“Are you sure I can’t read one of those books now?” Twilight asked as she and Flash finished their dinner of flowers and berries. After their crash landing, the group had spent most of the day traveling deeper into the Everfree Forest. Thankfully, it seemed that Flash’s plan had worked, as no guards had come into the forest, or at least not near where the trio had been traveling.

Spike had alternated riding on the two ponies; his small stature and short legs made it difficult for him to travel through the thick undergrowth. Besides a snake that had momentarily wrapped up Spike and scared Twilight half to death, they had thankfully avoided encounters with the hostile members of the forest. Eventually, they found a small clearing where they set up camp. It was a good thing that the Ladies had given Flash an enchanted bag with camping supplies, including a tent, flint and steel, lots of rope, blankets, and three sleeping mats.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Flash said, finishing his own meal before continuing to finish up the camps defenses. Most of them were simple strings with bells to alert the three of them if a creature was nearby. Twilight had cast a few spells that would repel some smaller critters like snakes and bugs, and also a silencing spell so creatures outside the camp wouldn’t hear them. “We need to keep moving tomorrow as soon as the sun comes up, and I would really rather that you not be half asleep all day tomorrow. You may have alicorn endurance now, but even you need to sleep. We need to constantly be alert for danger during the day.”

“Wouldn't we need to be more worried about the night?” Spike asked. “I mean, isn’t that when some of the biggest predators come out to hunt?”

“Actually, Timberwolves are more common during the day,” Flash replied. “And they are by far the most numerous creature in this forest. There are plenty of predators that are active at all times of the day. The only real difference the night makes is that they rely more on hearing and smell than on sight. And since we haven’t bathed, we smell just like the forest. We should be ok so long as we don’t cause too much of a disturbance.”

“How do you know so much about this place?” Spike asked.

“It was required reading to become a Butler. I never really understood why it was, but I am kinda glad I passed that portion of the test.” Nodding once, Flash turned away from the completed warning bells and walked back over to the two ponies. “We should go to sleep soon.” Twilight and Spike nodded in agreement. Soon the fire was put out and the three made their way to the tent. Spike, despite having walked the least, was the first one asleep. Flash was about to close his eyes when her heard Twilight speak.

“Hey… Flash?”

“Yes Twilight?” Flash asked, sitting up to look at the mare. She had been strangely quiet all day, but he thought it best to leave her alone to sort out her thoughts. She had been through a lot recently. However, he was happy to hear her ask about the books since it made her sound like herself, rather than the mopey alicorn she had been most of the day.

“How long…do you think we’ll need to stay out here?” Her voice was filled with concern and a bit of anxiety.

“I don’t know,” he said, placing a hoof on hers reassuringly. “But once we’re a bit deeper in, we can start thinking a bit more seriously about our next move. We can’t stay here forever, but we have time to come up with a plan. Just try not to think about it too much, ok? Me and Spike will be here to help you when ever you need us.”

Twilight nodded and gave him a gentle smile, which he returned. With a nod, both ponies lay down and drifted off to sleep.

Later that night…

Twilight groaned. There was noise coming from nearby. She didn’t like the noise, especially since she was trying to sleep. It wasn’t the alarm bells; those were enchanted to be loud. It sounded like somepony was talking.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she heard Flash say.

“And why not?” a scratchy voice replied, one that Twilight didn’t recognize.

“You really might want to listen to him,” Spike said.

“And why should I listen to my prisoners?” the scratchy voice answered.

“Because we know how she is going to react,” Flash said.

Wait, prisoners? Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes. As she did she heard something move nearby, something that sounded metallic. She blinked to clear her vision, and what she saw snapped her to full alertness in the worst possible way.

Two knives.

Pointed at her.

Inches from her face.

“Fre—“

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Twilight’s magic flared to life almost instantly, but she caught hold of it just before it exploded. The knives filled her world, but she knew Flash and Spike were nearby. She couldn’t hurt them. She WOULDN’T! There was only one other option: fleeing. Her magic rebounded, shifting into pegasus magic immediately. Her wings flapped once, flinging her attacker, and the entire tent, a good ten feet away. She shot backwards out of the door with the speed charging pegasus, crashed through at least five other ponies, and collided with a tree a good thirty feet away. Her hooves locked onto the trunk, holding her a good foot off the ground as she tried to regain control of her breathing.

“I warned you,” she heard Flash say, as he crawled out of the upside-down tent with a dazed Spike draped over her back.

“What the buck was that!?” the scratchy voice replied. A cyan mare with a rainbow mane crawled out after Flash, clutching the two knives. The armor covering everything except her head and tail seemed to be made of a dark wood that matched the color of the trees, though it was hard to tell. It was printed with a cutie mark near the flank – a cloud and tri-colored lightning bolt. She had straps down the front that held six sheaths for knives, each of which was a different color of the rainbow. It was characteristic of what a Seeker would wear, but this mare clearly wasn’t a Seeker.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR BUCKING MIND!?” Twilight screamed at the mare from her tree, causing her to flinch. “I COULD HAVE KILLED YOU!!!”

“Wha—“ the mare began, but Twilight wasn’t done.

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT FIGHT OR FLIGHT REACTION IS!? I COULD HAVE EASILY HAD A MAGIC FLARE AND KILLED YOU! NEVER EVER EVER WAKE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!” she screamed. “On second thought, never wake up ANYPONY like that, IT’S RUDE!” She eased her grip on the tree, slowly sliding down. “Never…ever, ever…do that…again.” She brought her hoof to her chest and rubbed it. Her heartbeat and breathing had been going so fast that her chest ached as they slowed.

As Twilight began to calm down, she looked up and noticed a few things. First, she had amazing vision despite the lack of light and the distance she was from the tent. Second, there were at least twenty ponies now in the camp, all dressed like the rainbow-maned mare and lighting up the dark forest with the lanterns on their armor. Those that weren’t picking themselves up off the ground were pointing their swords, wing blades, and spears at her. She could just see Flash and Spike in the back, missing their suits and thus their weapons. Three ponies held them at knifepoint.

“Umm… I surrender?” Twilight said with a sheepish smile. The ponies were not impressed.

“Well now ain’t this a surprise,” another voice, heavily accented, called out. Looking over, Twilight saw another mare emerge from between the weapon-wielding ponies. She had orange fur, a blond mane and tail, and three apples for a cutie mark. She also wore armor, although hers looked far superior to those around it considering the extra metal plates reinforcing it on the outside. She also wore a stetson and had a katana sheath on her left side. “Not every day we find a TYRANT walking in our woods.”

“Hey, Twilight’s no tyrant,” Spike yelled out, only to be reminded of his position by one of his guards elbowing him. The orange mare merely snorted.

“She’s an alicorn. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all tyrants,” she said, glaring at the dragon before returning her stare to Twilight. Twilight couldn’t help but shrink under her gaze.

“Who are you?” she asked nervously, shifting slightly but trying not to move too much. She really didn’t want to provoke this pony, whoever she was.

“Applejack,” the mare said. “Other than that, the only thing you need to know is that these are my ponies. We all fled our suppressors so we could fight the tyranny of Equestria and live our own lives in peace.” Her eyes narrowed further. “But now it seems one of the tyrants has come onto our land.”

“She’s not like the others,” Flash called out. “We’re trying to get away from the others.”

“That much is obvious,” Applejack said.

“Really?” Spike asked.

“Yeah,” the rainbow-maned mare said. “I know alicorns think they’re invincible, but coming in here with only one butler and a dragon is just suicidal.”

“It’s also the only reason I didn’t order my ponies to just kill you,” Applejack said, walking forward until she was towering above Twilight. “You’re either part of the most insane plot to find us that I’ve ever seen, or you’re just plumb crazy. So I’m gonna do something I’ve never done before.” She said as she leaned down stare Twilight right in the eyes. “You have exactly sixty seconds to tell me who you are, where you come from, and why you’re here. And don’t you even THINK of lyin’ to me. I’ll know.”

“How?” Spike asked, earning a glare from the orange mare.

“Trust me, she’ll know,” the rainbow-maned mare said with a smirk. “So just try lying, tyrant, see what happens.”

Seeing as there was no other option, Twilight conceded. She began with the biggest bit of news, primarily that she used to be a unicorn, news which raised more than a few eyebrows. Then she quickly explained what she used to do under Celestia and Luna, how her transformation happened because of the element of magic (or at least what she knew about it), and then their escape and subsequent journey through the forest. She had to leave out most of the details and talk really fast, but she did manage to keep it under 60 seconds. Despite the skeptical looks from the surrounding ponies, Applejack’s face remained an unmoving mask throughout the story, never once giving away her emotions.

“And then she woke me up,” Twilight said, pointing to the rainbow-maned mare, “with knives only inches from my face, which was a really stupid idea—”

“HEY!”

“And then I freaked out and used my wings, no idea how, and now we’re here.”

Applejack stood up, wordless, and stared. As seconds passed with no sign of any decision from her, Twilight felt more and more nervous. Just when she was about to speak again, Applejack raised a hoof.

“Stand down,” she commanded. As one, the ponies surrounding them lowered their weapons, though they did not loosen their grip on them.

“You… you believe me?” Twilight asked, shocked.

“Yep,” Applejack said. “Ah can smell a lie a mile away, and as impossible as your story sounds, you didn’t lie.”

Twilight sighed in relief. “Th—“ she began before letting out a terrified ‘eep’ as she suddenly found a curved katana at her throat.

“That DOESN’T mean I trust ya,” Applejack said. “Ah still need to see what yer friends say, and even then, Ah don’t trust alicorns.” She sheathed the sword. “The only reason y’all are getting a chance is because you USED to be a unicorn. Ah don’t know anything about some mystic ‘element’ other than the alicorns seem obsessed over them, but if you have one, Ah think it be best to keep it away from alicorns like Thorn. But try anything, and Ah won’t hesitate ta take you down. We clear?”

“Crystal,” Twilight squeaked. Applejack nodded to before turning back to Flash and Spike for questioning. As she did, the rest of the ponies broke into groups. Some of them began to take down the tent and traps while the others kept watch at the forest. The rainbow-maned mare, however, kept a narrowed, glaring eye on Twilight. Twilight, meanwhile, just sat at the base of the tree and tried not to have another panic attack.

‘At least we know what we're going to do next,’ she thought. After Flash and Spike had been approved by Applejack, they were given their stuff back, minus their weapons, before the rest of the ponies surrounded them again.

“Kay, now here’s how this is gonna work,” the blonde mare said to Twilight, Spike, and Flash. “We’re gonna go back to our village, where you’re gonna be under watch till we figure out if y’all can be trusted. You follow us, stay in the center of the formation, and don’t cause trouble. Any trouble, and you’ll regret it. Understood?” The three nodded. “Good, now let’s move.” She trotted out into the forest The rest of the ponies followed, making sure to keep Twilight and her friends inside a circle of guards.

“Hey, Twilight,” Spike whispered, “not to ask the obvious questions, but why didn’t they bind your magic?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered back.

“It’s because we can’t,” The rainbow-maned pony said, causing the two of them to flinch.

“What do you mean, and what was your name again?” Flash asked.

“Rainbow Dash,” the mare replied without looking. “Alicorns can just overload normal magic inhibitors. The resulting blast could destroy a house, but they could do it. Easily. Trust me, somepony tried that when they were escaping, and it really didn’t work out. You need a full horn inhibitor to block alicorn magic, and there are almost none of those anywhere. And we can’t build them with what we have here.”

“Where exactly is here?” Twilight asked. “Where are we going?”

“Our village,” she replied. “It’s not as ‘modern’ as you’re used to, but I’m sure an alicorn can adapt just fine.”

“Do all of you hate alicorns?” Flash asked, only to receive a glare from Rainbow.

“No, we LIKE living in the forest surrounded by dangerous monsters that would attack us if not for our defenses. WHAT DO YOU THINK!?”

“Rainbow!” Applejack yelled back, “Would ya quit tryin’ ta bring the whole forest of monsters down on us. If ya want them to understand why you hate alicorns, just show them!”

“Ugh, fine.” As they continued to walk, Rainbow began to fiddle with her armor, pulling pieces away from her barrel. Twilight, her curiosity getting the better of her, couldn’t help but watch as the mare worked. But when she did, she immediately wished she hadn’t been looking.

She screamed, Spike nearly vomited, and Flash just looked on with sorrow yet understanding. There, on the mare’s side, was a small scared stub. A stub that was in the exact place where a pegasi’s wing would normally be.

“THIS is what they did to me,” Rainbow snarled. “I try and help my friend, and what do they do? They ground me for life, just because I broke a stupid rule. This is why we all live here, because we ALL lost something because of the tyrants. And I’M one of the lucky ones. Don’t get me started on a pony that lost their horn and BOTH EYES!”

“Enough,” a deep voice rumbled. Twilight managed to tear her eyes away from the wing stub to look at who had spoken. He was a large red stallion with a short orange mane and tale, and a green apple as a cutie mark. He had been trailing at the back of the group but had moved up near Twilight. “She ain’t Thorn, Dash. No need to be blamin’ her for what that monster did to you.” Rainbow huffed in anger, but fell silent and turned away to put her armor back on.

“Thorn, that figures,” Flash cursed. “Crazy psychopath shouldn’t even be allowed to rule a garden, much less a bunch of ponies.”

“You met her?” Rainbow asked, not turning to look back at the group as she put her armor back on.

“No, but Twilight used to be under her jurisdiction until she threw her through twelve buildings,” Flash said with a smirk.

“FLASH!” Twilight cried, her cheeks flaring in embarrassment.

“That was you?” Rainbow asked in shock, whipping her head around to meet Twilight’s eye.

“Um, yes?”

Rainbow just stared at her for a few seconds before turning back around. “Least we have a common enemy.”

“Huh?”

“Most ponies know about Thorn,” Applejack jumped in, “and just as many hate her. We also heard stories from some of her former ponies of that particular incident in Canterlot. You mind telling me how it happened?”

Twilight was about to reply when she realized something. “You’re just asking me to make sure I’m not lying, aren’t you?” She asked with a sigh.

“Eeeup,” Applejack replied. “Now come on, out with it.”

Twilight sighed before reluctantly explaining what happened. She spoke of her father being punished and her flare, but left out the more vivid images she had in her mind, ones she would rather forget. Applejack tried to press for more detail, but Twilight said it was a very uncomfortable memory and would rather not go into every single detail. To her surprise, Applejack seemed to respect that and backed off a bit, though she still talked to Flash just to be sure.

“Excuse my sis,” the red stallion said, catching Twilight’s attention. “She had a bad experience with alicorns, and she’s just tryin’ ta make sure our ponies are safe.”

Twilight nodded. “I understand, I think. Lady Celestia always said the safety of her ponies was her biggest concern.”

“Sounds like you lucked out, gettin’ her after bucking Thorn like that.”

“It was the Queen. She knew my cutie mark was related to the Element of Magic, so assigned me to House Shining Star so I could learn to control my own magic. Apparently, they had success with a few other ponies in the past. Though I don’t think any of them saw these in my future,” Twilight said, gesturing to her wings.

“Enope,” he replied.

Twilight nodded before she realized something. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Big Mac,” the stallion replied, “And you already met Applejack, which just leaves Applebloom.”

“Applebloom?”

“Ma younger sister,” Applejack interjected. “Still just a filly, but better her to be here than back with our ‘lady.’” She spat out ‘lady’ as though it was poisonous.

“A forest of magical hunters is safer than living with an alicorn?” Flash asked skeptically.

“Eeeup,” Applejack replied. “Now hush up, we’re nearly there, and I need a minute to explain to the other why we’re letting a tyrant in here.”

“I’m not a tyrant,” Twilight mumbled.

“To us you might as well be,” Rainbow replied with a huff before marching ahead to join Applejack. As they cleared the next patch of trees, their destination came into sight. In front of them was a large wall of logs, the tips sharpened and reaching at least thirty feet into the air. The trees also had magic runes carved into the wood, which Twilight recognized as protective spells, likely to repel the monsters of the forest.

On closer inspection, she saw that parts of the wall had live trees instead of logs, and the trees were full of walkways and lookout platforms. The group could see pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies watching the forest, all armed with crossbows. As they drew near, one of the pegasi let out a shrill whistle. A portion of the wall shuttered slightly and slowly swung open.

The inside of the town was much larger than anything Twilight was expecting. Even from the entrance, Twilight could see at least thirty houses, and quite a few tents set up as well. Some of the houses were made of pure logs, some of stones, and some of wooden boards and bricks. It was clear there was a diverse amount of knowledge in the village. Once they were all through, the gate slowly closed behind them. Twilight glanced back and saw unicorns levitating the wall a few inches off the ground so a row of earth ponies could shut it easily.

“Everyone’s watching us,” Spike whispered, looking around nervously, and he was right. There were quite a few ponies out and about despite the hour, and almost every one stared at the trio as the soldiers escorted further into the town. Some looked apprehensive, other looked angry and were glaring at Twilight, but others just looked confused. Others were muttering amongst themselves, and one colt even looked like he was about to throw a brick until Big Mac glared at him. Even more started to emerge from houses and tents, blearily asking what all the commotion was about.

“A butler, an alicorn, and a dragon walk into a village in the forest. This has all the elements of a horrible joke,” Flash muttered, earning a smirk from Spike and a groan from Twilight.

Soon enough, they reached the center of town where a small stage was set up. Twilight guessed it was for announcements, judging from how most of the townsfolk were gathering around it. Applejack ascended the stage, and Twilight, Flash, and Spike were shoved up along with her. Once up above the crowd, Twilight couldn’t help but gulp nervously. There were A LOT of ponies, probably over two hundred. And they were all looking at her. She had rarely felt so anxious. Even an angry Lady Celestia wasn’t this bad!

“Now I’m sure y’all are wondering why I brought an alicorn back to the village,” Applejack began, drawing some of the attention away from the purple alicorn. “Personally, I don’t like it either, but she told me – and I know she wasn’t lyin’ – that she used to be a unicorn, until that gem on her chest turned her into an alicorn.” More than a few murmurs rose from the crowd. “Apparently, this gem is the Element of Magic, some long lost gem the tyrants have been searching for for generations.” That got a lot of side talk and a few gasp. Clearly some of the ponies there knew Equestria’s history.

“Now I have decided to give Twilight here a chance,” Applejack continued. “I don’t trust her, but it’s only fair that she’s got a chance to prove herself. She is to remain under constant guard, but she is NOT to be needlessly harassed. We all hate alicorns for personal reasons, but she isn’t the one who committed the crimes against us or our loved ones. In fact, she’s been an alicorn for less than a week. Doesn’t mean Ah like her, but Ah ain’t gonna hurt her just to make myself feel better. Now as for a guard, has anyone seen Pinkie?”

“Present!”

“GAH!” Twilight screamed, nearly jumping off the stage. A pink mare with a darker pink mane and a cutie mark of three balloons had suddenly appeared right next to her. Twilight hadn’t seen her, but Flash, Spike, and half the audience jumped as well, so she knew she wasn’t the only one who had been surprised.

“What the… How did… huh?” Twilight stammered while Applejack just looked over, unphased.

“There ya are,” Applejack said. “I need ya to keep an eye on these three. Make sure they don’t cause trouble and stay inside the town walls. Understand?”

“Okie doki loki,” the mare named Pinkie responded, her mane bouncing up and down as she nodded. She then turned to face Twilight. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie and I will be your guard for the foreseeable future. Please follow me and I’ll show you where we will be living until Miss Grumpypants says otherwise.” Applejack glared, but Pinkie didn’t seem to mind. She turned around and proceeded to ponk off the stage and down the dirt street. Not quite sure what to make of her, but without any other choice, Twilight, Flash and Spike began to follow her.

As they left, they still received quite a few glares from the nearby ponies, but now they were mostly mere looks of suspicion. Not great, but better than the open hostility they had received before. As they walked off, Twilight turned to watch the crowd disperse. Some ponies returned to bed or to their jobs, while others moving to question Applejack. However, as she turned back around, she found herself face to face with one hyper pink pony.

“Hi Twilight, sorry about earlier, but Applejack wants me to try and be more professional, but where the fun in that? I mean, I’m a party pony, not a scribe. Unless she wants me to be a professional party pony, but to do that I would need to remake my party cannon, but there aren’t enough materials for that, but at least I can still make cupcakes and cookies, but I don’t think everypony would be happy if I tried to throw you a welcome party yet since you’re an alicorn and all, but I promise I will once they all warm up to you.” Pinkie said quickly while smiling largely the whole time.

“I… um… what?” Twilight stuttered, trying to decipher all the words.

“What’s a party pony?” Spike asked.

“I’m glad you asked!” Pinkie replied. “As a party pony, it is my job to bring joy and smiles to all ponies, usually through big and fun parties! Just last week we had a party to celebrate the tenth year of our founding, and it was awesome with balloons and streamers and pin the tail on the pony! Miss Grumpypants doesn’t really like them since they make a lot of noise, but she sees how much it boosts morale, so she lets me have them any way!”

“How exactly do you get supplies for a party out in the middle of the woods?” Flash asked as Twilight struggle to pull her thoughts together.

“Oh, I have emergency party supplies stashed all over the woods in case of party emergencies.” Pinkie replied.

“But where—“ Flash began.

“I’m also really good at breaking the fourth wall!” Pinkie said happily.

“The fourth wall?” Spike asked in confusion.

“Yeah, that wall over there, see?” Pinkie said while pointing a hoof. Looking over, the group did indeed see one of the walls of the village, and unlike the others this one looked relatively new; some logs still had branches on them, and others seemed to be pieces of several different logs patched together. It had clearly been broken and repaired multiple times.

“Every time we expand the village, we need to tear down a wall so that we can expand. We always choose that one for some reason, and since it’s always the newest wall, I like to call it the fourth wall. I’m really good at knocking it down, not sure why though,” she said with a shrug.

“Miss Pie,” Flash said.

“Just Pinkie please. Calling me ‘Miss’ makes it sound like I’m old and grey and can’t throw parties, which would be horrible and then everyone would be sad and mphhh mph mphpmh…”

Flash shoved his hoof in her mouth. It hadn’t stopped her, but she was now quiet enough that he could talk to her.

“Pinkie. Can you please tell us exactly where were going and what we will be doing?” Flash asked, sounding ever so slightly annoyed. Pinkie nodded and Flash removed his hoof.

“We’re going back to my house. Once we get you all settled, you can do whatever you want, so long as you stay in the village. Miss Grumpypants just said I had to watch you, she didn’t say anything about needing to keep you prisoner in my home, though I guess my home would be the best place to do so.”

“What makes you say that?” Twilight asked, having recovered enough from her initial confusion.

“Because it’s made of stone,” Pinkie said as she pointed ahead. “Welcome to the fun house!”

Sure enough, in front of them was a house made almost entirely of stone, at least it looked so from the outside. The house was two stories tall with a few windows visible like most of the other houses. The stone was, oddly enough, painted pink while the wooden front door was light blue. It was one of the strangest houses Twilight had ever seen.

“Why is it made of stone?” Spike asked, beating Twilight to the question.

“Oh, well, I used to work on a rock farm for my lady, collecting gems for her to trade with others for food, but after I ran away I found myself missing rocks a bit, so I built my house to remind me of the good times I had. Plus, rocks keep the heat in in the winter and out in the summer, so it’s like I have an air conditioner and heater, even if they haven’t been invented yet.” She ponked towards the house with a smile, completely ignoring the confused expressions on the other ponies’ faces. “Come on, I’ll show you all where you’ll be living, then you can tell me alllllllll about yourselves.”

Author's Note

I'll be honest. When I thought of the story for Rainbow, my first thought was "Why the *#%& am I thinking of THIS!?" I still don't have and answer, but I am willing to spoil a small bit of the later chapters to those of you who may be worried about this development: She will get her wings back, as it plays a key role in the plot. Please don't mention this in the comments without the spoiler tag.

In other news, chapter seven is now being edited, so expect the weekly update schedule to continue for now.

Also, I finally got to add Pinkie this chapter things just got 20% more bizarre and hilarious. And what's more, she made a fourth wall joke that wasn't a forth wall joke. Feel the confusion

Also, for those of you who care about formatting, I'm sorry if the paragraph indents are off. They don't seem to transfer normally from my word documents.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter, let me know what you think, be nice, etc...

Next time: Meeting the pony with a pet Manticore