Beyond The Everfree Orb

Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest, staring at the massive, pink, glittery ball that surrounded it.

“Well girls, it’s time”

Twilight Sparkle edged closer to the magical mass. In the corner of her eye, she saw a pink hoof reaching out.

“Pinkie DONT!”

Twilight screamed, as Pinkie’s hoof snapped back as an instinctual reaction to Twi’s yelling

.”Nopony knows what is going on here, nor have they ever been, we must assume that whatever this is isn’t safe, I know everypony is curious but we can’t take any risks.”

Pinkie stepped back a little, about a foot away from the force field.

“Sorry Twilight, but it’s so pink and bright just like me, I couldn’t resist!”

The party pony bounced with excitement as she heard Twilight give instructions to the group.

“Alright girls, I’ll go in first, then everypony will follow. We must stick together in an unexplored area, it’s for the best.”

Twilight put one hoof through the glittery orb, making sure it was safe to pass through, then stepped all the way in, followed by Rarity, then a bouncing Pinkie, until everypony was in the forest.

Except for one. Standing back at the entrance, was Fluttershy, flying above and looking nervous. “It’s ok, Fluttershy, we’re here for you.” Twilight called out to the scared pegasus.

“Come on through, sugar cube, we promise we got your back through and through.”

Applejack motioned the yellow pony to come on in with her hoof. Fluttershy nodded her head no, then continued flying in place.

“Come on now, Fluttershy, it ain’t so bad in here, is it Pinkie Pie?”

“Nope, absolutely-positively not!” Pinkie replied with a smile on her face.

“I said no!”

Fluttershy flew down and turned around to go back home.

“I got this.”

Rainbow Dash, speeding out of the force field grabbed Fluttershy by the tail, dragging her through the pink energy,

“Was Applejack right? Or was she right!”

Rainbow Dash felt confident about getting her friend to join them. “I guess it isn’t so bad here, if you think about it a lot of my critters come from the Everfree forest, especially my sweet little Angel.”

Fluttershys thought process was interrupted by Twilights voice, telling the ponies it’s time to get going,

“Alright everypony, like I said, if we all stay together, everything should be fine. We’re here for one another.”

The Mane Six nodded in agreement, then set off deeper into the forest, Twilight admired the sparkly scenery, nothing seeming different at first glance. Still, Twilight kept trotting along, until she she heard Applejack call out.

“Twilight, come take a gander at this.”

“What is it Applejack?”

Twi ran quickly to where her friend was.

“ I knew the Everfree forest was unnatural, but I ain’t never seen anythin’ like this.”

Twilight walked over, then examined the creature AJ was looking at.
“It appears to that the ears on this bunny are made out of... cupcake frosting?”

The purple unicorn looked on in confusion. “And the tail is a cherry!” Pinkie exclaimed, nudging the animal and causing it to scamper off before Twilight could collect more information.

“Pinkie! That bunny could have been a valuable piece of research!”

“Sorry Twilight, but cupcakes are always fun, they remind me of parties, and that little guy looked dee-licious!”

Pinkie licked her lips at the thought of a scrumptious cupcake.

“We got no time to lose, we must continue on to see what else is umm, interesting is a good way to put it.”

Twilight looked back at the pack on her flank. The six were ready to continue on when they noticed somepony was missing as they started walking, yellow feathers left behind in some nearby bushes, Applejack picked one up, and upon further inspection noticed it was awfully familiar. She stepped back from the bushes, her voice trembling.

“W-where’s Fluttershy? Has anypony seen her?”

“Not since I dragged her into this place” Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders, not particularly recalling the whereabouts of their friend.

“Last time I saw her, we were checking out the mirror puddle together. But come to think of it, I haven’t seen or heard from her” Rarity chimed in.

“We gotta go back to the entrance to the forest, she may have gotten scared and tried to escape”

Twilight started running, with her friends in hot pursuit, until they heard something that made them stop dead in their tracks. A soft but distressed voice could be heard in the distance from where they came.

“Somepony help me”.

“Did anypony hear that?”

Rarity, terrified, looked around with a hoof to her ear, before being interrupted by Applejack.

“Fluttershys in trouble, we gotta move. And FAST!”

The orange mare swiftly turned around and headed in the opposite direction, following the quiet yet agonizing screams of the shy pegasus. The group got to the bushes where they found the feathers, and heard a guttural noise that was unponylike. Come to think of it, nopony had heard a noise like that come from even a dragon.

”What. was THAT?”

A horrified Rainbow Dash flapped frantically at the horrible noise.

“I don’t know, but I don’t hear Fluttershy screaming for us anymore, we better go see if she’s ok.”

“Maybe she got away and is just lost.”

Twilight gulped, her legs shaking as she stepped into the bushes. Applejack tried to hold back her tears as she answered the purple unicorn. “With screams like that, I don’t think Fluttershy is lost.” The farm pony wiped her eyes with her hoof as she followed Twi into the bushes. Another scream pierced the awkward silence of the forest, only this time it was somepony else.

“What is it Rarity?”

Rarity choked back sobs, as she trembled in fear at the sight before her, unable to speak.

. “Fluttershy, if you’re out there, we’re comin, ya hear?”

Applejack called out into the forest as the group tried to find their friend. Rarity fell back on her hind legs, in disbelief at the sight in front of her. Tears filled the white unicorns eyes, as she refused to believe what she was seeing. The other four ponies rushed over to where they heard Rarity’s scream, they too shocked at what lay before them. It was Fluttershy, laying in a pool of blood surrounded by her own feathers. One of her wings appeared to have been torn off, and a good portion of her throat and chest was ripped open, exposing her rib cage. Twilight stepped closer to the body once she recovered from the shock, examining the damage to their friend.

“It appears that whatever attacked her had intentions of eating her, that much is clear. But whats not exactly clear is what did this and there’s not a lot of evidence to go by. Timber wolves, bears, and other wild creatures don’t usually prey on ponies, but attacks aren’t unheard of.”

Rarity wiped her eye with her hoof, trying to control her sobbing at the loss of her best friend.

“But Fluttershy was the kindest pegasus around. All the critters trusted her to care for them, she wouldn’t hurt a parasprite. What would, no what COULD do such a horrific thing?”

Rarity collapsed to the floor, burying her head in her front hooves. Applejack looked over at the distraught unicorns.

“We promised Fluttershy that we would be here for her no matter what. And we failed. I know this ain’t nopony’s fault, and this thing was probably stalking her every move, and we weren’t payin’ attention. Some friends we were.”

Tears streamed down Applejacks face as she felt the embrace of Twilights hoof around her shoulders.

“Now Applejack, you’re absolutely right that it was nopony’s fault this terrible event happened, and I know that you may feel that we were bad friends for letting this happen to Fluttershy, but the important thing is that we don’t take any blame for her death, even if it’s easier said than done.”

Twilight stood up and faced her friends. “How about we go back to the barn and call it a night?” Everypony needs time to process what happened, we can always set out again in the morning, The least we can do is find a cause for this whole phenomenon.”

Twilight and the girls headed back for Sweet Apple Acres, which isn’t too far from the exploration site, but not before giving their best friend a proper burial and saying their final goodbyes to the fallen pegasus.