The Legend of the Everfree

by Shadowmane PX-41

Planning

"Alright. So we'll get some bands who love Camp Everfree to come and perform a big concert at night." Sunset Shimmer wrote down what she and her friends needed for the gala that woukd save the forest. "As for the day activities, we'll need to be flexible if we're going to have yoga, floristry, arts & crafts, races, and a camp barbecue all at once."

"It's quite a big list of things to prepare for, Sunset." Sugarcoat walked over to her and examined the list. "You first need to construct the stage for the bands to perform on, then get all of the resources for the other events from some places outside the camp. A barbecue might be the most far-fetched if none of the camp staff happen to have a grill just laying around."

"I know it's a lot, but that's not gonna stop me and the other Rainbooms from going through with it all," said Sunset. "We've handled impossible odds before, haven't we?"

"Yeah. And every time, we've always come out on top." Rainbow Dash ran up to them and flexed her fingers.

"You girls seem to be forgetting about Miasma and her men." Sunny Flare approached the group. "She's armed, has a no-nonsense work force, and a plethora of machines designed to cut, burn, and destroy the forest at any given moment."

"We've faced two demons and three sirens in the past, Sunny Flare. I highly doubt that a line of logging machines scares us." Rarity but her hands to her hips. "Why, if anything, Miasma should be scared of us."

"Yeah! And don't forget that we've got Glori working on those nasty Treekillers!" Lemon Zest chimed in. "If those meanies try to stop the party, Glori'll shut them down faster than you can say 'it's time to drop the bass'!"

"Still, this whole magic thing still confuses me." Sugarcoat put her hand on her forehead and sighed. "I thought I was at a loss for words back at the Friendship Games, but now this talk of portals to other worlds, the lifeblood of the forest, and the whole Power of the Everfree that Ecoloris mentioned, I feel like I'll never be able to fully understand magic..."

"But that's not necessarily a bad thing now, is it, Sugarcoat?" Twilight held her hand and looked her in the eye.

"What are you saying, Twilight?" Sugarcoat's eyes went wide. "You yourself wanted to learn all about it back at the Games—albeit with some slight pushing from Cinch and the rest of us. So why would you want to turn your back to all this groundbreaking knowledge?"

"Magic is a powerful force indeed, one definitely worth examining to see how it works." She picked up some dirt and walked over to the stream with Sugarcoat and Sunset just behind her. "But if you engross yourself too much into it, then it can change you on a massive scale. For me and Sunset, we became monsters, wracked with power and greed. And if we'd had gone on for too long, we would've been destroyed entirely by it." She put her hand into the water, watching the dirt crumble in her hands and drift away in tiny little specks. "It's definitely worth the scientific research, but I'm not ready to put more lives on the line just because I want to learn about something that could destroy us all."

"I understand, Twilight." Sunset walked up to her and gently patted her on the shoulders. "I was a bit hesitant about using magic myself at the Friendship Games too. But after everything that happened, I knew that I had no choice but to fight fire with fire when you became that monster."

"But that was entirely different!" Twilight threw her right arm out." You saved both CHS and CPA from my actions when you used the magic. I just used it because the Crystal Prep students were jealous of what you and your friends could do, and that they wanted to make sure that they won the Friendship Games."

"I know. But at the same time, confrontation isn't always the best way to solve a dispute." Sunset looked back at the rest of her friends. "You probably don't know about this, but when three sirens came to our school, they put everyone under their spell. Whenever anyone got angry or into a little squabble, their negative aura would feed the three girls more power, so that their songs got stronger and stronger." She sighed. " My friends eventually caved in and were at each others' throats, and the sirens themselves were able to use our own power against us, all because my friends ended up fighting over tiny and insignificant little details.

"I'm sure that if we could have negotiated something with Principal Cinch and the students of your school, we could have avoided that little accident." Sunset looked up into the sky. "There will always be enemies out there, but if we just decide to give them a fight, then we'll be no better than they are. Sometimes, one little talk can end fights faster than the swing of a sword."

"How do you know this?" Sour Sweet raised her left eyebrow before they both fell together. "Did you play some sappy RPG on the PC?"

"No. I learned it back at the Friendship Games." Sunset turned to face Sour. "Violence only leads to more violence. Unless we can calm the aggressors down before they even begin, then there'll be no stopping a fight. And more often than not, they can get very ugly, very quick..."

"Why do you wish to talk to find a better way to your solutions?" Sugarcoat crossed her arms. "Miasma has made it perfectly clear that she doesn't want to talk, and would much rather put bullet holes into all of you. Doesn't that make you want to respond to her threats in kind?"

"Yes, we've tried to talk to Miasma. Yes, it did get out of hand. And I totally agree that we should face Miasma's threats head-on with the way she treated us." Sunset looked back down at the rushing flow of water and sighed. "But at the same time, I just feel like that's only just the start of something much worse..."

"Yeah. Them there New World fellas ain't gonna be happy to know that twelve teenage girls wrecked their operation and embarrased Miasma." Applejack leaned against a nearby tree. "They could retaliate against us pretty bad..."

"I know the stakes, but we don't have a choice. These people have threatened our world, our forest, and our summer vacation." Sunset Shimmer stepped forward and balled her hand into a fist. "Miss Miasma and her men have declared us a threat to their plans, and even attemped to murder us all. Diplomacy between us and those monsters has failed, so it's time to take action and put this logging company out of business for good."

"What about the Trial of Hope? Gloriosa and Ecoloris are counting on us to complete it and unlock the Power of the Everfree!" Fluttershy tapped Sunset's shoulders.

"Girls?" Gloriosa's voice echoed among the treetops.

"Glori?" Pinkie called back.

"I know what you're about to face, and let me say, you're brave. You're the bravest, smartest, most awesome-est, and most capable girls for the job," Gloriosa said. "However, there are forces at work that you would not believe."

"What do you mean?" Sunset asked. "We've beaten the Dazzlings and defeated that monster from the Games! What could possibly be in this forest that we wouldn't believe at this point?"

"If you go out at night tonight, there is another keeper of the forest that dwells here." Gloriosa leapt from tree to tree. "Watch her. See how she dispatches the Treekillers, but don't get seen by her. She's not been one to trust humans as much as I do. But if you meet her, and she allows you to live, then come and find me again." She went into the deeper parts of the forest. "Oh! And don't forget about the trial!"

"Why does she keep saturating us with questions?!" Sugarcoat growled. "I'm beginning to think that this Gloriosa has some malicious intentions of her own that she's not willing to share..."

"Either way, she's been right before." Sunset looked back at her. "And besides, we only now know about the Gatekey, the Trials, and the Power of the Everfree. If there's anyone who could answer these questions, it's this other girl. We should go see her tonight..."

"I dunno, Sunset." Pinkie's eyes darted around. "This is exactly like one of those horror films where the group all go out unprotected in the middle of the night to solve the mystery, only to find that they're being targeted by the very thing that they're trying to find, and in the end there's this big chase scene where some of the heroes don't even live to tell the tale while only a few—" Her mouth was suddenly plugged by Rainbow Dash's.

"Yeah. And besides, we've REALLY gotta try to save Camp Everfree more." She tipped her other hand. "There's no need to keep chasing fairytales just because of the Treekillers and Gloriosa."

"Yes. Save the chit-chat for later. We've got work to do!" Sunny Flare walked back to the visitor centre. "We still need to find specialists to run each of the activities and get the bands to perform at the gig at the gala, so let's be sure to take care of those A.S.A.P."

"Alright." Sunset followed Sunny. "I've just been a little tired. That's all."

---

Late at night, a single truck carrying resources rumbled across the barren path through the forest. The leaves and branches batted against the container and the cover on top as it moved through them.

There were two men sitting inside the truck, listening to pop music and drinking coffee. They were too focused on their job to smile at the song or to acknowledge the taste of their drinks. Instead, their eyes were fixated on the road ahead, and they turned the headlights brighter so that they could see further into the woods.

Suddenly, a nearby radio buzzed into life and a voice could be heard coming through the speakers, "This is Zulu 9 to Epsilon 6! Zulu 9 to Epsilon 6! Do you read me?"

"We read you loud and clear, Zulu 9." One of the drivers pushed a button and spoke through the speaker back to the person on the other end. "This had better be good, though. We're almost done with our delivery."

"It's an emergency! Inferno Squad has been completely wiped out!" His voice got louder and higher in pitch.

"WHAT?!" Both of the drivers chorused.

"They were just tearing down the trees when all of a sudden, some thing ambushed us!" he said. "I'm the last survivor, but every other member of the team's had their loggers destroyed, and they were crumpled up like paper balls in that monster's magical power!"

"Calm down, Zulu 9. Gloriosa is just a simple human. We'll deal with her soon enough," The second driver said.

"It wasn't Gloriosa! It's some kind of tree-human-monster hybrid!" Zulu 9's voice got more and more frantic.

"Say again, Zulu 9? What kind of tree-human-monster hybrid?"

"It's like a human made out of trees! I don't exactly know what it is, but she referred to herself as Gaia Everfree!" Zulu 9's voice was at the peak of fear as a feminine roar could faintly be heard on his radio. "Oh no! No no no no no no no! REQUESTING IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE, I REPEAT, REQUESTING IMMEDIA—" The radio fizzled and died, severing the connection between the two of them.

"Zulu 9! Come in Zulu 9! Respond, dammit!" The first driver banged on the radio with his fist. He groaned and made his own communication. "Miasma, this is Epsilon 6. I just got a distress call from Zulu 9. We have reports of a tree-human-monster prowling the woods called Gaia Everfree," he said. "If you or any other of the work force find it, get the flamethrower team on it immediately."

"Copy that, Epsilon 6," Miasma's voice came through the speaker now. "Continue your delivery, then suit yourself up and find this monster. Burn it to the ground with everything you have."

"Understood. Over and out!" The second driver turned the radio off.

"Oh, shit!" The first driver noticed the monster that Zulu 9 had described earlier right in their way. As they watched her roar and glare at them, he swerved off the path and through a thicker patch of trees.

"Punch it!" The second driver shouted as he looked in the wing mirror. The monster was chasing them, and slowly catching up.

"Allak, deimura, kalliuma! You meddlesome creatures have plagued my forest for long enough!" The monster's voice was very gravelly, much like a cartoon witch's voice would be. "You Miasma Deforestation Company animals have destroyed many of my children, so I shall take my revenge on all of you right now!"

The being raised her arms, causing a row of trees to appear two feet in front of the truck. She watched it crash against the wall hard and spilled the contents of the container everywhere. Tree stumps, large logs, and a pile of leaves all dispersed, causing the figure to let out another roar as she threw her arms out and clasped her two hands together.

A bunch more trees completely surrounded the vehicle and formed a small dome from which nothing could get in or out. The figure crushed her hands against each other, causing the tree dome to get smaller and smaller, in an attempt to flatten the vehicle and the men inside.

"This is the last day you and your filthy kind try to intervene in the restoration of the Everfree Forest!" The monster continued her motion, watching the men scream as the trees closed in on them. "I am the embodiment of the earth itself! I am the saviour and lifegiver of all trees in this forest! I am Gaia Everfree!" She screamed. "And I will not have my life's work be torn doen by you brutes! Instead, I shall crush you and your followers into dust, and watch you all cry out for mercy as I end your feeble existences!"

Gaia Everfre caused the dome to shrink so much, that the metal of the vehiche completely flattened under the immense pressure. She heard slight muffled screams coming from inside the dome, but merely shrugged it off as the men were both eventually squashed, and she could hear their bones crunch, and their flat bodies squish.

"Booramak! Saliken!" Gloriosa called to Gaia as she finished her work and caused the wall and dome of trees to vanish with a simple wave of her hand.

"Ahh... Gloriosa." Gaia's previous anger had now been warped into a simple, loving smile. "Nice to see you again! You've grown a tiny bit since the last time we met."

"It's good to see you too, Gaia." Gloriosa leaped down into her arms, and she held her like she was a baby. "So, where are you going? Off to destroy more Treekiller stuff? I'd like to come with you..."

"I know you would, Gloriosa, but it's late out now." Gaia pointed up to the trees, causing the leaves to shift by and reveal the moon. "You should get to bed. Your daddy would be upset if you didn't."

"Aww, daddy knows that I sneak out any night anyway." Gloriosa put her hands behind her head.

"Even so, you're still a human girl. And all human girls, from babies to old women need their bedtime. Come. I'll take you home." She slowly flew back and took Gloriosa to the Housetree.

Author's Note:

Yes, I have seen the trailer. Yes, I know my story's gonna be nothing like the movie. Yes, I was also pissed when I couldn't see the Shadow Six from Friendship Games anywhere in the trailer.

But that's just me. If you like this chapter, then be sure to leave a comment down below, and stay tuned for more chapters. Though, there won't be any for a while now. I'm in Japan at the moment and won't get back until the 5th of August...

See you soon!

Comments

[DanceCentralPony2]

Did you play some sappy RPG on the PC?

Sour Sweet, as much as I love the Undertale reference you unintentionally and unknowingly made, we kinda have a forest to save here.

[Yappyjack]

I KNOW RIGHT! But hey, the writers may pull a twist on us, or the Shadowbolts will get further development later.

Keep up the good work! Can't wait for the next chapter.

[p61blkwidow]

another fantastic chapter! this is one great adventue for the girls!

[FourShadow]

"Why, if anything, Miasma should be scared ofus."

I think you missed a space there.

[FourShadow]

"It's like a human made out of trees! I don't exactly know what it is, but she referred to herself as Gaia Everfree!" Zulu 9's voice was at the peak of fear as a feminine roar could faintly be heard on his radio. "Oh no! No no no no no no no! REQUESTING IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE, I REPEAT, REQUESTING IMMEDIA—" The radio fizzled and died, severing the connection between the two of them.

Well, he's dead.