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Chapter 16

Applejack looked at Granny Smith quizzically. “Everfree Acres?”

“That’s right!” Granny Smith said. “Th’Everfree Forest done went ‘n’ grew over all over our land! All sorts’a critters been thievin’ our apples ever since, what with the extra cover they got now. Big Macintosh went in ‘bout a couple hours ago, an’ he ain’t come out yet! I sent Applebloom t’go play with her little friends, so she wouldn’t have t’worry ‘bout her big brother.”

“He hasn’t come out?” Applejack inquired. “I hate t’think what could’a happened to him.”

“Relax, AJ,” Rainbow Dash said. “Big Mac’s a big guy, he can take care of himself.”

“All th’same, we oughta go in after him, and do somethin’ ‘bout the overgrown forest.” Applejack said. “I can’t rightly go on knowin’ that this is happenin’.”

Twilight nodded. “I don’t know that we’ll be able to do anything about the forest growing over,” she said, “At least not until we deal with Discord, but we really should help Big Macintosh.” She turned to Mario. “Sorry about the delay, but this is pretty important.”

Mario nodded in understanding, while Luigi simply sat bored, idly picking at the hay bale Granny Smith had been hiding behind.

“Alright then, Granny Smith, don’t you worry,” Twilight said. “We’ll have Big Macintosh out of there in no time.”

“Celestia bless all o’ ya,” Granny Smith. “In all my life I never met a group o’ braver ‘r more carin’ ponies than you darlin’s.”

“It’s nothing, Granny, really,” Twilight said. She turned to her companions. “Alright everyone, let’s move out!” The eight heroes turned, and proceeded into the thick trees now known as Everfree Acres.

Everfree Acres wasn’t nearly as warm and inviting as Sweet Apple Acres had been. It was as dark and uninviting as the regular forest, but the apple trees interspersed throughout the forest gave the place a twisted sense of familiarity that only served to unnerve the ponies more.

The extra greenery was not all that had changed, either. The terrain had changed in some places as well, with cliffs, pits, boulders, and the like impeding the progress of the ponies every now again. Even more treacherous were the enemies interspersed within the forest. The typical Everfree fauna were encountered, though it seemed that Bowser’s forces had reached even this part of the forest. Goombas adorned with harnesses carrying baskets of apples, Piranha Plants, Venus Fire Traps, and even a few Nippers were interspersed within the groups of enemies.

Eventually, the group came to a rather wide crevice. They were about to turn and search elsewhere, when Applejack suddenly cried out.

“Big Macintosh!”

Everybody turned, and walking through the forest was none other than Applejack’s older brother, Big Macintosh. He seemed to be walking in a daze, however, as he didn’t seem to hear his sister. In fact, he completely failed to notice the eight standing at the other side, and walked straight into a thick bush. However, he failed to emerge from the other side.

“What in the hay?” Applejack said. “What’s goin’ on?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight said. “But we need to get over there quickly before we lose Big Macintosh again.”

“Hold on a moment,” Rarity said. “How do you propose we all get over there?”

“Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy can carry us,” Twilight said, turning to the pegasi. “Right?”

“It looks pretty wide…” Fluttershy said, peering over the edge and seeing it was a long way down.

“And I don’t think we could carry everyone across without getting tired out… hey, wait a sec!” Rainbow Dash said, she fluttered up slightly, to get a better view of the other side. “I think I see a switch or something on the other side!”

“Hmm…” Twilight pondered. “Maybe you could carry Mario over, and he could activate the switch for us. It might help us get across!”

“It’s worth a shot,” Rainbow Dash said. She turned to Mario. “Hop on, I’ll get you over there in nothing flat!”

Mario seemed to be a little uneasy, since the disastrous end his last flight took, and Rainbow Dash caught on. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna crash again. Pinkie just caught me off guard last time when she suddenly stopped, that’s all.”

Mario seemed to be convinced, and decided to climb on. True to her word, Rainbow Dash promptly took off, and almost instantly touched down on the other side. Climbing off, Mario went over to where Rainbow Dash had spotted the switch, which was protruding from a tree, no less, and smacked it with his mallet. The earth seemed to shake, and an earthen bridge slid out from the cliff face, giving the rest of the group a path to the other side.

Everyone hurried over, and went over to the bush Big Macintosh had heedlessly strolled into. Luigi peered into its branches, and seemed surprised. He promptly told Mario what he found.

“Well?” Twilight asked. “What is it?”

Mario reported Luigi’s findings to Twilight. “A tunnel? Really?” Twilight went over to the bush, and spread the branches apart. Sure enough, there was a tunnel leading underground. A greenish light seemed to radiate from within, making everyone somewhat uneasy.

“What do you think’s down there?” Fluttershy asked everyone nervously.

“Ooh! Maybe it’s a dance party!” Pinkie said suddenly, jumping up and down. “That looks like the same kind of glow that some of my glowsticks make!”

“A dance party, really?” Twilight said. “Underground, in the middle of an overgrown apple orchard?”

“Can you think of a better place for a dance party?” Pinkie asked.

“Several,” Twilight said. “No, whatever’s down there probably isn’t friendly, but we saw Big Macintosh going down there, so it’s our job to go after him. Now, who’s with me?”

After a few nods of agreement, the group proceeded down into the tunnel, bracing themselves for what they might find.

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