Chapter 1: The Everfree Forest

The Everfree Forest

Every pony that lives in Equestria has heard of the Everfree Forest but very few know why it is feared and today one pony is going to discover why. In the small town of Ponyville are many different types of ponies with many kinds of jobs, some are carpenters, some are blacksmiths, 1 pony that calls Ponyville home is even a Princess, but one particular resident is unlike the others. Her name is Sapphire Sun. She is a sky blue Pegasus with a red-orange mane and a book and quill as her cutie mark and had just turned 23. Sapphire Sun is unique because she is an avid adventurer and she is a fanatic for the mysteries of the Everfree Forest. When she isn’t working at her father, Silver Blade’s blacksmith forge or is out adventuring with her friends, she spends day in and day out at the Royal Library in Canterlot doing research on the Everfree Forest. Sapphire Sun has been in love with the mysteries, myths, and legends surrounding the Everfree Forest ever since she was a filly, she has even solved many mysteries and reported her findings back to scientists which has earned her fame and fortune. But today she will discover just why the Everfree Forest is feared by millions.

“Okay dad, I’m going home now.” Sapphire said to her father as she started walking away.

“Wait!” Silver Blade said as he chased after her.

Sapphire turned around only to be hugged by her father. “Be safe honey.” he said softly.

“What do you mean dad?” Sapphire asked.

Silver Blade looked at her and said “Because whenever you say “I’m going home” you almost always go off adventuring.”

Sapphire rolled her eyes and said “But do I always come back?”

“Well… Yes but I never know that you are going to come back sometimes. You could be eaten by an Ursa Major, or turned to stone by a Cockatrice and never be returned to normal.” Silver Blade said with a worried tone.

“That could happen you are correct, but I always carry my sword with me.” Sapphire said as she pointed to her sword, which was still in attached to her belt.

Silver Blade looked at the sword and said “That isn’t the same sword I made you! What happened to the other one?”

Sapphire then rubbed the back of her head “I kinda sorta lost it.” She said.

Silver’s eyes went wide. “Y… You lost it!?” He said as his voice gradually grew more and more angry. “How did you lose it?” Silver asked with an angry tone.

“It was destroyed by a Chimera.” Sapphire said. “But check out my new one, I made it myself.” Sapphire drew her sword and showed her father. The sword had a barbed and serrated edged red blade with serrated spikes close to the jet black hilt which had a red spiked stopper. “Doesn’t it look awesome?”

Silver brought his hoof to his face and shaked his head in disappointment. “You don’t understand do you?” He said.

“Don’t understand what?” Sapphire asked.

“That was the sword your mom made for you for your 9th birthday before she was killed and you lost it. And what really ticks me off is that you didn’t seem to care that you lost it as if it was just another ordinary sword and then you made yourself a new one. Pearl Sky would be ashamed of you.” Silver Blade said with a loud, angry tone.

Sapphire’s head and ears dipped in sadness and regret. “Sorry dad, I guess I never thought of it that way. Mom would be ashamed of me.” She said as she started to cry.

Silver Blade developed a look of remorse. He approached his sobbing daughter and hugged her tight. “Sorry dear, I let my anger get the best of me. I’m sure your mother would forgive you so that is what I’m going to do. But please promise me next time you lose your sword that you will tell me.”

Sapphire looked up, wiped her eyes, and smiled. “I promise, thanks dad.”

Silver Blade then released his daughter kissed her forehead.

“Oh, I was doing some research and there is something interesting I found. Do you want to know what I found?” Sapphire asked.

“Sure, go ahead.” Silver said while ever so slightly rolling his eyes.

Sapphire then took a book from her satchel and started to turn the pages. “I think I found the reason why the Everfree Forest is so feared.”

“And what would be that reason?” Silver asked.

Sapphire stopped on a marked page and showed the page to her father. On that page was a picture of a massive, dark grey creature with thousands of razor sharp teeth and hundreds of eyes and tentacles. “Its called a Charybdis. Legend says that this creature created the everfree forest and used its mythological powers filled it with the supernatural creatures we know today such as Chimeras, Cockatrice, and Dragons hundreds of thousands of years ago and that it still resides in the place that it lived those hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Grey Sea. The Grey Sea is a somewhat large body of water which is right smack dab in the middle of the Everfree Forest and the reward for this things death or capture is 300,000,000,000 bits and I’m going to be the one who kills it.”

Silver Blade’s eyes almost popped out of his head upon hearing the amount of money that Sapphire stated. “And how big is this charybdis?”

“Well let’s see.” Sapphire looked through her book. “Its body is about 500 feet long and is 180 feet in circumference and it is able to creates a whirlpool that is 175 feet long, each of its 500,000 teeth are about 40 feet long, and it weighs roughly 200 tons. Oh and it can only be killed by striking the heart from inside the body.”

Silver facial expression changed from surprised to terrified and angry. “And you plan to kill this thing!?”

“Yeah, why?” Sapphire asked.

“Why!? Well I’ll tell you why! This thing is bigger than anything ever imagined and it lives in the most hostile place in Equestria. I am forbidding you from attempting to kill this thing!” Silver yelled.

Then Sapphire and Silver heard a voice “But she won’t be alone.”

Silver looked up he saw something that he would never dream of seeing. Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight started walking towards them and Silver shot to his knees.

Sapphire smiled “Hi Princess Twilight. What are you doing here?”

“Sapphire, have more respect when around royalty. You can’t just say hi to a princess, you have to address them formally.” Silver said with a quiet yet firm tone.

Twilight rubbed the back of her head and blushed slightly “It’s okay sir, Sapphire here is one of my researching buddies. So she doesn’t really need to address me in a way that others do.”

Silver noticed that Princess Twilight didn’t speak as formally the way other princess spoke. “Maybe she’s still a Princess in training.” Silver said to himself.

“Where’s Spike?” Sapphire asked.

“He’s actually in the everfree forest visiting Zecora with Fluttershy and Discord.” Twilight said with a smile.

“And the others?” Sapphire asked.

Twilight rubbed her chin “Well, Rarity is back in Canterlot at her boutique, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are in Manehattan visiting Applejack aunt and uncle, Fluttershy is with Spike and Discord, and Pinkie Pie is at the castle preparing a surprise party for her parents, and I’m here to help you kill the Charybdis.” She said.

Princess Celestia nodded “Indeed we are, in fact we have been planning this for a few hundred years but none of the guards were stalion enough to come with us and kill the charybdis. Until we found Sapphire Sun here. She is one of three to kill 35 cockatrice and 5 chimeras.”

Sapphire then interrupted Celestia. “I killed those things because it says in the book that the only way to sedate the charybdis is with 35 Cockatrice heads and 5 sets of Chimera heads.”

Celestia smiled and nodded “Correct indeed Sapphire. Only one other pony in history attempted to kill the Charybdis and almost succeeded. And sapphire wants to be the only one in history to successfully kill the Charybdis.”

Silver developed a look of confusion and then he asked “How do the cockatrice and chimera heads sedate the Charybdis?”

Celestia opened her mouth to talk but was interrupted by Princess Luna. “There is a special chemical in the muscle lining of the cockatrices neck that confuses anything that eats it and its teeth can be powdered to make a type of sedative and the chimera heads work in the same way with the lion and goat head but the snake head holds a type of venom that attacks the charybdis’s nervous system making its body become weak and go limp.”

Twilight nodded and said “You're right Luna but there is one extra thing that me and Sapphire discovered that could also aid us in defeating the Charybdis. There is a special compound in steel that is like alcohol to the charybdis, so if the Charybdis eats or swallows a large amount of steel the Charybdis goes into a drunk like state.”

Sapphire smiled and said “And the compound of question is nickel. So dad, I was hoping if you had some nickel lying around that we could use.”

“How much nickel do you need?” Silver asked.

“About 9 kilograms.” Twilight said.

“But I only have about 10 kilograms of nickel left, and it will take me a few days to find more.” Silver sighed “Fine, you can have as much as you need, just promise me that you will help me find more.” Silver sad in defeat.

Sapphire’s face lit up and she hugged her father as tight as she could. “Thanks dad and I promise that I will help you find more nickel.” She said with a large smile.

Sapphire kissed her dad on the cheek and Silver kissed her back on the forehead and then she and the others started to walk away.

Silver then called out to his daughter “Just make sure you do come back.”

“Will do.” Sapphire answered back.

Silver smiled as he saw his little girl walk away.

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A few hours later Sapphire and the 3 Princesses arrived at the Everfree Forest and Sapphire prepared herself for a fight.

Sapphire then looked at the three princesses and she withdrew an extra sword from its sheath. “I have an extra sword. Anyone want to use it?” Sapphire asked.

“No I’m good, I can just use my magic.” Twilight said.

“I can use my magic as well.” Celestia said after Twilight.

“May I see that sword?” Luna asked.

“Sure.” Sapphire then handed the sword to Princess Luna and Luna started swinging the sword like a warrior.

“Hmm, swords a little off balance and the grip could use some more grip but either way it is a very well crafted sword. May I use it?” Luna said.

Celestia looked at her sister with awe. “When did you learn how to wield a sword like that sister?”

Luna started laughing. “I have alot of time to spare dear sister. While you are on the throne, I’m training with my guards.”

“Why do you train with your guards Luna?” Twilight asked.

“I always believed that a princess should know how to fight alongside her guards and how to defend herself if her guards aren’t there to protect her.” Luna explained.

“That sounds like fun, I might give that a try.” Twilight said happily

Celestia smiled and said. “I might give a try as well, I always love a good challenge.”

“Great, now let's get going. We still have a long ways to go.” Sapphire said.

The others nodded and ran into the Everfree Forest. An hour passed and the group finally arrived at the Grey Sea. The Grey Sea smelled like rotting fish meat and was surrounded with pony skeletons and old weapons.

“What happened here?” Twilight asked as she almost vomited.

“Hundreds of ponies have tried to kill this thing but as you can see, all have perished.” Sapphire explained.

“That’s awful.” Twilight said with a sad tone.

“Which is exactly why we need to kill this thing.” Luna said intensely.

Suddenly the ground started to rumble and tall, jagged rocks started to appear on the water as the water started to rapidly spin.

“It’s awake!” Celestia yelled.

Sapphire then ran towards the water and she undid her stash of heads and handed them to Princess Luna.

“Luna, I need you to fly over the water and drop the heads and nickel into the Charybdis’s mouth.” Sapphire said strictly.

“I’m on it.” Luna said back. Luna then flew above and over the water and dropped the heads into the whirlpool.

“Nice job Luna. The effects might take a while so let's see what else we can do.” Sapphire said. “Twilight can you use your magic to make a boat from the surrounding trees.”

“You got it Sapphire.” Twilight then used her magic to start making a boat out of the many birch wood trees that were surrounding them.

Sapphire then looked confidently at Celestia. “Celestia, how would like to start on your battle training?”

“Okay, what do I do?” Celestia asked.

“When the Charybdis is in danger, it makes a sort of distress signal which summons inhabitants of the everfree forest to aid it, so I will help you fight some buggers. How ‘bout it princess?” Sapphire said with a slight smile.

“Let’s do it!” Celestia said confidently.

“Great, use my sword.” Sapphire then handed Celestia her sword and pulled out two small serrated daggers from her satchel.

Celestia held up the sword using her magic and smiled confidently. Roars and squeals could be heard and Celestia and Sapphire prepared for a fight. Multiple creatures from the Everfree Forest then charged the two fighters.

“Just remember princess, control your swings and always aim for either the neck, head, or the midsection or belly.” Sapphire advised.

Suddenly a Chimera jumped towards Celestia and without hesitation while sporting an intense look, Celestia swung her sword and split the Chimera clean in half.

“Ha, I got it.” Celestia exclaimed with happiness and excitement.

“Nice Job Celesti... “ Sapphire was then tackled by an Orthrus. Sapphire and the Orthros struggled for a while but then Celestia tackled the Orthros and held it to the ground and Sapphire drew her sword and decapitated the helpless animal.

“That was close, thanks Celestia.” Sapphire said as she wiped her brow.

Celestia nodded and once again developed a look of intensity and raised her sword. Multiple creatures then emerged from the forest and the two started fighting viciously. Meanwhile, Luna helped Twilight make the boat and they soon finished making the small dinghy.

Twilight smiled and said “Thanks Luna, let’s go help Sapphire and Princess Celestia.”

Luna then nodded and the two aided Celestia and Sapphire. Since Twilight wasn’t much of a fighter she majorly struggled and was saved multiple times but she eventually started fighting well enough that she didn’t need to be saved as much. As for the Charybdis, the materials were working their magic slowly but eventually the ground stopped shaking and the whirlpool died down and since the Charybdis no longer had any physical control, all the animals soon retreated back into the forest.

“Okay everypony, let's get this job done.” Sapphire said.

Sapphire and the others then boarded the dinghy and headed to the eye of the storm. The whirlpool died down but still had enough power to start pulling the boat towards the center and start pulling it under. Twilight reacting to her instincts summoned a bubble of air that surrounded the boat as it was dragged underwater.

“Nice thinking Twilight.” Sapphire said to complement the Princess of Friendship.

Twilight smiled and the boat was soon dragged completely under and was soon caught in a violent current that caused the team of 4 to be tossed around like ragdolls.

“I think we are going down it’s throat now, we just need to hold on and be brave.” Twilight said trying to calm everyone down.

But everything was soon short lived. Twilight and the others were violently tossed around the boat and soon everything went horribly wrong. The chaos soon caused Princess Celestia to slam into Twilight, knocking both out cold, which caused the air bubble to evaporate due to the lack of magic which violently threw everyone out of the boat and into the violent torrent of crashing waves. Sapphire was violently hit with wave after wave and soon passed out due to the sheer exhaustion and lack of oxygen.

Princess Luna managed to stay conscious and she used her magic to catch her friends from the violent current and surrounded them all with their own oxygen bubbles. When they soon arrived at the stomach, things started to calm. Luna then found a large boat and boarded the boat and brought everyone aboard. Luna then performed CPR on everyone and was successful in bringing everyone back. Sapphire was the first to regain consciousness, then Twilight, and finally Celestia.

“What happened?” Twilight asked as she stood up.

“Sister and you hit heads pretty quite hard.” Luna said.

Celestia and Sapphire walked up to Luna and Twilight. “You mean we were both knocked out cold!?” Celestia asked with shock.

“Indeed you were sister, along with Twilight and Sapphire.” Luna told her shocked sister.

“The most important thing is that we're safe, and by the looks of it, we are inside the charybdis’s stomach.” Sapphire said.

“It’s very large in here.” Celestia said as she looked around.

Twilight covered her mouth holding back vomit. “Not to mention it smells horrible in here.”

“There is one more thing we have to do, we have to kill the heart.” Sapphire said.

Twilight looked very confused and asked “How do we get to the heart?”

“Well Twilight, unlike other creatures, the Charybdis heart absorbs the energy, not the brain. And if you look a little past the boat on the far right there is a hole that leads straight to the heart.” Celestia explained.

“Correct Celestia. So let’s get to the heart and finally finish this thing.” Sapphire said eagerly.

“But first things first, we got to make it easier for you to stick with us.” Princess Celestia then used her magic to make Sapphire a pair of pegasus wings. “These are only temporary but they give you all the skill you need to stick with us, but, when we get out of this, they will disappear.”

Sapphire jumped and squealed with excitement. “Sweet, I’ve always wanted to see what it’s like to be a Pegasus. Well let’s go.”

The group of 4 then flew towards the long fleshy cave that lead to the Charybdis’s heart. When they got there, what they saw was something unbelievable. The Charybdis’s heart was surrounded by large tentacle like appendages that waved around the heart. Suddenly, one of the tentacles grabbed Princess Luna and threw her towards a the wall of flesh that surrounded them.

“Sister!” Celestia then ran towards her sister to see if she was okay.

Sapphire looked upon the tentacles with fear. “We need to kill these things! Twilight can you help hold this thing back for a little while?”

Twilight nodded and started fighting the tentacles while Sapphire helped Princess Luna. Princess Luna soon regained her composure but things gradually got worse. Twilight wasn’t strong enough to hold the tentacles back nor was she fast enough to dodge the barrage of hits that she took, and with one final swipe, Twilight was viciously knocked out and slammed right into the fleshy wall.

“TWILIGHT!!” Celestia screamed in fear. Celestia then faced Sapphire and Luna. “What do we do now?” She then asked.

Sapphire looked on in horror as the fleshy appendages closed in on her knocked out friend. She then developed an intense look and said “Celestia, when I give a signal I need you to fire your most powerful shot towards the tentacles. Can you do that?”

Celestia nodded and Sapphire got her sword from on the ground and held it steady and then started flying as fast as she could towards the tentacles and then when she got close enough she yelled “Now!” Celestia then fired her most powerful beam of magic she could right at the tentacles, causing them to squirm and shake. Sapphire then lifted her sword and struck the charybdis’s heart with deadly results.

The ground suddenly started to shake and the tentacles stopped moving and fell to the ground. Sapphire withdrew her sword from the heart and faced her friends.

“We need to get out of here as soon as possible.” Sapphire commanded. Sapphire then proceeded to help Twilight. Celestia then helped Twilight to her hooves and the 4 heroes started flying as fast as possible to get out before they drowned. As they flew up and out of the stomach of the cCharybdis they looked back and watched the mighty creature die and slowly sink to the bottom of the Grey Sea.

“Hurray we did it.” Twilight said happily.

“No Twilight, Sapphire did it.” Celestia said. “Sapphire’s bravery, courage, and skill are the reason we won. Congratulations Sapphire, your name shall forever be known and mentioned throughout all of history.” Celestia added, obviously very proud of Sapphire.

“Thank you very much Princess, and thank you as well Princess Twilight and Princess Luna, I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t vowed to help me. In fact, I’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for your help.”Sapphire said blushing.

“I think you deserve a reward other than your money.” Celestia said smiling.

“What do you mean Princess?” Sapphire asked.

Celestia smiled widely. “How would you like to be a member of my royal guard, and better enough a personal bodyguard to me, Luna and Twilight.”

Sapphire then gasped loudly. “Really, you would do that?” She asked with a shocked and happy tone.

“Why not.” Celestia said. “You are a highly skilled and brave fighter. Oh and if you want to, I will even let you keep those wings.” She added.

“I would be honored. And can you make the tips light blue?” Sapphire asked.

Celestia laughed and she used her magic to make Sapphire’s wing tips a sky blue color.

Sapphire then flew high in the air. “This is the best day ever. Oh Princess, before all this happens I need to see my dad. I can guarantee he is worried sick.” She then said.

Celestia then nodded and said “See you in a week.” And then she flew off to canterlot along with Twilight and Luna and Sapphire then flew to her dad’s blacksmith forge. Sapphire soon arrived to see her father and she saw him working at the forge.

“Dad, I’m back.” Sapphire said as she approached her father with wings spread.

Silver Blade turned around and started to cry and he ran to his daughter and hugged her tight. “Oh my baby’s back.” he said happily. “So did you kill the Charybdis?” he then asked.

“Why else would I be here?” Sapphire said as she lightly laughed.

Silver then noticed Sapphires wings. “What’s with the wings?” He asked.

Sapphire smiled and said “It’s a long story. Now we have somewhere to be next week.”

Silver looked at her with a confused look and said “Where?”

Sapphire then smiled and said “Your daughter is being knighted as a personal bodyguard to the 3 Princesses.” She said with a smile.

“Oh sweet Celestia. I hoped this day would finally come.” Silver said happily.

When Sapphire and Silver they arrived a week later at the castle they were greeted by thousands of ponies and other races applauding and cheering. Sapphire then saw Twilight with her friends along with Discord and Spike standing at the Castle doors and then they walked them in. Sapphire then saw Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence standing in the middle of the room

Celestia then gave a long speech. “Citizens of all of Equestria and beyond I have gathered you here to recognize somepony very special. Sapphire Sun. She has finally defeated the dreaded Charybdis and doing so showing extreme bravery, skill, and courage. She has made every nation very proud and has made me and the other Princesses proud as well. Her bravery and courage will be recognized throughout history. I now name thee Knight Sapphire Sun the Courageous.”

Celestia then handed Sapphire the Sword of Warriors as a symbol of her new name. Silver then hugged his daughter and said happily. “Mom would be very proud of you Sapphire, and I am so very proud of you, I love you very much.”

Sapphire then hugged her dad back and said. “Thanks dad, I love you very much too.”

The End.