Chapter 7: Journey Through the Everfree Forest

The next morning, Spike was leading Aaron, the Young 6, the New Mane 6 and Sparky towards a location. They were all heading Northwest, past Maretime Bay, Bridlewood, Zephyr Heights and the Together Tree where Opaline's Castle once stood. Aaron and Smolder were up front in the Marestream with the New Mane 6 and Sparky. Sparky was snuggling with Smolder.

"Easy, Sparky," Smolder said. She then picked up the dragon hatchling. She then handed him to Hitch. "He really needs to learn not be so clingy around dragons he doesn't know."

"Good advice, Smolder, but Sparky hasn't been this clingy around any of the other dragons," Hitch said. He then opened the window and asked, "Hey, Spike, where are you leading us?!"

"To where the Alicorn that's moving the Sun and Moon is," Spike said. "Don't worry. We'll be there in..." Just then, the sound of thunder came in. "Huh?" Then Aaron, Smolder, the New Mane 6 and Sparky looked in front of them, and there was a huge storm in front of them.

"Whoa!" Zipp said. "That's a huge storm!"

"That's not just any storm," Spike said. "It's an Everfree Storm!"

"Which means we can't go anywhere through the sky until it clears!" Aaron said. "Let's land before we get..." Just then, a storm cloud shot out a bolt of lightning, hitting the Marestream. Then the Marestream started going down.

"NOOOO!!" Spike said, flying back to catch the Marestream.

Aaron, the Young 6, the New Mane 6 and Sparky were all screaming. Sunny then shouted, "Hold onto your Cutie Marks!"

"It had to end with us going out with a bang!" Smolder shouted.

"You called?!" came another voice. Aaron, Smolder, the New Mane 6 and Sparky looked towards the window and saw a human in a skydiving suit with a name tag falling next to the falling Marestream. It was Dang, the janitor from Aaron and Smolder's school. Aaron, Smolder, the New Mane 6 and Sparky all screamed.

"Actually, I said 'Bang'! Not 'Dang'!" Smolder called out.

"Okay, see you all later!" Dang called out.

"Wait!" Aaron shouted. "Don't go! The Marestream is going to crash if we don't get it booted back up!"

"No problem!" Dang said. "I can fix it with these needle nose pliers! Let me grab them!" Dang then reached out for his needle nose pliers. He pulled them out, along with the chord that unleashes the parachute. "Whoops!" Then he got pulled back by the parachute through the sky.

"How did he get here?!" Smolder asked.

"I don't know!" Aaron said. "Right now, we need to land safely!"

"I got this!" Izzy said. She then started glowing. "I sparkle like the stars, 'cause I'm always super glittery. When my cutie mark comes to life, watch this brilliant creativity!" She used her magic and a bunch of balloons came up to her. She then started blowing into them.

"Uh, I don't wanna be that guy, but the ground is getting closer!" Gallus said, looking out the window. As soon as the Marestream was at least 20 feet above the ground, everyone had their eyes closed in fright before they could make collision. But not Izzy. Her eyes were closed, but with a big smile on her face.

The Marestream landed, but something softened the landing. Underneath was four large balloons. Two red and two yellow. Then they all popped and the Marestream went to the ground.

Everyone was on the floor when the Marestream finally landed on solid ground. Aaron then got up and said, "More and more there's a possibility that Izzy is a descendant of Pinkie Pie." Then Smolder got up, using Aaron's shoulder to pull herself up.

"Couldn't agree with you more," Smolder said.

"What?" Izzy asked with excitement, standing up. "You never know when you need a really big balloon. Now, let's go everypony." She then headed out of there while the others got up.

Eventually, they all got out of the Marestream just as Spike landed next to it.

"Are you all okay?" Spike asked.

"We've been better," Silverstream said.

Misty looked around and got creeped out by where the Marestream landed. She then asked, "Um... Where are we?"

Everyone looked around. Aaron and the Young 6 got surprised. Aaron then said, "Oh, crud! We're in the Everfree Forest!"

"What's got you freaked out?" Pipp asked.

"The Everfree Forest... is the most dangerous forest in all of Equestria," Aaron said. "There are a lot of dangerous plants and creatures here."

"Like what?" Pipp asked.

"Giant wooden wolves with stinky breath you can smell from a mile away," Aaron said. "Those are Timberwolves."

"There are also Manticores," Gallus said. "Body of a lion, wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion. Do not enrage them."

"Ursas," Ocellus said. "Giant bears made of constellation stars. Blue are Ursa Minors, the babies. Purple are Ursa Majors. Adults. Do not make either cranky."

"Cockatrices," Silverstream said. "Heads of chickens and bodies of snakes. Look into their glares, and they could turn you to stone."

"And the pukwudgies," Smolder said. "Little hedgehog like creatures, but can be easily offended. They shoot their quills at whoever they point them at."

"With how long its been since Ragnarok, the Everfree Forest just might have grown more dangerous," Sandbar said.

"Time changes things, good or bad," Yona said.

"They're right," Spike said. "I think we should take extra precaution when going through the forest." Just then, a bunch of umbrella hats came onto all of them. Even one big enough for Spike.

"We're gonna need these to keep as dry as we can," Izzy said.

"Let's get going," Aaron said. "Ponyville is West from here."

"Oh, we're not going to Ponyville," Spike said.

Aaron, the Young 6, and the New Mane 6 looked up at Spike and asked, "WHAT?!"

"We're going somewhere special, where the new Alicorn has been living all these moons," Spike said.

"Just say years, Spike," Aaron said. "A moon isn't really that long."

"Right," Spike said. "Sorry." He then chuckled. "Anyway, we're heading deeper in the forest."

"What could be out there that's so special?" Sunny said.

"It can't be another Together Tree," Zipp said. "Not like the ones in Maretime Bay, Bridlewood, Zephyr Heights and the one from Opaline's castle."

Aaron and the Young 6 wend wide eyed. They were told about the Together Trees and how they defeated Opaline. Then the seven of them smirked.

"Actually, there is another Together Tree here in the forest," Aaron said.

"There is?!" the New Mane 6 asked.

"Not just any Together Tree," Smolder said.

"The Original Together Tree," Yona said.

"The Tree of Harmony!" Aaron and the Young 6 said in unison.

"The Tree of what now?" Zipp asked.

"It's a tree created by six legendary heroes, long before the time of Twilight Sparkle," Ocellus said. "And it grew six powerful gems known as the Elements of Harmony."

"Sunny, you heard that legend from Seashell after what Pipp calls the Hitch-Switch," Aaron said.

Sunny then went wide eyed and said, "Of course! She said that when I was handing her her smoothie order!"

"But did the Tree of Harmony have to be here in this creepy forest?" Misty asked.

"The Tree of Harmony is the only thing that's keeping the Everfree Forest spreading across Equestria," Spike said. "It's magic is all so powerful. That's why Twilight put a lot of magic into it as well as the Crystals."

"Twilight Sparkle did?" Hitch asked.

Then Zipp gasped and said, "The message! Twilight said that she poured all the magic into the Unity Crystals and something else! We didn't get to hear what it was because the message was glitching!"

"Guess all the chaos happening in Maretime Bay was messing up the message," Smolder said.

"That was probably it," Izzy said.

"Well, if we're gonna get to the Tree of Harmony, we better get going," Aaron said.

"But this storm might mess up my mane!" Pipp said.

"No time, sis," Zipp said. "Let's go." Then she started heading through the forest. Pipp groaned in annoyance and followed her. Eventually, all of them walked through the forest. Unbeknownst to them, Crystal roots were coming out of the ground behind them.

Eventually, all of them came up to a cliff. They all looked down the cliff.

"Looks like the only way down safely is to fly," Misty said.

"We can handle that," Zipp said. Just then, there was the sound of rocks crumbling. "Wait, where's that noise coming from?" Just then, the cliff caved in from under them. Those who could fly started flying. Except for Sunny because she didn't activate her Alicorn form in time.

Zipp grabbed Hitch, Pipp grabbed Izzy, Ocellus grabbed Sparky, Smolder and Silverstream grabbed Yona, and Gallus caught Sandbar. Aaron and Spike looked around. They saw Sunny and Misty going down the cliff faster than the others. Sunny then stopped herself from falling, but her hind legs were hanging over the cliff. Misty was in front of Sunny, holding onto her forelegs.

"Misty!" Sunny said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Misty said. "But you're not. C'mon, Sunny. Alicorn up."

"I can't!" Sunny said. "I'm scared."

Misty then looked below Sunny. She then sighed and said, "Let go."

"WHAT?!" Sunny asked.

"Trust me," Misty said. "It's gonna be okay."

Sunny was hesitant of this. Sunny then took a deep breath and released herself from the cliff. Sunny was screaming as she fell, but something stopped her fall. Sunny looked down and saw Aaron's arms wrapped around her.

"I gotcha, Sunny," Aaron said. Spike was flying right beside them, chuckling. He then came up to the cliff and Misty jumped onto Spike's back. Then the two dragons carried their pony passengers down to the ground where the others were.

"Okay, wow," Sunny said. "That was scary."

"More scarier than you think," Aaron said. "Something like that has happened in this spot before."

"It has?" Zipp asked. "Huh. Weird. Probably just a coincidence."

"You're probably right about that, Zipp," Aaron said. "Let's keep going." He then looked up, seeing it wasn't raining anymore. "Hey, the rain's gone."

"Guess it wasn't as heavy as I thought," Spike said. "Now, let's get moving." Then they all continued down the path towards the Tree of Harmony.

As they continued walking, they made it down a path that kept getting more narrow. But just enough for Spike to get through.

"This place is getting tight," Spike said.

"It might be a lot more easier for you if you were smaller," Smolder said. That made the rest of the Young 6 and Aaron laugh. Just then, the sound of a creature growling came in. That made all of them stop.

"What was that?" Misty asked. Everyone looked towards where the noise came from. In front of them was a Manticore. And it roared towards them.

"A Manticore!" Sandbar shouted.

"Whoa," Aaron said. "Déjà vu."

To everyone else, they heard roars of anger. But to Hitch, he heard cries of pain coming from the Manticore. Hitch then called out, "Hang on! I got this!" He then ran towards the Manticore.

"Hitch!" Pipp cried out. "No!"

Hitch ran towards the Manticore. It was about to strike him with its tail. Hitch dodged the tail said, "Hey, big guy. Are you okay?" The Manticore roared. "Oh, so that's the problem, huh? Let me see it." Then the Manticore held its left paw in front for Hitch to look at. In its paw, there was a thorn stuck in it. "Aw, don't worry. I got it." He then bit on the thorn and yanked it out of the Manticore's paw, making the Manticore roar.

"HITCH!" the five mares yelled. But what they saw surprised them. The Manticore was licking Hitch in appreciation, him laughing.

"Thanks, big guy," Hitch said. "Now, we gotta get going." Then the Manticore let Hitch go and then took off into the night sky. Aaron, the Young 6, the New Mane 6, Sparky and Spike watched as the Manticore took off into the sky.

"Two for two," Aaron said.

"You're right," Gallus said. "We saw that happen in the show you showed us after Pinkie Pie accidentally spilled your secret."

"It's probably just a coincidence, you two," Zipp said. "C'mon. Let's get moving." Then they all continued forward.

They later reached a part of the forest that was blocking all light.

"Whoa," Smolder said. "This place is getting dark. Should I use my fire?"

"Bad idea, Smolder," Sunny said. "You could risk starting a forest fire."

"I agree with Sunny," Aaron said. "Let's just use the lights in our phones."

"Good call," Pipp said. Then the place lit up thanks to Pipp's phone. "There. Now we have light." Just then, she saw trees with scary faces. That made almost everyone scream. The only ones who didn't scream were Aaron, Smolder, Izzy and Misty.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Aaron said. Just then, Izzy started laughing. Everyone looked towards her, seeing that she was making funny faces at the scary trees and laughing. Then the creepy face on that tree vanished.

"What just happened?!" Misty asked.

"Oh, this is an old Moonbow family remedy!" Izzy said. "If something seems creepy or scary, just laugh at it and it goes away."

"Let me guess," Smolder said. "You learned this after your first encounter with the Troggles?"

"What gave it away?" Izzy asked. "Anyway, just laugh at the scary faces, and they will go away." Then the New Mane 6 split up and took a look at the scary faces in the trees and laughed. And the scary faces vanished.

Aaron, the Young 6, Sparky and Spike looked towards the New Mane 6. Aaron and the Young 6 were looking at the New Mane 6 with raised eyebrows.

"Three for three," Aaron said.

"You're right," Sandbar said. "Twice is a coincidence. But three times, I think someone's trying to tell us something."

"Something's up," Gallus said.

Aaron, the Young 6, the New Mane 6, Sparky and Spike continued through the forest. Aaron was explaining to the New Mane 6 about the comparison of what was happening to them now and what happened in the past.

"Basically, all of you are repeating history," Aaron said. "Misty, you told Sunny the truth to her that she's gonna be alright and I caught her, like Applejack did when Twilight was hanging off a cliff and she had friends prepared to catch her."

"I knew you had her," Misty said. "Just like I came clean after what I did to Sparky."

"You made up to it by letting us out," Sunny said. "And you got your Cutie Mark from doing that."

"And as for you, Hitch," Aaron said. "You helped get that thorn out of the Manticore's paw. Fluttershy did the same, and she didn't know that there was a thorn in it either."

"I could hear pain coming from the Manticore, so I had to do what was right," Hitch said.

"And now, Izzy laughing at the creepy trees, Pinkie Pie did the same thing," Aaron said. "In song form of course."

"I guess my ancestors knew this Pinkie Pie during the time," Izzy said.

"That, or you could actually be Pinkie Pie's descendant," Aaron said. "You do a lot of things that Pinkie can do. Especially with your peppy attitude."

"Okay, so we've done three so far," Zipp said. "Who's next?"

"Next up is Rarity's," Aaron said. He then heard the sound of rushing water. "And we're coming up next to her task." They all came across a wide river. "Whoa. Looks like the river has gotten wider since last time."

"You're right," Smolder said. "How are we gonna get across?"

"Listen," Aaron said. They all stopped and listened for something. They heard the sound of a female creature crying. "This one's female."

"What's female?" Misty asked.

"A sea serpent," Aaron said. Just then, something splashed out of the water. Out came a blue sea serpent with a swim cap over her blonde hair. That made the New Mane 6 scream and hide behind Spike. Aaron chuckled and said, "Wimps." He then looked up at the blue sea serpent. "What's your name?"

"Rachel..." the sea serpent responded, still crying. "Rachel Magnet."

"Any relation to a purple sea serpent named Steven Magnet?" Aaron asked.

"Yes..." Rachel Magnet answered. "He was my great-great-great grandfather. We sea serpents have a long life span. Not as long as you dragons do."

"I see," Aaron said. "So, what's the problem?"

"I... I really messed up my hair," Rachel Magnet responded. She then put her claws up on the edge of her swim cap. "Look." Just then, she ripped the swim cap off, revealing her long blonde hair, covered in split ends, and having some bald spots in certain places. The Young 6, the New Mane 6, Sparky and Spike looked at the horror that was Rachel Magnet's hair.

Pipp actually screamed and shouted, "What in Equestria happened to your wonderful hair?!"

"I was swimming through the river, practicing some new swimming techniques, when all of a sudden, my hair got snagged on by some branches here," Rachel Magnet said. "Every sea serpent I knew laughed at me. I couldn't go home like this ever again." She then put her hands over her eyes and cried into them.

"No problemo, everypony," Pipp said. "I got this." She then pulled something out of her mane. It was a set of hair styling supplies.

"Pipp! You brought your hair care supplies?!" Zipp asked.

"Well, I can't just let somepony's hair be all ruined like that, can I?" Pipp asked. She then flew up to Rachel Magnet and started working on the serpent's hair. She sprayed Rachel's hair with hair spray and brushed it to get rid of the split ends, then she used some special cream and placed it on the bald spots. Then she styled the hair like the sea serpent was going to a prom.

"Oh, wow!" Rachel Magnet said. "This is beautiful!"

"Remember to take really good care if your hair there, Rachel," Pipp said. "And next time, be careful on where you swim. We don't want another incident, do we?"

"Of course not," Rachel Magnet said. "So, you all need to get across?"

Everyone shouted, "Yeah." Rachel Magnet's tail then extended out, making into platforms so they could jump across the tail. Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, Misty, Sandbar and Yona hopped over Rachel's tail while the rest flew. They eventually made it across.

"Thanks again," Rachel said before diving under.

"Four outta four," Aaron said.

"Rainbow Dash's action was next," Smolder said. "And it's right at the place where we're going."

"It sure has been a long time since that happened," Spike said. "I remember it like it was..." Spike then tried remembering. "Huh. I don't really remember how it happened."

"Because you weren't there, Spike," Ocellus said. "You fell asleep after you and Twilight got into the library after Nightmare Moon's return."

"Oh... right..." Spike said. That made Sunny giggle.

Eventually, they made it to the chasm where there was supposed to be a bridge to the Castle of the Two Sisters. They could see the ruins of the castle on the other side.

"There it is!" Aaron said. "The Castle of the Two Sisters!"

"Whoa!" Misty said. "Looks like it's in ruins! Must've been beautiful during your time!"

"No, it was always that way," Sandbar said.

"It was abandoned for over 1000 years during our time," Ocellus said.

"Really?" Zipp asked. "What happened?"

"Nightmare Moon is what happened," Gallus said. "The two sisters were Celestia and Luna. Luna was corrupted by darkness and which she became Nightmare Moon."

"Celestia didn't have a choice but to use Equestria's greatest defense at the time to banish her own sister to the moon for a thousand years," Aaron said. "It broke her heart having to do that."

"Oh, man," Sunny said. "I'd hate for that to happen again if I had to do it to anypony I cared for."

"Sometimes, the tough choices had to be made," Spike said. He then looked down. "Where's the bridge?"

Then Aaron looked over the cliff and said, "Aw, man. It broke again." Just then, a bunch of howling wind came in. Storm clouds were coming towards them from the right side of their path. Lightning cracked and almost hit them.

"This storm is getting really strong!" Hitch said.

"We need to get across," Smolder said. "The Tree of Harmony is in the old court yard of the castle! We'll take shelter in there!"

"But how are we gonna get across?!" Pipp yelled. "This wind is too strong!"

"By being brave!" Zipp said. "I'm a princess of a different kind. Always trying to figure out why. When my cutie mark comes to life, I blast bravely across the sky!" She started glowing and she took off. She flew down the chasm and grabbed the end of the bridge and then carried it towards the other side of the chasm. "There, that wasn't so bad!"

"It's not over yet, Zipp!" Aaron shouted from across the chasm. "Behind you!"

"Huh?" Zipp asked, looking behind her. There were a group of Pegasus ponies coming up to her. "Who are you?"

"We are the Shadowbolts," the mare in front said. "We are the elite fliers here from the Everfree Forest. Join us, Zephyrina Storm."

"And why would I ever do that?" Zipp asked.

"Well, you won't have to worry about those princess responsibilities anymore," the mare Shadowbolt said. "Join us, and you'll be free of any of that."

"I'll think about it," Zipp said. "But first, I got a bridge to tie up."

"No!" the mare Shadowbolt said. "Join us now! You'll have less worries to deal with!"

"But my friends are..." Zipp said, turning around. Just then, her sight of the others was blocked by a huge wall of fog. "Huh?"

"No need to worry about your friends or family," the Mare Shadowbolt said. "Just think about it. Out here, flying as you please, enjoying yourself of who you truly are. No princess responsibilities, no annoying family members to see anymore. Think about it. You'll have the good life."

Zipp then thought about it. She then sighed and said, "What do I say about it?" She then turned back around to face the Shadowbolts. "Hard pass!" She then went back to the poles and retied the bridge to it. The Shadowbolts then vanished from behind Zipp. Zipp then flew across the bridge, the fog dissipating as she passed through it. "Let's get inside before this storm gets worse!"

"I don't think this bridge will support all of our weight!" Sunny said. "Especially Spike or Yona's."

"If only there was something we could do," Sandbar said, not noticing his hoof was glowing green. He then saw it. "Huh?" He then tapped on the ground and then vines came out and started wrapping around the bridge, making the support of it stronger. "Whoa!"

"Hurry!" Aaron said. "Let's get inside!" Then Aaron started running across the bridge. The others followed. Spike flew over the chasm.

Eventually, they made it to the courtyard of the Castle of the Two Sisters, where the Treehouse of Harmony was still standing. Sunny then asked, "Is that it?!"

"The Tree of Harmony," Aaron said. "Rebuilt into the Treehouse of Harmony. Let's get inside!" Then they went to the bottom door and opened it up. Spike was the first one in while the rest went in. "C'mon! Go, go, go!" Gallus and Silverstream were about to enter, but Silverstream was being pulled back by the wind. She started screaming.

"SILVERSTREAM!" Gallus cried out. He then flew towards her and into the storm to get her.

"Gallus, no!" Aaron cried out. Both Gallus and Silverstream were out of sight through the storm.

"Oh, no!" Sandbar said. "We can't leave them out there!"

"We won't have to," Spike said. "Close the doors."

"What?" Aaron asked.

"Trust me," Spike said. Aaron hesitated. He then sighed and closed the doors. Spike then blew out an emerald flame from his mouth to the ground in front of him, and coming from it was Gallus and Silverstream, both of them hugging each other.

"Gallus! Silverstream!" Aaron shouted.

"Huh?" Gallus and Silverstream asked, opening their eyes. They looked around and saw they were inside.

Silverstream looked at Gallus with a shocked look and asked, "You... you were willing to sacrifice yourself... to save me?"

"I would," Gallus said. "And not just because it's a part of my training. I really do love you, Silverstream." Silverstream let out tears of joy and kissed Gallus on the cheek. Gallus blushed at that. Just then, Gallus was being lifted up into the air. "Um... what's happening?!" A light emerged from him and was floating around him. The light then went into his right flank, and a picture appeared on it. It was of a kite shaped shield with a navy blue six point star on it. The shield had an orange outline. The six point star was covering the halfway mark with one side of the shield being red and the other side being yellow. There were also sky blue wings coming from the top of the shield.

"Gallus... got a Cutie Mark?" Sandbar asked.

"Whoa," Aaron said. "Didn't see that coming."

"Then, that would mean..." Smolder said.

"Gallus... is the first non-pony creature from our time to get a Cutie Mark," Aaron said. "And Gabby is gonna be jealous when we get back to our time."

"No doubt about that," Spike said. The howling wind continued blowing from outside.

"Sounds like the storm's not gonna go away anytime soon," Hitch said.

"No doubt about that," Sunny said. "Let's... set up camp in here."

"On it," Spike said. He then blew on the flames where Gallus and Silverstream once were and in came the camping supplies they all packed. "It's best we rest here until the storm clears."

Later that night, Aaron, the Young 6, the New Mane 6, Sparky and Spike were all asleep. Some of them were cuddling with each other to make themselves warmer. Aaron and Smolder were laying on Spike's left side. Sparky, who was sleepwalking, walked towards Aaron and Smolder and snuggled up in-between them. Sandbar and Yona were snuggled up together, Yona's blanket was slightly off her so Sandbar could share some of the warmth. Gallus and Silverstream were snuggled up close to each other by the wall, with Pipp and Zipp next to them. Sunny, Hitch and Misty were close to each other. Izzy and Ocellus were sleeping together near a doorway.

Speaking of the doorway, a shadow was emerging from it. Then, in dark blue magic, a bunch of blankets and pillows were coming out of the doorway. They came up to the sleeping groups and covered them all and the pillows went under the heads of them. Spike opened up his eyes and looked towards the doorway.

He saw a silhouette of a pony coming in through the doorway. The pony's long horn was glowing in the same dark blue aura the blankets and pillows were in. It then opened up its eyes, revealing teal irises with dagger shaped pupils, and light blue scleras.

Spike smiled and said, "Thank you... Nyx." The silhouetted pony nodded and walked away, leaving her guests to rest. Spike then went back to sleep, hoping the next time he opens his eyes, it will be morning and the storm will be gone.

Author's Note

Well, they all made it to the Treehouse of Harmony. And as for Gallus, things are gonna get interesting since he'll be going home with a Cutie Mark. Things are gonna be interesting.

Idea for Cutie Mark on Gallus came from this image by Prixy05: