Hooflantis

Twilight's friends were all bouncing with excitement at the thought of going to this legendary city. Pinkie was talking about throwing a party to welcome the city back to the world. All the ponies agreed with that idea happily. Twilight herself was excited. And nervous. You could say nervouscited in Pinkie Pie terms. The train was moving down the tracks smoothly until it came to a sudden stop. All the ponies collapsed on the floor at the sudden stop.

"What's wrong?" Applejack asked.

"I'll go ask the conductor," Twilight said. Twilight went up to the front of the train only to see the conductor frozen like a statue in fright. Twilight followed his gaze out the window to find thick black brambles covering the track. Twilight had some deja vu. This was just like when they had to save the Tree of Harmony. Twilight ran back to her friends only to find that they too had discovered why they stopped.

"What in the hay is going on?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh my!" Rarity exclaimed. "It's those tacky brambles again. I thought we got rid of them!"

"I did too Rarity," Twilight told her. "Looks like we need to deal with this ourselves." As Twilight finished, the brambles creeped up and started to cover the train.

"Girls," Fluttershy whispered. "We need to go now!" The other five ponies gasped at the sight of the living brambles.

"Forget dealing with it. Run!" Twilight yelled. At that word, they ran to the back of the train and jumped out of the emergency exit. After they all landed safely off the train, they watched helplessly as the train was engulfed by the plants.

"Where's the conductor?" Applejack asked. They looked behind themselves and found the conductor running for his dear life.

"So much for that!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh come on guys!" Pinkie Pie said. "Lets look on the bright side of this!"

"What bright side?" Fluttershy asked.

"Touche," Pinkie Pie said.

"Looks like we're hoofing it girls," Twilight said. The five ponies groaned and Twilight shot a glare at them. Twilight started to walk and the five ponies followed. Eventually, they arrived at a wide gorge with a long log bridge going from one side to the other.

"Come on!" Twilight said excitedly. "I can see the train station from here!" They started going one at a time over the fragile logs. But then they heard a low growl. Twilight turned around to find an Ursa Minor standing right there except it was 3 times larger than normal. Twilight gasped. Twilight didn't need to yell directions for the ponies to gallop across the log. While Twilight was galloping, she heard a deafening crack. She looked over her shoulder to see that her friends heard it too. Suddenly, the log snapped in two. The ponies who couldn't fly fell fast into the gorge. Twilight and Rainbow Dash sprang into action with Fluttershy behind them. They caught up to the falling ponies. Twilight caught Applejack, Rainbow Dash caught Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy caught Rarity.

"Now we're even," Twilight laughed.

"This is no time for jokes Twilight," Applejack said urgently. "There's still that!" Twilight looked up and found the Ursa watching them. It seemed to be waiting for them. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy dashed out of the gorge barely missing the swinging paw. The three of them flew as fast as they could never letting go of the ponies they were holding. Unfortunately, it was not enough. The Ursa merely stepped over the gorge and swung its massive paw at them. It missed them by a smidgemeter but it caused the three flying ponies to go into serious tail spins. The six of them landed hard on the ground. Twilight felt a stabbing pain in her ribs and couldn't move but she could still see the advancing monster. It looked down on them when it reached them. Was it smiling?, Twilight thought curiously. Just before the creature destroyed them forever, it was engulfed in a blinding pink light. The creature howled and vanished. When Twilight's vision cleared, she saw the savior of them all. It was Princess Cadance. She flew down to Twilight and patted her head.

"Looks like I got here just in time," she said smiling. Twilight only looked at her with gratitude.

"Here," Cadance said pointing her horn in the air. Her horn flashed once again and when it was over, Twilight didn't feel hurt at all. She just felt happiness.

"Cadance!" Twilight leaped up to hug her.

"Twilight!" Cadance said squeezing her back. "I'm so happy to see you!" They got up and started chanting.

"Sunshine, sunshine. Ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" they both chanted in perfect unison. After it was finished, they both giggled. What a delight that was!

"Thanks for saving our tails," Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah," Applejack said. "We owe you one."

"Oh, it was nothing," Cadance said.

"But it was everything, dear," Rarity said. "We could have been dead but we aren't thanks to you!"

"Yay!" Fluttershy whispered.

"Thanks everyone," Cadance responded.

"What are you doing here anyway, Cadance?" Twilight asked.

"Princess Celestia penned me a note telling me to come here quickly," Cadance answered. "Luckily, I seemed to arrive just in the nick of time."

"Yeah," Twilight said. Twilight was immediately thrust into deep thought. Could these monsters from our past be coincidences? Yes. It just had to be.

"Let's get to the train station," Cadance said pointing at the little building just a few yards away. The mane six nodded and walked over there. It couldn't get any worse.Twilight thought. She was wrong.