The Fragments of Our Collective Destiny

Chapter 3
I Feel the Dark

“Are we there yet?” Rainbow Dash asked for the thousandth time as she hovered aimlessly in the compartment. The pegasus hadn’t had a lot of flight in the past few days, and she was far from happy about it.

“Soon,” Twilight answered her. She used her magic to draw the curtains, revealing a full moon—a welcome reminder of Princess Luna’s benevolent presence—and the many stars that accented its beauty.

“Look!” Twilight exclaimed. The train made its way through a valley surrounded by gentle-sloping mountains. As far as she could tell, it was coniferous forest in all directions, which could only mean one thing. “We’ve already entered the Everdarkgreen!”

Rainbow glanced at the moonlit landscape and yawned slightly. “You know, Twilight, maybe you’re right; I should’ve brought something,” she admitted, much to the alicorn’s surprise. Rainbow never backed down so easily.

Twilight sniggered slyly. “I’m glad you figured that out, though it’s not like we can turn back and—”

The pegasus suddenly threw her hooves to Twilight’s shoulders. “I should’ve brought a Daring Do book so that I don’t die of boredom! Ugh!”

Nearly three days had gone by since the train departed from Ponyville. It passed Appleloosa in early morning on the second day, one of the southernmost places the seven friends had been to. After leaving the desert town, it was uncharted territory, not only for them, but for ponies in general. The many unexplored frontiers of the Equestrian south—the boundless deserts, winding mountain ranges, and vast forests, all of these the travellers had seen on their long train ride, yet even the knowledgeable Twilight knew next to nothing about them.

The train was bound for a town called Ironhoof, which lay merely miles away from Equestria’s southern border. More than a thousand years ago, the town was a bustling settlement where miners returning from the Outliers would stop by and rest before journeying to other parts of Equestria. Nowadays, however, it was a much more modest community not too dissimilar to Ponyville.

Twilight’s “soon” turned out to be an hour and a half later. For a moment it seemed as if climbing off the train itself became a challenge, for the chilly night breeze greeted the Ponyvillians once they poked their heads outside. Everypony, except for Rainbow Dash, shivered in the cold. Rarity, who prided herself in being well-prepared for adverse weather conditions, used her magic to draw out a pink scarf from one of her saddlebags.

“Oh yeah. This feels sooooooo good,” the cerulean pegasus gushed ecstatically as she took off in a jet of rainbow; she couldn’t be happier to return to the unbridled freedom of the open air.

Rarity curiously peered through the exit of the train station. “For a town as remote as this, Ironhoof looks surprisingly exquisite,” she remarked. “I’d love to see it in broad daylight.”

“We will,” Applejack said, “but Ah reckon we find some place to stay for the night first.” The earth pony gave the unicorn a smirk. “Wouldn’t wanna sleep in the woods the first night, would you, Rarity?”

“Heavens no,” Rarity replied with mild distress. “I’d like to… enjoy civilization while I still can…”

“Don’t worry, Rarity,” Fluttershy said, leaning forward caringly. “The will be a kingdom once we reach the other side of the forest. I’m sure those ponies will be hospitable—”

“Ah don’t know about that, Fluttershy,” Applejack countered skeptically, recalling what they heard from Celestia several days ago. “Not really likin’ that Antepeccatum kingdom too much… Anyway, let’s get goin’.”

The seven friends left the empty platform, heading for Ironhoof proper. As they exited the train station however, the orange earth pony abruptly froze in place and cocked her head to the right; she could’ve sworn that she saw something moving in the woods.

Her sudden movement alerted Rarity. “What’s wrong?”

Applejack turned to face the unicorn. “Thought I saw somethin’. Probably just a varmint; these woods must be swarmin’ with ’em.”

The ponies trotted through the ancient community, whose buildings were mostly dark brown log houses; they had a certain rustic charm in spite of their humble appearance. Still, the town lay largely in darkness, and even the main street was more than a little desolate. It wasn’t much of a main street to be frank, not even by Ponyville standards; it was more of a very broad alley. A wealth of shops sat along the street, but occasionally the signboard would read something along the lines of “Miner’s Museum” or “Ironhoof Historical Centre.” The many statues of ponies with pickaxes in their hooves were further reminders of the community’s glorious past.

It wasn’t long before the ponies stumbled across a two-story log house that was noticeably larger than the others; its detached roof tiles and peeled paint betrayed its age. A short staircase led to the main door, above which a signboard was hung: Everdarkgreen Woods Inn.

Twilight used her magic to open the door, causing light to stream out of the building, revealing a rather spacious lobby complete with a fireplace, recreation area, and an assortment of art pieces and artefacts adorning its walls.

“Good evening, ladies. How may I help you?” a brown, middle-aged earth pony stallion said from behind the counter.

“Good evening, Sir,” Twilight replied politely. “I was wondering if you had any vacancies.”

“One, two, three, four, five, six”—the stallion pointed to the travellers as he counted them—“seven! Is that a dragon I see?” His eyes widened as he leaned forward to get a better glimpse.

“Oh yeah. He’s our friend, and my assistant,” Twilight answered.

“My goodness!” the stallion gasped, “I’ve never seen a dragon in my life, much less one living among ponies! May I ask where you young fillies hail from?”

“P-Ponyville,” Twilight said, slightly hesitant to reveal too much personal information. “It’s not far from Canterlot,” she added, seeing the clerk’s clueless expression.

“Aw, the glamourous capital.” The clerk cleared his throat. “Anyway, how about I give you a room for eight for the price of seven? It’ll be fourteen bits,” he offered.

Twilight turned to face her friends. When they nodded in response, she drew a bag of coins out from her saddlebag. She didn’t think that she saw Pinkie, though.

The earth pony was bouncing cheerily around the lobby until she stopped in front of the fire place, apparently intrigued by the large oil painting attached to the wall above it. “Ooo, is this the whole town?”

“Yes, it is,” the stallion replied, having just given Twilight the key to their room. “Or rather, it was—more than a thousand years ago,” he amended with a hint of sorrow in his hoarse voice.

Curious, the ponies walked in unison towards the painting. It depicted what appeared to be a bird’s eye view of golden era-Ironhoof, plus some of the surrounding forest. Twilight noted that the railway had yet to be built, while the extent of the town itself was considerably larger back then. Still, what had her full attention was a small trail at the bottom left corner which led into the forest in the outskirts of the town. Judging from several landmarks, she concluded that it had to be going south.

“Um, Sir, do you happen to know where the start of the iron trade route is?” Twilight asked, spinning around to face the clerk.

Walking out of the counter, his easy-going demeanour faded. “Why, may I ask, do you seek the trade route?”

“Uh… We—” A moment’s hesitation on her part prompted Rarity to step between her and the approaching stallion.

“Why, for sightseeing, of course!” the unicorn lied. “We’ve come all the way from Ponyville to visit this absolutely charming historical site, so we mine as well take in everything we can!”

“I see,” he said, stroking his chin. “Unfortunately, no, I don’t know where it is, or to be precise, where it was; the forest has undoubtedly reclaimed the trail.”

“Okay,” Twilight replied, “thanks for—”

“And I don’t recommend that you seek it out, young fillies,” he warned seriously. “Stories from olden times tell of something dangerous lurking in the woods to the south. Nowadays most folk dismiss such tales as miner folklore, but there are still some who insist that they are real.”

Pinkie bounced forward with her eyes wide open. “You mean the fearsome critters?” she asked excitedly.

Fluttershy poked Pinkie in the side. “Um, Pinkie, what are the fearsome critters?” she asked nervously.

“Oh! Just a bunch of very nasty monsters lurking in the woods that tend to harass unsuspecting travellers!” Pinkie replied fearlessly, sending a shiver of pure horror down the pegasus’s spine.

“I see you have done your homework,” the stallion said to Pinkie with a smile.

“Actually, my grandma told me about them. One of my distant relatives was an iron ore miner!” Pinkie explained.

“Really?” he gasped. “But in that case, I’m sure you know it’s wise to steer clear of those woods. There was safety in numbers for the miners; seven of you, I’m afraid, are not enough.”

“Okey dokey lokey!” Pinkie promised falsely; it was one of the few empty promises she’d ever made.

“Thanks for your help, we—” Twilight said, but was interrupted again, this time by Rainbow Dash. Hearing the pegasus’s inquiry made her roll her eyes unamusedly.

“By the way, is there anything to eat around here?”

The stallion pointed to the door. “There’s a restaurant just across the street; they might still have some hayburgers left, but be careful—”

Before he could finish, a rainbow blur bolted out the main door, disappearing from view in a split second.

“I was going to say,” the clerk continued, “be careful out there. Some of the town’s stranger folk tend to come out during these hours.”

“We will. Thanks a lot,” Twilight replied, before trotting after Rainbow Dash along with the rest of her friends.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they found Rainbow Dash already seated, gobbling up her hayburger merrily. She was considerate enough to grab one for each of her friends, but apparently the pegasus was so ravenous that she was ready for a second serving.

Twilight’s eyes ran across the room before she took a seat, recalling the clerk’s warning to look out for “stranger folk,” and so did Applejack, for she was starting to think that what she saw back at the train station might not have been a mere varmint.

It was too… pony-ish…

She thought the few remaining diners all seemed decent enough—all except the one sitting in a dark corner at the other end.

“Rainbow Dash, be a dear and mind your table manners please,” Rarity chastised, noting that the pegasus had ketchup all over her face, but Rainbow was too busy enjoying her meal to even bother with the unicorn’s insistence on dining etiquettes.

“Hey! Another hayburger here!” she shouted to the waiter.

A brief glimpse of the brooding figure revealed a stallion wearing a pitch black hooded cloak. It was difficult for Applejack to make out any of his facial features, but she did notice a pointy protrusion on his forehead—a unicorn. He was neither eating nor drinking; he just sat there idly. If anything, his gaze seemed to be pointing in their direction. Applejack gulped and whispered to Twilight. At their insistence, the seven friends ate quickly.

The earth pony’s seat meant that whenever she tilted her head up, she would inadvertently come face to face with the mysterious stallion, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake off the uncanny feeling that they were being watched.

The earth pony bit down on her hayburger, chewing uneasily and hurriedly. She had never felt so grateful when Rarity, the slowest eater of the bunch, finally swallowed her last bite. Whoever he was, Applejack didn’t want to stay to find out; the ponies left the restaurant promptly and retired to the comfort—and safety of the inn.

Twilight unlocked the door of their room to reveal eight perfectly-made beds. Everypony took off their saddlebags and got ready to settle down for the night while the alicorn drew two scrolls out from hers with her magic. “So, who wants to carry a map, just in case?”

Before she could react, Pinkie Pie, who was jumping up and down on her bed, snatched one of them with her mouth. “Ooo, I just love maps! They remind me of the time I played Chancellor Puddinghead!”

“Ah’ll take the other one,” Applejack said.

What’s so important about this trade route again?” Rainbow Dash asked, folding her wings together in midair and dropping onto her bed.

“The trade route is the fastest way through the forest, Rainbow,” Twilight explained while checking her things. “It would save us a lot of time if we could at least follow the remnants of it.”

“B-but what about those monsters?” Fluttershy asked; she still hadn’t gotten over what Pinkie said earlier.

“You’ll tame them, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash joked; Fluttershy couldn’t tell whether she was being serious or not.

Rainbow was airborne again and flied up to her fellow pegasus. “You’ve taken on a full-grown dragon and a manticore! Whatever’s in that forest shouldn’t be a problem to you!” Perhaps she was serious.

“I-I…” Fluttershy gibbered meekly.

“Think Ah’ll head down to the lobby to see if Ah can find anythin’ useful,” Applejack said as she left the room.

“Be careful,” Twilight reminded her.

Twilight’s words resounded in Applejack’s mind when she reached the lobby; she sincerely wished she wasn’t there.

It was him, the unicorn in the hooded cloak. Standing by the doorway, it seemed that he had just entered the inn. So he’s stayin’ here too?! Applejack felt her composure dissipate, and she could barely bring herself to make another step forward. “G-g-good evenin’, stranger!” she greeted nervously; complete silence answered her.

Oh, for corn’s sake, Ah’m outta here! The earth pony spun around and took off. Unfortunately, a deep, mysterious voice from behind forced her to again stop dead in her tracks.

“Applejack, the Element of Honesty, if I am correct.”

What are ya waitin’ for? Run fer the hills, Applejack! After all, what could a random stranger in odd attire, who for some reason knew her name and identity, be up to any good? And yet, she felt like her hoofs had glued themselves to the floor.

The fear was nearly unbearable as the sound of hoofsteps got closer and closer. “Well, looks like I am,” the same self-satisfied voice said.

Applejack took a deep breath and turned around. She took a few involuntary steps backwards when she saw the unicorn was mere feet away from her, still as foreboding as ever, if not more so.

She swallowed hard. “Why in tarnation would ya know who—”

“I’ve been to Canterlot; it was a long time ago. You and your friends are quite famous there, having saved Equestria numerous times,” he said as he took off his hood, revealing a rigid and weathered countenance. Grey was his coat, while his eyes were of—for some reason—a rather unusual shade of tan. His pallid mane, having lost all its lustre, betrayed his age, and even his horn was weathered. It was adorned with a strange-looking silver ring in the form of a circular symbol.

“Ah—” Applejack was cut off yet again; the stranger obviously didn’t bother keeping this conversation two-sided.

He grinned relaxingly. “Let me guess, this is another one of those ‘missions’ Celestia has put you up to. You don’t fool me, Applejack—you are not here for a vacation; none of you are.”

The earth pony’s inability to lie compelled her to keep silent; her gaze wandered randomly through the lobby, only making sporadic eye contact with the unicorn.

“You and your friends are trying to get to the other side of the forest, to Antepeccatum, aren’t you?”

Applejack felt a sharp pang of anger and grimaced fiercely. “You followed us all the way from the train station, didn’t you?” she countered.

“It was me that you saw in the woods,” he replied, showing little qualm about his actions, much to Applejack’s chagrin.

“Then yeh better come up with a good reason before mah friends and Ah turn yeh in to the town sheriff or somethin’,” she threatened, taking a few cautious steps forward.

The unicorn smiled; it was more of a grin to be frank. “You wouldn’t want to. I am here to offer a helping hoof.”

“Likely story,” Applejack retorted with distrust.

His smile dropped, and his gaze fell on the floor. “You ponies have no idea what you are about to face.”

What—now who the hay does he think he is?! Stalkin’ other ponies and then belittlin’ them like that? Applejack felt her insides stir up as she struggled to contain her furiousness. “Well Ah appreciate yer concern, stranger, but we do have some idea—”

“Then I take it that you’ve already discovered the old trade route?”

“Well, no…” Applejack acknowledged reluctantly, “but we’ll find a way nonetheless.”

The unicorn smiled again and shook his head thoroughly. “One does not simply trot through the Everdarkgreen, Applejack: ponies have gone in there and never come out. Being a resident of Ponyville—”

Good gravy, he even knows where Ah live.

“—I suppose that you are more or less familiar with the Everfree forest. The Everdarkgreen is similar to the Everfree in some regards. It ain’t normal,” he stressed. “Things work on their own in those woods, and the stories of the town folk—they’re real. The woods are inhabited by terrible beasts: you hear them through the trees, smell them in the air.”

The earth pony’s eyebrows knitted together in doubt. “And how would you know about that?” she questioned, still not trusting the stranger. “Yeh sound like you’ve been there yerself.”

“I have.”

“Whuh?” Applejack’s eyes became wider and wider.

The stallion slowly walked to the fireplace, gazing at the painting above it. “More than once have I traversed those woods, and just so you know,” he said, “I’ve accidentally come across what remains of the old trade route; I discovered the old cabins that used to lie along the trail.”

His gaze returned to Applejack, who wore a huge, uneasy frown. “Do you doubt me?”

“W-why wouldn’t Ah?” she replied tentatively, though her obviously wasn’t as uptight as earlier.

The stranger focused his attention on the painting again. “You won’t be for long,” he said confidently. “If you don’t mind, I am offering to take you and your friends to the trailhead tomorrow; that’s the farthest I can take you.”

“H-how about Antepeccatum?” Applejack asked, much to the unicorn’s surprise. “Have you been there before?”

The stranger walked towards her almost at a leisurely pace. “I haven’t, but I have heard stories, and from what I’ve heard, it is not a place I would like to set my hooves on.”

Applejack’s eyes shone; maybe there was something they could finally agree on. “Ah second that; Ah mean, their whole Seraph-worshippin’ faith system…” she trailed off; the stranger was actually glaring at her.

“And what would a mere Equestrian know of faith?” he countered with a resentful look.

Taken aback by his sudden shift of mood, Applejack was unable to formulate a proper response and gibbered incoherently.

“Who do you worship, Applejack? Celestia and Luna? If so, you know absolutely nothing about faith.”

“Ah do not worship the princesses!” Applejack refuted impatiently. “Ah ain’t worshippin’ nothin’—” Much to her annoyance, she was cut off yet again; there was no way she was going to win this.

“There is nothing wrong about worshiping Seraph, young filly.” The stranger shot Applejack, who still hadn’t figure out what he was taking offense at, a stern look. “I look down at those ponies not because of what they believe in, but how they practice it.”

“Whatever you say, stranger,” Applejack acquiesced, despite wanting to argue further.

“What exactly is your business in Antepeccatum, may I ask?” the unicorn questioned.

“O-our business is our own,” Applejack answered nervously, averting her eyes. “Sorry,” she added.

“Very well,” he said and nodded slightly. “You should not anticipate a warm welcome, Applejack, and I do suppose you’re not planning on staying for too long; that is, if those ponies are willing to let you stay.”

“We’re not… The sooner we get goin’, the better,” she said.

The stranger tilted his head back. “You and your friends couldn’t have chosen a worse time to visit.”

That made Applejack break out in cold sweat. “W-what do yeh mean we couldn’t have chosen—”

“Something is festering in those lands. I do not know what it is, but trust me, you do not want to stay long enough to see it happen,” he warned forebodingly.

Applejack shuddered. Festerin’? What does he mean by festerin’?

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” the unicorn said as he put on his hood with his magic. “There’s a well at the southern edge of the town; meet me there at seven thirty.” And with that, he vanished with a flash of light, leaving Applejack alone to ponder on everything she’d just heard.

So he can teleport too…

“Applejack!” A worried Twilight came rushing down the hallway. “What took you so long? I heard voices!” she cried, putting a hoof to the earth pony’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Applejack wore an idol stare. “Ah’m fine, Twah’light, but Ah have somethin’ to tell ya’ll. A lot o’ things, actually…”

Everypony squirmed as the alarm clock went off. Letting out a dainty yawn, Rarity was the first to get up, followed by Applejack. Remembering that she and her friends were to meet with that eccentric unicorn, the orange earth pony hastily left the comfort of bed and started putting on her saddlebags.

“I still can’t believe we’re allowing a complete stranger to lead the way,” Rainbow Dash mumbled, her face buried in a pillow.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Twilight said as she stretched her hooves. She noted that one of the windows was open. “Wait, did anypony—where’s Pinkie Pie?!”

“Oh my,” Fluttershy gasped, whose bed was next to hers. “She was here a moment ago…”

Just then, a pink, fluffy figure leapt into the room from the window. “Good morning, everypony!” she exclaimed with a gleeful voice. Not surprisingly, it was the earth pony in question. She extended a hoof and offered a stack of scrumptious pancakes.

At Applejack’s insistence, the seven friends devoured their breakfast quickly. Gathering their belongings, they promptly checked out of Everdarkgreen Woods Inn and headed outside. The sun had barely risen over the mountains, but Twilight could tell that it was going to be a brilliant day; which was good, for they certainly didn’t want unfavourable weather conditions to slow them down.

“Sweet Celestia! This place is literally divine!” Rarity gushed as she admired the town. “How I wish to—”

Rainbow Dash flew down to the unicorn. “Rare, if you’re so afraid of camping, why didn’t you bring that portable palace thing?” She then put a hoof over Applejack’s neck and they broke into giggles.

“Ha ha… very funny,” the white unicorn replied unamusedly. “And trust me, I definitely would if I had enough space…”

The town and its many log houses quickly passed by as the seven friends trotted down the main street. Ironhoof was in no way a settlement of considerable scale, and it didn’t take long for the ponies to reach its periphery. The woods to the south gradually came into view, along with a large well that was apparently some sort of memorial.

Leaning on one side of the well was the hooded stallion, whose appearance was intimidating even in the light of day. “Mornin’,” Applejack greeted him concisely. Her friends gathered nervously behind her, except for Rainbow Dash, who hovered next to her.

The unicorn straightened up and calmly approached them. “Good morning, travellers. I believe that all of us are on a tight schedule, so I shall cut to the chase: this section of the forest”—he pointed to the wall of trees behind him—“used to be a part of the town, but nature has long reclaimed these abandoned quarters. The trailhead that you seek now lies deep in the forest, to which I will lead you. After that, you are on your own. Any questions before we set out?”

“Who are you anyway?” Rainbow Dash questioned, still feeling uneasy over putting their trust in a complete stranger.

“Rainbow!” Applejack yelled over her shoulders, “be polite to him, will ya?”

“Well he wasn’t too courteous to us yesterday…” the pegasus hissed through her teeth, crossing her forelegs in front of her chest.

The unicorn turned away and took off, not bothering to answer Rainbow. “Follow my lead, everypony.” Applejack trotted after him, followed closely by an airborne Rainbow Dash, and then the others.

“He might be weird, but Ah don’t think he’s messin’ around, RD,” Applejack reassured the pegasus.

The group soon entered a forest of fir trees, hemlock and cedar. The rays of the morning sun filtered through the canopy, illuminating the forest floor, which was covered in decaying leaves and branches, interwoven with patches of plant life. Numerous were the trees, and from all directions their trunks stood like aged, wrinkled pillars.

Occasionally, a long-deserted house, an abandoned cart, or a lost mining tool would come into view. Those relics of a bygone era were far outnumbered by the number of felled trunks and decaying boughs slowly rotting away in the undergrowth. The vegetation gradually thickened as the ponies journeyed deeper into the woods, eventually forcing Rainbow Dash to resort to her hooves instead of wings for locomotion.

It must have been more than half an hour since the seven friends left Ironhoof. They trotted across the forest floor mostly in silence, except for Rarity’s occasional complaint; walking through undergrowth was undesirable enough, and to make matters worse, they’d already gotten a fair amount of dirt on their hooves.

Applejack trailed the unicorn closely, who never seemed to slow down or even glance back. The orange earth pony quickened her pace until she nearly came abreast of him.

“So,” she started, attempting to strike up a conversation, “yeh said you’ve been to Canterlot.”

“And a lot of other places. I travel a lot; I never stay in the same place for too long,” he replied.

“Ah’m guessin’ yer not Equestrian.”

The unicorn leapt over a log blocking their way. “That’s all you need to know about my origins.”

Applejack wasn’t a pony who would pester others about their secrets, but there was an underlying sense of… intrigue in his reply that made the earth pony craving for an answer.

She turned back to see if anypony was lagging behind. “How about Antepeccatum? Care to tell us more about that?” she asked. “Mah friend Twah’light, you know, the purple one has done some research—”

“Antepeccatum has not had any dealings with Equestria for a long time,” he interjected. “I’m afraid that any information your friend has uncovered is seriously outdated.”

Hearing this, Twilight quickened her hoofsteps, hoping to catch the conversation between the two more clearly.

“Your kind is also not welcome there, Applejack.”

The earth pony came to a screeching halt, causing Twilight to collide with her hindquarters. “What do you mean not welcome?!” she questioned nervously.

The unicorn came to an abrupt stop and turned to face the seven friends. “I believe that you are aware that none of you are particularly welcome in Antepeccatum. Those ponies are very wary of outsiders, even back in the days of the iron trade. But”—his fixed his eyes on Applejack—“you, and your pink friend: earth ponies, are advised to steer clear of those lands.”

And yeh didn’t bother to tell us this earlier…

Twilight stepped forward and frowned hugely. “But I thought Antepeccatum was home to all three kinds of ponies, just like Equestria!”

“It used to. Nowadays it’s different.” The stranger angled his head up to the canopy. “My knowledge is as limited as yours, but I will say this: if you earth ponies are to have any chance of entry into Antepeccatum, you must come up with a disguise.”

“You mean like this?!” Pinkie yelped as she put on a fake unicorn horn, then swapping it for a pair of faux pegasus wings. This made the others wonder just what else she’d brought.

The stranger smiled faintly. “Needs improvement, I presume.”

Twilight gave Pinkie and Applejack—the latter whose mouth hung down in a state of shock—a rather mysterious smirk. “I think I might be able to help out with that.”

“I’d never expect anything less from a magic virtuoso,” the unicorn uttered as he continued down his invisible trail. “Make haste, travellers, we are almost there.”

Twilight gave Applejack a look and whispered, “Is there anything he doesn’t know about us?”

It was only a few minutes before a cabin of archaic age came into view, standing out from the uniformity of the forest terrain. “This”—the unicorn placed a hoof on its moss-covered exterior walls—“is the trailhead. Listen up very carefully, for what I am about to explain to you is crucial to your survival on the remainder of your journey.”

Those words had the seven friends’ full attention, prompting them to gather quickly around the stranger, their ears wide open.

“From here on, you want to keep journeying south. It will take about three days to exit the forest. On the way, you will come across three cabins similar to this one, and another one which is much bigger; I’ve also left markings on some of the trees, so do take heed. So far so good?”

They nodded in silence.

“Now we get to the trickier part,” he continued. “These forests are swarming with—”

Twilight felt somepony squirming awkwardly behind her: it was Fluttershy, who cowered between her and Applejack. Rarity gently patted the pegasus’s back in consolation.

“—dangerous beasts. Lucky for you, most of them are nocturnal, so regardless of your progress, you must stop at dusk. Make a fire, and keep it going throughout the night. Do not—I repeat—do not respond to any noises you hear in the night, no matter how unsettling they sound.”

They nodded again, although their expressions clearly betrayed their apprehension.

“Lastly, you’ll hear the sound of a stream about two-thirds through your journey—that’s when you form a circle. Be alert in all directions, cross the stream, and keep this formation until you no longer hear it. If you are not cautious enough, they will catch you,” he warned ominously.

“W-who are they?” Fluttershy stuttered in fear.

“The hidebehinds of course,” Pinkie once again answered her. “They sneak up—”

Twilight quickly stuck a hoof in the party pony’s mouth to spare the frightened pegasus of further traumatization. “I think it’s better we don’t know who they are,” she said nervously.

“Very well,” the hooded stranger said with a self-satisfied voice. “I’ll be going then. Good luck.” He passed the travellers slowly, leaving them to begin their quest.

“Where are ya goin’?” Applejack suddenly asked.

The stranger stopped in his tracks and smiled. “My business is my own, Applejack,” he replied calmly, an obvious allusion to what the earth pony said to him the day before.

“Well, thanks anyway.” Applejack smiled back. “It was mighty kind of you for bringin’ us here.”

“Farewell.” And with that, the hooded unicorn vanished with a flash of blinding light.

“What? He can teleport?!” Twilight gasped, staring at the orange earth pony in disbelief. “Just… Who in Equestria is he?”

Applejack gently placed a hoof to her shoulder. “Ah have a feelin’ he don’t want us to know, Twah’light.”

The alicorn sighed. “Never mind. Anyway, let’s get going,” she said, facing the seemingly endless fortress of trees through which they will be traversing. Naturally, she re-assumed leadership of the group. “Ready, everypony?” she asked over her shoulders.

“Pfff… I was born ready,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, but her enthusiasm quickly vanished. “Although I wish I could fly…”

“Uh… Fluttershy?” The alicorn gave special attention to the shy pegasus.

“Ready,” she replied, taking a semi-confident step forward.

It’s a vast, remote, and possibly dangerous wilderness out there, Twilight, and I believe a lot has changed in a thousand years.

It’ll be alright; I mean, as long as we’re there for each other, right? another more reassuring and comforting voice said.

Twilight looked back at her friends one last time: all of them seemed ready, all except one. “What’s the matter, Spike?”

“Well…” He wringed his claws. “Didn’t you say the trailhead is literally on the southern border of Equestria?”

“Yeah,” Twilight replied. “What about it?”

Spike looked to the ground. “If we take this step forward, we’ll no longer be in Equestria; it’s just kind of crazy when you think of it.”

“Oh my gosh! Spike is right!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “This must be the first time any of us has left Equestria!”

Rarity hesitated for a split second, but decided to bent down and give him a quick nuzzle on the cheek anyway. “I’m glad you came with us, Spike,” she said softly.

“Thanks. I’m glad I’m here too,” he replied with a slight blush.

Twilight walked over to her number one assistant, extending a hoof and giving him a smile. “Come on, Spike. We’re doing this together.”

The dragon placed his claws upon her hoof, which was slightly covered in dirt. “Together.”

And with that, the quest of the seven friends truly began.

Unbeknownst to any of them, a figured wearing a pitch black hooded cloak stood silently in the distance, observing them with watchful, tan eyes as they vanished into the thicket.

I don’t suppose we’ll ever meet again, Applejack of Ponyville, and by the time… it… happens, I hope you’ll be well on your way. As for me… there is one last thing I need to do…

Rainbow Dash took off and navigated through the canopy; she sighed contently as she ascended beyond the tallest trees, taking a moment to admire the open air, the place where she felt most at home.

The pegasus overlooked the southern portion of the Everdarkgreen. While it abutted on mountain ranges both to the east and west, the blanket of trees extended unobstructed to the horizon in the south. The meadows on the other side of the forest were not yet in sight, much less the kingdom of Antepeccatum itself.

She scanned the terrain thoroughly. Then, without second thought, she took a sharp nosedive, smash through twigs and branches, finally slowing down when her hooves were mere inches from touching the forest floor.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to draw too much attention to ourselves,” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow slightly disapprovingly at the pegasus’s extravagant manoeuvre.

Rainbow Dash folded her wings. “Well it doesn’t seem like this part of the forest is inhabited by anything dangerous.” Looks could be deceiving, but Twilight couldn’t really argue with her—the forest had been silent; too silent in fact. Aside from the sound of their hoofsteps and talking, the ponies couldn’t recall hearing anything else during the last few hours, not even the sound of birds chirping.

And it was certainly also a long time since they last saw an artificial structure of any sort.

“So, did you see anything?” Twilight asked.

The pegasus shook her head. “If you exclude trees, then no.”

By then morning had become noon, and sunlight now pierced through canopy with much more potency. While the seven friends were no longer within Equestria’s borders, the sun, like the moon at night, always served as a reminder of where they came from. None of the travellers would consider themselves homesick just yet, but then again, their quest had only begun mere hours ago.

Basking in the warmth of the sun, Twilight thought of a time she and Spike went stargazing. A full moon it was that night, and the dragon brought up the rather curious notion that the princesses benevolently watched over Equestria through the celestial bodies they governed. While Twilight was skeptical, she nonetheless fancied that idea: two kind-hearted rulers looking down from above as unseen guardians.

Back to the present, the purple alicorn tilted her head up in thought; she fervently wished that Spike’s theory at least held some water.

Speaking of him, Twilight thought she heard the dragon’s stomach growling loudly; or perhaps it was also coming from herself. Luckily, there was a patch of open space right ahead, perfect for grazing.

Rarity sighed dramatically. The many needleleaf trees around her—some of the branches were just within reach—didn’t look awfully palatable. The understory didn’t seem too good either, and Celestia knows what had stepped on it. “Good heavens… There is hardly anything decent enough to eat! Maybe I’ll just—”

“Ya might wanna save yer apples fer later, Rarity. Who knows when we’ll need ’em,” Applejack cautioned before the unicorn could open her saddlebag. “By the way, these leaves ain’t so bad.” The earth pony was already munching on a bush.

It wasn’t enough to convince the unicorn, although she had long since seen this coming. “But it’s all… wet and raw and—”

“And perfectly safe for ponies to eat!” Twilight exclaimed, holding in her hoof a book: The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants; the unicorn had no choice but to compromise. She bent down and barely managed to take a dainty, tentative nibble. The unfamiliar sensation of unprocessed vegetation met her taste buds; it wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought, although this was far from something she was thrilled about doing again.

“So Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash said as she flew towards her while holding a branch full of leaves; the earth pony was apparently enjoying her meal, although there weren’t many things she didn’t relish. “What’s the big deal about those ‘fearsome critters’ anyway?”

“Uh… can we… talk about that later?” Fluttershy said meekly. “I’d like to have this meal… in peace; that is, if it’s not a problem—”

“Ah don’t really fear those varmints,” Applejack interjected, “at least not as much as those ponies of the meadows.”

Swallowing her food, Twilight gave the earth pony a look of concern. “You seem to habour a strong mistrust for those ponies, Applejack, although I can see why. You and Pinkie.—”

“It ain’t just that, Twah’light,” Applejack countered. She took a moment to adjust her hat. “All that Seraph worshippin’s creepin’ me out; Ah mean… they think there’s somethin’ in the sky watchin’ over them when that somethin’s basically dead.”

“Well… maybe they don’t know what happened to—”

“Why do they even remember her in the first place? I thought everypony was subject to some sort o’ collective amnesia,” Applejack added with puzzlement.

Twilight of course, did not know the answer. “I think we’ll find out about that very soon,” she simply replied.

Applejack resumed her foraging, but her skeptical gaze returned to Twilight soon after she swallowed another bite. “By the way, Twah’light, how exactly are ya supposed help me and Pinkie Pie?”

“Twilight can change you into a unicorn or pegasus!” Spike exclaimed excitedly, having finished his fill. “Temporarily, that is.”

“Well that’s mighty impressive, Spike,” Applejack replied. The dragon’s word obviously hadn’t really registered with her yet; moments later she frowned fiercely. “Wait!” She shot Spike, and then Twilight an urgent look. “What in tarnation can you do?”

“Well…” Twilight said nervously, rubbing the back of her head, “Spike already said it.”

Hearing this, the others immediately gathered around the alicorn in amazement. Pinkie was especially blithe and squeezing Twilight tightly in her forelegs. “Oh, Twilight! I’ve always always always always wanted to know what it’s like to be a unicorn or pegasus!” she cried.

“W-well… H-h-here’s y-y-y-your chance…” Twilight said through the earth pony’s suffocating hug.

“Well not me,” Applejack said unenthusiastically. “Can’t decide which one’s creepier: havin’ two feathered appendages stickin’ out yer back or a pointy thing stickin’ outta yer head…”

“Applejack, you make it sound as if it’s most unfashionable to be a unicorn,” Rarity commented, putting a hoof over her shoulder, her eyes shimmering with excitement. “I think you’ll look dashing as a one.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash gasped, pushing apart the unicorn and earth pony. “Applejack’s gonna be a pegasus! And Pinkie Pie too! Flying is way cooler! We could race each other!”

Rarity looked up at the pegasus with a smirk. “Rainbow Dash, I admire the pegasi for their dexterity, but it would truly be a waste for them not to dabble with a bit of unicorn magic!”

“Anyway,” Twilight said as she gave the earth ponies a look, “you girls still have a few days to decide. I’ll transform you when we reach the meadows.”

“Alright,” Applejack replied, her shoulders relaxing. “Fer the sake of ponykind, Ah guess…”

“Actually, it is for the sake of sentience,” Twilight corrected her. Somehow, no one did say anything else after she uttered those words; perhaps that just reminded them of why they were there in the first place: they were carrying with them a great burden.

Finishing their first meal of unrefined food, the travellers resumed their long trek. Time went by slowly as the seven friends made their way through the forest. Except coming across a cabin much like the one they saw back at the trailhead and several trees marked by red ribbons, which confirmed that they’d more or less stayed on-trail, the afternoon was relatively uneventful.

But as the setting sun neared the peaks to the west, a change had begun to take place. It started with the simple hooting of an owl, which was gradually joined in by a multitude of different sounds as the sky darkened. While most of them sounded innocuous enough—perhaps coming from a bird or small mammal—occasionally it could be heard in the distance cries whose owners were much more sinister. The forest had come alive, and while nopony could yet smell anything in the air, they definitely heard something through the trees.

Rainbow jolted skywards, carrying out her last “reconnaissance mission” of the day. “Still can’t see the meadows,” she reported when she returned to the ground. “But the sun is setting fast.”

“We should call it a day,” Twilight said as she came to a halt. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing but a sea of trees, and it took a while for the alicorn to spot a suitable place to settle down for the night. “Rainbow Dash,” she said, turning to the pegasus, you help Applejack set up camp.”

“Aye aye captain,” Dash replied with a salute, immediately coming to the earth pony’s aid, helping her pull out her rather humongous piece of tarp out from her saddlebag. “Wow. This thing’s gigantic.”

“Fer all seven of us,” Applejack said.

“Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity, you girls go find some firewood,” Twilight continued. “The more the better, because we need to keep the fire going all night. Spike, you’ll help me gather some food for dinner.”

The ponies took off their saddlebags and went their separate ways. The forest was now much more subdued than it was moments ago, and the thick canopy pretty much denied any lingering sunlight from coming through. For many of the forest’s inhabitants however, nightfall only meant the beginning of the day.

In one corner of the woods, an earth pony, unicorn and pegasus scanned the undergrowth for material that could constitute to a campfire. They had little difficulty, for the forest was littered with fallen branches and boughs. Pinkie Pie zigzagged across the forest floor and before long gathered a sizable amount of firewood.

Fluttershy unfurled her wings gracefully and took off for the first time today, grabbing every usable piece of wood she could as she hovered across the forest floor. The sound of twigs snapping filled the air as her landbound companions scoured the ground. Seeing that her friends had wandered off in the opposite direction, Fluttershy hastened her work.

She heard something. She listened again.

It was almost like a dulcet song. Muted it was, and it had an inherent quality of sorrow. But it couldn’t be argued that it was the sound of somepony—or something weeping. It faded for a moment, but then returned, this time with even more woe embedded within it.

Normally the pegasus, being her caring and sympathetic self, would’ve dropped what she was doing and investigate the source of the sound; she’d already conjured up thousands of possibilities. Perhaps it was somepony, or someone who was lost in the woods, or was injured, or was lost and injured, or…

Do not respond to any noises you hear in the night, no matter how unsettling they sound.

Instead, Fluttershy, all the while carrying a bundle of branches in her hooves, found herself hovering promptly to her friends.

“Something wrong, dear?” Rarity asked attentively; she levitated her firewood with her magic.

“Oh… nothing serious,” Fluttershy said, “but I think I heard something back over there.”

Rarity looked up to the dense foliage, interwoven with speckles of the dimming western sky. “We better get going. It is getting late.”

The three ponies walked back to the campsite mostly in silence, although in Pinkie’s case, it was more like bouncing while trying to balance some sticks on the tip of her nose.

“Fluttershy,” Rarity suddenly said, “how are you doing so far?”

“Oh…” The pegasus momentarily lost balance on the branches she carried on her back. “I’m doing fine, Rarity. How about you?”

“I must say,” Rarity continued, “I was pleasantly surprised that you displayed little hesitation over participating in all this. These ‘epic quests’ are certainly not your cup of tea, and neither are they mine.”

“Well… we’re in this together, aren’t we?” She wore a dainty smile. “Even though I’m the least fearless of us—”

“But you are fearless, Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie hurled the firewood onto her back and turned her attention to her. “You’ve stared down a full-grown dragon!”

“And rescued the Cutie Mark Crusaders from a cockatrice!” Rarity added proudly.

“And you reformed Discord when the rest of us had given up all hope and thought that nothing in Equestria could possibly reform Discord!” the earth pony said gleefully. Her grin dropped slightly. “Well, kind of…”

Fluttershy blushed and averted her gaze from her friends. “Oh, those things were a long time ago…” she dismissed bashfully.

“But it means that you are capable of accomplishing brave things, Fluttershy! And for that, you should be proud!” Rarity’s gaze shifted skywards again. She inhaled the untainted forest air and felt completely at peace. “I believe that this quest will bring out the best in all of us.”

“Uh, Rarity,” Fluttershy said, breaking the unicorn out of her momentary reverie, “I’m also surprised that you didn’t hesitate to come along. I didn’t really expect you to actually eat raw food,” she said, failing to hold back a soft chuckle.

“Neither did I,” Rarity remarked indignantly. “And I am not looking forward to dinner.” The three friends broke into laughter.

It was still hard to pick up, especially over the chattering of her friends, but Fluttershy was hearing it yet again, and this time, what began as somewhat melodious weeping soon grew into uncontrolled sobbing. To her surprise, the animal-loving pegasus could partially understand what it was saying; somewhere in that unintelligible plethora of snorts, wheezes and agonized groans, one sentence repeated itself like a mantra.

Why do I have to be so hideous?

The sound died down again. What followed was best described as the sound of a stream flowing across the forest floor. It too eventually dissipated, until all that was left was the sound of Rarity and Pinkie chatting with each other, and the gentle whisper of the evening breeze travelling through the woods.

Right ahead was a clearing: in one corner, tied between two trees was a giant piece of green tarp with blankets underneath, forming a spacious shelter; in the centre of the clearing was a triangle of logs, and nearby was a pile of plant matter—dinner, scrumptious to some, appalling to others.

The trio unloaded the firewood, piling the branches up until it was almost as tall as a pony. Spike made ample use of his fire-breathing abilities, shooting a jet of green flame towards the woodpile until it started crackling with orange flames.

“Such a dear,” Rarity commented, once again making the dragon blush, though it wasn’t too obvious in the half-light of dusk; before long, it was completely dark.

The seven friends gathered around the campfire, passing around leaves that Twilight and her assistant had freshly plucked from the surrounding earth; Rarity once again complained about the “uncouthness” of this form of dining, but it was obvious that despite her protests, she’d eventually give in. The flames flickered in the dark of night, illuminating everypony’s faces one moment while casting shadows onto them the next. Like earlier, various noises could be heard either in the adjacent foliage, or in the distance.

Twilight drew a scroll, quill, and a bottle of ink out of her saddlebags after finishing dinner. Applejack, who sat on the same log as her, tilted her head over curiously. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Writing a report to the Princess,” she said. “She did tell me to send her one every two to three days.”

“Ain’t an awful lot to report today, ’cept fer that strange unicorn,” Applejack remarked, staring at the amorphous lightshow of the flames. “Ah wonder what he’s up to right now.”

“Probably traveling to somewhere else,” Twilight mumbled with the quill in her mouth.

On the log to the right sat Pinkie, Spike, and Rainbow, the latter who wore an unmistakable this-is-so-awesome expression of amazement while the party pony finally began her stories. On another log was Rarity and Fluttershy; both were intrigued, though the latter wasn’t so certain whether she wanted to hear it all. Pinkie was now blabbering about something called a ball-tailed cat, which, from what Applejack had picked up, was supposedly a cat that attacks other creatures with a club-like tail. Glad we don’t have any of these in Ponyville.

“Twah’light, mah intuition is tellin’ me somethin’. Not sure where it’s comin’ from, but Ah just can’t get this feelin’ outta mah head.”

By then the alicorn had finished her report; she passed it on to Spike, who instantly sent it to Canterlot via his fire breath.

“What it is?”

Applejack removed her stare from the fire and turned to Twilight. “Ah think that unicorn might still have some part to play in all of this. Ah think we’ll see him again on our quest.”

“And you think so because…”

“Like Ah said, it’s intuition, Twah’. Just like how I have an awful feelin’ ’bout that Antepeccatum.” Applejack snorted. “And after hearin’ what that unicorn said, it’s even more unnervin’.”

Twilight frowned slightly. “I don’t know, Applejack. From what I know, Antepeccatum was once a kingdom in which the three kinds of ponies coexisted with one another, even before Hearth’s Warming Eve; they’re sort of ahead of their time in that regard. They didn’t migrate to Equestria along with most other ponies though; the meadows—”

“—are sacred land to them,” Applejack finished for her.

Twilight nodded. “But apparently something happened, and from the looks of it, it’s something horri—”

“Shhhhhh!” Rainbow Dash suddenly exclaimed, and everypony fell silent in an instance. “You guys hear that?” she whispered.

At first it wasn’t obvious what the pegasus was referring to. Upon paying closer attention however, everypony could hear something—or some things to be precise. And for one particular pegasus, it wasn’t not completely foreign.

“What is that? It sounds like crying,” Rainbow whispered in Pinkie’s ear.

“That is the sound of a weeping squonk,” she said.

Rainbow looked at her bewilderedly. “A what?”

“A squonk, Dashie.” Pinkie’s usual disposition was somewhat darkened as her ears flattened and her fluffy mane deflated ever so slightly. “It is a sad, sad animal,” she explained.

“Why?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Few ponies know what the squonk really looks like. That’s because it spends most of its time hiding from other animals, and crying…” Pinkie said sympathetically. “It is constantly crying because it is ashamed of its looks. Grandma told me that it is covered from head to toe in warts and blemishes!”

“Oh my,” Rarity gasped, “that is rather unfortunate.”

“A long time ago some ponies tried to catch squonks,” Pinkie Pie continued, her voice full of lamentation for the poor creature. “Most of them failed because the squonk is great at playing hide and seek. Oh, but my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather’s cousin’s friend’s dad—”

For a moment the others seemed a little disoriented.

“—caught one with a bag before. But when he opened the bag…” The earth pony paused for dramatic effect. “He saw that the squonk had dissolved into nothing but tears…”

“Poor thing…” Fluttershy murmured, putting her hooves over her mouth. Poor, poor thing.

“I guess not all fearsome critters are fearsome after all,” Rainbow commented.

“Yeah,” Pinkie concurred. “They’re just the way they are. They don’t really mean to hurt us ponies.” She stretched hugely and then collapsed onto Rainbow Dash. “Is it just me or is it way past bedtime?”

By then the lament of the squonks had mostly died down. The moon hung high in the sky, faintly illuminating the forest in a silvery light. The seven friends retired to the relative comfort of their tarp shelter and snuggled under the blankets.

“Good heavens, and to think I thought the food was appalling enough. I can’t sleep on solid ground,” Rarity complained as she squirmed awkwardly under the blanket.

Applejack patted her on the shoulder. “Just go to sleep, Rarity, and if ya can’t, countin’ apples always works for me.”

“Ugh… I can barely sleep either!” Rainbow Dash groaned. “I’m not used to sleeping on the ground! It’s so hard!”

“Then you should’ve brought something,” Twilight scolded her from the other end of the shelter. “Like more blankets.”

“Fine, you win, Twilight,” the pegasus relented. “Good night, everypony.”

Outside, the night was serene, although not quite silent. The sounds of its nocturnal inhabitants spasmodically resounded through the trees. Fluttershy listened thoroughly to the sounds of the night. While most seemed harmless enough, some were undeniably vile, but as long as the fire kept going, she and her friends would be safe.

Among them, a soft weeping could occasionally be heard in the distance. Fluttershy thought about the squonk—a tragic animal so mortified by its own appearance that it consigned itself to a state of perpetual sorrow—for one last time, before she finally closed her eyes and drifted off to dreamless sleep.

Dawn softly descended upon the forest floor, and Applejack was the first to awake. She’d always been the early bird of the bunch, although back home, the advent of morning light was usually accompanied by the crowing of the rooster, a sound that she was starting to miss all too much.

Yawning hugely, the earth pony tossed off her blanket and quietly exited the shelter; all her friends were still fast asleep, and she allowed them to do so for a little longer. Yesterday had been exhausting, though she nevertheless reminded herself that it was merely day one.

One of them was missing though. Upon setting her hooves on the forest floor, what caught her attention was a lone, purple figure with his head tilted skywards, sitting by the campfire, or what remains of it.

“Why, yer up awfully early today, Spike,” Applejack said as she put on her hat and approached the dragon.

“Good morning, Applejack,” Spike replied. It seemed like he had something to say.

The earth pony took a seat next to him. “Had a good night’s sl—”

“I had another dream,” Spike revealed. “I mean vision. Still haven’t gotten over how crazy that is,” he amended.

“Well, wouldn’t mind if you’d like to talk about it.”Applejack gathered some nearby plants, making a concise breakfast for herself and the dragon. “Though Ah know next to nothin’ ’bout these things.”

Spike grabbed a leaf and munched; as a dragon, he apparently had little trouble adapting to an all-vegetarian diet, thought he did ask Twilight to bring a couple of gems along, just in case.

“I didn’t really know what was going on,” he began. “I met the two alicorns again. They looked like they were in trouble.”

Applejack chewed quickly and swallowed. “In trouble?”

“Yeah,” Spike said. “I think they were asking for help, but they didn’t tell me why. And in the end, they just faded to black and that was the end of this vision.”

“Sorta diabolical if ya ask me,” Applejack remarked, grabbing another leaf. “You be careful, Spike; Ah’d have a hard time trustin’ these visions if Ah were you.”

There was a brief silence, and Spike wringed his claws in uncertainty. “Applejack, why do you think I’m having them? I mean, whatever is causing them; why did it choose me?”

“Ah don’t know, Spike,” she replied bluntly. “Then again, Ah don’t know a lot of things.”

“What do you mean?” Spike asked curiously.

The farm pony was on her hooves and walked up to the charred remains of yesterday’s firewood. “Granny Smith always told me that although she’d worked on the farm fer ages, each year she still learns somethin’ she didn’t know before.” A strong breeze came rushing through the woods, prompting the earth pony to hold tightly onto her hat. “If there’s so much to learn about a mere farm, think of how much there is to know about this world, Spike.”

Spike nodded slightly. “I hope we do learn something when we reach that kingdom,” he said.

“I have a feelin’ we will,” Applejack said assertively, spinning around to face him. “At least somethin’.” She tilted her head up to gaze at the brightening sky, across which an orange hue spread gradually. “Come help me wake the others, Spike.”

Spike followed the earth pony to their shelter. He sighed faintly as his stubby legs carried him across the forest floor. Applejack was always so confident; even when in doubt, her disposition emanated nothing but faith in herself, and of course in others. He wondered when he could be just one-tenth as confident as she was.

The other ponies soon awoke from their slumber and commenced their morning foraging. What followed was the dismantling of their campsite, and under the instructions of Twilight, the destruction or concealment of everything that could possibly point to their visit. She and Rarity used their magic disarrange the logs, while Rainbow Dash kicked the remains of the campfire across the forest floor.

Only after they did their best to make everything look as if nopony had ever been there did the seven friends finally move out. They certainly did not want to have anyone follow them; while the unicorn yesterday had been particularly resourceful, Twilight did not wish to take any further chances. All this was supposed to be clandestine after all.

By that point the undergrowth had become both thicker and taller than it was yesterday. Everypony wished that they could go faster, but denseness of the vegetation made anything faster than brisk trotting impossible. Twilight and Rarity’s magic proved to be useful, moving the blocking branches and leaves out of the way. It was only an hour later that the route had finally begun to regain some of its former accessibility.

“I thought about something last night,” Rainbow Dash said over her shoulders. The pegasus had by then mostly gotten used to being landbound for the majority of the day. “So… if we, you know,” she said tentatively, “defeat Nihility”—which we will—“and everything goes back to normal, how will we get back to Equestria?”

Rarity frowned in distress upon hearing the pegasus’s inquiry. “Sweet Celestia, I do hope there will be a convoy to fetch us, preferably bringing some… eh… seasoned food along with them.”

“Keep dreaming, Rarity,” Rainbow dismissed, waving her off. “Even if that happens, it will take them ages to catch up with us.”

Fluttershy’s eyes shone in excitement. “Oh, maybe we could finally ask Discord to—”

“I don’t know, Fluttershy,” Twilight said in doubt. “Defeating Nihility doesn’t make the Outliers any less of… the Outliers.” She narrowed her eyes. “These are strange lands, so I think it’s perfectly normal that there be something working against certain forms of magic.” Her eyes drifted upwards to her horn. “At least me and Rarity’s magic seem to be working fine.”

“After listening Pinkie’s stories all night, I’d say that this forest is already strange enough,” Rainbow remarked.

Pinkie, who was bouncing merrily several steps ahead of Dash—the only pony whose passage through the forest seemed almost effortless—seamlessly began trotting backwards upon hearing the pegasus’s remark. “Oh, Dashie,” she gushed, warping a hoof around her neck, “stories are like sweets! I always save the best ones for last!”

“Oh… goodie…” Rainbow replied, rolling her eyes up. “I wonder what else lives in these woods…”

“Ah wonder just what scared the wits outta Discord,” Applejack said. “That guy’s practically afraid o’ nothing. Well, almost nothin’.”

“Hmm…” Dash looked to the ground, before turning to the earth pony. “You do have a point, AJ. What could a being like Discord possibly be afraid of? I mean, aside from all that Tirek stuff a while ago.” She furrowed her brow in rumination. “Say, have you guys ever thought about where Discord even came from? We all know that he ruled Equestria before Celestia and Luna arrived, but where was he before that?”

“Spreadin’ chaos across other parts of the world, Ah reckon,” Applejack guessed.

Everypony’s gazes fell on Fluttershy, who was mildly startled from being put under scrutiny all a sudden.

“Oh… Discord hasn’t told me much about his past,” the pegasus said. “I never really asked him about it either.”

“I thought you guys talked about everything!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed impatiently. “But think of this: Discord is probably as old as the Princesses, and since the Princesses know a great deal about Seraph and all that stuff, maybe Discord has his part to tell as well?”

For a moment everypony stopped dead in their tracks and fell silent, their eyes fixed upon the blue pegasus.

The quiescence was broken when Rarity leaned forward enthusiastically and exclaimed, “Why Rainbow, when did you become so perceptive and analytical?”

Rainbow Dash started walking again, uncertain whether she should take it as a compliment or insult. “Well, I guess reading does help to sharpen one’s mind—”

“Uh… everyone, you better come see this,” Twilight said over her shoulders. She was pointing straight ahead.

A brief silence returned when the travellers set their eyes on the first major discovery of the day: a cabin, the second they’ve come across on the trade route. It was derelict and overgrown with plant life like the last one, but it was at least two times bigger.

And while it didn’t seem too inviting, the seven friends, despite slight protests from Fluttershy, decided to set their hooves into the abandoned structure. While the party was well-prepared, it still wouldn’t hurt to see if they could salvage anything useful.

The door creaked on its hinges sharply as Twilight opened it forcibly with her magic, revealing a spacious interior. Directly in front of her was a fireplace, which clearly hadn’t been used for over a millennium; on one side of the room was a dining table and some chairs, while on the other side was a closet, two bunk beds and several work tables; the latter immediately caught the alicorn’s attention, for on some of them were stacks of mouldering paper, discarded quills, empty ink bottles and other long-forsaken objects.

The floorboards under their hooves creaking constantly as the ponies entered the cabin. Twilight, not surprisingly, started browsed through the dust-covered parchments, some of which disintegrated upon contact. While she definitely didn’t consider her research fruitless, she still felt that intellectually speaking she was still ill-prepared for this undertaking. Maybe they contain some valuable information…

At the other end of the room, Applejack thrust at an aged rocking chair. “Ah reckon this place is relatively comfy compared to outside. It would be nice if we could find one o’ those to stay for the night.”

“Relatively,” Rarity stressed in slight disgust, pointing up at the ceiling. “Just look at those cobwebs!”

In a few minutes, the seven friends had pretty much finished rummaging about the abandoned abode. An empty-hoofed Twilight spun around and glanced at her friends. “Found anything?”

Her dragon assistant came up to her with a couple pieces of blank paper. “Thought you could use these, just in case.”

Fluttershy gently closed the closet. “Um… I think I may have—”

“Not much here,” Applejack replied, “just some lil’ gadgets that could come in handy.” The earth pony had collected a screw driver, a hook, and what appeared to be an empty salt cellar.

“Uh, it’s a book that mentions Seraph—” Fluttershy tried to say, drawing closer to Twilight.

Rainbow Dash flew towards Twilight without anything in her hooves. “So I guess we’ll be on our way then.”

“I think it sounds a lot like what the ponies of the meadows—”

“Hey everypony! Look what Fluttershy found! ”

After three failed attempts, the small book the yellow pegasus was holding finally caught the attention of Rainbow Dash, who promptly snatched it from her hoof.

“That was what I was trying to say—”

Twilight levitated the artefact while the others gathered around her in a circle. It was a book which fitted comfortably in one hoof. No words on its black, worn out cover served as an indication of what its contents were; there was only an engraved symbol, which upon closer inspection, was a highly minimalistic depiction of an alicorn when viewed from the front. Its head and horn protruded upwards, forelegs pointed downwards, and its wings spread open to the side, forming a cross-like emblem; it was further enclosed tightly in a circle.

Intrigued, the alicorn browsed through the first few pages, and what she saw left her flabbergasted.

“Fluttershy, I think you’ve just come across a copy of the Epiphany.”

“That does sound vaguely familiar,” the pegasus replied, though it was obvious that the significance of her discovery had yet to register.

Spike rubbed his chin in thought. “I know that Princess Celestia mentioned it when she—”

“The Epiphany is the holy book of the ponies of Antepeccatum, or as they called themselves, the Seraphians,” Twilight explained with a somewhat alarmed look. “This book was supposedly compiled by the founder of their faith system and his disciples, and it is very foundation of the Seraph worship that they practice.” Twilight closed the Epiphany, glancing at the peculiar alicorn symbol, which was undoubtedly a sign of their faith. “If you want to understand those ponies and their way of life, then look no further than this.”

“Splendid, Fluttershy!” Rarity cheered. “With this, we’d be much adequately prepared to confer with those ponies!”

Fluttershy smiled. “Oh, it’s no big deal. I only found it by accident.”

Twilight laid the book on one of the work tables. “There is one problem though,” she warned as she deepened her voice. “According to my research, those ponies are very protective of such sacred text. I don’t know how this got here, but chances are that the ponies of Antepeccatum will not be too happy about it falling into our hooves, which means—”

“We’ll have to keep this a secret!!!” The hyperactive party pony popped out from one of the floorboards between Twilight and the table. “Forever!!!” she added, sliding her hoof across her mouth and her lips mimicking the motion of a zipper doing up itself.

“Yes, Pinkie, you got that right,” Twilight said nonchalantly. Her unamused expression abruptly gave way to an excited grin as she grabbed the Epiphany and danced jubilantly out of the cabin. “Oh, thank you so much Fluttershy! I’ve always wanted to get my hooves on one of these! I wonder what interesting things about those ponies I’ll read about!”

Pinkie met Rainbow’s eyes, and the two shared a look of confusion. “That’s Twilight,” the latter said calmly. The two exited the cabin, followed by the others. Before long, the seven friends were on the move again; the sky was orange with the risen sun.

With Twilight being occupied with reading, command was temporarily turned over to Applejack. As they got farther from the cabin, the vegetation seemed to become increasingly sparse; now the trees were so widely spaced from one another that galloping was actually possible.

Applejack was keen to notice that interspersed throughout this section of the woods were occasional dead, pale tree trunks, which only became more numerous as they went on. Noticing this, she sent Rainbow Dash up into the air to inspect the cause.

The pegasus descended as swiftly as she took off. “There must’ve been a wildfire. Lots of dead trees ahead. But there are lots of new grown plants and young trees too,” she reported, “They might be quite tasty,” she added with a hint of anticipation.

“Seems like an ideal place to rest,” Applejack remarked. “We haven’t come across this much open space ever since we left town.” She then turned her eyes to the alicorn behind her, who was trotting and levitating a book in front of her face simultaneously. “Found anythin’, Twah’light?”

Twilight moved the Epiphany aside until she could actually see where she was going. “Yeah, a lot actually. For one thing, those ponies, not only view Seraph as their protector, but also as their creator.”

“What do ya mean by ‘creator’?” Applejack asked uneasily.

Twilight quickened her pace until she was side by side with the earth pony. “The Seraphians believe that Seraph was a being who descended from the sky to our world. Apparently Seraph herself was an alicorn, or at least looked like an alicorn.”

“Well, that’s doesn’t diverge too far from what Princess Celestia said,” Rarity remarked.

“But what follows is,” Twilight said, glancing at one particular verse. “Seraph brought the ponies into existence using her magical powers. She created them in her image. The first ponies, like their creator, were benevolent, kind-spirited, and everlasting beings who were pure incarnations of perfection,” she recited. “She taught the ponies how to govern the sun and the moon, therefore bringing forth day and night; she taught them how to manipulate weather, hence the revolution of the four seasons; she taught them how to grow crops on the earth, thus they were able to sustain themselves.”

Applejack snorted loudly. “Last time Ah checked, earth ponies taught themselves how to farm.”

After hours of almost nonstop walking, the increasingly clear forest floor finally permitted Rainbow to start hovering again. She flew up to Applejack and put a hoof to her shoulder. “Come on, AJ, this is just a—”

“It doesn’t mention earth ponies,” Twilight suddenly said.

“What?” Applejack asked.

“Or unicorns and pegasi,” she added immediately. “And guess what it says in the next verse: back then, all ponies were alicorns.” Twilight closed the book and gently tucked it into her saddlebag. “It makes sense when you think of it: Seraph created the ponies in her image, and Seraph’s image was an alicorn.”

“But what about the earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi?” Fluttershy asked concernedly. “

“I guess I’ll have to read on to find out,” Twilight said. “But before that, I think we should stop here for lunch.”

The travellers came to a stop at what was obviously the site of a wildfire which occurred long ago. Dead, naked trees protruded sharply from the ground, their pale remains baking in the sun. The understory, however, was a different situation altogether: much of it had been recolonized by new arrivals, among which were young conifers which would one day take the place of their deceased predecessors.

Rainbow Dash furled her wings and her hooves touched the ground. “Are you alright, AJ?”

For a moment the earth pony seemed uncertain about what to reply. “Ah’m mighty fine. What made ya ask?” she said.

The pegasus scratched the back of her head. “Well… I’ve never seen you… so against something.”

“Oh… you mean those ponies?”

“Yeah…”

Applejack placed her hoof on a dead hemlock and sighed. It definitely wasn’t a sigh of relief, but it didn’t seem like an expression of dismay either; it was just a sigh, a dull sigh.

“Have Ah ever told you about the whole tonic debacle?”

“Yeah,” the blue pegasus answered. “A while ago I think.”

“Ah learned a lot that day.” Applejack looked at the sky, which was now largely unobscured by foliage. “Believin’ in somethin’ can help you do amazin’ things. But if that belief is based on a lie, eventually it’s gonna lead to real trouble.”

“I wouldn’t say that what those ponies believe in is a lie, AJ,” Rainbow said as she stopped next to her, also fixing her eyes on the firmament. “Maybe a little weird, misguided… warped… but ‘lie’ might be a little too strong, don’t you think?”

The farm pony shook her head with an expressionless look. “It still ain’t true, Rainbow; that’s what really matters. Ah know that all ponies used to believe in that kind o’ stuff, but that was a long time ago. Now we call most of these things ponies’ tales, and that book Twah’light was readin’ is basically one big ponies’ tale.”

“Maybe some ponies just choose to believe in something different; it’s not like you can get everyone to believe in the same thing as you do, no matter how right you think you are,” Dash said. “Even a pegasus as awesome as I am takes some flak occasionally; some ponies think I’m ‘overrated.’ But hey, I’m okay with that.”

“Ah know,” Applejack replied slightly impatiently. “But it comes to a point where Ah have to draw a line.” She stomped on a twig lying near her. “Maybe it’s mah inner Element o’ Honesty bein’ all fussy, but Ah get plenty uncomfortable when ponies fool themselves like that.”

“Well,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, putting a hoof on her chest, “my inner Element of Loyalty tells me that it is okay to believe in anything, as long as you truly believe it. Besides, believing in the existence of some guardian in the sky doesn’t sound too bad; at least not as bad as believing that a faux tonic can let you do anything.”

“I’ll second that,” Applejack said with a smile.

“And it’s not like those ponies are forcing their beliefs onto anyone; well, considering how isolated from the rest of the world they are,” Dash added. “That makes them cool in my book.”

“That Ah completely agree with you, RD,” Applejack acknowledged. “Let’s just hope that they don’t give us a hard time—”

“Though I wouldn’t believe in all that Seraph mumbo jumbo if I were them.”

That caught Applejack off guard. She met Dash’s gaze, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Personally, I don’t like to think that I’m living in the shadow of some ‘higher power’ in the sky,” Rainbow explained. “I know we have the Princesses in Equestria, but that’s very different.” The pegasus frowned. “I mean, do you remember what Twilight said a few days ago? They have shrines and monasteries built in honour of Seraph!”

“And all those rituals!” Applejack added. “The closet thing we’ve got in Equestria is the Summer Sun Celebration, and that’s about gratitude, not worship!”

Just as those words left the earth pony’s mouth, she felt a tinge of anger inside as she was simultaneously reminded of what the strange unicorn said to her a few days ago: Who do you worship, Applejack? Celestia and Luna? While she was more than grateful for his assistance yesterday, she certainly wasn’t too fond of that aspect of his personality.

Ah don’t worship them, stranger; Ah don’t seem them as some sort o’ “higher beings.” Ah respect them, and that’s different.

“Exactly,” Rainbow Dash concurred. “Don’t know if it’s just me, but I don’t like the idea of an unseen entity dictating my every move.” She looked to the sky and exhaled thoroughly. “I’d feel contained, and I hate being contained.”

Just as the conversation drew to a close, Rainbow Dash thought she saw two familiar figures to her right. She and Applejack turned their heads to see Pinkie Pie and Spike sitting not too far from them. They were both holding some food, but instead of chewing, their mouths hung wide open, apparently amused by the pegaus and earth pony’s heated exchange.

“And I thought Twilight and I were the only ones who would engage in debates like this,” Spike said.

Pinkie stomped her hooves energetically on the ground in applause. “Oh, I want to see more.”

Applejack gave Rainbow a self-satisfied smirk, seemingly abiding by the pink earth pony’s wish. “Yeh know, RD, about—”

“Maybe later,” the pegasus dismissed as she flew off in search of food. “I’m famished!”

Lunchtime lasted for a little longer than yesterday, as the rest of the party had to wait for Applejack and Rainbow Dash to have their fill. The latter turned out to be semi-correct with the young conifers. While they certainly weren’t as edible as she had anticipated, they had a rather unique taste to them, one which even Rarity approved of, saying that it resembled a mixture of rosemary and some other exquisite seasonings.

After a couple of hours of simultaneous walking and reading, Twilight decided that it was best if she focused on the former. Leading her friends through the remainder of this fire-ravaged area and into the thicket again, a cabin, this one much more modest than the last appeared in view. It had become a routine of sorts for the party to investigate any pony-made structures they’d come across in the woods, though this one wasn’t nearly as rewarding as the last.

The forest itself was quite still as the sun passed its zenith and commenced its westward descent. Rainbow Dash shot up to the air, feeling relived to be airborne, but disappointed when she saw that the meadows were still nowhere in sight. As she returned to the ground though, she could’ve sworn that she’d seen several trees in proximity to her friends moving unnaturally… Is something jumping across them?

“Twilight, I just saw—” The sky-blue pegasus was silenced when she found her friends examining something in the ground: a set of footprints, each twice the size of a pony’s hoof; the owner sported paws with five razor-sharp claws.

“This ain’t no timber wolf,” Applejack remarked with a frown.

Pinkie Pie bent down and drew a magnifier out of nowhere. “Hmm…” she mumbled to herself as she carried out her “research,” lowering her head even further to sniff one the footprints.

“These, according to my thorough observation, are the footprints of a hodag!” she concluded confidently.

“What?!” Rainbow Dash yelped, “you mean that thing with the head of a dragon—”

Fluttershy felt her legs giving out on her. “D-d-dragon?”

“—and the back of a frog?”

The pink earth pony stowed away the magnifier and leapt towards Dash. “No, silly! It has the head of a frog, horns of a bull, paws of a lion and the back and tail of a dragon. But its most famous characteristic is its incredible humongous widest-in-the-whole-galaxy grin that I can’t even come close to imitating and—”

“AAAHAHAHAHAHAHHH!!!”

“Uh… hehe…” she tittered. “And that’s its totally maniacal laughter…”

For a moment the seven friends, aside from Pinkie, appeared to be dazed. “Run!!!” Twilight promptly cried in a shrill voice coloured in terror. Running was certainly an overstatement; the thick understory meant that only spasmodic attempts of galloping were possible as the travellers scrambled in panic.

Before long it was as if the whole forest had come alive. What started lone, maniacal laughter was gradually joined in by more chortles, screeches and grunts of similar nature, until the whole forest—the canopy, understory, and perhaps even the ground below—resounded with a most dissonant and unpleasant choir.

The seven friends, from the corner of their eyes, couldn’t but notice that there was definitely something moving through the forest, and it seemed to be coming from all sides. None of them dared to stop and see what was causing all the disturbance, but Rainbow Dash knew that whatever it was, it was the same thing she saw in the air earlier.

“Twilight!” the blue pegasus cried next to her; she was hovering again, although it didn’t seem to make navigating through the thicket much easier. “We’ll never outrun them like this! You have to teleport us!”

“But I’ve never teleported this many ponies at once!” she shouted back. “What if I fail?!”

“Come on! You’re an alicorn!” Rainbow Dash cried. “It’s our only chance!”

Applejack accelerated, now running side by side with her. “Ah think Rainbow Dash is right, Twah’!”

The purple alicorn looked back at the rest of her friends and took a moment for her doubts to precipitate. Okay Twilight, you can—no, you have to do this! You’re friends are depending on it!

Her horn lit up as she slowly concentrated her magical energy. She’d never accomplished such a feat before, and immediately started ruminating on how much energy is required to transport six ponies and one dragon at a time.

Oh, screw the calculations! The alicorn focused so much energy until she could literally feel magic coursing through every fiber of her existence. Her horn glowed brighter and brighter, until it became a blinding sphere of white light. She also felt she was somehow… fading. Hey, maybe I can do this… I can—

A paw appeared out of nowhere, quickly wrapping itself around Twilight’s horn, then letting go just as fast, and all the energy that she had channeled dissipate instantaneously. The alicorn was all at once disoriented, and before she knew she collided head on with a tree.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash gasped, taking a sharp, midair U-turn. “Are you okay?!” The others, too, found themselves coming to a screeching halt to tend their fallen friend.

Twilight twitched on the ground groaning. “Owww… my head.”

The commotion had mostly died down—that maniacal laughter, the one that started it all, however, remained, and it was getting closer.

He emerged from behind a bush—a green, four-legged creature as large as a full-grown stallion, covered from head to toe in a peculiar texture that Twilight couldn’t tell whether it consisted of fur or scales. The creature pretty much matched Pinkie’s description: tall spines running down its back and robust, pointy tail; a set of elaborate, curved horns protruding from the sides of its head; its legs, while short and thick, was set off by huge claws; then there was of course its unmistakable grin and mouthful of menacing teeth.

And yet there was one thing that particularly astonished the purple alicorn. Its eyes… they look like they’re that of a…

“A valiant effort, my equine friends,” he said, “though it’s unlikely that it’ll save you morsels from—”

“Hey, no one’s becoming a morsel here!” Rainbow retorted angrily, raising her front hooves in a defensive posture. “You want my friends, you’re gonna have to deal with me first!”

“Whoa,” the creature exclaimed as he waved his paw. “Now calm down, winged one; I never said that this would be a free lunch,” he said in a surprisingly laid-back manner. “After all, my fellow hodags and I do follow certain… ethics, if you will.”

“Pfff…” Rainbow sneered indignantly. “Hodags… I only see one.”

The creature’s grin became impossibly wide. “Learn to observe.”

The seven friends angled their heads up and immediately regretted doing so, for in all directions, perched on the trees were perhaps over thirty hodags, their mouths dripping with saliva and their huge, orange eyes ever-watchful. This is bad, Rainbow Dash thought. Really bad.

“What do we do now?” the pegasus whispered uneasily to Twilight, who had gotten on her hooves.

The alicorn took a careful step forwards. “Greetings,” she began tremulously, “denizens of the Everdarkgreen. We are—”

“We are not interested in your affairs,” the leader of the hodags interjected before she could finish.

“But we are very interested in you!” one of the creatures in the trees barked, lashing out his claws. “That is, to eat you!”

“Hey! They even come with a little dragon as a side dish!” another one bawled sarcastically.

“We will have them in due time, my brothers,” the leader called out, looking up at his numerous kin. “But first, we must at least give these ponies a chance to avert their inevitable doom…” he uttered slyly, his eyes back on the unfortunate travellers. “By solving a riddle…”

“Ooo! Pick me! I love riddles!” Pinkie suddenly cried, waving her hoof frantically in the air.

“Pinkie!” her friends yelled in unison.

Twilight glared angrily at the party pony. “This is no game! You could get us all—”

“Looks like we have a volunteer,” the leader exclaimed in delight. “That’s a first.”

Twilight rubbed her hoof over her face in deep frustration. “Look, Mr. Hodag,” she uttered solemnly, “we can work this out—”

“I don’t take requests, unicorn—”

I am an alicorn, you know. Then it occurred to her: she was wearing her saddlebags, thus keeping her wings concealed.

“—and besides, your pink friend looks… interesting. I know we’ll have a great time together.” He cleared his throat. “Come forth, Pinkie.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” The earth pony took off her saddlebags and merrily bounced towards the hodag, showing absolutely no signs of fear.

“No, Pinkie!” her friends cried desperately.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side. “Hey, Twilight,” she whispered hopefully, “maybe Pinkie knows the answer to the riddle.”

“Oh, I don’t know the answer, Dashie. Nopony has ever solved the riddle of the hodag,” Pinkie said with a smile, and everyone felt their stomachs drop. They watched in apprehension as the hodag lead her up a cedar. The creature’s sharp claws made short work of the tree-climbing; Pinkie on the other hoof, also experienced little difficulty as she bounced her way up on the many boughs and branches.

“My brothers will be watching you while I’m gone,” the hodag exclaimed. “They won’t be too merciful shall any of you decide not to cooperate with us.”

Midway up, the hodag leapt onto a neighbouring tree, and then another; Pinkie emulated his motion flawlessly, and before long they disappeared into the foliage.

“Don’t worry, everypony! I got this!” a voice cried loudly from the distance; nopony could say that it managed to mitigate their apprehension, even by a little.

“In the good name of Celestia, Ah seriously hope that gal knows what she’s doin’,” Applejack sighed with trepidation.

“I do suggest that we formulate a backup plan in the meantime,” Rarity muttered furtively to the earth pony.

“Great idea,” Applejack replied. “But what?”

And then all eyes were once again on Fluttershy.

Though she’d never downright admit it—she was never the kind of pony to boast about her achievements—the yellow pegasus did feel proud of herself accomplishing feats like staring down a cockatrice and dragon, and reforming, at least partially, the spirit of disharmony himself. But sometimes she wished that she didn’t have such an extensive repertoire.

“Okay…” she answered meekly. “I’ll see what I can do…”

“I’ll go with you!” Rainbow Dash volunteered with conviction. “You have my back.”

The two pegasi slowly ascended, immediately alerting several nearby hodags. At the same time, Twilight secretly aimed her horn at the two while readying an offensive spell, just in case.

“Hey!” one of them shouted, and all at once the eyes of every hodag were fixed on the two ponies. “What are you doing?! Get down!”

“G-g-good afternoon… M-Mr. Hodag…” Fluttershy began nervously with Dash closely behind her. “So I was wondering… is it okay that you release me and my friends because we are on an awfully important mission and can’t afford any delays?” she said politely, edging one corner of her mouth up in a forced smile.

Rainbow Dash buried her face in her hooves in embarrassment. Seriously Fluttershy, that’s the best you’ve got?!

“A mission, huh?” The creature grinned, apparently intrigued. “No wonder. Ponies rarely cross those woods these days; those that do are either foolish or foolhardy—”

“Hey! Nopony’s being foolhardy!” Rainbow Dash snapped. “We’re serious, you know?!”

The creature snorted indignantly. “And so am I—”

“This mission is so important that it concerns the survival of your race!” Twilight huffed angrily from the ground, her eyes glaring with malice at the arboreal beast. While it certainly caught the attention of every hodag present, it elicited from them nothing but a wave of uncontrolled laughter.

On a tree far away from the commotion were Pinkie and the hodag leader. The latter clung to a thick bough, his claws sunken deep into the wood, while the former somehow managed to balance herself on a considerably thinner branch.

Hmm… and why did I volunteer in the first place? Pinkie wondered. She undoubtedly loved riddles, and she was certainly good at solving them; at least she thought so. This however, was no ordinary riddle, and her failure could mean… She shrugged her shoulders. Oh well, it’s still worth a shot!

“Now listen carefully,” he said. “A hodag never reiterates.” What followed, at least from Pinkie Pie’s perception, sounded more like a tongue-twister than a riddle, leaving her all but confused: “Those who have this gift make something out of everything; those who don’t, nothing out of something.”

The crease on the earth pony’s brows grew deeper. “That’s it?”

“Yup,” the hodag exclaimed relaxedly. He swept his paw around. “Guess away, little pony. Guess away.”

Something out of everything. Nothing out of something. Something out of everything. Nothing out of something. Something out—oh! I don’t know anything about anything!

The mare felt sweat trickling down her forehead, although her expression had yet to betray her sudden self-doubt. “Uh… could you at least give a little hint?” she asked nervously.

“No hints.” The hodag’s grin widened for what seemed to be the hundredth time. He pulled his claws out of the wood and leaned against the tree trunk with his hind legs crossed frivolously. “Don’t be scared. You do have three chances, after all.”

Pinkie took a deep breath, perspiring even heavier than moments ago. Come on, Pinkie! You’ve got three chances! Three chances! I mean, it’s not that hard to make a correct guess… right? You just need to think really really really really hard!

What were you thinking, Pinkie?! another more downcast voice inside her head chastised. Do you have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into?! You and your friends are going to become desserts for these big bad meanies, and it’s all your fault!

My fault?! I’m only trying to help them!

Then you should’ve let Twilight try. At least she’s got a much bigger chance of getting things right than you silly filly! What makes you think you can solve the riddle?! Your Pinkie sense?

Actually… it was just a hunch…

Just a hunch? Just a hunch? Just a hunch?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!!!

“Quiet everypony! Quiet ! I can’t think straight!”

The hodag cocked his head, apparently admiring the forest moments ago. “What was that?”

“I mean… baking; the talent of baking!” Pinkie amended hastily. “That’s my first guess!”

For a second she expected the hodag to either groan in dismay or burst into laughter, but mostly the latter. What ensued instead was instead awkward silence.

“Uh… aren’t you going to tell me if I’m right or not?”

The creature straightened up. “Why don’t you elaborate a little on your answer? That’s my favourite part about this game.”

“Well…” Pinkie rubbed the back of her head uneasily. “You see, if you’re a talented baker, then you can make delicious sweets out of anything—that’s something out of everything! But if you are a horrible baker, then even with the best materials, you’ll still end up with something that’s… not so good. That’s nothing out of…”

The earth pony noticed that the hodag was actually nodding his head while she spoke. Ooo, look at him! Maybe you did get it right! she thought to herself, only to be immediately retorted by another voice. That’s ridiculous! What would a hodag know about baking?

“Strike one,” the hodag uttered coldly, and in that instant, Pinkie felt her mane flatten a little.

“Strike one…” she lowered her head and muttered.

The hodag reverted to his laid-back posture. “You’re an interesting pony, Pinkie Pie. Most ponies I’ve met are too scared to even utter a word; they don’t climb trees either.”

“S-s-scared? I’m not scared at all!” Pinkie replied nervously. No, seriously, I am scared!

“Well then, let’s continue our little game, shall we? Take two.”

“Any other ideas?” Dash asked in annoyance after Fluttershy’s persuasion ended disastrously and Twilight’s reasoning—the alicorn ended up giving the forest dwellers a brief outline of their mission—was perceived as little more than a bad joke.

“Augh…” Twilight groaned in contempt. “I shouldn’t have told them that much. They could be spies of the enemy…”

“Ah don’t think the spies of the enemy would play silly games with us, Twah’,” Applejack remarked, glancing at the multitude of murderous creatures above. “They ought to finish us off right away.”

“Uh, maybe it is time that we ask for Discord’s help?” Fluttershy suggested.

“The flute!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ah almost forgot we—”

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash interjected disapprovingly. “You’re gonna summon Discord to fight off a bunch of oversized lizards? We haven’t even encountered any voidhangers yet!”

Unamused, the earth pony raised an eyebrow. “Well, yeh got any better ideas?”

“Hey!” a hoarse voice from above shouted. “Keep it down there!”

“If I were you, I’d spend these final moments bidding each other farewell,” another hodag, this one visibly thinner said in a thin, sharp voice. “No one has ever solved Master’s riddle; no one ever will.”

Applejack sighed. “That was encouragin’…”

“Uh-umm, perhaps I could give it a shot.”

Rainbow Dash frowned incredulously. “Uh… Rarity, you sure? If this is one of those ‘pony charm’ things—”

“Please, Rainbow,” the white unicorn replied indignantly. “I’m aware that my methods are a little… unorthodox… but I know what I am doing. Besides”—she held a hoof to her mouth, lowering her voice—“those things don’t look too bright.”

Rainbow dropped her shoulders. “Be my guest.” The others nodded tentatively in agreement.

The unicorn elegantly walked to a tree occupied by four hodags. “Yoo-hoo, majestic creatures of the Everdarkgreen!” She drew back in mild shock when the creatures abruptly directed their disagreeable gazes to her.

“What are you doing here, pony?!” one of them yelled.

Rarity fluttered her eyelashes demurely. “Well, I just wanted to say that I’ve never a creature quite as magnificent as you!”

The green beast seemed confused for a moment, before a glare surfaced on its visage. “Is this some kind of trick?”

“Why, of course not!”—of course it is!—“As a mundane pony from a modest kingdom, I genuinely find the hodags to be fascinating. I for one certainly can’t recall seeing any other creature with such formidable and awe-inspiring spines on their backs!”

Spike frowned and turned his head around to glance at his own spines. Are mine really that small?

“Miss Unicorn—”

“And that truly dazzling coat of yours, they rival most of my own creations, if I do say so myself,” Rarity continued enthusiastically. “Those horns, on the other hoof, are no less impressive—”

“Little pony—”

“—and those claws, those fearsome claws—”

“Silence!!!” the hodag roared, forcing the unicorn to stop dead midsentence. “That is enough!”

Slowly, Rarity tilted her head up to see the creature locking eyes with her intensely, and while its gaze was coloured by no small amount of malice, the unicorn also saw what appeared to be… tears welling up; there was an undeniable hue of sorrow.

“M-my apologies…” the unicorn said solemnly, backing away to rejoin her friends. The forest, all of a sudden it was different, as if something mournful—perhaps “funereal” would be even more apposite—had swept over its bestial inhabitants. They now clung motionlessly to the trees in dead silence, no longer grinning.

“Great… Now yeh got them all upset…” Applejack sighed.

“Strike two. I’m afraid that the correct answer has nothing to do with parties; or anything of that nature. Too bad, because your reasoning was particularly amusing.” The creature looked to the sky. “The end is nigh, Pinkie Pie, but don’t worry; I assure you it’ll be over in a jiffy.”

“So I have one last guess?” Pinkie asked. By now her mane had deflated considerably, and so did her nearly ever-present smile.

“Go ahead,” he said with anticipation.

Must get it right. Must save my friends. Must succeed in our mission. Must… Oh… My head hurts…

Hey Pinkie, sorry I was such a big meanie earlier… I was just very nervous and worried about our friends.

Oh, I forgive you—I mean… me. I could never be mad at you forever.

So, no hard feelings?

Of course not, silly! Besides, even if I lose this game, our friends will know what to do. Twilight’s always coming up with great ideas!

Ooo! Ooo! And Rainbow Dash will scare those monsters off with a sonic rainboom!

And maybe Fluttershy will use… the Stare!

“Friendship.”

The leader of the hodags removed himself from the comfort of his makeshift lying chair. “Take your time, Pinkie. I am offering you to rethink your answer—”

“No,” Pinkie said with conviction. “That’s my final guess. You see, Mister Hodag, I’ve always liked making friends, and now that I come to think of it, that’s the perfect answer to the riddle.”

“Go on.”

Pinkie breathed in and then out. “We make a lot of friends in our lives. Some of them might turn out be your bestest P.F.F.’s—oh, that means pony friends forever—others might”—her ears dropped slightly—“just come and go, or maybe you aren’t friends with them anymore because you’ve gotten into a big fight! But no matter what kind of friend they are, you always learn something from them. You always gain something from everypony!”

Ooo, this sounds so much like a letter to Princess Celestia; haven’t written one of those in a while!

The hodag suddenly cocked his head to the side and wiped his paw across his face. He immediately turned back to the earth pony.

“But if you never have any friends…” she said with a sad voice, “you’re just forced to hold on to something… I don’t know what the something is because I’ve always had great friends, but I can imagine it’s pretty lonely. And in the end… maybe you’ll end up with nothing at all.”

Well said, Pinkie Pie! Well said!

Oh! But how do I know if it’s the correct answer?! I’m so nervous I could just explode!

“That…” the hodag finally said, “was one of the most inspirational things I’ve ever heard.” There were tears in his eyes.

The earth pony leaned forward, yet somehow maintaining her balance on the branch. “Does that mean I’ve solved the riddle?”

“No. That was a strike three.”

Her mane had completely straightened, and her usually vibrant pink coat had been supplanted by a subdued greyish pink.

The hodag got on his feet, but his previously easy-going demeanour had virtually vanished. What took its place was an aura of tremendous grief and loss; Pinkie didn’t understand, didn’t he win?

“The answer, Pinkie Pie, is reason.”

Pinkie’s ears perked up. “Reason? As in… what kind of reason are we talking about?”

“Reason, as in ‘the power of reason,’” he said. “It’s a gift you ponies possess, yet so few of you ever learn to cherish.” He then turned away. “I envy reason; I envy you ponies.”

Pinkie scratched her head in confusion. “I’m lost.”

“Reason is a great thing to have, Pinkie Pie.” He peered through the horizon, hoping to catch a glimpse of the afternoon sun. “Have you ever wondered why of all the living things in the world, only the few ever see it for what it truly is?”

Pinkie sat on her haunches, frowning in cluelessness.

His gaze returned to the mare. “It is because of reason. Reason is what truly allows us to see. You know that lightening is nothing more than a flow of electricity, that dreams are but illusions of the mind, and those stories they told you when you were a filly, represent ponies’ fears and aspirations instead of real historical happenings.” He paused for a moment to sigh heavily. “That death is merely a process of nature.”

“Uhm-hmm…” Pinkie muttered, rubbing her chin in concentration.

“With reason, you not only see the surface of everything, but you see into the heart, the truth about everything,” the hodag emphasized, putting a paw to his chest. “And because of that, you are able to create something out of everything, something that did not originally exist—order, civilization, intellect, knowledge… even friendship.”

So my answer was correct! Sort off…

“Then there is the lack of reason, a terrible thing, especially when you are aware of it,” he continued. “Without reason, there is but fear, instinct, and irrationality to guide you. We, the hodag, are always fearful and driven by instinct. We depend on these things for our survival, and in the end we get nothing but a truly twisted perception of the world. We lack reason; we are insane, if you will—”

“Mr. Hodag?” Pinkie interjected.

“Yes?”

She got on her hooves. “I don’t think that’s the right answer.”

“What did you say?” the hodag asked; he thought he’d heard her wrong.

“I don’t think that’s the right answer to your riddle.” Pinkie felt something coming up inside her. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it revitalized her mane ever so slightly.

The creature raised an eyebrow in doubt. “Why do you say so?”

“Well, you see, not everypony is reasonable…” Pinkie explained, her vanished smile gradually resurfacing. “Just ask my friends! None of them would say I’m reasonable.” The earth pony’s brows creased together. “Even I don’t think I’m reasonable sometimes.”

“There are exceptions to everything, Pinkie, but—”

“And even with the very reasonable ponies, maybe they’re not reasonable at all!” Pinkie interrupted boldly. “They might think they’re reasonable, be deep down they might as crazy as everypony else is!”

“Now I am the one who’s lost, Pinkie,” the hodag acknowledged. “Care to explain your logic?”

Visibly revitalized, the earth pony put on a bowler hat and a monocle, and slapped a fake mustache on her face afterwards. “It is a matter of perspective,” she started with a semi-sophisticated accent.

“Perspective?” the creature questioned. “Reason is all about the truth. You need no perspective when you know the truth.”

“But maybe there is no truth!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Or maybe there is, but everyone can only see a teeny tiny part of it!”

“I understand that our senses can fool us, but—”

“I am friends with a very powerful but also crazy being called Discord! He is the spirit of chaos and disharmony? Can you believe it?!” Pinkie exclaimed, raising her hooves in the air. “Obviously he’s very different from ponies because we like to look for order and rules—that’s why so many ponies choose to be scientists, philosophers, teachers or magicians! We also like everything to be tidy and squeaky clean, but Discord likes everything to be chaotic and messy!”

The hodag snorted. “Then he is surely without reason.”

“Yeah, I thought so a while ago too,” Pinkie remarked. “But”—she held her hooves to her eyes—“that’s because I was seeing the world through pony eyes. Twilight says that we often find patterns and connections when there is none at all! And that got me thinking…” Pinkie’s eyes narrowed, then opened up. “What if we ponies are the ones who are being unreasonable? Maybe from Discord’s point of view, we’re the ones who are crazy because we’re just fooling ourselves by thinking that some kind of order exists in this universe when it’s really just a bunch of unrelated ingredients mixed in a bowl and being constantly stirred by Celestia-knows-who!”

“H-how is that possible?!” the hodag countered; he was startled to see that the earth pony had vanished from sight, and then startled again when she reappeared right next to him.

“Or maybe we are both wrong!” Pinkie continued, her mane getting poofier by the minute. “I mean have you ever wondered if our every move was secretly being dictated by beings from another dimension and what we call reality is actually not reality because it’s a virtual reality created by those beings that are using us to conduct an experiment on virtual reality?”

“Where did you learn all of this?” the hodag asked in disbelief.

“Just some random thoughts,” she simply replied. “But my point is reason might just be another kind of crazy. There is no truth or reason! And even if there is, you probably won’t know about it.”

Poof! The earth pony’s mane had recuperated completely, and her coat had returned to its usual vibrancy. The hodag, on the other hoof, didn’t look so well; most colour drained from his face.

“T-t-then what makes a pony different from… a hodag, for example?” he asked tremulously.

Pinkie Pie put a hoof to his shoulder, which briefly startled the forest dweller. “Nothing, Mister Hodag! In my opinion, every living thing is just making something… out of something else—Mister Hodag? Yoo-hoo! Hmm… Where did he go?”

It had been mostly silent after Rarity invoked some sort of collective depression among the hodags. After some intense discussion, it was decided that Discord was to be summoned if Pinkie Pie did not return within five minutes.

“La, la la, la la.”

“Fluttershy, this isn’t a really good time to sing”, Twilight said over her shoulders.

“Oh, that wasn’t me,” she replied. “That sounded like Pinkie.”

“Oh… Pinkie. Pinkie?!”

And the yellow pegasus was not wrong, for in the distance could be seen a rapidly approaching earth pony and her unmistakable mane, jumping out of the undergrowth on second, and disappearing into it the next. The leader of the hodags, however, was nowhere to be seen.

“Pinkie!” her friends gushed, rushing to hug the party pony who had been gone for what seemed to be ages.

“Did you solve the riddle?” Rainbow asked frantically. “Did you?”

“Not really.”

In unison, they drew their heads back and let out horrified gasps.

Pinkie scratched her head in embarrassment. “But… I kind of changed the answer.” She blinked slyly. “I aced it.” And that caused her friends to erupt in cheers, tossing the triumphant party pony in the air.

“Stop this all at once!” a hodag, the leader’s second-in-command shouted, cutting their celebration short. “How is that even possible?!”

“It is too possible!” Rainbow Dash refuted gloriously.

Aggravated, the creature left his arboreal resting place and approached the friends in a menacing, prowling posture. “Where is Master?”

“He disappeared!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Disappeared?!” both the hodag and her friends gasped in shock.

“Yeah. What a bummer… I was going to tell him about—”

In another shift of mood, the creature went from angry to downright crestfallen, and it seemed that his grin would never again reappear. “Master has moved on…” He angled his head up at his comrades. “Master has moved on!”

“Pinkie,” Applejack said, “Ah don’t quite get what’s goin’ on—” The earth pony was cut off by the hodag, who stared at the friends with an expression worth a thousand words.

“I release you,” he muttered sombrely.

“You… yer lettin’ us go?” Applejack asked, not completely believing what she was hearing.

Her question was unanswered. The hodag turned and crawled away, dragging his heavy tail behind him. “Move out, my brothers!” he shouted, and one by one, his companions descended from the trees, all of them without any readable expressions. A couple of them slithered pass the ponies, but not once did they stop to glance at them. Twilight caught a glimpse of their eyes, and all she could say was that they looked… soulless.

“Pinkie Pie, you are officially awesome!” Rainbow decreed.

“Whatever did you manage to beat that monster at his own game, much less make him… disappear?” Rarity asked in disbelief.

“Just what in tarnation happened back there?” Applejack asked, equally dumbfounded.

“Oh, it was just a hunch,” the party pony replied before merrily bouncing away. “Come on, everypony!” She beamed back at her flabbergasted friends. “I’ll tell you on the way!”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “A… a hunch… “Right…”

Pinkie spent the next one hour imparting her friends on her remarkable confrontation with the leader of the hodags. “And that was how Equestria was made—oops, I mean… how I won the game!” she finished gloriously.

“I wonder where that monster went…” Rarity said to herself.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say he’s a monster, Rarity. He’s actually quite nice once you get to know him. And sad…”

“Well, we kinda ran into the same situation,” Applejack remarked, giving Rarity a provocative nudge to the side.

“Please, Applejack,” the unicorn exclaimed impatiently. “How was I to know? I thought villains were supposed to be narcissistic!”

Twilight shook her head. “I think there’s more to them than meets the eye. Have any of you noticed that they have the eyes of a—”

“Good news, everypony!” Rainbow Dash gushed as she descended from the sky. “I saw the meadows up there! If we pick up the pace, we might be able to exit the forest tomorrow afternoon, or even before that!”

Applejack cheered happily. “Ah can’t wait to be back on open ground again! All this forest-trekkin’ is makin’ my hooves ache.”

“And I can’t wait to fly again!” Rainbow added, even though she was hovering when she said that.

“Alright, gang! Let’s make a little more progress before we settle down for the night,” Twilight exclaimed, leading her friends onward at a quickened pace.

Over the course of a few hours, the sky had become a dim blue, and the forest alive with a myriad of nocturnal sounds. Like the night before, the party found themselves a clearing, and what followed were the events of last night replayed: Applejack and Rainbow set up their shelter, Twilight and Spike foraged, and the others collected firewood.

Applejack was the last to sit down by the fire. When she did, she was holding a basket of small, circular objects.

Rarity rubbed her eyes. “Are those raspberries?”

“Ah found ’em back there,” she said, pointing to a nearby bush. “Thought ya’ll might be tired of eatin’ leaves—”

“Oh, that was most considerate of you, Applejack,” Rarity said fondly as she levitated a couple of the dainty fruits. “They certainly look much more delectable than the coarse undergrowth—ewww!”

“Ah was about to say that they might be a tad sour.”

The seven friends dinned and chatted happily, reliving everything that had happened ever since they left Ponyville five days ago. Everypony was exhausted after two full days of travel and at least one brush with death, leaving them with little energy to speculate on what lies ahead.

But it felt right for now, with everyone side by side with one another—far from home, but in each other’s company, and alive.

Nightfall descended upon the land, and most of the travellers, tired from this laborious day, retired early to the comfort of their shelter. Only Twilight and Spike remained by the campfire, the latter lying comfortably to the latter’s side.

The alicorn had seemingly reverted back to her older self, as after dinner, not once did the Epiphany leave her hooves. Spike could tell she was absorbed, to say the least, though unlike her, he wasn’t too certain about how much that would assist them in dealing with the Seraphians.

The dragon let out a drawn-out, fatigued yawn. “Aren’t you going to bed? We’re going to the meadows tomorrow.”

“Soon, Spike,” Twilight said, her eyes still glued to the pages of the holy book. “I’m about to finish this section. There are… twenty pages left! That’s not too much, hehe!”

Curious, Spike peered over her shoulder. “What’s this part about?”

“Something about an alicorn defying the will of Seraph,” Twilight answered. “And thus begins the great fragmentation.”

Spike’s brows creased together. “That doesn’t sound so good.” He let out another yawn. “I’m going to bed, Twilight. Don’t stay up too late.”

“Spike.”

The dragon turned around to see Twilight finally looking at something else besides the book. Getting on her hooves, she gently pulled her assistant in for a hug. “I’m glad that you came with us,” she said with sincerity. “Sorry I shot it down right away when—”

“Aw, I know you were just worried about me, Twilight,” Spike said, hugging the alicorn back.

Twilight had a lot of things to say to him, but decided that it could wait until another time, so she simply broke the hug and smiled. “Good night, Spike.”

As the dragon left the campfire, he spun his head around one more time and not surprisingly, Twilight was backing burying herself in that book. Oh well, she’s just being Twilight. But perhaps she wasn’t the only one who hadn’t retired yet, for not too far from their shelter, there sat a lone, porcelain unicorn. Moonlight filtered through the canopy, making her elegant figure shimmer in the darkness.

And she was absolutely beautiful.

Spike felt another yawn coming up. Part of him wanted nothing but a good night’s rest. Another part of him… Come on, Spike! Now’s your time to spend some time alone with Rarity! Uh… well… Twilight’s still awake, but she’s busy with her reading!

She turned to him, gracing the dragon with a delightful smile. It was too good to be true; but it was. “May this lady have the pleasure of enjoying this beautiful night sky with her favourite dragon?”

“Anything for you,” Spike answered. There were hearts in his eyes as he felt the end of his tail spinning in the air like a rotor, propelling him ethereally to Rarity’s side. There was a gap in the foliage overhead, which just happened to offer an unobstructed view of the moon.

“I suppose the wilderness is not a total nightmare after all,” Rarity remarked. “This view is simply magnificent.”

Spike looked upon the gleaming sphere. “It’s a shame all these trees are blocking the view. Otherwise we could see all the stars too.”

Rarity faced him and smiled slightly. “Perhaps it is, but sometimes, Spike, beautiful things are even more charming when they’re partially concealed. It makes you wonder what the whole picture is like.”

Well, you’re beautiful no matter if you’re concealed or not.

“What a day!” Spike sighed relaxedly.

“I’d say,” Rarity concurred. “To quote a certain pegasus, this is something straight out of an adventure novel!”

“But you know what surprised me the most?” Spike asked enthusiastically; he did not wait for an answer. “Everypony’s been so… brave… and able. I mean, Pinkie saved us from becoming hodag food!”

Rarity nodded thoroughly. “I do so believe that I have to re-evaluate Pinkie Pie as a pony; she proved us all wrong.”

“And did you hear what Applejack and Rainbow Dash was talking about during lunch? I’ve never seen them like that!” Spike added, his voice full of admiration. “And then there’s Fluttershy who discovered the Epiphany, and Twilight’s the know-it-all she’s always been, and you… you…” Ugh! Off all the situations to run out of words to say!

Rarity lovingly rubbed the back of his head. “You don’t need to shower me with underserved praise, Spike. After all, my contribution has been rather limited thus far—”

“Nonsense, Rarity! You’ve done tons of things and… and…” he trailed off.

The unicorn blinked fondly. “And what, Spike?”

“And… you know… it’s just really nice having you around…” Spike muttered nervously, wringing his claws. “If anyone’s contributed little, it’s me! I’m not even sure why I’m having these visions, or what they mean,” he immediately added in hopes of digressing from what he said moments prior.

Rarity graced him with another smile. “The other day, I told Fluttershy that I believe this quest will bring out the best in all of us,” she said with utter resolution. “Your time will come, Spike. Nopony will be the same after this quest, but it will be for the better, that I am sure of.”

That somehow made Spike feel a pang of apprehension inside.

“Rarity, you really think we’ll make it?”

The white unicorn’s smile dropped as she wrapped her foreleg around the dragon. “I’ll be honest with you, Spike: I am still a little scared of what’s to come.”

“Me too,” Spike admitted, leaning closer to her.

“But”—her smile returned—“no matter what happens, we’ll still have each other, won’t we, Spike?”

They met each other’s gazes. Spike wondered what Rarity was thinking; he certainly knew what he was: the unicorn was impossibly angelic, words failed to capture the full extent of her beauty.

“Hey you two, time for bed,” a voice from behind called out; Spike and Rarity jumped a little.

Way to ruin the mood, Twilight. I thought you had twenty pages left.

Rarity reluctantly got up and followed the alicorn to their shelter, but not before she gave the dragon a quick nuzzle on the cheek, making him trail after her with a smitten look.

And all was silent, except for the crackle of burning wood and the occasional noises produced by the forest’s inhabitants.