Caverns & Cutie Marks: Our House Now

by TheColtTrio

Chapter 2: The Boys Are Back In Town~!

“Twilight!” Starlight Glimmer banged her hoof against the door to the Princess of Friendship’s room. “Twilight? Oh, come on. Wake up!”

No response. Starlight pressed her ear to the door. If she listened very carefully, she could hear soft snoring coming from the other side. She tisked. “Typical. I finally have something to say that she’d be interested in actually listening to, and she’s fast asleep. Well, we’ll just see about that.” Her horn glowed a gentle turquoise.

A moment later, a high-pitched yelp sounded from the other side of the door; barely covering the splashing sound that was likely its cause. Starlight stepped away from the door with a smile, counting down from ten by seconds. The moment she reached zero, Twilight Sparkle flung the door open, her mane dripping water onto the crystal flooring. “Really?” she glowered. “You used Aqua Regia’s Spontaneous Water Creation spell as an alarm clock?”

“I tried knocking,” Starlight offered.

“You know that Aqua Fortis’ Refined Water Summoning spell is more efficient, right?”

“If I used that, you wouldn’t have felt the need to come out and correct me.”

Twilight opened her mouth to retort, but found that she had nothing to do so with. “...Fine. What’s so important that you had to wake me up from the only sleep I’ve gotten in…” She blinked. “What day is it?”

“That’s not important.” Starlight grabbed the princess by a hoof, dragging her through the corridors of the castle. “Do you remember the spell we cast last night?”

“The one that failed? How could I forget.”

“That’s just it!” Starlight grinned back at Twilight. “I don’t think it failed.”

Twilight slid to a stop, forcing the unicorn to do the same. “What?”

“We checked the map this morning. I wanted to-”

“Who’s we?”

“Spike and I. It’s not important. I wanted to see if there was something wrong with the connection between the spell arrays and the map, but it turns out we should’ve taken a closer look at the map itself.”

“What are you talking-”

Starlight sighed dramatically. “Look, just teleport us to the map room, okay? It’ll be a lot faster than trying to give you exposition in a hallway.”

A moment later, Twilight and Starlight appeared in the map room, sending a small cloud of papers into the air as they arrived. Spike looked up from the map and rolled his eyes. “Glad I didn’t spend any time cleaning up in here,” he muttered. “Did Starlight tell you I’m the one who noticed the map?”

“Like I said,” Starlight said quickly, “it’s not important. Take a look at the map.”

Twilight sighed and stepped over to the map table. She gave the surface a cursory glance, not really taking anything in. She turned her head back to Starlight, a deadpan look on her face and a snarky retort building in her throat. She balked and looked back at the table, snarky retort forgotten. Three glowing sigils hovered over different locations on the map: a tree with two masks hanging from its branches floated over a cliff bordering the Badlands, a white-gloved hand orbited above the edge of the Undiscovered West, and what looked like two sheets of paper folded together to make them one hovered over an ice field in the Crystal Mountains.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “It worked,” she whispered. “It worked!”

“Certainly looks like it,” Starlight said. “So, which one is which?”

“I…” Twilight frowned. “I don’t know. When we were with the boys in Discord’s game, they didn’t have Cutie Marks. And they didn’t have any distinguishing symbols in the human world either.”

“Blank flanks?” Starlight whistled. “That’s impressive, given what you’ve told me about them.”

Twilight sighed, leaning in for a closer look at the floating symbols. “They said their world doesn’t have Cutie Marks. Apparently they’re a little more equal to each other in that respect.” She paused, then turned back to Starlight. “Don’t get any ideas.”

“Ouch. My feelings.”

“Has Sunset seen this yet?”

Spike shook his head. “She went back to the human world after you went to bed. Said she was gonna do some research on that side, see if anything changed.”

“Isn’t this thing supposed to tell you who needs to go to which place?” Starlight asked. “I thought the Elements of Harmony’s Cutie Marks were supposed to pop up, not somepony else’s.”

Twilight thought for a moment. “Hang on a moment.” She focused her magic on the map. The floating symbols fizzled for a moment, then came back into focus, along with two additional images each. “There. Simple change in the z-layering.”

“So it’s Applejack and Dash for this tree thing,” Spike said, “Pinkie and Rarity for the origami, and then you and Fluttershy for the glove?”

Starlight tilted her head. “Who makes hoofwarmers with extra bits sticking out like that, anyway?”

Twilight ignored the question. “Spike, round up the girls. We need to get on top of this in-case the boys need help.” She turned to Starlight. “Let Sunset know the spell worked, then keep an eye on the map. We’ll need you to let us know if the boys move while we’re on the way.”

“How do you know it’s them?” Starlight asked.

“That one’s easy.” Twilight started walking out of the room. “They split the party.”

* * *

“Ya know, when Twilight said she wanted to learn some kind of emergency messenger spell, Ah thought she was just gonna use it for the occasional emergency, or lettin’ us know ‘bout the map having something fer us to do,” Applejack grumped as she trotted towards the castle next to Rainbow Dash.

“To be fair, there has kinda been a lot going on.” Rainbow replied.

“She thought runnin’ outta ink was a world endin’ disaster,” Applejack returned with a glare.

“She was working on some kinda important egghead stuff, wasn’t she?” Rainbow said, waving a hoof as if to dismiss Applejack’s point.

“She couldn’t check off an item for that day’s checklist.”

“What!” Rainbow shouted. “I booked it out of a chess game against Spitfire for this!”

“A chess game? You?” Rarity said, having joined them quietly just in time to hear Rainbow.

“Something, something, leadership responsibility and planning ahead. Not important. What was important is that, for a change, I was actually winning… I think,” Rainbow Dash finished below her breath.

“Summoned by the spell too, huh Rares?” Applejack said, ignoring Rainbow’s poor attempt at recounting the chess game.

“Yes. Though, I must admit I’m a little concerned at how many of us she’s summoned. I don’t think it’s a map thing,” she said, waving to Fluttershy and Pinkie, both of whom were already at the castle’s doors.

“Oooh, maybe it is gonna be a huge secret party!” Pinkie cheered as she pronked in place.

“I hope not. I was hoping for a quiet day,” Fluttershy said.

“Welp, no sense waitin’. Let’s get this over with,” Applejack said, shoving open the castle’s door to find Spike waiting for them on the other side.

“Oh cool, you’re here finally,” the small dragon said in greeting. “Maybe you five can finally get Twilight to settle down a little. I don’t know what’s got her so worried... or maybe excited... I’m honestly not sure. Anyway, come on in. She’s freaking out in the map room.” He motioned for them to follow him. The five mares exchanged looks with one another, then quickly followed Spike.

Like Spike had said, they found Twilight in the map room. She sounded like she was trying to talk to Starlight but her words were coming so fast not even Pinkie was able to keep up as evidenced by the fact that when the others looked to her, she simply shrugged in confusion.

Twilight noticed the girls out of the corner of her eye and turned the torrent of words she was spewing forth towards them, animatedly swinging her hooves around in gestures of meaning or pointing towards the map and the strange markers showing on it. She seemed to alternate between relief, frustration, excitement, and exhaustion. Eventually, Pinkie had enough and shoved her hoof in Twilight’s mouth.

“Twilight, use spaces. They go between your words,” Pinkie chided. “Without them, it’s just one big jumble of sounds we can’t follow, yet you expect us to follow. It’s really annoying and… What?” She asked as she finally noticed the deadpan looks all of her friends were aiming at her.

Twilight removed Pinkie’s hoof from her mouth and took a couple of deep breaths. “Okay, let me explain.” She was drowned out by five simultaneous groans, and a very loud eye-roll from Starlight. “Fine. Let me sum up. Sunset, Starlight, and I tried the spell we’ve been-

“You’ve mostly been working on,” Starlight interrupted.

“-the spell I’ve been working on-”

“More like obsessing, really.”

Twilight cleared her throat loudly, shooting a glare at the unicorn. “As. I. Was. Saying. We tried the spell to find the boys yesterday.”

“The boys who got sucked into a portal to who-knows-where in that human world Sunset’s in?” Rainbow asked.

“What is this, ‘Interrupt Twilight’s Exposition’ Day? We cast the spell, we thought it failed, and today these symbols showed up on the map!” Twilight pointed to the three marked locations on the map. “Now, in the time it’s taken from our initial discovery to now, these three have been moving at a rate consistent with a pony at a walking pace, give or take.”

“So those three are ponies again, then?” Rarity asked. “Why haven’t they tried to contact us?”

“Not e’rypony can find th’ quickest trail to a sale like you, Rarity,” Applejack replied. “Those three’re probably more turned ‘round than a hedgehog in a twister, and ain’t none of them’ve got a map like this to help’m.”

Twilight nodded. “Exactly. Now, we need to find them before anything bad happens, so I’ll teleport us in groups to as close to their location as possible. From there, you all are gonna have to search for your respective quarry yourselves. My advice, just look for the trail of chaos and destruction.”

“‘Twilight’s Exposition’ Day is back on,” Rainbow muttered.

“Why can’t you put us right next to them?” Fluttershy asked.

“Because in their typical fashion, they came down in mostly unknown territory.” Twilight pointed to each of the symbols in turn. “The border between the Mysterious South and the Badlands, the Undiscovered West, and the Frozen North. Aside from the pony settlements, those places have been terra incognita.”

Pinkie Pie produced a handkerchief from her hair. “Gesundheit!”

“That means ‘unknown’, dear,” Rarity corrected.

“I know, but it’s been a while since I made a joke. Started feeling a little queasy.”

“The map has already marked who’s going where.” Twilight gestured to their cutie marks alongside the symbols.

Spike perked up from his cleaning. “Great! I’ll grab some adventuring gear!”

Twilight blinked. “Uh… Actually, Spike, you should probably-”

“Oh no you don’t!” Spike leveled a claw at the purple alicorn. “You’ve left me out of two adventures with these guys already. You can’t expect me to stay behind again. I’m coming with you, and that’s it.”

Rainbow Dash leaned in towards the dragon. “Don’t wanna clean up Twilight’s mess again, huh?”

“...I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

“Fine!” Twilight threw her forehooves in the air. “You can come with me and Fluttershy to find whichever one the glove is.” She turned to the rest of the Mane Six. “Everypony ready?”

“Ah can’t believe we’ve gotta rescue them again,” Applejack muttered.

“It’s just like old times!” Pinkie Pie proclaimed.

Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Is that a good thing?”

Pinkie grinned. “I don’t know!”

* * *

“Rainbow Dash, would ya kindly slow down!” Applejack snapped. The cyan pegasus whipped around, a wide grin stretching her face.

“But, AJ! This is right out of a Daring Do book!” she squealed. “Hiking through the jungle, danger at every turn, all in search of an elusive artifact! I think I’ll have to write A.K. Yearling about this and see if she can make a book out of it! Or maybe a short story… Maybe a novella at least...”

Applejack sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. “Ah don’t think the colts’d be too pleased with bein’ called ‘artifacts’.”

“You get what I’m saying though, right? This is the start of a treasure hunt if ever I saw one!”

“...Sure is.” The orange earth pony gave another sigh, hoping that the hyper pegasus would calm down. She snorted. Of course Rainbow Dash wouldn’t. This was just the thing that the cyan pegasus would get excited about.

“Any idea where we’re headed?” Rainbow asked after a few minutes of companionable silence. “The map wasn’t too clear on where exactly, just somewhere in the forest next to the Badlands.”

“With all yer blitzin’ ahead, Ah’m surprised we haven’t found the place yet,” Applejack chuckled. Rainbow pouted.

“Doesn’t mean I saw anything,” she whined. “And what do you mean about ‘blitzing’? This forest is so freaking huge! And dense! I can hardly build up enough speed to fly normally! I’m stuck at this snail’s pace! Tank could find the colt faster than we could.”

Applejack couldn’t help but laugh at the image. “If it were Purple Heart we’re chasin’, I think even mah granny can catch him!” The pair shared a laugh and fell silent again as they trudged through the thick undergrowth. It wasn’t long before Rainbow Dash groaned again in frustration.

“Ugh! I feel like we aren’t making any progress!” she griped. “These trees all look the same!” She waved a hoof at the surrounding trunks. “I’m gonna take a peek above the treeline to see where we are.” Without waiting for a response from her companion, Rainbow blasted through the canopy. Applejack rolled her eyes and crossed one foreleg in front of the other, casting her gaze skyward while she waited for the energetic pegasus to return.

“Uhhh, Applejack?” Rainbow’s voice sounded from above the leaves. “I think I found what we’re looking for.”

“Really?” drawled the orange mare.

“Really. This trench looks kinda new.”

Applejack blinked. “Trench?” she repeated, pushing through the low bushes. “What do you mean ‘trench’?” Pulling aside a branch, Applejack could clearly see a break in the trees several paces away. She didn’t see the drop immediately before her and therefore slipped down into the long gouge.

“ACK~!” Applejack rolled to her hooves and spat out the dirt in her mouth, glaring around at the sloped walls of earth. Rainbow floated effortlessly beside her, trying not to laugh at the orange mare’s misfortune.

“See what I mean?” the pegasus said, biting her lip.

“Why didn’t you warn me?” Applejack snapped as she beat the dust and dirt off her hat.

“Cos I thought you’d notice,” Rainbow replied mirthfully.

“Well, ah did. After the fact.” Applejack looked around again. “Purple Heart musta been fallin’ at a pretty good clip to make this.”

“Yeah,” agreed Rainbow Dash. “I’ve seen some bad wipeouts in my time, but this has to be in the Top Five. Maybe even the Top Three.”

Applejack snorted. “Well, Twilight was right: ‘look for the trail of chaos and destruction’.”

“I’ll say,” Rainbow said. “He shouldn’t have gotten far. A crash like that can really mess you up. I doubt he’s even conscious right now.”

“Makes it easier to find him and get him back to Ponyville,” Applejack said, starting down the trench. Rainbow Dash flapped after her and emphasized a cough of disagreement.

“Finding him? Yes, that’s easier. Getting him to Ponyville? I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure the two of us can drag him if he’s unconscious. I’d rather he be awake so he can carry himself.”

“That,” Applejack said, “is an excellent point. Draggin’ him all that way?” The orange mare shook her head. “Not my idea of fun.”

“I second that.” The two fell silent as they travelled down the trench. In next to no time at all, the two mares broke out of the trees and onto a cliff. The furrow continued to the precipice and only stopped at the edge.

Rainbow smirked, eyeing her orange companion as they walked along the trough.

“Watch for the edge.”

“I saw it,” Applejack snapped, glaring at the pegasus. She looked over the edge of the cliff and saw sand stretching out for miles. The only land feature that leapt out to her was a crater a short distance from the base of the cliff. “I think that’s where he landed.”

“No kidding,” Rainbow whistled. “Definitely Top Three.”

Applejack looked around, searching for a path down the cliffside. When she didn’t, she glanced at her blue companion. “Uhh… I don’t suppose you could carry me? I’m not keen on fallin’ down there like Purple Heart did.”

The pegasus shrugged and floated over Applejack’s back, grasping the earth pony under her forelegs. Two strong flaps of her wings lifted them off the cliff and they were gliding down to the sandy ground below. Rainbow let out another whistle as they drew closer to the crater. It was clear that sand slid down the sides in the intervening time between Purple Heart’s landing and the two of them finding it, but the size was still impressive.

“I’m noticing a severe lack of Purple Heart in here,” Rainbow commented as she placed Applejack back onto terra firma. “And no hoofprints.”

“Musta been covered with sand,” Applejack mused. She scanned the bowl for a few seconds. Then she turned and clambered up the side. “Hopefully we’ll see something up there that can give us an idea of where he went.”

Rainbow Dash merely flapped her wings and soared upward, ascending far above the desert. From below, Applejack could see the pegasus pan around, scanning the horizon. She looked around too, but saw nothing but the hazy horizon herself. Rainbow descended, landing beside the orange mare and pointing southeastward.

“I saw a cluster of buildings off in that direction,” she explained. “It’s probably a town and our best bet to find him. If he’s not there, then hopefully somepony saw him pass through.”

Applejack shrugged. “It's as good a lead as any.” Without further ado, the pair set off, tramping across the open desert in search of an elusive purple earth pony.

* * *

“Thanks again for the scarf, Rarity,” Pinkie said, happily bouncing through the deep snow.

“Not a problem, dear. I’d hate to see you catch a cold,” Rarity said, tucking her own wrap a little tighter around her neck.

“It’s lucky that Twilight was able to plop us down right in where whoever-”

“Whom, darling.”

“-appeared. Otherwise, we might’ve never found their path.” Pinkie continued after Rarity’s correction. “So, who do you think it is?”

“I honestly can’t say,” Rarity replied, thinking back to the cutie mark they’d looked at over the map. “We never saw the colts with cutie marks and while none of them would be exactly what I could say fits the colts as we know them, that origami shape could really be any of theirs.”

“Did it look like Twilight was familiar with that symbol?” Pinkie asked her bouncing slowing down a little in thought.

“She did seem to fixate on it,” Rarity remembered. “Not that she sped over any of the three mystery Cutie Marks.” Rarity continued with the best shrug she could manage while still moving. “I suspect she was just doing what all of us were. At least I was trying to do: match the cutie marks we were seeing to the stallions we thought to whom they might belong.”

“It’s probably Purple Heart. He’s big enough to take the cold, I’m sure of it. Then again, these don’t really look like what I’d expect his hoof prints to look like,” Pinkie said, peering at the almost hidden by snow trail of hoof prints they were following.

“Okay, I’ll bite. How did you learn to track in the snow? I could see Twilight or Fluttershy, but not you.”

“My family's rock farm is at the foot of some mountains. We tend to get a lot of snow and unlike ood farms, rock farms do business all year round,” Pinkie said, doing a cartwheel and somehow landing her hooves in the prints they were following. “Learning to pathfinding in the snow helped us not get lost or frozen and keep our customers from the same fate. What about you, Rarity? Where’d you learn?”

“Skiing trips mostly, I don’t go nearly enough but I figured I should learn some basics just in case... you know...” Rarity’s words started tapering off as she tilted her head. “I think... I think I see something in the snow just up ahead.”

The two quickly hoofed it through the snow to arrive at a small patch of ground with a little grass but mostly dirt and a noticeable lack of snow. In the middle of it was a flower about as tall as a sunflower. If it hadn’t been wilting. Its petals were a dull, almost greyish green with a little of the petals original reds, yellows, and oranges showing through. Though she wasn’t an expert by any means, Rarity could tell the poor plant was beyond help at this point. Still, there was something off about it she couldn’t shake.

“What's a flower growing out here in the cold and snow?” Pinkie said, trotting just outside of the circle of clear ground.

“I can’t say, but I feel like I should know. This flower, there’s something familiar about it but I… I can’t place it...” Rarity fell silent, trying to force her memory to come back.

“Don’t worry, Rarity. I’m sure if you just relax, it’ll come back to you. Speaking of coming back, it looks like somepony else had planned to do that too,” the pink party pony said cheerfully, pointing at the shovel stuck in the ground just outside of the circle.

“Yes, it does appear that way. And it’s possible, considering the tracks leading here, one of the colts might have done it too. Maybe Purple Heart as a preemptive apology to Twilight for, well whatever. Or it could’ve been Light Patch. Then again, I don’t really see him leaving the flower alone out here to just perish.”

“Maybe Wits was gonna give it to Fluttershy,” Pinkie said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“While it’s probably about time he or she address the obvious infatuation he has for her, I doubt tha-” Rarity was cut off when she noticed Pinkie suddenly freeze, bounce in place twice without moving her legs, then her ears started to flap around as if they were signal flags. “What Pinkie Sense was that?” Rarity asked hesitantly, unsure if she actually wanted to know.

“That’s my ‘Stealing My Schtick’ Pinkie Sense,” Pinkie answered, staring off into the distance seemingly right down the path of the stallion they were tracking. “Some pony is stealing my schtick!” She shrieked furiously, rocketing off through the snow.

“Wait! Pinkie!” Rarity shouted, running as fast as she could to keep up through the deep snow. Pinkie however was easily able to outpace her, and worryingly showed no sign of slowing. Rarity wasn’t sure if it was her lack of skill, but she kept losing track of the trail more often than not. It was almost as if the pony they were following was teleporting, or using the same ‘shortcuts’ that Pinkie used. She wasn’t sure which idea she disliked more.

* * *

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike appeared on top of a small hill in a flash of light. The small dragon looked around, planted his claws on his hips, and said his first words since leaving the castle. “Huh.”

“Huh?” Twilight looked down at the dragon. “Something up?”

“I dunno. I just kinda thought that, with a name like ‘the Undiscovered West’, it’d be more… fantastical.”

“Ah.” Twilight looked around. Their hill was one of many in the steppes that surrounded them, occasionally dotted by groves of trees or cut by rivers as far as she could see. In other words, it was a lot like the rest of Equestria. “Well, technically we’re still pretty close to the border. There’s not much different about this area, compared to back home.”

“Twilight!” Fluttershy appeared from behind the dip of the hill, holding a small brown bunny in her forehooves. “Look! We’re in the Undiscovered West for sure!”

Both Twilight and Spike stared at the pegasus in silence. “Fluttershy,” Twilight said eventually, “that’s a rabbit.”

“Not just any rabbit! It’s a Groundlands Burrower! They’re not found anywhere in Equestria; only in the Undiscovered West!” She beamed, still holding the unperturbed bunny. “Isn’t that amazing?”

Twilight blinked. “Sure.”

Fluttershy gave the rabbit a hug and set it down. “Oh, and he says he saw where the colt we’re looking for landed.”

“Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“He’s got an accent.”

“...An accent.”

“Yes! The bunnies back home are like,” the pegasus waved her forehooves vaguely, “and this one’s more like,” she waved her forehooves even more vaguely. “You know?”

Twilight blinked again. “Yyyyes.”

“What does he mean by ‘landed’?” Spike asked.

Fluttershy looked down at the rabbit, who continued to seem entirely unimpressed as he gestured with a forepaw. “He says that a colt fell out of the sky over that river over there. Caused a bit of a splash, apparently.”

“That could be any of them,” Twilight mused. “I was hoping to narrow down which of the boys we were going after.”

“Isn’t one of them a pegasus?” Spike asked.

“Like I said, could be any of them. Let’s start off by investigating the crash site.” Twilight hesitated for a moment. “Should we… thank the rabbit? Does he have a name?”

Fluttershy looked back at the rabbit again. “It’s Ragnar Grimthor, Destructor of the Saxons.” She hesitated. “Or Dave. He’s got a really thick accent.”

“I don’t think I can blink anymore. Thank you, rabbit. Let’s get going.”

The three of them soon arrived at the bank of the river. Nearby, there was a basic wooden bridge, a few trees, and a dirt path. “I thought this was supposed to be the Undiscovered West,” Spike said. “What’s a road doing here? Why call it ‘Undiscovered’ if somepony’s been here?”

“Just because Ponies haven’t explored it doesn’t mean nothing lives here, Spike,” Twilight said. “The Thestrals live up in the mountain range. On the other side of the mountains are the Deer Kingdoms. If you go even further, you can find-”

“Twilight, look!” Fluttershy was at the edge of the river. “I think this is where the colt landed.”

Twilight trotted over to join her. “Did a fish tell you that?”

Fluttershy stared at the alicorn for a moment. “Fish don’t talk, Twilight.”

“Of course they don’t,” Twilight muttered.

Spike, who had dunked his head in the river, pulled his head back out of the water. “I think she’s talking about all of the rocks and weeds that’s scattered down there, Twi. I bet whichever of the colts it was, they hit hard enough to knock that stuff loose.”

“Which means they were going even faster to still have velocity coming out of the air,” Twilight mused. “How deep is that river, Spike?”

“Hang on, lemme check.” Spike stuck his head in the river again for a few seconds. “Pretty darn deep!” he said once he was back out. “Ten feet, at least. Maybe even fifteen! He’d have to be pretty strong to swim his way out with the river flowing”

“It might be Purple Heart, then,” Fluttershy said, flinching away as Spike shook the water from his scales. “He was the strongest of the three, after all.”

“Maybe…” Twilight looked around, spotting a tree that was growing next to the river. Her horn glowed as she cast a spell, revealing the magic that had been used on the area recently. The tree’s roots shimmered faintly; traces of magic used the night before. “Or maybe they weren’t.”

“Magic?” Fluttershy inspected the roots. “They’ve been pulled on. Could it be Wits End? He’s the only unicorn.”

“But Light Patch had magic in the game world,” Twilight said. “We don’t know if those three still have their abilities from the game world in Equestria. Purple Heart’s abilities could be considered magic here in Equestria, for that matter...”

“So it could be anypony,” Spike deadpanned. “Glad we got that figured out. Where’d he go after getting out of the water?”

“If I had to guess,” Twilight muttered, looking closely at the disturbed sand around the riverbank, “he probably went this way…” She looked up, seeing the trail follow the dirt path into the woods. “Oh hayfeathers.”

“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked.

“Remember how Spike asked why this was called the Undiscovered West?” Twilight gestured towards the woods. “That’s why. The forests around here are like the Everfree. They grow without pony supervision, and there’s all sorts of creatures that live in them.”

“That’s not… too bad,” Fluttershy whimpered.

“And these forests move.”

“...eep.”

“So now what?” Spike asked.

“Now?” Twilight sighed. “We go into the big scary forest.”

Comments

[Hexan Tronic]

And the hunt continues! Tune in next time for more Chaotic Male Hunting!... Also, why didn't they just ask Discord to teleport the boys to them?

[Canary In The Coal Mine]

Everyone assumes it's Purple Heart they are tracking. Is that a running gag from the previous story?