. There was a bright, violet flash, then Spike, Twilight, and the other five girls vanished.


There was a flash of purple Ether over the escape circle in the Golden Oak Library, and Twilight, Spike, and their companions materialized on it.

They were all wide-eyed and shaken, and Rarity shouted, “What happened?! Where are we?!”

Twilight swooned in place. “Uuhnn….” she groaned, and her eyes closed and she fell forward.

“Twilight!” Spike cried, rushing forward and catching her in his arms.

As he gently picked Twilight up and carried her to a sofa, Pinkie said, “Is she alright?”

“She used a huge amount of energy to bring us here,” Spike replied. “She’s going to be fine, but she needs to rest and rejuvenate herself.”

Looking around, Rarity said, “She brought us all the way to the library? My, she’s a powerful Elf!”

Spike ran into the library’s little kitchen, where he located a glass and filled it with water. After opening a jar of sugar and shoveling several spoonfuls into the glass, he returned to Twilight’s side and gently shook her awake. “Twilight,” he said.

Twilight’s eyes fluttered open, and she tremblingly pushed herself into an upright sitting position. “Drink this,” Spike said, handing her the glass.

Twilight slowly gulped down the water, then gave the glass back to Spike. As he set it down, Fluttershy anxiously stuttered, “W-what’s going on? Was that r-really N-nightmare Moon?”

Twilight held her head as she nodded. “Yes.”

“But how did she escape from Tartarus?” Rarity asked worriedly.

Rainbow glowered suspiciously at Twilight. “Yeah, and how did you know about her?” She stepped forward and pointed an accusatory finger at her. “Are you a spy?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Rainbow,” Applejack said, taking her arm and pulling her away. “Of course she ain’t.”

She looked back at Twilight. “But you do know somethin’ ’bout all this, don’t you?”

Pinkie suddenly gasped. “That’s why you came here, isn’t it? You were on the lookout for Nightmare Moon!”

After a moment of hesitation, Twilight sighed and nodded. “Yes. Princess Celestia sent me here to warn her if I saw any sign of Nightmare Moon. I was warned that she might turn up tonight.”

“But where is Celestia?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight anxiously looked away from her. “I don’t know,” she said. “I think that Nightmare Moon has captured her. I don’t know where she’s keeping her.”

“Well, we have to find her, then!” Rainbow said.

Twilight shook her head. “Nightmare Moon could be keeping her anywhere in the world.” Her eyes widened with sudden realization. “Wait….”

“What is it?” Pinkie said.

Twilight gazed hard out of the window for a few moments. “Why did Nightmare Moon come here?” she said. “Why is she in Avalon?”

Twilight was silent again, then she turned to her apprentice. “Get me a map, Spike,” she said.

Spike nodded. “Right away, Twilight,” he said, then he ran to one of the library’s shelves and began scanning over the books.

As Twilight turned and placed her feet on the ground, Pinkie repeated, “What is it, Twilight?”

“I think Celestia’s being kept somewhere close to here,” Twilight answered.

Spike returned with an atlas. “Here, Twilight,” he said, handing it to her.

“Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said, opening the book. She turned to a page marked, “Avalon and Surrounding Areas,” then placed her finger on a point in the southern part of the nearby section of the Everfree Forest labeled, “Castle of the Two Sisters.” “This,” she said, “is the castle in the city where Celestia and Nightmare Moon lived before Olympus was built. When Nightmare Moon declared war against Celestia, she returned here and made it the capital of her empire. I bet she returned there and it’s where she’s keeping Celestia.”

She turned to Spike and said, “It’s about fifty kilometers into the forest. We need to get camping supplies for a two-day hike. Get a parchment and pen for a list, Spike.”

Spike nodded. “Yes, Twilight.”

Once Spike had retrieved a parchment and quill, Twilight dictated a list to him of the following items: two bedrolls, two jackets, two water skins, two backpacks, and six days’ worth of rations.

Once Spike had written the list, Twilight said, “Go and buy all of that. I’m going to rest, and then we’ll get going.”

As Spike folded and pocketed the list, he said, “Yes, Twilight.”

As he was just about to exit, however, he stopped when Rainbow said, “Hold on, you two are going after Nightmare Moon all by yourselves?”

“No,” Twilight said. “We’re going to rescue Celestia.”

Rarity raised a brow. “Shouldn’t you tell your brother to ready a siege of Nightmare Moon’s castle?”

Twilight gave an annoyed and slightly angry look to Rarity, as though she’d just uttered something unimaginably stupid. “Are you out of your mind? Nightmare Moon is the Goddess of the Moon.

Rarity’s brow furrowed in puzzlement. “What does that have to do with it?”

“The Moon,” Twilight repeated, pointing up. “As in the planet-sized rocky satellite that’s orbiting the Earth. She’s the personification of that object. What you saw her do in Town Square wasn’t even the tiniest fraction of what she’s capable of. If she wanted to, she could blast the whole world into bits. We could rally every single God and mortal Being together to fight her, and she’d still crush us all like ants. Our only hope to stop her is Celestia, and the only way to rescue Celestia is to sneak into the castle and release her under Nightmare’s nose.”

Rainbow nodded. “I get it,” she said, smiling. “So we have to infiltrate and bust Celestia out of the castle with stealth. I like it.”

“Wh-what?” Twilight said confusedly. “‘We’? What makes you think you’re coming with me and Spike?”

Rarity gave an incredulous look to Twilight. “Why, of course we’re coming with you, Darling!”

“Darn tootin’!” Applejack added. “We ain’t lettin’ no friend of ours wander into the Everfree Forest alone!”

Twilight glared at Applejack. “You’re not my friends,” she growled through her teeth.

The girls all stared astonishedly at her. “What? Why not?” Pinkie asked distressedly.

“I don’t need any more friends,” Twilight replied. “And you’re not coming with us to rescue Celestia. The more there are, the slower we’ll move, and the more likely Nightmare will find us.”

Rainbow folded her arms, frowning at Twilight. “Well, whether we’re your friends or not, going into the Everfree Forest alone is suicide. You need someone who can fight.”

“You got your ass sorely kicked by Nightmare Moon,” Twilight replied sharply.

Rainbow bared her teeth. “Listen, Twi, Nightmare would’ve been crying like a baby and begging for mercy if she were anyone else.” She pointed at herself. “You’re talkin’ to a lower intermediate kung fu master. Come at me if you think I’m all talk. I dare you.”

Twilight shrunk back under Rainbow’s fierce gaze, and she found herself at least partially believing her.

“Ya’ll will need cooks,” Applejack said, pulling Pinkie towards herself.

Rarity tossed her hair. “I might not be a very strong magician, but I can also hold my own in a fight, and it can’t hurt to have another Elf in your party.”

Fluttershy nervously blushed and touched her forefingers together. “Umm, I’m not very good at fighting,” she said softly. “But, um… I’m pretty good at healing, and you might need a medic.”

After a few moments of silence, Spike said, “They have a point, Twilight.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine,” she muttered. “You can all come with me and Spike, then.”

Pinkie cheered, then Twilight said, “But, Spike and I are setting out at noon. If you’re not all back and ready by then, we’re leaving without you. Got it?”

They all nodded and replied, “Yes.”

Rarity added, “Applejack and I need to go and be sure our sisters are safe, anyway.”

“And I’d probably better check on Scootaloo,” Rainbow said.

“Ah’ll go get mah guns!” Applejack said, grinning.

Twilight nodded. “Alright. Go get our supplies, Spike.”

Spike nodded, but Rarity placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “Actually,” she said to Twilight, “Why don’t you have Pinkie get you a change of clothes from the inn and buy your supplies? Spike can lookout for you while you recover.”

Twilight groaned irritatedly. “Fine. Pinkie, you may get our supplies. But if you’re not back by eleven, I’m sending Spike instead.”

Pinkie nodded. “Okie dokie lokie,” she said softly, then she turned and exited the library. The other girls followed after her, leaving Spike and Twilight alone in the great hallowed oak tree.

Twilight trembled and swooned again. “Whoa, Twilight,” Spike said, gently laying her back down. “I’ll cut up some apples for you, then I’ll take you to bed.”

Twilight nodded, her eyes half-open and rapidly blinking. “Thanks, Spike,” she said, and in a few moments her eyes closed and she gently snored as she fell back into slumber.

Once Spike had gotten some apples from the kitchen’s pantries and removed their cores and divided them into slices, he returned to Twilight and woke her to feed them to her. He then put her arm around his shoulders and supported her weight as he guided her up to Matilda’s bedroom. He laid her on the bed, covered her with the patchwork quilt spread over it, and said, “Sleep well, Twilight.”


Nightmare Moon stared astonishedly at the place where the Elf had made all the young Beings vanish. To be able to teleport such a large group, that Elf girl must have been extremely powerful. She had as much strength with Magic as a minor Goddess.

Shaking her head and putting the sorceress out of her mind for the moment, Nightmare looked back up at the inhabitants of Avalon gathered at its town square. “Now that you are under my rule, here are my commands, which are simple and few: honor me, adore me, and obey me. Do these things, and you will have nothing to fear.”

She snapped her fingers, and several small squadrons of armed, grizzled mercenaries marched into the square from the streets and surrounded the citizens. As the Beings worriedly backed away from them, Nightmare said, “These mercenaries will act as my temporary enforcers until I can form a proper Royal Guard. They have been instructed not to harm any of you unless you defy me. You may go back to your usual routines; I shall send heralds with any more of my commands.”

She spread her wings, then she took to the air. She glided over the town and the thick, wild Everfree Forest, until she located her capital’s ruins and the crumbling remains of the Castle of the Two Sisters.

Once she had descended past the mercenary archers standing on the black stone turrets and landed before the great iron front gates, two more of her hired guards opened them and allowed her in. She walked into the castle; navigated to and went down the set of steps into the dungeon; and after striding down its dark, torch-lit passages, another set of two guards unlocked the iron, barred door to its deepest cell for her to enter.

Kneeling with her head bowed in the circular chamber’s center was Celestia, whose arms were both shackled to the walls on either side. She was still in her soft white silk pajamas, though they had been stained all over with dirt. When Nightmare Moon entered, Celestia glaringly looked up at her.

Nightmare smirked. “Hello, Sister,” she said, folding her arms.

“It’s been a thousand years since last we met,” Celestia replied.

“Yes,” Nightmare said, stepping forward. As she stroked one of Celestia’s chains, she said, “You cannot imagine what it is like to be shackled and unmoving just like this for an entire age.”

“It caused me unspeakable sorrow to have to banish you to Tartarus,” Celestia said. “You left me no choice.”

“You had a choice,” Nightmare said, glaring back at her. “I was the mortals’ Princess, as well, and yet they hated and feared me while they loved and honored you. You should have stood by me when I demanded the honor I was due.”

“You proved them right to fear you by denying them their freedom,” Celestia answered.

Nightmare scoffed. “They forced my hand. I’d never given them reason to hate me before then. Mortals are superstitious and cowardly, and hate what they do not understand. Fear is the only way it is possible to bring peace and order to them; that they only ended their absurd racial feud when I gave them a common enemy testifies of this inescapable truth.”

Celestia’s expression softened. “Mortal Beings have more courage and goodness than you realize, Luna. Treat them with kindness and gentleness, and you will see it. Win their friendship willingly, and you will show them that they were wrong to despise you.”

Nightmare laughed. “‘Luna‘? I abandoned that gentle name along with your foolishly optimistic philosophy long ago. However, I fully intend to win their adoration and be a fair ruler.”

Nightmare knelt down, so her eyes were level with Celestia’s, and she wore a sincerely sorrowful expression. “We were meant to rule together, dear Sister; simply vow to defer to my firmer wisdom and I shall release you so you can return to my side.”

Celestia sighed sadly. “You still have much yet to learn, Luna. I hope that you shall awaken from your blindness before my apprentice liberates me.”

Nightmare’s eyes widened. “Your apprentice? … Ah, so she is the powerful sorceress who recognized me, is she not?” Nightmare smiled. “Powerful though she is, it amuses me that you believe she can best me and unseal you.”

“Twilight will release me,” Celestia replied confidently.

“‘Twilight’ is her name, then,” Nightmare said, smiling softly and standing up. “She studies to become your Court Magician, no doubt.”

She turned around and placed her hand on her cheek, gazing into the darkness. “I can see why you’ve taken an interest in her. She has power enough to match a lesser God. She’s quite beautiful, too. She would indeed make an excellent Court Magician. Her companions interest me a great deal, as well- particularly that rainbow-haired Angel. Also quite the beauty, and a cunning warrior as well. My Guard could well use a Captain like her.”

She softly chuckled. “Yes, they will make excellent consorts, I think.”


Spike shook Twilight awake. “Get up, Twi. They’re back,” he said.

Twilight stretched and sat up. In the corner of the bedroom she saw Matilda sitting in one of the chairs, smiling at her with a book in her lap. “Did you sleep well, Twilight?” she asked.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, thank you. I’m sorry I used your bed.”

Matilda nodded. “You’re fine. Just be sure to mop up the coal you drew on the floor downstairs when you come back.”

Spike laid a pile of folded clothes and a pair of sneakers on Twilight’s lap. “Go get changed, and then we can leave,” he said.

Twilight sighed. “So all of your friends are back?”

“Yep, and we’re all ready to go,” Spike replied.

Twilight stood up. “Alright. I’ll be down in a minute,” she said, and she went to Matilda’s bathroom to change.

Once Twilight was in clothes more suitable for travel, she went downstairs to find Spike and the other five girls standing around the room, also dressed for the journey. Each was wearing a large backpack with a bedroll strapped on top, and Spike was leaning against the one obviously meant for Twilight.

Twilight also noticed that all of them were wearing hoodies tied around their waists- except Rarity, whose hoodie was draped over her shoulders, and Fluttershy, who instead had a yellow knitted sweater tied around her waist.

Spike tossed a purple hoodie to Twilight, saying, “Here. It’ll get cold at night.”

Twilight nodded and tied the sleeves around her waist. “So, your little sisters and Scootaloo are fine?” she said to Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity.

Rarity nodded. “Yes. Scootaloo is with her father and Sweetie and Apple Bloom are with Applejack’s family.”

Applejack smiled and patted the two holsters loaded with revolvers at her sides. “And Ah got mah guns!”

Pinkie said worriedly, “It was hard to avoid the mercenaries Nightmare brought to town, though! Bon-Bon told me they were looking for us!”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Th-they were?! Why?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Who knows? We got rations and sleeping bags, though, so we’re all ready to go!”

“I also have medicine,” Fluttershy said, placing her hand on the beaded satchel at her side. “I can treat cuts, burns, frostbite, bruises, and some infections and poisons.”

Twilight nodded. “Alright,” she said, pulling her backpack onto her shoulders. “Let’s get going, then.”

“Good luck, and be safe!” Matilda called after them as they left.

Once they were outside the library, Twilight said, “Alright, we should split up and meet at the path at the edge of the forest. Don’t let any of the mercenaries see you, and be careful.”

They all nodded, and set off in different directions. Twilight moved slowly, hiding behind alleys whenever she saw one of the mercenaries until they passed by. After a good half hour, she arrived at the path to find that Pinkie and Fluttershy were already there.

They hid in the shadows of the trees until- one by one- the others arrived, as well. Once all seven of them had gathered up, they set off deeper into the woods.

The Everfree Forest was the largest, wildest, and oldest forest in the world. It was always growing bigger, which was only marginally slowed by the attempts of loggers to weather its boundaries away. At this point it had encompassed nearly a third of the entire continent of the Central Pillar, stretching from the tip of its southernmost peninsula all the way up to the Northern Roof. On the Earth’s equator it was tropical and rainy, and as it rolled to the icy, mountainous north it grew steadily more deciduous until pines began mixing in and formed tundra land in the Roof. The section that stood within Equestria was deciduous, and sometimes children would go to the edge to pick its juicy, fragrant fruits. They dared not go beyond the edge of the Forest’s trees, however; their parents gravely forbade them from venturing further in, often with the common and old saying, “Losing your life to the horrors within will be punishment enough for disobeying me.”

It was said in an ancient legend that Discord himself had planted the first trees of the forest, and it was easy to guess why; reality seemed to bend and twist in mysterious ways within that wood. It was incredibly easy to get lost in it, and cartographers who had attempted to map it found recording its layout to be impossible; they would find that once they had drawn out the paths and the landmarks, when they tried to retrace their steps the paths and trees had somehow become radically dissonant from their maps.

The deeper you ventured into the forest, the darker, stranger, and more dangerous it became. Few who went far into it returned to tell about it, and those who survived would often bring with them tales that were bizarre and horrific, and it was difficult to tell which were true and which were the fantasies of madness-induced hallucination. Some of the horrors that were known for a certainty to reside in the Everfree Forest were cockatrices that could turn you into stone by gazing into your eyes; chimeras with three heads: that of of a lion, goat, and snake; and great Rocs with wings as wide as hills and whose eggs were as large as boulders.

But the most horrible stories were of abominations that defied the known laws of nature itself. Some said that such things couldn’t accurately be called creatures, for they were not truly living- reanimated corpses and spirits bound to the world by dark forces were among the things rumored to lurk within the forest. But other, even worse things were also said to sleep in the forest’s deepest and darkest depths; things that could tear apart the very fabric of reality and would destroy the world were it not that they were forever trapped in the endless maze of the Everfree Forest’s trees. These legendary monstrosities were dreaded almost as much as the Sealed Gods, and Beings would often compare the two with the old proverb, “As the Sealed Gods are to mortal Beings, so are the abominations of the Everfree Forest to ordinary animals.” One such legendary creature, the draconequus, was second only to Discord in frequency as the subject of horror stories; they were said to have the head of a horse and the bodies and limbs of many different animals both mystical and nonmagical, and could warp the world around them with an ease surpassed only by the Lord of Chaos himself. No one knew if they truly existed, but it was said that the first ones were Discord’s pets, and that they were the animal he had chosen as the beast-attendants of his Coat of Arms.

Twilight and each of her companions had heard stories of the terrible undead corpses, chimeras, and draconeqii in the forest throughout their entire childhoods, so all of them entered it with great reluctance and foreboding. Twilight, who had the least dread and was the least hesitant to enter, was deathly terrified of it; though she doubted that there were any more draconeqii in the world- if they had ever existed at all- and was certain that the notion of the presence, or even mere existence of zombies and ghosts was ridiculous and absurd, she was well aware of the presence of monsters and hazards still most perilous that science had verified to reside there. Spike and the girls huddled closer together as the trees grew denser and the forest floor grew more shadowy. They followed Twilight, who navigated the paths with the map in her book.

As the day began to wane into late afternoon, Applejack asked, “Are you sure we’re goin’ the right way? Ah mean, the Everfree Forest ain’t ever still, right?”

“Its layout shifts more slowly the closer to the edge you are,” Twilight replied. “If we’re lucky, the map should be fairly accurate for a while.”

“Why don’t I fly up and see?” Rainbow asked. “Just hand me the book and I can see how well they mach up, or maybe even look for the castle.”

No,” Twilight said firmly. With a serious frown at Rainbow, she said, “Nightmare almost certainly has lookouts watching the skies. We have to stay below the trees.”

Rainbow groaned, “Aww, alright….”

Twilight continued to lead the way, and slowly the paths they followed began to differ slightly from the charts of the atlas. A few times Twilight had to double-check behind them to be sure they were still in the right general direction, but on the whole they seemed to still be approaching the Castle of the Two Sisters.

The oppressive atmosphere grew ever thicker, however, and the party’s hopeless dread only grew. Rainbow Dash, though she was just as fearful as any of the others, wanted to appear to be the most undaunted of any of them, and so to do so as well as ease some of the tension within her she cleared her throat and said, “So, you guys wanna hear a story?”

Fluttershy’s gaze darted between the shadows. “Um… not now, Rainbow,” she said quietly.

“I’m bored, though,” Rainbow said. “Don’t tell me you guys aren’t bored, too.”

“Ah’m more piss-nervous,” Applejack said.

Rainbow snickered. “Aww, you scared, AJ? You can hold my hand if you like; I’ll protect you.”

Applejack sniffed and frowned at her. “No thanks,” she said.

Twilight took a deep breath. She would actually like to ease her mind a little, and hearing a story might help. “Yes, Rainbow, let’s hear one,” she said.

Rainbow grinned. “Hey, you’re cooler than I thought, Twi,” she said. “Anyway, so I’ve heard from a friend that her friend went into these woods one time and met an old hag-”

“Um, Dashie?” Pinkie interrupted her. “I don’t think a scary story is what we need to hear right now….”

“Actually,” Twilight said, “scary stories can be cathartic when you’re frightened. It might relieve some of the tension. Keep going, Rainbow.”

Rainbow’s grin broadened. She was liking Twilight more every second. “So he met a hag in these woods, in a little rotting hut. He was hungry, so he went in and asked her if she had any food. She gave him some meat pie, and asked him for a few copper pieces for it. He said he didn’t have any, so she said he could pay her later. Once he’d eaten it, he asked if he could pay her the copper in a few days, but she said that he couldn’t pay her with copper anymore; the meat in the pie was from a Being’s arms!”

Fluttershy squeaked in fright as tears welled in her eyes. Rainbow didn’t notice this, however, and continued, “So she said he had to go cut off someone’s arms to pay her back. He was horrified, and refused to do it. So she said that she had to have her payment… AND SHE PULLED OUT A KNIFE AND SLICED HIS ARM OFF INSTEAD!!”

With this last shout, Pinkie and Fluttershy both screamed in fright while holding onto the girls nearest to them. Rainbow laughed, “You should’ve seen your faces!” as she wiped some tears away from her eyes.

“Rainbow, that wasn’t funny!” Pinkie shouted angrily.

At that moment, however, there was a crack beneath them, and they all fell silent. There were a few more small cracks, and then suddenly the floor broke beneath them. They had been walking on a massive, rotting fallen log disguised by dirt and moss as the forest floor, and the wingless Beings began sliding screaming down a landslide as Rainbow and Fluttershy hovered in the air.

“Come on!” Rainbow shouted to Fluttershy, and both of them dived down towards the others. Fluttershy grabbed Rarity’s hand and pulled her to a stop as Rainbow caught Pinkie and Spike and strained against their weight as she slowly lowered them through the air to the ground.

Applejack caught a branch sticking from the ground and came to a stop, but beneath her Twilight continued to slide towards the edge of the cliff. “Twilight!” Applejack cried, and she released the branch and began to rapidly slide down to her.

Twilight hit her head on one of the stones, knocking her unconscious, and just meters from the cliff’s edge Applejack grabbed her hand. As they slid and fell off, Applejack reached up with her free hand and grabbed a jagged stone on the cliff’s lip, catching herself just in time.

Applejack screamed in pain as Twilight’s weight pulled against her arm as they dangled over the deep drop below, but with a mighty grunt she heaved Twilight back up. Applejack pulled herself over, as well, then rolled onto her back and panted exhaustedly.

After a few moments, Twilight awoke and sat up, holding her head. “You- you saved me,” she said quietly. “You could have died.”

Applejack nodded. “Yep. Ya’ll might not think of me as your friend,” she said, smiling, “but Ah ain’t lettin’ you meet your untimely end if Ah have somethin’ to say about it. When Ah said Ah considered you to be my friend, Ah meant it.”

Twilight looked away, blushing slightly. “Well… thank you,” she said.

“Anytime,” Applejack replied.

Rainbow flew up over them and landed at their side. As she helped them up, she said, “Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, “I’m fine.”

“My arms are a might sore,” Applejack said, rolling her shoulder, “but they’ll be alright.”

Once the party had regrouped, Fluttershy had treated and bandaged Twilight’s wound, and Twilight had retrieved the atlas, they set off again.

Spike and his new friends began talking to each other to keep the mood lightened as they followed behind Twilight, but they were more vigilant for any signs of further trouble.

When they had gone forward a few more kilometers and the sun was nearly setting, Rarity suddenly stopped them, holding up her hand. “Wait,” she said.

They all fell silent. There was some faint rustling coming towards them, and in a few moments they heard a low growl.

Look out!” Fluttershy shouted, and there was a great roar as a manticore leapt out of the bushes and charged towards them.

Fluttershy threw a phial to the ground, and as it shattered a cloud of smoke billowed out and rose up over them. “Quick, up the trees!” she cried, and the other Beings all obeyed her and rapidly scrambled up the branches nearest to them.

None were more astonished at the manticore’s appearance than Twilight; in her research she had learned that the silent predators with lions’ bodies and scorpions’ tails usually hunted only at night, and made no noises as they stalked their prey. That one announced its attack as it approached them during the daytime was highly bizarre to her.

“Ah’ll handle this,” Applejack said, and she unholstered one of her revolvers and pointed it at the great cat as it scratched her tree and roared up at her. “Right between the eyes,” she muttered, closing her left eye and steadying her gun.

There was a sound of glass shattering, and the manticore suddenly rolled its eyes and fell unconscious to its side. Applejack lowered her gun and gazed confusedly at it. “Huh?” she said.

“You didn’t shoot it, AJ?” Rainbow called to her.

“No, Ah didn’t,” Applejack replied, deeply puzzled.

Twilight saw Fluttershy slide down one of the trees, then approach the manticore, which was still breathing. “Fluttershy, get away!” Twilight yelled worriedly down at her.

“It’s unconscious,” Fluttershy said. “I threw a tranquilizer at it. It’ll be out for a few hours.”

Her companions all sighed and slid down from the trees, as well. “Let’s get out of here, then!” Rainbow said.

Spike nodded. “Yeah, let’s go, Fluttershy!”

“Not yet,” Fluttershy said, kneeling beside the sleeping beast. “It shouldn’t be this aggressive….”

“What are you doing, Fluttershy?!” Rainbow shouted. “We should go!”

“I think something’s wrong with it,” Fluttershy replied calmly. “I’m going to try to help it.”

“Ugh, why?!” Rainbow shouted. “That thing almost killed us!”

“It doesn’t want to hurt anything; it’s just trying to survive,” Fluttershy said. She inspected the manticore’s body and head before lifting up one of its front paws. “Oh no,” she whispered tremblingly. “It’s been poisoned.”

Twilight knelt beside Fluttershy and looked at the paw. It was a sickly blue color, and there was a thorn in a bleeding wound on its pad. “That’s a moonrose thorn, isn’t it?” Twilight said. The poison of moonroses caused creatures pricked by their thorns to grow mad and aggressive in a manner similar to rabies, which could easily cause such a strange attack.

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. I know how to treat it, though….”

She reached into her satchel and pulled out a pair of tweezers. She removed the thorn, then rummaged in her bag until she found a bottle and syringe. She uncapped the syringe’s needle, drew some liquid from the bottle, then injected it into the manticore’s wound. She then handed the syringe to Twilight and said, “Can you clean and sterilize this, please?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course,” she said, and she telekinetically lifted it into the air. She channeled some Chi into it, then transmuted the resulting Ether into intense heat. Once all residues and contaminations had been cooked away, Twilight cooled the syringe and slid the plastic cap back over the needle. While she was doing this, Fluttershy was wrapping and tying a bandage around the manticore’s wound.

“There,” Fluttershy said, standing up. “Help me move it,” she said to the others.

Rainbow sighed, but said, “Alright….” and she and Applejack assisted Fluttershy move it to a shadowed, difficult-to-find hallow in one of the trees.

As they began walking, Twilight asked Fluttershy, “Why did you help it?”

Fluttershy gave Twilight a small smile. “Have you heard the fable of the mouse and the lion?”

Twilight nodded.

Fluttershy continued, “The Lion spared the Mouse’s life, and the Mouse returned the favor by helping it escape from a hunter’s net by chewing through the ropes. You must always be kind; you never know when you’ll need it repaid.”

Twilight looked forward, her brows furrowed in deep thought. Spike’s new friends were demonstrating themselves to be surprisingly deep and moral….

Twilight sighed. Even if she wanted to be friends with them, it would be a wasted effort; she and Spike would be returning to Olympus soon anyway, assuming they even returned from this quest alive.

Shortly thereafter, it began to grow dark. They set up camp, and built a fire over which they cooked some canned vegetable stews. After they had eaten, Rainbow volunteered to be first watch and patrolled around the camp while the rest rolled out their sleeping bags, draped their blankets over themselves, and attempted to sleep. However, everyone was far too frightened by the despair woven deep within the forest to rest, so for several hours they all remained wide awake.

Once a significant portion of the night had passed, Pinkie said to the others, “Hey, guys, you all still awake?”

She was answered by a unanimous chorus of, “Mm-hmm.”

Pinkie sighed. “Okie dokie lokie.” She slid out of her bag and stood up. “This is ridiculous. We need to get some sleep. This calls for a SONG!”

Pinkie began humming an introductory tune as Twilight groaned, “Tell me she’s not.”

Pinkie began,

When I was a little girl and the Sun was going do-o-o-own

“She is,” Rarity smilingly said.

Pinkie continued,

The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me fro-o-o-own

She began skipping around the others as she sang the lines,

I’d hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw
But Granny Pie said that wasn’t the way to deal with things at all

She stood majestically on a tree stump as she continued,

She said, ‘Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears
‘You’ll see that they can’t hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear’

She backflipped off of the stump, placed her hands on her hips, closed her eyes, and leaned forward with a “Ha, ha, ha!

Spike and several of the girls giggled, and Twilight found herself smiling, as well.

Pinkie danced and jumped between the trees as she continued,

Sooo, giggle at the ghostly
Guffaw at the grossly
Crack up at the creepy
Whoop it up with the weepy
Chortle at the kooky
Snortle at the spooky
And tell-that-big-dumb-scary-face-to-take-a-hike-and-leave-you-alone
And-if-he-thinks-he-can-scare-you-he-has-another-thing-coming
And-the-very-idea-of-such-a-thing-just-makes-you-wanna

Here she laughed so hard she had to wipe away a tear.

Laaaaaaaaaugh!

The others hysterically laughed with her, and after a good minute or so they calmed back down. “Thanks, Pinkie, I feel a lot better,” Fluttershy said.

“Same here,” said Applejack.

As Pinkie slid back into her bedroll, she said, “Goodnight, everybody!”

Spike yawned. “Yeah, good night, Pinkie….”

And so they were all able to quickly fall asleep.

However, as the night drew on, Twilight woke up again and began trembling; her blanket was too thin, and couldn’t shield her from the forest’s supernatural cold.

Twilight stood up and went to the fire pit, but found that it had completely died down. Miserably, she returned to her bedroll and attempted to curl up and wrap her blanket around herself tighter as her teeth chattered.

Rarity had been awakened by the sound of Twilight’s movements, and after seeing her return to her bag and shiver under her thin blanket she stood up and draped her thick, handmade quilt over her. Twilight looked up to see Rarity smilingly standing over her. “Good night, Darling,” she said, and she returned to her own bed.

Twilight turned and gazed melancholically away from Rarity. Her new companions were surprising her again and again with how generous they were, and she was beginning to regret that she’d be leaving them soon….