The Crystal

”CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS POTION BREWERS, YAY!”

By this point in time, the village of Ponyville was used to the deafening trio of screams that suddenly burst out from the CMC-clubhouse. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had seemingly thought up yet another plan to discover their talents and thus earn their cutie marks. Their ongoing quest was common knowledge among the villagers. The majority of them had already fallen prey to their different attempts to help them with their jobs and professions. More often than not, the results were disastrous. The young fillies always meant well, though, so the villagers took it in stride.

The crusaders’ plans were mostly harmless, usually taking place within the safe borders of Ponyville. But the fillies' plan today was anything but safe. Today, their quest led them to one of the most dangerous areas in Equestria. The great forest that was located just outside the borders of Ponyville: The Everfree Forest.

“Are you sure about this, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked somewhat nervously. The excitement that had filled her voice during her and her friends’ shout from before was gone without a trace.

“Oh come on! Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts,” the purple-maned pegasus replied, skipping several steps ahead of her two friends. “Potion brewing just HAS to be our talent. We made that love potion during Hearts and Hooves Day perfectly on our first try!”

“First of all, it was a love POISON that almost ruined Miss Cheerliee’s and Big McIntosh’s life!” Apple Bloom replied, the memories of the two ponies’ gross flirting making her gag. “Secondly, while I think potion brewing could be our special talent too, I’m not so sure about searching for ingredients inside the Everfree Forest.”

By this point, the crusaders had arrived near the borders of the forest. None of them could recall how many times the adults have told them to stay away from it by now. Judging by the many nightmarish creatures that dwelled within, their warnings were undoubtedly well-founded. Scootaloo just gave her friends a mock laugh and continued on.

“Hah! We’ve been inside there by ourselves before while visiting Zecora. Besides, it’s not like we’re planning to go that far in. We're just going to get a few pieces of bark, some flowers, and whatever else we find.”

“And how will we ever be able to make potions out of those kinds of things?” Sweetie Belle asked. Scootaloo gave the young unicorn a deadpan look.

“If we could make a love potion out of clouds, rainbows, and pegasus feathers, I’m sure we could make something out of flowers and bark. Especially considering that pretty much anything that comes from Everfree Forest must be special or magical in some way.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked over their shoulders towards Ponyville. Both of them were thinking of the same thing: the huge scolding they would receive from their families once they found out where they had been. Apple Bloom’s sister Applejack and Sweetie Belle’s sister Rarity would be especially angry. Still, it wasn't like they were planning on looking for dangerous animals or anything.

“Well, I guess it’ll be all right as long as we stay within eyesight of the village,” Apple Bloom eventually responded. “Maybe we can-“

Her thoughts were instantly interrupted when a huge explosion suddenly rose from the forest, leaving the crusaders shaking together in a tight embrace. For what must at least have been a few minutes, they simply sat on the grass, petrified. Their eyes focused on the darkness that once again covered the inner forest. They were all expecting something to suddenly rush out and attack them, but silence once again reigned over the area as the last thunder faded away.

The fillies' embrace remained strong for a few more moments before Scootaloo decided that she'd had enough. She broke free from her friends' grip and promptly rushed into the forest.

“Wa… wai… wait!” Sweetie Belle finally managed to force out, her heart still pounding in fear. It was a miracle that none of them had passed out from fright.

“Come on!” Scootaloo yelled back, her voice clearly trembling from a combination of terror and excitement. “Whatever that was, we could be the first to discover it! We could become famous in a day!”

Sweetie Belle still hadn’t recovered enough to move, let alone run after her friend into the most dangerous forest in Equestria. Apple Bloom, however, was seemingly made of sterner stuff as she soon rushed after the pegasus.

“Scootaloo, stop!” she shouted after her friend as she ran. “You said we weren't going to go that far in! Are you even listening?! Hey, Scootaloo!”

Sweetie Belle sat for a few seconds and watched her friends disappear within the shadow of the trees, Apple Bloom's yells growing more and more distant as the two of them ran further in. Realizing that she was being left behind, she shook her head fiercely before pursuing them as well.

"I said WAIT!" Apple Bloom shouted as she made a latch-ditch effort to jump at Scootaloo after finally catching up to her. The effort paid off as she managed to knock the pegasus to the ground, finally putting an end to her friend's running.

"Ow!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she rubbed her head. "Was that really necessary?!"

"It wouldn't have been if you just listened to me and stopped on your own!" Apple Bloom answered with a noticeable amount of irritation. Behind her, Sweetie Belle finally caught up with the two, but she was too busy panting in exhaustion to contribute anything to the conversation.

"Why are you so worked up for? I know where we're... going..." Scootaloo trailed off as she realized that she, in fact, had no idea where they were. The vegetation around them was so tightly grown that barely any sunlight made it past the trees' crowns to light up the fillies' surroundings. Scootaloo offered her friends a sheepish smile, which Apple Bloom answered with a facehoof.

"Hehe, whoops," the pegasus laughed nervously. "But hey, it's no problem! I'm sure we can find our way back. Miss Cheerilee said something about following your own hoofprints when-"

A shadow suddenly dashed between the trees in front of her, and her words came to a grinding halt as she began to look around the area. Her sudden behavior was quickly noted by her friends.

"What... are you..." Sweetie forced out between breaths, finally able to actually talk after her rush.

“Quiet!” Scootaloo hissed back. Her friends noticed the serious expression on her face, something they nearly never saw her wearing. Scootaloo was looking all around her now, the sound of footsteps around them now audible when her friends were silenced. It didn't take long before several green eyes suddenly revealed themselves in the shadows. Growls and even an occasional howl could be heard as canine-like wood creatures revealed themselves.

"Timberwolves!" Apple Bloom shouted in terror. Sweetie Belle let out a loud scream and hugged her friends in a desperate attempt to calm herself. Granny Smith’s tales of the mysterious and vicious creatures had become a legend among her classmates after the old mare had told them her story during Family Appreciation Day. While her story at school had sounded exciting and adventurous, Granny Smith told Apple Bloom in detail afterwards about how dangerous the creatures actually were. If she had not managed to find and clang a couple of metal pots together all those years ago, the wolves would've caught and devoured her for sure.

"Y-Y-You wouldn't happen to have a pot or two with you, AB?" Scootaloo stammered. It wasn't common for her friends to see her scared like this, but nopony had any intention of making fun of her this time.

"E-E-Eeynope."

"Great... J-Just great."

The wolves walked around them in circles, closing the gap between them and the fillies slowly but surely. All the while, they were snarling and biting at each other, as if they were arguing over who would make the first launch. The fillies knew there was no way out, and thus they simply tightened their embrace and closed their eyes while waiting for the wolves to make their move.

One of the wolves finally broke free from the rest of the pack. It rushed towards the fillies and leaped into the air in order to pounce on its meal.

A loud crack sounded throughout the area. As the three fillies closed their eyes in fear, the wolf that had pounced at them suddenly exploded in shards of wood. The branches that made up its body flew through the air, one of them embedding itself into a nearby tree, nearly piercing itself through the entire trunk. It took a moment for the wolves to realize what had just happened, looking around at the pieces of their fallen comrade in surprise before turning their attention back toward the fillies. Instead of growling in anger however, the whole pack was instantly silenced.

Still shaking, the three fillies opened their eyes to see what had delayed their certain demise. What they saw made all of them let out a unified gasp.

They a saw a bipedal creature standing in front of them. It's body was black with a skeleton like bone around it. It had a dark like flame on it. The left arm was white while the right was black. It also had it's left arm up before lowering it back to its side.

A few of the younger wolves started to back away from the creature, the consequence of their friend’s last attack still fresh in their mind. Their retreat was soon halted by a sharp bark from their pack leader, who growled furiously at the blue creature before letting out loud howl. One by one, the other wolves began to join in with their own howls, and soon enough, the entire pack was in on it.

It was then that all of them, much to the fillies shock and disbelief, started to glow green. Their bodies slowly shattered into pieces as their branches began to attach themselves to the pack leader. Even a few stumps and old trees floated in over the fillies' heads as the monstrosity in front of the blue creature continuously grew in size. Giants claws dug themselves into the earth as they sunk deeper and deeper down into the soil from their owner's weight.

Once it was all over, the fillies didn't even dare to gulp as the now giant timberwolf let out a thundering roar. It's sickening breath came out of its mouth in a trail of dark green smoke, packing the punch of a powerful, stinking gust of wind. Drops of nectar dropped from its fangs as its lowered its head to look at the surely horrified expression on the creature's face.

The creature stared at the wolf without moving its body while the timberwolf turned and ran off.

Before long, the forest was quiet once more, save for the sound of the fillies’ shaking breaths. The creature stared after the fleeing wolf for a minute or two, making sure that it wouldn’t suddenly come running back. It eventually turned its head toward the fillies behind him, who were staring at it with hanging jaws. They saw it's eyes or at least where it's eyes were, was only white with no pupils.

The creature took a step while the fillies took a step back in fear causing the creature to stop walking as it simply stared at them.

"RUN FOR IT!" The three fillies yelled as they rushed past the creature who simply watched them run off with it's eyes.