It was late at night and fluttershy had just finished giving the animals under her care there midnight snack. She had just gotten into bed when she saw a bright light come out of the ground somewhere deep within the Everfree forest. Not understanding what happened she chose to try and ignore it, failing somewhat before lying down.

"The Everfree forest has done strange things before but I have never seen anything like this." Fluttershy told herself.

She slowly began to fall asleep and forget about what she just saw. She was half asleep when she heard it. Whispers.

They seemed all around her. She tried to pinpoint the source of the noise, but had no success. They all said one thing.

"That time has come again.... The successor shall be found and the secrets revealed. If its time does not come then shall all perish by that which is unknown."

Fluttershy stood up quickly almost falling off her bed and gave off a quick squeak. The whispers quickly stopped. The fear she felt quickly left leaving her only to wonder what had happened and what it meant.

"The successor......Secrets.......What just happened. She thought to herself trying to keep herself from panicking. She looked around. All the animals were sounds asleep.

"it must have been a dream" She thought to herself. She lied back down and tried to sleep.  

She awoke early the next morning. She was used to getting up early to feed and animals and take care of any issues that may have happened during the night. She remembered what happened last night whilst feeding the birds and looked up to the spot in the sky where she had seen the light.

"I wonder if that was a dream or not. I hope nothing bad happened to any of those poor animals that live in the forest." She said with a slight sigh afterwords.

She was hoping that she was the only one who and seen or heard anything that happened. She knew that if Rainbow dash or Twilight had seen or heard anything coming from the Everfree forest, they would be looking for Fluttershy, in hopes of finding out what it was . She could navigate the forest better than any other pony could and they knew this well. They would probably be asking her to guide them through the forest. She had seen how deep the light had come from and only being that deep a few times she knew it would scare her not knowing what could be there. Even the thought scared her.

As she walked around her house she decided to look at her supplies and saw that she was running low food. Luckily she saw that she was in no need of getting any new medicine and decided the best thing to do was make a list of everything she needed.

"Time to go to the market, I wonder what I will hear this time." Fluttershy said with a smile.

Fluttershy tended to listen in on what the other ponies said so she could keep up with current events and hear what news people had. It was the only way she really could learn anything new being to shy to talk much to others other than her friends which she didn't see that often. She liked shopping knowing that she was getting it to help her animal friends though didn't like the mass of ponies that tended to be at the market. She grabbed her bags, holding them with her wings, put the list in one of the bags and asked angel to take care of the other animals whilst she was gone. Angel giving her a look as if he was saying "Fine" in a reluctant manner.

On her way there she overheard some ponies talking about the light they saw last night. At first she thought it was odd that that many ponies even stayed up that late but then began to relies that no one seemed to have heard the whispers that she had. Or rather they didn't hear anything at all. Not a single word about even a strange noise they heard after the light. After first she was stunned by this but slow came to the belief she had dreamt the whispers and that there was nothing to be afraid of.  

Once she reached the market she pulled out the list containing everything she needed. Apples, carrots, hay, lettuce, Some spices, nuts and wheat grains. It was a rather simple list in compared to what she normally had to get to. Medicine would normally also be on the list and each kind she needed had to be perfectly noted. Thankfully the list was small and Fluttershy took full advantage of this by looking around for new things that she might be able to help her in her work.

Right before she was about to leave and voice popped up be hind her. She squeaked and jumped about a meter or two back.

It was Pinkie Pie.

"Hi Fluttershy, Twilight told me to find you because there something important we need to hear at the library." Pinkie said with an odd sense of seriousness.

Fluttershy calmed down and looked at Pinkie.

"Okay, but i kinda need to gets these things back to my cottage.... If you don't mind."

"Its okay silly, we need to go there later anyways. Now i have to find Applejack." Pinkie said with a big smile on her face. Pinkie shot off in the direction of the apple acres. Fluttershy Squeaked again as Pinkie left due to the speed in which she left.

"I hope that angel it handling everything ok... Hes not going to be happy with me being late, but i'm sure he will understand." Fluttershy told herself as she started walking to the library.

All of her friends were there by the time she got to the library. The bags had slowed her down but seeing Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack there already made her wonder how long it had really takin her.

"Am I late, I'm sorry...." She said sadly.

"No no Fluttershy, your not late. The others only just got here." Twilight said trying to lighten the mood

"What are you talking about twi, I've been here for like a half an hour." Rainbow dash said impatiently but quickly getting a angry look from twilight.

"Anyways down to business, Spike would you read the letter the princess sent?" Twilight said

"Ok" Spike said with a sincere voice though one could see he was trying to hide his excitement.

"My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

Its has come to my attention that at some point last night a great energy was released somewhere in the Everfree forest.  Princess Luna has confirmed it and I want you and the other elements to find the source, for I fear that it might be a danger that such a power could have been released in such a short time. You may have seen it as a light beam. We have also think that this may have been caused by a Intelligent creature. It is quite possible a pony did this but we need to see the affect. Me and Luna heard a voice speak soon after the outburst though it was unclear what it had said. I would like you and your friends to confirm whether or not this will pose a threat to Equestria. The source was located deep within the forest so i suggest you bring so overnight things.

Your mentor, Princess Celestia"

Pinkie was the first to react. "Oh boy, an adventure?!? I will have to get my stuff ready right away!!" Before any other pony could react Pinkie was gone. Disappearing in a poof of grey dust.

Fluttershy squeaked. Everypony thought she had because of Pinkie. The true reason was that the letter talked about a voice. Now she was very unsure whether she had heard them or not. The note clearly said that a voice was heard but that they could not make out what said. Why would she understand the voices but not the princesses.

Twilight was about to say something when spike burped up a new letter. He quickly opened it and read it.

My Dearest, most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

There in no need to fear any dangers in the forest. Princess Luna and her royal guard will also be there to accompany you. They will be meeting you at Fluttershy's house to prepare quickly.

Your mentor, Princess Celestia  

Twilight froze in shock. "Princess Luna is coming!?! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH, how do I look, what should I say?!? Quickly, help me clean UP!!! She can't see me like this."

"Calm down." Rarity said. "You look fine. I'd say we pack quickly, the sooner we're in the that retched forest, the sooner we can leave."

"Well lets all get ready and meet at Fluttershy's" Applejack said as she walked to the door.

Everyone had left except Fluttershy and Twilight. Twilight was busy packing books and other such things into her bag Fluttershy was shaking with fear. Not only did she hear the whispers but they were going to find the what did the whispering. She felt a chill go down her spine. Twilight noticed Fluttershy after coming back down from her room. She thought it was very strange that Fluttershy was this scared. Sure Fluttershy got scared easily but Twilight had never seen her this scared before.

"Don't worry Fluttershy, we will have Princess Luna and her royal guard to keep us safe." Twilight told her. She seemed to have calmed down quickly. "By the way the way. Whats in your bags?"

"Oh its just some food. I was at the market before I came here. I'm sorry if it is a problem." Fluttershy had almost forgotten that she had them with her. She was still scared of what she had to do with her friends but Twilight's words had helped a bit and she tried to hide her fear.

"Its not a problem, in fact this is quite handy. This means we already have food for the trip. Applejack will be bringing the tents and blankets so all we really need is medicine and we can pick that up before we leave. I'm done now so lets go to your  cottage and get the last things we need." Twilight said. Fluttershy nodded and together they walked to her cottage.

Twilight and Fluttershy were the first to get to the cottage. Angel sat at front of the door with a displeased look on his face.

"I'm sorry Angel, an emergency came up, can you please forgive me?" Fluttershy asked as nice as she could. Angel just a gave look disapproval but gave a grunt and nodded. "Thank you, Angel" Fluttershy smiled. She then remembered that she had to grab the medicine. She also made sure to bring a first aid kit, just in cause. She knew how dangerous the forest can be and it got worse at night. That thought made her squeak a little.

The next to arrive were Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, both ready for an adventure. Next came Applejack with all the camping supplies aside from the food. Last came rarity with bags full of cloths "Even if we are going to be in that horrid forest, I'm still going to look my best!" Rarity said. "I don't think we will, or rather you would need that much clothing on this trip. For that matter, we rarely wear cloths!" Applejack said. The other ponies nodded to each other. Rarity look at them as if she had just been betrayed and walked away.

"I wonder what we will find in the forest" Rainbow Dash said. "Maybe we will have to battle a manticore or even a hydra, I can't wait!! Fluttershy squeaked and then thought. "I need to stop doing that" She thought to herself. though the idea of a hydra or manticore trying attack them scared her and rightfully so. They are some of the most dangerous creatures in the forest aside from cockatrice and other creatures that only she knew and few other knew about. She was more worried about    a Firebat or slink popping up. Firebats were as Fluttershy puts it "Mean big lizards with an urge to spit fire on anything that happened to walk by." She knew they could be kind but it was very hard to get on there good side.

Slinks on there other hand were the worst thing you could come across. Slime like creatures that were near impossible to stop once they had a motive. If they are made angry they would suffocate the ones who angered them. She had prepared a special medicine that would calm them or even make them sleep. Nothing that would hurt them. Its was a custom medicine specially made by Fluttershy. A little secret talent she had learned so she could feed her urge to help others in need no matter how they acted.

After awhile of talking and last minute preparations Princess Luna arrived. Fluttershy did her best not to get scared by Luna and did her best to hide any squeaks. All the ponies bowed. They noticed how many guards had been sent to aid them. There must have been about 20 or 30 guards, far more than the normal escort. "They must be taking this very seriously." Fluttershy thought to herself. It scared her but also made her happy to know she and her friends were safe.

"Hello Princess, its nice to see you again. I hope you had no trouble getting here." Twilight greeted happily.

"Its nice to see you again Twilight Sparkle." Luna said. There was not a hint even of royal canterlot voice in Luna's voice which made Fluttershy far less scared. "I hope that this has not interfered with any plans you had and that you are ready to go. Tia Wanted me to hurry and I can see she is worried, so I would like to find the source quickly."

"No worries Princess, we are ready and waiting to go." Twilight said

"And don't worry princess, I will protect you if and monster try to attack you!" Rainbow Dash rudely yelled out.

"We need not worry about our safety, I didn't bring my royal guard for nothing." Luna told the ponies though you could here some doubt in her voice. "Lets be on our way."

They walked to the entrance of the forest, Fluttershy gulped and prepared herself to enter.

"We reckon the source of the energy is around the area" The leader of the guards told Luna.

"Lets hope your right, Shield. Theirs no use in just pointing at maps, Shall we?" Luna asked to the 6 mane ponies. They all nodded and started walking into the forest.

Thanks for reading, I hope there wasn't to many errors in my spelling. I finished this at 1:30 in the morning and it has left my brain rather full. I don't know how much of this I will be able to pump out but i will try to do as much as i can (based on the reactions I get and whether or not i have the time.

Next Chapter: Enter the forest Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 40 Minutes