Pictures speak 1000 words

One finds one's self in a dreamlike place. A fine mist spread across the land. The clouds expanded and covered the Everfree, untamed by any pegasus. Over the treetops, beneath the canopy, it permeated everything. The sun rarely reached this area of the forest, but the water could travel where the sun could not, and it made the area darker, colder.

If one chose to tread in such weather, one would feel as though one's soul were being slowly drawn through one's pores. A slow leak, a relentless seeping ooze coming out of one's body, as though the forest itself were trying to consume one's very life essence instead of feeding your body to the predators housed within its wooded demesnes.

The ground might feel wet and chilled as one walked through dew covered grass. One would have to be careful not to stub one's hoof against a tree root hidden by the mist. There may even be small creatures beneath the layer of cloud, so one must tread softly. But more so than small creatures or the roots of trees, one would have to be wary of stepping into the grove of a tiny blue plant known as poison joke.

If one were to smell the air around one's self, one might find it to be pleasant. A patch of flowers may be just off to one's right, and a stew may be cooking in the hut of a resident zebra. The again, one may also smell a fetid stench, like rotting eggs or decaying meat: the foul breath of a timber wolf.

If one looked around, one might be able to see a few feet in front of one's face. What could be hiding in the mist? Just the trees? Perhaps a hidden patch of the joke? What sorts of fauna might one find inside the Everfree? Fish might be swimming in a brook or a pond. Many species of birds of all colors and plumage might be just around the next tree. One such bird would more than love to gaze directly into one's probing eyes. One must stay clear of that bird, that bird known as the cockatrice.

What sort of flavors might the mist be carrying? Delectable flower petals and herbs. Fruits not found in any orchard. Swamp water, stagnant and putrid. That stew mentioned earlier, perhaps.

Nearby, one might be able to hear a brook or a creek as it rolled across a rocky bed. Or the rustling of a waterfall in the distance. Perhaps the screech of a phoenix as it flew overhead. The growl of a hungry wolf hidden behind the trees, or the snoring of an ursa echoing in a cave. The screech of a phoenix, or the roar of a manticore.

A roar that may be growing in intensity as it gets closer to one's position. One cannot hide from such a beast. Not when it smells something that doesn't belong in the forest, like one's self. One would be wise to run if one ever find one's self in such a predicament, taking care not to step in the joke or stub one's hoof.

And if one ran far enough, one might come to a clearing where the mist was broken. One would hear the brook rolling on the rocks, its soothing melody of ripples and twitters caressing the ears like a mother cooing her baby. One would see many trees of various colors: reds, yellows and greens, with brown bark, some of it covered in lichens. The rocks would have a tint of green as well from the moss which dotted their faces. The grass beneath one's hooves would be cool under the light of the moon's rays which could finally reach the ground.

Above the treetops, one would see the mountains, cold and grey except for one spot. Shining bright against the monotone of the stony mountains, one would see white ivory spires, capped with gold domes, pointed at the top. Canterlot Castle as it stands prominently from the cliff face would greet one's eyes. Just around the castle, one would see the colors of trees growing out of the mountainside. At its foot, one would see the waterfall one heard earlier, flowing directly from Canterlot into the forest below to form the brook at one's feet.

And above the castle, the sky would be covered by the cloud that created the mist. The cloud would be flowing down the mountain and through the forest where one stood. It would stretch across the sky in preparation of a storm until it was ready to challenge the pegasi outside the forest. It would sit upon the mountain top like a throne where the sunrise would catch its belly, warming the water until it was fully ready to make its move on the unprepared ponies.

A sunrise which would be strangely out of place so soon after sunset. Not to mention rising from the wrong side of Equestria as it traveled backward through the sky. Flashes of starlight and flames would appear from just outside the castle, as if in a battle for control of the skies.

Then one would watch as the cloud flashed with lightning and roared with thunder as it descended upon the land below.