Everfree

by Verzeih Turncoat


Chapter 6

Evefree stood in front of them with a fresh created pack of timberwolves. Two dozen pairs of green glowing eyes behind the mare that simply took the strongest means they possessed. Even more claimed to be its source.


There she stood, the lavender unicorn, friend of Celestia. The pony who had brought back the mementos of her past loves. The fruits of Evefree´s masterpiece, that were called the Elements of Harmony. Evefree had certainly stronger opponents over the millennia, like Tirek´s teacher, whoms magic attacks had unwillingly helped creating the oldest parts of the Everfree Forest. But none of her earlier enemies she felt like she owed them something.

Then there was that pink earthpony, the great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaugther of Holder Cobblestone. If things had turned out different back in the days this pony might have been her great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaugther too.

Then there was the despicable farm pony granddaugther that tried her hardest to look inocent as she tried to get Granny Smith killed.

Then there were their friends unremarkable to Evefree. No previous connections or hidden bonds, roadblocks at best.


There they were Celestia´s past and the future in conflict with eachother. If Luna and Cadence would be here the chaos in her heart would have been complete. She as sole witness as the timberwolves start their chase, as Twilight swooped in her horn lit up with her unusually strong magic to safe her friends. Evefree with equally glowing magic to protect her pets. Both convinced to do the right thing for the right reasons. And Celestia wanted both sides to stop. No side to lose. She trusted her faithful former student as much as she believed in her former mentor.


Magic beams and teleportations on top of all the previous magical escapades of the day strained Twilight Sparkle. "Run, Applejack. I can´t hold them down forever."

"But Granny..."

"Is in no danger, Evefree loves her. But for some reason she hates you!"

Scattered pieces of the timberwolves floated around to reform themself and Evefree commented on that: "Unicorn, I let you know that fighting my timberwolves does not help you to fight me. My magic has become part of them. I no longer need to put any power or channel my magic into them. It is theirs now. They are no puppets. They live. Do you understand?" She had to give at least some knowledge. It was not her fault she choose to fight for that ungradeful granddaugther.

"Yes I understand! Do you think I am so stupid that..." `...I let your wolves hunt my friends?´was what she wanted to say but she was cut of by Evefree.

"For somepony that after all the times she use the Elements still thinks Magic can be channeled into magic, yes I do."

Twilight in her weaken state remembered the words in the book. -There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery.- "Then what is the sixth Element called."

"You called it Magic, Celestia called it Leadership, but for me it was always my first love."

A shivering cold ran down Applejack spine. Was that what the alicorn planned? Turning Granny into an Element of Harmony? First she had thought she had to rescue her live, than she had thought she had to save Granny´s body and soul and now... she did not even had words for this. A monster that was what Evefree was.
A monster that charged up her horn with green magic.

"Girls charge up!" shouted Twilight stepping once again in the Rainbow Power. Green magic focused Twilight and Applejack. Sparks of raw magic power flew around leaving small burn marks where ever they landed. Celestia was shocked and surprised Evefree was taking this seriously. But not as surprised to see Twilight unharmed. "With your magic inside us you can´t hurt us. The polymetric law of magi..." Two things stopped her monologue. One was a sudden flash in front of her eyes. The other was seeing Applejack jumping forward towards where the timberwolves were lurking as Twilight turned her face away from the blazing light.

"This has to stop!" shouted Princess Celestia in the tone only someone in charge of a thousands of ponies over hundereds of years could thought Twilight, but it was just the words of a pony who really believed what was going on was wrong. The white alicorn stood between Twilight and Evefree carrying a magic shield to protect herself.

"So are you now going to fight me." said Evefree, her eyes firmly stuck to the white alicorn´s body covered in small burn marks. She had hurt her...

"You know what you are doing is wrong! What would Granny Smith say to you attacking her grandchildren."

"Shut up, unicorn!" Evefree´s voice could have shattered windows as she shouted back at her: "Anny stole my heart along with my apples to feed her family. She knows that you sometimes have to do bad things to..." As she looked to Twilight she discovered that Applejack was gone.



Granny Smith had woken up and found herself, still bound to the Zap Appletree, but in front of her where previously was a clearing stood now two lines of trees. She could hear her kidnapper shouting, "Anny stole my heart along with my apples to feed her family. She knows that you sometimes have to do bad things to..." as Applejack ran past the trees, closing the distance and started to unstangle her out of the vines.
The green alicorn darted over towards them as well, for the first time using her wings to fly since they had met her. Her green forelimbs coiled around Applejack´s upper body pulling her aside away from Granny Smith. "Stop trying to kill her! You useless granddaugther."



Twilight wanted to fly after Evefree as she had rushed away, but Celestia had hold her back in a golden aura of her magic. It was unsettling for the lavender alicorn. Since she was a filly Princess Celestia had never used any magic to rein her in, but now. "I said it´s over, Twilight. I also ment you with it."

"But I need to help my friend..."

"By ganging up against my friend? Twilight, is that your finding in the Magic of Friendship?" ask Princess Celestia´s eyes began to form tears, "Having friends as resources that you can pull for power? When you need them? I..." said Celestia with tears in her eyes. "I always believed in Friendship. The magic to support somepony close to you. The might to, with a single word, just be there or even just their memory of you, make them do better choices. To let them find their mistakes in their ways. To make another´s live just better because you exist. That´s the Magic of Friendship Starswirl offered me, that Clover the Clever offered me, that oh so many ponies have offered me and I have returned to them. That lifted me durring my darkest times. A gift I hoped we share Twilight. A gift that time and again got Discord away of his evil ways without force. But it looks like I was just something that gave you power. That you could use." Finally the tears were running down Princess Celestia cheeks.

"Princess I have to go and stop Evefree."

"Please, Twilight let me help Evefree to overcome her grieves. She is a good pony."

Twilight was silent. Wait, was she the bad pony here? The bully in school that had everyone back her up because she was popular not because she was right? But Evefree she has kidnapped somepony. Princess Celestia had to admited that that was a bad thing to do and still she insisted to not punish her.



"Let me heal her, damn it! Let me make her younger! Let me make her inmortal. She is your grandmother! Why do you want her to die?!" Applejack starred at the green, angry face. This had to be some sick joke. "If you hate her so much just let me keep her here. The farm can be yours." Was she really thinking that Applejack hated her grandmother. Was she delusional, or something!?

"Why would Ah leave Granny here with ya, ya creep! Ya wan´ed to kiss her while she slept."

"She whaa?" asked Granny Smith dangling in the vines.

Evefree blushed all over her face, stunned by the words of Granny Smith she lost her grip on Applejack. Within seconds the farmpony wrestled the alicorn to the ground. "Also make her immortal? Then what was the horseapple talk about letting ya have her last few hours?"

At this point stood Princess Celestia behind them and asked politely, that Applejack would take her grandmother and leave the rest to her. Evefree declined this option, arguing that Applejack was trying to kill Granny Smith for a brief moment, but the angry words of Granny Smith over these accusations silenced the green alicorn for good.
Princess Celestia looked at the braids of the old mare with a sad smile. The twig woven onto the hair had sprout thin roots that were dangling out of the braid, as well as young leave. This sapling had been in there longer than the others. "Once you are out of the woods you should remove the sapling out of her mane."

Twilight Sparkle was to weak to teleport so they moved the old fashion way through the woods, when Applejack asked: "Ya sure we should just leave her?"

"No, I am not." Twilight let her head sink. "But I think I owe a friend."

"Ya mean Princess Celestia? Right?"

"Of course I mean Princess Celestia. I don´t even now Evefree."



"I am not going to say I am sorry, Celly. I was just trying to help her." said Evefree, but her eyes told a different story and Celestia needed her to be honest. Not to her, but to herself.

"And just how many years have you suck out of her body into your trees?"

"About five or six."

"And would you like it if I did that to you?" asked Celestia, trying to sound confident.

"Ha you can´t. You are almost as weak in true magic as that unicorn."

"Her name is Twilight Sparkle."-Celestia needed to hold her grin back. Just a temporary age-spell would be enough to make her reconsider these words. -"And that was not the point, would you like it if I would do that to you?"

"There is a difference. It took me six years to get one year older. My heart only hops when I see her happy."

"As did Clover the Clever" said Celestia, reminding her of her fith love and also onesided. Clover the only unicorn she ever had a crush on. She had been here for just a month. She really understood her and the memories of Clover had helped her to age to adolescence. Even now her heart made a leap. Sweet memories the only way to get old alone. But she was also the pony that had made being alone so much more painful."Or Holder Cobblestone" Celestia stopped for a brief moment. "Did you know that..."

"Yes, I knew that the pink pony was his offspring. The Pies." Cobblestone, he wasn´t to happy when she tried to clone him for herself. His anger was partly because he almost drowned, partly because he was about to get married to Pie Recipe and partly because Evefree had never expected to fall in love with a stallion. The mirror pond was a stupid idea. "I kept watching everyponies families with my crows." All three that still exist, that is. Bloodlines lost to the ages. Six times she had endured the loss of a loved pony. She had the means to stop it from happening again. Still it would just lead Granny Smith to the same pain as her.

Celestia had a compassionate smile, folding her wing around the small green body. "If you look for companionship. Luna and I would be happy to see you with us in Canterlot. We always looked at you as a big sister." It would be nice to see little Luna again, but Canterlot, Equestria for the matter...

Evefree brushed aside her wing and start to vanish into the woods: "Sorry I can´t live in a land where not even the clouds move on their own. Maybe next year if Anny has forgiven me. For know I´d like to be alone."