Everfree

by Verzeih Turncoat

White Mare

Princess Celestia had tried to reason with the young farmpony, but it was of no use. Applejack was too disappointed and ashamed to ever look up towards the Princess again. As soon Celestia had asked if she had any idea why Granny Smith got abducted or where she might had been carried off to, Applejack gazed at her angrily. Accusing the Princess of thinking that her Grandma had deserved it, Applejack ran off deeper into the woods.
"Applejack, wait!" Twilight shouted after her, but as she tried/began to sprint after her friend, she felt a gold horseshoe on her shoulder. She looked back to Celestia, who looked so different without her horn and wings, but her eyes were as forgiving and trustworthy as ever. For some reason her mane and tail were still flowing in a constant stream.Like wind nopony else was affected by besides Luna and herself.
It was bizarre to watch so Twilight turned her eyes towards the ground.

"I need to know why Evefree is doing this. Do you know anything?"

"Sorry, I don´t..." said Twilight her eyes wandered over towards the place Applejack had run off. "We have to go after her. It is too dangerous to be here alone." Twilight expected a scolding. This was why Princess Celestia had wanted them to go home, because they would only bring themself into danger and she had refused her order.
Contrary to Twilight's expectations, Celestia put her hoof under Twilight´s chin and lifted her gaze towards herself.

"Don´t worry Princess Twilight. We will follow her. Even though I don´t think Applejack is in any danger." The white mare told, but adding just in her own mind `at least if it is what I assume.´

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Twigs and branches, cuts and bruises. Applejack ran as fast she could. Stupid Celestia, Applejack thought `if you think I let you hand over Granny for some zap apples she had stolen when she was younger than me then you are wrong.´
She had run too much today, at the highspeed zap apple harvest, trying to catch up to the timberwolves that kidnapped Granny, then trying to lose the pesky blue versions and now trying to get to the kidnapper first. Her whole body ached, but less from the aforementioned bruises and more from strain. At least she had gotten an idea from Celestia as to where to look for Granny. Why hadn´t she thought of this at Zecora´s hut? She knew the way from there to the Zap Appletrees of the Everfree Forest. All she needed was a landmark.

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Twilight walked alongside to what was left of Princess Celestia. Lifting branches for her and removing sticks and stones so she did not break her bones with her own magic since she could not do it anymore. Clearing the pass for her with her own magic...

"Princess Twilight I am sure that I am capable of not stumbling over a pebble without my magic."

"I´m sorry, Princess. It´s just so... different."

"It´s quite alright my dear."

Twilight pulled another branch out of the white mare´s way. "Uhm, sorry." In this fashion they walked after Applejack for a short while. Like Applejack, Twilight too felt the events of the day in her very bones. She was no athlete and teleporting and fighting giant timberwolves... timberwolf... what is it after you destroy one over and over anyway? Is it the same being or is it new creature? And how many parts of it must be exchanged before it stop being itself? Does a poison joke covered timberwolf count as an other subspecies?
Canis lupus herba ligna?
Canis lupus herba venenum iocus?
The white mare smiled as she noticed that Twilight´s mind had gone off the rails and was now following a track only the young alicorn could understand. The princess knew her former student, soon she would come up with a solution or a question that was not necessarily connected to the problems at hand. She could not tell how often Twilight had surprised her by jumping to conclusions that were based on false premise, but the solution was still right. "Wait, how did you find us? I could aim anywhere with my teleportation spell since I am in here."

"Spike sent me a letter that you and your friend entered the forest to rescue another friend and hadn´t gotten out yet."

"But..."

Celestia silenced Twilight with a gesture of her hoof: "There are someponies I will always find; you, Sunset Shimmer, Luna and...", she sighed expressing sadness, "...well. Previous I thought Evefree as well. Twilight there is something you should know..."

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Granny Smith was still bonded to the tree, but something had changed. For once she did not feel her body anymore. No, not in that sense more she could feel it less. Usually she had some ache atleast in one of her body parts. Swollen joints, the weak old hip and her neck; all of them had gotten better the longer she had been hanging there. The old mare had a pretty sure supposition that it had to do with all the twigs she had gotten woven into. Once again the green magic opened one of the braids and the former twig sprouted some thin roots and small leaves. A mud and earth covered green hoof dug another hole to plant the little sapling next to eleven others. Then another twig was twined into her grey mane.
Granny´s orange eyes widened as sapphire blue flowers rushed into the clearing. They looked like a wolf, Granny has never anything like that, she thought for a moment before she realized. "Holy moly, that´s a timberwolf?" There was a smile on the kidnapper´s muzzle. As the wolf closed the distance to its master and the mare on the tree, a wing with feathers green as summer leaves cut the sightline between the the wolf and Granny Smith.

"That´s close enough. We don´t want to risk that she touches you, do we?"

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"Another Princess!?" Twilight was shocked. Seriously first Celestia had hidden the true identity of Nightmare Moon for at least a few hundred years after every contemporary witness of Luna passed away. Now there was another princess in the depths of the Everfree Forest?

"Just an Alicorn." corrected Princess Celestia, but she sounded a little bit sad saying it.

"What else did you hide from me?"

Celestia stopped in her track as she heard that from Twilight. `Many things Twilight´, she thought, `everything I wish to stay in the past.´ Was is that wrong to just address these things when it was necessary to explain them? What would she have thought of her if she knew what else was looming in the past. "Maybe that when Starswirl came to ask Luna and me to become Princesses. He actually wanted Evefree to become the Queen of Equestria..." Now it was Twilight's turn to freeze in place. "Or that Luna and I refused to take her title when she declined to wear it?"
Twilight eyes gone wide as the Princess said that. "I know it is hard to see Equestria not be ruled by principality, but a real monarchy."

"But why would you decline such..."

"Oh I had two good reasons, for one; Starswirl always hoped that Evefree would change her mind. For the other, I did not felt suited to take responsibility for a whole nation. As for Luna..." Celestia let out a big sigh, coming directly from her heart. "Let´s say she had different titles for us in mind once we got earned our cutiemarks." Celestia could see the young version of her sister in her inner eye, proposing the titles of Night Mare Moon and Day Mare Sun to the council. Years later she took the name by herself.

Twilight could relate to the feeling of not being suited for the crown, but she simply could not see Celestia going through the same. Not even after it was spelt out to her. "And what about Evefree?"

The white mare gave her a heartfelt smile. A smile so divine only Princess Celestia could pull it off. Soft spoken, Her Majesty announced the mind boggling revelation that broke a little piece of Twilight: "She is to me what I am to you."

"She is a goddess?!?"

Twilight stared at the white horse and the white horse stared back uncertainly, then Celestia's gaze became mournful. `Not you, Twilight, of all the ponies in Equestria, not you too.´ It was as if a total different pony stood before Twilight, she knew the melancholy voice of the princess better than anypony, but this was sorrowful:" I meant very very old..." only a glimpse of hope in her voice, "and a... friend?"

"Princess... I´m sorry... I..."

Celestia lifted her golden horseshoe and silenced the lavender alicorn. Her voice back to her regal melancholy tone: "It´s okay Twilight, I understand. I am Celestia..." She gave her a sad smile, "That´s what I do... understand."

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"But I don´t want to see her." The timberwolf responded with a mix of growling and wheezing and a bark to end his sentence. "I told you to get rid of her. I don´t want that mare in my home." Again the timberwolf started to talk in its very own language. The leaf green alicorn groaned out loud and the timberwolves around this place started to howl alongside. Quite to her dismay she gave in to the demands of the wolf: "Seriously, again with the howling. Okay, okay I meet up with, Celly. But you guys are not letting"- she let her blue eyes wander towards Granny Smith "that mare close to her."

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Awkward silience had lingered between them at first. Twilight tried to talk herself out of this feeling. They were no strangers , not talking to each other. Something felt off, as if they were no longer in sync with another. The discomfort of the silence crept up to her so she broke it: "Princess, what I meant to ask was, why did Evefree refused the title as"-Twilight gulped as she said the next word. "Queen." She only knew one Queen, the changeling queen; they weren´t pleasant memories.

"We are talking about the world biggest recluse, Twilight. I was so glad that she had opened up to the world again. She had closed the doors of the Everfree Forest for so many years. After that I met Starswirl for the first time, still many years before the Windigos attacked. Evefree was always there for Luna and me. As well as all the creatures in this forest. Did you know that the manticores were hunted down by ponykind because they feared them? Only here they could hide." The more Celestia said the more Twilight painted the picture of an alicorn Fluttershy inside her mind. Such a mare had kidnapped Granny Smith? Why?
Celestia stopped once more as she had heard that question. "If it is what I think, then I don´t know if I should tell you about it."

"Why not?"

"It is the secret of Alicorn immortality." Princess Celestia looked sad.

Twilight was well read, very well read if you ask Spike. The lavernder alicorn had spent almost her entire youth in libraries and training her magic. She had read many books about the sorrows of the immortals and pain of the undead, but never would she have thought that Princess Celestia could still suffer even after Luna´s return... "Am I immortal? I am an alicorn." The words of insecurity were simply leaking out of her mouth by now.

"Don´t worry Twilight, I am sure you are not immortal and hopefully you never will be."

"Seriously? And I thought that was the whole point of turning her... or any other student into an alicorn, to share your misery with somepony? Heck, haven´t you tried to turn Starswirl into an alicorn at one point?" The unknown voice echoed from the tree and seemed to come from everywhere. Twilight lit up her horn in an magical aura but she could not spot anypony yet. "Hey, little unicorn. Did you know that ANY living being has to live through roughly 1 billion heartbeats?" Twilight nodded interested where this was going. "Celestia is older than me." Okay Evefree was mocking her, first she calls her a unicorn and now she tried to make a liar out of Celestia. She had single handedly wielded the Elements of Harmony that included Honesty!
"Celly, I told you to leave us alone." Wait, was that all she had to say to her, wondered Twilight. Or was that a riddle?

"Why are you giving me riddles in the middle of hostage negotiation?" ,Twilight forced her discontent out loud. Not knowing were her opponent might be made her screaming the line a lot louder than necessary.

"HOSTAGE! That´s it. I'll get the Ursa Major to deal with you."

"Wait, Eve. I just want to talk with you about this." shouted the white mare into the night. A few moments later a big white bird flew out of the undergrowths with a twig in its beak. "Look she sends us a dove of peace." said Celestia holding her hoof out for it to land. Only, it was no dove. It was a white raven holding poison joke in its beak. The vicious flower once again touched Celestia.

"Take this as a gift for the `negotiation´,Celly."