The Crystal

A sweet milkshake was gently placed on the wooden table before a cyan hoof claimed it for herself. Following this, four more drinks landed on the surface before they too were taken by hooves of various colors. A fifth drink, larger than the rest, never made it to the table as it was already in grasp of its owner, who had a pink hoof.

The Elements of Harmony were gathered inside a sweets cafe enjoying each others company whilst they discussed personal matters that had transpired recently. The topic would be on whomever spoke first, and this time, the pony of benevolent arrogance opened her mouth first. “Nothing has really happened recently around here, Ponyville is starting to look dull again!”

Pinkie squiggled her hoof in a teasing yet forewarning fashion, “Famous last words!” She snickered before her eyes shot wide open and smiled formed on her face. “Oh yeah, I’m working on a new pastry!” Pinkie slammed her drink on the table her voice traveling faster than her thoughts. “Its gonna be a cupcake with a cream filling! I’m still trying to work out the filling though, it has to be just right! Not too thick, but not runny either, and it’s also not supposed to be sour, but I’ll…”

Shutting Pinkie out of her thoughts, AppleJack’s ears rose up when a memory clicked in her head, “Speaking of food,” She said drawing the attention of the others, “Ah for one am excited for Apple Bucking Day!” her expression softened in her state of reminiscing, “Oh that is one of my favorite times of the year, plenty of goods ta bake and sell!” Applejack sipped at her apple soda-vanilla float, concluding her announcement.

Rainbow Dash, who sat across from AJ, raised an eyebrow. “Yeah... okay then.” With no comment to build on the topic, she turned her attention towards Rarity as she was placing down her strawberry shake.

Rarity twirled her straw around the cup in mirthful thoughts, “I finally finished restoring some of those chicly decorations from the old castle,” She poked the straw at the air to make her point. “And I do believe it’s high time we really work to spruce that place up a bit!” The straw had a thick shake inside it from which she proceeded to suck clean before sticking it back into the cup.

A quiet voice made itself known, partly hidden behind a banana frosty. “That would be nice, it’s a quiet nearby getaway...”

“But Flutters dear, you already live on the edge of town.” Inquired Rarity repeating the tube cleaning action again.

Fluttershy shrank back into her seat a bit, “I know, but Angel says I need to take a break from the animals every once and a while... They have been getting restless lately, but I can't figure out why…” Fluttershy had barely touched her drink which was beginning to melt.

An empty glass covered in a lavender glow made an impact on the wood harder than necessary, startling the few around her. Its owner had wolfed the drink down to the last drop, “Ahhhh…” Twilight leaned back for a moment to let herself breathe before building on the topic, “That sounds like an excellent idea Rarity! The princesses’ diary advocated that there were many secrets built into the castle, so I’m sure we might discover something interesting in the process!” She stood up straight in her chair in an attempt to overlook her companions, but suddenly the downed shake came back to bite her in the flank with a brainfreeze. “Gah! Owww…” With a quick spell the freeze vanished. But not without her friends chuckling and giggling at the display of gluttony's price. “That said we should probably gather our cleaning supplies and get over there ASAP!”

“Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed with her fourth drink in hoof held up high. “Field Trip!”

The rest of her friends examined the slice of the table which belonged to their pink friend, where three extra large milkshake glasses (each being a different flavor) stood empty and dry.

“Pinkie,” Rainbow proclaimed with her face expressing wonder. “You must teach me your ways of eating...”

“My young cupcake,” She began to bounce out the room with a martial arts bandana on her head. “You are not ready.”

Rainbow pleaded her case. “But I can eat a whole meal in ten seconds flat as is!”

“But, my young grasshopper, that is why you fail!” Pinkie giggled as if something funny was said then disappeared through the door, leaving a disgruntled Dash behind.

By the time they saw her again they had gathered by the entrance to the Everfree Forest with carts full of cleaning supplies. Rarity had brought a cart full of refurbished decorations and tarps rather than disinfectants.

Applejack felt she was at a safe distance from her for a snarky remark. “Wow, you pulled a cart by yourself, Rares?”

A small laugh was then shared among friends, and even Rarity couldn't deny the truth behind it. “We- heh heh -ll, I didn't want to interupt Spikes nap.” she cleared her throat from laughing mid sentence.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “He would be here, but for some reason he felt insistent on not coming, he also said that it was a ‘bad idea’...” Switching the topic, she peered inside the fabric cart. “Are any of these original?”

“Absolutely!” Rarity proclaimed, standing proudly. “It wasn't easy, but everything is patched together, and the designs were copied down as well.” Rarity pulled the tarp that was protecting the beautifully crafted fabric pieces off. “I could even make a brand new one if I ever so desired. Oh! I even brought some tapestries to patch up some holes in the ceiling and add a bit of a flare!”

Twilight looked to her friends for approval. “Well, if everypony is ready?” -Nods of confirmation she received in turn- “Then let's go!”

Traveling through the forest was safer than one would think. The general rule was that so long you stuck to the path, predators will seldom cross yours. It was quiet, however. As a forest of strange and unusual phenomenon, the silence was not one of it’s fortes. The ponies noticed this ominous atmosphere giving the forest trek an overflowing feeling of tension.

Fluttershy was the first to notice this. “Umm, do you girls think the forest is a bit...quiet?”

Her answer came rather quickly from Rainbow. “Yeah, its kinda creepy…”

While AppleJack was just as creeped out as anypony else, one could not resist the chance to stab at Dash’s pride. “Does the forest scare ya still-”

“No!” Her retaliation was quick and arrogant, but short lived as a breeze made the leaves and branches rustling in a mezzo piano symphony of foreshadows. Rainbow’s voice slipped back into something more timid. “But, theres a difference between scary, and creepy…” Despite this lack of activity, the six continued onward.

After a long period of silence, Applejack stretched her neck for a nonspecific reason and in doing so, asked a specific question. “So, if this here forest was once a thriving city back when the castle was in it’s hayday, then where in the wide blue yonder did it come from?”

Ever the smart one to follow up on such a question, Twilight responded. “That is actually one of the biggest mysteries known to pony kind. Some believe the forest is the aftermath of Discords reign, others theorize it was a curse from Nightmare Moon, but I think that it grew from the tree of harmony as a way to protect and conceal itself.”

AppleJack answered in doubt. “Really now? Ya’ll sure about that?”

Twilight nodded. “Even Celestia thinks that it has intelligence, but so far nothing has been definitive.” Twilight’s brow constricted in thought.

Fluttershy spoke up, barely audible through her mane.“Makes sense to me...If the sisters were protecting me from something big and dangerous... and something that caused Nightmare Moon left me all alone...than I can see myself trying to hide, but not in a big scary forest...I’m sorry but that’s just my opinion...”

“Of course,” Rainbow Dash exasperated. “You would be the one to hide, the only thing you don't hide from is an average animal.”

“Oh? Then what would you do?” In Fluttershy’s defence Rarity posed a challenge. “You can't really fly away, you're a tree!”

Rainbow met this challenge with creative but illogical reasoning. “I would use my tree powers to create a super awesome mega fortress that would protect me from anypony that was after me!” She floated proudly in the air at this flawless plan.

Rarity’s voice was blatant as was her expression. “That’s not much different than hiding...”

Realizing that she was right, but not willing to admit it, she covered the stain with an overused comeback. “It’s hiding...with 20% more style!”

Pinkie bounced in joy at her version of tree self-defence. “Oh! Oh! I know what I would do! I would use my supertree power to surround me with other trees, so no pony would know I was any different than the others….But then I could throw a super-duper-tree party and invite all the little forest animals so that we could play!” Pinkie bounced with enthusiasm at her idea.

Twilight stared at her with astonishment. “Th-Thats actually a decent theory, just with aggressive monsters, darker intentions, and a signal of some sort instead of a party!”

“I’m surprised we didn't notice the giant cave where it was sooner, then again we seldom went out there back then, it was so dirty and unwelcoming, in fact, it still is!” An acute observation from Rarity.

Followed by another, made by AJ, “Actually, Ah wonder why the hay we weren't told sooner about that gosh darn tree, Ah would think the Princess would tell us before it became an emergency.”

“Well...” Flutters said. “None of us ever asked…”

Twilight disagreed. “I distinctly remember asking her that very question multiple times and now that I know she knew about it…” She began to mumble words of confusion about the subject, prompting it to end.

"Does anypony hear hooves?"

The question was answered as the Cutie Mark Crusaders bursted through slamming into Applejack w3ho was knocked over with the three fillies on top of her. "APPLEBLOOM/SCOOTS/SWEETIE BELLE!?" The three fillies rubbed their necks with their hooves while also letting out nervous chuckles.

"What are you three doing out here?" Twilight asked while staring at the three with an eyebrow raised.

The three then began to blabber out what they saw but couldn't be understood from talking so fast. They were stopped by Twilight clamping their mouths close with her magic. "I am going to let go and then you will slowly tell me what you are doing here." The three nodded their heads causing Twilight to let go of their mouths.

The rubbed their mouths then opened to speak only for their eyes to widen casuing them to shake. "Are you three ok?"

Their answer was to point behind them. The girl's were confused but turned only for their eye's to widen as they saw a bipedal creature twenty yards away staring at them. "It found us." Applebloom voiced out.