The Legend Of The Lonely Ladybug

Unrest Rising

A piece of crumbling earth lifted up from a larger crevice of what had formerly been the foundation to the town square's formerly well-conditioned pebbled stone pavement. As soon as it was off the ground the sediment began to revolve at high speed, carefully manipulated within a glowing green bubble of magic. The unicorn who had collected the soil inspected the now finer cocktail of stones, gravel and mud until laying it neatly back down to level the bottom of the gaping hole. His work was only so successful which he instantly addressed to someone nearby.

"Tumble, mind bring over more soil? This won't be enough to fill it."

An earth pony nodded and took position behind a cart that was filled with fresh sediment. Once parking it closer the horse grabbed a shovel to his teeth and began to scoop out soil, flinging it to the crevice as his co-worker observed from beside. "Hurry up, we have to get it done quickly. Remember what the mayor said to everypony, all of these dents must be cleared up before tomorrow," the unicorn remarked, still taking in the view of the surrounding devastation with a clueless posterior.

"I'm workin', I'm workin'!" the earth stallion mumbled loudly from between the teeth that clenched the shovel, sounding unhappy about the neutral yet bossy attitude of his comrade who himself wasn't doing anything, "If ya want this finished quicker ya might just as well shut ya trap and help out a tad here!" he growled bitterly.

"Don't blow your top off, buddy, I'll help," the unicorn replied in annoyance and took another shovel to join the task.

"Excuse me, sir."

The stallions ceased what they were about to do to spot six approaching mares. The news of the happening had quickly spread around in Canterlot which had caught the ears of Twilight's group who abandoned their plans of spending the night at the castle as a result and rushed over in one of the fastest chariots that Celestia had provided. Even without clear expectations about what they would find the impact of the utter chaos that now greeted them nevertheless showed from everyone as visible dismay.

"Where can we find whoever is leading these repairs?" Twilight asked the workers.

"The mayor is in charge," the unicorn grunted back, "I believe she's somewhere in the middle of the square. If you search you should locate her."

Politely thanking the stallions for their help, the group moved on, upset by seeing just how bad of a state the town square was in. Huge crevices crossed the pavement, the largest several hooves in width which the townsfolk worked vigorously to patch up. Curious by nature, Pinkie stuck her head to the bottom of one such crevice. "Hello? Anypony there?" her voice echoed in the hole until she abruptly pulled back to re-reveal her snout stuck between the jaws of her toothless pet alligator.

"Gummy! What are you doing in there?" Pinkie exclaimed to the biting reptile.

"We ain't got quakes like this for a living memory," Applejack stated in dismay, "Even the ones that have ended up happening ain't near this magnitude. Yet Ah still wonder how it only affected this part of the town."

"Shouldn't it be plain clear already, AJ?" Twilight told her friend worriedly, "Our underground subject has been at it again. Only this time Ponyville was the target. The timing was convenient, it has happened when we were in Canterlot."

"I see Mayor Mare over there," Rainbow spoke out anxiously, pointing a hoof some distance away at a busy looking pony who was unhappily following the work force moving around her. As the mares approached their presence quickly became acknowledged when the mayor ceased from assessing the repair work and came up to greet her visitors with anxiety.

"Miss Sparkle, it is absolutely relieving to see you here! What a dreadful day!" the older mare complained. "What happened?" Applejack asked. The mayor hesitated, clearing her throat nervously several times before she managed to speak again. "Some kind of creature destroyed our idyllic square and took an innocent calf. The parents are near mental breakdown."

The information shocked everyone as much as it naturally would, Rarity's front hoof already covering her mouth. "Oh my gosh," Rainbow murmured until her face gained a crimson red color, "I will personally mangle the face of whoever or what ever did it no matter what size it may be!"

"That will have to wait until we get to know more about what we are upped against, Rainbow," Twilight said with a calming hoof gesture and eyeballed the square curiously. "Do you mind if we look around a little?"

"Not at all, dear miss Sparkle," the mayor told them kindly, "The repairs for the worst damages aside that ghastly hole are nearly completed anyway. Speaking of which, I apologize for ending our chat here but I must return to my duties if we are to see our square anywhere near to what it was before this happened. Hey, you four over there! Quit slacking around and fill that hole! Aren't you aware that Celestia herself is going to pay us a visit in a few hours?!" she barked at a group of workers who had began to chat amongst themselves when her back had been turned, quick to return to their work upon the mention of the ruler of Canterlot.

Continuing on, the group sought for clues until they reached the edge of the large hole that the mayor had mentioned. It had formed only a short distance away from the first buildings at where the square ended, two individual houses appearing to be in total need of repair, one filled with mud while the other displayed a huge gaping hole at where it's walls used to be. Taking in the signs, Twilight gazed to the bottom of the crater before sounds of weeping distracted her focus. Looking up, she spotted a couple to the right from where she and her friends stood, both ponies resting low to the ground and quietly embracing each other.

"Are those the........." Fluttershy began to ask.

"Yes, Fluttershy, that's them. Let's not disturd," Twilight added quietly and returned her attention to the hole, taking a careful step over the steep incline, loose soil crumbling away beneath her hooves as they partially sank to the soft earth which added difficulty to balancing. Soon reaching the bottom such way, she examined the soft earth that filled every inch of the crater's foundation. "The sediment has collapsed back down to cover it but this hole continued deeper when it was first formed," Twilight nearly theorized to herself, "It takes more than strength to move the ground around in this magnitude."

"Anything that you know of?" Rainbow asked as she landed by her friend's side, the other mares looking from the edge.

"Doubtful," Twilight returned a pessimistic viewpoint, "I can go through what books I have in my library but they won't reveal much." Frustrated, she began a slow climb back towards the others. "We have to find Faith. He might be able to help us with some information," the mare pondered.

"Why do you think he is useful?" Rainbow enquired.

"He lives only a short distance away from here," Twilight said, "Unless he spent his entire day in the apartment he must have seen what happened," Partially oblivious, the unicorn failed to pay enough attention which made her slip on the unstable soil, "Ugh! Watch your step at this spot, Rainbow. Where was I? Yes, I believe that whoever is behind this might be the spirit that he struggled against."

"Ghost emotion," Applejack corrected and helped the unicorn back on the edge. Struggling with the incline, Twilight stumbled again only to be caught by the assisting work horse."Gosh, what is it with this hole? Spirit, ghost emotion, that being that plagued Faith for years seems to have something to do with these attacks, "she grunted and got up on solid ground, "You do remember that quake that we sensed at the acre and what Faith claimed. The timing fits. Call it a gut feeling and I might be wrong but I bet that is the answer."

"M-m-miss Sparkle?" a female voice spoke. The grieving couple had slowly approached the group when they hadn't noticed. From the looks of her face and walking stance the mare's sorrow was weighing her down which forced the stallion to support her with his shoulder to keep her from stumbling.

"Can I help you?" Twilight asked them concernedly once they got near.

"Our filly was snatched," the stallion explained, "We don't know what we should do."

"You have greatly helped Ponyville several times in the past," the mare whimpered, "Please, miss Sparkle! You have to save our daughter."

"There is only so much that I am capable of but I will do my very best to track down the culprit," Twilight explained her future intentions soothingly, "Once I do they will answer for what they have done. Even then it's..........", she paused. The parents were upset and giving them more reasons to grieve with hard facts wouldn't help ease their pain, a role that she was hoping to avoid. Yet how could she explain them that it was impossible to tell whether their filly was still alive without crushing their hope? Because she couldn't make up her mind in time the unicorn hesitated with the rest of her answer.

"Impossible to tell whether our dear Wheezy still lives," the stallion added quietly, tears flowing freely down the cheeks of both ill looking ponies. "If it comes to be that the heart in my little angel's chest has stopped beating," the mother whispered shakily, "Do what you must to bring justice to that monstrosity."

"I........," Twilight began as the couple left, still caught off-guard by what they had said, ".....I will," she finished to herself.

A dismay had struck hard at everyone from what the couple had told them, Fluttershy's whimper and distant clanking of shovels scraping against bedrock being everything that added contrast to the otherwise deadly silence until Applejack ended up breaking it. "That does it," she exclaimed, clearly forcing her determination without being able to hide her upset state, "We have to help end this insanity!"

"If we only knew where to start," Twilight uttered quietly.

"I might be able to help you with that," a new female voice made it's presence known, sounding nearly equally quiet. Ditzy had appeared during their conversation with the pony couple and was now standing behind the group. "You're looking for Faith, aren't you?" she added. "Yes," Twilight replied with a sudden new rush of motivation, "Did he tell you??"

"My coltfriend was injured during the attack and I nearly was too but that Faith saved me in time. I was being kind of a jerk because I was badly upset from what happened and took it out on him. He didn't receive that all too well and ran away," Ditzy revealed, receiving angry looks from Fluttershy that succeeded in making the other mare visibly nervous as she kept going, "but he came back later and tracked me to the hospital! He's a really sweet and fair pony. Makes me feel bad for snapping at him like I did."

"Where is he? At his apartment?"

Ditzy shook her head. "He told me that he had a lot in his mind and needed some solitary time for himself," she kept going, "He mentioned you and instructed that if I happened to see you I should tell you that he knows what is behind this and that if you want to reach him he has gone somewhere near the acres to think things through," the pegasus explained to the intently listening Twilight.

"Take care, Ditz," Rainbow gave her fellow pegasus a friendly shoulder fist, "I'll wreck who ever caused this."

"I'm sure you will, Rainbow. Just deal with that creature," Ditzy replied with a hint of resentment towards the subject and made a swift depart.

"See, AJ?" Twilight remarked to the pondering work horse with a smug facial expression, "It appears that I was on the right track after all."

***

With Ditzy's information the group headed to the apple acres and searched for Faith for a long time without finding a trace of him. They were joined by Big Macintosh who had been at work before spotting them and accounted how he had felt the ground shake and heard a loud bellow during the day the mares had been away at their trip as the ponies moved on to scour around the other farming regions located close to Applejack's property. That is how they eventually found valuable assistance from one of her cousins, Almond Stace, a carrot farmer who's help finally brought them to the dirt path leading towards their sought subject.

"It's beautiful," Rarity gasped in inspiration.

A yellow field of flowers spanning nearly as far as everyone could see greeted them as they left the trail and entered the scenery. Bees and other insects buzzed from plant to plant in large formations, the surrounding air full of enthralling humming caused by their wings. "It is mid-summer," Fluttershy unraveled her knowledge, "The flying insects are now gathering nectar from the flowers to store it in their hives as food for themselves and their family. As a returning favor they transfer the pollem of those flowers elsewhere so the plants can flourish the same way the following year."

"A delicate balance," Twilight added, transfixed at the yellow ocean until Stace eventually stopped everyone to point his hoof towards the middle of the dense growth of flowers where everyone could make out a green shape that rested motionless, low to the ground yet in a vertical stance that made it stand out from the ocean of yellow. It was Faith.

"Ah happened to meet him at the road and he asked me if ah knew a place where he could relax without any background distractions," Almond told the mares and Big Mac, "He claimed that he'd come here only to "med-a-tate" if Ah spelt that correctly, how do ya spell that? Quite a polite and down-to-earth fellow. Anyways, he has been here for many hours now. Kind of amazin', Ah never thought that a young pony can stay still that long, your age group tends to be impatient and restless. Well, ah'll just leave ya with him."

"Thanks for the help, Stace," Applejack nodded at the other farmer and took her time to shake his hoof. "Anytime, cousin," Stace replied happily and went back towards the dirt path, tipping his hat at Big Mac who too returned a nod. After the farmer had gone the group approached Faith's location through the tall grass and closed the distance.

Where the pegasus sat the ground formed a natural ascending hill that the yellow flowers covered. He was relaxed in his all too common crossed leg position, resting low to the ground in a relatively peaceful state, obviously focused at what he was experienced at listening. As the group got close Twilight took a lead to everyone else and was the first one to reach him. Faith did not react when she stroked the back of his ear with the tip of her hoof.

"Tickle, tickle, Faith," the unicorn told the pegasus playfully as the others caught up, "How are you doing?"

For a moment she waited for him to speak which only rewarded her with silence. "Ditzy relied us your message. You made it hard for us to find you, "she decided to add after receiving no reply which too made no difference. Faith appeared abscent almost as if his mind was occupying a different conscience, perfectly focused at it's state.

"Uh.........Faith? Are you awake? Hello?"

Still not reacting, a small but visible hint of dread to Faith's facial language made it easier to notice that not everything was as it seemed. If he had been aware of their presence it had no effect on him. Yet it appeared that he wasn't asleep nor oblivious.

"The bitterness visited me while you were away," he uttered out of the blue without an ounce of happiness behind his voice, an unsettling reveal that made everyone's eyes grow twice their original size.

"What...........what did it say to you?" Twilight ended up asking him after slight hesitation, a question which Faith didn't even flinch at.

"A lot," he began again darkly, "It is full of the same hatred, deceit and bloodlust that I threw away years ago. It has grown powerful." His face sank to point downwards, a physical sign of a deeply troubled soul that tries to ignore the weight of a painful memory. "It.......tried to corrupt me again."

"Oh, Faith," Fluttershy's saddened whisper followed the stallion's new reveal.

"It's alright," the other pegasus quickly regained himself, "I have no true reasons to jump to It's bandwagon. I get what I give. As long as I remember that my conscience will stay clean."

"Did it tell you anything about.......captured ponies?" Twilight asked again, the others slowly taking in parts of Faith's reveal in a none too satisfied state.

Like it had been summoned to mark an occasion, a single tear fell down Faith's cheek and left behind a thin, glistening trail. Fluttershy had positioned herself before him thus the first pony to notice. Her shocked reaction spoke volumes about the feelings that she still relished towards the internally battered stallion. No one in the small party was in fact taking the conversation lightly, aware of the grim implications to what his knowledge might shed light to.

"It has taken prisoners by means that escape me," Faith revealed, forcing himself to raise the depth of his voice to try sounding braver, "It told me that if I fail to find it within one full cycle of day and night it will................"

"I understand, Faith," Twilight soothed him. Even so what she had began to note in the stallion's almost cold indifference to her presence was slowly gnawing at her.

"Not that it would make a difference," Faith reacted with more of such coldness, "It will kill them with or without me."

"Were you at the town?" Applejack asked anxiously.

A nod affirmed her question. "I was at the diner when it happened," the pegasus revealed grimly, "There was an unnatural earthquake of sorts and that hideous creature popped out of the ground. I don't know what it was but it looked like an elemental demon of some kind, all mud and roots and those glowing red eyes. It caused a lot of damage. After it left some vines came in it's wake and took a pony with them. I believe that It has somehow made them but how that is possible I honestly have no idea."

The description as well as the overall grim news had the expected effect on the listening ears. "Great, an elemental demon is the least that we need to add to this," Rainbow murmured and inspected the pristine state of her forehooves almost like she was preparing to punch someone. "I will so mangle that thing," she growled to herself, remembering what they had heard about the snatched filly.

Twilight's urgently planning nature caught spontaneous flame and drove her to cycle around a small patch of the field which left a circular mark to the grass and trambled the yellow flowers that were unfortunate enough to be on the path of the brainstorming unicorn's hooves, a crime scene that would not have uplifted Fluttershy's own mood if she had noticed. Yet she was unaware of the fate of the flowers because she was fixed elsewhere. Her source of focus did not move to even fix the comfort of his position, similar in immobility to a fine statue or a rock that resides in a natural environment either from a lack of life of it's own or by fear of what it wishes to keep outside a hard green exterior.

"Okay, okay," Twilight mumbled and came to a sharp break in mid-trot, "Enough with plan B, those ponies are in real danger. We have to find It as soon as possible."

Her new plan met instant opposition. "How? We only got half a day," Rarity squealed, terrified by everything that she had listened, "It could be anywhere. Where do we even begin this hopeless search?!"

"You can start from the roots of the problem," Faith added his two bits which brought the group's focus back aside Fluttershy who had already been looking. "Please elaborate what you mean, Faith," Twilight addressed.

The stallion finally moved, apparently having finished his meditation and began to flex his limbs. "As you already know, It commits it's deed from underground," was his explanation, "Those vines that took the calf at the square belong to a larger sum that continues to bloat itself."

Rainbow's head tilted sideways as she pondered the given exposition after failing to understand the point behind it. "How does that help us?"
"That larger sum is like a highway or a path of sorts, it all originates from the main capital or, in this case, the big bad," Faith emphasized, "An epicentre."

"Can you help us find it?"

Faith nodded back, a pair of dampened eyes finally revealing themselves from behind the conceal of their lids. "The vines work in a shadowy bundle. While I can't see them I feel their presence in a sense. I think the rest of you too can if you take a moment to listen. Go on."

An exchange of uncertain glances between ponies was eventually followed by a short period of nothing happening.

"This is boring! I only hear the birds and the bees," Pinkie sounded off her impatience.

"Focus at the ground. Feel it with the soles of your hooves. It is distinguishable from everything else," Faith instructed the others who kept trying.

"Wait............Ah feel it!" Applejack shouted abruptly, "Some kinda vibrations. It is weak but it's almost as if something living is movin' down there."

The hint proved helpful to the rest who quickly picked out what she had described as short periods of rumbling that gently brushed everyone's hooves, like the earth underneath them was behaving similarly to a sleeping cat that slightly purrs when it's owner rubs it's chin just the right way or a large engine trying to start up. It was no longer a mere question, the turf below the meadow was being moved by an unseen force.

The vague presence suddenly became very real when a bigger vibration swept through the field, only brief but difficult to miss which caused Rarity to jolt in fright and scan her surrounding field. "I definitely felt that," the scared fashionist uttered, a caught off-guard reaction shared by the other group members.

"What can we do when the earth underneath our very hooves becomes our enemy?" Faith stated calmly, obviously aware of what grim situation was in development, a calm posterior not present on Twilight who shared the concerns of her white colleague. "This alone isn't enough to help us find It...............although we are running out of time," she voiced nervously.

"There are other signs too but you have to look hard to spot them," Faith replied indifferently," I'll show you what I mean."

He began to walk down the hill, locating what seemed like a random spot of the field and pulled away some of the long undergrowth which revealed a hidden disturbance in the soil that would have remained undiscovered if the stallion hadn't known exactly where to look from; a neat fracture that exposed some of the soil right beneath the grass, difficult to define in length yet still indicative at underground movement.

Twilight eyeballed the crevice and ended up scratching her head. "How do you know about all this?" Without answering straight away, Faith let go of the grass which reconcealed the tiny crevice and listened the surrounding air, ending up smiling warmly amidst his own pondering as a flying insect passed right by his ear. "A little bee told me," he eventually said, totally ignoring Twilight's confused facial expression.

***

"Okay, so what the slug do we do now?" Rainbow uttered from behind everyone in an upset spirit, something that you couldn't have blamed her for because of what she and her friends currently observed. The ponies had taken upon themselves to follow what little signs helped guide them along the trail of the elusive dark force hours before, a painfully long tracking that eventually produced needed results. The signs of anonymous underground influence were becoming more visible. A lot more visible.

Before them an immense hole broke up the level ground right beside the skirts of a forest, a cavity that spanned several yards to swallow up what had formerly been a small clearing that no longer existed. While it's sheer scale made it noticeable the pit wasn't the most dominant feature in comparison to what protruded from within it. Most of the hole's entire cavity was filled up by an immense, greyish green mass, a bundle that split to an intersection from the middle as it came near to the top of the treeline with each one of the resulting individual bundles made of living vines that squirmed in a raging motion and wrapped around anything that was in their reach, a multi-headed hydra from the deepest pits of Hades. The forest was overtaken, each tree drained by the volatile, barbed mass that snaked around the terrain infinitely and sucked the plants dry of their liquids, some of the trees already reduced to lifeless husks of their former selves. Littered around random areas around the clearing obliterated remains of wood laid sprayed, broken parts of what to a trained eye appeared to originate from a travel wagon or a cart.

"Sweet Celestia," Applejack uttered, the color of her facial coat paling at the sight. "Eeeyup," her near identically pale brother added.

"Oh no......it's worse than I thought!" Faith exclaimed, sounding as badly upset as the rest of his companions, "Now I understand, it appears that It uses this form to anchor itself to the very soil of Equestria and spread so it becomes nearly impossible to eradicate. With this kind of speed it may not even take very long. If you don't do something soon we will be in serious trouble..........."

"Ya right, this sure ain't good. It'll eat up the acres," AJ agreed, having already been listening and thinking about the consequences behind the statement.

"Eeeeyup," Big Macintosh quickly enforced.

The group wasn't taking their new challenge well. Rainbow was moving impatiently and kicking around small pebbles. Fluttershy shivered in place without moving while Rarity's eyes looked like they might fall off their sockets at any second without the support of their lids that hung wide from the sight whereas Twilight was busy clenching her upper and lower lips in turns with her teeth. Finally admitting that her cognitive abilities couldn't solve the issue, she began to near the bizarre mass with a confident stare, replacing all of her other plans with a singular bold one.

"Twilight, dear, what are you doing!?" Rarity gasped from behind her back as she noticed her move, "Don't go near it!"

Taking in the other unicorn's warning but nevertheless heeding it no regard, Twilight's eyes enveloped to a white shroud. An orb shot up from her horn and took a place a short hight above her head, growing in size. The others looked on as a pulsating form of energy began to break through the glowing crust, warping the orb's round form. Each of the strands pushed out from the core and circled the sphere in a swirling movement until the round shape had become surrounded by a highway of white flares like a miniature sun, a spectacle to behold to those who's eyes could adjust to it's brightness. "Woah," Rainbow expressed with a plain impressed note.

It happened quickly. An individual vine lashed from the hole with a lightning quick whipping motion and the giant orb vanished to thin air. With a thud Twilight fell hard against the ground and laid motionless on her side, having been swept off her hooves.

"Twilight!" the others screamed in unison and rushed over to help.

At the same time more vines began to creep out and near the unconscious mare. "Pull her away! Now!" Faith shouted at full lungs. With the use of front hoof and mouth alike Twilight's companions took hold and dragged the unicorn to the opposite direction as quickly as they could, an act committed none too soon when the vines shot forward and tried to grab hold of her, missing their target by a very close margin. Once they got far enough from the bundle's reach the ponies surrounded their friend who was leaving a trail of red blotches as grim evidence of the severeness of her injury. Slowly coming back, Twilight blinked repeatedly to try to regain her barings.

"Sweet Celestia, sugarcube," AJ gasped by her side, "What were ya thinking?"

"I was trying to summon my tiara," Twilight winced, "If I had just succeeded......."

"Your plan would have gone down way better if you had simply listened to me instead of standing so close to it, darling," Rarity stated calmly and examined the wound. The vine had torn a vicious looking gash to the coat at the left side of Twilight's skull, a flowing stream of blood seeping over the other half of the her face which made it an unpleasant sight to behold. "Now, I really have to ask you stay still because this might sting a little, dear," the fashionist explained, "I am not very experienced with medical science but we must fix that wound before it develops a scar. I absolutely refuse to watch such an ugly decoration on your mug for the rest of my life. Do you trust me?"

Swallowing quietly, Twilight gestured a simple nod at her friend who wasted no second as she got to work using her own magic. As it happened the other mare felt a soft touch brush against the injured section of her head. She didn't get to enjoy it for long as it suddenly turned to searing pain that tore through her. Twilight winced in agony, swelling tears mixed with the blood as she fought to endure the sensation without passing out a second time.

"The bleeding is contained," Rarity soothed her friend, "I'm almost there, darling, just hang on."

The same soft magic touched the same spot again and it's the wake a new horrible pain intensified. Eventually unable to bare it, Twilight lost her composure, a loud yelp leaving her vocal cords as she reeled back and shivered violently, looking sickeningly pale. Luckily Rarity had successfully finished the task and embraced her.

"It's alright, darling, it's over now. I patched it up flawlessly."

"I think I'm going to throw up," Twilight wept which drew the other mares to join the embrace that remained unbroken until Fluttershy became scared.

"Faith?"

Faith had frozen, eyes fixated to stare at the direction of the squirming behemoth without speaking anything. The look on his face already spoke for itself, a ghastly expression that Applejack instantly recognized.

"Hey, are ya alright?"

"It's......all my fault," Faith whispered to himself, nearly oblivious to them. "All my fault.........."

"Faith," Rainbow communicated slowly as the group approached him, "Snap out of it."

Faith ignored the advice, still oblivious.

"All my fault....... No, I can not take this anymore!! You want me?! Take me!!" the pegasus literally exploded to a rambling fit, "I'm right here!!"

Faith's wings began to flap violently which got him airborn but Rainbow landed on his back to stop him before he got too much altitude which successfully brought both of the pegasus back down on solid ground. "No!!!!!!!" Faith roared from beneath the other pony, "You don't understand!!! I'm responsible for it's existence!! I have to end it!! I can't let it hurt any more ponies!! Let me do this!! Let me do this!!!"

Trying to free himself, the stallion wriggled furiously but it proved useless because Rainbow was keeping him pinned and maintained a strong lock from around his wings so he wouldn't be able to escape."You won't help anypony by needlessly getting yourself killed," Rainbow exclaimed and held on until the other pegasus eventually ceased from resisting, "Come on, buddy, we need you here."

"No! No! No!N-n-no............," Faith moaned loudly, a scene that further provoked Fluttershy.

"Faith, this was not your fault," she wept beside them, "Faith, please, don't leave me again!"

With no forewarning a chilling laughter erupted somewhere underneath the field which got everyone on high guard, intensifying until it became unbearable to listen, each cackle rocking the ground violently with a deep vibration. In time it began to fade and was reduced to a distant evil cackle which left the group greatly shaken once the field became as silent as it had been moments ago. Soon guessing where the noise had come from and noticing how Faith fell slack underneath her, Rainbow shot a murderous look towards the massive bundle.

"You buckering bastard!" the enraged mare cried out, "How dare you poke fun at his plight?! I'll kill you!!"

This time it was Rainbow who found herself restrained by her friends as she charged forward. "Rainbow, don't be crazy!" Rarity addressed with a shocked yelp and dragged the mare to the opposite direction, "Remember what it did to Twilight! Remember what you yourself told Faith! How do you think we are going to survive this if we disregard common sense with our own actions?!" Although she still glared burning daggers at the vine creature the latter remark seemed to cool down the pegasus who lifted her hoof at Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie who eventually released their grip.

"YOU SON OF A SNAKE!!!!!!"

Re-restrained, Rainbow proved harder to handle when she used her wings to drag everyone forward until Applejack's brother finally lended his helping hoof to hold the maddened pegasus in place.

"Her wings! Hold her wings!" AJ shouted.

"Rainbow!!!" Rarity snarled at her friend as the horn on her head flickered dangerously, "I'm warning you! You will either calm down at this intant or I will cuff you up with what ever tree roots I can find from this blasted forest to keep you from doing something stupid."

Noticing the seriousness in the fashionist's stare, the mare tomboy halted without returning eye contact to anyone around her, a depressed facial expression replacing the anger.

Twilight had taken her time to inspect the facial injury, still rubbing a hoof against the spot that to her amazement felt almost as smooth as it had been before the vine struck. She approached Faith and her friends and placed a forehoof on the stallion's trembling shoulder.

"Faith, listen to me," she began softly, "I am doing quite alright. Don't blame yourself for what is happening, you played no part with the existence of that abomination. Please, don't do this to yourself."

Faith sniffed once and slowly gathered himself up from the floor with the assistance of the one pony who had remained at his side the entire time.

"That's it, darling," Fluttershy encouraged him in tears, "Come on, come on, come on, honeybunny, you can do it, that's it, come on!"

Back on his hooves, her friend looked thoughtful which ended to a short, weak chuckle of disbelief. "I can't believe that I have become this kind of crycalf," he scolded himself until his attention met the others, "What are you going to do now?"

"I will complete the summoning spell and use my tiara to call in the rest of the Elements of Harmony so we can destroy the epicentre," Twilight explained and instinctively ran a front hoof over the spot where the vine had scratched her face, "The Elements saved Ponyville and Equestria two times in the past and haven't let us down when we had to use them. This time is no exception."

The unicorn began to concentrate and quickly channeled new magic to her horn to restart what had been interrupted.

"Twilight, wait!"

Faith suddenly intervened, an antic that provoked a confused reaction as Twilight brows stood up questioningly in the dithering magenta light.

"Faith, we can't use anymore time for discussion, this is the only way to get it------," she began.

"In that case I hate to cut it for you," the pegasus interrupted, "but this is not the epicentre."

"What?!" everyone sounded in unison.

"This is where It's new form first started to grow," Faith addressed the inconvenient truth behind what squirmed a short span away from them, giving the creature off-put glances until he could no longer tolerate looking at it, "It came to be last week during our little acre incident. It appears to have corrupted a tree of some sort and attacked the unicorn behind the spell that allowed it to re-emerge. What I sensed took place here."

"I don't undertand," Rarity mumbled, "How can you sense such a presence?"

"I have already explained that I have no ways to answer all of your questions," Faith replied calmly, "I barely understand it myself yet I believe that it must be the intact spiritual connection that I still possess between my old emotion, almost like a bridge between spaces. I don't know for sure. In any case, the true epicentre has formed itself miles away. If you use your offense here it will simply grow back."

Twilight's face dropped steeply.

"Sweet Celestia, we only have what, seventeen hours?" Applejack uttered, sweat running down the nervous work horse's face which the equally sweatting mug of her brother closely mirrored.

"Oh, for crying camel's packbag!" Twilight rambled, "Okay, we have to act quickly, if the creature was serious about what it told him those ponies will be killed after midnight."

As she tried to make up her mind of what to do with her common circling which proved faster this time around she swiftly faced the others. "Alright, everyone, we are in a pickle, if we want to prevent a tragedy we must reach that supposed epicentre before night falls. We only have half a day and there might be a long distance to travel which means that we have to ditch the idea of going back to the square to meet with Celestia...........what's wrong, Pinkie?"

Pinkie's entire body had began to tremble with such violence that it made her wiggle like a rubberized version of herself. As soon as they had noticed it the other mares and Big Macintosh leaned back in horror, already knowing what it meant.

"Your keen sense!" Twilight exclaimed frightfully, all of the lavender drained from her face.

"E-e-e-e-e-e-eeye t-t-t-t-w-t-i-tch! M-m-ake that two!" the party pony mumbled, collapsing half-way to sit comfortably while her body bobbed up and down, "Tail twitch! Eye twitch! Tail twitch! Eye twitch! Coat itch! Woah, that's a new combination!"

"There ain't any cover here!" the now prefusely sweating Applejack whimpered and worked vigorously to spot a safe obstacle to place between herself and the unknown, "What are we going to do?!"

"Could somepony please explain to me what is happening to her?" Faith uttered confusedly, already finding a terrified Fluttershy clinging from him.

"Pinkie's keen sense predicts a happening just before it happens! It could be literally anything," Twilight barely answered the question until an unsettling suspicion brought her attention to the bundle. "Our close proximity to the creature must be the explanation! Everypony, gallop for your lives!!"

The ponies stampeded to the opposite direction except Rainbow who didn't budge from where she stood. "I'd say bring it!" the mare pegasus expressed boldly, "I can take it!"

"Rainbow, Pinkie, get away from the vines!!"

"Tail twitch! Leg t-t-t-throb-b-b-b-ing!" Pinkie uttered with a stuttery voice, her other rear leg pulsating uncontrollably until her symptoms ceased as quickly as they had begun. "Hmmmm, that's strange."

"What is it Pinkie?" Rainbow asked excitedly, "Is it another vine? A new creature perhaps? Tell me! Tell me!"

"Hey, slow it down, RD, I haven't received it yet," the party pony snapped until something made her literally light up, "Okaydokaylokey, I got it! The timer has gone off!" she laughed delightfully and rubbed her hooves together."

".........timer??"

"My egg clock, silly lilly!" Pinkie blurted at the other mare, "I'm making a super special cupcake and placed it in the oven back at Sugarcube Corner before we left to look for Faith."

Taking in the explanation, Rainbow's face suddenly began to twitch as if it had become sentient, a detail that instantly provoked new laughter in Pinkie.

"I didn't know that you too possess a keen sense, RD."

Rainbow's neck took a sharp arc towards the ground, ending up burying her face to a self-formed hole as the mare pegasus smashed her head repeatedly against the green turf which sent small lumps of grass and soil flying.

"Stop being so silly," Pinkie giggled during which the others returned to their proximity.

"It..........it wasn't the plant monster?" Rarity asked nervously.

"I guess not," the party pony shrugged and proceeded to grin widely," Now if you mares and stallions excuse me, I got a treat to claim from the oven before it turns way too crispy." With said explanation Pinkie gathered momentum and disappeared to a puff of smoke that lingered behind.

"Pinkie, wait! We have to save those ponies!" Twilight called after her friend, the unicorn's entire form slumping downwards, "What is it with her being so...........stubborn?" she growled.

"Don't be nervous, Twi," she heard Pinkie's voice right beside her with only a split second to notice the party pony's instant presence until she had already vanished as quickly as she had left the first time, "I'll catch up with the rest of you," her voice shouted a long distance away.

"How do you know that?!"

Twilight jumped back in surprise when Pinkie re-emerged a third time only this time right in front of her even before she had even suspected her to be there. "What? Are you deaf?! Are you silly or something? Who the plumber do you think I am? I'm the buggerblasted Pinkie Pie!!" the mare scolded madly. "You know my name. So.....call me, maybe?"

As soon as she had explained herself Pinkie had gone with a badly left behind unicorn stuck in her wake.

***