Secrets of the Everfree

by ChroniclerOfFantasies

Secrets of Fluttershy

!!!WARNING!!!

Some material in this chapter may not be suitable for certain persons. If self harm bothers you in any way, then I suggest you skip everything Fluttershy says. I know that can be a touchy subject for some people so I just wanted to give you a heads up.

Go to Canterlot and talk to the princesses, that’s all he asked of me. After that, I was free to do what I liked until he summoned me again and while I had planned on returning to the forest, something I felt he probably didn’t want me to do, to have the option of staying in the regular world, if only for a time, was very comforting.

The plan he had and the execution of it were completely different, and I had a feeling I was going to get it when I eventually got home to the forest. After all, here I was actually running back to the forest far earlier than was necessary chasing after a distraught mare who was desperate to find and ‘save’ her little sister.

I sighed, embarrassed by what had happened earlier. Rarity had pulled one over on Fluttershy and I, tricking us into helping her find out which way to go to get Sweetie Bell. Once she knew that the strings went straight from one pony to the other instead of wrapping around trees or anything like that, she cast a paralyzing spell on us all and took off. Needless to say we were shocked, though Rainbow and Twilight probably for different reasons than Fluttershy and I. We weren’t aware that Rarity even had that kind of spell power, though I’m sure the other two ponies in the room were just confused as to why she would paralyze us in the first place, though for me that wasn’t hard to figure out.

Rarity wasn’t the brightest cookie in the jar, but she seemed to figure out quickly enough that Fluttershy and I were NOT about to let her see her younger sister. Guardians are not allowed to return to the normal world until their training is complete. There have only been three exceptions to this since the corruption of Eden, and I was one of them.

At least catching up to her was an easy task. The minute our hooves touched the forest floor Fluttershy and I began our chants. After donning our true forms we took off after her at full speed. Needless to say we caught up to her in a matter of minutes. Fluttershy and I landed gently on a small ridge in front of Rarity, blocking her path as Rainbow Dash and Twilight caught up with her.

“Let… me… through.” she panted. To be honest she looked rather depressing panting like that while covered in dirt and mud. Still though Fluttershy and I would have to force these girls out quickly. The monsters were restless, if we stayed in the forest for much longer a pack of timber wolves would be the least of our worries.

“Tiara, Fluttershy, please.” Twilight said. “Let Rarity see her sister.”

“No. Princess you don’t understand. These are the laws with which we must abide. Rarity’s sister is a guardian now. There’s nothing we can do about that. If she wants to see her she’ll simply have to wait.”

Rainbow Dash took to the air, getting as close as she could to my face in an attempt to intimidate me. “And just how long is she supposed to be gone for? Three whole years like you Diamond? How can you expect Rarity to wait that long?”

“Says the mare who didn’t even bother to go looking for me when I disappeared.” Fluttershy retorted. Rainbow looked at her stunned as she stumbled through the air a little, her wings having locked for a moment in shock. As she came to land on the ground in front of us she gave Fluttershy the most confused look.

“Flutters… what are you talking about?” Rainbow asked with a shocked expression. Fluttershy looked away, her eyes watering. I knew what she was thinking about. I’d heard the story from my master. Fluttershy’s death or more accurately… her suicide.

“Rainbow… I’m a guardian too. So what does that mean?”

“It… it means you have cool powers and stuff right?” Fluttershy shook her head, a sad kind of half chuckle escaping her lips. I could sense what the others couldn’t, her heavy breathing, the quick pitter patter of her heart. She was hurting terribly. All these years and no one ever knew the truth about what happened to her.

“No Rainbow. It means I died. Here. In these woods. And I was but a child at the time.” To my surprise Rainbow’s eyes grew even wider. I honestly didn’t know it was possible to be that shocked.

“But Flutters… that’s not… I mean… we’ve known each other our whole lives… we’re friends… you never… I mean I would have noticed if you…”

“But you didn’t, that’s the problem. You didn’t notice. You didn’t see the signs, you didn’t help me. The day of your famous ‘Sonic Rainboom’ I tried my best to fly, to save myself, and you know what? I did. Rather than becoming a big red splotch on the ground I somehow managed to catch some wind beneath my wings and glide. But what I thought was my salvation turned out to be a curse. Sure I was slowly descending but I couldn’t turn and that would have been fine too, if it hadn’t been for that ‘Rainboom’ of yours. The shockwave was so powerful it sent me soaring through the air… and right over the Everfree.” Fluttershy had started speaking quietly, building in volume as she went on. I could tell she was fighting back the tears. If we were deeper in the woods, I might have tried to stop her but we seemed to be alright where we were, at least for the time being. Besides, I had a feeling she needed to get this off her chest.

“I ended up crashing into a tree, my body being tossed around like a rag doll over and over as I smashed into branch after branch. I think the worst part of it was when I did finally hit the ground, the only thing that didn’t take a hard hit was my head. My body was covered in deep cuts and bruises, my wings were busted up, and the bone on one of my legs had snapped and ripped through the skin. I remember laying there crying for someone to help me… but it never came.”

“You… you said you were saved by a cloud of butterflies…”

Fluttershy laughed maniacally for a moment, giving Rainbow the saddest, yet most twisted look I had ever seen come from her. “A cloud of butterlies?! You seriously believed that?!”

“Well I…”

“Think about it Rainbow Dash. You have a brain I know you do! What honestly makes you think that a cloud of butterflies could lift and carry a Pegasus?!”

“Well I just figured magic was involved or… something!”

“It’s not a matter of magic, it’s a matter of weight ratio! A cloud of one ounce butterflies cannot carry a sixty pound filly!” she screamed in an outburst. Somehow I felt that should remind me of something, though I couldn’t remember what.

She took a deep breath, calming her nerves as she tried to continue. “Still though, it’s not like I was really surprised when no one came looking, I mean I had spent my entire life in an orphanage my unknown mother abandoned me on the doorstep of the day I was born. I had always been shy and of course that got me picked on. I had dealt with everything, from being called names to being beaten to a puddle of pony mush. No one ever bothered to help me, or even cared. I used to run away all the time. It was always nice when I did because no one ever bothered to find me. No… I should be more truthful. No one ever noticed I was gone to look for me. I guess that day was no different… because I spent the next month traversing the forest all on my own.”

“I guess in that case I have to thank them for treating me so poorly. If they hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to fight through the pain and look for a way out. Then again, now that I’ve said that aloud, I guess I really shouldn’t thank them. If I had died sooner rather than later, I wouldn’t have had to suffer so much before I was saved by lord Everee.”

“I gathered up all the strength I could, hobbling around on three legs and looked for somewhere to rest. I remember it raining that night as I tumbled into a hole under a tree. Did you know that temperatures in the Everfree fluctuate regardless of the time of year? It was the middle of summer, it should have been hot and humid… but it wasn’t. It was cold… terribly cold. Everfree told me later that during my first month here the section of the forest I was living in was constantly under fifty degrees. Sure that’s not so bad for a full grown mare, but for a little filly whose body was battered and bruised, it was horrendous. It rained every night too, the water pelting my face like icicles. The rain was so cold it burned, especially when it touched my wounds. Wounds which after the first day had already grown infected.”

“I spent the next month foraging for food and looking for a way out, always keeping a trail to help me find my way back to the little place I had come to call home. I was lucky in that I had managed to suck up the pain long enough to pop the bone back into my leg. At the time I was quite happy with myself, I’d wanted to be a nurse and spent so much time learning first aid. I was able to build a makeshift splint and keep it from hurting me too much more. Of course that being said I never went very far from the little hovel I called home. How could I with a fever of well over a hundred and three, an infected, and might I add useless limb, and broken wings I didn’t even know how to use in the first place. Day after day passed, my false hope dwindling a little more as time withered on.”

“And then it happened, they day when I’d had enough. I should have realized how lucky I’d been. How easy it was for me to just live there scavenging for food without a care in the world. As time passed I forgot where I was, forgot that I was living in the Everfree forest. I forgot what lived there, the monsters, the beasts, the demons that wanted nothing more than to prey on me. And prey they did.”

“It was the middle of the night when I heard the roar rip through my little glade, I tried to hunker down beneath my blanket of leaves hoping that whatever it was would just ignore me and walk on by. I could hear whatever it was rummaging around the space outside of my little hole. I could hear it sniffing around, clawing at the bark of the trees nearby. I knew it was tracking me, I knew what it wanted. Time passed by ever so slow, the rainwater saturating the ground so much that it began to puddle up. Even my little den was beginning to fill with moisture, though not quite as bad as outside. Eventually I heard the howls of the beast begin to subside, it’s the sound of it's heavy steps leaving little more than an echo."

"That was when I made a terrible mistake. As a filly it should be no surprise when I say that curiosity got the better of me. Terrified though I was, I wanted nothing more than to know the face of the creature that had lurked around my newfound home. I took a few tentative steps outside, sure that if I stayed quiet enough it wouldn't see me... I was wrong of course. Unbeknownst to me the moment I had begun to move under my blanket of leaves it had heard me. The Manticore." Fluttershy began to tense up. I could tell she was aching to cry, but tears weren't a good thing right now. The only reason we were even talking about this is because Fluttershy can stay quiet enough to not alert the monsters. If she had a breakdown now of all times... I didn't want to think of the issues it would cause.

"My eyes became the size of saucers as they gazed upon it's figure. In the brief span of a few seconds I had come to realize it's true purpose of rummaging around wasn't to find me. No, he had snuck back into the glade much too quietly for that to be the case. Instead he had made that noise on purpose to lure me out, knowing he could never have reached me inside my hole."

"I never had the chance to react. My screams didn't ring among the trees, my wails didn't echo in the gloom. Even if I had made a sound it would have been drowned out by the rain and no pony would be around to hear it, not that that would have been very different from my normal life."

"In one swift fluid motion the Manticore wrapped it's filthy teeth around me snatching me out of my makeshift den and flinging me across the glade. I gave a yelp of pain as I landed on my back, thankful that the rain had turned the rough dirt into a soup of leaves, sticks, and mud, breaking my fall and keeping my wings from taking any further damage."

"I tried desperately to stand. I had to run, to get away. But it was to no avail. My legs wouldn't respond to my commands. I was locked in place, paralyzed by fear. The Manticore seemed to notice this, approaching me slowly as if to savor the moment. I shut my eyes tightly, knowing it was the end, finding myself more than happy to accept death as it pounced towards me."

"Of course I would not be so lucky however. As I laid there I watched as a chimera jumped seemingly from nowhere, tackling the Manticore in mid air. I watched them slash at one another, teeth ripping into the others skin as their blood splashed onto the ground only to be washed away by the rain. I shut my eyes tightly, listening as their harsh screams pierced the night."

"Then, as quickly as it began... it stopped. I opened my eyes slowly to find the two monsters circling each other. I'm not sure where it came from, but I realized that I was freezing cold. As my body shivered and my teeth chattered, I have out a painful moan drawing the attention of both of the beasts. Their eyes bore into me, filled with a twisted feral pleasure. I sucked in my breath readying myself once again for my impending doom... but it never came."

“The two monsters looked at me then back to each other before sauntering away in opposite directions.” Fluttershy looked down towards the ground. We both knew what was coming next. This was the hard part of the story.

“It was then that I realized just how worthless my life was. I was pathetic, useless. Nopony wanted anything to do with me. I was such a miserable creature that two bloodthirsty mindless beasts didn’t think I was worth their time fighting over. I was so distraught I actually started calling out for them. Can you believe that? I was so DESPERATE for even the slightest bit of attention, for anypony’s approval, no matter how small, that I began begging two giant monsters to come back and eat me alive, just so I wouldn’t be a waste of space any longer. That’s all I wanted, all I ever wanted. To be acknowledged, recognized, given a purpose. But that day made me realize, I didn’t have a purpose. I truly and legitimately was just a waste of this worlds resources. A parasite that ate the food of others and stole their precious oxygen for my own filthy desire to live, a desire I apparently didn’t have the right to.”

“Coming to a conclusion like that… is liable to make anypony do things they’d regret. I wasn’t completely unscarred from the throw the manticore had done. His teeth had pierced me in more than a few places, all of which were by that point filled with tainted dirty water. If I didn’t catch a cold from the wet and rain, then I was liable to get ten other diseases from whatever was floating around in my body. I was positive my time was up, that if I tried to survive any longer I’d die a slow and painful death and so I waited. I laid there in the mud, pelted on by rain colder than the blizzard that sealed the crystal empire for a thousand years. I had given up, on life, on happiness, on everything. I wasn’t sure what hurt more, the fact that there was nothing left for me, or that there was nothing for me to begin with.”

“After a time the rain let up. Light, or what little of it could filter through the Everfree’s thick dead canopy, enveloped the glade I resided in. I’m not sure exactly how much time I spent lying on the ground. Hours no doubt, though it felt more like an eternity. Eventually I got tired, even more so than I already was. Not sleepy mind you, just tired. Tired of waiting, as that was all I’d ever done, just wait for things to start to look up, to get a little better, I got up and began mindlessly walking, a single nagging thought in my mind…”

“It didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for. It was sitting right next to a small stream in the middle of the woods. To be honest it was quite pretty, that section of the woods I mean. For whatever reason fireflies were whizzing about despite it being the early morning. Crickets were chirping quietly and the birds were just beginning their morning songs. It even seemed as though the previous nights storm hadn’t touched that place. In fact, the death and gloom that was so prevalent in the Everfree forest didn’t seem to reach there at all. Flowers bloomed between blades of green grass, small animals scampered about like they had not a care in the world. The trees stood tall and strong, their thick branches covered in beautiful green leaves and some even bearing fruit. It was such a nice sight that it caused the few doubts I’d had up until that moment to fade away. If I was to die, that was an absolutely wonderful place to do it.”

“I remember taking a small bath in the stream. I’m not sure why, I guess I just wanted to be clean when I passed, perhaps it was my final rights, or maybe I was just stalling for extra time. Whatever the case, I stepped out of the stream carefully shaking myself dry and walked onto the banks of the water. I looked down at the tool of my destruction, the instrument that would decide my fate. It was a rock. A simple, very sharp rock I had used quite some time ago to whittle the branches I had used to tie the splint for my leg. I had wandered there looking for it, knowing that it would be in this area, though I couldn’t remember that place looking the way it did at all. I was positive the last time I had been there that it was just as dark and twisted as the rest of the forest.”

“I laid down on a boulder not far away, rubbing the little rock against it to make sure it was sharp enough to do the job. If I didn’t do it right I was going to suffer a lot longer than I wanted to.” Tears finally began to fall from Fluttershy’s eyes, no longer able to hold back the pain anymore. Though the tears fell like water falls she remained silent. Her ability to remain vigilant in her duties as a guardian even under such emotional duress amazed me. As I said before being a guardian makes us more attune to nature and the natural order of things so we guardians have to undergo special training to teach us to control our emotions rather than just letting them flow out. After all, you didn’t want your anger to take hold of you in a fight and cause you to get reckless and die, and besides you can’t go out into the regular world when you keep voicing every little opinion that comes through your mind. Being a creature of the Everfree made it hard enough to fit in socially, you didn’t need to ruin what little chance you had by being rude to everypony.

“Finally I decided it was time and yes, I’m sure you have this image in your head of me having this big mental struggle, battling it out with myself as I held the rock over my hoof, taking several long minutes to try and decide whether that was really what I wanted… but you couldn’t be further from the truth. The moment I was done sharpening it I just gave a little smile and made the cut that would end my life. I didn’t even hesitate. I didn’t fear death. I wasn’t scared of dying. No, for me death was more than welcome. It was comforting in that it was the only thing in this world that would accept me. No one else wanted me, not even the dreaded beasts that call this forest their home. But death is the greatest beast of them all. It is a monster whose hunger is never ending, never sated, always begging for more. Death does not discriminate, it does not hate over things as foolish as not having parents or being afraid to fly. All it does is eat away at the world, waiting patiently for the day it can consume everything. It desires nothing more than to fill its stomach with all that existence itself can offer… and I was more than willing to give it a little snack.”

“As the blood spilled from my wrist onto the large rock underneath me, I rested my head on my other hoof giving out a contented sigh. It was over, it was done. No longer would I have to suffer, no longer would I be useless and take up the space that other people had so desperately needed. I was free at last. Miserable, but free. I felt my head begin to spin as my body became light and fuzzy. Not long after that I closed my eyes letting darkness overtake me as I happily began to pass to the next world… and then… he came.” Fluttershy began to smile, and so did I. It was the same feeling as the day master had found me. That feeling of hope, of love and light and his simple, gentle kindness.

“I heard a voice. No that’s not right. I felt his voice. It reverberated throughout my entire being asking me a simple question: Do you want to live Fluttershy? I remember being thoroughly surprised. It was rare to ever hear my name unless it was being used in some rhyme made to put me down. What’s more, it was being used by a voice I did not recognize, if you could really even call it a voice. Of course, it didn’t really matter to me who was speaking as I kindly told the voice no.”

“Are you sure? he asked me again and I replied simply that yes, I was sure I wanted to die. I remember thinking about how death needed me to help sate his hunger. He spoke again after that thought, like he was reading my mind. Death does not need you Fluttershy. There are plenty who die everyday and he never grows full. Death would not even notice if he consumed a filly as small as you. I was upset by that. Death was all I had left anymore and here he was telling me that it was completely pointless to give myself over to it. Of course, I realized he was right. I think I knew that from the beginning, but just didn’t want to admit it to myself. Naturally though that only served to make me even more miserable than I already was. I seemed I couldn’t get anything right, even dying. No wonder nopony cared about me.”

“And once again like he was reading my mind, he spoke. I care about you Fluttershy. He said. I was shocked and tried quickly to deny his statement assuring myself he was just toying with my emotions, a cruel trick to play on a dying filly. In fact, I don’t just care about you, I need you. he said again. It stung hearing that. To say he cared was one thing, but that he actually needed me? That was preposterous.”

“Listen. I said. I'm quite happy now, with my decision. I’m ready to die. Even if you were to help me, there’s nowhere for me to go. Nopony cares about me. Nopony loves me. Nopony needs me. I’m… I’m useless…"

Not to me Fluttershy. To me you are a young filly whose life has only just begun. You fear that you will have nowhere to go, nopony to turn to, but I can quell that fear with ease. If you desire a home, I shall give it. If you wish for company, then the best of it I shall keep. If you long for purpose, then I can bestow upon you even that wish by making you a guardian. You are dying Fluttershy, just as you desire and you can never return to the life you once knew. But I can wipe the slate clean, grant you a new life that fulfills all the wishes of the old one. But I can’t do it without your help. Please, trust in me Fluttershy. Let me help you. I will ask one more time: Do you want to live?

“Funny isn’t it? I had no problem with death, but the moment someone offered me a completely new life with all of my hopes and dreams granted I hesitated. Doesn’t make a lot of sense does it? I know it’s a hard concept to swallow, but at the time death just seemed so… right. I had come to believe it was the only answer to all of my problems, yet here I was being given a choice between everything and nothing. Of course as you can see my answer was quite obvious. I knew it had gotten me in quite a bit of trouble not that long ago, but once more I decided to tempt fate, to try my luck with one more hand. And for once, just that once… it paid off.”

“Yes I said, and I could feel the joy and relief he felt sweep through my body. Then open your eyes little filly, and sing with me. I did as he asked of course and was met with the most beautiful sight in my entire life. The whole forest was lit aglow without a trace of the horrid monstrosity it normally was anywhere. Even the little stream shined with a wondrous fluorescent light. I was so happy to get the chance to see something like that, and that happiness would continue on for the next three months as I completed my training.”

“And that is the truth as to what happened that day. I spent the next three months under the tutelage of my master before I completed my training and was sent back into the regular world.” I grit my teeth in annoyance. Fluttershy was by far the weakest of us, well maybe not anymore with our most recent addition, but she had completed the training faster than any pony before or since. Unfortunately I wasn’t exactly the best student. My pride constantly got in the way of my training over the past three years, and if I’m honest with myself then the truth is I was actually taking a little longer than normal to finish my training. Most were done in two years or so with the longest being ten years and my training was almost done. So while I may not have been the fastest ever, I certainly wasn’t the slowest and as long as I avoided that I was more or less pleased with myself.

“Fluttershy…” Rainbow whispered. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know…”

Fluttershy shot the rainbow-maned pegasus a look of disgust I didn’t know was possible for the mare. There was a torrent of emotions that passed over her face so quickly even my eyes couldn’t keep up. I almost felt bad for Rainbow Dash, whatever Fluttershy was about to say next was going to hurt… a lot.

“Don’t. Talk. To. Me.”

“What? But Fluttershy! I’m your friend!” Fluttershy let out another one of her crazed cackles from earlier.

“My FRIEND? Tell me Rainbow, do you know what the hardest part about that whole ordeal was?” The cyan mare didn’t respond. Either she was afraid of the answer, or she already knew it and just didn’t want to hear it. I was willing to bet the latter. “No answer? Alright I’ll tell you.” With a flap of her wings Fluttershy took to the air for a moment before landing gently in front of Rainbow Dash. “The hardest part… was coming home after four whole months in the Everfree… and finding out that no one even knew I was gone. That no one had bothered to go looking for me just as I thought.” Fluttershy turned back towards me, inhaling sharply as to keep from shouting and alerting any monsters in the vicinity. She turned her head back to Rainbow looking at her with a deadpan stare. “Not even my one and only friend.” She looked away from Rainbow before taking off again and landing back next to me.

“Listen Rainbow, I hate to say this as it goes against masters teaching of forgiving and forgetting, but I just can’t accept how you did nothing. It hurt, it’s been hurting for all these years and there’s nothing you can do to make up for it. We’re not friends Rainbow, we never were and we never will be. I’ve been playing pretend for a long time to help keep my secret as a guardian and I’ll continue to do so to conceal my identity from the rest of ponyville, but know this, any time that it’s any sort of combination of me, you, Rarity, or Twilight, I will not show you any sort of kindness. Consider our friendship,” she placed a hoof to her mouth, like the very notion of being friends with Rainbow Dash made her nauseous. “done.”

Rainbows eyes welled up as tears slowly fell from her face. I didn’t really know how to feel. I didn’t pity her that was for sure, but I wasn’t upset with her either. Maybe it’s because the situation was so different for me. Ponies went searching for me after I died however master made sure to keep me away from them. I didn’t know that anypony had searched for me at all until the day that my father died. My master had decided at that point that I was ready to know the truth, not that it bothered me at all. I had figured that had been the case from the get go. A stallion as rich as my father would never have just let me disappear without offering quite a bit of money to anypony who could find me and I was okay with that. The only thing I wanted to know when he told me was how he managed to keep me hidden from them during the first week that I was in the forest, the one I spent wandering around looking for a way out. He just chuckled telling me he wasn’t sure himself and while I’m almost certain he was lying, I’ve learned not to question him. If he didn’t tell me then I probably didn’t want to know or simply wouldn’t understand.

“Tiara.” Fluttershy called and I quickly snapped back into reality, turning my head towards her. She had an incredibly worried look on her face, almost… terrified. I was about to ask her what was wrong, until my eyes focused onto the situation around us.

I wasn’t sure how, but we were surrounded. Monsters of varying shapes and sizes had appeared as if from nowhere. I turned my body looking in every direction trying to gauge the situation. I tried counting how many, the various species, the possible escape routes and best plans of action but I couldn’t find any indication of what to do. Beasts were everywhere, stalking across the ground coming to us ever so slowly with hungry gazes. Some crawled up and down the trees while others still flew in the air above us. Even the ground beneath me had begun to shake as some of the creatures began burrowing underground.

What truly had me scared though wasn’t the number of monsters, but the type. Every single one was a creature from the Twilightwoods and while none of them were higher level beasts, there were far too many for me to beat. All of this should have been impossible though. For there to be this many the entire barrier would have to be almost completely gone.

I let out a string of heavy curses as I slammed my hoof into the dirt. If it was just Fluttershy and I we could get out of this mess just fine. Sure we couldn’t beat them all, but we could easily run away even from something like this. Unfortunately we didn’t have that luxury. With Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash here, Fluttershy and I were duty bound to protect them and there was no way we could do that given our circumstances.

I leaped off the ledge and stood as best I could between the monsters and the group of ponies with Fluttershy flying down and doing the same on the opposite side. Many of the weaker creatures backed up immediately at the sight of us, but the stronger ones stood their ground, some even advancing forward a few steps. Twilight started walking away from Rainbow Dash and Rarity forming a kind of triangle between her, Fluttershy, and I. Under other circumstances I would have protested, but she WAS an alicorn, albeit an inexperienced one that knew nothing of fighitng. She was certainly better off than her two friends.

We seemed to be locked in a stalemate. We weren’t going to attack because we knew we would lose, but the monsters were hesitant to strike the first blow out of sheer fear of Fluttershy and I. Sure, Fluttershy wasn’t strong enough to fight anything from the Twilightwoods, but she was still a guardian, and that alone can scare some beasts into submission even if they know they can beat you with ease. I was glad for the stalemate though. So long as it stayed like that we were all safe.

But when did I ever have that kind of luck?

“What?! Scared of us are ya?! Come on down here and fight us you giant bags of trash! I’ll kick your flanks into next year! Nobody messes with Rainbow Dash!” the cyan mare screamed. All of a sudden monsters began to charge us from every direction. I cursed the world and everything in it. By Everfree that mare is an idiot! We were fine and then she had to go and flap her big mouth!

I reared onto my hind legs, ready to smash them into the ground and attack with everything I had, when a powerful force suddenly swept through the forest speaking to me. It was so strong, yet so quiet. Like an enraged whisper.

Stand down. I will handle this.

Fluttershy and I both turned our heads back to the ledge we had been standing on not moments ago as did every single monster in the vicinity. There standing before us with a small white filly tucked against one of his legs by his wing, was my master, Lord Everfree.

Fluttershy and I instinctively bowed without hesitation. Many of the monsters immediately tried to turn tail and run, but with a single flash of my masters horn, they blew up, they’re bodies disintegrating into ash. Realizing it was fruitless to run, the remaining monsters charged at my master. He reared onto his hindlegs, letting out a battlecry that ripped the ground apart. His mane and tail flared brightly, their light engulfing everything around us as he cast his spell. In an instant the forest sprung to life just as it had when I died, only this time the forest didn’t feel warm and kind. It seemed angry and distraught, as though the presence of the beasts was violating it in the most horrid of ways. Roots and branches wrapped around many of the monsters, crushing them into dust while others sunk into the ground and were consumed. The strongest beasts managed to avoid these dangers and continued charging at my master. For a moment, just a brief moment I was worried for him. But he quickly laid that worry to rest. Another flash of light from his horn and the ridge he was standing on rose into the air, creating a wall of earth that breached the forest canopy and was as tall as the skyscrapers in Manehattan. Suddenly all I saw was green and my body felt like it was being squeezed through a tube. When my vision returned I found myself and the others standing at his side next on top of the pillar.

When I looked out over the forest my jaw dropped as my eyes filled with tears. The forest, the entire forest, was in full bloom. There was no sight of the Everfree I had come to know. Instead a sea of beautiful trees and plants spread out as far as my eyes could see. It was breathtaking, for I knew that what I was seeing was not the Everfree forest. This was a glimpse at the forests true identity, the place I longed to call my real home. This was the Garden of Eden.

It was then I noticed something peculiar. Strange creatures began to rise and fall out of the trees, like jumping dolphins. They were all sorts of different shapes and sizes, but each and every one was made of a strange wispy blue vapor. At first I thought that monsters had escaped the Duskwoods as well, until I realized that I couldn’t feel any sort of malice from them. In fact I could barely sense anything from them at all and what I could feel felt strong, kind, and protective.

Then I realized what they were. These were the old spirits, the creatures that helped Everfree defend this place before he began using his guardians. But they died when Eden became corrupted so I could only assume these were the echoes of their former selves. I glanced over to my left and looked at Fluttershy. Like me, she was mesmerized by the sight in front of us. She must have noticed my staring for she turned her head to mine giving me a gentle smile. I was surprised though when her eyes grew wide in shock as she looked over my head. Wondering what could possibly have caused that I followed her gaze… and my jaw hit the ground.

It would seem the forest was not the only thing that had been revived. Just like his home, so too had my master taken his true form. His eyes were no longer their harsh yellow, but a soft and beautiful blue. His mane and tail still shone a bright florescent green, but it seemed gentler somehow, calmer. Before it would jolt about like it was being whipped around by a strong wind, but now it flowed smooth and effortlessly, like it was being caressed with a warm breeze. His coat once black as midnight was now a light brown like sand and had grown in length near the ends of his hooves causing them to fall over the now green tipped hooves in small strands. A silver crown now adorned his head, spreading out at the sides like small wings.

I think what caught my eye most was his cutie mark. It was the same moving cutie mark I’d seen a hundred times before, but with one major difference, the world didn’t look the way it really did. The weather seemed to be perfect almost everywhere, raining where it should be raining, clouds where it needed to be cloudy, clear skies in all the right places, and that wasn’t all. I saw the many cities and towns that existed on the planet but they all seemed so different, the crystal empire was lit all aglow in a way I’d never even heard of. Canterlot was filled with incredibly vibrant colors so much so that the entire mountainside seemed to come to life. The strangest part was looking at what should have been the Everfree forest. Rather than the black thorns I was used to was a section of beautiful flora that radiated with energy. At its center was a city surrounded by a beautiful lagoon that seemed to float slightly above the rest of the forest. I knew what that was. It was Babylon, the hanging gardens where the guardians of Eden once resided deep in The Heart before the everything became corrupted. Long ago, that would have been the place I’d called home.

It was then, looking at the lost city, that I realized what his cutie mark was representing. In his other form, you saw the world for what it was, but now I could see it for what it SHOULD have been. This cutie mark was showing the world as it was meant to be. Where if everypony worked together and truly put their differences aside that was what would become of it. It gave me both a feeling of incredible hope and terrible despair. To see such a perfect world would make me the happiest mare in the world, but knowing that we were so far from it… well that was just depressing.

I looked up to him, shocked to see the sad but gentle smile on his face. All my life I had never seen him anything but stoic. I could feel his emotions rushing through me, the happiness at seeing his forest alive once again, and the sorrow of knowing it would soon come to an end. I watched as he closed his eyes, his horn glowing a gentle green as he cast another spell. Suddenly our pillar began to shake and I remembered the monsters that had attacked us. Taking a step back in surprise I found us to be surrounded by monsters for at least a mile in every direction. I had thought that the monsters near us were at a standstill because they were afraid of us. Now I could see they were simply waiting on reinforcements. Talk about overkill.

I watched as the earth around us began to rise, creating a small island that floated up, around, and above our pillar, leaving a massive scar in the ground. I could hear the monsters screaming as they realized what was going to happen to them. In their panic I watched as many of them dared to jump off the sides in some bleak form of hope rather than suffer whatever punishment my master was about to bestow. Slowly the small island began to curve inward until it became a solid mass of rock and dirt. Groaning from the strain of the spell my master smashed the ball back into the ground like a meteor. The massive structure slowly began to fill out the space that it had once covered and began to regrow all the trees, flowers, and other foliage that had been destroyed until finally it looked like nothing had ever happened, the monsters all swallowed by the earth.

The pillar we stood on shook one last time as it sank back to its original position. When it finally locked back into its proper place, my master collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted and his breathing incredibly heavy. Fluttershy and I rushed to his sides as the forest once again withered and died and he reverted back to his old form. “Lord Everfree!” I whispered. “Lord Everfree are you alright?”

It took a long time to respond. Too long.

I am fine Tiara. Just tired.

I quickly tried to mutter an apology for messing up on my mission but he interrupted me.

Tiara, do not fret. I am not upset with you. If anything I’m quite glad you’re here. You and your sister both. Fluttershy come. Take this foal. She is your new sister and while I wish I could take care of her myself as I have always done, I am afraid I am not in such a position to do so. Also take… him.

A ball of green light flashed in front of us and we came to find another young child. In fact once I caught closer look I realized it was Rumble… but… he wasn’t…
I tried to save him, but he would not accept my help. Take his remains back to his family. They deserve closure. As for you Tiara. I froze upon hearing my name. Even though he said he wasn’t upset with me that didn’t mean I was any less ashamed of myself. Your mission remains the same. Get to Canterlot as quickly as you can and alert the princesses. Your elder sister will be there should you need assistance. I would ask her of this task if I could, but my current lack of strength prevents me from being able to send a message that far out. Please Tiara, I need your help. I am not angry at you, but please no more distractions.

I lowered my head in shame, my reply barely more than a whisper. Without looking back I turned around and took off towards Canterlot at top speed. No more distractions just like he said. Go to Canterlot. Find the princesses. Come home. That. Was. It.

Author's Note:

!!!FEEL SHIELD ACTIVATED!!!

So there were a few things I wanted to do with this chapter and one of them was to give a show of Lord Everfree's power. I wanted you to be able to see that while yes he's strong beyond imagination, such as destroying all of those monsters, there's a limit to what he can do, such as not being able to save Rumble.

Also I know that I stop mentioning the actions of Twilight and the others once Everfree arrives, but I wanted to concentrate on Tiara's emotions to seeing Eden for the first time since she herself is a guardian and thus it would hold a much greater significance to her.

Oh, and 100 internets to you if you caught the Monty Python reference.

Finally I'd like to give a big thanks to all of you who read this story!

Comments

[Buzzard]

Sweet, hope for the next chapter soon