Six ponies and one zebra trudged through the Everfree Forest in silence. Or, near silence.

“Isn’t there some other way through?” Rarity moaned as her hoof stepped in what she hoped was mud. “It’s so dark and dank and dirty!”

Rainbow Dash growled as Applejack shot Rarity an annoyed look. “Don’t you think saving your kin and country is worth a little dirtying up?”

“I never said that!” Rarity snapped. “I would do anything for Sweetie Belle—but if you spent several hours on your appearance only to have it ruined in a matter of seconds, you’d be annoyed as well.”

“Well, sorry. Deal with it.” Applejack’s bluntness prompted an indignant harumph from Rarity.

Twilight suddenly looked anxious. “Shouldn’t we make a plan first? I mean, there are a lot of things in the Everfree Forest to look for, according to my books. Admittedly, there information was only partial. Maybe if Zecora explained them I could make a checklist and—”

Rainbow flexed her wings in frustration. Everypony was already sleep-deprived and on-edge, not to mention moving slowly. This was why she wanted to come alone.

Zecora spoke up to answer Twilight’s query. “While your idea has some merit, I’m afraid I must respectfully decline. There are too many dangers for me to list, and we don’t really have enough time. I can show how to sidestep the perils on the way, but be warned: follow my lead or the price you will pay.” She gave Rainbow a stern glare to underline the last part before she started heading in.

By silent agreement, Applejack and Rainbow Dash decided that they’d keep an eye out for the less hardy members of their group. Dash flew above the group, keeping watch from the air while Applejack headed up the rear with the same practiced ease that she’d use to herd a flock of sheep.

Rainbow craned her head back and forth. The trees in the forest had a more twisted, unpleasant look than those she’d seen elsewhere. Moss and vines grew everywhere, with no sense of pattern or purpose. It lent itself to a very wild, unkempt look which she supposed made sense, seeing as nopony controlled how the plants grew in the Everfree. This whole forest reeked of anarchy, of chaos.

“So Zecora, what’s the deal with the Elements anyway?” Rainbow asked, trying to distract herself.

“Our destination lies at the heart of this wood, where the Castle of the Pony Sisters once stood.”

“If you knew they were there, why haven’t you gotten them before now?” Twilight asked. “You could have brought them to us.”

Zecora shook her head before looking back to Twilight. “Ancient magics like those cannot be handled by any one being. Carting them around at will seemed a bad idea, I was feeling.” Turning her attention back to the forest ahead of her she added, “What’s more, our journey is perilous, and not one I would make in circumstances less precarious.”

“Perilous? Oh my, that sounds dangerous,” Fluttershy squeaked.

Rainbow Dash looked at her foalhood friend. “Fluttershy if you want to turn back, no pony will think any less of you.”

“N-no! Thank you but no. I said I was going and that’s that.” She scuffed her hoof on the ground. “If, um, that’s okay with you, that is.”

“Atta girl, Fluttershy!” Applejack patted her on the back, almost knocking her over. “All for one and one for everypony!”

“And parties for all!” Pinkie added, wrapping up both ponies in a mammoth hug that had them both gasping for breath.

Zecora chuckled, prompting a frown from Rainbow. “What’re you so happy about? We’re wasting time here!”

“Even if we’ve moved little, I would not be so sure,” Zecora said cryptically with a faint nod to the hugging ponies. “Sometimes progress is measured by the journey’s full tour.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah, I’ll be sure to stop and smell the roses on the way to fight the unspeakable evil. It’ll be a real fun trip! I thought time was of the essence here?”

“It was indeed, yes, and indeed it remains. But what I said has not quite sunk in your brain.” Zecora walked away. “Also, please beware sniffing any rose. They are likely to make your head explode.”

Rainbow came to a screeching halt, no small feat as she was still in the air. “You’re kidding, right? Right?”

The only answer was a flick of the zebra’s tail, indicating that they should follow. The density of the trees and vines soon became so thick that Rainbow Dash was forced to land in order that she wouldn’t lose sight of the rest of her party.

A soft mist coated the ground, growing thicker the further in they went. Soon it coated the entire area in front of them. “Stupid freak weather,” Rainbow grumbled, her feathers wilting under the moisture. She shook her wings irritably, but they still carried more water than was comfortable.

“My mane,” Rarity mourned as her precious curls fell straight, getting caught on branches or dragging on the ground. “It’s horrid here!”

“Quit yer bellyachin’,” Applejack snorted, annoyed as she felt her hat start to wilt under all the moisture.

Fluttershy let out a low murmur that nopony heard, her mane had collapsed in on itself, all but blinding her. Strangely enough, Pinkie Pie’s trademark poofy mane was somehow even poofier. Twilight, who was right behind Fluttershy, shook her mane out of her way so she could hear.

“What did you say Fluttershy?”

“I—I thought I heard something.” She tilted her head upwards. Twilight twitched her ears as she strained to listen. Rainbow followed suit. She heard the hoofsteps of the walking ponies, faint conversations, and then...

“H-heeeelp me… help meee…”

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy burst out of the line, running through the mist and into the forest.

“Fluttershy, come back!” Twilight called as she ran after her.

Zecora turned and shouted. “Wait, please, do not heed that call! There is danger for you all!”

“Fluttershy, Twilight—come back!” Rainbow Dash darted into the mist, soon followed by the rest of their company.

Rainbow snorted as she raced ahead. This is exactly why she wanted to go alone! Too many ponies, too many things that could go wrong…

The group soon caught sight of Fluttershy and Twilight as the mist started to thin out a bit. The two mares had come to a stop and were trying to shout back at their would-be rescuers. Narrowing her eyes, Rainbow Dash leapt ahead, augmented by her wings, and landed in front of her two friends.

She soon regretted it, feeling a squelching sensation beneath her hooves. “Eww, what is this?” The smell was so overpowering she almost gagged. Looking down she saw that she had landed straight in the middle of a bog or a swamp. She could see the edge of the sludge about ten feet away.

“That’s what we were trying to tell you!” Twilight shouted in a panic. “We can’t move! We have to tell the others to—”

“Stop!” Fluttershy tried yelling but couldn’t make herself heard. Soon Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie had run straight into the muck and marsh and soon found themselves ankle deep in the muck.

“What in tarnation is this?!” Applejack shouted as she struggled to lift her hooves out of the muck. She couldn’t so much as budge them. The others had no better luck. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings trying to get some air, but her hooves were anchored fast. Twilight’s horn glowed as she attempted to magically teleport herself out but nothing happened.

“Stop!” Zecora shouted from the edge of the marsh. “Don’t move a muscle or even a hair! You have walked into the Swamp of Despair!”

“The what?” Rarity strained to pull her hooves out. “Ugh, this is so nasty!”

Zecora shook her head as she stomped up and down the edge of the swamp. “The swamp has beguiled and led you astray! I warned that if you strode from the path you would pay!”

“Less rhyming, more magic,” Rainbow barked as she struggled to pull herself free.

“What is it?” Pinkie asked as she poked at the gooey surface. “Should I be panicking? Am I wasting precious panicking time by even asking?”

“Pinkie Pie!” Dash shouted. “We don’t have time for your, whatever-it-is! We need to get out of here! How about it Zecora?”

The zebra shook her head. “Were it so easy, I’d have done so already. The swamp is deceptive and extremely deadly.”

“But, we’re not sinking.” Twilight looked down. “We can’t move but we aren’t sinking either.”

“The swamp drags you down not through weight, but through mind, using everything sad you’ve seen in your time.” Zecora said tersely, her voice ominously. “The heavier your heart grows, the deeper you sink. So if you want to live, happy thoughts you should think.”

Rainbow Dash was incredulous. “That is the most—”

“—pathetic attempt at Immelmare Turn ever!” Hoops laughed as Rainbow Dash picked herself out of the crater in the cloud that she’d rather abruptly landed in. Well, crashed if you wanted to be picky. And Hoops and his friends definitely wanted to. “Maybe we should call you Rainbow Crash!”

The confused mare shook her head. Why was she suddenly thinking of that? She’d long ago realized that ponies who treated her like that weren’t worth her time. She looked around only to find that everypony else in the swamp was shaking their heads or crying out … or just plain crying.

Before she could say a word, a new image flashed in Rainbow’s mind.

She was twelve—sneaking out of the palace to follow Shining Armor home. Her filly mind was all a giggle. This was gonna be great! She would follow him back and wait for him to go to bed…then the next morning he’d wake up to find himself pranked in his own bedroom! Classic!

Crouching in the shadows, she saw him stop in front of a house and knocked at the door. The front door opened up. Rainbow Dash saw Cadance poke her head out of the door. They started talking … then she saw Shining Armor quickly glance this way and that before leaning in and gave her a kiss.

Little Dash felt her stomach drop worse than it did after an inverted corkscrew. Shining Armor … had a marefriend? Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes as the little filly ran before she started crying out loud. Her heart felt like it had been pierced by a lightning bolt.

She felt moisture on her cheek and as she raised a hoof to brush away the tear. Then she snarled, angry at herself and the situation. She flapped her wings, trying to extricate herself from the swamp. “We’ve gotta get out of here!” Rainbow Dash called furiously, her cheeks wet. But it was no use.

She shivered as she felt a coldness in her belly. Looking down she saw that she was sinking! Her belly was now brushing the surface of the swamp. As hard as she tried to fight it, she couldn’t budge an inch.

Rainbow scrunched her eyes shut and shook her head. “This isn’t real, this is not happening,” she murmured as other memories floated to the top. Seeing Derpy and Cloud as Nightmare Moon struck them with lightning … Shining Armor being transformed … Celestia breaking apart into a cloud of golden dust before Rainbow’s very eyes … Soon she couldn’t even remember having felt any emotion that wasn’t misery.

She was almost completely enveloped now. She had to close her eyes to keep the muck out. It wouldn’t be long now. Some part of her mind screamed and railed for her to forget all the sad thoughts and break free but she didn’t know how.

Looking around as much as she could while being neck deep in muck, Rainbow Dash saw Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Twilight were in the same boat as her.

Twilight was sobbing, apologizing to somepony for reasons Rainbow couldn’t quite make out. Rarity cries had reached a high pitch that made it almost impossible to understand her. And Applejack, who was right next to Rainbow Dash was sobbing quietly. The only thing she could hear the farmpony saying was “Momma … Daddy….” But out of all of them Fluttershy looked the worst, her face a mess as a stream of tears poured down her cheeks.

“Pfff bwahahaha!” A happy peal of laughter suddenly disrupted the unhappy fog of memories she found herself lost in. Unlike the others, Pinkie Pie was swimming breezily through the muck, even doing the backstroke! She swam over from pony to pony, giving them each a hug and comforting smile before moving on to the next.

“Pinkie Pie? What?” Rainbow croaked, her throat constricted with emotion as she drew near.

“Aww, it’s okay Dashie! Auntie Pinkie Pie will take care of everything, don’t you worry!”

Oddly enough, the feel of Pinkie stroking her mane made Rainbow feel safe. It reminded her of when Queen Celestia would do the same for her when she was upset. “But why aren’t you stuck like the rest of us?” Rainbow protested. “Aren’t you ever sad?”

“Well, duh!” Pinkie smiled wanly. “Of course I feel sad sometimes, everypony does. And that’s fine.” She rubbed her back. “But you wanna know why I think happiness is stronger?” Rainbow nodded numbly. “Because when you share sadness, your feel less sad. When you share your happiness you both become happier!” She clapped her hooves together. “If you can share something and still have even more than what you started with, well just think how great it’d be if sharing cake meant you had more cake! And being happy tastes even better than cake.”

Rainbow Dash gave a weak chuckle.

Encouraged, Pinkie Pie nodded. “The thing to remember is that the sad doesn’t last forever and you always have friends there with you to help you through it. No matter how sad or scary something is, you never have to go through it alone. In fact...” She cleared her throat. Rainbow Dash heard music coming from somewhere as Pinkie started to sing.

“It's true some days are dark and lonely
And maybe you feel sad
But Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad.

There's one thing that makes me happy and makes my whole life worthwhile
And that's when I talk to my friends and get them to smile.”

Buoyed at seeing Rainbow start to smile, Pinkie hopped around the swamp to the others.

“I really am so happy
Your smile fills me with glee
I give a smile I get a smile
And that's so special to me

'Cause I love to see you beam, beam, beam
Yes I do
Tell me what more can I say
To make you see
That I do

It makes me happy when you beam, beam, beam
Yes it always makes my day!”

By this point, everypony and zebra was smiling at Pinkie’s antics, hardly noticing that they had stopped sinking into the bog. And when Pinkie got to her grand finale, they were able to start pulling themselves free.

“Come on everypony
Smile, smile, smile!
Fill my heart up with sunshine,
Sunshine!
All I really need's a smile, smile, smile!
From these happy friends of mine!”

Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof in the air, only to realize that it was no longer stuck in the ooze. In fact, all the trapped ponies pulled their legs out of the swamp and laughed with relief, free from its grip. Pinkie Pie was the last one out, shaking herself like a dog and spraying the others with the last globs of muck--to Rarity’s dismay.

On the bank, Zecora reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a hoofull of powder. She gently tossed it into the swamp and chanted under her breath. The swamp shimmered and the ooze seemed to dissolve into normal, if muddy, water. “What did you do?” Applejack asked.

“From the immense strength of your laughter and joy, the magic of the Swamp I did destroy. It’s no longer a threat, but a normal swamp: warm, muggy, and wet through which ponies can stomp.”

Rainbow flew over to hero of the hour. “Pinkie Pie, that was amazing!”

Smiling, the pink pony merely hopped up and down. “Aw, don’t be silly! It was nothing really! Laughter makes everything better! I mean, even just smiling by itself is proven to make you feel better! Riiiiight Twilight?”

Twilight blinked but couldn’t help herself from smiling at Pinkie’s boundless enthusiasm. “That’s … correct, Pinkie!”

Puffing out her chest, Pinkie’s grin grew even wider and a quiet ‘squee’ even escaped from her pearly whites. “It’s like my Granny Pie told me when I was just a little filly: even if the Sun will set to bring in the dark, there’s still lots of bright amazing stars to gaze it! And then, then Sun will come back eventually! As long as you know where to look, you can find a little bit of happiness everywhere!”

Zecora, beaming widely, made her way back to the front of the group. “Come my friends, we have much further to go. The night will be long and the dangers many, before we can strike the final blow.”

“Then what’re we waiting for!” Applejack yipped. “Let’s get a move on!”

Next Chapter: Chapter 17 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 38 Minutes