The Fallen Elements: Kindness

One of the reasons why that impressive and well-kept farm should be one of the first priorities for everyone in Ponyville was undoubtedly because of the great level of food that could be stored there, as well as the production that it gave away thanks to all the acres that family had. Even when everything started to get worse, Twilight herself ended up putting that place first instead of her own castle, she considered it more important to keep the farm one hundred percent and without a doubt in those moments she had realized that the decision had been very wise. There was a small drawback to this however, the main source of production in that place was apples, something that while it could keep well fed the ponies that at that time used the farm as a refuge and one of the only places that were safe from the influence of the Everfree forest, it could also become a food that would eventually start to become repetitive, the princess of friendship was thankful that both Applejack and her family knew how to make countless different dishes, otherwise even she herself would end up completely sick of eating the same thing, though of course she didn't have many options to choose from either if she had to be realistic, so it was best not to get too stuck on it and just enjoy the food.

"Thanks for the food Applejack! I was starving like you have no idea... not being able to fly while exploring is horrible," Rainbow Dash mentioned once the plate she had been given was completely empty, the pegasus had been the only one who since the beginning of the whole thing dedicated herself day after day, without fail, to look for more information that would be of help to Twilight. "If only those clouds were not bothering everything would be much easier..." The pegasus then complained, with good reason because after all, Rainbow could be much more efficient in the air, she knew it very well but she would not make mistakes either, they were in a delicate situation to give herself that luxury. Unfortunately for her and for all those who could travel long distances by the simple fact of being able to fly, they were involved in this situation, because the clouds of the Everfree Forest were not manipulable, in fact, quite the opposite.

"You are not the only one who has problems with that, Rainbow, but thanks to the condition inside the Everfree Forest it is much safer to explore by land," answered Twilight, who did not hesitate for a moment to take the last of the apple soup she had been given and sip it with the help of her magic until there was nothing left. "We don't know what other dangers exist in the forest at the moment, the black magic could have created alterations in the fauna of the place," she explained looking a little disappointed at her empty plate, she would have liked to repeat but she successfully restrained herself. The reality at that moment was that there was not much information about what kind of new dangers existed inside that dark place.

"I know, I know... It's just that it's too desperate all this," Rainbow was the one who had been the most nervous about the whole thing, much more than the other elements of the harmony, no one blamed her though, it was not unknown that she and Fluttershy were close since they were little and due to that situation it must be even worse for the pegasus. "Can't we just attack back? Make the forest go back to the way it was before," Rainbow mentioned thinking a bit about these words, despite everything the pegasus had always been too reckless but in her head that idea was a good way to solve everything. That's why they had Twilight right? An alicorn and princess with the necessary power to execute the plan to perfection, however her friend only gave her a negative answer shaking her head from one side to the other.

"We can't risk it, this situation is completely different from what had happened before." It wasn't the first time the forest had tried to expand after all. "Everything is a product of black magic, I have no doubt about it. With this in mind we would only be risking to get hurt by an unknown enemy," finished explaining the princess, because it was not only the Timberwolves, who although they were dangerous could be controlled, but there were many more creatures in the forest that represented a greater threat, not counting that they were not powered by the magic that the yellow pegasus could now control, something that still did not have much data but could be deduced thanks to the way the Timberwolf acted.

This conversation was happening in a corner of the barn, the part that had been successfully adapted to be the general dining room of the farm, it was the only place where they could fit the largest number of ponies in conjunction with the areas adjacent to it. The other ponies that had been saved from being devoured by the forest were also there at that moment, so both Twilight and Rainbow tried to speak as quietly as possible so that the others would not hear, it was a priority that the others did not start to get discouraged and hearing that they still did not have much more information could be discouraging. Of course, being at lunch time (considering the fact that the explorations were starting quite early) it was almost inevitable that someone, among all those present, managed to hear some of the words that were being released in that conversation.

"Did you hear that? Why the forest will be different than before?" a curious voice asked his companions, that group of ponies were sitting at a table close enough to Twilight and Rainbow's table to be able to hear them at least slightly. I thought all this would be over soon, but not even the princess has an idea of what is going on apparently," mentioned that pony again, it was nothing abnormal for this to happen, after all the situation affected everyone equally and to hear that even the princess of harmony herself was with those conflicts would certainly begin to leave some conflicts with the other ponies.

"I hope you are not thinking about rumors or drawing unfounded conclusions... Especially you Apple Bloom," A voice interrupted the pony who was talking to her friends, making her and the other two fillies who were sitting there turn to look at the unicorn who had told them that, another of the elements of harmony more precisely. "More importantly, have you eaten?" asked Rarity, making the Crusaders exchange glances for a moment, before nodding a couple of times at the same time, giving a positive answer to the unicorn.

"We already ate sister... but we can't stay calm when we hear all that," Sweetie Belle mentioned to her older sister, who just like her two companions, the monotony they had been having, mixed with the doubts that were accumulating more and more was slowly killing her, the three ponies were curious almost by nature, so hearing those words coming from her was not strange at all, but quite the opposite. "Is the situation really that bad, Rarity?" she finished with a question, looking carefully at her sister, an action that was repeated in the same way by both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

Rarity just let out a long sigh when she heard her sister say that, it was not something that surprised her in the least, however it was a disaster that of all the ponies that were in the barn at that moment, it was precisely them who heard some of the words that Twilight mentioned, the last thing they needed at that moment was to have the Cutie Mark Crusaders meddling in those matters, ones that were not at all pleasant to know. Even though she had these thoughts in mind, Rarity ended up sitting next to her sister and then she could look at all the fillies one by one, she didn't have much to tell them, she couldn't give them much information but at least she would tell them what was necessary so that they wouldn't continue insinuating things among them, lest someone else heard them and assumed something totally wrong.

"You know you shouldn't be listening to other people's conversations... You know that, don't you? she mentioned first, she didn't like the idea that her little sister would end up involved in the same mental problems that she and her friends were deeply involved in. The three ponies nodded, somewhat embarrassed to hear those words from the unicorn, who kept silent for a moment before speaking again. "You must not speak out loud unfounded thoughts, girls... if someone heard them and rumors started to arise, it would be disastrous, do you understand?" Rarity finished saying, looking at each one of the ponies to know, through their expressions, if they had understood what she was trying to tell them.

"We know, Rarity," answered Scootaloo, looking at the unicorn for a moment. "But... Why can't we do what Rainbow Dash mentioned? They were able to solve the problem of the Everfree Forest before, it's the same thing, right?" she asked then, expressing her thoughts to the unicorn and hoping that this way that question would be answered, because clearly she and the other ponies did not know much information, only that Fluttershy had gone through a bad time and that thanks to that, all the events of the Everfree Forest had happened, information that of course was not enough to answer all the questions that the little ponies had obtained after listening to the princess of friendship.

Rarity on the other hand just sighed again, before looking at Scootaloo for a moment "Well, the other time it was different because we only had to restore the tree of harmony, this time it's black magic that is altering things," Rarity explained as superficially as she could, hoping that in this way the questions of the Crusaders would be satisfied as soon as possible, she also considered that the three foals had already passed a long time ago an optimal level of maturity so that they could understand in the best way what she was referring to. "The important thing right now is to find more information about Fluttershy, as long as the forest doesn't expand more, we will be safe, alright?" She finished saying, making the three foals nod as they had done before.

"You're right Rarity... we shouldn't talk more about it," said Sweetie Belle, who had been a little frightened by the mention of black magic, it was something that clearly the Crusaders were not so used to hear, so without further ado her companions agreed that it was not worth talking more about it, either because they didn't want someone to hear too much or because they had had enough explanations, anyway Rarity breathed a little calmer now that she had solved that little problem.

"Very well, then if you'll excuse me... I'll go with Twilight and Rainbow, no more talking about it, okay?" She made sure to wait until they all promised to leave the subject and then, she walked calmly to where her two friends were still discussing about what was really important. It was not to the unicorn's liking to leave her sister and her friends with so little information, but how could she tell them that the invasion of the forest was directly due to Fluttershy being the one who was using that dark magic? It certainly wasn't the time for the foals to know about it. Much more because even they themselves were not completely sure about it.

"Really my dears... you must learn to be quieter, do you have any idea who heard what you were saying?" mentioned Rarity as soon as she was close enough to her friends, looking first at Rainbow and then at Twilight, who had stopped talking to be able to look and listen properly to the unicorn. Immediately it was the princess of friendship who was a little worried when she heard that, she was the one who was having all the pressure to calm down all those who were trying to get ahead in what was left of Ponyville, the last thing she wanted was that rumors began to arise that would not help anything but cause more chaos than what was already there at that moment.

"Who? The mayor? Big Mac?... Derpy?!" Twilight panicked for a moment, mentioning names randomly was certainly not the most perfect idea she had at the moment but no one could blame the princess, after all she had been accumulating quite a lot of stress thanks to everything that had happened and of course, it was intensifying this very day by day, because she clearly didn't want to mention half-baked information that could make the ponies under her care panic, the last thing she wanted was to be burdened with a problem like that in addition to the ones they already had at the moment.

Fortunately, before Twilight could say anything else, in a (somewhat clumsy) attempt to guess who was the one who had overheard, Rarity was much quicker and ended up closing her muzzle with the help of her magic, shaking her head and smiling at her friend. "None of them Twilight, it was the Crusaders," She mentioned looking briefly at the fillies who were still sitting at their table and were talking about other topics. "I managed to make them forget what they had heard... Although I hope they don't end up more curious than before," Finished saying the unicorn with a slightly worried expression, those three ponies could be very explosive when they wanted to be, something that definitely didn't benefit any of them at those moments.

"The Crusaders? Those little..." Rainbow took the floor this time, looking at the unicorn and thinking for a moment. "What did you tell them? Remember not to mention... about Fluttershy..." A feeling between worry and annoyance was heard coming out of Rainbow at the mention of her friend's name, to think of her as the one who had caused all that evil was impossible for the pegasus, however there was no other clue that could make the yellow pegasus innocent for the moment.

"Don't worry Rainbow, I think I managed to make them more afraid of black magic than of someone in particular" the unicorn answered back, hoping that this was indeed enough to make the three foals not to look for more theories regarding the situation they were living. "More importantly... How did it go for you guys, did you find anything?" asked Rarity, looking at her two friends intently, the same question they had been asked earlier by Applejack's mouth, and unfortunately the same answer they gave had to be repeated, causing Rarity to let out a wide, heavy sigh.

"There's so much left to know about that forest... I still can't believe how Fluttershy managed to get to this level..." A discouraged Twilight mentioned softly, she had managed to feel much better after eating, but just the idea of always being asked the same questions by her friends, hoping to finally know more about the situation made her fall back all the time, even though she tried not to let it affect her too much in the end it was inevitable. It had made the atmosphere much more tense thanks to that comment, the Everfree forest had not only expanded since the yellow pegasus element was corrupted, but also the very talent that made Fluttershy so special had become a complete disadvantage for them, as all creatures obeyed the pegasus without hesitation, with this in mind it was a given that she could have an army in the blink of an eye.

"Ahem..." Rainbow blurted out suddenly, causing both Twilight and Rarity to look at her, it was for the best in those moments that they wouldn't focus on something as depressing as those thoughts. "How did it go for you Rarity? Tell me you have something new for the afternoon exploration," She finished saying hoping to hear some good news for a change. The unicorn had not only managed to make the perfect outfits to camouflage herself properly inside the forest, but she was also starting to investigate the best ways to combine useful spells in the same clothes, something that could be really useful to advance inside that dangerous area, especially for Rainbow, who in comparison to Twilight didn't have magical abilities of a unicorn.

"Well, now that you mention it my dear..." Rarity began to speak, before letting out a small smile and nodding a couple of times. "I have new things to help with the exploration, and I think this time we'll accomplish quite a bit thanks to one particular spell," She finished saying in a good mood, something that quickly rubbed off on the other two ponies due to the fact that, as was obvious, good news wasn't the order of the day lately, much less something that was actually important to help them continue investigating. "I was working with Spike all morning, we think a full camouflage spell can be implemented... although for that we need your help Twilight," Finished saying the unicorn, looking at the princess with a wide smile, after all she was the only one who had the necessary magical ability to achieve the goal that both Rarity and Spike had in mind.

"Then what are we waiting for, the faster we progress the better," The princess replied almost immediately, she had no time to waste of course, she was willing to keep working until they managed to come up with the solution to that problem for good.

"I knew we could count on you my dear! Meet me and the others where you always do," Rarity mentioned with a wide smile, before turning around. "We'll get everything ready to see if this works as fast as we can," she finished saying before starting to walk towards the outside of the barn, they had to get everything ready as fast as possible, just as Rarity had mentioned, as the sun was still at its highest and the second scan of the day was just around the corner. Undoubtedly the best way to see if what she had in mind would work was to take advantage of that expedition to put it into practice.

The place where Rarity had summoned her friends was not close to the main structure of the farm, but it was in one of the farthest hectares of the farm, they had managed to effectively condition that place to carry out certain meetings and investigations that clearly could not be told to the rest of the ponies, with the only purpose of keeping everyone as calm as possible inside the farm. For Twilight and Rainbow it was not very difficult to get to the place, since the princess could teleport in a second, this way she also managed to avoid the curious looks that would surely be dedicated to her in case of walking, unfortunately for Pinkie Pie, who was in those moments helping Rarity to prepare everything, she ended up with an impressive scare when she saw her friends appear in the place and ended up falling on top of her.

"Oops! Sorry Pinkie..." Twilight mentioned as soon as she discovered that the pink pony was underneath her, she knew how to execute that spell perfectly, but unfortunately this didn't prevent that kind of incidents could happen when there was another pony in the same spot she had thought to appear.

"Don't worry Twilight! Good thing you came early, we were already more than ready to welcome you guys" Pinkie replied with her characteristic tone of voice, at least she was deeply grateful that someone always had the energy and vitality to have a smile on her face, she had certainly managed to be one of the most important ponies of all, well who like her to return a good time of fun and smiles among all that had happened. "Rarity and Spike had been working hard when they left! So I couldn't just sit around and do nothing, could I? That's why I immediately said to myself: 'Pinkie Pie you must at least help them both a little' And here I am!" mentioned Pinkie at an impressive speed, who finished those words with a wide and exaggerated smile as she pushed her two friends off her back, so she could stand up.

"Ya... I see..." Twilight replied somewhat at a loss with her friend's little speech and how she had decided to help Rarity. "I really appreciate all your help Pinkie, the food just finished in the barn by the way" Finished saying the princess, who knew very well that Pinkie always took advantage when the ponies finished eating to go and bring out a few smiles. This is why Pinkie immediately let out an exaggerated noise when she heard these words and immediately disappeared leaving only a trail of dirt where she was standing just a few seconds ago.

"Well... after that... disappearing act" Rarity herself filled the silence that Pinkie had left, as she cleared her throat a little in search of her friends' attention. "I think it's time to carry out the plan I have between hooves" She finished saying, while showing them with the help of her magic both Rainbow and Twilight a new set of clothes that although they followed the glamour pattern of the unicorn, they looked completely different from the clothes she usually made, The black color was still predominant, because they could not take any risk in that forest, while the fabric was designed to be able to resist and adapt to any situation without tearing due to a bad move, definitely a new and novel design.

"It looks spectacular, doesn't it? I never get tired of telling Rarity" Spike mentioned from behind the unicorn, the small and always loyal dragon that accompanied all the ponies in good times and even in bad, just like Twilight and her friends, he was really giving his all to contribute to the problem they were having at that moment.

"Spike do you have the book?" Rarity asked next, looking at the dragon for a moment who nodded without much trouble and quickly provided the unicorn with a book that while it looked quite old, was in very good condition. "Spike found this while we were investigating in the few houses that were left standing, apparently it contains several spells, among them the way to add these same to any object you want... maybe you can apply this method to the costumes, Twilight?" explained Rarity briefly, the reality was that she more than anyone else in those moments was really eager to see if that really worked, if so, they would definitely gain a great advantage after so many days trying.

"Sounds interesting..." Twilight replied, taking the book with her magic and analyzing in detail the pages Rarity had shown her, for someone like her to release a spell like that was no problem, but she had to first be completely sure to read the whole section of that book. "I think it will work! We won't lose anything by trying it... and we would gain too much" finished saying the princess of friendship once she had finished reading the pages where she explained how to do that magic method, after that it was enough with a slight signal of her hoof for her friends and Spike to move away for a moment. "Let's see how it works" Without further ado, Twilight began to illuminate her horn with great skill, and then launched a beam directly towards the garments, creating a small glow for a couple of seconds.

"Did it work?" asked Spike, who had his eyes closed at that moment due to the glow of magic Twilight had created, though he eventually opened them as that glow faded, the outfits Rarity had created hadn't changed in the slightest, however they had a strange purple aura that appeared and disappeared every so often, indicating that the spell had worked correctly.

"Apparently yes... however we can't be sure until we put them to the test. Are you ready Rainbow?" mentioned Twilight, much more determined than before after seeing that indeed the spell had seemed to work, she had focused on casting a strong camouflage magic on both sets that were in front of her. The pegasus nodded immediately, stretching her wings for a moment as she took a closer look at the new outfits.

"Are you kidding? I'm more than ready Twilight, just give the order" Replied Rainbow, who didn't even care about the spell she had seen, rather she was eager to continue with that search for information and intelligence that would be useful to be able to counter everything that had happened in the last month.

"Alright, we won't go alone, Bulk Biceps and Big Mac will go too, go get them and meet at the entrance of the forest, I'll help make a couple more outfits and we'll get going" Ordered the princess of friendship. Those two ponies did not know all the information they had, however they did have some knowledge about the forest and what they were looking for at that moment, a way to find Fluttershy and see what dangers there were in the new Everfree forest, so counting on them to test the costumes that afternoon was the best option, after all it was better to go in a bigger group in order to be able to cover their backs much better and more efficiently.

Without further ado, Rainbow immediately nodded, taking her suit between her hooves and leaving at full speed out of that hectare, she would quickly look for the aforementioned ponies and wait for Twilight, who did not waste much more time and started working with Rarity to leave as quickly as possible towards the second exploration of the day. No doubt thanks to the progress Rarity had made she was much more confident that they would be able to find much more than before, at least she had to have all her faith in it.