Diamond Tiara of The Royal Guard

One of the problems with The Everfree Forest was the weather could be unpredictable. In Ponyville -- and most of Equestria, for that matter -- was actually controlled by the ponies and planned ahead. It could be irksome at times, and there was an issue if the weather team messed up, but there was an upside. Since weather was planned in advance, most ponies could schedule plans around it. There was no such advantage with The Everfree Forest. Nopony could guess what the weather in it would be from day to day. Most of the time, the weather only mattered if it threatened to head toward Ponyville.

Thus, six ponies found themselves walking through the forest as it rained.

Back in the previously mentioned Ponyville, there had been a few clouds, but scattered and with no chance of rain. As the six went further along the path, the sky grew darker. None of them noticed immediately, thinking it was more the path being covered by the canopy of the trees above them more than anything else. Soon, it began to sprinkle. Small, barely noticeable droplets of water fell, hitting the ponies.

"Oh, no," Diamond Tiara said. "It's starting to rain. We do not have the proper supplies to deal with this. We should head back to town and reschedule the expedition for another day."

"Wow," Featherweight said, eyes wide. "When did you become such a chicken?"

Diamond Tiara stopped, her body tensing. She turned around and narrowed her eyes to glare at the pegasus.

"What...did you just call me?" she growled.

Featherweight shifted, casually checking over his camera before replying.

"All I'm saying is that the Diamond Tiara I remember wouldn't have let a little rain stop her."

"True," Diamond Tiara admitted, "but you seem to be forgetting: the Diamond Tiara you remember would either have forced somepony like you to give her your umbrella or manage to send somepony out into the rain to get her an umbrella."

Featherweight gave a slight nod. That was true. While not in the same context, he did have direct experience working for her, and had seen how manipulative she could be.

"We can't go back," Dusty Tomes stated. "We have a schedule to keep to and limited time. As such, we need to get as accomplished as possible. To that end, delaying for hours is out of the question, to say nothing of a full day."

Of course, Diamond Tiara thought, rolling her eyes. She lifted her head to get better look at the sky and clouds above them.

"Do any of you know anything about weather?" she asked.

"I do," Rumble answered. "My brother used to be a part of the Ponyville weather team. I don't like to brag, bu-"

"Yes, you do," Dinky interrupted.

"... but he even managed to become manager," Rumble finished, giving Dinky a sour look.

"Can you tell how bad it's going to be?" Diamond Tiara asked, looking at the clouds ahead.

Rumble moved forward and stared at the sky. His wings spread out, stretching as wide as he could to feel the air currents. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. The others watched silently, waiting for him to answer.

"I have no idea," he finally responded. "The clouds are definitely thicker up ahead, so we're probably going to have to pass right through the center of the storm. I can't tell how hard the rain is going to be or for how long though."

Diamond Tiara nodded, thinking about it.

Probably won't stop before we have to pass through it.

"Okay," she said, "we'll keep some shield spells ready. Not a big one, just enough to create the equivalent of an umbrella if the rain gets too heavy. If we're lucky, we'll miss the worst of it and the storm will discourage the other animals from leaving their dens until it passes."

"And if we aren't lucky?" Bright Ideas asked.

"Then some pony eating creature or other will snack on us while we are caught in the worst part of a torrential downpour."

"This place isn't really that dangerous, is it?" Bright Idea asked.

Before any of the other ponies could answer, the sound of a long, deep, baying reached their ears, causing the ponies to all tense up.

"If it's any consolation," Dinky said with a comforting smile, "what she's talking about is probably, like, second or third worst case scenario."

Bright Idea stopped and turned to look at Dinky fully, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.

"What's the worst case scenario, then?"

*****

Six ponies were spread out all over the path, hailstones pelting their bodies. None of them were dead, yet, but it was only a matter of time.

Professor Dusty Tomes laid on his back, eyes wide and blood running from the corner of his mouth. One of his front hooves pushed into his abdomen as he tried to force his intestines back in, the fact that they were torn open not even registering. His chest rose and fell as he tried to breathe, finding it hard to get enough air.

His assistant, Bright Idea hung from the mouth of a timberwolf. The creature had given its head a hard shake, snapping her neck. Unfortunately, it was not well enough to kill her instantly. Instead, she was forced to dangle from the jaw helplessly. Although she should have been entirely numb from having the connections to the rest of her body severed, Bright Idea still felt pain in her legs and back. Everything was slowly turning blurry as blackness slipped into the edges of her vision.

Featherweight laid curled up in a ball on the ground, shivering. He clutched at one of his front legs, the sharp splintered edge of bone sticking out of the flesh from the elbow. Fragments also stuck out from one of Featherweight's wing, the appendage twisted into a shape that would make it impossible to fly. A deep red foam formed around his mouth, growing larger with each exhalation before being rinsed away by the freezing cold rain.

Jaw tense and eyes narrowed, Rumble stared at the manticore in front of him. One wing stretched out wide, spread as far as he could get it, the other lay on the ground where it had fallen after being torn off. With each rapid beat of his heart, blood spurted from where the limb had been attached and oozed down over the armor. Furrows tore through the metal that protected the stallion's shoulder, exposing the sensitive and fragile flesh underneath. One of his hind legs was swollen and red, the limb numb and oozing yellow from the sting of the manticore's scorpion tail.

Diamond Tiara held the bleeding stump that had once been a foreleg close to her body, her other front leg shaking as she tried to balance her weight on it. Her teeth held tight around the handle of the sword as she stared at the cragadiles moving toward her, one still holding the remains of her missing limb between its teeth. Her gaze shifted back and forth between them, trying to keep track of them all. Her balance was already precarious, and the loss of another limb would guarantee her falling. Diamond Tiara had no interest in dying, and certainly not by being torn apart by toothy reptiles.

Pressing a hoof against her throat, Dinky Hooves tried to stop the bleeding from the gash on her neck. One eye stared at the ursa as the other stared at the ground at her feet. This was not because of a genetic condition like her mother, but because the eyeball was dangling from its socket. The fact that it was still attached by the nerves and functional was the smallest of miracles. A swat from the massive creature had torn off half of the unicorn's face, including the muscles and flesh that had covered the now exposed socket. Her horn sparked and sputtered with magic, but pain and panic kept her from focusing enough to actually cast anything. Worst of all was a horrible realization.

They were not going to make it out of this alive.

Even if they were somehow able to defeat all the creatures that were attacking, all of them were too injured to survive. Those that were still able to move would pass out from blood loss and die before getting medical help. That was assuming they were not attacked again by some other predator, which would most likely happen. Predators could detected wounded prey.

A roar drew Dinky's attention. Her good eye went wide as the ursa reared up and swung one of its massive paws down toward her head.

*****

With a shake of her head and quick cough to clear her throat, Dinky Hooves brought herself back to the present. Smiling, she placed a hoof gently on Bright Idea's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," Dinky said. She gave a gentle pat then moved to walk ahead.

Bright Idea watched the other unicorn walk away. Her own pace shifted, moving to walk alongside Professor Dusty Tomes.

"Maybe we should wait and come back another day," she suggested. "We could take the opportunity to do some research on the local flora and fauna, maybe pack some additional supplies as well."

"We have a schedule to keep," Professor Tomes reiterated. "Besides, I'm sure what ever we come across will be sufficiently handled. I wouldn't even have waited for the guard escort if it hadn't been insisted upon. This is a place where Princess Twilight Sparkle had gone to multiple times after all."

Bright Idea's eyes went wide, as her jaw fell open. She stared at the professor a moment in shock.

"You think we'll be okay," she sputtered out, "because a pony that became a princess by defeating powerful evils that wanted to take over Equestria was able to make it through, even though she needed help from five other ponies to do it?"

"When you say it like that," he said, "it does sound rather silly. All the same, my point remains. Our time is limited and ponies have been making this trip for years. Quite honestly, the fact that no others from Canterlot have done so is quite a disappointment. Think of all the early and pre-Equestria information we might be able to find."

"I'm suddenly feeling a lot less certain about this expedition," Bright Idea whispered to herself as she stepped away from the professor and walked along somewhat by herself.