Just about everypony will say that they've never heard one thing about the Everfree Forest. Most of them will say that they didn't know what lies in the trees, or that they don't know how creepy it gets during the night. Some might say they didn't know that there was a forest at all! But to a group of friends, they know. They know what was in store for them. They've seen just about everything! Cockatrices. Ursa Minor. Sea Serpents...for some reason. From Parasprites to Timberwolves, they know what's beneath those treetops. Well, as far as they would find out, those monsters, those creatures, those menacing, foul, powerful beings were only the tip of the iceberg.

It started in a crisp, cool fall afternoon. Everypony was out and about, doing the things they enjoyed most. Selling goods. Keeping their shops spic and span. Tending to the animals living near the edge of the Forest. A yellow, light rose-maned pegasus and her pink, fluffy, extremely hyper earth-pony friend stood near the side of the little, vine-covered cottage. "I hope she'll be okay. I was gonna teach her how to fire my Chocolate-Pie-Slingshot I made," said the party pony, looking behind her back. The yellow mare glared at her with an annoyed expression as she was petting a brown and white dog. "She's just tired. That's all," she said, "but I don't think teaching an old dog a new trick is gonna be an easy task for you, Pinkie." "Aw, Fluttershy! Don't be such a party pooper! I'm sure she'll get used to it," Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up and down as if the ground was a big, green trampoline, "I mean, what could go wrong?" Fluttershy could've come up with a dozen reasons that moment, but she decided not to. It would've been time-consuming, and she didn't want that. She had a big schedule already, and she was halfway done with the day. "I'm sorry, Pinkie, but I-I don't think that's a good idea. Applejack told me specifically to make sure Winona was 'as good as healthy' by the time she got back. She needs the rest, Pinkie. Just leave her alone for now. Please?" Pinkie frowned. Her jumping had halted, making her sway a little, as if she was trying to keep her balance. "Oh, alright!" Pinkie snapped. This made Fluttershy jump back, but she knew her pink friend hadn't meant to yell. She nodded, "Thank you. I'm glad you're understan-" Thud. The two ponies jumped. They immediately raced towards the front of the cottage, where another pegasus, cyan and a multi-colored mane, had crashed onto the porch. "Ugh. Oh, heheh, woops! Oh, Pinkie Pie! Pinkie!" Pinkie tilted her head to the side, "What's up, Dash? I mean, what's down, Dash?"

The blue pony rolled her eyes and smiled, "Pinkie! You're not going to believe this, but...I saw something in the Everfree Forest that I think you might like. It's pretty shiny." "Ooh! I love shiny things! Oh, oh, gimme gimme gimme-" the party pony bounced with glee, until Dash put her hoof on her babbling mouth. "If you would calm down, maybe I'll let you have it," the rainbow-maned pegasus said as she removed her hoof from her pink friend. "Alright, now, follow me." Pinkie started to bounce again. Dash took notice of Fluttershy carefully placing Winona onto a swinging bench. "Whoa. Where'd you get that?" "Oh, um, a nice pony made it for me. You like it?" Fluttershy whispered, trying her best not to disturb the now-sleeping collie. "It's neat," Rainbow said, "So, you wanna come with?" "Um, no thanks. I'm kind of busy at the moment. You two can go ahead." The yellow pegasus nodded her to go and walked back to the side of the cottage, calling out to some of the birds. Rainbow sighed, shrugged, and flew back to where she had came from. Pinkie followed, jumping on each patch of dirt until the trail disappeared, then kept on bouncing.

It was only the beginning of fall, so there were no leaves on the ground. This made it to where the cyan pegasus and pink pony could trot through quietly. The trees looked taller when viewed from the bottom. Really tall. Tall enough to make Pinkie Pie's head swirl. Rainbow didn't mind. She had other intentions than to look at the treetops from below. "Hey! There it is!" she shouted. Pinkie snapped out of her daze. "What? What is it? Tell me!" Pinkie shouted back. Rainbow ran towards a little opening in the forest, Pinkie close pursuit, and stopped right in front of a stone. It was shiny, alright. Sparkling in the rays of the sun. Both the girls gazed at the sculpture, Rainbow with awe, and Pinkie with confusion. "What is it?" she questioned Dash. The pegasus shook her head, her eyes trained on the stone, "I don't know." The stone itself seemed like it was there for ages, minus the sparkle. Yet, it was an odd shape. It was a triangle. A triangle with a long top hat. There was an indentation in the center, taking the form of an oval. Pinkie had looked straight into the indent, but she shivered and turned. "I don't know, Dash, but I think it's...uh..." Pinkie trailed off. Rainbow walked up to the statue. She bumped into a stick shooting straight out of the granite, only to be found out that it was part of the sculpture. "Come on," Rainbow insisted, "Remember what you said? 'Giggle at at the ghosties!' Now, I want you to touch it. Just for you to get over your 'fears'. Haha." Pinkie, usually the silliest pony out of her friends, wasn't sure if she should. After all, it did seem as if it was piercing her soul with its look, its one-eyed gaze. Its cyclops stare. But, then again, it was just made of stone. No magic whatsoever. She took a deep breath, trotted over to the statue, and laid her hoof on it. She felt a sigh of relief. "Heheh. Yeah, I didn't know what I was thinking. It's just a statue. No harm done. I feel better now." That didn't last long.

Only a split-second later Pinkie found herself alone, in the dark, with the sculpture she touched. She couldn't see any sign of Dash. In fact, she couldn't see anything. The only visible light was from the glistening stone. Except, it wasn't glistening anymore. It was glowing. Glowing a golden yellow. Pinkie jumped back. She had known all along it was a dark magic. The stone was cursed! "Aha! I knew it!" Pinkie yelled, although she wished she hadn't. The stone vibrated, giving off a terrible laugh that echoed through the void. The indent of the structure glowed a cyan blue, a black slit ran down from one point of the circle to the other, revealing the completed marking. An eye. An eye that shone a spotlight on the pink, petrified pony. The stone rose from the ground and floated above her head, opening in half, and revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. A black, oily tongue slithered out of the mouth, and lunged straight for Pinkie. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" "PINKIE!" Rainbow snapped. The fluffy-maned mare only peeked out of her hooves, still shivering with fear. Fear beyond her comprehension. She was back in the Forest. Back with her pegasus friend. Back...with that statue.

"Pinkie, what's wrong with you? You only touched it for a few seconds. What made you scream like that?" Rainbow waited for an answer. Pinkie gave none. "What's w-w-wrong w-with m-me? W-W-WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" Pinkie deliberately screamed at her blue friend, tears dripping down her face with no signs of stopping. "That was a sick trick, Dash! SICK!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rainbow tried to assure her, "I didn't do anything. It was probably-" "No! It wasn't! I saw what that thing did! It tried to eat me! It was dark, cold, and I-I c-c-couldn't see. I-it just shot up f-from the g-g-ground and...and..." Pinkie couldn't finish it. She slumped back onto a nearby tree, her sobs echoing in the hollow space inside it. Rainbow tried to comfort her, but Pinkie Pie darted off before she could even have a chance to hug her. "Great. Just great," Dash muttered. She leaned on the statue, only for it to slip out of the ground, causing both it and Dash to fall to the ground. "Ow!" Rainbow got up. She looked down at the now-loose statue. It was now showing arms and legs, three of which was dug deep in dirt, the other arm Dash had confused with for stick earlier. "Well, accidents do happen. I guess I'll go apologize once Pink calms down. So, in the meantime..." Dash lifted the sculpture onto her back. It was unusually light. Almost hollow. It didn't matter. It was going to be a nice piece for her home.