My Little Pony: Future of Equestria

by alexk1995

Chapters

Prologue
Friends Asemble
A New Friend
The Journey's Beginning
Into the Everfree

Prologue

The sun was just rising over the horizon and Ponyville was still sleeping.
The streets were silent and peaceful, the smell of rain still hung in the air as a shadow of the showers that had preceded the dawn. Suddenly, the peace was interrupted by the clomping of hooves on wet pavement.
A purple mare with a bright blue mane came clomping down in a rush.
"Dang it," she whispered, hoping not to disturb the residents, "I knew I would be late. I just knew it."
Picking up the pace, she clomped down the road, trying her hardest not to splash any puddles.
She was just pulling into the door of her house when she heard the sound she was hoping to avoid, the coffee machine. She stopped at the door and hung her head low.
"Darn it all." she mumbled as she crept through the door. Maybe, nopony would hear her creep in. She opened the door and tried to tip toe her way to the stairs, but was suddenly filled with a sense of weightlessness, whisked off her feet, and flung into a chair.
"Hello Dreamie," said a voice from in front of her.
Dreamie Mind sighed and in front of her, her best friend Time Chaser turned around her chair.
"Where have you been?" Time Chaser yelled, her voice rattling the items on the shelves, "It's 5 AM and you weren't in your bed at all last night again! Spill it, where were you?"
"Time Chaser," Dreamie sighed, "I'm sorry, but I can’t tell you where I was."
"Why not?" Time Chaser demanded.
Dreamie looked up and smiled "Spoilers?"
"Oh no," T.C. said, shaking her head violently, "that’s not going to work this time. You have to tell me now, or else!"
"Quit your wining," Dreamie groaned as she hopped off the stool T.C. put her on, "What’s up with you anyway? What's with your voice?"
Before she could respond, the coffee machine dinged making both Dreamie and Time Chaser jump. Almost as suddenly, a green mare comes rushing down the steps and into the kitchen, practically screaming "COFFEE!" the whole way.
"So it seems like CandyMellow is awake," Dreamie said, changing the topic.
"Yea think?" Time Chaser said sarcastically, her usual Breytish (British) accent coming back to her.
"I'm going to go talk to her now, bye T.C." Dreamie said as she turned around, walking towards the kitchen, and quietly adding to herself "besides, I could use some coffee right about now." As she walked through the door, CandyMellow zoomed past her as a blur.
“I need a cuuuuuup!!!!" CandyMellow shouted, zooming around the kitchen.
"Good morning Candy," Dreamie said, walking through the kitchen. CandyMellow runs over to her, right into her face, and says "Cuuuuuup for Coffeeeeeee." ‎"Uh-huh," Dreamie said, walking through the kitchen. She walked straight through to the cupboard over the coffee machine and pulled out two cups, which were instantly pulled out of her hooves by the overexcited green mare, who immediately pushed her to the side and filled both cups to the edge with the black liquid.
Candy Mellow picked up both cups of coffee and chugged them both down before Dreamie could even say anything.
Candy Mellow sighed and put down the cups. "Ah, much better."
She turned to face Dreamie, "Good morning Dreamie, when did you get here? And why are you on the floor?"
Time Chaser laughed as she trotted into the kitchen, "You knocked her down again Candy."
"Oh no!" Candy exclaimed, helping Dreamie up, "are you okay Dreamie?"
"Yeah," Dreamie replied,” you really are crazy in the mornings without your coffee. Aren’t you?"
In the distance, a rooster cawed, marking the beginning of the day.
Time Chaser looked at the others,” Well girls, it’s about time to wake up Runa, isn't it? Wouldn't want her to be late for work again today, right?"
"I heard that," came a sleepy voice from the hallway, "and I’ll have you know, I haven't been late once the past five days!"
A black mare with a silver and black mane walked into the kitchen and got a cup of coffee, before plopping herself onto one of the dining room chairs.
"Good morning Runa," Candy Mellow said in her normal, after coffee voice, "Hoydya sleep?"
"Horribly," Runa replied sleepily, "now can you please quiet down? My head is killing me."
"Sorry Runa," Candy Mellow apologized, and then she grabbed a third cup of coffee and then left the kitchen.
"Did you really sleep that badly last night Runa?" Time Chaser asked, sitting next to her.
"Nah," Runa replied with a grin, "not really, I just wanted to make her go away. She’s too hyper in the morning."
Again, the rooster cawed, and Dreamie jumped with a start. "Oh man guys, I'm going to be late, I gotta go. See you later!" With those as her last words, she ran out the front door, with Time Chaser calling behind her "see you later Dreamie."
Dreamie's gallop faltered as she ran. Or not, she thought to herself, glad that Time Chaser had closed the door.
Her mind was made up, but her heart was shattering. If her thoughts were true, then she may never see her friends again, and the very lives of everypony everywhere were at stake. As the sun rose, she sped on, hoping that she was wrong. Hoping that the peace that was established so many years ago would remain in tact. Little did she know, it would be up to her, her friends, and a hidden secret, to save, the Future of Equestria.

Author's Note

this is my first FanFic ever, so i don't really know what I'm doing. If there are any veteran Fan-Fic writers who could give me a few tips, i would really enjoy it

Friends Asemble

Just outside of Ponyville, right next to Saddle Lake, there was a cottage. This was a cottage that most ponies stayed away from, not from their own accord, but from a powerful spell that was cast there, making it Unnoticeable. This cottage laid abandoned for years, ignored by all who traveled their.
Currently, however, a blue stallion sat under the shade of a tree by the edge of the lake, gazing intently at it. Though he could not see it, he had a feeling, a huge sense, that there was something over their. If only he could look a little closer he might.....
Kablam! Out of nowhere Dreamie slams into him, knocking him into the lake.
"Oh... my...gosh.... Jet..," Dreamie exclaims, out of breath, "are... you...okay?!"
JetStream, obviously known as Jet by his friends, surfaces and spits out water. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He walked out of the lake and shook himself off. "You ready to go Dreamie?"
"Yup," Dreamie replied, showing him her pouch, "I bought this on the way over here, along with some things we might need."
"Alright," Jet said, smiling, "Then I think we should head out. You didn't tell anyone, did you?"
"Of course not!" Dreamie replied.
"Good, then let's go."
"Now?" Dreamie asked, surprised.
"Well I do have one stop to make first to grab my stuff, but then I don't see another reason to stay. Is that alright?"
"It's alright with me," Dreamie said, adjusting her saddle, "but lets hurry up, I want to get a move on before the path becomes trafficked."
The two of them walked along the lake until they arrived to the border to the Everfree forest. There, hidden by some bushes and a bent tree, was a secret cave.
The two of them discovered it when they were younger. Jet had gone off into the forest due to a dare made to him by one of his friends. While he was there, Dreamie and Time Chaser went to look for him. After getting chased by a pack of Timber wolves, the three of them fell into it, and it became there clubhouse ever sense.
"Don't you think its a bit risky stopping here?" Dreamie asked worryingly, "don't you think T.C. might come here?"
"Nah," Jet replied quickly, "She almost never comes here anymore. If she did, she would have easily found this." He pulled out an overstuffed medium sized black and blue satchel, with his cutie mark, a pair of crisscrossing airplanes with their jet-stream crossing.
"So you already had supplies I see?" Dreamie said, slightly annoyed that she had to waist the bits to buy extra stuff."
"No, I don't," Jet said, putting the satchel on, "these are just things I thought might come in handy on the way to the Pillars. You know tools and stuff."
Just as he said that, a book fell out of the bag.
Picking it up with her magic, Dreamie read the cover.
"100 spots for great food in Equestria." she looked at Jet, "Do you really think we will have the time, or the bits, to go to a fancy restaurant?"
Jet looked down and blushed, "No not really, I was just being prepared. You know, just in case."
Dreamie chuckled to herself and, placing the book on one of the tables they placed inside the cave, "So very resourceful Jet, but we have to try and travel light. There's no telling what we will need on our trip, but I highly doubt a book on restaurants will be of any help."

Jet looked up at her and grinned, "I guess were going to have to be behind on our schedule then." He took off his satchel and opened up both sides which immediately burst with the overflow of stuff that was in them. "This might take a while."

Runa could not believe her eyes.
She knew that Dreamie had been leaving work unusually early lately, and had heard from her coltfriend, Cody [1] that Jet had been doing the same, but she never imagined they would be sneaking off together into a tunnel.
In fact, the only reason she had followed Dreamie was because of TimeChasers constant rambling that "something was wrong with Dreamie" and that she was "too busy with her job to go looking for her."
She brought a very reluctant Cody with her, almost having to drag him out of his bed to get him here.
Now, after Dreamie and Jet walked into the cave, Cody was sitting, half asleep, watching Runa pace back and forth, wondering what they could possibly be doing.
"What could they possibly be doing Cody? I mean we know it isn't something bad, they don't like each other that way."
"Maybe there sleeping," Cody said, brown eyes droopy, "Maybe they couldn't sleep at there rooms anymore, so they came here to do it."
Runa stopped her pacing to stare at her coltfriend. "That has got to be the silliest idea you've had yet. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
"Nope," Cody said, standing up, "Someone came over to my house and dragged me out of bed!"
Runa smiled at Cody's attempt to be angry. She walked over to his side and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"I'm sorry Cody, but I didn't want to stand out here all by myself. What would happen if there was a Timber wolf or something that would attack me? Who would save me?"
Cody glared playfully at Runa, "Oh those guys wont stop you, who was it that saved me from a whole pack of Timberwolves when we were younger?"
"TimeChaser." Runa reminded him with a tease.
"Yeah," he said quickly, thinking, "But who was it that told her where we were?"
"CandyMellow"
"Then who was it that hit that one on the head with a spin kick?"
Runa walks over to him and pecks him on the cheek, "that was you my dear."
"Oh," Cody replied shocked awake again by his marefriends kiss. Every time she kissed him, it was like an electric charge ran through his body.
Runa knew, and understood this, so she used it to her advantage all the time. Like in this very instance, in which she needed him to be wide awake for what she was about to say.
"Cody, you know we need to follow them, right?"
Cody sighed, annoyed to have been hit by the zap-kiss again, "Hold on, If were going to do this, were going to do it right" he lifted a nearby rock to reveal four bags, hidden by a whole the size of a filly. Two of the bags resembled Runas and Cody’s cutiemarks and colors, but the other two looked different.
"Wait; are those CadnyMellows and TimeChasers' bags?"
"Yup," Cody replied, pulling the bags out of the hole, " I kinda followed those two here a few weeks ago, and I saw them bringing supplies, and I knew we might be in charge of following them, so I prepared in advance."
Runa gave Cody another peck on the cheek, "You are brilliant Cody, now one of us needs to run back into town to get CandyMellow and TimeChaser." She looked into his eyes, unsaid order hanging in the air.
"And that would have to be me?" Cody asked, giving a crooked smile.
"Yes please?" Runa said, moving to give him another cheek kiss. This time, he was ready and he kissed her lips first.
As he pulled away, he said, "I'll get them, just keep a watch on that hole in the ground."

He turned and ran off to Ponyville, leaving Runa in a daze of her own. She was in such a big of a daze, that she didn’t see a small white filly sneak into Cody’s bag.

A few minutes later, Dreamie was pacing around the cave. Any minute now, she knew her friends would notice hers and Jets absence from their jobs and come looking for them, and she knew that the cave was the first place that TimeChaser would look. Her worries only grew when she looked over and saw Jet pulling out another collapsible telescope and toss it onto the already littered floor of the hideout.
"Come on Jet, hurry up!"
He pulled out a cookbook and threw it onto the floor. "That's the last of it, now I need to repack the stuff I need." He levitated the small pile of spell books, first aid kits, and cooking utensils, and tried to shove it all into his bag.
Dreamie finally lost her patients and took the pile from him. "Let me do it!" She used an expansion magic, causing the inner bag to float, open, in the air. She then shoved all the items into the bag, tied it shut, and tied the bag to Jet's back.
"Need anything else?" She said, a little too angry. Jet stared, wide-eyed and slowly walked around Dreamie, back to the wall, until he got to the entrance, where he bolted out, leaving a cloud in his shape behind him.
Dreamie took a deep breath to calm herself down and looked around the filthy cave. Lighting up her horn, she made all the items on the floor magically levitate to their rightful spots, or places nearby.
After a few seconds, the entire hideout was as clean as when they arrived, with no trace that they had ever been there.
She smiled; looking around the cave she spent most of her fillyhood in, and found that she could not leave with out saying goodbye to at least somepony, even if it was a cave.
"Goodbye Secret Place, I will miss you."
She walked out of the cave and found Jet trying to stuff another book inside his bag.
Dreamie lifted the book out of Jets grasp and pulled it over to her. "I thought we agreed that you had enough spell books."
This particular spell book was brown and tied shut with a black string. Jets face turned a bright red and he looked at the ground, "It's not a spell book."
Dreamie opened the book, and out fell a picture. The picture was of her, Jet, and the rest of their friends in Ponyville at the end of the Hearts and Hooves Day party the year before. Runa and Cody had just gotten together, and they all were celebrating by having a picture taken. Dreamie didn't think she looked good in the photo at all, but she knew that everypony else thought otherwise.
That day was the first night that she had actually thought that something was wrong with the Pillars, and had lead her to talk to Jet about her suspicions. In a way, that night had changed everything for her.
She looked at the rest of the book and found that it was completely filled with photos of Jet and her with their friends. She put the photo that fell out in with the rest and gave it back to Jet, her face unexpectedly turning red as well.
Why am I embarrassed? She thought, shaking her head.
"Here you go Jet," She said out loud, allowing his magic to overpower hers and take the book. "It's for remembering," He said, putting it into his bag, "In case what you believe is true, then we might never return here. I need to take something at least, right?"
Dreamie looked into her friends eyes, which were filled with sadness, fear, and pain, but completely dry of any tears. She remembered how, even a few hours ago, before the sun had risen, she had stayed the extra time away from the house so that her friends did not see her crying. She understood completely. "Let's go," She said, disappearing into the Everfree Forest.
Jet took one last look into the direction of Ponyville, tightened his pack, and then followed after her.
In the distance, the bell in town hall rang out, piercing the unnatural silence that had crept over the lake.

Author's Note

[1] Cody is not one of my ponies, but a friend of mine is letting me use him in this story. for the original story of Cody, please go to http://www.fimfiction.net/story/94192/the-history-of-cody

A New Friend

Time Chaser opened her eyes and found herself in an unfamiliar room, on an unfamiliar bed. The walls seemed to be made of stone, and held torches at various spots, keeping the room dimly lit. She hopped off the bed and accidentally hit her head on the ceilings odd anglement.
"Owchie," She grumbled, rubbing the sore part of her head with her hoof. She stood still and put her other hoof on her head, frantically moving both around in her mane. "Where is me fez?" She gasped, eyes shrinking in shock as she looked around the room for the missing piece of headgear. Time Chaser ignited her light blue magic, making the room bright as day, and only relaxed when she found it on the dresser to the far side of the room.

After placing her fez on her head, Time Chaser opened the door and poked her head out into the hallway.
The walls were all stone, and, like the room she was in, was only dimly lit by torch light. Closing the door behind her, she walked down the hallway, horn glowing slightly to brighten it up more.

Suddenly, she heard voices coming from around the corner.
"Let's go see if that little blue one is awake yet, I'm starving."

"Yeah, me too, Even if she isn't, we will have to just use what we have already. We have plenty, we can start without one mare, right?"

"Okay," Time Chaser thought, "time to hide." Looking around, however, she found nothing to hide behind. An idea sprung into her mind, and she jumped to the ceiling, hiding just as the two unicorns from the Everfree forest.
They walked to the room she was in and opened the door. The bigger one gasped and was about to shout when Time Chaser sent two quick shots of magic down to the unsuspecting colts, knocking them out.

After hiding them inside the room, Time Chaser nodded to herself.

"I've gotta save my friends. Nopony will be getting eaten on my watch!" She pulled a full black suit out of her saddle bag, which had been sitting next to the bed she was on.
She crept down the hallway, hiding in the shadows like a super spy pony in the movies.

Around the corner, she found many doors, leading to rooms very similar to the one she was in. A big, ornate door was at the end of the hallway. Laying her ear on the door, she could hear various voices, two.... three at most.

"Are they almost done Dad," one of the voices, most likely a young colt, asked eagerly, "We have been waiting for ages."

"Ah," Time Chaser mumbled, "so this is a family operation, huh?"

"Don't worry," An older voice, most likely the father, replied, "they will be done very soon. Then we will be able to eat."
Time Chaser leaned in closer on the door, unaware that the door itself was unlocked. Because of this unknown piece of information, when she leaned on the door, it opened, revealing the owners of the voices from the other side of the door.

Much to her surprise, they were a perfectly ordinary looking family of ponies,the mother and father standing by the door with a little colt and a mare close to Time Chasers age standing by another door. She knew first hand about the dangers of the Changelings, and how they could look like anypony they wanted to be. She immediately let loose a barrage of magic, shooting everything in the room except for the ponies standing in front of her.

"What the?" The elder stallion exclaimed, ducking down. The Mare charged at her, forcing her to step to the side. the mare hit her head against the wall with a thud, causing all the china from the wall to fall down and shatter around her.

Then, the door to the other room opened, revealing Candy Mellow and the rest of her friends, who were all sitting at the table, save for Candy, who opened the door.

"Is everything alright in here?" Candy asked, until she saw Time Chaser, and instantly understood what happened, "Time Chaser! Calm down."

"I will calm down as soon as you drop my friends shape you monster!"

Time Chaser suddenly felt herself get lifted off the ground by magic, which she instantly recognised as being Runa's, Jet's and Dreamie's. The three of them lifted her up, and floated her over to a spot next to the table, set and prepared for a dinner.

"I think," The older mare said, walking out of the kitchen, "that there has been a misunderstanding somewhere."

The father, a Blue stallion with a crazy brown mane, walked forward, extending a hoof warily.
"Let's try to start with introductions. I am Chancellor Spotting Swirl. No, I am not a real Chancellor, my parents seemed to have high hopes for me." He laughed at his own joke, hoof still extended.
TimeChaser looked from him to his hoof, then to her friends, "I'm not buying any of this you Changeling monsters. I want my friends back now! And not more of your trickery!"
"What are you talking about?!" The gredn "mare" screamed in fake confusion.
"Ha!" TimeChaser laughed, "I can see through a Changeling trick a mile away! You can fool me!"
The fake Cody began to laugh, "you think we are Changelings? What in Celestias name gave you that idea?"
"I heard you say you are going to cook them!"

"Well," the mother said, cutting in, " I don't know what you heard, but I promise you, we are not Changelings." She smiled and tilted her head slightly, the ultimate sign of an innocent motherly mare. But Time Chaser could see right through them all. She could see the vile creatures that hid as her friends.
"If you're really not Changelings," she said with a smirk, "tell me something only my friends would know."
Worry passed over the "Mares" face "What kind of thing?"
She pointed her hoof at Cody, almost waving it triumphantly, "What is his real name?"

"What?" Cody exclaims, "how can you use that as a question?"

"If you were the real Cody, you would know."

"His name is Code Breaker," Jet said, "but I don't get why that's such a big deal."

"Its the idea of the name," Cody grumbled, "people expect my talent to be hacking or theavery. My whole colthood, people were expecting the worst from me because of my name. That's why I changed my name when I moved to Ponyville. Only my friends know my real name."

"That," the green mare said, "is stupid." Everypony in the room turned to her, "What? It's just a name. I seriously can't see why he needs to get in a big fuss about it."

Runa giggled, "Yeah, I usually call him that when I am mad at him. After that, I usually get my way."

"Alright," Time Chaser interrupted,"so you're all really my friends, but that doesn't explain who these ponies are."

"Well as I said, I am Chancellor Spotting Swirl. This is my wife, Serenity Swirl. My daughter over there is Amity, my son over in the kitchen is Rainy, and you should have met my other two boys earlier. I sent them to go see if you were awake yet, I wonder what happened."

Time Chaser blushed, "Yeah, see that's back when I thought you guys were bad ponies....."

"Oh no,"Jet groaned, "T.C., what did you do to them?"

"Nothing horrible! I swear!" She looked at her friends, all of which were looking back at her, concern on their faces,"What? I thought they were attacking me!"
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************
After waking up the two colts, whose names were Gravel and Bright. Both of them were in the kitchen, getting their headaches treated by their unicorn mother, while everypony else sat around the table.

Almost immediately, Time Chaser asked the question that was nagging at her skull,"Alright, if you are not Changelings, then who are you guys?"

Mr.Swirl picked up his cup and took a few sips from it, "We are just a family of ponies that live in the Everfree Forest. We don't really have many visitors around here. When my kids found you yesterday, it kinda spooked them a little."

"Woah woah woah,"Time Chaser said, holding her hooves in a stop motion," so I was sleeping for an entire day?"

"Nearly two," Dreamie said," the rest of us woke up earlier this morning, you seemed to have slept all day today as well."

"What time is it, anyway?" Time Chaser around. For the first time, she noticed that the room they were currently in had no windows, neither did the kitchen.
"It is just after sunset, but the moon has not passed over us yet, so it is still pretty dark outside."

"Alright, so where exactly are we, and why do you guys live in the Everfree forest, and....." TimeChaser was cut off when Runa shoved an apple in her mouth, forcing her to become silent, "If you would let him speak, he is trying to explain everything to you, yah know."

Spotting Swirl took a sip of his drink, then a small breath.
"A long time ago, back when I was just a foal, my parents began acting very strange. Whenever my parents would leave to go to work, they would always make sure I locked the doors. They pulled me from my class at Ponyville Elementry School, and they had me stay inside at all times. I almost never got to see my friends, it was torture for me. I never asked questions, never second guessed my parents until a few years later."

"When I should have graduated from the Elementry School, my parents stopped leaving the house themselves. After that happened, I was barely allowed outside my room, let alone the whole house. I was very confused at the time, and alone. The only pony who I played with was my neighbor, who would seek in when my parents were forced to leave for food and medicine and stuff. With her influence, I gained the courage to ask my parents why we could not leave."

"My Dad became mad at me, while my Mom became scared. 'Just do what your told for once!' My Dad screamed 'Why can't you just shut up and do what your told?' I wanted to yell at him, but I chickened out. As more weeks went by, I grew restless, feeling the need to get out of the house. Every time I asked to go outside I would get yelled at or told it is to dangerous."

"Finally, my Dad got fed up. 'You want to go outside? Fine, we will go outside!' He packed up all of our stuff and threw it into a Shrink Box.[1] 'We are moving to the Everfree Forest, where it is safe!' I was scared that my parents lost their minds. I had to get out of there. I ran next door to my friend, Serenity. After a long talk, I decided to follow my parents and I went to live in the Everfree Forest. Serenity came to see me often, and married me a few years later."

He looked at the ponies sitting around him, a grin on his face, "And that's the story."

"Are you kidding me?"Jet groaned "that wasn't anything like I had hoped."

"What do you mean?" Serenity asked, "What did you expect?"

Jet blushed, "You know, more action and stuff, like a Daring Doo expedition or something."

"My question,"Dreamie interruped, "is why didn't you return to Ponyville after you became adults? Why did you stay here, in the most dangerous place around?"

"Because while the Everfree has many dangers you can see, Ponyville, and all of Equestria, is haunted by an evil they cannot hide from."
An erie quiet went through the room, sending a chill up Jet's spine.

It was oddly Candy Mellow that broke the quiet. "I have noticed that, while picking up some supplies for my store, many ponies are looking over their backs, like something is following them."

"Me and Dreamie have done some reserch,"Jet said,"and we have noticed that many ponies in the past have reported strange fealings of unease."

"Not just that, but someponies are saying they are seeing flashes of something before it fades away. Something dark and scary. Now I used to dismiss these as just some ponies looking for attention, that is till I saw it myself." Dreamie looked at her friends and smiled. "That's why we are going to the Pillars of Harmony. Something is wrong in Equestria, and I want to know how that is."

"What are the Pillars of Harmony?" the little Rainy Swirl asked.

Runa answered him, "They are the gravesites for the users of the Elements of Harmony. 100 years ago, they were known as the Mane 6. They defeated Nightmare Moon, vanquished King Sombra and Queen Chirsalis, and even sealed Discord."

"If they were so powerful, then how come they died?"

"None of them were immortal,"Amity interjected, "One of them had the choice to be, but declined it so she could die with her friends." She huffed, "What a waste, if it were me, I would say goodbye to those guys and take immortality."

"That is no way to think Amity," said her father,"friends are all Equestria stands for."

"And as you said, Equesrtia is corrupted."

"I said no such thing."

"Yes you did. What else were you saying besides the usual 'You cannot leave the forest, it is not safe'?"

"Now you know that's not....."

"I think," Serenity said, cutting off their argument, "that I have an idea."

"What's that?" Spotting asked.

"Maybe, if she leaves in a group, Amity could be able to leave the forest."

"Really?" She asked, joy in her face.

"Serenity, I think we should talk about this before we just-"

"We have talked about this Spotting, and we never get anywhere. I believe our daughter is old enough to make her own choices." She turned to the group of friends sitting at her table "Would you mind adding another pony to your group? She knows this forest like the back of her hoof, so she may be of some help."

"Hm... We need to think for a few minutes."

Time Chaser lifted everypony with her magic and pulled them into a circle, "Group Huddle!"

After a few seconds of hused conversation, they turned around to face the family, "We accpet."

Amity squeled and dissapeared, only to return moments later with a completely full saddle bag,a camera, a huge tourist hat, and sunglasses. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning," Her Dad said chuckling, "For now, you should all eat up, then get a good nights sleep. The forest is very dangerous at night."

"We couldn't thank you enough." Dreamie said as Gravel and Bright came walking out of the kitchen with the food.

"Did we miss anything?" They asked, setting down the food. Everypony laughed except for Time Chaser, who was looking up, thinking.

"What's the matter?" Cody whispered to her.

"Well," She replied under her breath, "I just thought about it. I have been sleeping for almost two days. How come I gotta sleep now too?"

Cody chuckled and passed her a plate, "We all need to be well rested for what we are about to face."

Time Chaser thought for a second, shrugged, then dug into her meal. No pony noticed when, in the dark corner of the room, for a brief second, something was visable.

Author's Note

[1] A big box that will shrink after the lid is closed. It is a granchild of one of Pinkies and Rainbow Dashe's Prank toys.

The Journey's Beginning

The next day came too early for Code. Then again, most mornings came too early for him. He woke up to the sound of a pony knocking at his door and shouting his name.
"Code, get your butt up!"
He groaned and turned over, burrowing his face deeper into his pillow. "Five more minutes"

A sudden burst of light came through the door, and his marefriend was insantly standing next to his bed.
"You said that four times already! Enough is enough, we gotta get moving!" She lit her magic and lifted Code off of the bed.
Code flipped over in the air to face her, his eyes only slightly opened. "I dare you." He said with a challenging tone.
She locked eyes with him and released her magic, slamming him to the floor. Groaning, he stood up and shook his head, fixing his mane. "Well, I did dare you."

Runa giggled and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Come on sleepy head, everypony is waiting for you. Here, I'll help you." She lifted his bag up and placed it on his back, quickly fastening the clasps around his wings. "All done, now its time to go." She opened the door and with a playful smile, left the room.
Code sighed and adjusted the bag so he could use his wings, "Why did we have to leave in the MORNING" He groaned as he himself left the room. The lanterns on the walls were brighter than the night before, signaling, as Code would learn, that the sun had risen. He went through the kitchen, into the dining room, where indeed all of his friends were waiting.

All of them were standing by the door, trying to hold in laughter while Dreamie tried to talk to a pile of luggage. No, Code thought, that's not a pile of luggage. Walking around Runa, he saw Amity,shaking under the weight of her pack, grinning from ear to ear.

"I...didn't know....what I... would need," She struggled to say, "so....I just...grabbed it all." She shifted her pack to try and get more comfortable, only to cause everything to shift to her left side and have her fall over. Everypony in the room burst out in laughter, save for Dreamie, who was obviously trying to hold it back

"Amity," She said after a deep breath, "You don't need all that stuff. We will only be gone for a few days." She quickly turned her head towards Jet, who blushed and shied backwards. "Besides, we all have stuff that we can share together, so it won't be that big a deal."

"Well, okay. Can you give me a minute to unpack and repack?"

"Sure, we don't mind waiting."

Code glared at his marefriend, who smiled sheepishly. He laid down and closed his eyes, mumbling about his sleep being interrupted. He was just about to doze off when Amity announced that she was done.

He opened his eyes and was only slightly humored when her saw her still wearing an overstuffed pack, but by the looks of things, she had already taken out most of the stuff she was going to bring.

"That'll have to do, we should be leaving." Dreamie picked up her bag and walked out the door, followed in suit by her friends. Code yawned and followed the group outside, where they were all surprised to see a small farm, and sunlight. the door they exited from was hidden in the shadows of a small hill. In front of the hill was a small field, which was home to a small, fenced in garden, filled with odd fruits. Surrounding this field was the looming Everfree Forest.

"It's a spell," Amity said, causing Code to jump, "surrounding this field is a small warding spell that keeps the trees from growing and the fog from entering. My grandmother put it here so she could grow food so she didn't have to go into town."

"It's amazing," CandyMellow exclaimed, running over to the garden and smelling a flower.

"It's amazingly simple," Dreamie said in awe. She walked over to the edge of the clearing and put her hoof into the fog, then back inside the invisible barrier, "I wish I had time to record this."

"Me too," Jet nodded knowingly, "but we need to get to the Pillars as soon as possible. We can always record more about this when we return."

"Alrighty then fellas," Time Chaser said, bouncing around the field, "Let's head out on our adventure!"

The group huddled up together, with Amity at the lead and they stepped over the threshold of fog. After a few seconds, the majestic scenery of the field began to shift and waver, before completely fading all together, as if it had never been there in the first place.
***************************************************************************************

This was Amities first time out this far past the field, and so far, she was letting her new friends down. She had already sprung five traps that her family had originally placed for any monsters that strayed too close to their home. If that wasn't bad enough, she herself placed three of the ones she triggered.
Currently, she was spending extra time trying to cut down TimeChaser, who was dangling by one hoof up in the air.

"Sorry about that,"she apologized, "My map says the trap was more to the left of us, I don't know how we triggered it."

"It's alright," TimeChaser said just as the rope got cut and she hit her head on the floor, "Ouchies."

Dreamie walked next to Amity, her face revealing her concern, "Are you alright Amity? You seem kinda off."

Amity looked at her new friend and she knew she couldn't say how much she was freaking out, "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a little excited that I am finally able to leave the house without one of my parents or older brothers tagging along. I'm.... fine." She smiled sheepishly, hoping her new friend wouldn't ask her again.

"Well that's understandable," Dreamie said with a smile, "this is new for all of us, nopony I know of has ever gone through the forest this far before. Sorry, but you're going to have to save the exhilaration until we get out of here, some of our group are getting a little scared."

"M.M..m..More... than a llli..little....." Candy Mellow stuttered, backing into Code and screaming.

"Alright, lets see here..." she looked closer at the map, silently cursing her own horrible hoofwritting. "Umm... I think we should go...uh....that way." She pointed straight ahead of her, right towards a big cliff. "No, uh... this way." She started walking around the cliff.

From behind her, she heard Jet mumble, "Remind me again why we brought her along. Isn't she supposed to know where we are going?" Amity walked a tad bit faster, nearly tripping another trap. "What am I here for?" She asked herself, "It hasn't even been an hour and I have already started screwing things up. Now I see why Dad wanted me to stay home. I can still go home, just turn around and-"

"What's the matter Amity?" Time Chaser asked, bouncing up next to the embarrassed pony,knocking her from her thoughts, "you look exhausted."

"Why does everypony keep asking me what's wrong? I am fine."

"Really, cause you sound annoyed."

"I'm not annoyed," she snapped angrily. Noticing her anger, she took a quick deep breath and turned to T.C.
"Really, I'm not annoyed. I'm just... not used to this."
"This being... other ponies?"

"Yeah, I'm.. not used to it is all. Its causing me to read the map all wrong and I get turned around and upside down. To be honest, I don't even think I am leading us the right way anymore."

"Don't worry," Code said, walking up next to her and putting his hoof around her, "you'll figure it out. Your part of the herd now! Its way too late for you to go home now."

The extravagent way he presented it caused Amity to chuckle and clear her head. She took another look at the map and pointed up the small hill next to them, "We have to go that way."

That was when she heard the howling. It was distant, and quiet, but she still heard it throught the forest. She froze in place while her new friends trotted up the hill, listening for any other disterbance. Suddenly, she heard it, a rustling in the bushes to the side. She almost eased up until she realized that was the direction they had come from, and they just disabled all of the traps!

"What's wrong Amity?" Dreamie asked worried, "you look like you just saw a ghost."

"We have to run, now." She said, trotting up the hill in a quick sprint.

"What?" Jet asked as she passed, "Why?"

"Timberwolves!" And then, the forest exploded. Timberwolves of various sizes and colors all pounced on the unsespecting herd, and they would have been immediately crushed or worse had it not been for Dreamie and Jet quickly producing a shield for them and teleporting them to Amity. Immediatly after the teleportation, they set off in a run, with Code flying alongside them.

They began running blindly, aimlessly following behind Amity, who would occasionally make a sharp turn or, in one case, slide through a small whole. All the while, the Timberwolves were right behind them, pawing and clawing over eachother to get to the little ponies [1] Almost out of breath, Amity suddenly stopped still and seemingly dissapeared. One by one, the ponies followed her, running straight to where she was and falling down the perfectly pony sized whole in the ground.

Above them, the Timberwolves clawed and bited at them, but the whole was surreonded by moss covered stones, so their claws kept slipping off.
"I..have never seen... them act like that." Amity huffed, catching her breath
"I've never heard of them in a pack that big either," Dreamie said, pondering "This isn't the first time something unusual like this has happened, especially in the Everfree."

Author's Note

[1] Isn't there a rule that says this has to be mentioned in every decent fanfiction?

Into the Everfree

Almost instantly, the thick branches of the trees, and the fog that seemed to seep from them cast the forest into a semblance of nighttime, forcing Dreamie and Jet to light their magic, casting their immediate area in an indigo glow. Many times, Jet thought he saw some movement out of the corner of hie eye, or a glimpse of something in the shadows. Dreamie was silent as she consulted the map, seeming completely calm and unaffected by the darkness around them.

His mind began to wander, and he started to think about which of the many terrible things from the forest that might be following them. Maybe it was a cockatrice, or a Cerberus. Maybe it was a Timberwolf! He walked faster, accidentally bumping into Dreamie, almost making her drop the map.

"Slow down Jet," she said, adjusting the map with her magic, "you need to watch were you going."
She studied the map confusion written all over her face. "I don't understand this map, at all. We seem to be going backwards, and all the words just look wrong," She flipped the map over with her magic, and sighed, "ah, there we are. It was upside down."
Dreamie smiled, and noticed Jet was cowering behind her.
"Come on, are you scared already?"
"No!" Jet countered, standing taller behind her.
Just then, a twig snapped behind them, causing Jet to loose control of his magic and send out a blinding blue flash.

Dreamie shielded her eyes and cried out. She was surprised, however, to find that hers was not the only voice to cry out. In the darkness that was once just outside of Dreamie's and Jet's light, four ponies fell onto their flanks.

"Who was that?" Jet cried out, re-sparking his magic, "come on now, show yourselves!"

With groans and mumbles about being blind, the four ponies walked into the light. Jet sighed in relief when he realized who they were.
"Cody, Runa, Candy, T.C.! What are you guys doing out here?"

"More Importantly," Dreamie interrupted, "How did you know where we were?"

Runa spoke up, "We followed you, TimeChaser saw something was wrong, and she got me and Cody to watch you guys. When we saw you go into the cave, and not emerge for a while, we got worried, so we gathered everypony up ,and waited until you had left, then followed you into the forest."

"I knew where you guys were," Cody piped up, "I knew that you were in that cave thing, that's why we had our packs so fast, I had them prepared on the other side of the road for a while now."

Jet looked at Cody, and then to CandyMellow, "What about you? How did you find out where we were?"

Candy blushed and looked down, "I didn't know anything until a few hours ago, when Cody flew into the shop and told me you guys might be in trouble."

"But how did you guys get here so fast?" Dreamie asked incredulously, It took us days just to get packs!"

Cody stepped up, "I actually have been watching you guys for a while now, a T.C.s request, and..."

"He got the packs ready ahead of time," TimeChaser interrupted, bouncing between Cody and Dreamie, "I saw you, but I couldn't spy while keeping a cover, so I asked Cody to do it. Runa and him saw you guys go into the cave, so he flew back to town and got Candy and me."

She stopped bouncing and turned to Dreamie and Jet, her face suddenly filled with tears, "What's going on guys? Why didn't you tell us that you were leaving, alone, together, into the Everfree Forest. Did't you trust us?"

"It's not that T.C.," Jet said, trying to calm down his friend, "It's that, we were trying to leave quickly, and so nopony would notice that we were gone."

"Why should nopony know you were gone," Cody asked, "Why couldn't we have at least known you were going somewhere?"

"Because if two of us had left, then it wouldn't have been that suspicious. But then all of you guys came out here, and now there bound to notice that five ponies have vanished from work."

"They who?"

A sudden rustle in the bushes behind them made Jet jump, and turn around. "Alright, who else is there!" All of them were silent, waiting for a response.
He turned to his friends, "Do you know if anypony else followed you?"

"Absitively not," TimeChaser replied, shriveling into herself out of fear.

The bushes rustled again, only this time, from the other side of them. Dreamie looked around, and called out, "TimeChaser, Jet, and Runa form a circle with me, CandyMellow and Cody, get behind us."
They all did as she asked, and TimeChaser took a little red fez out of her bag, then placed it on her head, right behind her horn.

The fog around them were now lit in a full circle by the unicorns combined glow, easing the fear of the group, but even so, they could not spot where the rustling was coming from.

The rustling seemed to come from all around them, and just as suddenly as it began, it stopped.

"Is that it?" Jet asked, looking a little more brave, magic glowing a little bit brighter.

CandyMellow gave out a quick gasp, then fell to the floor, eyes closed.
"What the?" Cody asked, before giving a gasp of his own, then collapsing, followed by Runa, who's magic blinked out as she fell.

"Guys!" Jet called out, before his magic blinked out with him gasping,

"NO!," Dreamie screamed, running over to Jet, finally breaking her composure.
She saw a dart fly at her, and ducked under it, only to be hit by one coming the other direction. She stopped moving right next to Jet, sliding to a top next to his face.
TimeChaser took a look around the clearing and turned off her magic, "I will save you the trouble, whoever you are," and with that, she jumped into the air, fell asleep, and landed on a pillow and blanket.

After a few seconds, two colts walked out of the bushes. The taller one lit a lantern and held it over his face, cutting through the fog and iluminating his face.
"What should we do with them?" He asked the smaller pony.

"I think we should bring them back to Mom and Dad, they should know what to do from there."