"Gosh' darn it, Scootaloo!" Applebloom called as the red ball bounced its way down the grassy hill and towards the forest. "Why'd ya have ta kick it so hard?" She glared over her shoulder at the filly in question. She gave a sigh, and one last glance at the ball as it lodged itself in a dark bush at the edge of the forest, before blowing away a loose strand of hair that crept out from her bow. "Now we can't play no more!"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "C'mon, I didn't kick it that hard. And it's only, like, three feet away!" she protested, gesturing a hoof torwards the trees in the distance. "It's probably in a stupid bush nearby. It'll take five seconds to get it back, not like it's a big deal anyway." The little orange Pegasus started to hover over to the impending forest, before Applebloom stomped a hoof on her tail before she could get any farther.
"That ball was mine, and it's ma only one!" she huffed, her brow furrowing. "And we can't get it back 'cause it rolled into the Everfree Forest! Ya know we ain't ever allowed to go in there!" Her words were hinted with fear and a bit of malice. She jerked her head towards Ponyville. "Let's just go home and forget about it. We can always find a new ball!"
"And who's gonna just leave a ball somewhere? Like you said, it's your only one, and we can't just buy one! We need money! So let's just find it and get out of there, no biggy! It'll be real quick, and it's not like some monster will just pop up, that's deeper in!" she reasoned with an agitated voice.
"And what if one does! We could get hurt! Or worse! Ah'll just tell ma sis that Ah lost the ball, an' she'll get a new one! We just gotta-
Applebloom stopped short when she realized something was off. She lifted her hoof off of her friend's tail and whipped her head around frantically. "Where's Sweetie Belle?" she asked in a worried tone, gazing around the small area that their trio was once playing in. Scootaloo looked around, too, with a puzzled expression. After a quick survey of the plain, the two looked back each other with the same haunting realization plastered on their faces.
"She went into the Everfree alone!" they screeched in unison.
Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle had done just that. Unbeknownst to the other two, the little unicorn trotted away in search of the lost ball while they were arguing. Sweetie took a glance behind her, and then back at the brooding forest ahead of her. She gulped and scanned her green eyes across the leaves in hopes of seeing a hint of red somewhere in the otherwise dark landscape.
"I-I'll get it!" she called behind her, but mostly to herself. Tentatively, she took a step inside and drew a deep breath. As the forest engulfed her and pricked at her skin, the little pony could barely see a few inches in front of her, certainly not a ball. She gave a huff of annoyance as it was nowhere to be found.
The further Sweetie Belle searched, and the more her morale faded, fear took place instead. She yelped at every sound she heard and shivered at every breeze that shouldn't have been there. The darkness, it seemed, got even darker than before. She wanted to turn back, but all the branches looked the same now. Sweetie stumbled and tripped on a large tree root that stuck out of the hard soil.
As she have a slight hiss to scold herself for her clumsiness, she shook her head and tried to gather her thoughts.. "N-Now where the hay is that ball?" she murmured, trying to summon a spell to light her way. Though as soon as she gathered enough light at the end of her horn, it sputtered and went out. She groaned and instead decided to pick her way through the undergrowth.
Just beside the root she had tripped upon, Sweetie Belle saw a hint of something familiar in a small bush. She gasped excitedly and scrambled to the thorns. Though, much to her disappointment, it was only a trick of her eyes. The thing she had mistaken for a ball was only a rather large stone. Sweetie sighed and gritted her teeth. At this point she had given up completely, and just as her friends had gone to Ponyville to call for help, she slumped to the ground and willed away tears.
"I-I guess I should try to turn b-back now.." she thought aloud, then she knocked a hoof to her forehead. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of all the stupidest things, I went into the Everfree for a ball! And now I'm lost!" she growled. Then, as the anger passed, another cloud drifted in her eyes. She looked around at the towering trees around her, and shivered. "I-I'm lost..." she repeated, disregarding her earlier plans for returning home.
Sweetie Belle wrapped her forearms around her eyes and, instinctively, began to cry. In her fit of self-loathing though, the filly didn't realize the figure approaching her in the clearing. Sweetie Belle jumped and screeched as something touched her shoulder.
"Oh, terribly sorry dear!" a soft voice called. As Sweetie's heart slowed down enough to see the cause of the voice, she immediately relaxed. "I heard a noise and came to you. Poor filly! Why is a sweetheart like you stuck way out here crying as if you've been pained?"
The owner of the soothing tone was yet another pony. It was a mare, an Earth pony, with a sea-green coat and a long, wavy black mane and tail. It was braided with seaweed and lillies, and was messy but undeniably soft to the touch. Her eyes, calm and almost motherly, were a rich turquoise which seemed to will away any anxiety from whom she was staring at. It calmed the filly almost like a spell. She seemed to radiate a soft light, like an angel, that banished the dark shadows around them. She had a wicket saddlebags, like baskets, that held bundles of the same lilies that were woven in her hair. She seemed like something from a dream, and to Sweetie, that didn't seem entirely unlikely.
"I was looking for a ball that my friends and I lost when we were playing." said Sweetie Belle almost automatically, as if her words were not her own. She didn't seem to notice this however, as she stared at the newcomer like a peasant to a queen.
"There there, sweet filly." the mysterious mare cooed, petting Sweetie Belle atop her head. "The Everfree Forest is a dangerous place; you must've been so scared! I'm sure you are not the first one to loose a precious item in these woods."
Sweetie involuntarily moved closer to the mare as if she had known her forever, like an old friend. The mare hugged the filly in a close embrace like they were at home. "Where did you get these flowers?" Sweetie Belle asked tiredly like the mare's voice was lulling her to sleep. She looked curiously at the white lillies in her hair and dragged a hoof through them. The mare laughed, like tiny bells sound or how lavender looks.
"My dear, I gathered them at a beautiful spring pond nearby. They're magical, I hear. Would you like to see the pond?" she whispered, filling the filly with a warm magic. Sweetie nodded.
Together they walked down a path that had not been there before, but Sweetie Belle didn't care. She was in a trance brought on by the mare's melodious voice. They came to a shimmering, translucent pool, surrounded by waterfalls and fauna that appeared to be from a fairy tale. The mare stopped at the edge, where lilly pads and the white flowers were growing, and began to pluck them from the pond to add more to her over-filled saddlebags. Sweetie Belle sat down next to her, watching with glazed eyes at the pond.
"It's Spirit Water, dear. I suppose that's what makes the flowers so special." she mused, turning to Sweetie will a smile that would melt the heart, or in her case, freeze it. "If you bathe in the water, it is said to grant any wish, restore age or beauty, or even give infinite knowledge. I've never tried it myself, but..."
She stood up and grabbed Sweetie Belle's shoulders firmly. "... would you like to try?" she said tenderly, but as more of a demand rather than a question. She nodded again, a faint smile dancing over her lips.
"Wonderful!" the mare exclaimed calmly, "This won't hurt a bit, darling." With that, she slowly started to push Sweetie Belle into the pool, and the latter didn't object. Instead, she fell into the pool with a large smile on her face. The mare held her down and watched with the same motherly smile and sparkling gaze as water replaced Sweetie's lungs. She didn't squirm or thrash, she just smiled gratefully at the blurry mare that held her down and thought of a wish for the pool to grant for her.
Darkness was clouding her vision fast, and the mare held her grip on her shoulders. Sweetie closed her eyes, content with her wish, and let go of her last breath.
"I wish I found the ball."
