Jack Mayfield was not having a good day… night… whatever. It was hard to tell what time it was at the moment, as both the moon and the sun were in the sky together at the same time in some perverse sort of twilight. The solar eclipse that had happened earlier had been quite interesting, however, but that was beside the point.

Whatever time of day it was, Jack was not having a good time.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Jack glanced nervously up at the ceiling. The entire structure he and Drew called their sanctuary was still being consumed by black vines that had appeared out of nowhere. The weight of all the intruding creepers was slowly beginning to cause the ceilings of several of the rooms to collapse. Thankfully, those rooms didn’t have anything important in them, but it was only a matter of time before one of the more important rooms was destroyed.

Like the room the two humans were currently occupying, for example.

Fearing for their lives, and in an attempt to drive back the vines, the humans had begun constructing something with which to save themselves. Already the skeleton of said device was taking shape, but they needed a little more time and no distractions. It had all been going fine until, well… until they had shown up.

“Are they still there?” Jack asked, glancing up from the contraption.

Drew huffed loudly and rolled his eyes. “What do you think, dude?” He pointed at the inner window. “Of course they’re still out there. You think they’re going to go away just because we’re ignoring them? Ain’t gonna happen. That zebra’s stuck around for this long.”

Jack glanced over at the window as well, through which he could see the weird zebra. Though, as of fifteen minutes ago, the zebra wasn’t the weirdest thing in the hallway anymore. That title was now reserved for the four pegasi in blue and yellow jumpsuits that had shown up out of the blue.

One of them, a pegasus with flame-like hair, appeared to be the leader. Her suit was ripped and torn, exposing her yellow fur in several places. Even as Jack watched, she continued to argue with the zebra. At least, Jack assumed they were arguing. He could only hear the zebra’s side of the conversation. The pegasi just hovered there, nickering loudly as she waved her forelegs about wildly.

“What? You think this is my fault?” the zebra asked, placing a hoof on his chest. “I assure you, I had nothing to do with this.”

The pegasus nickered again before jabbing a hoof at a nearby cluster of vines.

“Yes, I can see the vines,” the zebra huffed with a roll of his eyes. “However, I am not responsible for them.”

A hoof was pointed towards the humans, still watching through the window.

The zebra shook his head. “No, they aren’t a part of this either.”

The pegasus snorted and crossed her forelegs, giving the zebra a look of disbelief.

“In case you can’t tell,” the zebra said, “the vines are consuming their building as well. Do you really think that, if they caused this outbreak, they’d allow the vines to destroy their only source of shelter within the forest?”

The flame-haired pegasus grunted before looking over her shoulder and saying something to one of the pegasi, a beige coated one with light blue hair. It nodded before turning and zipping off into the sky. As it flew off, another pegasus—this one with a poofy yellow mane—said something to the zebra, only to receive an incredulous look.

“Excuse me?” he said. “That’s… first of all, do you realize how racist that is? And secondly, let’s hear you come up with rhymes on the spot.”

Shaking his head, Jack blocked the conversation and instead returned his attention back to the device he was supposed to be working on. He fiddled with it for a second before grabbing a long rubber hose.

As he was hooking one of the ends of the hose up to a custom-made valve, Drew leaned in. “So, this will work, right?”

“Most likely,” Jack replied, not glancing up. “There’s a good chance that it will work as intended.”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ coming,” Drew muttered.

Jack paused and chewed on the inside of his cheek.

“It… might also explode as well,” he said emotionlessly before returning to his tinkering.

“Oh, well, yeah,” Drew said, leaning back. “Great, just great. ‘Might explode’. That’s awesome. Just one question, though. When were you going to tell me this?”

“I said it might. It’s very unlikely to happen though.”

“But it might. I don’t want to go up in a ball of fire and light.”

“Then you’d better not distract me,” Jack huffed. “The more you interrupt me, the more likely it is to not be correctly assembled!”

Grumbling to himself, Drew leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. The pair lapsed into silence, one working and the other watching.

In the background, the pegasi and the zebra continued to argue.

Twilight winced as the chariot jerked upon touching down, jostling its occupants. “Geez, Dash, be careful! Some of us aren’t exactly in perfect health back here.” She rubbed her injured leg before gingerly hopping out of the chariot.

“Oh, come on, Sparkle,” Rainbow scoffed. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can kick some flank, right?”

“Except there are no flanks to kick, as it were,” Rarity sniffed as she stepped off the back of the chariot as well. “We’re here to solve the vine problem, Rainbow, not get in a fight.” Patting at her frizzy mane to try and get it back in order, she huffed in annoyance. “And as much as I’d like to get Ponyville back to normal, I agree with Twilight. You could have taken it a tad slower.”

“I wasn’t going that fast,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “Fluttershy was even able to keep up with me, though it felt like I was doing most of the work,” she added under her breath.

“Uh, that’s ‘cuz she’s been clingin’ tah the chariot ever since we took off,” Applejack deadpanned, pointing over her shoulder. Sure enough, a trembling ball of yellow fur and feathers was attached to the front of the chariot with such a grip that the metal was dented in places.

Rainbow paused in removing the harness. “Huh, I hadn’t even noticed.”

“Come on, Sugarcube,” Applejack said softly as she attempted to pull Fluttershy off the chariot. “We’re on the ground. Ya can let go now.”

“Wait, where’s Pinkie?” Rainbow asked, now free from the chariot’s harness. She glanced around. “Did she go on ahead?”

“I’m afraid not, dear. She fell out halfway here,” Rarity said nonchalantly, studying her reflection in a small mirror she conjured from somewhere. Satisfied with how she looked, she vanished the mirror before glancing at Rainbow, who was gaping at her with a look of disbelief. “I told you, darling. You were going a little too fast.”

“B-but… what?” Rainbow stuttered out. “Why didn’t anypony say anything?!”

“Because she looked like she was having fun,” Rarity said with a shrug.

“I think I see her,” Twilight said, shading her eyes with a hoof. She squinted slightly. “Yeah, that’s definitely her.” The others glanced up as well as the faint sound of laughter reached their ears. Pinkie was gliding down to the ground gently, hanging beneath a large square of cloth that emerged from a small pack on her back.

Rainbow stared with wide eyes. “Where… where did she get a parachute?”

“She ‘borrowed’ it from one of the Lunar Guards before we left,” Twilight said, making quotes with only one forehoof, as the other was busy keeping her steady. “I think she purposely fell out, just for an excuse to use it. Why else would she have wanted one in the first place?”

While they had been talking, Pinkie had drifted closer. When she was about ten feet off the ground, she unclipped the parachute. The others let out cries of surprise as she dropped through the air, only to hit the ground and roll, coming to a stop in a kneeling position with a water pistol held in her forehooves.

“Alright,” she said, suddenly adorned in camouflage clothing. “Let’s do this!” Swiveling around, she pointed the water pistol in several random directions before giving it a spin and tucking it into a holster on her hip. “Sergeant Pinkie has arrived to defeat the evil viney menace. I’m here to kick flank and eat cupcakes… and I’m all out of cupcakes.”

“Ah, Pinkie, dear. I don’t think now’s the best time for playing around,” Rarity sighed.

“Awww,” Pinkie whined, falling onto her flank with a soft ‘thump’, “but I just finished making the character!” She crossed her forelegs and pouted. “I rolled all those stats for nothing.”

“Rarity’s right, Pinkie,” Twilight chided. “Let’s take care of the vines first. You can play all you want afterwards.” Pinkie nodded before stripping out of the camouflage. Balling it up, she tossed it over her shoulder and into a nearby bush.

“Right,” Applejack said as she walked up, Fluttershy now attached to her neck and shoulders. “Now we just gotta figure out where tah aim these bad boys—” she tapped her partially-hidden Element “—so that we can keep the rest o’ Equestria from becoming plant food.” As one, the group turned to stare at the Everfree. The trees were choked in vines to the point where one could barely see any bark amidst the sea of blackened creepers.

“Uh, anypony know where tah start?” Applejack asked.

When no answer came, Twilight sighed heavily.

“I guess we better get moving,” she said. “We can start at the Castle of the Pony Sisters and work from there—”

“Twilight!”

A shout from in the distance interrupted Twilight’s planning. Glancing over her shoulder, her eyes widened at the sight of a small blob of green and purple bobbing through the sea of vines. “Spike!”

Huffing and puffing, the little dragon scampered up before jumping up and clinging to Twilight’s neck. She lifted a foreleg and awkwardly returned the hug while also nuzzling the top of his head.

“Spike, thank the Maker you’re alright!” Twilight said at the exact same time that Spike cried, “Twilight, thank goodness you’re here! Everything’s going crazy!” Pulling himself up onto her back, Spike began to wildly wave his arms about. “The sky went all crazy with the night and day, day and night, and then the moon was all red, and then Canterlot looked messed up, and then all these vines came out of nowhere.” He tugged on his spines. “What’s going on?!”

“It’s a long story, Spike,” Twilight said, straightening up. “I’ll explain more later, once we’ve taken care of the vines. Discord was involved, though.”

Spike nodded. “Ah, say no more.” He paused. “Uh, Twilight?”

“Yes, Spike?”

“Why do you have a collar on?” he asked, pointing to the black collar currently around her neck.

“Well, you see…”

“And where’s Max?”

Twilight’s ears splayed off to the side and she glanced away.

“I’ll… I’ll tell you later,” she muttered in a shaky voice.

The sound of a throat being cleared caught their attention.

“Um, not to butt in on this,” Rarity said, “but Spikey dear, you wouldn’t have happened to see Sweetie Belle recently, have you?” Beside her, Applejack’s ears perked up.

“What? Oh, um... yeah!” Spike said. “I saw her a while ago. Her, Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Zecora were escorted into town hall by one of the Wonderbolts. That’s where everypony is heading to hide from the vines. A bunch of the guards managed to clear out most of the vines, so it’s currently the safest place in Ponyville at the moment. I was there until I saw your chariot fly by overhead.”

Both Applejack and Rarity breathed twin sighs of relief.

“Wait!” Rainbow cried, perking up. “The Wonderbolts are here?!”

“Well, not right now,” Spike said, rubbing the back of his head. “They were here earlier trying to help out, but I’m not sure where they went.”

“I’m happy you’re alright, Spike,” Twilight said, “but you should have stayed in town hall where it’s safe.”

“B-but what about you?” Spike asked.

“We’re gonna go teach these vines a lesson for messing with Ponyville!” Rainbow said, jabbing her hoof into the air. “We’re gonna kick some flank!”

“I already told you, Dash, there are no flanks to kick,” Rarity sighed, rubbing her head with a hoof.

“I’m going with you!” Spike cried, clinging to Twilight’s neck.

“Spike, no,” Twilight said, twisting her neck to try and look at him. “You’re going back to the town hall, to where it’s safe.”

Spike shook his head before burying himself into her mane. “No, I’m staying with you.”

“Spike—”

“I can use my fire against the vines. That’s how I got through them before! It really works, Twilight, I swear!”

“Actually, Twilight,” Rarity piped up, “as much as I know you don’t want to hear it, that might be useful.”

“Rarity!”

“I’m just saying, darling, there are a lot of vines between us and where we need to go.”

“See? I can help!”

“Spike!”

“What? I can!”

“No,” Twilight said, stomping her hoof. “We don’t have time for this, Spike. You are going back to town hall and that’s fina—”

“Princess Sparkle?”

“What?!” Whipping her head around, Twilight’s eye twitched.

The Wonderbolt currently hovering in the air behind her raised a hoof in defense, her ears splaying back. “S-sorry, your highness. I didn’t mean to interrupt your discussion.”

An ashamed look crossed Twilight’s face and she blushed. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell like that.”

The Wonderbolt gave her an uncertain look before tentatively nodding her head.

“Hey, Misty Fly!” Rainbow called out. “What are you doing here? Where are the others?”

This caused the Wonderbolt to squint at her. “Dash? What... “ She paused before shaking her head. “Never mind. When the vines started consuming Ponyville, Spits went about trying to find a way to stop them. Whatever they are though is magical in origin, so we followed them to their source.” She pointed into the Everfree Forest. “That’s where the rest of the team is right now. I was sent back to find reinforcements.”

“Well, you found them,” Rainbow said, puffing out her chest.

Behind her goggles, Misty Fly blinked.

“You?” she asked incredulously. “What are you—” Her gaze landed on the necklace currently glinting around Rainbow’s neck, and her eyes widened. “Oh… oh! You’re the reinforcements.” Reaching up, she slapped her forehead with a hoof. “Should have known it was something like that. Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Changelings; it’s always you six, isn’t it?” With a sigh, she shook her head. “Alright, this works. I can take you to the Captain, and then you all can take care of this.” She turned to head back towards the Everfree, but was stopped by Twilight.

“Actually, before we go, can you take Spike here back to town hall?” she asked, turning to the side to reveal the partially-hidden dragon. “As a baby dragon, he really shouldn’t be going with us.”

“Awww, come on, Twilight!” Spike huffed. “You always leave me behind.”

“That’s because I don’t want you to get hurt,” Twilight shot back before returning her attention to Misty Fly. “So, if you could…?”

“Sorry, your highness, but there’s no time,” Misty Fly said, shaking her head. “We have to go now.”

Twilight blinked. “But it would only take a second.”

“Princess, not to be rude, but we don’t have seconds to spare,” Misty Fly said. “During our reconnaissance of the area, we discovered that the vines have a flower-like part to them that is the source of the Black-Vine Virus. Can’t you hear the bells?” she asked, waving a hoof towards town. Sure enough, the faint sound of tolling bells could be heard if one listened hard enough. “The longer we take to get rid of them, the more likely it is that we’ll be dealing with a massive outbreak of infected humans. The vines are spreading. We need to take care of this now!”

Eyes wide and ears splaying back, Twilight stared up at her in shock. “T-the Black-Vine Virus?” She swallowed before nodding weakly. “I… y-you’re right. That’s definitely more important.” Turning her head, she eyed Spike worriedly. “Alright, you can come with.” Spike’s expression brightened. “But,” she continued, “you’re to stay close to me the whole time, got it?”

Spike nodded furiously before taking a seat on Twilight’s back.

With a sigh, Twilight turned back to Misty Fly. “Lead the way, if you’d please.”

With a flutter of her wings, Misty Fly threw a salute.

“Right this way, Princess,” she said. “I’ll take you to the Captain. Recruit!” Rainbow Dash snapped to attention. “You’re up here with me. Help me find a safe path for the ground-walkers. We don’t need any of them getting hurt on the way to the objective.”

Rainbow threw a salute of her own before taking flight. With the two pegasi in front, the group began to make its way cautiously towards the Everfree, and what was waiting within.

“Oh, thank Celestia,” Rarity gasped, breathing heavily. “It… it seems to have stopped chasing us.” Around her, the others were in a similar state: sweaty, out of breath, and covered in various scratches and mud.

“Ugh, I’ve got to lay off the sweeties,” Pinkie groaned, flopping unceremoniously on the ground.

“Ah thought cragadiles were supposed tah be slow,” Applejack grunted. She took a deep breath before casting a glare upwards. “And Ah thought that y’all were supposed tah be findin’ us a safe path through the forest!”

“Well, sorry,” Rainbow huffed, folding her forelegs. “It’s kinda hard to see a cragadile, especially when it’s submerged in mud! Besides, you all handled it just fine.”

“That’s beside the point!” Twilight snapped. “Not all of us can just fly to safety, Dash!” She was in the worst shape out of all of them. Her eyes were bloodshot, dried blood caking the corners as well as the edges of her nostrils. She limped along on three legs, her injured leg held up close to her body.

“Why didn’t you just use your magic on it then?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight’s eye twitched.

“Because I’m running on empty!” she shrieked, only to double over in a coughing fit a moment later. Specks of blood fell to the ground as the red fluid began to leak from her nose again.

On her back, Spike gave an alarmed shout. “Twilight!”

“I-I’m fine,” she gasped. “I’m fine,” she said again as a worried Fluttershy approached with a wadded up kerchief in her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she gagged before spitting a red wad of saliva onto the ground. She stared at it for a few seconds before her ears splayed back.

“I’m not fine,” she muttered under her breath.

A worried look flashed across Rainbow’s face, her earlier bravado forgotten. “Geez, Twilight. I didn’t realize you were in that bad of shape. Why didn’t you say something?!”

“It’s nothing,” Twilight said quickly. “I’m… I’m just gonna… We need to deal with all this first—” she motioned around at the vines, almost falling over in the process. Spike barely grabbed on in time to stop himself tumbling off “—and then we can worry about me.”

“Ah don’t know, Twi,” Applejack said as she approached. “Ya aren’t lookin’ so hot right now. And, well, who knows what else is gonna come after us. Ya know, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for you to go back to Ponyville and rest.”

Twilight turned to her and gave her a sharp look. “What? Why?”

“Well, seeing as you’re injured and all,” Applejack said, biting her lip.

“You’re all injured too,” Twilight huffed, motioning around at the others and the dozens of scratches they had received running through the trees to escape the cragadile.

“Yeah, but not as bad as you.”

“Injured or not, you’re going to need me, Applejack,” Twilight said. She tapped the crown currently resting on her head. “Or have you forgotten the plan?”

Applejack glanced away, her ears splaying off to the side. “It’s just… ya bein’ a Princess and all…”

“Exactly,” Twilight grunted before spitting out another wad of bloody saliva. Glancing around, she accepted the proffered kerchief from Fluttershy and dabbed at the corners of her mouth. Once she was done, she tucked the kerchief into the black collar still around her neck before turning back to Applejack.

“As a Princess, I’m saying that I’m fine and that’s final,” she said.

“But—”

“That’s final. Now, where’s Misty Fly?” As if on cue, a loud thunderclap echoed around the forest, followed by a pained howl. Another thunderclap sounded and the howling ceased, silence falling over the forest again.

A few seconds later, the Wonderbolt fluttered into view.

“That takes care of that,” she said, brushing her hooves together. “Now, is everypony okay?”

“Yes,” Twilight answered quickly.

“No,” Applejack said shortly after, earning her a glare from Twilight.

“Yes,” Twilight said again, this time slower. From her back, Spike glanced at the Wonderbolt before silently shook his head ‘no’.

Misty Fly glanced confusedly between the two before her gaze slowly drifted down to Twilight’s injured leg, still held up close to her body. Her eyes widened slightly before she looked up and glanced around at the darkened skies. Without saying a word, she flew off, only to return a moment later with a medium-sized cloud in her hooves. She pushed it down in front of Twilight.

“Get on,” she said.

Twilight blinked. “What?”

“Get on,” Misty Fly repeated, motioning towards the cloud with a nod of her head.

“I… I don’t need—”

“Your majesty, we still have some ways to go,” Misty Fly interrupted. “You aren’t going to be able to go too fast with your injured leg.” She nodded to the cloud again. “Think of it as a… makeshift gurney, pegasi-style.”

“Come on, Twilight,” Spike said softly from her back. “You need this.”

Twilight eyed the cloud for a moment, nibbling on her bottom lip, before sighing. “Alright.” She stepped up onto the cloud, careful to not dislodge Spike from her back, before settling down. Her injured leg jutted out at a weird angle. Once she was comfortable, she glanced around. “Um, how am I supposed to move?”

Misty Fly cocked her head to the side. “Can you use your wings?”

Twilight blinked before giving her wings an experimental flap. The cloud floated forward a foot or so, but Twilight winced in pain. “They’re a little sore. I think I can manage though.”

Misty Fly shook her head before glancing up. “Recruit!”

Rainbow perked up before floating down. “Yeah?”

“Escort the Princess here,” Misty Fly said, motioning towards Twilight. “You get her to the destination, and you get her there safe and sound, got it?” She put extra emphasis on the word ‘safe’ and gave Rainbow a hard look.

Rainbow cast a look at Twilight before nodding her head.

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, giving her a salute before moving around to hover behind Twilight.

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but stopped. Instead, she lowered her head and stared at the cloud in front of her. Truthfully, her entire body hurt and it felt good to be off her hooves; the once-white bandages that the Healers had put on them were now covered in mud and twigs. Her head was pounding, her muscles were stiff, and she felt like she was about ready to collapse at a moment’s notice. The only thing that had been keeping her going was adrenaline, which had run out as soon as they had escaped from the cragadile. She was running on empty, both magically and physically.

She remained silent as Rainbow placed her hooves on either side of cloud around her flank. With a small shove, she began to gently push her injured friend forward. The others followed, quickly taking up arbitrary positions around the cloud.

Misty Fly took to the air again, flying ahead to scout out the path.

They walked in silence, with only the sound of sticks breaking under their hooves and Rainbow’s wing beats filling the air. Upon Twilight’s back, Spike did his best to help, massaging the tense muscles in her shoulders and back. He was no masseur, but it was better than nothing, and Twilight cooed softly under his ministrations.

Every few minutes Misty Fly would have them stop as she glanced around the forest, her ears perked. After a few seconds of nothing happening, they would begin moving again. They encountered only a small group of spider-plant vines, which were quickly driven off by a combined assault of Misty Fly’s lightning strikes and Spike’s dragonfire.

Twilight had lost track of long they had been traveling for, but eventually Misty Fly paused again only to let out a small whoop.

“I recognize where we are,” she said. “Our destination is just ahead. Come on!” She flitted ahead quickly, though she made sure to remain within sight.

As they moved forward, Twilight raised her head and glanced back at Rainbow.

“Thanks, Dash,” she said softly.

Rainbow gave her a blank look before cracking a weak grin. “Any time, Twi. I wouldn’t leave ya hanging.”

A few minutes later, the group emerged from the treeline, only to gasp in surprise. Before them a large, narrow ravine opened up. Vines snaked forth from the depths of the ravine, twisting and turning their way into the trees. Also on the edge of the ravine was a large, crumbling structure that looked like someone had ripped part of a building out and threw it down in the middle of the forest. Vines choked the building, hiding most of it from view. From what little she could see, though, Twilight could tell the building wasn’t designed by ponies.

As they stared at the structure in wonder and confusion, Misty Fly put her hooves to her lips and let loose a shrill whistle.

“Oi! Spits!” she called, waving a hoof. It was then that Twilight noticed a small group of equines gathered around a hole in the building. Three of them were dressed in Wonderbolt jumpsuits, while a fourth—a zebra stallion—had a simple desert bandana around his neck.

At Misty Fly’s cry, one of the Wonderbolts glanced up. Twilight instantly recognized Spitfire, having met the Wonderbolt Captain several times before.

“Misty Fly. You’re back faster than I thought,” Spitfire called out as the group approached.

“Yeah, I got lucky,” Misty Fly said, pointing back at her entourage.

Spitfire’s eyes widened upon seeing the Elements before she scowled and cursed under her breath. “It’s one of those problems, isn’t it?”

“I don’t have the exact details, but it seems that way,” Misty Fly replied.

“What is it this time?” Spitfire asked, turning to Twilight. “An evil spirit within the forest? An ancient foe of the Princesses returning?”

“Discord,” Twilight deadpanned.

Spitfire gave her a blank look before throwing her hooves in the air. “Oh come on! You can’t do that! That’s like... cheating, right? He’s already been taken care of once!”

“Well, he’s at it again,” Twilight sighed. She glanced over at the building. “So, what’s going on here?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Spitfire said, crossing her forelegs. “We tracked the vines back to this ravine, and after some investigation we discovered this building here, as well as its occupants.”

“Occupants?”

“Humans,” Spitfire sighed. “Intelligent humans. Anomaly level, if the zebra is to be believed, although we can’t get a closer look due to the vines blocking the entrance.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait? More Terran humans? Here?”

It was Spitfire’s turn to blink. “More?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, nodding absently as she stared at the building. “It’s… a long story, but the short of it is Discord brought a large number of them here and, due to the fact that we can’t understand each other, they attacked Canterlot Castle in an attempt to overthrow the Princesses.” While she had been talking, the other Wonderbolts had gathered around, each with a varying degrees of bewilderment on their faces.

“Why would they want to do that?” Surprise asked.

“Because they thought that we were enslaving the Equestrian humans with magic,” Twilight explained. “The attack was some form of misguided revolt in order to free them from our control.”

“That’s stupid,” Fleetfoot scoffed. “What would be the point of that? Why waste magical energy enslaving a species of dumb animals when you can just train them? I mean, just a few minutes alone with an Equestrian human should have been enough to show them that they’re nothing but mindless beasts... what?” she asked upon seeing the strained look the Elements shared between themselves. “What?” she asked again, scrunching up her face.

“The, uh… the Equestrian humans are kind of intelligent as well,” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head.

The Wonderbolts gave her a look of disbelief.

“You’re… you’re joking, right?” Fleetfoot said. “You’re pulling our legs.”

“Unfortunately, no,” Twilight sighed. “It seems that something has been increasing the intelligence of the Equestrian humans, or at least that’s what we’ve been told.” She rubbed her temples with a hoof. “That’s another headache in the making. It’s going to be a nightmare to sort everything all out once this is over with.”

“Right,” Spitfire said. “Let’s focus on the vines first.” Taking to the air, she headed towards the ravine, motioning for the Elements to follow her. As they gathered around the edge, Spitfire pointed a hoof downwards. “Now, I’m not entirely sure, but I’d bet quite a lot of bits that what you need to take care of is down there.”

Upon glancing into the ravine, it was clear what Spitfire was talking about. Carved into one of the cliff walls was a cave whose entrance was choked with vines. Around the mouth of the cave, vines burst from the earth, digging their way up the cliffside towards the top of the ravine. Through the mess of black creepers, a pale blue light shone from within the depths of the cave. It was barely visible, so much so that if Twilight turned her head just right, she could mistake the glow for moonlight.

“Well, I think that’s pretty definitive. We found the source of the vines,” Rarity said.

“Yeah, but how are we supposed tah get to it?” Applejack asked.

“Duh, that’s easy!” Pinkie chirped. “Take the stairs, silly!” True to her words, there was a staircase carved into the wall of the ravine, running down towards the cave. The steps were narrow, and if that wasn’t dangerous enough, they were completely covered in vines.

“Ah ain’t goin’ down that,” Applejack said, peering down at the stairs. “All those vines… that’s not gonna end well for anypony. One twisted ankle, one misplaced step, and it’s a neck-breakin’ tumble downwards.”

Twilight turned to Spitfire. “Do you know what the glow is all about?”

“Nope,” came the reply. “None of us have even attempted to go down there.”

“Oh, come on. This is easy,” Rainbow said, puffing out her chest. “I’ll go check it out and be back within ten seconds. Then Fluttershy and I can carry you all down.” She made to take off, but was stopped by Spitfire, who stepped down on her tail, hard.

“Before you go rushing in, Recruit, check the ravine again,” she growled.

Along with her friends, Twilight peered back into the ravine. She squinted, trying to see into the gloom. The darkness must have been playing tricks on her eyes though, as the shadows seemed to twist and writhe almost as if they were alive.

“Wait a minute,” Twilight muttered under her breath. Leaning forward on her cloud, she stared into the darkness, only to blanch a second later when she finally realized what she was seeing. It wasn’t the shadows that were moving.

Hundreds of spider-plants slithered about along the ravine floor, twisting and slithering over each other in a writhing mass of vines. A dark haze drifted across the ground, and it took Twilight a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t fog, but Black-Vine Virus spores. The spider-plants snapped and puffed, continuing to send clouds of black spores wafting into the air.

Beside her, Applejack swallowed thickly. “Is… is that... ?”

“A cloud of Black-Vine Virus spores?” Spitfire finished while cocking an eyebrow. “Yes, yes it is.”

Applejack’s ears splayed off to the side and she pawed nervously at the ground before stepping back from the ravine’s edge. “Ah don’t know about y’all, but as a human rancher, that’s making mah anxiety rise.”

“How are we supposed to get through that?” Rarity asked breathlessly. “Can we even get through them?”

“Maybe they just go after humans?” Pinkie offered with a tentative smile.

“They don’t,” Spitfire huffed. “They go after ponies too. Trust me, I know from experience. It’s not something you want to happen to you.” She motioned down towards the sea of writhing vines. “They’re the reason we haven’t ventured down to investigate yet.”

Rainbow perked up. “W-wait a second! What about Spike’s dragonfire?” She motioned towards the young drake still perched upon Twilight’s back. “He can clear them out with that, right?”

“That… might actually work,” Spitfire said slowly.

“Not with that many vines,” Twilight said, scrunching up her face. “There’s too many for him to deal with.” At her words, Spike huffed and crossed his arms. She glanced over her shoulder and gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, Spike, but it’s true.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he admitted dejectedly.

Turning back to Spitfire, Twilight continued. “A baby dragon doesn’t have enough fire to deal with all of the vines. He’d run out before we got down the stairs. Judging by the amount of vines down there, we’d need nothing short of an adult dragon to clear them out with fire.”

“Sorry, but we’re fresh out of those,” Fleetfoot snarked with a roll of her eyes. “How about your magic? Can’t you make fire with that?”

“That might not be the best thing to ask her,” Rainbow warned quickly. “She’s, eh… kinda running on empty.”

Fleetfoot gave her an exasperated look.

“Alright, fine,” she groused. “No asking the alicorn for magic.” Leaning back in the air, she crossed her forelegs over her chest. “In that case then, I’ve got nothing. Where are we supposed to get a buck ton of fire—”

FWWWOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHH

“<Aw yeah, baby! Yeah!>”

A bright light suddenly flooded the area, driving back the surrounding darkness. It was followed almost instantly by the roar of fire. With a yelp, everyone spun around, the Wonderbolts taking up position between the Elements and the new potential threat.

“What in the name of Celestia?” Spitfire breathed, her eyes wide.

Standing in the same field outside of the building, with a strange device strapped to his back, was one of the Terran humans. The device, which was comprised of a large tank and some tubes, was hooked up to a hose, which ran around to a large pole-like object that was grasped in his hands. From the tip of the makeshift flamethrower, a gout of fire issued forth like a geyser, washing across the side of the building. Vines turned to charcoal almost instantly as the flames swept over them.

The human laughed maniacally and danced about wildly, a black figure against the fiery backdrop. Lifting the pole into the air with both hands, he hooted and whooped as the flames consumed the choking vines. “<♫ Come on baby, light my fire! Come on baby, light my fire! Try to set the night on fire! Yeah! ♪>”

From the now-cleared entranceway a second human shouted at the first, waving a crutch about frantically. He shouted something at his companion before motioning towards the ravine. “<Don’t kill the vines! Go for the roots. The roots!>”

The human with the flamethrower paused his burning to give the other human a look before turning and making his way hurriedly towards the ponies. At his approach, the Wonderbolts crouched down and flared their wings wide. The human ignored them, as well as the fearful looks from the Elements.

“By order of the Crown, back off—” Spitfire began, only to have the human suddenly shout at her.

“<Out of the way, you mythical headaches!>” he growled before shoving his way through the startled ponies. Flamethrower held high, he dashed down the stairs, taking them two at a time. As he descended, he set fire to the vines all while laughing maniacally.

Cautiously, the ponies approached the edge of the ravine just in time to see the human disappear into the gloom. Every few seconds a burst of flames appeared in the darkness, marking the human’s descent to the bottom of the ravine. His laughter and weird chittering language echoed up from the depths. “<♫ Light my fire! ♪>”

“Well,” Fleetfoot said as she stared into the abyss. “We found our fire.”

Spitfire shook herself from her stupor and took to the air. “Alright, everypony form up. Fleetfoot, Surprise. You’re with me. We’re gonna grab some thunderheads and try and help him out.”

“Is lightning going to be effective?” Twilight asked.

“Against a bunch of them? No,” Spitfire answered. “However, against individual ones it seems to work just fine. We’ll keep the one or two odd ones off his back. Hopefully he’ll clear the rest out.” Another geyser of fire burst forth into the night, followed by a whoop.

“At least somepony’s having fun,” Fleetfoot grumbled before taking off to find a stormcloud, Surprise following behind her. “I’m glad he’s on our side.”

“Is he, though?” Surprise asked, her brow furrowing.

“Misty Fly,” Spitfire continued. “You stay with the other human.” She motioned towards the crutch-bearing human that was still standing in the entranceway to the building. The zebra was standing next to him, watching everything play out with an amused look on his face. “Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t run off or try to hide. When all of this is done, we’re taking both of them back to Canterlot.”

Misty Fly saluted before flittering over to the building.

“And as for you guys,” Spitfire said, turning to the Elements. She paused, before sighing and shaking her head. “I don’t know… do whatever you need to.” With that, she flew off.

Twilight glanced around at her friends before peering back into the ravine. Bursts of flames were now coming from deeper in, their source nearly at the cave’s entrance. The fire was now also accompanied by bursts of light and the muted sound of thunder. Smoke wafted up from the depths as the vines burned. From her back, Spike shifted about as he tried to get a better view of what was going on.

Silently watching the scene for a few more seconds, Twilight then sighed before stepping gingerly off the cloud. “Come on, girls. Let’s go.”

Stepping carefully down the cleared steps, all seven of them descended into the depths below.

Author's Notes:

And the rest is history...