The Timeless Hollow

The Everfree forest

Intimidating, not a word Sweetie Belle often used to describe the places she normally went but it was a fitting word for where they were.
The Everfree forest, a cluster of wild growth, tall trees and mysterious animals that always seemed to just stay out of eyesight, flitting from the edges of vision then vanishing in a blink.
They'd only been travelling for half an hour at the most but already night was in full swing, making progress painfully slow, even Luna's magnificent moon failed to reach its light all the way past the thick foliage.
"Just a moment, give me a second here" she asked, coming to a stop. Everyone behind her crowded around as she closed her eyes and scrunched her face up in concentration, her horn flickered weakly then sparked and ignited with a bright light.
"That spell training Twilight has been giving me is paying off finally!" She beamed, pleased with herself.
"You're like a firefly lantern!" Pip exclaimed loudly, his excitement getting the best of him. "At least we can see now...well kinda." Scootaloo squinted her eyes and tried peering through the dense shrubs.
"Can we get moving? The less time we have to spend inside this nasty place the better." Diamond Tiara sniffed loudly then kept walking ahead of them, with Silver Spoon following her footsteps closely.
"Well shucks, looks like someone is eager for an adventure" Applebloom giggled then nudged Sweetie Belle slightly, to get her moving.

They continued along the path that lead directly into the heart of the forest, unwilling to venture too far off in fear of what could be lurking there.
"Now I know Scootaloo doesn't know her way around this place, but do you Sweetie?" Applebloom looked around at their surroundings, a bit of a frown on her face. Scootaloo stopped riding her scooter for a moment and sighed heavily, "aw why you gotta write me off like that? Maybe I know this place just as well as Zecora or somepony else!" Her annoyance caused Sweetie to chuckle and pat her head, "we know that's not true Scoots, you're a chicken when it comes to dark places."
"AM NOT!"
"y'are too, ya big ol' chicken!" Applebloom flapped her hooves and laughed out loud, a charming peal of happiness that pierced the gloom of the forest, if only momentarily.
"Well who wouldn't be nervous in this place?!" Scootaloo flitted her wings in annoyance then zoomed ahead of them a bit in a huff.
"I don't actually know my way through here that well, to answer your question." Sweetie Belle brushed aside a branch then shone her horn to the side a bit, "I imagine that if we keep on this trail it'll eventually lead us to Steven the serpent though, the one Rarity helped out all that time ago. Maybe he'll have directions."
"Or maybe he'll just eat us," Diamond grumbled as she trotted past them, her mouth a straight rigged line of unhappiness.
"Steven would never eat a pony!" Sweetie squeaked, shocked at the very idea, "he's a strict vegetarian! Er... or so I'm told..."
"I'm not going to be pleased if he ends up eating us, I hope you know that" Silver Spoon took her glasses off as she walked and cleaned them rigorously then adjusted them just right. "That would just ruin my day."
"I reckon it'd ruin just about anyponies day really..." Applebloom shrugged and sped up to keep pace with Sweetie who was still scouting about, leery of any wild animals that could be nearby.
A few moments later they heard something that resembled Scootaloo shouting with some urgency.
"Uh oh! Sounds like trouble." Sweetie Belle flicked her horn off then sped down the path towards the shouting, with the other four following her closely.

The path spread out rapidly until it was a full on clearing full of shrubs and weed infested grass but no trees. Smack dab in the middle of the clearing was Scootaloo, brandishing her scooter as a weapon at what appeared to be a light blue hazy apparition.
"Fear not Scoots! I shall put this demon into an early grave!" Pip shouted with more gusto than his size would lead anyone to believe as he drew his wooden sword smoothly with his mouth.
He dashed up to Scootaloo who swung her scooter blindly, completely missing the figure and almost clocking Pip in the head.
"Whoa now, the ghost, the ghost!" He ducked away then leapt at the shape which vanished then appeared a couple feet away.
"Away with you now beast! Leave my friend alone." He brandished his sword and swung it around for good measure.
The shape just floated nearby and watched him, as the rest of the group got closer Applebloom could see that it resembled a pony, a stallion to be exact, it was a lot larger than they were but definitely pony in shape.
"That ain't no monster, its a pony!" She exclaimed, screeching to a halt near Scootaloo who was eyeing the shape carefully.
"A...pony?" Diamond scoffed as she stepped a bit closer for a look. "What would a pony be doing he- oh...I guess it does look a bit like a stallion."
The ghostly figure wavered a bit then vanished only to reappear nearer to them. Scootaloo raised her scooter again in defense and Pip bunched his legs up ready to pounce but Sweetie Belle trotted in front of them and directly up to the mysterious shape.
"Hello there," she gave a small bow then smile warmly at it. After a moment it bowed back then waved slowly, greeting them in its own way.
"At the very least it does appear to be quite friendly," Silver Spoon approached it then tried walking past it, further along the path. The ghost made a popping noise then appeared in from of her, blocking her path off.
"Excuse me!" She gasped, not pleased with the rude gesture.
The ghost shook its ethereal head then pointed off to their right.
"Eh..what?" Scootaloo put her scooter down and scratched her head, "its not gonna let us pass?"
"Aw sure it will" Applebloom said, trotting near the ghost who watched her closely, "it jus' don't like Silver."
Without warning the stallion made another popping noise and appeared in front of her this time, once again pointing to the right.
While the ponies were all trying to get by it, Diamond glanced over to the right and noticed a large rock sticking up from the ground. When she approached it she noticed that blue and red flowers were growing around the stone, in a perfect circle.
"Hmmm..." she stopped right next to the rock and looked around, her shrewd eyes looking for something of importance.
Soon enough she noticed something white and dull also poking up from the ground near the flowers.
She dug at it for a moment then gasped quietly when she unearthed it, it appeared to be a bone, a piece of a leg from the looks of it. A quick scan of the area unearthed a couple more of them, all in the vicinity of the stone.
"I wonder..."

"Well I'm honestly flummoxed." Sweetie Belle sighed after her tenth attempt at sneaking past.
"There you go again with those long words, why can't you talk like a normal pony?" Scootaloo plopped down next to her and batted her wings quickly.
"If its a fight you wish for, then its a fight you shall get!" Pip swung his sword around again, this time doing a full circle, losing balance and collapsing head over hoof.
"If it wanted to fight us it would've already you nincompoop" Silver pushed her glasses up her nose and looked around, "where did Diamond go?"
"She wandered off a bit ago," Applebloom gestured over to where Diamond was still poking around a large rock.
The ghostly figure made a softer noise this time, almost like a breathy sigh and pointed to Diamond who was now looking at them.
"I believe I've found the problem, naturally I'm the only one who thought to look where that....thing is pointing." She tilted her head up and sniffed loudly, pleased with herself.
"Yeah yeah, keep talking you stuffy littl-" Scootaloo started before Applebloom managed to cram a hoof in her mouth.
"What exactly did you find Diamond?" Silver stepped near her friend then down at the few bones.
"Wha- Where'd these come from?!" She took a quick step back and her eyes widened with fright. Diamond merely ignored her and nudged the bones around a bit with her nose.
"These belong to that...ghost thing. He was pointing over here cause this is his grave." She gestured to the large rock that the ghost was now sitting on.
"Ok so the dude is dead, what's he want us to do about it?" Scootaloo eyed the ghost then the large rock in confusion.
"Maybe he wants us to take his bones back home?" Sweetie Belle nudged a bone then shrugged.
"Not at all," Diamond moved a new bone over to the pile. then pointed at some rust old armored that she had uncovered.
"This stallion was a warrior pony, he must have died here after a battle against something." She looked up at the ghost who remained silent and unmoving.
"Daddy told me that nothing is more important to a soldier of Equestria than to be put to rest peacefully once his job is done. For better or worse. What this stallion wants is a proper burial. From the looks of things he died right here and he was never laid to rest."

With some quick digging which both Diamond and Silver refused to partake in, Scootaloo and Pip managed to use their respective scooter and sword as crude shovels to quickly dig a sizable hole in which they laid the bones down respectfully.
All the while the ghost watched them and never uttered another sound.
Once they were sure they had found all his bones they covered the hole back up then rolled the stone atop it, to mark the location.
"You can rest now." Diamond said, looking up at the ghost who stared back silently.
"Have a peaceful sleep" Silver added softly, her voice barely audible.
The ghost looked down at them all then bowed again and vanished with a gentle popping noise.
"Now how did you know what was going on there?" Sweetie Belle turned her attention to Diamond who was still staring at the stone thoughtfully, the question seemed to take her by surprise and her eyes widened forcing herself from whatever reverie she was in.
"My father knows quite a few soldiers, he always tells me stories about them and their codes of honor. It's just a perk of being born into class I guess." She scoffed annoyingly then turned back to the grave marker as Scootaloo groaned and zoomed off, with Pip and Applebloom following closely.
"Well...good job" Sweetie sparked her horn up again then trotted after her friends quickly, leaving Diamond alone with Silver.
"Besides..." Diamond muttered quietly.
"Who could leave such a noble stallion to suffer alone, it was only right."
Silver turned back to her friend then shook her head and smiled softly and left without a word.

Finally able to move forwards the group of six left the clearing behind and were quickly swallowed up by the darkness of the forest again.
The trees grew thinner and thinner, being replaced by vines and springy strange plants. After a while the roar of a nearby river became audible and they all let out a sigh of relief.
"If I remember Rainbows story about how they traveled through here, then the river is near the castle itself." Scootaloo hopped off her scooter and folded it up in one motion then flapped her small wings in excitement. "Other than the bridge that she fixed that is."
"Twilight said something about this river being a tactical strong point for the castle should whoever is occupying it get attacked, the bridge too, it makes the castle very difficult to get to." Sweetie Belle dimmed the light coming from her horn then shook her head as her eyes went all googly for a moment.
"Lucky for us, the only thing in that river is a big ol' friendly serpent now though." Applebloom dashed ahead of them a bit then came to a stop at the waters edge.
The river was relatively calm this night, it rushed by the at a steady pace, not fast enough to whip up rapids but it was deep enough that they probably couldn't swim across it with their short legs.
"Lets look for this Stephen guy then." Pip said, taking the lead, "I shall protect you ladies should he become enraged and lash out at us!"
"So long as Scootaloo keeps her mouth shut he shouldn't have a reason to get mad at us." Diamond sneered causing Silver to laugh behind her. "Yeah yeah laugh it up while you can." Scootaloo grumbled, not amused by the comment.

It only took them around ten minutes to come across the huge purple sea serpent who was sleeping near the river bed, his head and upper body resting in the in sand while the rest of him was in the river.
His loud snores shook the ground below the ponies and the gusts of air he expelled almost knocked small Pip right over but he pressed on until he was right up in the serpents face.
"Stevennnnnn" Sweetie Belle called out loudly, tapping his nose with her hoof.
Steven sniffled then blew her away with a small breath, still asleep.
"Wake up you brute!" Diamond shouted next, an annoying tone taking over her voice.
"YO" Scootaloo ran up to him and put all her weight on her front legs then bucked him as hard as she could in the chin with her hind legs.
The result was a loud cracking noise as one of Stevens scales chipped, barely an inch fell off but immediately the serpent was awake and alarmed.
"OH THE PAIN! THE AGONY! THE SHAME OF IT ALL!" He wailed miserably, holding his chin. "Why would you do that?" He sniffled and looked down at the ponies. Once he realized they were visitors he slapped his hands together and cheered, his suffering already forgotten.
"Oh what cute little guests!" He bent down and put his face near them, so close that his extremely fancy mustache threatened to swallow Pip up in the hair.
"What can I do for you cute little ponies?" He flashed his long pearly teeth in a genial grin, eager to help out.
"I'm Rarities little sister, the pony who lent you uh... a spare mustache." Sweetie Belle rubbed the back of her head and sighed at the ridiculousness of the story.
"OH YES" Steven grew excited again and clapped his hands together happily, "I do remember! She was so stylish and helpful, I'll never forget a pony who knows a good mustache when she see's one!"
"Yeah well, we need to get across the river...If you wouldn't mind, we're too little to actually swim its length..."
Stephen looked back at the river then down at the ponies and laughed.
"Of course! It'd be my pleasure to help you out!"
He ducked his body into the water then stuck his head out and gestured at them to hop onto his back which was sticking out of the water like a bridge.
"Hop on!"
The six of them bounced onto his back then enjoyed a short trip across the river and to dry land on the other side.
"We'll be expecting a return trip before long, I do hope we can rely on you." Sweetie Belle gave him a smile that could melt hearts and the serpent nodded with enthusiasm.
"Just say the word, I'll be here in an instant. Be careful now though. The cliffs over there are treacherous!"
"We will, thanks again."
Without another word the six of them were on their way to the ancient royal pony castle.