“Now that everypony has been gathered, I can tell you why you are all here today.” Kurt stated. His six students stood side-by-side in front of him awaiting an explanation for why they had been brought to the edge of the Everfree Forest just outside Fluttershy’s cottage so early in the morning.

The six ponies wore Jedi robes which Rarity had made for them only a few days prior. There was nothing strikingly different about anypony’s robes, but Rarity had done her best to make the robes as fashionable and true to tradition as she could without causing them to be impractical.

“Tell me, do you all feel a dark presence coming from this forest?” He asked.

“Uhh, Kurt? The Everfree Forest’s always given everypony a bad feelin’ in their gut.” Applejack stated “That there’s nothin’ new.”

“No, Applejack. Look deeper, feel the force around you. Do you not feel a dark presence deep in these woods?”

“I can feel it.” Said Twilight “Whatever it is, it’s quite deep in the forest.”

“It is indeed deep inside the forest.” Kurt replied “Do the rest of you feel it now?” Everypony nodded in agreement.

“So where exactly is it coming from?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“It is coming from the old castle where you all defeated Nightmare Moon over a decade ago.” Kurt stated “The reason for this forest being filled with so many unnatural and evil creatures is because of the dark side’s presence in that castle. The presence has plagued these woods since Celestia’s parents had removed this planet from the outer rim after the Sith’s attack.”

“So… We gotta go in there an’ get rid of it?” Asked Applejack.

“Yes, the six of you shall go to the castle and eradicate the dark side’s hold over this forest.” He replied.

“The… Six of us?” Rarity asked.

“Wait a minute!” Pinkie gasped, she took a head count of everyone present by tapping everyone present on the head “But there’s seven of us!”

“Kurt, you’re… Not coming? Why?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“This mission will be your test on whether you six are ready to become Jedi Knights or not. I cannot interfere as it is your mission alone.” Kurt replied. Everypony gasped and spoke amongst themselves for a moment. Rainbow Dash simply stood in silence with her jaw dropped.

“Are you serious?!” Rainbow Dash asked failing to contain her excitement “You’re finally testing us?!”

“Yes, yes I am. I finally found a way to test you all to see whether you should be promoted yet. So this is it.” Rainbow Dash tackled Kurt embracing him.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!” She yelled.

“So you really think we’re all ready to become knights?” Asked Twilight.

“Why of course we are!” Replied Rarity before Kurt could answer “We have been Padawans for so long. I know that you are certainly ready and so are the rest of us, just as we have been for a long time! Isn’t that right Master?”

“Yes it is, Rarity. You all are very skilled and I think the six of you should have been promoted long ago.” Kurt replied.

“Umm… Kurt?” Said Fluttershy who had been quiet the entire time “Are you sure this is what we have to do to be promoted? The Everfree forest is so… Scary…” Kurt knelt down in front of Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, you have nothing to be afraid of. Your friends will all be with you to help you, and you have the power of the force as your ally. Do not be afraid, my student. Just remember your training, Fluttershy. Use your abilities to help your friends on this mission, just as they will use theirs to help you.” Kurt said with a reassuring smile. Rainbow Dash stood next to Kurt.

“Yeah! Come on Fluttershy, this’ll be easy! Just stick with me, okay?” She said trying to encourage her friend. Fluttershy eventually managed a smile after a moment or two of thinking.

“… Okay, Rainbow Dash. I’ll stay with you.” She said quietly. Kurt smiled at Fluttershy and stood back up.

“Twilight, I need to have a word with you.” He said as he directed his gaze to her and motioned to her to follow him “The rest of you can talk amongst yourselves for a moment.” Kurt didn’t need to tell them to do so as the five ponies had already started expressing their excitement about their first mission. Twilight and Kurt had walked several meters away from the rest of the group and were far out of earshot.

“You really believe we’re all ready?” She asked.

“Of course I do.” Kurt replied “I wouldn’t be sending you in there by yourselves if I didn’t have complete faith in you all. Do not worry yourself too much. Have faith in your abilities and your friends, you will pull through.”

“I’ll try, master.” She said with a slight smile that turned back into a straight face just as quickly “There was something you wanted to ask me?”

“Well, I didn’t bring you over here to ask you something. I wanted to give you something.” He said reaching into his cloak. Kurt produced a small black cylindrical object with a silver top and held it in front of her “In the case that your situation is too dangerous and for whatever reason you cannot teleport yourself and your friends away. Use this comlink to contact me and I will come as fast as I can to aid you.” Twilight levitated the comlink from Kurt’s hand into her cloak.

“Thank you, but, how will you get to wherever we are so quickly? Aren’t you going to be at the library?”

“No, I’m going to be helping Spike with Fluttershy’s animals. I fear for the animal’s safety, not to mention Spike’s own.” Kurt said remembering the last time Fluttershy’s rabbit Angel and Spike had been left alone together.

“That’s definitely a good idea.” Twilight chuckled.

“But yes, I’ll be close by. I’ll bring the ship over to the cottage so I can fly over to your location quickly. Oh yes, there’s a homing beacon in that comlink as well, activate it with the lower button.” Kurt said as Twilight took out the comlink from her robe and examined it again.

“Thank you, master.” She said as she put away the comlink again.

“Hey Twi! You done yet? Let’s go already!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Twilight sighed.

“Rainbow Dash is right; I’ve kept you here too long. Come, let’s go back to them.” He said walking over to the rest of his students. Twilight followed Kurt and the group walked over to the edge of the forest.

“Good luck my students,” Kurt began “May the Force be with you all.” The six ponies replied with goodbyes mixed with shouts of ‘May the Force be with you’ as they went deeper into the forest.

Kurt stood by the treeline, still looking inside even though it had been several minutes since his students had gone out of sight. He knew it was dangerous sending them into the forest alone. He started to doubt his decision more and more with each passing second.

“Kurt, you alright?” Asked Spike, Kurt jumped slightly and turned to see the small purple dragon standing behind him. He sighed as he took another look into the forest.

“Yes Spike, I’m alright. It’s them I’m worried about.” He replied.

“But you’ve been saying they’ve been ready to do this for so long, why are you so worried all of a sudden?” Spike asked.

“I suppose it’s because I’ve never sent them off to do anything like this by themselves that I’m now worried about them, that’s all.” Kurt said looking back to the tiny dragon.

“I’m not worried about them. They’ll be fine. Trust me, Kurt; they’ve got each other and they’ve got the Force at their disposal too. Besides, you gave Twilight the comlink so she can contact you if something does go wrong, right?”

“I did, yes.” Kurt replied “Thank you Spike, you seem to be the only one who can keep a level head about these things these days.”

“Thanks Kurt, it’s all thanks to your meditation training you know? I may not have any ability with the Force, but the meditation does wonders for somepony either way.” Spike said with a smile, Kurt smiled back.

“Come, let’s go get the ship fr-” Kurt stopped as he looked up to see his ship landed in front of Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Oh yeah, I brought the ship over because I was closer to it than you were. I’m surprised you didn’t hear me landing.”

“Well, thank you Spike. I must admit though, I always forget that I’ve taught you how to fly the ship. It was quite a long time ago after all.” Kurt said as he walked away from the forest to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“It’s a good thing I don’t forget that then, isn’t it?” Spike chuckled. The duo walked towards Fluttershy’s house to take care of her animals for the day. Kurt took one last look towards the forest…

The six ponies travelled slowly through the Everfree Forest watching their surroundings carefully. The trees of the forest blocked out most of the sunlight, limiting everypony’s sight. The sound of crickets and other insects were the only sounds to be heard along with the beating of Rainbow Dash’s wings. She flew a few feet above her friends, looking from left to right half-expecting some monster to jump their group at any moment. Twilight and the rest monitored their surroundings in the same way, just from the ground rather than the air. After a few minutes of walking, Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight and walked along beside her.

“Hey Twi?” She asked quietly.

“Yes Rainbow?” Twilight responded in the same fashion.

“What kind of monsters are we gonna see in these parts of the forests?”

“MONSTERS?! WHERE?!” Pinkie shouted. Applejack put a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth before she could shout anything else. Fluttershy hid behind Rarity who had drawn her lightsaber using her magic and switched it on, allowing its purple, pulsating blade to shine through the darkness. Twilight and Rainbow Dash simply froze in place scanning their surroundings with their eyes alone. The sounds of the forest had been replaced by an eerie silence which was accompanied by the hum of Rarity’s lightsaber. The ponies’ breathing became heavy with fear, adding to the silence.

The sudden sound of a twig snapping came from a nearby bush which made everypony turn to face it. Rarity sent her lightsaber spinning towards the bush and held it over the bush with her magic, slicing the bush into a pile of leaves and small sticks. Rarity levitated her lightsaber closer to herself and Twilight tip-toed towards the former bush. She looked around and saw nothing other than the pile of sticks and leaves that were the remnants of the bush Rarity had destroyed. Twilight sighed heavily and walked over to Pinkie who still had Applejack’s hoof over her mouth.

“Pinkie. Don’t. Do. That. Again.” Twilight said quietly with a very serious tone “Unless you actually see a monster, stay quiet. Do you understand?” Pinkie nodded her head frantically. Twilight nodded to Applejack who moved her hoof off of Pinkie’s mouth.

“TIMBERWOLF!!” Pinkie shouted as soon as the hoof was removed while pointing behind Twilight.

Twilight turned around to see the wooden body of a Timberwolf standing a few feet away from her, baring its wooden fangs and giving a low, menacing growl. Its eyes shone a bright yellow that pierced the darkness of the forest.

The wolf arched itself back and jumped at her. The wolf was hardly inches from her head when a rainbow blur tackled the wolf to the dirt. Rainbow Dash landed a couple feet away from the wolf who now lay on its side. She took to the air again levitating her lightsaber out of her robes and into her fore-hooves switching it on. Rainbow Dash flew towards the Timberwolf with her lightsaber held above her head, she brought it down on the creature, cutting its head and part of its upper body in half, leaving a bright orange scorch mark across the cut that blackened as it fell to the ground.

“Girls! Get in formation now!” Twilight shouted taking her own lightsaber from her robes and switching it on, revealing its green blade. The six ponies stood in a circle backing each other.

“That won’t be the only one of them! Be on guard at all times!” Twilight said to her group. Fluttershy, Pinkie and Applejack took their lightsabers from their robes revealing their yellow, pink and orange blades respectively.

From the darkness came several growls of Timberwolves that walked out into the little bit of light that had made its way through the trees. Nearly two dozen of the wolves had shown themselves and many more awaited them in the shadows.

“Oh… Oh m-my… T-t-there’s s-so m-many…” Fluttershy whispered as she trembled in fear.

“Twi? What d’ya reckon we do now?” Applejack whispered to the purple unicorn next to her.

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking…” Twilight whispered back.

“Well think faster!” Rainbow prodded in a hushed yell as she tried counting the fast-growing number of wolves in front of her. More yellow eyes kept popping out from the darkness of the forest, unsettling the six Padawan ponies as they waited for either Twilight to come up with a plan or for the wolves to attack.

“Fluttershy,” said Twilight in a standard volume which made Fluttershy jump slightly.

“Y-yes Twilight?” She replied.

“I need you to put a shield around us when I say the word.” Twilight ordered.

“W-w-what word?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“Rarity, I need you to use any gemstones you can find under the ground and take down as many wolves as you can.” Twilight commanded.

“Good idea, my dear.” Rarity said quietly levitating her lightsaber in front of Twilight “Hold onto this for a moment, will you?” She asked allowing Twilight to hold onto her lightsaber with her own magic. Rarity’s horn shone with a blue aura as she closed her eyes and searched for as many gems as she could using her magic.

The growls of the Timberwolves were becoming louder by the second. Whether that was due to the rising number of wolves or because they were getting ready to attack was unknown to the mares.

“Come on Rarity… They’re getting louder…” Rainbow Dash said quietly. One wolf finally made the first move and ran towards the ponies barking loudly. Almost immediately the other wolves followed suit and made a dash for their prey.

“Girls! Keep the wolves off Rarity! If she stops charging that spell we’re finished!” Twilight shouted as she impaled one wolf through the head with Rarity’s lightsaber and slicing another in half with her own lightsaber. Everypony other than Rarity rushed into battle against the wolves, doing their best to keep any wolves from getting past them sending orange chunks of wood flying from the bodies of the attackers.

Rarity watched helplessly as she continued scanning the ground for more gems to attack the wolves with. She dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding one wolf. Rarity gave the wolf a buck to the head that sent it flying into nearby rock, immobilizing it temporarily. She grinned in satisfaction and turned her head from where she had sent the wolf back to in front of her. Her grin quickly faded into one of disbelief as six more wolves approached her.

“Pinkie! Could you give me some assistance please?!” She shouted as she backed away from the small group of wolves in front of her. Rarity looked around for a sign of the pink pony but couldn’t find her. She could see the rest of her friends, but all of them were already engaged in combat with other groups of wolves. Rarity didn’t ponder where Pinkie had disappeared to for too long before thinking of another idea.

“Twilight! Lightsaber please!” She yelled to Twilight who spun Rarity’s lightsaber as well as her own like a fan, turning several of the Timberwolves she was fighting into wood chips. Twilight looked over to Rarity and saw the wolves approaching her. Twilight sent Rarity’s lightsaber towards her while swinging her own lightsaber into another attacking Timberwolf. Rarity took hold of the lightsaber in a hoof and swung it into an attacking wolf just before it could take a bite of her.

“Where in the hay is Pinkie?!” Shouted Applejack who gasped as she noticed a wolf that had gotten behind her. She quickly gave it a strong buck to the head, making it cave in as the body dropped to the forest floor with a thud.

“I don’t know!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she landed on top of a wolf, crushing it beneath her hooves “She was here a second ago!”

“The wolves didn’t get her! Where’d she go?! Don’t tell me she just ran off on us!” Applejack replied throwing her lightsaber through a group of Timberwolves who had just emerged from some nearby bushes.

“Girls! Concentrate on the wolves for now! We’ll find out where Pinkie went later!” Twilight shouted as she shot a bolt of fire from her horn at a particularly larger group of wolves, engulfing the majority of the group in flames.

Fluttershy squealed in terror every time a wolf made a jump at her. She would swing out wildly with her lightsaber after the wolves had landed which would kill them. With each swipe of her weapon, Fluttershy apologized to each individual wolf posthumously. She turned around to see a group of seven wolves approaching her. She gripped her lightsaber tightly, looking at the pack of wolves through the erratically pulsating and swirling energy of the blade that let off a bright yellow glow. Suddenly, the blade vanished from her sight. Fluttershy looked at the deactivated lightsaber in her hoof and pressed the activation button, only to hear a fizz emit from the blade.

“Oh… Oh my…” Fluttershy said quietly as she tapped the activation button of her lightsaber repeatedly. Her lightsaber wouldn’t turn on no matter how much she tapped the button. The wolves approached her baring their wooden fangs and growling. Rainbow Dash looked over to Fluttershy after finishing off one of the beasts, throwing it against a tree using the Force, making the wooden body split into several pieces leaving a wolf-shaped dent in the tree’s trunk. She took to the air and flew towards Fluttershy.

“Hang on Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she landed in the center of the group, crushing one of the wolf’s heads. The wolves directed their attention to the new threat but were unable to attack it as Rainbow Dash lifted herself a couple feet off the ground with one hard flap of her wings and let out a burst of force energy in all directions, sending the wolves flying away from Fluttershy and herself. Rainbow Dash turned around to face Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, I told you to get a new crystal from Rarity!” She yelled “That unstable one you have is gonna get you killed one day!”

“I’m… Sorry…” Fluttershy replied sheepishly.

“Look, just get behind me alright? I’ll cover you until your lightsaber starts working again.” Rainbow Dash groaned as she lifted herself off the ground and reactivated her lightsaber. Fluttershy nodded and stayed close to Rainbow Dash, still trying to turn on her lightsaber, only hearing a fizz with no spark every time she pressed the button.

“I’m ready!” Rarity shouted as her horn glowed with an extra layer of magic that was an even brighter blue than the previous layer. Twilight turned towards Fluttershy after cutting through the Timberwolf closest to her.

“Fluttershy! Shield us now!” She shouted. Fluttershy closed her eyes and swung her fore-hooves in front of herself. When Fluttershy opened her eyes, she could see a mostly transparent yellow shield of energy around herself that floated just a few inches off the ground. Four more shields like her own had formed around Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity.

“Rarity! Now!” Twilight shouted as several Timberwolves tackled her shield.

Suddenly, a fountain of gemstones of every colour and cut erupted from in front of Rarity and flew into the air. The gemstones hovered in the air for a brief moment before they flew into the remaining Timberwolves, shredding them into splinters and into the forest where more were hiding. Several gemstones bounced off of the shields Fluttershy had created as the storm of jewels raged around them. After about thirty seconds, the storm had subsided and Fluttershy released everypony’s shields, everypony landed on their hooves except Fluttershy who landed belly first on the ground hardly a couple of feet below where she had just been floating.

“Good job everypony.” Twilight said after a sigh of relief “But now we have to find P-”

“FEAR NOT EVERYPONY!” A bubbly voice shouted from the way which Twilight and company had come into the forest through. From the darkness emerged Pinkie Pie and her party cannon.

“I’LL SAAAAVE YO-” Pinkie stopped as she looked around at her dumbfounded friends, chopped remains of the Timberwolves that were strewn everywhere along with the large hole in the ground from where Rarity had summoned her storm of gems.

“I’VE SAAAAVED YOU!” She shouted triumphantly. She then proceeded to give everypony a wide smile and a wink.

“Pinkie! Where in the hay did you go during the fight?!” Rainbow Dash yelled angrily.

“Obviously I was SAAAAVING you guys!” Pinkie replied happily as she bounced along with her party cannon in tow.

“Pinkie, as soon as the fight started you disappeared! You didn’t save us!” Twilight replied.

“That’s just what you want everypony to think! I bet you want them to think you saved them!” Pinkie said playfully as she bounced past her and continued going further into the woods while singing a happy tune.

“I- Wh- Ho- Ju- Grrrrr!!!” Exclaimed Twilight as her mind was overloaded with arguments against how Pinkie had not saved them like she claimed. Applejack put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.

“Just let it go, sugar cube.” She said calmly “No need fightin’ over it. That there’ll just cause more trouble.” Twilight wanted to argue with Applejack, but her friend had a point. Twilight sighed and hung her head.

“Fine…” Twilight replied in an upset tone.

“Maybe Pinkie did save us.” Fluttershy said as she approached Twilight “Maybe there were even more Timberwolves on the way, but Pinkie stopped them.”

“How could she even kn-”

“Pinkie sense.” Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash replied in unison.

“Ughhhh… Fine… Let’s just go.” Twilight shrugged as she walked in the direction Pinkie had gone in. Everypony followed her and Pinkie deeper into the forest at a steady pace once again.

The six Padawans continued trekking through the dark and spooky forest. They all did their best to keep as quiet as possible, learning their lesson after dealing with the army of Timberwolves. The only sounds that were present now were the insects and beating of Rainbow Dash’s wings or the occasional bat flying through the trees. Rainbow Dash did her best to stay out of their path as she hovered over her friends.

“Twilight, how much further do we have to go?” Asked Rarity quietly “I’m sure we didn’t take this long to get to the castle the first time.”

“We’ll be there soon. It only feels that way because of our run-in with those Timberwolves.” Twilight replied. There was a rustling of leaves in a nearby bush, the group suddenly stopped and turned towards the source of the noise. The rustling got louder and louder. A very faint silhouette of what seemed to be a pony appeared beyond the bush. Rainbow Dash took her lightsaber from her cloak as she hovered hardly a foot off the ground, Twilight put a hoof in front of Rainbow and shook her head. Out of the bushes stepped a zebra. The zebra wore golden earrings and a necklace that the little light that reached through the trees glistened off of. The group sighed in relief as they weren’t faced with another threat, but instead an old friend.

“Oh, Zecora, you scared us.” Twilight said.

“Hello, my little ponies” She spoke “What brings you into these parts of the forest?” Twilight and the others looked at each other skeptically. Something was wrong.

“Err, Zecora? Are you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked “You don’t really seem like yourself.”

“Yes, my… Cyan friend, I’m quite alright. Why?” Zecora replied. Twilight took a step forward with her expression turning from one of confusion to a straight face with no emotion.

“Why aren’t you speaking in rhyme?” Twilight asked firmly. Zecora looked around nervously.

“I… Felt like a change in voice! Yes, that’s it.” Zecora said taking a couple steps back.

“A change in voice, you say?” Twilight replied “I’ve known Zecora for over a decade, I visit her once a week to get special tea leaves from her and never once have I not heard her speak in rhyme.” Twilight drew her lightsaber from her cloak with her magic and switched it on, its green light cutting through the darkness of the forest. She pointed the blade towards Zecora.

“Who. Are. You?” Twilight asked harshly. Rainbow Dash and the other four ponies drew their own lightsabers and switched them on. ‘Zecora’ looked around nervously. She focused on the purple unicorn in front of her and her look of fright turned into an evil grin. A deep chuckle came from ‘Zecora’.

“Very good, my dear.” ‘Zecora’ said with a stallion’s voice. The zebra’s stripes slowly faded away into a pale white and unkempt coat. Its mane and tail slowly transformed into a collection of dark green vines which had bits of twigs and dead leaves sticking out of it. The jewellery seemed to simply vanish off the white stallion. His eyes opened to reveal bright green and glowing eyes.

“You’ve managed to see through my disguise. I suppose I should’ve paid finer attention to how your zebra friend spoke when I looked through your thoughts.” Spoke the stallion.

“What have you done with Zecora?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Zecora? The zebra? Nothing at all, as a matter of fact I don’t even know any zebras.” He replied calmly “No, I simply delved into your friend’s thoughts of the inhabitants of this forest and found what was a sentient being I knew I could trick you into following.” The stallion chuckled again “You see; I’d gotten bored of leading ponies astray by pretending to be a rabbit or kitten. The act gets old after a while; I need some variety every now and then. The one thing that’s never changed though: They always fall for it.” In the distance, a roar echoed through the forest.

“Oh my, it would seem my pets are quite hungry, they’re so famished they’re complaining. How adorable, I do love them so.” He stated. He whistled sharply and another roar sounded out through the forest.

“I must be off now, however. My manticores like to eat their meals without my presence nearby.” The stallion stated as he brushed off one of his fore-hooves with the other “It’s been a pleasure, my little ponies…” Suddenly, the stallion vanished from view as if he were never there to begin with.

“What the- Where’d he go!?” Rainbow Dash asked worriedly. She was about to fly towards where he had been standing but was held back by the loud roar of a manticore.

“What was he?” Applejack asked “Was he a Changeling?”

“No, he was a Leshy.” Twilight replied “They’re shape-shifters that live in forests and are connected to all the animals and plant life in them. They’re not usually hostile, but…”

“It doesn’t matter now! We’ve got manticores coming our way and we have to stop them!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she drew her lightsaber.

“Wait girls…” Fluttershy said softly.

“What is it, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked.

“Maybe we don’t have to fi-” Fluttershy gasped as a manticore came into view through the tree line. Its fur was covered in dried blood that certainly did not belong to the manticore. Five more of the beasts emerged from the forest surrounding the ponies, each one with its own pattern of dried blood staining its orange fur and teeth.

“Any ideas, Twilight?” Applejack asked quietly as she drew her lightsaber from her cloak.

“I… Umm… Uhh…” Was all Twilight could mutter as the manticores approached the group. The ponies backed themselves up until they were in a tight circle in the center of the perimeter created by the beasts.

“Twilight, any time now…” Applejack said in a poor attempt to speed along Twilight’s thinking. All six manticores let out a deafening roar, snapping Twilight out of her trance and opening her eyes to the hybrid creatures licking their chops in anticipation of their meal.

“THAT’S IT!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she rose from the circle of ponies. She flew towards the nearest manticore with her lightsaber activated and held in her muzzle. She left a rainbow trail behind her as the manticore slumped to the dirt in two pieces.

One of the beasts on the opposite side of the group raised its paw to swipe at the ponies. Fluttershy quickly pushed past Rarity and Applejack and raised herself a few inches off the ground with her wings, fore-hooves outstretched stopping the manticore’s swing with a newly created wall of force energy.

“COME ON EVERYPONY! WE GOTTA GO!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she kicked an approaching manticore in its muzzle. Rarity, Pinkie and Twilight ran past Rainbow Dash following the cyan pegasus’s order.

“Yeeeeee-hawwww!” Applejack cheered as she decided to join the fray, jumping into the air and bucking the closest beast she could get at in its head.

“Fluttershy! What the hay are you doing?!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she saw her friend creating wall after wall of force fields in a desperate attempt to keep three of the attacking manticores away from her. Suddenly, Rainbow saw a claw swipe at her out of the corner of her eye, dodging in the nick of time, saving her right wing from improvised amputation. Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie stopped running as they heard Rainbow’s yell.

“I’m coming Fluttershy! Just hold on!” Twilight shouted as she ran back towards the fight.

“Twilight wait!” Pinkie called as the purple mare left her and Rarity alone.

Applejack dodged the manticore’s swings effortlessly, parrying its attacks with her own swings of her lightsaber, creating several gashes along the beast’s forelegs. In one last, desperate attempt to kill Applejack, the manticore jumped towards her headfirst, baring its fangs. Applejack smirked as she threw her lightsaber through its outstretched front paws. The beast roared in pain as it fell to the ground, its paws landing several feet away. It continued to howl in pain until finally, its eyes rolled back and shut for the final time. Applejack let out a breath of relief and turned to help out the others with the remaining manticores when she noticed her lightsaber had not returned to her.

“Aw ponyfeathers.” She cursed as she started searching the area around the freshly slain beast for her lightsaber.

Dash somersaulted through the air dodging a sting from the manticore’s scorpion-like tail and delivering a punch to its head as she flew above the beast. She quickly dived back down with her lightsaber held in her muzzle again, slashing through the manticore’s neck, severing its head as they both hit the ground.

“CHAAAAAAARGE!!” Twilight yelled as she ran past the cowpony and the pegasus towards the three remaining manticores, drawing her lightsaber from her cloak.

Meanwhile, Applejack had just found her lightsaber lying next to a nearby zap apple tree. As she went to pick it up however, a purple aura surrounded it and it flew out of her reach.

“Twilight! You best give that there back!” Applejack yelled in response to her lightsaber flying past her face. Rainbow Dash had just finished putting away her own lightsaber as it flew from her cloak towards Twilight.

“Hey! What gives?!” Rainbow shouted as her lightsaber was snatched away from her.

Twilight spun the three lightsabers as fast as she could as she ran towards the beasts. Only one had taken notice of her and had stopped attempting to breach Fluttershy’s force field. It roared loudly as Twilight galloped towards the beasts. At the most opportune moment, she flung the two borrowed lightsabers into the backs of the unaware beasts, making them howl in pain before falling to the ground.

The last manticore remaining started running towards Twilight. She nervously swallowed as the beast approached rapidly. The monstrosity jumped into the air just above her with its claws out, ready to tear the purple mare to pieces. Just before the beast got within range of the unicorn, she disappeared in a flash of purple light as the manticore landed on the ground where she stood. Suddenly, Twilight reappeared above the beast, holding her lightsaber in her forehooves, piercing the manticore’s skull before it could even turn around to see the pony end its life as it landed on its head.

Twilight stood on top of the manticore, breathing heavily. Her forehooves were still clutching the hilt of her lightsaber which was still embedded in the creature’s head. She opened her eyes slowly to find her friends slowly approaching her and the three slain beasts in awe of Twilight’s more than lethal attack on the creatures. Twilight took her lightsaber out of the manticore’s skull using her magic, turning it off and storing it in her cloak as she jumped off the corpse of the beast. She turned to her left to find a completely frozen yellow pegasus, her face paralyzed in what seemed to be fright. Her yellow force field was still active, but was fading in and out intermittently.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight called quietly as she approached her friend slowly. Rarity and Pinkie followed suit. Applejack and Rainbow Dash would have done the same, but they were busy attempting to find their lightsabers under the corpses of the manticores. Fluttershy’s force field continued to flicker while her shocked expression remained plastered on her face. The yellow shield finally disintegrated and the pegasus blinked a few times and shook her head as she acknowledged the presence of her friends around her.

“G-girls? Oh my… I-is everypony okay?” She asked quietly, Fluttershy then noticed the bloodstains adorning Twilight’s cloak and lavender coat. “Oh no, Twilight!” She exclaimed quietly as she dashed over to her side and started inspecting the dried blood closely. Twilight brushed off Fluttershy’s hoof with her own.

“I’m fine, Fluttershy. This isn’t my blood, don’t worry. I’m just glad you’re okay.” Twilight stated as she gave Fluttershy a smile. Fluttershy stood still for a moment, staring into her eyes. After a moment, she blinked repeatedly and nodded slowly as she attempted to recompose herself.

“Gah! Finally!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she grabbed her lightsaber with her wing from underneath the limp and heavy corpse of the manticore. She let it down quickly once she claimed her weapon, creating a loud thump on the ground.

“So, we heading out or what? Let’s go!” She shouted as she took to the air and gestured to her friends to follow her. Twilight sighed loudly as the rest of the group followed Rainbow Dash deeper into the forest.

“Always on the move…” Twilight said quietly. Before she could take a step however, she noticed something odd.

“HEY!! GIRLS!! YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!” She shouted, nopony seemed to pay any attention to her however as they continued walking to the East instead of South. Twilight sighed once again...

Author's Note

Part one of my update.