Into The Everfree (Part 1)
The Everfree Forest loomed in front of her threateningly. The leaves adorning the twisting and crooked branches of the trees waved and rustled, like a hungry predator anxiously awaiting it’s next meal to walk within range. A soft breeze rolled over everything, including Twilight herself, sending a frighteningly cold shiver down her spine. It may have been the cold, or it could have been her own anxiety. She couldn’t tell, really.
Fluttershy stood off to her left, pensively prodding at the ground and nervously toying with her mane with her hooves, her eyes darting around at every little noise. In the distance, an owl hooted, drawing a twitch from her. Applejack was right next to Fluttershy and took a moment to pat her back encouragingly.
Pinkie was there, too, looking at the group with a big smile and wide, happy eyes. Twilight had no idea how she was able to stay so perky despite everything that was happening, but she decided not to question it, mainly because she didn’t want that cherry optimism to go away. It was pretty much all that was keeping them all focused and alert at this point.
There was still one pony missing.
“Dag nabbit, where’s Rarity?” Applejack groaned restlessly, shifting on her haunches and glaring off down the path towards ponyville. “She’s costin’ us a lotta time.”
“If she takes too long we’ll have to go on ahead without her,” Twilight said with a surprising amount of composure. If one had a hoof on her, though, they would be able to feel her shakes without any doubt. “We can’t waste any time.”
“I heard that!” Came the somewhat fatigued voice of the mare in question. Rarity came cantering up the hill with fanciful saddlebags slung across her back. “Don’t leave without me!”
Twilight glared at her. “What took you so long?” she asked more sharply than she intended, though her current frustration prevented her from apologizing.
“I’m terribly sorry for the delay,” Rarity panted when she came to a stop, the rest of the group gathering around her. “I just wanted to make sure we had something specific for this mission of ours. Here…” her horn lit up and removed the saddlebags from her back. The pouches were opened and, with a bit of an unnecessary (bit pleasing) flourish, five cloaks and scarves were procured and presented to each member of the group.
“What are these for?” Fluttershy asked curiously, though instantly wilted. “Oh, um, no offense. Thank you for the, uh, cloaks.”
Rarity smiled softly at the timid one before clearing her throat. “Ahem. We are going into unfamiliar territory with minimal resources and an evil angry alicorn awaiting us, I fear. Away from the comforts of Ponyville, we’ll be cold and without protection from nature. I brought us these to help keep us warm and shelter us in case a wild raincloud passes over us or something. Plus, if we need to stop and rest for whatever reason, they can serve as blankets.”
Twilight smiled while putting on hers. A simple enough piece of attire, colored a dark blue, but it covered most of her body and already she could feel her body temperature increasing. She nodded to Rarity. “How thoughtful, Rarity. Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it. A simple act of generosity can and will go a long way, I’ve found.” Rarity rebuffed before looking at the Everfree. Her confident smile faltered somewhat.
“Ah like ‘em. Simple, not obstructive, warm. Nice.” Applejack added with an approving expression.
Before long, everypony had their cloaks on and were ready to go. Twilight looked into the forest and grimaced apprehensively. “Alright… we aren’t going to get anything done just standing here. Let’s go, everypony.”
“So… none of you have been in her before, huh?” Twilight said fearfully, her eyes looking towards the branches on the trees that swayed and bent slightly in the breeze. The way they curled and moved reminded her of claws, reaching out to snatch her and the others away.
“Oh, heavens no! I mean, just look at it… it’s dreadful.” Rarity replied, her voice shifting from almost offended to quietly terrified as she spoke.
Applejack cast a weary glance over her shoulder. “And it sure as heck ain’t the same as the rest of Equestria.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked, not entire sure if she actually wanted to know.
“Ah’m not totally sure, to be honest,” Applejack shrugged slightly. “Ah just know that the plants grow without anypony to help ‘em, same with the animals and weather. It’s all… on it’s own, Ah guess.”
A metaphorical light bulb clicked on in Twilight’s head. “Oh, I see!” She said, some of the fear in her voice leaving to be replaced by a more scholarly and level tone. “It’s a ‘primal zone.’”
“Say what now?”
“A primal zone,” Twilight went on, smiling slightly at the opportunity to distract her mind and share knowledge. “Is a region or area in the world that hasn’t been ‘tamed’ by ponies or other cultures. It acts the way it did before Equestria was founded. Wild, untamed and largely self sufficient. Ponies tamed most Equestria’s land to obey our methods and actions. Most of the weather across Equestria, for example, was artificially made in Cloudsdale a long time ago, I think. The moisture that makes up the clouds and the rain that falls from it had special properties woven into it that made it ‘moldable’ to pony designs. I mean, pegasi can interact with clouds no matter where they come from, but they will have an immensely harder time controlling a wild cloud than an artificial one.”
“...Say what again?” Applejack said, her muzzle scrunching up in confusion. “No offense, sugarcube, but Ah ain’t super familiar with, uh, history and magic and stuff.”
Twilight shrugged. “Fair enough.”
Suddenly, the ground beneath them lurched. Everypony immediately went still, save for Fluttershy, who hopped into the air and hovered their on reflex. For a moment, all was silent. Then a crack appeared in the dirt not far ahead, where a sharp drop off was visible.
“Get ba-” Twilight began to cry out in alarm before the ground beneath her, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack gave away and fell, taking them with it. Frightened cries and exclamations of surprise were all that anypony could hear over the sound of falling, rolling and crumbling stones. Twilight looked around frantically, looking for anything she could use to stop her descent. Small stones and chunks of loose dirt rattled her body from all sides for several long moments. Finally, she was able to get her bearings enough to see that she was sliding down at a steep angle towards a ledge that, if she fell, would almost certainly be the end of her.
Acting fast, she was barely able to grapple the ledge when she came to it and clung to it for dear life. From where she was she could see Fluttershy holding Rarity’s tail firmly in her teeth, guiding her down a section of the ledge that would let her down to the ground below without risk of hurting herself. Applejack was holding onto a loose root with her teeth, looking down at Twilight uncertainty. Then, Applejack let go of the root and slid down the hill once more, bracing her hooves as she went. ‘Hang on, Twilight!”
Applejack’s hooves grasped Twilight’s and held her there, keeping her from falling. However, there wasn’t enough leverage to help her back up and already the tension was building. They wouldn’t be able to hold Twilight up like this for long. “Applejack! What do I do?!” Twilight shrieked in a panic, her eyes squeezed shut to block out anything that might distract her from holding on.
“Ah Dunno!” Applejack admitted through clenched teeth, her eyebrows twitching from the strain. “Gah! Fluttershy, Rarity! Get down below and see if ya can get into a position to catch Twilight!” she called out in a strained voice.
“On it!” Rarity called back, still approaching the slope.
“I don’t know if Rarity’s magic can hold my weight, Applejack,” Twilight started before gasping in shock when a piece of the ledge broke away from under her forelegs, almost jarring her loose. “Wah! And Fluttershy isn’t strong enough to catch me either!”
“Well, do ya have a better plan?!” Applejack grunted, her grip starting to loosen slightly. “”Cause if ya do, now would be a mighty fine time to share!”
“I don’t!” Twilight said, her voice cracking.
“Well, Ah ain’t gonna lie to ya!” Applejack said before taking a deep breath and looking Twilight in the eye. “We’re short on options. But even if they can’t catch ya, we’ll all do our darndest to make sure you’re alright, ya hear me? You’ll be fine! Ah promise!”
Twilight closed her eyes and nodded. The ledge then jerked down slightly and one of her forelegs came loose. Applejack tried to reach out for it, but the momentum caused by Twilight being dislodged caused her other forehoof to come free. She screamed, long and loud as she fell. Her voice fell still when, in her eyes, the world doubled. She saw a similar scene panning out alongside the one she was in now. Falling down through the everfree along a cliffside, about to hit the ground below. In one of the two scenes she was seeing, she was caught before she hit the ground by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
Then reality reasserted itself once more and, to Twilight’s despair, she was still free-falling. She was upside down, now, and could see the ground coming up to meet her face at dangerous speeds. She screamed in terror and covered her eyes with her forelegs.
Twilight gradually began to wake up with a severe ache burning on the side of her barrel. She winced and gasped sharply before her eyes snapped open. She was at the bottom of the cliff with her cloak draped over her like a blanket. Not far away she could see Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy sitting around a small campfire, which Twilight felt relaxed by.
Applejack looked over and her eyes widened. “She’s awake!” she said simply, standing up and galloping over before sitting down before Twilight. “Whew… ya had us all worried sick there, sugarcube.” she muttered in relief.
“Ow,” Twilight groaned before sitting upright, wincing as she did so. “What happened?”
“Um… you were about to hit the ground… but, um…” Fluttershy began before poking at the ground, seemingly unsure of herself.
It was then that Twilight realized what was missing.
“Where’s Pinkie Pie?”
“Uuh…” Applejack drawled out while rubbing the back of her head. “The, uh… see, the thing about Pinkie is…”
Everypony went silent for a second, all of them looking like they were trying to figure out what to say.
“Where. Is. She?” Twilight repeated, not in the mood for beating around the bush.
“I’m right here, silly filly!” Pinkie chirped from behind Twilight, causing her to yelp, gasp in discomfort and whirl around. Behind Pinkie, Twilight could see what looked like a pile of… popped balloons? “You’re heavier than you look, you know that?” Pinkie chirped teasingly before pronking by, singing ‘las’ to herself.
“Wha… what- HEY!” Twilight snapped after Pinkie when she realized that she had basically just been called fat.
“The thing about Pinkie Pie is that she saved your life and we have no idea how she did it,” Rarity finally clarified after clearing her throat. “We all lost track of her during the rockslide, so I guess she had some time to, well, ‘gather supplies’ to catch you with.”
“...Balloons?” Twilight huffed in disbelief.
“Yeh. Dunno where she got ‘em, but she brought, like, thirty of the darn things and set up a nice big cushion for you to land on.” Applejack continued with a relieved smile on her face.
“You popped all of them on the way down, but they slowed your fall enough that you only got a big bruise on your side.” Fluttershy added with a slightly amused smile.
“...Right.” Twilight muttered, still not quite sure if she believed what she was hearing.
“It’s like Ah said,” Applejack said more softly, settling down next to Twilight and resting a hoof on her shoulder. “We’re lookin’ out for each other. Don’t ya ever doubt that, not even fer a moment, sugarcube. Long as we keep on doin’ that and stick together, Ah reckon we’ll all be fine.”
Twilight smiled warmly and felt herself relax a bit more.
“If yer able to move, we should probably get back to it. You were out for almost an hour.” Applejack said reassuringly before nudging Twilight encouragingly and standing tall.
Twilight felt a warm smile cross her face before nodding and standing up. “Alright. Let’s go.”
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Honestly, I like this version more than the official one.
We know Twilight could teleport so why didn't she just do that in the show?
Nice take on it though with Dash missing.
8527360
She doesn't know how to yet, She only learns how to teleport after seen Luna do it.
8527433
No, Twilight can teleport: she just doesn't have fine control over that spell at this point in time. Typically it occurs as a knee-jerk panic-button reaction when she is being overwhelmed.
8527360
8527433
And even if she did know, if she was in a panic, she might not think to try soon enough. Besides, can teleportation stop momentum?
8527500
No, but a very skilled magician may be able to change the direction of that momentum in the teleport. I.e, when falling down, teleport yourself in an orientation that will have you going up when you come out from your fall's momentum. Gravity will grab you again but your impact will be reduced thanks to a decreased fall time preventing you from reaching neck-snapping velocities.
Huh... so the generosity event seems to have happened as the first....
Interesting...
8527559
I see you caught that.
Hey there. As was said already, this was actually a better spin on the start of the Everfree trek than was canon. Excellent job, of course, on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. And yeah, Rarity making those outfits before going in was actually quite practical. The rock-slide trial was VERY well done too .
In general, I'll very certainly be looking forward to more of this, but will also be willing to respect that I might need to be patient.
8527568
certainly better then steve.
I always told you, you should get out of the library more often.
8527483
Indeed. Like, if something is thrown at her, she thinks to teleport away. But if she trips suddenly, she wouldn't think to teleport away. Different situations have different knee jerk reactions from people, or ponies in this case.
Well I guess when the elements heal them they will have more to fix, I expect with out Dash the girls will get roughed up quite a bit more this time.
8527353
Not hard to come up with a better message than that. Much as I like the show, it's unavoidable that they have to dumb things down a bit for the target audience and that it doesn't pass scrutiny when you think about it. You can't blame the writers, but Equestrians sure do come off as dangerously trusting at times.
I like this version of the rock slide better than the original. You still included Applejack's heroism in leaving her safer position to catch Twilight. But you also had AJ be very pragmatic and open about the situation, explaining exactly what their options were - which is all very IC. As much as I love AJ, her scene in the Everfree was more of a demonstration of trust than honesty. It's like Faust bungled a key character moment just for a quick punchline (for lack of a better word). "See, Twilight wasn't in any danger after all!"
And then of course there's Pinkie being the incredible overpowered earth pony that she is. I'm guessing her Pinkie Sense told her exactly where Twilight was going to land, and of course the Pink One would always have balloons on her in case of emergencies. Does this count as her Element moment or will she still giggle at the ghostly?
there
Hm just one thing... it’s the height of the summer so the cold is definitely the LAST of the problem they could face...
That was her act of generosity... so what about Steven Magnet?
Oh how terrifying.
Good thing Twi leaves them behind in EQG, they would have a panic attack on Earth.
You'll get used to it.
Welp, this is gonna hurt.
Remember Twi, you're on the list. She won't let the fall take that from her...
media1.tenor.com/images/04f342aaae3409e20ea055223b046094/tenor.gif?itemid=4958811
I was about to click "next" when I noticed that there was, in fact, no "next" button.
Damnit.
Well, guess you found another loyal tracker in me then. ;)
I don't know about teleporting, but simple telekinesis would have been enough to do the job. Starlight proves self-levitation is a thing, and telekinesis is one of the most basic spells out there. Are we to believe that in a few weeks or months time, Twilight's top lift capacity is enough to haul an Ursa Minor around, but that right now she couldn't lift herself?
This went from zero to clopfic real fast.
A safety net! In case of safety-net emergencies!
It's quite simple. Pinkie Pie had balloons and cushions stashed all over, in case of balloon and/or cushion emergencies.
Are you paying attention, Celestia? Some ponies like to be prepared for emergencies. ♫Oh yes Pinkie was... prepared for this♫
8527904
Personally, I think the problem is that someone is forcing the writers to work faster, so that they can introduce more characters (including background characters), and therefore ship more toys. The fact that this franchise has always focused so heavily on toys is something one should always keep in mind when pointing out plot holes.
8679185
I'm going to take a guess and say that she would have if she'd thought of it. However, she was so busy panicking, the idea of floating herself to safety just didn't occur to her.
Well if anything is going make the plot change work it'd be Pinkie Pie.
Aw, is Steven not gonna show up here?